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Posted by: Toogee Jan 13 2013, 01:26 PM

The pokemon center in Lenoilia was the safest place in the city for visitors to stay. Few inns existed in the city, and those that did had questionable security issues. Though they had their share of trouble here, Pan and Douken had decided to once again stay at the center. As they had arrived in the evening, it was the only option for the flight weary travelers. And so, it is here in the morning that the story begins.

The sun rose over the dreary landscape of Lenoilia, eventually passing through Pan’s window. The girl soon stretched her limbs before relaxing and closing her eyes once more. It had been a late night, so the temptation to stay in bed was rather strong. She might have done just that had she not had a research outpost to visit. At that thought, Pan finally forced herself out of bed and readied herself for the day.



Pan looked herself over in a mirror. She had not worn the mini skirt-shorts combo for quite some time. In fact, it may have been the last time she would be able to wear the outfit. Her pregnancy wasn’t showing just yet, so the researcher had little trouble fitting into her clothes. Satisfied with her looks, she stepped out of her room and into the main lobby.

The pokecenter was bustling with activity. Several trainers were enjoying the complimentary breakfast, talking about the recent zorua sightings and strategies to catch them. A few residents of the city were also gathered here. From what Pan could overhear, they were part of some neighborhood watch responsible for protecting the street from gang violence.

“Is the art warehouse secured?”

“Yes sir. I just replaced the locks with something more sturdy. Any chance that art museum is happening here?”

“I doubt it. If you ask me, we’d be better off selling that abandoned art back to Gigarte.”

Pan kept listening to the conversation as she waited for Douken to appear.

Posted by: Douken Sota Jan 14 2013, 01:19 AM

"Cmon, cmon! I know you are faster than this!" How long has it been that Douken sparred with Koldo? We, after a while, the height became a big issue with doing this, but after evolution into Toxicroak, Koldo was back into a comfortable height to actually fight against. It was a good exercise for the two, but now it was looking like Douken was needing a refresher course. And of course, he fought without his shirt so it wouldn't get in his way. "Don't hold back!"

A chop was sent downwards at the trainer's head, making him use his arms to absorb the blow. However, with a grin on the frog, he followed up with a jab, pushing Douken back a few steps. "Nice one," Douken complimented before a nasty cough surged into his throat. That's when his eye caught Koldo's claw. It was glowing purple. Looking down at the impact, it had the same kind of purple bruise. "Poison Touch. forgot about that," he muttered, coughing again. "Let's call it a day."

Heading over to his shirt and bag, he pulled out a Pecha Berry and held onto it with his teeth before throwing the rest of the items over his shoulder. getting a hold of the berry again, he bit down and chewed on the sweet, though not filling morsel as he headed inside.

There was some talk about reviving Lenolia to its former glory versus sending over the goods over to Gigarte amongst the older folks alongside local Zorua sightings with the younger crowd. Oh, those were bringing up some interesting memories for sure. However, as his ears skimmed the conversations, his eyes skimmed the center for his friend. "There she is," he muttered, biting at the rest of the Pecha Berry, before walking over.

"Morning, sleepy head," he commented over to her, Koldo simply staring as Douken went through his bag for another berry. "Did you sleep well?"

Posted by: Toogee Jan 19 2013, 11:36 AM

“Oh, not bad,” Pan replied, not wanting to seem lazy for sleeping in. “I guess after breakfast, I’ll head over to the outpost. You can tag along if you’d like…if you put a shirt on.”

It seemed that Douken was training early in the morning for his upcoming gym match. Judging from the purple bruise on his shoulder, they had the potential to be serious sessions. He was acting normally, so the researcher assumed he was taking care of himself, as evidenced by the pecha berries he was snacking on. Speaking of which, a nurse called out a number, causing Pan to excuse herself and head for the counter. She returned to the couch with two bowls of berries. One was for herself while the other was for Chi-Chi, who she summoned soon after sitting down. The pachirisu was stuffing her cheeks with the sweet morsels, but even she had to pause at the voracity of her human’s appetite. Pan was apparently hungrier than she thought, devouring her bowl in but a couple minutes.

“What?” Pan asked her gawking pachirisu, not realizing how fast she had eaten. Her eyes moved to the remaining berries in Chi-Chi’s bowl. The pachirisu quickly covered the bowl with her body, frantic to protect her meal from the eating machine that had possessed Pan’s body.

Meanwhile, across the room…

“So you think tonight will be quiet?”

“Not likely. Pokemon are venturing from the graveyard a whole lot more. I say we increase the number of patrols.”

“You think the rumors are true? The chants coming out of that place?”

“Dude, that place is filled with dark and ghost types. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t something funky going on in there.”

Posted by: Douken Sota Jan 19 2013, 03:01 PM

Douken couldn't help but smirk at her comment about getting a shirt on, letting her know, "Well, first a quick shower," before heading upstairs to his rented room before getting the water running. Removing the rest of what he wore, he hopped in, washed off the sweat and dirt, and took a moment to think as the hot water ran over his head.

Cubone, eh? Man, this gives me a headache just thinking about it. Coming from a family of breeders, he had seen many Pokemon out there. However, the Marowak, no matter how hard they tried, would never relinquish their eggs. Hell, one even knocked the Amazon into a concussion when he was little. No one had ever seen a Cubone without its skull helmet, and the Marowak made sure of it. He even doubted fathers not of the Cubone family see their children hatch until they are given their skulls.

Shaking his head back into reality, he got out, drying himself off before getting dressed and snacking on yet another Pecha Berry before heading back into the lobby, seeing Chi-Chi covering up her food against the feasting Gibbs. With a chuckle, he walked over and looked at Chi-Chi, telling her, "You think a Watmel Berry or two would fill her up?" chuckling as he sat down next to Pan.

Looking at Pan, he felt like he hd to ask, "You sure about this? Have you ever seen a Marowak mother actually guarding her children?"

Posted by: Toogee Jan 26 2013, 10:58 PM

“Of course not,” Pan replied, wiping her mouth of excess berry juice with a paper napkin. “In the wild, the mothers die before or shortly after hatching. The young use her skull and bones as their first means of protection. In fact, I don’t think too many people have seen a live mother with her young.” It seemed Pan had done some research on the subject prior to her arrival. She didn’t want to seem totally clueless about the pokemon species when meeting with top scientists.

“At least, that’s usually true in the wild,” Pan continued, flipping through her notes to refresh her memory. “Lenoilia happens to be the site of a rumored Marowak graveyard. There are supposed to be bones all around, so maybe the mothers don’t have to use their own bodies to provide for their offspring. This could affect everything from temperament to the battle prowess of the cubones. Come to think of it, this might be kinda useful for breeders like your family.”

As she was talking, Pan had gathered her pack and stood up from the couch. Little Chi-Chi’s head poked out from her vest, the pachirisu’s face showing eagerness for their next adventure. The researcher held out a water bottle towards Douken in a mock toast.

“To our last adventure.”
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Through the streets of Lenoilia, Pan rode upon her arcanine Fenrir to the entrance of the graveyard. A trio of murkrows flew from their resting places, startled as the fire type blazed a trail to their destination. With Douken in the air with his skarmory, it didn’t take too long to reach what seemed to be the saddest place on the planet.

“This place makes the rest of the city look like Disneyland,” Pan remarked as she stared upon the wrought iron gate that made up the entrance. It read “Lenoilia Cemetery” on the top, but it had been well past human use for many years. Fog rolled over the black hills, hiding the glowing eyes that watched the humans’ movements. A bark from Fenrir sent the creatures packing, their dark cackles echoing through the empty graveyard. Bones were all over, some only partially hidden by a thin layer of mud. Bones were not just of marowak, but of all kinds of species. For some reason, pokemon from all over came here to die, but why? Was some dark force responsible for their fate? Pan held her hand to her stomach; perhaps coming here wasn’t such a good idea.

That was when she spotted the only structure on the premises: the outpost. It was a dilapidated shack, but it did seem to have some recent activity, what with the van parked in front. Their destination in sight, Pan called back her arcanine and led Douken towards the outpost.

“I think we’ll be alright here,” Pan reassured Douken (and herself). “After all, they would have given us warning if it was terribly dangerous.”

Pan attempted to knock on the door, but the entrance creaked open before she could touch the wood. The room inside was only dimly lit by the cloudy morning sky. With some hesitation, the researcher moved inside, eager to see the team she would be working with. Even in the dim light, Pan could spot cork panels with dozens of pictures tacked on them. She drew closer and noticed that not a single photo depicted a cubone or marowak. Rather, she saw dark-robed figures entering a building, carrying all sorts of equipment (was that an odd keystone?). The researcher was much more disturbed by the people on gurneys being carried into the inhospitable graveyard. She knew all too well who was behind this: the same people they had encountered in the Petropolis Museum.

“Whoever is here isn’t looking for Cubone,” Pan told Douken as she examined another collage of photographs. Her brain was telling her to get out, but one small part of her wanted one last look at the pictures. She thought she saw something familiar, but alas, it was too dark to see.

“Pa?” Chi-Chi asked as the pachirisu poked her head out of Pan’s vest.

“Of course! Chi-Chi, use Flash.”

The room quickly lit up, as if someone turned up a dimmer switch. What Pan saw both confounded and disturbed her greatly. The pictures…they were of her! Pictures of her walking in Arasam, Petropolis, and Lenoilia. One picture was a group picture at Castle Vonmoto. How did this person even come across such a picture? Amidst the research papers tacked on the side, there was one picture of Pan and Douken leaving the pokemon center in Lenoilia. It was dated with today’s date. Pan quickly backed away from the board; they had overstayed their welcome. Then a voice called for her from the back end of the room.

“Fate brings us together once more, Pandora Gibbs.”

Pan jerked her head towards the robotic voice in the room. The man cloaked entirely in black, Deimos if she recalled, sat behind a large desk, his alakazam standing behind him. Pan was too shocked to even say anything. The total surprise of it all left her like a deer in the headlights, frozen in place as she stared into the black void that made up the enigmatic man’s face.

“Please, sit down. I’m sure you have many questions.”

Posted by: Douken Sota Jan 27 2013, 01:30 AM

Lenolia Graveyard. Even from the sky, the plain looked vast and decayed along with the smell of rot from the unburied bodies. Patting Sabre downwards, they made an easy landing before choosing to swap out Sabre for Reep. "If you say so," Douken commented as he watched pray to the deceased. "Considering your ability to draw danger, I'd rather not risk it." It was a bad joke of a tease, but he still felt the headache from his memory.

The darkness was rarely the friend of the near-sighted trainer. Even after removing his glasses and cleaning them off, looking through them was still nearly impossible. He was only able to see vague shapes. None of them Cubone related. And with the light, he saw the most disturbing thing ever. They were all focused on Pan! If there were any danger flags to be waved about, now would be the time, right before the robotic voice.

On instinct, Douken and Reep stepped forward, as if to act as a wall between her and the unknown man. he had no visual clues on identity, thanks to the black cloak, and his voice was modified with some odd device. The Alakazam behind him was also not a welcoming sight. By the looks of it, it had a strong mental strength.

"Sure we got questions," Douken spoke out, holding his arms wide. "Last I checked, we came here to learn about Cubone, not about Pan having a stalker. So cmon, you pervert, who the hell are you?" If he removed the hood and showed platinum hair and a red scarf, then Reep would be glad that no matter where you are, there is always shadows.

