*Lé me looking at story stats*

Reviews | 109

Me: Huh, I guess it's about time for a milestone chapter.

Seriously, I can't thank you guys enough for all the support you've been giving part two of the Rising Storm saga. (And yes, I'm going with 'saga'. Shut up Jack) This story is less than a year old, and has less than half as many chapters as its predecessor, but already it's doing just as well if not better than Book 1 did during its first year.

One thing I do want to address however (and feel free to skip this bit and go straight to the chapter if you want) is the number of people who have actually 'followed' book two at this point; 39. Not a bad number; and you thirty-nine, you can go ahead and pat yourselves on the back. However, I'm pretty sure that those thirty-nine people aren't the only ones reading this story.

Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not in this for stats. I like to think I've gotten past the point where I completely lose my mind over every little milestone.

Jack: Yeah, now he only partially loses it.

Me: Shut up.

Still, I realized one day that I have no idea at all how many people are actually reading my story and, hopefully, getting some entertainment from it. Which is all I really wanted to do in the first place; entertain people.

Once again, I'm not hungry for better story stats. I can't stress it enough, I'm not just after numbers on a screen. I'm just curious. I want to know how many people my words are actually reaching. Maybe I'm even a little nervous about the responsibility which comes with that.

If you're reading my story and intend to continue reading it, and if you have an account on this site already (I'm not, repeat NOT, here to pressure you into getting one if you don't), please consider clicking that little follow/fav button at the top of the page. Not only will you be automatically alerted when a new chapter comes out (every month or so... T_T ), but you'll be letting me know you care about what I'm doing here in my little corner of the interwebs. And if you've read this far, you can go ahead and pat yourselves on the back again; because you're awesome. With that out of the way, and before Jack says something annoying...

Jack: *grumble*

Me: ...enjoy the chapter. Oh, also this chapter is going to be a bit of a test for you guys; to see how well you remember Book 1, among other things. You'll see what I mean. *cackles maniacally*


Jack sat on the sofa and stared numbly at the clock. It was just past nine thirty, almost time for him to go meet Tobias. After the battle, he'd initially been almost boiling over with anger which he'd only barely managed to restrain.

The rest of the evening had passed by in a blur for Jack. He was still struggling to come to grips with the fact that Tobias had given him, to put it bluntly, a sound thrashing. He couldn't accept the fact that he'd let Jason, Cap, Solomon, Wendy, and Katana get beat up for nothing. Solomon had taken so much damage from Rayquaza's Iron Tail that Nurse Joy had transferred him into the emergency ward just to be safe; it was going to take days for him to fully recover. It made him furious.

He knew none of them blamed him, in fact they probably all blamed themselves. Even so, Jack knew that it was his actions which had ultimately led to this. At the end of the day the only reason any of this happened was because he insisted on entering the tournament; and for what, to draw out his stalker? Was that his excuse? To be honest, that plan was looking a lot more shaky in retrospect.

What had really riled up his emotions however, was all of that wasn't the first thing that crossed his mind. In that moment when he surrendered, even as he said the words, he had been trying to find a way to win. He didn't know why he said them, but if he hadn't he was sure he would've kept fighting no matter the cost. He thanked his lucky stars that, for whatever reason, those words had come out of his mouth when they did; because his next Pokémon would probably have been Lucy.

"Jason was right," he muttered to himself. "Why did I care so much about winning the Sinnoh League? And why why do I care so much that I lost..."

Maybe, he thought, what he said to Tobias earlier that day was more true than he'd realized.

"My own pride…"

It was that thought, that horrible thought, which had kept his anger burning. Jack hated losing, and he was mad at Tobias for beating him, but the full force of his anger was focussed at himself for letting it become that important to him. He couldn't stand the thought that his pride had almost become more important to him than his friends.

At this point though, his anger had burned down to nothing more than smoldering embers leaving him cold and exhausted; both physically and emotionally. He just wanted to crawl into bed and go to sleep, like most of his team had already done. Tomorrow would be a new day, and he'd move on with his life as if the tournament had never happened.

