Ash let out a long groan. His limps were going to be covered in aching bruises and stinging scrapes from the fall, but as he came too adrenaline kept the pain away. The cavern around him was pitch black but he didn't panic. This was not his first time getting trapped in an underground cave, prison or ancient ruin. Looking at you Team plucking Plasma!

With slightly shivery fingers, Ash palmed at the ground around him looking for where his flashlight had fallen. For a while all he found was bits of rubble and a thick layer of dust on the cold stone floor. His index traced over something smooth and very sharp. Ash pulled back with a hiss as his finger burned with sudden pain. Now sitting on his knees Ash cradled his hand, feeling something warm drip down his fingers. Great he cut himself. Ash sighed, figuring that his flashlight had broken when it hit the ground and he had just cut his finger on the shattered glass.

Ash licked the dust off his lips and winced at the flavor of powdered rock and dirt. Bad idea. He coughed.

"Pikachu? Riolu," Ash whispered.

Something fuzzy next to him twitched and let out a high-pitched sneeze. And the paw of a slightly bigger fuzzy something nudged his other side.

"Goh?" Ash called.

No answer came from the pitch-black room. Ash hummed with displeasure. If Goh was hurt that would make this mission a whole lot harder. If only he had some light, so he could find his friend. He bit his tongue in thought. C'mon Ash, this isn't your first time in a cave! What did you do last time? Last time he did have a fire type Pokémon with him. Raboot was a fire type, but Ash wasn't sure if she could produce a steady flame. Charizard's tail was already burning, so they could see.

Charizard wasn't here now though.

But he had his phone! Ash reached down to his pocket and…it was empty…His phone had fallen out of it during the cave in. Great, just when he needed modern technology it failed him! And Goh wondered why Ash was confused when told he needed that hunk of plastic and unknown materials.

Sir Aaron didn't have a phone and he was doing fine…wait…

Ash looked down at where he thought his hand was in the darkness and pondered. What he was about to do would either work, and he'd have light, or it's would blow up in his face and probably make the whole situation worse.

It was worth the shot.

Ash sat back, and relaxed his shoulders, closing his eyes with a deep breath. Just like how he was taught. He measured his breathing with quiet humming, focusing on the energy within in. A tingly buzzing feeling became noticeable, internally he began willing it towards his wounded hand. The tingle intensified as it swelled in his fingertips. An audible swirling hum joined his own in harmony, and Ash's peeked through one of his eyes.

In the center of his bloodied palm hovered a spinning ball of glowing fiery blue light. Ash huffed an excited laugh. He did it! His idea didn't blow up in his face! And even better, now that the room was bathed in blue, almost looking like they were underneath a fish tank, Ash could see. He glanced down, finding Pikachu and Riolu at his sides looking at the aura sphere spinning just above his palm.

The feeling of elation didn't last long, however. They needed to find the others. Ash looked around taking in the surrounding cavern. Ahead was a long tunnel, the stone walls roughly cut with black wires and shut off lights hooked into the tiny cavities in the ceiling. To his back was a large, towering pile of rubble. A dead end.

Eventually his dark brown eyes zeroed in on a rather hairy rock that was coated with dust. Goh. Ash scrambled to his feet and trekked over to his friend's side. Falling back onto his knees once close enough to shake the young Pokémon researcher.

"Goh? Goh!" Ash called Pikachu jumping on Goh back to gently prod at him as well.

Goh began to stir with a heavy groan and cough, "Wha-what happened? Are we dead?" He spoke with a crackly voice.

Ash chuckled, "Not yet. Are you okay?"

Goh shifted his hands underneath him and pushed himself up, Pikachu jumping off as soon as straightened his arms.

His friend let out a hiss, "I think so, nothing seems broken."

Ash nodded, "Where's Raboot?"

"She jumped back into her pokeball before we fell," Goh said examining the pokeballs on his belt, "I was a screaming a lot so I must have missed her doing it…where are the others?"

Ash stood up, "My guess, on the other side of that," He pointed to the giant rubble roadblock.

"Great," Goh grumbled getting to his own feet, he eventually looked down at the aura sphere in Ash's hand and murmured, "Okay that is pretty cool."

"C'mon we need to find Riley, or at least a way to get around this," Ash said being to walk towards the open tunnel behind them.

Amanda whimpered as she came too.

She didn't move at first not wanting to possibly aggravate any form of back or spinal injury that usually came with falling like thirty feet into cold hard bed rock. Taking stock of her body, she thankfully didn't feel any numbness or tingly sensations. Only a soreness that she knew came from a body covered in bruises. Shuffling her limbs didn't change much either, so slowly Amanda sat up. Oh, yeah, she was going to be sore for a while after a tumble like that.

