The Path of Destiny

[Scytherwolf]

The Path of Destiny
Chapter 74 – New Companion

In the early morning light, the five pokémon who had visited the legendary made their way back to the rest of the group. They were silent as they trekked through the forest, each with their own thoughts about where the journey would take them. Knowing that the Forbidden Attacks could not just be taken away, even by one of the legendaries that created them, weighed heavily on their hearts, but at the same time, they felt hope now that they had a clearer path to follow.

Snowcrystal’s ears pricked up as she heard voices. They had nearly arrived back at the group; the others were sheltered behind one of the massive nearby trees, from which she could hear conversation between Redclaw and a few of the others.

“Well, we’d better go tell them everything,” Wildflame said with a smile, knowing how daunting a task that probably seemed to the four who were with her. “And introduce you, of course,” she added with a nod to Yenn.

The yanmega didn’t reply. His body was tense, his mouth nearly forming a snarl as he stared ahead.

“Let’s make one thing clear first,” Scytheclaw said, stepping in front of the other bug type. “You’re not going to hurt any member of our group, for any reason. Especially my trainer. If you do, I will-”

“He knows, Scytheclaw,” Snowcrystal interrupted, giving his leg a small shove. She gave the scizor a look, hoping he would drop it. If he started flinging threats around, tension between Yenn and the others was just going to rise.

Luckily, Scytheclaw didn’t continue the conversation, and merely gave the yanmega a warning glare, which Yenn didn’t even seem to be paying attention to.

“Just…come with us,” Wildflame said, noticing his unease. “And remember, they’d have to have a death wish to do anything to you.”

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Yenn mumbled in response.

They walked around the tree’s gigantic trunk, coming into view of the tents and resting pokémon. Immediately, a yellow shape slammed into Snowcrystal, sending her tumbling over onto her back.

“You’re back!” Spark cried joyously, making a few small jumps as Snowcrystal clambered back onto her feet. “Did you meet the legendary? What was it like? Did it tell you-”

“We’ve got a lot to tell all of you,” Wildflame interrupted. “Let us rest a bit first and we’ll explain everything.”

Spark reluctantly agreed, and the other pokémon in camp began to gather around them. They cast curious looks at Yenn, and some even greeted him, but the yanmega did not respond. He was watching as the three trainers emerged from the tents, welcoming the little group of pokémon back.

Yenn felt his whole body tense, his senses on high alert. But this time, he was able to suppress the thoughts that seeing the trainers brought up. Looking at them clearly, he recognized one of them as the one he had seen out in the forest, the one he had come close to killing. Now that he was able to properly focus on him, and with a clearer mind, he could see that he didn’t look nearly as intimidating as the humans he had been used to.

For one thing, his clothes were different. He had noticed this before, but now he could tell that there was nothing to indicate this human had any authority, any power. The other two humans wore similar clothes, and he could tell that those two were younger. Adolescents. The one he had seen in the forest was a young adult, but he was scrawny and didn’t seem particularly threatening, now that Yenn thought about it. However, he knew what they were capable of, what they had at their disposal. The only thing keeping him relatively calm was the fact that the pokémon around him were not acting afraid.

“So…he’s coming with us?” the ninetales asked, clearly nervous about the idea as she eyed the yanmega.

“Yes,” said Snowcrystal. “He wants to stop the Forbidden Attacks too.” She turned to Yenn cheerfully. “I guess I should introduce you to everyone.”

Before she had a chance to begin, Damian approached them, Arien at his side. “No one’s hurt, right?” he asked, looking at Snowcrystal in concern. The growlithe shook her head in response. The boy lifted his head to look at the yanmega, and immediately Yenn backed up in midair, his wings beating faster and louder than before. Damian hesitated, obviously sensing the hostility, but nonetheless reached around to his backpack and pulled it off his shoulders. “Calm down, we just want to-”

He was cut off as Yenn shouted at him, the yanmega’s wings beating so hard that Damian was pushed backwards. He glanced to Arien, who replied to him through their psychic link that he probably didn’t want a translation of that.

Several of the other pokémon were giving Yenn odd looks, though most weren’t particularly surprised at the reaction. Katie had warned the group that the yanmega likely wasn’t fond of humans.

Arien told Damian to back away, and stepped forward on behalf of his trainer. “I believe there is a misunderstanding here,” he told the angry bug type. “My trainer was trying to assist you, and what you just did-”

“You know what?” Snowcrystal interrupted, not wanting an argument to break out. “This is probably really overwhelming. Why don’t Yenn and a few of us – I mean those of us who came with him,” she added when she saw Arien about to speak, “– go find another place to rest for the moment.” She bounded away from the group, looking over her shoulder to see if Yenn was following.

To her surprise, he seemed to jump at the chance to get away from the humans rather than argue with Arien, and he didn’t seem annoyed at her quickly made excuse. Wildflame walked forward as well, coming close to Snowcrystal’s side. The growlithe looked back at the rest of the group, who watched them with uncertain expressions. She was suddenly glad that Thunder didn’t seem to be around at the moment; her hostility toward strangers would have only escalated the situation.

