TEEN: Legend of the Darkness (Revised)

[TRNatalie]

Spoiler: Change Log/Author's Note

After a long hiatus, here's the new chapter.

“It’s too quiet here,” whispered Misty. She looked around at the burnt patches and fallen trees around her. Normally she would’ve seen or heard a few Pidgey, some Rattata, maybe a Caterpie or Weedle but not a single Pokémon had appeared so far.

“You get used to it after a while. The Pokémon all go into hiding around this time,” said Beckham.

“Either that or they leave,” said Reuben.

“Is it because of the Darkness?” asked Ash.

“Yes,” said Norbert. He had several bandages wrapped around his arm where Edmond had injured him.

“But why would they just disappear like that without putting up a fight,” asked Ash.

Danglars opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by another of the volunteers, a man named Jonathan that walked with a Jolteon at his side, laughing loudly.

“When I saw you on that stage, I thought this whole thing was some history rendition or some legend you made up but this is getting ridiculous. There is no Darkness!”

“Yes there is!” Mondego shouted.

“If it existed, I would be able to look it up in the Pokédex. What’s prowling around is probably some Ghost type or Dark type,” said Jonathan.

“It is real! We’ve fought it for years! Why won’t you take our word for it?!” Mercedes protested.

“Besides even if this Darkness is real, if the Pokémon were really as afraid of it as you say they would fight back,” said another volunteer, a guy with flame red hair named Codie.

“And you’re probably just lying for the publicity. I mean, no offense but your town’s pretty run down. I’m not surprised you’re resorting to this although honestly I think you should put more of your resources to something else,” said Jonathan.

“You don’t understand!” Each of the members of the squadron jumped as patient and friendly Reuben took deep, angry breaths. “Easy for you to come in and say the Darkness isn’t real, we hear it all the time, but you, none of you have ever heard the dreadful tales we’ve been told since we could comprehend words, have been learning about since we could read and write and count and think, have been preparing for fighting it since we got our first Pokémon! You haven’t been here yet until it looked at you and paralyzed you in fear with it’s red gaze! You haven’t experienced the fear of wondering if it would be you who died tonight or one of your trusted friends. Made up? Ha! I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried!”

There was an uncomfortable silence as Reuben breathed heavily. He turned away in shame. Beckham patted his shoulder gently.

“How did you first find out about the Darkness,” Ash asked at last.

Danglars was relieved at the change of topic. “They say it goes back to before the name was even being considered. At first, they thought this place was just like any other woods. That was until one night when a scream was heard from one end of the site but by the time others had gotten there, it was too late. All that remained was some broken wooden beams and a shoe with no sign of what had struck." Danglars paused to make sure he had everyone's attention. To his delight, all were staring at him wideyed, even Codie. The only one who wasn't was Jonathan, who was watching disbelievingly with his arms crossed.

"How did you figure out what it was?" asked Misty.

"I was getting to that," said Danglars. "Everyone suspected it was a wild Pokemon that had struck. What no one could figure out was what Pokémon it was. There were no clawmarks or bite-marks on the wood and there was no blood or tatters of clothing to suggest carnage, no scorch marks, no razor leaves, no holes in the ground so what could it be? They wondered for a long time, sometimes trying to find the attacker but there was no sign of it until a month later when it struck again and killed two more. They had even less of a trail to go off of this time. The next month, it attacked again but this time into two different parts of the settlement. At this point, they had started cutting down trees, had Pokémon grow thorns to keep it out. The next month came and went and they'd thought it was over but the next month came and the creature attacked, getting through the thorns with nary an issue. This time, it left hungry but not without injuring several unfortunate people. At last, it had been seen and from that day forward, it was known as the Darkness, the rogue death god."

* * *​

Edmond broke through the brush into the clearing. “We made it,” he breathed, slightly out of breath, “For a minute, I thought those guys had us!” He gingerly felt his side, feeling a pain in his ribs.

The sun poured through the trees, making the leaves and ground glitter like emeralds. Edmond found himself staring in awe. He often forgot how pretty the forest was during the day.

Behind him, he heard Jessie, James, and Meowth tear through the brush, breathing heavily. “Are you alright?” he asked, noticing the amount of leaves stuck to the trio. Meowth managed to nod as Jessie brushed herself off.

Edmond looked at Quilfeather. “Hey Quilfeather, Spindle, can you go make sure we weren’t followed please,” he asked. Quilfeather nodded and flew away, Spindle saluting from atop her back.

Edmond looked back at the trio who were throwing off the police uniforms. “Why do they make these so unfashionable,” Jessie was saying.

“I don’t think I thanked you for rescuing me back there.”

The trio jumped as they realized Edmond was right next to them.

“Sorry! I-I d-didn't mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” Jessie forced out flustered.

There was an awkward moment of silence as Edmond tried to think of what to say next. “Thanks for getting me out back there.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Jessie.

“Y-you do realize we-we probably won’t be able to show our faces in Ghost Valley a-again, right?” said Edmond, “I’ll be rearrested the moment I go back and you’re probably going to be on Johto’s Most Wanted list for breaking me out.”

He heard James stifle a laugh although he couldn’t tell if it was genuine. “I wouldn’t say that’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I...don’t think that’s how it works,” Meowth commented.