At any rate, this was the last night his room had been reserved for so he wouldn't have much choice. Maybe being back on the road just like old times would be good for him. Before that happened though, there was one last thing he had to do. His curiosity, a trait which usually caused him no end of trouble, demanded it.

With no more sound than a rush of air, Jack vanished from the room and reappeared outside the arena; on the South side. No more than a stone's throw away from the arena wall there was a solid row of trees which marked the edge of a dense forest; one of the few wild places left on the island. Between it and the colosseum there were only a few trees scattered here and there.

The night air was crisp and clear, and a few deep breaths did a lot to help him gather his thoughts. The crescent moon overhead was currently obscured by a thin veil of clouds which allowed only thin beams of silvery light to pass, giving everything an eerie, ethereal look to it. Jack half expected fey creatures to begin peeking out from behind the trees.

Then from out of the darkness of the woods stepped Tobias, his long blue-grey hair blowing in the breeze like a wisp of shadow. He strode towards Jack with an air of determination, as if the older trainer was steeling himself for the confrontation.

"So," Tobias said, "You came."

"Call it the curiosity that killed the cat," Jack replied, slightly on edge and not sure what to expect. "You got my attention with that Pokéspeach trick, so what did you want to tell me?"

Tobias folded his arms. "This isn't about what I want to tell you, I merely feel I owe you an explanation for everything that's happened. First of all, I should probably mention that this isn't the first time we've met."

Jack frowned. "I'm sure I'd remember someone like you, unless…"

"You haven't forgotten," Tobias assured him. "I used a different name back then, not to mention a different face."

Before Jack could comment, Tobias's form began to blur and shift; as though he were looking at it through a film of water. He watched, dumbfounded, as the older trainer's hair darkened to an inky black and his eyes turned a deep, piercing blue. His clothes also changed; his light brown trousers and tunic turning black with gold highlights, and his red waist-length cape elongating into a midnight blue cloak embroidered with mystical-looking gold and silver whorls. The trainer's face also narrowed slightly, his cheekbones becoming slightly more pronounced, and his now-black hair shortening and combing itself backwards away from his face. Even before the man spoke, Jack knew exactly who he was.

"You probably know me better as Omar the Mage."

As Jack stared at Tobias, or Omar, he wasn't really sure anymore, the pieces started snapping into place in his mind. Sure enough when he opened his mind, something he hadn't done in a long time due to amount of mental noise in an area as crowded as this, he felt Omar's aura of power flowing around him. The magician was every bit as powerful now as he was the first time Jack met him, but this time Jack didn't find Omar's power overwhelming; it didn't weigh down on his mind anymore. Even so, Jack still found himself slightly intimidated by the man standing in front of him.

Jack searched for something to say, but no words came out of his mouth. He was utterly speechless, but his mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour trying to comprehend the ramifications of this new development.

"You… I…" he stuttered, unable to form a coherent thought.

"Yes, I know," Omar sighed, "It's a lot to take in. I probably shouldn't have sprung it on you so suddenly, but I couldn't think of what else to do."

"But… how are you here? Why are you here?"

Omar sighed again. "That… is a long story. To make it short, I've been tracking you for quite some time now. You intrigued me, and I wanted to keep an eye on you. Shortly after we met at that carnival, I left on extended leave to start a trainer's journey of my own under the name of Tobias; with Darkrai as my main Pokémon. My plan was to enter the Sinnoh League as well, and use it as an excuse to study you and eventually meet up with you again. Which is exactly what happened. Do you have any questions?"

"More than I can ask…" Jack muttered. "I guess to start off, how did you capture Darkrai and so many other powerful Pokémon?"

Omar scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… to be honest, I didn't. My Pokémon were actually just shadow dummies I conjured up. I had absolute control over them, and I used my own powers to make everything feel as real as it looked. Basically, they were as strong as I wanted them to be."

Jack's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, I know," Tobias chuckled ruefully, "Kinda underhanded…"

"Kinda…" Jack muttered incredulously, "I'm pretty sure that breaks just about every rule the Sinnoh League has…"

"Well what else was I supposed to do?" Omar said, holding up his hands defensively. "I had no Pokémon, no experience at being a trainer, and at most a few months to beat all eight gym leader and become strong enough to compete in the Sinnoh League. It really was my only option."

