“Ahem…..May I have your attention, please?” A voice rang out from some unseen speakers obviously hidden amongst the buildings. It took a while for the crowd to simmer down, but once they did, they averted their attention to the top of the stairway. An old man stood above them with a microphone in his hand. Dr. Niotra glanced at the people to make sure he had their attention. He then put  the microphone to his mouth and started to speak into it. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that the Poke’mon Treasure-Hunting Tourney will begin shortly. But first, allow me to lay down the rules of the game.” Everyone looked to each other, mumbling, then turned back to the old man. Dr. Niotra cleared his throat again and continued, “The rules are actually quite simple; you’re goal as a trainer is to be one of the first four to make it all the way to Kita Tower.” He turned around and pointed into the distance. Naturally, everyone averted their gaze to the large chrome fortress far off in the distance. “You must reach that fortress by going through one of the four areas and nowhere else. While you travel, you are permitted to catch any Poke’mon that comes your way. If you’re lucky, you may find that some are a little….different from the others. I hope you’ve brought a lot of energy with you because it’s a long journey to get to Kita Tower. For that reason, there is a check point in each of the four areas with a hotel and Poke’mon Center. The first four who make it to the tower will be awarded with this.” Dr. Niotra reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a clear, glass bottle. Inside was some sort of sparkling dust that shimmered as blue as the moon. Landon gave a sudden frown at the item as the Crystal Bell shot off a few sparks of light. He couldn’t really explain it, but a cold feeling swept all around his body. Normally, that feeling meant there was some kind of darkness nearby. And though he suspected it was coming from the item Niotra was holding, his suspicions changed when he felt a frosty air hit him from all sides. “This is called Moon Mist.” Dr. Niotra continues, “It’s a special item that uses its mystical properties to raise the power of any Poke’mon dramatically.” At that, the crowd started murmuring excitedly to each other. Some people were so eager that they voiced their plans for it out loud. Landon folded his arms and frowned. The idea of using synthetic enhancers never struck him as brilliant. At least, not in such a dramatic sense. Personally, he rather enjoyed training hard with his Poke’mon and using items he prepared himself. “Trainer’s, behind me are four doors.” Dr. Niotra spoke up once more, “Each door leads to one of four different areas on the island: forest, cave, lake, and field. When you are ready, choose a tram entrance to take your area. Until then, I wish you all the best of luck.” With that, Dr. Niotra stepped off to the side to allow the audience unobstructed access to the four doors. Some of the people in the crowd trusted their instincts and started up the steps for a door while others decided to talk amongst each other about it. In a matter of seconds, the entire crowd became loud and noisy. “So, which way do you want to go, Landon?” May asked her friend. Her breathing was finally back to normal. Landon smiled; he didn’t have to think to know which door he wanted to take. “That’s simple; I wanna’ take the Lake area.” He stated. “You only want to go that way because water Poke’mon are your favorite types.” Zeru drove his fist lightly onto his best friend’s head. Landon gave a proud grin. Tsuname put her hands on the back of her head, “Well, I don’t care which one we take. Let’s just go with Lan’s plan and find that treasure.” “I wonder how hard it will be.” May scratched her head. Landon felt a boost of adrenaline flow through his body. His love for competition and challenge made him thrust his fist eagerly into the air. “No matter how hard it is, Toya and I will come out on top!” “Mudkip-mud!” Toya punched the air with her paw as well. With that, the two dashed through the crowd and their friends followed. Toya ran alongside her trainer, hopping up the steps excitedly. As they did so, they saw that each door had some sort of symbol engraved on it. The door on the far left was marked with a tree and the one next to it was designed with a mountain symbol. Above the next door, a blue water droplet glistened and the last symbol was a blade of grass. Landon headed for the one with the water symbol over it and grasped the knob. As he did so, Dr. Niotra glanced at