Posted by: Toogee Feb 3 2013, 10:18 AM

While Douken prepared to take a hit, Deimos remained as stoic as ever. In his seat, the man in black took a few moments to examine Pan and Douken, as well as the ghost pokemon floating around them. Clearly, they felt threatened, and with good reason. The girl’s eyes were tinged with fear, though she stood her ground. The boy and the ghost were loyal to each other and their friend, even in the face of a powerful pokemon that could crush the humans with but a thought. Courage reigned over their emotions. Good. These were the people they needed.

“As I have told Ms. Gibbs, our organization has keen interest in her abilities. I apologize for the unorthodox way of handling the matter, but I felt you would respond far quicker to your boss than to us. But that is neither here nor there. You and our client have a common enemy to deal with.”

Suddenly, the lights flashed on, lighting up the room. While still dim, it was enough to illuminate the picture boards around them without Chi-Chi’s aid. The researcher turned to Douken, nodding her head in confirmation that she had indeed met the mysterious man before. Who would have thought a simple business card would have led to this? Pan’s focus then turned to the boards depicting the cult members.

“As you can see, Darkrai’s Disciples have gathered here in a rather large number. In addition, they have taken two dozen hostages, all seemingly bedridden. They have made no demands nor have they made any contact with the rest of the world. It is quite possible they are making some attempt to summon Darkrai. Normally, this would be the realm of madmen, but as you two know, we all live in a pokemon world. Stranger things have happened. But should they succeed, this powerful pokemon could put large population centers in permanent comas. A sleep of infinite nightmares.”

“Why us?”

“Because the place they have holed themselves up in is no mere mausoleum. In fact, the writings inside suggest a Furite origin. The Dai Research Corporation prides itself in providing research specialists to our clients. Our men have attempted to infiltrate the building, only to trip one of the booby traps guarding the area. We need such an expert to decipher the warnings and get to the disciples. Needless to say, the closest expert on that language is you, Ms. Gibbs. Then there is the added bonus that both of you know what we’re dealing with. According to our records, you fought with them twice now? Maybe even more than that?”

Pan was not sure what to say. She was still suspicious of Deimos and his seemingly shady organization. She was told that the Dai Research Corp was a private research firm, but this mission seemed far beyond that purpose. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t walked out the door already. As suspicious as Deimos was, Darkrai’s Disciples were definitely no good. If they were on the verge of acquiring a legendary pokemon, their attacks on the museum would be nothing compared to this new capability. Pan stayed behind Douken, whispering in his ear.

“We should see what the Disciples are up to, but…I don’t want to do it with these guys.”

Posted by: Douken Sota Feb 9 2013, 03:58 PM

When Douken got the nod from Pan, he and Reep lowered their arms, yet kept their footing as they listened on. Summoning Darkrai? Infinite sleep with endless nightmares? As if he would let that happen. Pan agreed, but she didn’t want to do it with them. As if he could complain. Besides, he had a promise to keep.

“I doubt that’s possible,” Reep said, echoing her voice into the minds of the two trainers. “If he set us up into this situation, then he did so in more of an act to force our hand. The Alazakam is proof. If he wished, Daimos could send the psychic types on us and use him to use us like simple puppets. No, in this case, this is more like ‘You will join us.’ “

Noting her words, Douken took a step forward and asked, “So what’s going to make us trust you? Forcing a meeting like this can only call this suspicious at the least. Yes, we have met the Disciples in numerous occasions, but what if we choose to refuse your offer and go take them on by ourselves? I am sure if you have stalked her long enough, then you know how capable we are on handling these things ourselves.” Taking on a legend may sound like a suicide plan, but its not like it’s the first time they gotten to a point where they had nearly died.

Posted by: Toogee Feb 10 2013, 10:02 AM

Pan nodded in agreement to Douken’s reasoning, still a little shocked by the turn of events. They seemed to do their best work alone, without some clandestine organization watching their backs. It was impressive what the pair could do with their pokemon. Strangely, their host agreed with them.

“Oh, I know of your capabilities. In fact, I’m counting on them. If those are your terms, they will be granted.” If his masked face could show emotion, Deimos would have been smiling. Most other trainers would have made more exuberant demands, among them money and power. Not these two: Pan and Douken would do the deed without any more encouragement on his part. All that was needed was for someone to point them in the right direction. He was more than happy to fill that role.

“If that is all, I will guide you to the site. I would advise you to make your decision quickly, for time is running out.”

Pan looked to Douken and nodded. Not only were the disciples doing something involving a legendary, they had involved innocent people into their schemes. She could not simply leave Lenoilia (or Furoh for that matter) knowing that she abandoned all those people to the disciples. It appeared that Pan’s final adventure was a rescue mission, for those people, Lenoilia, and possibly beyond.

“Where is it?”
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Pan and Douken followed the dark-cloaked man and his alakazam past the front gates and into the Marowak Graveyard. Though there were plenty of dark-type pokemon lurking between gravestones, not a single one dared to cross their path. Strangely, no ghosts were lurking among them. They were usually a common sight in and around Lenoilia, yet none were sighted among the hills. Bones were still scattered along the path, with the occasional cubone digging up more before scurrying away at the sight of the alakazam. Clearly, this pokemon had some dealings in the area, ones that the residents did not soon forget.

The howl of a houndoom caused Pan to look ahead. There was a tall, lanky man dressed as a scientist, holding a metal suitcase and seemingly waiting for their arrival. Everything about his seemed perfectly in place, from his combed red hair to his nicely creased dress slacks. Behind him though was a more interesting sight: the entrance to a very peculiar valley. It had no signs of plant life (not even dead ones); it was covered entirely with white pebbles. In the middle of the valley was a jet black obelisk, a monument that was six stories tall by Pan’s estimation. The color contrast combined with vast difference to the rest of Lenoilia made the whole place seem all too eerie. As ominous looking as it was, that appeared to be their destination.

“Dr. Mondo, you have the item?” Deimos said to the man. Mondo pushed his glasses to his face and replied.

“It is very difficult to get authorization for one of these things. My credentials won out in the end. We’re set.”

“A change in plans, I’m afraid. Our team has been reduced to two. These two. Pandora Gibbs and Douken Sota.” Deimos nodded to the two teens behind him. Normally, the scientist would have scoffed at the plan, but wait! He knew these two! They were the ones that took down his leviathan, the shadow zoroark. It seemed so long ago but it was them. Mondo smiled rather smugly to the two.

“Uh…is there a problem?” Pan asked the scientist, confused by the look on his face.

“It’s nothing. I thought I…recognized you from somewhere. Just a coincidence.” This would most certainly be useful if he ever had to deal with that buffoon Justin Smart ever again. He was fantasizing about the look on his face when Pan interrupted

“Well, whatever is in that case, we won’t need it. Our pokemon will be enough to deal with the disciples”

“Good, for you won’t be getting it,” Mondo replied sharply, somewhat irritated by the girl’s attitude. “This is for me, in case you fail and someone has to stop whatever creature they happen to summon. And if you’re faced with such legendary power, you will wish that you didn’t go this alone.

“Peace, Mondo,” Deimos interrupted with his robotic voice before turning to Pan and Douken. “The mausoleum awaits you.”

Posted by: Douken Sota Feb 19 2013, 08:47 AM

First placing them in the hands of the operation, and then suddenly handing the reins of the operation into their hands. It honestly felt too easy. Sure, if what they said is true some extra hands would be useful, but what was said was said and there was no stopping it now. Besides, like he would hand the world over to someone who wishes to fill their world in an endless nightmare.

“Its too quiet,” Reep echoed into the two trainers’ heads. “Even where we are at, it seems too odd. I can’t even see any of my race.” Douken gave a slight nod to the comment, giving a quick eye to their guide crossed a Cubone, panic filling the little one’s eyes and causing it to scurry. Honestly, even going to the point of freaking out the local wildlife? It definitely boiled the Amazon’s blood a bit, not agreeing with this method of getting around, even if it was safer than random attacks.

When they were introduced to the doctor, they were greeted with an odd smug look. Seemed like Pan noticed it too and mentioned, but it was passed by like a simple misunderstanding. Kind of hard to mistake someone who had been on TV for his gym accomplishments, but maybe it was that that gave him some odd confidence or something. Still, barking at pan like that did bother Douken a bit.

“We don’t plan of failing,” he told the doctor as he walked through the gate, his hand lightly brushing the pink Pokeball that rested on his belt. “We made a promise to someone to make sure we don’t throw this world into a giant mess. I’m sure if she trusted this job to us, then she knows we have what it takes.”

Posted by: Toogee Mar 2 2013, 09:20 PM

And so, Pan and Douken walked deeper into the valley. The path stopped where the pebbles began. With no road to travel upon, both had to maintain balance on a downhill slope of pebbles if they wanted to walk down. Pan, however, found far simpler and faster to let gravity take its course. She allowed herself to fall on her back and flew down the wall like a playground slide. The reenactment of childhood glee put a smile on Pan’s face, with Chi-Chi chirping with glee all the way down. The researcher picked herself up and looked to Douken, letting him know that it was safe.

“Coast is clear down here,” she said to him. As soon as both were on level ground, Pan led the way to the towering monument.

Arriving at the base of the mausoleum, the first thing Pan noticed was the glossy finish upon the structure. It almost appeared to be made of glass. In addition, there were no doors; the entrance was simply a long hallway leading into the interior. Finally, carved above the entrance were Furite letters, which Pan quickly looked upon to decipher.

“That Which Blocks the Darkness,” she said aloud. “Sounds ominous enough…”

Pan stared back into the dark hall and noticed a pair of gold eyes. Something was staring back! The researcher could just make out the silhouette of the creature: long flowing hair upon a small floating body. She had taken enough pokemon ID tests to know that that was a misdreavus. More significantly, this was the first ghost type they’ve run into since coming into Lenoilia. Whatever was going on, the ghost may know something of it. The misdreavus’ giggles echoed through the hall, beckoning them to follow.

“Douken, I think we’re going to need your own ghost to figure out what’s going on here…”

Without hesitation, Pan entered the dark hallway, eager to learn the secrets within. Her curiosity almost made her forget why they were really here…
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As they traveled down the hall, the pair came across the main room. It too shared the same glossy black texture as the outside. The exception was the tiled floor, which was covered in a layer of sand. There wasn’t anything else unusual until Pan stepped on the edge of the floor. A scythe emerged from the ceiling, cutting through the air horizontally. Had Pan not backed up in time, she would have been a head shorter! The scythe quickly disappeared into a slot upon the opposite wall. After catching her breath, the researcher quickly started looking around the room, both for clues and anymore random saw blades.

Posted by: Douken Sota Mar 3 2013, 12:03 AM

It seemed like pan took on the initiative on heading down first down the hill, her child side popping up as she came down. When he did, it was more of the adventure-style one foot in front of the other with a hand as a balance type of slide. Yeah, he too had his fun with this, which Pan could see with the smirk on his face, but he had to at least keep in mind why they were here.

"As far as I can tell, as long as the Misdreavus doesn't sneak up behind us, we should be fine. They enjoy the 'scare you from behind suddenly' trick," Reep told them, Douken nodding to her comment.

