Damon's Menace (New Chapters!)

[dratinihaunter13]

It seems my fic was among the topic casualties in the recovery process. This is a link to where we left off, more or less:
http://web.archive.org/web/200103042...ML/000005.html

and here's one more chapter-

editnote: I just recently found some earlier chapters at the above link. It's very exciting but the writing is from a looong time ago. My skills are much better in the most recently re-written chapters (30 on). You've been warned .
-

Chapter 21 ~Magby~

Yawning from my long and welcomed rest, I stretched in front of Damon and another important-looking man. The room was foreign to me, and it looked threatening. There weren’t any windows at all and the walls were pure steel with a desk and office type things in the room. A bar on the desk had the name “Jared” engraved on it. That must have been the man Damon was talking to. That still didn’t clear up our reason for being here. My confusion progressed into fear as I wondered what Damon could have gotten us into now.

“Is that all?” Jared asked Damon.

“Yeah, I never got around to catching a sixth.”

“That could prove useful. Well, shall we begin?” Damon took a deep breath and looked at his team. I noticed that the others were all standing not too far from me. We all began walking down a steel hallway while I tried to get close to Croconaw. He would know what’s going on.

“What is this?” I whispered to him. He shrugged and just walked with the rest of the team. All I could do was follow.

Once we reached our destination I got an idea of what we were going to do. The room we entered was spacious and maintained the steel floor and walls. The typical boundaries of a pokemon battle area lined the steel. Every room in this strange building was very dim, and this one wasn’t much different. It was enough to look around, though, and I could see Damon was nervous. He noticed our confused expressions and asked Jared if he could tell us what was happening. Jared nodded but told Damon to hurry up.

Damon crouched to our level and spoke lowly so the other people in the room couldn’t overhear. His tone of voice had some worry to it, which was rare coming from him and not a good thing to hear. He told us about the Psychic gym match, Nightscare, and his entire plan to join, become strong, and leave. He carefully enlightened us all about the night at Sphere City’s printing press and about Nightscare’s way of doing things, how they “look out for one another.” Finally, he promised to quit as soon as he got more powerful.

After I knew where I was, my fear doubled. On top of this fear was sadness for Damon’s outlook on things. Is that all he cared for? Power? Croconaw seemed to share my disgust as he gave a light sneer at Damon, but without opposition. We tried to stop Damon from going down this path, it may be up to him now. At least he was already planning to quit this place.

Scizor towered over us and listened carefully to Damon’s plan, nodding the entire time. Umbreon looked casual like she had heard the whole thing before, and Houndour tried to imitate the casual look from Umbreon. I couldn’t really see my reaction, but I intended it to look concerned. It probably came out as just frightened. Damon went on to explain what we were doing right now.

“So this is what Jared is thinking,” he began. “All five of you are going to enter a small tournament with other pokemon of Nightscare. We trainers can’t order you guys around at all, because Jared wants to see how talented you all really are. So please try and do your best guys. I’m counting on all of you.”

I couldn’t believe Damon wanted in this despicable organization. Who would want to carry out the crimes of these guys? I didn’t want to hurt anyone and certainly didn’t want to call this metal building home. The Nightscare facility was so out of this world in the beginning, but not it was just horrifying. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining what happens to innocent trainers inside these steel walls. Damon didn’t elaborate much on the way Nightscare operates, but that may be because he doesn’t know himself. Who knows, he might have toned down what he’d already said. I cringed at picturing the corpses of the printing press employees while Jared stood triumphantly over them. I couldn’t battle in this state of mind!

“Are you all right, Magby?” I jumped around quickly to face Damon. My heart beat furiously but slowed down once I heard some sympathy in his voice. “Don’t worry about it. I just want you to prove yourself as a great battler. Forget about Jared or whoever else is watching. This is about you, and your skills.” He pointed his finger at my chest, wary of burning himself. “I know this type of thing probably scares you, but I also know you can really dominate in battle. You’re going to evolve into something very powerful soon. If you don’t win your match, that’s perfectly fine. I’m sure we’ll find a way so that’s not too much of a problem.” That last part came out awkwardly and did not encourage me, but Damon looked sincere and his understanding was the only place I could find comfort here.

Croconaw was shaking his head slowly and began to walk toward me with an expression of doubt. “Hey, Croconaw,” Umbreon called, jumping in his way. She started some meaningless conversation which I couldn’t hear since Damon was already shooing the rest of us toward the battle area.

“Okay,” Jared cleared his throat. “Four of our Nightscare members have each contributed a pokemon for the tournament. In the first round, each of Damon’s pokemon will face one of Nightscare’s. After that, Damon’s pokemon may very well face each other, but once all of Damon’s pokemon are eliminated the tournament is over. First off we have Damon’s Croconaw against Shane’s Haunter. No trainer interference or orders. Take your places.”

Croconaw lightly jogged up to his box on the battleground. It looked like his mood on everything had changed. I didn’t expect Croconaw to be that enthusiastic about this whole tournament idea. The Haunter he was facing had a different appearance than most Haunter. He smiled but seemed to be smiling for different reasons that the other, playful Haunter I hear about. His eyes looked narrower than usual, and he sent a chill through my spine whenever he made eye contact with me. I wasn’t even the one battling, so I hated that he looked at me. Despite Croconaw’s confident look out there, I was scared for him. “Until faint, no forfeit,” Jared added. No forfeit? Oh boy. “Begin.”

Haunter and Croconaw raced past each other, both missing their attacks. Haunter was the first to attack next, releasing a Shadow Ball at Croconaw. It tore through the dead air of the room, but Croconaw was able to shoot a Water Gun, breaking apart the Ghost attack and hitting the unsuspecting Haunter in the face. Haunter shook off the drops in frustration. Croconaw looked satisfied but didn’t take the opportunity to follow up with another attack. Croconaw could fight, and it wasn’t like him to pass up that clear of a shot on an opponent. Then again, I doubted that I would go anywhere near that Haunter.

After taking a Confuse Ray, Croconaw became disoriented and fell over, much to Haunter’s delight. The laugh that came from him wasn’t the usual, jolly laugh of a Haunter, though. It was…lower somehow. Croconaw’s face was angled on the ground so that only I could see his expression. He opened his eyes for a second, winked at me, then shut them again, not attempting to get up. Haunter’s Night Shade attack sent Croconaw sliding across the floor. I winced when he hit the wall, and the pokemon didn’t fight back! There’s no way that’s it. He couldn’t already be… “Croconaw has fainted, Haunter wins!” a Nightscare member took the role of referee.

Unbelievable. Croconaw was not that weak, yet he still let Haunter keep on attacking him. The wink he gave me started to make sense. Of course he didn’t want to support Nightscare in any way, so he threw the match to lessen Damon’s chances of being accepted. But what if Damon found out? I admired Croconaw’s bravery, as always, but why couldn’t I be like that? It angered me how fear stopped me from doing so many things. If that was me against Haunter I would never find the courage in me to go against Damon. But I didn’t want to join this Nightscare organization. It just wasn’t right. My knees quivered as I hoped with all my heart that the next match did not involve me. Jared was ready to read off the next two pokemon in the tournament, but only taking a long look at the ‘fainted’ Croconaw. Damon returned Croconaw shamefully.

“The next battlers will be Damon’s Magby and Rylan’s Noctowl!”

It didn’t come as much of a surprise, but I still stood there, frozen, not sure whether to fight for my trainer or go for what I believed in. “C’mon Magby, that’s you,” Damon reminded me. His voice just made me sweat even more while I overheard the mocking laughter of some Nightscare members. Damon ducked down to my level. “Listen Magby, they’re laughing at you. They don’t think you can do it.” I appreciated Damon’s attempt at encouragement, but it didn’t help at all. “Remember, I don’t care if you lose. Just try your best and that’ll be fine with me. I have faith that you can beat that Noctowl.” I looked up reluctantly at the Noctowl, expecting to see another look of contempt such as Haunter’s. Instead, I saw the Noctowl cock its head at me and then politely ask if I was ready. I squinted and looked to Noctowl’s trainer, a man named Rylan. He looked so much more calm and happy than the rest of the Nightscare trainers. Rylan smiled at me and bowed, gesturing to my battle box like a butler. I wasn’t that frightened anymore. “Just do your best, Magby,” Damon repeated. “I know you can do well.” Walking onto the battle area, I looked at Noctowl with a traditional battle stare. He chuckled and returned it. The room remained dark and gloomy, but I didn’t see it as much as I saw my opponent.

Surprisingly, I made the first move. I took a convincing step forward and reared back, causing Noctowl to take to the air just like I expected. That quick approach was solely to test him out, and when I can predict my opponent’s next move I’m in good shape. I aimed my Ember right above Noctowl so he would fly right into it. The fiery collision forced him back to the ground where I believed I had an advantage. “Oh, that’s all right Noctowl! Keep at it!” Rylan called to his pokemon.

“Rylan, there will be no trainer interference,” Jared restated.

“I’m not giving him any orders, Boss. No worries,” Rylan explained. “Enjoy the match!” His calmness in such a hostile environment made an impression on me, but I was too busy to think about much. Before I could return my attention to the match Noctowl had me in his talons and flew higher toward the ceiling. That’s when I noticed how tall the room was as well as wide. The metal floor appeared farther and farther away from me as I predicted the fall to be more and more painful. Noctowl flew high enough to release me from his grasp. I fell through the air but was able to create a barrier below me before hitting the ground. I stood on my invisible platform a few feet above the floor.

“Hey, that was one hell of a move!” Rylan cheered. I was flattered but really wanted to keep my focus on the match at hand. Noctowl glided toward me while dodging my Embers. His maneuverability was better than I expected. He weaved his way through the obstacles and pecked me off of the barrier platform. I landed roughly but rolled away from Noctowl’s talons which scraped the metal floor. The other people in the room weren’t visible to me anymore as I jumped to my feet and kept my mind on one opponent. The Noctowl swooped in again, zig-zagging through the air, attempting to confuse me on which angle he would take. I made my left fist heat up to prepare for a Fire Punch. Noctowl’s pupils pointed straight at my left fist and he zigged to that side of my body, obviously intending to fake me out and attack away from the punch. It had all worked itself out in my head already, and as soon as he aborted his fake my right fist shot forward. The flames on my left fist died down, but my right one was still on fire when Noctowl hit the floor, his beak clanging against the metal.

“Well, Noctowl,” Rylan said with a sad voice, “you’ve been quite a pal over the years.” Noctowl got up dazed but managed a smile at the sarcasm. “I’ll never forget the way you put on those red jammies before bed.” Noctowl laughed while struggling to regain his balance.

“Not true!” he yelled back at his trainer. Rylan clapped and told Noctowl to get back to battle. I couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“Could we please get on with it?” Jared asked. He clearly didn’t like the mood of this battle, but it was perfect as far as I was concerned. While Noctowl got his wits about him I prepared numerous Barriers around the battleground, memorizing each of their specific locations. Jared had been watching me and shook his head, smirking. I laughed lightly at his expression. Apparently, Jared wasn’t the only one to see through my plan. Noctowl used Foresight* to make all of my Barriers sparkle into plain sight.

“Aha!” Rylan proclaimed. I blushed out of embarrassment but prepared myself for Noctowl’s next move. He easily weaved through the Barriers and got very close to me before retreating again to take a different path. I rotated my body to keep him in my line of vision while he flew a few inches from ground level, approaching quickly. I fired another Ember at him but he dodged it to reveal a Barrier behind him. My fireball bounced right back at me as I dodged in surprise, barely escaping my own attack. A quick lunge from Noctowl caught me off guard, and I hit the ground anyway, feeling weaker as the battle continued.

A saving idea occurred to me while I remained on the floor. I began to release thick layers of smoke from my body. The Smokescreen soon blanketed the battle area, making all of the Barriers invisible again underneath the gray haze. I heard a couple loud collisions from Noctowl blindly flying into my hidden walls. When the smoke lifted and the coughing died down, Noctowl was lying on the floor, this time unable to get back up. “Noctowl has fainted, Magby wins,” Rylan jumped in before the self-proclaimed referee could declare the outcome. He returned his flying type. “Not bad, Noctowl. That Magby must have cheated.” He smiled at me jokingly and for the first time in a while I didn’t feel threatened by anything.

“Great job, Magby!” Damon called to me, as I saw the happiness in his eyes. Suddenly, a tingling sensation came over my toes. A light blue aura surrounded my entire body as I felt something inside me grow. If Faia had taught me right, this was how an evolution went. It felt strange, and a little scary at first, but felt more and more natural. Still a Magby, I looked toward Rylan who was talking to another Nightscare member, missing my evolution. I looked toward Damon and faced his greed eyes which gawked at the aura surrounding me. Now my evolution didn’t feel right at all. Damon’s stare was so selfish. He didn’t seem happy for me, but happy for himself. He just feasted on the spectacle and I could imagine the greedy thoughts that ran through his head. The tingling became a bit painful even, and then it passed. Damon looked appalled. I looked down at myself, still a Magby.

“Still not ready I see,” Jared scoffed. I felt ashamed, but not entirely. My evolution would only grant Damon’s greedy wishes. He would never like me for who I was, no matter how much I evolved. He hated who I was.

“What, what happened?” Damon demanded of me as I sulked toward him after the match. I shrugged timidly and sat down, mad at myself for ever thinking Damon cared for me at all. The Nightscare members appeared clearer to me, like a scary painting. With the battle over with my vision became darker and the room went back to eerily dim again. Everything was looking so dim. Rylan still stood out when he caught my eye and shrugged at me, as if to tell me, “What are ya gonna do?” It was slightly comforting until I looked back to see my own trainer, a trainer with whom I could never be satisfied.

[mr_pikachu]

Well, I'm glad to see that this fic is continuing despite the loss of the original thread. I really like the ideas behind this one, after all. :smilie:

I liked the inner conflicts within Magby in this chapter. First of all, the issue of whether or not to support Damon is still great, as it's really the central theme of the fic to this point. The contrast between Damon and Rylan was surprising, and that made it all the more effective. The wishful thinking of sorts really worked well. And the "evolution" was also great. I can sort of see now how that aspect of it works... very well done. I never really thought of it as being a conscious choice before. Nice.

However, it would probably be a good idea for you to pay more attention to your tenses. There were numerous instances in which you slipped into the present tense in your narration. Make sure you keep the narration interesting and dynamic, too. Using too many choppy sentences in a row can be bad, as can describing scenes with nothing but straightforward facts and references to actions. (The end of the first paragraph and the majority of the sixth paragraph come to mind.)

Still, this was done well for the most part. You use conflicts very effectively in this fic, and the way you make them overlap adds a lot of depth to the situations and the characters. It will certainly be interesting to see the decisions that will follow. I look forward to seeing the next installment here! Well, until then!

[dratinihaunter13]

glad to see you hanging around mr_pika. i'll definitely work on the tense changes. i kind of took Magby as a character who would narrate choppy at some points, particularly when he's nervous, but i can see what you mean where setting description can be presented in other ways besides straightforward facts, but perhaps rather the way a character reacts to the setting or a memory it brings back, or a simple opinion about something.

all righty, next one. the tourney continues >=)
main tweak: Scizor's colony training
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Chapter 22 ~Scizor~

I had never seen an incomplete evolution before, but there it happened. Magby remained a Magby. It was impossible to figure out how or why it happened, but I could tell Damon was very upset. He interrogated Magby through clenched teeth right outside the battle area, trying to find out how and why it happened too. It shamed me to say it, but I did not find Damon’s approach to Nightscare as the best option. I know, I know my trainer’s opinion should be one with my own, but this place didn’t feel right. Everything revolved around trust, and I had to trust Damon. If this was what he wanted, then I would do my best to win him a place in Nightscare.

“Next match,” the leader, Jared, announced, “Damon’s Scizor versus Lars’s Murkrow.”

I was prepared for battle. With as straight a posture as I could display, I took my position. The sound of my metal coat against the steel floor entertained me and somehow gave me a greater sense of purpose. I saw a Murkrow form from a Nightscare member’s pokeball beam. The Murkrow sped to her spot on the battle area. She was far larger than an average Murkrow, but I still felt I had a significant size advantage. I looked back at my trainer and saw the worry in his eyes. Perhaps he thought his chances in the tournament were slimming. I felt a grand responsibility to change that and bring my trainer hope and confidence. Once I turned back to my opponent, she was gone. Anticipating a Faint Attack, I began a spinning Sword’s Dance, knocking away the reappearing Murkrow without having to take aim. She was only down for a second before she soared above me, an icy trail behind her. The bright dust settled over me and dulled my blades, a well-played Haze attack.

A fighter like me could not dwell on the reduction of my attack, or use it as an excuse. Despite the Haze, I knew my attacks were too much for this Murkrow, whose defense looked questionable. I prepared a Quick Attack while Murkrow flew back from me and then torpedoed toward me beak first. The oncoming collision didn’t worry me, the larger pokemon in the battle, but Murkrow vanished right before making contact. Abruptly halting my Quick Attack, I powered my right claw into a roundhouse swing behind me. I felt the sweet connection of my Metal Claw against Murkrow’s beak. The bird cawed loudly and wilted to the floor. Was the match already over?

“Scizor has defeated Murkrow!” Quite an easy one, but I couldn’t complain. Hopefully the next bout would be more of a challenge. I took my place next to my trainer and enjoyed his compliments and look of relief. The spectacle around me resembled a bad dream I might have, fighting in a tournament only to join an organization that dealt severe losses to others for their own gain. Damon had been a little vague when he described the methods of Nightscare, but I could tell they weren’t for the light of heart. We probably didn’t have to know anything else, and that’s why our trainer held back – for our own good. I still couldn’t stop picturing my old colony leader’s face ordering me to do the things Nightscare had done. That would probably be another bad dream later on. My colony leader had more knowledge of honor and the way things worked in general than anyone I had ever come across. ‘The trainer who had the skill and cunning to capture you deserves every bit of respect and loyalty in your warrior hearts,’ he would say. I rubbed the back of my head where the bruise had gone down considerably.

So far, only Magby and I had moved on to the next round of the tournament. Something wasn’t right about Croconaw’s battle. It seemed theatrical, and I was almost certain he lost on purpose. I found that despicable, but I remembered to keep my business as my own, and to others give the same right. It was Umbreon’s turn to battle next.

“The next match will be between Damon’s Umbreon and Miles’s Sneasel.” Umbreon stalked her way onto the battle area, eyeing Jared the entire time. Jared returned her taunting stare without blinking. I wouldn’t taunt this man. He exuded power and leadership that commanded respect, but Umbreon didn’t see it the same way. “Actually,” Jared added, “why don’t you sit this one out, Miles. I believe this Umbreon requires a more suitable challenger.” With that Jared released his own Umbreon, forcing Damon’s Umbreon to shift her stare and her posture. Jared’s Umbreon barked at Sneasel who left the battleground in a hurry. Damon didn’t object to Jared’s spontaneous interference; he obviously had a great deal of faith in his Umbreon. It was difficult for me to see a way she could defeat Jared’s prize pokemon.

My predictions ended and I treated myself to an interesting battle beginning with double Faint Attacks. The two had switched positions, and I could tell the differences between them. Damon’s female looked sleeker and more agile while Jared’s male looked larger with more muscle mass. Damon’s Umbreon kicked up a Sand Attack, sending it across the field of battle. Jared’s Umbreon didn’t dodge, but instead sat down comfortably and illuminated his eyes. Every particle of sand stopped, suspended in mid-air. He held the sand with what seemed like only a great deal of concentration, and then sent it blasting back to his opponent. Umbreon yelped from the stinging sand and shook her head in frustration. Her assailant followed with a Shadow Ball, a common move for experienced Umbreon, which exploded on contact. Umbreon was sent flying across the room. Things weren’t looking promising for Damon in this battle, as he felt every aspect of the battle in his facial expressions.

Umbreon jumped back to her feet and charged at Jared’s Umbreon for a Bite attack. She used multiple Faint Attacks to get to her enemy quicker than he expected, and she was able to connect with her powerful jaws. It was now the male Umbreon’s turn to yelp as he tried to swing the other pokemon off of him. Umbreon’s grip was strong and remarkably difficult to break.

Jared’s Umbreon suffered the fangs of his opponent until his eyes fell on his trainer. Jared’s pokemon belt began to shake and he looked down to see his five other pokeballs levitate away from him. The same glow had taken over the male Umbreon’s eyes, and he sent the pokeballs hurtling toward his attacker. Umbreon’s eyes were clenched tightly in her Bite attack when the pokeballs pelted her, a direct hit to the back of her head finally breaking her grip. She hissed and staggered around in a daze, while each of Jared’s pokemon emerged from their pokeballs and formed a circle around the two Umbreon.

“Hey!” Damon interrupted. “That can’t be allowed!”

“I created this little competition, Damon, and you can take my word that it is allowed. My team will not interfere.” Damon sighed but was able to complain to Jared long enough for Umbreon to regain her senses. At the colony we learned about every pokemon attack and most battle strategies, yet I had never learned of the powers of Jared’s dark type pokemon. It was overwhelming.

Jared’s Umbreon did not look to be in good shape from the constant biting. As his next move, he tilted his head back and howled skyward. I had heard of this strategy as Moonlight, a type of move which restored health. There wasn’t enough time for his howl to recover much energy before Damon’s Umbreon bolted in with a Quick Attack. The howl had changed to a whimper but Jared’s Umbreon recovered his footing to growl menacingly at Damon’s. The two stared at each other with hatred and intensity, their noses not a foot apart. Their sneers grew darker as they slowly walked around in a circle, eyes locked. The will to destroy one another was thick in the room, even beyond the battle between the two Umbreon, but Jared’s Umbreon had the advantage.

With another dark glow of the eyes, like a fluorescent mask, Jared’s Umbreon mentally lifted Damon’s into the air. Umbreon could not control a single part of her body except her look of extreme frustration while she rose higher. She shut her eyes tightly and when they reopened she also wore the dark mask. She stopped rising as Jared’s Umbreon began to rise. Jared hung his jaw at the unbelievable sight. The concentration from each fighter could not be more focused during this mental battle. The male Umbreon shook the dark aura from his face and flew toward the ceiling, but before he hit anything he released a Shadow Ball at Umbreon. Unable to dodge in her state, Umbreon took the full impact of the Shadow Ball above her and slammed into the floor. Once her concentration was broken, Jared’s Umbreon stopped rushing toward the ceiling and he landed on his feet, barking at his fallen opponent. His teammates around him joined him in jeering Umbreon, who was obviously incapacitated and beaten. Damon returned his Umbreon in disappointment.

“Don’t take it too hard, Damon,” Jared relieved him, returning each of his pokemon one by one. “Your Umbreon performed very well for her level. Surprisingly well.” Perhaps Jared was just as confused by these powers as I was. And did I see correctly or did Umbreon all of the sudden discover those strange powers on her own? “Now, since my Umbreon originally wasn’t in the competition, nobody moves on from this match. The winner who moves on will be the victor between Damon’s Houndour and Rylan’s Fearow. Whoever wins that match will face Scizor, and Magby will face Haunter.” Magby cringed once he learned of his next battle, and I could tell how scared the poor fellow was. It amazed how talented a fighter he could be, yet how often his fear overpowers that talent.

It was also surprising how well Rylan’s Fearow performed in battle, or perhaps how poorly Houndour performed. The match wasn’t worth explaining. Fearow obviously dominated the far less experienced Houndour who looked lost out there without a trainer to tell him what to do. Rylan had impressive pokemon not even of the dark element. He seemed talented in his own right, but not like the other Nightscare members. I began to compare him as a trainer to Damon, but I caught myself. One’s trainer should be beyond outward comparison, true to himself and his pokemon.

The next match was between Magby and Haunter, another dull fight compared to Umbreon versus Umbreon. Damon’s fire-type hunched away from Damon and timidly walked toward the battleground, meeting Haunter at the center. He tried to look at the ground below Haunter, anywhere but Haunter’s eyes. This amused the ghost and his laugh hit a terrible chord within me. Since Magby could not look at Haunter without immediately looking away, Haunter was able to get in a free Shadow Ball at close range. Magby shrieked at the ghost attack after it hit him, and he forced an Ember into the ceiling, completely missing Haunter. The other members of Nightscare laughed at Magby while I looked at him, trying to figure out how impressive he could be against Noctowl and how unimpressive he could be in this match directly following. The botched evolution had something to do with it. My curiosity was probably far too unchecked. I had a tendency to ask too many prying questions within myself, when the strong do not ask questions but answer with action. At least I didn’t ask these questions out loud.

After very little resistance, Magby was defeated convincingly, probably what the fire type really wanted to happen. Damon didn’t look very disappointed. He just shook his head in disgust and routinely returned Magby to his pokeball.

“Well,” Jared walked toward Damon. “That just leaves Scizor from your crew. We’ll have to see how he performs before our decision is made.”

“I understand that, excuse me for a second.” Damon took me aside from Jared’s gaze. He looked up into my face with mostly desperation, but there was pride there, I was sure of it. “I’m really proud of you, Scizor, for doing that well in the first round. Right now you’re my last hope in this tournament.” The responsibility had pressure but I welcomed it. “First you have to battle Fearow, then Haunter. I just want to tell you that you’ve represented your trainer very valiantly tonight, but we’re not done. You heard Jared. He told me he wasn’t going to let me in Nightscare until after seeing you battle these last two matches. Give this your absolute best, Scizor. Can you do that for me?” The honor that came over me was intoxicating. I nodded, wanting to promise my trainer a victory, and he looked pleased at my loyalty. Fearow was waiting for me in the battle area. Rylan said something that brought a laugh among the other members, I didn’t care. Right now he was the enemy, and one priority stood in my mind: Win the tournament for my master.

[dratinihaunter13]

the next chapter featuring scizor is an interesting one, if any of you old readers remember .

new chapter, i did a lot of work on this one, since i think it's a real change of pace from our main characters.

main tweak: cleaning up Nightscare background and getting deeper into the narrator..

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Chapter 23 ~Haunter~

For my waiting area before my next battle I chose the most excluded corner I could find in the room. Apparently I had made it to the finals of this surprise tournament. I didn’t know what the new guy’s chances were of joining Nightscare. I didn’t know what would happen to me if I lost. I didn’t know what would happen to the new kid if he lost, but I had a good guess. It wasn’t necessary for me to know these things. My opinions and thoughts were all vague memories because I soon learned they aren’t worth a thing in this building. It’s kind of relieving, belonging to Nightscare.

My thoughts, my ideas, my victories, my losses, everything…Nightscare owned it all. Not like there’s an alternative either, but it’s not that bad at all once you get used to it. I found out the safety that comes with this organization, and that I belonged here more than anywhere else out there, with my kind. It was true that from a young age I was different from the other Gastly. They chattered and never stopped telling jokes to each other, talking to each other. They really weren’t my kind at all. I complimented the Nightscare mentality much better than any other pokemon in my species. Still, I liked being alone in this corner.

