Chapter 1 1/2: Introducing Federation White

PS: I apologize for any spell/grammer errors in advance, for soem reason spell check isn't working on MCW, so I can't tell if I have any errors, and I don't have time since i only got 25 mins to post in the morning. So no nags if there is, I always do these FFs at night so I'm always tired to pay attention.

"Momma?"

"What is it sweety?"

"Why can't I ever play with the other kids?" The small boy asked, watching how the other kids were enjoying playing with one another.

"Your not like them sweety. You're...special." The mother replied in a sarene tone, stroking her son's head soothingly.

"But I wanna play too." The Boy whined. "And why do we live so far away from everyone else?"

"It's because were different sweety. You can't trust people who you see, you have to know them. But sometimes, they-" The mother froze from speaking as the little boy looked up at her confused.

"They what mommy?" The boy asked. It took her a few seconds before she snapped out of her trance-like state, smiling down as she picked her boy up.

"Oh, nothing sweety. C'mon, let's go home."

"Mmmhmm..." Riolu moaned a bit as he regained concious. He squinted a bit as he slowly opened his eyes a bit. He blinked a few times before he at up, rubbing his eyes again. To his surprise, not only was his chest re-bandaged, the paws of his arms were too, and he felt a soreness in his head as he rubbed it. What happened to me? He asked himself, struggling to remember. It was a bit hard for him to remember, partly because his head was hurting at the moment, but after a few seconds it all came back to him.

"No, wh- Look out!" He yelled as he pushed Chikorita out of the way, just in time as he was grabbed by the Primeape and shoved against a tree, being held off his feet as he was grabbed by the neck. As Chikorita struggled to get up, still weakened from the erlier injuries, she gasped at the sight of strange dark energy flying around the Primeape like lightning. Whats more, the "lightning" began resonating more and more as it looked like it could burst at any moment.

"S-S-Self De-Destruction!" Primeape roared as it began to glow like a voltorb when it uses self destruct. Chikorita was helpless to do anything in time before the blast went off, consuming the Primeape himself and Riolu in the large explosion.

"Rioluuuu!" Chikarita cried out. There was nothing but smoke and ash as soon as the explosion ended. She coughed a bit as she felt her lungs fill with a bit of the smoke and dust, still a bit weak from the earlier beating. Her eyes teared up, a bit from the fact a friend was just blown at point blank, but mostly from the dust that scattered through the air. As the smoke began to dissipate, she could've sworn she made out a large figure out in the smoke. When mroe of it dissipated, she discovered it was true, there was a large figure out in the smoke, but she couldn't tell what. After a few more seconds the smoke finally disappeared enough to make the figure visable, also noticing it was holding Riolu in it's left arm.
"Lucario!" She screeched in relief, glad to see their Federation's Trainer just in time. Like all other emembers, he too had a white sash, but it was more in the shape of a scarf that went around his neck, like Chikorita's.

"Sorry I'm late. The Commander said you might have needed assistance, but I thought you would've still been on the first floor. Forgive me for being absent." He apologized, bowing in a respectful-like manner. Chikorita just smiled.

"No, it's ok. I'm just glad you got here when you did. You saved Riolu!" She said happily, before wincing a bit in pain, dropping on one of her legs.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he walked over to her. Chikorita just smiled as she nodded.

"I'm fine, mostly just brusing but it should be ok." Lucario took a closer look at the formentioned inury, noticing it was a bit mroe than just bruised up. But it should be fine till they got back, which was planned to be verily soon. He took a glance around the clearing, noticing the explosion impact, then turned back to Chikorita.

"What exactly happened here?"

"Hey Zack!" A familiar voice called, snapping him out of his thoughts. As he turned to the door, he smiled a bit as he saw Oshawott again.

"Oh, hey Oshawott. Something wrong?" He asked.

"Don't know, but commander wants everyone on the were just waiting for you to wake up." Oshawott replied.

"Oh, sorry." Riolu apologized, rubbing the back of his head. H quickly pulled the covers off as he jumped off the bed, but winced a bit as his body felt more sore than it did before, something Oshawott took notice too.

"Hey, you ok?" Oshawott asked, helping him back up to his feet.

"Yeah, I should be fine." Riolu said, looking out the window of the hospital room, noticing it was dark out. "Wow, didn't think I was out for so long." Riolu commented.

"Don't worry. We just started the meeting an hour ago. We were going over today's status." Oshawott added as the two of them walked out of the room.

"So anyway, what is a Federation?" Riolu asked as they walked down.

