A Dragon's Tail
Tail 7: Korben's Tail - Inequity
Tail 7-2: Shadowlost Territory
"Everything you are doing will soon be just a futile action…"
-Four Days Later…
"Hurry up, Korben, or we will be late!"
"Wha— O… Okay…" Korben snapped from the train of thought that he was having after hearing Rachael's voice. He had just left his room and encountered Rachael and Richard at the main hall of Floor B3, and all three then walked together to Floor B2 in order to get to the Portal Room, which was today's meeting spot.
Four days had already passed since the Pendragon's last meeting, and everyone spent their time doing what they were assigned to. Rachael and Anastasia cultivated and harvested berries that, along with the meat hunted by Baromyteus, Claura, Zetarus and Sirius, would be used by Snow and Freya to prepare for the Pendragon's provision. Meanwhile, Richard and Xavier worked together to gather the information they needed about the Shadowlost Territory, and Korben and Diego were assigned to upgrade everyone's weapon (Except for Zetarus' Sniper's Eye and Diego's Silver Naginata). The upgrading was finished yesterday, and the weapons were already returned to their respective owners.
Rachael's Cathy** was upgraded into Cathy***. This time, instead of focusing on the offensive capacity of Cathy, Cathy was upgraded to increase its defensive ability. It now gained a new ability to create a protective shield to protect Rachael and nearby allies from any attack or move, just like the move Protect. The effect of this protective shield was temporary, but the shield would never break until its effect was over or the force that attacked the shield was too strong for Cathy to fully guard against it.
Richard's Chronicle of Darkside was also upgraded. Unlike Rachael's Cathy***, Richard's weapon was upgraded to greatly increase its offensive power, allowing the frail Pokemon like Richard to deal a devastating damage in the battle. For the content of the Chronicle, Richard didn't say much except that he could neither tell how much content was unlocked by this upgraded nor pinpoint the margin of the edge of the knowledge that was unlocked this time, but he could tell that the knowledge that was unlocked still hadn't reached the point of the Fallen Crisis yet, meaning that the edge of the knowledge that was unlocked this time was somewhere between War of the God III and the Fallen Crisis. Nevertheless, Richard decided to give his newly-upgraded weapon a new yet ominous name, the Chronicle of Nightmare, for a reason only known to him.
Claura's Naidni was upgraded into Citnalta. For this upgrade, the chain of the anchor was extended, giving it a better reach than before. The anchor itself was reinforced not only to make it hit harder, but also to protect it from getting rusted, meaning that Claura had no need to maintain it as much as before. The anchor itself also turned blue due to the Water Gems and other blue gemstones that were being used to reinforce its body part.
Xavier's Stratosphere was upgraded into Mesosphere. This time, it possessed a higher attack power due to the blade being sharpened, as well as increased its wielder's defense and special defense. The handle of the halberd was also made to make it easier to grab, so it would be easier to use, if its wielder was able to withstand its weight (Which was not a problem for Xavier at all).
Anastasia's Tenor Harp was upgraded into Alto Harp. While her weapon didn't get as much boost as other's weapons, it gave some bonuses to her speed, accuracy and evasion, as well as giving a nice chance to inflict Confusion on the target when attacking. In the term of its sound, the pitch of the harp was higher and more graceful than her former harp, which Anastasia said that it encouraged her with the inspiration of the song that she was composing right now.
Baromyteus' Dragon Claw Swords were upgraded into Dragon Fang Sword, being reinforced with the claws and fangs of the wild Dragon type Pokemon in the Valley of No Return that were hunted by the Pendragon. Its offensive power was tremendously boosted, and it also gained a small chance to inflict Paralysis on the target when attacking. Other than its attacking power, it also gave Baromyteus a small boost to his speed stat, reinforcing his strong point even further.
Freya's Crimson Rose was upgraded into Scarlet Rose, with the rose at the tip of the rod turned into the darker red than its former counterpart. While it didn't get any improving in its offensive capacity at all, it made up with the increasing healing ability, now capable of healing the status ailments and the debuff, and its healing power and the range of healing were also increased even more, as well as giving its owner a boost in speed and evasion. Overall, while Freya's weapon didn't have any offensive power at all, unlike other's weapon, it made up with the best supporting ability among the weapons of the Pendragon.
Snow's Snowflake Dagger was upgraded into the Icicle Dagger, with its blade now shaped and looked like the real sharp-tipped icicle. Its offensive power was somewhat boosted in both attack and special attack, it also gained a small chance to inflict Frozen on the target when attacking, making it a useful weapon in both battle and kitchen.
Sirius' Delta Chip was upgraded into the Gamma Chip. Unlike everyone's weapon, Sirius' weapon didn't exactly work like 'weapon' as it was a chip being implanted into Sirius' body, and so, it didn't have any special power by itself. However, it made up by giving Sirius a tremendous boost in all of his stat, being Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed, Accuracy, Evasion and HP, turning Sirius into a raw damage dealer in the battle.
Korben's Scion's Fist was upgraded into the Noble's Fist (This name was chosen because, in the Hidden Village of Dragon, Korben was the grandson of the elder of the village.). While this weapon gave only a modest boost in both offensive and defensive abilities, it also gave its wielder a small boost to the supereffective move dealt by its wielder, just like what Expert Belt did. This turned its wielder into a balance fighter, which was what Korben was, personality-wise.
With the newly-upgraded weapon in their possession, the Pendragon was now ready to depart to their next destination, and their first objective was to gather in the Portal Room before they departed to the land of darkness.
