***************

The wind whistled hollowly through the trees, causing Kimaera to shiver with cold. Lantom noticed and pulled her closer, tugging off his thick winter cloak and wrapping it around his little sister. She snuggled into the soggy, scratchy fabric as if it were made of the finest silk, causing him to smile. "You stay here, Kima," the young man whispered. "I’ll go see if I can find some shelter before the storm breaks."

Lan stood up, relieved that it hadn’t taken more to placate her. He removed a leather thong from around his neck and tied back his unruly olive-colored hair, not wanting the mane to fall into his eyes in this forest. He knew there were . . . things in here. Creatures that hunted by tracking movement, that would rather choose a mobile target over prey that remained motionless. And he wanted to see them before they saw him.

"LAN!" The scream tore through the stillness of the silent forest, rising above the whisper of the wind in the trees. The young man wheeled and leaped back the way he had come in one fluid movement. Kima! No!

"Hey, Bri!"

Gobrianna shrieked in surprise, the hardcover novel flying from her fingers and sailing through the air. It hit the wall with a rather loud bam, echoing in the mostly empty room. The Pokemon trainer’s head snapped up as she looked for the person who had abruptly called her back to reality. Not that she didn’t know who it was; only one person ever called her "Bri."

"Geesh, Blu, give a girl a heart attack!" she groused, putting a hand over her heaving chest. Her other smoothed the straight copper-colored hair out of her turquoise eyes. She took a slow, deep breath to clear the last dregs of the story from her mind before turning her attention to her visitor. Blu was dressed in her usual sapphire-colored outfit, grinning in response to her friend’s exclamation. She hitched herself up on the corner of the desk that sat in the middle of the room and shot a mischievous look at Gobrianna over her pair of triangular shades.

"I wouldn’t do that!" Blu protested innocently, her grin stretching wider. "Who would I have to laugh with when some wimpy trainer who thinks he can beat us comes to challenge the best of the OPL?" The fifteen-year-old flipped a strand of azure hair out of her face and indicated the recently airborne object lying on the floor across the room. "Hey Miller, would you go get Bri’s book, please?"

There was a sharp bark of assent from in front of the desk, below Gobrianna’s line of sight. Miller trotted across the room as its trainer had asked, its nine cerulean tails swaying back and forth behind it. The Pokemon gently took the fallen novel in its jaws and returned, circling around the desk and offering it back to its owner.

"Thank you, Miller." Gobrianna smiled, scratching the bright blue Ninetales behind the ears as she accepted the book. Miller never ceased to amaze her. Color variations were not unheard of among Pokemon, but they were pretty uncommon. And they always fascinated Gobrianna (her own Charizard had a rather unusual mark on its snout, which had first piqued her curiosity on the subject). It had been her investigation into exactly what produced color variations in newborn Pokemon three years ago that had led to her first meeting with Blu, at a Pokemon convention held in Saffron City. Miller had been on display that day, and Gobrianna couldn’t resist the opportunity to question its trainer. The two girls had hit it off immediately.

Finding the page in the novel she had been on, Gobrianna slipped in a bookmark before setting it on the corner of her desk. (The only other adornment of the tabletop was an Arbok-shaped picture frame displaying the smiling faces of a family of three . . . and Blu at the moment.) Finally she returned her gaze to her visitor. "So, what brings the grand and noble leader of the magnificent, adored, wondrous, unbelievably successful OPL to the humble Fantasy Gym?" she asked Blu as the Ninetales returned to its trainer’s side.

The blue-clad Pokemon trainer playfully struck a dramatic pose at her friend’s words. Their give-and-take banter was the result of three good years of solid friendship. They had helped each other out of tough spots in the past, and had actually started the OPL together, which was why they were the two highest members of the Elite Four. Others had joined this new League in time, but no one really got that close to Gobrianna, who was something of a loner. Blu was her closet human friend.

The girl adjusted her black shades as the mischievous look faded, her face going rigid and formal. But Gobrianna could hear the barely contained torrent of snickers in her voice. "Now Bri," she scolded, "the OPL is a serious business, and it’s all we have. As members of the Elite Four for this League, we have to set an example. I won’t have you making fun of it."

"Yes, ma’am!" Gobrianna saluted smartly. Blu couldn’t help it; her solemn mask cracked and a chuckle slipped out.

