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Please read this before reading the story:
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The Forest of the Guardian

"Come back please! P-Please just stop!" A five year old boy said as he ran through Viridian Forest. His face was being whipped with tree branches, and scratched badly as he ran through the dark forest. His emerald green eyes were filled with tears as he ran. He had just been attacked by two Team Rocket members, the smaller Rocket grunt had been a bit younger than him, but the older member had been training him to steal. "You can't just take him from me! My father gave him to me!" He continued, as he ran his breath was growing short, as he was crying and running at the same time. He was growing further and further away from the two grunts when he tripped over a rotting root that stuck up from the ground, like a shiny pokemon in a group of regular pokemon.

As he tripped, he began to break into tears more "Pi-Pichu" he said sadly as he struggled to get back up.

He heard a very faint "Pichu Pi!" as the Rocket duo fled the boy sat down in defeat and looked around. He couldn't see where he was due to the tears in his eyes, and he couldn't recognize his surroundings. He just continued to sit there hoping for Professor Elm, or his friend, Lion, to find him.

A few minutes went by as the boy sat in the damp mud of the forest. He heard pokemon running past him in fear as they were wild. He was about to call out for Elm or Lion when he heard a noise, it wasn't one he recognized. His guard went up as he looked around. He tried to dry the tears from his eyes as he heard the noise closer "Gia!" The noise rang loudly in the damp air.

All of a sudden there was a flash of silver right in front of the boy, he attempted to jump out of the way, but was knocked over. Upon opening his eyes he noticed the silver pokemon had fainted. The boy examined the injured beast, and saw some burns, cuts, and worse of all a deep cut in its side. "Hey! G-get up. C-Come on y-you have to." The boy said in worry as he examined the large pokemon.

The beast was silver with blue flaps on its back, and blue triangles on its closed eyes it had a blue spike on its tail, and a blue chest. "I-I think I've seen this Pokemon somewhere before." The boy said between shaky breathing from crying, and hiccups from losing his breath as he ran.

He was about to approach the pokemon when he heard another voice "Oh! Ho-Oh" a new cry rang out. As it sounded out, the boy saw the first pokemon stir.

It then looked at the boy before sending out another cry of "Lugia Lu!" The boy then looked at the pokemon in shock he wanted to tell it to stay down, and rest, but he knew this pokemon wouldn't.

Just as he was about to walk back to the pokemon's tail area, where the boy had been hit with, he saw a very bright pink light that radiated off the Lugia. "Hey please just rest" he said in worry before he was hit with a strange power. The boy flinched as he heard nothing, but screaming. It wasn't his screaming instead it was the sound of many pokemon screaming in joy, pain, and fear. The boy felt like he was about to pass out when he heard a new voice.

"Tiger, huh the name seems to fit" the voice said softly, but loud enough for him to hear over the agonizing pokemon screams.

"Wh-Who's there? I-i-if it's Team Rocket please go away...don't attack me again please." Tiger said in fear, and tears began to fill his emerald eyes once more as he was afraid, and sad at the memory of the attack.

"Hmmm fear. Why are you afraid young one? Is it because you lost your friend?" The voice said soothingly.

Tiger then managed to growl as his fear drove his adrenaline. He then got up, and replied in a strong, but shaking voice as he continued to hear the screaming, and feel the fear in his chest. "Ho-How do you know! It just happened, and then a Lugia, a pokemon I though only existed in my story books. Crashes into me!" he replied afraid.

Tiger waited a few moments for a reply he then heard the screaming fade into the background as he heard the strange voice laugh. "Stories? Man you humans have a way of making legends, legend." The voice said kindly.

Tiger then blinked. Am I talking to Lugia!? He thought in shock.

He was about to rationalize the answer when he heard Lugia reply, "Yes young boy. You're talking to me, and I have something very important to tell you. This Ho-Oh, it just attacked me out of nowhere. I tried to fight it back, but I failed. You need to leave me behind. Get out of this forest and save yourself before Ho-Oh attacks you too." The pokemon said in worry. Tiger looked around the darkness for some sign of anything in the pokemon, but he couldn't see. He then heard the pokemon respond "If you do I'll allow you to keep this ability of understanding us, and being able to speak with us" Lugia said lowly. He then sat in the darkness for a few moments before Ho-Oh's cry rang out once more in the strange area.

"Us?" Tiger asked in confusion and looked around. Lugia then sighed softly "Us as in Pokemon" he replied, Tiger then blinked.

"How do you know me?" he asked the legendary pokemon.

Lugia then took a moment to respond his voice cut through the darkness softly, "..I've seen you before, and I've known your father before too." He said lowly. Tiger was about to ask when Lugia continued, "I fly over the skies of Johto rarely, and bring the rain to the fields of the region. As I fly over New Bark Town, your home town, I see you, and your friend heading to the lab daily. You, Tiger are different from your father. Well you are now. Your father, Frost, use to be kindhearted. He would heal pokemon, and risk his life for the weakest pokemon, but one day, the day you lost him. He decided to go into Rocket HQ, and try to rescue a Pokemon. You wouldn't remember because you were only one at the time. When he left the HQ-" he said, but Tiger interupted him, "he was a changed trainer." The boy said sadly. Lugia then replied with a "yes" the legend then sighed, and Tiger heard Ho-Oh once more.

"Please just believe me when I say you will get new friends. Yes they won't take Pichu's place, but you will get over your loss" Lugia said quickly and the screaming in the background wore off.

Tiger sat up in shock and looked at Lugia he had woke up from the strange vision, and he was uncertain if he was only dreaming. That was when he heard the legend speak, "hurry run away" the legend said and tried to push the young boy forward with his tail. He then decided to take a look at the legend once more as he did he heard Lugia's voice once more in memory of the encounter. You have to leave me behind, save yourself. The voice rang in his ears, and Tiger was aware the legend was looking at him anxiously. Tiger then growled as he heard Ho-oh's cry once more, but closer. "I said leave!" Lugia said in worry and fear was thick in the pokemon's voice.

Tiger then growled, "you're hurt, and, and I already saw one friend go away for possibly forever! I-I'm not going to allow you to be hurt or worse!" Tiger said tears in his eyes once more.

Lugia then growled angrily, which caused him to flinch. "Foolish boy you'll-!" it said loudly when a shadow covered the moon causing the forest to grow darker.

"Lugia! There you are. I've been looking forward to destroying you, and bringing glory to my master once more." A voice said menacingly. Tiger looked up and flinched as he saw Ho-Oh. The pokemon had gold, red, and green feathers. It then glared at the boy and smirked. "Heh are you that boy we heard cry earlier? What a wimp." He said lowly.

Tiger looked over his shoulder to Lugia who was attempting to get up and fight back when Tiger yelled a response. "Yeah little Torchic, it was me!" he said trying to sound brave.

The pokemon then growled "what did you say punk!" He yowled, and shot a flamethrower at Tiger. The boy was hit, and growled lowly.

"I thought you were suppose to create balance, and peace in Johto, and the world!" Tiger said angrily. Lugia watched in shock and tried to get to its feet. The legend felt helpless as he struggled to get up.

Ho-Oh then laughed, "on a regular occasion the five year old would be smart, but you didn't count in if the legend was caught, and trained by someone who might be evil." It said in a matter of fact tone.

Lugia then growled "Leave Tiger alone, and go away" the silver legend said in worry. Ho-Oh then laughed "I'll leave, but, first? I need to finish the job!" Ho-Oh said and fired off a sacred fire. The move was about to hit Lugia when Tiger jumped into the way, and was hit with the move. The force of the move caused trees to burn, and smoke to fill the air. Ho-Oh then laughed triumphantly, and flew away leaving the forest to burn.

Upon getting hit with sacred fire Tiger screamed in pain, and fell backwards. He felt as if he had been thrown into a campfire as he was hurt. The boy then felt his energy drain, and he heard Lugia's worried cry. "Kid please, stay with me!" The legend spoke, and Tiger tried to fight it. He then saw a hydro pump wash over his face, and sprayed water on the burning trees. Tiger then felt some of the water splash off the tree and hit him soaking himself.

He continued to fight for consciousness, but the darkness began to over come him once more. He then heard the screaming of pokemon, and Lugia's voice very faintly in his ears as he began to pass out. "You should have fled, but I won't yell at you for your courage. You saved my life in risk of yours, and I can't leave you here alone, to die." He heard the voice was speaking softly, and full of regret. Tiger then felt himself be picked up, and he felt his hat fall off his head as he was being picked up. He then finally succumbed to the darkness of his energy fleeing him, and the last thing he had heard was Lugia say, "I'll take care of you, and guard you until you are well enough to go home." Everything then went dark, and he knew nothing more.

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Title: Welcome to the forest

"When will he wake up" a Shiftry asked a Ninetales in concern. It had been a week since Lugia arrived in their den with Tiger. The Shiftry was wondering if the boy was still alive, he defiantly didn't look it now, his red shirt had been damaged the right sleeve burnt away where most of the sacred fire that hit him, he had a small burn on his cheek. The Ninetales sighed in annoyance at the Shiftry as she sniffed around the passed out boy.

She examined the burns that covered him, as well as the deep burn on his right shoulder, grabbing a big leaf, she wrapped the burn up with it, and placed the remains of a dried up leaf next to the Shiftry. "Well?" The Shiftry asked a bit more anxious. Ninetales then sighed, and looked at a shiny Vulpix.

The pokemon was looking at the boy with an interested look, this is her first human, the Ninetales thought to herself slightly. Ninetales continued to sniff Tiger. Glancing at the shiny Vulpix, she noticed the Vulpix was examining his brown, and black hair, she looked at rays of sun that filtered into the cave causing the sun to hit the boy's eyes. Causing the boy to grunt in annoyance, and move his injured arm over his face.

Ninetales then went over and covered the entrance with the vines that were parted in the entrance of the cave. The vines seemed to cover the large cave, and were leading toward the back, where a large hole in the wall was. The sound of moving water was coming from the back of the cave, and there was moss in most of the small dens within the cave where the other pokemon who lived in the caves resided. Ninetales watched as the vines covered the setting sun causing the den to grow dark once more. She sighed in relief as Tiger's bad arm was put back into his mossy bed, she then looked at the wrap and saw it was undoing itself. Ninetales then thought for a moment, and looked at the shiny Vulpix.

"Tally, could you please grab me some more water from the stream? Tiger should wake up soon, and I'm sure Lugia will want to talk to him right away." The Ninetales spoke softly, but with a hint of a stern tone. Tally, the shiny Vulpix, then nodded before walking out of the cave. The Ninetales then focused on Tiger once more before speaking to the Shiftree. "Tiger is fine, well other than his right arm. I'm sure that he'll be up for you training with him in less than a moon." She said to the Shiftry lowly. "Though next time I'm healing an injured soul I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of the way. Please, Sage that's all I ask." She sighed to the Shiftry. Sage then nodded before looking at Tiger. From what Lugia had told the pokemon when the legend arrived with a human, the boy was strong, and brave. Though now it looked very unconvincing when Sage looked at Tiger. The young boy was thinner than he had been when he first arrived. He was now looking sickly, and helpless as he lay in the moss. Ninetales glared at the Shiftry once more.

He then sighed, and looked at the Ninetales apologetically. "Sorry for getting in your way, Kit" he said softly, and ran out of the cave.

~*~*~*~*~


About a half an hour went by before Tally had returned with a wet wad of moss. She then went to Kit silently, "I've got the water!" She said muffledly through the moss as she walked across the cave. Kit then nodded to Tally, and looked at the boy's injured arm. Glancing at the Vulpix, she showed her were to place it with a flick of her tail.

"Place it on his arm. I'd like to try, and heal that wound before it scars" the Ninetales said softly as she crushed up some oran berries silently. Tally nodded, and went over to the boy, she placed the moss on his arm. Soon Tiger groaned. She then went to his head, and saw Tiger's eyes open. The Vulpix jumped back in shock, and Tiger looked around as if he was waking from a nightmare, he then looked at the shiny Vulpix in shock, and confusion.

"Where am I? What happened to Pichu" Tiger said frantically. He then winced in pain as the burns began to hurt him quickly.

"Please just lay down" Tally says in worry, and went to Tiger cautiously.

Tiger then blinked and looked at Tally. "Vulpix?" He asked still confused he moved his injured arm which sent a sheering burning sensation through it. He growled in pain, and held his arm, tears were beginning to form in his eyes.

Kit then went to Tiger holding the crushed berries. "You need to rest." The Ninetales said softly before nudging the crushed berries to the boy.

Tiger seemed reluctant at first, why is this Ninetales, and Vulpix talking? What happened to me? Tiger thought to himself when he remembered the events in Viridian Forest. He then grabbed the berries, at first he stared at them uncertainly as the memories seemed to effect his appetite. Soon he felt his stomach growl, he sighed and began to eat them.

"How are you feeling? Other than your burn." Kit asked as she sniffed around Tiger once more.

"I-I uh, feel strange, confused, and afraid?" The boy said lowly.

Kit then nodded "it's alright young one. You're safe here." She said softly, and reassured him with a smile.

"Alright." The small boy said softly, he then glanced around the cave before looking at Tally once more. The boy had finished the berries, and was now thinking of the events in the forest. "How long have I been asleep?" He half asked himself. His head spun as he tried to think clearly, he then heard Ninetales reply.

"You've been out for a week. Lugia wants to speak with you, but I recommend you rest." She said softly. Tiger blinked before forcing himself up with a grunt. Ninetales growled, and nodded to Vulpix who gently made Tiger lay down again, the small Pokemon overpowered Tiger, and gently placed a paw on his chest. "You aren't well enough to walk to Lugia's den. I will tell Lugia you're awake, but I will not make you talk to him when you don't know where his den is, and when you're injured. You need your rest." Kit said soft, but still stern before walking off to the back of the cave.

"So where do you come from?" Tally asked Tiger softly. She was sitting next to the small boy making sure he didn't move to much.

Tiger blinked before he replied as he got more comfortable in the moss. "I come from New Bark Town in Johto, though I've been here for to long. My mom, and my friends must be worried about me." Tiger said lowly. He then got a sick feeling in his stomach, maybe I should have ran when Lugia told me to? Maybe then I would have met Elm, and Lion in the forest near Pewter, and we could have gone home. He thought to himself as he began to feel home sick. He then looked at Vulpix who was nodding slightly.

"Sounds interesting, and there are more humans like you?" She asked childishly.

Tiger blinked at the Vulpix in confusion, "yeah of course. In New Bark I live with my mom. My friend, and possible rival, Lion. Professor Elm, and Elm's family live in my town as well. Though we don't have much residents in town. There's only three houses, and the lab." He said with a sigh as he remembered his home. He then looked over to his right, and saw the burn. It was slightly covered by the wet moss that Tally placed there, and a leaf tried to cover it, but wasn't wrapped fully yet due to the moss sitting on the scar. It was a long burn in the shape of a flame, and went from his shoulder all the way to his elbow. Tiger scowled at the sight of the burn.

"Oh. My mom, Kit, is trying to heal that before it scars, but I think it'll never go away" Vulpix said sadly. Tiger blinked as he continued to look at the scar.

"Who's Kit?" Tiger asked the Vulpix as he processed what she said. He then propped himself up with his left arm, but winced in pain as his right arm hurt him once he moved it.

"Kit is the Ninetales from earlier. Her name is short for Kitsune, but everyone in the forest calls her Kit." Vulpix replied. Tiger blinked as he thought of the Ninetales, he then looked at the back of the cave, and saw Kit walk back into the room.

"Have you been talking to Tiger?" Kit asked Tally kindly.

"Yes I asked where he came from, but he looked sad about it." She said softly. Tiger then blinked and sighed to himself, she must have never been away from home before. He thought sharply before hearing Kit's response.

"Well that's because he's homesick" Kit said kindly, and looked at Tally.

Tally then blinked slightly "homesick? Should I get some herbs, or berries to heal it" she said in worry. Tiger then cracked a smile at what the Vulpix said.

He then heard Kit's reply, "No, Tally, Tiger isn't sick in that way. He is sick in the way of missing his family, and friends. I mean if you were away from me, or Sage how would you feel?" She asked soothingly.

Tally then replied with a sigh, "I guess it would make me feel awful" she replied lowly, and looked at Tiger. The boy then blinked, and patted Tally on the head slightly. The Vulpix looked up and smiled slightly. "I'm sorry about that" she said quietly.

Tiger then blinked "it's alright" he said kindly, "you didn't know" he finished.

Kit nodded, and looked at Tiger slightly "Lugia said you can sleep tonight, though he would like to talk to you tomorrow morning." Kit said softly. Tiger then nodded before settling down once again in the mossy bed.

~*~*~*~*~

Darkness was surrounding a small forest path as Tiger was running. He was out of breath, and was trying to keep up with the two figures as they continuously grew further and further away from him. "Tiger help me!" Pichu's voice said in worry as Tiger ran. "I don't want to be a grunt's Pokemon!" The Pichu cried out. Tiger continued to run as his vision blurred slightly as he began to cry.

He then shook his head clear, and picked up speed. "Please give me my Pichu! You can't just take him away!" Tiger said as he ran. He jumped over the root that tripped him up last time, but as he continued to run he saw something on both sides of him. He looked to the left, and saw water flanking him, and to his right fire was flanking him.

He then heard Pichu's voice once more as he was hit with both the fire, and water. "Tiger!" Pichu said as his voice faded away, and Tiger fell to the ground from the moves.

"Pichu" Tiger said in shock, and sat straight up in the moss. He then sneezed as he had a small bit of moss stick to his nose. He then looked at Tally and Kit the two were sleeping in the moss on the other side of the den. Tiger then got to his feet, this time it was a bit easier than when he first woke up, he could hear his heart beating in his ears. He then half walked, half limped to the cave's entrance, and looked outside.

Outside the cave was a lush green forest with nothing, but trees going on for miles. He saw a small river running through the trees a few feet off, a huge rock was next to a tall oak tree it had moss growing off the side. He closed his eyes, and listened to the sounds of the forest other than the sounds of the wind in the trees he heard the sounds of sleeping pokemon, as well as the sound of a small river nearby. He could scent the very faint smell of the ocean as if it were nearby. Tiger looked to the sky and saw the sun was beginning to rise it was bathing the sky a reddish orange. He sighed in content as he managed to breath in the fresh air. He then heard a voice behind him.

"So you're awake" the voice said softly. Tiger looked behind him and saw a Shiftry had randomly appeared, leaves fell to the ground like a feather floating in the wind as a tree branch swayed slowly.

"Did you jump out of the tree?" Tiger asked slightly interested, and looked up to the tree. The branch was still swaying slightly even if there was only a faint breeze blowing.

"Yes I did, but that's because grass pokemon can climb trees well." Shiftry said kindly, and smiled to the young boy. He put his leafy arms behind his head, and leaned against the trunk of the tree.

Tiger nodded "that's cool" he said with a smile, and looked at the trees once more.

Shiftry nodded, "Lugia told me that I need to train you in climbing trees so you can make quick escapes." He explained kindly.

Tiger nodded, and looked up, he examined the trees overhead and frowned. I don't think I can climb now, not with my arm. It'd be too dangerous, and I might get hurt again. Tiger thought to himself and looked at the leaf that Kit replaced on his arm when he had been asleep.

He then heard Shiftry's gentle reply. "Don't worry about your arm for now. Kit told me you needed a moon to heal before you can climb." He said kindly. Tiger nodded, he then remembered what Kit told Tally the night before.

"So you must be Sage?" Tiger asked questioning the Shiftry as he guessed the pokemon's name.

"Yes that's me" Sage nodded, and replied softly.

Tiger was about to ask a question when he heard Kit, "Tiger you're up." She said softly. Tiger looked over to Kit, and saw surprise in her eyes.

"Morning Kit. How are you this morning?" Tiger asked kindly, and yawned slightly. He wanted to prove that he was strong enough to recover fairly quick.

Kit nodded, and shook her head as if to clear it. "I'm good. I believe Lugia is awake. He'd like to talk to you" Kit said lowly. Tiger then nodded, and walked back into the cave, he then looked at Kit who went ahead of him leaving Sage behind.

"I'll talk to you later" Sage said kindly, and jumped into the trees above him. Tiger nodded, and followed Kit to the back. He was worried about what Lugia was going to say to him.

Kit lead Tiger into a large den. The den was in the very back of the cave, there was a large stone floor of the cave that made his footsteps in the cave echo. Tiger looked at the ceiling of the cave, and saw that there was vines and moss covering the top creating the den to seem warm. He felt Kit's paw nudge him forward. Moving forward, Tiger didn't see anything in the dimly lit cave. He then saw a pool of water at the back of the den, as he took a step to the pool, and looked into the water, he couldn't see the bottom. He then saw movement in the water, "Lugia?" Tiger said curiously he then jumped in shock as a silvery colored head poked out of the water. Upon emerging from the water, the splash sent some droplets of water into the air. Lugia then looked at Tiger, and nodded a greeting.

"How are you feeling?" Lugia asked Tiger sternly.

Tiger blinked, and held his gaze, "better thanks to Kit, and Tally" he commented kindly.

Lugia nodded, and sighed "that's good, but you, you're hard headed!" Lugia growled lowly. "And foolish! You could have died!" he finished darkly and snarled. Tiger looked at the ground, and flinched.

"I-I understand that, and I'm truly sorry." Tiger said ashamed, and kept his gaze firmly fixed on the ground.

Lugia sighed, and replied in a bit of a softer tone, "no I appreciate that you were brave enough to stand up to Ho-Oh." He said lowly. Tiger nodded, and looked up cautiously. Lugia was now resting his head on the pool's bed. "You show courage, and compassion for pokemon, but that can lead to your downfall. I mean you took the final blow from Ho-Oh for me, and while you survived you were injured, and scarred." He finished, and looked at Tiger's right arm.

Tiger looked over and hid the arm behind his back in discomfort. "I couldn't stand by and risk Ho-Oh killing you" Tiger said softly, and looked at the ground. "I mean I lost Pichu a week ago. I-I didn't want to loose another possible friend, or have your outcome on my conscious." He said quietly.

Lugia nodded. "Huh, smart for your age..." Lugia said softly with a sigh. "That is what will make you a great trainer one day, but for now. You need to heal, and learn." He explained softly.

Tiger nodded before thinking to himself, do I want to be a trainer...I mean I couldn't even keep Pichu safe. Tiger thought doubtfully, he looked at the ground sadly. His thoughts were clouding his mind as he began to debate on being a trainer. Maybe it'd be best if I were to just stay in New Bark, and be the person who keeps the lab clean....like Team Rocket said. He thought to himself with a pain, and continued to look at the ground.

Lugia looked at Tiger, and noticed his expression, and narrowed his eyes before guessing what he was thinking. "You can't let other's get a hold of your emotions, and thoughts. Team Rocket, and Frost, are just obstacles in your way, and you can't allow them to trip you up." He said softly, and used his tail to lift Tiger's chin.

"But what if I have my future pokemon stolen from me, or-or worse Ho-Oh finds out we're both alive." Tiger said in a low tone.

Lugia sighed before holding Tiger's gaze, "we will handle Ho-Oh. As for you, you have a special gift, and not the ability to speak our language, but to have courage for any pokemon who may be in trouble." He said reassuringly.

Tiger nodded, and smiled a bit "t.-th-thank you" Tiger said very lowly, and had a tear roll down his cheek.

Lugia nodded and smiled back. "You're welcome, but I do understand any path you choose. Trainer, or not" he said softly. Tiger nodded, and looked at Kit who was sitting behind them, the Ninetales flicked her tail as she waited for the two to finish speaking.

"So where is this place. Why haven't I seen any trainers, and only seen pokemon?" He asked curiously.

Lugia then looked at Kit, before replying to Tiger. "This is Ripple Forest. It's hidden from trainers, and a bit deeper into Viridian Forest. Where no trainer has ever stumbled upon it, mainly because a large group of non climbable rocks block the hidden path. I have brought you here to train, and heal you." Lugia explained kindly.

"Train me?" Tiger asked in question he then remembered what Sage had said about tree climbing. The pokemon seemed so in control when he moved along the branches.

