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

It was the gentle bump of the boat that roused her. The darkness of unconsciousness receded abruptly, leaving her fully awake and aware. Whatever drug they had pumped into her had worked swiftly, but it cleared her system quickly as well. As her senses returned, she realized she could no longer hear the loud motor of the speedboat. Waves crashing against a shore were now the most prominent sound. Though her hair was still damp, her clothes and skin felt dry and warm.

Gobrianna blinked open her turquoise eyes, found herself staring at the pristine white bottom of the boat, an inch from her nose. She wasn’t listless or sluggish either. Her unplanned nap had restored the strength lost in her when she almost drowned.

The girl struggled to get up, only to find her hands bound behind her back. This reminded her quite forcefully of her present condition. Where were her captors? she wondered fearfully. Had they left her, thinking she would remain knocked out?

Gobrianna rolled over with a grunt of effort. The bright sun dazzled her vision, hanging low in the clear blue sky. The storm was gone. Well, that explained her dry clothes. How long had she been out?

"She’s awake." The Pokemon trainer swallowed a shriek of surprise as the black shadow fell over her. Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to her feet in the boat.

"Leave me alone!" she cried, amazed that she sounded more angry than afraid as she twisted out of his grip. Without her arms for balance she almost fell, but the black-cloaked man seized her again, this time locking his hands around her upper arms.

He gave her a rough shake. "Cut that out," the man snarled in a deep nasal voice. "Don’t make us hurt you, girl." She stilled.

The man pushed her forward. "Out," he ordered. When she didn’t climb over the side of the speedboat fast enough he hauled her bodily onto the small dock. For the first time Gobrianna got a good look at her surroundings. Behind her stretched the open sea, and before her spread a forest of mixed leafed and pine trees. A beach of water-smoothed rocks separated the two, green waves breaking onto the shore on either side of the dock and continuing on for as far as she could see. Out of the forest a snake-like trail emerged, densely covered in orange pine needles and yellowed leaves that proclaimed autumn had hit here earlier than it had at the Fantasy Gym. The trail ended at the dock, and a crowd of people had gathered around it. They all wore the black cloaks of the people that followed the Darkness, and all of them were staring at the new arrivals.

Gobrianna gulped. There had to be at least a dozen people of various heights and shapes, all masked by the dark cloaks, surrounding the dock in a semicircle. And that meant that they were surrounding her. With the sea to her back, (not to mention the man that held her) the girl was trapped. Even if she could get away, she had nowhere to go. She had no idea where she was.

For a moment there was silence; no one moved. Then one of the taller cloaked figures stepped forward purposefully. "You have done well Mariqu, Rodin. Her creatures?" The deep bass voice instantly triggered one of Gobrianna’s memories. Five years ago. The road. The injured Vaporeon. The men!

The girl gave a strangled gasp, her heartbeat quickening in her chest. So shocked was she that she wasn’t even aware of the figure that appeared from behind her, a second boatman that she hadn’t noticed, as he passed her and handed a small drawstring sack to the lead man. "Th-that’s impossible," she stuttered harshly, her eyes locked on the tall man. "The Eight took you. Y-you disappeared!"

He laughed, a soft and dangerous sound. "Oh, recognized me, have you?" Accepting the small bag with one hand, with the other he pulled back the hood of his cloak. He was just as she remembered him. Cool green eyes from a sharply angled face peered at her triumphantly, delighted in her shock, his blond hair immaculate. A detached, polite smile curled his thin lips. "You follow the wrong masters, girl. They have not the power to take me permanently. They merely sent me and my companions to a place distant enough to no longer be a bother to you." He shrugged. "No matter though. Obtaining the staff so many years ago did you nothing. You belong to my master now."

Gobrianna’s stomach shrank at those words. Her dark dream haunted her, reminding her of the time the Darkness had almost claimed her. Guilt burned in her at the mention of the staff. The staff the Eight had given her, and she had lost.

Afraid to let her eyes wander anywhere else, the sixteen-year-old could only watch as the lead man reached for the sack he held in his hand and opened the neck, gazing inside. His small smile faded as his head snapped up, green eyes locked onto the face of the man that held her. "There are only five here. She would have carried six."

The Pokemon trainer’s captor bowed his head. "She only wore five when we caught her, Gileman. We have searched her thoroughly. If she had a sixth, it is not on her."

But Gobrianna wasn’t listening to the reply. She had finally gotten over the fact that the man before her had survived, and as the words he spoke sunk into her mind her eyes widened in horror. Her belt was empty.

"NO!" she screamed, lunging at the lead man without thinking. But the strong hands clamped around her upper arms were like bands of iron, and she went nowhere.

The smile returned to the face of the blond man, Gileman, apparent leader of this cult of followers. He withdrew one of the sparkling red and white spheres from the sack and held it out in the palm of his hand, taunting. "Oh, do these creatures mean something to you, girl? They annoy my master. I am looked upon favorably if I rid some of these pests from our world." He chuckled cruelly. "Just this morning I found a nest of those small electric rodents. I drowned them in this very bag. They were much too young to put up any fight. But I have never encountered these small balls before. I wonder . . . if one of them were crushed under my foot, would the dormant creature inside die? Perhaps you could tell me?"

Gobrianna knew he was tormenting her, and enjoying it. She looked away without answering, feeling like she was about to be sick. They could do anything they wanted to her Pokemon. She wouldn’t be able to stop them. She was outnumbered, surrounded and very, very alone. Her eyes closed in defeat.

Footsteps. And Gileman was standing over her, his shadow blocking out the warm sun. A cold hand—why were all these mens’ hands so cold?—gripped her chin and forced her head up, turquoise and green eyes meeting. He leered as he swung the bag of Pokeballs in his hand before her. "Maybe the water creature that escaped me those five years ago is in here. No one escapes me, girl. Ever. It needs to be taught a lesson. Would you like to watch?"

Gobrianna couldn’t help it. She knew he was provoking her, but she responded anyway. "Go ahead!" she snarled furiously, holding back the tears that threatened to blur her vision. "Just go ahead! Maybe you’ll pull out Charizard instead! You’ll all be burnt-out husks before you can even turn to run!"

Gileman didn’t immediately reply, studying her young face thoughtfully. His intense gaze constricted the Pokemon trainer’s throat until she could barely breathe, but she didn’t look away. She wanted to kick him, bite the hand that hovered before her and the one still touching her chin, something; but she didn’t do any of those either. Finally he nodded. "Ah, the fire lizard, yes. I suppose it would be with you." The hand that held the bag retreated. Relief washed over the girl as the sack disappeared into his black cloak. At least for now the man found her more fun to torture than her Pokemon. And still Gileman didn’t break their shared look.

Then the cold hand on her chin slowly slid down her neck. Gobrianna froze. It rested lightly on her collarbone for an instant; she was sure he could feel her heart pounding like a Kangaskhan stampede. Suddenly his hand flashed in a lightning-quick movement. She felt a sharp pain bite the back of her neck.

Gileman held up his hand as if offering a prize. Curled in his fist was a silver medallion in the shape of a starburst. The broken ends of the fine silver chain swayed in the air. "Your masters can’t save you. No one can save you." The blond man pulled back his arm and chucked the necklace over the waves.

Gobrianna’s eyes were locked onto the flash of silver as it arched up, up into the sky. It hung there for a moment, suspended in time, before beginning to descend. Spiraling down with gathering speed, it finally fell into the sea with hardly a ripple. The Pokemon trainer didn’t notice that she was biting her lip—hard—as she watched the second symbol of the Eight disappear from her life.

Gileman was speaking to the man that held her. "Bring her inside, Rodin." He turned and strode away, disappearing into the crowd.

The hands clamped around her arms shoved her forward. Gobrianna stumbled out of her reverie, but regained her footing quickly and hastened to stay ahead of her captor’s long-legged stride. An empty feeling that she didn’t understand sat heavily in her chest, as if she had no emotions at all. She knew she was still afraid, and angry to a lesser extent, but it felt like a veil had fallen over the feelings, isolating them from her consciousness. Calm flowed through her. Her mind was left clear and freethinking.

She stared straight ahead, marching mechanically, lost in thought. The dry pine needles crunched underfoot, and by listening she could tell the large group of people that had surrounded the dock were following her and the man that held her, Rodin. Gileman was somewhere back there too, but Gobrianna doubted he was very far. And he had her Pokemon. She had to get them back somehow, before he hurt them. She also had to find out where she was. Near the sea, that was all she knew for certain. And she had to escape.

Within ten minutes the trees parted, the path widening. The girl stopped, staring, but Rodin shoved her into motion again. They approached a two-story building, squatting in the center of a large clearing. It was made of faded red brick and gray concrete, cold and unfriendly if not practical, like an old schoolhouse. A thick garden of vegetables grew on either side of the stone steps rising to the dark green front door, which hung open to catch the early-autumn warmth of the day. It was up these steps that Rodin forced her, through the door and down a long hall lit with intermittent yellow lights.

Doors and other halls branched off this main hallway, and Gobrianna sensed the black-cloaked followers behind her breaking away in small groups until there was only three sets of footsteps echoing in the hall. Rodin suddenly yanked her to a halt in front of a thick wooden door. It didn’t surprise her when Gileman stepped in front of her and pushed it open with a creak that spoke of much age. As it swung open it revealed steps leading downward, disappearing almost immediately into the blackness. The blond leader, now with a lighted lantern in one hand, went first. Rodin marched her down after him.