"It's basically what side we're on. There's a Black Federation and a White Federation. Ever since this war started, we've been fighting against each other for a long time." Oshawott replied. Riolu looked at him with a confused look.

"Why are you guys at war to begin with?" He asked confused. Oshawott just smiled.

"You'll find out soon." He said as he looked on ahead. As Riolu did, he figured out what he meant as he saw the same strange symbols in front of the large door, knowing it lead to the bridge again. As it opened, he grew a bit surprised as he saw alot more pokemon than he did before, including Trecko, Chikorita, Raichu, and the Commander himself, Darkrai. He was a bit nervous though as he saw all eyes on him, still a bit uneasy being surrounded by unfamiliar people, esspecially those who considered him an intruder still.

"Ah, Riolu. Nice to see you with us again." Darkrai commented as he turned to the teams. "I do believe proper introductions are in order. Teams?" Darkrai gestured, wanting everyone to introduce themselves. RRiolu looked as a Hydregion stepped, or in this case flew, forward first.

"Greetings."

"Greetings."

"Greetings." All three heads said at the same time.

"I am Hydreigon, leader of Team Omega."

"I am Hydreigon, leader of Team Omega."

"I am Hydreigon, leader of Team Omega."

"And the quickest one here to annoy someone just by talking." A Tall, somewhat Jungle green, dragon-looking pokemon commented as it stepped forth. "My name's Haxorous, nice to meet you." He added before turning to the other pokemon left of Hydreigon. "And that' Druddigon. He doesn't talk much, to anyone for that matter, but don't worry. He's a nice guy."

"Hmpppphhhh..." The Druddigon growled a bit, growing a sense of uneasiness in Zack.

"Like I said, don't worry much about it. We're Team Omega, and the strongest team Federation White has." Haxorous added. Hitmonchan just scoffed as he stepped forward.

"The strongest "all-dragon" team if that's what you mean." He commented before looking back at Riolu. "If your looking for a real power house group, Team Brawler is here. We handle all the muscle work and various job missions. I doubt introductions are neccesary." He added, knowing they had all been "introduced" earlier.

"So your the leader then?" Riolu commented, seeing how Hitmonchan always spoke for the team. He was a bit surprised as Hitmonchan shook his head.

"No, despite being qualified to be," Hitmonchan added with a sense of pride, "we already have a leader. He's currently S.O.D. right now though." Hitmonchan commented. Riolu gawked his head confusedly.

"S.O.D.?" He repeated confused.

"He means "Sleeping On Duty"." Hitmonlee answered.

"Oh."

"But as such, even without the boss, we are the strongest team around." Hitmonchan commented, smirking at Haxorous who gave off a small glare as he lowered his eyes.

"Moving onto more, interesting, team, I'm Rotom, leader of Team Rogue. The small jelly looking one next to me is Ditto." Rotom introduced, gesturing next to him. Unlike a regular one, this was a shining Ditto as it was blue. As Riolu walked up to it for a better look, he blinked in surprsie as the Ditto began glowing, shaping itself until it was in the form of Riolu himself, grinning.

"Woah, that's cool!" Zack commented a bit, noticing how he had all of his own features, except the obvious bandages.

"And this is-" Rotom paused as if expecting to see someone, but realized that someone was missing. "Hey, where's-"

"Ahhh! Put me down!" Riolu suddenly yelped, catching everyone's surprise. He was suddenly levitating a good ten feet in the air. Darkrai gave off an annoyed sigh as he already knew what was going on, as did everyone else.

"Jellicent, will you please stop tramautizing everyone everytime we get a new recruit!" Dakrai stated. Zack just blinked to himself in confusion.

"Jellicent?" He questioned. He suddenly looked in surprise as he saw a giant headed pink colored jellyfish looking back at him, holding it in his arms like a child (then again he already is, but you get what I mean).

"Ooohh but he's SOOO cute though!" She squealed, squeezing, and suffocating, him in a big tight hug. Unlike most living things that turn red if you squeeze tightly, Riolu was turning purple, seeing how his blood was mixing with his blue colored fur.

"Ah c'mon Jellicent, just put him down." Ditto commented, reverting back to his origional form.

"Oohh phooey." She commented, letting go as commanded, although a little too much to the word as she litterally dropped him from ten feet in the air. Everyone closed their eyes as he landed on the ground with a loud thud, moaning a bit in pain as he struggled to get up. "Whoops..." She muttered, feeling a bit guilty as she helped him back up. "Sorry." She apologized, getting him on his feet.

"You'll have to excuse Jellicent. She can be clumsy at times but she means well." Darkrai mentioned.

