Pokemon Darkness: Chapter 4

Pokémon Darkness

Part 1: Unova

Chapter 4: Bitter Rivalry

Claire awoke with Februa on a strangely soft bed in a frighteningly unfamiliar room. Fear coursed through her, jerking her awake like icy water. She clutched Februa tightly, who seemed quite as terrified as she was, as she felt a scream escape her throat. Her eyes glanced frantically from the alien walls to the unrecognized television to the strange, unkempt bed…

But as her eyes fell upon the bed, something stirred in her terrified mind: White, her new friend White, slept there. And then, quite abruptly, memory after memory of the past few days cascaded back to her. She was safe in her new friend's house, safe in Unova, safe away from the bad Cipher people who had tried to hurt her and her Pokémon. Sweet, quenching relief flooded her, dousing her burning panic. She loosened her grip on Februa as they both calmed and relaxed.

At that moment, however, Claire heard her name called out in White's anxious voice, accompanied by the rapid thumping of footsteps from the stairway. Within a second, White was kneeling at Claire's bedside with a worried, caring, expression.

"Are you all right, Claire?" she asking concernedly. "Did you have a nightmare? We heard you scream! What is it?"

Before Claire could find the words to explain herself without sounding stupid and panicky, N appeared behind White. While White's face expressed due concern for a child scared by a bad dream, N's showed nothing short of sheer terror, as though he had experienced the nightmare himself. Claire felt a rush of understanding and pity for her green-haired friend. She knew the source of his fear; for such a long time, they had lived in constant danger of being discovered and attacked. Hearing someone waking up screaming could easily have meant that they were about to lose their only human friend, and it was clear that the reflexes that living in this state had induced had lessened no more for N than it had for her.

"I'm okay, guys," she whispered, more to N than to White. "I just… forgot where I was… for a second… But everything's fine now."

White smiled in a sisterly sort of way and gave Claire a quick but affectionate hug, and N let out a great sigh of relief as he helped Claire out of bed.

"Come on Claire, we're just about to eat lunch!" White called as she rushed back down the stairs. Claire laughed softly, slipped her shoes back on, and followed White to the kitchen, where her mother was pouring some sort of soup into four bowls. She beamed as the three trainers entered.

"Ah, good afternoon, Claire! Did you know it's already two-thirty?" she greeted, chuckling as Claire leapt behind N. "Are you hungry? I hope you like potato soup?"

N smiled at Claire and squeezed her hand before answering Mrs. Shirkuro's question.

"Well, we cannot stay for very long; we'll have to leave as soon as lunch is over. But we'll be fine with anything to eat, as long as it has no meat. We're both vegetarians, you see."

Mrs. Shirkuro's smile faded slightly as N said this, followed by a resounding smack as White struck her own head.

"Oh Arceus, I'm so stupid!" she cried. "I knew you were, N, and of course Claire is! I'm so sorry I didn't tell you Mom, it just slipped my mind! Arceus, I'm stupid!"

She paused to draw breath, allowing N to cut across her.

"You are not stupid, White! It's my fault she didn't know; I ought to have told her. I only thought you must have mentioned it, since she said you told her all about me, but that doesn't mean it was your responsibility to do so. It is my fault, not yours."

Here, however, Mrs. Shirkuro gasped and interrupted.

"Oh no, I remember now! White did tell me once! I'm very sorry N, I completely forgot. It's my fault, really. I'll just make more soup without any meat. Very sorry, N-"

"No, Mom!" White interjected. "It's my fault, really. I should have reminded you, since I only mentioned it once, like months ago. There's no way you could've remembered. It's my fault, so I'll make the soup. I-"

"But none of that matters," N interpolated. "I still should have told you, so it's my fault. The soup is for me anyway, so I should just make it."

With a sudden rush of boldness, Claire then whispered to the floor "I think it's not really anyone's fault. And if you all make it it'll go faster." She then glanced up at them, who were all regarding her with mild surprise, and promptly flushed red and began petting Februa, who was floating nervously at her heels.

"She, as usual, has a good point," N broke the silence. "Shall we all prepare it, then?"

