. o b r u m b r a t a .

Author's Note: (is beaten with sticks) waaaaaaaaah, I had exams! Lots of exams and driving lessons and – general badness.

Don't hate meeeeeeee!

Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo. I'm just...borrowing (yes, let's go with that) the characters and such to try and do the first Pokémon 3D RPG some justice.

Chapter 12 – Darkest Before Dawn

"Wes?" His eyes snapped to the young girl slumped sleepily against the doorframe and blinking at him through hooded eyes. Rumpled and with her hair sticking up in all sorts of directions, Rui looked utterly adorable. Not that Wes would ever admit it of course. She had made some attempt to dress, wearing a pair of cropped jeans she'd bought on the impromptu excursion last night, but the large pyjama shirt had remained. "'s really early, what're you doing up?" She slurred, shuffling to the armchair opposite and curling into it.

"Couldn't sleep." Umbreon gave a sigh, foot twitching as he dreamt. Rui stifled a yawn and her sleepy gaze fell on the bag of Pokéballs on the low coffee table.

"I wonder what Pokémon they had."

"I wonder if any of them are still tame." Blue eyes flicked up to the teen and it suddenly registered in her groggy mind he wasn't wearing a shirt. Her body temperature rocketed and she was glad that Wes was more interested in the fading night sky and his cigarette. She was by no means such a prude that topless men made her panic, but...this was Wes, this was...different. As in, she'd be outright lying if she said she didn't find him attractive. In the dim light she could see a pale scar that was under his right pectoral, reaching from an inch or two from his sternum and round to his back out of sight. Inwardly she flinched, having been told how he got it. There were another few over his arms and one short and thick running up from his collarbone to where his neck met shoulder. Riveting her stare back to the rucksack of Pokéballs, Rui willed for her cheeks to return to their usual temperature and colour. She just knew they were red.

Finishing the cigarette, Wes leaned forwards and opened the rucksack, tipping the balls out onto the table. Six in total.

Espeon's eyes opened as the first rays of sun light peeked over the horizon. Bayleef stirred too as it lit up his leaf. Stretching, the feline psychic sat up, looking between the Pokéballs and Wes. The teen gave a slight nod as though answering an unvoiced question. All the Pokéballs were generic red and white, though a few sported stickers. Umbreon gave a particularly loud snore and Bayleef frowned slightly at him as the dark type rolled against his side.

Picking up a ball with a sticker of a lightning bolt on it, Wes pressed the release button, Espeon tensed and ready to strike whatever emerged. The air turned heavy with static as a Flaaffy cowered away from them into the coffee table and with a frightened bleat shot towards the window. Purple haze encased it before it could throw itself to second-story freedom. The room exploded with sparks, Umbreon yelping and leaping up to cling to Bayleef, the grass type in turn squawked as the claws dug in and jumped to his feet, trying to throw off the dark type, Rui scrambling out of the chair as a vine smacked into the seat, Umbreon losing grip and flying off as Bayleef bucked. Wes and Espeon glanced at one another and returned their attention to the rapidly calming Flaaffy who seemed to be realising that she wasn't being harmed. Rui peeked over the back of the chair at Umbreon who was upside down on the cushion and looked as though he had no idea how he got there. Flaaffy gave a final little squeak and sat still, blinking between the two humans and three Pokémon. Makuhita 'kuu'-ed and rolled over, utterly oblivious.

"Aww...you're so cute!" Rui crouched and hugged the electric sheep who bleated pitifully and clung to the girl. Obviously it hadn't been a shadow Pokémon long.

The next Pokéball had a water symbol on it, the white light fading to reveal a Quagsire, staring blankly around in vague curiosity. With a sigh of 'Quaaaag' she shifted her attention to the redheaded human crouched close and with an equally curious look. "D'aww, you're cute too!" Wes resisted rolling his eyes, Rui found almost every living thing cute (she'd probably find a rock cute too). Like Flaaffy, Quagsire was returned without further ado and the Pokéball placed beside the previous one in a pile dubbed as 'safe'.

