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Pokemon and all related trademarks belong to Nintendo. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author’s permission.

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The Plant’s Desire

By nightdragon0 (nightdragon0@hotmail.com)

“Erm....what’s that?” Nala asked nervously.

“Sounds like some groaning.” Riot replied, glancing around.

Nala and Riot were back to back, watching out for any signs of danger. It seemed, however, that the place had suddenly gotten a lot darker than before. The sounds of the forest had all but faded away, leaving only the shuffling of leaves....as if someone or something were approaching them.

“I don’t like this...” Nala was saying when a claw suddenly burst out of the ground and grabbed her ankle. “Ggaarrgghh!! Arrgghhh!”

Screaming in panic, Nala stomped on the claw, causing it to release its hold. As she backed away, a Feraligatr pulled itself out of the ground. With a furious roar, it swung its arm and slammed Riot to the side.

Nala whipped out one of her pistols and fired at the Feraligatr’s leg. She was utterly startled when the shot blew a large hole through the creature’s flesh. However, it didn’t seem to feel any pain and kept moving towards her.

She realized now that the Feraligatr didn’t look normal either. Its position was slightly hunched, its eyeballs were completely white, and parts of its flesh were already rotten and decayed. There was also a distinctive putrid odor now that it was in close range.

Zombie!!! Nala’s mind raced.

“Damn it!!” Pulling out her other gun, Nala fired again and again as she backed away. That only succeeded in making more holes in the creature’s body.

“Rargh!!” Riot came forth with a Wing Attack, and took the zombie’s head clean off.

Both stood there panting as the body collapsed and lay motionless.

“Jeez!!!” Nala muttered.

“What the heck is this thing?!” Riot poked at the zombie’s decapitated head with a talon.

Suddenly, the head came back to life, snapping its jaws as it tried futilely to reach the two. Nala and Riot jumped up in shock, backing away towards the trees. Then, another pair of claws reached out and grabbed Nala from behind.

Those belonged to a bear-like Ursaring zombie, whose jaws went straight for Nala’s neck. She managed to pull away and block the attack, but took a bite to her right hand as a result. Riot knocked the creature off and Nala shot it in the head, dropping it to the ground.

“Crap! There’s more!” Riot growled.

A Granbull and Slowbro had emerged from the woods to join their brethren, and more groans were sounding from close by.

“Run for it!” Nala sprinted down the nearest dirt path, only to find it blocked by more zombies of Pokemon. “Other way!!”

The pair turned around as the Granbull and Slowbro approached. Nala ducked beneath their claws while Riot flew over them. More zombies had stumbled into the area however, cutting off their escape route.

“Get on me Nala!” Riot gestured.

“Go! Go!” Nala leapt and grabbed onto her partner’s neck.

The flyer managed to take off in spite of the attack, but there was danger in the sky too. Beedrill zombies emerged and charged in with their stingers. Riot screeched as she tried to defend herself, but the creatures buzzing around her eventually knocked her to the ground, ending with the two surrounded by a circle of zombies.

As Nala and Riot cringed back in fear, a glass bottle was suddenly tossed towards them. The bottle shattered, releasing a spray of water which caused the zombies to drop backwards, howling in pain.

“Come here now!” A voice ordered. “That Holy Water won’t keep them distracted for long!”

A Sneasel was standing further down the path, waving to them. That certainly looked more inviting than the army of zombies behind them, and the duo wasted no time in following.

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“Gargh! Argh! This is pathetic!” Firestorm moaned.

The two were struggling in the darkness of the leather sack, and still to no avail.

“And how do you think I feel about it?!” Nightslice snapped.

“Well at least that weird tree doesn’t have its roots around us any more. The creepy thing was messing with our minds back there!”

“Somehow, I think that’s gonna be the least of our concerns right now.” Nightslice muttered. “Listen!”

The figure carrying their sack had previously been bouncing it up and down, and now it had suddenly stopped. The bag was then roughly tossed onto a table.

“Heh, hope you’re enjoyed the ride.” Juncan opened the sack and peered inside. “The rest of it however, ain’t gonna be very pleasant for you.”

He quickly closed the sack and handed it to someone.

“Make something interesting out of these couple of weeds.” Juncan laughed.

As the reptile’s footsteps faded, more sounds around them soon became apparent. There was a lot of chatter about, along with the various clanging of metal objects. Water could also be heard running occasionally in the background, along with the chugging of machinery.