“I still can’t believe they would betray me like that,” said Edmond quietly, staring at the grass, the same thoughts from inside the prison flooding back inside him despite his best efforts to hold them back. He felt the pit in his stomach rise to his throat, suddenly felt warmer as waves of anger went through him.

“Hey, don’t worry about them, Commander Boy. The world’s always been like this towards those who are different.” Edmond looked down at Meowth. The cat was looking down at his claws with a distant look on his face.

“Besides, we can fix this. We just need to defeat the Darkness then volia! You’re a hero, they welcome you back, we get a powerful Pokémon, happy ending for everyone!” said Jessie.

“You really think so?” Edmond asked hopefully.

“Of course.”

“But…but what if they don’t?”

To his surprise, their expressions changed to a sadder look than he’d seen them express before. After a moment, they resumed their usual cheerful expression. “Then we know a place that takes in lost souls like yourself,” said James.

“Really?” Edmond exclaimed, brimming with more hope than before.

“Yes,” said Meowth.

James and Jessie looked down as Edmond suddenly hugged them.

“Alright, enough of that,” said Jessie after a second.

Edmond backed away. “S-sorry.”

“But let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s focus on defeating the Darkness. Why don’t you tell us more about it,” said James.

Edmond smiled and leapt forward so he was alongside them. “What would you like me to tell you? Would you like me to tell you the story of the first time the Darkness attacked? Or-or would you like to hear about how the squadrons were formed? Oh, or maybe the story about it’s battle with the Legendary Pokémon Suicune, Entei, and Raikou? Or maybe-”

* * *​

“And then I had Cyndaquil and Totodile aim their Flamethrower and Water Gun at the ground, making the battlefield uneven and with Pikachu’s Thundershock, we were able to defeat Miltank.”

“Impressive kid,” said Danglars genuinely, “although I implore you not to use your Cyndaquil for this one or any other Fire types for that matter. Fire and the Darkness, well let’s just say they don’t mix well.”

“Did you ever try to beat any of the gyms?” asked Ash.

"I did alright when I was around your age and I got all eight too," Danglars said proudly. On his shoulder, Spearow posed proudly with his beak in the air. Pikachu moved to Ash’s other shoulder, casting the oddly colored bird suspicious looks.

“You did! Did you ever compete in the league?”

“While I had dreams of doing so, I regretfully never got to. Ghost Valley’s been strict about us competing in the league ever since Commander Brennan deserted this place to become a Pokemon Master and never came back.”

“Oh. I'm sorry," said Ash.

Danglars made himself smile. “Don’t be. I’m commander now, the highest position in Ghost Valley. This a dream come true for me. But enough about me, tell me how you went up against Morty.”

Kurtis shuffled the bag slung across his shoulder as he listened to the conversation. “You know Beckham, if the kid is as good as he says, well I was thinking maybe I could, maybe I could fight alongside you on the frontlines tonight? I mean we have quite a few volunteers and I should be around to help-”

“Kurtis,” said Beckham sternly, “we have been through this several times now. You can help the volunteers but unless something goes terribly wrong, you will not be involved in the fighting.”

Kurtis stomped his foot. “I don’t get why I’m the only person in this squadron who never does anything! Mercedes is my age and she always gets to fight with you and I bet all of you were doing more in a night when you were seventeen than I have done in my entire time here! I’m tired of feeling useless, Beckham!”

“Kurtis!” snapped Beckham.

Kurtis stopped talking but he continued to glower at his brother then stalked off, ignoring all of the eyes on him.

“And just for that, you won’t be on the frontlines tonight,” Danglars yelled after him.

Mercedes had stopped her conversation with Misty and watched Kurtis walk away. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go talk to him,” said Mercedes.

“Okay.”

“What was that about?” asked Brock.

Beckham heaved a great sigh, holding his hand to his head in frustration. “My brother doesn’t understand the extent of what we’re facing. You would think with all the tales that have been told of that beast, he’d be grateful he’s not forced to do any of the things we have to do but it feels like every time this time of the month comes, we have the same conversation. Although it’s never escalated this much,” said Beckham. He looked at Kurtis regretfully, watching as he and Mercedes talked.

“You can’t protect him forever, Beckham. He’s going to face the Darkness one day no matter how much you try to hold it off,” said Reuben.

“I know. I just hope if the Darkness has any shred of mercy inside it, I’ll die before Kurtis does.” Beckham sighed again. “I wish Edmond was still here. He always knew how to make us feel better after these sorts of situations.”

“I do too,” said Reuben. “I still can’t believe he would attack Norbert right out of the blue like that. I really hope the kid’s okay and this was just some big misunderstanding.”

“Trust me, it was not a misunderstanding!” Norbert chimed in.

As Edmond’s name was spoken, Misty noticed Caderousse shaking.

“Is something wrong?” asked Misty.

Caderousse jumped, an anxious tic in his eye. “Nothing! I did nothing! I absolutely did not allow my friend to be carted off to jail! I did nothing! Stop asking,” he rambled, walking away.

Misty watched confused, unaware Mondego had watched the whole thing. He stalked over to Danglars.

