Hi guys! This one took awhile. I didn't know how to continue when I got it started and it was left unfinished for awhile. It also doesn't help that finals were coming up.

Anyway have you heard about Pokemon Sun and Moon and the new starters? Awesome right? As someone who has a genuine love of Chimchar and fire types in general, Litten just looks like the coolest thing ever. I can hardly wait to see what its other evolutions are: maybe a panther or leopard with cool red designs. The legendaries also look amazing and the 3D models don't look so chibi-fied. I can't wait to see the trainer customization and other things they might add.

In other news I can't believe SEGA decided to greenlight a Shinobi movie. Hasn't it been like forever since we've seen anything about their classic IP's and now they decide to make a movie...I have mixed feelings about the decision itself but at least it could mean they might revive more of their IP's. Still excited for the hype regarding the two new sonic games too as well the fan made series and or movies that youtubers like Sonicpox, Chakra x and Mark Haynes are doing. If you haven't checked them out you should.

Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Moonlit Battle: A Rivalry Begins!

Route 102 was pretty peaceful from Cynthia's point of view. She had been walking quite a ways from Oldale town, the task Commander Jenny had given her weighing heavily on her mind. She thought back the end of the conversation…

"There's just one condition...I need you to find Steven Stone. I haven't been able to contact him at all lately and I'm worried something has happened. Last I heard anything of his whereabouts he was in Granite Cave but no one has seen him since. Once you find him tell him to get in touch with me, there are some things we need to discuss."

Steven Stone was missing? Something about that just didn't seem to sit right with the Sinnoh League champion. Her intuition was telling her that all these factors, Team Magma, Shadow Steven Stone's disappearance, were starting to turn into one big mess. It gave her all the more reason to be on her way but first she was looking forward to taking a rest somewhere in Petalburg City.

She stopped for a moment when she heard strange noises to her right only to tense when a young girl came bounding out of the bushes after being chased by two pokemon. Cynthia only had a second to make eye contact with the girl and the pink cat pokemon she held close in her arms before she ran behind her. As she cowered behind the champion, Cynthia saw that the pokemon in pursuit were a couple of houndoom giving rather nasty looks to her. Cynthia not intimidated in the least bit, gave a scowl of her own.

"That'll be enough of that," she said grabbing two occupied pokeballs. "Lucario, Shadow. Battle dance!" She tossed the two pokeballs watching as her Lucario and recently acquired black hedgehog came out. This wasn't the first time Shadow had been called out of his pokeball since he left the professor's lab but it would be his first battle with his trainer. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Lucario being called out of his pokeball as well. He had grown to really dislike the pokemon because of it's overprotective nature towards Cynthia. Shadow was not by any means jealous, but the condescending attitude that the blue and black aura wielder always seemed to emanate when he was around irritated him frequently, even if he sort of acted the same.

Cynthia was not oblivious to the tension between the two, in fact she had picked up on it when she let out her pokemon all at once during the week. Strangely enough it seemed both red eyed pokemon had a very similar personality which explains a lot about why they try and tear each other apart with their looks time and again. She felt that the best way to deal with this problem was by having both pokemon battle together.

The houndoom on the right was the first to attack using flamethrower after its impatience had quickly run out. The other decided run in for a thunder fang. "Lucario use aura sphere and Shadow dodge and use double kick."

Lucario had quickly charged the ball of aura in its hands and threw it making contact with the flamethrower, beating back the flames, and damaging the horned pokemon but not taking it out. Shadow on the other hand had waited for the houndoom to lunge as he jumped into a backflip with ease avoiding the electrically charged fangs. He dashed towards the quadrupedal pokemon giving it little time to react with the first kick connecting followed by a second. The hits seemed to enrage it as it retaliated faster than before.

"Use rollout," the blonde haired trainer said thinking the angered houndoom might simply attack blindly. Unfortunately just when the attack was about to make contact, the fire and dark type pokemon feinted left before ramming its two curved horns into the ball of black and red spines. It didn't hurt but when he was finally able to stop his momentum, he found that the pokemon he had just been battling had retreated backward alongside its ally. The two of them used smog and both Lucario and Shadow having the same idea had rushed in to try and catch them unaware. As the smog cleared it seemed that the houndoom were gone. A pair of fluttering wings didn't go unnoticed by silver eyes as a suspicious looking bat pokemon suddenly flew away from the scene.

The girl who had hid behind Cynthia when the houndoom decided to attack sighed in relief. "Thanks a lot. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here. My name is Lyla by the way," she said as her skitty mewled in excitement.

