Chapter 22: The Growing Shadows

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We entered the elevator and Hau pressed the UP button

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We entered the elevator and Hau pressed the UP button. "Beam us up."

Alex slapped him upside the head when the doors closed. When they pinged open, we were in a lab. Kukui was already there, talking to a woman with frizzly white hair.

Kukui saw us. "Ah, come on in cousins. I'd like you all to meet Professor Burnet."

When we walked up to them, he said, "My wife."

"Hello," Burnet said. "And welcome to the Dimensional Research Lab."

"Interesting setup you got here," I commented, looking at all the screens on the wall.

Burnet nodded at the screens. "We have the very best here."

"What exactly do you do here?" Alex asked.

"We believe in other dimensions here," Burnet said, smiling. "And we've proved it. But, our main project at the moment is seeing if Ultra Wormholes truly do exist."

"Ultra Wormholes?" Robert asked, confused.

Burnet nodded. "I believe they allow you to journey to other dimensions quite like ours, but that's something we haven't proved that yet."

We all nodded while Burnet hugged Lillie. "Oh it's so good to see you again dear."

An embarrassed Lillie said, "Thanks Burnet."

While they were catching up, I went over to a bookshelf. I was browsing through the titles when a book on the top shelf jutted out slightly. I looked at it in confusion. I took it and inspected it. It was old and worn. It was also smaller than the other books and the title read, "The Shadow".

A chill went down my spine when I read that.

Burnet came up to me. "Interesting choice. More of legends than actual fact though."

She walked away as I opened the book and began to read.

"The Shadow is a being of pure evil and darkness. He used to dwell within our world, his shadows sweeping over the land. But Arceus destroyed him and formed the world we now live in today. Back in ancient times, the ancient Alolan people worshipped the gods of Old. But when the Tapus were born, they challenged the gods to a battle for Alola. This great battle lasted for a whole year and in that time of darkness, the Shadow rose once more. A Hero Born of Darkness was chosen by the Tapus to destroy the Shadow, but that's not what happened. The hero fell to his own darkness and while destroying the Shadow, he prophesied that the Shadow would rise again and only another Hero Born of Darkness who overcame his own darkness could stop the Shadow."

The words began to change before my eyes and formed something more sinister.

"I am rising. Nothing can stop me. You will assist my rise. Hero Born of Darkness. I know your past, your secrets, your destiny. Join me and the world could be ours. Your darkness would cast an even greater shadow upon the world."

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