"Eitherway, she makes a good spy, which is Team Rogue's specialty. We work in fields of spying, covert operations, and stealth missions." Rotom explained.

"And lastly is Team Diver." Darkrai introduced, showing Trecko and Oshawott who were already standing next to Darkrai. "I'm sure you've already been introduced." Riolu just smiled as he nodded.

"Yeah, we know each other. So what missions do you guys do?" Riolu asked curiously.

"Oh, we're not a "mission" team." Oshawott began. "We're more on the lines of gathering resources and stuff like you did yesterday." Oshawott began to frown as he looked away a bit. "At least, we were until Charmellion disappeared yesterday." He said upsettingly. Riolu gave off an inaudible "oh", feeling bad for the two pokemon.

"Now with introductions are out of the way, I do believe we have some things to explain." Darkrai commented, grabbing the Riolu's attention with sudden interest.

"Yeah. For starters, what's going on around here?" Darkrai turned around as he walked over to a control console.

"Glad you asked." He said as he pressed a button. Everyone else looked up as the lights began to dim and the two large eye-like windows lowered down until it was completely pitch black in the room, except for a small amount of light coming from the electrical ghost Rotom. Riolu was a bit freaked out at the total blackness of the room, unable to see anything around except exteremely thin outlines of peoples shadows. Everyone continued to wait a few seconds, expecting to see something else happen, but grew a bit confused as it continued to remain pitch black without any change.

"Where's the hologram projector button?" Darkrai asked aloud, unable to find it within the pure blackness. Everyone felt their sweat drop at the comment, feeling a bit embarassed that their supposed leader would make an oblivious choice to make the entire room dark without knowing what button to look for. Everyone looked as Rotom moved towards the console, lighting up the area. "Ah, thank you Rotom." Darkrai said as he clicked the button he was looking for. Although they couldn't see what was creating the hologram, they could see a small light in the center of the room which quickly began to grow until it was at least twenty foot tall and wide. Everyone looked back as Darkrai moved over to it.

"Five years ago, there was a calamity that was befalling the planet." He began. As the others watched, the hologram began to show the planet of the pokemon world they lived in. Upon closer inspection, they also saw a meteor in the projection, the size of the holow gram itself being a rock, heading straight towards it. "A metteor of massive size and wieght was heading towards the planet, one of such size and wieght that it could've possibly destroyed the entire planet. But, to our lcuk, two pokemon went upon the clouds themselves and managed to convince Rayquaza to destroy the meteor." Although the projection didn't show the pokemon, it did show a large beam heading out of a cloud until it collided with the meteor, destroying it upon impact, shattering the meteor to bits as it spread across the land. "At first, we thought this would be the end of our problems. But as it turned out, it was only the beginning." Darkrai commented as he tapped the hologram. To Zack's surprise, the hologram quickly phased as the landscape of the planet changed as well.

"Three years later, a Darkrai, much like myself, tampered with Temporal Tower, a tower with the abilitty to, if destroyed, freeze the very fabric of time itself." As he said this, everyone noticed how the world began to slow down until it came to a complete stop, then began to grow darker until the planet itself was grey. "This event would've covered the world in darkness. Ther would be no wind, no light, no anything. It would've been a desolate wasteland. But again, thanks to the assistance of two pokemon, not only was Temporal Tower restored, the Darkrai was defeated, and managed to restore peace once more."

"Until now, right?" Riolu commented, knowing that it definitely WASN'T peaceful around here. Darkrai simply chuckled a bit before he nodded.

"That is correct." He replied as he touched the hologram again. This time, the greyness began to fade as the sight of land came back. But to Riolu's shock, the bottom half of the pokemon world appeared to be nothing but ravaged, charred land, all of which appeared to be burning with fire.

"W-Wh-What's-!" Zack was to shocked to even say anything.

"This is the world now. Nothing but charred, destroyed land. Or at least the majority of it." He added, bringing his attention to the top part of the world which was still intact. "This part right here, this is where we are. Right now, this is only 1/5 of the pokemon world left inhabitable." He stated, a comment which made Riolu's heart freeze temporaily in shock. "Over the course of the last two years, the planet has been ravaged by an unexplained fire, and storms have ravaged across the landscape as well, tearing the ground asunder. Much of the land itself has been destroyed, and everyone disappeared from the land." Drakrai commented. Zack gave a silent gulp at this, a bit worried for the ones who were in the charred land.

"Y-You mean they-" Darkrai just shook his head as he knew what the Riolu was thinking, to his relief.

"No, I mean what I said. They actually disappeared." Darkrai replied, scratching his chin with his finger. "It's strange. There aren't any clues, any info left over to those who disappear. They just completely vanish." He added.