All I had to worry about doing in this dark corner was their intentions, and their intentions weren’t always what one would call “moral”. I escaped my home and friends to find something else, anything else. It started out as just a normal walk to get away, nothing new, and after a few miles I thought it’d be better to just keep going rather than turn around. I came across Nightscare, well they caught me, and they asked me to do a few things that terrified me. Terrified might not be the right word for my reaction, but it surprised me. Either way, I was uneasy at first and my Nightscare duties weren’t very well done. Most of the pokemon population of Nightscare is made up of dark types, but there were some who weren’t dark but carried the same tools for a dangerous and unique mindset. I had that. Nightscare noticed it and decided to train me to get closer to that part of me. I was part of a number of non-dark types who were trained to be more comfortable in our new home. During the training I saw some things I’d never imagined. The examples the Nightscare members showed me made me look away. The torture was frightening - even to a ghost type. It wasn’t the kind of torture that comes easy to the brain. The tortures took thought, and a lot of them were elaborate and specially forged. The further I got in my training, the more Nightscare operations I participated in.

One night I remember being present at another training session, torture this time, a Charmander. Two Nightscare members made sure I watched the whole thing, as they always did, but this time I didn’t resist in the least. I saw the water slowly fill the entire glass cell, the Charmander scamper to whatever dry spot she could find. The look of terror on her face started to look just like all the other ones I’d seen during my training. Death approached her and her face told me that, but I didn’t flinch this time. Her struggling became weaker and the splashing died down. My eyes stayed locked on the example until she stopped breathing, another dead pokemon.

I didn’t feel much after that part, but the next part affected me. Next to me stood the Charmander’s trainer, a young boy who had tried to defy Nightscare, failing like many before him. I remember the desperate look on his juvenile face, and I remembered wondering how sheltered this kid had been. I thought to myself, “Where’s that look anymore? That feeling I always used to feel for the poor trainer in his lowest moments?” I searched half-heartedly, and I couldn’t find a thing. His screams started sounding like that dead Charmander’s when she was splashing around. I realized this was the only thing I would be looking at for a long time in this Nightscare place. The boy was carried away, kicking and screaming, but this time I wasn’t taken to the trainer’s torture.

I thought nothing of it at the moment. The boy was taken to the silo and I was taken to my quarters. Once I got to my room, though, I noticed that this was the first time I hadn’t been taken to the silo. Instead, it looked like hours of darkness in boredom in my room. How could they take the trainer part away from me? It wasn’t like I had anything better to do. It wasn’t like they had given me much. After letting me so many trainers struggle and struggle and perish, they do this? I called from my room and slipped through the door as soon as the guards opened it. I raced to the silo just in time to witness another trainer’s final moments, to hear his last grunt. Nothing made me shut my eyes this time, and I didn’t whisper to myself “mercy”. I relished the fear, and I took interest in the deletion of life.

After that night I was taken on a few more Nightscare errands, happily taking part in whatever way I could, not giving a second thought to the objectionable things that I was doing. Before I could tell, I found myself in the company and mindset of your every day dark type. I was told that my training had been completed.

Nightscare now had full possession of me, and all I could was enjoy myself. Haunter were supposed to always have a good time. If this was my future I might as well enjoy it. The match I had with that terrified Magby spoiled me. His fear was so genuine and satisfactory. I chose to enjoy it a long time ago. After knowing that I’d see the same thing every night after night for the rest of this life, I preferred to enjoy it and fear became my fuel.

I was supposed to battle the winner of this next match between the new kid’s Scizor and Nightscare’s Fearow. The Fearow didn’t have the dark qualities that the rest of us had, but his trainer had him before getting recruited into Nightscare, and he didn’t want to leave him. I silently rooted for Scizor because I wanted to get a crack at the outsider, give him a taste of Nightscare.

“The next match will be between Damon’s Scizor and Rylan’s Fearow,” the Boss announced. The two were ready, Fearow still on foot. Scizor took the first swing, striking at Fearow from above. Fearow didn’t fly up instinctively, though, but stayed grounded ducking under Scizor’s massive claws while awkwardly running on his talons. Fearow’s trainer laughed at the comical scene of a Fearow on foot, but the bird soon took to the air where he was most effective.

A Razor Wind brewed around Scizor while Fearow flew rapid circles around his opponent. The whirlwind kept Scizor in one place as Fearow looked for an opening to use his slicing talons. Scizor used his Sword’s Dance to spin in place and keep the bird from coming anywhere near him. Staying true to his circular motion, Fearow used Agility to spin even faster than Scizor, who also used Agility. The clunky pokemon didn’t have the grace and pure speed that Fearow did, and Scizor fell over in dizziness. Fearow landed on the ground in front of Scizor, waving his head in mock dizziness. The bird stopped playing around and caught Scizor’s eyes with a Leer attack. Maybe from a more experienced Nightscare pokemon that Leer would have done a better job, but Fearow didn’t have those qualities. Scizor pierced Fearow’s stare with his own and used his Quick Attack to tackle his opponent. Fearow was crushed under the heavy armor but was able to wiggle his way free and take to the air. He immediately zipped back to Peck at Scizor, but Scizor had a claw waiting for it. His right pincer snapped around Fearow’s beak and the helpless bird was flung to the ground, feathers flying from the impact. Fearow got up and called out a couple times before falling down again to end the match.

“Scizor has defeated Fearow!” a Nightscare member announced. “That leaves Damon’s Scizor and Shane’s Haunter for the final round.” Shane had done many Nightscare assignments with me. He did a good job for Nightscare as far as I could tell. I didn’t really consider him a trainer but I still had to obey him in battles and operations. There wasn’t anyone to obey in this tournament – just two pokemon battling on their own wits. I made it to the final and as I was hoping, got to face Scizor. By the looks of this job though, he was no pushover. Scizor had out-skilled other Nightscare pokemon in the tournament already, and it looked like he wanted to join Nightscare just as badly as his trainer did. Despite all this, I’d still make sure to challenge him. I hovered to my place on the battleground. Scizor took his place right away, still a bit winded from his last battle. After a word from Jared, the battle began.

It was difficult to intimidate my opponent; his determination fought past my every attempt. He began to clang his claws together in a Focus Energy. Sparks formed with each metallic clang, as I formed an orb of ghost energy in one of my palms, preparing to throw the Shadow Ball without warning. Scizor jumped back when he noticed the Shadow Ball, but I threw it anyway with as much as speed as possible. Fully pumped from his Focus Energy, Scizor opened one of his pincers and snapped it shut with perfect timing, destroying the orb before it could reach him. Impressive, but I didn’t let Scizor see my reaction. Instead I hid it with a hopefully demonic smile. Scizor’s eyes clouded up as he rushed at me in a Pursuit attack, a shadow trailing him. I knew it was pointless to run away from this attack. He went right through me, yet the dark part of his attack damaged me considerably. I retaliated with a Psywave, emitting psychic rings in all directions to envelop Scizor in a mental barrage. Once he opened his eyes from the agony, he fell right into my stare.

I tried to look past his eyeballs and into his mind as I always did in a Hypnosis attempt. It worked beautifully, as my opponent curled up and fell asleep on the floor. This was an opportunity to use my favorite attack, Nightmare. With a delicate touch, I placed my hand next to Scizor’s temple and rested it there. I felt my thoughts pass from my mind, to my hand, to his mind. The memories I chose to show the aspiring non-dark type Scizor were those from my own non-dark type training in Nightscare. The torture I’d seen made my Nightmares much stronger than the attacks of other Haunter. Scizor began to shiver while I transferred the images in as much detail as I could. “Look, hear, smell,” I whispered to him. “This is what fear smells like to me.” I delved and found the stinking image of an old Scyther ordering Scizor to kill, and I let him experience that Nightmare.

Scizor shot up, awake and noticeably weaker. His eyes were wide like that of many after a horrible dream. It took time for me to recover from the Nightmare attack, and he battled through his thoughts to take advantage of that. Scizor sped across the floor with Agility swung at me with a Steel Wing. I dodged but saw him loop around to attack me again. His all-out attack mentality made things easy for my Confuse Ray, and it hit him head-on. He didn’t loop around again, but instead kept running a straight line into a group of Nightscare members. They wailed and barely dove out of the way before Scizor crashed into the wall.

The collision snapped Scizor out of his confusion, leaving an enormous dent in the wall as well. Not even he could take the constant punishment of this tournament, and that started to show when he fell to his knees to rest and find some strength, if there was any left. I released two Shadow Balls aimed at him, hoping to catch him off guard. However, this pokemon was never off guard. He got up and crossed his claws in front of him. He charged at the attack and crushed both of my orbs, one in each claw, not losing a bit of speed. I fired a Confuse Ray in defense but my opponent expected it. He used the Double Team technique, and the ray hit one of his two replicas. All three Scizor lifted their claws and swarmed me with Fury Cutter. The attack was relentless, with Scizor’s Agility making it impossible to see a single attack coming. I felt my health steadily fall, so I released a desperate Psywave to clear them away. The two fake Scizor disintegrated, but the one that remained fought the psychic attack for just long enough to land a Metal Claw. I crumbled to the floor in pain while he flew backward from the psychic energy. I knew I was far too weak to continue fighting. Hopefully he’d faint before me.

Scizor’s arms shook while he hoisted himself back up to his feet, but he did not faint. I looked up at his approaching figure, steadily marching to finish me off. Every Nightscare instinct in my body told me to not go down this easily, and to leave this Scizor something to remember. I placed a Curse on him, aware that it would drain the last of my energy and knock me out. Scizor grabbed his head with his claws in sudden pain as my eyes began to close. I was able to see Damon run to his Cursed fighter before I fainted, and that allowed me to leave the match in peace. Once again I had given my all for Nightscare, the organization that forever owned me and everything I did.

[dratinihaunter13]

ha, now that i actually have chapters written readers are scarce >_<. ah well, here's another one. i'll still chug along to new chapters, then hopefully finish this.

this chapter's a bit of a turning point, damon makes an important decision and gets that sixth member to his team.

main tweak: jared w/ damon dialogue

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Chapter 24 ~Jared~

It was obvious to me what our Haunter had done when Scizor hunched over and grabbed his head. We taught him those Curse and Nightmare techniques after all. Haunter was an example of our non-dark type training’s effectiveness. Not every pokemon we recruited took on the dark way of thinking, but some embraced it. I led Damon and his Scizor out of the room and down the hallway, dismissing the other Nightscare members assembled. While we walked along the beautiful steel walls I noticed how Scizor clutched his temples but didn’t make a single cry of pain. He just breathed faster but there wasn’t any other sign of weakness. My mind was made up on whether Damon should join Nightscare. It was made up a long time ago, but now I saw how loyal Scizor could be to Nightscare – with the proper training of course.

Upon reaching the healing room I instructed Damon to return his Scizor. I took his five pokeballs and placed them on our facility’s very own healer machine, once successfully robbed from a pokemon center. With a few tweeks from the technicians the machine had even been improved. A few moments passed and the machine had finished its job.

“Consider them healed,” I told Damon. He snapped each pokeball back on his belt and stood in front of me with his arms crossed. I allowed the silence to continue for a while, and allowed us to think. How would this boy’s team fit into our system? Our tactics at Nightscare were changing dramatically. It was a very dynamic period in our history. With my spare time, I had been training some of my pokemon in a different type of battle style. I tested these methods in a few minor missions, and they yielded satisfactory results. The way Damon’s team would react to these methods had to be decided individually.

To avoid too much silence I instructed Damon to follow me as I walked to a more private area across the facility. The walk gave me time to give each pokemon further thought. There was his Croconaw, the first pokemon eliminated from the tournament and in record time. His little wink to Magby was a clever touch. I’m sure he thought I didn’t see that, but I don’t miss much. Also, I had been watching Damon for nearly his entire journey before I decided to intervene. I saw Croconaw battle as a Totodile even, so I was well aware of the skills he possessed in battle. Just as apparent as that skill was his rebellious nature, but Nightscare had molded the bad boy type before.

Then we have Magby, the little one who jumps at the sound of a rain drop. His first match was stellar but against Haunter he barely put up a fight. Inconsistency could be costly, and I the only way I could describe his nature was weak. I didn’t know what to do with this extra pokemon on Damon’s team quite yet, but I knew his fear wouldn’t do Damon or me much good.

Houndour was quite a persistent little fellow, but his only advantage was in his Dark type characteristic. He didn’t look very adept at handling his Fire element, and that one dimensionality cost him in his match with Rylan’s Fearow. That Fearow wasn’t even properly trained under Nightscare, but Houndour still lost. If a pokemon had to be one dimensional, though, the Dark element was the one to choose. Houndour also wasn’t the brightest of pokemon, but there was hope for him yet, perhaps after an evolution.

Umbreon, Damon’s oldest companion, was magnificent. Her skills in battle came dangerously close to my own Umbreon’s, and those skills were constantly improving with each battle. She was shrewd, focused, and a dark type. One thing stood out the most from this particular Umbreon, and that was her ability to control things with her mind. Nightscare had never taught her anything yet she was still beginning to grasp her dark mental capacities on her own. I had believed that this was a secret only held by me and a few members of Nightscare. We had been training some dark-types, and even a couple, special non-dark types, to use their powers to lift things like Psychic types. The mental process appeared similar to the psychic process, but was actually completely different. It maximized the potential of a far more isolated corner of a pokemon’s brain. Psychic types were born with their potential, but I believed the powers I cultivated could always be taught, and constantly improved even beyond the intelligence of an Espeon or an Alakazam. It was exciting to imagine the other powers that could be uncovered in our darker pokemon. That would come later in our research, however. I was still trying to perfect the dark-psychic power in my team. All six of them had it within them and I proved it at the printing press to rescue Damon. It took weeks for me to get them to that point, though, and here was Umbreon who already measured up with most of my pokemon. She could truly be an invaluable asset to Nightscare, but with great power one must take great care. That Umbreon not only commanded respect in battle, but she was the closest to Damon. This was a detail I had to keep in mind.

Finally, I thought about the winner of the tournament, the promising Scizor. Obviously, and a little unfortunately, Scizor was not a Dark-type. What he was, though, was skilled in battle and extremely loyal to his trainer. Loyalty at its strongest proved to be Nightscare’s favorite tool. That loyalty flourished in every one of Scizor’s actions while I watched him fit into Damon’s journey, and I believed he had more loyalty in him than Damon’s Umbreon. She would not be afraid to make her own decisions if she had enough conviction, but Scizor wouldn’t dare commit to anything without Damon’s consent. Not all Scizor were like this, and I wished I could go deeper into Scizor’s background to bring out some helpful motivation, and to find out how he was raised as a Scyther. There had to be a way to do that, perhaps through one of Shane’s ghosts. Scizor was one of those pokemon who needed constant, Nightscare training to become stronger. The Haunter on Shane’s team had the same type of training like many other non-dark types at the facility. Who knows, Scizor could prove to be one of the special ones.

Once we reached our destination I shut the door and turned to face the talented trainer. “Damon.”

“Yes? Have I qualified for Nightscare?”

“Patience, Damon, let me talk to you first.” He stood still, arms crossed, a little bothered by the wait. “I’ve always known your potential better than anyone. I must make a decision on whether this potential can be used to Nightscare’s benefit.” He nodded, interested in every word coming out of my mouth. “Lately, I have been experimenting with a battle technique that only Dark-type pokemon can learn naturally, but non-dark types can also adapt it in rare cases. Do you remember that Haunter in the final?” Damon nodded. “Did you notice anything different about that specific Haunter?”

“I could sense something different about him, yeah. Yes.”

I stepped closer to him. “More specific please.”

“It was…just something about his presence, the way he battled. His eyes looked different, like they were hardened from seeing things. His smile looked more mocking or cruel than the average Haunter’s. An improvement was made on his fighting ability, I could tell that.”

“Yes,” I liked his choice of words, “an improvement. You know, Nightscare had found that Haunter quite a while ago. We noticed how he was reclusive from his own kind. We took him in and trained him differently with some techniques he surely wasn’t used to. Like any difficult training, it took a large amount of patience and discipline from him, but he soon became stronger and found similarities between Nightscare and himself. This Haunter, along with a few other non-dark types, has fit into our organization despite his basic elements. He hasn’t learned my new technique yet, but I plan on teaching him like I’ve taught my pokemon, and like I will teach other trainer’s pokemon here in the building. Soon Nightscare will be quite a force with pokemon, dark and non-dark alike, employing my technique.”

I led Damon to a table deeper into the room and sat down across from him. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that your Umbreon is beginning to look like a Psychic.” Damon grinned a bit but I could find the disgust in his face once he heard the word “Psychic.”

“I think I know what you mean.”

“That’s the technique! That’s what I’ve been trying to teach my Dark types, to harness that ability in a way psychics can not. Can you recall the printing press, when six of my pokemon lifted the employees into the air with only their minds?” Damon kept a straight face and nodded. “That’s the result of weeks of training.”

“Those were all dark types, though,” Damon joined the conversation. “Have you been successful at all with non-dark types?”

“I’m glad you brought that up, Damon.” It was an expected question, since most of his team contained non-dark types to begin with. “You see, this power of control is already present in dark types at birth. Most do not ever master these powers, and ignore them for their whole lives. I have awakened them in many dark types at the facility. The technique is not necessary for a pokemon to battle, but it is necessary for a pokemon to battle well enough for Nightscare. Back to your question on non-dark types, we at Nightscare have found a way to train them toward some of these powers. It’s a much longer process, however, since we are starting with much less. First, we must give them the proper mindset and attitude. Shane’s Haunter has passed that stage. Later on, we plan to take his training further by giving him experience with Dark type pokemon on missions. We have even passed this stage with a few pokemon, primarily my own, who have already reached that ultimate point of conceiving the powers of dark types.”

“So it works,” Damon interrupted, “for all pokemon, possibly?”

“Possibly. I have failed in training some pokemon to obtain these powers. It seems that only the most gifted, those with the most skills to mold, can fully develop new techniques as strong as those present in Dark type pokemon.” I paused and took time to make solid eye contact with Damon. “You’re pokemon look gifted to me, Damon. They have potential.”

“I see,” Damon responded immediately. “You think you can make your techniques work for each one of my pokemon and the use them on Nightscare missions?”

“I’m not sure about each and every one being able to learn the dark-psychic technique. That would be most ideal, but realistically, I would not be dissatisfied with a good battler who could learn to fight for this organization and fight well.” Damon relaxed a bit and sat back in his chair. “Besides, we shouldn’t be looking at your team so broadly; that is not a good starting point. Houndour has the natural dark element which puts him at an advantage. Umbreon has already developed some of the powers on her own, which is astonishing. Scizor, though, I believe his training should begin first.”

Damon sat pensively, not twitching a muscle. “So this is an official invitation. You want me in Nightscare?”

He was trying to gain some power in the exchange. I would have felt more threatened by it if he wasn’t so young and so much like me. Always thinking about an edge, this Damon. I knew I could fit him into the system. He was a little hesitant right now, not exactly comfortable with his place anywhere. I could tell it was difficult for him to place himself in his life in general. This is why I studied my recruits so closely, but none excited me more than the young trainer in front of me. Nightscare could use his talents. “Yes, I am officially inviting you to join.”

Damon thought some more and slowly said, “You’ve already told me a lot about this place. I’ve been given a fair idea of how you operate and some specific goals your organization has for the future. With all I know right now…what would happen if I declined this invitation?”

I fought to keep my same expression, and I stared through Damon. It didn’t make sense for his personality, his power-driven spirit, to decline this offer. Did he feel too weak in joining under so many powerful members? I thought I had flattered him enough. Did he scare at the end of Scizor’s match? There was a real concern within him when he rushed to the middle of the battle area to help his fainting pokemon, but I doubted it would scare him away from us. He must have been only playing with me a bit, something he’d learn not to do. I didn’t reward his bold question with the answer he’d prefer, but I was honest this time.

“If you declined, Damon, then both of us would be at a great loss.”

He shifted positions in his chair and tapped a few times on the table. “If you’ll excuse me,” I said getting up from the table with an idea. In a far corner the room I found my second pokemon belt containing my non-dark team. This trainer would need one more push and I knew how to do it. “Perhaps you would like to have a sixth edition to your team.” I threw a pokeball in front of Damon, releasing one of my best trained. Crobat flapped his leathery wings with gusting force, quickly finding altitude above the two of us. He stared down at me with a slanted smile. It would be hard to give him away, but Damon needed convincing. “He is a product of Nightscare’s revolutionary training methods,” I raised my voice above the flapping of Crobat’s wings. “And he is yours if I hear the decision I would like to hear.”

Damon gawked at the giant pokemon above him. “This Crobat was at the printing press,” he pointed out to me. “I just thought he was a Dark type.”

“He could be considered that now.”

“But how can you give him away so easily? I mean, he is one of the best products of your training.”

“It’s not easy,” I replied. “You’re membership is valuable to everybody here, Damon. I believe you and Crobat will work well together. He will help you learn about the power we can offer you at Nightscare.” I could tell I had made significant ground with Damon, but he still looked like he was deciding. It would be ridiculously brave of him to decline, but more foolish. “Crobat is not the only powerful specimen in my arsenal.”

“Yeah?” Damon questioned. I went back to my pokemon belt.

“Here,” I tossed him the pokeball. “Go ahead and release that pokemon.” Damon looked to me and underhand tossed the pokeball onto the floor a few feet from us. My impressive water-type took form. “This is my Kingler. I constantly trained him with Nightscare methods since he was a young Krabby, and like many of the non-dark types, he was able to find his dark powers after evolution.” Damon’s eyes were pleading for an example.

“Kingler,” I ordered him. My pokemon scuttled around to turn and face me, loudly snapping his claws in the air. I always loved seeing him battle against other non-dark types with his new advantages. He had that ruthless look about him that often came with the end of a pokemon’s training at Nightscare. “Kingler, be so kind as to display the result of your training to the young man over there.” Kingler glanced at Damon and shut his eyes. When he opened his eyes, a black haze fogged them like cataracts and he made Damon’s chair begin to shake. Damon leapt off the chair, making Kingler cackle to himself. The black haze blanketed the chair as Kingler lifted it with his mind. I stole a look at Damon to see his reaction, and there was a bit of fear there, but mostly intrigue. He was interested. Crobat, who was still flying above the table, shut his eyes and opened them to reveal his own dark aura.

“He can do it too,” Damon whispered to himself. Crobat swung one wing in front of him to send the armchair sailing at Kingler. The surprised crab retreated and stuck out his bigger claw, knocking the armchair away like a baseball.

“As you can see,” I told Damon, “we like to have our pokemon physically powerful as well.” Kingler glared at Crobat. “That bat was always a joker.” I returned Crobat to his pokeball. Damon handed Kingler’s pokeball to me so I could return him as well. I took them back to my belt in the corner of the room, and returned to Damon with only Crobat’s pokeball.

“The power is within reach,” I extended the gift toward the young trainer who could soon be aware of his own abounding potential. “Will you grab this opportunity?” Damon had no other choice. He wanted to succeed, badly, and he knew Nightscare was his only alternative, especially after his match at the Psychic gym. I offered him a chance to crush those psychics with a greater power. With Crobat as an enormous perk, I didn’t see how Damon could refuse. He may not be aware of it through his entire membership, but we train the pokemon trainers just as much as their pokemon.

“Scizor would be first?” Damon pointed to a pokeball on his belt. I nodded slowly, while he finalized his decision. Without another word, he picked Crobat’s pokeball from my palm, and our hands met in a firm shake. Welcome, our newest member to Nightscare.

[mistysakura]

Finally caught up! Well, Damon's decision is a step towards the darkness indeed; although he possibly doesn't know what really goes on in the training sessions, he's prepared to do whatever it takes for power. The characterization of the different Pokemon was a very strong element of these chapters, especially with Magby. And Haunter's chapter... I can't get the image of the drowning Charmander out of my head. Such a documentation of descending into complete darkness... chilling stuff. Keep writing, and don't be discouraged by the lack of repliers. As you know well, the closet readers are always somewhere...

[dratinihaunter13]

ms: thanks for taking the time to catch up, i appreciate that! yea the fic's finally making it's move from trainer/dark to dark/trainer. as far as repliers go, i'll be fine. replies are nice but i'm writing this to the end mainly for myself, kinda to prove i can do it ^_^.

this chapter returns us to Damon's head, he's got a lot to think about. also, he tests out his new toy.

main tweak: damon's pseudo-soliloquy at the very end.

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Chapter 25 ~Damon~

Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C Major played in the Cube City Symphony Hall for the nighttime show. This piece required a large number of musicians and instruments. The scattered points in the symphony where they all played together entertained me the most. I thought of all the pieces falling together in my journey as a trainer, and what it would take for that song to happen.

Jared had allowed me to take the bus from Sphere City to my musical retreat. I’d return to headquarters very late in the night, and then get some rest for the following day of training. My team and I would have to get acquainted with the new surroundings. A higher pitch overcame the music below my attic. The flutes had joined in. I felt that every instrument played for me, whether it was percussion, brass, woodwind, strings. It was like a candy store, with all the different brands equally tasty. Each instrument was unique to the next, but just as enjoyable as well.

Nightscare, Jared, Umbreon, Scizor, Houndour, Magby, Croconaw, and now even Crobat. My future depended on all of these things, so I couldn’t stop myself from wondering about them and defining them further. Nightscare was a word to me, a term that cannot be found in the dictionary but was defined along the lines of frightening to the point of being intriguing. That was the feeling I got. This outlook was very shaky and temporary. I knew my opinion of Nightscare would change with time and experience, but it scared me now, the first thing that scared me in a while. Not many things threatened me in this world, and I had made sure of that with each decision. My home life wasn’t my life anymore; at least I’d accomplished that. This organization was bigger and more powerful than me, and in a sense, it owned me. The threat was certainly there, but I wanted to take a closer look at it. I had no idea whether I was making the right decision. No one ever does. The most vivid memory I held was my embarrassment at the psychic gym, and I wanted badly to replace that. It was obvious that I could go no further without some help, and as much as that enraged me, I had to take the chance to polish my skills. Right after the gym battle, Nightscare seemed like the answer. They didn’t conveniently show up right after that battle, so I doubted any treachery took place. They had tried to recruit before then. Nightscare was a shining opportunity, but the closer I got to the inside, the darker the center became. I would have been an idiot not to grab this opportunity, to be a part of something this dominant that many didn’t even know about. The power Nightscare possessed, I couldn’t achieve that in training alone, but now it was being offered to me.

Would I leave later on? Once I got the improvements I desired, would that be enough for me to quit? That was tricky. The consequences of my leaving bothered me, especially with what Jared was hinting at earlier on. I hadn’t changed my mind, though. I wanted to leave as soon as possible. Being subordinate to a leader or a giant ring of leaders was not my style at all, and I naturally wanted to run away from it as soon as possible, though running away wasn’t really my style either. I was probably over-thinking myself too far into the future. Improvement was necessary right now, but the circumstances could be completely different later on.

