Chapter 19: Riolu vs. Snivy- Race up the Mountain

Riolu is still sliding down the mountain as Snivy is on the deck of the ship, confronting Kirlia and Kirlio.

Kirlio is staying out of the way as both Kirlia and Snivy argue back and forth to each other.

Snivy says with a serious expression on her face, "I'm telling you the truth! We have Riolu up on the mountain with Arceus, and Arceus sent me down here to get you guys up there!"

But Kirlia just asks with a deriding grin on her face, "But what's the magic word?"

Snivy's face turns red with frustration and she replies back, "Fine… will you please follow me up the mountain to Arceus?"

But Kirlia replies with a serious expression on her face, "Not without either Riolu or Zorua by your side. We'll agree to come along with you if you have either one of those two with you."

Snivy sighs deeply as she thinks, 'This is starting to get bothersome…'

Snivy looks right at Kirlia with a serious expression on her face and she replies, "Riolu is resting right now… but what if I battle you as my proof of being Riolu's ally?"

Kirlia has an interested expression on her face as she replies, "Sounds like a good way to give me proof!"

Kirlia faces the dock as she says, "Well then… shall we get the battle started out there?"

Before Snivy could reply, Riolu yells out, "Kirlia! Kirlio! Snivy!"

All three Pokemon look out beyond the dock and see Riolu heading their way. Kirlia yells out in a sarcastic way, "Well speak of the devil! There you are!"

After Riolu stops running and starts walking down the wooden dock, Kirlio has a shocked expression in his eyes when he starts feeling Riolu's aura levels from the end of the thirty foot dock.

Kirlio asks with a serious expression on his face, "Could that really be Riolu?"

Kirlia looks back at Kirlio with a confused expression on her face and she asks, "What do you mean by that, Kirlio?"

Kirlio replies with a look of disbelief on his face, "I mean his energy levels has increased dramatically… it's even stronger than your psychic energy."

Kirlia has a shocked expression in her eyes when she looked back at Riolu and focused on his aura. 'Wh-what the hell is with all of that energy? What happened while we were knocked out?'

Snivy looks right at Riolu with a smile on her face and she says after he reaches the boat, "So Arceus finally revived your lost memories and power?"

Riolu nods his head and he replies, "Yeah. I finally understand everything now. I even got my Heaven Gloves back, too."

Kirlio looks down at Riolu's hands and notices the gloves. Snivy says with a happy expression on her face, "Well that's good! I'm glad you're finally back with us, Riolu!"

Kirlia has a confused expression on her face as she asks, "Okay… will someone tell me what the hell is going on?"

Kirlio asks with a serious expression on his face, "What happened to Zorua? Why isn't he around with you guys?"

Kirlia looks back at Kirlio and she replies, "He should be up with Arceus, getting the Hell Spirit Blade taken care of, right?"

When she looks back at Riolu, she has a look of concern on her face when she sees the downed expression on his face.

Kirlia asks in a serious tone, "What did that little bastard do?"

Riolu replies as he closes his eyes, "A group of Pokemon from the Underworld as his true friend captive and alive. They used her as bait to get Zorua back on their side. In order for his true friend to be kept alive, Zorua had to kill me… or at least try to kill me off."

Both Kirlia and Kirlio have a look of disbelief on their faces.

Kirlio replies with a serious expression now on his face, "That explains why I kept on feeling Zorua's dark energy in my body. He placed us in a sealed sleep…"

Kirlia replies with a look of concern on her face, "He wanted us to stay out of the way of his plan…"

Kirlia looks right at Riolu and she asks with a curious expression on her face, "But since you're still alive, doesn't that mean they'll kill this true friend of Zorua's?"

Riolu replies with a serious expression on his face, "To tell the truth… I don't really care anymore. Now that I know what my true role as a Pokemon is, I have to push any bonds I had with Zorua away."

Kirlio asks with a curious expression in his eyes, "You're role as a Pokemon? Does that mean you're not truly a Pokemon?"

