Chapter 21: King Noah

The castle of Oasis Island was just as amazing as the island itself. The walls were enormous, made of giant white stone bricks, and the huge steel front gate was large enough for pretty much any pokemon to fit through.

Two guards stood on top of the wall, one on each side of the gate. They spotted Rita, Lloyd and Regal as soon as they came out from the forest into the open plain in front of the gate.

The guard on the right side called down to them. "What do you guys want? This is private property!"

Regal yelled back, but his tiny Caterpie voice wasn't very loud. "Its me you fool, open the gate immediately!"

"... What?!"

"I said open the gate!"

"... Speak up I can't hear you!"

Regal closed his eyes and sighed. "Good help is hard to come by these days, give me a second."

Regal went to the wall and crawled up it like it was tree, he moved surprisingly fast, it took him less then a minute to reach the top. Rita and Lloyd waited a second and saw something falling off the wall, it was the guard. Up close Rita and Lloyd saw that it was a Grovyle, the fall didn't seem to hurt it to bad , it either was used to it or it was a very strong pokemon.

The gate opened slowly, the Grovyle pointed towards the gate, still lying on his back. "Uhh... You guys can go in now."

Speechlessly they walked in, but before they actually got to the gate, Regal jumped down right in front of them, startling them both. He was completely unfazed by the fall, Regal was definitely a lot stronger then he looked.

"This way, if you please." He said to them. The three of them walked on, once they passed through the gate it closed behind them, leaving them trapped inside the castles walls.

"You know what Lloyd, I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea."

"That's great, wait until we can't escape before you use common sense."

"Excuse me?" Said Regal. "Did either of you say something?"

"Uh no, nothing at all!" Rita replied quickly.

They kept walking until they reached the largest building within the castle walls, the keep, located right in the centre of the entire complex. The interior of the keep was also defended by an enormous gate, this time two doors made of wood that opened by being pushed open, this gate also having guards at each side, both of them Grovyles evolved form, Sceptile. When they spotted Regal they immediately opened the gate, making a loud, heavy creak as it got pushed in.

"Listen you two." Said Regal as they walked inside the massive structure. "Do not speak unless spoken to, the King has a very nasty temper and it'd be most unfortunate if you mad him angry."

The inside of the keep was amazing, the main hall was massive, the ceiling seemed to go on forever, the walls were covered in expensive looking paintings and tapestries all with grass type pokemon on them, the floor was made of marble, as was clean enough to eat off of. The only thing in the room that filled the large amount of space was a line of pillars going from the entrances all the way to the other side, each pillar was huge, about the size of an Onix standing straight up. At the far end of the keep was a pair of thrones sitting on top of a pyramid of stairs, one empty, one being sat on by the King himself, a rather frightening looking Venusaur.

Regal picked up the pace, moving as fast as he could, Rita and Lloyd had no trouble keeping up. Regal didn't stop until they reached the bottom of the stairs where the thrones were.

"Greetings sire, I brought her, just as you asked."

King Noah looked bored and completely uninterested in them. "Yeah, yeah, bring her here so I can get a good look, need to be sure its her."

Rita knew he was talking about her, she looked at the king, still looking completely bored, and yet was still very scary looking. She stepped in front of him, looking up at him, seeing he was even more scary up close. His face was the worst, covered in huge scars, most notably the one across his right eye, which was bigger then what she could possibly imagine, even a Scyther couldn't create such a large cut.

"Come closer, I need to see you closely." He said to her in a booming voice. Rita didn't want to get any closer then where she already was standing, but she obeyed him, walking slowly towards the kings throne.

When she got a certain distance away from the king, he leaned forward, looking straight into her eyes.

"Green... Like emeralds shining in the sunlight... You're definitely her." He leaned back into his throne. "Guards, take her away now, she's the one."

Before either Lloyd or Rita could do anything, two nearby Sceptile guards swooped in and grabbed a hold of Rita, restraining her.

"What are you doing!?" She screamed. "Let go of me!"

"Hey!" Yelled Lloyd. "What's going on, what do you want with her?!"

King Noah laughed. "We've been looking for this girl since before she was even born, why is none of your business. Now, are you going to fight us or stand down and take your reward?"

Lloyd didn't know what to do, he couldn't just let them imprison Rita, but getting himself thrown in with her wouldn't help. He looked at Rita, still struggling in the grip of the Sceptile guards. "Go on without me Lloyd, don't fight you can't win!"

She was right, Lloyd hated the fact, but there was nothing he could do. He lowered his head, staring at the ground, and allowed the guards to pass him as they carried Rita away.

I told you Rita... We should never have come here... Why?

"Now, Regal, give this one his reward and send him off, I'm bored of this." The King sat back and relaxed, as if what just happened never happened at all. Regal crawled behind the throne and came back with a small bag, the sound of coins shaking inside. Regal dropped it in front of Lloyd.

