The Mighty and the Mudkip

by BlackFox IV

Collab: In the face of losing everything he has ever known, a lone Mightyena searches for all that he loves and cherishes as he and his inept Mudkip companion scour the pokemon world in order to recover what was lost long ago.

1. Chapter 1

+The Mighty and the Mudkip

Chapter 1: Poochy's Resolve

A/N: This is a Collab between me and paytoncbcb. Joining me in writing this story is Dani.

Dani: I heard you like da fancy Mudkips...

Tom: NO! Nobody likes the fancy mudkip!

Dani: Derp.

Tom: Ugh...

Anyway enjoy! And don't forget to review

Disclaimer-We own nothing from Pokemon. We only own the plot.

Sinnoh Region- Off of Route 214 a little North of Lake Valor

"Poochy...Poochy...POOCHY!"

The little puppy pokemon was suddenly awoken from his slumber by his older brother. The shiny poochyena rubbed his eyes and opened them to see his Houndour brother looking down at him.

"Are you just going to lie there, or are we going meet everyone at the lake today?" he asked in an irritated tone.

"I'm...I'm coming. Give me a minute." Poochyena responded. The exhaustion was clearly evident in his voice, but he got up and stretched to wake himself up. After chowing down on a few berries for breakfast Poochy and his brother, Doomer, began to walk out of their little den, but they were stopped by their Mightyena-mother.

"Wait boys." She said as she walked up to them. "Now you two stay safe, and don't talk to strangers. And what do you do if you see a human?"

"Run away..." both pups said in unison.

"Good. Now go have fun. Be back by dinner, and Doomer, don't go near that spring!"

"Yes ma'am." the Houndour said with a bored expression. The two dogs stepped out into the sunlight to see the forest below. The pups lived in a small cave on the side of a hill, that overlooks the forest and Lake Valor. It was a beautiful sight that their mother loved. In fact, this was the place where she had met their Houndoom-father, who was currently out looking for dinner. "Hey! I'll race you to the lake!" And with that, Houndour took off running down the hill. "Last one there is a rotten Togepi!"

"HEY!" Poochyena yelled as he started chasing after his brother. "No fair! You had a head start. And you have longer legs than me!" Poochy ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, but he wasn't fast enough to catch his brother before the lake-front came into view. By the time Poochy had reached the lake, Doomer was already waiting for him along with their two friends: Bolt the Electrike and Striker the Growlithe. More because of their slight age differences, Bolt was more found of Doomer, while Striker preferred Poochy.

"Took you long enough. Did you trip and fall, again?" Doomer said to his brother in a discouraging tone.

"Don't be so hard on him Doom." Striker said in Poochy's defense. "He may not be quick, but he has other good qualities. For example, his attack and defense are better than yours by a mile." At this, the Houndour just scoffed and pouted.

"It won't do him any good if he's not fast enough to defend though." Bolt interjected. "Don't get upset Poochy. It's hard for even larger pokemon to keep up with me."

"Oh really?" Poochy asked with a sly look on his face. "Then how come mister 'speed demon' lost a game of chase with a Doduo?"

"HEY! Those things are crazy fast. Plus, they have TWO heads! That's just creepy. I was off my game!" the electrike yelled.

"Heh. Well since you two seem so confident why don't we have a battle" Doomer said as he sat up. "You two versus us two."

"Alright," Striker responded excitedly. "You ready Poochy?"

"You bet. Let's go!"

The four little dogs split up and walked in opposite ways. They turned and faced each other and prepared to fight. Little did any of them realize they had an audience. A little pink creature, who had her eye out on a little brown puppy.

"One." the shiny poochyena said, unaware of his stalker.

"Two." Striker counted off.

"Three." Bolt said as he got in what looked like a running stance.

"Go!" Doomer yelled.

Immediately after the word "go" hit Bolt's ears, he quickly took off running at Poochy. He activated his Quick Attack, but Poochy was able to sidestep at the last second and use Sucker Punch on the electric type. As Bolt and Poochy had their own little squabble, Striker and Doomer were eyeing each other from across the lake-front. Both sides were wondering on what they should do. Neither side could use a fire type move, because they both shared the Flash Fire ability. This limited both Striker and Doomer to one move each, because their other moves were either a fire type or a status move. Feeling that they had stood there long enough, both fire types ran towards each other, and activated their bite attacks. They lunged at each other, but Striker had gotten the upper hand. The Growlithe was able to get a hold of his opponent's neck, while Doomer was only able to bite the Growlithe's leg. The two fire dogs were literally rolling around on the ground, seeing which one would release their bite first.

The little pink pokemon, hiding in the bush, giggled at the dog pokemon. They all acted so tough and strong, but in reality, they were all still pups. She looked back over at the electrike and her Poochy to see that both dogs were tired.

