Aven

….

….

I suppose they'll be back soon.

I stood at one of the Nest's many dirt fields, waiting for the recruits to come back, I was supposed to train one of them after all. I hated looking at this line of recruits, as I realized that more than a few of them can easily become threats to Luna and I in the future. I hadn't planned on actually training one of the recruits that I was supposed to, but if I didn't, I would raise quite a bit of suspicion, and since I already don't have the best outlook at this place, I decided to swallow my medicine and actually train someone.

I wouldn't be training one of our bigger threats, but I could tell that he had some potential.

I wanted to take advantage of this.

That was for after I train him for a while though, I need to play my cards right.

With the data I've sent to Luna, we've compiled a few pokemon that may be threatening to us. First and foremost, the one who won the tournament, the Luxray named Kage.

He seemed like he would contend with most of the stronger members of the Void, and I would think of him as slightly threatening had I not been partially a ground type. I could tell he would be a force to be reckoned with, but I couldn't do anything to prevent it. Of course, if he were fighting Luna or myself, he wouldn't stand a chance, so I wasn't overly worried.

Next was the Zoroark named Vero. Although she didn't stick out the most in the application tournament, I could tell that, once she's trained, she'll be stronger than most of the Void. She had a very effective technique that would beat most other pokemon in battle, it was just the raw strength and speed that she needed to improve on.

After that is the Glaceon named Naru. This is one that stuck out to both Luna and I. Not only was she strong physically, but she also had a very open mind when it came to battling. That could prove to be a problem. All of the Void other than our officers are only trained to battle the expected, and Naru will certainly not bring expected tactics.

I should find a way to take care of her… As well as her 'companion.'

This brings me to the last pokemon that could become a threat, one that I never thought Luna or myself would see again, but I had been proven wrong.

The last concern is Kuro the Umbreon. I had actually seen this Umbreon before I started spying inside of the Nest. I saw him when he was an Eevee, about eight years ago. I had also killed one of his parents. Afterward, I watched as Luna forced Kai to abuse him alongside her.

I never had the same feelings around torture that Luna had. I enjoyed killing like her, but I never saw the point of torturing before killing or instead of killing. Of course, that didn't seperate us, it just meant we had different tastes. I liked to kill, while she liked to cause as much misery as possible.

I was surprised that Kuro even stepped out of the forest after what the three of us did to him, I was even more surprised that he didn't straight up die while surviving on his own, or end his own life. Instead, he did who knows what for eight years before joining the Nest. He wasn't totally alone either, he seemed to come to the application tournament with a friend. I don't know how he met this pokemon, but that wasn't the only thing he surprised me with when he came here. He was strong. He held his own in a lot of situations that I didn't expect him to last a second in. Hell, he beat Kai in a battle, although he didn't knock him out, he still outsmarted him. I don't think Kai even recognized Kuro, otherwise I think he would have said something to me by now.

Regardless, other than his skill and strategy in battling, Kuro had one thing that set him apart from the others, one thing that made him a bigger threat than others to us.

He had a grudge.

I could tell by the look in his eyes when he first saw me before all of the recruits went to get their Nest symbols. His eyes were filled with surprise, fear, and anxiety, not expecting to see me at the Nest, but his eyes also had something hidden beneath the surface.

He had hatred in his eyes.

Of course I wouldn't expect anything else, after all, the three of us essentially ruined his life. That combined with the fangs he's grown in the past eight years most likely meant he would come for us eventually.

Having that thought in my head was the first thing other than Luna to make me smile.

I'd like to see you try… You will fail… and Luna will be very pleased.

Cutting off my thoughts, I saw that all of the recruits had come back from getting their Nest symbols in various places.

I saw Kuro walk to Kai, and they both left to go to another field.

I looked at my trainee's paper again.

'Lucas/Gabite'

'Has very fast movements and reaction time, but slightly lacks in strength'

'Seems to try and get into his opponents' heads, he has had it both work greatly and backfire.'

'Has a strong control over his ground abilities and tends to use them in ways that does not affect the land around him.'