"Right. Don’t you forget it. Anyway, Miller and I came to tell you of a small rumor we heard from one of the first Gym leaders. We knew you’d want to know right away."

She cocked her head, intrigued despite herself and not having the faintest idea what her friend was talking about. "Oh really? And what’s that?"

Blu leaned forward to bring their heads inches apart as she whispered confidentially, "There’s a brown-haired, blue-eyed challenger with glasses making his way through our League pretty quickly. He says his name’s Daniel."

Gobrianna jerked back in her chair in shock. She wouldn’t have been more surprised if Blu had announced that Lance himself was challenging the OPL. "Daniel?" she gasped. "The boy I told you I met five years ago?" At her friend’s ecstatic nod she blinked, perplexed, and then slowly shook her head in awe. "Daniel," she murmured again. "Wow. I wonder how much he’s changed in five years?"

Blu opened her mouth (from the look on her face she was about to start ribbing her friend about love at first sight) when there was a loud, wooden creak as the double-doors at the front of the building were pushed open. Gobrianna’s Gym was large and mostly empty; noises had a tendency to be amplified. The Gym leader usually caught the sound of the front doors opening, surprising visitors by knowing they were coming.

Both girls and the Ninetales turned expectantly toward the wide doorway that connected the front hall with the room that they were in. Soon a dark shadow slithered across the red-carpeted floor. The serpentine creature lifted its smooth head up and locked the black orbs of its eyes on the trio. The round blue bulb under its chin gleamed and it wiggled the wing-like ears on either side of its head.

"Ripley!" Blu called to her Dragonair. "What are you doing here?" The dragon Pokemon glided across the floor until it stopped before the girl. There was a brief conversation—trainer to trainee—and then Blu let out an exasperated sigh, her eyes rolling heavenward behind her shades.

She turned to Gobrianna with an apologetic grin. "Sorry, Bri, but I won’t be able to go into details. Gotta run. Leading the OPL isn’t all fun and games, as much as we’d like to believe otherwise." The blue-haired girl hopped off the desk and stretched. "Come on Miller, Ripley. I’m going to need you two to handle this." Her two Pokemon trailed behind her as she strode for the doorway. Just before the dark shadows of the hall swallowed her, Blu turned back toward her friend. "Hey, Bri."

Gobrianna had already been reaching for her novel. Her hand hovered above the hardcover. "Yeah?"

The fifteen-year-old’s playful grin was back. "You’d better start training. This Daniel fellow is going to get here pretty quick, and if he gets by you, I’m going to have to think you’re going easy on him." Her eyebrows quirked roguishly; Gobrianna braced herself. "And I promise you that your boyfriend won’t get by me so easily."

She got her desired response immediately. "BLU!" cried Gobrianna. In retaliation her hand snatched up the book and in an instant it was sailing across the room once again. Blu laughed and ducked into the darkened hallway with her two Pokemon as the novel crashed harmlessly into the wall and slid to the floor. In another moment there was the creak of the front doors opening again, then silence settled over the Fantasy Gym.

"That girl," the Gym leader muttered darkly, and a moment later broke into a round of chuckles. She couldn’t help it. Spend one day with a boy and you’re marked for life, she thought. I’m never going to hear the end of this! Oh well, guess I was asking for it when I told her to begin with.

Gobrianna stood up and stretched as Blu had, hearing her back crick. She really had been sitting at that desk too long. Crossing the room to retrieve her book, the sixteen-year-old was suddenly aware of a little pang of loneliness. Blu had the tendency to do that to people. She was so full of energy! The girl was always going somewhere, always doing something. When she burst into a room her liveliness was contagious, everyone automatically got caught up in her whirlwind of activity. And when she left, the vivacity that crackled in the air followed her right out the door (some were glad for a chance to catch their breath). In contrast, Gobrianna was more of a slow and steady person. Her energetic friend could both delight and frustrate her with her never-ending enthusiasm.

But the feeling wasn’t entirely Blu’s fault, either. Gobrianna was, to put it quite plainly, bored with life. Oh, there was nothing she could complain about, really. She had the love of friends and family, her own Gym, a high standing as the second of the Elite Four in a successful Pokemon League. Neither she nor her mother would ever have to worry about money problems again. But Gobrianna still missed the open road. Her Pokemon journey had ended three years ago, when she was thirteen and had met Blu. It hadn’t taken them long to decide on becoming business partners, and opening up the OPL soon followed.