Electrike was able to land a few quick attacks on Poochy, but it cost him a couple sucker punches from the shiny pup. Both dogs had tried raising their attack power with their howl move, but Poochy's balanced stats were beginning to overpower Bolt's speed. That was when Bolt noticed Doom and Striker. He saw that his partner was clearly losing, so Bolt decided to ditch the one-on-one battle with Poochy, and help his partner. Bolt ran up to the defenseless Striker and rammed him with a Spark attack. The injured Striker lost his grip on Doomer, and went rolling on the grass. Upset at Bolt's cowardly actions, Poochy ran after the electric type. As he approached his unsuspecting target, Poochy activated the rare move he had learned from his Houndoom-father. Poochy's fangs sharpened and his mouth became engulfed in flames as he lunged at the Electrike. However, at the last second, Doomer stepped between his brother and Bolt and took the fire fang attack. Shocked, Poochy didn't have enough time to react before being hit by Doomer's powered up Flamethrower, and as a result, Poochy was sent flying backwards, defeated, just like his partner. With both Striker and Poochy being unable to fight, the victory went to Doomer and Bolt. As they celebrated their win, Doom saw from the corner of his eye, a pink tail with three yellow, ball-point tips. A mischievous grin crept itself onto the Houndour's face as he walked over to his sulking brother.

"Well boys, it looks like he had an audience. A certain someone's 'girlfriend' decided to come and watch." the Houndour taunted. Doomer had succeeded in getting his brother's attention, but his charade wasn't over, yet. "Hey Skitty! Did you enjoy watching Poochy fight?!"

After Doom revealed the presence of the feline pokemon, she came out of her hiding spot and skipped towards the injured Poochyena. When Poochy saw the cat, he immediately blushed, and the sounds of his tail hitting the ground could be heard very clearly. However, Poochy calmed down for a second, and tried to 'play it cool', but the motions of his tail were betraying him.

"Hi Poochy...," the Skitty said timidly. "I enjoyed watching your battle. You are getting stronger and stronger every day now."

"Uhh…thanks Kitty" Poochy said trying to hide his blush. "Wait a minute. SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Took you long enough to realize bro." Doomer said.

"Poochy & Skitty sitting in a tree...," Electrike started off, and was soon joined by Doomer. "B-R-double E-D-I-N-G!"

That was when Striker had sat up and hit both of the older dogs in the back of their heads. "Enough you two! At least he has someone, unlike you two." Both Bolt and Doom went white at Striker's words, but then the two dogs quickly became enraged and double teamed the Growlithe.

"Well Poochy. I'd better get home." the Skitty said as she let her tail slide across the shiny pokemon's fur, causing his tail to wag, again. "I'll see you later, Poochy" She threw over her shoulder as she happily skipped away, back into the forest. Once she was out of earshot, Poochy's mood instantly changed from joy to rage. He slowly looked back at the others to see Bolt and Doom chasing a scared Striker.

"I swear when I get my paws on you guys...I"M GOING TO SUCKER PUNCH YOU INTO SUBMISSION!" the Poochyena yelled as he joined in the chase, trying to get close enough to hit Bolt or his brother. By the time Poochy had caught up with the others, all four of them had ran around the lake, and found themselves too tired to move anymore. At this point, the sun was setting, and the four dogs just sat down to rest.

"Hey guys," Doomer said. "I know what we can do tomorrow. I've overheard from Dad about this cave that could have treasure. We could be adventures!"

"What cave? I haven't heard anything about cave with treasure around here." Striker said inquisitively.

"Well I overheard Dad saying something about a cave to the east of the plains. I think he said it was on the other side of the spring."

Being one of good memory, Poochy recognized the cave Doomer was talking about, and quickly objected. "No! Doomer! You know as well as I do that even if that cave existed, we aren't supposed to go near it! We were always told about a monster living in that cave."

Doomer just rolled his eyes and scoffed at his little brother's argument. "Pfft. As if those stories are real. They are nothing but fairy tales Mom and Dad told us so we'd be 'safe'."

"And, if we went, we wouldn't be safe! Not to mention that going through the plains could get us spotted by humans!" Poochy yelled.

"Hold on shorty." The impatient Electrike interrupted. "How do you even know this place is even real, and if it is, what kind of treasure are we talking about here? I'm not just going to waste my time walking around for nothing."

"Well I don't know all the details, but I do know this," Doomer said as the other three listened with peaked curiosity. "the cave has to exist, because I've heard several other pokemon have tried to get the treasure of the cave. No one has been successful, and all of the ones who tried, have given up. So that treasure is just sitting there, waiting for someone to take it. Besides it has to be something good if so many were wanting it in the first place."

"Doomer! How the heck do you suppose we can get that treasure if grown-ups couldn't get it?" Poochy nagged.

"Simple little brother. Numbers. If all four of us work together than it should be easy. None of those weaklings that went in there before us went with anyone else."

"Probably because they were too greedy to want to split the treasure." Striker intervened.

"So come on, what do you guys say? Let's go get us some treasure tomorrow." Doom stuck out his right paw so it could meet with the others'. Bolt almost immediately agreed and put his paw on Doom's. Striker and Poochy looked at each other, and in an uncaring, hesitant motion, the other two dogs placed their paws in their little circle. "Alright. Starting now, we're a team. We'll meet up tomorrow at the spring."

"Alright"

"Just try not to take so long to get there guys."

"I swear if we get caught brother, this was ALL your idea!"

The four pups nodded at each other and split to head back to their homes before nightfall. As they each reached the end of the lakefront, they collectively let out a howl to say goodbye and made the way back to their respective homes. By the time Poochy and Doom made it to their den, the sun had just set and their mother and father were waiting for them. After the two pups had their dinner, which was some fish pokemon and Poochy's favorite, Colbor berries, Doom and Poochy quickly went off to bed to conserve their energy for the next day. The following morning was practically the same as usual. Poochy had, once again, slept in and was, once again, rudely awakened by his brother. The two small dogs quickly ate their share of food for breakfast and literally ran out of their den before their mother could lecture them, once again, about being safe.

