Prelude (IC)

KIMI ANEGELO - Chapter One Part One - Catching a Pokemon?

"This race will begin tonight, for anyone with a partnered pokemon who wishes to attend; no sign ups will be required. Now my fare brothers and sisters, make you preparations, and for those who wants to attend this contest, meet back here tonight!"

As the elder said these words, Kimi bolted into the celebration area, dripping with sweat. She stopped to catch her breath, resting her hands on her knees as she huffed and puffed. As usual, Eevee was right beside her, just as exhausted and equally sweaty.

The crowd around the elder was listening intently, and nobody noticed her arrival.

What's going on? She thought.

"I wish each of our young trainers good luck in their quest, and to remember to have fun! I'll see you tonight!" The crowd started buzzing with chatter, and then eventually returned to the celebration.

"Hey Kimi! Are you doing the race?!" Kimi whirrled around, searching for whoever said that.

"Oh, hey James!" Kimi replied, "What race exactly?"

James stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Uhh, the one the Elders were just telling us about. Where have you been?"

You know very well where I was...chasing that damn ponyta...thought Kimi. But she said, "Oh, just out and about! ...So, uh, what is this race?"

James explained the race to her, and offered to help her go catch pokemon.

"Oh, thank you! I've never caught a pokemon before. You can show me how!" Kimi waited for James to respond.

James stammered, "Err, um, y-yeah! I can show you how! I mean, it c-can't be too hard, right?"

"Oh! Thanks James!" Kimi gave him a big hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

"Okay okay! Let me go!" James struggled to pry Kimi off him. "Jeez Kimi, you trying to kill me?"

"Oh, I'm just excited about catching new pokemon!" Kimi was already heading towards Kalay Crossing with Eevee on her heels. "Come on, slowpoke!"

James started off after Kimi. "Coming!!!"
Okay...so how do you catch a pokemon?

Kimi and James - Kalay's Crossing


James finally caught up to Kimi, who was crouching behing a bush. There was a stream nearby, but Kimi couldn't see it. She only heard the quiet rustling of water. Thick flora covered the ground and the sky, you could barely see it through the trees. The fauna was just as dense, invisible to the untrained eye. Loud "Bulbaaa!"s and shrill "Pidgeeee!"s could be heard in the background. James crouched beside Kimi awkwardly, trying not to touch the ground with anything but his shoes.

"What are you-"

"Shhhh!" Kimi put her hand over James' mouth.

"What are you doing?" James whispered.

Kimi put a finger up to her mouth firmly, signaling James to be quiet. She pointed in the distance to a trainer battleing a wild pokemon.

Kimi's voice was a warm wind, barely audiable over the sounds of wild pokemon.

"I'm going to catch that pokemon once he finished battleing it," Kimi breathed, "That way he will already be weakened."

James whispered, "Kimi, I think that trainer is going to catch the pokemon."

As soon as he said that, the trainer threw an apricorn at the wild pokemon, and succeeded in catching it.

"Oh," Said Kimi, "I guess we have to catch our own then."

Kimi darted off into the woods.

"Kimi! Kimi! ....Kimi!" James called for her to come back.

Kimi returned, with a puzzled expression, "What?!"

James started, "You left me here..."

Kimi seemed amused. "You big baby, you were supposed to follow me. Do I have to do everything? And you're supposed to tell me how to catch pokemon? Come on!"

James and Kimi made their way into the woods.

After a while James asked, "Why don't we just follow the trail?"

Kimi snorted, "Wild pokemon don't use the trail. Thats stupid, James."

"Yeah, I guess you are the wilderness expert."

Kimi stopped abruptly, holding her arm out to halt James.

"Look!" She ejaculated.

A wild dunsparse wriggled along the brush, making almost no noise.

"I've never seen one of those before!"

James seemed skeptical, "Really? Thats a dunsparse. They're not very rare, though recently the've been avoiding people."

"Okay...so how do I catch it? Just throw an apricorn or what?"

James thought for a moment, "I....I think...You gotta weaken it first. Yeah, but you have to let Eevee do it!"

"So...I have to battle it?"

"Oh! Yeah, I guess I could have just said that."

Kimi took a deep breath. "Okay Eevee, you heard him! Takle that dunsparse!

Eevee responded with a sharp "Ee!" and charged towards the Dunsparse.

Dunsparse let off a quick rattle, and tryed to avoid the tackle, but he was too slow and was knocked several meters back.

"Vee!" Eevee jumped back and got into a strong stance, waiting for a command from Kimi.

Kimi said, "Okay Eevee, wait until he gets close, and hit him with a tail whip!"

Dunsparse quickly slithered towards Eevee with a reckless headbutt. Eevee playfully jumped to the side and wagged her tail in a cute fashion. She cocked her head and purred, "Veee..."

Dunsparse turned and stopped abruptly. Dumbfounded, he wagged his tail too.

"Okay Eevee! Use tackle again!"

Eevee jumped at dunsparse, tackling him and rolling across the ground. Dunsparse was unprepared for this, and he didn't brace himself for the hit. Stunned, weak, and dazed, the wild dunsparse couldn't move. Barely conscious, he only saw an apricorn flying towards his face.

Ayame yawned as she got up and ready for her day. She knew she didn't really look all like an Indian only with her tan skin and black hair, the rest of her was all Colthearts. She got dressed in her white leggings, aqua blue dress that was styled like her mothers people and put on the Moccasins her step-mother had made her. After making sure her bow was in her hair smiled to herself and ran out of her families tepee glancing behind her "bye Father! Bye Chu'si! be back Later" she yelled as she ran off with Vaporeon faithfully at her side. Even after the love Chu'si had shown her as she grew up Ayame had never been comfortable calling her mom but her step-mother didn't mind. Even without ever knowing her birth mother in her life she could still talk to her mothers spirit at times. In a few months Chu'si have a child that will call her mom she thought smiling at the thought of her little half-brother or sister that was going to be born in three short months. Looking ahead of her Ayame saw a crowd and ran even faster getting to the edge of the crowd.

There were taller people in front of her but Ayame didn't want to shove through, she could still hear what was being said. Wiping sweat off her forehead and panting from running so fast she listened to village chief. "My friends!" he announced loudly and Ayame smiled excited to hear what the chief had to say "It is with great honor that this festivity is in memoration, of the great heroes who aided the legendary rainbow bird, who had brought peace to our fair land. Tonight! In honor of that memory! There shall be, a contest!"

At the word contest Ayame reached down to pat Vaporeon on the head. "a Contest, we are so doing this" she whispered to her Pokemon happily. As she looked back up she shuddered a bit like she always did when she sensed a spirit nearby. This one was just watching though and gave her the feeling she got in her heart when her mother was watching her. Sometimes Ayame was lucky enough to talk with the spirit of her mother, but most times she felt her mothers presence just watching her.

"As you know, The great heroes used 6 medallions to summon the rainbow bird. Afterwords, the medallions have been sealed away, never to be used again. However! In memory of those medallions, there shall be a contest for you all, to collect re-lamentations of these medallions,for your own amusement! While you all may think that since these medallions the shamans have created are not authentic, there is great pride on collecting all 6 of them! You see, for those who collect these six medallions, they shall be hailed as a hero, be rewarded unprecedented prosperity, and of course, be a pokemon battle master!" The Chief continued only stopping when people and Pokemon, Ayame and Vaporeon included cheered at the news. This sounds like fun, even though I'm not after the rewards she thought just wanting to travel and bring People and Pokemon together.

"However!" The Chief called and everyone when quiet waiting to hear his next words. "Be warned that collecting these medallions is no easy task. You see, collecting these medallions require you all to do six trials. These six trials consists of the tests of the bonds you share with your partnered pokemon, as you battle against battle masters - six of them in total. These battle masters are hailed as six of the most powerful pokemon battlers in all of Tobyan, who represent six different attributes. However, if you defeat or impress them in a pokemon battle, you shall be rewarded their prize medallions. Now my fair brothers and sisters, for this contest, it shall be, a race. The one who collects all of these medallions first, and return to Kalay, shall be rewarded with a very special prize! What that prize is, I'm afraid you will just have to wait until this contest comes to a close!"

Ayame smiled more, so the tests where testing the bond with their Pokemon. It was a good thing she had a strong bond with Vaporeon already, she just would make sure she got as strong a bond with any new Pokemon she caught. Snapped out of her thoughts when the Chief cleared his throat Ayame looked back up.

"This race will begin tonight, for anyone with a partnered pokemon who wishes to attend; no sign ups will be required. Now my fare brothers and sisters, make you preparations, and for those who wants to attend this contest, meet back here tonight!"

Ayame moved back Vaporeon at her side as the crowd started to disperse. Looking down at Vaporeon she smiled more and nodded. "lets go talk to Father" she said running back in the direction of her families tepee. If she wanted to do this contest she would have to talk to her father. As she neared the Tepee she saw a woman with long black hair and dark tan skin about to lift a heavy basket of dry laundry. "Chu'si, you know father said you aren't supposed to be lifting anything" Ayame scolded lifting the basket herself to keep the six month pregnant woman from lifting it.

"I know Aya, I just didn't want to wait" Chu'si said following Ayame back into the Tepee.

"Where is Father?" Ayame asked looking back at her step-mother before saying. "where do you want me to put this?"

"your father was going out to get more firewood, he should be back soon" Chu'si responded before sitting in her chair. "you can just set it here Aya so I can fold it"

Ayame nodded setting the basket down just as a tall man with dark tan skin and black hair came in with firewood. "back honey" he said before noticing Ayame. "oh Aya your back, we weren't expecting you for awhile Sani said before kissing Chu'si and then pecking the top of Ayame's head.

"I know I'm back early Father, but I have something to ask you" Ayame said as her father set the firewood by the fire pit.

"what do you want to ask Aya?" Sani asked looking at his daughter as he sat to help his wife fold the clothing.

