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In a seated position, at his desk, the leader of the renegade tolls away at his work, working his way through a seemingly unending pile of papers, reports from his underlings of their heroic endeavors, and their criminal acts. The members of Team Snagem had little to no moral alignment, they did as they pleased, saved who they wished, and stole what they desired, they had no alliance to any one entity, other than their selves, they were their own masters. It was ironic for such a group of morally gray individuals to heed the call of a leader, but despite their non-conforming nature, they obeyed their leader without word. Sub, the name of the group's leader, required no form of intimidation, nor bribery to get his members to listen to his commands, they just did so, like a colony of ants, all working towards the greater good of the colony, and the queen at their core, as their symbolic leader. Such a group had no true 'leader', just a figurehead to point them in the right direction, and that was Sub's duty, to point, not to command, but to guide, and guiding is what he did, even though sometimes just guiding got a little too dull for the Dark type enthusiast.

"Papers, I swear, I could make a Sudowoodo out of all these papers, and they aren't even real trees! Nor Grass types for that matter!" Sub joked to himself, aloud. Despite his intentions of only speaking to himself aloud, the communication device that rested on his desk, referred to as a SNAG, replied to his joke. "That statement is completely illogical. Paper is made from organic material, and the Pokemon species known as Sudowoodo are creatures composed of minerals similar to rocks. In order for paper to-" GRAY, the artificial intelligence attempt to reply to Sub's joke in a more literal and scientific manner, but before the program could finish his reply, the holder of the device, and creator of the program, cut him off. "It was just an exaggeration, GRAY, you don't have to take everything I say so seriously." The trainer said to the device on his desk, pushing it further away from his person. "The more you complain about your work, and argue with me, the longer it will take to get your work done." GRAY commented, yet again. The owner of device, ignored the program this time, except for a faint. "What ever."

After a slight verbal conflict with the sentient computer program named GRAY, Sub returned to his work, reading over the rest of his reports, and typing up his evaluations on their success, or failure. "Wish for more, do you not?" A voice spoke to the working trainer. "Stop it, GRAY, or else I'll mute the SNAG." Sub said in reply to the random voice. "What are you talking about, my great fleshy lord?" GRAY replied, in a smart aleck tone, it was surprising to see a program use sarcasm, with tone alone. "Didn't you just say something? I know how you love to mess with people. I swear if you are I-" Sub attempted to finish his sentence, but this time GRAY cut him off, instead of vice versa. "Negative, I was simply doing a scan on the team's Pokemon Storage System, checking its stability." The program said, confirming his innocence in the matter. "Wait, what? But there is no one else in this room...Poe? Was that you?" The Snagem leader began to look around to see if his Sableye was around, he would be the next one that might play a joke on Sub. However, he could not find the Ghost type, so he looked down at his belt to check his Pokeballs, and sure enough, they were all there, unmoved. "It wasn't Poe...weird, maybe I'm just hearing things." Sub shrugged, and went back to his work, not giving the voice a second thought.

"Wish for more, do you not?" The voice spoke out to Sub yet again, this time louder than before, and Sub was unable to ignore it. "There it is again, are you sure that's not you?" Sub said to the device on his, while he didn't address the artificial intelligence by name, but the highly developed program understood who he was talking to any ways. "Again, negative. I have picked up nothing on my microphone, perhaps you are delusional from lack of sleep and being overworked." GRAY said to Sub. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I think I'll go lay down, maybe take a nap. GRAY, while I'm doing so, please send out those evaluations I typed up, check them for errors, the characters were all starting to run together as my eyes got heavy." Said the trainer as he stood up. "Affirmative." GRAY simply replied back. Sub would then make for the door to his office, opening it up, and exiting the room, closing the door behind him as he headed further down the hallway, his destination was his bedroom, where he intended to throw himself down on his bed, and shut the rest of the world out for a few hours of much deserved rest, however, fate had other plans for the Snagem leader.

As the man went to grab a hold of the doorknob to his bedroom, the voice that spoke to him the last two times, which he all but ignored, spoke to him yet again, and this time it was as if someone spoke directly in his ear, as clear as day he could hear it. "Alrighty, whoever you are, show yourself, what do you want? This isn't funny anymore, it never was." Sub said as he held onto the knob, the door remained closed however. "I know you, there is more you desire, is there not?" The voice spoke to the trainer, yet again. "Fine, I'll bite, what are you talking about?" Sub said aloud, to the voice, though if one were to witness this even they would think the man was talking to himself, a strange sight it would have had to of been. "I'm speaking of your desires, you want something different. The life you lead now, it is unfulfilling, is it not?" The disembodied voice spoke. The words it utter, for some reason or another they sent a tingle down Sub's spine, who was this? How did they know about his feelings? The voice was right, Sub did want change, he craved it, but how did this stranger know? Something about all this was very unsettling to the trainer, but yet, he wanted to hear more about the voice had to say. The words of the voice had drawn the trainer in, it had his complete attention as he released his grip on the doorknob and spoke once again to the voice, or the air, as others might see.

"Yes, I do want more out of my life. But tell me, how do you know that? Better yet, who are you and where are you?" He said as he looked around, at the walls, the floor, the ceiling, there was not another living or non-living creature around, just himself, all alone in the dimly light hallway. "I know everything about you, I know your deepest desires, your fears, I know everything. As for who I am, it matters not at this point, same goes for where I am. I only speak to you in order to offer you the change you so deeply desire." The voice said. "Okay then, tell me of this change you offer me, I'm listening." Replied the male, he must know now what this voice was planning to offer him, there was no turning back at this point. "Dark Cave, travel to the place known by such a name by the mortals of this world. Deep within the confines of this abyss lies a power that has slept for years, waiting for a true master to claim it. Find this dark power and make it yours." The voice told Sub. What was this thing talking about, a dark power in Dark Cave? Where was this place even? Perhaps the Dark Cave in Johto? That's the only place Sub could think of. "A dark power? Wait a minute, is this some sort of trap?" He asked the voice. "I've said all I wish to at this point. Journey to Dark Cave, and take with you a Pokemon of darkness that is equal to your own, one who shares a bound with you unlike any other. Together, journey deep into the cave and seek out the power. I will speak to you again once the time is right." And with that, the voice spoke no more to the man, all was now silent.

Sub didn't say nothing else either, despite not knowing if the voice was 'gone' or even if it was even there to begin with, he just knew it was done speaking, and it would not speak no matter what he said, so the man wasted not his words, he simply opened his bedroom door and stepped inside. "Nevermore!" Cawed his faithful crow Pokemon, who flew over to him from her perch in the room, landing on the trainer's left arm, which he extended outward for her to do so, she was very well trainer, she knew commands based simply on gestures. "A Pokemon that share a bound with me unlike any other...that would be you, Nevermore." Sub said to the Murkrow on his arm, who just replied with a tilt of her head, confused as to what her trainer was saying. "Let's go, Nevermore, we are going to go on a little trip." The trainer said as he took out a Dusk Ball from his belt, and recalled the bird, clipping the belt back on to his buckled. With Nevermore's ball secured, he would walk over to the far right corner of his bedroom and picked up the black bookbag which laid there. He wasn't sure why, but he knew that the voice wasn't tricking him, that it was sincere, there was something waiting for him in that cave, and he had to know, not to find out would surely drive him to madness, he knew this, he didn't know why he knew, he just did. And with that, the trainer made his way out of the bedroom, shutting the door, and heading down the stairs as he made his way for the main area of the building.

As the man entered the main area of their headquarters, he would find it was devoid of life, not surprising him one bit as it was late at night, or early in the morning, however one chose to look at it. Without giving the rest of the place so much as a second glance, the trainer took out his SNAG, which he had fetched from his office on his way down to the main area, and he spoke into the device. "GRAY, I need Claydol to send me to Violet City." He said into the device, speaking to the artificial intelligence within. "Affirmative, but why Violet City? Are you hitting up a club or something? I don't understand you humans and alcohol, it sounds like a silly-" Before GRAY could finish, Sub cut off the program yet again. "I just have business to take care of is all, now, Claydol, please." He said as he stuffed the device back into his pocket and awaited the appearance of a certain Psychic Pokemon to take him to his desired destination of Violet City. Why there you might ask? It was the closet place to Dark Cave, and had the easiest route to traverse to get to the cave, sure, he could dark the Blackthorn City entrance to Dark Cave but that involved going down a mountain and he didn't feel like being bothered with Graveler going on joy rides down the mountain.

"Dool..." Bellowed the Pokemon known as Claydol as it appeared in front of Sub, spinning around ever so slowly, waiting for him to place a hand on his person and make his request on where to be sent, the Pokemon was used to it, he only knew one move it seemed, and that was Teleport, but there was one thing to say for it, this Pokemon was a master of teleportation, rivaled by none other, and if it could convey emotions, I'm sure it would pride its self in its teleportation capabilities. "Send me to Violet City, please." Sub would say the the Pokemon as he rested a hand on the creature's body. "Clay." The Clay Doll Pokemon would 'mumble' in response. Regardless, the pair would vanish into thin air, disappearing from sight within the building. Not but a second later would the human and Pokemon duo reappear in Violet City, right in front of its Pokemon Center. "Thank you, Claydol, you may return to headquarters." He said to the Pokemon, who responded without sound, instead it just disappeared in a flash, heading back home so that it may rest until it was needed yet again. As for Sub, he stayed behind, observing his surroundings, the city of Violet, also known as the, 'The City of Nostalgic Scents'.

"Violet City, the only time I used to come here were on pupil exchanges between the Tin Town and the Sprout Tower, or to visit Toren while he attended the Trainer Academy. I should be glad I have no further business here tonight." He said to himself as he began to walk East, towards Route 31, and Dark Cave which sat at the end of said route. As the man traversed down the heavily traversed path. Route 31 was the last obstacle for starting trainers and challenging their first gym leader in Violet City, it was this route, while not dangerous, that weeded out a few of the undesirables for Falkner, the gym leader. Regardless, nothing here would threaten Sub. "Hey look, a Weedle." Sub commented as he watched the poisonous larva Pokemon slither up a tree. "Reminds me of the few times me and Toren would play in the woods in Ecruteak City. Never went back in there after that one encounter with a Beedrill..." He spoke to himself. A shiver was sent down his spine as he recalled the event he had mentioned aloud. "Hoot...hoot!" The cry of a certain bird rung out in the night sky, causing Sub to jump a bit as he was lost in his thoughts. The trainer just laughed and continued towards Dark Cave.

Being late at night there were no pesky Bug Catchers to bother the trainer on his journey, which he was thankful for, he hated hearing about how great some kid's Caterpie was, or even worse, a certain little kid who thinks he has the best Rattata in the world and isn't shy about telling others about it, constantly. "Dark Cave." Sub said as he stopped in front of the gaping maw of darkness, rightfully named 'Dark Cave', as it was, indeed, a very Dark Cave, more so at night. While he enjoyed darkness more than any normal person should, he could not journey into the cave as it stood, the pitch black darkness was too much for even him, he needed to be able to see if he was to get through this place. "This looks like a job for Poe." He said to himself as he took a Dusk Ball offer of his belt, tapping the button on the front and in a display of dark purple light, Poe the Sableye appeared in front of his trainer, a sinister grin breaching the darkness as he looked up at the man. "Hehe, you need something?" The Ghost Pokemon asked his trainer. "Yes, we are going to be traveling through Dark Cave and while such an environment would be no problem for you, I require light to see. So, if you don't mind, use Flash and help me get through here." Sub said to his Pokemon. Poe might not show it but he really did enjoy it when his trainer needed him. And so the Sableye climbed up onto his trainer's back and latched on, leaning his head over his shoulder as blue beams of light shined from his eyes, lighting the path in front of Sub with his Flash.

"Thanks, Poe. Let's get going now." The trainer said as he progressed forward deeper into the Dark Cave. With the light illuminating the path ahead, Sub was able to maneuver his way through the cave. The cave was damp, that much was certain, there were small puddles of water here and there, he stepped in one of them and the clear liquid was peculiarly cold, icy cold, just making contact with the water sent a chill up his leg. "Oh! That's cold!" He shouted jumping back as the cold water soaked the bottom of his pants leg. "Hehe, it's just water." Poe said to his trainer, finding humor in the human's reaction to the water. "Hey, you're a ghost, it's not like you even know what cold or warmth is." Sub replied. Poe gave a look as if saying 'touché' in reply. "Sparccce!" Hissed a creature at his feet. "Was that you Poe?" The trainer said to his Pokemon. "Look at your feet, slow, hehe." The Sableye chuckled. Sub did just what his Pokemon suggested, and what did he find, a yellow snake like Pokemon, looking up at him, shaking its tail and hissing at him, apparently it was drinking from the puddle that Sub had stepped in, annoying it. "Whoa! Sorry fella, I didn't mean to bother you! Tell him it was a mistake, Poe." Sub told his Pokemon.

Poe grinned at the command from his trainer, and instead of doing what he was told, the Pokemon chose to remain in silence. "Dunsparce!" Hissed the Pokemon as it lunged at Sub, trying to bite down on his leg. "Hey!" Shouted the male as he jumped back, and out of the way of the attacking snake. "Poe! I thought I told you to talk to this thing!" He shouted. "Hehe, sorry, but I don't think it would listen anyway." The Pokemon replied. "Fine then! Time for battle!" Sub said as he grabbed his Pokemon off of his back and tossed the Sableye at the Dunsparce. "Ack! Not so rough!" Poe shouted as he hit the ground. "Stop complaining! Your a Pokemon! Pokemon obey their trainers! Now, use Confuse Ray!" Sub commanded. "Meh...fine." Poe grunted as he turned to face the Dunsparce, and amplified the light he was already giving off, making a bright flash. "Sparce!" Hissed the Pokemon as it replied to the Confuse Ray with a Bite attack, snapping at Poe's hand. "Ouch! Why didn't that work!?" Poe shouted as he held onto his hand, that bite stung. "Huh, guess its eyesight is so poor that the light really didn't effect it...my bad." Sub said with a cocky grin, if Poe could glare he would. "Alright Poe, time to get serious, Power Gem." He commanded. "Right, hehe!" Poe cheered as he jumped back, away from the Dunsparce. The Sableye would then draw a hexagon in the air with both hands, a single finger drawing out each side as a trail of light followed his fingers. Once the hexagon was drawn out, a sheet of hexagonal energy would form, floating in the air in front of Poe. "Power Gem!" He shouted as he flicked the sheet of energy, sending it flying for Dunsparace.

"Sparce!" Shouted the Pokemon as the Power Gem slammed into it, pushing it back until the Power Gem faded away. The Dunsparce would regain its composure and then begin to rush towards Poe, readying another Bite attack. "Poe! Sucker Punch!" Sub shouted. The ghost would suddenly disappear, its smile remaining briefly before it completely disappeared. Poe would then reappear behind the charging Dunsprace and slam a fist into the back of its head. "D-dun..." Moaned the snake Pokemon as it rolled over knocked out. "Hehe, too easy!" Poe cheered. "Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head. Let's not hang around here anymore than we have to." Sub said as he began to walk forward, Poe would scurry back over to his trainer, climbing back onto his back and resuming his job of lighting the way forward with its Flash. "So, where are going any ways? Hehe..." Poe asked his trainer. "Where? To tell the truth, I'm not even sure. All I know is I'm going somewhere, I can feel it." Sub said, Poe didn't know what he meant by that, but he really didn't care, he just enjoyed getting out of his Pokeball every now and again, so as long as he got what he wanted he was happy.

The pair continued onward, walking through the damp, dark cave. The further they went into the cave, the damper it seemed to get. The air was moist and cold, yet he noticed there were no more puddles of water on the ground, not that he was complaining, his leg was still chilled as it was. "Is it me, or does this darkness grow darker the further we go? Or maybe you are just slacking with your Flash." Sub said out loud to his Sableye. "Hey, my Flash was been kept steadily lit, don't blame me for everything." Poe huffed, aggravated. "Whatever." He usually ignored Poe whenever he got moody, or defensive, he was used to it anyway. "This is getting boring, are we close to wherever you are going?" Poe asked his trainer, constantly keeping the Flash going was tiring, plus walking around in a dark cave was indeed boring, it was all the same, rocks and more rocks, all the same. "Shh! Quiet! You hear that?" Sub said to his Sableye as he leaned forward, trying to make out the strange sound he was hearing. "Sounds like something is flapping its wings, hehe." Poe pointed out. "Flapping wings? Wings...cave...darkness...Zubat." Right when Sub finished his sentence, the exact species of Pokemon he named came flying his way, about twenty of them in a dense flock. "Hey, hey, hey! Move! I don't want Zubat droppings on me!" Poe panicked as the Zubat came their way. Sub immediately dunked down as the flock of Zubat flew back. The bat Pokemon didn't pay Sub much mind as they flew on by, disappearing into the darkness behind them.

"Are they gone?" Sub said as he rose back up to his feet. "Yes...though they left me a present..." Poe groaned as he shoot some white stuff off of his hand, Sub did everything he could not to laugh, but a slight chuckle escaped his lips, Poe was not amused though, it was usually his job to do the laughing at other's misfortune, not the other way around. "Meh...let's find some water, I want to wash this stuff off..." Poe complained. "Alright, let's see if we can't find another puddle or something." The pair of trainer and Pokemon then began their side quest to find a source of water for Poe to clean himself off in. Sub didn't mind letting his Pokemon get cleaned, though his reasons for doing so weren't so noble, he just didn't like the idea of a Sableye with Zubat droppings on it clinging to his back. "Hehe, looks like a stream of water passing through the cave over there." Poe pointed out at a stream ahead of them. "You're right, perfect." Sub said heading that way. The trainer would get down on his knees once they made it to the stream, letting Poe climb off his back. The Sableye would then lean over the side of the running water and begin to splash himself with said water and clean off the present his friends left him, unfortunately they didn't they didn't leave a receipt to return it in case he didn't like it, the jerks.

"Hurry up, we don't have all day." Sub said, arms folded and an annoyed look on his face. "Hehe, alright, I'm done." The dripping wet Pokemon said as he turned back to his trainer. "No, no, no, you're not getting back on me all wet like that." He told the Pokemon. "Well what do you want me to do? Hehe..." Poe said in reply. "Hey look! A nugget!" Sub said as he bent down and picked up a shiny chunk of what appeared to be gold. "Thanks for ignoring my question..." Poe grunted. Sub was too busy examining the nugget he found to listen to Poe. "Hey, it really is gold! Eef yeah-" Sub's proclamation would be cut off by a newly arrived presence, shooting up out of the water. "Seaking!" Cried the fish Pokemon as it leapt out of the stream. "Hey look! A Seaking!" Sub pointed out. "Gee, thanks, ignore me some more." Poe huffed. The two didn't have much time to argue, the Seaking wasn't too happy it would seem, this stream was apparently its turf and it was determined to defend it. "King!" Cried the Pokemon as it fired off an orb of water at Poe, with rings of water pulsating around it, it was a Water Pulse attack. "Ack!" Cried Poe as he was hit with the Water Pulse attack, sending it stumbling backwards. "I'm...hehe, dizzy..." The Sableye said as he continued to stumble. "Meh, confuse..." Sub sighed. "Just chill for a minute Poe, I'll take care of this thing." He said as he took out a Dusk Ball, pressing the button on the ground and releasing, in a show of purple shadowy light, Pym the Sharpedo.

"*****!" Cried the Pokemon as it splashed into the stream, ready for battle. "Pym, use Crunch!" Sub cried. The Sharpedo knew what its target was as the Seaking was charging towards it, horn first, probably a Horn Attack. Pym was having none of that though as it launched its self out of the water, and came down on the Seaking, clamping its jaws down on the Pokemon's tail fin as it did. "Seaking!" Cried the fish as it flailed its tail around, trying to get the Sharpedo off, which it eventually would as it successfully executed Flail, sending the Pokemon flying back into the water. "Don't let that thing through you around Pym! Another Crunch!" Sub commanded. Pym would launch its self out of the water again, preparing to bite down once again, but the Seaking was not dumb enough to let this happen again as it pulled back, and pointed its horn upward so that Pym would fall right into its horn, well, least its right fin would scrap against it. "Sharp!" Cried the Pokemon as it was hurt, splashing back into the water. "Tch, clever fish. Enough playing around, Skull Bash!" Sub commanded. The Sharpedo, now at the side of the Seaking, would spin around and with all its might it would zoom through the water head first, slamming into the Seaking with immense force, sending the fish right out the stream, and slamming to the ground, flopping around, hurt and gasping for oxygen.

