Single post in Angel of the Shadows

Shadow Skill: Silence. Prevents the opponent from using moves such as Roar or Intimidate From the moment they evolve, Gyarados are struck by a desire to destroy. They will not calm until nothing is left. Shadows, however, seem incapable of such ferociousness. Angel sat down at one of the little tables that overlooked the ocean and wondered if Maya would still be alive had she chosen to turn down the mission for Team Rocket. She probably should have to begin with since she'd both succeeded and failed in the mission. But at least everyone had gotten what they wanted. The meddlesome goody two-shoes were out of the way so they could get things done. Part of her felt she could have done more good if she had continued to work for them after the organization revealed the truth to her. But one thing she'd chosen to live her life by was the fact that things happened for a reason. And her father now had some of that glowy liquid from the Silph Co. So regardless, if they could figure out its purpose, they could use it against Team Rocket. They could even become as much of a thorn in their side as Ash Ketchum and his friends. Perhaps it was for the better, too. She doubted she would have been able to play Team Rocket from the inside, what with how easy she was to read and how she couldn't lie. At least, not very well. Not to mention, it was unlikely they would have believed her anyway. Do-gooders didn't just up and change overnight. Horrible things had to happen to them to set them on a different path. She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced up to see Faolan. Only then did she realize she'd been quiet for far too long, and she blushed. "Sorry. I was just wondering if..." Angel trailed off, shook her head, and looked back to the ocean. Though she barely knew Faolan, she knew he would be like every normal person and tried to convince her that she was not at fault. And honestly, that wasn't something she could deal with now. No matter how badly she tried to deny it, Maya would not have been docked that day had Angel not pushed for a bit of speed. After a little while, her gaze went to the shrunken pokéballs still in her hand. She pressed the buttons to enlarge them and released her friends. Sylvie, her Shiny Sylveon. Dreamer, a black and white Absol. Rosie, a Leafeon who'd grown up around cherry blossom trees and taken their appearance. Anya, a mischievous Litten. And Aleu, a Midday Lycanroc who did not have the neck fluff that all others had. They all instantly began to shower her with questions and demands for attention. Anya was surprisingly quite upset that she hadn't been invited—something along the lines of being rude not to include her. Of course, she didn't care that the others weren't invited, either. Just herself. All in all, it made her laugh. Even Faolan seemed to be amused, for she heard a soft chuckle. Anya began to look around for Ebony, but when she didn't smell him on her, she just jumped atop Angel's head and curled up. Angel choked up at that, for she knew the little one merely thought Ebony was off to himself. As soon as Anya found out the truth, she would be devastated. Hopefully, Angel could keep it from her, and she would never have to know. Ebony was Anya's best friend. Aside from her, that is. When she looked at Faolan, she saw that he was focused on Sylvie, Rosie, and Dreamer. Well, more so Rosie and Dreamer, which made sense because, although rare, Shiny Pokémon weren't quite that rare. Angel pointed at each Pokémon as she introduced them, then went into details about Rosie and Dreamer. She explained how the young Eevee had grown up in and evolved beneath a Cherry Tree, so she was shades of pink and red instead of green and brown. And how, though Dreamer's color origins were unknown, she was certain Absol's reverse-colored coat made him a bearer of creation, purity, and good luck. Not that she believed the superstition of them being harbingers of doom and destruction. "Do you only have five?" "Yes and no. My sixth member, Ebony, is a Sableye with Melanism. I don't know if you've ever heard of that, but it's an excess of pigmentation and makes his skin darker than the rest of his kind. I named him Ebony because I thought he was the same shade as the gem. He carries a topaz-colored gem, as big as the one you would see a Mega holding, but he can't Mega-volve. Maybe he's in permanent Mega form? Heh. Never thought of that." She shook her head before she continued. "But a Team," she paused to draw an 'R' on the table, "uh, borrowed him. I tried to make a deal to get him back and almost did, but a Murkrow decided that it would...be easier if Ebony stayed under the protection of a notorious trio for a while." "'Team Rocket took him'," she mouthed when she realized he seemed confused. Angel