Through the Portal

"Kiro! Are you alright?!" Strify rushed over to the bassist who was doubled over and whimpering in pain.

"I-it's trying to-- AH!! It's trying to c-claim me a-again!" The short man said through gritted teeth. He wasn't about to go down without a fight but he didn't know how long it would be before he lost the battle.

Shin immediately came near him, trying to help but Kiro stepped back, scared that he would hurt the drummer. Shin was worried though, watching his friend suffer like that.

"You can fight it, Kiro, I know you can!" Strify said softly, holding Kiro's shoulders tightly.

"I-it hurts! Y-Yu... You need t-to bring Romeo... Out of here!" Kiro panted as he tried to pull through the pain.

"But--" Yu started to say, not wanting to leave Kiro when he needed him. But Kiro shook his head. Strify nodded.

"He's right, Hannes, Romeo needs to be taken care of at the moment and we sure as hell can't help him when Kiro is like this." The vocalist said gently while holding his best friend tightly. Yu nodded back and took the bleeding younger man onto his back with the help of Luminor and Shin.

"We'll be back, soon, alright?" Yu said as he got out of the room as silently as he could.

"Be careful, Yu. Don't get caught."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

The guys went into the Pokémon Center, curious about the stray Pokémon they had found. And when they went in, they found Nurse Joy was waiting for them with the Pokémon with her. When the Pokémon saw Hiroto, it immediately jumped onto him, licking him affectionately.

"I think she wants to come with you, where ever you're going." The Nurse said, smiling. Hiroto looked at the Luxray excitedly; "You want to be with us?"

"Luxray~." The Gleam Eyes Pokémon nodded enthusiatically. Hiroto laughed with joy and hugged her.

"That's so cute! She likes you, Hiroto-kun~!" Nao said smiling. Hiroto agreed.

"I'm so happy to be your friend, little Luxray~!"

~Meanwhile in the cages~

Plusle had finally exhausted herself to sleep. The rest of the Pokémon gathered around her to protect her from her ex-trainer, thinking that he would never beat the power of the solution. Little did they know Kiro was long gone from the dungeons and was in trouble.

"No... Please, Kiro... Come back~..." Plusle was having a nightmare and Minun looked sadly at the Poochyena, knowing she was also having the same nightmare.

"We need to make her realize her Kiro is gone forever somehow, this is so painful for her." Said Floette, wanting to befriend the poor Plusle. And that was then, Tom came to the cages, rudely waking up Plusle.

"Where is he?"

"What?"

"Where, is your trainer?"

"I don't understand!? Kiro was with you!!" Plusle was panicking, Kiro wouldn't leave without her, right?!

Then understanding dawned on Tom and he smiled evilly.

"I see, he left you alone here to rot, didn't he?"

Plusle staggered back, shocked while other Pokémon watched with sympathy on their faces. She didn't want to believe she was left forgotten in this cage. She cried out at Tom, wanting to be let out now.

"Sorry, if your stupid trainer didn't want you, I can't do shit to help you."

After that, Tom went away, still in search of Kiro. Plusle got up on her feet, running to the padlock and using her attacks on it. The padlock easily cracked under her attacks, weakening greatly.

"Plusle, don't do this, it's dangerous to get out of here alone!" Floette exclaimed, worried.

"I don't care! Kiro is in danger!!" She yelled, angry and worried at the same time.

Minun went over to his counterpart, trying to calm her down. "I'm sure if he wanted you with him, he'd have taken you away already... Sorry Plusle."

Plusle immediately used Thunder to keep Minun away and the ensuing noise woke up Poochyena. The Bite Pokémon looked around blearily and spotted Minun rubbing his head while a fuming Plusle was glaring at him.

"What's going on??"

"Hello, I'm Plusle. And I'm going to save my trainer."

At that, Poochyena perked up.

"Can I join in?! I miss my Tommy boy~!"

Plusle smiled. "Of course you can. Just help me with this padlock and we'll be set to go."

Poochyena nodded, coming beside Plusle immediately. She used Crunch on the already weak padlock and it broke down, crumbling on the floor.

"You're crazy, both of you." Said Loudred, shaking his head.

"No, we're loyal to our trainers unlike you." Plusle said and nodded at Poochyena who nodded back and they got out of the cage, silent as they could be.

~Meanwhile in Strify's room~

Kiro's whimpers slowly got down but the bassist didn't raise his head, exhausted.

"Kiro? Are you alright?" Shin asked, worried. Kiro just managed to raise his head like it was taking a lot of his energy at the moment. His eyes made them gasp because he was bleeding from his eyes.

"Oh my God, Kiro! You're bleeding!" Strify exclaimed in shock. Kiro just nodded, looking exhausted. Then he let Shin and Strify lower him onto the bed so he could be comfortable while he slept.

"Guys... I want to... Say something..." Kiro whispered, trying to raise his head.

"We're listening, Kiro."

"You need to... Save Plusle... Please, she... Doesn't deserve this treatment."

"I promise. But she wouldn't want to see you like this, maybe you should give yourself some time before you get to see her?" Strify asked but was met with a slow headshake from the hurt bassist.

"I won't... Have my Pokémon... In a cage, Andreas." Kiro said, determined. Shin and Strify shared a look but they didn't object, knowing how stubborn Kiro could get.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Hiroto was over the moon. He was so happy to have a partner Pokémon that he didn't expect Saga sneaking up on him to prank him. Luxray did though and in a matter of moments, she was standing with all her might to protect Hiroto from what he perceived as a threat.

"It's okay, Luxray, he's my friend. Just like you are." Hiroto said smiling.

Just as Hiroto finished his words, Nao shrieked, causing everyone to turn to him with raised eyebrows. The panicking drummer pointed at Ruka's shadow.

"T-there's so-something in there!!" He said, shaking like a leaf.

When they looked at Ruka's shadow, there was indeed something wrong with it because it was not doing anything Ruka was doing.

"What the hell?" Ruka muttered, frowning in confusion. Yomi jumped up and down around Ruka.

"That's awesome, Satoru~! How did you manage that?!" The singer asked excitedly to Ruka who shook his head.

"I don't think I'm doing it, Yomi-kun..."

Just as he said this, a purple bipedal Pokémon leaped out of Ruka's shadow, making Nao shriek and hide behind Tora in fright. It laughed creepily and came near Ruka.

"Gengar~."

"I know this Pokémon's type! It's a ghost type Pokémon!" Hitsugi said, shaking his head with an amused expression. Yomi burst out laughing at that. He wasn't surprised at all about it.

"I'm so not surprised at all!" Ni~ya said, joining Hitsugi and shaking his head as well.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - dungeons~

"Slow down, Poochyena! You're going to make your wound bleed!" Plusle said, trying to keep up with the Bite Pokémon. She was running fastly towards their freedom and when they came to the stairs, they both stopped to catch their breaths.

"You run... So fast, Poochyena." Plusle said, panting.

"I can't help it. Tom used to train me in running before this happened to him." Poochyena replied, looking down. She was sad about what her trainer became like. Plusle gently put a hand on the sad Pokémon's back, careful about the wounds she sported.

"It will be alright. We're gonna find a way for them."

"I hope so, Plusle. And I hope we can be friends after this whole mess."

"Of course we can. Aren't we friends already anyways?"

Poochyena smiled and nodded shyly. Plusle smiled back.

