The Sword of Arceus

by Andrew2013

The kingdom of Floroma has asked for assistance from the Four Swords Academy and they respond by sending three of their best unfortunately one of them doesn't even want to be there. Shadow a Lucario will have to face his past if he ever wants to protect the princess of Floroma from the threat to the Sinnoh Nation. And the threat to everyone he cares about. Can he protect everyone?

3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The First Night

Shadow stayed in his room for most of the day thinking about the attack that happened within minutes of him arriving in the Sinnoh Nation. It didn't really make much sense to him because word of warriors from Unova going to Sinnoh to protect the princess of Floroma Castle had been heard on the ship they had taken to get here. So why would any Pokémon even try and assault the princess. Maybe they didn't know the power that the three of them possessed but they would now. At least a minor understanding anyway because Shadow had barely used any power against that Gallade but he worried that someone might have been watching.

Shadow shut the window curtains and began to meditate on the matter trying his best to think clearly because it would be difficult for him to have any privacy now that he was back in his home town where a Lopunny was trying to get him to like her again. The thought made him punch the floor but he didn't hit it hard but he left an impression of his hand in the marble flooring. Then he thought about how much the area had changed since he left. There were more flowers in the streets than when he was younger and he thought that gave the town a better feeling of peace.

The Pokémon living here seemed to be living peaceful lives but Shadow felt like something was off. He didn't know what but he had a feeling that some of the Pokémon were miserable. He hadn't gotten a good look at their faces when he walked in the town gates but he felt like something was sending a bad vibe throughout the air. As he began meditating his hair on the back of his head that looked like elongated rain drops lifted up as he began to read the aura around him.

There was definitely a different feel to the place in the aura that he was reading. Then again when he was a Riolu he wasn't able to read auras as well as he could now, but that didn't mean he didn't have a good feeling what the atmosphere in Floroma should be. Before it was calmer and had a great harmony about it, the aura almost sang. Now it felt edgy almost like it had to be on guard for anything and that made him wonder what could have possibly happened to cause something like this. However it wasn't coming to him no matter how much he thought. He remembered that Excavalier that had tried to attack him and thought of why he was so quick to arms when a simple warning would have sufficed.

He wanted to find some answers but questioning everything after what just happened would be a little much and he needed to relax because he'd need his sanity to survive being with Lola and Lanax. He continued his meditation for only a few minutes when a knock came at his door. He didn't want to answer it but he wanted to know who it was so he used his power to see the aura of the Pokémon behind his door and saw that it wasn't Lola or Lanax thankfully. However it was Grace and he didn't know what to do. Should he open the door or just stay quiet and hope she leaves?

After much debating in his head he decided that he would open the door and got up to open it when the knob started turning. Shadow stood in place and watched the door open to reveal Grace on the other side. "What do you want Grace?" Shadow asked somewhat bluntly and rude, but then again he never liked to be interrupted during his meditation period.

Master Cobalion always said a clear mind will lead to even greater power and he was right about that. But he also warned him about the powers of anger and that they could change him in ways he wouldn't understand. However Shadow knew full well what happened when he lost it. The thoughts made him angry just thinking about them.

"I was just wondering if the accommodations are to your liking is all because I can have them changed if you want." Grace said shyly because she didn't want to make Shadow angry with her. She didn't want someone with that kind of power on his bad side with her.

"The room and everything is fine, anything else you need?" Shadow asked knowing that there was more she wanted to ask him but he didn't want to say more than that.

"Well yes actually. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming with me to the market to fetch some things for tonight's dinner." Grace asked feeling a little nervous because this Pokémon in front of her hated pretty much everything to do with Floroma, at least that's what she thought.

"Why would you need me to come with you on a simple errand like that? More importantly, why doesn't the cook do it himself?" Shadow asked slightly irritated that a cook would send the princess's advisor for food materials when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.

"I was just hoping I could have some protection in case something happened. I'll understand if you don't want to though. I know how much you must hate seeing me, I'll leave you alone." Grace was about to close the door and leave when the door was stopped by Shadow's hand.

"I don't hate seeing you, I just hate getting the memories is all. I wish they would just disappear. Also, you had nothing to do with what happened ten years ago so don't you dare go blaming yourself." Shadow said taking a few steps out of his room. He didn't like it when others talked down about themselves or made accusations of others. It really did annoy him.

"Sorry I didn't mean to judge you if that's what you mean. I just thought that with what you said at the throne…" She was stopped when Shadow slammed his fist into the wall making a ten foot wide in diameter hole in the wall.

"Sorry about the hole. It wasn't anything you said. When old memories come up I get angry and I have to hit something or my anger gets worse. With what I said at the throne most of it I meant but with what I said about blaming you I didn't mean. Even if you did have something to do with Lola betraying me back then, I don't pin that on you, it was Lola's decision and no one else's." Shadow said looking at the startled Gardevoir.

"Oh I see, thank you for that." She said bowing to him. Shadow felt uneasy with that, he hated being treated formally. However he didn't want to say anything because he didn't need to hurt this girl or scare her any more than he already has. "So would you mind coming with me, I'd actually feel a lot safer if you did come."

"Fine but first tell me why you want me to escort you through the market first." Shadow said turning towards her.

"You'll find out when we get into town. That is if you come." Grace said looking away from him as it looked like a single tear fell from her hidden eye. Shadow saw this and made an expression that resembled shock. Why would she be crying about going into town, he thought to himself as they both headed for the exit of the castle. He grabbed her hand and they headed for the main gates.

Before they exited the castle, Grace had taken a few baskets and handed one to Shadow who took it with a little grunting. Grace had two baskets while he had one, Shadow didn't know what they needed or why they would need so much for a simple meal, but then again this is royalty and he guessed they need big meals to fill them up. Shadow walked ahead of Grace who seemed a little hesitant to leave the castle. That was a little strange to Shadow because he thought of all Pokémon here in the kingdom that Grace would be one they all liked or even loved. Why would she be so nervous to go into town?

Suddenly he felt a tug on his cloak and turned to see Grace holding onto them like she was a scared little Poochyenna. "Grace what are you doing?" Shadow asked turning his head toward her.

Grace looked up and jumped back blushing heavily. She couldn't believe that she had just clung to Shadow's cloak like that, they hadn't even made it to the town and she was already scared like crazy. "Sorry I'm a little jumpy that's all. I won't do it again." Grace said looking away from Shadow.

Shadow saw the fear in her eyes. It was obvious that Grace was scared of going into town, why Shadow couldn't tell. She wasn't telling him anything, but then again it was her problem and not his, but he felt like she needed someone. Unfortunately he was the only one there and he couldn't just pass on the job to someone else. He sighed slightly before looking forward again. "If it makes you feel any better you can hold onto my cloak, but don't get any ideas." Shadow said through the churning of his stomach. He didn't want to help anyone from this castle but he had already agreed to it and he couldn't leave it now, that's just not the kind of Pokémon he was.

Grace looked at him with wide eyes because since being here he has been very rude to everyone including the princess so seeing him trying to comfort her fear was shocking. She grabbed his cloak and stepped next to him smiling. "Thank you Shadow, don't worry I won't get any wrong ideas." Grace felt relieved to see this side of him because it told her that he still had a kind heart inside despite everything that has happened.

"Good I don't need my friends thinking anything or Lola. The last thing I need is her on me. I just don't like seeing others afraid." Shadow looked at the ground remembering when he used to be afraid of everything and it was here that he learned not to be. He owed the king and queen of this kingdom a lot and that was one of the reasons he was even here. They knew he was friends with their daughter and they thought it was cute that a street Pokémon played with their daughter and it looked like they were already a married couple. But that changed ten years ago when Lola betrayed him.

At that his mind went silent and he just looked forward. "So where are we going first?" Shadow asked wanting to get this over with. He didn't want to be with Grace any more than he needed to but he knew that this was going to take some time for some reason.

"Don't worry it's not that far really. At least our first stop isn't. Our last stop is on the other side of the town." At that Shadow cringed because that meant he'd have to be with Grace for at least a few hours and he did not want to be with her for more than an hour. But he did say that he would come with her so he had little choice.

"Alright let's get this started then shall we?" Shadow said walking forward slightly dragging Grace along who was a little shocked to see Shadow leading them. When they got to the town Shadow stopped confusing Grace. "I'm going to need directions if we're going to do this Grace. Tell me where to go."

"Oh right sorry I was just surprised to see you take the lead is all." Grace said smiling making Shadow blush with slight embarrassment. "It's this way come on." Grace said pulling on Shadow's arm as she began to lead them now.

Up in the castle Lola was fixing up her ears' fur so that it would look nice for dinner and hopefully Shadow would like it. She got up after finishing her ears and went to the window looking out at the sunset. "I can't believe he's actually back though. Of all Pokémon he comes back into my life. I don't think I've ever been this happy." Lola said putting her paws to her chest. She could feel the beating of her heart. It was beating so fast, she felt so nervous because she knew now that Shadow still held a grudge over what happened ten years ago. She began to wonder if he'd ever love her again, for that matter could he love anyone now?

Lola hoped that he could because she wanted him to be a part of her life now. The feelings she had for him that had been suppressed all these years could now finally be opened. She just hoped he would accept them. She looked down at the city and saw something that made her put her face against the glass window.

Down on the streets Grace was holding onto Shadow's arm and pulling him like they were on some date. She began to think if Grace always had a thing for Shadow but she was older than him by at least three years. How could her best friend and advisor do this to her? She was fuming at that moment feeling like she was being betrayed by her closest friend.

She was about to walk out of the room when she heard a knocking on the door. She composed herself so that she wouldn't look all childish as some might say. "Come in." She said and the door opened revealing Melody on the other side. "Melody, what are you doing here?"

"Um, I was wondering if I could stay here in the castle for a while longer if it's alright." Melody said as her face began to blush. "I mean I've had a lot of fun here and well I don't really want it to end yet so I was wondering if you'd let me stay a little longer you know."

Lola immediately got a mischievous smile on her face because she knew the real reason why Melody wanted to stay longer. "Oh I see what you're asking." Lola said sounding somewhat playful.

"N-No it's not what y-you think Lola. I really had fun here and I want to have some more fun. It has nothing to do with Yami." Melody said looking away in irritation because she didn't want it to be for that reason.

"Okay fine then. If that's the case I guess I can allow you to stay for a little longer." Lola said in response to Melody's remark. Melody smiled and spun around in joy feeling like her whole life was about to change. "But we'll have to find you a different room to stay in because you can't sleep with a boy in your room that just wouldn't be lady-like of you."

Melody's happiness stopped right then and there because the whole reason she wanted to stay was so she could learn more about Yami. "N-No it's alright I'm happy with where I'm staying right now. You don't need to move me." Melody said feeling like she needed to fix his before it got worse.

"Wait so you want to stay in the same room as a boy? That sure seems odd, why would a girl like you want to sleep in a room where a boy who is attracted to you is staying? Can you explain that to me?" Lola said acting dumb because she knew why Melody wanted to stay but she didn't want her to know that, not yet.

"Well, truthfully Shadow asked me to help Yami get over his problems with talking to girls so I thought I would take the job. So yeah there's no other reason I want to be with Yami got it!" She was a little rude on that last one but she was in the right. She didn't like being hounded for something that wasn't true about her and she didn't appreciate her friend doing that to her.

"Alright Melody, I understand. I won't have you moved from your room, but at least tell me you'll use protection when you decide to go that far with Yami." Lola said adding that last part in for fun.

Melody was ecstatic and flew over to Lola and began shaking her hands. "Thank you Lola you really are a great friend and of course Lola what kind of girl do you take me for anyways and…AHHH!" She screamed realizing what she had just said. "No, NO I retract that last part completely!"

"Too late you said it and now you're little secret is out. So how did the two of you hit it off so quickly anyways?" Lola asked now finally able to drop her little charade.

"Please don't tell anyone, I don't think even Yami knows how I feel." Melody said whispering into Lola's ear.

Lola's ears perked up when she heard this, "Wait so you're telling me you're that into him after he saved you one time?" Lola asked feeling like there was more to this than that.

