Through the Portal

~Meanwhile with Yomi~

Yomi whimpered slightly, finally allowing himself a moment of weakness as Zannin went to get yet another torture tool to try and break him. Yomi didn't know why he was being kept alive as Darkrai told Zannin to do, but he was sure that it wasn't for anything good. And he also didn't know why his bandmates, his brothers, didn't show up, leaving him in this hellhole on his own.

"They're not coming, you know." Zannin said, smirking at his state as he carried a small knife which was obviously hot as well as being very sharp.

"I... I don't... Believe you!" Yomi gasped out, still believing in his friends' loyalty. But in the next moment, he screamed hoarsely as the ex-drummer slowly dragged the knife on his sensitive skin.

"Why would they even want to save a weak, perverted ass like you? Admit it, Yomi. They're well past caring about you. All of them." Zannin said calmly. Yomi though, tried to shake his head, not wanting to believe him despite all the proof that pointed towards what he said.

But then, a noise came into the sealed room they were in, making both look up, although for different reasons; Yomi looked up with hope shining in his eyes while Zannin frowned.

"Cofagrigus, check it out. I have to finish our little guest up."

"Cofa~!" The Coffin Pokémon nodded at her master and headed out, passing through the wall with ease.

~Meanwhile with the rest of Nightmare~

"Where is he?!" Ruka growled at the man he was holding over a gap, ready to drop him. The minion in question whimpered in fear as he knew the drummer was not joking and he would drop him.

"I don't k-know who you're t-talking about!! P-please let me just go!"

"Oh I will let you go, alright." Ruka whispered ominously as he prepared to let the man go plummeting towards the ground.

"Satoru, don't!!"

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

Mai was quiet as Taizo left his side, he now understood that the other guitarist didn't trust him and he had a good reason to be so distrustful towards him, despite not knowing it yet.

"What should I do?!" The young man whispered, his bad mood returning rapidly. Then, he started to cough a little, knowing he did not have much time.

"Lu, Lucario!" The Aura Pokémon cried out softly, starting to get really worried about his trainer. He knew that Mai's health wasn't really as perfect as he made it seem to be and thinking too hard was probably making his already fragile health go worse.

"Hey, Mai-cho, you look really gloomy so I thought you would like to get cheered up, ne?" Keiyuu said kindly, smiling at his ex-bandmember.

"T-thanks, Keiyuu..." Mai said, wiping his unshed tears so that the younger man wouldn't see what was wrong. But that was then, his phone rang again, filling him with dread. Thankfully, it was just a text message even though it was from Yune. It said;

"I have proof that you are getting too comfortable with those scum. You will do what Master says unless you want to die, Mai. Be careful and do not let your mask down to anyone."

~Meanwhile with Yomi~

"I must say, I am surprised, Yomi. Your friends actually came for someone as worthless as you." Zannin said after his partner returned and showed the rest of Nightmare members' quest to find their beloved vocalist. Yomi though, managed to smile at that.

"O-of... Course they... Would... We're a... Close-knit f-family, something you would... never be able to understand!"

"But what they will find... Won't be what they need. Not after this." Zannin said and took one of Yomi's bound hands and made him hold the spirit-stealing cloth which made Yomi fall unconscious, just like Hiroto had done before him.

"Now let's get into the next part of the plan, shall we, Yomi-kun?"

There was no answer from the singer and that, made Zannin smile evilly. And then, he called a number.

"He's ready for the phase two. Take him away."

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

Keiyuu smiled as he handed Mai a snack which the older man took with only slight hesitation. His mind was racing though, how could he manage not breaking his mask when it came to the innocent and lovable Keiyuu and his other friends and hurt them? This was hurting him a lot even though he tried and mostly managed to keep himself in check.

"What's wrong, Mai? You still don't look very happy..." Yuura said, looking concernedly at the other man. Mai just shrugged.

"Just something on my mind, I'm fine, really."

Taizo meanwhile, was staring at the other guitarist with suspicion. He didn't like how the rest of his band immediately went to Mai, not minding him.

"You should think less, Mai-cho. You've always been like this." Said Yasuno with a gentle smile. Mai only could nod because he felt like he would break down if he opened his mouth.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

Zannin smirked as he handed the limp body of Yomi to Yune who took him harshly, far more harsh than he needed to be.

"This was a good idea, Zannin. He's finally broken." The other ex-drummer said, looking triumphant.

"Yeah, took me long enough. The little bastard wouldn't break no matter what I did to him so I had to steal his soul instead."

"This should please Master. Let's bring him in."

With that, Yune slung the seemingly lifeless body of Yomi over his shoulder and they went to see the Pitch Black Pokémon. And when they came into the throne room, they saw Darkrai waiting for them.

"I am thinking that you have finally had your fill. Bring him closer." The Pitch Black Pokémon growled, smirking eerily.

"As you wish, Master." Yune said and gave the vocalist to the cruel Pokémon. That was then, the purple spirit-stealing cloth started to vibrate like crazy.

"Is this supposed to happen, Master?" Asked Zannin with a frown.

"He is still fighting against the inevitable. Do not let the fabric close to him." Was the only thing Darkrai said before turning to the unconscious young vocalist.

"Now, you shall be the first one to surrender. Be honored." The Legendary Pokémon whispered as he made the limp body hold a Sphere of Death so that it could possess the vocalist immediately. This scared both Yune and Zannin even though they showed no sign of their fear, knowing that would be deadly for them. That was then, the members of Nightmare broke in, all looking pissed.

"Jun!!"

"What have you done to him?!" Ni~ya exclaimed, looking almost scared from seeing their vocalist in an unconscious state. Meanwhile, Eevee looked shocked, feeling that something was very amiss with the vocalist.

"Eevee, Ee, Eevee!!"

And then, Yomi rose to his feet on his own with his eyes closed, shocking them. Sakito came closer to the shorter man trying to see what was going on. Darkrai did nothing to stop the lead guitarist, making them suspicious that he'd already done something to Yomi. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared them for what happened next.

"Jun??"

Yomi opened his eyes only to make the others gasp. It wasn't Yomi's eyes anymore. They were the iris color of the Sphere of Death.

~Meanwhile in the hospital - Kyo's room~

As Toshiya tried to contain his tears, Kyo slowly turned his head towards Kaoru's sleeping form. The guitarist hardly looked peaceful though, far from it. There was a little crease between his eyebrows and he kept mumbling in his sleep. Just as Kyo went to wake him up, something he was dreading happened; Shinya came into the room, looking exhausted.

"Shinya?.." The vocalist whispered in slight fear, not knowing what to expect from the drummer. At that though, Shinya's head snapped up, looking hopeful.

"K-Kyo?! You're awake! Thank goodness!" Shinya said and ran to his side, tears in his eyes.

"Shinya... D-did you really... F-forgive me even after I..." Kyo trailed off, uncomfortable to say the least. Shinya though, smiled gently at his older friend, knowing what he needed as always.

"Of course I did, you idiot! I thought we were gonna..." Shinya didn't elaborate but Kyo didn't need anymore words, knowing what the younger man was saying.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

Saga returned to the room only to find that Shou and Hiroto had fallen asleep with the guitarist's head pillowed on Shou's good shoulder. The bassist smiled at the state of his friends before asking;

"Has anything come from Yomi-san's situation?"

"Not really, Saga-kun. Nothing came from the others of his band yet. I just hope they're okay..." Nao said, shaking his head worriedly.

"How are you though, are you feeling any better, Saga-kun?" Tora asked with concern in his hazel eyes. Saga just smiled and nodded, knowing how worried his friends were for him.

"Smoochum, Smooch~!" Saga's Smoochum cried suddenly, pointing at the window. They all looked only to find a Talonflame with a note attached to one of its talons. Tora frowned and went to open the window and take the note from the Scorching Pokémon.

"What does it say, Tora??" Saga asked curiously. Tora paled upon reading the note though.

"It says; "It's too late for him, save yourselves!"! What the hell does that mean?!" The guitarist said, looking really confused and worried.

"We need to help them somehow, something has probably happened to Yomi-san and I really don't like what this note is implying at all!" Saga said, frowning as well.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"Oh no..." Sakito managed to mutter, shock and fear in his eyes.

"Eevee, Ee, Eevee!!!" The Evolution Pokémon looked actually scared of his own trainer.

"What have you done to him?!" Hitsugi yelled with tears in his eyes.

"This is merely fate of Yomi. You're soon to follow him, don't worry." Said Zannin with an evil smirk on his face. That, made Ruka see red with anger. The drummer simply ran towards the other one, ready to knock him out of the room with his rage but he stopped short because of what Darkrai said the next moment.

"Kill him, Porthios."

"Yes, as you wish." Yomi's body sprung into action and levitated Ruka off the ground, strangling him. Meanwhile, the spiritual cloth started to vibrate harder, making it hard for Yune to hold it in its pedestal. Just when the cloth was about to fall off, Ruka lost consciousness, not being able to breathe.

"Gen, Gengar!!" The Shadow Pokémon yelled, seeing her trainer lose his consciousness by one of his best friends.

"Satoru, NO!!"

~Meanwhile in the hospital - Shou's room~

"We should go and try to help them. I really don't like what this note is implying." Saga muttered, frowning.

"But what about Shou-kun? He's still injured, you know." Replied Nao logically, not looking happy himself. He had a bad feeling about the situation but he also didn't want to tire Shou and Saga as the two of them were hurt more than enough. At that, Saga looked down, still feeling guilty no matter how much the vocalist tried to reassure him that he was fine.

That was then, Shou woke up, groggily looking around. And then, he saw Saga looking sad and worried at the same time while looking at him.

"Saga? What's the matter? Are you feeling okay now?"

Saga smiled slightly at the concern in Shou's voice, not really understanding why the vocalist still cared for him when he had hurt him that badly.

"Shou-kun... There was a message from someone for the Nightmare members I think. And I don't think whatever is happening there is anything but bad." Said Tora, looking worried.

"What is it? Show me, please." The vocalist said, curious. When he read it though, his eyes widened in shock.

"We should go and help them!"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

Yomi's possessed body only took an uninterested look at the unconscious drummer and threw him away, ready to kill his other friends.

"Ee, Eevee~!" Eevee cried out, trying to shield the others since he knew for sure it was not his beloved human partner anymore.

