Chapter 6: Dark-Mare

Owen walked around Citrine Town. The whole place was completely devoid of color and light.

(Owen) "Eli? Eli?!?"

(Mysterious Voice) "*distant* Hello! The world needs help."

(Owen) "It's that voice again. The one I heard before I became a Fuecoco. HELLO! I'm here to help!"

Owen raced through town. Suddenly, a bunch of Pokémon appeared in front of him. They were the many townsfolk and Guild members. They had turned dark and colorless like Koriadon.

(Owen) "What the?"

A giant bright light shined in the distance in a giant temple. The temple was the only thing bright and colorful around.

(Mysterious Voice) "Help!"

(Owen) "What's going on?!?"

Eli jumped out of the crowd of dark Pokémon. He was dark himself. Even his bright red scar was a dark grey now.

(Owen) "E-Eli?"

Eli was gone. Owen slowly backed away from everyone.

(Owen) "No. No! Don't say it's true!"

Eli ran towards Owen, and jumped at him.

(Owen) "NO!"

Owen jolted awake, and fell out of bed. It was the middle of the night.

(Owen) "Ow!"

Eli heard the commotion, and woke up.

(Eli) "Ugh. What's going on?"

Eli looked at Owen on the ground. He quickly hopped out of bed, and ran over to him.

(Eli) "You okay?"

Eli helped Owen off the ground. Owen immediately hugged Eli.

(Owen) "You're okay! You're okay."

(Eli) "Yeah? Are you okay? What happened?"

Pawmo and Charcadet entered the room. Owen and Eli broke off the hug.

(Pawmo) "What's going on? We heard yelling."

(Charcadet) "Is everyone alright?"

(Eli) "That's what I'm trying to figure out. Care to explain what happened, Owen?"

(Owen) "Pawmo? Charcadet? You're okay too?"

Eli, Pawmo, and Charcadet just looked at Owen with puzzling looks.

Owen, Eli, Pawmo, and Charcadet gathered in the Guild's cafeteria. They all sat around the table. Owen told them everything that had happened.

(Owen) "...and all I saw was everyone I cared about turned into whatever Koriadon became. You 3 were there, and turned dark too. Eli came out of the crowd, and tried to attack me, and I was so unbelievably scared!"

Owen started to cry. Eli nuzzled beside him, and gave him a hug.

(Eli) "It's okay Owen. We're here."

(Pawmo) "And we're okay! And the town is okay."

(Charcadet) "Yeah. We aren't corrupted. You don't have to worry."

Owen wiped tears from his eyes. Eli let go of him.

(Owen) "I-I know. But didn't you see Koriadon back at the Crimson Canyon? He was devoid of color and light. And he was enraged. If that darkness can corrupt Koriadon, who's to say it won't come here and corrupt all of you? I can't lose you guys."

(Pawmo) "We don't want to lose you either."

(Charcadet) "Yeah."

(Eli) "I know it's scary right now, but right now we're okay. And don't forget Oranguru and Toucannon will go look for that Calyrex fellow in the morning. They'll find out what this darkness is, how to stop it from spreading, and how to cure Koriadon."

(Owen) "But what if they can't figure out the cure in time? Or what if there isn't one? What if the darkness spreads to Citrine Town before they can find one?!?"

(Charcadet) "Oranguru and Toucannon are good at these sorts of things. They're the best duo you're probably going to find for miles. If anyone can find a cure for this darkness quickly, it's those 2."

(Pawmo) "Yeah. And until then, we're not leaving. I'm not about some darkness corrupt me, or Charcadet, or Eli, or anyone here!"

(Eli) "Right now, we're okay. I know it's hard that we can't predict what's gonna happen. But you can't spend all the time expecting a negative outcome. I know that very well. Remember, I spent 3 years alone because I assumed everyone was as bad as Barnaby was to me. You pulled me away from that. And now I have more friends than I ever did. Right now, everyone's okay. And that's what matters."

(Owen) "*sigh* You're right. Thanks guys."

(Pawmo) "Don't worry one bit!"

(Owen) "And, I'm really sorry for waking y'all up."

(Eli) "Eh. Still a better sleep than I had most nights in the wild. Besides. We're always here for you. Even in the middle of the night."

Owen gathered everyone into a group hug.

(Eli) "Wow. 2 weeks ago I would've never expected to be consoling a friend and being in a group hug with 3 others."

(Owen) "Welcome to friendship. You're stuck with us now!"

The group broke off the hug.

(Eli) "Well, since we're awake we might as well chat a bit. So tell us about the Mysterious Voice from your dream. The one we both heard before we met."

(Owen) "Well, I saw something in the nightmare. There was some temple way into the distance. There was a bright light coming from inside, and the voice came from it as well."

(Pawmo) "A temple?"

(Owen) "It was the brightest place I could see in my dream. It was like some temple of light."

(Eli) "Hmm. If the last dream you and I had was a call for help from that mysterious voice, and it appeared in this dream inside a temple, maybe that has something to do with how we cure the darkness. We should ask Oranguru and Toucannon to bring that up to Calyrex."

(Charcadet) "*yawns* Great. Can we get some rest now?"

(Owen) "Of course. Let's get back to bed. Night guys!"

(Pawmo) "Night Owen and Eli!"

Owen and Eli split up from Pawmo and Charcadet, and the 2 groups headed back to their rooms. Owen and Eli hopped in bed, and Eli quickly passed out. Owen was still worried about the future.

End Of Chapter 6

(I know this chapter was a bit shorter. I wanted this chapter to set up some plot points for the future as well as see how the friendship of Team Trust and Pawmo and Charcadet has grown. Who is the Mysterious Voice? You will find out soon enough.)