“Danglars, I hate to interrupt your pleasant conversation with the kid but I need to tell you something important.”

“Wait one moment, kid.” Danglars took a few steps until Ash was out of earshot. Mondego whispered into his ear, Danglars’ face darkening as he looked at Caderousse. He petted his Spearow on the head nervously.

“If Caderousse spills, this could ruin our reputations. I don’t want to do this but… when we encounter the Darkness, we have to make sure Caderousse is the first to fall.”

* * * ​

“The battle was fierce all right especially when Entei used Fire Spin and the Darkness turned into its Dead of Night form,” Edmond said quickly. No matter how many times the story was told in the squadron, it never failed to excite him. He only hoped he was doing the story justice. He looked over at the trio.

“Dead of Night form?” Meowth repeated.

“Yeah. Speaking of which, you don’t have any Fire types on hand, do you?”

“Well we have one but we’ll make sure she doesn’t breathe any fire,” Meowth said with a laugh.

Jessie promptly kicked him for that remark. “What he means to say is no, we don’t have any Fire types. Do go on,” she said, shooting the cat a glare. Meowth glared back and stuck his tongue out at her.

Edmond looked at Meowth with concern but he found he couldn’t keep himself from beaming; he hadn’t felt this comfortable talking with someone since Commander Faria died.

“Good then if luck is on our side, we won’t see it tonight. Anyway, where was I...oh yeah, the battle raged on with fire and water and lightning and Deathstrikes flying everywhere until Suicune managed to send it flying back into the cave with a combination of Gust and Bubblebeam then Raikou sent a powerful Thunder attack inside the cave and all was silent. They thought the battle had been won until the Deathstrikes flew out at them. Now there’s one less Suicune, Entei, and Raikou in the world… Tha-that wasn’t t-too much detail, was it?” Edmond said, noticing the strange blinks.

“No. You know, you’re a lot more talkative when you’re outside that town,” Jessie observed.

“I am?” Edmond paused. “Is-is that a bad thing?” he asked.

“No,” Jessie said appalled.

“If it is a bad thing, I don’t ever want to be good again. Any other stories?” said James. There was an odd look in his eyes and something frantic in his tone.

“Alright. Do you want me to tell the story of how-“ Suddenly Quilfeather‘s head shot up, looking around wildly. Meowth’s ears pricked. “Something the matter,” asked Edmond.

“I thought I heard Pikachu,” Meowth said in a low voice. Quilfeather and Spindle twitched. Meowth's ears raised again. “It keeps on calling for help.” he said, looking back at the humans. Jessie and James exchanged a look with each other.

Edmond shivered. The Pokémon were always hiding at this time of the month. Had the Darkness figured out how to survive in sunlight? Horrific images filled his head as he thought of all of the destruction and loss that the Darkness could unleash with nothing holding it back. "No, don't jump to conclusions. It could just be the squadron being noisy. But why would the Pikachu keep calling like that?" He also wasn’t looking forward to facing his squadron mates after what happened.

“Hey, where ya goin’?” Meowth’s voice took Edmond out of his own head. He saw Quilfeather fly towards the thick clump of trees.

“Quilfeather?” The Spearow stopped, looking back at them, chirping.

“She says that she can’t ignore its cries for help,” Meowth repeated.

Edmond stared at the bird and nodded. If it was the Darkness, this was his job and if the squadron was there, he had to fight alongside them regardless of how he felt. Quilfeather flew forward.

“Stay close,” said James with an ominous edge in his voice. His eyes had narrowed, the corner of his eyes sharp as a needle. He looked almost completely different from the man who had eagerly talked to him about his bottle caps earlier. With that, he slunk forward through the foliage, Jessie barely a step behind him. Edmond checked the ground in front of him and followed after, being careful not to step on anything.

There was a look of agitation on their faces as they slipped through the foliage effortlessly, not stepping on a single branch, not even rustling the bushes. Edmond had never seen them like this before. It was as if a switch inside them had been flipped.

“What do you think it is,” whispered Edmond, avoiding stepping on a branch.

“I don’t know but-”

Edmond looked up. Was that just his imagination or...

“...Something wrong?” asked James.

“I-I thought I heard something. It sounded like a-a cry.” Edmond looked around. There it was again; a faint “cha!” Silence then the cry came again. He slowly began to move forward. The sound continued as he threaded through the foliage. Was it his imagination or was the cry getting louder?

“Cha… cha… cha!”

Edmond looked behind him and could tell Jessie and James were hearing it too. “We must be getting closer,” he thought.

“Cha… cha… cha..!”

Jessie and James stopped behind some bushes at the edge of a clearing and lowered themselves to the ground. Meowth and Quilfeather were cautiously approaching a cage with electric sparks routinely with every “cha!”

“That’s not the one,” James muttered.

“What do you mean?” asked Edmond.

“If it was the one, that cage would’ve been blasted apart by now,” James said with an air of experience.

“I’m going to get a closer look. Stay here.” Jessie carefully stepped out from the cover of the brush and slowly stepped towards the cage, every so often looking around.

Snap! Edmond instinctively turned to the right. What was that… or was it just his nerves? Edmond looked up as he heard the rustling of leaves in a tree on the right of the clearing.

