Roger and Zax were engaged in a conversation about their situation on the island and what they needed.

Three days had passed since the Dodou Fleet attacked Malena and there were still occasional attacks by one or two ships but nothing too major.

"Aye, Zax I'll help you with whatever supplies you need. But I can't help you fight. All those ships out there is the entire Spearow Brigade. They attacked our main island where we store supplies and stay when we're not out sailing. So we need to focus on winning back our base and finishing off the fleet."

Zax crossed his arms. "Why does everything have to happen now, it's so coincidental."

"Between you and me boy, I don't think it's any coincidence. Those Doduo are spineless so they'd do anything some scary shadow monster says." Roger confided.

"I'm sure we'll find out, that Marshadow likes to babble on about his plans. Speaking of which do you know anything about him? I've been reading every book I can find but none of them mention any shadow Pokémon."

Roger pondered the thought for a moment. "No my lad I don't believe I have. I'm sorry, but I think I have a way I can help you. I'll go with you and your crew! My men can find their way around just fine after all!"

"That's great! We need all the help we can get right now. As a matter of fact, once Jellicent is finished rebuilding his shop we're going to climb Dragon Mountain and defeat Marshadow once and for all. Then I'm going to resign as the Guildmaster."

Roger titled his head. "Now why would you do that lad?"

Zax shrugged. "I let everyone down, if it wasn't for you we would have no way to fix our teleporter or Jellicent's shop. I should've been better prepared for the attack. So I can't be Guildmaster anymore, not at the risk of failing them."

"Well, it's your choice. If that's what you think is best then that's what you must do."

Meanwhile at the peak of Dragon Mountain.

Marshadow and Kut were playing a game of Go Fish when Marshadow threw his cards up. "Oh, goodie! Our friend is coming!"

"It's about time. Alright just give me a moment... You'll never keep me here and you'll never defeat that dragon! I will smite you and wipe you off the map, you fiend!"

Marshadow chuckled and walked away. "Yeah yeah, sure you will. Now time to get into position." Marshadow sunk into the shadows.

A large blue creature with two small wings on its sides and a jet-like body descended from the sky. It had two hands on its stomach each with sharp claws at the end.

The beast hovered above the peak of the mountain, fixing its eyes on Kut. "What is a pathetic unworthy Pokémon doing in my domain?"

"Latios please listen to me. Marshadow is lurking in the shadows and he's planning on destroying you!" Kut pleaded.

"Do not lie to me to excuse your trespassing! You will be punished for your crime!" Latios roared. A purple ball formed in its mouth, but before it could fire the attack Marshadow re-appeared and kicked his head. The ball exploded in Latios's mouth.

Marshadow landed on the peak. "Sorry I can't have you killing my hostage. I want to do that and use him as a sword!"

Latios snarled. "What in Arceus's name are you supposed to be?"

Marshadow shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not even sure myself! But I do know one thing.

You're going to join my merry band of crazies like it or not!" He rushed forward and punched Latios in the face.

Latios grabbed Marshadow with his claw and flew up into the air. He tossed Marshadow towards the Earth. The shadow Pokémon stopped falling and hovered in midair.

Latios began changing a purple blast in his mouth and fired it at Marshadow. Marshadow tried to move out of the way but the beam struck him.

Marshadow began to fall to the ground, Latios dove and struck his claw into Marshadow. The shadow fighter was launched into the peak of the mountain and created a cloud of smoke.

Latios hovered down to the peak again. "That should show you. Now, where is that sword?" Marshadow rose behind him, his fist frozen in ice. He punched Latios in the back of his head and the dragon faded out of consciousness. Marshadow grabbed him just as a cloud covered the sun and they vanished into the shadows.

Latios awoke in a foreign land. There were fractured platforms around the purple landscape. The air was thick and heavy and the light was dim. There seemed to be thunder rumbling in the depths of the realm.

