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  1. #91
    Lover of Centipedes Scytherwolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arrow-Jolteon View Post
    Awesome! Must have been fun coming up with his design. From descriptions of him he seems to be a mix between a tardigrade and a bear and that sounds awesome.
    It was! I'll have to find my old sketches of him sometime.


  2. #92
    Lover of Centipedes Scytherwolf's Avatar
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    Okay, after a long while, here's the next chapter!


    The Path of Destiny
    Chapter 78 – Legendary Encounter



    “Cyclone wants to split the army into groups,” Silverbreeze said, the early morning light shining overhead as Ashend and Itora looked to her, skepticism and wariness on their faces.

    Silverbreeze had chosen a meeting spot close to the main sleeping grounds, near where the prey was brought in but secluded among the rocks and foliage so that no one could see them at a distance. Though Ashend had at first said that it was too close, that pokémon could pass by, Silverbreeze assured her that no one would be around at that time of morning, and certainly not Solus or any of the other powerful psychic types. The scyther had insisted it was a good place to talk freely, maybe not ideal, but it would do for the time being.

    “What’s the point in that?” Itora asked, giving the scyther an annoyed glare. “We’ve always worked together.”

    “He’s worried that such a large group of pokémon has attracted the attention of humans,” Silverbreeze said. “I’ve tried to convince him to let Solus lead a group, but Cyclone wants him right here with him. With us.” She gave a worried look to Itora and Ashend.

    “Well, it makes no difference anyway, then,” Ashend sighed. “We’ve been having to deal with Solus enough already.”

    “I told Cyclone I wanted to stay,” Silverbreeze said. “I believe he’ll allow me to, at least for the time being. However…” She trailed off, as if hesitant to say anything more. “That’s not all I wanted to tell you two today. I believe that I may have an idea of what we can do about Cyclone.”

    Ashend kept her expression unreadable, waiting to see what the scyther would say before she gave any sort of reaction. In truth, Silverbreeze’s words surprised her a bit, though she wasn’t sure she could get her hopes up yet.

    “Well, go on,” said Itora.

    “I’ve heard pokémon talking,” Silverbreeze explained, “and they said that months ago, there was an ice type. An ice type who used the Forbidden Attack Deathfreeze enough to start losing his sanity. However, the places he used it in were contained and there was no widespread damage, so most pokémon were able to keep it more or less a secret. But that pokémon remains in the custody of others who use hypnosis and psychic powers to prevent him from using his Forbidden Attack. I believe they are succeeding; there’s been no signs of the ice Forbidden Attack since. And so, what I think we should do, is find where exactly they’re keeping this pokémon. Convince Cyclone he can break him free and win him over for the army. Keep most of the army in the dark about this mission or the location, so that Cyclone goes in, and those pokémon don’t let him come out.”

    Itora glanced at Ashend, somewhat confused, but the misdreavus didn’t show any surprise. “There’s a pokémon with the ice Forbidden Attack?” the manectric asked. “Why didn’t we know about this?”

    “It’s possible Cyclone didn’t know,” Silverbreeze replied.

    “I know about this pokémon,” Ashend sighed. “When I was learning about the Forbidden Attacks I learned about this one too. But I’m not sure Cyclone doesn’t know. Any information on the Attacks would have been passed to him. I don’t think this is as simple as what you’re proposing, Silverbreeze. If he knows, there must be a reason he hasn’t gone after this ice type.”

    “I never said it was simple,” the scyther said. “But I’m thinking that if Cyclone does know, the reason he hasn’t gone after this pokémon is simply because he doesn’t know where it is. If we could find that out, that would be a very helpful step in the right direction. The pokémon knew that Deathfreeze was used somewhere in the areas north of Stonedust City. The pokémon around here might know where they’ve taken the ice type. That’s what we need to find out.”

    “I don’t know,” Itora began. “Even if this works, I’m not sure it’s good enough. I want Cyclone dead.”

    “If Cyclone dies, his Forbidden Attack will be passed on to another pokémon,” Silverbreeze replied. “If he’s captive, it won’t, at least not for a long while. This is the better option.”

    Itora sighed and rolled her eyes.

    “And how are we going to get Cyclone to walk into this place himself once we find it?” Ashend asked.

    “Well,” Silverbreeze replied, “if we go there first, tip the pokémon off, maybe we could trick Cyclone into it and they’d be ready. Look, I know this is an ambitious idea, but right now it’s the only real one I’ve got. We kill Cyclone, and we’ll have a new Acidstorm user to contend with. We trap him, and even Sandra too if she won’t cooperate, and the army falls apart.”

    “What if they try to free Cyclone themselves?”

    “We’ll have to make sure Cyclone’s mission to recruit the ice type is a secret, then,” Silverbreeze replied. “So they’ll never find him. Let Solus and the rest of the army attack the humans themselves so both groups can destroy each other for all I care. But if any of us want to survive in the long run we have got to stop the Forbidden Attacks.”

    Ashend sighed. “It sounds impossible but…you’re right. At the moment, this is the one plan we’ve got. And our first step would be finding out where they hid this ice type.”

