The Divided World

Chapter 1

Two months before…

The king of the Spirit Kingdom drew more anxious by every passing day. Every dawn presented new issues. Every dusk held unsolved issues. No matter how hard King Dusknoir attempted to fix everything, things just seem to fall apart a few hours later. Sometimes he wished he was a normal type, at least there were no surprises for Pokemon like them.

The Mismagius scurried around the busy hallways. What made the Spirit Kingdom so efficient was that they completed things faster compared to other kingdoms. The Ghost Pokemon rarely used the hallways and instead flew through walls and others to get to their destination. The hallways were originally created to provide access for non-Ghost type Pokemon. Except no one ever came to their kingdom that isn't a Ghost type.

Dusknoir didn't have enough workers around him as he used to. He's been forced to take drastic measures the past few months. Dusknoir went straight on trying to correct every mistake there was in the castle. The busy Mismagius were working double over time and still couldn't complete the day's work. He didn't even have time to pity them as he worked.

When Dusknoir finished addressing the few incoming invaders by sending some Sableye to defend the walls, he noticed the Skarmory approaching the throne room's window. He observed it carefully as it did not appear to bring any actual threat like the dragon types below. The Skarmory entered the room, soared in a circle once around it, and perched itself before the mighty throne from whence Dusknoir sat. "I present thee with a message, from King Aggron of the Gear Kingdom himself," Skarmory informed properly, bowing to deposit the paper scroll in his beak gently to the ground.

Just as the Skarmory turned to take his leave, the Dusknoir spoke suddenly, "Stop." The Skarmory's attention returned to the Ghost type once more. His eyes shone not the slightest hint of fear. The steel type Pokemon were too strong willed to let fear control them.

"Does his majesty require additional service from me?" Skarmory replied, truly curious what a Ghost type would want with a steel type messenger. This has been the most contact they've had in years and neither kingdom held anything against each other. Skarmory, being the very curious Pokemon he is, couldn't help but wonder this.

The room became quiet once more as Dusknoir held the note. Ghost types were typically lonely, though he wished he had at least one adviser in the room to reassure him that it wasn't a declaration of war. They've been coming in more frequently lately. Instead, he had only the messenger's company and that would have to be enough.

Dusknoir stooped down from his tremendous throne, which consisted of only an Ominous Wind from his many loyal servants to form the shape of a chair, and seized the scroll that strangely worried him. It was a note from King Aggron of the Gear kingdom as the messenger had stated:

"Dear King Dusknoir,

I send this note with the utmost of importance. Our kingdom is under siege from the Quake kingdom's forces. Our defenses cannot hold out much longer and due to our recent severe losses, I beg of thee for help. If our kingdom falls, the dimmed witted inferior ground types shall have regained more power than they should. If you do choose to send us help, I will be in your debt, in victory or defeat. May we consider ourselves allies?

Sincerely,

King Aggron"

King Dusknoir read it through it twice to check whether or not he had understood it right. Even after finishing assessing he couldn't comprehend the fact that the Gear kingdom would seek the Spirit kingdom for reinforcements. They had plenty of allies all together and their strength was more than enough to win alone against the opponent. And what did King Aggron mean by 'recent severe losses?' He hadn't heard any news from the east in weeks now that he thought about it.

Dusknoir looked up from his throne to see the Skarmory still looking at him curiously. "Is this true? King Aggron is really proposing an alliance?"

"Yes, King Dusknoir. In fact, he said he was furious at himself for not doing it sooner." Skarmory chirped.

He thought about this for a while. Was King Aggron to be trusted? He was not the type to be trusted. Steel types rank only second behind physic types in wisdom. How could he really know for certain this wasn't a trick of sorts? "Skarmory, tell your king my answer is to be decided later."

"But King Dusknoir, they under attack right now. If they cannot receive your answer now they said, they will not give you this option later."

There was no way out of this. He had to give his answer now, and he was wasting the messenger's time.

Dusknoir sighed. He built up an empire twice now. Why not a third time if all goes wrong? He had finally decided his answer.

"Tell King Aggron I accept his alliance proposal," he said formally. He handed the messenger back his note King Aggron had hand written and he took flight out the window, and back to a kingdom that was about to go up in flames.

The room became quiet once more as Dusknoir was left alone. The Spirit Kingdom was typically silent as night and they hated loud noises. It was time to break that silence. "Gengar!" Dusknoir's voice exploded and echoed along every wall, corridor, and room of his mighty castle.

A purplish ghoul materialized in front of himself and laughed mischievously, "What does master seek assistance with?" King Dusknoir always hated dispatching the Gengar. They weren't exactly… military trained as one may say. They laughed like maniacs like it was a contest to see who in the room would go insane first. He tries his best to disregarded them, but in some cases they become quite useful. Very few cases that is.

