Whitehair waited patiently for one of the Legendborn to make the first move. Seth did not like how nonchalant Whitehair seemed about a battle with several younger and stronger individuals, and had a distinct feeling something was not quite right.
"So, uh, strategy. We have a strategy, right?", Victor asked.
Selene growled, "I will be sure to aid you. Something smells unusual about this 'Whitehair', and I intend to find out what it is!"
"How very observant.", Whitehair replied calmly.
Seth glanced at the other Legendborn.
Zoey asked, "How did he understand her?"
Rex growled, "Yeah, that is suspicious. But oh well, I am more than ready to learn about some of my powers!"
Whitehair replied, "You won't be able to do that unless you meet your gray side."
Rex's eyes widened. "Um, what?"
Whitehair flexed his fingers. "I am very old and wise, more than you all could imagine. Now, let us begin this battle, or I will start it for you."
"Alright, you asked for it!", Rex yelled, charging the old man. But when he reached him, Whitehair was no longer there.
Appearing out of thin air on another side of the battlefield, Whitehair looked somewhat bored. "Come now, you must be able to do better than that."
His eyes were definitely glowing red now, and it sent shivers down Seth's spine. He wondered if Whitehair truly was their friend, and not an enemy who'd cleverly led them into a trap.
Whitehair vanished, and reappeared in front of them. Zoey acted quickly, summoning a shield to block his swiping strike. Whitehair gave a slight smile, and Seth tried to whack him with the staff.
But it passed through him, and Whitehair dissolved like an illusion.
"Huh?", Seth asked, and heard Whitehair chuckling behind them.
They looked and saw him standing on top of a rock, his beard trailing in the growing wind. The tips of it were tinged red, and Whitehair gave a predatory smile.
"Come on, now, I have not had a decent battle in ages!", he declared, "Only the Legendborn were good combat partners. Can you live up to their example, and be heroes? Or are you merely prey?"
Selene roared and charged him, but he vanished once again, reappearing on another rock. Seth lit his fists up with lightning, knowing that he was going to need to help as much as he could.
Whitehair bent his legs, and then he pounced at Victor. But with a shout, the boy unleashed a shockwave of fire, which roared across the arena, dissolving the illusions and revealing Whitehair's true location.
Except Whitehair was not a man at all.
A white, humanoid wolf creature stood in the center of the arena, a thick mane of hair groomed into a shape similar to a Ninetales's tails. Each one was tipped with red. The Pokemon's eyes glowed red with power and barely concealed bitterness, but the creature still grinned.
"Excellent. So you are capable of fighting after all.", he said, clearly in Whitehair's voice, "As you can see, I am the Noble of Defiance Peak, and my illusions are my Warden. I am among the most powerful of the Legendborn's Pokemon, and if you can manage to defeat me, I will tell you exactly where to go."
The Hisuian Zoroark grinned devilishly. "Can you prove yourselves worthy of my assistance? I am hungry to find out."
Seth readied a fist. "Alright, this isn't going to be easy. Only thing strong against one of those is a Dark-type, and we don't have any right now."
Victor said, "We'll just have to go at it the hard way. I can feel fire flowing through me now, surely that would make most Ghost-types think twice."
Zoey nodded. "I'll cover you."
Whitehair lunged at them, claws outstretched. Victor yelled and charged, flames flowing off his wrists. He swung his fists into the Zoroark, blasting Whitehair back and scorching his fur.
Whitehair growled and stood up, cold dark energy welling around him. But then Cain leaped onto him from behind, wrapping his arms around Whitehair's neck and trying to pull him down.
Rex seemed to be setting a few things up on the battlefield. Seth wasn't sure what they were.
Whitehair snarled and flung Cain off his back, but Seth chose that moment to strike with his electric fist. Whitehair hissed as the lightning shocked him. But then Seth found himself wrapped in phantom energy, and carried - somewhat gently - over to the other side of the arena.
So Whitehair wasn't trying to kill them. This was definitely another test.
Victor yelled, fire whirling around his body. Shoving his hands forward, a rushing column of flames raced towards Whitehair. But the Zoroark rolled to the side, and the fire missed him.
Then cold energy erupted from the ground at Victor's feet, catapulting him into the air.
Whitehair prepared to charge, but ended up stepping on one of the things Rex had set up. There was an explosion, and the Zoroark was sent skidding almost to the edge.
At that moment, Zoey charged, her shields forming a steely aura around her. Shoving her hands forward, the energy shield flew with deadly force into Whitehair, ramming him into the ground hard enough to form a crater.
Selene growled and prepared to charge, but Zoey held up her hand.
Some chuckling started rising from the crater, and Whitehair pulled himself to his feet and clambered out. "Well...done, Legendborn. I...yield."
He conjured his human illusion once again, and walked up towards them. "I promised you information, and you shall have it. Far north of here, there is a city built on top of the ice. There, you will find the Ice-type Noble, as well as a secret fortress built within the glacier. Your Pokemon, and any other Pokemon the Darkness's servants capture, are taken there to be 'converted'. I don't believe it's particularly optional, either."
"We'll head there immediately.", Cain said, "I'm not letting them sit there a moment longer!"
Whitehair bowed slightly. "Then feel free to go. You have earned my favor, Legendborn, and when the darkest hour comes, I will fight by your side." (-o-)
AN: There's another chapter completed! Next time, we'll check in with the other team, and see what they've been doing.
I hope you all have a great weekend, and I'll see you around next time!