Hunter began to walk towards Taren. "Taren…it's me. Hunter. Remember?"
That name no longer has any meaning for your friend, human.
The Lucario suddenly convulsed violently and Taren's eyes grew wild with fright and pleading. Master, help me! Make it go away!
Taren then convulsed again, and its eyes were filled with anger. Quiet! It said to itself. Your body is mine now, to do with as I please!
Hunter narrowed his eyes. "Whatever you are, I'm going to make sure that you can't hurt anyone with someone they trust."
Not-Taren, his eyes now starting to glow a malevolent purple, smirked. As you wish.
He ran forward, with all the intent of killing.
Hunter dodged his first attack, a roundhouse kick that whooshed over his head as he brought a knee up towards Not-Taren's midsection.
His enemy backed away, then threw a flurry of punches at Hunter. Hunter blocked or dodged them all, then kicked at his foe.
Not-Taren jumped back and then ran forward, throwing two spinning kicks in different directions.
Hunter ducked one and jumped over the other, flipping over Not-Taren and throwing his legs out in a hope to catch him unawares.
Not-Taren fell to the ground but recovered quickly as the feet slammed into his back.
It sneered. You cannot win. I am more powerful than you can imagine.
Hunter calmly folded his arms. "But since you're controlling Taren's body, I'll have you know that his abilities are substantially weaker than mine."
Not-Taren sneered again. But you have not had time to work with him, while I have.
It put its paws together, and a ball of dark energy began building up.
Hunter quickly conjured an Aura Sphere and hurled it at the ball just as Not-Taren released it.
The explosion covered them both. Hunter closed his eyes, searching. He then had to open them again as a paw backhanded him across the face, throwing him from the cloud of smoke.
No Aura…Hunter thought. Forgot about that. His mouth now bleeding, Hunter fired an Aura Sphere into the smoke.
Not-Taren came charging out as the dust began to settle, and then the battle truly began.
Both combatants were a flurry of fists and feet, punches and kicks. Both landed blows occasionally, but Hunter was slowly becoming more and more tired, while Not-Taren wasn't even breaking a sweat.
Jumping away from a kick and then landing two of his own to Not-Taren's middle, Hunter fired a pulse of Aura that knocked his enemy away long enough for him to speak. "Taren, remember who you are! Remember Mara!"
Another fit and Taren's eyes were filled with realization. Mara! The baby!
One more and Not-Taren was once again back, and angrier than ever. Before lunging forward, a Bone Rush in its paws, it gave a bloodcurdling roar that echoed around the cavern.
Hunter conjured a staff made of Aura and met Not-Taren head on. They fought one another even more viciously than before, with quick blows and long flurries punctuating the duel.
Not-Taren managed to land a kick to Hunter's chin, and the human flipped backwards, then came back. Slicing down on Not-Taren's staff, he sliced it in half, then spun and hit Not-Taren across the face with his fist.
Not-Taren worked its jaw, then spat out a mixture of blood and saliva. It growled, and ran back. As it tried to hit him, Hunter jumped, landing on a large rock a few feet above Not-Taren.
Not-Taren laughed, then jumped up as well, launching a flurry of kicks and punches that drove Hunter off.
They were a flurry of fists and feet, kicks and punches. Hunter caught one of Not-Taren's blows and then swept its legs out from under it. As Not-Taren fell it rolled, out of the way of another strike before righting itself and charging back in.
Hunter blocked the barrage of punches, then kicked low. Not-Taren jumped, then flipped backwards, catching Hunter in the chin with its feet.
Hunter stumbled backwards as his foe pressed the attack. As he bobbed and weaved around the punches and kicks that Not-Taren was throwing, he stuck his hand out and channeled his Aura into one large push.
Unfortunately, Not-Taren had thought of the same thing.
Turning to keep his front to Hunter, its paw was stuck out as well. Hunter could feel the Aura between them convulsing, until neither one could sustain it any longer. They both flew apart, Hunter landing on his back, Not-Taren on its feet. Its eyes were now even angrier than before. Enough.
It put its paws together and began firing Aura Spheres like a sprinkler.
Hunter dodged, all the while firing back. Explosions lit the cavern and exploded rock from the walls, causing trainers outside to start panicking. They all ran towards the docks as the battle within the mountain raged on.
An Aura Sphere landed directly in front of Hunter, and as the smoke cleared he could see his enemy charging towards him.
He braced himself. This has gone on for long enough!
As Not-Taren burst through the smoke, Hunter caught its outstretched fist. Channeling Aura into his foot, he kicked Not-Taren in the stomach, causing him to fly up to the ceiling. Hunter jumped to follow and grabbed his enemy again, slamming him against the wall as he swung it like a vine into the unyielding rock. He did it again, then threw Not-Taren towards the floor and gave him an Aura-assisted shove of air. Not-Taren slammed into the ground.
Hunter didn't stop as Not-Taren picked up a large rock with Aura and threw it at him. It was a futile gesture as Hunter caught the rock with his own Aura and threw it back. Not-Taren managed to dodge it, but it didn't help. Hunter grabbed Not-Taren again and threw him across the cavern against the wall above a narrow overhang. Jumping after it, he blocked a Bone Rush attack and an Aura Sphere before returning the latter and throwing Not-Taren into the wall again. He threw a spinning kick that knocked Not-Taren off of the cliff and was about to jump after him. Not-Taren threw another Aura Sphere that Hunter caught, then added power to, then returned.
A large explosion echoed through the cavern. Hunter ran down to the floor and charged at his enemy. Not-Taren met him with a Bone Rush. Hunter blocked the attacks with an Aura staff, then broke a lock and pushed his foe into the wall. Running over and grabbing his apprentice, he jumped into the air, spun, then put all of his power into one push. Not-Taren flew across the cavern and into a cave blocked with a number of massive boulders. An enormous cloud of dust billowed. Hunter waited for Not-Taren to emerge. It didn't. He closed his eyes. Taren's Aura could be sensed again. Hunter didn't open his eyes, but instead started sobbing, with tears running down his face. "What have I done?" he asked himself, heartbroken. "What have I done?"
He got up and ran into the cave. "Taren!" he shouted, his voice echoing. "Taren!"
He looked around, and saw a black-and-blue paw protruding from a pile of rocks. Using Aura, Hunter carefully lifted the rocks from his apprentice and gently picked him up. "It's okay," he whispered softly as he carried Taren's limp form back into the main cavern. "It's okay, Daddy's gotcha. Daddy's gotcha." He called out into the cavern. "Umbreon!"
Umbreon, who had regained consciousness during the fight, limped over to its trainer. Hunter put a hand on its head. "Teleport," he whispered.
The trio glowed for a moment, and was gone.
But across Sinnoh, beneath the lakes, something was stirring.
Deep below the surface, in caves undisturbed for millennia, power was awakening.
Down in the darkness, where even Pokémon did not roam,
Things moved.
Uh-oh. Last chapter coming up! R and R!