"Since the flames began to grow, those who stand today spend time constantly on the move to the northern pole. Seeing how the situation began in the south, everyone's continued to head North. But it's beginning to make everyone weary, some of which to the point they've become enraged." Haxorous spoke out, catching the group's attention. "As far as we can tell, the spread has stopped, most likely for a few days tops. But eventually it will start again, like before, and it'll consume about five more percent of the planet." He mentioned.

"At this rate, within a month, the entire planet will be consumed!"

"At this rate, within a month, the entire planet will be consumed!"

"At this rate, within a month, the entire planet will be consumed!" The Hydreigon said, causing Hitmonchan to growl in annoyance.

"Do you have to repeat everything you say three times?" He yelled irritated.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes." He replied. Hitmonchan just grumbled more as he squeezed his hand tighter.

"SHUT UP!" He commanded.

"Ok."

"Ok."

"Ok."

"GAAAAHH!" He growled, trying to claw at the Hydreigon. Fortunately, for everyone's sake, he was being held back by Hitmonlee and Hitmontop, though, it was obvious they were still struggling. Everyone watched for a few seconds as this continued until Riolu looked back at Darkrai.

"So, what do these federation things have to do with this?" Riolu asked. Everyone paused as they looked back at Darkrai, watching as he turned off the hologram and brought light back into the room.

"It relates to the Meteor incident five years earlier. At first, we thought nothing of the meteor bits. There were even reports of Deoxis being found in one of the remains. But..." Darkrai paused as he looked out the window, noticing how another shooting star seemed to go through the sky. "Apparently, we were wrong. These meteors contained a strange substance in them. When exposed to, these strange substances release a rage within pokemon. It also increases their power three times. But the rage is so intense people lose almost all memory of their life, only seeking destruction." Darkrai commented. Zack's eyes widened in shock as he remembered this from earlier...

"Rrrrraaaaaakkkkkkk!" The strange Primape growled. "Everything must burn!"

"Fortunately, only very few pokemon have come into contact wtih this. Luckier still, fewer are even suseptible to the strange substance it gives off. But even then, something else is at play here."

"What do you mean?" Riolu asked confused.

"The Darkrai incident a few years ago. At first we thought he was working solo, planning to rule over an entire world of darkness. But as fate would have it, we were wrong. Someone, or something, else was playing beghind the scenes that day. Unseen, unnoticed, it played everything according to plan...or at least, it did until two pokemon put a stop to Darkrai's plans. But unfortunately, the true mastermind has yet to remain seen."

"How do you guys know there's someone else involved?" Riolu asked, curiously. He noticed as the others looked at each other a bit uneasily, before looking back at Darkrai as he turned around.

"Whoever it is, they're the leader of Federation Black." He stated bluntly, causing Riolu to look at him in a state of pure shock. "We don't know much about this "Leader" of their's, but we do know that they're the ones commanding their every action."

"We don't have a choice but to fight 'em." Oshawott commented, crossing his arms. "Ever since they were founded, they've been terrorizing all the other pokemon, hoarding all the resources for themselves and stuff." Riolu looked at his own two feet for a moment, pondering something else on his mind, then looked back at Darkrai.

"Umm I know it may be uncalleed for to ask, but why don't we just attack them?" Riolu asked. He loooked back as he heard Hitmonchan chuckle.

"As much as I like the thought kid, there's no use. They have the advantage in number, and strength." He commented.

"While they may have been harassing pokemon, others have begun to support them in hopes of survival." Haxorous added.

"If we attacked now, we'd be fighting not only the Black Federation, we'd be fighting a war against all who support them. Chaos would ensue if that occured!" Rotom stated as well.

"Even as such a case, our cause is still a small one. We don't have the resources or same amount of support to fight them. Which brings us to our Conquests." Darkrai commented, showing everyone a strange badge. It was in the shape of a flame, but colored in white. Only a small amount on the inside of the flame was acutally red. "To avoid unnecesary conflict, we came to an agreement on using these badges as a type of contests, you could say." Darkrai began, bringing up a computer screen in the front.

"The Conquests are mainly suppose to be a more peaceful tradition, and was an agreement made by the two teams. Conquests can work in three different ways, in a type of contest-like fasion. First of which is a Mission race."

"Those are my favorite." Oshawott commented with a grin.

"We recieve our missions from towns people in need. Whosever is agreed to be the most important, we race to see who can accomplish it first. Our second way is having a Team Battle. Each side picks a Team on their Federation to battle another one. Like it sounds, the winning team gets the other's badge. And the last way i-" Darkrai paused for a moment as he looked away, which everyone else took closer notice to.

