Darkness.
It was a familiar void, an abyss stretching endlessly in all directions.
But something was wrong.
The shadows, the hundreds of loyal soldiers he had built, strengthened, and led into countless battles, were gone.
Not all of them.
He could still feel Beru and Igris, their presence steady like flickering embers in the dark.
But the rest…
Lost.
Sung Jin-woo frowned, extending his senses, but the connection remained severed.
It wasn't as if they had been destroyed, he would have felt that, just as he had when a shadow was truly erased.
No, this was something different.
As if they had been torn from his grasp and thrown into a place beyond his reach.
The last thing he remembered was… the rift.
A massive distortion had torn through space, its swirling chaos consuming everything in its wake.
One moment, he had been overseeing his domain.
The next, he was here.
Wherever here was.
He opened his eyes.
Towering trees surrounded him, their thick canopies casting shifting shadows over the forest floor.
The air was crisp, filled with the scent of damp earth, leaves, and something else.
A strange energy pulsed through the atmosphere, not mana, but something similar.
It was alive, woven into the very fabric of this world.
A rustle in the undergrowth made him tense for a moment before a familiar presence took shape.
Beru materialized beside him, his towering, insectoid form clicking as his blue eyes scanned the surroundings.
His antennae twitched, as if trying to decipher something.
"Master," he rasped, his voice sharp yet reverent. "This world… is unknown."
Jin-Woo glanced at him.
"You can tell?"
Beru nodded, his mandibles shifting.
"The air carries no traces of our world's essence. The energy here… foreign, but powerful."
A second shadow took form.
Igris, his crimson armor gleaming even in the dim light, silently kneeled behind him.
His presence was steady as always, a warrior awaiting command.
Jin-Woo took a slow breath, his mind processing everything.
This wasn't just another realm within his domain.
This was something entirely different.
A new world.
He didn't know how.
And more importantly… he doesn't know were his missing shadows are?
Losing them wasn't an option.
They were his, and if something had taken them from him, he would reclaim them.
But first, he needed to understand this place.
A sudden movement caught his attention.
A presence.
Something watching them from the shadows of the trees.
His eyes narrowed as a figure stepped forward, its sleek black body moving silently through the underbrush.
Golden rings on its fur pulsed faintly in the darkness, its red eyes locked onto his.
It was a Pokémon.
Jin woo didn't recognize the specie, neither did he need to.
The way it moved, the cautious yet confident stance, it was intelligent, aware.
It growled, low and warning, but it didn't attack.
It was assessing him, so was jin woo too.
Beru tensed beside him, awaiting a signal. Jin-Woo lifted a hand, stopping him.
This one was his.
'I want to test how this world's monsters are.'
The creature's gaze didn't waver, and for a brief moment, he saw something in its eyes.
Not fear.
Not aggression.
Recognition.
"You see me as a predator, don't you?"
A smirk tugged at his lips.
"Let's see how strong you are."
The Umbreon reacted instantly, muscles coiling as it leaped toward him.
Its movement was fast, precise, its body vanished into the shadows, reappearing behind him with unnatural swiftness.
'Quick Attack? No. Something more.'
He twisted, sidestepping as its claws slashed where he had been.
Fast.
But not fast enough.
His arm shot out, fingers curling as he activated 'Ruler's Authority.'
An invisible force gripped the creature midair, halting its attack.
It thrashed, golden rings flashing as a dark pulse of energy erupted from its body.
'Dark Pulse.'
He released his hold and jumped back, the attack exploding where he had just stood.
The ground trembled, dirt scattering from the force.
The Umbreon landed gracefully, panting slightly.
Its crimson eyes narrowed in frustration.
Jin woo flexed his fingers.
'Not bad.' he thought.
This world's creatures weren't ordinary.
They had their own unique energy, their own forms of attack.
'Could this monster be turned into a shadow army?' he thought.
'There is only one way to find out.' he thought while sighing
He walked closer to it and smashed it into the ground.
Then he raised his hand.
Darkness swirled from the ground, an ominous energy out of it.
A single word left his lips.
"Arise."
The shadows shot forward, tendrils of black mist swirling toward the creature.
The energy surrounded it, enveloping its body in his power.
Then… something unexpected happened.
The shadows hesitated.
Not because of resistance, no, the Umbreon wasn't fighting back.
It was something else.
The energy… was merging.
His eyes widened slightly as he felt it, his power intertwining with something within the creature, as if it was already attuned to the darkness.
Unlike the monsters he had turned before, this wasn't an act of domination.
It was acceptance.
The Umbreon's red eyes glowed for a moment before it bowed its head slightly.
Not in submission.
But in Acknowledgment.
Then, the process was complete.
The dark mist faded, and where the Umbreon once stood, a new shadow knelt before him, eyes gleaming with a faint, eerie light.
A new soldier.
He exhaled, lowering his hand.
'This world was different, but his power still worked.' he thought.
That was all he needed to know.
Beru clicked his mandibles, his head tilting.
"Master… this creature is different from the others in our world."
Jin-Woo nodded.
"It didn't resist. It accepted to serve me willingly."
He turned to look at his new shadow army.
"You understand, don't you?"
The Umbreon's gaze met his.
It didn't speak, but it didn't need to.
He could feel it.
The connection.
The hunt had begun.
And he was ready.