The Team Excalibur

Hi, Fox Lee, that player of Fox and leader of Team Excalibur. Here be part three of Team Excalibur's post archive. The authors who contributed to this section are: Andy Gengler (Andy, Julie, Armin & Jimmy), Darby Barnhill (Daeg & Ni), Rex Lee (Kyosan & Adam), Fox Lee (Fox, Vance & Quinn), Jon Ball (Jon, Thane & Falcon), Brittany Lopez (Lyith, Emily & Adam) & Rebecca Cherish (Tessa, Yusuo & Leiko). In case, for some reason, you missed part one and part two (but you really should read them, this will make a lot more sense if you do), here's a brief overview:

Guided by Daeg's abra and his mysterious master, the PokéGod Mewthree, Jon, Fox, Andy, Julie, Daeg, and Kyosan have converged upon Fuschia City in the middle of a Pokémon gathering. Here they were called upon by pokémaniac Masaki to take on Team Rocket and save PCs worldwide, which resulted in a violent explosion that left Kyosan wounded and Jon missing. Fox managed to dodge the authorities (who are after her and Andy for mistaken cases of grand theft pokémon), only to get herself caught by Jon's current captor and longtime rival, Thane. With Masaki's help, the others managed to track them down, now joined by Lyith, an orphan girl in search of her family, Fox's vengeful brother Vance, and young Pokémon brain Tessa.

It all culminated in a mass battle in a supposedly abandoned warehouse, which brought the team face-to-face with some of their worst enemies, a dozen Team Rocket members, packs of wild Pokémon, and, just at the wrong moment, Saffron City's Police corps. Caught up in the confusion over Fox and Andy, the team have been forced to scatter in the maze-like corridors inside the warehouse...

"Tessa? Tessa? Tessa, are you okay?"

Tessa's eyes fluttered open at the sound. Everything was blurry for a moment or two, then she noticed that Kyosan's face was not so horribly far away.

"Tessa?"

A red streak shot across her face, and she hastily rolled to her side. Hoping that Kyosan didn't see her blush, she attempted to shake the look off of her face.

"Uh... hey..." she said, as if greeting him. Not even a yawn to add, "I'm up now."

She then noticed Mew, who was still unconscious. Inside, she knew that Mew was alright - just sleeping - but she wanted something to distract her so she didn't have to focus on talking to Kyosan at the moment. She picked Mew up, looking at the limp body.

"Mew?!" She was quite good at this falsely-alarmed voice, in fact took pride in it. "Mew! Oh my god, Mew... what's wrong?! Are you okay?!"

I'm fine, porridge brain... Mew thought to her, though keeping her big, pale eyes closed.

I know that, Tessa returned.

Then what the hell are you doing, girl?

None of your business...

Disgruntled, Mew opened her eyes for a second, and then closed them again.

Oh, I see... she said, then giggled. But, I'm going back to sleep; I was comfortable.

Tessa nodded. Go ahead, she thought, relieved.

Tessa's concentration was broken by the presence of another power. Two deep blue eyes gleamed from a dark corner, and a figure rose to clearly a couple feet taller than her.

Tessa... The figure spoke. It felt different, not like Mew's speech. It was true telepathy. At least now, she really had something to keep her mind off of Kyosan. She turned, eyes wide, to the figure.

Tessa...you are needed.

Finally, it came into view. Tessa's jaw dropped. "Kis... Kis... Kismet?"

The mewtwo nodded. Yes, it's me. Your brother is in grave danger.

"Grave...grave danger?"

Stop your damned stuttering, I don't have time for it. Yes, he's in very grave danger. He has encountered the illness with no name.

Tessa didn't find this amusing, but understood the pain in the Kismet's thoughts. "Tell me about this illness..."

Very well. It doesn't affect most of the body's physical properties, that I've discovered yet, but rather is quite painful, and often leaves the victim screaming about their soul. I've nicknamed it the Demon Plague... it seems to me like a soul-shredding sickness, rather than a body destroying one.

"This is lethal?"

In a way. If your brother lives through it, he'll be just another body. His soul will be gone, totally. Only his body will survive. He'll be living like a chicken with its head cut off.

Tessa cupped a hand over her mouth. "Yusuo..." she whispered.

"Tehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... aarghh!... No.... nohhhhhhh... Nooo... aaah!"

All that could be heard for the moment were a few screams in the house of Yusuo. Kismet wasn't there to calm his sickness for the time being, leaving him in more pain than he had ever anticipated.

Tessa... please get here soon... time is... time is running out for me...

Tessa felt a presence of her brother, begging for her to come. "I feel it... from far away..."

You must come with me, Kismet commanded.

Tessa nodded, but then turned to Kyosan. "I don't think I can handle this alone..." Liar, she thought. She knew she was quite capable of seeking out what needed to be done, but still, company was good. Especially his company.

"If Kismet can generate enough power for us both to teleport there, would you come with me? Like I said, I don't know how well I can do this alone."

Kismet glanced at Tessa, giving her an accusing look. She returned the glance, sending her own message back. But just by looks - she didn't want her thoughts read at the moment, and with Kismet there, they may be open to others.

I can generate enough power for the both of you to go... and maybe later, yet more people. My trainer... Mentally, Kismet almost choked on his 'words'. My friend... needs your help.

Tessa smiled at the mewtwo, and both anticipated Kyosan's answer.

So... I'm calling the shots... Kyosan thought to himself. He closed his eyes, and lowered his head, thinking. "Hey Kismet - can you generate enough power to transport Lyith, too?" Kyosan asked, not wanting to leave one of his friends behind. At the sound of her name, Lyith glanced at Kyosan.

The Mewtwo shook his head. Not at the moment. But I can transport you two to where Yusuo is, and then come back for Lyith after I take a little rest.

Kyosan raised his hand to his chin, thinking. He glanced at Tessa, who immediately went bright red and quickly turned away.

"Kismet, why don't you take Lyith with you now, and I'll wait. Besides, what can I do to help? I have no medical expertise." Kyosan finished with a hint of self-doubt.

Mew chose that moment to open her big blue eyes, and stared at Kyosan curiously. Tessa's jaw slightly dropped. Lyith raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Kismet's facial expression didn't change at all.

"Hey, I can take care of myself," Lyith commented, stepping towards Kyosan. "I don't mind waiting a little bit."

"Ya sure?" Kyosan asked.

"Positive," Lyith replied sternly. "Now get moving! You're wasting time!"

Tessa felt a great burden lifted off her when Lyith said that. She looked at the girl, thanking her mentally.

Ooh... and why do you want to go so badly with your friend, Kyosan? Kismet inquired telepathically.

Tessa glared at Kismet, who was grinning. One day, she was going to get even with that Mewtwo...

I heard that, Kismet reminded her.

"What's so funny?" Kyosan asked, seeing Kismet grinning.

Nothing much - it's just that she likes you, Kismet sent, making it sound as if he were talking to Kyosan but only letting Tessa hear. The poor girl started to turn red all over. She quickly turned around, facing away from Kyosan.

Stop it! Stop it! She thought.

Kismet started giggling. But I'm having so much fun with this!

"Did I miss something?" Lyith asked, watching Kismet.

"I have no idea," Kyosan answered.

Okay, Kismet said telepathically, while motioning Kyosan closer. We should get going. Kyosan, c'mere. Now, to teleport, you need to hold my hands. Tessa, grab my right. Kyosan, take my left.

Obediently, Kyosan reached for Kismet's odd-shaped, outstretched hand, while Tessa reached for the other.

We have to form a circle to keep the power available, so Kyosan, hold hands with Tessa.

What!? Tessa thought. You don't have to do that!

You'd better - or Kyosan ain't coming, The Mewtwo replied to Tessa only.

Fine, she thought, making a disgusted face. She reached for Kyosan's outstretched hand, hoping he didn't think the face had been directed at him, and started to turn red again.

"Hold on," Kyosan said, lowering the hand that Tessa was reaching for. He dropped his hand to his belt and reached for a pokéball, which he pulled off and tossed it to Lyith. "If anyone pisses you off, you now have an Arcanine to vent your anger through. Works better than swearing your head off."

He grinned, and Lyith smiled back, grasping the pokéball with both hands.

"All right." Kyosan offered his left hand to Tessa. "Ready?"

"Uh... yeah," she replied shakily, quickly taking his hand, trying to hold back most - or at least some - of the redness in her cheeks. "Mew, accompany Lyith, too."

Yes Master, Mew said sarcastically, floating beside Lyith.

"You don't have to babysit me! I can take care of myself..." ruefully, Lyith trailed off.

Let's go, Kismet said telepathically to everyone in the room.

"Buh-bye now," Lyith said, waving farewell.

See ya, Tessa, Mew added, waving her tail back and forth.

A faint blue aura surrounded the three, then expanded into a dark blue that completely engulfed the three. A moment later, they vanished with a brilliant flash of light.

The only lightbulb in the room chose that exact moment to burn out, plunging the room back into a pitch black.

"Damn it to all hell!" Lyith cried, summoning her flareon out. Mew shook her head, then decided to go back to sleep.

Jon, Falcon sent into his trainer's mind. There you are...

"Falcon!" Jon kept his voice low as the mewtwo came to his side.

This is a fine mess your friend has gotten us into, is it not? Falcon smiled smugly.

"She's your friend too," Jon pointed out.

Hmph, Falcon grunted, reluctantly agreeing. Be that as it may, I wish she would obey me once in a while...

"What's that mean?" Jon asked.

I told her to stay put while I looked for you. I told them all to. But not one of them listened to me.

"A bunch of people I've only just met risked pissing off a mewtwo to come and look for me?" Jon was impressed. "You could've vaporized them..."

Yes, I could have. Luckily for them, I had more pressing concerns.

"Thanks, big guy," Jon grinned, attempting to reach Falcon's head for a noogie. As he did so, a sharp pain found its way into his side, a reminder of how weakened he was.

Jon? Falcon inquired, as his trainer doubled over, grinding his teeth.

Jon opened one eye. "I'm okay. Just a cramp, from running too far."

Rubbish, Falcon snorted. You are far too fit to get a cramp from that. You are in fairly bad shape, are you not?

"I've been better," he replied, wincing.

Yet you still fought Thane, and you tried to take on Vance as well. My boy, you do realize that you are completely lovesick?

Jon scowled at the mewtwo. "Yeah, whatever."

Well, it may interest you to know that this is the second time Fox has risked her life trying to help you. When I dragged her out of that building in Fuchsia City, she tried to go back for you. And now this.

"Yeah - don't you remember, she's trying to repay me for saving her?"

If that is what you want to think, Falcon shrugged.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Falcon shrugged again, cryptically.

"So anyway, Falcon," Jon quickly changed the subject, "what's the quickest way to get out of here?"

Falcon pointed to the ceiling. Exactly the same as the quickest way in.

"I think you've acquired a taste for destroying buildings," Jon smirked. "Wait - what about Thane?"

Since when do you care about Thane?

"I don't. It's just that I still owe him a good ass-kicking for what he did me - and Fox."

Later, Falcon replied firmly. First, you need to recover your strength.

"I guess," Jon reluctantly stepped toward Falcon and the mewtwo brought up his psychic barrier around himself and his trainer. "But I'll be back... soon..."

Do you have any suggestions on where we should go? Falcon asked as they shot upward through the building. With the police looking for us, a Pokémon Center or a hospital might not be such a good idea.

"Yeah... I've got an idea... and some friends in slightly higher places, if you recall..."

Right, Falcon nodded. Just give me directions...

"First, we gotta make a few stop-offs," Jon informed the mewtwo. "And I need you to do me a favor..."

Moments later, the pokémon and his trainer appeared in front of an all-you-can-eat-buffet. Jon nodded to the mewtwo as he swung through the doors.

Falcon nodded back, knowingly, before he started glowing again. See you then.

A substantial meal and several hours of sleep later, Jon was woken by odd-shaped hands gently shaking of his shoulders. Lethargically, he managed to rouse himself. "You're back, huh? Is it all set?"

It is all set...

"Good," Jon tightened one fingerless gloves. "Now to bust Fox out."

"I don't get it," Jon scratched his head as he completed his run to the end of the row of holding cells and back. "Fox should be here. You don't think she already got away, do you?"

Hmmm... The big mewtwo stroked his chin, thoughtfully, then thumped his forehead with the heel of his hand. Of course! I can't believe I did not think of it!

"Slowing up a little in your old age, eh Falcon?" Jon jibed, with a grin.

Quiet you, unless you do not want to know where Fox is!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So, where?"

The hospital, of course. She was fairly badly injured, remember? She has a tendency to get herself beaten up, that girl.

"Right - to the hospital, then."

It is not that simple, Jon. I have used up a great deal of my energy today. I think I only have enough left for one more teleport.

"You mean that if you teleported us to the hospital, you wouldn't be able to teleport us out again?"