    “Yes,” Silverbreeze replied. “I was told he was taken far away, but how far I don’t know. But Cyclone has scouts searching the region for the Forbidden Attacks. If we could get some on our side, that might be our best bet. They could find out.”

    “And once we do find out,” Ashend began, “we’ll need a way to bring Cyclone to the pokémon keeping the Deathfreeze user trapped. How do we pull that off?”

    “I don’t know,” Silverbreeze admitted. “We’ll have to work things out from there. First, we’ll find some of the scouts.” She paused, lifting her head toward the sky. “I think we should be heading back. Cyclone’s meeting should be over soon. But don’t worry, I can keep finding us safe places.”

    “Yeah, ‘safe,’” Itora muttered glumly as she turned around and trudged back to the main camp, Ashend drifting beside her.

    Silverbreeze merely nodded to them before she took off in a different direction, leaving the two to think about what she had said.

    “This isn’t going to work, Ashend,” the manectric whispered. “I don’t think Cyclone’s going to just listen to every one of our suggestions and go along with-”

    “Wait,” said Ashend, cutting her off. In the distance, she could see a disturbance among the army pokémon. They were all gathering around a high ranking tyranitar who was trying to make some sort of announcement.

    Itora grimaced. It was the same pokémon who had tried to prevent her and Yenn from seeing the smeargle’s execution. The sight of him made her sick. Quietly, she and Ashend slipped into the edge of the crowd, looking up at the rock type.

    “Today is a grand day for the army,” the tyranitar was saying. “Our pokémon have returned, and with the ground type stone!”

    Itora gave Ashend a worried glance, but quickly looked away and covered it up. They couldn’t act that way around the rest of the army; Ashend had drilled that into her whenever possible.

    Ashend watched as Sandra stepped up by the tyranitar’s side, wearing a light purple stone around her neck. Dread filled Ashend’s body as the sandslash picked up the stone between her claws and gave the watching pokémon a smug smile.

    -ooo-

    In the morning, Teresa met with the group outside the city and they walked together along the beach toward the base of the mountains. Despite what had happened during their last excursion, most members of the group were in high spirits. They had agreed that there would be no splitting up this time; with sheer numbers on their side, the wild pokémon were less likely to be hostile. Even Yenn came with him, though he appeared more listless and sluggish than usual.

    “What about your houndoom?” Teresa asked when they’d reached the base of the mountain. She pointed to Blazefang, who had been riding on Fernwing’s back during the entire trek across the beach. “He’s injured. He should be in his poké ball.”

    “Well…” Katie glanced at Damian and Justin. “We kind of…lost it,” she lied. “That’s why he’s had to stay out this whole time.”

    Teresa looked a bit amused. “You do know you can just get a new one, right? A pokédex scan will reveal that he’s yours if you were the original trainer, so you’ll definitely be allowed to have his connection to a poké ball broken. Then you can give him a new one.”

    Snowcrystal turned to Spark, astonished. “Humans can do that?” she gasped. “Then that means…we can sever Blazefang’s connection to Mausk. And Thunder, too.”

    Spark didn’t look nearly as excited. “Well, you see…we can’t just walk up and ask to use the machine they use to break a pokémon’s connection with a poké ball. It’s highly regulated; if it wasn’t, then people would be stealing pokémon left and right. And well, he wasn’t registered to us, so…”

    “But he was registered to Damian,” Snowcrystal shot back. “Remember when we first met Damian and he had to get us to Stonedust quickly?”

    “Yeah, but Damian released him. Anyone who caught Blazefang afterward would have done so fairly, according to the rules.”

    “But Thunder…” Snowcrystal looked up at the humans. Katie had nervously dismissed the subject of Blazefang and the trainers were sending out their pokémon. Katie and Damian didn’t send out all of theirs, just the ones they had shown Teresa earlier. “Arien!” she called, running up to the alakazam. “I just thought of something. Can you tell Damian to do a pokédex scan on Thunder? If she comes up registered to Mausk, we could show the police. They’ll know she’s been abused and they can go after Mausk.”

    Arien stared at the growlithe, unsure where the sudden revelation had come from. “Snowcrystal, we have more important things to worry about right now. But…I guess you’re right. That would be helpful.” He turned to Damian and the trainer immediately reacted, taking out his pokégear.

    “You think the police aren’t already on Mausk’s trail?” Spark asked.

    “I dunno,” said Wildflame, dropping into their conversation. “He didn’t seem to be hiding when we saw him outside Stonedust.”

    “The police don’t know what Master does,” Thunder said suddenly, drawing the attention of the other pokémon. “He often turned in poachers to them. Made the police think he’s on their side, I guess. Maybe they wouldn’t be if they knew what he really was, but I don’t think we can trust them.”

    Spark and Snowcrystal glanced at each other. “Trust me, Thunder,” Spark said, “the police would not be on ‘Master’s’ side if they knew what he really did. We can trust the police if we just bring the evidence forward.”

