Chapter 3: Partners

The sun was setting as Zorua approached Arcanine's ledge. "Hullo!" She called. "You here?" There was no reply.

Arcanine's scent was still fresh and she figured that he'd only been gone for the day. Hopefully he would be home tonight, she though. She didn't know anything about his normal habits; she hadn't thought to ask before the parted company last time. It could have been only luck that he'd been here that night to save her.

No matter, though. She didn't expect that the ghosts in Haunted Forest would bother her up here, especially in Arcanine's territory; the whole pack of them had fled last time when he Flamethrowered that Gengar, despite the rain. The path that Arcanine had shown here seemed safe enough in the day, as he'd said, but she had no desire to try her luck alone in the dark.

A cool wind ruffled Zorua's fur as she lay on the ledge. Spring was taking it's time this year, she thought. Three weeks ago when they'd first met, the weather had been pleasantly warm, but this week it had taken a turn for the cold again. Natu had even been predicting another snowfall; while snow this late in the season certainly wasn't unheard of, it was rare enough to be notable.

Would Arcanine be happy to see her again? Zorua wondered. He hadn't seemed to mind her unexpected presence before; in fact, after his initial awkwardness, he'd seemed delighted to have someone to talk to. Someone to listen to, rather, as she'd done most of the talking. But why did he live up here alone, then?

A stone rattled softly on the path below, and she looked down. She could make out Arcanine's outline on the path below. Despite his size, he moved almost silently. This would be a great opportunity for a joke, she thought; how surprised would Arcanine be if he found a Tyranitar waiting in his cave?

And next time you thought things through, right? Arcanine had asked her before, when she told him about the prank with the Litwick by the forest. Yeah, that was probably a really bad idea. Arcanine didn't seem like the kind of Pokémon who ran away when something startled him. She'd probably get a fireball to the face.

Zorua coughed as he approached, and Arcanine froze, looking up.

"Hey there!" She called, standing so that he could see her outline against the sky.

"Zorua?"

"Your mom!"

Arcanine bounded the rest of the way up the path like a puppy called for dinner, and bent down to sniff her. Zorua reached up, their noses touching.

"Hoped you'd come back." Arcanine settled on the ledge beside her, lowering his head to allow his treasure bag to slide off onto the ground. He hooked a claw into the drawstring and pulled it open.

"Berries for dinner." he said. "Share if you like."

Zorua wasn't really hungry, but she took an Oran, nibbling it slowly while Arcanine ate.

"Still up for that mystery dungeon you promised me?" Zorua asked when he'd finished.

"Sure." Arcanine nodded. "There's a couple easy ones we could try tomorrow."

"I'm not much good at battling," Zorua admitted, "I mean, I've battled with a lot of the other Pokémon in town, but it's just for fun and no one really takes it seriously. I think that day you rescued me was the first time I was really worried I might get killed or something."

"That's okay," Arcanine said, "we'll take it easy."

"I want to learn, though," Zorua continued, "it never really seemed important before, but people have been seeing strange Pokémon around the village lately, and everyone is worried."

"Strange Pokémon?" Arcanine asked.

"Yeah." Zorua nodded. "Ice-types, that no one's seen before. I saw some in the morning, that day I got lost in Haunted Forest, in the meadow by the village. They weren't like animals at all, just giant ice crystals, with six sides like snowflakes. They were floating around the old ruins in the meadow. I tried to sneak up and see what they were doing. I guess they heard me, or saw me, or something. Other Pokémon have seen different ones, too. All Ice-types. People have even seen them in town at night."

"Strange," Arcanine agreed, "sounds like they're looking for something."

"There's nothing in Meadow Town worth finding," Zorua said, "but they've organized a town watch. It's weird, we've never had a watch before. There's never been anything to guard against. I joined too. I don't know if I would be any help thought, it they really attacked someone."

"Even stranger that Ice-types would show up now, in the spring," Arcanine said, "be careful."

"Yeah." Zorua agreed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Was going to take you to Sinister Woods," Arcanine told her in the morning, "mostly bug and grass types, and it's not far. Two day round trip if you walk, could be back by tomorrow morning if you ride me. But since you're worried about Ice-types, Grassy Marsh would be good too. Mostly Water-types, so more similar, but a bit tougher. About a day and a half round trip, if you ride."

"Lets do the close one for now, then." Zorua decided. "you don't mind carrying me? I'd feel kinda lazy..."

"Don't mind," Arcanine said, "not in a hurry if you want to walk, too."

