I opened my eyes. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't. I was not restrained, yet I could not move. I tried to speak, but could not control my lips. I could not move anything, and yet I was not restrained. Panic overtook me, and was I able to affect my body in any way I would have been shaking. But I couldn't, thus the basis of the panic attack. A speaker near me in the all black room crackled to life with a male voice.

"Attention all personnel, XD003 is about to be tested, please find the nearest safe point. Repeat, XD003 is about to be tested, please find the nearest safe point." For some reason, the name XD003 struck a chord with me. I would not find out what it meant until later.

I felt my legs moving without my consent. Then, I felt an ancient power stir within me. Before I could figure out what was happening, I released a psychic blast, so powerful that I was thrown back into the wall with enough force to punch a hole through it. Was someone somehow controlling me? Apparently, because the next thing I knew there was a voice, somewhat muffled, from behind a blacked-out window. All it said was two words.

"It worked."

I was under their control after this point for five years. And yet, the first "mission" that I was sent on will forever weigh down my soul.

The Pokemon was a child's. A child's. I had been sent on a test run by whoever controlled me. A young trainer made the mistake of challenging me to a battle. Instead of sending out a Pokemon, I used my psychic ability to bring the Rattata into my grip. I crushed it. I broke its neck, instantly killing it.

The child walked up to the dead Rattata, thinking it was still alive.

¨Hey, Rattata, you okay?¨ When he realized his dear Pokemon was dead, I could almost feel the wave of shock and grief when he asked one last time, his voice almost broken. ¨Rattata?¨

The wailing of the child will haunt me until the end of days. I cried too, a prisoner inside myself. Yet my invisible captors controlling me from the inside simply forced me to casually walk down the grassy route, away from the life that I had ruined.

Time passed. Much time passed. I was not to know until later, but it had been three years. I, and apparently Cipher officials, thought that I was long broken. I had been broken, but something changed all of that. I had always slept dreamlessly. Yet, for some reason, tonight was different. My heart of hearts was lifted into the heavens, my inner eye resting upon the great hall once more. This time, however, the hall held a much more solemn air. The Legends stared me down, and I got the distinct feeling that I was on trial.

"You, Shifter. Come forward." The voice sounded from a white creature I recognized from a book of fairy tales as Arceus. He spat the word Shifter as if it were a curse. I walked slowly forward, fearing for my life. Another Pokemon stepped forward. This one was black and white with what appeared to be bushes above its hands and feet.

"Your crimes are as follows: Murder of humans and Pokemon, theft, and spreading the Shadow. Do you have any words?" I noticed the one called Mewtwo was missing from the crowd. I simply looked to the floor of the great hall, and whispered, almost breathed two words.

"Kill me."

"Wha-what?" Both Arceus and the black and white Pokemon were sent reeling by my response. Arceus asked again. "What?"

"You heard me. Kill me, condemn me to the Distortion World, I don't care." I then whispered an addition to that, mostly to myself. "It couldn't possibly be worse than the hell that I live."

"What are you talking about?" Arceus demanded. He had almost begun to destroy his golden pedestal in his... Rage? Confusion?

"Look yourself, O Great Creator. Or are you blind to humanity's crimes?" I snapped back at him. A majorly white creature with wings and blue spines on its back visibly flinched.

"What is it, Lugia?" Arceus asked, clearly worried.

"It... can't... be... No. I destroyed... No. They wouldn't do that to one of their own would- No. It is true." ." Lugia seemed disbelieving at first, but disbelief quickly turned to horror. "You... you were forcefully Shadowed?"

"Uhmm... if that is the name for going through something at least a hundred times worse than the Distortion World, then... Yes, I suppose so." I shifted (no pun intended) my weight from one foot to the other, clearly nervous.

"So it is true. Arceus," Lugia began. "He is not in control of himself. The rumors about Cipher are true. They received a former Rocket test subject and used it to their advantage. This boy is innocent. Cipher, and indeed its leader, is not so in the right as we believed. It is crucial that we find him at once, and break him out so that they cannot use him for evil. The boy is quite powerful."

"You may be right, Lugia. I will allow you and Mewtwo to help him, as you are the most powerful psychics that we have on hand. Meanwhile, the Regi clan will get him out." Arceus replied.

"But what if he betrays us? He is a Shadow, Arceus. He could betray us at any time." A green dragon spoke, earning a chorus of agreement from the Legendaries gathered.

"Peace, Rayquaza. I have found him pure of heart. Now, as for you, little one," Arceus bent down and looked me in the eyes. "Keep heart. We are coming, even if it seems that we are not. We are only here in spirit, as are you. Our physical bodies will take time to awaken. Even so, I assure you we will come." Arceus finished. "Now return to your earthly body. We will call upon you soon."

"I will speak with you later, Arceus. This isn't over." Rayquaza insisted.

"And later it will be. However, for now, this meeting is adjourned." Arceus ended the meeting, and the Legendaries slowly disappeared, one by one, until I was alone in the hall. Then I, too, returned to my physical body, a captive of myself.

Hey, Xman here. Yeah, ummm... *rubs back of head sheepishly* FORGIVE ME SENPAIS FOR NOT UPDATING I am so, sooooooooooooooo sorry. *sees ballistic missile* I DIDN'T THINK YOU WERE THAT ANGRY HELP ME JARVIS ACTIVATE ANTIBALLISTIC MISSILES! *dodges large number of knives* WAHZOOHEEEZAA! WHERE'S MY BOOK OF EXCUSES? Once again, FORGIVE ME PLEASE! I BEG MERCY OF YOU SENPAI! Oh, and one last thing. Please, please, please review in the white box. Tell me how I'm doing. Anyhoosies,

-Xman, out