"Let's go. We have work to do, girl."

With that, they started to fastly climb the stairs, towards the freedom.

~Meanwhile in Strify's room~

"We need to do something, Shin. His bleeding still hasn't stopped." Strify said as they watched Kiro sleep while his eyes still bled.

"I know, but what can we do?!"

"Maybe finding his Plusle would help it too somehow? At least he wouldn't worry about her anymore."

"Okay then, I will go take her away from that cage." Shin said, getting up. Strify looked up at him with concern.

"But wouldn't it be better if we both looked for her and brought her back to him? I mean, it's not safe down there, Shin."

"No, you and Luminor should stay with Kiro so he won't be alone when he wakes up." The drummer said, smiling sadly. He wanted them to be with him but he was not selfish enough to let Kiro be alone at his time of need.

Luminor shook his head and got up from his chair as well.

"Strify has it under control, Marcel. You shouldn't go alone to down there. It's really dangerous. Right, Strify?"

Strify nodded. "Yeah, you two go and free the poor Pokémon from there. They don't deserve to be treated like dirt."

Shin sighed but nodded nonetheless. Together with Luminor, they got out of the room and got ready to rescue the Pokémon from the cages.

~Meanwhile in the Forbidden Wing of the castle~

"Plusle, are you sure we can find the answers we need in here?" Asked Poochyena timidly. She knew this part was supposed to be closed for everyone besides Darkrai himself. Plusle nodded.

"If there's anywhere we can get some answers, it's here, Poochyena. I mean, why would they close this part specifically if they didn't have something they have to hide?"

"Good point. Okay then, let's start our searching."

Plusle nodded and they started to reach for the bottom shelves.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Yomi's Eevee stared at the new-comer Gengar with slight fear in his eyes, he didn't like ghost Pokémon. But Gengar smiled creepily and trotted over to Ruka's side, liking the drummer's body heat.

"Maan, Ruka, this Gengar really liked you~." Yomi said, amused. Ruka nodded.

"Yeah it seems like it, Yomi-kun."

"Maybe it's because you're so dark and scaaary?" Yomi said and giggled as the others of Nightmare all burst out laughing at the eye-rolling drummer.

"Gengar~." The Shadow Pokémon also rolled her eyes and snuggled close to the drummer, making him smile briefly.

"You two are so cute like that!" Keiyuu said while Nao was still cowering behind Tora. When Gengar saw this, he slowly floated to the scared drummer, trying to befriend him but it caused Nao to get even more scared.

"Eek~!"

"Don't worry, Gengar, it's his natural reaction to anything ghostly." Shou said, smiling calmly.

"Welcome to our journey, Gengar."

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

Shin and Luminor slowly went down the stairs, neither talking in case someone would come over and see what was going on. They both were worried about Kiro and were hoping they would find Plusle soon so there would be one less problem for them to solve. Luminor leaned into Shin's ear.

"Are you sure you know where the Pokémon are?"

"Of course I do, Luminor! I was the one to get those tears to you guys, remember?" Shin said, slightly annoyed. Luminor nodded.

"Then let's find Kiro's Plusle and get the hell away from this place."

Shin nodded back and silently, they went into the cage part of the dungeons only to see a broken lock and two Pokémon short cages. Shin gasped, realizing that the Plusle he'd taken the tears from was one of them.

"Oh crap... Luminor, the Plusle is gone!!"

"What?! How the hell do you know?!" Luminor asked frantically.

"Because I took those tears from that Plusle and she was the only Plusle in that cage!"

Luminor held his head, stressed. Shin wasn't any better either, trying to still see where Plusle might be at.

"We need to find out where she is now! Kiro would freak if we don't find her." Luminor said, worried.

"But how?! She might've been taken by those broken guys and we have no Pokémon with us!"

~Meanwhile in the Forbidden Wing~

"Poochyena! Look, I think I found something!!" Plusle exclaimed. Poochyena ran beside her only to see that the book her new friend had found was far on top of one of the shelves.

"How are we gonna reach that, Plusle? We're not really the biggest Pokémon around, you know. How did you even see that anyways??" The Bite Pokémon asked curiously.

"Kiro was training me to see things that are out of my reach just like your Tom was training you to run fast. And I have an idea but it might be a little dangerous." Plusle replied. She knew this wouldn't be easy but she also knew they had to try.

"What is it, my friend? We are already in danger so I don't think we can get worse at the moment."

"Come here, I'll tell you."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Yomi chuckled as Nao hid himself behind Tora even more, causing the other bands to look at him funny.

"Y'know, for some reason, I'm really not surprised that a Ghost type Pokémon wants to be your partner, Satoru-kuuun~."

Ruka rolled his eyes while his bandmates joined the laughter. He'd already liked the Gengar that wanted to be his partner.

"What's that supposed to mean, you pervert?!"

"Well, I've never seen you write a single light-hearted lyrics in all the years I've known you so it's really fitting for you."

"Whatever, you insane chibi."

"OI! Don't call me that!"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - Forbidden Wing~

"What is the plan, Plusle?"

Plusle looked beyond her new friend and saw a chair just big enough to reach the book they needed.

"We move that chair to there somehow without making any noise. If we make any noise, we can get caught. You still sure you will help, Poochyena?"

Poochyena nodded seriously. "Dead sure, let's do it!"

Plusle nodded back with a gentle smile and went over to the chair, trying to move it. The Cheering Pokémon was having trouble with it but she actually managed to move the chair a few inches towards their goal.

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

"We need to get away from here, Luminor, we should part and find out where the hell Plusle has disappeared to!"

"Getting separated isn't a good idea, Shin, we can get caught without a back-up!"

Shin looked at Luminor with a worried look. He was really getting concerned about the poor Pokémon that were lost. Luminor put a hand on the distressed drummer's shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Marcel. We'll find a way."

~Meanwhile in the Forbidden Wing~

The two Pokémon finally had reached the book they wanted. Plusle nodded at Poochyena and slowly, they both got up to the chair's back and with the Bite Pokémon stabilizing Plusle, the Cheering Pokémon slowly took the book they needed. But that was then, alarms went off.

"Oh no! What're we gonna do now?!" Poochyena exclaimed, scared.

"We're going to hide, that's what. Come on!"

Poochyena nodded timidly and let Plusle Show the way, dragging the book as well.

"Who's there?!"

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

"What are we gonna do, Luminor?! If we don't find Plusle, Kiro would freak out!" Shin said, worried. Luminor shook his head, saying; "I have no idea, Marcel. But we need to be quick."

"I know... Let's split up and search! One of us can bring the Pokémon out of here while the other searches for Plusle and the other Pokémon that is lost."

"We are not gonna split up, Shin, that's too dangerous!"

"Look what's going on here."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Ruka was sitting with his Gengar as he silently composed a song. He was thinking of composing a song about a certain someone when Yomi came beside him, curiously looking over the drummer's shoulder.

"You're writing?"

"What does it look like?" Ruka replied, slightly annoyed.

"Geez, I just asked, Ruka-shi, you don't have to blow up at me."

"I didn't blow up at you, Yomi!"

Just when Yomi was about to answer Ruka, a huge bang alerted everyone around.

"What the hell was that??" Yomi muttered, curiously going in the direction of the sound.

"Yomi, don't wander away like that, it can be dangerous!" Hitsugi exclaimed, concerned. He didn't know what the noise's cause was so he was slightly scared that if Yomi went there something bad might happen to the vocalist.