They turned and left, and Snowcrystal cast one last glance back at the group, hoping they’d trust her to try and make things a little more peaceful. Pausing in his walk toward Damian’s tent, Scytheclaw rolled his eyes.

“Nice first impression,” he muttered.

Snowcrystal and Wildflame ignored him, instead walking out into the trees until they were a fair distance away from the others, but still close to the riverside. Once they stopped, Yenn landed on the ground, suddenly returning to his weak and exhausted state.

“Look, you can’t just go yelling at them,” Snowcrystal told him, trying not to sound at all angry or annoyed. “We need to work together if we’re going to stop this-”

“Look, I didn’t plan on working with humans,” Yenn spat bitterly after he’d caught his breath. “I was pretty much forced into it because I don’t have a better plan. All I can say is that they’d better stay the hell away from me unless they want their arms ripped off.”

“You can’t hurt the trainers,” Wildflame told him. “They’re part of our group whether you like it or not. And we won’t allow you to harm them.”

“If they try to harm me, I will defend myself,” he replied.

“Oh, for goodness sake, they are not going to harm you!”

“Damian wasn’t doing anything,” Snowcrystal added, confused. “What about him seemed threatening?”

“He was reaching for something!” Yenn hissed. “He was…never mind.”

“Look, whatever it was, he didn’t want to harm you,” Wildflame explained. “And trust me, you can move a lot faster than he can, so he wouldn’t have been able to do anything anyway. He was probably just concerned. Helping injured and sick pokémon is what Damian does.”

Yenn just stood in skeptical silence, and Snowcrystal reminded herself that all this was probably foreign to him after living under Cyclone’s rule. From what she could gather, it seemed like Cyclone and his higher ups were practically brainwashing the army.

“They’re not like any humans you’ve seen, or heard of,” Snowcrystal continued. “Just…trust us on this.”

Yenn looked like there was anything he’d rather do, but for whatever reason, he seemed to calm down. “I guess they are a little young,” he replied. “They never let any young humans into the…” He shook his head. “Well, I’m guessing they don’t have the access to the same things other humans do. I’m hoping I’m right about that.”

“They don’t have guns, if that’s what you mean,” Wildflame answered.

“What do they have then?”

“Just food, water, traveling supplies, and things to help sick trainers and pokémon,” Snowcrystal answered. “That’s it.”

“Remember what we said?” Wildflame asked. “You have a Forbidden Attack. They aren’t going to mess with you.”

“The humans are here to help us, Yenn,” Snowcrystal added. “That’s all they want to do.”

Yenn snarled, “Then where were these ‘good humans’ back when… Okay, you know what? Forget it. Maybe these humans will try something, maybe they won’t, but at least you’re right in that they don’t seem very threatening either way. I’ll fight back if they try to harm me, but if not, I’ll try my best to pretend they’re not there.”

“Believe me, there’s nothing to be worried about,” Snowcrystal told him.

“Not to me, at least,” Yenn continued. “But what about pokémon that don’t have Forbidden Attacks?”

“Look,” said Snowcrystal, “if you don’t believe us, just wait and see for yourself. But for now, why don’t you rest? We’ll go back and tell Arien – he’s the alakazam – to tell his trainer that you don’t want the humans around you. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Yenn still seemed doubtful, but in the end he chose to trust her. “Okay, make sure that’s clear to them, and I’ll leave them alone.”

Snowcrystal managed to give him a small smile. “Okay, we’ll do that.”

With that, Yenn left to find a place to rest, and Wildflame and Snowcrystal headed back to the group.

When they arrived, they found that the others were gathered around Blazefang and Scytheclaw. Though Thunder was still missing, and Nightshade was probably in one of the tents, everyone else was eagerly awaiting what the pokémon who had met the legendary had to say.

“Oh, there they are,” Justin said, watching Wildflame and Snowcrystal walk back into camp. “Damian, don’t leave anything out when you tell us what they say.”

Damian and Arien glanced at each other, Arien sharing a few psychic words with his trainer, and Damian nodded.

Blazefang and Scytheclaw stepped aside to make room for Wildflame and Snowcrystal, then the four of them sat down in the center of the group. “Well,” Scytheclaw said, “I might as well start.”

For the next hour, the four pokémon told the waiting group all that they had learned, including what Yenn had told them about Cyclone’s Forbidden Attack, and that there were two other pokémon in addition to him that also had one in the army. A few of the pokémon wondered why Yenn wasn’t there to give his side of the story, and Snowcrystal decided to briefly explain his unease around humans.

As they described the meeting with Sequoiarc, a few of the pokémon expressed disbelief, to which Scytheclaw replied that they could probably go to meet him again if they really needed proof. Luckily, it didn’t take long for them to trust the words of the four pokémon, as they clearly were not making anything up. They described every last detail of the conversation, down to what the legendary had suggested they do next.

