They stared down their evil counterparts for a long time, and vice versa, waiting for the other to make a move. Buneary was determined to win, but she was also completely nervous as well. She had to defend her egg and herself at the same time. It seemed almost impossible, but she needed to suck it up and try with all her might.
The others were just as worried as her. Never before have they had to fight themselves, especially in this situation. Piplup tried to stare down his counterpart, but shrank in fear at his menacing glare. Snivy was taking it a lot calmer than the others, but even she was unsure of how this fight would turn out. As for Oshawott, he was concerned for everyone else's safety over his own. All he could do was hold up his scalchop in defense and hope he can win against the creatures.
Dark Buneary smirked at them. "Are any of you going to attack anytime soon?" They gritted their teeth and clenched their fists. This made her shrug. "Fine…" She was suddenly behind them, whispering, "I'll go first."
She's fast! Was all Buneary could think as she got kicked in the head and took a direct impact with a tree.
"Buneary!" Her friends yelled in worry.
Oshawott growls and activates Razor Shell. "Now I'm mad!" He charges right at his counterpart, swinging his blade in fury.
Dark Oshawott merely rolled his eyes and activated his Razor Shell, which was consumed with black energy. Their blades clashed as they try to push against each other. "You're so weak…" He pushes him back a bit and slices across Oshawott's chest.
"ARH!" He stumbles back and clenches his wound with a pained expression.
Dark Oshawott prepared for another strike, but was halted by Snivy using Leaf Storm and knocking him into the trees. She grabs Oshawott and drags him away a safe distance to check his wound. "Are you okay?"
Oshawott grunted a bit, but offers her a smile. "Don't worry…I'll live."
Snivy smiles back in relief. "Good." She gasps when she gets grabbed by her counterpart and thrown into the air like a ragdoll.
Dark Snivy chuckles with glee. "Ooh, this is fun!" She wraps her vine around her leg and smashes her repeatedly against the ground.
"Snivy!" Oshawott forced himself up and ran at the evil Snivy. "Get your vines off her!" He tackles her right in the gut, causing her to lose her grip on Snivy. She fell, fortunately, into a bush. "Razor Shell!" He raised his weapon and sliced Dark Snivy across the chest before delivering a Hydro Pump to the face. "Don't you EVER harm Snivy again!"
Dark Snivy merely chuckles as she rose off the ground. Much to Oshawott's shock, her wound began healing itself at a rapid rate. "You really are the stupid one, aren't you?" This makes him growl and he charges again in fury.
Piplup, like the brave Pokémon he is, was running away like a coward as Dark Piplup chased him, firing an endless stream of Bubble Beam. "Can we call a time out?!" He hid behind a tree as the attack kept coming. Piplup sticks his head out to fire back, but screeches as he got hit in the face.
His counterpart groans with annoyance. "What a wimp…" He switches it up with Ice Beam, which took on a darker shade of blue, and started to encase Piplup in ice, all the way up to his neck. "You might as well give up, you stubborn coward."
He took offense to this and started shouting, "Alright, you can call me whatever you like, but I will not sit here and let you belittle me like some child!" He starts using Drill Peck and pecks his way through the ice. Once he split the ice, he uses Hydro Pump and blasts the evil clone away.
He gets up from the attack and shakes himself dry. "Now we're talking." They came charging at each other with Drill Peck and collide.
Buneary rubbed her head as she felt a ringing in her ears. She gasps when she was grabbed by the scruff and brought to eye level with her evil twin. She chuckles sinisterly. "Don't quit yet. This is starting to get interesting." She threw her in the air and used Ice Beam.
Buneary, in an act of panic, fires her own Ice Beam in hopes of canceling the opposing attack out. But the dark Ice Beam cuts through it and nicks her right ear. She landed unsteadily and groans as a partial bit of her ear got encased in ice. She couldn't even bend it without flinching. "You'll…pay for that."
Dark Buneary looked at her with a bored look. "Oh, I'm so scared." She responded sarcastically. She took notice of the container on her back and the contents inside. "Ooh, what do we have here?"
