Linkage

24

Fullmoon Island sent shivers down his spine. Wes wasn't looking forward to why they were going there. He hadn't told Cynthia, but what he learned upon the scales was that his heart was not pure still, it was still locked in the lining of darkness. He thought she would be scared of him once again if she knew. He had no clue what other effects there were, but he didn't want to tell her anyways.

Wes couldn't afford her distrust.

He had the option of purifying himself in the Ilex forest. But Wes told that if he asked Celebi to purify his heart, he would lose his memories. And while part of him wanted to forget who he was, he knew that Team Galactic would not stop at anything. It was still his responsibility to fix that. And then, he was done.

Wes stepped into the clearing of the island where he saw Byron and the sailor's family standing there. Cynthia, Wes noticed, felt apologetic. It drove him nuts that he could feel everything that she was without will. He wondered if she could tell he was nervous?

"Byron," Wes addressed, "I'm glad you're alright."

The gym leader sighed. "Did you find my son?"

He shook his head in guilt, for his failure. "I was captured, and well, they're turning everyone they capture into shadow people."

"What does that mean?" Byron asked.

"Your son is being controlled by some form of dark power," Cynthia stepped in, most likely sensing Wes's guilt.

It was then that she glared at him and Wes could hear her within his head. She told him not to be guilty. He tuned her out, instead choosing to focus on another feeling. His skin prickled with excitement and he knew Cresselia was coming. He was scared, and kind of angry, thinking of their previous encounter.

"Cresselia," he said, as the Pokémon appeared before them, "I'm glad to see you."

The Pokémon nodded. "As am I. I must apologize for my behavior from the last time we met, however."

"How come I can understand you without being in a dream?" Wes asked.

Cresselia seemed to laugh. "It is because the three rituals were completed. Or have you not noticed that you are able to understand psychic thought?"

"Why are we here Cresselia? What information do you have for us?" Cynthia butted in.

The Pokémon gave a look to Wes. "We are here to purify his heart. No person touched by Darkrai can be fully purified unless their heart is open again. I however, am unable to unlock his heart at the moment."

"Why is that?" Cynthia asked.

The Pokémon seemed to smile. "It's funny that you ask that. I can't free him quite yet, because he still has yet to face the reason his heart has been darkened."

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Cynthia and Wes stepped off the Sailor's boat to find themselves on the small Newmoon Island. When stepping off the boat, Cynthia felt shivers within her. From their bond both could tell the other was feeling the dark attraction to the forest. It was as if a dark magnetic field were drawing them in.

"It's like the darkness is a magnet to those also with darkness," said Wes, Cynthia could tell he was curious about something. "That's so odd. It's as if it's the reverse of a magnetic field."

She looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well," said Wes, "in a magnetic field, north is attracted to south and south is attracted to north, but here's its different. It's as if north were attracted to north. Darkness is attracted to darkness. It's more like a type of gravity."

Cynthia took a deep breath in. "What do you think is going to happen when we go into the forest? This is supposedly the island where Darkrai hides."

"I don't know, but we have to purify my heart, so we just need to press on," said Wes.

The ex-champion could feel his fear as he walked on. She felt scared too, but his fear was beyond belief. She could imagine why. He said he'd dealt with this before. She felt as though that was what constituted his fear. But they kept on, until they reached the edge of the forest.

Cynthia took his hand and grasped it, which caused him to look at her with a moment of honest fear. "We will get through this, together."

He nodded. "Let's go. I need to be purified."

And that was when the vision overtook.