A/N: Thanks so much to Tnt guy for his reviews, you don't know how happy they make me! I write quickly when I get them! :O Who woulda thunk it?? Lol. You should get yourself an account Tnt guy! The fanfic world needs someone who reviews whatever they read! XD Enjoy the chapter people of earth! We introduce two of the members from Team Whirlwind here! There'll be more rambling from your's truly at the end of this chappie, but for now, Enjoy The Fic!

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The shadows loomed over us as we watched the waves ebb and flow a moment longer. We were both aware of the figures moving toward us, we could hear it as their feet crunched on the sand. Buying time before looking at them was the most we could do. When the new pokemon finally made it to where we were sitting contently moments before, they stood on either side of Synth, pushing past me as if I weren't there. The two pokemon were the Pidgey and Taillow from yesterday. I scowled as I remembered the poor way they treated Synth. The Pidgey spoke up now.

"Who's your friend, Chicken?" He said as he circled Synth. The way he moved reminded me of a predator stalking its prey. The Taillow moved to stand by me as the Pidgey continued its 'dance'. Synth moved his legs up and rested his chin on his knees, fear evident in his eyes. It was obvious how much these two had tortured him in the past. My tail flame flared up as I became more and more enraged with the pair of birds.

"None of your business…" He murmured quietly, looking directly at me, with the fear still in his eyes. The Pidgey and Taillow became angry at the vague response, and got into an offensive position. Their beaks lit up as they prepared a Peck attack. As they were about to strike, I launched myself forward, using Scratch on the Taillow.

This left him with three shallow red cuts on his cheek, but he seemed unfazed. He continued to move toward Synth, who was paralyzed with fear. The Pidgey was soon within striking distance, so he began launching attack after attack on Synth. The super effective hits took their toll on him, leaving him barely conscious. I launched myself at the pokemon again, fed up with how cruel this town was. I used scratch repeatedly on both of them, they were too stunned to move.

When they realized what was hitting them, they readied more peck attacks. By now Synth had regain some strength, but not enough to move at all. After suffering through some jabs and pinches from their beaks, I turned around, letting them dive head-first into my rather large tail flame. They howled with pain as they recoiled from flames, sprinting toward the waves in an he pain on their faces. I took this opportunity to go toward Synth, only now feeling the pain their attacks had left behind. He looked really beat up, and his face was frozen in a mask of shock. I kneeled down next to him, waiting for him to get over the shock of the battle we just faced. When he finally did, the pain returned to his features. The type advantage meant he probably felt much worse than I did.

"You okay?" I asked gently as he looked up at me.

"I guess… Are you?" He asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine. Let's get outta here while they're distracted. You can't handle anymore assaults." I said as I moved closer, readying myself for the task of lifting him up. He looked at me questioningly as I took one of his arms carefully, moving it around my shoulders, and holding his hand over it. "I'll help you up, tell me if it hurts at any point." I said softly as I lifted him up. He hissed in pain quietly as I lifted, so I stopped to let him get used to moving around. After about a minute of this we started walking. Halfway up the beach he needed to rest, so we sat down on a nearby rock. He panted for a few moments, before his breathing began to go back to normal.

"Are you sure you can keep going?" I asked worriedly as he started motioning to get up. He winced as he stood, and I hurried over to give him support.

"We need to. There's a small hospital in the square, we can both get checked out and cleaned up." He said hopefully as we began moving again. I nodded to let him know I agreed, and we were in the square about half an hour later. The pokemon still made fun of him, but refrained from attacking him because of his obviously worn out state. At least they weren't heartless…

We made our way down a side road branching out from the square, and soon came to a medium sized dome with the word 'PokeHospital' written above the door in big bold lettering. When we got inside, Synth limped over to a black cushion set up against a wall. I sat next to him on a navy blue one. After setting up a meeting with one of the doctors, I sat back down, and we waited quietly for our turn in an examination room. After what felt like hours, we were called. The Riolu at the reception desk led us down a long white corridor and into a small examination room. There were two cushions in here, so we each took one and waited for the doctor to come in.

Twenty minutes later the doctor arrived, with her nurse in tow. The doctor was a Chansey, her nurse a Happiny. After feeding us an oran berry each, she made us eat Heal Seeds and bandaged us up. I only needed my left arm and the top of my head wrapped, but poor Synth had to get his entire midsection, the tip of his tail, his right arm, and his left leg bandaged. After paying for the healthcare we received, we left and were soon back at our cave in Sharpedo Bluff.

When Synth was laying comfortably on his bed, I started a small fire with my tail and some sticks to keep us warm. The sky was filling with dark clouds, meaning there would be a storm soon. After a few minutes of silence, except for the cracking of the fire, Synth spoke.

"Why did you do it?" He said quietly, staring into my eyes as he said this.

"Do what?" I asked just as softly back.

"Fight with them for attacking me. No one's ever done that for me before… Why would you put yourself on the line for… me?" He questioned, getting gradually louder. My brow creased in confusion.

"Aren't we friends?…" I asked hesitantly.

"I… Yes…" He said back cautiously.

"Then that's why I did it. I wasn't going to watch as my friend got attacked by two bullies." I said certainly. He stayed silent, lost in thought as he looked down in the floor for several moments longer.

"The two pokemon we fought at the beach were a part of one of the leading Exploration Teams in the area. Team Whirlwind is what they call themselves. Their leader is much stronger than them… I would know…" He said cryptically, absentmindedly rubbing his right arm, which was still bandaged. After several minutes of gazing off into space, he spoke again.

"Would you like to join an Exploration Team with me?" He asked suddenly.

"Um…" I didn't know what to say. I mean, sure, he was being very generous, but where would we get the jobs? He said there was a guild around here, so I suppose we could go there… what would our name be?(A/N: What would the name be? Hmm… XD) I decided that I didn't have anything else I could do, and that this would be my way of paying him back for everything he was supplying for me. And besides, he would become stronger, and I might learn some of the fire attacks my parents neglected to teach me. I nodded and smiled, letting him know my answer. His face lit up happily at the revelation.

"Thank you." He whispered, his yellow eyes filled with nothing but sincerity.

"You're welcome." I whispered back. We spent the rest of the night in silence, listening as the rain poured and the thunder boom, as the small fire crackled away.

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A/N: There you have it. The heat is getting to me! Any suggestions for what the Taillow and Pidgey should be named? I already have the leader of the group's name, I just need these flunkies' identities. Tell me what you think, and let me know if you liked it… in a review perhaps?

Pixii out.