Sorry for the gap between chapters; many delays. This chapter will focus on Zephyr again… and introduce a little more about the plot. Hope you enjoy!
Zephyr… we meet again… Zephyr opened his eyes. He was floating again.
"You!" He exclaimed. He almost forgot about this voice.
I said we would meet again… I've come… to remind you… about your… priority… to save… our worlds…
"I'm sorry." Zephyr said, "But I didn't get very much information on it… so I didn't know what to do…"
There's no time… the world could fall at any day… you MUST help…
"But…" Zephyr began. Then suddenly, a bitter cold fell upon Zephyr, then he was teleported away, into a cold, pitch black emptiness.
"What? Where…" But he was cut off, as a new being entered the void. It was like a spirit; no actual solid body, but it's essence flowed through the void, giving Zephyr a feeling of dread. Then it's red eyes locked onto him.
Zephyr… you would do better to not trust that voice… the evil spoken about… is not important…
"What do you mean it's not important!" Zephyr cried back, "It said the world will be destroyed!"
That is NOTHING! The void rippled from the power. There is a much worst terror coming to the world… one that will tear your friends apart… if you don't…believe me... ill have to show you… Then Zephyr had a vision.
He saw the world he knew as a pokemon in ruins. There was an army, leaden raids upon raids into the village, leaving no trace of living activity behind. Then he was transported to a dark cave, where their was a horrific sight. All the village inhabitants were tied up, being shoved into a dark cell.
Then he saw a room filled with mean-looking pokemon, and in the middle was Meloetta, being forced to dance for them. Her face was filled with defiance, but one thing seemed to be missing. Hope. Zephyr knew that they had no belief that anyone could save them, giving in to the darkness. It filled Zephyr with anger. He wanted to cry out that he was there, but of course, couldn't.
This is what's ahead for you if you don't stop it… the shadowy spirit said.
"What do I do to stop it?" Zephyr asked. He immediately regretted saying it as the shadowy figure seemed to smile.
You must stop the monster who started it all… and Zephyr was sent to a cold palace, made up of billions ice, and in the centre was a throne, occupied by a terrifying figure. The behemoth was a dark grey, parts of it's body frozen in ice. It was smiling cruelly, it's eyes just as cold as the chilling aura it was giving out.
To stop it… you must seek the help of two legendary pokemon… who wait in a dimension normally unaccessible… unless you have the right help… go to Castle Hallow… find a map… it will show you the right path… And with that, the shadow was gone.
"Is he all right?" "He's still moaning." "Do you think he's…" "He is not dead ok?" "QUIET! He's waking up!"
When Zephyr opened his eyes he was surrounded by a crowd. Almost everyone he knew and a few others were there, except for Rex and his cronies.
"Your awake!" Darren exclaimed, relieved. "We were almost going to make you eat an herb…"
Ivy looked offended. "They're not that bad…" She said in exasperation.
Zephyr laughed. This scene looked almost normal. Almost.
"I need to talk with Darren… and Darkrai." The crowd went silent. They stared at Darkrai warily. Surprisingly it was Furnanzo who broke the silence.
"Okay everyone give him space!" he said. Soon everyone left, and Zephyr explained his talk with the voice and shadow. Darren turned pale when he mentioned the shadow, and - with some prompting from Darkrai - he explained his vision.
"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?" he demanded.
"You had a lot of other stressful things at the moment." Darren said, "I didn't want to add that to your list of worries."
"Well it still has me worried."
"That is quite enough." Darkrai interrupted, "Carry on Zephyr."
So Zephyr told them everything else; the villagers now slaves, the evil monster and the map in Castle Hallow. Darren's eyes widened.
"Castle Hallow?!" he cried, "That place is haunted!"
"It is?" Zephy asked in surprise. Darren nodded.
"It's filled with ghost pokemon, and everyone who went there never returned…"
Zephyr gulped. "That sounds pretty bad, but there's one other thing that I don't understand, why did the shadow tell Darren not to trust me, then tell me to save everyone?"