They walked. It was a beautiful day to travel, clear, the sun warm and a cool breeze at their backs. Arcanine restrained his pace to match hers, and they walked neck and neck. Zorua talked at first, telling Arcanine about the village and the other Pokémon. He listened attentively for a while, but then his attention seemed to wander.

"Hey," Zorua said, bumping her shoulder against his elbow, "you still in there?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry."

"Thinking about something, big guy?"

"Your story reminded me of something."

"Oh?" Zorua prompted.

"I can't quite remember..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, this is it." Arcanine indicated a pair of trees which twisted together overhead. "It doesn't look like much, but step through here, and we're in the dungeon."

He was right, Zorua thought, it didn't look like much. The trail continued through the trees. The sunlight which filtered down through the leaves looked no different on the other side. If not for the weathered warning signs nailed to the trees on either side, a Pokémon could have wandered in on accident and not known.

"Before we start, I've a few items that will help."

"You should have found a minion with hands." Zorua watched as he set the treasure bag out on a flat rock and pawed clumsily through it. "Also, that's a lot of stuff. I don't think I've seen that many magic items and Poké in my whole life."

"Found it in dungeons. Dunno what else to do with it," Arcanine answered, handing her a red scarf, "this'll make you harder to hit."

"That's way to big for me." Zorua eyed it uncertainly "I could probably use that as a blanket."

"Will fit when you put it on." Arcanine shrugged. "Magic."

Arcanine slipped his head through another scarf. "Now, help me get all this stuff back in."

"Most of the Pokémon we meet in here, all of them probably, will be feral," Arcanine explained, "they won't talk, they won't use much strategy, they won't come back for revenge after you knock them out. Doesn't mean it's not dangerous. When I've been here before, none of the Pokémon I met were very strong, but it could be different now. We'll stay close together and be careful."

"Lead the way, big guy." Zorua said. Arcanine smiled back and led them through.

There was a momentary sense of vertigo and disorientation as they passed between the trees. Zorua turned around. The two twisted trees were still there, but from this side, the path stopped abruptly in front of a boulder between them.

A Swinub darted from the bushes in front of them, and Arcanine was on it before Zorua could move. A swipe of his paw caught it on the side and sent it flying. The Swinub thudded against a nearby tree and didn't move.

"Nice move." Zorua congratulated him.

Arcanine grinned. "Next one's yours."

The path wound through the trees for several minutes and emerged into a small clearing. A pair of Sentret rooting beneath a log looked up, froze for a moment, and took off in opposite directions. Zorua gave chase to the closer one.

The Sentret zig-zagged toward the trees. Zorua pounced, missed, and pounced again, and they tumbled over together. Zorua felt sharp teeth sink into her paw and she yipped, more in surprise than pain, and pulled back. The Sentret wriggled away.

Zorua followed her prey into the trees, catching up again as it swerved around a protruding root. Her jaws closed on it's hind leg, and she felt flesh tear. She let go, bit again, and shook. The Sentret went limp. She began to pick it up by the neck to drag back to show Arcanine, and stopped. She couldn't see the clearing from here, and she'd lost track of direction during the chase.

"Um, Arcanine?" Zorua called.

"Right here. It's okay, the dungeon never changes when you're in it."

She turned toward his voice, a bit embarrassed. In less than a minute, she was in the clearing again, and dropped the unconscious Sentret at Arcanine's feet.

"You got it."

Zorua grinned up at him proudly. "I guess the other one got away?"

Arcanine nodded. "Could have flamed it, but who cares? There's always more. You take the lead now."

Zorua led them onward. Another trail, a clearing, a trail and a fork, and another clearing. There seemed to be a pattern to it, a logical progression of trails and clearings that would have been incredibly unlikely in a natural forest. She pointed this out to Arcanine, and he agreed.

"Each mystery dungeon seems to have a pattern like that," he said, "sometimes simple, sometimes complex."

They encountered several more feral Pokémon, and Zorua dispatched them with growing confidence, but it was obvious that they were getting stronger as well, as the two of them progressed. Arcanine stayed close behind her most of the time, occasionally running in to herd a fleeing opponent back, or flaming one when she would have been double-teamed.

The Linoone in the next room was bigger and faster than any of the Pokémon they had encountered so far. It sidestepped Zorua's pounce, raking it's long claws along her side as she passed. She landed clumsily, tried to turn. It's fangs dug into her haunch, she stumbled and went down, rolling onto her back. It's weight was on her chest. Jaws snapped at her face, and she batted them away with one paw as she tried to wriggle free; snapped again, catching one ear and ripping free as it pulled back.

