Shadows and Sunlight: Shady's Origin

This Tuesday afternoon was a bit special, since Shady had invited his partner over for a long overdue lunch date. Together, he and Lionclaw whipped up a wonderful beef stroganoff, each adding their own unique touches to the dish. The two of them sat across from each other and discussed current events in each other’s lives and reminisced on life’s brighter things.

After finishing, excitedly, Shady stood up from the table and lingered well within the blue lion’s personal space, his excitement undeniable.

“Oh! Babe! I have to show you something. You will NOT BELIEVE what I was given as a gift from Ammy awhile back. I could’ve just sent you a message about it, but it simply wouldn’t do it justice.”

Before a response could be perpetuated, the purple canine had rushed into his bedroom, and came back within seconds. His arms were behind his back, clearly holding something to reveal in a dramatic fashion. He could barely contain the excitement, but was apparently waiting to be asked what it was. Lion finally got the hint and chuckled, holding a hand out to the side.

“Well, are you going to show me? You’re obviously super excited, and that excitement is pretty contagious, hun.”

With an overly dramatic twirl, Shady brought out the item he sought to show off: the custom mega stone that Ammy had gifted him for proving himself to be above the darkness. He held it in his right hand, the stone itself sitting in his palm, while the necklace dangled gently off the side. His partner got closer and stared at it in disbelief, eventually looking back up at his face, filled with so many questions and eyes wide.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that a mega stone? I thought your species didn’t have its own stone? Definitely doesn’t look like any that I’ve ever seen.”

Shady continued holding it out in front of him, a warm smile and a gleam in his eyes.

“Your observation is correct. It’s a mega stone, but most certainly not a traditional one. Normally, I cannot evolve with a fire stone due to the darkness I carry, and mega stones generally require that the user be fully evolved. As she demonstrated for me, it doesn’t follow the rules.”

Lion’s interest was piqued considerably, and Shady answered his next question without it being asked. He slipped the necklace over his head and the stone rested on his chest fluff. Once he let go of the necklace, Lion had to step back because of the multi-colored orb of light that had engulfed Shady, the light practically blinding. It expanded slightly before imploding, forcing the feline to shield his eyes with an arm. Following the light’s disappearance, beautiful cherry blossom leaves and flowers were falling around the dog, swaying and spinning in their descents. Not to mention that they smelled wonderfully.

Shady stood there, his body buffer, red markings under his eyes, hair woven into three dreads with a black tip on each. His stripes were more curvy, the swirly things that don’t have a name in the game on Ammy’s shoulders now showed on him. A second tail appeared from his backside, and perhaps the least explained attribute was the orange ribbon that loosely wrapped around his neck and flowed out behind him. The air about him, although more divine than before, seemed off to Lionclaw. He stayed back, analyzing his body language.

His unease proved to be realistic as the dark aura reared its ugly head, surrounding the canine rapidly. Shady’s once calm and giddy demeanor festered with anger and rage. A vicious snarl escaped his mouth and his eyes shot open in haste, revealing they were the same neon yellow as Ammy’s. As his head slowly turned to face the cat, the expression on Shady’s face chilled Lionclaw’s blood. He felt like the usually peaceful and docile Growlithe was now staring directly into his soul, with a plan to rip it from his chest.

“H-hun? Are you...alright? Don’t look at me like that, you’re starting to scare me!”

He gave no response to the inquiry, the gaze was cutting edge and it was clear that he didn’t recognize his own boyfriend. Lion had not seen this side of him, and wasn’t sure if it even existed until now. Out of nowhere, the canine released particularly strong fire blasts and flamethrowers, destroying anything in sight. Whatever was happening was clearly not something under his control. The feline ducked for cover beside the fridge, terrified of what was unfolding right in front of him, but couldn’t help but peek around the corner. Nothing was left untouched in Shady’s rampage, and the senseless destruction made Lion’s eyes well up. He finally had the courage to say something, and daringly stuck his head out from behind the no longer functional appliance.

“SHADY! STOP THIS!! WHAT’S GOING ON WITH YOU!!?”

Something triggered in the canine’s brain. The callout must’ve gotten through to him, the dark aura vanishing instantly, and clarity creeping back into his retinas. You could tell the exact moment that he began to actually see everything around him. His gaze looked around the room in a panic, noting all the flames and scorched interior, broken windows, and a shattered vase full of colored hexagonal gemstones that a certain adventurer might be after. The air itself reeked of ash and soot.

It was more than clear in his body language: he couldn’t believe that he did this.

“Oh my god... what the hell just happened?! I don’t recall doing any of this! Why would I destroy my own home?! Lion, are you alright?!”