"Good morning, everyone!" Rachael said as she openned the door of the Portal Room and entered it, with Richard and Korben following her. The three of them could see that everyone else was already here, ready to depart.
However, among the other nine Pokemon in the Portal Room, the attention of the Latias, Latios and Kommo-o were caught by the Goodra who was standing next to a Shiny Haxorus in a dreadful armor suit, because the cloth she was wearing right now wasn't her usual white cloth, but it was…
"Wow! Anastasia, your new cloth is so beautiful!" Rachael complimented. Right now, Anastasia was wearing a black long dress that was a bit like the appearance of Gothitelle. The black dress was greatly contrasted with Anastasia's white skin, which made her skin look even paler than normal, but also made her look mysterious and… sorrowful.
"Thank you, Anastasia." Anastasia answered with a soft voice. "This is called the Gothic style. I figure that we would go to the land of darkness, so I want to dress in the same theme as the place that we will go today."
"Are you done?" Baromyteus spoke up with a serious voice. "We don't have the whole day for chitchatting. The sooner we go, the sooner we finish our mission."
"Okay…" Rachael mumbled.
"Good." Baromyteus said. "Anyway, has anyone tell that Druddigon Gargoyle that we will not be here for a few days yet?"
"I already did." Snow answered. "Ryugan said that he and other guardians will guard the Pendracomonium until we return, so there's nothing to worry about here."
"Great." Baromyteus said before he turned back. "Now, let's go."
"Wait a minute…" Diego spoke up. "Baromyteus, how will we go to the Shadowlost Territory?"
"By the portal, of course." Baromyteus answered.
"We do have a portal to the land of darkness?" Claura spoke up. "As far as I know, the closest portal to the Shadowlost Territory we have is the portal to the Snowlost City in the Queendom of Riverbrine, and we still need to cross Mt. Snowlost in order to reach Shadowlost!"
"No." Baromyteus said before he reached his paw forward and closed his eyes for a few second, and then a warp portal suddenly appeared right in front of us. "… This portal will lead us to the Shadowlost Territory."
"W… What?!" Zetarus spoke up. "As far as I know, none of us has ever been to the Shadowlost Territory, so how did you—"
"How long are you going to waste our time?!" Baromyteus suddenly interrupted. "Move it! We have a Heroine of Legend to kill!"
After finished speaking, Baromyteus stepped into the warp portal in front of him, disappearing from everyone's eyes.
"Geez…" Zetarus mumbled with his arms crossed. "What's his problem?"
"… Everyone, let's go." Anastasia spoke with a calm voice before she followed her elder brother into the warp portal.
"…" Everyone said nothing and followed Anastasia into the warp portal, starting with Claura, Xavier, Diego, Zetarus, Snow, Rachael and Richard.
And…
"… Korben, what's wrong?"
"Hm?!" Korben snapped and turned his attention to the owner of the voice, who was none other than Freya, who was standing right in front of the warp portal.
"Korben, you seem a bit off since when you entered this room…" Freya said. "Do you have anything in your mind?"
"I… It's nothing." Korben quickly answered. "Let's go, Freya. This will be the first time that I will go to the place outside the Valley of No Return, so I am quite looking forward to this."
"… Okay…" Freya said before she turned back and entered the warp portal, and the Kommo-o then followed her. After the Kommo-o departed, the warp portal then closed, leaving no other living creature in the Pendracomonium…
-Meanwhile…
"… Where in the world is this place?"
Twelve members of the Pendragon stood on the ground after they departed from the warp portal. The place where they were in right now seemed to be a dense forest. However, they could barely see anything around themselves as the trees were so thick that they blocked off most part of the sky, and from the little part that they could see from here, the sky was very dark, as dark as the sky during the night.
"… We are now in the Shadowlost Territory." Baromyteus answered without looking at anyone.
"But which part of the Shadowlost Territory is this?" Diego asked.
"… It's the Skeleton Wood." Baromyteus answered, again without looking at anyone.
"Skeleton Wood? What a scary name…" Freya commented.
"I think I have heard about this place before…" Claura spoke up. "In the Shadowlost Territory, there was a tale of the bloodthirsty monster lurking in a dark forest named Skeleton Wood."
"M… Monster?!" Rachael cried as she quickly approached her elder brother and grabbed his arm tightly.
"Yawn… I think the tale said that this so-call bloodthirsty monster kills and devours everyone who entered or pass by this forest." Xavier spoke up. "Honestly, I think I did a better job back—"
"EEEEEEEEEAKKKK!" Rachael suddenly let out a loud scream and buried her face into her brother's side.
"Hey… Don't tell me that you get scared by just a story like that?" Zetarus said.
"T… That!" Rachael spoke with a shaking voice and pointed her paw at somewhere behind everyone.
"Hm?" Everyone except for Rachael and Richard turned back to see what was behind them, and it was…
"A pile of bones?" Diego said as he and some other members of the Pendragon walked up toward what he saw behind him. It was a pile of several pieces of bones located not too far from everyone. The bones were black, old and dirty, and parts of them were covered with the fallen leaves on the ground.
"Hm... They are still quite completed. I could see a part of humerus and ribs too…" Claura said as she picked a bone that once seemed to belong to the forearm. "But these bones are so old. I think that they were left here for no less than ten… No, twenty years."
"Also… There are many kinds of bones here, which means that they belong to not just only one or two Pokemon." Xavier spoke up as he examined the bones pile. "Hm… Maybe the tale I heard might not be just a tale, after all…"
"T… Then, that monster might still be around here!" Freya spoke up. "E… Everyone, let's get out of here!"