"What do we do?! Yomi, stop!!" Hitsugi yelled as he watched Yomi try to grab Sakito as well.

That was then, the spiritual cloth finally fell off its pedestal and from it, a bright ball of white light came out. But just when it was about to enter Yomi's body, a girl stopped it with an enchanted looking mirror.

"What the hell?! Will all of you just leave Yomi alone?!" Ni~ya yelled in anger. He didn't like what the young girl had done, managing to expel Yomi's own spirit getting back into his body.

"If his spirit goes back into the body, it will all be over for him!" The girl snapped back before taking a strong Shadow Ball from Darkrai onto her stomach. She cried out in pain and fell down, almost dropping her magical mirror.

"You have betrayed me too, huh, Chelsea?" Darkrai growled and turned to Yomi.

"Kill her first. Do not let her live."

Yomi only nodded and made to grab her but Hitsugi and Ni~ya stood right in front of the girl, ready to protect.

"You don't even deserve any followers, Darkrai! You're violent and must be captured!" Chelsea said, trying to get up. Sakito kindly gave a hand and helped her to get up.

"What did you mean by that, Chelsea-san? Why do we need to not let Yomi's spirit into his body??" The guitarist asked with concern in his voice.

"Because if you do so, the Sphere of Death will immediately crush him and there will be no more of your friend anymore."

Then, she went over to Ruka's unconscious body, checking his pulse with his Gengar staying beside the drummer.

"He's okay, r-right??" Hitsugi asked in a trembling voice, very worried about his friend. Chelsea just nodded, relieved that Ruka would make a full recovery.

~Meanwhile with Emile~

As Emile and the others were about to leave the Pokémon Center, a nurse came with Salamance in tow. The Dragon Pokémon immediately went up to Emile and crouched in front of him, obviously wanting to take them to safety on her own.

"You want to be with us, Salamance?!" Jon asked with surprise. Salamance nodded with a gentle smile, ready to take on anyone.

"Then let's go, right? Robin, you said you know somewhere that's safe from Darkrai, right?" Emile asked, looking at the breeder questioningly.

"Yes. We're going to one of my friends' house, he's a psychic, he'd know what we should do."

"O-kay... This is gonna be very weird..." Tim muttered under his breathe. He just hoped this psychic didn't betray them or they would be in neck-deep trouble.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - Pokémon side~

"I should've never left him alone..." Eevee whispered, looking at his trainer's crazed eyes with tears in his eyes. It wasn't even him anymore, not since the Evolution Pokémon could feel the danger of the Sphere of Death emanating from him.

"Eevee, don't be too hard on yourself. You couldn't have known. Yomi was the one to send you away, right? You wouldn't run away on your own, that much I know about you." Meowth said, he didn't know what to do to keep the other Pokémon sane.

"I should've died with him instead of this!! I'm such a damned coward!!" Eevee yelled, upset.

"Eevee, it'll be okay. I promise he's gonna be okay, Yomi is a strong guy, you know that." The Scratch Cat Pokémon said uneasily, he didn't like the situation either but he knew they had to stay strong for the vocalist's sake. Especially his own partner.

~On human side~

When Yomi's spirit got closer to Ruka, it floated there for a good moment, seemingly checking on the older man. But before it could go any further, Yune caught it and imprisoned it in a jar, making the singer's soul pained. The ex-drummer laughed as the remaining Nightmare members cried out with outrage along with Yomi's Eevee.

"You give that jar here right now!" Ni~ya growled in his most deadly voice, eyes glaring daggers at the other man who was snickering at the angry band members.

"What will you be able to do otherwise, hmm? Admit it, Ni~ya, you guys have lost." Zannin said, smiling evilly.

Ni~ya growled and against his better judgement, he sent out his Magikarp who flopped around which made Zannin and Yune laugh but Chelsea's eyes widened, recognizing the immense amount of power within Ni~ya's partner.

"It must be close to evolving..." She thought, watching avidly.

"Magikarp, use Flail on that man!!" The bassist screamed, pointing at Zannin. The golden Fish Pokémon nodded and flung himself onto the unsuspecting man and started beating him up with his tail fin.

Enraged, Zannin grabbed Magikarp and threw it away, making Ni~ya even more angry but they stopped short as a white-blue light enveloped the Fish Pokémon as he landed.

"What?! What's going on?!" Hitsugi asked in shock and worry as the Pokémon slowly started to change his shape.

"Oh, shit..." They heard Yune mutter and when they looked at him, he was looking slightly scared.

"I think your Pokémon is evolving at the moment." Chelsea said with a slight smile. And then, Magikarp stopped evolving and Ni~ya's eyes widened in shock.

"Gyarados~!!" The bright red Atrocious Pokémon cried and came near his trainer who looked at him with wide eyes still.

"Seinaru kuso!!" The bassist muttered but then, remembering they had a fight to do and turned to Gyarados.

"Ano, Gyarados, can you use Crunch on that Cofagrigus??" He asked and Gyarados cried out and with his teeth glowing white, he bit into the Coffin Pokémon, making her cry out and faint in one hit.

"Damn, Ni~ya, that's one powerful Pokémon there!" Said Hitsugi, smiling at his apparent shock. The bassist nodded with an answering smile and turned to Yune.

"If you give that jar to us, nobody else will get hurt. But if you don't, I swear, we will destroy this whole damned castle and wipe it out from the map!"

~Meanwhile in the hospital - Kiro's room~

"Shin? Do you feel okay now?" Kiro asked with concern. He hoped that the younger man was healing good enough since the crazed state he was in two days before. Shin just uncomfortably shrugged, not knowing what to say to the bassist.

"Marcel?"

"Yeah, I think so, Kiro." Shin muttered in a low voice, not knowing how much he was worrying the other. But upon hearing that, Kiro relaxed and smiled at his friend.

"Plusle, Plus~." Kiro's partner cried, looking relieved just like her trainer. Shin smiled slightly at that, cheering up a little bit. That was then, Strify came running into the room.

"Guys, look at what I found!"

They all looked at the small orb the singer was carrying. Seeing that, Romeo and Yu's eyes widened in shock.

"I-isn't that the Soul Dew?! How the hell did you find it?!"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"You talk so surely. But you do not have the heart to do what you say you will do." Darkrai said, smirking at Ni~ya's angry face. At that, all of them narrowed their eyes.

"We don't, do we? Then how about this, Darkrai?! Gyarados, use Hydro Pump on that pillar!!" Ni~ya commanded, pointing at the pillar right above Darkrai's throne. But before the Atrocious Pokémon could do so, Darkrai teleported right in front of Yomi's possessed body which Gyarados thought would be easier to trap the Pitch Black Pokémon.

"NO!!" All of them yelled as the hit made the pillar collapse and seemingly bring Yomi down as well but in the split second that could have happened, Ni~ya threw himself under it to protect Yomi's small body. Eevee also ran to the duo on the ground, wanting to see if his trainer's body was okay.

"Eevee? Ee, Eevee?!" The Evolution Pokémon chattered to Yomi and looking at Ni~ya, his expression turned to one of shock and worry. The bassist was hardly able to keep his elbows and legs locked so that the giant rock wouldn't bury both of them.

"Ni~ya! Are you okay?!" Asked Sakito, alarmed.

"J-just take him away!! I don't think I can hold on for much l-longer!!" The older man said through gritted teeth, sweat falling from his forehead onto the vocalist's emotionless face.

~Meanwhile with Mai~

Mai was in a pinch. He knew if he betrayed his friends, his beloved family they would never forgive him for it. But at the same time, he didn't want to die either. The only person he could actually speak to about this, even though he was suspicious, was none other than Taizo. Mai thought that the older guitarist was a very good replacement for him. Both musically and emotionally. That, was why Mai was going to the other man to ask something from him.

"Lucario, Lu, Lucario!" His Aura Pokémon cried, already sensing what Mai was thinking and he did not like it at all.

"It's alright, Lucario. I'm fine." The ex-guitarist smiled at his partner, trying not to give away what he was planning. He knew very well that Lucario would object to his plan.

"Lu, Lucario~..." The Aura Pokémon shook his head, knowing he wasn't getting anything from his kind, sweet trainer. He just hoped he wasn't leading himself to a fatal situation with Darkrai.

"Taizo-san? Can I sit here? I would like to talk to you..." Mai whispered, looking at the brunette in question. The other man just looked up and nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"I want you to know something."

"What is it, Mai-san?"

"I-I... I work for Darkrai..." The ex-guitarist whispered, his eyes filling with tears.

~Meanwhile in Kyo's room~

Kyo smiled slightly when he saw Die enter the room as well only minutes after Shinya had done so. And when the guitarist saw that, he immediately ran towards the bed, looking very relieved.

"Kyo! Kami-sama, I can't believe you're finally awake!" The older man exclaimed, coming beside Shinya who looked happier than he'd been in the two weeks that had passed since their vocalist was brought and got admitted to the hospital.

"Yeah, it still kind of hurts but... I'll be fine." Kyo whispered hoarsely, smiling at his bandmates.

"I'm so glad for that." Shinya said, looking still worried yet happy at the same time.

~Meanwhile in Kra's room~

"What?! You-you traitor!!" Taizo exclaimed. Mai immediately hushed the other guitarist who was glaring daggers at him. On the other hand, Lucario looked horrified, as if he knew what his trainer was about to do.

"Look, I'm only telling you this because I'm tired of it! He can make me do anything, anything but what he ordered me to do." Mai said, coughing a little.

At that, Taizo only looked more angry. He didn't want to believe whatever the younger man was going to tell him but something in his gut told him to at least hear him out.

"And that is?"

"He... He ordered me to hurt you guys... But I can't, this band has been my family when my own wasn't! My own mother sent me here to 'heal safely' while I know the guys would've never let this happen--" The ex-guitarist's sentence was cut short by his own cough. Lucario immediately rushed to his trainer, knowing he wasn't feeling okay at all.

Taizo frowned and rubbed the younger man's back, trying to soothe him. But soon, Mai started to cough blood, making Taizo get worried. Thankfully, Keiyuu and Yasuno came into the room and saw the state Mai was in.

"Mai-cho!!" They both rushed to the other man and made him drink water forcibly. Mai gasped and managed to slightly pull himself together, looking through a veil of tears at the concerned face of Keiyuu.

