Dear readers,

Just in response to Lupune's point, I had Oddish as a partner because Oddish are underappreciated :P And sorry this Chapter took sooooooo long to be written- let's just say it was a mix of writer's block, school assignments and my own laziness.

Yours truly,

Frenchii…

Chapter 2

The Initiation

"So, you think you can get into the Council just by defeating someone?" Farfetch'd sneered.

Absol, Oddish and I looked at each other.

"As head of security at the council," it continued, "I know all the goings-on in the forest and I know Houndoom was, to your credit, quite a difficult Pokémon to defeat. So that's why the heads of the council are giving you three a chance to get employed as apprentices into the council, an initiation, I, if you will."

"Thank you," Absol bowed so that the tip of its horn touched the ground.

"But-" Oddish began. Farfetch'd bonked Oddish over the head with its leek.

"No buts!" It sqwarked, flapping its wings around wildly, "You three are lucky to have such an honour placed upon you. Usually applicants for apprenticeships have to do hundreds of missions before they can even THINK of applying. You should be kissing the heads of the council's feet."

"What KIND of initiation?" I asked.

Ten Minutes Later...

"Oh my god!" Oddish moaned.

"You heard Farfetch'd," said Absol, "we should be lucky we even got this chance."

"Yeah, I know," Oddish replied, "but DELIVERIES?"

We were assigned a delivery mission as our initiation. We were supposed to deliver a Wonder Orb- whatever that was- to some Ralts lost in Grey Cave. After a bit of walking, we finally saw the huge cave jutting into the horizon. I stepped near the entrance.

"Hello?"

My voice called straight back at me.

"Seems pretty dark," Absol said, staring into darkness.

"You can say that again," Oddish said. Absol opened its mouth.

"Don't," I laughed.

We stood there for a good five minutes, the chilly forest wind making us shiver.

"Well," Absol said, "we aren't gonna get this Orb to Ralts by standing here. Let's go."

The inside of the cave was not as dark as it looked from the outside; numerous holes dotted the ceiling, showering the cave with specks of light. We eventually reached a cavern with two tunnels leading away from where we had just come from.

"Great," Oddish said, looking back and forth between the two tunnels. "Now where do we go?"

"No clue," Absol murmured. It looked at me, "Jay?"

I hate having to make decisions. I hate the thought of what would happen if I got it wrong and we got lost. Or worse.

"Um..." I thought for a moment. My train of thought was interrupted by Oddish.

"What if," it asked, "we split up?"

"Uh..." I thought about it.

It wasn't a bad idea, I could see the logic behind it. But what if we found Ralts down one path and trouble down the other? We couldn't defeat Houndoom without teamwork, what if one of us went down a tunnel and ran into a whole tribe of Houndoom? They wouldn't stand a chance.

"No," I said, and explained my worries.

"Oh," Oddish said, "I guess that's fair enough."

It looked disappointed. I closed my eyes and concentrated. Which way should we go? Then, there was an eruption of blue-white light, which ended up forming into the shape of the cave.

It was happening again. I could feel Absol's eagerness to get the job done, and Oddish's disappointment. Then, down the left tunnel, I could feel an aura of impatience. Could that be Ralts? Or could it be some malicious Pokémon, impatiently waiting to ambush us? I searched around for any traces of fear. But none could be found. I couldn't see the blue-white form of the impatient Pokémon like I could Absol and Oddish.

"That's strange," I said aloud.

"What is?" Absol asked.

"I had another one of those moments, like before I used Aura Sphere, where I could feel the emotions around me, and there was no trace of fear anywhere near here."

"Maybe it's not near here," Oddish stated, "maybe it's too far away."

"That's what I thought, but then I felt a strong wave of impatience coming from pretty far down the tunnel. I can't even see its emotion like I can with you."

"Well, head down that tunnel and see," Oddish said.

"But it could be an ambush," I said.

"So," Absol smiled, "we saw how powerful your Aura Sphere is. We can take them out."