After that, the group as a whole discussed it over for quite a while. Justin and Katie were mostly kept out of the loop, getting only the important bits from Damian whenever Arien felt something was particularly noteworthy. Because of this, the two mostly just listened, still trying to piece everything together in their minds.

In the end, everyone was firmly convinced that following Sequoiarc’s instructions was the best course of action to take. Though many were eager to head out to the second portal that very day, it was agreed that they would wait a few days to gather their strength, make a plan for what to do when they came close to the city near the cave they were looking for, and give Yenn time to recover.

“We’re not really sure what city it’s going to be,” Katie was telling Justin as the pokémon conversed excitedly with each other. “Lots of them have caves around. I guess we’re just going to have to see where we end up.”

“As long as we don’t get caught,” Justin sighed shakily. “Me and Damian probably can’t get close.”

“You think they’d be looking for us even if we’re far away from Stonedust?” Damian asked.

Justin nodded. “They could think we’re working with Team Rocket for all we know. That’s who everyone thought set fire to the library-”

“That was a rumor,” Katie interrupted. “I think anyone sensible would realize Team Rocket would have no reason to…” She trailed off, her eyes widening in sudden realization. “Wait…I just remembered something. Justin, when I went back to the city to get supplies – you know, the time I saw that program about the arch’s portal on TV – I didn’t see anything about the library. No news, nothing. It was like everyone forgot about it. I can’t believe I didn’t remember until now…”

“That doesn’t mean we’re off the hook,” Justin replied nervously.

“No, but maybe they realized it was an accident. Maybe they connected the fire to something else. I don’t know. But I can ask around when we get to the other city.” Katie switched on her pokégear and began looking at maps of Inari cities and their surrounding lands.

“Sure,” Justin sighed, not sounding very hopeful.

Spark, having heard the whole thing, rubbed his head on Justin’s leg, wishing he could reassure his trainer with words.

“At least we know what we’re doing now,” Katie sighed. “A lot more than we did before, that is.”

“So these Forbidden Attacks…” Justin began. “…It’s like they sort of took a life of their own. Well, maybe not that. Maybe it’s more like a computer program that went haywire. And we don’t actually know whether or not they were created with good intentions.”

“Regardless, the legendaries are working against them now,” Katie replied. “And they’re our best bet.”

They looked up as Thunder strode into view, looking frustrated with something. Immediately, one of the pokémon began trying to explain everything to her, and Thunder just looked on with irritation. It wasn’t clear how much she cared about the new information.

Damian walked over to the tent where Nightshade was currently resting, both he and Arien tired of acting as translators. The heracross had been able to hear the whole thing from where he was, so Damian wasn’t worried about having to explain anything. He looked at the heracross worriedly. Though Nightshade had been able to calmly rest during the journey, his injuries were still very serious, and Damian had no idea how long they’d take to heal.

Nightshade looked up from the blanket he was resting on as Damian walked in. He could see the trainer’s worry, so he said a few reassuring words to him. Damian didn’t need Arien’s translation to understand.

-ooo-

Yenn returned to the camp of the group he had joined up with in a state of unease. As he appeared around the trunk of one of the massive trees, several of the resting pokémon cast him uncertain glances. Yenn tensed; he didn’t like being stared at.

As he was pondering whether to leave and come back later when most of them were asleep, a pokémon appeared from around another tree. This one had not been there when he’d first been introduced to the white growlithe’s companions. She was a scyther, but unlike the male scyther, she was covered in scars.

The sight shocked Yenn. Something terrible had happened to this scyther.

As he thought this, the scyther suddenly turned her head towards him. Her eyes narrowed. “So…this is the pokémon that’s tagging along?” she said, her voice full of disdain. “Let me know if you’re going to drag any more random bystanders into this little adventure of ours. I sure do love it.”

Yenn watched the scyther turn away from him and walk toward one of the human’s tents. The yanmega froze as she did so, but the scyther seemed relatively calm as she stopped near the entrance. A moment later, a human appeared from the tent’s opening.

It was the one called Damian. The yanmega gritted his teeth as the boy leaned down toward the tent opening and called to someone else inside.

“Come into the light where I can see better,” the human calmly instructed whoever was in the tent.

Noticing his unease, the white growlithe, Snowcrystal, came over him. “Don’t worry. He’s trying to help. Just watch.”

However, Yenn wasn’t paying attention, for a pokémon had slowly emerged from the tent entrance. It was a heracross, and one that was severely injured. Though most of those injuries were covered with human-made bandages, he could tell from the bug type’s movements and the fact that one of his arms seemed to be completely useless that he was badly wounded. The sight startled him, as it had with the scyther, and he wondered what had happened to the heracross. He only hoped that the humans weren’t involved.

“Spark, can you go get my bag?” Damian asked.

