Forum Thread

The stars shined overhead as two young boys, no older than five, lay in the short grass of the route just outside New Bark Town. A Pichu and Squirtle were chasing each other nearby, laughing gleefully as they ran around. "Lion?" The younger boy asked, he had brown hair, and emerald eyes. The small child was half asleep.

The golden haired boy looked up, and blinked. His golden eyes shone with curiosity. "Yeah Tiger? What is it?" He asked softly. He looked over to the other boy, who was younger, and noticed his emerald eyes were looking at the stars in wonder.

"Who do you think put the stars up there?" Tiger asked curiously and smiled faintly. Lion blinked and laughed at the question causing Tiger to glare at him. "What?" Tiger said in a quiet tone, looking embarrassed. Lion smiled and messed with Tiger's hair causing the younger boy to flail his hands in annoyance.

Lion smiled and shook his head, a bit of grass got stuck into his spiky golden hair. "Nothing. I mean, everyone knows the legends put the stars up there." He said with a grin. Tiger blinked and nodded before smiling back.

"Do you think the legends had help with that?" Tiger whispered curiously. "I mean, the guardians of the regions must have helped with the stars." He said quietly his tone was filled with awe and there was a wide grin on his face. Lion smiled in a sort of gentle amusement, and shook his head. The guardians of the regions, was a non-fictional story passed down through the generations containing one trainer, who had the ability to help the legends of their respected region keep the peace. Lion blinked as he thought of the guardians for a moment.

"I'm not sure, I mean I don't think I've ever seen anyone put stars in the sky with Lugia, and Ho-Oh helping." Lion responded quietly, and looked back to the sky. He blinked and frowned as he thought of the previous guardian of Johto. A trainer named Matt, and Lion's father. He had been killed in a battle a few months after Tiger had been born. He didn't remember his father much, as he had only been a year old, and the only memories he had of his father were very very vague. He tried to hang onto those memories, but they were fading away with every passing day, and he wasn't even sure which were dreams, and which were actual memories. He closed his eyes and sighed as he remembered the small gift his mom gave him on his third birthday. It was a pokemon egg from his father's blastoise. He looked over to the Squirtle now. He had managed to playfully pin Tiger's Pichu to the ground.

"Lion? Are you going to be a guardian like Matt?" Tiger asked curiously, and sat up. He looked over to the golden haired boy with a curious glance. A breeze blew by making leaves dance in the breeze. Silence filled the route for a moment, the only sound was that of the wind as it whistled through the trees.

"Not sure. I mean, my dad was the guardian of Johto, but." Lion trailed off and looked back to the stars. "But guardians are chosen before they're born. Well that's what my dad said to mom." He explained quietly.

Tiger nodded, and looked at the sky before frowning, "so that means, Johto will be with no guardian until someone is chosen?" He said almost in a questioning tone.

Lion blinked, and noticed Tiger's concern. Johto has no guardian, that means that we're more likely to be in trouble until someone is chosen, but how long will that take? Lion thought to himself in concern and blinked. He sighed, "Johto will be fine, I promise." He said to Tiger in an attempt to reassure him. "I mean, there's plenty of trainers out there who can help us keep it safe, even if we have no guardian." He whispered quietly.

Tiger nodded, and looked at Lion quietly, the young boy tapped his chin as if he were trying to change the subject. Had he noticed the sadness in Lion's eyes? Maybe. "Lion? Can you tell me the story about how Ho-Oh created Suicune, Raikou, and Entei." He asked cheerfully.

"Tiger you already know that story." Lion said with a sigh and shook his head causing Tiger to frown and look at Lion in a pleading manner. "Alright, alright. One hundred and fifty years ago." He began to tell the story, Tiger settled down next to Lion to listen to the story. Lion smiled slightly, and looked at his best friend, and someone he counted as his brother. "Two towers were standing tall and strong in Ecruteak City..."

A few minutes passed by and Lion finished his story he looked up when he heard his sister calling for him from his house in New Bark. "Hey Leo, come on! You and Tiger aren't supposed to be out in the route this late!" She called gently.

Lion blinked, and looked up. "We're coming, Arie." He called back, and gently nudged Tiger to wake him up. "Come on bro, we've gotta go home." He said quietly.

Tiger grunted, and opened his eyes. He nodded, and groggily went over to Pichu, who had fallen asleep. He gently picked his pokemon up. The two then went back towards New Bark town. "Ya know, Elm said he'd take us to Viridian Forest tomorrow for my birthday." Tiger said quietly.

