FROM AUARA TO SHADOWS

Yeah, so this is Chapter 2. People please review because this...IS...SPARTA! I'm weird, I know...but hey...whatever.

Chapter II

Attica: Veni, Vidi, Vici

(That's "I came, I saw, I conquered, for all you non-Latin speaking folk)

...

May approached Nanook nervously, wondering about what his reaction would be to his crushing defeat. "Nanook..." she began. "I'm really sorry that-"

Nanook turned to face her and she was relieved to see that he was grinning. "Don't be," he told the older girl. "I've learned a lot, and next time I battle Attica, he is so freaking going down!" Snatching up his PokeBall, Nanook charged out of the room, presumably to Nurse Joy for her to heal Mudkip.

May smiled. It looks like someone has a rival, she thought to herself.

...

Nanook lay in a field in Oldale town, just reflecting. Mudkip lay curled up at his feet, and the two friends watched the clouds meander across the striking blue sky. Nanook thought back to his defeat, reliving every moment of the battle, seeing what he did wrong. He would like to blame his failure on the fact that Attica's Glaceon was obviously powerful, and had battled many times before. But he also knew it was mostly his fault.

Be at one with your Pokemon, a voice whispered in his head. Trust your instincts, do not over predict.

Nanook sat straight up. "Who said that?" There was no reply.

"Excuse me," a feminine voice said from behind him. Nanook whirled to see a girl that looked about his age. "Nobody said anything; who were you talking to?"

"Um..." Nanook's voice trailed off. The girl was strikingly beautiful; ayt least, in his opinion. "I forget," he finished lamely.

The girl laughed softly, a soothing sound. "My name's Dawn," she announced.

"Nanook," he replied.

Dawn tilted her head questioningly. "That's an odd name."

Nanook shrugged. Suddenly, he saw movement behind Dawn and looked past her, his heart plummeting to the pit of his stomach.

Attica was striding towards them, eating up the distance between himself and the two people engaged in conversation. "Dawn," he said, not even acknowledging Nanook's presence. "We need to go."

"You two are traveling together?" Nanook asked, hoping against hope he was wrong.

"Yeah," Dawn said, confirming his fears. Nanook tasted bile rising in his throat, and fought to keep it back.

"Well, nice to have met you," he said, forcing out the words. They tasted sour in his mouth. He turned to his new rival, now in more ways than one. "And Attica..."

The other boy glanced at Nanook.

"I'm calling for a rematch sometime," Nanook finished. Attica scoffed at him.

"Don't waste your time."

"I plan on winning."

Attica flashed him an exasperated glance. "Fine. Meet me at the Petalburg City Pokemon Center. We'll battle there."

Nanook nodded.

"Come on Dawn," Attica said, leading the girl away. Nanook watched after her until she was out of sight.

...

"Dawn," Attica hissed.

"What is it?" she mumbled.

"Get up!" His voice was urgent. Dawn rolled out of bed, glancing at the clock. Half past two in the morning. She repeated her question.

"I have to show you something," Attica replied. "It's important," he added.

She followed him downstairs in the quiet Pokemon Center. He lead her outside into the cold night air. Dawn wished she could have changed out of her pajamas into something warmer.

Attica lead her away from the main part of the town into a less hospitable area.

"What?" She was exasperated, and the word came out more forceful than she would have liked. She turned and gasped in shock. Attica was changing into the form of a Pokemon she recognized from her Sinnoh journeys.

"A Zoroark!" she exclaimed. The dark type grinned and extended its claws. Suddenly Dawn realized she was in danger. She turned to run but felt strong arms throw her down. SHe had no chance of escaping.

A figure emerged from the gloom, a man dressed in a material that was patterned after something that reminded her of snakeskin. "I am Cobra," he announced in a silky voice.

"Good for you," Dawn said. The Zoroark punched her and she gasped for breath, winded.

"There is no need for that," Cobra cooed, shooing away the Pokemon. He ran one soft hand across Dawn's cheek. "All I need is what you know about the Orb."

Dawn frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about," she answered truthfully. Cobra scowled.

"I think you do," he persisted, dragging her to her feet.

"I really don't," she replied, hand slinking towards her PokeBalls. Then she mentally kicked herself; her PokeBalls were in her room!

Cobra cursed. "If you cannot give me what I want to know, you don't think I'm just going to let you go." As an afterthought, he added, "You really are quite pretty." Dawn stared at him, disgusted. The man was probably in his twenties, probably ten years older than her!

"Let me go," she insisted.

"Only if you give me what I want," Cobra shot back.

Her heart sank as she realized what Cobra wanted. She tried to turn and run but his hand closed around her collar.

"Stay here," he cooed. Dawn struggled fiercely but to no avail.

"Let me go, you son of a-"

"DRAGONITE!"

The raucous call exploded through the alleyway as that same Pokemon erupted from the end of the alleyway, slamming into Cobra and yelling that same battle cry again. Dawn stared in shock. Cobra, struggling under the weight of the large Pokemon, cursed.

