The first rays of light broke through the morning fog. To May, the fog looked like one big glass window. You could see through the thin blanket of fog with the new dawn light, and May was looking for frozen flowers on the ground. Drew rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed by her actions, but he decided to look for frozen flowers also. Moonfur sighed in response.

"We're not getting anywhere," she told them.

"But we've been walking forever!" May complained.

Moonfur rolled her eyes. "No, we have only been walking for three hours straight," she corrected.

May ignored her and flopped down on the ground. "I'm not moving until I rest!"

Drew sat down beside her, trying to find a comfortable way to lie down. Unfortunately, with his back still aching that was almost impossible. After awhile, Drew decided to roll over onto his stomach. "I agree with her."

Moonfur sighed. "You're too stubborn!" Without another word she turned her back to them. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area; it was much different then before. There were no cliffs that they could fall off of, no shadow creatures, no nothing. Maybe this was the perfect place to rest. But she didn't want to rest! She wanted to get out of here. Something didn't feel right.

"No rest time! Get up, now!" Moonfur heard a growl from her right. "Get up, or die."

Drew jumped to his feet, unaware of the danger that lurked behind a big rock. He pulled May to her feet, and turned to face Moonfur. "When did you become so evil?"

Moonfur shook her head slowly. "It's not me, it's-" she was cut off by a loud cracking noise. The air was getting very thick and hot, making it hard to breath.

Drew gasped for breath, and choked in the process. "What's going on?"

Moonfur coughed three times, trying to find her voice. She looked up at him with wide eyes, and then she calmed down. "It's only a sunny day attack."

Drew nodded, and looked around for May. She wasn't anywhere. Weird, Drew thought, where is she? He felt something tug on his leg, so he looked at the ground; May was curled around his leg, shaking.

"What's wrong?"

"I… can't handle it," she whispered.

Moonfur gave her a blank stare. Then she began to understand what May meant. "Then maybe you should be something that can take the heat."

Drew and May stared at her. "Like what?" he asked.

"How about a charmander?" Without waiting for an answer she began to howl. The pink rings on her body started glowing a light lavender color. May stared glowing too. A flash of bright light consumed the area, and May screamed.

Drew raised his eyebrow. "What's going on?"

Moonfur glared at him. She couldn't talk and howl at the same time! The light began to dim, and everyone looked at the tiny form on the ground.

Drew was the first to break the silence. "May?"

The charmander nodded, uncertain of her ability to speak. Moonfur nudged the new fire type, urging her to try and say something. May was too shocked to speak. She looked at her orange paws in amazement. Her tail swayed in the wind, and her bandana was neatly tied around her neck. Moonfur frowned and looked at Drew.

Drew gave her a look and spoke to the little lizard. "May, try to say something."

She looked at him for a long time, and finally shook her head. Moving her stubby legs as fast as she could, May ran over to him, hugging his leg.

"Come on, May, just say one word."

She shook her head again, and bounced around on the ground. Moonfur looked at Drew. "What do you think she's saying?"

Drew shook his head in confusion. "I have no idea."

May tried to clear her thought, only to shoot fire at Moonfur and Drew. Thinking quickly, Moonfur pushed Drew out of the way, and May ran to him. She pulled him to his feet, and put her hands over her head. "May, I'm disappointed in you," Drew said.

May looked at the ground.

"You're just like everyone else! You all think I'm gonna be just like my father… am I being selfish?"

May coughed the times before trying to answer. "For what?" She managed to ask.

Drew looked surprised, but continued talking anyways. "Am I selfish for wanting you here, with me?"

"No," she said hoarsely.

"Stop talking," Drew ordered coldly.

May stopped abruptly, and ran behind Moonfur. "You're so nice, Drew," Moonfur teased.

"Shhhhhh!" Drew listened to the silence that fell over the group. He was starting to wish they had never left Storm behind… but the little turtle was too afraid to continue, so they left him behind, to return to his lake. I hope he's happy, Drew thought.

(Flashback)

"Are you sure about this?" Drew asked.

Storm looked up at him with wide, scared eyes. "Y-yes. I sorry."

May bent down to pat the squirtle on the head. "It's alright if you are scared and miss your home… I know how you feel."

Drew looked at her for a brief moment, then turned back to Storm. "Friends forever?"

Storm smiled. "Yes! We is friends, forever and ever!"

"We'll miss you," May said.

"I miss you too," Storm replied.

Drew and May shook hands with the tiny turtle Pokemon. "May we meet again," Drew whispered.

"Bye!"

Storm waved to the traveling teens, and turned back toward the lake. It was far in the distance and he knew it was going to be a long walk home. "I wish I had wings," he said, sighing.

(End of Flashback)

A noise from behind frightened him. It was a sound that was oddly familiar, and yet… it was a little different. Where had he heard this sound before, and why was it so familiar? He beckoned May over with his hand, but she wouldn't come. Instead of looking at him, she was looking past him. Drew stared at her for a minute, confused. What was she looking at? With a sudden foreboding feeling, Drew looked behind him. His eyes grew wide as he looked at the familiar creature standing on a near by rock.

