How do we judge that something has worth? Money is only paper and metal that was deemed as important.

0-o-0

Sphynx yawned, sitting up to find a pair of eyes surrounded by yellow fur staring at him. He sat up, bumping his head against the creatures and falling backwards with a yelp. He rubbed his forehead, muttering in pain as he looked at Bolt. "Are you alright Sphynx?"

The Shinx nodded, wincing as he rubbed the bump, "I'm fine, I guess, no harm done." He looked at Bolt and his scarf, giving him a curious look, "Who're you again?"

Bolt straightened, giving a mock salute to him and smiling, some kind of alteration in his voice cutting into his words, "I'm Bolt! I'm Cynder's apprentice from the far-off United island Kingdoms of Virostan, also known as the Colony Islands! They're ruled by Queen Vespiqueen! They're a fair distance away from here, but they're not really out of the way. I came here to learn to be a Rescuea and Explora like Cynder, but he doesn't really take me out much. A lot of reading is involved..." His ears flattened, "So much reading..." He seemingly perked up again, "So tell me where you're from Sphynx!"

Sphynx though, shrugging and pawing at the medallion around his neck, "I'm not at all sure, I only remember waking up on a beach and knowing my name and that... I'm not supposed to be a pokemon, but a human."

Bolt's eyes widened and he nearly stepped back, "H-Human?! But-"

Sphynx growled, "I know. But Cynder trusted me and that's why I'm here and not stuck on the beach like a weirdo" He sighed and flopped back down onto the small bed. "So for now I'm here with you both."

Bolt nodded, straightening his scarf, "Well by all means you're welcome here"

Sphynx gave a brief thanks to him before, from across the room, Cynder began to awaken. The Cyndaquil sat up an hopped off his bed, waddled over to them and said gruffly, "Morning"

"G'Morning!" Bolt said with a smile. Sphynx gave a blunt nod an jumped off the bed, stretching and popping his back.

Cynder looked at Sphynx, "Tired?" He was met with a nod again, "Well wake up, I'm gonna take you on a tour de la town today. So... You do whatever you must" He waddled over to the scarf rack and grabbed the yellow one again along with his bag. Sphynx groaned, knocking his head against the bed once and pulling at his face. He sighed, simply sitting down and playing with the medallion. Cynder looked at him curiously, "What's that?"

Sphynx shrugged, "I'm not sure, some sort of charm."

Cynder made a sound. "Well, lets go, I can show you around and then we can possibly go help someone if there's time" The Shinx walked over to him and they started for the door

"Wait!" Bolt shrieked, bouncing over to them. He secured a pouch around his waist. "Can I please come with you?"

Cynder sighed, "No, maybe next ti-"

He interjected "But you said that last time I asked! And the time before that and the time before that and th-"

"Bolt be quiet! You're making me look bad!" Cynder yelled.

Sphynx looked at Bolt, "Well you can come with me."

"What?!" Cynder's eyed darted to the dark coloured pokemon.

Bolt's eyes sparkled in anticipation, "Really Sphynx?"

"Yep!" He barked, smiling from ear to ear. "You may not be able to go with Cynder because he's being mean, but you can come with me"

"But he's technically still coming with me!" Cynder hissed. Sphynx laughed quietly and simply walked out the door with Bolt on his tail. "Sphynx! C'mon!" He sighed and ran after them.

The trio met at the part of town closest to them, Cynder standing at the front of them all. "This is the Town and Market, where the shops are, the usual." He started pointing around, first gesturing to a colourful stand with two pokemon standing behind it, "Those are the Kelceon, they sell orbs, TM's, gummies and such. They're both nice pokemon." He gestured to another, the stand coloured blue and grey, "That's Rampardos, he breaks open boxes that are found in dungeons for the explorers" He started to walk farther into town, the other two pokemon behind him.

Bolt pointed to a small pink building, "That's where Chansey is! She takes care of Pokemon eggs that you find and also recruits others to your team! She's a really sweet pokemon" He said cheerfully.

Cynder nodded gesturing to another building, darker coloured and seemingly made of stone, "That's the training dojo where Machoke is. Its somewhere to go to get stronger and train against specific types of pokemon." They continued walking, gaining a few hellos as they walked by others. Cynder gestured to another building, back and purple with a large diamond-like object on the roof, "That's the bank, run by Sableye. He kinda freaks me out with his weird speaking pattern... And he's just a weird pokemon type in general..." He gained a look of fear on his face momentarily but shook his head.

