Part of Lucas's frustration with uncovering the mysteries and secrets of the past were that there were almost zero records of the Hisui era. Forgetting how a Pokémon evolved shouldn't have been possible, but actually spending time in Hisui made him aware of the truth.

There wasn't enough structure or stability to encourage people to look beyond their own existence and discover more about their world. When your number one priority was survival, there wasn't time for much else.

Couple that with the fact that humans and Pokémon were almost worlds apart, and it was no wonder that even though his companions for this journey were the so-called Pokémon experts of their village, he knew more than of them combined.

Many of their questions could even be answered by an average person from the future. Lucas felt like he was an elementary school teacher, introducing children to Pokémon for the first time, with how basic their questions were.

"So! How are you so certain the Pokémon that are with you won't attack you?" That question was posed to him as soon as they had stopped for a snack after an hour traversing.

Of the warden siblings, Shira, the woman, was the much more inquisitive of the two, bursting with the seams with questions while her brother Kuro, was far more reserved, probably because he still didn't trust Lucas. "I don't know," Lucas said, reversing the topic. "How do you know that this Meditite won't attack you?"

Said Pokémon was chewing on the same dried berries that the rest of them were. "It has," Shira replied slowly, between mouthfuls. "Especially in the beginning. Over time, it's slowly gone away though. I wasn't surprised, though. We classified Meditite as an attacker."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"For safety purposes," Kuro's voice came over, as he was whittling away at a stick with a knife, aggressively digging into the wood before sending a piece of it flying. "We've started to classify Pokémon in three categories. Ones that attack or chase you on sight, ones that run away, and ones that are mostly indifferent, unless provoked."

This was rather fascinating. The first instances of Pokémon's characteristics being recorded. Maybe he could help further this research along, with some nicely placed pointers. "What would you classify my Pokémon as, now that you've seen all of them?"

He had been forced to disclose all of his Pokémon before traveling, which he did, because of, again, trust issues, Luna's Absol included. That had gone better than expected. After the shock and horror of seeing one faded, both Kuro and Shira commended him on his bravery to be around one constantly, saying he would need it when he faced the Lord of the Shadows.

The siblings looked at each other, mentally conversing between themselves before they answered him. "Monferno and that puppy you have, Rockruff, are definitely attackers," Kuro started.

"We have no idea what that floating one is," Shira added. "Absol seems the standoffish-type, though it looked as ready to run as we did from it."

"And Stantler is definitely a run away, not that it really needs to," Kuro finished.

Every instinct in Lucas's brain was telling him to continue this line of conversation. "Why's that?"

Kuro shrugged, obliging him. "Most strong Stantler we've seen can create this shield with their powers to protect themselves." He waved an arm in front of him, as if there were a barrier there. "If they really get angry, then they'll bash into an enemy with it. Sometimes two Stantler will fight like that. The ones with the biggest and strongest shields turn big and white, sometimes."

Lucas brought out the Stantler's Pokéball, and his two companions stepped back a little at the action, as he did every time, and he had to remind himself that he wasn't in Sinnoh any more. "Do you mind?" he asked, as politely as he could, trying to withhold his excitement, waiting for both of them to nod before releasing Stantler in a flash of light.

His Pokémon seemed to be surprised to be brought out for what appeared to be nothing for the second time today, but this couldn't be more important. "I have something to ask you a question. My friends here told me that they've seen Stantler around here create some sort of psychic shield as protection, that's strong enough to bash into things. Have you ever done that, or seen that, amongst your kind?"

Stantler considered, but he didn't take long to think before shaking his head as a no. Lucas gave him a knowing glance. "I think that's the sort of skill that's been forgotten by Stantler from where we are from," he said, neatly avoiding mentioning that he was from the future. "It sounds like the base of the move is Zen Headbutt. We're on the right path!"

"Would you look at that!" Shira cheered from a safe distance away. "We taught the Sky Faller something about Pokémon! Our expert titles may not be phony after all!"

"Always seeing the sunlit side." Kuro shook his head at his sister fondly, before taking a final glance at his whittling stick, and tossing it to the side. "Come on. We have much more ground to walk, and that's without any trials that we might yet have to face."

----------------------------------------

The next time they stopped, for the night this time, after setting up their tents and lighting a campfire to stave off the cold, Shira turned to him once more. "You know, you never did tell us why you were so certain your Pokémon won't turn on you, last time. You only asked me why Meditite would not attack me."

"I thought it was obvious," Lucas countered. "Meditite has come to trust you, and my Pokémon trust me to do right by them. We're partners in everything. There's no reason for them to attack me."

Shira frowned. "What do you mean by partners?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Lucas explained, staring into the fire and watching the flames dance in the dark. "Where I am from, Pokémon are our friends, comrades, life companions, support systems, and partners. Nothing we'd do would be possible without Pokémon. I don't think we could function as the Platinum Clan does here."

It sure sounded to him that Shira was extremely intrigued. "Why would Pokémon agree to that?"