    “Sure, then,” Thunder said dully. There was no sarcasm to her words. “Try it.”

    Damian walked over to Thunder, who stiffened but did not back away. “Just a minute,” he said to the other trainers. “The pokémon want me to check something.” He held up his pokégear in front of Thunder, waited a few seconds until the scan completed and looked down at the screen. “That’s…weird,” he said. “It says there’s no original trainer.”

    “What are you doing?” Katie asked, walking over while Justin looked nervously at Teresa.

    “Um…Arien said that if Thunder was registered to Mausk then we could…”

    “Take that information to the police?” Katie finished.

    “Mausk?” Teresa looked from Damian to Katie. “Who’s Mausk?”

    “He’s…” Katie hesitated. “He’s the reason Thunder looks like that.” She indicated the scyther’s scars and Teresa’s eyes widened in horror.

    “How did he do that?” Damian mused, still staring at his pokégear screen. “He had a poké ball. I saw it.”

    “He must have tampered with it somehow,” Katie replied. “So the pokémon couldn’t be connected with him. How, I don’t know, but he must have thought of everything.”

    A grim silence hung over the group.

    “Wait a minute…you know who this guy is?” Teresa said. “Did you go to the police? Did they-”

    “We…we don’t have any proof,” Damian quietly said. He suddenly seemed like he wanted to talk about anything else.

    Katie glanced at Damian worriedly before turning to Teresa. “We did what we could,” she said.

    Teresa seemed to understand that the others wanted the subject dropped. She looked uneasy as she glanced from Thunder to Blazefang and then to Katie again as if she realized things weren’t adding up. However, she said nothing more, instead turning to her pokémon. “Okay, you know what to do,” she told them. “If any pokémon are hostile, try to reason with them, but if they won’t listen, then it’ll be just like we planned.”

    Her pokémon gave an enthusiastic cry and Vicky held out sharpened claws. Snowcrystal could see that not one of them was afraid of the potential oncoming battle. And they shouldn’t be, Snowcrystal thought, not when their group had so many pokémon on their side.

    “Well,” said Katie, walking to the head of the group, “let’s go. Fernwing, keep close to us.”

    The tropius nodded, flying steadily so Blazefang would not have any chance of falling off her back.

    As the group set off, climbing up the trail, Thunder stayed behind. Teresa had tried to come closer, obviously concerned, but Thunder had given her a warning glare. The scyther wasn’t sure why she was coming on the expedition this time. She thought it might be because Justin had Nightshade in his poké ball, but she wasn’t sure that was it. With a sigh, she pushed the thought out of her head and slowly followed the others.

    -ooo-

    During the trek up the mountain’s slope, the large group didn’t run into any hostile wild pokémon. They saw a few stray pokémon here and there, but those turned and ran when they saw the group. Snowcrystal found this odd. Perhaps, she thought, they were cowardly when faced with much more powerful opposition.

    “Hey, Crystal,” Spark said, and Snowcrystal was glad that the jolteon remembered to use her improvised name in front of Teresa’s pokémon. “It seems weird, doesn’t it? Last time we were here, the pokémon were acting so strange. Now they’re just…well, normal, I guess.”

    “Yeah,” she replied. “Something’s different.”

    They carried on, and every once in a while, the group would stop and search the area for any potential cave opening, but they never strayed far from each other. They were not bothered by any wild pokémon, and when they took a break for lunch, Arien voiced his worry aloud.

    “I’m not sure I like it,” the alakazam said. “We haven’t seen any of those aggressive pokémon. Why would they be hiding like this?”

    “Think they’re planning something?” Alex asked. “I mean, what are they going to do? There’s a lot of rocks and trees, but…with so many of us they’re bound to be spotted before they get too close.”

    “Maybe they’re just keeping out of our way,” Nightshade suggested. He had been let out of his poké ball to eat with the others.

    “Doesn’t sound likely,” Rosie muttered. “They were out for our blood the last time!”

    “I say let them come,” Scytheclaw said. “I could use the target practice.”

    “Well,” Wildflame sighed, “my guess is that they saw how big our group was this time around and realized they couldn’t fight us head on. And Alex is right. They’d have a hard time sneaking up on us. Let’s just count this as a blessing and focus on finding that cave.”

    Though some of the pokémon were uneasy, they soon agreed with Wildflame. If the wild pokémon weren’t attacking them, it was a good thing, and they had enough to focus on without worrying about why.

    After Thunder had finished her food, she walked over to Nightshade, trying to ignore the chatter of the others. She sat down beside the heracross, staring off into space for a few moments before she said, “You stay with these pokémon because they’re your family, right?”

    Nightshade nodded. “That’s right.”

    “And you’d even try to stop Forbidden Attacks for them.”

    “Yes.”

    Thunder was silent for a moment, then she stood up. “Okay,” she said. “I understand that. I guess I’ll help you.” She turned and walked off by herself, but not before seeing Nightshade smile back at her.

