"Are we there yet?" she whined, deliberately sounding like a kid bothering a parent. "Are we there yet are we there yet?"

Connor simply rolled his eyes in reply, not bothering to answer her. Megan poked him in the back as means of getting his attention.

"Are we theeeere-"

"Ssh! I can hear them. Listen."

She paused, subconsciously holding her breath. At first she heard nothing, but after a few seconds she could hear faint cries. She smiled to herself and motioned to her brother to keep climbing.

They'd taken off somewhere between Ecruteak and Olivine. There was a well-known hiking trail there if you went north, the mountain range located there a challenge to anyone up for it. Though the path winding up was a pleasant walk, the actual climb to get up the first peak had been more tiring than she'd thought. It wasn't particularly steep but there were a lot of loose rocks and the risk of slipping and falling was an overhanging danger.

Luckily for her, Connor had been there before. He was an excellent guide, telling here where to step and when she could safely catch her breath for a few seconds before continuing. And now they were nearing their goal, the point, and she couldn't help but feel excited. She'd never seen a Skarmory before.

Connor was climbing ahead of her, giving her hushed instructions still if a certain place to step was particularly traitorous, and after a few minutes he heaved himself over the edge they'd been aiming for. Rolling on top of the small ledge there, he reached over and helped pulling her up. They were both short of breath, but the sight that greeted them was well worth it.

Rising above them were the mountain peaks. The real mountain peaks, not the lesser one they'd just climbed halfway. Some of them were still far away, but one of them seemed close enough to manage if the climb had been the point of this trip. It wasn't, though. The point was flying above them, the metallic sheen of the merged feathers glinting in the sun.

The Skarmory were magnificent. Megan could count four easily; one in the air, a couple by a nest on one of the far-off peaks, and another eerily close, perched on a ledge much like their own.

"Try to stay still", Connor whispered to her, and she nodded. She knew sudden movements were threatening to the large birds, and she had enough common sense to not want to aggravate any of them. Instead she simply stared, awed by the one in flight, amazed at how such a heavy-looking bird could move so easily.

The one closest to them let out a sharp drill of warning. Megan jumped slightly at the sound, but Connor seemed unfazed. With slow movements he got his camera out, lifted it to his eyes and snapped a picture.

The sound seemed enlarged in the tense silence between the two humans and the steel-like bird. The Skarmory gave a small cry and Megan felt nervous, but the pokémon didn't move, just regarded them with cold predator eyes.

"You don't want us any harm, do you", Connor said softly, and Megan thought it was mostly meant to calm her. Even if she hadn't been there, though, he probably would've kept up the one-sided conversation. He always did. "Nah, you don't. So it's okay if I take another picture, right? You're a beauty, you know…"

The Skarmory clicked its beak, and then took flight. Megan could hear the images being taken as it flew, and thought that if they captured only half of the Skarmory's nature, that'd be enough to last anyone looking a lifetime.

-/-/-/-/-

She was laughing from the sheer experience, spinning around and punching a hole in the air. "Yes! That was amazing! I kept thinking it'd attack us or something, and woah…"

Connor gave her a crooked smile as he dug through his back pack. "I told you they rarely attack humans. We're too much work to be prey."

"Yeah, but like, it was like you'd angered it, I thought we had, but it just shrieked at you and then it took off!"

Shaking his head, Connor found the camera bag and put the device safely inside it, zipping it close. "It just wanted to warn us. I told you pokémon can sense emotions, and we weren't aggressive. Of course it wouldn't harm us."

"Well screw that!" Megan declared happily. "It felt like danger and it was awesome and I totally owe you. Again."

Her big brother laughed as he carefully got the small radio out from where it had been next to the camera bag. Glancing up at his sister spreading her arms as if they were wings, he started tuning the device carefully.

Though they were still a bit high up, he could see the city of Ecruteak not too far away, and was optimistic that the radio signals would get through. You just had to be patient and try to not be too annoyed by all the static.

It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear with just a few clouds, the sun giving just a little too much warmth but no one really minded. Almost dancing a little from the pent-up adrenaline from seeing the birds up close, Megan relished in it, throwing her arms out and closing her eyes. It was so easy finding pleasure in these things. Life was a breeze these days.

If Connor could read minds, he'd tell her that autumn is coming soon and then the breeze would be a storm, but he couldn't read minds so she could be content in peace. Her head was a magical place.

She snapped out it when she heard the radio spitting up the first bit of news that day, though.

"…Az…ea…town, though… in…"

She moved to sit down on the ground next to him, interested in the information. She'd never been before, but a full year and some on the road had made her aware of how important it was to stay updated in what was going on. That and Connor had drilled it into her head. Stay updated, stay updated … it's important, bla bla yadda yadda.

Connor finally got the channel to work properly.

"… seems to be missing. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Robin Matthews, please contact your nearest police station. Thank you. In other news-"

Megan frowned, turning down the volume on the little radio. "From Azalea? Didn't you know a Robin from Azalea?"

He shook his head in response, started tuning for a different channel. She knew he was probably looking for the NNN channel, since it'd have news on any new swarms and stuff like that. It didn't really interest her. "No, but I know a Robert from there."

"Oh. Hey, do you want me to let Jicho out?"

She loved playing with his Natu. It was a contrast to her own bird pokémon, Alchira, since Jicho was so happy and fluttery and all over the place, while Alchira was a shy one needing lots of encouragement.

"Not yet, I think we'll have to move soon."

"Aw, come on-"

"We should get down to Ecruteak before six, they say there's some heavy thunder coming in."

Megan gestured wildly at the clear blue skies above them, but Connor just raised an eyebrow and pointed at a dark mass of rainclouds in the far distance. The girl rolled her eyes but gave in.

"I still don't see why we can't let Jicho out."

Shouldering his now closed backpack and watching his sister mimic the move, he offered her a crooked smile. "Once you two start playing there's no stopping you." Before she could protest he stepped past her, starting the downward trek, ruffling her hair in the process. She hated it – he knew it.

She stuck her tongue out at him like the mature teenager she was, but he just grinned at her.

"Let's go."

-/-/-/-/-

So there you go! First chapter of Anatome, which I hope will be quite long-lived. I'd love to hear any input, criticism, praise, suggestions, uuh ... pretty much anything that can motivate me and help me improve. I'd greatly appreciate it if you reviewed. (: thanks!