"I'll be fine, Hitsu. I'm just curious." Yomi said, smiling at the worried guitarist.

"He's right, Yomi-san. We should stay together just in case." Reita said, coming after the young vocalist.

~Meanwhile with Yu and Romeo~

Yu was sitting in a chair beside Romeo's bed while the other was still unconscious. The escape from the fortress had been rather easy but Yu didn't want to think much of it. He just hoped both Romeo and Kiro would be alright.

"Yu..." Romeo whispered weakly, having just woken up.

"Romeo! How do you feel?!"

"Everything h-hurts, Hannes..." He managed to get out. "Where are we?"

"I brought you to the hospital, don't worry, you're gonna be alright." Yu said, leaning over to his best friend's wound. It looked like it was getting a bit better since the nurse had applied a colorless gel onto it.

"Are the others... Okay?"

Yu didn't know what to tell him. On one hand, Strify had woken up from the nightmare Darkrai had placed him into. But on the other hand, Kiro was still fighting off whatever substance they had injected into him. And Yu knew that Romeo was already blaming himself so he didn't know what to say.

"Yu? Is there... Something wrong with them?"

"N-no... Well, Strify finally woke up."

"Really? That's good! But there's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" Romeo whispered.

"I-I--"

"Please Yu, what is wrong with them?"

"It's-it's Kiro... He was in pain when I smuggled you out of the castle. I think he's still trying to ward off that evil thing inside him..."

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - Strify's room~

"Strify?.." Kiro whispered tiredly as the younger man gently cleaned the blood from Kiro's face.

"Yes, Karsten, what is it? Do you need something?"

"Where... Did the others.. Go?"

"They went to get your Plusle back, Kiro. Don't worry about them." Strify said soothingly.

"Zangoose~."

But as soothing as the vocalist's words were, they made Kiro sit up quickly, making him hold his head in pain. Strify immediately acted and brought Kiro back to a laying position.

"Are you insane?! You sent them without even a single Pokémon by their side?!"

Strify's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh Gott, I didn't think of that!"

~Meanwhile in the Forbidden Wing~

The guard went into the library only to find one of the books had been removed from its space. He suspiciously went to look for the culprit who'd taken the book. That was then Plusle nodded at Poochyena. Poochyena looked at her in confusion.

"What are you going to do, Plusle?"

"This." She replied before sending a Thunder to the guard and electrocuting him successfully.

"Now, let's go, Poochyena! Before this idiotic minion wakes up."

"Y-yeah, here, you can put the book on my back."

"No, you've got a wound there. I can carry it, no worries."

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

Shin and Luminor whirled around only to see a muscled, fit man looking at them evilly as he palmed the Pokéball in his belt.

"Oh shit..."

"You won't escape, little runts." The man muttered before sending out his Pokémon.

"Magmar~."

"Magmar, Flamethrower!"

Luminor and Shin only looked at eachother and started to run from the fiery Pokémon attack. Thankfully, they both were fast runners and they reached the end of the dungeons quite fast enough when something unexpected happened.

"Zangoose, go!!"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

The guys slowly gathered around to see the noise's source and found a huge crater just far enough to not see the contents.

"Whoa! This looks amazing!" Keiyuu said, shocked.

"Let's check it out then!" Hiroto exclaimed with his Luxray by his side, looking on curiously at the big crater.

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

"Kiro!!" Luminor and Shin chorused, shocked.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I... Came to save your asses and Plusle!" Kiro said, panting. Strify was a little behind him, shaking his head.

"I tried to keep him away but..."

"Kiro, you should be resting!!"

"I'll be fine! Strify, let's beat that Pokémon and get Plusle back."

Strify nodded and yelled at Zangoose; "Zangoose, use X-Scissor!"

The Cat Ferret Pokémon nodded and his claws started to glow light blue and then, he slashed an X into the air and fell back slightly and the move hit Magmar, making it stagger away from Shin and Luminor.

"Thanks, Zangoose. Now, let's get Plusle back!"

Luminor and Shin looked at eachother nervously as Kiro and Strify started to get inside the dungeons.

"Kiro..."

"What is it, Luminor? I need to get to Plusle."

"Plusle isn't there right now..."

"WHAT?!"

~Meanwhile with Plusle and Poochyena~

Plusle and Poochyena went into one of the rooms, tired after having to drag the book they had gotten everywhere.

"Here, this was Kiro's friend Strify's... Room. Where is he though?! He was in a nightmare, he couldn't have wandered off!"

"Maybe we should search for him and your trainer, Plusle, I have a bad feeling about this." Poochyena said concernedly.

"I will. You stay here, Poochyena. I don't want you to be in danger because of this." Plusle muttered, looking down. She was really worried for her beloved trainer.

"No way! We're in this together! I'm not leaving you alone in the face of danger!"

"You won't be, Poochyena. Think about it, if you can somehow find what we need to do to bring our trainers back in that book, you'll be more than helpful to our cause. You look through that book and tell me what we need to do to get their sanity back and I will go find Kiro and drag his ass if I need to."

"Be careful though, Plusle, like Floette said, it's realy dangerous out there."

"Don't even mention her name around me, she's such a coward!" Plusle muttered, irritated at the mention of the Floette.

"Okay."

"See you later."

But just as the Cheering Pokémon was about to go out, a foot came into her line of vision, making her look up and freeze in horror.

"There you are, you little runaways."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Yomi was the first one to approach the crater, curiously looking into it and saw an interesting shaped Pokémon there. It was a purple bodied, machine-looking Pokémon.

"What the hell? What is that?!" Hiroto who had come beside the frowning singer said, confused. They both jumped back when the machine-Pokémon's head turned to them.

~Meanwhile with Plusle and Poochyena~

Plusle sent out a good amount of Discharge attack on her pursuer but the man just laughed, having worn rubber clothes. Poochyena then attacked the man, biting him on the leg and making him cry out in pain.

"Why you little pest!" He said before kicking the Bite Pokémon away and making her black out from the pain.

"Poochyena!" Plusle exclaimed and ran to her friend's prone body, worried.

"Now you're gonna get back to where you belong, both of you."

That was then, Bill came up from behind the man. "Did you catch them, Gustav?"

"Yeah, let's go."

With that, Gustav picked the still fighting Plusle and the unconscious Poochyena into his arms and gave Poochyena to Bill who took her very harshly and with that, they both left.

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

"What the hell do you mean she's not there anymore?!"

"She abandoned you, that's what." The other man said, smirking at the distressed Kiro.

"Shut the hell up! Plusle would never do that to Kiro!" Strify said angrily. Kiro though, didn't listen to any of them and just ran to the cages, looking for his Plusle.

"Plusle! Where are you?!"

He looked at the cages one by one but didn't find anything. He was about to cry but right then, Bill and Gustav returned with the still struggling Plusle and fainted Poochyena. Seeing this, Kiro looked relieved.

"Plusle!! Thank God you're okay! I'll get you a--" He uttered but the next moment, the other man smirked and nodded at Gustav who was carrying Plusle. Gustav nodded back and threw the poor Cheering Pokémon onto the wall.

"Plusle! NO!!!" Kiro screamed, running to his partner's side, frightened that she was dead. But when he picked her up gently, the Cheering Pokémon whimpered lightly. Kiro hugged the hurt Pokémon to his chest, ready to cry. But then, the other man sent an order to his Magmar.

