AN: Here in Glashear, our second group of heroes stands against the Darkness! Can they prove triumphant, or will he utterly consume them all? It ends now!

Additionally, 100 reviews! A milestone I always love to see! Thank you very much for all your continued support, and here's to a hundred more! (-o-)

The Darkness chuckled at the heroes standing before him. "Another miracle, I see. But I must admit, that you are strong. But to be strong enough to defeat me...that is something else entirely."

Shadows whirled up around him, weaving into the shapes of dragons. There was a Dragonite, a Garchomp, a Hydreigon, a Dragapult, and a Salamence. As one, they roared ferociously, causing ice and dust to rain down from the dark ceiling.

"Your puny lives end here!", boomed the Darkness, "You will die in my tomb, to forever join the accursed spirits that dwell here! The age of shadows begins now!"

"Not yet!", Seth shouted valiantly.

The army of cultists surged forwards, but the Legendborn were no longer powerless. Seth readied his Pokemon and his fists, and his friends readied themselves.

What followed was the toughest fight of their lives.

Seth swung his fists with all his might, cracking masks and sending cultists flying. His fists crackled with lightning, and his entire body hummed with energy.

A cultist lunged from behind, stabbing with a knife, but his Scyther, Reaper, buzzed in and used his blade to deflect the knife, before kicking the man down. Seth gave him a quick smile, before punching away another cultist.

The shadow dragons charged forwards, but Zoey conjured a massive shimmering shield, holding them back. The Darkness, however, simply chuckled and poured his energy into his statue, Regishado. The colossal construct stomped forwards, smashing a fist glowing with smoky energy into the shield. The shield cracked, and Zoey winced.

Rex stepped forward, his eyes glowing blue. Ice rose up behind the shield, reinforcing it. But the shadow dragons and the Regishado were breaking it down faster than he could hold it up.

Sitting quietly behind him was his Ditto, looking up curiously as the Darkness assaulted the shield. Rex's other Pokemon struggled to fight off the cultists, who were all beginning to chant in a strange, repetitive verse as they attacked. Seth didn't like that.

The shield finally shattered, and the shadow dragons descended. Victor shouted fiercely, and thrust his hands forward, pushing back the monstrous Pokemon with jets of flame. Cain raced to his side, swinging his bone staff into several cultists as he went.

Zoey fell back, and her Pokemon moved to defend her. Her Galarian Ponyta used its psychic powers to repel the bad guys, while her Ducklett bombarded them with Water Guns and her many canine Pokemon attacked from the ground. Seth knew that this was giving her plenty of opportunity to rest and recover.

There was a ferocious roar as Blaze charged into battle, Kai right beside him. A Lucario also fought by his side, taking down foes with careful, precise punches. Nearby, Reesy rode on the back of Bob, her brutally strong Pokemon sending cultists flying.

As the dragons grew close, Seth charged up his electric fists. When the Shadow Salamence flew near him, he lunged and jabbed his fist into the dragon's wing. It screeched in pain, and the shadows making up its wing dissolved into formless smoke.

Rex thrust forward his hands, and the Shadow Garchomp found itself frozen in solid ice. Victor did the same, but started burning up the Hydreigon instead.

There was a strange humming in the air, as shifting green energy coalesced around the room. Cain was hovering in the air, energy weaving around him and solidifying. His eyes were solid white and green, shining brightly against the darkness.

The Shadow Dragonite lunged for Cain, but it was blocked by Kai's Lucario. Kai himself dashed in, a rainbow halo surrounding him and scorching the shadow Pokemon to ashes.

The Darkness growled angrily, and at last made his move. He flew for Cain, shadows welling up around him. Behind him, his Regishado marched, ready to crush everything in its path.

But before the Darkness could reach Cain, a shield appeared in front of him. Zoey growled animalistically, focusing intently on it. Seth felt concerned when he realized her transformation was still progressing. Her hair was turning white, and her eyes were glowing red. But she was clearly still fighting with them.

