We've learned a few passing things about Dokukage, but now's the time to really get down into the details! Who is this mysterious person he chased through Pyrite Town? What could they want from him? We'll have to find out!

KedharS: Dokukage is like a fine spice. Best used with moderation.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: That may not be the most feasible decision on a roof though.

Tambry96bj: Yes, the inner monologues do lend themselves well to lightening the tone of a scene, that's for sure.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 885

Dokukage was shocked. He wasn't someone who surprised easily (well, not on the surface anyway) but right now he was stunned by the fact that Shinobu was standing in front of him.

It had been years since the last time he had seen his older sister. She had fled their village with his best friend when the two of them decided that they didn't want to continue serving their masters as shinobi any longer. It had broken his heart to see the two of them go, and he had resigned himself to the fact that he would never see her again.

And now here she was, standing in front of him like nothing had happened.

Shinobu looked exactly the same as he remembered. Her black hair still shined in the glow of the dawn, and her dark eyes still glittered like obsidian as they stared at him. Her face was locked in an impassive mask like always, the same expression he had trained himself to make from a young age himself. It was a familiar face, one that he had dearly missed.

But now wasn't the time for a touching reunion. Shinobu was a traitor, and she was one of the reasons he had left his village and traveled to the Pokemon Academy. He had originally set out to find her, hoping to bring her back home safely.

Well, he'd found her. And now that he had, his brain wasn't quite working properly.

"Shinobu…" He managed to ge tout. "What are you doing here?"

Shinobu didn't reply. "Are you really going to keep that mask on?" She asked, pointing at the mask that covered the lower half of his face. "Can I not look upon my own brother's face after our first reunion in years?"

Dokukage glowered at her, reaching up and drawing his mask down past his mouth to reveal a face nearly identical to the one before him.

"What now, then?" He asked. "We've seen each other, Shinobu, now, will you tell me what you're doing here already?" It didn't make sense. When Shinobu had fled, she'd said she was going to see the world. Was Pyrite Town really the place she had wanted to find herself when she was thinking about freedom?

"That's an odd question, brother," Shinobu mused, her lips crinkling slightly into the faintest shape of a smile. "Is it wrong for me to be here?"

Dokukage narrowed his eyes. She had to know that wasn't the reason he had asked such a question. "You know what I mean," he growled. "Why did you come to the Orre Region? Is this where you and Shima have been hiding out?"

"You don't really think I would reveal that to you, do you, brother?" Shinobu asked, raising her eyebrow. "Come now. You should know that shinobi like us aren't the sort who would ever part with our secrets willingly."

"You're not a shinobi anymore," Dokukage coldly reminded her. "You gave up the right to call yourself that when you left."

Shinobu shrugged. "True enough," she admitted. "But that doesn't mean I haven't kept up my training. And you would be a fool to assume that Shima hasn't done the same."

"So I take it if I asked you to come back to the village, you'd probably say no?" Dokukage asked, sighing. It was just about how he expected. "I see. Well in that case…"

Dokukage took a pokeball from his belt to make his intentions totally clear. He wasn't going to let her get away, not this time.

Shinobu wasn't amused. "A pokemon battle, Dokukage? At a time like this?"

"Take me to him," Dokukage demanded. "I need to see Shima right now. And then I'll bring both of you back home."

"I thought I already made it clear that I have no intention of returning home," Shinobu answered. "There is nothing left for me back at that place. Shima promised to show me the world, and so far, that promise has been fulfilled far better than anything back in that village."

Dokukage wasn't convinced. He had never understood what had driven his sister to run away with Shima and leave their village, but he didn't believe that there wasn't still some part of her that wanted to go back there.

Come on! This is ridiculous! You can't actually be considering battling your sister, can you?! Dokukage screamed at himself. In all his years at the village, whether it came to practicing ninjutsu or pokemon battles, Shinobu had always come out the victor. No matter what tricks he tried, she was always ahead of him. Even now, facing her like this, he didn't have any faith in the possibility that he could actually win.

