Hank led the group of Pokémon to the edge of the cliff. They look over it and paled a bit at the height. They stared at the menacing forest below them. They could all sense the dark aura coming off of it. Axew hides behind Emolga, feeling scared from just looking at it. Even Dragonite looked unsure about going in there.

Hank noticed their worried looks. "Yes, yes, I know. This forest gives me the creeps too. Honestly, I wouldn't be caught dead in there. But, remember why you all are doing this. You need to put your fears aside and find your friend. It looks difficult, but I know you all can do this.

"Now listen, I'm gonna lower you all down by a rope. As soon as all of you are down there, start searching for Pikachu and do it as quickly as possible. I don't want you all staying in there longer than you should."

They were all shivering, some having second thoughts. Buneary, with a look of determination on her face, stepped up. "I don't care. I'm going in there and rescuing my Pika!"

Hank smiles a bit and looks at the others. "Anyone else?"

Oshawott swallowed his nerves and stood by Buneary. Snivy smiled at Oshawott and stood next to him. Piplup came up as well, pounding his chest with confidence. Dragonite clenched his fist and nodded. Everyone else followed in their example and stepped forward.

Hank nodded. "You all are very brave." He takes out the rope and starts to uncoil it down the cliff. Dragonite grabs Krookodile, figuring he won't be able to go down the rope without snapping it, and flies him down. Emolga glides down after them. Once Hank was done lowering the rope, he takes a tight grip of it. "Alright, go."

Pansage went down first, climbing down with acrobatic skill. Pachirisu scurried down it. Scraggy and Axew went down together, keeping a hold of each other. Pignite looked a little nervous, but he grabs the rope and starts lowering himself. Quilava follows soon after.

Snivy looks at Oshawott. "Do you think we'll find Pikachu?"

Oshawott looks over the forest. He remembered those strange feelings he got earlier when he last observed it. The idea of going in just gave him the creeps. Plus, after the warnings Hank gave them, it just made things worse. "I…don't know. This forest is massive. There's no telling where he might be." He glance at Buneary, knowing how hurt she is from the incident. He narrows his eyes. "But I'm not giving up until we find him!" He grabs the rope and slides down.

Snivy smiles before following him down. Piplup rubs Buneary's shoulder. "Hey, are you sure you want to bring your egg? Doesn't seem like a smart move."

She sighs. "I know. Even I think it's a terrible idea. But, as long as it stays in this container, it'll be fine."

"It better, because I don't want anything happening to my niece/nephew." He grabs the rope and slides down.

Buneary shakes her head with an amused smile. "Oh Piplup…" She grips the rope and prepares to slide down, but is stopped by Hank.

He sighs. "Buneary, before you go down there…I need to warn you about something else. These creatures love to play tricks on their victims before they capture them. I want you all to stay safe." She nods in understanding. "Alright. Good luck down there." Buneary grips the rope and slides down, disappearing into the thick trees.

Once she got down, Hank started to pull the rope up. When he finished, he got a phone call. He answers and sees Officer Jenny on the screen. "Jenny, what a surprise. I'm just on my lunch break and…"

"Forget about that." She suddenly interrupted. "Get back to the Pokémon Center now. We found something that you need to see for yourself." The screen went black.

"Wonder what that was all about?" He then wore a look of confusion. "Hold on, I thought the communications were down." He puts his phone away and narrows his eyes. "Something isn't right." He gets up and starts running back to the center.

Buneary touched down on the ground before the rope was pulled back up. She looks around with the others and was just as surprised as them. The trees were colored black. Bushes with purple colored leaves spread throughout the forest. The ground was gray and dry, too dry for anything to grow. The strangest part was that the leaves of the trees were so bunched together that absolutely no light past through. There was no sunlight at all. The only light in here was coming from illuminating moss growing on the sides of the trees, varying from blue, pink, or purple glows.

They stared at it for the longest time before Piplup said, "Wow…this place is creepy."

Axew nods. "Yeah, it sure is."

Emolga leans against a tree. "So, where do you think Pikachu is?"

Piplup squints his eyes. "I don't know. There isn't much light in here. Why is this forest so dark?"

Dragonite rolls his eyes. "I'll just burn some of the leaves above." He shoots a Flamethrower at the leaves above and made a hole for some sunlight. "See? Problem solved." His eyes widened when the sunlight disappears. "What the…" He looks up and gasps. The leaves he burned away grew back.

