Forum Thread

Warning for the story:

Prologue



The sun was beginning to set over New Bark Town making the whole town seem as if it were in a pinkish light. The few houses in town were quiet and peaceful as if the occupants to the homes were relaxing and eating dinner or away. There was no one outside, no one except a young man. He wore a black lab coat, blue t-shirt, and jeans. He was standing in front of five pokemon. A shiny Charizard with blue eyes, an Umbreon with one blue ring on its left ear, a Dragonite with green eyes, an Ampharos with a blue gem on her forehead, and a Tyranitar with no distinguishable features. The man wrote down something in a notebook and a Cyndaquil looked at it from his shoulder.

“Maybe the reason Yuki, Charm, Kibo, and Cotton all have some strange difference from normal and shiny pokemon has to do with their genetics?” The Cyndaquil recommended politely, and the man nodded. “After all, Tiger, every human has some difference to their looks. You and Snow might look a lot alike. Though Snow has lighter brown hair with white tips, is a bit taller than you, and has frosty blue eyes. You have darker brown hair with black markings, are shorter, and have green eyes.” He pointed out politely. “And Frost was no taller than you, so Snow must’ve gotten his height from Isabel.”

“Good point Cyndaquil.” Tiger said with a nod and looked at his pokemon closely. “It can’t be completely on parents genetics or pure bred pokemon though. You and Setchi are the most normal and you’re both pure Cyndaquil and Tyranitar when it comes to blood. Kibo is a pure Dragonite however and his eyes are.” He was cut off when both Kibo and Charm snarled.

“Someone’s here.” Kibo said lowly. Tiger and Cyndaquil exchanged a glance.

“Is it Elm? He’s surprised us with a visit before.” Tiger replied with a tip of his head, the young professor crossed his arms as he looked slightly confused. It wouldn’t be the first time that Elm had visited him while he was researching. Elm had retired from the lab a few months ago, and Tiger was now Johto’s professor. That and being guardian was a tiring job. He barely had time to visit Mira or talk to Lion and Snow half the time. “Maybe he’s bored. After all he keeps making hints that he wants to work for the lab again.” He yawned.

“No. This doesn’t sound or smell like Elm.” Yuki reported as he pricked his ears up and sniffed the air. Tiger glanced at Cyndaquil, he was about to say something else when a bright flash of light filled the town and an earthquake knocked Tiger and Cyndaquil over. Charm and Kibo took to the sky avoiding the move, Setchi and Cotton fell over and grunted. Yuki fainted from the hit as he had been hit in the side by a rock. Tiger blinked in shock and recalled his Umbreon.

“Who’s there!?” Tiger snapped. “Why are you attacking New Bark?” Tiger yelled and grabbed the Silver Wing. He nodded to Charm and Kibo who flew closer to him. The two were looking around wildly while Cyndaquil crouched in a defensive manner and lit his back flames. He blinked when he received no answer. Tiger looked around using the light of Charm’s tail flame and Cyndaquil’s back flames as it managed to slice through the dust that had been kicked up from the earthquake move. He saw no one, no pokemon nor human.

Tiger was about to call his pokemon back and go check on the citizens of New Bark when the wind kicked up and Charm and Kibo were knocked backwards. The wind was strong enough to knock a full grown Snorlax away. His two flying pokemon managed to grab onto a tree and stabilize themselves. “Charm, Kibo!” Tiger said in shock and grunted as he was knocked over and was forced to dig his fingers into the ground as to not be blown away as well. He grabbed Cyndaquil and held the pokemon close.

“I can’t see anything!” Charm snarled as the dust settled and the same bright light filled the town. It was blinding, all Tiger could see was the colors of his pokemon and rely on his sense of hearing for where they were. Cyndaquil was the only pokemon he could truly make out clearly. His small starter had been scratched and hit by some debris that had been dragged along the ground from the wind.

“A pokemon must be using flash!” Kibo growled in agreement and screeched causing Tiger to flinch when an ice beam hit Kibo. Despite the fact that his Dragonite was nearing level ninety, the move made Kibo lose more than three quarters of his health. Tiger’s pokedex beeped in warning that one of his pokemon were in low health. The beeping pokedex began to bother Tiger and annoy him.

“I thought I disabled that!” Tiger growled and reached for Kibo’s pokeball, he was knocked over when another earthquake shook the town. Tiger blinked and flinched when he heard the citizens of New Bark cry out in fear and for help. “Charm! Take Kibo and get everyone out of here!” Tiger ordered. Whether or not he had a fight on his hands, he knew he had to keep his hometown and its citizens safe. They’re all relying on me… Tiger thought to himself. He heard Charm grunt in response and after a few minutes, Tiger heard the sound of the entire town fleeing and heading for Route 29 and Cherrygrove City. Charm and Kibo were following them out, a trainer from New Bark took Charm and Kibo’s pokeballs as they were near the exit to town, and Tiger would allow the citizens of New Bark use his pokemon in emergencies.

Cotton and Setchi followed Charm and Kibo for backup, but were swiftly defeated by another earthquake. Tiger recalled them both, but soon he was knocked backwards by another huge gust of wind. Setchi, Cotton, and Yuki’s pokeballs were thrown away and scattered. Tiger was left with only Cyndaquil. He felt utterly defenceless.

“That coward is confusing us, Tiger we need to.” Cyndaquil began but was soon cut off as a night slash knocked Cyndaquil away from Tiger and into the blinding light of the town. Tiger blinked as he tried to get rid of the irritation the flash brought to him. He had to find his trusted partner and best friend.

Just as Cyndaquil had been knocked away, Tiger began to frantically search. He tripped when another earthquake shook the town to its roots, the wind picked up again and Tiger growled. Whoever is attacking. Must've been planning this out. They had to know that I was alone, but...who would do such a thing? Why? Soon he heard Cyndaquil’s cry, it had been in a pained tone and sounded as if the small fire mouse had been defeated. Tiger was knocked out of his thoughts by the scream and immediately got to his feet.

“Stop it!” Tiger begged and fell to the ground once more as a night slash had hit him. Tiger squeaked and flipped over as he fell. He landed on his back hard and gasped in pain as it knocked the breath from him. The light from the flash began to die down, and soon Tiger could see once more. He panicked as he got a better look at New Bark.

The lab had been completely destroyed, the building was no more than a pile of rubble with the machines used to heal pokemon and store them broken and sparking in the dim dusk light. On the other side of town, Tiger could see what was left of his home, the house he grew up in and spent most his life. It had been knocked down and was smoking as the earthquake move had caused the gas from the house to burn the place. The notes and items Tiger collected over his 22 years of life had been burnt to a crisp and were destroyed, two old Pikachu and Cyndaquil plushies were charred and damaged in the notes and rubble. An old picture that a friend made for Tiger was smashed into pieces. Tiger blinked and looked at the house in a mixture of shock and sadness. Tears began to well up in his eyes blurring his vision.

“Oh? I didn’t think Johto’s Guardian was one to cry.” A voice spoke in a mocking tone. Tiger growled and snarled at the voice. He launched himself to his feet and was about to punch the newcomer in the face when something pressed against his throat and he froze. The item felt cold and metallic, it was sharp as the very tip of the item managed to cause Tiger to flinch and cry out in pain.

“What in the name of Arceus!?” Tiger snapped and looked at what had stopped him, the figure was holding the tip of a sword to his throat. “A sword? Who are you, a psychopath?” Tiger said in a dull tone and coughed when the figure pressed the sword towards his neck. He stumbled and fell to his back, the trainer then planted a foot on Tiger’s chest.

“The name doesn’t matter.” The voice came off as cold and emotionless. Tiger tried to strain his eyes to see who exactly was attacking him but all he could see was a sword, a black cloak, and brown eyes. From the tone of the figure’s voice, it was a female trainer. Only a few years younger than him.The girl growled and looked at Tiger with a look that seemed to pierce through him and fill him with the same emotionless void that she carried.

“Names are usually the first step in introducing yourself to a new person.” Tiger said dully and growled as the trainer added pressure to his chest. He grunted as he struggled to breath. Tiger looked over to the left as much as he could while the blade was on his neck and looked at Cyndaquil. The pokemon wasn’t moving and was eerily still. Tiger froze, he closed his eyes. He can’t be...just relax, Tiger, Cyndaquil can’t be dead. He just can’t be, we’ve both been through worse we’ve both survived terrifying battle after nightmarish fight and legend. He can’t be gone! He has to survive. He thought to himself desperately as he worried the worst had happened to his pokemon.

“Again, my name isn’t important. What really is important is that I capture you. Just like the little pokemon you are.” The girl growled lowly and narrowed her eyes at Tiger in an attempt to try and see what he was staring at. “You know, that Cyndaquil is dead right? You’ve failed him just like you failed your pokemon, region, and town. What kind of trainer and guardian are you?” She said bluntly.

“No! You’re lying!” Tiger snapped and struggled even more. The sword was pressed even closer to his skin drawing blood now. “Let me go, psycho. How can any trainer be insane enough to just ambush someone and have them not be able to fight back? What kind of trainer are you!?” He spat, obviously in an angry manner. He wasn't sure of what he was saying as he had been acting on pure rage and confusion due to the site of his destroyed town and the strange psychotic trainer with the sword.

“Oh? So you want me to just let you go like that? Have you ever been captured before?” The girl said in a dry manner and rolled her eyes. “Listen, you have two choices. I either finish you here now, and you join your friend. Or you surrender to me, and you might live to see another day. Either way, I’m getting rid of you. You’ve failed as a guardian and a pokemon trainer.” She said in a cold and emotionless tone. She snatched the Silver Wing off the ground as Tiger had dropped it in the fight. She looked at it for a moment and handed it to one of her pokemon. An Absol, who used ice beam on the item, the pokemon threw the frozen item to a Noivern that was sitting next to the figure. It used a brick break shattering the summons item and leaving Tiger without Lugia’s help.

