After many weeks and months of waiting, finally, here is Chapter 2 of A Darkening Past!

This is the chapter where things start to get interesting. Chapter 3 should be very fun to write, as a lot of things happen in a short amount of time.

Also, a huge thank you to everyone who has been patient with me writing this, and I'm sorry to have taken so long. I kept getting distracted with school, writer's block, and my other artwork in general. But don't worry, I'm starting on Ch.3 as we speak!

I don't really have much else to say here, but I do hope you take the time to read Ch.2 thoroughly, as I did take a lot of time to write it, and I am rather proud of it.

Anyways, enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment!

Pokemon does not belong to me even if I wish it did.

A Darkening Past

Chapter 2

Silence. Nothing but darkness surrounded me in this weightless void. I tried moving around to see if I could spot anything, but I could see nothing through the thick black fog.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I called out into the darkness. "Raven? Jonny? Anybody?"

"They cannot hear you, Wraith, you are in the depths of your sub consciousness."

A voice cut through the gloom, in sudden contrast to the complete silence from a moment before. I looked around for the source, but the voice seemed to echo through all corners of my dark confinement, making it impossible to tell where it was coming from.

"Who's there?" I asked. "Who are you?"

"Me? I once knew you, Wraith, a long time ago… do you remember?"

"Huh…?" I muttered. "I… don't think so?" This is really weird, I thought.

"Hmm… that's too bad." The voice paused again before continuing. "Despite what you may or may not remember, however, you were once my only companion. I have been trying to contact you for years, Wraith, but my mind has so far been unable to reach yours."

Telepathy? That was probably it… whoever was talking to me was doing so by means of telepathic communication, which I can do if I need to talk without actually speaking. Only legendary Pokemon and psychic-types are said to be able to do this, however. "So…" I started. "Why are you talking to me again?"

"I need-" the voice began, but before it could finish its sentence, a sudden pulsation in the darkness cut it off, and my mind was swallowed up by the dark void, my senses slowly going numb before I succumbed to my body's need for a deep sleep…

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that it was daylight already, and several beams of sunlight shone in from the cracks in the Old Chateau's ceiling. Sitting up in my nest, I yawned and stretched, feeling more rested than I have been in weeks, despite my odd dream. What was that about, anyway? I wondered to myself. Oh well… no sense worrying about it.

Flying down from my nest, I saw Raven and Jonny already eating their breakfast at the foot of the tree. Our diet consists of the berries we find growing throughout the forest, such as Oran, Pecha, and Cheri berries, but Raven can be sneaky enough to raid campsites of traveling trainers and steal some human food. Honestly, though, I'd rather stick to eating berries. Human food… just thinking about it disgusts me.

"Hey guys!" I greeted my friends as I landed next to them.

Jonny looked up from the Pecha berry he was nibbling on. "Oh, you're awake! Did you sleep well?"

I shrugged. "Good enough, at least… I woke up in the night because some humans were in the house."

"Humans?" Raven said, cocking her head. "What were they doing here?"

"Be damned if I know… one of them just came in, stole a random book from the library, and left." I paused. "Even when I think about it, it makes no sense… why steal a book?"

"Maybe… they wanted to read?" Jonny suggested before attacking his Pecha berry again. I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway," Raven interrupted. "You were going to explain why you were gone for so long, remember? What did you do during the past week?"

Oh, right… I nearly forgot to talk about that. "Well, the usual… I traveled to Veilstone City again to check Team Galactic's activity around their headquarters, and thankfully, it seemed pretty quiet. I stayed there for a day, trying to pick up any other suspicious activity, but it looks like Team Galactic are staying in their HQ a lot these days. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, I dunno… but there's no way I'm going into their headquarters again. Last time, I nearly got caught."

"Last time?" Jonny asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, last year, I think. I was stupid and decided to go see how much ruckus I could stir up in the HQ… Unfortunately, at my past skill level, I nearly got knocked out, and I very narrowly escaped."

Raven nodded. "Yes, I remember you telling us about that. But you were right; challenging Team Galactic by yourself was rather stupid of you."

"After that," I continued, ignoring Raven's statement, "I checked around the other Galactic bases they have set up in all the other cities. I would have gotten back earlier, but I think some Galactic grunts spotted me near Pastoria City, and they had me cornered for a few days. I had to hide out in the marsh until they left the area, then I returned here."

"So… nothing about your mother?" Jonny asked quietly.

I sighed. "Nope… unfortunately not." I've tried desperately to gather news on Gardevoir, but so far, I've come up with nothing. It's really depressing, since it's kind of my fault she got captured in the first place.