Suddenly a ball of fire rushed out of the trees. “WATCH OUT!” Edmond yelled. Jessie jumped back with a scream as the fireball landed and set the grass ablaze. Beside Edmond, James and Meowth squeaked in terror.

Before he knew what he was doing, Edmond sent Icelyn out of her Poké Ball. “Icelyn, use Bubblebeam please!” The Cloyster shot a stream of bubbles into the heart of the fire. Steam rose into the air as the fire died out, leaving behind charred grass and a few gasping embers.

James was at Jessie’s side in an instant but she was already moving. There was a flash of red and an Arbok larger than any Edmond had ever seen before appeared and shot purple venom at the tree from where the fireball had come from. At the same time, Jessie’s hair lashed furiously.

“Thanks Icelyn. Are you okay?” Edmond asked as he rushed out of the foliage. He returned Icelyn to her Poke Ball then stomped on the remaining embers to put them out.

“I’m fine,” Jessie snapped, breathing heavily, looking around. All was quiet as her eyes scanned their surroundings.

“Meowth?” James asked.

“We’re okay. But I’m afraid the Pikachu’s a fake,” said Meowth.

“A fake?” Jessie repeated.

Edmond squinted his eyes as Meowth pointed up. Up in the tree branches, glittering amongst the sun dazzled leaves, was a cage.

“Clever,” James muttered grudgingly.

Meowth cautiously reached towards the fake Pikachu’s cage when a growl came from the brush. His fur stood on end and he jumped into James’ arms as a Houndour ran out then stalked around the cage. It was accompanied by a woman with long golden hair wearing a black dress and a man with teal hair and a similar colored uniform to the woman. The moment their eyes met Jessie and James', both sides flared up.

“Jessie!” The blonde woman spat.

“Cassidy!” Jessie shouted.

“And Botch,” said James.

“Its Butch not Botch! How many times do I have to say that?” said the man.

“You know them,” asked Edmond.

“Unfortunately yes. Commander Boy, meet our rivals,” Jessie growled.

Edmond slightly raised his hand and waved. “H-hi,” he said quietly.

“Not literally,” Jessie whispered.

“Still chasing an electric rat,” Cassidy sneered. She and Butch laughed.

“Oh hahaha. How many times do we have to explain it; it blew up a Pokemon Center! If you were there, you would have wanted it too!” Jessie snapped.

“Sounds powerful,” said Edmond.

“THANK YOU!” all three of the trio shouted simultaneously. Edmond flinched from the intensity but then reminded himself he wasn’t the one they were angry at.

“Whatever. To you, everything’s powerful,” Butch sneered.

“Not everything! You guys just don’t think enough things are powerful,” James countered.

Butch and Cassidy rolled their eyes. “Whatever. I shouldn’t ask since it’s going to go up in smoke before the day is done but what’s with the get up and your little friend,” said Cassidy carelessly.

“Glad you asked cause we’re after something bigger than Pikachu this time,” said Meowth.

“Something scarier,” James added.

“Something that would make even you cower in fear!” said Jessie proudly.

“A literal demon,” Edmond added unexpectedly. Realizing what he just did, Edmond covered his mouth in embarrassment but to his surprise, the trio beamed at him.

“See Commander Boy, you’re starting to get it! Life is better when you aren’t held back,” said James.

Edmond smiled proudly. “That went better than I expected. Maybe I should speak up more.” His thoughts were interrupted by hysterical laughter. He looked over and saw that Cassidy and Butch had almost fallen over in laughter.

“Hey what’s so funny! We’re being serious!” Jessie snapped.

“Oh Jessie dear, you never fail to make me laugh! I knew you were pathetic but this takes it to a whole other level” Cassidy laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. “Whether your target is a Gengar or a Metapod, the world would sooner turn upside down before you could even stand a chance against something like that! Kid, I almost hate to break it to you but your little band are a bunch of charlatans. They’re criminals of Team Rocket!”

“And not even good ones. Even a Sunkern’s more of a threat than them,” Butch said with a laugh.

“Well that explains why that name sounded so familiar,” Edmond thought as the trio protested.

“So now what?” Edmond looked around at his surroundings. He could run now while they were arguing… but where would he go? He couldn’t go back to Ghost Valley, he’d be rearrested the moment he stepped foot in town but he couldn’t stay out here. Being alone in this forest when the Darkness was out was a death wish. No, it was better to stick with the trio right now. Besides, they were his squadron now and he didn't want anything bad to happen to them.

Edmond ducked as a ball of fire flew overhead. Arbok and Houndour were shooting attacks at each other as Jessie and Cassidy shouted at each other furiously. Beside their partner, James and Butch were preparing to throw a Poké Ball.

“We-we sh-should get-get going? The-the Darkness will be out the second the-the sun sets,” Edmond interjected.

Jessie and James paused, looking at him. “But-”

“He’s right. We have to focus on getting to that cave right now,” Meowth said, interrupting Jessie, looking at his partners sternly.

With great difficulty, James put his Poké Ball away as Jessie returned Arbok. After muttering unrepeatable things under her breath, Jessie said, “You’ll see Cassidy, we’ll bring that... something back with us and you’ll see how wrong you’ve been about us!”