Tiger blinked and looked at Cyndaquil, he wasn’t even sure if the trainer was right about Cyndaquil being dead. He prayed that it was false, that his life long friend wasn’t gone. He had been defeated, hurt, and was helpless. He glanced at the guardian ribbon attached to his bag for a split second looked at the sword once more. If I let her kill me, then I won’t have to deal with the sorrow if Cyndaquil’s dead, or the fact that Lugia might be missing now. I can’t find him, I can’t defend myself, maybe this is my best option. He considered for a moment and closed his eyes. He heaved a long sigh and groaned. But if I chose that way out. Then I would be putting the others though the same pain I’m going through. Smokey, Lion, Snow… He trailed off for a moment and felt a tear roll down his cheek. What about Elm, Oak, ...Mira. What am I thinking!? I can’t just go through with the first option. I want to survive. To do that, I have to give in. I have to surrender. If I’m going to find a way to save New Bark. Then I need to give up. He thought reluctantly and relaxed. The girl nodded and sneered in a victorious manner. She then forcefully hauled Tiger to his feet and shoved him in the direction of Mount Silver and the Kanto region. Tiger looked over his shoulder at Cyndaquil for a moment and allowed himself to give off a sorrowful and defeated whimper before being pushed away from New Bark and the Johto region. Will Johto be alright without me?

---

Title: Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

“In other news…” The sounds of the TV were just background noise to Lion as he sat in the living room in his house in Lillycove City, he was making some minor repairs to his Johto Pokedex as it had been damaged in a gym battle the day before. He had moved from Johto a few years back to become a gym leader since Wattson was nearing retirement, and he had moved in with his girlfriend, now wife. She had been away from home with their kids out visiting family in another region leaving Lion alone for a few weeks.

“Let’s see...this goes here? And.” Lion began and sighed in frustration as the pokedex sparked and shut down. “How in the name of Arceus and Articuno alike does Tiger do this? It’s impossible.” He sighed in annoyance and shook his head before placing his pokedex on the coffee table. “Maybe I should,” Lion began but was cut off as the TV caught his attention. The city of Ecruteak was on the screen. Lion frowned. Strange, the festival isn’t until next month, and they only record it for Johto. Maybe this is about something else? He thought curiously and blinked. His golden eyes were resting on the screen once more.

“The Johto region is on the verge of falling. The cities surrounding Ecruteak are completely destroyed, and citizens of Johto are being evacuated. Ecruteak City is being used as an evacuation center for those who haven’t fled yet, as it’s the last city in Johto that hasn’t fallen.

“Johto’s falling?” Lion said in shock and blinked. He looked at the Rainbow Wing which he had been holding onto since he was thirteen. Tiger, his best friend, had managed to get it back to him after Tiger’s father, Frost, had stolen it. Lion shivered as he remembered the day that he had gotten it back, he had to argue with Ho-Oh to revive Tiger since Tiger had died saving the golden legend from Team Rocket’s grasp.

Johto is falling, but the question is. Where’s Tiger? Did he get hurt...or worse? Did he die? Arceus, I don’t think I can convince Ho-Oh to bring him back a second time. Lion thought with a sigh and looked up when he heard an urgent knocking at the door.

“Lion! Come on answer hurry up!” Lion heard a very familiar voice on the other end. It was Tiger’s half-brother, Snow. Lion blinked and ran over to the door and answered it. “Thank Arceus, you’re home.” Snow panted and looked at Lion with a tired expression. It looked as if he had run three pokeathlons without a rest.

“Snow! What happened are you okay?” Lion asked in a mixture of shock and amazement at the younger trainer. Snow had lived in Unova, so seeing him in Hoenn was a very rare site. Especially when Snow was alone, without Kimberly, Snow’s wife, or his pokemon. Lion then helped Snow inside and sat him down on the couch. Snow was still gasping and fighting for air that Lion went into the kitchen and grabbed the trainer a bottle of water.

Snow accepted the water and began to chug it down while Lion sat down next to him and waited patiently for Snow to gather himself. Lion had turned the TV off. Snow took a deep breath before glancing at Lion. His frosty blue eyes were trained on Lion as if they were trying to read what Lion was thinking. “Good from that worried look I can see you’ve seen the news.” He mumbled.

“How did you-” Lion began but was interrupted as Snow raised a hand to show Lion that he wanted to continue.

“Lion, I got a letter from Elm a couple days ago. It was sent by the Pidgeot that Tiger befriended and it told me to find you.” Snow began and sighed. Lion noticed a distant look in Snow’s eyes as if he were remembering the exact moment he received the note. The whole living room was soon filled with a sort of eire silence.

“Snow, hey buddy.” Lion said with an annoyed sigh and snapped his fingers in front of Snow’s face. “Continue with your story.” Lion urged Snow on gently and sighed in relief when Snow shook his head clear.

“Sorry.” Snow said in embarrassment and shook his head clear. “Elm told me that Tiger was defeated a month ago.” Snow said in worry and grabbed his pokegear. He handed Lion the item and pushed a button containing a video from the Johto region lab’s security camera. He handed Lion the video.

On the video, it showed Tiger and Cyndaquil examining their team and talking. That’s normal. Tiger mentioned wanting to find out why his pokemon look different from others. Lion thought to himself and blinked when he saw a shadowy figure surf into Johto from the lake to the west on the Kanto side of the town, he tried to strain his eyes to take a better look at the figure, but he got nothing. Nothing except a black cloak and gleam of a metal object. “Who’s that?” He whispered to Snow.

“Elm and I have no clue. We think it might be the person who defeated Tiger, but without much info, we can’t be certain.” Snow said with a sigh, the first earthquake move broke out on the screen cutting off the video. “We don’t even know which pokemon used earthquake, or how Tiger was defeated. No one even found Tiger’s pokemon.”

“Not even Cyndaquil?” Lion asked in concern as he thought of Tiger’s little sassy starter. Though he wasn’t able to understand pokemon himself, from what Tiger said about his friend. Cyndaquil was a real sarcastic, and very sassy pokemon to talk to.

“No, Cyndaquil was nowhere to be seen.” Snow grumbled quietly and crossed his arms as he looked thoughtful. “Search and rescue teams have been all over New Bark and they came across nothing.” He sighed.

“So what can we do?” Lion asked with a tip of his head, he wasn’t even sure how he could help out. Maybe Tiger’s gone forever and his pokemon were taken with him. No, Tiger’s too strong to be taken down easily, but what can we do? Lion thought to himself, the shining from the Rainbow Wing on the table caught his eye, and the pokedex he was working on turned on once more as if it were just resetting itself. Lion blinked and looked at Snow. Lion took it as a sign that Snow and him must leave Hoenn and Unova to find Tiger. “I think we should go check New Bark Town.” He said to Snow quickly and got to his feet.

Snow blinked and looked like he was going to say something at first. Lion blinked and frowned in concern. Please just agree, maybe we can find Tiger there, or something the officers missed. After all you’re an amazing detective and officer yourself Snow. Lion was about to reply and tell Snow what he thought when Snow smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, Johto might be on the brink of destruction and Tiger might be missing, but I’m sure we’ll find something!” Snow said with the same optimism that Tiger usually had. There was an adventurous gleam in his frosty blue eyes. “We should head out at once!”

Lion smiled, and while he wished he could share his friend’s optimism, but he felt like something was wrong. Like usual, Lion went with his gut feeling. We should stock up on medicine and food if we’re going to Johto. After all, Kanto might be close, but we can’t just go to Pallet every time we need to heal. We have to be prepared. Lion thought with a sigh and blinked. “Well we’ll go once we get some supplies at the pokemart. Afterwards, we’ll both fly to New Bark and see what’s up.” He explained politely. Snow nodded in understanding and finished the bottle of water. The two then got up off the couch and walked out of the house.

~*~*~*~

Lion and Snow got to the top of a hill that overlooked New Bark Town. The hill was next to the river that lead to the Kanto Region and Tohjo Falls. The hill was normally blooming with many different colored wildflowers at this time of year, but now, since the region was in danger, it looked like the flowers and grass were slowly dying. A few yellow and purple flowers could be seen in the dusk light, Lion looked at the flowers that tried to hold onto life. “It’s as if the flowers are trying to hold onto hope that their home will survive.” Snow said quietly and followed Lion up to the edge of the hill. The two called their flying pokemon, a Fearow which was Lion’s, and a Toucannon which was Snow’s, back to their pokeballs.

Lion sighed and looked at the flowers for a moment before nodding in silent agreement. Maybe the flowers are a good omen that the region can still be saved? That all we have to do is hold onto hope that Tiger’s alive and can help us? He thought to himself hopefully before frowning and feeling his stomach ache as he thought of looking at the town he grew up in. Apprehension for what he would see was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, making Lion wish he was back home in Lillycove.

“Snow, your pokedex still works. Can you load up that app Elm made for Tiger and see if the pokedex’s distress signal is going off?” Lion asked quietly as he was hoping to get his mind off the destroyed town that he had yet to view.

Snow nodded and loaded up his old pokedex, it was a Rotom dex that was missing the Rotom as Snow had originally journeyed in Alola when he was younger. He turned the pokedex on and loaded up the distress signal app. To Lion and Snow’s shock, it began to beep and a map was loaded up, it was a map of New Bark Town showing the pokedex wasn’t too far away.

“Well? What’s the verdict?” Lion asked Snow anxiously and glanced over to Snow. The concern and stress of losing his best friend was obvious on his face. Snow looked up for a moment and placed a hand on Lion’s shoulder in a reassuring manner.

“One moment, remember the distress signal isn’t coming from Tiger himself. It’s coming from his pokedex, which is a good thing. It means the pokedex wasn’t destroyed in the battle. If we have his pokedex then we can use it to find all of the pokemon on Tiger’s team with his homing app. Maybe we can even find Tiger.” Snow said gently and looked up to see New Bark.