"Truthfully yes and no. I don't know why but I feel this strange connection when I'm near him like we're being pulled together. I don't understand it at all, I've never felt it before and I'm wondering if Yami feels the same way." Melody looked troubled like this feeling was hurting her on the inside but at the same time calling out to her and she didn't know which one to pick.

Lola could see her friend was in dire need of companionship but she had a bigger problem to deal with, at least it was bigger in her mind. "Listen I have a favor to ask of you, could you head into town with me, I have to spy on my advisor with my bodyguard if you don't mind." Lola was now returning to anger as she thought her dearest friend who had agreed to help her win him over could possibly be trying to take him from her.

"Sure, but I don't know why? Which of the bodyguards is it?" Lola looked at Melody with a face that said, "Really who do you think it is?" "Oh him, now I see why you sounded so angry before I came in."

Lola cringed when she heard that, was she really that loud or angry that she said something without knowing it? She didn't know but she drew Melody down and had this evil look in her eye. "If you tell anyone especially Shadow I'll see to it that you're out of here quicker than a Beedrill to honey."

Melody nodded her head in fear because it looked like Lola wasn't kidding about this. Which would have scared anybody due to the fact that she's normally not that serious about most things. Lola tends to be a pretty happy go lucky girl, they haven't really seen her bad side yet. Arceus help them if that happens, actually help Shadow.

Back down in the town where Shadow was walking ahead of Grace he began to notice that all the towns folk were looking at them funny, or well better put hatefully. He felt like they were staring them down, although he couldn't hear anything being said he knew that none of it was pleasant. "Grace why are they all looking at us like that?" Shadow asked feeling uneasy being in the town. They weren't like this when he arrived and many of them had seen him so why were they looking at him so scornfully?

"They aren't looking at us, but at me Shadow." Her voice was soft but afraid and Shadow could hear that. "I had a feeling this would happen and—AGH!" Grace was sent down and Shadow immediately turned around as she hit the floor.

"Grace!" He shouted kneeling down at her side. "Grace come on what are you doing?" Shadow asked putting his hand behind her head to pick it up. But the second his hand touched the back of her head he felt something wet.

Looking to his left he saw a rock on the ground and it was fairly large as well. He noticed that there was a light color of red on it and his eyes widened as he put his other hand on the back of her head to see his other. When he looked at it his eyes widened to as far as they would go. Blood dripped from his fingers and paw down to the ground. His hand was shaking as he looked at it.

"Serves her right for what she's done to us." Shadow turned around to see three burly Pokémon standing with rocks in each of their hands. One was a Machamp so he held four rocks of considerable size. Shadow had fury running through, why he didn't know. He sure as hell didn't care about Grace so why was he feeling this anger.

"Why you pieces of—," He was stopped by Grace's hand that grabbed his shoulder. He looked down at her and his eyes widened, she looked so vulnerable in his arms and so weak and he felt like he had to protect her.

"Don't they're in the right to do this Shadow, please don't hurt them." Grace said in a soft voice. It was obvious that the rock did more damage to Grace than Shadow had originally thought. He began to grind his teeth and again he wondered why.

"Who are you supposed to be her boyfriend or something? I bet she hasn't told you what she did to this town or its royal family." The Machamp was getting on Shadow's last nerve. If Grace hadn't been holding onto him he would have slammed his fist into that guy's cocky mug and sent him so high in the air it would take hours for him to come down.

"No, but I'm here to protect her and if you think I'm going to let you hurt her any more than you're out of luck. Once I've taken a job I take it to the end. Now I suggest you leave before I get up or things are going to get really ugly for you three really fast." Shadow was giving them the death stare as fire was burning in his eyes. This reminded him of the times when he used to stand up for Lola back when he was just a Riolu. Although those were times he didn't want to remember, at least he was remembering the good ones.

The three Pokémon all cringed when Shadow just flexed his tail that they dropped every rock in their hand and ran the other way. "Bastards, where do they get the idea that it's okay to throw things at the princess's advisor?" Shadow said spitting in their direction. That was something he normally didn't do and he felt strange doing it.

"They aren't at fault Shadow." Shadow turned his head to Grace and saw that tears were coming out of her eyes. He didn't know why but they were stinging his chest for some reason and he didn't want them to.

Grace threw herself into Shadow's chest causing him to gasp at the sudden movement. "It's all my fault they're dead if only I had told them to come with us they would still be alive right now." Shadow didn't know what was going on but he felt strange having this older female crying into his chest. Sure she wasn't that much older than him but he felt strange that someone like Grace who had always been calm and collected would break down and cry like this.

"Grace what are you talking about?" Shadow asked pulling her off of him so that he could look at her more closely.

"You know how there was a war three years ago involving the Floroma kingdom and the Kingdom of Jubilife?" Shadow nodded his head, who hadn't heard about that. It was one of the bloodiest battles ever recorded to date. Because the kingdoms were so close they were at each other's throats for months until a peace treaty was signed dissolving the conflict. However the King and Queen of Floroma had been killed in one of the attacks during the raid on the castle.

"I was responsible for the death of our king and queen." Shadow's eyes widened when he heard this. How could it possibly be Grace's fault that the king and queen had died? "When they were raiding the castle the king looked to me to form an escape plan. I had decided to take the princess with me through a safer route than the king but he insisted that they take the route. I wanted him to join us but he feared that they would be routed too easily if that was the case. I agreed to it and selected the routes we would take.

Grace's face suddenly turned dark as it looked like she was about to cry. "However, when we began the escape Lola and I weren't followed at all. It was almost as if they knew what we were doing. Later that evening I learned that the king and queen had died by the enemies' hands."

"I told everyone that I had come up with the escape plan and from that point on everyone in town besides a select few have hated me because of it. They were waiting for them Shadow, I led them right into a trap. I felt like I had let them down, I felt like I had let Lola down. I let the entire town down and—" She was stopped when Shadow brought her in for a surprise hug. Shadow was aching inside from what he had just been told. Grace was in disbelief, why was Shadow hugging her right then. Her heart was beginning to race as she was only being brought closer every second.

"It's not your fault Grace." Her eyes widened when she heard this from him. Was he trying to cheer her up or something? "Don't ever blame yourself for something that someone else caused. It wasn't your fault that the enemy from Jubilife were waiting for them. They could have been on any of the roads leading away from the castle."

"But don't you get it," Grace said pushing off of Shadow tears still falling from her face, "if I had chosen a different path for them to choose they would still be alive. It's all my fault Shadow and you know it!" Suddenly she was slapped in the face by Shadow who looked at her with anger in his eyes. She put a hand to the spot where he slapped her and looked at him in confusion.

"Shut up right now Grace. It was not your fault is that understood." Grace was confused by what Shadow was doing. Why was he talking like this? He sounded like he was trying to tell her something she needed to hear.

"You did what you thought was the best for the king and queen. You had no idea that they were waiting for them on that road. Had you known you would have sent them down another path, and yes, they would still be alive, right? Did it ever occur to you that you might have been betrayed?" Shadow didn't want Grace to live with something like this because he knew all too well what it felt like. Sure he could care less about the woman but for some reason he felt a need to help her.

"Well I couldn't see anyone wanting to betray our king or queen, they were both very kind and considerate Pokémon it just seems to farfetched for someone to have betrayed us." Grace said as she looked into his eyes as her red cheek burned from Shadow's palm. Shadow didn't want to slap her but he needed to make her stop saying those kinds of things about herself. There was no reason for her to say that about herself when she had nothing to do with the king or queen's deaths.

"Think for a second, did anyone leave the castle after their deaths that was of any significance, maybe a guard that was in the same room when it happened?" Shadow said trying to help Grace realize it wasn't her fault for the king and queen's deaths.

"Then again Quinlix, our first lieutenant, one of Lanax's trusted men was with us during the escape plan. After the king and queen were declared dead he disappeared never to be heard from again." Grace said looking at the ground still in deep thought. "But he was such a loyal soldier I can't see him as someone who would betray us."

"Maybe he didn't betray you guys, he might have been forced to do it beyond his will. There were several times when I had to help other Pokémon being forced to do something against their will because they couldn't do it themselves. Some were very grateful while others weren't so grateful." Shadow said making the betrayal sound more like a forced thing. He didn't want to make a loyal soldier sound like he was faking it the entire time but this was the best that he had to give the worried Psychic type.

"Now that you mention it I remembered hearing that his wife and new born child weren't seen during the raid on the castle. So Jubilife must have captured them. It's the only reason why Quinlix would betray us. I don't see any other reason why he would." Grace was happy to hear that it possibly wasn't her fault for the king and queen's deaths but she still felt slightly responsible.

Shadow could see the sadness and doubt in Grace's eyes and brought her in for another surprise hug. He didn't want her to feel the pain that he felt for losing so many fellow academy members to bastards out there beyond that gate. He didn't want her to have the feeling that he had when that happened to one of his fellow members at the academy.

Just the thought of it made him want to throw his fist at something. However having Grace in his arms made him feel a lot calmer for some reason, then again he hasn't held a girl like this in a long time. Maybe four or five years to be exact. He wasn't sure and he didn't want to be because the memory was too horrifying to remember and the more he thought of it the more he wanted to slam his fist against something.

Again Grace was shocked to being held by the Pokémon who blamed her for his closest friend's betrayal back when he was a child. "I'm sorry for blaming you for what Lola did back then." Grace gasped when she heard this because Shadow didn't sound like someone who apologized much.

"Even if you had something to do with what Lola did to me I shouldn't blame you for it because you were only thinking of Lola and not trying to get me away from her. I know how much you care about her. She's like a little sister to you and I know what it means to have someone that close to you. In fact my 'brother' is here with me to protect the princess." Shadow's words cut deep like that of a sword. Grace was almost crying herself had she not had a question for him.

"Why would you take back what you said now, is it because Lola isn't here?" Grace asked feeling like Shadow wasn't meaning anything he was saying. "All of a sudden after learning everything about me you suddenly decide to be nice to me, what's the deal?"

"I don't want you to have to live with what I have to live with. Believe me when I say it's something you wish never happened. I have a lot of Pokémon blood on my hands and I don't want the same thing to happen to anyone here. If I come across as rude and mean, it's only because I don't want to get close to anyone. I don't want that same feeling of being hurt again."

His fist clenched up slightly as h said this. "A Pokémon only needs that kind of pain once in his life." Shadow said as he felt the sting of tears begin to come. Shadow wasn't one to cry but when memories from back then began to flood his mind, it was hard for him not to cry.

Grace looked at Shadow and felt she was seeing a side of him that no one really saw. She felt honored that he would show her this and not his closest friends but then again he could be faking every bit of this moment they were having so Grace looked away from him so that she wouldn't get any other ideas.

Shadow couldn't believe he was opening up to this Pokémon who pretty much ruined his childhood. If not for her he might still be living here in Floroma, maybe even have a relationship with Lola but because of what she and four other females did to make Lola betray him he didn't have the childhood he thought he would have. But then again if that hadn't happened he would never have met Master Cobalion and become as strong as was today. So he also had to thank her for what she did.

"Why are you telling me all this Shadow, I'm not the first one you'd likely talk to that's for sure so why me?" Grace asked wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"Truthfully I don't know myself, maybe it's just the fact that I've held it in for so long and it's tired of being held back, I don't know really." Shadow said standing up his hands in Grace's making her blush. He lifted her up onto her feet and smiled at her. She felt this strange warmth inside that didn't feel normal. She took her hands away from him and put them on her chest. Shadow just gave a light chuckle and grabbed the baskets that had fallen out of Grace's arms when she was hit by the rock.

"Come on now Grace, don't we have to get those stupid ingredients for the chef?" Shadow asked, his voice turning back to its normal self again. Grace looked at him and saw that there was a small blush of red on his cheeks. She then thought that maybe it was embarrassing for him to be nice to others when he's the strongest of the Four Swords Academy. She smiled and took the baskets from him putting them back under her arms. She then took hold of one of his arms getting a puzzled look from the Aura Pokémon.

She dragged him to their first place smiling the entire time. She felt happier knowing that someone didn't think of her as the king and queen's killer. Her heart was pounding as her mind was stuck on that smile he gave her. She blushed red thinking about it. He hasn't smiled since being here, but he hasn't been here for one day, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a common thing for him. Shadow was looking around and saw that several of the Pokémon were staring at them but he knew it wasn't for the reason any other town would have thought. That's when he stopped being dragged and got his pace up with Grace's standing next to her in case someone else decided to attack her.