This was the basement, floor and walls solid cement. In the circle of light cast by Gileman’s lantern, she saw metal posts standing from ground to ceiling, probably holding up the floor above. There was nothing else in the room as far as she could see. The Pokemon trainer began to shiver at the cold in the air, wishing that her hair was dry and that her sweater wasn’t adrift in the sea. She barked a sarcastic laugh in her mind. Captured and held by her worst enemies and here she was wishing for a sweater!

The two men in black brought her to the far corner of the room. Rodin gave the girl a solid kick behind her knees, forcing her down on the floor. They stood over her as she struggled to sit upright and brace her back against the cold wall, having difficulty with her hands bound behind her. Gileman’s shadowed face leered at her in the lantern light, Rodin’s still hidden beneath his hood. The taller man, seeing something in her face that he enjoyed, laughed quietly.

"Are you going to kill me?" demanded Gobrianna calmly. Her words didn’t waver. The veil over her emotions kept her fear at bay.

"Oh no," returned Gileman just as calmly. "Our master granted me a message before it left us for a great battle. We are to keep you alive until it returns. When its attack is over, your masters will be too weak to find you. The staff is gone, and they will not be able to save you as our master takes you for itself. It was a pleasant experience for us. But then again, we wanted to commit ourselves to our master. I’m sure the ceremony will be quite painful for a believer like you." With this last cheery comment, the two men turned away and retreated to the stairs, taking the light with them. Their footsteps echoed in the cold room as they pounded up the wooden stairs and slammed the door shut.

Gobrianna’s world plunged into blackness.

* * *

Deep beneath the tossing green waves of the sea, a small blue Pokemon nosed through some long strands of seaweed. "Sea," it sighed in a flute-like voice, finding nothing truly appetizing. With a flutter of the little fins at its sides it wheeled and returned to scouring the empty seafloor. The sand, tinged blue-green by the sunlight filtering down through the water, was littered with rocks large and small and the occasional kelp bed. Unexciting schools of fish darted through the currents; a Magikarp floundered by. But that was about it. The small creature’s red eyes scanned all this, disappointed that nothing of interest jumped into view. This young water Pokemon found the open sea quite boring. It flicked its spiral tail to propel itself forward with another trilling sigh.

Through the dingy water ahead something in the sand winked and flashed, twinkling like a shiny beacon. The Pokemon’s eyes fastened onto the faint sparkle. Finally, something interesting! It swam toward the glitter eagerly to investigate.

But its momentum cautiously slowed as it reached the glittering object half-buried in the sand. There was a tangle of black seaweed close-by, and it dove into this first. When careful observation of the object revealed that it neither moved nor changed in any way, the Pokemon edged out and circled the strange gleaming thing cautiously. As it passed between the sunlight and the objective, its body cast it into shadow. Suddenly the glimmer was gone.

"Horsea!" exclaimed the water Pokemon, surprised. Then realization struck. It had only been the sunlight hitting the object that caused it to shine. The blue sea creature floated closer slowly. It appeared to be a hemisphere of something hard and white, but what exactly the Horsea had no idea. Taking a chance, it darted down and nosed up the sand that had half buried the object. The disturbed silt billowed up, obscuring the Pokemon’s vision. When it settled, the object lay exposed on the bottom of the sea. Its top half shone brilliant white, and the bottom hemisphere was a deep red. The Horsea backed up a little warily. It was a Pokeball!

Wild Pokemon felt very strongly about their battle-trained relatives. Some were angered by the fact that they should live so comfortably, without ever having to worry about where they would sleep that night or when their next meal would be. Some were deathly afraid of being captured. Most were wary of anyone who spent that much time with humans. Many simply ignored them outright, shunning them when they encountered one another. In any event, it was almost never a frictionless occurrence when a wild Pokemon and a trained one met.

However, the Horsea that had discovered the red and white sphere under the waves was just an adolescent, and tired of waiting around for something exciting to happen in its undersea world. This was just what it had been waiting for! Hesitating no longer, the water Pokemon flitted forward and hit the center button with its long snout.

A blinding flash of dazzling white light—as if the Pokeball had exploded or something!—lit up the deep water. The Horsea squealed and dived back into the black seaweed, peaking out just in time to see a cloud of bubbles irrupt from the opened ball. Something streaked out of it, cutting through the wall of bubbles as it shot to the surface. Horsea, curious, followed discreetly. It surfaced behind the trained Pokemon, watching it gulp air greedily and gaze about in confusion. Its spiny yellow ears twitched as it treaded water and listened to the waves crash against one another.

The Horsea’s trepidation evaporated as it saw it was a Vaporeon, a fellow water Pokemon. "Hi!" it chirped in the language of its species, of which all Pokemon it had ever met understood.

The Vaporeon yelped and whirled around, sending a wave of water to wash over the smaller blue creature. The Horsea ducked through the wave as the Eevee evolution barked its annoyance, speaking in its own tongue as well. "Vap! Don’t sneak up on someone like that! Where am I?"

"Sea," sniffed the Horsea indignantly. "Is that what you say to the Pokemon who freed you from that round prison? At the very least, you could thank me." The spines on its face quivered, showing its affront.

"Thank you," Vaporeon responded automatically, not really thinking about what it was thanking the Horsea for. It was more concerned with how it got to its present location. The last thing it remembered, it had been doing some last minute training against Arbok at an inn in Fuchsia City. "Now, where am I?" repeated the trained Pokemon. "Where’s my trainer?"

The Horsea rolled its eyes. "I assure you I have no idea where your trainer is. No humans around here, that’s for sure."

"No kidding." Vaporeon paddled around in a short circle, eyeing the endless landscape of water. "How could I have ended up here?" it muttered to itself.

"You were in that Pokeball down there!" supplied the wild seahorse helpfully. It dipped under the waves and began to plunge into the depths, beckoning Vaporeon to follow. Taking a deep breath, the trained Pokemon dove after the wild one.

"See?" the Horsea trilled, swimming around the Pokeball that lay on the seafloor. "I found you and set you free!"

Vaporeon took the Pokeball in its mouth and headed for the surface without answering, lost in thought. How had the red and white sphere gotten all the way out here? Gobrianna would have had to cross the sea to reach the Seafoam Islands, but she wouldn’t have let one of her Pokeballs fall overboard! And if it had somehow gotten lost, she would have found a way to find it. She could have sent Lapras or Dewgong after the ball. Vaporeon knew its trainer would never abandon it on purpose. It just didn’t make sense. . . .

"Wait for me!" the Horsea whistled, hurrying after the Eevee evolution. At the surface once again, Vaporeon transferred the ball from its mouth to its fish-like tail, balancing it carefully to keep it from dropping back under the waves. It turned as the wild Horsea surfaced next to it.

"Listen up," it commanded urgently, wasting no time with pleasantries. "My trainer would never leave me out here if she had a choice. That can only mean one thing. She must be in trouble. And if my trainer is in trouble then I have to save her . . . but I have to find her first."

The seahorse was surprised, not to mention a little insulted. After all, it had done the Vaporeon a real favor, hadn’t it? The Pokemon would still be stuck at the bottom of the sea without its help, wouldn’t it? You’d think it’d like to hang around for a bit, show its appreciation, the Horsea grumbled to itself. But no, all it wants to do is run back to the humans. Talk about gratitude.

The smaller blue creature decided to try to change the Vaporeon’s mind. "What’s your rush?" it smiled. "Why don’t you take a break from all that fighting and battling the humans always make you do? There was a storm earlier today, but it’s nice now." The Horsea twirled its fins, stretching out on its back and letting the warm sun fall on its pale belly. It closed its eyes in an image of luxury. "You can stay here with me," it offered amiably. "Things will be much more interesting with a trained Pokemon around."

Its comments were only greeted with silence. The wild Pokemon cracked open a single red eye to gauge the reaction to its little speech. Vaporeon stared at the Pokemon as if it were insane. "You have to help me find my trainer," it ordered, totally ignoring everything it had said.

The Horsea sat up in shock. "Excuse me?" it snorted. "I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to. No human tells me what to do. And you can’t either."

"But I don’t know where I am. I don’t know where my trainer is. I need help!" explained Vaporeon impatiently. "You’re the only one around. You’ll have to."

"And why should I?"

"Because without my trainer we’re all going to die!" the trained Pokemon shot back.

"Humph." The Horsea was not impressed. "Whatever. I don’t know what kind of brainwashing those humans have you under, but it’s obvious you’re not thinking on your own. What Pokemon would give up freedom to slave under some stupid human who doesn’t do anything but make you fight? Or maybe you’re just as stupid as they are. That would explain why you don’t take my generous offer."

Vaporeon growled. "You take that back!" it barked angrily.

"Make me!" retorted the Horsea.

"Vap!" The trained Pokemon lunged at the little seahorse, who trilled in alarm and ducked under the waves. The two water Pokemon chased each other around and about the waves, not thinking of anything other than their anger for each other. The Horsea shot patches of black ink behind it, blinding the Eevee evolution that swam close behind. Vaporeon unconsciously wrapped its tail tight around its Pokeball to keep it from sinking into the dark depths as it pursued the wild Pokemon. It used its Quick Attack to stay close to the Horsea as it tried to lose itself among the fast currents and dancing seaweed of the sea.