Lion nodded in response to Snow and looked up cautiously to take a look at New Bark, the town he spent his childhood. Lion and Snow both gasped in shock at what they saw. The entirety of New Bark town was destroyed. The Lab where Tiger worked was knocked down, the machinery was destroyed with notes and papers just lazily floating on the wind as a very gentle breeze blew past. Ash and soot from the lab was kicked up as well, creating a small cloud of debris that travelled along the ground and into the neighboring route.

This can’t be real! Lion thought in shock and glanced at Snow for a split second before looking at his old house. The building was no longer there, instead in its place, was a pile of rubble and burnt wood. Shattered glass seemed to gleam like menacing fangs of the strongest pokemon, and Lion frowned. He saw that his mom’s furniture was broken and mangled in the wreckage, however there was no signs of blood or any other hints that could mark a death of a citizen of New Bark. The only blood Lion could see was markings of red on the grass near the lab. Arceus, please at least let my mom have escaped with her life… He thought in fear and tried to push it away. “We should go down and investigate.” Lion said to Snow quietly.

“We should…” Snow whispered quietly and frowned. “Honestly, I can’t believe this is happening. That this is real.” He mumbled to himself.

Lion nodded in agreement as Snow voiced his own thoughts. Lion then lead the way down the hill and into New Bark Town. “Okay, we aren’t completely sure if there are injured or dead citizens. We’ll tread lightly and try to find out who might be hurt and who might need to be sent to Lavender Town.” He said grimly.

Snow nodded and glanced at Lion for a moment. He frowned as he noticed the grim nature of Lion. “Hey don’t worry, your mom is strong. Knowing her, she would have been out of New Bark by the time Tiger evacuated the city.” Snow said reassuringly and smiled at Lion. Lion blinked and looked at Snow before sighing and nodding.

“Yeah, Snow. You might be right. After all, she was the champion of Sinnoh for quite some time.” Lion said quietly and walked into New Bark. The two walked past Tiger’s destroyed house, and Snow looked shocked and slightly upset. Snow then shook his head clear. “We’ll find more if we split up and meet by the lab. Afterwards we can set camp up-” Snow interrupted Lion this time.

“Wait, set up camp here? In a destroyed and possibly haunted town?” Snow said in disbelief and was about to continue arguing when Lion sighed and gave Snow an annoyed look.

“Would you rather spend the night in Route 29? Since Johto fell, I highly doubt that the pokemon in the route will stay to level 2-6. We can’t risk getting hurt, and if the town is still abandoned then we might be able to stay safe for the night.” Lion explained dully and Snow nodded before sighing.

“Okay then, we’ll stay by the lab. I’ll go search the east you take the west.” Snow said quietly and Lion nodded this time. He walked towards the west, in Kanto’s direction, and began to search through the rubble.

New Bark Town looked awful as Lion walked past destroyed building and pile of rubble. He cast weary glances at scuffs on the ground where an ice beam may have hit something. The plants had turned black from the freezing move, the tips were still covered with frost bitten icicles. Lion frowned and pushed a rock out of his way before checking a few of the piles of rubble. Nothing in the first pile, except Tiger’s pokedex.

“Well looks like it was knocked a bit away from Tiger in the fight, considering the lab is on the other side of town.” Lion mumbled to himself and noticed he was close to the river border with Kanto. He doubled back and headed for the final pile of rubble. Tucking the pokedex into his vest pocket, he came across the pile of rubble that he once called home. Arceus please don’t let mom be here. He prayed to himself and walked to one edge of the pile.

Lion pushed aside damaged books and electronics as he searched for anyone, human or pokemon. As Lion searched for what seemed like a week, only to come up empty handed, he sighed in a relieved tone. He looked at his hands at the charred markings and blood he had obtained from picking up broken glass from his search, but other than the pokedex he didn’t find anything, or anyone, important.

“Looks like Tiger managed to get New Bark empty before it was completely damaged.” Lion said quietly, in a satisfied tone, and sat down on the ground. He began to dust his hands off and look at the sky as the sun was setting, the light was barely peeking out of the smoke clouds, covering the city in a sort of eerie light. Though, Lion thought it was the most beautiful sunset he’d ever seen at that moment as he had been relieved at his findings. At least Tiger managed to keep everyone safe. I’ll see if I can call mom later. He was about to relax when Snow’s worried and anxious cry came from the area the lab was. Making Lion jump in shock and look over to the lab in worry.

“Lion! Come here quick I need help!” Snow called out to Lion. Lion looked over and noticed Snow was holding something in his arms. As he ran over to get a better look, he noticed that was was in Snow’s arms was a pokemon. The pokemon was badly hurt. Mud and dried blood matted its cream and blue fur, its breathing was weak and shallow. It was skinny and looked like it had been fainted for quite some time. Lion froze when he recognized what pokemon it was, it was a Cyndaquil. Lion looked at Snow, and noticed that a small scar ran along the pokemon’s back and a tuft of fur was covering its face, there was no doubting it. This pokemon was Tiger’s Cyndaquil.

---

Title: Chapter 2: Shocking Discoveries

“Arceus Christ!” Lion’s tone came off shocked when he ran back over to Snow and recognized Tiger’s Cyndaquil. “What happened to him?” Lion asked Snow in pure shock and disbelief.

If I knew that, do you think I’d be asking for your help? Snow bit back an annoyed and rude comment before sighing. “I don’t know, honestly Lion, it seems that he got hurt in some fight.” He said dryly and sighed. Cyndaquil gave off a faint and scared squeak as Snow shifted the small body in his arms. He could have sworn he heard Cyndaquil say Tiger’s name. I must be hearing things.

“Sorry Snow.” Lion said with a sigh as he recognized Snow’s tone. The golden haired boy took a step back and put his bag on the ground. “Listen, Cyndaquil obviously needs some attention. We should set up camp now, rest, and heal Cyndaquil up. Blast can get some fresh water, and Rai can help find some supplies in the mess with Hikari.” Lion offered quietly and grabbed a blanket from his bag. He set up a comfortable place for Cyndaquil to rest.

Snow nodded in agreement and gently placed Cyndaquil on the blanket before calling Rai, his Raichu. While Lion called Blast, his Blastoise, and Hikari, his Manectric, out. Once the orders were given to the three pokemon, they went out to fulfill their orders. Lion then sighed and handed Snow some of the medicine he had. “Do you think Cyndaquil will be okay?” Snow asked in concern as he began to clean Cyndaquil’s wounds. I hope he does, but did I actually hear Cyndaquil call for Tiger earlier, or am I just really tired, like Lion? Snow thought to himself uncertainly and used a full restore on a cut.

“I believe so. I mean, Cyndaquil is level one hundred, he’s Tiger’s strongest pokemon. There’s no way in the distortion world that Cyndaquil won’t be okay.” Lion said reassuringly and sat down. He watched as Snow bandaged up the last of Cyndaquil’s wounds.

“Good point, but whoever did this to Cyndaquil must’ve been strong.” Snow said quietly and leaned against a collapsed wall. Lion looked at the destroyed lab, and Snow felt like he could almost feel what Lion was thinking.

The lab, even when it’s destroyed, is providing us with a fair amount of protection. Not from just the wind and cold, but from the wild pokemon in Route 29. Only Arceus knows what level they are now.

“Snow.” Lion said gently as if he were trying to get Snow out of his thoughts once again. Lion had leaned forward as if he were going to snap his fingers once more. Snow blinked and looked at Lion before tipping his head to the side in a questioning manner. “I found Tiger’s pokedex in the rubble. You were right, it still works.”

“That’s great news!” Snow said in a cheerful tone and looked at Tiger’s pokedex, which aside from a small crack in the screen, was nearly in the best condition. Well at least we have a bit of good news. Question is, will we still be able to find Tiger’s team using it? If we can find them, then can we find him?

Before Snow could ask Lion to check the pokedex for Tiger’s team’s wearabouts, Lion had his nose in the pokedex and was looking through it. Snow walked over silently and sat down next to Lion as he went to get a better look at the pokedex.

Lion had the pokedex loaded up to the pokedex menu, Snow looked at how many pokemon Tiger had seen and caught, and Snow was surprised that the young professor hadn’t even caught all of Johto’s pokemon yet. Tiger had only caught 75 of the 100 Johto pokemon that were registered in the pokedex. Both Snow and Lion exchanged a shock glance when they noticed that Larvitar and Pupitar were under “seen pokemon” and not “caught pokemon”.

“I thought Tiger caught Setchi when he was a Larvitar, here on his pokedex it says that he only caught Tyranitar.” Lion whispered in shock and closed the pokedex menu.

“I thought so too. Maybe we should ask him about that when we find him. Chances are, it was a glitch that he’s still repairing.” Snow mumbled thoughtfully and looked at the pokedex as Tiger’s team was loaded. The pokedex read;

Scorch (Cyndaquil) (Level: 100) [Status: Fainted] [Location: New Bark Town]
Charm (Charizard) (Level 99) [Status: Okay] [Location: Ecruteak City]
CottonFluf (Ampharos) (Level 90) [Status: Fainted] [Location: Goldenrod City]
Setchi (Tyranitar) (Level: 90) [Status: Fainted] [Location: Cianwood City]
Yuki (Umbreon) (Level 90) [Status: Fainted] [Location: Blackthorn City]
Kibo (Dragonite) (Level 98] [Status: Okay] [Location: Unknown]

“Are these locations known from their pokeballs?” Snow asked Lion curiously, he was concerned for Kibo as he was the only pokemon that the pokedex couldn’t locate. Lion shrugged and was about to respond when the pokedex went off, and a status was changed.

Scorch has been revived!

At the change on the screen, Lion and Snow looked up to Cyndaquil who was sitting straight up and panting heavily. “Cyndaquil!” Lion said in a mixture of shock and relief as the small fire pokemon sat up.

“Tiger?” Cyndaquil mumbled in a groggy tone. Both Snow and Lion looked shocked as they understood what Cyndaquil had just said.