We sat in silence for a few minutes as we ate our breakfast, which for me consisted of two Oran berries and an Aspear berry. I like Aspears, for some reason. Maybe it's because I like sour and bitter flavors, but oh well. I think they're tasty.

After we finished eating, Raven flew up to her nest to preen her wings, and I was ready to go back to my nest as well, but Jonny approached me, looking rather nervous.

"Yes?" I asked him. "What is it?"

"Well, um…" he muttered, shuffling his feet. "I know you're depressed about still not finding your mom, Wraith, but can you please try to cheer up? I don't like it when you're sad, because when you're sad, Raven gets depressed, then I get depressed, then you stop talking to us, and Raven gets moody and hurts my feelings, then you go off somewhere, and Raven leaves, and then I'm left all alone and sad, so really, what I'm kinda trying to say is-"

"Okay, okay!" I laughed. "Geez, you really can't let me be sad for long, can you? I'll try to be more optimistic, I promise! Just stop ranting at me!"

"Yay, Wraith's happy again!" Jonny exclaimed, happily dancing around in a circle before loosing his balance and falling onto his face.

I giggled, "Stop doing that, you idiot! Did your mother drop you on your head when you were an egg?"

Jonny rolled over onto his back, looking at me upside-down with a quizzical expression. "No, I don't think so… why?"

"Never mind."

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"Tell meeeee!"

"No! Stop whining!"

"I'm not whining!"

"O-KAY! Stop arguing like an old married couple, you two!" Raven cawed as she soared down from her nest. "Besides, I just remembered- we need to go berry picking again to replenish out stock, we're nearly out of food."

"Berry picking?" I asked. "Didn't we just do that before I left? Usually our stock lasts for nearly a month."

Raven sighed. "Yes, but with you gone, Jonny kept raiding the larder and used up most of the berries before you came back."

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Jonny, you pig… maybe you should've been born a Munchlax instead of a Chikorita- you sure have the eating habits of one…"

"Hey! So what, I like to eat- is that such a crime?" Jonny retorted.

"Well, it iis/i a crime when you eat up all my food when I'm gone!"

Raven groaned, shaking her head. "Hey!" she crowed. "In case you've realized, by the time you've finished bickering, we could have already started picking…"

I grinned. "Heh, sorry, Raven… but hey, at least berry picking should be fun!

"Berry picking STINKS," I whined after an hour of wandering around Eterna Forest with Jonny and Raven. "I'm tired, and my wings hurt…"

"Oh, stop complaining," Raven said. "You're the one who said it would be fun. Plus, other Pokemon eat berries too, so it's not our fault most of our berry trees are bare.

I sighed. "Yeah, I know… but all of the trees we've seen so far are completely bare, except for the berries we found lying on the ground. Do we have to do this now? Why not wait until the berries grow back?"

"Well, if you want to eat for the next few weeks, yes, we should start picking now," Jonny said.

Raven shot me an apologetic look. "Sorry, but Jonny's right. We should get this done now… unless you want to go back to the house. I realize you're tired from your trip, and if you do want to go back, I won't have any problem with it."

"Nah, don't worry about me," I said, pausing in midair to stretch my stiff arms. "I'm just complaining because I can."

Jonny snorted, smirking. "Nice."

"Hey, what about this?" Raven asked, perking up. "How about we split up from here and go off on our own to berry pick, and then we meet back at the house after we're done? That way, we cover more ground, and more berries can be picked in less time." She glared at me again. "That also might get her to stop complaining and shut her mouth, for a change."

Hm, it did sound like a good idea, at least. That, and I think my complaining is starting to get on Raven's nerves. "Sounds like a plan," I said. "And sorry about complaining so much, it's kinda in my nature to complain about everything," I grinned sheepishly.

Raven rolled her eyes. "So I've gathered."

"I guess I'll take the northwest corner of the forest," Jonny said. "That's closest to where we are now, and I can't fly like you two, so I won't be able to cover as much ground."

"Okay, then I'll look over the southern part," Raven cawed. "I know that part of the forest best, after all."

"Why do I always get stuck with the section closest to the city?" I whined, and receiving matching glares from my two companions in return. "Hey, complaining for the sake of complaining here…"

"We noticed," Jonny and Raven groaned in unison.

I grinned and stuck my tongue out. "Oh well, I guess I'll catch up with you guys later at the house," I said as I fluttered my wings and sped off to the eastern section of Eterna Forest. I don't mind the eastern forest, don't get me wrong, just the fact that it was so close to the big city makes me a bit uneasy.