This feeling that persisted to eat away at her wasn’t the restlessness that had plagued the girl since she was ten years old. It wasn’t the feeling of isolation, that she was strange, different. It certainly wasn’t the Eight, influencing her intuition and emotions. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t felt anything from them in almost three years, ever since the OPL first opened. No, this was something much more mundane.

Impatience. That was it, Gobrianna decided upon reflection. She couldn’t take this anymore. Sitting around, day after day, attending meetings and training Pokemon and accepting challenges. While in the back of her mind, every waking hour, a little voice was saying, Today was another day you didn’t do it. You didn’t bring fantasy back to the world, and you didn’t save the Eight. She had come to hate that little voice. For three long years she had accomplished nothing toward her goal; her destiny remained unfulfilled. How much longer would she have to wait? Had the Eight left her for good? Why wouldn’t they come to her?

The Pokemon trainer heaved a sigh, staring down at the book in her hands. She still read these fantasy novels with the same passion as she had all her life. The Fantasy Gym’s library was so large it took up the entire second floor of the building. As her turquoise eyes fastened on the image of the great black snake with wings spread wide, the engraved words Second Chances in an arch over the picture, she realized her spark of loneliness had deepened to discouragement. It tugged at her heart painfully. That’s what you get for feeling sorry for yourself, she told herself miserably. Man, do I need a vacation.

Gobrianna tipped her head, thinking, then nodded to herself decisively. Being lonely was one thing a Pokemon trainer never had to deal with for very long. Setting the novel back on her desk, she headed for the small, unadorned door set into the corner of the back wall. Here she stopped again, looking back at the room. A flicker of pride ran up her spine and at what she saw, chasing away her gloom for a moment.

The entrance to the hall that Blu had disappeared down moments before (large enough to allow a Snorlax to enter, if it ever got up off its rump) was set in the center of the wall across from her. Above it hung two giant paintings, each at least eight by eight feet large. Six others covered the other walls, two on each, including two above her very head.

The artist was an old man by the name of Austin Gray. She had found him two years ago, after having been told he was the very best at what he did. He had been retired, but when she had explained to him what she wanted, described the eight portraits she needed done in as much detail as she could, his old brown eyes had lit up with such passion she hadn’t been able to hold back her broad smile of joy. Austin had pulled out his canvas and oil paints that very day. A week later he had appeared at Gobrianna’s doorstep, thin and haggard as if he hadn’t slept for days, but his face showed pure elation as he announced his masterpieces complete and that he was donating them to her Gym. The day after that she had seen him on a television special. He was proclaiming his retirement had been much too premature.

Now the eight giant paintings gazed down at her with such life and realism it simply took her breath away. On the wall across from her a lion of silver fur and full white mane snarled majestically, frozen in time, its silver wings spread wide. The other painting showed a large gray wolf with eyes of green and gold, head raised to sniff the wind for danger.

To her left a light gray gryphon’s wings were stretched in flight. It foreparts were that of an eagle, with a sharp beak opened in a silent scream of freedom and eagle’s wings, while the hind legs and tail were a lion’s. A bird with feathers of silver flame was depicted next to it. This phoenix perched on nothing, wings folded, (no backgrounds in any of the paintings to take the focus away from the remarkable creatures) and the flames that made up its body seemed to crackle and dance in the dim light as if the amazing bird really stood in the room.

On her right one painting displayed a winged horse serenely gazing outward with calm blue eyes, silvery white wings folded over its slender back. The other was a dark gray dragon with no forelegs, a wyvern. It was diving out of the unseen sky, wings plastered tightly to its sides, its blazing blue eyes locked on something below that only it could see.

And above Gobrianna, though she couldn’t see them from her position, the images of the two creatures that visitors first laid eyes on upon entering the room flared in her mind. A silver dragon stood proudly, nobly, its eyes of fire devouring the being that dared gaze into them with a knowledge that defied mortality. And a rearing unicorn, the color of sea foam with eyes as deep and blue as the ocean, was portrayed beside it. Its spiral horn gleamed with a pure, silver light.