“I’m not the only one to hear that right?” Lion asked in a somewhat uncomfortable tone.

Snow blinked and closed his eyes for a split second. “No I heard that too.” He said quietly, his voice no more than a shocked whisper. Maybe we’re hearing things?

“Why are you two looking at me like that? Has Meowths caught your tongues?” Cyndaquil asked dryly and shook his fur out. He winced at the pain in his wounds.

“Cyndaquil? Are you...okay?” Lion asked in concern and confusion. Snow had to give Lion some credit for being brave enough to ask if Cyndaquil was alright.

Maybe Lion can figure this out. Snow thought to himself. Cyndaquil shook his head and sighed heavily.

“No, of course I’m not fine! I feel as if I fought an entire clan of Meowth and Persian, and on top of that I was hit in the head. Just look at me, how do you think I feel.” Cyndaquil said dryly, and Snow couldn’t help but laugh at Lion’s reaction which was of pure disbelief.

“Hey! I just asked if you were alright, you don’t have to act like a spoiled pokemon.” Lion growled dryly and Cyndaquil froze. “Tiger really needs to teach you some more manners.” He mumbled dully and shook his head.

“W-wait, c-can you understand me? I thought only Mira and Tiger could.” Cyndaquil asked in shock and tipped his head to the side, the small pokemon looked surprised. Snow sighed and began to rebandage Cyndaquil’s wounds as the pokemon’s movements had undone the gauze.

“Both of us can, but the question is. Why?” Snow mumbled quietly. Soon, he was brought back to a few years ago, during one of the many fights that he and the rest of the small group got into, Lion had found a journal that he had forgotten to give to Tiger. Maybe there was something about it in there.

“Lion, do you still have that journal that you found about the time Mira went missing?” Snow asked Lion curiously and looked at Lion who looked very thoughtful. Minutes seemed to stretch out as Snow waited for Lion’s response. Maybe he lost it? After all, it’s been about four years or so since those events. It wouldn’t surprise me… Snow sighed.

“Oh be patient Snow. I have it.” Lion said in a light tone, as if he were mimicking an annoyed tone, but he had an amused look in his eyes as he noticed Snow’s expression. Snow rolled his eyes in response to Lion and shook his head. Lion then dug into his bag and grabbed the very old journey before handing it over. Snow accepted the journal and turned it over in his hands.

The journal had faded brown leather and looked very tattered and worn as if it were older than Lion and Snow. The spine of the book was worn and bits of leather was peeling off and missing, the fabric of the book was visible underneath the spine. Snow glanced at Lion before opening up the book and noticing some of the papers were falling out Snow blinked and placed a hand on the stack of papers before looking at the pages. As Snow skimmed through the book, he noticed something that Lion had mentioned all those years ago.

“When a region is in chaos, and it seems that it will fall. A handful of pokemon, who call the falling region home, will be understood by both humans and pokemon. Once the region is saved, then the pokemon will lose this ability.” Snow read aloud. His frosty blue eyes were glazed as he looked thoughtful while he read. “Cyndaquil, you count Johto as your home right? You wouldn’t be able to live anywhere else?” Snow asked cautiously.

Cyndaquil sighed and looked sad as he looked at the destroyed town. The pokemon looked like he wanted to just be anywhere but here. “I-I don’t want to see Johto fall.” He said sadly and shivered in fear before his wounds began to affect him once more. The pokedex began to beep, and Snow glanced at the screen. Cyndaquil was losing health, and was growing tired once again.

“Then that means we have to fight.” Lion whispered quietly, Snow nodded in agreement and sighed before gently leading Cyndaquil back to the blanket he was resting on earlier. “If Cyndaquil counts Johto as his only home, and we both can understand him. Then Johto is actually falling.” Lion said gently and looked at Snow as the younger boy gently pet Cyndaquil as if to calm him down and get him to sleep. Snow sighed and out the journal back into Lion’s bag.

“If we’re going to fight for Johto, then we’ll need a plan. Where should we go first?” Snow asked and grabbed Tiger’s pokedex once more to look at where Tiger’s pokemon were. Lion grabbed an old paper map from his pocket and opened it up in between both boys. Lion pointed to Ecruteak.

“Charm is in Ecruteak, if we take the shortcut through Violet City, then we should be in Ecruteak in two sunrises.” Lion said with a yawn. “Maybe we’ll be lucky and find Kibo on the way.” He said with a concerned sigh.

“Wonder where he is. It’s strange that the pokedex can’t find him.” Snow whispered quietly and tapped his chin. “Maybe it’s a glitch, or whatever the pokedex used to track Kibo broke.” He said thoughtfully.

“Either way, we’ll keep an eye out for him.” Lion said quietly and looked at Cyndaquil once more. The small fire mouse was passed out in a peaceful sort of sleep, though Snow could barely hear the pokemon call for Tiger in his sleep. Snow frowned and nodded in response to Lion. “Well, I’m going to sleep.” Lion said quietly and curled up near the wall. He used his backpack as a pillow and closed his eyes. “G’Night Snow.”

“Night Lion.” Snow said quietly and looked at the sky as Rai and Hikari returned with a few things of medicine and food that was left behind in the chaos while Blast returned with some water and went over to Lion. Snow sighed and gently pet Rai before laying down as well and looking at the stars. Snow frowned and rested his head on his backpack as he stared at the sky. Hikari and Rai had fallen asleep a bit away from Snow. Snow closed his eyes and sighed as questions began to prick at the back of his mind as he tried to sleep. Where exactly is Tiger and Kibo? What happened here? Will we even be able save Johto in time? The thoughts continued to haunt him until Snow fell into a very light and restless sleep.

---

Title: Chapter 3: Road to saving Johto

Lion was the first to wake up, the dawn light was slightly shining on his face as he lay on the cold ground in a destroyed town. What happened? Lion thought to himself in a groggy manner and rubbed his head before looking around in a confused state.

He had forgotten that he left his home, and wasn’t in his bed. Instead, he was in an unrecognizable town. It wasn’t until Lion saw Cyndaquil getting a drink from the lake a bit away that Lion remembered what had happened the day before. Lion blinked and grabbed Tiger’s pokedex and turned it back on. The screen glitched slightly due to the crack but it still booted up.

“Charm, Yuki, Setchi, and Cotton are all still in the same places as last night. Though, Kibo is still missing.” Lion said to himself and sighed before placing the pokedex into his bag.

“Kibo may have gone to try and find Mira and Toka for help.” A voice said from behind Lion. Turning around in shock, Lion saw Cyndaquil standing behind him.

“How long have you been sitting there?” Lion asked quietly and sat down. It still felt strange to him to hear Cyndaquil speak. Though, Lion remembered what that journal had told him about the bond pokemon shared with a region they called home, that if a pokemon only saw a region as their home and that region was in danger then a few pokemon from the region who couldn’t live anywhere else could be understood by trainers.

“Just a few minutes.” Cyndaquil replied with a yawn and shook his fur out before jumping onto Lion’s shoulder. Lion was knocked off balance by this action and nearly fell over. He swayed slightly as he tried to regain his balance and managed.

“Can you warn me next time you decide to try and jump onto my shoulder?” Lion asked quietly and sighed before shaking his head. “Falling on my face at seven in the morning doesn’t sound like my opinion of fun.”

“It’s Tiger’s” Cyndaquil said with a snicker and Lion sighed slightly.

“That’s why Snow and I call him ‘Deathwish’.”

Cyndaquil shrugged in response as Lion grabbed his bag off the ground and slung it onto his shoulder. “Come on, let’s wake sleeping beauty up.”

“Call me that one more time, Lion and I’ll push you into the river.” Snow grunted in a groggy tone, Lion sighed.

“That wasn’t me. That was Cyndaquil.” Lion said dully.

“I’ll throw him into the river, too.” Snow retorted, and got to his feet. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Lion could tell from Snow’s expression and mannerism that he wasn’t a morning person.

Huh, looks like he and Tiger have more in common than they think. Lion thought with a glance at Cyndaquil and picked Snow’s bag off the ground. He handed it over to Snow and stretched. “Okay grumpy meowth, are you ready to head to Cherrygrove? We’ll be there by nightfall if we do run into trouble. If not noon at the latest.” And even if we make it by noon it’d be safer to camp out in Cherrygrove for the night and not risk running into high leveled pokemon. I mean; Snow, Cyndaquil, and I can handle wild pokemon, but it’s best if we don’t risk getting hurt. He added the last part to himself and headed for the exit to New Bark as Snow put the bag on his back.

“We should camp in Cherrygrove either way.” Lion suggested politely.

“Who died and made you leader of this group.” Snow asked dryly. Lion growled and gave Snow a look, while Cyndaquil glared at Snow causing Snow to flinch. “What?”

“We don’t even know if Tiger is dead or not. So until we do know we should be playing our cards safely and not be reckless!” Lion said lowly and called Fearow out while Snow mumbled a quiet apology. He nodded in response to Snow, while his pokemon flew ahead to scout the surrounding area. We have to be as careful as we can.

Lion and Snow walked in silence as they made their way to Cherrygrove. Cyndaquil was looking at the grass as it swayed in the wind. A few Pidgey and Sentret scurried away as the two walked past. The pokemon gave off shocked cries and scared squeaks as they fled.

“So, these are the pokemon we’re supposed to be careful for?” Snow asked in a dry tone and watched as the pokemon fled the area. He glanced at Lion who rolled his eyes. “We can take these level 3 pokemon.”

“Are you sure about that?” Lion asked lowly and narrowed his eyes before freezing. A shadow went past them both and a fluffy cream colored tail tip brushed through the grass as fast as lightning. Lion glanced at Snow who raised an eyebrow in response.

“What’s wrong?” Snow asked dully.

“Lion, there’s a group of pokemon nearby.” Cyndaquil warned Lion before Lion could reply. Being cautious, Lion looked around the surrounding area and noticed that Cyndaquil was right. The Pidgey and Sentret weren’t running from them, they were going to get help.

