Fusion: Alrighty, time to get this next chapter nice and not full of spelling and grammar mistakes. That should be easy right? I'll save the Author-Reader chit chat for after the chapter, but first:

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any other referenced media within this story except for my original characters and locations.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"GO!!!"

Rio, Kora, and Minerva shot off towards the forest path leading to the beach. Much to Rio's surprise, he was able to match Kora and Minerva's speed, probably because they were taking it easy on him. It was still noon, the sun's warm rays and the winds cool breeze left the air feeling perfect for an afternoon of racing against Rio's new friends. Within seconds, the three left The Shopping Square and entered the Sunset Valley Forest (more commonly called the Sunset Forest for time). The path was more straightforward than Rio first expected, making the race more of a test of speed and stamina than anything else.

"Hey Kora! How long until we get to the beach exactly?" Rio shouted, no sign of fatigue in his voice as he spoke.

"I'd say it's about half an hour, give or take a few minutes. Why? You're not tired already are you?" Kora replied, moments before Minerva jumped over him.

"If the two of ya are gonna keep talkin, I'll just go on ahead to the beach!" She shouted as she sprinted deeper into the forest.

"What the, tsk, whatever. C'mon Rio, let's pick up the pace. If I lose to her, I'd never hear the end of it." Kora said, running much faster than when they started. The Outlander took a deep breath and started to increase his speed. His body had no problems speeding up, it naturally lowered itself closer to the ground and, before long, caught right up to Kora again. The Zoroark was caught off guard, but took this as an opportunity to go even faster.

"Alright boy in blue! Let's see you catch up to me now!" Kora went on all fours and greatly increased his stride, practically leaping each time he hit the ground. In meer moments, Kora leaped far over Minerva, sending her a smug grin before landing and taking off again.

"Wha- NO FAIR! You said ya wouldn't be goin on all fours ya lyin twerp!" Minerva exclaimed, before being met with Rio. Quickly, she hopped on his back before he shot off passed her.

"I'll buy you some more pie if we win, just don't let that cheater get away!" The feline commanded before Rio could protest. Thankfully, Minerva was light enough to carry without putting too much strain on himself, so he didn't mind. Rio tried once more to push his body to go even faster, copying Kora by going on all fours. It wasn't as uncomfortable as you'd think. Minerva wrapped her arms around Rio's chest so she didn't fly off as he sprinted through the forest.

"Are ya sure ya ain't used to that body of yours already? You're movin pretty damn fast, Rio!" Minerva questioned her fuzzy blue friend.

"This is a surprise to me too, just this morning I could barely walk without Kora's help." Rio replied, jumping over a fallen tree trunk and landing almost perfectly. Before long, Rio and Minerva were able to see Kora again. Minerva urged Rio to speed up some more, who was cautious to push his body any further. He couldn't tell if this speed was his limit, but he didn't want to over exert himself to find out. Slowly but surely, Rio and Minerva crept ever closer to Kora.

"Alright, when I get close, why don't you try to get on him and slow him down?" Rio plotted with Minerva.

"If I do this and mess up, it's on you fuzzball." Minerva stated, getting herself ready to jump. A moment passes and Rio closes the distance as much as he can between him and Kora without being noticed.

"Now's your chance, hurry!" Rio whispered, trying not to alert the fox ahead of him.

"Are ya crazy?! This is nowhere near close enough!" Minerva exclaimed. The gap was fairly large, perhaps 6 or 7 feet between the fox and the dog. Rio gritted his teeth and got a couple feet closer.

"Minerva I can't get much closer, just jump!"

"Of course ya can get closer! Are ya TRYING to get me killed?"

"No I'm not, trying..." Rio felt uneasy for a moment, his limbs started to feel sluggish and heavy. Everything else around him also started to slow down. Before Rio could blink, everything around him froze, including him.

'Wh-what's going on?' He thought to himself, his body felt as hard as stone. Rio felt trapped, the eerie silence and lack of motion was getting to him, even though only a few moments have passed. He wanted to cry for help, but he couldn't even breath at this point.

'What, how, who..?' Millions of questions filled Rio's mind. Fortunately, everything unfroze soon after. The beat of his heart, the air he breathed into his lungs, the blood and adrenaline from the race, everything returned just as quick as they had left. Unfortunately, Rio was still distracted by what actually happened that he stumbled as he was able to move again. He tumbled forward a good six feet before stopping, Minerva had fallen off of him after he tripped. Kora, stopped dead in his tracks, leaving claw marks in the ground. His breathing was rapid and filled with unease, his fur stood on end and his eyes darted in all directions.