As White and Mrs. Shirkuro agreed, Claire crept out of the house, both to escape Mrs. Shirkuro's imminent interrogation and to obtain much-desired fresh air. She deeply inhaled the crisp autumn air and relished the feeling of sunlight on her skin as she casually explored the tiny village and the nearby route, adventuring as far as the neighboring Accumula Town, which was deserted aside from a dark-haired boy about her age and a tall blonde lady dressed in black. She began ambling over to the Pokémon Center, with Februa following closely, until-

"Are you okay, miss? Not lost, are you?" said the tall, blonde lady, suddenly beside Claire. Although her words were kind, the unexpectedness of her approach coupled with her unfamiliarity made Claire panic. With a small squeak of fear, she scooped Februa up in her arms and dashed back to Route 1. Once halfway back to Nuvema, she stopped to catch her breath, which she had lost more due to fear than exhaustion. Februa looked up at her, wide-eyed and fearful. Claire smiled in spite of herself, and forced herself to calm down for her Pokémon.

"It's okay now, Februa. See, she's not following us? I think she didn't mean any harm anyway, I just-"

"Panicked?" came a sneering voice from behind her. "Yes, you do tend to do that. And you still talk to your Pokémon as though they were human."

Claire swung around, utterly perplexed at the striking familiarity of the voice, so far away from Kanto. It had followed her all across Kanto, but had it really managed to pursue her all the way to Unova in just a day, when no one should even have known they were no longer in Kanto yet? Spinning around, she saw the pale, dark-haired, and cold blue-eyed boy she had glimpsed in Accumula Town standing with a slight smirk on his face, and mentally slapped herself for not immediately recognizing him.

"Triton!" she shouted, attempting to sound neither frightened nor startled. "Wh-what are you… H-how did you get here?"

"Quite nice to see you again as well, Claire," Triton impassively said. "But I got here the same way you did; I flew with a friend. But I am surprised you were so easily traceable. You went to the most obvious place possible. A few words of caution, Claire: don't go back to the house of your one obvious ally in the entire country."

"Sh-shut up, Triton!" Claire boldly shouted, incensed. "J-just tell me how you knew I was here!"

"But I already have, Claire," Triton muttered with maddening superiority. "You were just so easy to track. It was a bad decision on your part to come here."

"Y-you be quite, Triton!" Claire yelled, her nerves fading as anger and resentment at her long-time adversary built up.

"Oh, but it wasn't your decision at all, was it? It was that fool N's. Childish, my father always called him, and I quite agree. He is nothing but-"

"Shut up now! I-if you don't shut up, Triton, I… I'll just have to make you!"

"Make me? You, make me? I am trying to help you, Claire. I am telling you what you need to do better. But very well, Claire; lets just see if you can make me!"

Triton moved so quickly that few other than Claire could have reacted in time. In a split second, Triton sent out his Machoke. In the same moment, Claire leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding the Machoke's Low Kick, as she ordered Februa, who had floated forward swiftly from behind Claire, to attack.

"Confusion, Februa!"

The force of the hit knocked Machoke a few feet back, but he merely shook his head and charged forward again.

"Use Revenge, Machoke!"

The superpower Pokémon's strengthened blow threw Februa high into the air. Stopping himself a few feet from the ground, he let out a shriek and blasted Machoke back with another Confusion. Machoke crashed flat on his back and did not stir.

"Bah! Good attempt, Machoke. Now- go Magikarp!"

Claire merely blinked, and glanced confusedly at Februa as the fish Pokémon flopped pathetically and glanced nervously at Februa.

"Magikarp? Wh-what's he going to do with a Magikarp?"

"Ah ha!" Triton triumphantly cackled. "Go Sneasel! Ice Shard!"

The Sneasel dashed forward and launched the jagged piece of ice before Claire had even completely looked up. It pierced Februa's stomach, and he cried out and fell to the ground.

"F-Februa! Oh y-you'll regret that Triton! Graveler, go!"

"Your Graveler? Were you even paying attention to Sneasel's last attack? Another Ice Shard, Sneasel!"

"I-I was, Triton, and noticed th-that it was a physical attack! Counter it with Rock Smash, Grav!"