"Gather as many of you as you can and meet me at the gate in an hour. Prepare for war," Dusknoir commanded, trying to hide his disgust for him. Why couldn't the blasted creature go hide back in the hole from whence it came? Dusknoir thought irritably.

"Your wish is my command, oh great king," the Gengar mocked merrily nearly bouncing around the walls of the throne room. Dusknoir wanted to shadow punch him out the window so badly. He sighed and felt relief as the annoying creature bounced out of the throne room.

Hoping to distract himself, Dusknoir took a stroll inside the castle's main corridors where busy Mismagius still dashed in and out of. He wasn't worried about bumping into one however, the Pokemon would just float right through him. His body flew slowly through almost every corridor the castle had to offer. Each portrait along every wall shown of the previous kings. Some hallways even presented some statues made of gold which clashed with the darkly lit halls. The only source of light was the floating lanterns. They were hardly lanterns actually, they were just levitating flames.

An idea had occurred to him about the battle his Gengar were currently preparing for. It wasn't worth it however, this battle would be over too quickly by then and where would the fun be? So Dusknoir went back to the armory where he found a Banette that helped him into his battle gear. The armory was near the courtyard, just east of it. The Banette gave him his classic golden armor some kingdoms began to fear. The headgear held a golden crown and the chest plate covered his whole body. All of the gear was made of molten gold imported from the Blaze kingdom.

"What war do you fight today?" Banette inquired. Dusknoir waved off this question with the wave of his hand as the Banette folded the imported gear onto it.

"It is not a war I fight today. The Gengar and I will depart soon to help defend the Gear kingdom against the Quake kingdom's forces," Dusknoir answered. Even though Dusknoir thought that it could be more than that, that his kingdom and Aggron's kingdom would become allied, he did not let on it was more than a simple gesture.

"You better be wary while you are there," Banette replied, concern clear in his voice. He suddenly halted supporting Dusknoir with his armor.

Dusknoir looked quizzical at him, what was so wrong about supporting the Gear kingdom? "Why? The Gear kingdom has never wronged us. It is only just that we fight with them against the Quake kingdom," Dusknoir claimed.

"It is not the Gear kingdom that is the problem," Banette countered Dusknoir's thinking.

As if to prove Banette's point, the ground shook violently just then. The small wooden house they remained in reverberated. The castle itself shook and some supports nearly shattered. The courtyard, the mountains, everything around them vibrated uncontrollably and wouldn't cease. Craters and ripples dotted the land. The ground the Ghost Pokemon floated over now was tearing itself apart.

Dusknoir's expression darkened when the long painful rumbling finally came to a stop. "They are more powerful than a first thought. This battle will require a more powerful army. Gather every Golurk, Chandelure, and Spiritomb you can find, and tell them to meet me outside the walls," Dusknoir commanded. His mood turned grey for the rest of the time the Banette and Mismagius dashed around trying to organize the soldiers for the upcoming war. If he was going to keep this new alliance with the Gear kingdom, he had to declare war on some of their most feared enemies.

Dusknoir thought of the previous destruction and chaos that erupted from the devastating war the Quake kingdom had inflicted upon his kingdom. King Aggron had been wrong about calling them dim witted and inferior. They were genius tacticians and strategists. If he were to declare a full out war on them, they'd somehow turn it to their advantage. Ghost types weren't obvious Pokemon, they were created by Arceus to be the shadows of others, to be the sneakiest creatures that roamed the lands. Yet, even that fact did not assure victory for them. The ground types had strength and wisdom on their side, what did that leave them besides stealth?

His subconscious tried extracting a memory of the last time he'd seen the Quake kingdom. He couldn't possibly think about that. He had the alliance to worry about.

Don't think of that… Dusknoir pleaded himself. You can't be possibly thinking about that now…. And despite his desperate objections, he felt himself slipping into deep thought about that night.

Flashback:

Ten years ago, the entire Spirit kingdom was under attack. Every roof of every house on every corner on every street was on fire. Flame danced across the ground and licked the walls of the homes of the innocent. Many soldiers perished as they attempted to hold their ranks and defenses. The walls were absolutely no help, except maybe to deflect the Spark kingdom forces, home of the electric times who were also causing most of the fires. The Quake kingdom and the Spark kingdom were allies back then and had teamed against the Spirit kingdom, trying to overthrow everyone on the peninsula. The Spark kingdom was farther east than the Quake kingdom and had traveled longer to arrive at the battle grounds of which was the Spirit kingdom.

The ground types had tunneled under the towering structures and into the main streets and terrorized the citizens of the Spirit kingdom. Many people fled, and those didn't have the sense to perished in their own homes. The Quake forces did not keep slaves nor did they allow survivors. They up turned the wooden buildings and streets in attempt to crush everyone.

