Alex didn't know how long he'd been falling for. He'd lost track of any concept of time a long time ago. All he knew now was the constant whistle of wind in his ears as he hurtled further and further downwards. What was down there he didn't know. He'd attempted opening his eyes a few times but it made no difference; either they were glued shut or he was engulfed in absolute darkness.

It was strange how it had happened though. One moment he was on the battlefield, mere seconds away from finishing Cooper's Machamp off and then the next thing he knew, something had pushed him backwards and the floor beneath him had opened up and swallowed him whole. The hole had closed immediately after, drowning out the sound of the arena, as well as his desperate cries for help.

He'd given up with shouting a while ago. Again, he couldn't be sure exactly how long but now when he tried to open his mouth, his lips felt like they were stuck together, like they hadn't been used for several weeks. He licked his lips and breathed in a tasty gulp of air. It had been a while since he'd done that as well. Oxygen filled his lungs, giving him temporary strength. After another arbitrary period of time had passed, he'd forgotten about breathing again and his mouth went back to being stuck.

Alex tried to think back to the beginning of his fall. Had he been pushed? Had he been sucked inside some strange anomaly of physics like a black hole? Perhaps there was a trapdoor feature on the battlefield that he never knew about until now. Maybe Bella would later give him the usual 'you're an idiot' look and explain all of the secrets of the battlefield.

That last thought brought a strange sadness over him. Wherever he was, Bella wasn't here. Or Lenny, or Edward or... Megan. He suppressed a sob. He wasn't just falling down into a seemingly bottomless pit, he was falling further and further away from all of his friends. All of the people who cared about him were slipping away with each passing second. Every second took him further from Megan.

Thinking about her now, Alex gave an audible groan. Would she be worried about his sudden disappearance? Would she frantically investigate further to try and find him? Or would she simply not care and run back into the arms of her new man, Tim, or whatever his name was. If he carried on falling, Alex might never see her again. He never would get the chance to confess how he still felt. He never would get the opportunity to kiss her again or to make love to her or do anything that his poor broken heart wanted.

Suddenly, he hit something solid. The unexpected blow brought unimaginable pain to his spine as his back took the full force of impact, probably shattering half the bones in his body. Alex yelped, expecting some kind of unbearable agony but surprisingly, it didn't come. Yet another very strange thing. Slamming into the ground at terminal velocity should have killed him but he was relatively unharmed. Slowly, he sat up.

He was still in total darkness. His eyes were completely useless but for the first time in... a long time he could actually use one of his senses. The floor felt very... different to anything he'd ever felt before. It was rock solid and felt absolutely unbreakable. But still, it didn't feel tough. Instead, it was completely smooth; you could hardly even feel it when you ran your hand along it.

Not dwelling on the strange floor, Alex had his first bright idea of this whole experience. He sent out all of his Pokémon, one of which was Lampent, whose blue fire illuminated wherever he was. It had been so long since he could see, the light blinded him momentarily, forcing him to close his eyes and gradually reopen them, allowing them to adjust slowly.

The light wasn't much help. All Alex would see was himself and his Pokémon who all had their backs to him, staring at something in the distance. Now that he looked there, an odd chill rushed over him. His heart began beating faster, his breath began shortening and a cold sweat covered his body. He didn't know why he felt it but whatever was over there, it was very, very wrong.

"Who has brought light upon my domain?" a soft voice said. It echoed around, creating the illusion that the sound had come from everywhere.

"Um, me." Alex said, remembering how his tongue worked. "Sorry, it's just, I couldn't see a thing and I don't know where I am."

"Oh?" the voice said. It sounded excited. "I didn't expect to see you here." Something about the way the word 'you' had been emphasised spooked Alex out. It was a very creepy voice.

"Me?" he croaked.

"Yes, you." the voice replied, with a touch of malice. "I've seen your future. I know what is to come for you, Alex Murphy."

"How do you-"

"I see all. I see inside your tiny little head. I see your ambitions, your worries and your greatest fears. I see the true darkness within your heart." Alex was paralysed. The disembodied voice was freaking him out but as much as he wanted to run, where could he run? Everywhere looked the same. Everywhere was pitch black. "The darkness terrifies you, doesn't it?"

"Are you in my head?" he stuttered, his mouth barely working.

"Oh, what's this? A grudge against the one named Thomas Andrews?"

"I... I didn't even know that was his surname." Alex breathed. Something was in his head, filing through the information available and finding out his deepest, darkest secrets.

"It was in there somewhere." If the voice had a face, it was smiling right now. "You want him out of the way? Well you have the tools to do that surely."

Unbelievably, Thomas appeared in front of his Pokémon. He didn't appear to be too surprised. He merely met eyes with Alex, shook his head and cried out in pain as Marowak leapt at him, beating him with its bone. Blood flowed from his cracked skull, until Alex was ankle deep in red liquid.

"Marowak, what are you doing?" Alex cried out, horrified.

"What its master ordered." the voice said. The voice had steadily been getting louder and louder until by now, it was blasting in Alex's ears, bringing a throbbing pain to his forehead.

"I didn't... I wouldn't..."

"So young and naive. It starts with the blood of your enemies. Those you hate. But soon, the taste of a victim is just too delicious and soon you need more. You can't control it. Not even your dearest friends will escape you."

"I'd never..." Alex's voice faltered as he saw more attacks performed by his Pokémon. He saw Tangrowth strangling Edward. He saw Lenny impaled by Slowking's crown. As the blood around his ankles rose higher and higher, Alex rushed to the scene to try and stop the madness.

"Alex, how could you!" Bella cried as Garchomp hacked at her body. As Alex got close, the dragon turned and sliced at him, cutting his arm with an incredible shot of pain. He fell to his knees, drenched in blood. He clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block out Bella's horrifying screams.

"And then..." the voice said as Alex threw up. "Even the ones you love will face your wrath." Alex looked up for one moment and met eyes with Megan. She looked at him, disgusted.

"I can't believe I ever loved you." she whispered before Lampent set her on fire. Alex could feel her agony. Her screams pained him more than Garchomp's claws. He closed his eyes but somehow, the image of her burning body remained strong in his mind. Without even thinking, he tried to physically gouge out his eyes, trying to free himself from that terrible sight. Finally, all was silent.

"By that point, your murdering tools won't be able to stop themselves. They'll come for you."

"No..." Alex sobbed as his Pokémon turned away from their victims and marched towards him, their eyes glaring red.

"Do not worry, it is inevitable."

"No."

"It is your destiny."

"No!"

Fun fact, this is the chapter that started New Moon Academy. This chapter was the first idea I had and the rest just kind of came about after that. I've been anticipating writing it for ages for a long time so to see it finally published feels pretty cool. With that said, as always hit the vote button if you liked and post a comment to give me some praise or criticism.