"Say, what is the third way?" Hitmontop asked curiously.

"To be honest, you never told us the third way since we started working." Jellicent commented. Everyone continued to stare at Darkrai for a few seconds, expecting to hear something about the third way, but nothing came as he responded.

"Nevermind, there's no need to go through it. It's just another errand run type of thing." He thought up quickly. Everyone still looked at him in a bit of confusion, finding it a bit hard to believe his quick excuse. Riolu took another glance at the badge Darkrai held, noticing how the small flame inside it looked as if it was real fire. Snapping out of his trance, he looked back towards Darkrai with another question on his mind.

"But why are the Conquest badges so important?" He asked.

"They're more than just a point system. We use them as region currency." He answered, only for Riolu to grow more confused.

"What's "Region Currency"?"

"Remember what he said about getting support from others?" Trecko asked, to which the Riolu nodded. "We use the conquest badges as currency to buy regions. Having regional support help us get funding and other resources for everyone."

"But what makes them so special?" Riolu asked, looking at the stone as Darkrai handed it to him. "They just look like ordinary stones to me."

"They're not just used as currency though. They provide energy for some stuff we use." Hitmonlee replied, kicking the floor of the ship lightly. "We have a huge one in the reactor room right now. It's powering this whole ship." Riolu's eyes widened in surprise at this statement.

"You have this thing powering the whole ship?" He stammered in surprise. "Could I see it?" Everyone looked back as they heard Darkrai chuckle.

"I'm sorry Riolu, but the Engine Room is off Limits to all non-federation members." Darkrai replied, before turning his attention to everyone within the room. "It's late tonight. Everyone return to your cabins," He commanded before turning to Oshawott who had already started walking with the others, "except for you Oshawott."

"Hm?" He mumbled, confused. Darkrai looked back, watching a bit until he was sure that everyone else except him and Riolu left the room. He wanted to make sure that it was absolutely empty in the room so he could chat with the two in privacy. He turned to the two once he was positive it was clear.

"Good. Now that we're alone, I need to talk with you two." He stated as he looked straight at Riolu, growing a bit of uneasiness as he saw the dark pokemon hovering and looking directly at him in the eyes. "Riolu, or Zack, as you were previously called, I must know; are you a human?" Darkrai asked straight. He didn't have a sense of calmness or sterness in his tone, two features that made Riolu nervous. The other part that made him nervous was why he wanted to know if he was a human to begin with. Still, seeing how he was talking directly to the commander, he didn't wanna hide anything, especially considering he still didn't know anything about the world he lived in, even after what he was told.

"Y-Yes." He answered nervously. He gulped a bit as he saw the Darkrai lowering his eyes, unable to tell if he was trying to get a better look at him or was just glaring at him. But, to his relief, the Darkrai just blinked before turning around, moving over towards the window as he looked outside.

"Then you are dismissed. Wait outside in the hall for Oshawott. But do me a favor. Keep this fact between the three of us." He commented. Riolu tilted his head in confusion at this.

"But why?" He asked. The Darkrai just gave a calming smile.

"Just keep it personal. Last we want is pokemon around here thinking your crazy calling yourself a human."

"Oh."

"Also," He began getting Riolu's attention, "I would like you to join our Federation." Darkrai added, holding out a white scarf, one just long enough to go around Riolu's neck.

"WHAT?" He stammered in shock.

"I know it may be a surprise to you, and it's something I wouldn't normally wouldn't consider this soon after meeting someone. But your skills and bravery you demonstrated with Chikorita today prove that you have what it takes to assist us. At least in missions." Darkrai commented. Riolu looked at the scarf for a moment, hesitating a bit to grab it, but only a few inches away from it, he retreated his hand.

"I-I'm sorry and all but..." Riolu looked to the side, unable to decide whether or not to join or not.

"It's ok." Darkrai said, getting his attention. "Sleep on it tonight. If you still refuse, we'll simply send you to a safe town where you won't have to worry about this anymore. But still consider the help you could provide if you joined us." Darkrai added. He chuckled a bit as he noticed Riolu yawning a bit sleepily too. "You should get some rest. You can share Oshawott's room tonight, he's the only one with two beds." Darkrai said. RIolu nodded with a yawn, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Ok." He reply quietly.

"Wait out in the hall, I just need to speak to Oshawott for a moment." Darkrai stated, watching as Riolu walked out into the hallway. Once the doors closed, however, he looked back at Darkrai with an unsatisfied look.