The Darkness snarled as he found himself blocked, and roared, "You cannot hold me back forever! My power has been unleashed, and NOTHING will stop it!"

The Regishado raised its fist, preparing to smash the barrier to pieces, but then it was punched down by an identical version of itself.

"Woooo!", cheered Rex, "Nice going, Diana!"

The Ditto Regishado nodded, before plowing into the other statue with all her might. The two colossal Pokemon bashed each other around, causing the cave to shudder and chunks of ice to rain from the ceiling.

Seth punched down several more cultists, before leaping into the air. Zoey summoned a shield beneath his feet, allowing him to land and jump even higher. He leaped right for the Darkness, wrapping his arms around the demon's neck.

The Darkness was unbearably cold, and the aura around him made Seth feel ill. But he held on with all his might, fighting as the Darkness struggled to tear him off with his tentacles and claws. The two began to plummet, lightning crackling around them.

As they fell, Seth felt his strength failing. He realized the Darkness was sapping his energy, and focused hard on pulling it back. He felt his energy returning, and the Darkness's many eyes widened.

Then Seth realized he was draining more than just HIS energy out of the Darkness. The energy flowing into him turned cold as the frozen seas, and pain racked his mind. Terrible visions danced through his thoughts - scenes of war, torture, sickness, and death.

Seth cried out, and released his hold, falling towards the icy earth below him. But before he could hit the ground, he was caught by Reesy's Galarian Darmanitan.

"We've got you covered!", Reesy shouted, and sprayed a potion over him. He felt stronger almost instantly, and prepared to fight the Darkness once again.

In one corner of the room, Diana smashed the Regishado down, causing it to topple over several pillars. But it almost instantly stood back up again, punching the Ditto back.

"Don't worry, I'm coming!", shouted Rex. But at that moment, the Dragapult made itself known, shooting several darts at Rex. Each one exploded in thick plumes of smoke, sending him stumbling to the ground, coughing.

Reesy turned towards them. "I'm gonna go bail him out! Hold tight, dude!"

Bob carried her over there, trampling all the cultists in his path. Reesy shouted a command, and the golem swung its fist into the Dragapult, causing to make a ghastly screech and float back, smoke pouring off of its form. Reesy's Swampert barreled into it, knocking it over. He proceeded to crush it with a big grin, destroying the shadow creature.

Rex, free from the assault, raced for his Pokemon. But the Darkness struck with one of his tentacles, slamming him into a pillar. Rex slid down it with a soft moan, stunned.

The energy flowing around Cain was growing intense. No cultists remained within twenty feet of him. Zoey was focusing intently on maintaining the shields around him, her Pokemon standing guard around her.

Reesy charged in to defend Rex, and glared at the Regishado as it moved silently towards them. Diana was slowly getting back up, but she was unfortunately weaker than the unnatural statue.

Seth hurried over towards it, noticing that he was moving without the aid of his staff. He wasn't sure how, but he wasn't about to question it. He channeled energy into his fists, and leaped at the statue from behind, pummeling it with a repeated flurry of crackling blows.

The statue groaned, and stumbled. Reesy gestured to Bob, and the golem ran forwards, striking at the Regishado's leg. Bob smashed it to pieces, and the Regishado toppled over, breaking apart and knocking over more pillars. There was a loud cracking sound, and Seth feared that the cavern was growing unstable.

Looking around, though, he realized that the cultists were gone, which meant there was only one threat left - the Darkness himself.

The shadow demon glared at them all, and the mass of tentacles writhing around him grew larger and darker. The heroes prepared to fight him, Victor sending a fresh surge of energy that revitalized all of them.

"Together, we stand as one!", shouted Kai. The heroes charged forwards, but the Darkness just laughed at them.

"You stand together, you'll die together!", shouted the Darkness, and the cavern grew pitch black. Only a few lights could be seen, most prominently the eyes of the Darkness and his gaping maw.

"Be consumed in the hungering night!", he roared, and the shadows whirled around the heroes, filling them with fear and draining away their strength and vitality.

