Chapter 10

A figure was perched on the roof of a building, the wind ruffling his hazel-brown hair, the dark of night accentuating his glowing orange eyes. His arms were crossed to ward off the chilling temperature the night brought out, his feet warmed by the dark pokemon curled around them.

A cacophony of noise brought him out of his thoughts and Houndoom to his paws. Orange eyes narrowed and he reached up, finger brushing a spherical, rainbow colored orb hanging from his neck.

Tendrils of light exploded out of it at an unspoken command from the youth. They reached out to the ones coming from a red and black pendant swinging from around Houndoom's neck. The instant they touched, an explosion of light pierced the all-consuming darkness for a brief moment before everything faded to black.

Looming over the small boy, Houndoom's bone armor had expanded to cover more of his back, his tail splitting into two sharp points at the end, horns sticking straight up and four menacing spikes of bone jutted out from his collar.

The boy reached over, hand firmly clasping one of the spikes, and hauling himself atop the dark pokemon. "C'mon Houndoom, it's time—" His voice was cut off and shadows swarmed over both of their forms, whispering and cackling.

"Stop this foolish crusade. You cannot eradicate the shadows!" A maniacal laugh rang out from the ever darkening scene as whispered words filtered through the haze starting to consume him, "You cannot win. Join us, Ruler of Darkness, retake your rightful place..." the hissed voice faded out and a flash of lightning lit up the night, burning an image deep into his mind. One he would never forget, despite the time that had passed. His patron, his protector, his guardian. Giratina.

Shadow bolted up, clutching his hand to his chest and feeling the rapid thrum of his pounding heart. He swallowed thickly against his dry throat, breath coming in low pants. Why? Why was she appearing in his dreams now? He staggered to his feet, leaning against the wall and bringing his hand up to cradle his head.

He took deep breaths and waited for his scattered mind to piece together his recent vision. Orange eyes narrowed in thought as he honed in on a significant aspect of the dream. He had heard whispers and rumors of the next evolution, though he never really believed it himself; mega evolution.

It required the human to have a keystone and their pokemon to have the respective mega stone dependent on their breed. Their bond also needed to be remarkably strong, though he didn't think that was a problem. The bigger challenge was where to find them.

Shadow's lips curled into an amused smirk as he watched the nearest pokemon center's screen playing strips of his battle against the galactic's pokemon, and the news reporter telling the public to be aware of this "potentially dangerous pyromaniac," as it showed him walking away from the burning hole in the cell wall.

He gave an amused snort, it was the only way out of that prison. He didn't like setting things on fire any more than the next guy... okay, maybe a little more. That doesn't mean he's a pyromaniac, it just means everyone hates fire and he didn't mind it.

The smirk dropped from him and he leaned forward, eyes narrowing in anticipation as the screen switched to show the champion and her garchomp facing off against Team Rocket members and... dad.

Shadow's breath hitched slightly and he closed his eyes, forcefully shoving the onslaught of memories and emotions back deep into his mind. He crossed his arms and let the news reporter's words filter through his ears as his labored breath slowly turned normal.

"... and today, there has been yet another attack on the police department and Sinnoh's very own champion, Cynthia. The first was an attack on the building by Team Galactic, and the other was directly against Cynthia. The confirmed Team Rocket leader, Giovanni, attacked the champion when she was alone along with a multitude of grunts. She held them off, but in the chaos, a grunt's Gengar was able to get away with 5 pokeballs, however Cynthia confirmed they weren't hers and hinted to a mysterious boy. One has to wonder, are the police really able to protect this city? And how much power do these teams really possess? Now onto the weather..."

Shadow pushed off the wall he was leaning against and turned to walk deeper into the alley, pulling his hood firmly over his head to hide his hazel-brown hair. He shoved his hand in his pocket, pulling out something and slipping them into his eyes. When he glanced up, his eyes were now a dull brown instead of their usual piercing orange.

A light scuff on the pavement in front of him drew his attention and he turned his head to see a rocket agent standing there, five shrunken pokeballs clasped in his outstretched hands, "The boss asked me to give these to you, young master."

Shadow gave a bitter laugh as he reached out and swept the five into his hands, the familiarity of it brought him comfort and he felt something finally settle in his soul. "So, he couldn't even find the time to come say hello after all these years. Somehow, I'm not surprised."

He slipped the pokeballs into a pouch strapped onto the side of his hip and the comforting weight it brought relaxed him slightly. "I guess I should say thanks," he murmured, turning away and walking off.

"W-wait!" he stopped, turning his head to glance back at the surprised grunt, "where're you going?"

Shadow shrugged, "I have something I need to take care of..." he turned and trudged off, hands shoved into his pockets and thoughts set on the contents of his dream.