"Magmar, use Flamethrower at them!"

"No!!"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Just as the Pokémon's head turned to them, Ruka and Shou came to take their respective bandmates away in case they would be in danger.

"Ruka~! Let me go! I wanna look at that thing!"

"No way in hell are you going in there unprotected, Chibiko, forget it!"

"But--"

"No buts!"

Meanwhile the machine-like Pokémon had already climbed the crater and was looking curiously at the group and the Sphere Yasuno was carrying.

"Look, it's up!"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

Just as the attack was going to hit Kiro, Shin threw himself in front of him, taking the fire type attack.

"SHIN!!" Kiro screamed and caught his friend's falling body.

"Karsten... Are you alright?" Shin whispered weakly.

"Am I okay? Are you insane, Marcel?!"

"Here, let me help." Luminor said, taking Shin up by his armpits as gently as he could. But when his cool hands made contact with the youngest's skin, it made him whimper in pain.

"It'll be okay."

"None of you is leaving this place. Magmar, protect the door!"

"Good thinking, Georg."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Yomi tried to go near the strange looking Pokémon but Ruka's hand on the back of his shirt stopped him.

"You're so mean, Satoru~..." Yomi muttered, sulking.

"If you used the brain you were born with, I wouldn't have had to be."

But that was then, Yomi's Eevee went over cheerfully to the Pokémon's side.

"Eevee~??"

"Genesect."

The Evolution Pokémon chattered to the weird Pokémon under the slightly worried gaze of his trainer and after a little while, he went back to his trainer, as cheerful as ever.

"You okay, Eevee?"

Eevee nodded, snuggling onto Yomi's chest. But that was then, the Pokémon named Genesect suddenly sent a beam of light at the nearby pile of bushes and from it, a yelp came out.

"What the heck?! What do you think you're doing here, Kyo-san?"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"I won't let you! Zangoose, use Detect!" Strify yelled.

The Cat Ferret Pokémon nodded at his trainer and his eyes immediately started to glow light blue as he dodged the oncoming attack. This gave Luminor the opening he needed and he just threw Shin and Kiro onto the dungeon's door, away from Magmar.

"RUN!! Both of you, just RUN!" Luminor yelled as he and Strify got close to eachother.

"But what about you?!"

"Don't care about us now! GO!!" Strify yelled, knowing that they would be in much more trouble if Kiro didn't run right then.

"But--"

"Karsten, both Shin and your Plusle need medical help right now, which they can't get from here! We're gonna be fine!"

Kiro averted his face and looked down on Shin's burnt, bloated body. It looked painful and it was obvious that the drummer needed help immediately. Kiro sighed and slowly supported Shin out of the dungeons, hoping Strify and Luminor could hold on while he got help.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"None of your business!" Kyo said annoyedly, his hand coming to the bleeding wound on his stomach.

"You were spying on us, weren't you?" Yuura said, his eyes narrowing.

"Like I said, none of your business!"

"Genesect!" The Paleozoic Pokémon prepared to shoot another beam at the vocalist but all of a sudden, Kyo sent out his Bisharp and the Sharp Blade Pokémon immediately protected Kyo, taking the hit himself and getting slightly battered.

"Thank you, Bisharp."

"Would you look at that, he knows how to thank someone!" came the sarcastic voice of Ruki from behind Uruha.

"Why you little--!! Of course I know how to thank someone! I don't do that to idiots and copycats though."

"Stop calling us copycats, Kyo, or you won't like what happens to you." Ruka said, dangerously calm.

~Meanwhile with Yu and Romeo~

"Hannes?"

"Yes, Romeo?" Yu said, turning to the younger man who was laying on the hospital bed curiously.

"Do you think they're alright?" Romeo whispered, looking down. Yu nodded.

"I think we would've known if there was something wrong, Romeo, don't worry."

"I have a bad feeling, Yu, maybe we should check on them..."

Yu sighed. Nothing he could say seemed to relieve Romeo's mind about their friends. And even though he didn't want to show it to Romeo, he had a bad feeling himself. He felt like something was wrong, that there was something they should do.

"You know what, I'm sending Sigilyph to there, if there really is something wrong, he can help them."

"Thanks, Yu."

"Sigilyph, go!"

The Avianoid Pokémon immediately came out of his Pokéball, crying out. But just as Yu was going to give his orders, a nurse came in.

"I'm sorry but please put that Pokémon back into its Pokéball."

Yu didn't even listen. "Listen Sigilyph, I want you to go back to the castle and see if the others are alright. If not, help them in anyway you can, alright?"

Sigilyph nodded and cried out in agreement, going out of the window.

"Be careful there, Sigilyph..." Romeo whispered, worried to the extreme.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

When Kiro went into Strify's room, he immediately laid Shin onto the bed.

"Shin, talk to me, are you alright?!"

"Plusle~!"

"It hurts like hell, Karsten..."

"I'll get a balm for you! Just wait here, alright?"

"Okay..."

Just as Kiro set a foot out of the room, his blood ran cold.

"Hello, Kiro." Said Darkrai in front of him, smirking eerily.

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

Luminor and Strify stood back to back, trying to protect each other. And Zangoose was trying to get away from the Yamask that kept him sealed.

"This is bad, Andreas, we need to get away somehow!" Luminor said as they threw themselves onto the ground to avoid a Flamethrower from the Magmar.

"But what can we do?!"

"We need to run away from here, that's what!"

"You're not running away. And neither will your worthless friends. Master knows they're not here."

~Meanwhile with Kiro and Shin~

Shin immediately got up from the bed when he saw the Pitch Black Pokémon. He knew Darkrai was a threat to all of them. But as soon as he came to stand beside Kiro, the bassist shoved him back inside the room.

"Don't come, Shin! This is dangerous!"

"No way in hell are you gonna fight alone, Karsten, I will not let that happen!"

"Would you look at that. Loyalty. Something you have none of, Kiro." Darkrai said, his eyes glinting in slight anger and mockery.

"Kiro is loyal to us! Not to the likes of you!"

"Shin!!" Kiro hissed, scared that the younger would get more hurt thanks to Darkrai.

"You will pay for that."

Just as the Legendary Pokémon was about to attack Shin, a shadow came in front of the surprised drummer. When the dust was cleared, they saw a weird Pokémon in front of them, obviously protecting them. Kiro immediately recognized the Pokémon.

"Sigilyph! What are you doing here?! Where's your master?!" Kiro said, shocked that Yu's Pokémon was protecting them.

"Sigilyph~!" The Avianoid Pokémon cried out and sent a strong Air Slash at Darkrai, initiating the fight. But in retaliation, Darkrai sent a Shadow Ball into him but he dodged it quickly and got back to float in front of Shin and Kiro.

"Sigilyph, I want you to go to the dungeons, Strify and Luminor are in danger."

The Pokémon cried out and sent another Air Slash at Darkrai, making him go away for a while as he saved the other ones.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Kyo scoffed. He was sure that he would be able to beat them easily.

"What can you do anyways, you got lucky that time when your Pokémon distracted us."

"You don't know that, you bastard!" Yomi yelled, annoyed.

"Genesect." Came the voice from the Paleozoic Pokémon's voice as he readied another attack at Kyo.

"Leave him alone, Genesect-san. We'll take care of him."