"But the whole emotion-vision thing doesn't come when I want it to. Only when I really concentrate, or someone's feeling a strong emotion."

"Well, said Oddish, "they must be showing some pretty strong emotion for you to feel it from this far away." I gave in.

"Fair enough," I moaned, as we set off down the tunnel.

The emotions started getting stronger as I began to phase in and out of my "emotion state".

"Hello?" I called out, beginning to get a headache.

"Hello?" A voice called back. It wasn't an echo this time.

Out from behind a rock, came a small Pokémon.

"Do you have my Orb?" It asked.

"Yep," said Absol, handing Ralts the Wonder Orb.

"Thank you," Ralts said. "This Luminous Orb will help me a lot with my exploring."

As it put the Orb away, there was a loud, long screech, which made my headache worse. There was a flutter of wings as, out of a dark corner, flew a bat-like Pokémon, a Gliscor.

"Oh no," moaned Absol.

"Oh yes," Gliscor smiled, "I want that Orb."

"But you're a Gliscor," Oddish frowned, "you live in caves, why do you need light to see."

"I don't," Gliscor growled, "I just don't want anyone else to have one in this cave. It makes things so horribly bright and my family and I have had enough. Now hand it over."

"No," Ralts protested.

"Then you leave me no choice," Gliscor said, before lunging at Ralts, only to be blocked by Oddish.

"No," Oddish said, "you leave us no choice. Absorb!"

Gliscor started glowing green, as did Oddish. Absol lunged at Gliscor, who dodged, sending Absol flying into a cave wall.

"Ouch," Absol whimpered.

"My turn!" I hollered, "Aura Sphere!"

Nothing happened.

"Darn it!" I cursed, just before Gliscor tore from Oddish's attack and slamming me, full-force, into the ground. I tried to get up but a sharp pain shot up my right leg, forcing me to sit down.

Oddish, however, was still going strong, barging into Gliscor with all its might, bouncing off, then going back for more.

"Poison sting!" Gliscor yelled, shooting poisonous needles from its tail.

Oddish dodged these, before going into another Absorb attack. Gliscor broke out of it and slammed into Oddish, sending it flying, smashing into the wall. A moment passed. There was no sign of movement, except for the dust settling. Then, out of the dust, flew bright orange spores, which covered Gliscor who started twitching and fell to the ground. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by a bright white light.

At the Council...

The light flickered and disappeared and we were at the Council. Ralts was standing front of us.

"Did you enjoy the trip?" It smiled.

"No," I said, getting up. The pain shot up my leg. "Aargh!"

"Here," Ralts said, presenting a blue berry, "eat it." I did.

It worked wonders. I felt great and my leg was better.

"That was an Oran Berry," Ralts said, "It heals wounds."

"Thanks," I said. Absol and Oddish walked over. "Are you alright Absol?" It nodded. "Oddish? Brilliant fight back there."

"Thanks," it said, shyly.

"How did we get back?" I asked.

"I teleported you," Ralts said.

Just as I got up, Farfetch'd entered the room.

"About time," Farfetch'd said, "what took you so long?"

"Quiet Farfetch'd," Ralts frowned, "these three are to be commended on their work, not only did they deliver the orb, but they fought pretty bravely against an angry Gliscor, especially Oddish. You should be rewarding them, not scolding them." Farfetch'd struggled to regain composure.

"Y-y-y-yes sir," it stuttered, turning to us, "my apologies."

"Now," Ralts said, "I have some important business to attend to. Come Farfetch'd."

It left the room, followed closely by Farfetch'd. It had been several minutes until they returned.

"The Council Elders would like to see you," Farfetch'd announced.

We followed them down a long corridor, until we came to a set of huge wooden doors. Farfetch'd stepped up to the door and banged it with its leek.

"Enter," a soft, caring voice said.

The room was huge. Empty, but huge. There were like ten Machoke on each side of a huge carpet that spread along to a set of stairs. And on those stairs, were two Pokémon, Gallade and Gardevoir. The heads of council.