YeahI finally finished writing this. I can't think of anything else to say other than that. Eh. Here it is. I hope it's okay. But don't worry - I still made it a decent length, so it's not like I just gave up and stopped mid-chapter or wrote a filler or anything. :P


Chapter 6 ~ Ominous Attacks


"We have to leave. Now. Before it gets too late."

Early morning. The sun was barely visible, rising over the trees with leaves carefully filtering the bright rays. Velvet sat in the meadow, staring out into space with focused eyes. Her tail flicked about for a second, before laying still again on the grass.

Technically, she was just talking to herself, speaking her thoughts. Nobody else was up yet, excluding possibly Yumi, who was probably stalking about under the trees somewhere, staying to the shadows like the dark-type he was.

She waited. Everybody knew the plan - everybody knew that today was to be the day that they left their home - to go on a journey, a journey to find someplace safe. She didn't want to interrupt, she didn't want to ruin her friends' last moments in the place they had all grown up in. Maybe if they were lucky they'd be able to come back, after the humans were gone and they could go back to living like they once could, find that chance to put the past behind them and look ahead into the future.

But that was for another day. Maybe someday, but not today. They had to leave.

Time passed by. Velvet was barely paying attention as the sun rose over the half-gone forest, and Yumi came to sit by her, having had enough of hiding. The others were all up also, laying around, silent, mentally preparing for the mysterious journey ahead of them all.

Finally, somebody found the courage to speak up. "Come on. Sitting around won't take the dangers away from us. We better get moving." Kefira, the owner of the voice, stood up, glancing around at the other Pokémon.

"Okay! Let's go!" Elysia and Kitsune bounced to their paws, all their energy suddenly coming back to them. Aki and Levinia followed suit, standing up and trotting over to join them. There was no point wasting time being all gloomy and everything. They should be happy! They finally got that chance to go and explore more, and see the other parts of the island instead of being confined to one side of the lake.

The other Pokémon didn't seem to get the message. Silently, the older ones stood up, and began walking, gesturing for the four of them to follow.

"Why is everyone so sad all of a sudden? I know that we're leaving and all, and we may never get the chance to come back again, but still." Kitsune wondered aloud, walking a few steps ahead of the other three. Elysia nodded in agreement. Even Carbon and Flake had left them to stay with the older Pokémon, which they found strange.

Levinia stayed silent, looking around as she followed, a thousand thoughts running through her head. Something just didn't seem right. This wasn't how she had originally pictured their leaving - far from it. She glanced back towards their former home, the trees now beginning to hide the small meadow they had called home, and paused for moment. 'Nevermind,' she thought, shaking her head to clear her mind before bounding on to catch up to her friends.

"Come on. Why don't we go try and cheer everyone up? We can all just pretend we're going on a little trip or something! Like a holiday of sorts. A super long one or something." Aki suggested, padding alongside the shinx and vulpix.

As Levinia came over to join them, she added in; "Yeah! What's the point in wasting time being all depressed when we could be happy?"

Aki nodded in her agreement, with Elysia catching on very quickly, looking up with bright eyes. "Exactly! Plus, we'll get to meet new Pokémon and make more friends and see new places! Even if it's not at our original home, at least we won't need to worry about those big creepy things for the time being. We should take advantage of it while we still can."

None of the Pokémon ahead of them seemed to notice the small group's conversation, keeping heads low and ears drooping. Even as they emerged from the forest into a relatively wide, open meadow quite similar to their own, nobody else seemed to notice. They just walked forwards, seemingly forcefully.

Levinia couldn't help but to notice it again, but this time, she decided to speak up. "Something doesn't seem right." The helioptile trotted a few steps ahead, her gaze shifting from her friends to the group in front of them, trying to get the other three to notice.

Quite surprisingly, Kitsune was the first to answer. "I noticed that too. Not to mention their lack of conversation. I haven't heard any of them say a word since we left."

Elysia nodded in her agreement to the fire-type's statement. "Usually there would be a least a small conversation going on, no matter how sad they are."

"Maybe we should go and try to talk to them? Bring their spirits back up? We don't want them to drown in that ocean over there or anything." Aki suggested, giggling at herself a little towards the end.