him. a frown spread on the old man’s face, but it quickly disappeared. May and Zeru were the first to look beyond the threshold. On the tracks was a single silver train car. Some people were already sitting on the red-cushioned seats. Landon was the first to step in and looked around. Phanpy followed behind Zeru, poking her curious nose at everything she saw. May was the last one in and the door slid shut behind her with a whistling. Landon turned around and scratched his head. “That’s strange; this car isn’t even full yet and it’s already moving?” He thought to himself. The train car rumbled lightly underneath the passengers’ feet as the engine revved seemingly all by itself. Zeru looked up to the front of the car, but saw no engine room. Landon folded his arms as the train car began to move across the tracks. Dr. Niotra watched as all the audience eagerly boarded the different trains. When the very last person was on, he stepped out onto the top step and gazed up at the sky. The sun had shifted slightly, giving the purple streaks in the sky a brighter tint. “….it’s only a matter of time, now.” He grinned while speaking to himself, “Heh-heh….no one—not a soul—suspects the true nature of this island. Not even Landon Himura will suspect until it is too late. First, I’ll take his Crystal Bell, then I’ll control the entire planet. There is no way this Dark Seed plan can fail. All of the world shall cower before my name! HA-HA-HA-HA!” He went into a fit of giddy laughter that echoed against the trees.

 

       A light breeze blew against Landon’s hair as he walked with his friends across the soft grass. The trees crowding around the area nearly covered up the sky, but the purple streaks above were still visible. It seemed that, no matter where they walked, they were always by the clear sparkling lake. Phanpy and Phealine trotted at the edge of the water and poked at it curiosity. Landon looked down at Toya, who was staring at the water longingly. Tsuname allowed her eyes to dart around the area in search for Poke’mon and anything that glittered. “Hey, can we take a short stop real quick?” Landon asked. “Right now?” Tsuname gave him a disbelieving expression, “But we didn’t see any Poke’mon yet!” “Yeah, I know, but I think we really have to make this stop.” Landon smiled to her. Tsuname growled and folded her arms impatiently; it was easy to tell she wasn’t too keen on her friend’s idea. “Actually, Tsuname, I would like to stop for a second as well.” “Not you too!” Tsuname frowned at May. Zeru walked up past his friends up towards the lake. “Then it’s settled; we’ll take a five minute break.” At that, Landon started towards the lake as well. The closer Toya got to the water, the more she seemed to struggle against her trainer’s grip. “Here, you don’t have to kick me.” Landon let her out of his arms. “Mudkiiiip!” Toya practically sprinted towards the lake and jumped into the water. Landon sat at the bank and watched his Poke’mon swim. “Hmmm….” May looked up at the sky. “…is it me, or do those marks seem to be getting…wider?” She blinked. “You’re buggin’,” Tsuname told her. Landon looked off into the distance of the vast lake. Water always calmed him down and made him feel happy. “…huh?” Landon rubbed his eyes and got to his feet abruptly. Something from the right end of the lake was darting across the water tops as fast as the wind. He thought he was seeing things at first. But when the Crystal Bell started glowing, he could feel a pressure rushing towards him. Toya, who was under water, could see it as well. WHOOOSH! “Ack!” Landon took a step back from the mighty spurts of water that splashed against his body from the movning entity. Even though he barely caught a glimpse of it, Landon had a hunch in his gut. “I’m almost….yeah, I think that was Suicune again!” He gasped to himself. “Landon, are you okay?” “Mud-mudkip?” Everyone ran over to him. Toya popped out of the water to swim up to her trainer. “Yeah, I’m fine—just fine.” He stated, ringing the water from his hair. There was no doubt about it—the Poke’mon that darted across the water had to be Suicune. But now that he had seen it on the island, Landon’s suspicions began to arouse. “Phealine, get down from there!” May’s voice broke through his thoughts. May stood facing a tree with her arms folded and her foot tapping impatiently. Phealine clambered deftly up the branches of the tree, completely ignoring her trainer’s orders. Her eyes focused on something shiny stuck between the leaves. She quickly ascended closer in determined spirits to grab whatever it