AN: Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of Rise of a Legend. I most likely took a while to get this out, but my reasons are as usual. I am trying my best to make sure the chapters are good quality, even if I screw up here and there, and life makes that hard sometimes. Well anyway, I made you guys wait long enough I hope you all enjoy! The harem is as follows: Cynthia

Anabel

Korrina

Serena

Ursula

Elesa

Roxie

Hilda

Sabrina

Skyla

Zinnia

Pokémon- Attack

"Pokémon"- Pokémon speaking (people won't understand unless told otherwise)

"Pokémon"- Human Speech

'Pokémon'- Thinking

"Pokémon"- Pokédex Entry

yu yu: Yes Marcy has a huge role in the story along with revealing the darker side of their world. Also he relationship towards Ash will be a mix up for her as you will see later down the road. Also thank you for the praise, it really means a lot. I tried my best to make this story stand out from the other betrayal stories out there with my own twists and turns.

I also checked out the guy you warned me about along with the story you mentioned (interesting story) and I can't thank you enough for that. The guy is a real ass and I will be keeping my eyes out for him.

RED2017: You had such a wonderful singing voice lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, always nice hearing from you. You guys will be learning more about the villains as time passes.

23StellaOrgana: Yes Zekrom will is all I will say.

Kristinalprime23: Lol that was a fun read. Unfortunately Team Shadow lives on.

KitsuneGodAsashi: You have yet to answer my PM about why you are telling me to piss off.

Monsterkillers124: Don't worry I have not abandoned the story. I had some stuff to do, but as you can see I am doing my best. I don't plan to abandon this any time soon.

Chapter 24:

Zyon's Stand

(In Town)

The apprentice of Ash Ketchum walked around the vast town, taking in the vibrant and active sights of the sights and people. He hadn't watched Ash's battle due to not really wanting to since he was confident that would win anyway. He instead, really wanted to see more of the Indigo Plateau due to it being his first time being here.

Zyon has traveled to many different places all over the world, due to his job of watching over the legends of the world.

Kanto, Jhoto, Hoenn, and even the Orre region are just a few of the regions that he has seen. Of course he hasn't seen every inch of each region, since he usually stays where the legends were and not much else. So getting the chance to explore was something he always enjoyed doing.

As he walked, Zyon did not take notice of the looks he was receiving from the various girls that were nearby. Many of them looked at him with blushes on their faces as he passed them, but how could they not.

As the young age of 18, Zyon had looks that could attract a lot of attention. His long hair that he normally kept free was tied in a ponytail, though it wasn't his idea. He didn't wear his black jacket, due it being cleaned and Ash's Gardevoir will not listen to his protest, so he opted to wear a tight plain white shirt that left nothing to the imagination as his abs were easily noticeable. Without his jacket on, his toned arms were out for viewing pleasure. The 'X' shaped scar on his face gave him a rugish, bad boy charm yet his black eyes shone with kindness and a protectiveness that made others feel safe. He wore light blue jeans along with yellow sneakers. Clipped around his waist were six Pokeballs, three on each side.

Zyon heard a small explosion to his left, causing his head to snap his head to the direction and quickly placed his right hand on one of his Pokeballs by pure reflex. He used his aura sense to scope out what was going on since everyone around him didn't seem bothered.

He found out it was due to two trainers were having a battle in the nearby square, which was a common occurrence due to so many trainers being in one area at the same time. Zyon sighed as he relaxed and put his hands on the back of his head. He usually had to deal with all manner of bad people in the world ranging from evil organizations similar to Team Rocket, down to common poachers. While normally a calm person, he's always on guard since it was his job to look after the legendary Pokemon and protect them.

Shaking his head, Zyon deactivated his aura sense as he turned his head back forward. Normally he would be walking with his Lucario by his side, but he is currently resting due to his earlier training session. So he was a bit on edge at the moment.

As he continued his walk, Zyon noticed that he was beginning to feel hungry. He looked around to find some place to eat, not feeling like eating at the Pokemon Center again. While looking around, he paused as a girl's voice out to him.

"Zyon, is that you?"

Zyon paused since there shouldn't be many people who know of him, especially a girl's. He never really interacted with too many people since he had to guard legendary Pokemon and couldn't risk there safety. Plus the only other girl he has a lot of contact with was Alex.

Turning around, he was surprised that the one that called out to him was Misty Waterflower, forgetting that they had met already.

