I don't own pokemon or any recognizable names, references, items or concepts. All original names, references, items and concepts are mine. The plot is also mine.

WARNING: Concepts are in this story such as eating pokemon meat, stealing, lying, cheating, realistic wounds on people and pokemon from pokemon attacks, wild-animal behavior of pokemon and descriptions of battles and their consequences are common.

Johto was run mostly on the underground now. Miles and miles of tunnels ran from Kanto to Johto, from Johto to Hoenn, and from Hoenn all the way to Unova and Sinnoh. Goods, textiles, food, supplies and even pokemon were run along those underground tunnels now. But that didn't mean the underground was safe, far from it in fact. Many battles took place in the underground and many lives were lost in cave-ins. But that did not stop the Rebellion from using the tunnels to fuel their plans, and it certainly did not stop the members of the Rebellion from running along the miles of tunnels in order to help the cause. The danger only seemed to make them run faster.

One such runner was quicker than most.

Most chalked it up to her long legs, or the fact she had been running the underground since she could walk, but the fact of the matter was, she liked to run. So that was what she was currently doing: running.

"Eye? Sable Sableye?" The voice of her constant companion came to her ears as she seemed to fly down the barely lit caverns. The girl nodded, her face stretched into a huge grin as she leapt over-and cleared-a pile of sleeping Geodude. "Yes! I am excited." She said back as she panted. Running felt amazing to her, and even though she was carrying two bags on her back that would be filled to capacity once she was done at her assigned fill point, she felt almost weightless. The Sableye on her shoulder snickered with a Cheshire-like grin as his claw-like hands clung to the black fabric of her hooded sweatshirt. He was sitting in the hood, like he usually did when they worked the Underground, but he was small and light. Next to her panted two magnificent dogs. One was a proud Mightyena, bred too large from a female who was too small to carry him. He lived; his siblings and mother did not. She received him from a breeder friend when she was younger and she had named him Sebastian. He thudded proudly next to her, claws scrapping against the dirt as his wild and dirty manes trailed behind him. A few scars littered his chest and legs, and one large scar carved its way from his underbelly to the inside of his right back leg. He carried a bag of his own on his back, used to helping his trainer with the runs.

The other was an equally proud Houndoom. He, too, was larger than normal with one horn that threatened to curl in on itself if his trainer didn't have it regularly sanded down. He carried many scars as well, and many frost burn marks littered his normally pitch-colored fur. His name was Anubis, and he lived up to his name. All three of them cleared another pile of rubble as they made their way down the tunnel shaft to the checkpoints where they could rest for a while. Ariel Noir was immensely proud of her two beastly canines, and they were equally proud of her. But the shortage of proper pokemon food was becoming clear in their appearances. Hunting for wild game like Rattatas, Pidgeys, Duduos, and Furrets had their appearances turning wilder. Black fur was discoloring to grey-black, teeth were coloring to yellow, and claws were splintering apart easily, making for uncomfortable dogs sometimes. But they did their best, like any Rebellion member, to continue fighting to the end.

The torches became more and more dense in their lighting and Ariel knew they were nearing the checkpoint. She smirked and took off, sprinting past her dogs. "Come on, boys! Let's see who gets there first!" She shouted at them and in seconds the two hounds dashed past her, leaving their laughing trainer behind. The two hounds competitively glared at each other as they sped down the corridor, their faces bathed in the orange glow of the candle light. They were eye to eye as they thundered down the rocky cavern. The goal was in sight, the checkpoint was not even five hundred feet away as they both took off into full on sprints. The people in the checkpoint camp looked up to see the two hounds and everyone watched closely. These races were a normal occurrence, and it was never truly known who would win. The two were equally matched and both pushed themselves very hard. Harsh panting, scraping nails, thundering paws, and the echoes of those noises off the rock walls filling the normally silent air of the caverns as they neared the check point. The people were in place now, having made a make-shift finish line for the two. People were stationed on both sides of the line to declare the winner as the hounds neared, their breathing evident of how they were pushing themselves.