was. “Phealine, stooopp!” May wailed. Zeru let out a sigh and shook his head. “I’ll get her down for you.” “Phanpy!” Phanpy jumped onto her trainer’s shoulder. Zeru walked over the tree, grabbed its trunk, and started to climb after the cat Poke’mon. Phealine heard him coming and ascended even farther. “Phealine-phea-ah,” She stopped at the branch tip and grasped the object. It looked like a forked feather that glimmered in the seven colors of the rainbow. “Phea!” She smiled at her catch. Zeru grunted as he pulled his body higher. “This….is why I hate cats!” He hissed. “Hera-craaaaa!” BANG!!! “Whaaaa!” Suddenly, something big and heavy rammed into the tree. The towering wood quaked so violently, that it shook Zeru’s grip away from it; he and Phanpy went crashing downwards, landing on he grass with a thud. “Pheaaa!” Phealine landed neatly on top of May’s head. “Heh, some hero you turned out to be.” May said to Zeru. “Oh shut it!” Zeru retorted. Landon gazed off to the side at the attacker.

       The bug Poke’mon, a Hercules beetle to be exact, was nearly as tall as him. Its body was a deep blue and it had a big horn growing from its head. The Poke’mon blinked with its yellow eyes and folded its wings into its back. “A Heracross….” Landon frowned, for something was different about this Poke’mon. He could see some kind of purplish-black aura emanating from around its body. Landon was sure that Tsuname could see it too—especially after seeing the frown on her face. But he doubt that May and Zeru could see it. Being an Origin Waker, the bell around his neck made him capable of many things normal people weren’t. One of them was the ability to detect dark energies. “Landon…” Tsuname growled seriously. “Yeah, I see….” Landon said. “Good work, Heracross!” A voice shot all around the lake area. From the tree tops, three figures dropped out of the leaves and onto the grass. They all wore the same outfit; a white-colored magician’s tail-long tux shirt, white pants, and purple mini cloaks. The one in the middle was the tallest and had curly brown hair. The other two had their black and blond hair in the same free style. The sun gleamed off of their chocolate skin. “Hey!” Zeru got to his feet, “What’s the big idea having your Heracross attack me like that?” But instead of answering, the guy in the middle turned to Landon. “…Your name—it’s Landon Himura, right?” Landon frowned, “Yeah, I’m him.” The guy in the middle let his eyes wander to the Crystal Bell around the boy’s neck. With a grin, he said, “The boss wants the one with the Crystal Bell; the infamous Landon Himura.” “You’ve heard of me? Who are you?” Landon demanded. The three guys grinned and jumped back-to-back with their arms folded. “Our syndicate is known by many names.” The blond stated. “But you can call us—” “—Team Subject!” The other two stated. Landon clenched his fists; the last thing he needed was another criminal syndicate following him around. “Who’s Team Subject?” May asked curiously. The tall guy grinned even wider, “Just call us a bunch of treasure hunters….who like to hunt rare and valuable artifacts.” At that, he reached to his belt and pulled a poke’ball off. The blond did the same, but since the black-haired guy didn’t, that must’ve been his Heracross on the field. “So you can spare the hassle and hand the Crystal Bell and the Rainbow Wing over. Or, we can go through the hassle and duke it out.” “I’ll take the hassle.” Landon stated. “Fine; by the way, it’s only customary that I tell you who I am.” The tall guy spoke, “My name is Point, and the two jokers behind me are Mace and Raid. Now let’s get that feather! Go, Murkrow!” Point tossed the Poke’ball and it burst open in a flash of light. The Poke’mon was crow-like with a crest resembling a pointed hat. Its tail plumes were like a broom and its crimson eyes glared at Landon. Raid tossed his poke’ball as well; the Poke’mon it yielded was more human shaped with a curly-tipped head. Its blue body sat with its legs folded. Its eyes were closed in what seemed like meditation. “Meditite!” It stated. Landon frowned, for he could see that dark aura around both of the Poke’mon. And the only way he could even attempt to get it away was to battle. “Fine, let’s battle.” Landon withdrew his own poke’ball from his belt. “We’re in, too!” Tsuname and Zeru jumped to his side. “Go!” They all tossed their own respective poke’balls. Landon’s shot open to reveal his firefly Poke’mon, Volbeat, while Zeru’s revealed the fire lizard, Charmander. Tsuname called Starmie, a purple ten-point starfish with a red ruby in its center.