The jolteon sprang to his feet, dashing across the camp to where the trainers’ packs lay. He grabbed the one that must have been Damian’s and ran back with it. The trainer then reached inside and pulled out a new roll of bandages.

“What is he doing?” Yenn growled.

Snowcrystal looked to the yanmega in confusion. “Like I said, he’s just trying to help. You see, Nightshade got injured when we…when we ran into a dangerous pokémon.”

Though Yenn was obviously suspicious, he remained still and watched as Damian treated Nightshade’s wounds. The heracross did not struggle, and remained calm while the scarred scyther watched carefully. It was then that Yenn noticed something odd. Despite injuries that were obviously serious, the heracross did not seem to be in a great deal of pain. With the sort of injuries he seemed to have, Yenn thought he would be in agony. He didn’t look drugged either; his expression was calm, not vacant.

Yet Yenn was worried. What he was seeing didn’t really add up, and he could not understand what was making the heracross so calm. “Something’s not right here,” he whispered to Snowcrystal, hovering down closer to the growlithe.

“What do you mean?” she whispered back, confused.

Damian reached into the bag and took out some sort of bottle, offering a small object from it to the heracross.

“What is that?” Yenn asked.

“It’s medicine,” Snowcrystal answered. “Pain medicine.”

“I don’t think so,” Yenn replied, flying past Snowcrystal and toward the tent where the human and the two bug types were. He zipped toward the human, causing Damian to stumble back. “Get away from him!” he yelled, and though the trainer couldn’t understand his words, the meaning was clear.

“It’s okay,” Damian stammered, getting to his feet. “I’m just trying to help.”

By now, the attention of every pokémon and human in the camp was drawn toward the small commotion. Most of them looked tense, or simply confused, and Thunder watched with an unreadable expression. They could tell that the yanmega was too caught up in his emotions for logic to work on him.

“You’re not helping,” Yenn growled. “He doesn’t need that. They said I could trust you.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Spark asked, tilting his head as he looked at the yanmega.

Redclaw shifted uneasily. “Yenn…that’s your name, right? Relax. He’s just trying to treat Nightshade’s wounds.”

“They’re right,” said the heracross behind him. “It’s okay.”

Yenn didn’t move, still hovering between Nightshade and Damian, who had gone completely still as he watched the yanmega. “What are you trying to drug him for, then? That’s what I want to know,” he asked, his voice dripping with hatred as he hovered with his head mere inches from Damian’s.

“Get…away…from my trainer,” Scytheclaw suddenly growled, stepping toward Damian and Yenn. He looked ready to take a swipe at the yanmega, but before either of them could do anything, Nightshade spoke up.

“There is nothing to worry about,” the heracross said, his voice as strong as he could manage it. “I trust Damian and he has been nothing but helpful. The medicine is only going to help me. I’ve had it plenty of times before. You don’t have to worry.”

Yenn backed away from Damian, but was still confused as he looked at the heracross. “Why can’t you find a pokémon healer then? Why would you trust human medicine?”

“A pokémon healer can only do so much,” Snowcrystal explained. “It's not only for pain. If Nightshade doesn't get the medicine, his wounds could get infected. The humans have better ways to fight that than any pokémon does.”

“And you’re kind of getting in the way of that,” Thunder told Yenn. “So can you leave us alone? We don’t have time for this.”

“They’re right,” Nightshade said. “It’s fine.”

Though Yenn remained facing the human, he could see the sincerity in the heracross’s eyes. He wasn’t lying, and though Yenn still distrusted the human, something about the heracross made the yanmega want to trust him. “You’re sure?” he asked, turning to face Nightshade.

“They have been helping me and I trust them,” the heracross continued. “The medicine is not going to do whatever you think it will.”

Slowly, Yenn started to back away from Damian. “Trust them if you want,” he said quietly. “But if they do anything-”

“Look, you can think whatever you want,” Scytheclaw began, “but you can’t harm any of us, human or not. We’re working together, don’t forget that. Nightshade can make his own decisions and you can stay out of it.”

Yenn realized that all the pokémon were staring at him, confused at his reaction. He didn’t understand it, but he was tired of trying to reason with them. He could hear the growlithe and a few of the others trying to reassure him, but he wasn’t paying much attention. Turning away from Damian, he headed out of the camp, realizing that they weren’t going to listen to him. Still, he thought, he would stay nearby, just in case the humans tried anything.

-ooo-

The group rested until nightfall, no one but Thunder straying very far from the camp. As darkness fell, most of the pokémon gathered together in a wide circle with the trainers, to once again discuss their plans.

“So, we all still agree we should rest here for a few days?” Redclaw asked the others. “Some of us are still recovering.” He glanced at Blazefang and Scytheclaw. When the rest of the pokémon gave words of agreement, he nodded to Arien, who sent a quick translation to Damian.

“That sounds good,” Wildflame began. “And I definitely think it would be better to let the new pokémon get to know us a bit more before we go near the human city.” There was worry in her voice, and the others noticed it. At the moment, Yenn was nowhere to be found.