"So what," Jack countered, "You just breeze in and cheat your way to the top? What was the point of that?"

Omar sighed again. "That wasn't my original intent. I was only going to keep up my charade of invincibility until I was matched up with you, at which point I planned on throwing the match at the last minute."

"If that was your plan, it sure didn't seem that way to me," Jack said pointedly.

"I had to make it look good, or people would get suspicious," Omar countered. "But then you went and surrendered before the finale. To be honest, I probably should've seen that coming…"

Jack stared at the mage for a second, then burst out in uncontrollable laughter at his own idiocy. He'd been beating himself up for surrendering, thereby making everything they'd gone through up to that point meaningless. If Omar's shadow puppets really were unbeatable however, then the battle was meaningless from the beginning; just another performance by Omar, in which Jack and his team were the clueless assistants. It was both comforting and hilarious, in a way, to know that he had been within a hair's breadth of winning the Sinnoh League. Even so, he knew he'd made the right choice by surrendering; and so he laughed.

"What's so funny?" Omar demanded.

"Oh, nothing really," Jack said once the laughter had subsided a little. "Just getting something out of my system."

"Was that your only question?" the mage asked.

Jack shook his head. "No, but I think I'll need a moment before I'm ready for any more earth-shattering revelations…" he thought for a moment. "Actually, here's something I'd like to know. Why did you pick the name Tobias when you became a trainer?"

Omar shrugged. "I just picked it out of thin air pretty much. It doesn't have any particular significance to me, if that's what you're asking."

"Okay," Jack nodded. "I was just wondering because I knew a Gallade by that name once. I guess I wanted to know if you'd ever met him."

Omar shook his head. "No, can't say I have."

"Okay then," Jack said, leaning his back against a tree. "Okay, here's one I'd really like to have answered. If your Pokémon were just some sort of illusion or something, then that explains why I couldn't sense their minds. But then why could I sense their auras?"

Omar's eyebrows went up at this. "You could sense their auras? That is interesting indeed."

Jack furrowed his brow. "You mean you didn't know?"

"No, I didn't," Omar replied, shaking his head. "I can do many things, but I have no talent for sensing aura. Although I do wonder… Can you see my aura right now?"

Jack nodded.

"Okay then," Omar said, raising his right hand. "Watch closely, and see if you can spot anything unusual."

With that, Omar waved his hand and Darkrai appeared beside him. There was no flash, no rush of wind, it was simply there. Jack knew it wasn't real, but he still took an involuntary step backward. Then he realized what had happened.

"It's your aura," Jack exclaimed. "That's what I was sensing. When you create these… whatever they are, it looks like a little of your aura goes into them."

Omar nodded and let the illusion of Darkrai fade. "That actually makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it. I'll have to look into that further. In the meantime, aren't you going to ask how I know Pokéspeak? After all, that's what brought you here wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but that makes sense now that I know it was you," Jack replied. "We're the same, so I guess it makes sense that you'd.."

"Didn't you listen to a word I said last time we met?" Omar interrupted him. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the only thing we have in common is the nature of our powers. Aside from that, we might as well be day and night."

"You mean, you weren't raised by Pokémon?" Jack asked, somewhat confused.

"Actually, that much about us is the same I suppose," Omar said, folding his arms. "The main difference is that I'm not human."

Jack blinked, his mind temporarily unable to process what he'd just heard. Then the pieces started to snap together.

"You mean…"

"Yes, this body is as much an illusion as Tobias's was," Omar said with a smirk. "My real one is a lot more handsome."

Omar's form shifted once again, but this time it was different. There was no blurry in-between stage, it was more like a curtain dropping to reveal what was behind. It was something the likes of which Jack had never seen before; a bipedal, fox-like creature with grey fur covering most of its body, thicker black fur on its chest, and three blood-red claws on its front and hind paws. It also had a red mane which flowed like a waterfall down its back, and was fastened near the bottom by a ring made of what looked like some blue gemstone. What Jack immediately noticed however was that its eyes had stayed the same piercing blue colour.

Jack mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally managed to force a few words out.

"What… are you?"

