The Forest of No Light

by PokeMaster64

After an attack by Team Rocket, Pikachu gets lost in an unusual forest. The gang's Pokemon decide to go in and find him, but soon become overwhelmed by the forest's secrets. Plus, the return and reveal of the mysterious Ryder. Rated T for certain reasons. Lagomorph fluff, ShellPWNageshipping, other mentions of pairings. Sequel to For the Love of Pikachu

19. Ryder's Fate (Part 4)

"Welcome to your first day of training!"

Ryan and Ryder looked around as they followed Hank down the hallway. They passed by some glass windows and saw multiple agents below perfecting kicks and strikes. On the opposite side, they could see them training with weapons. Swords, throwing knives, Bo staffs, etc. It was an amazing sight to behold.

As they stared, Hank spoke, "I must warn you. This will be far intense than anything I've put you through. This organization is made up of the finest agents in the world. I hope you are prepared for what is coming."

Ryder chuckled. "I think we can handle your little extra training."

"Don't get cocky, Ryde," Ryan warned. "My grandfather can be very unpredictable when he wants to be. We need to stay on our guard at all times."

He waved it off. "I get it, I get it."

"I'd listen to him. This will be completely different to what you're typically use to." Hank stopped and pointed down at the agents below. "They're trained to take on the deadliest people in the world. Their Pokémon are trained to take on vicious Pokémon. Ones who wouldn't hesitate to kill." They gulped at the idea. It wasn't everyday they heard of Pokémon actually killing someone. "This is what we do. Defend the innocent from the shadows. Save Pokémon from the clutches of evil. It only gets worse."

"Worse? What could be worse than kidnapping Pokémon?" Ryan asked.

"I'm sorry, but that's classified." They frowned. "But I will say this." He narrowed his eyes at them seriously, sending shivers up their spines. "Team Rocket is our top concern. The evil that goes on behind their walls is troubling. We cannot underestimate their power. Understood?"

Ryan and Ryder looked at each other uneasily. What did they get themselves into now? The idea of working as spies would be anybody's dream, but this was heavy stuff that was being dropped into their laps. But Ryder was determined to take out Team Rocket, to protect his loved ones. And, if he was in, Ryan would be behind him all the way.

They nodded. "Yes sir."

Hank smiled. "Good. Now, I feel it is time to introduce you to our boss." He gestured them to follow.

They exited the hallway and went left. They walked by a few agents, who greeted Hank with bows and respectful tones. Guess the old man was high ranked around here. All the more reason for Ryan to be impressed by his grandfather. Ryder crossed his arms with a smile. He was going to like it here.

They made it to the end of the hall and stopped in front of a set of double doors. Hank grabbed both knobs and twisted them. He gently pushed the doors open before stepping out of the way to let the duo through. They gulped and walked in. The room was dark, void of light. The ticking of a grandfather clock echoed eerily. While it was pretty dim, they could see the walls were white and the floor was carpeted.

A desk sat near a large window that had the blinds shut. Behind the desk was a swivel chair, with the back turned to them. A voice spoke from behind the chair. "Sit."

They looked at each other carefully before sitting in two chairs near the desk.

"State your names."

"Uh…Ryan Hayashi, sir."

"Ryder…"

The chair spun around. Sitting in it was an old man with gray hair and a somewhat wrinkly face. His eyes were brown. He wore a black suit with a blue tie. He had a certain look as he stared at the duo. They weren't sure why, but it made them uncomfortable. Almost like he was staring into their souls. They took notice of the name plate on his desk that said 'Rowan'.

"So…you two wish to become Shadow Agents?"

"Yes sir," they confirmed together.

He closed his eyes and rest his elbows on the desk. "I assume Hank told you what you will be expecting in this line of work." They nodded. "Then you should know I don't expect failure. Once you join, you will go under the toughest training in your life. I will not accept laziness. As Shadow Agents, you are expected to be trained in both body and mind. And, of course, be trained in multiple forms of combat."

"Combat? As in…martial arts?" Ryder asked.

"The people we are trained to find and take out aren't your typical Pokémon trainers. They will defend themselves, whether it be through hand to hand combat or firearms. You will be trained to counter these types of scenarios.

"In addition, your minds will be trained as well. You will learn how to hack computers, defuse bombs, anything along those lines. This won't apply to just you two. Your Pokémon will go under similar training. They will help you on your missions."

"Seems like a lot to take in…" Ryder muttered.

"The point of being a Shadow Agent is to prepare for anything. It is not meant to be simple." He held up some documents, the ones Hank gave him. "Everything appears to be in order. You will start you training first thing in the morning. During that time, I will need some information about your Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses. Think you can handle that?"

Ryan stood up and bowed. "Yes sir."

"Good. Hank, take him to his quarters. He's going to need a good, long rest for tomorrow."

Hank nodded and gestured Ryan to follow. Ryder stayed back a bit and looked at the boss, who turned his back to them. He narrowed his eyes and followed them out.

"Well, that was a short interview," Ryan commented.

"I already gave him a background check on you. Plus, he doesn't like to be disturbed." They came up to an elevator and pressed a button. "He and Giovanni have a long history with each other. He wants to put an end to Team Rocket just as much as you, Ryder."

Hearing his name, he snapped to attention. "Huh?"

Hank chuckled. "Something troubling you?"

He looked to the side. "I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed."

"You get used to it."

The elevator door opened and they entered. It closed and they started moving up. After a few seconds, they came onto another floor and walked out.

"This is the floor where the recruits stay. You will live here until you are officially an agent. You'll find that the accommodations will be quite comfortable."

He led them to one of the rooms and opened it. It was practically an apartment. It had a kitchen, a living room, some rooms, and plenty of space for all of Ryan's Pokémon to roam around. He was right. It did look comfortable.

"Wow…" Ryan muttered. He heard his grandfather turning around and leaving.

"Get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow." With that, he shut the door behind him.

Ryan sighed and pulled out his Pokeballs. "Alright gang, come on out!" They opened up in a white flash, revealing Jade, Techno, Slick, Tsunami, and Dash.

They looked around, confused by the new environment around them. "(Where are we?)" Dash asked.

Slick spotted the couch and smiled. He ran over to it and jumped on, bouncing up and down. "(Hehehehe! This is fun!)"

Ryan chuckled at the Cubchoo, then looked toward the rest of his Pokémon. "Gang, we're at the Shadow Agency. We'll be staying here for the time being."

Tsunami crossed his arms. "(I see.)"

Jade raised her hand. "(And, what exactly will we be doing here?)"

Ryder answered, "From what the boss explained, we'll be going under some intense training, to sharpen our minds and body."

Techno rubbed his hands together. "(Ooh! Does that mean I get to build stuff?)"

"Well, yeah."

"(I love it here already!)"

Ryder chuckled. "Well, that's good." He looked up at Ryan. "So, you ready?"

He gave him a thumbs up. "Yep. Let's get to bed and be prepared for the morning."

"Right!" everyone shouted.

Everyone began to turn in early. Ryan headed to one of the bedrooms in the back. Slick and Dash made themselves comfortable on the couch. Tsunami retracted into his shell and slept on the floor. Techno jumped onto the kitchen counter and curled up. Ryder and Jade laid on the floor with a few blankets. She kissed him goodnight and went to sleep.

Ryder looked up at the ceiling and placed his arms behind his head. "Tomorrow is going to be interesting."

---

The first day of training has begun. Hank wasn't kidding, it was much more different than their usual routine. For one thing, a siren went off in their room that made everyone jump up in fright. Techno, being on the counter, ended up falling into the sink and being sprayed with water after accidentally turning the faucet on. Truly not the best way to start the morning for the poor cat.

Ryder covered his ears in annoyance. "What the heck?! Is breaking our eardrums on their training schedule?!"

"WHAT?!" everyone shouted.

Ryan ran out of his room, covering his ears. "Is there a fire or something?!"

The alarm eventually died down. Immediately after, Hank entered with a bit of a smirk. "Morning everyone. How'd you sleep?" They shot annoyed, grumpy expressions at him. "I take it you slept well."

Techno turned the faucet off and jumped out of the sink. He grabbed a towel from the drawers and started drying himself off. "(This is your idea of a wakeup call?)"

"You need to be prepared for action at any time, even at four in the morning."

Jade yawned and stretched. "(We don't even wake up this early on the farm.)"

"You'll get used to it, I promise. Now come, we need to begin your training."

Techno groaned and fell back into the sink. "(Why did we agree to this?)"

---

The first four hours were brutal. The group had to run tracks until one of them collapsed, push-ups that left their arms sore, sit-ups that made them ache and wail, and many other exercises to get them ready. Ryan was a bit more trained to endure it, but the ones taking the worse of it were Techno. He was swift and great at exploited weaknesses, but all this exercise was practically killing him.

Hank, from the sidelines, was observing everyone from the sidelines, jotting down notes on who needed the most training. Ryan, so far, was the one who needed the least amount of training, as he had already endured some training before he went on his journey. Ryder, Jade, and Dash were doing well too. Tsunami and Slick could have some improvement. And Techno…oh boy.

Once they finished their running, they were allowed to take a break. Everyone panted heavily and took drinks from the canteens that were provided to them. After drinking all of his water in seconds, Techno collapsed in exhaustion. "(I think I see a light…)" Dash helped the poor cat up.

Ryan rubbed the back of his head and looked at his grandfather. "Yeah, Techno isn't known for his stamina…or strength…or any physical training."

"I've noticed." He looked at his clipboard. "Well, Techno is the only one I see who could use more training. We may need to focus mainly on him."

"(Oh Arceus, NO!)"

Ryder flinched at his shouting and sighed. "Hank, with all due respect, Techno isn't cut out for this kind of endurance training. He's a tech guy, not a soldier."

Hank rubbed his chin before looking over his notes. "Well…I suppose we will be going into stealth training later. I suppose we'll focus our time on that for him."

"(THANK YOU!)"

Ryder flinched again. "Techno, inside voice."

"Anyway, the physical training was to determine your strengths and weaknesses. And I have a safe assumption for all of you in the physical department. Techno…yeah, you're just getting stealth training." He smiled widely. "Slick has good speed, but could improve his reflexes. He tripped over a few of the obstacles during the track. Tsunami has good defense and strength, but may need speed improvement. Dash could work on strength a bit. Jade, you have incredible stamina and speed. We may need to improve your reflexes." She nodded. "As for you, Ryder…out of all the Pokémon, you have done the best. You kept a nice pace on the track, did well with your other exercises, and great stats. Perhaps some improvement in all fields, but not much."

He nodded. "Alright, sir."

"Same with you, Ryan. A little more training for you."

"Alright."

---

Hank led Ryder and Techno into a lab. It has been a week since they came here. Everyone was getting better at responding to the drills. Yesterday they had to take an IQ test to determine who would be working with the scientists. No surprise, Techno got the highest score. He exceeded everyone vastly with an IQ of 300. It was ridiculous. It actually made some of the scientists scared.

The second highest was Ryder. While definitely nowhere near Techno's, he has an IQ of 145. Everyone else got an average score. Ryder was just as surprised as them. He wasn't sure how he ended up being the second highest. He was sure Ryan would be a little smarter than him.

They walked into the lab and met with the scientists. They crouched down and shook their hands. "Glad to be working alongside you both."

Ryder nodded. "You too. So, what are we doing?"

One of them stepped forward. He had blond hair and blue eyes. He wore round rimmed glasses. Underneath his lab coat was a blue shirt and dark gray trousers. "Follow us. I'm sure you will like what you see." Techno rubbed his hands together. He looked like a child in a candy store. He was in heaven.

They followed the scientist into the back of the lab. There, they saw many scientists working on some odd inventions. Every so often, one of them exploded, most likely due to a failure in the design. They were working so hard and diligently on them that they didn't even look up to greet the two. They were too focused on their inventions.

"The Shadow Agency has some of the brightest and most brilliant minds in the world working here. We're expanding upon our weaponry and equipment to better improve missions. With Team Rocket improving on their weaponry every day, we need to stay two steps ahead of them." He led them further down the hall. "With each day, we're making new discoveries. I actually worked on alongside Hank."