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

"Strify, look out!!" Luminor yelled as Bill sent out his Yamask and sent a Shadow Ball at the vocalist where he was wounded. But Strify's reflexes were quick and he managed to dodge it immediately. But just as he dodged, the attack came to Luminor since they were standing close together.

"Luminor!!!" Strify yelled, immediately crouching down to inspect his wound.

"I-I'm okay, Strify, you look out for yourself." Luminor said as the shorter helped him up.

"No way in hell, Luminor!"

Bill smirked as he thought that they had forgotten about the fight and just as he was going to tell Yamask to send another Shadow Ball, a Pokémon came in between the attack, taking it on itself.

"Sigilyph!!"

"Sigilyph, what are you doing here, where's Yu?!" Strify yelled, shocked. Sigilyph didn't even answer the vocalist as he helped the injured Zangoose to beat the oncoming attacks of the Magmar and Yamask.

"Sigilyph~! Sigi~!" He cried at Zangoose and the Cat Ferret Pokémon nodded at the Avianoid Pokémon, directing his attacks at Magmar.

~Meanwhile with Kiro and Shin~

"So that weird Pokémon was Yu's?" Shin asked curiously as Kiro paced. The bassist knew he needed to go outside and find a burn medicine for the younger man but Shin wouldn't let him go in case he got attacked without any Pokémon to defend himself.

"Yeah. It's his. But why did he come without Hannes with him?!" Kiro said, worried about his friends.

That was then, a small whimper got their attention.

"Plus..."

"Plusle! You're awake!" Kiro said, running to his Pokémon's side as Shin watched with a smile.

"Plusle? Plus!!" The Cheering Pokémon immediately hugged Kiro as hard as she could. But when she looked around, her expression changed to one of worry.

"What's wrong, Plusle?" Kiro asked, concerned about how his Pokémon was acting.

"Plusle! Plus!!"

"I think she wants something, Karsten..."

"Yeah, but what?!"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Kyo got a little nervous, seeing the evil grin on Yomi's face. The younger vocalist was grinning in a way that slightly scary to the others too, everyone besides his bandmates that is. His bandmates on the other hand, were amused, knowing Yomi wouldn't truly hurt Kyo even though he hated him.

"I'd like to s-see you try, copycat!!"

"Oh, you so asked for it! Eevee, let's go!"

~Meawhile in the dungeons~

Strify and Luminor got closer to eachother while the two Pokémon fought for their safety. And then, Sigilyph used Mirror Move to send the Shadow Ball Yamask sent back to him. It landed a critical hit and made Yamask faint in one hit.

"Yamask! You little bastard!" Bill exclaimed, running beside his fainted Pokémon.

"Good job, Sigilyph! Now we only have to worry about that Magmar!" Strify said, happy that they would be able to escape.

"Not so fast! Magmar, use Lava Plume on that Zangoose!"

"Magmar~!"

The Spitfire Pokémon nodded and immediately created an explosion around himself and hit Zangoose with flames so strong that the Cat Ferret Pokémon hit the wall behind them and slumped down, unconscious.

"Zangoose, no!" Strify yelled, running beside his fallen partner. Luminor came beside them as well, worried. And then, Georg smirked evilly.

"Magmar, use Lava Plume again!"

Thankfully, Sigilyph immediately used Psychic right before the Spitfire Pokémon could oblige and sent him flying towards the wall himself.

"Now let's get out of here, Strify."

~Meanwhile with Kiro and Shin~

Plusle was pulling at Kiro's hand, looking frantic by then.

"Plusle~! Plus, Plusle!!"

"What's the matter, Plusle, what is wrong with you??" Kiro asked softly. He was so tired because of having to inwardly fight the substance that was still inside of his body.

"I think she wants us to find something, Kiro."

Plusle nodded fervently at Shin's words. She was really concerned about something neither of them could understand. That was then though, Shin understood.

"Oh! Maybe she wants that other Pokémon that was with her when those guys found her?"

Plusle cheered up immediately, nodding and jumping up and down. Shin smiled at the cute Cheering Pokémon's enthusiasm.

"We'll find that Pokémon, alright, Plusle? You don't need to worry about it anymore."

But just as Shin finished his words, Kiro doubled over in pain again.

"M-Marcel!"

"Kiro! What is it?!" The drummer said, running to his side.

"Run! T-take Plusle and--" He said but stopped in the middle of his sentence, his head was down and Shin couldn't see his friend's face anymore. It worried him to no end. That was then, Kiro suddenly opened his eyes and raised his head, making both Shin and Plusle gasp in shock. His eyes were blood red and he smiled twistedly.

"You're not going anywhere~."

~Meanwhile with Strify and Luminor~

Strify and Luminor had finally managed to get out of the dungeons, panting as they climbed the stairs.

"I hope Shin's okay, Luminor..."

"I'm sure Kiro will take care of him, Strify. We need to find them though, do you have any idea where they might've gone to?"

"Maybe they went to my room?" The worried vocalist said timidly. Luminor nodded.

"Then we're going there."

~Meanwhile in Strify's room~

Shin backed away a little from Kiro, unnerved.

"K-Kiro? What's wrong with you?!"

"Nothing. I'm much more powerful now." The bassist said, still smiling eerily. Then, he tried to punch Shin in one of the burnt places of his body but Shin was faster and managed to dodge the oncoming attack. Kiro though, immediately sent another punch at the hurt drummer.

"Karsten, stop! This isn't you-- OUCH!" The drummer yelled, holding his bloated arm. The wound had started to bleed after the punch hit him.

"Plus! Plusle~!" Plusle was hiding in the corner of the room, looking upset as Kiro lost himself completely. She didn't know what to do to bring her Kiro back to them again. She only knew that there was a way within the book she and Poochyena had found and the book was probably returned to where it once was since it was not where they'd left it anymore.

"Plusle, you've gotta help me!" Shin yelled as he dodged another attack from one of his best friends.

"That useless Pokémon cannot help you, Marcel. You're dead, admit it." Kiro said as he cornered Shin to the back of a wall, grinning crazily now.

"Plusle!! Plus~! Plusle!" The Cheering Pokémon came forward, looking just about to cry and used Discharge on Kiro, making him scream and faint. Then, she came beside her partner, starting to cry. Shin's heart broke as he watched Plusle cry for her partner. He wanted to soothe the poor Cheering Pokémon but he didn't have any idea how to do so.

"It'll be okay, Plusle, we'll find a way to bring Kiro back to us."

Just as Shin finished his words, Strify and Luminor barged into the room. They looked more than slightly battered but alive. Their eyes widened though, when they saw what was going on.

"Oh my God, what happened to him-- Shin, you're bleeding!"

"Nevermind me now. Kiro reverted back to that crazy bastard."

"What?!"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Kyo and Yomi stood in front of eachother, ready to begin their battle.

"Eevee, use Feint Attack!" Yomi said to his partner. The Evolution Pokémon nodded and disappeared, suddenly materializing behind Bisharp and kicking the Sharp Blade Pokémon when he wasn't looking. Kyo growled at that.

"Bisharp, use Night slash!"

Bisharp didn't even nod before one of his claws glowed crimson and he tried to attack Eevee with it. But Eevee quickly dodged and bit down on Bisharp's arm, making him cry out in pain.

"Good going, Eevee!" Yomi said, smiling at his strong Pokémon. But that was then, a voice came from behind Kyo.