Thunder, who was looking at the group from a short distance away, turned to Nightshade, who was lying near the tents on some blankets the trainers had provided him. “Are you sure you still want to go with them? This sounds…dangerous.”

“I’m sure,” Nightshade replied. “And I’m sure the city itself will be safe, as long as we’re careful.”

Thunder turned her head back to the group, speaking lowly so that they could not hear. “You really consider these pokémon…family?”

“Yes.”

Thunder gave Nightshade a sad look. “I won’t try to persuade you to leave, then. Just…be careful. I can’t watch over you all the time, and if we’re going to where there’s more humans…”

“You don’t need to watch over me,” Nightshade told her. “I’m safe with them. Don’t worry about it. Just come talk to me when you want.”

Thunder gave a stiff nod in response and again focused on the rest of the group.

“We’ll probably have to set up a new camp outside the city,” Redclaw was saying. “And there might be trouble if Damian and Justin are found, if the humans in this other city have heard about the library.”

“Well, we shouldn’t even have to go into the city, right?” Rosie asked.

“We’re gonna need more supplies soon,” Spark told her. “But I guess if nothing else, Katie can just get them for us.”

Redclaw was about to reply when he noticed the sound of faintly beating wings. He turned to see Yenn hovering at the edge of camp, looking uncertain.

Alex waved a paw to him. “Come on over! We were just talking about what we’re going to do next, when we go through the portal in a few days.”

Yenn jumped at the sound of her voice, startled. “No thanks,” he said as he backed away, unsettled by the sight of the humans sitting so freely among the pokémon.

“Yenn, wait a moment,” Redclaw said before the yanmega could leave. “Could a few of us have a word with you? I think we’d like to know a bit more about Cyclone, and maybe you could help us.”

Yenn turned his head toward the arcanine. “If you want, I’ll tell you what I know. But not here. Somewhere safe.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s-” Spark began.

“That’s fine,” Redclaw interrupted. “I’ll go with you. Snowcrystal? Wildflame? Blazefang? Yenn traveled with you. Why don’t you come?”

“I’d…rather not,” Blazefang admitted. “I don’t even want to think about Cyclone right now.”

“I’ll come,” Snowcrystal said, and Wildflame nodded.

The three of them followed the yanmega into the dark forest. Even in the dim lighting, they could see that Yenn still looked weak and emaciated, but at least he was a lot stronger than he was before.

“I think this is far enough,” Redclaw said after they’d passed several of the enormous trees.

“We should go farther,” Yenn replied, not turning toward the arcanine.

Redclaw sighed, following the yanmega as he flew ahead, occasionally zipping in a different direction as if he was worried something would follow them. After they’d walked in silence for several more minutes, the yanmega finally stopped, landing on one of the smaller tree roots. “Okay, ask away.”

“You said there were two other pokémon with Forbidden Attacks in Cyclone’s army,” Wildflame began. “Besides Cyclone himself, I mean. What…what sort of pokémon were they? What type of attacks did they have?”

Yenn suddenly looked as if someone had struck him. He obviously hadn’t expected that question. Wildflame paused, wondering if whatever she’d asked had reminded him of anything unpleasant. She was almost ready to tell him he didn’t need to answer and they could move on to another question when Yenn spoke.

“A manectric and a misdreavus,” he said. “Electric and ghost. And…to be honest, they’re the reason I agreed to join you. Why I’m forcing myself to work with humans. I don’t want them to lose their minds either. So I hope you’re right about being able to help them.”

“Oh…” said Snowcrystal. “Well, if these legendaries have a plan, there’s definitely a good chance. It’s not just us trying to figure it out anymore.”

“Well, I have another question,” Redclaw began, sitting down and brushing the ground with his tail. “You were being chased by Solus and those army pokémon. How did you manage to escape?”

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Yenn answered sharply.

“Okay, well, do you know if Cyclone’s planning anything? Is he…going to attack a human settlement soon?” the arcanine asked.

“I don’t know,” Yenn sighed. “He was never truthful with me. But…I don’t think he was lying when he said he wanted more Forbidden Attacks first. Not long before I left, I…tried to convince him that we had enough to fight the humans, and he didn’t think so. I think if Cyclone was ready to attack, it would have happened already.”

“Um…about your friends with the Forbidden Attacks,” Snowcrystal asked Yenn, trying to tread lightly on the subject. “They’re not…they know not to use them anymore, right?”

“Yes,” Yenn replied. “They want to work against Cyclone but that’s dangerous. They won’t use their Forbidden Attacks though. Ashend will make sure of that.”

“Let’s hope so,” Redclaw said worriedly.

“Ashend said that we could control it,” Yenn continued, “that it was at a weak stage and we just had to never use it again. But apparently that isn’t true. We already have some loss of control just by using it once.” The yanmega shifted his legs on the tree root, looking worried. “I resisted against using it a second time, but…”

“I think you probably have more control than Blazefang did,” Snowcrystal told him. “Blazefang didn’t know how to resist it after he used it the first time. Just…be careful.”