"Wh-what the hell was that?!" Minerva shouted, clenching her chest.

"I have no idea. Everything just, stopped." Rio replied, his legs shook as he tried to stand. Kora, after calming himself down, went over to help his friends up. The three stood in silence, not knowing what to do now or even what to say. Each of the stood fully on guard, the feeling of stiff air and frozen life still present to them. They turned to go back to the square, but after ten feet they hit a "wall". There was nothing there, but they could feel something solid. Kora quickly went back up the path but reached another "wall".

"...We're trapped." Minerva said, trying her best not to panic. The three of them went to the center of their "cage" with their backs against each other. Kora had calmed himself down but Rio and Minerva's fear kept them jumpy and on edge. Minutes started to feel like hours, and after what seemed like an eternity, they were approached by a silhouette. It's body was shrouded in darkness and it's shape was unrecognizable. The only thing they could pick out was that it was shaped similarly to Rio and Kora, but only from the neck down. They weren't able to see silhouette's face at all.

"You aren't the one who caused this, were you?" Kora asked without any hint of fear or hesitation. A jagged mouth appeared on what would be the silhouette's face. The mouth opened but no sound came out, and yet, they understood it clearly.

"Who cares for the details? I wanna fight you! I wanna fight you right now!" It got into a fighting stance of some kind, bouncing on one leg then on the other. Kora got on all fours once more, preparing to attack. Rio and Minerva stood back, neither having the courage to fight. The figure jumped at Kora with remarkable speed, hitting him to the side.

"Come on, come on! It's no fun if I only play with one of my toys!" The figure exclaimed, the cat and dog Pokémon both back away as far as they could. The childlike tone to its words creeped them out immensely. Kora pounced on the figure, slashing with his claws. They hit, in fact it sliced right through his target. The problem, however, was when the figure put itself back together.

"Such fun! We're playing to win and you know how to do it! Hooray!" The figure laughed and kicked Kora in the chest. While the fox was winded, the silhouette hit in the side of the head with something that was like an arm but far too deformed. Kora tried to retaliate but all his slices and kicks went right through his adversary without damaging it.

"Oh man, you're no fun! No fun at all! Holding back is the least fun you could be! Watch and learn!" The figure raised an arm and fired a black beam from its palm. Kora was barely able to avoid it, jumping to the side as fast as he could. The silhouette made a distorted, high-pitched cackle as it fired more beams at Kora.

"Why don't we have my other toys join our game?" The figure turned for a second and aimed at Minerva. Unknowingly, Rio grabbed Minerva and jumped over to Kora before the beam hit.

"What are you?! What the HELL are you?!?" Minerva shouted, fear and confusion riddled her voice as she forced herself to speak.

"I already told you, who cares! All I want is to play with my toys!" The silhouette jumped around as it spoke.

"But if only one of my toys play then I will just have to break the others and get new ones!" The figure gave a menacing, jagged-toothed grin.

"Toys are no fun if they break easily, so why have the weak ones around at all?" The figure appeared right in front of Rio. His body wouldn't move, it stood shaking in fear and exhaustion. He could hear Minerva and Kora scream as the figure opened it mouth to a terrifying size, and engulfed him.

"Rio!"

"..Rio.!"

"Hey, Rio? Wake up ya dummy!" Rio jumped awake in a cold sweet. Minerva and Kora stood above him. He was still at the square?

"I-it was a nightmare.." The sun was a bit lower than when they had eaten the pie, maybe he wasn't out that long. Rio was still panting and a little paranoid, that nightmare was, something else.

"Ya dozed off after scarfin down the pie, what kinda dream did ya have that got ya so worked up?" Minerva asked, helping Rio to his feet.

"We raced to the beach, and we got trapped in the forest in some weird box with a, a living shadowy thing that wanted to fight us. It called us weak toys and it ate me whole." Rio explained, shivering at the thought of that unfortunate end. The other two didn't really now what to make of this nightmare.

"To me, this nightmare sounds like just that. A nightmare. I'm sure it's nothing to get too worried about. Besides, I don't think some shapeless blob could do any of us in." Kora said reassuringly, patting Rio on the shoulder.

"Anyway, while you were out, we decided to head over to beach. I mean, if you think your dream has any truth to it, we could always wait for another day." Kora suggested.

