Hey, sorry about the long radio silence, but my computer broke. It's still broken, but I was able to get on another computer, but because of the broken-ness, no picture again, even though it's finished. Sorry. To make up for the long wait, this chapter is long and filled with other informational goodies. Anyway, with that said, read on. And don't forget to review. Those make me happy.

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"Holy…" Erin had been taken off guard by the Leader's sudden beginning to the match. She had thought that she would have had a bit more leeway, but this lady had a grudge against her, foolish though it was. Erin did not like being taken off guard, as Ryan had discovered personally earlier that day when he grabbed her shoulder. If asked, Ryan would have said that surprising Erin ended in pain for the other party involved. She had a swift reaction time though, thanks to all those years training in the martial arts. "Chasm, dodge!"

Using Agility, the umbreon barely had the time needed to dodge out of the way of the shiftry's bullet-speed attack. The force of wind could be devastating, and though both pokemon were quick, the shiftry had the upper hand with the availability of numerous long-range attacks, whereas Chasm's were more limited.

Dark pokemon are more complicated in their very existence than pokemon with basic types such as fire or grass. It was more difficult to understand their motives and they did not give away information freely, as they rarely spoke. For reasons such as this, the academy classes on dark pokemon were for the higher-level students who could grasp the outlandish concepts that humans had been able to discover about them. Erin had, however, taken a beginner-course on them that also included types such as dragon and light, and that, thankfully, was enough to teach her the attacks that a dark-type was able to execute. For this she was highly grateful.

"Shadow-ball!" was the attack she chose.

In reply, Chasm halted and stood square with her adversary. In much the same manner as a garados firing a hyper-beam, the umbreon raised her head and then thrust it forward as if to bite someone, only without the gnashing of teeth and ripping of flesh. Instead, a form about the size and shape of a baseball shot from her mouth toward the shiftry. It was dark as night yet seemed to be alive with electricity and fire at the same moment.

"Razor Wind! Again!" called the shiftry's trainer across the battlefield. Quick though Chasm's attack was, all the grass type had to do was raise and lower his arms to the ground and a powerful gust of wind stopped the shadow-ball in its tracks and it dissipated in midair.

The air attack itself had been used as a defensive strategy, yet it had also been unknowingly aimed toward Chasm in the process. Chasm had begun to slip away and would have been knocked off of the field and into a nearby tree when Erin yelled, "High Speed! Run strait forward!"

It was a strategy Chasm would not have thought of herself, and would later silently praise Erin for it in the form of a smile: rare for any dark type and rarer still for Chasm. Doing what the human girl had instructed, Chasm performed one of the fastest speed attacks possible, running strait for the shiftry. By doing this, she did not loose any ground because of her opponent's attack, though neither did she gain any ground. What occurred was the slightly humorous sight of an umbreon running in place. High Speed, unlike Quick Attack, was not an offensive move, but was used to escape an extremely fast, quite deadly, attack. Trainers had also been known to use it in relation to Agility in an evasive action as to confuse the enemy. Chasm, however, was utilizing the attack in a whole new manner.

While the effects of the Razor Wind were still present, Ryan took advantage in the lull to give Erin some advice, although he had to make it quick. "Erin," he called. "I don't think you'll have to worry about the shiftry reading Chasm's mind. They usually only do that to pokemon who are too big to be blown away by their wind attacks. Pokemon like that are usually slower, so the shiftry can focus its mind on the stationary target. They can't read the mind of a moving body!"

Erin glanced behind her. "Thanks!" That took a big load off her chest, since she had been worried about that exact problem.

Just before the shiftry's last attack concluded, its trainer called another. "Razor Leaf! Hurry!" In a split second's time, twirling leaves sharp enough to cut the skin of almost any pokemon came spinning strait for Chasm.

Erin was prepared however. "Dark Screen!" Like the shadow-ball, this defensive move was composed fully of dark matter, and would appear at the exact moment that a dark pokemon willed it, materializing in front of them as a force field. Chasm performed this with no effort at all and the deadly leaves became harmless as they fluttered to the ground.

This battle was getting nowhere, Erin thought. Neither pokemon was getting the upper edge. For each offensive attack, a defensive maneuver to counter it was initiated. Somehow Erin had to think of something to throw this battle in their favor. Then her eyebrows rose. That was it! She had thought of the perfect attack that would win this match hands down. It would require most of Chasm's remaining energy, so she hoped the umbreon was still able to handle it.

"Chasm!" Erin called. "Focus Energy!" She would need all the energy she could muster for her next attack, so this was a must, even though Chasm would have to be still for a few seconds.

Normally, Chasm would not have obeyed such a command in this situation, for speed was of the essence against such a formidable foe, but she had learned to trust Erin's instincts, so she relented and brought forth any buried energy that she could gather for the attack to come. But before Erin called to her again, Chasm was jerked off her feet and she felt the breath being squeezed out of her lungs.