The weight disappeared as the Linoone was lifted off of her in Arcanine's jaws. He shook it briefly, and threw it aside. Zorua rose unsteadily to her feet and stopped to examine herself. There was a warm, wet feeling on her forehead. She wiped at it with a paw, and it came away soaked in blood. The gashes on her side hurt a lot, especially when she breathed, but they didn't seem that deep. Her hind leg hurt too, but still held her weight.

"Took you long enough." Zorua accused.

"I know it hurts," Arcanine said, "but I don't think you're seriously injured. Lets take a break here."

"Have a berry or two." Arcanine set the treasure bag down beside her. "And lay down, and I'll clean you up."

Zorua lay down on her uninjured side. Arcanine put one paw firmly on her shoulder. "This will hurt a bit. I'm sorry."

She winced and whimpered as he began to lick the blood and dirt from the wound on her side, then forced herself to be still. Zorua knew he was being as gentle as he could. He moved on to her leg, then her ear.

"We can rest here a couple hours, while you heal, then I'll lead for a while. It's only going to get tougher from here."

The healing chemicals from the berries flowed through Zorua's body, easing the pain, and she relaxed, stretching out in the afternoon sun and leaning her head against Arcanine's chest. "I'm sorry," she said, "I'm not really any good at this, am I?"

"Takes practice," Arcanine reassured her, "doing fine for your first time."

"It's weird," Zorua commented a few minutes later, "I've always heard people say that mystery dungeon Pokémon aren't smart like normal Pokémon, but I never understood what they meant before. None of those Pokémon we've battled here tried to talk, or had a plan. They just attacked or ran away."

Arcanine nodded in agreement.

Zorua continued, "And what happens when no outside Pokémon are here? Why do the dungeons only change when we're not in them, but there are still feral Pokémon inside?"

Arcanine shrugged and agreed. "Is weird. I don't know."

"It's like they're missing something, I don't know, a spirit or whatever you want to call it... Now that I have a chance to think about it, though, I kind of feel bad about all this. I mean, we come into their territory, beat them up, and there's not really any purpose to it."

"They surprise you sometimes, though. I've had Pokémon talk to me after we battled. Offer me things, ask a favor, even want to join me. Like they've suddenly woken up and become normal Pokémon, just because I'm there." Arcanine shrugged again. "I think there is some purpose, and we're all just not smart enough to understand."

They lay there in silence for a few minutes before Arcanine continued. "You know, we don't have to finish if you don't want to. I have an Escape Orb. Never used one, but I think it will take us outside."

"Aren't those really rare?"

"Guess so. I've only found one."

"Well, let's not waste it, then. We might really need it some day."

"We?" Arcanine raised an eyebrow. "So you're planning to make a habit of this?"

Zorua nodded. "If you don't mind me slowing you down."

Arcanine stretched and yawned. "Zorua, this is the most fun I've had in years."

Zorua giggled and snuggled her face into his mane.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The remainder of the dungeon went without incident. Zorua knew that the Pokémon they encountered now were too strong for her to have fought alone, but they worked as a team, Arcanine harassing and distracting opponents while she finished them off. He was obviously holding back, but he didn't seem to mind.

Eventually they found themselves back where they had begun, the two trees arching over the path. It was dark now, save for a sliver of the moon, and the wind was chill.

"Think I remember a den nearby where we can spend the night," Arcanine said, "unless you want to head back now."

"I'm bleeding in like a dozen places," Zorua said, "and my side still hurts. You're bleeding too, I can smell it. Let's sleep here."

They found a stream nearby and drank, and refilled their bag with berries from the bushes that grew along the shore. Arcanine found the den again, in a nearby outcropping of rock. It was big enough for both of them to sleep comfortably out of the wind, but only barely. They were both dirty and bloody from the day's adventure, and lay down to groom themselves.

"Something dug this den," Arcanine said, after a while, "It didn't just happen naturally."

"Probably a Bewear," Zorua agreed, "but it's long gone, now. Don't you smell how many other Pokémon have stayed here over the years?"

"I do. If we searched around here, say, everywhere within a kilometer, how many more caves and dens and burrows do you think we could find?"

Zorua grunted, tugging at a tangle in her fur. "I don't know, I've never been here before. Why does it matter, anyway?"

"Well, say if we were in a den in the meadow back by Meadow Town, instead."