The furious creatures paid no attention to where they were going as they swam through the green water of the sea, nor how long they had been at it. Suddenly the Horsea, who had been looking behind it to see how close Vaporeon had come, jerked its head back around in shock and stopped dead in the water. Vaporeon couldn’t stop in time, and crashed into the smaller Pokemon.

It found itself staring directly into the Horsea’s eyes, and saw that the anger had vanished from them. Fear had replaced the hostility, fear so strong the little seahorse was quivering in the water. "W-we shouldn’t be here," it whispered shakily.

Vaporeon’s own ire faded when it saw how serious the wild Pokemon had become. "What is it?" it whispered back.

The Horsea peered around in fright, as if expecting a Gyarados to come charging up out of the depths to devour them that very instant. Then it quickly headed for the surface, beckoning Vaporeon to follow with a flick of its spiral tail.

"See that?" the seahorse whistled, indicating with its flute-like nose. Vaporeon turned its gaze to the far horizon, where a dark smudge was smeared. The instant the Eevee evolution set eyes upon it, it shuddered without understanding why. A dark radiance seemed to envelop what it now realized was an island in the distance.

"Yikes," the trained Pokemon murmured.

The Horsea nodded. "You see? No water Pokemon swim in these waters. We all give that place a wide birth. No one’s really sure what’s out there, but whatever it is, it doesn’t like Pokemon. That’s what my mother says anyway. And even though I’ll admit I don’t listen to her very often, even I won’t go check it out. That kind of interesting I can do without." This said, the little blue Pokemon about-faced and began to swim away as fast as its fins could take it.

Vaporeon didn’t immediately follow. It continued to stare at the island that sat on the far horizon, deep in thought. It had felt this . . . this darkness somewhere before. Where? The water Pokemon thought back: back to when it had been an Eevee, back to its first trainer, back to when it chose the Water Stone, back to the boy Daniel, back to when it first met Gobrianna. . . .

Gobrianna! Memory sparked. The staff! The black men!

Now Vaporeon was the one shivering in the green seawater. It remembered the men. The black-clothed men that had tried to take the staff from Vaporeon while it was delivering it to Gobrianna. The dark men, who had an aura as black as the cloaks they wore. They had hurt Vaporeon, badly. And the same feeling of darkness that could be felt around them now shone from that island.

A sharp tug on its tail made Vaporeon yelp, breaking its train of thought. The water Pokemon whirled and found the little wild Horsea tugging urgently on its fish-like tail, almost making it lose its grip on its Pokeball. "What are you waiting around for?" it cried, with real fear in its voice. "Let’s go!"

Again Vaporeon didn’t immediately react. It turned back to look at the dark island, feeling an icy point in its chest start to spread outward. When Vaporeon had been an Eevee, it had been one of the strongest fighters around. It had even defeated its own evolutionary forms in Pokemon battles: Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon. Sarah—its first trainer—had been so proud. They had decided together that it should evolve, to become even stronger. And Eevee had chosen the Water Stone.

But as the newly evolved Vaporeon fought its first battle in its new form, a good fair match against a strong Poliwhirl, both of them were dismayed when Vaporeon was almost immediately defeated. Sarah had stared in shock as Vaporeon ran away in tears, confused and afraid. It had returned to her of course, eventually. And after even more time it had learned to accept itself. Some investigative work later revealed that the Water Stone they had used had an almost invisible, hairline crack. That fracture had disrupted the evolution. It wasn’t anything they had done wrong, they had just gotten an unlucky break. As an Eevee it had been a great fighter; as a Vaporeon it wasn’t. And that was that.

Vaporeon remembered the time just after it had evolved. After running away from the battle, it had hidden in the City Park as it started to pour. The rain dripped down the leaves of the tall trees, soaking the weeping Pokemon and making it even more miserable. Never in all its life had it ever been more afraid and alone. It was so afraid, so terrified. . . .

As terrified as I am right now, the water Pokemon thought soberly, realizing that it had hit the nail on the head. That was what made it remember its past. The fact that there were only three times in its life when it had ever been truly terrified: after it had evolved, when it had first met the dark men, and now. And it knew what it had to do.

"No." Both water Pokemon seemed startled at the firm, clear word Vaporeon spoke.

"What?" gasped the Horsea in disbelief. "What did you say?"

Vaporeon began paddling, slowly and purposefully, toward the dark island. "I said no," it replied. "I can’t run away."

The Horsea watched Vaporeon swim off, thinking that training Pokemon surely made them insane. But then it sighed and corrected itself as it flicked its tail and hurried to catch up. They were both insane. "Why are you doing this?" it pleaded. "What possible reason can you have for going to that place? And why am I following you?" The last it muttered to itself, and Vaporeon paid it no heed.

"Because," stated the Eevee evolution firmly, "I don’t understand how, but I know my trainer is there. She’s in trouble, and I’m going to save her."

* * *

Gobrianna had no way of knowing how long she had been sitting in the chilly darkness of the basement, leaning against the cold wall with her hands bound behind her, but it certainly seemed like forever. When the two black-cloaked men had first left her she had immediately struggled to her feet, more to prove to herself that she still had some freedom left than to actually stand.

She knew if she didn’t do something, her thoughts would start to wander. Wander to what these men would do to her when they were ready, and what they would do to the ones she loved. And nothing good would come of that. She’d just scare herself stupid. There had to be something that she could do to take her mind off her current situation. . . .

Starting in the corner they had shoved her into, Gobrianna began to systematically explore by sweeping her feet in wide arcs as she slowly walked a back and forth pattern across the floor. It was slow work, and she had to concentrate hard to keep from stumbling over her own feet in the dark. An incalculable time later, she concluded that there wasn’t a single thing on the basement floor. Sighing in defeat, the girl collapsed against the wall where she had finished her search, in the opposite corner that she had begun from.

She was still sitting there when the door above her creaked open without warning, allowing a widening sliver of yellow light to flow down the stairway and bathe the concrete floor at its foot. Gobrianna froze as footsteps echoed in the empty air. When the door closed, only the light of a single candle pierced the darkness of the room. It slowly floated down the stairs, carried in one hand by another of the black-clothed persons. She watched the dark hood turn to one side, then the other, seeking its prisoner. When it saw her it stepped closer unhesitatingly to stop a pace in front of her.

She watched, amazed and wary, as the cloaked person knelt and set the thick white candle on the floor. With the freed hand it gently pushed the hood of its cloak back, revealing its face in the flickering candlelight. The Pokemon trainer gasped; it was a woman!

She had a long braid of maroon hair that tumbled freely down her back now that her hood was out of the way. Her eyes were dark, dark blue, and they held no cruelty as they gazed at her from under long lashes. If anything, she looked at her . . . sympathetically?

"Sorry to keep you down here so long, in the dark," the woman spoke. Her voice was deep and husky, with a hint of an accent Gobrianna couldn’t name. "Gileman wanted you to fret for a while first."

She stiffened at the sound of the man’s name. For a moment the woman’s kind voice and tender look had made her forget the black cloak she wore on her slender frame. The mention of the heartless leader of these followers reminded her forcefully that she would find no friends here. Instead of answering, Gobrianna glared her hatred at the woman without words.

She sighed. "He said you would be like this," the woman commented casually, settling more comfortably on the hard, cold ground in front of the girl. "I told him I might be able to get you to open your mind a bit. Gileman’s a bit . . . ah, shall we say ‘devoted’ to his cause. I’m not quite so fanatical in my following."

Gobrianna did not reply. She refused to talk to this person. It was the only form of protesting she had.

The woman acted as if she didn’t notice. "Well he allowed me to visit you at least, although even that took a little persuasion." Only silence greeted her entreaty. "My name is Sable," she offered at length. "The others call you only ‘girl.’ Perhaps you can give me something more polite to address you as?"

Gobrianna snorted, but that was it.

"I see." The compassionate look in the woman’s eyes fled. With a dignified grace she stood up once more, making no move to collect the candle. "I shall leave you then. I cannot say I didn’t try." She turned to ascend the stairs and paused, calling back after a moment of silence, "I had thought you might have some questions for me. Especially about some strange creatures now in our possession?"

Gobrianna bolted to her feet. The candle’s flame danced wildly in the wind created by her movement. "What did you do to my Pokemon?" she cried. Her voice was caught between agony and fury.

There was a triumphant smile on her full lips as the woman turned back around. "So you can speak." The girl’s turquoise eyes narrowed. "What is your name?" asked the woman mildly, as if they were meeting on the street.

"Santa Claus," she snarled. "Tell me!"

"Tell me your name."

They stared at each other in the dim lighting, eyes locked. Gobrianna was the first to look away. "Gwen." She spoke the first name that came to her mind. "Why do you want to know?"

"I was merely curious, Gwen." The woman sat again, beckoning to Gobrianna to do the same. Realizing she wasn’t going to hear about her Pokemon unless she complied, she slid down the wall until they were facing each other once again.

"Your creatures are safe, for the time being. Gileman’s put them away until he is less busy. There is much preparation to be done for our master’s return."

Gobrianna swallowed hard, feeling only small comfort from what Sable told her. She knew it would only be a matter of time. "What will he do to them?" she whispered weakly.