Elysia bounded ahead, volunteering herself. "I'll go try and talk to them. Mum always listens when I talk to her."

The other three nodded, and with nobody in denial, the shinx trotted over to the larger Pokémon curiously as Aki, Kitsune and Levinia watched in silence, slowing down slightly.

As the young shinx wandered up to the older Pokémon, at first everything was silent again. The two groups, separated by just a few meters, approached the shoreline as the echo of distant waves were heard.

Right in front of the larger group taking the lead a short but reasonably wide river crossed their path potentially stopping those who weren't the best swimmers in their tracks. 'Good enough topic to bring up,' Elysia decided silently.

"Hey Mum, Saffi, how are we going to cross the river? Kitsune wouldn't be able to swim across it and there's no way around." The shinx pointed out as she slowed her pace to walk alongside the Luxray and Ninetales.

Kitsune laughed quietly at her mention. "True enough."

Nobody replied. The larger group kept walking, their gazes unshifting from the stony path ahead.

"Mum?" Elysia repeated, getting nervous.

Still no answer. Still not a slither of acknowledgement passed through the blank group.

She tried again, this time reaching out her blue paw to tap her mother's leg.

WWHHOOOOSSSHHHHH!

A sudden force pushed against the small Pokémon, sending her flying back. A dark, wispy protective barrier of sorts surrounded the Luxray, purple and unnatural for her type. Elysia screamed in pain as she crashed down, skidding on the sharp rocks that gathered around the riverbed further upstream.

And there was still no answer.

"ELYSIA!" Kitsune shouted in fear for her friend, rushing over to the injured electric-type. Aki and Levinia followed, ignoring the mysterious cause for the time being.

The shinx clambered to her paws, a front one hanging somewhat limply in the air. "What... happened? What was that?" She asked quietly, looking over at the other group. Still not a single of their souls payed any attention to what had just happened to the younger Pokémon.

Kitsune shook her head. "I don't know. Are you okay?"

"I think so," Elysia murmured. "My paw hurts, but I'm still able to fight. Walking long distances is a different story, however..."

Levinia didn't know what to do. She was silent, trying to get her mind in order in attempt to figure out what was going on. Kitsune and Aki helped the injured shinx the best they could, but none of them could afford to be separated from those who had cared for them their entire lives. Those Pokémon obliviously walking away, surrounded by dark auras.

"Whatever we're going to do about this, we have to hurry." Aki stated seriously. "Those- things... controlling them... whatever they are, they look to have plans. They're not stopping anytime soon."

Staying true to the eevee's statement, the larger Pokémon kept walking. Their speed didn't hinder as they climbed down onto the river bed. With paws submerged, not even the fire Pokémon seemed bothered.

"We need to follow them. Elysia, can you walk?" Kitsune asked.

Elysia nodded slightly, standing up. "Yup, I think I'm alright. But what about you? You can't swim."

"Don't worry about me. I can just jump across using whatever suitable candidates there are for stepping stones." Kitsune explained, and the four of them bounded after the others.

Swift water flowed around them as they skillfully skipped from stone to stone, eyes fixed on the larger Pokémon. Elysia limped after her friends, trying her best to not let her injured paw get in her way, or to slow anyone down. But they still had no solid plan as they weaved their way through the forest that now covered their heads, slowing them down and making it increasingly difficult to keep the other group in their line of sight.

Levinia kept a sharp eye out for anything suspicious as they got deeper into the forest, plant life increasing, soon almost completely blocking off the sky from view leaving them cloaked in darkness.

But no matter where she looked, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But that wasn't enough to reassure the helioptile completely. Something wasn't right, she could just sense it.


'No.'

Darkness. That's all he could see. Usually, he would enjoy the darkness. He would find it warm, and welcoming. But this time was different. It was cold, yet no air could be felt hanging around him. Not a breeze, just complete stillness all around him.

'Oh, now what are you going to do?' A voice questioned. It seemed to echo out all around him, like the darkness itself was what was speaking. 'Too afraid to challenge me?'

He would've narrowed his eyes, he would've roared in anger, he would've leaped out to attack, but he couldn't. He had completely lost control of his own body, and here he was, just a spirit fighting for his own physical body.