Graveler charged forward, barely flinching as he was pelted the freezing shards, and delivered a shattering punch to the side of Sneasel's face, knocking her out cold in one blow.

"Heh, fool," Triton quietly chortled. "You did well Sneasel, return. Now, go Gyarados!"

Claire's eyes widened in fear and awe as the atrocious Pokémon let out a huge roar and glared down Graveler. She and Graveler both took a step backwards.

"Now your Graveler stands no chance! I have one of the most powerful water-type Pokémon there is! So sorry, Claire, but I am afraid that the game is won," Triton mocked. After a few moments of thought, however, Claire smiled widely.

"Indeed you do, Triton," she quietly simpered. "Now, what attack shall you have her use?"
Triton's arrogant grin melted away immediately. "I… I'll… Gyarados! Use…"

"You didn't think this through, did you?" Claire muttered. "She still has no water-type moves, and now she's weak to Rock Blast."

Noticing the command, Graveler sent several sharp rocks flying at Gyarados, who collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, as they pierced its scaly flesh.

"I will not be made a fool of, Claire! Time for plan B- use Flail, Gyarados!"

Claire rather thought that Gyarados would simply be unable to move, and was therefore quite shocked as she suddenly thrashed and flailed violently, smacking Graveler powerfully across the face with her tail. Graveler stumbled around briefly, weakly attempted to fire more jagged stones, and promptly fell unconscious.

"G-Graveler! That's it… Zweilous! Finish her off with Dragon Breath!"

Zweilous let out an enraged cry as she leapt into the fray and spat her draconic shockwave, knocking the Gyarados out before she could make another move. Triton let out an incomprehensible grunt of resentment and sent out Staravia.

"Use Dragon Breath again, Zwei!"

"Oh, I don't think so. This is not over yet. Double Team, Staravia!"

As Zweilous inhaled, the Staravia multiplied into three, which flew in all directions. Zweilous quickly exhaled at nearest one, but the attack merely traveled through the illusion. Before she could draw breath again, the three Staravias became five.

"Zwei, use two Dragon Breath attacks at two different Staravias!"

As Claire instructed, Zweilous blew energy from each of her mouths at two Staravias, but neither shot made contact, and in the next moment she was surrounded seven Staravias.

"You may as well give up now, Claire. Don't expect to get a hit in. Now, Wing Attack, Staravia!"

Each Starling Pokémon copy struck out with its wings simultaneously while circling the dark dragon, making the true assailant indistinguishable from the illusions.

"Same technique, but use Bite, Zwei!"

Zweilous lashed out with two Bites, but again to no avail, and was quickly smacked with the wings of nine Staravias. As Claire's confidence faded, she was hit with a sudden brainwave.

"Zwei, close your eyes! Navigate with your nose and ears, like you had to as a Deino! Then Bite again!"

Zweilous instantly closed her four dark fuchsia eyes and sniffed the air intently. The moment the Staravias lunged in for another attack, she snapped out with both of her mouths, closing her teeth on the real target and throwing her to the ground, where she did not stir.

"What? No! That was unfair!" Triton yelled in outrage, recalling his unconscious Staravia. "That was a cheap trick and you know it, Claire!"

"Cheap? Trick? Not at all, Triton, I just outsmarted you. I suggest you deal with it," Claire said, smiling sweetly. Triton seemed on the verge of shouting again, but merely made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat.

"Hmmph. Very well then, Claire, you win for now. But you had better start training more if you want to stand a chance against me next time. And learn to be less obviously trackable, before someone more dangerous follows you. And with that, I leave you."

Triton spun around and dignifiedly marched back to Accumula. Claire smiled down at Zweilous with pride.

"You did marvelously, Zwei! We need to get back to the house to get you and Grav and Februa healed up. I'm sure everyone is probably wondering where we are. I bet-"

"No kidding, Claire," came an amused voice from behind her. Claire leapt several feet into the air and wheeled around to see White smirking at her. "We fairly freaked out when we saw you weren't anywhere in Nuvema. I started going to Accumula to look for you, but there you were in the middle of Route 1, fighting that guy. That was some seriously impressive strategy, Claire. Very outside the box."