“Oh crap....don’t tell me this is what I think it is....” Firestorm gasped.

“Hold on a while and listen.” Nightslice cut in. “Those voices....”

“Voices?”

“Ok, I hate to tell you to do this, but tap into the plant side of you. It’s Garrick you can hear, and I think he’s upstairs.”

Storm closed his eyes and focused. He was surprised to find that he could indeed hear much ‘better’. It was his guess that Garrick was in a room above, and Juncan was with him.

“So, where is the Eternal Spring then?” Juncan’s voice growled.

That was followed by some sort of whipping sound and Garrick’s screams.

“Still not talking? Well, allow me to give you a little more incentive.”

There were some yelping sounds as a Pokemon, probably another of the Grass types, was dragged out. Then came some grinding sounds, as if someone had turned on a blender, and both realized that the unfortunate Pokemon was no more. Garrick let off a howl of fury as Juncan laughed.

“Damn! I hate that guy!” Firestorm snarled. “I so wanna get my claws on him!!”

“It’s like Garrick said earlier, some aura that connects us to the Earth and the Earth to others.” Nightslice muttered.

“What the heck are you talking about?!”

There wasn’t time to continue the conversation because the two were suddenly pulled out of the sack and thrown into a sink full of water. Now that they could see the area around, both were utterly shocked to see what it was.

<A kitchen?!> Firestorm projected his thoughts. <Oh no! Not this please!>

<Just keep trying to reach him!> Nightslice urged.

<Who?!>

<Haven’t you noticed we’re stuck in plant form now?! Try to...gargh!!>

The transformed plants were whipped out of the sack and dropped onto a huge chopping block. The Nidoking standing over them was dressed in a chef’s hat and outfit with a chopper, but he might as well have been an executioner to the two.

<Holy shit! Rarrgghhh!!!> Firestorm screamed.

His body was literally being chopped up into dozens of pieces, and he was perfectly conscious to feel every moment.

<Come on ancient one!!> Nightslice grunted, even though he was going through the same punishment.

The chef was done with his chopping by this time, and anything the pair could see was reduced to a blur. They could still feel however, and it seemed like they were tossed into another bowl with a mixture of ingredients.

<NNOOO!!> Firestorm wailed.

<Grrr...come on please ancient one!> Nightslice tried again. <You really have to trust us! Even if it’s just this once!>

The bowl was being shaken now, and suddenly the pair felt heat.....the heat of a stove.

<Please!> Nightslice tried a final plea. <We’ll promise to stay with you if you’ll just let us help Garrick now!! GGarrgghhh!!!>

Several tense seconds followed in which all the duo could feel was the rising heat. Then, came a startling realization.

<Nightslice!> Firestorm called. <I....I can feel my hands!!>

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In anyone’s view, one would’ve described the bar as being filled with unsightly figures. Here however, those figures were various colored dragons.

And amongst them, Skiar sat at a counter, sipping on his drink. Abetos seemed to be ‘asleep’ within their Dragon form, but Alken was awake and watching the surroundings curiously. But he also had to ‘see’ through Skiar’s senses.

Without his sight, Skiar’s acute senses constructed an image from which Alken could make out the area around him.

Many of the Dragons around were what one would expect of a typical Western Dragon, having a quadruped form with four limbs, a pair of wings and a long tail. Most were standing on their hind legs and drinking as well. Others were sitting at tables chatting or at the pool tables.

<Now, this seems so familiar.> Alken commented.

Skiar gave a soft grunt, and it took Alken a while to realize that the Dragon actually meant for him to carry on.

<Want to hear more do you?> Alken muttered. <Well, there’s really not much to it. I got into a criminal organization, known as Team Rocket in my world. And well, I’ve done some things that I regret. Then one day, I finally put a plan into action and faked my own death to get out.>

Alken paused for a while, recalling the time he’d blown up the cruise ship (back in Dragon Riders 02).

<But somehow I just got myself dragged back into all this.> Alken finished.

His view suddenly flashed and changed to a scene of a mountainside. Alken realized that this was a memory of Skiar’s, and he was viewing it through the Dragon warrior’s eyes.

The Skiar in the vision was running forward, charging towards a group of Pokemon. Most looked very odd, but Alken thought he recognized a Kabutops and an Aerodactyl amongst them.

<These must be ancient ancestors of the Pokemon that were around during his time.> Abetos remarked, suddenly awake.