“Come on guys, let’s go.” Meowth began to lead them out of the clearing.

“Do you really think things will ever change for you? No matter what you do, it will always end the same! You’re pathetic, useless! You’ll never belong anywhere. Face the facts, that’s all you are, that’s how you’ve always been, and that’s how you’ll die,” Cassidy shouted after them.

All three of them stopped and Edmond saw an expression he was all too familiar with appear on each of their faces. The look of an outcast.

Jessie was the first to recover. “Funny that you of all people should say that. You should know better than anyone that’s not true… and if that’s all you think I… all we are… then you don’t know me, us, at all.” She stormed off, strangely silent. James and Meowth followed after her.

"As a matter of fact, I do and what you are is a disgrace

Edmond stood frozen for a moment, not quite sure what to do. “I could say something. Try to defend them like a real leader would do.” But instead he found himself following after the trio. “Very brave, Edmond! Just like a true leader would do!”

It didn’t take him long to find them; the three were taking their anger out on the nearby trees. It would’ve been frightening if half of them weren’t barely standing.

“Are-are you okay?” Edmond instinctively turned away when they glared at him but forced himself to face them.

Jessie turned back to what she was doing, ripping apart the remains of a trunk.“That... blasted Cassidy! Who is she to say that… They don’t know! They don’t know what we go… what we’ve gone through… If they did… raahh!” Edmond watched as small sticks and charred bark fell to the ground. Jessie dropped the unrecognizable fragments of tree and whirled towards him. “Why are you still here? Aren’t you afraid of us, the evil criminals of Team Rocket?”

“Not really,” his mind said but Edmond knew that certainly wasn’t the right thing to say. “W-well you are st-still my squadron…and... I don’t have anywhere else to go” he admitted.

In an instant, the faces that were filled with fury disappeared and were replaced with looks of sadness and sympathy (“Empathy,” Edmond corrected himself).

“Isn’t that all of us,” James mumbled at length. He stood in silence then began trembling, breathing heavily. He jumped close to one of the trees, cowering in fear, his breath becoming more labored. Beside him, Meowth jumped and landed on all fours, looking around as if he was expecting something to be thrown at him. Jessie didn’t shake like her partners but it was clear she too was in her own world at the moment, standing off to the side alone, clutching her arms.

Edmond looked at Quilfeather and Spindle in distress but even Quilfeather didn't seem to know what to do. What would someone good with people do? Commander Faria and some of his squadron mates would cheer up if Edmond brought them something interesting. Maybe that would work here? He began to look around. What would someone good with words say? “Amaryllis calmed me down this morning. Maybe she would help them.”

Edmond was just about to send out Amaryllis when he heard a deep breath. “You can’t let them bring you down, Commander Boy,” Jessie said quietly, a growl edging her voice. “This world… it’s cold and nasty and if it brings you down, it destroys you.”

Edmond looked down.

“But they won’t. They won’t!” James shouted, determination eating away at the panic in his demeanor. “I'll hold on, I'll endure, I'll do what I have to do and they won't bring me down! Never!"

“No, they won’t,” said Jessie. “They’ll see one day. One day, they'll realize they were wrong about us. One day, they’ll need us. One day, we’ll come out on top! One day... we’ll be victorious!”

“And after that, we’ll never be rejected again,” said Meowth.

“They’ll regret they ever doubted us!”

“And I’ll be disowned!” said James happily.

“You really think so,” asked Edmond.

James looked at him, smiling. “I’m sure of it, Commander Boy. Our white tomorrow is out there somewhere. I don’t know when we’ll reach it, I don’t know how, I don’t know how long it will take but I know one day, we will reach it and on that day everything we’ve been through will be worth it.”

“I do too,” said Jessie.

“Me three,” Meowth chimed in.

“So do I,” said Edmond. This time, all three of them smiled and Edmond found himself smiling back. “So shall we get going?”

“Yeah. Let’s.”

 

[TRNatalie]

Spoiler: Change Log + Author's note

Aside from one scene with TRio, a death, and the overall writing quality, this chapter's mostly the same.
Also for the best experience, I highly recommend reading these next two chapters with a dark forum skin. And with that, onto the next chapter!

The sky was a mixture of dark blues and light purples when the squadron led by Danglars arrived at a large cave. It had clearly gone through hard times, the mouth jagged, boulders and chunks of rock scattered along the ground, the ground in front of it charred and barren of any plants. Danglars sent his Spearow to scan the inside of the cave. Danglars sent his Spearow to scan the inside of the cave. The bird only grazed the edge of the shadowy inside before he returned, shaking.

“Danglars, you’re not thinking of going in there, are you,” asked Caderousse.

“I’m not.”

Caderousse breathed in relief.

“You are.”

Caderousse almost choked. “B-but Danglars, C-commander Faria said not to go in that death trap!”

“So? We stayed away from this cave all throughout his command and not once have we defeated that thing. Oh we fended it off but we never actually beat it. I’m commander now and I say go into that cave and lead it out here! Once you do, we’ll launch an assault on it that will knock it out-”

“I’ll go.”

The two men looked at Ash in surprise. Danglars burst out laughing.

