When Shadows Form Prologue It was early night, the moonlight highlighting the cold stone slabs of the castle, while a few Noctowl began their nocturnal ramblings throughout the night. No dark pokemon could be seen on the island: not for the moment. Here was an undisturbed haven, where pokemon could relax and forget about prejudices from other types and species…usually. The island was unknown, where no pokemon fought to have its own way, to a certain extent. The castle had actually been used for some wars, where pokemon had to fight, but it still stood firm, a reminder that peace will prevail, especially on this particular island. Two espeons silver and almost bent over with age, watched proudly, as their eldest daughter had already drifted into sleep. She looked as if in distress, turning ever so often, before she stayed in the position that suited her most, and sighed in ecstasy. The fire crackled softly, casting shadows of its own accord within the room The tranquillity felt as if it was radiating out of the room, as the calm wind blew gently through the window slits. The noctowl could be heard, the only noise interrupting the night's peace. 'She always got that habit from your side of the family' the mother whispered, watching as she turned over once more, her tail twitching ever so often. 'What! I never used to do that! ' Father exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief. 'Hush, will you? You'll wake her up!' her mother reprimanded sharply, 'Don't spoil her big day tomorrow.' He nodded, reminiscing of his first day, to explore what was unknown to him, the cells, the battlements, and so on. And now, he had to pass it down to the next generation. He smiled; a warm feeling grew inside him that he had accomplished his duties in good time. 'Let's hope that she never has to use this castle for a war.' Her mother whispered, 'Let fate be kind on her when we're gone.' She smiled one last time, and kissed the sleeping Espeon, who mumbled incomprehensible words before settling down once more. I hope that she feels as good as I once was, her father thought, as he slowly blew the candle out. It flickered, slowly losing its oxygen intake and died. The darkness swept throughout the room, as the sun prepared for its new day. Chapter 1 I suddenly woke up, and peered out of the window to check the time. The sun hadn't risen yet, I guess I woke up too early. Pidgeots, pidgeys and other birds circled the top of the castle calling out to each other in joyous cries. I had always wanted to go to the battlements, to see the whole island in the proper way, from above. I always envied the birds for their ability to do this. Making my way to the door, I slowly opened it. To my surprise, my parents were standing in the doorway. 'I told you, they always wake up early and wonder why' my father smiled, satisfied, and turned to me. 'Yes, it's the day where you can have a tour of the castle, everything here is now waiting for you to survey it' my mother said, 'as you know that the castle is going to you after us.' I nodded happily. Forgetting my headache on having woken so early, I quickly jumped up. 'When do we start?' I asked excitedly. 'Well, we do start now, we don't want Jasmine to get jealous, do we?' I knew Jasmine, my little sister, wouldn't care so much, she only cared about improving her psychic powers, and she was never interested to have the castle in her possession. She must be still asleep, or practising her telekinesis. However, I nodded. We went down a long set of tunnels, as we self-consciously went underground. The tunnel opened: into complete darkness. I gasped in shock, groping around in the dark, or so to speak. My mother sprinkled some dust into the torches that hung from the walls, suddenly the room exploded with light. I sighed, satisfied, that no danger would come when my parents were in charge. However, I made out a few cells along the corridor, with rust eating away at its bars. I shuddered momentarily, and then spoke. 'Why are their cells here?' I asked, a little apprehensive. 'Well, to imprison our foes here, who rely on the force of evil to get them through life. Poor misguided things' she said, gazing at the cell walls, 'They've stayed here longer than we have, but it has a secret behind it.' 'You see if you look very hard, you should make something out' my father explained, 'it's a barrier that will only form if someone is locked in. Only we can unlock it. That's why I didn't want you down here when you were younger.' I nodded; I was glad I didn't. Many servants were up around this time to do their chores, and welcomed me. They must have known as well. I mainly saw underground rooms, which I had never seen of before, but all this time I had been waiting, to see the battlements. We climbed up steps that went higher, so I guessed it would be the battlements. My father opened the door, and I stepped out. I almost screamed in excitement, if I had stepped right onto a cloud. It was so high up, if I could fly off of it. The wind swept my fur about playfully as I stood upright. I peered over the edge. The ground seemed so insignificant from here; the sky seemed to overpower it. 'Wow, dad, this must be the best part of the castle!' I said, breathless 'It is' my father said, smiling, 'That's why I left it till last.' We went to the hall for breakfast, when an old Pikachu, her ears worn from many years of work, called us. 'Jasmine wants to see you' she said, a little worried, 'it's urgent.' Without a moment to spare we entered her bedchamber. She sat in a corner, her tail twitching with agitation, her eyes shut in concentration. 'Jasmine, is everything all right?' I asked quietly. Her dark blue eyes opened, and she simply shook her head. 'Did you get another vision?' my mother asked. She nodded again. She was so silent, she hardly ever spoke. That's why I never got to know her as well as a sister should. We usually left her alone, as she enjoyed this type of treatment. 'I saw… Dark pokemon … they need to find a place to stay. They tried to conquer an island but were defeated. I fear that they might come here.' My mother looked worried. They had never doubted her predictions, she had once predicted a storm and we prepared in advance. No one got hurt as it raged outside. Could she be right this time? Chapter 2 The wind blew hard, encumbering my movement. We were on the run, being driven out. My father, a great Houndoom led the way, anger buring deep in his eyes, head bowed against the wind. Non one dared to question him as we marched to another island. We all walked with hunger, thirst, and lack of energy. Houndoom wouldn't let us eat or drink; he said that we didn't deserve it. 