Alex had a good feeling about this day. He was sitting in his usual seat at the back of Professor Williams' classroom waiting to get his latest test result back. He didn't know why but he just had a small inkling that he'd done well - maybe he'd actually passed.

Perhaps it had something to do with the rigorous training routines he ran through with his Pokémon every single day. Alex really felt that he was getting into a good spot. He knew his Pokémon well, his Pokémon knew him well and they were getting a lot tougher in general. He'd even made some progress with Garchomp recently. Whilst it still didn't follow orders well, it had begun to almost respect him somewhat and it no longer attacked him. It wasn't much but it was still pleasing to see his efforts come to something.

Then again, maybe it was more to do with the fact that Bella was now helping him with his homework. Ever since they'd taken down Lenny and Edward in an epic double battle, Bella had warmed to him a little bit and had helped him out with the theory side of the course. Bella had only helped Alex for a couple of weeks but already he'd started to understand exam questions more. His grades had already begun to rise.

Or it may just have been the lack of Darkness Warriors lately. Bella had sent the computer hacking Rotom packing and then the hooded psychopaths seemed to have vanished. With two of them now in prison they were probably rethinking their plans as they'd been pretty reckless so far and had accomplished very little other than ruin the library which had temporarily closed to fix the damages. Whatever had made Alex feel good didn't really matter; the main point was that he felt good and his day had barely even started.

"Ah, Mr Murphy." Williams smiled as he approached Alex's table, holding a test paper. "Another improvement. Keep up the good work."

"Wow." Alex breathed as he took the paper. He'd actually passed the test. For the very first time since arriving at New Moon Academy he had legitimately done well on a test. He could hardly believe it. Later, he'd tell his parents.

"As a class performance, this was one of the better tests that the year has seen." Williams stated after he'd finished handing out every paper. "Are there any questions?"

"Sir, I don't understand why I only got nine out of ten on this question." Bella said from beside Alex. It was the only mark she'd dropped on the entire paper.

"Ah yes, an interesting conundrum that you gave me Miss Hughes." Williams chuckled when he saw question at hand. He turned and walked to the front of the class to explain. "The problem here is that by the mark scheme, this was a perfect answer to the question: 'Why have defensive teams become so popular in recent tournaments? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using very defensively based strategies.' Miss Hughes's answer ticked all of the boxes. She covered why they have become popular. She discussed the positives and negatives of the battle style. Her one downfall was her teacher."

Williams paused to gauge Bella's reaction. She did not look pleased.

"As you go to a very good school and there are very high expectations of you, I opted to dock you a mark to give you a better insight into the real dynamics of being a trainer." Williams explained. "What you failed to realise was how a good trainer adapts to certain situations. You failed to say how defensive teams have grown in popularity as they can easily adapt to most scenarios as well as how the best trainers in the world have begun to adapt their offensive mindsets in the middle of a battle to take on a more defensive approach to regain control. It may not be on the mark scheme but for a bright young girl such as yourself, I thought it would be a much more helpful lesson than if I simply gave you full marks."

"Well you certainly know your stuff." Came a deep voice from behind Williams. The teacher turned to see nothing but the door to the classroom. Bewildered, he took a step towards the door and reached out a hand but his action was cut short when what had first seemed to be air changed colour and twisted before the image faded, revealing two hooded figures and a fox like Pokémon that was black as night. Its dark smile was complemented by its sharp eyes, giving a mean look, helped by its rough crimson hair that was tied into a ponytail.

"Who are -" Williams began but he was cut off.

"Snatch." The deep voiced Darkness Warrior calmly said. His Zoroark carried out the move so swiftly Alex almost missed it as it sprang into action, swiping its red claws to completely take out Williams' legs. Within half a second, Williams had been snatched. Their teacher lay knocked out at the front of the class and was quickly tied up ready for the Warriors to take him away.

"Stay away!" The other Darkness Warrior barked in a raspy voice as Alex got up, ready for a fight. "Let's go!"

"Hey!" Alex cried as the pair fled, carrying the unconscious teacher. "Cowards!"

Not wasting any time, Alex gave chase, pushing past several scared members of class and pushing the door open. As the mysterious men had weight on them, their pace was easily matched but Alex had a foxy obstacle in his way, slowing him down. Thankfully, with Lenny and Bella at his side, the Zoroark couldn't take them all on in a battle, instead throwing several illusions their way. The images came thick and fast and whilst Alex knew they weren't real he couldn't help but slow down in order to avoid some of the gruesome sights. Eventually, he heard Bella stop and scream as she fell to her knees before an army of fake Mightyena surrounded her and howled, snapping at her feet. Alex knew he couldn't stop for her. She was a strong girl who'd shake it off. Williams was literally being abducted.

Lenny barged through the main entrance of the school, a little ahead of Alex with the Darkness Warriors still just in sight. Without any warning they sharply turned left towards a rocky, mountainous part of the island. Zoroark left the two schoolboys for a moment to swiftly help its master up a small climb. Alex and Lenny were forced to a halt by the mini cliff.