Gobrianna’s face allowed a small smile before her loneliness reclaimed her. Other than the eight paintings, the desk and the dark red carpet underfoot were the only decorations in the room. The Pokemon trainer was suddenly struck by a thought: this room symbolized her life now. It was simple and modest, but overlooked by a beauty and mystery so strong it was impossible to concentrate on anything else. That was exactly how the girl felt. She took one last look, then wrapped her left hand around the walking stick that leaned against the wall in the corner (she was never seen without it) and turned the knob.

The hall beyond the plain door was dark and cool. Gobrianna kept the lights in her Gym down low, to add to the air of mystery that she loved to create. This was the personal part of her home, the part Pokemon challengers rarely saw. Doors that led to the kitchen, rec. room, bathroom, her bedroom, guestrooms, and others appeared and were swallowed just as abruptly by the darkness as she passed by, along with the grand marble and wooden staircase that led to the second floor. Her staff made repetitive dull raps on the wooden floor as she wove her way down the hall. With quick, sure steps she soon approached the back door.

Gobrianna had to squint as she opened the door and sunlight flooded the narrow hallway. She held up her free hand to shade her eyes until they adjusted to the harsh sunshine. Eventually her broad backyard came into focus. Beyond a long swimming pool spread an open field, separated by a line of trees tipped with early-autumn orange. And Pokemon populated the peaceful scene: the answer to her loneliness.

"Char?" Up lumbered a massive orange lizard, carefully skirting the pool in a wide curve, its tail held high and proud. It was most obviously master of its domain. Seeing her troubled expression, it nuzzled her shoulder affectionately, causing Gobrianna’s face to break into a huge smile. Her gloomy thoughts again receded for a little while as she felt the love of and for her trainees flood her being.

Gobrianna wrapped her arms around the Pokemon briefly. "Good, now that I’m here with my Pokemon. And you, Charizard?" she asked.

The winged lizard shrugged its large shoulders. "Char," it replied, its flaming tail swishing. It turned its head to look back at the pool and snarled in disgust. "Izard, char. Char charizard."

Its trainer laughed, glad her spirits were lifted. "Are we going to have this conversation every day? I’m sorry, Charizard. I know you don’t like the pool, but its here for the water Pokemon, and it’s going to stay." A Lapras floating gently in the water nodded appreciatively.

Charizard snorted, but let the matter drop. Falling into step beside its trainer, it followed her past the pool and through the tree line, where a Mankey was sleeping on an overhead branch next to a Butterfree. In the field a Rapidash spotted its trainer and trotted up with a nicker of welcome. Gobrianna scratched its flaming forehead below its horn, the fire sending a tingle through her hand but no pain from a burn. She wanted to see her Pokemon happy, or she was afraid the despairing feelings would return to harass her. "Run," she whispered into its silken ear. With a spirited neigh it kicked up its heels and dashed away, racing the wind. Gobrianna watched it run and felt her soul galloping along with it.

Her fire lizard brought her back to herself with a hearty thump of its wing on her back. She grinned as she turned to look it in the eye, but suddenly all the effort she put into keeping her emotions at bay went up in smoke as she broke down and slumped against her Pokemon’s shoulder. "I dunno, Charizard," the trainer sighed. "I’ve been waiting for so long. Do you think the Eight still need us? Ever since we first met them, the times they’ve called us to their realm I could count on one hand. But it’s been three years! Wha . . . what if no one believes in fantasy anymore? What if they don’t have the strength to come to me?" She swallowed heavily. "Or, what if . . . I did something? Something wrong? What if they don’t want me anymore?" she whispered.

"Char," rumbled her first Pokemon sympathetically, wrapping its wing around her. "Char charizard char. Zard char!"

Gobrianna looked up, blinking rapidly. "Yeah," she mumbled. "You’re right, of course." She gave a small laugh, a bitter sound. "It’s not like they have another choice. It’s me or nothing."

Charizard shook its head. That wasn’t what it meant! "Charizard, izard char!"

She chuckled weakly. "Yes, I am feeling sorry for myself again. Sorry." She took a deep breath. "Accepting challenges all day may not be leading me any further toward my dreams, but at least I’m helping other challengers achieve theirs. And founding a Pokemon League is nothing to sneeze at!" Her laugh lost its bitterness this time around. "When the Eight told me to make myself part of the OPL, I didn’t know they meant I had to create it myself! Well, with Blu anyway. Thank God for Blu. I had no idea how to start something as complicated as a single Gym, let alone a League! I guess I just have to learn a little patience. Thank you, Charizard."