Ryder's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yes. With him retiring from spy work, he's focusing his time on something. While we specialize in machines, we also work with different fields. Hank has been trying to crack the secrets and true power of aura. I've been working with him to create a serum that could amplify someone's aura. We're not close to finishing it, but we feel we're getting close."

"What do you plan to do with the serum?"

"Not sure. On the one hand, we would like a test subject for it. On the other hand, we're not sure what will happen when we inject it. We worry it could do the exact opposite of what we intend. It could have health issues to the subject if we're not careful."

"I see…"

He waved it off. "But enough about that. Let me show you the fun stuff." He led them to another section of the lab, labeled 'Weapons Room'. "This is where we keep our experimental weaponry. Everything in here is designed to counteract dangerous foes that require a bit more…force."

Ryder crossed his arms. "Dangerous?"

"Team Rocket has been known to experiment on unwilling Pokémon. Sometimes it effects them tragically. We do not experiment on Pokémon. It's cruel and unethical. We care for them deeply. We would not do anything that would damage their health." He gestured to the weapons. "Most of these are designed to capture or damage, not kill. And we only use these on foes who prove to be too tough to harm through traditional means."

Techno tapped his chin as he stared at the weapons. "(I think I might have a few ideas for new ones.)"

The scientist looked at the pondering Meowth. "Something tells me you have some ideas cooking up in there." He looked up at him and smiled with a nod. "You will be a great help around here, Techno."

Ryder looked up at the weapons. His mind thought back to the serum he mentioned earlier. The true power of aura? What did that mean? He was still behind on his aura training. He could do basic augmentation and tracking, but he can form an Aura Sphere or any constructs. And then there was still the other stuff, like controlling the elements. Could he probably do some studies on it in the lab?

Then his eyes narrowed, thinking about Team Rocket. The more he heard about their leader, the sicker he felt. He wanted to punch that smug grin off his face. What was wrong with this guy? And, more importantly, what was he planning? He's experimenting on Pokémon, but what exactly is he doing to them? What was his game?

He would have pondered on much longer, but the sound of his best friend screaming caught his attention. He glanced to the side and saw Techno knocked against the ground by a small pink mass. "(Get off me!)"

Sitting on him was a Skitty. She wore a white scarf around her neck. She wagged her tail and purred as she looked at him. "(Well, hello~!)"

Techno pushed her off and backed away. "(What's your problem?!)"

She giggled. "(Sorry, couldn't help myself. I wanted to say hi.)"

"(By tackling me to the ground?!)"

Ryder blinked in confusion, then looked up at the scientist. "Explain."

He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. That's my Skitty, Snow. She's a computer genius, so she hangs around the lab quite a bit. Guess she's taken a liking to your friend."

Techno backed into a wall as Snow got closer. She wagged her tail. "(Why so scared? I don't bite.)"

The Meowth growled and unsheathed his claws. "(I said buzz off!)"

She didn't flinch from his threat. "(Ooh, someone's being mean.)"

"(I don't enjoy being assaulted or having my personal space being invaded. So, I will say again. Get lost!)"

She leaned in close and whispered, "(…no.)"

Ryder sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Well, at least she isn't another Flitter. He walked up to her and pulled her back. "Snow, right? Listen, you're kind of bugging my friend, so can you PLEASE leave him alone?"

She pouted. "(Oh, fine.)" She winked at the cat. "(Later, cutie.)" She got out of Ryder's grasp and walked off. She waved at the scientist. "(Hey Dylan.)" He waved back at her with a smile.

Techno got up and dusted himself off. "(Why do we keep running into these crazy people?)"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Dylan chuckled and walked up to them. "She may be a bit of an oddball, but she's very nice. Just give her a chance, Techno."

He grumbled lightly. "(Fine…but if she tackles me again, no promises will be made.)"

Ryder sighed. "Good enough…"

---

One month has passed. Everyone was greatly improving. Recently they completed a stealth test and managed to get through it with a good score. They worked well together. Techno would swiftly 'knock out' the guards, who were just dummies, and take out the cameras without detection. It was a good idea to focus on stealth for his training. He was amazing at it.

They were now currently sitting in their room, having deserved a day off after so much training.

Ryan threw his boots off and landed on the couch. "Man, I'm beat."

Slick sat next to him, eating a snow treat. "(Me too!)"

Ryder stretched. "I don't know what you all are complaining about. I'm ready for some more training."

Ryan sat up with a smirk. "Don't push yourself, Ryde."

"(He's right,)" Jade chirped in, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "(Wouldn't you rather relax for the day? We've earned it, after all.)"

He relaxed a bit and chuckled. "Okay, okay, I get it. I won't do any training." He turned around and wrapped his arms around her. "It has been a while since we've spent any quality time together." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

She giggled. "Sounds good to me."

Techno gagged at the sight. "Get a room, you two!"

Ryder smirked and threw a pillow at him. "We'll be on the roof if you need us." They exited the room.

They spent an hour laying down on the roof, just looking at the clouds. Sounded boring to most, but they enjoyed each other's company. Staring at the clouds or watching a movie, there was no difference for them.

Jade snuggled up to Ryder, who, in return, wrapped his arm around her. "Ah…this is nice," she said peacefully.

"Yeah. I missed doing stuff like this with you."

"Same."

"So, how are you feeling? You were pretty worn out after yesterday."

She waved it off. "A little exercise won't do much to me. I'm getting used to it. My legs are sore, though."

"Aww, you poor thing," he teased lightly.

She smirked. "Look his talking. I distinctly remember you whining about doing push-ups."

"Hey, my arms were sore!" His eyes widened a bit, then he laughed. "Okay, fair point."

She laughed a bit too. She clasped her hands together. "Ryder…I've been wondering."

"What?"

"What have you been doing in the lab recently?"

He blinked. "Wha…What do you mean?"

"Every time I tried to spend time with you, you were in the lab working on something. Almost like you were trying to avoid me," she said half-joking, half-serious.

He sat up and held his hands out in defense. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You know I would never do that! I love being with you."

She sat up and giggled. "Yeah, I know. Just wanted to be sure. Anyway, about your secrecy?"

He calmed down and tapped his claws on his knee. "Well, I've been doing some research with Hank recently. We're studying aura and its abilities."

Jade raised a brow in interest. "Really? Continue."

"Well, we know the basics of aura, such as elemental control. But I've been taking it one step beyond. I'm trying to fully grasp the knowledge. I want to understand the full extent of aura. It's not easy though. I have to summon my own aura to fully research it. It leaves me drained trying to keep it up. I'm having trouble keeping my aura on the physical plane."

Jade narrowed her eyes. "Ryder, you shouldn't be doing that to yourself. It's unhealthy."

"I know. But I've made some new discoveries. While aura can allow us to control the elements, there's one element that specifically tailors to the person's aura. I may be a Fire-Type, but my aura seems to react with electricity. I think I can control a great amount of electricity that could rival an Electric-Type."

"You're kidding?" Jade asked with some surprise.

"No, I'm serious. I'm trying to work around that. I want to create weapons that…amplify aura. Weapons that can use are aura to a greater scale. I already have some blueprints and ideas planned out."

She smiled. "Wow…one month and you've already got this much planned. I'm impressed."

He chuckled. "Yeah, well…"

She sighed and looked to the side. "Must be nice…"

He frowned. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

"No, you're not." He put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Come on, tell me."

"…promise you won't get mad?"

"Why would I get ma-" His eyes widened and he jumped back. "Wait, don't tell me you're pregnant!"

Her eyes widened, developing a massive blush across her face. "Wha-NO! I'm not! We're not even mates yet!"

A blush crept up along his face too. He looked down with an embarrassed expression. "Err…right, sorry."

Jade took a minute to shake off that awkward moment. "A-Anyway…" She sighed and hugged her legs. "I've just been…feeling a little homesick."

He managed to calm down as well and frown. "Oh…you miss the farm, don't you?"

She nodded. "I miss Flitter, Rusty, the kids…and the open fields. I love traveling with you and Ryan, but…I miss home."

Ryder blinked and rubbed his head. "Oh…oh, I see…"

Her eyes widened again, but for a different reason. "Wait, it's not like I want to stay there forever. I just…want to go home for a bit, that's all."

"…that's the real reason why you wanted to spend time with me, isn't it?"

She nodded. "I wanted to be with you for a bit before I go. I already explained to Ryan." Ryder narrowed his eyes. "Ryde, please don't be mad. I love you. I just want to go home for a bit."

"…I'm not mad…I'm not upset…" He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close against him. "I understand. You just want to see your family again."

She hugged back, nuzzling his neck. "Yes…"

He rubbed her back. "Will you be back soon?"

"I'm just going to stay there for three weeks, that's it. Then I'll be back for training…and you."

Ryder pulled back a bit and caressed her cheek. "Well…let's spend this time together until then."

She smiled. "You're making it sound like I'm going to be away forever."

He smirked a bit. "Can't help myself." He leaned in and kissed her, which she happily returned.

---

Their months of training were coming to an end. After six months, they were ready to become Shadow Agents. They've worked hard for this. Nothing was standing in their way now.

Ryan stood in front of his grandfather, along with Ryder, Tsunami, Techno, Dash, Slick, and a Watchhog. They were all wearing black clothing. Jade returned to the farm recently, so she couldn't join the mission they were being assigned. But, she sent them a message to wish them luck.

They were currently in a plane that was flying to their first mission: Retrieve stolen Pokémon from Team Rocket. Hank placed his hands behind his back. "Are you all ready for this? This is no longer a training exercise."

Ryan nodded. "We're ready." He wore a uniform. A full body black suit with a black vest and propped up collar, black boots, and black gloves. He wore a black cloth mask with green lenses. "We won't let you down."

Ryder nodded as well. He wore a black cloak that concealed him in shadows. It had a red lens on the front. It was the prototype Camouflage Cloak that the scientists were working on for him. It was designed so he can mimic any Pokémon he comes across. They were still working on a function to make him appear as anything.

Hank walked up to the door and grabbed the handle. "Remember, once you get the Pokémon, signal us and we'll be waiting for you."

The Watchhog saluted. "(Sir, yes sir!)"

Ryder sweatdropped and patted his back. "At ease, Scout."

Hank looked out the window and smirked. "And…you're clear from freefall." He unlocked the door and pull it open. Air rushed out wildly, almost making them fall over.

Techno gulped. "(Uh, are you sure we're not going to die?)"

"(Relax, we have parachutes,)" Slick reminded cheerfully.

"(Okay, but are you sure they will-AAHHH!)" Tsunami, getting tired of his blabbering, threw him out.

Everyone looked at him with glares. "(What? He was never going to leave if he kept talking.)" He jumped out after him.

Dash and Slick high-fived each other and jumped out, followed closely behind by Scout. Ryan and Ryder nodded at each other and jumped out.

"Good luck!" He shut the door and locked it up. He turned around and sweatdropped upon seeing a spare parachute. He sighed. "Ryder…"

The group freefell towards the Team Rocket base. As they fell, Ryan took notice at Ryder. With his cloak flapping in the rushing wind, he noticed one key thing missing from his person. "Ryder! Where's your parachute?!"

The Charmeleon smirked. "Parachute?" After falling a bit farther, he extended out the ends of his cloak. They caught the air and gradually decreased his descent. He glided on the air and flew down towards the base.

Ryan sighed, then chuckled. "Typical." He pulled the cord on his parachute, followed by the other Pokémon, and they floated down into an obscured area to avoid detection.

Ryder glided towards the entrance of the building and dive bombed into some bushes. He peered out and narrowed his eyes on two Rocket grunts standing guard. They were armed with what appeared to be stun guns. He definitely didn't want to get caught.

He looked into his cloak and searched around for something to incapacitate them. Explosives were an option, but it would raise alarm. Smoke bombs could as well. He didn't exactly have freezing weapons on hand. However, he did carry shurikens with some attachments.

The grunts kept their guard up, staying vigilant for any intruders. They, however, didn't expect to be hit in the chest with a pair of shurikens. They were lucky to be wearing body armor, but it didn't stop the electric shock that followed after. The twitched and flailed wildly before passing out from the overload of pain.

Ryder stepped out of the pushes, careful to avoid cameras. He reached down and swiped two ID cards from the grunts. He scanned them to open the magnetic door.

"Taking all the glory for yourself?" Ryder smirked and looked at Ryan, who finally caught up to him. He had his arms crossed, but he could tell he was joking.