Next to the orange-haired girl was Dawn Berlitz, May Maple, and Iris, Unova's "Golden Girl" and one of the top contenders for the seat of Champion of Unova. He also took notice of how strong her aura was, which was impressive for a non aura user.

Cursing at having to act again, Zyon smiled and waved. "Hey Misty, good afternoon!" He waved at them as they ran up to him, Misty smiling back.

"Hey Zyon, I didn't expect to run into you so soon," Misty said as she stood in front of the young apprentice. The Water type Gym Leader gave him a look over and blushed as she did so.

She definitely liked what she saw!

'That jacket kept such a gem hidden from me!' Misty yelled mentally. As she eyed his body gleefully, not noticing the raised eyebrow of the other three trainers.

'Not that I can blame her' May thought. 'He is one handsome man and those abs look like even steel would shatter on impact.'

"Umm, Misty," Zyon questioned, getting said girl's attention. "Are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Misty's face flushed in embarrassment as she realized that she has been staring. "Oh right spry," she replied nervously before pointing to the other two female trainers. "These are my two friends, Iris and May. Iris is in the tournament while May is here to cheer on her brother who is also competing." She pointed to said trainers as she introduced them.

Zyon nodded with a small smile as Misty introduced her friends, even though he already knew who they were, and waved at them. "Hello there, my names Zyon," he greeted them.

May and Iris smiled at how kind he was, as they greeted him too.

"So, what were you up to Zyon?" Misty asked, curious if her new friend was busy. Zyon shrugged in response.

"Not much really, just walking around before going to one of the stadiums to watch some of the battles."

"Well we were going to get something to eat," Misty said. "Why don't you come to join us? I am sure the girls won't mind." The water gym leader turned to her two friends who shook their heads, smiles on their faces,

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Zyon tried to dissuade them. He really didn't want to be around the people who hurt his teacher so badly. His mother was one thing, his exfriends were another.

This failed however as his stomach chose this moment to growl loudly. This caused him to chuckle nervously since his hunger made itself well known.

This caused the girls, minus Iris who just sighed and shook her head, to giggle since they were used to things like this. "It seems that your very hungry, so come on," May invited as she was eager to go eat and make a new friend. "We found this really nice place that has food based on places like the Orre region."

Sighing mentally at having no way out without starting a fight, Zyon smiled as he nodded. "Ok then, I'm in! Lead the way ladies!" Misty and May giggled as they walked, Iris following behind.

As they walked, Zyon only had one thought.

'How do I get myself into these situations!'

A few minutes later, we find the four trainers sat at a round table in a two story, fancy decorated restaraunt. Also from what he can tell, this was either very popular or was just having a good day.

'Charmeleon Charcoal Grill, a disconcerning name indeed,' Zyon hummed as he saw some satisfied people leaving the building. The people who were eating outside were enjoying their meals.

The three trainers entered the building, ready to eat. The moment they entered, Zyon felt his body go stiff, as the hairs on his body felt like they were standing on end. He began to sweat slightly as his danger sense went haywire, screaming at him to be ready.

'Something is very wrong here,' he thought as his eyes darted around the room, trying to find the source of his worry. He began to expand his aura in a attempt to find the source, only to come up empty. 'I can't pinpoint where its coming from!'

Seeing his strange behavior, Misty looked at Zyon with concern, a looked mirrored by May while Iris just looked at him strangely.

"Are you okay Zyon?" Misty asked the aura student.

"Yeah, you don't look too good," May continued as she attempted to put a hand on Zyon's forehead, only for said trainer to flinch away and take a step back. Retracting her hand, her concern raised. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

He didn't answer for a second as he made another attempt to find the source of his worry, but couldn't. Looking back to the worried face of May and Misty, he gave them a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, just not used to big crowds yet. I traveled alone most of the time and rarely went into cities like this, so it's a bit overwhelming for me sometimes." He half lied since it is true that he rarely deals with places crowded by people.

The girls nodded, understanding his reason as anyone would be nervous being so out of their element. Misty looked at him with a small smile. "If that's the case, we could go somewhere else, if you want?"

Zyon contemplated this for a second before shaking his head. "I'll be fine, just was caught off guard more than anything. Let's go in and eat, I'm famished." He led the rest of the way inside.

They quickly ordered their food after being seated thanks to a waitress that seemed to keep giving Zyon a warm smile. They made idle chit-chat, except Zyon, who tried to stay as silent as possible while sipping on a hot Kappua Cocoa, a drink from a place called Alola.

