Chapter Two: New Tao City
New Tao City
"So, this is New Tao City." Shade said, her best friends, Psy the Ralts and Pyro the Eevee walking beside her as well as her new friends, Ace the Gengar and Shadow the Clefable. "It's huge."
"You should see Dragonsdale." Ace said. "That place makes this one seem like your house by comparison."
"My house isn't small." Shade said.
"Compared to a city it is." Shadow said.
"True." Shade surrendered.
"So" Shadow asked. "What's our first stop?"
"Well" Shade said, recalling what she had been told earlier. "My mother said to stop by and see Professor Evergreen in her lab so that I can get a Pokédex."
"Pokédexes are bullsh!t." Ace said. "Pretty much everything that humans think they know about Pokémon is false."
"We went over this." Shade said. "I know that. But, a Pokédex carries a person's trainer ID. I can't even take the gym challenge without it."
"So" Ace thought out loud. "It has more of a purpose than just spouting bullsh!t."
"Yeah." Psy said. "It does. It's just one of those things that we have to have."
"Well, let's go get it." Ace said, walking in front of the group.
"Allright." Shade said, pulling out a Town Map her mother had packed with her. "Her lab is on Tenth Street which should be to our left."
The group looked left, noticing the building on the road marked LAB. They walked over to it, the doors automatically opening for them.
They walked in to find a woman wearing a white lab coat. She had her back to the five individuals, but when she heard them, she turned around. Ace and Shadow gasped when they saw her face.
She was wearing a black, thigh length dress that seemed tattered. Shen had boots that covered almost all of her legs. The boots had platforms on them that were about an inch and a half. They were tattered as well. The dress had gloves attached that were made of the same material and seemed to resemble claws in the slightest degree. Red stones lined the collar area of her dress. The dress was a low cut, but not low enough to reveal anything. She had a band around her neck with a red stone attached to it. Her hair was as white as her dress was black and went down almost to her legs. Her lips were drawn into an expression of coldness. Her eyes were an icy blue and were her most intimidating feature.
"Can I help you?" she asked in a cold, yet pleasant voice.
"We're here to see the professor." Psy said, immediately remembering that humans couldn't understand Pokémon.
"She's out." The woman replied, to the shock of Shade, Psy, and Pyro.
"Yes, I can understand you." The woman said. "I'm assisting the professor today. My name is Darkora. What are yours?"
"My name is Shade." Shade introduced herself. "The Ralts here is Psy and the Eevee is Pyro. They're my partners. The Gengar is Ace and the Clefable is Shadow."
"I've met those two." Dakrora said.
"So, you're an assistant now?" Ace asked.
"No." Darkora said. "I'm just here to check on my old friend, Professor Evergreen."
"Is she in?" Pyro asked. "We need to hurry to the Gym and beat some bitches up."
"She's a lot like you." Darkora said to Ace.
"I noticed the same thing." Shade said.
"Well" Darkora said, pulling a Pokéball out of her belt. "I can't just hand you a Pokédex without seeing if you're worthy of being a trainer."
"You want to battle me?" Shade asked, confused.
"Yes." Darkora said. "I can't have unqualified trainers running about and causing problems for the region, now can I?"
"I guess not." Shade agreed. "So, let's get started."
"Allright." Darkora said, pulling out a second Pokéball from her belt. "This is a two-on-two match. I'll fight your partner's there."
Darkora pointed at Pyro and Psy, the two of them stepping up a couple of steps.
"I don't want them involved." Darkora said, pointing at Ace and Shadow. "They're too tough for this."
"Are they really that powerful?" Shade asked.
"This is to test a rookie trainer and her Pokémon." Darkora said. "They're above the rookie rank."
"We weren't going to fight anyway." Ace said. "I've seen what you use to train rookies. It's not that strong."
"Hey" Darkora said, stopping Ace's comment. "Don't insult him. He's to train rookies."
"Whatever." Ace said.
"I wanna fight first." Pyro said, walking in front of Darkora.
"Allright." Darkora said, tossing out her first Pokémon, a Poochyena. The Poochyena growled at Pyro, who growled back. Both Pokémon lunged at each other, using their Bite attacks. Pyro, however, seemed to have a slight advantage and clamped her teeth down on the Poochyena. The Poochyena cried out in pain, but Pyro didn't let up. In fact, she began to repeatedly bite down on the Poochyena's neck, causing him to cry out in even more pain. Eventually, the Poochyena fainted from Pyro' Bite attacks.
