Chapter Thirteen: More School and a Story
Pokémorph High School-psychology 101
"Okay class" the teacher said, folding her arms. "It's time for us to explore our personalities and feelings.
The teacher was wearing a green near-translucent dress that went all the way down to her feet. Her shoes, which could be seen when she took a step, were green and transparent. Under her dress she wore a lighter green shirt and shorts. Her arms were covered by the fabric of the green dress. Or intervals on her arms there were two light green ovals the color of her undershirt at the sections were her arms divided (they were on either side of her elbows). The dress was connected to gloves that were the same color, each having a large red dot on the palms of her hands. She wore a hood the same color as the dress that had two long "ears" on top of it. Her face looked intelligent and understanding. Her eyes, though they were grey and seemed to have a black stare, were actually full of life and psychic energy. The nameplate on her desk read: "Mrs. R.E. Uniclus".
The entire class groaned. Rumors had already spread about how the psychology class went at the point they were at. The previous students had mentioned things about the current segment of the class being extremely strange and personal.
"Settle down, class." Mrs. Uniclus said, clapping her hands. "We're not going to get mushy or anything like that. We're just going to analyze our emotions and attempt to interpret them as a class."
"But Mrs. U." Dyna (the Voltorb girl—ch. 7) complained, her white hair getting in her eyes. "We're fighters, not psychologists. We don't know much about our feelings. In fact, the majority of us aren't even psychic types."
"Well, that's where we're going to start." Mrs. U said, slapping her hands together. "I've prepared a lesson for understanding genders."
"But this is psychology" Conner said. "Shouldn't we let that be told to us in anatomy?"
"This isn't learning physical differences" Mrs. U explained. "We're showing what we think of the opposite gender. That means we'll find out what the girls think of the boys and what the boys think of the girls."
Mrs. U looked around the room to see who would be her first victim—er, I mean, volunteer. Her eyes finally stopped on a certain individual.
"Ah" she said. "Mr. Hunter. He seems to be having a nice nap."
The individual in question was, indeed, having a nice nap. He and Shadow had scooted their desks closer to each other so that they were touching. Ace was laying over both Shadow's desk and his own. Shadow, in turn, was laying on top of him, her entire upper body resting on Ace's back. Both were fast asleep.
Eon, who was next to them, was also snoozing soundly. She had scooted the empty desk next to her and was laying between the two seat portions of them. She was also snoring a little bit, other students noticing it. Part of her orange hair was falling into her mouth.
"Somebody please wake up Mr. Hunter for us." Mrs. U said, folding her arms. Every student around the Unholy Trinity quickly moved three feet away from them (including Chopper, Conner, Mira, Diana, Cressa and Melody), some unknown sense of fear telling them what a bad idea it was to wake up the Dark/Fire types.
"What?" Mrs. U asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're scared of one person? Oh come on. What could he possibly do to you guys?"
"He beat up the two strongest people in the school." Conner said. "Also he has a bit of a temper when he wakes up. The last person that woke him up like that was hit through a wall."
"You can't be serious." Mrs. U said, chuckling a little. "He can't possibly be like that. Conner, wake him up."
"Pass." Conner said.
"Fine then" Mrs. U said. "Chopper, you do it."
"Pass." Chopper said, scooting back a little. "If there's one thing I've learned from being friends with him, it's don't disturb his sleep."
"Just tap him" Mrs. U said.
"OK" Chopper said, timidly reaching out a finger to tap Ace on the shoulder. What happened next happened so fast only four students could register it. Ace swung his arm and made rough contact with Chopper's chest, sending him into the wall. Ace then went back to his original position without waking up or disturbing Shadow's position.
"Well" Mrs. U said, looking at the damage done. "That didn't work."
"Ya think?" Conner asked sarcastically. "Hey, Chopper. You okay?"
"Yeah" Chopper said, standing up and rubbing his head. "He's hit me a, lot harder than that before."
"How will we wake him up?" Mrs' U asked.
"We could use Dream Eater." Cressa suggested.
"He's a Dark Type" Melody said. "Dream Eater wouldn't affect him. Besides he's a Nightmare Pokémon. He's immune to psychic suggestion and dream attacks anyway."
"then how will we wake him up?" Mrs. U asked.
"We could use Wake Up Slap." A student suggested.