"I'm sure it was nothing, really!" Rio said, in his head he couldn't figure out why he still did want to go. There's no problem in waiting but he felt like he had to go to the beach.

"Alright alright. We can head on over now. We should be able to get to the beach in about an hour, if we walk all the way there, that is." Kora stated, producing a nervous reaction from Rio.

"I think it'd be best if we didn't race, Kora," Rio said nervously, "I-I mean, because I'm still new to this body and all, ha ha..." Rio quickly calmed back down and scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile.

"Ok then, I guess we walk." Kora replied, worried about his friend. The three walked side by side towards the forest path.

/About 50 minutes later, at the beach shore/

An exhausted Rio fell face first into the sand, groaning. Minerva and Kora, unlike the blue dog, were perfectly fine.

"This is the last stop for today, Sunset Beach. A descriptive and original name, I know." Kora joked, sadly getting no laughs from either of his companions. Instead he received more groaning from Rio and a loud sigh from Minerva.

"Geez Rio, I didn't think walkin would getcha so worn out. Guess it didn't help that the twerp over there was tryin out some "new" material on us." Minerva spoke to the still groaning dog in the sand.

"It's not just that, even though every punchline he said felt like I was getting punched in my side, but my entire body is aching. No amount of crappy stand-up comedy could do that." Rio replied, rolling onto his back. Kora, feeling both ignored and ridiculed, sat in front of a tree sulking. Minerva sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you're gonna joke like I child, it only makes sense that ya would cry like one too. C'mon, get back over here ya crybaby." Minerva said to Kora, but he started sulking more.

"If ya keep sulkin like that it's gonna get everyone else depressed. Now get your furry butt over here!" The slightly more irritated feline shouted.

"Maybe I wouldn't sulk so much if you two didn't bash on my jokes so hard. Just because your small doesn't mean you can't have a larger sense of humor!" Kora shouted, with instant regret of all his actions. Minerva, now absolutely livid, stomped over to the cowering fox and grabbed him by the mane. Kora frantically apologized while the angry cat dragged him towards the sea. As she got to the shore, Minerva lifted Kora above her head and threw him as far into the ocean as she could.

"TRY CALLIN ME SMALL AGAIN, I DARE YA!!" Minerva shouted, throwing rocks and sea shells at the fox as he tried to gather his senses from being thrown. Rio, currently sitting up, watched this entire even transpire and laughed to himself.

"You two are really good friends, huh?" He said to her, watching Kora try and dodge everything thrown at him.

"Friends..." Much like at Jax's gym, Rio couldn't remember much about his old friends. Whenever he tried to think about them, the memory would be fuzzy and almost unrecognizable. He knew he had friends and a family but he was struggling to remember them clearly. Rio realized he was tearing up at the thought, and wiped them away. By this time, Minerva finally calmed down, and Kora was able to safely make it back to shore.

"*pant* *pant* I said, I was sorry!" Kora exclaimed, picking shells out of his mane. Minerva shrugged, siting down next to Rio.

"And I said not to call me short, now we're even."

"That's not how that works!" Kora sat on the other side of Rio, getting the last of the shells from his mane and tossed it into the ocean. Similar to earlier in the day, the three sat in silence looking into the sky. The sounds of the waves crashing and the wind blowing did it's best to fill in that empty space which would be filled with voices, but they could only do so much.

"So..." Kora said, trying to think of something to break the silence, "Rio... what do you think of the Valley so far?" Minerva snickered.

"That's such a boring question, twerp."

"You try to think of something to say then!" Kora retorted.

"Ok, um, so, uh..." Minerva stuttered, drawing a total blank.

"See? It isn't easy to think of entertaining things to say, Minnie." Minerva angrily pounced onto Kora, who actually decided to fight back this time. As the two threw punches and kicks and sand everywhere, Rio sighed and moved out of their way. He was busy trying not to think about his life. To try and clear his head, Rio focused on the few clouds floating in the sky. His head was so far into the clouds he didn't noticed three new Pokémon walk up behind him.

"Seems we walked in on the old married couple settling a dispute with their third wheel." A rough, feminine voice mocked from behind the blue dog, snapping him back to reality. Kora and Minerva stopped their fight, breathing heavily. Kora tossed Minerva off of him and stood up, dusting himself off.