then pointed to Anya and then placed a finger to her lips. At least he understood the points and shushes meant that she didn't want Anya to know yet. "What did you do to the Murkrow for it to not want to cooperate with you?" Angel shrugged. "You could say that it was a consequence of my naïveté. Back when I thought I was doing good by being a member of Team Rocket, they told me that a Murkrow had been taken from their facility. They said that he was a beloved partner to one who knew Giovanni. I was sent to retrieve him. Didn't realize I was returning him to a life of torture and servitude." "Hold on. No offense, but you don't seem that naïve. How did you go so long without knowing what everyone already knew?" Tears welled in her eyes. It wasn't that his words had hurt her. It was more like she was angry with herself for having been so stupid not to pick up on the signs. To hear others point it out was like salt in the wound. They'd never allowed her contact with other members and never let her set foot in any facilities. In hindsight, everything that was said and done screamed suspicious. But she'd grown up misunderstood. Perhaps that was a trait Team Rocket used to manipulate her? If that was how they'd recruited her, did that make her empathy a weakness? Now too upset to speak, she moved her head to look at the water again. Faolan said nothing more as if he knew he'd accidentally upset her. It wasn't his fault, and she wanted to tell him that. But if she did that, it would be akin to self-admittance that she was a monster. And since she already always felt bad enough about herself, it wasn't something that would be very helpful. As she watched the water, something caught her eye. A purplish aura like the Shadows she'd found. "No way." The words were barely audible as she laughed inwardly at the fact that her father had missed this by minutes. Something about her demeanor must have caught Faolan's attention, for he was now beside her as they both looked into the water. A Gyarados leaped into the air from twenty feet below with a mighty roar. Angel heard Faolan gasp as Anya noticed she was above water and jumped onto the table with a hiss. "What is that?" Faolan had such a childlike tone of wonder in his voice that she couldn't help but smile. At first, she didn't plan to tell him anything, but then she remembered why he'd been arrested. He'd tried to poach a poacher. There was a high chance that if he knew what to look for, he could become one of Giratina's Warriors of Light. She could tell he was the type of person who would do everything possible to find and protect the Shadows. Mind made up, she replied. "It's a Shadow Pokémon. Team Rocket and others after these oddities. They want to experiment on them. According to Giratina, who came to me in my dreams, wholly subservient Pokémon, more powerful than the Ultra Beasts, will be made if Team Rocket has their way. The vision of the future Giratina showed me revealed a world run and oppressed by Team Rocket. Perhaps each Region was ruled by a team" Angel shook her head. "It's not something we can let happen." "Do you have a plan to keep them out of everyone's hands?" "Not really. I do want to find a way to purify them or something. Make them worthless to anyone who wishes to use them for malicious purposes. But right now, I'm sending them to my father, Nanaki. He's a skilled scientist and inventor. He's going to provide them with a safe place to stay while he helps them to be better." "Be better?" Faolan asked, but she shook her head again. "More details can come later. For now, though, we need to find a way to convince Gyarados to come with us before someone sees." "Why not just capture it?" "I hate that concept. No matter how badly I want to help them, it's still their choice. If they decided to turn me down, I would give advice, but I would not go against their desires." When she looked at him, it was clear she had once experienced a similar loss of choice at one point, which led to her firm belief in free will. He nodded, but she had no clue whether it was because he ceded to the wishes of a friend or if he felt the same way. Angel returned Sylvie to his pokéball as she hopped atop the railing. For a few seconds, she hesitated. She felt a bit woozy at the combination of heights and that she was about to leap into the water when she couldn't swim. After a few deep breaths, she jumped forward into the ocean. Above and behind her, she heard Faolan call out her name with quite a bit of concern. Had he noticed her hesitation and placed two and two together? No. That wasn't something most people would even think of. His concern most likely regarded the height from which she'd jumped. The moment she hit the water, she realized why he was worried. She'd barely managed to clear the shallow water. Once