"No way." Another student said. "You saw how hard he hit Chopper and he's friends with him."
"I'll go inside of his mind" Cressa said. The room hushed.
"Just remember." Melody said, supporting her friend. "You're not there to flirt. You're there to wake him up."
"I know" Cressa said, walking up to Ace. She touched his head, using her psychic powers to enter her crush's mind.
Inside of Ace's mind
"It's really nice here." Shadow said, sitting next to her best friend, a picnic set out before them.
"I know." Ace said. "It's also nice that you could use your Synchronize ability so we could have this dream together."
"I had no idea I could do that." Shadow said.
"Well, this is a great way to spend class." Ace said.
"Yeah" Shadow said, leaning onto Ace.
"I found you!" a female voice shouted from near the Kyuryoon. The two turned around to see a blonde haired girl dressed in pink and blue leap towards Ace, who dodged the leap, causing her to fall face first into the ground. Said girl got up and looked at the person she had tried to tackle and hug.
"There you are." She said, her face lighting up. She looked to Ace's right and saw Shadow staring at her.
"Are you dreaming about her?" Cressa asked, confused.
"No" Ace said. "This is the actual Shadow. She used her Synchronize ability to enter this dream. Why are you here?"
"I'm here to wake you up." Cressa said cheerfully. "Mrs. U wants you to answer a question in class. I want to make out with you, so let's go."
"He's not going to make out with you." Shadow said, stepping in front of Ace. "We're in the middle of a picnic, so go back to where you came from."
"She's getting really pissed." Cressa said, referring to Mrs. U. "You'd better come on so we can make sweet passionate romance."
"Eww." Ace and Shadow said. "Let's not."
"Yeah." Ace said. "Let's get back to class."
Ace snapped his fingers and the three of them returned to the waking world.
Pokémorph High-Psychology 101
Ace and Shadow woke up as Cressa's consciousness returned to her body.
"Good morning, Mr. Hunter" Mrs. U said, her foot tapping. "Perhaps you'd like to answer the question now."
"Couldn't you have called on someone else?" Ace asked.
"I wanted you to answer this question" Mrs. U said. "Because I want to know how you feel about this. You're so very hard to read."
"What's the question?" Ace asked.
"How would you be different if you were the opposite gender?" Mrs. U asked.
"Umm…" Ace said, think over his answer. Finally he came to a conclusion.
"I guess… I'd have… breasts?" he said, unsure. Some of the boys snickered at his answer, while some of the girls were shocked. Shadow face palmed (not because Ace answered to be perverted or funny, but he didn't have a true understanding of the social differences of girls and boys (in the Hall of Origins they have similarities with no defining differences between girls and boys), so his mind drew on the differences he did know: a few physical differences). Mrs. U's eyes went a little wider.
"Mr. Hunter" she said finally, teleporting a piece of paper into Ace's hand. "Please give that to your mother. I would like to see her later today."
"My mother's dead." Ace said flatly.
"Then give this to your guardian." Mrs. U said, the bell ringing and causing the students to pile out of the classroom.
Pokémorph High—hallway
Ace, Shadow, and Eon (who had just woken up) walked over their lockers. Eon looked at something and stopped dead in her tracks. Ace and Shadow noticed and stopped as well.
"What is it Eon?" Shadow asked, noticing her friend's gaze.
"If I'm looking right." Ace said, pointing. "That redhead over there"
Shadow looked where Ace was pointing to see the redhead he was referring to. She had long hair that was tied in a very large ponytail. Her black dress went down to her knees. Her black high heels clicked as she walked. Eon was staring at her as if she was in love.
"I thought Eon wasn't into girls." Shadow said.
"She's not" Ace said as the redhead noticed them and started to walk over to them. "And that's not a girl."
"It's not?" Shadow asked. "Could've fooled me."
"Why don't you drop your disguise now?" Ace said.
"Disguise?" Shadow asked, confused.
"Yes" Ace said. "This girl is only an illusion. Her real identity is someone we all know."
"Who?" asked Shadow.