Neither had much time to take a closer look, because Skiar was quickly upon the unfortunate party. All they could see was a blur of quick slashes, Skiar leaping around and hacking away with his claws.

Amongst the roar and screeches, Skiar was soon the only one left standing. The blood flowing from the bodies of his foes lay splattered all around. Skiar raised his claws, found them to be covered with red blood, and wiped them off on a nearby rock.

“You have done well, my servant.” A voice boomed.

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“Almost there guys!” The Sneasel gestured.

Nala and Riot had been following as he led them towards an old, burnt-out town. From what they could see, it had been deserted for some time. The buildings had partially collapsed, and other parts were on fire.

“Is it safe there?” Nala asked.

“That’s not where we’re headed.” Sneasel replied.

The black cat veered towards a wall on the outskirts of town. Reaching down, he grabbed a chain hidden in the grass and pulled it. Some grass slid away to reveal a wide iron door.

Sneasel then pulled on a couple of leavers nearby and the large trap door slid open. He ushered them through before slamming it shut.

“Whew...made it.” He panted. “Are you two all right?”

“Yes, thanks to you.” Riot nodded.

“Yeah, you saved us.” Nala added in.

“Hey Sciion! You’re back!” A dragonfly-like Yanma buzzed into the corridor. “You found more survivors?”

“More like a couple of lost travelers.” Sciion the Sneasel waved. “If I’m correct to assume that ladies?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Nala nodded to Riot. It was true from a certain point of view, though coming here certainly hadn’t been their intention.

“It was a really bad time to stumble in here then.” Sciion commented. “As you can see, the situation is pretty dire here.”

“Just what in the world is going on anyway?” Riot queried. “And all those things that attacked us?”

“Exactly what they looked like...zombies.” Sciion explained. “Things used to be fine around here. That town you saw there is all that’s left of Azalea.”

“Those ruins?” Nala gasped. “That must’ve been some major disaster!”

“No one really knows how it all started.” Sciion continued. “There were just a few cases of missing Pokemon at first. Nothing much, but then bodies started turning up. After that, there came groans from the sewers.”

“Sounds like a classical horror movie.” Riot remarked.

Sciion had begun walking down the corridor and the duo followed suit. The place looked like it had originally been constructed as some sort of bomb shelter.

Several rooms branched off from the main corridor and various Pokemon could be seen huddling there, usually seated around fires.

“All of a sudden, zombies started invading town.” Sciion continued. “I was out in the forest then and when I returned, the entire town was in a state of chaos.”

“Yeah, and those you see here are all the survivors.” The Yanma added in.

“Could all this have something to do with the bell at that shrine?” Nala asked. “I know I felt really strange when I was near it.”

Sciion’s eyes widened briefly in surprise, but quickly went back to his usual grim looks.

“I don’t know too much about that I’m afraid.” Sciion shook his head. “The only thing we know for certain is that whatever curse they’re under, contact through a blood wound or bite is able to spread that.”

“As in?!” Nala looked up.

“In a few days, you’ll become one of them.”

Suddenly, Nala stopped, eyes wide.

“Oh no....” She gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Riot queried.

Nala removed her right glove and lifted her hand up. It had been wounded during the earlier fight as the Ursaring’s teeth had pierced all the way through the glove.

And she was bleeding.

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The young Skiar turned and saw a dark, Dragon-like shape with only two red glowing eyes visible. Alken could practically feel the evil aura of this creature.

The scene then changed to show the inside of a cavern, which was lit only by a glowing fire pit in the center.

“When you receive this, you will gain the powers of the Dark Elementals. The power that is closest to my own.” The voice spoke again. “You must however, be willing to sacrifice anything for it.”

“Of course Master! I will do anything for this power!” Skiar’s vision went low as he bowed. “State my bidding.”

Skiar had a strong, firm voice and this was the first time either of them had heard it.

“You have already been granted this power by me.” His master responded. “You need only pay the price from yourself....”

Skiar was suddenly grabbed and dragged towards the fire, which was not more clearly visible as an altar. His hands were bound there, along with his head and neck, which were so close to the fire that Alken and Abetos could practically feel the heat.

“To gain the powers of Darkness, you must embrace it! And become it!” The master’s voice continued.

Someone pulled Skiar’s eyelids behind, forcing him to keep his eyes wide open. Another clawed hand dipped a sharp object into the fire and brought it towards his face. The young Skiar was screaming like mad now, and that was the last thing he saw.