“You know, if this…Ashend and your other friend have Forbidden Attacks,” began Wildflame, “isn’t Cyclone not much of a threat to them?”

“They wouldn’t be able to kill him, if that’s what you mean,” Yenn replied. “Cyclone’s Forbidden Attack is stronger, and Ashend said that pokémon with Forbidden Attacks can’t easily kill each other with them. She also said that Cyclone’s already corrupted, he just doesn’t act like it. He-”

“Cyclone didn’t seem insane?” Wildflame asked.

“No, not really,” Yenn replied. “But Ashend said that it affects him differently, because he never tried to fight it. He seems…well, perfectly normal. But I guess he-” Yenn paused, lowering his head. “Never mind.”

“I have to ask,” Wildflame said. “How did a pokémon like you get mixed up with Cyclone?”

“It’s a long story,” Yenn answered. “One that I’d rather not talk about. But the short version is…I had just got back to the wild, I had nowhere to go, Cyclone took me in, and after everything, it seemed like…” He sighed. “Let’s just say I made some really bad mistakes.”

“Believe me, I know all about making bad mistakes,” Wildflame said. “If you don’t mind me asking, what was it like in the army? The more we know about Cyclone, the better.”

Yenn seemed reluctant to answer. "Look, I’m really tired,” he sighed. “Maybe we can talk more about this later. But…I’ll say that my experience in the army wasn’t the norm for pokémon there. Cyclone was real nice to me. Gave me pretty much anything I wanted. I just didn't know what sort of things he was really doing, didn’t start to realize it until he killed Articuno."

“What?”

The other pokémon turned to Snowcrystal, who had frozen as she stared at Yenn in horror. The growlithe’s eyes were wide as she shook her head slowly.

“What do you mean? Articuno…Articuno can’t be dead…I…”

Yenn looked taken aback, realizing he had so casually said something the growlithe clearly found horrifying. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “I…I know you said you met Articuno, but…I didn’t know you…”

Snowcrystal didn’t answer. She backed away, her breathing coming more rapidly. She could hear Redclaw and Wildflame trying to talk to her, but she wasn’t sure what they were saying. A large part of her wanted to believe that Yenn was lying, though the rational part of her knew he had no reason to. Articuno, the guardian of her mountain home, was dead. Killed by Cyclone.

“Snowcrystal?” Redclaw asked, his voice coming through to the growlithe.

“Cyclone…really killed him?”

The arcanine looked to Yenn, who nodded grimly. “Snowcrystal,” Redclaw began, “the other legendaries had to have heard about this. They’ll be on their guard. No one else will have to-”

“A legendary is dead!” Snowcrystal cried. “And my tribe…what will they do now? They can’t stay on their mountain.”

Wildflame came up beside the growlithe, giving her head a few small licks. “As soon as this is over,” she said, “I’ll help you and the tribe find a new home. I’m sure some of the others would be willing to help as well. We won’t leave them on their own, I promise.”

Snowcrystal looked up at her. “I’ve been gone so long already. How many more months do they have on that mountain?”

Wildflame and Redclaw looked to each other.

“The mountain?” Yenn questioned with some hesitation, as if he wasn’t sure he should be interrupting. “You had a tribe on the mountain where Articuno was guarding the…Forbidden Attack?”

“No,” Wildflame answered for the growlithe. “It was another mountain. Articuno left the tribe’s home to guard the Forbidden Attack. Like Sequoiarc said.”

“He was the only one who could save my tribe’s home,” Snowcrystal said shakily. “And he didn’t deserve to die like that. If Cyclone can kill legendaries…” She broke off, unable to continue.

“There’s nothing we can do for Articuno now,” Redclaw told her. “But Wildflame is right. When we’ve found a way to put an end to the Forbidden Attacks, we can find a way to move your tribe to a safer place.”

Snowcrystal nodded in response, beginning to feel numb from the shock. She didn’t want to believe it, but it was plausible and it didn’t seem like Yenn was lying.

She swallowed. “Okay,” she said. “Thanks…you two.”

Though the growlithe’s voice still sounded hollow, at least some of her hope had returned, even if it was too late for Articuno himself.

“I’m sorry,” Yenn said after a moment. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s not your fault,” Snowcrystal replied. “I’m glad you told me.”

Without another word, the growlithe got up and headed into the darkness of the forest. At the moment, she wanted to be alone.

-ooo-

For the next few days, the group rested and planned ahead as well as they could. The trainers speculated about which city they would be arriving at; Katie had narrowed it down to the ones that had known caves nearby. The first thing they planned to do upon arriving was to have Katie go into the city and stock up on supplies.

Yenn had not grown any more comfortable around the humans, and spent the majority of his time away from the main group or high up in the trees. However, even in just the few days that had passed, he already looked healthier, thanks to the abundance of prey in the forest.