He shrugged. "You guys were too slow. Now come on." They nodded and quietly snuck in.

They ran down a corridor and stopped behind a corner. They peered around it and saw a few grunts walking back and forth, keeping a vigilant eye from all directions.

"They'll be tricky to get pass," Ryan muttered.

"Not quite." Ryder winked at Slick, who nodded.

He took out some suction cups from a belt of his and started scaling up the walls. He crawled along the ceiling and slowly made his way above them. He looked around and saw a few cameras that were pointed at them. He crawled over to it and placed a small chip on the side. He signaled over to Techno, who nodded in understanding.

He sat down and reached into a backpack on his back, pulling out a laptop. "(Okay, time to hack into their security.)" He started making his way through their servers. He rolled his eyes. "(These firewalls are pathetic. They really need to upgrade their security.)" He pulled up the camera feed. "(Perfect. Now I'll splice the image of them pacing and you have an endless loop. Meaning no suspicions to be raised.)"

Ryder smiled. "Nice work." He looked at Slick and gave him the okay.

The grunts never saw it coming. Slick jumped down onto one of them and froze his mouth shut. The other two grunts gasped and went of the alarm, but Slick froze their feet to the floor, then froze their mouths too. He grabbed a stun gun off the grunt's belt and zapped him, knocking him out cold. He repeated this action on the other two.

The others came over and grabbed their unconscious bodies, throwing them into an empty room. Techno stayed behind and started taking out the other cameras.

They ran down the halls, taking out any grunts they came across. Ryder pulled out a communicator. "Tech, where's the storage room for the Pokeballs?"

"(Hang on, hang on…there's two of them. Basement level and the top floor, where I assume is their lab.)"

"Right." He looked at the others. "Tsunami, you, Dash, and Slick head to the basement. Ryan, Scout, and I will head topside." They nodded and split up.

Ryder's group came across an elevator, which had the down light on. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

The door opened and two grunts walked out. They were immediately chopped in the neck and fell to the ground. They through their bodies back in and got inside. Ryan pressed the top floor button and they started going up.

Scout was a little concern. "(I do not feel this is the right course of action. The stairs would be a far better strategy to take the enemy by surprise.)"

Ryder chuckled. "Where's your sense of adventure, Scout?"

"(Our mission is to retrieve the purloined Pokémon from the organization known as Team Rocket. I do not see how adventuring would improve our odds.)"

Ryder sighed. When they first met Scout, they came to realize he was a little…too serious. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Heck, they need a team member to help keep them all on track. Still, it was hard to hold a conversation with the guy without him interpreting it too literally.

"Just…trust us, alright?"

He saluted. "(As you wish.)"

He sighed and looked at Ryan. "I really wish he could take a joke."

Ryan chuckled. "Hey, I'm not complaining. All I hear is 'Watchhog, Watchhog'."

Ryder rolled his eyes. "Lucky you…" He narrowed them and looked up. "There's some grunts near the elevator."

"(They will see their unconscious allies if we do not do something,)" Scout warned.

"That's where you come into play, Scout," Ryder said with a smirk.

The elevator stopped on its floor and opened up. They flinched upon seeing a bright yellow light flash in front of them, but it went away almost immediately. They rubbed their eyes and looked inside. There were three grunts standing in front of them.

One of them saluted. "We wish to speak to Giovanni at once."

The original grunts look at each other in confusion. "State your business."

"Classified information, sir. Only we can disclose the information to the boss." They showed their IDs to prove they were telling the truth. "Now please, let us pass."

He squinted at the ID's. They were legitimate. They got out of their way and saluted. "Carry on."

The three grunts walked pass them. However, what they were unaware of was that they were talking to a Charmeleon, a Watchhog, and an enemy agent. In their eyes, all they saw were fellow grunts. And they didn't even notice the unconscious bodies in the elevator as it closed.

Scout looked at his trainer and ally with an impressed expression. "(A brilliant strategy to use my Confuse Ray on them, allowing us to slip by in plain sight.)

Ryder smiled. "Told you."

"Hush," Ryan said. "We're near the vault."

They got near the lab and looked inside. Right pass the large quantity of equipment was a steel door. The Pokeballs were right behind it.

Ryder pulled out his communicator. "Techno, we found the vault. How do we get in?"

"(Well, it's not magnetically sealed or electronically locked, so I can't do anything.)" There was a short pause. "(Wait, weren't you designing some sort of vibration disc?)"

Ryder's eyes widened, then he smiled. "Yeah, that could work." He reached into his cloak and took out a small, metal disc. He pressed a button on it and threw it across the room. It latched on and started emitted vibrations, slowly tearing down the door. "Now we just have to wait."

"(Well, you might want to hurry, because some Rocket grunts just found their confused allies. They're making their way down in your direction as we speak.)"

They could hear footsteps coming down the halls. Ryan reached for two batons on his waist. "Guess we're gonna have to fight."

Ryder held his hand up. "No. I'll handle them. I'll take care of them."

He let go of his weapons and crossed his arms. "You sure you can handle it?"

In response, he cracked his knuckles. "I've been waiting to give Team Rocket a piece of my mind for a long time." He calmly walked down the hall, ready to intercept them.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Of course you are." The door finally broke down, revealing the hundreds of Pokeballs laying on racks and shelves. He smirked. "Excellent." He ran in with Scout.

The grunts turned a corner, armed with stun sticks and a swarm of Golbat by their side. They stopped upon seeing Ryder, who was tapping his foot on the ground. "Took you long enough."

They held put their stun sticks. "Identify yourself at once!"

He shrugged. "No…I'd rather beat you into submission first."

"It'll be the worst mistake of your life. We are the top agents around here. We will not be threatened by a creature such as yourself." He signaled the Golbat to attack him. They screeched loudly and flew toward Ryder.

With a smirk, he jumped over the bats and slammed his foot into the grunt that spoke, enough force to smash him against the wall. The Golbat made a u-turn and used Steel Wing. Ryder turned on his heel, armed with the grunt's stun stick, and knocked the Golbat out one by one. The grunts called the remaining five back before they could get hurt.

One grunt pulled out a gun and aimed it at Ryder. "I'm ending this!" He fired at the shadowy Charmeleon. Unfortunately for the grunt, Ryder was swiftly sidestepping the bullets that flew pass him. He was reacting to them before he pulled the trigger. He could see what he was doing. It was so simple. "What is this freak?!"

Ryder kept dodging while walking closer. He grabbed the grunt's wrist and threw him over his shoulder, disarming him of his gun. He looked back at the other grunts and disassembled the gun, dropping the pieces on the floor. "Who's next?"

They looked at each other before glaring and charging at the agent. One, however, stayed behind and made a mad dash down the hall. He had to warn their boss immediately.

He turned a corner and found the pair of double doors. He kicked them open and immediately closed them upon entering. He panted heavily, scared out of his mind.

"Why do you disturb me?" He flinched and slowly turned around. There he was, Giovanni, sitting in his chair and stroking the Persian that sat in his lap. "Answer me, fool."

He stood at attention and saluted. "S-Sir! There has been a break in! Someone is taking the Pokémon we have acquired!"

"Why haven't the alarms sounded?"

"W-We believe someone hacked into the system!"

Giovanni glared. "Who?"

He got an answer…sort of. Before the grunt could give his version of the answer, the door exploded behind him, knocking him out and onto the ground. The debris barely missed the Rocket boss, who didn't so much as flinch. He just continued to stroke his cat as he watched the shadowy figure make his way in.

Ryder, concealed in the shadows of his cloak, smirked at him. "Hello…Giovanni."

He clenched his fist, but didn't show. "Shadow Agents…of course." He snapped his fingers, commanding Persian to get off his lap. He stood up with his hands behind his back. "Now it all makes sense. Only a Shadow Agent would be foolish enough to break into Rocket HQ."

"We're here to take back the Pokémon you've stolen. Your crimes end here."

Despite the situation, he smirked. "Do you honestly think I fear your threats? I can easily escape police custody if you try to have me arrested. I'm always one step ahead of your agency."

Ryder closed his eyes and chuckled tauntingly, slightly irking the Rocket boss. "Arresting you would put an end to a lot of Pokémon's suffering. But you're right, escape would be too easy for you. So, I figure…" He opened his eyes, gleaming brightly. "…why not make you suffer instead?"

Giovanni glared and pointed at him, saying, "Persian, Power Gem!"

Persian created a glowing rock from his forehead gem and fired it at the Charmeleon. He jumped over and used Flamethrower. Persian sidestepped out of the way.

"Use Shadow Claw!" Persian jumped into the air and dive bombed directly at the agent, his claws coated in thick shadows taking the form of claws.

Ryder activated Slash and blocked the attack from hitting him. He pushed the cat back and dashed at him, swinging his claws. The two slashed back and forth at each other, trying to land a clean hit on the other. So far, they were seemingly evenly matched.

Ryder sidestepped a swipe and threw an uppercut in the cat's jaw, sending him flying over Giovanni and slamming into the desk. "And here I thought this was going to be challenging." Giovanni growled, then saw Persian recovering.

"Now Persian, use Hyper Beam!" he commanded. Persian fired the powerful beam of energy right at the agent.

"Please, do you really think that will work?" Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out an expandable, metal shield, which effectively blocked the Persian's deadly Hyper Beam. He reached into his cloak again and pulled out a small ball. "Hey Persian, catch!" He threw it up into the air, exploding into a bright light, blinding Giovanni and Persian. The cat squinted hard as he tried to peer through the blinding light. However, it made him an open target for the Brick Break that slammed right into his face. The force sent him flying over Giovanni's desk and into the window behind him, knocking him out.

The light eventually died down and the Rocket boss saw his unconscious Pokémon. "Persian!" He glared at Ryder with a growl. "I demand that you leave here at once or I'll send my top agents at you."

"What agents?" the agent asked with a mocking tone. He pointed behind him, revealing the unconscious agents and Golbat sprawled out on the floor. "I thought those were your top agents." This only made the Rocket boss angrier. "Oh relax, I'll leave as soon my partner is done 'collecting' a few things of yours."

He could see Giovanni reaching for something. It looked to be a communicator. His first thought was that he was calling up more agents, but wouldn't he just activate an alarm rather than call them up? What was it for then? He will never know as he saw Ryan make his way to the door. "Ryder, I got the stolen Pokémon, let's bail."

Perfect timing. Ryder smirked at the Rocket boss. "Until our next encounter." He reached into his cloak and threw down a smoke bomb, covering the room in a thick smoke. He and Ryan ran out and towards the elevator.

Scout was there, next to six small boxes that held the Pokeballs in their shrunken form. He held his hand up. "(I regret to inform you, friends, but we will be receiving unwanted visitors in a moment.)"

Ryder growled. "You have got to be kidding…" He pulled out his communicator. "Techno, we need an exit, now!"

"(The others and I are already outside waiting for the plane. I'm checking out your current location right now.)" Ryder could sense the elevator getting closer. He could see the agents and, judging by how they were positioned, they were carrying some heavy weaponry. "(Alright, directly down your left is a wall. Break through that and you can fly down over to our location.)"

"Alright!" He placed the communicator away. "Follow me!" They nodded and followed him, each carrying two of the boxes.

They heard the elevator open, but they didn't bother looking back. They just kept their focus on breaking out. They could see the wall that Techno specified. Ryder threw one of the boxes in the air. In the time it flew through the air, he pulled out a bomb, activated it, and tossed it across the hall. He caught the box soon after.

The bomb made contact with the wall and detonated, sending debris outside. They all jumped out. Ryder spread his cloak and glided across the air. Ryan fired a grappling hook and slowed his descent, with Scout holding on.

They landed on the ground and ran over to the others, who were waiting behind some cover. "(The plane is just overhead,)" Tsunami said. Next to him were six boxes with Pokeballs as well.

"Good," Ryder replied.

Ryan turned around and gasped. "Get down!" Everyone immediately ducked as a rocket flew over their heads, obliterating the ground from not too far away. They looked up and saw some grunts holding rocket launchers. Ryan placed two fingers to his ear. "Help! Now!"

"Hang on, Ryan!" his grandfather responded.

They saw more rockets being fired at them. Scout got in front of them and used Protect, stopping the rockets short of hitting them. He flinch. "(I am unsure if I can keep this protective barrier up long enough to sustain their offensive weaponry!)"