The sweet smell of ripe berries wafted toward me as I flew, and I dove down beneath the foliage to see a small Pecha berry tree growing near the edge of a small stream. Yes, finally, some berries, I thought as I picked the four berries that were on the tree, grasping them in my arms before flying off again.

I was too absorbed in looking for more berry trees that I didn't even notice there was another presence in the area, so I just flew through the forest, going about my business, until-

WHAM!

I flew headlong into somebody, causing them to shout in surprise and promptly fall over, and my carefully picked Pecha berries flew into the air and landed scattered on the forest floor. Tumbling to the ground, I shook myself off, holding onto my now painfully throbbing head.

"Damn it, I'm so clumsy…" I muttered to myself. "Hey, sorry about that, I'm-" I started to apologize before I realized I collided with the same teenage boy who raided the mansion last night.

Shit, I thought, cursing under my breath as I dove into the nearest bush. Peering out from under the vegetation, I examined the boy, taking in his appearance.

He was quite lanky and tall, from my knowledge of teenage human. He has rather short, messy black hair, tan skin, and was wearing a black and red shirt. His faded blue pants were covered in gashes and dirt, as were his… shoes, I think they are called. I also noticed that the book he stole from the house yesterday was lying behind him- he must have dropped it when I unintentionally tackled him.

Rubbing his forehead, the boy mumbled to himself before opening his eyes and glancing around. Fearing detection, I shrunk back into my bush.

"Hello?" the boy called out. "Is anyone there?" I heard him get up off the forest floor and pause to listen- for me, probably. "If you can hear me and I ran into you, I'm sorry- I wasn't looking where I was going, and being lost doesn't help…"

He doesn't seem dangerous, at least… I thought. I can feel his presence, but it isn't a dangerous presence like when Team Galactic are in the area… Thinking my situation over for a minute, I came to a reasonable conclusion. Well, I should at least listen to what he has to say. If he tries anything funny, though, I'll attack. No doubt about that.

"Are you there?" the boy continued as I moved closer to him, sticking my head out of the bush. He had his back to me and was pacing around nervously. Buzzing my wings, I flew up until I was level with his head, staring at him for a few seconds as I gathered my senses.

I took a deep breath, letting out a small sigh before speaking. "Hey," I said, trying to get his attention.

He spun around all of a sudden, staring at me with his ice-blue eyes. "What the- what? A… Celebi?" he stammered. "Why is it- wait… you look familiar…"

"That's because I- damn, I forgot," I started. "You can't understand what I'm saying, can you?"

The boy's brow furrowed, continuing to stare at me. "Weren't you the… thing that attacked me last night? In the Old Chateau?"

Heh, at least he can put two and two together… I thought, nodding. Maybe he can explain why he took that book, as well. To indicate I wanted him to explain, I pointed at the stolen book he was now holding in his arms.

He looked down. "Oh, the book?" Yeah… I'm sorry about that- yesterday, me and this small group of guys I hang out with decided to go to the Old Chateau and they dared me to go inside and steal something… I wasn't really happy about it, and I'm sorry- I can't even understand the book anyway, it's written in Unown, or something- but it does look cool, even if it does smell weird, and-"

I rolled my eyes. My god, this guy is worse than Jonny, I thought, exasperated.

"-and I did spend some time trying to decipher it this morning, but I've had no luck, and…" he trailed off, making eye contact with me again in time to realize I was glaring fixedly at him. "Do you want it back?"

I groaned, smacking my forehead with my hand. "Yes, I would like it back, what are you, retarded? You stole it, for Arceus' sake!"

"I'll… take that as a yes," the boy said, setting the book down beneath me. I flew higher as he stooped down, watching him intently for any sudden moves, but he fortunately made none.

I sighed. This would be a lot easier if he could actually understand me- wait, I paused. If I talk to him telepathically, he should be able to comprehend what I'm saying… Oh well, it's worth a shot.

The boy stood up again, shuffling his feet. "Again, I'm really sorry for stealing it, and I know you're probably mad at me, but-"

'You could have just not taken the book in the first place, you know,' I said telepathically, speaking my words directly into his mind.

"Yeah, I know, but… hey," he stopped, staring at me. "Did you just talk?!"

I snickered. 'Telepathy. It's an amazing thing, although you probably haven't heard of it.'

"Oh, I've heard about telepathy," The boy said, perking up. "Some Pokemon I know of are able to do it, but I've never actually met one who could… wow, this is exciting," he paused. "Oh, and my name is Danny, by the way. I live in Eterna City."

Danny… so that's this kid's name. Never heard of him, so I guess it would be okay to ask… 'Okay, Danny… but one question. Are you familiar with the group Team Galactic?'