Lugia then broke into his thoughts, "I want you to learn some of the ways of a pokemon. I know you aren't a pokemon, but if you learn how to climb like Sage, stay strong in a fight like Lee, heal like Kit, and learn to have fun like Tally. Then you will learn how to care for all pokemon out there. From the fiercest legendary, to the weakest route one pokemon" he explained softly. "Though this won't always be easy. Legends will attack you, and your courage may be a weakness as well, but that is what the costs are, and I see you being able to do this well." Lugia said softly.

Tiger nodded, and flinched as he suddenly felt sick to his stomach again, he was only five, but this was a huge thing to ask him. Am I up for this? Tiger asked himself uncertainly.

He then heard Kit behind him "Well Lugia, I do think he needs at least another moon rest before he can do any training" Kit said softly, but spoke as if in a warning to the legend. "He needs to rebuild his strength, and have his wounds heal."

Lugia nodded to Kit before replying kindly, "alright. Get some rest, and relax for the time being, but once you're well again. I want you to be training." Lugia stated softly before going back into the pool of water once more.

Can I do this? Tiger asked himself as he felt the unease in his stomach. He followed Kit back to the den he had been in with Tally, he then thought once more of the expectations Lugia wanted to lead him to.

Title: A New Pokemon

       The color green was blurring in Tiger's vision as he ran along the branches of a few oak trees. He had recovered from his wounds that Ho-Oh dealt him, all but his right arm, which was now a large white, and gray, scar that stretched from his shoulder, down to his elbow. "Make sure you keep your weight evenly distributed as you run along the branches" Sage said to Tiger as he continued to run along the tall branches. Tiger nodded to show Sage he heard.. As he continued to jump through the many different branches he heard a cry for help.  The cry caused him to stop cold in his tracks as he did so the branch gave a  soft creaking sound from under his feet. "Tiger get off that branch now!" Sage said in shock, and turned around. Just as the Shiftry did so the branch broke off, and Tiger fell out of the tree. He was about to hit the ground when a group of vines tangled him half way down the tree. "Tiger are you alright!?" Tiger heard Sage's voice above him. He struggled to take a look at the Shiftry he then coughed as one of the vine's choked him. "I'm..fine" Tiger croaked out, "though this vine isn't helping me hang around any better" he finished bitterly, and coughed once more. Sage nodded "I'll be there in a second" Sage said softly, and jumped to the ground he was now below Tiger. "This won't hurt a bit, just be still, and you won't get hurt" he said softly. "I'll have you out in a second" Sage said and used a leaf blade on the vines. 

        A few moments went by, and Tiger grunted as he felt the vines begin to loosen he then fell to the ground with a thud as the last of the vines broke apart. "Thanks" Tiger said softly. Sage then nodded before glaring at Tiger. "I told you to watch which branches you hop onto. Not jump unknowingly to the next branch" he snapped to the boy. Tiger then blinked, and flinched. "Sorry....something just caught my eye, and the branch broke..I'll do better next time" Tiger said sheepishly, and looked at the ground. He then heard the cry for help once more. "Alright. Do you want to keep going or do you-" the Shiftry said, but was soon cut off by Tiger. "Someone needs help" he said softly,  and struggled up the tree once again. Sage blinked, and jumped up the tree Tiger was slinking across he then grabbed Tiger by his shirt collar, and pulled him onto the branch he was on. "Show me which way you heard the cry" Sage asked softly. Tiger nodded and looked at the branches before him, he then began to run across them once more with Sage following.

        "Please help" Tiger heard the voice closer. He then stopped in a tree, and listened to the branch for a split second. "It's stable" Sage confirmed his suspicions before settling onto a tree branch a bit further up. Tiger narrowed his eyes to get a better view of the clearing below him. There were oak trees growing at the edge of the clearing the tree Tiger and Sage were in, was one of the one's at the edge. There was a field of wild flowers growing in the clearing coloring the small area with red, blue, and purple colors. Tiger smiled at how peaceful it seemed when he was torn from his feelings with the cry once more. "Sage stay here" Tiger said softly, and jumped to the ground with a slight thud. He then grunted, and got to his feet. "Well look at what the Meowth dragged in" a voice sounded behind Tiger. 

        Spinning around wildly Tiger saw a Gengar, and a strange new pokemon that Tiger never seen before. The newer pokemon looked like a wrestler, with a flaming belt the pokemon was cat like with red,  and black stripped fur, and a gray chest. It had amber eyes, and was snarling at Tiger. "Why is there a human here anyway? They don't belong in Ripple Forest"  the cat like pokemon growled. Tiger blinked,  and looked past the two pokemon he then saw a Pidgey that was shaken up, and slightly injured. "Human or not. I know I don't belong....Now what, may I ask, are you doing to that Pidgey" Tiger squeaked as he tried to sound brave. The Gengar laughed lowly, "oh we're just having some fun, right Incineroar?" the ghost type asked menacingly. Tiger then narrowed his eyes, "it doesn't seem like Pidgey is having fun" he said lowly. The Incineroar then growled, "Pidgey is fine" the pokemon growled, and went to send off a warning move when Sage jumped in the way. "Get Pidgey and get out of here. If you find a Machamp near the cave ask him to help me. His name is Lee. Just remember to keep your balance even on the tree branches, and don't stop to see if a branch can hold your weight if you do find a questionable branch" he said lowly, and grunted as he got hit with a fire punch.

        Tiger nodded to Sage before running past Sage, and avoiding a shadow claw from the Gengar he slid to the Pidgey, and grabbed him. Tiger looked at the pokemon, and noticed it was still shaking in fear. It was to the point where the pokemon was trying to attack Tiger to break free. "Tiger hurry get away!" Sage said from behind him. Tiger blinked up in shock, and saw the Incineroar was running at him with a fire punch. Tiger took a step back, and narrowly avoided the move. "Tiger just remember what I told you. If you get a good run up, you can jump into the lowest branch" Sage advised quickly. Tiger blinked, and looked at the Gengar, and Incineroar the Gengar, was now fighting Sage, and the Incineroar was running at Tiger angrily. Tiger squeaked in shock as the pokemon used a fire punch. It nearly hit the boy, but he managed to duck out of the way. The tips of his hair became burnt from the move. "Stand still so I can hit you" the cat like pokemon growled angrily. Tiger blinked and looked over his shoulder at the trees. "If you want to get me...You'll need to catch me" Tiger said softly and ran to the cover of the trees. The Incineroar was hard on his heels, and it was catching up fast. "The trees" Pidgey said softly as he recovered from his fear, and noticed Tiger was there to help him. Tiger then blinked as he felt unease in his stomach, he then looked at the high hanging branches. Can I jump that high? Tiger thought to himself doubtfully as he stared at the branches over head.

        "What are you waiting for. Incineroar is catching up!" Pidgey's voice caused Tiger to snap out of the trance he was in.  Tiger shook his head clear, and heard the heavy paw steps of Incineroar behind him. Tiger blinked, and doubled back a bit. He then looked at the Incineroar, and heard Pidgey's worried cry. I'll keep you safe. I promise Tiger thought to himself, and placed the bird pokemon on his shoulder. "Hold on" Tiger said softly, and ran forward he then felt Pidgey's talon's clamp into his shoulder. Tiger then picked up speed as he heard the oncoming  pokemon behind him. Tiger then ran at a tree, and jumped he almost made it to the branch when he was hit with a fire punch, and  was sent into the bark of the tree. "Ouch" Tiger grunted, and looked over his shoulder. "I got you now" the pokemon said darkly. Tiger then blinked, and looked at the Pidgey. He glanced at the pokemon's wing, and saw it was broken I can't ask for him to get help...and I can't jump into the tree now...I'm trapped Tiger thought fearfully as the Incineroar loomed over him and growled lowly.

        "You're done for. Intruder. Humans are never welcome in this forest" the Incineroar said angrily. Tiger looked at the pokemon, and held the Pidgey close in his arms. He then closed his eyes, and braced himself for the move that Incineroar was about to use. He then heard the move be released, but he didn't feel anything. No pain, and no move. Opening one eye Tiger saw a bluish gray figure standing in front of him. It looked like a wrestler as well, but more human like with four arms. "Lee" Tiger heard the Incineroar growl lowly. "Why won't you let me destroy this trespasser. We pokemon made that rule when the last group of people who came here captured, and hurt our fellow pokemon, and our family members. Including your son, Mack, and my daughter." The Incineroar said darkly.

         The figure growled, and looked over his shoulder to Tiger. "While that was a tragic day I can't allow you to harm this boy. He isn't even old enough to catch a pokemon and be more of a threat. In fact Lugia told me to train him" Lee replied still standing his ground. Who was the trainers who stole from the forest, and is that why this new pokemon doesn't like me? Tiger thought to himself sharply. He then heard the Incineroar reply "Train him?" he said in disbelief. "Human's can't train like pokemon!" He growled, and glared at Tiger who was still behind Lee. The Incineroar then scoffed angrily, and sneered at Tiger. He looked like he wanted Tiger to know he meant business. "Humans should never be able to get here" he growled lowly, and showed menacing smile as he continued.  "You should just run home kid...people aren't welcome here" Incineroar mocked and relished as Tiger flinched harshly. I would go home, but Lugia wants me here for some reason, and if he actually wants me to live up to greater expectations. I don't even think I can make it out of this forest alive, and if I do I'll definitely be different from when I disappeared. Tiger thought to himself, and was caught in his memories of when he was back home. In his small flashback he noticed that he  hadn't understood pokemon that well, and the only one he was comfortable around was  his old Pichu. He even flinched as he thought of how he treated his Pichu as a fighter more than a friend. He soon shook the thoughts away when he heard Lee.

        "Hey kid I asked if you're okay" Lee said a bit in concern. Tiger shook his head clear, and stood up. The Pidgey that was in his arms had fainted from fear of being hurt. "Err....I...I'm fine" Tiger replied as he tried to think of how to respond. The Machamp then nodded, and sighed in relief. "I saw you try and flee the Incineroar. That was smart, but next time you run for a tree make sure you double back away from your enemy" he said gently, and a  bit like he was telling him how to flee a fight. "Come on Kit heard you were in trouble by Sage" he said softly. Tiger then blinked in shock "Sage managed to beat Gengar" he said in relief. Lee then nodded, "yeah he beat Gengar, and saw Incineroar running after you. So he made it to the cave, and Kit sent me" he explained. Tiger nodded "is Sage alright" Tiger asked in worry. "He'll recover. Gengar didn't hurt him to much" he replied gently, and helped Tiger to his feet. "Though it looks like Incineroar managed to injure you, and Pidgey" he finished lowly. 

        Tiger blinked and looked at the new burns, and forming bruises from him colliding with the tree, and being hit with fire punch. "I'll survive. I just want to get back to the den" Tiger replied quietly, and went in the direction of the den. You should just run home kid...people aren't welcome here" Incineroar's words rang in Tiger's ears as he walked to the den. I don't need to run home... Tiger thought to himself slightly. He then sighed and looked at the sky this is my home now, and as far as I'm concerned Kit is like my mother, and Tally is like my sister Tiger thought. He then sighed, and looked at Pidgey who was still passed out in his arms though that will make leaving Ripple Forest that much more difficult, and I might start to think that I might not want to go home. Especially when those two grunts could Pokenap my pokemon from me once more. Tiger thought to himself bitterly as he continued to walk with Lee just behind him.

Title: The Dark History

Tiger was walking down the familiar path that led to the river. He had been told to grab some Sitrus berries, and revival herbs to help heal the Pidgey he had brought back to the den the night before. As he walked he looked ahead his eyes were sort of blank as if he were in deep thought. He was about to lean down, and grab an herb when. SLAM!
Something knocked him over harshly. He didn't have a moment to react when a Machamp had tripped him up, and knocked him into the dirt. "You need to be vi-" the pokemon spoke before being cut off.

"I know I need to be vigilant because I can be attacked at any time, but can it wait?" Tiger responded sort of distantly, and looked away. The Machamp then sighed, and nodded.

"Still worried about that Pidgey?" he asked gently. Tiger nodded in response, but didn't look at the pokemon. "Pidgey will be fine. He just needs rest, and some berries, and herbs. I'm sure he'll be fine" the pokemon responded softly. Tiger then sighed, and continued to look at the ground.

"It isn't just that, Lee, I'm not sure if I can even trust myself to help, and protect him, or even other pokemon I meet" he said lowly. He then had a swift flashback of losing Pichu. He didn't notice that his eyes were filling with tears once more.

Lee then crossed one set of arms, and picked him up with one of his four hands. "I'm sure you'll be a fine trainer" he said gently. "Sometimes we need something to set us back. In order to move forward in life." He finished, and pulled Tiger to his feet. He then handed him a few revival herbs that weren't flattened by the mock ambush.

"Th..Thanks" Tiger replied very softly, and wiped the tears from his eyes. He then grabbed the herbs, and looked ahead he then noticed Lee had grabbed a few Sitrus Berries. "I'll help you bring these back to the den. That way Pidgey will heal quicker than he would without them" he said gently. Tiger nodded and went ahead of the Machamp. He then walked back to the den with the herbs in hand.

As Lee, and Tiger went down the familiar path. Tiger had a thought of what the Incineroar had said the night before. He then looked over his shoulder at Lee, who was walking behind him silently, his middle set of arms were holding the berries while his top set were comfortably settled behind his head, and he was looking at the sky. Tiger then turned away, and looked back at the path in front of him.

"Hey Lee?" Tiger asked softly, and slowed down to walk next to him. The Machamp then looked over to the boy.

"Yes?" The pokemon asked softly, and slowed down a bit so they could talk.

Tiger then sighed "What happened to Incineroar to make him hate humans?" He asked softly. The pokemon seemed to be taken aback at the question. He then seemed to think before replying.

"It happened about six years ago. Incineroar, and I were out training our children. I was teaching my son, Mack, to use a punching move, and Incineroar was teaching his daughter how to use ember when a group of trainers came into the forest." He began very softly, and went to tell the story. Tiger then looked at the pokemon, Lee was now looking distant, and he was looking at a small clearing next to them.

"What happened next" Tiger asked softly, and looked at the clearing as well.

"Trainers came into the forest, and back then it was fine. We seen trainers come and go at their own pace, and they were only allowed in the forest on one condition. They couldn't capture pokemon." Lee said softly before sitting down. Tiger sat next to him, and continued to listen to the story, his emerald green eyes were now shining in interest. He then looked over to the treetops, and watched the bird pokemon fly above the tree line. He then continued to listen to the story. "These trainers were Team Rocket grunts, and they had strong pokemon with them. Lugia, and Ho-Oh attempted to drive the grunts away, but one of the grunts had stepped forward." He said lowly, and swiftly glanced at Tiger.

He looked the young boy over. "He sort of looked like you, and Lugia knew him for some reason. He managed to pull out a Rainbow Wing, and a Silver Wing. Upon pulling these items out the trainer attempted to control the two legends, but they ultimately refused to listen to the grunt despite the items." He continued in a low tone. Tiger then looked away, was the trainer with the two items...Frost?, he thought to himself darkly, and looked at the ground. He then felt Lee place a hand on him gently, "we don't choose who our parents are, and it's up to us to not make the same mistakes. I'm sure that's one of the reasons Lugia has taken a shine to you" he said softly.

Tiger nodded, and forced a smile "please continue, I-I'd like to hear the rest" Tiger said softly, and held back a few tears. Lee nodded before continuing.

"Ho-Oh was the first to attack the grunt. As he flew into battle the grunt fought him with a Blastoise, and a Riachu. The fight then drove the other grunts, and pokemon in the forest to fight back. In the end a huge fight broke out, and the grunt who had started the fight had lost his Silver Wing. Ho-Oh had burnt the item to summon Lugia, but the Rainbow Wing was in his hands. Lugia attempted to get the feather, but in the end the grunts managed to escape, and they captured a few pokemon like Mack, and Incineroar's daughter, and injured others including me, and Incineroar. We looked around for Ho-Oh, and Lugia. Once the dust settled, we only managed to find Lugia, he was badly hurt, and something happened a few days later." he finished with a sigh.

Tiger then blinked, but didn't ask what had happened to Lugia. He then sighed "and Ho-Oh was captured, but no pokeball can change the way a pokemon thinks" he said slightly upset at the grunts.

Lee nodded, and got to his feet once more. "We don't always know what our enemies hold, and maybe one day. Ho-Oh will be back to the place he belongs" Lee finished with a low sigh, and wiped his eye. He then went ahead of Tiger, and went to the den.

Tiger walked into the den, and looked around. Pidgey was now awake, and his wing was wrapped from the injury. He then went over to the bird, grabbed a Sitrus Berry, and went to the pokemon. He handed it to the Pidgey. "Thanks" Pidgey said very softly, and took the berry in his talon. He then ate it, and regained some of his health back. The Pidgey then examined the boy closely "why did you save me" he asked cautiously. "Humans are never to be trusted, right?" Pidgey asked in confusion.

Tiger was about to respond when Tally growled, and pushed past Tiger. The boy looked at the Vulpix in shock "he can be trusted" the Vulpix said defensively. Tiger then blinked, and pulled Tally away.

He then whispered to the small fox like pokemon, "Pidgey doesn't know me...and I accept that. I mean not all pokemon trust humans" he said softly. Tally opened her mouth to protest, but soon looked away.

Pidgey then looked at Tally "I'm sorry...I just" he said lowly, and trailed off.

Tiger then thought of the story. "You just don't trust humans for the past" Tiger finished darkly.

Pidgey looked at Tiger in shock before speaking very faintly "in the great ambush...they took me, and my parents.." he said softly. "I managed to escape, but Incineroar, and Gengar don't trust me because I was to weak to save their family" he said softly, and left the half eaten berry in the moss.

Tiger then nodded, and looked away. He then began to feel guilty for what the grunts did to the forest years ago, is this something that will stop pokemon from trusting me? He thought to himself with a pain. He then got to his feet once more, and went back outside. As he did he felt a chill in the air, and knew that winter was coming closely, will I need to prove to the pokemon in this forest that I'm someone to be trusted, or do I need to leave? He thought to himself with a sigh.

Title: Chapter 5: The Injured pokemon

Snow was beginning to fall in the forest covering it in a white blanket. A cold chill blew across the forest as bird pokemon were snuggled together in their nests, or in hollowed areas in trees.  Other pokemon were sleeping on tree branches, or in the cave nearby. All was silent and peaceful when a loud screech from, a Noctowl, and a loud splash was heard in the distance from the beach area. After the crash a few bird pokemon flew off in fear, and an annoyed groan was heard from the cave nearby. A Pidgey then hopped out. "Why can't Noctowl be a silent flyer, or a pokemon who doesn't fly at night" he said in resentment. He then looked at the cave, and spread his wings, he had fully recovered  from the ambush against Incineroar, and Gengar, and he was able to fly once more. The pokemon then set off to the sky, and left the cave behind. "If it's important I'll get Tiger, and the others, but if it's just Noctowl trying to get his apples again then I'll let them sleep" he said with a yawn, and flew off into the forest.

        As Pidgey flew over the frozen forest, he looked at the cloudy sky. The sun hadn't shined through the thick clouds in a few days, and the only indication for dawn was a pinkish tinge on  the clouds to the east. He then felt a tailwind, and spread his wings out, and rode the wind. As he did he arrived on the beach, and saw Noctowl circling a pokemon. The small pitiful bundle of fur, and cuts was shaking in fear. He looked badly injured, and was soaked through. "Give it up little mouse, I've won. Now you can relax, and it'll be over soon" the Noctowl said menacingly. It then swooped down, and picked up the small yellow, and blue pokemon. 

        The injured pokemon just squeaked in response, "n....no I..I won't allow you to eat me" it said in fear. Pidgey was about to swoop down and help the strange unrecognizable pokemon when he saw it's back ignite in flames. The Noctowl then squawked  in shock, and dropped the injured pokemon. Pidgey watched as a small cloud of dust rises up from where the pokemon landed. The Noctowl went down quickly again to finish the job, but was soon stopped when Pidgey tackled the bigger bird. 

        "Wha!? P..Pidgey why are you attacking me!? This is my prey, and I will fight for it" the Noctowl snapped angrily, and pecked the smaller pokemon.

        Pidgey then growled in shock, and anger. He looked at Noctowl as he was knocked back by the stronger pokemon. "The pokemon is still alive! Kit can heal him. So back off!" He responded angrily, and looked down the injured pokemon was hiding from the two fighting birds underneath a small rock. His flames on his back were a small source of light, and heat, causing the snow to melt on the nearby sand. 

        Noctowl growled angrily, "that pokemon is weak. I've seen him loose a battle to his group, and become exiled. He has lost an ability that will help him be strong in this world, and one most pokemon depend on to become stronger" he said in a low tone. Pidgey just looked at the small, and injured pokemon. He was sure that Noctowl was lying, why else will Noctowl be attacking this pokemon? He thought to himself with a sharp pain. He then narrowed his eyes, and looked back at Noctowl. "Just get out of here Pidgey before I make you my appetizer" Noctowl threatened lowly. Pidgey went in for an attack, but was knocked back by another peck. He crashed into the ground hard. 

        The  injured bundle of fur looked at Pidgey in worry. It looked like a Cyndaquil, but it was badly cut up, and had mud covering most of it's body. Along his back was a deep wound  that rang along diagonally along the top left, and bottom right, red spots on its back. Pidgey looked up and saw Noctowl diving down towards the two smaller pokemon. "Watch out" Pidgey said in shock, and pushed the pokemon into the safety of the small rock. He then panted, and got scratched by one of Noctowl's talons. Pidgey looked up, and ran into the rock as well. He looked at the mouth of the small cave like area, and saw the Noctowl was struggling to get in. 

        "H....Ho..How are we going to get out of this?" The injured pokemon said in shock, and worry. He was crouching down against the cold stony floor as Noctowl tried to get in. Pidgey then looked around, and saw a small hole he could get out of. He then looked over to the pokemon. 

        "If you can dig down, or stay away from being captured by Noctowl I can get my friends to help you. All you need to do is hang in there, and attack Noctowl if needed" Pidgey said softly to the pokemon. Nodding the pokemon pressed himself against a wall, "just stay safe, and don't attack unless needed...I don't want you fainting, and being captured" Pidgey said softly and flew out of the cave like rock once more. He then flew off through the snowy forest as swiftly as he could.

        "Pi..." Pidgey heard Tiger sleep talk softly once he landed in the cave. He then looked around the dim area. The small den was filled with moss all over the ground, and Tally was curled up next to Tiger. The small boy had moss all over him, and messed up around him as if he had been having a nightmare causing him to sleep restlessly. Pidgey then looked back to the exit of the cave, and heard Noctowl's muffled squawking in the distance. Pidgey then landed by the boy, and chirped loudly causing Tiger, and Tally to jolt awake. "Pichu...? Oh wait..Pidgey what's wrong?" Tiger asked in a groggy tone, and rubbed his eye.

        Pidgey looked at Tiger solemnly. "Th...there's trouble at the beach. Noctowl is trying to attack an injured pokemon you need to he--" he began, but was cut off as Tiger ran out of the cave. He then followed Tiger with Tally next to him. The boy jumped into the trees, seemingly getting better after being taught for two moons straight. He then ran in the direction toward the beach.

        Tiger heard snow fall off the branches he was running through. He was getting a cold chill run along his body as he ran. He then sighed, and stopped cold as he arrived at the beach. A weakened flame was coming out of the rock that a Noctowl was poking at. Tiger then jumped to the ground, and looked up to the bird. "Noctowl! Leave that pokemon alone!" Tiger yelled out angrily. The Noctowl then spun around, and narrowed his eyes at the boy. It's brown feathers slightly burnt from the unknown pokemon's attacks. 

        "Humans" Noctowl said lowly, and growled. "You always think that you have the answer to everything, but you don't. You think all pokemon will listen to you, and that we live in a perfect world where the food chain doesn't exist" he laughed lowly. He then landed next to Tiger, and pecked the boy on the arm. Tiger flinched as his old scar began to burn once more, he then fell over. The Noctowl then pinned Tiger to the ground.  "You humans use us for food, and other supplies. You need to eat as well right? So why don't you lay there, and let me eat my prey, or I will make you my main course" he said lowly, and went to attack Tiger once more. The pokemon was then knocked off the boy by a flamethrower, and a tackle. He then was sent flying off, and sliding across the sand. The Noctowl then crashed into a snow bank near the tree line. 