Shade, Darkora, Psy, and Shadow were staring in shock.
"What happened?" Darkora asked. "Your Eevee shouldn't have been able to overpower my Poochyena like that."
"I trained her." Ace said. "Though that was unexpected, I did teach her to be more powerful and violent."
"Well, it paid off." Shade said. "Pyro's much stronger now."
"Now it's time for your Ralts to have a turn." Darkora said, throwing her other Pokéball. Out of it exploded a Zorua, which stood in front of Psy and moved around her seductively. Psy moved shyly away behind Shade's leg, the Zorua's attitude unnerving her.
"It seems like my Zorua likes your Ralts." Darkora said, laughing at the scene.
"Psy, use Disarming Voice." Shade said, the first actual command she'd given to her Pokémon since she'd been friends with them (some trainers have the ability to communicate telepathically with their Pokémon for move commands or their Pokémon are skilled enough to fight for themselves—for Shade's team it is a mix of the two—her Pokémon usually fight for themselves with only one or two commands from Shade (mostly on dodging)—Shade rarely gives a spoken command—in this case, it's because Psy is too nervous to attack).
Psy nodded and cried a Pokémon cry, the voice itself becoming extremely pleasant and cute. But sounds can be deceiving, for the Zorua began to shake, grabbing his ears and rolling on the ground.
Psy walked over to the Fox Pokémon and used her psychic abilities to throw him across the room.
"Nice." Shadow said, giving the young Ralts a thumbs-up. "Your training's paid off as well."
"So." Darkora said, recalling her Pokémon. "It would seem as though you have skills that I didn't see. You're ready to take on the Pokémon challenge."
"Yes." Shade said, pumping her fist in the air.
"What's going on in here?" a woman's voice came from the front door of the lab. It belonged to a woman that appeared to be in her thirties and had green hair. She was wearing a blue shirt underneath her lab coat with pants to match. She was wearing simple heels that raised her feet by one inch. This was Professor Evergreen.
"I'm just seeing if this trainer here is qualified." Darkora said, putting her Pokéballs away.
"Thank you, Darkora" Professor Evergreen said, shaking the white haired girl's hand. "But I think she's qualified anyway."
"She beat my team in less than a minute." Darkora said.
Professor Evergreen's jaw dropped open at this.
"Don't worry." Darkora assured the professor. "It was my rookie training team."
"Oh." Professor Evergreen said. "That makes more sense."
"She's taking on the league challenge." Darkora said.
"Then I'll need to get you a Pokédex." Professor Evergreen addressed Shade. "It will be your way of access as well as keep your ID."
"Thank you." Shade said, smiling sweetly. Professor Evergreen walked into the back room of the lab and returned with a small red rectangle.
"This is your Pokédex." Professor Evergreen said, handing the rectangle to Shade. "It will tell you data on any Pokémon you encounter in your journey. It's been updated since scientists have discovered more information about certain species of Pokémon."
"I told you it was bullsh!t." Ace whispered to Shade.
"Cool." Shade said, ignoring the Gengar and taking the Pokédex from the professor.
"Why don't you try it out on your Pokémon?" Professor Evergreen said.
"Okay." Shade said, pointing her new Pokédex at Psy.
"Ralts" the machine spoke as a picture of a Ralts appeared on the screen. "The Emotion Pokémon. A Ralts has feelers in its horns that can pick up emotions. If it feels pleasant emotions, especially from its trainer, it warms up slightly."
"Interesting." Shade said. She then pointed it at her Eevee, the screen showing a picture of an Eevee.
"Eevee." It spoke. "The Evolution Pokémon. An Eevee can evolve into several different Pokémon, each of a different type. Its evolutionary path depends on its will or the type of Stone involved in training it."
"Woah." Shade said. She then pointed the Pokédex at Ace.
"Error." The machine spoke, the word 'error' appearing on the screen. "Data not found. Pokémon unknown."
"That's odd." Professor Evergreen said, taking the Pokédex and pointing it at Ace, which got the same message. "It should have data on Gengar."
"Point it at Shadow." Darkora said. Shade obeyed, the same message appearing on the screen and the same recording playing.
"That's very odd." Professor Evergreen said, looking the Pokédex over. "I know there's data on Clefable in the Pokédex."