"Let me try!" Pignite fires his Flamethrower and burns a batch of leaves. A moment later, they grew back. "How is that possible?!"

"This really is a strange forest." Oshawott commented. "I guess we're just gonna have to walk around in the dark until we find Pikachu."

Emolga narrows her eyes. "Do you know how long that will take? Pikachu fell down the cliff and he's been gone for over an hour. He could be anywhere at this point." She groans. "This is stupid. I'm going back up." She tried to climb up the cliff, but Snivy pulls her back down with Vine Whip.

"We're looking for Pikachu together. You're with us whether you like it or not." Emolga pouts in annoyance.

Buneary shakes her head. "Let's look around here to see if we can find any clues." They nod and start searching the ground.

Piplup looks up a tree and smiles. "Hey guys, I found berries!" True enough, purple berries with black spots were growing on a low branch of the tree. He climbs up a tree and plucks one off, then jumps down. "Don't mind if I do."

Snivy glares at him. "Hank said to be cautious around everything in here."

"Oh calm down. It's just a harmless berry." He takes a bite of it and savors the taste. He then scrunches up as his eyes watered. "Ugh, this thing is really sour." He throws the berry away.

"I tried to warn you." Snivy said.

Scraggy finds a puddle of sorts that was waist deep for him. A small with waterfall poured down it. "Whoa…" He looks at the edge and gasps. "G-guys…I found something."

They came over and saw what he was pointing at. Near the water was a small drop of blood and a large hole in the ground, like something came out of it.

Quilava looks at the hole. "Odd, it's like a living creature was buried here and just came back up."

"Alright, now I'm starting to get scared." Axew shivered

Buneary crouches down and examines the blood. "You don't think…this belonged to Pikachu?"

"This is around the spot where he fell. It could be." Snivy looks around some more. "There's no way creatures actually live down here. The environment is just not suitable for life."

"Yet plants grow down here and can somehow regenerate." Pachirisu started to sweat nervously. "Guys, I'm not really comfortable staying here."

Buneary looks to the side and finds something else. "Look at this." She leads them over to three sets of tracks. "Something must have come and took Pikachu away."

Krookodile looks at the tracks very carefully before forming a look of confusion. "These all look like Pikachu's footprints. How or why did he go in three separate directions?"

These creatures love to play tricks on their victims before they capture them. Hank's words echoed through Buneary's mind. "Whatever took him must be trying to throw us off track. We need to split up if we want to make any progress in our search."

"Splitting up?! Are you crazy?!" Piplup shouted. "They'll pick us off one by one if we did that!"

"Don't be a coward, pipsqueak." Dragonite said.

"I'm not a coward! I'm just looking out for our safety!" He fires back.

"Both of you, stop arguing!" Buneary shouted. They looked at her in stunned silence. "Look, we'll have each other's backs. Splitting up is the best way to find Pikachu. We'll search for a day, then meet up back here to see if any of us made progress. We'll keep searching until we find Pikachu. I don't care how long it takes." She clenches her fist. "I'm not leaving without him."

All of them were surprised by her sudden act of bravery and determination. She was usually the one who avoided danger at every possible opportunity. But now, they see just how determined she was. She was set on her goal and she wasn't gonna back out of it.

Feeling that no one was gonna try and reason with her, she sighs. "Alright, now we need to make teams. Thirteen of us, three sets of tracks."

Piplup stands next to her. "I'm staying with Buneary. She's my best friend and I'll always be there to help her." She smiles at that.

"Scraggy and I will stick together too!" Axew announced.

"I'll stay with these two so they don't get into any trouble." Krookodile offered. Buneary nodded at the idea.

"I'm sticking with Dragonite." Quilava said. Pignite, Pansage, and Pachirisu nod in agreement.

Oshawott looks at Buneary. He still felt guilty over what happened, so he should at least stick with Buneary. "I'll search with Buneary."

Snivy glares at Emolga. "I'm going to be staying with you at all times."

Emolga groans. "I don't need a babysitter looking over my shoulder."

Krookodile look at Snivy. "Snivy, maybe it'll be best if you stick with Buneary too. After all, she isn't the strongest out of all of us and I don't think those two will be excellent bodyguards."