"Well, I guess that's that..." Sub said as he looked down at the poor defenseless fish as it flopped around helplessly. "Here, my act of kindness for the year." He said as he got down and pushed the Seaking back into the stream, so that it could breath again. "There you go, can't say I've never performed a selfless deed." He said to no one in particular. Pym wasn't too happy to see his foe back in the water, he was hoping it would die right then and there, though Pym was just brutal and cruel like that. "King king!" Cheered the Pokemon as it swam around a little bit, before dashing off down the stream, knowing good and well not to carry the fight on anymore, it was spared once, so it didn't need to push its luck anymore. "Alright Pym, thanks for the help, return." He said as he recalled the Pokemon back to the Dusk Ball, pocketing it once this shark was inside. "You doing okay over there, Poe?" Sub asked his ghost, who was laying on the ground, flat on his back. "Hehe, yeah, the room finally stopped spinning." Poe said as he slowly raised up into a seated position on the ground. "Good, now come on, we still have a lot more ground to cover." Sub said as he walked off, leaving his Pokemon behind. "Hey! Don't leave me! Hehe!" Poe said as he quickly got back up on his feet and ran towards his trainer, jumping onto his back, and resuming his position as Sub's lantern.

The pair had already had a couple of random encounters in Dark Cave, and yet they barely scratched the surface of this cave of darkness. It had been about an hour or more since Sub had entered the cave, and yet he wasn't sure if he was getting closer to his goal or not, but something told him to keep marching forward, that if he kept going, he would eventually find what he yearned for, not that he even knew what that might be. "Hehe, I think you're right, it is getting darker, the deeper we go into the cave." Poe commented, confirming his trainer's earlier suspicions about this cave. "I knew I was going crazy. Such a bizarre place this cave is, wouldn't you agree?" He asked his Pokemon. "I guess, hehe..." Poe simply replied. "We don't really get along well, do we?" Sub said to his Pokemon. "Huh? What's all that about? Hehe..." Poe asked. "Oh nothing, forget I said that." Sub said, just brushing off his sudden question. Poe just did the same, let the sudden topic shift just fade away. "Man it's getting dark, even your Flash barely lights the way in front of us. I've never seen darkness like this before." Sub said allowed, waving a hand in front of his face. "I can barely see my own hand!" He pointed out. "Wobbuffet!" Something shouted as Sub found himself walking right into a large blue object. "Ow! What is...oh hi." Sub said with a nervous laugh, as he stared into the face of the Wobbuffet he had just ran into.

"Wobbu wobbu!" It shouted angry, glaring at Sub. "Pfft, what are you going to do? Get made all you want, it's not like you can hurt me." Sub said with a laugh, as he went to walk around the Pokemon, but I suppose the creature wasn't going to just like Sub walk all over him. Buffet!" The Wobbuffet shuffled to the said, and stood in Sub's way, prevent him from going around. "...cute." Sub said as he went to walk around it the other way, but the Pokemon shuffled to that side, still standing in his way. "Alright, I see the game you are going to play, I got you." Sub said with a glare as he stepped back a few paces. "Allan! Come on out!" Sub cried as he tossed a Dusk Ball out, releasing from within his Bisharp. "Sharp!" Cried the Pokemon as it appeared from the ball. "So this Wobbuffet wants to play, and we'll cater to his desire! Allan, use Iron Head!" Sub commanded. Allan would nod and kick off the ground, flying for the Wobbuffet head first as it aimed to slam its bladed skull into the Psychic type. "Wobbuffet!" Cried the Pokemon as an aura of brown energy surrounded it. Upon contact with the Wobbuffet, Allan would bounce off and fly back to his starting point, sliding backwards onto the ground. "Tch, it used Counter...looked like it stung pretty bad." Sub commented as Allan huffed in pain a bit.

"Let's play volleyball then. Use Focus Blast Allan!" The Bisharp obeyed accordingly, forming between its hands a ball of brown energy. From the center of two hands the ball of energy would fly for the Wobbuffet, and just as Sub suspected the Pokemon would gain an aura of pink energy, and as the Focus Blast made contact with the Wobbuffet it would bounce off and double in size. "Here we go! Allan, Metal Burst!" Sub cried out. Once the Focus Blast got near, Allan would release a bright flash of light from its body, and once the Focus Blast made contact with his body it would bounce off and double in size again, now zooming for the Wobbuffet at an insane speed, too fast for the Psychic type to react to as the very large ball of energy slammed into it, exploding on contact and sending the Wobbuffet flying backwards. "Booya!" Sub shouted as he pumped a fist into the air. "Bisharp..." Panted Allan, getting his Iron Head thrown back at him, and then bouncing that Focus Blast around took a lot of the Bisharp, and quick, it was like a rollercoaster of exhaustion. "Oh, sorry Allan, return and get some rest." He said as he recalled the Steel type Pokemon back to its Dusk Ball, and then pocketing the ball.

"Hehe, you seemed like you had fun with that battle." Poe commented. "Well, yeah, something wrong with that?" Sub asked. "Well no, but you could've had me confuse it or something. Then you could have just walked around it without having to engage it in battle, hehe...but your way works too." Poe pointed out to his trainer, and giving off a mocking laugh afterward. "I...well shoot..." Sub said as he realized his Pokemon was right, why didn't he think of that? "Any ways, what's done is done, now let's keep going forward and hope nothing else gets in our way." Sub said, though he could only hope that nothing else would spring out from the darkness and cause trouble for them, he knew the chances of there being peace were very, if not extremely, low. Regardless, he was used to having bad luck, so he never bet on things going good for him, now in any situation, even the most simple task could end up going horribly wrong for him it seemed.

"Hehe, my flash doesn't seem to be helping much anymore, does it?" Poe asked his trainer. The pair had kept going forward, deeper and deeper into the cave. As they did it seemed they journeyed downward, heading underground, or maybe they were going upward, neither one of them was sure, the further Sub led the duo into the cave, the darker it got, and the harder it became to navigate, and read your surroundings, everything just seemed to blend together into one thing, darkness. "Yeah, you're right. I can't even see the ground beneath my feet, it's pure darkness..." Sub said as he now stood completely still, unsure of what to do now. Poe had ended his Flash, though there was no real difference noticed, it was so dark that the Flash wasn't illuminating anything in the first place, the darkness was almost unnatural, no light seemed to pierce it. "I'm afraid..." Poe admitted. "Yeah, I must admit, this is pretty scary isn't it? I mean, this isn't normal darkness, it's like, absolute darkness. Darkness in its most purest form...it's scary." Sub commented, looking around at the surrounding darkness, it was almost suffocating. "Where do we go now?" Poe asked his trainer, he was the one that led them here in the first place. "I...I don't know..." Sub admitted to his Pokemon.

"Welcome, to absolute darkness." A voice spoke to Sub. "What? Who's there?" Sub jumped as he heard the voice. "Huh? Who are you talking to? Hehe..." Poe asked, apparently only Sub could hear the voice speak. "Forget me already?" The voice spoke again. "Oh yeah, you're the voice that told me to come here in the first place. So tell me, now what do I do?" He asked the voice. Poe was confused on who, or what his trainer was talking to, was the darkness getting to him or something? He wasn't sure anymore, this whole scenario confused him. "Yes, now what do you do? Kuku..." The voice laughed. "Um, okay...creepy laugh, but really, what am I-" Sub's question was cut off as the darkness seemed to part in front of him, and from behind the curtain of darkness was the Tin Tower, he was now standing in Ecruteak City, staring at the Tin Tower. "Poe, are we in Ecruteak?" Sub asked the Sableye, yet there was no response. "Hey, Poe, I'm talking to you!" Sub shouted, trying to reach onto his Pokemon, feeling around for the Pokemon, but there was nothing there. Sub's anxiety now increased, his Pokemon was gone, he felt alone. He wasn't sure what was going on, or where Poe ran off to, so he did all he knew to do, went forward, towards the Tin Tower in the distance.

"It's so...quiet..." Sub commented as he walked through the streets of Ecruteak City. "How did I even get here?" He questioned. As Sub walked down the street, he would feel the air get deathly cold, he could see his breath in front of him, he felt if he stayed here much longer that he would freeze up and die. "Hey, you over there!" He called out to what appeared to be a person in a brown trench coat, their back facing him. Despite his call, the person did not move, nor show any signs of responding to Sub. "Buddy, can you hear me?" He said as he placed a hand on the shoulder of the person. The trench coat Sub touched would suddenly burst into pitch black flames and burn away at the material. The trainer would jump back in shock as the the trench coat burn, the remains falling onto the ground. Sub could now see who was wearing the trench coat as an elderly man wearing monk robs turned around to face Sub.

"Elder..." Was all Sub could say as he eyed the man. "You are a disgrace to this tower, to this town, to this region." The man said. "Shut up! I always tried my hardest to please you! I've disgraced no one!" Sub shouted. "Emotions, you're so filled with them. Filled with dark emotions. You are dangerous, such strength you possess yet it is clouded, and tainted by the emotions you so desperately cling to." The elder monk continued to say, Sub clinched his fist in anger at these words. "You make me sick. Not even your parents wanted you. The tower only took you in out of pity, we pitied such a feeble pathetic excuse for a human being. And despite our kindness all you have repaid us with is disappointment. Why do you even bother trying? Everything you've ever done has ended in failure. All you do is make matters worse. Why not run away again, like you ran from the tower all those years ago, that's what you're good at, running." The old man spoke again, his words stung worse than any insect bite that Sub had ever felt. "Shut up I said! Just shut up!" Sub screamed as he threw a punch at the face of the elder.

"Kuku...you even failed in this." The elder said as Sub's fist passed through his face. Sub would stare at the monk startled for a few seconds before the figure before him would burst into black flames, just like before. Sub would jump back startled but the flames would burn away at his own clothing. The trainer was quick to throw off his burning vest, and noticed in the horizon that the Tin Tower was now burning with the same flames, as was the forest, and the entire city of Ecruteak. The flames would spread all over the place until they completely engulfed everything, including himself, turning everything to darkness once again.

Sub would open his eyes to a new view, he would find himself waking up in his bed back at the headquarters. He moaned a bit as he rose up to a seated position, it felt like he had been sleeping all night. "Ugh...what a bad dream...so weird, it all felt so real." He commented as he got out of bed and rose to his feet. "I need some water." He said as he walked out of his room, and headed down the stairs into the main area of the building. "Huh, I wonder where everyone is at." He said to himself as he made his way towards the kitchen, paying no mind to the relatively empty building. Upon entering the kitchen Sub would find someone sitting at the table, it was Night, the Ninetales hybrid, she was apparently feeding her Zorua some berries on the table. "Hey there, Night." Sub said to the hybrid in passing as he went over to the fridge and took a bottle of water out. As he turned back around to face Night he took a sip of water. "How have you been doing?" He asked the hybrid, there was no response however. "Hey Night, you hear me?" He asked the female hybrid again. Once again, Night did not respond, instead she continued to feed her Zorua berries. "Okay...I'll just go watch TV or something...talk to you later..." Sub said to the girl confused, maybe she was having her time of the month or something, he was sure GRAY could tell him, he seemed to have a fascination with Night's cycle.

As Sub entered the main area he would find several people hanging around, all of whom weren't there earlier. Blizzard was sitting on the couch drinking a coke, while Freth was flipping through the channels on the TV, the pair were arguing over what to watch, Freth kept trying to put it on violent slasher films while Blizz wanted something more action packed. Meanwhile two young hybrids, Tristen and Tails were playing around behind the couch, he wasn't too sure what they were doing but he honestly didn't want to know, their giggles were a bit off setting. Then there was Hawk, he was sitting in a chair, providing humorous commentary for the movies that Freth and Blizz were watching. Some of the jokes he made were confusing and odd but still brought a smile to your face. "Hey guys, what you watching?" He said as he approached the two hybrids, and Hawk. Just like Night however, there was no response. "Alright, what is going on here? Why is no one responding to me? Hello!?" Sub shouted as he now stood in front of the TV. "Can't see TV now can you, jerks!" He shouted. Again, they did not respond, they just continued to act as if Sub was not in the room. "What the hell is this? Fine, I'm going upstairs, don't know what I did to get ignored." He huffed as he made his way up the stairs.

Sub mumbled the whole way about threatening to replace all the coke with pepsi, to get revenge on Blizz. His thoughts of vengeance disappeared however once he made it to his room, least the door to it. "Hey, what's this?" He said as he noticed a picture of himself tapped to the door. "I didn't put this here..." He said taking the picture off, crumbling it, and tossing it to the side before opening his door. As soon as Sub walked in he noticed that his room was completely empty, everything was gone, nothing remained of what his room used to be. "What the hell!? Where is my stuff!" He shouted as he stormed out of his room and ran down the stairs into the main area of the building. "Alright guys! The joke is over! What did you do to my-" Sub's shouting stopped as he noticed everyone who was once in the main area, was now gone. "Where is everyone..." He asked, and this time he got an answer as a familiar Ho-oh hybrid approached him, coming from seemingly nowhere. It was Sol, but something seemed weird about him, his feathers weren't as vibrant and colorful as they once were, he seemed to have aged, and come to think of it, the main area seemed really dusty.

"They left, all gone, after you died." Sol said to Sub. "What? I'm not dead, I'm very much alive." Sub said confused. "It all happened back in Black City, you turned against us and sided with Team Cipher, eventually taking over Nascour's position. You ended up betraying Victini's trust, using it to fuel the chi reactor and summoning Zekrom early, wrecking havoc on Unova, plunging it into an age of despair. You killed all of your comrades, one by one with the power of Zekrom. It wasn't until three years later that I was able to catch you off guard and obtain revenge for my teammates. I enjoyed killing you, the monster you had become, the monster you always were." Sol said to Sub. "W-what!? I would never betray my team! You're wrong!" Sub shouted. "Lies, it's always lies with you. From day one you used us for your own gain, deceived us. I never trusted you, I saw you for what you were, a disgusting corrupt human who wanted nothing but power. If only I could have killed you sooner, I would have." Sol continued to say, Sub could not believe what he was hearing. All this was becoming too much to bear, where was he, what is going on, is this real? He wasn't sure anymore. "N-no! Stop saying that! You guys are my family!" He shouted back.

"Family? We were never your family, we all hated you. You were nothing more than a convenience to us, we kept you around for entertainment. No one liked you, why would anyone like a failure like you? What has someone like you, someone so weak, accomplished? Nothing, you are a pathetic waste of life, better off dead." Sol said to Sub. "I'm...a waste...?" Sub asked. "Yes, a waste of life, a waste of space, and a waste of time." The hybrid replied. "I'm a waste...I don't deserve to live..." Sub said hanging his head. "Yes, you are better off dead." Sol said as he approached Sub. "I'm better off..." Sub's words trailed off, he was now looking at the ground as Sol stood over him, slowly taking out his blade and raising it above Sub's head, ready to thrust downward. "No...I' not!" Sub said as he clinched his fist and continued to look down. "I may fail sometimes...I may mess up...but I never stop trying! Not just for myself, but for the people I call friends! You guys are all my friends! All I have in this world! And I would do anything for my friends! No, my family! Even if I mess up, I'm not a failure, not as long as I have my team, I can never fail! So no, I'm not a waste! I'm [redacted]! Leader of Team Snagem!" Sub shouted as he looked up, as he did, Sol was gone, the main area, gone, now he started into pure darkness.

"Hehe...you okay?" Poe asked Sub as he held onto his back. "What was all that about Mr. Locke?" He asked his trainer. "Huh? What was all- Poe? Am I back? Was all that a dream? Is this a dream? What is going on?" Sub had a million questions to ask but no answer were available it seemed, all Poe could do was stared at his trainer in complete confusion. "Kuku...it seems you braved the darkness, the dark emotions that assaulted your mind. It tried to drag you into the depths of its torment, but you resisted." The voice from earlier spoke to Sub, this time the trainer did not question what the voice had to say, he just listened. "Maye you can tame the darkness within you. Maybe...only time will tell...kuku." The voice said as a pair of green twisted eyes appeared before Sub. The eyes would slowly begin to grow a purple body of energy, dotted with green spheres of energy within it. "The Pokemon you see before you is a piece of the absolute darkness in this cave, in physical form. Your final test is to capture this Pokemon...kuku...good luck..." The voice said as it disappeared, all that was left was Sub, Poe, and this Spiritomb that stood before them.

"So this is it...alright Poe, it's time for battle." Sub said in a complete serious tone. Poe nodded and jumped off of his trainer, standing in front of him. "Poe! Power Gem!" Sub cried out. Poe would immediately begin to draw out a hexagon shape with his fingers, but before he could complete it the Spiritomb suddenly appeared in front of him and conjured a fist made out of its body, punching Poe in the face, sending him tumbling backwards. "Tch, Sucker Punch...quick Poe, Confuse Ray!" Sub commanded. Poe would get up and while on all fours release a bright flash of light at the Spiritomb...except, that's what would've happened, but for some reason it didn't work, instead an aura of red energy surrounded Poe. "What the...wait, Imprision, crap, it sealed your moves. Return Poe!" Sub called out as he withdrew Poe, knowing good and well that their moves were very much a like so Poe wouldn't be able to do much against this Spiritomb. "This thing is crafty...alright then, come out Allan!" Sub shouted as he released his Bisharp. "Iron Head!" Sub commanded. The Bisharp would dive head first for the Spiritomb, and for the first time since commencing battle Sub would land a hit as the two Pokemon fly across the darkness together.

However, this might not have been a good idea as the two Pokemon were face to face, and the Spiritomb took this chance to use its Hypnosis attack, putting the Bisharp to sleep as it slammed down onto the ground, while the Spiritomb floated in the air. "Dang it...return Allan!" Sub called out as he recalled his Pokemon. "Things aren't going my way...let's try a different approach. Lenore, use Blizzard!" Sub called out as he released his Weavile from her ball. The Sharp Claw Pokemon would immediately let loose a fierce icy wind against the Spiritomb, sending it flying backwards in the air as it was hit, but that didn't stop the Spiritomb, not in the least. The Spiritomb responded with what seemed to be a Curse, as a nail of energy formed and stabbed the Spiritomb, cutting its health down as a dark aura surrounded Lenore, cursing her. Lenore would feel her energy beginning to drain away, she didn't have long to battle. "Tch, got to finish this quick, Lenore, use Whirlpool!" Sub commanded. The Weavile would begin to spin around in place as a water exploded from around her body, covering her completely like a swirling torrent. Lenore would then launch towards the Spiritomb, like a drilling bullet of water. The Pokemon would blow right through the Spiritomb, disrupting its ghostly body and damaging it in the process. Sub thought he surely had the Spiritomb on its last legs, but something happened that turned the tables quick.

A red aura of energy surrounded both Spiritomb and Lenore as the Ghost Pokemon's eyes began to glow. Lenore would instantly become weaker as she stopped her Whirlpool attack and got on her knees panting, while the Spiritomb suddenly seemed more spry, it was Pain Split. "Dang it...Lenore use-" Before Sub could give a command the Weavile had toppled over, having succumbed to the curse placed on her. "Not good...return Lenore!" Sub said as he recalled his Pokemon, this Spiritomb had already took down three of his Pokemon, this was getting bad. "Alright girl, I'm relying on you...come on Nevermore!" Sub cried as he released his most faithful Pokemon, Nevermore the Murkrow. Immediately upon release however the Spiritomb made its move, firing a Shadow Ball at Nevermore, smacking it as the bird fluttered in the air, causing it to tumble around. "Nevermore! Hang in there! Use Quash!" Sub commanded. Nevermore's eyes would begin to give off a dark glow, and the same glow would appear around the Spiritomb as it would find its self suddenly frozen in place. The Spiritomb would struggle against the hold, causing Nevermore to struggle herself to keep it down. "Hang in there Nevermore, we almost got it...now use Foul Play!" Nevermore would obeyed accordingly as the glow around the Spiritomb suddenly manifested into a ball of dark energy above it. The ball of energy would then zoom towards Nevermore would it become absorbed by the bird and cover it in a pitch black coat of energy. "Now!" Sub cried. Nevermore would take advantage of the Spiritomb's temporary immobility and zoom straight for it like a black bird made of dark energy. Nevermore would plow right through the Spiritomb, turning its own strength against it as the energy cloak disappeared from around her.

"Now! Dusk Ball go!" Sub cried out as he hurled a Dusk Ball at the Spiritomb that fell to the ground after being hit by the Foul Play. The ball would suck up the Spiritomb inside of it and close shut. Once shut the ball would call to the unseen ground and shake back and forth several times. As Sub watched the ball with much anticipation Nevermore flew back over to him and landed on his shoulder, to join her trainer in the suspense. "Come on..." Sub said to himself. It had been four shakes, was it going to work? "Please work...please..." Ding! The ball stopped shaking the button flashed red once to signal the successful capture. "I did it..." Sub said with a sigh of relief as he walked over to the ball and picked it up, looking at it for a moment. "Very good...kuku...you've completed your first step to obtaining the power of darkness. The way out shall be illuminated for you. Go home, and rest, I can't wait to see how you do in your next task...kuku." Sub didn't pay much attention to the voice, but it was right, the path forward was revealed as the darkness parted, he could see the light at the end of the tunnel. "Come on Nevermore, let's go home..." Sub said as he walked down the lit path, heading for the exit of the cave, his purpose here complete, the darkness captured.

