There was a deadbeat of silence from everyone, Zoroark and Sceptile processing what they just heard, while Empoleon was just sitting there confused. Empoleon was taking notice of the award silence that was going on but didn't know what to say. After nearly a minute of this, Empoleon finally spoke up, saying, "Um, guys."
"It can't be, no it can't be, you must be lying," Zoroark said.
"Look, I know how crazy I sound saying this, but I assure you that everything I am saying is completely true. I don't want to face that awful flamethrower again," Simisage said while shivering in fear.
"Um, guys, could I maybe get some information on what exactly has gotten you two so frightened?" Empoleon asked.
"You need to understand this, Empoleon. If The Brotherhood is headed up by a Darkrai, then this organization is far more powerful than anything that we could have ever imagined."
"Remember the Mewtwo we encountered earlier? Darkrai is the same, a one-of-a-kind, extremely powerful Pokémon. They are often known as "god Pokémon" due to this. They have power levels far beyond ours, and they are nearly immortal."
"Darkrai, in particular, is a Pokémon of legends for its sheer level of power. He traps Pokémon in horrible nightmares. Many of them don't survive, and the ones that do are never the same again after that," Sceptile said.
"I told you everything I know. Can you please let me go?" Simisage said, still terrified of his life, not just from the Pokémon that have him right now but now the members of the Brotherhood since he gave away information about them.
Zoroark was contemplating killing him anyway, but she knew that now that he had given away this info, he couldn't return to The Brotherhood. Zoroark decided to let him go while saying, "I don't ever want to see your face again."
"Thank you so much. I am forever grateful," Simisage began running away as quickly as he could, and soon he was out of sight from all of them.
The trio sat there in silence, further thinking about what to do next. Zoroark, despite what she just learned, still wanted to go after The Brotherhood. In her eyes, her parents' deaths needed to be avenged no matter the cost. Sceptile was now more worried than ever. Going after The Brotherhood was more dangerous, with them having to go up against a god. Empoleon was unsure what to think about all of this.
"I need to get going I have to step up my game even further if I want to take down The Brotherhood," Zoroark said.
"I find it surprising that you still want to go after them even after learning this," Sceptile commented.
"At this point, Sceptile, you and Empoleon don't have a choice. What you need to understand is that the Brotherhood has been ignoring you this whole time. After pulling this, I am sure that they will start going after you more directly. You will now be seen as a threat to their plans."
Sceptile hearing that from Zoroark made him scared in a way that he could never have imagined before. Empoleon was even made a bit nervous by this. The two did not realize what they were getting themselves into when they started opposing The Brotherhood so directly, and now they had to directly deal with the consequences of that. The two could no longer sit on the side. They had to pick a side.
"Were in Zoroark," Empoleon stepped forward to say, which is something that Sceptile and even Zoroark herself did not expect.
"Wait, hold on a sec. Zoroark, do you have some sort of plan the way your talking makes it sound like you do?" Sceptile asked.
"I do have a plan, but to make it work correctly, nobody can know anything about it, not even you guys," Zoroark responded.
"It is going to be rather difficult for us to help you if we don't even know what your plan is," Empoleon commented.
"I do understand that it's a tough pill to swallow, but I need to keep this a secret. You will still be helping, but I am still going to be going off on my own much of the time."
"How exactly would we remain in contact then?" Sceptile wondered.
"I already thought of that. I have a tracker that allows me to track your location whenever I need to, but I need you two to agree to me placing it on you as it won't work otherwise."
"Well, I guess if it will help, I am willing to agree," Empoleon answered.
"Ugh, sure I will agree to it," Sceptile said more reluctantly.
Zoroark placed the trackers inside Empoleon and Sceptile and tested them to make sure they worked. After confirming that they did, she ran off ready to do whatever she needed to. Empoleon and Sceptile just stood there, unsure of exactly where to go next.
Meanwhile, in the base of The Brotherhood, Darkrai was continuing to show off his newest creation to Aegislash, something that had genuinely surprised him.
"Is that an Empoleon?" Aegislash asked.
"You are correct, Aegislash; this is no ordinary Empoleon. This is my greatest creation to date. It's an Empoleon, unlike anything you have ever seen before. It's powerful, it's fast, and it has abilities no other Empoleon has ever been seen with," Darkrai responded.
"How exactly did you manage to do this?" Aegislash asked.
"This Empoleon was captured on one of my previous quests. Let's just say that with a little bit of persuasion I was able to make him fully obedient to me."
"One of the Pokémon I keep encountering is also an Empoleon. I wonder if there is some sort of relation," Aegislash wondered.
"That doesn't matter. It's time for me to unleash my ultimate weapon," Darkrai said.
Darkrai opens up the castle, and out of it comes the Dark Empoleon. It stood there completely silent, waiting for Darkrai to give its commands. This was unlike anything Aegislash had seen before. This wasn't a minion, it was a weapon.
"Aegislash, you will battle this Dark Empoleon. You are my best assassin. You will make a good test to see how this goes," Darkrai said.
"I am not sure if that is a good idea master."
"You don't have a choice." Aegislash, I am your master, and you will listen to me. Empoleon attack."
Empoleon ran up to attack Aegislash. Aegislash was able to react in time to block the first strike he made with his claws. Aegislash then got out his sword to dual with Empoleon in hand-to-hand combat. Aegislash was able to knock Empoleon back and fire off a shadow ball. In the blink of an eye, Empoleon vanished Aegislash had no idea where he went, but he was suddenly hit from the back by some sort of water-powered attack. It did quite a bit of damage to Aegislash, but he was able to get back up and turn around to see that the one that hit him was Empoleon.
"How is that possible?" Aegislash questioned.
"When I said that this Empoleon has abilities no others have, I was serious about that. It can teleport." To show off what Darkrai was saying, Empoleon teleported all around Aegislash, which he was having trouble keeping up with.
"Your power is unlike anything I have ever seen before," Aegislash commented.
"There is a reason I am the leader of the organization. Empoleon, keep attacking," Darkrai said.
Empoleon teleported right in front of Aegislash and attempted to slash him with his metal claw. Aegislash was barely able to block it with his sword, and the two got into another battle. Empoleon was able to overwhelm Aegislash with his sheer strength. Aegislash was still in the game, though, and attempted to employ a different strategy. He employed a more defensive style, guarding against Empoleon's attacks with his shield while hitting him with shadow balls whenever the opportunity struck. This strategy was working against Empoleon to an extent, but he was shrugging off these hits like they were nothing at all.
Aegislash kept at this for over half an hour, but nothing was working. Empoleon was still taking nothing from anything he was throwing at him. Eventually, Aegislash was starting to get exhausted from the constant war of attrition he was put through. Aegislash did something that he never once in his entire life ever had to do, "I forfeit."
When Darkrai heard those words from Aegislash, he couldn't be happier. If this Dark Empoleon was able to beat Aegislash, his best and most competent assassin, with this much ease, the power that he wielded was unimaginable.
"That power, how could this even be possible," Aegislash wondered.
"There are some things that not even you know, Aegislash. Now it's time for us to begin. Dark Empoleon, start tracking down Empoleon, Sceptile, and Zoroark," Darkrai said.
Without even saying a word, Dark Empoleon rushed away quickly, ready to start his mission without any hesitation.
"Hey, Aegislash, have you seen Greninja anywhere? Their information could help Empoleon track them down even faster if I know Dark Empoleon will as well," Darkrai asked.
"Weirdly, I have not seen them recently," Aegislash said.
"Well, inform me when they show up, I will be busy with some stuff." Darkrai floated away, leaving Aegislash standing there thinking about everything he had just witnessed.