"Mai? You okay?"

Mai only nodded, not trusting his voice. At that, Yasuno and Keiyuu both sighed, shaking their heads. It didn't seem like Mai was going to tell anything that went on in his head. Then, Mai reached for the water bottle again and Yasuno immediately gave it to him, making the younger man glad that the drummer still understood him without words.

"Thanks for that, guys." Mai rasped, clearing his throat a few times. Taizo meanwhile, was thinking of what the other guitarist had told him and understood that Mai was thinking of rebelling. The thought came a bit scary even to Taizo since he knew that it could be fatal.

"Can you guys leave a bit? I was talking to Taizo-san about something private." Mai requested softly, looking at Keiyuu and Yasuno with a sad look in his eyes who got worried a little, not knowing what the guitarist was planning.

"Okay, Mai, but tell us if something bad happens." Yasuno said after a long silence. When the two left, Taizo immediately asked;

"So, what are you going to do about that order?"

"I will rebel. I don't care what Darkrai does to me. I will not let my best friends get hurt by him or by my own hands. So, this brings me to a request, Taizo-san."

"What is it, Mai-san? You're starting to worry me."

Mai gave the older man a small envelope, looking down. At that, Lucario came closer to his master, knowing this would probably be the last time he would see him in one piece.

"Please give this to them an hour after I depart. I don't want them to know what I really am. I don't want them to see me hurt or anything like that. Lucario?"

"Lu, Lucario~?"

"You'll stay here, right? You can pick one of the guys as your new trainer after I'm gone, okay?"

The Aura Pokémon nodded, his eyes full of tears. Taizo could only nod and watch as the other guitarist went out of the room.

~1 hour later~

"What is this, Taizo-kun? And where's Mai??" Asked Yuura as the guitarist gave a small envelope to them. The other guys had all joined Taizo after Keiyuu had seen Mai get out of the room an hour before,looking upset.

"He... He wanted me to give you this, I don't know what's inside it but I think it's anything but good." The guitarist mumbled. He knew that Mai was planning to make his life a sacrifice for them but he found that he couldn't say it out loud. He didn't need to though, as soon as the rest of them read the letter, they all paled.

"We need to go. NOW!" Said Yasuno, panicked. The rest nodded, all hoping that they could reach to Mai in time but in his heart, Taizo knew it was already too late.

And when they reached the fortress, they found Darkrai looking down on Mai who was on his knees with Yomi behind the Pitch Black Pokémon, looking emotionless.

"So, you decided to not do it, did you?"

"Yes! You will never make me hurt them! They're my family!!"

Darkrai didn't say anything but sent a Shadow Ball onto Mai who yelled in pain and tried to get up despite having been weakened.

"Mai-cho!!"

Mai immediately turned around and saw all of his bandmates behind him, looking horrified.

"W-what are you doing here?! You shouldn't have come!!"

"We weren't about to leave you the hell alone, Mai-cho, forget it"

At his shock, Darkrai smirked and nodded at Yomi who readied a dark spear and threw it at Keiyuu. But in the moment it was gonna hit the vocalist, Mai threw himself at him and got stabbed through the chest.

"MAI!!!" They all yelled, Keiyuu gently lowering the guitarist onto the ground.

"Mai, what have you done?!"

"It's... It's okay, K-Keiyuu..." Mai whispered before coughing weakly. He knew his time was coming.

"I... Knew it would... End like this..."

"No! Mai, don't give up! Please!!" Yuura said, tears already flowing. But Mai only shook his head tiredly, eyes closing. And like that, Mai was lost.

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

"We need to get out of here, Yomi needs us!" Said Sakito, trying to undo his shackles. But Hitsugi shook his head, looking hopeless and about to cry.

"Mitsuo?! Are you seriously giving up?! On Yomi no less?!"

"But what can we do, Sakito?! Two of us are unconscious and who knows what is ailing Yomi in the first damn place?!" Hitsugi said, trying hard not to cry. At that, Sakito looked down as well, looking at Ni~ya and Ruka's unconscious forms.

"We'll find something, Hitsugi. Right now, we're Yomi's only hope, we can't let him down like this." The lead guitarist said softly, knowing that Hitsugi needed support just as much, if not more, as Yomi at the moment. And that was then, Ruka groaned and woke up. And when he realized that they all were shackled, he cried out in rage.

"Satoru, calm down! We need to stay calm and find a way to get out of this so that we can help Yomi somehow." Sakito said, frowning at his shackles. He really didn't like the situation one bit and hoped that Yomi was alright.

Then Ruka turned around and saw Ni~ya's battered and unconscious body near him and his eyes widened.

"What the hell has happened to Ni~ya-kun?!" The drummer asked, looking even more enraged.

"H-he stopped Yomi from getting crushed by a b-boulder..." Hitsugi said in a thick voice. He was losing the fight with his tears as they started to run down his face unbidden. Sakito managed to come close to his fellow guitarist and held his hand, trying to support the youngest as he was a very sensitive person.

~Meanwhile in the throne room~

Keiyuu sobbed as he held Mai's dead body, too overwhelmed with grief to speak. And the rest of them also cried for the ex-guitarist with Taizo feeling guilty, knowing that he could have stopped the younger man from coming into the castle. And when Darkrai made a move to get the cold body from the vocalist's grasp, Lucario came in front of him.

"Lucario, Lu, Lucario!!!" The Aura Pokémon cried out angrily.

"Y-you're NOT taking him!! You hurt Mai enough already!! He's dead because of you, you're not desecrating his memory by doing anything to him!!" Yuura yelled even though his tears still flowed. The bassist just wanted to protect his friend even though it was already too late for Mai to appreciate it.

"Yeah, Mai just was trying to do the right thing even if it ended him! You'll never hurt him again, you monster!" Yasuno added, angry at the Pitch Black Pokémon.

"So shall be it then." Said Darkrai, surprising them.

"But you will not win even if you bring that traitor away."

"Mai is NOT a traitor!!!" Taizo yelled, enraged. He couldn't help but respect the deceased guitarist's bravery. As they were defending Mai, Keiyuu looked back at Mai's letter, hurting even more. He couldn't help but read it again, remembering how upset the older man was as he left the hospital for the last time. It read;

"To my friends;

When you guys read this letter, I will be in a very far away place. At first, I want to say, I'm sorry. You're probably wondering why I say this. The answer, is simple. I almost betrayed you guys. I work for Darkrai and he gave me the order to hurt you guys at the stake of my own life. At first I thought that I couldn't help it. That I had to hurt you and stay alive. But staying with you for this little while, reminded me why I loved you guys so much, why I even began my music career with you all. So I decided to not hurt you. I decided that I needed to do the right thing. I don't care what Darkrai does to me, I just want you guys to be safe and sound and to enjoy the life you have ahead of you. Please don't cry for me. A traitor like me doesn't deserve it. So, goodbye, everyone, I had so much fun with you but it's over for me.

Love, Mai"

~Meanwhile with Chelsea~

Chelsea tried very hard to undo her bonds and reach her mirror so that she could help Yomi and his friends. She couldn't help but feel respect for them as she saw how deep their bonds with eachother was. And just when she did manage to cut the ropes that were cutting at her skin, Yune came into the room she was in with the jar with Yomi's spirit in it.

"So you've woken up and undid your bonds that me and Zannin put so thoughtfully for you, huh?" The ex-drummer said, smiling evilly.

"Of course I did! I'm not letting you guys to hurt anyone!" She said, her head held high. At that, Yune put the jar onto one of the highest shelves for Chelsea and backhanded her. But the young girl was not about to take it laying down and she kicked Yune in the crotch, smirking as he cursed and crouched down in pain. Then she went to the shelves and sent out her Pokémon, a Kadabra.

"Kadabra, use Psychic to get that jar!"

"You little pest!! Zannin! She's escaping!!"

~Meanwhile in the dungeons - Pokémon side~

"Eevee, please don't do this to yourself, it wasn't your fault." Meowth said for the fifth time. But the Evolution Pokémon completely refused to even talk to his friends. Gengar sighed at that, getting in front of Eevee.

"You had no choice, Eevee, you did the right thing, really. How would anyone know that something happened to Yomi if you hadn't come back and fainted against that Cofagrigus?" The Shadow Pokémon said softly. She was also worried about Yomi, the young vocalist was practically soulless at the moment and Darkrai was using this to his advantage.

"But--"

"No buts, Eevee. You're a brave Pokémon and we'll find a way to bring Yomi back. Together." Said Gengar with a note of finality in her voice.

~Meanwhile in the throne room~

After Taizo said that, Darkrai's eyes glowed in anger and he sent a Shadow Ball onto the angry guitarist, blasting him off by a few steps and bump onto a broken pillar and fall hard onto his left arm.

"Taizo! Are you alright?!"

Keiyuu only could look at the scene with tears still flowing. He still had Mai's body in his arms and as much as he wanted to help Taizo out, he couldn't make himself let go of the cold, lifeless body of his friend. He felt like letting Mai's body out of his arms would mean letting the ex-guitarist's memory go completely.

"I-I'm fine! We need to get away though!" Taizo said, holding the arm he had hit. It was bleeding profusely and looked like it was broken.

"Yeah, let's go, before anyone else gets harmed!" Said Yasuno, looking at the grieving vocalist and the dead body of his old friend.

"Come on, Keiyuu, we're getting out of here..." Said Yuura gently, taking Keiyuu's burden slightly forcefully.

"It will be okay, Keiyuu-kun..."

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

When Ruka learned what Ni~ya had done, he shook his head knowingly. He knew that despite Yomi sometimes irritating him, Ni~ya and the vocalist were very close and seeing him like this, was hurting the bassist a lot more than he'd be willing to admit.

"We need to find a way to get out of these bonds. Right now, we're Jun's only hope." Sakito said, looking worriedly at Hitsugi who was still crying.

"But how?! We don't have the keys and even if we did have them, we don't know where our Pokémon are, Sakito!" Said the younger guitarist, wanting nothing more than to find a way out but trying to also be realistic.

"We will find something, Mitsuo. We simply have to." Ruka said, frowning as he tried hard to come up with a plan.

As they all thought how they could get out and bring Yomi back to himself, someone came down to their cell. They looked up only to see Chelsea who looked panicked as she was carrying the jar with the singer's soul inside.