"Team Galactic? Well yeah, who hasn't heard of them?" Danny said matter-of-factly. "My father works for them, actually… he's the one who sent me to Eterna to live with my mother after he got a promotion. I hate Team Galactic, though… I never get to see my father because of them, and my two brothers disappeared shortly after coming to Eterna… and I think they went to join the Team as well. It's really depressing, though, that something as stupid as a high-dollar organization can tear a family apart like that…"

I was shocked. Every human I had seen so far was supportive of Team Galactic… but this kid… wasn't. Of course, he could be lying. But they way he spoke, I honestly doubted that. 'Wow… so I'm guessing it's safe to assume that you aren't a part of Team Galactic, then?'

Danny looked at me with a repulsed look on his face. "What, and walk around all day in a gray hazmat suit and blue wig, catching Pokemon just because my bosses told me to? No thank you, I'll stay out of that…" he paused for a second, looking at me. "Are you okay?"

For I had just sensed another presence in the area… and a very strong one, at that. Oh no, I thought. Not now… Glancing around, I saw nothing, but the presence was overwhelmingly familiar- it was the same feeling I got whenever Team Galactic was in the area.

"Hey, I said, are you okay?" Danny said, raising his voice slightly. "Hellooo?"

'Shut up!' I said, waving my arms. 'Don't say anything, I think there's-'

I was cut off, though, by a rustling noise in back of me, and Danny shouted something I couldn't hear and trying to turn around, but tripping and falling over again. The next thing I knew, something sharp exploded in my back, sending waves of pain throughout my body. I tried to scream, but the pain was too much, and I sunk to the forest floor, trying desperately to stay awake.

No…! What is this… can't… I thought weakly before my vision was consumed by darkness.

I awoke some time later, my body stiff and sore. I coughed weakly, thankfully not tasting blood. Pulling myself into a sitting position, the first thing I noticed is that I was in a cage. A small, square cage of metal bars surrounded me, and was situated on the floor of what looked like another cage.

"Where am I?" I wondered aloud. Glancing down, I saw my medallion still attached to my ankle. Good, at least whoever captured me didn't take it. Looking out the bars of my cage, I noticed Danny was sitting next to me, looking rather nervous.

'Danny?' I asked him telepathically, trying to get his attention.

He glanced down. "Oh, hey… you're awake," he said, a worried look adorning his face. "I think… I think we're in Eterna City. In the Galactic base there…"

"What?!" I shouted, forgetting about my telepathy. "In the base?! How could- oh right, I was shot with something… right?" When Danny looked confused, I realized my mistake. 'Sorry… but I was shot with something back in the forest, wasn't I? By Team Galactic?'

Danny nodded grimly. "Yup. I was trying to get your attention, but I tripped, and when I looked again, you were on the ground with a tranquilizer dart sticking out of your back. I don't remember much after that except waking up here, so I guess they did the same to me."

'Don't worry, I'll get us out of here,' I said, standing up in my cage. I took a deep breath and tried to concentrate my powers for an Energy Ball attack, but my energy suddenly dropped, and I fell dizzily to the floor of my cage.

"You okay? What happened?" Danny asked, kneeling down by my cage.

I sat up, rubbing my head. 'I dunno… I tried to use an attack, but I got really dizzy all of a sudden. It's strange…'

"Heh, your attacks won't work now, Celebi," a sudden voice barked from outside our cells.

Danny jumped, and I looked up to see a Team Galactic recruit standing just outside the metal bars of Danny's cage. "That collar you have on? It prevents you from using any of your attacks to break free. In other words, you're both stuck here."

Collar? I thought, putting my hands to my neck, Sure enough, I felt a band of metal encasing my neck, pulsing with a slight energy. I pulled at it with an attempt to break it, but it stayed on tight. "Damn…" I said under my breath.

I heard Danny get up and run to the edge of his cage, violently rattling the bars with his hands. "Why did you capture us?!" he yelled. "Why me? What do you want with us, you filthy Galactic scum?!"

"You are acquainted with that Celebi, are you not?" the Galactic member said, not phased at all by Danny's shouting. "We tracked it from Pastoria City, and you just happened to be in our way. Cyrus is on his way here to pick it up, and by then, you'll just be disposable. We can't have you running off to tell the authorities, now can we?" Laughing at Danny's dumbfounded expression, he walked off, his laughter echoing off the metal walls of our enclosure.

Danny slumped to the floor of the cage, looking at me in a silent question for help. I sighed, doing the same, my medallion clinking metallically against the metal bars.

Now what?

Hope you liked it! If you read it, please leave your feedback in a comment!

WraithPhantom73