"I," Omar said, puffing out his now fur-covered chest, "Am a Zoroark; Master of Illusions! You may have heard of us, a proud race revered for our ability to create illusions at will."

"Never heard of them."

Omar snorted. "Fine then, be like that. At any rate, I am not an ordinary Zoroark. Among other things, my illusions can interact with other physical objects; which is not normally possible. What you uncovered about aura may have something to do with it, but I'll have to do some more testing on that..."

"Hold on, slow down," Jack exclaimed. "I'm still working on how you've been a Pokémon all this time… Why…?"

"Why was I working as a professional magician in a travelling carnival?" Omar interrupted. "Curiosity mostly. I wanted to find out more about humans and their culture. I also thought that maybe I'd stumble upon something that might explain my extraordinary abilities."

"Did you?" Jack asked. "Find anything, I mean."

"Not as such," Omar replied, "But I did find you. Your abilities are remarkably similar to mine although, like I said last time we met, yours are significantly more powerful. I thought by studying you I might find out more about myself, but as of yet that hasn't been the case. Do you have any information on the nature of your power, or how you came by it?"

Jack sighed. "I was hoping to ask you that question. I didn't learn my first move until I was about a year old, but I've had Pokémon-like abilities ever since I can remember. At this point I try not to think about where my power might have come from, it always seems to put me a bad mood. The sad fact is I have no answers, and no way of getting any; so what's the point of dwelling on it?"

Jack looked up and stared absentmindedly at a shaft of moonlight.

"You know," he continued, a faraway look in his eyes, "When I was little, my friends didn't treat me any differently. Pokémon come in all shapes and sizes anyway and I doubt they'd ever seen a human before, so they had no reason to assume I was different from them. Or at least, any more different than they were from each other. My foster parents told me I was human of course, but that didn't really mean anything to me at the time. I grew up not knowing that my powers were anything out of the ordinary. But when I started my trainer's journey, being around and acting like other humans for the first time, I started to realize exactly how different I was from everybody. It took me a long time to finally accept that and move on."

Omar nodded. "I believe I can empathize with that. My family comes from a very… shall we say 'religious' background… I don't suppose you've ever heard of the Cult of Darkrai? No? I thought not. Suffice it to say they weren't a pleasant lot. They used to worship Darkrai as the lord of darkness, or some such nonsense. They died out long before I was born, but many of my clan still remembered those days. As I grew up, and my abilities developed at an increasingly rapid rate, some thought I was possessed by Darkrai. I was exiled from our village when I was two years old. I was still a Zorua at the time, the first form of my evolutionary line."

"That's horrible..." Jack muttered incredulously. "How could they do that to one of their own?"

Omar shrugged, and looked up at the stars absent-mindedly. "Fear is a powerful thing, it can turn even the most level-headed person into a crazed madman. That was what the cult of Darkrai was all about, the power of fear."

Jack shivered. "Remind me to avoid them."

"Surviving on my own was a challenge at first, especially since I couldn't help but think of my power as something evil, but eventually I got used to it. I stopped thinking of my abilities as a curse and instead set about learning to master them. I spent several years in the wilderness during which time I evolved into the fine specimen you see before you. After that I stumbled into the first humans I'd ever seen. I'd heard of humans before, but only from old legends that, to tell the truth, got more outlandish with each retelling. Once I'd caught a glimpse of what humans were really like, I decided that I wanted to learn more about them. I took up the name Omar, and one thing led to another until I wound up performing as a magician at a carnival, and the rest is history."

"So Omar isn't your real name either?" Jack asked.

The Zoroark sighed. "It is now. I left my old name behind when I decided not to let my past define me, on the day I decided to become Omar the human."

Jack nodded, and for a few second there was silence. Neither Jack or Omar had anything more to say, so they said nothing as they tried to find a new topic for conversation.

"So," Jack said finally, "You won the Sinnoh League, or Tobias did anyway. What are you going to do now?"

Omar shrugged. "I'll probably go back to the carnival and keep being Omar the Mage. Although," he grinned, his sharp vulpine teeth glinting in the moonlight, "I can't guarantee that Tobias won't show up every now and again. I plan on having him go down in myth and legend; the mysterious cloaked man who defeated the great Jack Storm in the Sinnoh League."