       “Murkrow, attack with Drill Peck!” Point shouted the first attack. “Murkraaaaa!!” Murkrow spiraled down towards Volbeat like a bullet. “Spread out!” Tsuname stated and both Poke’mon and their trainers dashed to the sides. Murkrow barely grazed the ground as it continued to spiral towards Volbeat. “Volbeat, counter with Silver Wind!” Landon exclaimed. “Volbeat-volbeat!” Volbeat flapped its wings rapidly and heavily; a powerful silver-colored gust of wind soared from the Poke’mon and cut through the air. “Kraaaaa!” Murkrow flew backwards, shrieking in pain. “Starmie, attack with Rapid Spin!” “Kuuuu!” At its trainer’s cry, Starmie spiraled towards Raid’s Poke’mon swiftly. Raid grinned while using his finger to twirl one of his curly bangs. “Oh, pu-lease! As if something that lame would work. Detect, Meditite.” “Mediitiiiiite!” Meditite pressed its palms together and frowned in concentration. The dark aura around its body turned to a glowing yellow. Starmie’s spinning body simply spun off of Meditite and Frisbeed into the air. “Hah! No chance!” Raid stated. Now, it was May’s turn to grin, “Don’t be too sure.” BANG!! “Tiiite!” Meditite fell on its face as Starmie’s returning body struck it in the back. “Ack!” Raid took a shocked step back. Zeru was sweating slightly while he watched his Poke’mon. Charmander repeatedly dodged continuous jabs of Heracross’s large horn. “Ha! DO you think you can keep this up?” Mace asked skeptically. “I know we can.” Zeru said confidently. “We’ll see; Heracross, toss it into the air.” Heracross thrust its horn forward under Charmander’s feet. “Char!” The fire lizard jumped—just as Zeru realized his mistake. “Charmander, watch out!” He cried. “Now, Heracross, get ready for Mega Horn!” Mace exclaimed. “Hearcra!” Heracross clenched its fists and readied itself to attack with its horn. However, Charmander didn’t seem worried at all; it held up its flame-tipped tail to its face and blew on it, spurting flames all around the bug Poke’mon. “Hera-hera-cross!” Heracross continuously patted the flames off its body in a panic. “Quick Attack!” Landon and Point exclaimed at the same time. Both Volbeat and Murkrow darted across the sky like bullets, repeatedly crashing into each other in sharp tackles. Landon frowned as he watched the battle; at the rate he was going at, Murkrow would easily tire Volbeat out. “…let’s see…!!” “Volbeat, use Confuse Ray!” “Volbeeeat!” At its trainer’s voice, Volbeat’s bulb tail started to shimmer in various different colors. It spun once just enough for Murkrow to catch a quick yet bright flash of light. “krow-Murkrow!” The bird Poke’mon’s eyes shrank slightly and its flying became a little dizzy. Its mind spun and pumped in disarray, not thinking through with its actions. Murkrow let out a loud caw and bolted straight for its trainer. “Dah!” Point took a shocked step back. “Murkrow, stop—I order you to stop now!” But Murkrow ignored him and continued in its dive. “Muuur-krow!” PACK-PACK-PACK! “Ahh! Stop it, Murkrow! Stop—that hurts!” Point ran around in frantic circles as Murkrow rapped its break against its trainer’s head. Volbeat and Landon laughed as they watched the tables turn on their opponents. “Charmander, wrap this up quickly!” Zeru shouted. Charmander spun its body to bring its flaming tail crashing into Heracross, causing it to crash to the ground. “Hey, guys, don’t finish without me.” Tsuname grinned to her friends, then returned to her battle. Starmie was doing some sort of weird dance to dodge against a fury of punches from Meditite. “Blow it away with Water Gun!” “Kyooo!” Starmie’s north point shot out a powerful burst of water. “Medi—ack!” SPLAT! Meditite was pelted harshly in is stomach and sent flying onto its back. “Yeah!” Tsuname thrust her fist into the air.