The next had no symbols and the air was filled with squawks and frantic fluttering before the light had even died down. Bayleef's vines shot out at the panicked Noctowl and Espeon's eyes glowed softly as the bird was restrained. Rui had jumped back from the scuffle and was rubbing her temples with a pained look. Without hesitation, Wes returned the flying type, guessing that its heart was far more closed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah...that Noctowl was pretty dark though, I don't think you can use him in battle for a while."

"Do you want to rest?"

"No, I want to see the next one." The light faded and Rui sneezed. And then Umbreon sneezed, louder and with more gusto. Espeon gave some sort of discreet 'choo' and Wes stifled the one tickling his nose. A Skiploom blinked at them, a slight haze over his back. That would have to be trained to be controlled; often when Hoppip's evolved too quickly, they couldn't control the pollen that Skiploom's possessed. It was easily curable with good training, but terribly sneeze-inducing in the mean time. Seeing Rui seemingly unaffected by the Pokémon (save for the incessant sneezing), Wes deemed the Skiploom 'safe' and returned him, putting him in the 'safe' pile.

The second-to-last was a Slugma who, while not as bad as the Noctowl, was still burning a hole through the floor and had to be swiftly returned.

The very last Pokéball was empty.

The two teens glanced at each other and then back to the empty capsule. And then Wes froze. Breath so cold it could have belonged to Articuno puffed against his neck and a terrible feeling of darkness crept over him. Rui gave a groan and clutched her head. Ice began to crawl up the window panes and Espeon's fur was standing on end.

'Dude...' Umbreon's red eyes were transfixed on something behind him.

'SIR! MOVE!' And he did, quickly as a psybeam blasted over his shoulder. There was a screech of pain and he turned to look for its source only to see a cloud of black disappearing through the ceiling. 'Great', he thought, 'a ghost shadow Pokémon.' Rui whimpered softly, forehead pressed to the floor with Bayleef shifting restlessly beside her, wanting to help but not knowing how.

"Bayleef, stay here with Makuhita and look after Rui," Wes began as he walked into the bedroom, returning a minute later pulling a plain black t-shirt over his head. "Espeon, Umbreon, we're going ghost hunting."

Umbreon was leading the chase, darting along the halls with his nose high. Up two stories and he stopped abruptly outside a door, whining and pacing. Espeon forced the mechanism open silently and the three crept inside. The chill hit his bare arms first and he moved into the bedroom, following the cold. A soft sighing like wind against cliffs filled the air and Umbreon growled. Hovering over the bed of a small child cuddling a Ralts was a huge black cloud, encasing what Wes could just make out as a Misdreavus. He swore inwardly, motioning to Espeon to attack as the ghost moved closer to the child, face drawing level, mouth opening – it was going to eat him. Before Wes could even think of an order, a sudden blast of psychic energy passed them and swept through the cloud, dispersing it in a single sweep, the Misdreavus glaring wide eyed at them as it escaped through the far wall. The three turned sharply to find a tall imposing Gallade, red eyes fierce in the gloom, blocking the doorway. The lights flicked on and a sleepy looking man peered round the doorframe, eyes shooting open when he spotted Wes. The child was sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes, the little Ralts doing the same. Gallade moved silently past them to the Ralts and the human child. A Gardevoir appeared at the doorway closely followed by a human woman who both swept in and fussed over the children.

"Er..." Wes stopped. How exactly was he supposed to explain why he was in someone else's room very early in the morning with two Pokémon? The man opened his mouth to speak, a frown creasing his young brow. The man didn't manage to utter a single syllable however before his wife had swept between him and the teen.

"So it was you who has those strange Pokémon."

"You know about them too?" She nodded, gesturing to the Gallade and Gardevoir.