"… No." Baromyteus, who had been saying nothing since when the bone pile was discovered. "That monster is already gone."
"B… But… How could you know that?" Freya asked.
"And how long are we going to waste our time on a stupid pile of bone?" Baromyteus said as he turned his back to everyone. "For now, let's get out of this forest."
"And how could we do that? I don't see any exit around here…" Snow said.
"Just follow me and I will lead us out of this place." Baromyteus answered without looking at anyone.
"How could—" Zetarus was about to ask how Baromyteus knew the way out of this wood, but his words were cut off when the Shiny Haxorus spoke up again.
"Are you going to spend the entire day in this forest?" Baromyteus spoke with a serious voice. "Now, move your butt!"
"…" Everyone silently nodded to the Shiny Haxorus before they followed him into the other area of the Skeleton Wood.
Baromyteus was right. About ten minutes after they started walking, the Pendragon was finally out of the Skeleton Wood, and the vast landscape and the sky of Shadowlost Territory finally unfold before their eyes at last.
Among the seven nations on the continent of Symmetria, Shadowlost Territory claimed the title as the smallest nation, the northernmost nation, and the newest nation of Symmetria. It was located on the long cape located north of the Snowlost Peninsula. It only had a small land border to the Queendom of Riverbrine located to the south of it, with Riverbrine's Mt. Snowlost and Shadowlost's Shadowlost Ridge dividing both nations from each other. This nation earned the nickname of 'Land of Darkness' from the fact that the sun would never rise in this nation. Most part of this nation was covered in the vermillion twilight while the northernmost part of this place was covered in the eternal darkness.
Because of the lack of sunlight, the majority of this nation's area was a large wasteland named Shadowlost Wasteland, which spanned over half of the nation's area. The northern area of this nation, on the other hand, was a dark chasm shrouded in the darkness named Darkveil Chasm. Other than these two major landmarks, the other landmark of Shadowlost Territory was the Venom Island, an island located not too far from the western coast of the land of darkness itself. The acidic sea on the western coast of Shadowlost made Venom Island a toxic place that was considered as a treacherous place to everyone but the Poison type Pokemon, which was why it was homed to most Poison type Pokemon. Other than the Poison type Pokemon, Shadowlost Territory was also a home to the Dark type Pokemon and the Ghost type Pokemon. The Dark type Pokemon usually lived in the Shadowlost Wasteland while the Ghost type Pokemon preferred the Darkveil Chasm as their home.
The lack of sunlight made it impossible for Shadowlost Territory to cultivate most plants. The trading with other nation was also not good for the land of darkness because the land trading route required the merchant to pass through the arduous Mt. Snowlost, and the sea trading routes weren't much better as the western sea of Shadowlost was acidic and dangerous while the eastern sea of Shadowlost was frigid and haunted. Luckily, the Shadowlost Territory was still able to make some money from the unique plants and minerals that could only be found in a land without light. Still, Shadowlost Territory was considered as the poorest nation on Symmetria, especially after the suffering that was caused by the Bloodmoon War 20 years ago.
"So… This is the land of darkness…" Claura said as she looked around the place where she was. After getting out of the Skeleton Wood, the Pendragon was now in the Shadowlost Wasteland. The dark wasteland was empty and almost voided of any living creatures. The ground was covered by the dark red dust. The Pendragon could also see some exotic plants that they had never seen before growing around the wasteland. The strange landscape and the red sky above their head made everyone felt like this place wasn't in their world, especially for Korben who had never left the Valley of No Return before.
"This place is still scary…" Rachael commented.
"But I kinda like this place…" Zetarus commented. "The dark red ground, and the sky… It reminds me of… blood."
"For me, it reminds me of a flame… A tragic flame… Don't ask me why. I just feel like it." Diego said as he looked around and spotted a bush with the exotic flower that he had never seen before. "Hm? What do we have here?"
"What did you find?" Zetarus said as he walked up to where Diego was standing and saw that the Mega Charizard X was holding the exotic flower that he picked from the bush. Upon taking a closer look, Zetarus could see that this flower was the rose, except that every petal of this rose was completely black.
"Well… What do we have here?" Zetarus said as he picked the rose from the bush too. "What kind of flower is this?"
"Can I see?" Freya asked.
"Sure! Catch!" Zetarus said as he threw the rose to the Flygon. The Flygon, however, failed to catch it, making the flower fall right beside Korben, causing the Kommo-o a little jiggle.
"I… I am sorry!" Freya quickly apologized.
"Don't worry about it, Freya." Korben said as he picked the rose that fell on the ground up. "Here, Freya—"
"SWOOSH!"
Before Korben could return the flower to the Flygon, a paw was reached toward Korben's paw and grabbed the rose before the Flygon could. The one who grabbed the flower was none other than Baromyteus.
"Hey!" Zetarus said as he saw Baromyteus put the flower into his mouth and started chewing it. "If you want it, get one from yourself, not stealing it from my sister!"
"… As I guess…" Baromyteus spoke up again after he finished chewing the flower he snatched earlier. "This thing we have here is the Black Rose, the flower native to the Shadowlost Territory, as well as the symbol of the land of darkness."
"Yeah. It's not that hard to figure that out." Zetarus said with his arms crossed. "It's a rose and it's black, so, what's the point?"
"You fool." Baromyteus said. "This flower is very poisonous. Just holding or sniffing it will poison you."