"It's fine." Darkora said, looking at Ace and Shadow, who snickered and giggled respectively. "I'm sure it will be fixed later."
"I hope so." Professor Evergreen said, starting to look flustered. "I'd hate for other trainers to have this problem. What if this happens with other Pokémon?"
"Then it will be fixed in a later update." Darkora said, standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."
"First I want my lab coat back." Professor Evergreen said.
"But I love it!" Darkora whined jokingly, running towards the door, Professor Evergreen on her heels.
"So" Shade said, after the two of them had left the lab. "What should we do now?"
"I say we head to the Pokémon Center and let Psy and Pyro rest up." Shadow said. "After they've rested up, we can go to the Gym."
"Cool." Shade said. "I saw a shopping mall on the map, so we should hit that after the Gym."
"Boring." Ace said. Pyro and Psy nodded in agreement.
"We need supplies for the journey." Shade said. "I don't have any Pokéballs and I'm running out of Potions."
"Well, I don't want to go shopping." Ace said.
"Me either." Pyro said.
"I'd like to stay out as well." Psy said sweetly.
"I'll go shopping with you, Shade" Shadow said, taking Shade's hand.
"Thanks, Shadow." Shade said. "Now, let's go to the Center and let our two fighters rest."
"Okay." The four Pokémon agreed, walking out of the Lab.
In the Pokémon Center
"Hello." The pink haired nurse greeted the five group members as they entered the Pokémon Center. "How can I help you?"
"These two need to get a little rest for the gym battle." Shade said, indicating Psy and Pyro.
"They don't seem to be hurt." The Nurse, whose name just so happened to be Joy, said, looking over the two Pokémon.
"They just need to rest." Shade said. "Do you have a room we can use?"
"No." Joy said, shaking her head. "We don't have any available rooms for simple rest. But we can just give them a Simple Rejuvenation."
"What's that like?" Psy asked.
"In case you asked what that was" Joy said to Psy (most people can't understand Pokémon, remember). "Simple Rejuvenation is a quick and painless process where we rapidly heal minor injuries and fatigue."
"Cool." Pyro said (though, to Joy it sounded like "Ee ee vee eev" –I won't do that very often, due to the fact that it is complicated and a waste of space— it's for short points).
"You know what" Joy said, snapping her fingers. "Instead of just assuming you're saying what I think you're saying, why don't I just show you?"
The two "patients" nodded in agreement. Joy called into the back room of the Center for Chansey. Chansey (who was a Chansey— no shocker there) walked out of the back room and shot a strange looking, pink colored beam at Pyro and Psy. The beam didn't hurt them, but instead it healed them, restoring their energy.
When Chansey had finished rejuvenating the two Pokémon, she bowed at them, shaking their hands before walking into the back room to finish what she'd been doing before she was called.
"Thanks." Shade, Psy, and Pyro said (though Joy could only understand Shade).
"Well, I'll maybe see you later after your Gym challenge." Joy said, waving to the five beings as they left her Center.
In front of the New Tao City Gym
"Well" Shade said, taking in a deep breath as she looked at the gym. "We're here."
The Gym itself looked like a simple building, like a small school. Shade and her friends walked into the gym, ready to take on Korra, the Gym Leader.
Inside the gym
"Man, I'm so bored!" she whined, the Gym aides (those trainers that are in gyms in main canon games) groaning at her plight.
"Korra." One of them said. "We don't care. You need to stop complaining and get to work."
"Fine." Korra said, looking out the window. "It seems as though there's a trainer ready to accept my challenge now."
In the gym battling arena
"Hello" the attendant said pleasantly, showing Shade and her friends to the gym's arena. "Please wait here until Korra is ready to challenge you."
"Okay." Shade said, her Pokémon waiting next to her.
"Ace" Shadow said to her best friend. "Where did you get those drinks?"
"The machine out front." Ace said, having had a few soft drinks with him. "They have them really cheap."
"Why did you get all those drinks?" Shade asked her Ghostly friend.
"I was thirsty." Ace said. "You guys can have some if you want."
"We're good." Psy and Pyro said, not needing anything slowing them down for their fight.
"How did you carry those with those arms?" Shadow asked, confused.
"I'm a master of the shadows." Ace said, chuckling.
"So" Shade said, making a mental list. "What four moves do you guys know? Just so I can think of a quick strategy."
"Four moves?" Ace asked. "What the hell told you Pokémon were only confined to four moves?"
"The Pokédex." Shade said.