"Other than that," Douken continued from his ghost's statement, "it seems like this one is the bravest of them all, considering we haven't ran into anything since we got here. Could be since they never stepped foot in here is why, though. Now c'mon, let's go."

After a while of walking, it was clear this place was not made to be unprotected as Pan was nearly beheaded by a flying scythe! "Pan!" Douken called out, rushing over to her side. "Are you alright?" After seeing she was safe, he sighed told her, "How about we keep our eyes out a bit sharper? Most of the times, the traps are slightly noticeable."

Wouldn't it be his luck that further down the hall when he was taking lead, he felt his foot step into the floor. No marks showing it was there and he stepped in one, causing a wall of flame to burst out right in front of him with flames coming from both left and right. Normally, the reaction would be to step back, but doing so would engulf him in a separate wall going up and down, entrapping him in flames. Luckily, there wasn't enough fuel in the blazes to cook him in the over, but he was still sweating hard when the flames died down, air blowing from the spigots. Falling over, he too had to catch his breath from his shock.

Posted by: Toogee Mar 10 2013, 11:36 AM

While Pan and Douken were recovering from their near death experiences, the misdreavus couldn’t help but giggle.

“Hee hee hee. That looks like a fun game! I wanna play!”

The ghost pokemon proceeded to dust sand off a tile and pushed upon it. The tile depicted a blue water droplet, resulting in a jet of scalding hot water to shoot across the room. Luckily, the misdreavus was close to the ground, avoiding the trap. She tried again with a metal tile; a large metal spike descended from the ceiling. It seemed all of the tiles set off some terrible trap that would cause the humans bodily harm. That was until the misdreavus tried to push down on a white star title. She pushed with all her might, but no trap was triggered. Pan surmised that that was the key to getting across.

“It seems that the normal tiles are safe,” Pan said to Douken. “First, we need to get this sand out of the way. We need a pokemon that can use gust or some sort of wind attack.” None of her pokemon had such capabilities. Douken however…

Posted by: Douken Sota Mar 11 2013, 01:21 AM

"Define 'Normal tile' ," Douken muttered as he watched the Misdrevous bounce along the tiles, trying to trigger whatever could pop up next. "Now, Sabre doesn't focus his wings into blowing away dust, but I think I know someone who can." Reaching for his belt, he pulled off the irregular Pokeball before tossing it out, calling, "Canaan, help me out!" In a burst of light from the opening ball, Douken's Dragonair made her presence known. "Canaan, think you can blow away this dust?"

With a happy cry, a spiral of wind began to form around her horn before it was shot out, a spiral of wind shot out, the Twister lifting the dust into the air, revealing the floor a lot easier before it started to settle once more. Still, it was plenty of time for them to see what was set up and get across before everything was hidden again. then again, considering the dust, it would take a lot more time than how long they planned to stay.

Posted by: Toogee Mar 17 2013, 10:29 AM

The dragon pokemon summoned a violent storm right out of her horn, send sand swirling around the room. The move caught the misdreavus by surprise, sending the ghost into the miniature maelstrom. As the storm stopped, the misdreavus was sent through a wall, passing through without a trace. As the sand settled, much of it was concentrated along the sides of the room, leaving a clear path in the middle.

“See those symbols?” Pan said to Douken. “They represent some sort of element. There’s fire, water, electric…and that white star must represent normal.” The researcher was pointing out each symbol, giving particular attention to the “normal” tiles. “I used to play a card game that had similar symbols. So if I’m correct…”

Without warning, Pan leaped across several tiles to land on the white star. The room remained silent. She took another step to the next normal tile and waved Douken forward. Luckily for them, there was a decent path of these tiles, allowing the two to get across without incident.

“So far, so good,” Pan commented as they continued down the hall.
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Further down, the hall ended abruptly, a pile of rubble blocking the way. Fortunately, there was a hole blown out of a side wall, leading to another path. Unfortunately, it was a much more recent excavation.

“There was no collapse here,” Pan noticed, examining the black powder around the hole. “This is gunpowder, which means someone was making their own paths. It must be them.”

Pan looked over to Douken, feeling bad for dragging him here. If it weren’t for her, they’d be in Gigarte by now, worrying about gym badges and possible grass stains. Now, they had to contend with cults and the possible end of the world. Her adventures were likely more than he bargained for. How could such a simple mission snowball into this?

“I know this trip was a little more- OK, a lot more than you were expecting. Ahead of us are a bunch of cult members who will not be happy to see us. Before we go see them, I just want to say that I’m sorry dragging you into all these messes.”

As she spoke, a melancholy song flowed into their ears. It felt sad, yet neither could understand the lyrics; it was not from a human singer.

“Is that…music?” Pan asked, not realizing that the song she had just heard was the Perish Song. Beyond the hole in the wall, a jynx with a red scarf was acting as the source of the song. Using some sort of telepathy, she was able to implant the song directly into the minds of her victims. This left her fellow disciples unaffected. All she would have to do was avoid getting knocked out before time ran out. With several disciples between her and our heroes, she was at an advantage.

They didn’t know it yet, but the countdown timer had begun for Pan and Douken…

Posted by: Douken Sota Mar 17 2013, 12:25 PM

After performing a game of Hot Lava with the non-normal tiles, it seemed like Pan was apologizing for the messes she brought him into it. After he returned Canaan (she didn't exactly have a lot of space to move about in here), the Amazon placed his hand on top of Pan's head and scrambled up her hair, telling her back, "You know you are a trouble magnet, right? Someone has to make sure you two get home safely." He topped that statement off with a grin, as if to say that it was no real problem.

However, a voice echoed in his mind. A singing voice. It was if they were listening to an opera where the main character had died, amplifying the sad and dark scene that was before the audience. However, the voice in his head didn't sound human at all. It was sending a chill down his spine. "I don't like this at all... One, rock is more enjoyable, and two, I think its safe to say that they know we are here. We need to hurry.

And wouldn't it figure, when they turn past the hall, there they stood. "Called it," he muttered before pointing forward. "Reep, Shadow Sneak!" The command told the Dusclops to sink into the shadows, the small part on top of her head barely showing through as she suddenly moved forward, reaching the enemy in front of her in seconds. All tht was left to throw some Punches and fight their way through. However, one was not enough. "Koldo, time to fight!" Retrieving his second Pokeball, he sent out his toxic frog, who saw the crowd more as punching bags than opponents. Dashing in with a Bullet Punch to a human disciple's stomach, he had a small chuckle as he went to the next opponent, letting the human vomit from the poison.

Posted by: Toogee Mar 31 2013, 10:16 PM

As soon as they rounded the corner, several other disciples faced them, ready to strike. Luckily, this group was all human: no problem for all their pokemon. Douken was handling himself quite well, his dusclops and croagunk landing solid shots at the thugs. It was time for Pan to get her team together.

“Frog! Hydro Pump!”

As quickly as the poliwhirl materialized, he unleashed a powerful blast of water, sending three disciples on their backs and in a puddle of water. Chi-Chi immediately jumped out of Pan’s vest, seeing an opportunity for an attack.

“That’s right! Thunder wave!”

The pachirisu cheered as an electric pulse burst out of her cheeks, hitting the puddle of water. The attack spread into all three enemies, putting the whole group into paralysis. All that was left was the jynx at the end of the hall. And yet, she did not attack. The pokemon merely stared at the pair. That was when the song started again. This time though, Pan was wincing; the song was giving her a mean headache. This gave the jynx a chance to dash around the corner once more to escape retaliation.

By the time Pan recovered, the pokemon had escaped. She planned to pursue the enemy, but her pokemon stopped her. Chi-Chi was chirping frantically, while Frog was urging the researcher to sit down. The woman was confused at first…until she felt something wet in her ear. Touching it confirmed the severity of her situation.

“Douken,” Pan said, some nervousness in her tone. Her forefinger was covered in blood.
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The jynx had entered a central plaza, one that had spiral staircases. She had climbed one of them, though both led to the same location. The second floor consisted of a chamber, which was currently filled with chanting disciples. In the center of the room was what appeared to be a sewer cap, the seal that locked their master away. Around this seal were 23 unconscious bodies, all in beds surrounding the seal. Leading this procession was a man with a short graying beard. He was smiling: the preparations were nearly complete.

“Lord Damien, our sister Jynx has returned. Two more intruders have entered the halls. She senses that they have been underground.”

“Excellent,” Damien exclaimed. “Then we won’t have to go far for the final sacrifices. Surround them on both sides. The course they have set will not be reversed.”

“They will kneel before the end…”

Posted by: Douken Sota Apr 1 2013, 02:33 AM

What was with that Jynx? She simply stared at them as the melody rang in his ears. Not until everyone in the way was taken out did she actualy do something, and all she did was run. However, that's when he started to feel it. His heart throbbed in an odd way, making Douken choke and cough harshly. having coughed into his shoulder, he saw the blood he let spill out of his body. It wasn't the venom he took care of either. "Shit," Douken muttered. For him to cuss out like that, things were bad. "Reep, hurry. After that Jynx. Take her out fast!" Another cough force its way out of Douken, causing him to fall to his knees.

"How can I be so stupid," Douken muttered before looking over at Pan. She was bleeding from her ears like her eardrums busted violently. So, she got affected too, he thought as he tried to catch his breath. "We got to stop that Jynx now," he told Pan, his voice low and serious and he said, "or else we will find out if there is actually a way for someone to die from a Perish Song..."

Currently, Perish Song was only very harmful to the ears of humans and caused the user and the Pokemon around to pass out. However, it was never tested on his it would be if the song was sent into the Pokemon's mind, let alone a human. Testing it was too risky, so it was actually never tried and almost like an unwritten taboo. Luckily, if Pokemon can get away from the song like in a Pokeball, they can recover from it. Humans had so such safety spot, but most likely it would require the user to be active for all the time for the song to have the effect they wish.

With Reep diving into the shadows to move via Shadow Sneak to chase the Jynx, Douken went into a full sprint, Koldo chasing after him. However, his balance could be clearly be seen as off as he tried to force himself up the staircase.

Posted by: Toogee Apr 6 2013, 07:42 AM

Pan had never heard of a move as Perish Song. Judging from Douken’s ominous warning, it meant certain doom for the two. The blood running from her ear freaked her out enough to follow Douken to the jynx. Chi-Chi and Frog reluctantly followed; it seemed to be the only way to save their human.

As they entered the central plaza, Pan immediately felt dozens of eyes gaze upon her. The room was packed with disciples, none of whom were happy to see our heroes. Shouts of “infidels!” filled the air as dark cloaked figures descended upon the pair and their pokemon. Many of them came running down the stairs against Douken’s sprint, impeding his progress. The researcher remained at the foot of the stairs, occupied by the ground forces.

The first to attack was a floatzel and a persian, both clad in red scarf and dyed white hair upon their heads. These opponents wouldn’t be too much trouble for her poliwhirl and pachirisu.

“Frog, Hypnosis! Chi-Chi, Discharge!”

Frog had no trouble putting the cat pokemon down for a cat nap. When Chi-Chi let loose the electric attack however, the bolts were redirected to another pokemon in the crowd: a rhydon. With his Lightning Rod ability active, the pachirisu wouldn’t be able to use her more powerful attacks. The floatzel took advantage of this and Crunched down on the electric squirrel.

