DarkFoxKit: … Hey there readers… hi, well… if you're wondering about Crit, he's on a leash right now, a very, very short leash.

ConstructCritical: *is chained, deadbolted, and straitjacket… ed to a metal pole* THE FELINESHIPPERS WILL NOT SUBMIT! I HAVE BEEN TRAINED TO WITHSTAND ALL FORMS OF TORTURE! I WILL NEVER TALK! *zips mouth shut with a zipper using his back paw*

DarkFoxKit: Nobody cares. Anyways, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, and now we're finally getting into the meat of things!

ConstructCritical: *unzips, and foams at the mouth* ARF! ARF! *starts chewing on chain, trying to break it*

DarkFoxKit: And here I thought you were all about felines, not canines. You guys go ahead and read, I'll deal with this… dog, Minccino thing.

ConstructCritical: *breaks free of restraints and starts zooming around the room; a hyper, light red bullet, eventually slamming into the camera.*

Chapter 7: The Shadows

Kit and Crit were back in their 'room' of the meadows. Both of them were looking at the badges they saw in their mail.

"So it looks like we passed after all. These are the Normal Rank badges." Kit said proudly.

Crit nodded triumphantly. "So you say that Team Bonecracker lost because the Cubone broke the skull?" He asked her for what seemed like the one-hundreth time.

Kit, rolling her eyes in annoyance of his repeated question, said, "Yes, for the thounsandth time, the Cubone lost because she broke her skull and began crying. How many times do I have to keep repeating myself?"

The Pikachu snorted a laugh. "It's just such a pathetic way to lose."

"Yeah, maybe it is, I'm still in shock by how that turned out." Kit chuckled. "But hey, at least we passed. So… now what? Are we supposed to wait until someone gives us a mission?"

"I think I heard from some team higher up they they were 'going to get a mission from the Notice Board' or something. Maybe we should ask someone about it?" Crit suggested eagerly.

"Yeah, I guess we can ask Cella or Venus about it. Where are they anyway? They said they were going to join us once we become Normal Ranks." Kit said, looking around. "Or maybe they have to stay in their own rooms?"

Crit shrugged. "If I knew then I probably would have dragged you with me to find them."

"Maybe there's a meeting place we can go to? … Like maybe the cafe! That place always has a lot of Pokemon hanging out there." Kit suggested.

Crit shrugged again. "I'm game."

The two Pokemon head to the cafeteria, they've memorized their way there from their room in this maze of a hideout. There they saw a lot of Pokemon stuffing their faces, like always. "Okay… um… who do we ask about this Notice Board?"

The Pikachu looked around, trying to find anyone who could help. He suddenly spotted someone familiar. "Nidogirl!" He shouted as he charged over to her, nearly knocking over her food while he was at it.

The Nidoran spluttered when the Pikachu suddenly tackled her into a hug. "Whoa! Whoa! Calm down big boy!"

Kit laughed at the affection the Pikachu showed to the one who recruited them. "Geez, don't suffocate her."

Crit got off her, a blush on his cheeks as he dusted himself off. "It's just I haven't seen you for over a month." He announced to the other two, as if no one knew it yet.

Nidogirl rolled her eyes at the Pikachu and said, "Yes, well, I'm happy to see you guys too, but I have a sensitive stomach so please don't shake me like that." she took a sip from her cup.

Crit nodded, still slightly embarrassed at the hug. He shrugged it off and sat down with Kit at a table, where Nidogirl had been headed before the little… encounter.

Kit put up a plate of spaghetti and began happily slurping up the noodles with some sauce. "So Nidogirl, you going on any missions yet?"

Crit glanced at the Nidoran. "Yeah. We need a bit of help finding out where we actually, you know, get a mission. It's apparently a crucial part of being a Crusader." He said sarcastically.

Nidogirl nodded as she took a bite of cheese and said, "Yes, the Notice Board is in the Environment Room at the center, it shouldn't be too hard to find. And anyway, I'm planning to travel out to the woods for a bit. I need to deliver this medicine to a sick Pokemon and they need a Crusader to get passed all the Shadow Pokemon safely."

Crit looked at her a little oddly. "Why don't all Pokemon just stay here? Unless you try to keep the food at a good-sized level, don't you think it would be a good idea to make this like a refugee camp, or are there already separate refugee camps?"

The Nidoran sighed and said, "It's not as easy as that. We've tried, many, many times for years to make a refugee camp for all Pokemon, but it didn't work so well."