'You'e one to talk. At least I'm not the one who had to resort to this to get anything to go his way.' He thought. At least there was one thing he still had. But the presence of another being in his own mind still annoyed him.

'I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon, just so you know. Now shut up. I can't it look like I'm weak enough to not be able to shut off my hosts' minds.' The voice continued, ignoring him.

'You can't control me. You might've hypnotized my body into following your every command, but that will never be enough for you.' At this point, he already knew exactly what he needed to do. He just needed to wait for the perfect time.

'How many times do I need to tell you? You don't stand a chance, so stop clinging onto those pointless plans. I've already won.'

'No you haven't.'


"AAAAARRRGGHHH!"

A sharp, sudden cry rang out from somewhere amongst the group ahead of them, familiar in many ways. They knew that voice.

"Yumi!"

The four of them picked up their pace, weaving between clumps of long grass and bushes that made up the undergrowth of the forest. Yumi was now lying on the sort earth, eyes closed as several wisps of the same purple mist that had attacked Elysia earlier abandoned the umbreon's body.

Aki stepped forward, gently nudging the dark type. "Are you okay? What happened?" She asked quietly.

"I'm... fine..." Yumi muttered, closing his eyes tightly as he pulled himself back up to his paws. He shook out his fur, opening his eyes slowly. He hesitated for a moment, before continuing. "Some ghost Pokémon... I don't know what, but they've somehow taken control of the others."

"Would that be what attacked Elysia too? Some creepy purple thing sent her flying when she tried to get Kefira's attention." Kitsune asked.

Yumi shook his head, glancing out into the forest. "No. I don't think so. Did you get a chance to see exactly what it looked like?"

"It was dark purple, sort of wispy, but that's all we saw. It just seemed to explode after that." the fire fox explained.

"It just felt like a normal Pokémon attack to me. Just really strong." Elysia added.

"Maybe it was a-"

WWHHHHOOOOOSSSHH

Suddenly, a giant dark-colored sphere was shot at them, cutting Aki off mid-sentence and sending both Kitsune and Elysia back, screaming at the sudden pain. Yumi dealt with it better, just barely managing to stay standing as the force pushed against him. Yet neither Aki nor Levinia seemed to have been hit, despite having been standing straight in the ball's path, and the both of them stood merely shocked as they stared out in the direction that the attack had come from.

"What was that?" Kitsune asked, coming out from a bush several meters away.

A very quiet yet annoyed grunt was heard as a faint purple glow was seen in the distance, a second dusky sphere soon beginning to form right in front of their eyes. Something was there.

"KITSUNE! LOOK OUT!" Aki shouted as a second attack was fired, coming straight at them from the dark distant section of the forest. But her warning was too late as said ball collided straight into the vulpix, sending her even further back.

"Those were shadow ball attacks, I'm sure of it." Yumi grunted, tensing and preparing for any further attacks from their mysterious pursuer.

"So that's why it didn't effect me and Aki. Because it's a ghost-type attack." Levinia decided, the frills on either side of her head starting to unfold as she prepared a thundershock attack.

Yumi merely nodded as he prepared and quickly fired off a Shadow Ball attack of his own, straight into the darkness. Based off what they could see and hear from their distance, the attack seemed to have been enough to at least stun the opponent.

The umbreon took this time to turn to Aki. "Are you able to use Shadow Ball yet?" He asked.

Aki nodded, "Yeah, I think so." Turning back to face the darkness, she opened her mouth slightly, concentrating hard as a small purple-ish sphere began to take form before her, slowly growing before she let it go. It was still weak comparatively, but it was enough.

This would be the point that their attacker would typically start shouting at them in anger, trying to taunt them, but nothing happened like that. Instead, the glowing red eyes suddenly vanished, leaving a regular shaded section of the forest being all that remained, as if nothing had ever happened.

Noticing the 'lack' of an attacker, Elysia and Kitsune took this chance to bound back over to the other three, cautiously scanning the surrounding area. "Where'd it go? Is it gone?" Elysia wondered.