He was fighting her because he had to. And the thought of that was making him shiver. But he couldn't just back down. That would be a violation of everything he believed in as a shinobi. He had to bring them both home.

But there was one other thing he needed to confirm before they started to fight.

"Before, why… why did you bump into me like that?" Dokukage demanded. "You have the skills to evade me easily if you wanted to, so why would you make contact so blatantly like that? I don't understand what you would have to gain."

Shinobu smirked. She wasn't practicing her emotional control at all!

"What I have to gain is simple," she replied with a shrug. "I wanted to see how my little brother has grown in my absence. So I figured a nice, friendly game of tag was in order, so that we could enjoy ourselves a little. I'm glad that you obliged me, it's nice to see that you can be as predictable as ever, Dokukage."

Dokukage had to keep his face even to prevent the frustrated grimace from crossing his face. A real shinobi wouldn't show his discomfort so easily! He had to keep in control and maintain his composure or Shinobu would get the advantage!

Calm down, calm down, he reminded himself. She's just trying to bait you. That's what she always does. But you're trained for this. You won't let her get the advantage of you so easily. He just needed to focus on what was important, bringing her down and then forcing her to take him to Shima. Shima was the problem here. He was the one who had manipulated his sister, taking advantage of her loyalty to draw her out of the village.

"So that's why you had me chase you through the village," Dokukage murmured. "It was all as some sort of test of my abilities?"

Shinobu shrugged. "You could think of it that way," she admitted. "But the truth is… I wanted to see what you were capable of because I had hoped that you would join me."

"Join you?" Dokukage asked. He must have been hearing things, there was no way that she could have actually said what he thought she just said, right?

What?! She wants me to join her?! Is she kidding? That's completely insane! NO way could I EVER join Shima and Shinobu in the crazy scheme! I'm loyal to the village, I won't be swayed! He had to try very hard to keep his hesitation from leaking through.

The truth was, part of Dokukage could see the appeal of Shinobu's words. From a young age, he and his sister had been indoctrinated to follow a very strict code of beliefs. Words that espoused the idea that loyalty to one's village was everything.

Dokukage truly believed that by maintaining loyalty to his home and working hard, he was showing how important the people in his life were. That by helping his friends in the village thrive and grow, they would create a better community for all of them, so he devoted himself solely to that goal.

But he understood now that a life like that wasn't ideal for everyone. When he had first stepped out of the village, his sensei had warned him of the temptations of the outside world. Trash TV, junk food, drugs, manga that weren't Naruto, there were countless things beyond the walls of the village that could lead one astray.

Dokukage hadn't believed it at first. But after having lived a few years with other people, he understood that there were things the outside world offered that the village simply couldn't. So it made sense, for Shima and Shinobu to want to get away from it all and build a life among the regular people, it made a lot of sense.

But as much as it hurt him, he couldn't permit it.

"I can't join you," Dokukage said evenly. "And I can't just let you leave, either. I told you already, I'm going to bring you back home to the village, Shinobu, that's all there is to it."

Shinobu wasn't amused. "Let me leave? It seems you've misunderstood something, Dokukage, if I want to leave, then I can do it at any time. You can't 'let' me leave. Do you think that you were able to catch me because your skills have reached parity with my own? No, I let you catch me, and I can let myself get away just as easily. It's as simple as that, do you understand?"

Dokukage admitted that she was probably correct. He knew how talented his sister was, and he knew that if she wanted it, she could escape and there wasn't much he could do to stop her. But just because he couldn't think of a way to stop her didn't mean he would just sit back and do nothing!

"Then I have no choice," Dokukage said, resigned. "Kagemusha! Take down my sister and bring her back home!"

"Goool!" His Golisopod emerged from his pokeball, raising his large claws. He shot forward and lunged at Shinobu.

A faint smile appeared on Shinobu's face. "Not bad, little brother. You had no hesitation whatsoever about sending out a pokemon to attack an unarmed trainer. Sensei would be proud of your ruthlessness. But that won't be enough."

