Pokémon: Wings Of Shadow

Morning at the Lake of Outrage was peaceful. The water was still, the surface unbroken by even the faintest ripple of a passing fish Pokémon. A soft mist hovered over the lake, blurring the horizon.

Shiro stood at the edge of the shore. After washing up, he returned to the camp, took out some Pokéblocks and dry rations, and shared breakfast with his team.

"Draaak~"

Drakloak gulped down its food in two quick bites. Then, with wide, curious eyes, it began circling Corviknight, who was calmly pecking at its own meal.

Even though it knew the steel bird had evolved from Corvisquire, it still couldn't get over how unbelievable it was. That tiny little thing from before had now become so much bigger. Its sleek black feathers looked both majestic and domineering, making Drakloak feel a little envious.

Corviknight, true to its usual style, stayed quiet and focused on eating. Only becoming stronger and battle could draw its attention.

As for the others—Haunter, Growlithe, and Vibrava—were all huddled next to the slow-witted Rhyperior. They kept their distance from the bird, clearly intimidated.

Even though Rhyperior was larger, everyone was used to the goofy giant. Corviknight, on the other hand, radiated a sharp, bloodthirsty aura that made it hard to approach.

Shiro chewed his bread and Pokéblocks in silence, observing his team.

Bzzz!

Suddenly, his communicator buzzed from his pocket. He pulled it out at once.

He had actually been waiting for this call for a long time. Ever since leaving the den, he had been checking the device constantly but there had been no updates.

A Dynamax Den of unprecedented size had appeared across the Wild Area. There was no way Macro Cosmos hadn't noticed by now. Logically speaking, they should've taken action within hours of its appearance.

And they knew he was somewhere in that area. Yet they'd waited this long to contact him.

Bzzz...

As he answered the call, the Pokémon around him stopped eating and waited quietly.

"Is this Shiro?" came a familiar voice. It was Oleana.

He recognized her right away and responded, "Yes."

"Looks like you're not inside the Dynamax Den anymore. You're safe... just like Chairman Rose predicted." Oleana paused for a moment.

The interior of the den was like a separate dimension, which meant most electronic devices didn't work in there. The fact Shiro could take a call meant he was already out.

"I just got out not long ago," he said carefully. "The den was taken over by a group of hunters from outside Galar. They seemed to be after something."

Hearing that, Oleana urged, "Explain in detail."

Shiro then began recounting what had happened. He deliberately left out anything related to the Unown and focused instead on how he killed Hunter G, destroyed the device, and how Golem awakened, then using it to break through the barrier.

Along the way, he also mentioned how he'd captured a strong Bewear and that Corvisquire had evolved. Oleana remained silent the whole time, listening without interrupting.

"I suspect those hunters were looking for a very rare Pokémon," Shiro concluded. "But it seems they failed."

Once he was done, Oleana asked, "Have the other hunters all escaped?"

"I was the first one out... but most of them probably got away."

"What about those two Wild Area Elite Four trainers who were working with the hunters?"

"I'm not sure."

After Shiro gave his answer, Oleana went quiet for a while before finally saying, "Make sure you return to the pickup point on time. Don't miss the opening ceremony for the Gym Challenge."

"Got it," Shiro replied. The call ended as his communication device cut off. He went over the conversation in his head, making sure he hadn't accidentally let anything important slip. Once he was certain, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the two Unown.

Of course, he wanted to keep these two little things for himself if he could. As for whether he'd hand them over if Rose found out… that would depend on their sincerity.

'We... clearly... showed sincerity...' Unown G muttered in a low voice, only for Unown A to cut in. 'Not that kind of sincerity. He's trying to get something out of us.'

Unown A seemed to understand humans quite well. It looked at Shiro and struggled to lift its small body inside the cramped black box, calling out, 'We don't know what you want. You tell us. If your request is reasonable, we'll agree and you can let us go.'

"Oh?" Shiro's thoughts stirred. He immediately thought of the most universal contract method. He wasn't sure how powerful these two were, but he remembered Unown were Psychic-type, and they were pretty good.

Maybe they could fill the empty spot on his team meant for a Psychic Pokémon.

Unown A sensed his intention and stared at him, confused. It didn't understand exactly what he was planning.

Shiro asked, "You're Psychic-type, right?"

'Of course,' Unown A answered.

"In that case… what about your strength? What level are you? What moves can you use?" He kept pressing.

'Strength, level…' Unown A paused briefly. 'We're different from regular Pokémon. We don't have typical combat moves. We don't fight.'

Shiro shook his head. He wasn't expecting them to battle anyway. As long as they could handle basic support functions typical of Psychic-types, that was enough.

He asked again, "What about Hypnosis? Teleport? Stuff like that. Can you do those?"

Unown A nodded firmly.

"Good," Shiro said. "I can let you out, but you'll have to help me as my Pokémon. Don't worry. I won't make you fight."

'And for how long?' Unown A honed in on the key point.

He smiled. "Until I die of old age."

'No way!' Unown A slammed into the side of the box, upset.

"Come on. You Unown lived for tens of thousands of years, don't you?" Shiro said casually. "I'll die of old age in less than a hundred. You blink once and it'll be over. Compared to staying locked in this tiny black box forever, it's a great deal."

"Draak?"

Beside him, Drakloak tilted its head. Somehow, those words sounded oddly familiar… like it had heard them before.

'Really...?' Unown G looked a little moved, but Unown A let out a cold snort.

'Don't play word games! Most of those tens of thousands of years, we were asleep. With you, we'll have to stay awake almost all the time and constantly assist you. Even the slaves in your human history had it easier!'

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