They came up to a berry store front first. Several berries ranging from Oran to Cherri were there. "Ah, Grace my favorite customer, how have you been all this time?" The Empoleon behind the counter said. He wore an apron around his clothes that covered his penguin like body. "What can I get for you?" He said in an elated tone. Obviously he was fond of Grace, at least that's how Shadow saw it.

"Oh and who might this be, your boyfriend most likely?" At those words Shadow and Grace jumped in shock as both of them had heavy shades of red on their faces.

"I am nowhere close to being this woman's boyfriend!" Shadow exclaimed feeling like he needed to make this Pokémon realize what he said far out of line. Afterwards he just huffed and turned around making sure he wasn't looking at the Pokémon any more.

"Sorry about that, just what it looked like to me. After all you're carrying a basket for her aren't you?" The Empoleon was over stepping his bounds in Shadow's mind anyways.

"Listen I only agreed to help her because she said she needed some help. I have no feelings for this Pokémon what so ever. I don't plan on falling for any Pokémon here in Floroma." Shadow said still trying to say that he wasn't Grace's boyfriend.

Grace was still in shock that one of her dearest friends thought that she and Shadow were a couple. Never did she even think about that as being a possibility. She was always busy with taking care of Lola that she never really had time for anything such as love. Just this merchant suggesting it made her heart beat even faster being around Shadow. He looked angry about being called her boyfriend but what if he was her boyfriend?

Upon thinking that she blushed an even heavier shade of red and accidentally used a Psychic attack. It sent both Empoleon and Shadow into a fellow merchant's stand. Luckily they didn't destroy the stand but a lot of the produce from it was lost. Grace immediately ran over to them to check to make sure they were okay. "What the hell was that for Grace?" Shadow asked getting up from the attack. "Now I have to pay for all this damn produce!"

"No it was my fault I'll pay for it Shadow." Grace said looking away in shame. How could she let herself go that far. Sure the thoughts were embarrassing but she didn't need to take it out on Shadow and Empoleon.

Shadow saw how upset Grace looked and thoughts of someone from his past came back which made him put a hand to his head. He remembered the last thing or Pokémon he saw before leaving Floroma. That was Grace, back when she was just a Kirlia, even then she seemed upset, exactly the way she looked now. But the reason he was remembering this wasn't because of that but the farewell gift she gave him before he left. Something that made him remember that not every Pokémon in Floroma was bad. He blushed remembering it because it was technically his first kiss given to him by a girl.

He still remembered how warm her lips felt on his cheek when she kissed him goodbye. He couldn't believe how he had treated her a few hours ago, when she tried to tell him that he was always welcome. I guess she forgot about that though. Grace was never one to remember things like that. "Well are you two going to just stand there, or are you going to buy something already?" Empoleon was smirking at the blushes on both of Grace's and Shadow's face. "Now I'll ask again, what would you like?"

"Well we'll need some Oran berries and some Pecha Berries for the dinner tonight but I think I'll also get some Cherri berries just in case he wants to try a new recipe. He's always trying out new ideas, that old chef." Grace was talking like she was talking with two of her closest friends. Shadow found this to be a little odd but he thought it nice to think that Grace thought of him as a friend. But he reminded himself he didn't come here to make friends again, he came here solely to protect the princess of Floroma and nothing else was to happen.

After Grace got the rest of the materials needed to get from that one stand they headed to another one but not before three other Pokémon tried their hand at hurting Grace. However, this time Shadow saw it coming and sent it back at the three fools at ten times the speed that they threw it. While they all laid on the ground in shock Shadow took Grace's hand and started to walk forward. Grace blushed as she watched Shadow hit back stone after stone that was thrown at her. She couldn't believe how hard he was trying to protect her. It just didn't make sense to her at all.

Shadow was getting sick and tired of having to take all these hits for Grace. He began to think that maybe he would let the next one hit her but then he turned around and saw how upset Grace looked. He couldn't stand the sight of her upset for some reason. It reminded him of his last girlfriend who…

Shadow stopped right there before his emotions took hold of him. That memory was too painful for him to remember. It was the one time he failed to protect someone he truly cared about. He didn't want to have that on him again, it's why he hasn't had a girlfriend since. Just as he let her hand go, was the second that he could no longer move.

"Grace, why are you using Psychic on me?" Shadow asked struggling to move.

"What are you talking about I'm not using Psychic on you?" Grace said as she saw that Shadow was surrounded by a blue outline.

"Well if it isn't our old friend Grace," Grace cringed at the voice she just heard. Shadow felt like he knew the voice as anger began to rise in his body. Grace turned around to see two other Psychic type Pokémon standing there with their hands out holding Shadow in place.

Standing in front of them was a Medicham with her hands on her sides. "How long has it been, ten years now? I haven't seen you since you scolded us about us telling Lola to stand that Riolu up for being a street rat. Anyways we have a few words we'd like to discuss so could you follow us?"

Grace and Shadow didn't have little choice but Shadow could have actually broken free of the Psychic hold he was in but he was shocked when he heard that Grace had actually told those three off. That's when Shadow remembered them. He struggled but was able to turn his head halfway and saw a Musharna, a Gothitelle, and a Medicham. He immediately knew who the three of them were, the three who Lola was with when she betrayed him that day, ten years ago. But he couldn't leave Grace to save himself if he actually needed saving that is.

"Mimi what do you want? I told you never to talk to me after what you did to Shadow and Lola!" Grace said as the Medicham walked up to her.

She slapped her face which made Shadow move in the Psychic hold. He almost broke out of it but he was waiting to see what they had in mind. He just hoped that what they had in mind wouldn't hurt her. They just slapped her Shadow and you're hoping they don't hurt her. A little late on that don't you think?

Suddenly Shadow's legs were moving on their own as he was being forced to walk toward what looked like an upscale mansion. He was grinding his teeth because he feared something really bad was about to happen. When they entered Mimi, the Medicham, threw her arms out like she was welcoming the two of them in as guests. Grace was horrified because she knew something was up, and the fact that they were dragged to her house only meant she had a horrid plan in place.

"Welcome to my humble abode dear friends. Now I have to ask Grace is this Lucario your boyfriend or is he just someone you tricked into following you?" Mimi was really getting under Shadow's skin and for some reason he didn't like the way she was talking to Grace.

"No Mimi he isn't my boyfriend and he isn't following me around like a slave. He's with me so that he can protect me from monsters like you." Grace said with vigor and courage in her voice. It was the first time Shadow ever heard Grace talk like that, even back when he was a Riolu he never heard her talk like that.

"Oh so you tricked him into protecting you so that the town would go at him first instead of you." Shadow was then turned to look at Grace, but they really didn't need to because he was already looking at her. He began to wonder if what they were saying was true or not, but then he quickly remembered these were the females who made Lola betray him all those years ago. "It looks like he doesn't believe us then huh. Well why don't the three of us show him what we mean then. You won't protect him though will you Grace."

Suddenly the Psychic attack sent him flying into a wall, hard. He was arching his back due to the pain. They then threw him into the ground and dragged it through their flooring. Grace watched in horror as her once closest friends attacked and hurt her protector. Mimi's hand suddenly was covered in a green spiral. She then headed straight for Shadow slamming her fist into his gut causing him to grunt slightly. He was taking their attacks well though for someone being held against their will. However they soon held Shadow up as Mimi just sent Drain Punch after Drain Punch into his gut sucking him dry.

Grace couldn't take any more of this. She was about to run out of their when she thought of what Shadow would possibly think of her. She didn't want him to hate her for running out on him. She took a deep breath and sent a Psyshock attack right at Mimi who saw it coming and dodged the attack. She then sent a Thunderbolt attack right at the other two and they had to let their Psychic attacks down to jump away. Grace isn't used to battling others so she was breathing slightly heavy as she went to Shadow who lay in the ground beaten and battered like mashed potatoes.

"Shadow are you alright?" She asked holding his head up. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see Grace there holding him up like a child. Shadow wanted to get up but he felt like he shouldn't show his real power to these girls, at least not yet. "Shadow thank Arceus you're alright." She said bringing him into a hug. She was so happy to see that she was able to save him in time before those girls really hurt him.

"Well it sure does look like he's your boyfriend, what with you holding him like that." Mimi said as she gave a fiendish laugh afterwards.

Grace looked at them with hate, how could they do this to Shadow. "Shadow stay right here, I'm going to teach these girls a lesson alright." Shadow was about to get up when Grace put a hand on his arm and shook her head. "You've protected me and the princess already, let me protect you this time." Grace said and then stood up fully. She grabbed her dress and threw it off revealing what looked like a silver mail chest plate, and a silver cuirass skirt that covered her bottom completely.

Shadow was impressed by how fast she changed her clothes in that split second. Then again he had been hearing some clanging of metal as they were walking but he didn't think it was what Grace was wearing. "Oh, so you're going to get serious on us now? Well then how about we get serious with you to." At that they threw off their dresses and or clothes and on them were armors similar to what Grace was wearing only theirs were red compared to Grace's silver. Shadow was impressed by the other girls to.

"Mimi, doesn't that Lucario look familiar to you?" The Gothitelle asked pointing over to Shadow.

"You know now that I take a closer look that looks just like that Riolu we had Lola betray because he was a street rat and not a pristine member of society." Mimi said smiling with malice as she looked over to Shadow who still sat in the ground watching as Grace only seemed to get angrier with them. "Oh I never thought I'd see him again. So that's who you got to protect you huh? Or is he supposed to be that new princess bodyguard? If he is then he sure is pathetic after losing to us. We heard that the number one of the For Swords Academy was someone to be feared. Looks like we may have judged him too soon."

"You all shut up right now!" Grace said as she sent another Thunderbolt at them. She wasn't used to battling (REMINDER) so the blast wasn't that powerful. But it still sent the three other women back a bit. "So what if this is the same Riolu from before. Just because he is doesn't mean you get to enjoy hurting him like you did. And if you even think you're getting past me you're dead wrong!"

Shadow was surprised by Grace's statement. It sounded like she was generally worried about him. Although she really didn't need to be. "Grace don't overexert yourself, you'll get yourself killed!" Shadow said as he fought against the pain in his body.

"Don't worry about me Shadow, you just sit there and watch me take these three bitches out!" No need for the cursing but I, the writer, am okay with it because the three in front of her are indeed bitches. Shadow was surprised to see the serious look on Grace's face. She seemed ready to fight till the end and Shadow couldn't believe it was because of him. Grace felt her heart beating from what she said, could she actually care about Shadow? Of course I do, she thought, he is to be Lola's boyfriend and hopefully husband before then.

"Well you seem to have gotten stronger Grace, I'm impressed." Mimi said as she stood up from the Thunderbolt attack she was given. "But we've also gotten stronger, haven't we girls?" At those words the others stood up as though they hadn't been hit by a thing.

"Fine then try this on for size!" A pink orb began to surface above Grace as what looked to be the moon was shining down on her. Shadow immediately knew what this attack was and couldn't believe that Grace was about to use it in such close proximities such as this. The three girls were stunned at what they were seeing. "MOONBLAST!" Grace shouted as the beam of pink light headed in the direction of the three girls. The three of them jumped out of the way but that didn't stop Grace from moving the blast to the left in chase after the Musharna.

Grace didn't let up and was able to connect her attack with the Musharna and watched as she screamed in pain. When the beam faded away the Musharna fell to the ground with smoke trails following her. Grace was breathing heavily from the attack but she wasn't done as she turned to see the other two of them looking shocked at the power she had. Shadow was definitely impressed by her power but didn't think an advisor to any king or queen had such power. Then again he hasn't met many advisors so they could very well be this strong if not stronger.

Mimi sent forth a Focus Blast right at Grace who dodged with, well grace, no pun intended. Grace then fired off another Thunderbolt which missed its mark but hit the chandelier which feel causing shattered glass to come at the other two girls from behind. Grace then went forward sun around releasing a powerful Magical Leaf attack. The leaves dug deep into the skin of the two girls causing them to scream in pain. Grace landed on her feet and looked at them with rage in her eyes.