He will have to ask Ash about that since he has never heard about it before.

His plan to stay out of the conversation was a bust when Iris pointed her next question towards him. "So Zyon, what are you doing on this island? Are you a competitor?"

"No I'm not a competitor," Zyon replied with a shake of his head. "I'm here because of my closest friend who is the one competing. I'm not much of a battler." He knew he lied slightly on his part since he loved battling, he just didn't participate in any official battles.

Misty gave him a strange look, finding that strange since she knew from their encounter that Zyon was really good at battling. He was quick to react, smart, observant of both the field and Pokemon, and he didn't push his Pokemon too far. "How come Zyon? You are good, good enough that I am sure you would have a place in this tournament."

Zyon shook his head as he chuckled lightly. "No I just had a extremely good teacher," he stated with a small smile, remembering all the good times he and Ash had while they trained.

"Do you just not like to battle then Zyon?" Iris asked curiously.

"No, because I do enjoy the occasional battles, more like love them really," he replied. "I just prefer traveling more than anything. I just learn to pick up a few tricks here and there." 'And make sure the great legends are safe and undisturbed,' he added mentally.

For the next hour, they all talked and ate, Zyon only talking when addressed and only answering with as small as answers as possible. He had no issues with them, just that they hurt Ash. At the same time, his guardian side won't allow him to be mean to them even if he wanted to.

He felt conflicted on how to act towards them, if he should continue being fake or just ignore them. He was afraid of how Ash will act if he were to found out about this, having not being used to Ash ever acting the way he has been lately. He will just have to be careful.

"So Zyon," May addressed, getting his attention. "You have travelled a lot, so I was wondering where you have been?" This got both Iris and Misty's attention as they were curious too. They don't travel as much as they use to, so it's nice to hear about the different parts of the world.

"Yeah there are many amazing places all over the place," Zyon began as he gave a small smile. "I have been to the mountain ranges of Kalos, the ruins of Sinnoh, the many vast forests of forests of Johto and the caves of Hoenn. There have even been many places that I never expected to be, so much beauty."

"Really?!" Iris asked in excitement. "Like where?" Zyon shook his head at her queation.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you," Zyon replied, getting a disappointed pout from Iris. "Please understand Iris, these places have had little to no interaction, allowing them to remain undisturbed by humans and become a sanctuary for many different species of Pokemon. My wish is for it to remain that way for as long as I can possibly allow."

Relunctantly, Iris sighed and backed down with a nod of acceptance at his words. She understood that there were many horrible people in the world that would do many terrible things to Pokemon to get what they want. She would never do anything bad to Pokemon, there's no telling who is listening in with all the people here.

"Thank you for understanding," Zyon stated with a soft smile that caused a light pink blush to stain the girls cheeks.

Before Zyon could say anything more, he felt it again! A dark and oppressive feeling, but this time felt more aimed at him. Like it was trying to crush him for amusement. He looked around with his aura and located it to be a few tables from him. He looked to his right and saw a man wearing a hoodie, glaring hatefully at him with red eyes.

'No doubt about it, that pure hateful feeling is all coming from him,' Zyon thought warily. 'But why towards me? And why does it feel like I know him from somewhere?'

He watched as the man stood up and paid for his meal and stood up. He watched the man walk out after giving the waitress a nonchalant wave, his hatred still obvious. He slightly glanced at Zyon and smirked before leaving.

Zyon quickly stood up, catching the girls attention. "As fun as its been, I need to get going." He heard Misty and May groan in disappointment while Iris looked curious. "I promised my friend I would meet up with him and catch up before the tournament restarts tomorrow and takes up all his time again." He took out a good amount of money, money Ash gave him to enjoy himself, and placed it on the table. "Hopefully this should be enough for all four of us. Whatever is left can go to the waitress, regardless of the amount. By girls!" He quickly ran out, leaving the surprised girls at the table.

Zyon burst into the streets, keeping his aura sense on high alert. He felt the malice still and took off at full speed. 'Lucario, come out!' He called out through his aura link.

A Pokeball on his waist burst open as the blue jackal appeared, running next to his trainer. The two kept running until they ended up by another section of the forest. They appeared near an area that was filled with the scent of sea water, meaning they were near the sea.

On a boulder sat the angry man from earlier, his arm on his knee and his chin in his open palm. His hood was down, revealing the man's tattooed face to the world.