The upright lizard nodded, satisfied. This was not the first time its trainer had turned to it for council, nor would it be the last. Five years ago—a lifetime to a Pokemon—the Eight had told Charizard that Gobrianna would only be able to put her trust in six Chosen Pokemon, and that itself was the first of these six. The fire Pokemon even wore their mark, a silver spot on the end of its snout, and it wore it with pride. Whenever its trainer needed it, it would always be there for her.

A cold shadow unexpectedly chose that moment to fall across the sun, darkening the entire field as a cool breeze stirred the leaves of the trees and the tall grass at their feet. Gobrianna looked up. "A storm?" she wondered aloud, before realizing that the sun still shone brightly. But that light wasn’t falling on the field behind the Fantasy Gym, almost as if a wall of darkness had sprang up, separating the outside world from where she stood with her Pokemon. The breeze increased into a strong wind, whipping her long hair about her.

Until the staff began to quiver in her hand, the Pokemon trainer had no idea what was going on. Of course, she wasn’t as in shock as some people might have been, having had some experience with strange occurrences. But as the slight tremble traveled the length of the golden wood, tickling the palm of her hand, recognition dawned on Gobrianna. Her face lit up with awe and exhilaration, even as she dared wonder if it was really happening.

The Eight were coming for her! Finally, as if they had been called by her very thoughts (though it wasn’t the first time these thoughts had surfaced, not by far), they had returned! Her heart filled to the brim with excitement. She knew she was ready. "Talk about coincidences," muttered Gobrianna, her words stolen away by the now-savage wind. She rose her voice to be heard above the gale. "Stand close to me, Charizard!" Her own hair twirled around her face, blinding her until she could see nothing, keeping her from discovering if her Pokemon had heard and obeyed or not.

Then all was darkness.

* * *

"You have kept the staff and the necklace with you. This is good." Gobrianna almost failed to be shocked by the immense voice, the voice that was somehow neither female nor male and many voices merged and mingled into one. Almost. Even though she had been expecting it, the voice of the Eight was a large and powerful force. It was difficult not to be swayed by it. When the eight large creatures—she came up to the shoulders of the smallest one—appeared out of the blackness without warning, as they always did, she bowed her head briefly in respect. The trainer sensed movement beside her as Charizard, Chosen of the Pokemon, mirrored her action.

"Greeting, Chosen," they spoke to her motionlessly. Though the years had seemed agonizingly long, the eight creatures appeared exactly as they had the first time she had met them. Her head swiveled as she looked around the circle of mythical beasts that encompassed her, meeting each in their multicolored eyes: The dragon, the unicorn, the phoenix, the gryphon, the winged lion, the giant wolf, the wyvern and the winged horse. The Eight.

"Greetings," she replied. "It has been a long time since we last met."

As always, the dragon and the unicorn seemed to be the ones to speak to her, though they made no move to support the impression. "You can take care of yourself, Chosen. You do not need us to be with you every step of your journey."

"True," she agreed, "but I was worried that the world had changed so much that fantasy was no longer strong enough to contact me, even with the help of the staff." Her hand tightened around the wooden pole in her grip until the knuckles whited, revealing just how worried she had really been. Knowing from experience that the Eight were direct, and expected her to respond in kind, she immediately got to the point. "Three years ago I ended my Pokemon journey. I created my own Pokemon League, the OPL, and I found the six Chosen Pokemon that make up my team. I have done what you asked of me. I’m ready to bring fantasy back to my world, to save you. I’m ready for my destiny."

Finishing her small speech, the girl waited for their response expectantly. She didn’t have to wait for long. "Are you now?" they answered, amused. Mirth shone in the fire and water eyes of the dragon and the unicorn before her. Gobrianna’s brow crashed together, but she stood her ground at their tone, refusing to look away from their intense gaze. She had to prove to them that she believed what she said. The beings seemed to sigh noiselessly. "We know you are weary of waiting, Chosen. We know you yearn to do as we wish, for us as well as for your world, but you are young yet. The path ahead will not be a smooth one. A being with more experience, more knowledge and more years than you may very well fail. You can accomplish your destiny, but only when you are ready."