Ryder looked up and smiled. "No need!" They looked up and saw a Salamance and a Braviary soaring down at them. "Everyone get on!"

Slick, Tsunami, and Dash got onto the Salamance. Ryan, Ryder, Techno, and Scout, who dropped his Protect, hopped onto the Braviary. They flew upward as they had more rockets being fired at them.

Ryan looked at Dash. "Take them out!"

He nodded and turned around. "(Hyper Beam!)" He fired the power attack down at them. It obliterated the rockets aimed at them and nailed the grunts, destroying a chunk of the building.

"Nice shot, Dash!"

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "(Thanks!)"

They flew up to the plane, which had the back lowering down for the large dragon and bird to fly into. Once they were inside, it closed up and they were taking off at full speed.

Hank sighed over the intercom. "You had me scared for a second there."

Ryan chuckled. "What? You thought we were going to fail?"

"That was the least of my worries. Still, I'm glad you completed the mission unscathed."

"Thanks." He turned to the Braviary and scratched his chin. "Thanks for the save, Storm."

Storm squawked happily. "(You're welcome, Ryan!)"

Ryder sat down and sighed. "Man, that was exhausting. I thought we were going to mess up the mission."

"I didn't get that impression from how cocky you were acting," Ryan stated with a smirk.

He smirked back. "It was in the back of my head."

Ryan sat next to him and chuckled. "Well, that went well for our first mission. I'm looking forward to our next one."

"Same here." They gave each other a fist bump and laughed.

---

One year has passed since their first mission. They've been tracking down wanted criminals, stopping other organizations in their plans, and, of course, foiling Team Rocket. As time went on, they've been climbing up in rank, eventually becoming one of the top agents in the Shadow Agency. Things have been going well for the group. But things were about to change soon.

Ryder sat in the lab on top of a table, with wires attached to his head, arms, body, and legs. Hank was filling a formula into a needle. He and Dylan have finally completed their aura serum. They only thing they needed was a test subject. Ryder volunteered the moment he heard about it, and it raised some concerns in Ryan and Jade.

"Ryder, this is crazy. We're not sure what this thing will do to you." Ryan has been trying to plead with Ryder, but he was too stubborn.

"Ryan, I'm sorry, but I want to do this. If this helps crack the secrets to aura, then I have to do it."

He groaned and looked at his grandfather. "Grandpa, can you please reason with him? Why can't you use this on your Lucario?"

Hank checked to see if he took in the right amount. "While it would be a good idea, I fear poor Lucario is getting too old. It would put a strain on him if it has any negative effects."

"So you're fine with putting it in my starter?!" he shouted.

Hank sighed. "Ryan, I'm not an idiot. I've done the proper tests and checks on it. I'm positive it won't do anything horrible to Ryder. He's younger and healthier. He's a much better candidate to test this than Lucario."

"I still have my concerns about this."

"Ryan, if this works out, Ryder will be faster, stronger, and more in tune with his aura. If anything, the only real side effect he'll need to worry about is a bad headache."

Jade looked at Ryder. "(You sure about this?)"

He smiled at her. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Techno and Snow will be monitoring any changes in his system," Hank mentioned, pointing to the two cats at a computer. After a year of working alongside each other, Techno grew more comfortable around the Skitty. Her flirting, however, was still annoying to listen too.

Techno checked Ryder's vitals and gave the okay. "(All set to go.)"

Hank looked at Ryan. "If it truly is a problem, then we won't do it."

Ryan looked at Ryder. He really didn't want to see his buddy get hurt, but he trusted his grandfather. And Ryder was willing to do it if it meant getting stronger. It wasn't something he could stop so easily.

He sighed. "Alright…I'll allow it. But if anything bad happens to him, it's on you, old man."

Hank nodded in understanding. Ryan and Jade took a step back as he made his way over to the Charmeleon. He wiped his arm with an alcohol wipe before hovering the needle over the spot. He slowly stuck the needle in and pushed down on the plunger. Ryder didn't even feel it. Actually, he didn't feel anything different. He thought a change would occur immediately, but nothing did.

After a few seconds, Hank took the needle out and placed it on a tray. "Anything happening?"

Snow looked at the screen and scratched her head. "(No, nothing yet.)"

They waited patiently for five minutes, waiting for a rise or drop in Ryder's aura. But nothing happened during that time. Did it work? Was the experiment a bust?

Dylan tapped his foot impatiently. "Anything?" Techno shook his head, leading the scientist to groan. "I don't get it. We've been testing this thing for months on plants. Why isn't it working?"

"Perhaps it doesn't affect Pokémon," Hank suggested as he looked at the leftover serum.

"(Well, nothing happened to his aura,)" Techno announced.

"(And there's no changes in his vitals,)" Snow added.

Dylan sighed and fell into his chair. "All of that work for nothing…"

Hank patted his back. "Chin up, Dylan. I'm sure we can try again and see where we went wrong."

Ryder took the wires off and jumped down. He stretched and rubbed his arm. "Well, that was a letdown."

Jade wrapped her arms around him. "I'm just glad nothing bad happened to you."

Hank rubbed his chin. "We may have to monitor him until we can determine what the serum did."

Before they could continue on with the matter, the intercom buzzed on. "Agents Ryan and Ryder, report to my office immediately." It clicked off.

Ryan blinked. "Why does the boss need us?"

Ryder shrugged. "Probably for a mission." They ran out.

Ryan looked back saying, "I'll keep an eye on Ryder, don't worry!"

They made their way over to their boss' office. He doesn't normally call people into his office unless it was important. That didn't sit well with the agents. They've been on missions that were considered important and they were never called into his office for those. Something told them this wasn't going to be a normal mission.

They opened the doors and walked into the dark room. Their boss had his chin rested in his hands. "Sit, now." They nodded and sat down. "I suppose you're wondering why I called you in here." They nodded again. "We've received some disturbing news on Team Rocket's recent activity."

"That doesn't sound pleasant," Ryan mutter sarcastically.

A digital keyboard appeared on his desk and he typed in some commands. A hologram displayed over the desk. A video of some people walking into Team Rocket HQ could be seen. "We uncovered this footage from one of our spies. Three scientists entered Team Rocket HQ one month ago."

"One month? Why weren't we informed about this sooner?"

"We thought nothing of it at the time. That is, until we got more info on the situation." He switched to another video. "We're not sure how many scientists were working on this top secret project, but we've only managed to identify three. Dr. Namba, Dr. Zager, and Dr. Waltz. Namba and Zager are Team Rocket scientists. Waltz, however, is unknown to our sources."

The duo looked at the image. They saw Namba, Zager, and Waltz. Waltz had gray hair that was puffed out a bit and square rimmed glasses. He wore the obvious lab coat, orange long sleeve dress shirt, tan trousers, and black shoes. As Rowan said, there was no connection with him or Team Rocket.

"Dr. Thomas Waltz is a robotics specialist, a master in machinery. It is unclear as to why they would call someone of his talents in for assistance.

"Our spy managed to get footage of them working on something. They've spent countless nights trying to perfect it. We wanted to stay quiet until we identified what it was. That's when we received this image."

The hologram displayed an image of a seed. The agents stared at it in confusion. They were expecting something a bit flashier. Perhaps a death cannon or Pokémon capture device. They were expecting an evil invention that took months to prepare being a tiny seed.

"So…gardening is their evil plan?" Ryan hesitantly asked.

Rowan narrowed his eyes. "This isn't a joking matter, Mr. Hayashi." He switched the image back to the lab. "From what we've discovered, they've been tampering with what we assume to be dark matter. We're not sure what their game is, but we fear this seed is too dangerous to be kept in their hands. Your mission-"

"-is to retrieve the seed and bring it back here for testing?" Ryder finished with his arms crossed.

"Correct. But be careful. We are unsure what this seed does. If Team Rocket invested so much time and money into making this, it cannot be taken lightly. Exercise extreme caution when stealing it."

They saluted. "Yes sir." They stood up and made their way out of his office.

"And one last thing." They stopped and turned around. "Failure is not an option. We want to make sure we aren't stealing a super weapon and accidentally set it off. Do I make myself clear?" They nodded. "Good…you are dismissed."

---

They expected to be going somewhere in Kanto to retrieve the seed. So they were quite surprised Hank was flying them towards Unova. Looks like Team Rocket wanted to keep this out of the eyes of the Shadow Agents for as long as possible. Must be really important if it had to be tested all the way out here.

They flew over Undella Town in the dead of night and towards some plains. Near the plains was a drop off into a large valley of rock that stretched out for a grand distance. It almost looked like it was the crash site of a large meteor. Or it could just be a typical rock valley. Either way, it was huge.

But the valley wasn't their concern. No, it was the base hidden on top of a cliff that hung over the massive valley. They could tell from the 'R' that it was definitely a Team Rocket lab. According to Hank, Team Rocket had many locations scattered around the globe. Their main base of operations was in Kanto, but they always had a secret location in case of things such as this.

Ryan's team was ready. Techno decided to hang back in the jet so he can operate from above. That just left Ryder, Jade, Tsunami, Dash, and Scout to tag along with him.

Ryan placed his mask on and opened the door, feeling the rush of the wing hit his face. "Alright, we're clear for dropping."

Hank spoke over the intercom, "Be careful, Ryan. You remember what Rowan said. Failure is not an option this time. You need to be careful."

"Don't worry, grandpa. We got this under control."

"If you say so."

Techno looked up at his teammates as he sat in the seats, his laptop sitting in his lap. "(I'm going to patch through their security once you land. This should be a smooth operation if all goes well.)"

"Can always count on you for support, Techno," Ryder praised.

They were just over the lab and invisible to their radars. They were clear for dropping. After getting the okay from Hank, they jumped off the plane. Ryan pulled a cord on his vest and a pair of wings extended out, allowing him to glide down smoothly. Ryder followed suit with his cloak acting as a glider. The rest went the more traditional route of parachutes.

They safely landed in the woods and made their way to the edge of it. In sight was the lab. Normally these types of buildings would be protected by one or two guards. They weren't expecting ten grunts to be standing near the door, armed with stun guns.

They ducked down and looked at each other. "They must really want to protect that seed," Ryan whispered.

Ryder pulled out his communicator. "Techno, there's ten guards at the front entrance."

"(Ten guards, huh? They're stepping up security for today.)" Ryder could hear the Meowth typing away on his computer. "(Okay, there's an access point on the roof. But it might be risky. I've hacked the cameras and see a lot of grunts swarming the inside. It might be tricky to get in undetected.)"

Ryder relayed the info back to Ryan, who crossed his arms. "Never gets easier, does it?" The Charmeleon shook his head in response. He peeked over again. "Setting off the alarms would rid us of the element of surprise. A distraction would set everyone on high alert." He sighed. "Guess we're gonna have to take the risk. Let's sneak around and get in through the roof." They nodded and began circling around.

They stayed out of the grunts' sight and slowly made their way around the building. They scaled up the walls and quietly dashed over to the access point Techno mentioned. A ventilation system that should lead them around the building.

Tsunami stepped forward. "(I got this.)" He gripped the sides and started pulling with all his might.

Ryder rolled his eyes and pulled out the communicator again. "Techno, we need blueprints of the vent system."

"(Done and done. It should be uploaded into your tablet.)"

Ryder took out his custom tablet and pulled up the map of the building. There was a certain path that led to the main lab, where the seed was being held.

Tsunami ripped the grate off and threw it to the side. Scout's eyes widened and he dived for it, catching it before it could clang against the ground. Everyone glared at the Wartorle, who just gave an apologetic grin.

One by one, they each jumped down into the vents, starting with Ryder who had the map. They crawled throughout the vents as they searched for the lab. As they did, they could see the grunts through the grates. They were equipped with stun guns and had a supply of Pokemon on their side. They were prepared to take on anyone. More of a reason they needed to get that seed from them.

Ryder stopped, much to everyone's confusion. "(What's wrong?)" Jade asked.

The Charmeleon held his head and groaned. For some reason, he felt something odd. He wasn't sure where it came from, but he could sense something that…just wasn't right. Mild discomfort wasn't the right word to describe it. No…an uncanny feeling of doom. It was spooky, yet he still couldn't tell where it was coming from. Almost like its presence is long gone. Like a remnant of it was left behind.