       “Grrrr! Get off, you turkey!” Point pulled Murkrow from his hair, kicked it away, and glanced down at his fallen comrades’ Poke’mon. He growled at their less than humiliating defeat “Great job, Volbeat.” Landon allowed Volbeat to perch on his arm. He held up his poke’ball and recalled his Poke’mon to it in a thin beam of red light. “Return,” Zeru and Tsuname did the same. “Boys, it looks like we have to retreat.” Point stated and the others nodded. He looked at Landon with a frown, “Don’t let it go to your head, kid. The worst of Team Subject has yet to come.” He reached into his pocket and pulled a small black sphere. “Be on your toes, Landon Himura.” With that, Point let the item fall from his hand. Once it hit the ground, it exploded in a swirl of black smoke. “Ack!!” Landon, May, Tsuname, and Zeru shielded their eyes. Their Poke’mon hid behind them. When the smoke cleared, Team Subject was nowhere to be seen. Landon allowed his eyes to wander around the area; there was absolutely no trace of Team Subject at all. “That….was really strange.” May blinked. Phealine came crawling from her head onto her shoulder and lightly brushed the soft bristles of the Rainbow Wing against her cheek. “Oh yeah,” May took it from her mouth. “They were after this. But why?” Everyone gave her a questioned look. Now that they had it, though, they knew there was more danger headed their way.

       “Yoshimari, how many times are you gonna’ try that recipe?” Tsubimi’s wails could be heard around the edge of the lake. Feeling discouraged, Yoshimari had insisted he quit his job and dragged Tsubimi along for the ride. Now, the smell of food drifted heavily into the lake area as he, yet again, attempted to correct his food recipe. The two were now wearing their Team Darkhorn uniform, which consisted of a black cloak marked with a tan triceratops patch on the back, and black pants. “Yoshi, since we’re in this contest, why can’t we just catch Poke’mon like everyone else?” Tsubimi tried to get through to her brother. “No way—I’m gonna’ make this right no matter what!” Yoshimari stated, turning up the heat on the portable stove. The cooking ingredients vibrated from the heat. “So…you won’t give up, I take it?” “Not for a second.” He told his sister and she folded her arms. If her brother wanted to waste  the day killing other people’s taste buds, it was no skin off her back. Tsubimi started to walk away when something in front of her caused her blood to freeze. She stopped abruptly and let her arms drop at her side. “Eh-heheheheh…” Her voice trembled and a drop of sweat dropped off her cheek. The Poke’mon standing before her was as green as the grass it stood on. The mantis-like creature had very sharp, silvery scythes for arms and white insect wings. “Eh…it’s a—” “Scyther!” The Poke’mon hissed at Tsubimi. Slowly, she tried to back away from it, but bumped into something hard. “Deh…” She turned around to see another Scyther  with its scythes poised. There was the sound of a landing stomp as yet another appeared beside her. “Uh… Yoshi…” She started to move in another direction, but was blocked by another Scyther. Yoshimari, however, was oblivious to the Poke’mon surrounding his sister. “Yoshi…Yoshimari!” “What—!!” Yoshimari looked up to see Tsubimi’s problem and dropped what he was doing; he got to his feet and clenched his fists. “Yoshimari, I think the smell of the food is attracting the Scyther.” Tsubimi stated. “Then I’ll—” Before he could finish, a Scyther dropped in front of Yoshimari and he fell from the shock. The more the smell drifted through the air, the more Scyther decided to appear. “….Whaaaaaa!!”

