Yups. Finally updated.
Shadow leapt over a trio of low flying pidgey's from her vantage point on the hill. Beside her, Koja's eyes roved around the battlefield, glancing at the fighting Pokemon along side them.
"It's-it's not much further!" the little wingull who had so blatantly interrupted them seemed to have at last recognize the deep offense that he had made.
Koja didn't answer and Shadow merely nodded, giving the younger Pokemon an icy glare to tell him that he was not yet forgiven. How could she? It didn't matter if he had orders from a higher power. It wasn't sensible to blame him, but… well, she couldn't find anyone else to blame. She was at least thinking correctly enough at least to not blame Koja for his own coming death and there was something in her that couldn't blame herself. This caused tendrils of guilt in the Umbreon's heart but she brushed them away hastily… She knew she should be feeling guilty but-
An Ivysaur's vine whip lunged at them from behind, knocking out the Umbreon's previous thoughts and letting her automatically direct a ball of energy towards the Grass Type. She ran on, forcing herself not to look back and trying to shut out the terrible cry of pain that somehow could still be heard so shockingly clearly above the rest of screams in the battlefield. Shadow shuddered as she instinctively felt the thud -even though she was so far away- that signaled death. She weakly made the last few steps onto the summit of the hill where she could feel the power of the Elementals radiate off from where they were. As she bowed deeply towards her sovereign Gods, the Umbreon again, forced herself to shut out the gory sights of blood, flesh and broken bone on the Pokemon below her.
"Lord Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno…" the Wingull made a quick bow before Zapdos nodded to him, dismissing the escort.
The Wingull flew off, obviously terrified by this unexpectant war and anxious to arrive back at the cave where he would safe until receiving further orders. The Umbreon watched him, her back turned away from the Gods who were talking to Koja, her ears tense in anticipation as if she knew something would happen in the next few seconds. She was right. Even before a few seconds had passed, the Wingull was brutally hit by a Golem's dynamic punch, and was sent plummeting down to the earth so fast… Shadow nearly missed it. But the shrill cry was there. The snap of broken bones was there. In an instant, as Shadow turned back to the matters concerning her, she forgave that Wingull… and wondered if this was some sort of punishment fate had dealt out for her cold, harsh reception towards that little bird. Fate… A power, an authority, higher then the Gods themselves.
Suddenly, the Elementals, the three great birds… shrank small and weak in front of her. Her eyes narrowed as she saw they, Mew, and Koja move their lips but her ears refused to take in the sound. Bitterly she gazed upon those childhood role models and divine beings that up to now, she had held a childish belief that the Gods, the Goddesses, those immortal beasts of great power- would never let the world fall into chaos, would control evil, would be the great bastions of power and wisdom to control everything. Bitterly, again, Shadow glanced at Koja who looked more troubled by each passing second.
Through still deafened ears that refused to hear, Shadow watched with some surprise as Mew reached out his hand and placed his palm on Koja's forehead. It was only then that Shadow realized with sudden dread that something was going on, that by the sweat and eyes clenched tight, that Shadow knew there was still a final trial of burden to be carried out.
The moment hand and head made contact, did Shadow's hearing suddenly come blasting back. The warcries and yells of the battlefield blasted into her ears, but she did not notice that. She was watched with shock as she saw the Absol fly backwards, his eyes still shut as in great pain, as if he had been punched in the gut by some unseen force. A small sound came from Articuno beside her and a beam of ice rushed past Koja and formed into a huge thick wall, in an effort to stop the flying Absol. Shadow gritted her teeth, not knowing what was going on but waited for that inevitable thunk of Koja hitting the wall and sliding down.
But he went through it. Fire erupted from the Absol's back, melting the ice into pure water and still he hurtled backwards. It was not only till he was plummeting towards the ground that the Absol somehow shook his horn… and with wide eyes, Shadow watched as her friend was blown back by a gust of winds and landed softly back where he started. Even still, Shadow could feel the raw power crackling in front of her.
