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My eyes snapped open to find I was once again in the dream. Just like before, the door was right in front of me, only this time, nothing was stopping me.

I turned the knob and began to open it, but as soon as I did, I heard a voice I did not recognize coming from the other side.

"This is unacceptable, Arceus! We all agreed to help you because we would get to choose the new protector! IT'S IN THE FUCKING CONTRACT!"

Wait a minute...did he just say Arceus? As in...the pokémon God, Arceus! What the hell did I get myself into! I didn't have time to figure it out before I heard an all too familiar bellowing voice

Yes, and it also stated in the contract that should your choice be unavailable or unsatisfactory, I would choose for you. I am sorry, but I do have to question your judgment on choosing an elderly man. A person of that age can not hope to defend himself against the shadows, even WITH the abilities you will give him.

I heard a low growl before the other voice spoke again. "You told us to choose someone in Sandgem town that represents your Arcana. Therefore, I chose the smart old man, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU TOLD ME TO DO!"

_Arceus sighed. _ You have yet to understand your own Arcana, young one. The Hermit does not represent an intelligent elderly man.

"SO YOU GO AND CHOOSE A FUCKING KID!"

I had to try and hold back a gasp at my sudden realization. The fight was about me. I was debating whether or not to back away or stay to listen more, but my choice was soon made for me.

I'd like to point out that this conversation is no longer private.

The door flung open by itself and I was soon staring into what looked like some sort of circular court room. The door led to the center of the room, which was surrounded by numerous desks and chairs. In the center of everything, stood Arceus, and a lucario.

I could somewhat make out a smile on Arceus' face, but the lucario was giving me a death stare that could have given my father a run for his money.

I hesitated for a second, unsure of what to think, but I quickly snapped out of it and stepped inside.

As I approached Arceus, he gave me a formal greeting.

WELCOME BACK YOUNG ONE!

I flinched at his booming voice. "Geeze, again with the volume increase. Can you tone it down just a bit? And what's all this about being a protector and defending against shadows?"

Patience young one, in time you will-

"SCREW THAT!" I yell, scaring myself more than either of the others in the room. "I'm not gonna let you keep me in the dark about this! If I'm supposed to be fighting something, which is what you were implying just a second, I want to know what it is, and how to do it."

My eyes snapped to the lucario as I heard him make an audible "tch".

"And you, what the heck is YOUR problem. If you have something against me, SAY IT TO MY FACE YOU PUSSY!"

I didn't think it was even possible, but his eyes narrowed even more as he scanned me from head to toe. He turned back to Arceus. "Arceus this kid is-"

Something in my head snapped as he ignored me. I don't know what compelled me to do it, but I brought my arm back and delivered a punch to the side of his muzzle before he could speak any further.

He quickly recovered and grabbed the collar of my shirt, pulling me forward and getting right up in my face.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't rip your throat out!"

"First, this is all a dream for me, so that won't do shit. Second, and more importantly," I say as I shove his arm away. "You're the one being a fucking coward. Stop hiding behind Arceus, grow a pair of balls, and say it my face!"

"Fine." He said, stepping forward and trying to look intimidating. "Arceus recommended that I choose you two days ago. So, I watched you yesterday to see if you were worthy. All I saw was an arrogant, lazy, stupid, selfish child who blew off his job to go sleep in the woods. THAT is my problem."

I blinked in disbelief. "You think you know everything about me after watching one day? My God...and you think I'm the stupid one."

He only offered a growl in response as he shoved me away from him, but I wasn't done yet. "You can't know someone just by watching a random day in their life. It's like reading a random page out of a book. It won't make any sense and you just jump to conclusions. So don't pretend that you know who I am before you've even met me."

He shot yet another glare at me. "Alright, let's add hypocritical to the list."

"What are you talking about?"

"Were you not just doing that to Rowan?"

I froze. His words hit me hard, but I did my best to regain my composure. "Th-that's completely different." I stammered.

"Oh really...how?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

I opened my mouth to say something, but couldn't think of a reason. Damn it, he's right.