Zorua had spent years playing and gathering berries in the meadows around the town. There were burrows all over the place, where she and the other Pokémon had played and slept and sheltered from the sudden summer thunderstorms, but she'd never thought about it in such an organized way before. She picked a spot, the knoll above town where they had often met to begin games of hide-and-seek, and imagined herself there.

A kilometer, at a casual run. Call that a minute and a half. What could she get to in that time?

"Maybe thirty or forty?" Zorua concluded eventually, "most of them are small though, like Bunnelby or Minccino. Nothing we could really use."

"So, let's say ten per square kilometer, average, wherever you go, "Arcanine said, "they can be Sandshrews in the desert, Bidoofs by the rivers, Furrets in the forest, et cetera. Let's estimate the continent as a square 3000km on a side. That's nine million square kilometers, and ninety million burrows." Arcanine paused for a moment, thinking.

"Let's say only five percent of Pokémon dig burrows themselves, but each one who does, digs five in it's lifetime."Arcanine paused again.

"That's, umm…. Three hundred and sixty million Pokémon," Arcanine concluded, "Not all at once, of course, but over however many centuries it takes the average burrow to collapse or whatever."

Zorua stared at him for a while, trying to follow his reasoning. "I don't know how you came up with all that," she said, "Or how you can do those big numbers in your head. And how can we know what those Sandshrews or whatever on the other side of the continent are doing, or how long they live in a burrow?"

Arcanine shrugged. "We can't, really, other than by assuming they're similar to Pokémon here. It doesn't matter though. Maybe I'm ten times too low, or ten times too high. The point is, though, there have been a lot of Pokémon."

"I've never imagined there could be that many Pokémon," Zorua said, "but I can't argue with your logic."

"They were probably Pokémon like us," Arcanine said, staring out into the darkness. "They ate berries, and drank water, and played tag..."

Zorua concluded, finally understanding where Arcanine was going, "...and they explored mystery dungeons. And after all those millions of Pokémon, we still don't have any idea how they actually work."

"Exactly." Arcanine smiled.

Zorua shivered. "That's creepy. That's not at all what I want to think about while I'm trying to sleep."

"Sorry. That did all sound pretty strange, didn't it?"

"Are you sure you lost your memory? Because I don't know anyone else who would think of something like that. It must be that living alone on a mountain thing, you have too much time to think. We need to get you out more often."

Arcanine chuckled. "You're probably right."

"Anyway, now that you've scared me," Zorua teased, "you have to keep me safe and warm all night so I don't have bad dreams." She stood, stretched, and curled up between Arcanine's front paws, burying her face in his mane. Arcanine sighed and rested his chin on her back. Soon they were both asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The other Arcanine was nearly identical to himself. One of them could have been the clone of the other, he thought; but then, who was the clone and who the original?

They circled each other slowly, warily, searching for weakness and finding none. The muscles in his opponent's neck tensed, and smoke curled from it's lips. He stepped aside as a stream of flame arced through the air where he had been standing, and answered with a swipe of his claws, but his opponent dodged back just out of reach. He shifted his paws as if to lunge, but his opponent saw through the feint, forced him a step back with snapping jaws. They circled again.

Thunder cracked outside, and the wind whipped through the balcony arches. All around them Pokémon fought; his friends fought. His ears swiveled, picking out the familiar sounds. The crack of Venosaur's whipping vines, the hiss of Blastoise's cannons, Charizard's angry roar. He had spent countless hours training with them, and the others, too. Light and shadow flashed overhead as Mewtwo battled some other foe; he dared not look away from the other Arcanine long enough to see.

His opponent lunged, a massive clawed paw caught him across the side of the head, but the claws tangled briefly in his mane, absorbing the worst of the blow. He bit, grazing the other's shoulder and drawing blood. They withdrew and circled again, neither seriously injured.

This fight would not be won with strength or speed, Arcanine though, but endurance. He did not understand why Mewtwo had brought these other Pokémon, and these humans, here to their home, but he did not need to understand. They were his friends, his family, and he would not fail them.

Arcanine knew he was tiring now. His dodges were not as quick, his blows not as strong. The other Arcanine was tired too, though. His opponent bled from dozens of minor wounds, and his fur was patchy with burns, but he had not been able to land a solid hit. He was sure that he was in no better condition himself, but his resolve was unshaken. They circled again, slowly and carefully, each knowing that, eventually, the other would make a critical mistake.