"I… You… Th-thank you… I…" Claire spluttered, relatively unnerved at having been watched by White for so long and been completely unaware of it.

"Come on, lunch has been ready for a while, and I'm sure you're all hungry after that battle," White laughed, taking Claire's hand. "And my mom can heal your Pokémon up pretty quick."

Claire, deciding she was likely too tired to be made to walk, recalled Zweilous and silently followed White back to the house. Her insides burned with guilt at having caused N and White to worry so thoughtlessly. True, she had often wondered off on her own while with N, but she had never gone beyond the view of wherever they happened to be staying without informing N first. She had allowed her curiosity and natural instinct to explore take over, and had frightened her friends by vanishing. She would never do so again, and she would have to make it up somehow, and-

"So I don't suppose you want to tell me who that guy was, and how he knows you, or why you're so much bolder to him than just about anyone else?"

Claire started as White's words jolted her out of her thoughts. It had completely slipped her mind that White was largely clueless as to her and N's adventures in Kanto. She contemplated where she could possibly begin explaining it all.

"If you don't want to tell me about it, or don't really know how, it's totally fine," White interjected, again disrupting Claire's thoughts. "N can tell me if you'd rather that. Or he can not, if you'd just rather me not know yet."

But she bit her lip slightly as she finished, and Claire could tell, with a rush of understanding, that she strongly disliked being kept ignorant of nearly everything that had happened to her and N.

"No…" Claire slowly began. "He's… He's someone I met in Kanto… a little before I met N. I th-think he's from Sinnoh… But I'm not sure… Anyway, his name is T-Triton, a-and he keeps showing up wherever I am, and… and challenging me to battles and s-stuff. I d-don't really know much about him… like wh-what he wants, and wh-why he keeps following me… and… yeah…"

She found herself out of words, but was spared the need of them by her and White's arrival at the house. Claire went through the door White held open first, but let out a frightened squeak and dashed behind White at the sight of a completely unfamiliar blonde girl with a green hat, and a strange new black-haired boy with glasses.

"Told you she was shy," White chuckled. "So guys, this is Claire. She's a remarkable trainer, really, you just got to get to know her. Claire, this is Cheren, and this is Bianca" she introduced, indicating first the black-haired boy and then the blonde girl. Claire nervously glanced up at each in turn before reverting her gaze to the floor.

"Hi there, Claire!" Bianca cheerily exclaimed as she walked over to Claire. Claire steeled her nerves to keep from fleeing, and forced herself to look into Bianca's face and murmur a greeting.

"It's okay Claire; you don't need to be shy!" Bianca laughed. At this, however, Cheren cleared his throat.

"Bianca…" he began exasperatedly. "She clearly does not want to talk right now. Why don't you leave her alone?"

"Well you're never going to make friends like that, Cheren!" Bianca called, utterly undeterred. "You want some soup now, Claire?"

Claire mastered her panicking instinct and nodded at Bianca, slowly walking by her to the kitchen to accept a bowl from Mrs. Shirkuro. Very slowly, and very aware of the five pairs of eyes on her, she sat at the table beside N, whom, she noticed, was smiling at her with pride. She too smiled slightly and blushed as she took a tiny sip of soup.

"So, who were you battling, Claire?" Mrs. Shirkuro said after a few moments, breaking the silence. "White just said she'd found you battling on Route 1. Was it someone you knew? Oh, but you must need you Pokémon healed! Here, let me see them?"

Claire slowly reached into her bag and pulled out her Pokéballs, handing them to Mrs. Shirkuro without looking at her.

"Ah, thank you! I'll just let them… there they are! Fully refreshed! Now where was I? Ah yes! So who were you fighting back on Route 1?"

Claire barely gave any indication that she had heard Mrs. Shirkuro as she took her Pokémon back and continued to eat her lunch. Just as she began to put words together, however, White opted to answer for her.

"It was some guy she met in Kanto. Triton's his name. Apparently he-"

But her words were covered by N, who abruptly gagged and coughed on his soup. White, who was sitting on his other side, smacked him on the back. When he had regained his breath, he turned to Claire.