Mission Summary:

---Traveled through Dark Cave and braved the wild Pokemon within.
---Found my way into the absolute darkness of the cave and survived the mental assault by the darkness.
---Faced, defeated, and capture the Pokemon that represents a piece of the darkness.

"Unova, this place has finally gotten back to Unova since the whole escapade with Team Cipher." Sub said to the bird perched on his head as they looked out at sea, from the ship they were riding on. Last night, before he went to bed, the same strange voice from last time paid him a visit. It spoke of some placed called the 'Dark Void' and how if he intended to master the dark power that slumbers within him, he must find this void, and make its power his own. Just like last time though he doubted the accuracy of what this voice had to say, but regardless, he went right along with what it commanded of him, after all, it was right about what Sub would find at the bottom of Dark Cave, a place of complete darkness and insanity. So, as the voice instructed Sub was on his way to Unova, having decided to take the long, pleasant method of travel, by ship, from Olivine City, Johto.

Nevermore and himself had left Johto first thing in the morning, wanting to get to Unova as soon as possible. The sun was beginning to set now, the ship's captain said they would be arriving in Unova in about two hours, meaning when they landed it would be time to get something to eat and find the nearest Pokémon Center to crash at. Sub didn't mind though, he enjoyed the voyage, it gave him time to think, and figure out exactly what he was doing. "Maybe I'll find more answers this time, it's just all so confusing, Nevermore." Sub said as he spoke to his Murkrow. "What am I anyways? I've studied up so much on hybrids and Channelers, learning about what makes them work, their strengths, their weaknesses, but not once did I ever question myself, might I be capable of such feats? Or am I already capable? That voice keeps saying I have a dark power in me, and Miles said my chi was not unlike a Dark type's, and yet, the more I learn about myself, the more questions I have. Is there something in me? Maybe whatever is there is why that jerk of a monk treated me so differently...oh well, I'm thinking too much. Come on Nevermore, let's go below deck and take a nap before we reach land." He told the bird, who squawked in reply as they made their way into a lower level of the ship, where their sleeping quarters were. The pair would slumber for two hours, until the ship made land.

"All ashore that's going ashore!" Shouted a voice that rung out through the ship's intercom, jolting Sub awake as he shot up from his bed, sending Nevermore fluttering away from his sleeping position on his chest, landing nervously on a lamp, as she too was fast asleep. "Nevermore!" She crowd in protest to Sub's sudden awakening. "I'm sorry girl! But it's time to get off the boat. Come on now, I don't want to go on another trip back to Johto." Upon recalling Nevermore to her Dusk Ball, Sub would run out of his room, quickly making it back up to the ship's deck, where he noticed the ship was starting to pull away from the docks. "Wait! I want to get off!" He shouted at the sailor who just pulled the plank away. "Sorry kid, but we're leaving. I can't stop the ship." He told Sub as he walked off. "Fine then, I'll just jump!" He shouted at the sailor as he walked off. "This can't be too hard..." Sub said to himself as he looked over the side of the boat, judging the distance between it and the dock, which was quickly becoming wider and wider the more he waited. "Here goes nothing..." And with that he took several steps backwards, inhaled deeply, and ran forward, leaping over the boat's railing with all his might and landing...right on the deck.

"Huh, this went better than expected!" He said cheerfully, until a wave of water was flung on him by a speed boat that raced by. "Arceus must really hate me...what's someone doing driving a speed boat this late at night anyways?" The man grunted as he shook his head like a wet Lillipup, attempting to dry his hair, at least somewhat. "Well, I made it to Unova all the same, more specifically, Castelia City." He said to himself as he gazed upon the skyscrapers in the distance, lighting up the night sky. "Now to find the Pokémon Center in this concrete jungle." And with that, the Dark type trainer walked up the pier, heading into the city its self, looking for a Pokemon Center to crash at until the morning. "Where are you going?" The strange dark voice spoke to Sub, taking his by surprise as he jolted around, his instincts telling him there was someone behind him, but after a few seconds he realized it was just the same disembodied voice from before. "To a Pokemon Center, I'm tired. I thought I would get a little sleep before-" He attempted to finish his sentence, but the voice wasn't going to let him it would appear. "Fool boy! You waste time! The darkness does not wait!" The voice shouted. "Whatever, I'll continue towards the darkness tomorrow morning..." Sub mumbled, finding the Pokemon Center finally as he argued with this voice.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center!" The Nurse Joy said as she greeted the trainer as he entered the building through the sliding glass doors. "I need a room for the night." He said, bluntly. "Oh, certainly! Right there down the hall to the right. Just pick an empty-...good night." She said. Sub had walked off before the nurse could finish talking, giving her the same treatment the dark voice gave him earlier, but he really didn't care, he just walked to get some sleep, the trip to Unova was exhausting, and if he planned on doing what this voice said, traveling all over Unova, going on a scavenger hunt, then he was going to need all the rest he could get. "These rooms are always so dull." He said upon entering the empty room he found down the hall. There was nothing special about it, it was a plain white, no windows, a single bed and dresser combo, with a desk lamp resting on an end table next to the bed. The sheets looked fresh, however whoever made it took pride in their work as there wasn't a single wrinkle. This masterpiece however was soon destroyed as Sub cast his backpack onto the ground and threw himself onto the bed, letting out a deep sigh. "Well at least the bed is comfortable." He mumbled, turning the desk lamp off, and covering his face with a pillow as he laid flat on his back, on top of the covers, soon falling fast asleep.

The next morning Sub was awoken by the sound of screaming and shouting. From what he could make out it seemed like someone had lost control of their Pokemon, which was now going on a rampage in the Pokemon Center. "I can never have a nice sleep anymore..." He moaned, getting out of bed and picking up his backpack, taking out a single Dusk Ball and heading into the lobby of the Pokemon Center, where he would find a very angry Emboar trashing around, throwing chairs across the room and torching them with a Flamethrower. He watched as its owner, a rookie trainer who looked like he had no more than two badges, this Pokemon obviously didn't respect its trainer enough to allow it to be controlled. There were other trainers though, also rookies as their own starter Pokemon attempted to take down the beast but failed, an Oshawott and its trainer cowering behind the front desk, and a Servine hanging from the ceiling fan, tied up by its own vines. The center's nurse was also trying to calm down the Emboar, along with her Audino, but they too were having no luck as the beast would swing at them. Sub just shook his head in disgust and pressed the button on the ball in his hand, opening up the device and releasing from inside his Drapion, Legrand. "Cross Poison." He commanded.

The Drapion let out an angry roar as it rushed towards the Emboar, the fiery boar not taking noticing of him until the Drapion grabbed a hold of it with its two purple glowing claws, digging into the pig as it slowly injected poison into the creature. The Emboar would flail around madly, spitting flames about wildly, even in the Drapion's face. "Calm down Bacon!" The young trainer who seemed to be the Pokemon's trainer cried out. Bacon? That was the name he gave his Pokemon? No wonder it's pissed off right now. Legrand persisted to hold onto the Emboar as it had fire spit in its face repeatedly, it was now personal. Sub kept a close eye on the Emboar however, waiting to make sure it was poisoned, and once Sub was sure it was, he ordered another attack. "Venoshock, end this." And with this command, the Drapion let out a sinister roar, releasing from its claws a purple 'lightning' which shocked the Emboar, inflicting massive damage on the Pokemon as it intensified the poison that had worked its way into the pig's body earlier when Legrand grabbed a hold of it with Cross Poison. The Emboar let out a spine tingling cry as the searing pain overcame it, soon passing out in the scorpion's grasp, going limp and falling to the floor as Legrand let go of him. "Thank you so much! It was destroying the Pokemon Center! But do you think you had to be so rough with it?" Nurse Joy said to Sub, as he recalled Legrand. "Rough? I don't think so, I stopped it didn't I? Maybe next time I'll let it burn the Pokemon Center down." Sub said annoyed as he pocketed the ball. "As for you kid, I know you're type. You get your starter Pokemon and think it's the best thing ever. Then you use just it to fight any one and every one, not caring about its wellbeing, or catching other Pokemon to maybe take the burden off of it. Sure, it becomes powerful quick, but it becomes angry at you, feeling as if it is nothing more than an engine of destruction. Give that pig a break and take time to get to know it." Sub scolded the kid who ran over to the knocked out Emboar, tears running down his face.

Ignoring the child's apologies for the mess he made, Sub got the rest of his belongings from the back room and headed on out of the Pokemon Center, not wanting to hear any more excuses from such a neglectful kid, besides he had places to be, and voices to talk to. “Okay then, Route 11…” Sub mumbled to himself as he took out his SNAG as he walked out of the Pokemon Center. The trainer would bring up a map of the Unova region and begin to look it over, finding exactly where Route 11 was, and this Checkmate Forest. “Looks like it’s East of Opelucid City…well then, I’m pretty far away from there.” He grumbled as he stashed his SNAG back into his pocket, observing the area around him, taking note of all the people around, and all the skyscrapers. “Too crowded to get Pallas to pick me up and take off, I better head north and find a more open area for life off.” He said to himself out loud as he began walking down the side walk, taking the first turn around the Pokemon Center and heading North, up Mode Street.

As the Snagem leader headed up the road he took notice of a long line of people in front of a small bright pink stand, it was the Casteliacone stand. People in Unova would come from all over just to sample the ice cream offered here, Sub has passed by the stand a while ago during Cipher’s attempted take over, but he never got to try a Casteliacone for himself, maybe now would be a good time to do so. “What the heck, why not?” Said the trainer as he positioned himself at the end of the line, waiting for his turn at the front. “What are you doing?” The voice said as it spoke to Sub’s mind. “I’m getting some ice cream…” He whispered to himself. “Ice cream? A frozen dairy treat? Such a simple minded mortal, you have bigger rewards to obtain.” The voice spoke yet again. “Yeah but this ice cream is suppose to be really good and-“ Before Sub could finish his sentence the voice would speak again, cutting him off. “Fool! Power beyond comprehension awaits you and you delay for ice cream? Make haste I say!” It yelled at him. Sub grumbled as the voice yelled, stepping out of line and making his way back up Mode Street. “Whatever, I don’t like ice cream that much anyways…” He told himself, an attempt to make himself feel better about missing out on getting a Casteliacone, once again.

It wouldn’t be long before Sub found himself passing through the gate leading out of Castelia City and onto Route 4, the desert land where much construction was currently going on as they attempted to make something out such a desolate place. “Pallas would feel right at home here.” Sub commented as he took a Dusk Ball out from his pocket, pressing the button on the front of it and releasing his Mandibuzz, Pallas. The sneaky vulture would let out a squawked as it spread its wings out while standing up proud on the ground. “Pallas, I need you to fly me a good distance. I know you aren’t exactly big enough to fly me for long periods of time but I need you to at least fly me as far as possible. What do you think? Are you up for it?” He asked the Pokemon who only replied by becoming airborne, grabbing onto Sub’s shoulders with her talons, and snatching him up into the air. “That works for an answer.” He laughed. “Head North.” He simply told the vulture who would then begin to gain a little more altitude and flying straight forward, heading North towards Nimbasa City. Sub would watch as the stretch of desert passed them underneath as Pallas flew, it was certainly a neat sight, he just hoped Pallas didn’t tire out too quickly, for now though the bird seemed fine, but only time would tell.

It wouldn’t be long before Sub and Pallas passed over Nimbasa City, the trainer would see all the sights from here. There was the Battle Station, which he could see people come in and out of like ants, it got a lot of business even on a slow day. Then there was the Ferris Wheel which stood out the most, it only ran during certain times of year, but for now it seemed to be operating as he could see the wheel turn from up here. Then there was the Pokemon Musical building along with the twin stadiums, trainers would go to the music hall to show off their Pokemon’s dance moves and musical talents, Sub didn’t care too much for that though, seemed like a watered down version of Pokemon Contest, he liked those though, they were interesting to watch. Lastly there was the Nimbasa Pokemon gym, Sub had never went inside of it but from the outside it looked really flashy, like most Unova gyms. Either way, he was just passing over the city, having no intentions of landing and observing these sights for his self.

Other than Nimbasa City, and a giant tree in the middle of Unova, there wasn’t much left to see as Sub continued towards Route 11, or more specifically the city just outside of Route 11, Opelucid City, home of Unova’s mightiest dragon masters, a city divided by the new and old. The actual city, where the gym was, had a very high tech, modern look to it, while the old Opelucid Village, had a more natural look, it was mostly the elderly who lived in Opelucid during its young days who made their home in the village. Sub would soon land just outside of said city’s Pokemon Center, Pallas setting him down on the ground gently, the trainer immediately recalling the Mandibuzz back to her ball as he came back down to Earth.

Sub would begin to observe his surroundings in this modern city, trying to make heads and tails of his location, soon pulling out his SNAG to look at a map of the city in order to tell which way he had to go to get to Route 11. East the map said, and so that’s the direction he would head in, East, walking towards the eastern exit of the city, his path to Route 11 clear. “I wouldn’t mind living here. I bet they have many strong trainers here too, perhaps I’ll visit the gym one day.” Sub said to himself aloud as he began to approach the city’s exit. The trainer would soon walk through the building which acted as a checkpoint of sorts for the city, not that anyone was checking for anything however. “Here we are, Route 11.” Sub proclaimed as he exited the checkpoint, stepping foot on Route 11 at long last. “Now, to find a place called Checkmate Woods…at the top of…” Sub’s words trailed off as he looked up at the crashing waterfall a few yards ahead of him, realizing that he would have to ascend said waterfall to reach the woods mentioned.

“Well this is going to be fun.” Sub sighed as he pocketed the SNAG which he was reading off of, taking out a Pokeball and tossing it into the water at the base of the waterfall as he approached it, releasing his Sharpedo, Pym, into the pool. “Alright, Pym, I need you to take me up.” Sub said as he stripped down to his boxers, stuffing the clothes into his backpack, and then stepping into the water, holding his backpack on his head with one hand and grabbing onto Pym’s dorsal fin with the other. “Waterfall, Pym.” He said, giving the Sharpedo the order to ascend the waterfall, the shark swimming upward with all its might, going against the current as he did. It was a pretty big waterfall too, Pym seemed to be struggling a bit as he rose up, but eventually the Sharpedo and his trainer would make it to the top of the falls, swimming up and over and into the river which fed the falls. Sub would eventually let go of Pym and swim over towards land himself, pulling himself out of the water and setting his still dry backpack on the ground, fishing Pym’s ball out of it and recalling the Pokemon. “Thanks Pym.” He said as he recalled the Pokemon.

Sub would then proceed to shaking himself dry, taking out a spare shirt he kept in his backpack , using it to dry himself off before putting his clothes back on and such. Once finished the now fully clothed trainer would glance around, taking notice of the forest which the river flowed out of. “That must be Checkmate Woods.” He told himself as he began to approach the forest’s border, staring at it from the outside for a while before deciding the worse that could happen is that he got lost, so he just decided to throw caution to the wind and dive right on into the forest…figuratively of course.

“Huh, what strange trees.” He commented to himself a loud as he ran his hand across the trunk of a nearby tree, his finger outlining a deep cut in it. “This isn’t natural, this must be the work of the Pawniard and Bisharp that live in this forest.” The trainer was probably right, all the trees had cuts in them, probably to warn trespassers of what might be in store for them should they continue forward. Sub was aware of this warning, but he couldn’t let it stop him, he had already came this far, he had already listened to the creepy voice, so stopping now would make him really crazy, he had to prove that he wasn’t at this point, somehow.

“Pawn!” A creature shouted from the woods, causing Sub to spin around and face the direction of the sound. “Looks like I’ve been spotted already.” He commented, clutching a Dusk Ball in his right hand. “-iard!” Another voice rung out, in the opposite direction of the first. “Looks like they are going to throw a party for me.” He said with a grin, standing still, and waiting to see what happened. “Pawn, pawniard!” Two crimson metallic creatures cried as they jumped out from the tree tops, coming down on Sub from above, each with a single blade extended outwards, preparing to cut Sub down guillotine style. “Spiriii!” A ghoulish figure cried as a pair of purple ethereal fists came out of Sub’s Dusk Ball, punching the two Pawniard away, the attacker appearing soon after, floating above Sub’s head. “Thanks, Spiritomb…I said it before but you really need a nickname.” He frowned as he looked up at the Spiritomb floating above him, the two Pawniard landing on the ground, glaring at the ghost Pokemon.

“Pawn!” One of the blade Pokemon shouted. “Pawniard!” The other chanted in reply, the two now racing towards Sub and his Spiritomb, splitting up and attempting to attack the trainer from the right and left of him. “Spiritomb! Nasty Plot!” Sub commanded as he jumped out of the way at the last second, Spiritomb remaining in his place as the ghost took the twin Metal Claw attacks from the Pawniard, the Spiritomb just cackling deviously as he did, plotting a sinister plot in his mind. “Now, Shock Wave!” He commanded. The Spiritomb would begin to swirl and spin around its Odd Keystone rapidly, faster and faster until it released a wave of blue electricity from its body, zapping the two Pawniard near it. The two Pokemon twitched a bit as they recoil from the attack, giving off an annoyed grunt before retreating into the tree tops, disappearing from sight.

“That was easy.” Sub said with a cocked eyebrow, returning his Spiritomb back to its ball, staring up at the tree tops which the two Pokemon fled into. “I wonder why they gave up so easily, they seemed pretty adamant in attacking me at first.” He said, thinking out loud. “Oh well, saves me a lot of time and trouble. Now then, I suppose I should try and find the head honcho of this place, this black Bisharp…thing.” The trainer would began to observe his surroundings, nothing but scratched up trees in every direction, he wasn’t really even sure which way he came from. “Which direction do I head in though…hey, wait a minute, I have Allan with me, he’s a Bisharp.” He said, suddenly coming to the realization that perhaps Allan could help point him in the right direction. The trainer would then take out the Dusk Ball containing said Pokemon, pressing the button on the front and releasing his own Bisharp from within. “Sharp!” Allan shouted as he saluted his trainer. “At ease solider.” Sub said with a smirk, his enjoyed how loyal his Pokemon was to him.

“Allan, this place is called Checkmate Forest. Allegedly this entire forest is home to a large pack of Pawniard and Bisharp, all led by a single jet black Bisharp. Do you think perhaps you could help guide me to the leader of this group?” He asked his Pokemon, who simply responded with a nod and a salute. “Bisharp!” He shouted, soon after leading onto a nearby tree branch, and began to observe the area from above. The Sword Blade Pokemon would continue to observe the area for several minutes before glancing down at his trainer, calling out to him. “Sharp, bisharp!” The Pokemon cried, pointing into the distance before leaping to another tree branch, and then another, running off in that direction. “I guess I should follow.” The trainer said to himself, running off in the same direction as his Pokemon , except he was on the ground.
The pair would continue to run through the woods, the training sensing he was being watched as he did, and he was, he spotted several Pawniard staring at him from the bushes as he ran by. It wasn’t long though before Sub and Allan would find themselves in a perfectly square clearing in the middle of the forest, Allan now at Sub’s side as the pair observed the strange clearing. The ground was nothing but several squares of grass, with every other being dirt, it looked just like a chessboard, fitting though, but did the Pokemon here make this, it was bizarre. “Sharp…” Allan growled as several Pawniard and Bisharp stepped out from behind the surrounding trees, the Pokemon surrounding the entire clearing, there was no escape. “Bisharp! Bisharp bisharp!” A lone Bisharp roared. The Bisharp was slightly larger than the others, and a stark jet black color, instead of red. This was the Bisharp Sub had been looking for, now to obtain one of its blades, somehow.

Sub had been raising his own Bisharp for a while now, ever since he snagged the thing from that Cipher goon, Allan had been the most loyal Bisharp he had ever seen. If he learned one thing from his time with Allan, is that Bisharp have a strict honor code, the only way to get them to do anything is by proving your superiority over them, and what better way to prove it then by defeating them in battle. “Alright, time to show you who top Arcanine is around here! Allan, show him you mean business! Swords Dance!” Sub commanded. Allan responded with a shot as he thrust his arm blades downward, the blades giving off a silvery sheen. He would then stand up onto one foot, strike a pose with a single blade pointed at his enemy, then proceed to drop down into a defensive stance, blades raised at the ready. “Sharp!” He shouted, awaiting for the black Bisharp to make his move.