       Team Darkhorn’s screams echoed high into the sky, shaking the clouds. Yoshimari and Tsubimi left a swirling trail of dust behind them as they ran over the hill. The Scyther, who were still enticed by the smell of Yoshimari’s food, swarmed right behind them. The brother-sister duo sweated frantically as they pumped their arms to run faster for their lives. “Why’d you have to scream, sis?” “You did the same too—” “Scyther!!” The Scyther pushed closer, brandishing their sharp scythes. The buzz from their wings sung a threatening song as they indicated they were coming closer by getting louder. “…..!! Hey, wait a minute.” Yoshimari blinked, “Why are we running?” He pulled a poke’ball from his cloak pocket and slid to a halt. “Loudred, use Hyper Voice—stop those Scyther!” He let it open in his hand and Loudred jumped out. “Lou-Loudred,” It flexed its muscles. The Scyther continued to push forward without slowing down. “Lou—dreeeeddddd!” In an instant, Loudred’s speaker-like ears vibrated rapidly, releasing heavy, powerful waves of sound. “Scy-yaiiiii!” The Scyther came to an abrupt stop, putting their scythes to the sides of their heads in a failed attempt to block out the sound. They all lost their equilibrium and fell onto the grass. “Hey, good idea.” Tsubimi slid to an abrupt halt as well, “Go Tailow! Help us out with your Gust attack!” She revealed her own Poke’partner, who started to flap its wings so heavily, that a gale force of wind kicked up. Tsubimi watched as it forced the Scyther off their feet and high into the air. “Scyther-scyyyy!!” They cried as they disappeared far to the distance in a speck of light. “Heh; too bad it wasn’t a person. We could’ve looted them for all they were worth.” Tsubimi ran her hand through ther hair. Tailow fluttered back to its trainer; Tsubimi held out her arm so it could perch on it. “Good job, Tailow.” “You too, Loudred.” Yoshimari patted Loudred on the head. “Loudred-Loudred!” it smiled at him. “Do I hear an interest in treasure?” “Dahh!” Tsubimi suddenly jumped behind her brother in shock. Yoshimari folded his arms and stared down at a short old man. Surprisingly, it was the same old man that bugged May before. His cheek was still red from where she kicked him. “Relax, Tsubi—it’s just some old guy.” “Huh?” Tsubimi peeked from behind her brother. When she saw the old man, she let out an embarrassed frown. “Grrrr!! Old man, what in the heck do you think you’re doing, sneaking up on me like that?!” She stepped out, pointing at him. “I say, young lass, do you like treasure hunting?” The old man asked. “Don’t try to change the su—” Yoshimari put his finger to his mouth in a ‘hush’ symbol and shook his head to his sister. Then, he turned to the old man, “Yeah; we’re treasure hunters. Why do you ask?” He asked. “Because,” the man used his hand to block their conversation from eavesdroppers, “There is a rumor flying around that there’s a treasure hidden somewhere on this island. Wouldn’t you like to be the first ones to find it?” “Would we ever?!” Yoshimari and Tsubimi stated at the same time. “Well…..” “Huh?” Tsubimi blinked as the old man grabbed her by the hand. “Eheh…your skin is so smooth to touch—” “HANDS OFF, LECHER!” Another red mark colored the man’s cheek as Tsubimi launched her foot to his face. “Whaaaaaa!” The old man cried as he soared into the air. “…Nice kick…”Yoshimari blinked as his sister fumed.


THIS IS THE END OF PART 4. SEE YA' IN PART 5!!