Buneary looks at the egg in concern. What was she thinking, bringing it down here? Even though Hank said that it will stay protected within the container, that doesn't mean it can't be stolen from her. "I'm not letting you lay one grimy paw on my baby!"
"Aww, but I just want a peek. I want to see what the inside of a baby Pokémon egg really looks like." She cracked her knuckles, making Buneary gulp. "Hand over the egg and your friends won't suffer."
"Never!" She knew the others could handle themselves. There was no way she would make a bargain like that.
"Not even for your precious mate." This made her eyes widen in surprise. Dark Buneary chuckles. "That's right, I know where he is. Our supreme Lord Dark decided to spare his miserable life…for now, that is. Just hand the egg over and you can see Pikachu again."
Buneary wanted more than anything to see her beloved Pikachu again. But, he gave her the task to watch and protect the egg at all costs. Besides, there was no guarantee if she knew where Pikachu was or if she would hand him over. She couldn't let this creature tempt her with hollow promises. That's when something else came to mind. Lord Dark? Dark…that name…I've heard it from someone before…
"My patience is wearing thin. If you won't comply, I'll just rip it off of you!" Buneary was so out of it that she couldn't react in time to the Drain Punch coming her way.
"Vine Whip!" Dark Buneary felt the vines wrap around her ankle and slam her against Dark Snivy. Snivy ran over to Buneary. "Buneary, snap out of it! We need to cover some ground, now!"
Buneary shook her head out of her thoughts and nodded. "Piplup, Oshawott, time to leave!" They nodded and knocked their counterparts away before joining the girls. "Let's get out of here!" They started running in the direction they think they came from.
Dark Buneary growled and kicked her partners. "Don't just sit there, you morons! After them!" They obeyed and started to chase after them. "Don't worry, my lord! We'll get them!"
Dark observed the chase from his throne with a happy glint in his eyes. "Ah, I simply enjoy watching the predators chase their prey. Soon, they'll be cornered and have no place to run. Once they're captured, I'll be able to move forward in my plans."
"Your plans are always well executed, my lord." His servant extoled at his master's brilliance.
Dark laughs deviously. "Of course they are. Nothing will be able to stop me." He blinks, however, when he saw something in the screen. A dark blur. "What the…" He waved his hand over the orb and replayed that scene. He paused at the right moment and zoomed in. Once he got a clear image, he growls. "Great, it's him." He glowered with a hint of venom in his tone.
This may his servant worry. "Oh no, should we warn the troops?"
Dark gave it some thought before smirking. "No…let them deal with it. If these Pokémon are strong, then my Darkmon will be stronger. Let's see how this goes."
"I'm freaking out!" Piplup shouted as they narrowly dodged Ice Beams, Leaf Storms, and Hydro Pumps.
"Just keep running!" Buneary looks around frantically, trying to find something to assist them in their escape.
"You can't run away forever!" Dark Oshawott shouted as he fires Hydro Pump again, nicking Piplup in the flipper.
"ARG!" He grabbed his flipper and rubbed it. "That water stings!" He ducks from another blast that took out half a tree, making him pale. "Oh man…forget stinging, we'll be lucky to live if we get hit!"
Oshawott looked around before forming an idea. He starts running backwards and sticks his tongue out at the Darkmon, much to the shock and fear of his friends. "Hey Copycat, betcha' can't nail me!"
Dark Oshawott growls angrily and fires. Oshawott dodged the attacks just barely. He stops next to a tree and mocks him again. He dodges another blast that destroys the bottom of the tree and causes it to topple towards the evil counterparts. "Oh crud…" They end up getting crushed under it.
Oshawott laughed as they took a moment to stop and catch their breath. "HA, that should slow them down for a bit!"
Snivy slaps him in the back of the head. "You idiot! Do you know how reckless that was?"
He smiled sheepishly. "H-Hey, no one got hurt, right?"
Buneary sighs. "Let's just keep moving before-" She stopped in midsentence when the tree suddenly bursts into splinters. They stared with dropped jaws as Dark Buneary dusted her paws off with a satisfied smirk.