Additional Information:

Has some concerning actions in the past, we will keep a close eye on him during his

time here.

This additional information filled my mind with possibilities.

I saw Lucas in the distance, and began to approach him.

Kuro

All of the recruits had found their mentors and all went to different parts of the Nest to train. Naru was being trained by a Froslass that almost matched her energetic attitude, and I knew they would get along. Kage is sharing a mentor with Blitz. That mentor is a rather strict looking Heliolisk.

I mentally wished Kage good luck as he left.

I was one of the last to leave, right before Lucas and Vero. Kai and I were standing across from one another in a field nowhere close to the one we started at. The field had one of the larger parts of the Nest's buildings, the other side had nothing but green plains. If you looked far enough, you could also see a body of water far out.

This place really is in the middle of nowhere…

"To start things off, how well can you control the dark energy inside of your body?" Kai asked me, making me slightly confused.

"What exactly do you mean?" I asked him.

"Every dark type uses their dark moves by controlling a the dark force inside of their bodies. You probably don't know because you use your moves instinctively, not knowing exactly how they work. If you know how to control the dark energy inside of your body, you can do a lot of things with it other than standard moves." Kai explained.

After he did, Kai stuck out his paw and wrapped it in what looked like dark tendrils. He looked like he could control each individual tendril, and I watched as they moved up and down his leg. He also raised one of them from his leg and pointed it at me.

"As you can see, Dark types can expel this energy from your body and use it externally. It takes a bit of practice to gain control of it, but once you do, it's a very useful tool." Kai further explained while I nodded slowly through the whole thing.

"Whenever you use a dark type move, you should feel the energy morphing through your body. I guarantee you that you've felt it every time, but I just think you never knew what it was. It's not a feeling I can describe, it's almost like an instinct." Kai moved his tendrils further from his body and wrapped them around each other. "What you need to do is take control of that instinct, feel your instinct and expel it out of your body. Try shooting off a dark attack, and pay attention to how your body feels once you do."

I nodded to Kai and prepared to launch a dark pulse into the distance. I built up my energy, trying to focus on the way it felt. I shot the dark pulse into the large field adjacent to us. At first, nothing felt out of the ordinary, but that was most likely because I've launched who knows how many attacks throughout my life, never focusing on how exactly it felt. I began to charge another dark pulse, this time, closing my eyes and concentrating.

Be patient...

Focus on your body…

…...There!

I let out a small grunt, and attempted to grasp the energy that I felt inside of me. Kai was right when he said there wasn't a concrete feeling to control, it was just… something you felt, like an instinct.

Without shooting off another attack, I managed to find the feeling within my body again.

Find the energy… And draw it out…

Just as if I was going to use an attack, I attempted to draw out the energy that I felt inside of me. I took in a breath and focused. I felt myself get a grip on the feeling, and then I launched it forward as I would with any dark attack.

I felt a strange sensation on my back, and it prompted me to turn my head and look.

I had two, fairly large tendrils eroding from my back, which were flailing around a bit wildly, and I felt every move they made. It almost felt like I had nerves inside of them, ones that connected to my body translating anything I felt with them straight to the center of my body. I couldn't control where they went, but I was surprised that I actually managed to pull it off despite it being my first time trying it. Judging by Kai's face, he was also quite surprised.

"I have to say i'm impressed." Kai said, not changing his expression much.

"It wasn't that-" I was cut off by an enormous pain.

I let out a small shriek, and I dropped all weight in one of my front legs. The tendrils quickly retracted into my body, and I was left on the ground, taking in heavy breaths.

"What… Was… That..?" I asked in between breaths.

"That would be the hard part about controlling that ability." Kai explained. "Whenever a pokemon tries to harness it, it can have varying side effects. For example, when I was learning how to do it, I was affected by severe drowsiness every time I used it. I would fall asleep not thirty minutes later after my usage." Kai retracted his twisted tendrils back into his leg. "Your side-effect seems to be extreme pain, and considering that you didn't let out a shriek like that when I bit halfway into your flesh, I can assume that pain is almost unbearable."