"Great, I go from dealin with one annoyin fox to dealin with the obnoxious ferret." Minerva groaned, helping herself up. Rio eventually decided to face the new Pokémon as well. The first was a Zangoose with a pink stripe instead of the normal red, and behind her was a Bisharp and a Scrafty.

"Oh great, Eva and her drones. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Kora said extremely sarcastically.

"Can it. We came for him," Eva the Zangoose stated, pointing at Rio, "heard from a little birdie that a new Outlander showed up, and thought from the kindness of my heart to add him to my team. Figured if anyone should have the ability to get limitless power, it should be us." The Bisharp and Scrafty nodded in agreement. Kora rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Well, he's with us. And don't try to treat him like some power boost, he's a Pokémon just like you and me."

"You? Last I checked you're some half breed freak with an ego larger than his own strength. The only real Pokémon here are with me, and that sad little cat that follows you around." Kora, Minerva and Rio each got ready to fight.

"Take. That. Back." Kora said through gritted teeth. Eva laughed.

"Do you think I'm scared of some puffed up fox? I don't need an evolution to put you in the ground, half breed." Eva mocked, her and her team also getting ready to fight.

"Rio, these three are asking for a good old fashioned beat down. If you hate bullies so much, then you don't have a reason to hold back against these guys. Show them what Outlanders are made out of!" Kora commanded, Rio nodded.

"I'm not gonna stand here and let you talk down to Kora and Minerva! We'll beat you right here, right now!" Rio shouted. Deep down, something in him sparked.

"Please, as if I'd listen to the worthless cries of some thing in a Pokémon's body!" The Bisharp replied, chuckling.

"I'm gonna give ya one chance to high tail it outta here, lizard boy. I'm the last cat ya wanna fight, lizard breath!" Minerva said, extending her claws.

"Oh please. The day I get scared by a pussycat half my size is the day I die." The Scrafty mocked, Minerva grinned maliciously.

"Good, even if ya took me up on my offered, I'd have hunted you down and beat ya to a pulp anyway!"

"Guess that leaves me and you, half breed. Don't say I didn't warn you." Eva laughed.

"I'm gonna enjoy making you cry, ferret!" Kora roared, running straight for Eva. Rio ran for the Bisharp, and Minerva for the Scrafty. As soon as Rio got close enough, he tried to punch with everything he got, but the Bisharp jumped back, effortlessly evading his attack.

"Ha! Is that the best you got, Outlander!" The Bisharp said, jumping into the forest. Rio quickly ran in after him.

/In a clearing in Sunset Forest/

As Rio caught up to the Bisharp, he wasn't met with the challenger who mocked him as he ran, but a stern and serious individual. The Bisharp didn't even look like he was ready to fight.

"What are you..?" Rio asked, keeping his guard up, just in case.

"I had to drag you away from the others for a moment. I'm going to be blunt, with your dormant power remaining dormant, you will die." The Bisharp said coldly. Rio tensed up more, but at the same time, his legs began shaking. The way this Pokémon spoke felt as painful as being stabbed.

"You can barely even move in that body, let alone fight. I would give you the option to run, but that wouldn't help either of us. Strong Outlanders only appear when the world is in danger, but if I am to know if the world that I am living in should soon fall, I need to awaken your dormant power promptly." Rio stood surprised at how much the Bisharp knew already about Outlanders.

"You seem more, respectable, than that Eva that you follow around. Why do you let her boss you around?" Rio was met with a sharp pain to his stomach instead of an answer. The Lucario fell to his knees in pain, clenching his stomach and gasping for air.

"I did not separate us to answer your questions. As I see it, you're still a piece of trash in a Pokémon's body." The Bisharp said, kicking Rio to the side, "If you don't hurry up and fight, I will not hesitate to kill you."

Rio strained to get up, barely catching his breath before being struck back down by the ruthless Pokémon he faced. Again and again, Rio would be struck with blows he could barely see. But through all the pain he received, he was able to keep picking himself up. The Bisharp scoffed at the stubbornness of the Outlander, kicking him into a tree, cracking the trunk nearly all the way through.

"The durability of a Lucario shines through! It's a shame such a capable vessel is carrying such a weak soul!" The Bisharp punched Rio in the stomach, cracking the tree more. Rio couldn't respond, every word he tried to muster would get trapped in his throat.

"In this world, respect is earned in battle. If you can't fight, then you're as good as dead!" The Bisharp struck again. The tree behind Rio creaked and moaned.