        "Tiger are you alright!?" Tally said worried, and stood between him, and the Noctowl. Tiger coughed, and nodded in response. He then looked at the Noctowl in shock. He had never seen a pokemon act like this before. He then grunted, and got to his feet.

        "Pidgey help Tally take care of Noctowl" Tiger coughed lowly, and went to the cave. Once he entered he saw the small ball of fur on the ground. It's breathing was shallow, and it's body was covered in mud, and dirt. It then growled, and glared at Tiger. "Don't worry buddy...I....I got you. You're safe now" Tiger said softly. He went to grab the pokemon, but the small creature used an aerial ace on the boy knocking him over.  

        Tiger fell back into the dirt, and hit his head against the small rock's ceiling he then grunted, and looked at the pitiful pokemon. "H..human...you should just leave me to the Noctowl" he said in fear.

        "Why would I do that?" Tiger responded in shock. His emerald green eyes were glazed from the pain of hitting his head. He then held his hand out once more. "I don't think you deserve to die because of this Noctowl" he said gently. The pokemon just recoiled back, and growled once more.

        "H...humans are never to be trusted" the pokemon said in fear causing Tiger to flinch once more. He then used a flamethrower on the boy causing him to cry out in pain. The pokemon then blinked, and fainted from fatigue.

        "Little hot head" Tiger sighed gently, and took the pokemon. He then pat out a flame on his tattered shirt, and walked outside. The Noctowl was flying away in defeat, and swearing to himself. Tiger then went back to the others still holding the pokemon. "Come on we need to get to Kit right now" Tiger said in worry, and ran off to the cave. Pidgey, and Tally were following behind him swiftly.

        After a few minutes of trees whipping Tiger across the face, and pokemon screeching in fear, shock and annoyance. Tiger saw the cave he, Tally, and Kit lived in. Running  into the cave, Tiger panted after being out of breath, and saw Kit looking at the three returning figures in worry. "Tiger? What in the world is that" she said shocked, and sniffed the injured  ball of fluff. 

        "It's a pokemon Pidgey saved. A Noctowl was going to eat it, but Tally, and Pidgey fought it off..." Tiger said and looked at the small bundle in worry. 

        Kit nodded, and pointed to a small part of the moss. "Put him here" she said softly. Tiger nodded, and placed the small pokemon into the moss. The small figure looked even smaller now that it was in the warm cave. Kit then looked at Tiger, and dropped a small wad of wet moss. "Clean him off so I can see what I need to do" she said gently. Tiger then nodded, and began to clean the pokemon off.

        After a bit of groans, and movement of mild annoyance, and an uncomfortable twitch or two from the injured pokemon. Tiger saw it was a Cyndaquil. It had deep scratches, and burns as if it had been fighting for a while, but they were all fresh, and the pokemon was small as if it were a newly hatch. Tiger then blinked, and held the pokemon close to warm it up. "Kit? Why...why is a newly hatched pokemon so hurt?" Tiger said in concern. The Cyndaquil then moved himself subconsciously deeper into Tiger's arms for warmth.

        Kit then examined the pokemon, "...well, Tiger, sometimes...parent pokemon will reject their  newly hatch. This can lead to a few things...Mainly some pokemon will be exiled from their groups, but others" she trailed off, and looked at Cyndaquil. "Though this one...he seems to have fallen in that small category where they loose the ability to evolve" she said softly. Tiger blinked in shock.

        "Wha...How in the name of Arceus is that possible!?" Tiger said in shock, and continued to hug the injured Cyndaquil protectively.

        Kit sighed sadly "well sometimes pokemon will be injured to the point where they will possibly die if they evolve...it's quite rare, and can happen in situations like this" she said sadly. "It was possibly best if Noctowl put him out of his misery...I mean a pokemon that can't evolve will almost always lose" she said softly.

        Tiger then growled in response, for some reason he felt that he needed to defend the injured pokemon. "No...No pokemon deserves a short life like that! Even if he lost his evolution ability he can't just..." Tiger trailed off, he had tears in his eyes now. Kit just sighed softly.

        "I'll heal him, but I don't think you should bond with a pokemon, who not only resents humans, but also will be difficult to train" she said lowly. Tiger looked at Cyndaquil once more.

        "Hates me, or not...I will try and become friends with Cyndaquil. Yeah it will be hard for me to even talk to him once he wakes up, but we both have something in common. We are both considered weak by others" Tiger responded softly, and looked over to the pokemon. He then yawned, and continued to hold the pokemon close to him. "Cyndaquil. I promise...if you do decide to open up to me, and become my friend. I will train you, and help you overcome your problem...I will help you take down fully evolved pokemon, and I will help you get past this evolution thing...even if the evolution will be a temporary one"  he said softly to the fainted pokemon. The boy then closed his eyes once more, and drifted off into a light sleep while holding the injured pokemon.

Title: Chapter 6: Distrust

The roaring of flames were all around Tiger as he ran. Running ahead of him were Kit, Tally, and Sage. The three Pokémon were running and were screaming in fear as they ran through the burning forest. What happened? How did I get here? Tiger thought in confusion, and looked around for something to signal what caused this mysterious fire, and why. He saw Kit go back for Tally, who was slowing down. Tiger then ran forward, and nudged the Ninetales forward. "Stay ahead of the flames. Don't stop running until you get to the stone wall." He panted, and pushed the Pokémon forward. Kit seemed to hesitate, but nodded in return. Tiger then grabbed Tally, and ran forward.

Tally looked at Tiger with wide, and frightened eyes as the young boy ran. "Tiger!" She screamed in shock, and Tiger froze. He saw that Tally had jumped from his arms. The boy was then lost in the smoke, and flames as Tally ran off.

"Stop!" Tiger heard Kit's worried tone through the smoke, he then coughed, and looked around.

"Wake up! Come on get out of the moss!" Tally growled, and Tiger felt something push him forward.

"Wake up?" Tiger repeated instantly confused. He then heard a crack!, and saw that a tree from nearby had fallen over crushing him in the smoldering flames.

"Wha!" Tiger woke up in shock, and saw that the moss he had slept in was on fire, and he was surrounded by flames. Through the flames he saw Kit, pinning the injured, and newly hatched Cyndaquil to the ground. Tally was trying to stop the fire by kicking up sand and dirt from the den's floor. Tiger then stumbled to his feet, and coughed heavily. He struggled past the small flame wall only to get caught by the flame on his old scar. "OW!" he growled in pain, and fell to the other side of the fiery wall. He helped Tally put out the flames with a carved bucket he made a few days earlier.

"Can we let this excuse of a Pokémon go out and get what he deserves now?" Sage growled from the back of the cave, and Tiger could make him out through the pale light of dawn. "He tried to kill Tiger, and he can't evolve...he deserves to-"

"No!" Tiger cut him off angrily, and noticed the Cyndaquil had shrunk back in fear as he was threatened by the Shiftry. Tiger then glared at the grass Pokémon. "Cyndaquil is obviously scared! Can't you see that?" He growled lowly.

"Can't you see he's a feral, and dangerous Pokémon!" Kit snapped.

Tiger narrowed his eyes, and for once, looked at the Ninetales in hatred, and hostility. "Cyndaquil isn't dangerous. He's young, and injured. He can't protect himself, and he can't evolve. He doesn't deserve this treatment!" He retorted, and sighed, "and all the Pokémon in this forest are feral, and dangerous...don't you remember the Incineroar, and Gengar who attacked me, and tried to kill Pidgey." He growled.

Cyndaquil looked away, and sighed. Tally then nodded. "Well, Cyndaquil obviously needs training, and he's unable to evolve since his last fight... Maybe Tiger has a point." she said cautiously.

Tiger nodded a thanks, and looked gratefully at his friend. He then went to Kit, and crouched down. "Please let Cyndaquil go...I promise I will help him understand." He said gently.

Kit looked at Tiger for a long moment, her brown eyes were giving away her suspicions and fears, but she soon sighed, and gave in. "Fine, but if he injures you and tries to burn down the nest again. He will be finished off." She said in a low growl, but Tiger knew she was only being protective. She soon let the small fire Pokémon go.

Cyndaquil ran to the far side of the cave. Distancing himself from Tiger at first, he was looking at the boy suspiciously. Tiger sighed, and shrugged. "You won't trust me at first, but I will show you that I can be trusted" Tiger said gently, and went to leave the den to treat the burns he got while he slept.

~.~.~.~

The sun was beginning to set as Tiger sat next to the stream. Magikarp, and Remoraid were swimming just beneath the icy surface, and a few Pokémon were breaking ice nearby to get a drink from the frozen water. Tiger relished as he looked at the peaceful scene, his emerald eyes were shining in the sunlight as he looked at the frozen surface of the water. The wind whistled as a gentle breeze blew over the surface. Tiger was about to eat an apple when, crunch, the sound of the snow was stepped on. Tiger got to his feet, and looked around for where the sound came from when he saw the small figure of Cyndaquil.

"Uh, t-thanks for helping me." The small pokemon said cautiously. Obviously standing a few feet away from Tiger, and under a small bush that was stripped of its leaves. The Pokémon's back was slightly sparking as if the Pokémon was struggling not to be afraid, or struggling to not attack Tiger.

Tiger shrugged simply, and placed his apple next to him. "No problem at all." He said gently, and smiled. "I'm sorry about what happened to...well...you know..." He trailed off awkwardly, and looked at the frozen lake once more.

"I-it's fine" Cyndaquil said timidly. He went out from under the bush, and tried to get closer to Tiger. "Though, w-why did you save me? It'd have been simpler, and easier, for Noctowl to let me be his dinner instead of me to be well." He trailed off, and looked away. "Unable to evolve." He finally finished quietly.

"That Noctowl only thinks of his stomach." Tiger said bitterly, and sighed. He shook his head clear, "he annoys Pidgey on a monthly basis." He sighed.

Cyndaquil nodded, and sat down a little further away from Tiger. He tried to put aside his fears, and uncertainty. "Why did you save me though?" Cyndaquil asked, and looked at Tiger.

Tiger looked over, and smiled. "Because no one deserves to die just because they can't do something...everyone deserves to try and prove themselves in one way or another." He said gently. He then saw Cyndaquil nod, and look at the apple next to Tiger. "Uh...you want it? I can always get another apple." Tiger asked gently.

Cyndaquil looked at Tiger in shock, "are you sure? I mean it's winter, and the fruit you find will be either spoiled, or small." He said quietly. Tiger just shrugged, and pushed the fruit over. Cyndaquil just stared at it for a moment.

"So how did you get so injured? I don't think it was from Noctowl alone" Tiger asked gently, but instantly regretted it when Cyndaquil froze in fear. "If you don't want to talk about it it's fine." Tiger said gently, and got to his feet.

Cyndaquil nodded a thanks, and looked up at Tiger the pokemon then took the apple, and began to eat it. "It's a long story." He whispered sadly, and sighed in relief when Tiger didn't press any further.

"Well if you ever want to talk about it. I'll be here for you." Tiger said gently. Cyndaquil looked confused, but nodded.

"Why are you willing to listen to me. I almost killed you this morning, and I attacked you." Cyndaquil blurted out guiltily, and looked at Tiger's scar, now renewed with his own flames, and fresh once more.

"Because. Even if you were injured, and you attacked me. You were afraid, and I completely understand that. Yes I might not be close to you at all now, but I hope one day, Cyndaquil, we can be best friends" Tiger said softly. He then yawned "it's getting late. I know Tally, Sage, and Kit were all hostile to you this morning, but you are more than welcome to stay in the den with me. If they try anything, I'll just step in" he said kindly to the small fire type. He then turned his back to the eating pokemon, and went back to his home, and to Kit, and Tally.

As Tiger left, Cyndaquil was left watching the small boy walk away. "This boy is more of a friend than most the Pokémon I've known in my life, am I really going to trust that he won't hurt me?" Tiger barely heard Cyndaquil whisper to himself as he left the clearing and the small Pokémon behind.

Title: Chapter 7: The Strange Trainer

      Tiger sat in the middle of the cavern, and crossed his arms. He had a confused look on his face, and was sitting over a piece of paper. The paper looked vaguely familiar somehow. "Where did you find this again?" Tiger asked the Pidgey that was sitting on a small boulder toward the back of the cave. The bird thought for a moment before responding.

        "I found it in Viridian forest. There was a strange human with a Croconaw. The trainer read this book to the Croconaw last night, and a part of the page was slightly water damaged, but the page was still barely visible. Tiger saw a damaged outline of a flying pokemon, and a blob that was a human.

        "And you say these two have been in Viridian Forest for long?" Tiger asked softly. Pidgey nodded, and closed his eyes as if he were thinking of the last time he saw the trainer, and pokemon duo.

        "Yeah for a few moons before the weather change." He replied in concern. "Do you think they belong to Team Rocket? After all Rocket has been trying to find the entrance to the forest after the events of the past." He asked in concern.

        Tiger sighed, and looked at the ceiling of the cave. He thought about Team Rocket breaking into the forest, and capturing more pokemon, or even Lugia. He then shook away the thought as if he were shaking the icy water of the river off his head. "Not sure...I think it'd be best if we keep half an eye on the border..." he said uncertainly. "If those two come any closer then we will have to prepare for the worse..." he said lowly, and trailed off. He grabbed the paper, and went to a small pile of rocks where he held his items. He then placed the paper next to a broken pokeball. "Another one of the strange items from Viridian" he said lowly to himself, and sighed.

        Pidgey nodded, and flew out of the cave. He looked back at the young boy who looked very distracted by the paper, and pokeball. Cyndaquil, and Tally then ran into the cave, and went to Tiger. "Tiger! Tiger? Hey snap out of it" Tally said hastily pulling Tiger abruptly from his thoughts. 
       
        "Tally? Cyndaquil? Is something wrong?" Tiger asked in concern. He abandoned the items, and walked over to the duo.

        "Kit and Sage fell into the river. They are being swept away towards Viridian" Cyndaquil said deeply concerned. Tiger nodded, and ran out of the cave. He looked over to the two as they ran ahead of him.

        Tiger ran through the melting snow and heard the slush splatter under his feet. He knew spring wasn't far off, and he liked how it would soon warm up again. He ran through the forest with the scents of new growth around him, and instead of a brown blur of bare trees, there was the green blur of bushes, and berries beginning to grow back. "Where are they!?" Tiger asked as he caught up to Tally.

        Tally nodded to Tiger, and ran faster. Soon Tiger, Cyndaquil, and Tally were next to the swollen river. Tiger looked at the fast moving current, and narrowed his eyes. He saw the golden fur of a Ninetales grasping onto a broken tree branch further down the river. Holding onto her tail was a Shiftry the tree branch was pinned against the shore and was barely holding on. "Kit! Sage! Hold on I'm coming" Tiger said swiftly, and ran along the shore line. He ran faster from staying in the forest for almost 6 months. He was now almost ahead of the two when he spotted a few vines growing from a tree nearby. "Tally come here please" Tiger said swiftly, and Tally ran over. She followed Tiger's glance, and used an ember to knock the vine to the ground.

        Tiger nodded a thanks, ran over to the tree, and grabbed the vine off the ground. He then tied one end of the vine around a tree near the river, and jumped into the water. He grabbed Kit, and Sage pulling them out of the water. He was about to get himself out when he heard a scream of shock, and saw Cyndaquil had been knocked into the water by some mud sliding into the water. The pokemon had been standing to close to the water and lost his balance. Tiger blinked, and watched as Cyndaquil couldn't grab onto his hand as he was swept by. Tiger then looked at his three friends in worry. His green eyes were shadowed with fear as he looked at the vine that he held onto, and spoke to his friends "I have to help him...he doesn't deserve this" he said lowly.

        Kit looked like she was going to disagree when Tally nodded "stay safe. Just make sure little Scorchy is safe" she said in concern.

        Tiger nodded, and smiled. "I will...I'll be home before sunrise tomorrow" he said softly, and let go of the rope.
 

        Water bubbled around Tiger as he was pushed underwater. He opened his eyes, and struggled to stay above the rushing current. His head emerged from the water as the current slowed down slightly, and he saw Cyndaquil flailing in the water ahead of him. The pokemon was trying not to drown as the current grew stronger. Tiger then attempted to swim ahead using the current to push him forward, but he was forced underwater once more by the current sucking him downwards. He was pushing away the exhaustion that was forcing himself in from being knocked around in the water when the water grew shallower. He stumbled to his feet, and looked around. Even though he was still ankle's deep in the water, he was still being unbalanced. Cyndaquil squeaked weakly as he tried to stay above the water. Tiger looked over, and ran through the shallow points of the water. He then grabbed Cyndaquil, who was a little further down. 

        The two got out of the water, and was brought into a different part of the forest. The trees were heavy and thick bringing no sun into the area Tiger, and Cyndaquil were. Cyndaquil looked up at Tiger, and coughed. "Why did you save me" he said lowly. Tiger sighed, and looked at the pokemon he didn't trust me much to begin with. I thought after a month he'd be warming up to me, but I guess he's still cautious about me... he thought to himself sadly, and shook it away.

        "What was I going to do allow you to drown?" Tiger asked softly, and stood up. "Are you alright, or do you need me to carry you back home?" He asked in concern. Cyndaquil then jumped to the  ground and looked at Tiger cautiously.

        "I'll be fine...where are we anyway" Cyndaquil said softly, and looked around. Tiger blinked and was about to respond when he noticed he didn't recognize any part of the forest. Are we still in Ripple Forest? Tiger thought to himself in shock, and noticed that he heard voices in the forest, not pokemon, but human.

        "Come on" Tiger whispered lowly, and jumped into the trees. Cyndaquil followed the boy into the trees, and froze. Tiger saw a strangely familiar trainer, and a Croconaw walk into the clearing close to the river.

        "Do you think we'll find him?" The trainer asked the Croconaw his voice was deeply concerned. The pokemon looked at the river, and sighed sadly.

        "Not sure? Though if he was killed we would have seen him sooner...that is a good sign anyway" Croconaw said lowly. The trainer nodded uncertainly as if he couldn't understand the pokemon which at first confused Tiger, but he soon remembered  most humans couldn't understand what pokemon were saying. How do people become trainers anyway Tiger thought to himself bitterly, but shook the thought away as he remembered his older brother when he left town on his journey, forced by their mother to become a trainer after the older boy showed aggressive, and hateful feelings toward Tiger. He then shook his head, and remembered how awful he felt for being rude to Smokey as he left. Smokey had been very kind to the Totodile he chose as he left.

        "Maybe you're right....after all he couldn't be dead if we haven't seen anything that points to it...we just need to stay determined" the trainer said lowly, and sighed. "Come on let's keep going...I'm sure we can run into him soon...after all maybe he's hiding in the forest..." he said uncertainly. He added much quieter to where Tiger almost couldn't hear "though 6 months in a forest has to point to give up" he sighed, and the Croconaw nudged the trainer forward. Tiger then watched as the duo walked in the direction of Viridian Forest leaving the river behind.

        Once the sound of footsteps vanished, Tiger jumped to the ground, Cyndaquil followed him and looked in the direction of Ripple Forest. "We better go...we won't make it home in time before the sun comes up. We might need to be cautious though...we aren't in the protected forest now, and that trainer might come back, or worse...Hinorarashi" he said in fear, and Tiger nodded.

        "Don't worry Cyndaquil...we will get out of here. That trainer won't see us, and your father won't hurt you either...he'd have to go through me first" Tiger said in a low whisper. He followed the river bed toward the forbidden forest.

Title: Chapter 8: Earning Trust

    Trees, and bushes whipped Tiger, and Cyndaquil as they walked back alongside the river. The fast moving current was a reminder of what happened the day before. Cyndaquil shivered as he thought of the raging water, and being knocked around. The fire pokemon looked away from the water, and continued onward with Tiger following him from a distance. "We should find a place to hide, and rest" Tiger said unenthusiastically which caught Cyndaquil's attention. 
        
        "What!? Here? No we can't" Cyndaquil retorted sharply. He was way to close to his old home. He didn't trust Tiger enough to allow the young boy to call the shots. Running ahead of Tiger, Cyndaquil splashed through shallow bits of the lake, and growled. He didn't look back as he ran. He only heard Tiger sighed quietly. The Pokémon glanced sideways to see the small boy had shook his head darkly. 

        "You don't trust me..." Tiger said in a low mutter only loud enough for Cyndaquil to hear. Cyndaquil froze, and looked over to the boy. Truth was he trusted him more than most humans, but in Viridian Forest; so close to the place he was attacked, and injured. Cyndaquil couldn't bring himself to allow Tiger to lead them to his old home. Tiger didn't wait for Cyndaquil to retort, instead the boy walked past him, and left him behind where he stopped walking. 

        "Tiger wait! I didn't" Cyndaquil began, but Tiger wasn't listening to him. Great Tiger risked his life to save mine, and I  can't bring myself to have him believe I trust him more than I would that random trainer from yes- Cyndaquil thought, and froze. The trainer from yesterday! He was looking for someone, someone who went missing six months ago. Which was about the same amount of time that Tiger was gone from his home for. Could Tiger be related to that mysterious trainer? Cyndaquil thought to himself, and looked up when he saw Tiger was a long ways away. "Hey wait!" Cyndaquil yelled, and ran after the small boy.
 
_________________________________________________________________________

        Tiger continued onward at first ignoring the calls from Cyndaquil to wait up. The boy shook his head, and glanced at the pokemon. He was a decent amount away from Tiger, looking like a small blur on the ground in the distance. Tiger was about to say something when a Typhlosion ran into the clearing, and blocked Tiger's escape. "Going somewhere human" he growled lowly. 

        Tiger froze, and stared at the pokemon. Due to his size, which was just above three foot, the pokemon towered over him. His blue and cream fur was on end, and his flames were lit with rage. Tiger was about to say something when; another Typhlosion, and a Quilava jumped behind him. "I don't want any trouble" Tiger said evenly. Making sure to speak in a very calm tone. 

        The original Typhlosion growled lowly, and bared his teeth. The fangs were sharp, and deadly. A few teeth had chips, and some were stained yellow from years of use. "Trouble? Heh sorry, but if you are in my territory then you're looking for trouble" the Typhlosion laughed. The pokemon then shot off a flamethrower knocking Tiger backwards. The young boy froze in shock, and wiped a tear away as his cheek was hit by the flame. He patted out the fire on his already tattered shirt as best as he could. 

        "You know I had to do a lot of growing up in the past six months..." Tiger began bitterly, and trailed off. "I've seen a  Pokémon get hurt, and loose their ability to evolve. I've watched, helpless; as my Pichu was stolen from me. Heck I've had Pokémon upright try, and kill me for being human..." He got back to his feet, and glared daggers at the Typhlosion who attacked him. "But you take the berries for being the rudest, and most hostile Pokémon I've encountered. In fact you, and your group need to stop this" he said still in a calm tone. Though he was upset, he forced himself to speak calmly which was difficult for him.  His hands were shaking from the annoyance, and anger that he was feeling. Forcing him to hold his hands behind his back.

        "We need to stop?" Typhlosion said  in a mocking tone. He laughed, and narrowed his eyes at Tiger. "No...you do. You are trespassing on our territory, and we won't allow you to get through" he said darkly. He was about to use a thunder punch when a swift came from the shadows, and Cyndaquil stopped next to Tiger. 

        "Picking on a kid...?" Cyndaquil said dully, and shook his head. Tiger looked over in astonishment, and looked at the small Pokémon. "Honestly...I thought this group had better morals" Cyndaquil said crossly. He snarled at the Typhlosion that was roughly four times the smaller Pokémon's size. Cyndaquil had a furious look on his face as he stood in front of the Typhlosion. 

        "Scorch!?" The second Typhlosion said in pure shock. She went over to the Cyndaquil, and examined the smaller Pokémon. "Y-you're alive!" the fully evolved Pokémon said in a mixture of relief, and joy. She then froze and glared at the lead Typhlosion. "You said he was weak, and he lives now! Why did you allow him to get hurt...especially when he was only a few days old" she growled angrily. 

        The lead Typhlosion growled, and narrowed his eyes at the other Pokémon. "He was weak! Look he lost his ability to evolve during that battle" he yowled in triumph. The Quilava growled in agreement, and Cyndaquil flinched in a mixture of shock, and sorrow. Tiger then stood between Cyndaquil, and the lead Typhlosion. The Pokémon looked at him crossly, and growled. "Stand down human, or you might not make it to tomorrow" the Typhlosion warned darkly. His eyes were narrowed to slits, and his flames grew brighter and more violent. 