Feeling the heavier weight on my back, I turned my head to see Umbreon snoozing through the show like she always used to do as an Eevee. My first pokemon grew more powerful by the day. Jared had even said the same thing. As an Umbreon, she radiated power everywhere she went, much more than when she was my talented Eevee, and my only pokemon. The bond may have been a bit different between us, but it was still there and just as strong.

Jared appeared to like my other dark pokemon to fit into Nightscare’s idea of power. I was worried about Houndour. That Fearow he battled was not that good, definitely not good enough to whip Houndour so easily. Jared still had some positive things to say about him, though, which surprised me. That may be because Jared had so many dark types. It discouraged me that Houndour needed a trainer to order him around. Without me to order him around, he looked practically helpless in the match. Despite his dark element, I feared he wouldn’t improve anymore. Nightscare could probably help him out, though, since they were the apparent masters of dark-types. I remembered Jared saying how much an evolution could change a pokemon. That was encouraging at least.

Then there was Croconaw, given to me as a Totodile from my old professor. How would he react to Nightscare? No, more importantly, how could he lose to that Haunter so quickly? I couldn’t believe the Haunter just plain out skilled him “in record time”, as Jared put it. Croconaw was far too good for that to happen. When I was telling the team all about Nightscare right before the tournament, Croconaw didn’t try to hide his reaction. He looked disgusted. My slightly questionable behavior as a wandering trainer bothered him, so I could imagine how he felt about Nightscare. I know Nightscare worked wonders for the Haunter, but it would be ground-breaking if they could influence Croconaw. I could only hope for the best, and hope he didn’t get me kicked out.

Scizor was quickly turning into a prized pokemon of mine. Jared particularly liked him, even if he wasn’t a dark-type. I felt like I could always count on Scizor’s loyalty, and that’s probably what caught Jared’s eye, if he was anything like me. I kept remember that Haunter’s stare. Then, I remembered Jared saying how Scizor’s training would be like Haunter’s. The training couldn’t be that bad, but I hoped Scizor wouldn’t develop that ruthless stare. Maybe if I left Nightscare early enough, Scizor would improve and not have to see too much brutality. Jared seemed to know how to train a lot of power into pokemon, though, and Scizor could bring me an enormous advantage if he got as powerful as that Kingler, or my new pokemon.

Specially trained by Jared, Crobat had that power which intrigued me so much about Nightscare. If my pokemon could gain that domination Crobat and Kingler had in their techniques, it was tough to imagine anyone beating me, except for maybe other Nightscare members with pokemon like that. Crobat looked great but I had little knowledge on how to battle with him. I’d have to make time to practice with him.

Next to me, swaying to the notes of Schumann, stood my Magby. He was in that classical music trance that we both knew about. These were the only instances that Magby stood within two feet of me, and when I felt closest to him. Magby was the toughest puzzle on my team, the most difficult to understand. He battles brilliantly in the tournament’s first round. He begins to evolve! His evolution comes to a mysterious halt. He regresses back to Magby form. Finally, he’s beaten in a shameful loss, not even putting up a fight. As far as I could tell, Magby should have evolved a long time ago. I remembered that exhilaration I felt when his coat began to shine. I was already picturing the victories I could share with Magmar, a dominant fire-type who would sport all of Magby’s natural skill in battle with much more power. The evolution would have left behind the coward in Magby, I just knew it. Something beyond me stopped that evolution. How often does that happen anyway? I felt like one of the unluckiest trainers in the Polygon League. Hopefully Nightscare could bring him to that evolutionary point again, if it was even possible. It could be too late, even, and that would leave me with a very weak link to my team.

Magby’s eyes were closed while his skin seemed to glow and fade to the rhythm of the music. Once the piece concluded the entire crowd stood up and applauded. Magby opened his eyes and clapped with them to show his appreciation. It looked hilarious and Magby brightened up while I was laughing. I immediately realized how much noise we were creating with the clapping and the laughing, so I shushed Magby and listened for anybody coming. He fell down out of surprise, probably not expecting me to stop laughing so suddenly. I glared at him for making even more noise, but luckily nobody heard us. While we waited for everyone to leave the symphony hall, I asked Magby if he had any thoughts or opinions on the performance today. He checked to make sure I wasn’t angry with him, and then gladly gave me his opinion. Still not able to understand him as I understood Umbreon, I could only guess at what he was saying and form his responses from nods, shakes, or facial expressions. It was difficult, but still kind of entertaining. I had always wanted Umbreon to be interested in music as an Eevee. At least I had Magby to “communicate” with in the symphony hall, but once we got outside I knew he wouldn’t be as comfortable.

The audience cleared out, and I returned Magby and Umbreon from their positions routinely. After giving the loft a quick cleaning, I crept out of the attic and exited the symphony hall, right into the inviting night.
-

“Bus to Sphere City! Boarding in 15 minutes!”

The voice of the bus employee cracked the night silence as I sighed and began my fifteen minute wait. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a guy who looked like a trainer, maybe four or five years older than me. He looked over the fluorescent screen displaying the bus schedule. I looked down to his waist and found what I wanted to find: six pokeballs.

The trainer talked to the guy behind the counter and was informed of the fifteen minute delay. He sighed impatiently and plopped down on one of the benches. This looked like a good opportunity for a battle, plus I had some time to kill.

“You waiting for Sphere City too?” I asked the trainer who had sat down a few benches away from me.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I’m wanting to go battle the gym leader over there but I guess they screwed up the schedule. No bus in yet.” The guy seemed a little old to still be collecting gym badges, but maybe that meant he was good. He could be perfect for seeing how far along I was.

“How about a quick battle while we wait?”

He studied me for a second. “You’re a trainer?”

I felt like I should be asking that question. I might be old for a trainer but I was younger than this guy. “Yeah, I’m a trainer. Are you?”

“All right, all right,” he waved his hands. “It’ll make the time go by. Wanna make it a quick one-on-one?”

“That’s fine,” I said as we both stretched and got up from our benches. One of my favorite things about training that was mostly overlooked was how little two trainers have to talk before starting a pokemon battle. Introductions and small talk were overrated in my opinion.

“Let’s go find some more room. I saw a small pond nearby, just over there.” He pointed past the bus station to a sizable pond half surrounded by tall grass. “My name’s Chester, by the way. What’s yours?”

“David,” I said calmly, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, David.” I could already tell he wanted to use a water-type since the pond was his idea. It didn’t make any difference to me, since I had already chosen which pokemon I’d use. “Ready to get this battle going?”

“Yeah,” I unclipped my pokeball. “No items, just to save time, and one-on-one ‘til faint.”

“Or forfeit,” he pointed to me.

“Right, or forfeit. Got your pokeball ready?” I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t pick his pokemon after I’d released mine for a type advantage.

“You bet.” We both activated our pokeballs and threw them in the grass next to the pond between us. Once the light died from the grassy area, Crobat emerged from the thicket. Chester would be surprised to learn that this was no ordinary Crobat. It was time to get used to battling with such a powerful, Nightscare pokemon. Also flying from the tall grass, Chester’s pokemon sailed through the air and plunged into the pond. Once the pokemon resurfaced, my pokedex identified it as a Mantine.

“Start things off with a Bubblebeam!” Chester ordered his Mantine. Crobat grinned his static grin. He began to flap his wings to blow away the beam of bubbles, but Mantine was strong. The bubbles found their way through the gusts and pelted Crobat, who still looked very healthy after the barrage. “Follow up with a Bubble!”

“Bite Attack!” I remembered to finally order my pokemon to do something, relieved that I could after that long tournament of no trainer interference. Hopefully I could remember what the professor had taught me about this type of pokemon’s attacks. Crobat looked at me before taking action, surprised to hear a different trainer’s voice. Mantine poked his head up from the pond and released a few giant bubbles. Crobat kept his eyes on me while he unhinged his jaw to the size of one of Mantine’s bubbles. He then zipped right into Mantine’s attack and chomped each Bubble while suffering minimal damage.

“Quick, Tackle him!” Chester saw Crobat swoop down at his pokemon.

“Wing Attack!” I felt the rush of being a trainer. The Mantine ducked under the water level then instantly sailed out of the pond toward Crobat. My pokemon slapped Mantine away with one massive wing, sending him spiraling back into the pond. The Wing Attack looked like quite a blow, but Mantine surfaced right away.

“Try another Bubblebeam!” Sure, it was the only attack that had worked for him all night. I wanted to find a way to employ Crobat’s powers into the match, but it was tough to pick my spot. Also, Nightscare may not want me showing off their techniques so publicly yet. I was about to order Crobat to use his natural speed to dodge the compact bubbles, but before I could give him the order, his eyes glowed blackish-red. Like he had done at the facility, Crobat stayed suspended in the air without flapping his wings. Mantine fired his Bubblebeam at the still target, but with only a bit of concentration Crobat took control of the beam and forced all the bubbles to collide into one another. Chester widened his eyes, disbelieving at Crobat’s power, but he still showed the persistence of a trainer.

“Supersonic!” he called out. It was a good move, because I couldn’t think of a counter at that moment. With Crobat in my corner, though, I guess I didn’t need to come up with one. Before Mantine could release any sort of sound, his body became engulfed in a dark outline and began to rise from the pond. Crobat lifted Mantine a few feet above his life-giving habitat as Mantine’s gills desperately flapped around, searching for water. Crobat flapped his wings in Mantine’s direction, the wind causing droplets to fly off of him. He had taken Mantine out of the water, and was now robbing him of all moisture! Chester painfully witnessed his pokemon struggle to breathe from a paralyzed state. That sleek build of Mantine became more and more shriveled as he dried up, helpless under my overpowering pokemon’s control.

“Hey! I forfeit!” Chester shouted. Had he been shouting that long? I didn’t know. Seeing that I had the match won and that Crobat showed no intention of stopping, I returned my pokemon and relished in my victory. The Mantine fell back into the pond, but couldn’t find the strength to resurface. Chester dove into the pond to recall his pokemon back into its pokeball.

“Nice match,” I said to the pond, and I made my way back to the bus station benches. I heard Chester splash around and gasp for air, then heard his sopping wet footsteps on the pavement behind me. He ran to the bus station counter and asked the employee the quickest way to the local pokecenter. I turned around to see him, clothes drenched and all. The employee told him the bus wasn’t going by there, but he pointed Chester in the right direction.

The bus to Sphere City pulled up just as Chester began his jog to the pokemon center. I boarded and took a seat, the only person on the bus aside from the driver. On the way, I kept trying to relive the experience of seeing Crobat dominate in battle. I felt the power and the control, and I remembered being deprived of that for so long in my childhood. The things I went through with my family weren’t normal things a kid should have to go through, and that night was the first night I admitted that to myself. My childhood was very different from anyone else’s in this world, except for maybe Umbreon’s. We both knew what it meant to have no control. I wanted to relive that battle with Mantine the whole ride back to Sphere City. The sense of control and power over what happened next, that was all there. Yet when I pictured my victory, the picture came with a shriveled Mantine in the foreground, and I wondered whether I made the right decision, just for an instant.

My first night in my quarters at Nightscare was a thoughtful one. Usually I pushed everything aside so I could sleep and forget by morning, but some nights I prefer to think. I thought about how much authority I could gain outside of Nightscare if my pokemon all could battle like Crobat. Training would be so much simpler. Wherever the top was for a trainer, I’d be there, no doubt in my mind. The shriveled Mantine’s prune skin reminded me of the baths I’d give myself. I couldn’t remember how young I was, but I know I wasn’t old enough to explain to my parents why they should help me. I couldn’t form the words. My skin would get shriveled from the extra time I’d spend in the tub trying to climb out. I made it out eventually. I made it to where I was, and a lot of it wasn’t easy. “That Mantine’s healed up by now,” I thought to myself while I laid in my bed, in the dark. Pokemon were lucky; they had a machine that could heal them pretty damn fast. A feeling of weakness came over me, along with a wave of nausea. “No,” I pushed away any lingering thoughts for the night, “I made the right decision.”

[dratinihaunter13]

last chapter from my summer run, the rest is yet to be re-worked but i'll add them on as soon as i can. Let the Nightscare training begin.

main tweak: Training subtleties
---

Chapter 26 ~Scizor~

I woke up groggy and outside of my pokeball. Thank goodness the nightmares Haunter left me didn’t come back. I wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep with those thoughts still fresh in my head, but I passed out from a lingering attack he had dealt right before he fainted. Curse was what Damon called it. I just knew it made me feel the sickest I’d ever felt. I had headaches, stomachaches, ringing in my ear, everything. None of that bothered me more than my nightmares, though, predictions of how Nightscare would have me train.

Jared stood in front of me with a pleased expression. I looked past that disturbing image to survey the room. There were multiple machines scattered across the large room, most of them for training, though for some others I couldn’t place a purpose. A mirror ran the perimeter of the room, a stripe across the silver walls. The only lighting came from some beam light right above the floor of the training room. I couldn’t find Damon anywhere, but there were tons of Nightscare members training pokemon.

“Good morning, Scizor,” Jared said in a cheery voice. “Allow me to clear things up for you,” he reached to his hand to my shoulder. I flinched under it but did not swipe it away. Jared was too powerful for me to be on his bad side. I attempted to show him respect since he was the master of my master, but a pokemon’s trainer should always come first in a pokemon’s allegiance. “Now that Damon has been formally inducted into this fine organization, his pokemon must be trained in the Nightscare techniques. As you can see, many have already begun their training with us. Most in this room are not even dark-types.” I rescanned the room and confirmed the majority. “I’ve saved the privilege of training you for myself.” Now I really wanted to know where my trainer was, because this guy was not him. “If you’re worrying about Damon, he’s fine. We just took the liberty of getting an early start with his team’s training.” I nodded but was still apprehensive about the whole thing. “If you would follow me to-”

Damon busted through the door at the other end of the room, interrupting Jared. He weaved through pokemon and the training machines once he spotted Jared and I. “My belt!” he yelled to us. It was a relief to have him there, but he looked worried.

“Good morning, Damon,” Jared greeted my panting trainer.

“No,” Damon breathed heavily, “it’s not.” He took a few seconds to get back some energy. “Where’s my belt?”

“I will do whatever I can to help you here at Nightscare, Damon, but I will not play the part of your mother.”

Damon was not amused. “My pokemon belt.”

“Ah, I see. While you slept, I saved you the trouble of delivering your pokemon for early morning training and I retrieved them myself.”

Damon studied me for a while and said, slightly relieved, “It would have been better if I was informed.”

“Not to worry,” Jared reassured him. “Here are your pokemon, in this drawer.” Jared walked to a filing cabinet in the room and picked up Damon’s pokemon belt. “One must have trust in this organization, you know.” Damon responded by taking the belt from Jared and snapping it around his waist.

“I see that Scizor is getting trained first.”

“Correct,” Jared said. “Just as I had told you before.” Damon leaned back against an unused machine and waited for us to get started. “Actually, Damon,” Jared laughed lightly. “I’m afraid you must leave the room while we train Scizor. Past experience has proven to us that the pokemon progresses more effectively without a trainer to rely on in the room. Coleman, if you would show this young man to the door.” A bulky Nightscare member named Coleman approached my trainer, but Damon backed away.

“Wait, I can’t… well can you at least tell me what you plan to do with my Scizor?” It was flattering to hear Damon take an interest in my well-being. I hope my victories in the tournament have put me at high esteem with him.

“Of course,” Jared sighed. “Directly to your left you see two racks lined with bowling balls. We will probably test the strength of his claws with those, then move on to some of the tools you see here.” Damon still looked unsure. “Don’t worry, Damon. Scizor, along with your other pokemon, will not be harmed. I give you my word.”

Damon looked at Jared for a moment of awkward silence until Coleman placed his hand on Damon’s arm. “This way young sir.” He led Damon out of the room, leaving me to Jared’s methods.

“Shall we begin, Scizor?” Why was he asking me? It was easier not to respond. “Very well. Please bring me one of those bowling balls from the rack there, and place it on this holder behind me.” I peered around Jared to see the thick pedestal with a caved in top for a bowling ball. I didn’t move. Damon was my master, not this man, and my allegiance lied with my trainer who captured me. Jared repeated himself, thinking I didn’t hear him. When he figured me out he called for Coleman once again, who was standing by the door. “Go get Damon again.”

Coleman left the room and returned quickly with Damon. Maybe my master had been waiting for me in the hallway right outside the training room. “We have a problem,” Jared told Damon. “You’re Scizor refuses to obey me. Perhaps he would cooperate if you instructed him to.” Damon reluctantly approached me.

“Obey him for this training session, Scizor,” he whispered to me. “But he can’t make you do something you don’t want to do.” I nodded to Damon, understanding his wariness.

“Ah,” Jared smiled. “Such loyalty.” Damon was again escorted out of the room. Jared motioned to the bowling ball rack. “If you would be so kind.”

I walked to the rack and chose a ball at random from the top row. The ball was more on the light side, but I figure it was fine for starting out. I had an idea of what Jared would ask me to do. I set the ball on the pedestal and waited for additional instructions. “Great. Now would you please use you Metal Claw attack to strike the ball off the pedestal. I’d like to see how far you can hit it.” After setting a goal for myself on how far I’d like to hit it, I took a deep breath and swung at the bowling ball. The crashing feel against my claw flooded my mind with memories of the night at Faia’s gym. I reminded myself that this was a bowling, not a human skull. I shook my head of the memory and noticed that I reached my goal by a foot. Jared didn’t show surprise or disappoint, but just said, “Again.” I obeyed, getting another bowling ball from the rack and putting away the one on the floor.

For the next fifteen minutes or so, that was all I heard over and over. My claw hit the bowling ball, the bowling ball hit floor, and Jared told me to do it again. We were making kind of a racket, but nobody seemed to mind. The image of Faia’s head kept showing up with each Metal Claw, but the monotony of the exercise helped me get over it. I kept wondering what was so unique about this Nightscare training. It seemed like any old endurance drill I may have performed at the colony. After I hit the last bowling ball on the rack I noticed how I had improved, increasing my distance almost each time. My right claw felt a lot weaker than my left, though. “Very good, Scizor. I’m impressed by your strength,” Jared complimented me. “However, it would have been wiser if you alternated claws to strike the bowling balls. Your right claw wouldn’t be so sore by now. It’s important to keep yourself equally conditioned in all parts of your body.” He was right, but I didn’t let him know it. All I had to do was obey Jared’s orders; that was all Damon had asked of me.

“This way, Scizor,” Jared led me to a lumpy punching bag, slowly swaying near a corner of the room. It looked worn out, but the leather seemed to be in good condition. Both the top and the bottom of the bag were fastened to metal bars. It was a little higher off the ground than the other punching bags, but the height fitted my stature perfectly. “It looks lumpy and old,” Jared explained, “but it’s actually quite a new level of mechanics we’ve developed for our training regimen. The lumps are from an oblong, metal sphere suspended in the bag that gives the pokemon a center of force to punch at. If you hit the denser sphere within the hollow bag with enough force, you will see it bulge against the other end of the leather bag. That’s to motivate you to keep punching, or in your case Metal Clawing, as hard as you can. You shall keep going until I tell you to stop. Begin.”

This was another exercise I’d seen before, one of the most common. I gave up on figuring out what makes the Nightscare training so effective and began to swipe at the bag with my left claw, planning to alternate claws this time. I expected the metal ball to hurt a bit more, but it absorbed the blows pretty well. I suppose I could at least appreciate the equipment Nightscare had at their facility. It was getting frustrating, though, because the leather bag was too thick for me to see any bulge out the other end.

“That’s not as hard as you can hit, Scizor. I know that for a fact. Can you see it bulge out the other end?” I felt a little challenged and took a few moments before my next few Metal Claws to power them up. Hopeful, I looked at the other end of the bag and saw a small curve from the sphere. “Not bad,” Jared commented. “I almost saw something, but my mind could have been playing tricks on me.” I didn’t know what was more difficult, getting through this leather or listening to Jared insult my capability. For his information, their metal sphere wasn’t the challenge, it was the damn bag. I increased the force of my blows considerably, hitting as hard as I could. I heard the squeak of bending metal and felt satisfied at the noise. More of it was showing up at the other end of the bag, and I could see the protrusions where I’d bent it.

“Excellent, Scizor! I even thought I heard you dent the metal.” He thought he did? Oh, I know I did. Panting heavily, I swung at the punching bag with all my might, rewarded by the squeaks of the metal. I could tell from the other end of the bag that I was completely changing the shape of the sphere. Less and less curves were showing up with each hit. The leather on my side of the bag was thinning from the constant punishment of my claws. I felt my breath thinning also, but Jared still wasn’t satisfied with me. “I can hear it!” My hits came quicker, but with nearly the same amount of force. I felt my claws get softer. They were adapting to the impact of the metal to the point where the metal even seemed soft. I never knew I was capable of hitting so fast and hard. Jared had to be impressed with me. Damon would be even more impressed!

“Scizor,” Jared stopped me. I kept bouncing from foot to foot, high on adrenaline. “Your side of the bag is thinning.” Jared rotated the bag to face the other direction, the thin side now away from me. “Let’s see what you got.” I knew what he wanted. He wanted to see me hit the mangled metal out of the bag. I bet no one had ever done that before. I tried to put my entire body into one last Metal Claw, and then smashed the bag with all that power. The metal pushed out against the thin wall of leather. I could even see the brown rust all over the former sphere, but I couldn’t knock it out of the bag. I clenched my claws tightly in anger, upset with myself whenever I couldn’t reach a goal. My temples pulsed and I felt my jaws almost crush each other from the tension. Jared studied my expression. “That’s fine, Scizor. If you can’t go any further then that is your limitation.” My claws clanged together while I felt the Focus Energy rise from my gut. Each pincer glowed brightly and I struck my head with them, ready to prove Jared wrong about my limitations. That metal was old and rusty. It would be no match for Metal Claw which now weighed a devastating amount. I lifted the claw into the air like it was weightless and back-handed the punching bag so forcefully I fell forward. The collision I felt with the metal was unnaturally soft, even for cheap, rusted metal, but I heard the leather tear, that glorious tearing sound. I looked up to see my prize sail through the air in a brownish-reddish blur. I could only make out the object when it hit the corner of the room and stuck there for a second, blood spattering from all sides. The Sandshrew never felt himself hit the wall, because he was already beaten to death by me. The limp body peeled off the wall and plopped wetly on the floor. A burning overcame the back of my eyes once I saw the shrew’s frozen expression of anguish. I gagged and choked from the hideous site of the bloodied pokemon and remembered the adrenaline, the blind anger, the squeaking…

All I could do was gag and weep, and painfully accept the image before me.

[mr_pikachu]

Ah, I've finally caught up!

Well, these were some very good chapters over the last few posts. The conclusion of the last one was especially shocking and intense. Well, none of Damon's Pokemon were hurt physcially, but that had to shatter Scizor's psyche. He probably can't believe what he just did, even if he didn't know it at the time. The different aspects of Scizor's mentality being reexamined at the end was beautiful in a grotesque sort of way. Excleent work. I like the level of physchological drama that is building in this. Each Pokemon's perspective is unique, independant, and important to the overall equation.

However, there were still quite a few tense shifts in these last few chapters. The trend that I've noticed is that they tend to occur within sentences. That is, instead of tossing in sentences that are conmpletely in the present tense, you more frequently have one verb in a sentence that is mistakenly in the present tense, while the other verbs are in the past tense. Let me give a few examples, with the verbs in question underlined. The verbs that are correctly in the past tense will be bolded.


I know, I know my trainer’s opinion [U]should be[U] one with my own, but this place didn’t feel right.

[U]It’s[U] kind of relieving, belonging to Nightscare. ("It's" always stands for "It is", which is a present tense phrase.)

If this was my future I might as well enjoy it.

I’m sure he [B]thought[B] I [B]didn’t[B] see that, but I don’t miss much. ("I'm" always stands for "I am", which is in the present tense.)

Then we have Magby, the little one who [U]jumps[U] at the sound of a rain drop.


These are just a few examples of what I mean. I should also say a few things about using commas in a sentence. When you use a comma to break apart two separate ideas you need for both sides of the comma to have complete thoughts. You need a subject and a verb that acts on said subject on both sides of the comma. Also, you need a conjunction after the comma in that case. Let me demonstrate what I mean.


Billy said that we can go to the park, but I don't want to go.


First, notice how both sides of the sentence have a primary subject and verb. The first part has "Billy" as the noun, and "said" is the verb which acts on it. The second part has "I" as the subject, while "don't want" is the verb. Also, the word "but" is the conjunction after the comma. Note that this is only one way to use commas; they can be used in lists, to distinguish an introductory or conclusion phrase, to close a quoted sentence, and others. But this was the one that really needed mentioning here.

However, you still seem to be going strong with this fic. As Ada said, you certanly have closet readers, and you definitely deserve them. I'm very impressed with the depth of your plotline and your characters. Everything is getting richer and richer in this, and I'm looking forward to seeing it continue to new heights. You're doing very well, so keep it up! Anyway, I'll see you next chapter!

[mistysakura]

Really, with me it's more of an issue of taking the time to reply than taking the time to read the chapters. So, in response to what I read some ten days ago:

The last part of that chapter was absolutely heartbreaking. I didn't really get what was going on at first, but then in dawned on me and the revelation was stunning. It was an excellent effect, not a bomb-dropping end-twist sentence, but revealing something we had been anticipating all along. Just more horrible than we thought it would be, after the seemingly harmless training. Much better than revealing right at the start that he was going to watch Pokemon suffer or whatever.

I also agree with mr_pika about the interest in Scizor's perspective; he's a very interesting character. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I think that Nightscare won't get to him. It has already been shown that Scizor takes his values, such as loyalty, very seriously. And yet, by the same reasoning, I see that this loyalty will not continue indefinitely, for at some point Scizor's morals will take over, if they are anyhere near as strong as his loyalty. Also, Scizor does not wish to turn dark, as he is only doing the training program to obey Damon. it can therefore be seen that his morals are far more important to him, and are his motivation. Something like that cannot be dislodged easily.

I look forward to the next chapter.

[SuperSonicMewtwo]

I remember this story from a time long ago. I can't remember how far I read, but I remember this chapter. I and others would like to see the progression of Damon through Nightscare, though, so keep up the posting!

[dratinihaunter13]

mr_pika: Thanks for taking the time to give example and everything with that critique! I took them all seriously and focused on keeping my tenses straight with this chapter. I'm not sure about the comma thing though. I know I've abused commas before >_<.

ms: well as long as you reply every once in a while that'd be fine i suppose ^_^. I just like seeing what my readers are thinking at different points of the plot. helps me out quite a bit. like scizor wasn't supposed to get so much time when i first wrote this, but he seemed to draw a lot of interest so now he's getting some time.

SSM: hey! good to see you back! i have the notes and everything still for how I want Damon to move through Nightscare, so hopefully you'll see it sooner rather than later.