"The Chief announced today that there was to be a contest to collect re-lamentations of the six medallions. I really want to be part of it, not for the glory or fame but to show people how strong of a bond they can have with their Pokemon" Ayame sat next to her father and grabbed a shirt from the basket to fold.

Her father went silent for a few minutes as they folded the clothes before he said. "Are you sure Aya? That you can handle it?" he asked and Ayame almost turned and glared at him but a voice interrupted her.

"Now Sani, Aya is just like you and Sae, she wants to go out and prove herself. Plus she's not doing it for selfish reasons like others." Chu'si said smiling folding a dress. "Also just think, Aya will get to meet her mothers People, it'll be a big help to her to meet her other set of grandparents and see where her mother grew up"

Sani sighed and nodded. "Your right Chu'si, as always. You can go Aya, but promise me when you get to Deko, apologize to your grandparents on my behalf."

Ayame smiled gratefully at Chu'si and nodded back at her father. "I will father I promise" she smiled more finishing folding her share of the clothing and putting it away. She kissed her father on the cheek and then Chu'si whispering a small thank you to her step-mother. "I'll be sure to write I promise"

"we'll be waiting for you letters, now go make sure your ready. Why don't you head to Kalay Crossing and catch another Pokemon" Sani said handing her several Apricorns.

"I will, love you guys" Ayame said taking the Apricorns from her father and rushing out the door followed closely by Vaporeon.


After several minutes Ayame found herself making her way through the forest off the path. Her father had taught her ways to track Pokemon and she knew these woods like the back of her hand she wouldn't get lost. She was walking slowly, silently just like her father had taught her and her Moccasins didn't make a sound on the soft ground which wouldn't alert a wild Pokemon to her presence. Seeing a set of tracks on the ground Ayame stopped walking and bent down to look closer to the tracks. "Kirlia" she whispered to herself also noting the fact the tracks where fresh which meant the Kirlia wasn't that far from where she was.

Walking slowly forward she peeked around a tree she spotted the Kirlia drinking from the stream. "okay Vaporeon" Ayame whispered handing her Pokemon a Iapapa Berry. "start of with Water Gun" she whispered as Vaporeon silently moved out from behind the tree and sent a jet of Water at the unsuspecting Kirlia. The attack hit the Kirlia in the back making it fall into the stream.

When it stood and glared at Vaporeon as Ayame stepped out. "Lia! Kirlia!" the Pokemon yelled angrily.

"Vapor! Vaporeon!" Vaporeon called back making Ayame wonder what the two Pokemon where saying to each other. Suddenly though the Kirlia's eyes turned light blue and a light blue aura surrounded Vaporeon making it cry out and stumble a bit.

"It's okay Vaporeon! Use Water Gun again!" Ayame said biting her lip as she watched the starting battle. Vaporeon tried to use Water gun but ended up hurting herself instead from Confusion. As the Vaporeon cried out the Kirlia jumped out of the stream.

"Kir-Lia!" the Pokemon called out as it raised it's hands above it's head. Ayame tilted her head as the Pokemon lowered it's hands and sent multiple glowing green leaves at Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon Dodge it!" Ayame cried out but it was useless her Pokemon was still confused and stumbled more getting hit by several of the leafs and cried out. "Eon Eon!"

Ayame took a deep breath and bit her lip again. "Come on Vaporeon use Sand-Attack" she said before praying for it to work. Vaporeon was still glowing light blue but managed not to hurt herself. Vaporeon turned around and with her back legs she kicked up sand at her opponent hitting the Kirlia in the face with the sand. "quick Vaporeon use Natural Gift" Ayame ordered as the blue glow faded. Vaporeon turned around no longer confused and looked at the Kirlia. Closing her eyes Vaporeon sent a black beam of light at Kirlia drawing the power to make the move Dark-Type from the berry she was holding. The attack hit making the Kirlia cry out again.

Kirlia glared more once the sand was out of it's eyes and held it's hands above it's head sending more of the green leaves at Vaporeon.
The leaves hit and Vaporeon whimpered in pain the grass type moves doing more damage but both Pokemon where weak. "Vaporeon use Water Gun"

Vaporeon sent another jet of water at Kirlia hitting it in the face making it fall on it's rear end. Seeing her chance Ayame threw her Apricorn at the Kirlia and held her breath waiting.

Boots collided with floor, creating an odd, rushed rhythm. Suddenly, the rhythm stopped, hands banged on a small dresser. Victen had only just been able to stop his seemingly uncontrollable pacing. He couldn't have been walking in his tiny room for more than a couple of minutes, still, his dark brow was covered in beads of sweat, his arms were shaking, seeming to barely be able to hold his own weight. His head was bowed over the table as if he were about to vomit, his breath came in heavy pants.

Two and a half weeks, two and a half weeks I've been here. And already I- What's happening to me? Victen thought, his mind a jumbled mess. He stared at the top of his-no- their wooden dresser as if it would answer him. He picked up his hands, only to slam them on the dresser once more. "I can't think straight." he said to the wood, his voice louder than he was aware of. Victen heard a sound behind him, it sounded faint, distant. Victen paused, and listened.

"Uh, um.." a clearly feminine voice sounded, seeming confused, worried. This time it sounded closer.

Victen could feel his heart swelling with a nearly divine warmth. Startlingly quick, he turned to face the source of the voice. Instantly, he was disappointed, his heart sunk and grew cold, leaving him with an almost empty feeling. His door was open. That was odd, since the door was closed the last time Victen walked past it and he never heard it open. Within the door frame stood a small girl, skin clearly white, light brown hair. Far from the dark skin and black hair Victen envisioned when he heard the voice. He realized she must have been standing there quite a while. Why did her voice sound so far away?

The girl, still not completely settled, spoke again. "Um, hi, Victen. Are- are you okay?"

It took a few moments for the message to register with Victen, who quickly warmed his blank expression as soon as it did. "Yeah, fine." He assured the girl, his adoptive sister.

She didn't seemed convinced, and got closer to Victen. "Are you sure? It's okay to be sad, you know. After what happened to your parents and all." She said, her voice practically a whisper as she trailed off her last sentence. Though Victen still heard every word, and felt his stomach lurch at the lie. He had to plant his feet firmly on the ground to prevent himself from visibly recoiling.

Apparently, he didn't do a very good job as his adoptive sister looked into his face, teary-eyed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." she said, still whispering. Victen, his own eyes tearing for a very different reason, reached for his hat to cover them, though found he didn't have it on. The girl only seemed to be more saddened. She backed away from Victen. "Everyone is leaving for the celebration now." She informed him before hurriedly exiting.

Victen had forgot completely that there was a celebration that day, though he was now beginning to remember. Some sort of festival the natives put on for whatever reason. Victen took a deep breath and turned his focus to that. He had never been to a native celebration, for that matter he hadn't even been in the native-owned land in Kalay. He smiled a genuine smile, and actually got excited. He grabbed his slouch hat and placed it atop his head before jogging out of the small Rancher house to meet up with a small group of boys already walking to the festival. He didn't know them, but that didn't matter much, he was a neighbor, a new one at that, and they would talk to him. So long as someone was talking to him, so long as he could focus himself on conversation and celebration, that was all that mattered.

Later, and still with a way to go until the main town was reached, the conversation switched from Victen, the boys, who were already close friends, began conversing amongst themselves, Victen had no room to remark on anything. According to them, there was a group of girls nearby that they were very intent on meeting with. Victen's adoptive sister was most likely with them.

Victen nearly stopped dead as the thought crossed his mind. In an instant, images of here teary, completely believing and trusting face flooded his mind. Her whispering apologies rung in his ears. Her misplaced trust, sorrow, and sadness that made Victen himself feel horrible. Victen realized that the rest of her family, her parents, her siblings, all probably shared feelings concerning the boy they took into their own family under false pretenses. They're not dead! Victen wanted to scream. I still have a family. A mother, a father, grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, I have them all! A pause overtook Victen, a sinking feeling. And I abandoned them. I packed my things and got out without a word. I left them behind, I left them all behind. And for what? What do I get from this? I get to run off to a family who can barely support themselves and get them to take me in with a sob story-with a lie!

It was at that point that Victen had realized that he really had stopped dead, and was pacing again, on and off the road. He was getting suspicious looks from all around. Embarrassed, he got back to the road and walking.

-------

The festival did a good job at occupying Victen's time and mind, so much so that he didn't even remember his episode on the road, figuring it long behind him. He had long left the Ranchers and was walking around the area, communing with locals and inquiring about their day-to-day lives. The locals themselves seemed rather bored with Victen's conversation, the last thing they wanted to do during this holiday was to think of the day-to-day. Suddenly, everyone seemed to walk in one direction, heading to one central location. Curious, Victen followed, seeing a crowd surrounding a single man Victen didn't recognize. He spoke of a grand event, a race to gather six medallions. The grand prize, a fortune of food and money to be sent wherever the winner may choose. The crowd grew uncontrollable at that, rejoicing at the prospect of being able to bring their family to fortune. It struck Victen deeply, these people didn't think of themselves, they would undertake this challenge solely for the gain of others.

Thinking about it, the entire thing did have a strange sense of romanticism and allure to Victen. The chance to explore the several towns of the land. Meeting new people at every corner. A chance to encounter new Pokemon, battling with the strongest battle masters around. The prize didn't even seem to matter to Victen, the premise alone was enough to excite him. He wanted to do this, to go on this journey. He had a Pokemon, a Flareon that had been a friend to Victen since it was an Eevee, it was practically his Pokemon. He didn't think twice about taking when he left home. That Pokemon, his friend, was now a bitter reminder of his sins. It was for that reason that he hadn't released it from its Apricorn since the day he stole it.