        Tiger growled, and looked at the Typhlosion crossly. Every fiber in his being was telling him to flee, but he couldn't forget about what happened to Cyndaquil. He glared at the Pokémon, his green eyes like fire as he glared at the lead Pokémon. "You injured Cyndaquil? Made him loose his ability to evolve!? Who in the name of Arceus do you think you are" Tiger said in pure anger. Though he tried to stay calm most the encounter, the proof of the fight Cyndaquil endured when he was still a few days old, no one Pokémon, or human, deserves that!" He said in a low tone. The Typhlosion looked even more furious. 

        "Then maybe you'd like to experience that for yourself" the Typhlosion said darkly. He used a flamethrower, and as it was about to hit Tiger, Cyndaquil used a swift, and caused the move to explode in midair. The embers from the swift rained down on the ground; causing the grass nearby to burn out. 

        "Leave my friend alone" Cyndaquil growled angrily, and glared at the Typhlosion. The advanced Pokémon laughed darkly, while the other Typhlosion called for Cyndaquil to stand down. Cyndaquil shook his head, and growled. His back flames were lit vigorously. Though the Pokémon stood next to Tiger, Tiger could see he was shaking. 

        "You can do this" Tiger whispered encouragingly. "I'm with you this time...you aren't alone" he said lowly.  Cyndaquil looked at Tiger with a look of disbelief, but nodded with a smile as he knew he could trust the boy. Cyndaquil looked back at Typhlosion.

         "You won't win this time" Cyndaquil said lowly, and glared at Typhlosion. A gentle breeze blew across the field, and the grass danced in the breeze as the two Pokémon faced off.

        The female Typhlosion then looked at the leader. "Hinoarashi stand down...there is a trainer coming this way" the female Typhlosion whispered lowly.  Tiger looked up, and heard footsteps. He heard the Croconaw from the night before. "I heard it over here" the voice said quickly. Tiger, and Cyndaquil looked at each other, and the two climbed into a tree.

        "This isn't over" the lead Typhlosion, Hinoarashi, yowled, and the three ran off. Tiger then growled lowly as the group fled. The trainer, and the Croconaw then walked out of the forest, and looked around. 

        "I guess the fight is over...strange sounded like a huge group of Cyndaquil, and its evolutions..." the trainer who owned Croconaw said lowly. Tiger looked at the trainer, and held his breath as the duo walked away. "Come on we can't stay here all day" the trainer said in a low sigh.  Tiger watched in relief as they walked away he was relieved that they didn't stay for long. 

        "We need to get out of here..." Cyndaquil said lowly. Tiger nodded, not wanting to waste anymore time in case the Typhlosion come back. He allowed Cyndaquil to lead the way out of the forest. "Tiger..." Cyndaquil began quietly. 

        Tiger looked over, and blinked. "Yeah?" he asked gently. 

        "I'm sorry if you didn't think I trusted you...I see now you are only trying to look out for my well being" Cyndaquil said quietly, and continued on. Tiger blinked, and went over to walk next to the pokemon. 

        "I didn't know that Typhlosion we met was the one that hurt you...I wish I could have done something to help you" Tiger said sadly. 

        Cyndaquil laughed, and tried to be more cheerful. He then jumped onto Tiger's head. "You can help me!" he said kindly. 
        
        "Oh yeah?" 
        
        "Yeah! You can carry me back to the cave. I'm exhausted"

        Tiger sighed, and laughed. Rolling his eyes he continued through the forest, and saw the hole in the boulder wall; the hole had been camouflaged by a thicket of bushes growing around it. Once through the hole, Tiger covered the hole a bit better with a fresh vine tendril. The two then went toward the cave. "Listen, Tiger. I know you wish you could help me evolve, but why don't you just help me become  a better pokemon to you?" Cyndaquil asked kindly. "If you become a trainer...I'd like to be your starter" the last thing Cyndaquil said both caught Tiger off guard. As well as cheered the trainer up. Pichu might be lost to me, but maybe I can be the best trainer  I can to Cyndaquil...

Title: Mysteries of the past

        Pidgey looked at Cyndaquil with a half asleep, half bored expression. Tiger stood behind the blue and yellow mouse, and looked like he was trying to decide. "Tiger! All I have is Flamethrower, Leer, and Swift!" Cyndaquil said impatiently. Tiger then looked at Cyndaquil, and crossed his arms in confusion. 

        "Wait aren't you like level 4? How do you know Flamethrower, and Swift?" Tiger asked in pure curiosity. He then looked at Pidgey who was looking more and more bored by the second. 
        "Well you see I got flamethrower from my dad, and swift from my mom when I hatched" Cyndaquil explained simply, and tilted his head. Tiger nodded, and was about to reply when Pidgey yelled. 

        "That's all nice and all, but can we please get to the battle! Or are you two going to talk about levels?" the bird pokemon asked in slight annoyance.  He then got to his talons, and spread his wings. "You know? I think I'm just going to take a fly. Feel free to come back to me when you're ready to train" the pokemon said in annoyance, and flew away.

        Tiger shrugged, and sighed he then turned to Cyndaquil. "Uh so what should we do now?" He asked the pokemon softly, and looked around the clearing. The cave was nearby, and Tiger could hear the painful cries of an Eevee that was brought in the night before. "We can't ask Kit, or Tally for any training today since the Eevee doesn't want us in the cave..." he sighed.

        "We could go to the rock wall and get a few apples" Cyndaquil suggested warmly, and glanced at the darkening sky. Tiger blinked, and nodded. He then thought about the fall in the river the duo had a few sunrises ago. "We'll just avoid the river, and go the long way" he said softly.
 
        "If we do that we won't be there until nightfall." Cyndaquil pointed out quickly, and frowned. "Kit won't let us be out for that long since the river incident" he said lowly.
 
        "I'll just tell her where we're going, and I'm sure we can bring food back to the cave. After all if Eevee is going to heal we'll need to get as much food as possible" Tiger said evenly, and smiled. He then headed towards the cave in search of Kit. 

        The cave was still filled with the chill of winter as Tiger walked in. He sighed, and looked around, the thought of spring's return was still fairly fresh in his mind. He shook the excitement of warmer weather away before walking into the den. Eevee growled, and looked at Tiger. "Tiger I told you to stay outside while I work on Eevee" Kit said evenly, and continued to work. Tally was sitting next to her, helping out her mother as the Eevee lay there. 

        "Sorry, Kit just wanted to let you know that Cyndaquil, and I were heading to the apple tree to find some food." Tiger said softly, and glanced at the three from the den's entrance. Cyndaquil, and I will have to sleep in the trees tonight. At least it's not cold. I don't want to bother Eevee... Tiger thought to himself with a sigh, and glanced at Kit, who was thinking for a moment. 

        "Very well, but check in when you get back" Kit said kindly, and nodded. She didn't look up from Eevee. "Just stay away from the river for now, as the snowmelt from Mount. Silver is still widening the river" she said in concern. 

        "Will do" Tiger said with a nod, and walked back out of the cave. He then went over to Cyndaquil, and told him what Kit had told Tiger. The small mouse pokemon nodded, and followed his trainer out of the clearing.

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        Tiger and Cyndaquil continued through the forest the duo passed patches of grass where, normally wild pokemon would attack trainers, but here they avoided the small boy like a virus. Cyndaquil looked over to Tiger, and smiled. He then ran forward and scared a few Butterfree that were sleeping inside a bush nearby. They yelled angrily, and called over their shoulders as Cyndaquil scared them. Tiger sighed, and shook his head, he called an apology to the Butterfree. He then laughed once the pokemon flew away. "Do you always have to scare the Butterfree?" Tiger said jokingly, and smiled. 

        "They were in my way" Cydnaquil said and mocked a scoff of disgust. "How should I have known that they'd be in the bushes. I didn't mean to scare them." He said now defending himself. 

        "I know" Tiger said kindly, and picked the pokemon up. He placed Cyndaquil on his head. "Do you see the apple trees yet?" Tiger asked joyfully. Cyndaquil nodded, and pointed in the direction of the apple trees. He toppled over from Tiger's head, and was about to hit the ground when Tiger caught him.

        "Careful. The ride requires you stay in one spot so you don't  fall." Tiger joked warmly, and held Cyndaquil close to his chest as he walked. The trees and bushes were passing him slowly as he walked. Soon the growl of a pokemon was heard in a bush, and a Stantler then ran out of the thick undergrowth, and freaked out. It jumped up in an attempt to use a stomp. 

        "Tiger watch out!" Cyndaquil said in shock, and jumped out of the child's arms. He then growled, and used a swift knocking the pokemon off balance. Stantler snorted, and scraped it's hoof against the ground. The pokemon then lowered it's head and ran at the two. "Come on Tiger help me. Call out a move, and try to be a trainer! I know you can do this" Cyndaquil said to his stunned trainer, and jumped back from the move. 

        "Oh right....uh" Tiger began uncertainly. He thought for a moment, and tried to think of how to help Cyndaquil fight. Cyndaquil then growled, and used a swift. 

        "Any day now, Tiger!" Cyndaquil said in fear, and stumbled back as the Stantler used a stomp. Tiger looked at Cyndaquil in shock, and fear. 

        "Cyndaquil use flamethrower!" Tiger finally said quickly. Cyndaquil used a flamethrower and hit the Stantler. The move managed to hit something off the pokemon calming it down.  Stantler then whined and fled the area quickly stomping the grass flat as he fled.

        Tiger blinked, and went over to the strange item that fell off Stantler. He went to pick it up, but as soon as he did it sent an electric shock that went down his arm and caused him to scream in shock. He dropped the item, and noticed it was the electric part of a shock collar. "Stupid trainers" Tiger growled in anger, and created a shallow hole with his shoe. He then kicked the piece in and buried it. "Are you alright, Cyndaquil?" He asked, and glanced at the Pokemon.

        "Just fine...though next time you freeze up with commands remember what's going on" Cyndaquil said lowly, and shook out his fur. "Come on let's keep going before it gets darker." Cyndaquil said softly.

        Tiger nodded, and continued through the forest he and Cyndaquil walked next to each other. The apple tree then came into view, and Tiger ran ahead. "Alright we made it!" Tiger said cheerfully, and climbed into the tree. "Alright Cyndaquil, I'll pick the apples and you bring them to the tree base" Tiger said kindly, and pointed to a small leaf pile where they'd leave the apples. 

        "Alright" Cyndaquil said with a nod, and climbed onto a low hanging tree branch. Tiger then climbed into a higher branch, and looked at the boulder wall nearby. It was with in jumping distance to the top. Tiger then went up to a branch that had a few apples growing on it when he heard a voice. One that sounded very very familiar.

        "Come on let's get some sleep." The sound of a boy was heard and Tiger jumped onto the wall. He still held a few apples in his hands. He was ignoring the concerned cry from Cyndaquil. Tiger looked over the edge of the boulder he was on and saw the boy, and his Croconaw once more.
 
        A few minutes turned into almost an hour as the trainer began to fall asleep, and wake up as if from a nightmare. Tiger then continued along the top of the wall when he noticed the boy had a book, and a hat, both were very familiar. The trainer then began to fall asleep once more.

        "He's to close to the wall...what if he decides to come here" Tiger whispered to himself, and narrowed his eyes. He then froze as the trainer heard him. 

        "Who's there!" the trainer said in shock, and sat up. Tiger then growled, and dropped an apple he tried to grab it before it rolled off the boulder's top, but he couldn't reach it in time. The apple fell, and hit the back of the trainer's head. Arceus help me... Tiger thought in shock as the trainer went up to the boulders only to freeze in shock. Good maybe he'll leave Tiger thought and sighed. He then froze as the trainer looked up, and froze as he saw Tiger on the rock.

        Tiger didn't know what else to do. He then growled, and crawled backwards into the shadows. "Human! You shouldn't be here, or near the rock barrier!" He yelled hoping to sound intimidating.

        His hopes were dashed when the trainer narrowed his eyes, and looked shocked to hear the young boy's voice. He then sighed before replying. "Fine, I will leave, but I don't promise you that I won't return. I'm looking for my brother, and if he's somewhere in the unknown forest. Then I will find a way over this wall, and no child of the forest will tell me otherwise." The trainer said firmly.

        Looking for my brother... The words seemed to linger in Tiger's mind as he thought about what the trainer just said. I need to warn Lugia. Tiger thought sharply. He then replied hoping to scare the trainer away once more, "you'll regret it if you do. The Pokemon here are more dangerous, and unwelcoming of unknown humans than you know. They aren't your typical trainer ready Pokemon" Tiger said lowly, and heard Cyndaquil calling from the ground below. He then jumped into the trees quickly before the trainer could respond. He then met up with Cyndaquil, and lead the pokemon home.

Title: Haunting Memories

The moon was sitting in its highest point signifying midnight. Nocturnal Pokémon were out either hunting for food, or playing in the soft light from the moon. Tiger was sitting on a branch in a tree with Cyndaquil laying on his chest. The young boy looked at the fire Pokémon and scratched the top of the Pokémon's head. I'm looking for my brother... The words of the strange trainer continuously repeated in his mind as he tried to sleep. Sighing, Tiger looked up to the stars his emerald eyes were dully gleaming in the moonlight. "Who is that trainer's brother, and why did he sound so familiar?" Tiger yawned to himself. He eventually allowed the gentle sounds of the forest lull him into a light sleep. 
_______________________________________________________________________________

        Light poured through the blinds of a room as a young boy slept soundly in his bed near the window. His Pichu was curled up next to his neck his small tail was barely over his nose. The sunlight eventually hit the boy's eyes causing him to groan. The young child sat up and looked around the room. His emerald eyes were clouded with exhaustion once he sat up. He looked at Pichu. "Chu chu wake up! We gonna pway with Max today" The boy said cheerfully his exhaustion was forgotten and he jumped out of bed. 
        
        "Pichu chu!?" Pichu said in shock and got up. The Pokémon jumped off the bed and caught up to the boy. "Pichu chu Pichu pi?" The Pichu as he tripped over a Cyndaquil plush that had fallen off the bedside table. The boy looked over and picked up the Pichu. 

        "Sorry Peach, I musta dwopped Quil when I was asleep." He said in embarrassment, and looked back to the door when he heard his brother's voice. 

        "Tiger come on, and wake up!" The voice called from downstairs. Tiger looked at Pichu, and ran out of his room. He met up with an older boy. "There you are" the boy said lowly. "I thought you and Pichu were going to sleep for  a month" the boy said crossly. 

        "Smokey why are you aways mad? Did Max eat your cereal again?" Tiger asked not completely understanding his brother's anger. The other boy then sighed and shook his head. The family Persian, Max,  walked out of the living room to see what was going on.   

        "I'm not mad" Smokey growled lowly and crossed his arms. He glared at Tiger knowingly. Max hissed at the fighting causing Pichu to tip his head slightly
      
        "Yes you are." Tiger said and tipped his head. "You sure you not broken?" Tiger asked and tried to mess with the boy. Pichu jumped out of his arms and walked up to Smokey.

        "Get your rodent off me!" Smokey snapped and pushed the Pichu away angrily. Tiger growled and ran over to Pichu. 

        "What did Pi do to you!?" Tiger asked in shock and looked at his brother angrily. It wasn't unnatural for Smokey to snap, but Tiger wished for the calmer days before he found the pokeball containing the electric mouse Pokémon. When he and his brother were close friends. 

        "Pichu was his Pokémon" Smokey said angrily. 

        "Who's dad's?" Tiger asked purely confused. His mom had told him that their father had gone off on a journey with his friend, Matt, who was Lion's father. The two boys hadn't seen their father in a year.

        "Wha?" Smokey said in shock and forgotten what their mother told him for a moment. "Nothing it's nothing, Tiger just...go play outside" Smokey said quietly and went back to his room.

        "Okay? Fine I will!" Tiger said still confused. He looked at Pichu and ran outside. Once outside, Tiger and Pichu looked for Professor Elm's Lab. "Hey Pi maybe Elm has something we can help with" the boy said to his pokemon the Pichu nodded and they went towards the lab. The Persian was following them closely. Once Tiger and Pichu reached the lab, Tiger heard a voice from the door.

        "I won't allow you to take them with you! Those pokemon belong to the lab, and even if you are their original trainer I wouldn't force them to join your organization!" Elm said in an angry tone causing Tiger to jump slightly. He'd never heard Elm so angry. 

         Is everyone grumpy today? Tiger thought to himself curiously and went to the window with Pichu next to him. "Come on let's see who's in da lab wif Elm" Tiger said to his friend and clumsily climbed up to the window's ledge. He looked inside and saw a trainer that was very familiar.

        "Well, Elm you aren't doing your job correctly if I have to ask you to release my pokemon" the trainer growled, and narrowed his eyes at the professor. "Maybe I should come back later. Maybe then I can force you to give them to me" he threatened lowly. 

        "Is that a threat? Frost, when I became a professor I promised to keep Pokémon safe, even if their trainers decide to betray their home town! You are aware that Sam had to lie to your youngest son so he wouldn't worry about you right!?" He snapped angrily. Tiger blinked and watched as the trainer growled. His blue eyes were flames as he glared at Elm. 

        "Smokey and Tiger are both weak! I'd be surprised if those two ended up failing their league challenges and became janitors for your lab!" Frost retorted crossly and glared at Elm. Tiger froze, and looked at the trainer, he was wearing all black, and had a red R on the front of his shirt. 

        "They will be better trainers than you will ever be!" Elm snapped angrily. Frost then growled and looked up. He noticed Tiger and Pichu in the window. 

        "Will they now?" Frost laughed darkly. "Well...let's see how Tiger fairs against me?" Frost growled and walked out of the lab. He made his way over towards Tiger. Elm looked over to the window and froze as he recognized Tiger.

        "Tiger run!" Elm yelled quickly and ran out of the lab. Tiger froze from where he sat on the window ledge and looked around. He then noticed there were three more strange trainers in black. They were hiding near the fields to the lab. 

        Tiger jumped to the ground, and Pichu fell onto his shoulder. The two began to run towards their house when a black dog like pokemon with horns blocked his path. "Well Tiger? Are you ready for a battle?" Frost growled and stood behind the pokemon. "Houndoom here will give you a great opportunity to see what being a trainer is really like" he growled, and the Houndoom took a step towards Tiger.

        "But...I can't fight!" Tiger said sheepishly and fell back. He was about to flee towards the lab when two more Houndoom blocked his path. "I just wanna go home!" Tiger cried out weakly. 

        "Weak" Frost growled and nodded to Houndoom. The pokemon used a flamethrower making Tiger fall back in an attempt to dodge the move. Pichu growled and ran at Houndoom with a volt tackle. "Come on fight back!" Frost yelled and laughed as the volt tackle barely did any damage on the Houndoom. 

        "But I can't I'm to young!" Tiger cried back and looked at Pichu. The small mouse pokemon froze as he was to weak to fight the Houndoom. The second fire dog then snarled and walked over to Tiger. It firmly planted a paw on the boy's chest.  Tiger closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain of the move when he heard a hiss, and the weight of the Houndoom was pushed off him. 

        "Max!" Frost said in shock. Tiger sat up and saw the Persian fighting off the Houndoom. The cat Pokémon was surprisingly fighting off the Houndoom. The other Houndoom turned their attention to Max. 

        "Max no you can't!" Tiger said in shock. The Persian then hissed and glanced at Tiger. The pokemon was then pinned to the ground, and was struggling to break free.

        "Huh? How about I teach you a lesson, brat" Frost growled and glared at Tiger. Houndoom then growled and raised a paw. "Houndoom! Finish Max off! Let Tiger know that this will be his fault!" Frost laughed maniacally, Houndoom nodded and slashed his paw across the Persian's throat. "Rocket retreat!" Frost said darkly and the four strangers followed Frost out of New Bark. 

        Tiger froze, and ran over to Max's side. The Pokémon was badly hurt; Tiger was about to reach out and touch the dying pokemon's head when Elm, and Smokey ran over. "Tiger come on get away from there!" Smokey said in shock. Tiger was just frozen next to the Pokémon he didn't look up to the professor, or his brother. He then felt Smokey's hand on his shoulder. "Elm. Can you take care of Max?" The boy asked Elm in concern.

       "Of course" Elm nodded, and went to Max's side. Smokey then gently pulled Tiger away from Max's side. He gently pushed him towards their house. 

        "Everything will be alright Tiger...I'm here for you. I'm sorry about earlier" Smokey said gently but Tiger wasn't paying attention he was just looking at the ground in defeat. 

        "Tiger! Hey Tiger are you alright wake up!" A voice was sounded from somewhere beyond the boundaries of the town. Tiger glanced at Smokey and noticed the trainer was beginning to fade away. As well as the entirety of New Bark Town.
____________________________________________________________________________

        "Tiger hey are you alright!?" Cyndaquil said and nudged his friend. Tiger sat up in shock and looked around; he had fallen out of the lowest branch of the tree and was in a bush. Cyndaquil was next to him nudging him awake.

        "Wha? Cynda?" Tiger said groggily and sat up. He looked at the pokemon and yawned. "Sorry I was having some sort of nightmare..." Tiger sighed in response and sat up. 

        "Was it the same one from a few months ago? I thought they stopped a month ago" Cyndaquil said in concern and sat on Tiger's lap. 

        "It was more of a flashback...I'm not sure. I think it happened because I was trying to figure out who that stranger was from last night" Tiger said softly and tipped his head in confusion. 

        "Did you figure it out?" Cyndaquil asked gently. He was sniffing Tiger for injuries from his fall out of the tree, but soon sighed in relief as all he noticed was a couple of scratches. "I mean if it was a memory then it should have been important somehow" Cyndaquil said in concern. 

        Tiger sighed and shrugged "I think I did...come on let's go and get something to eat. Maybe a walk will clear my head from that dream." He said quietly, and got to his feet. He looked at the sky and noticed he'd fallen asleep until shortly before dawn "We can head back to the barrier and find out if that trainer had left the area" he said gently in an attempt to reassure himself that the dream was just a random memory.

        The sun climbed higher as the duo went back to the apple tree by the rock wall. Tiger had been lost in thought as they walked, and didn't notice that Cyndaquil had been asking him a question. "What?" Tiger asked and looked over to his partner.  Cyndaquil then sighed and shook his head. 

        "I asked if you were alright? That dream you had last night seems to have distracted you today" Cyndaquil asked again and looked over to Tiger once again concerned.

        Tiger nodded, and decided to tell Cyndaquil about the dream. As he explained everything the two stopped in the clearing. "Though that whole thing happened when I was three...it was years ago so why would I have that dream now?" Tiger asked in confusion, and sighed. 

       Cyndaquil tipped his head and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe you were trying to remember who the boy from last night was, but the only memory you can try and remember him was from years ago, and it came to you in a form of a nightmare?" Cyndaquil said slightly unsure of the conclusion he made up. 

        "Sounds possible" Tiger said and crossed his arms. He looked around the clearing and saw Lee on a usual patrol near the border. "Morning Lee!" Tiger said trying to sound optimistic. 

        The Machamp looked up from what he was doing and waved one of his four arms in greeting. Tiger then walked to the apple tree and climbed up its branches in order to get to the top of the rock wall. Cyndaquil followed him up quickly and balanced on the last branch. The two then leapt from the tree and landed on the top of the wall. Tiger looked over the edge of the wall and saw the boy and his Croconaw. He froze as he recognized the trainer from his dream. It is Smokey! So he did come here to find me! Tiger thought in shock, and watched as the older trainer stopped at the base of a tree. Croconaw then shook his head disapprovingly. What is he planning to do? Tiger thought suspiciously and watched in shock as the trainer recalled his pokemon, and climbed up the tree. 

        "He's either going to fall, or try and make it into this forest" Cyndaquil whispered in shock and looked at Tiger. The young boy nodded, and froze. He was concerned for his brother's safety now. Smokey was panting as he climbed onto to the top branches of the tree. 