The sauce-covered mouthed Eevee frowned and said, "What happened?"

Nidogirl began to explain, "When we first tried it, a lot of the younger Pokemon ended up wandering outside, because their parents were too busy with their duties here… and they never returned, at least not as normal Pokemon anymore. The second time, we made sure the kids would stay indoors, but… well, because many of the parent and non-combat Pokemon lived here, it caused a lot of clutter and it was too hard for teams to find what they need, not to mention they get sick so easily due to the stale air. It's always one thing after another until eventually the civilians grew anxious and tired of staying here, so they decided to live out somewhere in villages, but with some barrier or something that protects them from Shadow Pokemon. It's worked out for the best really, but making deliveries like this is pretty tough, but I see it as more training."

Crit looked around absentmindedly. "Well, that's all fine, but do you think you could help us? I mean, we know where to get a mission, but we've never really done one, and something tells me nothing from our training could prepare us for what's out there." He said, a bit of edge to his voice.

Nidogirl took a sip of her juice again and said, "True… no amount of training can compare to the real thing. Experience is the only true trainer." she began to have a thoughtful moment and said, "Hmm… well, I COULD use some help with the delivery in case I need some back-up. The woods I'm going to isn't very big and not a lot of Shadow Pokemon go there during the day… so while it's still daylight, perhaps you two could come with me?"

The two Pokemon looked at each other. They both nodded. "We're in." they said in unison.

Nidogirl smiled and nodded, "Alright then, this will be your first real mission outside of HQ. Just stick close to each other, the last thing you want is to be separated while outside."

The duo gulped. "I hope this is fast." Crit said to himself.

As they finished their food, the three walked out of the cafeteria and made their way towards the exit of the building. "I can't believe we haven't seen the real sun for a whole month." Crit commented.

"Yeah, it's almost unbelievable. Never thought I would miss the real sun." Kit said. The Eevee never liked the hot too much, she prefers the cold and dark, mostly she likes cloudy and rainy days.

Nidogirl chuckled and said, "Yeah, a lot of the Training Ranks complain how they wish to go out of HQ just to see the outside world again after being cooped up for so long."

"I'm sure I'll make my Memma proud." He said, half referring to Mew as 'Memma', since she has really been the one looking out for him this far, even though they weren't related biologically.

"Memma?" Kit blinked, not yet knowing the term.

Crit blinked for a second. He hunched over and whispered into the Eevee's ear. "Apparently 'Memma' is the Pokemon term for parent." He told her, trying not to let Nidogirl hear; after all, humans asking what the word 'mom' meant would be awfully odd.

"Ohhh… well that's pretty odd." the Eevee said. "Why not just say 'Mom' or 'Dad'?"

"I dunno. Don't you think Pokemon would say the same thing about us calling our 'Memmas'; Mom and Dad?" He asked rhetorically.

"Well… I don't know…" Kit frowned. "I just thought it was natural to just call them Mom and Dad for every creature."

Nidogirl opened the door and said, "Welcome to the outside world after being gone for a month. How do you two feel?"

Crit looked around. Everything looked so… real. He ran around, splashing in a nearby stream, before going and nibbling on some Oran Berries on a bush. "I love it up here." He said, finding it a little odd, since he couldn't stay here - the place that was his real home.

Kit took a deep breath, smelling in the fresh air. "It's really so different out here compared to the HQ. I guess after being cooped up for so long you appreciate the things outside that you never cared for before."

Nidogirl nodded and said, "Take it in, you two deserve it. It wasn't easy getting Normal Rank. In fact, it took me ages to make it to Normal Rank myself!"

Crit sighed. "Well, I guess we should get going, huh?" He asked miserably, still wanting to enjoy the surface.

Nidogirl looked up at the sky and said, "Huh… it's already evening… that's not good. It'll be night soon, and we don't want to be out here when it's night, so yeah, we should get going. Remember you two, we need to stay together while we're out here, so don't go wandering off."

The two Pokemon nodded, "Yeah, we will, don't worry." Kit said.

The three of them started walking into the forest, seeing nearly no life. Either the Pokemon were too scared to come out, or they were all already Shadow Pokemon. Crit shuddered at that thought.

"Just relax, Crit, Shadow Pokemon can sense fear and will run to it. Just think happy thoughts." Nidogirl said, trying to reassure the anxious Pikachu.

Kit was looking around the forest, "It's kinda nice out here. Nice, quiet, peaceful, although a bit eerie at how lifeless it is."

