-1Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon…but some of the characters and plot I do own.

Title: The Dark Ages

Rating: M for violence and swearing

Prompt: Shadows are tearing at my skull

A/N: Dedicated to Porygon181

The Dark Ages

Chapter 4

Ash stepped back into his room with a sinking feeling of disappointment and anger in his stomach. He thought back to the day when he had gotten his first pokemon, and how it had felt to know he was finally going to be a trainer. Granted it had hurt quite a bit, as Pikachu wasn't exactly thrilled at having a trainer, but the feeling of hope and excitement had been a pure high for Ash.

And now he was sitting in an empty dorm room, in an underground military base, with a demon around his neck.

Ash would have given anything, anything, to have Pikachu back, to go back to the way his life was before the war. But that wasn't possible, if wishes were fishes then beggars would be full. And right now Ash was the biggest beggar of them all.

"What am I going to do?" he murmured, his eyes glued to the ground below him.

Ash closed his eyes in annoyance when the poke ball around his neck twitched. Seconds later Umbreon appeared in a flash of light. The Dark pokemon stretched, then curled up into a ball and stared at its master.

-Something wrong?- It asked.

"Nothing," Ash responded aloud. He pushed off the wall he was leaning on and began looking through his few things slowly. -Just…Nothing-

-You are still searching for your missing backpack…-The demon responded, keeping one red eye glued to its master.

Ash sighed and scratched at his hair. All the energy he had received from his good night's sleep had been drained already. He wanted nothing more to crawl back under the covers and fall into a deep, restful sleep. But he knew if he tried, he'd get nothing, nothing at all. Not even a Jigglypuff could put him to sleep now.

-I don't want to talk about it.-

­-Well you will have to eventually.- Umbreon purred, wrapping its tail around its body. -Legendary pokemon such as Rayquaza will not go missing without some sort of alarm, and it is obvious that your pack is not in the room.-

Ash furrowed his brow, thinking over what the little Dark pokemon had said. "You mean…you saw someone take it?" He cast his gaze over to the little black fox, but it only stared at him, with slitted red eyes. The feeling of frustration washed over Ash once more.

"Why am I even bothering to ask?…" he wondered aloud. Slowly, he ell forward, so that his face was resting against the cool sheets on his bed. "You aren't going to tell me anything anyways…"

A knock at the door roused Ash from his thoughts. He looked up, to see the same blue-haired man he'd talked to earlier standing in the doorway. "Get ready," the man said. "General Bishop wants you in his office now for briefing."

"But I just got back from-"

"Now!" the man growled. And with that, he turned and left. Ash sighed and looked at Umbreon one last time. It was asleep.

Recalling the pokemon to its ball, Ash stood up and headed out of the room. Today was definitely going to be a long day.

----------OoOoOoOoOoO----------

As shivered as he walked through the ghost town that had once been a bustling outpost. Dead bodies were strewn over the ground, acrid smoke rose from destroyed buildings, and rubble was everywhere.

The place was quiet other than the occasional creaking of strained wood from the wrecked buildings. Ash below Ash's feet stifled any noise his footsteps would have made.

It was in that ash that the story of what had happened was written. But it was a confusing, troubling story. Footprints and paw prints were everywhere, marking the places of men and pokemon, but in some places, the prints were wiped clean, as if by some powerful wind. Something even stranger yet though, was that there didn't seem to be any tracks headed into the town. There were no enemy tracks.

The possibility of an aerial attack was probable, but the evidence was of a ground battle, not an aerial one. Had the attackers been from the skies, the soldiers would have taken cover, not stood out in the open.

Then, on top of all that, there was the time limit. Word had reached General Bishop only shortly after Ash had left his meeting. By the time Ash had been summoned again to his office, the entire Outpost had been destroyed, with no sign of the enemy in sight. What on Earth could have possibly been so quick, so efficient, as to wipe out an entire military outpost in a matter of minutes?

It could have been a legendary, but there was no trainer that Ash knew of who could possibly handle one so powerful. And it was still improbable that only one attacker had done so much damage.

Ash stopped just on the edge of the town, right where all tracks ceased to exist. Turning around, he surveyed the remains of the outpost. His gut clenched. So many people and pokemon, dead, because of this stupid war.

A rustling from the bushes to his right startled Ash. He turned around, pulling out the military-issued gun he was supposed to carry. Pokemon could only protect you if they were out, so all soldiers were given basic weapons training.

"Show yourself…" Ash growled, cocking the gun.

An Abra crawled out of the bush and looked up at Ash sadly. One of its arms were broken, and it looked to be in serious trouble. Sighing in relief, Ash put his gun back into its holster and reached out to pick up the poor wounded pokemon. "Poor little thing…did you get caught in the fighting?" he cooed.

The poke ball around his neck didn't even twitch, it simply burst open in a flash of light, causing Ash to stumble backwards and fall to the ground. Umbreon stood between him and the Abra, its hackles raised.

"Umbreon what are you-"

-STAY BACK!- it growled.

The Abra began to glow with a bright light. Ash watched in amazement as it changed from a wounded pokemon, into a full mirror image of Umbreon. Now there were two Dark pokemon, completely identical, growling at each other with hackles raised.

"A Ditto?" Ash blinked in disbelief. What other pokemon had that kind of morphing power?

"Very perceptive." Came a cool voice from behind. Ash turned, gun raised, to see a girl in her late teens with short black hair standing behind him.

"Who are you?" he asked, suspicion apparent in his voice.

"I could ask the same of you…" the girl replied, taking a step forward despite the danger of Ash's gun. When she came close enough, she reached out and laid a hand on Ash's arm. "You wouldn't shoot a lady would you?"

Ash was reluctant. He didn't want to hurt her, but then again, he'd have to, if she was going to hurt him. -Umbreon?…- he asked uncertainly.

-I-I don't know…- Ash swallowed. Umbreon seemed shaken by something.

The girl stepped forward once more. She was now practically standing over Ash, who was still on the ground from falling. "Are you scared of me, Ash?"

He wasn't surprised that she knew his name. Many people did. After all, he was one of the strongest trainers in the world, a legendary trainer, and one of the few experimental dark trainers. There were few people who did not know his name.

-Umbreon…- he pleaded. -Help me. What do I do?-

The Dark pokemon never got a chance to respond. The girl leaned down, pushed the gun away, and kissed Ash right on the lips.

Ash's world shook. His first thought was that he couldn't believe he was being kissed. His second was that her lips tasted funny, and the third was that he suddenly felt very, very, tired.

As Ash's eyes fluttered closed and his body went limp, Umbreon turned, a snarl rising in his throat. But before it could do anything, a net fell over it, coursing with an electric charge. The moment it made contact with Umbreon's skin, the charge was unleashed, shocking the Dark pokemon into unconsciousness.

oO---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Oo

Hope you like the newest chapter! Ash is finally getting into the main storyline. I never really planned anything at first, but I get something in mind now. Please keep reading!

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW OR I'LL KILL ASH….YOU DON'T WANT THAT DO YOU?

-Koji