"Honestly....we should all follow suit and get some rest. we've had a long day." Nate said
"yeah, being brainwashed does make you tired" Ryan laughed

"You said it Ryan!"Len said then he laughed abit. "Okay we mine as well go to bed"Alex said

Nate stepped outside and looked up at the sky
"Lily....Im sorry, i couldnt protect or save you from Drayden" Nate whispered to himself
"but next time.....i will not fail, I promise"
Ryan stepped outside
"If your thinking about Lily...dont we should focus on getting to drayden then saving her.."Ryan said "Just focus on what you can do now....and dont lose courage"
then Ryan put his hand on his shoulder, then turned around and walked away

Alex looked at Arlene sitting beside him. "Hey thanks if you didn't help me I don't know if I would have lived"Alex said then he got closer to arlene

"It's the least I could do," Arlene replied, "That shot had been meant for me." She noticed him move a little closer, and almost without thinking, she moved a bit closer to him. "I'm glad you're alright.. I was really worried that you weren't going to make it."

"Don't worry I can't leave yet I still have to help the world"Alex said. He then leaned towards Arlene.

Arlene leaned towards him a little as well, blushing just a little. "I'm glad of that," She said softly.

"Ya it's great not being dead"Alex said. Then he kissed Arlene.

Arlene blushed even more for a moment, then it slowly faded as she kissed Alex back.

Alex blushed as he kissed Arlene he then looked at her and smiled

"Hey Alex.....i need to talk to you."Ryan said..

"Huh oh what do you need?"

Arlene smiled back at Alex for a moment, then jumped badly when Ryan came in, blushing hard.

Alex stood up he staggered a bit then walked to Ryan. "Let's talk outside" Alex said

Ryan walked to the outside and closed the door...
"do you love Arlene" as Ryan said that out of the blue"If you do you know what this means right"

"Uh no I don't Ryan"Alex said he was puzzled did Ryan love Arlene too?

"Im just asking, Do you love her"Ryan asked again "cause i have something to tell you"

"Well um ya...I guess"Alex said he was embarrassed and worried

"good.....risk your life for her...stay beside her" Ryan said "If she's your light. dont lose sight of it"
and Ryan walked away

Alex was surprised. (What was that about)

Len sat in his bed looking at the godstone with Zephyr (Kyurem can you hear me...I want to be good friends with you)He thought

Ryan walked away..and said
"dont lose it" and he walked inside the shack
"Hey Alex what was that about...." Nate asked

"Nothing don't worry about it let's just get some sleep"Alex said

Nate stayed wide awake...and thought of all the events that took place
"i want to protect everyone...but to do so i need to get stronger. but how.." Nate asked

Arlene sat looking at the closed door for a time, then slowly stood. She was getting pretty tired, and she was sure that she'd end up falling asleep against the wall if she didn't get into bed first. She sat on the edge of one of the empty beds in the next room, took the headband out of her hair, then held it in her hand and looked at it. A bit of moonlight coming through the window caught the small crystal snowflake on the thin braided cord, and it glittered softly in the faint light. A single tear welled up in her eye for a moment, but she brushed it away, closing her hand around the headband. Then she slid into the bed, closed her eyes, and almost immediately fell asleep.

Nate awoke a few hours later as he thought he heard something and walked outside, he saw Ryan as the sun began to climb over the Horizon
"Ryan what are you doing up so early?" Nate asked
( http://youtu.be/iIy85KLfOVU fits the mood)
"Nate....i've seen and done things im not proud of...I've killed innocent trainers, even Cynthia, i'll never forget the sorrow in her eyes as she died. i did it cause drayden said i could leave if i did it.. he lied,and manipulated my need for power. then it was Blue, then Steven i killed them, and i dont know how to repent for that. that burden is too much to bear."Ryan explained
"hey....dont worry we'll avenge them.."Nate replied
"you've really grown, y'know, since i left.....and it seems you did more than me" Ryan said
"Yeah...." Nate said "at least we'll go back together, all of us"
"Yeah" Ryan said as he left towards the shack

Alex awoke on the floor with a soar back he got up and sat down "Ugh my back"He said.

