Chapter 3

"Tsunami… Tsunami…"

"Urgh… I…"

He pulled himself out of the sea of unconsciousness.

Skriik… skriik… The sound of grinding metal greeted his ears. He felt the pain in his shoulder, and on the back of his leg. He turned to the sound, and saw an Absol, somewhat cloaked, sharpening a scythe with a stone. He didn't speak, and didn't look up from his sharpening.

"I see you're awake."

"Where am I?" Tsunami looked around. They were in a hollow deep in the woods, while a fire crackled in the middle. "And why haven't you killed me yet?"

The Absol looked up, expression unreadable. The white pokemon's cloak flapped in a breeze. "Kill you? Why would I do that, Epime?"(Pronounced Eh-peh-may)

"Epime?" Is that who I really am? "Who-who are you? How do you know who I am?"

He continued sharpening the scythe. "I'm Siarnaq."

"Siarnaq… How do you know me?"

The Absol put his scythe away, then began speaking.

There were four of us. Epime the Vaporeon, myself, Siarnaq the Absol, Thrymr the Manectric, and Pallene the Ninetales. The four of us all met coincidentally at the Summer Festival, and became friends right there. We worked together as givers, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. But one day, we made an error. A trap was set, and we were captured, taken to the Temple in the Clouds for execution. The temple is a massive tower that stretched from the ground miles into the sky. The summit of the temple is so high that it's hard to breathe. The top of the temple was where we were to be executed by Palkia, the master of space. Palkia has been known to execute innocent Pokemon. But we all escaped from our chains, and faced Palkia. We fought extremely hard. But then Pallene was injured, and Palkia was about to finish her. Thrymr jumped in front of her, and took the hit to the heart, killing him. That distracted him enough for you and me to nearly finish him. But at the last moment, he opened a hole in space and sent you and I through. I came down many days journey from here, and this place reminded me so much of our old town that, in frustration at what happened, I continued our old traditions. You lost your memory, it appears.

Epime listened. "But what happened to the Ninetales, Pallene?"

Siarnaq shook his head. "I don't know. She wasn't sent through the hole in space like us." The Absol looked to the sky. "If you look to the east of here, you will see the tower reaching to the sky. It looks like a needle reaching to the sky. I vowed to avenge Thrymr's death. Palkia has ordered the death of many innocent Pokemon; his death will be at the edge of my scythe." Epime watched the hooded Absol's determined eyes glint. "I know this may be a lot to believe, but this is the truth."

"I guess… but…"

"Oh right, sorry for the cuts. They should heal fast, but I mean… maybe use your aqua ring?"

"Yeah…" He quickly surrounded himself with the vortex of water, and felt his body recovering.

The Absol stood up. "Listen, I know you don't remember me. So what I'm asking is a lot, but one day from now, I was going to go search for Pallene."

"You speak very highly of her. Who was she?"

The Absol looked away. "She was my mate. That is why I must find her. I was paralyzed when Palkia attacked her. I should've been the one who died for her, not him. If she didn't make it… well, I'm asking for you to help me find her."

"Can I bring a friend along? He's chatty, but he's kind."

The Absol narrowed his eyes. "What kind of Pokemon?"

"A Staravia. Right, and, I know you think of me as Epime, but I like Tsunami better. Could you call me that still?"

"Fine. Prepare your supplies. Meet me here at sunrise one full day from now." The Absol nodded at Tsunami, and the he walked out of the hollow, leaving Tsunami there with the fire. Tsunami doused it quickly.

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Lily sat down in the cave. The loneliness had finally started to get to her, the loneliness she had been able to hide from. But talking to Tsunami… she realized how lonely she really was. She had felt desperate to speak to him, to hear the voice of another speaking to her. It had felt nice… maybe she should try meet with him? No… no. That's be asking for guys to swarm her. She could cloak herself, or maybe…

She heard footsteps in the cave, pulling her out of her thoughts. She carefully slid into the shadows, putting out her ruby to conceal herself.

The mysterious Pokemon stepped into the cave, then coughed weakly. Was that blood Lily smelled…? Whoever it was sighed, then breathed a small ember to start a small fire. The Pokemon yelped as the illumination allowed it to see Lily.

