Chapter 12: The darkness of Max

Link, Max, May, and Brock walked through the dark forest. A blanket of stars was above them, and the full moon illuminating the way. They came into a clearing, and paused. Link looked up into the sky and stared at the moon. "It looks the same…" He muttered to himself. "Zelda…" He found his hand touching his chest, where his heart would be. For the first time on the journey he felt homesick.

"Hey Link!" May shouted, Link stared at the Pokemon trainer.

"What?" He replied, with a bit of melancholy in his voice.

"Well the forest now splits up into 4 different paths," Max began, not noticing the difference in Link's voice. "I think we should split up to cover more ground!"

"Ok" Link said not giving much thought into the decision. The other three disappeared, and Link looked up into the sky to look at the moon again, however much to his dismay the moon was being covered by a cloud. He returned back to his normal self and looked around the area to see that he was alone. For a few brief seconds he was confused. "Ah crap," he thought, "at least, now I can search without distractions!"

Link closed his eyes and concentrated. He then opened his eyes and began to walk forwards, his instinct was telling him to go forwards. He began to walk into the trees, not following any path. The trees were all crooked, and bent over him. And Link couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He continued walking forwards until he stood before a wall of vines, entangled in them was Pikachu and Kirby. He decided that it probably wasn't a good idea to use Din's fire, and he would only use it as a last resort. Link grabbed the hilt of the Master Sword and drew it slicing through the vines. Pikachu and Kirby hit the ground, and the vines began to come to life, trying to ensnare Link.

"Max!" A voice hissed through out the trees. The young child began to turn around searching for the origin of the voice, but to no avail. "You can't find me that easily! You have to find the darkness first!"

"Darkness?" Max asked intrigued.

"Yes! The darkness will stop you from going soft, and showing mercy on your opponents! The darkness will make you what you want to be, a Pokemon Master! No longer do you have to live in the shadows of Ash, May your sister, or your father!"

"But they are all strong Pokemon trainers how am I supposed to beat them?" Max asked.

"I will give you a Pokemon that will be capable of defeating Ash's Pikachu! And the rest will be up to you! Now come to my voice!"

Max started walking, but his excitement got the best of him. Greed had overcome him. He broke into a running speed.

Max stopped running, emerging in a different clearing. In this one there was a figure sitting on a rock staring up at the moon. Its face reflected the moonlight revealing messy blond hair covering the eyes. He wore an earthy brown cloak that appeared to be rather new. The boy heard Max and was slightly startled. They stared at each other for a few seconds, until the boy jumped off the rock and walked towards Max. They were about the same size, the other boy only taller than Max by about half an inch.

"Are you a Pokemon trainer?" the boy asked. Max just stepped back.

"N… n… n… o… no!" Max stuttered, the other child reached into his cloak, as though about to get something. "I came here following a voice!" Max blurted out.

"A voice?" The boy asked a bit puzzled, his hand returning to outside the cloak, his hands empty.

"Ya! It said something about finding the darkness, and a whole lot of other stuff! Oh by the way my name is Max, what's yours?"

"Its Rai," he responded. "Do you have any pokemon?"

"No, but I am looking for a Pikachu and a Jigglypuff! They were separated from their trainers, one is at the Pokemon Center, and the other is out here looking..." They were interrupted by a stick snapping. Both boys turned to see Team Rocket walking out of the forest. Jessie, James, and Meowth were supporting themselves with walking sticks. They were completely oblivious to Rai and Max standing in front of them.

"We have got to have the worst luck in existence," James moaned. "Not only were we blasted off, we then missed the edge of the cliff, followed by narrowly missing that branch at the side of the cliff, and crashing down into a Beedrill hive, followed by being chased into a lake that contained a school of Gyarados. I'm surprised that we are even alive!"

Rai stood in front of them staring at them both. They noticed the boy. "Is there something you want?" Jessie asked, angered quickly.

"Are you Pokemon trainers?" he asked.

"Are we?" Jessie smiled evilly. "Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation"

"To unite all peoples within our nation"

A whistling came through the air. "Oh the water I was boiling for tea," Rai muttered walking over to a fire, which was being concealed from Max's sight by the large rock. "Max do you want some tea?" he shouted, forgetting completely about Team Rocket.