Len woke up sitting in a chair with the god stone on the ground by him "Ack! Sorry Kyurem I must have dropped you!"Len said

Ryan and Nate walked inside the shack.....
"Mornin' everybody"Ryan howled
"Hey some people might be sleeping still" Nate replied

"Mom, do you really have to go in tomorrow?" a young girl, about 8 ears old, asked the woman sitting on the edge of her bed.
"I'm afraid so, Sweetheart; they think we're onto something really important right now," The woman gently kissed the girl's forehead, "But I promise, once this part is done, I'll be able to be home more often, okay?"
"Okay," The girl replied. She sat up then and hugged her Mom tightly, "I love you, Mom."
She hugged the little girl back, "I love you, too, Arlene."

Arlene jerked awake when she heard Ryan's loud greeting. She chuckled and got up, putting her headband up in her hair as she walked back into the main room. "Good morning." She greeted them all.

"So...whats the plan for today, should we gather our bearings and plan how we beat drayden." Nate asked
"Eventually we'll run out of time, and he'll find us. but most of his federation is gone so i wonder how he's going to go at this" Ryan said

Len walked out and smiled then looked at Alex jumping out of his chair "Oh hey Ryan hey Nate!"Len said. "I'm going outside bye!" Len then said then he walked out of the cabin and sat outside and set the godstone on the ground. "Okay Kyurem don't be shy" Len said.

"okay...Len seems awfully cheery today."Nate said
"Hey Alex.....want to train for a bit." Ryan asked

Candice came in from outside then, just in time to catch Nate's question. She leaned against one wall, "I don't think he'll try to find us just yet," She said, "He still has your friend Lily, and he's probably pretty confident in the fact that you'll come back to try and get her. He probably will get impatient if we wait too long, though, and he'll start looking for you."

"Ugh okay come out Skelose were going to improve our skills" Alex said. "Houndoom!" Skelose let out a exited bark. "Lead the way" Alex said.

"Candice your probably right, but do you know exactly what drayden is up to, cause its seems weird" Nate said
-outside-
"ok come out King" and an Empoleon came out of his pokeball "now, lets get this started, King use Flash cannon on Skelose" Ryan commanded

Candice shook her head, "No, he rarely confides the whole extent of what he's doing to anyone. I suppose, in his position at least, that was a good thing, as Misty and I both left."

"Skelose dash out of the way then fire fang"Alex yelled. the houndoom got slightly hit by the metallic blast but kept going then charged and bit the empoleon with flames coming from it's teeth.

"i see....this just made it harder to predict his next move, so how are we going to deal with this" Nate asked
-outside
"you really think you can beat me kid...we'll your going to be sadly mistaken, King use Waterfall" Ryan commanded, then The empoleon sent several geysers of water at the houndoom

"Switch now Indigo your turn"Alex said then he quickly changed his pokemon and Indigo took the attack "Leaf blade!"Alex said then the grovyle attacked the empoleon

"BLOCK IT!"Ryan commanded, but his Empoleon took the hit and was knocked out
"Not bad Kid, lets go Dynast" and out of the poke ball was a Gabite "Now use Dragon Pulse on Indigo" Ryan commanded

"Indigo aerial ace now! Then use quick attack"Alex commanded. Indigo dashed towards the Gabite taking the dragon pulse then jumping in the air and slashing from above then quickly returned by dashing into the Gabite. "Nice work"Alex said.

"Dynast you use aerial ace on Indigo, and evade its attack"
The Gabite, Dashed under indigo, then Attacked it

Candice thought for a moment. "Well, first we need to try and get Lily back to her senses again," She replied to Nate's question, "Then we should try and fight Drayden. If we lose, then we need to get off the island and hide you all somewhere until we get a new plan thought out. Today, though, I think we should all just recover a bit and think through how we're going to do that. I'm pretty sure Drayden will be able to wait one day. And besides, he'll probably need time to try and get his forces back together, too, so he'll be focusing more on that right now."

"Indigo leaf blade now!"Alex commanded but when the Grovyle went to attack it's attack collided with the aerial ace and it was overpowered then it fainted. "Darn! Come back Indigo Skelose come out it's your turn crunch" Alex said then Skelose came out and chomped on the Gabite.