All right, next chapter's not that long, so i'll try and get 28 up tomorrow or soon after. enjoy!

main tweak: tenses and dialogue
--

Chapter 27 ~Damon~

Finally, that large bodyguard of Nightscare named Coleman let me know that Scizor had completed his training for the day. Was it still day? It was difficult to tell from anywhere in Nightscare. Very few rooms had natural light, and every new room I found was dimly lit. Not caring whether it was night or day, I followed Coleman closely to the training area where I had found my belt. I was still upset about Jared taking my belt without permission, so I tried to send a stern message with my expression. Sure, Nightscare probably had some degree of control over me since I agreed to join, but Jared didn’t seem to mind too much when I snatched my belt back.

I got to the door and tried to walk past Coleman, but he stepped between me and the door. “Sorry young sir,” he said gruffly, yet politely. “Please allow me to make sure Jared has completed his training. Stay out here for a moment.” He left me in the hallway and entered the training room. That was another thing that irritated me: the fact that I couldn’t watch my pokemon being trained. Jared gave me his word on their safety, but I didn’t think it wise to trust this man too much, especially with my trained pokemon who were supposed to take me to the top. I had to look after him when he trained my pokemon and make sure he was training them right.

Coleman returned and held the door open for me. I walked in to find Jared holding Scizor’s pokeball. “Hello again, Damon,” he said cordially, but with that Nightscare undertone. “Back for your pokemon?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “How did Scizor do?”

Jared smirked a bit. “By the results of things,” he glanced around the room, “I’d say we’re on the right track with Scizor. It was a decent start.” I followed his eyes but nothing caught my eye from the training room’s setup. I expected Jared to really like Scizor, so hearing it was just a decent start was disappointing. Scizor was a hard worker, and if I told him to obey Jared, he’d do it at his best ability. “I believe it will only take some repetition for Scizor to grow more confident in our methods here.” Curiosity itched at me. I wanted to ask Jared how they trained exactly, but it would probably sound stupid. There was a silence about their methods that didn’t want to be disturbed, so I kept quiet. Maybe I wouldn’t like what I heard.

“Who’s going to be the next one trained?” I asked Jared after taking Scizor’s pokeball and securely clipping it to my belt.

“Tomorrow we’ll combine Umbreon and Houndour into one session. Be in this room around eight in the morning, and I’ll take it from there.”

“That reminds me,” I stopped Jared before he could leave the room. “About me not being there for the training sessions…I really don’t see why that’s necessary. It’s no offense to you, but I prefer keeping a close eye on my pokemon that I worked hard to train to this point.”

Jared nodded through my concern. “I can relate, Damon. It’s just that pokemon have developed more efficiently under our training if they don’t have their trainer in the room watching over them.”

“Maybe that’s true with other pokemon and their masters, but I’m sure you can accomplish the same things with me in or out of the room.” I fought to keep my stare on his. “I’m going to choose to be in the room.” Jared held the stare for an extra second or two, and then regained his smirk.

“If that is how you would like it Damon, they are your pokemon and I shall allow it.”

Honestly, I didn’t expect the demand to be met that easily. Jared always said he was trying to help me, but he never let me forget that he was the boss. “So just come by here with Houndour and Umbreon tomorrow, and we’ll begin their training.” I firmly nodded and walked toward the door. “And Damon?” I turned back. “Eight in the morning please.”

“Thanks, Jared.” With that mental note I went back to my room; Coleman followed me the whole way. Nightscare couldn’t expect me to fully trust them if they obviously didn’t trust me yet. Once I was alone in my room, I released Scizor from his pokeball.

Scizor looked thoroughly exhausted, but his eyes were wide. The room was cramped with the two of us in there, but my usually stolid pokemon was obviously jerkier than usual. Scizor never acted this way, and before I could ask what was bothering him, he tried to tell me himself. I tried my hardest to understand him like I understand Umbreon, but the language wasn’t the same at all. Scizor noticed how useless it was, and then slowed himself down to a silence.

“Scizor, I know training can be difficult,” I tried to figure out what he had said, “and it’s probably incredibly hard under Nightscare. I’d imagine that they demand quite a bit from a pokemon with as much talent as you.” He calmed down from hearing that. “Just remember that no matter how hard it gets, you can’t react like this. You don’t have to complain about a tough training session. I know from experience that you’re as tough as they come.” Scizor bobbed his head in agreement, but again released a string of jumbled language which I couldn’t understand at all. “That’s enough, Scizor!” I raised my voice to get him to stop complaining. “I don’t want to see you like this over one training session at Nightscare. The truth is that we have a long way to go, and there’ll be lots more training sessions.” This just made Scizor look more troubled.

I tried a different approach. “Here, would it help if I told you that Jared’s going to let me stay with you guys during training?” Scizor nodded vigorously, knowing that his nods were probably the only things I could understand from him. “I’m glad, but until then, please act stronger in these moments, all right?” Scizor hesitated, but I knew he would obey me. His loyalty won over and he tried to look as tough as the day I caught him. “That’s better.” It was nice to know Scizor wanted me around that much, but he’d have to be more independent in some ways. I might not be there to give him orders or help him out all the time. “Let’s get some rest.” I patted Scizor’s shoulder and returned him to his pokeball.
--

The digital clock on the wall read 7:46 AM when I awoke. For some reason I could always wake up when I needed to, if I had something to do. I showered and brushed my teeth before leaving to the training room. It was earlier than eight when I got there, my stomach growling all the way down the hall. I reminded myself to ask Jared if there was some sort of Nightscare cafeteria.

“Thank you for coming, Damon.” I saw Jared at the doorway, unshaven and still looking a little sleepy. “Follow me.” He led me to a back corner of the large training room. No one else was training at the time, so I took the chance to admire all the equipment. “If you would be so kind,” Jared motioned to my pokemon belt. I released Umbreon and Houndour myself.

“Before we get started, I have a question.” Jared didn’t look up at me, as he studied my two pokemon. “Do you Nightscare members have a kitchen here? I haven’t eaten in a while, and neither have my pokemon.” It took a few moments for him to look up at me, and when he did he asked me to repeat my question.

“Oh,” Jared replied. “Whenever you’d like, Damon, you may ask me to leave the complex and get a bite to eat. Now why don’t I begin with you, Houndour?” My Houndour shrugged at him, awaiting orders. Jared looked like he was still thinking about how to train Houndour. “Help us out, Kingler.” Jared’s Kingler materialized from his pokeball, snapping his pincers joyfully. Houndour tensed himself, snarling at the new presence in the room. Umbreon decided to make herself comfortable and sprawled on the floor, awaiting her turn. I told Houndour to quiet down, but he kept a low growl. “If you would like a seat, Damon, there is a chair to your left.” I took my place in the chair and watched closely.

“Now,” Jared went on, “Houndour.” Houndour ignored him and kept his eyes locked on Kingler’s large pincer. “Houndour!” My dark/fire type stopped growling to look at Jared. “That Kingler isn’t here to hurt you. He’s here to help you train. You’ve got intensity, Houndour, real determination, but you’re lacking in some battle skills. This can easily be corrected through an evolution, and that requires experience. A noticeable area of improvement for you is your attacks.” At times it sounded like Jared was more talking to me than to the pokemon. “I want you to try shooting Embers at that Kingler, but before-” Houndour didn’t bother waiting for further instructions. He yelped out an Ember at the unsuspecting Kingler, missing it completely. Kingler only noticed after the fireball hit a wall a few feet away from him. I stopped Houndour from firing a second, embarrassed at my pokemon’s lack of understanding.

Umbreon snickered, “I guess it won’t be my turn for a few hours.” I smiled from hearing Umbreon talk. I had grown fond of hearing her comments.

“Please listen to my whole instructions before you start, Houndour,” Jared sighed. Houndour shifted under the stares from Kingler and his master. “Kingler, would you please back away from us until I tell you to stop.” Jared stopped him at around ten feet. “Great. Houndour I want you to only use Embers right now but before you do,” Jared rushed his words, “I want you to know that Kingler will attempt to clamp each of your Ember attacks in one of his pincers. Your goal is to try to hit him in the facial area, between his two claws. You may move side to side, but not another step forward.” Houndour cocked his head to one side. Jared sighed again and bent down to the floor, tracing a line in front of Houndour with his finger. “Don’t go past this line. Try to land as many direct hits as possible. Now you may begin.” Houndour tried his best, crazily leaping from side to side, but couldn’t land a single Ember between Kingler’s pincers. In fact, Kingler had to go out of his way at times to greedily clamp those fireballs into smoke. It was discouraging to see my pokemon’s attacks reduced to nothingness, but I had to remind myself how far Kingler was in his training compared to Houndour. Despite all of the misses, Houndour didn’t show a sign of tiring, and I told Jared that eventually he would outlast Kingler with his stamina. Jared agreed while he observed Houndour closely.

“Umbreon,” he called. Umbreon stretched out and made her way toward Jared. “While Houndour is busy, let us speak of your training.” Umbreon kept an expressionless face in front of Jared. “She must be a delight to train, Damon.”

“She is,” I said uncomfortably. The way Jared phrased things was unnerving in itself.

“You and I both know that Umbreon is already quite talented and… also dark, of course. Seeing as Kingler is preoccupied with your Houndour, Umbreon will have to train with this.” He unclipped a different pokeball from his belt. “After all, a pokemon of her stature needs a near equal challenge, wouldn’t you say?” Jared released the mirror image of my Umbreon. My pokemon’s interest immediately rose as she looked up at Jared’s Umbreon. The two were not the same size, seeing as how Jared’s had more experience and had grown larger. “Umbreon just needs to be developed a bit further, and I believe we should start with a good-natured battle. I will not command my Umbreon, Damon, but I urge you to command yours.” That seemed unfair to me, but if Jared asked for it then I could oblige. The two rivals in front of us looked beyond prepared for a rematch. “Begin.”

[dratinihaunter13]

next!

main tweak: Umbreon's POV

--
Chapter 28 ~Umbreon~

We bent our knees closer to the ground, as I tried my best to intimidate my opponent. I remembered last match clearly until I blacked out, as much as I didn’t want to remember. That Umbreon in front of me better have been prepared for a challenge.

“Quick Attack!” Before Damon could say the second word I was already at striking speed. I raked my forepaw across the side of the enemy. He winced and immediately snapped his jaws at me, forcing a retreat. I was just needed to see that reaction to know he felt the pain of my claws. Confident, I tried another Quick Attack aimed at the face, but he disappeared from under my swing. Pain suddenly surged through my tail, and I looked behind me to see the gnashing Umbreon. “Tail Whip!” I was glad to have had Damon’s help in this battle. The sharp jerks of my tail dizzied my attacker. I felt the pointy grip loosen on my tail until he finally let go. “Watch the Quick Attack!” Damon predicted it far enough in advance for me to dodge Umbreon and send a Confuse Ray to follow him. The ray hit hard, and Umbreon’s attack continued at full speed all the way to the steel wall. Damon’s strategy of weakening his defense paid off after that clanging collision. It was obvious that we had the advantage.

“Impressive, Damon. Umbreon.” Jared congratulated the two of us. His Umbreon was starting to pant, but he looked to Jared and seemed to regain his composure. I felt our eyes lock, and then my feet slowly left the ground. I couldn’t move a muscle as Jared’s glowing Umbreon took complete control. ‘It couldn’t be that easy for him,’ I thought to myself. ‘I won’t allow it.’ Before I could focus my body hurtled toward the exact spot on the wall where Umbreon had collided earlier. The clang sounded a lot louder that time, as I felt the bruises forming. He snickered at me and approached. I kept my body curled on the floor but shot a stare at my opponent to stop his advance. It was all very new to me, but I stretched my psyche to keep control over Umbreon’s body. Once I harnessed this strange, growing power inside of me, Damon wouldn’t even need other pokemon. No trainer would be able to stop us.

Umbreon found a way to look at his feet and mentally wrestle them from my control. I winced in effort but soon lost the upper hand. I looked back to Damon for an order but could only catch a glimpse of his worried expression before my body seized up. It was impossible to turn and face Umbreon. It felt like a hand tightly gripped my scalp not even allowing an inch of movement. My body flew into a piece of machinery and I felt a loose screw jut into my back like a cane. I was starting to get too sore to move, but the thought of losing to this Umbreon again motivated me. I’d never lost to anything twice.

“Faint Attack evade, Umbreon! Don’t let him focus on you! Keep moving!” I took my trainer’s advice and teleported all over the room, not letting my opponent predict a pattern. That bought some time, but it wasn’t doing any damage. At the very least, the strategy frustrated Umbreon into giving up his pursuit. He rushed to a cabinet and opened it with his teeth, dragging a brown sack off the shelf. A Super Potion tumbled out, as I expected, and I cursed the Umbreon under my breath.

That desire for the potion moved the bottle away from Umbreon’s grasp. I was surprised that the object moved that easily, but I kept my desire strong to bring the potion within my reach. It came to a complete stop after skidding across the metal once my opponent took control. The bottle inched closer to him while our eyes glowed in darkness. I abandoned the hopeless mental battle and raced for the potion myself. He was surprised by my speed; I could see how close I was to the potion. Was he even trying to stop me? I attempted to extract my claws and screech to a stop but I felt my muscles stop pumping and freeze. My momentum shoved me past the potion and through an open doorway, into the hall. I saw my opponent bound through the doorway after me. His eyes stayed focused on my body while I noticed the door shut behind him and lock, leaving the potion and our trainers inside. I faintly heard Damon complain and Jared try to calm him down, but that was all before my body was tossed around the corridor and up a staircase. With his precise concentration Umbreon made sure my head hit almost every step before the next doorway. ‘This was impossible,’ I thought. ‘He was too powerful.’ Not only was he controlling my every move, but he had taken away Damon, my one advantage. I couldn’t tell who opened the door at the top of the staircase. My vision was wavy, and I had hit too many edges to think straight.

Cool air ran over my wounds on the other side of the door, as I found myself on Nightscare’s roof. I looked back to see the door close behind my approaching attacker. Shame came over me. I wasn’t used to being in this position in a battle, where I had tried almost everything but nothing seemed to work for me. Nothing could help me. I longed to end that feeling, but as soon as I struggled to get up I was hit by a Confuse Ray. My balance was slightly affected, but my mind could fight back. This Umbreon may have had control over my body, but not my thoughts. I felt his attempts of confusion pass over my brain like the tide. The Confuse Ray passed through me, my focus acting as a shield, and I was unaffected. Despite my ability to overcome it, I had to act confused and let this Umbreon think he had me. Instinct told me that he would have probably used the same strategy Damon had thought up earlier, just as a form of payback. He was too a high a level for Tail Whip, though. I expected a Screech. If I ever predicted my opponent’s next move correctly, then I could usually keep an extra step advantage throughout the match.

Once he reared back his head, I began my prowl, my claws retracted for silence. Fortunately, this Umbreon closed his eyes when he used Screech. I noticed that and picked up my pace considerably. The soft pads of my feet kept the scene quiet until his Screech pierced the silence. I knew it was coming and my mind blocked out the pitch of his voice while I sprang through the air. My claws stretched out from the soft pads and scratched across Umbreon’s closed eyelids. A shriek of pain replaced the Screech and, if anything, raised my attack. Umbreon threw a fit from how deep my claws had penetrated, and I realized how the severity of my unabated attack could have had long-term effects. I hoped so.

The wild thrashing of his paws kicked up a veil of sand. The Sand Attack forced me backward, and I couldn’t put the finishing touches on Umbreon’s beat-down. A low howl rose above the miniature sandstorm. Umbreon called out to the night in a deep melody that I couldn’t help but admire. Once the grains of sand parted I barely saw the last of his eye wounds seal up. His howl ended and he stood in front of me, fully healed. “Moonlight,” he mocked.

I answered back with a ferocious growl that I didn’t know I possessed. In a violent craze I rushed the Umbreon who kept beating me in every way. All the fury I needed vibrated through my body as I leapt at Umbreon, claws pointed. My body halted in mid-air, a claw’s length from his nose. The black aura around his eyes blurred my vision from seeing it so close. I was slammed to the floor and sent sliding across the roof, colliding with something hard. I didn’t open my eyes to see what I hit; I just knew it hurt like the rest of this battle. While I was down, I considered using Moonlight myself, but I knew my level wasn’t high enough. My body lifted again, too familiar a feeling by then. I stared into the Umbreon’s eyes to break his concentration, but his expression was stone. I felt my neck muscles slacken, as I was allowed to look around and see the cement floor far below me. Umbreon suspended me past the roof and over a dangerous fall, obviously not planning to show any mercy. Damon flashed into my mind, along with all the battles we had won together. We were too good to go out like this. I blinked a couple of times and realized that Damon wasn’t in my mind. He and Jared had finally made it to the roof!

“You bring her back to me!” Damon yelled. His face was a glowing red. I could barely make out his expression, but by his voice I knew he’d never been more upset. It was hard to make out anything from the scene before me with my senses failing. Damon stood tensed, knowing that if he approached Umbreon then his concentration could be lost enough to drop me.

“Umbreon,” another voice said quietly. “Return her to Damon.” Only at Jared’s instruction was I floated next to Damon’s feet. I felt my knees buckle below me as I stumbled in exhaustion. Of course, Jared wanted me for Nightscare. He couldn’t afford to lose me, though I could afford to lose him. While I stared at my rival who had once again defeated me, I tried to think of what I did wrong and right in the battle. I had my moments, but only with the help of my trainer who picked me up off the cool, roof’s surface. The relief of not having to support my own weight was overwhelming. “Let’s return, Damon,” Jared said as he returned Umbreon back to his pokeball.

“We’ll finish this later,” I whispered to the Umbreon before he left. I never cared how close I got to winning a match – if I lost, then I had unfinished business. While Damon followed Jared downstairs I mentally unlatched Umbreon’s pokeball from Jared’s belt. He chased the bouncing pokeball down the stairs, while I felt my ribs pinch from laughing. He knew it was me, and he looked to be satisfied. It was easy to tell that Jared liked me. He saw me as an up and coming force to help him out at Nightscare. I didn’t smirk back at him, but despite the bitter loss I had some satisfaction in me as well. My powers were developing, and I had a feeling that soon Jared himself would underestimate me and Damon.

[mr_pikachu]

Ah, new chapters! Excellent!

Hmm. It seems like Jared might be holding back a bit on the more gruesome training methods for the moment. Clearly, he wants to ease Damon into the horrific parts so that his new recruit doesn't bolt. I wonder how long that'll last? And how long he'll wait before Scizor returns to the nightmare? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I like the psychological aspects of this. Focusing on the extreme rivalry between the Umbreon really makes for some great drama, and the terror that Scizor endured is also a great point for conflict - especially since Damon can't understand why he's so upset. Somehow I wonder if Scizor's loyalty to his trainer will last, or if it will be redirected. That will be interesting to see.

You did a lot better with tenses in these chapters; I only saw a couple of the same kinds of errors from before. However, there's a more unusual type of tense error present now. Let me demonstrate with an example, if I may.


Jared gave me his word on their safety, but I didn’t think it wise to trust this man too much, especially with my trained pokemon who were supposed to take me to the top.

This is a little more complex of a tense violation. “gave” is a word that is used from a present tense perspective. For instance, if I’m talking to a friend, I might say, “Yeah, I gave the professor the essay.” But if I’m talking about something in the past tense, “had given” is more appropriate. This could be something like, “I had given the professor the essay, but I was nervous about my grade.” If you’re speaking about something that’s immediately in the past, “gave” is correct. If you’re talking about something in the past that refers to something further in the past, “had given” is more appropriate. In this case, you already have to be in the past tense to tell the story, so the earlier event of Jared’s promise has to be referred to. Thus, “had given” is more correct than “gave”.

Was that overcomplicated? Sorry; I’m tired right now, but I can try to explain it more clearly once I’m halfway sane again if you’d like.


There were a few errors of that type; it wasn't simply an isolated incident. (If it had been, I wouldn't have bothered to post a comment on it.) It's a more difficult and unusual rule, but it can be important, especially in first-person writing. I believe the replacement would be called a "past participle" form of the word, but I'm not certain. I apologize for not being able to give you a term that you could be sure of; I know the concepts much more than their names in this sort of thing.

Even with that sort of error, though, these were very good chapters. Not only did you eliminate the majority of the problems that I might have mentioned by focusing on your tenses, but you also wrote two more very compelling segments of this fic. This plotline is unique on several different levels, and I can always look forward to discovering what happens next in your updates. Your characters, again, are superb, and the situation you've thrown them into is believable and yet remarkable simultaneously. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the training will continue and what side-stories you may have planned in the meantime. Anyway, I'll see you next chapter!

[dratinihaunter13]

mr_pika: a more unusual tense error???? it never ends! haha, i think i caught a few of them this time around revising the story. thanks for the kind words as well as the critical ones

New chapter! longer, and focuses on some other characters.

main tweak: croconaw and magby's relationship.

---
Chapter 29 ~Croconaw~

I stretched out, finally released from the cramped confines of my pokeball. The room had that dullness which only Nightscare could pull off. Plenty of training material surrounded me, and I noticed Damon and Jared also. Magby appeared from out of his pokeball, looking suspicious of everything. I nodded him a greeting while keeping a straight face, not even bothering to look at Jared or Damon. Magby nervously waved back, checking to see if Damon or Jared had a problem with his wave.

“Before we begin on these two, Damon, I had Coleman go and get us a meal. I remembered your complaints about being hungry.” Coleman wheeled a cart through the door as if on cue. “Right over here,” Jared led us to a room across the hallway from the training room. I looked inside and noticed a large table all set for a lunch. It looked like a twisted picnic scene in the least likely setting. It took a prompt or two from Damon to get me inside. I didn’t want to follow Nightscare anywhere, but while I was in their headquarters I knew my disadvantage in numbers. Plus, I was hungrier than I could ever remember. Magby took a seat next to me, away from Jared, while Damon sat across from us, Umbreon at his side. “I’ll be back in ten minutes,” Jared announced. “Until then… enjoy.” He left the room, leaving the door open behind him.

“So I guess we got accepted,” I said to Magby. It was pointless lowering my voice since Damon couldn’t understand a word I said. I didn’t care much about what Umbreon heard.

“You two hungry?” Damon asked, offering some food our way. Magby hesitated, so I took the two plates from Damon’s hands, setting one in front of Magby. That was the extent of my interaction with Damon through the whole meal. He tried to get me to talk back, but I figured the silent treatment was best for him. Committing to a place like Nightscare just to speed up his journey was idiotic.

Once we had finished eating, Umbreon tried to decipher what Magby and I said from across the table. “What’s your problem?” I asked her.

She brought her head back a bit. “Was that directed at me?”

“Yeah,” I replied. She lazily curled up in her chair.

“Worry about your own problems.”

“What’s that supposed-” I was interrupted by Jared’s re-entrance into the room.

“Everything taste all right?” I didn’t answer Jared but the meal was just what I needed. I felt much more energized. “Damon, once you and your party are ready I suggest we begin training on Croconaw and Magby immediately.” He was going to train me? I had to hold back the laughter. “Until then, though, let me take your Umbreon to our revitalization machine where she can heal.” Damon insisted on going with him, so Magby and I were left alone with Coleman in the room.

“She looked worn out,” Magby spoke louder than before. “I wonder what happened to her…”

“Probably some kind of training technique,” I grumbled. “I can’t believe Damon agreed to be a part of this, after all he’s gotta know about it.”

“Wow,” Magby worried. “If Umbreon looked that worn out from her training, I wonder how bad ours is gonna be.”

“It’ll be fine. Let’s just hope Damon doesn’t stay here too long. Actually, I’ve been thinking of some ways to bring him back to reality.”

“Enjoying your food, boys?” Jared interrupted. I hadn’t even noticed him coming back, which made me uneasy. The pause after his question was getting awkward when Damon returned with four occupied pokeballs around his waist. “How was it?” Jared asked again. Magby nodded uncomfortably while I just shrugged. “Good, good,” he turned to Damon. “Now that you’ve been fed, we should all be energized for these first training sessions. From what I’ve seen, Umbreon will do fine in the future. Even though Houndour collapsed during his endurance training…I’m sure we can make progress with him.” I had to stop another laugh from that mental picture. “Now it’s Magby and Croconaw’s turn. Do you insist on staying for their training as well?”

“Yes,” Damon replied. “I plan on being there for all the training.”

Jared sighed. “That’s fine. This way then.” He led us back to the training room. It was hard to keep my energy up in that dark building. I wondered when I would find a chance to talk to Magby about my plans for getting Damon’s priorities straight. He cared about us enough to be there for our training, so there was still hope.

“Croconaw,” Jared looked down to me. “You seem to be a little distressed today. Anything wrong?” I don’t know how he pronounced all those words through such a tight smile. Those white teeth showed up like piano keys against his dark complexion. Jared finally instructed me to stand next to my trainer. Damon walked over to me instead. “Would you mind tossing your pokemon belt, Coleman?” Coleman looked confused but he obeyed right away. It was amazing how much power one guy could obtain. I wondered what made everybody there respect Jared so much. I doubted that he earned much of it. Looking over the pokemon belt, Jared released three Murkrow from it, instructing them to hover in a corner in front of me.

I expected Jared to attempt to influence me and Magby toward that Nightscare mentality or whatever they called it here. The training seemed normal enough, though. He instructed me to take careful aim at the Murkrow and hit them with Water Gun from a certain distance. With the large space between the birds and I, it was supposed to increase my accuracy. I still thought Jared was dangerous. He may have planned to start in on us slowly, then gradually change the way we battled, thought, acted. Or he may have already given up on me, since it was apparent that I’d never listen to him.

“Damon, would you please try to make your pokemon listen to my instructions? We have to get on with this.” Jared was growing inpatient, and lazy with his usually careful language. Damon nodded and bent down to my level.

“Hey, Croconaw,” he spoke so only I could hear him. I looked in the other direction. “I know you probably don’t think much of this idea, but could you at least give it a chance? Don’t you want to improve so we can win matches and be the best?” I wanted to improve my battle technique, almost more than anything, but I wouldn’t do it for an organization like Nightscare. Their way of thinking went against everything important that Professor Sans had taught me, and I was supposed to help Damon with that too. “So will you do it?” Damon pleaded. I finally turned to look at him face to face, and then looked at the Murkrow flapping around in the corner of the room.

I began. A Water Gun never left my mouth. Instead, a new move I had picked up emerged from my vocal cords – an ear-piercing Screech. It’s never as bad for the one actually doing the screeching, but Damon and everybody else clutched their ears. No one expected it. Once I stopped I could tell there was some ringing left in their heads. Coleman shook his massive head like a horse would, while Jared stared at me seriously. I shrugged at him and coughed, clearing my throat. “You’re quite amusing, Croconaw, but I’m afraid we’ll have to try you again some other time.” He motioned me aside, as I gladly walked back to see what Magby thought of my stunt. He looked more frightened for my well-being than amused. It was unlikely that Jared would do anything to me if I kept my resistance mild. Even if he did, I still planned to stand up for what I thought was right, not what some crazy power-figure thought.

