Conquering the Dark: Book One Chapter 4: Start of Something, a pokémon fanfic

Conquering the Dark

Chapter 4: Start of Something

"Darkrai! Again! Another round!"

"Again, Raiden? We've been at this for 5 hours since 9 in the morning!"

"I don't care! I'm not stopping until I get this down perfectly!"

Darkrai and Raiden were out practicing in the training fields, with Darkrai battling the boy. Darkrai sighed, looking over Raiden. He wanted to achieve a perfect battle and best Darkrai without taking a scratch of damage. The boy was determined, to be sure. That's probably what you would expect from the son of Reshiram and Zekrom, even with his young age of 20 human years.

Raiden was, in many ways, a combination of both his mother and his father. Not just in appearance, but in personality as well. His overall body structure resembled his father Zekrom's, though most of his coloring was of his mother Reshiram. He had both arms and a pair of wings like Zekrom's that he could only use to hover short distances. However, his body was striped black and his wings were white. He had a turbine tail like his father, but the electric power in his tail and his glowing eyes was a purple combination of his parents' blue and red.

Darkrai refused to train anymore, noticing Raiden's exhaustion. "Raiden. You need to take a break. You've been at this for far too long, and you've trained enough."

Raiden looked over Darkrai, who started to appear shaky. He looked over himself, noticing his unsteadiness and the heavy damage that he had taken from the constant battling.

"B-B-But I…"

"Raiden." said a motherly voice from behind him.

The Legendary turned around, seeing his mother coming up to him.

"H-Hi, Mom." he said, startled a bit. Darkrai took this chance to leave, leaving the two Legendary Dragons alone.

"Darkrai is right." Reshiram said. "You can't push yourself too far all at once. I know you want to be strong, but you can't take this too fast. Otherwise, you'll just end up too exhausted and overloaded."

Raiden wanted to protest, but saw the wisdom in his mother's words. "Y-You're right, Mom. It's just that… I… I want to be strong. F-For Dad's sake."

Reshiram couldn't help but smile softly. She sat down on the grass of the training grounds, laying down and looking up at the skies. "Remember how we would always spend those lazy afternoons just looking up at the clouds, trying to make figures out of them?"

Raiden smiled. "Yeah, I remember those times. I wish things were that simple again."

Raiden, without the slightest bit of hesitation, lied down on Reshiram, with her always being strong enough to support the weight of her son. Raiden wasn't ever going to admit it, but he always considered himself something of a momma's boy. He had a very deep love and respect for his parents, which made Zekrom's capturing and reprogramming all the harder to deal with. Though he would put on a strong face for most of the other Legendaries, the kidnapping and reprogramming of his father emotionally broke him. Right now, he was just trying to cope.

"Mom…"

"Yeah, honey?"

"I… I miss Dad. I want him back again."

Reshiram sighed. "I do too, honey. Every day I wonder: 'Is he OK? Does he even remember who we are? Will we ever see him again?' But I know that things will work out in the end. God will give him back to us. I know it. We just have to stay strong."

Raiden nodded. "You're right, Mom. That's what Dad would want."

Reshiram hugged her son again. "Why don't we go inside and get something to eat? It's way past lunch time."

Raiden nodded, the two of them getting up. They started their walk back to the headquarters. Raiden couldn't help but let a shadow of doubt sink into his heart.

"Mom… can I ask you something?" he muttered nervously.

"What would that be, Raiden?"

"…What if Dad's lost for good? W-What if we can't get him back from Cyrus' army? What if-?"

"Raiden." Reshiram reassured her son. "Asking 'what if' is not going to help you at all. You're only going to get worried over something that may not even happen. If Zekrom is indeed lost for good, then we will have to accept it when the time comes. But we don't know for sure yet, so worrying won't do any good. Just pray to God about it if you need to, and you can always talk to me."

Raiden sighed, knowing his mother was right. "You're right, Mom. It's just… I keep thinking back to that day. Maybe if I had been stronger, I could've stopped them…"

Flashback

1 month ago

"Agh! These guys don't give in easily, do they?! Darkrai, cover those Hydreigons for me! I need to get those Gyarados!"