“Snow! Call out your pokemon!” Lion yelled quickly and was about to call his Blastoise out when a Furret jumped out of the brush and bowled him over. Lion’s pokeball flew into the grass and Cyndaquil fell to the ground.

“Hey! Furball!” Cyndaquil yelled at the Furret and used a flamethrower scaring the pokemon away from Lion. Snow ran over to Lion but was hit by a peck from a Pidgeot. The pokemon flew away from Snow and went into the air for a moment before diving down once more to hit Snow again.

“We have to fight back!” Lion yelled to Snow and Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil nodded in response while Snow blocked the peck using his wrist. Lion flinched and struggled to his feet. He grabbed Hikari’s pokeball and called the Manectric out while Snow called Ko out.

“Ko, use a double edge on Furret!” Snow called the order to his Arcanine, who nodded and ran at the Furret group.

“Hikari, use a thunder fang!” Lion called out and flinched when a Sentret rushed in and scratched his cheek. Cyndaquil quickly used a swift knocking the pokemon off Lion. Lion nodded a thanks and looked around. “Cyndaquil what should we do?”

“Don’t ask me I’m a pokemon. You’re a trainer!” Cyndaquil snapped and used a flamethrower on a Pidgeotto that was nearing Snow. The pokemon cried out in shock and defeat and flew away swiftly.

“But you’re Tiger’s pokemon! Tiger always came up with plans! We need a plan!” Lion said in shock. Snow grunted in agreement and pushed a Furret off of his Arcanine.

“You’re both smart figure it out! I’m going to clear a line!” Cyndaquil called to Lion and ran back into battle. As Cyndaquil passed a bush, he kicked Blast’s pokeball with his hind paws and knocked it into the air, it landed in Lion’s hands. The Blastoise looked ready for battle. The pokemon was looking at Lion with an expected look in his eyes. Lion nodded and called his pokemon out before looking over his shoulder to Snow.

“Snow fall back! We have to get to Cherrygrove! Have Ko help Blast, Cyndaquil, and Hikari clear a path.” Lion called out to Snow who was struggling with a few Furret. He was guessing at what Cyndaquil was saying. Lion and Snow should stop relying on Tiger’s plans, they should try and save him their own way.

Snow nodded and shoved past the Furret. Hikari, Ko, and Blast then used thunder fang, flamethrower, and hydro cannon to push through the ranks of pokemon. Cyndaquil was using a flamethrower. Once a few of the pokemon were knocked back, the group ran on and went for Cherrygrove City.

Lion panted when they ran into Cherrygrove, he stopped near a tree and placed his hand on the trunk as he caught his breath. Snow collapsed to one knee and gasped for air while Cyndaquil tipped his head to the side. Blast, Hikari, and Ko were then all recalled to their pokeballs. “You both need to exercise more.” Cyndaquil said simply.

Lion shrugged, “Y-you’d think t-that a gym leader and a p-police officer would be able to run without getting tired.”

Cyndaquil sighed in response. “Come on we all need a break. Let’s just search the town and set up camp.” He suggested quietly.

Snow nodded in response to Cyndaquil while Lion pushed himself off the tree trunk and looked around the town. Cherrygrove wasn’t as bad as New Bark, but it was still awful.

The pokemon center was destroyed just like all the buildings in New Bark. The machines to restore pokemon health looked like they were in decent condition, but Lion wasn’t too sure. Maybe we can use Hikari or Rai to provide power to the machine and we can heal all our pokemon up? After all, that battle took a bit out of us.

Snow nudged Lion to get him out of his thoughts. Lion blinked and looked at Snow who was pointing to the shop. The pokemart was standing, and aside from some broken windows and weakened foundation, it was in good condition. “I’m going to check for supplies. You find a place for camp.” Snow suggested quietly. Lion nodded and turned around to go search the rest of the city. The other buildings were in the same sort of condition as the pokemart, the best being the guide’s house. Lion was about to go scout it out when Snow placed a hand on his shoulder. Cyndaquil knew that Snow wanted to say something. The fire mouse smiled in amusement and ran off before Snow could speak.

“What’s up, Snow.” Lion asked quietly and turned around to look at the younger trainer.

Snow sighed, “listen, I’m sorry about earlier. You’re right. We should be playing it safe. Being reckless, it’s not going to get us anywhere.” Snow said quietly and sighed, he tucked his hands into his pockets.

Lion raised and eyebrow and chuckled in amusement. “Snow, you know. You remind me a lot of Tiger at times.” He said fondly and shook his head in amusement. “Listen, we’ll both work together and come up with plans. No one is the leader of this group because there is no group.”

Snow blinked in shock and looked at Lion. His frosty blue eyes seemed to let Lion know that Snow wasn’t sure what Lion meant. “If there’s no group, then what are we doing? Are we working together?”

“Of course we are you knucklehead!” Lion said with a shake of his head, his golden eyes shining in amusement. “Listen, Snow. We are now a team. We fight together and we come up with our own plans together. Our first course of action, is to scout the town, and find supplies. After that, we’ll rest for the night. Alright?” He said gently. Snow blinked in shock and smiled before nodding and running off to go look at the pokemart. Lion sighed and went back to the guide’s house once more.

---

Title: Chapter 4: A Dark Place

Tiger sat against a wall as dim light filled the room. The room was completely empty, all except a bed in the darkest corner of the room, and Tiger’s bag sitting at the side of the bed. It was mostly empty, only a few pieces of mail and pens were in the open pocket of the bag. Shadows seemed to permanently stick to the walls keeping the already dim room in a dark light and making the air seem frigid and cold. The ground was covered in dirt and trash from wind that blew through the broken window at the very top of the room, glass was shattered near the base of the wall where the window was located. Light seemed to dimly filter through the window as if the sun was blocked by a cloud or a tree. A cold feeling of dread and hopeless seemed to fill his entire being as he sat in the cold and dim light. “What can I do?” He mumbled hopelessly and looked at the small window that was near the top of the room he was forced to sit in, he could barely see leaves dance near the gray blue sky.

Tiger looked around and jumped up to try and get a grip on the windowsill and look outside and gain his bearings when he heard footsteps outside the door. He froze, green eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty as the door slowly opened behind him. “Great.” Tiger grunted and fell to the ground, the glass from the broken window had created deep cuts on the back of his right hand as he had let go of the window sill in a clumsy manner. He gasped and flinched in pain before leaning against the wall once more and forcing himself to look defeated.

Once the door opened. A Greninja walked into the room with some food. “You know, you do have to eat right?” He asked in a quiet tone and handed Tiger a small plate of food. The pokemon looked like he was trying to help him, though there seemed to be something more, malicious, in his gaze. Though, Tiger wasn’t paying much attention to it, he narrowed his eyes.

“Why are you being nice to me?” Tiger asked dully and looked at the food in a suspicious manner. Greninja shook his head and sat down by the door as Tiger cautiously took a bite of the food, it tasted good, however there was a slight bitter aftertaste that Tiger felt he should have been able to pinpoint. The flavor seemed to give off a faint burning sensation in Tiger’s stomach, but he ignored it, thinking of it as normal, as it had been a while since he had last eaten.

“I don’t like what Panther is doing to you.” Greninja said quietly and shook his head before crossing his arms. “She used to care for everyone when she and I first met.” He trailed off quietly and frowned.

Tiger tipped his head to the side and looked at Greninja curiously. “What happened that made her the way she is?” He asked quietly as he finished his food and gently rubbed his stomach to try and ease the burning sensation.

Greninja sighed and looked thoughtful. “When she was four, her parents disappeared. Leaving her alone and scared. I was only a Froakie at the time, so I made it my goal to protect her and keep her safe from harm.” He began quietly while Tiger listened.

“So why is she attacking me? I didn’t do anything to her paren-” Tiger began but was interrupted as Greninja ignored him and continued the story.

“I wanted to keep her safe. I thought I was doing a good job, until one day, a strange group of people disturbed a legendary pokemon’s slumber.” Greninja said quietly and sighed. “They had freed Yveltal, the ultimate weapon had been activated, everyone was afraid that they would soon die. Though, as I was leading Panther to safety, she saw her parents. They had been caught by the group of people who had awoken Yveltal.” He trailed off quietly.

Tiger blinked, now invested in the story, he leaned against the wall and rested his chin on the palms of his hands, the pain seemed to subside for a moment as he listened. Greninja sighed and closed his eyes before continuing on.

“She went over to her parents, but, they weren’t the same. Her mom called out a pokemon and began to fight Panther while her dad was holding Panther back from attacking and defending herself. As they fought, the two looked vacant and seemed like they weren’t even there. Like they had forgotten who Panther was, who they themselves were. Panther was defeated in the battle, and I was forced to fight to try and protect her.” Greninja whispered quietly and placed a paw on a scar that was on his cheek. Tiger blinked as he hadn’t noticed this earlier.

Tiger opened his mouth to say something when he had a sick feeling to his stomach. He collapsed and began to cough heavily. It felt as if all of his energy was being taken from him slowly, he shivered and groaned as he slowly rested his gaze on Greninja. “W-what ha-have you done t-to me?” Tiger gasped out in an angry snarl, but the snarl was cut off by a coughing fit.

“I’m sorry, my command was to poison you and weaken you. We knew you finished the last of the berries you had in your bag, and Panther took all your medicines away, so I poisoned you.” Greninja said in a guilty tone and sighed. “I wish it were different.” He said quietly and went for the door.

Tiger growled lowly and forced himself to his feet, the pain in his stomach grew more intense, it felt as if a fire type pokemon was burning him from the inside. His vision blurred and he focused as best as he could to try and look at Greninja. Summoning up some of his strength, Tiger ran at Greninja only to be pushed over by a light tap from Greninja’s paw. “Y-you cowa-” Tiger began but was cut off by another coughing fit. “Cow-coward!” He snapped and struggled to his feet once more.