The hounds suddenly jumped over the line and landed with a skidding stop as they finished the race. Both were panting hard and quickly laid down in the dust as Ariel skidded by close after. She grinned and sat in the dirt by her dogs, a happy yet tired grin covering her place. "Okay, who won?" She asked as a girl about her age brought the hounds bowls of water. The people at the stop chuckled. "Looked like Sebastian won this race, by the hair's length." Said a man and Ariel nodded, rubbing her Mightyena's head mane lovingly. "That's my boy." She cooed before she ruffled Anubis's head as well. She playfully tugged his non-curled horn and he lovingly nipped her wrist. Sebastian rested his head on her leg as she drank from her own water bottle. She handed the bottle back to her hood-dwelling partner and after he drank a little, he stored it in her hood.

The girl who had presented the dogs with water also brought food from a nearby tent which Ariel happily ate. So did her dogs. "What's the special today, Mia?" She asked the girl and Mia smiled. "Same as always, Ariel. Roast Sandshrew boiled in berry juice." She said and Ariel nodded. A slopping sound to her right made her turn a glare at her Mightyena. "Sebastian!" She barked and he instantly stopped. "Don't be greedy! You're food isn't going anywhere. Have some manners." She berated and he nodded with a quiet mutter of 'yena' as he began to eat his food more quietly. Mia chuckled. "You really are a mom sometimes, Ariel." She said before she stood to get the dogs seconds. "There hasn't been much traffic through this checkpoint this past week, so we have plenty for seconds." She said as she refilled their bowls with the meat chunks and thin fruit-flavored broth. The combination was strange, but it was essential. The two dogs greedily devoured it as Ariel fed the rest of her bowl to her greedy little gem-imp. "Headed to the docks?" Mia asked the older girl who nodded. "Yeah. Going to barter some goods off the Pirates for the month." She said as she held her empty bowl open for seconds. Mia refilled the bowl and smiled craftily. "Barter? Don't you mean just get them handed to you by that boy of yours?" She said slyly.

Ariel giggled and her Sableye snickered. "Well, perhaps barter is the wrong word, but I do have to pay for some of it..." She drifted off mysteriously. "I'm no cheat." She said as she pulled her Sableye into her lap so he could eat without spilling on her. "And about being a mom, Tanzanite here is my real baby." She said as her Sableye glared at her with his large gemstone eyes. His eyes were becoming flawed and discolored; gems were as hard to find as food during wartimes. "Aren't you, Tanza?" She cooed. "Give mommy a kiss." She said as she leaned in to kiss her imp. He reached up and bit her lip which made her yelp and he skittered away snickering loudly with his hiss-like laugh. She glared at him. "Tanza, you little imp!" She growled as she threw the food bowl at him. He snickered and went slightly invisible, making the object pass right through him which made Ariel only color more. She jumped up to chase the trouble maker when Anubis grabbed the end of her black hoodie, pulling her back into a sitting position. She sighed and petting the warm head that how resided on her lap. "Fine. You win this round, imp. But you'd better thank Anu here." She snapped.

"Sable. Sableye eye sable." Tanzanite hissed and Anubis merely opened one eye lazily and closed it again. "Doom." He rasped out lazily before resting again. Ariel gently stroked the head of her dog as she leaned against the large body of Sebastian, who ruffled her long ebony hair with his nose. He caught a length of her waist-long hair in his jaws and ran the strands through his teeth as he moved his head from side to side. Not even her violet-tipped ends escaped his teeth as the canine performed a form of hair brushing for his beloved trainer. Ariel smiled at him with her hazel-colored eyes and allowed him the pleasure of brushing her hair, a job normally performed on the road by Eurus, her Honchkrow. Birds just seemed to have a natural affinity for doing hair. She enjoyed moments like this, lazy moments, when her and her team members were just together. But as Tanzanite crawled back into her embracing arms and moved to curl up in her hood again, Ariel knew it was time to move one. She gently tapped Anubis's head and he quickly sat up and shook his head. She smiled and stood. "Alright, thanks for the food, Mia, but we have to get going." She said as her dogs took off, with her following closely behind. She waved at the people at the checkpoint before sprinting to catch up with her canines. Almost instantly, the pleasurable burn of running filled her body and she grinned widely.

The smell of the ocean was becoming stronger and stronger.