Seth crumpled to his knees, unable to reverse this energy drain. He felt his body growing weaker and weaker, and wondered if he was about to die. His Pokemon fell around him, and he felt full of despair.

Then radiant light surrounded them.

"We will not give in!", shouted Kai, rainbow light pouring off of him and restoring everyone's help. Victor lit up with flames, and the heroes found their strength returning. Cain strode through the air, his body now that of a strange, green and black Pokemon radiating immense power.

The Darkness struck at Cain, but earth rose around him and absorbed the many bolts of pure shadow. Kai's light protected him, and Cain continued his steady march, the staff in his hand taking in power from all the auras around it.

The Darkness lunged forwards, fierce claws racing for Cain, but Zoey popped up and held up the strange skull. The Darkness hissed and retreated, the sight somehow repelling him.

"You know not the power you hold!", the Darkness shouted, "It will tear this world down as effortlessly as I! And when it does that, I will see the horror and despair in your eyes, and REVEL in it!"

Cain struck forward with his staff, and glowing flames wrapped around the Darkness. But the monstrous creature simply laughed.

"You may destroy this form, but the damage has been done! You may delay me by a few weeks, but you cannot stop me forever! Soon enough, I will return, stronger than ever!", the Darkness declared.

"Shut up!", shouted Rex.

Cain focused, and all his energy flowed into the fiery bindings, vaporizing the Darkness instantly.

The cavern rumbled, and Cain shrank down into a strange, canine form, falling over fainted. Ice rained from the ceiling, and cracks ripped through the walls and floor.

"Hurry! Before we're buried alive!", cried Seth.

Everyone returned their Pokemon, and looked frantically for an exit. Zoey quickly scooped up Cain and dodged as a massive icicle skewered where he'd just been.

They started running through the room as it began to collapse. Seth spotted a dark doorway near the Darkness's coffin, and beelined towards it. Everyone hurried through, but before Seth could get through, a chunk of ice smashed into his shoulder and sent him sprawling.

He struggled to his feet, but he knew he wasn't going to be fast enough. The entire room came crashing down, and he braced himself for the impact.

But then a large, furry Pokemon tackled him and knocked both of them through the doorway, right as the ice buried the room and sealed the door.

"What the-", started Seth.

"Thank Arceus I found you all!", declared the Pokemon, and Seth realized it was a very familiar Ursaluna.

"Selene!", he cried, a big grin crossing his face.

"Selene? Oh my gosh, Selene!", Zoey cried, running over and giving the Ursaluna a big hug.

Selene chuckled. "Yup. But we must hurry. At the end of this passage are a bunch of Pokemon that have not yet been turned. We must make haste and free them. Perhaps one of them will be able to get us out of this nightmare."

They hurried through the cave system, noticing that the walls were made of stone bricks, covered in a thick layer of ice, as if this had been a castle frozen deep in the snow. After a few turns, they reached a dark room, feeling nervous as the earth around them continued trembling.

In the room were a large amount of cages, all of them filled with frightened Pokemon. Many of them bore signs of being tormented as the cultists had worked on corrupting them.

Rex focused, and ice formed in the locks. Soon, the stress was too much, and all the locks shattered.

Most of the Pokemon ran away, but one remained hidden in the back of the room. Seth could barely make out its shape - it was as if all light was being absorbed and refracted off of its surface.

"Who are you?", he asked.

The mysterious Pokemon rasped, "An interesting question. But you might as well have an answer. Mortals call me...Necrozma." (-o-)

AN: This chapter took a while to write. I was feeling more motivated to write Pokemon University, but at last, here's another chapter for this story!

So, the Darkness has been temporarily vanquished, and our heroes have found the mysterious Necrozma! What will result of this meeting? We'll find out later!

But next time, it's back to Azulia, as our other heroes race to save Serena and stop the Darkness from unleashing the Searager! Let's see how that goes...

Bye for now, and I hope you are enjoying reading this and my other stories!