"Chelsea-san! Over here!!" Sakito said in an urgent tone. The girl in question looked up and nodded as she tried to calm down.

"I don't have much time! Here, take these keys, I'll try to find your Pokémon so you can escape!" The young girl said, throwing a set of keys into the cell which Ruka took and unlocked their shackles immediately.

Just as he did though, Zannin came into the room they were in, glowering. Thankfully, Chelsea had narrowly managed to hide so that the ex-drummer did not see her. Then, he turned to the captive members of Nightmare, looking very angry.

"You will not escape here!!"

At that, Ruka growled dangerously and kicked the locked door open. At that, Zannin's eyes widened and he tried to back away right before Ruka's punch exploded in his face, efficiently knocking him out.

"This was for what you did to Yomi-kun."

Then the drummer turned to the others who were getting out as well except for the still-unconscious Ni~ya.

"We need to find something that will keep Ni~ya safe while he's unconscious. We can't exactly carry him around when Yomi is in the state that he is." Said Sakito softly, looking worried. Just as the others were going to ask him how they could keep Ni~ya safe, Chelsea came out of the shadows with their Pokémon in tow.

"Meowth, thank goodness you're alright!" Hitsugi said, running to his partner's side. The Scratch Cat Pokémon cried out in relief as well since he was just as worried about his partner as the guitarist was for him.

"Arigatou, Chelsea-san. We couldn't have gotten out without your help." Said Sakito quietly, looking at the jar the young girl was holding.

"It's alright. And I can take care of your friend here until you come back. Those minions won't expect me being here." She said, looking worriedly at Ni~ya's unconscious form. The others nodded except for Gyarados who stayed behind as well, wanting to protect his trainer.

~Meanwhile in hospital~

After Kra arrived back into the hospital and took care of Mai's body, much to their grief, Keiyuu turned to Taizo, looking at his injury.

"T-Taizo?"

"Yes, Keiyuu?" Taizo asked and winced as Bela gently took his broken arm and bandaged the wound tightly first so that the guitarist wouldn't lose more blood than he already had.

"What did M-Mai say to you before he went to there?"

"He... He told me that he was working for Darkrai and that he'd ordered him to hurt you guys and he told me to give you his last letter--"

"You could've stopped him!! God damn it, Taizo! Why didn't you stop him?!"

"I-I--"

"You could've stopped him, Taizo!! He would've been alive if you did so!! Why?! Why didn't you stop him?!"

"Keiyuu, I-I..." Taizo started but in the next moment, he stopped short because the look on Keiyuu's face was something close to hatred.

"How could you do this, Taizo?! HOW COULD YOU?!" The vocalist screamed as the others watched, shaking their heads. They all were hurting over Mai's death.

"Keiyuu, I swear I tried to--"

"Don't you dare lie, Taizo! You never said anything to stop Mai and he's dead because of you!! I hate you!!"

At Keiyuu's words, even Yasuno and Yuura gasped, not having expected to hear those three words out of their kind singer. And Taizo looked so shocked that he took a step back, eyes filling with tears.

"Keiyuu, that's going too far, you don't mean it and we all know it..." Said Yasuno, trying to calm the shorter man down. But the damage was done, Taizo just took off without saying a single word, tears already flowing.

"Taizo, chotto matte yo!" Yuura called out but the guitarist was too upset to heed them.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - the dungeons~

After the rest of Nightmare members filed out as quickly as they could, Chelsea stayed with Ni~ya who was still unconscious. The young girl also had the jar with Yomi's spirit inside. That was then, she heard a voice inside her head, startling her.

"Thank you for helping them." It said in a soft male voice.

"W-what?! Who are you?!" Chelsea stuttered, looking around to see if someone was nearby. But she didn't find anyone except the little ball of light becoming brighter in its prison.

"Are you... Are you Yomi?" She whispered in surprise.

"Yes. Thank you, miss, for helping my friends to bring me back. We owe you one." The voice inside her head whispered, gratitude obvious in his voice.

"It's nothing. I'm sick of Darkrai's evilness. He killed my family and kidnapped me two years ago, I won't bow down to him any longer now that a glimpse of hope is here." Chelsea said with a soft voice, a lump forming in her throat as she remembered her deceased family.

Just as she was gonna say something more, Ni~ya groaned and woke up.

"Ugh... What the hell happened-- Oh no... Yomi!!" The bassist tried to get up only to stop at the piercing pain in his back.

"You need to lay down. Your friends are on their way to finding Yomi, don't worry." Chelsea said, gently pushing the blond bassist down so that he wouldn't be hurting anymore.

"But--" Ni~ya still tried to get up, only to be stopped again. This time by Yomi's voice which rang inside his head.

"Ni~ya-nii-san, please give yourself a rest, you're hurt enough already..." The vocalist's spirit whispered, worry and pain almost dripping from his voice.

~Meanwhile with Taizo~

Taizo sobbed as he ran as far as he could away from the hospital. He couldn't believe that Keiyuu would say those words to him. He had known that Keiyuu and Mai were close but for Keiyuu to blame Mai's death on him, hurt so badly. His broken arm was throbbing with pain but the guitarist hardly even cared about it.

"I can help you, if you want." A male voice came from behind him, making the guitarist whirl around in caution. There stood a blue and white Pokémon, looking at him with his bright red eyes.

"W-who are you?! Why should I trust you when I can't trust even my own bandmates?!"

"Because I know a way for you to make their most loved friend return."

"W-what?!" Taizo whispered, eyes widening in shock. The Pokémon in front of him nodded shortly, obviously waiting for the guitarist to say yes to his offer.

"How can I do it?" He asked, despite wanting to be with Kra, he had seen how torn up the rest of them were over Mai's death. He wanted to give something priceless to them as they had done for him with taking him to their band.

"Come with me and find out." The mysterious legendary Pokémon said, turning around and slowly gliding towards south. Taizo didn't hesitate following him, hoping he could manage what the Pokémon was implying. And while he was going, the bandage Bela had wrapped around his wound got torn off and fell to the ground.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"Keiyuu, you went too far on that, what if Darkrai takes Taizo-kun now?!" Said Yasuno, frowning at the still upset vocalist.

"I don't care!! He let Mai die!!" Keiyuu said, tears still flowing. He knew he was being childish but the wound left by Mai's death was deep in the vocalist. Especially because Mai had always known when Keiyuu felt bad or was hurting and trying to hide it.

"I really have a bad feeling about this, maybe we should go look for Taizo. Besides, his arm needs to be set straight as well." Yuura said, frowning. Keiyuu just shook his head, telling without words that he wouldn't be coming with them to look for the guitarist.

"Lu, Lucario, Lu..." Mai's Lucario came close to Keiyuu, trying to tell the vocalist that their friend had made his own choice. But no amount of talking would convince the small man to look for Taizo.

"I'm going to look for him. Are you coming, Yasuno-kun?" The bassist asked, frown still there. Yasuno shook his head though.

"I think I'll stay with Keiyuu and the rest of the guys. If something happens, just give a call and we'll be right there, right, Keiyuu?" The drummer said, looking seriously at him. Realizing that Yasuno wouldn't take no for an answer, Keiyuu just nodded, looking away. Yuura nodded and sighing, he went out of the hospital, hoping that Taizo hadn't done something foolish.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - dungeons~

"Yomi?! Where are you?!" Ni~ya asked, jolting upright despite his now burning back. Then he realized that the voice had come from inside his mind and looked at the jar Yomi's spirit was in. His eyes widened as he came closer.

"Yomi?? Is... Is that really you?!" The bassist whispered, shocked. He could feel the bright kindness that could only come from Yomi from the bright orb of light. The vocalist chuckled from inside his head, sounding both amused and worried at the same time.

"Hai, it is me, Ni~ya-kun."

"You need to hang on, Jun-kun. I swear that we'll bring you back!" Ni~ya declared, trying to get up and find the rest of his band so that they could bring their beloved vocalist back.

"I know, nii-san. But you need rest, you're injured and I really don't want to lose you."

"You won't lose me, Jun. I'll be just fine, I promise, everything is gonna be okay."

~Meanwhile with Taizo~

The Pokémon had brought Taizo into an abandoned looking building, making the guitarist suspicious. He didn't know why but he felt like he was walking to his death. But if it could bring Mai back, if it could give his friends back what they'd lost, he didn't mind it one bit.

"By the way, who are you, really?" He asked the Pokémon curiously.

"I am Latios. And you, are Taizo, are you not?"

"Yes. That's true. So, what do I do to bring Mai-san back now?"

"Just go into the chamber I am about to unlock and stay in there. This will trade your soul for his."

Taizo only nodded, ready to do anything. And when he went in, he heard Latios say;

"Good, everything is going according to Master Darkrai's plan."

~Meanwhile with Yuura~

"Taizo! Where are you?! Please don't hide from me!" Yuura shouted, looking everywhere to find the guitarist. He had a feeling that something bad had happened to the taller man. That was then, he found a bloodied bandage on the ground. Recognizing the bandage from Taizo's wound, Yuura's eyes widened in worry.

"Oh no... Taizo!!" The bassist ran, following the blood trail on the ground and getting increasingly worried as they led him deep into an abandoned building. When he went into the building, he stopped, looking fearfully on as a legendary Pokémon appeared before him.

"W-who are you?!"

"I am Latios. And you are interrupting my Master's plans." The Legendary Pokémon said right before he opened his mouth and formed a group of white sparkles which turned into a pink ball of energy and just as he was going to fire the ball at Yuura, something threw him onto the ground before the attack could connect.

"W-what the hell is going on?!"

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

Yasuno nervously fiddled with his bracelet, hoping that their guitarist was alright as he, like Yuura, had a very bad feeling about Taizo running away like that. And Keiyuu was asleep but he was muttering in his sleep, obviously still shaken about Mai's death.

"Oh Mai... Why?" The drummer whispered, tears clouding his vision once again at the thought of the younger man. He couldn't believe that the ex-guitarist was dead now. But he had died a hero's death, trying to do the right thing even if it killed him. As he thought that, Yasuno happened to look at Keiyuu's small form and frowned as he saw him tossing and turning.

~Meanwhile in Keiyuu's dream~

"Keiyuu..." A voice was whispering his name and Keiyuu looked around, trying to find the source.

"Keiyuu, help him..."