Doomer and Poochy headed east towards the plains, otherwise known to humans as Route 214. Knowing that not many people traveled early in the morning, the two dogs were able to cross the field with ease, and enter the small grove that would lead them to the place known to some as Sendoff Spring. It was not long before the two dogs saw a little rock hill that they were going to need to climb. However, since the two lived on a hill, Doom and Poochy had no problem climbing the rock, but both were shocked to see that Striker and Bolt were already sitting there waiting for the duo.

"Didn't I tell you guys not to make me wait?" Bolt said impatiently.

"Oh please." Striker said as he rolled his eyes at the electric type. "You've only been here for five minutes. I've been waiting for almost half an hour and you don't see me complaining."

"See Poochy! You made us late!" Doomer yelled at his brother. "I guess it doesn't matter. Did you two see it already?"

"Yeah. That cave seems to be on the other side of the spring." Striker answered. "How do you propose we get there though? Doom and I swimming is probably not a good idea."

"Don't worry braniac. I already have everything planned out." Doomer walked over to the spring and let out a flamethrower on the water. They stood there for a moment until ripples appeared over the water of the spring. Within seconds, they saw a large shadow rise to the surface of the water. The next thing they knew, a gigantic, enraged Gyarados appeared from the depths and looked down at the four dogs. He was prepared to fire a hyper beam at the pups, but then he noticed the Houndour in front of the intimidated pups.

"Doomer! How's my favorite fire type doing? I haven't seen you in forever." The Gyarados said, in his loud voice that caused the other dogs to cower and cover their ears.

"Heh. I'm fine. I see that you've grown since I last saw you. I guess my advice helped. You showed those other Magikarps who's boss, right?"

"Heck Yeah! Those fish went splashing away once they saw me.

"WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!" Poochy said, no longer afraid as he walked up behind his brother. "So you know this pokemon? How?"

The Houndour rolled his eyes and sighed. "I've been up here before, and I saw him and helped him back in water. He said the other Magikarps were picking on him, and he wanted to be stronger. I trained with him, and he apparently evolved at some point."

The Gyarados bent down so he could look at the shiny Poochyena in the eye. The look on the sea dragon's face was a mix of creepiness and possible rage that is shook the brown pokemon to his core. "Why? Do you have a problem with me? Huh? DO YA!?"

The dark type immediately scurried away and hid behind Striker and Bolt. "Oh...no no no no no! You seem like a nice pokemon...I love fishes...They taste really good." Poochy didn't realize what he had said until after it left his mouth. He quickly realized his mistake, and saw that the Gyarados was now giving him a serious death glare. "W…wait! That's n…not..., what I meant was..." Barely able to speak, Poochy could see that the serpent was growing impatient. "I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST YOU OR YOUR KIND!" Poochy quickly yelled and then immediately cowered behind his two friends.

Doomer just shook his head at his little brother's big mouth. "Please ignore my idiot brother. I was wondering if you could do me a favor Gyarados."

"Sure, I guess. What do you need?"

"Could you take us across the water to that cave over there." the Houndour said as he directed the water type's attention to the cave on the other side of the spring.

"You know that cave is dangerous, right? There's even a legend that a monster lives in there" the serpent said with a bit of fear evident in his voice. "I mean I'll take you over there, I just don't want you four getting killed on my watch."

"Don't worry about us." Doomer said confidently. "As long as there are four of us, we're strong enough to kick that cave's butt!" Giving him a skeptical look, the aquatic snake turned and shifted his attention to the still cowering Poochyena. Doom didn't even have to turn around to know what the Gyarados was insinuating, and he just sweat dropped a bit for his little brother's actions. "Some of us are always stronger than others though..."

The water type just nodded his head, as he adjusted his great body so the four dogs could climb on his back. Poochy was very hesitant and a little scared to get on the water snake. However, after some encouragement from the others and a solid confirmation from Gyarados that he wouldn't eat him, Poochy joined the others on the water type's back. All canine adventurers accounted for, Gyarados carried them across the spring. Once on the other side, the dogs jumped of the serpent, and thanked him for his help. The four dogs didn't waste any time, and entered the cave known to few individuals as Turnback Cave.

Once inside, the four dogs noticed that the cave's interior didn't look like that of a normal cave, but resemble that of some sort of ruin. It was a huge open space, with a thick fog covering the ground, everywhere. They could see the obscured silhouette of a pillar in the center of the room within the fog. They decided to stay close to each other as they walked towards the shape. Once they were close enough, the pups were able to identify the figure as a wall with a pillar. They noticed that the wall had some strange shapes etched into it and walked closer so they could see it more clearly.

"Oh great." the Houndour said sarcastically. "It's written in those stupid poke letter things"

"I believe they're called Unowns, Brother."

"It doesn't matter what they're called. How are we going to know what this thing says?"

"Calm down Doomer." Striker interrupted. "I can read it. Papa has been teaching me."

"Of course you would know how to read these things. Only you would take the time to learn something so pointless." Bolt scoffed.

"Shut up Bolt! Besides it not looking so useless now, is it?" Striker stepped up to the wall and place both of his front paws on the wall. He struggled to try and read the top line, but was eventually able to decipher the message. "...Past three pillars...offer up...to the...before thirty is...uhhhh...sur...surpassed? Yeah! surpassed... That's all I can read."