"So your this Shadow I presume," Zyon said, not really asking since the man's description matched Ash's and Alex's words. A huge amount of malice, piercing eyes, a confident and snarky smirk, and the strange markings on his face.

Shadow chuckled as he made to stand up on the boulder. The chuckle was dark and cold, but there was also no real amusement. His piercing blue eyes were filled with nothing but hatred.

All of it directed towards him.

'I feel like he is trying to suffocate me with his hatred alone,' Zyon thought as he tried to brush off this feeling. 'This hate, it feels like a personal hatred, but why. This is my first time meeting this man.'

"So what if I am Shadow," Shadow replied as his eyes began to glow slightly. "Are you going to try and take in? Or better yet, use your power to take mine out?" A black energy began to surround his left hand. "But I'll make you work for it!" He shot his arm forward and released an attack that looked similar to a Dark Pulse towards Zyon and Lucario.

"Lucario, use Aura Sphere," Zyon commanded his partner, who shot the blue sphere instantly, barely holding back the black attack. A small explosion took place, sending a powerful force of wind that blew away the surrounding trees.

Shadow's smirk vanished as he looked enraged, glaring and growling at Zyon and Lucario. A dark red power surrounded his body as his tattoos seemed to glow too.

"You pathetic waste of space!" Shadow growled in rage and disgust. His body began to emit a powerful red light, the wind in the area picking up in a rapid pace. "You need the aid of a Pokemon to fight me for you! Not even going to use your own strength and power! You cowardly weakling!" He released the same attack, but this time it was much more powerful.

"Lucario, dodge it with Extreme Speed then follow it up with Aura Sphere!" Zyon commanded as an orb of aura, signifying Protect, surrounded his body.

Lucario roared as he took off in a blue blur, too fast for anyone to keep track. The attack from Shadow continued its path until it slammed into the Protect. Zyon was pushed back from the attack, which shocked him because that meant the attack was on par with his own.

'Just how strong is this guy?' he thought as both attacks vanished.

Lucario appeared beside Shadow with an Aura Sphere fully charged. He shot the attack at close range, hitting Shadow on his side, causing him to fly through the air.

Doing a flip, Shadow landed on his feet and scrunched his faced into a pure enraged expression as he growled more menacingly at the Aura Pokemon. "Stay out of this fresh meat! This is between me and that failure you call a trainer!"

'Why does he seem to hate me so much?!' Zyon thought in confusion. From what he was told, Shadow was usually calm and in control. Here he is now, angry and wild like an angered Tauros. Why the sudden difference towards him?

"I will not allow you to hurt my friend," Lucario replied as he got into a runners stance. He kept his senses on high alert since he knew aura sight would be useless against him.

"I can't gurantee that you will live should you continue with this foolish decision to get in my way," Shadow replied. His glowing eyes narrowed as he turned to Zyon. "Are you really going to let your Pokemon do all the fighting for you, weakling?"

Zyon clenched his fists tightly, getting seriously angry at Shadow's constant insults and taunts.

Channeling aura to his feet and legs, Zyon used Quick Attack to appear next to Shadow. He lunged a fist forward, aiming for Shadow's head.

The tattooed man took a step back, dodging the attack easily. He caught Zyon's wrist and kneed Ash's student in the gut. He used his other hand and began charging a dark orb in Zyon's face.

Before he could fire the attack though, he had to let go of his captive and jump away to avoid an Aura Sphere shot his way. Shadow glared hatefully at Lucario, who was the one to fire the Fighting type attack. "I told you to stay out of THIS!"

"And I told you, I will not let you hurt my friend," Lucario replied calmly as he appeared next to his master as Zyon stood up.

"Thanks for the save Lucario," Zyon thanked Lucario, who nodded as he refused to take his eyes off Shadow.

"Then you have signed your death warrant you mutt," Shadow replied angrily. He took off in a burst of speed, leaving a cracked Earth behind, ready to kill his targets.

He swung at Zyon who blocked the attack with his forearms and swung a kick towards Lucario who ducked under it. Due to his bodies position, Shadow twisted his hip and swung his leg downward into an axe kick. Surprised by the action, Lucario had no time to respond and was faceplanted into the ground. Snapping his other arm forward, he grabbed hold of Zyon and flipped his captive before throwing him across the field.

Zyon was sent flying until his momentum was stopped by slamming into a tree. The only thing keeping his spine from snapping from the impact was the coating of aura throughout his body. The impact still hurt a lot though.