"What did you to him?" It wasn't a question but a statement, a command.
Even while looking into the eyes of the most powerful beings in the universe, did Shadow not quake. What more could be done with her?
Articuno met her eyes, the great bird's irises contracting with surprise at the defiance the Umbreon showed. Mew sighed softly as if this was expected and began by pointing at Koja who was currently yelling and pawing and clawing at unseen opponents.
"I am Mew. The Beginning and the End. Every energy, every power, every force there is in the world, I have a portion of that. That, and another power, has been gifted to your friend. The other power I will explain briefly later. There are currently many forces fighting for supremecy inside your friend. This is the basic, simple law to energy in our world. You see, if I sent a bolt of lightning upon Articuno over there, it's power would deal much more damage then foresay, would a blast of fire because water is weak against lightning. You know that much, do not you?"
Shadow nodded.
"What you do not know is that when the lightning bolt makes contact with Articuno, it actually enters her very being and the forces that make her one of Water, Ice and of the Sky. It fights for supremacy, to banish all other resisting forces in Articuno. Of course some of the water, ice and sky will be destroyed and replaced with electrical energy, but they can be regenerated as long as the remaining forces push out the electrical force. If the force completely demolishes the Pokemon's native energy or does enough structural damage, the Pokemon dies. Any Pokemon's body, except for the rare few breeds and almost nonexistent others, automatically banishes foreign energy and stocks native energy, like Squirtles using the ocean to their benefit.
But for the rare few… They can accept foreign energy and store it, as long as they themselves can still keep control of it and let it control them. I am one of them. Koja is also one of the rare few. He is still in the act of trying to control his energy."
Shadow watched, her heart caught against her throat as she watched blasts of Earth, Water, Sky and Fire get shot out from Koja. He was screaming, kicking, raging, yelling. And for the freaking good of the world, she had to stand still and watch.
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Even though Shadow knew, that the site chosen for a great battle like this had to be quite large to fit the masses of sparring Pokemon inside… This exceeded her expectations. But then, the Pokemon inside it, the amount and skill on both sides exceeded her expectations also. But even so, there was an eerie kind of surrealness surrounding it all. As if, the part of her self (which actually begged to take over and let her be her own age), was the center of any kind of innocence she had- the innocence which still uncannily believed that "everything would be all right". That somehow, Koja would make it. Her unfocused eyes drifted around her as her claws, fighting but not actually touching and feeling the torn flesh beneath them, ripped at an unlucky Gloom. In return sludge fell on her body, the dark slime, slowly seeping into her body.
Shadow winced in pain as the poison started to quickly take effect, cursing. But suddenly a white searing heat purged through her Shadow immediately knew what happened as she saw Koja glance back at her. How many other powers did he have? The unrealness of it caused the Umbreon to swallow. He was so overpowered it was almost scary, so powerful that Mew even trembled when he bid them farewell.
She shook her head out, letting all thoughts disappear as her eyes slid back into an unfocused state, as did all of her senses other than sight. An even that, seemed to have a misty haze on it. She might as well get lost in her own little world for now. Koja would keep her safe, and it dispelled any thoughts of the impending future.
For hours and ages it seemed that Shadow romped about like a puppy in her imagination, a world that had Skye flying about free with his family, the Dark Lord nonexistent and Koja accepted into his pack, he being her big brother. She was not an exile also and that old lady, that kind human grandmother of Sami was living in a lavish cave near them all along with Sami herself and all the other kind Pokemon Shadow knew. There was not a sense of evilness, not a hint of it, in that imagination. Or rather, daydream.
This faded back into reality as soon as Shadow crashed into Koja, the Absol halting to a stop suddenly. She apologized but her words seemed to make no sound. Her eyes snapped to six figures standing in a horizontal straight line, forming a hostile bloackage to the small mountain ahead. The Council: The Flareon, The Espeon, The Jolteon, The Vaporeon and The Two Umbreons. And as she stared, somehow knowing that a large fight was coming up, Shadow realized that that daydream she had lived in for apparently so long and not long enough could never, ever, possibly happen.