"Because it's like any other partnership," Lucas replied simply. "Both of us stand to benefit. I actually work for someone who studies the process of how Pokémon evolve, which is what we call when they dramatically change forms, and get much stronger, and it's pretty much a consensus that it's easier for a Pokémon to evolve when paired with a human. There are other things as well that benefit them, like not having to live a difficult life in the wild, and creating lifelong friendships and bonds as well."

Kuro, who had remained silent up until this point, scoffed. "A fanciful notion, but one that is ultimately not possible. Pokémon and humans are not meant to coexist."

Lucas waited for an explanation from the man, but none was forthcoming. It was his sister that did the explaining and apologizing.

"Sorry," Shira began. "Our parents died in a Pokémon attack, many years back, when I was only one-and-ten, and Kuro was six-and-ten. We started doing these classifications on Pokémon so the people of our village would be better prepared, and so it wouldn't happen again. It's been very successful. But I'm afraid the Pokémon attack upon our village before you all drove them out has reopened those old scars."

It was telling how she thought the Pokémon were the ones to attack the village, instead of the poachers. "No, I'm sorry," Lucas said, his words tasting like ash in his mouth. "I didn't know. How did it happen, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It should have been a simple fishing trip to a nearby lake," Kuro muttered bitterly, slamming a closed fist into the ground. "But a powerful sea serpent had made it its home, an alpha, the largest and most dangerous of its kind. There was barely enough left of them when it had finished its rampage to cremate."

Lucas bowed his head. "Only the most skilled and bravest trainers try to take on the task of taming a Gyarados. But wherever your parents are now, I'm sure they're proud of you, for saving so many lives after."

His words didn't seem to comfort Kuro at all, but Shira perked up her head. "Is that what they call people who have Pokémon partners where you are from? Trainers?" she asked.

"That's right."

"How do I become one?"

Both of their heads whipped towards the woman of the group. "What?" Shira defended herself from her brother's reproachful gaze. "You may not believe him, but I do! We've been around him and his friend's all day, and their Pokémon have not acted out even once, and we know some of them are attackers." She turned back to Lucas. "Tell me, Sky Faller. How does one become a trainer? Do I need to have one of the orbs that you carry your Pokémon around in?"

Introducing modern technology did not sound like a good idea to Lucas, but he would have said no regardless. "No. All you need to do is have a Pokémon willingly follow you."

They all started at Meditite, who had its eyes closed, and was living up to its name, lowering its breathing rate as it meditated. Shira leaned over. "What do I say?" she whispered into Lucas's ear.

"Just be honest," he replied back. "I can't speak for you, but if your heart is in the right place, and I think it is, you'll know what to say."

Shira took several deep breaths before addressing the Pokémon of their group. "Hey, Meditite? How would you like to become my Pokémon on this quest of knowledge? You can look out for me, as we work to make this land safer for everyone!"

In Lucas's eyes, it looked like Meditite had already considered itself to be Shira's Pokémon, but it accepted with a nod regardless. "Well done," he congratulated the older woman, feeling a bit odd. "We classify Pokémon based on their attributes. Meditite is a fighter, which may explain why it wants to attack; it's trying to test itself. But it also has a thirst for knowledge as well. I think you two will be great partners.

"Did you hear that, Kuro?" Shira asked her brother jubilantly. "The Sky Faller sees potential in us!"

Kuro wasn't in a congratulating mood. He was looking elsewhere.

Shira stomped her foot impatiently. "I said, did you hear me?!"

"I did, but now I need you to be silent," Kuro said shortly back, cutting his sister off. "Something's coming."

Lucas couldn't see anything in the darkness outside of their campfire, but Kuro was spooked. The man quickly darted into his tent and came out, holding a plain leather scabbard. Lucas had only thought the sword was for cutting firewood down to size, but Kuro was clearly practiced in the art of combat. He gave the shining weapon a couple experimental twirls before holding it out in front of himself in a two-handed grip. "Show yourself!" the man roared.

Two pairs of gleaming golden eyes, that quickly faded to red, tipped Lucas off two what they were facing. Black and blue as most of their bodies were, it was no wonder that they had struggled to see these two Luxray before they were upon them. Instantly, one of them split off from the other, circling around them to prevent them from escaping.

Kuro shifted to a one handed grip on his sword, pulling out his whittling knife as well, though these steel weapons weren't the most effective against their Electric-type opponents.

"Wait, Kuro," his sister said. Meditite had finished its meditation to take up a fighting stance, but defeating two Luxray with no training was asking a bit much.

"Wait nothing," Kuro replied, keeping his eyes on the enemies, who were baring their fangs and snarling, sparks lighting up their manes, in an attempt to intimidate them, though rather unsuccessfully, because they were rather haggard in appearance. "You and I know running isn't an option."

Hiding wasn't either, Lucas mused internally. Luxray were famous for being able to see through walls, and even underground, when their eyes turned gold.