“Magby, this way.” Magby shrunk under Jared’s voice and obeyed his instruction. I hadn’t tried to make Magby rebel against Jared, because I knew it was almost impossible for him. He would struggle with any sort of rebellion if he even tried; it was just against his nature. Besides, his stress level was already high enough. I just wanted him to be happier. Ultimately, Magby acted out of fear, and he feared Jared a lot more than he feared me. Jared got a Murkrow to stand in front of Magby. They were both the same size, but Magby still looked smaller. It frustrated me how such a great fighter could have acted so meek, but at least it gave Jared a hard time.

“Magby,” he began. “Don’t worry about Murkrow. He won’t injure you.” Magby visibly didn’t trust Jared’s promise, but who could blame him? Murkrow still tried to intimidate the little fire-type. “There’s no reason to worry because you will be the one dealing damage. I want you to start thinking that way, that as long you are the one dealing damage, there is nothing to fear. Now prepare a good, strong fire-punch, and let this Murkrow have it. You need to step back and notice how much power you have. I checked to see how Coleman felt about this, but he kept a transparent look about him. His Murkrow didn’t look as calm about it. Magby could pack quite a punch, that is, if he punched at all. “Go ahead, whenever you’re ready,” Jared prompted. Murkrow caught Magby’s eye and looked to be taunting him with his own red eyes. He raised his black wings in the air, making Magby flinch backward. “Go.” The pressure of Jared’s orders lit a flame on Magby’s fist. Even if this pokemon was a Murkrow, I didn’t think it deserved to be Fire Punched without having a chance to resist. Apparently Nightscare didn’t care about fainting their pokemon once in a while. Magby started to sweat. It was never heat that made him sweat, he could take that. It was always pressure. Personally, my hands were starting to sweat also. I thought Magby was actually going to hit that Murkrow just because Jared ordered it. The flame on his fist jumped and weakened until it fizzed out.

“Listen,” Jared said with a hint of frustration. “I want to make you a better pokemon, a more confident pokemon. I know how to get you to that point, but you have to do this. I’m ordering you.” He poked Magby hard in the chest, causing him to back away. I could tell that Magby was too scared to regain his composure in such a hostile environment. It killed me to wonder about the chaos in my friend’s head during the whole episode. He couldn’t take much more of this, but I reminded myself of my plans to change things for us. “Let’s go!” Jared spoke louder. “Let’s see if you have the talent to hit that Murkrow. Croconaw didn’t have it and I need to know if somebody does. You won’t fail like he did, will you?” Failed? A second after hearing that I shot a Water Gun to the corner of the room, knocking one of the Murkrow out of the air. The jet of water drenched the bird into the wall behind him. Coleman hung his jaw open while Jared turned to look at the fainted Murkrow. I casually brushed off the moisture from my jaw. “Great job, Croconaw,” Jared congratulated me. “But Magby,” he turned to the fire-type. “I’m afraid we have some work to do with you.” I didn’t do anything for him. My fists were clenched from his approval.

“Coleman!” Jared called out. Coleman walked a few steps closer to him. “Find someone to train these two a bit. I’m going to retire for the day. Some errands need to be done. Just find someone to give them some traditional training.” He started out of the room. “And return your Murkrow.”

“Yeah Jared, no problem.” Coleman returned his three Murkrow, including the wet one against the wall. He pulled out a hand radio and spoke into it. “Hey, boss wants someone to do some traditional training for Damon’s pokemon. Who’s free?” Wow, they already knew Damon by name. That was discouraging. It took a few seconds, but a voice finally answered back. Soon enough, a Nightscare member who would probably train the hell out of us entered the room. “Thanks, Rylan. I’m gonna get some sleep.” Coleman left the room. Unlike most Nightscare members I’d seen, Rylan actually looked like he had a conscience. I remembered him from the tournament earlier.

“Alrighty,” Rylan looked to each of us. “Looks like I’m gonna train you two champions.” Magby blushed a bit, something I hadn’t expected him to do in front of a Nightscare uniform. Rylan seemed to gauge the moods in the room correctly and turned to Damon. “Say, you wouldn’t mind if I took these two out of the Nightscare facility for a while would you? For training purposes, of course.”

Damon looked at Rylan, like he was judging his character. “So this isn’t Nightscare training?”

“No no no,” Rylan assured him. “You heard Jerry, only traditional training. The usual let’s run this far, flamethrower this, water gun that, boring stuff. I just want to kick it up a bit for them with some fresh air.”

Rylan’s completely un-intimidating appearance probably satisfied Damon. “OK it’s fine. Come right back if anything happens.”

“You bet.” Damon trusted Rylan with us, but not Jared, which I guessed was king of reassuring in a twisted way. “All right fellas,” Rylan said to Magby and I. “Follow me out of here. Let’s get some sunshine while we still can.” We smiled and followed Rylan out of the dungeon.
--

“So I’m pretty much the driver for this operation, and it’s what makes my living since I got kicked off the force.” Rylan told the two of us about his brief history in Nightscare, and it didn’t take long for him to stand out from the rest of the members at the organization. He just seemed like a different kind of person. Maybe Nightscare just hadn’t gotten to him yet. We feasted on some ice cream sundaes at a place downtown. Training was the last thing on our minds. Professor Sans always told me to take it easy on the human foods, but the chocolate fudge tasted way too good that day. “So do you guys wanna get training?” Magby and I looked at Rylan to see if he was serious. All three of us started laughing at the same time. It was the happiest I’d seen Magby in a while. “It’s not like you two big guys need any training anyways.” I posed magnificently after Rylan’s set-up. “Well I don’t know about you there, Croc. That Haunter did quite a number on you.”

“No!” I had to set the record straight. “I threw the match to keep Damon out of Nightscare! I could have whooped that Haunter if I wanted to!” What Rylan probably heard was something like, “Croc! Naw croc crocnaw crocnaw croc!” He motioned to his ear, trying to figure out what I said. I told Magby to help me out and play the part of Haunter. Playing along, Magby poked me lightly and I flew across the table from the impact, and then pretended to faint. Magby paraded around my collapsed body while Rylan enjoyed our small recreation.

“Oh, I get it,” Rylan said when he could catch his breath. “It makes sense. You’re telling me, Croc, that you are so bad at battling, Magby can even beat you, right?” Magby and I fell over from his misunderstanding. Rylan just laughed it off, “No, seriously guys, I could understand what you were saying in the first place.” I stood back up and looked at him with interest. “Yeah, I don’t know why, but sometimes I can just understand what pokemon are saying, without being their trainer for that long, or at all even. It’s strange but I kinda like it.”

“So wait,” Magby held up his hands. “We didn’t have to do that whole piece of dramatic acting for you then?”

Rylan paused. “I kinda just wanted to see that.” Everyone stared at us while Magby and I laughed loudly. I didn’t care. Rylan waved at everybody he looked in our direction, causing them to quickly turn back to their vanilla double scoops and banana splits. Once we calmed down I remembered what I had to tell Magby before.

“See, I’m having an awesome time right now,” I said, more comfortable that both Rylan and Magby could understand my speech. “But I’ve been thinking about Damon a lot these past few days, and he’s really not that bad a guy. I just don’t think it will take much to blend him into Nightscare. There’s a lot of people trying to do it.”

Magby nodded, “He’s too into power.”

“Yeah,” I pointed to Magby, “yeah, that’s a good way to put it.” Rylan looked on with interest, not as familiar with Damon as me and Magby. “But I think that if Nightscare and all of them can affect Damon’s decisions, how he thinks, then we can do the same thing. We might not have the power or protection to offer Damon, but we’re his pokemon…that has to count for something.”

“Umbreon’s his pokemon too,” Magby reminded me. “And she’s been around him since I can remember. How long have they known each other?”

“I don’t know. Before I ever met Damon. My old professor who knew Damon pretty well said that he got her as his first pokemon. She was an Eevee back then, though.”

Magby laughed a bit. “It’s hard to imagine her as an Eevee now.”

“No kidding,” I thought about the way Umbreon battled. “Damon likes Umbreon a lot. She probably has all kinds of advice for him. All we have to do, as far as Magby and I are concerned, is spend some time with Damon and get him to start liking us. Once he starts respecting us he’ll start respecting what we stand for. It’s pretty simple. He’ll see Nightscare’s not what makes him happy and forget all about this power trip.”

Magby looked down at the table. “I don’t know… maybe Nightscare really is what makes him happy.”

“Well we can change that.” It was an easy enough answer for me. If Damon was too brain-washed to see what was good for him then that was where we’d have to come in.

“Yeah,” Magby passively agreed. “We can show him that there’s more to life than power. I just don’t know…if I can do anything about it.”

“Don’t worry about it, Magby,” Rylan interjected. “You’re a great pokemon. Just act the same way around him as you do around me, and you’ll be fine!”

“It’s easy to talk to you though,” Magby explained. “Damon’s just so… different now I guess. It’s gonna be hard getting too close to him now. I don’t think he ever liked me that much anyway. And what can I do about that?”

That answer was harder to come up with. Sometimes I cringed before Magby talked. The way he talked about himself made me feel like I was failing already, by not getting him away from Nightscare, Damon, whatever was scaring him. “I’ll help you out,” I told him. “Just remind yourself of what Damon could be like if our plan works! You’ll never have to fear him again and we’ll be a great team. Plus, if we do things right then maybe he can leave Nightscare early enough for Jared not to care about it. I don’t know how bad Jared wants him there right now…”

Magby thought about what I said, “I guess I could picture Damon that way. Sure takes some imagination though.”

We sat in silence, empty ice cream dishes in front of us. “Man, I can see how hard this is for you guys,” Rylan stated. “I thought about how you guys might be dealing with this, but wow.” I was hoping we could get some assistance from Rylan if we ever needed it. “You two don’t deserve to be in a place like Nightscare.”

“So you’ll help us out?”

Rylan looked surprised by the quick question. “Sure, no problem. I don’t know what I could do for you guys, but just let me know.”

“Well can we talk about it now?” I was so relieved to get Rylan on our side. Having a friend like him who was already a Nightscare member could help out a lot, and I was already getting some ideas.

“We’ll have to do that later. I’ve kept you guys out of the facility for too long. The other members are probably wondering where the heck we are. Until the next time we can talk you and Magby should start figuring things out.”

I nodded to Rylan, and we both thanked him for agreeing to help. It was a relief simply to know we weren’t the only crazy ones in Nightscare. I thought Scizor could have helped us but after everything that had happened, something told me he’d listen to Damon, or maybe even Jared, way before he’d listen to us.

On the way home in Rylan’s car, we didn’t talk much about our plans with Damon. Rylan told us that his car could be bugged with a microphone or something, so that Nightscare members would have heard everything we said. Whether they could have done that or not, it was still fun talking about how hard Rylan trained us, and how much we thought we improved from his effective methods. When that game was over though, Magby and I were happy to relax in the passenger seat while Rylan told us his chase stories from the police force. He really loved working for them, and the way he told a story made every detail exciting. He loved driving cars, jets, helicopters, anything really. We got back to Nightscare while he was explaining a car’s manual transmission. The metallic walls of the facility showed up more and more behind the trees and leaves. The sun glared off the metal while we pulled up, but I just closed my eyes and listened, and it wasn’t so bad. Rylan hurried up to finish explaining how to switch to third gear during a sharp turn, and as boring as that might sound, it was all I wanted to hear.

[dratinihaunter13]

lol, SIX YEARS LATER!

wow, been a while. listen guys I just found some new chapters I wrote forever ago. I'm pretty sure the first few have been posted before, not sure on last ones i found. So I'm posting the ones I found with some edits! (this one got a lot of cuts)

I know the link to the first 20 chapters is broken =(. I'm still looking for those chapters around my house, but it's been a struggle finding them anywhere. It sucks, cuz I really liked writing this fic.

I hope some of you can enjoy these chapters, at least for posterity's sake! New readers, always welcome! The plot might be hard to follow at this point without the first few chapters, but you may like the writing anyway.

---

Chapter 30 ~Jared~

Night approaching, I planned for my protégé. There may have been no windows in my office, but I could feel the night knocking like an old friend at a wooden door. Everything was set up, every detail in place. Damon’s team would be trained in no time.

I did not predict Houndour to be much of a problem. Skill would just have to come with the evolution to an unstoppable Houndoom. Thanks to my natural abilities with Dark type pokemon, Houndour would evolve with no trouble at all.

Magby, however, was not dark. The little coward of a pokemon could evolve if my fire stone experiments succeeded. Even if he did though, Magby had no backbone. He would have no use, and I did not tolerate the useless.

Magby’s friend Croconaw, though, had quite an attitude. During training, Croconaw impressed me with his tenacity, his skill. The process could require a forceful hand, but I hoped to assimilate this energetic pokemon into Nightscare tactics.

My loyal Scizor looked promising enough, and Umbreon was more than halfway there. So intelligent, that Umbreon.

All of these pokemon needed the proper training, and I was aware Damon could object to the training I had in mind. Under his watchful eyes I had to keep the Nightscare treatment mild – not my typical style. I had to find a way to train Damon’s pokemon while he could not see me do it. The boy did not know when a favor was being done for him.

My plan could be summed in one word: Duplicates. I could always work at night while Damon slept, but what if he awoke and checked his pokemon on a whim? Trust would be lost. The night before, I had scouted for pokemon trained or wild, as similar to Damon’s as possible. With help from my empire, I found passable look-alikes for Croconaw, Magby, Scizor, and Houndour. After Damon had fallen asleep, I could replace his team with my duplicates, and begin the necessary training for his success. Based on my observations, Damon still struggled to understand all but one of his pokemon. The only one who could rat me out was Umbreon.

I did not waste much time worrying about Umbreon’s betrayal. She would never admit it, but that pokemon wants her master to thrive at Nightscare. She loves what I have created, and she would greatly prefer if Damon stayed a while within my empire. If anything, Umbreon would approve of my training style, but I would have to speak with her anyway. She was the only one I could not risk duplicating.

---------

The whole of Nightscare sat assembled in our conference room, thirty-four seats filled with my loyal brethren. I found Damon at a far corner. Within the hour, he would fall asleep back at his room, and my training would begin.

“Friends,” I began, “it pleases me to see you all gathered here tonight. As always, I can not express how much pride I feel in this organization. You are all, truly, an awesome sight to behold.” All eyes trained on me, I continued.

“As your leader, I have some important points to address tonight.” Damon stared at me attentive, and I noticed his pokemon belt fastened around his waist. He must have felt unsafe leaving his team unattended during the meeting, and with good reason.

“Firstly, I wish to discuss with you all, the methods I have been innovating. By now, you’ve all seen my way with the Dark types. Along with some non-Dark types, I have trained them in the ways of control. They can freeze opponents with only a glare, and commandeer their every action. Once we achieve complete control, our possibilities abound. Every outcome is victory.”

“With time, all of your pokemon will be able to do this,” I said, looking at Damon. I believed his real reason for staying here was this implied promise, that one day his pokemon could wield my techniques.

“We will need your mastery of these methods against our latest adversary. Arthur Lamourrie is a trainer hell-bent on disbanding this organization. He battles with one goal – to take away everything we have accomplished. He wants to bring us all to his sense of justice.”

“Kyle.” My inside man’s chin raised slightly in attention. “You must continue to shadow Arthur as often as possible. Find out when he plans to attack.”

“As for the rest of us,” I glanced across the massive steel table, trying to catch every member’s gaze. “We have many ways to weaken him in the meantime.”

“Arthur Lamourrie, husband and father. One son, an Elemental League hopeful, too young to threaten us. Arthur loves his little boy. We know because that’s what he tells us, in the letters written to his family. Kyle?” My scout cleared his throat and stood to debrief us.

“This Arthur guy,” Kyle spoke quickly. “We’ve been intercepting anything he writes to that family of his. Every letter. He’s got a job right now as a gym leader in the Polygon League. According to what I’ve read, it sure doesn’t look like he told his wife about this latest career move. It looks like he planned to write his family about, after he was already gone.”

“From what I can tell, boss,” Kyle looked to me, “this guy cares more about finding us than his family.”

“But we know that’s not entirely true, right Kyle? We know from his correspondence that Arthur loves his family. That he’ll be back as soon as he can, hopefully for little Marty’s birthday, correct?”

Kyle followed, “Yeah boss, we know that. But they never will.”

“Exactly,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear. “Kyle will continue to stop all mail Arthur attempts to send out. His family believes they have been abandoned. They have no way of contacting our enemy, and Arthur has no way of knowing his family has forgiven him. He left home under anonymity to keep them safe. He will question that decision, and he will weaken.”

“Should Arthur persevere, and make an attempt on our grand organization…” I motioned toward the hallway, in the direction of our newly renovated torture room. “Well, we have his own room waiting for him.”

I could hardly wait to test run my new addition to the facility. The pokemon holding cubes were pure glass, and tortured each captive according to its type. We would recycle the large amounts of electricity needed to power these holding cells, so all our enemies’ pain brightened our hallways, culminating in one large bulb atop the building. This beacon would glow as power surged through our enemies, a beautiful signal for all of Nightscare.

“I must thank all of you for your loyalty, ability, and determination,” I concluded. “Your inherent talents have brought you all to Nightscare, and you will improve gloriously, no matter the goals you have. As one brotherhood, our one goal is to bring success to each and every one of you. Our network grows stronger by the night. If you wield my power, my techniques effectively, if you give me your trust,” I locked eyes with Damon, “you will have a power all your own. Sleep well!”

All thirty-four leaped from their seats to applaud. I had held a good meeting. Gradually, they all went back to their rooms for the night, leaving me alone with my thoughts in our conference room. The night was just becoming its darkest. Soon, Damon would be asleep. I would slip past his doorway, and finally have that talk with his Umbreon. Honestly, I was looking forward to it.

[mistysakura]

*jaw drops* Damon's Menace is alive??? Kinda??? I must hunt for these old chapters. Nothing ever gets completely deleted on the intarweb How's everything going? I loved reading this fic.

[dratinihaunter13]

Hey Ada,

Things are going all right! I just got accepted into a Physician Assistant program in Arizona. Classes start in June, and I'll hopefully be licensed to practice medicine 3 years from now. I would bow down before your greatness if you found those early chapters 1-20. I've searched the webz with no luck. How are you??

[dratinihaunter13]

All right. For those new to the fic, the narrator shifts every chapter, sometimes within a chapter. Not a lot of plot edits in this one, just tone.
---


Chapter 31 ~Umbreon~

I had to laugh at the man in front of me. There Jared sat, comfortable in his luxurious armchair, peering over his desk at his guest of honor. It was an awkward meeting, but I could only listen in my modest chair, staring down a possible enemy. I hated the thought, but Jared was more powerful than I for the time being. That made him more enemy than ally.

“Sleep well, Umbreon?” A toothy smile spread across his face. I noticed two pokemon belts neatly hanging from his coat rack in the corner of his office. One belt was unmistakably Damon’s.

“What’s going on here?” I expected him to understand me, since I had seen him communicate with other Nightscare pokemon before. “Damon’s belt. Why do you have it?”

“Umbreon, you are such an intelligent creature. Must I really waste my breath in an explanation?” My hind legs tensed.

“Don’t flatter me. I could tell Damon about all this and you would lose your latest talent for sure.” He never stopped grinning at me. “So let’s do things my way and get right to the point.”

“You forget, my friend.” He raised a scrawny finger at me. “Your trainer needs me as much as Nightscare needs him. I’m sure you are completely aware of it.”

I did not believe anybody could read my mind, or predict my next move. This man could likely come closest. We were like-minded, and I hated him. Perhaps it was the authority he held over me. Whatever the reason, I felt I had always hated him, even before I ever set foot in Nightscare.

“Explain,” I said, relaxing back into my rigid seat.

“I will, but you must listen to every word. I have taken risks, but my logic is sound.” The leather underneath Jared rustled as he leaned back. “I’ve spent the last several nights finding duplicates for Magby, Scizor, Croconaw, and Houndour. Wild, trained, whatever could pass for the real thing. The collection is complete. While Damon sleeps, I plan to train his team myself, replacing his pokemon belt with my belt filled with duplicates. If he awakes and check on his pokemon for whatever reason, the duplicates will keep his suspicion low. Then, I can train your friends the way I see fit.”

“Don’t call them my friends,” I interrupted. “Why do it behind his back?” I already knew the answer, but sometimes I ask answered questions for reaction, anything I could read.

“You can’t be so ignorant, Umbreon. We both know my methods are unorthodox. He may question the intensity of a true Nightscare training session, and through no fault of his. Damon will learn to handle our intensity, but not right away. You trust I can place incredible amounts of power in his hands, I know you do. To accomplish that, his pokemon must be prepared for the journey.”

I couldn’t argue with him. Everything he said was true. Damon might waver under the overwhelming strength of Jared’s dark methods. He might be too short-sighted to completely commit to this process. Still, the idea of working while my trainer slept bothered me. Damon and I had always been honest with each other.

“Why not find dupes for Crobat and I?”

“Crobat has already completed his training.”

“Right, I know that. For me. Why not for me?”

“Well, you,” Jared said, studying me. “You can not be copied. Damon would notice, and to tell you the truth, I’d much rather work with you than against you.”

“So we’re working against Damon now? I can’t agree with that.”

“Look at it from the perspective of what I am trying to do for him,” he said calmly. “Look what I am trying to do for you.”

Jared’s creation was genius. This whole organization lurked in the shadows of the pokemon world, but had the potential to produce unstoppable trainers. I hoped Damon would not leave Nightscare anytime soon. To ensure he wouldn’t, I had to cooperate with Jared. At least until Damon was prepared.

“Why?” I asked. “Why help us?”

“By helping you I help Nightscare.” Jared leaned forward and seemed to peer deeper into my psyche. He could intimidate me if I let him. “The stronger my members, the stronger my organization, and we can all accomplish our goals. Power, in your case. Correct?”

“In most cases,” I quickly answered.

He smiled the words, “You’re right.” I tried to relax, but Jared had a way of demanding my interest. At the same time, I felt I had to be on guard, like Damon could barge into the room at any moment.

“Expect us to help each other, Umbreon,” Jared continued. “Your cooperation is requested. Please, for both our sakes, let’s keep this plan away from Damon’s naïve ears.”

“And you promise results from the training?” I asked, losing the last of my reasons not to do this.

“I do.”

With a moment’s hesitation, I gave Jared the permission he needed. “Deal.”

Jared slapped the table, “You will not regret it.” He made his way toward Damon’s belt, finding my pokeball.

“Before you return me,” I stopped him. “We have some time left before Damon likes to wake up. Let me see these methods you keep hiding from me.”

Jared looked at my pokeball. “And what if Damon awakes? I have my Umbreon standing in for you right now.”

“Well, not that he’s any match,” I leaped from the chair and walked toward Jared, “but I know Damon. He won’t wake up for another couple of hours.”

Jared tossed the pokeball in the air once and said, “Very well. Your curiosity will be rewarded. I will show you.” He returned me, and I tried to imagine just how powerful Damon and I could become.
----

“Here we are,” Jared welcomed me as he released me from my pokeball. This was not the training room from last time. This room was double the size, but did not have any machinery. It had about twenty clear glass containers in it, large enough to hold a single pokemon, buttons lining the bottom of each one. Every room I had seen at Nightscare was silver, but not this one. The floor and walls were black steel, and I felt I could gaze into them for miles.

“Who first?” I asked Jared.

“Let’s see.” He fiddled through Damon’s pokemon belt, settling on one pokeball. It bothered me to see him wearing it along with his belt already. “I’m eager to see that character, Croconaw, again.” He released my least favorite pokemon, but tonight I was happy to see him.

“Where’s Damon?” Croconaw demanded, confused but ever-defiant.

“Sleeping,” I answered. “I heard you had some trouble with Murkrow last training session. Don’t worry, you’ll figure out how to use that Water Gun of yours one day.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I heard you had a really good time with a male Umbreon last training session.” He quoted the ‘training’ part with his claws. “So, when are you expecting the egg? Can I be the little Eevee’s uncle?”

I lunged at him with all my weight and fury behind me, slamming his back to the ground. He spit a Water Gun under my chin, kicked me off him and returned to his feet.

“That’s enough!” Jared shouted through a snicker as he stood between the two of us. “You are both extremely entertaining, but we really must get on with this. Croconaw, you are here to be trained.”

Croconaw turned his focus from me to Jared. “Wouldn’t my trainer normally do that?”

“Don’t act smart, Croconaw. It doesn’t suit you,” Jared replied. “Damon will be asleep while I train all of you, because I believe he would not agree with my way of doing things. My goal is to make you all more powerful.” He leaned his face closer to Croconaw’s. “You do want to become more powerful, don’t you?”

“Watch, he’ll say no,” I said.

“Wrong,” Croconaw snapped. “Of course I would like to become more powerful. Who wouldn’t?”

“Who wouldn’t?” Jared repeated, raising his arms. “Exactly. I am here to help you.”

“I’m really not interested,” Croconaw shrugged. “Your way of doing things here at Nightscare, quite frankly my good man, make me want to throw up.” He turned away from Jared and crossed his arms.

“That was not very intelligent of you, my good pokemon.” With a flick of his wrist, Jared released his Sneasel who blocked Croconaw’s path to the door, knocking him over backward. Before Croconaw could get up, Sneasel stomped her foot over his shoulder, forcing him back onto the black, steel floor. The water type tried to roll away but Sneasel beat him to every turn. At every attempt to regain his footing, Sneasel slashed him back to the ground.

“Let’s go, Croconaw!” Jared cheered. “I thought you could battle! What’s this? A Sneasel not even letting you stand? Get up why don’t you!” Croconaw snarled and scratched all around him, hoping to land a lucky blow. Sneasel dodged everything, and waited for an opening before slashing Croconaw across the chest. I had seen this before. Croconaw’s rage was building and I knew he could not keep it contained.

“Pathetic!” Jared yelled.

That one word may have given Croconaw the final push. He sprung to his feet, kicking out into Sneasel’s eyes. Before Sneasel could hit the floor, she was overwhelmed by the relentless claws of Croconaw’s Rage attack.

“Beat Up!” Jared called to the high ceiling above us. Four Murkrow descended on the battle, unseen by the raging Croconaw. They all pecked him furiously. Croconaw’s screams turned into Screech, clearing away the Murkrow momentarily. I caught a glimpse of Croconaw’s eyes and saw they were becoming red, a shade I had never seen from him before. His head darted in every direction.

“Again!” All at once, Sneasel and the four Murkrow rushed their adversary, the trainee. Croconaw wailed a battle cry as his teeth and claws whipped around like a blur. Feathers flew from every landed blow, and I wondered just how enraged Croconaw could get. I wondered how far Jared could push him.