Enough of this you two! ** _Arceus finally stepped in. _ **Now, like it or not you two are partners now, so-

"Excuse me, WHAT!" I blurted out. The lucario rolled his eyes. "Shut it, kid I don't like this anymore than you do."

AHEM!

"Sorry." We both grumbled simultaneously.

Right...now, as I was saying. Like it or not, you have to work together if you are to survive the trials ahead of you.

"Excuse me," I said, raising my hand. "But can we get to the part where you explain what exactly you want me to do?"

_The pokémon god shook his head in annoyance. _ Patience is a virtue, Marcus.

"When it involves whether I live or die, I'm pretty sure it doesn't apply." I retort.

"Actually," The lucario jumped in, "I have to agree with him on this one. I mean, I've known of the shadows for years, and even I have no clue what you want us to do."

The legendary rolled his eyes. "Very well...the shadows-"

---

"Excuse me." I was woken up as a girl nudged my shoulder. Unconsciously, I snapped my eyes open into a glare, startling her as she jumped back. "Whoa...testy much?" She asked. I quickly scanned her over. She was about my age with long brown hair that fell down to her shoulders. Her jeans and t-shirt were all ripped up, like she was just in some sort of fight. She was now looking at me with a look of concern and fear.

Normally, I would have apologized right away, but I was a bit to busy processing what just happened. God Damn it! Can't I just once finish that dream!

_ Get over it, kid. _

I felt a chill go down my spine as the lucario's voice echoed in my head. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I screamed, waking up Zorua in the process as she toppled off my lap in fright.

It took a few seconds to process the situation before I realized that no one else could hear that. I looked back to the girl who now looked like she was about to wet her pants.

"I'm sorry...I...I...I...I gotta go." She took off sprinting towards the front of the boat.

"Wait!" I called after her, "I didn't...aw shit."

_ Smooth one, Romeo. _

I slammed my head with my fist. "Will you shut up and get out of my head?"

"Uh...Marcus?" I turned around to see Zorua staring at me with a cocked eyebrow. "Is there something wrong? You're acting really weird, even for you."

_ OOO, strike two, would you care to go for a third? _

Will you be quiet? I thought back, testing to see if that would work.

_ Ah, now you're getting it. Congrats, you've learned telepathy. _

Trying to uphold two conversations at once, I answered Zorua. "I'm fine, just a really bad dream."

_ Tch, that's an understatement. _

SHUT UP ALREADY!

Zorua wasn't convinced. "Then why did you just scream at that girl?"

"Er...like I said, bad dream. It took me a few seconds to realize I was awake."

_ Liar _

I didn't even dignify that with a response as I tried to change the subject. "So...how long were we out?"

She looked up at the sky for a second. "Um...I think about nine hours."

Wait...what!

Finally taking a look at my surroundings, I found that the sun was now on the other side of the sky and disappearing over the horizon.

How the...when did...huh?

_ That was Arceus' world. He controls everything, including time. But if might suggest something. I think you should go and apologize to that girl. _

...your right...I hate that.

_ I'm just smarter than you, deal with it. _

Shut it. Now, while we're talking, will you mind telling me HOW THE FUCK YOU GOT IN MY HEAD!

..._ the hell should I know? I'm in the same boat you are. Might I say, it is EXTREMELY cramped in here. _

What do you mean cramped?

_ Well, I haven't sorted through everything yet; most of its just parental issues like most teenagers, but you got some pretty big shit going on in here. _

I discreetly rolled my eyes so Zorua didn't see. I'm currently talking to a pokémon who's taken up residence in my head...I think THAT is my biggest issue right now. Actually, while you're in there, you might wanna go through my memories. Might give you a better understanding of me.

_ Whatever, not like I have anything else to do. Be back later. _

Good riddance...

Finally regaining my composure, I motioned for Zorua to follow me. "Come on, I need to go see that girl before she tells the entire ship I'm a psychopath."

"Uh...ok."