“I wouldn’t overdo it if I were you, Tiger. I used a toxic on your food. You should know what that can do to its opponents.” Greninja warned lowly and looked at Tiger from over his shoulder. “If you want to survive this, I suggest you rest. If you don’t tire yourself out, then you’ll live.” He said quietly.

Tiger snarled and collapsed onto the ground, unmoving as the poison had fully taken its effect. He gasped for air as Greninja left the room. Arceus, a-am I going to d-die here? Pl-please don’t let it end this way! N-not yet, not now.

That was the last thought Tiger had as the poison had taken the last of his energy away and he slowly slipped away into the black void of sleep. The burning seemed to subside as Tiger just allowed himself to pass out, though the fear of not waking up pricked at the back of his mind. The darkness seemed to have an eerily calm feeling to it, as if none of this had happened. That his team wasn’t missing, Cyndaquil wasn’t dead, and New Bark was safe. That all of it was just a nightmare that Tiger would wake up from at any moment.

~*~*~*~

“Hey come on wake up!” A voice sounded distant in the darkness that filled the room. A small figure was poking at Tiger’s shoulder. “Come on, did that poisoning actually kill you. Come on get up!” The voice said in a frightened tone. The pokemon sounded unsure if Tiger was still alive or not. After a few minutes of poking and prodding to get the young man up, the figure sighed in defeat as if it was about to quit, that was when Tiger groaned.

Tiger came to and sat up with a bewildered look in his eyes. He looked around the room in disbelief and groaned angrily as he quickly recognized where he was. “No! Arceus Christ why in the Distortion World am I still in this awful place.” He said angrily before breaking off to cough. The poison wasn’t completely out of his system yet. I want to go home! I miss Cyndaquil, I miss the lab. Arceus, just let me go!

“Hey, relax or the poison might take more effect on you.” The voice said gently from beside Tiger. Tiger froze in fear and cautiously looked at who had spoken, he soon noticed that there was a Starly near him. The bird pokemon had a pecha berry in its talons. “Just relax, eat this, and take a moment to gather yourself.” She said gently and pushed the berry towards Tiger.

Tiger blinked, and cautiously took the berry, he narrowed his eyes at the Starly as he didn’t trust the small bird. He then sniffed the berry to try and see if it was another trick. The berry smelt sweet and ripe. The pink skin of the berry was firm and healthy while the leaf still looked green and lively. It was safe to eat, Tiger sighed in relief and took a bite out of the berry, and the last of the poison had slowly began to leave his system thanks to the berry’s juices.

“Okay why are you helping me?” Tiger asked the Starly suspiciously. After the situation with Greninja, Tiger was weary of any kindness or help the pokemon in this room seemed to give to him.

“Because you looked like you needed help. I saw you trying to jump out the window a few hours ago, but when I came to investigate, I saw a Greninja push you over. You fainted!” The Starly said in shock and frowned. “A pokemon of the forest is supposed to help another being in help. It doesn’t matter if it’s a human or pokemon.”

Tiger blinked as the last thing the Starly had said seemed familiar. He tipped his head to the side and remembered that he had said a similar thing many years ago. He closed his eyes as he tried to remember the situation as best as he could.

Snow covered the ground in the forest as Tiger ran down a path. His breathing was heavy and his gaze was focused as he continued down the path in the direction of Viridian Forest. “Come on Cyndaquil! You promised you wouldn’t go and fight Hinoarashi until you got stronger! Do you always have to be a hothead!” Tiger called out to Cyndaquil who was a few tree lengths away from him and running swiftly along the path.

“Leave me alone human!” Cyndaquil snapped angrily and shot out a flamethrower knocking Tiger backwards and burning his cheek. “I can fight whoever I want!”

Great! Tiger thought angrily. This pokemon doesn’t even trust me and I have to stop him from killing himself. Why can’t he trust me? I thought we were going to trust each other after our talk by the river yesterday. Tiger sighed and remembered the conversation he had with Cyndaquil the day before. He shook his head clear and continued along the path. “Come on! I believe you can win this fight, but you haven’t even had time to recover yet!” Tiger called out.

Cyndaquil snarled and stopped. “I can’t evolve, I was banished from my home, and I’m forced to be friendly to a human who most likely only wants to capture me and take me away from my freedom. Get lost kid! I’m not going with you!” Cyndaquil snarled and glared at Tiger.

Tiger blinked and crossed his arms, he wasn’t going to let this sassy little pokemon go out and kill himself, not if he could help it. He noticed the shock in Cyndaquil’s expression as Tiger didn’t flinch, or didn’t retort and run off. Instead, Cyndaquil growled and used another flamethrower on Tiger. Tiger squeaked in shock and jumped into a tree barely missing the move. The flames went into the tall grass and hit a Garchomp that had been sleeping on a rock a little ways away. The pokemon growled and ran at Cyndaquil very quickly.

“Watch out!” Tiger yelled and jumped to the ground, he grabbed Cyndaquil quickly and flinched when one of Garchomp’s scythe like arms stabbed his side. He groaned and jumped back into the tree, the Garchomp growled and glared at Tiger.

“Oh? If it isn’t Lugia’s pet. Why can’t you let go of that mouse? I could use a snack.” Garchomp snarled. Tiger narrowed his eyes and snarled.

“Why don’t you go look for an apple then! Leave my friend alone.” Tiger snapped while Cyndaquil looked at Tiger in shock, a bit of Tiger’s blood was now soaking through the red shirt he wore.

Garchomp snarled and walked off as if he figured it wasn’t worth the time to try and get Tiger and Cyndaquil back into his grasp. “Whatever brat!” He snapped and walked off.

Cyndaquil sighed and looked at Tiger in slight disbelief. Tiger then grunted and braced himself before jumping to the ground. “Okay, do what you want Cyndaquil.” Tiger said dully and flinched as the wound on his side hurt him badly. “Go fight Hinoarashi, I’m going back home and getting help.”

Cyndaquil frowned and watched as Tiger limped back to the cave. He looked over his shoulder to Viridian and ran after Tiger. “Wait! Why did you help me?”

Tiger sighed and stopped for a moment, he had a hand on his side to apply pressure to the cut. “Because, a person of the forest is supposed to help another being. It doesn’t matter if it is a pokemon or a person.” He said quietly and walked off with Cyndaquil following him quickly.

“Hey, are you okay!? You’re crying!” Starly asked in shock as she tried to pull Tiger out of his memories. Tiger blinked a few times and noticed the cut on his hand was beginning to scab over. The red blood that had dried on the skin away from the cut was slightly streaking from the tears that had fallen onto his hand.

Tiger closed his eyes and slowly nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I-I was just thinking of my best friend.” He whispered sadly. “I-I t-think he might be dead.” He said quietly the defeat was deeply heard in his tone.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.” Starly said quietly and gently nudged Tiger’s cheek. “Is there anything I can help you with?” The pokemon asked gently and tipped her head to the side.

“Actually, yeah. If I write a letter, can you find anyone in Johto. I don’t care who it is, find someone and give them the letter. I want to save my home from this psychopath.” Tiger begged quietly, he sighed in relief when Starly nodded to show she would follow through with the request. He reached into his bag and grabbed a pen and a dratini-print mail. A bit of the blood on his hand stained the corner of the mail, but Tiger began to write a very quick message on the paper. He was about to finish when he heard footsteps coming from down the hall. He hastily finished the note, not writing his name down, and handed it to Starly. “Thanks, Starly. I really appreciate it.”

Starly nodded and looked at the door for a moment before spreading her wings and heading to the window. “Don’t mention it, I’ll be back soon...uh, what’s your name again?” She asked in embarrassment as she went to the window.

“It’s Tiger! Thanks again Starly.” Tiger called out quickly.

“No problem! By the way, my name is Asuka!” Starly called back before flying out the window leaving Tiger alone once more. He looked at the door as the doorknob began to slowly rotate.

“Are you sure the poison has taken effect?” A girl asked in a very cold and emotionless tone as her voice was heard from the opposite side of the door.

“Yeah, he nearly died trying to take me down a few hours ago. Chances are he’s still passed out.” Greninja’s tone sounded low and dull as if he weren't too thrilled with what was going on. The door began to slowly open and Tiger fell to the ground just as the two walked into the room. He was now playing dead, which was something he had done well considering all the trouble he found himself in. He covered his face with his arm so it would be hard for them to see he was awake if he accidentally opened his eyes wide enough for them to see.

Tiger squinted, making it seem like his eyes were closed as he looked at the girl. He could now get a better look at her, she was about five foot two with blonde hair and brown eyes. She wore a pumpkin orange shirt and faded blue jeans with holes in the fabric. Tiger slowed his breathing to look like he was asleep, he watched as the girl walked over to him. He was about to freeze when the girl kicked him in the side. Tiger held his breath as to not gasp in pain. Arceus Christ! How in the world can anyone be this cold!?

“He’s out cold.” The girl confirmed lowly and looked at Greninja.

“So what’s the plan?” Greninja asked quietly.

“We kill the guardian of Johto once Johto completely falls. After that, we’ll head for Kanto where his little friend is, then Hoenn and Unova. Yveltal wants us to completely destroy the group that imprisoned him.” The girl said lowly. Tiger bit his tongue as to not retort. He watched as the girl and Greninja left the room leaving Tiger alone.

Tiger curled up as the pain from the girl kicking him was intense. It doesn’t feel like she broke or damaged anything on the inside of me. Probably gonna bruise, but the poison has taken a lot out of me which is why that kick hurt so badly. I just hope that Asuka finds someone to help me...I hope I can stop this psycho before she hurts, or worse, kills the others.

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Title: Chapter 5: The Strange Letter

Snow walked into Violet City and narrowed his eyes against the sun which was at its highest point. Lion stopped behind Snow and looked around with a small frown while Cyndaquil looked utterly upset and angry. The small fire type pokemon’s back flames were lit with anger.