Darkrai obeyed Raiden's orders without any hesitation. Currently, Darkrai, Xerneas, Rayquaza, Raiden and his parents were fighting a group of Bisharps, Hydreigons, Gyarados, and an elite Volcarona and Greninja. Of course, all of them were under the leadership of Commander Aaron, determined to find where the Resistance was hiding.

As Darkrai cast a Dark Void to get the Hydreigons after him to fall asleep, Raiden charged up the Electric move Fusion Bolt. As Raiden's Fusion Bolt made contact with the Gyarados, Zekrom's casted Fusion Bolt hit at the same time. The combined electricity completely fried the Gyarados, putting them down for good.

Darkrai was starting to get backed into a corner when the Hydreigons woke up and ganged up on him. Fortunately, Rayquaza came to the rescue and fired off several Dragon Pulses to knock them down. Xerneas finished up, casting Moonblast to obliterate them. Raiden smirked a bit, glad to see things were going well. Suddenly, the surprise attack by the elite Volcarona caused Raiden off-guard. Volcarona had used the opportunity with the Resistance distracted by the groups attacking them to charge up several Quiver Dances. The end result made Volcarona super-powered as he launched a devastating Fiery Dance onto Raiden. It completely scorched his body, leaving heavy burns. As Reshiram and Zekrom saw their son go down in near critical condition, their anger flared up and their power intensified with pure adrenaline.

"How dare you!" Reshiram and Zekrom yelled in union, charging up a powerful combo of Fusion Bolt and Fusion Flare and with the attacks combined, it completely killed off Volcarona for good. Reshiram went to tend to her son's wounds, which the Greninja exploited. All throughout the battle, he had been slyly sneaking closer towards Zekrom. While the rest of the Legendaries defended themselves from the huge group of Bisharps, Greninja used the chance to knock out Zekrom with a sneak attack, as he was briefly separated from the group. As soon as Reshiram and the other Legendaries noticed what Greninja did, Commander Aaron cast up an Aura Shield covering himself and the Greninja holding Zekrom. Try as they might, the Legendaries couldn't break through the Commander's Aura Shield.

"Well, well, well…" the Commander taunted. "I may not have found your little hideout, but I still managed to claim a very nice prize."

Reshiram's rage flared up the most, in an indescribable fury that even intimidated the Legendaries on HER side.

"Release him! You BASTARD!" Reshiram cursed heavily and loudly. "You heartless, soulless, good-for-nothing, monstrous BASTARD!"

"Aw, that's the best compliment I've received all day. Thanks honey. I'll be sure to take care very good care of your husband. He's going to be a wonderful addition to my army."

"NO!" she screamed again, furiously trying to shatter the Aura Shield. But the very moment she and the other Legendaries finally managed to shatter the shield…

…they were gone.

"…No." Reshiram whispered to herself, tearing up.

"No…"

End Flashback

"You're not the only one who wishes that they could've stopped them, Raiden." Reshiram confessed to her son.

"I think everyone wishes that we could've stopped them." Raiden added.

Reshiram pulled her son closer to her. "Hey. I think we should get your mind off of things for a while. Why don't we get some lunch?"

Raiden heard his stomach growl, and then chuckled. "Wow. Darkrai wasn't kidding when he said that we've been out here since 9 in the morning! I suppose something to eat would be nice. What do we have to eat this time around, Mom?"

"Hmm. Well, Groudon and Kyogre went hunting earlier today."

"And didn't kill each other?" Raiden chuckled.

"It's a miracle that they haven't." Reshiram smiled. "Anyway, they brought back berries off of Groudon's usual hunting route, and they actually got some Tauros meat this time."

Raiden cheered mentally, as the two entered the headquarters. "We haven't had Tauros meat for a month. It'll be nice to have some again."

"Food is getting pretty scarce, so it's good that some meat is still out there. The meal was good. I already had my share. Hey, why don't I go ahead and make your meal for you? You're probably dead tired after training non-stop for 5 hours."

"Mom, please." he laughed. "I've got 25 human years of experience on me. I know how to make a meal for myself."