"Need help, Kyo-kun?"

Everyone turned around only to see one of Kyo's bandmates standing a few feet away from them.

"Thanks, Die, it would be great." Kyo said, smirking at Yomi's indignant expression. Die nodded and sent out his Pokémon.

"Garbodor~!"

"That's not fair!!" Yomi yelled. He was not happy with how the things had turned around. But then, Ruka came beside him.

"I'll help you, Jun-kun. Go, Gengar!"

"W-what?!"

"Now this is what we call fair, Kyo-san." Said Yomi, smirking back at the dark vocalist.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"What will we do?!" Shin whispered, trying not to cry. It was killing him inside to see Kiro this way.

"I don't know, Shin. Maybe we should try to get help." Came from Strify.

"But from where?!" Shin said, desperate.

"I have an idea." Luminor said but just as he was going to explain, a minion of Darkrai came into the room, making them get up warily from where they were sitting around Kiro's motionless body.

"Master wants to see you."

"Plusle! Plus~!" The Cheering Pokémon immediately came in front of the man and used Thunder on him but it didn't work as the minion had worn rubber clothes like Gustav. Seeing this, Luminor acted and took Plusle away from the minion lest he decided to hurt the Cheering Pokémon.

"We'll see him only if he helps Kiro!" Shin said angrily. He was ready to do anything to save Kiro.

"That is what Master wants to talk about as well."

The guys looked at eachother, hesitant. They all knew that Darkrai had the cure for all the broken people in the castle but on the other hand, this could very well be a trap from the Pitch Black Pokémon.

"I think we should separate. I'll stay with Kiro and Shin." Strify said calmly. Luminor nodded, agreeing immediately.

"What?! I'm not leaving you alone in there, Lars, forget it!!" Shin said, shocked.

"Plusle~! Plus, Plusle~." Plusle exclaimed, obviously agreeing with the angry drummer.

"Shin, you're injured. Kiro would freak if he learned that--"

"I don't care! Kiro would freak if I let you go alone into the danger, Luminor!"

"But--"

"No buts, I'm coming with you." Shin said and got out of the room slowly. The others looked at eachother and sighed in exasperation. Shin could be so stubborn sometimes.

"You should go with him, Luminor. I will stay with Kiro."

Luminor nodded calmly. "I'll take care of him, don't worry. I don't like this at all though..."

With that, the keyboardist followed Shin out of the room.

Shin and Luminor went to the throne room, both apprehensive about what was going on. There stood Darkrai, smirking eerily at them.

"So you came."

"Yes. Tell us what we need to do to bring Kiro back!" Shin said boldly, surprising Luminor along with Darkrai.

Darkrai laughed in a low voice, starting to scare the two men standing in front of him.

"But don't you have more people here? They will need help as well."

This sentence brought a chill down both of their backs.

"W-what do you mean?!"

"This." Darkrai said, nodding towards the minion and making him smile evilly and press two buttons on the remote he was holding. The screen behind the Pitch Black Pokémon changed to a hospital room which had Romeo and Yu in it and then, an explosion happened.

"NO!!"

~Meanwhile with Yu and Romeo~

Yu fell over from where he was sitting when the explosion hit. He was about to try and get up when he heard Romeo's agonized yell. He immediately looked up only to freeze in horror. A huge part of the debris had fallen onto the bed Romeo was currently trying to get out of.

"Romeo! Are you alright?!"

"I-it hurts, Hannes!"

"You just wait here, I-I'll get help!" The guitarist said trying to get up but a burst of intense pain in his left leg stopped him, making him look down only to see his leg bleeding badly.

"Damn it!"

~Meanwhile with Strify and Kiro~

Strify was sitting beside Kiro when the bassist finally stirred. Strify immediately looked at the bassist and turned wary as soon as he saw Kiro's blood-red eyes. Kiro scanned the room only to find just Strify and his Plusle in the room and smiled evilly.

"Well, where are your other cowardly friends, Andreas? Are they too afraid to even see me?"

Strify didn't know what to say. On one hand, the news he could give could make Kiro revert even worse. But on the other hand, it could call out to the sane part of him and make him fight the substance off. Strify debated what to say as he brought out the ropes Darkrai had used to bind him with as he put him inside the nightmarish comatose state.

"Well? I don't have all day, you know."

"They're--"

Just as he was about to answer, coming closer to him, Kiro got up. Strify looked confusedly at the shorter man as he came closer to him.

"You're gonna tie me up, aren't you?"

~Meanwhile with Shin and Luminor~

"What have you done?!" Shin whispered in horror. He couldn't believe even Darkrai could blow up a hospital where there were innocent people.

"I have done what your escaped friends deserved. Now, shall we talk about your little Kiro?" Darkrai replied, grinning evilly. Shin went to protest only to be stopped by Luminor.

"Yes. That's what Yu and Romeo would want from us. They're gonna be alright, I know they are." Luminor said, proudly keeping his head up. Shin immediately nodded, agreeing.

"Yeah. Tell us what we need now!"

Darkrai did something very unexpected and grinned. This made both of them very wary and scared all of a sudden.

"I will only give the cure if one of you can take the serum yourself."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Kyo growled at the unexpected turn of the events. He felt annoyed at Ruka that he was gonna be able to protect Yomi.

"Bisharp, use Metal Claw on that Gengar!"

"Bisharp~." The Sharp Blade Pokémon nodded and his claws turned silver iron as he slashed at Gengar. But it didn't make the Shadow Pokémon weaken too much, only making her slightly stagger away from Bisharp.

"Gengar, are you alright?" Ruka asked, frowning.

"Gengar~." She nodded, getting right back to the fight. She also came right in front of Yomi's Eevee, obviously protecting him.

"Garbodor, use Toxic on Eevee!" Die yelled.

Garbodor didn't even turn to her trainer to let him know she'd gotten the order. She sent several gross looking purple globs onto the Evolution Pokémon, making him fall down and whimper.

"Eevee! Are you alright?!" Yomi exclaimed, worried to the extreme. Eevee whimpered but still returned bravely back to the fight.

"Gengar~. Gen, Gengar." The Shadow Pokémon said to Eevee, gently making him go back to his concerned trainer. Yomi immediately hugged Eevee to his chest, very concerned.

"But what are you gonna do alone, Gengar?" The vocalist asked to Gengar.

"Who said she's gonna be alone? Go, Luxray!" Hiroto said, sending his partner.

"Thanks, Hiroto-san."

"Don't even mention it." Hiroto said, smiling. Then he gave his Pokémon his first order.

"Luxray, use Thunder Fang!"

~Meanwhile with Shin and Luminor~

"I'll do it. But how do we know you're not lying?!" Shin asked before Luminor could stop the drummer.

"I do not lie. I will Show you then." Darkrai said and sent the minion in the room to find Bill. Meanwhile Luminor turned to Shin in worry.

"Shin, don't do it. Kiro would never forgive himself if you do this." The keyboardist said, holding Shin by his shoulder. He didn't want to lose the drummer as well.

"There's only one way to bring Karsten back right now, Luminor and it's this. I won't let Kiro suffer anymore."

"But--"

"No buts, Luminor. This is the only way."

Just as Shin finished his words, Bill came into the room, head held high. He sneered at Shin and Luminor as they stood next to him.

"What is the matter, Master?"