“See Caderousse, even the kid is more of a man than you! You are going places, kid! You should give this coward here some lessons!”

Caderousse turned red, the words wounding him like a dagger. “I am not! I just don’t think enraging a demon further by invading it’s home is a good idea!”

“I admire your courage kid but we need you for when the Darkness is in the open. That’s the most difficult part, the part worthy of a Pokémon master,” said Danglars, ignoring him.

“It’s alright. I can handle the easy part too,” said Ash, beaming ever so slightly.

“And I’ll go too, mostly because I just want to see how strong this Darkness is for myself,” said Jonathan.

“Ash, I’m coming with you,” said Brock.

“So am I,” said Misty.

Norbert stepped in front of her instantly. “I think it’s better that you stay out here and help with the attack. This is already more than should be going in there, much less someone as young as you two. Danglars, I’m going in to make sure nothing happens to them. Reuben, come with me. I’ll need back up,” he said.

“Yes Norbert.”

Danglars breathed heavily. He couldn't deny them entrance now. “Fine. So going into the cave are Caderousse, the two kids, Jonathan, Norbert, and Reuben. That’s it. Everybody else will get into positions out here,” he said, pushing Caderousse towards the cave.

Caderousse entered the cave, muttering angrily. “That Danglars! First you make me betray my best friend then you get him arrested and now this! It’ll be a miracle you don’t get us killed! Well, I’ll show you! These kids will live to see tomorrow and it’ll be all thanks to your coward, Caderousse… What in the Darkness’ name am I doing!”

Caderousse’s ramblings were cut off as a feeling of mortal terror grabbed hold of him. He felt himself shake as the group continued to travel through a darkness unlike any other. It was the sort of darkness where a monster could be right in front of your face and you didn’t know it was there until you felt the teeth and claws and with every step, the inky blackness around them grew darker than they thought was possible. Even the few flashlights among them barely gave any light in this place. Even worse was the sound of unnatural silence, not even a drip of water or the cries of Pokémon. Only the footsteps of the humans inside.

Shaking, Caderousse pulled out his dagger and held it in front of him. He knew it would be little use against the monster but it was better than risking his Pokémon getting eaten.

Several small white objects appeared in their field of vision, objects that seemed to glow against the pitch black environment. Ash picked one up curiously. Pikachu sniffed it and backed away, his cheeks sparking with fright. The small amount of light allowed Ash to see what it was; a Rattata skull. He dropped it with a scream.

Caderousse instinctively whirled around. He calmed down slightly when he saw only Ash and the others. He held his dagger behind his back for protection. “Don't do that kid! Don’t scream unless you're attack-!”

Caderousse suddenly stopped talking as he felt something envelop his hand. He unwillingly looked behind him. It was as if the shadows of the cave themselves had grabbed hold of him. A low gurgling sound came from within the shadow. Caderousse felt something pull at his wrist. He looked down and his heart almost leaped out his chest as the stretch of black climbed up his arm. Screaming, he tried to pull his arm away but the black only moved further up his arm, sometimes pulling Caderousse back and even closer to the stretch of shadow.

And then, above Caderousse’s arm, like two pools of spilled blood, a pair of bright, round eyes opened, beady red eyes that pierced the darkness of the cave. Several of the intruders gasped, or in Caderousse’s case, screamed, in alarm.

“The Darkness! Get back!” Norbert shouted.

“Caderousse, hang on!” Rueben yelled.

Caderousse fought harder, his screams of terror growing more frantic each second as the Darkness pulled him closer and closer until-

“Pikachu Thunderbolt!”

A bolt of lightning quickly struck between the eyes. The attack barely fazed the Darkness but it was enough for Caderousse to rip himself free, losing his sleeve in the process. He staggered back, gasping to catch his breath.

“Are you okay?” asked Ash.

Another low gurgling sound and the Darkness turned its malevolent gaze towards Ash. Caderousse instantly pulled Ash down as a black lightning bolt flew overhead. Behind them, Reuben screamed as the attack struck. Ash looked in time to see a flurry of ashes and a Poke Ball fall to the ground.

“Reuben!” Caderousse cried.

Norbert stared at the ashes in shock then turned his attention back to the Darkness, releasing an Umbreon from a Poké ball as Caderousse did the same with a Misdreavus.

“We have to lure it outside! Get out a Pokémon and try to confuse it” Norbert instructed.

Brock sent out his Golbat as Pikachu sparked vigorously.

A black and purple ball of energy formed in front of the Darkness. “Shadow Ball,” Ash recognized.

“Misdreavus counter it!” yelled Caderousse.

Misdreavus sent a Shadow Ball out of its hands as the Darkness launched its. The attacks collided, sending up a cloud of smoke.

As soon as the red eyes appeared again, “Now Misdreavus Hypnosis!”

Misdreavus’ eyes turned red.

The two red orbs in the shadow slowly moved forward.

“Jolteon, while it’s confused use Zap Cannon!” Jonathan ordered.

Jolteon twisted it’s body and shot a greenish-yellow orb at the Darkness. Misdreavous’ eyes stopped glowing.

“You idiot!” Caderousse yelled.

“Golbat Supersonic!” shouted Brock.