"Let the Sky Faller handle this," Shira insisted. "He surely has dealt with situations like this before, if he was so confident in challenging the Lord of the Shadows!"

In truth, Lucas was already evaluating the two Luxray. He could tell both were males, and usually male Luxray were solitary, unless they were leaders of their pride. The only way two Luxray males could cooperate like this in the wild would be if they were recently evolved, kicked out of their pride, and were now facing the harsh world alone, for the first time.

He doubted that either of them knew Ice Fang to deal with Porygon2 once the digital Pokémon had converted into a Ground-type, but there was no need to risk a battle when he had defenseless charges. Lucas rifled through his pack, before doing the same to both of the siblings'.

Kuro dropped his guard for just a second. "What are you doing…?"

Right as the Luxray were about to pounce, Lucas struck first, hurling an assortment of whatever they had in terms of food in front of each one. The two Electric-types stared at their free dinner, before directing their surprised gaze upon him. One of them turned its eyes gold, as if that would help see through his intentions.

"Eat up," he urged them. "I'm sure you haven't had any food since leaving your pride, have you?" They seemed somewhat offended by his assumption that they needed charity, not touching the food, so Lucas brought out Porygon2 to drive home the point, by having it blast a hole in a nearby tree with Tri Attack.

"That's the easiest food you're going to get, so I would take it," he advised the two Pokémon. "It's not always about proving your strength. I can tell you two have plenty of guts. Take what you can get, and save your power for when you really need it, and you'll make it."

His words had the intended effect. Eventually, the Luxray stood down, each one devouring their small pile of food before darting off into the darkness.

They waited several seconds for a return visit, but when none came, Kuro dropped his weapons to his side in relief, and Shira rushed up to him with stars in her eyes. "That was incredible! I've no doubt that your way is the right way. I'll want to do everything I can to become a Pokémon trainer like you!"

Lucas couldn't not refuse after such an earnest admission. "I might be able to get you started," he said hesitantly, to which Shira beamed even more brightly.

----------------------------------------

Events like that were a stark reminder to Lucas not to get too comfortable witnessing the rugged beauty of Hisui. As much fun as it was seeing pirstine, untouched landscapes, trees the size of skyscrapers, and searching for geodes, when cracked, revealed a glimmer purple crystal inside that explained why this area was called the Amethyst Heartlands, he couldn't let down his guard.

The Pokémon here were strong and not fond of outsiders encroaching on their territory. He'd been able to drive all his opponents off, to Shira's continued delight, and his continued embarrassment for performing ordinary, everyday stuff.

One thing he had been proud of was to put together a list of moves and descriptions and training methods for Meditite, to get Shira started on her journey as a trainer. Every time they stopped for a break, he'd bring out a Pokémon of his own to work with the tongue Fighting-type and rookie trainer, showing them how they could improve.

He was in the midst of a demonstration of Fire Punch and Thunder Punch at the bank of a decent sized river when Kuro returned from scouting ahead for a place to cross, shaking his head.

"Sorry, Sky Faller. We've come a long way, but this is where we have to turn around. It's that time of year that Basculin decide to swim upstream, and predators have also come from the sea, to lie in wait for them." Kuro pointed out to what looked to Lucas like an oddly colored, black and purple, spiny plant, floating in the water.

"That is a Pokémon called Overqwil," Kuro told him grimly. "Poisonous and violent, it is. No doubt some Qwilfish have followed to snap up its scraps. This one is an alpha, as well. We can't get across."

"Unless I drive them off," Lucas told the frowning warden.

"You must be hard of hearing. Have you learned nothing over this trek? That Overqwil is an alpha. it's more brutish and powerful than most of its kind. There are no words or offerings you can provide. It will attack you, and end you."

"Let him try, Kuro," Shira said, having already come over to Lucas's side. "If he's so confident about facing the Lord of the Shadows, then he should be able to clear a path to him, right? Even through these Qwilfish and Overqwil."

Her brother threw up his hands. "Fine. I've said my piece. This death won't be on my conscience, at least." Kuro stalked away.

Shira seemed unsure about divulging more details about the siblings' past, but Lucas didn't press her. It was clear enough to him that Kuro felt responsible in some way for their parents' deaths, and didn't want to rehash those bad memories. "You should go with him," Lucas advised her. "This could get messy."

The warden shook her head. "I want to watch, and see how a real Pokémon trainer operates!"

She at least agreed to stand a safe distance back, while Lucas brought out his three other Pokémon, and after he remembered, Luna's Absol. "We're trying to cross this river, but some Pokémon are in the way, and we need to drive them off. You can see the most powerful of them there," Lucas gestured to where Kuro had shown him that the Alpha Overqwil was lying in wait.

Monferno and Rockruff in particular looked ready to jump right in, so Lucas had to make sure they knew what the plan was. "It should go without saying, but we can't go into the water. That's their domain. We need to stay on the bank and bring them to us."