        He definitely doesn't have the stamina to climb up here, and he might not jump up he- Tiger thought to himself and froze as Smokey jumped from the tree. His leap was to short and he was plummeting towards the ground, and the face of the wall when Tiger slammed himself down onto his chest and grunted as he grabbed Smokey's shirt collar. He almost fell off the top of the wall he felt Cyndaquil grab his shirt tail and pull him backwards before he could lose his balance. "I got you!" Tiger called to Smokey and grunted as he pulled Smokey up to the top of the wall. The months of living in the forest had given him the strength to pull the trainer back up to the top of the wall. 

        The trainer opened his eyes and looked in shock at Tiger. He seemed to have been studying the young boy closely. His eyes then rested on the boy's scar that was on his shoulder. He flinched as if he couldn't comprehend what had happened to Tiger. Tiger then moved sharply to hide the scar as best he could which caused Cyndaquil to growl in distrust, warning, and anger. "T...Tiger?" The trainer then said uncertainly and looked at the boy.

        Before Tiger could respond, Cyndaquil took a step forward. "You know him?" Cyndaquil growled lowly and eyed Smokey wearily. Tiger nodded and sighed before responding.

        "Yeah he's my brother" Tiger said softly and glanced at Cyndaquil. The pokemon nodded reluctantly and went to sniff at Smokey. He then took a step back and growled. "It's alright bud" Tiger began and hugged Cyndaquil protectively. "Smokey won't hurt you" Tiger said softly, and glared at Smokey slightly as he began to feel slightly protective over his friend. "What in the name of Arceus are you doing here!?" Tiger asked in a hostile, and concerned tone. Smokey looked at Tiger in shock before he was taken aback by the tone of Tiger's voice. He was then knocked out of his thoughts when Lee spoke.

        "Tiger!? Is everything alright? I heard yelling!" Lee called from the base of the wall. Tiger looked over and went to the edge before looking at Lee.

        "I'm fine Lee! I'm just sending off a trespasser" he called out gently, and turned back to Smokey. "Well?" He pressed lowly.

        "I...I was err...I...was looking for you" Smokey responded in a confused tone and looked at Tiger questioningly. Tiger then looked away sharply, and thought of his friends, and pokemon he thought of as family. He then began to feel guilty as for the first time since he woke up in Ripple Forest, he remembered his mom, and Elm.

        "I'm sorry I put everyone through my disappearance...but, I need to stay here and-" he began before Smokey cut him off quickly.

        "No Tiger you don't need to stay you need to come home with me" Smokey said hesitantly and looked at Tiger in slight fear for his younger brother.

        Tiger growled as he noticed this was going to be harder than he thought. I still have some things to learn before I leave here...I can't leave yet! What if Rocket attacks, and finds Lugia...or Tally, and Kit!? He thought to himself before replying. "No...I am not going with you. I may be a child, but I won't listen to you"  He said angrily, and avoided Smokey's gaze.

        Taken aback by Tiger's attitude, Smokey flinched. Smokey then glared at Tiger in a mixture of confusion and anger.  "You don't understand you will be killed out here" he snapped.

        No you don't understand...I'm needed here. I won't die in this forest. I know it better than New Bark now... Tiger thought to himself, but didn't say anything. He then jumped off the wall and into the apple tree before he abandoned Smokey and fled into the forest. I'm sorry about everything that's happened, Smokey. Please just understand that I can't go home yet!

Tiger jumped through the trees his vision blurred slightly as tears ran down his cheeks. "Hey slow down!" Cyndaquil said gruffly as he tried to catch up to his friend. Tiger slowed down and eventually stopped on a tree branch. He looked back over to his friend. "Are you alright? You just fled the area when Smokey appeared!" Cyndaquil asked in shock and studied the young boy. Tiger then sighed heavily and sat down on the branch. His green eyes were still filled with tears. Cyndaquil then sat next to him. "What's wrong" the Pokémon pressed gently. 

        "I haven't seen Smokey in months. I thought he hated me." Tiger mumbled in defeat and wrapped his arms around his knees. He looked at the branch he was sitting in. Cyndaquil then froze and climbed onto Tiger's shoulder. He poked his way into Tiger's lap in an attempt to pull him out. 

        "Why would Smokey hate you? He's your brother right?" Cyndaquil asked in confusion. Tiger then sighed and shook his head slightly. 

        "Smokey use to blame me for what Frost did to us." He admitted begrudgingly, and looked away from the Pokémon. He glanced at the ground in an attempt to forget about what had happened. "He use to think I would end up like Frost because I had his Pichu. Problem is he couldn't see the truth" the boy finished with a whisper and put his head back down.

        Cyndaquil looked slightly taken aback by what Tiger had said. "It didn't seem that way when we met him." The Pokémon said cautiously. Tiger sat up, and hugged Cyndaquil.

        "Maybe Smokey changed. I'm not sure" Tiger admitted with a sigh, and got to his feet. He then stretched. "Come on we should head back to the cave. It's getting dark" he whispered gently and jumped to the ground. Cyndaquil was still in his arms as he jumped to the ground. 
        
        The trees moved along slowly as the two walked in silence back in the direction of the cave. Cyndaquil sighed and sent a small puff of flame out only to hit an oran berry, and send it flying off the tree it grew in. Tiger looked at the berry for a moment and smiled. He then shook his concerns away and grabbed as many Oran berries as he could carry. "Hey Cyndaquil! Let's do some target practice" he said cheerfully and put a few berries into his pockets. He then threw an oran berry into the air, and Cyndaquil shot it out with a well timed flamethrower. The berry then roasted as the flamethrower set it ablaze. The flame went out as it fell out of the air. Tiger then ran forward, and jumped onto a low branch. He grabbed the berry before it hit the ground, and threw it between his hands as the berry burnt him. "I got it" Tiger laughed triumphantly and ate the berry. He then smiled, "hey this is pretty good" he said kindly, and threw another berry into the air. Cyndaquil used another flamethrower ending in the same result. The small mouse Pokémon then took the berry from Tiger, and ate it. 

        "Yeah you're right. It's pretty good this way" he said in agreement and smiled. Tiger then nodded and grabbed a stick off the ground. He then pretended to wave it around like a sword as he continued through the forest. "What are you d-" Cyndaquil began, but looked over his shoulder as he heard footsteps behind them. 

        "Something wrong?" Tiger asked cautiously and looked around. They were nearing the cave now, and Tiger could see Tally sitting just outside the cave. The trainer glanced around with narrowed eyes, but saw nothing. 

        "I thought I heard something..." Cyndaquil mumbled cautiously, and shrugged. "Maybe it was nothing. Come on let's see if that Eevee left. You look like you're going to sleep on your feet" the fire mouse said gently and ran ahead of Tiger.

Tiger jumped into a tree and ran along the last branch as he tried to catch up to his friend. He then jumped to the ground and looked around sharply as he got the feeling that he was being watched. He then sighed and shrugged it off when Tally went over to him. 

        "Eevee left this morning. You can go back into the den if you want" Tally said kindly and nudged Tiger kindly. Tiger nodded and smiled. 

        "Thanks Tally" Tiger said gently and gave the Pokémon an Oran berry. He then walked into the cave, and looked around. He was about to sit down in his pile of moss when he heard a startled yell from outside the cave. 

        "What are you doing here!" The voice as Tally's she then fell ominously silent as the sound of a Pokéball expanding could be heard outside. "You can't catch pokemon here!" Tally said in a spooked tone. Tiger was about to run out and see who was out there when Kit ran past him, and knocked him over. Tiger fell into the moss, and looked at Cyndaquil, who was standing above him. His blood ran cold as he heard Smokey's shocked scream. 

        "A human? Why are you here!" Kit barked angrily to the trainer and Tiger ran to the exit of the den. He was blocked from view by the vines that grew at the cave's entrance. Tiger then saw Smokey frozen in fear as Kit had bit his hand. The trainer's gray eyes were round in shock and fear.  Tiger then ran out of the cave and went straight to Kit. 

        "Kit, Tally stop please!" Tiger said in shock, and grabbed Kit he tried to pull her back when Kit rounded on him, and bit him in the wrist. Tiger growled in pain as her jaws locked around his wrist. Tiger then froze and used his free hand to pet Kit gently to calm her down. He remained calm himself as he pet the Ninetales. 

        "Tiger!? I'm sorry if I hurt you" Kit said in shock, and nuzzled Tiger gently. She then glared at Smokey with hostility shining in her brown eyes before glancing at Tiger. 

        "Why did you follow me!? Don't you know it's dangerous over here? Especially with a trainer who captures Pokémon." Tiger asked crossly and glared at his older brother. He had taken the Pokéball from Smokey, and put it in his pocket after shrinking it down once more. 

        Smokey blinked in confusion and anger. "Dangerous? And you're still insisting on staying?" Smokey said lowly causing Tiger to flinch slightly. "You have to catch Pokémon when you're a trainer. It's what you do." Smokey growled lowly and narrowed his eyes to Tiger crossly. 

        Tiger growled lowly as he was now getting annoyed, and upset by his brother's attitude. He then glared at Smokey coldly. "Not in this forest" Tiger replied darkly and held his glare to the older boy's. "Tally is Kit's daughter, and Kit wouldn't want Tally to be forced to go with you. All trainers who have come here have stolen Pokémon from their homes, and betray his trust" he said coldly and remembered the story Lee told him a few months ago. 

        Smokey looked taken aback by Tiger's tone, he frowned and shook his head. He then sighed before replying, this time his tone was gentle and soft. "I'm sorry" he said in a whisper and looked at the ground. 

        "It's alright" Tiger mumbled quietly and glanced at Kit. "So what should I do with him? I can't allow him to stay out here after dark, I mean he's my brother after all" he whispered in concern. 

        Kit looked thoughtful for a moment and sighed. "Maybe it'd be best if you take him to Lugia. After all Lugia is the guardian of this place" she said gently. 

        Would that be a wise idea? I mean Lugia might be weary if I bring Smokey to him. Tiger thought to himself and glanced at Smokey for a split second. He then tipped his head to the side and sighed. I'll bring Smokey to Lugia. I can handle it if something happens. He finished his thought with a yawn, and glanced at Kit. He responded with a nod "yeah you're right...I'll bring him to Lugia" he said softly, and glanced at Smokey once more, who looked at the two in disbelief. His brother looked like he was uncertain about what was going on. "Come on Aiden let's head to Lugia's cave" Tiger said softly, using Smokey's real name, he then gently nudged Smokey in the direction of the cave.

Title: A rough explanation

Tiger walked down the path that lead to the chamber Lugia could be summoned in. He knew that the legendary Pokémon didn't live in the caves, but the cavern he claimed had a channel of water running all the way through to the ocean below. Tiger walked into the cave, and looked at the pool of water, it looked shallow in the darkness. "So where's this Lugia you mentioned" Smokey said slightly in an impatient tone, and crossed his arms. Tiger sighed, and shook his head.

"One moment" Tiger grumbled, and walked along the ledge he peered into the water, and blinked. "Lugia? Are you here?" Tiger asked gently, and jumped in shock as the water began to glow.

"What in the world!" Smokey said in shock and looked at the water. A few seconds of waiting, and Lugia's head poked out of the water. The legend screeched and glared at Smokey with a hint of hostility.

Just as I feared... Tiger thought sharply, and looked at the legend. "Lugia, please don't-" Tiger began sheepishly, but was cut off.

"Why is he here?" Lugia asked suspiciously and looked at Smokey. Tiger glanced at his brother and noticed him flinch at the question.

"He followed me from the border I-" Tiger began but was rudely cut off.

"Why were you at the border!?" Lugia demanded angrily.

Tiger flinched, and shied back slightly. Cyndaquil looked at the silver legend and growled a warning as if he were going to attack the legend if their was a need to. "I was trying to get something to eat for Kit and Tally" Tiger said evenly, and nudged Cyndaquil behind him. Tiger held his gaze with the legend for a moment, every muscle in his body told him to run, but he wasn't going to stand down. "So what do you expect me to do? Let Smokey freeze out there?" Tiger said lowly.

Lugia returned Tiger's glare and sighed reluctantly. "I'm sorry about snapping. Why is Smokey here?" Lugia said evenly and looked at Tiger.

"I-I uh" Smokey began in confusion but cut himself off when Lugia looked over to him. He took a step back uncertain about the legend. "I was...I was looking for Tiger" Smokey admitted quietly.

Tiger flinched how long has he been looking for me? He thought to himself and glanced at Smokey. The trainer looked exhausted, there was a bruise on his cheek where he hit the wall, and his clothes were dirty and torn.

"Tiger is safe" Lugia said evenly and looked at the trainer. "He has survived months in the forest, and he will return home very soon" the legend said gently and blinked.

"Soon? But Mom and Elm are worried about him. Lion is upset that Tiger is missing. He needs to come home now!" Smokey said quickly and looked at Lugia. "You can't just keep him hostage here until he's old enough to be a trainer!"

Tiger flinched slightly, and blinked. Lugia then growled and glared at Smokey. "Tiger is safe here, and he's not being held hostage. He can leave at any time he wants." Lugia said evenly.

"Then he's coming home now" Smokey said lowly. Tiger looked at the ground and closed his eyes.

"No he's not he still has a lot to learn before he leaves" Lugia growled lowly. Tiger sighed and shook his head.

"He has to come home or he'll be forced to wait to be a pokemon trainer" Smokey said lowly.

"He-" Lugia said lowly but was cut off by Tiger.

"I have a say in this! I don't want to leave the forest yet!" Tiger snapped and looked at Smokey crossly.

"Wha-Why not!?" Smokey asked angrily and glared at Tiger causing him to shy back slightly. Lugia growled as Tiger shied away from Smokey and almost fell into the pool of water. The legend gently nudged Tiger to the side and away from the ledge.

"I-I have a lot to learn still" Tiger said quietly, and looked at the ground. Smokey then growled once more, and narrowed his eyes.

"Learn!? No you need to go home now!" Smokey snapped angrily. "Mom is worried about you!" Smokey growled angrily, and went to grab Tiger's arm.

Tiger jumped back and looked at Lugia who looked like he was going to attack. The silver legend snarled his fangs visible as he growled. Tiger then flinched, and went to Lugia. "No Lugia don't. Smokey doesn't know" he squeaked weakly.

Lugia growled and looked to Tiger before sighing gently. "Fine. Smokey can stay tonight, but tomorrow morning I want him out" he said evenly. Tiger nodded and looked at Smokey, as the legendary left, he pushed the older boy out of the cavern.

Tiger walked into the cavern where Kit and Tally stayed. He pointed to a pile of moss, and looked at Smokey evenly. "You can sleep here" he said lowly, and sat down in the moss a bit away from his brother. He looked over and narrowed his eyes as Smokey looked like he was going to reject going to sleep.

"What happened to you?" Smokey asked lowly. He examined Tiger closely, and pointed to his shoulder. Tiger flinched, and looked over to Cyndaquil, who growled angrily. Tiger then pulled Cyndaquil back, and looked at Smokey.

"It's a long story. Now go to sleep" Tiger mumbled in a guarded tone, and curled up with Cyndaquil next to him. He pretended to fall asleep, his eyes closed as he heard what Smokey had to say.

"You aren't a pokemon, Tiger, you need to come back home now" Smokey whispered, and sighed when Tiger didn't reply.

Tiger bit back a sigh, and glanced over to Smokey, who had his back to him now. Am I being selfish because I want to stay here? Will I even be able to fit in with normal life after this? He thought to himself sharply, and closed his eyes once more. This time sleep came to him, and he accepted it.
____________________________________________________________________________

"Alright these berries can heal status ailments. If you ever find yourself with one of these ailments they will help you out. Which one is for poison, and what is it called?" Kit asked and swept her tail across five berries. The berries were Oran, Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, and a Lum berry.

Tiger crossed his arms and looked at the berries, he narrowed his eyes and grabbed the Oran berry he sniffed at it for a moment, and examined it before putting it down. He then looked at the others, and pulled a pink strawberry like berry to the side, as well as a green berry that looked like a small lumpy watermelon. "A Pecha berry is a great way to heal poison" Tiger began and held up the pink berry. "It is a sweet berry that is great for making antidotes, as well as a great berry to use when mixing revival herbs to get rid of the bitter taste." He began and put the pink berry back into the pile, he then grabbed the Lum berry. "This one is a Lum berry. It is great to heal all status ailments which will be handy if you don't have a Pecha berry, but are poisoned. It has a combined flavor, sweet being the main element of its flavor." He said before putting the berry back he glanced at Kit who nodded in satisfaction.

Tiger smiled, and looked up when he saw Smokey standing nearby. "So talking about different kind of berries is what you need to learn before leaving and going home?" Smokey asked coldly which caused Tiger to growl.

"If you know so much about berries then what is the berry that can wake a pokemon from sleep" Tiger said bitterly, and crossed his arms.

Smokey blinked, and looked at the small row of berries. He blinked. "Well the Lum berry can cure all status ailments" He began carefully.

Tiger rolled his eyes, "What if you don't have a Lum berry?" He asked evenly, and looked at Smokey once more . The older trainer looked at each berry. He pulled up a Cheri berry and handed it to Tiger.

"This one. It looks like it might be able to cure sleep" he said evenly. Tiger looked at the berry and shook his head. He then grabbed a Chesto berry off the ground, and handed it to Smokey.

"No. A Chesto berry is tough, but once eaten its flavor is so dry that it can wake up whoever eats it. What you grabbed was a Cheri berry, which is spicy and the spice of this berry can shock a pokemon out of paralysis. Pun not intended" Tiger said with a sigh.

"Wouldn't it make sense for the dry berry to get them out of paralysis and spice to wake them?" Smokey asked in confusion and crossed his arms. Tiger just sighed in response.

"Kit keep an eye on Smokey please? I need to take a break, and I don't want to take him home right now" Tiger said in slight annoyance, and ran off away from the annoyance, and guilt his brother had brought. He wasn't sure where he was heading, but he soon found himself at the beach where he found Cyndaquil. I have to take Smokey back home today, but how will it play out? Will he force me to go back home? He thought sharply, and sat on the sand. He looked over to Mount Silver, and sighed heavily. His thoughts were always returning to New Bark Town, and his home.

Title: The Past Revisited

The peaks of Mount Silver looked silent and serene from where Tiger sat. His emerald eyes were shining with guilt and conflict. "If I go back now." He whispered to himself, and got to his feet. He looked into the water and at his reflection. The boy looking back at him looked very different. Instead of the domestic but reckless boy he once was, he saw a wild and feral child. The red shirt he had been wearing when he arrived in the forest was tattered, burnt, and ruined. His brown hair was singed and had been burnt off in some areas. He looked at the burn on his arm and sighed. "Maybe I should go home? It'd be the safest idea, but what about Tally, Kit, Sage..." he whispered and looked away from the water. "I don't blame Smokey for being worried, but." he sighed and tried to shake his head clear.

"Tiger" Cyndaquil's voice came from behind him. Tiger blinked, and looked up. The small fire Pokemon was out of breath as if he had been running.

"Something wrong?" Tiger asked his friend in concern and crouched down to the Pokémon's level. He couldn't read the small Pokémon's expression.

Cyndaquil shook his head, "no I came here to see if you were alright. You look well, like you're trying to figure something out." He said gently, and climbed onto the boy's shoulder.

Tiger blinked, and looked at his friend, a Pokemon he counted as his brother. "I'm just-" He cut himself off with a sigh, and looked back to the mountain. "I'm just debating on going home, it's been over six months since I left. Maybe I should go home." He said quietly.

Cyndaquil looked shocked, but didn't protest against it. "I'll go with you no matter what" he said gently, and nuzzled his friend.

Tiger blinked, and looked back to Cyndaquil. "I know you will, but what about Kit, and the others?" He sighed, and sat down once more.

Cyndaquil frowned, and tipped his head to the side. "What about your mom, Elm, and Lion? I mean I know Kit's been like a mother to you, but isn't your mom worried about you?" He asked gently.

Cyndaquil's right. Mom is probably worried sick about me. Maybe I should so home? Though, what will happen if Ho-Oh appears in the forest. How will I face the fact that I won't have Pichu with me anymore? Tiger thought to himself and crossed his arms. He felt Cynadquil on his head, the small Pokemon appeared from his forehead, upside down, looking into his eyes. "I think I'm going to stay for a couple more months." He decided quietly.

Cyndaquil nodded, and looked up when he heard Smokey. The older trainer was running towards the beach. "Well. Either way, I guess we have to figure out how we'll convince him on letting you stay here." He sighed quietly.

Tiger narrowed his eyes and glared at Smokey when the trainer ran over to him. "Tiger we need to talk" Smokey said slightly out of breath.

Tiger blinked, and crossed his arms. "We can talk on our way back home" he said quietly, and sighed. Smokey instantly cheered up and looked at Tiger in surprise.

"Wait so does this mean you're coming back with me?" Smokey asked hopefully but his hopes were dashed when Tiger sighed heavily.

"No. I'm not coming home yet." Tiger said evenly and looked Smokey in the eyes.

"Why not!?" Smokey asked in a shocked tone. Tiger noticed him flinch as if Tiger had punched him in the face. He flinched before replying.

Tiger sighed before replying in a softer tone. His emerald eyes were giving away sorrow and guilt now. "Because I'm needed here."

Smokey narrowed his eyes, and looked at Tiger evenly. Cyndaquil held a protective stance as he growled. "This isn't going very well" the Pokemon stated dryly, and Tiger sighed in response before looking at Smokey.

"No you're not! Tiger, you're needed back home. Mom is worried, and Elm-" Smokey continued but Tiger cut him off. He couldn't take this anymore.

"I. Can't. Go. Home. Yet" Tiger said slowly each word coming out as if its own sentence. He looked away from his brother sharply, but he knew the guilt in his eyes were still visible to the eleven year old trainer.

"Why not?" Smokey pressed, and Tiger closed his eyes tight. Cyndaquil growled protestingly, and Tiger pat the Pokemon on the head to reassure him.

"B-Because I still have a lot to learn here. I just recently mastered tree climbing, I'm almost done with herb and berry uses, and my fighting skills are nearly complete." Tiger said forcefully, as if he were partially making up an excuse. I don't want to go home yet. I mean I do, but how can I go home and face the fact that Pichu won't be there? He thought sharply.

"Everyone is worried sick about you." Smokey continued gently, and placed his hand on Tiger's shoulder. Tiger growled and pushed the trainer away quickly.

"Then you'll have to go home, and tell them that I'll be home soon. I-I'm not telling you this because I don't want to go home. I can't go home, not yet." Tiger said gently, though, there was a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"Why not?" Smokey began, and grabbed Tiger's arm. He looked into his brother's eyes the same way he use to whenever Tiger was annoyed and wouldn't talk about it. Tiger forcefully moved his arm away from Smokey's hand, and froze when the other boy continued on. "You can bring your new Cyndaquil friend I'm sure Pichu would-" he began but was cut off when the memories, and the nightmares of Pichu's loss replayed in Tiger's mind driving him into tears.

Tiger clenched his fists and looked to the ground, every word was forced out of him. "I-I can't go home. I-I can't face knowing that Pichu-" Tiger trailed off and closed his eyes tightly.

Cyndaquil looked at Tiger in concern before Smokey continued. His tone a bit more gentle. "What happened?" The older trainer asked gently. Tiger glanced at Smokey for a moment before looking up to the sky.

"P-Pichu was. Sto-Stol-Stolen from me" Tiger said quietly every word was dragged out of him.

"Stolen? By whom?"

Tiger closed his eyes tightly, he sensed Cyndaquil's frustration at his brother. He guessed the Pokemon was glaring at Smokey for the endless questions. He has to know, or I won't be able to explain why I can't leave yet. Tiger thought sharply, and sighed heavily. He forced himself to continue. "Da-Frost stole him from me." He began in a whisper, and shook his head to try and clear it, and to try and remember more from that day. "He had another boy with him, I guess he was born into a Team Rocket family because he was younger than me. I didn't get a good look at him, but I remember him calling Frost, dad." Tiger finished quietly, still confused to how a four year old would already be training to become a grunt. Maybe Frost and whoever this kid's mom is really wants him to follow in Frost's footsteps, or maybe Giovanni's? I'm not sure... Tiger thought with a sigh.

"Wait! Frost!?" Smokey said in a mixture of shock, and disgust as if he were feeling sick about this new revelation. Tiger glanced at Smokey and nodded weakly. Smokey then sighed, and pulled Tiger into a hug. "I'm sorry to hear that, but why can't you come home? Surely everyone back home can help you get Pichu back, or at least help you feel a bit better about loosing him..." Smokey said soothingly.