"No… Kidding…" I responded. "How… How do you get past… Something like this..?"

"The more you practice using it, the less pain is drawn. Eventually, you'll be able to use it while feeling little to no pain in aftermath, but you need to deal with the worst of it before you get there."

I felt the pain slowly leave my body and I still stood slightly slumped against the ground. The pain was one of the worst I had ever felt in my life, but it didn't last that long, probably because I only used the skill for a few seconds.

I took a long breath, and put weight back on my front leg, most of the pain having left me.

"I still find it impressive that you grasped that skill so quickly, it's just a shame that your side-effect is going to be a hard one to bear." Kai told me.

"I'm sure I'll power through it eventually, but I don't think I should be doing that more than once a day." I told him.

"Understandable. So shall I spar with you then? I want to get a better grasp of your strengths and weaknesses in battle." Kai asked me.

Before I could respond, my thoughts cut me off.

Am I normally talking to Kai right now…?

Kai wasn't acting with malicious intent, and wasn't threatening me in any way, he was just… Teaching me. He was being my mentor because he was assigned to it. We've been at it for less than an hour, and I had already learned a new technique that, when I perfect it, could be an incredibly useful tool.

When he's at the Nest, under constant supervision and trying to hide his connections with the Void… He really is just a leader at the Nest. He's strong too, and he's going to train me to be stronger.

Regardless of who it is… I can't throw away this opportunity.

I gave Kai a nod, and both of us rushed each other, claws bared.

Naru

I flew across the dirt field and rolled onto my side. After slowly pushing myself up, I tried to find my mentor, but all that I managed to do was get knocked over again. I then saw a white figure materialize in front of me.

"Why don't we stop for a little bit, I don't want to break something by mistake."

I slowly stood up on my paws once more, although not feeling the most steady.

"You really showcased some power there! I can tell you have a lot of potential!"

The voice that was cheerily shouting at me was my mentor as of today. A Froslass named Shard. Apparently, she requested specifically to be my mentor after watching the applicants' tournament. I didn't really know why, but it was safe to say that she was on another level of strength and speed, I could only land a few light blows on her since we started, and she's knocked me over a countless number of times.

"Why don't we stop with sparring for now, I think I have an idea of areas you need to work on." Shard told me.

"I think that's a good idea…" I responded, lowering my body towards the ground for a second. I took in a few breaths, already feeling sore from getting knocked around a dirt field. Not to mention, even her just slapping me with the back of her hand felt waaaay more painful than anything I had even been hit with previously, save for a few fire attacks. After catching my breath, I put my body's weight onto my four paws once more.

I walked towards Shard, and stood a few feet away from her.

"I noticed that your battling style relies on disabling your opponent. By all means, that is an effective style as is, but take into consideration battling someone like me. Even when you land hits, I'm an ice type as well. This means you won't be able to cripple my battling by freezing me. Seeing as that's your main way of battling, you can be countered too easily."

"You have impressive strength, and you're pretty fast, you just need to tweak your strategy." Shard said.

"That's where I'm stuck. I've battled the same way throughout my life, so I don't really have a plan B." I told her.

"Then make one!" She responded, and in her cheery voice. "You seem to use your attacks very effectively, but do you ever use ice in the form of something other than a direct attack?" She asked me.

"What do you mean?" I asked back.

"For example… Ah!" shard flew slightly ajar from the field we were using and grabbed a pokemon who was walking by, regardless of their struggling.

Isn't that… Vero?

Shard dropped Vero in the middle of the dirt field, and then went back next to me.

Vero was looking around, clearly confused by why she had just been grabbed by a random Froslass and put into one of the dirt fields. I mean, she was just kind of walking around, minding her own business, and a random Nest leader came out of nowhere and dropped her in the middle of a field. I would probably be surprised too.

"Now, Naru, observe!"

Shard placed both of her hands on the ground, and they began to slightly glow.

Suddenly, an enormous wave of ice formed on the ground, flying towards Vero. Once it hit her feet, the ice spread up her body, freezing everything but her head. The ice also spread a decent range around her, almost reaching my feet.