Victen had him mind set on leaving for this journey, but was given pause. What was he thinking? He was considering leaving his adoptive family! These people took him in, they obviously cared for him, despite him not being one of them. He couldn't just leave, he had to tell them first. Am I crazy? Victen asked himself. I leave my family without a second thought, and now when I'm about to leave these guys I barely know I feel bad? Wanting to leave not one, but two families is one thing, but what's with these double standards? No, I shouldn't feel bad about leaving these people, I should feel bad about staying with them. I have to leave. I'm a parasite, draining their already strained money and food. They'd never tell me, but it's true. I can't tell them I'm going, they would just expect me to go back to them if I did. That's not an option. I can't just go off on some journey for my own leisure and then come back to leach off that family again. It's better this way. This is the best way. Victen kept reassuring himself. The celebration would be winding down soon, someone would come looking for him, and if he stuck around, he would be found. Wordlessly, Victen left the festival, and went to Kalay Crossing to lie low for a bit. The entering of the forest solidified his decision. He just abandoned another family, and just like the first one, he could never go back.

---

Victen wandered aimlessly within Kalay Crossing. He didn't really know why, but it kept his mind busy, watching out for uneven footing and roots. A few times, his boots sunk into mud, or he scraped an arm on a tree, dirtying his shirt, which made him annoyed. Still, the forest was quite pretty. Every now and again, he would catch a glimpse or hear the sound of wild Pokemon nearby. At the time, Victen was following what he was sure was a Sewaddle through the forest, wanting a closer look. He was sure that he had long since lost the trail of the wild Pokemon, though having nothing better to do, he pressed on. He must've been somewhat deep into the forest, and the closely packed trees and growth began to fade away into a clearing. Victen began wondering if he would be able to find his way back. Not wanting to take any chances, Victen turned around and began to head back in the direction from which he came. A distant noise stopped him.

The noise was too far away to determine the location, but it was unmistakeably a roar of some sort. More than that there was more noise, getting louder by the second. Once the sounds were close enough to make out, it was the sound of rustling leaves and several snapping twigs. But there was something under that, a low thudding sound, somewhat rhythmic. The leaves and twigs stopped, only the thudding remained. There was a roar, much closer, much louder, much more fearsome.

Victen turned in time to see a huge brown mass coming towards him. There was a large clump of dark brown, with a lighter brown behind it. Jutting out from the sides were huge, sharp, gold-banded horns. It was the source of the roaring, and it was getting closer at a terrifying rate, clearing the distance from the far side of the clearing to where Victen was standing in seconds, seconds that seemed to go by far too quickly. Victen, fear-stricken, stood perfectly still, not a muscle moving, not even breathing. He was dumbfounded, and his brain wouldn't work. The only thing going through Victen's head is that he would die the instant that thing touched him, yet he was doing nothing to stop it. The thudding grew closer, the roar was deafening. Victen shut his eyes.

He felt grass beneath him, he was moving, rolling down a grassy hill. The only pain was in his leg, the roaring continued. Victen's eyes, iron-wrought shut, suddenly snapped open. Everything was dark, and there was something soft tickling his nose, grass. Victen lifted his head, he had stopped rolling on his face. His pant leg and lower portion of his shirt were covered in mud and grass, but he didn't care. He was at the bottom of the small valley in the clearing. He had tripped and fell down the hill, it must've been seconds before the huge thing would've clobbered him. Remembering that he was still in danger, Victen looked for the thing that was so close to running him over. He found it at the top of the hill, far past where he was standing before he fell. Apparently, the creature was also expecting to make quick work of the boy. Now that it wasn't moving, Victen finally had a good look at it. It had clearly been weathered in its time in the forest, having a long scar beneath one of its savage yellow eyes trained with the intent to kill on Victen. One of the gold rings on its sinister horns was broken, only hanging on the horn because it was so tightly wrapped around it. It let out a snort, and kicked up the earth in clumps. It was ready to charge again, and the best Victen could hope for was to delay his imminent death a little longer, though he doubted he had the luck to do it twice. Victen saw firsthand how fast it was, and there was no way of outrunning it.

It was ready to charge again, when a sharp cry sounded somewhere close to Victen. From out of nowhere, the thing's head was suddenly engulfed in flames. Startled, Victen looked around him, now sure that if the giant charging monster didn't kill him, the one that could produce flames would. Yet, looking down to his side, a ghost of the past stood. Standing steadfast and determined even in the face of the terrible beast was a Flareon. Her Apricorn must've fallen from Victen during his fall, and released what was inside. For the first time in over two weeks Victen laid eyes upon the that which he had dreaded bringing with him. Yet there stood no condescending, disappointed family. No dark representation of his own greed and evil, just Flareon, the childhood friend who didn't give up on Victen like he did on her. She stood, despite all he did, willing to defend Victen. He could feel his eyes welling up, but he pushed away the tears, there was no time for that now. Victen placed his hat, which until then had been sitting on the ground, atop his head, and looked directly at the creature who had taken his Candelara's, Flareon's, attack. By this time, it had shook off the flames, now more angry than hurt. Though now it shifted its gaze to Candelara, who was, on her own initiative, running away from Victen into the more open and flat ground in the middle of the clearing. Her intent was to bring the creature away from Victen so that the two may battle one-on-one. The creature charged at Candelara, who quickly stopped and doubled back, leaving the charging Pokemon to run right past her. It was obvious that the only way out was to fight, and although Victen didn't want Candelara hurt, he also knew that she was the only thing that stood a chance. Victen got closer so that he could try and command her during the battle, her moves almost instantly coming back into his mind as he did.

"Candelara, Sunny Day!" Victen yelled to his companion, whose ears seemed to perk up upon hearing the familiar voice for the first time in weeks. Immediately, her mouth opened and an orange sphere formed just in front of it. She aimed her head to the sky, and launched the ball up. It flew, expanding as it gained altitude before exploding into orange-tinted radiance, brightening the area greatly. Victen noticed that the creature was distracted by the attack. "Now use Ember!" he told her. Instantly snapping back into action, she spit a volley of flame at the Pokemon. The powered up flames seemed to actually do damage this time, as the Pokemon didn't just shake off the attack this time. But it recovered quickly, and quickly built up speed, a downward-sloped surface gave its charge extra momentum and power. It lowered its horns and faster than Victen anticipated it slammed into Candelara, sending her into the air and over the thing's back. "No!" Victen yelled, running in towards his Pokemon, throwing caution to the wind.

Not much longer after he started, Candelara got to her feet, she was clearly hurt, but she wanted to keep on going. Her cry to Victen stopped him in his tracks. The wild Pokemon turned its attention to Candelara, clearly more interested in fighting her than mauling Victen. This is wrong! Victen thought. Candelara has only ever been in a few battles before, none of them were serious. How is she going to beat this thing? The Flareon didn't seem to share its trainer's concerns, as it looked the wild Pokemon dead in the eye, almost challenging it. The creature roared and reared a little before, seemingly for no reason, it just stared at Candelara. The two stood idle for several moments, Victen was too confused to say another command. Suddenly, the wild Pokemon charged in again. Candelara stood still, the Pokemon was getting dangerously close. "Move!" Victen shouted, though his Flareon would not. In an instant, the other Pokemon was on top of her, beating her with hooves and horns. "Candelara! Get out of there! Ember! Do something!" he yelled, practically screaming as he watched the beating, horrified. He couldn't see his Pokemon under the wild one's bulk.

Suddenly, the huge Pokemon roared, rearing as it did. From under it dashed Candelara, who panted heavily, having a difficult time standing. Pure adrenaline was fueling her more than her own strength. The wild Pokemon shook the flames from its face, still showing no signs that it may relent soon. Victen was deeply worried for Candelara, though he had no idea what he could do. Before he could think of anything, the wild Pokemon, rage-driven, started running again. Out of ideas, Victen watched as the beast came straight for a blow that would finish off his Pokemon no problem. Hopeless and defeated, he accepted that he could not win.

A fire lit inside Victen. I can't give up now! I've given up too much already. I've given up on my family, and the family after that. I've given up on Candelara, who would stand to protect me no matter what. I've given up on myself, I've given up on my will to go on. If it was just me, that would be okay. After all I've done, I probably deserve to die. But it's not just me, it's Candelara too. I can't give up on her, not again. I can't let her be drug down with me. She's the most loyal friend I've ever had. She's willing to risk herself despite what I've done. If I don't have the will to continue for myself, I have to have the will to continue for her. Victen didn't really think, so much as felt this within him. "Use Sand Attack!" Pure instinct moved his lips, and produced a voice more confident and powerful than he knew he could produce.

Reacting in an instant, Candelara drug her brush-like tail along the ground, flinging dirt and sand into the wild Pokemon's face and eyes. The Pokemon roared, and veered off course, towards the treeline. Unable to stop itself, the brute's weight and strength worked against it as it slammed its head full force into a tree. This seemed to do far more damage than anything Candelara had used on it. The Pokemon slowly backed up from the tree, trying to no avail to shake away the pain of the attack. But even after all of that, it seemed that it still wanted to fight, even if it may collapse as it did. Clumsily, the Pokemon started to run, though it didn't seem like it quite figured out who it wanted to attack yet, as it ran unsteadily somewhere in between where Candelara and Victen stood. As it picked up speed, it seemed to settle on Victen as its target, changing course his way.

Victen had no way to fight back. Candelara was too far away to do anything significant, and too tired to catch up. Still relying less on his brain and more on instinct, Victen chose to ran. Whether it was adrenaline boosting his speed, or if the knock on the head slowed the Pokemon down, or a combination of the two, Victen was able to maintain distance from the thing, though it was slowly but surly closing in. Suddenly, a light different from the grass caught Victen's eye. It was the spot where he originally fell. Scattered on the ground were apricorns, one of them was Candelara's, but the others must've been empty. Victen wasn't even aware he was carrying empty apricorns on him, or if he was, he forgot. Picking up speed and running out of energy, Victen ran towards the pile, he could hear the charging Pokemon behind him getting ever closer. Completely out of breath, Victen dove forwards and scrambled on the ground for an apricorn. As soon as he felt something in his hand, he whirled around and threw it, not really having enough time to aim. He just hoped that it was an empty apricorn he threw, and not just a random rock or Candelara's.

