Hey guys and welcome to chapter 2. Sorry this took awhile to update, but now that school's started, I'm back in the writing kick and will be posting a lot more. Also, I realize that this story isn't going to be at all popular because of my choice of Pokemon that I use in this story, but hey, all I see now a days on are stories about Eevee, it's evolutions, and Lucario, and that just gets boring after awhile. I tried to pick characters for this story that were less popular, but that I could still make characters out of.

With that out of the way, enjoy!

For the first few seconds after her mother had told her the news, Sarah didn't know how to react.

"Wh-what do you mean stolen?" Sarah asked once she had processed the information.

"It's…it's…" the bellossom tried to get out, but eventually couldn't take it as she started to cry, the tears streaming down her face. She quickly covered her face as she broke down. Sarah pulled her mother into a hug and let the grass type weep on her.

For the next few moments, the only sound was that of Sarah's mother's muffled crying.

"Miss Liza," Grace started, being as polite as possible. She knelt now to the bellossom's level to be able to talk with her. "Can you please tell us what happened?"

Liza parted herself from her daughter and wiped away as many tears away from her face as she could. "They…they were stolen…during the night," she answered, still choked up.

"Do you know who stole them?" Sarah asked.

"That's just the thing," a voice from the circle interrupted. All three of them looked up to see a Vileplume approaching them. Sarah recognized him as the head elder of the village. "They came in the middle of the night so no one was able to see who they were," he continued.

"Did they leave any evidence behind telling us who they might have been?" Grace inquired.

"They did leave behind some footprints," The elder confirmed, "but no one has been able to identify the Pokemon that they belong to."

Grace's eyes lit up when she heard this.

"I might know who they belong to," she announced. All eyes turned to her when she said this. "I've been studying Pokemon footprints lately and if I could take a look at them, I might be able to know what kind of Pokemon left them."

The elder looked at Grace with questioning eyes. Grace didn't come to the village that often, so she was seen by most as an outsider. She didn't mind, however.

After a little thinking, the elder finally nodded his head.

"Follow me," the vileplume said as he motioned with his hand for her to follow. He started off in the direction opposite of where Grace and Sarah had entered the village. Grace started to follow the elder while the rest of the circle of leaders that were there followed after her, including Liza. Sarah decided that she had nothing better to do so she tagged along at the end of the line.

After walking through the rest of the village, the group arrived at a small hut near the edge of the village.

"Here is where we keep all the evolution stones in the whole village," the elder explained while they approached the small house. "But there's been one thing that's been bothering me," he continued. "We keep a lot of different stones in here, but only Sarah's Sun and Leaf Stone were taken, no others."

"That is strange…" Grace agreed with a hand to her chin.

All of the Pokemon came to a stop in front of the hut.

"Here are the footprints we found," the elder announced. With an outstretched hand, he pointed to a few distinct indentations on the ground that were somehow still there from last night and had not been disturbed.

Grace detached herself from the group and approached the footprints. She knelt down to get a closer look at them, touching them ever so slightly. Whoever had left these footprints had three fingers on each paw with the middle one being smaller than the other two. They also had a circular gap in the middle of the paw.

"I believe these are the footprints of a…" Grace trailed off. She wanted to examine the prints once more time to make absolute sure that she was right before she made a claim.

"A…what?" Sarah asked when the kirlia didn't continue.

After a few moments of examination, Grace had come to a conclusion.

"A ninetails." Grace said as she stood up.

Everyone including the Elder and Liza nodded their heads in understanding.

Everyone except Sarah, that is.

"What's a ninetails?" she asked, having never heard of a Pokemon with that name before.

"Didn't you have a guard outside this hut?" Grace asked the elder, ignoring Sarah question for now.

"We did, yes, but something strange happened to him in the middle of the night," the elder explained. "He claimed that he saw the rest of the village on fire, and so he left his post and went to go see what was going on. When he got there, however, the fire was gone and there was no evidence that a fire had ever started last night. After the guard got back to his post, he came back to find that the two stones had been stolen."

"That would line up with the thief being a ninetails," Grace said. "They have the ability to make illusions and force Pokemon to see things that aren't really there."

"I see…" the village elder nodded to show that he now understood who they were really up against. "But there aren't any ninetails that live in this area-at least, none that I know of."

"Maybe they're not from here. Maybe they came from somewhere else," Grace suggested.

"Perhaps, but if that were the case: one, how would they know where we keep our stones, and two, why would they only take Sarah's stones?" the elder brought up some good points.

"I don't know why, but we do need to go after that ninetails as quick as possible so he or she can't get too far," Grace told the elder. "Since this seems like a ninetails who know what he or she is doing, we would want to sent warriors after him or her, right?"

The vileplume just shook his head at this comment.

"We aren't able to do that," he replied. Sarah didn't like how fast the elder was to say that and dismiss any kind of alternative, even though she knew why it wasn't that simple.

Grace, however, didn't know why, and so she promptly asked.