"Me" the "girl" said, her voice masculine. Her forme melted away, leaving another one. His light green hair was long and big, tied in a single ponytail in the back. He wore a three-quarter-length sleeve white shirt that opened in a long V. Underneath it he wore a black t-shirt. He wore simple brown khakis with tennis shoes. On his right wrist was a leather band, giving him a minor street look. On the left were three golden squares that clinked together when he walked. He had a necklace that held a black orb with blue and orange "fins" running around it. His face looked simple, calm, but stated that he wasn't afraid to stand up for his ideals. His eyes were blue mixed with grey, showing full confidence.
"N" Shadow said, running up to her illusive friend and hugging him. Eon joined her and N fell over, taking the two girls with him.
"Great to see you guys too." He said, standing up. Ace fist bumped him and Eon continued to stare at him.
"How did you masquerade as that redhead?" Shadow asked.
"I'm a Zoroark." N explained. "We can use illusions to alter one's perception of reality. It's very similar to what our resident Nightmare creature is capable of."
"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.
"His illusions are fake." Ace said. "Similar to the Nightmares I can cause, but his are easier to perceive."
"how come I didn't know it was an illusion?" Shadow asked.
"You weren't looking for it." Ace said. "When Eon was staring at that "redhead" I figured that she was looking at something else. You just need to use your Dark or Psychic powers and it's a lot easier."
"Oh" said Shadow. "Cool"
"Now I must be going" N said, turning around. "I'm very busy."
"Still trying to fix your father's problems?" Ace asked. N's father, Ghetsis, was involved with a gang known as Team Universal, with notorious members known as Maxie, Archie, Ghetsis, Lysandre, Cyrus, and their terrifying and infamous leader, Giovanni. The gang had since disbanded, but the members were still active and committing certain acts. Ghetsis had begged his son on his deathbed to try to atone for his past crimes. N had accepted the request and dedicated his life to trying to fix his father's mistakes.
"Yes" N said sadly. "I've come nowhere close to truly solving the problems he caused, but I'm trying."
"Good" Ace said. "So what brings you here?"
"I'm here to see my favorite Fire type." N said, putting his arm around Eon. Eon turned red and sighed with contentment.
"Can you stay?" Eon said.
"Not for long." N said. "But I'll be by the Hall later this week. I'll also stop by for you three's birthday celebrations."
"Yay" Eon said as her friend disappeared into the crowd of students.
"Let's go home." Ace said. "We've got a story to tell your mother."
Hall of Origins—living room.
"I have to go to what?" Arcey said, looking at the note Ace had handed her.
"I don't know" Ace said. "Mrs. U said to go meet her and give you this note. On another note we saw N at school today."
"N?" Arcey said. "At Pokémorph?"
"Yeah" said Eon, daydreaming. "He was there and we said hi and we talked for a minute. It was wonderful."
"Why was he there?" Arcey asked.
"The same reason he's anywhere." Ace said. "Trying to fix his dad's mistakes."
"Hmm." Arcey thought to herself.
"Well, then." She said aloud. "I'll go to this meeting"
And with that Arcey created a portal to where she would meet Mrs. U. When she had left, Cela floated in humming a song. She noticed Ace and flew over to him.
"Ace! Ace!" she shouted happily, tugging on his arm. "I need your help with something."
"What is it Cela?" Ace asked the thirteen year old.
"I want to learn to use my pokéforme." Cela said, clenching her fist in a determined manner.
"Well" Ace said, looking at her clothing style and aura. "Judging by your typing, you would probably be a Celius."
Cela was wearing a green skirt that went down past her knees. She wore green leggings under it. Her shoes were also green with green laces. She wore a blouse that was three shades lighter than the skirt. She wore the light green fingerless gloves that Arcey had made for her. She was wearing a pair of see-through wings, a habit she had since she was six years old, having been fascinated by the prettiness of the wings. Her face showed serenity and tenacity, as well as strength and courage. Her light green hair was slicked back, giving her head the shape of a plant bulb. She had slightly darker green highlights on the end of her hair. She wore a pair of antennae that were light green with blue tips, another habit from her younger days. Her eyes were azure and were huge (not like an anime, but were just big naturally). Though she looked timid and passive, she had the capability to defeat her older sister in single combat, save for the pokéforme—she hadn't unlocked it yet-an advantage her sister had over her. She could even use her sister's signature move in full force-sometimes to an even greater extent.
"What's a Celius?" Cela asked.
"It's a powerful legendary that can warp through time at its own whim." Ace explained. "They are also the guardians of the forests and nature."