The shiftry had performed Bind, and was now attempting to crush the life out of Chasm with two long twisted vines. Had Erin failed her trust?

"Flickering Shadow!"

Chasm smirked within. No, she had not failed her trust. Erin might not have been expecting the Bind attack, but had told Chasm to focus her energy for a reason. For this next attack, she would need it.

Chasm hissed and her large yellow eyes began to glow an unearthly white. To the two pokemon on the battlefield, it seemed as though the sun had begun to dim and the day grow closer to night. The shiftry looked around in confusion and slight fear, and, not knowing how to defend himself from a dimming sun, he simply tightened his grasp on the umbreon. Chasm smiled to herself again, for the shiftry's meager struggle would only make his inevitable downfall seem that much sweeter.

Suddenly, the field changed entirely. The ground became uneven and rigid and the trees grew disfigured and moved threateningly closer to the pokemon. The only colors able to be deciphered were white and black; all other colors had simply ceased to exist. The amorphous patches of black taunted the pokemon and would have laughed but sound did not exist in this strange realm.

Of course, all that those outside the battlefield were able to see was a hissing umbreon and a shiftry whose head and eyes darted around, growing in fear but not knowing what else to do but tighten his grip on his opponent.

The shiftry's trainer was growing angry. "Shiftry! Get a grip on yourself and fight back! Seismic Toss!" But the shiftry was beyond rationality now. The only sense that stayed with him was sight, allowing him to see a great black chaotic mass surrounding him and enveloping his mind. But the attack did not stop there.

The smaller black areas became tangible and leaped at him. At first they did nothing but threaten, but then they grazed him as they flew by. They hurt, he decided, and did not want them to continue hurting. But then they rammed into him and the burning sensation grew stronger, as if he would implode. Trying to scream and not hearing any sound, the shiftry's panicked mind could take no more. He released his death-hold on Chasm, took a step backward, and fell to the ground, unmoving.

Chasm stayed on the ground as well, panting hard to gain back all her lost oxygen, though still conscious. The first round was a tie. Claire cursed beneath her breath. Erin rushed onto the field and gathered Chasm into her arms to carry her off and Claire retracted the shiftry into his pokeball. Erin handed Chasm off to Ryan to hold until she regained her strength and turned toward Abadon. "You're up," she said.

Abadon grinned mischievously and jogged to his designated spot on the field, eagerly awaiting his opponent. The outcome of this match would decide the winner, since both former pokemon had been deemed unable to battle.

Claire, however, smiled as well, which made Erin a bit uneasy. "Oh, I've got just the right pokemon to put you in your place girl, so step back." The gym leader withdrew another pokeball and pointed it toward a spot on the field a few feet away from the charizard. The pokemon that appeared was a scizor. "Your umbreon may have been able to match my shiftry, but that beast can never match the speed of a scizor," she said haughtily.

Erin seriously hoped that the week's former speed training would be enough, because scizor were one of the fastest pokemon in all the known regions. Scizor could run circles around their opponent and strictly be seen as a windy red blur. If a pokemon couldn't get the upper edge in a battle with the bug type from the beginning, then they might as well not even try, for they would not have a chance. But Erin had a plan.

"Abadon," she called, "defensive maneuver C!"

Abadon gave a swift nod in reply and shifted his stance to one that was more balanced and allowed him to hold his ground.

"Nothing can save you from this kind of speed!" Claire yelled to Erin and her pokemon.

Erin simply grinned in return. She wasn't entirely sure why the gym leader held such a grudge against her. Getting a little wet never killed anybody, but she was probably a spoiled brat that became even more expectant on having her way once she became the leader of a gym. To have pokemon so strong, Claire had to be an accomplished and talented trainer, which most likely didn't help her ego. To have such drive, her pokemon were not lab bred, but since their names were also their species, then she must have raised them from the child stage, and that meant that their abilities were all thanks to Claire.

Erin made the first call this time. "Comet Punch!"

Abadon had taken no more than one step in his opponent's direction than the scizor seemingly disappeared, only to reappear again directly in front of Abadon, clawed arm in mid-swing. His fist made contact with the underside of Abadon's jaw and forced the charizard to halt his former attack. It did not, however, cause as much damage as the scizor had been expecting. But then, this charizard was rather large, so maybe he simply judged the weight-ratio wrong; things such as this do happen.

"Quick Attack, repeat!" called the gym leader.

By saying 'repeat', that meant that the attack would continue longer than the designated one strike. The scizor began to strike Abadon with hard punches as he zipped around the fire-type with an unnatural speed. Each punch would cause Abadon to delay his own attack just that much longer, and would cause a little more damage and a little more damage at each contact point. Even with the earlier speed training, there was no possible way for the Char to match the speed of his opponent. It didn't appear as if the battle was moving in Erin's favor.