With bitterness, she knew that even if there was goodness…Evil had to lurk somewhere next to it. The two could not exist without the other. And with that basic rule of all life and time came the other rule of no perfect paradise here in the mortal world.
"In fact," thought Shadow as she saw the Flareon step forward, "There isn't anything, any place, any life that can be fully happy. It can't exist."
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"We both know what you, Absol, and Umbreon are here to do." The Flareon's eyes were set with determination, "Until our death we will fight to keep you from reaching our Lord. No we are not going to let you pass by whatsoever method you choose that is different to the one we are choosing."
Koja didn't answer but nod once and sharply.
Before Shadow could process the thoughts fully and think out a battle plan, an huge shockwave vibrated through the ground, traveling at an incredibly frightening speed. In less then a second Shadow could feel it hit the six Pokemon. The six Pokemon that made up the Council. But, as she expected of Pokemon of such caliber, the Espeon in the group levitated them all off the ground instantly. Even if he hadn't as much sheer power as Koja, he had won other advantages from age and experience
Again, in a blink of an eye did the group surround the two and begin rapid fire, directed solely on Shadow, trying to take out the… weakest link first. In any other situation Shadow would've felt indignant and would've relied on that she had a strange power inside of her to call. But that was in her no more, and even if it had been, she was no match in any way to Koja who had somehow been raised to the power level of a god. Shards of ice smashed into her back and the Umbreon realized that she really had to do something, not just rely on the Absol next to her.
Ducking her head she closed her eyes in concentration before blinking out and reappearing a few metres to the left. But a simple trick like that would never be enough to catch such high leveled creatures out. Shadow repeated the process of blinking and teleporting here and there, shreds of fire, water and lightning just missing her. In between her teleportations of fainting in and out, the Umbreon proceeded to gather up dark energy in her eyes, Koja was battling them, she could sense that- but he was obviously restraining himself as to stay fresh for what was still to come. More energy… More… She had to cram more into those eyes…
She had to concentrate… Her eyes felt stretched beyond their limits, as if they were going to explode but- Shadow breathed heavily, drawing the last needed bit of power into her irises. She had it. Now! In her mind, she released the dark energy out, out, out!
In a split second the battlefield turned pitch dark, giving an advantage to dark types. This wasn't an attack or move that was taught to Pokemon by their teachers in clans or packs- it was purely made on battle instinct. Thus, it could be sure that a way to counter it could not come to soon. Rays of dark energy suddenly came caterwauling towards her with the intent of releasing them all from the darkness. Shadow bounded away, gasping as she felt the strain of what she had to do to keep the situation like this.
Wrong move. The sound alerted one of them, a Jolteon, who bounded towards her. Through her night vision, Shadow found it almost intriguing to see that, try as the eon might, he could make his electrical based powers give off light. A lightning bolt struck her, and the immense shock of it automatically let light suddenly snap back into focus. Shadow cursed and bolted away, the tingling feeling of electricity still humming through her fur. She turned around and growled at her opponent, swiping her sharp claws across his face.
He dodged and- erupted into flames!?! Shadow halted her movement as the Jolteon rolled through the ground, spreading dust on him to put the fire out. Even as he succeeded, he looked around, surprised, wondering who the new incomer might have been. Koja was dealing with the other five and preventing them from getting to her, so an attack from him was highly unlikely…
Inferno fainted in, materializing eerily in front of Shadow, his back to her as he faced the Jolteon. Beside him, Zan and Ditto bounded in, the Ditto taking the form of a Raichu with sparks cascading off his yellow fur. Inferno grinned at the Jolteon eerily, the gleam of his teeth and the red offset of his fur making him looking like the very on high, out of control pyromaniac he could be and currently was. A single claw was raised and from it, Inferno let a small flame be ignited from it.
"We're your reinforcements…" the Houndoom's grin widened, "Sami's little rebel army sent to party."