They were rapidly approaching the castle's main gates. The Golem's earthquakes struck the ground with force that created rifts in the torn up rock and the few ghost types that didn't float fell in, including the Golurks. Without the Golurks defending the main gates, the Quake kingdom took the palace by storm. Dusknoir resided in the top of the center tower with a Froslass urging him to take action.

"King Dusknoir! Do something! You'll be killed along with us if you do not do anything!" Frolass begged. "Their entering the palace right now, look!"

"I need not look upon the dead faces starring back up at the clouds!" Dusknoir shouted back angrily. "Just gather the remaining defenses and get them on the ground floor. And if you're not going to help them defend this castle, then leave!"

"Dusknoir, please-" Froslass started but Dusknoir interrupted.

"Gather them, go! Now!" Dusknoir commanded. "Not another word or you'll be next to join the dead along the streets."

And so Froslass stormed out of the throne room set on what she would do. Nothing. She was going to wait for Dusknoir's demise so she could finally see the day when he'd get some sense knocked into him. He is the king after all, he should at least try to help the dying kingdom. But Froslass wasn't going to be the found as the most loyal servant next to a dumb founded dead king when this was all over. She quickly went back to her chamber, gathered the few things she would need and looked back over her shoulder.

"Dusknoir," Froslass mumbled to herself, "Never had I thought I'd see the day I'd leave. But now, I can't imagine doing anything except that here."

Meanwhile on the ground floor, the soldiers regrouped and held their ground for quite some time. The usually busy Mismagius now gathered in a last stand to save their kingdom. The usual cheerful glee painted on the Gengar's faces had vanished. The abundant supply of Golurks had disappeared, replaced with only one remaining Golurk crouching to fit inside the room. The Cofagrigus lined up against the walls hidden, hoping to blend in with the decor and attack them by surprise.

Minutes past before the main doors clattered and shook. The giant wooden block that held it in place grew a crack in its center which widened with every hit. The wood was hit time after time after time until it finally burst with a launch of Hippowdon, Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Gliscor. This was the only part of the battle king Aggron must of heard of, the Quake kingdom's commanders didn't have a strategy here. It was just a plain slaughter.

The remaining Spirit Kingdom guard's crumbled and fell into oblivion, all but one, Dusknoir, who eventually came down. On the command of King Rhyperior, Dusknoir was almost forced to surrender. Almost.

Right as Dusknoir had entered the ground room with his hands up, the middle of the floor, where three Golems were rushing across to apprehend Dusknoir, opened up and swallowed the Golems. Out came the banished beast, the one who ruled every Ghost legend there could've been told throughout the Spirit Kingdom. His entire body was covered in a mystical armor that could not be broken and his winged were made purely of shadows. He had forced a hole through their dimensions, the real world and the distortion world. Remarkably incredible, even for a legendary one may say. Giratina was truly a force one could not compare with, Arceus hardly outwits him.

"The Spirit Kingdom is ours and ours alone!" Giratina cried upon fully appearing from the portal. The Quake Kingdom looked in shook at what power stood in front of them. They were too stunned to speak or to even retaliate his impressive entrance. "Begone!" Giratina screeched.

He let loose a deafening roar and began his rampage through their ranks. With one sweep an entire legion fell, failing to overcome his strength. His roar alone had knocked some of the lesser warriors. He summoned the power of the earth and corrupted it, marking devastation as he went. His Earth Power had killed hundreds alone. He blasted through everyone in front of him with Dragon Pulse. And to really finish them, he flew up and disappeared. The Quake kingdom almost rejoiced with his disappearance, which was quickly replaced when he reappeared above them and hit them with all his might. He soared like a comet and landed less gracefully than one.

When the ash and dust cleared, all had been killed save the stunned Dusknoir and King Rhyperior who stood back to watch the mayhem. Giratina resided in the huge crater his Shadow Force had left behind. Giratina wheeled onto Dusknoir, "Have you lost your mind!" he screamed in his face. Dusknoir fell to the floor and started crawling away slowly from the terrifying deity. "This kingdom would be in ruins had it not been for me saving it!"

Dusknoir had every right to say this invasion was not his fault but decided to keep his mouth shut, best not to anger the one who just knocked out the entire invading army. "You just sat up in your throne room while the commoners fled in terror. Even your most faithful servant had left you! You just watched the massacre continue while you hoped your hopeless forces prevailed!" Giratina continued his rant.

Giratina went on and on, scaring Dusknoir to something after death. Dusknoir couldn't deny his new claims, he did remain in his tower while his kingdom fell to its knees. But while Dusknoir was still getting scalded at, Rhyperior had gotten over his shock. He went straight for the Dragon type, preparing to use Rock Wrecker. Dusknoir, detecting his immediately when Giratina had failed to, piped up using the last bit of courage he had, "Master! B-Behind You!"

