*Chris*

The training session that day was blunt and to the point. Doctor Brander seemed a little distracted, and just ran me through the same tests over and over again. I was told to charge aura spheres and manipulate them into various shapes before absorbing them, supposedly to improve my dexterity in said ability. I didn't really blame him for being so direct though, something really seemed to be eating him up.

After my intense training session, my normal therapist and his ever present Hypno came in. I once again was pried for hidden memories and information, although he did not talk to me about my parents that day for some reason. When he said we were done I stood to leave.

"Hang on a second," Doctor Brander said kindly, but with a sad twinge in his voice. "I have one more thing for you to do today. It will be added to your normal routine. I need you to report to the training grounds. Agent Tappainer will be waiting for you there. Though it is against my wishes, I suppose it is time for your field training to begin. You are to learn from Kyle so you can accomplish your original goal."

"Alright," I replied. I was a little confused as to why this needed to happen now, but I trusted Brander. He had never done anything to harm me or place me in danger, so why would he now? What I didn't think of was that the orders didn't come from him, and certain people in the Order thought my safety wasn't quite as important as the safety of the entire world. Of course, I don't blame Doctor Maynard now. I know he had everyone's best interests at heart back then.

"You're not upset or anything?" Brander asked me curiously.

"No, why would I be? I trust you completely."

"No reason really, I was just making sure." At this point he wasn't even making eye contact, but I didn't notice.

"I guess I'll be going now. See you tomorrow Doctor B." And with that, I headed for the training grounds.

*Agent Johnathan 'Kyle' Tappainer*

He was late. I stood near the door, tapping my foot impatiently. I knew the Doctor liked the boy, but he wouldn't keep him from something so important, would he? Just as I was about to go check and make sure, Chris walked through the door. I inspected what I had to work with. He was about six feet tall, with bright blue eyes and shocking white hair and well developed muscles. Other than the hair, the only thing different about him was that he seemed to almost glow. I couldn't see anything, but I could almost feel it. His Aura must have been very strong.

"Well Chris, there's no point in formalities. We already know each other, so let's get to why we are here. With Brander you have learned basic control of your abilities. My job is to hone your fighting abilities, as well as familiarity with equipment. By equipment, I mean all the different gadgets and gizmos the technicians down at the lab come up with."

"Okay, let's get started then!" He said eagerly. He must have really been looking forward to what I was going to teach Him. I was an agent after all, and he seemed to want to learn what kind of moves such a man would have.

"Let's begin. We will start with combat training. This first move is relatively basic, but can help you in a pinch." I then began to show him basic blocking techniques. First I taught him how to catch various punches, using his opponents force against him, and then I did the same with kicks. He caught on quickly and I was able to get through a lot. He even got to learn a few offensive moves as well before it was time to move on to equipment training. I wanted to continue onward, but he was dripping with sweat from the effort of keeping up.

*Chris*

Man those exercises were exhausting. Kyle would not back down, insisting we do everything full speed. Every time I mastered one move, we would move on to another more complex one without a break in between. So, as you can very well imagine, I was thankful when he called the training to an end and we went for some water.

"Well, now that that's over it's time for something fun," he said to me with a goofy grin.

"By fun, do you mean more excruciating efforts with little to no rest and minimal mercy?" I asked, still a little out of breath yet managing to return a small smile.

"Nah, don't worry. It'll be fun. We get to practice with the equipment made by our ingenious technicians. They always have some fun items to mess with. It is important, however, that you pay attention. What you learn could be dire to the success of a mission. As part of The Order, the failure of a mission could be disastrous for you. Most of them are quite dangerous."

By the time he had finished we had entered a small room. It was filled with shelves covered in assorted gizmos. Kyle walked over to one shelf and typed a few digits into a keypad. An assortment of the different gadgets were moved my metallic mechanical arms into a small package, which Kyle promptly picked up.

"Alright, let's take these into the next room." I didn't know why we needed to go to another room to use these, but I decided not to question him. He placed his hand onto a hand shaped piece of metal along the wall, and then lowered his right eye to a small glass light which flashed across his pupil and iris. A small beep was emitted from the devices, and then the wall opened to an antechamber with shiny black walls. They were laced with a brickwork pattern of glowing white lines. "This, my friend, is the simulation room."

*Dylan*

Neo just didn't seem like himself that day. He was quiet, and didn't even respond when Rena teased him about how much more she was lifting. He just grunted and turned away. I was a little worried about him. He was usually such a happy Zangoose, and now he seemed so sad. I decided that I wasn't going to sit there any longer.

"Neo, are you alright? You seem a little down today. I mean, you're just not yourself?" I looked at him with a concerned expression. He didn't meet my gaze. He just looked at the ground as he responded.

"You would not be so quick to ask if you knew what information you seek, but since you have, I will tell you. I overheard Doctor Maynard and Brander talking. It seems as if a very dangerous stage in Chris's training is being pressed forward early or something like that, but that's not my main concern. From what I've gathered, they expect him to take on Darkrai! They didn't even mention us helping him. It seems they think he can do it alone. I know what he was, but we know he's just a boy. What can we possibly do?" With that he hung his head, and wouldn't say anymore.

This was not good. How could they expect that of anyone?! Darkrai was legendary! It was said he could put anyone to sleep the kill them with their own nightmares, and The Order wanted to send in a teenager. Who cared if he was part of some ancient prophecy? That old script wasn't even that clear anyway. Even when Chris had his dreams they left many questions.

I decided to see what Rena had to say on this, seeing as Neo wasn't in the mood to continue.

"I'm not really sure, she replied."On the one hand, I can't stand to see Chris get hurt, but on the other, I know this is necessary. I also know that if this was really a problem then Chris wouldn't go through with it."