I said I think I only have one left. I may have more. But I do not like the odds. And besides, I will need to reserve some in case we come up against resistance.

"Hmmph," Jon smiled smugly, kicking a small rock that skittered across the street. "I guess we'll just have to walk."

Fox was lying between white sheets, clothed in a white hospital gown, arm wrapped in white plaster and white bandages, staring at a white ceiling. That's the problem with these places, she thought to herself - they're too damn white. Give me another colour, any other colour, just something to break the monotony...

A week or two ago, she'd been thinking that about her life. Anything to break the monotony. And look what she had now - a great big mess. Hunted down and finally caught by Vance and the police. Banded together with a group of other trainers, only to be separated almost straight away. Keeping company with a freakishly powerful dratini, a mewtwo, even a mew...

And at the center of it all was five feet and seven inches worth of sandy-haired, roguishly-attractive teenage pokémon trainer known as Jon. Why the hell did everything she did, said, even thought about, manage to wind its way back to Jon? Dammit...

Her attention was literally demanded as the door to her room (in the security ward) was forced open. Really forced - in fact, it had actually been pulled from its hinges. With his mewtwo equivalent of a smile, Falcon calmly leaned the door against the wall beside the doorway as Jon rushed over to Fox.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Fox said, jerking from her lying position to one of sitting. As always, her first reaction to Jon's presence was one of anger.

"What's it look like?" Jon replied, casually seating himself beside her on the bed. "Busting you outta here!"

"I'm glad you came, but you know, I had it under control, I coulda done it m - "

She never finished that sentence. Jon had quite forcibly cut her off, by kissing her full on the mouth. Over his shoulder, she just managed to glimpse Falcon, looking decidedly satisfied.

When she finally got around to pulling away, he smirked at her. "You can slap me for that later, but now we gotta go." Indeed, and alarm had gone off when he and Falcon had broken in. Fox just sat there, staring at him dumbly. He shrugged, and picked her up, smiling at the deja-vu he was getting from their exploits on Cinnabar Island.

"Let's go," he nodded to Falcon. "You know where."

The trio glowed for a few seconds before fading out of existence, leaving the orderlies who had rushed in to exchange confused looks over an unhinged door and an empty bed.

Some moments later, Jon, Fox and Falcon re-materialized on the front steps of an inn. Glancing behind them, Fox noticed that the terrain was very different here - rocky, mountainous. They must be a good distance from Saffron City. And a good thing, too.

"Hey Yoshio," Jon waved to the clerk at the desk as they walked in. "You still have my room downstairs, or did you end up having to rent it out?"

"You know that room is always open for you Jon," Yoshio replied with a small nod, then added jokingly, "and with the way you leave it, no-one would want it anyway..."

Jon led Fox down the stairs, very careful not to hurt her arm. The door at the base of the stairs, when he opened it, revealed a living space that was the same as the average hotel room. There was a small one-person bed, opposite a TV set up on a haphazard table that didn't look entirely trustworthy. Another door presumably led to a bathroom, while there was sort an open arch to separate the small kitchen area, equipped with a microwave, cooktop, sink and bar-size fridge, from the main room. Beside the sink were a few dishes in the drainer, and in the corner a trashcan was barely holding onto a load of paper plates and plastic eating utensils. In various, offhand heaps here and there lay dirty clothes that resembled those Jon was currently wearing.

"Welcome to my place," he swung his arm in a grandiose arc, as if he were presenting a palace. "This is where me and Falcon stay when we aren't traveling. I met Yoshio when I was young - he took me in after I ran away from the orphanage - and even though I spent most of my time wandering, he always kept this room open for me. We can stay here while you recuperate - you can sleep on the bed; I'll make something up for myself on the floor."

"It's coming on night now, isn't it?" Fox asked. "I think I might crash straight away if that's okay..."

"Sure, make yourself at home," Jon nodded. She seated herself on the bed, retrieving a newspaper from the floor and beginning to leaf through it.

"Well, I'm gonna take a shower," Jon announced, shrugging off his jacket as he headed toward the room's ensuite. Fox, absorbed in the newspaper, didn't appear to notice as he walked off into the bathroom. Soon, Jon's worn-out and decidedly bad-smelling clothes, which needed a wash as badly as he did, were lying in a heap on the tiled floor. The young trainer sighed in relief as he turned on the water. It was way past the time when he should have had a shower, and under that, it felt great as well.

After enjoying about five minutes in the shower, Jon stepped out and dried off, wrapping a towel around his waist as he headed for the door.

"Aack!"

Glancing up at the sound, he saw Fox, just about to get into bed, wearing only the panties and small tank top that were her pajamas (and a stunning shade of red blush). At the same moment, he remembered he was wearing nothing more than a towel. Instantly he turned as red as his companion, and dived down behind the bed, at the same moment as she did on the other side. For a moment, they stared at each other, then Fox's shock became irritation.

"What are you waiting for?! Get up!"

"Why me?!" Jon exclaimed.

"Because I'm sure as hell not gonna!" Fox snapped.

"Why not?! You're more dressed than I am!"

"That's not my fault!"

"So just because you don't want to, I have to?!" Jon was incredulous.

"Exactly!"

"Hmmph. Well, I won't get up, and you wont get up, so we're stuck."

Standing in the corner, Falcon, usually the master of composition, was having trouble keeping himself from cracking up. The two teenagers were at a dead stalemate - neither was going anywhere, and both were getting steadily angrier. Their glares locked for what seemed like hours.

"That's it!" Finally, Fox stood up, snatched a pillow from the bed, and hurled it at Jon, smacking him fair in the face.

"Oh, so you want a fight, huh?" Jon grabbed the other pillow and swung it at her head. "You got it!"

Fox scrambled to recover the pillow she'd thrown earlier. "This is all your fault - you're such a jerk!"

"I gave you fair warning I was gonna shower!" He retorted, ducking a badly-aimed blow.

"Do you seriously think I've got nothing better to do than pay attention to you?!" She snapped, quickly swinging again and catching him in the gut.

Falcon grinned as he watched the fight develop into an all-out pillow war. It wasn't such a bad match-up - though Fox had only her left arm, Jon had to make sure his towel didn't fall off, and he had to be careful of her injuries. The fight might have gone on all night, and at the rate the pair were enjoying themselves, the mewtwo reckoned they wouldn't have minded that, either. But, finally, they collapsed, breathless from laughter.

"Well... at least... you're having... fun..." Jon panted, when he had finally gotten his breath back.

"No I wasn't!" Fox replied quickly - altogether too quickly.

"Yeah, sure - you were laughing 'cause it was just no fun, right?"

Fox didn't reply for a moment.

"I-I'm going to bed now," she said hastily, climbing into the one bed and pulling the covers over her head. Jon smirked, shaking his head. So did Falcon.

Rummaging through the pile of clothes, he managed to uncover some still-clean boxers and a pair of khaki pants, which he put on in the bathroom. Then, he pulled some thick blankets out of the closet, arranging them into a makeshift bed, about five feet to the side of the real one. As he settled down, his gaze found its way to Fox, whose head had now emerged from her covers. He looked at her, asleep, and noticed with appreciation how the blankets clung to her curves. He had to admit she looked good. Really good...

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and eventually nodded off to sleep.

He was aware of a tall man walking toward him, fully suited in medieval plate armor, but still displaying sandy-blonde hair that was slicked back, and a small moustache.

"Jon..." The man said. "I am here to tell about your ancestry, and eventually, to teach you to use your powers. But not yet."

"Who...who are you?"

"I am McVire, one of your ancestors. I will come back to you in a few nights and tell you more, but for now, goodbye..."

There was light shining from behind his form, gradually consuming him, fading him from sight...

It was the same light that gently roused Jon from his sleep. As his eyes opened, he identified it as the first rays of morning, finding their way in through the window. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Jon roused himself, and, somewhat stiffly, made his way into the room's small kitchenette. Lucky he'd woken up before Fox - he'd been planning to surprise her this morning. He was going to put the past few weeks behind them - now it was time for a little R&R.

Fox woke to the smell of cooking. Of what type, she wasn't exactly sure - neither of her parents had ever been the type to cook, particularly at breakfast time, so she mostly lived on takeout. This new, unfamiliar smell intrigued her, and eventually it got her up.

"Hey - what's cookin'?" She inquired, head poking through the kitchenette's doorway.

"Breakfast," Jon replied, not turning around immediately because he was absorbed in the proceedings.

"What is it?" She asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at the remnants of breakfast's ingredients.

"Why so suspicious?" He countered with a question of his own, still not turning away from his cooking. "You act like you've never had a cooked breakfast before."

"Well...actually..."

"You've never had a cooked breakfast before?!"

"The culinary arts aren't exactly the Lee family's specialty," Fox shrugged. "The closest I've come is re-heated pizza from the night before."

"Then go wait at the table," he advised. "You're in for a treat."

Oh, Jon?

"Not now, Falcon, I'm busy..."

Take a look at what she's wearing, kiddo...

That got him distracted. Turning away from his cooking for a moment, Jon stuck his head back out into the main room, where a small dining table sat by the window. As his eyes reached Fox, who was walking over to it, he immediately thanked Falcon in his head. She looked...so...well, he couldn't really pick the right word, but the picture before his eyes was beautiful. The morning sun had bathed the room, and Fox, in a pleasant golden light that accentuated the lines of her body. Not having changed into her usual gear yet, the girl had opted to instead borrow one of his shirts, a fairly long one that reached down to mid-thigh on her, and her short hair, having grown an inch or so since first they met, was pulled back into a messy half-bun. There was something about her, standing there like that, that cut right through him. For a moment, he had to remind himself to breathe. As he watched, she turned, her green eyes alive with a sparkle he'd never seen before. And, more unexpectedly, she offered him a smile.

You are staring, Falcon pointed out. Jon ignored him.

"Careful," she grinned. "You'll burn breakfast..."

Hurriedly, Jon pulled his head back into the kitchen and went back to work. A few moments later, he re-appeared, carrying a trio of plates from which steam was rising.

"Breakfast is served," he announced, setting one before her. "It's omelets."

He noticed she was staring at the plate, blinking rapidly, and looked at her with curiosity.

"Is something wrong?"

"No... it's just that no-one's ever... uh, never mind..."

"It was sorta s'posed to be breakfast in bed," he confessed, with just a hint of blush. "But you kinda woke up, so now it's just breakfast."

"Thankyou..." she smiled again, and he thought it was maybe the first time she had looked him fully in the eyes. He turned a shade redder.

Ahem, Falcon interrupted. Are we going to eat, children?

"Oh...yeah..." Jon mumbled, sitting down opposite Fox and suddenly becoming very absorbed in his meal.

"Well," Fox commented as she pulled on a boot, "I can honestly say that was the best breakfast I've ever tasted. You never mentioned you were such a good cook."

"You never asked," he shrugged.

"So, what now? I guess we go find the others and - "

"No-no-no. Nothing of the sort. They can handle themselves for a few days - and while they do, you and I are gonna take a well-earned break."

"Oh, are we?"

"Yep. Right now, we're gonna do whatever you want to do. So long as that's nothing stressful or life-endangering. We'll get back to that later."

"Hmm," she seemed amused. "You seem to be quite certain... so what would you recommend?"

I, for one, would recommend a hike, Falcon put in. The mountains are beautiful hereabouts, and I am sure your pokémon would love it as well.

"Crap! I can't believe it - I forgot all about them! We've got to get back to Fuchsia City, right n-"

"Easy!" Jon interrupted. "Calm down! Falcon found your pokémon before we brought you here. They're all safe and well."

She sighed, obviously relieved.

"So, whaddaya say?" Jon gestured to the door. "Feel like getting back to nature?"

"Well, why not?"

Thane heaved the large rock to one side, revealing a hole in the wall of the dank cave. Excitement building, he stepped through the hole, to find himself in a large, near-empty room. It held three exquisitely-detailed statues - each a different bird pokémon, and one Thane had never seen before - arranged in a large circle. They ringed in a marble dais, from the center of which rose a thick stone pedestal. A spot of light permitted by a small hole in the cave's ceiling revealed a glinting longsword driven halfway into the rock. As he approached, he could make out the ornate etchings of fire that graced the crossguard, and the carved skull that leered maliciously from its place atop the hilt. Breath nearly catching in his throat, Thane reached out to the sword.

"At last," he breathed.

His hands closed around the hilt, and a rush of information and images poured through his head. It was so fast it made his head ache as though it would explode, forcing him to grit his teeth as it passed. Then it was over, and he knew it all, every single way to use his powers. He began laughing maniacally as he pulled the sword out of the pedestal, and swung it in a wide arc, a red aura following the blade's path.

Thane smiled as he retrieved the old leather scabbard beside the pedestal. Now, they would all die...

After hearing Lyith say farewell to the trio, Kyosan found himself inside a small room, well furnished, still feeling a bit dazed and sick from the teleportation. He glanced around the room, realizing that it was a bedroom. The blinds were pulled down and closed, making it difficult to see. In the faint light creeping in around their edges, he could make out a bed in the corner. Somebody lay in it, but Kyosan couldn't pick any features on the silhouette.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Kyosan wondered aloud.