Riolu nods his head and he replies, "That's right. I'm actually a human, and my role as a Pokemon is to kill Zorua, Darkrai's apprentice."

Kirlio closes his eyes as he replies, "I see…"

But Kirlia just grins with a serious expression on her face and she asks, "Would it be okay if I could tag along on your goal, Riolu?"

Snivy nods her head, but Riolu asks with a curious expression on his face, "You can… but why do you want to go through with killing Zorua?"

Kirlia replies, "Are you kidding me? He tried to kill one of my friends! So whoever tries to hurt or kill my friends can kiss my ass!"

Riolu chuckles slightly and he replies, "Well that sounds familiar."

Kirlio looks right at Riolu with a serious expression on his face and he says, "I want to join you guys as well. It's really unforgiveable what Zorua tried to do to you. I'll be with you until the end."

Riolu grins confidently at Kirlia and Kirlio and he replies, "Thank you, guys."

After Kirlia and Kirlio get their cloaks on, everyone starts heading back to the mountain.

But when they reach the foot of the mountain, Kirlia and Kirlio look up with a look of disbelief on their faces and they both ask at the same time, "Are we going to climb up?"

Snivy looks back at them and she asks, "You guys will be fine. Besides, the mountain climb is actually a part of the training that Riolu and I went through. It helps build leg strength and speed. Normally, we could climb straight up the mountain, but we'll take the long way up for you two."

When Kirlia and Kirlio looked at the starting point of the mountain road, both of their eyes widen with shock when they see how fast Riolu and Snivy are climbing up. Kirlia and Kirlio both say at the same time, "You've got to be kidding me!"

They both start to run up the mountain roadway, trying to catch up to Riolu and Snivy, who have already reached up the quarter mark of the mountain.

Both Riolu and Snivy run with grins on their serious expression faces as they race each other up the mountain.

Snivy looks right at Riolu with a happy expression in her eyes and she asks, "Reminds you of back then, huh?"

Riolu looks right at Snivy and he replies with a happy expression in his eyes, "It certainly does!"

Snivy asks Riolu with a curious expression on her face, "By any chance, is there anyway where we can have a practice battle? I want to see how much stronger you've become since that day."

Riolu nods his head and he replies, "Sounds like fun. I'm curious to see how much stronger you've become, too."

Before they could continue with their conversation, they hear Kirlia yell out, "Slow down!"

When they stopped running and looked down the mountain, they see Kirlia and Kirlio standing at the quarter mark, panting heavily.

Riolu and Snivy have already reached the midpoint section of the mountain without even noticing it.

Riolu looks right at Snivy and he says, "Why don't we carry Kirlia and Kirlio up the mountain? They'll keep slowing us down if they keep going like this."

Snivy nods her head and she says, "That'll be fine, but why don't we make this a race to the top of the mountain? You can have Kirlio on your back and I can have Kirlia on mine."

Riolu nods his head with a confident grin on his face and he replies, "Sounds good, but I'll be winning!"

Snivy says with a confident grin on her face as they both sliding down the icy mountain side down to quarter mark, "Oh no you don't!"

After they both land on the road in the quarter point, they both offer Kirlia and Kirlio to ride on their backs the rest of the way up.

After Kirlia gets on Snivy's back and Kirlio on Riolu's like a piggyback ride, both Riolu and Snivy start running at full speed, racing each other to the top.

Both Kirlia and Kirlio have shocked expressions on their faces as they notice what kinds of speed Riolu and Snivy have in store.

Riolu is up front, with Snivy slightly behind.

Kirlio thinks with a look of shock in his eyes, 'How can this possibly be Riolu? He has far more energy and power than he did before!'

Snivy has a serious grin on her face as she thinks, 'Impressive… you've gotten way faster! However…'

Snivy starts picking up her pace, slowly catching up to Riolu again.

She thinks with a confident expression on her face, 'Even though you've been gone, I'm way different than before!'