" Just to keep people from thinking he's crazy?" Oshawott repeated, not trusting his words. "I hate to argue commander, but something tells me theres a LOT more to it than just that." He commented. Darkrai looked back outside as he replied.

"Do you remember what I said about how two pokemon stopped both crises'?" He asked, to which the Oshawott nodded. "Both of those times...a Human was involved in stopping them." He stated, to which the Oshawott gasped to.

"You mean there really were humans before Zack?" He asked in surprise.

"Yes, but that's not my concern."

"Then what is your concern?" Oshawott asked, a bit confused.

"Both of those times a human helped save our world, what was one thing that always followed?" He asked the Oshawott, wanting to see if he could understand. Oshawott held his elbow as he rubbed his chin in a thinking-like manner. He knew there should've been something if Darkrai noticed, but he just couldn't pin it all together. He sighed regretfully as he shook his head.

"Sorry, but I'm stumped. As far as I've heard, everytime there's a calamity, a human shows up to-" Oshawott froze at what he just said, seeing as Darkrai nodded.

"That is correct. Everytime a human shows up, it's always followed by a calamity." Darkrai commented as he rubbed his chin. "If Zack is truely a human who came to this world, then some major catastrophic event may occur. But my concern is what the problem is this time?" He questioned. Oshawott squeeled as he gave a cheer with his arm.

"It must be to help us win the war!" He said excitedly, but grew confused as he saw Dakrai shake his head.

"No, although that would affect alot of us, that would not be able to affect the world altogether." Darkrai replied. Oshawott flinched a bit at the statement.

"You mean the ENTIRE world is going to be affected?" Oshawott said in surprise.

"To that I still don't know, but I want you to keep an eye on Zack and make sure your team is safe."

"Right, I'll make sure that-" Oshawott suddenly paused as he realized what he just said. "Wait, what do you mean "team"? We're not a-" Oshawott stopped as he saw the look Darkrai was giving him, growing more nervous as he knew what he was thinking. "You're kidding...right?" He asked.

"No, I'm not."

"But he's-"

"It's alright. I know he's still new, but his bravery is rarely seen around here. And Lucario will be joining you two on your missions for awhile." Oshawott stared off into space for a moment before looking back at Darkrai.

"Wait, you said me AND Riolu. What about Trecko?"

"She will remain here until I feel that Riolu is ready to do dungeons without Lucario's expertise and your knowledge of missions. We need back up in case a conquest starts, and with the intensity of these missions recently, our squads will start to collapse from exhaustion. Therefore, I'm assigning Trecko along with Raichu and Chikorita on standby."

"But sir-"

"End of discussion!" He snapped. "Do I make myself clear?" He questiond. He raised his eye as he noticed OShawott squeezing his fist angrily. He knew he wanted to complain to him about the current set up. But Oshawott in general knew he couldn't. Just the thought of arguing with a higher command made him nervous. With a dissopointing sigh, he dropped his arms as he shook his head.

"No sir." He said respectfully. He looked back as he felt Darkrai rub his shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't worry. It'll only be temporary, ok?" He said calmly.

"Yes sir." Oshawott replied with a nod. Darkrai watched as he left the room silently. He knew he was dissopointed, but he was pretty sure he would be fine. He waited till the door had closed entirely, hearing his footsteps for a few seconds until he was completely away, with Riolu. Seeing it was clear, he turned around as he moved over to the window

"You can come out now." He stated, not even bothering to turn around as Lucario suddenly appeared.

"You called?" He pondered, kneeling in respect.

"Yes. I do believe you already heard the meeting, correct?" He asked, wanting to make sure they were both on the same page. Lucario nodded as he answered.

"Affirmative." He stated bluntly.

"Then you know what your orders are. Keep an eye on him and figure out how he defeated that Mirage Pokemon. It could just be what we need to turn this war." He commanded. Lucario nodded as he stood up.

"Yes sir. But I don't understand why you didn't bring it up in the meeting. If we found someone who can defeat one of the Mirage pokemon, wouldn't that be considered a good thing to bring up?" He asked, walking over as he stared out the window as well.

"Yes, and no." Lucario raised a brow as he looked at him confused.

"I don't follow."

"Simple. Think about it for a minute; if someone we just met has the ability to defend themselves like the Black Federation does, don't you think that'd be a little suspicious?"

"You make a point. But I don't see why you should keep everything a secret." Lucario commented.

"Two reasons; One, I need to figure out how this Riolu, Zack, or whateer he calls himself, manages to defend himself against such creatures when even Team Omega can't even scratch them. Federation Black has always had the advantage in Conquest Missions because they can defend themselves.