    -ooo-

    They searched each area thoroughly, taking their time and knowing that it was likely going to take several days to find what they were looking for. They saw the occasional wild pokémon, some of them rock types, but each one turned and fled the moment they saw them. No one was quite sure why, but they were too grateful to avoid a battle to question it much anymore.

    Teresa had grown quieter as the day dragged on, and it was clear she knew the others were hiding something from her. She didn’t voice any of her thoughts on the matter out loud, and the group didn’t bring it up.

    It was mid-afternoon when they decided to take another rest. “You should have seen the place when we were here last time,” Rosie was telling a group of Teresa’s pokémon. “All these crazed rock types just straight up attacked us. For no real reason. We couldn’t figure out why.”

    From a short ways away, Arien watched her nervously, not sure he liked the way Rosie was so casually speaking to them about it. They had to tell that there was more to the story than the ninetales would let on.

    Snowcrystal wanted to trust Teresa, but she understood how it would be dangerous to let other humans know what they knew. Perhaps keeping her and her pokémon in the dark was for the best. Trying to put the thought out of her head, she turned to Spark, thinking of something else that had been on her mind.

    “So…if Thunder and Blazefang aren’t really registered to Mausk, do you think we could break their connection to a poké ball?” she asked.

    “Maybe,” Spark said with a shrug. “I’m not sure, though. They would realize something fishy’s going on with Blazefang, because he would have an original trainer registered – Damian – and that could mean someone caught him fairly afterward, but maybe…maybe you’re right. We should ask Arien anyway. If they’re unregistered to a trainer now and have signs of abuse, they might allow it.”

    Snowcrystal felt glad to hear that. She was sure that Thunder and Blazefang would be as well, even if they couldn’t prove any connection to Mausk and get the police involved. She was also glad that Redclaw didn’t have to worry; Mausk had to have destroyed his poké ball since Damian had been able to briefly capture him when they’d first met.

    Seeing no reason to wait any longer to address the issue, she told Arien what she was thinking, and once the alakazam relayed the information to his trainer, Damian looked hopeful.

    “The unregistered trainer thing is weird,” Damian said. “They should know something’s wrong. I think that’ll work.”

    Katie, Justin, and Teresa gave him weird looks, and he quickly explained what Arien had told him about Thunder and Blazefang.

    “We should have thought of scanning Thunder before,” Katie said. “But I guess better late than never. If – heaven forbid – we run into Mausk again, we don’t want him to have that sort of power over any of the pokémon.”

    Teresa stared at her. “Wait a minute, you told me you lost Blazefang’s poké ball.”

    Katie resisted the urge to shoot a quick glare at Damian, who had suddenly realized his mistake at voicing the matter out loud. Before he could say anything, however, Katie spoke up instead. “Yeah, it’s a long story, but Mausk has it. When…when we said it was lost, that’s what we meant.”

    Teresa seemed to accept the answer and realize they weren’t keen on talking about Mausk. “Oh, okay. Sorry, I won’t ask about it anymore.”

    The trainers and the pokémon rested in silence. After a short while, Teresa pulled out a few bags of pokémon treats and tossed a few to her pokémon, then to the others waiting around her. She tossed a few over in Yenn’s direction. “Here, have some of these,” she said. “You’ll probably feel better.” The yanmega only gave her a look of disgust and flew to a higher perch.

    Sitting down with the rest of the pokémon, Vicky gave Yenn an annoyed look. “Well, he’s friendly,” the sableye said sarcastically. She turned to Snowcrystal. “What exactly is he traveling with you for? He doesn’t seem to like any of the trainers.”

    “Well,” Snowcrystal began, “he’s mainly with us pokémon, really. He has his own reasons.”

    “That’s about as vague an answer I was expecting,” Vicky replied. “Come on, he must be here because he needs you for something. Why else would a wild pokémon-”

    “Vicky, knock it off.” Aero the flygon had walked up to them, crossing her arms. “The yanmega can do whatever he wants. It was a while before you allowed yourself to be captured, remember?”

    Vicky just shrugged. “I had good reasons. I was just wondering if Crystal here knew of-”

    “Someone’s coming,” Yenn called from where he was waiting, and all the pokémon looked up toward him.

    “Where?” Snowcrystal asked, and Yenn pointed his body toward an outcrop of rocks north of where they were resting. A few moments later, and Snowcrystal heard the sound of a pokémon approaching.

    By then, the trainers had realized something was up. They stood up in front of where Nightshade and Blazefang were resting, facing the direction the pokémon were now staring in and ready to command their own in case of any trouble. Damian and Katie both had their hands near their other poké balls, the ones containing pokémon they hadn’t sent out.

    Yet what emerged from behind the rocks was merely one pokémon. It was a golem, and the moment he saw what looked like a small army staring him down, he stopped and hesitated.

    “All right,” Scytheclaw said, stepping in front of the others. “What do you want? Are any more of your buddies waiting around? Because I assure you, the battle won’t go the same way this t-”

    “No, I don’t want a battle,” the golem said. “There was…there was a mistake.”

    “What are they saying?” Teresa asked Damian.