"What! I thought you said you could read this junk!" Doomer yelled.

"I can! That's literally all I can read! The rest of it is so damaged, I can't read it!" Striker retaliated.

"Calm down. Both of you." Poochy said as he stepped inbetween the two fire types. "Brother, he did a good job. He figured out that we need to find these three pillars."

"According to what the wall said, I'm going to assume we have thirty attempts in something to find these three pillars too." Striker said.

"Whatever. Let's just get going." Doomer said as he began to walk off in the fog.

"Finally! I thought you guys would never shut up." Bolt said as he followed Doom with Striker and Poochy not far behind him.

The four dogs continued to walk around aimlessly in the fog. They moved through several rooms and even found two pillars, mainly because one of pups would accidently run head-first into it. However, they were seeming to have trouble finding the last one. In addition, the four adventurers were unaware that they were being followed since they pasted the second pillar.

"He he he he...This will be so easy. They will never see us coming..."

"Heh heh. Right Boss. This will be like taking candy from a baby."

"Duhhh...Boss? Aren't those two things like darks? What if they beat us, and..."

"SHUT UP! How dare you insult me by saying I would lose to a bunch of kids. If it wouldn't knock you out, You'd get a punch to the head right now."

"...But we don't have heads. We technically don't have bodies."

"..."

"Boss?"

"SHUT IT, YOU IDIOT! C'mon, let's go boys."

The three ghostly figures followed the dogs into the next room to see that they had split up. They decided to do the same, and each of them chose a hound to follow. Poochy was currently looking around in the fog for anything out of place. The next thing he knew, the shiny pup had felt a shiver travel down his spine, as if he was being watched by an unknown pair of eyes. Poochy turned around to see that his instincts were correct, because directly behind him was this gaseous, purple, and black figure with a face. It didn't look too menacing, in fact it looked somewhat confused. However, the shock of another entity hovering behind him, without forewarning, startled him enough to attack the thing with a Sucker Punch. To the shiny pokemon's surprise, the gaseous figure fainted on the spot.

"G...G...GUYS!" Poochy stuttered. "Come here, please!"

Striker was the first one to reach the distressed shiny, and quickly noted the knocked out ghost lying on the ground. "What happened? Did you get scared?"

"W...What?!" Poochy said as he blushed slightly out of embarrassment. "No! It just startled me is all. I don't know where it came from, and he was just floating behind me. It was creepy." Poochy and Striker turned to inspect the fainted ghost, but little did they know that another one was quietly creeping up behind them.

"Poochy! Striker! MOVE!" The command was all that was heard before the other ghost pokemon was hit with a strong flamethrower. Poochy and Striker looked behind them to see another ghost being hurled at them by a trail of flames. The duo was able to duck at the last second before the ghost projectile flew over them. The flames slammed the gas pokemon into the cave wall, knocking it out in the process. Doomer, with Bolt in tow, ran up to the other two dogs and helped them back to their feet.

"That was close one." Doomer said with an exciting grin."

"Thanks, but this is not time for games." Striker said getting in a defensive stance. "Keep your eyes out for anything." The four dog stood back to back in battle stances waiting if anything that might be a threat.

"Heh heh heh. That's so cute. You actually believe you your strong enough to be a threat. You four won't even make a proper snack for me." The voice had made its way into the dog's heads. It had a cold tone to it, so cold that it would send a chill down the spine of anyone who heard it. The owner's words indicated that he was a sinister being who wanted nothing more than to destroy the group of friends.

"Show yourself! You coward!" the upset Houndour demanded.

"As you wish…" Immediately after the words were spoken, the lone figure of a purple ghost with two dismembered hands appeared in front of the dogs. He floated closer to the ground so he could get a better look at his food. He could see the some-what intimidated look in their eyes, and licked what would be his lips, slowly, with his long ghostly tongue. This made Poochy cringe, and take a step backwards. "Neh he he! I think I'll start with you." The ghost pokemon said as he pointed his finger at the shiny poochyena. "Perhaps, it will some-what tasty to devour the soul of a rare pokemon like you."

"My…my soul?" At this point, Poochy was on the verge of a panic attack. He was paralyzed with fear. The dark type couldn't even feel his legs anymore, and in addition, his heart was beating so fast that he swore he could hear it. Before he was able to completely lose his mind, the other three hounds had stepped in front of Poochy to face the ghost type.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Doomer screamed at the wicked, purple figure. "I will never let you take my brother! If you want to get to him, you'll have to go through us!"

"That can be arranged." The ghost disappeared momentarily, and then reappeared in front of Bolt. He attempted to lick the Electrike, but electric dog was too fast for the purple pokemon. Bolt quickly retaliated with a Quick Attack, but when he lunged for the ghost, he just flew right through him. "Ha ha ha! You fool! There's no way you can even touch me with a move like that!" While the ghost was too busy talking, both Doomer and Striker had taken the time to charge their Flamethrower attacks. Once the two fire types saw that they had a clear shot, they released their flames towards the ghost. By the time the purple figure noticed the flames flying at him, it was too late to dodge the attacks. The ghost tried to minimize the damage of the flames by becoming ethereal, but he wasn't able to escape the attack before being burned. "You rotten little brats! I will end you now!" The ghost disappeared again and reappeared above the dogs, out of the range of most of their attacks. Then, he began to stare at Bolt, Doomer, and Striker. The purple ghost began to glow with a strange black aura which soon appeared on the three dogs, causing each of them to become weakened to the point that standing was too difficult. At that point, the ghost's eyes began to have some sort of swirling color in them as if he was hypnotizing the group of hounds. "Now…sleep…fall into the eternal darkness!" the dogs did their best to remain conscious, but the strong urge to fall asleep was too much for them, and they fell into unconsciousness.