Gobrianna’s shoulders slumped. She was ready, she was! Why could the Eight not see that? She had been waiting for years—literally—ever since she was sure the OPL was a success and the last of the Chosen Pokemon, Lapras, had found her. She had trained with them diligently; they trusted her and she them. How much longer did she have to wait?

The sixteen-year-old straightened, held her head high. The Eight would not see their Chosen pouting like a child. She struggled to keep the impatience out of her voice, but sensed that they could hear it anyway. "Then why have you contacted me, if I’m not ready? It’s been three years; you must have a reason. You always do."

Again that motionless, silent sigh. Then, in a sudden swift movement, she felt the eight pairs of eyes lock onto her. Those eyes, eyes of every color, shape and size, devoured her, penetrated her being, stared into her very soul. A soft gasp escaped her lips as those stares plunged inside her. All the shameful and weak things she had ever done were suddenly open to them to read like the novels she enjoyed so much. They knew everything about her, everything thought and action. They had made her, created her just as much as her parents had. She stood still in the middle of that circle of powerful beings, knowing they were judging her, and could only wait for what their verdict would be. The silent communication they used amongst themselves flowed over her as they conversed with one another. About what, she could only guess.

Finally their concentrated stares eased from her body, and Gobrianna felt a strange pressure in her chest that she hadn’t noticed melt away in response. Whatever they had been looking for, the Eight had found it. She could see it in their inhuman eyes. The dragon and the unicorn spoke again, and she heard the very real regret in their voice. "We have no choice, Chosen. The Darkness has increased the intensity of its attacks. It does not matter that we feel you still need time, the Darkness believes you could defeat their plan now. And to ensure that this will not happen, we feel they will begin their greatest attack at any time."

Gobrianna gulped. Her first, last and only meeting with the Darkness had been one time too many. The power behind that force was unbelievable, perhaps even stronger than the Eight, because the Darkness would not hesitate to do anything—hurt anyone—to get what it wanted. She knew this first-hand. "W-will they try to take me again?" she whispered, aware of the tremor in her voice. Her free hand gripped the silver necklace hanging around her neck for comfort, and she felt Charizard sidle toward her (careful to keep its burning tail away from her clothes).

The Eights’ many eyes looked troubled, which did nothing to slow her rapidly quickening heartbeat. "The Darkness knows you have called to us in the past. You could do so again, and because you are one of the few who still believe in us, we can protect you. But out strength is diminishing. It is a dangerous time to fulfill your destiny, but it would be more dangerous not to leave now." Gobrianna heard a gravity in their voice that she never had before, almost bordering on desperation. It struck her that the Eight hadn’t just been overprotective or underestimating her abilities. They had much more power and knowledge than she could ever imagine, and they really didn’t think she was ready. That probably meant she wasn’t. Could she prove them wrong? Could she really do what fantasy itself doubted she could?

Well, she didn’t have much choice. She would have to, or her world was done for.

Filled with this last thought, Gobrianna drew on the feeling of determination it created in her to fuel her words. "Then we can’t wait until you think I’m ready. You have to send me now, or the Darkness will strike and we won’t be in a position to stop it. Tell me what I need to know, and I’ll go."

The eight silver creatures nodded as one. "You speak the truth, Chosen. We must return you with the knowledge you need, and it must be now. Listen to our words well. To bring fantasy back to your world there is someone you must find. He is—"

Something happened that interrupted the strong, grave voice of the creatures, something that Gobrianna couldn’t understand. For the first time in her life, she witnessed the Eight in panic. Their colorful eyes widened in fear, and the beings that had never made more than a slight movement in all the time she knew of them suddenly came to life. The unicorn reared on its hind legs just like in Austin Gray’s painting, trumpeting in a voice like a bronze church bell. The beings with wings opened them wide and beat the air, creating a hot dry wind that blew through the dark realm. Each creature opened its jaws, emitting an ear-splitting cry. The giant wolf bayed like a creature straight from Hell. The lion roared, the phoenix screamed, the wyvern hissed. A column of fire that would have put an Arcanine to shame sprang from the dragon’s mouth, aimed into the darkness above their heads.