'When are we going to get there?' my little brother complained angrily, who was finding travel the hardest out of our army. There was a silence as the army stopped. It was the only interuption for the day. My father turned round and stuck him hard, knocking him out cold. He snarled, and turned to us. 'Someone take him with you, I won't let anyone talk. We've suffered enough humilitation to last a life time.' 'But there were Dragonites with them' a Mukrow piped up, who obviously didn't hear at all well, because of the winds, 'They're lengendary, aren't they?' Houndoom's look silenced her. She turned pale, which is quite hard for a Mukrow, and stuttered uncontrollably. Flames flew out of his mouth, burning her to a crisp. She fell out of the sky, her tailfeathers blazing, as she burned slowly. I turned away from the horrible scene. He said nothing; and continued to walk. I picked up the limp form of my brother, dragging him along the dry soil. Soon we would find a place to stay; our lives depended on it. *** Silence filled the room. Jasmine stared at the ground, still concentrating on her visions, when my mother suddenly spoke. ' These dark pokemon,' my mother exclaimed, 'how many are there?' Her voice shounded shaky, she was very nervous. 'I am not quite sure , but each one has its own individual strength. It consists of Houndooms, Houndours, Mukrows and Larvitars.' 'I fear that they have a great type advantage; our psychic powers are rendered hopeless agaisnt them' my father said, in deep thought, 'we have to get every type we have and gather at the castle at noon.' We nodded, as I went to the door. The pikachu had been waiting for us. 'Tilda, could you postpone breakfast? We have more important things to consider' my father said sadly. She nodded and left. 'Espeon, go and spread the word' he said to me, 'gather all that you can and meet me at the main hall. You can go outside and tell the flying types too. We need all the help we can get. Jasmine, be sure to tell your mother of all you know.' I went to every room, calling every pokemon in sight, oblivious to age or strength. Sandshrews, Sandslashes, pichus and Pikachus arrived. We also had a Raichu with us, who was quite trained in battle, and had fought in a number of battles before. It was late morning as I stepped out. The pidgeots had resumed their morning flight, scouting the area for intruders and the like. I called them down. 'Anything to report?' I asked. One pidgeot, in particular, almost laughed at this idea. 'And what, pray, may one report in this empty island? A couple of stray clouds, maybe? This island has been safe for many seasons.' 'Go and see my father in the main hall, and you'll see what one could report' I said, grimly. Taken aback by the tone of my voice, he quickly called the other bird pokemon and left, giving me a look of confusion. Sighing, I took in one last look at the scene in front of me in peace, which would probably turn tainted with dark pokemon. I shuddered as I closed the door and locked it tight. At least I knew my father would give the castle and everyone who dwelled here the best of his services, and good, as I knew, always overcame evil, even if it didn't always hold the upper hand. I sighed. The day I saw everything taught me of what responsibilities I had when I was older. Could I handle things like my parents are now? I had to see what else Jasmine said, but I couldn't disobey my father, so I made my way to the Main hall. After all, Jasmine would come up with my mother soon to discuss thing with everyone. Hopefully, everything would turn out fine. Chapter 3 The tiresome march continued. We had stopped a couple of times, but our hope was drained to nothing. Rations were finished, and the horizon never disappeared. Things were looking quite dim. However, my father went a bit lighter on us, allowing us to speak, but only amongst ourselves. He stayed ahead of the pack as usual. At last, we saw a crossing of sand, like a ford, which had been eroded away, leaving a direct path to an island nearby. Our father halted us; we panted in exhaustion while the scouts searched for safe ground to camp. Our hopes had been answered, at the best ever time. I opened the door and sighed noticeably as I entered the hall. The Pidgeots perched on the ledges near the ceiling, and all the others stood impatiently. Jasmine sat, a little nervous, with my mother beside her. 'Take your seat, Espeon' my father ordered sternly, 'and then we'll begin.' He turned to Jasmine. 'Is there anything new that we should know?' he asked calmly. He had never doubted his daughter's visions, all of them being valid so far. 'They've found an entrance to our island. They have crossed now; we must prepare against all odds.' She sighed at this, and spoke no more. All eyes rested on hers, while some whimpered softly. My mother hushed her gently, but she herself was beginning to show great signs of agitation. My father, however, had been experienced in the ways of battle; knowing this, he felt relatively calm. 'The pidgeots will have their guard time doubled; please inform the Noctowl to watch at night. If they refuse, they will deal with me. It's a life or death struggle, I fear. Everyone will be involved, whether they like it or not.' He then turned to Boltstrike, the raichu with years of experience and training. 'Please lead all pokemon unable to fight, and leave the rest in for a quick meeting.' I stayed with Jasmine, while the mothers, the elderly, and infants vacated the hall. I heard a small pokemon's cry near the entrance. 'I wanna fight too, mama!' it cried. It was Pichu, Tilda's infant son. He was very intelligent for his age, but, unfortunately, not his maturity. Tilda dragged him off, protesting wildly. His bark was worse than his bite; the cries could still be heard when the doors were shut. I quietly dismissed myself to solve the problem. 'Don't be stupid, Pichu. You're too young to fight..' Tilda trailed off as I entered. I tried to reason with him. 'Pichu, you're very clever for your age, so try to understand. We're all helping, and..it doesn't only mean by fighting. You can help by cheering us on.' Pichu thought for a moment, and then nodded. I sighed with relief as I returned. 'Boltstrike is going to train us' Jasmine informed,'he said that since our psychic powers will be rendered hopeless, we have to build up our physical strength' she looked at her paws sadly, 'if I have any, I guess.' She made a valid point, not just her, but all of us espeons. 'How is he meant to do that?' I asked, slightly confused. Weight training or something? I guess we could improvise.. 'You know how Boltstrike is, he'll do whatever he can when he's on a fight. He does get a little powercrazed without realising. Still, he's the one pokemon with some help agaisnt those monsters... everyone confides in him.'