Shadow was impressed by how well Grace fought and was surprised that they didn't just have her protect the princess because she definitely looked like she could from the way she battling. To Shadow it looked like Grace would win hands down but then he saw Mimi portray a smile on her face. He began to think that she had some plan up her sleeve.

"You think we didn't anticipate you possibly fighting against us Grace?" Mimi said as she suddenly began to multiply. It was a Double Team attack and both of the girls were using it. Grace began to look around trying to figure out which two of the several others were the real ones. Suddenly she felt two fists connect with her back which had her arching forward. She screamed out in pain as the rest of the clones began to disappear and the two real ones appeared behind her with their fists in her back. Then they sent Grace flying into a wall of books that ended up falling on top of her.

Shadow felt his anger rising at the dirty trick they used but then again he has had to face that move several times and fight it without breaking for a hint. He succeeded where most would fail actually. Shadow was starting to stand when he felt his body not responding to his brain. He was able to turn his head and saw the Musharna holding him down with a Psychic attack. He felt like he could easily break free of this but he wanted to see what else Grace had up her sleeve. But then again all she had were special attacks, nothing physical, which would explain why she didn't take those Brick Break attacks so well.

Shadow wanted to help but he felt like he might hurt Grace's pride in the process and he's learned never to hurt a girl's pride from previous experiences. Yeah they weren't good experiences either. If he wasn't being held down at the moment he would have shuttered in the thought of it. Grace emerged from the books using her Psychic attack to lift them all up and sent them at the two girls. She then looked to her left and saw that Shadow was being held down by the Musharna and went after that one releasing another Magical Leaf attack at it.

The Musharna took the attack as a light barrier surrounded it. "Light Screen!" Grace shouted as she realized this just got a whole lot tougher. She sent a Thunderbolt at the other two and found that they were also surrounded by the yellow barrier as well. "Damn it!"

"Again we were prepared in case you might have had a chance of winning, but that all ends now." Mimi said stepping towards Shadow as Grace tried to move but soon found herself in the arms of three burly Pokémon. The same three that had thrown the rock at her head earlier that day. "Oh I'm sorry did we not tell you our boyfriends were here, sorry about that." Grace tried using her Thunderbolt to get them off but found that she couldn't use it for some reason. She then attempted to use Psychic but that that move was also not working.

"You have to love Imprison don't you know." Both the Gothitelle and Musharna said as they smiled maliciously.

Grace looked in horror as her only two attacks to get her out of this were now out of commission. She would have used Magical Leaf but the three burly Pokémon, Machamp, Alakazam, and Gurdur held her legs, her arms and her neck. However, their other arms were free and they were exploring the rest of Grace's body.

Shadow stood there as an incident from a few years ago began to play back in his head. The horror that he was faced with then was being dragged back to the surface. "Like what you see Shadow?" Mimi asked as she added her Psychic into the mix. The Gothitelle soon followed as they lifted him up to his feet. "You're going to watch as our boyfriends have a little fun with your friend Grace there."

Shadow's eyes widened when he heard this as the three Pokémon began to remove pieces of her armor. Luckily they were on rather tight making it hard for them to remove them. However in only a few moments they would be off. "Stop this now!" Shadow said as he could barely move an arm. "Please stop this!"

Every Pokémon including Grace looked at him with confused eyes. "Don't do this to her please." It sounded like he was pleading for them not to do this.

Mimi just gave a malicious laugh and looked him in the eyes with her hand under his chin. "And why's that, afraid that we'll take her from you?" Mimi said tauntingly as she was just trying to make this more enjoyable for herself.

"That's not it at all. I don't want to have to kill the six of you but if you want me to I will. So stop this NOW!" Shadow shouted the last word because he wasn't playing around anymore.

"Oh tough guy aren't we? Well I want to see what you would do being stuck in place by our Psychic attacks that is?" Mimi said as she returned to his back side. Shadow was beginning to grind his teeth as what he knew needed to be done wasn't going to be fun at all. "You may continue gentlemen and don't forget to give our guest here a show."

At those words the men began to continue their work on removing Grace's armor from her body. That was when he snapped, "I SAID STOP IT NOW!" And at that Shadow was consumed by a large red geyser that shot up into the sky. Every Pokémon in the room looked in horror as the roaring they heard couldn't have come from a Lucario. What was going on in that geyser?

In the market area Lola and Melody were looking for Shadow and Grace where Lola had last seen them. But they didn't know what to look for. Suddenly a red geyser shot up out of a house and Lola was immediately terrified because that light could only be from one thing. She didn't say a thing and ran towards the light, Melody wanted to question her but instead just followed her. She was going to get the answer one way or the other.

Grace looked up her chest plate was cracked as hell but was still on her chest thankfully. Grace wanted to walk over to the light as it began to fade away. Then Shadow began to emerge only he didn't look the same. Instead of his blue fur and yellow chest area. His blue fur had been replaced by red and his yellow chest was now silver. His eyes had gone from brown to red and he was staring straight ahead at the three male Pokémon who had been trying to get into Grace.

Then he just suddenly disappeared. Next thing anyone knew the Alakazam was sent straight into the wall. Grace then felt something touch her arm and she was raised into the air. The two who were over her looked up to see Shadow standing over them, a look of death was in his eyes as he held Grace in his arms. He walked past them and placed her down on the ground without a single word. "Shadow?" Grace asked trying to get a response but all she got was this animal like growl.

"What the hell is this and what have you done to my Zammy?" The Gothitelle asked as she hit Shadow with a Psychic attack. She tried throwing him into a wall but Shadow wasn't moving. "Why…can't I…move you?" She asked as she struggled to even get him to lift off of the ground.

Shadow roared out in a blood thirsty rage and charged at Gothitelle going from where he was standing in front of Grace to being next to the Gothitelle in a mere second. Extremespeed is really useful isn't it? He slammed his fist into her gut and sent her through the entire mansion. After the Gothitelle was sent through the mansion the doors to the mansion flew open. Yami and Cass were the first ones to run in, or well float in Yami's case. Next came Melody and a worried Lola who was horrified at the sight she was seeing. Grace stood up and watched as the two from Shadow's academy got in front of her.

"Stay back now." Yami said getting what looked like a Dark Void attack ready. Cass looked to be getting a Metal Claw ready. "You have no idea what kind of power he has right now. How much damage has he done?"

"Why is that important?" Grace asked as Melody nodded her head to the question. Yami looked at her with a serious look in his eyes. She and Melody could tell he wasn't playing around and neither was Cass who looked scared but also angry as well. "Well no he actually didn't do much of this I did."

Yami and Cass looked at her in shock. "Yep, not only is she a great friend and advisor but she can deal a lot of damage out to so watch yourself around her." Lola said acting gleeful but that changed when her eyes went back to Shadow who was still red and silver. His head turned back towards them and he looked ready to kill. "Grace, do you know what caused this?"

"No I don't, all I can think of is what those three men tried to do to me." At that she began to shake and she fell to the floor. Shadow heard this and his eyes widened and he shot over in their direction. Next thing anyone knew was four of Grace and Shadow's friends were sent into walls. Shadow stood over Grace and roared out.

A Focus Blast was launched right at Shadow sent it away with the flick of his wrist. He then looked at the Machamp and roared out before launching at him with his Metal Claw now completely covering his hands. The others who were originally around Grace got back around her but not so close this time. "Grace what exactly did they try to do to you? Shadow doesn't go into his Rage Mode for little things."

"Rage Mode? What the hell is that?" Melody asked from behind Yami as she was worried for their lives.

"It's a special power that Shadow has." Lola said as she began the explanation. "Whenever he loses control of his emotions he just gets like this as you can see. He becomes much more powerful than he normally is and we haven't even seen him at his full power have we?" She asked Yami who looked down at the ground. So did Cass because they knew how he got all too well.

"Yes, you three haven't seen him at his full power yet. But you're going to see something close to it here." The three girls were confused at those words. "I doubt that Shadow is using his full power even now, when he can't control himself."

"Wait he can't control himself, then why did he go at you guys when you all crowded around me?" Grace asked confused by the words coming from the group around her.

"It's because he is protecting you. For some reason whenever he gets like this, if it's to protect someone he'll protect that Pokémon with everything he has but if he senses that the enemy isn't even a match for him he won't use much power. Now again what exactly did they try to do to you?" Yami asked feeling like he needed to know everything because he could have easily have destroyed these three girls and their boyfriends even if they did have him in a Psychic lock. Shadow is strong enough to break free of most Psychic holds.

"So how do you…AH!" Everyone ducked as the Gurdur was sent flying over their heads. He was sent through the doors, well actually the doors went with him on his way out. "You have to be kidding me, this is him not trying? He's a monster!" Melody shouted but was then slapped by Lola.

"Don't you ever call him a monster do you hear me!" Lola shouted getting everyone's attention except Shadow's. "Shadow isn't a monster what so ever, this just makes him that much more unique is all. I don't ever want to hear you or anyone call him a monster alright!" Lola was pissed off at her friend because no one said anything bad about the man she loved, and by man I mean male Pokémon of course (Don't get the two mixed up).

"Lola is right. Shadow only does this when he chooses to." Cass said making everyone look at her except for Yami who knew what she meant. "Oh right, you haven't seen him in ten years. Well about four or so years ago he learned how to control transforming into his Rage Mode. However, he still doesn't have full control over it yet. He can tell who it is he's protecting but everything else to him is fair game. Meaning the only one of us he can see is Grace."

Grace was then glared at deeply by Lola who felt like Shadow was going towards Grace rather than herself. She felt like her best friend was getting in her way of her dreams at marrying the man she's loved since she was six years old. Yeah her love runs deep doesn't it? Grace saw how Lola looked and suddenly felt a twinge in her chest for some reason. She couldn't explain it but seeing Lola like that made her angry. But she didn't know what she was angry about really.

"So the only one he sees is me, right?" Grace asked stepping ahead of everyone. Lola threw a hand out and grabbed her friends arm. Grace turned to see Lola shaking her head, almost like she just wanted this to go away naturally instead of quickly. "Lola I don't know about you but I can't stand seeing Shadow like this."

Lola looked at Grace like she was a different person because it sounded like Grace was genuinely worried about Shadow. Both Yami and Cass were surprised by this as well. "I don't know why but I feel like he's in pain and all this growling is him telling me to help him back to normal. If you guys aren't going to help me then I'll get him back by myself."

"Lola what are you saying? You sound like you—WATCH OUT!" Lola screamed as Grace wasn't paying attention. When her head turned she saw a Focus Blast heading right for her. Her eyes widened as this looked like it would either kill her or seriously injure her. An explosion occurred rocking the entire house. "GRACE!" Lola and Melody screamed feeling as though their friend was done for.

When the clouds faded standing in front of Grace was Shadow his arms outstretched like he was going to do a belly flop into water. His head was down as Grace was looking at him horrified. Suddenly small droplets of blood began to fall from Shadow's back. "Shadow…Shadow are you there?" Grace asked putting her hands on his shoulders. His body shook slightly as the blood dripping from his back suddenly stopped.

"Shadow if you can hear me, I'm not going to leave you, you didn't leave me after I told you what the town thought of me and I don't think I've been happier to call someone a friend in my life. But please go back to your usual self please. I know you're in a lot of pain and this hurts if you want I'll give you some of my power to help you." Grace said as she felt the stinging of her own tears coming forth.

Shadow's head jerked up and their faces were but inches apart making Lola wish she were Grace right now. She wanted to be that close to Shadow right now but why did she feel like she could have done more than what she did do. All she did was explain a little bit about Shadow's Rage Mode. Yami and Cass did a much better at explaining it than her to so what did that make her. She basically was just a viewer like Melody was.

"Shadow, please take the power from my aura and go back to normal, please." Grace said closing her eyes as her body was surrounded by a pink aura. Shadow's face looked stunned but inside his head he realized he had no choice but to do this. He couldn't keep rampaging like this. Shadow, within his rage infused body, began to drain some of Grace's power through her aura. However, he had never done this before so he had no idea what he was doing. Grace didn't care how much power she had to give him, she wanted that grouchy Shadow back right now.