Tiger accepted the hug and let Smokey go before looking away. "It's not their problem that I lost Pichu, and it's not their problem if I don't go back yet." He began and sighed. That sounds selfish, but I can't go home yet. I'm not ready. Tiger thought sharply and shook his head clear before continuing. "Though it's my problem if I do go home, and Ho-Oh attacks. I need to learn how to survive if Ho-Oh were to attack me or Lugia again." Tiger said quietly, and flinched when he noticed the concerned look in Smokey's eyes. He took a few steps back while the older trainer was distracted.

"Wait Ho-Oh!?" Smokey said in a shocked tone and looked as if he were going to ask more questions when Tiger darted into the nearest tree and ran towards another part of the ocean. The last thing he heard was Smokey yelling "Tiger wait up!" But he didn't stop as he ran along the branches. I can't go home yet!
-----------------------------------------------------

A few hours went by, and Tiger was sitting on a more secluded part of the beach. He was looking out to Mount Silver while Cyndaquil was curled up asleep on his lap. The fire mouse had refused to leave Tiger's side since Smokey and him had their conversation. He heard footsteps behind him, and he froze up when he heard Smokey's voice. "Listen Tiger I'm sorry I asked all those questions. I-" he began but was cut off when Tiger sighed. The younger boy looked at his brother without giving anything away.

"It's fine you didn't know" he said evenly, and looked at Smokey plainly. "It's alright now" Tiger sighed and glanced at Cyndaquil, who stirred slightly.

Smokey nodded, and sat down next to Tiger cautiously. As if he were afraid that the younger boy would push him away once more. "Do you miss home?" Smokey asked suddenly catching Tiger off his guard.

"Of course I do, but I can't go home yet. I'm just not ready to." Tiger admitted with a sigh and continued to look at Mount Silver.

"Then I won't force you to go home, not yet anyway. Just promise me that you'll make it home in one piece. I honestly don't feel like face planting into a boulder every time I want to visit you." Smokey said in an attempt to joke around.

Tiger rolled his eyes and gave off a faint laugh before looking at Smokey sincerely. "I promise." He said gently, and hugged Smokey for a moment before sighing. "Listen I'm sorry about being annoying back home before this all happened. I'm also sorry for disappearing, and changing...well, a lot in the past few months. I just need to stay here and learn the ways of a Pokemon, like Lugia told you." He said with a sigh, and interrupted Smokey before he could protest. "And I know I'm not a Pokemon, but Lugia wants me to become stronger. That way I won't be like most trainers. Who watch fights from the background, but if I'm in trouble, or Team Rocket attacks once more I can fight along side my Pokemon, and help them just as they would help me." He explained kindly.

Smokey nodded hollowly, and blinked before replying with a sigh. "I'm sorry I was short tempered. I'm not going to force you to go back home with me." He decided and looked at Tiger before glancing in the direction of the trees and the rock wall. "I'll just go back home, and explain that I didn't find you. You come back on your own time" Smokey said with a sigh.

"Thank you" Tiger said in a relieved tone, however there was a hint of guilt in it. He watched as Smokey got to his feet and headed back towards the border.

After a few moments, Tiger got to his feet and climbed into a tree. He went to make sure his brother made it to the border safely when a low and familiar growl caught his attention. "Well. Well. Well? What do we have here, another human?" The voice was Gengar's.

Oh no! I should have gone with him! Tiger thought in shock, and glanced at Cyndaquil. He gave a silent signal for the Pokemon to run off to the den and get Kit and Tally. The Cyndaquil ran off, and Tiger crouched down to see what was going on. He saw five Pokemon. Gengar, Incineroar, Alakazam, as well as Sage, and Lee. I forgot to warn Lee and Sage of Smokey! Ugh Arceus save me! Tiger thought sharply, and waited for Cyndaquil and the others. He then heard Incineroar's angry retort.

"I say we kill him here and now!" The Pokemon said darkly causing Tiger's blood to turn to ice. He hid in the leaves of the tree he was in and waited impatiently for Cyndaquil to return.

Smokey looked shocked, he took a step back before stammering. "Five-Five versus one isn't fair!" The older trainer said feebly, before being knocked backwards by a Dual Chop from Lee.

Smokey! Tiger thought in shock, and felt helpless as he sat there watching the event unravel. He hoped that Cyndaquil would return soon.

Title: The Battle

Tiger held his breath when he tried to figure out what to do to help his brother. He closed his eyes when Sage ran in with a leaf blade. The move was about to hit, when Tiger heard a scared reply from Smokey. "L-Listen. I was just on my way out, I won't stea-" He was cut off by a shadow ball. Tiger held the branch he was on tightly as the tree shook violently from Smokey crashing into it.

"Yeah, right. Like we'd listen to the likes of you!" Gengar retorted angrily and narrowed his eyes at Smokey. Tiger climbed higher into the branches to hide from the fighting Pokemon. He felt helpless, but he couldn't take on Alakazam, Gengar, and Incineroar by himself. He noticed a look of concern in Sage's eyes, the Shiftry looked like he was going to ask Smokey something when Alakazam took a step forward.

"Please stop! I was just talking to my brother, Tiger!" Smokey yelled, Tiger blinked and noticed Lee and Sage exchange a glance. He was about to sigh in relief when he heard Alakazam's angry response.

"I don't care! Lugia needs to stop babysitting that brat!" Alakazam yelled angrily, and Tiger flinched. He had never personally met the Alakazam, but he guessed that he was like Gengar, and Incineroar. A Pokemon upset over humans for what happened in the past. Tiger closed his eyes and sighed, I've got to figure out how I can help Gengar, and his friends. Maybe I should keep my eyes out for their children while on my own Pokemon journey? Tiger thought to himself and opened his eyes. He froze in shock when Alakazam used a psychic to throw Smokey into the air. Tiger ran along the branch of the tree, now risking being spotted, to try and save his brother from slamming into the ground. He grabbed the branch, but missed his brother's flailing arm. He closed his eyes in fear, and waited for the sound of Smokey's body hitting the ground.

After a few heartbeats, Tiger heard nothing. No scream of pain, no thud, just...nothing. Tiger cautiously opened one eye, and looked down. He saw that Sage had caught him, he placed the older boy behind him and Lee. Thank Arceus! Maybe now Lee and Sage can distract them while Cyndaquil comes back. Please Cyndaquil hurry! He thought in concern. Gengar, Alakazam, and Incineroar were all prepared to fight Lee and Sage. Tiger held his breath as Smokey grabbed the pokeball on his belt. He was about to call Chomp out when Gengar screeched so loud it caused Smokey to drop the pokeball, Tiger covered his ears in shock. Once the ball fell, Alakazam used a psychic and pulled it back away from Smokey.

"Lee! Sage! What are you doing?" Alakazam asked angrily, and floated the pokeball near him. He glared at the two Pokemon menacingly.

"We're protecting Tiger's brother! You can't just kill him." Sage retorted lowly.

"Protecting a human? Why? Because he claims to be related to Lugia's virus?" Alakazam snarled. Tiger flinched and continued to hide. He looked towards the cave, and saw off in the distance, Pidgey, Cyndaquil, Kit, and Tally. He sighed in relief and looked back to the argument.

"Tiger's no virus! He's a million times nicer than most humans that I've met! He's more of a Pokemon than you are!" Sage snapped angrily and stood in front of Smokey.

That was the breaking point for Alakazam. Tiger flinched when the psychic Pokemon snarled in response. He had a small psychic blade in his hand now. "Tiger isn't a Pokemon. He's a menace, and a virus to this forest, and Viruses spread. I'm going to take you out first, then I will take pleasure in finishing this virus off!" Alakazam said manically.

Sage growled and Tiger noticed Smokey's confused look. Tiger looked around quickly hoping for an apple, or a berry to throw at Alakazam and confuse him while he waited for the backup to come. "Great, nothing" Tiger grumbled to himself. He gasped in shock when Alakazam used a psycho cut on Sage, effectively knocking the Pokemon out.

Tiger flinched and watched as Lee ran into battle. He was about to use a dual chop, he was running at the Alakazam angrily. Tiger frowned he knew that the move wouldn't be effective. He's using it as a warning. He doesn't want to fight. Tiger thought to himself sharply, and crouched down. He saw Cyndaquil in the bushes now, crawling out of the tree he hid in, Tiger blinked and jumped into the bushes.

"What's going on?" Kit whispered quickly and ran to Tiger's side. She sniffed him over for injuries, and Tiger quickly hugged the Ninetales. He wanted the comfort of a Pokemon he knew.

"S-Smokey's being attacked. Alakazam wants him dead." Tiger said quietly and shivered slightly he looked up when he saw Lee being forcefully thrown into the air.

"Hey leave Machamp alone!" Tiger heard Smokey's pitiful yell when Alakazam picked the Pokemon up.

"Oh? You want me to leave him alone? Very well, I'll do that once he's fainted!" Alakazam yelled angrily. Tiger and Cyndaquil exchanged a glance. The two ran to the clearing.

"Cyndaquil use a flamethrower NOW!" Tiger yelled and slid into the clearing. He pointed at Alakazam, the Pokemon blinked in shock and growled. The flamethrower hit the Alakazam in the cheek, and the Pokemon dropped Lee. Kit ran over, and dragged both Lee and Sage out of the clearing. Once the two Pokemon were safe, Tally and Kit ran to Tiger's side, and Pidgey landed on his head.

"You two are in on this too!?" Alakazam snarled and glared at Kit and Tally. He noticed Cyndaquil, and laughed. "Oh? If it isn't the forest guardian, and his little weak Cyndaquil. What's wrong Scorch? Afraid to try and evolve, or are you not fit to even leave his kid's side because you can't?" The Alakazam said dryly obviously trying to get Cyndaquil to back down from the fight.

Tiger returned the glare, and stood by Cyndaquil when he noticed the flinch his friend gave off. He narrowed his eyes before responding evenly to the Alakazam. "Cyndaquil is as strong as any starter, or their evolution!" He said angrily, and grabbed Chomp's pokeball, which was now on the ground next to him from the flamethrower that Cyndaquil had given off. "Now-" Tiger began and let the Pokemon out. Chomp came out, and looked up to Tiger in confusion. Tiger nodded and glanced at Smokey, the Croconaw ran off and stood by his trainer.

"Are you willing to injure one of the guardians of this forest? You know as well as I do that Sage, Lee, and Kit are all in charge when Lugia isn't here. If Lugia hears that you not only hurt Sage, but nearly killed Lee, then how will he react?" Tiger said evenly and looked at Alakazam not showing anything.

"Oh? So you're playing Forest Guardian now? Is that how you knew where I was?" Alakazam laughed mockingly, and Tiger snarled.

"No I'm not playing guardian, I just know where, and when you and your trio are attacking innocent Pokemon, or people. Sage, and Lee were only with you this time because Smokey is a stranger to you, now either back off, or fight." Tiger said firmly and glanced at Cyndaquil, who was in a defensive stance, his back flames were lit now. Alakazam growled and raised his head, raising the alarm and signaling Gengar and Incineroar to attack. "Heh. Looks like a fight, and that's what you'll get." Tiger said unenthusiastically.

Tiger ran over to Smokey, and reached his hand out to help his brother to his feet. Chomp glanced at Tiger and Cyndaquil and nodded as if he were prepared to battle. "We'll need your help to fight these three. I need to go help Kit and Tally with Sage and Lee." He said to his brother quickly, and nodded to Cyndaquil and Pidgey. The two went in to fight the three Pokemon.

"Got it!" Smokey said quickly, and scrambled to his feet. He shook his head clear, and Tiger ran off. He heard Smokey giving Chomp an order. "Chomp use a water gun on Incineroar!" He commanded.

Tiger was focused on working on Lee that he didn't noticed the battle that was going on. He soon heard Tally run out from the bushes, Tiger looked over and saw Cyndaquil was struggling with Gengar. He was going to help, when Kit blocked his path. "Wait, I'm sure Cyndaquil and Tally can manage." Kit whispered gently. Tiger cast a look like he was going to retort or complain, but instead he nodded, and watched the battle unfold. Kit allowed him, and went to tend to Lee.

Tiger was crouched in the bushes, he pushed the twigs back and watched as Cyndaquil and Tally ran in circles around Gengar. The two were trying to confuse the higher leveled Pokemon. Tiger narrowed his eyes and continued to watch. Gengar shot off a shadow ball aiming at Cyndaquil, and Tiger gasped. He was going to call a warning to his friend, but before the move could hit, it was destroyed by a flamethrower that Cyndaquil used on the ground effectively knocking him into the air. Tally ran past Cyndaquil's flamethrower not taking much damage from the embers. She used a bite knocking Gengar backwards, Tally jumped onto Gengar's chest and pinned him down. She looked up, and Cyndaquil hit the Gengar in the head with a well timed Aerial Ace. Dust kicked up, and Tiger coughed heavily, Even Gengar can't stay awake through that! Tiger thought to himself and took a few steps back.

Tiger went to Sage, and began to tend to the Pokemon when Tiger heard arguing. He focused on Sage, but listened to the conversation.

"Well, Tiger's brother. Are you ready to die?" Alakazam said mockingly, Tiger heard a psycho cut being shot off, and Smokey's shocked and in pain scream. Tiger flinched and was about to run out and help, but Tally kept him in the bushes.

"Get off me!" Tiger heard Smokey retort weakly. He coughed as if he was being pinned. Tiger closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to work on Sage.

"Never!" Alakazam said maniacally. Tiger got up slightly and could barely make out Alakazam pinning Smokey to the ground. His spoon was on his throat. Tiger growled, he saw Cyndaquil, Tally, Pidgey, and Chomp going to the two. When Smokey threw a handful of dirt into the Pokémon's eyes.

"What the!?" Alakazam yelled in shock, and stumbled back. He was trying to fight back, but the four small Pokemon tackled the Alakazam and began to overpower him. Tiger looked up and locked eyes with Smokey, who ran over to him. Tiger abandoned Sage, and nodded to Kit. The Ninetales went back to working on Sage once Lee was finished.

"Are you alright!?" Tiger asked in shock, and felt Alakazam glaring at him as if to say.

"Humans, including that brother of yours aren't welcome here"

Tiger ignored the Alakazam and glanced at Kit, Sage was now done being treated. Tiger was about to ask Smokey if he was fine again when he heard Alakazam's defeated cry. Tiger watched as Alakazam fled, he then ran over to Smokey. "You're not hurt are you?" He asked and before Smokey could respond, Tiger was examining him. He had a distant look in his eyes. Tiger noticed a bad scratch on Smokey's cheek where the Alakazam had used psycho cut, and there was an imprint where the spoon was on his neck. I can't heal him here, I'll just have to let him go to Nurse Joy. He thought to himself dully.

"No, I don't think I am." Smokey said quietly and coughed slightly. He was ignoring the pain in his cheek and on his neck. Tiger nodded in satisfaction and sighed.

"Good." Tiger said with a sigh of relief. "I think it'd be for the best if Cyndaquil and I accompanied you to the border." Tiger said to Smokey with a sigh.

Smokey nodded, but didn't object. He recalled his Croconaw and turned to Tiger. "Lead the way." He said gently, and watched as Tiger walked back to the border.


"So Ho-Oh is under Team Rocket's control, and Pichu is now Frost's?" Smokey asked repeating what Tiger had told him on their way back to the barrier. Tiger nodded, and looked at the sky as his brother continued. "So Frost has a kid, that means we have a half brother?" Smokey asked with a sigh.

Tiger didn't respond to the question he just continued to look at the sky before he continued on. "Yeah-I promise that I will never be stolen from again." Tiger said in a determined tone.

Smokey nodded and glanced at Tiger slightly. He was about to say something else when the two arrived at the border. "Well I guess it's time for me to say goodbye." The trainer said sadly.

Tiger blinked, and looked into Smokey's eyes. "Goodbye isn't forever." He said gently, and hugged Smokey. Smokey returned the hug, and for the first time in a while, Tiger began to feel safe.

Smokey let go of Tiger, and went to the hole in the wall where Tiger and Cyndaquil had come back from being washed away from the river near the cave. "I'll see you soon then." Smokey said gently, and walked away from Tiger and Cyndaquil and out of Ripple forest.

Bye Smokey. I promise, I will return home very soon. Please just believe that. Tiger thought to himself sadly, and jumped into a tree. Cyndaquil followed him quickly and the two went back to the cave.

Title: Mysterious Items

It had been a month since Smokey left the forest, and Tiger had grown more homesick as he thought of his brother. Alakazam, Gengar, and Incineroar had been punished for fighting Smokey. Lugia had told them to that they were exiled from the forest for two months, and it was fine with Tiger. He didn't mind not seeing those three hostile Pokemon. "Tiger?" Cyndaquil asked, pulling Tiger from his thoughts, the Pokemon yawned from where he sat on the boy's head. Tiger looked up and saw the Pokemon was leaning over his forehead to look into his eyes.

"What's up, bud?" Tiger asked in a distracted tone. He walked through the forest and soon stopped in a field filled with trees and bushes. Many different berries grew here, as well as wild flowers that dotted the clearing barely leaving any spots in the grass. Tiger went over to a tree where a few decently sized blue berries grew. These berries were round, and had a small stem on the top.

"Are we heading home any time soon? Not back to the cave, but home?" Cyndaquil asked and tipped his head to the side. Tiger looked over to Cyndaquil slightly taken aback by the question. He looked towards Mount Silver, which was barely visible in the distance.

"Why do you ask that?" Tiger asked with a quiet sigh. He looked over to his friend, and noticed a look of concern in his expression.

"Well, you've been here for nine months now, maybe it's time for you to return home?" Cyndaquil asked gently and jumped into Tiger's arms just as the boy was about to climb into a tree. "I mean you seem homesick, and the only way to cure that is-" He was cut off when Tiger sat down below the tree. The boy looked up to the branches, and threw a rock at one of the berries knocking it down, and next to him.

"The only way to cure it is to go home." Tiger finished Cyndaquil's comment in a very quiet whisper. He grabbed the berry and rolled it around in his hand. He then broke it in half and handed part of it to Cyndaquil. "Though I started to count this as my home too. Wouldn't I just be getting homesick for this place too?" He sighed in defeat, and took a very small bite of the berry.

Cyndaquil frowned and examined Tiger closely. He sat on the boy's lap, and began to munch on his half of the berry. "We could always visit, and I'll be living with you when we return home so you wouldn't be completely alone. You'll still have part of the forest with you." He said gently, and tried to reassure his friend.

Tiger nodded slowly, and sighed. "Yeah. You're right, as always." He whispered and looked at the mountain once more, but something else concerned him, something that he vaguely remembered from when he had Pichu still. Ever since Mom's Persian, Max, died she's been upset over what Pokemon are in the house. Will she even allow Cyndaquil to stay with me? I mean I'm almost certain that she won't let me anywhere near Viridian Forest until I'm old enough to be a trainer. He thought with a sigh, and continued to look at the mountains.

Cyndaquil nodded, and laughed once again pulling Tiger out of his concerned thoughts. "Of course I'm always right! Even when I'm wrong I'm right!" He said cheerfully. Which caused Tiger to laugh in amusement. "Now come on we need to get some more berries for Kit." He said kindly, and climbed onto Tiger's shoulder as the boy began to climb into the tree containing the blue berries.

"Which berries do we need to get again?" Tiger asked with a slight yawn, and looked around the forest from the tree top. He looked at the seemingly endless sea of trees, and could see the cave off to the right, the river seemed to naturally cut through the scenery, and the mountains were off to the left in the distance. Tiger sighed and blinked, he looked in the direction of the ocean where he found Cyndaquil, and could see the palm trees that grew near the edges of the beach. It made the small area seem like a place from another region.

"We need Oran, Pecha, Sitrus, and Cheri" Cyndaquil replied and nodded to the blue berries growing in the leaves of the trees. "Defiantly ripe." He said as he examined one of the berries.

Tiger gently pulled the berry off the tree, and examined it closely. "Oran, and you're right it's defiantly ripe." He said gently, and put the berry on the branch. He went to pick a few more. Once Tiger had a decent amount of Oran berries, he was walking along a branch, and heading towards the Pecha berry tree when he saw something, strange.

On the ground near the Pecha berry tree was a piece of cloth. It was black, and had a small red line on it. "Cyndaquil! Come look at this!" Tiger called as he jumped to the ground. His friend looked up from the berry he had been trying to tug off its stem. He abandoned it and jumped to the ground. Tiger then picked the fabric up, and handed it to the fire Pokemon.

"What is it?" Cyndaquil asked and looked at the item. He sniffed it and growled slightly as a scent, one seemingly familiar, hit him. He dropped the item and snarled at the fabric.

"What's wrong?" Tiger asked in shock, and looked at the item. Cyndaquil just looked at Tiger and growled. "Whoa calm down it can't be that bad." Tiger said evenly and crouched down to pet Cyndaquil's head, this usually calmed him down.

"Tiger we need to take this to Lugia now." Cyndaquil said quietly, and Tiger tipped his head in confusion. "I-I recognized your scent on this. It was different, but eerily similar to yours." Cyndaquil whispered, and looked Tiger in the eyes before continuing in a very cautious tone. "Tiger, this item belongs to Frost." The Pokemon said grimly.

Tiger blinked, and looked at the fabric before grabbing it once more. "What?" He said in shock and stared at the item for a few heartbeats. He then nodded slowly in response to Cyndaquil. "Yeah if it's Frost's then we need to get back and tell Lugia right now." He said quietly. Cyndaquil nodded, and the two abandoned their berries in the tree they then ran back the way they came, and headed for the cave once more.

~*~*~*~
The scent of salt water was heavy in the air as Tiger and Cyndaquil walked to the farthest cavern in the cave. Tiger looked around, and slowly crept to the water's edge. He peered into it just like he did when he and Smokey were in the cavern. He held his breath as Cyndaquil climbed onto his shoulder. At first the water remained calm, and Tiger thought that he wasn't going to see Lugia today. He was about to walk away in defeat when the water began to glow. The faint outline of Lugia could be seen. Soon the water began to ripple, and Lugia's head emerged from the water.

"Tiger? What's wrong, why are you here?" Lugia asked with a yawn and examined the boy closely. He noticed the fabric in the boy's hands. "What's that?" He asked cautiously.

Tiger blinked, and went over to Lugia. "It's a strange item. Cyndaquil said it was Frost's." Tiger began sheepishly, and handed the fabric to Lugia. The legendary Pokemon accepted it, and sniffed at it curiously. He nodded slowly, and sighed as if he recognized the scent.

"Where did you find it?" Lugia asked curiously, and tipped his head to Tiger. Tiger looked at the legend. Emerald eyes met brown. "Were you outside the forest again?" He asked curiously.

"No." Tiger responded with a sigh, and shook his head. "Cyndaquil and I found it in berry field." He explained, "it was below the Pecha Tree." He said sheepishly. He began to feel an air of concern near the legend. Tiger and Cyndaquil then exchanged a glance, and Tiger had a question, one he was afraid to ask. Has Frost found a way into the forest? Tiger was about to ask Lugia something else when the legend sighed.

"Keep an eye on the border." He told Tiger gently.

"Me? But Lugia I-" Tiger began in a shocked tone. He took a step back, and was interrupted by Lugia.

"Tiger. You'll be fine, just make sure that there aren't any humans on this side of the forest border." Lugia responded quietly.

"So do I count?" Tiger asked suddenly.

"Count? For what?" Lugia asked as if the question had caught him off guard. He examined Tiger closely as if he were trying to pry for an answer.

"Human. I mean I'm not a Pokemon." Tiger said evenly, and frowned. Cyndaquil nodded and climbed onto the boy's head. Lugia frowned and nodded in understanding before responding.

"It might be best if you went. The Pokemon of this forest might become hostile to Frost, and if he did find a way here, then we're risking him getting hurt, and more people finding this place." Lugia mused cautiously.

Tiger nodded uncertainly, and looked at Cyndaquil. "Very well, Lugia. We'll tell you if anything else comes up." Tiger said cautiously, and walked out of the den with Cyndaquil still on his head. What if Frost really did find his way here? If he did, then will that boy be with him, and if he is with him. Then what will happen? Will Rocket be with him too? The endless questions seemed to bother Tiger as he exited the den.