Rai began to pour the hot water from the metal kettle. "Hey you can't ignore us!" Jessie shouted.

"I think he just did…"

Rai was peacefully drinking his tea, when Max came and joined him. Rai finished his tea and turned his attention to Team Rocket.

"So are you Pokemon trainers?" He asked once again.

"Yes…" Jessie and James moaned in sync.

"Do you want to have a battle?" Rai asked.

Jessie, and James brought out their Pokeballs, and threw them on the ground releasing Cacnea and Seviper. Rai did likewise and threw two pokeballs on the ground. One was a Dragonite, and the other was a Gyarados. Gyarados let out a mighty roar and instantly Cacnea and Seviper were scared.

"Dragonite, Gyarados, Hyper beam!" Both pokemon fired the attack at Cacnea and Seviper, who couldn't dodge the attack. They were struck full force, and both were sent flying into their respective trainers. Another hyper beam hit Team Rocket sending them blasting off.

"Looks like team rocket is blasting off again…" they screamed.

"Pathetic!" Rai muttered recalling his Pokemon. He walked towards Max. "Now lets find this voice!" Max didn't move. "Do you want a Pokemon?" Rai asked.

"Yes!"

"Then I'll ask my master! Come on!" Rai began to walk down a path, and Max cautiously followed. Slowly the walk began to break out into a run and they emerged into another clearing. Rai instantly got on his hands and knees bowing to a figure that wasn't visible. "Master… is this the boy you want?"

"Max!" A voice shouted, with it a gale of wind shot at the two. "Do you want a Pokemon?" Max just nodded as a response. "Then walk towards me, I will be waiting in the next clearing! You must come alone! Let your determination of obtaining a powerful Pokemon guide you!"

"Good luck Max!" Rai patted him on the back, as a sign of encouragement.

Max smiled and began to walk forwards, and once he was out of sight Master Hand appeared behind Rai. "You placed the shard on his back, didn't you?" He asked Rai.

"Yes master!" Rai responded. "Just like you told me too…"

"You haven't failed me yet Rai!"

"This only is my first mission master!" Rai smiled devilishly. "At least wait until my third of fourth mission to say something like that!"

"You can walk along that path now, but keep a distance, I'll be waiting!" Master Hand vanished into thin air, and Rai began to walk down the path. Meanwhile, strong feelings of fear, hatred, and greed began to manifest in Max.

Link continued to use the Master Sword to cut threw the vines, however they instantly grew back, and eventually capturing Link within their grasp. With out thinking Link used Din's fire, burning each of the vines down to the ground, freeing the recaptured Kirby and Pikachu, and starting a forest fire. Quickly Link played the Song of Storms calling down a magical rain, dousing the fire. Link then grabbed Pikachu's and Kirby's unconscious bodies and ran out of the area, into a clearing. In the clearing was a giant rock, and a fire that appeared to be burned out.

"This should be a good place to wake them…" Link thought, placing Kirby and Pikachu onto the ground. He then proceeded to shake Pikachu, eventually waking up the mouse.

"Pi…" Pikachu moaned. It looked around realizing that they were no longer entangled in the vines. Pikachu glared at Kirby who was still sleeping peacefully, and then unleashed a giant thunderbolt upon him.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT RAT!" Kirby shouted.

"FOR GETTING US TRAPPED IN THOSE STUPID VINES!" Pikachu yelled back.

"Please stop fighting," Link said trying to break the two up. However he stopped his efforts when he felt a pulse of energy. It was evident that Kirby and Pikachu felt the pulse of energy because they stopped arguing. All three of them stood up, and dashed towards the energy.

Max walked through the forest, each step he took the forest seemed to be getting darker, until it became pitch black. Max began to become afraid, and his fear was amplified by the crystal placed on his back. Eventually he stepped out of the forest path and into a clearing, the darkness disappeared. There in front of him he saw Master Hand floating by a tree.

"You have done well Max!" Master hand laughed.

Max just looked forwards. "I'm here for the Pokemon!" he managed to say, being overwhelmed by Master Hand's form.

"Yes of course you are!" Master hand snapped his fingers and from behind the tree came a small Pokemon, it was the pre-evolved form of Pikachu.

"A Pichu?" Max shouted outraged. "I came all the way through this stupid forest, to find out that I get a stupid Pichu! And here I was thinking I was going to get something awesome like a Blaziken or a Metagross!"