"That's bullsh!t." Ace said. "It only tells you a Pokémon's most recent moves. They can use any moves they've learned since birth. It's just a Pokémon usually has four or five moves they're really adept at and they use those."
"Oh." Shade said, understanding. "That makes snense."
"I'm here, let's do this." A girl said as she stepped out of the Gym Leader's quarters.
The girl was dressed in a grey shirt with black pants. She had grey shoes that had white laces. They had wings on the side as a logo or emblem. Her hair was brown, as were her eyes. She had a tattoo on her arm that resembled a birdcage.
"You must be Korra." Shade said to the Gym leader.
"That I am." Korra said, flipping her hair. "Now, let's get this going. But first, why does your Gengar have seven orange sodas with him?"
"He's thirsty." Shade said. "And some of those are for the rest of us."
"Whatever." Korra said, pulling a Pokéball off of her belt and throwing it on the ground, a small white bird Pokémon with an orange head, a Fletchling, popping out of it. "Let's do this."
"Yes." Shade said, Pyro moving up into place to fight the first Pokémon Korra sent out.
"Now, listen up." The referee on the side of the arena said in a loud voice. "This is a two on two match between challenger Shade and Gym leader Korra. The battle is over when both members of a trainer's team are unable to battle."
"Sounds good to me." Shade said, Pyro getting into a battle stance.
"You're going down, Eevee." The Fletchling said, glaring at Pyro.
"Bring it on, Tweety Bird." Pyro said, grinning a toothy grin.
"It seems that they're taunting each other." Korra said. Shade, Ace, Psy, and Shadow giggled (Ace chuckled), knowing exactly was being said.
"Let it begin." The Fletchling said, charging at Pyro, his wings glowing with Flying type energy.
The Fletchling hit Pyro with a Wing Attack, knocking her onto the ground.
Shade bit her bottom lip when she saw her best friend down for the count.
"It looks like you have the wrong Pokémon." Ace said, his tone normal.
"how dare you?!" Shade shouted at Ace. Even Shadow didn't expect what was happening.
"She's my best friend!" Shade shouted at the Gengar. "I won't let you insult her like that!"
"I just think that you should have gone with a stronger—" Ace said just before his tone changed abruptly. "Do it now, Pyro!"
Pyro jumped up and charged at the Fletchling, who tried to use another Wing Attack.
Pyro dodged the blow and swung her brown and white tail at the Fletchling.
"A Tail Whip won't do any good against me." The Fletchling said as he saw what Pyro was doing. "My ability, Homeostasis (this is a new ability—I made original abilities and moves for this fic, so expect that), prevents my stats from being lowered."
"Oh, this isn't a Tail Whip." Pyro said, her tone low and threatening.
"What do you mean?" the Fletchling asked, confused. His answer came in the form of Pyro's tail slamming into him, knocking him into the wall behind Korra.
"It's an Iron Tail." Pyro said, turning around and walking back to Shade, Psy moving up to take her place.
"You tricked us all with that one." Shade said, chuckling at her newest friend. "Well played."
"How much did you train them?" Shade asked Ace and Shadow.
"Enough." Ace said, grinning as he began to drink another soda. "Now, it's time to see if Shadow's pupil can beat her opponent."
"Are you sure you're a rookie trainer?" Korra asked Shade.
"I just started my journey yesterday." Shade said.
"Well, you have some skill." Korra said. "But can you beat my second Pokémon, Pidgeotto?"
"Pidgeotto?" Ace asked. "Isn't that a little too powerful for rookie trainers?"
"I think so." Shadow said. "But, it might be a little weaker for that very reason."
"Hmm." Shade said, thinking. "This might be a challenge."
Korra's Pokéball opened to reveal a large golden brown colored bird with long, red, yellow, and black feathers behind its head that resembled hair flew out of it.
"Pidgeotto, use Gust." Korra said, her Pidgeotto obeying. She flapped her wings, a huge amount of wind rushing from them. Psy strained against the wind, the Gust threatening to blow her smaller body into the wall.
"Psy" Shade said. "Use Psychic to throw off the Pidgeotto."
"Thanks for the advice." Psy said, focusing her Psychic power onto the Pidgeotto, trying to stop its attack.
"That won't work on me!" the Pidgeotto shouted, trying to flap harder.
"Then maybe this will." Psy said, intensifying her energy output. The Pidgeotto was grabbed by Psy's Psychic power and slammed on the ground, knocking her out.