"Thanks for the workout. Now let's get down to business." She grabbed a nearby boulder and picked it up with ease. She tosses it at them with incredible speed.
"Everybody get down!" Buneary shouted as they jumped out of the way. The boulder took out several trees in the process.
Dark Buneary pouted. "You guys are no fun."
Dark Oshawott glared at her. "Quit fooling around, you twit. We need to capture them first, not off them immediately."
She snickers. "Couldn't help myself." She slowly started walking towards them. "Now then, how about you all just surrender and we'll make sure your death is quit and painless."
"You might as well take us up on our offer." Dark Snivy said with a sly grin, sending chills up their spines. "Our lord isn't as nice with torturing. We would be doing you a favor."
Piplup flapped his flippers furiously. "Like heck, we will!" He fires Bubble Beam at them. Dark Buneary uses Dizzy Punch and destroys every single bubble with fast precision. This makes him gulp and chuckle. "Heh…well, um…"
"Alright, enough with the games." Dark Snivy launched her Vine Whip and grabbed Oshawott by the throat, slowly choking him. "You're coming with us, dead or alive."
Oshawott struggled in panic as he tried to rip the vine off of him. "Hang on, Oshawott!" Snivy jumps up and tries to slice the vine with Leaf Blade. Instead, her counterpart moved Oshawott out of the way and slams him into her, sending them both into the ground.
"Guys!" Buneary yelled. She flinched, her ear was still encased in the ice. But that didn't stop her from leaping forward and using Drain Punch. "Don't you dare hurt my friends!"
Dark Buneary only smiled mischievously as she sidestepped from every single punch she threw at her. "Oh please, that's the best you got?" She caught the next punch and bent Buneary's ear in an irregular way. "I'm solemnly disappointed." She punches her in the gut, causing Buneary to cough up blood. Her counterpart grabs the container on her back and rips it off, before flicking her in the forehead, which created a small shockwave that blasted her into Oshawott and Snivy.
Piplup ruffled his feathers in anger. "That's it!" He starts spinning and launches himself using Drill Peck.
Dark Piplup caught between his flippers and stopped him in his tracks. "Pathetic…" He gives him an uppercut to the chin. Dark Oshawott jumps up and slams his scalchop down on his head, returning him to his friends.
They slowly got up in pain. They all had nasty bruises all over their bodies. Buneary's ears were throbbing in pain, with the right one still frozen. Oshawott had a hard time breathing after the sudden loss of air he suffered. Snivy was exhausted and scratched up from the blows she took. Piplup wasn't fairing any better, having gotten a black eye in the process.
"I don't…get it…" Oshawott squeaked roughly. "If they're us…why are they…kicking our butts…?"
Dark Oshawott smirked. "You ignorant fool, you still haven't figured it out? That's almost pitiful." Oshawott growls with a small cough.
Dark Snivy explains, "You see, this forest is unlike any you've ever visited. The forest is basically one living creature. The ground you're standing on has its 'veins' pulsing under the ground. Within those 'veins' are a supply of dark energy that can support life. At the cost of your DNA, the forest created us."
Dark Piplup continues for her. "The forest is ran by our lord and master, Lord Dark. He keeps the forest safe by protecting its central bulb. That bulb is what sustains the life of this forest. Without it, we would all perish. And, as you can see, no one has ever found it. It can constantly hide itself from any danger that comes. So, as long as the bulb stays, we survive."
Buneary was starting to get most of what they were saying, but something wasn't adding up. "If that's the case, why do you need us and my baby?"
Dark Buneary rubbed the container that held the original's child. "Oh my dear, we can't tell you that. That would ruin the surprise." She balls up her fist. "Enough chitchat, time to crack this sucker!" She punches the container with full force…
…seconds passed before she recoils and held her paw in pain, shouting incoherent phrases that made her partners sweat-drop, even the originals. Dark Oshawott taps the container a couple of times before taking his scalchop and slicing across it, but didn't even leave a scratch. "What the heck is this contraption?!"