~Meanwhile with Strify and Kiro~

"I-I--"

"Don't even begin to lie to me, Andreas. Aren't I your best friend? Best friends don't lie to eachother." Kiro said, smiling eerily. But just as he tried to take the ropes, Plusle and Zangoose both came in front of Strify, the former looking pained.

"I have to do this, Karsten. Plusle, can you paralyze him till I'm done?"

"Plusle~!" The Cheering Pokémon nodded sadly and used Discharge on her trainer, making him paralyzed.

"Thank you."

~Meanwhile with Shin and Luminor~

"You will be set free." Darkrai said, holding out a glowing green syringe. Bill turned fearful.

"But why? Did I do something wrong, Master!?" Bill asked fearfully.

"No. But it is needed. Come." Darkrai said and Bill nodded miserably, coming forward.

~Meanwhile with Strify and Kiro~

Kiro glared as Strify sadly bound him with the ropes.

"What are you gonna do now, huh, Andreas?? Leave me like this as you're doing something or another?!"

"I'll have to, Kiro. I know you don't want to hurt anyone." Strify said, his tone almost begging the older man.

"Plusle~..." Plusle cooed at the bound man, her eyes so sad even Kiro looked down with slight softness in his eyes.

"It's gonna be alright, Kiro. We'll make sure of it."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Kyo yelled at Bisharp to dodge it one second too late, Luxray had already managed to get her electrified fangs into Bisharp, making him cry out in pain.

"Good job, Luxray!"

Meawhile Yomi was really concerned about his poor Eevee who whimpered and whined softly, obviously in much pain.

"What do I do to make you feel better, Eevee?"

"Eevee~..."

"Garbodor, use Sludge Bomb!" Die yelled out his next command at his partner.

Garbodor immediately sent out a brown ball of sludge at Gengar but Gengar only got blasted a few feet away, using Payback right afterwards and making Garbodor fall back a few feet away from her trainer.

"What the hell?!" Die yelled, going beside his shaken partner. Kyo shook his head as the guitarist tended to her.

"Bisharp, use Night Slash on that damn Gengar!!"

~Meawhile with Luminor and Shin~

Luminor and Shin watched curiously as Bill came over to Darkrai's side and held out his arm, both hoping it would work. Right after the minion had emptied the syringe into the vocalist, he came down with a small yell.

"I hate you..." Bill whispered, starting to cry. His eyes had completely turned back to his original, soft brown color and they were filling with tears. Shin and Luminor came beside the crying man, trying to soothe him.

"It'll be alright, Bill." Shin said, putting a hand onto his shoulder.

"How? How can it be okay anymore? He took Tom and the others!"

"I don't know. But we, I will make sure you and your friends get out of this damned place." Shin shook his head and then, turned to Luminor.

"Luminor, I want you to get Strify and Kiro here. We'll need them now."

Luminor nodded hesitantly, not wanting to leave Shin alone in Darkrai's presence.

"Be careful. I'll be right back."

~Meanwhile with Strify and Kiro~

"I told you, Strify. You can't do so anymore." Kiro said, making the younger man turn to him with gentle and sad eyes.

"Doesn't mean we won't try, Kiro. I promise you will be alright."

Just as Kiro was about to answer, Luminor came in, looking grim. Strify immediately turned to him with a confused look.

"What's the matter, Luminor? Where's Shin?!"

"Darkrai wants us all there..." Was all the other man said before helping Kiro up from the chair and bringing him out of the room gently. Thankfully, the bassist did not resist, he simply let Luminor get him away.

~Meanwhile with Shin~

Shin anxiously waited for his friends to come under the scared look of Bill.

"What are you going to do?" The vocalist asked timidly.

"I... I agreed to take that damn serum if he cured Kiro of it."

"You said WHAT?!" Came from behind him. When they turned around, they saw Strify looking horrifiedly at Shin while Kiro stood in confusion.

But before anyone could say anything more, Darkrai beckoned Kiro and Shin forward. Strify unwillingly undid the bassist's bonds and he went to stand before the Pitch Black Pokémon by Shin's side.

"What are we going to do?!" Strify whispered to Luminor who shook his head.

"Damned if I knew, Andreas..." The keyboardist replied, looking at the calm yet sad Shin and confused Kiro.

And just as the minion went to use the serum on Shin, the drummer stopped him.

"W-wait!"

"What is it?!" Came from the annoyed Darkrai. "Are you having second thoughts about what to do?"

"No, of course not. I... I just want to be able to say goodbye to him." Shin whispered, looking down slightly. Surprisingly, Darkrai nodded and roughly, the minion used the cure on the bassist, making him groan and turn around. Confusion clouded his features upon finding where he was and who he was with.

"What's going on?"

"Kiro, are you feeling... Alright?" Shin asked tentatively. Kiro turned to him and nodded.

"I-I think I'm fine. What's going on?"

Shin tensed up immediately upon hearing this. Kiro saw this and tensed as well, starting to really get scared at the silence in the room.

"Karsten... I-I... I did something for you."

"Really? What is it?"

"He agreed to take the serum himself to save you." Darkrai's voice came from in front of him, making Kiro look up in horror.

"You did WHAT?!"

"Yeah... I'm sorry, Kiro. But this is goodbye for us, I guess." Was all Shin said before going over to the minion to get the serum into his body.

"NO!!! Marcel, DON'T!!!" Kiro screamed at the drummer with tears in his eyes. Shin only replied with slowly shaking his head and then, the serum was injected into the drummer.

"NO!!"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Ruka frowned as the Sharp Blade Pokémon sent out his attack. He wasn't sure if Gengar could take the attack as she was more than a bit battered. But thankfully, Luxray looked out for her partner and sent out an almighty Roar, making Bisharp go back to his trainer, unnerved.

"Thanks, Luxray."

"Gengar~."

Luxray nodded to let them know their thanks were noticed and then, turned to the Garbodor who was still standing there.

"You won't beat us that easily!" Die said and gave out his next order; "Garbodor, use Toxic on Luxray!"

"Garbodor~!" The Trash Heap Pokémon nodded and sent out another glob of purple liquid but Luxray was fast enough to dodge it, making Hiroto breathe out a sigh of relief, thankful.

"Good job, Luxray!"

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball on that damned Garbodor! Let's make it pay for what it did to Yomi-kun's Eevee!"

"Gengar!" The Shadow Pokémon's hands started to spark with blue electricity and she put her hands together, forming a black ball and shot it at Garbodor who was too slow to dodge it and she fainted in one hit.

"Garbodor, no!"

"Damn it..." Kyo muttered as he tried to make Bisharp come out of his Pokéball.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

Kiro sobbed as the other two watched with sad, worried eyes. Shin had gone away with the minion as they watched with shocked eyes. They'd had to take Kiro away from following the younger man and get hurt in the process.

"Kiro, it's gonna be alright. We'll find a way." Luminor said, hugging the crying man with one arm.

"H-how could he?! D-didn't he know h-how I'd f-feel?!" The bassist sobbed out, hurting inside. It killed him inside to see their youngest in that state just because he wanted to save him.

"We know, Karsten. But as soon as Darkrai said that, he immediately volunteered. I think he couldn't bear to see you in pain anymore." Luminor said softly while he thought of how to tell about Yu and Romeo.

"I-it's all my fault! I should've been careful!" Kiro whispered, beating himself silently now. Even though the tears still were flowing, the bassist made no noise anymore.