Lion blinked, and looked at Tiger. He smiled kindly and nodded, "nearly forgot about that, I can't wait." He said quietly, and walked back into town, the idea of leaving New Bark and exploring more of the world excited him.

The sounds of the forest surrounded the two boys as they followed Professor Elm. A Rattata ran along a branch just above Lion making him look up. The purple pokemon squeaked and ran off as Lion looked up. "What Pokemon are in the forest?" Tiger finally broke the silence when Lion watched the Rattata vanish.

Elm blinked, and looked over to the young boy, he smiled. "Viridian Forest is home to many pokemon. The pokemon you can commonly find are Caterpie, Weedle, Metapod, Kakuna, and Pikachu." Elm explained kindly, and smiled in amusement as Tiger's Pichu cheered happily at the mention of his evolved form. Lion glanced at his Squirtle, who was walking next to Lion with the same awe filled look as Tiger and Pichu.

"How rare is Rattata?" Lion asked and looked at the tree that Rattata had run through. Red and yellow leaves fell off the branches of the tree that the pokemon had previously had been in. The boy had taken notice to how Elm hadn't told him how rare the pokemon would've been.

Elm looked genuinely confused by the question. He looked at Lion questioningly before looking at the trees. "Well Rattata can't be found in the forest, though we don't really know what pokemon may be living in the forest." The professor explained quietly.
Lion nodded and glanced at Tiger, he noticed the younger boy's gaze was trained on something nearby. He looked like he wasn't paying attention to the professor, which was weird for Tiger. "Hey are you alright?" Lion whispered to Tiger curiously.

Tiger blinked, and looked over to Lion. His gaze was distracted. "Huh? Sorry thought I saw a Typhlosion." The child said quietly, and shook his head clear. Lion looked over to Elm, who was listening to their conversation. The professor frowned.

"I don't think any of the Johto trainers who own Typhlosion were travelling through Viridian today?" Elm said partially to himself. Lion and Tiger just exchanged a confused glance.

"I dunno. Maybe I imagined it." Tiger said with a shrug, and looked at Lion. "Come on Lion let's go find a Weedle!" Tiger said cheerfully and ran down a path.

"Tiger! Get back over here!" Elm said in shock and ran after the boy. Lion blinked, and stayed where he was. Arie, his sister, would constantly tell him to stay put in a place where he could easily get lost. He looked around the forest now, taking in the view while he was alone.

Light shined through the holes where the leaves grew in the trees. The leaves of the trees were many different colors, Lion watched as a few leaves flutter down from a nearby oak tree. They twirled and danced in a light breeze, soon more and more leaves fell from the trees. Lion blinked and looked at his Squirtle, who was now on edge. "Blast?" Lion whispered.

"Squirt!" Blast, his Squirtle, growled. Lion looked around, soon the air seemed to be filled with caution and anticipation. As if a huge storm was about to break.

"Who's there!?" Lion called out in an even tone. He wasn't going to allow his fear and uncertainty show.

Blast growled and stood closer to Lion, soon a horde of Rattata jumped from the leaves, and knocked the two backwards. Purple fur was all Lion could make out, long fangs, and claws were the only breaks in the sea of purple. Blast was now standing on Lion's shoulder protectively. He used a water gun, knocking a few Rattata back. Soon, a Rattata hit the two from the back, and Lion fell into a bush, and was tangled in the thorns. Blast snarled, and ran at the Rattata that attacked, but soon Lion heard a sickening crack followed by Blast's pained screech.

"Blast!" Lion called in shock and struggled to get out of the bush, but thorns tore into his arms and sides. He cried for help, but he was alone. He continued to struggle, but to no avail, the thorns just dug further into his skin. He tried to make out what was going on, but he only could see a flash of brown fur passed him, and disappeared after the Rattata. Lion growled, and fell still as he saw Blast had fainted nearby, a huge crack was across his shell. Lion froze, and gasped. No! Blast is hurt. I- He thought to himself in defeat.

~*~*~

A few hour passed, and Lion began to struggle once more. He had to break free of the bush, he had to make sure Blast would be alright. He soon heard Elm's voice.