As they evil counterparts angrily try to break the container, the Pokémon just stared at each other in either confusion or bewilderment. Piplup was the first to speak. "Well…not as intimidating as they were before."
Buneary just shook it off, partially relieved they couldn't break it. But she still needed to get it back. "Okay guys, we need to get my egg back and get as far away from here as possible."
"How are we going to do that?" Snivy asked.
As they talked, Dark Buneary kicked the thing several times and even tried to open it using the scanner, but the device wouldn't accept her signature. "Clever…whoever designed this even took into account of my DNA signature." She was just ready to smash it to bits with a tree when she saw something on her fur that made her smirk.
"...and after that, we jump over the trees and swing across the forest on vines." Piplup finished explaining his plan, though all it got were unimpressed expressions or confusion. "What?"
"Piplup…that is the stupidest idea that ever escaped your beak." Oshawott said in a deadpan tone. They suddenly hear chuckling from Dark Buneary, scaring them a little. "Um…what's going on?"
Dark Buneary started off chuckling sinisterly before eventually breaking down in hysteric laughter. "Ooh, you think you were clever hiding your poor child in this device, you little twit. Well, you weren't." She held up her paw that was smeared in red blood. "Recognize this?"
At first, Buneary was unable to see what she was referring to until she gasped in fear, remembering how she coughed up blood after that last punch she took. That was HER blood. "No!"
"Oh, yes!" She slams her paw down on the scanner.
"DNA recognized. Disabling locks." The computer buzzed, releasing the locks.
Dark Buneary slowly unscrewed the lid, purposely to drive Buneary crazy. "STAY AWAY FROM MY BABY!" She leaps at them in blind rage. However, despite how she took out Team Rocket the same way, it did not go the same as before. Dark Oshawott and Dark Piplup got in front of her and fire Hydro Pump, stopping her in her tracks. Dark Snivy jumps overhead and comes spinning down with Leaf Blade, leaving a large gash down her back. "AAAHHH!" Dark Snivy grapples her with Vine Whip and smashes her head against the ground, then flings her back to her friends.
"Buneary!" Her friends helped her stand. She was in worse shape than before. Her back was dripping with blood and she had multiple scratches from the Hydro Pumps she endured. She could barely keep her eyes open.
"Aww, poor you." Her counterpart sardonically said as she finally took the lid off and pulls the egg out. "Well, aren't you a cutie?" She grins despicably as she tossed it in the air and catches it, dangerously close to hitting the ground. Each toss struck one of Buneary's heartstrings painfully, as she couldn't bear the stressing sight before her.
"Quit fooling around and smash it!" Dark Snivy said with excitement in her tone.
Buneary's eyes widen at the horrifying thought. "No, don't! Take me instead! Do whatever you want to me! Just please don't hurt my baby!" Tears were streaming down her face, from both the pain surging through her and out of fear. Her friends were shocked by her willingness to keep her egg safe.
Dark Buneary actually took the time to think her offer over. "Hmm, bringing a world of physical pain down upon you would be more entertaining…however, I much rather see you scream in agony as you watch…" She raises the egg over her head "…your precious little egg…DIE!" She throws it down.
"NNNNNOOOOOO!" Buneary screamed in horror.
As if in slow motion, they watch as the egg came closer and closer towards the ground, each inch bringing it closer to its demise. No one could look away as they waited in suspense for the worst…
…then, it vanishes, much to all their shock. "What the he-" Just before Dark Buneary could exclaim, she felt a painful uppercut strike her jaw. Standing under her was a shadowy figure holding the egg, surprising her. The figure tosses her into her allies, toppling them down. He grabs the container and flips back over to the Pokémon, who were awestruck.
The figure placed the egg back in and shuts the lid. "Disgraceful monsters…of all the horrible things you could have done, you placed an innocent egg in danger." He gets into a stance. "Now, you will perish for you misdeeds."
Oshawott was the most surprised. "W-Whoa! Who the heck is this guy?"