The only acknowledgement given was a slow nodding from his head, his eyes still shrunk down to the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Shady remained in the same spot, tears coming down his face.

“I’m so sorry, Lion! I promise to make this right!!”

Without another word from either of them, Shady vanished into a cloud of mist from his brush. He had to go get help, and knew the exact canine to seek out. Once the mist appeared at his destination, Shady dropped from it and stumbled slightly, making a hefty sprint for the cherry blossom tree ahead. He had gone to the Celestial Plain. Bent over in front of the tree and watering the flowers was Ammy. In his scurry, he called out to her in a very distressed voice.

“MOM! You’ve gotta help me!!”

The callout from behind had her head turn to face the source and respond back to him. In typical fashion, she was still nude. Pretty sure it’s her thing.

“Hm? Shady? What’re you doing here?”

He needn’t utter a single word. The expression he carried along with the abundant tears from his eyes said quite enough. She hastily dropped what she was doing and rushed over to him, gently grasping his face in her hands, concern all over her face.

“Hey! Hey! Shhhhh... Calm down, babe. What happened?”

His gaze was shifted downward, not looking her straight in the eyes. Through the sniffles and trembling hands, he detailed what had happened mere moments ago.

“I...I don’t know what happened... I showed off the mega stone to Lionclaw and mega evolved exactly how I always do... but then t-the rest is blurry... When he got through to me and I came to my senses, the whole house was leveled... everything was scorched... He was almost white with fear...”

By the end of his explanation, he was back into full tears, eyes slammed shut and teeth gritted. She gave his forehead a warming kiss, before stepping back and sighing. She crossed her arms and put one hand under her chin.

“...I was afraid of this, but hoped it wouldn’t be a problem. However, it seems like the gut feeling I had was correct.”

Her arms returned to the crossed pose, and she looked at him directly with a sharp and serious expression.

“Given what I know about Shadow Pokemon and how the darkness makes them ruthless and emotionless killing machines, you seem to have a very high amount of control over that darkness. Aside from a few times, you’ve handled it as if it wasn’t present at all. However...”

Her gaze ceased being stern and she held the mega stone in one hand, looking at it, then locked back onto his eyes.

“When I created this stone for you all those years ago, I hadn’t considered that the release of mega energy loosens that high level of control over the darkness. At the moment of transformation, it’s possible for it to overtake you, albeit briefly.”

In a fit of panic, Shady latched both hands onto his mom’s shoulders and fixed his gaze on her with an upset look stretched across his face.

“You have to get this out of me! It’s causing destruction and I’d rather not have it harm those I care about! Please, mom! PLEASE!”

She lowered his arms and held them together in her own hands, giving him a confidently reassuring smile. That alone seemed to calm him a decent amount.

“No need to worry, honey. I have a solution for this. Follow me.”

The mother and son duo made a long trek up a mostly secluded path, holding hands, surrounded on all sides by a beautiful bamboo grove with occasional cherry blossom trees filling in the gaps. The sides of the path were made from bamboo walls of some kind, and the path itself chilly cobblestone. The warm air of the path gave Shady hope, and it smelled pretty darn good. It’s a wonder that I haven’t gotten a cherry blossom air freshener for my car yet.

A couple minutes went by before they reached the end of the cobblestone pathway, opening up to a larger area containing a medium-sized pool in the center. While it was filled with a substance of some kind, it did not look like water. It was pale bluish in color, and sparkled goldenrod. It was translucent enough to see the bottom, and a shimmering sound inexplicably emitted from it. He looked at the open area in the grove and was blown away by the beauty of the atmosphere it gave off.

“What is this place? I’ve known about the various locations up here for years, but you’ve never shown me this one.”

Shady inquired with her, confusion evident in his tone of voice, glancing down at her since he’s about a foot taller.

“This here is what’s known as the Pool of the Heavens. It acts as a safe space against creatures of pure malice, hence why it was utilized back when the Emperor of Eternal Darkness invaded.”

He nodded in acknowledgement, adjusting his gaze from her down to the pool, putting his other hand under his chin and furrowing a brow. At the bottom was an oddly shaped engraving, but he couldn’t conclude what it was due to the refraction of the liquid moving back and forth.

“So, what’s in this pool, exactly? I’ve never seen anything like this. Surely this isn’t water...”

Ammy shook her head and gestured her other arm outward in a V shape, glancing at him and then to the pool.

“You’d be right. This is definitely not water. That alone wouldn’t do anything to protect me or the other brush gods from malice creatures, oh no no no! The substance you’re looking at is pure stardust. No impure creature can touch it without disintegrating. However, it has the fluidity of water.”