Alken cringed at the thought of having his eyes torn from his head. Abetos let off a low growl, having gone through a somewhat similar experience of having his vision stripped away from him.

The ‘vision’ continued however, and the young Skiar’s head was shoved into the flames. Another unknown figure was pouring some scalding liquid on his head, which seemed to harden around it.

“And in your Darkness, you will know always that I am your Master.”

Skiar shook his head, causing the vision to fade away. Even he didn’t seem to like recalling that incident as he rubbed the mask on his face.

<So, that’s where the mask came from?> Alken muttered. <You’ve had it pretty rough, and yet, I see a lot of my own past in you. I had a master I was always trying to please once.

<But not anymore.> Abetos added in.

Skiar let off what seemed to be a soft laugh. Some shouting had started in the room as a couple of Dragons got into an argument.

The Dark Elemental Dragon flipped over the counter and ducked as a chair went flying past. Grinning, he prepared for the chaos that was about to come.

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“Hey Nala...” Riot stepped into the room.

Nala was leaning against the wall with a depressed look on her face.

“I suppose I shouldn’t ask how you are then?”

“Thanks for trying to help Riot.” Nala raised her bandaged hand. “Will I really become one of those things? Walking around without a soul?”

“Nala...”

“The look in their eyes.....I’m scared Riot. I’m afraid to see it again.”

“And that is why you also cannot afford to keep running from it.” Riot continued. “I’ve spoken to Sciion for a while, and from our story, he seems to agree that it may have something to do with the shrine.”

<Indeed, there was a dark presence that I felt there.> Erizar’s voice sounded. <And as she’s said, you must find the courage to fight. A remedy to your condition may just lie close by.>

“Find the courage....” Nala whispered.

<Hey, I may have been your typical evil medieval dragon in the past, but you’ve awakened me to something different. And that’s something I’m not about to give up if I can help it.>

“You’re right.” Nala stood up. “I can’t stay here either way, or I’ll be a threat to the others. Better for me to go down trying out there then wait for the end here.”

“So, you are heading out then?” Sciion walked into the room. “Then allow me to accompany you as well. I too am beginning to have my suspicions about the shrine.”

Nala and Riot glanced towards each other, then nodded.

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The village consisted of various caverns amongst the rocky reefs. Part of the village lay beneath the water, and those parts that were above the waves were on fire.

“It looks pretty bad.” Hazuki bit her lip.

“Is anyone there?!” Alric shouted. He let off a long, sharp whistle, which was soon answered by several similar calls.

One by one, Lapras heads popped out of the water. Most were pretty young and all looked very frightened.

“The pirates came back here again.” An older one told Alric.

“I realize that.” The leader responded. “How is everyone?”

“All safe and accounted for. We all had enough time to flee and hide down in the shelters, but I don’t think they were after us this time.”

“Boss, all the food stores have been raided.” Another Lapras reported. “Looks like they got everything.”

“Sounds like you have some major problems here.” Gwyen remarked.

“These waters used to be peaceful until the Aqua Dragon pirates showed up.” Alric sighed. “We constantly give food offerings to them, but nothing seems to satisfy them and they just keep coming back to steal more and more.”

“Those are Water-based Dragons?” Hazuki asked.

“Yes, just as adept in the sea as we are.” Alric replied. “The migration season is coming up, and without our food stores of fish....we’ll probably have to move.”

There came a series of chattering amongst the Lapras clan.

“Hey, how can you guys just run away and let them bully you into submission like that?” Hazuki tapped the back of Alric’s head. “Are there really that many of them?!”

“No, not many actually. It’s just that.....” Alric looked down. “We just don’t have what it takes to fight. There’s no way we can possible defeat them.”

“That’s nonsense! It just sounds like an excuse you keep telling yourselves.” Gwyen snapped. “The more fear you give the bullies, the more powerful they become.”

Asiyu’s voice boomed. <My people aren’t going to be allowed to suffer while I can do something about it.>

The Lapras looked around on confusion, trying to find the source of the mysterious voice.

“Hey Asiyu, are you sure that was OK?” Hazuki asked with concern.

“Asiyu?” Alric wondered. “The Goddess?”

<Hazuki, Gwyen, let me talk to them now.>

The pair nodded and melded into Asiyu’s form, leaving the Ice Dragon standing atop Alric’s back. There were astonished gasps from the crowd, but eventually all the Lapras were bowing down to her.

“Whoa, hey, just look up you all.” Asiyu waved her claws. “I want to help you all, but you too have to be willing to fight alongside me. And this isn’t an obligation, but something I want you to do on your own free will.”