    Damian glanced to Arien questioningly, and a moment later began to relay the information to the other three trainers.

    “What do you mean a mistake?” Redclaw asked, stepping beside Scytheclaw. “You and those other pokémon attacked us unprovoked.”

    “We were told it was the wrong course of action,” the golem replied. “We are sorry.”

    Sorry?” Rosie muttered. “I don’t see the others here apologizing.”

    Snowcrystal watched the golem, confused. The rock types were told it was the wrong action? Told by who?

    “Well, we mean you no harm,” Redclaw told the golem. “We mean no harm to anyone on these mountains. I can promise you that.”

    “Yes, we know,” the golem said. “We will allow you to search. You won’t be attacked here.” He turned and headed away, further down the mountainside, leaving the group staring in confusion.

    “What in the world was that about?” Rosie said, looking around the others incredulously. “One day they want our blood and next thing you know, they’re perfectly okay with us being here?”

    Snowcrystal understood Rosie’s sentiment. It made absolutely no sense. The pokémon of the mountain knew who Tanzenarc was. They knew that her group was searching for him. What had changed to make them suddenly okay with it?

    “It…it could be some sort of trap,” Scytheclaw said, glancing worriedly at Damian. “We should still stick together, just to be careful.”

    Teresa’s pokémon talked together in low whispers. Then Aero asked, “What happened when you were last here that made them not want you to search?”

    “We don’t know,” Scytheclaw said, only half telling the truth. “Really, your guess is as good as ours. I have no idea what these ridiculous pokémon want or don’t want.”

    “Well, we should keep moving,” Snowcrystal said.

    The other pokémon agreed, and Arien sent the message to his trainer. Justin recalled Nightshade and Blazefang and climbed back onto Fernwing’s back.

    Snowcrystal didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried by the golem’s words. She felt unsettled, but the mountain terrain around her was peaceful, and had been peaceful all day. She knew there was a piece of the puzzle she and her friends were missing, but she couldn’t guess what it was.

    “Well, uh, we’ve searched this area pretty well,” Damian said nervously. “Let’s go that way, over by those trees.” He pointed over at a grove of trees higher up the mountain. “We didn’t get to look around there last time.”

    The group made their way up to the trees, still searching for any signs of a cave as they went. Like before, they found nothing, and there was no sign of any of the rock types.

    When they reached the trees, they took another moment to rest. They had just barely sat down when Katie said, “Maybe we should find that golem again. Or one of the other rock types. They probably know where the right cave is, right?”

    “I…I don’t know,” Damian replied. “He said it was okay to search. If they were okay with us finding the cave and they knew where it was, wouldn’t he have told us?”

    “Why would the pokémon have been so weirdly protective of some cave?” Teresa asked. “None of this makes any sense.”

    “Your guess is as good as ours,” Justin said. “But at least they don’t seem to care anymore.”

    “I think we should find one of the wild pokémon,” Katie said. “They live here. They’ve got to know where all the caves are, at least.”

    Justin had tuned out of the conversation and was fiddling with Spark’s poké ball when he felt something roughly nudge his side. He turned his head and jumped with a cry of alarm, scrambling backward. Thunder was standing over him. “Spark!” he cried, and his jolteon obediently leaped to his side. Thunder, however, didn’t move, just pierced him with a piercing stare.

    “She wants you to let Nightshade out since there’s trees here,” Damian said, looking up from Arien.

    “Argh, fine!” Justin cried, flinging the heracross’s poké ball away from him and darting over to Katie. Nightshade materialized in front of Thunder, looking confused at being let out again so soon.

    Teresa and her pokémon cast suddenly nervous glances at each other, then looked back at the other trainers and pokémon. “Did you…” Teresa began, “…did you do something to anger the rock types? This isn’t adding up.”

    “We told you,” said Justin, “they attacked us for no reason.”

    “Nothing attacks for no reason,” Teresa replied.

    “But that golem came up and apologized for it. You heard Damian! Your pokémon must have heard the golem too if you don’t believe him.”

    From his place near Thunder, Nightshade looked at the trainers. “Thunder, what’s going on?”

    “The humans are having a disagreement,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Anyway, there are plenty of trees here, so I thought-”

    She broke off when Teresa’s flygon took off and landed in front of the wild pokémon. “There’s something you aren’t telling my trainer,” she said. “What is it?”

    “Aero, relax,” Teresa’s vikavolt said. “We offered to help. Whatever happened between them and the rock types-”

    “Well, if they’re not going to tell us what’s going on, why are we even helping them at all?” Aero shot back.

    Teresa, who had been trying to speak to Katie, noticed her pokémon squabbling. “Guys, stop it!” she hissed, then turned to Damian. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you, and the golem did say they were wrong for fighting you, right?” She glanced at her pokémon, who nodded. “I just…can’t think of a reason they would have attacked you, mistake or not. Surely you must have an idea.”

    Katie and Justin glanced at each other and Damian immediately looked worried. However, there was nothing they could say about Tanzenarc. “I…I think,” Katie began, “that they thought we were here to harm a pokémon here, and when they found out we weren’t, they realized there was no reason attack us.”