"Hey!" Piplup and Oshawott yelled in offense.

"I'll make sure to keep an eye on Emolga and that she contributes with the search." He offers.

Snivy wanted to protest, but he had a point. Piplup has been known for his bad luck and Oshawott, despite being a great battler, wasn't very bright. Krookodile could easily handle Emolga if she were to try and escape. Besides, she was more worried about Oshawott's safety than Emolga's questionable loyalty.

With that, she sighs. "Alright, but don't let her out of your sight." He salutes to her. Emolga just pouts in annoyance.

"So it's decided." Buneary said. "Alright, we meet back here tomorrow. Don't lose your way." With that, Buneary's group takes the middle set of tracks, Krookodile's takes the left ones, and Dragonite's takes the right.

Krookodile's group followed the tracks quietly. Emolga laid on top of Krookodile to take a nap. Krookodile stayed vigilant of their surroundings while Axew and Scraggy led the way, following the tracks.

Emolga groans. "Snivy doesn't trust me one bit. Why do I need a babysitter? I'm a full grown Pokémon!"

Krookodile rolled his eyes. "You're not exactly the most loyal out of all of us. You're a greedy, manipulative Pokémon." He picks her off his head. "Also, get off my head." He throws her off.

Emolga rolls her eyes and walks with Axew and Scraggy. "Unbelievable…"

Axew scratched the back of his head. "Well, he and Snivy aren't wrong. You do take advantage of us without giving anything in return. You used your Attract to get your way."

Scraggy nodded angrily. "No kidding! You swiped my food away from me every time you put me under your spell!"

Emolga groans again. "Ugh, you guys are so annoying." She glides ahead of them. "Who do they think they are? Belittling me like that? Someone of my class and elegance deserves more than this." She sees a tree full of berries, making her lick her lips. "Come to momma!" She climbs up the tree and picks one off. She takes a large, juicy bite of it. A second later, she spits it out in disgust. "Ugh, Piplup was right! These are sour!"

She throws it away, when she saw something swoosh by. A chill went up her spine. She surveyed her surroundings. It was too dark to see anything unusual. But, she clearly saw something nearby. Something was spying in her, observing her…like she was gonna be dinner for them. She gulped and jumped down the tree. She kept looking in every direction to keep a lookout for the mysterious creature.

She heard a low growling. She slowly turned around and saw a monster, baring its teeth and staring her down with its menacing red eyes. Emolga screamed in fear and ran as far away as possible. However, after a good few meters, she ran into Krookodile.

He adjusted his sunglasses. "What the heck has gotten into you?"

Emolga points back with a frightened face. "Th-th-th-there's a m-monster over there!" But there was nothing but trees and bushes. This greatly surprised her. "But…but I saw a…a…"

Axew pats her back. "There, there. Your eyes are just playing tricks on you."

She shakes her head. "No, I swear I saw something. It was growling, scary, and looked like it wanted to have me for dinner!" She hugged herself. "I can't take it! I need to get out of here!" Krookodile grabbed her before she could escape.

"Pull yourself together. Listen, we made a promise that we'll find and bring back Pikachu. We can't turn back now. You need to get it together and stay strong." He sets her down. "Axew, keep a hold of her."

Axew grabs her hand. "Don't worry, I'll be by your side."

Emolga didn't know why, but she was starting to feel better with the contact. "T-thanks."

"Hey guys?" Scraggy motioned them to come over. The tracks they were following just stopped. "I don't know where to go from here."

Krookodile groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Great, just great." He sighs. "We're just gonna have to turn back." But, when he turned around, the tracks were gone. "What the?!" He looks around. It was like they just changed location all of a sudden. "This place is starting to give me the creeps, now." The others nodded in agreement.

Dragonite's group wandered through the forest, keeping an eye on the tracks they were following. Pignite stay near Dragonite, a little nervous being in this place. Quilava was the one leading the way. Pachirisu and Pansage decided to lighten the mood by playing a game of I Spy.

"I spy with my little eye, something blue." Pachirisu said happily.

Pansage, however, was getting really bored of the game. "Moss?"

"Correct! How did you know?"

"Because you said that four times already. There isn't much differences here." He sighs. "How long have we been searching?"

"About fifteen minutes." Quilava mumbled.