"W… What?!" Zetarus said before he suddenly started to feel weak, as if his strength was being drained away! His body then gradually turned purple, indicating that he was poisoned!
"…" Like Zetarus, Diego's body also turned purple, and the Mega Charizard X could feel his strength being drained away. However, because Diego held the flower in his paw a bit longer than Zetarus, he received the poison from the Black Rose more than the Garchomp, causing him to be badly poisoned instead!
"Zetarus! Diego!" Rachael and Freya quickly approached the poisoned Pokemon. Freya then used her Scarlet Rose to heal Zetarus while Rachael grabbed a bottle of antidote and was about to pour it into Diego's mouth when Richard quickly snatched it from his sister. The Latios then put the antidote into a syringe before he injected it into Diego's arm.
"Onii-chan, why do you have to inject the antidote into Diego's body instead of letting him drink it?" Rachael asked.
"Diego is badly poisoned, so he needs an urgent treat, and injecting the antidote into the veins directly instead of letting the antidote being absorbed into his veins is much more effective." Richard answered and turned his attention to the Mega Charizard X. "Look. Diego is already healed."
Richard was right. Within just a minute, Diego was recovered, and he was able to stand up again. Zetarus also recovered after he was healed by his sister.
"Geez… What a pain…" Zetarus said. "Thanks, Freya."
"You too, Rachael, Richard." Diego said. "Again, you prove yourself to be useful."
"Teehee! No problem!" Rachael said.
"For me, I am always useful with a vast amount of knowledge I have." Richard said.
"But we are lucky that we could easily cure you two from getting poisoned." Freya said. "And I think we should be more careful next time."
"Indeed." Claura said before turning her attention to her cousin. "Anyway… Xavier, what should we do next?"
"First, we need to find the location of that Heroine of Legend." Xavier answered before glancing at Baromyteus. "But I think that our dear leader knows something about this, right?"
"… That Heroine of Darkness… She's the chancellor of Shadowlost Territory, so she must be at the capital of this land." Baromyteus answered.
"The capital of Shadowlost Territory is a city with the most creative name ever, the Shadowlost City." Richard spoke up with a sarcastic voice. "And it's located west of where we are right now, if you don't want to come up with a decent plan to approach our enemy."
"I suggest that we come up with a plan first." Snow spoke up. "We are in our enemy's territory, so we are at the disadvantage. This is why we must do something first."
"Well… When I tried to kill the royals of Fireview Kingdom, I just went to the capital and hid in the outskirt of the city, as the mountains of Fireview Kingdom provided a great hiding place for me." Diego spoke up.
"I also did the same thing when I tried to kill Emperor Garland for the first time, except that I was able to walk freely around the Dustorm City as no one had any clue about who I was back then." Zetarus said.
"And I think no one here would know anything about us too, well… Except for Baromyteus and Anastasia…" Xavier spoke up and glanced at both Anastasia and Baromyteus. "That Heroine of Dark type know both of you, right?"
"Yes, but…" Anastasia spoke up. "I think that she thinks that both of us are already dead, so—"
"GRRRAAA!"
Baromyteus suddenly grabbed his swords and dashed forward through the group and then slashed something right behind everyone!
"SCREEEEEEECHH!"
"EEEEAAKKK!" Rachael quickly grabbed her brother's arm (again) after realizing what Baromyteus attacked. It was a wild Meditite that tried to sneak behind everyone and attack them. However, it wasn't just an ordinary Meditite…
"…" The Meditite, now being just a lifeless corpse, laid on the ground. However, even when it was already dead, its body was still cloaked in a veil of dark purple aura, the same aura it had when it was still alive. The very same aura made its body turned dark purple, and its eyes turned completely red, as if it wasn't alive at all.
"W… What in the world is this Pokemon?!" Freya asked. "I… I have never seen a Pokemon like this before!"
"… This is… the Shadow Pokemon." Richard slowly answered after he recovered from a shock caused by Baromyteus' sudden movement earlier.
"Shadow Pokemon?!" Everyone turned their attention to the Latios. "Are you serious?!"
"Yes." Richard nodded. "The Pokemon whose heart is closed and embraced the veil of shadow... That's the Shadow Pokemon. They are stronger than ordinary Pokemon, but their presence is hate and fear by everyone. Also, as their name implied, they usually lurk in the shadowy darkness and appear when the world is without the sunlight. The Chronicle stated the origin of the first Shadow Pokemon as sometime around the time of the Twilight Crisis, and now, while their number is still low because they are usually exterminated, they could still be found here, on the continent of Symmetria."
"So… You mean that Shadowlost Territory is home to the Shadow Pokemon?!" Zetarus asked.
"Actually… The Shadow Pokemon could be found everywhere on the continent of Symmetria… Well… Maybe not the Valley of No Return because it was closed off from the rest of the world since many years before the Twilight Crisis." Richard explained. "According to the Chronicle, their habitat is the same as their ordinary counterpart, such as the Grass type and the Bug type being native to Principality of Leafburg and the Electric type and the Steel type being native to the Republic of Civilight."
"But I have never seen any Shadow Pokemon before during my journey on the continent of Symmetria, and I have gone to quite many places." Claura said.
"Moreover…" Snow pointed his fin at the corpse of the Meditite. "As far as I remember, a Fighting and Psychic type Pokemon like this Meditite should be native to the Theocracy of Venturnome to the south, so why is it here, in the land of darkness?"
"Forget it." Baromyteus suddenly spoke up as he sheathed his swords. "Everyone, it's time to go."