"Cooool" Cela said, her eyes wide (this is anime style) and her mouth drooling. "But how do I unlock it? I've tried a bunch of things and nothing's worked."
"You can't just access it" Ace said. "By saying "Abra Kadabra Alakazam" or "Azarath Metrion Zinthos". A pokéforme is something you're born with, but you have to access it by your own power and experiences. We use it to gain more power, but you have to learn how to use that power first."
"So how did you unlock your pokéforme?" Cela asked.
"Well" Ace said. "I was about ten, three years younger than you. Me, Shadow, and Eon were sent to check out a hideout of a known criminal. What we didn't know was that it was Giovanni."
"Giovanni?!" Cela gasped, covering her mouth. "You fought him?"
"Yes" Ace said. "And I unleashed my pokéforme in that fight. But the hard part is controlling your powers, especially the first time you transform. I almost completely lost control when I first transformed."
"Tell me the story." Cela pleaded with her trainer and mentor that had taught her everything she knew. "I want to learn how to use my pokéforme and become stronger. I want to beat my sister."
"You're already stronger than Dialga when it comes to human formes." Ace said, patting her shoulder. "You just need your pokéforme to truly fight on her level."
"Tell me the story." Cela said.
"Allright." Ace said, putting his hand to the Time Traveler's forehead. "Just watch this."
Flashback-almost ten years ago-Giovanni's hideout
"This place seems a bit clean for a run-down hideout." A ten year old Shadow said, looking around at her surroundings.
"I know" Ace -also ten- said. "Who could live here? Probably someone dangerous. Guys let's be careful."
The three children came upon a three-way split of the hallway. Ace motioned them to be careful, saying that it could be dangerous.
"And if we see anyone dangerous" Ten year old Eon said, cracking her knuckles. "We'll just kick their asses."
"Yeah" Ace and Shadow agreed.
"Oh, is that so?" a sinister voice asked. The young Unholy Trinity turned around to see a man in a black suit with a red R on the front. His face showed evil and cruelty, coldness and hatred. His black eyes showed a dark soul, immune to the light.
"Who are you?" Ace demanded, stepping in front of his two friends.
"I could ask you the same question." The man said. "If I didn't already know who you were: Ace Hunter, Shadow Darkstar, and Eon Multius, all three members of the fourth Legendary Council."
"You know who we are." Eon said, clenching her fists. "Now who are you?"
"My name is Giovanni." The man said, towering over the three children. "And now you three must be destroyed for trespassing."
"You can't beat all three of us." Ace said.
"I don't need to beat all three of you." Giovanni laughed an evil laugh while splitting himself into three versions of himself. "I just need to beat one of you."
"Guys, split up." Ace shouted, each member of the Unholy Trinity running down a different hallway, Ace down the middle, Shadow down the left, and Eon down the right.
"Fools" Giovanni said, each clone following a child. "Running won't save you."
With Shadow
The black haired child ran down the hallway, the man in the black suit close behind her. She turned around just long enough to fire three Dark Balls at her pursuer.
"Interesting" the Giovanni clone said, dodging the balls of Darkness. "So, she's a Dark type. This will be fun."
Shadow turned around to throw more Dark Balls, but, to her surprise, her pursuer was gone.
"Where'd he go?" Shadow asked, stopping and summoning energy to her hands for another attack.
"Right behind you." Giovanni said, appearing right behind the Dark Empath. Shadow, in a slight panic, fired her blast into Giovanni's face. The terrifying man simply tanked the attack and started to step closer to Shadow.
Shadow continued backing up and firing blasts, which Giovanni simply kept absorbing and advancing.
"Is that the best you've got?" Giovanni asked with a sneer on his face. "A member of the strongest group in the Legendary Council should be able to do more than that."
Shadow's expression was one of fear as she backed further up, reaching a wall. Giovanni continued to move toward her, laughing a cliché villain's laugh. He reared back his hand, a strangely colored energy entering it. Shadow's eyes were wide with horror and fear as this man -no, this demon- sliced the very air in his wake with the energy in his hands. Shadow felt the blow make contact with her, pain following very shortly after. Giovanni laughed as the Dark Empath fell to her knees, holding her chest, her screams of pain echoing through the hideout.