As Poochy watched his brother and his two friends fall lifelessly to the ground, something within him snapped. 'What the heck are you doing? Move!' His subconscious was screaming at him. Poochy was still scared of the ghost, but when he saw his friends, no his family, in danger, he summoned up the courage to finally take control of his body, once again. He open his mouth slightly, and a dark energy began to form in his mouth. 'I can do this. I can do this. I am not afraid.' He repeated to himself.

"Now! You will all DIE!" The ghost said in victory just as he was about to deliver the finishing blow to the slumbering dogs.

"NO! DARK PULSE!" Poochy yelled as he shot the dark energy from his mouth. Too distracted with trying to finish off the other three canines, the ghost type was hit directly by the attack, and sent hurtling to the ground. Poochy took this opportunity to advance towards the fallen ghost. He opened his mouth again, but this time his mouth burst into flames as his fangs sharpened to deadly points. Poochy met his target and bit him as hard as he could, setting the ghost ablaze. When the shiny dark type released the ghost from his grasp, it was barely even conscious. Poochy stood over the defeated ghost, trying to make himself look intimidating then he actually was. "Now, I'm going to assume you know your way around this place. We're looking for a pillar. Do you know where it is?"

"Heh…And *cough*…if I did…, what makes you think I'd tell you?" The ghost struggled to say. Poochy didn't respond to the arrogant statement, but instead open his mouth, and charged another Dark Pulse attack. "F...FINE! I know a pillar is directly to the east of this room. Just leave me alone…"

The shiny pokemon canceled his attack and scoffed at the ghost. "For your sake, you better be right. I appreciate it though. Thanks." He turned around, and started to walk back to his unconscious friends, but quickly turned around and sucker punched the ghost, knocking the purple figure out. "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET YOU JERK! ...Haha. I can't believe I did that! I did it! I did it! YAY! I win!" While Poochy was have his own little celebration, Doom, Bolt, and Striker, were just beginning to wake up.

"H...Huh? Poochy?" the groggy Houndour said as he sat himself up. "Aww man…What happened?"

"BROTHER! Did you see it? Huh? Huh?"

"See what?"

"I showed that ghost whose boss! I kicked its butt! Well if it had a butt…, but I did it!" the overly excited Poochyena said as he was running around and pointing to the defeated ghost on the floor.

"Not bad squirt…,*yawn*…You did a good job."

After both Striker and Bolt woke up from their slumber, the group moved on to the room east of the one they were currently in, and just as the ghost type said, the pillar was ,indeed, in the center of the room. It was a good thing too, otherwise Poochy would have gone back and gave the ghost's "body" a good thrashing. However, now that they had found the third pillar they weren't sure which direction they should go in next. Striker attempted to check the inscription on the pillar, but the only thing legible to the Growlithe was the number three which was on top of the number twelve. After much deliberation, the group had decided to go through the passage to the north. Little did they know what would be waiting for them in the next room.

Upon entering the next room, the canines instantly noticed that the room was not as foggy as the previous ones. However, Poochy was once again paralyzed with fear as soon as he saw the giant entity sleeping in the center of the room. The others, including the 'fearless' Houndour, didn't have much better reactions themselves. From what the dogs could see, the being was mostly grey, and had these gold rings around its back and head. It seemed to have six legs, a huge tail, and two black wings that could resemble claws. To a knowledgeable human, it would be easily recognizable as the legendary pokemon Giratina, but to the four small dogs, it couldn't be processed as anything short of a monster. Before they could even think about fleeing, they noticed the items on the ground, four white bones known to humans as Rare Bones. The four dogs were literally drooling over these bones; and they quickly huddled together to devise their plan of action.

"I say we go for it." Doom whispered.

"I second that!" Bolt said quite loudly. The being in the center of the room stirred for a second, and then simply went back to its slumber.

"Stupid…what are you trying to do, wake that thing up?" Striker whispered harshly. "What do you think we should do, Poochy? Poochy?"

That was when the three hounds noticed that the shiny pokemon was no longer with them, but was already on the other side of the room, almost in reaching distance of the bones.

"Poochy! Get back here right now!" the aggravated houndour exclaimed.

"Shhhhh!" Striker interrupted. "Look, that thing is still asleep. He can make it."

The next few moments were those full of suspense as Poochy reached for the bones. He had been able to obtain the first three, but that last bone was out of his reach, and was a little too close to the colossal pokemon for the shiny canine's comfort. As he took another slow step toward the enormous entity, it began to stir again, causing all the dogs to suddenly freeze in their tracks. When they noticed the being was only readjusting itself, they all let out a sigh of relief. Poochy quickly reached out and grabbed the final bone, and walked to the others with them in tow. Upon reaching the three awaiting canines, he gave each of them one Rare Bone, and the group quietly made their way out of the room. After leaving the monster's quarters, they found themselves back in the room with what looked like the first pillar. They quickly confirmed this by allowing Striker to read the text on the pillar, which was exactly the same as before. In addition, they could see the exit that led back to the spring just outside the cave. The dog pokemon were perplexed at how they found themselves back at the exit with such ease, but didn't decide to complain since they were all somewhat exhausted. Once the group of canines exited the cave they found that the Gyarados that assisted them from before was awaiting for their return.