With one full turn, Croconaw swiped the back end of his claw across every Murkrow’s beak, knocking them all away and leaving Sneasel exposed. His pupils seemed to jump in his eye sockets as sweat and water poured down his face. He snapped at Sneasel’s arm, but the dark type dodged awkwardly, foolishly exposing her neck. In his enraged state, Croconaw latched his teeth onto what was exposed, and bit down through Sneasel’s neck with his eyes wide open. Sneasel shrieked, struggled, and fainted.

Croconaw panted heavily, looking for the remaining Murkrow. Jared waited for the Rage to die down before rushing to inspect his Sneasel. He checked for a pulse.

The battle was intense, but I could not imagine Croconaw had the ability to endanger Sneasel’s life. The end of the fight was bizarre. Sneasel was usually too quick to be caught with its neck exposed like that.

“She’s dead,” Jared said. Croconaw’s pupils froze; his rage dissipated. “Do you see your power now!” Jared yelled at Croconaw, holding his limp Sneasel. “Look what you can do! Look at this!” He brought Sneasel’s body right under Croconaw’s nose. The croc looked more frightened than I had ever seen him, but he was not looking at Jared. He was shuddering at his handiwork.

“Back in,” Jared muttered, returning Croconaw, and then returning Sneasel. Jared wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. He stood up straighter and shook his arms, like he was gathering himself after a performance.

“Why would you return a dead pokemon?” I asked another question I could answer. “She’s fine, isn’t she?”

Jared flashed his toothy smile. “That’s how we train here at Nightscare, Umbreon. Did you see your teammate just now? I used his hatred for me, for Nightscare, to my advantage. Death on one’s conscience is a powerful rite of passage. He will find our missions much easier to stomach now. He will melt with guilt, and we will mold him anew.” What genius.

“Not bad,” I told Jared. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes.

“The night is ending,” he said. I could also feel the darkness lifting outside. “Have you seen enough?”

I answered, “For tonight.”

[dratinihaunter13]

Thanks for the page views I suppose =)


--

Chapter 32 ~Damon~

The sky was not bright – not the way I saw it anyway. A dark-blue living canopy covered the atmosphere, admiring my power from above. I filled every inch of my uniform. A power within me seemed to radiate from my physical body, warning others that I was in charge, and they had better keep their distance. My pokemon battled to my right. It was hardly a battle, though. One could call it training instead. We trained against a poor soul, a lost trainer helpless against the power emanating from my uniform. Umbreon and Houndoom took control of their opponents, while Scizor and Crobat also used their acquired, dark powers to manipulate the enemies against their wills. I could hear the trees snap after each pokemon barreled into the crackling bark. The lost trainer wept as the last of his pokemon took their final breaths. The corners of my mouth curled upward. My pokemon could never lose.

A challenger sprung up beside me, threatening my dominance. He would be crushed. I brought my fist back, but could not bring it forward. The man sneered at my immobile hand. I opened my mouth to call for Houndoom, to finish this nuisance with a lethal blow, but my mouth twisted involuntarily. My lips spasmed, and not a word could escape from my struggling throat. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t beat him. He laughed at my weakness, razor-sharp brilliant-white teeth cackling at the night sky. It was like a horrible dream.

Sweat flew off my dampened face as I straightened up in bed. My shirt clung to every inch of my body, thick with moisture. Heaving deep breaths, I tried to recall the details of my dream. How sweet it began. My all-powerful future team dominated the battlefield, until something stopped me. I remembered feeling a perverse desire to murder. I shuddered from a sudden chill, using my bedsheet to wipe off my face. The desire was there, though. I felt I had to end the life of some faceless threat who dared to oppose my greatness. The power had driven me to a berserk state.

I tried to disregard the feeling, and I pealed myself from my bed. I needed a shower badly. My pokemon belt lied next to my closet door, and I stared at it for a long while, trying to ground myself in reality. Maybe my dream hadn’t finished. I shook my head and grabbed a towel. Maybe I could wash away this murderous fog. Dreams are just that, anyway – dreams.
--

Pokemon belt around my waist, I supervised Houndour as he shot his futile Embers at Jared’s bored Kingler. Even this early in my training with Nightscare, the drills were already getting repititive. I had high expectations for this organization, but the training never seemed to intensify. Houndour shot his Embers every time. Maybe they were improving. Scizor strengthened his claws every time. I could do all these drills myself with the same effectiveness. How were my pokemon supposed to gain powers like Jared’s with such mild practice? I decided not to question Jared just yet. He as the expert, anyway. His speech at our last meeting had given me plenty of hope.

One thing stood out from the day’s routine. Croconaw acted very strangely during his session with Jared. His eyes were wider than usual, and he was almost as jumpy as Magby. Croconaw had baffled me recently, so I did not think much of his awkwardness at first. Most strange, however, was how he did not challenge any instruction during the entire training session. Why was he starting to listen to Jared’s every word? He battled well. Maybe the training was working after all.

“Damon, I assure you,” Jared said, “Croconaw is just fine.” He must have read my expression. “He is cooperating better lately, but that shouldn’t worry you at all! We should be elated that he is finally considering our point of view. He is finally recognizing what we are trying to do for him.” That didn’t sound like Croconaw.

“Maybe,” I answered. “It’s like he changed overnight. He’s hitting his targets, but look at him. He looks a little more uneasy to me.”

“You saw the drills, though. He did everything perfectly, and with decent technique. We’re making progress with him. There’s no doubt about that.”

Jared was right. The progress was undeniable, but I wondered how it could be possible with such basic training. Every once in a while Croconaw would look to me as if he had something to say. To this point, I could only understand Umbreon of all the pokemon on my team. Croconaw would quickly look away from me, bow his head and return to his task. In context, I didn’t see it as a big deal. Jared said he was nearing the Nightscare goal, and that was excellent news.

“Boss,” Coleman called from the training room doorway. He held up a cell phone toward Jared. “Kyle on the phone, boss. He’s got some news for you.” Jared’s black shoes clapped across the steel floor. He took the phone.

“Hello?” Jared stood silent for several moments, his face set in stone until something changed his reaction to one of surprise. A smirk slowly returned to his tanned face, one that always seemed to linger nearby. He looked to me, still listening to Kyle, making me feel like I shouldn’t leave the room before knowing what the phone call concerned. “Very good. Stay there.” He handed the phone back to Coleman.

“Damon,” he said right away. “Take your pokemon belt and come with me.”
--

Rylan drove the pitch-black Camaro while Jared and I saw in the back seat, discussing the mission at hand. We had to take a car to the location because Jared suspected the law would still be on the lookout for helicopters. I could tell Rylan really enjoyed every turn, every gear switch. It was like he let the car know his power as a driver, but also let the car have its own level of freedom. I had never seen anything like it.

Night had already fallen on the outskirts of Tetra forest. A young, hot-shot trainer from the Orange Islands had been sent to the Polygon League with one specific task: Disband Nightscare. His name was Rex, he contended for the Orange League championship every year, and he traveled with a small crew. Kyle has spotted him making his way to Sphere City. Jared and I planned to catch Rex before he caught us. On the ride to Rex’s forest cabin, Jared told me our enemy would be assisted by three other trainers. He told me to go after Rex myself, as it would be a clear opportunity to test my team’s early progress.

I was nervous. It felt like only a short time ago when I could barely faint one of a Psychic gym leader’s pokemon. Rex was looking at a league championship. Could I have really improved that much from my last gym battle? Jared seemed to think so.

He had the reassurance of an entire organization, though. If the battle became messy, he could call in any number of Nightscare members. He had Kyle on the perimeter, ready to alert us if the law showed up. Maybe what kept Jared so confident was the overwhelming powers he had developed in his pokemon. No matter what, he always had that technique in his favor.

Rylan turned off the headlights and released his Noctowl. The bird’s Foresight dimly lit the forest path ahead of the car, as Rylan pulled to a quiet stop moments later. Jared and I hiked through a half mile of forest before finding the cabin, our black uniforms surely blending with the fresh nightfall. The wind rustled the leaves to give us further cover. He motioned for me to follow him to the door. Jared edged it open just enough for us to pass through, and I closed it quickly and silently. It had been months since my last break-in at the symphony hall. I remembered how exciting that used to be for me.

I crept behind Jared, hoping the windy night could drown out our creaking footsteps. But ours weren’t the only footsteps. I heard more coming from the upstairs. With a quick scan of the living room, I decided it was large enough to hold a battle. As usual, my eyes had adjusted well to the darkness, so I carried that advantage. We crouched in wait as the footsteps upstairs grew to a small stampede.

In one motion Jared released five pokemon. The pokeball beams lit up three faces on the stairwell.

“His back-ups!” Jared yelled. “Go find Rex!” I could almost feel the blood within me circulate faster. It was amazing, the feeling before a real battle. I had not realized how much I missed it, and all my nerves calmed.

I plowed up the stairs, shoving the smaller trainers aside. At the top, I peered down a hallway with three doors along the right wall, railing down the left. I kicked open the first door and let my eyes adjust to the darkness in the new room. Nothing. I ran to the second door, the chaos of battle blaring below me. I took a quick look over the railing to weigh Jared’s disadvantage. It looked like each trainer carried only three pokemon, no problem for Jared’s pokemon. There were two non-dark types in battle for him. His team consisted of Umbreon, Houndoom, Murkrow, Kingler, and Gengar. One pokeball remained unused on his belt. With my own battle imminent, I couldn’t wonder why.

I kicked open the second door and was almost blinded by the moonlight pouring in through the room window. The window was open, but I felt no breeze from the windy outdoors. I stalked forward to take a closer look, and spotted a trainer in the yard outside, one floor below me. Perhaps it was my Nightscare uniform, but Rex looked anxious glaring up at me. I must have looked imposing through that window frame. He readied his hand over six pokeballs on his belt, a traditional trainer using typical form. This match was all mine.

I bounded toward the open window and saw Rex’s worried expression fade. As if the window was still closed, I collided face first into the opening. I grabbed my nose and pulled back a bloody palm. A Ledian buzzed up to meet me on the other side of his Reflect, and Rex laughed silently below him. With a battle cry I punched my bloody fist through the Reflect, shattering it to pieces. Jumping down to the yard, I remembered my disturbing dream from the other night. The feelings of violence flooded me again, but this time I could put a name to the faceless threat. It was Rex who stood between me and complete control.

[dratinihaunter13]

If you don't read any other part of this fic, consider just reading this chapter. It's got a long battle scene with plot points mixed in. Having read past chapters might enhance the experience, but I think it stands alone okay! Thanks.

--

Chapter 33 ~Damon~

Pokeballs flew and our twelve appeared before us. The first match-up to catch my eyes was Rex’s Kabutops against my Scizor. The enemy’s sickles rang against Scizor’s metal coat, as my Steel type easily endured all of Kabutops’s Slashes. At the same time, Kabutops could deflect most of Scizor’s claw attacks with his own blades. Both pokemon exhausted every swipe in their arsenal, but it became clear this could become a battle of endurance.

“Metal Claw!” I shouted. “Get your clamp ready!” Scizor brought back his steel pincer to strike his opponent. Per his usual, Kabutops tried to deflect the blow with his blade. Scizor opened his claw to clamp onto his opponent’s flailing limb.

“Yes!” I couldn’t contain myself. Kabutops could barely move! “Metal Claw, lefty!” While holding his prey, Scizor raised his left claw for the knockout blow. Like a flash, Ledian zipped into the fray, scribbled a Reflect in front of the attack, and then zipped away just as quickly. Scizor absorbed the shock of the collision, but had to swipe again to shatter the barricade. Kabutops wrestled away.

“Rollout!” I heard Rex say. Kabutops curled into his armored carapace and rolled at my pokemon. Scizor nimbly leaped away, but collided into yet another invisible wall. I saw Ledian nod, satisfied, and flutter off to another battle. Before Scizor could regain his footing he was flattened by the returning Rollout.

“You have to get up, Scizor! He’s getting stronger!” Kabutops flipped a sharp turn and rolled back toward us. Ledian hovered in wait, pumping his many fists in the air with anticipation. “Dodge away from Ledian!” Again, Scizor barely avoided Kabutops’s attack, but Ledian had also set an invisible Reflect on Scizor’s other side. My bug hit the floor again. Another Rollout ran him over. If only he was still a Scyther, he could keep up with this rapid tempo. Still, what we lacked in speed we made up for with power.

Tired of playing the game, Scizor scrambled to his feet and charged at Ledian, rearing back for a devastating blow to shatter any Reflect in his way. Ledian didn’t expect Scizor’s attention to shift from Kabutops.

“Fire Punch!” On Rex’s command, Ledian reared back two left fists and sent a flaming punch into Scizor’s gut. The fiery assault devastated my Bug/Steel type. As if to put an exclamation point on the whole thing, Kabutops plowed into Scizor once more, powered-up from the Rollout’s hit streak. My loyal pokemon couldn’t get up again. Rex was very, very good.

It didn’t take much insight to know that Ledian had to be removed. The bug was zipping to every one of my pokemon’s battles, scattering Reflects and Light Screens in every path of attack. Who could get rid of this nuisance?

“Crobat! The Ledian!” With his permanent, sinister grin, Crobat flapped his massive wings toward his victim, easily matching its speed. “Wing Attack!”

“Ice Punch!” Rex countered. Ledian’s fist sprouted icicles as the two flew at each other.

“Confuse Ray!” I modified the original order, hoping Crobat could improvise. He fired a pale, purple ray in front him. Ledian shook his fists at the purple mist, rubbing his eyes before finding himself on the receiving end of a Wing Attack.

“Come on, Ledian! Ice Punch!” Crobat flew circles around the reeling bug, trying to further increase the confusion. Ledian through wild, icy haymakers in random directions, but my speedster was untouchable. Confused and desperate, Ledian took one last punch, only hitting himself in the face for an embarrassing finish.

I wondered how strong Kabutops’s Rollout had become. A painful yelp from Houndour tipped me off. Two of my pokemon already down, I couldn’t keep letting Kabutops get stronger with each hit. Soon enough, my entire time would be decimated. Rex’s other pokemon included a Politoed, Jolteon, Gligar, and Golduck. My Magby was fighting defensively, but surprisingly holding his own. Croconaw also looked timid out there. Crobat and Umbreon had to be my only hopes. The whirling Kabutops had chosen his next target.

~Magby~

Ahhh!!!! I saw the rolling hulk of Kabutops and tried to predict just how badly I was going to get hurt. I created an angled barrier in front of me, like a sideways ramp. He would never suspect it, rolling so fast like he was. Kabutops collided with my barrier. It shattered and knocked him off course, right into a tree trunk. His Rollout position was broken, thank goodness.

While I stood still waiting for the next attack, a surge of water drenched Kabutops head to toe. Croconaw sprung in and finished him off with a vicious Rage attack. My buddy Croconaw still fought at the same skill level, but something about him had been bothering me. It was like he wasn’t enjoying battle at all. With Kabutops gone, I approached him.

“Croc,” I said. “What’s the matter with you? You’re not the same today. What happened?” He shot a Water Gun at a Gligar across the yard before answering.

“I can’t believe it,” he mumbled. I could barely hear him above the sounds of battle. He sounded hurt, but I couldn’t find an injury. “I killed something. I’m worse than Damon.”

“What?” I shot an Ember at a Jolteon trying to give Umbreon a battle. “What? You killed something? What are you talking about?” Croconaw sighed and turned from the battle to face me. His eyes looked like he had been crying for hours.

“Magby, you don’t have to worry, okay? This was my mess-up. Jared’s been stealing us at night to train us while Damon’s sleeping. He got me so mad last night, so… I lost control against his Sneasel. I killed her, Magby,” Croconaw held out his trembling claws, “with these claws.” Water welled up his eyes.

“Croc…” was all I could say. It terrified me just imagining his grief. I tried to grab his shoulder for support, but a Golduck scratched him away from me. While battling for my friend, I wondered how Jared could be so unfeeling to the point of allowing his pokemon to die. That man was too strong. He would have stopped a battle before it got to that point. The only thing more evil than allowing that to happen… would be pretending it happened.

“Wait for me,” I told Croconaw. After keeping Golduck at bay with a few Embers I ran to the cabin’s back door. It had one of the few doorknobs I could reach. Past the doorway, the battle scene took shape. Three trainers battled Jared. No, two left. I could only hope the third on the floor was just unconscious. Ignoring the sick churn in my stomach, I tried to flank Jared undetected. Croconaw was my brave friend, my only friend. I couldn’t let him be depressed for the rest of his life!

Close enough to see Jared’s belt, I noticed one unused pokeball. Maybe he was too proud to use all six, even in this enormous battle. Maybe the unused pokeball had an already fainted pokemon in it. I had to know though, for my only friend’s sake.

I jumped at Jared’s hip, plucking the pokeball and kicking off his leg to run away. I scrambled through the doorway then scribbled several barriers to buy me some time. As soon as I turned from my barriers, their shattered remains showered over me. A fiery blast sent me tumbling across the yard. I lost control of the pokeball.

The contact made the pokeball release its contents, and just as I suspected, it was Sneasel. I looked back to see Jared in the doorway, dividing his attention between the indoor and outdoor battles. He had tried to keep his Sneasel hidden, just to keep Croconaw believing he could murder a pokemon. I couldn’t understand how anyone could do such a bad thing to such a good pokemon. My body temperature bubbled up within me and I clenched my fists. Sneasel looked confused, and Croconaw was on the other side of the yard completely overwhelmed by enemies. Hopefully, Jared’s opponents could keep him busy. I had to get Croconaw to see this.

Before Sneasel could turn around I Ember her in the back, and then press her face into the dirt. She Slashed behind her, slicing me across the face. I landed on my feet and focused for the onslaught. Sneasel rushed at me with a gauntlet of claws and teeth. A pokeball beam hit me in the back, but I didn’t leave the battlefield. I looked back to see it was Jared’s beam from the cabin. He was trying to return Sneasel, but I wouldn’t let him. Everything seemed to move slower for me, as I dodged out of every Slash but into each pokeball beam. I bought some time until I could find an opening. One fatigued right hook finally came at me, and I ducked into a vicious Fire Punch uppercut. The power behind my fist felt stronger than ever before. A Houndoom yelped from inside the cabin, and Jared’s attention was pulled back to his battle. This was my chance.

“Croc!” I dragged the smoldering Sneasel across the grass until Croconaw could hear me. “Croc!” He turned from his battle just long enough to spot me, and then did a double-take. I kicked the Sneasel to make him move. Croconaw’s jaw dropped and he looked even more terrified than before. But slowly, he looked back to me and softened his expression. Sneasel’s body turned into red energy, as Jared finally returned her to his pokemon belt. He shot me a strange look, almost like he was pleased with me.

“We’ll worry about him later,” Croconaw was suddenly right beside me. I saw a face of passion, not a scared one. He not only looked ready to battle, but ready to enjoy battling again.

“Thank you,” he said. “Now let’s do this.”

~Damon~

Gligar made the mistake of challenging my Crobat to a battle. Crobat had a secret weapon; it was Jared’s gift to me. I was getting sick of this Rex guy keeping up with me. It was time to take control.

“Now, Crobat!” My pokemon knew what I meant. Gligar’s body stiffened as Crobat’s eyes donned dark halos. With all of Ledian’s Reflects and Light Screens in mind, I commanded Crobat to slam his opponent into each remaining one. He grinned the whole time he carried out my command, having fun with his talents, twitching the edges of his wings like an orchestra conductor. My advantage was four to three once Gligar fainted. I smiled at Rex to let him know who had the power in this match.

“What is your deal?” he asked me. I didn’t answer, if only to toy with his mind. I would take pleasure in finishing this trainer who thought he could ever be better than me. “Well, it’s not over yet,” he said. “Rain Dance, Politoed!”

Politoed frolicked about the yard as quickly as possible before Umbreon could knock him off course. Sure enough, raindrops began to spill from the sky, and sparks leaped off Jolteon’s fur.

“Thunder!” Rex shouted. Jolteon shrieked to the heavens as one lightning bolt descended to meet her, and four more spiked toward my remaining pokemon. All of my pokemon were hit, and my heart sank when I noticed Crobat had fainted. Without Crobat’s dark powers, my chances against Rex plummeted. I felt disappointment, and then hatred.

“Thunder again!” I felt hate for Rex – like the hate I felt from my dreams. Nothing could hold me back this time.

Jolteon wailed to the clouds again, as three more lightning strikes descended, all of them hitting Magby, and fainting him.

Rex’s combination was taking shape. Politoed summoned a powered up Surf attack, overwhelming the battlefield, while Golduck shot Hydro Pumps through the rain. Although the circumstances looked dire, I noticed Croconaw seemed to be enjoying the storm. He was my only hope – my only water type.

“Rage!” I shouted. “Use the water!” Croconaw loved the rain too much to get angry, but he used the water all right. Fueled by rainfall, Croconaw dove into Politoed’s Surf, masterfully swimming through the currents. He splashed out and shot a Water Gun the size of a Hydro Pump at his opponent. After the water had cleared, Politoed was rooted a few inches into the soil, fainted from the water pressure.

“Watch out for the Thunders!” I knew one strike could destroy Croconaw, and so did Jolteon.

~Croconaw~

The Jolteon’s cry was irritating, but I couldn’t help but keep enjoying the storm. It was like I could feel each raindrop splash off every inch of my body. Listening to the storm, I could predict where the lightning would drop. With a running start I fired a Water Gun right in front of my feet. I skidded down my self-made water pathway and felt the Thunders strike on either side of me. Once I was close enough to Golduck, I shot a Water Gun at the ground again, pushing myself up and over my opponent. The next lightning strike went through the duck, and I landed just in time to see his fainted body on the wet, grassy floor. The rain was still strong, and I felt like no one could defeat me. I simply had to learn this Rain Dance move sometime! I tried my own little dance, overwhelmed by the joy of the storm, completely forgetting about Rex’s final pokemon: Jolteon.

If it was another Thunder, I knew I could dive out of the way with ease. I dodged, but felt a zap anyway. It was lighter than a Thunder strike, and I felt paralyzed while the rings of electricity surrounded me. The battle wasn’t so fun anymore. A prisoner in her Thunder Wave, I couldn’t escape Jolteon’s next move. I looked up to see a sparkly spot in the clouds. “Thunder!” was the last thing I heard before fainting out of battle.

~Umbreon~

That damn Croconaw. He blew it. Sure, he had his moments, but how could he start dancing in the middle of a battle? I was left with a Jolteon who had a back-up from a lightning storm. My chances were not good. I found Damon, and his pleading expression put a weight on me, like there was no choice but to win for him. I couldn’t let him down.

Without even thinking if I knew the move or not, I tilted my head back before Jolteon could crow out her next attack. I howled to the moon hidden by the rain clouds. I howled so the moon could force its way through, and give me a little assistance. The moon obeyed. The clouds parted. Every potential Thunder attack fizzled away as I regained all the strength I lost from battle. My muscles tensed with newfound energy, and I smiled at that little trainer, Rex. It was time to end this.

I thought of Damon while I lifted Jolteon off the ground. I thought about our first battles when I was an Eevee, and what our future battles would be like as champions. I envisioned our partnership soaring to new heights, where legions of men and pokemon obeyed our every command. I thought about how much he needed this victory, and I seized Jolteon with one dark look. She flailed helplessly in the air before my mind stopped her limbs as well. Then she was perfectly still, suspended in the moonlight between Damon and I. I dragged her face across the dirt, caking it in mud. I held her head under the earth until her muffled cries went mute. The rest of her body crumpled to the ground, but only because I let it. Damon and I, we were ready to be champions.

~Damon~

Seeing Umbreon take control of Jolteon was the greatest sight that has ever graced me. There I was, believing Crobat was my only hope, when Umbreon came through again. I had raised her from a scrawny Eevee, and she won this match for me. I laughed – I couldn’t help it!

Rex sat on the grass, dazed by what just happened. Looking at him, I felt a sense of power come over me. It was an awesome feeling, and I took pleasure in his quivering lip, in his confused expression. He had to be wondering how a pokemon could do that, but he would never know. He should have never tried to embarrass me during the match.

The ethereal feeling of my dream was now reality, but this time, no one was holding me back.

I looked peered inside the cabin while I stalked toward the shaking Rex, Umbreon following beside me. Jared was in there, victorious, his three opponents limp in the corner, stacked neatly. I suppose he had to kill them. They couldn’t go on knowing about us and telling the law about everything. My dream had provided me with the ultimate display of power. Jared had mastered it, and I could do it too. Staring down at the cowering Rex, I felt the power Jared must have felt before finishing off his three opponents. I dug my hands under his arms and lifted him to his feet. I gave the order.

“Finish him.”

Umbreon didn’t hesitate. She lunged for Rex’s neck, but was rudely hit off course by a Shadow Ball. Jared’s Umbreon had knocked mine away just before she could attack. Suddenly beside me, Jared ripped a pokeball from my belt and returned my final pokemon himself. He pushed me to the floor and motioned for his Houndoom, who bounded toward Rex as the night darkened to a pitch black. A crunching sound, then the darkness lifted, and there was Rex in a bloody heap.

All I could look at, though, was Jared. His nose pointed at his stolen kill, studying it, relishing it. He woke me up. Like my dream had stopped me, he had stopped me. I felt a rage build within me, but one directed at a new enemy. Perhaps it was the rush of the battle, but I wanted Jared dead. I was not strong enough yet, but one day soon I would have the strength to repay him. All I could do that night was look up at his face and hate. Finally, though, I had full sight of a life’s goal I could only catch glimpses of in the past. While Jared was alive and leader of Nightscare, my vision could not come true.

[Gavin Luper]

I don't think I've ever done more than skim this before, but I read this last chapter in full.

First of all, very nice writing style, as always, dude. I like how the narrative really does have a particular flavour/voice for each person who narrates - Damon's was the strongest, I think, although it was really cool to hear Umbreon's thoughts in battle. The battle itself was really intense and well-depicted, too, and the scene where Croconaw owns up to killing was actually quite touching.

But ... the chapter totally doesn't stand alone! ^_^ For someone who has never read the other chapters in detail, I enjoyed it and followed it most of the time, but there is a lot that I don't know. Who is Jared? Who was Rex? Who's Damon? Is he good or bad, for that matter, because it seems like he was about to kill Rex only Jared got there first! Hence my concern: is Damon a "good" protagonist or not? What has he been through?

I assume, of course, this has all been addressed in the past chapters, but just thought I'd give my experience as a relatively new reader.

All in all, though, a great chapter, and I love seeing this fic (and your good self) around again.

Cheers buddy!

[dratinihaunter13]

Thanks for reading Gavin! Very kind of you to take the time to dive into my fic with no background.

As for your questions, Jared is the leader of Nightscare, a morally questionable organization of trainers trying to "help each other". Jared recruited Damon after rigging Damon's gym battles so he would feel like joining Nightscare would be his only way to succeed. Nightscare is responsible for lots of bad shit, so good trainers like Rex are constantly trying to disband it.
Damon's been through a lot as a regular trainer, struggling to be the best he can. He was a little dark and misguided, but basically a decent guy who loved his pokemon. Several chapters ago, he joined Nightscare, and started to change. He's the protagonist, but whether he's good or bad really depends on the reader and the chapter. At this point, I'd say he's pretty bad. His pokemon vary, and try to influence him a lot.