Shadow faced his hand at Lucario and shot a blast of dark energy at the still recovering Pokemon. The explosive force of the attack sent the Aura Pokemon back through the air. A tendril of shadows launched up and wrapped around Lucario's leg before slamming him back into the ground. This continued two more times until the shadows wrapped around his body, trapping him.

'What, what is this feeling?' Lucario thought groggily as he tried to break free. 'It feels like pure death and anger is all around me. This isn't aura, this is something else entirely!'

"Like I said Lucario," Shadow said menacingly as a dark grin formed on his face. He raised his hand as dark and red chains began to come out of it, thrashing around dangerously. "I'll make you regret your decision, as I tear your soul out of your body slowly and painfully!"

Shadow quickly sensed danger from behind him and jumped back to dodge as Zyon appeared by his previous position, swinging his aura staff. As Shadow landed, he jumped away again to the left to avoid a powerful bolt of electricity.

Looking to where the attack came from, he sneered at a Pikachu that was glaring at him with sparking cheeks. "Another damn annoyance," Shadow growled. "You would sink even further to use more of your lesser creatures, You really are nothing Zyon. All that hidden strength and you rely on aura and Pokemon to fight for you, such a disappointment."

"Shut up!" Pikachu yelled out in rage. "How dare you speak to my master such a way! I will make sure you pay for that! Thunder!" The yellow Pokemon released a powerful bolt of electricity that rushed at Shadow, who merely stepped away as the attack rushed past.

Shadow took off in high speeds, ready to crush Pikachu for getting in his way. Scowling in more rage, he stopped and brought his arm up to block a swing from Zyon who tried to kick him. Raising his left knee, he was able to block a punch aimed to his gut from Lucario. He grabbed Zyon's leg and slammed him into Lucario, sending both trainer and Pokemon flying back. Raising his hand, he shot another pulse of dark energy at them.

Pikachu rushed forward with high speed as electricity surrounded him. "Volt Tackle!" The yellow rat yelled as it slammed into Shadow, who jumped over the attack and released another dark blast that hit Pikachu head on.

Before Pikachu could hit the ground, Lucario appeared in a blur and caught the Electric Mouse Pokemon. As he landed, he jumped away as tendril of shadows tried to impale them. Using Extreme Speed again, Lucario vanished in a blue blur and appeared next to Zyon who began to take out his aura weapon, his twin tonfas.

Giving the tonfas a few practice twirls, he got into a stance and gripped the handles tightly. "Let's go guys," he said softly as he and his two Pokemon rushed forward.

Shadow looked unimpressed as he too rushed forward to meet his opponents. He ducked under a swing from the left tonfa and jumped back to avoid a Bone Rush from Lucario. Reaching out from the side, he caught a mid-swing Iron Tail from Pikachu and threw the yellow Pokemon at Zyon, interrupting the swing of the other tonfa. Using that chance, Shadow kicked Zyon in the stomach which caused both trainer and Pokemon flying back before turning and deflecting an Aura Sphere that was shot by Lucario.

'Just how strong is he/Just how strong is this man?' thought both Zyon and Lucario respectively. 'We barely got any hits in and the ones that did, barely slowed him down!'

Shadow slowly stalked forward as powerful black orbs formed in his palms. They both gave off feelings of death as they grew to the size of tennis balls. "I will show you what true terror feels like. How it feels to be hopeless. Your pathetic power and weak strength will not be enough to stop me from destroying everything you hold dear."

Zyon stood up angrily, glaring at Shadow as his power began to rise. His aura seemed to vanish as his eyes changed from a pure blue to a bright pink with a light blue hue around it. The aura around him began to replicate his eyes as the air around him seemed to intensify. The local plant life also seemed to be affected as the grass seemed to go greener as his power grew in strength.

Shadow stood there as the winds blew harder as he looked at the grass around Zyon, taking note of some flowers beginning to grow at a rapid pace. 'So he's beginning to take this more seriously, is he?' Shadow thought as his power rose slightly. 'But he's still relying on that pathetic aura of his! This is seriously getting on my last NERVE!' He shot the two orbs at Zyon, who merely raised his black and white tonfa.

When the two neared, he rushed forward with both tonfas in an x-shape while flowing his power through them. He blocked the two orbs, but not without being pushed back by them. Roaring, Zyon the attacks skywards. Looking up, he was surprised to find Shadow gone. Hearing a painful grunt from behind him, Zyon turned in time to see kick Lucario into a tree.