"O-Ow! Why are you-" The ice encasing Vero collapsed, releasing her. She then fell down onto the dirt ground beneath her, covered in ice.

"And now! I will show you how you can manipulate your element!" Shard shouted.

Suddenly, the ice that was still at Vero's feet rose from the ground in a giant pillar, and Vero was stuck on top of it. She looked even more confused than before.

"What is the purpose of trapping me up-"

"As you can see, your icy abilities go far beyond using standard moves!" Shard shouted, cutting off Vero for the second time.

Shard then flew up her pillar, and grabbed Vero, bringing her back down to the ground.

"Sorry about that recruit! But I saw a demonstration opportunity and I had to take it! Hopefully you don't hate me after that." Shard said, facing Vero.

Vero looked a lot more confused than angry.

"I don't hate anyone over this… Just… Please don't do that to me anymore." Vero said to Shard.

"Yay! You can carry on with whatever you were doing." Vero then walked back to the path she was originally walking on, heading back to the main lobby of the Nest.

Isn't she supposed to be with a mentor..?

"Now! Naru!" Shard shouted. "I'm going to spar with you again. Remember, you need to find a way to consistently damage pokemon like me. You said you've battled the same way throughout your life, but I know you can find other ways!" Shard looked at me, and I saw a glimmer of something I couldn't quite place in her eyes. "Show me some of those creative juices from the applicants' tournament!" after saying that, Shard flew slightly above the ground, ready to speed at me without giving any time to react.

Think creatively… I know I can find another way to do damage!

I jumped out of the way of Shard's attack, barely avoiding it. She quickly turned and prepared to rush me again. However, this time, I had to think of something.

Maybe… If I can try the thing She did…

Shard was getting closer to me with each passing moment. When she got closer to me, I realized she had a lot of momentum built up, and I saw an opportunity.

I quickly focused on the paw that I had on the ground, and a small glow began to envelop it. I rose my paw and stomped it on the ground, spreading a sheet of ice along a wide area in the field of dirt.

Quickly after, a pillar of ice rose inches in front of where Shard was flying, however, she reacted instantly and changed her course to go around it. The pillar was small enough for her to fly over, but she still went around it.

As she got to the other side of the pillar, she was expecting to be close to me, expecting to be able to land a hit on me as soon as she got to the other side.

Little did she know, this was what I wanted.

I slammed my tail into the pillar from the other side, which I immediately dashed to upon making it. The pillar broke into a large amount of small icy shards, all flying in the direction of Shard.

She seemed to be preparing herself to dodge around all of them, meaning I had an opportunity to catch her off guard.

She swerved through all of the ice eloquently, but she wasn't expecting a shadow ball from directly under her.

The attack landed a direct hit into her stomach, and Shard lowered to the ground. She then lifted her head up, placing one of her hands on it. I was met with a large smile.

"Now that… That is what I wanted to see!" Shard shouted. "That really hurt, and you totally faked me out! I thought you were trying to make me fly into that pillar, but that was a distraction which gave you the opportunity to make another distraction, which led to you landing a direct hit on me! That was great Naru!" Shard praised, slightly flustering me.

"It was only because you suggested I do different things with controlling ice." I told her.

"Yes, but you used the information brilliantly!" Shard started to fly to the end of the field. "I think that's all we can do for today, make sure to make use of this training when you start going on missions tomorrow!"

"Right!"

I bowed my head and Shard left the area, presumably heading back to wherever her room was. I didn't realize how long I'd been training until I looked up at the sky and saw it's coloring significantly less bright and less blue.

I wonder if Kuro is done by now…

I decided to head back to our room, realizing I didn't have anything else to do.

When I arrived back, Kuro wasn't there yet, so I assumed he was still with Kai. However, when my thoughts went in that direction, a chill went up my spine and I started to worry.

Wait… He's with Kai… He's with a member of the Void… All alone…

My mind shifted quickly from worry, to slight panicking, but luckily, my anxiety was quelled when I heard the door to my right open.

Then, Kuro walked in.

