Chapter 62: Catch Up Time
Author's Note: Beware, massive exposition and not plot related dialogue ahead. I really just wanted to see if I could get people interested in these other characters. Sorry for the distraction, please enjoy.
An early morning wasn't something Shadow had experienced in a while. Despite all his cruelty and darkness, the Darkrai never could bring himself to wake Blade up at the crack of dawn. It was one of the things he'd been missing.
Shadow wanted to have Blade in his arms again, to be the sword and shield of his beloved. His body was a perfect vessel, a sword to cut down those who would hurt Blade, and a nearly invincible shield to defend him from harm. Or so Shadow thought. Recent events called those statements into question. He failed to protect Blade, failed to rescue him, failed to defeat his enemies. The memory was still fresh in his mind and though it went unseen, due to the pitch black Pokemon's appearance, Shadow could still feel where he'd been cut in two. A phantom pain of a wound that was no longer present.
A wound that still hurt him greatly. A constant reminder of his failure. A permanent, but hidden, mark of shame.
The Darkrai glanced around for a moment. His two friends were still laying on him as he sat against the tree. But with a gentle nudge he pushed the two off. With a glance back at the tree he sighed and lifted himself into the air.
"Don't go yet." He heard the voice of Rai from behind him.
"Apologies, I did not mean to wake you." Shadow replied, looking back at the Raichu.
"It's fine, but, please don't go yet." Rai looked into his one eye. "Shadow, I know how badly you want to see Blade again, believe me I do, but if you go to him now, your instinct to protect him will kick in and you could lose track of how you wanted to change."
"I know Rai. I know." Shadow sighed slowly looking to the ground. "But, for now I need to focus on others more than myself….So I suppose I should ask, how are you feeling? What have you been doing?"
"Now isn't exactly the best time Shadow" the Raichu was somewhat reluctant.
"We didn't get a chance to properly catch up before, please it will help keep my mind off of Blade." Shadow spoke sincerely. 'Come to think of it, I haven't caught up with Pyre either.'
The Raichu sighed in defeat. "Well…I didn't want to tell you guys cause I was afraid you'd get upset…." He hesitated a moment. "You remember when we were in that facility, you, me, Pyre, and Raiee?"
"Of course I do."
"Then I'm sure you remember that I asked you and Pyre to help me escape with that female Pikachu I had a crush on?" The Raichu asked, spouting exposition like it was going out of style.
"Indeed I do."
"Well…it was for nothing. She and I were together for a year and things didn't work out…she left me…" Rai spoke with a small hint of sadness in his voice.
Shadow's reaction was unnoticeable. But he was furious. He wasn't angry for the wasted effort or anything. He was angry that Rai did so much for that girl, and she left him so easily.
"But it's fine now. I was depressed for a while…." Rai admitted quietly "But one day….I met someone new, a Pangoro!" Rai suddenly smiled. "We were just friends for a while, but one day it just kinda clicked, I'd fallen in love a second time, and this time, they loved me back!"
Shadow waited patiently, allowing the Raichu to speak his piece.
"And well, one day while he and I were having some um…. Intimate interactions….Um…" The mouse began to falter.
"What happened?" Shadow asked, the slightest hint of concern in his voice.
"Well….long story short…." He chuckled a bit and looked away. "I have three eggs waiting for me when I get back to him…."
"…You…" Now Shadow's reaction was all too evident, he was stunned.
"YOU GOT PREGNANT!?" Pyre yelled out, finally announcing to the other two that he was awake.
The Raichu suddenly felt flustered and hid his face in his tail. "Y-yeah I did."
"Aww ya shoulda told us! We totally woulda been there for ya!" Pyre smiled wiping his eyes.
"I didn't want to bother you guys and…well I'm a little guy…three eggs back to back was taxing on me."
"And yet you still came all this way…to help me?" Shadow finally spoke up again, a sense of self loathing filling him. 'Rai could have gotten hurt coming all the way out here, and he has three unhatched children waiting for him?!'
"Well yeah! You're my friend, well basically my brother at this point! So of course I came to help you" Rai smiled at him.
Pyre, finally getting off his lazy lizard butt, stood up while he kept the conversation going. "So, picked out any names?"
"Actually yeah! My mate said, since he managed to put an egg in me three times in a row, I got to pick the first name all for myself. Hehe" Rai smiled happily. "But let me ask you guys, how does Storm sound?"
"Quite fitting really. Born from a called storm in your heart, and through harmony with another. Almost poetic." Shadow spoke again, trying to ignore his own dread.
"Ugh, don't go getting all philosophical on us here! He's having kids, not a poetry night." Pyre said jokingly, which elicited a laugh from the Raichu and himself. "But I do agree, it's a great name! Congrats bro, ya really turned things around for yourself."
"Thanks….so uh..what about you Pyre, we've been catching up, so how have you been? And what have you been up to?"
The Charmander smirked and stood up, giving himself and almost heroic pose with his claws on his hips. "I became a hero!"
"Very funny." Shadow spoke mockingly.
"Hey!" Pyre gave a pouty face. "I'm serious!"
"Then tell us how!" The Raichu snickered at the Charmander's reaction.
"Hahaha, well I'm glad you asked! You see, shortly after Cynder….Ya know, passed away…I got a bit depressed..well a lot depressed, and started a little soul searching."
"Pyre, we know, you stayed in my den for weeks after that happened I was really worried about you!" Rai spoke up again, interrupting the crimson scaled Charmander.
"Oh yeah, that feels like a lifetime ago now." Pyre sighed and smirked. "But after I left your den to continue my soul searching something amazing happened. I found this…gateway, this portal! It was all bright and green and spiraling, kinda looked like something out of a human sci-fi movie!" Pyre continued. "And well, I wasn't exactly thinking straight, but I stepped right through. I'm not sure where exactly I was, but there were pokemon there, with towns like humans have."
"When does the hero stuff come in exactly." Shadow was skeptical of this story, Pyre wasn't known for lying, but the Charmander had a habit of exaggerating things.
"Well that's just it! Right when I showed up. This mudkip found me, helped me figure out where I was, sorta…but then this Butterfree flew by sobbing and crying because she lost her baby Caterpie!" Pyre kept the story going. "And well me and that mudkip saved him! The mudkip introduced himself, cool guy, his name's Cobalt. And then he suggested we make something he called a rescue team. And well, with nothing better to do and too much bad stuff on my mind I agreed immediately." He paused a moment. "Being a rescue team was fun, it was basically just me and him taking jobs from pokemon who needed friends or loved ones rescued from these dungeons! He and I did so much together, we grew that little team into a high ranking and well respected rescue team! And we had so many members at one time we didn't have anywhere for all of them to stay!"
"Sounds like you helped a lot of pokemon then." Rai gave a light smile.
"We did, but the biggest things we did, were fight off another high ranking rescue team, and well….I kinda got into a fight with Groudon! Twice!"
"Why would you do something so reckless?"
"Just felt like it, besides I basically took him out by myself, but Cobalt could've done it too." Pyre smirked. "It's strange, it's like everyone there wasn't as strong as they are here. I mean hehe a Charmander winning a one v one with a Groudon hahaha by all accounts I shoulda died!"
"We're glad you didn't! Right Shadow?"
"Indeed." The Darkrai lifted himself up. "I'm afraid story time is over though. Look." A group of menacing pokemon was heading their way, with the group Shadow had spared the day prior.