He turned to Sphynx an Bolt, "I wanna show you something Sphynx. C'mon." He said smiling and started to walk to a path away from the town, not leading to the beach. The trio walked quietly, Cynder occasionally making noises as he walked and one of the others fur making zapping noises. They came to a large cliff, a few bushes and sets of binoculars around the edge. Cynder walked over and grabbed one, looking through them across the water and making small noises as he did so. Sphynx and Bolt exchanged a glance before looking back at him. Sphynx sat next to Cynder, who held the binoculars out in front of him. The electric pokemon fumbled with them before eventually balancing them on his muzzle. He peered though them an saw a small island in the way distance, surrounded by fog. "That's Maric Island. Its said to be an island that only a select few can reach, home to large dungeons filled with treasure." He smiled, looking into the ocean at the island as Sphynx removed the binoculars an watched him. "The select few that can reach there are special, proved them selves as explorers and friends and are fairly well known. Its my dream to go there, but at this rate..." He sighed. After a few moments he straightened up and looked at them, "Well lets go. We gotta go help someone again today."

The other two nodded and the trio made their way back to town, heading along the main road back to the base. Just off to the side were two very large wooden boards, covered in pieces of paper. Pokemon surrounded them, occasionally grabbing papers and walking towards a path with them. The trio approached them after pushing their way up front. A Dugtrio was waiting by it, reading the papers over carefully. He looked at Cynder, glancing quickly to Sphynx and Bolt before returning his attention. "Off to do another rescue Cynder?"

The fire pokemon nodded, "Yeah. There any easy and quick jobs up there today?"

"I'll look, give me a few minutes Cynder" He said and stared at the boards.

Sphynx looked them over, then to Cynder. "What're these?" He asked with anticipation in his eyes.

Cynder made a kind of happy sound and said, "These are the request boards, one is for pokemon requesting assistance in finding lost objects, lost pokemon, requesting guidance through a dungeon, and such and so. The other board is the police board for hunting down and catching wanted criminals, thieves, bandits and pokemon and such."

Dugtrio looked at him, "There's one right at the bottom left that should be easy for you and your companions to complete. Finding a Marill and returning him to his mother."

Cynder grabbed the paper and handed it to Bolt. "Thanks Dugtrio." He turned to Sphynx and
Bolt, "This one should be easy for the two of you to complete. The poor guy is in the cave above the Beach Cave. The pokemon are stronger, so be careful."

Bolt smiled and nodded, "Yes sir!" He started for the beach with Sphynx right behind him, laughing happily.

"You want a job or are you going home?" The Dugtrio asked. Cynder nodded and grabbed a paper he had seen earlier.

"This one seems easy enough. I'll be back at least by the time Sphynx and Bolt get back." He looked at the paper once more and stuffed it in his bag. Quietly, he walked away.

0-o-0

Sphynx and Bolt stood at the cave's entrance, one excited about having a mission and one hoping they don't mess up.

"That's a giant cave..." Sphynx muttered.

Bolt nodded in agreement and started to walk in. "Yeah, but lets go! We don't wanna let Cynder down!" Sphynx nodded and followed the excited yellow ball. The walls of the cave were tall and a dark greyish purple, the occasional water dwelling plant growing up the side. A thin layer of water coated the flow, salt visibly thick in it with the occasional piece of driftwood in a room. The sent of the waterlogged pokemon hung heave in the air, causing Sphynx's nose to cringe at it. They kept a steady pace all the while.

"Hey Bolt?" Sphynx piped up after a little bit.

Bolt turned to him, ears perked up straight, "Yeah Sphynx?"

"Why does Cynder never let you come with him?"

Bolt's ears immediately flattened and he played with the end of his scarf, "Well... I guess its because he doesn't trust me, even though I've been here for almost a year." They climbed down a set of stairs, "I think its because of the first rescue I went on with him. We were in a dungeon where there were mostly grass and flying type pokemon, looking for a Flygon that had gotten lost twenty floors down in the process of going through it himself. Well when we got to the floor he was on, we walked into a monster house, a room in a dungeon where lots of Pokemon appear at once." He picked up a stone off the ground and examined it carefully, noting a sparkle in it. He thought nothing of it and simply threw it.

Sphynx watched the rock carefully as it landed, splashing and spewing salt around. "What happened in the room?"