Ace spit out the drink he was drinking as Shade, Korra and Pyro's jaws dropped to the floor. Shadow's expression was one of minor smugness.
"How do you like that?" she asked Ace, playfully elbowing him.
"Holy sh!t!" Ace said. "That's impressive. What did you teach her?"
"Well" Korra said, walking over to Shade. "It seems that you've beaten me."
"I guess so." Shade said. "But I couldn't have done it without Pyro and Psy."
"Well, you deserve the Arial Badge." Korra said, handing what looked like pilot wings to Shade.
"I think you deserve this one." Shade said, handing it to Psy.
"Well, I'm going to get some sleep." Korra said, reentering her quarters. "I'm sure you can find your own way out."
"You did a good job, Pyro" Shade said, scratching Pyro behind her ears. "You too Psy."
Shade rubbed Psy's head affectionately, causing Psy to warm up slightly. Then something strange happened to her.
Psy suddenly began trembling as her body began to glow. Shade and the others began to stare, knowing that this signified evolution.
But as suddenly as the light shone, it died down, revealing an exhausted Psy.
"What happened?" Shade asked, running over to her best friend.
"Hmm." Ace said, thinking over something.
"Something on your mind?" Shadow asked her best friend.
"Yeah." Ace said. "I'll tell you later."
"Psy, are you okay?" Shade asked the young Ralts.
"I—I don't know." Psy said. "I felt like I was evolving, but then it stopped."
"We need to get that checked out." Shade said.
"We should do it later." Ace said. "She probably backed out of it unconsciously."
"What do you mean?" Shade asked.
"Sometimes a Pokémon can forcibly stop its own evolution." Shadow explained. "But some do it unconsciously."
"Is that what happened to me?" Psy asked in her quiet voice.
"Well—" Shadow started to say before Ace put a hand over her mouth.
"Possibly." He said. "It's the most likely answer, but if it happens again, we'll get a Psychic type to look at you."
"Okay." Psy said. "I guess it's no big deal right now."
"Now." Shade said, crouching into a ball while still standing up.
"LET'S GO SHOPPING!" she shouted, jumping up and down.
"You still want to go shopping?" Ace asked, groaning.
"Yeah." Shade said. "I told you I need supplies for our journey."
"Whatever." Ace said, realizing he wasn't going to win this argument. "Just go."
"Yay!" Shade shouted.
New Tao City Shopping Mall- outside
"How long do you plan on being in there?" Ace asked, clearly not wanting to enter the shopping mall.
"We're not going to be in there long." Shade said, taking Shadow's hand. "I'm just going to get Pokéballs, Potions, Antidotes, and some other supplies."
"By the way" Shade said, pulling some poké and handing it to Ace. "Here's two thousand poke in case you want to get something to eat. We might be in there a while."
Ace and Pyro groaned while Psy just sighed.
"Don't worry." Shadow said to Ace, Pyro, and Psy. "I'll make sure she doesn't take long."
"Come on, Shadow." Shade said, practically dragging the Clefable girl into the store. "I've got some supplies I want to buy and I need some company."
"I'm beginning to regret my decision to go with you." Shadow said as she was dragged into the store.
"Good luck, Shadow." Pyro said, her and Ace laughing while Psy giggled. "You're gonna need it."
"You guys are assholes!" Shadow called out jokingly before the doors to the mall shut out the sound of her voice.
"So" Psy said as she realized the three of them would have a lot of free time on their hands. "what should we do?"
"I was thinking of reading my favorite fanfiction." Ace said. "Do you guys still have fanfiction here? It's been a while since I looked."
"Where have you been for the past few millennia?" Pyro said, scoffing at the Gengar. "Travelling through time?! Of course we still have fanfiction."
"Sweet." Ace said, pumping his fist. "After the amount of time it's been since I read a fanfiction, I think it's updated. That third movie's taking forever to come out."
"If you're referring to the one I think you're referring to" Psy said, her tone sympathetic. "I think you'll be disappointed."
"Why?" Ace said.
"Here's why." Psy said, pulling out a pocket computer. It powered up and she went to the right website.
"There's a new entry here." Ace said, taking the pocket computer from the young Ralts. He clicked on the new entry to show two words on an almost blank page.