"Yeah, after everything that happened we do need to recover...but drayden he seems off..a bit more, daring than usual. are there any others that still work for him, cause....now that he knows were an actual threat he might bring everything at us." Nate said

"Gabite, Dragon claw, Then use Earthquake." Ryan commanded
Gabite, escaped the crunch attack, and struck with a Dragon claw, and used Earthquake hoping for the attack to hit

"Skelose!"Alex yelled then the houndoom fainted. "Darn...You win Ryan"Alex said.

"hey that was fun...thin we should take a break..you're really strong and you have a certain focus that most trainers have, what is your motivation?"Ryan asked

"The gym leaders killed my old partner...I'm taking a walk"Alex said then he wondered off.

"hey i'll go with you then" and Ryan tried to walk up with him

"Sure why not"Alex said

"its funny....i've been on this island for a while..Captured to kill..it funny isnt it, and what happened to your old partner" Ryan said

Candice frowned a little, "You know about Elsa, Volkner, Liza and Tate.. Then there's Morty, Chuck, and Brawly. Brock, too, possibly, but no one's heard from him for a long time, so no one's certain about him."

(I think I got everyone.. Let me know if I missed someone.)

"So Ryan what's your motivation?"Alex asked.

"Brawly's Dead.....when we arrived here, we faced him and....tried to kill us by blowing us up, and killed himself in the process

Candice frowned. "Hm. I hadn't heard about that." She sighed a little bit, "I guess that's one less to worry about, then."

"My motivation.....I sold myself short for power that wasnt real. i've killed innocent people. i want, to repent" Ryan said

"Hmm...So that's it.."Alex said

"So we cut down Drayden's forces, and we have to save Lily...and i dont want to let anyone else get hurt. so are we going to storm him again or not" Nate asked
-outside-
Ryan and Alex arrived at a River...
"so you know the next events that take place will, define the future of the world...and our lives"Ryan said

Candice thought for a moment, "He'll know we're coming, so it's likely that he'll have things guarded so he'll know the moment we get there. However, if we can somehow find a way in that isn't guarded, or a way where sneaking past these guards won't be too difficult, then I think the best way would be to go in quietly and try to get to him before he knows what's going on. That's just my two cents, though; I think we should all give an opinion on this."

"I think I hear something Ryan"Alex said

"well now...two trainers i can destroy." A voice said
Ryan turned around "Alex.....be on your guard, we have company."

"Ya that's for sure but who"Alex said.

Arlene quietly stood and slipped outside. She was sure she wouldn't have anything to add to the conversation, as she agreed completely with Candice, and she wanted to get some fresh air.
The sky had grown overcast, and it looked to the girl that it might rain. She didn't mind, though; she loved the rain. She looked around, expecting Alex and Ryan to be training nearby, but they were gone. She frowned a little. "Where'd they go?" She wondered.

"Still cant tell, you did kill my champion, my name is Brock ." Brock said
"What no.....i thought you went missing thats...impossible"Ryan said
"and i have accomplices, i sent Morty after your friends" Brock said
"...Alex..go Now protect every one now...NOW!" Ryan said

"I understand don't die Ryan"Alex said then he ran towards the cabin.

Arlene heard something moving behind her, and turned quickly, reaching for her Pokeballs.

Len sat outside but then he heard something. "Arlene I hear something"Len said. "Oh hello everyone hehe"A dark voice said. "Allow my self to introduce myself the name is Morty". "Hey Morty if your a gym leader I have to beat you right! I'm in a good mood but you won't be after you meet my new friend go kyurem time to battle"Len said. The god stone was silent "Ehehe don't worry it just needs time uh anyway...go Zephyr!"Len said then his shaymin flew off his shoulder and landed ready for battle. (Kyurem your strong right well I need your strength please help I don't want to lose Zephyr)Len thought trying to hope kyurem can hear his thoughts.