"They feel emotions very well, those strange Pokémon have even stranger emotional auras that they can pick up on. That's why Reido woke up so fast and attacked without hesitation." Her eyes rested on Wes, still feeling awkward at being caught. "You brought them here; perhaps you can explain what they are." The ex-snagger fought against making a flippant remark and heading for the door simply because the Gallade looked very strong. As in, may just be able to beat both the brothers together. And then some.

He'd kind of always wanted one too.

With a heavy sigh, Wes scratched his cheek and wondered where to begin and what to edit. They didn't exactly have time to waste. "Oh...I see." The woman said softly to the Gardevoir, and Wes was lost for a moment until he noticed both Espeon and the Gardevoir's eyes glowing in the dim light of the room. "Take Reido with you, and hurry before it attacks another!" The teen needed no further prompting and was following Umbreon at a sprint down the hall again as the dark type caught the ghost's scent. The Gallade kept up with ease, the door ahead that Umbreon was heading to flew open and the two red eyed Pokémon darted through.

A thick fog engulfed the room, black and cold and heavy. It smelt of death. A barrier gave off a high 'shing' as it defended his right side from a dark pulse of energy and an unearthly wail shot past him as the Misdreavus took a hit from one of the team.

"Umbreon – down!" The smoke was rapidly clearing as the ghost escaped through the floor, the floorboards swallowed by thick black shadow as the dark type sunk through the middle. The two psychics and the human followed without pause.

The flux was cold and pressed in from all sides, Wes feeling a moment of creeping fear and sudden blinding heat when it seemed to take too long to drop through the floor and then his boots hit the carpet hard and he crouched to absorb the impact, gritting his teeth against the pain that lanced through his thigh from the healing bullet wound, Umbreon's sharp bark alerting him to the swooping ghost type that Espeon dove straight through.

The Gallade caught it mid-drop with a savage psychic-infused punch, the ghost losing its intangibility as it thudded to the floor. "Don't let it get up!" Umbreon latched on with a bite, pulling the struggling ghost to the ground as Espeon made a direct hit with a psybeam. And then the air shifted and the Gallade dropped into a defensive position, watching the shadow Pokémon silently as it threw Umbreon off with a scream and began to radiate immense waves of power, a terrible dark power that turned the air thin and inspired the deepest dread. "Fight together, cover each other's backs. Its attacks are packing a punch now. Espeon, calm mind." The brothers nodded and the Gallade's ruby eyes flicked back at the teen briefly. The psychic closed his eyes, focusing. A screech and the Misdreavus lunged, Umbreon leaping first. "Flash!" The rings on Umbreon's body shone white for an instant, flooding the room as though it were midday - the Misdreavus squealing as it was caught unaware, reeling back as Espeon followed his brother's attack, "confusion!" The Misdreavus was halted from lashing out blindly as its mind suddenly exploded in colours and it lost which way was up.

Reido's eyes narrowed sharply, slit pupils dilating, white feet silent on the floor as he charged to deliver the final blow, red and white meeting red and yellow as the blade from his elbow glowed a bloody scarlet and black. "Muramasa!" The ruby eyes glinted, the blade brought down with an almighty surge of strength, cracking the floor in several places, blasting the vase on the table by the couch off to the wood, the welcome leaflet and breakfast menu on the coffee table along with numerous other bits of paper flying into the air as the dark clouds and dust settled. Reido rose to his feet, the Misdreavus utterly and completely defeated, eyes closed and body entirely solid. Wes returned it to the Pokéball without a word – creeeeea-CRACK! The Gallade grabbed his collar and wrenched him backwards as the floor gave way and crashed to the room below. Wes was glad so many rooms were empty and that they weren't staying long. It looked expensive to repair. Nodding thanks to the tall Pokémon, the teen edged round the hole and lead the three Pokémon back to Reido's trainers in silence, allowing them to catch their breath. The tanned boy glanced down at the Pokéball in his hand. He sighed inwardly, just knowing that Misdreavus was neither the last nor the most powerful one that was going to give him trouble.