How best to do that, was the question. Like Skuntank and Drapion, the only weaknesses of these Pokémon were ground. Lucas turned to Stantler. "Can you hit a Bulldoze underwater, to get things started?"

Lucas wasn't fooling himself that this alpha Pokémon would be knocked out by this attack, but maybe he could surprise some of its hanger-ons. Stantler reared up and slammed his front hooves into the ground with tremendous force, and after a delay, the stream exploded, and four Hisuian Qwilfish, much lighter than their evolved form, were sent flying into the air.

Their spines and poisonous nature made Lucas wary about sending his physical attackers in to hit them, but he didn't have any problems with attacking from range. "Porygon2, Discharge!"

His digital Pokémon charged up to unleash a wave of electricity, aiming to hit and perhaps paralyze the enemy Pokémon, but they weren't defenseless. They used a variety of attacks, Poison Sting, Mud Bomb, and Pin Missile, to counter the Discharge. Lucas didn't want to let them get away unscathed, considering the massive Overqwil was starting to turn towards them.

"Rockruff, use Rock Tomb in the river underneath one of them!" His Rock-type fired off a purple orb that turned into a large boulder, and to one Qwilfish's surprise, it did not land back in the river, instead flopping around on the newly formed rock.

"Tri Attack!" Lucas followed up, and was able to take the enemy Pokémon out, sending it tumbling into the water and washing away with the current.

Overqwil had partially emerged from the water, and his Pokémon took a step back at its appearance. The spiny Pokémon's actual round body was bloated beyond belief, and it was almost taking up the entire waterway's width. Lucas wasn't fooled, though. What Overqwil was doing wasn't unique, and while he didn't doubt this was a powerful, alpha specimen, it was not this supersized.

Ugliness wasn't the only thing Purugly and Overqwil had in common. "It's been sucking up water to enlarge itself," he assured his Pokémon. "To intimidate us."

He raised his voice. "Rockruff, create more boulders in the river. Stantler, Bulldoze again! Monferno-" His voice cut off as a massive Dark Pulse was fired their way out of Overqwil's mouth. "Intercept that! Porygon2, look for openings for Tri Attack!"

Monferno surged forward with Sky Uppercut to send the Dark Pulse skywards, while the process was repeated once again. The three remaining Qwilfish, when launched in the air, were more prepared for it this time, two of them firing off a barrage of their poisonous barbs in concert at them.

"Stantler, Confusion!" Lucas called urgently, realizing how incredibly useful having a psychic shield would be right here. As it was, they were able to turn the attack around into the third Qwilfish, which seemed to be a bit slower than its brethren. It may have been hit directly by the Bulldoze, but its misfortune was to their benefit, as it was the one that Porygon blasted downstream this time.

Two plops of water signified that the other two had escaped being knocked out, for now. Overqwil shook itself in rage at its attack being thwarted, and opened its mouth once more, sending a vicious Sludge Bomb their way.

"Confusion again," Lucas ordered, though he was much more worried this time, because this was a much stronger attack. Stantler struggled to turn back the Sludge Bomb, and several of them broke through.

As he was debating how to handle this, Absol slid in and sliced through the bombs with a well-aimed Psycho Cut. Right. He had a helping hand in this battle. And as Overqwil prepared for its next attack, Surf, creating a massive water wave to swamp them, he knew how to deal with it.

"Absol, Megahorn!" he commanded. Like Luna had split a Surf attack in the tag battle final in Hearthome, he did the same here, slicing the wave of water in twain with one powerful stroke. Even better was that the two remaining Qwilfish had been caught the wave, and now were flopping around on the bank.

"Discharge!" They struggled to get out of the way or counter the electric wave this time, and Lucas sighed as Rockruff and Monferno looked at him pleadingly. "If you get poisoned, tell me, so I can do something about it, okay?"

They agreed before he could change his mind and bolted to the helpless enemies. Rockruff grabbed one with a Fire Fang, shaking and thrashing it around before throwing it up into the air so Stantler could smash into it with Headbutt.

Monferno was having a bit too much fun, bouncing the Qwilfish up and down on his legs with Blaze Kick, before finally finishing it with a smash kick that a soccer player would be proud of, punting the unfortunate Pokémon into the river, where it was also washed away.

One more enemy left, and it was by far the strongest of them. Overqwil condensed itself, before shooting out a barrage of poisonous barbs that was easily four times as powerful as the Qwilfish before had done.

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"Porygon2, Steel-Type! Rockruff, Rock Tomb! Stantler, Confusion! Absol, Psycho Cut!" Once all his defenses were in place, each Pokémon blocking, or disrupting the onslaught, Lucas turned to Monferno. "Get in the air with Acrobatics and get ready, alright?"

His starter gave him the thumbs up, before gathering the Flying-type energy necessary to leap into the air as high as he could. "Dive, Monferno! Rockruff, create a boulder for him to smash!" Monfreno smashed into the airborne rock with the strength of a Fighting-type, sending chunks of rock careening downwards towards Overqwil, before flipping back safely to the bank.