"Yusuo!" Tessa cried, running to the bed. She wrapped her arms around her brother, expecting a response. Yusuo made no reply, not even moving, but faintly breathing. His eyes were closed, his breaths drawn sharp and irregular, yet weak.

He can hear you, but he can barely acknowledge your presence, Kismet said telepathically, crossing his arms.

"... T... T... Tes-s-a..." Yusuo managed, slowly opening his eyes. He raised his head slowly and gently, looking at his sister. Tessa's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here any sooner," she said, voice shaky.

"Th-e p-pa-in..." Yusuo shut his eyes, placing his head back on his pillow. "I-insi-ide..."

That's enough, Kismet commanded telepathically. Let him rest. He's wasting too much energy in communicating with you. He pointed to the door. Leave now.

Tessa glanced at Kismet, then at Kyosan. Kyosan, head down, slowly made his way to the door, followed by Tessa. The Mewtwo shut the door behind the two, saying, I'll be with you shortly.

Kyosan leaned on the wall and sighed heavily. Tessa, trying to avoid conversation, looked around the hall - it wasn't that she was shy, but she didn't feel like talking after seeing her brother so near to death. Her eyes flickered across the wall, stopping to one picture, framed.

It was a picture of her brother and her, with Mew and Kismet to the side. She remembered when that picture was taken; months ago, when Yusuo still lived in the same house as Tessa did. It had been taken in front of their home, before Yusuo moved here.

We all looked so happy together... Tessa thought to herself. ... Not hurt... just happy to be with each other... and now my brother's slipping away from us... and there's nothing I can or could do about it... Her eyes started watering. She commanded herself not to cry. She bit her lower lip, shutting her eyes tightly. I won't cry... not here... not now... not in front of him... she said to herself, lowering her head.

She felt something warm on her shoulder. Turning and looking up through her blurred vision, she saw Kyosan. The expression on his face was unreadable, yet articulate... a mixture of kindness, sadness, and empathy.

"Go ahead," he said softly. "It's okay to cry... if it makes you feel any better, then cry until you can't cry anymore. Sadness is just an emotion, like anger and jealousy... it's no different to laughing; they're both responses to what you feel. To do both is to equalize the spirit emotionally, but if you bottle up the emotions you don't like, you'll keep them within you, and make them stronger every time you feel them again. Refusing to cry is choosing to carry that burden inside, but you can't hold it up forever. Nobody can. Sooner or later, it just gets too heavy..."

She stared at him for a moment, eyes watering. A tear rolled down her cheek, the pebble that bounces down the slope to herald the coming of the landslide. Then she buried her face in Kyosan's chest, sobbing brokenly. He placed his other hand on her shoulder, in a gesture of comfort.

After a few minutes, Kyosan asked, "feeling any better?"

Tessa looked up, eyes stained pink, and smiled sadly. "Yeah. Thanks..."

At that moment, Kismet opened the door, expressionless face the same as always. I think I found a way to beat this plague... but it'll require certain objects that will take much perseverance to obtain... There was a betrayal of some emotion as the mewtwo clenched one fist, tightly.

"Just tell us what to find," Tessa said. Kyosan nodded in agreement.

I was searching through my master's books and journals that he keeps about medicine practices from long ago. That's when I stumbled onto this. Kismet pulled out a yellowed piece of paper, one rough, uneven edge testament to the fact that it had been torn away from something. Tessa snatched it from the mewtwo's hands and quickly read through it.

"The symptoms this describes are identical to what Yusuo's going through," she noted. "But are you sure it'll work?"

It's worth a shot, Kismet replied. We have no other options, and no time to search other options.

"I say we go for it," Kyosan put in. "But what do we need for the medicine?"

Tessa skimmed to the bottom of the paper. "Here's a list of things we need to find; a leek of a duck; a wild, but lucky egg; and drowsy spores from a moth... but... what the hell do they mean?"

It's all in riddles, Kismet replied. I suggest that you two travel to Fuchsia City for the answers and items.

"Why just us?" Tessa asked. "Aren't you coming along?"

Kismet shook his head. I have to care for my master. I have to be there when he needs me.

"Makes sense to me," Kyosan reasoned.

I'll lead you two outside, Kismet said, floating down the hallway to the door. Follow me.

He ushered the pair outside, then walked out himself and closed the door behind him. It was already late into the afternoon, the sun beginning to sink between the many mountains on the horizon. Kyosan looked around, and saw a dirt path passing behind the cottage, one fork leading into a lush forest, the other leading to a valley between two small mountains.

A noise from above prompted him to look up, as a flock of spearow winged their way overhead. His eyes followed their path, showing him the sparkling waters of the ocean and the white, sandy beaches that stretched for eternity along the coastline.

Travel West through the valley to get to Fuchsia City, Kismet said, pointing to his left. If you leave now, it should take you no longer than three days.

"Okay!" Kyosan yelled, starting to run down the dirt road. "C'mon Tessa! Let's get going!"

"Wait!" Tessa reached for one of the pokéballs along her belt. She pulled it out and rolled it along the ground, watching it pop open with flashes of red energy and reveal her rapidash. She climbed onto its back, tapping with both hands along its neck.

"Let's move," She commanded. Rapidash started galloping toward Kyosan. The male trainer turned around and jumped when he saw the charging steed, but relaxed when he saw Tessa on it. The rapidash stopped next to Kyosan, on Tessa's command.

"Hop on," she said, scratching behind Rapidash's ears. Kyosan clambered on, and almost fell off again.

"It's been a while," he mumbled to himself, grasping Tessa around the midsection. "All right. I'm ready."

Tessa had started blushing the second she realized that Kyosan was holding on to her, but refused to let it distract her from the task at hand. "H-hang on, cause we're gonna make Fuchsia before tomorrow night! Giddi-yap, Rapidash!"

Kismet waved with one odd-shaped hand as the rapidash sped off. Farewell, and good luck...

After a few hours of riding through the valley, Kyosan and Tessa decided to make camp, since night was almost upon them. They stopped at a clearing near the dirt road, slipping off the weary rapidash. Kyosan started to gather firewood as Tessa cleared the area of stones.

Kyosan had soon started a small bonfire, with the help of Tessa's rapidash, of course. He settled down after feeding it some big logs, satisfied that would keep it going. Meanwhile, Tessa dug through her backpack and pulled out a bowl.

"I'll be back in a moment - I'm going to look for some fresh water," she said, quickly disappearing from the comforting circle of firelight.

Kyosan watched the flames dance across the logs, wondering how the others were faring. Andy, Julie. Daeg. Fox... the last time he'd seen her, she was being arrested. Kyosan smiled, sighing heavily. Jon and Falcon would bust her out, of course. He hoped they'd meet up again - he wanted to apologize to her for thinking she was a thief... Then he wondered how Lyith was doing. And, of course, his arcanine.

Tessa reappeared moments later, grinning.

"There's a stream not far from here." She pointed through some tall weeds. "I think it leads out to the ocean."

"The ocean, eh? Maybe there are fish in it... I'll go try my luck." Kyosan pulled a few hooks and some string from his backpack, then took off through the tall grass.

Tessa brought the bowl of water to her rapidash. The equine pokémon neighed nervously at the site of water.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to douse you," Tessa smiled. "It's for you to drink."

She carefully placed the bowl of water in front of the fire pokémon. The Rapidash looked curiously at her, then cautiously approached the water and began lapping it up.

Tessa pulled out the sheet of paper that she had taken from Kismet, seating herself on a log that Kyosan had moved into position beside the fire. "A leek of a duck..." she mused. "A leek of a duck... a leek of a duck... wait a minute... a leek of a duck... a duck is a bird... or a bird pokémon...I think I got it! Aaiiieeeek!"

That last bit, of course, had nothing whatsoever to do with leeks nor ducks. Lyith had suddenly appeared right beside her, prompting her to screech and fall backwards off the log.

"Hello," Lyith grinned politely, as Tessa glared furiously at her.

"How'd you get here?" Tessa asked.

"Well... after you and Kyosan left, - hey, speaking of Kyosan, where is he?" Lyith asked, looking around.

"He went off to catch some fish," Tessa replied. "He'll be back soon."

"Ah. Anyway, after you two left, your mew fell asleep again. I got bored, so I sent out Kyosan's arcanine to see how my flareon would react together. You wouldn't believe it - Flareon actually played with Arcanine! I'm not sure if his arcanine usually acts like that, but my flareon never does..." Lyith stopped, noticing that Tessa was looking mildly annoyed, then got on with explaining. "Anyway, after a while, your Mew woke up, and teleported me here. That's basically all I did today..."

"Kyosan and I are headed towards Fuchsia City, in hopes of finding these three objects," Tessa said, handing her the list of items to be found. Lyith glanced over it.

"Say... where's Mew?" Tessa asked.

Right here, Mew said, materializing right in front of Tessa.

"Mew," Tessa began, sounding a bit frustrated.

Yes?

"Why didn't you teleport here in the first place!?"

The mew floated beside Tessa. Because I was tired. Besides, no harm done, right?

Enraged, Tessa began chasing Mew around the campsite. Mew avoided the fuming girl effortlessly, as Lyith burst into laughter, unable to stop herself.

"Oh yeah - Tessa, give this to Kyosan when he comes by, okay?" Lyith pulled out the pokéball that contained Kyosan's Arcanine from her backpack, tossed it to Tessa, then stretched both of her arms.

"Why - are you going somewhere?" Tessa asked, holding the pokéball in both hands.

"Nah..." Lyith shrugged. "I'm just lazy, I guess."

Tessa thought about the pokéball, wondering if she should return it straight away, or wait until he returned.

Ooh - whatcha thinking about, Tes? Mew asked, telepathically. Kyosan again?

"Shut up, Mew," Tessa shouted, slightly blushing.

So I'm right...well then, should I ask Kyosan to see what he thinks about this ordeal? Mew, apparently, was greatly amused at this weakness Tessa had revealed.

"No!" Tessa yelled. "Don't you dare! I won't allow it!"

"Won't allow what?" Lyith asked.

Maybe I should ask Lyith how she feels first, the little pokémon smirked telepathically, floating over to Lyith.

"No!" Tessa screamed, chasing Mew away. "Don't tell anyone!"

"What?" Poor Lyith was getting highly confused. "Don't tell who?"

You're right...I shouldn't tell Lyith. I should ask Kyosan first. Mew levitated above the weeds and headed to the stream, giggling.

"Noo!" Tessa shouted, chasing after the pink pokémon. "Come back here!"

Lyith started to laugh again. Suddenly, something warm and furry nudged her side forcefully. She turned to see Tessa's rapidash nuzzling into her.

"Oh - hello there," She smiled, petting it on the forehead. "You act almost like mine..."

Lyith...

"Well...it's been a while, hasn't it, Em?" With no-one else present, she was free to speak her thoughts, which felt much more natural.

Yes, it has - and I apologize for that. But listen well, because this is important.

"Okay."

Remember when you saw that young man you saw in the warehouse and recognized him from somewhere, although you have never seen him before?

"Yeah, I remember him. His name's Jon, I think...I'll need to ask Kyosan about it later..."

Concerning Jon...this may startle you, and you may not believe it, but I need to tell you...

"Go ahead."

Jon's...

"Yes? Jon's what?"

He's...your brother.

No response.

He's your long lost brother.

Still nothing.

You handling all of this, Lyith?

"Yeah...but...for some reason, I already know that...I mean, when I heard that, it was all new to me, but I wasn't surprised at all..."

Feeling okay?

"Yeah...just fine...thanks for telling me, Em..."

No problem.

Lyith started crying. Not out of sadness, but the fact that sheer joy had overwhelmed her. She was one step closer to finding what she had always searched for. And now, at last, she had family...

Mew floated along the bank of the stream, looking for Kyosan. She spotted the young trainer easily - he sat on the opposite side of the stream, fishing with the string attached to a stick. He was standing on a log which was partially submerged in the water, with his back was turned to the Mew, so he didn't see the pink aura surrounding her.

Tessa appeared a moment later, in hot pursuit of the little pokémon. Spotting Mew floating behind Kyosan, she began wading across the stream.

Mew tapped Kyosan on the shoulder with her tail, causing him to turn - and jump at the site of Mew, only a few inches away from his face, nearly losing balance.

"Mew mew mew mew mew mew?" Mew asked, vocally.

"Uh... could you say it again, but telepathically?" Kyosan asked.

Gladly. Ahem. Do you know that Te- Mew was interrupted by Tessa, bright red, charging and shouting.

"I'll get you, Mew!" She yelled. "Don't you dare say anything!"