"Lion! Are you alright!?" Elm called out from the nearby clearing, though Lion couldn't hear Tiger.
"I need help! Blast fainted, and I'm stuck in a bush." Lion called pitifully, and struggled to get up. He noticed that it was beginning to get dark. The sun was setting, it cast darkness into the clearing.
"I'm coming!" Elm said in shock and ran over to Lion. Lion soon saw the professor grab a pokeball from his jacket, a meganium came out, and cut the bush that had Lion trapped into a few pieces. Lion blinked, and ran over to Blast. The Squirtle was still passed out, his shell was cracked, but not bad enough to warrant a new shell. "Blast looks like he might need help." Elm said quietly, a look of deep concern was in his eyes.

"Elm? Where's Tiger?" Lion asked and returned Blast. He handed Elm the pokeball, and looked at Meganium, who exchanged a glance with her trainer.

"We couldn't find him." Elm whispered. "Pichu ran ahead of Tiger after we did, and Tiger went to follow after Pichu. I tried to stop him, but." The professor trailed off, and Lion noticed he was holding his wrist, which was now wrapped as if his wrist was injured recently.

"What happened?" Lion asked in shock. Elm sighed and looked back at the forest.

"I was attacked, we need to go to Viridian City an-" He was cut off as a loud screech, one from a pokemon Lion swore to Arceus only existed in stories. The voice gave off the name, Ho-Oh. Both Lion and Elm looked up and in the direction of the cry when they saw smoke and flames. A group of Caterpie, and Weedle ran past the two and vanished in the tall grass. Soon a second screech could be heard and a flash of gold left the forest quickly. The flames and smoke died down as if some pokemon put them out. Soon Lion saw a silver pokemon, one that flew above the trees, an deeper into the forest. It went slower than the flash of gold, and it was holding something in its talons. Lion narrowed his eyes and tried to get a better view of what it was holding. He soon heard Elm whisper, "Lugia."

"Wait? Lugia?" Lion asked in shock, and looked over to Elm. He had only heard of the legend in stories. He blinked, the golden pokemon had to be Ho-Oh. Lion looked back to the silver legend and watched as it disappeared over the treetops, Lion could only recognize the color red in its talon.

"Lion, we have to get to Viridian City and call for help. Team Rocket ambushed me, and I think they have captured Tiger." Elm whispered grimly causing Lion to shudder in fear. He looked like he was going to recommend looking for Tiger himself, but the police would most likely have better luck on finding his missing friend.

First I lose my dad in a fight, then Tiger's dad goes missing, and now Tiger is gone. Is everyone going to leave me, am I going to be alone? Lion thought sadly, and slowly followed Elm back to Viridian City. "Please, Arceus let Tiger return home safely." Lion whispered quietly and looked at the ground.

---

"Alright Leo, now all you need to do is..." Arie's voice was coming from next to him. Lion was absentmindedly holding the spatula with the cake batter dripping from it. He jumped in shock as the spatula and the bowl he had been holding fell to the ground with a rather loud. CLANG! Lion blinked and looked down. He sighed and jumped off the chair he had been sitting on and landed on the ground. He began to pick up the bowl and spatula off the ground with a very distracted look in his honey gold eyes.

"Lion? Are you alright?" Arie asked in concern and went to help her brother clean up the mess. Her golden eyes met his, and Lion sighed before looking away once more. He concentrated on the cake batter that had been spilled. "Lion, is this about Tiger? He's home now, why don't you just talk to him?" Arie asked in concern.

Lion sighed, it had been about four years since Tiger returned from Viridian Forest, now Tiger was ten, and Lion was turning eleven the next day. When Tiger had first shown up in New Bark town, the two boys had snuck out into Route 29 like they used to, but Tiger had told Lion an insane story on how he had met Lugia and had an insane adventure with the Cyndaquil he had asked Elm to care for. Lion had gotten into an argument with Tiger, and the two had broken their friendship. Lion sighed as his mind went back to that day.

~*~*~

The sun had set, and Lion was sitting just outside his house. He was throwing a ball for Blast to go catch and return. He looked up as he heard some rustling from Tiger's house. At first he thought some pokemon had found his way to the tree that grew outside Tiger's window. He narrowed his eyes, and saw Tiger jump out of the window. He was going to call out in an attempt to stop Tiger from jumping from the second story window when Tiger landed in the tree neatly, and stood on a branch in the tree. Tiger never sneaks out of the house after dark. Especially if his mom made him stay inside for a couple weeks considering he just got home from being in Viridian Forest for a year. He admitted that he knew the way home from Viridian. He thought with a frown and watched as Tiger jumped to the ground. A Pidgeotto, and Cyndaquil went over to him. On top of that he shouldn't be outside with Pokemon since Elm threatened to extend his six month delay on becoming a trainer if he's caught leaving home. He tipped his head to the side and sighed. He abandoned his ball game and decided to follow after Tiger.