I pondered that for a moment. He was a good kid, would he really say no just because of physical danger? I wasn't quite as sure as Rena was on this. He never backed down before even if he was in danger. I even saw him take a thunderbolt for Neo when the attack was launched after he had fainted. If he hadn't done that Neo might have died, but by doing so he had risked his own life. So, might he just do the same once faced with the same situation with the world at stake? I was pretty sure he would. As I was thinking this Rena had slowly begun to walk away. I didn't notice, however, until she was gone.

*Rena*

He couldn't, he wouldn't! Would he? The thought of losing my darling Chris to Darkrai, of all Pokémon, was unbearable. To think he would willingly throw himself into danger was, well, it was unthinkable. I knew he was strong and that his abilities were developing fast, but that didn't change the fact that he was human. Darkrai was a ghost, and a legendary ghost at that. Not to mention Darkrai was almost directly associated with an even more powerful legendary, that being Giratina.

What if Chris did beat Darkrai? Then he would have to face that vicious ghostly dragon. I remembered seeing it once as a child. That was before Matthew was my trainer, when I lived in the wild with my parents. I happened to wake up in the middle of the night to a sudden chill. I had looked out to see a ghostly dragon gliding silently over the ground. The plants withered as it slowly went by. Once it had passed I began to cry.
And now What if Chris had to face that? I was arguing myself in circles and coming out more frustrated then when I had begun. I decided that I should stop and just trust that my love could take care of himself.

I slowly began to walk away, leaving Dylan alone to his thoughts. I aimlessly wandered the halls, the whole time thinking to myself the same argument, pulling myself away from it, then being drawn back in. It was then that the whole facility went dark.

*Chris, a short while beforehand*

Kyle began sorting through the goody basket of gadgets that he had picked, and then pulled out what looked like a very tiny harpoon gun. "This, my friend, is a classic. You are looking at a grade 'a' grappling hook. It's self propelled so it will activate at the push of a button, and, its cable is made of tightly spun steel thread, meaning it can hold all but the heaviest weights. Why don't you give it a try? Just aim at that target." And with that, a target materialized directly above us.

I took the grappling hook and aimed it at the target above us. I fired and it latched in, slamming into the target then releasing four metal spikes out from its main shaft when it went through, locking it in place. Kyle then showed me the retract button. I pressed it and was slowly raised from the ground. I pressed it again and was lowered back down. Finally, I pressed the button labeled 'release' and the hook came free, sliding back into the launcher for future use.

"Not bad for a first time kid, not bad. So, did ya like it? It's one of my personal favorites." He said this last part with particular emphasis, as if he really wanted me to agree with him. Of course I did. Who wouldn't? It was a grappling hook for crying out loud!

"Good now let's move on to the next item." As he said this the lights went out. I immediately started to glow, not wanting to be left in the dark. The wall in front of me and Kyle imploded away from us. We both jumped back with a start, now thoroughly freaked out. We waited intently, staring at the hole for the longest time, but nothing came out. The door behind us opened and we jumped again, but it was just Doctor Brander making sure we were okay.

Just as I was assuring him that we were fine, Kyle tackled me to the floor. I looked in horror as a shadow claw passed over our heads into the unsuspecting Brander. It pierced his chest, shattering his ribcage and leaving through the other side. His eyes locked onto me for an instant, his face a mask of horror. He coughed up blood almost as much leaving his punctured lungs through his chest cavity as through his mouth. His faced spasmed one more time, then he fell limp onto the arm that had so brutally murdered him.

I followed the arm through the gap, and there floating before me was Darkrai. His eyes were a menacing green, and he stared hungrily at Kyle and me.

I heard a haunting voice echo in my head, "YOU! My mortal enemy, keeper of the light, must perish. We cannot exist on the same spiritual plane; else one of us will die. I will end you, and darkness will reign supreme!" I clawed at my ears, trying to make the noise stop. It was awful, devoid of all emotion. This Pokémon was a true monstrosity, not a trace of life in it, an empty husk. When it came at me with that same awful claw, I lost it and blacked out.

*Elemental of Light*

I awoke fully realized, though I knew it was only temporary. Darkrai backed away in fear of me, but there was no way for it to escape. My light was so intense that not a shadow existed, and the remaining human in the room had to shield his eyes. "Demonic spirit, you are a plague upon this land. You cause nothing but pain, and willingly serve those who would do evil. I cannot allow this to continue. Be purified by the light!" I then sent the power of my aura in rippling waves, each cascading over the specter in brilliant gold as he slowly faded to nothing. With his last scream, the deed was done. I knew I would not be able to hold my identity for long, so I left a little surprise for my Hoenn self, although I knew I would not discover it for a long time to come.

*Video Phone between Giovanni and Cassidy*

Giovanni was furious. "What? Darkrai has been defeated?! This is an outrage! You have failed me again Cassidy, and are testing my patience. You better have some good news!"

"S-sir, the boy may have defeated Darkrai, but not permanently." Cassidy was stuttering audibly by now. "It had to retreat, but is safe back at the Mauville base. If we can continue to wrk with it and also catch Giratina then we can beat this kid."

"For your sake I hope your right. You're walking on thin ice, and soon it is going to crack!" he replied with contempt.

"Yes s-sir." Cassidy managed to stutter before shakily hanging up the phone.

Once Giovanni was alone, he expressed his disgust,"Useless. I am surrounded by bumbling fools! Soon I may have to take more drastic measures..."Chapter End Notes:I must admit, this story took a turn I didn't expect it to in the past three chapters, but I like where it's headed now, so I think I will keep it this way