A New World, A Darkened Path

by GoldenCyclone4


Prologue: Earth Side

???

POV: ???

Darkness. Shadows everywhere. They surround me, choking me. I can't see anything.

Where am I? Who am I? I guess it doesn't matter. The shadows are everywhere. I can't feel anything. I can barely think...

I'm fading... away...


Orre Region

Cipher Stronghold

POV: Tyler

"You monster!" I yelled as I watched Ruby slump. "What did you do to her?!"

My former friend merely laughed. "Oh nothing much," he replied. "Just our newest experiment: Liquid Shadow Energy."

Amy ran up to me. "How could you, Marduk! We were friends!" She shouted at him. I couldn't believe it. He had fooled all of us. All along, we had thought Cipher had kidnapped him. It's why we had hunted down their base. But when we reached the top, he surprised us by revealing he had orchestrated the whole thing. And now Ruby, my sweet Lucario, was pumped full of Shadow Energy.

"That's it, Marduk. You're so dead! Roxas, use Night Slash!" My twin sister Emily called, leaping into the fray. Roxas, her Gallade, followed close behind, ready to defend his friends.

"Not so fast. Staraptor, Aerial Ace." A Shadow Staraptor swooped in and delivered a tough blow to Roxas, knocking him away. Marduk laughed again. "Now, to see what your precious Ruby can do. Lucario, arise." At his word, I saw Ruby start to rse. With my Aura Sense, I could practically see the darkness radiating from her. But I also saw a small spot of light. She wasn't completely gone! I could still save her!

"Camo, Stormer!" I called out to my Greninja and Noivern, "cover me! I'm going to try and get Ruby back!"

"Bro, are you insane?!" Emily shouted, "You'll get yourself killed!"

"I have to do this. For Ruby." That was my only response before I charged towards my Pokemon.


???

POV: ???

The shadows are whispering to me. Telling me to stop struggling. Maybe they're right. If someone was coming to save me, wouldn't they be here by now...

"...by..."

Was that... A voice? Is someone trying to talk to me?

"Ruby..." Ruby? Was that my name? I can't remember...

"...Ruby. Can... hear me?" I hear the voice again... It seems familiar... But suddenly the shadows swell, and I feel myself releasing energy towards the voice. Did I hurt him?

"Ruby... Can you hear... It's me... Your best..." My best what? The shadows swell, and more energy is released, but when they fall, I struggle against them to hear the voice fully.

"Ruby, please! It's me, Tyler!" Tyler? That name... And suddenly, I remember. Tyler. My trainer. The boy who never saw me as weak or scrawny. The boy who I... Who I care deeply for. I feel it all rushing back to me, and I felt myself able to finally push past the shadows.

"Tyler! I hear you!"


Orre Region

Cipher Stronghold

POV: Tyler

Marduk forced Ruby to slam me with Aura Spheres. But through every attack, I kept getting up and trying to reach her. "Ruby, please! It's me, Tyler!"

This time, she visibly stiffened. I could see her struggling. Then something happened that was music to my ears. "Tyler! I hear you!" She called out.

"What?" Marduk asked incredulously. "How is that possible?"

I ignored him and kept talking to Ruby. "Ruby! You broke through!"

She seemed a bit hopeful at that. "I know, but I'm struggling. The shadows are too strong! I can't fight them for long..." I could tell her grip was slipping. As my teammates covered me, I rushed towards her.

"Ruby, hold on! Fight it!" I tried to encourage her.

"I'm... trying..." She was nearly gone. "It's... too strong..."

I gripped her paw in my hand. "Then use my strength to fight it." I poured some of my own Aura into her body, giving her extra strength. As it happened, I could see her get stronger, and a glow appeared around her body. And then, the darkness just... left. It retreated from her body. We were both relieved.

"Thanks... Tyler..." Ruby whispered to me, before she passed out. A quick check showed she was just tired.

"Willow," I called to Amy's Pidgeot, "take Ruby and get out of here!" Willow nodded and flew over. I loaded Ruby on to her back and she flew off.

"I can't believe this!" Marduk yelled. "How did you Purify her?"