"Go? This soon? And go where?" Rachael asked.
"Shadowlost City, of course." Baromyteus answered. "With a Shadow Pokemon like this, it's not safe anymore to be in a wilderness. The best thing we could do is get out of the wilderness and get into a settlement."
"Wait, shouldn't we come up with a plan first?" Zetarus asked. "Shadowlost City is the place where our target is, and she knows your face, Baromyteus, so we should—"
"I have a plan." Baromyteus answered bluntly before he quitted the conversation and started heading west, toward the Shadowlost City.
"…" Anastasia looked at her brother, and then she turned her attention to everyone and revealed them a bittersweet smile on her face before she turned back and followed her elder brother.
"Hmpt… As unpleasant as ever… That Dragon Jerky." Claura mumbled. "But… I couldn't believe how much the power of love could affect that jerk…"
"And what would you do, Claura?" Xavier asked.
"What else can I do but follow him?!" Claura said.
"Nothing." Xavier answered.
"Hmpt!" Claura grumbled before she turned back and followed Anastasia and Baromyteus. Xavier then followed her, and then everyone else followed him…
Except for…
"Korben?" Freya was about to depart when she noticed that Korben was spacing out, looking into the vast wasteland of Shadowlost.
"Hm? Oh, what?" Korben snapped and turned his attention toward the Flygon. "I am sorry, Freya. Did you need something?"
"Korben, what have gotten into you?" Freya asked with a worried voice. "This is the fourth time you have been spacing out like this. That's not like you at all."
"I… I just feel a bit impatient for being in a place that I have never been to before." Korben answered.
"But you also spaced out right before we entered the warp portal to come to this place." Freya continued speaking. "You didn't even listen to Ba—"
"I… am just a bit tired from yesterday's work of forging steel in the forge with Diego." Korben quickly spoke up. "I am quite sure that I will be fine."
"If you say so…" Freya said. "But… If you don't feel well, remember that you can always speak with me. I will help you if it's in my power."
"Thanks, Freya." Korben said. "Now, let's catch up with everyone. They have already gone that far."
"Okay." Freya nodded to the Kommo-o before they started walking toward the west, following their friends that had gone ahead of them.
However…
'… This place…' Korben thought to himself as he walked alongside Freya. 'Why do I feel… anxious… about this place? And I feel as if there is something in my body that… resonates when I am here… It feels as if… I have something to do with this land…;
'And…' Korben turned his head back to look at the place where he and his friends were standing a few minutes ago. 'I don't know if I'm right or not… But… I also feel a presence of someone… or something since when I first came here… I feel as if… Someone is watching me, even right now…'
-A Few Hours Later…
"… This is the capital of Shadowlost Territory?!" Zetarus spoke up.
After several hours of walking through the empty Shadowlost Wasteland and fought some Shadow Pokemon they encountered on their way, the Pendragon was now standing not too far from the entrance of Shadowlost City, the capital of Shadowlost Territory. However, the capital of the land of darkness was not really what they had in their mind. First, Shadowlost City was much smaller than they thought. The size of this city was smaller than all other six capitals on Symmetria, and it was even smaller than some other big city or town, such as Dustorm's Sandust Port or Riverbrine's Riverbrine Island and Seaside Town. Moreover, this city was less civilized than they thought, being less civilized than every settlement in the Republic of Civilight.
"That seems like it." Xavier spoke up. "Honestly, this is what I expect from the poorest nation of Symmetria."
"That isn't nice to say, Xavier." Rachael said before turning her attention to Baromyteus. "Baromyteus, you say that you have a plan, right? Can you tell us now?"
"Simple." Baromyteus spoke up with a serious voice. "I will force into her place and challenge her to a duel to dead."
"What?!" Rachael said. "Baromyteus, you can't do that!"
"Why can't I?" Baromyteus back toward the Latias and asked her with an intimidating voice.
"E...Um…" Rachael quickly got behind her brother. "Y… You will get killed if you do that!"
"You mean that I am too weak to fight that Heroine of Darkness?" Baromyteus asked with the same intimidating voice.
"EEAAAAKK!" Rachael let out a small scream after hearing Baromyteus' intimidating voice.
"… But Rachael's right." Richard spoke up with a plain voice with a hint of fear toward the Shiny Haxorus. "What you are doing is not a plan at all. This is a thoughtless action—"
"I didn't ask your opinion, Richard." Baromyteus interrupted as he glanced at the Latios with a menacing look on his face, immediately shutting the Latios.
"Baromyteus, what has gotten into you?" Diego said. "You have been acting impudent like this since when we arrive here. We know that you are having a hard time making up your mind about that first love of yours, but what you are doing is much more than that! Are you hiding something else from us?"
"Yes, I am, not that you need to know about this. It won't make your life any easier anyway." Baromyteus quickly answered the Mega Charizard X.
"Of course it will!" Claura spoke up. "You are our leader, you jerk! And what you are doing right now is dragging us to our doom! Do you want us to die in our first mission?!"
"I don't have time to argue with you, Claura." Baromyteus said. "We have a Pokemon to kill—"
"SWOOOP!"
"TOOP!"
"!"
As Baromyteus was arguing with his teammates, everyone heard the sound of something falling from above and landed behind Baromyteus, causing the Shiny Haxorus to quickly react by turning back and drew out his swords, facing the thing that had just appeared behind him!