…was this the serum's doing? If so, then what is he sensing? He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew one thing. He's positive it's coming from the lab. The root of this eeriness. Was he sensing the seed? Or was there something else in there?

He snapped out of his thoughts upon feeling Ryan's hand touch his shoulder. "Buddy?"

He shook his head. "S-Sorry…zoned out for a minute."

He could tell his trainer was frowning under his mask. "Is that serum messing with you?"

He didn't want to jeopardize the mission saying he was feeling out of it. They needed to retrieve the seed immediately. If anything was truly wrong with him…well, the mission came first above all else.

"N-No…I'm fine. Let's just keep moving forward." He continued on, feeling the concerned stares he was getting from his teammates.

They continued to shuffle through the vents until they finally came across the lab. They looked through the grate and saw four guards surrounding a container. One of them was obscuring their view of it, but they were sure that's where the seed was being held.

They turned toward Jade, who nodded. They pulled the grate off and let her take care of them.

The grunts stood there silently, waiting for any sort of action to unfold. If they were better at their jobs, they would have noticed the shiny Flaaffy crawling along the ceiling. With a smirk, she jumped down in front of them and used Flash, filling the entire room with light.

The others covered their eyes as the light poured through. They could hear the sound of muffled screaming and loud beatings taking place. Once the light died down, they saw that the grunts were knocked out. They were covered in bruises and sprawled over the floor in comedic fashion. Jade was seen dusting her hands off, then crossing her arms and leaning against the wall with the same smirk.

They jumped down from the vents, with Ryder chuckling. "You are amazing, you know that?"

She giggled. "I try my best."

Ryan pulled out a glass cutter and sliced a hole into the container. Inside was a black seed, sitting on top of a glass sensor. He pulled out a small bottle and sprayed the inside, revealing lasers blocking the seed from reach. "Of course, freakin' lasers are blocking it."

Ryder sighed and called Techno. "Tech? A little help?"

"(I heard, hang on.)"

While they waited for Techno to drop the security grid, Ryder made his way over to the computer. "Now to extract and delete all of their data." He placed a flash drive into it to crack the password, allowing him to log in. He pulled up the files for the seed. "Here we are." He raised a brow in curiosity. "Seed of Darkness?" He called Techno again. "Hey Tech, are there any guards coming our way?"

"(No. As far as they know, that room is still being protected. Why?)"

"Just need to do some research." He opened the file and found several documents that cataloged the days spent working on the project. He opened up Day 1:

'This was definitely a challenge. Team Rocket has worked for years experimenting on Pokémon, but never actually imagined creating life from it. Two projects were already in the making to experiment on life, but this one doesn't initially require DNA from a Pokémon. This will mark a new beginning to Team Rocket.'

-Namba

Ryder narrowed his eyes and scrolled up a bit, opening Day 7:

'The process is starting out slow, but we're advancing much quicker than we expected. The Seed of Darkness has shown to possess regenerative properties. Most intriguing. Now all that's left is to contain this mass of power.'

-Zager

The Charmeleon leaned back, rubbing his chin. Something about this seed was sitting right with him. He scrolled up all the way to Day 30 and opened it:

'It has been completed. The seed is now in stasis and will continue to stay that way until it is planted. Thanks to my expertise, Team Rocket will have the most powerful force on the planet. A tad concerning from the observations we have made, but, as long as I'm paid, I couldn't care less. I have other matters to attend to. They better appreciate what I did for them.'

-Waltz

Ryder started extracting the files and deleted them soon after. He sighed and looked at Ryan, who finally got the seed out once the lasers were deactivated. "You got it?"

"Yeah." He placed it in a small vial and pocketed it. "What did you find?"

"Their research notes. According to this, they mentioned something about creating life, which doesn't sit well with me, personally."

"Creating life? I find that hard to believe." He pulled the vial out again. "How can this tiny little thing possibly creating living, breathing life?"

"You never know in a world like ours." The files were fully downloaded into his drive and deleted from the main computer. He pulled it out and placed it in his cloak. "Let's get moving. I don't want to be here any longer than I should."

"(Why? This place giving you the creeps?)" Tsunami teased.

Ryder rolled his eyes. "Something along those lines…"

They prepared to exit through the vents when Jade looked back for a moment and gasped. "(Uh…Ryder?)"

"What?" He looked at the computer and saw what was causing her concern.

A blank document suddenly appeared on the screen…and words were being typed out onto it. 'Hello, Shadow Agents. I see you've stolen Team Rocket's precious seed. I must admit…you're good.'

The gang looked at each other in worry, unsure of what to do. Ryder narrowed his eyes and walked over to the screen. He typed back, 'Identify yourself immediately. Are you a member of Team Rocket?'

The reply came up much quicker than he expected. 'I've had my moments with them. Giovanni knows who I am. We go way back…you could say I'm an old friend of his.'

'Old friend? Who the heck are you?! How did you know we were in here?!'

'Revealing secrets isn't my style, young Charmeleon. But, I will say I was working on this project myself.'

'Who…are you? Namba? Zager? Waltz?'

'None of the above. And you'll never know who I am. I am nothing more than a lost memory to the eyes of Team Rocket. Giovanni casted me aside, along with his old science division. But he needed my help. He knew the risks of letting me assist with this little project of his. He knew.'

Ryder's patience was wearing thin. This guy was being annoyingly vague. Who was he? 'The Shadow Agency can track down anyone. You aren't as safe as you think.'

There was no response for a moment. Perhaps he scared him off. Doubtful, but it would be reassuring. He had no idea who he was talking to. His reply came up. 'Forgive me for the wait, but you had me rolling around on the floor in laughter.'

Ryder clenched his teeth angrily. 'You think I'm joking?! We will trace you!' He pulled out his communicator. "Techno, trace whoever this guy is!"

"(Already on it!)"

'Let it be known that we've entered a dangerous game, Ryder.' Ryder gasped. He knew his name? 'I am not to be messed with. Things are about to turn into my favor for once. I will not lose to you again.' Again? What was he talking about? 'Mark this as the day of your failure, Ryder. A dark cloud of doom is rising above your head.'

He was starting to feel that sick, uncanny feeling from earlier. Was it this guy he sensed earlier? Could he actually sense his previous presence from this room?

'This is the day you learn failure. This is the day you lose. This is the day you back yourself into the corner of fear and cower at the terror…

…of Wrath.'

The computer exploded, sending Ryder flying over to the others. "Ryder!"

They heard a faint explosion from Ryder's communicator. Tsunami picked it up. "(Techno, what happened?!)"

"(This guy had some insane firewalls blocking me! It fried my computer!)"

The sirens started going, alerting them to their location. "He set off the alarms?!" Ryan shouted.

Ryder held his head and looked at the smoky remains of the computer. Wrath? Who was that? It didn't matter right now. They had an entire building of Rocket agents alerted to their location and they needed to escape now.

He got to his feet and shook off the slight dizziness that filled him. He looked at the others. "We need to leave, now!"

They started filing out through the vents. Tsunami went first, followed by Dash and Scout. Ryan prepared to lift Jade up when the doors started to melt down. They were cutting their way through.

Ryder growled and shouted up, "Go on without us! We'll catch up!" He ran over to one of the walls and placed a Vibration Disc against it. It slowly tore down the wall, allowing hem access for escape.

The doors broke down and Rocket grunts swarmed the room, armed with stun sticks. Ryan, acting quickly, fended them off. He disarmed up of their weapon and jabbed another with it. Two guys tried to hit him, but he grabbed their wrists and slammed each other's stun weapon in their face. He reached behind his waist and pulled out his collapsed Bo staff, which he extended to full length. He spun it around and struck several guys left and right. He kept them all at bay long enough for the discs to finish their job.

The wall was fully torn down. "Let's go!" Ryder grabbed Jade's hand and led her out. Ryan swung his staff like a bat and whacked the rest of the grunts in the jaw before following.

They ran down the hall with the alarms blaring loudly. "(Where are we going?!)" Jade shouted over it.

"I think there's a back entrance we can take! The front is probably crawling with grunts! Once we get out, we can call for Hank!"

A Shadow Ball flew pass them and exploded against the wall. They glanced back and saw a swarm of Golbat chasing them. "Oh, come on!" Ryan complained angrily.

Ryder stopped and let the others run ahead. He turned toward the swarm of bats and fired Flamethrower into their faces. He got a few of them, but the rest were using Protect to block it. He used this moment to catch up with the others.

The Golbat fired Shadow Ball at him, but he could sense where the attacks were aimed at. He sidestepped, left and right, avoiding each attack and never missing a beat. He jumped and kicked one of the Shadow Balls, sending it back to the attacker and knocking them out.

"Flamethrower!" He aimed the attack straight down and filled the room with flames. The Golbat stopped and screeched angrily as the flames blocked their pathway to him. He picked up the pace to catch up with Ryan and Jade. He wasn't aware the Golbat were using Gust to extinguish the flames.

Ryder turned a corner and finally caught up with his friends, who have stopped. "Took care of the Gol…bat…" He saw the army of Rocket agents in the hall, each with a Pokémon by their side. "Dang it…"

Ryan clenched his fist. "We have no time for this." He took the vial with the seed out and handed it to Ryder. "You and Jade get out of here. I'll hold them off."

Ryder held the vial in his hand and shook his head. "I'm not leaving you here on your own!"

"Ryder, we need to get that seed back to base immediately! Team Rocket cannot get their hands on it!"

He clenched the vial firmly. He really hated it when he had a point. "Grr…fine, but, once the seed is safe and secure, I'm coming back for you!"

He smirked under his mask. "That's all I ask." He pulled out his Bo staff. "I'll clear a path for you." He channeled aura into his staff and dashed at the agents. He jumped into the air, spinning his staff, and swung it forward, slamming the end near them and creating a wave that knocked the agents and their Pokémon onto their feet. "Now!"

Ryder picked Jade up bridal style and dashed through the fallen grunts, shocking them with his speed. "Jade, take out my tablet and find the back way!"

She reach into his cloak and pulled it out. She scanned the building schematics and found something. "Go left, then your next right and it should be right there!"

He followed her directions precisely and increased his speed. They looked like a blur of black, pink, and white with how fast he was moving. He could see the exit right in front of them. "We're out of here!" He jumped and slammed his aura infused feet against the door, knocking it off its hinges. He slid on the door like a sled. They saw they were nearing the edge of the cliff. Ryder dug his foot into the ground and stopped them just in time. Pieces of rubble bounced down the steep drop.

They sighed in relief. "That was close," Jade muttered. She looked at Ryder and smiled. "Uh…you can put me down now."

He blinked and chuckled sheepishly. "Right, sorry." He set her down onto her feet, then reached for a flare gun. "Alright, now to get Hank's attention."

Jade sighed. "Thank goodness."

Ryder was about to pull the trigger when a Shadow Ball nailed his hand and blasted the gun out of his hand. "OOWW!" He held his smoking hand in pain.

"Ryder!" Jade gasped and dodged a second Shadow Ball. One of the Golbat caught up to them and it was pretty angry.

Ryder growled and handed Jade the vial. "Get Hank and give him the seed! Now!" She didn't argue and ran as fast as possible. Golbat eyed her and prepared to use Shadow Ball on her, but Ryder slammed his fist into its face. "Oh no, you're not hurting her!"

Jade tried to get to the forest, but the rest of the Golbat caught up and blocked her from leaving. She scrambled to a stop and growled. "Buzz off, you flying rats!" She fired Electro Ball at them. One used Protect to block it, while the rest fired Shadow Ball at her. She jumped back and ran in the opposite direction.

The Golbat Ryder was fighting slammed against the building and passed out. Ryder dusted his hands off, then saw Jade running away from a swarm of Golbat. "Jade, hang on!" He ran over to her.

She kept firing Electro Balls at the bats, but they kept blocking with Protect. Five fired a group of Shadow Balls and blasted the ground in front of her. The shock of the force knocked her off her feet, along with the vial flying out of her hand, and sent both over the cliff.

The Charmeleon's eyes widened in fear. Both Jade and the vial were flying out of reach of each other. He couldn't grab both during the fall. He could use his grapple claw, but he wasn't sure he could grab such a small target. Plus, he could hurt Jade if he tried catching her with it. He clenched his fist angrily. Jade or the seed?