<Yeah come on! I know you guys can do it!> Gwyen urged.

“You two possess the spirit of the Goddess within you.....” Alric stared, mouth-opened.

<Well, that’s not exactly how it works.> Hazuki muttered.

Alric turned towards his clan and then to Asiyu on his back.

“Let me be the first to say yes then.” He nodded. Cheers soon arose as the rest of the clan followed suit.

“Hazuki, I know you’re worried about your sister.” Asiyu whispered.

<Don’t worry, I understand. These guys need the help too.> The blue haired girl replied.

“Thank you Hazuki. Now, we need to get a plan into action.” Asiyu declared.

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Firestorm suddenly found himself on his feet, roaring as he let off a spray of flames.

“Intruders!” The Nidoking yelled.

“Where’d they come from?!” A Marowak spun around.

“Who cares?! Get them!!” The Nidoking ordered. “Rarrgghh!!”

The dinosaur charged forward, only to be stopped when Nightslice landed a kick in his stomach. The Scizor was back to normal too, and stood in a battle stance as the Nidoking fell.

“Guess no one saw us changing back.” Nightslice whispered.

“It’s better that way.” Firestorm growled. “I don’t want them knowing that I was almost their vegetable stew.”

Marowak hurled his bone boomerang, catching Nightslice at the side of his head. A Tyranitar and an Electabuzz barged into the kitchen as well, in addition to the Nidoking who was slowly pulling himself up.

Not good odds! Firestorm thought as he grabbed a pan and tossed it at the nearest opponent.

Electabuzz simply shot the pan away with an electrical burst. Firestorm then charged in at close range and tackled Electabuzz. The other three tried to help, but Nightslice got up and distracted them by overturning a table.

Firestorm struggled with Electabuzz, who had his claws around the Charizard’s neck. He was desperately trying to adjust his aim when the Electabuzz’s eyes suddenly went wide.

The Thunder elemental dropped to the ground, revealing a grinning Flygon behind him.

“Vance!!” Firestorm realized.

“Wow, I never thought it would feel so good to be able to move again.” Vance remarked.

“Give me a hand here then! Gargh!!!” Nightslice was tossed to the other side of the room.

As the stunned Scizor struggled to his feet, Nidoking rammed him into the wall. Nightslice grunted in pain as one of the dinosaur’s horns even managed to pierce through his armor plating, leaving a bleeding wound at his left side.

“Hey you!!” Firestorm lunged for the Marowak, whose boomerang toss went wide.

The weapon smashed into a stove, knocking it down and causing a small fire to start. Vance flew around the Tyranitar as the Rock/Dark type fired a Hyper Beam, destroying even more of the area.

The boomerang spun in the air and came back as Tyranitar turned. It smacked Tyranitar’s head just as a Hyper Beam went off, taking Marowak out as well.

Distracted by the fall of his comrades, the Nidoking failed to notice as Nightslice counterattacked, jabbing him in the stomach and hurling him into the wall. He followed that up with a series of punches that knocked the dinosaur out for the count.

“What the hell is going on down here?!” Juncan dashed downstairs to find a scene of chaos. He was also carrying a bound and gagged Garrick with him.

“You’re next buddy!” Firestorm pointed.

“Damn, you just won’t die, will you?! Well, I’ll fix that!” Juncan whipped out a large gun and fired.

Small syringe-shaped bullets whizzed through the air and jabbed Firestorm and Vance on their legs, causing both to fall over, roaring in pain.

With a scream of fury, Nightslice tackled Juncan, sending both rolling over to the side in a fierce struggle. That abruptly ended when Juncan got the barrel of his gun in front of Nightslice’s chest and fired.

“Rargh!! Garghh!!” Nightslice stumbled back, the ‘dart’ piercing through his armor.

Juncan shoved him away as he pulled the pin off a grenade.

“Poison darts are handy, aren’t they?” He taunted the weakened trio. “Now I just need to....huh?!”

Garrick’s bondings were all over the floor, but the Bulbasaur himself was missing.

“What the?! Oh shit!!” Juncan dropped the grenade on the floor and ran.

“Noo!!” Nightslice yelled. “Damn, we’ve got to get....ggarrghhh.....”

The poison Juncan had shot them with was taking full effect, slowing them down to the point where they could barely move.

To make matters worse, the grenade soon went off....sending the ceiling crashing down on their heads.