"He will torture them for his own amusement, and then kill them." Gobrianna bit back a cry at the blunt revelation, but she couldn’t keep two small tears under control. They slipped down her cheeks, glittering in the candlelight. Sable clucked her tongue in disapproval. "Don’t, now. There’s no sense getting so worked up over simple creatures. They’re useless, ugly things. Soon they’ll all be gone, when our master has finished its plans." Seeing the girl’s horrified expression, she added, "I image a lot of people will feel as you do, but they’ll learn. You all will."

The Pokemon trainer had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from retorting. Angering her captors wouldn’t get her anywhere. So instead she turned to another question that had been eating away at her since her capture. "What happened to The Water Dragon?"

Sable’s dark blue eyes looked confused, but cleared a moment later. "Why did my master tell Gileman to seize you and keep you alive?" she returned.

So that’s how it goes, thought Gobrianna. Ask a question, answer a question. Fine. "Because I’m the only one who can mess up the Darkness’ plan. It could kill me, but it chooses to keep me alive and . . . make me its own." She shuddered.

"Ah yes." Sable nodded. "It is a very eye-opening experience. I’m sure you will find the ceremony enlightening." She couldn’t tell if the woman was being serious or making a cruel joke.

"It’ll change me," shot back Gobrianna.

"All great things can change a person," Sable returned. "Not all of it is bad."

She ignored that remark. "What about the ship I was on?"

The woman in black shrugged. "You were washed overboard in a freak storm that damaged the ship, but not fatally as they first believed. After effecting repairs they began a search, but were not successful in finding you. They then delivered their supplies to the Island they were bound for and are now returning to port, I suppose. They will recount what they believed happened, and your friends and family will think you have drowned at sea. Our two storm-callers will be returning as soon as they can. Does that answer your question?"

Gobrianna barely nodded, relief washing over her so strongly that she didn’t pay any attention to the last half of Sable’s statement. The ship was safe. She had been so terrified. If The Water Dragon had sunk, it would have been her fault. The men in black cloaks had only wanted her. The deaths of Sam and the rest of the crew would have been on her head.

Then the other half of Sable’s words hit. Drowned at sea? Her mother! Blu! The Gym and her Pokemon! She thought about the grief that they and others would go through when they heard, and a point of pain stabbed her heart.

Sable saw her face. "It is for the best," she consoled the girl. "After your eyes are opened by our master you won’t be able to have contact with them ever again. You won’t even want to."

She couldn’t take it anymore. "Go away," she growled. "I don’t have anything more to say to you."

"No? No more questions to demand of me?"

Gobrianna scowled at her. Sable gazed right back, the look of one in total control and knowing it on her coldly beautiful face. Finally the Pokemon trainer demanded one word: "Why?"

The woman cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Why do you follow the Darkness? Why does anyone? You must know that it cares only about furthering its own ends. It would turn away from you in a second if the opportunity presented itself. Sacrifice you without a second thought! What can you possibly gain for following something that cares nothing for you?" The passion in her voice surprised even Gobrianna.

Sable did not answer right away. A fraction of respect entered her dark eyes. "You ask things someone older and wiser than you would not consider. Gileman was right, you are not to be underestimated. I am impressed. I will answer your question.

"Our master does indeed care about nothing save conquering your masters and ruling this world. Few followers are mistaken in this. But we also know that our master cannot manifest bodily in this world. It can only rule through humans that believe in its power, much as your masters can only effect things through believers such as yourself. So we know that our master needs us as much as we need it. When your masters are defeated and the creatures that are so much a part of them are gone permanently, it is we who shall carry out our master’s rules on this world."

"Is that why people follow the Darkness? So they can rule the world?" whispered Gobrianna with horrid fascination.

Sable shrugged elegantly. "We all follow for different reasons. Some because they like the feel of the power they can wield. Some because they have nothing else in their lives, no family or home or love. Some simply because they know no other life; they were born into this."

"Which of those reasons is yours?" If I don’t accomplish anything else, at least I’ll have some answers, the girl thought.

The woman waved her hand in a dismissing manner. "None. I am more sensible than most. I follow because I know a war is being waged by beings much more powerful than any human could ever hope to be. The end of this war is going to bring about a change so great it will be noticed by every man, woman and child on this planet. And I don’t intend to be on the losing side when it happens."

Gobrianna’s lower lip curled in disgust. This woman didn’t even believe in what she was doing. She was as self-serving and self-centered as the Darkness! They certainly deserved each other.

Sable attempted to continue the conversation, but Gobrianna was thoroughly disgusted with the woman and refused to respond. Eventually the block-cloaked woman rose from the cold ground and gazed down at the bound girl with detachment. "So be it, Gwen. I will see you again when my master has returned." And with that she retreated up the stairs. The yellow light flowed down the stairs for a moment and vanished as the woman left.

Gobrianna heaved a sigh, but refused to watch as Sable left her alone once again. She couldn’t decide whether conversing with the enemy was better than sitting alone in the dark or not, but at least she left the candle. She stared blankly into the dancing flame as it sank lower and lower into the white wax, her thoughts heavy and deep, until it sparked and went out, and the darkness engulfed her.

* * *

"This is crazy!" the little Horsea objected in a hushed whisper. "We should swim away right now. I know! I’ll introduce you to my friends. There’s a Magikarp I know that’s really kinda bright for it kind—"

"Shh!" hissed Vaporeon. "That high-pitched voice of yours will draw them right to us." The two dark figures on shore were busy unloading a small boat and securing it to the dock; they didn’t glance out to sea. The two Pokemon sank low in the waves ten yards from shore, watching and waiting. When the black cloaks had disappeared up the trail, Vaporeon turned its eyes on its wild companion. "You’re right, you should swim away right now."

Horsea nodded. "This may be the first sensible thing you’ve said yet. We can—hey! What about you?"

"I told you, I’m here to rescue my trainer." The Eevee evolution began paddling to shore purposefully. It looked back to call its thanks to the wild Pokemon, only to find that the water’s surface was smooth and unbroken. Horsea had dunked under the waves and was hovering over the sandy bottom. From the angle, Vaporeon couldn’t tell what the little seahorse was looking at, but it watched as it nosed aside several pebbles, sending up brief billows of sand. There was a silver flash that Horsea looped around its muzzle before surfacing next to Vaporeon.

"Vapor!" exclaimed the trainee in shock. "That’s my trainer’s!" It snatched the silver necklace from the surprised water Pokemon and raced for the shore. "Fank youff!" called back Vaporeon as its paws struck the sandy bottom. It sloshed out of the sea, dripping wet.

Horsea floated in the lapping water, unable to follow. "Horsea. Be careful," it trilled softly before dipping under the next wave. The water rippled once, and Horsea was gone.

The large, smooth rocks that made up the beach promptly ended, to be replaced by a forest floor covered with the decaying matter of plant life. Vaporeon skipped from the slippery tops of the stones to the rich soil of the woods. It dropped the silver necklace in the carpet of orange pine needles and fallen leaves as it inhaled deeply. The sharp tang of autumn entered its nostrils, that smell that always permeated the air this time of year and seemed to remind the water Pokemon of its fiery cousin Flareon.

But the scent that Vaporeon had been searching for failed to be detected. There wasn’t a single Pokemon smell in the wind, it realized with distress. Usually in a forest like this Vaporeon would be able to notice the dry smell of wind and sand that was a Pidgey, and the sweet and nutty smell Rattata got from the foods they ate. Spearows smelled like hot fury and Sandshrew like the dirt they burrowed into. Pikachu had that tang that filled the air after a thunderstorm. Added to each of these would be the scent of a wild animal that lived and survived without the benefit of human help. But Vaporeon couldn’t detect any of these wild creature smells, as if there were no Pokemon here.

The water Pokemon sighed. Horsea had been right, no Pokemon lived on this island. And what am I doing here? it thought bleakly. Knowing it was the only Pokemon for miles around deflated much of the Eevee evolution’s confidence.

The wind shifted, bringing another scent to its nose. This one was sickly sweet with an underlying sour bite, like rotting fruit. Vaporeon shuddered; this smell could only come from the dark men that held Gobrianna prisoner. It snorted to get the ugly scent out of its nostrils, then wound the broken chain of the silver necklace around one paw and trotted north, the direction the breeze was blowing.

The forest passed by in a blur as Vaporeon pushed its way through fiery-colored, mostly naked bushes and low branches. Pine needles crunched underfoot. A splashing gurgle reached the Pokemon’s spiny ears, and the smell of fresh water made its nostrils flare. Shiny black eyed lit up. It broke into a run toward the sound, glad to finally be away from the saline and back to the pure water it loved. When a narrow stream came into view Vaporeon splashed in happily. It cavorted in the tugging current for a moment, heart lifting, before vaulting over the far bank and continuing on its way.

The dark smell became thicker and more cloying to the water Pokemon, but whenever it faltered the sun seemed to sparkle off the silver necklace wrapped around its paw. It thought of Gobrianna and plunged on, self-confident.

It was so filled with thoughts of rushing into the throng of dark figures, of bravely saving its trainer from her enemies, that it blundered right into the clearing where the two-story building stood without realizing.

"Por!" the Pokemon yipped, stumbling back in shock until it had hidden itself in a mostly concealing bush. Somehow it knew this was the enemy’s stronghold. It edged forward until only its finned head and front paws poked out of the bush, gazing up at the looming building. Not too long from now, the sun would be setting. Shadows appeared as living, seething things around this building, as if beckoning unwary creatures into their clutches. Vaporeon gulped uneasily.