Master Hand just laughed. "How young you are Max!" He floated over to the Pichu and used his index finger to scratch its head. "Why bother fighting your enemy when you can torture and gain control of their emotions?"

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

"Your friend's Pikachu has met this Pichu before! And he believed it to be dead…" Master Hand stopped talking, "Welcome!" He managed to say. Max turned around to see Link, Kirby, and Pikachu standing at a few near by trees. All three of them just stared at Master Hand, Max, and the Pichu. Pikachu however was terrified and shaking.

"Brother…" Pikachu muttered to himself, just gazing at the Pichu. "But how… I thought you were dead…"

Link quickly loaded up an arrow and aimed it at Pichu. "Careful Pikachu Master Hand has used this trick up against me before!"

"Do you think it's a trick?" Master Hand asked Pikachu. "Join me and you can rule Pokeworld along side of your brother! After all, you do want power!"

Pikachu just stared at Master Hand. "Pikachu please join us!" Max said. "You don't have to be with that loser Ash!"

"So what is it?" Master Hand asked Pikachu. "Decide!"

Pikachu just stared at the three and then at Link. "Please put down your arrow," he muttered. "It would just be a wasted shot! Shame that you are using Max just like you used me! You will just toss him aside like filth!"

"Eventually," Master Hand admitted. Max looked at Master Hand in disgust. "But who knows, he might actually be useful! Unlike you, you who were so useless, who was supposed to kill Professor Oak, yet got captured instead! Rai you can come out of hiding now."

A figure jumped down in front of Master Hand. It was Rai, and he was heavily cloaked. "Master what are you orders?" Rai asked.

"Kill them!" Master Hand ordered the subordinate calmly. Rai nodded his head and looked at the warriors. He stretched out his right hand. Electricity spurted from his hand and he shot it towards the 3 fighters. They jumped into the air, and were able to dodge the attack. Master Hand, Pichu, and Max took this time to run away.

"Pikachu, Kirby! You two follow those three, I'll take care of this kid!" Link shouted out. Both Kirby and Pikachu ran past Rai, who didn't put up any resistance to stop them.

"If you are going to fight me alone, you won't last very long!" Rai laughed. "I'll catch up and kill them! I don't even think I'll need the seal!"

Link's eyes flared up in horror. 'I just hope he doesn't get to the point where he relies on it! And if he goes into stage two things could get a little bit more troublesome!'

Rai stretched his hand outwards and electricity began to spark from it. "Your eyes say it all!" Rai muttered. "You are afraid of the seal, you know its darkness, and you wish not to see it again! I will fulfill your last request, and to kill you I won't use the seal! You have my word!"

"But the seal has a mind of its own!" Link shouted.

Rai began to laugh walking towards Link. "Normally it does, but it is only the weaker minions who can be taken over by the hate and disgust! Only those can be taken over! Do you know why the seal was made Link? No you wouldn't Master Hand has these tendencies not to tell anyone anything!"

Link drew the Master Sword, and the ball of electricity molded itself to become a sword.

"Spare me the history lesson!" Link said rather annoyed. "Lets just get this over with!"

"Agreed!" Rai laughed.

With out hesitation Link and Rai charged at each other.

Kirby and Pikachu were running through the forest, falling farther and farther behind Master Hand.

"We can't keep up," Pikachu shouted a bit aggravated. "It might be best if we stop!" Both of the warriors stopped and stood their ground. Scanning the nearby area the saw that various branches were broken off, and some trees were uprooted, as though they were forcefully pushed to the side.

"Why did we stop?" Kirby asked. There was a sudden rustling of the leaves on the ground both of them turned to see the source of the sound but nothing was there. "Must have been the wind!" the puffball nervously replied.

"It wasn't," Pikachu replied seriously; his voice wasn't calm, like it had been for the past few minutes. It was full of fear. "We are in a difficult place for both human and Pokemon to tread! We're surrounded!"

Kirby's eyes widened. He glanced around quickly. "But where?" he asked. "I don't see anyone!" Pikachu got defensively on all fours, and he sparked at the cheeks. It was silent for a moment or two that seemed to continue for an eternity. The breathing of Kirby and Pikachu only broke the unusual silence.

To be continued…