“Oh Chi-Chi! Seed Bomb!”

The pachirisu managed to drop the seed bomb as she was bit down by her foe. The resulting explosion caused the pokemon to back off. Pan recalled Chi-Chi to her pokeball and was about to summon another when seemingly everyone descended upon them. Man and pokemon alike closed in on the woman and her poliwhirl, forcing the former to the ground. Frog attempted to hold them back with hydro pump attacks, but there were too many. Pan screamed as pokemon attacks and batons from the humans lashed out at them, the two disappearing into a sea of black.

“ENOUGH!”

The crowd quickly backed away at their leader’s command. Pan was still on the floor, her poliwhirl draped over her. Frog had taken most of the blows, leaving him knocked out. The researcher quickly returned him to his pokeball and looked up to the source of the command.

During all the chaos, Damien watched from the top of the staircase as the heroes fought hard against his forces. He remained calm; victory was inevitable.

“Too long have you gotten in my master’s way,” Damien exclaimed. “If you will not kneel, you will…perish.” He slowly turned to the jynx, giving the signal to finish.
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The jynx was running around the room in an attempt to avoid the spirit chasing her from the shadows. She was not exactly a master of dodging; she was getting pummeled by hits from every dark space in the room. That was until a Protect barrier sprung up in front of her. She had a fellow disciple, a clefable in a red scarf, to thank for that. With Damien’s signal, the jynx began the final verse of her song...

Posted by: Douken Sota Apr 6 2013, 04:10 PM

These Disciples were not letting him go that easily, making sure to stop Douken's progression up after the Jynx. "Out of my way," he said, decking the Disciples out of the way as he tried to force his way higher. However, as he tried to force himself up, a strong blow to the face, made him step back, almost stumbling over the railing.

"Remember me, boy," said a familiar voice, coming from one of the heads known as Antonio. The same man who went after the egg. "You made things harder on us for this day, but what I told you still holds true. We teach the devotion you give, so I shall make this offer to you. Become a Disciple and you will not hear the last verse. Be able to live long enough to see our master rise agai-" His answer was a punch to the face back.

"Yeah right," Douken said, breathing heavily. "I'd rather die than betray my friends and my promise."

"So be it."

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"Hold still!" Reep shouted as another Shadow Punch was thrown, striking yet another Protect barrier from the Clefable. Knowing it can't be thrown up constantly, another punch was thrown. This time, a Mienchao's Detect let her leap in time t pull the Jynx out of the way. "Do are willing to let my trainer die like this?!"

"You make it sound like you've been brainwashed by that human of yours. Not like it matters. In a few seconds, you will have a job to do, Miss Reaper," the Clefable mocked back. "The Song is almost done, and with it, you will have to send them over yourself!"

This angered the ghost-type well enough to throw yet another punch, the Clefable ready to block it. However, it struck the Mienshao instead. "I hope you regret pissing off a Dusclops such as myself..."

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Bu-Bump, Bu-Bump

Antonio were stuck in the stairs, trying to fight each other off. Douken aiming to get past, Antonio to hold him back.

Bu-Bump, Bu-Bump

All he had to do was hold him back, and it wasn't like he was working alone either. No, Antonio still had the other members helping him.

Bu-Bump.... Bu-Bump

It was draining his energy, and the song was running through Douken's head.

Bu-Bump.... Bu-Bump

He couldn't lose like this, he jsut couldn't!

Bu-Bump...... Bu- .....

The young body soon fell over, caught by Antonio. "Sorry boy. Should of at least joined and betrayed us. At least then you would of been able to see the results of our work." And with a push, Douken's body limply went over the railings and falling towards the floor.

Posted by: Toogee Apr 13 2013, 10:10 AM

Pan held her head as the final notes of the song entered her ears; she wasn’t even able to reach her pokeballs for defense. It wasn’t so much pain as it was the shock of the moment. This was it; her story was coming to an end. The music was so beautiful, and yet, very sorrowful. Its beat was slowing down; the song was ending. With each note, Pan felt each labored breath escape from her, taking a little bit of her life with them. She instinctively moved her body into a fetal protection in order to offer some protection to her unborn child.

Pan’s eyes were directed towards a falling body: Douken had succumbed to the song.

“Douken…”

She was far too weak to yell out his name. How could this happen? How could someone so strong be brought down by words? As her eyes followed Douken’s descent, a black misty shape passed through his body. The researcher could not identify the object from that far away, but it was quickly moving closer to her. Pan’s vision started to fade into darkness as the object closed in. The last thing she saw was the face of the little misdreavus they had seen earlier…
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“WEEEEEEEEHEEEEHEEEHEEE!”

Pan opened her eyes with a startle at the gleeful scream. She was zooming down a dark corridor, purple lights passing right by her. As she looked forward, Pan found her hand firmly attached to the little arm of the misdreavus. To her right, she saw Douken. Did that mean…yes! They survived! But how?

“Douken! You’re alright! But…you fell-”

“Course he fell, silly,” the misdreavus blurted out, causing Pan to dart her head towards the pokemon. “Then I came along and saved you both. Now hold on. Don’t wanna lose you in this long drop.”

“You can talk- Wait, we’re FALLING?!”

“WEEEEEEEHEEEEEE!”

Pan screamed the rest of the way as they descended deeper into the tower. When they reached the bottom floor, the misdreavus slowed their descent and rotated their bodies until they landed softly on their feet. Their surroundings were far too dark to see much detail, even with the purple flames overhead. There were many large holes arranged in columns, each with some sort of equally large bundle within.

As the two humans were adjusting to the landing, the misdreavus spoke once more.

“Hello, I’m Missy. I’ll be your rescuer/tour guide for the evening. Hooray! We begin right here at the bottom of the mausoleum. This is where people stored their dead ones. There’s some really cool mummies in here if you wanna check ‘em out.”

“But…how come I understand you?” Pan asked once again, still disoriented from the ride.

“Huh? Oh right! The Mistress told me you might be confused. Anywho, we’re all the same, so it’s really easy to understand each other.”

“But how are we-”

Before Pan could finish, she saw her hands. They were the same color, but…she could see through them. She looked to Douken: he had the same translucent figure as herself. Then that meant…

“We’re ghosts…”

“Winner winner, pidgey dinner!”
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Back in the central plaza, Pan’s body went limp; her breathing was barely noticeable. And yet, as one of the hooded figures checked for a pulse, she was still alive. The song had put her in some sort of coma. The disciples quickly turned their attention to Damien for advice on how to proceed.

“Prepare them for sacrifice. Our master is waiting.”

And so, the disciples gathered to carry the bodies up the stairs with the others, preparing for the final ceremony to bring their master back.

Posted by: Douken Sota Apr 13 2013, 11:33 AM

Maybe it was pure chance. Maybe it was fate. The possibility of actually getting the Shadow Punch in through a failed Protect stopped the last word from being said and actually killing them. She never heard it, since it was focused into the minds of the humans, but she did not want to accept their deaths.

After taking care of the Jynx, Reep heard the commotion stop. She had to look. Douken's body was lying on top of a group of disciples as Pan fell, holding her stomach. "They can't be dead!" she believed, diving into the shadows to zoom to each of them, hiding from the humans to check out their bodies. Douken was beaten pretty badly in his brawl, but his heart was beating. Slightly, but it was beating. Same with Pan, except less physical injuries. But something was up. "Where are their souls? Oh no!" She had to dive deeper!

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Douken's eyes slowly began to open, and wouldn't he figure it, he opened up to falling. Well, more like being dragged by someone falling, but it was falling nonetheless. And Pan was with him for some reason. Their dragger was a Misdreavus, most likely the one they saw playing with the traps. He wanted to ask what was going on, but Pan's screaming didn't let him get a word in.

After they were landed, the Misdreavus, acknowledging herself as Missy, pretty much told them what was going on, Pan, helping fill in the dots. Even with Douken looking through his hand, he simply could not believe it. What what about where they really were? The world was dark and any form of light gave off a purple glow. "Is this what ghost see when they dive in the shadows?" he muttered to himself, still asking questions in their current state. however, part of him had to ask Missy this, "So, what do you mean by rescuers? Cause if we are ghosts, then I am sure we haven't really been rescued."

Before Missy was given time to answer, a loud thump could be heard from behind before energy spikes were sent over to the Screech Pokemon, draining of her energy. "That's better,"said a familiar voice. "Sorry, but after a fall like that, some replenishing is needed." And sure enough, who walked into their view was Reep. With her pointing a finger at Missy, she commanded, "Now return those souls back to their bodies before my mother finds out about this! They still have more to be done before they pass over!" Wouldn't it be odd to find out that Missy was a little sister, considering her father is a Mismagius.

Posted by: Toogee Apr 27 2013, 09:16 AM

“Well if you want to get technical and all, I rescued your souls,” Missy clarified for Douken. “The Mistress said something bad was going to happen here, so I’m here to gather innocent souls. So you really should be thanking me for leaving you trapped in your bodies for all eternity. You’re welcome!”

Pan was still in shock. They were dead. She didn’t even get a chance to tell Darryn and the rest of her friends goodbye or see how they were doing. Meanwhile Justin was fighting a clandestine criminal organization in the hopes of creating a better life for Pan and their child. He would be risking his life in vain, and he wouldn’t even know it until it was too late. Wait…the baby.

“Where’s my baby?” Pan asked, very worried that the child was left behind.

“Huh? But…I only saw two,” Missy replied, very confused. “Oh crackers! You had a baby?! That must mean the kid’s still-”

Just then Reep showed up and attacked the misdreavus, demanding that Pan and Douken be returned to the land of the living. Missy was quite displeased, especially given the dire situation.

“OK, first of all, OW!” Missy tended to her wounds and continued. “And second, it’s their time. The Mistress says the Darkness is coming, so we gotta go to the other side!”

“WHERE’S MY BABY?!”

Pan interrupted the argument, very angry that her child was being ignored. If she truly had to leave this world, she wouldn’t leave the baby to Darkrai’s malice. Missy, taken aback by the yelling, composed herself and floated towards another hall.

“I think we should see the Mistress about that.” With a shrill whistle, the misdreavus summoned one of the purple flames to join them. As the fire came closer, its form was revealed to be another ghost pokemon, a litwick.

“This way everyone! Just follow the light!”
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It wasn’t long before the group entered another room, one filled with celebration. Dozens of ghost pokemon were gathered, all dancing in large circles. In the middle of these circles, litwicks, lampents, and chandelures were joining in, creating violet bonfires for the other ghosts to dance around. One of the ghastly wanted Missy to join in, but she sadly declined.

“Maaaaaan, I wanted to play,” Missy said disappointedly before looking back at her guests. “Say, you guys want to have a little fun before we meet-”

Pan’s eyes burned a hole through the misdreavus, who took that as a “no” to the festivities. She led the group to the back of the room, where some sort of white light pulsated throughout the vicinity. Maintaining this light was a single ghost pokemon, a dusknoir that towered over the group. She took a break from maintaining the light source to greet the group.

“Ah, Missy, I see you were successful. Two souls on your first trip! Excellent!” The dusknoir turned to the others, but her eye quickly met that of the dusclops.

“Reeparnos Qan Gazile…”she said, at last meeting her daughter after so long. “Oh Reep, it is so good of you to join us in the End. And I see you’ve met your sister.”