The Swords Dance would be successful in signifying the desire for battle as the Bisharp leader proceeded to execute his own Swords Dance, finishing their rituals before battle. The enemy Bisharp would not wait for further displays however as it now went on the offensive, dashing toward Allan, blade extended outward, his intent to cut down Sub’s Pokemon. “Charging in head first, typical Bisharp I guess. Allan, time for you to attack as well! Focus Blast!” The Dark trainer commanded. Allan responded with a shout as he extended his palms outward, firing off an orb of orange energy at the incoming oddly colored Bisharp. While the Focus Blast was a direct path straight for the head of its enemy, something unexpected happened, the blast just went right through the black Bisharp. “W-what in the…” Sub said in disbelief as the enemy faded away, after the Focus Blast passed through, making contact with the ground, and exploding, causing some of the nearby Pawniard to flee out of fear. “Where did it go!?” Sub demanded to know, his question soon being answered as the black Bisharp appeared behind Allan, slashing him down his back. “Allan!” Sub shouted out to his Pokemon, but it was too late, Allan got cut, grunting in pain and jumping forward to get some distance between him and his enemy.

“Such speed…that was obviously a Night Slash but it moved so quick that it left an afterimage of its self behind, I can see why this thing is head honcho around here.” The trainer mumbled to himself. “Allan, we are going to have to get more creative than that. Rush that thing with Metal Claw!” He ordered. While Allan was shocked to receive such a command, he obeyed, running towards the black Bisharp, both blades extended as they gave off a silver glow. The black Bisharp seemed to huff as it just stood there, Allan inches away from cutting him down. “Stop and use Metal Burst!” Sub shouted out, Allan responding by stopping inches away from cutting down the black Bisharp, his body now surrounded in a bright glow. Sub’s strategy would pay off as the black Bisharp’s afterimage disappeared again. The Pokemon was unable to stop his speedy assault in time and thus attacked Allan with another Night Slash, but this time they were prepared as the Metal Burst activated, causing the black Bisharp’s blade to bounce off of Allan, and an explosion of energy sending the Pokemon flying backwards, skidding to a stop on the ground. Sub just smiled in triumph as everything panned out like he hoped it would.

“Ha! Not so smart now are ya?” Sub proclaimed in a cocky voice, which did nothing but anger the black Bisharp as it went on the attack yet again, rushing towards Allan, blade extended like earlier. “Alright Allan, wait until it is inches away and use Metal Burst, I take it this thing doesn’t learn.” Sub told his Pokemon, who then held his ground as the black Bisharp moved in. Just as Sub thought, the black Bisharp got in close, and stopped moving suddenly, this was it, the thing had disappeared, surely. “Now! Use-“ Sub was cut off as the black Bisharp moved again, this time slamming its Iron Head into Allan’s stomach, the rush, the pause, it was all a Façade to trick the pair into thinking it was going for another Night Slash, this thing was smart. “Allan!” Sub shouted as Allan stumbled backwards, holding its stomach in pain, it took the wind out of him. The black Bisharp wasn’t going to let him recover though as it spun around and slammed the back of its forearm into Allan’s face with Metal Claw, sending Sub’s Bisharp flying off to the side, his flight ended as he hit a tree. “Crap, Allan, are you okay!?” Sub called out to his Pokemon, who responded with a grunt as it struggled to get back up to its feet, the two sudden barrages took it off guard, big time. “Come on buddy, you can win this.” Sub said encouraging his Pokemon, though the black Bisharp was not as encouraging. Once it noticed Allan getting up it decided to make sure it stayed down as it let out possibly the worse Metal Sound Sub ever heard, the sound hurting his own ears, but affecting Allan much worse as he fell to the ground, squirming around in pain and agony. “Allan! Gah! Fight it! You’re strong, I know you…geh, this hurts.” Sub said, falling to his own knees, grasping his head in pain, the Metal Sound getting to him now.

The black Bisharp continued its Metal Sound as it began to approach Allan, dragging his arm blades against each other, sharpening them, it was going to enjoy cutting Allan to pieces and ending this game. All Allan could do was lay on the ground in misery as the sounds assaulted him. He was done for, and he knew it, all it wanted was the pain to stop. The Bisharp was able to open its eyes long enough to see his trainer in pain as well, on the ground. “S-sharp…” He mumbled, he failed his trainer, how could he let harm come to his master? This was completely unacceptable, defeat was unacceptable, and he would not just lay here and allow this enemy Bisharp win! “Bisharp bisharp!” Allan shouted as he jumped up from underneath the black Bisharp looking down at him, slamming his Iron Head into the black Bisharp’s chin, causing it to stumble backwards, and end its Metal Sound. Allan, now standing upright, had a red aura about him, and a stern glare in his eyes, Sub noticed his Pokemon and rose to his own feet, confused at what just happened. “Allan, what happened?” He asked.

”It’s his ability, Defiant.” GRAY spoke up from Sub’s SNAG. ”Seeing you in pain sparked something in Allan, inspiring him to refuse defeat, triggering his defiance, bestowing upon him new strength and energy…at a cost.” He explained, though not what he meant by a cost, but Sub didn’t care, they still had a chance to win this. “Great job, Allan! Now, use Focus Blast!” Sub ordered, however, Allan seemed to completely ignore his trainer as it rushed toward the black Bisharp, blades glowing. “N-no…Allan, Focus Blast, not Metal Claw.” Sub repeated, but Allan did not register the command. ”That’s the cost I mentioned, smart one. It’s called Defiant, he is right now in a state of defiance, he won’t listen to anything you have to say, he is doing what he wants, when he wants.” GRAY explained, causing Sub to sight. “I hope you know what you are doing.” He mumbled to himself as he watched Allan close in on the black Bisharp, who immediately noticed Allan coming at him, getting into a defensive stance as it executed its own Metal Burst, however, Allan would disappear instead of connecting, baffling the black Bisharp as its glowing ended, where did this speed come from all the sudden? More importantly, where did Allan go?

“Biiisharp!” Allan cried as he came down on the black Bisharp from above, his arm blades extended greatly from the blue energy that surrounded them, the two blades pointed down at the black Bisharp in an X-Shaped pattern as he threw his glowing blades into him, the resulting hit caused an explosion of energy, a dust cloud kicking up, Sub grunted as dust got in his eyes. “What in the world was that!?” Sub asked. ”It would seem Allan learned a new move, Guillotine. GRAY commented, causing Sub to just stare in awe at the dust cloud. Soon the dust would settle and the result of the battle would be clear. Allan could be seen standing above the black Bisharp, pointing a blade at its neck as the black Bisharp looked up at him in shock, he was defeated. “Alright Allan!” Sub shouted out of joy. Allan would lose his red aura as he turned to look at Sub, happiness washed over his face. Allan would then turn back to the black Bisharp and offer to help him up, this gesture shocked the black Bisharp, as losing usually meant death, but he was glad to accept this offer as he took Allan’s hand and rose to his feet. “Sharp, bisharp bish.” Allan said to the black Bisharp. “Sharp sharp?” The black Bisharp replied. “Bisharp bisharp sharp bish sharp.” Allan said in response. “What are they talking about?” Sub wondered aloud, but he had a pretty good idea at what they were saying as the black Bisharp ripped one of its arm blades off of its arm, walked over to Sub, and presented him with the blade. “Sharp.” It simply said, Sub then proceeding to take the blade from him. “Thanks, you put up an excellent fight.” Sub said to the black Bisharp.

All the Pawniard which watched then rushed towards Allan, surrounding him, all throwing themselves on the ground as if bowing before him. ”The former group leader lost, so they view Allan as their new leader.” GRAY commented. “…what? Well Allan can’t stay, I mean he-“ Sub was cut off guard as he noticed the black Bisharp fell to his knees, the trainer would then walk over to the oddly colored Pokemon to examine him, noticing the many cracks in his arm, and a few rust spots. “…this Bisharp, it’s very old, it has probably seen many battles. This battle with Allan though seems to have gotten to him, let alone it gave me one of its blades. This Bisharp won’t be able to keep fighting for much longer…” Sub said with a sigh as he patted the Bisharp on the back, rising up to his feet and looking over at Allan, who was now playing with some of the young Pawniard, Sub just smiled, and then proceeded to turn away and go to walk off. “Bisharp!” Allan called out as he ran up to Sub, the trainer stopping to face his Pokemon. “You belong here now, Allan. This group won’t survive without a strong leader, their entire society would crumble without one. That black Bisharp? I’m surprised it was even able to fight like it did, that thing was on its last legs before we even got here. Furthermore, you defeated their leader, in front of the entire group, they won’t recognize anyone other than you as their leader. I’m sorry, Allan, but this is goodbye.” Sub said as he put a hand on Allan’s shoulder, smiling at his Pokemon.

“S-sharp…” Allan mumbled, if he could cry, it seemed like he would, you could tell the sorrow in his voice. “Don’t worry, you’ll always be my Pokemon, and I promise to visit you. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll get your a** kicked and I have to come take your sorry butt back home!” Sub said with a laugh. “This is your new goal, I want you to protect these Pawniard and Bisharp, never let any harm come to them, you got that?” Sub told his Pokemon, who nodded, then proceeded to stand up straight and salute Sub, like a soldier. The young Pawniard of the group noticed this and joined their new leader, all saluting, the rest of the Bisharp, including the black one, also joined Allan and saluted Sub, all standing at attention. Sub just smiled and returned the saluting, waving one last time as he walked off into the forest, heading towards the waterfall from where he came. He was going to miss Allan, but he knew this was the right thing to do. He would keep his Dusk Ball in a safe place, so that one day he might return for him, Sub was proud of his Pokemon.

Sub would eventually make it out of the forest, looking up at the sky, the sun was beginning to set, he needed to get on over to Wellspring Cave as quick as possible, he really didn’t want to have to go through Victory Road at the dead of night, that might be worse than visiting during the day, at least during the day hours most of the vicious creatures would be sleeping in the cave network, at night however they would be more active on the outside, regardless, he had to deal with Wellspring Cave first. “Come on out, Pallas, I need another lift.” Sub declared as he tossed his vulture’s Dusk Ball into the air, releasing the bone keeper herself, Pallas. “We need to head south, our destination, Wellspring Cave. We need to hurry too, want to get this done before it gets too dark out.” Sub said as the bird rose into the air, waiting for her trainer to grab onto her talons, which he did, and once he was ready, the Mandibuzz would take off into the air, flying south towards Nacrene City, and more importantly, Wellspring Cave, it is there which they will seek out a Dark Gem for his future artifact, the next step in becoming a true Channeler.

The Pokemon and trainer duo would fly over all the cliffs, forest, and many other obstacles between Route 11 and Nacrene City, most trainers would have been discourage by these obstacles, but Sub instead chose to fly right over them. The ride was rather peaceful too, nothing really bothered them, except for maybe the occasional curious Pidove that got close, but soon flew off as Pallas cawed at it, Sub just laughed when this happened. It wouldn’t be long before Pallas arrived above Nacrene City, her trainer spotting the city below, tugging on Pallas’s talons a bit to get her attention. “Hey girl, there is our stop, down there. Land right down there.” He told the bird, who obeyed accordingly, slowly lowering Sub down onto the ground, making a safe landing. “Thanks, Pallas, I’m sorry I’m making you fly so much, I know you aren’t exactly big enough to carry me for extended periods, but you always get the job done! Have a good rest!” Said the trainer, as he called his Mandibuzz back to its ball, pocketing the device and then observing his surroundings. “If I were here on any other business I would probably stop in at the café, but I can’t, I need to hurry on over to Wellspring Cave. Maybe Legrand can get me there quicker.” Sub would then proceed to release his Drapion from its Dusk Ball, Legrand letting out a roar as he appeared, nearby citizens jumping back out of shock as the massive scorpion appeared.

“Don’t worry, he is mostly harmless! …mostly.” Sub chuckled as he attempted to reassure the passerby, soon turning his attention away from them and then at Legrand. “I need you to get me to Wellspring Cave, and fast, think you can handle it?” He said, taunting Legrand as he took his abilities into question. Sub always had difficulty controlling Legrand, ever since he snagged him in White Foret, while it was rampaging from Cipher pumping it up full of chi. However, questioning his abilities was a huge insult to the Drapion, and thus he felt obligated to prove his trainer wrong. “Pion!” It roared, motioning with its claw for Sub to climb on its back. Sub just laughed as his little scheme worked, the trainer climbing onto the scorpions back and making himself comfortable. “Alright, show me what you got…Skorpi.” Well that just pissed him off even more, Legrand would show him, he would show him exactly what he could do. “Drapion!” He roared, bursting forward in a full throttle charge, straight out of Nacrene City, not even paying attention to the civilians, almost running a few over, fortunately they were able to get away in time, again, Sub just laughed, he was enjoying this, very much so. It wouldn’t take long at all to get to Wellspring Cave at the pace Legrand as going, rookie trainers on the bridge between Nacrene City and Wellspring Cave attempted to challenge Sub to a battle, but Legrand literally smack them away, right into the water, he had a job to do and he was going to do it just so he could prove Sub wrong.

Before Sub knew it he was staring at the outside of Wellspring Cave, Legrand attempting to throw him off as they arrived, however Sub managed to climb off on his own just fine. “Wow, you sure showed me wrong, Legrand.” Sub said with a grin, Legrand holding his head high in triumph. “Thanks for helping me out, now return.” He said as he recalled the Drapion, the Pokemon then realizing he was tricked into helping his trainer, but before he could get mad he was sent back to his ball, the device then pocketed as Sub turned his attention to Wellspring Cave. “Well then, time to get down and dirty, I got me a Dark Gem to find.” Sub said as he walked on into Wellspring cave.

As soon as Sub entered the cave he was instantly greeted by the bane of every trainer who has ever entered a cave, a bat, it’s always a bat, whether you are in Kanto or Unova, every cave seems to be filled to the max with bats, Woobats or Zubats, you can be sure to find them whenever you enter a cage. The Woobat that appeared before Sub decided it was going to try and blindside the trainer, swooping down out of the darkness of the cave, its nose giving off a soft pink glow. “Heart Stamp? Don’t think so!” Sub shouted, throwing Legrand’s ball back out. “Drapion!” It roared, grabbing the Woobat in midair with its right claw, the Psychic energy from the Heart Stamp not effecting Legrand as he crushed the tiny bat in its grip with a Crunch attack, tossing the knocked out creature aside. “Thanks, Legrand, I owe you one.” Sub said to his Pokemon, who just let out an annoyed grunt, Sub decided to leave him out for now, though he had a feeling Legrand preferred to stay out of his ball anyways. “Alright, we are looking for a Dark Gem. Though you can help with guarding me while searching, I think I'm going to have to bring out the gem specialist on this one...provided I had him with me." Sub mumbled as he fumbled around with the Dusk Balls on his belt. "I left Poe behind...great." He sighed, and then looked towards Legrand. "Fine, I need you, just start digging around." He grunted, the bug almost laughing it seemed as it walked passed Sub, rose its mighty claw into the air, and began to chip away at the rocky ground, looking for precious gems.

Sub stood back and sat down on a nearby rock formation in the cave, and simply watchined Legrand as he dug, keeping an eye on the debris he flung, just in case he saw something in it, like the Dark Gem they were looking for. "Come on! Hurry it up! I don't have all day!" Sub shouted, which annoyed Legrand, but he was more concerned about proving to Sub that he could do just as good, if not better than Poe, he would hurt him later for taunting him like this though. "Wait! Stop!" The trainer shouted as he noticed something glisten in the rocks he flung, quickly making his way over to the pile of rubble that had begun to accumilate. With his bare hands he dug through the rocks and dirt, looking for what had caught his earlier. "Ah ha! There we go!" He said, holding up the gem so he could get a better look at it. "And...that's not it, this is a dark purple, must be a Ghost Gem or something." He sighed, pocketing the gem. "I'll give it to Poe as a snack, now, get back to digging." Legrand huffed out of annoyance as he turned back to his work, oh would he make Sub pay for this one. "I wonder how hard it is to find a Dark Gem any ways." He pondered to himself out loud as he laid back on the rock formation he had sat upon earlier.

"Ca-drill!" A creature shouted, causing Sub to jump up to his feet, noticing an Excadrill standing before Legrand, it would seem he had literally dug up the mole, which was probably sleeping underneath all that rock. The creature paled in size compared to Legrand, but it stood its ground firmly as Legrand rose its mighty claws into the air, threateningly. "Okay, Legrand, get ready for a fight!" Sub said encouragingly, but Legrand did not wait for a command and slung two purple glowing claws down in an X pattern eat the Excadrill, but the attack simply bounced off the Pokemon's steel platting, causing Legrand to stumble backwards, and the Excadrill tucking its body into drill form, spinning at Legrand and plowing into him with Drilll Run, Legrand screaming in pain as it pulled back and got some distance between him and it. "Hey, stupid! It's a Steel type, your poison moves wont' work! Would you just listen to me for once? Use Fire Fang!" The Drapion did not listen to his trainer, disobeying again and this time slashing with just one claw, one covered in black energy, and while it seemed to have more effect on the Excadrill then the last one, it still seemed like it did very little damage. "Steel type! Get it? Dark type moves aren't effective! Please just listen, Fire Fang!" Sub continued to rant, Legrand wasn't listening and was taking damage because of it, the Excadrill had got another attack in, Slashing Legrand across the chest.

"Piooon!" The beast shouted angry as it lifted its tail high into the air, a torrent of water suddenly exploding outward from it, twisting around its tail like a water spot. "What the- is that Aqua Tail?" Sub mumbled to himself as he watched Legrand conjure the attack, and swung his mighty watery tail at the tiny mole, smacking it across the cave, the Pokemon hitting the ground soaking wet, knocked out and defeated. "Wow, I didn't know you could use Aqua Tail." Legrand's trainer said as he walked up to him, a look on the Drapion's face like he didn't know he could either. "You did a good job, Legrand!" Sub said as he pat the Pokemon on the back, the Drapion giving off a sound of joy that he was being praised. "Now then, the Excadrill is taken care of so how about you find that Dark Gem, please?" He asked his Pokemon, who nodded happily and went right back to digging, he still had a job to do, and he was going to do it if it meant he would get more praise, Legrand was such a show off.

About thirty minutes or so later, Legrand would run over to Sub with a black gem in hand, Sub eying the gem with a surprised look on his face, quickly taking the item and holding it up into the air as he examined it. "That's it! A Dark Gem! Great job, Legrand!" He said approvingly, quickly pocketing the gem, the Drapion waving his claws around happily. "No time to celebrate now! We have to get to Victory Road and obtain a scale from that Hydreigon before this Dark Gem goes bad." He explained, pocketing the gem and climbing up onto Legrand's back. "Now quickly, get me out of this cave!" The Drapion did not debate anymore, nor defied command, he made his way out of the cave as fast as his four legs would let him, which was pretty fast considering they were out of that cave and underneath the sun's rays within several minutes, impressive. "Thank you once again, buddy!" Sub said with praise as he jumped off of Legrand's back. "Now, I'm sorry but you can't help me with this next part, not yet, so return to your ball and take a rest." He said, holding up the Dusk Ball to Legrand, the read beam shooting from the button and connected with the beast, which he did not fight against, simply allowed the ball to convert his body into energy and absorb himself into the device, where he would take a much deserved rest.

"Pallas, I need your wings again, I hope you've rest enough." While stowing away Legrand's ball, he took out Pallas's own, pressing the button on the front of the device, opening said device, and releasing the Mandibuzz from within, the bird taking to the skies immediately to stretch out its wings. "I need you to transport me again, Pallas, this time to Victory Road, which admittedly will be a further flight than last time, think you can do it?" He asked the bird, who didn't waste time and floated down, talons dangling above Sub's shoulders as they grabbing onto the, the bird swiftly snatching the man up into the air and awaited for directions on which way to fly. "Go...that way." Sub said pointing north, took him awhile to remember which way Victory Road is, if needed he would consult the map on his SNAG, he didn't want to get lost and waste time, he had a Dark Gem that could expire before too long, and he really didn't want to have to come back here and find another. Either way, Pallas began to fly in the direction pointed, heading towards Victory Road. Now, how are they going to get past the badge check anyways?

(Continued)

The Tower of Mastery, a majestic structure which reached high up into the heavens. It had been only a few months since they started work on the new headquarters here in Kalos, and there was still much work to do, but Sub knew the fight ahead of them would require more power than he has. It was no doubt that Sub was a skilled Pokemon Trainer, however compared to hybrids, and even other Channelers, he always fell behind. No more, he would discover how to unlock his Pokemon's true strength, with his Pokemon at his side they would be victorious no matter the challenge ahead.

Before coming to the Tower of Mastery he had done extensive research on Mega Evolution and the history of it, along with the tower its self. Only a Pokemon which a trainer has an incredibly close bond with can unlock the power of Mega Evolution and realize their true potential; Sub had to give that one some thought. Nevermore and him were very close, moreso than any other Pokemon, however the bird was unevolved and still had a long ways to go to realize its true potential, but he liked the Murkrow the way she was regardless. Next down the line would have to be Monstressor, even though he had won him as a Larvitar way back at the Game Corner he developed a fast bond with the Tyranitar. Monstressor had always been his big gun, even as a Pupitar. Whenever he needed to get out of a sticky situation he would call upon Monstressor. It was he who was Sub's guardian, so to speak. And so, with the decision made that he would attempt to help Tyranitar learn to Mega Evolve, he set off for the Tower of Mastery.