Thanks again for the time and comments!

[dratinihaunter13]

Latest update here. We get a look into what the leader of Nightscare is thinking. His latest plans for Damon, who has quickly become his star pupil. But a dangerous one.
--


Chapter 34 ~Jared~

Coated in sweat, I tried to mute each footstep on the metal floor. Our battle with that boy Rex was a week behind us, but that night still hovered in my memory. For the first time in all my night intrusions into Damon’s room, the stick of anxiety coated me. I was actually scared to wake him. I was not sure about his limits. When rage drives a trainer, his talents can surpass imagination. As the leader of Nightscare, I felt ashamed at my hesitance.

I finally crept within reach of Damon’s pokemon belt. Save Crobat and Umbreon, I replaced each pokeball with a trusty duplicate. These understudies had served their purpose quite well. On occasion my nightly training sessions would run late, and Damon had no doubt released a duplicate. He hadn’t expressed any sort of suspicion. His Umbreon had kept her word by not giving me away. She wanted to become strong. She knew my training methods would be the only way to achieve Damon’s goals.

Pokemon belt in hand, I looked up at the sleeping trainer, and could have sworn one of his eyes just slammed shut. I had to be seeing things. There was no way he could have heard me. Still, the white of his eye tortured my thoughts until I slid back to the safety of the hallway.

This was pathetic. Damon could not approach my skill level. His anger should be my smallest concern. I sensed his determination, though. Just as I had predicted, Nightscare was doing wonders for his growth as a trainer. After a few missions with our team, Damon had already developed an overpowering battle style. He found weaknesses in his opponents, and then mercilessly attacked those liabilities. Every time his Umbreon fainted a resisting trainer’s pokemon, I wondered how fast his skills were approaching mine.

Walking down my familiar hallway, I recalled my rash decision with Rex from a week ago. After Damon had defeated Rex, I pushed my young trainer aside and took over. I ended Rex’s life, because I knew it would only stoke Damon’s fire. I wanted him to feel that painful hunger to attain power by any means necessary. I deprived him of that, only to let his anticipation build. The look he gave me that night was an angry, frustrated one. Good, but there was more than just frustration in his eyes. I saw hate and murder. Again, the white of his eye flashed before me. He could not have been awake. He could not have seen what I was doing and withhold a reaction. Even if he knew, what was so bad about that? Everything that boy had which he could call skill, he learned from my organization. I was the boss, and I created him.

I opened the door to my favorite room, where Magby and Houndour would hold their training session. The glass boxes had been washed on the outside, though pokemon remains still littered the floors within these boxes. I took time to admire my creation. Revolutionizing our methods was a difficult task, but I had accomplished it. The product of all my labor could be found in this room, where so many trainers and pokemon suffered after challenging my domination.

I released Houndour. The pup had grown. His demeanor to his posture all appeared more confident, arrogant even. He had new battle scars to intimidate every foe. The missions and training sessions had truly done their part with Houndour. I always had an easy time with the Dark types. His intelligence left something to be desired, but I always thought that could be remedied with one mere evolution. To evolve, a pokemon needed experience, and I was an expert on the proper experience for pokemon like Houndour.

“We have some training that involves some heavy battling tonight,” I told him. He snapped at the air, trained to love the idea of battle. I had found Houndour was very capable of focusing on a single task. It was only when two or more tasks befell him that he would falter. I pulled two pokemon belts from a cabinet below one of my glass dungeons. Whipping the ends of each belt, I released twelve low-level Pidgey. The simple birds immediately flew around the room in a panic, already uneasy for whatever reason. Surprised, Houndour yelped and bent his legs for action.

“Now,” I said above the coos of the Pidgey, “these Pidgey are all low-level, Houndour. They can not hurt you. All they can really do is evade.” Houndour interrupted my instructions with an errant Flamethrower attack at the flock. “No,” I told him, “not yet.”

“You will do battle with these twelve-” I made note of a charred, unconscious Pidgey on the floor. “Make that eleven Pidgey. You may only use your Bite attack, Houndour. Get those wicked teeth around these noisy enemies, and deposit them against this far wall.” I pointed to the north wall of the room. Sometimes visuals simplified the instructions for Houndour. “I want to hear their beaks hit that wall loud and clear. Do you understand me?”

Houndour nodded hurriedly.

“Are you sure?”

He seemed to give the same question a little more thought, then nodded again.

“Begin.”

Barking with giddiness, Houndour rushed at the nearest Pidgey. It flew up and away from Houndour’s Bite, which revealed a second Pidgey completely open to attack. Houndour could have easily snatched this second pokemon out of the air, but his mind had already set itself to one goal, and one Pidgey. Eyes locked, Houndour leaped off a table top, and I could tell from the crunching sound that his bite had connected. Houndour landed and jerked his prey side to side in his lethal jaws. The bird became a blur until Houndour finally released, flinging Pidgey at the correct wall. Closing my eyes, I heard the beak shatter and smiled.

“Excellent! Another!” The sounds turned mechanical. A couple barks, his teeth snapped over flesh, and a beak clashed against metal. “You can hear it, can’t you Houndour?” He nodded violently, hyper from battle, ready to pounce again. After six successful attacks, I gave Houndour a different challenge.

“The cries of your enemies, you hear that don’t you?” Houndour growled through a grin. “They bother me. I don’t want your enemies to even have time to cry out. I want you to finish off the rest of these Pidgey, only using Bites, but I do not want to hear them make a peep before impact.” I could tell he understood. Houndour’s brain was easily manipulated, a welcome quality for my training style. That mind of his was becoming so dark and perfected that I knew his evolution was near.

Houndour lunged at a Pidgey, making sure to shut his jaws around the throat. This kept the Pidgey quiet throughout the attack, up until its beak crumbled against the far wall. Houndour made the adjustments on his own, vanquishing his final foe with an unbridled Flamethrower. I loved the energy, but worried the extra inspiration would cause Houndour to evolve. I had planned the training session to bring Damon’s pokemon right up to the point of evolution. If Damon opened Houndour’s pokeball to find a Houndoom, questions would be asked, and he might not like the answers. Walking past a limp Pidgey set aflame, I returned Houndour to his pokeball.

“Not quite yet my good pokemon,” I whispered. “Excellent work.”

I released Magby. As always, the pathetic thing shivered upon learning it was his turn for training. The messy remains of pokemon around him could not have calmed his nerves either.

“Not to worry, little fellow,” I bent down to his level. “Your training comprises of no battling today.” Magby did not relax. He made eye contact with me for only a moment, before shutting his lids and turning away.

Battling this pokemon was not even worth the effort. All in all, Magby disgusted me. The talent within him was no more advanced than his fear, and this little coward shivered at every challenge. With that attitude, he was of no use to Nightscare. However, an evolution can make remarkable improvements.

Another hobby of mine involved experimenting with evolutionary stones. I fiddled with my modified Fire Stone in my pocket. Magby had almost evolved weeks ago, and just by looking at him I could tell his experience was well past that of most Magmars. Somehow, this pokemon had reversed his evolution on his own accord, bypassing his evolutionary window. In my hand, I held the only way he could become a Magmar.

“Umbreon, make him still,” I released my most trusted pokemon. Magby cried out only for an instant, before Umbreon took control of his entire body, including his vocal cords. I walked back to an experimental station in the room, removing my Fire Stone, a chisel, and a syringe. With the chisel I chipped into the core of the stone, until a bit of red liquid leaked from the indent. I carefully pressed the tip of my needle to the puddle, and I sucked up all that I could.

I walked back to Magby and noticed his terrified expression twisting and gawking. Umbreon could have frozen his facial expressions as well, but he chose to see the fear. That was very typical of my Umbreon.

Slowly crouching down, I placed my thumb on the back of the syringe, ready to give Nightscare a new, hopefully braver Magmar. Umbreon allowed Magby’s legs to kick wildly, his torso still frozen and suspended. With his vocal cords inoperable, Magby could only stretch his mouth agape in silent wails for help. I brought the needle between his eyes and mine, and plunged the tip into his shoulder. I slowly injected the fluid and smiled anxiously, confident my Fire Stone experiment would prove successful. Just for a second, Umbreon released control of Magby’s voice so we could hear how desperate his cries had become. He winced and pushed wet tears out of the corners of his eyelids, but no steam rose from his face. I pressed my other hand to his cheek and discovered his skin was unnaturally cold. He slowly stopped kicking, and his contorted expression slackened to one of resignation. The tears only poured harder. They traveled past his frown and pooled at his feet.

I desperately looked for any sign of evolution, hoping not to have to use the entire contents of my syringe. Steam began to rise from Magby’s face. I scorched my hand against his cheek and pulled it back. My Umbreon kept Magby still, but he could not control the Fire type’s temperature! My needle melted away from the smoldering heat of Magby’s skin, and I knew I had not injected enough fluid to force the evolution.

I returned Umbreon and Magby stumbled to the floor. He did not cry out, but only whimpered like a pathetic victim. His body looked chilled, as he shuddered in the fetal position, likely feeling the side affects of my synthetic creation. Still, his tears flowed. The failure that laid before me would not stop shaking in his puddle, taunting me with his uselessness. I had no time to punish Magby with Damon likely to awake soon, so I returned the runt to his pokeball and went to look for a mop.
--

I tapped against a desk inside my video library. The quick five-finger chorus was the only sound in the enormous reference room, as I considered one concern after another. I had given up on Magby. He could not be salvaged, and would have to be eliminated, but that was not the most pressing matter. When I had returned Damon’s pokemon belt before he awoke, I felt that same anxiety as before. My uniform was heavy with sweat. Ever since that battle with Rex, I knew Damon had the hunger for murderous victory. But those murderous tendencies were not meant for Nightscare’s victims. They were meant for me.

I stood up and paced along a bookcase lined with recruitment videos. Nightscare kept close tabs on all its potential allies and enemies. I found the section labeled “McKale”, pulled a couple tapes and brought them to a viewing room. The monitor flickered until a snapshot of Damon’s profile took shape. What followed were various battles Damon had fought, and I obsessed over each one, trying to find the best way to satiate Damon’s hunger. I felt Damon could already be developing plans to destroy me. It was mostly my fault for the way I guided him, but now I had to protect myself. Damon’s aspirations could not come at my expense.

There sat Damon on a city bus. The unevolved Totodile sat near him, and a girl. She was pretty with light brown hair, and eyes that held Damon captive in conversation. In fact, my little Damon looked happier with her than I had ever seen him! I dialed Kyle’s number.

“Damon McKale,” I said as soon as he answered. “Do you remember anything about a girl and a city bus during your surveillance?”

“You mean his hot friend Monica Rockne?” Kyle kept close tabs on every member of Nightscare. “Yeah, I remember taping her. Sure looked like Damon had a thing for her, right?”

“It appears so from what I can tell,” I paused the video for a long look at the girl’s face. “By any chance, have you been keeping up with her activities?”

“Well, after we got Damon to join I didn’t really think I should waste my time following her anymore.” I held my breath and tried not to panic. “But,” Kyle continued, “I got someone else to do it. Jared, I know you like to keep track of absolutely everything. I know you!”

“Kyle,” I tried not to sound too excited, “thank you. Who did you tell to watch Monica?”

“Talk to Jez. I told her to check up on the girl once a week.” I hung up on Kyle and found Jez’s number in my phone. She was another one of our scouts, though not one I spoke with regularly.

“Hey!” Jez answered immediately. “I can’t believe you’re calling me! What’s up, boss? Shit, am I in trouble? Whatever they told you, hear me out first, okay?”

“Stop,” I told her. I remembered Jez from her grating voice. This was why I didn’t speak to her regularly. “Jez, I need you to tell me about Monica Rockne.”

Surprisingly, my bothersome scout had been doing her job extremely well. Jez told me Monica’s plans for the following night. She was planning to go out with a few of her friends. They all trained pokemon, but none of them were very talented. Apparently, they were all male. With the proper exaggeration, Damon might get the wrong idea about this little outing.

My planning began right there in the library. I had to build a farce, and I had little time to do it. Once complete though, Damon’s menace could be released on those unfortunate boys, and I could be spared. If Monica could truly bring out the best in Damon, she could no doubt bring out the worst.

“Thank you, sweetie,” I said while touching the video monitor, tracing my finger over Monica’s mouth. “Your help is appreciated.”

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

[Thanks for reading! For those unfamiliar, Monica played a sizable role in the first 20 chapters of this story. She was a positive influence on Damon before Nightscare ever came into the picture.]

[dratinihaunter13]

HOLY CRAP I found something

EDIT::

All right, sorry. I got really excited once I found that link but I was in a rush so I couldn't explain!

Using the wonderful but complex Internet Wayback Machine, I've found a LOT of Damon's Menace chapters 1-20. This is a more complete link than the one before:
http://web.archive.org/web/200103042...ML/000005.html

And also a LOT of my first fic, Marty's Pokemon Conquer Elemental League. I wrote MPCEL first, but DM is its prequel.

Here's MPCEL(Chapters 1 & 2 missing):
http://web.archive.org/web/200102150.../000302-2.html

Warning, MPCEL is extremely n00bishly written. I was much younger (like 11 years ago) and it was really the first large-scale Trainer fic on TPM. I was so excited to find it again! Nostalgia overload. The boards were extreeeemely active those days with everyone wanting to write a trainer fic. It was an enormous part of my adolescence. I had a ton of good friends/readers that I hadn't thought about in ages! And all their replies are right there. Me and MistyRocks were pretty stupid (I had a big secret crush on her >_<).

2nd EDIT: Oh I found Chaps 1 &2! It's a re-post of MPCEL, not as spammy, just as poorly written. This one was posted long after the initial Trainer Fic craze, but still 10 years ago.
http://web.archive.org/web/200103051...ML/000320.html

[dratinihaunter13]

Well, I got the next chapter. So I'm a post it!

I found all chapters of MPCEL, but am now missing three chapters of this fic. So if anybody has a copy of Chapters 2, 4, or 20 of Damon's Menace, please let me know! They've become lost over the years.

Changed this chapter quite a bit. Lots of editing, extended dialogue, etc. Enjoy =)
--

Chapter 35 ~Damon~

It felt like late afternoon, but I could never know for sure under Nightscare’s roof. My team trained through the same drills and exercises as day one. Amazing, how everything around me could carry on the appearance of boredom. To an outsider, it may have looked like nothing had ever changed. In truth, so much had changed. Perhaps I was the only one who noticed.

Jared, the leader of this whole operation, had transformed before my eyes. He chose his words more carefully around me. He stared at me lately like he could not predict my next action, and that he would be in danger if he missed it. I could always feel the fear of others, and Jared’s fear had grown steadily since my battle with Rex. Jared knew what he took away from me that night. Unknowingly, he had been robbing me for months. Against Rex, he stood between me and total victory. Every night, however, he did the same thing simply by ordering me around, controlling my destiny. Jared groomed and starved me like a science experiment, and I no longer feared him. He may have feared me.

“Damon,” Jared jolted me from my thoughts. I felt like a predator as I sized him up. He looked undisturbed, but I knew the truth. I had been in his place before, trying to hide emotions from those who could feast on them. Jared kept his back straight and his voice authoritative. “Your team is done for the day.”

I returned my team members one by one. Umbreon and Crobat had proven capable of mastering Jared’s revolutionary battle techniques. For that, I suppose I could thank Nightscare. Croconaw and Magby had become lost causes. Neither was evolving despite plenty of experience, and I had run out of patience for their weaknesses. A champion and his pokemon had to be like-minded. Scizor, for instance, was at least progressing in that direction. He had begun to anticipate my commands and always fulfill every order with exact precision. Umbreon and Houndour seemed to enjoy Nightscare more than Scizor, but at least all three were improving. Strangely, Jared had not requested Houndour for training that night. I began to address him with my suspicion, but he spoke first.

“We have a rather sizable task tonight, Damon. A high-level mission of sorts. I feel your cooperation would be most advantageous.”

“Keep talking,” I said. Jared sniffed and returned my stare.

“I intended to.” He turned his back to me, walking away slowly while speaking. “A competing organization is in the making. There is a group developing, one whose intentions seem to vaguely parallel those of Nightscare.”

“How large?” I interrupted. Jared leered at me over his shoulder. “Or should I hold questions until the end?” Jared’s expression lightened, but his shoulders remained hunched.

“They are still a very young group of trainers, five at the most. Fortunately for us, our scouts have caught them at their early stages.” Jared slowly approached me again. “We are interested, Damon, because each one of these trainers has at least one parent with political power. Conceivably, with their backing, this little group could blossom at any given moment. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I could not have wanted to agree with him less. I did not reply.

“Damon,” he prodded, tilting his head downward, closer to my level.

“Of course,” I spat out. “I agree.”

“We will put an end to this threat before it grows any larger. The warehouse where they meet tonight is right here in Sphere City. You, Kyle, Jez and I will handle the dirty work. Rylan drives. Do you understand?”

“Of course,” I said. I wondered if Jared would use the mission as another opportunity to exert his power over me. If he dared, I vowed to push back.

“This group does things a little differently than Nightscare,” Jared continued, pacing in front of me. “Instead of the techniques I’ve taught everyone here, they use a type of injection for brainwashing. Their research for the drug is top-notch and easily affordable with their parental resources. You can imagine how powerful they could become with more time.”

I nodded, allowing Jared to go on.

“Kyle reports they have recently kidnapped a female trainer. She is a potential addition, though not willing to cooperate quite yet. She will be more willing after her induction ceremony tonight.” Jared grinned and leaned in close enough that I could feel his breath on my neck. “The needle is quite large. It enters through the base of the skull, boring past skin and bone. Blood spills down the neck from the wound, which will tell us whether we’re too late or not.”

“Too late for what?” I asked. “We’re there to destroy these guys, not save a princess.”

“Right, yes,” Jared laughed awkwardly. “That’s not what I meant. I am only giving you all I know from Kyle. According to his information, once the girl’s thoughts are completely replaced, she becomes very sluggish momentarily – not an immediate threat. Once her free thought is eliminated, the boys from the group will likely…have their way with her. That could be our opening for attack.”

“Wait,” I said. “What?”

“A shame, really, but boys will be boys.” I still couldn’t process the implication. Was Jared telling me these guys sexually assaulted their recruits? “Kyle has intercepted some of their phone calls. He’s heard their plans. This girl would have no idea what was happening to her. Her brain would be operating at a very low capacity after the injection.” Jared watched me and attempted to lighten the mood.

“This leads me to believe the girl is quite beautiful, Damon,” he said. “I hope that won’t be a distraction to you.” He teased me with a crooked smirk. I didn’t respond, uneasy about his news, but also about his demeanor. Jared had never really teased me before.

“Oh come now, Damon. You mean to tell me you have never been in love before? In lust, even?” He invited me to laugh with him, but I declined.

“What does it matter?”

“I remember my first love, so many years ago,” Jared inexplicably waxed on about romance. I was lost. “She had auburn hair like silk, shoulder-length. A smile that could light up every lamp post in Sphere City.”

I pictured the girl, and remembered someone I had not thought about for months.

“Perhaps you once had a similar sweetheart, Damon?” I remembered Monica. Her hair was lighter, almost blond. It framed her face like a canvas. I remembered how the lights from the streetlamps fluttered across her smile while we rode the city bus. She would look at me with those perfectly green eyes, listening to me every second I spoke. All the while, I couldn’t wait for her turn, so she could tell me about her journey too. I had loved watching her talk. The anticipation and her addictive smile, it all came back to me in exquisite detail. I heard the playful melody of a quiet orchestra, and I indulged in memories of her figure.

“Aha!” Jared shouted and I snapped back to reality. “I see I have sparked your memory!” I felt myself blush, and then turn even redder with anger.

“Can we please get started?” I said. How long had I been staring blankly at Jared? He shook his head at me and walked toward the doorway. I followed in a welcome daze.
--

The familiar lights of Sphere City passed by my window in the back of the Nightscare vehicle. No matter how hard I tried to focus, I kept remembering Monica. I knew we might never meet again, but that only encouraged me to imagine a scenario where we crossed paths. We would tell each other about our journeys just like before. We would train together, eat together, and I could even bring her to my symphony attic. She would love the music and the privacy. We would be alone.

“Damon!” Jared shouted from the passenger seat, above the Camaro’s engine. “Please try to pay attention.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. My voice had come out higher than I expected. I felt weaker, and I blamed Monica for it. I couldn’t afford to lose any of my strength. This mission was actually becoming quite the opportunity for me. I had finally been given a walkie-talkie like the other high-ranking Nightscare members, and I felt Jared was ready to make me second in command, pending the mission’s success. Jared’s underling was not an ideal position, but privileges could come with the promotion. I could learn every one of Nightscare’s secrets, strengthen my team, and who knows what could follow? I imagined becoming a league champion, another dream I had not entertained for some time. I imagined my fame catching Monica’s eye on a television set somewhere far away.

“Listen,” Jared looked annoyed, but not upset. “I will not explain this again. This warehouse is one large, open area. It will not be difficult to spot our enemies once inside. Jez and Kyle will be scouting the surroundings for the law, and Rylan will be waiting for us on the north side of the warehouse.”

The car quieted as Rylan downshifted. He was frowning, which was rare for him. I suspected he was unhappy with his role in the mission.

“Remember,” Jared said, unbuckling his seat belt, “they have that inductee tonight, the girl. Once they are preoccupied with her, we will strike.”

“And please, Damon,” Jared looked back at me. “Do not let her beauty distract you.” I was getting tired of his jokes. Rylan slowed the car to a halt and killed the engine.

“Get it over with,” Rylan said as he unlocked the doors from his control panel. Jared froze in his seat and glared at him. Something had to have happened between the two of them. Nobody ever addressed Jared with so little respect, aside from me lately.

“You just worry about your end, all right?” Jared said lowly. “We need you at the north exit. This is not the time for your concerns.”

“I understand. Go. Please.”

Jared would not break his glare at Rylan. The driver sighed and shifted nervously.

“Okay,” he struggled to say. “Yes, sir. I’m with you, now, sir. I’m sorry.”

Jared stepped out of the car. “We’ll see you in half an hour, roughly.” I opened my door to follow. “Wait,” Jared stopped me. “Let me secure the area. I’ll signal you shortly.”

I reluctantly closed my door and watched Jared disappear into an alley. Rylan squinted down the alleyway and sighed deeply, turning his whole body back toward me.

“Think about this,” he whispered, a desperate look in his eye. “Do you really want to be a part of this? Can you come to terms with actually murdering someone, Damon?”

I couldn’t believe what this driver was telling me. He was questioning Jared’s orders and trusting me not to say anything about it afterward.

“Really think about that,” Rylan persisted. “Killing somebody.” Sweat glistened on his face – red, then green from the changing streetlight ahead of us. “You know who Jared is. He is ruthless, and he will not show any mercy to these guys.”

“You know what these guys do, don’t you?” I asked him, wondering if he had been informed of their perversions.

“I know what Jared told you,” Rylan trailed off. I heard Jared’s voice come over the walkie-talkie. He was ordering me to come find him. It was time to begin our mission.

“I’m fine, Rylan. Really.” I stepped out of the car and closed the door. I heard the passenger side window slide open behind me.

“Think of your pokemon.” I turned back and saw him ducking to catch my glance through the open window. “I know training didn’t go the way you thought it would. But plugging through the gym battles, winning and losing, that’s what makes training so great, you know? The challenges. I think,” Rylan stuttered, “I think that’s what your pokemon would want.”

It bothered me that he knew about my past. I had never told him anything, and I assumed some scout in Nightscare had informed him. He had no right to tell me what my pokemon wanted.

“Look, driver,” I walked back to the car window and leaned down to address Rylan. “I’m going to make this simple for you, since you know so much about my history. I…” I didn’t expect to stumble, but I realized I had never directly told any one person about my disappointments as a trainer. I hated that Rylan was the one to hear it. “I wasn’t… cutting it out there. I couldn’t beat the gym leaders. I wasn’t powerful then, all right?”

I pointed to the ‘N’ on my chest. “This is where I got my power from. You don’t think I couldn’t slaughter those gym leaders now with what I got from this place?”

“It doesn’t have to be about power, though,” he whispered, looking past me to check if Jared was near. My walkie-talkie buzzed and Jared asked what was taking so long. “I know Magby and Croconaw would love to just get back to-”

“Don’t!” I shouted. “Stop,” I said quieter. I cleared my throat and swallowed, upset at the whole ridiculous conversation. I hated every word of it. “You don’t know my team at all. They’re mine. You worry about your end, driver.”

I pushed myself from the car and jogged down the alleyway, slowing to a walk as I tried to shake Rylan’s words from my conscience. I never thought of myself as a murderer, just a trainer trying to become the best. As much as Nightscare had tested me, and in its own way tormented me, Nightscare saw the talent within me. I always believed the only way I could dominate all opponents, was by limiting myself the least. Some trainers couldn’t handle Nightscare, but I was strong enough. Croconaw and Magby didn’t see that, but I had pokemon who knew what was best for us. Umbreon and I started from nothing – just two loners making our own opportunities and doing whatever was necessary to advance. Jared had his reasons for violence, and so did I.

I almost bumped into Jared at the end of the alley. He caught me by the shoulder and pointed to the warehouse a few yards ahead.

“Jez is already in,” Jared told me. “She’ll be watching over us, in the rafters, but she will not interfere unless the need arises. Kyle is on lookout, and Rylan is ready to roll once our job is done. As for you and I,” Jared removed his hand from my shoulder, “we are the front line. Our pokemon will take on the four trainers inside.”

Jared must have noticed some lingering doubt in me.

“We can handle this, Damon,” he assured me. “You have nearly mastered my techniques, and you’ve proven your loyalty to Nightscare with every successful mission.”

“I know,” I replied. Jared checked his six pokeballs at his belt and studied the warehouse before us.

“Consider this preparation for Arthur Lamourrie,” Jared said, alluding to the greatest threat to Nightscare. “He’s likely next.”

I regarded my own pokemon belt. Would Croconaw and Magby provide any help whatsoever in this battle? Did they really want me to go back to my miserable days as a struggling trainer? I hoped my other four would be enough that night.

Static came from Jared’s walkie-talkie followed by Jez’s voice.

“All right,” she said. “She’s ready. Bring him in.” She’s ready? The image of sexual abuse sickened me, and I wondered if that’s what Jez meant. We were likely waiting for these perverts to be at their most vulnerable before we attacked. No doubt they had already violated their hostage.

“Follow my lead,” Jared said. He charged at the nearest entryway, busting through one of the warehouse doors. I ran in after him, my heart pumping and my mind racing from Rylan to my pokemon to whatever we were about to see. As soon as I found the focus to scan the room, I spotted four guys huddled around something at the far end. The deviants looked confused at our intrusion and started calling for help. It appeared our reputation had preceded us.