I felt like I really rushed it a bit in the last part, but I am somewhat satisfied with the way it is at the moment.


The small mahjong teepee parlor, inhabited by the small community of men of the Coltheart, was mostly quiet. People left their games to gather around one single little table. The eyes were on the mahjong game that was about to end. The "final" hand was about to be played. The arrangements of the tiles made slapping sounds as the tiles rubbed against each other. Dices were rolled and the walls that the tiles made were split.

People were hoping that all the other players except the one sitting East (the dealer), would win. However, as many of the occupants were veterans of the parlor, they knew it was highly unlikely. So far, it seemed like they were right. The person sitting East was nearly winning by a landslide. The only way hope one had now was to stop the person's momentum was to somehow get a direct it that was close to a counted yakuman. That wasn't likely though.

The person sitting as East, at the moment, was known to all the people who went into the parlor. He had shown up one day and defeated the parlor's longest winning streak holders as if they were ants. What was even more ridiculous was that he seemed to have an ability to usually win on a tsumo after two calls of pung, chi, and/or kong. It was ridiculous really and at first people thought he was cheating, but after observing more and more games, they realized that he wasn't cheating and that he was just a freak of nature when he played mahjong.

It didn't help their ego with the East player being barely a teenager who looked like an eight year old with his short stature, innocent look plastered on his face, and a stuffed tattered buneary in his arms.

This boy was Minh Phan.

Many of the occupants knew that Minh had recently become a Shaman. As a Shaman, Minh wanted to search for his father and bring him back home. He didn't care too much for the glory or anything. He just wanted to bring him home, so he could make his mother smile. For those who didn't have prior knowledge that Minh was a Shaman, the glaceon that sat next to him watching the game intently was also a key in that he was a Shaman. However, there was this waiting period before he was actually aloud to go anywhere and today he was legally allowed to go wherever he wanted.

"Pung," Minh said with his low, raspy voice. The man that sat across him winced as Minh moved the three tiles to the side and discarded another tile. Another person put his down reluctantly, not wanting to have it called. He let out a sigh of relieved when he noticed that Minh didn't pay mind to it at all. Minh then picked up a tile and added to his hand, "Kong."

The rest of the players winced.

Minh grabbed a tile from the dead wall and looked at it. He put it down on the table and revealed his whole hand, "Tsumo, Tsumo after a Kong, 1,200 points from all of you."

Two Chis, a pung, and a pair. (His hand.)

With that the game was over. The point gap was too large to continue with the rest of the rounds. A second of silence before the shuffling of the tiles were heard. Once the table was clear, Minh stood up and patted his glaceon on her head. She knew what it meant after being with him for a few months. She stretched her body and followed Minh outside.


Today was a local holiday amongst the Tobynians. It was a commemoration holiday honoring the rainbow bird of Tobynian myth. Many Tobynian settlements threw large celebrations throughout the whole day. However, Kalay was the most spirited out of the settlements. People sang loudly and proudly, there were people flailing about in a dance, and people eating and chatting excitedly about the upcoming festivities.

He had been out in the open a couple of hours. He and his glaceon wandered around the village, watching all the festivities from the beating of the drums to all the games for children. His mother wasn't here with him as she was one of the volunteers that were making food. Speaking of food, he and glaceon had just had a plate of very good food and they were now wandering a little before they were to leave the village.

Kalay was a large settlement of teepes known for welcoming people of all bloodlines. There were some of the rancher folk and many of them were wearing clothes that Minh himself fantasized of wearing. However, he had yet to see someone with a ten gallon hat and that made him a bit sad. There were Colthearts of many different sects. Their clothing showing off which sect they were from, but it wasn't like the non-Colthearteans understood the different colors and embroidery; they just knew that they were of Coltheartean culture. It was enough at least, but it was very annoying for most Coltheart people when they hear someone not of Coltheart blood attempt to speak their ancient language as they just made up very horrible sounds and tried to make it sound right. The Tobynians that lived in Kalay, the Wanakas, wore their moccasins and their felt like clothing. Feathers were sticking out of their beautiful brown hair and on their tan faces were colored lines made from the berries that grew in Kalay.

Many settlements found that the mixture of culture was weird, but many people that lived in Kalay didn't seem to mind. Minh didn't seem to mind it either because the small Coltheart community didn't look at him with those eyes of disgust that he grew up with given to him by his peers when he lived in Deko.

While watching a game of darts played by the younger ones, Minh felt himself being tugged and the next thing he knew he was part of a line of people who were just dancing. When Minh tried to get away someone latched onto his shoulders and then another and soon the line continued on and on. Since the people of the line were dancing, Minh was flailing about as a reaction to all their awkward and jerky movements. Minh was very uncomfortable and had found a way for his teeth to bite on the ear of his stuffed bunneary. Glaceon had detected Minh's discomfort and attempted to find a way to get him out of the situation he was in. However, many of her attempts seemed to end up her being kicked aside unknowingly by the other people of the line.

At one point, his mother for some reason, found a way onto the line and when she noticed him she had called out to him. As if he wasn't embarrassed already.

The others didn't seem to notice how uncomfortable Minh was as they were having a gall of a time. Thankfully, the booming voice of the chief broke the line as quickly as it formed, "My friends! It is with great honor that this festivity is in commemoration, of the great heroes who aided the legendary rainbow bird, who had brought peace to our fair land. Tonight! In honor of that memory! There shall be, a contest!"

People and pokemon looked at each other in wonder and confusion. Minh stared at glaceon who stared right back at him before turning their attention to the chief of the settlement, Minh's hero of the hour. (History nuts will understand my reference.)

"As you know," the chief began, "The great heroes used 6 medallions to summon the rainbow bird. Afterwards, the medallions have been sealed away, never to be used again. However! In memory of those medallions, there shall be a contest for you all, to collect re-lamentations of these medallions, for your own amusement! While you all may think that since these medallions the shamans have created are not authentic, there is great pride on collecting all 6 of them! You see, for those who collect these six medallions, they shall be hailed as a hero, be rewarded unprecedented prosperity, and of course, be a pokemon battle master!"

This perked Minh's interest. This would give Minh something to do while looking for is father and plus it could be fun.

"However!" the chief continued, quieting the other villagers and turning their attention to their leader, "Be warned that collecting these medallions is no easy task. You see, collecting these medallions require you all to do six trials. These six trials consist of the tests of the bonds you share with your partnered pokemon, as you battle against battle masters - six of them in total. These battle masters are hailed as six of the most powerful pokemon battlers in all of Tobyan, who represent six different attributes. However, if you defeat or impress them in a pokemon battle, you shall be rewarded their prize medallions. Now my fair brothers and sisters, for this contest, it shall be, a race. The one who collects all of these medallions first, and return to Kalay, shall be rewarded with a very special prize! What that prize is, I'm afraid you will just have to wait until this contest comes to a close!"

People cheered as they raised their fists into the air; however, Minh just raised his hand and was completely silent, however one was not to mistaken he wasn't happy. It was just his own way of cheering at the moment.

"This race will begin tonight, for anyone with a partnered pokemon who wishes to attend; no sign ups will be required. Now my fare brothers and sisters, make your preparations, and for those, whom want to attend this contest, meet back here tonight!"

The crowd dispersed and people were chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Minh was in a staring contest with glaceon until he remembered that his pokemon didn't have the ability to read minds like some others did.

"Don't you think this is exciting?" Minh smiled.

"Gla, gla!" Minh's glaceon smiled as she began to wag her tail.

"Minh!" Minh's mother called. His mother was a stunning woman with short black hair that reached to her shoulders. Her skin was pale, like the rest of the pure Colthearts. Her eyes were brown and currently she was wearing the yellow version of the formal wear worn by Colthearts of her sect, ao dai, "You heard what the chief said right?"

Minh nodded his head.

"Great!" Minh's mother smiled, "doesn't it sound interesting? It seems like something you would do. Are you going to do it?"

"Yes," Minh spoke this time while giving a small nod.

"That's great! Before you go sign up, why don't you catch another pokemon?" Minh's mother continued with another question.

Minh turned his head to the side.

"This is a competition right? Why not try to catch another pokemon. You'll be one step ahead of everyone else and that's a good thing right?" His mother explained and Minh admitted she had a point. Seeing her son's eyes light up in understanding she began to break down and cry.

"What's wrong?" Minh asked in worry while patting her back. Glaceon was running around her with a worried expression on her face.

His mother then hugged him and just began to cry, "Oh my little boys growing up so fast. Your father would be so proud."

He would be proud? Minh thought.
"Okay."


It had been about fifteen minutes since he entered Kalay crossing, which was just a forest that was near the village of Kalay. Trees stood tall and quiet and the only sounds seemed to be the stepping on leaves and the creek flowing in and out of the forest. Minh and his glaceon had been looking for a while, trying to find a pokemon. Those that he found were either a) sleeping or b) was already battling someone else. He didn't feel good about catching a pokemon caught unaware and didn't want to get into a messy situation with another shaman.

They were making their way towards the creek and when they got there they saw a green dinosaur like pokemon with a barely blooming flower on its back drinking water from the creek. Minh shut his eyes, trying to think of the pokemon as it seemed vaguely familiar and then it clicked. It was an Ivysaur. He learned about it during his studies to become a shaman.

"Can you catch it's attention with um… sand attack?" Minh asked with his soft voice.

"Gla, gla!" His glaceon cried as if she were saying, "Of course I can do it!"
The blue quadrapedal pokemon broke into a run and when she got close enough she turned around and kicked sediment and sand with her hind legs. The ivysaur was unlucky enough to turn around to the direction of the kicked up sediment and cried in pain as it landed on its face. Its eyes began to sting and it cried wildly in pain and in retaliation smacked glaceon with two green vines that grew from its back. While glaceon managed to land on her feet, the ivysaur wildly smashed its face into the water to be rid of the sand and sediment.