“I told you, Nevermore, you still have a stage of evolution left. Besides, I bought a Dusk Stone for you once and you turned it down! How can you complain about not being picked for Mega Evolution?” The aforementioned bird would squawk angrily at her trainer, from her perched position on his shoulder. The pair were arguing it seemed, the Murkrow angry that she wasn't picked for this quest. “You'll be strong.” Sub huffed as he took out a Dusk Ball and recalled the angry bird, which was probably a bad idea but he would discover that later on. “The Tower of Mastery.” Sub mumbled to himself as he stood before the tower in all its splendor. “I've taken on mutant super Pokemon, legendary hybrids, actual legendary Pokemon, and even opened that pickle jar this morning! I think I can handle this.” He reassured himself as he walked on into the tower.

One might have the strange sense that the inside of the tower was bigger than the outside, which is exactly what Sub felt right now as he examined the inside with his gaze, constantly looking back over his shoulder through the exit. “What kind of black magic...” He mumbled to himself, ignoring the peculiarity as he searched for any signs of life. “Hello? Anyone lurking around here?” He asked, not shouting but raising his voice a little more than normal. “Lurking? Not sure about that, but I am here.” A voice responded. The source of the voice was an elderly man approaching Sub every so slowly as he relied heavily on his wooden hand-carved cane to walk. It was instantly apparent that this man was vary old, he had no hair on his head, his face had more crevices and cracks than Eclo Canyon. “Greetings kind sage, might you be Gurkinn?” Sub asked the man, trying his hardest to be respect...which was a chore for him.

“I am Gurkinn, people call me the Mega Evolution guru, but I'm sure you know that if you knew my name.” He replied with a smile that created rows of dimples in his face. “I also assume you are here for the Test of Mastery, yes? Follow me.” He was certainly a man that got straight to the point. Sub didn't say nothing more to the more nor did he stop to argue, instead he followed right after the kind sage as he led him into a small room underneath the enormous Lucario statue which took up nearly the entire inside of the tower.

“Is this where you live?” Sub asked immediately as they entered, noticing the small bed in the center of the room. Gurkinn would ignore Sub's question at first, more concerned with carefully sitting himself in his armchair and setting his cane to the side. “Yes, this is my home, the tower that is.” He replied with an exhausted sigh, it was obvious that just moving had become tiring for him. “What Pokemon do you wish for me to examine?” He asked Sub, this was just business as usual for the elder. “My Tyranitar, his name is Monstressor.” Without another word from either party Sub released the monster which was the topic of their conversation. The Tyranitar, as always, would appear with a roar but once it saw that there was no battle for it to rush into it snorted as if it were a sigh and just stood there, glancing over at Sub questioningly. “Powerful creature...” Gurkinn mumbled to himself as he struggled to get out of his chair, Sub was quick to scurry over and help the old man up. “Thank you...for a Rock type it's coat is so well taken care of, very few cracks or chinks. And yet, I can see the shadows of countless battles in its eyes, its near flawless armor is no indication of poor experience.” After walking around Monstressor a few times, poking at him, and spending several minutes getting a feel of the weight of Monstressor's tail, the elderly man sat back down in his chair and sighed.

“He is very healthy, and very powerful. You have taken great care of him, this is obvious. Furthermore you appear to have amazing control of him, especially for a Tyranitar, not an easy creature to tame.” With another sigh he then turned his gaze towards Sub. “He might be able to handle Mega Evolution...but can you? That is the real question.” He said with a glare, one with a lifetime of experience behind it, such a glare was enough to cause the younger man to take a step backwards. “Only you can answer that question, sir.” Sub said, standing strong as he reaffirmed his resolve. Gurkinn let out a hearty laugh in response to Sub, pulled the handle on his recliner and laid back. “You pass the test. Your next challenge is to ascend the tower, facing the five Masters. Then once you make it to the top can you face Mega Evolution Successor, a person powerful enough to topple gym leaders. I wish you the best of luck, my friend.” Gurkinn said nothing more, he just closed his eyes and appeared to take a nap. Both Sub and Monstressor just stood there, confused. That was it? That seemed way too easy. Maybe he saw more than they could, either way he wasn't going to stand him and debate over it with the man.

Showing himself out, Sub was now back in the main portion of the tower, staring over at the spiral staircase which, of course, started at the bottom and winded its way up alongside the inner side of the tower until it disappeared into a wall way up top of the tower, leading to the outside, it was impossible to see what was on the other side from here. “Well, time to get walking...” He mumbled to himself as he recalled Monstressor, can't have his number one fighter getting tired before they make it to the top. With a grumble and a several steps forward, Sub began to make his way up the stairs, and thus began his journey towards Mega Evolution.

The staircase its self was massive, then again the tower was equally so. It would take our hero a good ten minutes before he made it to the first 'floor', which was more of a platform jutting out the side of the tower. It was there he would meet the first of five opponents he would have to face before meetin with the Mega Evolution Successor. “Hello, and welcome to the Tower of Mastery.” A middle aged woman said to Sub with a bow. She wore a flowing pink dress and looked similar to Nurse Joy, maybe she was a distance cousin or something. “I am your first opponent, Kimberly, the Master of Health. I specialize in keeping my Pokemon as healthy as possible while making my opponent, not. Please forgive me in advance.” With that said she slipped a Love Ball out of her dress sleeve and while holding it in one hand she pressed the button on the front, causing it to open and release its contents.

“Blissey!” The Pokemon chimed as it appeared from its ball. “Blissey huh? I would say this shouldn't be too hard but I would be a fool to assume so.” With that said he took a Dusk Ball out and hurled it out onto the field, releasing Ulalume, the Malamar. “If you don't mind, miss, I'll go first. Ulalume, use Psycho Cut!” Sub cried out. The Overturning Pokemon responded by launching itself at Blissey, a held in front of it as a blade of Psychic energy formed around it. As Ulalume neared it slashed at the pink Pokemon, sending a 'cut' of Psychic energy at it. “Toxic, my dear!” Kimberly shouted, causing Sub's face to go pale. The Psycho Cut connected, causing the Blissey to moan in pain yet it responded by coughing up some sort of nasty goo, said substance connecting with Ulalume's torso, the toxic goo quickly absorbing into her body, poisoning her. “Dang, things just bad quick. I suppose there is no time for delaying now...Superpower!” Sub wasn't wasting time anymore with such an attack. At such a close range one would think it would be easy to hit the puff, but it wasn't so. Ulalume gave off a burning brown aura of energy as it rushed at Blissey in a full body tackle, ready to destroy that monster right here and now. “Minimize!” Kimberly called out. “Crap!” Sub shouted in response. Such as he feared Blissey shrunk down and Ulalume harmlessly whizzed by over her head, the Malamar shouting angry as it tumbled onto the ground, floating back up upside down. All was not in vain however as Malamar's aura collected into an orb of energy, said orb absorbed by Malamar as it flipped right side up, the squid's muscles bulging slightly.

It was then that Sub noticed something, after both encounters the Blissey was taking food out of its pouch and eating, it had Leftovers. He also took notice of Ulalume and the poison flowing through her, it was starting to hurt the squid as its breath was becoming slightly ragged. “Cute, very cute...” Sub mumbled with a sharp glare. “So you like to get small do ya? Time to flip things around! Topsy-Turvy!” Upon command Ulalume lashed out with her tentacles and grabbed a hold of the Blissey and flipped it upside. Strangely enough, with Blissey now upside down, she grew! The Blissey had shrunk down to half its original size after the Minimize and now it was double it's original! “Sweet Kiss.” Kimberly ordered. “Oh for the love of-!” Sub moaned.

With Ulalume's face just inches away from the Blissey's own the kiss was unavoidable. The pink greater in her tentacles leaned forward and planted a wet one on her beak. The female on female kiss would leave Ulalume very confused and guessing. “I bet a few people in Johto would love to see this in comic form...” The male trainer mumbled. “Ulalume, it won't escape this time! Superpower!” Ulalume would hear the command just fine, the only problem was obeying it. The squid knew she had to end this battle quick, the poison was really starting to hurt, however that kiss was still fresh on her mind. Could she really bring harm to such a voluptuous and shapely... “Ulalume! What the heck!? You let her go!” Her trainer's words would snap her back to reality as she noticed that the enlarged and slow moving Blissey was now safely several yards away, munching on some Leftovers, apparently she had gently released her and floated away.

“Have another snake my dear, Soft-Boiled.” Kimberly told her Pokemon who then proceeded to pull out a smaller version of her egg and began to eat it, finally riding herself of all damage the Psycho Cut dealt. “Okay! That does it! Ulalume, I don't care if you like to eat fish! But for the love of Darkrai smack that thing around! Unless of course you prefer to be dominated by a fat blob like that...” Sub scoffed as he folded his arms and looked away. That did it. Ulalume gave off a growl-like sound, no one holds authority over her! She is the mistress! With her fire rekindled Ulalume charged forward, an aura of burning energy surrounding her like before. Unlike before she was successful as the Malamar crashed into the Blissey with its full body tackle, wrapping her tentacles around the Happiness Pokemon, hoisting her into the air and began to give a tight squeeze. Ulalume wasn't finished though as she began to take another tentacle and- “Ulalume! The battle is over!” Sub shouted. Kimberly had a Love Ball in her hand and was attempting to call back the creepily happy Blissey but couldn't get a good shot at her with the Pokeball's beam. A frightened look was on the girl trainers face as if she saw something terrible, and so did Sub.

With both Pokemon recalled, the two trainers just traded awkward stares before Sub broke the silence and began to walk past Kimberly. “I'll just...go on ahead if that's okay with you...” He mumbled. Kimberly responded with something that sounded like a yes but Sub didn't stay around long enough to quit make it out. Neither party wanted to continue this conversation any further.

With such a disturbing battle still on his mind Sub was more than ready to find his next opponent, and so he did. “Greetings challenger!” A rather buff and shirtless man greeted Sub. Lightly tanned skin and bright blonde that just made his deep blues pop out. Sub assumed such a man had no trouble getting the ladies, if there was a picture description of a 'Greek God', it was him. “Greetings.” Sub nodded in reply as he took a Dusk Ball out. “So, who are you? I hope your Pokemon is below PG-13.” Such a statement confused the muscled man but for now he ignored it and answered Sub's question. “I am the Master of Attack, Jason. I adhere to the philosophy that a strong, persistent attack can not be stopped. You must attack your foe ruthlessly, not giving them a second to recover and calculate a counterattack! Think you can keep up, my friend?” He asked Sub, throwing a Fast Ball onto the field, releasing his Darmanitan. “Fire monkey, that's better than the last horror.” Sub sighed as he tossed the ball in his hand onto the field...except it wasn't a Dusk Ball but a regular Pokeball. “Oh no...” He mumbled once he realized the balls got switch, though did not have enough time to fix the mistake as Gardy appeared. ”Freeeedom!” She screamed out telepathically, then proceeding to run around in circles.

“Wha...what's wrong with it?” Jason asked as both him and his Darmanitan just stared in confusion, wasn't often that you saw a Gardevoir acting like a complete and utter idiot. “Don't mind her, let's just battle.” He grumbled. “Whatever you say...Darm, let's begin, Fire Punch!” The purple orb around the monkey would begin to glow as its fist burst into flames, the flames rising in temperature the more the orb glowed until they were white hot. “Life Orb...and obviously Sheer Force, crap.” Sub thought to himself as the monkey lunged at the still spinning Gardevoir and clocked her right in the first with the burning fist, coming down on her like a shooting star, from the north.

Gardy would be completely knocked off her feet as she tumbled backwards several times, almost falling off the edge. The only thing that stopped her from doing so was Sub, which she was now laying on. “You're not that heavy, Gardy, but regardless can you please get off of me and battle?” He asked the Pokemon, who just giggled as she stood back up. “Thank you...” He mumbled, rising to his own feet afterward. “Gardy, please be serious for just a moment and use Psychic.” The man grumbled. Gardy would respond to the command with an overzealous nod and with a clap of her hands a wave of invisible Psychic energy was thrown at the Fire monkey, knocking it off its feet.

“She might be strange but she packs a punch.” Jason commented as he watched his Pokemon get back up on its feet, blowing smoke out of its nostrils. “My buddy doesn't seem too happy now, I don't think I can hold him back.” Jason commented with a smile. “Belly Drum.” And just like that the color in Sub's face faded away as the monkey began to pound on its belly, its muscles becoming even larger, more pronounced. “That...that is not good...Gardy, you have to take that thing out! Another Psychic!” This time Gardy did not delay, she knew that this thing meant business finally. With a wave of her hand she sent another invisible wave of Psychic energy at the empowered ape. “Flare Blitz!” Jason commanded.

“Oh no! Gardy use- what are you doing!?” Sub was shocked to see Gardy just standing there with her eyes closed and he hands folded as if in prayer. It was too late for Sub to get Gardy to snap out of it as the Darmanitan made contact and created a fabulous display of flames, completely consuming the both of them. “Gardy!” Sub shouted out to his Pokemon. As the flames began to die down the trainer would see that his Pokemon was still standing, a few burns but all together fine. It would also be apparent that the monkey didn't make contact as it got up from its face plant on the ground.

“We...missed?” Jason mumbled as he couldn't believe they missed their target. “Teehee~ Gardy is just lucky like that!” The girl declared. “Lucky...oh! Lucky Chant! No wonder.” Sub said as he came to the realization. Before Sub or Jason could order another attack Gardy spun around and sent a third wave of Psychic at the monkey, sending it flying off the ground and into the air, it soon crashing at Jason's feet, knocked out.

Jason just couldn't believe what had happened. With a defeated sigh he recalled his monkey and bowed before Sub. “To the victor go the spoils, please proceed with honor.” With a nod of confirmation Sub recalled his crazy Pokemon which was now running in circles with the tail end of her 'dress' on fire, some times he just didn't know how to deal with this one.

So far he had done pretty good, one Pokemon was poisoned and the other was burned, at least they were still standing. With that thought in mind he continued his way up the stairs, anticipating what would be waiting for him in his third challenger, and what would the next 'master' be like. “Welcome, challenger.” A young man in blue jeans and a blue button up shirt would welcome Sub to his level, cleaning his glasses as he did. “I am Billy, the Defense Master. Some times it's best to wait out a bad storm instead of trying to escape it, don't you think?” He asked Sub, putting his glasses back on as he took a Lure Ball out of his pocket. “So, you ready to send the storm at me?” He smiled, tossing the ball onto the ground, releasing his shelled Pokemon, Cloyster. “Throw everything you got at me, don't hold back, please.”

Well, he said not to hold back, right? Sub smiled at the thought of giving him exactly what he wanted. With a flick of his wrist he released his fighter, Lenore the Weavile. “Ready for the storm? Here it comes! Lenore, Brick Break!” Sub ordered, Billy just smiled. Lenore would leap off the ground with a claw raised above her head, said claw giving off a brown glow. She would bring the claw down on the Cloyster in a karate chop fashion, aiming to strike decisively. “Barrier.” Billy simply stated as he sat down on the ground. Seconds before Lenore hit the Cloyster would shut its shell and a second shell made of a blue energy appeared around it. The Weavile would hit but it didn't seem to be as effective as it could have been. A large crack would form in the energy shell, even a chunk taken out, however a much smaller crack was all that was left on Cloyster. “Another! Go for the same spot.” Sub commanded.

“Hydro Pump.” Billy said. Before Lenore could execute its second Brick Break the shell fish would open up once again and unleash a torrent of water at the attacking Pokemon. Lenore was blasted by the attack and Cloyster was sent sliding backwards, greating a large gap between the two. “Now you're done it...Lenore, Revenge!” A firey rage had awakened within the dark weasel, she was already getting annoyed with this shellfish. “Vile!” Lenore hissed as she charged towards the Cloyster as nothing but a black blur. “Barrier!” Billy shouted. Despite Lenore's speed she was just too slow it seemed as the Cloyster quickly shut and a blue layer of energy appeared around it. He Revenge attack, in the form of a fierce double swipe did nothing more than scratch up the shell a bit. That thing had an amazingly hard shell, Sub had to admit.

“Looks like we need to take a different approach...” Sub muttered to himself as he stared down the living fortress that was Cloyster. It was then that an idea came to him, causing him to smile. “Well if you aren't going to do anything, I will.” Billy spoke up. “Another Hydro Pump.” He ordered his Cloyster, who then proceeded to blast the Weavile back away with another jet of water. “Wea...” Lenore growled weakly as she looked at Sub, angry that he hadn't given an order yet. “Don't worry, Lenore, we'll win this. Blizzard!” Billy looked on baffled at such a command, even Lenore seemed confused but regardless she would obey. Taking in a deep breath and then exhaling with as much force as she could muster, Lenore conjured a massive gust of extremely cold air. “Ice move against an Ice type...okay then, Cloyster, close up.” The shellfish would do just that, shuttin its shell as it endured the Blizzard attack, which wasn't exactly difficult for it to do.

Once the Blizzard had ended Cloyster opened back up and gave a devious chuckle, Billy unable to hold back his own. “You're going to have to try better if you want to crack our defense.” He mocked. “Oh but I am trying, I'm trying very hard. Let's end this, Lenore, Giga Impact!” Billy's eyes would go wide at such a command, it was a devastating move but he was sure his Pokemon would survive and Lenore would be wide open for a counterattack, was Sub crazy?

Lenore would race towards Cloyster, gradually, but quickly, gaining speed and an aura of white energy. The weasil would soon become a bullet of power as she slammed into Cloyster with a full body tackle. Her target had already closed up its shell a second before the hit and it appeared he would stay strong and not budge. Unfortunately for Billy the shellfish would subcum to the attack as he started to slide back and onto the sheet of ice that had formed on the ground behind it. Once the Cloyster had hit that ice it would suddenly fly backwards with Lenore pushing against it, the ice making for the perfect surface to slide on. Cloyster would fly backwards faster than Lenore would charge forward and eventually the poor fish would fly right off of the platform they were battling on, sending it crashing onto the floor way below.

All Billy could do was stare in disbelief, peering over the end at his Pokemon which laid helplessly on the ground below. The Pokemon was still concious but there was no way it could get back on its own. Regardless it had left the battlefield, Sub was the victor. “You don't always have to go through a wall, sometimes you can go around it.” Sub said mockingly as he recalled the exhausted Weavile, patted Billy on the back, and proceeded to make his way up the tower as he took the next set of steps up.

The next platform was like the last three, and like the others it had only one difference, the person waiting for him. “Wait! Let me guess, you're the master of...Speed? Maybe?” Sub said as he spotted the girl in the yellow jumpsuit, she looked like she might have lost her katana though. “No...I'm the Special Master, Trini.” She scowled. “Oooh, special...wait, special as in...” Sub said, waving his hand up to his chest. Trini just moaned angrily in reply as she tossed a Level Ball out and released a Manetric sporting a pair of shades, Wise Glasses. “Hey, that's one cool doggy! Does it do any tricks?” The dark haired man asked. “Only one, it beats wise cracking trainers like yourself.” Trini replied. “Ha, okay then. That would be one trick I would love to see.” Sub said as he took out a Dusk Ball. “I hope my Weavile will be a worthy show partner.” With that said he once again released Lenore the Weavile. She was weakened from that last battle but Sub figured she could make short work of this little doggy.

“Lenore! Blizzard!” Sub planned on starting off strong and not give this dog an inch. Lenore would breath in deep and exhale with all her might, unleashing her fierce Blizzard attack once again. “Someone turn the heater up!” Billy could be heard shouting from the floor below, having noticed another Blizzard attack, he was getting fed up with the freak indoor weather. “Flamethrower.” Trini commanded. Her Manetric would disappear as the Blizzard consumed it, the hound holding its ground. A glow could be seen on Lenore's side of the attack, the glow of the Wise Glasses. Soon after this glow came another, the glow of the flames that would consume Lenore as the Flamethrower pierced the Blizzard with ease. “That's one strong Flamethrower.” Sub commented as he watched the flames subside and Lenore topple over, knocked out. “So how did you like that trick?” Trini said with a smile. “Pretty good.” Sub replied as he recalled Lenore. “But I think I got a better one.” Recalling Lenore, he soon threw out another Pokeball, this time a fighter at full strength, Gardy the Gardevoir. ”Whee! Time to play again!” Gardy cheered as she appeared.