He could see the fear in Jade's eyes. That was the look of someone fearing they were going to die. He didn't blame her. He could see the bottom. The rough, rocky floor could severely injure her, perhaps fatally. But if the vial broke, what about the seed? The notes said once the seed is planted, game over. He didn't even know what will happen once it hits the ground.

His heart was racing millions of miles a minute. Time seemed to slow as he desperately tried to make a choice. Save the one he loved or complete the mission? Ryder didn't want Team Rocket to win. They couldn't win. He could just jump down and grab the seed, completing the mission and stopping Team Rocket's plans again. On the other hand…

…no one could replace Jade. He loved her with all his heart. If he went after the seed over her…the guilt would eat away at him until the day he died. Nothing could replace her. Nothing.

He clenched his eyes shut angrily as aura went to his feet. He jumped down the cliff and ran down it, increasing his speed bit by bit. He could see the vial getting closer and closer to hitting the ground, but he wasn't concern about that anymore. He kicked off the wall of rock and lunged at Jade.

She had her eyes shut tight as she waited to hit the bottom. She was caught off guard when she felt a pair of arms grab her. She opened her eyes and saw Ryder holding her. "Ryder?!"

He ignored her and fired his grapple hook at the rock wall. The force tugged at his arm, a surge of pain running up his body. He lost his grip on the claw and they slammed into the ground. Fortunately, he slowed down their momentum enough to survive.

The vial smashed against the ground, sending the seed flying across the field. It rolled to a stop and bathed in the moonlight. It pulsed lowly and glowed, slowly sinking into the ground.

Jade pushed herself up and groaned. "Ugh…my head." She looked at Ryder and gasped. "Ryder!" She ran over and helped him up. "Are you okay?"

He grunted and rubbed his left arm, the one he held onto the claw with. "Never doing a stupid stunt like that ever again." Jade slapped him across the face, but not enough to leave a mark or hurt him badly. He blinked, more in confusion than anger. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot! That was reckless and stupid! You could have killed yourself too!" she scolded lightly.

He frowned. "Sorry…I wasn't thinking. I just didn't want to lose you. You were scared and…I had to save you."

She huffed angrily…then lightened up. She gently pulled him into a hug. "Sorry for slapping you."

"I kind of deserved it…" He wrapped his good arm around her. "Sorry for worrying you…" They hugged for a bit before pulling back. Jade helped him stand up. "Where's the seed?"

"Not sure. I didn't see it when we landed."

They searched around for the tiny seed, worried they lost it in this large field of rock. It would be hard to find in the dark. But they had to hurry before the Golbat fly down and retrieve it themselves.

Jade's eyes darted around before landing on something…out of place. "Uh…Ryder?"

He turned and saw what she was looking at. A small, deep purple bulb. And next to it. A flower. With black stems, purple leaves, and pink accents. The field was void of plant life, yet this bulb and flower were in the middle of it. The flower lightly swayed in the wind.

Ryder raised a brow and walked over to it. "Is…this the seed?"

Jade gulped. "It couldn't be. Plants can't grow that fast."

"Well, this isn't exactly a normal seed." He reached down and plucked the flower out of the ground. He examined it closely. "Doesn't look like any plant I've ever seen."

Jade looked around and saw something orange in the distance. The flare gun. "Hey!" She ran over to it and picked it up. "Great! We can get Hank now!" She aimed it up and pulled the trigger, but it didn't fire. She pouted. "Dang it, it's jammed." She took it apart and tried to fix it.

Ryder looked at the flower closely. Something was off about it. He sensed…a similar feeling to before, but this one felt…destructive. He could sense…no, he could hear something. He squinted his eyes as he looked closer.

…Evil!

A sharp pain pricked Ryder's hand, making him drop it. His hand was bleeding a bit, but it would heal up in no time. He swore he heard that thing say 'evil'. There was no way he imagined that.

He felt a pulse coming off of the flower. He looked down and saw it glowing. This confused him for a moment, but then he found himself backing away as the flower began to sink into the ground. The dirt and rock parted for it as it slowly sunk into the ground, vanishing from sight. Curious by what's going on, Ryder's eyes glowed blue so he could see it from below.

His eyes widened a bit. A mass of purple aura was seeping out of the ground. And he could see the flower…oozing. It molded and shifted erratically as more and more ooze seeped out of it. It took on a shape of some kind. It was turning into something. He didn't want to stay around and find out.

He slowly backed away, reaching for an explosive shuriken if it tried anything. He waited for something to happen, but all was silent, save for the sound of Jade fixing the flare gun. Nothing was happening. The ooze was still. Ryder's vision returned to normal and he sighed. Perhaps it stopped.

He was wrong. The ground started cracked, pieces flying in the air as a hand struck out. It clawed at the ground to get a better grip and pulled itself out, slowly. Ryder breathed heavily as he backed away from the figure emerging from the ground.

Jade finally put the gun back together and smiled at her handy work. "Not too shabby." Ryder bumped into her, still breathing heavily. "Ryder, what's wrong?"

The ground the arm poked out from exploded, sending debris at them. They yelped and covered their heads as bits and pieces rained on them. They looked up as a figure stood in the dust cloud, stretching. They stared, not sure what to do.

The figure laughed as he flexed his claws. "The first breath of life. A historical moment, indeed." A flash of red pierced through the cloud, making them jump. "Ah…hello there."

Unsure of what was going on, Ryder held up a shuriken. "Who are you? Answer me!"

The figured laughed again, but this time with an evil undertone. "What? You don't know who I am? I'm hurt, Ryder."

"Why does everyone know my name?!" Ryder growled.

The figure stepped forward out of the cloud. "Whoever spoke to you on the computer is a mystery. Me?" The dust cleared. "We're more alike than you could imagine."

The duo stood there, shocked by what stood before them. A dark…Charmeleon. Purple skin and a light purple underbelly. Red eyes with the whites of them being light purple as well. His tail flame blazed a radiant purple. He flexed his claws out with a smirk.

"Yes, yes, I am quite the sight." He jumped up and down and stomped his feet. "To think, being the first of my species. It is quite an honor."

Jade stepped back. "What…is that thing?"

"Jade…pull the trigger," Ryder whispered.

"What?"

"Pull the trigger on the flare gun. I got a bad feeling about this guy. His aura…it's overwhelming. And tainted with evil. It's almost suffocating. We need to get out of here now."

"R-Right!" She held the gun up at the sky.

The Dark Charmeleon noticed and smirked. "What are you up to?"

Jade gasped as she felt a hand clasp her neck. Ryder didn't have time to react. The creature appeared right next to them almost immediately. They could see wisps of shadows fly off of him. It was almost like he…teleported.

He tightened his grip on Jade's neck, slowly choking her, as he grabbed the flare gun from her hand. "Now, now, my dear, no need for that."

Ryder shook off his fears and glared. "Let her go!" He kicked off the ground and threw a punch.

He smirked. "If you insist!" He positioned Jade in front of him and teleported away.

Ryder gasped and tried to stop himself, resulting in him body-checking the shiny Flaaffy. They tumbled across the ground and groaned. "Sorry…"

The creature appeared next to them, twirling the gun on his claw. "A valiant effort, but to no avail."

Ryder growled and flipped up. He threw a punch at the dark version of himself, but he sidestepped casually. He continuously threw punches at him, but the Dark Charmeleon kept dodging. He even did a cocky bow to dodge on of them, then sucker punching Ryder in the cheek. Ryder rubbed his cheek and threw explosive shurikens. The creature flipped backwards, dodging them as they flew toward him.

He slid to a stop and bowed again. "Cute…very cute."

Ryder growled and threw a smoke bomb down at his feet. He then threw a volley of them around his dark counterpart, blocking his view in a thick wall of smoke.

He smirked. "You really think this is going to save you? I can sense you." His eyes darted to the left and he threw a punch, striking Ryder in the face. "You're outclassed, buddy."

Ryder stood his ground and grabbed his arm, surprising him. "I'm not done yet!" He flung him over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground. During the throw, he disarmed the dark creature of the flare gun, before throwing it over to Jade. "Fire!"

She caught it and aimed it upward. She pulled the trigger and fired a ball of light into the air, searing through the sky.

Ryder pushed his counterpart down and held him tightly. "You lose! Now tell me who you are!"

Despite being held captive, he chuckled. "You still don't get it, Ryder. I am you! The better version of you!" He slammed his foot down on Ryder's tail, allowing him to lose his grip. He punched Ryder off and jumped up. "As for my name…" He shook his head. "Well…using your name would be quite confusing for both of us. So…" He bowed. "You may call me Dark, Lord of the Darkmon."

"Dark…mon? What the heck is a Darkmon?!" Ryder shouted angrily.

Dark stretched his legs. "You'll soon know…" He cracked his knuckles. "But first…I need some…energy." He held his hands out and walked towards him.

Ryder reached for his staff. "I'm not sure what you're going to do, but I won't allow it."

Dark chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you…" He disappeared in a wisp of shadows and appeared behind Jade. He grabbed her wrists and Jade erupted in purple, mystic looking energy, screaming in pain.

The Charmeleon's eyes widened in horror. "Jade!" He dashed over to them, his heart pounding like a drum. "Let her go! Now!" He tried reaching out to them, but they disappeared into shadow wisps.

Dark's laugh echoed around the rock plains, with the sound of Jade screaming mixing in with it. The surrounding area was getting darker and darker. Shadows stretched out around him, blocking out the light of the moon. The echoes became more mixed, coming from all directions. He didn't know where to look. Where was he? What's going on?

Ryder waved his hand around in the darkness. It was like a thick fog of smoke, yet it was chilling. He closed his eyes and sensed the surrounding area for Jade or Dark. But something was messing with his senses. He couldn't detect anything. Just like his vision, everything was pitch black. Nothing for miles. Only one thing he can do.

"Jade! Where are you?!" he called out. Her screams became sharper, as Dark's menacing laughter grew. "Where are you?!"

As if a record had suddenly stopped playing, silence washed over the dark abyss of nothingness. He couldn't hear her screams anymore. A great worry rose up from within him, as his eyes darted around in a crazed panic.

"Jade!" He ran around in the pitch black darkness, wandering aimlessly. He needed to find her. "Jade! Answer me! Jade!" He clenched his fists as his eyes watered. "JADE!"

He could hear Dark's laughter echoing again. "Don't bother. You're trapped in my Fear Glance. You can't escape." The angry Charmeleon fired a Flamethrower, sending streams of flames firing everywhere. "That won't work. You can't touch me."

He ceased his attack and clenched his teeth. "What did you do to Jade?!"

A chilling snicker shot through the air. It sounded like it was right next to him. "See for yourself…"

"Ryder!" Hearing her cries, he spun around with both relief and worry. Both feelings turned into horror. Her legs were crushed under a massive boulder…that was covered to the brim with his explosives! His eyes widened and he checked inside his cloak. They were all gone. "Please! Help!"

He shook his head and focused his attention solely on her. "Hang on! I'll save you!" He ran as quickly as he could. But he didn't feel like he was covering any ground. In fact, he was getting farther and farther away. "What the?!" He growled and increased his pace, pushing himself to the limit. But he still wasn't moving. "Jade!"

"Keep running, Ryder! You want to save her, don't you?!" Dark's laughter was not only scaring the agent into thinking something was going to happen to Jade, but irritating him that he had them trapped in this dark void. "Faster and faster, the frustrated Charmeleon goes! Will he make it? No one knows!"

"I'm saving Jade, no matter what!"

"I'd admire your determination, but…" The sound of two claws snapping together pierced through his ears, "…too late."

The bombs glowed brightly, shocking both Ryder and Jade. She looked at her love with worry. "Ryder…?" They exploded, sending the rock and Jade up in flames and flinging smog in every direction.

His eyes widened in horror. "JAAAADE!"

He stopped and covered himself in his cloak as debris rained down on him. It pummeled down on him like hail, ripping through his cloak like bullets. They scratched against his skin, blood dripping down his arms and legs. The rain of flaming debris ceased and he peeked out from his tattered cloak.

Everywhere he looked, fire scorched the black darkness. A burning orange light stung at his eyes as the flames snaked around his feet. It was a living hell.

