They ran. They ran far away. They never looked back. They ran until they couldn't run anymore. They stood, breathless, tired. They had ran the entire day, and the sun was already setting.
"We should find a place to rest for tonight." Misu suggested. Zero nodded, and they walked a bit farther, hoping to find a small den or alcove to rest in. Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, it began to snow. first lightly, just small fluffy flakes floating peacefully down, but then it turned torrential. Ice-coated hail cubes, driving down at unbelievable speeds. They slashed at Zero and Misu's face. The entire world around them was glazed in white. They could see almost nothing. Until a shadowy figure started towards them, then another. Zero's ears folded back, and Misu assumed battle position, her tail raised high in the air as a warning. The first figure came closer. Then closer. And even closer. Then Misu's tail lowered a bit when they saw it was just a glaceon. She had a dead look in her eyes. She was followed by a leafeon who had an eye that was black and red, with strange markings around it.
"Who are you...Why are you on our territory?" The glaceon asked. "Don't you know the darkness is spreading? Go home." She said, shaking her head.
"Well, we were actually heading to stop it." Misu said. The leafeon twitched his ears.
"So are we. I'm Bugsy, and this is Glisten." He said. The glaceon, Glisten, gave him a cruel glance.
"Don't go around giving out our names." She said to him, angrily. Bugsy looked back at her.
"They're striving for the same thing we are. To put an end to the darkness. We should travel with them." He said sympathetically. Glisten sighed.
"You're my voice of reason. I'm glad you're here." She said to Bugsy. Bugsy smiled and looked at Zero and Misu.
"Could we travel with you?" He asked. Misu looked at him.
"Of course you can, but please...control the blizzards." She said good-naturedly. Bugsy smiled.
"But I gotta warn you. See this eye?" He gestured to his red eye. "It makes me turn insane randomly, so be careful." He said. Misu nodded, nervous and unsure all of the sudden.
"Don't worry. Zero and I are misfits, and we also left because of the taunting and bullies." She said. Bugsy smiled at them. Glisten gave them a cold glance, and called off the blizzard. But as soon as the blizzard was called off, it began to rain. Hard. The four smiled anyways, and continued on. They continued until they found a small, stone cave, damp and soggy with a little leak in the roof. Oh well, at least it was shelter. They lit a tiny, miniscule fire, and settled in a huddled circle around it. Zero turned to the two newcomers into FADE.
"So, how did you know the darkness was spreading?" He asked. Glisten glanced at him.
"In our settlement, the entire place was drenched in blackness. Nobody could see anything. Then it started raining. So much was going on, and we couldn't take it, so we left, to put a stop to it." She told them, solemnly.
"We were misfits, too." Bugsy added, gesturing again to his eye. "Glisten didn't have any physical flaws, she was just difficult to get along with. She's not the most reasonable pokemon there is." He said to them. Glisten gave him a slightly irritated look, and quickly changed her facial expression, knowing she was only proving his point. Then she spoke to Zero.
"So, why are you two chasing the darkness?" She asked. Zero looked at the cool cave floor.
"My sister was kidnapped." He said solemnly. Bugsy gave him a sympathetic glance. "I'm so sorry." He said, glancing at Glisten. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost my sister." He said, placing his tail over Glisten's back. She twitched a bit, debating whether or not to back away a bit, but she smiled.
"So, do you want to join our group? The force of FADE. Fighting Against Dark Eternity. We're going to stop the darkness." Misu lifted her head in confidence. Glisten and Bugsy nodded, and became a part of FADE.
"Hey, we can tell you more about this spreading darkness." Glisten said before they fell asleep. Zero and Misu looked up at her, listening intently. "Well, it's been started by a group called the Shadow Major. They want to end the world. Nobody has seen who the leader is, but they say he's the most shadowy, eerie figure anybody's heard of. Even his warriors are cloaked in black. They've already overcome the settlement Bugsy and I came from. They will overcome settlement after settlement, and soon spread across the entire earth. When the entire earth is enshrouded in the Shadow Major's darkness, he'll be in control of it all." She finished her story.
"Wow...I had no idea it was that bad...We need to put a stop to it as soon as we can." Zero spoke up. Misu smiled at his newfound determination, and then the four fell sound asleep, their fur soggy and damp from the rain.
Meanwhile, back at Zero's settlement, Kurra was laughing.
"So, the little nobody decided to run away, hm? He thought if he ran off, he'd escape us?" He said to his colleagues. Taka laughed like a hyena, but she seemed a bit nervous, like she didn't really want to hurt anybody. Duskie was a bit hesitant about laughing, as well. Kurra turned over to them. "Let's go catch us a little zero." He sneered. The group took off down the dirt path where Zero had left. Taka muttered something to the sky before following them.