"Tangela, help us out!" Alex ordered, sending out his messy pile of vines. Tangela immediately extended two vines upwards, creating makeshift climbing ropes which Alex and Lenny used to quickly scale the obstacle. Once at the top, they saw something incredible. They were only just behind the school and barely elevated but up on this plateau was a huge hidden lake that stretched on for what seemed like miles. At the edge of the lake, stood the hooded characters.

"Oh great guardian of the lake," the deep voiced man said soothingly, "I give to you, the being of knowledge!" The men held up Williams and the centre of the lake began to glow in a dazzling fashion. Light spurted out from the source, bathing the entire body of water in a white glow. By the time the light had died down, a small floating Pokémon had appeared. Its body was a pale blue and it had two tails that swayed gently in the wind. Its domed head was bright yellow and in between its calm closed eyes was a beautiful red gem.

"Lenny, what is that?" Alex asked, his eyes wide open.

"I... I don't know." Lenny admitted.

"Come here you!" Barked the other Warrior, pulling out what looked like a large glass tube with dials on the side. He jumped, opened the tube which Alex realised was a capsule, and enslaved the poor Pokémon. "Transport complete." he said, pressing a few buttons. A second later, the Pokémon shone brightly before vanishing. It had been teleported away.

"Lenny, we can't let them get away."

"Let's take them." Lenny nodded. He sent out his Honedge to stand beside Alex's Tangela. Their opponents also had two Pokémon before them; Zoroark and a metallic looking creature, coloured a dark shade of red with a black stomach. It was covered in razor sharp blades and had a particularly large pointy razor atop its head.

"Pawniard, Night slash!"

"Honedge, Slash!" Instantly, the battle was split into two as the claws of Pawniard clashed with the blade of Honedge, causing both Pokémon to skid backwards.

"Iron Head!"

"Dodge with Shadow Sneak!" Lenny cried. Pawniard jumped, lining up its sharp head with Lenny's Pokémon. Fortunately, he'd been ready for the attack and Honedge simply sunk into the ground to avoid it before a shadow on the floor moved to behind Pawniard where it jumped back out, slicing the back of the little Pokémon. Its surprise attack had caught Pawniard well off guard and had dealt loads of damage. Alex's opponent was being a lot less reckless.

"Would you like another illusion?" The strange deep voice said. Alex couldn't see where the voice came from due to the image of a dense forest that Zoroark had conjured up to hide its master.

"Tangela, grab that fox!" Alex ordered. Tangela whipped out some vines and flung them at their enemy which disappeared for what felt like the millionth time. Now, the forest had vanished but Tangela was stuck in a huge quicksand pit. Alex's Pokémon kept a cool enough head to extend its vines and grab its trainer to haul itself out of the mirage.

"Very impressive." The deep voice said.

"Honedge, no!" Lenny cried as Pawniard landed a super effective attack. His ghostly sword had practically nothing left in the tank. "Honedge, please get up, we've worked so hard together! This is our chance to shine!" Honedge looked its trainer in the eye and nodded.

"Finish this with Night Slash!" Pawniard swooped in for the final attack but Honedge had other ideas. When Pawniard was within attacking distance, Honedge cried out and shone a blinding blue colour until all four trainers were forced to stop in their tracks as the light was too bright. By the time it had faded, something new stood where Honedge once did. The number of swords had multiplied and the once blue sheath and turned into a vivid purple. Honedge had evolved into Doublade.

"Alright!" Lenny grinned. "Use Sacred Sword!" Pawniard was powerless to stop both swords raising and swiping down on its foe, dealing huge damage and knocking it out in one swift blow.

"Tangela, hit it with Ancient Power!" Alex shouted. Distracted by what had happened in the other battle, Zoroark was caught off guard and was firmly struck by the floating rocks that Tangela had thrown in its direction. Incredibly, the use of this move sparked more blinding blue light.

"No way." Lenny breathed as he used Williams bonds to tie the beaten Darkness Warrior's hands.

"Yes way!" Alex grinned as Tangela grew to become a much larger Pokémon. It even had arms made of vines that had little red fingertips. His Pokémon had evolved into a Tangrowth. With its new and improved reach, Tangrowth shot its arms out and wrapped them around their foxy opponent, tying up both Zoroark and the Darkness Warrior. Alex marched over to the hooded man, wanting to remove his headwear. He didn't seem to be like the other Darkness Warriors. He hadn't even called a single attack in battle.

"Under the impression that I'd come quietly?" He laughed when Alex put his hand on his hood. Without warning, his head jerked upwards and Alex's eyes locked with a pair of striking grey spheres. Suddenly both the man and his Zoroark vanished.

"Damn it!" Alex yelled, frustrated. The pair had never really been captured. It had all been an illusion from Zoroark. He looked over at Lenny who had successfully caught the other Warrior and freed Williams. When the professor came round, he was oddly pleased.

"That was rather impressive, you two." He smiled. "Thank you."