That description caught him firmly off-guard, but he stayed composed.

“...that adds up. Since we’re here, what do you want me to do?”

In a calm voice and neutral expression, she looked up at him.

“I need you to step into the pool and drink some of the stardust. That’s the first step.”

Shady ripped his hand out from her grasp and took a step back in the panic, completely unsure of that course of action based on her description of the stardust.

“YOU WANT TO DO WHAT!!??”

Immediately upon seeing and hearing his reaction, Ammy dawned an annoyed expression. Her gaze locked right with his eyes and she spoke sternly.

“You’re a fire and dark type, and you came out of my womb! You’re as divine as I am in this form, Shady. Would I knowingly steer you wrong?”

He wanted to correct her about the typing being fire and fairy while in this form, but just let it go, nodding gently to himself that she did have a point. Without further hesitation, he stripped his shorts and got into the pool filled with stardust, Ammy following him. Once in the pool, he paused for a moment to take in the feeling of the stardust against his fur. It gave off a sort of tingling sensation, and the good kind. Shady cupped his hands together and drank down a couple handfuls of the stardust, shivering as it slid down his throat. She stood across from him.

“See? I told you it wouldn’t hurt.”

His eyes were shut, and her face turned sinister. That’s when she made her move.

“This might, though~”

The goddess appended, whispering quietly. She cupped her hands together and sunk them below the surface, raising them up rapidly to send a tidal wave of stardust on top of him, soaking the upper half of his body and sending shockwaves all throughout. His body tensed up out of pure instinct. Once the stardust settled, Shady shook his head and spit multiple times to get it out of his mouth, clearly not expecting that.

“BLECH!! WHAT IN ARCEUS’ NAME WAS THAT FOR!?”

She giggled lightly with a hand over her mouth, obviously amused at her stunt.

“While you could’ve just dipped under the stardust to soak yourself with it, I thought this was funnier~”

He did not deter from his own annoyed expression, seeing as how his entire body was drenched in the liquid. This of course made her giggling continue, as she thought it was hilarious.

“Oh, don’t be such a grumpy puppy! You and I both know that splashing others in a pool might as well be law.”

The purple canine only angrily sighed, which removed all the fun she was having.

“Geez, Shady... It was only a joke...”

She left that behind and got back on track, using her brush to draw a sort of tribal-like circle with spokes around his belly button with red ink. After she did so, the traditional seal marking vanished from his stomach entirely.

“I drew this sun marking on your belly with my brush. Until this process is done, it replaces the seal marking you normally have on your stomach. Now, just stand still and breathe normally. The rest is up to me.”

He nodded in acknowledgement, before she placed both hands on his stomach and channeled a high amount of energy into him. Around them both appeared a starburst of light. The shock of the energy changed his expression and pose, almost like an automatic response. She grunted loudly like a war cry as this happened. The surge of energy caused his vision to go blurry.

***********************************************************************

Shady slowly came to, his vision returning and hearing becoming less and less low passed. Apparently she had been trying to get him to wake back up.

“Shady! Are you alright!? You passed out for almost twenty minutes! I was getting worried!”

From his laying down position, he quickly analyzed the feelings he felt, nerves sending signals again. It was clear that she must’ve pulled him out onto the edge of the pool following his blackout.

“I-I’m fine, I think. Nothing feels broken that I can tell...”

She looked down at him once again, worry still spread across her face.

“Does the door to your heart feel any different?”

Standing himself back up, he took a deep look at both his hands and realized that the feeling of the dark aura was ever present. Her method of clearing it from his body proved fruitless.

“I don’t think it worked... There’s a particular feeling that the door being shut gives me, and i-it's still there...”

Ammy’s face sunk into depression in the blink of an eye. In the entire time since she had Shady, she had never looked this upset.

“If my own magic can’t undo the door to your heart, then your father has truly done something worse than force himself onto me. He’ll get his just desserts...”

She stepped over to him and they both grabbed each other in a hug. It was when Shady began to lightly cry that her hug became tighter on him. This was a big deal for him. He expected it to work out since she’s a goddess and all, but I guess even they’re limited on what they can do.

“Hey, it’s okay, sweetheart... Darkness or not, I still love you for who you are. That will never change.”

Their hug went on for a good duration, and a particular feeling had caught Shady’s attention while in the middle of it. Certain that he knew what it was, he boldly brought it up since he was unable to keep himself from ogling her midsection.

“So... mom... I don’t want to sound rude when I ask this, but, are you... pregnant? Because you weren’t before I blacked out...”