she'd shaken off the stupidity of her actions, she brought out Sylvie, who quickly noticed where they were and extended his ribbons to wrap around Angel's waist to keep her afloat. With Sylvie's help, Angel "swam" a bit farther out and began to talk to the Gyarados. "Hey, there. I saw you a few moments ago. If you're scared, there's no need to be. We can help you if you give us a chance." For the next three minutes, she went back and forth between silence and soothing words. When it seemed like she would have her first—well, she wouldn't say loss or failure—disappointment, for lack of a better word, Dreamer called out from above her, and when she glanced at him, she noticed that his gaze was past her. Angel turned her attention that way to see the Gyarados, male from the looks of it, slowly approach her. He seemed so peaceful and calm. It was his behavior that helped her realize how she could help. "Poor thing. You must feel horrible. Having the desire to go on a rampage and destroy stuff but unable to do so." Angel reached out a hand to stroke his face. "I know of someone who can help you." She began to reach into her pouch, only to remember that it and her backpack were on the table. In order not to startle him, she continued to speak to the Gyarados. "My father can come up with a way to make you once again able to destroy at will. But you must trust me. Can you do that?" There was no response for quite some time, and she opened her mouth to tell him it was okay if he didn't want to trust her. But she said nothing. Just as with Ally, she recognized this as a silent moment. Where choices could make or break a person. It was an important decision, and the Gyarados needed to do it without her influence. At last, he nodded. She turned, looked up at her Pokémon, and raised her hand. Rosie was the first to figure out what she wanted and used Razor Leaf to toss an empty pokéball to her. Angel, of course, missed it due to her hand-eye coordination being pathetic. Thankfully, it was a ball, and balls, unlike her, could float without help. Rosie's ears laid back, and Angel smiled at her to tell her it wasn't her fault. When she turned her attention back to Gyarados, she could have sworn that he laughed at her. Before he touched his head to the pokéball, he leaned forward and nuzzled against her neck. Angel was certain that he even purred, but that was impossible. The Gyarados wasn't a catfish like Whiscash. She had to frown and tilt her head at that. Was Whiscash a catfish or a whale? And come to think of it, did catfish even purr? Sylvie's voice drew her out of her thoughts, and she held onto the pokéball while they "swam" to a spot where she could climb out of the water. By this time, Faolan and the others had reached them. Beside her, Sylvie did the shaking dry thing, and Angel couldn't help but wonder why humans couldn't shake their bodies like that, as it looked fun. When she realized that Faolan looked at her weirdly, she spoke. "If we split up, we can protect more of these Shadows than if we were together. We can also obtain the aid of more like-minded individuals." After she placed the now shrunken pokéball in her backpack that he'd brought, she held her hand out to him. "I will give you my father's contact information with your agreement. But you aren't to share it with anyone else without my explicit face-to-face permission just to be confident the approval came from me." Without a second's hesitation, he handed over his Pokénav. She felt bad for the lack of complete honesty, but it wasn't as if she wanted to tell the truth. That she would rather be alone than risk the problems that came from misunderstandings because no matter how hard people tried to convince her that they would always be there for her, they always lied. The only person she trusted was her father—despite the way he treated her—because she knew that if it came down to it, he would drop and/or risk everything for her. "I also gave you my contact info. Just in case you ever needed my help with something or find yourself in trouble." Angel returned the Pokénav, then stretched her arms above her head and leaned back until her back popped. "Well. I should probably be going now," she turned, began to walk off, then paused and looked back. "Thank you." "Whatever for?" "For being there for me while I was locked up. It's as if..." She trailed off, unable to say what was on her mind. As if he knew she was the type of person who could easily drive herself crazy with her thoughts if left alone. Even though she did her best to ignore him most of the time, he'd kept her sane. Kept her from being overwhelmed with thoughts of worthlessness and loneliness. "Anytime, Alexandria." "Call me Angel." And then, she truly walked off, though, honestly, she had no clue what she planned to do next.