Now that Cynthia could get a good look at the girl she noticed that she was wearing blue overalls with a pale yellow shirt underneath and orange gloves. She wore sneakers and her black hair was tied up into a ponytail with a flower on it. She would have looked like quite the average girl if it hadn't been for the twigs and leaves stuck all in her hair like her ponytail had a fight with some bushes and lost.

"It's always a pleasure to help those in trouble Lyla," she said smiling at the girl as Shadow and Lucario came back closer to their trainers side undoubtedly shooting each other nasty looks behind her back.

"My name is Cynthia. Do you mind telling me why those Houndoom were chasing you?"

"Sure," she said adjusting the skitty in her arms. "But let's talk at my grandma's house I bet she's worried by now. C'mon I'll show you the way!" She grabbed the champions hand to lead her off in the direction of her grandmother's house.

While they walked Cynthia couldn't help but think that the houndoom and the bat pokemon were no coincidence.

The young girl Lyla seemed to talk up a storm to Cynthia on the walk to her grandmother's house. It obviously didn't take much for her to open up even to a stranger but the Sinnoh league champion didn't mind. She found the girls companionship enjoyable especially when it means having company that isn't worshipping the ground you stand on.

"We're here!" Lyla said voice hitching up a few octaves in excitement. It gave Cynthia the impression that she couldn't have been any older than eight.

The house was fairly large and had a small bird bath in front where some Taillow were happily enjoying themselves in the water. A wooden rocking chair sat on the porch and above it, hanging from the edge of the roof, was a chimecho chime trinket that made a soothing jingle when the breeze blew it. But the most interesting part of the property was the huge garden in the back where several berry bushes could be seen.

"Do you like it?" the girl asked smiling as her skitty leapt from her arms and ran placing its paws on the front door.

"It's wonderful," the silver eyed trainer said. Lyla giggled and ran to the front door where her skitty eagerly waited to go inside.

"If you want you can let your pokemon out in the garden. There's lots of space and I'm sure they could relax there."

"Thank you, I think I'll take you up on your offer." Shadow and Lucario had been following behind Cynthia silently while keeping their distance from each other. Cynthia had reached for her partners pokeball and released Garchomp as well.

"This is a good opportunity for the three of you to relax here so be good ok?" She said smiling. Shadow was the first to stalk off into the garden feeling an intense need to get away from Lucario and the black and blue pokemon did the same. Just as Garchomp was about to follow, Cynthia whispered to her partner.

"Keep an eye on both them for me," she placed a hand on the ground and dragon type pokemons head before following Lyla into the house. The champion knew she could trust her partner to make good judgements about any type of problem that arises..

As the champion opened the door she was immediately greeted by the warm scents of vanilla and caramel. Lyla's skitty had already made itself at home on a purple love seat next to a TV.

"I'm home grandma and I brought company!" Lyla said as she disappeared into what was probably the kitchen.

"Oh caught that skitty again did you? Maybe you should consider getting one of those DexNav's trainers carry around so you can keep track of her. I think this is by far the longest time you've taken to bring her back yet!" It was then that the grandmother first laid on eyes on the champion clad in black with her blond hair covering one of her silver eyes.

"I'm sorry granny, I got chased by some nasty houndoom that came out of nowhere and then this nice trainer and her pokemon helped me out!" the young girl said gesturing to the newest guest she invited in.

The older woman took a moment to adjust her glasses as she took in Cynthia's appearance, stepping out of the kitchen as the young girl stood beside her. Her gray hair was also tied up in a ponytail and she wore a white apron over lavender clothes.

The old woman gave Cynthia a warm smile. "My, my, is it true? Did you save my Lyla from those houndoom?"

"It was a pleasure mam," the champion said giving a little bow.

"Then make yourself comfortable while I make some tea. I've gotta show you some kind of hospitality don't I?"

"I know I said it before, but I'm really grateful for you saving Lyla," the old woman said. Cynthia had been seated on a couch across from the old woman who called herself Winowa. Winowa sipped tea from a small cup before placing it down. Lyla on the other hand had taken up residence in a chair next to a window. She had propped her chin up on her elbows as she swung her feet back in forth through the air behind her. Her Skitty was taking a nap on the upper portion of the chair close to where someone's head would be. The young girl couldn't help but stare at a certain hedgehog who was outside in the garden leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and his eyes closed in a relaxed stance.