"I guess you didn't count on the strength of our bond overwriting your Shadow Energy!" I replied. I surveyed the battlefield. Stormer and Camo looked pretty worn out after facing so many Shadow Pokemon, both here and on the way up. They probably wouldn't last another fight. "Stormer, Camo, return!" I called, returning them to their balls. Another look showed Amy and Emily's teams were pretty beat up as well. Emily had her full team out, but they all looked tired. Kina the Samurott and Blitz the Typhlosion fought back to back. Her Ditto, NoName, had transformed into a copy of her Metagross Aegis, and they both fought hard. Meanwhile, her Swellow, Sky, gave aerial cover as Roxas charged through the ranks of the Shadow Pokemon. Amy's team wasn't fairing much better. Iroh the Charizard and Hazel the Lopunny were surrounded. Saurus, her Venasaur, was trying to reach them alongside her Espeon Sydney. Her Sawsbuck, Eliwood, fought alongside my Delphox, Fabia, as well as Knight the Aegislash and Serenade the Gardevoir. But they all looked worn out. We couldn't survive much longer.

Marduk knew this. "It matters not. You shall soon fall!" And then the wall exploded.


Orre Region

Cipher Stronghold

About 5 Minutes Ago

POV: Michael

As we smashed through the Cipher ranks, I could only pray we wouldn't arrive too late. It had taken longer than expected to track down the help I now had with me. I ran my hand through my orange hair and turned to my recent comrades. I still had a hard time believing these two were here! "You guys ready?"

"Sure," Wes replied. His silver hair was in its usual spikes, even with all the explosions along the way. "But let's not take the door. They'd expect that."

"Yeah," Rui agreed, her orange pigtails having come a bit undone. "We should probably make an alternate entrance."

I looked over to the wall we had reached. "Hey Rui, have Dawn scan the wall here, see if it leads where we want." Rui called out her Espeon to do just that. Dawn scanned the wall with his Psychic, then nodded to us. "Well," I said, turning to Wes, "care to give us an alternate entrance?"

"No problem," he replied. "Striker," he addressed his Salamence, "Outrage!" And with that, he smashed the wall down.


Orre Region

Cipher Stronghold

POV: Tyler

As the dust cleared, I saw an amazing sight. The one who had broken the wall was a Salamence, and his trainer was none other than the one who had brought Cipher down originally: Wes. By his side was a Tyranitar, the aforementioned Salamence, and an Umbreon. Alongside him stood the girl who could see Shadow Pokemon: Rui. She had an Espeon, a Roserade, and a Milotic. Finally, the one who had to have brought them here: our friend Michael. By his side were Sylvia, Glacia, Leafia, Jolt, Flare, and Vapor, his aptly named Eeveloutions. It was Michael who spoke up first. "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Michael!" I called back. "Thank Arceus you're here! And I see you brought friends!"

"Yeah," he replied, reaching my side. Wes and Rui were close behind. "Thought we'd need help!"

I turned to Wes and Rui. "It's an honor to meet you two." These two were my idols growing up.

"I'd love to meet a fan," Wes commented dryly, "but we've got a fight to win!"

"Right," Michael replied. "Everyone, I've got a new development from HQ." He pulled out a handful of CPU chips. "These will convert your Snag Balls to Purify Balls that purify upon capture." He tossed one to each of us, and put one in his own Snag Machine.

I inserted the chip and felt a power surge though the machine on my left arm. "Alright everyone!" I called, generating a Purify Ball, "Let's even the odds!" What followed was a storm of Purify Balls flying everywhere and snagging the Shadow Pokemon. It's lucky we always stock up before a mission, because I tossed nearly my entire inventory of Poke Balls.

When we had finally snagged all of them, Marduk stood alone. "What?!" He said incredulously. "No matter. I'll just leave-"

"Yeah, no!" I called, before knocking him out with an Aura Sphere. I turned to my comrades. "Shall we?"


Orre Region

Pokemon HQ Lab

POV: Tyler

I woke to the sound of my alarm. As I got up and slowly started getting ready, my mind thought back to what had happened last night after Marduk had gotten hauled off to jail.

"What do you mean, 'She isn't fully Purified?'" I asked, angry at the news.

"I mean that she still has Shadow Energy inside her," my mom replied.

"But didn't he Purify her at the Stronghold?" Emily asked, confused.

"And I can't sense any Shadow in her Aura," I continued.

"This Shadow Energy is unlike any seen before," Michael said as he walked into the Lab Room. "The Energy is there, just... Hiding."

"So, what? Just put her in the Purifying Machine?" Rui asked.

"Too risky," Amy replied, walking in as well. "Ruby isn't fully Purified, but she isn't fully a Shadow Pokemon, either. We don't know how the Machine would affect her. It could possibly critically injure her, or worse."

"What about the Agate Shrine?" I asked, hopeful.

Those hopes were instantly dashed. "Sorry, bro," Emily said quietly. "Marduk was a step ahead. As we went off to fight him, a few Cipher grunts snuck past the Gatekeepers and trashed the shrine. It could be days before it's repaired."