"Welcome to my home. I can't stay here for long, but you'll be fine. The shadows will just help clear your mind. Make you more willing to obey me. They want to hold me, hostage, expand their army a tad. You get it right? Oh dear, the cloud is passing over!" Marshadow's eyes seemed to glow for a moment. "Have fun friend!" With that, he vanished.

Latios felt weak, unable to move. A swirling black darkness moved towards him. Its core was glowing a pungent green. "St-stay away demon!" The darkness absorbed him, his mind began to become cloudy. He no longer could think. His mind fell into a simple state. A green gem forced its way into his chest and started to take control.

Then Marshadow reappeared. The shadow scrambled off. Marshadow placed his hand on Latios, and they returned to the real world. "Welcome back. How do you feel now?"

"Like listening," Latios said with no emotion, he had a blank stare. Occasionally, his body would contort as if the Shadow was trying to take control. The mark where the gem was still remained and the dragon's body had darkened from the minor possession of the Shadow.

"Perfect! Now Sword Dude you're going to let me wield you or I'll do the same thing that I did to Latios!" Marshadow commanded.

"No," Kut stated.

Marshadow sighed. "You called my bluff. Can't do that little trick anymore, now they know I'm using them for my own plans. They'll find me if I try again!" He giggled.

Kut groaned. "I hope my friends arrive soon."

"You and I both!"

The next day.

Alpha walked into Zax's office and placed a series of graphs on his desk. "You don't think you're good enough to be Guildmaster? Look at these numbers!"

The chart was a constantly rising red arrow on most of the pages. They were titled 'earnings, member growth, mission success, and exploration rate.'

"See that? Ever since you joined the guild everything has improved! You're the reason we have access to Dragon Mountain and even the Glacial Cavern!"

Zax examined the chart closely. "Wait these numbers were first taken when I started as Guildmaster!"

Alpha cursed under his breath. "Crap I was counting on you not noticing that."

"This just further proves my point, I'm not fit to be Guildmaster. If you're not even comfortable showing me the numbers from when Friction was the Guildmaster." Zax got up and walked outside and into Central Town.

Jellicent's shop was finally finished construction and his sister has left to travel the Mystery Dungeons once again. Omega and Jet were stocking up on items.

"So in total Team Exploration has 27 reviver seeds, 15 Oran berries, and 20 apples? I think that should be enough, at least for until we stumble across Jellicent or a box to restock." Omega told Jet.

"Well, it's a good thing we've been preparing since the shop opened. 50 floors of Dragons doesn't sound very fun." Jet stated.

Zax walked up to them. "So are you guys ready to go?"

Omega nodded. "Yep, we're all set. Melanie is out in the Magic Forest with Flutter and Maryland collecting some special berries and roots for Maractus to extract. Then she'll give us some drinks in return. We'll wait for them and come back to the Guild, you guys can go on ahead without us. We don't want to cause a delay."

"If you say so. Be sure to take an optional route. Roger, I, Alpha, and WatchYourBack are taking the main path. Everyone else is going to take the optional path on Floor 6." Zax told them. "Don't want to put too much strain on the dungeon after all." With that, he walked back to the guild and gathered the members of the guild.

"Alright everyone, be careful. This is the first time we've done a Guild attack on a Dungeon since Bridge Tower before many of you joined. If your group is overwhelmed or in danger, do not hesitate to use your escape orbs and leave. That's why we're sending multiple groups after all. Remember, there's nothing wrong with having to run when you can't win a fight. With that being said, let's scale the bar and stop Marshadow!" Everyone cheered and they made their way to the newly fixed portal.

Everyone jumped in four groups at a time arriving at the entrance to Dragon Mountain. Zax and his groups went into the Mystery Dungeon first, with the other group following behind not much later.

Marshadow giggled as he won another game of Go Fish. "I wonder if they'll ever arrive. They'd be surprised what I have in store for this final battle! Muhahahahahaha!"

Hello everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I took a break for the holidays and didn't have as much time to write this week but it's here and I hope it was worth the wait! This story is nearing the end and I hope it's all very good. Thanks for reading and have a great day! Bye!