"Chuck Norris." Ace read aloud, soon after beginning to laugh. "Well played, sir. Well played." (If you get that reference in the previous eight paragraphs, it was in response to a review I received in Azure Light—also, I just had to put it here— it went better here than Team Lunar Fire— and also kudos to you for getting it)
"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna snooze." Pyro said, laying down on a bench. Ace got up next to her and also lay down to go to sleep.
"Are you sure we should sleep here?" Psy asked cautiously. "What if someone tries to catch us?"
"It'll be fine." Ace said. "I can sense people's auras. If anyone's near us, I'll know."
"Okay." Psy said, getting up with her best friend and her newest friend. "I guess we could sleep for a minute."
Psy lay down and in less than a minute she was fast asleep. Soon both she and Ace were having a dream.
In Psy's dream (note that all Pokémon and people dream of themselves as humans instead of as Pokémon—the reason for this will be explained later)
She walked down the hallway, one hand clutching her chest lightly in fear so as to attempt to slow her racing heart's beating. The thing that was chasing her had cornered her once before, but she wouldn't let it manage it again.
She ran by a reflective surface and glanced at herself, something she'd never really done before, slowing down as she did so. She appeared to be almost five feet tall. She noticed that she was wearing a white pair of pants as well as white shoes. Her shirt was white. She wore no gloves, so her fair skin was showing. She had shorter green hair that went down and covered her eyes with two little red horns sticking up like bunny ears. With the speed she was going, her hair blew out of her face, allowing her to see that her eyes were red with a small amount of black mixed in. Her face looked kind and gentle.
She quickly quickened her pace. Now was not the time to look at herself in this distorted hallway. She had to evade her pursuer first.
She ran as fast as she could, stealing glances behind her to see if what was chasing her was still chasing her, but she couldn't see it. She started to slow down, catching her breath as she scanned the room with her psychic powers. Finding nothing, she stopped completely, dropping to a knee from near exhaustion. Sweat began to bead on her forehead, her breathing heavy.
But, she still couldn't rest. The thing that had been chasing her materialized from the shadows, its appearance Dark and terrifying. She backed up, not rising from the floor, as the creature moved closer, one eye glowing blue as she stared at it, absolute fear in her eyes as they constricted and vibrated similar to an anime. Her mouth was agape as the fear came from her mouth in short, shallow breaths.
The creature stared at her, its blue eye piercing into her soul. It chuckled, impaling her with one of its clawed hands.
The real world
Psy woke up with a jolt, her body drenched in sweat. Pyro had woken up and was standing over her, nudging her with her nose.
"Pyro" Psy said, hugging her best friend. "I had the most terrifying nightmare."
"It can't be as bad as the one Ace is having." Pyro said, pointing her head in the direction of the Gengar.
Ace was trembling in his sleep, muttering something about a girl or something the two young Pokémon couldn't make out.
"What's he dreaming about?" Psy asked.
"Don't know." Pyro said, shrugging. "Maybe you could help with that."
"What do you mean?" Psy asked.
"Can't you use Dream Eater to see into Ace's dream?" Pyro asked.
"I don't know." Psy said. "If it's enough to scare someone who seems as fearless as Ace, then it must be terrifying."
"We need to help him, though." Pyro said.
"Right." Psy said, taking one of Pyro's paws in her own small hand. She touched her hand to Ace's head, taking her and Pyro into the realm of Ace's dreams.
In Ace's dream
Pyro and Psy found themselves in what looked like a battlefield. There were human bodies littering the ground, each of them mutilated in some way. All of them seemed to have some formidable power, maybe even close to godlike. Every one of the bodies radiated Dark energy, indicating that they were killed by a powerful Dark type.
"Why are we humans?" Pyro asked, looking down at herself. Psy looked like she did in her dream.
Pyro was wearing a brown and white skirt with a brown shirt. She had on brown shoes that had white laces. She had on brown gloves that were fingerless. Her hair was brown and went down to her shoulders. Her eyes were brown and liquid and seemed deep.
Psy actually blushed a little when she saw Pyro's dream form. She hadn't expected her to be this attractive. Not that she was attracted to Pyro, it's just she was unprepared for how stunning her best friend looked.
"What?" Pyro asked, turning to her best friend. "Do I look good or what?"
"Let's focus on why we're here." Psy said.
"By the way" Pyro said, looking down at herself. "Why are we humans?"
"I guess it's because Pokémon used to be humans" Psy said. "Humans were the only creatures and they could turn into a certain Pokémon to power up. I guess today's Pokémon haven't forgotten that."