Thin circles left Golbat’s mouth with a high frequency sound. The Darkness turned its attention towards it. A black and red swirled vortex came out of its mouth, sucked up the attack and disappeared.

“What move was that?” said Ash.

“It’s something that only the Darkness has. It can use that vortex to take our attacks and use them against us,” said Norbert.

Ash turned his attention back to the battle as the vortex returned and sent Golbat’s Supersonic towards Misdreavus. The Ghost-type scrunched its eyes in pain and confusion, shutting off its concentration on its attack. It staggered in the air, sinking dangerously close to the shadowed creature. The Darkness lunged forward.

“Umbreon Glare!” But before Umbreon could even move, Misdreavus disappeared in the stretch of shadow. Ash looked at the spot where Misdreavus was, shocked.

“Misdreavus!” Caderousse screamed.

The Darkness gurgled ominously. Its red eyes glowed. Black clouds appeared from below and obscured it.

“What’s happening?” asked Jonathan in panic.

“Every time it eats, it grows stronger,” said Norbert.

The Darkness let out a gurgled roar as the clouds dispersed, somehow darker than before. Even the cave seemed lighter in comparison now.

“Confusing it isn’t working. We’re going to have to lure it the difficult way; Attack it and get it to chase us,” said Norbert.

“Okay then. Jolteon Pin Missile!” Jolteon’s fur stood on end, sending staticky needles towards the Darkness but another vortex took the attack and sent it back towards its opponents.

“Golbat Whirlwind!”

A vortex of wind left Golbat’s wings, caught the needles, and sent them back towards the Darkness but the Darkness responded by shooting a black lightning bolt through the Whirlwind. Brock grabbed Golbat and ducked as the attack flew overhead and struck the cavern wall behind him.

“Now Umbreon Swift!” Norbert commanded.

From a corner of the cave, a barrage of stars began assaulting the Darkness. A new vortex stole the remaining stars and sent them flying throughout the cave, landing at least one hit on every living thing inside the cave aside from the former target.

“Pikachu, try a Thunderbolt!” Ash ordered.

Pikachu ran forward and sent a burst of electricity at the Darkness as it continued to shoot out the stars but it turned and countered the Thunderbolt with Shadow Ball. A gold light sparked in what must have been the Darkness’ mouth.

“Quick Pikachu dodge it!”

Pikachu ducked as the Hyper Beam wrecked the ground behind him.

“Now Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!”

* * *​

While Caderousse and the others searched the inside, the second squadron arrived at the left side of the cave. Edmond stopped to take in the sight. Here they were and in a few minutes, the wildness would begin. He felt his heart race.

“Quilfeather, Spindle, can you go scout around,” asked Edmond. Quilfeather nodded and flew off, Spindle making a small salute.

“The sky seems emptier without the moon up there.” Edmond turned towards the sound of Meowth’s voice. He was looking up at the sky.

“And the world seems a lot darker,” James added.

“It’s not that bad. The stars are still out,” Jessie said.

Edmond followed their gaze to a large silver dot then some smaller ones around it then several other big dots some distance away and about a thousand small dots. It was beautiful. Edmond felt like he could stand here and look at them forever.

“Focus Edmond! This is no time for stargazing!” He looked at the trio, reluctant to interrupt their bliss but he knew they didn’t have much time left. “Do you have any ideas on what we can do to defeat the Darkness?”

“Easy. We get to the front of the cave and we’ll dig a big hole! We’ll wait on top of the cave and once it falls in, we’ll throw a net!” said Jessie.

“Yeah!” James and Meowth cheered.

“I like the idea but there’s one problem with that plan,” Edmond interjected.

“And what’s that?”

“It floats.”

“Oh.” Jessie said, looking down.

“We’ll get our Pokemon out while we’re waiting on top of the cave! Then when the Darkness is floating above the pitfall, we’ll have our Pokemon attack and send it down! Then we’ll throw the net!” said James, his eyes shimmering proudly as he spoke. Jessie brightened upon hearing the plan.

“But what if it rips through the net?” Edmond asked.

James and Jessie looked down in disappointment again.

“Spear spear!” Quilfeather landed on a rock, looking upset. “Quilfeather says that Danglars guy is at the front of the cave,” Meowth translated.

Suddenly the Pokémon froze. Meowth moved toward the cave wall.

“What is it,” asked Edmond with a sinking feeling.

“Someone’s screaming in there.”

“But… we’re not supposed to go into the Darkness’ cave. Did Danglars… Or did the Darkness drag them into-”

“We’ve gotta help them,” Edmond shouted. He began running to the front of the cave.

“After what they did to you?” Jessie said in disbelief.

They saw him pause, his eyes turning black as he remembered. At last, he took a deep breath. “Commander Faria would want me to,” Edmond said at last, continuing to head to the right. Quilfeather took off after her trainer.

“Can’t waste time standing around. Let’s go,” said Meowth, running after them..

James began to follow when he noticed Jessie going the opposite way. “Where are you going?”

“The entrance is that way, right?”

“I would assume so.”

“The Darkness will be focused on what’s come from the front.”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“If it’s so focused on what’s in front, why would it be focused on what’s behind?” said Jessie, twirling the vacuum tube as she walked further.