"Who are you?! What do you mean?!" The singer turned around, trying to see who was calling out to him.

"Please... Help him, he's going to do something horrible..." The voice said before finally becoming apparent.

"M-Mai-cho?!" Keiyuu whispered, shocked.

"Yes, I'm here... But not for long..."

"Mai-cho... I'm... I'm so sorry!!" The small man ran to his friend's arms, sobbing his apologies. Mai only smiled rubbing his back gently.

"It wasn't your fault, Keiyuu... But you need to stop him..." Mai's image flickered, making Keiyuu almost fall on his face.

"What do you mean?! Who do I need to stop?" The vocalist asked, worry growing in his heart.

"Taizo-san... He's going to do something h-horrible... To himself... He's even trying, as we speak..." The ex-guitarist whispered, looking sad.

"What?! Where's he?!" Keiyuu asked but it was too late, Mai disappeared, leaving the singer to wake up, drenched in sweat.

"Keiyuu, what's wrong?! You kept mumbling in your sleep and tossing and turning. What happened?!"

"It's--"

Just as he was going to elaborate, Yasuno's phone went off. When the drummer looked at the ID, he saw it was Yuura.

"Yuura-kun! Did you find Taizo? ... What?! What do you mean Darkrai got to him?!"

~Meanwhile with Yuura~

"I don't know!! I found him unconscious in this abandoned building with a Legendary Pokémon doing something him!! He h-hardly even looks alive right now! Come as soon as possible, please!" Yuura said, tearful. He couldn't bear the thought of losing Taizo right after Mai's death.

Just as he closed the phone after hearing that help was on its way, Yuura turned to Taizo, scared out of his wits.

"Taizo, please, please don't do this to us! We can't lose you as well!!"

"Yuu...ra-kun?" The hoarse whisper came from the man laying on his lap, startling him.

"Taizo! I'm here! It'll be okay, alright?! The others are on the way, we'll get you better in no time, I swear!" The bassist said, very frantic. He was so frightened that they would lose the guitarist from Keiyuu's harsh words.

"It's... Too late... Please tell... Him that... I'm... Sorry..." The guitarist said with his last piece of strength and then, started to spasm, as if something was tearing him apart.

"Taizo!! What's wrong?!" Yuura yelled as the slightly shorter man continued to spasm in obvious pain. He didn't know what to do when finally, Yasuno and Keiyuu arrived with Bela in tow.

"What happened?! Taizo!!" Yasuno said, running to the pair on the ground with Bela. Keiyuu meanwhile stood in shock at the guitarist's state.

"I-I don't know! I-I found a weird Pokémon with him a-and it must've done something to him because the Pokémon said that it was one of Darkrai's minions and I--..." The bassist rambled, obviously panicking and scared at the thought of losing Taizo so shortly after they'd lost Mai.

"What have I done?!" Keiyuu whispered, finally taking a step towards Taizo, eyes filling with tears as Bela tried to take the guitarist's broken arm as gently as she could but Taizo was thrashing around so much that it was almost impossible to set the painful looking arm straight.

Then, all of a sudden, Taizo's body started to shine and he screamed in agony as a bright ball of light came out of him and broke up into four pieces. Then, the guitarist stood dead still, hardly even breathing.

~Meanwhile with Sakito, Hitsugi and Ruka~

After they got out of the dungeons, the first thing the trio did was to stop for a moment and look at eachother as they saw a place with three separate corridors.

"So, what do we do now?" Asked Hitsugi reluctantly. He was scared to think what Darkrai might be doing to Yomi's body now that he was soulless. Sakito looked down, his mind turning at a record speed.

"I... I think we should separate... Before you say anything, Satoru, I know it's dangerous. Bu think of it this way, if one of us gets caught, the others can help as soon as possible. And also, since I don't have a Pokémon yet, I can take Eevee with me so that he can be safe. You'd like to come with me, right, Eevee?" The guitarist asked to the Evolution Pokémon. The Pokémon in question immediately nodded, trusting that they would bring his trainer back to him.

"Then who's going to where?" Ruka asked, really uncomfortable with Sakito's plan despite it being a good idea.

"Hmm... Hitsugi, you take the far right corridor, if that's okay with you as well." Seeing the shorter guitarist nod, Sakito turned to Ruka.

"Ruka, I... I think you should take the middle one, there's something in there that I don't like, you're much braver than me when it comes to that." Ruka smiled slightly and nodded, going closer to the corridor in question.

"And I'll take the left one. Let's go and save Yomi!"

"Matte!! How are we going to communicate?!"

~Meanwhile with Kra~

"Taizo!! Taizo please wake up! I-I didn't mean anything I s-said, I swear!!" Keiyuu said, sobbing beside the older man. He would've done anything to actually taking the words he'd said back if it meant that Taizo would be okay. But the guitarist laid completely still, unresponsive to his friends' presence.

Just as Yuura was going to say something, Latios came back, looking pretty happy with himself. Yuura's eyes widened at seeing the Eon Pokémon.

"There!! That was the Pokémon I saw with Taizo-kun!!"

~Meanwhile with Emile~

The four guys went a long way to the West, Robin trying to guide Salamance as well as he could while hardly being able to see from that high above the ground.

"We really need to get down, I think..." Said Tim, frowning as the breeder tried hard to see what was below them. That was then, a giant Pokémon burst out of the clouds, coming straight towards them. Seeing that, Jon and Tim hugged eachother, screaming while Emile tried very hard not to laugh at his friends' state, knowing that this might very well be dangerous even with Salamance.

"Oh, hi, Cyrus." Came from Robin's side, completely nonchalant. That made them look closely at the Pokémon and sure enough, they saw a young man with light blue hair and a look of calmness on his face. Then, Emile came and said;

"Okay guys, I think you should stop hugging right about now." While trying his hardest to not laugh. But that will broke when they both said, "Oh..." at the same time and let go of eachother, looking mightily embarrassed.

"Shut up, Emile!" Came from Jon right as the younger man started laughing.

~Meanwhile with Kra~

"What?!" Yelled Yasuno while Keiyuu glared at the Eon Pokémon, very pissed off. Yuura nodded and glared as well, hoping that they could make the legendary Pokémon talk so they could restore Taizo.

"What have you DONE to him?!" Keiyuu growled, also surprising his friends. Neither had thought that the younger man could sound so ferocious. But in the situation that they were in, neither was truly shocked that Keiyuu was mad.

"I did not do anything, your gullible friend was the one who walked right into my trap." Latios said, completely calm.

"Don't you dare call Taizo-kun gullible! He probably thought you were gonna help him!!"

"Lucario~, Lu, Lucario!" The Aura Pokémon also growled, pissed off like all of them.

Just as Keiyuu was about to give the order for Lucario to actually attack Latios, a little girl came running.

"Please don't hurt him!"

~Meanwhile with Hitsugi~

Hitsugi and Meowth ran through the long corridor with no other doors than the one they came in and the one that was in front of them. They both were nervous and a little scared as they didn't know what to do to get Yomi back as they knew him.

"We'll find something. We need to..." Hitsugi whispered to himself. Meowth nodded and when they reached the door, they got in slowly but when they saw what laid inside, they both gasped.

Inside the room, there were a lot of bodies, rotting away in the dark room. Hitsugi and Meowth gagged at the smell in the room, both trying not to breathe too much lest they threw up from it. On a table not too far from the guitarist and his partner, was a post-it note they both got curious about.

"Meowth, I think we should read this but if we do so, I'm afraid they might find us."

"Meowth, Meow, Meowth!" The Scratch Cat Pokémon cried out, shaking his head bravely. And then, the small Pokémon ran to the table and agilely climbed upon it. And then, just as fast, he brought the paper back to his partner so that the young guitarist could read it.

"Thanks, Meowth, you're a brave Pokémon." Hitsugi said before looking at the note. When he read it fully though, the short man paled.

"Oh no... Meowth, we need to find the others and show them this! T-this is horrible, we need to get Yomi back as soon as possible!!" He said, looking even more distraught.

"Meowth~." The Scratch Cat Pokémon nodded, also worried about Yomi. Together, they made a beeline for the door and after getting out, he took out his phone and texted the others.

~Meanwhile with Kra~

"What do you mean by that?! He hurt our friend!! Lucario, use Bone Rush!!" Keiyuu yelled, not even minding the little girl who tried to shield Latios.

"Keiyuu, calm down!" Yelled Yuura but it was too late, the attack still hit the little girl and made both her and the Eon Pokémon sprawling on the ground.

And then, much to their surprise, the little girl suddenly changed her form, turning into a Pokémon that looked just like Latios but she was red with white color and her eyes were more of an orange color instead of red.

"What the hell?!" Muttered Yasuno, really confused. The others also looked on with confusion.

"You came right on time, Latias." Said Latios, looking sure of himself that the other Eon Pokémon had come to help him. But Latias flew straight towards Taizo despite the three members of Kra and looked at him in horror.

"Latios, what have you done?!" Latias said, swallowing in pain.

"I did what Master wanted me to do, sis, nothing else."

"Darkrai is no one's master!!" Latias yelled, shocking Latios with her anger. Yasuno went closer to the distraught Eon Pokémon and nodded, knowing that she was telling the truth.

"Hai! Darkrai is way too violent to deserve any!" The drummer said before he turned to Latias.

"What happened to Taizo-kun? Can you reverse it?"

"I-I can't... I think he's..." She said and paused, not really looking like she wanted to tell what was wrong with the tall guitarist.

"He's what?! Tell us! Taizo can't die like this, right?! I mean, he's still... Still breathing!!" Said Yuura, getting even more nervous than before. The Legendary Pokémon nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

"His soul is gone! And it's probably broken, m-meaning that he only has a few days before he dies... Latios, how could you?!" The red Eon Pokémon whispered, shaking.

"What the hell do you mean his soul is probably broken?! You mean that that white thing that broke was his soul?!" Keiyuu asked, shock in his eyes. Latias nodded, making the vocalist even more guilty about his last words to the older man.

"How do we bring it back?! We'll do anything!"

"You will not be able to. I will not let you. That gullible fool deserves to die and he will get his pay." Latios said, smirking. At that, Keiyuu yelled with anger and ran towards the blue Eon Pokémon, punching him hard even though it hardly moved Latios.

"Leave. Taizo. ALONE!!!" The short singer growled dangerously, quite angry.