Channeling power to his feet, Zyon took off in a blue blur and attacked Shadow who blocked the attack. "Volt Tackle, Pikachu," he commanded as he blocked a strong punch from Shadow.

Pikachu ran forward as electricity surrounded the Electric Mouse Pokemon. Reaching the fighting trainers, Pikachu decided to trust in its trainer and did not hesitate.

Seeing his Electric type Pokemon, Zyon tried to spin kick Shadow. The kick was grabbed by Shadow easily, which was what Zyon expected. Using his lower body strength, he lifted his upper body and threw his black tonfa downward between them, aiming for the tip to smash into Shadow's wrist. Shadow let go quickly and avoids the tonfa, only to be kicked from the back by Zyon's other leg. Caught off guard, he was unprepared for Zyon's legs to wrap around his head and pull him to the side.

Right into the incoming Volt Tackle.

Pikachu, once seeing he made contact, released as much power as he could, causing Shadow to cry out in pain as an explosion took place. The Electric Pokemon ran out of the smoke and stood next to its trainer, it wincing slightly from the recoiled pain.

Zyon looked carefully at the smoke, keeping his senses on high alert. 'That should definitely have hurt him,' Zyon thought as his eyes glowed a brighter pink.

Moving quickly, Zyon grabbed Pikachu and jumped away in time as a black dome of energy burst from the smoke and spread across the field.

When the dome cleared, Shadow stood there angrily as his body sparked and his cloak was singed. His body held bruises mainly on his side.

Shadow glared hatefully, as his eyes glowed a bright red and the air around him grew tense. Before he could go any further, an Espeon appeared next to him in a bright light.

"What do you want, Espeon?" he asked in annoyance as his power calmed down. His eyes remained a bright red as the darkness crept off his body.

"We have to head out," Espeon responded. "We have a job to do and your wasting time with this fight. We have to move if we plan to get it done."

Shadow hummed in thought before sighing annoyingly as he completely died down. "You make a good point Espeon, besides I would rather not deal with the backlash." He looked to Zyon and smirked. "It seems we will have to end our fight a little early Zyon, duty calls. You and your pathetic Pokemon get to live a little bit longer due to me not feeling satisfied at breaking you enough yet."

"You really think I would just let you leave after all this!" Zyon yelled as his glowing eyes flickered. "Then you are more out of your mind than I originally thought! Extreme Speed, Lucario!"

Shadow sighed, unimpressed by Zyon. "You know what you need to do Espeon." The Psychic type nodded as he closed his eyes.

Lucario appeared in a blur next to Espeon, a Bone Rush aimed at him. Espeon vanished in a bright light as the staff of aura slammed into the ground. Espeon appeared behind Lucario and slammed the Aura Pokemon into the ground with Iron Tail. Then he used Psychic and tossed Lucario back to Zyon.

Lucario recovered in the air and fired an Aura Sphere at the duo, only for it to be countered by a Moon Blast fired by Espeon. When the two attacks collided, an explosion took place as it covered the duo in smoke. Acting quickly, Lucario fired another Aura Sphere at the smoke, causing another ground shaking explosion.

The trainer and two Pokemon waited till the smoke cleared, though Zyon had a feeling. His gut feeling was right as when the smoke eventually cleared away, Shadow and Espeon were gone without a trace.

"They got away it seems," Lucario said as he baked around. "What was that all about, Zyon?"

"I'm going to be honest, Lucario," Zyon replied as he returned to normal. "I do not know." He looked to a spot where Shadow once stood before, taking note of the dead grass and flowers and decoyed soil. "But I'm going to find out. Let's head to the Pokemon Center to heal up, Ash needs to know about this."

"That man was unusually strong," Pikachu said as he climbed onto his master's right shoulder. "He might be as strong as Ash is when he takes things seriously."

"Either that or stronger," Zyon replied as he began walking with Lucario. "Shadow didn't go all-out, he's still hiding more. I don't like this."

The trio made their way through the woods, the events of what just occurred fresh on their minds.

AN: And this is a wrap for this chapter! I know that there was no Ash in this chapter or the last one, but this was needed to happen. I hope you all enjoyed the action and slight interaction in it. Let me know what you all think. If you have a question, I have no issues answering as long as it doesn't reveal anything. Please Review, Favorite, and Follow!

Dragon Soul94 is out!