The area around Lyonell seemed to flow back into real time as he made up his mind. As the attacks launched across the open space of grass, the boy dashed out from behind the tree. For a split second, he reconsidered the action he had taken, but his mind was determined as he now stood in front of the four defenseless baby Pokemon.
Noah only watched as his trainer jumped out in front of the attack, yet as brief as it was, he couldn’t just stand by. The oversized Eevee jumped out of the bush he hid behind as well, firing off a rather large Shadow Ball which collided with the Energy Ball the Nuzleaf sent at them. Both attacks blew up on contact, however that didn’t stop all of the spinning leaves that were directed straight at Lyonell.
He felt the rush of wind first from the canceled out moves before a moment later, an infinite cluster of leaves began to slice at his body, cutting through all of his clothes like they were butter. The flurry of sharp leaves continued for less than five seconds before the wind stopped. Lyonell felt exhausted, however he never stopped standing as he stared at the Nuzleaf from afar. His friend looked up to him, concern and annoyance evident on his face as Lyonell glanced at the Eevee and back to their attackers. “Why did you attack them? They didn’t do anything to you!”
As expected though, Lyonell didn’t receive a response. The trio of Pokemon across from him remained silent, and after a few moments they straightened their backs before quickly running off into the forest. Noah was about to take off after them, but Lyonell placed his hand on the Eevee’s back, running his hand across comfortingly. “It’ll be fine, they’re gone now, and we saved these little guys from harm.”
The Eevee didn’t seem too sure that everything would be alright, in fact, something in his very being was telling him that soon, their world would be flipped upside-down. Acting on this feeling, Noah attempted to tell his human friend his concerns, though as one would expect, Lyonell couldn’t portray the exact meaning of his friend’s words, and oddly enough, didn’t see his concern.
Lyonell smiled one last time at Noah before standing and looking up at the sky. The sun was almost to it’s peak height, indicating it was now midday. That was when they began to notice that the area around them started to grow a bit darker, and the light from the sun was beginning to fade behind a veil of darkness. “What’s going on, Noah?” The boy asked his Eevee to which Noah simply shook his head, as if saying “I don’t know.” It seemed like someone had just flipped the switch to the sun, turning it off.
That was when they heard it, a voice which would haunt their days to come. “Darkness shall rule this land, and those who continue to follow the light will perish.” Everyone seemed to shudder in unison to the threat that came from the bodiless voice and scanned the area, trying to find the source.
“Everyone, follow me, we need to get out of here.” Lyonell told Noah, as well as the small Pokemon still beside him. None of them argued or gave any protest as they were all scared of the voice that spoke without a body, and the area around them which was growing darker by the second. Moving quickly, the group of Pokemon led by Lyonell headed in the direction that he hoped was Petalburg City. Noah followed behind the group, watching for any danger as they went on.
Every step they took crunched leaves and snapped twigs, all of which seemed to echo in the darkness that held the forest. The baby Pokemon were scared, staying close to one another in hopes that they would soon reach safety, but time crawled on ever so slowly, their hope beginning to fade. Lyonell wasn’t an exception as the young man was beginning to have his doubts that he’d ever make it back.
As all hope seemed to be lost, he heard a growl behind him which made the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight. Noah and the other Pokemon were the first to face the growl, with Lyonell being next to turn to see the source of what had startled him. Standing in a frightening battle stance with fangs bared and claws unsheathed, a Mightyena was behind them.
The Pokemon at his feet, with the exception of Noah, all cowered in fear behind Lyonell. Noah stood tall and growled at the Mightyena. Scared or not, this Eevee was going to protect the ones behind him, or at least that’s what he intended to do, had the Mightyena not acted first. Lyonell predicted the move before Noah could, but could only watch as the dark type drew in a large breath of air. He released a massive roar at the Eevee, creating wind. It was strong. So strong that Noah was blown away by the wind, and moments later the Eevee turned into red energy as it shot back towards Lyonell’s belt returning to his Pokeball.
Lyonell didn’t wait until Noah was fully returned to take action. Pichu jumped on to his shoulder, and he quickly picked up Azurill and Togepi, holding them in his arms as he ran from their foe. Sadly, due to Munchlax’s size, Lyonell couldn’t pick him up so he ran beside the heavier Pokemon, staying just behind him in case the Mightyena caught up to them. Together they ran as fast as they could for what seemed like eternity until Lyonell was forced to skid to a halt.
Stretched out in front of him was a river that ran as black as the air that he breathed. For a moment, he forgot his pursuer as he stood stunned, studying the water’s surface as it rushed to his left. “Was the water black from reflection? Or was the water itself black?” Lyonell thought to himself before he felt a sensation that he had felt only minutes prior.
Time seemed to be at a standstill, there was a choice to be made, however he couldn’t even figure out what his choices were. Lyonell’s mind was in a panic and couldn’t think straight. He knew the Mightyena wasn’t far behind him. Did the boy even have time to make a choice?
A mere moment later he was returned to his senses as pair of canine fangs sunk into his arm. Lyonell yelled out in pain as he took his elbow and jabbed the Mightyena in the head, making it backreel from the blow. Without a moment’s hesitation, Lyonell bent down and shoved the Munchlax beside him into the water before jumping into the rushing river himself.
Immediately Lyonell’s vision was filled with darkness as the raging river swept them along quickly through the current. Many times Lyonell was pulled under water, he couldn’t breathe, and his consciousness was fading fast. Finally, he couldn’t hold on any longer. His vision quickly faded to black and he slipped into unconsciousness.