She leaped into the air, arms outstretched, ready to tackle-catch the mischievous mew. Mew simply smirked and floated upward at the last second - causing Tessa to dive-bomb Kyosan, knocking him from his log and sending them both flying into the water. There was an almighty splash as the two entangled trainers hit the water, both with eyes shut tightly, Tessa on top of Kyosan.

The mew that was floating above burst into vocal laughter, twisting and turning in the air in fits of hysteria. Tessa slowly opened her eyes, and found herself staring directly at Kyosan's face. She immediately turned an even brighter shade of red.

Kyosan blinked a few times. "Could you please get off me so I can get up, Tes?"

Tessa rolled off Kyosan, face burning so intensely she thought that Kyosan could see it in the dark. She quickly submerged it in the stream.

Kyosan stood up, completely sodden, as Tessa, feeling a little of the blush fade, slowly pulled her head above the water again. He offered her a hand, which she accepted and was soon on her feet.

"Listen, Kyosan... sorry about that... I-I didn't mean to knock you into the stream..."

Kyosan made no reply, but pulled off his jacket and wrung it out. Tessa clenched her eyes shut, half-expecting him to burst into a rage.

"Sorry for what?" He shrugged, not even a hint of harshness in his voice. "Mew over there wanted to tell me something, perhaps a secret that you don't want me to find out. How's it your fault? I mean, you might not want me to know, and I respect that."

Tessa exhaled heavily, extremely grateful that Kyosan wasn't mad at her. She dropped her hands to her waist - then came upon something she'd been meaning to give to him. She pulled off the pokéball that Lyith had given her earlier. "Uh... um, Kyosan?"

"Yes?"

"This is your Arcanine, from me - ur, I mean Lyith." She tossed it to Kyosan, who caught it with his left hand and examined it, then attached it to his belt. Then, he went back to the log he'd been standing on, and retrieved his lines.

"C'mon," Kyosan commented, displaying a line of fish tied to a string. "I caught plenty - you just toss the rod in with some bait on it, then pull out a fish."

Tessa started to follow, when Kyosan suddenly turned around to look at her. "Curious... how'd Lyith and your mew get here?"

Tessa sighed and explained how Lyith had arrived as, wet, side-by-side and shivering, they headed back to the campsite. Mew floated behind them, grinning the whole time.

Lyith tossed another log into the fire, as Kyosan and Tessa, sharing a wool blanket, huddled in close. Lyith sat back down next to Kyosan, sighing heavily. Discarded fish bones sat under the burning logs, and the aroma of seafood still wafted through the air.

"Still can't believe that you two fell into the river," Lyith chuckled.

The pair glared at Lyith, who had already said as much several times already.

"H-hey," Kyosan shivered, "I g-got an id-dea..." He reached for his Arcanine, summoning it forth. "Arc-can-nine... s-sit..."

"Good idea," Lyith observed. "C'mon out, Flareon." The flareon popped out of the pokéball, then lay down by them at her command. It yawned, then placed its head on Lyith's lap. Tessa's rapidash, relaxing on the opposite side of the area, got up and trotted behind Kyosan and Tessa, then lay back down.

"Ah... nice 'n' toasty..." Tessa mumbled, turning red in the cheeks. She wasn't sure if it was that she was sitting next to Kyosan, or all the warmth around her, but she really didn't care. She was comfortable. She rested her head against Arcanine, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

"Heh - Tessa's already asleep," Kyosan smiled, turning his head towards her, then back to the campfire.

"So..." Lyith began, turning to Kyosan. "Can I ask you a question?"

Kyosan looked up from the fire and at Lyith. "Uh... sure. Ask away."

"Let's see... you know Jon pretty well, right?"

"Eh?" Kyosan was surprised by the question. "Well... I guess so... why?"

"How does he act around people?"

"Uh... to people he knows, I guess he acts... well... normal."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"It's just hard to describe Jon's personality. I mean, he's just Jon."

She stared blankly at him.

"I'm sorry. I don't really talk about people much. I wouldn't know how to explain stuff like that."

Lyith started giggling. "That's okay," she said, patting his back.

Kyosan started to yawn, immediately covering his mouth with his hand. "Time for me to get some sleep," he mumbled. He leaned back, found Tessa's rapidash behind him, and placed his head its back, closing his eyes. Rapidash looked up at Kyosan, then seemed to shrug as it lay back down.

It's just hard to describe Jon's personality. Kyosan's voice echoed through Lyith's head. I mean, he's just Jon.

Lyith smiled as she decided it was time for her to get some sleep, too. Using her arms as a pillow, she settled down beside her companions.

"G'night..." Kyosan said quietly.

"Sweet dreams," Lyith replied, closing her eyes and falling asleep.

The fire sputtered and gradually burned out. But the three trainers, with the help of their fire pokémon, remained warm through the night.

Daeg wondered if he had done the right thing. Slipping out of the building and using his ninja skills to go unnoticed was second nature to him, but it still felt like he was abandoning them. Even when he'd found the note mysteriously hidden in one of his pockets telling him to go to the clearing for a meeting, and had no choice but to return to his former teacher, it still felt like he was being dishonorable, walking out on them like that...

The meeting apparently done with, Daeg was about to leave the clearing when he saw a white figure in the woods. At once curious and suspicious, Daeg began to follow, assessing as he went. The white-clad figure appeared to be a girl, wearing the garb of a ninja, that was nonetheless not too much like his own. And it was completely white...

She lifted her head, like an animal that was suddenly aware somebody was watching it. Daeg quickly concealed himself behind a tree, not making a sound, and watched carefully as the white ninja did the same several feet ahead.

After waiting a few moments, Daeg crept forward again, but found that she was gone. And he felt odd...different in some way he couldn't describe...

Suddenly, his sword was glowing, with a pale, white aura. It was resonating, too - moving ever-so-slightly, and filling his mind with a single, clear, quite note. And on the ground at his feet, an odd, white stone was doing exactly the same thing.

"Odd..." Daeg mused, picking up the rock and slipping it into one of his pockets for later examination. Then, he made his way back to the gym...

He was greeted there by one of his fellow ninjas, who handed him an scroll. "You have a new assignment, that will allow you to regain your honor."

That was all that was said before Daeg was quickly ushered back out of the gym. One eyebrow raised, the young ninja opened the seal on the scroll and unrolled it, recognizing the script...

Daeg-

In order for you to regain your honor, we have given you a student. Not long ago, a young girl dressed in white ninja garb entered our gym undetected. She seemed to want to be a ninja, but never said a word. Soon after, she disappeared as mysteriously as she came. We want you to train this white ninja, and bring honor to the gym just as you shall regain your own.

Regaining his honor...Daeg quickly decided that the others could manage for a while without him...

The digital clock beside Daeg's motel bed declared that it was 11:53 PM when Daeg suddenly woke up. And there, standing next to him, was a young girl dressed completely in white, just visible in the darkness.

"You surprised me," Daeg said warily, eyeing her with some suspicion. "I don't like surprises. But I am to train you..."

The girl looked expectantly at him.

"Do you have a name?" Daeg prompted.

She seemed to take a moment to think. "Ni."

Daeg smiled. "Well, Ni, I need some sleep. Be here tomorrow night and I'll begin teaching you the way of the ninja, but right now, I'm tired."

Ni smiled briefly, and in a whisper, said, "ditto."

It was a perfect morning. The sky was the clearest blue Tessa had seen in a long time, completely devoid of cloud or gloom, and just a hint of breeze disturbed the pleasantly warm air. Before her lay the Safari Zone, a majestic wilderness where pokémon of all kinds thrived. Tall grasslands rolled out between groves of massive trees, crystal streams invited the sun's light to play upon their surfaces, birdsongs hung in the air and echoed out toward the mountains in the distance.

It's beautiful, she thought, with a small smile.

"You're Yusuo's sister," a female voice said from one of the trees, and Tessa turned her head.

"I am," she replied.

She doesn't feel right, Mew warned. Tessa nodded.

"I'm Leiko."

"Look, whatever you want, it can wait. I have something important to do."

The young woman laughed, a note of evil tingeing her voice. "Good. That means I've found you."

"What do you want?!" Tessa demanded, eyes narrowing.

"To make your brother suffer more," Leiko grinned, and unsheathed a large dagger. "You see, even if he does survive this sickness, with you gone, he'll be in bad enough shape for me to get a hold of his mewtwo."

"I knew I didn't like you..." Tessa snarled. "Go, Dratini! Thunder wave!"

"Do you really want to do that?" Leiko inquired.

"Why wouldn't I?" Tessa's reply was cold-hearted.

"Because I could tell you why your parents divorced. That hurt didn't it? And afterwards, your mother never treated you with respect. That's why you left, isn't it?"

Tessa's eyes flew open, as the memories flooded back. That's right. I left because home was so horrible...

"That's right. That's why you don't want to hurt me."

"Dratini, return!" Tessa called the pokémon back.

"It hurt. Remember how you left - no one there for you."

"How do you know all of this?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I have my sources. It is true, isn't it? That's why you left."

The repetitiveness of this finally made it reach Tessa. Her eyes filled with tears, and she collapsed to her knees. This strange woman was right. Kyosan noticed Tessa's distress, and tried to reassure her.

"No, Kyosan, she's right. They never loved me. They hated me. No one ever loved me!" She choked on her words, and ran off.

"Do you ever appreciate anything I do? You're the most damned ungrateful child, you know that?"

I looked over at my mother. I cared, and I showed I cared. Who wasn't appreciating whom? Still, I was crying. I couldn't keep myself above the level of no control.

"Do you even care about me, or my future?" I demanded.

My mother made an angry face. "Care what you're thinking? Do you ever think of anyone but yourself?"

I didn't bother arguing, but I knew that I had done tons to please her. She finally erupted at me and told me to get away from her, to get out of her face before she hit me with the shoe she'd been taking to put away.

"I'm leaving this place!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "I'm going to find someone who cares about me!"

I heard one more comment ever from her. 'Good luck finding anyone who does', she had replied. Life was always like that. So I did leave...

"Mew...why didn't you remind me? You let me live all that time in denial?" Tessa sat up in a tree, Mew on a branch beside hers.

I didn't want to hurt you. I knew it was painful, and I thought it was wonderful once you forgot.

"I've been waiting all this time... been waiting to return... now I find out that I left because I wanted to be away from home?"

Mew sighed. I joined up with you so I could comfort you... you seemed to be having problems, and you told me all about them the time we met. But you never knew that you could understand me, or vice-versa, back then...

Tessa closed her eyes, remembering the time they met.

"No one cares about me, little one..." I told the small pink pokémon, and hugged it. "No one. And I'm on my own training. No experience, no pokédex. I have nothing to start with."

The pink pokémon looked at me. "Mew?"

I just petted it on the head. "Mew, is that your name, huh?"

Back then I'd been the most pokémon illiterate person you could think of. I didn't know that Mew was so rare and so special. The mew hopped up on my shoulder.

"Mew-mew-mew!" It said, and poofed into a pokédex.

"Does that mean you want to help me?" I asked.

The pokémon nodded. I hugged the mew once again and thanked it.

"I remember. I left home because it was horrible there." Tessa remembered. She closed her eyes, and let a tear fall, as it hit the branch.

Forget about your past, Mew told Tessa.

Tessa sighed again, and shook her head. "No, No...I'll never forget."

Why did you go off on your own though? I'm sure Kyosan might like to understand your past. Lyith, too.

Tessa cocked a brow. "Is there any particular reason you mentioned Kyosan's name first?!"

Mew just laughed. By then, Kyosan and Lyith finally found her, although she was oblivious to the fact that they were there, and neither wanted to interrupt her conversation with Mew.

After adding that comment, Tessa started thinking about how stupid she felt that one day.

"Kyosan? You know, he probably hates me now. Who knows if he ever liked me in the first place, which he probably didn't. I mean, I'm thirteen. In other words, I'm a kid compared to him."

Two years difference, girl... Mew reminded. It would take at least five to consider yourself a 'kid' to him. Even then...

Tessa glared. "Okay, so maybe I'm not that young compared to him, but... still. With all the blushing and stuff he probably thought I was strange. I doubt he liked me from the start - maybe I should just forget about that though..."

Don't give up your dreams.

Tessa cocked another brow. "How does that incorporate into my dreams, huh?"

Ugh - if you like him that much just tell him yourself, Mew said. If you like him that much tell him, and then see what he says. Who knows - maybe he likes you too?

Tessa looked hopefully at Mew.

No, I never asked him if he liked you, so you won't get an answer out of me.

Just then, Tessa looked down and noticed Lyith and Kyosan standing below.

Uhhhhhh... she thought. Mew laughed.

"Did you know they were down there you... you..."

Mew giggled, but never answered. Of course I did, she thought to herself.

No time like the present! Mew laughed to Tessa, then floated down from the tree. Tessa jumped down after, and nervously walked up to Kyosan. Thankfully, the colors of her face were kept to minimum, and were barely noticeable.

Voice wavering slightly, she said, "Ky-Kyosan?"