"What can you of all people do, Keiyuu? Yes, I do know your names, Master told all about you all."

"Lucario, attack!!" Keiyuu said, looking mercilessly at the male Eon Pokémon. After a few more attacks from the Aura Pokémon, Latios actually fell down, gasping.

"Tell us what to do and do it now, if you don't want any more pain!" Said the young vocalist coldly.

"I-I cannot tell you! Master would kill me--"

"I DON'T CARE!!! You brought Taizo into this mess and you will take him out of it!!"

"I can help you. First, you need to tell me how many pieces his soul broke into. That can help quite a lot if you've actually seen it happen." Latias said, looking at Taizo with sadness.

"I think it was four pieces..." Said Yasuno, looking sad as well. He had suspected that something had gone horribly wrong when that white thing, his soul, had gotten out of Taizo's body but he hadn't expected it to be this horrible.

"Then... Then he has only four days to live if you can't bring all the pieces back to him..."

"WHAT?!" Yelled all three of them, horrified. Latias only nodded, looking sorrowfully at the guitarist's motionless body.

"This is all my fault... I should've just shut the hell up!!" Keiyuu whispered, tears starting to fall again. Yasuno gently squeezed the younger man's shoulder, trying to give him support.

"It's not over yet, Keiyuu. We'll save him. We won't lose another friend to Darkrai, I promise." The drummer said, looking at Keiyuu worriedly. Then Yuura turned to Latias, nervous despite knowing that they would keep fighting for the guitarist.

"How are we going to know where to find the pieces of his soul? I mean, there has to be a way, right, Latias-san?"

"You need to find them in night time. When the stars shine bright, they will show you the way. But it will be even more dangerous for him as it shortens the time even more."

Keiyuu swallowed and looked down at that, unsure of how they would manage it in time. But he knew if they wanted to bring Taizo back, they had to at least try. Even then, the fearful feeling in his stomach did not dissipate. If anything, it was even harder than before, knowing that Taizo didn't have much time because of his harsh words.

~Meanwhile with Ruka~

Ruka frowned as he opened the door to a place so dark that the drummer had to pause for a moment and try to readjust his eyes to the darkness. When they did, he saw a library like place with small, white candles with blue lights on them. Seeing this, Gengar came closer to Ruka, knowing what the candles were.

"Intruder..." Came a woman's voice from inside Ruka's head. Startled, Ruka looked around, trying to see the source. Finding none, he decided to answer the woman.

"Who or what are you?!" He growled, narrowing his eyes in the low light of the room's candles.

"It is not important now... I know what you seek and if you answer my riddles correctly, I shall give it to you. But if not, you and your partner shall die."

"W-what riddles?!" Ruka said, starting to get nervous. He didn't want to die, especially not now since Yomi needed his help so much.

"I will ask five riddles and if you answer any of them incorrectly, my Litwick will drain you to nothing." Just as she said that, the candles opened their eyes, shocking the drummer.

"First riddle is coming. The man who built it does not want it, The man who bought does not need it, The man who needs it does not know it.. You have 8 minutes to think about the answer."

"What can it be?! Gengar, if you understood what it is, please try to give me a hint, alright?"

"Gengar, Gen, Gengar!!" The Shadow Pokémon cried out, nodding and trying to come up with the solution. And then, her eyes widened, obviously understanding what the entity's answer was. She immediately went and brought a paper and a pencil from a nearby table and wrote the answer.

~Meanwhile with Kra~

After they brought Taizo's limp body to the hospital, the first thing Bela did was to set the guitarist's broken arm back into place and re-bandage the wound on it since the young man couldn't feel pain at the moment.

"We can't just wait till night time, guys! There has to be a quicker way to find his soul's pieces!" Keiyuu was saying, his eyes full of tears. But Latias who had come to accompany them shook her head in her human form.

"If you try to do this in daylight, you might make it even worse, Keiyuu since it will not be able to be seen when the sun is up."

"But I--"

"Keiyuu, I know it hurts to see Taizo like this, hell it hurts me too, but we need to be patient for him. He needs us to be there for him now." Yasuno said quietly, hoping that he could get through to the vocalist.

"It's going to be hard to wait for the sun to go down..." Yuura said, looking at Taizo's prone body with honest worry. Keiyuu just looked down, feeling even worse about his last words to the said guitarist.

"We'll wait though. We need to go by the rules this time." Yasuno said, frowning at the silence of their vocalist.

Just then, Latias came beside the pained singer, making him look up with a gentle finger under his chin. The pain she saw there worried the Eon Pokémon as well as she knew something more than just collecting the shards to Taizo's soul.

"What is wrong? Your friend is strong, I can feel that. I think he can survive this."

"T-that's not it, I know Taizo-kun's strong. But it was... It was all my fault that he's in this mess. I said something that I should've never said to him..." Keiyuu said, trying his hardest to not cry once again.

"What did you say, Keiyuu? It might be important to know since you will have to do something a little more than just finding the shards."

"W-what?!" The singer whispered, looking scared now. Latias just sighed, trying to make the young man say what he'd said to Taizo so that the guitarist had found himself in this situation.

"Just tell me, I will not judge you. I am sure you had a reason to tell him whatever you said." The Eon Pokémon said softly as Yasuno and Yuura shared worried glances behind her. They didn't know what she meant but they both hoped that no one else got hurt by this mess.

"I-I... I told him that I... I hated him..." Keiyuu whispered, tears flowing again. Latias gasped at that, shocked. It was obvious that the younger man had not meant what he had said, which made the whole thing worse as she knew what exactly they'd had to do to bring Taizo back once they brought all four shards together.

Just then, Taizo groaned, making all of their heads snap towards him.

"Taizo-kun??" Asked Yuura hopefully but the younger man didn't answer the bassist.

"E-Eterna... F-forest..." He managed to get out and laid still once again.

~Meanwhile with Sakito~

Sakito and Eevee slowly went up to the door that was in their corridor, both nervous about what they might find in there. But neither was about to step down and let Yomi be in the possession of the Sphere of Death any longer than they could afford.

"Eevee, Ee, Eevee?" The Evolution Pokémon cooed softly as the slender guitarist listened to any signs of life beyond the door. Finding none, he gently opened the door only to find Yune on the other side.

"Shit!"

"You weren't expecting to see me, huh? Well, you're not making it any farther than this, that much I can promise you. Ferrothorn, go!"

"Eevee, we need to win this, for Yomi!!"

"Eevee~!!"

~Meanwhile with Ruka~

Ruka quickly read the paper his partner brought and his eyes widened.

"C-Coffin!! The answer is 'coffin'!!" He said hurriedly as he was weakened by the Litwick as the moments passed.

"That is true. You may proceed a little more, Intruder." The woman's voice echoed in his mind as the path in front of the drummer lit up more, allowing him and Gengar to pass by the Litwick without being harmed.

"Now for your next riddle, you have only 5 minutes to answer it or Litwick will not let you live. 'I am the first you ever saw, what greets you every morning and what goes out in the end.'"

"Come on, Gengar, we can do this. For Yomi."

~Meanwhile with Kra~

"Eterna Forest? What did you mean, Taizo? Please talk to us, please!" Said Keiyuu, trying to stop crying. He knew that the brunette was fighting with all he got against whatever was happening to him. Yet, it still scared him that he may fail.

Yet, the guitarist laid still, unresponsive yet again. Latias frowned slightly though, knowing what he had meant.

"I think it is where one or more of the shards of his soul landed." The Eon Pokémon said slowly, not truly sure of herself. But it made all three of their heads turn towards her, all looking hopeful.

"Then we're going there! It's the only real lead we've got so far and we need to find out if it's true! We just have to!!" Said Yasuno, very determined.

"Yes. I do think it is the way to go as well. But be careful, it will not be easy as such." The Eon Pokémon said, thoughtful.

"We will. Thanks for helping us, you know. Even though it was because of what your brother did that we're in this mess..." Said Yuura, gentle. Latias flinched at that, her eyes filling with tears.

"It was not exactly his fault. Latios was not always a peon of Darkrai... He... He was just trying to save me when that beast of a Pokémon caught me and he s-sacrificed his sanity for my life..." The legendary Pokémon said, looking like she could cry any moment.

"That's horrible!! I promise we'll help you if you help us bring Taizo-kun back to us." Said Yasuno looking shocked like the other two.

"Lucario, Lu..." Lucario muttered, also looking uncomfortable with the revelation of Latias. The situation Latias was in was quite bad, as they all thought. But for the other Eon Pokémon to fool Taizo into breaking his soul, it was kinda unforgivable.

Then, Yuura looked towards the window, hoping that it was at least dusk but the sun was still up. The bassist sighed impatiently, wishing the sun went down quickly so they could begin the search for their guitarist's spirit.

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

Ni~ya could feel that Yomi was probably smiling at his declaration and feeling hopeful, he said;

"You can hang on, right? I mean, you won't fade away or something if we don't manage to find your body and put you back together in time?"

"I... I don't know, Ni~ya. But I'd like to be back as soon as possible, just saying. I don't like not knowing what my own body might be doing." The vocalist answered, obviously uneasy about the matter.

"Of course we'll have you back in no time, Jun. We wouldn't let you be in such a danger for long." Ni~ya answered back, concern almost dripping from his voice.

"Everything is gonna be okay, we're gonna make sure of it."

~Meanwhile with Hitsugi~

"We need to find the others, Meowth, this is really bad!" Hitsugi said hurriedly to his small partner. The Scratch Cat Pokémon nodded as well, knowing the red haired man's words were true and that Yomi was in an even bigger danger than they'd thought.

They travelled back towards where they'd come from but right as they were going to take the middle path where Ruka had gone off to, they saw Zannin coming up from the dungeons.

"Oh no..."

~Meanwhile with Alice Nine~

"Hey Saga, do you feel any better now? You were really shaky before." Nao asked with concern. Saga smiled at the mother hen drummer, moved by his and the others' concerns for his well-being.

"I'm fine, Nao-kun. I think I just need some rest that's all." He said before looking at the asleep Shou and Hiroto, looking concerned.

"They'll be fine, Takashi. The danger is finally over. For all of us."

~Meanwhile with Taizo~

"Taizo. Taizo, please come to me!" A little girl's unfamiliar voice was saying to the guitarist. He paused for a moment and listened.