Bolt was silent for a moment. With a deep breath he continued. "Well... I was scared and instinctively used my Discharge to try to rid of them, but it was a bit too powerful from not using any moves until then. It cleared the monster house easy, but ended up fainting Cynder and the Flygon and hurting them in the process. The Flygon was grateful, but I think he doesn't like us..."

Sphynx's ears flattened, "I'm sorry about that Bolt..." They walked down another flight of stairs silently, time passing slowly. They proceeded down another flight of steps, landing on the last floor of the dungeon. The small blue pokemon sat on the floor, crying and shivering in fear.

With quick steps the electric types ran to it, Sphynx kneeling in front of it. "Hey little guy, don't be afraid. I'm Sphynx, that's Bolt." The tyke stood up nervously, Sphynx rising after. "We're Rescuers, and we're here to bring you back to your Mom."

The Marill looked at him, glancing briefly at Bolt who was beaming with happiness, then returned his attention to Sphynx, "Y-You return me to my Mommy?"

Sphynx nodded and gently patted the top of his head, "Yes, you'll be safe with her again. For now, lets walk you back, alright?" The Marill nodded. Sphynx slowly started to walk back out, the shaking blue pokemon next to him.

Bolt bounced over to them, smiling at the Marill, "Hey, lil guy, how'd you get down here anyway?"

The Marill thought for a moment, "I-I was playin' on the beach with Mommy, a-an' she went to go get a berry to eat, an' some pokemon came over, a-an' the next I remember is that I was dow' there..."

"What were the pokemon like?" Sphynx inquired.

"I-I dunno, but they were dark c-coloured." He shivered.

Sphynx nodded, thinking little of it, "Alright, lets return you to your Mom." They rushed up the levels, the water splashing at their feet as they did so and quickly they returned to the surface. Sphynx and Bolt helped the Marill to stable ground, telling him that he was going to be fine and all the like. With several deep breaths, the small pokemon regained his composure and looked at the two, "Thank you for savin' me. Mama's gonna be happy in't she?"

Sphynx gave a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, she'll be really happy"

Bolt jumped in excitement, "Lets get you home then!" He giggled and ran towards the town, Marill and Sphynx right on his heels. They quickly ran to the board. "Marill's Mom?" Bolt called.

An Azumarill ran over to them, eyes widening at the sight of Marill "My baby! You returned him!" She quickly scooped up the small pokemon in her arms and hugged him, to which he returned. She looked at Sphynx and Bolt, "Oh however can I thank you?"

Bolt began to speak, "Well..."

"You don't have to give us anything, miss Azumarill." Sphynx interrupted. "All the reward I need is seeing a child reunited with his family." Bolt looked extremely puzzled, but finally registered what had happened and gave a brief nod in agreement. "Lets go find Cynder, Bolt" The yellow pokemon nodded and they parted from the crowd, hearing the mother still fret over her son as they parted. They found Cynder returning an orb to a pokemon, who thanked him and promptly paid him what they felt was right for the orb's return. Cynder turned and approached the two pokemon.

"So," He started, "Did you do it?" Sphynx smiled and gestured to the reunited Marill and Azumarill, causing a smile to spread across Cynder's face. "So you actually did it. No problems along the way?"

"Nope. Just an excited Bolt and a scared Marill. It was pretty much a calm run though. Though, he did say something about some dark pokemon going over to him before waking up in the dungeon." Sphynx said, reiterating the words the Marill said.

"What was the reward?" He asked, some glimmer in his eyes.

Sphynx laughed quietly before speaking, "The reward was seeing the mother and her kid united. We don't need any greater reward than that."

Cynder seemed slightly disappointed. He pondered over the words spoken by Sphynx and finally speaking, "Yeah, I suppose you're right about that." He glanced at the sky. "Its getting late, we should go home" He said, shaking himself out and stretching. "Lets go." The trio headed for their home, all standing in a row.

Something bumped into Sphynx, who turned to see a Croagunk, who he bumped into, a Crobat and a Serviper. The Croagunk glared icily at him, sending a shiver down his small spine. "Watch where you goin' punk."

Sphynx turned back towards the way they were walking, "I was watching where I was going, you just weren't paying attention."

The Croagunk grabbed him by the tail and spun him around, causing the small pokemon to yelp in pain, "Look a'me when I'm talkin' t'ya! I watch were I go. You wasn't watchin', 'erefore you's a liar an' wasn't watchin'. I think you ran int'me on purpose."