If we can find out his secret, then it'll bring us one step closer to winning this war."

"And what's the second problem?" Lucario asked. He noticed how Darkrai hesitated a bit to reply before he did.

"Zack's coming here, he traveled in a large light. I saw it from the bridge."

"Interesting...but what's so imporatant about that?" Lucario asked, missing the point. He again hesitated for a few seconds until he replied.

"That beam of light...There was two of them."

"Huh, so this is your room." Riolu commented as the automatic doors opened. It wasn't exactly much of a room. It had a window with a rather good view of a mountain behind a small forest. The "bunks" themself were more along the lines of giant lilipads in the middle of two small pond.

"Yup, fortunate for me, I got the only one with ponds in them." He replied, jumping on top of one of the giant lilypads as he lied down. Riolu blinked at this before looking at the other lilypad. Oshawott just chuckled a bit as he noticed Riolu's strange look on his face. "Relax, these lilypads are strong enough to support a Snorlax! Plues they're nice and soft." He commented. Riolu looked back at the Lilypad for a few seconds before shrugging hopping on top of one, but inadvertantly slipping off the side as he fell into the pond. Oshawott kicked his feet as he burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! It doesn't mean it's not balanced. You gotta stay in the middle or you'll fall off." He commented. He chuckled again as Riolu swam his way out, fur drenched and covering his eyes a bit. He shook his fur quickly as he rubbed the water out of his eyes, climbing back on top of the lilypad, this time with success. He panted for a few seconds as he breathed the air back in from being under water.

"These things are kinda rough to sleep on." Riolu commented, patting on the lilypads, trying to flatten it out.

"It takes to getting use to. It's easier to me, I was raised near a river, so I'm used to sleeping on pads like these." Oshawott commented, rolling on his back as he stared at the cieling. As Riolu did the same, he looked in suprise as he saw what appeared to be the night sky, noticing how it was dark like the sky yet had stars twinkling back and forth.

"Wow, the stars are pretty." He commented, looking back in confusion as he heard Oshawott chuckling.

"No, it's just a holograms. We don't see real stars around here anymore." He stated. Riolu looked back at him confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Since the world began to burn, no one's been able to see the stars in the sky. It's like they just...disappeared." He replied.

"Huh..." Riolu mumbled as he looked back at the cieling. "Wonder what it's like to live in a world without stars." He commented. Oshawott smiled as he looked back at him.

"So what's the human world like?" He asked curiously. Riolu looked back at him a bit confused, taken back by this question. He felt a strange pang in his head. He felt like he knew what it was like to be a human, but the problem was he couldn't remember. With a shrug, he looked back at the cieling.

"Hate to say it, but I don't know. I can't remember anything except for my name." Riolu said. Oshawott moaned in disoppointment as he looked back at the cieling.

"Well that's a bummer, I was kinda always hoping to know more about what humans are like." Oshawott said before he yawned. "Well good night." He said, closing his eyes to fall asleep. Riolu yawned as he slowly clsoed his eyes too.

"Yeah, g'night..."

"..."

"Is someone there?" Riolu asked. This wasn't like his previouis dreams. This time, he was surrounded by nothingness. He blinked to himself as he suddenly saw something in the middle of the dark room. He couldn't tell what it was, it was a creature colored in pure blackness. He felt his heart beat harder as the beast suddenly opened one of it's eyes, it's eyes completely pure red like a demons. It stood up, towering over the Riolu, stomping as the ground shook as well. Riolu wanted to run away, but it's entire body felt numb, unable to move. He gulped in fear a bit as he felt the great beast's breath beating down on him.

"You!" It growled. "Who are you?" Zack was simply frozen in fear, unable to move. He began gasping for breath as he felt the beast choking him in it's left claw. Whether or not it was a dream, all of it felt real. "Listen to me closely, pest. Interfere with my plans anymore, and both of you will suffer like the rest of them!" It roared, swinging it's sharp claws back as it was about to strike him. Zack screamed in fear as the claw was inches away from swiping at his face-

*SPPPPSSSSHHHHH!*

Riolu suddenly yelped as he was splashed with freezing cold water. He coughed a bit as he felt some of the water enter his mouth, suffocating a bit as he nearly choked. As he tried to look around, he was suddenly blasted by another stream of water, repeating the same coughing process. This time as he looked up, he growled a bit as he saw Oshawott, standing with a smirk.

"What'd you do that for?" Riolu snapped. Oshawott just chuckled.