"You Aura-loving idiots!" he snapped. Then he whistled high and shrill, and more Pokemon emerged; a Hydreigon, Tyranitar, Umbreon, and a Gengar. Cobra threw a PokeBall and a Seperior emerged, yelling in anger and fury.

Yet the Dragonite was not alone either. A few more Pokemon charged down the alleyway and engaged Cobra's forces. Utter chaos engulfed the alley and elemental attacks flew wildly.

Dawn turned to run, shocked and confused by what was hapening. However, once she reached the end of the long alleyway, a Pokemon leapt in front of her. It was an Umbreon. The Umbreon's eyes flashed blue; Dawn recognized the attack! It was Amnesia.

And then darkness engulfed her.

...

"Dawn," Attica said. "Wake up."

Dawn, rested from an uneventful night, got out of bed and looked out the window. The sun had already risen, and a golden glow covered the fields of Oldale town. Suddenly, Dawn got a strange feeling, as if she had forgotten something important. Then she shrugged and pushed the feeling away; it was probably nothing.

She went into the bathroom and got dressed in her usual outfit. Attica was already ready to go, so she retrieved her PokeBalls from beside her bed and proceeded downstairs with her traveling companion. Waving good-bye to Nurse Joy, they left the Pokemon Center.

"Where to next?" Dawn asked.

"Petalburg City," Attica answered. "There's a Gym there, as well as my second victory over Nanook."

Dawn frowned. "Isn't the Gym there really hard?"

"Not to me and Glaceon," Attica scoffed. "It'll be a breeze."

As they left Oldale town, neither noticed a trainer standing on a rooftop far above, the wind blowing his blue traditional clothes behind him. Next to him stood a Pokemon; a jackal like fighting and steel type.

"Things are getting interesting, aren't they, Lucario?" Riley asked his partner.

"Lucar," the Pokemon agreed.

Suddenly Riley noticed the two trainers walking out of the town far below. "Those are the two we're supposed to follow, right?" Lucario confirmed the answer with a nod. The two silently began to follow a ways behind Attica and Dawn. Riley had a strange feeling that they weren't the only ones doing just that.

...

May had told Nanook that she was just going to bring him to Oldale town, but she had changed her mind once he had told her that his next destination was Petalburg city. That was, after all, where her parents and brother lived. She decided to continue with Nanook until they reached Petalburg. She had told the younger boy that she was doing this so she could visit her family. What she hadn't told him was that she also wanted to travel with him to make sure his crushing defeat didn't keep him down. So far, May as happily surprised that this seemed to not be the case.

Now they were traveling along an area surrounded by trees on either side, with a large pond to their right. May had informed Nanook that this was route 102.

Nanook had just won his first victory against a kid named Calvin who had used a Zigzagoon, and he was still psyched. All he wanted now was to catch his first Pokemon. It seemed that was to be the case, as a Pokemon the trainer had never seen before waddled across their path. Nanook scanned it with his PokeDex.

"Seedot," the PokeDex beeped in a monotone voice. "It hangs off branches and absorbs nutrients. When it finished eating, its body becomes so heavy that it drops to the ground with a thump."

Nanook grinned and put away the machine. "Mudkip, come on out!" he yelled, throwing the red and white ball into the air. It split open with the familiar wooshing sound and, in a beam of light, Mudkip materialized.

"Kip!" Mudkip announced.

"Tackle attack!" Nanook commanded. Mudkip took off running, but just before he made contact, the Seedot glowed silver and Mudkip bounced off.

"That's harden," May advised. "It raises the Pokemon's defense. Stick to special attacks, even if they aren't very effective."

"Water gun!" Nanook shouted. A steam of water erupted from Mudkip's mouth, blasting the Seedot backwards. "Great!" Nanook praised his Pokemon. "Now Mud-Slap, let's go!"

A barrage of mud shot, once again, from Mudkip's mouth, damaging the weakened Seedot even more.

"Now!" May instructed.

Nanook threw a PokeBall and Seedot was swept inside. The PokeBall began to roll. Once...twice...three...

In a ding and a sparkle, Seedot was caught. Nanook bent over and retrieved the PokeBall.

...

Hidden in the trees, two figures observed Nanook's celebration.

"An interesting character," the taller of the two admitted in a soft voice. He was dressed like a ninja, in all black. He even had a sword slung across his back.

"Kind of cute, isn't he?" the other, a young girl of Nanook's age, murmured to herself.

"Focus, Shade," the man reprimanded. "We're supposed to be gathering information."

Shade rolled her eyes. "I know that."

"Listen," the man said. "The League of Shadows thinks that that is the one."

Shade drew in a breath. "Really? Him?"

The man nodded. "That is why we are following him, and, if the need arises..." He looked out to where May and Nanook were continuing down the route, still chattering about the Seedot. "...we will kill him," he finished.