"C'mon Brock lets see what you can do. I choose you Cerberus, Lets beat this joker" Ryan said
"Hmmm, go Regirock" Brock commanded
-at the shack-
"Humph, Kid im out of your league.... now go find some help so you can actually put up a fight,hahahah" Morty laughed

Arlene moved up to stand with Len and sent out Melodi, who was, as always, immediately ready for battle. "If you want a fight, you're going to get one," She told him, "Just keep in mind that it probably won't end the way you think it will."

"are you sure you want to play little girl" Morty said "I....wouldnt want anything to happen" and a Black Aura appeared around him
"i choose you Spiritomb and Gengar"

"Actually I wanted to fight crunch now" A voice said then Skelosed dashed up and locked it's jaw on gengar's leg. "Can't break free of a physical attack ghost that's cause it's dark"Alex said

"humph....Gengar, use Focus Blast, boy do you now what your getting into....i will kill you if you get in my way...Spiritomb use Dark pulse" Morty commanded

Arlene turned quickly, relief showing clearly on her face. "You're alright," She said. Then she turned back to the battle, "Melodi, use Bone Rush on the Spiritomb!"
Melodi darted forward, a long, blueish bone appearing in her paws, then swung it at the Ghost-and-Dark type.

"I thought you wanted to stay alive....oh well." and the aura around Morty increased in size
"Gengar, use shadow ball on the Girl, Spiritomb use Focus Blast on the houndoom."

"Your not hurting her"Alex said he ran in front of Arlene. (I will stay by her I won't lose her)He thought

"Alex, no!" Arlene cried, trying to step in front of him.
Melodi, however, had stepped in front of the both of them, and raised both her paws. Long, dark claws extended from the tips of each of the "fingers", and the Lucario slashed at the Shadow Ball, easily ripping it apart with the Shadow Claw attack.

"Taking both attacks for the girl i see...how honorable. but wasting your life on something so...Meaningless."Morty Taunted
"Gengar, Spiritomb do the same attacks.. lets see if i can Break the Boy"
-somewhere else-
"Cerberus, use Fire fang." Ryan commanded
"stupid kid, using fire type attacks against a rock type specialist." Brock Replied "Regirock, use Superpower"
and the Regirock colided with the Houndoom and sent it flying

"hahhaaah, thats what i like a little fight in you.....but im sorry your efforts are going to be worthless, Gengar use Psychic, and Spiritomb use Hyper beam. Morty laughed "want there more people in your group...guess they ran off"

(Sorry, I'm a little confused here.. The Psychic and Hyper Beam are aimed at Melodi, right?)

(Yup...sorry for not making that clear)

(It's fine! I thought so, but I just wanted to be sure.)

Melodi growled and tried to struggle against the Psychic attack holding it still, but it seemed like every time it moved too much, the attack caused more damage. Then came the Hyper Beam. The Lucario braced herself as best she could, and though the steel-type half of her kept the damage from being astronomical, it was enough that she was unable to continue.
"Melodi, return," Arlene said, calling the Lucario back into her Pokeball, "Thank you, Melodi. Get some rest now." Arlene then sent out Sapphire, glancing briefly towards the cabin door. He's right.. She thought, Where is everyone?

"Hey Arlene what happened" Nate said with Cyan behind him "What happened to Alex" and Nate ran to Alex
"OH! another one, i knew there had to be more..hahahaha, now you all get to die." Morty said
"you hurt my friend...now you'll pay" Nate said

"No I will fight Nate him RISE KYUREM"Len yelled then the massive ice dragon landed in front of the ghost trainer and his pokemon. "Kyurem glaciate wreck his pokemon"Len commanded then the ice surrounded the ghosts then collided into them they were on the ground frowning with there eye's closed. "Oh by the way I figured out how to make Kyurem emerge hahaha!"Len gingerly said.

"WHAT.....ha..hahah..ahhahah, you think that scares me, guess you havent seen what i can really do" Morty laughed
"Chandelure, Mismagius,Banette, Use Hypnosis on everyone then use Nightmare, lets see what your greatest fears are"
-elsewhere-
"King NO!" Ryan called
and his Empoleon was badly injured, after fighting
"guess you werent up to snuff i guess..Regirock use Ancient power on his weak pokemon
"No you dont and Ryan ran to his empoleon to guard it"
and the attack hit Ryan directly.