"Yeah?"

"When we get everything we need for Yusuo, would you... would you consider going on a date?"

Mew instantly collapsed, complete with a sweat drop and twitching limbs. That's not *twitch* what I meant *twitch* ...

Oh well, too late now! Tessa thought back in return, and anticipated an answer.

"Well... I... ur... I mean... eh..."

Lyith slapped Kyosan's head. "Spit it out already!"

"I - " Kyosan was interrupted by a series of tones and beeps coming from his jacket.

"What the hell is that?" Lyith shouted, startled. Kyosan reached for a pocket inside his jacket, revealing a cell phone.

"Where'd you get that," Tessa asked.

"Parents. I also got a pager from them - it's somewhere in by backpack." Kyosan placed the receiver to his ear, answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kyosan!"

"...Jon?"

"Hey-hey!"

"Hey, Jon - but how'd you get this number?"

Kyosan was sure Jon was smirking on the other line. "I have my sources... just wanted to tell ya I'm safe and all that stuff - and Fox's here, too."

"Nice to know that you two are safe - "

"Us three, Kyosan. Falcon, remember?"

"That's right. Sorry 'bout that, Falcon - if you can hear me."

"Yeah - hey, where are you right now?"

"Me? I'm in the Safari Zone. What about you?"

"At my place. Kinda near the Rock Tunnel, I guess. The Safari Zone's a cool place - just don't get lost in there!"

"Don't worry about us. We - "

"We? Who else is with you?"

"Tessa and Lyith."

"Who? Were they those two girls that showed up with you and Andy?"

"Yeah. That's - " Kyosan was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder from Lyith.

"May I speak with him?" Lyith asked.

"Uh... sure..." Kyosan handed her the phone.

"Hello."

"Who's this?"

"You're Jon, right?"

"Yeah. I'm Jon. And you are ...?"

"Lyith."

"Hi, Lyith. How'd you meet Kyosan?"

"Long story short - fate and destiny, I guess."

"So you believe in fate, too?"

"Sorta. I'm into that destiny crap as much."

"Me neither. I believe that you control your own destiny."

"Me too - it's almost like we're brother and sister," Lyith exclaimed, knowing full well how strange that must sound. But she was hoping that Jon already knew...

"Siblings?" Jon seemed slightly taken aback. "I'm not sure about that. But you know, I actually feel comfortable talking to you, even though I've only seen you for five minutes at the most."

"Same here. Destiny kicking in again, perhaps?"

"Aw, cut that destiny shit out. It's more like luck."

"Luck? That's bullshit..."

Jon started chuckling. "You don't cut back on curses, huh?"

"Same to you."

"I guess so."

Jon and Lyith continued this conversation, learning more about each other, and the surprising similarities they shared - until the batteries went dead. Then Lyith slapped the back of Kyosan's head - again.

Among all the talking between Jon and Lyith, nobody noticed that Tessa had slipped away from her companions - again. She got out of site, then broke into a trot-jog. She continued moving well into the afternoon with her mew trailing behind her. She rested at the foot of a tree, sitting down, wrapping her arms around her legs, sighing.

What's wrong? Mew asked. Why did you leave your friends?

"Can't you tell?" Tessa sounded highly depressed. She buried her face in her arms.

Tell what? Mew questioned, bobbing up and down in the air.

"Kyosan doesn't like me. Maybe I should leave him alone and find these items by myself..."

How do you know that Kyosan doesn't like you? Mew returned. He was cut off by his phone. I know that he's not that rude and pigheaded.

"Don't call him pigheaded," Tessa replied sharply.

So you still care for him, huh? I'm sure he cares for you, too.

Tessa looked up and at the Mew. "Eh? And how do you know that? Have you been reading his thoughts?"

No-no - of course not. It's just that Kyosan, unlike many other people, trusts and cares for his friends deeply - I don't know why, but there's probably a good reason to it, and I know he fully trusts and respects you.

"Really?"

The Mew nodded. Tessa started smiling, then hugged the Mew. "Thanks," she whispered.

Anytime, child, the Mew responded. But I suggest we find Kyosan - he might be looking for us.

"Right," Tessa said, standing up, brushing off dirt from her shirt. "Let's head back." She started to run in the direction they had come from.

"Where are you, Tes!?"

"Tessa? C'mon out, wherever you are!"

"Grr - we've been looking for Tessa almost all day!" Lyith shouted angrily, glaring at Kyosan. "It's all your fault that Tessa ran off."

"My fault? How is it my fault?"

"Well, first, when she asked you if you would go on a date, you started talking like a sputtering motor! And when Jon called you on the cell phone, you completely forgot about her! And - "

"All right, all right," Kyosan cut off Lyith in a quiet voice. "I get the point. Let's stop arguing and find her."

"You're finally beginning to make sense, Kyosan," Lyith commented.

Tessa was running to where the yelling was coming from. No doubt that was Lyith and Kyosan, snapping each other's heads off, Tessa thought to herself. Totally oblivious to her surroundings, she crashed headlong into a large bush. As she fought to disentangle herself from the branches, she suddenly found herself surrounded by a pack of wild pinsir, who had apparently just been roused from an afternoon nap. Kyosan and Lyith both heard the screams.

"That way!" Kyosan shouted, running ahead. He immediately reached for his arcanine, not knowing what to expect. He ploughed ahead through the tall weeds until he came to a clearing, in which he found Tessa, surrounded by a pack of pinsir.

Tessa looked at Kyosan then shrieked, "Kyosan, help me - I hate bug pokémon!"

Kyosan's arcanine was already out and chasing off the pinsir with his fire attacks. Kyosan ran to Tessa, cradling her, shaking her slightly out of her shock.

"You okay? Did the pinsir hurt you? Cause if they did, I'll squash each and every one of the little bastards..."

Tessa started blushing, nodding and saying, "I'm fine, I'm fine."

Lyith ran out of the tall weeds, with her flareon at her side. "What happened? Is Tes alright?"

"She's fine - or so she says," Kyosan replied.

"Hey Kyosan," Tessa started.

"Yeah? What's the problem?"

"Listen - I'm really sorry for running off like that. That was an act of sincere immaturity."

"And I'm sorry for not paying any attention to you or the question you asked me earlier."

"You mean about the date?"

Kyosan nodded. "It's fine with me."

Tessa smiled. "It's a date, then!"

Told ya so, Mew grinned telepathically to Tessa, who was being helped to her feet by Kyosan. Tessa smiled and hugged Kyosan. She started to shout out triumphantly that they had a job to do, and Yusuo needed their help, but her voice was broken by the sound of a snapping twig.

"I thought you got rid of all the pinsir, Kyosan..."

Before he could say anything in reply, a large bug pokémon climbed out of the tall weeds. It raised one of its bladed arms. "Scy-y-y-ther..."

Everyone expected Tessa to scream or something, but she looked at it with dazzled eyes.

"Tessa...I - uh - thought you hated bug pokémon..."

Tessa turned back. "Hmm? Oh, normally, but scyther have that awesome look to them. They have that powerful look." Tessa thought long and hard. "Hmmm, You're bug, but you're also flying, and that little pikachu of mine needs training. Go, Pikachu!"

Tessa tossed out her pokémon. Pikachu leaped from the ball, and glared at the Scyther. It slashed at the small electric mouse with one arm, but Pikachu evaded.

"Thunderrrrrrrr," Tessa called. Sparks shot out from the pikachu's cheeks, and he leaped in the air. Moments later, pure electric energy darted out towards the scyther, burning it to a crisp. The scyther wasn't ready to give up though.

"Pikachu, agility!"

Pikachu's ability to evade grew monstrously, although Scyther as well performed this attack. There was no control over the fighting of these two pokémon. Pikachu grew angrier, although also more tired. It stopped for a moment, and Tessa worried.

"Hurry up and fight!" she yelled, knowing that the scyther could rip through the tiny mouse's body quicker than he could blink. The pikachu looked angrily upon the scyther, and ran towards Tessa. It leapt onto the bag she usually kept slung over her shoulder, knocking it over.

"Hey, get out of there!" Tessa yelled. "This is no time to hide!"

The pikachu returned from the bag with a small, amber-like stone. It picked it up, and immediately began glowing. Moments later, the pokémon stood taller, the look of power and confidence clear on its face. The scyther leapt into the air, preparing for an attack on the newly-evolved raichu.

"Raiii-chu!" It yelled, shooting its thunderbolt attack at the Scyther. It fell, and Tessa swelled with pride, although a part of her felt a little sorrowful. She continued to capture the pokémon, and as happy as she was to own a scyther, there was an emptiness from the fact that her pikachu had evolved. She didn't know if she'd like Raichu as much.

It looked at her with re-assuring eyes, and she called it back. Tessa, now proud, put her fingers to her mouth and whistled. Rapidash, who had been out grazing, came immediately.

"Let's go!" She cried. "Yusuo needs our help!"

Rapidash whinnied.

What was that, Rapidash? Tessa formed a mental link with her pokémon.

I'm tired, it whined.

"Fine, fine, just fine!" Tessa said and called her pokémon back. She started to mumble something about her Rapidash when she spun around and snapped her fingers. "That's right, I've got an arcanine!" She beamed proudly, and called the pokémon out. He was trusty, but at the moment, he wanted to play. He barked at them, and Tessa smiled. The arcanine was not satisfied with merely a smile, and bent down in a play-bow. Tessa looked at it sternly, and it rose back to its feet. "Lie down." Tessa commanded. When he did so, she climbed up his back and seated herself between his shoulders. "You both have pokémon to ride, or would you like to hitch a ride on Arcanine?" The arcanine rose to its feet to await an answer.

"I have my own ride," Lyith responded to Tessa's question, pulling out her pokéball that contained her rapidash. She rolled it across the ground and it opened up with a flash of red energy. Her rapidash appeared, abruptly neighing.

"Same here - " Kyosan was cut off by a loud crashing behind large bushes. Tessa's arcanine immediately turned towards the bushes, growling. Lyith's rapidash neighed and reared up on its hind legs, throwing the girl off.

"Wh-what is that?" Lyith questioned, shakily, standing back up.

The thing that was causing so much commotion charged out of the bushes. It was a pokémon, one that resembled a nidoking or queen; it was nearly the same size, but had more horns protruding from its body, in orderly, arranged patterns - specifically at the top of its head, where they pointed upward in a shape that resembled a crown.

"A nidoking?" Tessa asked, confused.

"No," Lyith shook her head. "And it's not a nidoqueen, either..."

"Well, whatever it is, it's a Nido-something," Kyosan put in.

"Mew - transform into a pokédex," Tessa called, jumping off her arcanine. The Mew nodded and sprang into the air, spinning into a pink blur. The familiar shape of a pokédex appeared, falling into Tessa's outstretched hand. Tessa flipped the pokédex open, pointing it towards the new pokémon.

"No information about this pokémon," chirped the pokédex. "Identity unknown."

The pokémon looked around, curious, then saw the trio of trainers. It glared at them, raising its claws, then brought its head back, letting out a furious roar.

"Ni-do-god," the pokémon bellowed, then turned its attention back to the trainers, opening its jaws to reveal long, jagged teeth with saliva dripping from the points.

"Nidogod..." Kyosan breathed, reaching for his arcanine, still in his pokéball. He touched the pokéball, then immediately recoiled. My pokémon doesn't have a chance against an ultimate PokéGod, Kyosan thought to himself. But I have to get it - that's my quest... or was it? I don't remember... I don't want to... so much has happened since my parents passed away... Deep in thought, Kyosan didn't even notice that the nidogod was charging toward him with incredible speed.

"Kyosan!"

"Wha - " Kyosan lost his breath as the nidogod rammed into his chest, sending him sprawling backwards in the air. He landed back on the ground several meters away, struggling to breathe. His chest felt like it was on fire. He was coughing up blood.

"Flareon! Attack!" Lyith shouted.

"Arcanine, flamethrower!" Tessa yelled. Then she ran to Kyosan, able to think only of his safety. She brought his head up, on the brink of tears. He stood slowly with her help, breathing heavily, holding his left arm to his chest. Tessa's mew bobbed slowly beside him, concerned.

"Cheap... shot..." Kyosan managed to say as he saw the Nidogod repel the fire attacks from Lyith's flareon and Tessa's arcanine. "You may be... a PokéGod..."

"A what?" Lyith blinked at him.

"You may be... utterly powerful... but you are still... a pokémon... and I - we - are... gonna catch you..." Kyosan vowed, gritting his teeth. Now's the time to see if my mother was really an expert on maintaining exceptional health and strength in a pokémon, Kyosan thought to himself.

"Vaporeon, c'mon out..." Kyosan rolled a pokéball onto the ground, having little strength with which to throw it. "Lyith... keep diverting that nidogod away from us..."

"Easy for you to say," Lyith muttered, but then decided not to argue. "Okay Flareon - use your leer attack!" The flareon obeyed, and started sneering at the nidogod. The nidogod stared blankly at the flareon.