“Wait, sister?” Missy questioned, already wondering how to take advantage of this new development. “Mom, she hurt me! Give her a time out or something!”

Posted by: Douken Sota Apr 27 2013, 11:08 PM

"Now is not time for games!" Reep shouted, her voice echoing so loud that it disrupted the festivities of the ghosts. her eye stared at her mother, giving off such a serious aura it even gave Douken the chills. Who would argue against death?! "Their times are not up, you should see this yourself. There are lives here that are still able to grow old, do stupid and dangerous stunts, get themselves in danger. Some lives are not even here yet to enjoy it." The last peace seemed to of been pointed towards Pan.

"But I understand what is going on. The men on the side of the Living, right above where we are, are opening Darkrai's seal and we all know that when he awakes, everyone will be stuck within an eternal nightmare. But that is why we're here!" Clenching her fists, one sparked of electricity as the other burst into flames. "We came to fight. To prevent his seal from opening, or if needed, fight him ourselves. But we can't do it if we are over here at the Gate!"

There was a small pause before Dusclops cleared her throat, turning around to the humans souls and said, "How rude of me. Douken, Pan. This is Qestra Za Gazile, my mother. You would know her as one of the grim reapers who wander this world and collect the souls of the dead who refuse to cross, or in this case, who don't wish to take part in Darkrai's nightmare." Douken almost fell over. Not exactly the best moment for introductions, Reep!

Straightening himself back up from it, Douken added on, "You are right, Reep. And besides, we made a promise to Cressilia. We promised her that we would have Darkrai to continue sleeping, even if we risk ourselves in the eternal nightmare ourselves!"

Posted by: Toogee May 5 2013, 09:53 AM

As Reep chastised the ghosts and demanded the humans be revived, the lighting around the room began to darken. The dusknoir’s presence grew much larger and foreboding, looking down upon the visitors. She was not too pleased with Reep’s outburst.

“Oooh, you’re in trouble now!” Missy laughed as the dusknoir began to speak.

“Reeparnos Qan Gazile, you disappear to who knows where, come back after so long, disrupt the Final Festival, and you have the audacity to tell me how to do my task? You all came and you did fight. But you failed. You were the last hope to stop him and you failed. We have no choice but to retreat into the light.”

“But this world is worth fighting for!” It was Pan who joined in the conversation, determined to hold onto life for as long as she could.

“Sure, that world beyond might be perfect with white shores and green pastures, and this one has plenty of problems. We can do better and we have. I’ve seen beings with the power of the elements at their command swoop down and save those far weaker than them from certain death. I have seen the past, the places we came from, and how far we have grown since then. I have seen friends take on great evil at the risk of their lives and their pokemons’, not for fame or fortune but because it was the right thing to do! And I have seen this world on the brink of destruction, only to be saved at the final hour by nothing short of a miracle. There will be many stories like those to be told, but not if you give up on us now. This story is not over yet; there are still plenty of pages to turn. With your help, we can keep going.”

The room was stunned to silence. The dusknoir pondered the words for a few moments before responding.

“Is this what you both truly want?”

“Absolutely,” Pan replied.

“Then open your eyes.”
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In a literal blink of an eye, Pan found herself on a gurney along with 25 other people. The first thing she noticed was the loud chanting that filled the room. The disciples were fervently worshipping the seal in the center, the cap surrounded by very active spiritomb.

“Master Darkrai, we have gathered 25 souls that have walked the Old World, now buried deep beneath the new. Be free! BE FREE!”

Pan looked over herself. She was no longer in street clothes but in a simple white gown. In addition, her hair was wet. She was likely cleansed prior to being sacrificed, something that creeped her out very much. The researcher also noticed that she wasn’t chained down to the bed; no one was expecting her to wake up. This would also explain why her belt of pokeballs were laid right next to her. She looked to her right; Douken was in an adjacent bed with similar attire. As soon as he woke, Pan whispered to him.

“Ready?”

Posted by: Douken Sota May 5 2013, 01:43 PM

As the two souls vanished from the presence of the ghosts, Reep nodded her head as a thanks and turned around, ready to head back to the other side. "Wait," The Dusknior commanded, causing her daughter to stop. "Do you really believe they can do it?"

"Of course," Reep assured her. "I've been with the male ever since I vanished, and all this time, I was treated like family. The female is kind-hearted who can't say no. Both of them are smart, brave, and daring. Most of all, where we are at right now, they simply can't believe they can do it. With the fate of the world, they must."

"I see." With a pause of silence, Qestra hovered over to Reep's side before taking her arm. "Then promise me this. When their time comes, please send them over peacefully." The mouth on her stomach opened up, where the Dusknior reached in and pulled out a Reaper Cloth, tying it to her daughter's arm. "And don't something to make them worry like you did me. I will have to punish you if you run away from their home as well."

With the air still, Reep ran off through the shadows, holding her mother's words at heart, yet worrying abou them later. She had to join the others. Their fight was only beginning.

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His eyes shot open onto the new terrain, his body taking in a sharp gasp of air, deafened by the loud chanting and focus of the cultists. He was no longer at the bottom of the stairs where he was pushed, but laying on top of a gurney. He was changed into a white ceremonial suit like some sort of sacrifice and water dripped from the edges of his glasses. Trying to move his head as little as possible, he tried to look at what was around him. No form of restraints, his belt was laid right next to him, and best of all, Pan was in a gurney right next to him, her eyes open and lively as well.

"Ready?" he heard her whisper, and with a smile, he slowly moved his hand to his belt, getting a Pokeball ready. Right now, he didn't care who it was, as long as it caused enough commotion to ruin their ceremony. "Let's ruin this party," he whispered back, flicking a Pokeball off the belt. It bounced off the floor in a matter if there was no chanting or focused, it would of rose suspicion. However, with it breaking open, it could surely ruin the scene.

"SPAAARCE!" In a yawnish cry, it seemed Balisk was the one that was taken out for the distraction. Might of not looked good, until she let out an ear-piercing Screech. A good enough sign to then roll out of the stretcher, throw his belt over his shoulder, and proceed to ramming the gurney into the gut of the closest black cloak he saw.

Posted by: Toogee May 12 2013, 09:50 AM

As Douken started things off, Pan followed up with her own pokemon.

“Turnip, Vine Whip!”

The venusaur materialized out of the pokeball and immediately swept his vines across the room. Many of the disciples fell flat on their backs, particularly the ones about to charge the pair of trainers. Needless to say, Damien wasn’t pleased with their awakening.

“They are enemies of your master! Destroy them!”

The pokemon amongst the disciples rose up first, approaching the dunsparce and venusaur for a fight. Amongst them was a magmortar, who had his fire cannon set on the grass pokemon. Pan summoned her arcanine Fenrir to take the enemy’s flamethrower attack. This activated the fire type’s ability Flash Fire, which Pan would utilize to stop the madness.

“Fenrir, Flamethrower on one of those spiritomb!”

A stream of fire shot past the magmortar and ignites one of the spiritomb trying to release Darkrai from his prison. The heat proved too much for the servant, causing the pokemon to retreat back to his keystone.

“Come on, get up!” Damien yelled at the other disciples. Strangely, none answered, as if they were asleep. The leading disciple rushed to the balcony to rally those still on the first floor. To his shock, all of them were lying prone on the floor. This could only mean one thing…

“He is already here…”

Damien sat down upon the floor and watched the pokemon battle. He sung softly, rocking back and forth. The disciple did not appear right in his mind, but he did not care. Soon, his long-awaited salvation would claim him too.

He had already won.

Posted by: Douken Sota May 13 2013, 10:27 AM

The one who challenged Balisk was an Infernape: the same one who fought against Douken when it was a Monferno over at the Ranch. It was clear that he was glad to see that human gain. A good time for revenge. With his fist igniting into a ball of flames, it was clear that he-too had changed some. It was more like he was showing off his ability, Iron Fist. "I will have my revenge..." the Infernape told the Dunsparce, who merely responded with a yawn. Vein pulsing, the monkey screamed out, "QUIT MOCKING ME!"

And that was when the ritual area was surrounded in a bluish cube, slowing down the monkey's punch for the Dunsparce to hop away. "Got to love Trick Room," Reep said as she suddenly appeared behind the monkey, placing her hand in the back of his head, using Astonish. "But you know, it doesn't seem like your brain changed since our last meeting." Neither was the reaction when he jumped and flailed about from the eerie sensation. With the monkey readying his burning fist, Reep covered hers in shadow, and their fists clashed.

With Douken watching everything, it was clear their numbers were dwindling down fast, and not because they were fighting. No, it just seemed like they were passed out asleep... and their leader showing to be a bit of a nut right now."If you want to sleep," Douken muttered before pacing at Damien (which made it look like he was sprinting), "then let me help!" Within reach, he sent his knee into the crazed leader's face, causing his nose to bleed from the impact before he felt something familiar start to overcome him. Not again... We are being.... forced... to... sleep.... And with that, his body fell on the floor, passed out like the others.

Posted by: Toogee May 19 2013, 09:30 AM

Pan continued to order her arcanine to spew flames upon the spiritomb around the seal, a desperate attempt considering Douken had already fallen unconscious. In fact, the other pokemon disciples finally succumbed to darkness. Only one figure remained. He merely stood against the wall, amidst the shadows.

“You there,” Pan addressed the figure, “Get out of the dark and surrender!”

“Ah, but I am the dark…”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPJKuygePHk

The figure turned to Pan and her pokemon, the shroud falling to the ground. He had a white spire upon his head, a red neckpiece, and a body of eternal darkness. There was no mistaking what pokemon this was.

This was Darkrai.

The pitch black pokemon acted first, punching the ground. What was left was a dark void, a black hole that began sucking everything and everyone within it. The sleeping bodies were the first to get sucked in. Pan ran to the other side of the room to grab the stair railing, but she had to use both hands to hang on. This left her unable to return her venusaur and arcanine back into their pokeballs. Both pokemon cried out as they too disappeared into the black.

“No!”

Just like that, Pan lost two of her best friends. Soon enough she lost a third as Douken entered the void. She had very little time to mourn, for the black hole became stronger. It tore the railing out of the floor, sending Pan into darkness.
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When Pan awoke, she found herself in her street clothes and without pokeballs. That wasn’t what concerned her however. She was outside, yet still on top of the tower. Pan could see miles in every direction, including the city of Lenoilia. There, the researcher recognized several disciples destroying the city with their bare hands. Curiously, they were also screaming in agony as they suffered through their dream-turned nightmare. Further across the rooftop, she recognized Douken. Pan ran to him and helped him up (if needed). She looked up to see a small staircase that led to a black throne, upon which was their captor.

“Welcome to the New Order,” Darkrai told the two before him.

“What have you done?!” Pan shouted as she looked back to the pokemon. “You’re destroying the city!”

“Only in this universe, yes,” Darkrai retorted. “But in your time, you and my disciples are fast asleep. They are simply living out their fantasies.”

“Those screams don’t sound like they’re enjoying it.”

“Be careful what you for in the dark. I promised them ultimate power in my world. They did not realize that their bodies could not handle such power, yet they accepted the terms wholeheartedly.”

“You monster! They’re in a nightmare!”