"An Absol," he breathed.

But this Absol was no ordinary Absol. It was 4 times the normal size of these destructive creatures. Drew called May, but she didn't come. Her eyes glowed with curiosity, and she stumbled toward the Absol. She had never seen anything so huge, and even though she was scared she ran over to it. Drew jumped on top of her, stopping her from going any closer to the beast.

"May, are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Maybe. But who is gonna kill me, you or the Absol?" She answered, glaring at him.

Drew gave her a hurt look, but she turned her head away from him, refusing to forgive him. Shaking his head to clear it, Drew got off her and stepped back. May shook herself, annoyed that he had almost crushed her. Suddenly her eyes began to fail her. She strained them to see the Absol, but its fur blended in with the light from the sun. Her breathing became slower, and she fell to the ground.

Drew ran to her side, holding the tiny lizard in his arms. Drew was too busy to notice the huge gash across the Absol's chest. Blood poured out of his wound, but it didn't seem to affect him. Moonfur narrowed her eyes as she began to understand what happened. "Drew!" she called.

Drew wasn't paying attention. He was trying to wake May up by shaking her. Moonfur tried again. "Drew!"

Drew turned his head to look at her, and she noticed something different about him… it was hard to name, but something was defiantly not right about the boy. "Yes, what's wrong?"

"Drew, it used Destiny Bond," she explained. Destiny bond: a move that links the attackers fate with its prey. If the attacker was killed during the battle, its prey would die too. Drew looked stunned.

"C-can an absol even learn Destiny Bond?"

"No," Moonfur said, sighing. "But this one obviously can."

"I, Apocalypse, leader of the Absol tribe, will destroy you," he said, raising his head proudly.

Drew gave him a look. "Absol tribe?"

Apocalypse narrowed his eyes. "You've never heard of the Absol tribe?" When Drew shook his head he continued, "Then… you shall die."

Without warning, Apocalypse lunged at them. Moonfur pushed Drew, who was still holding May, aside, and dug into the ground. He narrowly missed her head, and she countered by preparing for a shadow ball attack. The dark purple ball gathered energy from its surroundings. Moonfur smirked and released her attack a moment later. Apocalypse knocked the attack right back at her with a swipe of his razor sharp claws. Moonfur responded by launching another shadow ball to intercept the first one. They collided shooting a huge wave of dust into the air. Moonfur growled from inside the dust, "Drew, get out of here!"

Drew nodded and realized that she couldn't see it. "Okay," he called, trying to stand up.

Moonfur sighed in frustration; the dust was making it hard to breathe. "Take May with you!"

Drew frowned. "You thought I'd leave her here?"

A loud growl erupted from inside the cloud of dust. "Just go," she ordered.

Drew ran past the dust cloud and toward a huge forest. "I don't remember that being there."

Apocalypse jumped out of the dust, angry that the human was escaping. "Follow them," he ordered. An Absol appeared from behind a rock. He was smaller then Apocalypse but he was engulfed in some kind of dark aura. The Absol nodded to Apocalypse and ran after Drew.

"What was that dark aura?" Moonfur wondered.

"You'll see," he said.

Moonfur tried to ignore the foreboding feeling she got whenever she thought about that aura. What on earth was it?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Absol caught up to Drew with no problems at all. The black aura was enhancing his speed. He passed Drew a couple times because of how fast he was going. He really needed to get that boy, but how? Then he got an idea. "Shadow eclipse!" He shouted, jumping into the air.

Darkness began to consume the sun and everything in its path. Shadows crept up to the trees and some source of light, blocking them out completely. Every second it grew darker and darker, until the sun was completely out of sight. It looked like you were standing on a shadow in the middle of nowhere. You couldn't even see your hand in front of your face.

Drew stopped. The darkness was thickening, and he felt like it was impossible to breath. His head was spinning and his mind was racing. What was going on? I've never seen anything this dark before, he thought, looking around at the thick blanket of darkness that lay upon ever inch of the earth. Suddenly claws sunk into his back, drawing blood and knocking him over. He turned around to see an almost invisible Absol; its fur blended in so well with the ever-growing darkness that surrounded them.

"Who are you?" He asked the Absol.

"They call me Stalker, can't you tell? I do the boss' dirty work, like following people and killing them," he replied.

Drew nodded but said nothing. Is this guy out of his mind? He asked himself, unaware of the growls that came from all around him.

Stalker paid no attention to Drew. Instead he pulled May out of Drew's arms and jumped away from the boy, growling.

It took Drew's brain a minute to realize what had happened. But once he did he knew that Stalker would be dead soon. "Hey, give her back!" He shouted, releasing his Absol.

"Oh, so you wanna play?" Stalker said, tossing May aside. "Then I'll play. Prepare to die, boy!" With nothing more to say, Stalker lunged at them. Drew just stood there with his Absol, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.