Gotta go on. She’s in there. Alone. The water Pokemon looked for a place to move closer. It spotted the stone stairs leading up to the front door. There was a little hollowed out space under them, for storage maybe. Of what, Vaporeon didn’t particularly care. It was big enough to squeeze into.

The water Pokemon took a deep breath, one last glance around, and darted out into the open. It dashed across the clearing as fast as its four paws could take it, only stopping when it had crammed the very tips of its tail fin into the tiny space under the stone stairs. Panting, the Pokemon strained its spiny ears. It waited for the yell of someone spotting a Vaporeon or fast footsteps approaching or an alarm to sound.

Silence.

Vaporeon’s heartbeat began to slow. It craned its neck around the small enclosure, taking stock of its situation. The space it was crammed into was open on both sides of the stairs; the Pokemon’s quick entrance had shoved an assortment of gardening equipment out the other side. One thing was sure: it couldn’t stay very long. To get to the space under the stairs Vaporeon had had to tromp through a ripe and overflowing vegetable garden. Someone was bound to come along and notice the incriminating paw prints leading through the dirt.

The silver necklace flashed as if struck by sunlight once again, even in the shadows under the stairs. Vaporeon nodded decisively. It was time to act. The water Pokemon loosed its tight hold on the Pokeball held all this time by its tail. If it needed to fight in this place it would need its tail free for its Tail Whip. That was one attack that it did do well.

But it couldn’t leave the Pokeball here. What if someone came along and saw it? The Pokemon frowned thoughtfully. It would have to take it along. Now the question was how. Vaporeon peered up at the door above its head. Ah! There was a small space under the door! If it shrunk the Pokeball it should be able to fit underneath.

Doing so, the water Pokemon took the little sphere and flicked it upward with a flip of its paw. Its aim was true, and the ball rolled right under the door. Vaproeon nodded in satisfaction.

Now the Eevee evolution closed its eyes. Its form wavered as it concentrated hard, calling up its Acid Armor. Most people, unless they were Vaporeon trainers, thought that this attack merely made the Vaporeon invisible in water. It was more than that. Acid Armor actually transformed the atoms in a Vaporeon’s body into hydrogen and oxygen atoms, into water molecules. It truly became water.

If anyone had been outside the building at this time they would have seen a most peculiar sight. It would have been hard to miss a good-sized puddle of water trickle out from under the front steps, flow up the stairs, and leak through the crack under the door. Luckily there was no one outside, so Vaporeon entered undetected.

As it coalesced back into its true form, it picked the Pokeball up in its mouth. Its black eyes darted back and forth quickly. A long hallway lighted with dim yellow lamps stretched before it. Many doors and other halls branched off for as far as it could see. The immensity of it all made Vaporeon wince. Where was Gobrianna in all of this?

As the water creature’s eyes roamed, they happened to fall upon it front paw, and it was amazed to notice that the silver necklace was just as secure and unaltered as it had been before the Acid Armor has taken affect. The Pokemon blinked. How odd. Of course, this wasn’t just any old ordinary necklace. One more reason to find Gobrianna as quickly as possible.

First things first. The aquatic creature strained its spiny ears, listening for any sound of movement or voices. Nothing came to it, so it cautiously slunk toward the closest open doorway. It felt like every nerve in its body was tensed, on edge, wary and waiting. This was more important than the most serious Pokemon battle. Its trainer’s life was at stake. For a trained Pokemon there was nothing more significant in the world, not even its own life.

The room inside was dark, which meant that it was probably safe. Humans didn’t like the hang around the dark if they could help it. By moving carefully Vaporeon was able to find another doorway on the other side of the room with little trouble. It opened out into another hall, identical to the first. Maybe it even was the first. The water Pokemon shook its head and continued to explore. Many doors and hallways—even a staircase—later, it was still no closer to finding Gobrianna. There was no way to go about it systematically, this place was worse than any maze. It was all trial and error.

The Pokemon had just spied a door more elaborate than the others, one engraved with strange symbols around the edge that made Vaporeon shudder, debating on whether to go up or not when its ears twitched. Voices! Coming closer! Vaporeon dove for the nearest doorway and hid under one of the long tables inside. Thankfully a white linen tablecloth hung almost to the floor, hiding it from view. It held its breath and listened. There was the sound of a heavy door opening. The voices became clearer, sorted out to be those of a young woman and an older man. They were deep in conversation as they neared the doorway. They had come from the adorned door.

Vaporeon thought a nasty Pokemon curse as the two humans paused in front of the doorway. What luck! Go, go, go! it thought. Keep going! But the voices were escalating now, as if in a heated discussion. The Eevee evolution curled up into a ball under the table to wait and listen. There wasn’t anything else to do.

"It’s not fair!" the young woman was complaining. "Why do we slave about all day while he just sits in that room and gives everyone orders? If he needs to get it done, he can do it."

"Keep your voice down," cautioned the male voice, lowering his own as he spoke. "You don’t want Gileman to get word of what you’re saying. You know very well our master communes with him more than with any of us. It’s his duty to pass its words on to us. We aren’t doing what Gileman wants, we are doing what the master demands. Now come on, we’re too close to his chamber to continue this conversation here."

The younger of the two replied to this, but since they had finally started to move on and their footsteps echoed on the wooden floorboards, the distance and the noise masked her answer. Vaporeon didn’t particularly care anyway. The only thing it cared about was the fact that they seemed to be talking about someone is charge, and anyone in charge would know where Gobrianna was.

The Eevee evolution nosed the tablecloth up and peered out into the room. Both it and the hall appeared to be peacefully undisturbed. It edged out from under the linen and peaked around the doorway. The hallway was empty, the decorated door across the hall hung slightly ajar.

Vaporeon had planned to dash across the hall, sneak into the room, find a place to hide, and listen until whoever was in there mentioned where the prisoner was being held. Not the best of plans, perhaps, but the water Pokemon was tired of aimlessly searching this impossibly large structure, worrying every moment that someone might stumble upon it and sound the alarm. However, it found there was one large dilemma in its strategy: it was too afraid to move.

Five-year-old memories surfaced in the aquatic creature’s thoughts, unbidden. It remembered the three men it had stood against, alone and outnumbered. It remembered the malice and cruelty they had radiated as they ruthlessly attacked it. It remembered the twisted pleasure they took from hurting it. It remembered the pain.

By the time the memories receded, Vaporeon was a quivering mass of terror. It couldn’t have moved if a group of the black-cloaked beings had moved into the hall that very instant. Not even if Gobrianna herself had been there.

Gobrianna. . . . Another memory came. The memory of their first meeting, how she had stood between it and the men, preventing them from hurting it again. How she had banished the men with the weapon it had successfully brought her, then traveled far into the night to find a place of healing. Gobrianna needed Vaporeon. Without her Pokemon she couldn’t do as the shining beings wanted, she couldn’t save the world. Besides, she was its trainer. That should be enough.

Vaporeon forced its trembling legs to straighten. It picked up its head to gaze at the slightly opened door with determination. The silver necklace’s soft glow changed to an encouraging pulse, like a heartbeat as adrenaline filled a body, then dimmed and died as if knowing the Pokemon would need to all but disappear for this next challenge.

The water Pokemon skittered across the wooden hall, treading lightly and holding its tail high so no sound would give it away. It approached the engraved door slowly, sticking its nose into the gap after only a moment’s hesitation and peering inside. The room beyond was a bit larger than the size of an extravagant master bedroom, though no furniture identified it as such. It was shrouded in darkness. Several thick white candles cast the only light upon a small shrine set in center of the chamber.

Vaporeon gulped and almost retreated as its sight fell on the modest altar. A black cloth draped over it, and besides the candles tiny metallic objects that the Pokemon couldn’t identify littered the flat top. But it was the figure kneeling on the floor before the black shrine that made Vaporeon fight the compulsion to turn and run. The blond man’s dark cloak spread about him on the floor; his unhooded head was bowed in prayer. Yet even in this non-threatening position the Pokemon feared for its life. It had experienced first-hand what these dark humans were capable of. All this man had to do was turn around and see it. . . .

The Eevee evolution firmly pushed the thought away, even as it pushed its way further into the room. The candles’ light couldn’t reach far past the altar. The corners of the room were too dark to discern a still creature’s form from the flickering shadows. At least, that was what Vaporeon hoped as it curled up in as tight a ball as possible (it tucked the paw bearing the silver necklace under its body, incase the jewelry decided to start glowing again) in the corner closest to the door.

Whatever the blond man was doing, he was doing it silently. Once in a while he would shift slightly, or make a sharp movement with his head or hands, but other than that he was still. Vaporeon couldn’t guess what he was doing, but from the intensifying stiffness of his posture, it could guess he was becoming increasingly annoyed. Finally the human gathered himself and stood so fast the aquatic Pokemon had to suppress a start of surprise. Movement now would be a death wish. "I can not take this silence any longer," muttered the man in a deep bass voice that sent tremors of fear crawling over Vaporeon’s skin. It saw the man’s hands balled into fists at his side. "The girl. She will have the answers. I must question the girl." And the man whirled and started striding toward the door . . . and Vaporeon!