“Oh, we’re not here to help you,” Jared mocked them, advancing on our victims. The trainers broke their huddle and grasped at their pokeballs, and I saw their seated inductee. Her dark green eyes were rolling to the back of her head. Her light auburn hair, shoulder-length, clumped at the bottom from the blood off her neck. Her clothes were in a tattered pile next to a giant syringe at the base of the chair. She sat there naked except for her bra. She was delirious, barely conscious. She was my Monica.

[dratinihaunter13]

Any and all readers of DM, I have good news! I have detailed outlines written for the final chapters of Damon's Menace. The ending is not far off, actually. Can you believe it? The actual completion may not be for a while. I want to re-read a lot of the chapters to make sure the last few tie it all together nice-like. Either way, thanks to anyone out there still reading! I'm very excited to have the end planned for this long-running fic.

[Gavin Luper]

That last chapter seemed quite gruesome and epic. The image of Monica's eyes as green marbles rolling around with no direction ... that was stomach-churning stuff. Pokemon not fainting but dying ... it's serious. This is tightly-written as always. I only had time to scan the chapter but it was full on, well done mate.

And congratulations on outlining the end of the fic. I'm sure it will be a huge sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you pen those final words dude. Keep at it - the end is in sight after a long time!

Cheers!

[dratinihaunter13]

Hello again =). With some free time, I recently revisited my old save files of this story I never finished. I still have the outline and it's so close to being done. I hope I can finish it someday, maybe even soon. Anyway, the first thing I wanted to do was fill in the missing chapters. The link at the beginning of this thread has all the beginning chapters except for Chapters 2 and 4. So I just re-wrote Chapter 2 from scratch. Next is Chapter 4 and then I'll pick up where I left off with Chapter 37.

My plan is to just post this here now, out of context, because I need a tangible sense of posting something! I'm just excited to be penning words about this story again for the first time in years. Also, I would like it recorded here in addition to my Google Docs copy. I miss how much fun and active this fanfic forum used to be. It was really a great place to learn to write.

As you might be able to tell, this whole story is in desperate need of a re-write. There are tense changes galore with sloppy pacing to boot, among other things. But this has turned into a completion project for me. I still love these characters and they deserve an ending. So please excuse the inconsistencies and glaring imperfections as I try to complete this long postponed journey!

---


Chapter 2 ~ Eevee ~


Scanning left to right, right to left, sweeping the splintering floorboards for anything edible, I walked quietly. I did not want to arouse any competition. This warehouse had been overrun lately by starving scavengers like myself, and I’ve found hunger can bring out the violence of any pokemon. Spotting any source of food at the same time as another would almost assuredly lead to a fight. I had already won my fair share, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew the next fight could always be my last.


I spotted a moldy pile of berries partially hidden in a dark corner. After checking my peripherals for unwanted dinner guests, I crept to the pile and took in the pungent aroma of food gone bad. These berries could have a bright color at some point, but now they were half covered in gray fuzz and wrinkled, devoid of life. Maybe once upon a time they hung vibrantly from a tree somewhere, but just like anything left in this dump for too long, berries go bad. I wasn’t choosy.

I gobbled up the pile of rotten fruit. It was the first edible thing I had found in 4 days and I had no time for moderation. Immediately I felt my stomach turn over and an acidic splash in the back of my throat. I could feel the food coming back up. I fought to keep it down but the repulsion was too much and a mess of gray fuzz dark red chunks came rushing from my mouth. A boring pain surged through my mid-section, dull and strong. I doubled over and waited for it to subside, which usually took a few seconds, and I prepared myself to try to eat the rotten food again. I knew they were my best shot at staying alive, so I had to have them. There was no choice for me to make.


I heard the unmistakable scurry of feet. It had become an alarm of sorts over the last few months, often waking me up from a vigilant sleep. Nothing appeared to be moving around the dank warehouse, but I could smell a pokemon. It wanted my berries.


I could feel my back tense and ache as I slowly prowled the area. It was difficult to stay focused on any one line of sight. The dizziness was just relentless lately.


Something chirped from behind a rotted crate several paces in front of me. A face slowly slid into view. It was a Sentret, and a weak-looking one at that. I let out a sigh of relief and prepped for a winnable match, but then I saw what he was carrying. The Sentret was barely able to hold on to all of his berries. There must have been a dozen or so in his arms, and they didn’t look like my berries. These berries stood out stark red against the backdrop of a dark brown, rotting world.


The Sentret chirped and struggled to line up exactly half of his berries in front of him, and motioned for me to come forward. I rushed to the beautiful food and devoured it in an instant, hardly tasting a thing. I looked at the berries still in Sentret’s arms and snapped at him, causing him to drop a few more which I ate just as quickly. Sentret hurriedly laid out the rest of his stash in a neat line in front of him and smiled. I had not seen a smile in a long time, and here he was smiling, volunteering his bounty to me. I didn’t trust him, but I knew he was weak in battle. I felt I had a good gauge on that from months of sizing up opponents in this place. After giving him a long look, I ate the rest of the berries, and he chirped again like he was celebrating.


I didn’t know where this Sentret came from or why it was acting this way. I thought maybe he was a scout for a larger group, and this would only need to an ambush. After seeing how genuinely happy he looked, I started to change my impression. I thought perhaps he did this regularly - like he came from somewhere in the forest outside where things weren’t so bad, and he got something out of being charitable. If he was skilled at foraging for food, he was important to me.


Another alarm sounded, this one a far more frightening one - the flapping of wings. Fearow had long ruled this warehouse. No matter how foul the food chain had become, they were at the top of it. One of them swooped through a far window, but he was close enough to see the evidence of a fresh meal.


I whipped around and ran for my life, my stomach feeling like a boulder rumbling inside me. I turned back to see Sentret following. He scurried up a few boxes and out of sight. The Fearow was gaining on me and my stomach couldn’t handle another bounce. I stopped running and threw up over my forepaws, heaving red without control. The whole warehouse looked like it was under thick water, waving slowly and warping itself. I knew I had to stop heaving, but I looked up to see it was too late to run. The Fearow had begun its descent, wings spread wide, beak drilling the air, just moments in front of me.


I saw that hopeful face slowly slide into view again, this time behind Fearow’s right wing. It was Sentret gliding above the soaring bird pokemon. He landed on Fearow’s head and covered its eyes. They crashed into the dusty floorboards and Sentret went into a roll from the impact. He sprang out of it once he reached me and together we ran for cover.


The Fearow followed us out of the warehouse and into a downpour. Deafening thunderclaps cut through the sound of pouring rain one after another. I struggled to keep my footing and slipped, falling face-first into the mud. I felt something tug at my tail. Woozy, I looked back to see Sentret concerned, but still smiling. He kept trying to pull my tail and I could tell he wanted us both to live. A lightning strike lit up the rainy sky behind him, and I saw Fearow closing in on us. He just kept smiling, tiny paw on my tail tugging gently to let me know we had to go. I was dizzy, sick, and hungry, but I could still figure out he was wrong. Only one of us had to go.


I jumped to my feet and tackled the Sentret into the oncoming Fearow, and I bolted. The rain and the hunger fought me but I kept my footing, running and trying not to look back. Muffled by thunder, I could barely make out Sentret’s cries and Fearow’s flesh-tearing attacks. I’ve seen Fearow eat live prey around here, and it’s not pretty. I wished for the millionth time I could be a Fearow, or anything more predator than prey. Sentret had to go but I wondered how long it would be until I was the next casualty. I had to make sure it wasn’t that night.


I ran and ran through the stomach pains, disoriented but trying to keep going in one direction as fast as I could. The forest started to clear and open up to a trailer. There was a human outside it, rain pelting him as he tried to pull a tractor into a shack nearby. He was young and screaming and cursing, but then he stopped to look at me. I thought maybe I could sneak by him and hide in the shack, but it was too late for that.


“Get in here!” He abandoned the tractor he was hauling, and ran to the door of the shack, flinging it wide open. “Come on!”

Again, I had no choice. I had no control, and although that terrible truth tormented me every day, I knew I was about to pass out. So I took as many steps as I could toward that boy while the thunder quieted, and the night sky blackened further. I barely felt my face hit the mud as he slowly blurred and faded away.

[dratinihaunter13]

Once again, another out-of-context chapter that had to be re-written because the original was lost through multiple board hacks! For better context, look toward the links in this topic's first post. Onward! Tiny chapter 4.
--


Chapter 4 ~Eevee~

Once the engine stopped humming I awoke to the silence of midnight. The moon was half full and watching over me. I always felt the moon had a guardian-like quality for those of us comfortable in the cover of dark. It was like some far off father unable to help you directly, but always watchful and encouraging. In other words, it in no way resembled Damon’s father.

I licked my fangs to perhaps get back the taste of his blood. It was still there, barely, and I tried to remember our escape in all its glory. For me, the departure was months in the making, but I know Damon had long been under his parents’ thumb. He tolerated them, followed their commands, gave up so much of his freedom for no reason I could understand. It was frustrating not to be able to tell him that he didn’t have to live as a servant. Countless nights in his room, sniffing at his fresh welts after his latest beating, I had wished I could tell him about that night we first met. It was that night which taught me how to thrive in this world, and not just survive it.

Thank goodness he embraced the idea of becoming a pokemon trainer, otherwise I was not sure how long it would take for the guy to take control of his own life.

We left the jeep to head into the lab, which was really more of a giant white tarp on some sticks. Once inside the circus-like structure, everything looked more like a laboratory. Glass vessels and scratched up machinery scattered over endless countertops, all surrounding long time-worn tables with built-in sinks and gas outlets. Damon and I would go there every once in a while to not be at his house, but I usually preferred to stay outside.

“Your nose looks okay,” Sans told Damon. “And I think I have just the gift for you.” He walked briskly to a cabinet at the far wall of his lab and opened the doors to find three pokeballs all neatly facing the same direction. He walked back toward us, one pokeball in hand.

“I know just the right guide for your journey,” Sans said, and he released a Totodile.

I measured up the tiny crocodile pokemon, who smiled widely in his battle stance. He energetically jogged back to the professor’s side and jumped back around to face Damon and I, raising his fists and greeting the two of us.

“This, of course, is a Totodile,” Professor Sans patted him on the head. “Now I’m sure you have studied up on the species itself, but each pokemon is unique within its species so long as you have the ability to find and appreciate those differences. Damon, I want you and this Totodile to share every experience together on this pokemon journey. He is here to help you not only succeed in gyms, but also in life. Come here, Totodile.”

The water type jumped into the professor’s arms as he walked closer to Damon, the three of them towered above my floor-level vantage point.

“I know these aren’t the best circumstances, Damon. It would be shocking for me to expect you to be ready to leave right away, especially after what happened with you family.”

“No, no,” Damon interrupted. “Don’t worry about that. That’s over. I’ve been wanting this for a long time,” he said, looking down at me, “and we’re ready.”

“That strength can take you far Damon,” the professor said, “but I want you to remember to learn from your pokemon.” He glanced toward me, quickly breaking eye contact as soon as possible. “I know your bond with Eevee is rock solid. It’s time to open your heart to more now. Let Totodile, and any other pokemon you catch, teach you about anything and everything. I know you two will be the best of friends.”

The professor handed Damon Totodile’s pokeball and the pokemon hesitantly started walking from Sans to his new trainer. Totodile was a bit of a shrimp, at least on my first impression. I was already accustomed to battling pokemon many times his size, so he didn’t register to me as a threat.

“Professor, thank you so much,” Damon said. “I know how strong Feraligatrs can be and I promise I can get him there.”

“Well,” Sans laughed under his breath, “that may not be for a long while, Damon. One step at a time, all right?”

Damon picked up the Totodile from his waist and brought it close for inspection.

“Hi!” The pokemon said, giggling to itself with that raspy voice all Totodile’s have.

“Well his teeth look sharp,” Damon said, setting him back down. “Maybe he likes music.” Damon set Totodile back down.

“Music?” Professor Sans looked confused.

“Oh, yeah,” Damon stumbled over his words. “Did I say music? I meant to say something else, sorry.” He didn’t want anyone to know about our visits to the symphony hall, not even Sans who he liked so much. I always thought of the professor as a nice enough human, but ultimately worthless. Strength, I learned, never came from depending on others, it came from believing one could do anything on their own. I would have much rather preferred Damon coming to that same resolution and running away from home on his own accord. But at least we were finally leaving, and Sans did provide that annoyingly chipper little fellow next to me.

“What are you so happy about?” I asked the Totodile. He looked at me like I spoke a different language.

“What am I what?” he asked, squinting at me. “I’m Totodile!”

“Obviously,” I replied. “Nevermind.”

“Oh, good! It appears your two partners in crime have already made friends.” Sans bent down to pat Totodile on the head, but didn’t dare extend his hand to me. In fact, if I looked closely I could make out some old scars of mine on his left hand. It’s not as if I disliked the professor, but he fell under the category of too weak to be trusted. I only trusted one person in this life, and thank goodness I found one like Damon who didn’t make me include any other liabilities. At least up until then.

While Damon and the professor said their goodbyes I made sure to give Totodile some helpful tips for the future.

“I don’t know what Sans has been telling you, but I need you to understand something.” He looked back at me intently, like he couldn’t wait to find out how he could help. “You will become strong, and you will fight for us. Don’t ever think for a second you can become strong enough to do anything else than that one task. You will fight for us. And if I see you do anything to screw over Damon, I will end you.”

He looked frozen, scared, but snapped out of it quickly.

“Okay,” Totodile replied, “but only because I’m always up for a good battle.” He stuck out his paw, probably wanting a handshake. “Teammates?”

I stared at his silly grin and couldn’t help but laugh. We would find out how strong he was soon enough. I turned back toward the road, a fading night sky overhead, and led the way out of Damon’s personal hell.

[dratinihaunter13]

All right, the new stuff. Fun fact: on my latest emulator run of Pokemon Black Version 2 I raised an Umbreon named Menace. It's a staple of the team >=)
--

Chapter 37 ~Croconaw~

I didn’t see Magby. Damon had lined us all up in his room but I couldn’t find Magby. There was Crobat fanning us with his giant wings, Houndoom napping, Scizor standing up straight and looking nauseous, and Umbreon grinning at me like she had a secret. I felt a fury bubble up inside me, fearing the worst for my friend. Damon’s pokemon belt had 6 pokeballs still on it. That could mean anything, but it gave me hope that maybe he had found Magby in the forest before anything could happen to him. Maybe I still had time to save Magby from this nightmare.

“We have some exciting news, team,” Damon said. Houndoom opened his eyes from his laying position, and Crobat slowed the beating of his wings to a stop. Scizor didn’t flinch. They all had their eyes trained on our master, ready to follow. I was not.

“Where’s Magby?” I interrupted. Damon gave me an annoyed look.

“You may have noticed one of your teammates isn’t here with the rest of us,” Damon continued. I wondered if he had actually understood my question. “Magby decided not to fight for our cause.” Damon moved his stare to me. "We had to remove him."

"You know what means, I hope," Umbreon said, stalking toward me. "Your friend's dead. I know because I heard his bones break, and I watched him stop breathing. You should have felt how cold his skin was."

I snapped my teeth at Umbreon, but she didn't flinch. She was lying. I was sure they were both lying, trying to break me. They were trying to scare us all into the same mindset but I knew better.

"It's true," Damon said, raising a hand. "Umbreon and I had to eliminate him." He looked proud of himself. I could not figure out what he was proud of exactly, pulling off this enormous lie or the fact that he actually eliminated a source of weakness. I had to know.

"Listen, team," Damon continued. "Our goals have evolved. Now, we need to evolve along with them. All of this," Damon motioned around the room, "all of this around us, outside this room, from the front door of this place to the light bulb on top of it - this will all be ours. Look at Houndoom." Houndoom's ears perked from is lying position. "He has evolved with our goals. You've seen Crobat and Umbreon in battle. They're ready. They know Jared's battle style better than he knows it himself."

It was then I realized this meeting was meant for no one other than Scizor and myself. We were the ones he was trying to reach.

"Scizor," he raised his hand high to place it on Scizor's shoulder, "I need to know you're with me." Scizor mainly stared straight ahead but he couldn't help darting his glance back to Damon. I had never seen Scizor look more shaken, even after all the horrors Nightscare had already put him through. "You remember what happened back there." Scizor shut his eyes tight and opened them again, sighing with his massive chest. "I need to be sure that you won't fail me again, because we can do great things together."

Scizor straightened up and raised a quivering claw to his forehead in salute. I knew I was next.

"Croconaw," Damon started, but I didn't let him finish. I fired a Water Gun at his fourth pokeball, Magby's position, but what came out was an Umbreon - Jared's Umbreon.

He panicked and started wildly attacking us with Shadow Balls. One hit me off my feet but they stopped abruptly. I got back up and saw Jared's Umbreon hovering a couple feet off the ground, immobile and nearly nose-to-nose with Damon's Umbreon, under her control.

"Where's Magby!" This time I yelled the question at Damon.

"Excuse us, everybody," Umbreon said, eyes trained on her rival. "The two of us will be needing some privacy for a few minutes." She walked backwards toward Damon's bathroom, through the doorway, her victim hovering at her nose and following. Once inside she sent him hurling out of view, mentally shutting the door behind them. The sounds of battle were muffled but clamoring behind that door.

"Croconaw, look at Scizor!" Damon said to me. "Look how loyal and powerful he has become!"

I did not see loyalty or power as I watched Scizor stand immovably still, back straight, eyes trained forward. It was like he was under one of Nightscare's dark spells, unable to move, but he was choosing not to move. He was not loyal to himself, and instead of power I saw the helplessness of Nightscare's victims. I saw Magby in him. That same, crippling fear had to be consuming him. The same fear that may have led to Magby's death.

"Where's Magby!" I started shouting loud enough so someone could hear. "Where's Magby! Where is he!" Damon picked up my pokeball from his belt.

"Last chance, Croconaw," he threatened. "Scizor's here, and Magby's dead. Make a smart decision here."

"What did you do to him!" I screamed. "Where is he!"

The cries of battle suddenly stopped from behind the bathroom door. Dark plumes of thick smoke started seeping out from underneath the frame. All I could hear was Umbreon's voice, Damon's Umbreon, muttering something low and unintelligible. I felt my body shake with fury over what I knew was probably true. They really had killed Magby.

"Croconaw," Damon started.

"I will never fight for you again!" I felt my fury take shape inside me, growing into a vicious water attack. "Tell me where Magby is, right now! Now! Tell me!" I started running toward him.

"You'll be seeing him soon enough," Damon said, calmly returning me to my pokeball.
------

~Damon~

It was a shame, but one I couldn't waste any time regretting. I knew a perfect little glass room of Jared's equipped to end Croconaw - one with an electric feature fit for water pokemon. I returned everyone to their pokeballs and waited outside my bathroom door for Umbreon. She had always warned me about what a lost cause Croconaw would become.

Last night, in the woods, I found her with Magby's lifeless body laying before her, and the moon framing her dark figure. After showing me he was dead, Umbreon told me the same would happen for Croconaw. She said there was no way he could be part of the plan, and that as talented a fighter as he was, he wouldn't fight for us without Magby. Then, Umbreon told me everything that had been on her mind.

My prized pokemon had been busy. She had entered into an arrangement with Jared, helping him keep me unaware of his late night training sessions with the others. At first the whole thing made me angry, thinking how Jared could possibly attempt to work in between Umbreon and I, but Umbreon had a plan all along.

She was just starting to understand the depths of her own powers, but she told me to trust her. She told me Nightscare would be ours in two nights. She said she just felt our power rising and she knew nobody, not even Jared, would be able to stop us soon. I not only trusted Umbreon completely, but she was the only thing I trusted, so we carried out the plan. We waited for Jared to make his rounds after the warehouse battle and we made a pokeball switch of our own. We knew he would eventually realize his Umbreon was missing, but it would be late once he found out. Umbreon promised me it would, but I was still nervous waiting there, watching that dark, thick, smoke spill from beneath the bathroom doorway. Umbreon had stopped talking.

The door creaked open and all of the slow, dark plumes rushed back into the bathroom, making my entire bedroom glow purplish-black. Umbreon stalked out of the bathroom, her eyes looking twice their usual size because of the black halos surrounding them. Right behind her, stalking in the exact same manner was Jared's Umbreon.

The once powerful pokemon looked to be completely under Umbreon's control. His expression was sinister, malicious, and pained, and his entire body was encased by an aura of black. His muscles all looked flexed and twisted, but he was only moving under Umbreon's direction. I could tell he was ready to kill, and I understood Umbreon's plan.

This would be our solution, our very own way to the top. The way Umbreon had altered the reality of Jared's most loyal pokemon, that would be our technique, apart from Jared's. It was so much more effective. We could turn anyone's pokemon against them. I could not have been prouder of my partner at that moment. She was giving me the ultimate gift.

"Where is he?!" It was Jared's voice coming from somewhere in the building. I could hear his footsteps slamming onto the metal floor, metal doors crashing open and his yells growing louder. "Umbreon!"

I looked to my Umbreon, her eyes still black and widened, her mouth curled in satisfaction. She slowly brought her head to the ear of her captive and whispered a command I couldn't make out. Jared's Umbreon clenched its muscles even tighter. His face darkened into a berserk expression and he bounded out of my room, growling. Umbreon and I could hear Jared's panting just outside our doorway.

"There you are, come here," Jared ordered, sounding exhausted from running. I couldn't see him, but I could see what he was looking at - a possessed pokemon, once his loyal friend, snarling at him from my doorway.

"What's happening? Who's doing this to you?" And that was all the old leader of Nightscare could say. His Umbreon leapt from view, and we could hear the screams echo down the hallway. The echoes provided a soulful resonance behind the snaps and tears of fangs and flesh. I closed my eyes and imagined it was me tearing Jared's throat, watching the blood spill like it had from the neck of Monica's rapist. I wished I could have seen Jared make the realization, that the one he had tried to manipulate was taking over his entire empire.

The screaming quieted and the growling continued. I could hear the gurgling of blood slowly die down, and soon all I could hear was Jared's Umbreon's muffled growls, like it had its mouth full. Umbreon and I went into the hallway and saw the possessed pokemon gnawing at the neck of its master. I was overwhelmed at the sight of Jared's corpse, overwhelmed with the power and responsibility I had just assumed. I looked up from it to see the shocked expressions of a handful of Nightscare members. They stared in disbelief at their leader, betrayed by his own pokemon, and then they looked at Umbreon and I.

"Follow us!" I ordered them, as I walked through the growing crowd, down the silent hallway. I didn't know if it was their utter shock or their fear of what I had accomplished, but no one dared to attack. They followed me, gasping and talking among themselves, trying to piece together what had just happened.

We arrived at Jared's torture room, the prized renovation of Nightscare made by its former leader to strike grief, pain, and powerlessness into all his victims. The glass compartments lined the stark, black walls, messy from recent use. I searched for the steel-type pokemon chamber while my Nightscare followers filtered into the room, crowding around the doorway, wondering what could possibly happen next. I relished that excitement. It was the incomparable, intangible feeling of somehow knowing a historical event was about to take place, and I was center stage.

My Umbreon and Jared's walked through the legs of the Nightscare contingent and stood before me, side by side. Jared's pokemon belt was hanging from my Umbreon's fangs, while Jared's Umbreon had its same, malicious expression imprinted on its face, blood dripping from his jaws, legs and back taut with anticipation of his master's next order.

I returned Jared's Umbreon to its pokeball. My Umbreon's eyes shrank back to their normal size, and the darkness surrounding her faded away. She walked toward me and laid the belt at my feet while everyone looked on with confused expressions. I replaced the missing pokeball and raised Jared's belt above my head.

"Jared was strong," I addressed Nightscare. "He mastered a dominant way of battle, and he has led you for years under those techniques. Tonight, I have shown you his downfall. Now, you have all seen my way of battle. I have not only mastered Jared's techniques, but I have developed my own. My Umbreon and I will lead you now, with the same powers we used tonight to prove to you that Jared's time was over. He failed to protect you, but I will not."

I went to the steel-type pokemon chamber and activated its torture sequence. A fiery inferno erupted behind the glass. I pulled out the delivery drawer and threw into it Jared's belt, followed by a pokeball from my own belt - Croconaw's.

I remembered Jared walking me through this room for the first time, telling me about his ambitious plans to make this place his sanctuary of true power. Tonight, I was christening this place as my own. This would be where my empire would begin, the very cornerstone Jared had lost.

I could hear the fires roar from behind the glass, flames leaping through the delivery drawer. I slammed it shut and watched as the pokeballs closest to the flames began to melt into nothingness.

An air conditioning grate clanged onto the floor from above and a Noctowl flew out from the opening. Rylan's head poked out from the ventilation.

"Use Foresight! Find Croconaw's pokeball!" he ordered. Noctowl soared to the glass and one pokeball in the flames lit up a bright red. Rylan jumped from the ceiling and frantically picked out the controls to stop the torture sequence and return the pokeballs to the delivery drawer.

"Stop!" I commanded him, releasing my Houndoom. "Houndoom, Flamethrower!"

Noctowl cut through the air and tackled Rylan onto its back, saving his trainer from the Flamethrower.

"Get the red one!" Rylan pointed to the drawer of pokeballs now exposed to the rest of the room. Noctowl weaved through Houndoom's flames and Umbreon's Faint Attacks with Rylan barely weighing him down. He plucked Croconaw's pokeball from the drawer and barreled through the crowd of Nightscare members blocking the exit.

"You, you!" I directed two of my subordinates. "Get him and bring him back alive!" They chased after him into the hallway. "The rest of you, pay attention!" I reactivated the torture sequence and let the fiery blaze rekindle behind the glass. I lifted Jared's pokeball belt from the drawer and shook it at my audience.

"This is the fate of your old leader, too weak to defeat me, too weak to lead any of you to true power!" I hurled the belt back into the drawer and slammed it shut. "Watch with me."

I saw their faces glow from the flames as we all watched Jared's pokeballs begin to melt. I found the control which released pokemon from their pokeballs inside the torture chamber and I pushed it. His Umbreon, his Houndoom, his Sneasel, Kingler, and two Murkrow appeared and immediately started screaming for their lives. I watched them burn to death, and then I watched my audience as they watched Jared's pokemon burn. Their expressions, for the most part, were no longer horrified. I saw admiration in them, supplication even, and I knew they were mine.

"My name is Damon!" I boomed over the cries of Jared's pokemon. "Nightscare is now under my control, and I will lead you all to your ultimate goals, to power you never thought possible but always felt should be yours!"

"Boss," Kyle stepped forward, walkie-talkie in hand. "They're calling for backup in Tetra Forest. They found Rylan and he's putting up a fight."

"Bring him back. Go." Kyle felt for his pokeball belt and rushed away, following my order without hesitation. The rest of them stood frozen and ready, awaiting my next order, and I couldn't wait to give it to them.