"I was beginning to think you guys weren't ever going to come out of there." The serpentine pokemon stated. "So, did you find anything interesting?"

"Heck yeah we did! We had to fight ghosts, and find these old pillars, but we got treasure!" The excited Houndour exclaimed as he showed off his Rare Bone."

"I'm happy for you guys. However, I think it's time for you all to head home. You've been in there a long time." The sea dragon said as he lowered his back, to allow the four dogs to climb on top of him.

"Wait. How long were we in there?" Striker asked as the four canines boarded the aquatic pokemon.

"A few hours." The water type answered. "I'd say its a little bit after noon."

"OH CRAP!" all four dogs said in unison.

"We're late for lunch! Our parents are going to kill us when they see we're not at the lake. Or in the clearing." Poochy said as he began to panic. He would surely have throttled his brother, if he had opposable thumbs, and if it wouldn't have caused him to fall off the Gyarados. "See?! I told you we shouldn't have gone in that cave! Now, we're going to get in trouble! "

"Calm down bro." the Houndour said as they approached the other side of the spring. "We can make it back if we run. Just don't fall down this time, Poochy!" Once they reached the solid ground, they jumped off of the water type's back and proceeded to make their way back to the forest. "Thanks for the help. Karp. I'll see you later." Doomer said over his shoulder as the four hounds took off running towards the clearing in front of his and Poochy's home. It was where they would go when they were not playing at the lake or in the forest. The group was making excellent time, until they reach the plains, also known as Route 214, where they had to sneak around to avoid being seen by humans. After that, the clearing was a straight shot, but when they arrived they saw four female canines conversing with each other. Three of them happened to be the pups' mothers while the other was this white canid with what looked like a blade on its forehead and tail. The four approached their mothers slowly and with lowered head, knowing that they were going to be scolded, and that's exactly what happened when the females noticed their presence.

"Where have you four been?!" asked an enraged Mightyena-mother. "It's nearly one, and you didn't come home for lunch."

"Well…you see..." Doomer began his false explanation. "What had happened was…"

"No. I want Poochy to tell me." the Mightyena said as she gave her shiny son that motherly stare that could literally see into the depths of your being. Poochy was able to endure the look for a few moments, however the guilt was beginning to set in.

"We were...we were...WE WERE AT THE SPRING!" Poochy shouted, not being able to take his mother's constant staring anymore. "We went to the spring, and went in the cave, thanks to Doomer's friend, and and…we saw ghosts and saw that monster, but we got these cool bones, but we disobeyed you mother, sorry!" Poochy had said all that in practically one breath, and was now panting heavily. The other four pups had 'face-pawed' after Poochy had given away the entire day's events, while the female Mightyena just gave a smug look at a job well done.

"Bolt…" a female Manectric said as she stepped up to her son. "Is this true?"

"….Yes ma'am…" the electrike said with a defeated tone.

"At least your all safe." The female Arcanine said in a softer tone. "Now Striker, you will be having a talk with your father when we get home."

"Yes Mama…" the Growlithe said without hesitation.

"I'm glad this is all settled. Now, why don't you four go inside and eat?" The Mightyena said to the children. "I've set out some food for each of you. Run along now. We have business to attend to."

The four pups didn't argue and went up the hill into Doomer's and Poochy's home, while the three mothers turned back to the white quadruped known as Absol.

"I see. So, you are that shiny pokemon's mother." The disaster pokemon stated towards the Mightyena.

"Yes. Why does it matter?" she asked in response.

"It only means, you need to heed more words all the more. As I said before, trainers are planning to arrive in this general area from the nearby cities of Pastoria and Veilstone. Rumors of rare pokemon are the cause of this sudden movement. I believe these rumors are referring to you pokemon." the Absol seemed to say with a heavy heart. "Even with the discovery of new regions, and the coming of new pokemon to this land, I still believe this rumor is pertaining to you pokemon. That is why I advise you to hide well, or to flee this area. However, I understand that the needs of your young ones proceed anything. Please stay safe, ...for the sake of your children." With that, the white quadruped went on her way, and left the three mother to discuss their course of action.

The day had grown long, and night was falling upon the land. Long after each family had returned to their own homes, and the children were put to bed, did the mothers revel to their husbands of the warning they had received about the following morning. The mother's explained their plan to the males, and they too had each agreed that for the sake of the kids, it was the best possible solution.

It was early the next morning, and the sun had barely even come from beyond the horizon. Each family had woken their children, and had one last breakfast with them. Afterwards the families left their homes and met up at the clearing once again.

"Ugh…Mom…Dad…?" Poochy said as he rubbed his eyes. "Why did you wake us up so early?"

"Listen. Sons. It appears that our homes are in danger. News about our existence here has reached the ears of humans, and they are coming in search of us." The Houndoom father said towards Doomer and Poochy.

"What!" Striker exclaimed, waking up completely after the startling news. "So wait. What does this mean?"

"It means we have to defend what we love and make sure you kids are safe." Striker's mother said in her normal comforting voice.