"And I have 2,500 years on top of that." Reshiram reminded him.

"…Didn't you spend most of those years asleep in a stone?"

"Irrelevant. Anyway, you go enjoy yourself. I'll take care of your meal."

Raiden laughed. "All right, Mom. Talk to you later."

"Maybe I'll go chat with the new guy. No time like the present." Raiden thought. He made his way to Keldeo's quarters, where he saw the colt writing something in a book. Keldeo looked at Raiden in surprise, quickly tossing the pencil out of his mouth and shoving the book underneath his bed.

"Heh heh…" Keldeo chuckled nervously. "So… hi."

Raiden shrugged off the odd reaction. "Hey. How you doing?"

"Oh… getting by. What with all of the war and everything."

"Yeah. Me too."

It was clearly an awkward first meeting. The two has seen each other before, of course. But Keldeo had arrived only a week ago, and the two had never even talked to each other prior to this moment. But both of them had a clear goal in mind. Raiden wanted to know Keldeo more, and Keldeo was willing to make a new friend. And both would appreciate the benefit of extra moral and combat support in a battlefield where it is greatly needed.

"So what's your sob story? We all have them…" Keldeo sighed. Raiden looked over him as he said that. His heart was hardened, that was for sure. It reminded Raiden of what had happened to him only a month earlier, leaving him with a shattered heart. He acted the same way. Dark. Cold. Full of despair.

"I lost my father a month ago." Raiden confessed. "To… Aaron."

Keldeo sighed, laying on his bed and facing away from Raiden. The silence as the minutes slowly passed was deafening. Raiden wondered if he said something wrong as Keldeo spoke up again.

"You're not alone in that regard."

Raiden looked up at Keldeo as he continued speaking, still facing away from the larger Legendary.

"You're not alone in losing loved ones. I've lost the only Pokémon that I called my family. And to the same bastard, too."

"Well, that's one thing we have in common." Raiden thought, knowing that they both shared an intense hatred for the evil Commander.

"…Xerneas brought you in, didn't he?" Raiden mentioned, recalling Xerneas coming back with the colt when he had been brought in.

"That's true." Keldeo answered. "He's the closest thing I have to a family now."

"I think we just need to all hold onto each other. We'll find a way through this. I'm sure of it."

Keldeo smiled, having not done so for a long time. "Yeah. I think you're right."

A call came from down the hallway, definitely belonging to Reshiram. "Raiden! Your lunch is ready!"

"Oh. Well, that would be lunch. I guess I better get going." Raiden said.

"You didn't have lunch earlier today?" Keldeo questioned.

"Well… yeah." Raiden muttered. "I've been training since 9 in the morning, to be honest. I just… I just want to be strong, I guess. Maybe I push myself too far sometimes, but I don't want to lose my mother to Aaron like my father."

"…And I don't want to lose Xerneas."

Raiden had an idea. "Then how about a pact? We both do our best job possible to protect the families we have left from the Commander's Army."

Keldeo smiled. "That's something I can agree with."

Raiden opened the door to leave, only to hold it open. "Come on, Keldeo. Let's chow down together."

Keldeo had a feeling of joy inside him, perhaps making his first friend since coming to this hell-ridden battleground. And Raiden felt closer to Keldeo as well, being the two youngest Legendary Pokémon in the Resistance.

"Maybe this could be the start of something."

I now introduce a new OC to Conquering the Dark. This chapter focuses a bit more on the new OC and Keldeo, serving mostly as character development. The idea of Reshiram and Zekrom having a son greatly appealed to me. One fan approached me with an idea, showing a visual design for this son. While I normally do not take OC requests from fans, this is a rare exception due to the fact that I had already wanted a child between the two of them. You can see this visual design with a link that will be put on my profile page under my OCs. Again, this is a rare exception, and this will not be a regular occurrence. The next chapter will introduce BtC Aaron and company to this world as Dialga arrives back into the evil timeline. I also have a poll of my profile about a possible next project for me after Slaves and Soldiers is finished, and I would deeply appreciate your input.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always, read and review.

AuraWielder