Blast looked at Lion as the two followed Tiger, Pidgeotto, and Cyndaquil out of town. They just made it into Route 29 when Lion growled and darted ahead to go confront Tiger. "Tiger!" Lion called out causing Tiger to jump in shock. His friend seemed to relax when he noticed who called his name.
"Lion? What are you doing out here?" Tiger asked in shock and sighed, he ran a hand through his hair as if he were trying to not seem on edge. Cyndaquil jumped onto Tiger's shoulder and nudged him reassuringly before looking at Lion with a polite nod.

"Uh, I was about to ask the same question." Lion replied evenly. "You know what'll happen if Elm catches you out here. You'll be forced to wait a year before you be-" He was cut off by Tiger’s distressed tone. It sounded as if he was hurt and had left town to try and find a way to clear his mind.

"I don't care, Lion!" Tiger groaned in annoyance. "I can't stay in town. It has way too many memories, and I'm way too restless." Lion raised an eyebrow.

"Too many memories? What do you mean?" Lion asked curiously, he wished he hadn't when Tiger growled.

"Memories of Pichu! I lost Pichu, and he doesn't want to come home!" Tiger snapped angrily and caused Lion to flinch.

"We can find Pichu and get him back." Lion said hopefully, and looked at Tiger with a small frown. "He's not lost forever." He whispered calmly and took a cautious step towards Tiger.

Tiger sighed and looked away. "I wish I could let you see what I mean, I wish I could tell you." He said quietly and shifted his weight.

"Then tell me! Tiger we're best friends, I want to help you!" Lion said hopefully and looked at Tiger with a concerned stare. Tiger looked away and growled.

"Pichu said I abandoned him. He doesn't want to be with me anymore." Tiger blurted out in frustration.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Pichu told you that he didn't want to be with you?" Lion said in disbelief. He blinked when he noticed the glare Tiger was giving him. "What?" He asked and looked at Tiger. Another lie? Maybe...but why can’t he tell me the truth? We are friends aren’t we?

"I'm telling the truth." Tiger said lowly and narrowed his eyes at Lion.

Lion scoffed and shook his head, he was getting frustrated that Tiger wasn’t telling him the truth. "Yeah right, if you can speak pokemon. Then what is Blast saying?" He asked in disbelief.

"He's not talking right now." Tiger mumbled quietly and sighed. "Listen, Lion, it's difficult for me to explain. Please just believe me." He said in a hopeful tone.

Lion looked away from Tiger and shook his head, for some reason he didn’t want to believe Tiger. He sighed and closed his eyes, "sorry Tiger, I don't. Trainer's shouldn't be able to understand pokemon. Pokemon should only be able to understand trainers and each other." He said quietly.

"But that doesn't make sense! I met pokemon in the forest, I fought alongside them, trained alongside them. I've saved Pidgeotto, and Cyndaquil's lives, and they're my best friends!" Tiger snapped. "I thought you were my best friend too, but you're thinking like they were."

Lion blinked and looked taken aback by Tiger's attitude. "Who?"

"Rocket! They stole the pokemon of the forest, and Lugia nearly killed me because he thought I lead Rocket to them." Tiger said in frustration, and looked away.

"Whoa, okay calm down. You sound like an insane person!" Lion said crossly and didn't flinch as Tiger looked at him in a hurt manner. Tiger's acting off. Should I help him? Or? Lion thought to himself before blinking. He was getting more and more mad as Tiger growled.

"I'm not insane! It all happened! Don't you believe me?" Tiger said in a saddened tone and locked eyes with Lion. Lion glared at Tiger making him flinch. "You don't do you?" Tiger sighed and shook his head, he sounded defeated.

"No, Tiger. I don't believe you. You're sounding like you've done nothing but got yourself hurt, and lost in the forest. You're making up stories because you don't want to admit that you could have found your way home because you were afraid that everyone would be mad at you because you lost your pokemon!" Lion snapped angrily and narrowed his eyes at Tiger. Tiger flinched in response making Lion freeze.