"It's to tear your friendship apart." said Darkrai, "Or perhaps just to create chaos. Which leads us to the next question" Zephyr and Darren already knew what was next.
"Who will you listen to? The voice, or the shadow?"
They were silent for a moment, then Darren spoke.
"I would normally trust the voice…" he began, "But the shadow gave us all the information we needed, while the voice didn't say anything much. But the shadow seemed like it was relaxed; it seemed that the only problem was getting you to help, while the voice sounded like it was urgent, like there wasn't anytime."
He's right. Zephyr thought, but then Darren was talking again.
"Anyway, this is all very confusing, and this world isn't normal is it?" He then yawned.
"You should sleep now." Darkrai said, "We can talk later, right now you need rest."
He's acting like we're little kids! thought Zephyr, but a few seconds later he drifted off to sleep.
Zephyr woke from a nightmare of the future terror again. He knew it was probably the shadow urging him to follow it, but he still couldn't help but feel that he wanted to do the shadow's request more than the voice's. After Darren woke up they left for the door, and what greeted them outside was unpleasant; Rex and his gang were out early.
"I normally don't go out this early." he said, "But for you I'll make an exception." He bared his teeth.
"Let's finish what we started eh?" He aimed a punch at Zephyr. Zephyr dodged it in time.
"Will you give us a break?" he protested. Rex lunged again.
"Nope." he replied. "And with no Darkrai to back you up it's going to be much quicker." Darren went in front of Zephyr.
"Don't you have anything else to do other than this?" he asked. Rex put his claw on his chin as if thinking.
"Actually, no, I don't." He tried to hit them again and this time it made contact; both Zephyr and Darren were down on the ground. He was about to do one last punch when a stance sensation went over him, and for a second, he saw a world filled with blood and screams. He staggered back, and he then saw a riolu go down a tree and was headed straight for them.
"Well if it isn't the war-girl!" he sneered. He pointed to the pokemon's scars. The riolu glared at him.
"Leave them alone Rex…" she said, pointing at Zephyr and Darren. Rex grinned.
"No can do miss, they're mine, and you stay away if you don't want more scars." The riolu narrowed her eyes, and Rex started to get nervous.
"I mean, what thing do those idiots do that is so special?" The riolu turned to Darren. She stared hard at him, then produced a blue sphere of energy. She looked at it first, then locked eyes on Rex. Rex's eyes widened and - realizing what's happening - began to run. But the riolu was already throwing the sphere and in a few seconds hit Rex square on the back.
The sphere exploded on impact, blasting Rex a great distance away from where he was before. When Zephyr saw this he just stared in awe, amazed at the power of the blast. Then the riolu turned on him. He gulped. If the riolu was this powerful, he didn't want too meet her now. But to his shock, the riolu grabbed Darren instead.
"And what did you think you were doing?!" Zephyr was surprised at how quiet the riolu was, yet how dangerous she sounded. Darren was scared.
"W-We didn't have a choice!" he stammered, "And we were both very tired…" The riolu put him on the ground roughly.
"Just… don't expect me to help you next time…" And with that, she left. Darren rubbed his head.
"Man… she's upset today…"
"Who is she anyway?" Zephyr asked.
Darren's eyes widened.
"Oh yeah, your new here! Well, her name is Kate. The pokemon said she was found wounded at the entrance. She wouldn't talk much, except for one word, 'Leo…" Zephyr was filled with fascination as Darren continued.
"She still doesn't say much, and tends to be cold, but one thing's for sure; she's a tough fighter!" Zephyr nodded. He wondered what her origin was, but knew he would never get an answer.
The duo decided to go and register themselves as a team, but when they got to Wigglytuff's place, he was gone. When they asked where he was, they didn't know, leaving the two very troubled.
"Maybe he's looking for apples?" Darren said, but didn't really believe it. Knowing they couldn't do much, they spent the rest of the day walking around the village, and it was afternoon when they heard an explosion.