"You have all proven that your strong" Bolt's father stated. "Even though you weren't supposed to go to that spring, those bones you recovered from that cave speaks volumes for four, young pups."

"But, Dad...!" Bolt said in protest. "That was one time. Plus what happens if...if..."

"Nothing will happen to you four because we want you all to leave for that spring." Striker's father said. "Not many humans travel in that area. You will be safe there."

"To make sure no trainers get you, we will hold them off long enough to make sure you get there safely." the female Mightyena said with confidence.

"No!" Poochy exclaimed as he rushed to his mother and clung to her leg. "No! I don't wanna go. I don't wanna lose you Mom!"

"I know Son, but knowing that you're free, and not lost to some horrid trainer is something my heart can keep going on with. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if someone captured you." She bent down to give the whimpering pup a kiss and petted his head with her paw. "Poochy…stay strong for me. For your friends. For all of us." The shiny Poochyena slowly climbed off of his mother and walked slowly back to his friends to face the adults.

"Please understand that we are doing this because we love you, and we don't want to see any of you be robbed of a live you choose." The Houndoom explained.

That was when all of them heard a rustle from a bush nearby and the figure revealed itself as an Infernape. When the monkey had begun to call for its master it was clear that it belonged to a trainer and that the humans were approaching sooner than anticipated.

"You four need to leave. Go!" Striker's dad said as the adults prepared for battle."

"We love you all. Stay safe." Bolt's mother said.

Bolt and Striker took off for the woods with Doomer not far behind. However, Doomer turned back when he noticed that Poochy had yet to move.

"Poochy! We need to go! NOW!" he yelled at his little brother.

Poochy sat there for a few more seconds until he saw his mother nod at him and say "I love you" on last time. After that Poochy stood up and ran into the woods with his brother. The brotherly duo had ran a good distances from the lake front in a matter of minutes, and had even caught up with the other pair of pups who had left before them. As the group proceeded through the mass of trees surrounding them, they could just sense the area becoming flooded with more and more humans. If the fear of getting captured wasn't enough, the sounds of several wild pokemon running, placed a news sense of terror in the dogs' minds. The group continued to run ahead until they made the mistake to dash head first into Route 214. The group quickly ran to the tall grass and attempted to stay hidden from the large amounts of trainers that were currently moving around within the route. However, their efforts were futile, as they were spotted by a random trainer who decided to search away from his trainer brethren.

"Hey! Look a bunch of dog pokemon, and...WAIT! Is that? Oh sweet Arcues, it is! A SHINY POOCHYENA!" The boy squealed when he noticed the four canines crawling through the grass. "Alright. Go Charizard!" the trainer said as he threw the pokeball that contained the fire type. Once in the air, the classic red and white ball released the dragon-like fire pokemon within onto the grassy plain. "We're going to catch that Poochyena, so don't kill it, buddy!" the overly-excited boy said to his pokemon partner, who just roared in approval.

"Poochy, you need to get out of here." Doomer said to his younger brother. "We'll handle this as you get away with you Run Away ability.

"But, Brother...!"

"Poochy!" Striker interjected. "Please do as he says. It's you a lot of these people are after. So please, friend. Get out of here."

"Okay, Charizard use Flamethrower on Poochyena!" the fire type didn't hesitate to listen to the human and released a burst of flames toward the shiny canine. However, both Striker and Doomer stepped in front of him and absorbed the attack with their Flash Fire ability. With this distraction, Poochy wasted no time in turning tail and fleeing from the battle. "NO!" the trainer yelled to the heavens, along with some other words, as he fell to the ground in defeat. "I just missed out on one of the rarest pokemon ever… No! I'm not giving up! GO! Dragonite! The boy said as he threw another pokeball that soon released the yellow dragon into air. "Chase after that Poochyena, Dragonite! Don't let it get away!" The dragon nodded and flew off towards the tree line where they had seen the shiny canine disappear from sight.

"Dang it!" Bolt cursed as the dragon flew off after their friend. "We got to go help Pooch."

"No." the Houndour said quickly and attacked the boy's Charizard with his powered up Flamethrower. "We have to stall this guy as long as we can. All we can do is hope Poochy can get away."

"Charizard! Use Dragon Rage!" the boy commanded. The dual fire type released a bust of blue energy towards the three dog instead of a particular canine, causing the three to dodge in different directions.

"Split up guys! Remember we have protect Poochy!"

"Right!"

"Got it!"

Meanwhile, amongst the trees, Poochy was running as fast as his little legs would carry him. Even though he had put a considerable amount of distance between him, and the trainer, he looked back to see that the boy's dragon pokemon was pursuing him with amazing speed. Poochy knew he wouldn't last long being chased by this pokemon. He knew that in a matter of seconds, the dragon would reach him and halt his progress, and there was nothing he would be able to do about it. Poochy let out a little howl as a desperate last moment of action, but a few moments past and the dragon which was pursuing him didn't appear and take him back to the trainer. Poochy looked back and quickly stopped to see the yellow pokemon lying on the ground unconscious. The shiny canine approached the knocked out dragon to see that he had been hit with an ice attack, because half of its body was frozen solid.