With Eon
The young Eon Goddess ran down the hallway, searching for a good place to make her first strike. She turned her head to see Giovanni keeping up with her.
"Damn" she cursed to herself. "He's fast. I'll be overtaken if I don't think fast."
Eon looked to her left and saw a room that she could enter and ducked into it. She turned around and summoned Fire energy into her hands to give her a slight edge.
Giovanni entered the room and shut and locked it behind him. He chuckled as Eon got into a fighting pose.
"do you think you can beat me?" Giovanni said, getting very full of himself. "Foolish girl! I am one of the most powerful beings on this planet. You can't beat me with your weak flames."
"I can try" Eon said, running up and throwing a Supermon punch on the man known as Giovanni, who dodged it and grabbed her fist in midair.
"Oh, you're going to have to do better than that" Giovanni said, chuckling a little. "If you want to beat me."
He landed a hard punch to Eon's stomach, making the Fire type cough out blood. He threw her to the ground and she flipped over to regain her footing, gearing up for another punch.
Giovanni also caught this punch, but this time instead struck her elbow, causing a resounding snap to be heard. He released Eon, who fell to the ground, clutching her elbow. She stood back up, her fangs showing and her eyes ablaze.
"Your resilience is remarkable." Giovanni said, pulling back for another punch. "Most people would stay down for taking a blow like that, especially a child, but you really are the daughter of the current god. I must commend you for your strength."
"I won't let you beat me." Eon said, using a powerful Blaze Kick. Giovanni dodged it and punched Eon in the gut, causing her to couch out even more blood. The Eon Goddess fell to the ground, cringing in pain.
"You don't get it, do you?" Giovanni asked, picking Eon up and throwing her against the wall, causing the orange haired fighter to almost sink into unconsciousness. "You've already lost. You lost when you first walked in here."
"I'm n-not the big-gest th-threat here." Eon struggled to say.
"Oh" Giovanni said, curious. "And just who is the biggest threat to me here?"
"A-Ace" Eon said, coughing. "He may be equal to me in combat normally, but it's said in the Hall that he holds some great power inside of him. If that's true, then you're going to have a hard time winning this fight."
"I'll take care of your friend." Giovanni said. "After I take care of you."
With that he punched Eon in her face, causing her nose to bleed and her to fall into unconsciousness.
With Ace
The black haired fighter (this was before he was known as the Nightmare Demon) ran down the hall, dodging energy blasts from Giovanni as he looked for a place to go to give him more space than the hallway. He found a room at the end of the hall that wasn't locked and entered it.
"You've trapped yourself, Hunter." Giovanni chuckled as he entered the room and locked the door behind him. "Now you will die in this room."
"I won't be dying anytime soon." Ace said, launching several Dark Voids at Giovanni. "And neither will my friends."
"We'll see" Giovanni said, moving up to Ace and punching him in the gut.
"First rule of combat" Ace said, grabbing Giovanni's fist. "Never give your opponent an opening."
"Clever, boy." Giovanni said. "But what does that have to do with now?"
"This" Ace said, launching a Dark Void in Giovanni's face. The man recoiled from the blast, the Nightmare effect kicking in. It didn't affect him much due to the fact that he was stronger than Ace, and he was able to shake it off quickly.
"You've just made a terrible mistake, boy." Giovanni said, standing up.
"How so?" Ace asked, preparing for another attack.
"Now I will not hold back and you will die" Giovanni said, holding out his arms. Two white spheres flew into him and were absorbed into his skin.
"Now you will face me at full power." Giovanni said, chuckling a little. "I have just reabsorbed my duplicates, so now my power has reached its peak."
"I will stop you." Ace said. "You can't
"You can't defeat me" Giovanni said, appearing behind Ace, who jumped back and flung a Dark Void at the man. "And neither did your friends."
"What do you mean?" Ace asked, confused.
"You'll see." Giovanni said, snapping his fingers. A portion of the wall slid up to reveal Shadow and Eon in a room built like a prison cell. Eon looked like she'd been run over by a truck while Shadow was clutching her stomach and straining her psychic powers. Ace looked at his two best friends in horror as Giovanni laughed.
"You see" Giovanni said. "You never had a chance, even together. But now it's just you all by yourself. You've lost, Hunter. Not just this battle, but also your life."
"I will fight against you" Ace said, his anger starting to show. "And I will help my friends."