“Violet City is as bad as New Bark!” Cyndaquil said angrily and snarled, Lion looked at Cyndaquil and sighed before gently picking up the small mouse pokemon.

Snow had to admit that Cyndaquil had every right to be upset. While Cherrygrove was in decent condition, Violet City was barely recognizable at all. The only indication that Lion and Snow were in Violet City was the burnt town sign. The words were barely legible.

“Violet City, The C… of Nost… Sce.” Snow tried to read the sign and sighed as Lion walked over and placed a hand on Snow’s shoulder.

“Violet City. The City of Nostalgic Scents.” Lion translated with a frown. “Come on, we don’t have much time to be upset over Violet. We have to get to Ecruteak and hope we can find some clue on where Tiger went.”

“Or Charm.” Cyndaquil said quietly as he was holding Tiger’s pokedex in his paws. Charm and Tiger’s other pokemon were where the pokedex originally stated a few days back. Charm was still the closest pokemon on Tiger’s team, being in Ecruteak which was only an hour away by walking through Routes 36 and 37 taking the path that a Sudowoodo had once blocked. “I really hope Kibo is alright.” Cyndaquil sighed and shook his head, Snow glanced at the pokedex for a moment as he noticed the pokedex read;

Kibo (Dragonite) (Level 99) [Status: Ok] [Location: Unknown]

“He’s got to be around here somewhere, Cyndaquil. I mean, the pokedex says he’s okay, and he even leveled up. So I’m sure Kibo is fine.” Lion said reassuringly while Cyndaquil looked unconvinced.

“But what if he got hurt?” Cyndaquil said in a worried tone that concerned even Snow. Snow sighed and glanced at Lion for a moment.

Lion frowned while Snow took a few steps away from the two, he decided to let them talk while he explored the destroyed town for a bit. He looked around Violet City and blinked. The pokemon center, which was right next to the destroyed route gate that separates the town from Route 31, was a huge pile of debris, the pokemon healing machine was smoking and sparking in the noon light and pokemon were still struggling to escape the mess. Snow decided to go help the pokemon out while Lion and Cyndaquil talked. Snow pulled debris aside and pushed rocks out of the way to help the pokemon out of the pokemon center’s ruins. He soon blinked and spotted an egg. The egg was a cream color with a small greenish blue dot on the top. “Hey Lion! Do you have an incubator?” Snow called over to Lion who walked over to see what Snow had.

“Course I do. I’ll go grab it for you and we can head out.” Lion said with a nod and looked at the egg while Cyndaquil ran over and sniffed the small egg.

“You know, Cotton would’ve gone this way in the attack…” Cyndaquil whispered to himself quietly as if he had recognized a scent on the egg. Just as Snow was about to ask what Cyndaquil meant, a Starly flew into the town and landed on Lion’s shoulder. The pokemon looked exhausted and concerned.

“Ly! Starly star!” The Starly said in a panicked tone, Cyndaquil looked shocked. The pokemon ran over to the Starly and watched as Lion grabbed a note from the pokemon’s talon.

“Wait? Who wrote the letter?” Cyndaquil asked in concern. “What happened to them?”

“Ly...ly starly.” Starly said in an uncertain tone as if she had forgotten who wrote the letter. Snow sighed and shook his head while he placed the egg in the incubator.

Sounds as if that Starly forgot who she was helping...let’s hope whoever it was wasn’t her trainer or they might be in trouble. Snow thought with a snort while Lion read the note. The Starly flew off in the direction of Mount Silver. Snow frowned and glanced at Cyndaquil and Lion.

“There’s blood on this note.” Lion said quietly as he noticed some dried up blood on a corner of the blue mail. “Maybe whoever wrote this was bleeding out?”

Cyndaquil sniffed the blood while Snow placed the incubator and egg into his bag. Snow then walked over to read the note as he put his backpack back onto his back.

To whoever is reading this,

Johto is falling from what you can tell. I have no clue where I am, but I do have some information on where you might be able to find the legendary pokemon of Johto. Suicune, Raikou, and Entei should all be in the Burnt Tower in Ecruteak City. They will listen to any trainer who wishes to help the falling region. As for where I am, I am Arceus knows where. A girl who owns a sword, her name is Panther, has me held hostage and I can’t help unless I escape. Please if you’re reading this, please help my home and my region!

Sincerely~ T-

Cyndaquil sniffed the letter and froze, “the blood on the letter!” He said in shock and growled as he immediately recognized it.

“What about it?” Lion asked curiously and looked over to Snow for a moment as Cyndaquil’s fur was on end and his back flames were lit vigorously in anger.

“It’s Tiger’s! It smells like he was poisoned when this was written.” Cyndaquil whimpered in fear and frowned. “W-what if whoever wrote this, watched Tiger die?”

“Or Tiger was the one who wrote it.” Lion mumbled thoughtfully in a blatant attempt to calm the Cyndaquil down. Cyndaquil sighed reluctantly and relaxed.

Snow looked at the letter once more and analyzed how it was written. It looks similar to Tiger’s handwriting, it even seems like his writing style. Maybe Lion has a point? He thought to himself and tapped his chin thoughtfully. But what if Cyndaquil was right and Tiger died of a poisoning? The blood here does show some acid that would have been in Tiger’s bloodstream at the time. Maybe they had someone else as a hostage as well? Snow sighed and put the letter into his pocket.

“We should head to Ecruteak before it gets dark, come on.” Lion said quietly and lead the way out of Violet City. Snow followed Lion quickly. As he followed Lion with Cyndaquil on his shoulder, Snow couldn’t help but wonder.

Will we even find Raikou, Suicune, and Entei in Ecruteak City? What about the evacuated citizens of Johto? Will they still be there when we get to Ecruteak?

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Title: Chapter 6: Ecruteak's Problem

Lion and Snow walked into Ecruteak City, the thought of the letter that the Starly had delivered concerned Lion. What if the blood was Tiger’s and he’s actually dead? Lion thought to himself dully and sighed. He looked around Ecruteak, the city was surprisingly still in tact with the Burnt Tower still sitting to the east of the city and Tin Tower to the west.

“Remember the year where Tiger broke his leg during the festival?” Lion asked Snow in an attempt to lighten the mood. Cyndaquil looked thoughtful and before Snow could respond the fire mouse spoke.

“Was it the year that Tiger was told to stand on top of Tin Tower and he broke his leg on the fall down before Kibo caught him or the time that he was knocked off the stage by a thunderbolt?” Cyndaquil asked curiously and Snow bust out in laughter as he remembered the time with the thunderbolt.

“Didn’t he get paralyzed and had a broken leg with the thunder? Man I honestly don’t know Mira does it. I mean Tiger gets hurt on a daily basis.” Snow said with a shake of his head while Cyndaquil shrugged.

“Well I think he’s gotten better. After all this is the fir-” Cyndaquil began when a screech cut him off. Lion and Snow looked up, and the calm town of Ectueak had been destroyed by a yell from Raikou.

“What’s going on here?” Lion asked in shock and grabbed a pokeball. Just before Cyndaquil or Snow could reply to Lion’s question, Lion ran ahead of the group and went to see what happened.

“KU RAIKOU!” Raikou yelled in the direction of the Burnt Tower. Lion ran towards the tower and saw that a huge group of pokemon were heading for Ecruteak. “Raikou!”

“Sui Suicine.” Suicune growled and ran into the fight, she stood by Raikou and used an ice beam while Raikou joined in with a thunderbolt. Entei ran over to fight, but stopped.

“Entei! Over here!” Cyndaquil yelled out to the legendary beast. Entei noticed Cyndaquil and ran over. He barked a greeting and growled as a group of Tyranitar and Diggersby ran into the town. Entei barked something and ran in the direction of the pokemon that just got into the town. Cyndaquil tipped his head to the side and ran after Entei.

“Snow we might have to go-” Lion began but was cut off as he heard a few cries for help. That’s when it hit him, like a Swampert using a brick break, the town still had the evacuated citizens of Johto. “Snow! Help me evacuate the town! We need to use Fearow and Toucannon to get these people to safety get them to Pallet Town at once!” Lion yelled over the fighting. The tone of the city had gone from calm and serine to pure chaos in less than a second.

Snow nodded and grabbed Toucannon’s pokeball. “Lem, we need your help!” Snow yelled as he called the pokemon out. Lion called his Fearow out and looked at Snow.

“Fearow, listen to everything Snow says. I’m going to keep these pokemon from getting to the citizens.” Lion called out to Snow and Fearow, the two nodded and Lion ran towards the fight. The pokemon Lion could see in the fight were; Tyranitar, Diggersby, Haxorus, Heliolisk, and Manectric. All of these pokemon were in groups of around ten of one pokemon.

How in the name of Arceus are we going to fight back? There’s about fifty pokemon and only fifteen counting the legendary beasts, Cyndaquil, and Ho-Oh between Snow and me! Lion thought in shock and looked at the pokemon that outnumbered them. The Tyranitar sent off an earthquake all at the same time, the combined move was massive. Strong enough to begin knocking down Burnt Tower and shake Tin Tower making it look as if the Tin Tower was the Sprout Tower. Lion struggled to gain his balance, but he fell over and crashed to the ground.

The ground continued to shake and move violently as Lion tried to grab onto something to stabilize himself. He placed his hand on the side of a building, not really noticing what building he was holding onto. He called Hikari out before Entei’s yell came from across the town. Catching Lion's attention.

“Entei En!” Entei yelled at Lion in shock and Lion looked confused. It wasn’t until the trainer looked up and flinched as a huge chunk of the Burnt Tower came crashing down and was falling straight onto Lion.

“LION!” Lion heard Snow and his mom, who was in the group of evacuees, yell in shock and worry. Lion couldn’t move, he was frozen with fear.

Guess I won’t see Scar and Deirdre grow up… Lion thought sadly as the rubble came closer and closer to him, he could feel chunks of rock being chipped away from the chunk as if a pokemon were attacking the rock.