"Oh." Pyro said. "I guess that makes sense. But I still look like a knockout."
"In more ways than one." Psy said, giggling.
"I know, right?" Pyro said, looking herself over. "Now let's find Ace in this crazy dream."
"Right." Psy said.
The two of them walked around the battlefield, taking note of the battle. Eventually they came upon a strange sight.
They saw a boy a few yards in front of them. He had on a black shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a black jacket. He had on a crimson red scarf. His back was to the two girls, but if they could see they would see that he had black eyes with some blue mixed in. His hair was as black as his clothes. He seemed to be kneeling over something.
"Is that Ace?" Pyro whispered.
"I guess." Psy whispered back. "But I can't tell. Let's just quietly watch for a while until we know for sure."
"Okay." Pyro whispered. "But it seems like something is happening."
The boy began saying something that the girls could just make out.
With the being
"I'm sorry." He said to the body of the female that he hugged to his chest. She was wearing a green shirt under a white jacket. She had white pants on with white boots. She had a locket shaped like a rose petal around her neck. Her hair was as black as his. Her eyes, which were closed, but he knew what color they were, were a liquid black and had red mixed into them. Her face seemed to radiate her grace and beauty. She lay lifelessly in his arms.
"It's all my fault" he said again. "I caused this."
"You see." Said a dark and sinister voice from beside him. "This is the result of your power. This is your fault. Every last bit of it."
"What do you want?" he said to the second voice, his tone turning to anger.
"To tell you Ace." The second voice said, materializing next to him. "Exactly what your power will do to those around you."
The owner of the second voice looked just like him, save for the fact that his hair was white and his eyes were red.
"I won't become you." Ace (the first boy) said, standing up and facing the owner of the second voice. "I won't give in to you."
"You fool." The voice said, stepping nearer to Ace. "You're already more like me than you realize. I am the Joker to your Batman. I am the yin to your yang. I am the Darkness to your— um— not so Darkness."
"You're a heartless killer." Ace said, his tone getting angrier.
"Don't forget" the second voice said. "You've killed your fair share of people as well. Remember your clone and Shadow's? Maxie, Archie, and Cyrus? Zygarde? All of these you've killed in your recent days."
"I did what I had to." Ace said. "For her sake."
"Well, she's gone now." The second voice said. "But let's not forget your biggest kill."
The owner of the second voice leaned closer to Ace, whispering in his ear. Psy could hear with her psychic powers and allowed Pyro to listen in.
"You killed Lugia." The owner of the second voice said, his tone sinister, like a villain who's beaten his hero.
"SHUT THE F #$ UP!" Ace shouted, his voice a mixture of anger and sadness as he backhanded the second voice with his fist. "Don't you DARE try to use that against me!"
The owner of the second voice landed a ways away, sitting up to see Ace walking towards him, his aura Dark and angry.
"You want me to become like you?" Ace said, his skin turning pure black and his hair turning white. It moved similar to a fire, as did his body. His scarf became like a crimson fire as well. His eyes grew larger and turned blood red, their posture representing anger.
"Fine!" he shouted, pure Dark energy appearing in his hands. "I'll become like you!"
He picked up the second voice and began punching him repeatedly. Psy and Pyro looked on, horrified at how Ace was acting. They'd never expected it from him, despite knowing him for such a short time.
Ace picked up the second voice by the neck. The second voice looked at him, a strange smile on his bloody, broken face.
"You've done well." He said, chuckling. "But you and I both know this won't erase the past."
"shut up, Nightmare!" Ace shouted. "I've taken enough of your sh!t! I am not your puppet! This is my mind! You have no control here!"
"Fool." Nightmare said, laughing. "You can't get rid of me! But, because you played the game well, I'll show you what's happening to your girlfriend right now. But don't hate me. I'm just the messenger."
"What do you mean?" Ace asked, both angry and confused at the same time.
"This." Nightmare said, touching Ace's forehead with his hand.
Ace saw flashing visions. All of them were of Shadow. She was in pain, being tortured. He could feel her pain, see what she saw. He cried out, both in pain and sadness for what was happening to his best friend, his oldest friend. Tears streamed down his face as his body shifted back to what it was before. He released Nightmare, who knelt down beside him.
"We'll continue this conversation later." He said, walking past Ace. "Right now, I think your main concern would be saving your girlfriend. And by the way, your other friend's in the same boat. I saw her, but your girlfriend's stronger than that."