"…" The Pokemon who had just appeared was a bipedal fox with a gray-brown body and dark red mane, or in the other word, a Zoroark. The Zoroark was wearing some sort of a demonic mask to conceal the left part of their face, leaving the right part of their face unconcealed. They were wearing some sort of black armor suit on their body, and they were wielding a strange weapon that seemed two swords with their hilt being jointed together, with the blade of each sword as each tip of the weapon and the jointed hilt in the middle of the weapon.
"…" Baromyteus stared at the Zoroark in front of him with a hostile face, ready to start a battle at any moment. Meanwhile, other members of the Pendragon also equipped their weapon and readied themselves in case that the battle started…
… Which never happened.
"… You there… The one with the sssssssswordssssssss." A blunt and the masculine was heard by the Pendragon as the Zoroark started speaking, along with pointing his weapon at Baromyteus. His voice, especially the part that he spoke the letter 's', was like the voice of a hissing snake Pokemon. "… Are you Baromyteussssssss Drawyvern the Sssssssshiny Haxorussssssss."
"… What if I am?" Baromyteus answered bluntly.
"… In that cassssssse…" The Zoroark lowered his weapon. "… Come with me…"
"To where?" Baromyteus asked. He still didn't lower his weapon.
"To meet the chancellor." The Zoroark answered. "The chancellor issssssss expecting your arrival. I will essssssscort you to her."
"… Fine." Baromyteus said and lowered his weapon. "But I want my friends to come with me too."
"If that'ssssssss your wissssssssh, then do assssssss you want…" The Zoroark said before turning back and started walking toward the entrance of Shadowlost City.
"… Are you sure that we should follow that guy?" Xavier spoke up as he and other members of the Pendragon put away their weapon. "He seems to have something to do with that Heroine of Dark type."
"I agree with Xavier." Richard spoke up. "And what that Zoroark said about the chancellor is expecting you concerns me. There's a chance that this might be a trap."
"No chance." Baromyteus spoke up. "She isn't someone who would do something devious like that in a situation like this. If you guys don't want to come, then stay here."
After finished speaking, Baromyteus started following the Zoroark to the Shadowlost City. The other members of the Pendragon then looked at each other, but without any other choices, all of them then followed their leader to the Shadowlost City.
And…
'… What's this feeling?' Korben thought to himself as he followed everyone. 'The strange feeling I have… It's getting stronger just now… What is this? Why do I feel like this? I don't understand…'
-A Few Minutes Later…
The Zoroark led twelve Pokemon into the Shadowlost City, the capital of Shadowlost Territory. As they entered the city, they could see that this city was, as expected, populated by the Dark type and Ghost type Pokemon, with some Poison type Pokemon and very few other Pokemon. The houses and buildings in the Shadowlost City were built in a simple manner, with the easy-to-find materials such as woods or stones. However, the houses and buildings were all in the strange shapes. Some were in the shape of the strange-shaped square or rectangle while some were in the shape of the non-square polygon such as hexagon or heptagon.
"I thought that the landscape of this land is strange enough… The capital itself is even more strange..." Claura spoke up as she observed the appearance of the city.
"That's why Shadowlost Territory also gains another nickname of 'The most alien place on the continent of Symmetria'." Richard spoke up. "Trust me, we would find even more strange things while we are in this land."
The Zoroark then led the Pendragon to the city hall of Shadowlost City, which was located on the other side of the city. The city hall was built in a simple and modest manner despite being an important landmark of the capital city. The Zoroark and the Pendragon then entered the city hall, ignoring the reception desk and entered one of the doors behind the reception desk, which let to a long hallway with another door at the end.
"The chancellor issssss waiting in her room…" The Zoroark spoke up again as he led the Pendragon along the hallway. "And sssssssshe want to have a private conversssssssation with you."
"One question." Baromyteus spoke up. "How did she know about my arrival, as well as my existence?"
"Perhapsssss you ssssssssshould assssssssk her by yoursssssssself." The Zoroark said as he stopped in front of the door at the end of the hallway. He then openned the door into the room without knocking.
"Ssssssssisssssss, the one you want to sssssssssee is here."
"… Thanks."
As the Pendragon entered the room, they noticed that this room was decorated in the manner of the working room of the mayor or the chancellor. Other than the Pendragon and the Zoroark that led the Pendragon into this room, there were two other Pokemon in this room, both which were Zoroark. One of them were standing beside the working desk that seemed to belong to the chancellor. They were wearing a long black priestess robe and the similar demonic mask wore by the Zoroark that led the Pendragon here, except that their mask covered the right part of their face and left the left part of their face unconcealed.
"… I welcome you all to the land of darkness, the Shadowlost Territory…"
An soft and feminine voice came from the last Pokemon in this room, who were another Zoroarok that sat at the seat of the chancellor desk. They were wearing a simple cloth, in contrast of two other Zoroarok that wore an armor suit and the priestess robe. They then stood up and stepped forward to stand in front of the Pendragon, with their attention on the Shiny Haxorus in front of them.
"…" The Pendragon felt that the mood suddenly became heavy, and they started to feel really anxious. It's because they either know or could sense that the Zoroark that was standing right in front of them right now was none other than their current target, as well as the current Heroine of Darkness.
"Before we get to anything else, allow me to introduce myself first." The Zoroark in front of the Pendragon spoke up again. "My name is Fenrir Illunight Sr. the Zoroark, the Master of Mercy. I am the chancellor of the Shadowlost Territory, as well as the current Heroine of Dark type."
After finished introducing herself, Fenrir Sr. the Zoroark turned her attention to the Zoroark in the armor suit, who led the Pendragon here. "Allow me to introduce my siblings too. This Zoroark is the younger brother of mine."