"Glaceon, can you ram into it?" Minh questioned. Glaceon nodded and broke into a run before ramming her whole body against the green dinosaur. It didn't seem to do much as ivysaur barely skidded at all. The ivysaur was very irritated and it had seemed it retained its vision. With a cry the ivysaur charged forward sending glaceon flying into the ground. The ivysaur wasn't done; however, and made a u-turn just to knock glaceon around some more.

Minh recognized it as take down and was hurriedly trying to get out of this predicament and then he remembered that glaceon had an attack that could reflect other attacks with double their power, "Mirror coat!"

Glaceon let out a growl and began to glow, but once the glowing began it had quickly stopped before the impact of the attack and soon after the glow stopped glaceon was sent flying once again. As glaceon was struggling to get up, Minh's brain was running miles a minute, trying to figure out why Mirror coat didn't work.

It was a physical attack! Minh thought, Mirror coat doesn't work on those kinds of attacks. No! It was counter that returned physical attacks with double the power!

Minh was chewing on his bunneary again. He was nervous. While biting the poor stuffed pokemon he was trying to think of a way to turn it into his favor. He didn't have much time to think; however. Ivysaur released a green powder and little black seeds from the barely blooming flower on its back.

Sleep powder and Leech Seed.

"Run away, avoid those attacks!"
Glaceon barely managed to get up and jump backwards in time before Sleep Powder and Leech Seed could land, but the ivysaur seemed prepared for that to happen though and it charged once more.

"Icy wind!" Minh ordered an attack that was on the top of his head. He wasn't sure if it could work, but it was the only offensive move they really had as Helping Hand and Sand Attack wouldn't help and Mirror Coat already turned out to be a failure. Glaceon sucked in a breath before releasing a sparkling freezing wind out of her mouth. The wind stopped the ivysaur from moving and it was having trouble not being blown away by it. The wind froze the ivysaur's skin and ice began to form on random parts of its body, stopping it in its place.

Is this enough? Minh wondered, before shaking his head, one more attack.

"Can you ram into that ivysuar one more time?" Minh asked.

Glaceon let out a weak battle cry before breaking into one more run. With all the force she could muster, she collided with the frozen pokemon and sent it skidding farther than the last attempt. Before the ivysaur could get a hold of itself to use an attack, Minh had already grabbed an apricorn ball and with a little hop he threw it with a little hop. The ball opened and sucked in the green dinosaur and fell to the ground and it began to wiggle.

Key Terms:

Pung – declaring you have three of one tile.

Chi – declaring you have a sequence made of three tiles. The sequence may be any number from 1 -9; however, it may not loop back to one.

Kong – declaring a quad, or a four of a kind. When declaring a kong you are allowed to draw a tile from the dead wall.

Dead Wall – A wall of made of fourteen extra tiles. They are mostly untouched unless a kong is called.

Tsumo – declaring mahjong from a tile you draw.

Tsumo After A Kong (Rinshan Kaihou) – declaring mahjong after drawing a tile from the dead wall.

(OOC: decided to finish Chapter 1 in one post, after others post I'll start chapter 2 :) )


Ayame grinned and hugged Vaporeon as the apricorn clicked the sign that she had caught the Kirlia. "We did it Vaporeon" Ayame said happily picking up the apricorn that now held her newest Pokemon Kirlia. She was so happy that she had caught a new Pokemon and couldn't wait to show it to her father. Plus she needed to heal her new Pokemon as well as Vaporeon before she started on this contest. Smiling she pulled Vaporeon's apricorn out of her pocket. "you did a great job girl. Take a well deserved rest" she said returning her partner before turning and heading back to the village.

Ayame was feeling great but like most things in life there was always someone to ruin her mood. "well well if it isn't Ayame" a girlish voice chuckled behind her the tone full of venom. Holding in a groan of Why me Ayame turned around becoming face to face with a girl her height. The girl had dark tan skin and was full blooded Tobynian from the Wanaka tribe and had made it her goal from when they were little to make life hard for Ayame.

"What do you want Moema" Ayame asked taking a deep breath to keep herself from glaring at the other girl. It was times like this that made Ayame wonder why the girl was named Moema, she was anything but sweet. But like other thoughts Ayame kept this to herself not wanting to cause trouble.

"Just wondering what your doing here" Moema smirked crossing her arms. "oh let me guess. Little weirdo Ayame has decided she's gonna be part of the contest." the girl laughed in Ayame's face an evil smirk on her face. "you won't last a week before you come crying home to your father, your just a freak and a failure"

Ayame just stared Moema in the eyes remembering one of the things one of the spirits, the spirit of a young girl named Nadie had told her. It was times like these she was glad when she spoke to the wise spirits it just helped her out with things. "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me" Ayame said in response before walking away from the bully, her rival Moema. Proud of the way she had delt with the other girl Ayame arrived back at her tepee and entered finding her father working on a spear while Chu'si was mending one of his shirts.

"Aya you're back how'd you do in Kalay Crossing?" Chu'si asked with a smile as Ayame sat down next to her father.

"I caught a new Pokemon" Ayame smiled happily as her father hugged her with one arm. "though I did run into Moema on the way back"

Sani smiled at his daughter. "well what did you catch, and I can heal them before you leave" he said before frowning slightly at the mention of Moema. "do I need to talk with her father again?"

Ayame smiled at her father. "you don't have to do that. Her words don't hurt me father you know that"

"alright" he said grabbing a few berries. "now show us this new Pokemon of yours" he smiled again.

"here she is" Ayame smiled grabbing the apricorn with Kirlia in it and calling out her new Pokemon. "She put up a fight, both she and Vaporeon are still weak from the battle" Ayame said calling out Vaporeon as well.

"Kirlia is a great Pokemon, cute, graceful, but a psychic type will be powerful and a great fit for you Aya" Chu'si hugged Ayame as Sani fed the berries to Kirlia and Vaporeon.

"it is a great fit for you, and Aya your mother had a Kirlia as one of her Pokemon." Sani said before standing and helping Chu'si do the same. "but we don't have long. It's getting dark out and we need to get you to the race"

Ayame grinned and nodded calling back Kirlia and Vaporeon to let the fully healed Pokemon get a bit more rest. "Of course father lets go" she said and the three left the tepee going to the starting point for the contest. "I see grandfather" Ayame said happily spotting her grandfather Kangee standing with the other council members.

"I see him Aya, you can talk to him right before you leave he has something to give you" Sani said as the sun went down the crowd going silent.

"My friends!" the Chief exclaimed grabbing everyone's attention. "It is with great pride and honor to announce the start of the race! Before I begin, I want you all to realize, there shall be many perils upon your journey. Harsh environments, dangerous pokemon, rivals, even those who seek unjust desires - they will all be obstacles in your path. However! Stay strong, for even though we all are different, as long as the light shines, there shall be a route to your success. Now my dear friends!"

Ayame smiled up at her father and step-mother as they both hugged her and wished her luck telling her no matter what happened they were so proud of her.

"Let the race.... begin!" The chief announced and people immedietly set off. With one last kiss to her father and Chu'si's cheeks Ayame quickly made her way over to her grandfather.

"Father said you wanted to see me before I left" Ayame smiled hugging her grandfather.

"yes Aya. I wanted to give you this for your Journey" Kangee smiled at his granddaughter and handed her an animal skin bag with blue beading. "I knew from the moment the council heard about this contest you would be part of it, and I made this for you"

Ayame smiled transferring her items from her pockets to the bag and hugged her grandfather. "Thank you grandfather, I love you" Ayame stepped back and accepted a kiss on the top of her head from her grandfather.

"love you too Aya, now go, don't want to be the last to leave" Kangee smiled and waved as Ayame ran off after the others who had left.

Several moments passed. Long, silent moments. Victen stared at the apricorn, shaking in the grass. Sweat poured down the boy's brow in cold bullets. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest. By the time Victen finally realized that the apricorn hadn't moved in a while, he slumped back, laying back-down in the grass. He laughed hysterically, which soon turned to coughing, which turned to choking due to lack of breath. After a hacking fit, Victen began taking deep breaths again, everything growing hazy, the clouds above him began getting out of focus. All was black.

Vision suddenly returned as Victen snapped awake from sleep. There was something soft under him, Victen began to assume he was still in his bed, his actual bed, not the one he had practically stolen from the other Rancher family. For one precious moment, Victen believed he was in the Lupesaro home, that the events of the day: the celebration, the battle with the Pokemon, even the other family, were all just a nightmare he had awoken from. It was then that Victen realized that he was looking straight up at the sky, considerably darker than it was what seemed like moments ago. There was a weight on his chest, something soft and warm. Sure enough, Candelara was right on top of him, her back rising and falling with her breaths in the tranquility of sleep. It was clear that she was hurt, but she did work up the strength to walk to Victen and rest on him, however long ago that was. Victen reached for her apricorn, which was right beside his head. Without her rest being broken, she was returned to the mysterious sphere.

Victen rose from the ground slowly. His muscles ached, especially his neck. With the late afternoon-early evening light, he could see that his right pant leg, even some of his white shirt, were covered with mud that had long since dried. Not even the first day of my journey and my clothes are already ruined. Victen thought, not able to keep himself from chuckling at just how sad that sounded. He gathered up his remaining apricorns and began to exit the clearing in what he could only hope was the way he came in. Victen stopped himself, and turned around. A few feet from where he was just sleeping, still not moving, was the apricorn containing the beast that attacked him. He debated with himself whether or not he should take it. Could he even control that thing? Could he even find the nerve to send it out in the first place? Leaving it there certainly seemed like the best solution. Though, against his better judgement, Victen shrugged. What's the worst that could happen? He asked himself as he scooped up the apricorn. As he, once again, set out for what he hoped would lead back to Kalay. Another question to himself popped into his head. I'm going to regret this, aren't I?