"Triton? But- how? How could he have known you were here? What did he say?" he spluttered, visibly frightened. Claire spoke directly to him after a few moments, trying as hard as she could to ignore everyone else in the room.

"He… He said that he had flown here with a friend… and that w-we were easy to t-track… H-he said it was obvious f-for us to come here…"

N stood up so quickly he nearly knocked his chair over. His expression was one of sheer panic, and it scared Claire very badly.

"It is time for us to leave. We can't wait any longer now," he said, rapidly and quietly. "We have to go to the Pokémon League first. Will you come with us?" he asked, turning to Cheren and Bianca.

"I will," Cheren simply stated, gazing unfathomably at N.

"Of- of course!" Bianca stammered. "But White, N, Claire, what's going on? Does this mean Cipher is coming, or something like that?"

"I know just about as much as you do, Bianca," White muttered, somewhat disgruntled. "So N, what does this mean? Is Cipher probably on the way, or what?"

"There isn't time to explain right now, White," N said, looking very apologetic. "But I think they might be. We need to make contact with the Pokémon League as soon as possible. Is everyone ready to go?"

Claire's mind felt numb with panic, but she nodded unfeelingly, no longer hungry and with a great desire to feel like she was making some sort of progress. White, Cheren, and Bianca mimicked her action, but N seemed not to notice, staring off with an expression of great fear uncannily similar to Claire's. White seemed to take this as an indication to take charge.

"All right, well let's set out then! Bianca, none of your Pokémon can Fly, so you can ride Reshiram with me, while Claire rides Zekrom with N, and Cheren rides Unfezant. We'll go straight to the League, no stops, and then we'll plan from there. Come on!" she called, running for the front door. Claire got up and pursued her first, and quickly spoke to her in the few seconds before anyone else had gone outside.

"W-White, I w-want to ride with you. I-is that okay?" she whispered.

White looked somewhat surprised, but Mrs. Shirkuro, N, Cheren, and Bianca exited the house before she could answer.

"Do you know when you'll be coming back, White?" Mrs. Shirkuro asked solemnly, as though she already knew the answer.

"I… am afraid I don't, Mom," White responded, equally solemn. "Goodbye, Mom, I love you," she finished, hugging her mother.

"I love you too, White," her mother echoed, hugging her daughter back. "I know you'll be okay. You have all your Pokémon, and I doubt N will let anything hurt you," she added with a wink.

"M-Mom!" White gasped, glancing embarrassedly at N, who seemed not to have heard. Claire too looked confusedly at N, not understanding what Mrs. Shirkuro meant.

"Goodbye, sweetie," Mrs. Shirkuro finished, releasing her only child and rushing back inside.

"Okay, change of plans," White announced when her blush had faded. "Claire's going to be riding with me, so Bianca, you can ride with Cheren on Unfezant. That work?"

"That does not work," Cheren answered, somewhat coldly. "Unfezant can't carry both of us all the way to the Pokémon League. If you want to go with Claire, then Bianca will have to ride with N."

White bit her lip in a reluctant sort of manner, and glanced between N and Bianca.
"Well…" she began slowly. "I… I don't want to trouble… Zekrom may be tired… and…"

"White, we have to go!" insisted N. "I don't mind Bianca riding with me, and I am sure Zekrom won't either, if Claire wants to ride with you."

"I… Well… All right, then. Let's just go!" White yelled, sending Reshiram out and leaping onto his back. Claire climbed on after her, and looked to either side to see Cheren mounting his Unfezant, and Bianca casting White a guilty look as she scrambled onto Zekrom after N.

"All right, to the skies, everyone!" called White, and the three Pokémon let out their distinctive cries and soared into the air. Claire looked around at the other fliers, trying to fight off her fear, when a horribly loud, ringing cry echoed through the air, seeming to fill the entire sky.

"What was that?" shouted White to the others. "Anyone have any idea what that was?"

"No," came Cheren's icy reply.

"It… sounded like a cry of a Pokémon… That I saw in Hoenn, a long time ago…" came N's barely audible response. "But there's no way… unless it's Cipher's now… But I really hope I am wrong…" he trailed off.

"I hope so too, N," Claire thought. "I hope so too."