"Slash!" cried Erin. "Try to get him when he comes in close!"

Abadon nodded swiftly in reply. The next time he saw the scizor racing toward him, Abadon lashed out with his claws, attempting to make contact with his chest, but the scizor was able to change direction almost as fast as he could sprint, and dashed out of the way just in time. Erin cursed under her breath.

"Take Down!" yelled Claire.

Once more, the scizor moved so fast that it seemed as if he simply disappeared. But then he reappeared, right over Abadon's head with his clawed fists raised. They came down hard square between his eyes and sent the Char's body stumbling face first to the ground in pain. He would have at least one black eye in the morning.

Ryan, no longer holding Chasm, was now on his feet. He was unable to give advice on the moves Erin should tell Abadon to use, for that was against Official League Rules and would not only require him to return the badge he won the day before, but would disqualify Erin as well. But this did not keep him from hinting at strategy.

"Maybe you should try a different defensive maneuver, since 'C' doesn't seem to be working too well," he 'hinted' urgently.

Remarkably, Erin smirked as a reply. "You're not aware of the secret qualities of maneuver C, Ryan," she added sarcastically. "This fight isn't over yet." Then to Abadon she called, "Whenever you're ready!"

From her angle of the field, Erin could see Abadon fang-filled mouth curl into just the hint of a smile as he lifted himself off the dusty plain. He concentrated and noticed the shift in the wind directly in front of him when the scizor appeared out of thin air once more, claws clenched to the side for another Take Down. Instead of attempting another overhead strike, he would swing his arms like a bat and try to strike the charizard on the side of his head. He pulled back his claws, dashed forward, and swung his devastating attack.

At the same moment, Abadon pushed upward off the ground, lifting the top half of his body fully off the floor beneath him. With the scizor in mid-swing and unable to stop the attack once it had been initiated, Abadon grabbed his crimson claws and used his forward momentum and a beat of his own wings to fully right himself, and then kept swinging to bring the scizor crashing to the ground on the other side with a Seismic Toss.

The attack was devastating, but the Char's opponent was not through. He made the motion to quickly zip away with his tiny wings, but this time Abadon was one step ahead of him. The scizor was immediately consumed in a column of bright orange flame and Abadon performed Flame Jet, a deadly accurate fire attack.

This match was won, and with it, the battle. Erin had earned her first badge.

Erin was ecstatic, and after the shock of realization wore off, she shrieked and hugged the first thing within reach: that being Ryan. It took him completely by surprise but he didn't have time to react before she was dashing onto the field to leap into the tired arms of the victor. "You won!" she squealed happily.

Abadon hugged her back and laughed a strange reptilian laugh. "We won, Erin. I wouldn't have been able to beat him if you hadn't helped me form that fake defense."

"Fake?" asked Ryan, who had joined them at this time.

Erin turned around and tossed her hair away from her eyes. "Yeah. We worked it out earlier. When I tell Abadon to do defensive maneuver C, that means standing there looking like he's trying to hit his opponent when what he's really doing is bracing for their attack, learning their strategy as quickly as possible, and letting them get in close for the right time to strike."

"So he let himself get hit on purpose," Ryan stated, incredulous.

"Yep," replied the pokemon in question, the color under his right eye already darkening, as well as a few spots on his arms and sides.

Claire, Gym Leader of Lilinth City, cleared her throat, interrupting the conversation. All eyes turned to her in question. She was livid and all could tell, but she was also a talented trainer and knew when her defeat was beyond question. "You may leave now," she said, her voice struggling for control. "Your badge and prize money will be waiting for you at the front desk. Leave through the door you entered." She pointed to the way out. Chasm was already waiting for them.

The group made their way toward the exit, the spirits of all elevated and joyful. Erin chanced a look back and witnessed the singed scizor, Abadon's former opponent, being withdrawn into his pokeball, and Claire walk off in the opposite direction.

Erin went to the front desk and the receptionist handed her an envelope. Upon its opening Erin saw that there was quite a large sum of cash within, as well as a badge. The prized badge was merely a steel circle an inch in diameter with the city's name etched on the front with the region below, but Erin was not disappointed: all badges in this age were of a similar design. Many decades ago the League became too confused while attempting to keep up with the gyms and their badge designs. They created a universal design that all gyms would be required to use, and the only variables were the gym and region name. All gym names were documented in the League Hard-drive, as well as which trainers had beaten which Gym Leaders. Therefore, the myriad of designs used to distinguish the different gyms was no longer needed.

"You fought valiantly, Orange One," Chasm said on their way back into the open air. "You have great reason to be pleased."

Abadon, unused to complements from Chasm's mouth, simply said, "Thanks," and walked a little taller.