Ace didn't say anything. He was still in shock from seeing her in her condition.
"Oh" Nightmare said, turning and facing Ace. "If you're wondering how I saw what was happening to her, I used your link."
Ace just sat there. After about five seconds he stood up. He looked at Pyro and Psy, who had been quietly watching him the entire time.
"So." He said, wiping his eyes, his tone returning to its normal pitch and emotion. "What do you think of my dream realm?"
"It looks like a battlefield." Pyro said, looking at the surroundings.
"That's because it's a nightmare." Ace said. "I'd change it, but we've got more pressing matters to attend to."
"What do you mean 'change it'?" Psy asked.
"It's my mind." Ace explained. "I have total control over it."
"So" Pyro asked. "What's this pressing matter?"
"I think our friends are in trouble." Ace said. "If my inner demons are telling the truth."
"Inner demons?" Psy asked.
"I'll tell you later." Ace said. "It's a long story. I saw them being tortured and I won't stand for that."
"So, what are we gonna do about it?" Pyro asked.
"Let's leave my dream realm." Ace said. "It would be more practical to talk out there."
"Okay." Psy and Pyro said. Ace touched their foreheads and a bright light flashed in front of their eyes.
In the real world
"So, where are Shade and Shadow?" Psy asked, the three of them back to looking like Pokémon.
"I don't know." Ace said. "But let me do something first."
Ace snapped his fingers and his forme changed into what he looked like in his dream.
"Why'd you do that?" Pyro asked.
"We would be less conspicuous." Ace said. "If we went looking for them like we were before, we'd be prime targets for trainers and certain perverts. Besides, this forme is more powerful than the Gengar forme."
"What do you mean?" Psy asked. "Wouldn't a Pokémon be stronger than a human?"
"That Gengar forme was just an illusion." Ace said. "I used my Dark powers to create it. That's not even my real pokéforme."
"Pokéforme?" Psy and Pyro asked.
"I have a pokéforme I can enter." Ace said. "That makes me even more powerful, but I can't use it very often because it hurts those around me."
"That's terrible." Psy said.
"It's fine." Ace said. "It's not very often that I have to use it."
"So, where are Shadow and Shade?" Pyro asked. "We need to find them. If they're in the condition you say they're in, we need to find them fast."
"The first place we should look" Ace said. "Is in the store. That would be ideal. Though, it's been about five hours since they entered. Damn dream time difference."
"Right." The two young Pokémon said, walking beside Ace.
"Oh, I just realized something." Ace said. "If anyone asks, you guys are my Pokémon and I'm a rookie trainer preparing for the first gym."
"Why?" Psy asked.
"It would be way too hard to explain to people the story." Ace said. "And we don't want the people that may have taken them to know we're coming for them."
"Right." Pyro said. "Now let's go and find our friends."
The three of them walked into the mall to find their close friends.
With Shadow
She was barely conscious. They had chained her to a wall after she'd lost her illusion and reverted back to human forme. Her body had blood coming from multiple points all over. She was in pain constantly since she'd been brought to her current location. She was too weak to try to break out. If she'd been a little stronger, her chains would have no effect and she could free Shade, who was also undergoing similar things. But, through all of it, she held faith in the one person that she knew would come for her; the one she always trusted. She only hoped he'd come before it was too late.
A scientist came in with several tools, her eyes widening at the sight. A few seconds later, her screams were heard from outside the door of the cell she was in.
With Shade
She slowly opened her eyes. She found herself chained to a wall. She could vividly remember some of the things they had done to her since she'd arrived at her location. Most of them involved painfully taking her blood. She hoped Shadow was okay. She'd seen her change from a Clefable into a human girl. That was strange, but she couldn't worry about that right now. She had to find a way to get both herself and Shadow out of this horrible place.
A scientist walked into her cell. He had some tools in his hands and Shade wondered what they were for. Her eyes widened as the conclusion came to her.
"What's wrong?" a voice came from behind the scientist. "Are you scared yet?"
Shade sat up a little straighter. That voice was familiar to her. She'd heard it from somewhere, but where? Her eyes grew even wider as she recognized the source of the voice.
"What's wrong, dear sister?" the owner of the voice said, stepping into view. "Miss me?"
well, i do believe i'm trying to earn an M rating. Even at this early stage. Well, enjoy and review.