"I will defeat you here and now." Giovanni said.
"I will fight for their sakes." Ace said. "But you can't hurt them while you're fighting me."
"On the contrary" Giovanni said, snapping his fingers, which sent a strong electric shock through the two ten year old girls' bodies. "I can hurt them as much as I want from right here"
"You won't get away with this!" Ace shouted, throwing Dark Punches wildly. Giovanni dodged every single one of them and punched Ace in the jaw, sending him into the wall behind him.
"I already have" Giovanni said. "And when I'm done slowly torturing them in front of you, I'll kill you right in front of them. Then we'll see where their confidence goes."
Ace slowly stood up, his body trembling. Inside his head a strange conversation was going on.
"Let me handle this, child." The voice that had haunted him for four years spoke.
"No" went the voice in Ace's mind. "Your power is evil. I want no part of it."
"Get used to it" the haunting voice said. "I'm going to be around for a long time."
"You won't take me" Ace's mind said.
"You've got guts, kid." The haunting voice said, recognizing Ace's resolve. "I'll give you that, but if you think I'm just going to go away without a fight, then you're insane. Soon I'll have you and your pretty friend over there."
"Leave her out of this."
"Why?" the voice asked. "You two are of a like kind."
"Leave her alone!" Ace's mind shouted. "She has no part in this."
"On the contrary." The haunting voice said. "She has a very big part in this. Almost as big as yours."
"And to think" Giovanni's voice brought Ace back to reality. "You were the one they thought would save them and make this all better. Pity that you weren't"
"Giovanni." Ace growled through clenched teeth, his body trembling from rage, not fatigue. "This ends now."
"No" Giovanni said, snapping his fingers and sending more electricity into Shadow and Eon's bodies. The two of them were tough enough to handle some power, but even they had their limits, and had been pushed to them in fighting with Giovanni. "It's over when I say it's over. And neither you nor your soon to be dead friends can do anything about it. In fact, after I finish with you, I think I'll give them a chance to be reunited with you…in the afterlife"
"I …won't… let …you…" Ace growled, his body trembling as well as his aura increasing. "get away… with …this"
Ace's aura became visible, a sign of power. Giovanni took notice of this and charged up an attack.
"His aura." He thought to himself. "It's visible. There's no way this kid should have that much power. A person has to have a power level of at least one million to accomplish that."
"Fine" Ace's mind said to the haunting voice. "I'll use a little of your power. But I'm doing this my way."
"Excellent." The haunting voice said, its tone seeming more sinister.
Ace's head was facing down while his fists were clenched tight and were brought close together. His body started to shift slightly. His hair flashed white for a second, and then faded back to black. His eyes turned cobalt for the same amount of time. His skin flashed black and then back to normal. The entire time he was grunting like an anime character.
"What was that?" Giovanni thought to himself a he saw Ace's color shift. "What's he doing?"
Giovanni looked down to see that his own shadow was twitching in what appeared to be fear. He looked around to see other shadows in the room spazzing out.
"What power is this?" Giovanni asked, sweating a little. "What kind of Dark type is he, to cause the shadows to quake in his presence?"
The room started to shake from the power Ace was now giving off. A black orb of pure darkness surrounded the young warrior as his head and arms were thrown backwards. The room got a little darker as Ace's power rose. He shouted both in anger and minor pain from his energy. Looking into the orb one could see his body rapidly shift shapes, some parts getting larger, others smaller, and shifting back to regular size and shape.
"Wait, this isn't a power up." Giovanni said, realizing what was happening. "He's using his pokéforme."
Ace's skin fully shifted to black, taking on the appearance of a shadowy being. His fingers fused to make three large ones. His legs became stilts as his chest got larger. His scarf that he never would take off (it was a gift from his best friend) became like a lower jaw, spikes pointing up all around it. His hair turned white and grew much longer, flowing like in a breeze. His eyes turned cobalt and then red, signifying his anger toward his cruel opponent. His body grew in size until it reached about six feet. His skin rippled from the output of energy coming from his body.
"This power." Giovanni thought in a panic. "It's unreal. How can such a weak child have so much power?"