Dragonite sighs. "If this forest wasn't so crowded together, I could flown and found Pikachu easily." He fires Flamethrower at a bush, which regenerated quickly. "Ugh, it's like this forest is alive or something!"

Pansage looked around. "There is something strange about this place. It…doesn't feel like an actual forest."

Pachirisu climbs up a tree. "Yeah." He rubs his arms. "It's kind of cold here too."

Pignite looked around. "Does anyone get the distinct feeling we're being watched?" Everyone looked in every direction and he was right. It felt like they were being spied on by…something evil. "I'm starting to get scared." He backs up into a tree and freezes up when a branch grabbed his shoulder. "AHH!" He jumped in fright and cowered on the ground. "I don't like it here!"

Dragonite groans. "Don't be a baby. Whatever's in this forest, I can easily take it down." He flexed a bit to prove his point.

Pansage swung around on the trees. "Hank said that many Pokémon came out of here completely drained. Don't take your chances with whatever lives here just because you think you're tough."

This only made him roll his eyes. "I'd like to see you try and hold your own against me."

"Um, guys? We're trying to find Pikachu, not get into unnecessary brawls." Quilava reminded. He looks back at the tracks. "Anyway, they seem to stop here."

"Great, now we'll never find him. We're just gonna have to turn back."

"That…may be a problem." Pachirisu pointed out. The trail behind them just disappeared.

Pignite nervously looked around. "I got a bad feeling about all of this."

Dragonite growls and fires a Flamethrower. "Alright, who's the joker responsible for this?!"

In his menacing, wooden throne, Dark watches the two teams from two glowing orbs. He smirks as they were slowly becoming more and more scared and anxious to leave. He chuckles. "Oh, how I adore the looks of grief and anger. It's so entertaining."

One of his minions walked over to his throne. "My lord, our scouts have found another group in the forest. They seem to be unconscious. Shall we grab them and have them drained?"

He scratches his chin. "How close are they to here?"

"About sixty yards away, my lord."

Dark pulls up another orb and observes the two unconscious Pokémon, Laura and Meowth. Though, he was mostly observing Laura. He smiles wickedly. "Don't harm them. I wish to meet them in person. Leave them a trail to follow back here."

"Of course, my lord. And, what of the other group of Pokémon?"

Dark pulls up another orb. It showed Buneary's group trekking through the thick forest. He took notice of the egg strapped to Buneary. "Ooh, she brought an innocent egg. How cute." He chuckles sinisterly. "Don't bother them. I want my new minions to take care of them." He snaps his claws.

Buneary and Snivy walked bravely through the forest, determined on the mission. Piplup and Oshawott, however, were scared out of their wits. They kept close, watching each other's backs. They didn't understand how Buneary was so calm. Snivy was always calm in situations like this, but Buneary was usually the one to stay out of scary areas.

A leaf fell off a tree and slowly descended onto Piplup's head, who shrieked at the touch. He grabbed Oshawott for comfort. "This place is a madhouse!"

Oshawott smiled nervously. "H-hey, it's just a…creepy, dark, menacing forest. N-n-nothing to be scared of." They heard a twig snap and they screamed, holding each other close.

Buneary was the one who stepped on the twig. She looked at them with an amused look. "Do you boys need protection?" This made them blush in embarrassment.

Snivy rolls her eyes. "You two are the biggest chickens I've ever seen."

Piplup narrowed his eyes and pounds his chest proudly. "I'll have you know, I'm the bravest out of everyone on my team."

"So how come Buneary isn't freaking out like you?" Oshawott teased. This earned him a punch in the arm from the offended penguin.

Buneary shook her head. "Just stop fooling around and keep moving." They continued their trek. Buneary moves back a bit and whispers to Oshawott, "You know, if you want to get Snivy's attention, you could try acting a little braver."

This made him look down. "Not that easy in a place like this. How come you're not scared?"

She looked straight ahead. "My passion and determination to look for Pikachu keeps me moving. I won't let anything stop me from succeeding."

He sighs. "You got it lucky. Pikachu is head over heels for you. Me…I doubt Snivy sees me more than a friend."

"That's just quitter talk. You'll see, Snivy does like you. She cares deeply for you." This made him smile a tiny bit.