The rock slamming on its head disoriented the alpha Pokémon enough for it to stop its attack, and give Lucas and his team the opening to start making their own.

"Everyone, hit it with the best you have!" His whole team plus Absol threw out their best ranged attacks Moenferneo with Fire Spin, Rockruff, seemingly inspired by the last combo, dropping more rocks on its head, Stantler picks up balls of water with Confusion, Porygon with Tri Attack, and Absol with Razor Wind. The attacks pounded into Overqwil repeatedly, and unable to reply, the alpha Pokémon eventually sank into the depths, bruised, and several of its spines snapped off.

Lucas let out a sigh, but it was premature, because about twenty seconds later, Overqwil resurfaced for round two, somehow magically having healed all of its injuries. He stared at the enemy Pokémon.

It was quite a bit smaller than it was previously, as well. As Overqwil started to take in water again, it clicked in his mind what it was doing.

Stockpiling energy, and then swallowing to heal itself. They couldn't let that go on, or they would be here all day. "Taunt it, Monferno," Lucas ordered, mentally chiding himself a moment later, because he didn't stress that his starter should be careful, and Monferno liked to live dangerously.

He hopped onto one of the boulders Rockruff had created previously, and while Lucas couldn't see what he was doing this time, the Taunt was working, because, Overqwil stopped sucking in water, and instead blasted Monferno, spitting up all the liquid it had gathered.

Monferno deftly skipped to the second boulders, and Overqwil bristled, charging it with the force of a waterfall and shattering the rock into smithereens, but not before his Pokémon backflipped back into the river bank.

Unfortunately, they had done too good of a job, because their spiny opponent's face scrunched up in pure rage, and it started glowing a bright white color.

Overqwil didn't evolve. "Everyone, force it down into the water!" Lucas shouted at the top of his lungs, surprising his Pokémon with the volume of the command, but they obeyed nonetheless, firing off attack after attack against the now stationary Overqwil.

Lucas felt a tap on his side, and looked down to see Monferno's questioning face. "You made it too angry," he told his Pokémon grimly. "Because now it's going to blow itself up."

If they were able to send it to the bottom of the river, then the water should shield them from the explosion, in theory, but they weren't making fast enough progress. Their attacks didn't have enough force, with Overqwil still being extremely healthy after healing itself.

He whirled around looking for something, eyes eventually falling on a massive tree that must have been standing for centuries. It didn't make him feel good, what he was about to do, but his life was on the line. "Absol!" he shouted, taking advantage of the extra member he had. "Swords Dance then Megahorn on that tree!"

The Dark-type looked to where he was pointing and nodded once, swinging his horn back and forth frantically to gain the power needed to accomplish this. Lucas frantically calculated the trajectory in his mind. "Porygon2, stay here as a Ghost-type! Everyone else, get ready!"

Absol reared back, and with one mighty slash, sliced through the tree like it was made of butter. Monferno, Rockruff and Stantler charged into it with Mach Punch, Tackle, and Headbutt respectively, altering the course. It was still a foot off, and they couldn't move the tree again, but they could move Overqwil.

"Tri Attack!" Porygon2 understood what they were trying to do, dialing back the power to nudge Overqwil right into the falling tree's path. The force on the impact sent it straight to the riverbed, and after a few seconds, a wicked looking geyser of water erupted from the river, lifting the tree several feet with the force, until everything was once again calm. Lucas and his team carefully walked over. He threw back his head and let out a sigh as his team cheered as the Overqwil floated downstream to wherever it came from.

Shira and Kuro quickly joined them, one of them with stars in their eyes. "That. Was. Amazing!" Shira gushed. "Please! You have to keep instructing me on how you did that! Having Pokémon can solve all of our problems!"

Lucas had to take a step back from the sheer exuberance she was putting out. "I'll teach you all I can," he promised, "but trial and error are going to have to be your teachers too, because I have to return to where I'm from, pretty soon."

Thankfully, that was enough for Shira. Her brother had reacted the other way. Rather than demonstrating how impressed he was, he looked at the scene in stupefied amazement.

"You actually did it," he breathed, like his brain couldn't comprehend what his eyes were showing him. "An alpha Pokémon, and you removed it like it was nothing."

"It wasn't that easy," Lucas started, but a shake of the head from Kuro cut off his attempts to downplay his achievement.

"And you created a bridge across the river at the same time." Despite showing it in a different way, it seemed that the male warden was just as impressed as his sister. "Let's go, Sky Faller. Your destination is but a short walk away."

----------------------------------------

Said destination turned out to be a naturally formed arena. A circle of gnarled, knobby trees, long stripped of all of their leaves, had grown in a circle. Their gray, dried, branches, twisting inwards into the clearing, no doubt would seem like shadowy hands grasping at you, at the right time of day.

At the front was a small, humble shrine to Almighty Sinnoh, much like the one back in the Platinum Clan Village. Shira did a quick twirl, gesturing with her arms held out to demonstrate the grandness of the place, shedding her pack in the same motion. "Welcome! This is the Blackout Arena."