"… My name is Jormungand Illunight the Zoroark, the Serpent General…" The Zoroark in the armor suit spoke up again. "I am the general of the ssssssssspecial force of the Sssssssssshadowlossssssssst Territory."
"And…" Fenrir Sr. turned her attention to the Zoroark in the priestess robe. "This young lady is the youngest sibling of mine."
"… Hel Illunight the Zoroark, the Somber Priestess…" The Zoroark in the priestess robe spoke with a slow and emotionless voice. "… I am the priestess of the Newmoon Temple…"
"And…" Fenrir Sr. turned her attention back to the Pendragon. "Can I ask you all to introduce yourself to me and my siblings?"
The Pendragon remained silent for a few second, before one of them spoke up.
"… I will go first." Korben spoke up as he stepped forward. "My name is Korben Forcenter the Kommo-o. I came from the Valley of No Return."
"!" A mark of shock appeared on the faces of all three Zoroark after hearing the introduction of the Kommo-o, but it then disappeared within a second as the three Zoroark quickly concealed their emotion.
"Then, I will go next…" Claura spoke up as she stepped forward after Korben finished his introduction. "I am…"
-A Few Minutes Later…
The Pendragon took their turn introducing themselves, with Rachael and Richard introducing Sirius as the Type: Null couldn't speak. The three Zoroark listened to their introduction carefully. They had a bit of reaction when they heard Zetarus and Freya's surname of Quakersand and Snow's surname of Tundrafrost, but they still didn't say anything until almost everyone had already introduced themselves, with only two Pokemon remained…
"… My name is Anastasia Wyrmscale the Goodra." Anastasia introduced herself with a plain voice. "I am… a wandering songstress along with my brother."
"… Which is me." Baromyteus spoke up, with his arms crossed. "My name is Baromyteus Drawyvern the Shiny Haxorus. I guess that I have no need to say anything else about myself."
"I already know quite much about you, Baromyteus. Too much, actually, if you ask me." Fenrir Sr. spoke up again. "I know about you to the point that I remembered your claw marks when I saw Rucas' dead body."
"I see… That explains why do you know that I am still alive." Baromyteus said. "But how did you know that I will come here?"
"I don't, but I have an instinct that you will come and find me soon, and my instinct never disappoints me." Fenrir Sr. answered. "And knowing you, I have a hunch that you might want to come and confront me like this…"
"… You really know too much about me." Baromyteus said. "Then, I guess that you may already know the reason why I come here, so I will get into the point now."
"Actually…" Fenrir Sr. spoke up again. "I don't exactly know the reason that brought you and your friends here, but again, I have a hunch about it, and my assumption could be proved with just one question, which I want you to answer."
"... Shoot it." Baromyteus said.
"…Baromyteus." Fenrir Sr. remained silent for a few second before she spoke up again with a strong voice as she fixed her eyes at the Shiny Haxorus in the demonic armor suit in front of her. "… Are you the one who killed Rucas?"
"Yes, I did." Baromyteus answered with a strong voice. "That Lucario is as pathetic as ever, even in the last moment of his life."
"… I see." Fenrir Sr. lowered her face for a bit before she spoke up again. "That's all I need to know. Thank you for answering it."
"… So… What will you do?" Baromyteus asked.
"I will avenge the death of my husband, of course." Fenrir Sr. answered. "And I guess that I am your next target, isn't it?"
"… Yes." Baromyteus answered again, however, with a weaker voice than the one he used before.
"Then... Three days" Fenrir Sr. spoke up again. "As the chancellor of Shadowlost Territory, I have many duties to perform, as well as the duty as my son's regent. So, give me three days to finish my job, to prepare for the worst. After three days had passed, we will meet each other again, and then we will finish all of this, once and for all. Do you agree with this?"
"… One condition." Baromyteus said. "No trickery and deception."
"I promise, in the name of the Heroine of Dark type." Fenrir Sr. said. "The words we have together will remain with me and my siblings. We will not let it slip to everyone else's ears."
"I find that hard to believe." Claura suddenly spoke up, turning the attention of everyone to her. "I find it hard to believe that you won't break this promise, and I would it much easier to believe if you say that you will do ANYTHING in order to destroy us, as we had already killed one Hero of Legend and we are about to kill another one."
"… Being the Hero/ine of Legend doesn't have anything to do with this." Fenrir Sr. answered.
"And why is that?" Xavier asked.
"For me, our title as the Hero/ine of Legend doesn't hold any importance in this case." Fenrir Sr. answered. "I still don't know the reason of your action, but in this case, I didn't do this as the Heroine of Legend, but I do it as a wife whose husband was killed by you. I don't do it for a greater cause, but I do it for my personal cause. Do I make myself clear enough?"
"… Fair enough." Claura and Xavier accepted.
"Good." Fenrir Sr. said. "And as I said before, I want the conversation we have today to remain in this room. No one else shall hear about our action. Me and my siblings shall keep it concealed. Do I hear this from all of you too?"
"Yes." The Pendragon answered.
"Then… Three days from now on, we will meet each other at the Newmoon Temple, to the west of this town. No one else shall be there but us in that day. Do you agree with this?" Fenrir Sr. asked again.
"Yes." Baromyteus answered.
"Then, there's nothing else for us to speak with each other, and I have a meeting with the ambassador from Fireview Kingdom in a few minutes too…" Fenrir Sr. said. "Also, as the chancellor of the Shadowlost Territory, I hope you all a pleasant stay in the land of darkness. And… Please be careful. There are Shadow Pokemon being spotted in the Shadowlost Wasteland and the Darkveil Chasm. Don't let them get you first."