By some miracle, Victen found his way out of the dark and quite ominous Kalay Crossing. Having barely enough light to see in a forest filled which strange noises and dangerous Pokemon, especially after a first-hand encounter with one, tends to make the forest not seem quite as whimsical coming out as to coming in. He began to walk towards town, but was intercepted by footsteps and a familiar voice.

"Victen? What happened to you? Are you okay?" the voice behind him called. For the second time that day, Victen's adoptive sister had startled him with her voice. Victen began to walk faster, hoping that if he ignored her she wouldn't continue after him. He nearly ran into her as she quickly caught up to him and placed herself in front of him. "Stop ignoring me!" she demanded, her voice far more forceful than Victen had ever heard it.

Victen began dreading the reality that it looks like he would have to say his goodbyes after all. "How did you-" he began to ask, before being cut off by the girl in front of him. "I waited outside the forest for who-knows-how-long looking for you." she explained, which did answer Victen's question which was going to be 'how did you find me'. Another question came to Victen's mind. "But, how did you know I was even in the forest?" To that question, his adoptive sister looked down to the ground. "You're... kinda an easy person to follow." She said, the usual sheepishness to her voice returning. Victen could feel his cheeks heating up. The girl, still looking down, spoke again. "You're going to participate in that race, aren't you?" She quietly asked. Victen had no response. The girl's face hardened as she looked Victen in the eye once more. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Everyone's worried sick!" The words stung Victen, who still had no response, only able to avert his gaze from the piercing cold stare of the girl before him. Instantly, her eyes softened. She rifled through a bag at her hip that Victen had not noticed. From it, she produced a neatly folded shirt, near identical to his minus the grass stain. Beneath it, pants that were also strikingly similar to his own, though perhaps slightly lighter. Her voice was soft once more when she spoke. "Those are the only clothes you've been wearing for nearly two weeks. I thought you might want something clean to travel in, looks like it was good that I did." She said, apparently not even going to question how Victen's clothes were dirtied. Speechless, Victen took the clothing from the girl's hands, his arms close to shaking. "I... tha- thank you." he stammered, unfolding the shirt carefully, looking at it in near disbelief. His adoptive sister blushed slightly, covering her eyes with a hand and turning her back to Victen, who changed as quickly as he could.

Following that ordeal, the girl accepted Victen's dirty clothes into her bag, seeing as how Victen had no real use for them. The two stared at each other for a moment, before the girl suddenly rushed up and embraced Victen. "Whatever you decide to do, just be careful. And remember that you will always have a home to come back to." She whispered to him, the words, no matter how kind they were, hit Victen harder than he even thought the Pokemon he caught in the forest could. "Ye- yeah." was the only response he could come up with as he put his arms around her, imagining for one moment that his mother, grandmother, aunt, sisters, anyone was receiving his embrace. No words were exchanged between the two as the hug broke, Victen bowed the brim of his hat over his eyes as he slowly began to walk away from the girl, picking up the pace as he went. Leaving without a word was one thing, imagining the family's response was one thing, but having talked to his adoptive sister, he almost wished he was nailed by the creature in the forest. Truly feeling like he was leaving behind another family, angry at himself for caring so much about the people he leeched off of, angry for being more sad when departing from them than from his own family, Victen ran, though no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to outrun his mixed emotions.

It was night by the time he had found the trainers preparing to depart for the journey to collect the six medallions. The same person who announced the event was giving another speech, though Victen was barely listening to it. He focused on the road ahead.

Kimi danced about, filled of delight with her new Pokémon.

"Jaaaames! We caught a new Pokémon!"

"Nah, you caught him. I just told you how," James said with a smile, "Good job, Kimi."

Kimi smiled back, but quickly turned to let her new Dunsparse out.
Dunsparse flopped out of the apriball, looking around wildly. He wriggled up against a tree, looked at James, then Eevee, and finally Kimi. She scooped him up, and held him up to her face.

"Helloooo! You're my Pokémon now, Dunsparse!"

Dunsparse blinked a few times with understanding on his face. He then crawled into Kimi's pack and curled into a resting state.
James looked at Kimi with a confused expression.

"Aren't you going to put him back in the apricorn?"

Kimi just smiled and said, "You wouldn't want to be cooped up in a ball, would you? Putting Pokémon in apricorns is cruel and unusual." James decided it was best not to argue with her.

"Okay," He said, "But good luck carrying around a bunch of Pokémon with you."

"I'll figure something out," retorted Kimi, "Now let's go back to Kalay and tell your parents you're going on an adventure with me. We should catch a Pokemon for you as well in the morning, so you can have a chance in battle."

"Uhhh, yeah about that. I don't really want to battle with Pokémon…I'm no good at it," James confessed. Kimi looked at him incredulously.

"But…you know so much about Pokémon! It seems like you'd be really good at it."

"Yes, but…I don't have any…talent or anything. Actually, I'm really awful at it," explained James, "And besides, I don't want my Abra getting hurt."

James pulled out a white painted apriball, and then put it back in his pack.

"I'll still go with you, but don't expect me to do any battling. I just want to learn about Pokémon from all places. Look," James pulled out a journal from his pack. "See? This is full of information about Pokémon. But there are only a few Pokémon in here. I want to expand it to include all kinds. And there is always more to learn about Pokémon."

Kimi's eyes were wide with amazement. She was thumbing through the pages, looking at all the pictures.

"What do these words say?" asked Kimi.

"This is just information on how they act, like here, it says Dunsparse are usually calm, and prefer to intimidate foes into running away than fight," replied James, "…you never learned how to read?"

Kimi smiled sheepishly.
"We don't have a written language where I'm from. But I can help you with your journal too, there are many Pokémon where I'm from."

"Thanks Kimi," said James. He stopped and looked at the sky. It was getting dark, and they didn't have much time left. Well, we should head back. But do me a favor," said James, "Don't tell my Dad that I'm not actually doing the race. He thinks I'm a good trainer like him."

Kimi laughed.

"You know, you should just tell him. I'm sure he'll understand," assured Kimi.

"I just don't want him to be disappointed, and I want to finish my journal before I tell him. That way I can make him proud in other ways."

Kimi smiled and started walking back to town. "Don't worry," she said, "I'll keep it a secret." With that she started running off, and Eevee was at her side, panting all the way.

James sighed and started walking too, thinking of what he was going to tell his Dad.


Kimi turned and saw James coming out of his house. He was looking at the ground.

"How did it go?"

James looked distraught, but he snapped into normality at these words.
"Oh, it went fine. My Dad thinks I'm going to get the medallions, and gave me his old apriball to use. He said he was "very proud to have a son as brave as me", and that he knew I could win."

Kimi sensed his guilt. "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm sure he'll say the same thing when I get back…yeah, I'm alright." Kimi was still worried though, and she didn't want James to feel bad.

"Hey," she said, "the race is going to start soon. Perk up." She slapped him on the back, almost knocking him over.

"My friends!" the elder called, grabbing everyone's full attention. "It is with great pride and honor to announce the start of the race! Before I begin, I want you all to realize, there shall be many perils upon your journey. Harsh environments, dangerous Pokémon, rivals, even those who seek unjust desires - they will all be obstacles in your path. However! Stay strong, for even though we all are different, as long as the light shines, there shall be a route to your success. Now my dear friends!"

Kimi threw her pack over her shoulder. Dunsparse gave a warning rattle, then quieted down. Eevee was completely still, not even breathing.

Everyone else then prepared themselves, mounting on their Ponytas and Rapidashes, awaiting the signal. A few of them sweated bullets and a few you can hear gulping. You could cut the tension with a knife. Soon the chief cleared his throat once more.

"Let the race.... begin!

James and Kimi started running towards their first destination, a cavern to Suijin. They were quickly outpaced by those on Pokémonback, but they didn't let up.

James had to stop after a while, and Kimi stopped with him. James smiled and pulled out his apriball, releasing Abra.

"Can't…believe I didn't…think of this earlier…" he gasped, "Abra! Teleport us to the passage to Suijin!"
The world distorted around them, and with a sharp crack they found themselves at the entrance to the cavern.

"Phew! I need to…catch my breath…just a second.." James stammered, supporting himself on a tree. "Return, Abra!" He commanded, and Abra was sucked up into the apriball.

Kimi picked Eevee up and put her on her shoulder. "Hold on," She said, "Rest here!"

James eventually calmed down and they ventured into the cavern.

Wow, Kimi thought, this place has lots of cute Pokémon! Eevee might get jealous…

James stopped and stared several meters into the distance. "Look…" he whispered to Kimi, "what is that?"

It was a watery figure, with what appeared to be diamond shaped spots. It had aqua blue coloration, with purple and white mixed in. Kimi could barely make out what it was.

Just as soon as it appeared, it vanished. Kimi looked around wildly, trying to find this apparition. She may have imagined it, but she swears she heard it say, "Beware….."

James was scared. "What was that…?" was all he managed to say. He looked at Kimi for a response. Kimi was just as confused as he was, though not as afraid.

"I'm not sure," said Kimi, "Probably just the elders trying to test us."

James shook himself off and they continued, looking for interesting Pokémon to study. Suddenly, a voice stopped them. Kimi whirled around to face whoever dared interfere with her quest.

"Halt! You are trespassing on Neptune Tribe sacred grounds! You and your friends won't hurt us anymore!"

"What is he talking about?" asked Kimi.

James shrugged. "No idea."

The Neptune tribesman sent out a brown, flat, fish Pokémon. It had yellow features, and its eyes were on one side.

"Fisssskk," the Pokémon buzzed. It didn't too threatening, so Kimi decided to send Dunsparse in its first real battle.

"Alright, Dunsparse! This guy doesn't look like he's going to move! I'm counting on you to change his mind!"

Dunsparse seemed eager to battle, rattling his tail with anticipation. The foe's Stunfisk, as it was called, started glowing yellow.

"Dunsparse! Watch out!" yelled Kimi, but there was no avoiding the discharge given off by Stunfisk. Dunsparse was knocked back towards Kimi, with burn wounds on his face. He was not ready to quit, however, and awaited orders from Kimi.

