Return to Darkness

Cass stood, waiting to face Vincent Surge. There was a faint �click� as the intercom of the room switched on.

"Mr. Surge, you have a telephone call regarding the stone, sir."

Vincent gave a brief growl. "I�m sorry. Excuse me; I know�you were here before with Dark, weren�t you? I�m very sorry, I swear I can make it up." The doors opened mechanically and Vincent let Cass exit first.

Kaumi gave a look of surprise. "Won already?"

"He�s got a call."

"Damn this!" Cass cursed loudly.

"Hand over the stone now!"

"Or you�ll lose; we can show you how!"

Kaumi and Cass recognized the voices. The Shadow Gang. It was Kain and Myuka. The power flashed back on and the two secretive people stood in the center of the room, baffled.

Myuka scowled at Vincent as he entered. "Hey!"

Kain matched Myuka�s look of anger. "We want that stone, Surge."

"My, you�re persistent."

"Rhydon!" A new pokemon in Kain�s possession took the floor. He had used some smart thinking this time around.

"I know," Surge went on, ignoring the challenge, "that the phone call was a distraction so you�d get inside. How typical of you."

"Horn Drill!" Kain was serious. The huge and furious pokemon lunged at him. Surge gasped.

"Gloom, stun that rock-headed freak!" With no time to spare, Gloom materialized out of her pokeball in front of Surge, shook a hazy yellow powder, and Stun Spore froze Rhydon like a statue. "Alright, Absorb!"

The usually weak attack hit it hard. Gloom�s budding flower glowed and purple flecks of energy drifted over to her. She looked entirely revitalized. Rhydon, on the other hand, was just coming back from paralysis, and not looking its best. "Acid!" and it was out once more, but this time for good.

"Return! Go�!"

"Rai-RAI!" Kain�s ever-famous Raichu called.

Cass called back Gloom, but realized that her pokemon wouldn�t quite be in the mood to fight�they�d been cramped up for some time now, and there was no way they�d fight.

Luckily, Kaumi had the answer. Myuka called out her Electrode and he called his brand-new half-ground-type Clefable.

"Use your�er�what attacks do you have?"

"Fable?" The plushy pokemon was as lost as its trainer. Electrode made for a swift Thundershock, but Clefable didn�t even notice it. Instead, it grew angry, puffed up, and dug a neat little hole in the floor. Surge sweatdropped; that was even more damage this group had caused him

The Clefable surprised its opponent with a Dig, and Electrode went back inside its pokeball without praise. Raichu, still standing, knocked Clefable around with Agility. It got dizzy in the eyes and fell over.

"Return! Cass�that was my trump, now what?"

But they looked over to see Myuka and Raichu furiously fighting a Graveler. It pounded the ground with a foot, shook the floor under Raichu, and the poor mouse pokemon fell back. Its cheeks flashed with an attempt of Thunder, but it was in vain.

Myuka shivered nervously. "The boss�ll kill us�we�ve allowed too many pokemon to get K.O�d�that�s coming from or paycheck!"

Kain ran after Raichu and Myuka out the doors. Cass, more concerned with the mysterious pokemon, wasn�t paying them mind.

"Boo." The casual word frightened her; she jumped back away from the thing hanging in her face. When she got into normal vision, she saw a girl hanging right before her, upside down, legs hooked onto a low-hanging pipe. It was Dark. The girl as eerie as her name flipped over perfectly and stood before Cass.

"You know how to make an entrance. Why�re you back here?"

Dark gave a whistle and held out a fist-sized yellow stone with a lightning bolt engraved upon it. "Zapdos Stone. Long story. Let�s forget it." She slipped the rock into her bag.

Kaumi, just now noticing the situation at hand, shouted, "Shiki!" They looked to him, startled. He walked hurriedly over to her. "I got worried about you�you been okay?"

Cass laughed. "You don�t need to fuss over my cousin, she knows what she�s doing."

Dark moved her eyes up to a strand of black hair hanging in her face. She blew on it, but being so feathery, it drifted back down into the center of her face. Frustration crossed her face.

Kaumi reached up, to Dark�s surprise, and gently brushed it away. Dark let a faint smile show her gratitude, and for the briefest moment, Cass swore she saw the girl blush. Kaumi now slid his hand down to her cheek. Dark stood there, speechless and stone still. Graveler was silent from across the room. Cass breathed lightly. For Kaumi, the moment was his, and he didn�t hesitate. He leaned in and softly placed his lips against Dark�s.

It was the longest moment; it wavered there for what seemed to be ages. And, when it was over, Dark didn�t move. Cass smiled with happiness for her cousin. Kaumi walked across the room.

"Oh, and you may want to call back Graveler."

Without thought, like a machine, Dark raised her arm and the pokemon vanished. The pokeball was placed on the chain on her waist, and only then did she go back to reality.

Kaumi left first, then Cass and Dark. Cass was proud; of Dark�s heroic rescue and of the kiss. For Dark, it was the beginning of what seemed to be a whole new life.