Arlene struggled to keep awake as the Hypnosis started to take effect. She knew if Morty attacked them while they were asleep, they'd be in trouble, not to mention the Nightmare attack that would follow this.. but slowly, the attack ate away at her strength, and she slowly sank to the ground, asleep.

Back at the river, there was a sudden yell; "Razor Leaf!", and a flurry of leaves from Candice's Abomasnow shot out and attacked Brock's Regirock.

(Were am I am I dreaming?)Alex thought then his eye's opened he saw Fate lying there...dead then he heard a voice "You didn't help me you let me die Alex you did this to me you sat there and did nothing you watched it happen you didn't help me you did this"It said repeatedly then Fate seemed to turn into nothing "Fate no Fate whats happening"Alex said then the voices kept repeating saying the same thing then Alex heard Fate's cry's for help "Fate were are you Fate FATE what is this"Alex yelled out then he started running the cry's got worse the voice grew louder "WHAT IS GOING ON AAAAAAAHH FAAATE"Alex cried out went to his knees and put his hands over his head but it only got worse Alex just sat there shivering tears coming from his eye's as they cries grew terrible and distorted and the voice get ear piercing loud and sounded angry.

(Is this...real)Nate thought...."are you strong enough, can you protect your friends....." a voice said to him "can you lead people, or will you lead them to death. only time will tell, you hate to lose friends" and out of the darkness a 12 year old nate appeared..... "no..your me.." and a crooked smile came across his face.. "No.. your actually me. i am what you despise most. "what....how"Nate asked, "it's quite simple actually....YOU HATE YOURSELF" his shadow replied, and pulled out a gun and shot nate 3 times

Arlene was standing just outside the Snowpoint Ruins, staring at the large rocks that were now blocking it up barely two yards inside the entrance. People were standing all around, some Miners that had managed to get out before the collapse had completely sealed off the entrance, some Medics that were tending to the injured, and some Police that were trying to keep the area from being too crowded. "Why can't they see me?" Arlene wondered briefly.
Then there were shouts as they pulled someone else out from the entryway; her mother. The woman was pale, and although she wasn't bleeding very much, she almost looked like she had been crushed. The medics were running towards her, but Arlene knew it wouldn't do any good. Her Mom was already dead.
She knew what would happen next; Candice would come and turn her away, and she would start crying as she heard her Dad yelling "No, Kristen, NO!!"... But neither of them came. Arlene looked around, suddenly seeing more of the dead there; some laid on the ground, and others still trapped under the rocks with only their heads and part of their body still exposed.. but they weren't Miners. She saw Candice and her Father, as well as Nate, Len, Ryan, and.. Alex. Seeing Alex there seemed to hit her the hardest. She stumbled back, tears suddenly streaming down her face. "No.. no no no no... She tried to cover her eyes, but that didn't stop those images of her friends from appearing in front of her eyes, each one worse than the last. She knelt there in the snow, crying openly, wishing it to stop...

"AUGHHHH!!!"Nate cried out in immense pain "ohhh, that sounded like it hurt...didnt it...ahahahahahhahah" the shadow laughed repeatedly, and Nate began to cry "i just wanted to be strong, but i couldnt, i want to..protect my friends" and as he said that the images of his friends appeared.. Len, Alex,Ryan, Arlene,Misty and Candice and as the appeared they Mocked him, "This guy was supposed to protect us, what a joke" , "I tried to save you from being shot, i should've just left you to die", "I betrayed a friend to keep him safe, wrong decision", "WE SHOULD"VE KILLED YOU WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE!!"
then the images faded, and a spotlight showed up. and one more image showed. it was Lily.. "Lily..not you as well" Nate said and she tried saying something but no sound came out
"You see, you have nothing, you are nothing , and you will continue to be nothing." the shadow responded

Len sat there with Zephyr but Zephyr was frightened then he looked he saw the men who had separated him from his uncle then they kicked him to the ground and took Zephyr and disappeared then he was in the forest lying there without Zephyr alone he couldn't speak or move all he could do is listen to Drayden's angry voice (Your friends didn't care about you they didn't search for you because your weak useless pathetic and couldn't save your pokemon)He heard the same thing over again as it became pitch black and became a bottomless pit all he could do is fall he tried to scream he tried to yell no but he couldn't do anything he was powerless alone falling and cold freezing cold.