"We have the Three Village Festival in a two days," the elder explained, "and we will need all of our fighters there to represent us in the tournaments. It is very important that we have all of them there."

"More important than getting Sarah's stones back?" Grace questioned.

The elder grew silent with this last comment. He stood there contemplating this question.

"I need some time to think about what to do," he finally said. "I'll send someone to get you two when we have made a decision," the elder said.
With a small nod, the elder walked away from the hut and everyone who was beside it. The small group that had been with him started to follow, too, knowing that the elder would want them to help find out what to do.

Liza looked back at her daughter with a sad expression on her face. She forced a smile before turning around and walking with the others.

Grace and Sarah watched them until they went around a corner and were out of sight.

"Is the festival really that important?" Grace asked once she had walked over to where Sarah was.

Sarah, who had been mostly silent up to this point, gave a weak nod.

"The Three Village Festival is something that only happens once every fifty years," the gloom explained. "All three of the villages that live within this forest get together to have a huge festival that lasts two weeks. During that time, there's always a battling tournament where each village enters all their best fighters. Who ever wins gets to hold the next festival, which is a big honor, as you can imagine."

Grace took a small glance around the village before replying.

"I take it you guys didn't win last time?"

"No, we didn't," Sarah said with a nod. "The plan was to have my evolution ceremony, and then immediately go to the festival. That's why I was a little overlooked compared to what is to come."

"I see…"

"By the way, what's a ninetails?" Sarah asked again, this time directly to Grace.

"It's a vulpine, fire-type native to the Kanto region with nine tails. It's also the evolution to vulpix," the kirla explained. "Ninetails are known for their ability to create illusions, as you heard. It is also said that if you step on, pull one of their tails, they put an 1,000 year curse on you."

"What's the curse?"

"That wasn't in the book I read, but it sounds like something that is serious."

"What would that kind of Pokemon want with my evolution stones?" Sarah asked.

"That is what I do not know."

Sarah gave out a large, stress-relieving sigh. Afterwards, she walked away from Grace in a direction that led out of the village.

"Where are you going?" Grace asked.

"Somewhere quiet to think about everything that's happening." Sarah left it at that and continued on her way.

"Be sure to be back for the meeting later!" Grace called after her.

"I will be," Sarah said back with a heavy heart. This whole morning had put her feelings out of whack, and now Sarah just needed to go someplace to calm down.

And she knew just the place.

After about a good ten minutes of walking through the forest, Sarah arrived at where she wanted to be. Through the thick sea of trees, in a small, remote area of the forest, was a large, serene pond that was not very popular. Very few people knew that it existed, and the small amount that did, including Sarah, didn't tell anyone. After all, the reason that Sarah went here was because almost no one was ever at it.

Once in a while Sarah would find another Pokemon here, also enjoying the peacefulness that was this pond. Sarah always assumed that they were wild and not part of any village around, considering the other two villages in the forest were a day's walk away and she had never seen them in her village. Then again, she didn't know that for sure because she had never talked to any of them. This pond had a calming aura. It was understood by all who came here that this was a quiet place, and anyone who came here did so to get away and be alone. Talking to anyone would defeat that purpose.

Today, however, Sarah was to only one there.

The gloom went up to the side of the water and dipped her legs into it, and then sat down on the bank.

The water felt good on her legs as the shallow waves brushed up against them. It was a little cold, but not too much. Thankfully, it also hadn't frozen over.

Sarah always came here and dangled in the pond when she needed to think something over or when she needed some time alone. It was the perfect place to do both of those things.

Sarah breathed in and out deeply to help get her thoughts together.

"So, my evolution stones have been stolen by a…ninetails…" she thought to herself, "and the elder doesn't want to send any warriors to go after them because of the festival."

Sarah's stomach grumbled while she was thinking. The berry from last night had not lasted, and she didn't have any breakfast.

"It's not like I can go after that ninetails myself," she kept thinking, despite her hunger. "I'm not a fighter. I know a few attacks, but ninetails sound like a dangerous Pokemon. Then again, it's not like I can just let them steal my stones."

Sarah looked down at the water and stared at her reflection.

"What am I going to do?" she asked herself outloud.

"There you are," a young, male voice came from behind Sarah. "I knew I'd find you here."

Sarah immediately recognized that voice. She whipped around as fast as she could.

"Drew!" she exclaimed.

The Pokemon behind her had mostly purple skin, with a few brown parts around his waist and his feet. Three blunt spikes came out of his head. On his back was a small, brown backpack.

"Hey, Sarah," the tyrogue said with a cheerful attitude and a wave. "How have you been?"

Sarah got up from her spot as quick as she could and ran over to the fighting type.

"Drew! When did you get back?" Sarah answered his question with one of her own.

"Just now, actually. I made it my plan to tell you I was back before doing anything. Grace told me you had gone somewhere quiet to think. I knew that this is where you'd be."

Sarah smiled when she heard this.