"Guys?" Snivy pointed to a garden of flowers. They had black stems and purple petals with pink accents. "The trail stops in there."

Piplup walks over to them. "What a strange batch of flowers." He was about to reach out and grab one, but Snivy slapped his flipper. "Hey!"

"Hank said be cautious of the plants and not to touch the flowers!"

He rolls his eyes. "Ooh, flowers! They look so scary with their petals!" He blew a raspberry. "Oh please, I'm sure he was just overreacting."

"This isn't a natural forest. Who knows what kind of things we can find in here?"

Buneary walks into the flowers. "Piplup does have a point." She plucks one off the ground and sniffs it. "Doesn't seem evil."

"HA, in your face!" Piplup stated triumphantly to Snivy, who merely sighed in annoyance.

Oshawott shook his head. "Piplup, this is no time to be immature."

"He's right." Buneary said. "Let's stop fooling around so we can continue sear-OW!" She flinches when a thorn suddenly sprouted out of the flower's stem and pokes her. She drops it and licks her paw.

"Buneary!" Snivy exclaimed. They ran over to her and checked her wound. "Oh man, you're bleeding."

"It's fine, really." She reassured them.

Oshawott looks at the flowers. "There weren't any thorns on these before. How did they-OW!" A thorn grew out of a flower next to him and poked his leg. Snivy and Piplup flinch when they, too, got poked by the flowers.

They stepped out of them and checked themselves over. Piplup was panicking. "What if they were poisonous? What if we're gonna die here? I don't want to die!" He started shaking Oshawott like a crazed psycho.

Snivy slaps the penguin across the face. "Get a hold of yourself. They weren't poisonous. Strange forest or not, I can tell if a plant is toxic."

"So, what did they do?" Oshawott asked. Unknown to all of them, the flowers they were poked by pulse and glowed purple. They slowly started to sink into the ground.

Snivy looked at Buneary's wound again. "Well, judging from what happened, there's two possible reasons. One, these flowers sprout thorns as a natural defense. Or two, they sprouted them to take a sample of our blood. It would make sense, considering how deep the puncture was."

"Why would a flower take our blood?" Piplup asked curiously.

"I'm not sure."

Oshawott looks back at the flowers with a glare. "Stupid plants…I should just crush you all up." He yelps when the ground suddenly exploded four separate times. Arms reached out of the ground. "What the heck?!"

All four of them started backing away slowly. Buneary was shivering nervously. "What's going on?"

Strange forms started to pull themselves out of the ground. They stood tall and stretched, like they woken up from a nap.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The first one asked with an evil tone.

Buneary's eyes widen. "Wait…you sound like…"

The four creatures came closer and revealed themselves, shocking the group. "They look like us!" They shouted in fear.

Standing in front of them were dark versions of themselves. Buneary's had purple fur, light purple fluff, and red glowing eyes. Oshawott's had a dark purple body, light purple head, red glowing eyes, and a black scalchop. Piplup's had mostly a dark purple body with light purple, red glowing eyes, and black feet and beak. And finally, Snivy's had a black body, light purple underbelly, and red glowing eyes.

Dark Buneary chuckles cruelly. "Looks like you idiots are smarter than you look."

"What is going on?" Oshawott questioned.

"Oh shut up, you insolent pest." Dark Oshawott ordered coldly.

"What do you want?!" Snivy yelled, reading her Vine Whips.

"All we want is you. Our master, Lord Dark, wishes to meet you. Though, it'll be an unpleasant visit." Dark Snivy cackles loudly.

Piplup shivers. "They give me the creeps."

"Aww, does the baby want his blankie?" Dark Piplup mocked with a wide smirk.

Snivy growls. "Whatever you are, get out of our way!" She flings her whips at them. Dark Snivy uses Vine Whip as well, the vines were black, and she catches the attack, shocking Snivy. "How-"

"Going up!" Her evil counterpart grapples her and flings her into the air. She grabs her again and slams her into the ground.

"Snivy!" Oshawott shouted in worry. He glares at the evil duplicates and readies his Razor Shell. "You'll pay for that."

Piplup and Buneary got into fighting stances. Snivy picked herself up and got into a stance as well. The clones smirked and readied themselves too. Dark Buneary laughs menacingly, sending chills up their spines.

"When we're done with you, you'll be nothing more than a mangled pile of garbage."