"My......Light, i need it" Nate said. "What light.. all you've done is threaten and fight, you have no Light and your weak
There was a silence
"No....your wrong" and an aura began to show around nate, and the bullet wounds began to disappear "regardless of what you say..I have something...my friends... MY FRIENDS ARE MY LIGHT!" Nate yelled, and no shadow is going to tell me what to do. and there was a bright light and Nate's shadow disappeared. "this is my story and i'm going see it through" Nate said and he began to wake up

Arlene stood up suddenly and tried to run away from that terrible scene, but she suddenly realized that she wasn't really going anywhere. Everything around her was suddenly dark, aside from the pale, lifeless images of her friends around her. "Who are you trying to kid, girl?" A voice asked , seemingly from the air around her, "Why do you pretend that you really care about them? You just cling onto them so that you're not alone. That's really why you went with Candice when she found you in Iccirus; you couldn't stand being alone now that your Father was gone."
"No.." Arlene cried harder, "No, I do care! I swear, I do!"
The voice laughed harshly, continuing to tell her how terrible she was for pretending to care for her friends, talking over her every time she tried to object, and Arlene just cried harder and harder.. so much so that she started to cry outside of the dream as well...

"MORTY!!!!!"Nate yelled, i see now. Anima, Volt lets do this
"What how did you get up, you had your worst nightmare.."morty wondered
"Simple, i found my light, and my friends and you cant make me scared of that" Nate answered
"impossible" Morty responded
"Anima! use Flare Blitz and Volt use spark" Nate commanded
and the Attacks connected and knocked out mortys pokemon
"You are done" Nate said
-elsewhere-
"Candice!, i heard you turned, but to join such a weak bunch of people anymore, i can understand why" Brock Laughed

"It's something you wouldn't understand, Brock," Candice replied, "Abomasnow, Wood Hammer; knock it into the river!"
The dark green part of Abomasnow's arm began to glow a brilliant blue, and it rushed forward, slamming its arm into Regirock's side.

Nate turned to his friends and saw that they were still asleep
"Len, Alex, Arlene" as nate called to his friends
-elsewhere-
"Candice i want you to step away right now..."Ryan commanded harshly "and his dark aura returned "This Joker hurt my friends...."

Candice threw a startled look at Ryan, then did as he'd told her, calling back her Abomasnow's attack.

"ZEKROM!!, come forth" Ryan called "hey brock...whats the difference between you and me?" Ryan asked
Brock looked in fear "w-what..."
"you're a JOKE, ZEKROM Bolt strike now"
and zekrom shot a gigantic blue bolt of lightning at brock instantly killing him
"*huff, huff* and Ryan went to one knee "thanks....Candice" and his aura disappeared
lets get to the others

Candice stood frozen for a moment, shock written all over her face, then she got control of herself and walked over to Ryan, holding her hands out to help him up. "Yeah, we'd better go," She said, "Are you going to be alright?"

"Thank you...lets go" and Ryan ran towards the shack
-at the shack-
"c'mon guys....wake up, dont listen to your nightmares." Nate said "where's Ryan and Candice"

Nate's words registered very faintly in Arlene's mind, seeming to come from miles away. Nightmares.. This was a nightmare. None of this is real. The she realized something else; while Morty's Pokemon had set the nightmares to begin, it had been her own mind that had made everything up. Now that she knew all of this was in her head..
Suddenly, the voice started yelling louder, trying to stop her train of thought from going any further. Arlene stopped, choking back a sudden sob, then she got control of herself again. She began to think about her friends. Not the pale, lifeless faces around her, but the warm, smiling faces she'd gotten to know over this past day. Nate, Len, Ryan, Alex... She pictured them all very clearly, focusing on them. ".. You're wrong," She declared loudly to the still screeching voice, "I DO care about my friends! And I always will!"
A warm light then slowly began to engulf her, and she heard the strange voice screaming with frustration as the darkness around her slowly began to fade... And Arlene jerked awake.