"I guess you do know me really well," she said. "Now come on, sit with me and tell me all about your training," Sarah invited. She went back to the waterside and dipped her legs in again. Drew put his backpack down and sat next to her. He also dipped his legs into the pond.

"This water is really nice considering how cold it has been," Drew commented.

"So," Sarah said impatiently, "how has your training been these last four months?"

"Well, it's been really hard at times," Drew started. "It is physically taxing, but I have learned so much from Jonathan. He's such a great fighter and knows so much about combat. Even though I've been there for four months straight, I don't think I've learned even a fraction of that Mienshao's knowledge. I'm so glad that he took me in as his student."

"Like, what kind of attacks did you learn?"

"If we get the chance, I'll show them too you. So, what have you been doing?" Drew asked.

"Well, not much, actually," Sarah replied, knowing that what she had been doing wasn't as important. "I've just been doing what I always do. Working for my mother by delivering messages and items to the other two villages. Nothing as interesting as what you've been doing."

"Delivering those things to the other villages is still very important," Drew said with an uplifting tone of voice. "Even if it's not as exciting as what I've been doing, I'd still say it's as important, if not more."

"Maybe…" Sarah doubted that, but didn't say anything. "Why did you decide to come back?"

Drew gave out a small chuckle.

"For your evolution ceremony, of course!" he said. "Well, and also the three village festival. I wouldn't miss those two things for the world. Thankfully, Jonathan gave me leave from training so I could get to both of those things." Drew's facial expression quickly turned to one of somber before saying, "but I guess I'll only get one of those things now."
"Oh…so you've heard…" Sarah's face grew as sad as Drew's.

"Yeah, Grace told me. It's kinda hard to believe, you know? That someone would just walk into the village and steal only your stones and no one else's."

"I know what you mean…"

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, it's not like I can just go after that ninetails myself. Not only am I not a good fighter, I've rarely been outside this forest. I would be lost out there by myself."
"Can't you just go out and get new stones?"

Sarah shook her head.

"You see, it's a tradition in this village to bind the Pokemon that will evolve with the stones they will use. Once someone is bound to the stones, they can only use those stones to evolve and none others. It's not something that many Pokemon outside of these villages do."

"That's right," Drew said as he remembered. "You did tell me that. I'm guessing the elder doesn't want to send any warriors because of the Festival, right?" Drew guessed.

"Yeah. They're having a meeting right now to decide what to do."

Sarah felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked from the water to see Drew looking at her in the eyes.

"I'll go after them if no one else will," Drew assured her.

"But…that would mean you would miss the festival," Sarah said with wide eyes.

"I know that," Drew told her, "but getting those stones back for you is much more important than some old festival."

"But it only happens every 50 years!" Sarah said very surprised. "You may never get another chance to participate in it."

"But your evolution only happens once in a lifetime!" Drew rebutted. "If someone doesn't go after that ninetails, then you'll never evolve!"

Sarah stopped and thought about this. Her smile grew larger when she fully processed what Drew had said.

"You would…do that…for me?"

"Of course. I would do anything for my best friend," Drew said as he put one of his hands on his chest.

"Thanks, Drew…" Sarah said quietly.

"No problem." Drew took his hand off of Sarah and looked across the water of the pond. Sarah started to do the same until her stomach rumbled again.

"I've been worrying so much about everything that I have barely been eating," Sarah said, slightly embarrassed. "The sun hasn't been strong enough for me to be able to photosynthesis my energy back."

"Hey, no problem. I actually brought back some berries here in my bag. You want one?" Drew offered while reaching for his backpack."

"I would love one," Sarah happily accepted. Drew open his bag and started to scavenge through it.

"What kind would you like?"

"I don't care."

"A Chesto berry alright?"

"That's fine."

Drew picked out two Chesto berries and passed one of them to Sarah. They both started to eat their berries and quickly finished them. The two of them then enjoyed the tranquility that the quiet lake provided for a few minutes, neither of them saying a word, trying to get their mind off of their current predicament.

"Hey, Sarah?" Drew finally said to get the gloom's attention.

"Mh-hm?" she mumbled back, not taking her eyes of the pond.

"Remember when we used to play here when we were younger?" Drew asked out of nowhere. Sarah bore a questioning look on her face as she looked over to Drew.

"Where did that come from?"

"I don't know," Drew answered with a smile. "I guess just looking at this lake made me reminisce about all the good times we had when we were younger."

Sarah turned back to the lake and joined Drew in his nostalgic trip.

"Yeah, I do," Sarah answered Drew's original question. "That was back when we were just kids and had no care in the world. Don't you wish you could relive those days?"

Drew nodded. "That I do."

After that there was silence again as the two now recalled all the fun times they played together.

"I think we should start to head back," Sarah suggested after they had sat remembering for a good five minutes. "The elder had probably decided what to do by now."

"True," Drew agreed. Sarah slowly climbed to her feet while Drew pushup with his arms and did a backflip onto his feet.

Afterwards, the two headed back towards the village together.

Thanks for reading. If you could tell me how you like the story so far, please do!