PMD Second Chance - Chr 5

{~Neo's POV~}
I felt something furry brush past me. I think it was a pokemon's tail. However, I was still in total darkness. So what the hell was going on...?

The tail brushed past me again and my blood froze as I was overcome with a wash of realisation. I actually felt that. My sense of touch was back. I felt like squealing in happiness, but the darkness held me back. Was it safe? I didn't move. I was too scared to. The darkness was suffocating. I needed to find Faye and the others, but I didn't want to make any noises or sudden movements. Besides, only I got dragged through that dimensional hole. I was alone. Apart from the pokemon that brushed past me.

I sat in the dark for what felt like hours. My eyes were ajusting to the darkness, but I was still terrified. I squealed in terror when a tree branch burst into flames. I heard two other pokemon squeal, too. With a sigh of relief, I noticed Blaze picking up the burning object. Smart thinking. I walked over to her slowly, seeing two dark figures skulking through the shadows towards the light source. It turned out to be Faye and Shocker. The eevee said what we were all thinking.

"Where are we...?"

"I dunno..." I muttered, scanning the area. And then we all launched into our theories and arguments. I can't even remember who said what.

"Maybe its getting late...?"

"...Blaze... Seriously?! We just followed Neo through a dimensional hole. I think there's more to it!"

"Hmm, have we travelled through time, space, or to another dimension...?"

"How am I supposed to know?!"

"You're the one who's supposed to know what's going on!"

"Calm down, guys! Hmm... I remember the stories I heard as a little kid. Do you think... We're in total darkness... Has the planet been paralised?"

"No. Impossible. Look at this leaf. It's still green under the light. Grandma told me the story herself; during that event, everything lost its colour, too."

"Maybe... okay, I'm stumped."

"And just why are you all so far from civilisation?!" That definately was a new voice. A group of pokemon, mostly fire types,  holding torches like the branch Blaze had were staring at us. Right in the center was what looked to be a midget shiny absol. Instead of being double my height as a normal absol should've been, she was half my height. Her mane was fluffier and reminded me of an Eevee's. She had no visible claws, the oval on her head was instead more circular and instead of 'hair' reaching her neck, she had two short flicks of it. However, that didn't make her glare any less threatening. She had midnight blue eyes.

"We... Got lost..." I muttered. She rolled her eyes, like she knew we were lying.

"Riiiiiight. My name is Deathica, of the Wildyin tribe." We all looked around each other in confusion. The only Deathica we'd heard of was a crazy mismagius who was once friends with my grandma. She always told everyone she was talking to her haunter friend, Akefia, but nobody ever had evidence of that. Even her friend, a banette named Shadow, doubted her. Deathica Creek was the only one we knew. So, was this her in another dimension...? "Follow me!" she barked sharply, startling us all. She laughed. "You're not from around here, are you...?"

"We'll explain everything when we get to someplace lighter," Shocker said easily. She nodded and guided us to a safer spot.

---

We were surprised to find that we were in treasure town. Torches lined every building and store's exterior, along with the interior. We walked past the crossroads and saw that the guild's security had increased by a lot; the old, traditional bamboo grate had been upgraded; I noticed a row of sharp wooden spikes just under the grate; probably to impale any pokemon that seemed suspicious. There was a massive boulder covering the entrance to our house. Deathica heaved it away, with help from some of the fire types she'd brought with her.

If it wasn't for the many torches lining the stairs, it would've been pitch black inside. For some reason, our home was now some sort of... Sanctuary.

Pokemon were everywhere. Some prepared food or fires, others tried selling lanterns or low-tech lights powered with electric-type moves. Some even seemed to be sharpening weapons.

Many holes were cut into the stone walls around us and it looked to me as if there were a whole network of passages underground that probably spanned the entire region, or at least more than just town. It seemed like a place for refugees, or rebels, or a resistance. But what were they resisting?