The sounds of battle died down around them. As though both recognizing some unspoken signal, the two Arcanines stepped back from each other, finally looking around. The other Pokémon gathered around something in the center of the room. Mewtwo and his opponent floated overhead. Finally Arcanine could get a good look at what Mewtwo had been fighting. It was somewhat similar to their leader, but much smaller, it's limbs less well formed, like those of a fetus. If Mewtwo was the second, Arcanine thought, this must be the original.

#I am sorry. I should not have brought you here. You must return with the others and forget this place.#

"My job is to care for all Pokémon," Joy said, "Your friends are injured, and so are you. Let me stay a while longer and look after them."

Mewtwo and Mew glanced at each other, and Mewtwo sighed. #So be it.#

When all of the outsiders except Mew and Nurse Joy were gone, Arcanine and the others gathered around Mewtwo, their heads lowered, their eyes downcast. It was not just exhaustion, but the shame of failure. Arcanine knew that the others all felt the same as he; they had not been strong enough, courageous enough. They had all failed Mewtwo, who had always been there to guide them Each one knew he or she could have spend a little less time reading in the library, or laying in the sun, or playing in the meadow, and a little more time training.

#No, friends,# Mewtwo said, sensing their pain, #This is my failure, not yours.#

Mewtwo's voice was tired, his face drawn and sad. They all knew that the night had been no easier on him. He went to each Pokémon in turn, Blastoise, Charizard, Venosaur, and Arcanine first, the original four, and then the others, placing his hands gently on their heads or shoulders. They all knew that Mewtwo found extended physical contact with others uncomfortable, a disorienting extra input on his psychic senses, and his touch was the praise they coveted the most.

#Now, let us retire to the infirmary so that Nurse Joy can do her job,# Mewtwo said, #otherwise I'm going to pass out right here.#

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I've done everything I can do." Joy told Mewtwo. All of them were together, still, in the infirmary, their wounds cleaned and bandaged now. Even Mewtwo had allowed her to tend to him.

"Then I must send you back. Humans will come after the storm clears, and we must all be gone. Unfortunately, I must take your memory as well, though I do not want to."

Joy took Mewtwo's hands in her own and reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him. To everyone's surprise, he did not pull away. "You are all wonderful people, and I wish that I could remember you, but I understand."

A flash of light and she was gone. #Now,# Mewtwo said, his voice steady but his eyes sparkling with unshed tears, #we must go. Mew will help us find a place where we can live in peace.#

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Arcanine woke with the morning sun. Zorua, still curled between his forelegs, stared up lazily and yawned. Arcanine knew that something important had happened in his dreams last night, something he was supposed to remember. There had been an island, and other Pokémon... He shut his eyes, concentrated, tried to force the dream back, but it slipped away, like they always did.

"Now you're the one having bad dreams, huh?" Zorua asked.

"Not bad. I think it was a really good dream, actually, but I can't remember."

Arcanine stood slowly, stopping to stretch each leg, bending side to side to loosen his back.

"Your back hurts again?" Zorua asked.

"Every morning." Arcanine grunted. "some days are worse than others, though."

"Well, finish stretching out, then let's go out in the sun and we'll see what I can do."

"Alright," Zorua said once they were outside, "now lay down on your belly." Zorua climbed up on his back. "Like right here?" She asked, digging her paws into the muscles on either side of his spine.

Arcanine groaned. "That's good, but a bit lower."

"I don't really weight enough to do this properly on someone your size," Zorua said, as she kneaded his back, "but maybe it's better than nothing. This doesn't hurt, does it?"

"No. Well yeah, but in a good way," Arcanine said, "actually, it feels wonderful."

"I've been thinking," Zorua said as she worked, " you lost your memory, and you have those weird dreams, and you think about weird things that most Pokémon don't think about. Maybe you're really a Human."

Arcanine thought it quite obvious he was not. "I don't follow," he said.

"I know you've been up on that mountain a long time, but you've heard about Team Poképals and the Time Gear thing, right?

"I don't think so."

"Okay, what about Team Go-Getters and the Meteor incident?" Zorua tried.

"No," Arcanine said, "sorry."

"That's okay." Zorua related a brief description of both events.

"But the point is," Zorua continued, "they say that the leaders of both teams were Humans who lost their memories when they were turned into Pokémon and brought here from...wherever Humans come from. They say they were both really clever, and the leader of Team Poképals also had visions."

Arcanine considered. "You're right. That does seem similar. I don't think that I was ever a Human, but there are Humans in my dreams, sometimes."

"Maybe Pokémon who lose their memories can come here from the Human world too?" Zorua suggested.