    “Why would they think you were here to harm a pokémon?” Teresa asked.

    “We really don’t know,” Katie replied.

    From where she sat in front of the rest of Teresa’s pokémon, Vicky crossed her arms. “Maybe what we should really be asking them is why they have a white growlithe they have to dye orange?”

    Several of the pokémon, who had been talking back and forth with Teresa’s, went silent. Snowcrystal stared at the sableye in horror before she could stop herself, and Teresa’s other pokémon merely looked confused.

    “See?” said Vicky, seeing the shocked reactions of the waiting pokémon. “I was right, wasn’t I? I saw it the day we found that yanme-”

    “All right, listen up,” Wildflame growled, stepping forward. “You can’t tell anyone. Snowcrystal needs-”

    “So her name is Snowcrystal,” said Vicky, not seeming at all intimidated. “I bet that’s because-”

    “We hide her fur color to protect her,” Redclaw said tensely. “If anyone else knows, that could-”

    “She was in the library! It was all over the news!” Vicky cried.

    “And that’s why it needs to be kept a secret,” Redclaw said, lashing his tail.

    “What’s…going on with the pokémon?” Katie asked, and Snowcrystal realized that now the attention of the trainers was on the pokémon dispute as well, though of course without Arien and Damian’s translation, they had no idea what was going on.

    “Come on, everyone, let’s just stop,” Teresa said as more shouting broke out between her pokémon and the rest. However, the pokémon were too agitated to simply stop.

    “Ugh, let’s go somewhere else,” muttered Thunder to Nightshade.

    “Wait,” the heracross said. “I’m worried about Snowcrystal. Maybe I can talk to Teresa’s pokémon.”

    “Why you?” Thunder asked. “It’s not your problem. I know you’re-” She paused, seeing the look in Nightshade’s eyes and sighed. “Okay, I get it.”

    However, before Nightshade could make a move toward Vicky, each of the arguing pokémon – save for the dark types – were lifted about a foot into the air by a psychic energy, and then brought swiftly back to the ground. “Stop this now,” Arien cried out, giving them all his stern glare. “Now, I think we will have to let Teresa know about Snowcrystal, but understand that this is something that must be kept a secret. I will speak with Damian about it.”

    In the silence that followed, Spark looked over Teresa’s pokémon, his ears drooping sadly. “Just…please keep this secret for us, okay?” he asked. “We want to keep Snowcrystal safe.”

    “I don’t see what the big deal is, really,” Vicky said with a shrug. “If she has a poké ball, no one else can capture her.”

    “It’s…more complicated than that,” Rosie said. “Just…please. Don’t go spreading the word around.”

    “Well, if you’re going to be that stubborn about it, fine,” Vicky replied, turning her head away from the ninetales.

    Snowcrystal looked from one pokémon to another, not liking the fact that she was the cause of the sudden debate. She didn’t like how casually Vicky dismissed their concerns either. However, maybe the sableye had one point; maybe she should have her own poké ball.

    She opened her mouth to speak, but as she did so, a sudden change came over the clearing. Everything was silent; even the trees stopped rustling in the wind. Then she could feel a strong psychic energy around them, something that wasn’t coming from Arien. It made the fur on the back of her neck rise.

    Around her, both the pokémon and the trainers had sensed it too, for everyone suddenly grew quiet. Thunder moved to stand protectively by Nightshade, and Teresa’s pokémon gathered closer to their trainer. The rest of the group stayed still, waiting.

    Then they could see something moving through the trees.

    The area around it shimmered, rippled like still water that had been disturbed, and gradually the creature became more visible. Its outline was hazy at first, but grew more defined as it came closer. It rivaled Redclaw in size, but had a more lithe, feline form, like that of a liepard or a persian. Its body looked almost like it was being seen through mist, but even that was fading, until the pokémon came to a stop in front of the trees, its full form suddenly visible.

    Snowcrystal knew at once that this was another one of the legendaries that had worked with Sequoiarc long ago. Like Sequoiarc, it had six limbs, and its light purple fur was marked with dark stripes. Its long tail ended in a round orb. The most distinctive feature, however, was the mask-like plate covering most of its face, tufts of white fur sprouting out either side beneath it. Like Sequoiarc’s, this pokémon’s mask was marked with patterns, starting with a trio of circles on the forehead.

    Teresa took a few rapid steps backward, her pokémon immediately on the alert. She cast a look of shock toward Damian and seemed only more startled at lack of fear or confusion on the other trainer’s face.

    The strange pokémon, however, merely stood in front of the trees, unmoving, showing no sign of concern at Teresa’s reaction. Snowcrystal knew it had to be aware of what it was risking by appearing in front of Teresa, and she briefly wondered why it had even thought to show itself to humans at all. Did it know that three of these trainers had seen Sequoiarc? One thing was clear, however. This was not Tanzenarc.

    “What is that thing?” Teresa cried, shooting a look at Damian, who glanced back at her, seeming at a loss for words.