Hanging her head between her legs and arms propped up on her bent knees, she took a deep breath. She rubbed a hand down her bare face, ridding her skin from the clinginess of the dust…wait…her bare face. Where were her glasses? She took another breath, the air doing little to put the suddenly rapid beat of her heart to rest.

Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm. Your Glasses just fell off. It's fine you'll find them. You'll still be able to see. You are not blind.

Filling her lungs with a shaky inhale, and swallowing something sour back down, she opened her eyes…And panic set in once more.

Pitch black surrounded her. She couldn't even see where her own hands were. She couldn't see. She couldn't see. She couldn't see.

"…go blind…"

No.

"…disgusting broken whore…"

No.

"You're worthless."

No!

"It's your fault."

"NO!"

Sir Aaron startled awake at the sound of a broken wail. The ground beneath him was hard and grainy, and his hands were scraped on it as he struggled. The world around him lacked any light and lived in black shadow. By habit, he sparked a sphere in his fingers to see. The cavern was flooded with rippling soft light. The echoes of a maidan's cry were muffled but there.

Master

Sir Aaron looked towards his partner at the call of telepathy. Lucario rested on his knees not too far from the knight's left side. Pichu oddly perched on top of the aura Pokémon's head, the mouse's ears pinned against his fuzzy yellow head. There was a feeling of distress and grief that hung heavy in the air. The knight knew it was not coming from him…but he didn't know who was in such pain. What was wrong?

Master, are you alright?

Sir Aaron coughed quietly, clearing his throat, "Yes, I'm alright, what's-"

"Bree!"

Icy eyes immediately darted towards the trilling cry. Umbreon was standing on her hind legs, her front paws pressed against an unstable rock wall. The shadow wielder was whining and clawing at the weeping wall of loose rock. Concern and fear bleeding from her soul.

"What happened?" Sir Aaron said, getting to his feet with calm urgency.

The cave-in separated us from our allies. I can't not locate the lads, due to the nature of Mount Moon's stone, but Amanda seemed to be close…and in distress. Umbreon has been trying to get her attention, but her efforts haven't yielded much.

The knight focused his senses outward, following the output of panic and despair. The negative emotions rippled from the weeping wall. They were his niece's emotional storm. His niece's soul reaching out for safety, for anything or anyone. His hands clenched in his fists and his body tensed.

The knight turned to his partner, "Find her. These tunnels should have a way to wherever she is trapped. Find her. I'll try to reach out to her."

Lucario nodded, before barking at Umbreon and the shadow wielder removed herself from her post with slight hesitance, but eventually darted deep into the black of the long tunnel behind the group. Lucario started running after her, the aura Pokémon moving with a mission now in mind. Pichu however, surprisingly leaped off the jackal like Pokémon's head, and skittered back towards the weeping wall.

"You desire to stay?" Sir Aaron queried.

The small mouse nodded, "Pichu."

Sir Aaron gave a nod in return then stepped towards the wall. He pressed his free palm against the rough boulder that separated him from his niece. He could feel her desperation through the rock. It made his skin break out in gooseflesh as he shivered. Rarely did a user become so destressed that their soul clawed at their brothers' and sisters' mind for connection unconsciously. Such a comfort was always given without a request. Amanda, however, had been cutting her soul from the familial link their aura shared. How scared must she be to reach out in panic, and how long had she been ignored to end up like this?

Drawing a deep breath and closing his eyes, Sir Aaron reached out to his niece.

"Amanda?"

Lucario was no stranger to dark caves. Most of his kind usually were born in burrows, though no burrow was ever this deep into the earth. If a pack member were to complete such a feat…well Lucario wouldn't know what would happen, but he'd secretly be impressed.

Still no matter how deep he was, he was not concerned about finding his way in the pitch black so far away from the moon and sun. While dark, in aura the caves were a gleaming bright sea of blue, with smaller patches of ever more powerful aura in silver. A sky made tunnel marked with day stars. Lucario had no trouble seeing every notch in the wall or pebble on the floor. He could easily run at full speed and dodge every obstacle without any difficulty.

Umbreon had no issues with the rough terrain either. Not that Lucario thought she would. Most shadow wielders were hunters of the night and could easily see in the dark. Though it wasn't the running that had Lucario concerned for his companion. While a very calm Pokémon in appearance, once more living up the reputation of her kind, Lucario could smell the metallic scent of panic and worry coming off her, and he could see the slight stumble in her running steps.

Her large red eyes glanced back at him, catching his staring.

"Bree Bre Umber (what are you looking at?)"

"Luc Rio (you're distressed.)"

Umbreon huffed, "Um eon Bree bree (My trainer is currently having a panic attack, while trapped underground in a pitch-black cave. Forgive me if I'm a little stressed.)"

Lucario hummed in thought at that.

"Eon (What was that?)"