"Could be," Arcanine agreed, "I don't have any better explanation."

"Back feeling better, at least?"

"Yeah, that's helping a bit."

"Well," Zorua said, "I can do this for hours, but you're going to have to keep me entertained."

"Entertained?"

"Yeah. Talk. Tell me a story or something. Otherwise you're so warm and fluffy I might just take a nap up here."

Arcanine thought for a few minutes. "There was one time in Foggy Forest...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, what's this water dungeon you were telling me about yesterday?" Zorua asked a few hours later.

Arcanine laughed. "You want more already?"

"Yeah. That was pretty fun, yesterday."

"Think I can get us there tonight," Arcanine said, "and we could start in the morning."

"Well, giddyup, big guy."

"Wait," Arcanine said, "you're going to need something more to hold on to."

"There's another scarf in the bag, right? Yeah, that'll work." Zorua retrieved the scarf and tied it on him loosely, and looped her front legs through the excess. "I guess this is one place bipeds have an advantage."

As they traveled through the day, the weather turned cooler. Heavy clouds blew in on a north wind.

"I think old Natu was right," Zorua told Arcanine. "it really is going to snow."

They reached the swamp after midnight. It had begun to snow, a heavy, wet spring snow that turned the road to mud and began to cling to their coats. They found a Kangaskan Rock marking a travelers' burrow beside the road and stopped for the night.

Though it was late, they both lay for a while at the entrance, watching the falling snow. Out of the wind, it was not cold enough for either of them to be uncomfortable through their fur.

"Other than the type difference," Arcanine said, "this shouldn't be much different than what we did yesterday. My techniques will be less effective, especially with this weather, but it shouldn't be a problem. We're going to get wet, though, and we'll be cold, but I can warm us up when we take breaks."

"That's what I keep you around for." Zorua answered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first hour in Grassy Marsh went smoothly. They fought as a team like they had before, stopping occasionally to shake dry and let Arcanine warm them with his fire. Then, as they entered a clearing, a dozen Pokémon rose from the water around them.

"It's a trap!" Zorua turned to retreat the way that they had come, but found three Wooper blocking her way. She snapped and lunged as they approached, forcing them back. The air grew suddenly warm behind her.

"Dive in the water!" Arcanine commanded. If she had stopped to think, she would have questioned the wisdom of fighting Water-types in the water in a snowstorm, but his voice was so authoritative that she was already moving. She gasped a deep breath before the freezing water covered her.

Seconds later, she rose to the surface, teeth clenching and muscles already beginning to cramp. Arcanine's teeth found the back of her neck, lifting out and setting her down between his front paws. The ground was warm to the touch, and steam rose from the grass around them. Zorua looked around in amazement. There was a perfect circle around him, ten or twelve meters in diameter, in which all of the snow had melted, and Pokémon lay scattered about.

"Sorry about that," Arcanine said, bending down to breathe warm air on her.

They sat there for several minutes, until Zorua's teeth stopped chattering. One of their opponents started to stand and Arcanine turned his head, breathing a ball of fire toward it. It didn't move again.

"You just one-hit a whole room of Water-types in the snow with Heat Wave." Zorua stated the obvious.

Arcanine nodded and grinned. "Told you I hit hard."

Zorua giggled. "I'm glad you're on my side."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They lay in Arcanine's cave the next evening, looking out over Haunted Forest. The storm had gone, leaving only a few inches of snow, and the weather will still cool.

"That cave we stayed in the first night, after Sinister Woods," Arcanine asked, "you could find it again alone, right?"

"Well, yeah," Zorua said, "I remember about how to get there."

"Would make a good back-up meeting place. If I ever have to leave here, and you need to find me, I'll try to wait for you there, or at least leave some kind of message."

"You're hiding something, big guy. No, you're hiding from something. Are you going to tell me?"

"No."

"I don't know where I'm going to tell everyone I got this nice scarf."

"Just tell them you found it in Sinister Woods. Who's going to argue with you? With that torn up ear, you look pretty fierce"

It was true, she thought. None of the Pokémon in Meadow Town were particularly adventurous. Probably none of them had been in a mystery dungeon in years, though they played and cut timber on the outskirts of Haunted Forest. Who had any credibility to dispute her story?

Her ear was healing well enough, but was still obviously misshapen, and with the bright red scarf, she though it gave her a nice roguish look. Maybe she would even dispense with the illusion, since everyone in town knew what she was anyway.

"Alright, I'll remember. It's our secret. Want to walk me back in the morning?"

"Of course," Arcanine said