"No, it was actually Romeo's fault. He ratted you out, you couldn't have done a damn thing about it, Karsten." Strify said, putting a hand on Kiro's shoulder and squeezing it gently to let him know he was with him no matter what.

"But--"

"No buts. We'll find a way about both Shin and the others."

"What's wrong with the others?" Strify asked and Luminor tensed.

"Luminor?"

"Darkrai... He exploded the hospital Yu and Romeo was in."

"WHAT?!"

"What will we do now?!" Strify asked, shocked.

"I don't know... I don't know what to do anymore, Andreas..." Kiro whispered sadly. He wanted to do something but with Shin gone, he hardly had any idea to save anyone.

"We'll find a way, Kiro. There has to be a way." Luminor said. Suddenly, Strify sat up straighter.

"I know, let's send Sigilyph back to them, he'd be helpful at the very least!"

"Good idea, Andreas. we'll send Sigilyph back to his master. Sigilyph, you heard that, right?" Luminor said gently. The Avianoid Pokémon nodded, already halfway to the window. He went out swiftly and was out of eye shot within mere minutes.

"This done, now let's think about just what we're gonna do about Shin." The keyboardist said, making Kiro flinch.

"Kiro, please stop doing this to yourself, it's gonna be alright." Strify said gently, trying to make him understand that Shin would never blame him.

"But it was my fault. I-if I was careful, this would've n-never happened in the first damn place!"

"Plusle~, Plus, Plusle." The Cheering Pokémon came beside her hurting master, stroking his arm and generally trying to cheer him up but it was not going to be easy as that.

"I... I had a Pokémon like yours, you know... It was... It was a Minun, a counterpart of Plusle... When I wasn't a maniac like that." Bill said gently, his eyes understanding. "They took him away when they brought me into the dungeons and I don't even know if he's alright or he'd want me back..."

When she heard this, Plusle turned to the sad vocalist, a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"Plusle, Plus!"

The men in the room all stared at the Cheering Pokémon, confused. Though Kiro had a feeling that he should know what she was trying to tell them.

"What are you trying to tell me, little Plusle?"

"Plusle." Plusle said, holding Bill's hand and pulling slightly.

"You think he'd have me back, don't you? But I did horrible things, Plusle, I bet he's disgusted with me now, wherever he is now..." Bill whispered, looking down. But Plusle shook her head, slightly smiling.

"R-really?! He's not angry at me?!"

Plusle shook her head again, this time fully smiling.

"You weren't in control, Bill. I don't think anyone will blame you for whatever happened in there." Luminor said, wanting to ease the younger man's mind.

"By the way, Plusle, where did you go from the cages? Tom said you and his Poochyena were gone after Kiro was brought down."

Kiro's eyes widened in worry and he looked at his Plusle.

"Plusle, Plus, Plus." The Cheering Pokémon cooed softly. And then, she took a piece of paper and wrote; "We went to find a cure for our trainers."

"You did what?!" Kiro yelled in shock. Plusle nodded slightly, hugging herself to Kiro's side. Kiro gently cradled his Pokémon to his side, thinking of what could've happened to Plusle and her friend Poochyena.

"You have one brave Pokémon, Kiro." Bill said, shaking his head.

~Meanwhile with Yu and Romeo~

Yu was feeling woozy. He didn't know what to do to help Romeo who was still struggling to get free anymore. His leg hurt something awful and bloodloss was making him feel like he could faint any minute. Just as Yu was about to give up on hope, an injured nurse came in to see their state.

"Oh my God! I'll get help for you."

"It would be great." Came the strained, weak voice from Romeo. Nurse immediately nodded and ran to the corridor, leaving them with the bodies of the sick people and Pokémon.

"It'll be alright, right, Hannes?"

"Yeah, I sure hope so."

~Meanwhile in the cages~

Poochyena woke up with a small whimper. Every bone in her body ached madly, especially her wounds. Hearing her whimper, Floette came beside the Bite Pokémon hesitantly.

"Poochyena, are you alright?!"

"Everything hurts... Where's Plusle?" She asked. The other Pokémon all looked at eachother worriedly.

"She's... Her trainer actually came for her, Poochyena..." Minun said sadly.

"R-really!? Then she was right! There is a cure for this madness!!" Poochyena said, cheering up. She knew that this might mean Tom might not come back but it was a start anyway.

The rest of the Pokémon looked at eachother, not having thought of it that way.

"What are we waiting for?! We need to go and steal that formula and bring our trainers back to us!" Poochyena said, going in front of the gates of the cage.

"But it's too dangerous..." Loudred whispered, intimidated. Poochyena glared at the Big Voice Pokémon.

"Do you or do you not want your trainer back, Loudred?!"

"I-I... I do, of course!"

"All of us do, Poochyena. But that doesn't mean we can do this on our own..." Minun said. He didn't know what to do anymore. On one hand, Poochyena was right, they could do something for their trainers. But on the other hand, this could go horribly wrong and probably kill them all.

"If you truly love your trainers you guys, there should be nothing that can stop you, that's what I think. I'm going to find Plusle and probably get help from her trainer as well."

With those words, Poochyena went up to the new padlock that stood in place of the destroyed one.

"I'm coming with you, Poochyena." Said Minun, having finally decided to take a chance.

~Meanwhile with Kiro and the others~

"I totally agree with you, Bill." Kiro said in a whisper, smiling sadly.

"So, what are we going to do about Shin? All we know is that Darkrai does have a cure about it but we can't obtain it that's for sure, not without risking our own lives." Luminor, the voice of reason amongst them said, frowning.

"Plusle~, Plusle!"

"Why don't we? There's nothing I can lose anymore..." Kiro said, looking down.

"No! Karsten, if something went wrong, we could-we could lose you!" Strify said, horrified.

"Besides, Marcel would totally want to kill you if you did so and got hurt like that." Luminor added. Meanwhile Plusle was writing something down again. When she was done, she gave the paper to her sad trainer.

"I know a way, there's a book in the Forbidden Wing that has the cure." It read. Kiro's eyes widened in shock.

"You... You went to Forbidden Wing just for that?!"

Plusle nodded, plastering herself to the bassist's side. Kiro just shook his head amazedly. Bill smiled at the happy Cheering Pokémon. It looked quite a cute scene.

~Meanwhile with Yu and Romeo~

Yu was about to lose consciousness when a sound from outside came to his ears and made him look up only to see his Pokémon coming back to them.

"Sigilyph... What are you doing here?.." He whispered at the Avianoid Pokémon. He just shook his head and used Psychic on the debris that nearly covered Romeo's whole body and threw it out of the building.

"Thank you, Sigilyph..." Came weakly from Romeo. Sigilyph nodded and cried out in acceptance.

"Sigilyph, can you help me to walk?" Yu whispered as his consciousness slipped away from him. He didn't even hear the Avianoid Pokémon's reply before he fell unconscious, weak from the bloodloss.

~Meanwhile with Shin~

"Come here, Shin." Darkrai ordered and the drummer came forward without hesitation. His wounds had been taken care of and bandaged greatly.

"Kneel."

Shin kneeled immediately, his head downcast.

"What do you want me to do, Master?"

Darkrai nodded at one of his minions and she came forward to stand near Shin with a Pokéball in her hand.

"You will have a Pokémon. After you train him enough, go to your friends and kill them."