The Pokemon froze, completely still save for its thumping heart, as the man headed straight for it. But its mind was whirling at an incredible speed, realizing that the man’s face was the very same as the man who had attacked it those five years ago, even as its wide black eyes lit up with another recognition. Girl. Gobrianna!

Luckily the man’s green eyes weren’t searching the corners of the room he believed to be secure. They were unfocused, turned inward, thoughts far away from the dark chamber lit only with candles. He crossed the room and vanished out the door without hesitation.

Only then did Vaporeon lurch to its feet. "Efon," the water Pokemon murmured in triumph, its voice muffled by the Pokeball. It was ready to bolt out of the room and after the cloaked enemy. Thrill crowded out any fear that might have blossomed in the creature in that moment. It was going to find its trainer! As it trotted toward the door, it happened to give the lighted altar one last glance before it left the dark room. And stopped. Something metallic glinted red and white against the fat candles’ flames. Something familiar.

Vaporeon paused, torn. Would the man get so far ahead it lost him? But investigating would only take a moment, and if the object was what it thought it was. . . .

The Pokemon wheeled and loped up to the altar. There, amid a handful of tiny metal shapes strewn like confetti (perhaps some kind of tribute to whatever this shrine was built for?), a drawstring sack sat in the center of the shrine’s flat surface. Vaporeon dropped its own Pokeball in excitement. The neck had opened slightly, and candlelight shone upon a smooth red and white sphere nestled inside. Its instinct had been right; it was a Pokeball!

"Vap, vap, vap!" called the Eevee evolution, exuberantly swatting the sack off the structure with one paw. As the bag hit the floor, five sparkling Pokeballs rolled out, each one slowly spinning to a stop. An elated grin spread across Vaporeon’s face. No more being the only Pokemon in this dangerous place!

Lapras and Dewgong were too large to release in the room safely, plus they didn’t travel over land very well. But the others had no such restrictions, and by following its nose Vaporeon was able to find Charizard, Raichu and Arbok. Three rapid flicks of its fish-like tail, and a well-known white light filled the room.

"Char! C-charizard?" The massive fire lizard looked around the dark room—now made considerably lighter by the flames dancing at the end of its tail—in bewilderment. Raichu frowned, its tail lashing in agitation. Arbok hissed uneasily.

"Vap vap vapor!" the water Pokemon cried, practically jumping up in down in its urgency to gain their attention. The other three Pokemon turned to stare as its story poured out in a stream of babble. The more it said the darker the looks of the fire, electric and poison Pokemon became, until finally it stumbled to a stop. Charizard let loose a low, dangerous growl.

"Raichu!" exclaimed the large mouse, its cheek pouches sparkling in its anger. Arbok’s hiss became malicious, revealing sharp fangs. The three creatures appeared so ferocious in their rage Vaporeon actually felt slightly uneasy, even knowing that they were on its side.

Raichu, Arbok and Vaporeon looked to Charizard expectantly. Because it was Gobrianna’s first Pokemon, the others being trained by the sixteen-year-old girl looked to it for leadership. Charizard cocked its horned head to the side as it considered its options. Weighing most heavily in its mind was the fact that its trainer was here somewhere, in enemy territory, alone and defenseless. But where? Who and what would four Pokemon have to go through to get to her? Also, would they be able to complete their escape after they rescued her? Where were they? Vaporeon had mentioned an island, but that didn’t help very much. . . .

At that moment, the Pokemon the fire lizard was thinking of let loose a plaintive whimper. Charizard, Raichu and Arbok turned to it and found the water Eevee gazing forlornly at one of its front paws. Something metallic was twined around the appendage.

Charizard blinked, then again. Was that. . . ? "Zard!" summoned the fire Pokemon curtly. Vaporeon looked up and obediently trotted over, picking up its paw and offering it to the winged lizard. Charizard leaned down and gazed at what it now saw was a silver necklace with a broken chain. And not just any necklace. This was Gobrianna’s! As Charizard continued to scrutinize the piece of jewelry its trainer was never seen without, Vaporeon explained where it had found it and how it had glowed faintly until the dark man had been near. What troubled the aquatic Pokemon was that it hadn’t started glowing again now that the man was gone. Was it broken?

Charizard snorted. It didn’t think something like this could break. Impulsively it nudged the silver necklace with its snout. That got a reaction! Without warning the necklace blazed with life, brighter than an activated Pokeball. Charizard jumped back in surprise; the mark on its snout shone with the same silver light as the necklace! Almost immediately the light died, and the necklace likewise dimmed to almost nothing.

"On!" yipped Vaporeon in delight. It looked at its leader gratefully. "Vapore vaporeon?" Could it do it again?

Charizard scowled and shook its head, turning toward the door. Enough stalling, Gobrianna needed them now. The fire Pokemon was surprised to find that Arbok was already investigating the engraved exit. It had opened the door and the front half of its sinuous bulk disappeared into the hall. "Char!" announced the winged lizard.

The front half of Arbok snapped back into the room, rearing up and spreading its multicolored hood. This Pokemon of Gobrianna’s was especially crafty, known for its ability to trick and dupe its opponent. Its cunning had turned a battle more than once in the past. The poisonous snake shook its scaly head from side to side in a negative manner. "Chaaaaaaaaaarboka!" it retorted, telling its fellow Pokemon that if they openly attacked they would soon be outnumbered. Stealth was called for in this situation, not force.

Charizard, who had been ready to recommend just such an assault, saw the sense in this and nodded grudgingly. It motioned with one claw for Arbok to go ahead and lead the way.

As the snake, winged lizard and mouse quietly filed out into the hall, Vaporeon rolled the empty and not-so-empty Pokeballs back into the drawstring sack. Taking the bag in its mouth, the water Pokemon jogged out into the hall after the others. With Arbok in the lead, Charizard and Raichu plodding along side by side, and Vaporeon bringing up the rear, the four Pokemon made their way down the hallway until they came to a T-section where the hall branched left or right.

"Chu, chu," Raichu suggested, pointing to each hall and then to the quartet of Pokemon. But Charizard shook its head. It was too dangerous to split up in this place. It told Arbok to turn right.

Unfortunately, travelling with three more Pokemon didn’t make the maze-like building any less confusing. They were lost within ten minutes. And the longer the Pokemon explored, the more wary Charizard became. Where were all the black-cloaked humans? They should have run across at least one by now. That was the reason the fire lizard had Arbok go first. The poisonous snake could use its Leer attack to paralyze an enemy before he could sound the alarm. Charizard could see the same concern on the other three Pokemons’ faces.

And that wasn’t all. The longer they went without finding Gobrianna, the more the anxiety built in her first Pokemon. Vaporeon had said the dark man had left to get answers from her. That was at least fifteen minutes ago, as far as Charizard could tell. Was she all right? Where could she be? It was beginning to doubt she was even in the building, but Vaporeon seemed so sure. . . .

"Bok!" exclaimed Arbok, in the lead. It slithered forward and raised the front half of its body into the air, spreading its hood as it did whenever it was surprised or agitated. Charizard tried to see around the violet serpent, but the hallway wasn’t big enough.

"Char zard!" it snapped. Arbok twisted itself around, flicked a forked tongue in the lizard’s direction. Now it could see that what Arbok had discovered was a set of stairs made of golden oak. It gazed at them, eyes narrowed, as Vaporeon pushed its way to the front of the line.

"Vafwore!" the water Eevee spoke around a mouthful of bag. "Fworeon!"

Charizard shook its head as it rolled its eyes. All this time and they had only been investigating one floor of this place? Great. And they had lost too much time already. It was time to take a chance. "Char! Zard, izard char! Charizard zard char."

The three other Pokemon nodded as one. They agreed; it was time for more drastic action. Arbok squeezed to the side of the hall, letting Raichu, Charizard and Vaporeon hurry down to the lower floor. As it watched, the fire Pokemon directed the electric mouse down one side hall, the water Eevee down another, and stomped through an open doorway itself.

The poisonous viper hissed quietly to itself, then blatantly ignored Charizard’s orders to finish exploring the upper level and coiled its way down the stairs. When the others found Gobrianna she would be guarded, it was sure. Which meant that they would need a fast getaway, or they would quickly be overpowered. Arbok was determined to find a way. A place like this would have many secret exits. How hard could it be to find one?

* * *

Raichu had found a mess hall, a training room, multiple private bedrooms, and what appeared to be some kind of dark chapel or temple. But no Gobrianna. Its long tail twitched anxiously as it made its way down one dimly lit hallway after the other. Time was ticking down, and all the Pokemon felt it. How big could a place like this be? Surely four Pokemon should have been able to scour the entire building by now.

So lost was the electric mouse in its troubled thoughts that it failed to notice the voice until it was almost on top of it.

A soft baritone male voice was muttering around the corner up ahead, and Raichu stopped to listen to the human’s irritated tone. "Why do I always get the tedious chores? As if I have nothing better to do with my time. Of course, I could be running around outside preparing the ceremony like everyone else, but at least I wouldn’t be bored out of my skull."

Raichu snickered as it prepared to strike, feeling more like itself than it had since Vaporeon had released it into this madhouse. Finally, an open confrontation. No more quietly sneaking around, afraid of being spotted like some wimpy little Oddish. Raichu was a fiercely loyal Pokemon, and it preferred physical action to thinking its way out of a predicament. Now it was time to deal with the situation its way.