"Now, use your flamethrower!" Lyith shouted. The flareon blasted fire at the nidogod, catching it somewhat off guard, damaging it to some small extent.

"Tes, bring out... Raichu," Kyosan ordered, gathering his strength, forcing his breathing into regularity. "No questions asked, just get to it."

Tessa nodded, summoning her raichu, but wondering why he wanted her to bring out her electric mouse.

He knows what he's doing, Mew started. I can tell.

Are you sure he knows? Tessa asked mentally. The Mew looked at her and nodded.

"I saw an attack once before, similar to the one we're going to do now, and I'm hoping that the nidogod can't block such an attack."

"'Kay - but what's this attack?" Lyith asked.

"Just pay attention..." Kyosan pleaded. "And please do what I say..."

Then, he turned toward the nidogod, and began to shout at and taunt it, drawing its attention from the flareon. "All right Vaporeon - use your ice beam attack, and aim at the nidogod's chest!"

The vaporeon looked at Kyosan, almost with a smirk on its face.

"Please, Vaporeon... now's not the time to question why I'm your trainer..." Kyosan whined to his pokémon. The vaporeon seemed to shrug and fired off its attack, encasing the Nidogod in a layer of ice. "Yes! Now, Lyith's flareon, do a fire spin! Then Tessa's raichu, attack with a thunderbolt! Quickly, before the ice breaks!"

The raichu and the flareon attacked simultaneously, both hitting the nidogod. The pokémon staggered through the tornado of flames and electricity, unable to withstand the attacks after the sudden temperature changes in its body.

"We got it!" Tessa yelled happily.

"But it ain't down yet!" Lyith replied grimly, watching the Nidogod lumber toward them.

"No... but it's weak enough for an ultraball!" Kyosan said, pulling out the highly decorated ultraball.

"Where'd you find that?" Tessa cried, amazed.

"I got it from Cinnabar Island when I was a kid... with my... father..." Kyosan trailed off, looking at the ball. He shook away the thoughts looming on the edge of his mind and focused on the nidogod.

"Let's hope this works!" Kyosan shouted, throwing the ultraball at the nidogod. The well-aimed shot hit its target, sucking the nidogod in. The ball fell to the ground, violently shaking. Kyosan could actually hear the nidogod trying to escape through the ultraball, so loud were its furious protests.

Finally, the ultraball stopped shaking, and emitted the comforting 'ping' that signaled that the pokémon had given up struggling. A moment of silence passed through, until Kyosan sighed deeply, gripping his chest.

Then, suddenly, the ultraball started shaking wildly again, but this time, a blue aura surrounded it. A flash of bright light followed, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When everything came back into focus, the ultraball, to their amazement, had been replaced by a normal pokéball. Kyosan picked up the ball, wondering what happened. He threw it against the ground, and out of the red energy materialized... a nidoqueen.

"Whu... what happened?" Lyith asked, dumbfounded.

"I don't know," Kyosan said, looking at the nidoqueen. "Nidoqueen, return."

As the pokéball opened up and sucked the nidoqueen back in, he closed his eyes, slumping down onto the ground. Vaporeon walked up to him, gently nudging his shoulder. He opened his eyes.

"What made you choose a vaporeon over a flareon or a jolteon?" Lyith asked.

Kyosan looked up at her, one hand on Vaporeon's head. "I didn't evolve it. My mother did."

"What?" Tessa questioned. "Then why do you have it?"

It's getting well into the afternoon, Mew interrupted. How about we camp here for the night?

"It's a long story," Kyosan said quietly, walking away in search for some firewood.

The sun was past the horizon, staining the sky in pink and red. The trio of trainers, and of course, Mew, sat around a small-but-adequate fire, Kyosan jabbing irritably at the embers with a long stick.

"Here - drink this," Tessa said to him, handing him a cup with a foul-smelling liquid in it.

"What is it?" Kyosan gave up harassing the fire to glance suspiciously at the cup.

"It's a natural remedy Mew helped me make from the plants in this area. It'll ease the pain."

Kyosan sniffed the brew, and gagged at the smell. He held the cup away with one hand, plugging his nose with the other. "It smells horrible."

"Quit whining and drink it," Lyith scolded.

Kyosan grimaced and sculled it all. "Ya, sure it's supposed to relieve the pain.." He groaned, wrapping his arms around his chest.

"You're the fussy type, huh?" Lyith questioned. "You still need to tell us about you having your mom's pokémon."

"I guess it's time you know my past..." Kyosan admitted. He told Lyith and Tessa about his past, his parent's death, the great MewThree and the PokéGods, why he came to Fuchsia City in the first place, how he met his newfound friends, the confrontation with Sakaki, Jon's disappearance, everything up to where they were now. By the time he finished, the moon and the stars were already out in the dark sky, insects chirping in the weeds.

"But how did you get your mother's pokémon?" Tessa asked.

"Before I left home, my mother had a pokémon for safety purposes. She had a vaporeon, which you saw earlier today."

"What about your father?" Lyith interjected.

"My father? Heh. He didn't need a pokémon for his protection." Kyosan gave a quick, vague description of his father, and how he studied martial arts for eleven consecutive years. "Anyway, my mother gave me her pokémon, Vaporeon, to aid me on my journey. The vaporeon completely trusted my mother... but us two are still trying to find a friendship."

The girls nodded, and Kyosan stifled a yawn, outstretching both of his arms. "Tessa - that remedy you made for me seems to be working... but the side effect is..." Kyosan yawned again, laying down against the ground. "...The side effect is... sleep..."

In moments, he was asleep. Lyith moved closer to the fire, raising her hands to it. "Going to be cold again tonight..."

"Yeah - we'd better get to sleep, too... who knows what tomorrow will bring us?" Tessa lay down, arms folded behind her head, staring into the star-filled sky.

"Like Fuchsia City," Lyith added.

"Yeah. Fuchsia City..." Tessa said, closing her eyes.

"Kyosan..." called a voice from a distance.

Kyosan stood up, looked around. He was dreaming. Everywhere he looked - darkness. He couldn't see anything. He raised his jacket collar, suddenly realizing how cold it was.

"Kyosan..." the voice beckoned again. Kyosan looked in the direction he thought it was coming from, and saw a light in the far distance, flickering, violently.

"Come forth," the voice commanded. "Come to the light."

Kyosan thought for a brief moment, then ran towards the light. He didn't know why, but the tone and the sincerity of the voice convinced him to go.

The light slowly grew larger and closer. He looked around while running, now noticing that there were stars in the sky with comets flying through the star. He then noticed to the left that a part of the sky was smoothly changing colors within the dark sky, like ripples of a curtain with wind blown into it. A light red consecutively changed into a faint yellow, then to a barely visible orange. The orange then dipped into a hazy green, then to a shade of blue that could easily be seen, followed by a light lavender color, nearly matching the darkness around it. Kyosan turned to his right to see an identical phenomenon.

Auroras, he thought to himself. Kyosan stopped to admire the beauty of the dancing lights, then turned to his goal, the now-purple light flashing across the area. He continued to run, now running as fast as his body would allow him, yet not having to stop and rest; he breathed normally in this enigmatic dimension he was dreaming of, even when sprinting at top speed.

"Faster...you have little time," the voice called again, this time more comforting, luminous, yet a little concerned. Kyosan gritted his teeth and ran at his fastest rate, barely noticing that the auroras had been enveloped by the darkness. The stars had also started vanishing into the night. Soon only he was left, running to the light, which was now a purple flame close by.

When he got near to the flame, it disappeared. It suddenly grew dark again, this time getting warmer. A pillar of white light surrounded him, levitating him up into the nothingness of the empty space. He wasn't afraid - much more curious of where he was going. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to find himself staring at a silhouette of something through fog. He was surrounded by clouds, and golden rays of light breaking through.

The silhouette moved towards Kyosan. It appeared out of the fog - a Mew. Larger than Tessa's, so it couldn't be hers. It bore a crown encrusted with gems and jewels. When Kyosan looked closely at these, he realized that they were evolution stones, some of which he had never seen.

"Greetings," a welcoming voice said to Kyosan. "I am Mewthree."

Kyosan's eyes widened. "The mewthree?!"

Mewthree nodded, floating in the air. Kyosan looked past it and saw a throne, nearly covered by the clouds.

"Why am I here?" Kyosan asked cautiously.

"To tell you one thing - to obtain the third PokéGod, you must understand the meaning of true unity, or your entire search is in vain," it said, floating up into the sky.

"Whaddaya mean by unity?" Kyosan shouted.

He opened his eyes. It was early in the morning, so early that the stars hadn't even disappeared yet. He was sweating and breathing heavily, and his head was throbbing violently.

"Unity..." Kyosan said to himself before falling back asleep, despite his headache.

"Who was that?" Fox asked, as Jon hung up the phone.

"Kyosan," Jon replied.

Fox snorted skeptically. "Oh, yeah? Since when has he been a candidate for being your sister?"

"Oh, that," Jon shrugged. "That was Lyith - one of the girls who came in with Kyosan."

"You two seemed to be getting on well," she observed.

Why, Fox, came Falcon's psychic message. If I did not know better, I should think you were jealous...

"Quiet, you!" Fox glared at him. Jon looked confused.

Falcon chuckled somewhere in his throat, and then added, now, are we going hiking, or not?

"Yeah," Fox grumbled, her mood having clearly taken a turn for the worse, as she shouldered her pack. "Whatever..."

Jon picked up his backpack. "Let's go..."

"Just a short hike, he says," Fox growled savagely as they picked their way along the mountain path. "Just a few little hills on the way, he says... won't take long, he says... rest and friggin' relaxation, he says..."

In a haze of light, Falcon appeared in front of her. Enjoying the hike, Fox?

She glared at him, not wanting to give him the pleasure of a reply. The gave her his equivalent of a grin, then effortlessly floated to the top of the mountain.

"Hmmph - it's okay for him," Fox muttered. "Hell, if we could all just go 'zap' and end up where we wanted..."

"Don't worry," Jon smiled, from where he waited for her to catch up. "It isn't much farther. Really."

"I've heard that before."

"Well, we can stop and rest if you're too tired..."

"Not at all!" Fox snapped, and instantly doubled her pace.

Very clever, Jon, Falcon sent. Jon grinned.

The big mewtwo floated back down to them, and sent a message into both of their minds. If you two will excuse me, I have some... arrangements... to take care of. I shall be back by the time you are.

"Sure," Jon gave a small wave as the mewtwo faded into nothingness. "See ya 'round, buddy..."

"Piker," Fox glared after the mewtwo.

At length, the two trainers finally reached the top of the mountain, and even Fox had to admit that it was worth it. A few feet ahead, the mountain became a sheer cliff face, dropping down hundreds of feet into a massive canyon. A river that seemed as thin as a thread wound its way back toward the inn. The sun was just beginning to set over the opposite face, leaving the darkening clouds laced with the same golden glow it had brought when rising.

"Looks like rain," Fox observed, frowning at the clouds. "Those clouds are a lot heavier than they were this morning..."

"Uh-oh," Jon mumbled, suddenly looking quite guilty.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that... what did you do?"

"Nothing," he replied, defensively, then lamely concluded, "I just... I sort of... worked it so we'd get to camp tonight."

Fox said nothing. Instead, she bit her lip, turned on her heel, walked over to the nearest tree, and started bashing her head against it.

"It wasn't my fault!" Jon protested, pulling her away from the tree. "Really!"

"You moron!" Fox yelled, smacking him over the head instead. "Did it ever even occur to you to read the weather forecast?!"

"It didn't occur to you either!" He countered.

"I wasn't the one planning a camping trip!" She shot back. "Dammit! I should've known that this day started out too good to last!"

"And I should have known that your temper started out too good to last..."

"Hey, you aren't exactly Makoto Mizuhara either, y'know! And that reminds me - I owe you something!"

"Uh?" Jon raised an eyebrow, a moment before her palm caught him across the face. "Ow! Hey!"

"That was for that kiss!" She fumed, completely unaware that her face was turning redder even as she spoke about it. "What the hell made you think you could get away with it?!"

"Well, you sure took your time reacting!" He pointed out.

"I was in shock!"

"Oh, whatever!"

"Jerk!"

"Brat!"

"Moron!"

"Snob!"

"Screw you!"

"Screw you!"

"Yeah, you wish!"

"Not a chance!"

"Hmph!"

"Huh!"

They stood there, back-to-back, arms folded, noses in the air, inwardly fuming. Until, of course, they realised that it had started raining, and they were both soaked.

"Okay - I know I got this one," Tessa stated from a tree branch, Mew perched atop her head, relaxing in the shade. "A leek of a duck is none other than the leek of a farfetch'd."

Kyosan raised an eyebrow. "That makes sense. But what about the other two?" He leaned against the tree Tessa was on, slowly sliding to the ground.