"Okay, Dunsparse! Use Glare!"

Dunsparse gave the foe's Stunfisk a deathly stare, scaring it into not being able to move. The tribesman shouted something in his native tongue, but Stunfisk was to afraid to obey. Kimi saw her chance.

"Dunsparse! Headbutt!"

Dunsparse slowly slithered up to the Stunfisk, and smashed his head against the foe's. Stunfisk cried in pain but still couldn't attack. Dunsparse charged at him for another headbutt, but the fish Pokémon finally snapped out of his fear and dodged awkwardly.

Dunsparse's head did make contact…with the rock wall behind the Neptunian Tribesman. Stunfisk started to blend in with the scenery, becoming invisible while Dunsparse came to his senses. Neither Kimi or Dunsparse could see him anymore.

Suddenly Dunsparse was hit by a large pack of mud, covering him and decreasing his vision even further. Before he could react, another blob of mud hit him in the face. Dunsparse couldn't take much more of this, and Kimi was desperately thinking of what to do next.

"Dunsparse, use Yawn!"

Dunsparse let out a huge yawn, and a couple of seconds later a yawn was heard to Dunsparse's left. Dunsparse quickly headbutted in the direction of the yawn, sending Stunfisk flying. His camouflage wore off, but Dunsparse still couldn't see through the mud on his face.

"Use Yawn again!"

Dunsparse yawned again, and another yawn came from Stunfisk, who received another headbutt. This proved to be the last of both Dunsparse and Stunfisk's strength, and they both fainted. Kimi shrieked, and ran over to Dunsparse.

"Dunsparse! Are you okay?" She picked him up and wiped the mud off his face. She held him close and looked up at the tribesman.

He stared at her for a while. Then he finally spoke.

"I see that I was wrong about you. You are not of the goons who attack our people; your heart is that of compassion and commitment. But you're weak and have much to learn child," and with that, he returned Stunfisk to his apriball and left.

James and Kimi started to help Dunsparse in his pain, and the mysterious being who was watching the fight returned to the entrance of the cave, sensing a new arrival.

Tahow Carterwas not convinced to participate in any way. He was born in Kaley and neverwanted to leave. It was now early morning and Tahow still hadn't gotten anysleep. Last night Father told me he wanted me to go on this hunt. He thoughtabout this and pondered that and that only, all last night. He couldn't bear itany longer; if he was ordered toleave then he would but never on his own will. Tahow put on his hat which wasmade from deer hind and had two feathers at the back, one longer one in frontand one shorter one in the back which covered his dark brown hair which hedisliked but didn't hate. His skin always looked more tanish brownish. He doesn'twear a shirt but wears what almost looks like a toga covered in black feathers.He hand crafted his shorts from deer hind and had made cuts along the entire circumferenceof the shorts end to. The cuts were equally spread and rather deep into theshorts to show they were his. The sun was finally starting to rise so Tahow gotdressed and went onto the porch to see that Kaley was almost empty of peopledue to the race. Tahow's dad finally came up to him around fifteen minuteslater to speak to him. He had soft brown eyes just like Tahow though his skinwas of a darker shade. He was relatively overweight but not by a lot though hedressed in the same sort of clothing as Tahow. He gently put a beefy hand onTahow's shoulder to comfort him and said, "Tahow it's time for you to go. I itis hard but please believe me it won't just benefit the family but it will alsobenefit you. So I am no longer requesting that you participate in the race."Tahow's dad swallowed hard before continuing. "I am ordering you to. It is hardfor me to say this but as I said earlier it will help you broaden yourhorizons. I suggest you start packing your things." His dad finished with atear streaking down his face. It really was hard for both of them but now Tahowthought it was harder for his dad to bear it. His father had cared for him everyday since his mother died giving birth to him. Tahow loved his father, his onlyrelative, and now he was forced to leave him. It was very hard but if he lovedhis dad he would obey and start packing now. He packed up his things in about fortyfive minutes and his father saw him out before he left. The path ahead seemedto be dark even though the sun shone brightly above Kaley now. The streams andthe farm land all seemed a thousand miles away now with no more comfort byanyone; all he had was himself. His Leafeon, which he had as once an Eevee onlyevolved last year, was by his side, his only trusted companion now. All seemedlost the one thing that kept him on this forced path was his Leafeon. The firstthing he must do to at least become better is catch a Pokémon in KaleyCrossing. Kaley Crossing was the forest he had always been into with his dad toretrieve the berries necessary for food. He showed him the difference between piousnessones and non piousness ones. Now he wasn't in there for berries but went inthere for a different purpose, Pokémon.

Chapter 1-2​

Kaley's Crossing.​

Upon entering Kaley's Crossing, Tahow sensed something different about it; he didn't knowwhat but he did. He followed the familiar trail through the forest. He couldstill hear the cries of Pokémon which he recognized as Ivysaur's, and Pigdeotto's.He continued to walk the trial he had remembered for a long time for about anhour or so when he heard what he thought was thunder though it sounded to closedto the ground. He stayed put for anout a full minute when he could see a wild Bouffalant came charging at him.It's mighty horns were pointed straight at his chest. Tahow tried to move butwas rooted to the spot in fear. His mouth was dry and couldn't order Leafeon todo anything. When it was about to crash into him he regained his senses. Quickly spinning out of its way, Bouffalant missed Tahow by inch, just putting a minor cuton his arm. The Bouffalant had too much momentum and was sent, horns first intoa tree a few yards behind Tahow, forcingit into a defense less position. This was his chance to catch it!

"Leafeon use Razor Leaf, but avoid freeing him of the tree!" Tahow ordered.

Leafeonobeyed and did a great job at bruising the Bouffalant pretty badly withoutmaking it easier for the Bouffalant to escape. Too beaten to even try toescape, the Bouffalant gave up hope and submitted. Tahow threw the apricorn andhoped for the best.

The Second Attempt

Now theBouffalant was beside itself with anger and to top it all off it was no free ofits tree! Tahow was scared, but at the same time didn't want to run. How wouldhis dad feel if he ran away from a fight? He always told him to never give upso that's what he would do. I can't giveup and won't even if I die trying! He thought. Almost immediately after anidea popped into his head though it was very risky.

"Leafeon areyou ready for this?" Tahow asked his partner who, in response, got ready forbattle.

TheBouffalant charged at top speed, glaring at Tahow with the eye of a killer. Hejust stood there and waited.

"Leafeon useRazor Leaf!" Tahow shouted. Leafeon obeyed but the Bouffalant was ready for it.It jumped to the side then back on the path for the kill. Bouffalant shook hishead in anger and was ready to crush Tahow. Though Tahow was expecting this andmade his move.

" Leafeonmove out of the way!" He ordered. Leafeon was hesitant to leave his mastersaide.

"GO!" Tahowshouted and this time he obeyed leaving the blood thirsty Bouffalant and himone on one.

He was onlyten feet away from him when he leapt up off the ground and kicked hard againstthe tree finally landing on top of him. The Bouffalant kicked and bucked butTahow managed to stay on by clinging onto the bull like Pokémon's horns. Tahow triedto speak but every time his jaw would just get forced shut by the writhing Pokémon.It was him and him only without any help by his own Pokémon. Leafeon must havesensed danger for the Bouffalant howled in pain and dropped to the forestfloor. There was a gash In his side from the Razor Leaf Leadfeon just produced.Leafeon smiled as to say 'you're welcome' . The Bouffalant started to struggleto get back up. Bouffalant wasn't to give up but Tahow had to catch it. A second attempt at catching Bouffalant probablywouldn't hurt. Tahow thought throwing another apricorn at the now heavilybeaten Pokémon.

Ayame stopped running as she reached the bridge that led to the sacred cavern. She wiped a few beads of sweat of her forehead and leaned against a tree panting. She wasn't used to running for so long but it was all part of the race. If she wanted to get a little ahead of others she needed to move fast. But it was worth it, she was really happy to get to travel that's all that matter to her. She pulled Vaporeon and Kirlia's apricorns and tossed it into the air smiling as Vaporeon and Kirlia appeared in a red light.

"Vapor, Vaporeon" Vaporeon cried excitedly bouncing up and down making Ayame giggle as she caught her breath.

"Kir, lia" Kirlia looked at her new trainer and Ayame took a few steps forward toward the bridge followed by both Pokemon.

"I want you both by my side as we start officially." she said as the teenage girl and two crossed the bridge and entered the cavern. Right away Ayame noticed it wasn't as dark as she thought and she saw a liquid-like silhouette across from her. It had a cape like mane, a white underbelly, and diamond shaped spots and Ayame froze just staring at it. She was unsure if it was real or a spirit but it kinda reminded her of a Pokemon.

She just started at it when suddenly she heard a voice "Beware..." and the figure jumped away deeper into the cavern.

What was that thing? Ayame thought before taking a deep breath and looking down at Kirlia and Vaporeon. "it'll be okay, lets just keep moving forward." she said softly and started to walk deeper into the cavern kinda surprised it wasn't getting darker. As she looked around at the walls of the cavern Ayame spotted several cave drawings of humans hunting with Pokemon at their sides. She saw the waterfall and several small lakes and puddles but the path she was on was dry. With the aquatic atmosphere Ayame reached the conclusion that she would find plenty of water type Pokemon in here. It was the perfect atmosphere for them. Even Vaporeon looked like she was really enjoying. Glancing at Vaporeon Ayame giggled seeing the water eeveelution jumping in a small puddle.

Shaking her head Ayame looked around and spotted a man and a woman approaching her. They both were dressed in light blue and yellow outfits the man's hair black in color and up in a ponytail the woman's brown in color and in a braid. "I thought your kind were told to leave" the man said narrowing his eyes calling out a Buizel as the woman sent out a Corphish.

"I have no idea what you are talking about sir, but if it's a battle you want, then that's what you'll get" Ayame said as Vaporeon jumped in front of her and Ayame handed the Pokemon a Pecha Berry "Vaporeon use Water Gun on Buizel, Kirlia use Magical Leaf on Corphish."