The other pokémon enjoyed their time to relax, happy to rest after the exhausting journey through the desert. Blazefang’s wounds were looking much better, as were the more minor injuries the group had sustained.

On the morning they were to continue their journey, Wildflame and Stormblade were sent to find the furret guardian and bring him back to the camp so that he could show them the place where the portal would take them to their new destination. The rest of the group gathered their supplies and then waited, talking amongst each other, pacing around the camp, or simply getting some last bit of rest.

“Snowcrystal, are you ready?” Redclaw asked the growlithe, who was sitting off by herself, looking lost in thought.

“Oh. Yeah, I am,” she said, trying to shake off any hints of sadness that may have been visible on her expression.

“They should be back any minute now,” the arcanine replied. “Let’s go wait with the others.” He turned and walked toward the main group, with Snowcrystal trailing slowly behind.

Despite the fact that most of the pokémon, and even the humans, had agreed to help Snowcrystal’s tribe after their main objective was complete, she was worried. If the tribe was forced to leave before help could arrive, they could run into all kinds of dangers. Maybe even Cyclone. As well as that, she still found it hard to come to terms with the fact that Articuno was dead.

She didn’t want the others to see her worry, however. They had more important things to think about, and many of them had also been saddened by the news of Articuno’s death. She didn’t want them to worry about her.

Yenn had also joined the group in waiting. He stayed at the edge of the camp, looking nervous and wary. To Snowcrystal’s surprise, Thunder was standing near the main group, seeming relatively calm with Nightshade beside her.

“I think everything’s ready,” Damian told the others as he finished fitting Redclaw with a traveling pack. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of pokémon treats, tossing a few to the excitedly waiting pokémon.

Spark leapt to catch one in the air, turning to Snowcrystal. “Why don’t you try it?” he asked. “There’s plenty.”

“No thanks,” Snowcrystal replied.

“What about you, Thunder?”

Thunder turned to him, surprised that he had spoken to her. She gave the jolteon an annoyed glare before shrugging. “I’m not going to jump for one. Tell the trainer to set some on the ground.” After relying on them for food in the desert, the idea of taking food from humans had started to seem less and less repulsive.

After a few minutes, most of the treats were gone, and Damian took the remaining ones in his hand, hesitantly approaching Yenn. As soon as he took the first step in the yanmega’s direction, Yenn stiffened and flared his wings.

“It’s okay,” Damian said, though his voice betrayed the fact that Yenn’s signs of hostility made him nervous. “Here, try some of these.”

“Not going to work,” Justin muttered at him. “Just like all the other times you tried it. Give it up.”

Yenn could pick up on Damian’s nervousness, and it only made him grow more agitated. He gave the human a hateful stare before flying off, landing on a branch far above the others’ heads.

“You know, maybe you should just leave him alone,” Katie said without looking up from her pokégear.

“I just thought that-” He paused as Wildflame and Stormblade charged around a tree, a furret bounding behind them.

Snowcrystal looked up as her friends returned with the messenger. She jumped up and ran toward them, the others gathering around her.

“I see you’re ready to go,” the furret said calmly, showing no fear of the large predators surrounding him.

“Yes,” Snowcrystal began, “but the legendaries guarding the Forbidden Attacks…I think they’re in more danger than we thought. I mean, they probably know by now, but Cyclone is-”

“We will send winged messengers to spread the word to those legendaries,” the furret assured her. “Though I’m sure many are already aware of the threat. Our Guardian does not want more Forbidden Attacks to be found.”

“Thank you,” Snowcrystal said, feeling a bit better about the situation. At least the other legendaries wouldn’t be unprepared.

The group followed the furret messenger through the forest, taking in the breathtaking sight of the towering trees one more time. Though the death of Articuno had shocked them, most of them were filled with hope now that they had a clear path in mind.

They arrived at a spot that looked no different from the rest of the forest. They stood looking up at a hill where two enormous trees grew closely together. The furret nodded toward them, telling the group that the portal would now open for them.

Several of the watching pokémon let out a gasp as the massive form of the forest’s legendary appeared from the gloom, stopping at the top of the hill to look down on them. Both the pokémon and the humans froze at the sight, looking at Sequoiarc’s form with awe. In the light from above, they could make out the leaves surrounding his neck as well as the patterns of his mask.

The legendary nodded to them, then turned and made his way back into the forest. Immediately, Arien sensed a powerful force coming from the portal between the two trees.

Together, the pokémon and trainers climbed up the hill, took one last look at the magnificent forest, then one by one they stepped through the portal.

-ooo-

At the head of the group of pokémon he’d led into the desert, Solus walked back into the army camp. Many pokémon stopped what they were doing to watch the espeon’s return, noting from the looks of his and his followers’ faces that they had returned empty pawed.