He turned his attention towards the massive flame that seemed to occupy the center of this nonexistent plane and saw an unmoving body. A silhouetted body…in the shape of a Flaaffy. "Jade…?" Tears broke out from his eyes and trickled down the side of his face, lightly dripping onto the nonexistent ground.

The smoke blew into his face, but it didn't faze him. He could only stare in horror and sadness, seeing the one he loved…burning to death. He dropped to his knees, his hood covering his eyes. The tears became more flowing and washed over his cheeks. The smoke stung his eyes, forcing him to close them.

"Jade…I'm sorry…"

Stepping out of the shadows was Dark. His eyes glowed a sinister red as he stared at Ryder. Nothing Ryder saw was real. He was still in the rock plains. His eyes mirrored Dark's, under his spell. All damage to him was nothing more than a fear induced illusion. Yet he didn't know that. He didn't know what to believe under Dark's power.

He flexed his claws as he held an unconscious Flaaffy in his grasp. "You're so weak and pathetic…" He kicked Ryder across the cheek, but he wasn't fazed, having lost touch with the outside world. "Funny that seeing your little girlfriend die was enough to drive you to failure. It's sad.

"You allow your fears to take you over. You don't embrace their true potential. You don't command them to do your bidding. You let your fears step all over you and let them kick you around." He slammed his foot down on his gut. If Ryder were even remotely conscious, he would be howling in pain. "If this is the planet's best hope…then I'm looking forward to turning it into my own personal jungle."

"…R…Ry…Ryder…" a soft murmur sailed through his hearing.

He looked at Jade and chuckled. "Someone's regaining consciousness. Don't worry, my dear. It'll be over before you know it." The tips of his claws hovered over her heart, ready to thrust them straight through. "Ryder has fond memories of you. Too bad he'll never see you again. And to think…he wanted to be with you forever. Now those dreams will be lost forever.

"But like I said, no need to worry, my dear. You'll be reunited with your precious boyfriend soon…along with the rest of your miserable friends in the afterlife." He applied pressure to his claws. "Goodbye."

Something jumped down from the sky and threw an axe kick down on the Darkmon's head. His eyes shook from the impact as he stumbled backward, dropping the Flaaffy.

Ryan landed next to her and picked her up. "Jade?" He pulled her close to his ear and sighed with relief. She was still breathing. "We need to get you out of here." He jumped out of the way of a purple Flamethrower.

Dark cracked his neck with a mock disappointed expression. "What's wrong? Leaving without saying goodbye?" Ryan pulled out a kunai and threw it. Dark caught it effortlessly. "You're joking, right?" He heard a beeping and turned it over. There was a bomb attached to it. "Seriou-"

It exploded in his face, giving Ryan the needed time to escape. He had to get Jade out of danger before going back for Ryder. He couldn't put the Flaaffy in anymore danger.

He placed two fingers to his ear communicator. "Grandpa! Where's that pickup we need?!" A slash went against his ear, making him cringe in pain. He fell to one knee and looked at his hand. Blood and a broken communicator. He glared at the figure in front of him. The one he thought he took care of.

"Nice try, Ryan," said Dark as his arm slowly regenerated. "I forgot you carried explosives on you. But they will be impractical in this fight." Ryan clenched his teeth and reached for his Bo staff. "You really think you can fight while holding Jade? And against me of all things? You're desperate." His smirk grew wider. "I like that." He lunged at the trainer.

Ryan extended his staff and blocked a slash from the Darkmon. He wasn't in proper form when blocking the strike, due to holding Jade, so he skidded back from the force. He did, however, keep his balance. It was going to be tough fighting Dark like this. Either Ryder needed to snap out of his fear induced trance or they were screwed.

The Darkmon chuckled sinisterly. "Ah, so you can defend yourself? Very good." He lunged again and threw a series of fast punches. Ryan twirled his staff and blocked each strike, being knocked back with each blow. The force of the attacks were taking a toll on his stamina, forcing him to jump back and take a breather. "But how long can you keep it up?"

Ryan growled and shouted, "Ryder! Snap out of it and help!" He couldn't reach the poor Charmeleon. He was lost in a never ending storm of misery and sadness. The outside world was blocked out from his ears.

"He can't hear you." The human's eyes widened as a form appeared under him from the shadows and threw an uppercut to his jaw. The force made him lose his hold on Jade and was sent flying backward. "He's deep in his fears. Nothing is going to wake him up."

Ryan pulled out six kunai, three in each hand, and threw them at the sadistic Dark Charmeleon. Dark grinned like a mad man and caught them all as they flew. "Want to know something, Ryan? You might have had a chance at beating me earlier. But after absorbing Jade's energy, you lost that chance."

"Absorbed her energy?" he questioned.

The Darkmon lord juggled the kunai. "When I absorb something's energy, I grow stronger. The more energy I take in, the more power I receive. Simple as that. But with Pokémon…" He smirked widely. "Well…I gain something more." He stopped juggling the kunai. "I already have a limited control over fire…but with Jade…" He turned around, his eyes giving off a red glint. "I can do this." He threw the throwing projectiles back at their original owner.

At first, Ryan didn't understand what he meant. But then, he saw it. The kunai were coated in electricity. He moved out of the way, dodging five. But one got him in his left arm, sending a painful electric shock throughout his body.

"AAAHHH!" He fell on his side, grunting. He grabbed the kunai and pulled it out, throwing it to the side.

He glared as his opponent let out a sinister cackle. "You get it now? With each Pokémon's energy I absorb, I gain their attributes. Their typing. Once I gain more of that power, I'll become unstoppable. Nothing on this planet will be able to stop the Darkmon!"

Ryan looked back at the dazed Charmeleon in panic. "Ryder! Wake up!" He felt a tug on his vest and was lifted up.

"Didn't I already tell you?" He threw Ryan into the side of the rock wall. "He can't hear you."

Ryan forced himself up and glared. "Then I just need to try harder!" He rushed Dark, pulling out his staff.

Dark smirked. "Trying that again, I see." He dashed at the human and flexed his claws.

Claws and steel collided against each other, sending sparks flying. Ryan spun his staff and slammed it harder and harder against the malicious creature, who blocked his strikes with swift movement. He wasn't fazed by his enraged strength. It actually pleased him to see his foe so frustrated.

He caught the staff in between his hands, just inches from slamming into his face. "Got any more tricks up your sleeve, Ryan?"

Ryan narrowed his eyes at the counterpart of his partner. "…just one…" He pressed a button on the staff. A small hatch opened up on the end Dark was holding and it fired a pellet out of it…aimed straight at Ryder. Upon impact with him, it caused a small shockwave that knocked him onto his back.

The Dark Charmeleon stared at his fallen counterpart, genuinely surprised by such a move. However, his surprise quickly turned to chuckling. "Firing at your own teammate…I said you were desperate, not stupid."

He gripped the staff tightly and yanked it out of the trainer's hands. Spinning it in his hand, he slammed it right into his gut, forcing a gasp out of him. He whacked him across the jaw, then thrusted the end into his left kneecap. He threw the staff away and kicked Ryan in the face, sending him flying onto Jade. The blow from the kicked knocked him out.

With his same smirk, Dark brandished his claws as he walked over to them. "Now, how should I finish you two off? Stabbing? Or draining you dry? These are the tough decisions I must make."

Unbeknownst to him, Ryder's little world of misery was breaking down. The blast from the pellet knocked him to his senses. The shadows slowly parted, revealing light. Granted, not much light since it was the middle of the night, but it was still light. All the pain he felt seemed to have vanish. But he could still remember the state Jade was in. Yet…for some reason, the more he thought about it, the more it seemed…unreal.

"Wha…?" He pushed himself up and rubbed his head. "Why do I feel like I was hit by a truck?" He opened his eyes and gasped. Lying unconscious on the ground was his trainer and girlfriend…with Dark hovering over them, still deciding how he should off them.

Suddenly…something snapped inside the Charmeleon. For the past five minutes, he experienced a never-ending nightmare of his beloved burning to death in front of his eyes. He couldn't do anything to stop the tragedy. He wasn't good enough. Strong enough. Fast enough. He failed…

…that's what he thought. But now, he clearly saw she was alive. She and Ryan were both on the ground, about to be killed by the monster…who placed him in that nightmare. He toyed with his emotions without remorse. He didn't care what he did to win. He took the low route and messed with his mind for his own amusement. And, even after all of that, he was going to still do it.

He clawed at the ground as his hand slowly formed a fist. His eyes lowered into one of the darkest glares he has ever expressed. His teeth clenched up as smoke seeped out of them. That…that monster…

Ryder's irises faintly glowed green, becoming brighter bit by bit with the rage gradually building up within him. His aura took shape around his body, giving off jolts of lightning that surged up his arms and legs.

He rose to his feet. His vision became…the best way he could describe it, odd. He could see clearer. Every detail was more noticeable. He could hear the faint breathing of his unconscious allies. He could feel every twitch in his body as he shook with pure rage. It was as if his senses were suddenly heightened. But he wasn't using augmentation with his aura. He didn't know what was causing it. One thing was for certain though…

Dark crouched down as the flower from before grew next to him. He plucked it out of the ground and sniffed it. "You know, I think draining you two will be much more enjoyable. But before I do that…" He lowered the flower near Jade, the thorns extending outward. "…let's introduce the second member of my species-"

A breeze shot passed him. He looked back and saw Ryder had vanished. Or did he? Thanks to taking on Ryder's characteristics, he could sense aura as well. And he fell a mass of aura right behind him, built solely on rage. He cautiously turned back to his fallen foes and saw a fist flying at his face.

…Ryder wasn't going to hold back.

Dark felt the blow collide against his nose. The first few milliseconds the fist was in contact with him felt like an eternity of pain. He could feel Ryder's aura pulsing through his fist, blasting throughout his body like miniature sonicbooms. If his durability wasn't increased from absorbing Jade's energy, the punch would have definitely torn his head off. And this was all from just the punch. The aftermath was probably worse.

He was launched off the fist and skipped across the ground like a pebble being thrown across the water. He slammed into the ground, his momentum barely slowing down. But the torture didn't end there. Ryder somehow moved faster than he was flying and appeared in front of him. He threw a second punch into his back, an audible snapping passing through both their ears. Though Dark didn't have as much time to process it as Ryder. The force sent him flying back the way he came and slammed him into the already crater filled wall.

Ryder panted heavily as his body crackled with electric like aura. If he didn't augment his hands when he did, that last punch would have shattered his bones. He didn't realize the speed he just acquired. If it weren't for his heightened senses, he wasn't sure he would be able to tell if he moved that quickly. Still, this didn't deter his rage as he got into a fighting stance, waiting for the dust to clear so he can get another shot off at Dark.

Once the dust cleared, Dark was seen sitting in the crater with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. He was more annoyed than injured. "Well, that was certainly out of nowhere. Holding back on me, weren't you?" He smirked a bit. "I see now…I don't know what it is, but I bet you don't either. Which could only mean one thing. Hank's little serum is finally taking affect."

Ryder clenched his fists as he growled. He was too angry to speak to this creature of darkness. "So I'm right. Guess we both don't know what this little power up can do." He took considerable notice of Ryder's breathing. When he was under the effects of his Fear Glance, he should have recovered his stamina from the lack of moving. Yet, he was already out of breath. "But how long can you keep it up for?"

Ryder's eyes sharpened and he propelled himself forward. He came flying at the sadistic creature and threw his fist at blinding speeds. Acting quickly, Dark caught the punch in his hand, hoping to absorb the absurd amount of kinetic energy firing off of it. He could feel his bones breaking from the pressure, but slowly repaired themselves thanks to the energy he was sapping.

The force of the attack died down and the Charmeleon noticed he was growing weaker. He could see purple energy around his and Dark's hand. Putting two and two together, he jumped back. But Dark had other plans. He teleported behind him and grabbed him from behind. He clenched him tightly and started draining his energy again.

"This form of yours is unstable, Ryder. You're going to collapse either way. Why not let me end your suffering here and now?"

Ryder eyed him with rage, choking up a retort. "…like heck I'll let that happen." He blasted waves from his feet and propelled them both downward, smashing Dark into the ground. The force made Dark lose his grip on Ryder, allowing him to, not only get back up but, go all out on Dark, sending a flurry of punches down on top of him.