Snivy nodded her head in agreement. "I…I didn't see him. He just came out of nowhere…like a ninja."
That's when something in Buneary's head clicked. That speed, that voice, that fighting stance, that need to protect the innocent from harm…not to mention the cloak concealing the figure, giving him the guise of a shadow. She thought she was hallucinating from the damage she took, but there was no mistake at who stood in front of her. While her friends stepped back in fear, she shocked them by stepping forward, off balanced. She softly utters a single word.
"Ryder?"
The figure loosens up a bit, as if he was surprised by the voice himself. "Buneary?" He turns around, scaring Oshawott and Snivy. Piplup, however, only blinked after hearing Buneary say the name he hasn't heard in a long time himself. After looking Buneary over thoroughly, the figure lowered his hood, revealing the familiar Charmeleon with bright green eyes, crescent moon scar over his left eye, and warming smile. "Buneary, it really is you!"
Buneary's brain took several seconds to process this before smiling widely. "Ryder!" She ignored all pain in her body as she leaped forward and wrapped Ryder in an embrace, snuggling up close to him. "Ryder, I missed you so much!"
He happily returned the hug. "I missed you too, Buneary. I knew I would see you again."
"So did I." She mumbled as she cried happily into his chest. She pulls her head back a bit to see that he hasn't changed much. However, he was wearing something extra compared to their last encounter. He wore metal bracelets of sorts around his wrists and ankles, and they seemed pretty thick.
Ryder pulls back and places his hands on her shoulders. "Wow, you've grown a bit, haven't you?" Buneary giggled a little. He then comes to another question. "Wait a second, why are you here?"
Buneary looks down at the ground, sadly. "It's…Pikachu." This surprises him greatly. "We got into a fight with Team Rocket and…he fell into this forest. We've been looking for him and-"
"Hold on, 'we'? What do you mean by 'we'? Is there more Pokémon in this forest?" She nods slowly. "Oh man, this is bad. Buneary, we need to get you and your friends-"
"Not so fast." They turned and saw the Darkmon rise. Dark Buneary was the angriest out of all of them. "If you think you can just swoop in here and interfere with business, you got another thing coming, punk!"
Ryder narrows his eyes and places his hood back up. "Buneary, take your egg and move back. This is about to get messy." She nods and hops back over to her friends, egg safely in her arms.
Dark Piplup smirked. "Ooh, the hotshot thinks he's going to take us all down by himself? How cute!"
Oshawott growled. "As much as I want to disagree with that jerk, he's right. There's no way one Charmeleon can handle all of them, especially after what we witness." Snivy nods in agreement.
"Don't be so sure." They looked at Piplup. "I've seen this guy in action before and he's no joke. Just watch and you'll see what I'm talking about." They could only take his word for it and turn their attention back to Ryder.
Dark Piplup laughs before charging in with Drill Peck. "I'll end you in an instant!" He came close to Ryder before he stops the attack in its tracks by grabbing his beak. He felt his momentum slow down and he stopped spinning. "Oh dear…"
"My turn." Ryder slams his palm into Dark Piplup's face, causing a very audible cracking sound, and sends him through a tree.
Oshawott and Snivy's jaws dropped at the sheer power of one hit and from a regular Pokémon, no less. Buneary cheered excitedly. "Yeah Ryder!"
Dark Oshawott shook off is shock and uses Razor Shell. "Alright, time to play smart!" He comes in swinging the water blade.
Ryder sidesteps from every swipe with ease, irritating the copycat Oshawott into a fierce rage. "Is that your best?" He vanishes from the last swipe and grabs Dark Oshawott from behind. He spins him around and tosses him into Dark Piplup, who attempted to get up.
Dark Snivy spins in the air and unleashes Leaf Storm down at him. Ryder engulfed his hands in blue flames and fires Inferno, disintegrating the attack to ash. The attack also nails Dark Snivy in the process and blasts her into a tree.
