Loomian Legacy Veils of Shadow

A Battle Between Worlds

"It's okay, sweetie, it happens to most of us. When I challenged my first Battle Theatre, I wasn't even able to land a hit on the other guy before all my Loomians were knocked out." Thane chuckled at the thought. "How's Dad?" Thane asked, changing the subject. The eyes of his mother glanced at something out of the holographic projection. "He and Derrick have been working nonstop on the stupid rock, running all sorts of tests on it. The only break they took was to watch your match." Thane's lips tightened into a smile. "If I'm being honest, I got a bad feeling about this." Thane nodded. "Yeah, me too." Lauren looked at him with a serious expression. "Be careful, Thane. I have to go, love you." Then she hung up.

Thane let out a long sigh and hung his head. He was back on Route 3. He looked down at Embit who sat next to him with his arms crossed. "Are you still mad that I put you in the disc?" Embit nodded without looking up. Thane sighed again. After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "How about this, unless we're out in the wild, and I truly, truly need you to go back into your disc, I won't put you back in. If you're knocked out in a battle, I'll walk onto the field and pick you up. I won't put you back in unless I really need to. How does that sound?" Embit looked up and let out a small smile.

Suddenly a commotion from the mine behind them made them whirl around. "Hey, hey, stop!" Thane looked up to see a boy in orange with dark blue hair running out of the cave. A worker had stopped and tried to catch his breath. He was panting and trying to call out to the boy to stop.

That's when he noticed Thane. "Hey, you, kid! Get over here." Thane and Embit got up and rushed forward. "Listen, you a trainer?" Thane nodded quickly. "Okay..." The man croaked out through his panting. "I need a favor, a big favor, can you chase after that kid? Make sure he didn't take anything." Thane's lips tightened. "Why? What'd he take?" The man shrugged. "Don't know, we found him poking around and chased him off. One of us was going to go after him, but three of us have to be stationed in the mine at all times. Please, kid, we could lose our jobs." Thane pursed his lips. "Alright, then."

That's how Thane and Embit ended up running through the route in pursuit of a possible thief. Despite the strange boy having a massive head start, it was clear that he didn't know the route at all, and Thane was catching up. The strange boy had managed to trap himself in a dead-end and when he realized that there was nowhere else to run, he turned to face his pursuer.

"It's a dead-end dude!" Thane said trying to sound intimidating while Embit puffed out his chest. "Just, just give back, give back what you took." Thane didn't think it was working, the boy with blue hair didn't have a readable expression. He stood there with a neutral face. "I didn't take anything." He said plainly, no emotion seeped into his unnaturally neutral voice. It made Thane question his decision to chase a total stranger. "I was chased out before I could get what I needed."

The boy looked around and quickly made a strange request, one that caught Thane off guard. "But since we're here..." The boy paused to take out a Capture Disc and Thane tensed. "You wouldn't mind having a quick battle, for educational purposes, you see. I have been challenging every trainer I've encountered since I landed here to better understand the Po-, the Loomians of Roria." Thane stayed silent for a long moment. Who was this kid? It wasn't until the other boy cleared his throat did Thane finally spoke again. "Oh, yeah, sure. Let's do it." The boy smiled. "Perfect." What harm could it do?

"Embit, go!" Both boys shouted simultaneously. Embit jumped in front of Thane while the boy threw the Capture Disc, and in a flash of blue, a second Embit appeared. Thane's Embit glared at his identical opponent and the other Embit shot back a glare of his own. "Use Hop Kick!" The mysterious boy cried. With a cry, the opposing Embit jumped into the air and came down on Thane's Embit with a powerful kick. Embit was sent flying back with a cry. "Embit! You okay?" Thane asked. Embit turned back and nodded.

"Singe!" Both trainers cried out. Both Embit's fired surges of fire that scorched the grass beneath them as they sailed through the air. The attacks collided and orange sparks flew out of a cloud of smoke. "Burrow!" Thane ordered, just in case. "Hop Kick!" The opposing Embit flew through the cloud of smoke just as Thane's Embit raised his defenses. "Use Ear Slap!" Thane ordered, and two white-covered ears shot out, grabbing onto the other Embit's leg. "Slam it down!" Embit lowered his head and slammed his opponent into the dirt, then he slammed it down again.

"Keep it up!" Thane cheered. "Use Drudge!" The other boy called out. The Embit trapped in the ears glowed orange as its speed and attack power increased. "Now Ear Slap!" Just as Embit raised his head to slam his opponent down again, the other Embit's ears shot out and into Embit's chest, knocking him down. Embit's grip with Ear Slap loosened, and the opposing Embit fell to the floor. "Drudge!" By the time it landed, the opposing Embit had raised its attack and speed for a second time.

"Singe!" Thane cried. "Use Ear Slap!" The opposing Embit's ears shot forth like whips as Embit fired a burst of fire. Effortlessly, the ears slapped through Singe and struck Embit multiple times, the power increasing with every blow. "Now, Hop Kick!" The boy ordered. "Dodge!" Thane cried out desperately, but Embit was still recovering from the barrage of Ear Slap, and was met with the full force of an increased Hop Kick.

Embit was sent flying back and onto the grass, defeated. "Embit!" Thane cried as he rushed up to fallen Loomian. He took Embit into his arms and looked up at the mysterious boy as he recalled his Embit. He sighed, "You know, I was really hoping that Crystal would solve all my problems. This world seems so large and mysterious. There has to be an answer for me out there, I just have to keep looking." He bowed politely. "Thank you for the battle." He walked past a bent Thane gracefully and out of sight.

Thane watched him go before turning back to his unconscious partner. He sighed as he looked up at the sun. Golden light from the sun and the crash of red and purple sky was the backdrop for his battle. It was beautiful, now that he was staring at it. He took a few long moments to gaze out at the sky. It was teetering on the edges of night, but still being painted with dying daylight. Finally, he looked back down at Embit in his arms and stood back up. He would have to get back to town soon, before nightfall, and Embit to the Trainer Station. Might as well get a move on now, besides, Thane had to do something tonight. He had to know why he had lost today, and make sure that it never happened again.