"Kuro! You're back!" I walked up to him.

And then I saw his wounds.

"Arceus! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a side-effect of having a strict mentor." Kuro said with a calm voice. "I knew training with him would be tough… But I feel like he drew blood a few too many times for a training…"

"Wow, he went that far?" I asked.

"To be honest, I kind of appreciate him going that far." He said. "Sure, it hurts like nothing else, but I feel like I improved a lot over one session of training because he went as far as he did."

After hearing Kuro answer, another worry came into my head.

"You don't think he'll… Take it too far, do you?" I asked.

Kuro looked up at the ceiling for a second before replying.

"If you're talking about him being a Void member, than I don't think he'll try anything." He told me. "I think the reason him and that Flygon are here in the first place is to keep eyes on the developing Ravens, pick out which ones may be threats in the future. In order for them to fully determine someone as a threat, they need to see them go towards their full potential, which means neither of them will make a move immediately. If either of them try and make a move here, then their cover will most likely need to be blown. They need to observe the recruits before they do anything, so I don't see any violent acts in the near future."

Kuro's explanation put me in a state of awe. We had both just arrived here, and Kuro has deduced this much information. Sure, it may have all been conjecture, but it sounded accurate, and I wouldn't doubt for a second that his theory is right.

"Wow… Kuro that's amazing!" I cheerily told him. I watched as his ears twitched slightly, and I swear I saw his rings flash a light for a second.

"I-I'm just basing all of this off of educated guesses, so none of it is confirmed." He told me, obviously flustered at my comment.

I found it very amusing to praise Kuro, not only because he deserves the praise I give him, by also because of how easily he gets embarrassed. It made me feel at peace whenever I said something to Kuro that praised him, and his response was a stutter trying to tell me why he wasn't worthy of praise.

It's also… really adorable.

"All Void theories aside, how did your training go Naru?" Kuro asked me.

"Well, it started off with me getting tossed around for a few hours, but then my mentor gave me some advice on how to change my battling style when necessary, and I started to make actual improvements! However, all I really did was hit her directly once…" I said.

"Don't sell yourself short, Naru." Kuro shook his head. "You have to remember that you're battling against an experienced veteran here, landing a direct hit is great!" Kuro encouraged.

This time I got flustered at praise.

Kuro knows how to recover from his embarrassment quickly, which is a good trait, but...

Kuro began chuckling slightly.

"I meant every word I just said, but consider that my revenge." He told me.

It gives him a chance to counterattack.

I cleared the growing red in my cheeks.

"Joking aside, are you really okay with keeping Kai as your mentor?" I asked Kuro.

He seemed to think for a moment.

"I was able to face him during the applicants' tournament, even know my nerves were killing me, and I made it through today. I mean, I even had something close to a normal conversation with him, so I think I'll be fine." Kuro assured me. "Plus, Void member or not, Kai is strong, and as long as he's within the Nest, he's obligated to train me like any other mentor. This is a huge opportunity to get stronger, and I don't think I should waste it." I listened to Kuro and then smiled.

He really is determined…

"Sounds good then, but remember, if something starts to bother you regarding the whole situation you have yourself in, let me know." Kuro turned and looked at me after I said that. "After all, we can understand each other better than anyone else can, so we can rely on one another if we need to!"

Kuro smiled.

"Of course. Don't forget the same goes for you. I feel like you've been the one encouraging me since we met, but if you need help too, I'll be here."

I smiled back at Kuro after he said that.

I couldn't have rammed into a better pokemon that day...

Aven

…..

…...

I wonder how long it'll take….

I flew to the top of the Nest's main building, ready to launch the biggest fire blast I can into the sky as a signal.

For them to get here…

Hello readers!

Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter than usual, but if I continued from here, then this chapter would be too long for its own good, so I decided to cut it before that happened.

Once again, thank you all for all of the reviews and PMs I've received, it really means the world to me! (Don't care how cheesy that sounds, it's true)

Also, about 900 people have seen this… And that is amazing and equally nerve wracking at the same time, so hopefully that doesn't affect me too much!

See you next chapter!