Thinking quickly, Giovanni shot a blast of energy into the orb. A more powerful blast, however, was sent back into the man, sending him into the glass pane that separated the room where Eon and Shadow were from this one, shattering it. Giovanni crashed into the room, landing at the back wall. Giovanni stood up, staring at his opponent in horror.
"What are you?" he asked. The two girls looked at this person with fear, but their fear wasn't on the level of Giovanni.
"I am the truest forme of Darkness." "Ace" said. "Pure and utter chaos, the most powerful force in this universe. You are going to wish you weren't born."
"You won't take me!" Giovanni said in desperation, grabbing Shadow around the neck. "If you want to kill me, you'll have to go through the girl first."
Eon looked on in shock, unable to do anything due to her injuries and the electric shocks she had received.
"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to convince me." "Ace" said.
"You're a monster" Giovanni said, pulling Shadow closer to him. Eon just stared on in horror that she might lose one of her best friends. The next thought that entered her mind was: "Speaking of which, where is Ace?"
"Ace", on the other hand, held up his hand and shot a black orb at the two of them. Shadow cringed while Giovanni just stared, unable to comprehend that Ace would sacrifice his own friend like that.
The orb hit them, Giovanni taking most of it. He dropped Shadow, who fell to the ground, barely able to stand. Giovanni flew back into the wall, writhing in a nightmare.
"Shadow, are you okay?" Eon asked, struggling to crawl over to her best friend.
"I'm fine" Shadow said. "It didn't seem to affect me."
"How come she wasn't affected?" Eon asked the stranger (she didn't know that this was Ace).
"Silly girl." "Ace" said. "You should know by now that the girl is immune to nightmares."
"How come?" Eon said.
"That will be explained in due time." The stranger said.
The stranger heard something. Turning his head slightly, he said: "what was that?"
Behind them a portal opened up, out of it stepping a majestic creature that sort of resembled a horse. It had a wheel around its midsection that shone in rainbow colors. Long white hair flowed from behind it like in a breeze. Its tail was thick and strong, seeming like it could crush stone. Its legs were thick, but they had what resembled boots just under the knees. Its face was covered by a faceplate that way grey.
"Ahh, Arceus." The stranger said, grinning and revealing his pointy teeth (which was all of them). "Have you come to chat or fight? Though judging by your current look, I'm guessing fight."
"Begone, monster." Arcey said, her voice deep and commanding. "Or I will be forced to stop you."
"You know" the stranger said. "In your great grandfather's time, it was considered cowardice and shameful to use the plates in the first twenty minutes of a fight. But I'll forgive you on two reasons: the first is that you know you're outmatched, and the second is that your great grandfather was suffering from a huge superiority complex."
"He beat you didn't he?" Arcey said, tensing up for battle.
"It took him using the plates and that bitch queen, Cresselia, to beat me" the stranger said. "Now let's get to the real reason you're here."
"Give my child back to me!" Arcey commanded.
"The body belongs to me." The stranger said.
"NOW, Darkrai!" Arcey growled, her aura flaring.
"Ohh, so intimidating." Darkrai said, calling Dark energy to his hands. "You can't beat me. Not now."
"I'm not going to try to beat you." Arcey said, smiling behind the faceplate she was wearing.
"Oh" Darkrai asked, intrigued. "Then, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to seal you." Arcey said, starting to gather energy for the proper technique. Once she had gathered up enough energy she fired a strange black beam at Darkrai, who swatted it aside.
"Foolish Arceus." Darkrai said, taunting the God Pokémon. "There's a decent enough gap that it won't work if I'm ready for it."
"I won't let you have his body, Darkrai." Arcey said.
"Whose body is it, mom?" Eon asked, propping herself up shakily on her elbows.
"Well, are you going to tell her?" Darkrai asked with a sneer. "Or should I?"
"You shut up!" Arcey shouted to the Demon. "And release Ace at once!"
"Ace?!" Shadow and Eon both gasped. "Ace is that dark, scary monster?!"
"I know you "lent" him some power to defeat Giovanni" Arcey said, gathering more energy. "But I also know that you weren't planning on just letting him walk away from it."
"So what?" Darkrai asked, grinning again. "What do honestly think you can do about it?"
Darkrai felt a warm feeling on his arm. He turned his head to see a very injured Shadow holding his hand.
"Let my best friend go." She said in a small, but commanding voice.
Darkrai stared at her for about five seconds before he fell to his knees, clutching his head in pain.