The electric rodent dashed around the corner, leaping into view and spying a lanky young man in a rumpled black cloak, leaning against a thick wooden door with his arms crossed in font of him. His hood jerked up and he had enough time to utter, "Huh? What?" before Raichu attacked.

"Rai!" The electric Pokemon whirled, lashing out with its tail. It caught the man just below the knees. He cried out, his mouth a round "o" of surprise, as the force of the blow threw him to the floor. His head smacked against the hard wood with a thud that made the Pokemon wince.

Raichu tensed, waiting for the man’s counterattack, but he didn’t get back up. A faint groan escaped the crumpled form, and his head slumped to the side. Raichu stood proudly. Ha! Fainted with one hit! The electric mouse strode past the unconscious man and approached the door. Its fancy ears quivered as it picked up a voice coming from down below its brown-tipped feet.

"—told you, I don’t know! No—please—don’t, I—" The young voice was cut off by the sharp crack of flesh on flesh.

Raichu froze, every muscle locked. Its round black eyes snapped opened wide as a sweeping rage filled it. The fury blazed along every nerve, every synapse, in a red tide of passion. He was hurting her!

"Raaaaaaiiiiiiiichuuuuuuuu!" screamed the Pokemon. Electricity streaked from its cheek pouches directly at the door, striking it full-force. It exploded into fragments of wood, showering the electric mouse as it blocked the larger chunks with its paws. The sound of irregular feet running down the hall pattered the air, and when the dust cleared Charizard and Vaporeon stood, staring in amazement.

"Rai raichu! Chu!" seethed Raichu, pointing toward the broken doorframe. The other two Pokemon growled in anger, and without another word the three flew down the wooden stairs.

What took place next seemed to happen all at once. A single oil-lamp illuminated the scene. The instant the two more powerful Pokemon hit the concrete ground together, they wheeled toward the tall man in black that stood at one end of the basement. He held Gobrianna by her upper arms; the sagging girl’s face was cloaked in shadow. As Charizard and Raichu prepared to blast the man with their most powerful attacks, Vaporeon twined between them and leaped at the pair of humans. It hit Gobrianna heavily in the chest, knocking her back just as the Fire Spin and Thunder enveloped the man. He never made a sound.

The oil-lamp sputtered, then went out.

By the light of Charizard’s burning tail the three Pokemon gathered around their trainer, gazing down with anxious eyes. The sixteen-year-old cracked open one of her own. The other was swollen shut.

As Gobrianna recognized her trainees, a weak smile transformed her pained face. But it crumpled a moment later. She sat up and put her forehead on Charizard’s shoulder. "He wouldn’t stop," she sobbed into its neck. Her voice cracked. "I really didn’t know, but he wouldn’t stop." Charizard held her gently, seeing her bound hands. It rumbled angrily to itself and slashed the cords with its claws. The girl mumbled her thanks as she brought her freed hands in front of her, massaging her raw wrists.

Vaporeon edged forward and nudged Gobrianna with its nose. "Vap?" it whimpered softly, and she reached down to pat it reassuringly.

"I’m okay," she sniffed, scrubbing her wet face with her fist. "It’s just. . . ." A shudder ran down her spine. "Never mind. What happened to, to Gileman?"

Raichu bounded toward the smoking heap a few feet away. "Rai!" it called to her.

The Pokemon trainer looked up, fear and hope warring on her bruised face. With Charizard’s help she stood up and approached the smoldering pile. "Check it out, Charizard," she whispered. As her fire Pokemon obeyed, Gobrianna decided that without someone to hold her up the floor was a much nicer place.

Vaporeon trotted up beside her. "Vafwore," it mumbled, dropping a small bag in her lap.

She reached inside and a grin split her tired face. "My Pokeballs!" The sixteen-year-old fished them out and attached them to her belt, where they belonged. As she felt the familiar weight of the spheres around her waist, her hopes rose for the first time since her capture. Maybe they would make it out of this place safely.

A gasp of pure awe escaped the girl’s lips as she realized. "Six," she breathed, astounded. "I have all six back . . . but, but how?"

Vaporeon barked happily, offering its front paw. Its trainer choked out another startled gasp. "The necklace!" she squeaked. As Vaporeon poured out its explanation, Gobrianna unwound the silver chain from the water Eevee’s paw. When her fingers touched the broken links the faint glow intensified for a brief flash, and as the light faded she found the chain once again complete and whole. The Pokemon trainer murmured a word of thanks to the beings who were now battling for their very existence. She slipped the silver piece of jewelry over her head.

Two muttering voices caught Gobrianna’s attention. Charizard and Raichu. "What is it, guys?" she called over softly.

The fire lizard turned toward its trainer. It held up the burnt garment that had belonged to Gileman. Gobrianna’s brow furrowed; she didn’t understand. Then it dawned on her: there was only the cloak. No body. The girl forced herself to stand up, ignoring the sharp aches that traveled through her frame. "Where’s Gileman?" she demanded. Charizard and Raichu shook their heads.

Gobrianna was suddenly short of breath. "We’re leaving. Now," she announced, turning toward the stairs. A huge form was descending the stairs, blocking the light leaking down from above. Before panic could blossom, the girl recognized the shape.

"Arbok?"

"Chaaaar bok," the violet snake hissed in greeting. It coiled itself at the foot of the stairs, indicating upward with the end of its tail. With a smug glint in its eyes it reported that there was an exit to the building waiting for them.

Gobrianna exhaled in relief. "Thank you, Arbok," she said. "We don’t have any time to lose. Come on, everyone. Back into your Pokeballs."

"Char!"

"Chu?"

"Vap vap!"

"Boka."

"Shh!" She held up a hand. "Arbok stays out because it has to show me the way, but the more of us that have to get out of here, the slower we’ll go. And the more likely chance we’ll be spotted. If I need protection I can call you out again, but for now this is the best chance we have of escape." The three other Pokemon weren’t happy about it, but they couldn’t argue with their trainer. They allowed Gobrianna to recall them into their Pokeballs.

"All right Arbok, lead the way. Quietly."

The poison Pokemon nodded once and slithered up the stairs, its trainer following. When they reached the top she cast an uneasy glance at the crumpled form on the floor, but when it gave no movement she turned away and hurried to keep up with her Pokemon.

Arbok glided through the halls of the brick building without hesitation, a wary and determined expression on its reptilian face. It was leading its trainer to freedom, and it would not allow anything to mess this escape up. The Pokemon cast cautious glances down each hallway it came upon, satisfied that no one was in sight. The building did indeed appear to be empty. They traveled in silence, Arbok’s ears pricked for any sound, Gobrianna striving to concentrate on the situation at hand. The episode with Gileman and her lack of food and sleep were catching up with her, and soon it was all she could do to put one foot in front of the other.

A soft hiss alerted her that her Pokemon had found something. Arbok had paused in the middle of one of the wider hallways, no doors or doorways for at least twenty feet before and behind them. Gobrianna came up beside it. "What is it?" she whispered.

Arbok gently pushed her aside with the tip of its tail. Then it slapped the wall where she had been standing.

A small section of the paneling, a five-inch or so square level with Gobrianna’s shoulder, indented as if Arbok had pushed a button. No sound of machinery or movement followed, just the scrape of the wall sliding against the wooden floor, revealing a dark space beyond. The Pokemon trainer gazed within uncertainly. There weren’t any lights inside, but from the hallway’s illumination she could tell that the narrow area was the wall space between this hall and the next, or a room.

"I don’t know, Arbok. Are you sure this is a way out?" She stepped back.

The poisonous snake slithered forward and entered the crawlspace, folding its hood against itself to fit. As its violet tail disappeared into the darkness Gobrianna took a deep breath and followed. There was a small noise ahead of her, then the wall slid into place at her back, plunging the world into blackness. She put out her hands to each side to feel the wall as she walked. The sound of the Pokemon’s body against the ground and her own quiet footsteps echoed in the tiny space.

Arbok made its way through the confined tunnel as quickly as it could, listening to its trainer stumble through the dark. Knowing that she had more than enough on her mind already, it had failed to mention to her how it had found this escape route. She didn’t need to know that it had spied a tall blond man with hard green eyes, clad only in a pair of shorts, use this very passageway. It could sense something dark about the man, something that would make Gobrianna afraid if she knew. And when it flicked out its tongue to taste the air, it smelled something strange about the man. Something that made it think of an Abra, but different. Darker. So, in the interest of successfully making it out of here alive, it kept the information from her.

When Arbok had followed the man, to ensure that it was truly a way out, it had exited the accursed building in minutes and watched the man disappear into the woods. After that it had backtracked and headed in the direction he had come from, soon finding the destroyed door and unconscious young man. Judging from the previous trip, the Pokemon assumed they would come to the end of the passageway right about. . . .

Now. Arbok’s pointed snout brushed against a rough brick wall. It hissed a warning to Gobrianna, then reared back and slammed its skull against the thick bulwark. Ouch. But the wall slid open several inches from the impact. Arbok rammed it again. Several more inches. Again. A foot. Finally the Pokemon had forced a large enough gap to slither out into the open air. Its trainer came right after, blinking in the harsh light of the setting sun. The shocked amazement on her face told Arbok that she still didn’t believe she was free.

"We . . . made it." Her voice was hushed. "We made it. Arbok, we made it!" She threw her arms around her Pokemon’s neck. Her elation seemed to have put her weariness on hold.