I took a few steps before I felt a big fuzz ball drop on my shoulder. "What the.... Geeze, you have your own legs, you know?"

She smirked. "I'm lazy, and you have a comfy shoulder. Deal with it." I couldn't help but grin, but still, I reached up and flicked her ear to tell her to get off. "OW, hey!" She yelped as she took a swat at my head, causing me to stumble a bit. "GAH, watch it! No hitting the driver, it's dangerous."

"Yeah, for you." She giggled as she took another swipe.

"Alright, that's it, rides over."

I grabbed her sides and plopped her down on the ground.

"Hey!"

"Well, you should of thought of that before you sta-OOF" I felt her tackle me from behind sending me into a face-plant. I looked up just in time to see her smirk before she took off cackling like a maniac.

"Why you little...GET BACK HERE!" I scrambled to my feet and took off sprinting after her. She may have been fast, but I was faster and easily caught up. I grinned as I closed in on her. "Gotcha!" I said as I reached down to grab the scruff of her neck. However, she doubled back, tripping me in the process. This time I was prepared for it, landing on my shoulder and somersaulting back onto my feet. I quickly turned around and began chasing her once more.

She slipped around the corner of the control bridge toward the front of the boat. This time I had her, there was nowhere left to run. I sprinted around the corner and skidded to a stop at the sight before me.

The girl who I had scared earlier now had Zorua in an attack hug. "You are soooo cute!" She squealed as she somehow managed to tighten her already suffocating hold.

Zorua somehow managed to cry out for help. "MARC...get her-GAH-off of me."

I gave her a mischievous grin and shook my head as I leaned against the side of the bridge.

She shot me a glare. "You asshole! Gah, hey watch it. Get off of me. GRRR."

Alright, I've seen enough.

"Excuse me" I called to the girl. She snapped her head around, eyes wide with fear.

She started stammering at an extremely fast speed. "Oh, I-I'm sorry, is she y-y-yours, I-I d-didn't know, I j-j-just saw and, err, I'm sorry."

I put my hands up in an effort to calm her down. "Relax, ok, I'm sorry I screamed earlier. You woke me up from a nightmare and I wasn't all there at the time."

She looked at me worriedly, as if she didn't trust me at all, so I tried one more time.

"Can we start over?" I asked outstretching my hand, "I'm Marcus, but you can call me Marc."

She looked back and forth between my eyes and my hand, checking to see if I was being truthful. Slowly she reached out hers as well. "Alyson, one of Rowan's research assistants. Nice to meet you."

Meanwhile, Zorua took the chance to break free from her stranglehold and resumed her place on my shoulder.

"Have fun?" I asked with a barely contained grin.

She glared at me as she tried to catch her breath. "Sleep...with one...eye open!"

A snickered a bit. "Well you should have thought about that before you went running off." Alyson looked at me questioningly.

"She doesn't like being touched." I explained.

"Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't know." She apologized.

"No, she actually deserved it." I said a smirk. Zorua huffed and turned away from me.

"Oh don't give me that, you know you did."

"Yeah, well, you should have just let me ride on your shoulder."

"And you should be less lazy." I retorted.

"What, so this is my fault?"

"I didn't say that but it sure as hell ain't mine."

Alyson interrupted again. "Uh, I'm not trying to pry or anything, but you two are pretty close, aren't you?"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Well...yeah. Why do you ask?"

She gave a shy smile. "Because you bicker like an old married couple."

"We do not!" I denied. I looked over at Zorua to see her reaction, but it wasn't the one I was expecting. She was looking away, as if nervous about something and...holy shit! Is that a blush...is she blushing? I didn't have time to ponder this, though, as Alyson continued. "Yeah, you definitely do. What's her name, by the way? I don't think you've said it yet."

The question took me by surprise. I haven't thought about naming her, as I really didn't see that she was mine to name. I know it's customary for a trainer to name their pokémon, but I've been calling her Zorua for all these years so it kind of just slipped my mind.

"Uh...she doesn't have one. I just caught her this morning."