Lucas glanced around as Kuro and Shira's Meditite got to work, piling high the sweets, berries, balms, and other offerings that they had ferried all this way around the altar. The trees wouldn't cover out the ground from the sun like they would had they been full of leaves. "Why is it called that?"

Shira shrugged. "You'll have to ask Kuro. This is actually my first time here. He's the one who named it, and met the Lord of the Shadows."

Sky Faller or not, Lucas got the sense that the older of the two siblings didn't like him, but he needed every drop of information he could get. "Why did you name it Blackout Arena?" he repeated the question to Kuro.

"Because," the warden said shortly, "It might be better to close your eyes than keep them open. You cannot trust what you see." He continued to adjust the offerings they had brought, making sure every single one was where he liked it, though some in particular caught Lucas's eye.

"You brought paintings of Pokémon too?" Some were of unevolved, everyday species, but some were regional forms from far off lands. Why would the Lord of the Shadows be interested in those?

Kuro stepped back, evaluating his work before deeming it acceptable with a nod. "The Lord of the Shadows is a shapeshifter. But despite the many forms he takes, he has one consistent fear. Find that, and you will reveal his true form and earn his respect." The warden hesitated, as his voice dropped to a much softer tone.

"Tell me, Sky Faller. If my parents had Pokémon, would they have survived?"

"There's no guarantee that anything would have changed," Lucas says carefully, not wanting to offend the man further.

"But you think that it would have," Kuro said wryly, to which Lucas bowed his head.

"Yes. For all its strength, Gyarados fears lightning," Lucas explained, using a term Kuro would understand. "One of those two Luxray from earlier, for example, would have dealt with it."

The warden nodded like he expected that answer. "I see. All this time I have been searching for the answer to protect myself, my sister, and the rest of the village from Pokémon's incredible power, and it never once occurred to me that the power I feared could also be our salvation. Until today. Good luck, Sky Faller. The Lord of the Shadows will make his presence known at some point."

With that, his three companions departed, leaving him to face this trial.

Not alone, because his Pokémon were with him, though they were currently in their balls. Lucas didn't want to give the impression that he was here for a battle. Waiting here was very boring though, and it had been an eventful and energy draining morning. It was a chore to keep from nodding off, so Lucas figured he should give in. A little rest couldn't hurt. Right?

When he awoke, it was to the shadows of three tree branches starting to cover the arena like the wizened fingers of a crone. Lucas got up with a start, all tiredness gone from his body when he saw one shadow that wasn't there before.

On the tallest of the trees was a Pokémon. One with jet black feathers, a pure white chest, and plumage resembling a hat. The massive Honchkrow spread its wings, revealing the dark red underside of them.

This could very well be a wild Honchkrow. But Lucas didn't think it was. Honchkrow never traveled without a goon squad of Murkrow to do their bidding. This one, by the look of it, was quite happy to get its feathers dirty.

Like against the Overqwil, Lucas brought forth all four of his Pokémon plus Absol, though he had to scramble out of the way of the first attack, a Dark Pulse that he felt was a bit weaker than the usual. Perhaps it really was simply trying to test him?

In any case, he didn't want to be hit. The Honchkrow flew lazy circles overhead, firing off Dark Pulses and Shadow Balls at intervals, as if getting the measure of him. It wasn't too hard for him to destroy or absorb the projectiles with his Pokémon, with Stantler and Porygon2 absorbing most of the Shadow Balls, and Rockruff crunching through the rest.

Megahorn and Sky Uppercut from Absol and Monferno dealt with the Dark Pulses easily enough, too. As he had suspected though, this was only their opponent warming up.

In an instant, its flight pattern changed. It went from a Drifblim, being carried where the wind took it, to as razor-sharp as a Skarmory's edges. Honchkrow screamed towards them at blinding speeds with Aerial Ace.

"Thunder Punch!" Monferno stepped up to the plate, cocking an electrified fist back with no fear as Honchkrow approached. A split second before contact was made, it vanished into nothingness, not even leaving a feather behind to show that it had been there, and Monferno spun and stumbled to the ground.

A grunt from Absol had him realizing that it had reappeared. He whirled around to see it bearing down on them from behind them. "Rock Tomb!"

Rockruff fired an orb into the ground that expanded into a boulder, but again, Honchkrow disappeared into the ether before it hit the stone barrier. Lucas spun around in a circle, but it was nowhere to be found.

Only one place could be then. "Intercept by becoming a Steel-type!" There was no time to attack, so Porygon2 simply had to take the hit as it dove at them from straight above. It pinged off his Pokémon's Steel-hard body, but as Absol, Stantler, and Rockruff all went for it, Honchkrow made its next move.

All their attacks passed through clone images, as it used Double Team to fill the arena with copies of itself. Honchkrow's mocking caw was more like a snarl, making them wince and stumble back as it came at them from every direction.