“Exactly what this world is powered on. As more join this world, it shall expand to encompass all of Furoh, perhaps beyond. My world shall supplant Arceus’ rule.”

“Not if we have anything to say about it,” As soon as she said this, Cresselia’s feather appeared in her hand, as if by magic. Darkrai nodded as he saw the artifact from his rival.

“Fascinating. So this is why you have resisted the nightmare so far. However, I do not believe you will get very far. After all, you have no allies.”

Pan looked down to her belt to find that there were no pokeballs. Her entire team was not with her. What became of Turnip and Fenrir? Suddenly, the researcher was far less brave than she was a few second ago, especially when she realized that Darkrai had disappeared from his throne.

“What?!”

Two black arms burst out of the human’s own shadows, attacking Pan and Douken with a quick attack. Pan was quickly knocked off her feet and onto her back. Darkrai reemerged from the shadows and looked down upon the humans.

“Tell me, what can a piece of down do to me?”

Posted by: Douken Sota May 19 2013, 03:07 PM

Douken's eyes slowly opened up to the world that was now being destroyed by those they were fighting, yet as they gloried in their new found power, they also gave out echoes of pain. When pan ran up to him, he muttered, "I'm alright," and accepted her assistance up. After a moment of looking about, he found the staircase with Pn and followed her down to Darkrai's throne.

After a while of talk, Darkrai mentioned overtaking Arceus' rule on the world. "As if," he simply spat back before a faint purple glow emitted from his pocket. Curious on this change, he reached in and pulled out his own Lunar Wing, which he swore he had his parents store away. Not that I can complain. Thanks, Cressrelia. Not that Darkrai seemed worried about his rival's gift. None of them had any Pokemon on hand to fight, and they were struck in the chest by Shadow Punches it seemed.

"I don't get what you mean by no allies," Douken said, pushing himself back up to his feet. "I got two allies with me right now. The first is Pan. The second is Cresselia. Both of which is enough to give me something to fight for." Taking a fighting stance, he was willing to fight off the darkness himself before the feather he had began to glow bright, engulfing the area.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Everything suddenly became a different place. No longer was there a city being ruined my disciples. Well, there was no city to begin with. It was a boat! The S.S. Lynnette! "What the?" Douken questioned, looking around at the nostalgic setting. This was when I first left home to begin my journey, Douken thought as he caught a glimpse of what he was wearing. He was dressed in a yellow T with a pair of shorts, what he usually wore on the island before the shocking cold reality from the Castle. It would of been complete deja vu, if it wasn't the fact that Pan and Darkrai were still with him.

"You know," he said, talking to Darkrai himself, "This feels more like a dream than a nightmare. Its what ever trainer can't forget. their first step out of town to begin their journey. Their dream before they begin their adventure. Unknown challenges. Unknown destinations. The collection of people that one would meet. To a trainer, it all begins here, and it never starts as a nightmare!" There, he felt some weight hit his belt. Taking a feel, he felt two Pokeballs ready for use. "What they also dream about is their first battle!"

Using a quick surprise tactic, he took the Pokeball and tossed it out, bursting out a Croagunk. Koldo at the time, but with the strength of now. "Now Koldo, Brick Break!"

Posted by: Toogee May 25 2013, 06:56 AM

Pan was shocked to see their surroundings suddenly transform into a cruise ship. Immediately after that, a belt formed around her waist, complete with a single pokeball. Her normal clothes also returned around her body. As Douken clarified, this was one of his memories. So that’s what the feather did. It gave control of their dreams to Douken and Pan. It made them equals to Darkrai in this domain. That didn’t mean the dark type would give up without a fight, particularly one where a croagunk landed the first blow.

The legendary hissed loudly as the brick break pushed him to the railing of the ship deck. He quickly rose up before them to show that he would not be defeated so easily.


“Do you think putting me in your memories is wise? I do not need any feathers to manipulate your mind. I can turn you greatest victories into astounding defeats. Your entire journey will become but a big nightmare, one to power my world!”

Darkrai began his assault with a Disable attack, raising his towards the croagunk. With a flash from his green eyes, the fighting move was put out of commission. At this point, Pan jumped in with her own pokemon to back Douken up.

“Let’s go…Turnip!” The researcher surmised that if Douken’s team consisted of what he had when he arrived, there could only be one pokemon at her side. Sure enough, Turnip appeared onto the scene, but he was a very different pokemon than Pan was used to seeing.

“Bulbasaur…BULBA?!”

Turnip was really surprised at his shrunken appearance. Pan would have loved to take up her starter in her arms once again…if it weren’t for the fact that they were currently engaged with the king of nightmares.

“Turnip, focus! Use vine whip to hold Darkrai down!”

“BULBA?!”

This day was full of surprises for Turnip. Now they were facing off with a creature spoken only in legend. And he had the task of holding said legend down as a tiny bulbasaur. Still, he felt the strength of a venusaur within him and obliged the command. Vines wrapped around Darkrai’s right arm, hopefully making him an easier target.

“Unwise.”

Darkrai proceeded to swing his arm, launching the bulbasaur into the air. Wielding the grass type like a mace, the nightmare pokemon attempted to beat down the croagunk with his own ally.

Posted by: Douken Sota May 25 2013, 12:56 PM

"Turnip, let go!" Douken cried out. Sure, he had his Venusaur strength, but he had no form of his weight to act as an anchor. All it was doing was letting Darkrai use him as a flail. Sure, Koldo was doing his best to avoid getting blunted from his ally, but there was a moment both of them felt pain without even getting hit. "Don't tell me..." That's when a small shock hit him. Bad Dreams. Since they are Darkrai's foes fighting in Dream World, they had to first be asleep, and from there they can feel the affects of it. If that was true, just like Dream Eater, attacks affected by sleep could work, but they themselves could not fall asleep, since they already are. This may put sleep-status attacks and Rest useless, but attacks like Nightmare, Dream Eater, Hex, Wake-Up Slap, and Snore easily usable. Still, first thing's first.

"Now Koldo, Bullet Punch!" jumping over his weapon-of-a-friend, he got towards darkrai's stomach and unleash a large set of fast, steel-type blows. However, even with the metallic sheen, his fists flashed purple with every strike. So he still has Poison touch...

Posted by: Toogee May 26 2013, 07:41 AM

Pan looked on in horror as her bulbasaur was used as a weapon against Douken’s pokemon. Even though Darkrai wasn’t entirely accurate, he was very successful in beating down the bulbasaur, for every time he missed, Turnip hit the floor. When Koldo landed his punch, Darkrai overshot, tossing the bulbasaur upward. Unfortunately, that was also the same time that Turnip let go, exhausted from being swung around. This sent the grass type across the ship deck; he was going overboard!

Pan rushed after Turnip, keeping her eyes on the falling pokemon. Though she did catch him, she also ran into the railing, flipping her over the protective barrier. Had Turnip not thought to grab the railing with his vines, both would have been in the water. The tired bulbasaur held on with whatever strength he had left so Pan could get back to deck.

Meanwhile, Darkrai took the opportunity to strike back. A pair of purple jaws emerged from his head, rushing straight for the poison frog. Dream Eater wouldn’t normally work, but in this world, his foes were already asleep. The poison would whittle away at the legendary’s health, but with the dream eater attack, he would recover both the poison damage as well as that inflicted from brick break. The psychic attack would also show his foe that Darkrai was no ordinary foe.

“Your first battle shall end in defeat! Submit now and avoid this memory!”

“Submit this! Turnip, Seed Bomb!”

Pan and Turnip reached the top of the railing when she commanded the attack. Several seed pods were launched from the bulbasaur’s back, exploding in Darkrai’s face. The flash was far brighter than the attack normally produced; their entire surroundings were engulfed in white light. The smell of seawater was replaced by the aroma of a tropical paradise.

When the light subsided, Pan instantly knew where she was. They were surrounded by a forest of tree sized mushrooms, their iridescent glow providing the dim lighting. The room reached hundreds of feet in the air, where one giant mushroom hung like a chandelier. Though Pan recalled several species of bug pokemon residing here, they were all absent. Still, there was no mistaking: they were in her memory. They were in the Inner Sanctum of the Wooden Skyscraper.

“Still just as beautiful as I remember,” Pan commented as she looked at her surroundings. She couldn’t admire it for long; Darkrai was not here to sightsee.

“Turnip, get some rest,” she said as she recalled her bulbasaur into his pokeball. She realized that, at this point, in her journey, she met her third team member. The pachirisu would not have changed one bit, at least in terms of size.

“Let’s go Chi-Chi!”

Posted by: Douken Sota May 26 2013, 10:18 AM

Unfortunately, his theory was correct as the dream eater snacked on Koldo in a fell swoop, knocked the frog out. "Koldo, return!" Having to send him back, he still had one more option on his belt. "Maya, now its your turn!" With this, he was able to send out his Seel, who clapped happily as if nothing has changed. Well, at least mentally. If we can time things right, we may be able to get a moment to hit hard, he thought before looking over to Pan."Alright, now is the time to pull off something big and painful! Maya, Aurora Beam!"

With Maya's horn glowing in a blend of colors, she launched a large aurora-like beam at Darkrai, having that chance to not only do a nice chunk of damage, but also reduce Darkrai's Attack power. He needed something Darkrai would dislike. Something he would want to disable or use something not as aggressive... Every plan, however, is full of wishful thinkings.

Posted by: Toogee May 27 2013, 07:40 PM

Darkrai held his hand out to block the aurora beam, attempting to keep it away from him. With his other hand, however, the legendary summoned Dark Void. A black hole appeared under the seal pokemon, sucking her towards the darkness. This wasn’t an ordinary attack, however. Everything around them was being affected. The glowing mushroom trees were bending towards the attack. Even Pan had to grab ahold of the foliage to keep her grounded. She could only watch as her pachirisu struggled to get to the enemy.

“Chi-Chi, hurry! Use Super Fang!”

Chi-Chi was slowly moving towards Darkrai, climbing across a giant mushroom to reach her goal. Every movement was a herculean effort for the tiny squirrel. Leaves and twigs flew across the area in a cloud, making it difficult to see. The sanctum filled with the sound of creaking; the giant mushroom hanging on the ceiling was preparing to give way!

“Witness and despair!”

“He's gonna bring the entire tree down!” Pan warned. “Chi-Chi, Discharge!”

The pachirisu obliged, sending bolts of lightning towards the dark type. Darkrai used his other hand to block that attack, but in doing so, it weakened the black hole that he was creating.

“It’s working!” Pan shouted to Douken.

Posted by: Douken Sota May 27 2013, 09:49 PM

"Not well enough," Douken muttered back, looking at the Void he was trying to put them back in. "Good bet if we get caught in that, we will be back at square one, and I would rather take attacks than get to there," he admitted, trying to figure out the next course of action. However, he was trying to block the two attacks which seemed pretty normal. What about something he hated? Worth a gamble. "Maya, switch things up to Signal Beam!"

And like a miracle to him, she was able to do it. Maybe because somewhere in her she can use it or because she already did, the field of rainbows soon turned into waves of purple and blues, going from Ice to Bug. If he couldn't stop something Super Effective against Dark types, he may have to use both hands or use the previous move to stop it. Then he may be able to catch him with his trap.