"You wouldn't consider coming with me then?" Jack asked jokingly.

Omar chuckled at that. "You'd like that, wouldn't you… but no, I'm afraid that's not going to happen any time soon. I have no desire to go to other regions quite yet."

Jack furrowed his brow. "Who said anything about other regions?"

"Oh, pardon me," Omar said apologetically. "From what I heard, it's common for trainers to visit other regions and challenge the Pokémon league there after losing the league of their home region. I just assumed… So you're not going elsewhere?"


"Should I try visiting another region?" Jack wondered as he lay awake in bed. "For all I know it might be a lot of fun. Plus, it might throw my stalker off his game enough for him to make a mistake…"

Jack rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. If he went to another region, his stalker might even lose track of him altogether. Although all things considered, he wasn't optimistic about that.

"If I did go to another region, the next logical question is which one? I could try Kalos, it might be nice to see how Ethan and Lucas are doing. Or maybe I could visit Unova and try getting in touch with Keldeo. Or maybe…"

"You know what?" he muttered to himself. "I'll figure that out tomorrow. Maybe Nicholas and I can go somewhere together, that'd be a lot of fun. It would also give me the perfect chance to keep an eye on his new abilities..."

Resolving to find and talk to Nicholas about it the next morning, Jack drifted off into a deep sleep. That night, he had another dream.

Everything started out blurry, as if he was looking at it through murky water. From what he could see, he guessed he was in a grassy place next to some sort of giant grey… thing. A stone wall maybe?

There was… what he assumed was a person crouching next to him. He couldn't make out any details, or even whether it was a man or woman, but when it stood up he knew it had to be human by the general shape of it.

As he looked, he noticed that the image was slightly clearer than it had been a second ago; but not by much. Still, it was enough to confirm that what he was looking at was indeed human, and a tall one at that at least compared to him. As the image grew cleared yet, he noticed something else that didn't surprise him. He could see his own hands, which meant that he was looking out of someone's eyes just like in his old nightmares. Still, there was something different about this...

At that point the dream took a turn for the surreal, as he grabbed a small object from somewhere he couldn't see and threw it on the ground at the other person's feet. Suddenly, the other person was enveloped in what looked like a cloud of purple smoke. When it cleared, the other figure was gone.

Before Jack could even try to understand the meaning behind that, he turned his head to see more figures coming; carrying things that looked like swords and axes. The new figures looked human, at least from the shape of them, but their skin looked an odd grey colour… Then the image cleared up a little more, and Jack was gripped by an icy claw of sheer primal terror as he realized why the new figures' faces were that unnatural grey. Where their faces should have been, there were only empty skulls.

Jack launched himself into the air with so much force his head connected with, and slightly cracked, the ceiling. He landed back on the bed, the mattress softening his landing slightly.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?!" Lucy, who was in his room for some reason, exclaimed as Jack sat up and rubbed his now tender head.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he stammered, still a little shaken up by his latest nightmare. "What… what are you doing up, or in my room for that matter? Why aren't you in the Pack?"

Lucy stared sheepishly at the floor. "I asked Thomas to let me out so I could keep an eye on you. You seemed pretty down about the battle today, and I didn't want to leave you alone all night… That, and Jason asked me to. I'm pretty sure he's just too stubborn to stay out himself."

Jack sighed. "Thanks Lucy," he said, putting his hand on her head and scratching her behind the ears. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Lucy practically purred with pleasure as Jack petted her in her favourite spot, but the boy barely noticed. Jack was still thinking about his latest nightmare, and what it could possibly mean. The problem was it didn't feel like a normal dream, but it also wasn't quite like his old nightmares either.

Both this new dream and his old ones had him observing it in the first person, he was certain of that. He didn't know for sure, but he had a sneaking suspicion that in his old dreams he had been looking out through someone else's eyes, someone else's body. This new dream though… he couldn't explain how, but somehow he knew it was him in the dream. It seemed impossible, and he didn't know what it meant, but he was certain. This new dream wasn't just a dream, and it wasn't some sort of supernatural premonition.

It was a memory.