Deathica looked towards us and dismissed her little detatchment. She took a torch from a bracket on the wall with her teeth and stepped into a tunnel. Blaze blew a small flame in front of her and also entered. She was followed by Shocker, who double-checked the bag for a luminous orb and Faye, whoose cheeks sparked brightly. I closed my eyes and tried to use the limited amount of aura ability I had. As a Riolu, an emanation pokemon, I was sure I could try to use some kind of light. Maybe it would help that in my ancestry, there were shinxes in my family. They can glow when in trouble, right? I opened my eyes after feeling like something had happened. I could see slightly better; my fur had taken on a slight glow. The things on my arms that would be white on a normal Riolu and the cream band of fur around the neck are a deep blue colour on me. They glowed in the same shade of blue. My neon blue fur was glowing faintly too, but not my neon green markings.

"Awesome!" Shocker said when he noticed.

"Your eyes are glowing a little, too," Blaze pointed out. I grinned; who would've guessed that would've been possible?

Deathica finally led us to a stone room that was lit with a nicely sized fire in the middle. I stopped the concentration and stopped glowing. We all sat by the fire.

"Okay, I can tell you're not from here," she said calmly, "Tell me everything."

"It's a long story..." I muttered.

"We have plenty of time."

---

{~Kimi's POV~}
The darkness wasn't too bad. ...That's because we were walking past a volcano. Trust me, it's scary. Especially if you're a grass type.

I stepped over a rock carefully. Gah, I don't like not being able to float like that anymore. This wasn't fair!

"How is it even possible...?" Kuro muttered.

"I have no idea... Hey, make a few sparks, will ya?"

"I already told you, I can't make the black lightning-"

"Not that! The normal lightning! We're almost past the volcano; I need to see where I'm going!"

"...Oh."

Luckily, we found ourselves outside of a small town, lanterns hung everywhere possible. A Roserade smiled at us when we headed for the lantern pole she was stood at.

"Oh! You two look new! Welcome to town! What brings a young girl and lad over to this part of the region?" I glared at her and gritted my teeth.

"I'm a girl..." At first she looked at me like I was joking. However, in the same instant, she seemed to realise that I definately sounded like a girl.

"Whoops! Sorry, young lady! Well, this is kinda awkward... But how is it that you evolved into a Gallade...?"

"I don't know... Some kinda evolution problems, I guess..." I answered truthfully. She smiled.

"Come with me, you two. You can stay with me for the night." She put on a more serious expression. "-And maybe you can explain what's going on here."

---

{~Neo's POV~}
After we finished explaining what had happened to us, Deathica gave a nod if understanding. "If what you say is true, you must be from another dimension; it's been fifty years since the planet's paralysis was prevented by a team called 'Team United'. The leader had a secret team, y'know. Team Primal. The pokemon I'm named after was on that team..."

"I know," I replied casually, "Both my grandmothers were in Team Primal."

"Really? Who?"

"Catstar the Lucario from Mom's side of the family. Death the Marowak adopted my dad when he was a young Riolu."

"Cool!"

"Anyway... Can you tell us more about what's going on and why it's so dark...?" Shocker asked curiously.

"Ah... that." the mini absol shifted uncomfortably. "You see, about sixty or seventy years ago, a star began to fall. A human was chosen to save this world, and so was brought over from the human world. That human became a Riolu. She met another Riolu and they became a rescue team, here in Treasure town. Eventually, they destroyed the star.

"About fifty years ago, another star was headed for us. Another human was chosen to save us, but I forget who they were; they formed a rescue team near the distant pokemon square. Again, the star was destroyed.

"For a long time, until time began to mess up, the world was at peace. Until several years ago, when things started to go wrong."

"What happened?"

She sighed. "The world dimming, some call it. It began to take effect slowly; the days became shorter, the nights longer. Until eventually, the darkness persisted. We believe that somehow, another metiorite could be the cause. Or maybe it's the two that were destroyed. It's difficult to figure. It might actually be nothing to do with fallen stars at all. Nobody can be sure."

We all took a moment for it to all sink in before Blaze blurted out a remark rudely.

"I've never seen such a midget Absol!" We all glared at the Torchic, who sweatdropped. Deathica laughed.

"Never heard of an Obsal? Do they not exist in your dimension?" Silence. "...Oh."