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Erin glared around the Pokecenter warily. At first, she was set completely against ever setting foot in one again, but Ryan's constant talk on the subject had finally worn her down and she consented to stay the night. He had told her over and over throughout the day that the disasters that had happened at the previous two centers were just flukes and not all of her visits would end in destruction. Besides, she needed a place to stay, and she could do so at a Pokecenter for free. She saw the truth in what he said and now sat a booth inside the center at Lilenth, just finishing her complementary dinner, which was delicious.

When their after-dinner conversation came to that inevitable awkward silence, Erin excused herself from Ryan and returned to the counter to retrieve her pokemon. Before the meal, Erin had handed Abadon and Chasm over to the nurse to be healed from the battle that still livened their spirits, and gave her Celeste's pokeball just for good measure. The pokeball was now returned and Chasm and Abadon were released from their rooms, healed of all cuts, scrapes, and bruises.

"How are you two feeling?" Erin asked them.

"I feel refreshed, but I do not wish to relive the experience any time soon. If they wished to know what ailed me, all they had to do was ask. I did not need to be drugged, that I didn't. I did not have all my senses about me, and I do not like that," came Chasm's reply.

The nurse at the counter commented on this. "We had to drug her multiple times too, because it kept wearing off."

"It's the umbreon mind-thing," came Ryan's voice from beside Erin. "If it messes with their mind, their body shakes it off easily. It's no wonder they kept having to give her more sedative."

Abadon felt fine as well, and though he had never been to a doctor's office either, he didn't think it so much as horrible as he did weird. "I won't be racing toward the center in the next town we come to, but I won't avoid it if it'll heal my wounds," he said.

Erin bought a few necessities like potions and other first-aid-kit types of things from the Pokemart next door with a little of her prize money and put it in her backpack in her room. Erin's two pokemon companions would sleep in her room: Abadon on the floor and Chasm at the foot of the bed, and Soru, Ryan's absol friend that liked Chasm but not Abadon, would spend the night in his room. The night was fast approaching and all were exhausted from the day's excitement.

"'Night, Ryan," Erin yawned.

"'Night," he said, waving in return. "See ya' tomorrow."

Erin shut her door, saw Abadon already asleep on the rug, and climbed into her bed. She thought of Ryan and smiled. He was the first real friend she had had since her expulsion from the academy, and Professor Chronal had been her only friend there.

CHRONAL! She had forgotten to call him to tell him about her gym match! She sat up in bed and glanced to the desk where she had placed the Pokedex alongside her bag and the pokeball that held the milotic. Then she sighed and rested he head on her pillow. She would call him in the morning; she was too tired now and wanted to sleep. Erin closed her weary eyes and fell asleep listening to the steady in and out of Abadon and Chasm's breathing.

They had all earned a rest.

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Erin was violently torn from her sleep as a deafening roar rebounded within her ears. Flailing her arms, she bolted up at the commotion, only to see chaos reign around her. There were people in her room: people who should not be there. The people were wearing black and carrying guns, and they were pointing them at Abadon.

Abadon was roaring and thrashing about, which explained most of the noise that woke her. He would not risk a flame attack in these close quarters and put Erin in jeopardy, but his anger was apparent to any onlooker.

Erin only had the length of about two seconds before she glanced to her right and saw one of the intruders picking an extremely limp Chasm off of the ground. Erin's eyes widened as the realization finally began to sink in. She turned her head back toward the thrashing Char as the men with the guns fired again.

"No!" she screamed, rising swiftly from the bed. One of the men turned his weapon on her and she felt an exploding pain in her right shoulder. She cried out, saw Abadon fall, and then everything went black.

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"Erin! Erin, what's going on? Open up!" Ryan was banging frantically on Erin's locked door, and the hysterical night nurse was coming up behind him, fumbling with the key-card chain, attempting to find the correct one. "Erin!" When he had heard Abadon roar, he and Soru had come tearing down the hallway to Erin's room. But now everything had been quiet for a few minutes, and that made him even more nervous.

"Here it is!" called the nurse, holding up the key-card as if it were a much-coveted prize.

Ryan grabbed it from her grasp and opened up the door and turned on the lights. There was nothing there.

His eyes darted anxiously around the room, but the only signs that anyone had ever been in there were the bed sheets that were strewn about and the open window. He took a step toward the window, but stopped and glanced down when his foot hit something. He reached down and picked it up. It was the red thing that Erin had had during her gym battle. He looked at the desk that it had fallen off of, but there was nothing else there.

What had happened?

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Oh, sorry to leave you guys with a cliffhanger, but, well, I'm not actually that sorry. I've been planning this part of the plot for a few months. Bwa ha ha. I've already begun on the next chapter, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to finish it, since school does take up most of my time now. BUT! I was accepted to TWU ( a college in Texas, where I'm from) will a full scholarship, so that's where I'll be at this time next year. I'll be majoring in Graphic Design and attending many fun art classes. Alright, enough of me, REVIEW!