"Discharge!" Lucas managed. Porygon2 lit up with electricity and unleashed a wave across the arena, but Honchkrow was not perturbed. The real one lit up blue, even as static crackled over it, and summoned blue cages around his Pokémon that converged on to them, sealing them with some sort of Psychic energy.

Imprison? If not being scared by electricity wasn't an indication that this wasn't a Honchkrow, then that was. Honchkrow did not have that type of psychic finesse necessary to use something like Imprison.

But he couldn't think about it too long, because a dark cloud was appearing over Honchkrow. Lucas had seen this move once before. The cloud was sucked back into their opponent's head, and it fired off Dark Pulse again, this time much stronger than the last.

It had used Nasty Plot to dramatically increase its power, but even now, Absol's Megahorn, along with his natural resistance against his own typing, cut through the attack. Honchkrow made a big show of flapping its wings, before breathing out fire and sending it towards them as a bastardized version of Heat Wave.

"Flame Wheel!" Lucas countered, Monferno raced forward, powering through the flames of the Heat Wave to enhance his own Flame Wheel. Honchkrow moved to dodge, but as difficult as it was to look beyong what his eyes were telling him, Lucas made the call.

"Confusion!" he ordered Stantler. Whatever this Pokémon's true form was, it wasn't a Dark-type. Confusion managed to grip it for long enough for the Flame Wheel to connect, and while it didn't again seem to do all that much, it did give openings for his other Pokémon to attack. Porygon2 fired off a Psybeam, seeing that Psychic moves were effective in this opponent, while Rockruff was all too happy to charge forward and clamp down on one of the bird's talons with Ice Fang.

Monferno rebounded from the Flame Wheel to strike with a Sky Uppercut, and for the first time, Lucas saw their opponents eyes widen, and it flinched backwards at an attack. It seemed their opponent was afraid of Fighting-types. Was that the only weakness that Kuro was speaking of?

The Sky Uppercut missed, of course, as Honchkrow vanished from view. Absol fired a Dark Pulse into the air, perhaps trying to predict its movement, but that also missed, as their opponent reappeared behind them.

Or, to be more precise, what Lucas assumed was their opponent, because this was a totally different Pokémon. It was grounded, had a mustache, a cane made of ice, and two ice tap dancing shoes.

This had to be the Galarian evolution of Mr. Mime, Mr. Rime. Lucas's mind was drawn back to the paintings of Pokémon that they had left as an offering. Apparently, this Pokémon was capable of copying those images for its own use.

There were holes in its disguise, though. Like before with Honchkrow, while its image was flawless, the finer details that you couldn't always get from a picture were not. A Mr. Rime couldn't stop tap dancing, but this Pokémon's feet were still. A very inexperienced Ditto, perhaps?

A pure Normal typing would explain the fear of Sky Uppercut, but a Ditto changed types when it transformed. Honchkrow should have been weak to Discharge and Ice Fang.

The false Mr. Rime's first move was to create a gray cloud over their heads, from which snow started to descend on them. Snowscape, which Luna and Glaceon were still making progress on. Glaceon would get a massive speed boost from fighting in icy conditions, and this Pokémon was really trying to convince them that it had a similar ability.

Its blue-tinged shoes told Lucas that it was actually using Agility, though. He had sent Rockruff and Stantler forward with Fire Fang and Zen Headbutt, but Mr. Rime avoided them easily.

"Quick Attack and Mach Punch!" he ordered next to Monferno and Absol. He expected Mr. Rime to glow blue, pick up Monferno with Psychic and throw him back, but Absol was dealt with just as swiftly. Their opponent pointed its cane right at Absol and blasted him with a powerful blast of Icy Wind that covered Absol with frost until his attack ground to a halt.

Another Nasty Plot appearing over Mr. Rime's head told Lucas he didn't have much more time to figure out this Pokémon's one true weakness and expose it for what it was. A Blizzard attack could turn this light snow into a howling storm.

Thankfully, it didn't go for that. This attack was similar to Nasty Plot, in that a cloud appeared above Mr. Rime's head, of bitter feelings or malicious thoughts or whatever was needed to perform the move. This one was a dark purple instead of black, but that was only the first difference.

Instead of being sucked back into Mr. Rime's head to boost its power, the cloud crystallized into spears of dark ice that were flung straight at them instead.

"Flame Wheel and Fire Fang!" Monferno and Rockfruff charged forward, ready with their Fire-type moves to counter this Ice-type one, but instead of melting through the crystals, the attack shattered on impact, consuming his Pokémon in explosions of purple.

When they emerged, both were groaning on the ground and struggling to get up. "Intercept, Porygon2!" Lucas ordered, realizing that another one of those attacks was coming his way. His digital Pokémon flashed a different color in preparation, as Lucas looked over his two fallen ones, hands on their Pokéballs.

"If you can't battle any more, tell me the truth," Lucas said. Monferno got up and gave him a shaky thumbs up, while Rockruff howled to the sky. "Alright. But one more hit, and I'm calling you back."