"Cari Lu Car (your words show great loyalty, I was not expecting such a virtue from you.)"

"Bree Bree on, (what would make you think that?)"

"Lu cari Car Rio (You just seem rather indifferent to everyone, even your own trainer. You're connection to her is subtle Sometimes it's hard to even sense the bond you share. Sense that you even care.)"

Umbreon came to a sudden halt, a threating growl ripping from her throat. The noise was almost feral.

"Bree Umber Bree Eon Bree Umbreon (Do not take my hesitance and fear, as a lack of care, Guardian. You know very little when it comes to me and my trainer. There is nothing in this world I wouldn't do for Mandy)."

Lucario took a step back, surprised by the shadow wielder's sudden ferocity. The loyalty and love that bled from her words dripped with truth.

Lucario nodded, "Lu Lu Cari (My apologies, I didn't realize that you held her in such high regard. I will not be mistaken again.)"

"Bree (I'll hold you too that.)"

Umbreon turned, her body led by a sharp movement of her head and darted back into the darkness.

"Lu (Mandy?)" Lucario pondered, as he caught up with the shadow wielder.

"Bree Umber Bree (Amanda used to go by that when she was a small child.)"

"Lu Lu Cari (small child, you must have known her long then)."

"Umber Bree (I hatched in her lap; we've never been apart.)"

"Lucar Cari Rio (So she raised you, no wonder you're loyal.)"

"Oen Umber (that's one of the reasons."

"Cari lu (and the other?)"

"Umber Umbreon (Mandy saved my life.)"

Eevee cried out in pain as her tiny broken body was thrown across the dirt. Pain laced her limps with every tumble. Soil burrowed deep into her soft fur, while blood from her wounds dyed the brown crimson. She whimpered as she finally came to a stop. Heat lingered in her battered body, as she struggled to breathe. Her stubborn eyes remained shut, against the hot sunlight.

There was a child's squeal of delight from across the makeshift battlefield.

"Bella stop! You've won!" Mandy cried, her voice fearful, and far away.

"Nuh uh! The battle isn't over until the opponent is knocked down for good! Serviper! Poison Tail!"

Eevee curled up, preparing for another hit. Only for warm arms to wrap around her in a protective embrace.

The normal type never felt the blow, she only heard the scream of agony that came from her trainer as the little girl took the near fatal hit in her place.

"Umbreon Eon Bree (she saved my life that day, and in a way, it cost her everything.)"

"Lu Cari Rio Cari (Such bravery. Perhaps she is more like Master and Ash then she lets on.)"

"Eon Umber (She is, she just isn't allowed to be most of the time. She cares a lot; she just doesn't show it anymore. And most people don't show the same for her.)"

"Lu Car Lu Cari (then we well find her and show her that we care.)"

Umbreon nodded.

Eevee watched as her little girl stumbled to the ground. Though, Mandy wasn't so little anymore. She was 14, usually tall, beautiful and mature, yet now she was as weak as a newborn. She cried fearful tears into her hands, her palms pressed against her bruised face. Her knees red with cuts from the harsh gravel floor of the forest.

Eevee whimpered and nuzzled against her trainer's leg and licked at a dark purple bruise on her thigh. Anything to bring her girl comfort. Especially in the wake of betrayal. It hurt to have someone she trusted, someone she loved, turn around and beat her to the ground. Literally in this case. Internally Eevee vowed to make that brat pay for ever laying a hand on her Mandy. Painting her body with bruises and staining her clothes with blood and tears. Not to mention smashing her glasses. That was practically stealing her trainer's eyes! Even worse than Mandy was abandoned in the middle of the woods!

The normal type looked up at the night sky, the full moon high above in a blanket of clouds and split by the bare branches of the canopy. They needed to get home. Mandy could barely see in the daylight, at nighttime she was blind, and that was her worse fear. They had tried to return before sunset, but with Mandy's wounds slowing her down they didn't succeed.

Mandy let out another choking sob, heart broken as much as her body. Eevee growled subtly to herself. She needed to do something. Anything for her girl.

She stepped into a ray of moonlight. The pale glow contorting and curling around her body while a warm energy welled up from inside. Her fur gleamed blue, the fluffy brown morphing into a finer black coat. Her large brown eyes bled into a red, and the world of shadows was now open to her control.

Her transformation complete she nudged her girl gently.

"Veevee?" Mandy croaked, in wonder, "Is that you?"

Now she was big enough for Mandy to lean on. Now she was strong enough to protect her. Now she could see for her. If her trainer was lost in the world of shadows, then Umbreon was happy to become one of them to lead her through the darkness.

A/N:

Okay, so a little more into Mandy's back story. Any theories?

Riley's in the next chapter, I kind of had to split up this one into two for time purposes.