The sight had frozen Gobrianna’s heart into a solid block of terrified ice, even as the flames heated her skin to a nearly unbearable level. She realized that if the dragon hadn’t pointed its great inferno upward she would have been very, very dead, killed by the very beings that had made her who she was. She wanted to clap her hands over her ears, anything to banish the unholy clamor that beat hard against her eardrums, but her hands were curled around the two objects the Eight had given her—the staff and the necklace—so stiffly that she couldn’t pry them off. Gobrianna wondered what the Eight would do if they accidentally killed her. She suddenly had no doubt that it could happen. Clued in by the dragon’s flames, she craned her head back, looking above for the cause of the magnificent beings’ alarm.

That was when she saw the Darkness descending.

Gobrianna was instantly reliving the night before her Pokemon journey began, the night she had met the Darkness. It was as it had appeared to her then: a pulsing, writhing blackness that surrounded them all, descending from above. The Eights’ plane of existence was pure blackness, but the girl had no trouble distinguishing between the darkness of the realm and the living, moving . . . evil. It seemed to glow with a dark light of its own, illuminating itself in its lightlessness. She screamed, felt her throat vibrating, but could hear no sound over the outcries of the Eight.

The mythological beings stilled in a single instant of silence and began to glow themselves, a silver light that radiated outward and met the sinuous Darkness overhead without faltering. The bright and dark lights clashed with the sound of a thunderclap and the intensity of lightning, momentarily deafening and blinding Gobrianna. A blast of air rushed down on the ten beings below, nearly lifting the girl off her feet. Charizard saw and lunged, wrapping both its arms and wings around her. She leaned against it heavily, not able to return the embrace because of her frozen hands. Her numb mind informed her that she had never felt more terrified in her life. Her heart beat hard and fast against her ribs, her unheard breath gasping like a fish out of water. She could feel her Pokemon’s heaving chest against her own. Please let me survive, she prayed. I have to get away from this. I want to live. I really really want to live!

The blast of air became a raging wind, a storm complete with the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning. The two mortals caught in the center shivered against each other, hearing only the sound of the wind, seeing only each other’s frightened eyes. The Eight, the Darkness, the black and silver lights were gone to the blinded pair. There were only themselves, the enraged wind that circled them, and the hope that they would make it out alive. Their lives had been taken out of their hands.

Faintly, a small sound came to Gobrianna. Words, but she couldn’t make them out. The girl realized with horror that it was the great multi-voice of the Eight, tiny and sounding very far away. The wind of the battling lights had separated the great beasts from their two charges. She strained to make out what they were saying, wondering if they were talking to her. ". . . must . . . back . . . only . . . now. . . ." Then a faint word that she almost grasped, but the meaning slipped away from her fear-filled mind. The rest was lost in the howling gale surrounding them. She wondered how much longer Charizard could hold onto her, and the thought of being torn away from the Pokemon, lost in the unnatural wind forever, was the most horrifying thought yet.

Then there was a soft glow between them. Looking down, Gobrianna was amazed to see a small silver gleam leaking from the fist curled around her necklace. She couldn’t loosen her grip—tried, but her fingers refused to respond. But the light strengthened, streaming outward. It enveloped the girl and the Pokemon in its gentle radiance, soothing as a mother’s loving arms after a deadly nightmare. She realized she could feel her feet leave the ground of the strange world. They were being lifted out of the darkly whirling wind, above and away from the fighting that she knew was still going on. The battle between the Darkness and the Eight. They had somehow managed to spare the strength to send them back! And while her face was still frozen in horror, her heart still trying to burst from her chest in its palpitations, her mind was just starting to accept that they were going to live.

* * *

"Ow!" she cried as she landed hard on the ground. For a moment her eyes remained closed, she just let herself breathe. Her ears were ringing. But when she realized she could feel soft grass under her she bolted up in shock. "Charizard?" The word poured from her mouth, she knew it did, but she still couldn’t hear it. All she could hear was that infernal ringing! When forcing open her blue eyes only revealed an expanse of blinding white nothingness, the stabbing pain made her instinctively want to close them again. But instead she kept them open with sheer will, causing them to water and ache. Eventually the whiteness ebbed away, to be slowly replaced with the familiar grassy field behind her Gym.

And she couldn’t see her Pokemon.

"Charizard!" screamed Gobrianna, and was rewarded when she faintly heard her own voice over the ringing in her ears. She was on her knees, and twisted her body around to look behind her. This time her scream was mingled with relief. "Charizard!"