"What's going on?!" Darren asked to a fleeing villager. He said something that chilled them both.
"There's a raid!" But he couldn't say anything else, as another explosion was heard, and an army approached the centre of the village.
"Pawniards!" The raiders were mostly small, armoured pokemon, covered in sharp blades. They moved in perfect sync, knocking back any intrusion from their march. Darren took action immediately.
"Come on! We have to help!" And he ran off toward the army.
"Wait!" Zephyr cried out, but he already left. He sighed, and went after Darren. He found him in the middle of a battle. Some villagers were fighting, but it was a special few who were doing the most progress. Darren was clawing at there bodies with might, Kate blasted a majority of the raiders with energy, even Ivy was using her vines to keep them at bay.
But Darkrai was doing the best. He sent blasts and blasts of darkness at the opponents, even stabbing one with a dark spike. There were many on the ground, apparently having terrible nightmares. But then one large pokemon arrived, looking like a larger version of the pawniards.
"A bisharp!"
He unleashed a blade of energy at the defenders, sending them flying deeper into the village. The bisharp then addressed the crowd.
"I am General Sharp." he began, "And I was given a message to meet the pokemon here." The crowd gasped.
"The pokemon also wrote… to meet me at the center… and destroy the statue." He signalled to the pawniards to go to the statue. The villagers roared in outrage, but they were held back, and they could only watch as the pawniards, with one mighty slash, send the wobbuffet statue crashing down. They only stared in horror, until they heard a clapping.
"Well done, well done…" the voice said, then the villagers turned to look at the speaker and they gasped. It was Wigglytuff!
The general was confused.
"You're the one who sent the letter?" he asked. Wigglytuff smirked. "Not exactly…"
The bisharp narrowed his eyes. "You are lying" Wigglytuff took a step forward.
"Oh I sent the letter all right, and I was here last night. It was very hard acting… but worth… Every. Last. Minute." And then Wigglytuff changed. Where the cheerful, pink plump pokemon was, there was now a dark, sleek pokemon with long, red hair. The bisharp took a step back.
"You are one of them!" he exclaimed, "An illusion maker, a zoroark!" The zoroark smiled.
"Like I said…" she said maliciously, "It was hard acting, but now…" She held up a purple gem that was part of a necklace she wore. "I have an army!" Then she aimed the gem at General Sharp, and a beam of light, covered him. He tried to resist, falling to the ground in the process, but it was to powerful. He staggered, then stood up, his eyes dark and hollow.
"I… obey…" He moaned. The zoroark laughed. "Yes!" she said triumphantly, "He is now…"
"A shadow pokemon…" Kate finished in horror.
"He's a what?!" Darren said in disbelief, but even he could see the dark aura that was coming out of him. Suddenly, the zoroark aimed her gem at the pawniards, covering them with the dark aura, and turning them into shadow pokemon. He continued to do this, and heeded no attention to the fleeing villagers. Soon, every single one of them were shadow pokemon, their hearts as dark as the zoroark.
"Yes…" she said, "My army… is here!" A villager stepped up to her.
"Please…" he began, "Leave us in peace… we have done nothing to you…" The zoroark looked at him in disgust, and threw him into the crowd.
"Oh, I won't finish you off… yet…" Then she turned around.
"General, I am leaving now. Let no one follow me." And with that, she ran off. General Sharp turned to the village.
"You heard her…" he rasped, "Do not follow…" The pawniards then formed a wall in front of the path the zoroark went through. Most villagers ran back into the village, but Zephyr, Darren, Kate and Darkrai stayed behind.
"What do you think?" Darren said with determination in his eyes. "Should we go after her?"
Zephyr nodded. "We must stop her while we can."
"Remember though, we must be cautious." Darkrai said. Kate then spoke up.
"Don't worry. We'll persevere." She nodded to Zephyr, who was now filled with a new energy. Then they all locked eyes, then charged toward the army ahead.
Thanks for reading! What could the zoroark be doing? And is she alone or working for someone more dangerous? Please do the poll!