Dark, having no regard to his safety, kept his palms open and tried to block as many punches as possible. With Ryder practically wearing himself out, he was going to drain him out until he either collapsed or he could react to his movements quicker. And, as he predicted, the latter became more obvious. He was seeing Ryder's movements much clearer and was blocking more of his punches.

Feeling he took enough energy, he caught Ryder's fists in mid punch. With a smirk, he teleported them both fifty feet in the air. He spun and slammed his foot down on his counterpart, sending him straight down. But Ryder wasn't going down that easily. He augmented his feet and faced them at the ground. He formed a small crater upon making impact. He looked up and fired Flamethrower.

Dark teleported out of the way and beside Ryder, sucker punching him across the face. Ryder reacted and returned the attack across his jaw. The Darkmon realigned it and smirked.

The two stared each other down before throwing a volley of punches at each other. Each collision send a wave of pain throughout their bodies, but Dark was enduring it better. Ryder was close to collapsing. He needed time to recuperate, but Dark wouldn't give him that option. He'll either chase him down or go after Ryan and Jade again. He needed to find some way to end this.

With his mind reacting faster, he also began thinking faster. Dark was able to drain out his energy. He has been able to counter every one of his attacks precisely. He said he was him. He knew everything about him. Even his skills. Which meant one thing. If he could drain energy…

Dark pulled his fists back and threw them as hard as he could. His eyes widened when he saw Ryder catching them. Then, turning the tables completely, his hands erupted in blue aura, sucking the energy right out of Dark.

The Darkmon lord could feel it. He should be worried, but he was rather pleased. "Good…you remember. Ryan told you using this technique was dangerous. Yet you went against his orders and self-taught yourself. You must feel pretty ashamed, don't you, Ryder?"

Ryder growled. "Shut…UP!" He increased the energy draining process.

The Darkmon chuckled. "Very well…two can play at this game!" His hands erupted in purple energy and copied Ryder's actions.

Blue and purple sparks flew off of them as energy circled back and forth between the two, constantly gaining and draining from each other. They stared at each other with determined expressions, seeing who could outlast the other in this power absorption struggle.

During this, Hank and a Lucario scaled down the mountain and saw the events in front of them. The old man gasped. He recognized what was going on and he didn't like it. "Ryder, stop!"

Both opponents drowned the old man's words out as they upped the power of their moves. They could feel it straining their bodies from repeatedly siphoning energy off of one another.

Hank clenched his fist, then pulled out a Pokeball. "Salamance!" He threw it in the air and summoned the dragon to his side. He and Lucario grabbed Ryan and Jade and placed them on his back. "Take these two back to the plane! Hurry!" Salamance nodded and took to the sky, flying far away from the battle.

The ground cracked under the pressure of their auras as they were using their absorption abilities at top strength. They growled determinately as their respective auras grew brighter and brighter, becoming blinding to the bystanders. They were both close to collapsing under their own exhaustion, but refused to drop first. Only one was going to make it out of this power struggle.

As one final ditch effort, they poured all of their power into their energy absorption moves. They were engulfed in their auras, unable to be seen by Hank or Lucario. They kept pushing out their power, hoping to overpower their adversary.

…in the end, it became too much.

Their auras practically exploded in blinding light, blasting both of them away from each other. Both skidded through the ground, leaving a large trail of dirt from their path. They laid in smoking craters, unmoving for quite some time. Hank and Lucario could only stand there in shock, unsure of what to do.

"L…Lucario…is Ryder…"

The jackal turned his attention to the fallen Charmeleon and sensed his aura. Fortunately, he was still breathing, quite a miracle after the spectacle he just witnessed. However…something was…off about his aura. Something…different…

They heard grunting and looked to the side. Dark pulled himself out of the ground and rubbed his head. He was covered in various cuts and bruises. The cuts self-healed themselves, but the bruises took longer to go away. "Man…that was crazy…" He looked at his hand, then raised a brow in curiosity. "Hello, what's this?" He could see his aura surrounding his hand. But…something didn't look right about it. "Wha…" His eyes widened, then he clenched his fist with narrowed eye. "I see…" He glared at Ryder, who was slowly picked himself up.

He, too, was covered in cuts and bruises. He panted heavily as he held his arm. His eyes were back to normal and he could feel the effects of whatever came over him take full effect. He felt extremely lightheaded, almost ready to pass out. "Man…that was insane."

"(Ryder! Behind you!)" Lucario called out.

Ryder whipped his head around. "What-"

A purple slash curved around his left eye, blood spraying across the ground. He screamed in pain and covered the bleeding wound, dropping to his knees. Dark stood behind him with a claw glowing purple. He had a dark expression clouding his face as he turned towards his counterpart. For the first time since he was created, he was angry.

"I hope you're proud of yourself, Ryder." He picked him up by the cloak and held him up to his face, looking him right in his good eye. "You're going to pay for that."

Blood trickled down the left side of his face as Ryder tried to piece together what he was talking about. "I…don't understand…" He gasped as the wind got knocked right out of him.

Dark pulled his fist back and nailed him in the stomach again. "And I'm going to keep in that way…" He punched him again. "You've endangered me…now I'm going to return the favor."

"(Leave him alone!)" Lucario fired an Aura Sphere at him, but Dark backhanded it back to him. He dodged just in the nick of time.

He leaned close to Ryder's ear and whisper, "Remember this day, Ryder. Things will never be the same for you again. You like calling me a monster…let's see how you like it."

He dropped Ryder and walked pass him. Ryder tried to get his breathing in order, but didn't find the time as a sharp chop nailed him in the back of the head. His eyes glazed over as he slowly fell to the ground. His vision started to darken. Sounds became distorted. He was losing his grasp on reality again. It felt like when he was trapped under the Fear Glance. The difference? He was losing consciousness.

He barely felt his head hitting against the ground as his vision grew darker with each passing second. The last thing he could see was a pair of feet running up to him, with someone shouting, 'Hang on, Ryder!'.

Everything went black.

*Flashback Ends*

Ryder took a sigh and leaned back against the wall. He looked at everyone's shocked and horrified expressions. He was kind of expecting those looks when he began speaking. He was worn out from retelling those many years of his life. He wasn't too happy with telling this part of the story. It made him cringe just thinking about it.

He grew uncomfortable when no one spoke for the past five minutes. He didn't think it would take this long for them to react or process the tale. He coughed into his hand, hoping to regain their attention. "Guys?"

Pikachu was the first to snap out of it and stuttered. "W-Wow…that was, uh…wow…"

Buneary felt some tears drip down her face. "Oh Ryder…that sounded horrible…"

He sighed. "It was…"

Snivy crossed her arms. "What exactly happened to you after your fight with Dark?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Wish I knew that myself. I was in a coma for five weeks."

"Five weeks?!" Piplup exclaimed. "That's crazy!"

"Everything was one big blur. I couldn't remember anything after I woke up until Hank explained the situation to me. By the time I woke, I already noticed the forest had begun to grow. Dark was slowly luring Pokemon into the forest and making Darkmon from their DNA. It was a nightmare when I had to explain the incident to my boss." He clenched his fist. "It was my fault all of this happened…"

Buneary reached out to him. "Ryder, it wasn't your fault…"

"Yes, it was. If I just kept a hold of the vial myself, none of this would have happened. If I went after the seed instead of Jade, none of this would have happened!" He clenched his head. "But I couldn't! I let my pride and morality cloud my judgment! And now, because of that, Ryan and my friends are gone!"

Oshawott narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean 'gone'?"

He took some calming breaths to relax himself and sighed. "I don't know where they are…no one knows where they are, really. When I woke up, Hank just told me that Ryan left. He never gave me a reason or anything. I thought at first he abandoned me for jeopardizing the mission, but he reassured me that wasn't the case. He still wouldn't tell me why though. Ryan has been off the grid for five years, almost like he vanished from the face of the earth. No one has seen or heard from him ever since.

"All I do know is that it had something to do with Dark. I've been hearing the doctors mentioning his name every so often. That's why I need to beat the Darkmon and destroy them. No matter what. If I do…I'm hoping I can reunite with Ryan, Jade, and the others again."

The group looked at each other, feeling sympathy for the Charmeleon. He obviously missed them dearly. And here he is, wearing himself out just to stop a tyrannical monster. It was quite obviously affecting his health.

Pikachu placed a hand on Ryder's shoulder. "Well…if that's the case, then you have my full support all the way."

Oshawott nodded. "Yeah! We'll show those Darkmon whose boss once we're through with them!" He jumped to his feet and swung his scalchop intimidatingly.

Piplup stood up and pounded his chest. "Same here! I'm not scared of those freaks!"

Buneary couldn't help but give a wry smile. No comment. She shook her head and gave Ryder a sincere one. "I'm in too."

Ryder smiled at his friends, honored by their support. "Thanks…"

Snivy drew everyone's attention over to her with a cough, still leaning against the walls. "I'm not saying I'm not going to help, but there's one thing you all seem to be forgetting." She pointed upward. "Those things kicked our butts when we fought them. It would take a miracle for us to take on the entire population."

Piplup laughed out loud. "Oh please! We didn't lose! It was a tactical retreat! We can totally take those guys on a second time now that we know what we're up against!"

"I wouldn't bet my life on it, Piplup," Ryder spoke up as he rested his chin in his clasped hands. "They have your memories, your battle knowledge and skills, everything that makes you…you. It's like fighting a mirror…a mirror that was given double the power. In your current state of battling, all of you, lasting in a fight with them is very slim."

The penguin frowned. "Well, someone's a downer…"

"I'm not trying to, I'm being realistic here. I've studied the Darkmon for years. They aren't a force to be taken lightly. And, what's worse, with Dark being able to drain energy, coupled with his adaptive cells, he can exploit all of your natural weaknesses. He has control over all Pokémon types, making him a hard foe to combat. And if I can't beat him…"

Oshawott formed a panicked expression. "Are you saying we're already doomed?!"

"I didn't say that. What I'm saying is that we need to weigh our options carefully. We need a strategy, a plan. We need-"

"Training!" Everyone looked at Buneary, who blushed upon seeing she has turned into the center of attention. She giggled nervously. "Hehe…"

Snivy sighed. "Buneary, I don't think practicing your moves is going to turn the battle in our favor."

"No, but remember what Ryder said before. We had exploited techniques. We're trained to battle, but someone like Ryder can counter us with martial arts. What I'm saying is that he should teach us how to use martial arts!"

Ryder's eyes widened. "Say what?"

The grass snake rubbed her chin in thought. "Actually…that isn't a bad idea. Most of these Darkmon are just wild Pokémon. With the exception of Fighting-Types…"

"…we would have an advantage!" Oshawott finished with a wide grin. "That's brilliant, Snivy!"

"Hey, it was MY idea!" Buneary exclaimed.

"Hold it, hold it!" Ryder stood up and paced around the room. "Do you know how long it would take me to teach you the basics? Plus, you can't expect me to teach you all at once! And, with the Darkmon lurking around, we'll be spotted from topside!"

"You have any better ideas?" Snivy asked, raising a brow.

He clutched his head. "Well, no, but…"

"With all due respect, Ryde…" Pikachu started as he rose to his feet, "We're pretty quick learners. And we have handled some pretty insane stuff over our journey. Whatever we have to endure, we'll suck it up and do it."

He narrowed his eyes. "You do realize I won't be going easy on any of you if I agree to this. And, you will have to be prepared for things outside your comfort zone."

Piplup crossed his flippers. "I think we can handle it." Everyone lined up next to him and nodded in agreement.

Ryder stared down the Pokémon in front of him. Their determined expressions…they're just like the one he had when he wanted to be trained by Ryan. It was actually kind of nostalgic to see that expression again. A time where he wasn't a part of a covert task force or at war with an entire species. It reminded him of the good old days.

These five Pokémon we're going to risk their lives to help, not just him but, the entire world. They were pretty brave to be doing something like this. Training them won't be easy, if experience has taught him anything. They may be his friends, but he wasn't gonna go easy on them. But he knew they could handle it. With everything they've been through, this was just another obstacle they needed to overcome.

With that, he closed his eyes and smirked. "Well, alright, if you say so. Starting tomorrow…" His eyes snapped open, flashing blue for a brief moment. "…prepare for the worse."