Alyson's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But I thought you said you've had her for a while."

"Well, yeah," I answered. "It was a small island, we saw each other every day, and I don't like to catch pokémon by force. When she saw I was leaving she asked to come with. Heck, she practically dived into her pokeball. The idea of naming her never came into my head."

I turned to Zorua, who was now looking like her normal self again. "How about it, you want a name?"

She mulled it over in her head for a few seconds before answering. "Well, I'm not exactly opposed to it. Just promise me you'll pick something unique, because if the names Zora or Zoe even cross your mind I swear I will kill you."

"Noted...alright, give me some time I'll think of something."

I turned back to Alyson. "So...you said you were an assistant to Rowan? What's he like?"

"Well, he mostly keeps to himself around me. Same goes for the other assistants, I suppose, but I think he'll want to spend some more time around you. You know, being that you're his nephew and everything."

I sighed. Yippee for me.

"What's with the long face?" She asked, seeing my depressed expression, "Aren't you excited to see your uncle?"

"No." I answered rather bluntly.

"What? Why not? I mean, he told me that you were practically begging for this job."

I smirked at that. So my parents lied again...oh goody.

"It's kind of a long story." I said, not really wanting to dump my problems on someone I just met.

Alyson checked her watch. "Well, we have about 45 minutes until we dock, and Rowan's helping the captain until then, so I'd say we have some time."

Shoot...she's got a point. "You really want to know?" I asked, trying to imply that I'd rather not talk about it, but she nodded her head anyways.

"Alright," I said, sitting down and letting Zorua drop to my lap, "you might want to sit down, this is gonna take a while."

Over the next half-hour minutes, I proceeded to tell her everything. And by everything, I mean EVERYTHING! From my first grounding to me finally snapping, to my parents isolating me from the world, all the way up to now. While it felt bad to dump all my problems on a complete stranger, I felt like a burden was being lifted off my shoulders. I don't know, maybe venting really does help.

I finally finished my long explanation and she was sitting there, looking out onto the horizon, thinking very hard about something.

"Well?" I said, "...that's it."

She stared off for a few more seconds before turning back to me. "Alright...I got nothing."

"Wait...what?" I asked a little confused.

"I thought it was just something about being nervous." She explained, "I thought I could help, but honestly, I don't even know where to start to help you fix THIS."

"Why would you try to help me?" I asked, "You don't even know me?"

She smiled. "Despite Rowan keeping to himself, everyone at the lab is just a big family, and families help each other. Like it or not, your one of us now."

I thought for a second. Ah family, huh?...well it sure beats mom and dad...I could get used to that.

I found myself with a smile on my face and even though I've known her for less than an hour, I had a feeling I had just made a friend. "Thanks, Alyson."

She smiled back and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't mention it."

I was enjoying the moment, until out of nowhere, I heard the sound of breaking glass. The others must have heard it too, because as soon as it sounded they started looking around for what caused it.

All of the sudden a tiny ball of blue light came zooming out of nowhere and stopped in front of Alyson. This one was followed by another...and another...and another. They accumulated for five seconds before they all flashed. In place of the balls of light, there was an all too familiar card, floating in mid air. My eyes widened. What the fuck, another tarot card?

Alyson's jaw dropped, but she didn't say anything. She grabbed it and flipped it over, revealing the top side to me. It was like my card, but different. Pictures of black vines bordered the edges and in the center was a black outline of a crucifix.

I could hear Arceus' voice whisper in the back of my head.

You have awakened the power of the priestess arcana...your first ally. She will need your guidance to succeed. Teach her well.

"What was that?" Zorua yelped. "Did anyone else hear that?"

Being too stunned to form any sort of sentence, I offered a nod as my reply. The card seemed to dissolve into Alyson's skin and she began to freak out.

"What the heck is going on? Where the heck did that come from? Who was that?"

I wanted to answer her...truly I did. I just didn't know how. I heard Arceus say one last thing before his voice vanished.

And so the journey begins.