"Oh, just wanna get you up in time for breakfast. Watergun!" He yelped quickly as he blasted another stream of water from his mouth striaght at Riolu again, this time knocking him off the giant lilypad as he fell into the pond. "Ha!" Oshawott yelled laughing, quickly running out of the room as he saw Riolu already pull himself out of it.

"That's it!" He yelled, quickly chasing right after him. As he stepped out of the room, he took quick notice of Oshawott who was quickly running down the hall, turning left into the next. "Wait till I get my hands on you!" Riolu shouted as he chased after him. "When I get you you are so d-" Riolu came to a sudden stop as he crashed into Oshawott, who also crashed into a rather much, larger, pokemon in front of him. "Ow..." Riolu moaned, rubbing his head as he looked back at Oshawott. "Hey, why'd you sto-" Riolu suddenly froze as he looked at what Oshawott was looking at, terrified as well. In front of the both of them, a huge, gigantic fire orange-brown pokemon, and I mean HUGE, pig-like being stood in front of the other two, not looking friendly in the least. Zack shook a bit in fear as he stared at the lumbering giant. "O-O-Oshawott...Who-Who's that?" Riolu asked nervously, finding it difficult to put words together.

"I-I-It's leader of the Brawler Team, E-Emboar!" Oshawott studdered. The two jumped a bit, still shaking in fear as they saw the Emboar lower his head down closer to the two, seeing fire literally bursting through his nostrils.

"Why did you hit me?" He growled. There was a bit of silence between the two pokemon as they stared at the lumbering giant, a bit freaked out to be face to face with something so large. Riolu gulped as he stepped forward, ready to answer for the both of them.

"W-We were just on our way to breakfast and-"

"Breakfast?" The Giant Emboar repeated.

The line to the food court was a bit long, although everyone had just started showing up for it. As Hitmonchan grabbed his plate, he looked back as he heard his other two teammates coming.

"Ah, hey guys." Hitmonchan greeted, looking around as if expecting, then looked back at the two. "Where's Emboar?"

"Oh, we let him sleep in as usual. You know how he gets when someone mentions breakfast." Hitmontop commented.

"Speaking of someone, where's the new guy and Oshawott?" Hitmonlee asked.

"Who cares, first come first-"

*STOMP*

*STOMP*

*STOMP*

The three suddenly paused as they felt the ground shaking. They all looked at each other, wondering if they were all thinking the same thing.

"You don't think-" Hitmonchan began.

"No way, even the boss wouldn't-" Hitmonlee added.

"Yes he would." Hitmonstop stated, pointing back as he saw the giant Emboar rushing down the hallway with a hungry look on his face, carrying the two on his shoulders, holding them both while running.

"BREAKFAAAAAAAAST!" He screamed.

"Oh no please don't..."

"I just fixed the hole last week!"

"AT LEAST USE THE DOOR-"

*CRASH*

Dust scattereed across the area as the crash occurred. Everyone who wasn't caught in it looked back in shot at the sudden explosion of a wall coming down, not expecting it in the least, especially the ones inside the room already. As the dust began to subside, everyone could see precisly what made the crash occur. One it was fuly subsided, everyone felt a sweat drop as they saw it was just another antic of Team Brawler's captain, Emboar, seeing a dazed Emboar with swirly eyes as well as Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, Oshawott, and Riolu, all appearing to be delerious.

"I love breakfast!" Emboar said dazzily.

"Rule number one of Team Brawler kid…" Hitmonchan began, dazzed as well, "Don't ever mention Breakfast."

Well that makes for quite a lengthy chapter, a lot longer than I had anticipated to be honest, I thought I'd only get a couple thousand otuta the explanation and it was going to be chp 2 if it was. But, seeing how it is, I think I'll keep it at this for the time being.

Voters have decided, and the winner was Oshawott! Don't feel bad for those of you who lost. I don't know if I officially plan on making Trecko Zack's 2nd partner or not, so the previous, unvoted selections, still remain possible.

Rate and Review! Heres the list again in case anyone wants to see. I decided not to make Zorua a vote. Reason being? You'll have to find out…

-Pikachu: Joined in to work on being a brave pokemon adventurer, but gets scared easily

Munchlax: A real nice pokemon who is a bit more on the Brawn side than brains, took the adventure hoping it would make him smarter

Snivy: A female snivy who adores "fasion" which is mainly scarfs in the pokemon world, has a lack of team effort though.

Chikorita:After her current adventure with Riolu, she decides she wants to help him in hopes of one day repaying him for saving her.

Oshawott / Trecko: After Charmeleon is considered MIA, he/she joins Riolu hoping he/she can eventually find him, but both have a habit of thinking "Mission before others" policy