Crit nodded, and tried to think of nice things. Flowers, Berries, Battling, Kit - Crit mentally slapped himself for that last thought. He had to stay focused. Even while trying to stay positive, he always had a nagging fear, telling him to run back. Telling him danger is close. He just ignored it, he couldn't look like a coward after his first mission.

"So how far away is this village?" Kit asked.

The Nidoran thought about it and said, "About two miles, it's not too far. We should be there before too long."

The group of three kept walking, but then they heard something howl in the distance, they all froze, looking around.

Nidogirl gritted her teeth and said, "Not good."

"W-what was that?" Kit asked, gulping nervously.

The Nidoran kept looking around as if trying to see if there's any danger in the immediate area. "That was a Houndour's howl, but they don't normally howl like that unless they're Shadow Pokemon. I was hoping we have more time, but the sun's going down too fast. If it gets too dark when we reach the village, we'll have to spend the night there to stay safe from Shadow Pokemon."

Crit nodded. He suddenly saw movement. "I saw something." He said quietly.

"What? What did you see?" Nidogirl prompted, wanting to know if it was anything dangerous.

"I couldn't see it clearly, but it just… felt evil. I think it was a silhouette of a dog-thing, but I can't be sure." Crit rambled nervously. He usually wasn't this nervous, but all those stories he had heard while… listening on a person's conversation when they didn't specifically ask him to, had gotten to his head, and his imagination had run wild.

Kit jumped when she saw a shadow stalking them from bush to bush, "I-I think that Houndour or whatever is nearby…"

Nigogirl frowned and glared, "If it's just one, we can handle it, but if it's in a pack… well… that might not turn out so well for us."

"Well what are we going to do then? We're already more than halfway there, so we can't turn back, but going forwards would be going towards the Shadow Pokemon." Crit reasoned, making the hopeless situation seem all the more hopeless.

"Quiet, don't make it sound like that." Kit said, feeling nervous and anxious.

Nidogirl glared, her eyes turning pink for a split second. Kit didn't notice, but Crit blinked, not sure if what he saw was real or not. "Hmm… there IS a pack of them… I guess the evening light isn't bright enough to drive them away. But they're surrounding us, we can't turn back either."

"Wh-wh-what should we do?" Kit gulped, scared. Crit cautiously put his hand on her, trying to comfort the scared Eevee.

The Nidoran looked around, "Over there, there aren't any of them over there. Just don't panic, don't be scared, keep moving."

Crit nodded. "We should try to pick up the pace, at least, as long as we can stay quiet." He said, trying to sound a bit more upbeat than anyone in the group felt.

Nidogirl pat his back, "Calm down. Your fear will cause them to attack. Right now they're just slowly stalking us, trying to see if we'll make for an easy prey or not. If you panic they'll attack without hesitation, we need to keep calm and keep moving."

Kit wrapped her tail around Crit's, not willing to let go. "J-just lead us the safe route then…"

Nidogirl nodded, "Stay close." they began walking to another path, it would take longer to get to the village like this, but it's the safest route right now.

Crit pulled Kit's tail close, scared any second something terrible would happen, and he would never see the tail again.

Nidogirl kept an eye on them as she lead the way. They head into some tall grass, making it easier to hide, but also harder to see the incoming pack. So far, so good… nothing's really happened yet…

Then Nidogirl stopped, "Oh no… there are more up ahead, and there's a Houndoom with them. We need to go east, if we keep going north we're gonna get caught for sure."

Crit blinked. "How do you know they have a Houndoom? No one can see anything through this grass." Crit asked innocently.

"Just trust me, okay? I've learned to be able to see through these things." Nidogirl said, looking around. "Hmm… it seems the pack are still curious, good, we haven't yet set them off."

Crit followed Nidogirl, although he still thought it was odd that she could know those sorts of things. "How much farther is the town?"

"At this rate it might take us twenty more minutes than originally planned, but at least we'll get there alive." Nidogirl said cautiously.

Kit kept her tail wrapped around the Pikachu's. "I-is there anymore ahead? Why aren't they attacking us anyway?"

The Nidoran said, "If they're Shadow Pokemon, they have high intelligence, they know when to pick and choose their battle. They are also sadistic and want to watch us in anxiety."

Crit looked around, he didn't hear anything, and he didn't smell anything. Maybe they were gone? He examined a few bushes, and he didn't see any rustling. "I think they're gone."