Mentally, he included Porygon2 in that statement, because despite changing to what a type that resisted ice, his digital Pokémon suffered a lot of damage taking on the mystery attack. Another one was coming his way, too.

"Stantler, Swift! Absol, take this one while Porygon2 recovers!" he called, in some desperation. He hoped targeting the Pokémon would pause the onslaught and give him some time to think, which is why he wanted a move that would never miss.

The strangest thing happened. Mr. Rime's eyes glowed blue, and before he knew it, the dark ice crystals were on his side of the battlefield and Swift was on the other one. Absol was peppered with the flying stars, while the ice crystals passed harmlessly through Mr. Rime's body. Did it just use Trick to swap their attacks?

Whatever it was, this attack wasn't an Ice-type move, because those attacks had no immunities. Lucas replayed the battle in his mind. Maybe it didn't fear fighting. Perhaps it didn't want one to connect, or not connect, because it would be a dead giveaway to what its true identity was.

Only one way to find out. As the ice crystals formed out again, he gave the command to Absol. "Sucker Punch!"

Having seen the move multiple times, Absol knew the timing of when it was about to attack, and darted forward in a white and black blur. Mr. Rime disappeared into nothingness again, but now Lucas had its number. The Lord or the Shadows was afraid of the dark, ironically enough.

Probably Phantom Force, now that he thought about it. They all spun around again to see what form it had taken this time, and he had to smile at its appearance. This was a Pokémon Lucas and his starter especially knew well. It was Monferno. Except taller, longer-limbed, and with a flaming head of hair.

Any injuries his Pokémon had suffered were ignored, upon seeing this Infernape. They all wanted to see what one could do. A shame it wasn't a real one, though.

"Tri Attack!" Lucas called for first. There was only one Pokémon that Lucas knew of that was immune to the attacks of its own typing. If this was it, it wouldn't want to let him see that this Normal-type move had no effect on it, either.

Infernape pulled its hands to its side to create a blinding ball of blue energy between them. Focus Blast. Lucas nodded to Stantler. "Confusion!"

It was rather too easy to make the Focus Blast fly off into the distance, but Infernape dodged instead of letting Tri Attack pass right through it. It was determined to keep up the ruse for as long as possible, though Lucas had a pretty good idea of its identity.

"Dark Pulse!" Porygon2 and Absol both fired off the spiraling beams, but their opponent was up to the task, for now. In a passable imitation of Infernape's multi-limbed combat style, both its fists glowed with Fighting-type energy to keep their attacks at bay.

"Acrobatics!" Monferno leapt into the air eagerly, but as he dove downwards, a Flamethrower met him and stopped him in his tracks.

"Stantler, Headbutt!" The deer charged forwards, and while a real Infernape might have stood on one leg and used the other to block Stantler, this one had another method. Its eyes glowed green, and several long blades of grass twisted themselves into a knotted rope to trip his Stantler up.

"Crunch, Rockruff!" Lucas was anticipating the second Grass Knot this time. As Infernape's eyes glowed green again, he issued the command. "Stantler, Confusion on Rockruff!"

His puppy was neatly picked up right before she too tripped, and Stantler flung her at Infernape, who had no more options left, with its arms and mouth occupied. Rockruff chomped onto its leg, and after a second, it was no longer an Infernapes'.

It was white with red splotches, and black claws. The Lord of the Shadows wildly shook its leg, eventually throwing Rockruff off, but the ruse had been rendered useless. Porygon2 and Absol broke through with Dark Pulse, slowly exposing the rest of its body, except for its head, which Absol slammed downwards with Knock off, finally revealing its true identity.

Infernape's flaming hair was replaced with wild white fur that looked like it had been soaked in blood. Lucas held up his hand to halt his Pokémon and knelt on the ground in awe, as the Hisuian Zoroark looked upon him with intelligent, golden eyes.

Eventually, Zoroark gestured at him to rise to his feet. The noble Pokémon seemed like it was waiting for him to make a request.

"Is this where I ask for a favor from you?" Lucas said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't actually have anything to ask for. I came all this way to prove to myself that, with help from my friends, even the most improbable of things can be achieved."

He flushed as he got the sense that Zoroark was laughing at him. The Lord of the Shadow's expression became more serious, and Zoroark flickered between the three forms it had disguised itself as: Honchkrow, Mr. Rime, and Infernape. It returned to its true form and tilted its head quizzically.

"What, you want to know why I wasn't fooled?" Lucas asked. When Zoroark nodded, he shrugged. "You look identical to those Pokémon, and your moves match up, but you don't act like them at all."

It was clear that Zoroark wanted a deeper explanation, and a spark of inspiration hit Lucas. "How about you come with me so I can explain more on the trip back? I did think of something that we need help with."

After all, it wouldn't be fair to leave this beautiful, wonderful region behind without making sure those who wanted to abuse it were dealt with, would it?