Author's note: Yes, the last chapter seemed poorly paced and rather quick with events and lacking detail or explanations of what happened. That was intentional, Riley and Danny aren't used to such events and I did my best to write it in a way that made the events seem believable yet lacking details due to vague and fresh memories of a high stress situation. The first chapter was from their perspective as Danny recounted to Brendan and Calem what happened before Riri arrived. Everything from this point is the present and will be in much greater detail and length.

Riley's perspective

I woke up still dazed and sore but noticed I was safe and in our room, something warm and firm but still soft at my side. Danny's head, he'd fallen asleep hunched over our bed. I put my right forepaw on the side of his head and gave him a gentle pat to wake him up.

"Riley, you're awake!" he shouted with joy as he gave me a hug.

"Not so loud" I whispered while wincing in pain from.the hug, I was still too sore and definitely injured. "What happened? Last thing I remember that Shiftry got in my blindspot."

"He knocked you out and was about to attack me, but Riri found us and intercepted the attack, then fought it off and helped me carry you back here. If not for dads gardevoir..."

My head was pounding and I didn't hear the rest, but I got the sentiment. If not for the gardevoir I'd probably be at death's door. "He didn't hurt you? good, I need to talk to Riri, please go get him."

"I'll go get him, but you still need rest and plenty of it. So you'd better not get out of that bed." He replied as he acceded to my request before chastising me about my habit of ignoring rest and recovery periods to get up and stay active. I can't help it, I just need to move around regularly or I feel like I'll go crazy. As he left the room I took the time to inspect my scalchops, They were worn and beaten, chipped and scratched, but one caught my attention. I noticed a crack on the back side, an irreparable scar on the stone. I'll need to find a new one, yes I said stone. While most in my species use shells for their scalchops, I preferred stone and I carved them to their shape myself. The particular stones I'd chosen for mine were a dark grey with flecks of green imperfections which gave them a mossy muted green appearance from a distance that helped them stand out against the greys and navy blues of my fur. They also complimented my sea green eyes, not that anyone notices them, grey fur where light blue would normally be usually distracts everyone from noticing my eyes anyway. Finding a suitable replacement would be a drag, the location I'd found the originals at was off the coast of some island resort in Sinnoh while on a trip shortly after I first evolved..

As Riri entered the room I realized how distracted I was by my.thoughts. I didn't even notice the jackal approaching the room until he opened the door. I sat up as best I could before we started speaking with his telepathy.

"That shiftry wasn't normal, you noticed that right? It was too angry, too hateful towards trainers and their pokémon. It attacked us without warning or reason." I started, hoping Riri would have an explanation from reading its aura.

"I'd be lying if I said its aura felt natural. It was too dark and aggressive, I've never seen anything like that. I'd heard of rumors before stemming from psychic types coming out of Orre that there were similar behaviors in small numbers of captured pokémon there before, but it was resolved both times. That shiftry's aura was such a dark purple it was almost black, behaved like fire, and emanated such hatred and anger you'd think it was a living shadow." Riri explained, the level of concern was visible on his face. Despite or perhaps because of his experience in battle, he was terrified of that aura and the pokémon it came from.

"We need to inform our trainers, something like that is going to be dangerous if left alone." I added, I may be young but I'm not that stupid. Any pokémon like that is a danger to the environment, other pokémon, humans, and itself.

"I already informed Brendan and Calem as soon as we got back. They took one look at each other and Brendan ran out the door while Calem made a call to some researcher. Brendan returned shortly after with a pokéball in hand and sent it to the researcher. When they got a call back their faces went so pale you'd think they were a froslass. They've been making calls and arranging travel and meetings ever since." He explained, I was relieved to hear the shiftry was caught and now far away from us, but the rest of his tale had me worried. What was wrong with that shiftry and why was it so close to our home? What would this mean for our trip to Ferrum?

Danny's Perspective

"What do you mean we're not going? We've been planning this trip for three years. This is everything we've worked for and dreamt of since Uncle Ethan gifted Riley for my 6th birthday." I shouted, furious the planned trip to Ferrum was now canceled without any warning or my input.

"Exactly what it sounds like, you're not going to Ferrum yet and that's final. We talked to Keith and you'll be starting at the Ranger Academy in two weeks. They have a brand new course beginning its first class and Keith suggested you be enrolled to get more experience dealing with wild pokémon after he heard what happened. Calem and I agreed, you lack experience and the academy is the best way to get it." My father explained in an apologetic yet stern tone. I could tell they didn't make the choice lightly but I was still angry about it. I had no interest in the Ranger Academy. Living in a region for two years where trainers were basically non-existent sounded like a snooze fest. I also remembered Rangers couldn't own pokémon and I had lived with and trained Riley for the past five years of my life. We were best friends and I wasn't about to just leave him behind.

"What about Riley? I can't just leave him here. He's like a brother to me, especially since Uncle Keith gave me this Battle AR and we could finally talk to each other. I'm not going anywhere without him." I shouted while starting to cry.

"Riley's coming with you, this course was designed to use that Battle AR model in conjunction with a new styler by a type of ranger authorized to carry pokémon. Accordingly it will not be located in the Almia region. We're going to Unova for this to teach you about the Entree at the same time." A voice could be heard saying from the other room, I knew this voice but hadn't heard it a couple years. This was Uncle Keith's voice, why was he here? I'd heard he was assigned to the Orre Region.

"Uncle? Why are you here? I thought you're supposed to be in Orre." I confusedly inquired as I looked up towards the doorway. "Dad, what's going on?"

"Keith is here to take you to Almia's Ranger Academy for registration, then your class will leave for Unova together after orientation week. Calem and I have business to take care of, we can't bring you there ourselves." Dad answered, a stern look in his eyes I'd not seen since he told me about his journey as a child and his trip to Orre a few years after that.

"This is about that Shiftry isn't it? It was just another wild pokémon, what's the problem?" I hesitantly asked, something was off. Riley and I had been attacked by wild pokémon before while out training, but their reaction was different this time. They were nervous, no...scared. Something about this scared them, scared them enough to want me as far from harm as possible. What was it? What got them so worried about this?

"That wasn't just a wild pokémon Danny, it was made into a living weapon. A creature that lives only for battle, to fight as much and as hard as it can with no regard for the life of itself or its opponents. That shiftry was a shadow pokémon." Uncle Keith replied, I'd never seen one before but Dad told me about them once. In Orre an evil group called Team Cipher once tried to take over the region and force it into collapse under threat from their trainers. Orre didn't have a formal league or trainers, it was virtually defenseless until one of their own turned on them and started fighting back. That trainer was the father of one of Dads friends. Years later they tried it again, and the son of that Trainer stopped them.

"I sent the shiftry to Michael, he confirmed our suspicions. A shadow pokémon has never been seen in the wild before, the first being found this close to our house is no coincidence. Get your bags, you three leave for Almia in two hours. Keith and I need to talk before you leave." Dad stated bluntly, he looked focused on something else entirely. I nodded and began walking towards my room to get the bags that were previously packed for Ferrum. I reluctantly put Riley in his ball and came back downstairs with my bag after swapping the outfits and gear I was bringing with. Unova was known for winters as cold as its summer was hot, and the diverse landscapes would not be kind to an unprepared traveler. I hugged my fathers goodbye and left with Uncle Keith, We arrived at Lilycove's harbor and departed on what looked like an old wooden boat, but the inside was entirely modern and the most high tech boat i'd ever seen. I let Riley out of his ball and we went back to sleep alongside each other in our cabin. Not the journey we wanted but I didn't have much choice, guess we'll see how this goes. Ranger Academy, here we come.