Nidogirl stopped and frowned, "... Something isn't right here…"

The Eevee froze, very nervous now. "Wh-what do you mean something isn't right?"

"..." Nidogirl scanned the place and suddenly. "GET DOWN!" a huge shadow jumped at them! Kit and Crit both screamed in shock and fear, their tails still together as they ran off. "NO! WAIT!" Nidogirl yelled for them, but they were both too scared to stop. "Oh-no…"

After running for what felt like 10 minutes straight, Crit finally realized they had all been separated. He screeched to a stop, bringing Kit with them. "We should go back." He told her, not realizing at the time the way back had been covered by trees and bushes, and they weren't sure which direction to go in.

"Uh… b-back to w-where?" Kit gulped, noticing how lost they are, not recognizing the place they were in, and to make matters worse; the evening sun was very dim now. It was close to night, too close! "C-Crit… a-are we going to die out here?"

Crit blinked. "What? Of course not. I mean… we can find our way back eventually." He said, losing all his confidence halfway through the third sentence.

"B-but how are we going to g-get back? I-it's almost night fall! We only got lucky that one time because we were near a cave… and even then we were being chased by Shadow Pokemon!" Eevee gulped. "A-are those Houndours still stalking us?" to be honest, she was surprised that they hadn't attacked yet since they ran like that.

"We'll find somewhere to hide out, but we need to stay together. I think we learned that lesson the hard way, and now we're paying for it." He told her, chewing his lip nervously.

The two Pokemon trudged through the dark forest, trying to stay in clearings as much as possible. The enemy could see them there, but they could see them better, too.

Since both of them have pretty big and sensitive ears, it was easier to hear for any footsteps that might be coming their way. But the deafening silence made it real hard for them to stay calm and focused. They jumped at every little sound. "W-why can't we h-hear them? I-I know they're nearby…" Kit said nervously, staying close to Crit's side.

Crit shrugged. "Is that a cave?" He asked to no one in particular. He picked up the pace a little. "Yeah! We can hide out here for the night." He suggested to Kit.

"No wait!" Kit stopped him. "Look." she pointed a paw at the cave and saw some red eyes, glaring at them from within the cave. "I don't think going in that cave is a good idea right now." then she noticed a path. "Look, there, a path, maybe if we follow it we can get to that village!"

Crit looked down at the path. It didn't seem hostile. In fact, it looked appealing almost. "Good idea. Let's go."

The two Pokemon followed the path, both of them walking. Neither of them wanted to run, in fear of causing a Shadow Pokemon to attack them. They hadn't seen a Shadow Pokemon up close yet, but just being near them, even without seeing them, already made their fur stand up.

They heard a bush rustling nearby, making them stop dead in their tracks. "What was that?" Kit hissed, her body trembling. Then they heard growling… and it didn't sound natural. "Crit… I-I think the p-pack is surrounding u-us… I-I think they decided we're their n-next meal…"

"Well, I think we should run." Crit said. Not really leaving any room for a conversation, Crit grabbed Kit's tail and dashed off, using Quick Attack over and over again to try to gain as much distance from them and the pack as possible.

"C-Crit…" Kit said. "I have a very bad feeling about this… slow down! There might be more up ahead!"

The Pikachu skidded to a stop. He felt trapped. He couldn't go forward, he couldn't go back.

Kit then gasped when they saw themselves surrounded… and for the first time ever, they get their look on a real Shadow Pokemon. They were Houndours alright, but their colors were different… more menacing. They have a dark purple-black aura surrounding them, their eyes glowed a deadly red. Their black and red looked darker, everything about them screams 'evil' and 'predator'.

Crit pushed the Eevee behind him. There was a large rock formation behind them, so they only had three sides to worry about, instead of four.

"C-Crit… th-there's t-too m-many of th-them…" Kit said, shaking like a leaf. "I-I don't think we can fight them off…"

Crit shrugged, putting on a determined face. "Well we might as well put on a show for them, huh?" He asked as he jumped in the air, launching a Thundershock at them, hardly phasing any of them, save for a few runts.

"C-Crit!" Kit yelled as two Shadow Houndours launched at her. The Eevee squealed as she quickly ran under them, narrowly avoiding being jumped on. She decided to let her instincts take hold and used Sand-Attack on them, trying to buy some time.

The Shadow Houndours growled angrily as they jumped again, using some kind of tackling move with a shadowy aura. When this move hit Kit, it hurt, a LOT, almost like a Fighting type move. "ARGH!" she cried.