"… That's an unbelievably nice warning, coming from you." Xavier said.
"I just don't want any of you to die at the hand of anything else, especially since we have a 'meeting' in three days." Fenrir Sr answered.
"Fair enough." Baromyteus said. "Then, we will take our leave now."
"… I will escort you." Jormungand the Zoroark spoke up after remaining silent for a long time.
"… Me too…" Hel the Zoroark spoke up too. "…I must return to the Newmoon Temple… And continue my duty…"
"Thank you, my brother and my sister." Fenrir Sr. said before turning her attention toward the Pendragon. "Also, it's a pleasure to have a meeting with you all, especially you two, Anastasia and Baromyteus."
"… Me too, Fenrir." Anastasia spoke up. "It's nice to meet you again… After all this time…"
"Yeah…" Baromyteus said. "And… I am sorry that thing has to end like this. I wish that it could end in a better way…"
"Speak no more, Baromyteus." Fenrir Sr. said. "We don't have anything else to speak."
"…" Baromyteus said nothing more and turned back toward the door of the room before he opened it and left the room, with the other eleven members of the Pendragon following him. The two Zoroark, Jormungand and Hel, then followed them, leaving Fenrir Sr. alone in her room.
"… Me too, Baromyteus." Fenrir Sr. mumbled to herself after the Pendragon and her siblings left the room. "I, too, wish that thing could end better than this, especially since I failed to save you and Anastasia 33 years ago from the Fallen Dragon's grasp… The story of living creature's existence is truly unfathomable…"
-Meanwhile… Outside the Room…
The Pendragon, accompanied by Jormungand and Hel, had just left the room and was now standing in the long hallway again, and the exit of this hall way was, again, located on the other side of it. The Pendragon then prepared to leave when Jormungand spoke up.
"I think thisssssss goesssssss without sssssssaying, but I will sssssssssay it, jussssssst in casssssse…" Jormungand said with a blunt voice as he turned his attention to the Pendragon. "I am the chancellor'ssssss younger brother, sssssso… I will alwaysssssss ssssssside with her, and the enemy of her is my enemy too… Do I make mysssssssself clear?"
"… Me too… Being the younger sister of the chancellor…" Hel spoke with, again, with an emotionless voice.
"…I get what you mean." Zetarus spoke up. "If I could, I want to side with all of my siblings too…"
"At least you got Freya, Zetarus." Richard said before turning his attention to Baromyteus. "Anyway, Baromyteus, what will we do next?"
"… We will talk about this once we get out of here." Baromyteus answered. He seemed to be less serious than when he was first arrived at the Shadowlost Territory.
"Good." Diego said. "Again, we have three more days to go. Hopefully, there won't be any more trouble while we are here—"
"Kreeen…"
The sound of door opening attracted everyone's attention to the door on the other side of the hallway, which was just opened, and another Pokemon appeared from behind the door and entered the hall way, standing on the opposite side of where the Pendragon was. The Pokemon who had just appeared was… A Charizard. However, he wasn't an ordinary Charizard, but he was a Charizard in a loincloth with several blue tribal tattoos on his body. He was also wielding a spear with the spearhead made from the gemstone that glittered like a burning flame. And if anyone looked closely, they could see that this Charizard had its appearance very similar to Diego, despite him being in the Mega Charizard X form, as this Charizard was none other than…
'D… Dinus?!'
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: Whew… I finish this chapter much sooner than I thought, but I still can't say that this current working speed of mine would be constant…
Anyway, for the story, we are finally in the Shadowlost Territory! Yay! And we also have an introduction of the Zoroark siblings too! And… Look who appear at the end!
Q&A Session:
Tail 7-2 – Question: Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Answer:
-Korben: I am right-handed, but I could use my left hand a bit well due to my training.
-Claura: I don't have any hand or paw, and I mostly use my tail as my main appendage, so I guess that I am 'tailed' instead.
-Xavier: Yawn… I am right-handed…
-Anastasia: I am right-handed, but I learned to use both hands when I did the choreography.
-Baromyteus: I don't remember which hand is my preference, because I always use both hands. In other word… I am ambidextrous.
-Diego: I am right-handed, but I can use my left-handed too, because I need a spare hand when I was sent into a battle when my right hand is still injured.
-Zetarus: I am left-handed. I guess it's my second nature to be an outcast, huh?
-Rachael: I am right-handed! It's very useful when I grow and pick berries with my cute little hands!
-Richard: I am right-handed, and I am training to master the use of my left hand in order to show that I am superior to everyone else.
-Freya: I… I am right-handed…
-Snow: I am left-handed. It's quite a struggle when most cooking utensils were designed for the right-handed Pokemon, but as a butler, it's my duty to learn to adapt to it.
-Sirius: … (Dragon of Vale: Sirius was created with the maximum potential to maximize his ability, so Sirius' ambidextrous.)
Question from Ridin Valon: To Xavier: Would you either sleep for all of eternity or get away from Claura and then, sleep for all of eternity?
-Xavier: Yawn… I could sleep anywhere and anytime I want… But Claura is helpless without me, so I guess I'll have to keep her around here, even if she constantly yells at me… ZZZ… *Sleep*
Question from Parousia45: To Rachael: Want some cookies? I have a huge pile of them so how many you want, I'll give you.
-Rachael: Yay! Cookie! I want them all! Thank you! *Happily eats the cookie*