"I'm in the dark myself," Tessa sighed, closing her eyes. "A wild, but lucky egg?"

Lyith glanced up from brushing her Flareon. "Let's skip to the next one, then."

Tessa opened her eyes and skimmed the last riddle on the paper. "Drowsy spores from a moth..."

Kyosan picked up a stone and threw it out of the clearing where they had slept the previous night. "What pokémon is a moth?" Kyosan looked over at Lyith, who simply shrugged.

"I'm a fire-type expert," she replied. "There ain't no fire-type bugs. Tessa - any ideas?"

Tessa shook her head. "Can't think of any. Sorry."

Kyosan's eyes widened with delight as he stood up, proclaiming, "wait - I got it! A venomoth!"

"And it knows attacks such as stun spore, poison powder, and sleep powder!" Tessa cheered, throwing her arms up. "We got our second pokémon item."

"But what about the second thing we need to get?" Lyith asked. "A wild and lucky egg..."

"Would an exeggcute or exeggutor count?" Kyosan suggested. "They could be lucky."

"Nah," Tessa responded. "It seems too obvious to be exeggcute or exeggutor. Besides, how are they lucky?"

"Good point," Kyosan trailed off. "Maybe we should find the stuff we already know and worry about this later." He stood up, brushing dust and dirt off his jacket.

"Yeah," Lyith agreed. "It's getting boring just sitting here."

Tessa hopped off the tree branch with Mew easing down gently. She stretched lazily and started yawning. "Venomoth are found in the Safari Zone, but are hard to find. And they live near damp areas; almost like swamps. Here, it's all lush plants with one river passing by. In other words, venomoth can't be found in this area of the Safari Zone."

"But where do we go?" Lyith questioned.

"I dunno - but let's stick together," Kyosan said, summoning Arcanine out and scratching it behind the ears. "That way we won't be lost in this place."

Lyith recalled her flareon and brought out her ponyta. Tessa decided to use her arcanine.

"I say we head West," Kyosan said, pointing westward.

"Any direction's good enough for me," Lyith shrugged, riding off in that direction with Kyosan and Tessa to follow.

"Well, whaddaya know - I was right," Kyosan grimaced, swatting away the insects that buzzed around his head. He got off his arcanine, who was trying to avoid the wet mud.

"Return, Arcanine," Kyosan commanded as the pokéball sucked arcanine back up.

"It smells," Tessa added as she hopped off her arcanine. She held her hand over her nose, making disgusted faces.

"I second that notion," Lyith said, returning her ponyta. "Our pokémon don't deserve this."

Kyosan peered around, only seeing puddles of water and giant pits of mud, but no venomoth. "Not even a venonat - or any other pokémon," he frowned.

Tessa spotted something moving far away, nearly invisible from all the mist around the swamp. "You spoke too soon - there's something, not far from here..." She took off after it.

"Hey, wait up!" Kyosan shouted, chasing after Tessa.

"You two are sure as hell not leaving me here!" Lyith yelled, following.

Tessa slowed down once she saw what she has been chasing; a venomoth, slowly lumbering its way past. When she heard her companions running up, she immediately turned around and brought a finger to her lips, silencing the pair.

"We need drowsy spores? That means sleep powder," Kyosan whispered to Tessa and Lyith. Then, he surprised them both by running toward the venomoth, shouting and waving his arms at it.

"What is he doing?" Lyith asked.

"He's gonna get us sleep powder...I hope," Tessa said, watching him.

"You stupid bug pokémon!" Kyosan shouted at the venomoth, sticking his tongue out at the venomoth, making faces at it. "Yeah, I'm talking to you! C'mon, you big sissy! Hit me with your pollen attacks, I dare ya!"

The venomoth, offended, started to spread spores through its wings. The powder reached Kyosan's nose. He inhaled a little of it, immediately turning green. He covered his nose and shut his eyes.

"P-poison powder," he stammered, looking very ill.

The frustrated venomoth glared at the trainer, realizing that the attack wasn't working. The powder changed color, and Kyosan once again sniffed the air, and instantly felt his eyelids weigh down like a pair of cars. He forced himself to stay awake and he pulled a small container from his jacket. He opened the lid, seizing some of the powder, than shut the lid closed, containing some sleep powder. The venomoth flew away, frustrated.

Kyosan lay down, closing his eyes. The girls ran up to him, as he opened one eye with a tired yet satisfied smile.

"Here's the first item..." He yawned. "Wake me up in an hour..."

"Come in," Thane said from his chair, in the dark room, in front of the dusty desk, when he heard the knock at the door. An older man, entered the room. He was apparently in his fifties, and completely bald except for some white hair on the sides of his head.

"Thank you for coming," Thane nodded in his direction.

"I will gladly help you, to get back at that mewtwo," the man replied.

"Good," Thane smirked. "What I want you to do is build a mind-control machine for pokémon... can you do that?"

He nodded. "It may take a while, but I can do it."

"Oh, and there is one more thing I want you to do, before you start on this project," Thane added. "I know you work with genetics, since you were one of the creators of the mewtwo known as Falcon. I want you to..."

Daeg waited until nightfall to take Ni out into the middle of a meadow deep in the Safari Zone to begin her training. In the midst of the tropical trees, Daeg began to teach Ni the way of the ninja. Already, he could tell she was a natural - the way she moved was almost too fluid, too perfect. And he only needed to show her once for her to mimic his movement perfectly. Soon he had moved on to some more advanced maneuvers, sure they would present a problem - or at least a challenge. But, despite how it shocked him, Ni was still able to mimic his every move with uncanny precision. Once again, Daeg realized there was more to this mysterious girl who never spoke than he knew.

After a couple of hours, Ni knew all the basics, plus some of the more advanced maneuvers, and she could perform any of the katas he showed her perfectly. So Daeg decided to try sparring with his student.

This had some interesting results - apparently, Ni's instinct was to react by mirroring her opponent's attack. Daeg would launch an attack, only to find Ni executing exactly the same move. It was like fighting a mirror image - anything the ninja attempted, his student did the same, and neither one could touch the other. Daeg decided he would test Ni's endurance by continuing to fight, and by brute strength he managed to break past her perfect mirroring of his actions. After a brief explanation from the ninja-cum-trainer, Ni was already beginning to improvise, and devise her own style...

Hours later, just as dawn approached, Daeg and Ni came upon a small house out in the middle of the Safari Zone. The small, inviting cabin was unoccupied, and seemed to be just waiting for strangers to use it. A notice verified this, saying it was provided by the Safari Zone's managers as a resting place for travelers. Thus, the pair decided to spend the night.

I know your secret, Ni...

Ni woke to the small voice inside her mind. Before she knew what was happening, a pokéball rolled from the sleeping Daeg to her, and opened to reveal an abra.

Yes, I know, Ni... or should I call you Dittotwo? The abra allowed a moment for that to sink in before continuing. Mewthree has a interest in you, but his interest in the one called Daeg is greater. For now, I will tolerate your presence and help you learn how to get along with humans. But first, to teach you more...use the device you took when you escaped the lab...and then, before you run out of energy, take this sack...

With that, a small piece of the floor lifted, to reveal a secret compartment. Invisible hands lifted a small bag out of it and into Ni's arms, and then the floorboard was replaced, leaving the floor as seamless as it had always been. Ni looked up just in time to see the pokéball settling back into its place by Daeg.

Ni reached into her own bag, pulled out the strange device she had taken when she had escaped that horrible man, and pushed the button on it. Suddenly the device began to click rhythmically, and, to her horror, began to burrow into her. Frantic, Ni tried to drop the it and escape, but it was already a part of her.

Suddenly the clicking sound became muffled, then louder again, this time ticking inside her head. To her total surprise, Ni suddenly felt a fierce urge to run through her moves. A bursts of fire developed around her fist as she punched. She stared in awe and some horror, but she couldn't stop... it was almost as if something else was controlling her...or at least, that her body was acting on its own...

She continued, giving into the urges. She leapt up and kicked high in the air, spat a cloud of smoke, shrank to one tenth of her size and felt an armor form about her. They were things she had never been able to do, but they seemed so natural that she might have known them all along...

She realized that the clicking had stopped, and suddenly, she was overwhelmed by exhaustion. She sank to her knees, gasping heavily, as the metronome's effects wore off, then followed the abra's advice.

Inside the bag, she found many small vials, more than she could count. Their labels meant little to her - things like 'full restore' and 'carbos' - but it was clear that they were meant to be drunk. She began to consume the contents of the vials - proteins, iron, calcium... Hp up and PP up... and lastly, something called 'max elixir'. When she was finished, Ni felt better than she ever had in her life.

She was about to discard the bag when she noticed one last thing in the bottom - a pokéball, with a small sword on the front. Curiously, she pressed on the sword, and was rewarded by a brief, haunting melody as the pokéball released a ditto.

Ni looked at the pokémon, and suddenly realized that even now, there was a special bond forming between them. She was instantly confused, but at the same time, she understood something of humans now - the value of raising pokémon. Ni had caught her first pokémon.

Fox and Jon pounded into the cave on the mountainside, both breathless and saturated, and collapsed onto the floor, trying to catch their breath.

"Dammit..." Fox muttered, shivering violently. "I really can't go anywhere without getting rained on! It's a goddamn conspiracy..."

"Here," Jon pulled his jacket off, chivalry kicking in to spite him. "Take my coat."

Fox tossed her head defiantly, evidently not having forgiven him yet. "That is sooo cliche. Well, I've got my own, thanks."

Jon started mumbling under his breath as he wrung his jacket out and tied it around his waist. Restless, Fox stood up again and started walking around the cave. Jon peered after her, wondering how far back it went.

"Hey," Fox said after a few moments. "Y'know, it gets warmer back here..."

"Wonder why..." he mused.

"With our luck, there's probably a giant charizard hibernating back there that we've woken up..." She thought for a moment, then added, "well, it's gotta be better than freezing to death. C'mon."

"Okay," Jon shrugged, standing, then yawned. "Not like I really have much choice anyway..."

"What was that?" Fox raised an eyebrow, suspicious.

"Huh? Oh... nothing..."

Fox glowered at him, then huffed off.

"C'mon," Jon protested. "I was just jokin'..."

"Real funny," Fox replied sarcastically. The female trainer kicked viciously at a pebble she could just make out on the cave floor, which skipped forward into the darkness and went 'plop'. "Eh?"

"What do you s'pose...?"

Fox kicked another rock, with very similar results.

"Water, is it?" Fox mused. "Well, at least there won't be any charizard... you got a torch in that backpack?"

"No, but I do have this," Jon replied, pulling out a pokéball and releasing Bahamut.

"Wish I'd thought of that," Fox muttered, and immediately released Toaster in an effort to not to be outdone.

"Char?" Toaster asked, looking at the charmeleon with his head on the side.

"Charme-le-on," Bahamut replied, one eyebrow raised.

"Char-man-char!" Toaster cried happily, and immediately, the two pokémon seemed engaged in a conversation.

Fox glanced toward the back of the cave, now lit up by the charmander and charmeleon's flames, to see a series of large pools. "Pools... I think we've found some natural springs..."

Oblivious to his trainer's discovery, Toaster suddenly poked Bahamut in the arm and ran behind Fox's legs. With a small smile, Bahamut took off after the charmander, deciding to play along.

"Char-har-har!" Toaster laughed gleefully as he ran.

"They're getting along well..." Fox observed.

"Looks like it..."

Then, an idea coming to her, Fox knelt at the edge of the nearest pool and sniffed curiously. "I thought so - these are hot springs! Finally, a bit of good luck!"

Then she had an other idea. With a decidedly devious grin, she pulled off her jacket, then turned expectantly to Jon. "Hey... you wanna turn around for a minute?"

"What?...Oh!" Jon immediately turned a bright shade of red, and spun around. After a few moments, there was a small splash.

"Aaaahhhhh..." Fox sighed.

Gulping, Jon turned and hastily looked for a way to get to the other end of the spring. However, as he picked his way precariously around the edge of it, two fire pokémon engrossed in a game of tag collided with his legs, throwing him in. Unable to stop herself, Fox burst out laughing.

Coming up from under the water, spluttering, Jon started cursing violently. Then, deciding he might as well make the best of it, he ducked back under for a few moments, coming back up with a pile of his clothes in his hands. Fox tried to hide her blush as he placed them on the shore, but thankfully, he didn't seem to notice.

Jon dunked his head under again, then slicked his hair back and leaned against the rocky rim of the pool. "Man, that feels good..."

"Mmm-hmm..."

After a moment of relaxing, it occurred to Jon that he ought to release his pokémon and let them have some fun, too. Clancy, being feline, was hesitant, but King dived right in.

"Good idea," Fox admitted as he did so, then let out Angel and Shinji. The latter almost passed out with shock as he saw the situation, then jumped to Fox's shoulder with a protective snarl.

"He'll get over it," Fox smiled. Clancy, having overcome his reluctance, slipped into the water as well, while Angel sat by the shore and watched with some amusement.