Shadow began to feel his conscious mind taking his body back from the anger and rage he felt. Soon his body was returning to its natural blue color and his yellow chest fur was returning as well. Grace felt like he was taking a lot of power to do this, but she wanted the normal Shadow back, the one who protected her the whole day. When his colors were completely back to normal Grace felt like her powers were no longer being drained and looked up to see Shadow's blue fur again.

"Shadow are you in there?" Grace asked weakly after giving him much of her power.

"Yes, thank you Grace. Normally I would go on like that for another hour or so until all my anger had been resolved. I know violence doesn't calm someone down, but it's how my anger releases itself. Also," He looked down at the ground as though he was embarrassed to say this as a tear rolled down his eye, "no one has ever tried to help me out of that mode before. Thank you."

Grace was a little shocked at the fact that she was the first one to try and help him out of it. However she got over it and fell into his arms as her body was almost completely drained. Shadow caught her in mid-descent, he didn't realize how much energy he had taken from her until he saw her open her eyes. He felt like the monster everyone made him out to be, at least everyone who has seen him in his rage mode. However Grace went up to him knowing what he could possibly do to her, that made him feel like he could at least give Grace a chance at being an acquaintance but beyond that he wasn't ready to let anyone from this town get that close to him.

"That's good Shadow, at least you're back to normal and that makes me happy. I'm sorry that you had to do that for me, I wish this never happened." Grace said her eyes barely open, but she was able to give him a smile. Although it was weak, to Shadow it was very powerful. He felt all warm inside knowing she was going to be alright.

"Don't blame yourself Grace, I would do it a thousand times for any woman who was about to go through the experience that those bitches were about to put you through!" Grace was happy to hear that Shadow would go into such a form for any girl but she wished that he didn't have to. She just wanted him to be himself and not have to use such powers. According to Yami he didn't even really need that power.

"Who says were done here though?" Shadow turned and saw the last two girls standing there with the one Machamp. Mimi was laughing as she looked at Shadow with a sinister smile. They each held a yellow fruit in their hands and a seed in the other.

"Wait are those…" Shadow said as his eyes became dark and fearful.

"Why yes these are Violent Seeds." (Took it from the Mystery Dungeon games, don't yell at me.) Mimi said as the three Pokémon each threw the seeds in their mouths along with the fruits. Shadow cringed because he knew what those seeds did, but not many do because they are so hard to find and only appear during a certain time of the year. Shadow smiled feeling like he was finally going to get a challenge here at this place.

"What are you so happy about?" Mimi growled feeling like Shadow was taking them too lightly.

"I think I'm actually going to have to fight my hardest on you creeps now." He said as he threw his cloak off. Grace and Lola gasped when they saw all the scars that were above his leather armor. It didn't really cover his upper body besides two straps that kept it on him. Shadow then proceeded to unbuckle the straps of his armor piece. When he undid one he slid it off and the two girls' eyes widened even further when they saw that the armor covered even more scratches and scars.

"Feels good to finally have that off." When he dropped the armor plating, it slammed into the ground causing a huge blast of dirt and marble shot up into the air.

"How much does that thing weigh?" Melody, Lola and Grace asked after covering their eyes from the blinding sand.

"About Five hundred pounds, not that much why?" Shadow said looking at them like the weight of the armor didn't really mean anything.

"FIVE HUNDRED!" They all shouted making Shadow plug his ears from how loud they were.

"So what if you lay a few pounds down you're not strong enough to take us down now that our power is at its maximum level." Mimi said as she was vibrating from the seeds taking effect. "Even if you are the strongest Pokémon amongst your friends you're no match for the three of us."

"Really now?" Shadow said as he began to flex his shoulders, getting them loosened. "I don't think so really. Yami keep the girls back a bit alright, but don't leave, I want them to see this."

"Shadow, you're not really going to go all out are you?" Yami asked feeling worried and terrified at the same time. "You do know you could kill them even in their heightened state."

"Yes but if I don't they could hurt themselves even more. I need to end this as soon as possible and that's the only way I see." Shadow said taking a few steps forward. His body began to radiate with his aura. "Also don't try and help me Yami, Cass. I don't want you guys in the line of fire alright." Shadow looked back and smiled at them. Lola blushed when he saw how amazing Shadow looked with the smile, as did Grace. "I wouldn't want you guys to get hurt now, but keep the girls safe." He then whispered to himself, "Especially her."

"Let's show him my friends." Mimi and the Machamp charged while the Musharna sent forth a Thunderbolt attack.

Shadow didn't move as the attack hit him. He didn't even flinch or cringe at the attack. Then Mimi and the Machamp sent Focus Blasts his way and when they hit a large explosion occurred. "That will teach him to open his big mouth!" Mimi said as the girls stood in fear that Shadow might actually be hurt.

They soon heard coughing and it didn't sound like the kind of coughing that happens after someone's been hurt. "Seriously what's with all the smoke today? I've really had enough of it." Everyone, except Yami and Cass, looked at Shadow with wide eyes. The girls in joy while the opposing ones and their boyfriend were in fear. "What you didn't really expect that to hurt me did you?" Shadow asked smiling somewhat maliciously.

"How is that possible? We're on the Violent Seeds power, how are you still standing?" Mimi shouted wanting to know why her attacks did nothing to him.

"Simple I've grown much farther past what you would call Violent Seed power. In fact if I were to take one right now, I would only get stronger." Shadow said getting into a fighting stance. "Now what else do you three have that I haven't seen yet?"

"Oh yeah, be careful what you ask for idiot!" The Musharna shouted sending another blast of electricity towards him. He closed his eyes and then reopened them and they shined blue. Suddenly the blast of electricity was stopped and everyone was shocked by this, except again for Yami and Cass. "That can't be, Psychic?"

"Yes it is actually, and how about I give you a taste of your own medicine?" Shadow said as he brought his arms back which sent the lightning stream behind him and then he threw his arms forward sending the blast right at the three in front of him. They were all hit by the blast and screamed out in pain. However the Machamp didn't stay that way for long as he was soon punched into the sky.

Shadow jumped after him leaving a large crater behind, which actually shook the entire house. He flew past Machamp and everyone watched as a blue energy wrapped around his right fist. Shadow slammed his fist down into the Machamp's gut blasting him right back down into the ground. He actually went six feet down but he wasn't dead. Well he would be if he hadn't eaten that Violent Seed.

Shadow landed on the ground like a ninja would from a pretty high jump looking as awesome as he was. (I like ninjas and how cool they look. Shout out to all the Naruto fans out there). Grace and Lola both had their mouths open shocked by what they had just seen. That and they were drooling slightly from how long their mouths had been open. Real attractive girls. Melody just sighed and closed their mouths for them before anyone else saw them. Cass was giggling so yeah a little late for that.

Shadow used another Psychic attack and brought the Machamp up from his ground prison and threw him into the wall. Shadow had a serious and angered look on his face at that moment. Mimi and Musharna looked at him with fear in their eyes but at the same time they began to laugh hysterically. "What's wrong with them?" Lola asked as she got behind Yami.

"It's a side effect of the Violent Seed. When eaten the Pokémon does gain immense strength and power unfortunately it also causes the Pokémon to go crazy for a short period of time. Just be happy that Shadow didn't eat one, I've seen him do that and the sight was quite horrific." Yami explained making sure that the two who had already taken the seed didn't get anywhere near them. He had his Dark Void attack ready to go when he saw Shadow take a deep breath. "I think he's about to end this thing." Yami said as a sweat drop fell from his head.

"Why is that Yami?" Melody asked before anyone else could even look at him. She was already looking at him like a dazed girl would be to a hot guy.

"Because he normally doesn't take a deep breath like that in a battle unless he feels like this battle is meaningless or he's just calming himself down. When he goes all out he tends to get really excited because he doesn't have to hold back any of his powers, he can be free with the amount he wants to use." Yami said holding one of Melody's hands. Cass looked at them with a sly grin and Yami drew his hand away. Melody was a little upset that he drew his hand away from hers but she understood that this was probably his first time ever showing emotions towards a female ever.

Shadow got back into his fighting stance and gestured for the two girls in front of him to make a move. The two girls laughed even more hysterically as they looked at what they thought to be an overly cocky Lucario. "Do you really want us to come at you, we didn't use our full strength with our first few attacks and that jolt you gave us was nothing compared to what we're going to do to you." Mimi had definitely lost her mind at that point.

The Musharna wasn't any better either. "Now we shall begin, for real." The two girls disappeared from in front of Shadow but he looked unfazed. Everyone else was looking around for them when suddenly they heard a contact of fists. Shadow had his arms at his face's sides blocking Musharna's head and Mimi's Brick Break attack. Yami was pushing everyone back because he knew what Shadow was about to do.

Shadow unleashed a Metal Claw but unlike when he did it before this one covered his entire hand and sprouted three claws. Shadow spun around and knocked the two girls away using his full strength. The two girls were almost sent through the walls but Shadow just had his eyes closed like he didn't need to see anything to fight them. Then again he can see their auras so he's kind of cheating a little bit. Shadow opened his eyes and unleashed an Extremespeed attack heading right for the Musharna and slammed his body into it knocking it through the wall.

Shadow began sending fist after fist into the side of the Musharna and then added several kicks as well. He then kicked it up in the air and slammed his fist covered in the blue energy it was before. The Musharna crashed into the ground and went three feet into the ground because Shadow had used Psychic on it and then threw it over where he had blasted Gothitelle.

"Yami, was that a Focus Punch?" Grace asked before Lola did who was now looking like a puffer fish.

"Yes Shadow has mastered about eight moves." Everyone but Cass looked at him with open mouths and wide eyes. "However he doesn't tell me what he knows, so for all I know he could have mastered more."

"What does that mean, mastering a move?" Melody asked feeling like there was a secret behind his words.

"It means that Shadow can use all those moves without having to stick to four like most Pokémon. When a Pokémon masters a move they are able to use that move whenever they want without having to give it up for another stronger attack. It's why he still has Metal Claw, it was the second move he mastered." Yami was doing a lot of explaining this day, but it was necessary for everyone to understand what was going on.

"How do you know when you've mastered the move?" Lola asked feeling excited, thinking that she could learn so many moves.

"Well I asked Shadow the same question one day, he gave me a rather dull answer." The three girls looked at him with confusion racking their faces. "He told me that you'll know when you've mastered a move. I've only mastered my Dark Void and Dark Pulse attacks. Cass has mastered her Slash and Ice Shard attacks. We're nowhere near the level that Shadow is at right now."

"What do you mean by that Yami?" Melody asked feeling like she hadn't heard everything.

"If you compared our highest power with his, he'd surpass us by miles. He's that strong with his powers. He said he would try but I'm telling you right now he isn't trying. At least that's not what it looks like to me." Yami looked upset that he wasn't as strong as Shadow but then again the only ones who have been able to defeat are Legendary Warriors. (A.K.A. Legendary Pokémon). Yami thought that maybe Melody wouldn't like him as much because of that and would instead go after Shadow.

Melody put her hands on Yami's back (For those who forgot, Yami is a Darkrai) he shook slightly, as though the room were freezing cold. His head turned to the left as he used his left eye to catch a view of Melody holding onto him. (Also, before I forget, if you haven't guessed or if you've forgotten Melody is a Meloetta). Yami felt warm with Melody's hands on his back. He felt empowered. If he was allowed to fight he'd be fighting as hard as he could but Shadow had asked him not to.

"It doesn't matter who's the strongest here, all that matters is that you protect us right. There's no reason to feel jealousy towards friends." Melody said putting her hands on Yami's cheeks. He blushed a heavy red at this, because besides early today, this was the closest they had been and since the moment he saw her he wanted her all to his own. But he couldn't tell her that, not now anyways. He wanted to wait for the right moment and then tell her.

Before anyone knew what happened Grace was running towards Shadow, almost out of the blue. Even though she was weak from giving him her energy she was running to him. Shadow looked at her in confusion then turned to his left and saw a large Focus Blast heading right for him. He snarled slightly, grinding his teeth as he brought a small Aura Sphere in front of him. He shot the Aura Sphere and ran towards Grace bringing her down to the ground laying on top of her. The explosion that occurred after would have seriously hurt or killed Grace had Shadow not jumped over her like that. Shadow used his hands to push himself off and helped Grace to her feet.

