This story will have shorter chapters compared to Sasha's Story, but that's more because I'm trying to do this in order and not invoke anachronistic order as often.


The air was thick with oily black smoke, flashes of orange, yellow and red occasionally bursting through the murk.

Formless black shapes leaped through the blazing forest, pokémon and humans alike fleeing the inferno.

"This way!" a liepard howled, herding its litter along. A family of watchogs acted as guideposts, their bodies glowing brightly.

A purrloin fell with a yelp, but before it could be trampled underfoot, a large green pokémon helped it to its paws. "Hurry, little one," the Musketeer Virizion said encouragingly, "you're almost there."

Passing the small kitten along to its grateful mother, Virizion scanned the brush.

"Excuse me!"

The noble pokémon turned to see a zoroark clutching an egg. "Have you seen my husband?!" it asked, eyes wide with fear.

Virizion shook her head sadly. "I'm sure he's alright," she said with a smile. "Once things settle down, I'm sure he'll find you."

A flicker of unease passed over the zoroark's face and she clutched the egg tighter to her chest. Blinking away tears – from the smoke or grief, Virizion couldn't tell – the zoroark dipped her head to the Musketeer and turned, fleeing the blaze.

"Virizion!" came the booming voice of Terrakion. "That's the last of them!"

Tearing her attention from the zoroark, Virizion shook herself, causing the ashes that had coated her to fall off. "Alright. Are the panpour and simipour in position?"

"They're ready and were simply waiting for everyone to get out. Wouldn't want even more pokémon getting lost among the storm," came a third voice. A large blue pokémon strode out of the fire, not bothered by it in the least. "Would have been nice if Thunderus were here, but all three of them are asleep at the moment."

Virizion sighed, shaking her head. "Alright, let's do this."

At their command and by their guidance, the water elemental pokémon used Rain Dance. Thick dark clouds swiftly formed and water poured down on the blaze. Even under the deluge, the fire stubbornly refused to go out.

"Terrakion, some help?" Cobalion asked.

The ground-type nodded and unleashed Mud Shot and Mud Bomb to quench some of the larger bonfires. The rain then washed the mud away, mixing it into the ash-coated ground.

"The forest will recover from this," Cobalion said, noticing Virizion's uneasy look.

"That's not what's bothering me," she said, flicking water from her head. "It's the fire."

Terrakion came over, done with his work. "What're you saying?"

Virizion glanced at him, then at the devastated forest. "Forest fires are natural – a cycle of renewal. But this was too fierce to be natural."

"You think a pokémon set it?" Cobalion asked.

Virizion smiled thinly. "A young pansear is always accompanied by a panpour to prevent such things." Her expression hardened. "No, I think it was humans."

"What reason would they have to burn a forest down?" Terrakion asked.

Virizion didn't have an answer.


At the edge of the forest, a trio of humans converged.

"What'd we get?" one asked.

"Nothing particularly impressive," another said, shaking its head.

"A zoroark is the only one of note, but the others will get Team Plasma plenty of money from sales to Team Rocket. Their greed for non-Kanto pokémon for their black market works in our favor," the third said.

"So I can report this as a success to Lord Ghetsis?"

"He will be most pleased, I am sure of it."


Zoroark opened her eyes.

She'd dreamed of him again – the handsome zoroark who had stolen her heart and given her a daughter before he had vanished from her life. Sighing, she got up, stretching her body as she sniffed the air.

Ailette's scent was thin, meaning she had left some time ago and Zoroark sighed, idly running her paws through her mane of hair.

They touched the bauble toward the end and she cupped it, gazing into its greenish-blue depths. It had been a gift from her mate. He liked her mane long, but understood the hassle of taking care of it, so he had come home one evening carrying the odd thing, which he said humans had used to keep their own hair under control.

Initially, she had dismissed it, but after a few days of getting her hair caught in everything, she had conceded the point and contained her wild locks. The look on her mate's face once she had finished had been a sight she always treasured and several months after that night, she'd presented him with an egg.

Then the fire had struck.

Closing her eyes, she slowly let out a breath, gently letting the memories sink back down and she called forth more recent ones to think about.

Such as where the heck her daughter was.

No doubt looking at humans again. Or trying to pass herself off as one.

For all her venom towards the Unovans, Zoroark knew she couldn't prevent her daughter's curiosity and she tried to keep herself neutral toward them when talking about the subject, but after what they had done to her family and what she'd gone through as a trainer's pokémon, it was very hard to do so.

She left the den and melted into the depths of the woods to hunt.