"Seriously? Wes, do you still have the Time Flute?" I was getting desperate.

"Sorry, Tyler," he replied, "It was single-use, and I used it awhile back."

"So... Ruby's stuck like this?" I asked, looking down on the still-asleep Lucario.

"For the time being, unfortunately," my mom said.

I can't believe she's in this state... And t othink, after this mission, I was planning on telling her my feelings... The last few months had been complicated. I unfortunately was attracted to three different girls. Amy, the fiery redhead who I've known since childhood. Ruby, the sweet Lucario who was used to being treated like crap just because she was smaller as a Riolu. And Serenade, my very first Pokemon, who I've known nearly as long as Amy.

My thoughts were interrupted as my door opened and Serenade poked her head in. "Tyler, Ruby's waking up!" she said through her psychic link with me.

"Really? All right! I gotta go see her!" I thanked Serenade and quickly headed down to the Lab.

As I entered, I looked around and saw Ruby hopping off the bed she had occupied the previous night. She turned and finally noticed me. "Tyler!"

"Ruby! I'm so glad you're okay!" I ran over and hugged her. Luckily, she keeps her chest spike dull, or I may have been feeling a bit skewered...

"Tyler, thank you for helping me," she cried, tears in her eyes. "Without you, Marduk would still have me."

"Ruby," I started, a bit worried, "Has anyone told you about-"

"About the Shadow Energy?" She interrupted. "Yeah, Amy told me when I woke up. She said that if I keep calm and upbeat, it shouldn't affect me."

"Alright... I'm just glad you're safe." I thought for a second, but decided to tell her. "Listen, Ruby? Could I talk with you later? It's kinda important."

"Of course, Tyler," she replied. "I'm going to go train."

A couple of hours later, I found Ruby outside, meditating. "Hey Ruby. You feeling okay?" As I approached, I noticed she was shaking. "Ruby?"

I heard her mutter something, but I couldn't decern what. "Ruby, come on, it's me."

"G-get away..." I could finally hear. "Get... away, Tyler."

"What? Ruby, you're starting to scare me."

"Please," she said desperately, "Run, Tyler. I feel the darkness. I can't hold it back much longer. I don't want to hurt you..."

"We can fight it together, like last time!" I told her, trying to get closer.

"No, please!" She cried. "Run! My hold... is slipping!" Right as I reached her, a wave of darkness blasted me back. As I got up, I looked at Ruby, and saw her in a feral stance, looking angry.

"Ruby?" I asked cautiously. She turned to me and growled. "Oh, crap..."


Orre Region

Pokemon HQ Lab

POV: Amy

Emily and I were having some coffee in the mess hall when an explosion came from outside. "The hell was that?" I asked, startled.

"I don't know, but we'd better check it out." Emily grabbed her Poke Balls and headed for the door, with me close behind. The sight that greeted us was Tyler getting hit by a darkened Aura Sphere.

"Tyler, what's happening?" I asked, running towards him.

"Ruby... the Shadow Energy in her is acting up..." He said, pushing himself off the ground. "I've gotta help her."

"It'd be simpler if you knock her out, you know," I reminded him. "But I know you can't bring yourself to harm her, so it looks like it's up to us." I grabbed a Poke Ball from my belt. "Go, Hazel!" I sent out my Lopunny.

"Lo, Lopunny!" Hazel called as she took the field.

"Hazel, we need to knock out Ruby so we can help her. But that Shadow Energy has given her a strength boost. We need all the power we can get. You ready?" Hazel nodded to me. "Alright." I turned to the Key Stone in my Snag Machine. "Beyond Evolution, Mega Evolve!" A bright light shined, and as it cleared, Hazel had Mega Evolved. Her new dual-typing would boost her Fighting moves, giving me a needed advantage. "Hazel, use High Jump Kick!"

Hazel ran towards Ruby, and then lept into a flying kick. It hit Ruby dead on, doing a large amount of damage. Ruby replied in turn with a Shadow Aura Sphere. "Hazel, Protect!" A shining barrier appeared, blocking the Aura Sphere. "Let's end this quickly with Mach Punch!" Hazel's fist started glowing as she ran forward again, delivering a critical blow. It was certainly enough, as Ruby fell to the ground, KOd.

"Ruby!" Tyler called, running towards her prone form. He seemed to use his Aura Sight, and then sighed in relief. "She's okay. The Shadow Energy is retreating."

Suddenly, I felt rather tired. The others seemed to be feeling it too. The last thing I heard before I passed out was a voice saying, "Rest now, my children, for when you awake, a whole new world will be your home."