"You, Poochy." A strange feminine voice said from behind the pup. Poochy quickly turned around to be met with the same white pokemon who he had seen talking with his mother yesterday. 'We haven't much time before more humans come in search for you. Come. I know of a place you can be safe. In fact, you know it as well." The Absol began to run further east, and Poochy followed. He soon began to feel 'déjà vu' as he remembered the area they were heading towards. That was went Poochy recognized the area, of his thoughts, were soon confirmed when he saw a spring covered with a thick fog. "To the few humans that know of this place, it is known as Sendoff Spring. Not many people come here, but we can't be too careful. We will hide within the cover of the trees until the trainers leave the area." Poochy just nodded, but turned his head back towards Route 214. He thought about his friends and family, but knew that if he were to go back, he would surely be caught. He bowed his head, and followed the disaster pokemon into the trees until this entire epidemic blew over.

It wasn't until the sun had set, and the moon had made its way into the night sky, when Poochy felt like he would be able to go back to his home. The female Absol accompanied him as he slowly left the spring and back into Route 214. The plain was dead silent. The field couldn't be described as anything less than a battlefield after a huge war. Several pokemon were looking around for their lost companions, and Poochy could even hear the faint sound of sobbing from a few of them. However, the Poochyena paid no attention to it, and continued his way across the plain, towards the Valor Lakefront. Once there, he saw that the area looked completely normal, like no battling was done here, whatsoever. He actually thought is looked beautiful, the way the moonlight reflected upon the lake. However, Poochy didn't stay here long and slowly made his way to his home.

What are the chances they actually didn't get caught? Poochy asked within his mind. As the hill, where his home was, came into view, his paces slowly went from a slow walk to a full-on sprint. He didn't know if anyone had made it through all those humans, but he wanted to find out, now. He ran up the hill, and wasted no time in entering his home to find it completely barren. There wasn't even a scent of any of his family or friends within the hollow den. Poochy didn't have the heart to stay inside the structure, and quickly went back outside to find the female Absol awaiting him. Not a word was spoken between them and Poochy just sat down and shook his head. The white pokemon clearly understood the message and went to comfort the small dark type who had started crying due to the loss of his 'pack'. Poochy continued to let the bitter tears fall from his eyes until he remembered the words of his mother. Poochy…stay strong for me. For your friends. For all of us. the words echoed back to him. He quickly wiped away his tears and lifted up his head toward the night sky and the moon overhead. He let out a soft howl of sadness and sat there watching the stars for a majority of the night.

Three months later.

The area known as Route 214 and Lake Valor had changed very little over the past few months. The humans had repaired the damage done to Route 214, and new pokemon began to move into the surrounding area. However, there was one pokemon who had never left the area, and always avoided capture. The shiny pokemon known as Poochy, or that at least what he was called a few months ago. Since then, the shiny pokemon had trained under the guidance of the wise, female Absol and eventually evolved into a Mightyena. Even though this made him a lot stronger, he was now in more danger of being seen and caught.

The shiny pokemon stepped out of his home and took a deep breath of fresh air. The feeling of excitement began to rise up within the shiny pokemon, because today was the day had been awaiting for weeks. Today was the day when he set out on his journey to find what those rotten humans took away from him. He was just about to walk down the hill, when a white, dark type pokemon emerged from the den behind him.

"Poochy." the Absol said, stopping him for a second. "I'm not going to try and stop you. I just want you to know, that you've grown so strong over these past few months, and I wish for your safety as you travel." she said with a smile. "I will most likely not be here when you return, if you decide to do so. I guess this is farewell. Maybe our paths will cross again someday."

"Thank you Auntie Absol,...for everything." The shiny pokemon said as he bowed his head to her, "And you don't have to call me that anymore. I'm not a puppy. Just call me Mighty."

"I know, but you will always have that part of you that is like a puppy, 'Mighty.'" she said in a teasing way which just caused the Mightyena to shake his head.

The two shared a quick embrace and Mighty turned towards Route 214, and went on is way. Although, he decided to take a quick detour, and go by the lake front for one last time. When he arrived, he was remembered of the morning that changed his life. He didn't continue to ponder on the thought, but remembered his parents and the ones who had protected him as a Poochyena. He soon left the lake front and moved to Route 214. He was able to stay hidden very well after he began to travel further south in the route. However he did look back towards the area where his friends and brother stood up against that trainer in order for him to get away. He shook his head at how weak he was back then, but now, he was different. He was strong, cunning, and wasn't going to allow anything to stand in his way. The shiny Mightyena looked back towards the south, leaving his past behind him. Now, was the time he began to look ahead to a brighter future.

Mama…Papa…Brother…Striker…Bolt…I will find you all, and make sure I repay each of you for doing so much for me.

A/N: Wow that was sooooo long! Longest chapter I've ever done. Besides this chapter being the length of a one-shot, I think it turned out to be a good beginning. Getting all the serious stuff out of the way first and then moving onto humor. What do you think Dani?

Dani: Mudkip now?

Tom: No. Did you see a mudkip anywhere in this chapter?

Dani: No. But I will. ;D

Tom: …What? Mudkip isn't in this chapter. How are you going to see it?

Dani: Like this: MUDKIP. MUDKIP. MUDKIP. MUDKIP. MUDKIP. All hail the Heroes of Mud!

Tom: *left eye twitches* … This is only the first chapter and I can tell I'm going to need some ibuprofen while writing this with you.

Anyway. I hope you all liked it, and don't forget to review. Don't worry things will pick up soon in Chapter two: Enter the Mudkip!

Dani: YAAAYYY!

Tom: *sigh* Dang it.