CHAPTER 6

I ran as fast as I could. I had to get away so that Rosy wouldn't see me and probably kill me. I past through trees and bushes heading towards where I thought the academy gate was.

Eventually, I saw the gate that led to the academy. I ran to it but then I heard a whooshing sound. Two Honchkrows landed in front of me and crossed their wings menacingly.

"Halt, state your purpose." one of them said.

"My name's Shade and I was on a mission. I got separated from the rest of my team and I came back." I replied.

They eyed me suspiciously. One of the Honchkrows whispered something in his companion's ear. He nodded and flew off leaving me alone with the other Honchkrow.

"So what time is it exactly?" I asked him.

He eyed me suspiciously again. "First period training's almost over. So if you were delaying your time in arriving here to avoid it…"

"N-No, that's not it." I said panicking a little. Just then, the second Honchkrow rejoined us.

"Well, he's telling the truth." he began. "His team was supposed to go on a search mission today but for some reason, it wasn't allowed."

"I see. Well, get in kid." the first Honchkrow said opening the gate. I stepped through it and entered the academy.

Just then, the Exploud horn signaling the end of first period sounded. Knowing my team, I went over to the table where we ate.

"SHADE!" Slice yelled out. He ran over and gave me a hug. Berg and Scuttle were next and Chi just patted my shoulder.

"Dude what happened? We thought you were killed!" Slice exclaimed.

"We asked if we could search for you but we weren't allowed" Scuttle said.

"It's alright guys. I'm perfectly fine." I told them. They smiled and sat down for breakfast.

"So what exactly happened guys?" I asked.

"Well, after we got separated," Slice explained. "I found Berg, Chi and Scuttle and we found a place to hide."

"After that, we looked everywhere for you. It was already dark so we decided to go home already." Scuttle finished.

"Oh OK." I said.

"So what happened to you?" Slice asked.

"Well, after the bombing, I found a cave and hid there. The entrance got blocked so I went to the other side of the cave and found another entrance so I stayed there overnight."

I chose my words carefully. I had to make sure it sounded like I was alone.

"Well, it's good you survived." Slice said ruffling my head. Just then, the horn sounded and Slice and Scuttle left for second period. Meanwhile, Berg, Chi and I went back to our room.

As Chi meditated and Berg slept, I lay down on my bed. I began to think about one Pokemon-Shine.

I remembered that last thing she did to me. She kissed me and…I returned it. Did that mean she loves me? My heart raced at that thought and I was sure I blushed. I remembered the feeling of her lips on mine and my heart raced faster. Was…Was I in love with her?

Then it hit me. Even if I did love her, it would be forbidden. Both of us would be killed the second we didn't kill each other. It was the biggest rule in our nation, killing any Amber Fang you see.

The horn sounded and I woke Berg up. Chi then accompanied us on the way to dinner. Even while we ate, Shine was still on my mind. This caused me to stare blankly in front of me. Slice noticed this and when he asked me what was wrong, I said nothing.

After dinner, Shine was still on my mind. I kept asking myself: Do I love her or not? I just didn't know the answer leaving me very confused.

Still as confused as ever, I decided to go to sleep.

I had a very disturbing dream. I was standing in the middle of a great wasteland. The remains of several dead Pokemon were around me. Some of them were still alive covered with blood and begging for help. I just stood there with my mouth open in shock.

"H…help…" a voice said and I recognized it. I looked around and saw before me a sight that nearly made my heart stop.

Shine was lying there in a pool of her own blood. More blood came out of severe wounds on all four of her knees. I knew that she was in severe pain.

Suddenly she looked right at me. Her eyes widened in fear and she moved her legs as if she was trying to get away.

"Shine, what's wrong? It's me, Shade." I told her but her face didn't change.

Suddenly, I found myself walking involuntarily to her.

"W-what's going on? Why's my body moving when I'm not controlling it?" I thought.

The clouds in the sky parted and there, they seemed to be a part of the sky itself, was the Crimson Council. All of their hands had what looked like thin strings and the strings were connected to my body.

I tried to resist but my body just got closer and closer to Shine. Eventually, I was right in front of her face and she looked even more afraid.

My mouth suddenly opened by itself. Energy began to gather as a Hyper Beam was readied. With fear in my face and heart, I looked at the Crimson Council above me.

"STOP! STOP! PLEASE STOP!" I yelled to them but all of them just smiled. The energy in my mouth reached its limit. I looked right at Shine's face. Then, the energy released itself and I unintentionally fired a point blank, full power Hyper Beam at Shine's face.

"SHINE!"

My eyes jerk open as I woke up from the nightmare. Sweat covered my body as I panted heavily. The image of Shine's face in fear was vivid in my eyes.

"Whoa Shade, are you OK?" Slice asked me. I seemed to have woken up everyone else.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's just a dream." I replied calming down a bit.

"You sure?" Slice asked again.

"Yeah I'm sure. C'mon guys, get some sleep" I told my teammates. They agreed and went back to sleep.

As I lay down, I thought about my nightmare. Aside from me trying to kill Shine, what really got me was the appearance of the Crimson Council in the sky. It was then that I realized that besides the desire for the plates and their wanting for this war they had one thing that they had in common. It's connected to one thing that Shine and I have in common.

We're both just their tools for the war.