"Wh-who are you?" The voice was female, and Lily could now identify the Pokemon as a Ninetales. Her normally yellow fur was matted, and she had a cut along her stomach, the tear ripping through her red shirt. Blood oozed weakly from it.

"I… I'm Lily." Lily's heart softened. "You're hurt. You need help."

"I don't… arghh…" The fox Pokemon gripped her belly. "Okay, I need help. How can I trust you?"

"I promise. You can trust me."

The Ninetales sighed. "I don't really have a choice. I'll be dead within hours if I can't trust you."

"What's your name?"

"I… I'm Pallene. My mate, an Absol… I lost him."

Lily pricked her ears. "Lost your mate? Did you cheat on him or something?"

"No." She took a deep breath. "Not so long ago, my mate, a Manectric, and a Vaporeon-"

"Wait. A Vaporeon?"

"Yes. Why?"

"A Vaporeon named Tsunami came through here not so long ago."

The Ninetales shook her head. "His name was Epime. Not Tsunami." The Ninetales quickly unressed until she was half naked. Lily looked through her berries to treat her. She smashed some Orans to a pulp, then brought the container to the fire type. She gently spread the pulp on the cut, and the Ninetales winced, but didn't complain.

"So what's your name, Espeon?"

"I'm Lily."

"That's a cute name. But what's a young girl like you doing living in a cave like this alone?"

"Well… not to brag or anything, but these looks have plagued me with suitors…"

"I see." The Ninetales gently pulled away. "I think that's enough for now." The fox pokemon redressed herself. "Thanks… I…" The Ninetales frowned. "Hang on…"

"What?"

The Ninetales was sniffing carefully. "I smell… no… Epime?"

"Epime? Wasn't that your Vaporeon… wait… no…" Lily gasped in realization. "Wait! You must tell me about this Epime! Who was he?"

"Well, the four of us were givers; give to the poor while taking from the rich. We were captured, then we were sent to the Temple of the Cloud's summit for execution by Palkia. As you know, Palkia has been questionable recently. We battled him, and lost the Manectric. After Epime and Siarnaq nearly finished him, they were sent through a gap in space down to the ground. I descended the temple, and am trying to find them. However, Epime himself… I'm afraid I don't know a whole lot about his past. He's quiet and shy, but dutiful and loyal."

"Tsunami sure seemed like that."

Pallene seemed to think. "Did he ever say if he would return?"

"I… yes. He promised to keep me company, and come visit… I really do hope he comes visit soon."

"You sound like you two spent a lot of time together," commented Pallene.

"Well… he was one of the first males I talked to who didn't make a move on me… but I he only stayed here for a night."

Pallene merely smiled. "Do you mind if I stay here with you for awhile? Just in case our Vaporeon friend shows up soon?"

"Sure. So, how's your cut?"

"It's fine. Those berries…"

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"Siarnaq? I mean, where'd you get a name like that?" The Absol glared at Aero, who didn't seem to notice.

"Be respectful, Aero. This guy used to be my friend."

"Yeah, whatever Tsunami." The Staravia flew up overhead.

"I'm going to slice his head off if he makes one more obnoxious comment," growled Siarnaq.

"Where were you thinking of going to look for your mate?" asked Tsunami quickly, attempting to try take Siarnaq's annoyance away.

"I don't know, really. Do you have any ideas? Maybe a place you visited before the town?"

Aero shot him a glance. "Maybe the mysterious sorceress' cave?"

"Sorceress' cave? I don't think she'd be there… but you never know…"

Tsunami nodded. He had promised to visit her, so it was only natural that he wanted to see her again. "It's worth a look. She told me to visit her sometimes."

"Alright. Yeah, let's give it a shot. How far away is it? And what way?"

"About a day to the West."

"Then lets go."

The three continued walking without any trouble until nightfall. Siarnaq made a fire, and Tsunami and Aero looked for food.

"Tsunami."

"Mmhm?"

"You like the empress, don't you?"

"What?! No!" He imagined himself blushing slightly.

"That grin tells me otherwise. C'mon, I know you saw what kind of Pokemon she is."

"How?"

"You haven't talked to me as much. I know, man. C'mon, is she hot?"

Tsunami gathered his herbs without looking up, slicing carefully with his water sword. "Well, she's an Espeon."