"If that's what you think!" Tiger said in a hurt tone. Cyndaquil growled at Lion and Pidgeotto tried to stop the two boys from arguing. The bird pokemon landed beside Tiger and grabbed his sleeve in an attempt to pull Tiger away from Lion. Tiger sighed, and looked at the ground. "If you want to think I'm being a liar, and think I'm trying to avoid your questions. If you think of me as an enemy, then." He trailed off as if it was hard for Tiger to continue. "Then I don't think we should be friends anymore." Tiger said quietly, and took a few steps back.

"Fine! I never wanted to be friends with a liar anyway! Only Arceus knows what you're hiding!" Lion snapped angrily and flinched as he watched Tiger run off in the opposite direction of town. Cyndaquil and Pidgeotto followed him quickly. Lion flinched and looked at the ground. "Arceus what have I done? He just gets home, tries to tell me what happened, and I call him an insane person?" Lion said quietly. "I even broke our friendship." He said sadly and looked at the sky. The stars were shining bright, reminding Lion of the day before Tiger had gone missing. He tucked his hands into his vest pockets and headed back home with his head down.

~*~*~*~

"Lion. Hey Leo." Arie began to nudge Lion gently as he had gotten lost in the past. "Come on we have to make another batch of cake batter since yours went to the Squirtle." She said gently.

Lion blinked and looked at Blast. Since Tiger's reappearance, Lion had been treating Blast differently, he hadn't called Blast by his nickname since the day that Tiger and him had the argument. Lion shook his head clear and sighed before recalling his Squirtle. "Squirtle really shouldn't be eating that." He grumbled quietly, and went to grab the mop.

Arie frowned. "Have you tried talking to Tiger again? I mean, you're turning eleven tomorrow. You're starting your journey tomorrow. You should at least make things right between you two, that way when it's Tiger's turn then you'll be able to travel together." She said in a hopeful tone.

"Tiger doesn't want anything to do with me." Lion growled angrily and mopped up the cake batter off the ground. He rung the mop out, and sighed. "After all, he won't even talk to me anymore." He grumbled.

Arie sighed and shook her head. "Maybe because you accused him of lying when he was trying to confide in you?" She replied evenly.

Lion sighed and shook his head. "Listen, I-I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back later, alright?" He said quietly. Before Arie could complain or stop him, Lion darted out the door, and instantly went to Route 29. He looked over as he saw Tiger heading to the lab. The younger boy accidentally bumped into Lion and squeaked in fear. "Watch where you're going." Lion growled. Cyndaquil snarled at Lion, and Tiger got to his feet. He took a few cautious steps back and looked at the ground.

"Cyn-" Tiger began when Cyndaquil nudged him. "Sorry." He whispered and ran towards the lab with Cyndaquil beside him. Lion rolled his eyes and shook his head as he continued to the route. He sighed as he began to feel guilty.

You should at least make things right between you two, that way when it's Tiger's turn then you'll be able to travel together. Arie's words repeated in his mind as he continued through the town and walked into the route. He blinked when he bumped into someone. "Hey wa-" He began when he looked up, and recognized the trainer who he bumped into. "Alexander. I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Lion said sheepishly and got to his feet.

The trainer looked at Lion with an expressionless glare. He was about five foot four with brown hair, and frosty blue eyes. He was wearing black jeans, and boots with a brown jacket zipped up over his shirt. "Lion? Sorry about that." The trainer said coolly. "Please, no one calls me Alexander anymore. Please, call me Frost." Frost said evenly and looked at Lion with a studying stare, as if he were trying to get answers.

---

Lion raised an eyebrow and looked at Frost as he noticed the quizzing glance. “Is there something I could help you with?” He asked in an even tone after a few heartbeats. Frost shook his head clear and smiled slightly.

“Uh yeah you can actually.” Frost said politely and pointed towards town. “As you know, Samantha and I divorced, and I’m not allowed to see Tiger.” He began evenly. He seemed like he was trying to know what was going on with his son, Lion didn’t mind. After all Frost and his father used to be close friends, and Lion was sort of glad to see Tiger still had his father. “I need you to tell me, how’s he doing?” He asked curiously.

Lion blinked a few times and sighed. “I’m not sure. He and I had a falling out a few years back. He mentioned something about a forest, and being raised beside pokemon? I’m not sure...sounded like an awful bedtime story if you asked me.” He sighed and shrugged before cautiously glancing at Frost, the trainer had an interested look on his face.