Giratina had only yelled very angrily, "What?" and turned around to get a face full of rock. He swayed there for a moment and Dusknoir had looked at his head where Rhyperior's Rock Wrecker had hit him. For a second, he saw a crack developing at the top of his crown and traveled along his armor slightly. Giratina had never had his armor broken before, and the pain was overwhelming. He let loose another deafening scream and swatted Rhyperior away with his tail. He flew higher than Team Rocket.

Blood streamed out over his gaping wound and he kept howling in pain. He thrashed and and swung around angrily. The great titan attempted to summon a portal back to his world where he could possibly heal himself, without success. His strength failed him for the first time in his life and collapsed on the ground, cold. Dusknoir had never been more scared in his life.

Flashback Ends:

Of course his power had returned later on, but the disaster that had enveloped their kingdom was like a shadow that followed you. Dusknoir didn't even think Giratina's armor could be broken. It was supposedly pure gold forged from the reverse world where he was banished to. Rhyperior was powerful, but to actually break the armor of a great titan like Giratina, it was unfathomable.

Something else nagged at him. There was another memory that he wouldn't allowed to be replayed. The harder he thought against it, the more clear that past memory became. He didn't want to experience those memories again, they were far too painful for anyone to bear. How could such misery even exist in one's past? Do not think about her… Do not think about her… his mind pleaded.

"Dusknoir?" a voice broke through his thoughts. Dusknoir was grateful for something to distract him. He was not going to relive two sad memories on the same day.

"Yes, what is it?" Dusknoir replied, turning around. It was a Mismagius.

"The troops are assembled at the gate," Mismagius told him.

"Excellent. I'll be down there soon, there is something I must do before hand we march to their kingdom," Dusknoir informed the adviser. "You join the ranks awaiting down there."

The Mismagius departed for the grounds while the king went down into the treasury. There were many things down there ranging from red to purple in color. Gold coins covered most of it making it look like a bowl of cereal. A few random trophies and other gold artifacts were scattered within it, but only one item was of interest to Dusknoir.

He picked up a small sphere out of all of it. The sphere seemed to make your eyes sink into it, like it went as deep as the darkest vortex. It was certainly dark, yet it couldn't hold more power. The orb was indeed an item of Giratina, Dusknoir found it along his body the night he died. Of course, this isn't the legendary Griseous Orb. This orb made it look like nothing. The orb he now possessed increased Giratina's and the king of the Spirit Kingdom's power tenfold. It was only used in emergencies because it had a limited amount of times it could be used.

"Protect us Giratina and forgive my sins," Dusknoir prayed, hoping that Giratina's spirit had heard him.

Meanwhile…

"King Aggron!" Aggron's most trusted advisor, Metagross exclaimed. "The flank of Steelixes have fallen. What shall we do?"

Aggron's face looked grim as he turned to him. He was hoping the Spirit Kingdom would have replied by now, yet they hadn't heard a word. The Skarmorys fly quite fast in the clear open sky. It wouldn't have taken longer than at least an hour, and it had taken quite longer than that. His legions of soldiers were falling quickly, there would be no way they could turn the tide of battle if the Spirit Kingdom does not give them aid. Aggron did not answer his advisor, but only turned back to the window, hoping for the messenger to return with good news.

His whole body rattled as the fortress shook from a very powerful earthquake only the new Quake king could make. "Metagross, approximately how far are they from the castle gates?" Aggron inquired.

"Not very far," Metagross closed his eyes to concentrate his physic power. "There is only one more legion of soldiers protecting the gates, and they'll be wiped out in an instant. King, what are we to do?" Metagross pleaded to him as if he knew the answer.

"I am left with only one option then," King Aggron spoke out loud, not sure to whom it was to. "I must fight them with the rest of my still capable army and myself."

"King Aggron, you mustn't!" Metagross cried out. "It would be suicide, the ruthless ground types show no mercy!"

"I have no choice! With the Spirit Kingdom still deciding, my options have narrowed down to this," Aggron replied a bit too harshly. "And if it is suicide, so be it! Lest not the empire die, but let the emperor die instead!"

"Then I'm coming with you," Metagross said immediately. "I would rather die with honor, than a Quake Kingdom slave." Aggron gave him a sympathetic look, knowing it could be one of the last times he would see him alive.

They said no more and proceeded to their deaths on the bottom floor.

I'm sorry for such a late update, but I said I wouldn't be updating this fast. I have a lot of work going on and this wasn't high on my to do list. I will try for a much sooner update next time.

Next Time: King Aggron begins his fight to the death at his gates, yet another army is closing in on the horizon. King Aggron desperately hopes this is the Spirit Kingdom come to rescue them and not Quake Kingdom's reinforcements. Who will prevail, the Quake Kingdom, or the Gear Kingdom?

Leave a review please. -A.D.