"Wonder where Falcon went off to anyway..." Jon thought aloud.

"Who knows?" Fox shrugged in reply. "Must say I was surprised, though - I was under the impression that you two were pretty much inseparable..."

"Nope. Actually, he often goes out on his own. Beats me what he does, though."

Fox shrugged. Jon yawned again, this time rather loudly, though not on purpose.

"Tired?" The female trainer inquired.

"A little," he replied. "I got up early after this weird dream, and I missed a little sleep..."

"Uhuh..." Fox nodded.

"Oh yeah," the male trainer began, pulling out another pokéball. "I almost forgot..."

"I didn't know you had an electabuzz..." Fox said, as the electric pokémon emerged.

"Well, I don't use it that often - it's sometimes hard to control," Jon replied. As if to prove his words, the electabuzz started jumping around, letting off little electric shocks.

"Erm...better not let it do that too close to the pool..." Fox observed. Jon nodded and climbed out of the water, picking up the electabuzz and carrying it away from the pool. And getting shocked numerous times in the process.

"Ooh..." Fox winced. "That looks painful..."

A slightly smoking Jon made his way somewhat stiffly back toward her, coughing out, "yes...it is...very..."

Suddenly, Jon remembered that he was only wearing boxers, and dashed back to the spring. Fox collapsed into fits of laughter as he jumped in. Even Bahamut and Toaster, the former having the latter in a headlock and administering a vigorous noogie, looked up from their wrestling to watch.

"Hey!" Jon cried indignantly as he surfaced to find her in hysterics. "What's so funny?!"

"You mean you can't guess?!" Fox managed, between gasps.

Jon ducked under the water again, and Fox thought she heard some very loud and very violent curses taking place. As he came up for a breath, she was suddenly hit by a thought, and ducked her own head under. A moment later, she came up looking even redder.

"You...can...see...a lot better...than I thought...under there..." Fox strained to keep her voice even. Jon looked confused for a bit, then also turned a slight shade redder. Fox hastily grabbed Angel, who was sitting on the edge, and sat him in her lap.

"Nine-tales-tales?" Angel asked. Is there something going on between you two?

"No!" Fox yelled hastily. "Why would you think that?!"

"What'd it say?" Jon asked curiously.

"He didn't say anything that you needed to hear."

"Oh, yeah? So why did you respond to his question so quickly?"

"He... uh... just... reminded me of an embarrassing moment. That's all."

"Okay," Jon laughed. "Sure... whatever..."

"Do I have any volunteers to light this for me?" Fox asked as she completed the little pyramid of kindling. Angel obliged, blowing a small flame onto it that immediately set it alight. Fox scratched the pokémon's head as she added some larger sticks to build it up. The rain having abated at length, Jon and Fox had eventually left the cave in favour of setting up their small campsite just outside its mouth.

"Thanks..." Fox nodded to the ninetales, and unrolled her sleeping bag...to find a big hole in it. "...Damn. I guess I need a new one of these, too..."

Jon snorted as he unrolled his own. "On my budget, I couldn't get a new one if I wanted..."

Fox crawled into her bag, Angel curling up next to her where the hole was, as Jon rummaged around in his pack for something to eat. Eventually, he pulled out a bag of beef jerky and started munching on some.

"Good idea," Fox noted, fishing out a bar from her own bag.

When he'd finished eating, Jon lay on his sleeping bag, propping his head up on his hands, and stared up at the star, apparently deep in thought.

"Something on your mind?" Fox asked.

"Not really...I'm just thinking about the last few weeks... the run-ins with Team Rocket... the police... Thane... everything..." Then, extremely quietly, he added, "you..."

"Uh-huh..." Fox nodded, apparently not having heard that last bit. There was a lengthy pause before she continued. "Jon... uh... there's something I've been meaning to tell you..."

Jon wasn't about to admit that his heart had probably just increased its pace. "Uh... okay..."

"It's gonna sound kinda strange at first, but bear with me, okay?..."

"Sure..."

"Well... when Thane was holding you prisoner - actually, the night before I went to look for you - I had this dream. It was completely weird... I kept seeing all these... well, it was like they were memories, except I've got no idea where they came from... and it was like something - somebody - was trying to tell me something... something I had to do..." she paused to glance at him, reassure herself that he was taking it in. "... And then, later, when we were all together in the warehouse, I felt it again. It was like... I dunno... like, fulfillment. Like we were supposed to be together. You, me, Andy and Kyosan and everybody - like we were supposed to be a team..." She paused again, then laughed, mirthlessly. "That probably sounds stupid, right?"

Jon shrugged, also laughing without any humor. "Well, with everything that's happened since I met you, nothing really sounds weird to me anymore..."

"I thought you didn't buy into all that 'destiny' crap..."

Another shrug. "I think you make your own destiny."

She rolled over. "What if... what if there was a destiny that already existed.. .but it was based on who you were, and who you would be? In theory, wouldn't that be shaping your own destiny?"

"... I guess..." he replied, then grasped his head. "Argh, thinking too much right now..."

Fox smiled, and sighed. "Well, I don't know, but I know that I've never felt anything like this before. I guess we'll find out, eh?"

"Yeah," Jon smirked. "I guess we will..."

What was left of the conversation was interrupted by a loud rustling, coming from Fox's pack.

"Hey..." Fox began, curiously.

A fuzzy yellow head popped out of the bag, brown eyes gleaming. "Pi! Ka!"

"Hey! Get outta there!"

"Pika-pika!" The pikachu replied, jumping out of the bag with its arms full of food.

Jon blinked. "What the..."

"You fuzzy little thief!" Fox cried, lunging at the little pokémon. "You give that back!"

"Pi-hi-hi-hi! Pika-pi!" The pikachu laughed, easily jumping out of the way, then shoved a chocolate bar in its mouth, wrapper and all. Shinji started snarling, fur along his back rising up.

"Damned pikachu..." Jon muttered, hand dropping to his belt.

"I'm warning you!" Fox cried. "Drop the food, now!"

The pikachu shook his head and backed away, clutching the food like a treasure. "Pi-chu!"

Jon whipped out a dagger from behind his back and hurled it at the little pokémon, with the intention of scaring it into submission. The shot sailed wide - as he had intended - but Fox was appalled.

"Jon!" She shouted angrily. "Are you crazy?! It's a thief, but it's just a pikachu!"

Jon groaned and rolled his eyes as he retrieved his dagger, knowing that now was no time to explain that he'd missed on purpose.

"Nine-tales-nine!" Angel suddenly cried, behind them, gesturing in the direction of a fast-disappearing yellow tail.

"Get 'im!" Fox cried, running after the pikachu, Jon right behind. "Come back here, ya oversized rat!"

Shinji squeaked, insulted.

Jon pulled a pokéball off his belt. "Rat, eh? Clancy, go!"

Appearing from the pokéball in the usual splash of light, Clancy joined the pursuit.

"Hey, don't hurt it!" Fox cautioned.

"I won't," Jon replied, exasperated.

Ahead of them, the pikachu suddenly tripped over a rock, the food in its arms scattering over the trail ahead. "Pika!"

The rock rumbled, and began to rise up from the ground. "Ge...o...duuuude..."

"Uh-oh..." Fox bit her lip.

Caught up in the heat of the chase, Clancy didn't notice as he pounced on the pikachu, and the geodude.

Jon winced. "That's not good..."

"Piiii!" There was an explosion of electric energy up ahead as the pikachu loosed a thundershock - which, while having absolutely no effect on the geodude, lefty Clancy rather fried. Now even angrier, the geodude hurled the pikachu and the persian off, howling its battle cry.

"Clancy, return!" Jon cried, and the persian disappeared back into its pokéball.

"Pika-pika!" The pikachu cried, desperately trying a thunderbolt.

"You can't hurt a geodude like that!" Fox yelled to the pikachu, hoping it would listen. From the decidedly worried expression on its face, she thought it had. A moment later, the geodude had grabbed the electric pokémon and slammed it into the ground, in an impressive seismic toss.

"Angel...Shinji...Toaster..." Fox muttered. "...None of them are any good against rock types! But we have to do something...Jon, I don't suppose you're hiding a blastoise in there, too?"

"Sorry to say, but no...wish I had an HM for surf - I could use it on King..."

Fox thought for a moment. "I just know I'm gonna regret this...Angel! Toaster! Distract its attention!"

Angel and Toaster started using fire attacks on the geodude, not doing much damage, but distracting it as Fox ran forward. Muttering, "shock me and I'll kill you," the female trainer dived, grabbed the pikachu, then rolled to her feet and started running back.

"Geo-o-o-o!" The geodude cried as it finally noticed her, and attempted an unsuccessful tackle attack.

"Shit, shit, shit..." Fox muttered as she sprinted back to the others.

"Now it's my turn," Jon flashed a wicked grin and pulled out one of his daggers.

Fox gaped. He's crazy...

Jon charged the geodude, dagger raised, but it knocked him away at the last minute, sending him sliding over the ground until he collided with a tree trunk. Grimacing in pain, Jon staggered back to his feet. "I'm not done yet! King, go! Tackle it, and try hold it for a few seconds!"

King tackled the geodude, and the two pokémon began grappling. Seeing his chance, Jon also lunged at the geodude. Fox set Buzz down in a patch of grass, then ran back toward Jon, wondering desperately what she should do.

"Get out of the way!" She cried. "The fire pokémon can't attack if you're in the road!"

"The fire pokémon can't do shit even if they do attack!" Jon yelled, without diverting his attention from the battle at hand.

"And you can?!"

"Rat-atta!" Shinji yowled, bolting past his trainer and hurling himself at the geodude.

"Shinji!" Fox cried. "No!"

"King, thrash it!" Jon ordered, not even noticing the little purple pokémon as it landed square on the geodude's face and started biting viciously at its eyes, while Fox, suddenly struck by an idea, took off back in the direction of the campsite. King backed off, preparing to thrash the geodude, just as Jon noticed Shinji's presence. The rattata was too occupied in his attack to notice that he was about to be thrashed, too.

"Shinji!" Jon yelled. "Look out!"

The pokémon looked up, and saw King's intended attack just in time to leap out of the road. King started thrashing at the geodude, who couldn't retaliate while held by Jon. It was working - the geodude was clearly weakening - but, unfortunately, Jon was taking a fair few stray hits.

Fox arrived back on the scene, a large plastic water bottle in her hand. "Heads up, guys!"

The water bottle sailed through the air, bursting on impact with the geodude's rock-hard skin. The pokémon bellowed in pain as, in its now-weakened state, King's onslaught finally started doing some serious damage. Finally, the geodude gave one last cry and collapsed to the ground.

"... Well..." Fox panted, trying to catch her breath. "... That was... refreshing..."

"Yeah..." Jon replied weakly, barely standing himself. "It was..."

"Oh!" The female trainer cried. "Are you okay?..."

"So..." Jon panted. "... You... do care..."

"...That was so brave!" She finished, completely ignoring Jon and running to Shinji.

Jon rolled his eyes. "Puh... what'd... I expect... anyway?..."

He began to limp back to their camp, very slowly. Fox sighed.

"Hold this..." She instructed, handing the unconscious pikachu to Jon, and then slipping her arm under his to support him.

"...Thanks..."

A rather sorry sight, they all made their way back to camp. As soon as Jon put the pikachu down by the fire, he slumped onto his sleeping bag, able to think only of sleep. Then, he noticed a small purple pokémon sitting by his face, regarding him with an unreadable expression.

"Yeah - that's right," he gloated, too quietly for Fox to hear. "I saved your ass, rat boy... you owe me a shot at her now..."

"Rat!" Shinji replied, turning away and strutting off with his nose in the air.

It didn't take long for Jon to drift off. Fox, however, sat anxiously by the pikachu's side, trying to revive it. Eventually (actually, after she waved a chocolate bar under its nose), it came to.

"Pi... ka..." it coughed.

"Easy," Fox soothed. "I think you're going to feel pretty bad for the next few days..." She looked at Shinji, then at a soundly-snoring Jon. "... I think you all are..."

In spite of herself, she couldn't resist a tiny smile in Jon's direction.

"Ugh...it smells here," Kyosan complained, frowning.

"Then why are we still here?" Lyith asked, staring into the streets of Fuchsia from the alley in which they were hiding.

"Look around," Tessa replied. "Cops all over the place..." Even as she said it, a police car drove by, causing them all to quickly duck further back into the alley.

Lyith sighed. "We can't stay here forever. They'll find us, eventually."

"I think I know where we can hide for a while," Kyosan slipped off the crate he was sitting on, then walked out of the alley and looked around. Seeing that the coast was clear, he motioned to Tessa and Lyith to follow. "Time for us to visit a friend."

Can Tessa and the others reach Yusuo in time? What's the deal with Nidogod? What has Thane got planned this time? Will Fox ever be nice to Jon? At least one of these questions will be answered here, in part IV!