"What the hell are you thinking? Next time tell me when something like that is coming. Don't risk your life for mine. Even if it had hit me I wouldn't have felt a damn thing. I told you I'm not holding any of my powers back this fight so please just go back with the others and stay safe alright." Shadow was yelling at Grace in almost a heartfelt manner. It sounded more like he was concerned about her than angry, however only Yami was able to pick up on this.

"HAHA! So the little Lucario actually cares for something now do you? Well how about I take it away from you right now?" Mimi said as she shot towards Grace who turned to see her appear in front of her. Mimi was already sending a fist towards her when it was stopped midway by Shadow's hand. "What's this, the warrior actually protects someone he hasn't been ordered to, oh how cute. Oh but unfortunately you forgot about my other hand, fool." Mimi sent her other fist flying at Grace who was frozen in place but was quickly pushed away as Shadow was sent flying into a wall.

"SHADOW!" Grace and Lola screamed as their protector was sent through a wall.

"Not so tough are you mister special powers? I guess once you're hit that's the end of the fight." Mimi said as she looked down at Grace who was now in complete terror for her life. "Now how about we fix that face of yours and make it look all better." Mimi's hands were reaching out to grab Grace's face when she was suddenly sent to the other side of the room by a fist.

Grace looked up and saw Shadow standing over her, his face shadowed by something but she didn't know what. "No one is going to be touching Grace's face or anyone's here is that understood." Shadow's voice was dark and somewhat malicious. It sounded as though that punch changed him in some way.

Mimi just stood up and looked at him with crazed eyes. She brought something forth from her back and showed it off to everyone like a trophy. Shadow flinched when he saw what it was. "NO don't take that seed!" Shadow shouted before the Medicham dropped the seed in her mouth and everyone watched as she began to vibrate viciously. "Damn it, Grace stay behind me no matter what happens do you understand?"

Grace nodded her head to him because she was speechless right now. Shadow had been slammed into a wall but he looked like he hadn't been hit at all. There were no marks or scratches on his person besides the ones that were already present. She stood up and placed her hand on the scars and scratches getting Shadow to jump slightly. "I'll tell you about them later but right now just stay behind me alright."

Again Grace nodded. She didn't understand what she was experiencing at that moment. She felt her heart beating at a thousand beats a minute or was it a second she couldn't tell with how fast it was beating. (Sounds more like a cardiac arrest or something like that don't you think. If I'm wrong please tell me).

Shadow felt uneasy with Grace's hand on his back but at the same time he felt stronger than he did before which was odd to him, the only other time this happened was when he was with…his mind stopped there as it only brought him to an even greater anger. "Grace duck now!" Grace did as told as Shadow brought up a leg and slammed it against Mimi's chest sending her back. Shadow jumped to her and tried slamming his leg into her stomach but she darted away like she was a light being put out.

"Oh sorry about that but I guess you know what I ate then huh." Shadow froze when he heard the voice come from behind him. He swung his arm back and missed as Mimi ducked then slamming her fist into his side sending him to the left. Grace and Lola screeched out loud when they saw him bounce off a marble pillar, his back arching forward as he bounced off of it.

Both the girls gasped as he fell to one knee. Mimi just laughed like the insane Pokémon she now was, thanks to two seeds she has taken. One called the Violent Seed and the other a Seed of Agility. (Correct me if I'm wrong Pokémon fans I will edit it the second you tell me). Shadow stood up and a smile was across his face for some reason. No one knew exactly why he was smiling only the fact that he was indeed smiling.

"And why are we looking so happy right now? Don't you feel the pain from that attack?" Mimi said as her voice got more and crazier, kind of like an insane female clown if there is even one of those. (Not including Batman villains everyone, I know what you were going to go for there.)

"Actually I do, I haven't been hit that hard in a while, then again I didn't really have my guard up so my body wasn't able to react fast enough. In any other situation I would have easily blocked that attack." Shadow said getting into his fighting stance. Shadow was finally having some fun at this point. "C'mon now Mimi, is this the best you have or are you just this weak?"

"Well aren't we all high and mighty now." Mimi said as her insanity seemed to be escalating. "Let's see how you do when I kick it up a notch."

Suddenly Mimi disappeared and reappeared behind Shadow in the blink of an eye, almost no one saw this but when Mimi went for a Brick Break attack to his back he countered it with well Counter. After being hit with the Brick Break attack he sent Mimi flying through a wall and into the ground as he quickly shot over her and sent his right foot into her gut. Mimi was sent into the ground but quickly shot out of her hole and appeared like a spider would only with four legs, actually two legs and two arms.

Mimi launched a Focus Blast at Shadow. Shadow threw one of his arms out and stopped the attack right there, and sent it back at her with twice the amount of force. Mimi jumped to the side avoiding the attack only to move right into Shadow's line of fire with his fist. She was hit directly in the face and sent straight into the ceiling.

Shadow's head was down as though he didn't want to have to do this, and Grace was the first to see this. She actually thought that he was about to cry. She had a hand over her heart as she watched his head look down at the ground. He jumped into the air and did a spin kick right into Mimi's mid-section sending through at least three walls. He walked through each of the holes he created his face covered by some shadow as he looked down at Mimi.

"Listen closely, Mimi," Shadow said picking her up by her throat. She was wriggling in his arms but unfortunately he had her a little farther out than her legs could reach, thank goodness he's taller than normal Lucarios. "If I ever see you around Grace or anyone from the castle again, I won't show any mercy is that understood?" His voice was dark but also sad as though he didn't want to say this.

"Oh just shut up I know what you're really saying." Although most of the power from the seed was gone her mind was still a little lost. "You just want to keep that Gardevoir of yours safe. Don't lie it's so obvious that you care about her. Oh, how romantic this is going to be when she hears about it."

Shadow punched her again but held his grip making it worse for Mimi. "I don't care about that Gardevoir one bit. The only reason I protected her was because I accepted her request. Also I don't care what you tell the populous of this damn kingdom. I could care less if they all saw me as a monster." Shadow said as Mimi looked at him with wide eyes. "You think I don't know what you're going to do when I leave. Go ahead and tell the rest of the kingdom who hasn't seen me or my strength, I'm only here to protect the damn princess who I don't even want to protect but my master ordered it and I will obey his commands."

"So basically you're just a dog who's following orders from a mutt." Mimi said laughing with what breath she was being given.

Grace and the others looked through the many holes and Yami was the first to freeze in his tracks when he saw the red aura surrounding Shadow. "Girls you may not want to watch this if he's about to do what I think he's about to do." Yami said as he grabbed Melody and drew her away from the hole.

"Yami what's wrong?" Melody asked confused why Yami would grab her out of nowhere, she didn't mind but she wanted to know what he meant.

"You'll know when you hear him." Yami said as Cass got next to him.

The next thing anyone heard was the sound of a bone breaking. Shadow had removed his hand from around Mimi's neck and had thrown her left arm in a way that had it completely backwards and bent at an angle that's almost impossible to get to on a normal basis. Mimi fell to the floor screaming her lungs out but was silenced when Shadow put his foot to her throat. Grace gasped when she saw his look change dramatically to one of pure rage and anger.

"Never disrespect Master Cobalion, ever!" Shadow said in a voice that was darker and deeper than his normal voice. He almost sounded like a monster. "Be happy that I don't kill you where you lay. Normally anyone who insults my master I kill."

Shadow walked away leaving the stunned and agonizing Mimi to lay there in shock as Shadow came closer to his friends he felt himself calming down. When he got to them Lola was the first to do anything as she wrapped her arms around him. Shadow allowed this as he looked over to Grace who had a small line of blood trailing down from her lip. It appears that they may have done a lot more damage to her than he had originally thought.

He didn't think they got her in the face so why was she bleeding there then? Shadow could only think it was from when Mimi had slugged her in the face before they came here. But that was a much delayed bleeding time, or perhaps it opened up more when Grace actually fought those idiots trying to protect him.

Shadow then felt, that since she risked her life to protect him that he should do the same for her, without the whole risking life part. "Lola can I ask you a question?" Lola looked to him and nodded. "Where does the chef of your castle cook his food?"

"In the kitchen, where else?" Lola said sounding a little ignorant. Shadow sighed slightly before continuing.

"I meant where is the kitchen, sorry." Shadow said with his eyes only half open looking greatly irritated or just exhausted from having to go all out, it's been a few months since then so he was a little rusty. Yes he was actually rusty doing everything he did to those six Pokémon fiends as some would say.

"Oh well, not that you've said that, the kitchen is right below our rooms and next to the dining room. You know the room with the really long table in it." Lola said putting her head against his chest. Shadow sighed slightly feeling as though he would never get out of this without some help. However to his luck Lola let him go for some reason, but he didn't stay around to ask as he sped away in a flash making every girl's 'skirts' or dresses fly up causing them to hold them down.

"Did he seriously have to leave so fast?" Melody asked feeling slightly exposed as she blushed a heavy shade of red.

"I don't know really, but what confuses me is the fact that he'd ask where the chef is. Does anyone here have any idea why that may be?" Yami asked looking at the other Pokémon around him.

"Well I did tell him that the chef asked me to go and get him supplies for tonight's dinner. And the chef knows how much the Pokémon in the market can't stand me." Grace said acting a little strange. Yami Lola and Melody looked at her with confused looks but Cass, for some odd reason picked up what Grace was saying.

"What do you mean by the Pokémon can't stand you, do they not like you or what?" Lola asked feeling like Grace had withheld something from her. Grace didn't want to make Lola worry about her so she neglected to tell her how everyone in the town market area treated her.

"Well it's not really that they can't stand me, it's more on the side of they hate me. They blame me for your parents' deaths and for the longest time I did to. That is until Shadow…" Grace stopped there remembering how she felt when Shadow said all those words to her. Her face was going through three shades of red before she could even shut her eyes in embarrassment.

"Grace you okay? You're going a deep red. Do you have a fever?" Lola asked completely oblivious to the real answer unlike Cass who just giggled slightly at the sight of a girl who looked to be crushing on her friend. Luckily Grace does not have a crush on Shadow, yet. Hopefully she never will. After all Lucarios and Gardevoirs can't have kids.

"No I'm fine just nervous that's all. Shadow was the first Pokémon I ever told this to anyway so it's kind of embarrassing that I'd tell someone who doesn't even see me as a friend something that's been bothering me for the past three years and I don't tell my closest of friends. It's a little embarrassing actually." Grace said forcing a smile on her face. She didn't want them to know she was actually embarrassed about the things Shadow told her. No one has ever spoken to her like that before. Others would say that it was the nicest thing anyone's said to them.

"Why was he the first Pokémon you told?" Melody asked curious about this strange occurrence.

"It was the stir of the moment I guess. They had just thrown a rock at my head and Shadow was about to go off on them when I stopped him. I told them they were in the right to do it because, before Shadow…uh…talked to me and explained to me it wasn't my fault for your parents' deaths. He just seemed to get angrier the more I told him." Grace said looking down at the ground.

"Wait did the chef at the castle know about your problem with the town?" Cass asked feeling she now understood what was going on.

"Yes when we went out together out one day, he saw how the Pokémon here treated me and well he kind of put two and two together when they said for me to get out of here for killing their benevolent king and beautiful queen." Grace was a little worried that she may have contradicted herself but she decided to leave it alone after that.

"He didn't tell me anything but I could tell from his face that he knew what my problem was at that point. Or well why I never really liked going into town. But he doesn't really care about that and still sends me out here anyways. But it's not a bother to me I just want to help any way I can." When Grace was finished she began to wonder why this had anything to do with why Shadow left so fast to find the chef.

"We or well you need to get to the kitchen before you guys no longer have a chef." Cass said with wide eyes and acting slightly animated.

"Why is that?" Lola asked even though Cass was talking to Grace.

"Well," Cass started, "you see Shadow…"

…

Meanwhile, at the Castle…

A Charizard was taking a spoon from a Charmeleon with some chunks of food on it. He put the spoon in his mouth and began to taste it for the right flavors. After about five seconds of tasting and waiting he got the taste. "Very well done my son." The Charizard said in an Italian accent rubbing his son's head. Yes Italian, this Charizard is Italian. "You've greatly improved your cutting techniques which is essential to cooking as you know. That and your use of the spices in this dish are superb. You'll soon be taking over my position before you know it."

