Chapter 2: The Calling of the Underworld

Zorua and Riolu are both surrounded by black fire and Zorua's three friends have disappeared. Riolu is still knocked out on the ground with his arm slowly recovering. Zorua has a worried expression on his face as he asks, "This place… how did I end up here?"

While Zorua looks around at his surroundings, his eyes widen with shock as he sees an army of five thousand demons walking out of the fire, completely surrounding Zorua. Zorua looks right at the direction where Riolu is located and his eyes widen with fear as he sees Riolu getting back up and slowly transforming into a demon like all the others. Sweat rolls down Zorua's face as he looks around at the number of demons surrounding him.

The black fire's temperature increases fiercely, causing Zorua to sweat more. Zorua starts to pant as he asks, "What the hell is going on here? Where am I?" As the demons walked slowly towards Zorua like zombies, a dark, threatening voice answers to Zorua, "Welcome to the Underworld, Zorua."

A shadowy figure of a Pokemon walks out of the black fire and walks through the mob of demons. The only part of the Pokemon that wasn't shadowy was its long, wavy white hair. Zorua's eyes widen with fear as he sees the Pokemon standing before him in the middle of the mob. Zorua tried to transform into the Pokemon he is seeing, but he cringes his eyes as he feels his energy draining from his body. Zorua collapses to the ground on his stomach and pants deeply.

The Pokemon looks down at Zorua with a serious expression in his eyes as he says, "It's no use to transform into me, child. In this world, your energy is drained from your body. In other words," While Zorua tries to get back up onto his feet, the Pokemon steps of Zorua's back with his right foot, keeping Zorua pinned down to the ground, "you're completely defenseless here. You have no hope of escaping on your own will. You can only leave when I allow you to."

Zorua looks up at the Pokemon weakly and he asks, "Who the hell are you?" The Pokemon has the same serious look in his eyes as he replies, "I'm the prince of the Underworld, of course." Zorua's eyes widen with fear as he repeats the words that frightened him, "T-the Underworld… it can't be…"

The Pokemon releases Zorua from his hold and he says, "Zorua, I brought you here to tell you something important. You better listen up, for it involves Riolu." Zorua weakly looks up at the Pokemon and he asks, "What do you mean? What is so important to know about that Riolu?"

The Pokemon turns his back on Zorua, walks about five feet away from him with his hands behind his back and he answers, "The fact that Riolu is a threat. A threat to you all in the world above…" Zorua has a confused expression on his face as he asks, "What are you talking about? If he's a threat to us up there, than why are you're demons attacking Riolu?"

The Pokemon looks back at Zorua with its revealing eye glowing bright red and he replies, "I was trying to help you all. The fact is that Riolu is a threat to the Pokemon World, for he's…" The Pokemon caught himself from going any further and he turns his head away from Zorua.

Zorua asks with a serious expression in his eyes, "He's a what?" The Pokemon replies as the army of Demons turned back into the black fire, "Nothing…" The Pokemon looks back at Zorua, revealing his true form to him by making the shadows surrounding him form back into the shadows on the ground. Zorua's eyes widen with fear as he says, "It can't be! Y-you're…"

Before Zorua could finish his sentence, the black fire vanishes, and everything around him turns back into the Pokemon World surroundings. Zorua is lying down on the snowy ground as he opens his eyes and says the name; "Darkrai…"

Zorua is lying on the ground all alone. He slowly gets himself back up onto his feet and tries to find Mienfoo, Maractus, Audino, and Riolu. But they are nowhere to be found. Zorua manages to get back his strength after walking around in a circle in the snow. Zorua has a worried look on his face as he thought, "Did they leave me behind? Why would they do that?"

Zorua looks down at the snowy ground and notices a few spots of the ground are burned. "Judging by the look of the charred spots on the ground," Zorua looks at the direction where his village is located, "Mienfoo and the others left this area for quite a while now."

A trouble look forms on Zorua's face, "But why would they leave me…!" Zorua's eyes widen when he comes to the conclusion, "Is it possible that while I was sent to the Underworld, I…" Zorua gulps in hesitation at the thought and quickly starts to make a run for it to the Winter Leaf Village. As he ran through the forest, he instantly transforms into a Grovyle again, running as fast as he can back home. It starts to snow slowly.