The fire Pokemon bellowed out a groan and flopped over, its eyes closed. Immediately trying to go to it, the girl pushed her hands against the grass to heave herself to her feet. The appendages shot twin stabs of pain up her arms, and as she stumbled over to her Pokemon she looked down at them in a detached manner. Both were red and raw, stiffly cramped, and the left was imprinted with the shape of a starburst. The same shape as the cold metal emblem she could feel hanging around her neck. And both were empty.

"Staff later, Charizard now," she muttered. She heard herself more clearly now, to her vast relief. At least she wasn’t permanently deaf from her encounter with that dark evil. A shudder ran under the girl’s skin in remembrance.

"Charizard?" she asked more softly, falling to the earth beside it. A hasty check assured her that the flame on the end of its tail was still lit. The massive lizard stirred, shook its horned head from side to side, and slowly opened its eyes.

"C-char?" it rumbled uncertainly.

"We’re back," whispered its trainer. "You okay?"

The Pokemon sat up even more slowly. "Char, charizard," it grumbled, rubbing the back of its head, which had apparently landed first. "Zard?"

"I’m fine, but. . . ." Gobrianna cocked her head upward, as if looking for an answer written in the clouds. She frowned unhappily. "But the Eight never got to finish what they were trying to tell us. Who do we have to find? And where?"

The winged Pokemon painstakingly lumbered to its feet. "Izard izard char zard. Charizard zard char," it mumbled helpfully. Then its gaze lifted from her face and looked around. "Charizard!"

But Gobrianna was lost in thought and didn’t notice her trainee’s exclamation, marveling over what it had just told her. It had heard the last thing that the Eight had managed to tell them, the word she hadn’t been able to make out. The Eight wanted her to go to one of the Seafoam Islands!

"What just happened?" pondered the girl. "The Darkness . . . they did try to take me again. Or were they attacking the Eight? But why an attack like this now? The Eight told me the Darkness doesn’t directly attack them anymore." She shook her head with a small moan, still seeing that pulsing blackness, the silver creatures alive with movement, the clash of light, the wind. It was too much to think about now. She was alive, and now she knew where she needed to go. That was what she had to focus on.

A round, fuzzy body unexpectedly nuzzled her, startling Gobrianna back to the present. She looked up to find that her free Pokemon had hurried over to discover what had happened to their trainer. The Wigglytuff that had cuddled her bounced back a few feet to look her over, its long ears twitching. When the creatures saw that her eyes were finally upon them, they sent up such an uproar that it made her wince for her still-tender ears.

"Free! Free!"

"Rai!"

"Bell!"

"Bulba!"

"War."

"Chaaaaaaaaarbok!"

"Golem?"

"Vap vaporeon!" The Eevee evolution forced itself through the ring of clamoring animals, shouldering and shoving, and proudly deposited a six-foot long stick of wood before its trainer. The crowd fell silent.

"The staff!" blurted out Gobrianna, snatching it up in delight. "Great job, Vaporeon. Where was it?" The Pokemon shot out a short stream of dialogue that she struggled to follow. "After the storm . . . oh, that. Yes, I guess we were taken by the storm, but we’re back now. You found this in the field? Over there? Must have fallen from my hand. . . ."

Gobrianna shook her head, still a little dazed. She wondered briefly if she was in some kind of shock. I should rest, she thought. But first she had to tend to her worried Pokemon.

The girl looked around the assembled creatures and gathered her strength to lend to her voice, firmly announcing, "Thank you for your concern everyone, but I’m fine. Charizard too. Now, I think I just need a nap. And after that there’s a really important place I have to be. So we have to get this place ready. Rapidash, you go find Blu and tell her I’ll need to talk to her when I’m up. If she’s busy, tell one of her Pokemon. Bulbasaur, inform the rest of the Pokemon that I’m going to be leaving soon. Charizard—" She tilted her head to look at it with a grin. "—help me up, please." It complied, and she continued. "The rest of you should prepare for my absence in whatever way you want. I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me." With that she turned back to the Fantasy Gym and headed for the back door, heavily leaning upon the staff in her hand.

Charizard looked at the circle of its fellow Pokemon and told them to snap to it. The group broke up and dispersed. Soon only Vaporeon stood in the field with the fire lizard. It gazed up at it expectantly. "Vap?"

The winged Pokemon sighed. Vaporeon was another of the six Chosen Pokemon. It did disserve to know what happened. Sitting back on its haunches, Charizard began to explain.