Solus didn’t pay attention to any of them. It had taken his group longer to return to the army’s camp due to injuries some of his pokémon had sustained in the battle with the white growlithe’s group. Cyclone wouldn’t be happy about that. And on top of it all, he would have to explain to his leader that the pokémon he’d been targeting had vanished into thin air.

At least he wouldn’t have to mention Blazefang.

Whispers spread through the group of watching pokémon. The higher ranking ones looked disappointed or angry, while the lower ranking ones mostly looked worried. Soon, a familiar figure appeared through the crowd, pokémon parting to make way for him.

The vaporeon stopped in front of Solus, taking in the two scratches the espeon bore across his face. Solus knew that he didn’t need to tell Cyclone how the search for Yenn had turned out, but he bowed his head and spoke anyway.

“Yenn is gone. He escaped through some sort of…portal in the desert. We tried everything, but couldn’t follow him.”

Cyclone didn’t reply. He showed no anger, nor disappointment. Somehow, that only made Solus feel worse. The vaporeon closed his eyes and gave a small sigh. “Solus,” he said, “this can wait for later. There is something I need you to do now. And I expect there to be no failure, not now that we’ve had yet another setback.”

Solus wasn’t sure he liked seeing the vaporeon leader so calm about losing Yenn, but he wasn’t going to press the issue. “Yes, and that would be…?”

“Follow me,” Cyclone told him. “We’ve discovered the location of another Forbidden Attack, and I need you to evaluate our new candidate.”

-ooo-

“So Yenn made it…” Ashend whispered to Itora, watching the newly returned pokémon from their position near the entrance of Ashend’s cave. “He’s free.” The ghost type smiled.

“Cyclone’s still going to pay,” Itora growled.

Ashend’s smile vanished. “Itora, we still need to be careful,” she warned. “Especially now that Solus is back. If you sense his presence in your mind, don’t let him find-”

“I know, Ashend, I know,” the manectric grumbled. She sighed. “So what are we going to do now? We can’t escape, we’ve got no way to take down Cyclone yet, and-”

“We keep waiting, and learn what we can,” Ashend replied.

After a short while, the two of them headed back into the cave, leaving the rest of the army to themselves. So far, Cyclone hadn’t asked to see their Forbidden Attacks in person, so they had been able to do a good job of simply pretending to use them. Eventually, they knew, he would want an audience. Ashend was still thinking about what they would do when that time came.

Once in the cave, Ashend used her levitation powers to lift the glowing stone amulet off of her neck and set it on a stone ledge. She had grown to hate the thing more and more, but still treated it with respect, knowing that doing anything else would lead to suspicion. Beside her, Itora flopped down on the ground, scratching at a patch of her scruffy fur.

“So we still have no plan,” the manectric sighed.

“Not yet,” Ashend responded.

For a while they waited in silence, each with their own thoughts. Despite the daunting task of keeping their intentions a secret, the two had felt an immense burden lifted from them at the news that Solus had failed to kill Yenn. That gave them the peace they needed, and would make it easier to hide their feelings from Solus.

“Hello, Ashend. Itora,” a calm voice stated, and the two turned to see Cyclone standing in the cave’s entrance tunnel. Beside him was the sleek form of Solus.

“Yes, Cyclone,” Ashend said stiffly. “What is it?”

“Though Yenn’s capture was a failure, we have good news,” he replied. “We have discovered the location of another Attack stone not guarded by a legendary. I have already sent some loyal pokémon to retrieve it.”

“Good,” Ashend replied. “But it won’t be enough, will it? We’ve got to get more of these things before we actually use them on humans.”

“Yes, and there have been major setbacks,” Cyclone replied. “But with time, that shouldn’t matter. With time, it won’t matter that the legendaries are gathering stronger forces to guard these stones.”

Itora gave Ashend a glance, but neither of them spoke what was on their minds. The misdreavus carried on as if everything was normal.

“The army only gets stronger. That won’t be a problem in time,” she said.

Cyclone nodded. “Now, I want you to meet our new partner. Sandra, come here.” He turned his head back toward the tunnel, and another pokémon walked into the gloom.

The stranger was a ground type, covered in tan and white fur with a mass of brown spines lining her back. As she watched Ashend and Itora, she lifted a forepaw and scratched the side of her face with a massive claw.

Ashend tried not to show much surprise at the sight of the sandslash, instead giving a smile as if she was pleased with the newcomer. She noted that Sandra bore no scars of any sort, and briefly wondered what the sandslash’s story was. As she pondered this, Itora gave the ground type a convincingly cheerful welcome.

“Hm,” Sandra replied absentmindedly. “I already know who you are. Everyone treats you like royalty. Let’s hope you’re actually skilled enough to deserve it.” She turned away from them, not bothering to watch their reactions. “So Cyclone,” she began, running a claw through the fur along her jawline, “how many more do I have to kill before you really trust me?”

“I trust you already,” Cyclone replied, with a nod to Solus.

“Good,” the sandslash replied, grinning. “Now where is my stone?”

To be continued…