Another Shadow Houndour jumped at Crit, using the same shadowy tackling move, and it hurt Crit just as much, almost like a Ground type attack hit him. Just as the Pikachu was about to retaliate, however, the Shadow Houndour bit his tail! Crit yelled out in pain, as the Houndour pulled away, a purplish tint wound was on his tail.

"CRIT!" Kit jumped and Tackle the Shadow Houndour off him, leaving a mark on his tail. "Are you okay?"

Crit nodded. "I'm fine!" He shouted. He rapidly Quick Attacked the Houndour into a tree, but it simply got up and rejoined the rest of its dark brethren.

"Geez! How could one defeat these Shadow Pokemon? Every time we hit them, they just get back up and shrug off any damage we do to them!" Kit growled, not liking this at all.

The pack growled as they gathered around and slowly closed in on the two. Kit looked over at Crit and said, "... I think the village is nearby… if only we could just get past them and make a beeline to the village…"

Crit nodded, he grabbed her tail and started Quick Attacking a path through the crowd. It didn't really hurt any of them, but as they were shoved by, a path was beginning to form.

"You have GOT to teach me how to use Quick Attack if we ever get out of this alive." Kit said to the Pikachu.

The Shadow Houndour all roared as they chased after them, however, Crit wasn't able to get through all the pack. They were soon getting pounced on by the Shadow Houndour. Kit used Flail like crazy, with her energy low and her body in pain, Flail was a deadly weapon. She managed to get most of the pack off them, but she was in pain herself. One of the Shadow Houndour blasted the Eevee with a Shadow Fire attack, which is similar to Flamethrower, only the fire is pure dark and purple, and it HURT A LOT! Kit screamed out in pure agony.

Several of the Houndour nipped her fur and started dragging her into the crowd. Crit was already trying to keep ten Houndour on hold, but he couldn't let them kill Kit. He didn't know what to do. His instincts took over, and he suddenly made a giant ball of electricity in the air. He hadn't done this before, but he put in a Thundershock into it, and then put in a Thunderwave for good measure. He let the attack fly. It wiped out most of the group, he had used an Electro Ball combination, which seem to create a pseudo-Zap Cannon. They weren't dead, not even fainted, but the paralysis had them all on the ground. He quickly ran over to Kit, and grabbed her tail in his mouth, and made a break for the town on all fours.

Kit was coughing and trying to move, she couldn't tell what was going on, just that she was in a lot of pain and someone or something was dragging her. Thinking it was the Shadow Houndours, she began to struggle and yell in panic. "LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! LET ME GO!" she yelled and flailed around, not the attack Flail, but just flailing in general.

Crit was already exhausted, but when she started moving, shouting, and struggling, it was too much. The bite on his tail seemed to be taking out his energy into healing it. He let go of Kit and fell on his stomach, heaving.

Kit, still panicked, tried to stand up and run, but her body was too badly injured to move much. Neither of them were going anywhere, and the sun had already gone down. It was night, and soon Shadow Pokemon will flood the entire place and they'll be doomed for sure.

Something pink flew above them and flashed, the two were suddenly in a town. A Pokemon stopped when it saw the two injured on the ground. "They… they must've been attacked by Shadow Pokemon! Quick! Somebody call Audino, stat!"

DarkFoxKit: *was sitting in a dark room, just waiting and then whispered into the camera* Shhh… I'm trying to keep the monster from getting here… anyway… yes, this points out the first real mission outside of the HQ for Crit and Kit. The Shadow Pokemon are pretty vicious wouldn't you say? *ears twitch, hearing something.*

ConstructCritical: *two yellow orbs appear* Guude evening~... *cackles, before Zubats start swarming the room, screeching loudly*

DarkFoxKit: *quickly shuts the electronic door* Crap… I can't believe how fast he's gotten. Listen dear readers… Shadow Pokemon may be vicious but none of them compare to THIS particular monster… I just hope I don't run out of power, otherwise the door will open…

ConstructCritical: *walks into the room from the other door and rubs eyes* Wow, sheesh, what's with the bright lights? *pulls off the black hood*

DarkFoxKit: ….

ConstructCritical: ...Sooo… you haven't seen my friends have you? They seems to like Zubats a whole lot… *Zubats fill the room* AHH! *dives under a desk*

DarkFoxKit: Fudge you. *a face pops up on the screen.* SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! *static*