Posted by: Toogee May 28 2013, 08:12 PM

With addition of the bug attack, Darkrai could no longer hold up the dark void. The black hole began to collapse on itself as the dark type struggled in pain. In a flash of light, the attack disappeared. At the same time, a cold front blew through the area as snow began to fall. The Inner Sanctum faded away, and in its place, a rooftop made of stone. Pan and Douken found themselves on top of Castle Vonmoto.

Just like in the adventure, Pan was wrapped in her sweatshirt and had an additional pokeball at her command. However, Darkrai still remained, still standing even after all those attacks.

The legendary started dividing himself into copies, a form of the Double Team attack. The area filled with laughter as multiple Darkrai surrounded the team. Copies appeared directly behind the humans, causing Pan to quickly back away. There seemed to be dozens, some appearing as high up as the adjacent spire.

“Chi-Chi, return!” Pan recalled her pokemon in favor of her newly arrived teammate. “Fenrir!”

Fenrir reemerged, currently in his growlithe form. Pan immediately ordered an Odor Sleuth, and the fire-type went to work. Sniffing around the area, he didn’t seem to react to any of the nearby Darkrai. However, Fenrir started barking like crazy once he looked up. The real Darkrai was on top of the tower!

Posted by: Douken Sota May 28 2013, 09:55 PM

Castle Vonmoto. His first near-death experience as well as legendary encounter. Its where he met many of his friends, including Pan. it was because of a promise (which could of been seen as a joke) and future encounter that led them to be where they were traveling together for so long. It would of been stranger and maybe more amusing if they appeared in the Room of Legends, but what's done is done, and there was an army of Darkrai Double Teams. Encore wouldn't work if she cheered on a copy, which would be like cheering on grass to grow.

"Maya, return," he said, returning the Seel as at this time, he had a third usable partner. "Rufus, time to go!" Pairing up with the elderly Growlithe would be the younger, more ADD one, and with Fenrir finding the real one much higher than the illusions, it would be time to clean up a mess. "Flame Burst!" Creating a large ball of fire in his jaw, he fired at one of the illusions, which in turn detonated into a large explosion, the shrapnel of the attack taking out other illusions. "Cmon!" Taking advantage of the hole he made, Douken and Rufus went on to advance before the Double Team decided to cover the hole once again.

Posted by: Toogee May 29 2013, 10:14 PM

Pan followed Douken towards the new entrance into the castle. Darkrai however, wasn’t quite finished with them yet. The legendary remained on the tower and punched downward through the roof. A shockwave resonated through the structure, traveling all the way to the base. The air filled with a horrible creaking as the watchtower started to lean towards the castle. Stone bricks began cascading down upon the castle, creating all sorts of new holes in a rock slide. Darkrai was going to bring down the structure on top of them!

“Return Fenrir!” Pan cried out, but while her pokemon was safe inside his pokeball, she could not outrun the rock slide created by the collapse. After a flash from her feather, she disappeared under the rubble.

Having ridden the tower all the way down, Darkrai hovered past the ruins and witnessed the destruction. This part of the castle was pretty much demolished, giving brand new balconies to all the nearby rooms.

“The nightmare shall never end!”

The legendary went after Douken, looking into the hole he had escaped into. A dark energy pulsated in one of his hands, waiting to blast anything that moved

Posted by: Douken Sota May 29 2013, 11:09 PM

Unlike Pan, Douken managed to find a spot to dive himself into along with Rufus, curling into a ball as the bricks and stones piled around him, leaving the two in an air pocket as Darkrai's original body went to hunt him down. "You re right," Douken told Darkrai, hiding beneath the rubble. "There is just one problem. You have yet to find my nightmare." That was when his feather began to glow, setting the bricks ablaze, the snow into grass, the stars into meteors, and the moon becoming the one that nearly killed them all. It was Poke'Con all over again. Standing up, he declared at the top of his voice, "MY BIGGEST NIGHTMARE IS WORSE THAN THIS!"


Sure enough, the change of field placed in the open, as well as shouting out loud was not the smartest idea, as this sent a Dark Pulse straight at his chest, knocking the wind out of him as well as sending him falling backwards. "I will admit, you are strong," Douken coughed out as he tried tocatch his breath, "but us humans are stubborn. Fire Fang." With Rufus's teeth catching on fire, he snapped his jaw down at Darkrai with a chance of burning and flinching on hand.

Posted by: Toogee May 30 2013, 10:50 PM

The damage was quickly stacking up against Darkrai, especially with the preexisting poison damage. Still, with the growlithe literally at arm’s length, the legendary took the opportunity to recover health with a Dream Eater attack, munching down on the pup in some weird visual of a circular food chain.

Douken proved surprisingly resistant to the turn of events; not even losing Pan in a wave of rubble seemed to have fazed him. That was OK; they had all night to figure out what would finally break him. That is, until something from the tunnel entrance that led to the Underworld. Rather than an army of golurks led by Regigigas, it was a lone figure adorned in samurai armor. The armor was colored with dark shades of pink, blue, and yellow, covering the figure from head to toe. With a crescent moon emblem fixed upon the helmet, it was clear that this figure represented Cresselia in some way. The warrior took off the helmet to reveal her true identity…

“Looks like this feather does more than change the scenery,” Pan remarked as she revealed how she survived the collapsing tower. “Much as I would love to test this armor out, I think it’s time to wrap this up. House party!”

Pan wielded her belt like a whip, flinging her entire team of pokeballs towards Darkrai. Rather than hit the legendary however, the pokeballs merely floated around them. Suddenly, each pokeball opened up, sending Darkrai on his own little trip through the dream world.

“Venusaur!”

Turnip faced off against Darkrai in the middle of the plains of the Hidden Valley, outside the Wooden Skyscraper in Fidona. Combining all of his vines in a massive bat, Turnip smashed into the dark-type, sending him flying across the plains and…underground?

“Pachirisu!”

Chi-Chi caught up with Darkrai in Under Hill, one of the largest human settlements in the Underground. The darkness was quickly pierced as the electric squirrel sent a discharge attack, slamming the foe with a bolts of lightning. Darkrai was pushed into a wall, where he was pulled into and upward…

“ARRRRRR!”

The legendary found himself in the jaws of Pan’s arcanine, Fenrir. They were on the fields of Loch Ranch, the premier breeding facility of Furoh. Fenrir kept his jaws firmly in Darkrai, sending fire and electricity through them with his fang attacks. The arcanine then launched his new chew toy back underground with an explosive flamethrower attack. Darkrai plowed through the earth, landing in another Underground landmark.

“Golurk!”

Droid took over the fight in the Regigigas Temple, one of the last vestiges of the Furite heritage. With Regigigas sitting motionless in the background, the golurk charged Darkrai, sending a dynamic punch into the back of the legendary’s body. This worked with the momentum that Darkrai had already built up from previous attacks, sending him through a wall and into…Petropolis Museum?

“Poliwhirl!”

Frog met up with the flailing Darkrai, falling down on his back in preparation. Once the legendary passed over him, the poliwhirl fired off dual hydro pump attacks. This sent Darkrai straight into the air, through a skylight, and well within the Petropolis skyline. Waiting for him…

“AERODACTYL!”

The shiny aerodactyl Valkyrie divebombed Darkrai amongst the city lights. Grabbing the foe with her talons, Valkyrie sent him crashing into the streets, where Darkrai was caught in the headlights of a big rig truck.

From there, Douken’s team would take over for the second half of the round trip...

Posted by: Douken Sota May 31 2013, 12:29 AM

Douken couldn't help but blink at the Psudo-Beat Up attack Pan pulled off.... for some reason in samurai armor! However, he could not help but smirk. "I guess this being our dream, the we got control of it, and knowing its a dream, it means we are actually able to manipulate it." With his feather glowing, Douken's outfit seemed to of changed out of his and into a full body knight armor with a half helm, all plated in blue with pink trim and a yellow sheath and moon-shaped shield. Inside the sheath, which Douken drew, was a scimitar loaded with his entire belt of Pokeballs. "Now Darkrai, take this!"

With adarkrai flying from the car hit, it was Douken's team which now went to do damage.

"Toxicroak!"

Feeling better from the last hit, he left like some payback was in order in the Petropolis Gym where Darkrai passed over the stained glass reflection of Espeon before colliding into Koldo's Brick Break, launching him over to the Arasam Contest Hall.

"Dewgong!"

With her friend flying at her, she replied with setting up an Ice Shard on her horn before blasting an Aurora Beam through it, spreading out the beam into a wide region. Not only did this do some great harm, but it also made the "audience" cheer on the performance. This pushed him through the crowd to the realm of shadows where they were on the blink of death.

"Dusclops!"

Stepping close to the staggered foe, Dusclops went with a four-hit combination of a cycle of moves, switching from Fire Punch to Ice Punch to Thunder Punch and finishing off with Shadow Punch, using the shadows to push him back to the floating platforms inside Registeel's temple.

"MAGNETON!"

As if getting hit by Fire, ice and Lightning separate bad enough, Rusty added all three together into a Tri-Beam before firing it off in a wave of energy, pushing Darkrai off the platform to fall into the dark abyss.

"SKAAAR!!"

That was when Sabre grabbed in and flew up high above the Loch Ranch where the Disciples were attacking for the egg. Hopefully Darkrai had a good look at what his minions were doing (and failing doing so) because it wasn't long for Sabre to leg go, flip over and drill himself into Darkrai, sending him into the ranch floor below into a large dust field. However, when it cleared, they were back at Pokecon before the events that occured, which meant tents still in tact and people having fun.

"Spaaarce!"

With Balisk laying in front of his face, he gapped his mouth wide open, letting out a large Snore right in his ears.And as the sound attack pierced his ears, the field warpped over to the hotel, where one last Pokemon awaited him.

"Hyyyyyyyn!"

In front of the hotel, under the crescent moon and Cressilia's glow filling the land, the dream-created Pokemon lifted her tail, beads at the end glowing before slapping him using Dragon Tail, bringing them back to Pokecon aftermath with the meteor landed and the situation calmed down.

"Give it up Darkrai," Douken said, walking up with the sword on his shoulder. "Time for us to wake up and for you to once again sleep in your tomb."

Posted by: Toogee May 31 2013, 09:12 PM

After the final blows of the team attack, Darkrai found himself on the ground, no longer hovering. It was the all too familiar feeling of defeat; the last time he felt this resulted in him being imprisoned for hundreds of years. He looked upon the victors and awaited judgment.

“So…you’ve won. You’ve ruined the world prayed for by my followers. You destroyed their salvation.”

“No,” Pan said plainly. “They didn’t desire salvation. They wanted power, and they knew they could never have it in this world. They sought you to get that strength to mold a new world based on their ideals. You were just a tool.”

“And where do you think they got the idea that they could have such power?” Darkrai replied back, speaking with a surprising calmness. “It was I that made that promise so long ago. In exchange for granting their every desire, Men would give me a world powered by their imagination. They were weak, and I promised them strength.”

As Darkrai spoke of his intentions, a crack appeared upon the ground. As if the entire area was made of glass, the crack expanded across the grass and even into the air. Darkrai himself was separating into fragments as he gazed once more at Pan and Douken.

“This is the second time I’ve been proven wrong. You always had the power to change your world? ”

“Well, that and one more thing,” Pan said, walking between the cracks and towards Darkrai. “The world we lived in was always powered by our imagination. But instead of nightmares, we had dreams. Dreams make us aspire to something. And when we aspire to such heights, our limits are boundless.”