"Is that my name?.." He wondered out loud.

"Of course it is, silly! Now, please come over, I wanna play with you!" She said, giggling. Taizo shrugged and walked towards the voice, not really knowing what else to do but obey.

"Taizo no!! Please don't go! It's a trap!!" A male, slightly more familiar voice suddenly was yelling. The guitarist turned around in confusion, at a loss as to what to do.

"Don't listen to that meanie, he's a bad person." The girl said but Taizo couldn't help but go slightly towards that as well.

"What's going on?!"

"Taizo, I swear I didn't mean what I said, please don't go!!" The voice said before finally appearing.

~Meanwhile with Ruka~

Ruka wracked his brain as the multiple Candle Pokémon started to brightly shine their light on him and his partner. He couldn't lose, not when the stakes were this high. That was then, the drummer fell on his knees, his body unable to keep himself any longer but then, the answer dawned on him.

"Light! T-the answer is 'light'!!" He shouted with the last remnants of his strength. Gengar who was beside him, nodded as well, now understanding that her trainer was right.

"Very well, Intruder. Onto the next riddle then. 'I have no mind or soul, I've been eternally attached since man's dawn. My kind disappear on and off, to everyone I accompany them to their death, and buried with them, then I hide away when the casket shuts.'. You have another 5 minutes to answer the question."

Ruka swallowed as he managed to get up with Gengar's help. He couldn't risk any wrong answers, he knew. For it would spell not only his death but also Yomi's.

~Meanwhile with Taizo~

Taizo looked at the small, brunette man that now stood in front of him. He didn't know why but he felt a connection with him, as if he already knew who he was. But what worried the guitarist was the man had tears in his eyes, ready to fall down any moment.

"Taizo, please don't listen to her, she's pulling you into a trap!"

That was then, the girl's voice was heard again.

"At least I would never say what you said to him, you meanie!" Then she became apparent. The girl looked only 7 or 8 years of age but she was transparent, indicating that she was indeed a ghost.

"I never meant that! I swear I didn't!"

"You're not taking my playmate, I won't be alone again!"

~Meanwhile in real world~

Yasuno, Yuura and Latias stood next to Keiyuu who was in a trance to save Taizo and the guitarist's unmoving body, all of them nervous.

"What would happen if Keiyuu fails??" Asked Yasuno to Latias, even though he didn't even want to think of the negative outcome.

"That would be really bad. He'd never be able to recover even if you brought the other three pieces of his soul." Latias answered, shuddering. She still could not believe what her brother had done to these kind souls.

"Keiyuu would never let Taizo die, we all know that. It'll... It'll be okay..." Said Yuura, not very sure of himself.

~Meanwhile with Tom and Bill~

"Tom, what do we do? We need to somehow bring Georg's memory back!" Bill said in a low voice, very sad and concerned. He didn't want the bassist to hear anything they said but little did he know that he was listening avidly even though he looked asleep.

"I have no idea, little brother. But I know one thing, Georg can't stay too far from us, it would be dangerous with Gustav still under the effect of that cursed serum." The guitarist answered his twin, looking so unsure of himself that Bill put a hand on his arm, wanting to soothe him.

"We'll find a way for both of them, Tom. You are not alone anymore." Bill said, hugging the older teen as tightly as he could while being careful with his wound.

"Minun, Mi." Bill's Minun cooed, smiling at the scene along with Tom's Poochyena. They both were glad that their trainers were back to them.

~Meanwhile with Taizo and Keiyuu~

"Well it seems you have to be as I'm not going to let Taizo die like that!" The brunette man said, eyes never leaving the little girl and Taizo's much taller frame.

"You are a meanie! I won't let you take away my friend!! Atta--"

"Stop it!" Taizo's voice had both of them snapping towards him. The man looked hopefully at the guitarist and the little girl came a little closer towards him as well, making the brunette one worried even more. But Taizo walked towards the older of the two choice people he'd been presented with.

"T-Taizo?"

"I... I feel like I... Know you from somewhere. But I can't remember your name..." The taller man whispered, looking lost.

"I'm--"

"No, I want to remember that myself. Please." The guitarist said and gave him a nervous smile, trying obviously hard to remember who the young man in front of him was and how come he'd known him.

"Oh no, you will definitely not remember him!! He'll take you away from me, Taizo, please come to me, I don't wanna be alone again!" The girl said, starting to cry. At that, both men paused, not knowing what to do. The brunette man frowned, looking at the genuinely crying girl and obviously trying to decide what to do about her.

"You know what, if you let Taizo-kun go, I will come with you."

~Meanwhile in the real world~

"What's happening?!" Yasuno asked Latias as both the shard and Keiyuu started to shake uncontrollably. Latias paled at that.

"We need to wake Keiyuu up immediately, otherwise, he'll die!" She yelled, rushing to the vocalist's side. But right when they tried to wake the younger man up, a white aura engulfed both him and the shard, Keiyuu's blank eyes closing on their own.

"No!! Keiyuu, we can't lose you too!!" Yuura said, tears welling up in his eyes.

~Meanwhile with Taizo and Keiyuu~

"What?! You will?!" The girl whispered, looking up at him with a hopeful smile.

"Hai. But you need to let Taizo go, okay?" He said. The little girl immediately nodded and waved at the guitarist who was shocked and started to lead the brunette man away but then, Taizo remembered.

"NO!! Keiyuu, DON'T!!"

"Taizo? Y-you remembered?!" Keiyuu asked, looking shocked. Taizo nodded, coming closer to the pair, tears in his eyes.

"Yes! Please don't go! I don't deserve--" Taizo started to say only to be stopped by the smaller man's glare.

"Of course you deserve to have someone ready to die for you, Taizo, don't you dare say otherwise!" He said and then softened, looking sad again.

"I'm sorry, you know. For what I said before."

"I... I don't remember it, Keiyuu... All I remember is that you did say something bad but what, I don't remember. Please don't go. I don't want you to die like that."

"But then what are we going to do with our little friend here?"

~Meanwhile in the real world~

"Keiyuu, please, if you can hear this, come back to us! We can't lose you like Mai, please!!" Yasuno said, sobbing. Yuura was crying as well, still trying to get through the white aura to shake Keiyuu awake from his trance. But the aura did not budge, still staying firmly around the barely-seen Keiyuu and the shard of Taizo's soul in his hand.

"Maybe... Maybe you should believe in your friends' strength?" Latias whispered, looking worried herself.

"How DARE you say that?! It's Keiyuu we're talking about here and he and Taizo might DIE!!!" Yasuno screamed, looking at the Eon Pokémon with a very angry glare. Latias flinched at his tone, shocked.

"I... I did not mean to disrespect... I believe they may pull through this." She said softly, looking at Keiyuu's shining form. That was then, Yuura noticed that the shard Keiyuu was holding so tightly was starting to shine almost as bright as the aura that surrounded the vocalist.

"What's happening in there?!"

~Meanwhile with Taizo and Keiyuu~

Just as Taizo was gonna say something, a voice suddenly came through. It was Yasuno.

"Keiyuu, please, if you can hear this, come back to us! We can't lose you like Mai, please!!" The drummer was saying and it was obvious that he was crying. Keiyuu's face softened at that.

"It'll be okay, Yasuno. At least I'll have saved Taizo-kun..." He said but Taizo's hand on his stopped him from going.

"Please don't go. There are people that will miss you, Keiyuu. Please don't kill yourself for me."

~Meanwhile with Sakito~

"Oh, you think you can beat me, huh? With a weak Pokémon no less." Yune said, smirking at the slightly shorter man with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Of course I will! Yomi needs us right now and I will not leave him on his own when I can help with Eevee!"

At that, Yune's smirk grew wider and he tossed a berry at the wary guitarist. Sakito barely caught it and looked suspiciously at it, not knowing what it could be.

"It's a Wiki Berry, you know. I'm only giving it to you because even with this, you cannot beat us. You and your little Yomi are doomed to fail! So, come on, equip that stupid berry and let's kick you out of here!"

"Eevee, Ee, Eevee~!" The Evolution Pokémon nodded, sure of himself that he would not lose his beloved partner or the dear friend of the said partner.

"Okay then..." Sakito muttered and equipped the purple berry onto Eevee.

"Ferrothorn, use Iron Head!"

~Meanwhile with Taizo and Keiyuu~

Just as Keiyuu was about to answer Taizo, a voice came from behind them.

"So you broke my rule again, Laura."

The little ghost girl jumped in fear and hid behind Keiyuu who looked in surprise as an old, dangerous looking ghost emerged from deep in the forest.

"Please, I-I didn't mean to! I don't wanna be punished again!!" Laura whimpered, obviously scared.

"Who the hell do you think you are, mister?! You have absolutely no rights to frighten a little girl!" Keiyuu exclaimed, glaring at the man as Taizo came closer to the scared girl.

"She is in my care and I can do whatever I want with her! If you want to live, you will stay away from her, she doesn't deserve any friends." The man growled and that, made Keiyuu look even more angry.

"No child should feel scared of their own caretaker! Leave her alone!" Taizo said, outraged like his bandmate. Then he turned to the girl, kneeling down to her eye level.

"It'll be okay, alright? Just trust us. We'll get you out of this situation."

~Meanwhile in the real world~

"What do we do, Latias-san?! How do we get Keiyuu to wake up so that he doesn't die?" Yuura asked as Yasuno still cried, the drummer was very distressed, thinking that he might lose another one of his friends thanks to Darkrai.

"All we can do is now wait. Maybe the shard of your friend's soul will be able to save him..." The Eon Pokémon whispered, looking worriedly at Yasuno and the white aura that still surrounded Keiyuu and Taizo.

"We need to do something, Latias-san, this is getting out of control here!" Yuura yelled, also afraid that they might lose Keiyuu and Taizo together.

~Meanwhile with Keiyuu and Taizo~

"You pests! How dare you try to lecture me?!" The man thundered but neither of them were scared of the bloodied man despite how his appearance was and how he acted.

"I honestly hope you're not the father of this poor girl or this'll suck even more." Said Keiyuu before punching the man hard and surprisingly, it worked, throwing the man away from them. Keiyuu looked surprised that his plan had worked and Taizo looked worried as Laura squeaked and hid behind the guitarist.