"You know this isn't the first time we've had a problem with those vicious pokemon," Winowa said looking down at her lap. Over these past two weeks those houndoom have scared off pokemon from the garden, attacked others, and even tried to hurt Lyla and her skitty.

"Do you have any idea what they may have been doing?" The silver eyed trainer had a hunch as to what they were after, but it doesn't hurt to confirm it.

"Not really other than the fact they seem to be searching for something. What they may be searching for I could never tell you but they seem pretty serious about it!"

"Of course they are. They're looking for Shadow just like I thought and now that they know he's in the area they'll probably be back. The question is: where are their trainers hiding?" Cynthia thought to herself.

Shadow, who seemed like he was napping against the tree, opened his ruby eyes to stare at the girl a moment after the feeling of being watched disturbed his thoughts. He saw the girl at the window and recognized her as the one from earlier. She smiled at him after making eye contact but rather than smile back like most pokemon might do, he simply moved around to the other side of the tree where he wouldn't be stared at. Lyla giggled not discouraged in the least bit by the anti- social personality being shown by Shadow. She turned around to ask a question to the trainer she just recently met.

"Miss Cynthia? Who was that pokemon you used with your Lucario to battle those Houndoom earlier? Did he come from a different region?" She asked interrupting Cynthia who was in the middle of telling her grandmother that she was on her way to Petalburg City.

"You could say that. His name is Shadow and he's...special. I haven't been with him long so there's really not much I can tell you."

"That's alright. Besides it's much more fun to learn about a pokemon up close anyway. Do you think he would like meeting me?" she asked already showing signs that she was a bit eager to go outside.

"I don't think he'll mind…(much), although I'll warn you now he's not much of the sociable type," Cynthia chose her words carefully. She figured the black hedgehog would probably opt to disappear the moment Lyla tries to talk up a conversation. She nearly laughed at the thought of the serious pokemon running away from a little girl.

The silver eyed trainers response was all she needed to hop off the chair and enter the garden through the back door. Her presence didn't go unnoticed as black ears flicked at the sound of a door closing. He listened as footsteps crept slowly towards his position.

"I gotcha!" she said quickly running around the tree only to stare at bark.

"Hey where did you go? That's not fair!" the eight year old pouted as she looked in every direction. Red eyes watched from above in the cover of the trees as the girl eventually moved away continuing to search for him. From his position he could make out the red eyes of Lucario who had caught every bit of his high speed movement as well as the blank expression on the hedgehog's face with his keen eyes. He merely scoffed and looked away.

Later on that night Shadow found that he couldn't sleep. It wasn't that something was bothering him but rather he felt the need to stretch his legs and think. He leapt down from the tree that he hadn't moved from since earlier and skated away thankful that his shoes allowed him to move quickly without making too much noise. A certain ground and dragon Pokemon awakened as she witnessed the leaving form of the black hedgehog but soon closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Garchomp had a feeling a certain aura wielder wouldn't be far behind.

Shadow had reached a river not far from the house his trainer was staying in. There was a slope behind him where the rest of the forest continued and gravel crackled under his metal shoes as he approached the water. He leaned over the liquid, running a hand across his face examining the red streaks that accentuated his eyes, before dropping down into a line under them and continuing the jagged yet also neat pattern across his body. He couldn't remember if he had the markings before he was captured by Team Magma or not but he just felt that they were somehow unnatural. He tried not to think too much on that period of time as it brought back painful memories that he felt were better left forgotten.

The movement of gravel from his left made his ear twitch and he looked in that direction to see a blue and black body belonging to the one pokemon he didn't want to see right now. Lucario continued to walk passing Shadow but keeping his eye contact. There was a huge boulder nearby that he stopped in front of. He knew Shadow was watching and he closed his eyes taking a breath as he brought his black paws together to form a long thin blue bone. Wielding the bone as if it were a staff he yelled and brought the bone down on the boulder breaking it with great force only capable by a high level pokemon. The boulder split into pieces many pieces and when Lucario looked to the hedgehog again he smirked.

Shadow resisted the urge the growl. He knew that during the week Lucario had recently learned a new move: bone rush. And that smug pokemon had the audacity to rub it in his face!

"Is that a challenge?" he asked lowly. He somehow knew that the other was just itching to challenge him to a fight. He obviously wanted to put the black and red hedgehog in his place but he couldn't do that with Cynthia around. This was perfect for both of them.

"And if it is?" Lucario said playing this little conversation out and enjoying the tension that was slowly rising.

"Then I'll show you why your attempts to intimidate me are useless. I refuse to like a second rate subordinate just because you've been around longer than I have."