Aero let out a whistle. "Whew! How exotic! You don't see many of those around."

"Shut up." He sprayed a small squirt of water at the bird pokemon, who squawked in surprise. "I'm not interested in finding a mate. Besides, she stays in the cave to avoid males. I'm pretty sure she wasn't ecstatic I was there, she just…"

"You know, I used to have this real cute Tranquill hanging around me…"

Tsunami bit a piece off the herbs to taste, then, with a shrug, responded, "And?" The herb tasted bitter with a hint of sweetness. He quickly sliced more off to bring back to Siarnaq.

"It didn't work. She didn't want eggs, I didn't want parenthood, we both agreed it was better off we stay friends than mates."

"Mm. Here, pick up those roots, 'kay? I'm going to go fish."

"Yeah, sure."

With one more cut, he handed his bunch of vegetables and herbs to Aero, then walked to the river. He carefully looked at it. The current was very strong; he wouldn't be able to pick the Magikarp out. He took off his cloak, and hung it on some branches. He took a deep breath, then dove in. Many often forgot that Vaporeons had gills as well as lungs; aside from some frog pokemon, no others had such a unique versatility. He looked around, comfortable in his natural environment. The clean water gushing through his gills felt nice. He spotted a Magikarp swimming away from him. With a burst of speed, he shot after it. He pulled out his sword, which he had found turned into a metal blade underwater after he went swimming a little earlier in the day.

He held onto the fish pokemon's tail, and sliced through the water type cleanly. Sorry, one water-type to another. He dragged the two pieces of fish out of the river, and felt two pair of curious eyes watch him. He pulled a towel out of his cloak, and dried himself off.

"Shh! Thetis! He's going to hear us!"

"I know Iris! Hush!"

He continued drying himself, and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the two girls' whose voices he had heard. Both of them were wearing cloaks. The first one, whom he presumed was Thetis, had blue bangs hanging out of her hood. She looked about 16 or so. Her sister had big blue eyes and white and pinkish fur. She also looked the same age.

After he dried himself, he quietly redressed himself, then clipped the sword back on. He then slowly walked to the two females.

They both tried to run and hide, but tripped over each other to try get out of his way. "Ah! Iris! You couldn't move faster? Drats! He's…"

"Quiet, Thetis! Look, he's here…"

He quietly looked at the two females. He gently poked them with his sheathed sword. "What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"I, I mean, we, were, umm, just…"

"Well, we were watching you, Vaporeon…"

He frowned. "Why?"

"W-well… our parents said it's about time for us to…" She swallowed, then continued, "Get mated and start our own families," said the Glaceon with a blush.

"Then we saw you, and… well, you look of a good age to mate…"

"Sorry girls. I'm not interested," he said hastily.

"But… Vaporeon sir!" began the Glaceon.

"Wait, please!" added the Sylveon.

He sighed. "I'm not going to mate with two barely evolved 'eons."

"But we'll do anything!"

"We'll be your sex slaves!" said the Sylveon.

Tsunami shook his head, then gave a quick tilt of his head. "Goodnight, young ladies," he said as he walked through them.

They both sighed. "Darn. I thought the sex slaves thing would work," he overheard the Sylveon say.

"He probably already has a mate," said the Glaceon.

Tsunami came into the camp fairly quick. "Ah, you're back. Thank the lord Arceus…" Siarnaq rolled his eyes at Aero. "This little twit won't shut up."

Tsunami sighed, then tossed the fish, which Siarnaq caught, then efficiently speared and held over the fire.

"I met two young 'eon sisters both interested as taking me as mate," said Tsunami. "Of course, I turned them down."

Siarnaq nodded. "Yeah. Don't rush into relationships, Tsunami."

"I feel like you've told me that before…"

Siarnaq chuckled. "I have…"

"Aww, dude… you should've taken advantage of them!"

"And what? Leave them crying there alone? No. I'm not that cruel… or even that interested in finding a mate. You, on the other hand…" said Tsunami jokingly to Aero.

"Shut up." Siarnaq and Tsunami laughed, and after awhile, Aero joined in.

A heads up- I'm going to be on a trip for about 2 or so weeks, in which there won't be any updates. Sorry! You can still PM me if you're lonely in that time :P Anyways, read and review!