"Wait a sec, isn't this a little small a bag for ten million poke?"

"Obviously you've never seen a platinum poke before then? Open up the bag."

Lloyd looked inside, instead of normal, dull yellow coins. The bag was full a shiny white coins, they were so polished he could see his face in each individual coin like they were a bunch of tiny mirrors.

"Each one of those is worth one hundred thousand poke each." Explained Regal. "You know how full our vaults would be if we used typical currency? Even in this massive castle we wouldn't have room to walk!" He pushed Lloyd towards the front entrance. "Now, you have your money, please be of with you right away."

---

Lloyd couldn't believe what just happened as he walked out of Oasis Castles keep. His first, and, until meeting Isaac, only friend was just taken away from him, and there was nothing he could do. He didn't even want the money, in fact he was having second thoughts about not turning around and beating up the King until the guards captured him as well.

He went all the way out of the castle, the large metal gate closing down behind him. He couldn't think straight, so he decided to walk to the dock and wait for the boat to return, even if it wasn't coming for another two days.

It was night by the time he reached the dock, he immediately went over to the edge and sat down, his feet hanging over the water. He had forgotten everything that had happened before Rita was captured. He forgot about Shadow, the voice in his head, his memory, all he cared about right then and there was Rita.

"Oh Lloyd, what ever has you down on this fine night?"

It was Shadow.

You... Don't even talk to me you horrible...

"Now, now, no need for name calling. I wanted to help is all, it would favour us both after all."

What are you talking about?

"Rita, I know you care about her, you can't hide the fact from me. You couldn't do anything to help her, but I could."

What do you mean?

"Isn't it obvious? I'm stronger then you, and I can disappear into this wonderful darkness without any effort at all!"

And what would be in it for you?

"Again, should be obvious, that castle is full of new toys for me to play with, all I ask is you let me out of my pen so I can entertain myself."

You want to kill everyone inside the castle? I can't let you do that... Wait a sec, why do you need my permission in the first place?

"Your friend, whoever she is, when she used that little glowing ball to seal me away, I lost any ability I had to take over your body by force, at least for a while, so if I'm going to have my fun, I need you to allow me to take control."

And you'll spare Rita? You'll set her free?

"Of course, what would be the point? I'd have hundred of other toys to play with, I wouldn't even need your little friend."

... I don't know... I...

"Listen Lloyd, you have no choice in the matter, either let me help you, or poor little Rita will spend the rest of her fragile little life in jail... Or worse."

What do you mean worse? What could be worse then that?

"Such a simpleton, they wanted her very badly, badly enough to ask for help from people they consider peasants. She is either very important, or did something very bad, there's the possibility they want to execute her."

No... It can't be!

"Oh, it can be, and given the evidence it is likely. But then again, you are talking to a bloodthirsty murderer, so perhaps its just me who would come to such a conclusion."

As if things couldn't be worse, now there was the possibility of Rita being killed. But he didn't want to trust Shadow, he couldn't, he knew he probably wouldn't keep his word and kill Rita himself.

No... I'm not doing it, there's a another way and I'll find it!

"So pathetic, you are and always will be a fool, soon you will realize that."

Lloyd didn't have to ask, he knew Shadow was gone, or at least, had stopped listening. He didn't really fully understand his bond with him, and there was no time to think about it now. Lloyd stood up and walked off the dock, stepping on the cool grass again.

"Now what?"

Lloyd heard a rustling in the trees nearby, it sounded like someone was hiding from him.

"Who's there?"

Nobody answered, the surrounding forest was quiet again except for the faint chirps of unseen bug pokemon. He got closer to the tree line, looking into the darkness, searching for whatever could be spying on him.

He looked around, but didn't see anyone there. He turned around, about to walk back to the path when he heard another noise. He turned around quickly, not expecting to see what he saw. A pokemon stood over him, and before he could react, put a large cloth bag over his head and swept him off his feet, it picked him up and began to carry him into the dark forest.

---

Rita was thrown inside a damp cell, the door closed as soon as she landed on the ground. The guards said nothing to her and left, leaving her alone and confused inside the prison cell. She looked around, the cell was similar to the cabin in the ship they came in, except much larger and much dirtier.

She was lucky, they never took her bag, so she had all the supplies they brought on the trip with her. But since escape orbs only work in mystery dungeons, the only thing that was useful was the food. She didn't want anything to be confiscated from her, so she took out one, small apple and threw the rest under the bed, well hidden. She sat on the bed, which was even less comfortable then the bed she slept in on the boat, and began to eat the apple.

What to do, what to do... I bet Lloyds worried about me right now. Man I wish he was here right now...

She sat inside the cell, looking out the small barred window above and kept eating. When she finished she layed down in the bed, covered herself up as comfortably as she could, and went to sleep.