“Did he mention anything else?” Frost asked curiously and looked over to Lion who had looked away once more as if to avoid Frost’s glance. “Anyone he met? While he was missing?” Frost continued. Lion blinked, and tipped his head to the side. A small breeze blew past, and Lion noticed there was some sort of red letter on Frost’s black shirt as the jacket slightly moved with the wind. Frost quickly covered the shirt up by pinching the top part of his jacket.

Why does that seem familiar? Lion thought suspiciously and blinked. Is Frost a part of Team Rocket now? ...No, Arie and mom both said that he helped my dad fight Rocket. He couldn’t be a part of them. He thought to himself unsure of the suspicion. Could he? Shaking his head clear, he noticed that Frost was looking at Lion with a sort of strange look, one that seemed to unsettle and frighten the younger trainer. “Uh no, he didn’t mention anyone. Just that he can understand what pokemon say now, became friends with a Cyndaquil and Pidgeotto, and something about a Lugia wanting to kill him, or that maybe the legend helped him? I don’t know.” Lion finished quickly and ran past Frost to head back home as the sense of unease pricked at the back of his mind. He noticed that the older trainer had something in a pocket that looked vaguely familiar to him. Something he thought he’d seen when he was very young, the item was a feather that was red and green.

Frost narrowed his eyes at Lion and looked like he believed everything Lion said to him, but he also had another look in his eyes that Lion couldn’t put his finger on. “You know Tiger, he’s always one to get into trouble, and to make stories up. If I see him again, I’ll be sure to talk to him.” Frost promised and tucked the feather into his pocket. He waved with one hand and walked in the direction of Cherrygrove City. Lion watched in confusion as Frost disappeared into the tall grass, the trees soon blocked Lion’s view of Frost.

“That was strange.” Lion said quietly and shook his head clear. He looked over his shoulder and sighed, he was about to head back home when he noticed that Tiger had been watching him from the town exit. A shocked and frightened look was in his emerald gaze. I’ve got to talk to him...maybe even patch things up. Lion thought to himself with a sigh and blinked. Just as he was about to take a step in Tiger’s direction, Tiger spun around and ran off. “Tiger wait!” Lion yelped in shock and ran after Tiger.

“Leave me alone!” Tiger yelled over his shoulder and before Lion could catch up and grab Tiger’s wrist to stop him. Tiger lept into a tree and very quickly climbed up the branches. Lion was taken aback by the skill that Tiger showed when climbing the tree as he jumped from branch to branch as quickly as a grass type pokemon. Wasn’t he afraid of falling? Lion was about to call out to Tiger once more when something fell from the tree. Tiger had thrown a berry at Lion hitting him in the shoulder. “Don’t come any closer Lion!” Tiger yelled to Lion and looked at the older boy with a fearful look. Did I do something wrong? Lion thought in shock and took a step forward. He was soon hit in the face with an oran berry and was covered in its juice. Cyndaquil looked at Tiger and squeaked as if to congratulate his friend in hitting the target. Tiger cast Cyndaquil a warning glance and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Lion who was wiping the juice off his face. “Cyndaquil we don’t need to laugh at Lion.” Tiger said lowly as if scolding a child for doing something wrong. Cyndaquil sighed and nodded slowly before looking at Lion.

Lion growled and glared at Tiger. “Do you always solve your problems by throwing berries from the trees? What do you think you are, an Aipom?” Lion asked lowly.

“No, but I think I’m keeping you away from me since you talked to him!” Tiger snapped lowly and growled, Tiger crouched down on the branch and kept his gaze fixed on Lion in a cautious manner. “I have nothing you need and I-” He was cut off when Elm walked out of the lab.

“Lion! Can I see you for a moment please?” Elm called over to Lion. He glanced at Tiger and noticed that the two boys would have inevitably ending up fighting if he hadn’t stepped in. “Tiger! Go home, or I’ll get one of my lab assistants to walk you home.” Elm said in a tired tone. Tiger sighed and nodded reluctantly, he jumped to the ground, landing evenly at the base of the tree and waved a goodbye to Cyndaquil. Tiger then walked home while Cyndaquil went over to Lion and growled under his breath. Lion sighed and walked towards the lab as Elm walked back inside. Just before Cyndaquil could enter the lab, Lion closed the door on accident locking the starter out.