Kagemusha was fast and powerful, and his claws were sharp enough to pierce steel. But it didn't matter. Because even though he was swinging swiftly and accurately, and even though Shinobu was confined to a very tight corner of the roof, Kagemusha just couldn't get a hit in.

Shinobu was too fast for him. She ducked under and turned away from every swipe the bug pokemon made, skillfully evading his attacks like they were made out of air. And all through it she continued to smirk.

"It won't be enough," she warned Dokukage. "You aren't strong enough to defeat me, neither in ninjutsu nor pokemon battles. You really should just come along with me, little brother. Shima and I can show you a world that's so much grander than what you would find in that tiny little village, what do you say?"

Dokukage didn't have an answer. He didn't even want to acknowledge what his sister was saying. He couldn't see any trace of loyalty or familiarity in her eyes; it was like she was an entirely different person peering out from behind a face that he knew so well.

He wouldn't let her make a fool of him.

"Kagemusha-"

"Hahako. Go."

Before Dokukage had a chance to issue his order, Shinobu ripped a pokeball off her belt and held it up from beneath her cloak, releasing the pokemon hidden within.

"Leavanny!" The Bug type pokemon chittered, waving her slender claws at the Golisopod. Hahako looked much weaker in comparison to the hulking bug, her body thin and covered with fragile leaves. But Dokukage wasn't a fool.

Like him, Shinobu was a master of the Bug type, and her pokemon were capable of devastating attacks. He had to keep himself under control, or he would risk her overpowering him completely with her strong pokemon.

But he failed to realize that, distracted as he was by the appearance of the Leavanny, that he had failed to give any orders to Kagemusha.

Shinobu would not be making the same mistake.

"Hahako," she ordered, "use razor leaf!"

"Leavanny!" Hahako nodded, raising her claws. Countless tiny shards of green leapt from the leaves that covered her body, whirling through the air like shuriken and spinning straight for Kagemusha. Dokukage had to think fast!

"Kagemusha!" Dokukage shouted. "Use iron defense!"

"Gol!" Kagemusha hunkered down and hardened his scales, turning his body as solid as steel to protect against the oncoming tornado of leaves.

Shinobu just smiled. "Losing your cool, are you, little brother? Well, I'm sorry to tell you that you'll need a better defense than that!"

The razor-sharp leaf blades struck Kagemusha, and cut right through his hardened scale armor, drawing blood from within. Kagemusha let out a roar of pain, not expecting an attack that painful to strike through his guard.

Dokukage didn't let himself lose his cool. Even as he saw the pained state of his pokemon, he knew that he couldn't let himself get distracted. That was just what Shinobu wanted, after all.

"You should know already, little brother, Hahako's leaves are as sharp as steel," Shinobu reminded him. "And that's not all! Hahako, use entrainment!"

"Leav!" Hahako leapt back and lifted her claws, and her body started to glow. Then Kagemusha's body began glowing as well.

Dokukage wanted to ask what was going on so badly, but he knew that if he did Shinobu would just mock him for losing his cool again. So he kept his mouth shut and just watched, desperate to figure out what her Leavanny was doing.

Shinobu smirked. "Do you want to know what's going on so badly, little brother? Well, if you like, I can tell you…"

Dokukage's face darkened and Shinobu laughed.

"Don't take it so personally. You're concealing your emotions quite well, far better than you were capable of the last time we met. The problem is, Dokukage, you're still my little brother, and I can still read you like a book. In the meantime… I suppose I could let you know-"

"I don't care," Dokukage interrupted her. Maybe he could have gone about that a little better, cutting her off so quickly revealed just how much he was bothered by what she was saying. But there was no time to think about that now! "Kagemusha, use x-scissor."

"Golisopod!" Kagemusha growled, shooting forward and raising his claws, bringing them down towards Hahako in a powerful double slash.

"Attacking to hide the fact you've lost your cool? That's so like you, little brother," Shinobu said. "Hahako, use protect."