"Dad I could never take your place here in the castle, you're the best chef in all of Sinnoh." The Charmeleon said in a normal sounding accent putting his claws up like he was excited for a fight.

"Now, Rocco, you know very well I'm not the best chef out there. There are several chefs that are probably more qualified than me I just happened to be picked by this kingdom to cook for them." The Charizard said getting back to his work.

However just before he went back to his knives the doors to the kitchen burst open and slammed into the walls leaving behind impressions when they slowly began to close Shadow walked in with his faced seriously scrunched from how angry he was. Every Pokémon in the room was looking at Shadow and Rocco looked to be ready to battle. His father threw his hand out calming his son down, or well stopping him from engaging the Pokémon in front of them.

"May I help you?" The Charizard asked feeling very wary of Shadow who just entered the room.

"I'm looking for the chef who sent Grace out to the market today. Would you happen to know who that is?" Shadow said looking like he was calming down.

"That would be me sir and might I ask what your business with why I sent Miss Grace out for a few simple ingredients?" The Charizard wanted to ask more but right as he was about to ask something Shadow's fist connected with his face sending him straight into a wall upside down.

"Father!" Rocco said as he watched his father fall to the floor.

"Master Chef!" The other chefs in the room said.

When the Charizard stood up he rubbed the spot where Shadow had slugged him. "May I ask what that was for?" The Charizard asked staring at Shadow with a confused look.

"What the hell did you think you were doing sending Grace out into the market when you know very well how the town and kingdom feel about her?" Shadow said knocking a pot off the stove. The Charizard dived catching it in mid-descent.

"Please, I don't know why you're so angry with me but the Pokémon of the town only throw small stones and sticks at her nothing that could seriously hurt her, but please don't throw this food away or we'll have to start all over again." The Charizard said as he placed the pot on the counter next to him.

"I see you care about food very much, but that's not what I can say about you caring for the lives of others. I don't think you care who gets hurt just as long as you get your ingredients for cooking." Shadow said ready to knock something else down onto the ground.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The Charizard seemed to be oblivious to the fact that when rocks and sticks are thrown they tend to hurt anyone they hit especially if thrown hard by strong Pokémon.

Shadow was now filled with rage as he put his hand onto Charizard's neck and slammed it into the exact same wall he was smashed against the same wall he was thrown into only now there was an impression of him upwards next to the upside down one. "So, what, you think she won't get hurt?" Shadow shouted as the other chefs in the room were getting ready to attack him. That's when Shadow suddenly split into five other Lucarios that were now all staring at the other chefs. However these doubles didn't seem to be just illusions they moved unlike normal doubles would. "I'd tell your pals to back off because this is between me and you."

Charizard just nodded and his chefs laid their arms down in response they didn't want to see their master hurt but they couldn't risk doing something that would put him in danger. "Now, I'll ask again, do you really think she won't get hurt by the Pokémon of the town throwing rocks at her?" Shadow said his eyes full of rage towards this Charizard.

"Honestly no, she's fast enough to dodge them and even if they did hit her they are small rocks that couldn't hurt anyone no matter how hard they are thrown." The Charizard said sounding as though Grace was really that durable which Shadow knew she wasn't after seeing her get hit by that first stone thrown at her.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled forth a stone where half of it was covered in a dried red liquid. "Do you know what's on this stone chef?" Shadow said holding it up to the Charizard's face. The Charizard looked at it and then widened his eyes and then looked back at Shadow. "It's blood, Grace's blood you bastard!"

Shadow sent the fist that was holding Charizard's neck into his gut and then back to holding his neck against the wall. "So what was that about these stones not hurting anyone or was that you they didn't hurt? Grace isn't you and she's a little more fragile than you think! Even though when she battles she's completely different, she's still not that durable!"

"What are you her boyfriend or something?" Charizard asked as he spat back at Shadow.

Shadow jumped back, releasing the Charizard from his grip. "No she isn't, in fact she isn't even my friend." Shadow said as his face blushed a light shade of pink. He hasn't done this since he was last with her. The thought just made him angrier, and the feelings he had for her were all but nonexistent now, but that didn't mean the memories didn't anger him. And yet he still thinks about all the good times they had together.

"So then why are you so angry about me sending Grace out to get the ingredients I needed for the meal tonight?" The Charizard asked feeling as though this Lucario was just overreacting from a simple stone being thrown.

"Why am I angry?" Both of his hands were now in fists and they were trembling something fierce. His whole body was shaking from the pain he was feeling from just remembering the situation that Mimi and her friends' boyfriends were about to do to Grace. "I'm angry because your lack of care for her safety almost got her raped!" Shadow shouted and everyone in the room was now looking at Shadow with wide eyes.

Charizard was the most shocked though hearing that someone very dear to his princess and a dear friend was almost assaulted in such a way that would have scarred her for life. "Are you sure that's what happened or are you making this up?" Charizard wanted to make sure that Shadow was telling him the truth.

"Mimi and her friends were holding me down and were going to force me to watch their boyfriends rape her. I had to do something I hate just to save her. That doesn't excuse you for being so careless about her life. What's more important to you, someone's life or your damn cooking?" Shadow was pissed as hell that he had to say such things, but this Charizard wanted reassurance so he gave it to him.

Charizard fell onto his knees and hands as he thought of what he had almost caused. "If I hadn't been there who knows what else they would have done to her." Shadow was just adding to the guilt that Charizard was feeling right now.

"I had no idea the town could be so hateful that they would have allowed that to happen." Charizard was actually crying at that point once he realized what could have happened.

Rocco, the Charmeleon, went to his father and put his arms over him to comfort him. Charizard smiled at his son and then stood up wiping the tears from his face. "I didn't think that could ever happen to a Pokémon like Grace. I can't tell you how sorry I am and the next time I see Mimi and her pathetic friends I'll give them a reason to stay away from Grace."

"Already took care of that for you." Charizard looked at him confused. "I left her friends with several bruises and maybe a few broken bones. I know for a fact that Mimi won't be using her right arm for a while that and I made sure she had something to remind her what happens to Pokémon who mess with the Pokémon I'm meant to protect."

"What do you mean by that?" Rocco asked before his dad could even open his mouth in response.

"I'm one of the bodyguards sent from the Four Swords Academy to protect Princess Lola. This is our first day here and I've already had to battle twice, not exactly how I wanted to start my job off here but it's at least a little more entertaining than constantly training at the academy." Shadow said slightly calming down seeing as how the Charizard was actually grieving over the fact that he wasn't really giving much attention to Grace's wellbeing.

"Anyways," His voice and body language read anger and bloodlust when that word came from his mouth; Charizard actually was up against the wall by will at that point. "The next time you ask Grace to get ingredients for something tell me to go with her as well."

"Why I thought you said you didn't care about her?" Charizard asked feeling as though Shadow was contradicting himself.

"I don't care about her but I won't allow someone, no matter who it is to go into a place where they are in danger without backup. That and well if you knew about my past you'd understand why I can't let Grace go out there alone." Shadow said looking down at the ground as memories of his past came to him. They sent horrifying images into his head that would have driven any other Pokémon mad.

"Alright then I understand very well, and I will not pry." The Charizard said nodding his head to Shadow. "I see now that I cannot just simply believe the kingdom will forgive someone so easily after losing those who the whole kingdom looked upon for answers, guidance, and hope. I promise that you will be the first to know if I need any ingredients for my food. However I will still send Grace because she has a tendency to remember everything I tell her unlike some of the guards here."

"I understand and I thank you for giving me that one little bit of comfort." Shadow said as he began to leave but stopped just before. "I almost forgot in my fit of rage but what is your name?"

The Charizard smiled and then laughed feeling like such a fool for not introducing himself. "My name believe it or not is Char, Char Manodragoon." Shadow's eyes widened when he heard the name. That would mean that this Charizard is none other than..., "I would prefer it if you didn't tell anyone outside this kitchen who I really am because it would just cause problems and I don't want my son to have to deal with the consequences if you don't mind."

"Don't worry I wouldn't do that to someone like you after all I actually respect the man that you are Char. And I respect you for actually caring for Grace that at least puts some happiness into my system. Also if we're ever in the same vicinity as those six who tried to hurt Grace then we'll just give them a piece of our minds now won't we." Shadow said looking back at him with a smile that read more of a friendly gesture than a threat, hopefully.

Char nodded to him and Shadow left the kitchen. Char heaved a sigh of relief as that was finally over. He looked to his son who was still shaking from how easily Shadow had pinned his father against the wall.

Shadow was just heading up the stairs when he heard what sounded like doors opening. He had a feeling he knew who it was so he hid behind a pillar that was closer to him and watched as Grace came running in still wearing her slightly broken armor plating. He was amazed that she could run after what had happened then again she wasn't really hit that much and he was with Char for some time.

That and it took him fifteen minutes at least to find the damn kitchen with all the rooms that he went through. He didn't want to be anywhere near her right now. He still couldn't believe the lengths he took to protect her from that. He began to wonder, why did he use his rage mode for something he could have broken out of so easily? Shadow would have just had to use a bit more strength and those three's hold on him would have been broken.

When he entered his room he asked himself, "Why didn't I just use more strength? Why did I go into Rage Mode for her?"

…..

Grace was running through the castle heading for the kitchen. When she saw them open she was worried that Shadow had done something horrible but when she entered she found everyone laughing. "You should have seen your face Char when that guy had you up against the wall, priceless." Grace came in to what sounded like a conversation about what Shadow had done.

"I was actually quite surprised by the power he had for someone so young. He must have been only eighteen and yet he was able to pin me against the wall with what must have been a tremendous amount of strength because I couldn't get out of that hold even if I tried." Char was smiling because it has been awhile since anyone held him back like that even when he could have broken out of a hold like that, but then again the amount of power he thought Shadow was using wasn't even close and Shadow didn't even use half of his power. Yeah that's why a lot of Pokémon call him a monster, he is so strong that only Legendary Warriors have been able to defeat him.

"Char are you alright?" Grace asked causing everyone to look her way. Char was the one who was most shocked to see her battle armor with so many cracks in it. That only furthered the rage he felt for Mimi and her pathetic excuse for friends.

"The better question is are you alright Grace and what happened to your armor?" Char asked even though he knew the answer but he wanted to know what she would say.

"Oh this it's nothing really. Just a little battle that I had to deal with is all." Grace said smiling at him acting as though nothing really happened.

"Grace why would you lie to me?" Char asked getting a confused and wide eyed look from Grace. "Shadow told me everything that had happened to you, and what he had to do to save you."

"He…did...what?" Grace asked as she began to shake, her entire body was shaking. "He…told you…everything?" Grace was in pure shock because it sounded like Shadow was going to tell everyone what had happened. "If he did then you know that he knows that you sent me to get the ingredients."

"Yes he told me that I should never let you go out alone again and he made it very clear as well might I add." Char said crossing his arms and looking rather annoyed.

Grace shot up there and ran over to him and put her hands on his arm. "Did he hurt you, are you alright?" Grace asked worried that Shadow may have done something that Char could be seriously hurt from.

"Besides throwing me up against a wall twice I'm fine Grace he didn't hurt me that badly so don't worry." Char said smiling as he put his hands on his waist which was kind of girly for such a manly Pokémon (at least in my eyes).

"Are you sure because those holes look rather deep into the wall?" Grace said as a sweat drop appeared on her face. She then looked down and wondered why Shadow would want to make it clear to Char not to let her go alone into town anymore?

"By the way Grace what's your relationship with Shadow anyways?" Char asked putting a claw under his chin in thought.

"My relations with Shadow?" She began to wonder for a second why Char would ask such a question then she got an idea that made her blush a heavy red. "If you're wondering if Shadow is my boyfriend than you're wrong. Shadow probably hates me right now after he had to use his Rage Mode to save me."

"I don't think so actually." Rocco said getting everyone to look at him. Grace was a little perplexed by this because what did this boy have to say about Shadow.

"Well it looks like I wasn't the only one to notice it either, good eye my boy." Char began rubbing his son's head with his hand making his son smile and laugh as it for some reason tickled him. Grace was a little confused but she at least hoped one of them would fill her in what the hell was going on.