Kirlia thinks with a look of shock in her eyes, 'What is with these two? Where is all of this energy coming from?'

Once she gets right next to Riolu, he looks right at her with a surprised expression on his face and he thinks, 'Not bad! It looks like you've been training more while I was gone.'

Riolu looks straight ahead and he thinks with a serious expression on his face, 'We're already at the three quarter mark of the mountain. I better pick up my speed before the race ends!'

Riolu looks up at Kirlio and he says, "You better hold on tight, Kirlio! I'm going all out!"

Kirlio looks down at Riolu with a shocked expression on his face and he asks, "Wait, what?"

Riolu picks up his speed as white aura forms out of his body like a flying fireball.

As Riolu starts leaving Snivy behind, she thinks with a serious expression on her face, 'Two can play at that game!'

As she starts picking up her speed, Kirlia's eyes widen with shock as she holds on tight to Snivy from the gravitational forces pushing against her.

Snivy slowly catches up to Riolu, officially side by side with Riolu.

Riolu looks right at Snivy with an impressed expression on his face and he thinks, 'Interesting… I'm going as fast as I can possibly go, but she's still…!'

Before he could finish his thought, Snivy starts falling behind. Riolu looks back and notices the exhausted expression on Snivy's face.

When Riolu looks straight ahead, he sees the finishing point of the mountain. He quickly slows down, transferring his white aura back into his body.

Once he reaches normal speed, he makes it through, followed by the exhausted Snivy.

After Snivy makes it to the top of the mountain and Kirlia gets off, Snivy falls on to her stomach, panting heavily from the race.

Kirlio is standing right next to Riolu with his shocked expression still stuck on his face as Riolu asks Snivy while offering his hand to help her up, "Are you all right, Snivy?"

After Snivy catches her breath, she looks up at Riolu with a smile on her face and she replies, "It's been quite a while since we've done anything like that..."

Riolu smiles back with an impressed expression on his face and he replies, "I couldn't agree more. I was impressed to see how fast you could go when I went all out."

Snivy giggles and she replies with an embarrassed look on her face, "Yeah… but that didn't quite last long, though."

Riolu closes his eyes and he replies with the same smile on his face, "You'll get the hang of it soon."

After Snivy grabs a hold of Riolu's hand and he helps her up, they both look directly at Kirlia and Kirlio, who are still shocked from the experience that they just went through.

Riolu rubs the back of his head and he replies after chuckling, "Are you two all right? I hope we didn't push it too much for you."

Kirlia replies with a calmer expression on her face, "It's fine… let's just say you two took me by surprise."

Kirlio asks as his face morphs into a calmer expression, "Riolu… do you think you have enough power already to fight against Zorua?"

Riolu shakes his head and he replies, "No… I still have a little ways to go before that time comes. Besides…"

Riolu looks up at Arceus, who is looking down at him, and he continues, "I can't just be satisfied with the power I have now. I need to become stronger before I can return to the Underworld."

Arceus replies after Kirlia, Kirlio, and Snivy look up at him, "Good choice, Riolu. It's true that you have a lot of power now, but there are still those out there that are either stronger or equal to your strength in the Underworld."

Riolu nods his head with a serious expression on his face and he says, "The stronger I get, the stronger my dark clone becomes. There's also Darkrai to keep an eye out for, too."

Arceus nods his head and he replies, "That's right… but your main obstacle is Darkrai. Your dark clone will only obtain half the power you've regained."

Riolu replies with a serious expression in his eyes, "Yeah…"

He looks back in the direction where the Underworld Island is located and he continues, "I'll be sure to not get caught by Darkrai like I did the last time."

Riolu looks back at Snivy, and he says, "We'll have our training battle tomorrow. Does that sound good?"

Snivy nods her head and she replies, "Yeah, that'll be fine."

Riolu and Snivy lets go of each other's hands and lie back down on the ground on their back, while Kirlia and Kirlio goes up to Arceus and starts asking him questions about what they've just missed out on.