Vaporeon stood her ground and fired a jet of water out of her mouth that hit the Buizel though it didn't seem to do much. The Buizel countered right away with Swift. The Buizel's tail glowed white and it swung it sending white stars at Vaporeon that hit causing slight damage. Kirlia raised both hands above her head and lowered them sending a wave of glowing green leafs at Corphish. The Corphish let out a cry of pain the attack doing a bit more damage and then countered with Bubblebeam. The Corphish lifted it's claw and opened it sending bubbles at Kirlia. Each bubble impacted making Kirlia cry out.

"Good Job Guys, now Vap-" Ayame started to say but was interrupted by the man's voice.

"Buizel use Quick attack on Vaporeon" The Buizel darted forward quickly, so fast Ayame couldn't issue a command. The Buizel hit Vaporeon making her skid back a bit and growl.

"Vaporeon use sand-attack on the Buizel followed by Water Gun, Kirlia use Confusion on Corphish" Ayame called out.

Vaporeon turned her back to Buizel and kicked her back legs kicking dirt right into the Buizel's face. At the same time Kirlia's eyes glowed light blue and a light blue aura surrounded Corphish.

"Corphish use Bubblebeam again on Kirlia" The woman called out and Ayame crossed her fingers hoping the Corphish was confused. The Corphish went to use the attack but swayed in it's confusion, to make things worse for the man and woman Corphish didn't hurt itself, instead the bubbles hit Buizel in the back of the head making it fall on it's face before getting up and glaring at it's teammate.

"Kirlia use Magical Leaf on Buizel, Vaporeon Water Gun on Corphish" Ayame called out at the same time the man gave his orders. The Buizel opened it's mouth and hit Vaporeon with a jet of water from Water gun. Vaporeon winced but shook it off and used the same attack on the still confused Corphish. Kirlia raised her arms above her head again and sent the glowing green leafs at Buizel. The leafs hit and the Buizel fell face forward and collapsed fainting. Seeing her chance Ayame grinned. "Now Vaporeon use Natural Gift on Corphish!"

Vaporeon closed her eyes to take a breath when Corphish snapped out of it's confusion and used metal claw. The Corphish's claw turned silver and it jumped at Vaporeon. Ayame was about to call a warning when Kirlia leaped in the way and took the hit crying out and going weakly to her knees. "Kirlia!" Ayame called out right as Vaporeon's eyes opened and a bolt of electricity hit Corphish knocking it out.

"We were wrong, you are not one of the bad people who hurt others. Your Pokemon are loyal to you" the man said and both returned their Pokemon and left without another word.

Ayame dropped to her knees beside Kirlia and Vaporeon. "you both did great" she whispered smiling. She returned Kirlia and healed Vaporeon with an Oran berry, "we'll let Kirlia rest for now Vaporeon, lets keep going" she said standing and walking farther into the cavern Vaporeon at her side.

Kimi Anegelo and James Castel
The water tunnel

Kimi and James did all they could for Dunsparce, but he was in no shape for moving, much less battle. What he needed was sleep and recovery berries, and Kimi hadn't thought to bring any. James offered to go out and get some, but Kimi told him he would get lost in the cave, so he stayed.

Kimi put Dunsparce back in her pack, making a bed out of one of her dresses. Luckily, the only Neptune tribesmen they met were too busy looking for the white-robes to challenge them.

"Awww, what an adorable pokemon!" Kimi had spotted a snakelike pokemon, blue in color and playful in nature. About the length of James' arm, this pokemon had a white underbelly, wing-like ears and a very goofy looking nose. Kimi couldn't contain herself and started to play with this new creature.

"Oh, aren't you just the cutest thing?! You're so little and precious!"

"Uh, Kimi?" James started, "Kimi, look-"

Kimimlooked up and saw several tribesman surrounding the area, watching her with this pokemon.

"Young girl, you are very lucky to make such friendly relations with such a frightening beast," one of the older tribesman said.

Kimi started giggling. "Oh this little guy? He wouldn't hurt a zubat. And everybody hates zubats."

"He may not seem it now, youngling," started another tribesman, "but this is the very monster which can summon thunder, ice, and fire. He tears with vicous claws, and maims with sharp teeth. He can-"

"So far the only thing he has managed to do is succomb to my beauty," teased Kimi, "With all due respect elder, this does not look like a threatening pokemon to me."

The elders began to mumble amongst themselves. It would seem they have started a heated debate in a few shorts seconds. After much bickering and a few votes, the tribesman looked back to the two travelers.

"Fine, little one," said the older man, "you're pokemon shall compete with this beast, in a battle to teach you a lesson. If you succeed, you are allowed to try and capture this monster and train it as your own, in hopes of calming its savage nature."

Sheesh, these guys sound crazy to me. Its just a little baby... Kimi said to herself. Out loud she said, "Thank you, Elder, for this chance to prove myself a wild beast tamer, and master of all frightening baby snakes!"

Oh man, Kimi. Please stop disrespecting the tribesman. Remember what happened to Dunsparce? James thought.

The tribesman only laughed and returned to his brethren, a safe distance from the battle to begin.

Ha! This is gonna be sooooooo easy. And I even get to keep him if I win, which I will. Kimi psyched herself up for the fight.
"Okay, little guy, lets do this! Eevee, you're up!"

Eevee was ready for battle. She got into her usual battle stance and lowered her head. "Vee!" The wild pokemon seemed just as ready to battle, and coiled up in preperation. Kimi couldn't quite understand what it said, but it sounded like "teeny". She thought this was humerous, as the pokemon was quite small for a "savage beast".

"Alright, Eevee! This should be easy! Use sand attack!"
Eevee's paws curled up, gathering sand. She then ran towards the wild pokemon, feinting to the left and throwing sand simultaniously. The sand missed the wild pokemon's eyes, however, and only managed to annoy him. The beast uncoiled and whiped Eevee across the back with its tail. Eevee jumped back, trying to shrug off the pain. The beast raised itself up, and started drawing electricity from the air. Kimi reacted quickly, and commanded Eevee to stop the beast with a tackle before he could unleash his charge. Eevee was able to break the beasts focus with a risky tackle, but managed to hurt herself in the process. The wild beast slithered away from Eevee.

"Okay, use tackle again, Eevee!"

Eevee charged after the beast, but he was waiting for this, and anticipated Eevee's feint to the left again. He dodged easily and responded with a mighty blow from his tail, firm with tensed muscles and hard as rock. Eevee was blown back into a corner, dazed at what just happened. The beast started twisting in odd ways, almost in some sort of dance. His eyes turned white, and his expression turned deadly. Before Kimi could think of what to do next, and before Eevee could even think about getting up, the beast charged at Eevee in a fury. It was over, Eevee couldn't dodge this hit, and the beast was almost unscathed. Kimi did the only thing she could to help Eevee.

"Eevee! Come back!"

Eevee dissapeared in a purple fog, and was returned to her apriball for the first time in many years. Kimi looked around, embaressed with herself. The elders started mumbling again.

"Wait! Kimi! You still have one more pokemon, right?" James called from the other side of the "arena". He ran over to Kimi.

"Are you crazy?!" Kimi whispered, " Dunsparce can't battle! You saw him, he-"
James put his finger to his lips. He smiled and pulled the white apriball from his pack.

"Here," he said, "I want you to use Abra. I can't see you get this embarressed."

Kimi looked at him. She couldn't say anything, but her face said it all.

"You're wealcome," James said, "just....don't let him get hurt too much."

Kimi smiled and turned around. "I'm not finished yet, you bast-"

She was cut off by Abra suddenly popping out of his apriball. Usually Abra is asleep all day, but he was "wide" awake now. Kimi understood that abra had next to zero battle experience. He was bred, not caught, and has been with James his whole life.

The beast started "dancing" again, in an even more erotic fashion this time. He charged, even faster and deadlier than the last rush, at abra.

Kimi only knew one attack abra could use.

"Abra! Teleport!"

Abra was very content with getting the hell out of the way, and quickly teleported behind the wild pokemon. The beast stopped short of the cave wall, and turned around. Again, the beast twisted and convolted, the most insane dance yet. This time he not only charged, but a strange orange and blue fire sprouted on the ground he raced over, but Kimi noticed not heat change. Too easy she thought.

"Teleport again!"

Abra did his thing, and the beast was a milisecond too late again. He passed through the area abra was sitting on a second ago, and he finally calmed down. His eyes turned back to normal, and the fire went away. Exhausted, the beast started stumbling, and collopsed a few times. After accidentally hurting itself, he finally gave in and didn't get back up. The tribesmen and James were all trying to look over one anothers soulders too see what happened. Kimi realised that she was biting her nail, and quickly bit it off and put her hand down. Abra looked around, and eventually teleported back to Kimi's side.

"Aaaabra," he hissed, trying to figure out where James was. James ran over to Kimi again.

"You did it, Abra!" he exclaimed, overjoyed with his pokemon.

"Eh, hem." Kimi cleared her throught to get his attention, "I did it."

"Oh, yeah, of course Kimi, but Abra is the one that did all the hard work."

Kimi was suprised. She stared at him incredulously, "Hard work?! He just teleported around!"

James looked at her. "Well, can you teleport?"

Kimi decided to let James be, she knows she was the real person who did it. Why should what he says matter?

The elders started mumbling again, drawing the two youngster's attentions. They waited for them to finish, while Kimi secretly slided the apriball back to James.

The elders had finished and finally the younger speaker said, "We are very impressed by your courage, youngling. But you are too hasty in your decisions, and do not think things through."

Gee, where have I heard that before? Kimi thought.

"However, we shall allow you to attempt to capture the beast, and learn from him patience and the reward it yeilds."

Kimi bowed and grabbed her best apriball. The beast may be down andnout for battle, but there is hidden strength found within pokemon. She prayed to all the gods, known and unknown, and threw her apricorn.