The docks were a busy place when the Pirates came into dock. Magnificent ships were being tied and anchored as far as the eye could see along the shore line of Unova's neutral territory. Unova was still in ruin, since it was literally split in half between Team Utsu and the Rebellion, and many people relied solely on the good brought by the Pirates to survive. But that still didn't prevent under the table bargains to happen, from both sides. Both sides needed supplies, and dealing through the Pirates was the easiest way to get goods without a paper trail. It made for profits in the pirating business as well as kept the three-way economy from choking the fence-sitters. Under the table deals kept prices low for the average fence-sitter, and demand from all sides kept the ships competitive. But even then, it was fairly easy to guess what a Rebellion representative was going to ask for versus what Utsu grunts bargained for. Rebellion members generally asked for crop seed, rescued pokemon, tools, fish meat, paper, cloth and wood. Utsu grunts usually demanded metal, weapons, rescued pokemon, tools, indentured servants and information. Any of those could be bought, but the ship's captain set the price.

The mewing of his feline companion woke him from his thinking state as a young man of about nineteen or so finished tying off the dock rope. Once it was secure he used a hand signal to let those on the ship know that it was safe to start lowering the cargo to the dock. His captain dropped down to help guide the cargo to a safe dropping point and smiled at him. "Glad to be back on land, Kouki?" He asked. The black haired man nodded slightly, his red tips falling over his brown eyes as he did. "For the time being." He said quietly before taking out a notebook and a pen. "Excuse me." He said simply as he stepped forward. His low-tied pony tail swished behind him like his companion's tail as he began to document everything that was dropped on the dock. His captain smiled but quickly turned to a serious face as he pulled the ropes to steady the cargo coming down. Kouki was a quiet lad, but when it came to discussing business, there was no one who could make a better deal. He was a complete business man and often buried himself in the tasks given to him on deck, but when it came to the free times, he was often alone in his quarters with his pokemon or below deck re-counting the cargo. He was almost painfully awkward in social situations that weren't about work and he had a habit of hiding near his captain when he felt uncomfortable.

His purrloin, on the other hand, was a tiny furry ball of mischief that often got Kouki in trouble. But as much as the captain found Maio to be a troublesome cat, it was clear Kouki was fond of him. They were often found talking to each other, between the purrloin and his six-tailed Ninetails, Gouka, the captain had a hard time believing Kouki was really all that lonely.

Kouki wandered around, putting all his attention into his work as he documented and checked off cargo. It was a tedious task, one many men complained about, but he enjoyed working. Maio chimed in with a noise of impatience and Kouki looked down at the purple and yellow leopard cub. "Almost done, Maio." He said as he moved to the next lot. The cat rolled his eyes, but followed after his trainer, deciding to be patient for once. But Kouki didn't get very far. He neared the final lot and was about to look into the opened crates when a body slammed in to him from behind. His first reaction was to steady himself so he wouldn't fall over, but his body instantly stiffened. He felt himself falling, but the momentum was stopped rather quickly by a pair of hands. That were wrapped around his waist. Tightly.

The second thing he noticed was the way the hands held him up, as if the person predicted he would lock up and the person would therefore have to hold him up. One arm was latched tightly around his waist while the other crossed over his chest to his opposite shoulder as a head was buried in the shoulder area of his upper back. He looked over his shoulder a bit to see the black hair that rested there and his shock instantly faded. "Ariel...you know I don't like that." He muttered as the arms tightened. A sigh came from the girl behind him and the arms did not let up on their gripping. "I know." She said into the fabric of his shirt. "I just get excited to see you." She reminded. Kouki nodded and maneuvered himself around so he could face her, and as soon as her head was next to his chest, she buried herself in him again. He sighed and looped his arms around her waist, resting his face in her hair. He missed her too.

Sebastian stood patiently by, Maio resting on his back and Anubis to his right, as he watched their trainers embrace after months of nearly no contact. Pirates were supposed to be totally neutral, and had a habit of forming relationships with other pirates to prevent a future conflict from occurring. But neither was willing to give up the other, so instead they agreed to not speak to one another until they were both on dry land and in neutral territory. "Hungry?" Ariel asked as she finally pulled far enough from him to look up into his eyes. Kouki nodded and she smiled. "Okay. Let's get something to eat then. I also have business to talk to you about." She said with a glint in her eye. He matched her glint and allowed her to take his hand as he closely followed her to one of the many land-bound Pirate members' restaurants.

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