Soon Lion heard a pokemon’s cry. “Char!” A pokemon screeched from above Lion, and Lion was pulled out of the way. Cautiously opening one eye, Lion saw a shiny mega charizard x. The pokemon’s megastone was reacting to Lion’s keystone that was attached to a blue bandanna on Lion’s right shoulder. Why is my keystone reacting to this Pokemon!? Lion thought in shock and looked at the Charizard x. As if their thoughts were linked, the Pokemon returned the glance.

The Charizard’s gaze was filled with shock and amazement as he met Lion’s golden gaze. That's when Lion noticed that this pokemon’s eyes were pure blue, that of a normal Charizard. A sign that this was Tiger's Pokemon.

“Charm?” Lion said in shock, the Charizard grunted in response and placed Lion on his back before the link between the keystone and mega stone was disabled and Charm returned to his normal form. The blue eyes stayed on the shiny pokemon as Charm landed and safely brought Lion to the ground. Once Lion slid off of Charm’s back and gathered himself on solid ground, Lion’s mom ran over and immediately hugged Lion.

“Thank Arceus you’re safe.” Lion’s mom said in a relieved tone. Lion would normally push his mom away as if he were embarrassed, but instead he sighed in relief and returned the hug. Snow smiled and sighed in slight relief as he allowed the mom and son hug for a moment. Snow looked at the fighting pokemon and narrowed his eyes. The two were losing the fight, Ecruteak would be the final city to fall.

“Lion we still have a job to do.” Snow said quietly in an attempt to get Lion’s attention. Lion’s mom let go of her son and looked at Lion with a small frown.

“Don’t worry, we’ll both be okay.” Lion promised and smiled. “After all, I’ve got to stay alive a lot of people are still relying on me.” He said gently. His mom nodded and got onto Fearow before the last of the Johto Citizens were escorted out of their home region and evacuated.

“Lion! We’re losing this fight! Ecruteak is falling!” Snow yelled drawing Lion back into the heat of battle. Lion had grabbed the Rainbow Wing and summoned Ho-Oh, as the legendary bird flew out of the Tin Tower and into the battle, the sun’s rays grew intense as Ho-Oh used a sunny day. More opposing pokemon were running from down the hill blocking the exit to town from the other pokemon.

“We’re trapped!” Lion yelled to Snow who growled, Charm then flew over and looked at Ho-Oh. The two pokemon nodded slowly and flew ahead of the fight, Ho-Oh used a sacred fire while Charm used a flamethrower. The moves combined, powered up by the sunny day and hit a group of Heliolisk, Manectric, and Diggersby. Half the opposing pokemon fled after the hit and went back into the surrounding route. Raikou and Entei yelled in pain as another earthquake seized the town and the two legendary beasts fainted.

“Entei, Raikou!” Cyndaquil called out in shock and ran into the battle. Just before a Diggersby could use a mud shot on Cyndaquil, the pokemon dug underground dodging the move.

“Aim for the Tyranitar, they’re leading the attack!” Snow yelled to Lion who nodded and grabbed Blast’s pokeball. Suicune heard the plan and ran over to Lion. She growled and used a hydro pump while Blast used a hydro cannon right as he came out of the pokeball. The moves weren’t as strong as the fire type moves considering the sunlight was still harsh, but they were still super effective on the Tyranitar.

“They’re escaping!” Snow yelled in a satisfied manner and called Rai and Ko out. The two pokemon came out of their pokeballs and ran into battle. Lion watched as the pokemon ran into the fight, a couple of Heliolisk ran towards Rai and went to use a rock slide when Blast ran in and blocked the move.

We need to keep pushing them back. If we can get them out of the city then we can get out of this fight… Lion thought to himself in a determined manner and looked at Snow. “Push them back! We can finish this battle if we get them out of Ecruteak!” Lion yelled his thoughts to Snow who nodded and called to Rai and Ko. Cyndaquil, Raikou, Suicine, and Entei also joined in while Lion nodded to his pokemon. Summoning the last of their strengths, the group of pokemon used one last combined move. Fire, water, electric, and normal type moves mingled into one and struck out at the opposing pokemon. The move collapsed on itself creating a blinding light that seemed to fill the city. The force of the light knocked Lion backwards and made him crash into a nearby bush.

The sounds of the pokemon escaping the city and the pokemon who were on Lion and Snow’s side in pain was all that surrounded the area as the light continued to shine. Soon, it died down leaving Lion in the darkness of the dusk light. The fight had lasted a lot longer than Lion originally thought. Cyndaquil coughed and pulled himself out of a pile of rubble while Snow had been knocked onto the ground. Lion pulled himself out of the bushes and looked around Ecruteak.

From where he stood, Lion noticed that the Burnt Tower had completely collapsed. The beam that would have crushed him was sitting in the dirt where Lion would have been upon its collapse. Charm and Ho-Oh were pushing rubble to the side as Entei, Raikou, and Suicune had been buried in the attack. The three legendary beasts fled the city and Ho-Oh followed once they were all free. Ho-Oh passed the Tin Tower on his way out and flew in the direction of Viridian Forest.

The Tin Tower was nothing but a pile of debris and rubble. The dust from the collapsed building filled the air causing Lion to cough and cover his mouth in an attempt to breathe. The pokemon center and pokemart were both in flames from the fight while the kimono girls’ dance studio was completely gone. Lion sighed and sat down in defeat. We got the Johto Citizens and the legendary pokemon out of Ecruteak, but we lost this battle...Johto is completely gone. Lion thought sadly and hung his head.

Snow frowned and walked over to Lion. His frosty blue eyes looked at the sky and the two stood there in silence before Snow let off a sigh. “Hey, Lio, why don’t we get some rest. Our pokemon are exhausted and we both need to rest.” Snow said quietly.

Lion nodded and looked around. “Yeah, you’re right.” He said quietly and got up. “Let’s set camp up. Lem and Fearow will return soon.” He whispered and helped Snow clear away a small area so the two of them could sleep soundly.

As Snow was setting up a small campfire, Lion grabbed his harmonica and examined it. “Lion? Why do you always carry the harmonica around? I mean I know you can play it, but I never seen you play it.” Snow asked curiously.

Lion looked at Snow and sighed before turning the instrument over in his hands. “It was my dad’s. He used to use it to calm Ho-Oh down, similar to how Tiger has the ocarina Lugia gave him a few years back. I taught myself to play it as it helps me feel closer to my dad.” He said quietly.

Snow frowned and nodded before tapping his chin. “Any songs you can play?” He asked politely in an attempt to find some way to relax the two of them after that battle. Lion looked thoughtful before sighing and looking completely embarrassed.

“Uh, yeah.” Lion whispered and closed his eyes, Snow looked into the flames of the campfire as Lion began to play the harmonica opening for the song. “Piano Man” Snow blinked and continued to stare at the fire as the intro was played.

“It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday…” Snow began to sing the beginning of the song quietly as he poked at the fire. Cyndaquil and Charm looked up from where they lay near the two as the song continued on. Lion continued to play the harmonica portions of the song while Snow sang the lyrics.

“La la la, di da da” Snow said quietly as the song continued. “La la, di da da da dum. Sing us a song you're the piano man” Snow whispered and closed his eyes as he focused on the song. Cyndaquil and Charm fell silent as the singing began to relax them and help them sleep. “Sing us a song tonight. Well we're all in the mood for a melody. And you got us feeling alright.” Snow finished the song as Lion finished playing the tune of the song. The crackling of the fire began to fill the area once the song ended and Lion looked at Snow with a small smile.

“You are an awful singer.” Lion joked kindly causing Snow to laugh in amusement and shake his head.

“And you can’t play the harmonica young harmonica man.” Snow joked back softly and gently nudged Lion.

At least we can both relax once in a while. It’s nice to just relax and unwind for a moment. Lion thought to himself with a small smile and looked at the harmonica in his hands. It was golden with a black strip of wood in the middle, engraved on the top of the instrument were the letters M.D.M, which were his dad’s initials. Lion put his hand over the initials for a moment and blinked before smiling faintly. Dad, if you’re watching over us. Please, just let Tiger be safe. Lion thought with a small sigh.

“Hey Lio.” Snow said quietly as he pulled Lion out of his thoughts, Lion blinked and put the harmonica away before looking at Snow. “Where are we going after this?” Snow asked curiously.

Lion blinked for a moment and grabbed Tiger’s pokedex once more. He looked at Tiger’s pokemon team to try and find a way to get Tiger’s pokemon back as soon as possible.


Scorch (Cyndaquil) (Level: 100) [Status: Okay] [Location: Ecruteak City]
Charm (Charizard) (Level 99) [Status: Okay] [Location: Ecruteak City]
CottonFluf (Ampharos) (Level 90) [Status: Fainted] [Location: Goldenrod City]
Setchi (Tyranitar) (Level: 90) [Status: Fainted] [Location: Cianwood City]
Yuki (Umbreon) (Level 90) [Status: Fainted] [Location: Blackthorn City]
Kibo (Dragonite) (Level 99) [Status: Okay] [Location: Unknown]

“Goldenrod would be our best bet. If we head out at the first light of dawn tomorrow, then we’ll be in Goldenrod by noon.” Lion said kindly while Snow nodded in response and settled down next to the fire.

“We don’t want to camp out in any route correct?” Snow asked Lion curiously who nodded in response.

“No we don’t, higher levelled pokemon could be lurking in the tall grass. We might need to save our strength if we run into more trouble like we did earlier.” Lion said politely while Snow nodded in agreement.

“Alright, Goldenrod it is.” Snow said with a yawn. “I’ll see you in the morning. Good night Lion.” Snow whispered and fell asleep.

“Night Snow.” Lion said quietly and looked at the campfire once more. I just hope Tiger is still alive and okay...I mean Johto might’ve fallen, but Tiger has to be alright...right?

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