"Good because this wouldn't be nearly as satisfying if you had backed off," it said taking a position between the slope and the river just as his opponent was doing. They each took a stance, one pair of red eyes matching the other and neither moved an inch for a moment.

Then Lucario struck.

He came in hard and fast with jabs from his strong paws using his weight to carry his momentum forward. Shadow knew in an instant that if he was any other Pokemon without the ability of speed right now he would have already been finished. Luckily he could follow the blows and dodged easily enough, his short height allowing him to dodge more as he took steps back. He quickly reacted to one of the jabs after memorizing the rhythm and caught the appendage using the weight in the attack to flip the bigger Pokemon behind him in a judo throw. Lucario was hardly fazed he landed on his feet and used bone rush once again thrusting in forward just as the black hedgehog leapt out the way to avoid it. This time Shadow knew he couldn't dodge, so he didn't. A side swipe of the staff like bone was aimed right for his side so he put up his arms to block it. Unfortunately he didn't think the impact would hurt so much and he winced. It was all the time the aura wielder needed and to spin the bone in his hands around before delivering a hard blow to the hedgehog sending him crashing against the slope. Shadow looked at his arm and despite his dark fur, he could see the bruise that was starting to appear on his skin. He stood up and held his arm. Lucario took it as a sign to continue and despite the pain Shadow was feeling, he raised his arms to block every attack looking for an opening to counter. The blue and black Pokemon wouldn't admit it but he was surprised that the other was able to stand up to his attacks for so long. His arms must be aching but he was taking the hits and pushing through the pain. Unfortunately Lucario had other plans. After a quick barrage of blows he quickly crouched down and used his foot to sweep Shadow off his feet quickly putting the hedgehog on his back. Before he could deal what he thought would be the final blow Shadow blocked again using the bottom of his foot. The black hedgehog wasn't too happy about being surprised. He had just gotten used to the fighting style of the other and was about to counter back with some attacks of his own. Now he was stuck in a bit of stalemate not sure how to proceed now that he was pinned.

Unbeknownst to the two Pokemon fighting it out near the river three pairs of eyes had been observing from the darkness of the trees. Seeing both Pokemon caught up in their stalemate they felt that now was the time to act.

A black quadrupedal figure had sprinted out from the bushes and used flamethrower to target Lucario. Both Pokemon had managed to move away just in time to escape the fiery attack. That's when another figure similar to the first had came out right in front of Shadow and used fake out. Shadow flinched still caught up in the surprise of being interrupted and the third and final figure came out jumping high into the sky before launching a hyper beam and the flinching hedgehog. Luckily Lucario had managed to grab the figure closest to him and threw it at the hedgehog roughly knocking him away just as the hyper beam struck the ground. When Shadow finally managed to get his bearings he saw that the three figures were Houndoom. He recognized the two from earlier today but the one that had just used hyper beam was different. It had some kind of red and silver armor on its head, neck, back, and around its legs. The black and red symbol on its neck was all too familiar to Shadow and he quickly got to his feet.

"Corner him! Don't let him escape," The armored Houndoom barked. The other two Houndoom ran towards him but Shadow refusing to let them have their way took off in order to try and separate them. The leader of the trio was just about to follow his subordinates when aura sphere cut off his advances.

The leader looked back at the more than a little agitated Lucario who had charged another aura sphere in its paws. "How dare you interrupt our battle!"

The Houndoom merely turned with calm expression on its face. "Don't interfere with matters that do not concern you. Our target is the Pokemon that you were fighting and we were just following orders. If you leave now we'll pretend you don't exist."

"I don't care whose orders you were following. The moment you appeared you disgraced our honor as fighters and I can't forgive you." Despite the condescending attitude Lucario possessed towards Shadow and the need to make himself superior as the more experienced Pokemon, he still respected Shadow as a fighter and one of Cynthia's Pokemon. He wanted a fair fight to prove he was better and he was denied that opportunity.

"Have it your way then," the armored Pokemon growled as it leapt high into the air with the moon behind its back.