“Okay, it talks telepathically...big deal. Manetric, Thunderbolt.” Trini said. Her dog was quick to obey as it unleashed a very large bolt of electricity, glasses glowing as it shocked Gardy pretty bad. Ow ow ow! That hurt!” She cried. “Don't worry my dear, we'll make her regret that. What do you say we give that Manetric a bad memory?” Sub smiled, as did Gardy who knew exactly what that meant. With a wave of 'goodbye', Gardy's eyes began to glow a dark purple. The dog would then be subjected to what seeemed like an entire day of hearing Gardy go on about how awesome its Thunderbolt was, in the highest pitch of a voice possible. “What did you do? Manetric, Thunderbolt that thing again!” Trini command. Unfortunately the dog turned around and shook its head at the girl in yellow, after that Tormenting flattering the hound just didn't feel like using Thunderbolt again. “Ugh! You did something! Fine, we'll burn you! Flamethrower!” Upon hearing this command all Sub could do is smile. “Clap for the doggy, Gardy.” The Gardevoir, despite knowing she won't survive this attack, obeyed anyways as she gave the dog a round of applause. ”Encore! Encore!” She chanted as the flames consumed her, the Psychic falling unconscious with a smile on her face.

“So you've wasted two Pokemon by being stupid...and you think you can master Mega Evolution? Please.” Trini scoffed. Sub didn't say anything in reply as he recalled Gardy and sent out the fifth Pokemon he has used in this tower, Edgar the Houndoom. “Hopefully this one will put up a better fight than the last two...Thunder!” Trini cried. Unfortunately the Manetric was really flattered by all of Gardy's kind words and applause and so he decided to fire off a Flamethrower, hoping that Gardy would come back at and give him more praise. “Wait! No! Not that!” Trini shouted, but it was too late as Edgar stood there and absorbed the flames with a toothy snarl of pleasure. “Edgar, say goodbye to that doggy...Fire Blast.” All Trini could do was look on in horror as the Houndoom unleashed a massive kanji-shaped mass of fire at her own dog, the attack empowered by the flames which Edgar had absorbed with Flash Fire.

The Fire Blast would slam into the Manetric and explode into a pillar of fire, consuming the canine. Once the flames cleared the little doggy could be seen lying on the ground, having completely subcummed to its wounds, knocked out. “Gah! Whatever! You won't beat the next master with so many Pokemon taken down, let alone the successor! You're finished! You hear me!?” Trini shouted at Sub as he recalled Edgar and walked up the stairs. “Yeah, yeah. You talk too much.” Sub said with a wave as he made his way up to the next level, and the final master.

“A lot of commotion going on down there.” The next master commented as Sub arrived. This one wore a black skin tight suit with white gloves, the only thing that was missing from his outfit was a helmet. “Yeah, the first three were excellent trainers. But that fourth one? She needs to take a chill pill or something.” Sub said in reply as he twirled a Dusk Ball on his finger. “Ah, yeah. Trini has been that way ever since her ex-boyfriend, Bill, broke up with her. I had to take away her collection of antique swords, was afraid she would do something stupid.” The man sighed. “But that's not why you are here. My name is Zack, the Speed Master. I am the last thing that stands between you and the Successor of Mega Evolution. If you can catch me and my Pokemon, and take us down, you'll be on your way to the top.” Zack said, taking a Heavy Ball out and throwing it up into the air, the ball opening up and releasing an ancient Pokemon from an era gone by, Aerodactyl.

“Huh, well you don't see one of those every day.” Sub commented as he tossed his own ball out, releasing Ulalume the Malamar, once again. “Alright, Ulalume. I know you don't have much strength left but I need you to help me out just a little bit. Think you can give me a Switcheroo?” Sub asked as he took his shoe off and tossed it to Malamar who caught it with her tentacle. “Mala!” She cried as she focused on the Aerodactyl. Sub had quickly noticed that the Aerodactyl had something around its next, some sort of green bag tied onto a necklace, there was only one thing he could think of when he saw it. “Aerodactyl, show them our speed, Wing Attack.” Zack ordered. The prehistoric Pokemon would roar as he divebombed down at the squid, wings glowing. Ulalume was sent flying upon contact, hitting the wall behind her rather hard. “Mar...” She said weakly, she was still conscious after the hit but as she struggled to right herself the poison that still sat in her body had taken her out. “Only two left.” Sub commented as he eyed the Brightpowder that now sat on the floor, Ulalume was successful in taking it away from the Aerodactyl, which now had a shoe tied around its neck by the laces. “Edgar, you're up next!” Sub declared as he tossed out another Dusk Ball after recalling Ulalume, releasing his Houndoom. “Grab that bag and use Smog!” The Houndoom would do just that as it rushed for the Brightpowder, picking it up in its jaws and then exhaling a thick cloud of poisonous smog from its nostrils, the smog consuming the hound.

“Wait, my Brightpowder- oh...that was clever. Aerodactyl, Ancientpower!” The Aerodactyl would roar as it charged up a rainbow colored energy in its open jaws. The energy would soon form some sort of primal rock material, which would then launch from the beast's jaws like a cannon. The Ancientpower would connect with the cloud of Smog but as it did Zack would realize that they had hit nothing, a flash of light had very briefly appeared from the smog and blinded Aerodactyl and Zack from Edgar's escape. “What?” He mumbled in disbelief. “Thunder Fang!” Sub called out. Edgar would now be located behind the hovering Aerodactyl, and being on the ground wouldn't stop it from getting a hit. With the Brightpowder held in its coiled tail Edgar would charge up the wall and kick off of it, diving at and clamping down on Aerodactyl's neck as he unleashed a surge of electricity into it. “Dactyl!” Cried the Pokemon as it flailed around to get him off.

“Don't panic boy, take it for a ride, use Agility.” Zack told his Pokemon who promptly obeyed. With a flap of its wings the dinosaur began to rush through the air in the tower, every flap picking up more speed until he was nothing more than a blur. It was not long before Edgar would finally lose its hold and fly off of the Aerodactyl, slamming into the ground unceremoniously, and fortunately landed on the platform which the battle was taking place. “That was a close one...” Sub whispered to himself as he watched the Aerodactyl continue to soar. “I don't think they'll fall for the same trick twice, so we'll have to go on the offensive. Edgar, spray a Dark Pulse into the air.” Edgar would give off several barks as he looked up at the flying beast, each bark sending off a ring of dark energy into the air. Unfortunately each ring would miss its target as the Aerodactyl dove and rose above each and every one, its manueverability was just as impressive as its speed. “You'll have to do better than that. You trick earlier was pretty good, but it's not enough to face the successor. Ancientpower, Aerodactyl!”

The Aerodactyl would briefly stop flying around in order to charge up and fire off another boulder at Edgar, this was their chance! “Edgar! Beat up!” Sub shouted. Edgar would give off a sorrowful howl right before the Ancientpower bore down on him and explode into a cloud of dust and rubble. However, at the same time as the attack hit something came down on the Aerodactyl like a ton of bricks. “Tar!” Monstressor roared as he appeared and drop down on the Aerodactyl like a boulder, sending it crashing onto the platform as he crushed the Pokemon with his weight, soon disappearing back into his ball afterwards. “Thunder Fang!” Sub nor Edgar was going to let up for a second as the canine run at the grounded dinosaur and dove straight at him with his jaws wide and crackling with electricity. “Stone Edge!” With a roar Aerodactyl would begin to summon out of the platform jagged rock. Each time they shot up Edgar would jump to the side and avoid the rock. Everything was going fine until Aerodactyl got a good lock on Edgar's movements and and send a rock up right in front of where he would step next. That was until a flash of light went off and distracted Aerodactyl. “Houndoom!” Edgar cried as he jumped on and clamped down on Aerodactyl once again, unleashing anotehr wave of electricity into him, shocking the beast until submission. “Hoooun!” Edgar howled triumphantly from on top of the dinosaur.

“Huh, don't in by my own held item...” Zack mused a loud as he recalled his Aerodactyl, Edgar jumping off right before the Pokemon disappeared. “You're earned your right to face the successor. Go now, ascend to the top where the successor waits for you.” Zack stepped to the side from in front of the stair case to allow Sub to pass on by. “Thank you.” Sub said as he took Zack's hand and shook before recalling Edgar and began to head up the stairs, and to the top most level of the Tower of Mastery.

The stair case would end up an open arch decorated with various carvings of Pokemon transitioning from their normal forms into their Mega Evolved forms. Sub could notice several such as Venusaur, Heracross, Alakazam, and of course, as the giant statue would hit at, Lucario. “Someone invested a lot of time in this place.” He mumbled to himself as he passed through the arch and found himself now on the outside. The stairs led to a battlefield that jutted out of the back of the tower, like a giant balcony. The battlefield its self seemed to the field design carved into it and painted, along with even more carvings of Mega Evolved Pokemon, it was certainly a sight to behold. “Welcome, seeker of Mega Evolution.” A female called out from the other side of the balcony field. Sub would look up from the field which he was staring at and saw the owner of the voice, a young woman dressed in some sort of sports gear, including rollerblades. It was obvious by his appearance that she really enjoyed rollerblading. “My name is Korrina, the gym leader of Shalour City and even more importantly, the Mega Evolution Successor. Some call me the Evolution Fighter, due to my preference towards Fighting type Pokemon and my ability to harness Mega Evolution. I prefer to just be called Korrina, however.” The young woman explained.

“I'm pleased to finally meet you, Korrina. I am Sub the uh...Sub...person. Yeah, I don't have a nickname or title.” He said with an embarrassed laugh, which Korrina would respond with one of her own. “That's okay, I don't care much for titles anyways. So, Sub, are you prepared to take on your final test before you can be rewarded with the power of Mega Evolution? As you know, your last test is another battle, against me and my Mega Evolved Pokemon.” Sub didn't answer with words, just a nod. “Good. Lucario, it's time to face our challenger.” Korrina said as her Pokemon stepped out from behind her, arms crossed as he stepped onto the field in front of her. “Cario!” The Pokemon shouted as he unfolded his arms and got into a fighting stance. Sub would respond to this by tossing out a Dusk Ball, releasing Edgar once again. “Ready.” Sub simply said.

“Ready, Lucario? Let's give it all we got!” Korrina cried as she held up her gloved fist, the back side of it facing towards Sub so he could see the glowing gem embeddied with the glove. The gem that hung from a necklace around Lucario's neck began to resonate with Korrina's and a large orb of light quickly consumed Lucario. The orb would seemingly solidify and Sub could no longer see the Pokemon that he assumed was inside. Flashes of light would emite from behind the orb and soon it would shatter, the pieces of the orb disappearing as a glowing figure stood in place of the orb. Once the light completely faded Sub could see Lucario's new form. He was several inches taller, and slightly bulkier. Furthermore the Lucario's head 'ribbons' were now longer, more ragged, and tipped in red. His hands and feet were also red along with jagged black lines running up and down his body. It was apparent to Sub that this wasn't just an appearance change, no, Sub could feel the change in power. The air was thick with the Lucario's awakened abilities. This would not be an easy fight.

“This, is Mega Lucario.” Korrina explained to Sub. “Defeat us and you will have earned the right to Mega Evolution.” Sub nodded in response to Korrina and turned his attention back to Edgar. “It's time to really show them what we can do! Edgar, Flamethrower!” Sub commanded. With a howl the canine would unleash a stream of flames at the Mega Pokemon. “Lucario, Aura Sphere!” Korrina said in response to the fire. The Aura Pokemon with hold a single open palm out and rapidly form, and then fire, a very large ball of pure aura energy. The Aura Sphere would bob up and down through the stream of fire, breaking it up in its path. This would not stop some of the flames from reaching and sweeping against Mega Lucario. Alas the Aura Sphere would make contact with its target, an explosion of aura erupting as the sphere connected with Edgar. The poor hound was sent flying by the explosion, the dog hitting the ground hard with a whimper. “Edgar! Can you get up?” Sub asked his Pokemon who attempted to stand up, but just couldn't, he was down for the count. “I'm sorry buddy.” Sub sighed as he recalled his dog back to its ball. “Your Lucario is powerful, I never knew Mega Pokemon held such strength. I fear my last Pokemon will not be a match for yours...” Sub said solemnly as he took out his last Dusk Ball and tossed it onto the field.

“Tyranitar!” Monstressor roared pridefully as he appeared. “Actually? I take that back. This is the part where you lose, Korrina! Monstressor, Scary Face!” Sub called out to his Pokemon. Monstressor would then proceed to roar fiercely at Mega Lucario, a horrific image of Monstressor's self appearing above the Tyranitar and staring down the Mega Lucario. Fear would be struck in Mega Lucario, causing his legs to feel weak, and thus his speed reduced. “We won't scare that easily, Aura Sphere again!” Korrina said. Like before Mega Lucario stood there, palm open outward, and fired off a large mass of aura energy at Monstressor. “Rock Polish! Get behind it!” Sub called out. As the Aura Sphere came at Monstressor the Pokemon's body began to give off a shiny glare. Monstressor would charge right at the Aura Sphere and seconds before the sphere crashed into its face Monstressor got down and slid under it like a baseball player, crashing into Mega Lucario and slid on past. Unfortunately Mega Lucario didn't fall down, just tripped forward a little, that is, it was unfortunate for Korrina as the Aura Sphere was locked onto Monstressor, came back, and slammed into Mega Lucario's chest, sending him flying with the sphere into the railing.

“That...was amazing.” Korrina said cheerfully as Mega Lucario struggled to get back to its feet. “Turned my own attack against me, bravo! And the Scary Face ensured we couldn't escape, you're good. I hope you don't lose. Bone Rush, Lucario!” Now back on its feet and ready for more, Mega Lucario formed two 'aura bones' in each hand. The Pokemon would then spin around, fling one at Monstressor, do a flip, and throw the other down at Monstressor from in the air before landing again. Thanks to his increased speed Monstressor was able to dodge the first bone but unfortunately couldn't avoid the one that came down and slammed into its head, landing a super effective hit and causing the Tyranitar to stumble, slightly dazzed by the attack. “Don't worry, we can't lose! Monstressor, Surf!” Sub commanded.

Monstressor would then proceed to spit out a torrent of water from its mouth down at the ground, kicking up a tidal wave of water which would surge towards Mega Lucario. “Dragon Pulse!” Korrina cried. Mega Lucario would stare down the wave with both palms faced towards the wave and unless a swarm of rings made of dragon energy which would break up and through the tidal wave, slamming into Monstressor on the other side and for the most part saving Mega Lucario from being swept away as the water washed over it. “Taaar...” Monstressor would growl in pain. “We still have plenty of fight left in us, don't we, Monstressor? Show her what Lenore taught you! Use Blizzard!” The Tyranitar would confirm Sub's declaration as he let out a massive roar, a gust of freezing wind coming from its mouth. The Blizzard would consume Mega Lucario and begin to freeze the water that soaked him and the ground. Once the attack had ended Korrina would see her Pokemon was frozen to the ground and covered in ice, partially frozen except for its head and one hand.

“You are just full of surprises, aren't you! Looks like this might end soon...Lucario! Aura Sphere! Finish it!” Korrina cried out as Mega Lucario managed to form a smaller Aura Sphere than before, the cold and mostly frozen body making it difficult to focus. “You're right, it will end soon...for you! Monstressor, Fire Fang!” Sub cried out. Monstressor would charge straight for Mega Lucario, the Aura Sphere slamming into its shoulder as he rushed forward, causing the beast to spin around and almost fall to the ground, but he didn't stop! Monstressor, despite being in tremendous pain, kept coming, jaws open wide and burning with flames. The Tyranitar would clamp down on the Mega Lucario's toreso, snatch him out of the ice, and begin to flail him around in his jaws madly as the flames consumed the Pokemon in his jaws. Feeling that the Pokemon had enough, as it wasn't fighting back anymore, Monstressor would throw the Pokemon to the side and with a snort, he too fell to his knees, exhausted. Korrina looked down at the two Pokemon, both of them not in any shape to battle. With that conclusion she recalled Mega Lucario and smiled at Sub. “To the victor go the spoils.”

Korrina would then approach Sub, petting Monstressor on the head along the way. Once the woman stopped in front of the man she pulled out a rainbow colored round gem which seemed to have a double helix symbol on the inside. Korrina would present the gem to Sub with a smile. “This is a Key Stone, the gem required to activate a Mega Stone held by your Pokemon. A trainer must have it on their person in order to activate Mega Evolution. You can have it put into a ring, a bracelet, or even a glove, like me! As for where you can get a Mega Stone for your Pokemon...I don't know. Mine was passed down in my family. I have heard that Mega Stones appear at seemingly random through at the Kalos region, but I'm not exactly certain. I wish you the best of luck in finding a Mega Stone and Mega Evolving. Speaking of, that Tyranitar you have right there...” Korrina said as she looked at Monstressor briefly. “Is a very powerful Pokemon, and I know for a fact it could Mega Evolve.”

Sub smiled back at Korrina and took the gem from her, nodding as she complimented Monstressor. “Yeah, I know he can.” He said, going over to Monstressor and patting him on the back before returning him. “Thank you, for everything.” Sub said as he pocketed the gem and walked over to the railing of the balcony. “Beautiful view...I think I'll take it all in as I take the express lane down! Later!” He cackled as he jumped over the balcony, causing Korrina to scream as she ran over and looked down, seeing Sub riding his hoverboard down the side of the tower as he looked up and waved at Korrina. She waved right back.

Mission Summary:

---Traveled to Shalour City and the Tower of Mastery.
---Passed Gurkinn's test.
---Defeated the five masters on the way up.
---Confronted Korrina at the top and defeated her and her Mega Lucario.
---successfully obtained a Key Stone.

Recognition of the Tapu

The Tapu, guardians of Alola's four main islands, protectors of all threats foreign and domestic. The Tapu not only protect their respective islands but they also choose who is to become that island's Kahuna. Yet their role does not end there either, their final purpose, the one that should interest you the most at this time, is to recognize those trainers it deems skillful enough to wield the power of Z-Moves. When the Tapu find recognize a powerful or brave trainer they bestow upon them a Sparkling Stone which is then crafted into a Z-Ring by the island's Kahuna, said Z-Ring then used by a trainer to utilize Z-Moves.

So want a Z-Ring of your own? Visit one of the four Tapu shrines across Alola, each shrine resting in the ruins of monuments dedicated to them long ago. Whether or not the Tapu reveals its self to you depends on the Tapu, each of them have their own unique personalities and particularities. If the Tapu reveals its self to you then it shall put you through a trial of its own, an ancient trial created by the Tapu which humans have tried to recreate in their own trials. The variety of trial depends on the Tapu you visit, each trial details below:

Tapu Koko (Ruins of Conflict): The Trial of Conflict, a test of your desire to survive. Without conflict there can be no life, conflict being the darkness which always light to shine. Tapu Koko's trial is simple; chase him down across Melemele Island and defeat him in battle. Storm clouds will follow Tapu Koko across the island to guide you, however to draw the Tapu out you must give him an offering of conflict, that is you must please him with a battle against someone in the area in order for him to come out and face you. Tapu Koko may not remain in one place for long even as he battles you, you see the Tapu is fickle and if at any point the battle bores him he will flee for another location. Not only must you defeat Tapu Koko but you must appeal to his desire of proper conflict to earn your Sparkling Stone.

-Objective:
---Visit one of the four shrines dedicated to the Tapu and endure their trial.

-Opposition:
---Varies on which Tapu you appeal to. Tapu Koko and to a lesser extent Tapu Fini will fight you.
---Wild Pokemon in the areas you will be led to in the various trials.
---Trainers you may have to face in the trials.

-Pokemon:
---You may not capture the Tapu and they do not take kindly to capturing wild Pokemon during their trials.

-Rewards:
---10 Snag Coins
---Sparkling Stone
---Additional rewards for story, facing additional battles, and forth.

-Bonus:
---You may blend this mission into your Island Trials for story purposes and additional rewards. Rewards vary on which Tapu trial you undertake with Tapu Koko being the lesser and Tapu Fini the greater due to their shrine placement in your path.

-----

“Where is everyone!?” Sub cried out, lost in the forest somewhere between Hau'oli City. While everyone was enjoying their little island vacation he was stuck wandering through the wilderness. Little would Sub know that the entire vacation would go up in smoke but for now he still had hope that he would get to join them for a bit of merriment himself. “Landor, we're going to die out here and it's all because a certain AI is deciding to with hold information from me that I know he has!” Sub shouted, his anger obviously directed at GRAY. The AI would not respond, however and Landor just rolled his eyes as he walked alongside his trainer. He was almost giving up on the idea of having a relaxing island vacation and instead preferred the idea of having a nice hot shower so he could get this stench off of him. Krabby guts and Skuntank fumes was not a pleasant combination.

“Are we even close, GRAY?” Sub moaned, he was desperate but still the AI wouldn't answer. He had a feeling the failed Porygon was enjoying the torture the man was being put through. “Let's sit down for a minute, take a bit of a break.” He told the Scraggy walking alongside him, the man sitting down at the base of a tree with a sigh. “My feet are killing me.” He complained, taking off his left shoe and proceeding the rub his socked foot. As for Landor he wasn't tired one bit so instead decided to entertain himself by practicing his knee kicks on a different tree. That was one energetic Scraggy.