    “It’s…it’s one of…” he began, not noticing when Justin motioned for him to stop talking.

    All around them, the pokémon were looking on in a mixture of surprise and awe, Teresa’s especially. Thunder moved in front of Nightshade, who uttered some calming words to her, trying to get her to step aside.

    Then the feline beast spoke.

    As it uttered the words, Snowcrystal also heard them echoing in her mind, placed there by the creature’s psychic abilities. This, she realized, must also be how it was speaking with the humans, for they had stopped talking immediately and begun to listen.

    “My name is Fortunarc,” it said, and the voice, unlike Sequoiarc’s, sounded female. “Do not worry; you have no reason to see me as an enemy. I know you are not a threat. You know what we are. Some of you have spoken with Sequoiarc.”

    “Where is Tanzenarc?” Snowcrystal asked, stepping closer to the creature. “Sequoiarc told us to find him.”

    “Tanzenarc no longer resides here,” Fortunarc said, her eyes flashing. She sat down on her haunches, seeming completely at ease with the surprised group. “He hasn’t for a long while. The pokémon of this mountain, however, were unaware of this until I informed them yesterday. Had I known they still thought he was here, were still dedicated to protecting him, I would have told them sooner.”

    Tanzenarc wasn’t there. Snowcrystal felt a stab of disappointment, however it was short lived. Tanzenarc wasn’t there, but this legendary was. Perhaps she knew of the plan, or at least of where to find Tanzenarc. She remembered what Sequoiarc had said, that the psychic and ghost type legendaries were roamers.

    “Perhaps I should explain further why I am here,” Fortunarc said, her psychic voice echoing in Snowcrystal’s mind. “While I normally conceal myself, I see no reason to do so from you. I know you have no intentions of spilling our secrets.” She paused, and Snowcrystal thought she was looking at Teresa, who looked shaken as she watched the legendary. “Pokémon on these mountains revealed to me that there were humans who knew Tanzenarc’s name, so I waited here for your return, listening to your thoughts. I know that you are trying to put a stop to the Forbidden Attacks and have pokémon that possess them among you.”

    Blazefang shifted uncomfortably, but Yenn looked on without moving. Fortunarc turned her attention to the houndoom.

    "I've seen you on occasion, seen and heard some of the things you've done. And if you're trying to put a stop to this madness we created, I want to at least help you again now."

    “You’ve…seen me?” Blazefang stammered.

    “You fled from Cyclone’s army,” Fortunarc replied. “Back when it was small enough that I could follow its movements without being detected. I tried to help you. When Solus the espeon interrogated pokémon about your whereabouts, I tried to throw him off. As Sequoiarc must have told you, our powers are very weak now, and it took great strength to do even that, but I’m glad to see I bought you enough time.”

    Stormblade stepped forward. “You…when Solus was trying to get information from me,” he began, “he couldn’t read my mind. I never knew what stopped him.” The image of the espeon’s fury and frustration came to the scyther’s mind, but he pushed it away.

    “I wanted to help the pokémon Cyclone captured,” Fortunarc said, “but the Forbidden Attacks were my priority. I’m sorry I couldn’t have done more. I couldn’t get closer to the army.”

    “So you were following pokémon with Forbidden Attacks?” Nightshade asked from where he stood beside Thunder.

    “Yes,” Fortunarc replied. “When I heard they were being found again, I searched for them. I found Cyclone first, since he had attracted a lot of attention. Then I found Blazefang. I knew I couldn’t get through to Cyclone; it was too dangerous to reveal myself, too dangerous to get close to him. Nothing was going to sway him from using his Attack. But I had to help Blazefang get away. I later learned that Cyclone recruited others and gave them Forbidden Attacks, but by then the army had grown too numerous, with too many psychics, for me to safely stay nearby. But I see now that one of them is with you.” She moved her gaze to Yenn, who remained silent.

    “If you knew we were trying to stop the Forbidden Attacks, why didn’t you show yourself to us before?” Blazefang asked.

    Fortunarc sighed. “At the time I did not think it was safe. I did not know how pokémon who knew nothing of our existence would react. But now that you’ve seen Sequoiarc, I felt as if I should try to contact you.”

    Snowcrystal realized that this legendary had spent months, probably more, wandering the region without letting herself be seen, trying to help but staying on the sidelines. She understood why Fortunarc wanted to be secretive, but a part of her wished she had done more. That all of the legendaries behind the Forbidden Attacks had done more. She thought of what Stormblade had been through as she watched the legendary. If Fortunarc was still listening in on her thoughts, she gave no indication.

    “If Tanzenarc’s gone,” Damian asked, speaking for the first time since Fortunarc had appeared, “do you know where we can find him? Sequoiarc said that he and some of the other legendaries had a plan to get rid of the Forbidden Attacks.”

    To their surprise, Fortunarc suddenly looked grave. Her posture stiffened, and her claws dug into the dirt. “I can tell you where Tanzenarc is,” she said, “but don’t blindly trust his judgement.”