“Why would it… Jessie, you’re a genius!” said James excitedly, taking off after her.

* * *​

“Something’s going on in there. We should help them,” said Misty.

“They’ll be fine. Caderousse, Norbert, and Reuben can handle this,” said Mondego.

A familiar young man with black hair came running around the corner.

“E-E-Edmond,” Mondego sputtered.

“Edmond?” Danglars muttered darkly.

There was a muttering amongst the rest of the squadron, Beckham, Kurtis and Mercedes smiling when they saw him.

“H-h-how’d you get out of jail?” Mondego spat, looking afraid.

“My squadron broke me out,” Edmond said simply, gesturing to the Meowth that followed him.

“A Pokémon squadron?” asked Beckham.

Edmond looked behind him and noticed Jessie and James weren’t there. “Where’d they go?”

* * *​

“Arbok use Acid!”

Arbok spat a stream of purple acid from it mouth, melting the cave wall. It stopped the second the acid melted through, sensing something wrong coming from inside the cave. It looked on with worry as Jessie and James peered into the dark hole.

“Well this certainly isn’t the light end of the tunnel,” said James, looking back at his friend.

“If we went through the light end, we would be spotted,” said Jessie, carefully stepping through the hole.

Fearful for its trainer, Arbok slithered after her. James followed not far behind.

* * *​

“Don’t worry, Commander Boy. I’m sure they just came up with somethin’. Jessie and James don't give up this easily,” said Meowth, looking around.

Several of the squadron members gasped. “I-i-it talked!” Mondego gasped.

“Meowth!” shouted Misty. Meowth grimaced as he realized he’d been found out.

“What are you doing here? You’re not in the squadron anymore!” shouted Danglars.

“I know. I have my own,” said Edmond, gesturing towards Meowth.

“Because the Darkness can be defeated by a house pet,” Mondego laughed. Meowth’s eyes narrowed. He unconsciously slid out his claws.

"I came to..."

“Stay out of my way!” shouted Danglars.

“Why did you get me arrested Danglars? Why did you guys set me up? And why did you send… Caderousse and Norbert and Reuben into the cave? Commander Faria said it would only make things worse!” asked Edmond bitterly, his blood heating up at every question.

“Oh Commander Faria, Commander Faria! Of course you would mention him! You were practically his pet!” Danglars ranted, hatred blazing in his eyes.

“What are you talking about?” said Edmond.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about! You were his favorite!”

“Commander Faria said he didn’t have favorites.”

“If you weren’t autistic, you would have noticed how obvious it was!” Danglars yelled, gritting his teeth as he flashed back to the days when he and Edmond were in training…

* * *​

“Excuse me sir, I finished dusting your cabinets,” said a young Edmond.

“Thank you Edmond.”

“Anything else, sir?”

“Teacher’s pet,” a young Mondego scoffed.

“As if that’ll ever impress a commander. He’s too hardened for that. Wait and see, before Edmond can start messing with his hair, he’ll be thrown out of the class,” young Danglars whispered.

That wasn’t what happened. Days, months, two years went by and Edmond remained in training. Every day, Danglars saw the smiles Commander Faria gave when Edmond came into the room or volunteered, the compliments, the occasional pat on the shoulder Danglars longed to get. Once he even caught Faria doing one on one training with Edmond.

It didn’t lessen when they began battling the Darkness either. Edmond continued to impress Faria more and more no matter what Danglars did. Even worse was when people began to believe the commander’s word that Edmond was equal to Danglars. Equal! To the inconsequential goody goody autist! Never! If that ever happened, Danglars swore he would die.

Then came the night of Faria’s death. There was a need for a new commander. As the most respected man in the squadron, surely Danglars would be the obvious choice. No longer would Edmond be the favorite. But then… He remembered clenching his dagger as Mayor Arick announced Edmond’s name this morning, violent thoughts flying through his head as the mayor repeated all of what Faria had said about Edmond back at them.

* * *​

Danglars paused, the same thoughts flying through his head much more vividly. Once more, he clenched his dagger but far more tightly.

“I never knew you felt that way, Danglars. I’m sorry,” said Edmond genuinely.

“It’s too late! I’ve had enough of you getting in my way!” Danglars yelled, pointing the dagger at Edmond. It glittered wickedly in the starlight.

“Danglars…” Beckham’s voice came from what felt far away as Danglars released Feraligatr from it’s Poké Ball. Edmond instinctively backed away.

“Feraligatr Crunch!”

“Icelyn Protect!”

It happened in a matter of two seconds. Feraligatr lunged, opening its jaw wide. The Cloyster appeared in front of Edmond, blocking the attack just in time. Feraligatr shook its jaw in pain from the hard shell.

“Danglars!” the other members of the squadron (except for Mondego) yelled.

“Danglars, I don't want to fight you,” said Edmond.

“Too late! Come and face me, Edmond! Feraligatr, Hydro Pump!” The dagger slashed through the air viciously.

“Icelyn, please use Ice Beam!”

The Ice Beam collided with the Hydro Pump, slowing it down and freezing the water attack. The frozen Hydro Pump shattered upon impact of the Cloyster’s shell.