Sphynx got a look of confusion and anger on his face, "Why would I do that? I don't even know who you are!"

"Watch you tone!" The Croagunk hissed. Sphynx stepped back, "We Team Toxic, an' we don't take kindly t'people all up in our biz. So why don' you jus' shut you trap and skedaddle along you dumb merry way an' leave the rescuin' up t'us." The Crobat and Serviper nodded in agreement behind him.

Cynder jumped in front of Sphynx, "Why don't you go bother someone you're own size, jerk!"

The Crobat hovered next to the Croagunk, "Leave you ugly long snout out of it!" With that, it bashed him in the nose with its wing, causing him to tumble back into Bolt.

"Cynder!" Sphynx shrieked, heading towards him. The Croagunk stomped on the star of his tail, causing a loud yowl of pain. Some pokemon around them started to stare.

"I said look a'me when I talkin'! Who you think you are some 'hot shot' importante pokemon?" The Croagunk let out a puff of poison onto Cynder's nose. "I don' like you; disrespectful, rude, startin' things!"

Sphynx attempted to pull his tail away, only to have it crushed more. He yelped, then looked the remainder of Team Toxic. The two other members were heading towards Cynder and Bolt, "I'm not starting anything! You bumped into me, you started this whole mess, I didn't do anything!"

"You wanna fight, punk? Because that's what you're about to get!" The Croagunk kicked Sphynx down, rendering him breathless for the moment. The poison pokemon prepared a move, when a voice shrieked.

"STOP!" Bolt compressed himself as small as he could, stretching as electricity shot down, burning circles into the ground around the five other pokemon. They froze, unable to move in fear of another electric burst being released. Bolt was panting, his ragged breath ripping the silence and making the atmosphere dark, "Let. My. Friend. Go." He managed to wheeze out.

The Croagunk lifted his foot off of Sphynx's tail, allowing him to run over to Cynder and help him up. The remainder of Team Toxic backed away from the trio, turned tail and ran. Cynder and Sphynx stood back up. The Fire pokemon turned to Bolt, "B-Bolt... Thank you f-"

Bolt interrupted him, "I know what you're going to say, and I'm going to just say you're welcome, and that you should bring me on more explorations an adventures."

They laughed quietly while Sphynx watched Team Toxic leave, disappearing in the distance. He rushed for the base, much to Cynder and Bolt's surprise. They hurried after him to find him sitting in the middle of the floor, doing absolutely nothing. Bolt slowly walked over to him, "Sphynx?"

Sphynx let out a roar, one that echoed and bounced around the room. Bolt jumped back and hid behind Cynder. "I HATE Pokemon like that! They think they can just do whatever they want, start fights because they think they're stronger! They talk tough but fight weak more than likely! I hated Humans like that too!" At the word Humans, Cynder and Bolt exchanged a glance, each thinking the same thing, wondering if he was remembering. Sphynx let out another weaker roar before falling forwards onto his face.

"Sphynx?!" Cynder yelled, running over to him. Sphynx had passed out, the anger inside him bursting out in his roars, energy bouncing off his skin and fur. Lack of energy put him out. He sighed, "Bolt, help me carry Sphynx to his bed... He blacked out." Bolt gave a subtle nod and helped him pick Sphynx up, both managing to lay him on his bed. Bolt grabbed a blanket from a nearby shelf and draped it over him. The blue pokemon made a noise and rolled over, medallion clinking as he did. Bolt trudged over to his bed and grabbed a large book off the shelf above him. He flopped down, opening it to a familiar page and reading. Cynder tugged off his bandanna and placed it on the rack with the others. He looked out the window, watching as the sky grew suddenly dark and lightning split it down the middle. Reminded of what happened, he retired to his bed, curling himself into a ball and giving a small breath, "Night Bolt." He murmured.

"Goodnight sir" Bolt said, returning to his book. Cynder listened to the rain for a bit before he slipped into the darkness that is sleep. Bolt did not sleep yet, however. He continued to read for several more hours before falling asleep with his face pressed between the pages of the dusty, century old book.

0-o-0

As a note, the accent that Bolt has is a very basic English/UK accent.

If you enjoyed please favourite and follow the story and myself, as well as TatOneVodkaBottle, and I will see you all next time.

~ViraLayton