    “What…what do you mean?” Blazefang asked, looking worried.

    “I do not think his plan will work,” Fortunarc said. “You can go to him. Hear what he has to say. But don’t make rash decisions. If his plan doesn’t work, it could make things worse.”

    “And what is this plan?” Katie asked, having heard the psychic words in her head.

    Fortunarc looked back at the trainer, but seemed reluctant to answer. “You can hear it from Tanzenarc himself if you must know. He lives in Winding Cave, a few days’ walk from Steelspire City. If you tell the pokémon living within the cave that I sent you, they should lead you to him.”

    Snowcrystal tensed, looking worriedly at Stormblade, who tried to give her a hopeful look back.

    “And say this plan doesn’t work,” Katie said. “What do we do then?”

    “We find another way,” Fortunarc said, the words reverberating so strongly in the minds of those watching that some of them cringed. “I won’t stop searching for more information. If you can reach other pokémon with Forbidden Attacks, get them to resist them as some of you have. That is the best thing they can do.”

    “But…how can we do that?” Katie asked. “Two of the others that we know of are with Cyclone. The other one’s insane.”

    “If you are helping the houndoom and yanmega, others may listen to you,” Fortunarc said. “I hope you get the chance to convince them.”

    Snowcrystal wasn’t sure how they would ever make such a difference, if a legendary like Fortunarc could only hope. But perhaps she did have a point. Yenn’s friends back at the army would have deserted if they could. Maybe one day they could help them.

    “Like Sequoiarc, I am weak,” Fortunarc continued. “I don’t have much of my power left. But there is something I can do to make things easier for you.”

    Before anyone could question the legendary, Fortunarc had stood up and begun walking closer to them, passing Snowcrystal until she stood in front of Damian, who stood still and did not back down. Fortunarc bowed her head and closed her eyes.

    All at once, the four trainers staggered backward as a wave of psychic energy flowed through them. They did not act as if the sensation was painful, just overpowering. Then, almost as soon as it had begun, it was over. Fortunarc opened her eyes.

    “Good luck to all of you,” the psychic’s voice echoed into the heads of the watching pokémon and trainers. Without another word, she then turned and walked back toward the trees. Though a few of the pokémon called out to her, wanting to know what it was Tanzenarc had planned, she did not answer, and before they knew it, her form had grown indistinct until it vanished altogether.

    “What…what was that?” Teresa cried, breaking out of her shocked silence. “What is Sequoiarc? What’s a Forbidden Attack?”

    “Well,” said Katie, “I guess we have a lot to tell you.”

    Damian stood still, trying to pinpoint what it actually was that Fortunarc had done to them. He felt no different, and there seemed to be nothing different about the other trainers, either. He turned to Katie.

    “Steelspire City is only a few days’ walk away,” he said. “We can get there quickly.”

    “But that thing said that Tanzenarc’s plan might make things worse,” Justin called out. “Why would we go there anyway?”

    “Do you have a better idea?” Katie asked him.

    “We should at least hear what he has to say,” Spark suggested, and Damian nodded in agreement.

    Then he paused. Arien’s psychic presence hadn’t been there to tell him what Spark had wanted to say. As he took in the shocked expressions of the other three trainers, it suddenly occurred to him. He had heard Spark’s words.

    And understood them.

    To be continued…


  3. #93
    Used Thunderbolt! Arrow-Jolteon's Avatar
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    Hooooo boy, the language barrier is gone! I bet the trainers have a lot of questions for their Pokemon. This is getting so good!

  4. #94
    Lover of Centipedes Scytherwolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arrow-Jolteon View Post
    Hooooo boy, the language barrier is gone! I bet the trainers have a lot of questions for their Pokemon. This is getting so good!
    You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that language barrier to go down. XD Thanks so much Arrow!


  5. #95
    Used Thunderbolt! Arrow-Jolteon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scytherwolf View Post
    You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that language barrier to go down. XD Thanks so much Arrow!
    No problem! Yeah, I can imagine XD having to go through Arien and Damian over and over any time a message needed to be relayed. I bet Arien might be feeling a bit relieved at being able to preserve his psychic energy.

  6. #96
    Lover of Centipedes Scytherwolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arrow-Jolteon View Post
    No problem! Yeah, I can imagine XD having to go through Arien and Damian over and over any time a message needed to be relayed. I bet Arien might be feeling a bit relieved at being able to preserve his psychic energy.
    Yeah, it was annoying to have to do that every time. And yep, plus now Damian doesn't have to explain everything to the other trainers either.


  7. #97
    This is brilliant, I enjoyed it
    Very great job
    I am Female and I have autism

  8. #98
    Lover of Centipedes Scytherwolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lady jirachu Triox Corni View Post
    This is brilliant, I enjoyed it
    Very great job
    Thank you very much! :D


  9. #99
    You have done a brilliant job Scytherwolf.
    Excellent work

  10. #100
    Lover of Centipedes Scytherwolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jackster 136 View Post
    You have done a brilliant job Scytherwolf.
    Excellent work
    Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed!


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