While Zorua heads back home, Mienfoo, Maractus, and Audino are in their cabin. Their cabin is made out of wood and the windows have metal bars over them, for protection against enemy attacks. Riolu is lying down on Audino's bed, panting heavily as Audino uses her Heal Pulse move to close up Riolu's right arm.

Maractus looks right at Audino with a curious look in her eyes while sitting on her bed and asks, "So… what's the deal with Riolu's injury?" Audino has a worried look in her eyes as he replied while still focusing her healing energy into Riolu's arm, "The damage on his arm is far worse than I expected. The bite actually broke his arm and damaged the muscle tissues,"

Audino looks up at Maractus and Mienfoo as Mienfoo looks directly at Audino, "It'll take a lot of time in order for Riolu to recover, but if he sees me more often to heal his arm, he should be all right by three weeks."

Mienfoo has a concerned look on her face as she asks, "As for Zorua, are you sure he actually died?" Audino nods her head with a sad expression on her face and she replies, "I'm afraid so. After he fell over, I checked him for any signs of life. But,"

Audino looks up at Mienfoo with a look of concern, "his energy and soul was gone. I couldn't detect anything in his body." Mienfoo has a sad expression on her face as she asks, "What do you think the cause of death was? Do you think one of the demons actually killed him?"

Audino looks back down at Riolu's right arm with a puzzling look on her face and she replies, "I don't think so. There were no wounds on his body. No signs of actually getting killed by anyone of anything. It seems as though his…"

Before Audino could finish her sentence, she and her friends get startled when they hear the door knocking. Maractus gets up out of her bed with a calmer look on her face and she walks up to the door.

When she touches the doorknob, Riolu slowly opens his eyes and says weakly, "I guess you were wrong about Zorua, Audino…" Audino has a surprised expression on her face as she says, "Wh-what are you talking about?" Audino quickly looks right at the door as Maractus opens it and sees Zorua standing there.

Audino's and her friends' eyes widen in disbelief as they see the shivering Zorua standing there. Zorua asks while shivering, "Can I come in? It's really cold out here." Mienfoo runs up to Zorua with a smile on her face, pick him up, and give him a hug. While hugging him, she pulls him into the cabin and Maractus closes the door.

Zorua has a look of surprise in his eyes as he asks, "What's going on here?" Mienfoo places Zorua back down on the ground on his feet, blushes with tears of joy rolling down her cheeks, and she asks, "Zorua! I'm so glad that you're alive!"

Audino looks directly at Zorua with the same look of disbelief on her face and she asks, "Z-Zorua! How is it possible that you're here?" Zorua, Mienfoo, and Maractus looks directly at Audino as she continues, "I checked you for signs of life after you fell over, but I couldn't find any at all."

Zorua has a look of concern on his face as he replies, "I figured that would be the reason why you all left me out there," Zorua has a serious look on his face as he says, "The truth is that I was taken to the Underworld. Those demons that we fought were from the Underworld."

Mienfoo, Maractus, and Audino's eyes widen with fear as they all repeat the words, "The U-Underworld!" Audino asks with the same expression on her face, "But why were you sent to the Underworld? It doesn't make any sense?"

Zorua replies with a concerned look on his face, "For some reason, the prince of the Underworld summoned me down there. He was warning me about something." Audino asks while her focus on the Heal Pulse vanishes, "You've seen the prince of the Underworld face to face? What kind of Pokemon was it?"

Zorua replies with a look of concern on his face, "It was Darkrai," Zorua's look on his face turned to serious one, "For some reason, he was warning me about Riolu over there." Audino asks with a look of concern on her face, "What was Darkrai warning you about?"

Before Zorua could answer Riolu answers instead, "I'm guessing Darkrai warned you about me being in this world, huh?" Riolu looks right at Zorua from where he lies and Riolu continues, "I guess he came up with some type of lie about me being a threat to this world, right?"

Zorua has a surprised look on his face as he hears Riolu's words. Zorua asks with a curious look on his face, "Who are you?" Riolu replies with a weak smile on his face, "I'm not a Pokemon if that's what you're wondering."