"It's not gone. I think it's just retreated for a moment, possibly to get back up." Yumi explained, the yellow rings on his body starting to glow faintly, lighting up the surrounding plant life as he used Moonlight on himself to recover the health he'd lost in the fight.

Having never gotten the chance to attack, Levinia sent the sparks of her thundershock attack in the shinx's direction, who gratefully accepted the small electricity boost.

"Thanks, Levy."

"I'd say it was a cofagrigus that was attacking us, but fortunately for us not the most powerful one. It's most likely working together with whatever Pokémon it is that's controlling the others, and happened to spot us." Yumi continued.

The five of them took the time to speak quietly about their current situation, planning out future attacks and ways of going about freeing the others from the ghost Pokémon's control. Having made no actions yet, their currently-possessed friends had kept on walking, and were now out of their sight.

But as they talked, a long dark shadow slipped around beneath their feet, laying unnoticed as

it slinked around like an ekans sneaking up on unaware prey. Elysia, however, with her keen eyesight noticed the presence.

"Something's there." She whispered, slowly taking a few steps back, eyes glued on the moving shadows.

Suddenly, a dark ghostly hand reached out of the ground right behind Yumi, attempting to grab onto his leg. The umbreon swiftly leapt out of the way, using another Shadow Ball attack. A deep, ominous sounding cry was heard as the attack landed a direct hit on the Pokémon, which rose up to the ground revealing itself to be a Dusclops. The dark gray ghost-type lay unconscious on the soft ground, fainted.


Meanwhile, a single Pokémon of a group of five walking aimlessly, stopped, looking around, confused as to what happened. The sleek light-golden coloured fox Pokémon took in her surroundings, piecing together what must've happened. She remembered leaving their home, walking alongside Kefira, Flake and the others while her daughter followed behind with her friends. Next thing she knows, she's in the middle of a dark, shadowy forest with no sense as to how she'd gotten there.

Turning back to the direction she had been walking, Velvet, Kefira, Flake and Carbon continued on with slow, almost robotic-looking movements. Without any further investigation needed, it was at that Saffi decided there was an exterior force who had been controlling them. As to why, she did not know. Based off the lack of Yumi's presence, it must've been a ghost type who had them under control as any of them wouldn't be so effective against the dark-typed eeveelution.

As for herself, it would seem as though whoever had been controlling her had been defeated. Possibly by Yumi, or maybe by one of the younger ones who she did not know where they must be. Hopefully the umbreon had found them, or the other way around. In any situation, the best course of action for her right now would be to go and find them, and put a stop to it before it got out of hand, as some ghost types can be known to do pretty nasty things.

With her nine tails flowing out behind her, the fox Pokémon set out. Her surroundings were dark, and she knew without a doubt that something could be hiding anywhere. Knowing this, she used Will-O-Wisp to light the path ahead of her, the small blue ember floating in front of her.

Eyes open, she looked around for any sign of the others as she walked, the light produced from her attack warning any enemies that tried to approach her through shadow or otherwise.

Eventually, she caught sight of the familiar yellow glow of an umbreon's rings, the faint light leaking through a bush.

"Saffi!" Aki exclaimed as she noticed the much larger fox Pokémon walk over to them. "You're not being... controlled, right..?"

She shook her head, extinguishing their fears before they grew too strong. "No. Were you guys the ones who defeated whoever was controlling me?" Saffi asked. "The others showed no signs of stopping when I gained control of myself again, so I presume whatever had me lost control, but none of the ones controlling the others."

Yumi stepped forward, nodding in confirmation. "That's right. Elysia noticed something attempting to use Shadow Sneak on us, but I managed to knock them out after avoiding their attack. It was a Dusclops, so there must be more out there controlling everyone else."

Levinia slinked forward, shaking herself out after emerging from the bush they had all been behind before Saffi arrived. The lizard-like electric Pokémon glanced up at the umbreon, asking, "Should we explain the plan to Saffi?"

Yumi nodded, sitting down and looking up at the majestic fox Pokémon. "Alright," he began. "This is what we're going to do..."


I hope to try and get some more inspiration so I can write a lot more often than I have been, but for now I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was really difficult to write at certain points, so hopefully there aren't too many mistakes or anything. Now, to start writing chapter 7.