Shadow looked behind him to see that the two Houndoom were still hot in pursuit. In the blink of an eye he turned around and caught the one on the left unaware using roll out knock it away. He narrowly missed a flamethrower from the other Houndoom. It wasn't long before the other fire and dark Pokemon was back on its feet again and it looked livid. Allowing its aggression to take hold flames began to erupt around it before heading straight for Shadow. The black hedgehog had never seen a fire type move quite like this one and right before he could safely dodge he was engulfed in an inferno of flames…

Lucario braced himself for the impact from the Houndoom that was spinning in mid air in order to gain enough momentum to power up its iron tail. The armored Houndoom was bit tougher than he was expecting, but he knew this battle was coming to an end very quickly. He had managed to get in a lot more hits on the dark Pokemon with his speed and it was showing. The fearless Houndoom leader was panting hard. There were numerous dents in its armor where the aura wielder's attacks had connected and it only added to the worn out appearance of the Pokemon. And then that's when Lucario heard a pained cry coming from the direction he had just seen the hedgehog run off to and gritted his teeth. The Houndoom observed Lucario and smirked. "It looks like my subordinates have just about secured our target. Guess that means I better wrap this up!"

He began his assault again with a quickened haste rushing directly for Lucario but just as the aura wielder attacked the Houndoom it feinted left and used fire blast. At the last second Lucario had managed to use aura sphere to reduce the damage resulting in an explosion surrounding him in smoke. The armored Houndoom thinking that the fire blast had made full contact, smirked in what seemed like victory. He wasn't in the least bit ready for a surprise dragon pulse out of the smoke by Lucario. Not able to dodge, the dog like Pokemon skid on the ground armor making a loud scraping noise against gravel as he came to a stop. Exhausted beyond his limit he tried to stand but couldn't. As the smoke cleared a bruised Lucario stood tall glaring down at his opponent. The fire and dark Pokemon gave one more intense look to his opponent before fainting ending their battle.

Without delay Lucario had took off to find the black hedgehog, the sound of a struggle getting ever so closer…

Shadow held the part of his arm that had been burned by the inferno. The burned ground around him gave off a pungent smell. The fire from a Houndoom is considered to be a bit more toxic than other Pokemon and it was showing. The black and red striped Pokemon was far from defeated but his pursuers could already feel their confidence rising. They each began a slow walk around their target circling him. When they felt the moment to strike was right they pounced ready to finish this if it weren't for a dragon pulse shot out at the last second. The targeted Pokemon slid backwards out from the smoke on all fours trying to recover from the pain of the powerful dragon type move. The other Houndoom hesitated and skid to a stop before it could continue. A blue and black body had appeared now back to back with the black hedgehog. "I didn't need your help," Shadow growled refusing to let the other Pokemon save him in any way. He could almost feel Lucario's amusement and it was already irritating him.

"I didn't come here to save you. I came here because these Houndoom interrupted a battle that I was about to win," he said keeping an eye on the Houndoom that seemed to be slightly on the defensive.

"You're condescending attitude continues to annoy me. Call it what you please but no winner was decided. " And as he finished his sentence he kicked up dirt in the Houndooms eyes before launching himself at the dark furred Pokemon with a strong roll out. Behind him the aura wielder had used bone rush to quickly finish off the other Houndoom and with no other reason to stay after the long night both Pokemon had returned back to the garden.

It was later on when Shadow was about to make himself comfortable in one of the trees that he was approached one last time by Lucario.

"What do you want now?" Shadow said exhausted from earlier. He didn't feel it then but all the bruises he took from bone rush were finally starting to ache making it a chore to move. Lucario had placed a small pile of two different types of blue berries on the ground behind the red eyed Pokemon who only looked back to scrutinize the look on the aura wielders face.

"Take them if you want or leave them, it doesn't matter to me," he said and walked off out of sight. The black hedgehog looked to the pile recognizing the two types as Oran and Rawst berries. Shadow remembered them both from the Pokemon enclosure Professor Birch took him to not long ago. This would make it easier to get his strength back and heal his burn but why would Lucario bother? As he pondered this his arm began to sting again, the pain not stopping anytime soon. He hated to accept it but he figured it wouldn't hurt his pride too much if the aura wielder wasn't around to see him take the berries anyway. It wasn't long afterwards that he finally settled into a comfortable sleep in a tree. Just a few feet away was Garchomp who had both witnessed the two leave and return. She sensed the danger of the Houndoom earlier but knew Lucario could take care of it. After seeing the interaction between the two she could only guess at what the other two Pokemon had went through but one thing was for sure, it seems they had grown to respect each other just a little more.

A new rival in the Pokemon world...I hope I'm doing a good job of keeping things interesting for you. I really do plan to see this fic all the way through since there are so many other sonic and Pokemon crossovers that don't get finished. Please review and give me your thoughts and opinions! And shout out to me if you wouldn't mind maybe seeing a sonic or Pokemon crossover with Pokemon Platinum or even Pokemon Sun and Moon!