Title: The Mysterious Boy

Tiger ran along the branches of an oak tree that grew close to the rocky wall. He and Cyndaquil had been patrolling along the rock wall for a few hours now. The sun was beginning to set giving a sleepy feeling to the forest. Tiger yawned, "you think we should head back to the cave now?" He asked Cyndaquil gently. The small fire mouse was on his shoulder, practically asleep. He didn't answer Tiger's question. "Cyndaquil?" Tiger asked again, and poked the small Pokemon gently. Cyndaquil woke up in shock, and lit his back flames in response, burning the back of Tiger's neck. "OUCH!" He said in a shocked growl. Cyndaquil jumped and looked at Tiger with a bewildered look.

"Tiger oops sorry!" Cyndaquil said in shock, and immediately turned the flames on his back out. He crawled onto Tiger's head and lay down. "Guess I fell asleep." He said in embarrassment, and yawned once more. The small starter's paws were slightly covering Tiger's eyes. Tiger smiled slightly, and moved Cyndaquil's paws away from his eyes.

Tiger sighed, and shook his head slightly in response, he rubbed his neck. He thought he'd be use to being burnt after the sacred fire from Ho-Oh, but he guessed wrong. He shook the thought away, and rubbed the small burn Cyndaquil had given him. "It's alright, it'll heal. Anyway let's head back home, I'm sure we both could use some sleep." Tiger said gently, and started for the cave.

"Alright" Cyndaquil said quietly and fell asleep once more. Tiger rolled his eyes fondly at his friend, and smiled. He then walked through the forest. Tiger looked at the sky with a small smile on his face.

"As difficult as life can get, it's always nice to have nights where the world seems to be at peace." He said quietly, and sighed. He knew he was speaking to himself at that time, but he didn't mind. He continued through the forest when. Snap! A twig snapped behind him. Tiger twirled around, and fell over in shock as a boy, a little younger than him, was standing a few feet away from him. "WHO ARE YOU!?" Tiger said in shock. He struggled to his feet, and looked up to Cyndaquil who was still passed out. Tiger sighed and reluctantly woke the small starter Pokemon. While he did so he got a good look at the boy.

This boy was only a few months younger than Tiger, about twenty months to be exact. He had frosty blue eyes, just like Frost's eyes. He also had paler skin, and brown hair similar to Tiger's that was poking out from under his cap, the tips of his brown hair seemed to fade away looking like the sand on the beach when snow lightly dusted the ground. He was wearing all black, and had a black hat that covered his head. "Whoa! You look almost like me!" The boy squeaked out excitedly and looked at Tiger.

Tiger blinked, and looked confused. He shook himself, and coughed. "Wh-Who are you?" Tiger asked in a small whisper.

"What? You're speaking funny." The boy laughed, and looked at Tiger with wide eyes. Tiger sighed and crossed his arms, he soon heard Cyndaquil stir. The small fire Pokemon squeaked in shock, and looked like he was going to attack this boy, but Tiger soon scooped him up into his arms and held him tight.

"Speaking funny?" Tiger asked in confusion and looked over to Cyndaquil. He had been speaking normally as he could for the past few months. Well as far as he could tell.

"You've been speaking in Pokemon since Smokey went home." Cyndaquil admitted with a whisper, and Tiger froze before shaking his head clear. The boy looked at Tiger in a mixture of wonder, and confusion.

"Why are you in Viridian?" The boy asked cheerfully. "Do you live here?" He continued. The boy seemed to be excited about Tiger's presence as if he were surprised that there was a boy almost as old as him on the earth.

Tiger blinked in confusion and looked around. Sure enough he was on the side of the boulders that marked he was inside Ripple Forest. "Um no I don't live here, I live near Pewter City?" Tiger said questioningly. He wasn't sure how much information he should give out to the small boy. He stayed cautious and continued to hold his ground as he spoke to the boy. "It's just in-" He cut himself off as he looked around. He had forgotten which direction Pewter was in. "Why are you in Viridian?" Tiger asked cautiously in an attempt to get the boy to forget about his earlier questions.

"Oh. I'm here with my Pichu, Rai! My dad showed me how to catch a Pokemon. Wanna see him?" The boy asked gleefully, and grabbed a strange looking Pokeball off his belt.

Is that a pokeball that Kurt could have made? Tiger thought uncertainly, and tipped his head to the side as he tried to examine the ball. It was mainly black, and had a strange red marking on the front, but the boy's hand was covering it up. Something seemed ominous about the ball.

Tiger and Cyndaquil exchanged a glance. "It could be a bad idea." Cyndaquil whispered cautiously. Tiger nodded slowly, and looked up as if he were about to respond, when he heard a voice.

"Snow!" The voice called, and the boy looked up. Tiger noticed that the younger boy frowned, and looked genuinely upset by the voice. He glanced at Tiger for a moment before smiling shyly, and turned back towards the path he had taken.

"Coming, dad! Sorry, but I got to go." The boy, Snow, said in embarrassment, and put a strange looking black pokeball back onto his belt. "See you later, um." He trailed off and looked confused.

Tiger blinked, and looked at Cyndaquil. "Um, T." Tiger said simply still weary of the younger boy. He watched as the smaller boy nodded, and went back in the direction he came.

"Are we going to follow him?" Cyndaquil asked in a whisper. Tiger nodded, and jumped to a low hanging branch, he narrowed his eyes and watched as the smaller boy ran along the forest path. He was tripping over every root, and stone. Tiger narrowed his eyed and continued along the branches above the boy as the child ran along the path below. Soon the stone barrier was coming back into sight, and Tiger watched as the small boy scrambled over a small crack into the rock. It was big enough for a small boy to get in and out of. Tiger leapt onto the rock wall with Cyndaquil. They continued to follow the boy from the rocky wall. "Where is he going?" Cyndaquil whispered, and Tiger shrugged in response. He was about to continue on when Snow's father came out of the bushes, and greeted Snow.

"There you are? Where've you been?" The trainer asked coldly. He was old enough to be the younger boy's father. Tiger held his breath as he tried to recognize the trainer. He was wearing all black, just like the boy, but on his chest was a red R. Tiger froze, and took a few steps backwards, he didn't hear Cyndaquil's warning squeak as he took a few steps back. He was now hiding in the shadows as the trainer looked up. He had brown hair, and blue eyes. Tiger froze.

"Frost!" Another voice could be heard, confirming Tiger's fears. He took a few more steps back, no longer listening to the group on Viridian's side of the rock barrier. Cyndaquil's fearful cry came from beside him, and Tiger slid on the top of the rock wall.

"Tiger watch out!" Was the last thing Tiger heard as he fell over the side of the rock barrier. He gasped in shock and closed his eyes tight when he went over the edge of the stone. Trying to grab onto something, a branch, or a part of the rock wall as he fell, he growled and braced himself for the slam of the ground. He hit his head against the base of the rock wall, and fell unconscious upon crashing into the ground.

"Tiger!" Cyndaquil said in shock, and jumped to the ground. He instantly ran over to the small boy, and began to sniff his friend out.

There was no response from Tiger. The boy was out cold. Cyndaquil growled, and took a few steps back. He grabbed the boy's shirt collar in his jaws and began to drag him into the safety of the bush. The once safe forest now seemed as dangerous as walking into a flock of Spearow. He then ran towards the cave to find help, and to report what they'd seen to Lugia. The Pokemon stopped near the edge of the clearing, and looked over his shoulder towards Tiger before he completely disappeared into the trees once more leaving Tiger in the bush.

Title: Sneaking Suspicions

A flash of orange, a flash of red. "What's going on?" A voice whispered in confusion. The voices seemed far away, and distant. A fearful tone was heard from the voice, and a chill seemed to fill the air. A flash of yellow, a flash of red. "Is everything alright?" The voice said again, now closer. "Why can't I break free!?" Anger, the voice sounded angry. Soon a silhouette of a Pokemon, one that seemed to send fear in the air at its sight. "Let me go!" The voice screeched, and soon shadows seemed to fill the area. Darkness began to cover every space making the world seem cold and dark. Soon the voice returned, angry, determined, and scared. It came off low, and cold. "Death. I-I have to follow their orders to kill." The voice said darkly. The darkness consumed more of the dark area, a flash of orange, a blue light, from an aura maybe? The voice soon snarled, and the flash of orange faded away leaving the only light in the area the blue light from the strange aura. "Tiger! You're not going to survive my next attack." The voice said darkly, in a threatening tone, it sounded like it belonged to Ho-Oh, and soon the blue light was consumed by the darkness, and a strange feeling filled the aura. It was just pure corruption, all that was seen was red, and all that seemed to fill the air was hatred, and destruction; there was a hint of hopelessness as well. Soon the voice screeched once more. "Why can't I get out!? Let me go!" The voice wailed pitifully, a small flash of orange stayed in the darkness, next to a faint blue light.

Tiger jolted awake, and looked around wildly, the familiar surroundings around him seemed alien and strange. The usual calm atmosphere of the lush green cavern was unnerving, and the light from the setting sun seemed to just feel cold to him. Tiger was panting heavily, his face was covered in sweat, and the burn on his shoulder was burning as if the mark had been renewed in his sleep. Kit looked at him in shock, and ran over. "Tiger! Are you alright? You wouldn't wake up." She asked in concern. Tiger blinked in confusion and rubbed his head. He felt some leaves were stuck to his head where the rock hit him. It had some honey on it to help it stay in place.

What was that dream about? Was that Ho-Oh talking? I mean it sounded like him, but, Tiger thought to himself in confusion. The dream still fresh in his mind. Red, Yellow, Orange. The colors of fire, but why blue? Yes blue was a color flames had when they grew intense enough and hot enough, but why blue? It looked different from the flashes of color he'd seen in the dream, and when it was nearly consumed in the darkness, he could feel it. The cold feeling, and the hopelessness of the corrupted state still made him shudder in fear, prompting Kit to call out once more, but Tiger didn't hear it. He just closed his eyes and began to cry, not from the dream, but from fear.

"Tiger? Tiger!?" Kit said in shock as Tiger began to cry. She ran over, and nudged him. Her brown eyes were filled with nothing but concern for the boy. "Tiger it's alright, it was a nightmare. Nothing happened, nothing is going to hurt you, you're safe." She said gently, and sat next to him.

Tiger still didn't reply, instead, he nodded slowly. Keeping his eyes closed, he shivered as if he were cold. Soon a small figure forced his way into his arms, and a small head nudged his chin. Tiger opened one eye and saw Cyndaquil standing inches away from his face. "A small nightmare made you cry? Huh. I can attack your dreams if you want." Cyndaquil said playfully in an attempt to calm down, and cheer Tiger up. Tiger let out a small laugh and held Cyndaquil close.

Kit sighed in relief and sat down next to Tiger. She glanced at Cyndaquil, and blinked. "You two became close. Closer than I thought, it's almost like you're both brothers." She said kindly in an attempt to help Tiger forget about the nightmare. "I mean I'll even admit it. I thought you'd never get Cyndaquil to trust you." She said gently.

"Of course I trust Tiger! He's my best friend. I'd fight the strongest Pokemon for him." Cyndaquil said cheerfully, and smiled at Tiger.

Tiger smiled back, and nodded. "And I'd do everything in my power to help Cyndaquil become the strongest out there." He said cheerfully. Cyndaquil nodded, and climbed onto Tiger's head. "We're gonna be the very best, like no one ever was when we go on our Pokemon trainer journey!" He said gleefully, Cyndaquil laughed and cheered in agreement. The small Pokemon wiped a few tears off of Tiger's face and smiled reassuringly.

"Course we'll be the strongest ever!" Cyndaquil cheered happily, and stretched. Tiger smiled, and glanced at Kit who was shaking her head in amusement. She then sighed, and got to her paws before frowning.

Tiger blinked and exchanged a glance with Cyndaquil. "Something wrong Kit?" Cyndaquil asked hesitantly. The Ninetales blinked, and looked at the two.

"No, nothing's wrong. Why don't you two go talk to Lugia. He'll be interested in what you both seen in the forest that made Tiger fall over the edge of the border." Kit said gently, and padded out of the cavern, and back outside. Tiger looked at Cyndaquil for a moment, and blinked.

"You didn't tell Lugia about Snow?" Tiger asked in a quiet whisper. Cyndaquil shook his head slowly, and sighed. Tiger nodded, and noticed the unease in Cyndaquil's expression.

"I couldn't tell Lugia about Snow. Every time I tried to think of what to say, I sort of." The small fire mouse trailed off, and Tiger nodded in understanding. Truth was, even Tiger didn't know how he was going to explain what he'd seen to Lugia. Tiger sighed heavily, and shifted his weight. "Come on it won't be that bad. Lugia will understand." Cyndaquil said reassuringly to Tiger, and slid off of Tiger's head and into his arms.

Tiger nodded, and got to his feet. Though something nagged at the back of his mind, maybe something lingering from the strange nightmare. Will Lugia react rationally to this news? I mean I might have been living in the forest with him for nine months, but I still barely know much about Lugia. All I know is that he seems to see something in me, and that he wants me to be raised like a Pokemon. He sighed, and shook his head clear before walking out of the cavern, and heading towards the back of the cave where Lugia rested.

Tiger and Cyndaquil walked through the cave, Tiger's footsteps echoed off the walls of the cave creating a strange semi-silence. Cyndaquil went closer to Tiger, and looked at the boy in a slight uneasy manner. "It's alright, Lugia won't do anything to us." He whispered, and continued through the cave slowly. The place he cave, a place he called home, seemed safe and serine a few days before, now seemed eerie and cold. It seemed that something was watching the two as they walked down the path. Tiger soon stopped outside Lugia's chamber. Tiger looked in and saw Alakazam, he and Cyndaquil froze. I thought Alakazam still had a month to stay away from this place!? The thought popped into Tiger's mind. The two shrunk back into the shadows, hiding from the psychic Pokemon, and allowing him to pass. The Pokemon glared at the two and walked out of the cave.

"Tiger? Are you out there?" Lugia's voice came from his chamber, and Tiger looked up. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he tried to think of how he could explain Snow's appearance to the legend.

"Yeah, Cyndaquil's with me." Tiger said quietly and walked into Lugia's cavern. He took a few cautious steps inside, and stopped near the pool of water. Lugia's head was poking out, he looked into Tiger's eyes and yawned.

"So what is it you've come for?" Lugia asked evenly, and blinked. His blue eyes seemed to be trying to read Tiger, but there was something else, something off putting about Lugia's gaze. Suspicion maybe? Tiger shook his head clear, and blinked. He chalked it up to him still being tired, and confused from the nightmare.

Cyndaquil nudged Tiger forward, and nodded slowly when Tiger met his gaze. "Lugia, while in the forest we ran into a boy, he." Tiger trailed off nervously. He felt Lugia's gaze on him, it was cold, and demanding. What am I afraid of? Why does it seem that Lugia knows this already. Did Alakazam say something to him? Tiger couldn't help but think of this. He shifted his weight and shook his head clear. "I think he might belong to rocket." He said cautiously.

Silence is all Tiger was met with, the heartbeats that it took until he dared to look at Lugia seemed like an eternity. Once he met Lugia's gaze he noticed the expression on the legend's face was unreadable. Finally, Lugia sighed breaking the never ending silence. "Just keep an eye on the border, and report back if you see that boy again." Lugia said evenly, which caught Tiger off guard. He exchanged a glance with Cyndaquil.

"Lugia don't you want to know any more abo-" Tiger began but was cut off by a rude snarl.

"No, Tiger I don't. Now please go. I have a few things to think about." Lugia said lowly, which was off about the usually calm, and gentle legend. Though Tiger didn't say anything about it, instead he nodded and walked back out of the cavern.

"Alakazam must have said something to Lugia. He's putting the wrong idea into Lugia's mind." Cyndaquil said once they were out of hearing range of the silver legend.

Tiger nodded slowly and felt uneasy, "yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking too. I mean, Alakazam isn't all to fond about me. Who's to say that he won't try and make Lugia see something that's not true, just to get me out of the forest." He whispered quietly, and looked at the ground. Maybe I should head home soon? The Pokemon in this forest aren't all too welcoming of me after all.

---

Title: True Intentions

Warning: This chapter has a death/Murder in it for a minor character.

A gentle breeze blew through the trees as Tiger and Cyndaquil walked along the branches. It had been a month since the conversation with Lugia. Tiger hadn't mentioned anything to the silver legend about Snow, or any other Rocket grunts in the forest. Since, all had been quiet; the only clues to the rocket child being in the forest was the split in the rock that he had come through. Tiger made it his goal to keep an eye on it. The wall was coming up now, just a bit past the berry field, where Tiger found the piece of fabric, and soon arrived at the rock barrier. He looked up at the rock wall that he had fallen off of. A scar on the back of his head where he hit it, as well as a few headaches in that area, were a grim reminder of that day. Now he was coming up to the hole in the boulders, some thorn bushes had been packed into the hole by him and Cyndaquil in an attempt to barricade the area.

"Tiger," Cyndaquil began quietly walking back over to his friend. Tiger stopped suddenly, and looked at the small fire mouse. He grabbed onto a branch, that was behind him to keep himself steady as he stood on another branch, and yawned. A few leaves drifted down towards the ground as the branch they stopped in shook slightly from his weight.

"What's up bud?" Tiger asked Cyndaquil softly, and looked over to his friend. The small Pokémon was standing a few feet in front of him, on another branch just ahead of him. He was looking down towards the hole in the wall, and was looking at the wall cautiously. "Something wrong?" Tiger asked quietly, green eyes now shining in slight concern.

"Look over there." Cyndaquil whispered back, and pointed to the wall. Tiger followed Cyndaquil's gaze, and crouched down on the branch he was in to try and get to Cyndaquil's level. He soon saw it, the hole in the wall had gotten bigger. As if someone, or something, had blasted away some of the rock. The thorn bush was broken, and completely destroyed, and there was a bunch of debris on the ground where the rock had been blasted away. "What in the name of Arceus happened here?" Tiger whispered quietly, and jumped to the ground. Cyndaquil followed him quickly, and landed on his head. "Hm." Tiger began quietly and went to investigate when Pidgey landed next to Tiger, startling the boy and making him stumble into a bush.

"Sorry for scaring you, Tiger." Pidgey said quietly, and landed on Tiger's shoulder. Tiger blinked and looked at Pidgey. He was panting slightly as if he were flying for a while. Tiger blinked, and nodded as he got back to his feet. Looking at his friend closely, and sighing in relief when he didn't notice any scratches or wounds on Pidgey, Tiger brushed some twigs off his shoulders. Concern still pricked at his mind as he looked back to Pidgey.

"Something wrong Pidgey?" Tiger asked in slight concern, and grabbed an Oran berry that he had picked while he and Cyndaquil ran through the trees to the hole in the wall. Pidgey accepted the berry, and ate it regaining a bit of strength. He closed his wings, and panted for a few moments before finally catching his breath and nodding.

"Alakazam. He's on his way here." Pidgey said quietly, and Tiger blinked. The boy looked like he was going to respond when Pidgey continued with what he saw before flying over to warn Tiger and Cyndaquil. "H-he's coming here with Gengar and Incineroar. I didn't hear what they were planning, just that they needed to get to the barrier you and Cyndaquil were working on." He explained quietly.

Tiger blinked and exchanged a glance with Cyndaquil. "Thanks for this information, Pidgey. We'll hide out and see what they're planning. Even if Lugia won't listen to us, maybe we can stop them before they try anything." Tiger said quietly, and Cyndaquil nodded his agreement.

"How will you do that though? They'll just see you and attack." Pidgey said quietly. Tiger blinked, and went back to the tree he had climbed out of. He looked at his shirt, which was red, and frowned.

Pidgey has a point even if I manage to hide from them, they'll just see me from the ground due to my shirt. Not to mention the lack of leaves in some trees due to the season change... He thought quietly and sighed before turning to Cyndaquil. "Cyndaquil are there any cheri berry, apple, or tamato berry trees around here?" Tiger whispered quietly, he knew the red berries, or fruits in the trees would be his best bet if he were going to hide from the three Pokémon. He was already grabbing a few leaves from the ground nearby.

Cyndaquil looked at the trees and shook his head, all there was here were oak and elm trees. As well as the occasional Oran berry tree. "No Tiger none." He whispered regretfully.

Tiger sighed, and nodded, he looked around and blinked. "The leaves aren't thick enough for us to hide in the canopy, since fall is on its way." He muttered quietly, and looked at the tree tops, he soon saw a bit of cover in an oak tree, he glanced around the clearing and got a rough idea.

"What'll you do then?" Pidgey asked in concern and looked up as the voices of Alakazam and Gengar could be heard in the distance. They were getting closer. Tiger didn't reply to Pidgey just yet, his heart skipped a beat as he couldn't find a decent hiding spot. He soon blinked and grimaced as he saw a puddle of mud from a storm the night before.

"Cyndaquil, Pidgey get to the oak tree over there." Tiger said quietly and pointed to the oak that was growing strong right next to the rock wall. "I'll be up in a moment." He said quietly, and went to the mud puddle. Cyndaquil and Pidgey exchanged a glance, but didn't protest. They very quickly went into the tree, and hid along the branches as best they could. Tiger sighed, and dipped his hands into the mud. He soon tried to disguise himself by making himself nearly the same color as the bark of the trees. He climbed into the tree, and settled down on a high branch, and held his breath as he watched Gengar walk into the clearing.

"Alright here we are." Alakazam said lowly, and stopped in the clearing next to the barrier. Gengar and Incineroar stood next to him. Their gazes were unreadable as they emerged from the bushes, the three Pokémon looked around as if they were making sure they were completely alone.

"Why exactly are we messing with the barricade that child has been working on?" Incineroar asked lowly, and blinked "I mean, won't trainers in Viridian find out about the forest?" The Pokémon asked in a quiet tone, and looked at the wall. He sounded confused, and was about as curious as Tiger was about this.

"Don't you know anything Incineroar?" Gengar asked lowly, and narrowed his eyes at his friend. "We're going to lure trainers into the forest." He said quietly.

Tiger looked over to Pidgey and Cyndaquil, who looked as shocked as he did. Why do they want to draw trainers into the forest? What are they planning? A curious thought crept into his mind. He looked at Incineroar willing him to ask the reason behind this. His emerald gaze was now filled with wonder as the Pokémon shifted his weight uncertainly.

As if the Pokémon heard his silent plea, Incineroar opened his mouth, and replied to Gengar. "Why in the name of Arceus do we want trainers to come into the forest? I mean that brat Lugia took in is enough trouble as it stands." Incineroar replied in a shocked tone.

Jee thanks, Incineroar. I know I'm a human, but I'm not going to hurt or capture Pokémon in the forest. Especially if three Pokémon would be more than willing to hurt me if I do just that. Tiger thought to himself dully, and shifted his weight on the branch. Cyndaquil and Pidgey looked uncertain about this whole 'plan' that Gengar and Alakazam seemed to be plotting.

"Tiger. Should we go talk to Lugia about this?" Pidgey whispered in an uncertain tone. Tiger and Cyndaquil hesitantly exchanged a glance. Both knew the answer to that question, that Lugia would be hesitant to hear Tiger's accusations or story when he tried to explain what he heard from these three Pokémon.

Why does Lugia want to listen to them? After everything that's happened in the forest? After the attack against Smokey? Why them? Tiger sighed and crossed his arms as he shifted his weight and sat against the tree trunk. Is it because they're Pokémon, and I'm human? The thought crept up, and Tiger shook his head to clear it away. "Let's just hear the rest of this plan, and hope we can find some proof that they're up to something." Tiger whispered back to Pidgey quietly. He turned his attention back to the three Pokémon. He missed a bit of their conversation.

"Alright do you two got that?" Alakazam asked lowly, and narrowed his eyes. Gengar nodded, and went to the wall once more, but Incineroar looked shocked. Tiger blinked, and tipped his head to the side. What were they planning? The question repeated itself in Tiger's mind, and he sensed Cyndaquil inching forward on the branch as he tried to listen in as well.

"So in order to chase the kid out of the forest. We're going to risk our safety, and draw Team Rocket into the forest!?" Incineroar yelled angrily.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Alakazam snarled angrily, and glared at the Pokémon with a look of pure hatred. Incineroar flinched and took a few steps back before snarling, and nodding.