The woman, who Wes still didn't know the name of, was waiting in the open doorway, looking up with a smile the moment they turned the corner into the hall.

"Good, you're still in one piece. Naiita told me that the evil aura became much stronger and I was worried. It seems it was for nothing." Reido turned to Wes and to the teen's surprise gave a polite bow. Unable to help himself, the sandy haired boy smirked and bowed in return. The woman smiled even brighter. "You must have been a very impressive leader. Here," She took a pen and piece of paper from the telephone stand just inside the doorway and scribbled a number, handing it to him. "If ever you need help, don't hesitate." Glancing at the paper, Wes noticed her name.

"Thanks Emily." She laughed lightly.

"You're welcome, Wes." Eyeing the psychic inside the room, being greeted by the Gardevoir with foreheads pressed together and closed eyes, the teen turned to leave.

'Sir, I can sense that Rui is faring better now.' Umbreon yawned and pawed at Wes' leg, the ex-snagger scooping the dark type up with ease and following the lavender brother back to their room. '...Sir?'

"Hmm?"

'...Never mind.'

'I'm listening.' The psychic was silent for a long time until they were outside their room.

'I hesitate to believe it evil...but that sheer intensity and might that it gives me...it is unholy, Sir.' Wes bit back a chuckle. What in Orre was holy anymore? What in Orre could possibly be called pure?

Gold eyes fell on Rui who was now fully dressed and sitting in one of the chairs with a glass of water clutched tightly in one hand and massaging her temples with the other. The Pokéball gave a dull 'clack' on the table as Wes set it down, hands in pockets as he watched the redhead frown at it.

"You ok?"

"Yeah..." She replied absently, looking up with a tired smile. Dawn had finally broken and the sun was lazily rising into the sky, casting the room in a gold glow. Given the chance, he wouldn't mind going back to sleep after all. Umbreon was set down in the chair opposite the sleepy girl.

"We should set out for Pyrite soon, get there early for a full day 'exploring'," Rui nodded, leaning forward and gingerly putting Misdreavus' Pokéball in the knapsack with the rest.

"Hey Wes," She called after him as he wondered into the bedroom to pack up any remaining stuff.

"Yeah?"

"We're going to the colosseum today, aren't we?"

"Planning to." He appeared in the doorway again, a second knapsack over his shoulder. "Why?"

"Just wondering..." he frowned a little but said nothing. The girl was acting off. "Wes," gold eyes looked back at her patiently, "Please don't use Misdreavus for a while."

"I have no intention to. Not unless I get a Gallade." The redhead blinked in confusion. Umbreon took it upon his sleepy self to try and explain. Which was of course utterly lost as Espeon didn't allow the link and told her himself in much more sensible terms. Umbreon's version contained a lot of 'PWOOSH!' and 'FWOOM!' and random evil cackles as Misdreavus' voice which Espeon curtly blocked.

Bayleef laughed at the psychic's aloof expression as the dark brother rolled off the chair and yipped what could be translated as an 'oi!'. Makuhita was still asleep.

Author's Note: I haven't been in Pokédom for aaages, has anything brilliant and amazing and fun happened? Anything at all? (Is anyone still out there? D': )

Muramasa, like Flux, is a dark type move I made up because Night Slash just doesn't have enough of a 'WOW' effect. The legend of Muramasa swords is that they must draw blood before being sheathed again, to the point where the wielder may even have to cut themselves or commit suicide to do it. So, kind of a Hi-Jump-Kick move with more 'ooh', I guess... :d

Gallade was included because he absolutely rocks my socks (and Reido and Naiita are from a doujin/comic I was working on months ago when I got a Gallade of Diamond), so look out for other fourth (fifth? Sixth? O.o) gen monsters lurking. There will be a Luxray. Because they're also made of awesome.