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The battle evened out with the arrival of Inferno and the rest, Koja's workload lessening down to only two Pokemon. Even so, Shadow found it hard to keep up with the Council Members as they relayed strategies soundlessly and volleyed shot after shot of fire at her and the rest. They still had the advantage of being able to plan the whole thing out. Shadow glanced at her opponent, a Vaporeon who was opening her mouth- the Umbreon jumped out of fire range but suddenly crashed into hard, cold ice. What on earth?!
As she slid down, surprised she realized that the ice attack was not directed at her, but around her, creating a dome of ice where the two would fight undisturbed. Shadow swallowed. It would be harder to get any help if she needed it. That, and this new arena was incredibly small. There was no time to think, the Vaporeon was already letting water gush out of her mouth. Water filled the dome quickly, filling the entire floorspace and coming up to Shadow's ankles. With fear, she realized that if she didn't do something soon, she would and could be drowned. The surrounding walls of ice would take at least a few blasts of dark energy- a thing she couldn't do if this eon was constantly at her back. She lunged at the creature her jaws wide open.
The Vaporeon dodged, but that was expected. The Umbreon used her tail as a sling, flinging rocks at her opponent in several rapid movements, the wet rocks pelting the Vaporeon quite painfully. Shadow growled at the other eon, letting her teeth and fearsome eyes show clearly.
"Why!?!" she asked through bared teeth, "You know that sooner or later my friend, the Absol, he'll kill all of you. He has enough power to do so. So why battle!?"
The Vaporeon's eyes widened, she obviously did not think her 'enemy' would find any words suitable to bat her with. She stopped the flow of water.
"Whatever the great Master says we follow. I am the youngest of the Council. I follow in their footsteps."
"But why?" probed Shadow, "Why?!"
The Vaporeon shook her head, "Our path is a good one, we-"
"One of your own that I fought was so insistent that I kill him that he went on a two word rant!" Shadow snapped, "He was only a few months old!"
The Vaporeon looked like she had been slapped, "He probably… took the Master's sayings the wrong way. It is true that in battle, if one is probable to die, we will cause more destruction to our enemies rather then be taken prisoner or be unconscious… It is for the best."
"Tell me, my oh so esteemed opponent. Why then does your Master seek for chaos in the world, seek to destroy perfectly peaceful Pokemon and our Gods?"
At this the Vaporeon still to regain her composure, "That is the basis of our faith. Your Gods, those Gods of might and power- are dreadfully wrong and twisted. They do not have enough wisdom, enough justice to rule this world."
"Our Gods made this world! I do not know who your Master is but he surely used you all for his own wicked purposes!"
"My parents died why I was young! I saw the face of Articuno myself, pass us by, she flew over us just before they left this world!" the Vaporeon spat out her words, "Your Gods are overrated. Look at your friend, he is the very center of their evil!"
Shadow was appalled, "Can't you-can't you see how twisted your views are!?!?! What is wrong… with you?!?"
The fight had gone out of her, the anger turned to shock. This creature… truly believed in whatever she had been told, she had a basis for good and evil- her elders had swapped the facts around!
"Then, tell me… What does your Master see you as? A tool? A weapon?"
The Vaporeon shook her head, the previous venom in her gone, "We are the precious grains of sand that make up this world. We are as important as our Lord himself. Each of us has a vital part to play… as my Master."
Shadow shook her head and looked around. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that her fight had gone on, longer then expected. Koja was pounded his last opponent hard and Zan was helping Inferno with his. Ditto had finished and was glanced at her. She nodded to him.
"Then…" Shadow bit her lip.
This had to be the last question. For her own probing and questions and another.
"Who is your Master's Master?"
The Vaporeon let her tail swing out suddenly, letting the flow of water from her body continue, "Fate."
Shadow took a step back, these facts and beliefs so very disconcerting to her. She grimaced and jumped and kept herself suspended in midair with tendrils of dark energy.
A few seconds later 10 000 volts of electricity pounded into the pool of water inside the dome.
The Vaporeon was electrocuted instantly.