Sub was somewhere between Route 2 and Verdant Cavern but he didn't know that, for all he knew this was an endless forest and he was going to die here. Why didn't he update GRAY's firmware before he set off? Though come to think of it, how did GRAY even know the name of this island if his firmware wasn't allegedly updated for geographical information on this region. Was the AI messing with him? He wouldn't put it past him, GRAY had a tendency to toy with people so long as it didn't put them in mortal danger. He was mischievous AI but he wasn't malevolent.

“What was that?” Sub asked as he jumped to his feet, a thundering sound heard and yet the sky was perfectly clear above. Landor would hear the sound too and cease his knee kicking practicing to look up at the sky, that's where the sound came from, he was sure of it. “Sounded like thunder didn't it? Weird. Then again this entire region is weird from what I've seen.” Sub grumbled, Landor just giving him a kind of shrug in agreement. As the Scraggy went to knee kick the tree and resume his practice the thunder sound would rumble again, both Sub and Landor looking straight up again, this time it was louder and yet the local Pokemon didn't seem stirred. Were they the only ones hearing it? Or was this just a normal occurrence.

Before Sub would question the thundering sound again the thunder would rumble again, this time much louder and much closer. Both trainer and Pokemon were beginning to get paranoid now and yet neither one would have time to worry about the source of the sound as it would reveal its self with the last boom of thunder. “Tapuuu!” Shouted a strange bird-like floating yellow head as it appeared before them in a burst of electricity, the thunder which herald its arrival almost deafening, Sub's ears now ringing from it. “Tapu koko.” The creature muttered as it opened up its 'body' to reveal that it wasn't just a giant floating head but a somewhat humanoid creature, the giant 'head' actually being some sort of arm shields.

“Um...hi?” Was all Sub could say as the intimidating creature appeared before him, his little Scraggy jumping in front of his trainer and getting into a defensive position, ready for battle. The Scraggy wasn't really looking to protect his trainer per se, he just wanted to get into a fight and this thing looked strong, too strong in Sub's eyes though.

“Tapu pu tapu koko.” The Pokemon declared in a rather stern voice, and yet Sub had no idea what it was trying to say but one thing was for sure, not only was this thing powerful but it was very serious.

”Tapu Koko, the Land Spirit Pokemon. Tapu Koko is one of four island guardians of local folklore. This guardian deity of Melemele is brimming with curiosity. It summons thunderclouds and stores their lightning inside its body. It is also said that the Tapu only appear before trainers they deem worthy with Tapu Koko being one of the more willing ones to do so if it shows interest in a trainer's abilities.” GRAY spoke up from Sub's SNAG.

“Wait a minute, how do you know that? You said you needed a firmware upgrade in order to access information on this region and now you're talking about what sounds like a legendary Pokemon? You've been lying to me, haven't you?” Sub said, calling out the AI. GRAY would not respond to that but Sub was almost sure he heard laughter coming from his SNAG, or maybe he didn't, his ears were still ringing and he was hot and tired, maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. No time to worry about that though, he has some sort of island spirit or whatever standing in front of him and it obviously wanted something from the trainer.

“Hey uh...Tapu Koko is it? Since you seem to be the boss around these parts do you think you could show me how to get to a place called Verdant Cavern? I'm kind of lost and my map won't cooperate with me. If I'm trespassing on your turf or whatever I apologize, I just wanted to get out of here and wash myself, I stink. I'm sure you can smell me...at least I think you have a nose...” He said to Tapu Koko, mumbling the last bit, he didn't want to insult the Land Spirit but he just couldn't help but ponder aloud whether or not it could smell in the first place.

“Koko!” Shouted the strange Pokemon as it once again closed its self up into its 'head' form. Without another thunderclap the Tapu zoomed off through the woods, disappearing from sight. While Sub certainly could not see its movement he did notice a single storm cloud overhead seemed to be moving in the direction the Land Spirit went. Did it want him to follow it? Maybe it was trying to guide him after all. “Come on, Landor. Let's see if it's helping us out. Would be a nice change compared to all the other Pokemon around here.” Sub said as he ran off in the direction the Tapu went, his Scraggy following close behind.

[Some time later.]

“Hey, there is a clearing up ahead! Guess he is helping us out.” Sub said as he saw the trees thinning out up ahead. He had chased Tapu Koko through the woods for a good two miles it felt like before there were any signs of the forest scenery changing. Hopeful as ever Sub broke off into a run, leaving Landor to try and keep up as his trainer high tailed it for the clearing up ahead, the cloud above leading them.

“Ha ha! We're out of that Darkrai forsaken forest!” Sub declared triumphantly as he exited the woods, now finding himself in a rather wide clearing still surrounded by the woods and dotted with rather platform rows of berry growing trees. “Looks like that Taipoo thing led us to a berry field.” The man said as he took notice of all the berry trees, each and every one of them appearing healthy and brimming with berries. “Speaking of, where did it go? I don't see its cloud anymore.” He asked no one in particular as he looked up at the sky, noticing that the storm cloud he was following before was nowhere to be seen. “Oh well, at least we're out of the forest finally. Maybe now we can get back on the road and find the others. Come on, Landor.”

Sub would spend about ten minutes zigzagging through the lines of trees, examining their berries closely as he looked for a certain kind. Eventually he would stumble upon a Sitrus Berry tree and smile. “Jackpot! I was starving.” He declared, reaching up and pulling two berries off the tree, handing one to Landor. “Let's chill and have a snack before finding our way out of this place.” He told the Scraggy as he sat down and munched on his berry, the Scraggy giving in and doing the same.

The pair would enjoy just a few minutes of juicy berry bliss under the warm tropical sun before the owner and keeper of these berry trees arrived to give them a good tongue lashing. “Hey! You! What do you think you're doing!?” The farmer shouted as he approached Sub and Landor, a Delibird walking alongside him. Wait, a Delibird in Alola?

The man and Pokemon duo would just stare up at the man, barely even caring about the words coming out of his mouth, they had delicious berries to eat and a warm sun to enjoy. They needed this break more than anything after the chaos they went through in those woods back there. “Is it really healthy for Delibird to live in Alola?” Sub questioned, more concerned about the presence of this particular Ice type in such a tropical climate. “I mean, aren't they native to really cold regions? Someone should call Plasma on you or something...who am I kidding, they couldn't even find this place...” He said, mumbling the last part to himself.

“What are you going on about?” The man huffed with a scowl. “Never mind! Put my berries down and get out of here! This is my property and unless you plan on paying for those berries you're stealing! I have half a mind to call the police on you.” The angry farmer continued to shout at Sub, though he was still thinking about that Delibird.

“Sorry, ain't got no money on me. Even if I did I wouldn't give you a penny.” He would then finish off his Sitrus Berry, licking his fingers afterwards and standing up to stretch. As he did the man spotted a storm cloud hovering overhead, that explains where his sun went. It looks like Tapu Koko is wanting to witness a battle between Sub and mister abusive Delibird owner. “Tell you what, beat me in a battle with your mistreated Delibird and I'll pay you three times what you normally charge for an entire bushel of Sitrus Berries.” He offered the farmer.

Mister abusive Delibird owner, as Sub thought of him as, would smile wide at this offer, looking down at the little Scraggy next to the Snagem leader and chuckling in his mind. “Against that little runt? You got it!” He cackled, thinking how easy this was going to be, easiest money he has ever made.

“Hm? Oh, no, I'm not using that little runt.” Sub said as he pointed a thumb at Landor, the Scraggy shooting him a glare. He was going to make him pay later for calling him a runt as well. “I'm using this little runt.” A Dusk Ball would drop to the ground from Sub's pocket, the device popping open to reveal the Goliath to the Delibird's David, Monstressor the Tyranitar.

“Taaar!” Roared Monstressor as he appeared from the device, giving off his battle cry as he stretch upon release, thumping his tail against the ground as if to intimidate his foes. Looks like it was working pretty well too.

“Deli de!” The Delibird squawked, clutching its tail bad as it cowered before the monstrous creature that appeared before it.

The farmer seemed less frightened by the beast, his anger supplanting his survival instinct, allowing his arrogance to take over. “Time to punish these thieves, Delibird!” He declared triumphantly, his Pokemon looking back at him as if he had lost his mind. “Make them pay for freeloading off us hard working folk! Use Hidden Power!” (I actually randomly generated its type.)

In response to the command the Delibird would muster up a bit more courage, recalling exactly what type of Hidden Power he possessed and also assuming the enemy Pokemon's type. I mean, it was obvious that Tyranitar was at least part Rock, even to a complete novice. Dark type less so but either way, the little Delivery Pokemon now thinking it at least could put up a bit of a fight, and if not it would have a chance at cracking the monster's hide. “Bird deli!” The penguin cried out as it startled to pull out of its tail bag orbs of brown solid light, flinging them at Monstressor one at a time, five in all. Upon impact each orb would explode into a burst of even more energy, each one causing Monstressor to cry out in pain as the force of the blasts caused him to stumble backward.

“Fighting type.” Sub muttered to himself, the color of the Hidden Power and the fact that it actually hurt Monstressor being more than enough hint of its typing. While the Delibird didn't seem too particularly strong there was still no way Monstressor could just stand there and take too many of those, his typing giving him a terrible weakness to the Fighting type, plus if he recalled correctly Delibird were more special inclined. He always did hate having to work with these things at the Tin Tower, even though it was just once a year for Winter Solstice present deliveries. “Rock that bird's world, Monstressor! Show it a real super effective move, use Stone Edge!” Sub commanded, he wanted to make this bird hurt and bad.

With a commanding roar Monstressor would slam its powerful tail on the ground, following it up with a hard stomp of its right foot and then of its left. In response to the hits against the ground three sharpened chunks of rock would shoot out of the ground and dart for Delibird, threatening to skewer it. What happened next was surprising as the first two just missed completely and Delibird fluttered up into the air and avoided the third. By the look of the Ice-type's face even it was surprised that it got out of there unscathed.

For a few seconds the farmer would stand there with a baffled look on his face, his Pokemon descending back to the ground to await for its next move. As the bird landed the farmer would break his silence as he burst out into laughter, pointing at Monstressor as he did. “What was that? You missed completely! All that bluster and show and you missed!” He went on, literally slapping his knee as he laughed as if he were some cartoon character. “Delibird, show them how to really land a hit, use another Hidden Power!” The farmer said, fighting through his laughter just to get that command out.

Happy with the command the Delibird would twirl around a bit and begin to snatch up out of its bag five more orbs of light. Just like before, though with more of a showy execution, the super effective move would hit one by one, the beast stumbling back. Once it was all over the and dirt kicked up by the chain of explosions had dissipated, the beast's armored body would show signs of damage, scuff marks now all over his midsection. The Delibird would now stand proud as it saw the fruits of its work, could the little Delivery Pokemon actually win this?

With a growl in his throat Sub would shoot the farmer a glare, how dare he laugh as his Pokemon. Turning his gaze back to Monstressor the Dark One would decide to try his luck again. “Monstressor, focus this time and shish kabob that annoyance. Show me another Stone Edge and hit it this time!” The trainer ordered. While Sub did yell at his Tyranitar the monster didn't seem too offended by it, he understood where the anger came from and to be honest he was pretty angry himself.

“Another Stone Edge? Didn't learn your lesson the first time, huh? This will be easy!” The farmer laughed, Sub and Monstressor both ignoring the backwoods idiot.

Just like before Monstressor would slap his tail on the ground followed up by a one-two stomp, summoning forth three pointed hunks of rock from the Earth below and sending them rocketing towards Delibird. The bird would be more than prepared as it had seen, and dodged, this move already, the bird spinning to the left to avoid the first one, squatting down to dodge the second, and leaping up into the air with a flutter to go over the third. The bird's trainer was just about to resume his roaring laughter when Monstressor did something he nor his Delibird saw coming. The Tyranitar would let out a roar as it added a forth action to his ground pounding chain, the armored Pokemon leaning forward and slamming his mighty fist into the ground, conjuring up a fourth and final rock in his Stone Edge attack. The fourth earthen javelin would shoot up out of the ground from underneath the now airborne and vulnerable Pokemon. Time would seem to slow down for the farmer and his Delibird as the fourth chain took them by surprise, both of them fixated on the fourth rock and yet there was nothing either one could do about it, it was destined to make contact and when it did it was going to hurt.

“Deliii!” Cried out the Delivery Pokemon as the sharpened rock slashed it across its chest, taking a few feathers with it as it racked the poor Pokemon's body. It was then that Sub and Monstressor learned the difference in training and strength between them and their opponent as the Delibird fell to the ground with a hard thud and didn't move further, the bird knocked out by just one Stone Edge. It wasn't too surprising though, just like how Monstressor was four times weak to the Fighting-type, Delibird was four times weak to Rock. The only reason why Monstressor didn't suffer as bad from the bird's Hidden Power attacks was due to the natural and developed gap in their strengths, the Stone Edge hit making that even more apparent. This battle was over.

As the farmer watched his Pokemon get smacked down he could do nothing but just stand there and stare in disbelief. That Delibird was his only Pokemon and when he did train it had all his attention, was he a bad trainer or did he just not train his Pokemon enough? With a regretful sigh the farmer would recall his Pokemon to his ball and then resume his glare at Sub. “Fine! You win! You happy!? You beat up a hard working man's Pokemon after stealing the berries he works so hard on to sell and feed his family! You stole from me and my children and then beat up an innocent Pokemon! This farm has- wait, where you going!? Get back here! You still owe me!” The farmer shouted at the Snagem leader, Sub getting tired of listening to the man drone on and had started to walk off. He had recalled Monstressor already and had put Landor up on his shoulders, no longer deeming the farmer to be a threat. The man would continue to yell at Sub as he walked through the rest of his farm and onto Route 2, following the now moving storm cloud above. Looks like Tapu Koko had grown born with this farmer as well. Also looked like civilization was in this direction, maybe he could find a Pokemon Center up ahead and a map to Verdant Cave.

As soon as Sub stepped through the gates to the farm and officially onto Route 2 a bolt of lightning would come crashing down onto the ground a few yards in front of him with a thunderous bang, Sub recoiling, putting his hands on his ears and almost knocking Landor off his shoulders as he jumped. “Think you could be a little more quieter on your entrances!?” Sub shouted, knowing good and well who was responsible for busting out his eardrums and assuming the lighting summoner was now standing in front of him in that cloud of smoke.

“Koko tapu!” Shouted the Land Spirit Pokemon as it swept away the smoke with a swipe of one of its arm shields, the fabled creature swaying from side to side, as if anticipating to dodge something. Looks like Tapu Koko wanted to battle after watching Sub and his Pokemon pals.

“So, raring for a battle, eh? I just wanted to find my friends but if a legendary Pokemon demands a fight then who am I to turn them down?” Sub said with a smile. After that last sorry excuse of a battle he could go for a real fight, one with a legend no less! “Watch out Landor, this is going to get rough and fast. Stand back and try not to get hurt.” He told the little Pokemon on his back as he picked him off his shoulders and set him on the ground behind him, the Scraggy protesting just once at the prospect of not being able to battle again, though it just had to take one more look at Tapu Koko to decide that he didn't really want to battle anyways. “I would use Monstressor under normal circumstances as my big gun but as much as I hate to admit it that Delibird actually hurt him a bit. But don't worry, I still got plenty of firepower for ya! Griswold!” The man shouted at seemingly nothing at first, that was until his shadow came to life and took on an ethereal form now swirling above him, chuckling deviously.

Glancing up just once to confirm that his ghost was present, Sub would devise a plan of action and then proceed to issue his first command. “Take no chances, Griswold, let's burn that thing! Use Will-o-Wisp!” The Dark One instructed his Spiritomb. He had fought legends before and he knew good and well that you couldn't just fight a legendary Pokemon head on with simple brute force, you had to be smarter than that. Legendary Pokemon were not to be taken lightly.

With an otherworldly cry the Forbidden Pokemon would conjuring from the glowing green orbs in its body six wisps of ghostly blue fire. One by one the Will-o-Wisps would 'come to life' and fly towards the Land Spirit Pokemon, Tapu Koko immediately taking flight as they neared, however Griswold's flames were not just going to be avoided that easily as they turned around and chased off the legendary Pokemon as it soared up into the air, the wisps locked on.

“Koko koko!” Shouted Tapu Koko as it looked back and fired off several weak jolts of electricity at the incoming fireballs, taking out five of them one after another, however the Land Spirit Pokemon would slip up and the sixth wisp would get through and slam into its right arm shield with a burst of fire, the Will-o-Wisp burning the legendary Pokemon, Tapu Koko letting out a pained grunt as it hit.

“Ha! Got ya! Back on track to correct by hit streak! That one was for you, ya dirt poor farming hick!” Sub declared happily, Griswold giving off a sinister in agreement. Tapu Koko wasn't no where near as amused as his pair of opponents and so in retaliation for not only burning it but for also mocking it, the Electric-type Pokemon would fire off another bolt of electricity, this time at Griswold as it executed a Thunderbolt attack, this one however had much more voltage behind it then the last rounds.

It was then when Sub and Griswold would realize that they didn't only get lucky when they hit their opponent, but that the Land Spirit was also holding back. The Thunderbolt would strike Griswold directly in its Key Stone, striking right through the ghost's body to get to it. Griswold would be shocked devastatingly, the Pokemon temporarily retreating to its Key Stone, said artifact falling to the ground with a clank. The Forbidden Pokemon would rise back up out of its stone, though now with a far less confident 'grin' on its face. That Thunderbolt hurt, felt like what a super effective move would feel like from a normal Pokemon, a very strong one at that.

“Message received.” Sub said to the Tapu, confirming that he did in fact understand what the Land Spirit Pokemon was trying to say, that is not to toy with him or else he'll get serious. Apparently Tapu Koko didn't go all out when testing trainers. Granted, the man probably could handle fighting the Tapu in a serious all out battle but he would need to be more prepared than he is now, preferably have his own legend with him. “I know that hurt but there is no time to catch our breath, Griswold. Show it that we won't back down that easily, use Shadow Ball!” The Dark One ordered.

After conjuring within its open and jagged mouth a small mass of shadowy energy, the Spiritomb would let out a cackle as it spat out the small orb at the Tapu, said mass growing five times its normal size until it was about the size of a basketball. The Shadow Ball would zoom through the air towards the Tapu, the Land Spirit Pokemon closing its self up as it pulled its arm shields in, showing off its 'tiki head' form momentarily as it defend against the Shadow Ball, the ghostly mass of energy exploding upon contact.

“Ko!” Huffed Tapu Koko as he opened himself back up, standing erect in midair with pride and plenty of fighting spirit left. The Land Spirit would wince briefly as he felt the effects of the burn, its scorched skin stinging it. Regardless of the mild pain it was suffering from its burn and the damage it endured from the Shadow Ball, the Tapu was still raring to battle. With a shout the Tapu would point one of its pincer-like hands at the ground and fire from it a spray of lighting bolts straight for the ground. Both Sub and Griswold expected painful impact but there was none, instead the electricity would begin to dance around on the ground in the immediate area, never disappearing and strangely enough not harming them. What gives?

“I don't know what that was all about but at least we're still standing.” Sub said to Griswold, thankful that the thing didn't just strike them both down where they stood. “Another Shadow Ball, Griswold!” The man declared, his Pokemon responding just like last time as it formed and fired a small orb of shadows which would expand as it traveled through the air, headed for Tapu Koko just like before.

What happened next took the trainer and Pokemon duo by surprise as the Tapu just disappeared in a blink of an eye, avoiding the Shadow Ball. The legendary Pokemon would reappear behind Griswold, ramming into him in its enclosed form with a Spark attack, its shielded body crackling with electricity. Poor Griswold didn't stand a chance against dodging or preparing its self for that attack, the ghost Pokemon disappearing into its Key Stone once again, said stone flying through the air a ways until it clattered to the ground, the Ghost lazily seeping out of it afterwards, reforming himself.

“Dear Darkrai that thing is fast. Wasn't that fast before, does it have something to do with what it did to the ground?” Sub asked no one in-particular, just declaring his confusion aloud, watching the electricity crackle on the ground at his feet as he did. “Doing okay over there, Griswold? That one looked like it hurt.” The trainer asked his Pokemon as it finally made its self airborne again, it didn't look like Griswold would be in this fight for much longer. “Hate to ask this of you, Griswold, but it's a miracle you're still standing after two hits from a legend and I don't think this thing is going to keep holding back for much longer. Help me and your teammates out, use Memento!” The Dark One called out to his Pokemon. He noted that the Spark could have been stronger, even when you factored in the burn reducing its physical attack, but the longer this battle went on the more serious the Tapu would get so he couldn't just sit back and hope it continued to show mercy.