The cracks began to multiply further, threatening to shatter their very existence. Darkrai began fading away, being sucked into the background. Pan was confused; what was going on?

“With all the nightmares I’ve caused…I deserve this. I deserve to live in my own nightmare…”

“Wait, stop!”

With that, the world shattered, and everything faded into white…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pan opened her eyes and found herself back in the tower. The room around her was practically gone. The walls had disappeared, seemingly blown away along with the roof. They were now on top of the tower! The sounds of chanting were replaced by the spinning blades of the helicopter from overhead. The researcher looked across to find that Darkrai was no longer there. He was replaced by the man clad in black and a maliciously happy Dr. Mondo. The scientist clapped his hands in glee, but for what? Pan looked close at Deimos’ hand. It wielded a purple sphere, one with the letter “M” plastered on the front. It quickly teleported into some computer system, but knew full well what it was: the Master Ball.

“The gods are mortal,” Dr. Mondo repeated with a wide smile, “Now the hunt can begin.”

With one act, the shroud over the Dai Research Corporation had fallen…

Posted by: Douken Sota Jun 1 2013, 12:17 AM

A low groan came from Douken as he slowly came too, slowly pulling himself up. Looked like they won, so it would be time to send Darkrai back. However, when his vision came too, Darkrai was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the seal, the disciples... they were someplace else completely, and with different guests. One of them holding a Pokeball he had never seen. Missing Darkrai... teleporting Pokeball, and a scientist giving off a dark laugh. never a good combo. "Where's Darkrai?" Douken muttered, slowly walking up to the pair. "What happened to him. Was he sent back to rest?"

"The gods are mortal... Now the hunt can begin."

There was no way. "You.... You dared captured Darkrai? You dared and throw off the balance of the world?! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Douken had snapped in a fit of rage, and by doing so, went on the offensive my throwing a punch right at the nose of the doctor. if nothing stopped him then, his next attack would of gone after the man in black. "FREE DARKRAI RIGHT NOW! THOSE WHO WE CALL LEGENDS ARE MEANT TO WANDER THROUGH THE AGES, KEEPING THE WORLD IN BALANCE! DON'T YOU ASSHOLES KNOW THAT?!"

Posted by: Toogee Jun 1 2013, 11:54 AM

Pan was almost speechless when she found out that Darkrai was captured. What had they done? They were never there to stop the Disciples; it was all about capturing Darkrai. Pan took to her feet and was about to join Douken in the slug fest against Mondo, but her body froze in place. She could not move a muscle, not even her mouth to speak. Deimos’ alakazam was standing behind them, using his psychic powers to hold both trainers in place. Mondo had managed a sneer at Douken while he nursed his broken nose. Their bodies were lifted into the air as Deimos walked towards them.

“These legends you speak of. There is no such thing,” the robotic voice told the two. “They are still pokemon, ones that can be captured and perfected by anyone. Don’t act so self-righteous, Mr. Sota. We’ve done nothing different than what you did to the six pokemon you carry with you.”

At this point, Mondo stepped forward, still holding a napkin to his bloody nose.

“If it weren’t for you two, we’d never have Darkrai to begin with. This is just as much your victory as it is ours. So go on! Claim your title! Pandora Gibbs and Douken Sota! The ones who danced with the devil and won! HAHAHA!”

Deimos raised a hand to Mondo to stop his maniacal laughter. The man in black continued, watching the disciples being hauled away by his cohorts before turning to Pan and Douken.

“Our actions here were no different than a child capturing a rattata for the first time. Once you realize this, perhaps there will be a future for you at our side, Douken Sota. As for you Pandora Gibbs, your expertise is far too valuable to leave Furoh with. Yes, we do know you plan to go home. Plans change, Ms. Gibbs. We’ll be in touch.”

Pandora and Douken disappeared in a flash, teleported far from the tower…
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Pan finally regained control of her body, she found herself in the Lenoilia pokemon center, where their adventure began. She was sitting on a couch next to Douken. On the adjacent table, there laid an open suitcase filled to the brim with money. On top of their compensation was a note that simply read “TD”.


“Douken,” Pan began, a tear falling from her eye. “It’s our fault, isn’t it? No, it’s my fault. You would never have been involved if you weren’t traveling with me.”

Posted by: Douken Sota Jun 1 2013, 01:45 PM

The time in the Pokemon Center was too quiet as the pair sat down, thinking about the events that happened. He could still feel the pent up rage in his chest, however, it was aiming at himself more than it was at the crooks. “It’s our fault, isn’t it? No, it’s my fault. You would never have been involved if you weren’t traveling with me.” She had to break the silence with that question?

"I still have to take some blame," Douken said, dully looking at the suitcase of money. Just sitting there as a compensation for what they did. It was hurting his eyes, so he shoved it off the table, not caring about the dirty money that spread all over the floor. "We should be taking care of the balance of the world, whether the side is considered good or evil. Even what Darkrai did to us, he still deserved to be free." Getting up, he walked over and only picked up the note with the two letters on it.

"But the ones who will take the worst of it will be them. I don't know how, but if I ever find out where they are keeping Darkrai, I will break in myself and free him from his prison."

“Our actions here were no different than a child capturing a rattata for the first time. Once you realize this, perhaps there will be a future for you at our side, Douken Sota," echoed in his head. "At least I see them as family..." murmured from his mouth. Walking to the door, Douken said, "Cmon, lets go. I can't stand being here right now. Its making me sick to my stomach." It would still haunt his nightmares, but for now, he had to walk away from it. Get his mind off his problems.

Posted by: Toogee Jun 1 2013, 04:21 PM

After a quick change of clothes and returning her room key, Pan joined Douken outside. In the relative fresh air, they took a walk around the block, looking at all the abandoned stores along the way. When they came across what was once a water fountain, Pan stopped to change the subject.

“Do you remember when we first met? It was in Castle Vonmoto. There was a blizzard raging outside and you came in in a t-shirt and shorts. You were so cold, you nearly fell on Turnip trying to get to the fireplace!” She gave a wide smile as she reminisced about their first adventure.

“Why couldn’t all of our adventures have been so simple?” As she said this, the researcher took one of her pokeballs and released her shiny aerodactyl. Valkyrie stretched her wings, awaiting orders to take flight.

“I hate leave after what just happened, but I’ve got people depending on me leaving.”

Posted by: Douken Sota Jun 1 2013, 07:27 PM

Douken chuckled a little, giving off a faint smile when she mentioned the Castle. "Fell on? I think trample would of been a better word. It was after that when I changed into something warmer," he chuckled, looking at his current dress. "And lets not forget about the ice shoes moment where I owed you a dinner." It was a comforting laugh that did relieve some of the burden off of his chest, before letting out a sigh.

Sending Sabre out, Douken replied back, "Life is never something that goes easy on people. It gives you trials and sees what you are capable of doing. Besides, you had bad luck in the first place when your parents named you Pandora." He laughed at the last part, sticking his tongue out a little hoping she could take the joke.

Hopping back on Sabre, he asked pan, "So, are you still going to head back home, or are you going to let that man keep you here?"

Posted by: Toogee Jun 1 2013, 09:45 PM

“No, I’m headed back to Kanto,” Pan replied to Douken. “It’s not about me anymore.” No matter what was about to go down in Furoh, she had a kid to worry about now. She couldn’t be running around fighting villains and saving the world. It had to end here.

She smiled as she climbed up on Valkyrie, ready to take flight.

“Thanks for tagging along,” she said to Douken. “I probably wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. Now, you can get back to your badges without me dragging you around.”

And with that, the shiny aerodactyl began flapping her wings, taking off into the Lenoilian skyline. Pan gazed across the Furoh countryside one last time. She was going to miss this place, from the dense forests she first explored, to the vast plains around her now. The researcher looked over to Douken once more for a final message.

“Don’t let this place go to hell without me!”

The aerodactyl zoomed into the west, disappearing into the horizon. So ended the adventures of Pandora Gibbs…

Or at least, that was the plan.

Posted by: Douken Sota Jun 1 2013, 10:10 PM

"Don't make it sound like like we won't see each other again!" Douken called out. "Be sure to call me and root me on!" And there she went, taking to the sky. With a small sigh, it seemed a little odd to be traveling on his own again, but that was the case. Speaking of calling though, "Maybe I should let Darryn know." As Sabre took to the sky, Douken pulled out his Pokegear and scrolled through his contents. Sure, he didn't have Darryn, but he had a relative's.

((The following is a mixed post with Living Arrow and Douken))

"Oh, hey!" Lyla waved Darryn on with his shopping bags as her cellphone began to cry out the shrill tones of the Bellosso-babes latest single and fished it quickly from the bag swinging in the crook of her arm. Her cousin rolled his eyes and walked on, leaving her to slump onto a vacant bench on the boardwalk of Port Barley and examine the name illuminated on the phone's display.

[Sota, Douken] Lyla blinked. It had certainly been a while since she had thought of the boy that she had met in Petropolis. She found herself smiling as she hit the answer call command on the touchscreen.

"Like, hey Douken! Long time no speak! How are you doing? Where are you, like, right now?"

A small chuckle came over him when he heard Lyla speak to him. "It hasn't been that long, has it? Then again, time does fly when you get caught in near-death experiences." He wouldn't be surprised if she asked him what happened. "We are right now in Lenolia, but Pan and I are splitting ways. Seems like she is headed back to her home because of some circumstances she said you knew about..."

Lyla bit back a squeak. Was Pan talking about her... situation... yet? No, not from the way Douken sounded. Lyla had promised not to tell a soul and even Darryn had not found out yet so slipping the beans to Douken was out of the question. Luckily for Lyla, he'd opened up the perfect get-out conversation so she was safe for the time being.

"Oh, Pan's going home, huh? That, like, must totally suck for you since you were adventuring together and all... What's this about 'near-death experiences'!?" She asked fervently, her gaze absently turning to the thin red streak across her left arm. She really hoped that her own latest escapade wouldn't leave her with a scar. "I, like, hope you guys are OK?"

Answering her question, he told her about the Perish Song with the Jynx, the meeting of the Dusknior, and finally about Darkrai - No, I can't tell her about what happened with him... - 's Disciples. "But as you can hear, I am not talking to you from the other side, so we are both alive and well. In fact, I'm still planning on going to Gigarte after we split up in a few minutes. Want me to pass a word from either of you before she leaves?"

"From either of us?" Lyla pondered it for a moment, wondering if she could somehow get a secret message across to Pan without letting slip her secret. Deciding it was futile and that she would just have to call Pan herself at a later time, she followed up with a "Just tell Pan we'll, like, totallymiss her in Furoh but we're sure she'll enjoy herself back in Celadon. Oh, and say that, like, we'll catch up properly soon! Nice talking with you, Douken - take care!"
And with that, Lyla thumbed the end call button and breathed a sigh of relief. All this secret-keeping was hard!

((end mixed posting))

Closing the Pokegear, Douken looked out, seeing Pan out of sight. With a small sigh,, he patted Sabre's side and told him, "Alright, we head north to Mount Vonmoto, and from there we go right to Gigrate. I think we deserve a vacation from nearly dying so many times." With Sabre letting out a loud cry, he took off.