"Sorry about that, but it seems that we both saw the same reaction happen when we asked Shadow if he was your boyfriend. So we were wondering if you could shed some light on that you know. Are you two all lovey-dovey like those couples up on that hill at night?" Grace's eyes widened when she heard that. Suddenly her eyes turned blue and she sent Char into the wall hard creating a third imprint only this one was sideways. Char grunted as he fell to the floor.

"Three times in one day," He grunted as he began to slowly get back onto his feet. "I thought only my wife could do that."

"Why the hell would you ask him a question like that Char?" Grace asked as she huffed and puffed from feeling embarrassed from what Char had asked. "And no Shadow and I are nothing like that! Like I said I think he hates me right now."

"And like my son and I said, we think otherwise." Grace looked at them a little confused. "The way he acted after I said that was strange almost like he didn't want to be in the room anymore and from there he just kept going on about how he would make me suffer if anything like that happened to you again. Especially if I sent you."

"He actually said those things?" Grace asked as her cheeks glowed with a very light pink. When she thought about Shadow saying those things she felt like he actually had this soft side to him that he didn't like showing to anyone. She smiled thinking this, Shadow might actually care about something here in Floroma but when she thought about him caring about her, her heartbeat began to increase. But Char wasn't done with what he thought.

"I was wondering, are you smitten with him?" Char asked with a mischievous smile and his son was copying him as well.

"Smitten?" She asked looking first at Rocco then at Char and then realized what they were asking. "N-No I am not smitten with Shadow why in the world would you think that?"

"Because we believe that he might be with you." Char said making Grace's eyes widened, again. (Okay I don't know why she's widening her eyes like this but she is and I for one think it important for any anime, manga, or story in fanfic at least that's what I've seen many times in other animes, mangas so I thought I'd do it in the story.)

"How do you think that?" Grace asked wanting to get more information. Then she wondered why she wanted to know more about this. It's not like she really cared about Shadow, but then again she attacked that thought with another. Why would she think that when she was so worried about him when he was in Rage Mode or whenever he was hit by Mimi when he fought her?

"Well call it intuition I guess. He just seemed to have this overwhelming obsession with keeping you out of harm's way again. However I'm not all that sure if he really is smitten with you but the way he acted all pointed to that one possibility." Char said nodding his head and crossing his arms.

Grace began to think what if Shadow actually did care about her than that would mean he might help her again. But then she thought that maybe he only said those things because of what happened to him in the past. But when she saw the two indentations that he created by throwing Char into the wall made her rethink again what she just stated.

"Another thing you should probably know, he looked to be in some sort of pain." Grace looked at Char at that point with ears ready to listen. "He looked to be in considerable amounts of pain as well. Maybe it was from having to fight for you or maybe he was just exhausted from all the energy he had to use to throw me against that wall. I don't know but he looked like he was headed to his room last I thought anyways."

Grace felt relieved that Shadow didn't do what Cass said he might. However she noticed how worried for Shadow she became when the words Char said rang through her head. She was again blaming herself for what might have happened to him because if she hadn't gotten them in that kind of trouble than none of this would have happened. She needed to see Shadow to make sure he was really alright. "Thank you Char for that information but I think I'm going to check on him just to make sure he's okay." Grace said as she was about to leave the kitchen.

"Alright and tell your boyfriend not to knock any of our pots over again." Rocco said getting a horrified look from his father who was waving his claws around as if saying "NEVER SAY THAT!" but unfortunately Rocco didn't get that. Grace stopped in her tracks and looked back. The one eye they saw was red and in a very angry position. Both Rocco and his father backed away putting their arms in front of them ready to defend against any attack from her.

She turned around and smiled at them making everyone look at her in surprise. "Alright I guess I can ask him not to do that but he is not my boyfriend got it." Grace said turning back around but not before sending forth a Thunderbolt attack at Char who took it and made several different poses as he fell to the floor again.

"Why?" He moaned as he had smoke streaks coming off of his body.

Everyone watched as Grace walked out of the room and headed for the stairs. She passed several guards who could see the concern on her face. As she started to head up the stairs her feet became very heavy and her heart beat rapidly increased. She didn't understand why she was getting so nervous over something like this. She was just going to talk to him that was it nothing more so why was she so nervous, she thought to herself.

When she reached Shadow's room she saw that the door was open and Shadow was staring out of the window down at the town. "Shadow?" His ears perked up and he spun around looking at Grace in surprise almost like he wasn't expecting her. He wasn't actually, he thought she would leave him alone for the rest of the day.

"Grace what are you doing here?" Shadow asked wondering what she was here for.

"I just came to check on you, to make sure you were alright you know. I thought that maybe you might have been hurt by the battle against Mimi and I was worried." Grace said as her head fell but her eyes were looking at Shadow.

"Well I'm fine can you leave me alone now?" Shadow asked turning back around to look out the window and back down at the streets.

Grace felt like Shadow didn't want anything to do with her right now. She felt like she should leave but she had one more thing left to say. "Thank you?" She whispered.

Shadow's ears perked up again only getting a slight mumbled word that was hard to make out. He turned around and saw Grace was looking away from him. He raised one of his eyebrows, if Lucarios even have them, wondering why she would be acting so nervous. "Grace is there something you want to tell me because I don't have all night." Shadow was being a little rude but he didn't want to be around anyone right now especially after everyone saw him in Rage Mode.

"Oh, sorry," She said blushing from how embarrassed she was from how nervous she must have looked to Shadow. "I j-just wanted t-to…to…," Shadow felt like he was just making her feel even more nervous which actually made him feel a little guilty. Actually he felt extremely guilty and was actually feeling his own body getting angry with himself.

"Grace," She stopped stuttering for a second as she looked at Shadow whose cheeks had a light shade of red on them. "Sorry if I am making you nervous, it's just I didn't want anyone to bother me. I'm not really fond of my Rage Mode if you haven't figured that out yet and whenever I have had to do it I just end up being alone to face my own hate."

"Why though?" Grace asked looking at him now, Shadow's eyes locked with Grace's as her words made him both confused and surprised him.

"What do you mean by why?" Shadow asked feeling like something was about to be said that he was going to either regret or be very thankful for.

"I mean why do you let yourself face this hate all by yourself? Haven't your friends ever tried to help you through it, the pain and the hate I mean?" Grace asked taking a few steps towards him. He didn't understand why she was asking these things but he felt this strange warmth in his chest from the questions being asked.

"No they haven't," Shadow said looking away from Grace. He turned around showing his back to her as the memories were still painful, how everyone except Yami and Cass saw him as a monster and for all he knew they might have thought of him as a monster. "Every time I went into Rage Mode every Pokémon who would call themselves my friends would just stay as far away from me as possible. I was and am always alone because of that."

Suddenly he felt something wrap around his neck. "You were always alone Shadow." His body jumped forward getting out of Grace's arms. He was so confused as to what he was feeling at that moment he couldn't describe it and neither can I and I'm the damn writer. "I don't know why this is but I don't want to see you in any pain. You may not want to be my friend but you're my friend and I'm not going to let you feel that way anymore. You won't have to go through this alone anymore alright." Grace walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him again.

Shadow had no idea what was going on, with both the situation and with himself. "Grace?" Shadow whispered as he felt his arms moving on their own. Soon he had his arms wrapped around her.

"You don't have to be alone anymore Shadow. I'm your friend and like I said if you ever need anything just go ahead and ask me." Grace said smiling in the hug. Shadow hasn't hugged anyone in five years and the feeling was nice just as it was then. He was confused though as to why she was being so nice to him. Was she just trying to fool him or was she really being sincere? Shadow couldn't tell with how clouded his mind was at that moment.

"Thank you Shadow." Grace said startling Shadow a little bit.

"Why would you be thanking me?" Shadow asked feeling even more confused.

"Any woman (Remember there are only Pokémon in this story, no humans) would be happy after what you did. You protected me three times today and saved me twice. That and you went as far as threatening my friend for being a little careless. I don't know why you would do that but I thank you anyways. At least I know I have a great friend there to protect me whenever I go into town now." Shadow was blushing heavily, he didn't expect her to actually go to Char and ask what he had done. "I don't think anyone's ever done that for me. So again thank you."

"Hey any Pokémon would have done it Grace." Shadow said getting out of the hug and walking back to the window. He was feeling emotions that hadn't surfaced since the incident and he didn't want them to come. He didn't want to have a reason to do that again. He didn't want that to happen again.

"But that's just it, it wasn't just any Pokémon it was you." Grace said softly as she walked next to him. She still didn't know why her heart was beating so fast but she liked standing next to him. His aura had this pure and gentle feel that seemed to spread around to everything in the room right now. "I guess you could say I hope the next time I get saved it's by you and not by just any Pokémon." Grace said smiling at Shadow who was still a little confused as to what was going on.

After a few seconds of silence Grace thought she had said enough and began to leave when Shadow stopped her. "Grace, thank you." It was now Grace's turn to be surprised. She never expected him to say something like that. She had a very puzzled look on her face and it only made Shadow irritated. "What's with the face?"

"Sorry, I just didn't expect to hear those words out of your mouth, ever." Grace said blushing a little bit. She was a little embarrassed by how she must have looked to him.

"Oh I see, you thought I was incapable of thanking others. It's alright though I get that a lot. I'm just thanking you because you proved me wrong and it's been a while since I've been this happy to be proven wrong." Shadow said only bringing a lot of speculation forth in Grace's mind.

"What's that supposed to mean, what did I prove wrong?" Grace asked feeling like she was getting somewhere with Shadow and she was actually getting excited. Maybe telling him that she was his friend made him think of her differently.

"I thought you'd be like everyone else here when I went into Rage Mode. I thought you would try and stay as far away from me as possible but instead you didn't, you came to me instead." Shadow said looking up at the stars. "I always thought that anyone who saw me in Rage Mode would be too afraid of me to be that close to me. But you proved me wrong and now I know that there is at least one person out there who isn't afraid of me for being a monster."

"YOU'RE NOT A MONSTER!" Grace shouted getting Shadow to turn around in shock. "Sorry for shouting but seeing you fight Mimi in Rage Mode and even go at your friends when you were trying to protect me, there's no way you're a monster. You just have a big heart and I think that power isn't just the rage and anger you feel but also all the sadness you feel when you see someone you care about get hurt."

"But I don't think I cared about you that much." At least that's what Shadow thought but when he remembered seeing her battle to protect him he felt differently than he has ever felt around a female. He had always been the one protecting someone it had never been the other way around.

"It doesn't really matter to me how much you cared about me because you at least cared about my safety and I now know for a fact that it must have grown because afterwards you went to Char and really scared him. I don't think his wife could have scared him that much." Grace said with a smile on her face. Shadow blushed when he saw her smile. It was almost as if the whole room glowed with this bright light that he couldn't look away from. Not even she, not talking about Grace, had a smile like this.

"Well you're welcome. Also you proved something else to be wrong." Grace now looked at him again thinking what else she could have proven wrong. "I thought that I would never make another friend here in Floroma, but again I was proven wrong by none other than you Grace."

Grace looked at him with wide eyes. He couldn't possibly mean that, could he? "Thank you, for accepting me as your friend, so I guess I can accept you as my friend." Shadow said smiling at her which actually made her cheeks glow red. "So again I say thank you Grace. Now if you don't mind I want to get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow morning, I guess."

Grace nodded her head and went out of the room shutting the door behind her. She put her back up against the door as both she and Shadow on the other side heaved heavy sighs of relief. They both began thinking why they were so nervous. Shadow was wondering why he was even nervous. He had nothing to be nervous about because she was just a friend and nothing more. He went into his bed and laid down in it and fell to sleep rather quickly.

By the time Grace got to her bedroom she had all these thoughts of how she and Shadow might end up together and she didn't understand why she was having them but she decided that she would toss them away and just fall asleep. This day had already done so much to her and she didn't need anything else happening to her tonight.

She fell asleep quickly but quickly went into a dream where she and Shadow were alone together. She shot up from the bed sweat dripping down her face but when she took a few deep breathes and tried going back to sleep the thoughts and dreams ended. Both of them thought in their sleep, tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day.