"Get… out… of… my… head!" he shouted in Ace's voice. Arcey took this chance to fire her sealing spell into Ace. It struck home, a magic circle appearing under Ace. Darkrai's body underwent major distortions, his skin, eyes, and hair changing color. Eventually, his shadowy forme shattered, revealing the near unconscious forme of Ace Hunter.
"Ace!" Shadow cried, pulling her best friend over to her. "Are you okay?"
Ace slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his best friend staring down at him, worry written all over her face.
"Hey, Shadow." Ace said, waving a little. "How was your fight? I kicked some ass in mine."
Shadow giggled a little as Arcey shifted back to her human forme and walked over to her three children.
"Mom, what was that?" Eon asked. "Did Ace turn into a monster?"
"Yes and no" Arcey said, getting uncomfortable to have to say what she was about to say. "What you saw was Ace's pokéforme."
"He entered his pokéforme?" Eon asked. "And before me? No fair!"
"But there's a Darkness that's been inside of him from birth." Arcey continued. "That's just now manifested itself. I fear it may have spread to you, Shadow, due to your closeness to Ace. Ace's anger towards Giovanni gave it an opening it needed to come out. Its name it goes by is Darkrai. He is a pure Dark type that is the manifestation of chaos. I have sealed him away, but Ace should still be able to enter his pokéforme with severely limited power."
"What do you mean by "limited power"?" Ace asked.
"Darkrai's true power is comparable and maybe even superior to that of the gods" Arcey said. "Even then, you only used a small portion of it. With all the seals on you can use your pokéforme and a lot of power, but at a more controllable level. But be warned. Too much stain can break the seals, so try to control your rage."
"Cool" Ace said.
"Now" Arcey said, using her psychic power to pick up her three children. "Let's go home."
Hall of Origins-present time
Ace removed his hand from the Time Traveler's head. Cela looked at him amazement.
"Is that what happened?" she asked.
"Yep" Ace said. "I almost lost complete control, but Shadow brought me back to reality."
"That's really cool" Cela said. "So how are the seals holding up?"
"Pretty well." Ace said. "I haven't lost control except by my own free will."
"How can I unlock my pokéforme?" Cela said. "I want to become as strong as you."
"Well, this may sound cliché" Ace said. "But you can only unlock it when the time is right. Not before or after."
"How will I know when that is?" Cela asked.
"You'll know." Ace said. "When I fought Giovanni I realized I was going to need a lot more power if I was going to help Shadow and Eon, and when Darkrai told me he could give me more power I realized that this was the right time."
"Oh" Cela said, a little disappointed.
"Hey" Ace said, putting his hand under the time Traveler's chin and pointing it up towards his own. "Maybe if you train hard enough it will happen there."
"Really?" Cela asked, her eyes brightening.
"Possibly" Ace said. "But no promises."
"Yay!" Cela shouted, running to the Training Room.
"Ace" Arcey said, entering the room through a portal. "I'm going to meet with your teacher now. I want you to wait for Giratina and tell him I'll be a little late for dinner tonight."
"Wait, didn't you already go to meet with her?" Ace asked.
"I did" Arcey said. "But I misread the time on the note. I'm due now, not then. I need you to tell Giratina I'll be late."
"I can't" Ace said, walking over to the door. "I've got a date."
"With who?" Arcey asked, confused as to how her child had gotten a date (he wasn't the type to ask a girl out on a date).
"Who do you think?" Ace said, walking towards the door.
Arcey thought for a minute and then chuckled a little to herself.
"Finally" she thought. "They figured things out. After nineteen years they finally figured out some feelings."
"Congratulations" Arcey said, patting Ace on the back. "You've made me very proud."
"I'm ready" Shadow said, walking down the stairs. "I just had to get out of my sweaty shirt. That school's burning during the later school months."
"you look nice" Ace said, taking her hand. The two of them opened the door of the Hall entrance and walked out.
"Hey guys" Eon said, walking up behind them. "Can I join you guys? I'm heading that way to go to the bookstore anyway. I could join you guys for a meal after I finish with that. But don't worry. I'll give you two lovebirds some time alone"
"I don't see why not." Ace said, he and Shadow blushing slightly at Eon's little comment. And together the three of them walked out the door to head out on their adventures.