"Leavanny," Hahako purred, creating a barrier of green light around her body that protected her from Kagemusha's slash, leaving her totally unharmed.

Dokukage's eye twitched.

"You won't be able to get through our shield that easily," Shinobu informed him as Kagemusha continued to batter on the barrier with his claws. "Now then, I suppose it's time I tell you what Hahako just did to your Golisopod."

"I don't care," Dokukage repeated, while inside he was screaming "FINALLY!" He needed to know what Shinobu had done, he just didn't want HER to know that he needed to know.

"Entrainment is a very special move," Shinobu explained. "Just as you and I were indoctrinated into our beliefs that the village was everything, Hahako has now indoctrinated your Golisopod. Usually, your Golisopod's ability Emergency Exit allows it to make a quick return whenever his health drops too low. Quite a useful ability to maintain a tactical advantage, I have to admit. But now… he no longer has that ability."

All thoughts of trying to maintain a stoic, cool aura were pushed out of Dokukage's mind as his jaw dropped in shock. Maybe if it was someone else providing him with the explanation, but anything that came from his sister's lips just had a habit of messing with him in ways that other people couldn't manage.

"With entrainment, Hahako has replaced Kagemusha's ability with her own ability, Swarm," Shinobu explained. "So no sudden exits for your friend there. And if you were thinking that you could just escape, well… Hahako! Sticky web!"

"Leavanny!" The barrier around Hahako dropped and she opened her mouth, firing a blast of sticky webbing onto Kagemusha that pinned him down to the roof. At the same time, more webs shot Dokukage's way, binding up his pokeball before he could even think of recalling his Golisopod back to his ball.

"With that, you can't pull any funny tricks like escaping, either," Shinobu smirked. "I told you, I know exactly what you're capable of little brother, I know how you fight. And I won't let it get the better of me. We'll have a nice clean fight the way siblings are supposed to." She turned to her Leavanny. "Hahako, it's time for your leaf blade!"

While Kagemusha was still struggling to break free of the webbing that covered his scales, Hahako sprung into action. She charged at him with her claw raised high, leaves shooting off of her body and forming around her hand into the shape of a long, sharp sword.

"Kagemusha, sucker punch," Dokukage ordered, but Kagemusha was too entangled to make any good form of countering feasible. He was used to making strong and swift attacks, and far less prepared to be on the receiving end of them. He tried to strike as best as he could, but the spider webs made it simply impossible.

"Leavanny!" Hahako crowed triumphantly, bringing her blade down like a samurai delivering a swift slash from his sword. She sliced through the sticky webs and buried her blade deep into Kagemusha's carapace, before leaping back.

"Another critical hit," Shinobu noted with pride. It took a few moments for it to happen, but after Hahako retreated from Kagemusha, blood began spraying out of the deep gash and he collapsed to the ground, injured.

"Kagemusha!" Dokukage shouted, all attempts at concealing his emotion completely out the window. Right now, he was just worried about his pokemon.

"You shouldn't lose your cool so easily, little brother," Shinobu advised him. "Don't you remember our sensei's teachings?"

Dokukage was seething. She wasn't really about to turn his own master's words against him, was she? She, who had betrayed their village completely?!

"It isn't enough to hide your feelings behind a mask," Shinobu warned him, her voice calling to mind his sensei's words. "They're still there, bubbling under the surface, waiting to break free. You have to purge them from your mind completely, or else they threaten to overcome you at every turn."

Dokukage had no response for his sister.

"…Of course, there's no saying you have to do that," Shinobu added, shrugging her shoulders. She smiled at her brother. "Dokukage, accept it. You don't have what it takes to really kill that side of you off for the sake of the village. You don't belong as a ninja. You belong as just another boy living a life he can enjoy."

She held her hand out to Dokukage, her eyes daring her brother to take her hand.

So! It seems that the Phantom isn't the only one with schemes! There are other players in this game besides the Daevas, and one of them is Dokukage's sister! Will he be able to defeat her without being swayed? Or will she get him to abandon his beliefs and run away with her?