While Riolu and Snivy are both sleeping next to each other on the ground, still wearing their cloaks, Zorua and Darkrai are both out in the forest of Underworld Island.

Zorua has large amounts of black aura flowing out of his body, but he is still maintaining his original form.

Darkrai is standing on the other side, looking at Zorua with a serious expression on his face. Darkrai yells out, "Zorua, lose yourself to the power of the Hell Spirit Blade! Allow its power to flow through your veins!"

Zorua yells back to Darkrai with a frustrated expression on his face, "I'm trying to, damn it!"

Darkrai yells back at he flies straight towards Zorua at a blinding speed, attempting to grab a hold of his neck, "You're not trying hard enough!"

Before Darkrai has the chance to grab a hold of Zorua's neck, the power of the black aura explodes out of Zorua's body fiercely as he roars loudly like a demon; the shockwaves of the intense power physically pushes Darkrai back away from Zorua, sending him flying straight towards a tree with the top of his head facing the trunk.

After Darkrai recovers his fall in midair by doing a backflip in midair, he looks directly at Zorua, who is glowing bright black from within the intense black aura.

Darkrai's eyes widen with shock as he feels another shockwave from the black aura push him back after Zorua roars like a demon again.

After Darkrai slams against the tree trunk on his back, causing the tree to fall over onto its side on the ground, he looks right at Zorua with a serious expression on his face as he sees his form slowly beginning to change.

As Zorua begins to stand on his back two legs and the hair on the top of his head grows longer, Zorua lets out another murderous roar as the black aura's size and power grows larger like a giant wildfire gone ablaze.

The black aura reaches the sky as Zorua's arms and legs grow longer with claws taking form out of his hands and feet.

After Zorua stops glowing black, Darkrai's eyes widen with shock when he notices that Zorua has evolved into Zoroark.

Darkrai thinks with a serious expression on his face, 'Interesting… I wasn't expecting for him to evolve so soon…'

Zoroark lets out another murderous howl with his face facing the sky, as the black aura surrounding him body starts shrinking down to his size.

After the black aura calms and is just radiating out of his body like steam, he looks directly at Darkrai with a serious expression on his face and he asks in a dark tone, "Was that good enough for you, Lord Darkrai?"

Darkrai just stares into Zoroark's eyes with a serious expression in his, trying to read his energy levels.

Darkrai ends up grinning malevolently as he replies, "Splendid… you're resolve to kill your enemies has increased. But we won't stop here…"

Darkrai points the palm of his right hand at Zoroark and he yells out with a murderous expression on his face, "Fight me, Zoroark! Show me what kind of power you've got!"

Zoroark keeps his calm expression on his face as he runs straight towards Darkrai with both Night Slashes taking form over his arms, using the black aura from the Hell Spirit Blade to attack.

Zoroark thinks as he runs straight towards Darkrai, who also is using Night Slash from both arms, 'This power… I will only use it to take down my enemies!'

After Zoroark and Darkrai exchange blows, Zoroark continues with a serious expression on his face, 'I will use this power to keep Mienfoo safe!'

After Zoroark pushes Darkrai back with a great amount of force that sends him crashing into upcoming trees that sends them all timbering down to the ground, he thinks with his eyes closed, "I will use this strength…"

After Darkrai reappears behind Zoroark and tries to attack him from behind, Zoroark continues as he opens his eyes and instantly blocks Darkrai's attack with his Night Slashes, '…to finish what I've started.'

Darkrai has a serious grin on his face as he says to Zoroark, "Come on now! Let's keep this up until one of us falls!"

Zoroark remains silent with a serious expression on his face and he pushes Darkrai back again with great amounts of force behind his push.

As Darkrai starts crashing into the trees again and sends them timbering down to the ground, Zoroark thinks with a serious expression on his face, 'Riolu… the next time we meet… I'll be able to finish what I've started.'

Zoroark roars loudly as he runs straight towards where Darkrai was sent flying, continuing his fight with Darkrai.