Dark Buneary looked at her fallen comrades before growling. "Must I do everything myself?!" She leaps forward with Drain Punch. Ryder takes out a shuriken and throws it, completely missing her. "Ha, your aim is pretty lame!"
"On the contrary…" He twitches his claw, causing Dark Buneary to tumble in the air and fall. "I was spot on." The flickering of his tail flame revealed an invisible thread tied to his claw, leading all the way to the shuriken he threw. The thread somehow wrapped around Dark Buneary's ankle.
Oshawott was stunned. "That's…unbelievable."
Ryder slowly walked up to the evil Buneary and kicks her in the face, sending her into her fellow Darkmon. "You're making this too easy."
They rose to their feet and clenched their fists. "Is that so?! Guess we need to step up our game!" Dark Buneary shouted. They came charging at him with Razor Shell, Leaf Blade, Drill Peck, and Drain Punch.
Ryder sighs and rushes at them, followed by a trail of after images. They tried to nail him, but he was moving too fast. He runs around them and jabs them in multiple areas, giving the illusion that there were dozens of him. Once he was done, he stood in front of them for a moment before they collapsed. "Glad that's over with." He walks over to the Pokémon.
Dark Snivy struggled to get up, but her body wouldn't move. The others weren't fairing any better. "What did you do to us?!"
"Pressure points…I disabled your ability to move. Gives me plenty of time to escort these guys away from you." He leads the Pokémon out of the area.
After they covered some distance, Oshawott felt the need to exclaim, "Alright, time out!" They stopped in their tracks as he gestured to Ryder. "THIS is that guy Pikachu was talking about?"
Buneary smiled happily. "Yeah! This is Ryder. He's super cool and an incredible fighter. He managed to take down Laura and destroy her singlehandedly."
Snivy found this information surprising. "Amazing…we have a hard time defending ourselves from her." She then blinks in confusion. "Wait a minute, why are you here, anyway?"
Ryder sighs and looks up at the thick leaves. "You see…I'm the guardian of this forest. I protect innocent Pokémon who wander in here and get captured by those power hungry Darkmon."
"Those creatures…where did they come from?" Piplup asked. He could see Ryder looked sadden at the mentioning of it, concerning him. "Whoa man, I didn't mean to upset you or anything."
Buneary hugged Ryder. "It's okay, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to."
Ryder smiles a bit. "Thanks…" He moves away from her and touches a tree. "What you are standing in is known as the Forest of No Light."
"Forest of No light?" Oshawott parroted.
He nods at him. "Yes…no light can penetrate through these leaves. It's always in a state of dark eeriness. Anyone who comes in won't be the same when…or if they come out." The others looked at each other in worry. "This place is dangerous…which is why we need to find your friends and get out of here."
Buneary clutches her egg tightly, yet gently as well. "We need to find Pikachu first. That's why we're here in the first place." She steps forward, then collapses to her knees.
"Buneary!" Ryder helps her up. "You've been badly injured from the fight…" He looks at the others and sees that they weren't in any better shape. "…all of you are." He slings Buneary's arm over his shoulder. "We need to get you all patched up at my hideout. I have some medical supplies there."
All they could do was nod and follow him deeper into the forest. Oshawott looked down at the ground, starting to feel his fear rise again. He could feel that eerie presence from before creep up on him again, as if it was coming closer.
The Darkmon struggled to get out of the pressure point paralysis for the longest time. They felt a psychic force grab them by the throat and slowly chokes them.
"You idiots…" They looked up in pain and saw their lord staring down at them in the shadows. "You had one job…and this is the results I get?"
Dark Buneary pleaded in agony. "We're sorry we failed you, Lord Dark! We were no match for the Charmeleon! We won't fail you again, we promise!" The others nodded their heads in panic.
Dark glared awhile longer before releasing them, allowing them precious air. "Make sure of it." He turns his back to them. "Get your energy back up before scouting for the other intruders. I need to tend to some other matters."
"What, my lord?"
He doesn't say anything for a few seconds before smirking. "Our new guests will be waking up soon…I want to go greet them personally." He vanishes into the shadows.