"Arceus knows I do! You can't just attract Team Rocket here. What about the Pokémon that are still recovering from their losses? I mean, Pidgey barely esca-" Incineroar was cut off as Alakazam used a dazzling gleam. Tiger blinked in shock, and scooted back a bit against the tree. Pidgey and Cyndaquil looked shocked. That move looked strong enough to hurt, not to mention it was a fairy move. A Pokémon type that Incineroar was weak to. Tiger grasped the branch a bit tighter as he had been forcing himself not to jump out of cover and help the Pokémon.

"Then you've heard too much." Alakazam snarled, and went to the downed Pokémon. Tiger blinked, and Cyndaquil shivered.

Arceus!? Is Alakazam planning on killing Incineroar!? What do I do? What can I do!? If I jump out of the tree Alakazam will see I heard his plan, and I'll be in danger too... Tiger thought to himself in shock. He was paralyzed by fear, his heart was racing. I can't even tell Lugia what happened! Arceus help me.

Tiger was about to call out an order to Cyndaquil, to try and help Incineroar when Alakazam managed to charge up, and shoot off a focus blast while Tiger was distracted. All the three could do was watch helplessly as Incineroar tumbled across the ground, and slammed into the rock barrier. "What level is Alakazam?" Tiger whispered to Pidgey.

"Alakazam came to the forest at level 79. His ex-trainer, used him to gather all the badges in Kanto, and managed to make it to the champion, but when Red defeated him. His trainer released him, and told him he was useless." Pidgey whispered back. Tiger looked away as Incineroar struggled to get up and fight.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Tiger asked in a pleading tone. Pidgey shook his head slowly, and placed a wing on Tiger's shoulder. Pidgey and Cyndaquil looked at Tiger with a grim look. Tiger closed his eyes as he knew, there was no way to save Incineroar. Not without getting caught, and hurt or worse.

"A-Alakazam p-please." Incineroar panted, and tried to stand up, but soon fell over. He was shaking, and badly damaged, the moves had been at full force, dealt by a higher level Pokémon to the poor fire cat. "I-" Incineroar said quietly, and grunted as he fell to the ground.

Tiger cautiously opened one eye unsure if it were safe. He soon regretted it as Alakazam pinned Incineroar down, and snarled. "I'm sorry. Lugia can't hear about my plans, and you know too much." He said coldly, and shot off one more dazzling gleam. Tiger flinched and closed his eyes as tight as he could as Incineroar gave off a chilling scream. "Gengar let's go. We've got work to do." Alakazam said coldly, and teleported away with Gengar.

Tiger was frozen to the branch, he looked down towards Incineroar, and looked at Pidgey. "P-Pidgey." Tiger began quietly, and shivered. I should go home, I have to go home now. Alakazam is a murderer. I-I just want to go home! B-But wh-what about the others? If I leave, and Rocket shows up? His thoughts were swimming wildly as he looked at the scene in front of him.

"Tiger we have to go." Cyndaquil whispered darkly. Tiger blinked, and looked at his friend.

"What can we do?" Tiger finally sputtered out, and shivered. Cyndaquil climbed into his arms, and frowned. Pidgey landed on Tiger's head.

"L-let's get Kit to help us with Incineroar, after that." Cyndaquil trailed off, and Tiger looked at Cyndaquil. He sighed and nodded as if in understanding.

There was nothing Tiger and Cyndaquil could do to warn Lugia about this. If Tiger told Lugia, not only how Incineroar died, but how he knew of this outrageous accusation against two Pokémon of the forest. It could put not only his life, but Pidgey, and Cyndaquil's lives at risk. "No, Kit won't know about Incineroar. We'll put Incineroar to rest now, and tomorrow. We'll see if we can find any evidence pointing to Alakazam's crimes." Tiger said in an even tone. He sounded a bit more, mature, grown up? Than he had sounded when he first came to the forest. When I'm certain that the forest is safe, I will go home. I must know that Lugia punishes not only Alakazam, but Gengar, for their crimes.

Title: The Calm Before the Storm

The sound of Incineroar's cry echoed in Tiger's mind jolting him awake. Weak dawn light filtered through the screen that covered the den's exit. The moss Tiger slept in was messed up, and he had managed to burrow to the stone ground below the warm moss. Most his body heat had been taken away from the greedy stone ground, and Tiger shivered. He pushed himself to his feet, and looked around the den. His nightmare hadn't woken anyone up, Cyndaquil and Tally were still passed out curled up near Kit. Tiger smiled faintly, and snuck out of the den. He went into the main area of the cave, and looked towards Lugia's cavern. He can't help me. The thought crept into his mind as he subconsciously debated on asking Lugia for advice. He was alone in this matter.

Tiger spun around and turned his back to Lugia's cavern. He walked outside, and narrowed his eyes against the light of the sun. It was weak inside the cave, but out here, it was bright. Tiger rubbed his eyes, and sighed before jumping into a tree, and running along the branches. He was heading back to the border to investigate, and see if he could find any clues to Alakazam's plans. He slowed his pace as he neared the hole in the wall, jumped to the ground, and landed quietly, his hand touched the ground to catch his balance. "There's got to be something, anything, that can help me prove that Alakazam is going to bring trouble into the forest." Tiger said quietly, and looked at the border.

The brambles and thorns had been torn away leaving a wide gap in the wall. Tiger cautiously took a step to the gap, and studied it closely. He narrowed his eyes and tried to find out if there were any markings that certain moves would leave behind. He ran a hand along the wall, remembering every bump, every dip. He soon came across a very thin line, a cut in the rock. "This was from Alakazam's psycho cut." Tiger murmured quietly, and ran a finger along the line. He could see how neat it was, due to the type of move the chip in the rock was smooth, more like it had been carved in the stone. He sighed, "thanks for helping me memorize what different moves look like, Lee." He whispered.

Shaking his head clear and pushing the distractions away, Tiger beamed. "This is just what I ne-" He was cut off as an excited squeak, and a flash of yellow hit him from the side knocking him over. Tiger blinked in a bewildered manner, and looked at his shoulder to see who knocked him over.

"Found you, Sn...wait. You're not my friend." A voice said in a shocked tone, and looked at Tiger. Tiger blinked and watched as the yellow Pokemon jumped off his shoulder, and allowing him to get up. Tiger looked at the Pokemon and froze, it was a Pichu; but not just any Pichu, it was the one he had been looking for. The Pichu that his father had given him, the small Pichu still had the same small tufts of fur on his ears that Tiger remembered seeing the first time he got the Pokemon. The Pokemon had an excited look on his face, however there was something else in Pichu's eyes, a sort of blank look. Before Tiger could say anything, Pichu ran off into Ripple Forest.

"Pichu! Wait!" Tiger said in a shocked tone and scrambled to his feet. I can't let Pichu escape now! I just found him again after so long. He thought in shock, but by the time he managed to get to his feet, the small electric mouse ran off. Tiger blinked and shook his head. He launched himself into a tree, and quickly followed after Pichu. The Pokemon was running along the path, not really giving a pattern to where he was going. Soon, Pichu stopped and tackled a small boy, he gave off a happy laugh, and said something that Tiger could barely make out. He recognized the voice, and noticed that the boy was Snow.

"Rai! Ha you got me!" Snow said gleefully, and laughed at his Pokemon. Tiger settled on a branch and watched the two closely. He was dangerously close to the cave the others lived in. Tiger held his breath as the boy and Pichu went towards the tree he was in. "We better head back to camp, dad'll be worried about us." Snow said quietly.

Pichu rolled his eyes and shook his head as he followed Snow quietly. Though Tiger could see an upset look in the pokemon's eyes. Maybe he doesn't like Frost. Though I'm not sure. Tiger thought questioningly, and watched as the two went in the opposite direction of the cave. Tiger blinked, and sighed allowing himself to breathe once more. He slowly climbed into the tree and ran through a few branches, he kept an eye on the two, but they weren't heading towards the border. They were going deeper into the forest.

Snow and Pichu were just ahead of Tiger as he followed the two through the trees. He soon slowed down, and stopped on a branch as Snow walked into a clearing. "Yes, Gio this is great! A hole in the boulders gave way and now we're here once more." A voice said lowly, Tiger narrowed his eyes, and slowly crept along the branch. He could only make out a bit of what was in the clearing. Four trainers were sitting in the clearing, obviously older than Snow. Behind the group were cages, inside some of the cages were Pokemon. Tiger froze, and narrowed his eyes as he tried to make out the Pokemon inside the cages.

"Dad can I let the Pokemon out?" Snow asked and went to the trainer who was talking on his pokegear. Tiger shook his head clear, and crouched down on the branch.

I won't let this get to me again. I need to know who's in those cages. Tiger thought to himself determinedly, and willed Frost to allow Snow to release the Pokemon.

"No, Snow we need those Pokemon to stay in their cages. They're going to help us get to Lugia." Frost said lowly, and put Gio on hold.

No! Not unless I can help it! Tiger thought to himself with a growl. He looked around, and saw another tree he could jump into without getting seen. He held his breath and ran along the branches, now above the group of trainers. Team Rocket might be in the forest now, but as long as I'm here. They're going to get out empty handed. Lugia is going nowhere; even if it kills me. He thought to himself angrily, and made his way to the tree that was closer to the cages.

"Aw, but dad they're stuck in those cages all the time!" Snow protested angrily, and Tiger began to tune out the conversation. He neared the cage, and froze. His eyes narrowed as he examined the Pokemon inside. He saw a Machoke, sad and depressed. He was sitting against the bars of the cage with his gaze fixed on the ground. Next to him was a cat like Pokemon that Tiger never seen before. She was red and black with yellow eyes. There was something strikingly familiar about the Pokemon, something Tiger couldn't put his finger on yet. In the next cage were two Pidgeot. They were sitting close together with fear in their eyes as well as concern.

Tiger crawled further along the branch, hoping to get to hear what the Pidgeot were saying. "Don't worry, he's safe now. I'm sure he got away and managed to tell Gengar what happened to his son." The first Pidgeot said quietly, and Tiger raised an eyebrow. He was trying to guess who these two were talking about. For some reason the mention of Gengar, and these two Pidgeot made him think of one Pokemon. The first Pokemon he saved from Gengar and Incineroar when they were battling all those months ago.

Is Pidgey their son? He thought sharply, and narrowed his eyes once more. He could see more and more Pokemon, and it was now obvious to him. These were the Pokemon that had been taken from the forest in the Great Ambush. Tiger bit back a growl, and froze as Pichu had seen him. The willed the small Pokemon to stay quiet, but his hopes were dashed when the Pichu let out a small squeak.

"Snow! There's someone here, look!" The Pokemon said cheerfully, Tiger bit back a growl. He moved backwards on the branch, and looked around. How was he going to get out without alerting the grunts. A grunt ran to the tree and looked up, most likely to shut the Pokemon up.

"I don't see any-" He cut himself off as he looked at the branches. He noticed something was indeed in the tree. "Something is up there!" The grunt yelled quickly.

"Then go get it! If it's a strong Pokemon, we can throw it in the cage with the others." Frost snapped, and Tiger froze in fear.

How can I get out of here? I need to escape, but. He thought to himself quickly. He soon got an idea, he'd pretend to be a Pokemon that Team Rocket wouldn't be interested in. He ran through a list of Pokemon until a bug type came to his mind. He lowered his voice, and soon he managed to sound like a Ledyba.

"It's just a Ledyba, Frost. I say let it go." The grunt said quietly, and Frost nodded before looking back at the cages.

"We don't need it, we already have some strong Pokemon like Litten, Machoke, two Pidgeot; who may I remind you were both trained by skilled trainers before being released, and other Pokemon just laying around. One weak Ledyba won't make a difference." He said lowly.

Tiger bit back a growl and ran through the trees until he was sure he was safely away from the Rocket grunts. "All Pokemon matter, even a weak Magikarp." He retorted, and glared at the clearing from a distance. "Now what can I do!? Team Rocket is in the forest, Lugia doesn't trust me, and I just want to go home!" Tiger called out in a sad tone, and sat down in defeat. He put his arms around his knees. "What can I do to try and help Lugia, when he will only think that I'm responsible for this whole mess." He said quietly and looked at the ground. He hadn't noticed that clouds were beginning to form just overhead.

---

Title: Approaching Storm

Tiger sat there for what seemed like years before the first drops from a light drizzle overhead. The Pokemon of the forest were beginning to take shelter from the rain. Tiger looked up and studied the clouds. They were thick and gray, similar to a Mareep's cotton fleece, and the sky looked like the worst of the storm was still on the way. "I should head back to the cave, and make sure that Tally and the others are alright." Tiger whispered to himself. The fact that Rocket was now in the forest, it made him more concerned for his friends. He knew he had to warn Lugia about this, but he was terrified.

Will Lugia want to attack me due to this? I mean I didn't draw them here, it was Alakazam. Tiger thought with a sigh, and placed a hand over the scar on his shoulder. I thought Lugia would understand, or at least know I wouldn't bring any harm into the forest. Even before Lee told me about the Great Ambush, I'd never dream of having Rocket find out about the forest, but does Lugia know that? He sighed, and shook his head. He hauled himself to his feet and headed for the cave with the thoughts and concerns of Lugia just pricking at the back of his mind. The clouds were now beginning to block out the sun making the forest seem more dreary and dim.

The trees and bushes that covered the forest seemed to be filled with nothing by menace. The sky was barely visible from where Tiger stood, and it made it seem like everything was closing in on him. Tiger soon felt very claustrophobic, and afraid. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to try and regain his bearings. He soon heard movement in the trees above him, followed by a pokemon's voice. He froze.

"Tiger!" The voice belonged to Cyndaquil. The fire Pokemon jumped out of a tree just above Tiger, and nearly knocked his friend over. "Where've you been? Tally, Kit, and I are worried about you!" Cyndaquil asked in concern and noticed the look in Tiger's eyes. "Is everything okay?" Cyndaquil asked in concern.

"Fine." Tiger sighed, and looked away. He was still a ways away from the cave, the path he had taken lead him straight to the Berry Fields which were next to the border. Tiger looked at the berries on the trees and sighed before sitting down.

"You're lying." Cyndaquil pointed out dryly and looked at Tiger firmly.

"No I'm not, I'm sitting." Tiger said simply.

"Hey the only sassy one around here is me. Now what happened." Cyndaquil pressed in partial annoyance. He frowned when Tiger looked at the ground. "Come on, brother, you can tell me anything. I'm not going to attack you." Cyndaquil said in a more gentle tone.

Tiger sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. Due to him being in the forest for nearly a year, his hand got stuck half way through the tangled mess. "I found the missing Pokemon from the Great Ambush." Tiger said sheepishly, and tugged to pull his hand free.

"Wait what!?" Cyndaquil replied in astonishment, and looked at Tiger, who was glaring at a rock. "Tiger, where are they?" Cyndaquil asked gently, and jumped onto the rock to meet Tiger's gaze.

"Team Rocket has them." Tiger choked out, and closed his eyes tightly as he could feel his throat choke up. Tears were threatening him now, and Cyndaquil was looking at Tiger in concern.

"Are you sure you weren't having a nightmare? I mean, you have those nearly every night." Cyndaquil asked gently, and jumped onto Tiger's shoulder. He gently nudged his friend to try and cheer him up.

"It wasn't a dream, Cyndaquil." Tiger said quietly his voice shook as he spoke. He looked at Cyndaquil hoping that the small Pokemon would see that Tiger was being serious about this. "They found a way in." Tiger said grimly.

"Wait what? How'd they do that?" Cyndaquil asked in shock, and Tiger got to his feet. He still had Cyndaquil perched on his shoulder. Tiger then walked through the forest and headed straight for the border where the Team Rocket members had broken into the forest. He looked around the forest wearily, and tucked his hands into his pockets. He didn't feel at home in the forest anymore, but he couldn't leave until he was sure Lugia and the other Pokemon were safe.

Cyndaquil seemed to notice Tiger's unease. He jumped into Tiger's arms, and settled down. The young boy smiled faintly and nodded a thanks before hugging Cyndaquil. The forest began to thin out, and the rain was getting a bit heavier, the two soon stopped at the rocks that surrounded the border. They were now in the clearing that Incineroar had died in. Cyndaquil fell silent as he looked at Tiger in concern. The young boy had a distant look in his eyes, the boy looked troubled, and hurt. Cyndaquil sighed and felt bad for Tiger, he was nearly six, and he knew and seen more than any child at that age should have.

"Here." Tiger said suddenly, and stopped at the hole in the wall. Cyndaquil looked at the crack in the wall. He jumped out of Tiger's arms and sniffed at the stone. Sure enough, there was the scent of human, and not just Tiger, on the rock. "They're staying near the cave. Pichu is with them." Tiger sighed sadly, and looked at the ground. Cyndaquil frowned and looked up to Tiger. The bright emerald green eyes that Tiger usually had were now clouded and glazed. He looked like he was going to break down at any moment. The young boy looked defeated. "They have every Pokemon with them that was captured." Tiger whispered.

Cyndaquil nodded and frowned. "Where are they now?" He asked quietly. Tiger blinked, and motioned Cyndaquil to follow him. Tiger jumped into a tree with Cyndaquil following him rather quickly.

"Keep quiet or they might see you." Tiger warned quietly, and crouched down. He crept along the branch with his weight evenly distributed just as Sage had been teaching him. He held his breath, and stopped in the clearing where the Rocket Grunts were taking shelter. Cyndaquil froze, and stood on Tiger's head.

"What are we going to do? Should we warn Lu-"

"No. Lugia won't do anything about this." Tiger whispered, he was speaking Pokemon sounding like a Ledyba again as to not alert Pichu or the grunts a second time. Cyndaquil frowned and nodded as he knew exactly what Tiger was afraid of.

"Then what can we do?" Cyndaquil asked in a concerned whisper. He looked at the Pokemon below them. Machoke tried to punch his way out of the cage, the Pidgeot were still sitting close together, and the cat like Pokemon was trying to burn her way through the bars. Soon a Pokemon cry was heard, and both Tiger and Cyndaquil froze in shock. There was something familiar about the pokemon's cry.

"No let me go!" A voice called out pitifully, Tiger and Cyndaquil looked at each other as they climbed higher into the trees, and went to examine who exactly Rocket had caught.

"Dad! Dad! I found a Pokemon! It looks sort of weird though." Snow's gleeful voice came from the clearing below as Pichu and Snow ran into the clearing. Tiger narrowed his eyes and tried to see who Snow had. All he could make out was the color gold, eerily similar to Tally's golden fur.

Tiger held his breath and Cyndaquil squeaked out in concern. Soon, their fears were confirmed when Snow handed the Pokemon who was struggling, it was a shiny Vulpix. "Tally!" Tiger accidentally yelled, speaking normally. Movement in another tree caught his eye, and Tiger looked over for a moment as he tried to see what had been in the tree moments before.

"What was that." Frost demanded lowly and looked around for the source of the noise. He narrowed his eyes and noticed Tiger. The grunt snarled. "Who are you!?" He demanded and got to his feet. "Some feral child?" He snarled.

Tiger growled, and stayed in the tree. "Someone you shouldn't mess with!" He retorted, and was grateful that the year he spent in the forest had managed to change his appearance enough so Frost wouldn't recognize him. "Cyndaquil! Use a flamethrower!" Tiger ordered.

Cyndaquil nodded, and snarled. He stored up the power for the flamethrower and shot it off aiming right for Frost. Right before the move could be shot off, Frost grabbed a strange looking pokeball, and the rainbow wing.

"You don't want to mess with me child. I'm here to get Lugia and I won't let a child of the forest stop me." Frost said lowly. Tiger froze in fear at the sight of the item that would control the legendary inside the pokeball.

"Not if I can help it!" Tiger retorted angrily and looked at Tally, who was struggling in Snow's grip. "Let her go!" He snapped. Snow frowned and looked at Tiger in shock. The younger child then shook his head, and went to an empty cage. He opened it up and threw Tally inside before shutting the door.

"You have until midnight to give me Lugia peacefully, brat. If I have to follow you in order to find your friend, then I will. In the end I will destroy you for bringing me this stress over an easy mission." Frost said darkly.

"Bring it on." Tiger snarled. "My father was and still is a low life criminal, so I'll fight to the death to guard this forest from the likes of you, jerk." He said angrily.

Frost snarled, and looked at the other grunts as they surrounded the tree. "We need to report back to Giovanni! Get that brat and let's go!" He ordered.

"We better run." Cyndaquil whispered. Tiger's heart skipped a beat. He was leaving Tally behind, but he'd be back. He'll get a plan together and rescue the captured Pokemon, but first. He had to explain what happened to Kit before Alakazam could.

"You think you could use a swift on that tree over there? If we have those apples fall, then it'll create a distraction." Tiger asked quietly, and looked at Cyndaquil. Just before the grunts could call out a Pokemon to get Tiger down, Cyndaquil used the strongest swift he could. It hit the tree in a way that made a ton of apples fall down, as well as some pineco. The Pokemon used an explosion in the shock of being hit making the grunts scatter like weedle. Tiger and Cyndaquil then ran towards the cave as quickly as they could.

Trees blurred and the wind picked up. Tiger spotted Pidgey flying ahead of them. As Tiger passed him, Pidgey saw a couple Rocket grunts giving chase and blinked in shock. The flying Pokemon used a wing attack and pushed them back making them flee before going to Tiger. "What happened?" Pidgey asked quickly.

Tiger looked over to Cyndaquil before glancing at Pidgey. He sighed and explained everything, all the way to Tally getting captured. Pidgey nodded, and flew upwards. "Make sure the grunts stay away." He ordered.

"Got it. Good luck Tiger." Pidgey said quietly and flew off the way Tiger and Cyndaquil came. Tiger sighed, and continued to run through the forest with Cyndaquil keeping up.

Thanks, we're going to need it. Tiger thought to himself with a sigh, and froze when he approached the cave. He held his breath, and heard a growl from inside. It was an angry one from Kit. Are we too late? Tiger thought grimly and poked his head inside. Cyndaquil jumped onto his shoulder, and tried to listen in as well.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him." A voice, it was Lee, snarled. Tiger froze. The Machamp was always so calm, but he knew that the Pokemon would be willing to fight if he had to.

"I tried to warn you, but you never listened. Now Rocket has Tally!" Gengar's voice was next, and Tiger took a step back in fear.

This isn't my fault! I didn't do this! Tiger thought in shock and looked at Cyndaquil, who was now on edge. The small Pokemon stayed close to Tiger.

"Tiger?" Cyndaquil whispered trying to get Tiger out of his thoughts. "Tiger! We have to go!" Cyndaquil yelled.

Tiger blinked, he wasn't paying attention to Cyndaquil as the final voice made Tiger to just want to give up and cry. He had hoped that Lugia would've taken into account the time and energy he put into protecting the forest, but his hopes were dashed when Lugia's voice came out. Cold and emotionless. "I shouldn't have ever allowed that traitor to stay in the forest." Lugia snarled crossly.

"Tiger we need to go! Now!" Cyndaquil said hastily. Tiger blinked, and looked at Cyndaquil for a moment before a voice made his blood turn to ice.

"There he is! Get him!" Gengar yowled as he spotted Tiger just outside the cave.

"What do we do!?" Tiger asked Cyndaquil quickly, and flinched as the screams of the Pokemon came from the cave. Lugia screeched, and shot off a psychic move that didn't hurt Tiger. Instead he was filled with the same fear he had when he first arrived in the forest.

"RUN!" Cyndaquil yelled making Tiger flinch in pain as Cyndaquil's yell seemingly hurt his head.

We don't have time to be confused. I have to go! I have to clear this up! Tiger thought quickly and ran back the way he came. He passed Pidgey on the way and soon had the flying Pokemon follow beside him. This was Tiger's last chance to make things right, he just had to get back to Rocket, and free those stolen Pokemon. As well as rescue Tally. As he ran through the forest, he was about to make it back to Team Rocket, when something caught his eye. Alakazam was battling Snow. The Pichu that Snow stole from Tiger was in critical condition, and Snow was on the ground.

"Say goodbye kid." Alakazam sneered lowly. Tiger blinked, he ran off the path to Rocket, and went straight for Alakazam. Even if Snow had taken Tally, and had been a scourge to the forest, just like Frost and the rest of Rocket. He couldn't, no, he wouldn't allow Alakazam to kill another being.

---