With a ghostly wail the ghost would get sucked up into its Key Stone. The ancient artifact would fall to the ground once the Spiritomb was inside, the stone shaking violently on the ground as its crack gave off a bright purple glow from within. As the shaking became so violent that the Key Stone was jumping off the ground a blast of energy that was smaller than one would expect came out of the Key Stone and slammed into the Tapu, the legendary taken back by the force of such a small blast. The Land Spirit Pokemon would be surprised that despite the force behind it that it did not hurt, instead the blast would send a wave of strength sapping energy over it, the Tapu feeling its strength disappear as the ghostly energy 'dripped' off it and onto the ground. Tapu Koko's Attack and Special Attack was reduced sharply with Griswold's sacrifice.

“Return, Griswold!” Sub cried out as he recalled his ghost back to its Dusk Ball, pocketing that one and soon taking out another. “How you feeling Tapu Koko? Not so good, huh?” He said with a cocky smile.

The Land Spirit Pokemon would shoot Sub a glare before barking something at him. “Koko, tapu tapu.” The Pokemon declared, pointing off into the distance of Route 2. Sub didn't know what the Pokemon was trying to say, not at first at least. After the legend made its declaration it would close its self back up again and disappear as a lightning bolt came crashing down on it, zapping it out of existence.

Sub would stand there for a bit with a Dusk Ball still in hand, confused as to why the Tapu suddenly left. As the man looked up he would spot the legendary Pokemon storm cloud and see that it was moving in the direction Tapu Koko pointed in. Upon seeing the moving storm cloud Sub would come to a realization. “Looks like it wants to take this fight elsewhere.” The man sighed, turning around to see if Landor was still around, and he was, standing behind a tree having watched the fight the whole time. “Come on, Landor. Our legendary friend is on the move.” He said, waving the Scraggy over before he himself took off, running further down Route 2, his Pokemon following close behind.

The trainer would stop running pretty soon after he began, coming across a Pokemon Center and letting out a sigh of relief as he did. “Finally, a haven of modern civilization. I was beginning to think this entire region was just one big backwoods with a tropical flare.” Sub said to himself, looking back to see Landor catching up after him, the little Scraggy panting a bit as he caught up and came to a halt, attempting to catch his breath as he did. “Don't worry, Landor. Look, a Pokemon Center.” He said, pointing out the center for the Scraggy to see, the Shedding Pokemon looking up at it with eyes filled with relief.

After picking up his young Dark-type Sub would proceed toward the Pokemon Center, mounting a few steps before walking in. As this was the first time the man had actually been in an Alolan Pokemon Center, having seen the outside of one before but never going in, he was taken by surprise to see how expansive their services were. To the right was a PokeMart in the center, just like they are in the Kalos region so that wasn't too new. In that direction in the main lobby was some type of wash bin with flowers in it, must be some sort of decorative thing, at least that's what he assumed until he saw someone wash their face in it. Gross. In the middle was the most familiar part, the actual Pokemon Center with a tanned Nurse Joy standing behind the counter. The left most side of the building was the most foreign thing to the man, a sign hanging above the counter reading 'Cafe'. Well that explains what that was.

Without paying the strange additions anymore thought than he already had the Dark One approached the center counter and the Nurse Joy standing behind it, recalling his Scraggy along the way (much to his chagrin) and putting his five Dusk Balls and lone Love Ball on the counter. “Excuse me, ma'am, think I could get a round of healing on these guys?” He asked the nurse as he placed the device on the counter.

“Alola!” The nurse would first blurt out as she turned away from a computer monitor to face the man, her sudden friendly shout taking Sub by surprise as the man jumped in his skin a little bit. Dear Darkrai, lady, learn to control your volume. “I sure can! Quicker than a hungry Yungoose chasing down a Rattata!” She said with a smile, quickly taking the devices and putting them on the machine behind her. After firing the machine up the woman would turn back around to talk to the trainer while the contraption behind her did its magic. “You're not from around here, are you? Your accent sounds almost like the one people from Malie City have but thicker and a little different.” The nurse pointed out. Sub wouldn't have a chance to respond before the machine behind her made a chiming noise, the woman turning around to tend to the device.

“Comfey!” A tiny little Pokemon chimed as it floated past Sub from behind, the creature carrying a ring of flowers with it, a very tiny replica of the hat Nurse Joy wore on its head.. Where did that thing come from? Scared the daylights out of Sub. Was this entire region trying to kill him one way or another? Sure did seem like it.

Before the man could ponder the small floating flower Pokemon further the Nurse Joy approached him with a tray containing his Dusk Ball and lone Love Ball, the nurse setting the tray on the counter and sliding it over to him with a smile on her face, that strange little Pokemon now floating at her side. “Thank you for waiting! We've restored your Pokémon to full health. We hope to see you again!” The lady beamed with her signature cheerful smile. No matter how many times Sub visited a Pokemon Center, no matter how many times he encountered a Nurse Joy, he would never get used to their almost robotic pre-programmed emotions. Weirdos.

With just a nod the man would take his Dusk Balls, put them away, and head on back out the Pokemon Center, he had a legend to catch up with after all and couldn't waste his time chatting with a robot. Come to think of it, why do they all look the same? That was a question probably millions have asked before but for now he wouldn't pay it anymore attention, instead choosing to focus on catching up with the Land Spirit Pokemon and giving it the battle it was looking for.

[Part 1]

[Random story just for fun.]

“Lickilicky, use Wrap!” The mysterious trainer commanded from behind the ornate wooden Ho-oh mask which covered half of their face. The Licking Pokemon executed the move without delay, its tongue darting from its mouth at an impressive speed and sought out its target, stretching seemingly without limit. Its foe, a Typhlosion, did its best to try and escape it as it raced across the field, zigging and zagging, but the tongue was relentlessly and soon enough snatched up the Volcano Pokemon in its saliva soaked gripped, the tongue wrapping around it several times and giving it a tight squeeze as it made certain escape would not be so easy.

The opposing trainer grimaced as he watched his Typhlosion fall into the grip of the Lickilicky, dreading the visit to the groomer after this battle, his poor Pokemon certainly losing some hair to the corrosive saliva produced by Lickilicky. After considering the situation and his options he didn’t like the odds of Typhlosion escaping the Wrap and continuing to fight, in fact only one of those things were going to happen. While Typhlosion was fairly weakened by the Licking Pokemon’s earlier assault it still had enough fight in it to ensure that its comrades took this fiend down.

Watching as Lickilicky began to quickly reel his Pokemon in upon command from its trainer, no doubt to follow up with another move, the trainer called out. “Typhlosion! Burn it all to cinders! Use Burn Up!” The Johto native cried out, pointing his open palm in the direction of his Pokemon, fingers poking out from the black glove which ran halfway up his arm. Hearing the command Lickilicky’s eyes met Typhlosion’s as the Fire type ceased struggling in the grip of its tongue and smiled at the Normal type, the pink creature’s eyes going wide as it realized what was about to happen, completely forgetting about pulling in its opponent as it now wish to be much further apart than they were right now.

“Phlo…SION!” Roared the Volcano Pokemon as it quickly charged up and condensed all its Fire energy, its flames disappearing completely for but a moment before they all reappeared again in a devastating fashion as the Typhlosion completely unleashed every ounce of flame it possessed, the explosion of fire engulfing the entire battlefield and threatened the rest of the room the two trainers found themselves in. The only thing that saved the trainers from being burnt too were the walls of hard light energy that suddenly made themselves visible thanks to the flames, a cube of blue light now seen encasing the field with flames swirling around violently inside. A common safety feature at high level Pokemon battle facilities such as this.

As the flames died down the hard light cube would disappear from sight, though ever present, and both conjurer and victim of the flames would eventually be seen. Still wrapped up in Lickilicky’s tongue was Typhlosion, sans flames, looking worse for wear and knocked out cold. Lickilicky wasn’t looking much better, body covered in burn marks and soot and also knocked out though it was clear that the tongue Pokemon went down squeezing Typhlosion with all its might, ensuring they both went down together. This was the nature of these intense battles and this battle would continue to prove to be worthy of this establishment.

“Good job, Lickilicky.” The masked trainer complimented his Pokemon as he recalled it to its Ultra Ball. Clipping the ball back to the sash the robbed figure wore from shoulder to waist they stared at the opposing Ace Trainer, caressing the other Pokeballs clipped to the sash, considering which one to use next. “You’re good, I had thought for certain Lickilicky would have stayed around to see your next one.” They said, finally deciding on a Pokemon as they pulled a regular Pokeball off the sash, then waited for the opposing trainer to make his decision. They had both had their Pokemon knocked out at the same time so it was customary in competitive Pokemon battles in these situations to both select your Pokemon and release them at the same time so neither can try to get an unfair advantage by selecting and releasing second.

Recalling his own Pokemon the black haired man from Viridian City would waste no time in selecting his own next Pokemon, only having three Pokeballs on his belt to choose from anyways whereas his opponent had six, a discrepancy that didn’t matter as they had agreed to only using three each. “Thanks, for a moment there I thought the same. You and Lickilicky came at us hard in the beginning there but now it’s time for us to be the ones to go on the offense! Go, Meganium!” The trainer cried as he hurled the Pokeball onto the field, the device bouncing off the ground and bursting open in a display of light, the Herb Pokemon appearing from within with a proud roar.

At that same time the masked trainer would toss his own Pokeball onto the field, saying nothing himself as the ball bounced and unleashed from within its confines, a Pokemon frequently seen around these parts. “Bee free!” Cried the Butterfly Pokemon as it stretched and fluttered its wings, immediately taking to the air. Eying the Meganium the masked trainer noted the type advantage they possessed but knew better than to assume too much, they had far too much experience in Pokemon battles to make such an arrogant assumption. However they did have one safe assumption to make to themselves upon seeing the Meganium and that was what the third Pokemon would likely be.

“Meganium, use Ancient Power!” The Ace Trainer ordered. If their eyes could be seen from behind the mask and if the Butterfree species had more expressive eyes the trainer would note the shocked expressions of both trainer and Butterfree as the Rock type move was ordered, neither of them expecting that. Stomping its front right foot on the ground Meganium would let out a cry and conjure from thin air seven ‘rocks’ made of rainbow colored energy, the constructs floating in place around it as its antenna gave off the same rainbow aura. With another cry a single Ancient Power rock would take flight and rocket towards Butterfree with violent intent.

“Quiver Dance!” The masked trainer quickly ordered, if they had any hope of surviving the Ancient Power and continuing the fight with Meganium they needed not only to avoid what they could but to also give themselves a better footing to work with. A faint green aura now surrounding its body Butterfree would tuck its wings in and drop to avoid the first Ancient Power rock, flinging its wings open again and flapping once to send itself rocketing up and over the next. By the time the third one came at it the butterfly felt its body becoming more nimble and its reflexes quicker as the Quiver Dance’s effects began to sink in and so it successful pulled its wings in and spun around in midair and out of the way of the incoming rainbow projectile, a sort of airborne pirouette.

When the fourth rock came flying Butterfree added a backflip to its dance and yet it could feel the force of the projectile in its antenna as it barely missed it that time, shaking the Butterfree’s resolve just enough for it to lose its pacing and the fifth rock slamming into its chest right after the Bug type righted its position after the flip. Now struck and left reeling, Butterfree could do nothing about the other two Ancient Power rocks that slammed into it right after another, the butterfly getting knocked around three times and falling to the hard floor. While it managed to avoid more than half of that Ancient Power, those three hits alone were more than enough to put it against the ropes already.

“That was quick thinking and beautiful movements, I commend your Pokemon, you must have trained it well. However, I doubt the encore will be able to top the opening act. Ancient Power again.” The Ace Trainer said, issuing another Ancient Power. While the old axiom applied here; don’t fix what isn’t broken. It was frustrating to survive certain defeat once only to face it again right after but the logic behind using Ancient Power yet again was sound. Watching as Meganium conjured up the seven rainbow stones once more the masked trainer began to think up a plan, they couldn’t just let Butterfree go down like this.

The one thing the Ace Trainer would do different this time is order Meganium to unleash all the rocks at once, to overwhelm the winded Butterfree on the ground and not give it a chance to dodge anything, that however played into the masked trainer’s hand, provided their bug could react quick enough. “Use Baton Pass!” With a cry Butterfree would begin to charge up energy as it prepared to switch places with another Pokemon but before either trainer could see if it was a success the rocks bore down on ‘Butterfree’ and created a bright flash of rainbow light as they destroyed themselves on impact.

Once the light died down and any blurred vision corrected itself they would both note that instead of Butterfree now a Muk stood ready to face Meganium, now with the Quiver Dance empowerment previously held by Butterfree. “Muk, use Poison Jab.” The masked trainer calmly ordered. With a bellow the Muk would reveal surprising speed as it flung a fist at Meganium’s direction, the arm of the Poison type stretching out allowing the fist to close the distance between them. Meganium would attempt to turn and run, dodging a few swings of the fist and almost out running the Muk until its arm was stretched too thin but alas the Muk managed to catch the Grass type off guard by slinging its other fist at it as it was too focused on the first one, the Poison Jab fist slugging the Herb Pokemon directly in the face, leaving behind a blotch of poisonous goop which was quickly absorbed into the Pokemon’s skin. Meganium was poisoned by Muk’s Poison Touch.

Clicking his teeth together out of annoyance the Ace Trainer considered his options at the moment. His Meganium not only took a powerful super effective hit but it was also poisoned, there was no way his Grass type would last for much longer. If he had any hope of winning this battle he needed to get a hit on this Muk before Meganium fell. “Go, Meganium, use Earthquake!” The Johto native commanded, the masked trainer muttering slightly under their breath as his opponent ordered yet another super effective move. With a defiant cry the Herb Pokemon would raise its front legs and slam them onto the ground causing the entire field to shake violently and while its species were not none for physical prowess the super effective move was more than enough to cause Muk considerable pain as it let out a pained cry as the entire room shook.

It was then, as the Earthquake rumbled, that the masked trainer noticed Meganium taking damage from the poison in its body, this was their opportunity to strike and perhaps put them in a favorable position for the next and final Pokemon. “Minimize.” He plainly ordered, Muk responding to the command by compacting its sludge body into a much smaller form, now the size of a Grimer. The Ace Trainer looked confused by his opponent’s decision to not finish off Meganium, that was until his Pokemon let out a cry before swaying and finally falling over, knocked out by the poison. “Wow, either you took a gamble there or knew exactly when the poison would finish off Meganium. Not bad.” He said, recalling the Grass type. From what he could tell his opponent would be relying on luck either way, likely hoping his Muk would be able to avoid at least one hit from his last Pokemon. It was time to show his foe how much of a futile effort that was.

“You’re up, Feraligatr!” The Ace Trainer cried out as he hurled his third and final Pokeball onto the field, the device bouncing on the ground once before popping open and releasing the Big Jaw Pokemon from within. The masked trainer was not surprised in the least by its appearance. “Feraligatr, take a page out of Meganium’s playbook and use Earthquake as well!” He ordered, the Water type letting out a savage cry as it raised one foot into the air and slammed it on the ground with fierce might, shaking the entire room with much greater intensity than Meganium did earlier, hoping to take down this Muk here and now.

That was not what would happen. The masked trainer predicted this exact scenario, their years of experience and watching how the Ace Trainer battled telling him exactly what he was dealing with. Earthquake was a popular move with these types of ‘hit them hard’ trainers, no doubt did even Typhlosion know this move. As soon as Earthquake was ordered the masked trainer made his own counter command. “Muk, Body Slam.” The Muk would immediately respond to the command, with even quicker speed and more refined movements than before thanks to its much smaller size. The tiny Muk would launch itself off the ground by shoving off with both hands, sending itself flying through the air towards Feraligar and completely avoiding the Earthquake which rocked the ground. As Muk came down upon the Water type Pokemon the Poison type would briefly solidify its body and slam down on it, knocking the Feraligatr to the ground while Muk itself slid off and retreated back to its trainer's side.

Shocked that Muk actually avoided the Earthquake the Ace Trainer did not notice that his Feraligatr had met the same fate as Meganium did earlier as Muk’s Poison Touch had activated in that moment of contact, an event that would cost him this battle but at the moment he would not realize it. “Not only did you increase Muk’s speed with Butterfee but you also made it more nimble by shrinking it down. You certainly are an unorthodox trainer, aren’t you? A Muk of all things!” The Ace Trainer said in almost disbelief but had to admire the masked trainer’s strange tactics, this was certainly an interesting battle. “Feraligatr, make sure it doesn’t do that again and use Icy Wind!” He ordered, now onto his opponent’s game. With a shout Feraligatr would unleash from its open maw a chilling gust of wind, the Icy Wind sweeping over the Muk causing it to grunt in pain as ice crystals began to form on its body, no doubt slowing it down.

The masked trainer watched in silence, noting that yes the Ace Trainer just negated any speed advantage Muk had and no doubt Muk would not survive nor dodge another Earthquake, it did not matter. To the masked trainer this battle was over, the Ace Trainer just didn’t know it yet, that poison Feraligatr was suffering from was going to finish this. “Muk, use Venom Drench.” Swelling up for a few seconds the Muk would spit out a nasty surge of liquidy venom and spray the Feraligatr with it, the venom rapidly absorbed into the body of the Feraligar reducing its combat prowess and speed as the venom coursed through its veins. It was then that the Ace Trainer finally realized his Pokemon had been poisoned earlier, his eyes going wide. This masked trainer was toying with him now, he could have ordered any other move to do as much damage as possible and instead they ordered the one move that would point out Feraligatr’s poisoning to him. It was almost as if he was being mocked.

“Heh, I guess in spite of all my compliments and sportsmanship you’re still the type of trainer that likes to toy with their opponents. That’s okay, we can still win this.” The Ace Trainer said, though he had his doubts about winning, only wanting to keep up the facade for his Pokemon. “Put this thing down, Earthquake again!” Just like before Feraligatr would slam a foot on the ground, wincing in pain in the process as the poison surged through it. The ground would shake and so would the partially frozen Muk the Ground type move proving too much for it coming from Feraligatr and thus Muk collapsed into a liquidy pool of sludge, knocked out cold, literally and figuratively.

Wasting no time to recall his Pokemon and send out their last, the Butterfree from earlier, the masked trainer was already prepared for what they would do next as the butterfly reappeared on the field. Butterfree was visibly exhausted from the hits it took earlier but its opponent, Feraligatr wasn’t looking too good either. Deciding to further flex on the Johto trainer the masked trainer called out to the Butterfree. “Use Giga Drain.” With a weak cry the Butterfree would fling its hands out and spread its wings wide as a green glow outlined its form, the same outline appearing around Feraligatr as it sapped energy from it, balls of green energy flowing from Feraligatr to Butterfree as it robbed the Water type’s vitality. By the time it was finished Butterfree looked much more spry and ready to fight and Feraligatr looked like it was on its last legs, no doubt the poison would put it down before long.

The Ace Trainer was now aware this was it for them, Feraligatr would soon faint, their only hope of victory would be to deliver a powerful blow on the refreshed Butterfree and take it down first. There was only one move in Feraligatr’s pool that could provide such power while also making it difficult to avoid for Butterfree, especially in such an enclosed space. They could still win this. “Feraligatr! Consume the field in Blizzard! Unleash everything you got!” The Johto native ordered. Summoning forth every ounce of strength it had left Feraligatr would let out almost feral roar as it summoned from its gut a fierce and freezing gale of wind and ice, threatening to engulf the entire room in its chill. It was at this moment that the earlier Venom Drench would prove crucial for the masked trainer.

“Protect.” The masked trainer ordered in response to the Blizzard command. Moving faster than Feraligatr the Butterfree had plenty of time to throw up a protective green bubble of energy around itself before the Blizzard had a chance to even drop the temperature around the butterfly. Safe inside its bubble the Bug type watched as the Blizzard surged around it. The Ace Trainer’s face fell and confidence completely evaporated as the Butterfree conjured the shield, the trainer watching his Pokemon attack in vain. He had been defeated several minutes ago, and it was only now that it was made apparent. Slowly Feraligatr would begin to lose its strength, the Blizzard decreasing in intensity before the crocodile ceased it all at once, staggering a bit as it fought to stay on its feet and resist the poison but it was futile, the poison would grip its victim tight and bring it down as the Feraligatr collapsed and fell to the ground knocked out.

—--

“Wow, that was a good battle.” Sub said as the Feraligatr on his screen fell. He watched as the voice over declared the ‘Masked Trainer”, as they were referred to, to be the winner. The Snagem leader had seen many good battles broadcasted on the Pokemon Battle Network before but this one had to be one of his favorites. The way the masked trainer toyed with his opponent in the end and controlled the entire battle even when the Ace Trainer seemed to have the upperhand, it was great. Two thumbs up as far as Sub was concerned.

“You know, that trainer certainly had a unique battle style.” Larrimore commented, the Pinsir hybrid sitting next to him, the pair watched the entire battle together. Both he and Sub shared an interest in Pokemon battles they found out, one of the few interests that they would share.

“Yep, very unique.” Sub responded, staring at the screen as he watched the channel transition to a battle starting at the Battle Tower in Hoenn. “Very unique…” He said, smiling at Larrimore.