Arbok hissed with pleasure. It didn’t even mind when Gobrianna insisted that it return to its Pokeball. It didn’t want to leave her, but the look of freedom on her face made it hard to object. Even if she hadn’t been its trainer.

As Arbok became a flash of red light, sucked into her last empty globe, Gobrianna’s smile faded away. She was still in enemy territory, and she would have to travel quickly and quietly to find the shore. Then she could use Lapras or Dewgong and escape this nightmare once and for all.

First off, where was she? She didn’t see the front door or the vegetable garden she remembered in the dim light cast by the setting sun. All she saw was red brick and gray concrete, the side or back of the building perhaps. And although there was plenty of space between the fiery-leafed and needle-covered trees of the mixed wood to navigate through easily, there were no paths to tell Gobrianna where to go. She looked up. One side of the sky was painted a deep orange by the sunset. That would be west, then. Not that that did her much good. But Vaporeon had said this was an island, so which way would lead her to the shore faster? If she struck out aimlessly, would she just be heading further inland? How big was this island, anyway? As she pondered all this she leaned against the cold stone of the building, closing her eyes. Just a moment to rest and conserve her strength, then she’d pick a way to go. . . .

"Hey, what are you—you!"

Gobrianna’s eyes flew open and she launched herself away from the wall with a startled shriek. She didn’t even look to see who it was that had spoke. Instead she ran for all she was worth, diving into the forest without hesitation. Her exhaustion was just gone; terror burned it completely away. She was not going back there, not for anything. She would not let them take her again.

Now shouts and the pounding of many feet sounded behind her, and she coaxed more speed from her legs, arms pumping to help. Darting through the trees, forcing her way through the sparse undergrowth, she ran for all she was worth. Her feet slipped on the carpet of leaves and needles covering the ground, but she couldn’t slow. They were right behind her!

Glancing back, she saw that at least three black-cloaked figures had given chase. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of them. If she had been thinking clearly, she would have called out her Pokemon to hold them off. But the only thing on Gobrianna’s mind was the dark cellar of that building, and the cruel pleasure in his eyes as Gileman had interrogated her. She ran faster, seeing the end of the forest not far ahead. The beach would be—

Gobrianna skidded to a halt, a cry of dismay amid her harsh panting. A vertical cliff rose up fifteen feet high in front of her, as if sheered into the island by a knife. Her head whipped to either side wildly as she looked for a way around, but the cliff curved in a wide, horseshoe-like shape. If she tried to go around, it would take too much time. They would catch her. She heard triumph in the shouts behind her, and understood that she was trapped.

The girl’s turquoise eyes narrowed as she glared at the cliff blocking her way, very aware that in seconds the pursuers would reach her. No. It wouldn’t end this way. Her fingers flexed; there was only one thing to do. She took a breath and raced across the open space encircled by the curving cliff. It wasn’t even that high really, maybe twice her own height. When she leapt with all her strength and dug her fingers into a shallow crack, her hands were scant feet from the top.

The girl’s feet scrabbled for purchase, finally finding a little projection, only big enough for the toes of one foot, that she used to boost herself higher. She stretched upward to search for another handhold. Just as her questing fingers found a tiny ledge, she felt a hand clamp around her ankle. She screamed and gripped the ledge with both hands as well as she could.

"You’re not getting away, girl. And those creatures of yours are going to die." Gobrianna knew that voice. It was Rodin. Another voice was shouting from the background, calling for more help as it neared, and that was Gileman. Somehow she was not surprised.

The sixteen-year-old felt the man who had climbed up after her trying to pull her foot off the little protrusion. Because this was what was holding up most of her weight, she grit her teeth and did her best to hold on. But his grip was locked around her ankle like an iron shackle. Her fingers burned with pain at the pressure on them. She could feel every tiny imperfection in the rock under her fingertips. She couldn’t hold on much longer.

Before she slipped altogether, Gobrianna freed one hand and reached for her belt. Her fingers closed around the first of the life-filled spheres she felt, and with a grunt of effort she chucked it upward with an over-the-head toss.

The brilliant white light shone down from above her, bathing the stone in brightness and chasing away the dark brought on by nightfall. Presently an uncertain voice ventured, "Rai?"

"Raichu," she gasped out through clenched teeth. "Down here, hurry."

Sounds of outrage and movement from below, but the Pokemon trainer forcefully blocked them from her mind. She turned her face to the sky as Raichu peered over the edge. "Rai!" exclaimed the electric mouse in horror.

"Hurry—help m-ahhhh!" She shrieked as a violent tug on her ankle wrenched free her grip on the ledge. For a sickening moment Gobrianna was falling, plunging toward the people below. . . .

And there was a desperate cry of, "CHU!" from above, and she felt something encircle her wrist and she jerked to a halt, crashing painfully into the side of the cliff. She glanced upward in amazement. Raichu’s long tail encircled her wrist, and the Pokemon had dug its heels into the dirt and was doing all it could to hold on. Sweat poured from Raichu’s forehead as it strained to pull its trainer up.

"Oh no you don’t!" yelled one of the black-clothed men below. He jumped and wrapped his hand around her calf.

Gobrianna squeezed her eyes shut against the strain. She was being pulled in two! The black-haired man below, his hood blown back by his wild movement, sneered and grabbed her leg with his other hand as well. Above, Raichu squealed with its own pain. By sheer will alone it had been able to hold up its trainer, but there was no way the Pokemon could hold both humans.

"Raichu!" howled the girl in desperation, tensing every muscle in preparation for what she was about to do. "Thundershock, now!"

"Chu?"

"Now!"

"Chuuuuuuuuuuu!" The buzz of electricity filled the open air, and as the yellow light dazzled her eyes Gobrianna felt the voltage course through her body. She screamed, and over the sound heard the man’s answering outcry as the power surged through him as well. The grip on her leg vanished. He fell. She would have followed, if not for the slim tail circling her wrist.

No time to think about her aching body now. Gobrianna used her other hand and her feet to help propel her upward and over the ledge. She collapsed onto the packed dirt, breathing hard, eyes closed. Raichu nuzzled its prone trainer softly.

She ordered her hands to push her up; she had to keep going. At first they wouldn’t respond. Then, arms shaking, she managed to force herself into a semi-upright position. Raichu was sniffling quietly to itself. Causing its trainer pain had hurt it deeply.

"It—all right—‘chu," whispered Gobrianna harshly as she gasped for breath. Pushing a stray hair out of her face, hearing the crackle of static electricity as she touched it, the trainer mustered a grin for her Pokemon and patted it gently. "You—saved me. Thanks."

"Chu," the large mouse sighed at her touch.

"We have to—get away." Gobrianna filled her lungs with air. It gave her the strength to turn and look over the cliff’s edge. In the shadow cast by the precipice there was no trace of the ones who had chased her. She was too exhausted to wonder where they had gone. Turning the other way, her tired grin brightened faintly at her fortune. Here, finally, was the sea! She had thought that she never wanted to see the ocean again, after what had happened before, but the gently lapping waves were such a welcome sight that they brought weak tears to her eyes. That water was her freedom.

With a throbbing arm she drew forth two more Pokeballs from her belt. The first to spill its host onto the ground fell from nerveless fingers as the form of Lapras coalesced in the dim light. But the gentle Pokemon’s large eyes were closed, its breathing slow and easy. It still slumbered from the tranquilizer the black-cloak had pumped it full of. Gobrianna recalled Lapras and threw her next Pokeball.

The creature that formed this time was completely white, streamlined for cutting through rough water, with large flippers and a horn protruding from its forehead. "Gong?" toned Dewgong.

"No time to explain, my friend," she sighed apologetically. "We’ll need all your speed now." She thanked Raichu again before calling it back into its Pokeball, making sure all six red and white spheres were secure on her belt. She touched her silver necklace briefly as she stumbled to her feet, leaning heavily upon her other ice/water Pokemon. Together they slowly made their way to the water’s edge. Luckily the cliff had a much gentler slope on the other side, or Gobrianna could have slipped and got to the water the hard way. The packed dirt became grainy sand as the water sloshed around the girl’s ankles. The cold took her breath away. She ignored it as well as she could.

Dewgong, on the other hand, plowed into the water like a Meowth kitten with a ball of yarn. It was an awkward creature on land, but it owned the cold waves of the ocean. This was where the creature was in its element, literally and figuratively. But noticing its trainer’s drooping eyelids, the seal-like Pokemon calmed itself and held still as she tried to climb onto its back. It wasn’t until she found herself unable to summon the energy to make it over that she realized how bad off she really was. Dewgong boosted her on with its large tail fin, making sure she straddled its smooth back steadily before paddling out to the deeper water.

Gobrianna leaned forward and threw her arms around her Pokemon’s neck as far as they would go. "Dewgong," she breathed into its ear. "I can’t keep my eyes open. . . . You have to make it to the Island. . . . Counting on you." And then there was silence from the human on the Pokemon’s back.

Dewgong kept one eye on the strip of land they had just left as it swam away from it with great thrusts of its tail. There was something bad about that place, and it was glad to leave. But that wasn’t the only thing to worry about. Its trainer was weak and helpless now. It needed to get her some help. But where was the nearest Center for humans? Perhaps one of the wild Pokemon would know. . . .