"Ouch! You little bastard! I'm gonna kill you!!" The man said before he grabbed Keiyuu's arm and started to drag him away from the other two.

"No!! Leave him alone!!" Taizo exclaimed, barely managing to grab Keiyuu's other arm and pulling him back.

"Ow!! Let me go, you asshole!!" The small man yelled, trying to get his arm free from the bloodied ghost. But all his tries were for naught and Taizo's hand was slipping from the singer's other arm. Laura on the other hand, was trembling and trying obviously hard not to cry.

"Leave him alone, Caramon." A stern voice from behind Laura came, making all of them pause in surprise.

~Meanwhile in the real world~

The aura around Keiyuu started to change color and that, made Latias feel even more worried as she knew what might be happening to the vocalist.

"What's happening?! Why did that aura change color?! It's turning black!!" Yuura shouted, starting to panic.

"Your friends are being confronted by an evil spirit! We can only hope that they can pull through this or we will lose at least Keiyuu..." The Eon Pokémon said, looking scared and inching away from Yasuno lest the drummer blamed her.

"We need to be able to do something at least, Latias-san! We can't let Keiyuu and Taizo down like that!!"

~Meanwhile with Ruka~

Ruka gasped for breathe as the Litwick continued to drain him and Gengar of their life force, trying to come up with the answer to the riddle. That was then, Gengar fainted, not being able to hold on any longer.

"No! G-Gengar, wake up!!" The drummer managed to gasp out. His partner had fainted in a really bad time. He had hoped that the Shadow Pokémon would be able to help him out on solving the puzzle but there was no way to wake her up for now. But after thinking of how he had met Gengar in the first place, he realized the answer was, quite literally behind him. His eyes widened upon realizing that and he managed to shout out the answer.

"S-Shadow!! The answer... Is shadow!!"

"Very well, Intruder. You only have two more riddles and what you seek shall be given to you. The next riddle is coming. 'You cannot see me,hear me, or touch me. I lie behind the stars and alter what is real, I am what you really fear. Close your eyes and I come near. What am I?'. You have only 3 minutes to answer this."

Ruka closed his eyes, trying to concentrate while thinking of how Yomi would react if he knew what was happening to him.

'Maybe he wouldn't even care if I'm gone...' He thought, swallowing in pain.

~Meanwhile with Keiyuu and Taizo~

"M-Mistress Laurana!" The bloodied man stammered as a blond, beautiful ghost appeared from right behind the young Laura. Upon seeing her, Laura jumped up happily.

"Mommy!! He was scaring me and these kind men helped me out! Please save him, please!" The smaller ghost said, pointing at Keiyuu.

"Of course dear. Now, Caramon. I shall deal with you so you will never mess with my little girl again! Or anyone else for that matter." She said, glaring at him with a calm yet dangerous look on her face. She only raised her right arm and sent out a white, light spear and threw it at Caramon who vanished after it hit him, triggering the memories of Mai's death in Keiyuu, making his eyes fill with tears at the thought of it.

"You may go now, you brave young men. I hope you achieve what you are set out to do. Thank you for protecting my daughter." With that Laura and her mother disappeared with the little girl waving at them joyfully.

~Meanwhile in the real world~

Keiyuu gasped and woke up, the aura around him suddenly dissipating. He looked down at the now glimmering piece of the soul shard he was holding tightly and then, he fell down, weakened by everything that had happened.

"Keiyuu! Are you okay?!" Yasuno was with him in an instant, supporting him.

"I'm... I'm fine, I think. Is Taizo alright??"

Just as the drummer was about to answer him, Taizo's voice came slightly stronger from before them.

"R-route... 220..." The guitarist was able to say before falling silent once again.

"Then we're going to go there. Now. We can wait for the night to fall in a nearby place or something." Keiyuu said even though he was barely able to talk from his tiredness.

"No. We, you, Keiyuu, have to rest first. Taizo would be really worried if he saw you this weak." Said Yuura seriously, very concerned about how the vocalist was hardly even able to sit upright.

"But--"

"No. Buts, Keiyuu. You look exhausted, seriously. Besides, we have more than enough time to prepare for our next stop. Taizo is gonna be alright, I promise." The bassist said, holding the younger man's hand and frowning as he felt how cold he was.

That was then, Yasuno checked Taizo's body to see if there was anything new now that they'd recovered one part of his soul and found that the guitarist's body was a bit warmer now. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they were on the right track. Latias also checked how Taizo was and smiled when she found out the same thing as Yasuno did.

"You are going good. He is getting warmer and his aura looks a lot better than it was before. Congratulations, Keiyuu."

At that, Keiyuu smiled tiredly, happy that he'd played his part well. But then, he frowned lightly, trying to clear his head from the fog that had engulfed his brain.

"You okay, Keiyuu-kun?" Asked Yasuno in concern. Keiyuu nodded, not wanting to tell the already nervous drummer that he felt light-headed and dizzy because of how long he'd spent in Taizo's spiritual world.

~Meanwhile with Kiro~

"You mean we need this to bring our Shin back to us?! Strify, how'd you find this?!" Kiro asked, shock and hope on his face. Strify nodded.

"I-I found it just laying down in the entrance of the hospital. Think the Legendary Pokémon that held this heard our need for it somehow?" The vocalist said as Shin came closer to the bright blue-pink orb, curious as to how this might affect him.

"We still need more stuff though, I just hope we can get them soon enough because the full moon is approaching and we need them before it comes..." Romeo said softly.

"Plusle, Plus." Kiro's Plusle cried out, looking very happy about the sudden development.

~Meanwhile with Hitsugi~

"Why, Hitsugi, you've gotten braver. Going into the dangerous, forbidden rooms on your own..." Zannin said, smirking as Hitsugi paled upon seeing the ex-drummer.

"Y-you haven't changed from your sly, cruel ways, Zannin! I'm not gonna lose to you! Not when Yomi's life is in danger!!" He exclaimed as Meowth went to stand in front of the nervous guitarist.

"We'll see about that one." Zannin said as he brought something out of his back pocket. It was a small, seemingly not so strong device but when the older man pushed its only button, a loud clink was heard and suddenly, the walls started moving after they sported large pointy ends.

"C-Crap! Meowth, we need to run!!" Hitsugi exclaimed, trying not to panic. The Scratch Cat Pokémon nodded and took the lead as they started running while Zannin laughed behind them.

"There's no way to run, Hitsugi. You will join your stupid friends soon in death."

~Meanwhile with Kra, at night~

The four members of Kra and Latias had finally arrived to the Route 220 after the sun went down. When they put the still unconscious Taizo down, Keiyuu stayed close to him, laying down beside the guitarist as he still was tired and it showed as well.

"We'll save him, right?" The vocalist whispered softly, looking so worriedly at Taizo that Latias flinched, knowing what might happen to these people who had so much to live for.

"Of course we will save him, Keiyuu. You need to stay with him though, now's my time, okay?" Yasuno said but just as they approached the soul shard, which was on a rock in the sea route they were in, a Pelipper landed on the rock, making the shard fall into the sea.

"You stupid Pokémon! Look what you've done!!" Yuura yelled angrily. Pelipper though, didn't even acknowledge the angry bassist, cooing softly as it buried its head into its soft down and went right to sleep. But when the bassist tried to get the diving suit onto himself, it didn't fit.

"Yuura, leave this to me, I'll-- No!!" Yasuno yelled as the bassist shrugged the tight suit off of himself and just dove right in without it, making all of the others gasp in shock.

"Oh crap, Yuura, what do you think you're doing?!"

~Meanwhile with Taizo~

Taizo whimpered in fear as he cowered behind a wall, not knowing what was happening. The thing that had been chasing him seemed to have lost him but the guitarist didn't really have the guts to check if it was true. And what was weird was that he could feel something different in the air, it was as if the air was draining away and he was in some sort of liquid or something.

"Taizo!" A voice from behind the wall came suddenly, making him jump in fear as he expected the black, shadowy stuff to come out and kill him instantly.

"Taizo, it's me, Yuura! Where are you?!" The voice called out again urgently. At that, Taizo frowned slightly, trying to remember if he knew someone named Yuura. But then, the man found him.

"There you are, thank goodness." The young man who was before him wore square glasses, was almost the same height as him and had brunette hair. And he had a really concerned look on his face as he checked him out to see if he was hurt in any way.

"Taizo? What's wrong?"

"I-I don't k-know you! Please don't hurt me anymore!!"

"What?! Taizo, I'd never hurt you! Come on, snap out of it, I'm here for you but I don't have much time, Taizo-kun!" The bassist said, shocked that the younger man thought he would hurt him.

"O-okay... But why did you come--"

Just as the guitarist was going to finish his sentence, the black mass that was chasing him before reappeared, making him actually squeak and hide again.

"Taizo, hashire yo!!" Yuura yelled, taking a hold of the guitarist's hand and starting a sprint.

~Meanwhile in real world~

"What do we do?! Yuura is down there on his own! We need to get to him back up here somehow!" Keiyuu hoarsely exclaimed, trying to see the older man in the water to no avail. Latias hardly managed to get him back inside the boat they were on, worried herself.

"I do not know but we should act quickly as Yuura has no oxygen tank or anything to protect him!" The Eon Pokémon said and just as she said that, a blue Pokémon appeared before them all of a sudden.

"I can help you." It said in a slightly gruff, older male voice. Seeing this, Latias relaxed slightly.

"Suicune. It would be most helpful." Latias said, looking at the Aurora Pokémon in relief. But Suicune shook his head.

"But I will exact a toll after it."

"What toll?! Toll of life or something?!" Yasuno asked, not trusting Suicune one bit.

~Meanwhile with Sakito~

"Eevee, dodge it and use Take Down!" Sakito said, slightly worried that the Evolution Pokémon would get hurt badly.

"Eevee~!"

Eevee immediately managed to dodge the powerful Steel-type move and charged with a barely seen speed and slammed into the Ferrothorn, hurting himself slightly in the process but damaging the Thorn Pod Pokémon as well.

"Eevee, are you alright?!"

The Evolution Pokémon nodded at his temporary trainer, smiling slightly. He was happy that Yomi's friends seemed to think of his safety just as much as Yomi normally did. But then, Yune smirked, getting ready to attack again.

"Ferrothorn, use Power Whip! You're not gonna win this, Sakito-san. I value my life too much to let you live!"