Lion looked around the lab, stacks of research paper lined the walls in an unorganized mess, and lab machines were beeping and flashing in the background. The lab assistants were cleaning or talking about a new discovery in the rooms near the backdoor that lead to the lab’s fields, where trainers all around Johto could store their pokemon while they journeyed. The pokemon transporter that was used to bring pokemon to and from the lab. Lion was lead all the way to the back where trainers would receive their pokemon. It wasn’t much, a pretty small room in the back with a table containing three pokeballs. Inside the pokeballs were the starters that Johto was known for, Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Chikorita. Since Lion already had a Squirtle, he didn’t need a starter. He leaned against a wall and waited for Elm to hand Lion his pokeballs and pokedex. Though, after a few minutes, nothing happened. Lion looked up and noticed that Elm was sitting down on the chair.

“Lion we need to talk before I give you your items.” Elm explained quietly and motioned for Lion to take a seat. Lion blinked in confusion and nodded before quietly taking a seat. “Lion, what happened between you and Tiger?” Elm asked suddenly causing Lion to look up in shock. “You and him were so close when you were younger, you both always cared for each other, you both used to be inseparable, and now, you’re treating Tiger as if he were a Weedle.” Elm said gently.

“I’ve been treating him as if he were a Weedle? He threw an oran berry at me who does that?” Lion retorted angrily. He glared at the professor, who just looked at Lion with an unreadable expression.

“Lion, you know Tiger is afraid of you right?” Elm asked evenly and narrowed his eyes. “Every time you and him run into each other, you snap at him. He’s trying to avoid you if you hadn’t noticed.”

Lion flinched visibly and looked at the ground. He began to feel guilty, “Elm, he lied to me about the events in the forest.” Lion said lowly. “He told me that he saw Lugia and-” Lion was cut off.

“Didn’t we see Lugia before?” Elm inquired curiously and looked thoughtful. “Yeah we did, the day Tiger went missing.”

Lion blinked and looked thoughtful, sure enough he had a repressed memory of the day Tiger went missing. The sea of purple from the forest and Blast’s pained cry were echoing in his mind as he was brought back to that day. He remembered Elm getting back over to him and helping free Lion from his thorny prison. Lion looked at his wrists where he had been struggling all those years ago and looked at the scars from the thorns cutting and scratching him. The scars were prominent and visible even to this day. A grim reminder of his fear of forests.

“We did.” Lion said with a sigh, “but that still doesn’t explain what happened to Tiger.”

“We might never know what happened. I tried talking to him, but it’s like pulling a Sharpedo’s teeth.” Elm sighed and shook his head. “Anyway, one of the assistants saw you talking to Frost. What did you tell him?”

Lion raised an eyebrow, “why does it matter?”

“Because Frost can’t be trusted.” Elm said lowly and narrowed his eyes. “Do you remember the day Persian died?” He asked curiously.

“Not really?” Lion said with a sigh, the pokemon had died when Lion was barely four years old. He only remembered that Tiger gained a fear of Houndoom, and was slightly weary of some man. Tiger never mentioned who the guy was, and he seemed traumatized, even Smokey, Tiger’s older brother, had stopped acting rude to Tiger for a few days. Lion shook his head clear and noticed Elm was shaking his head.

“Listen, Lion, just trust me, Frost can’t be trusted. He’s no longer the trainer we used to know.” Elm warned quietly and handed Lion over his pokedex and pokeballs.

“Why?” Lion asked curiously.

Elm sighed and shook his head, it was time Lion knew what happened. “Lion, Frost can’t be trusted because he killed Matt.” He said quietly and gently placed a hand on Lion’s shoulder as Lion looked shocked by this news. He hung his head and stared at the floor.

“W-wait, w-why did Frost kill Matt?” Lion finally spoke after a moment of silence. He wasn’t sure what to think. His thoughts and feelings were beginning to get harder and harder for him to control. He began to feel upset and angry. “Why didn’t Tiger or Smokey do something to stop it!?”

“Lion, how old were you when Matt passed?” Elm asked cautiously. Lion blinked and looked up with a few tears in his eyes.

“Why does that matter!?” Lion snapped angrily and growled. Before Elm could even stop him, Lion grabbed his pokedex and stormed out of the lab.

“Lion wait!” Elm yelled out quickly and sighed as Lion walked out of the lab and the doors shut behind him. “Lion’s still grieving over his father. I don’t blame him, but he has to know that Tiger and Smokey aren’t to blame for Matt’s death.” He said quietly.

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