"If you die here, your friends out there will be slaughtered by Eva and Kane! Do you want to let them die!?" The Bisharp punched Rio with more force than his earlier attacks, sending the defenseless dog through the tree trunk. Rio couldn't move his body, not just from the attacks but because it was too heavy.

"An Outlander incapable of using the body they were given is lower than those who flaunt their gifts upon us Pokémon! Outlanders have the potential to become gods, with the power to tear through mountains like paper, to channel the power of the very earth, and you bring shame to that title, moreso than your egotistical brethren!" The Bisharp roared, extending his open hand in Rio's direction.

"I, Zen, a purebred Bisharp, through sheer determination and will, have surpassed nearly everyone on this Arceus forsaken island. And despite the fact that you were chosen to save Pokémon, chosen to bring balance to this planet, you haven't landed a single blow to me," a black aura radiated from the Bisharp's palm, growing darker and darker as he spoke, "either the planet is fine or we're all dead already." A black force shot from the Pokémon's palm, slamming into Rio's entire body, no, his entire being. He could feel it go through him, and it burned. It was like being crushed on all sides, and being burnt from the inside out. Rio screamed in agony, unable to move.

"If you can't beat a Pokémon when you have the stronger body, then you don't deserve the life you were given. Now die, worthless scum!" Zen places his free hand on the arm shooting out the black aura, forcing out even more. Rio screamed louder, the force of the blast unbearable to him at this point. Beneath Rio's screams and pain, the spark inside him grew into a booming roar. The Lucario's eyes, which were a dull and dark red, began to glow. The pain he was suffering fueled his rage, his screams of pain shifted into shouts of anger.

Zen stopped his attack and stared at the fallen Outlander in disgust. He turned to exit the forest and began walking away.

"That... hurt..." Zen stopped immediately.

"That really... really hurt." Zen turned to see Rio standing there, bruised and bloodied, twigs and leaves in his fur.

"Don't bother, you've wasted enough of my time." The Bisharp stated, facing the Lucario with an annoyed look.

"I take back what I said earlier, you are much less respectable than your companions." Rio growled. The Zen frowned.

"And that high horse you've built yourself on, I'm gonna take it down with my own two paws," Rio stood in a fighting stance, gritting his teeth and preparing to attack, "the paws of MY body, the body that will shut you up!" Rio's body become engulfed in a bright blue and white aura, the band on his wrist extended up to his elbow, his eyes glowing a bright crimson. The aura made Rio's beaten and broken body feel like it was finally his own, he could move freely without the feeling of weights dragging him down.

"I will make you respect me in the only way I can in this world, as you just told me." Rio ran up to the Bisharp, his speed increased noticeably, and slammed his palm into the opposing Pokémon's chest. The Bisharp was caught off guard, taking the full force of the attack and being pushed back.

"I'm not just gonna beat you, I'M GONNA PUMMEL YOU!" Rio roared, slamming his palm into the side of Zen's head. The dark and steel Pokémon tried to retaliate with a quick Slash, but was disorientated by Rio's strike and missed. The angered Outlander showed his opponent the same relentless force that was given to him, slamming his palms into the Bisharp's stomach. The dark type tried to punch Rio, but his fist was caught with ease.

Rio pulled the Pokémon closer to him, swiftly forcing his knee into Zen's face. Zen quickly grabbed Rio's leg, using it as leverage to get another punch in. The Bisharp slugged Rio in the face with his fist covered in black aura. He then opened his palm and the black aura appeared, ready to fire again.

"Enough! Your anger isn't going to be enough to-" Rio kicked Zen in the stomach with his free leg, causing the Bisharp to let go of his other leg. The Outlander quickly got back up and kicked Zen in the side. As Zen began to get himself to his feet, Rio stood before him. They both were visibly hurt, Rio much more than Zen, unfortunately. The adrenaline starting to fade from his body, Rio fell to his knees. The pain was starting to catch up to him. The aura that shrouded his body started to flicker out.

"Is that, you're limit?" Zen said, approaching Rio.

"Weren't you going to break down my high horse? Weren't you going to pummel me?" Zen spat, holding his palm towards Rio again. A faint black aura covered the Bisharp's hand, slowly getting darker.

"I said it before, and I will say it again. You bring shame to the title of Outlander, worthless scum.." Before Zen could fire his attack again, Rio stood to his feet once more. The Lucario didn't shake in fear, nor did he look overcome with pain. He had the look of determination, even in the face of his defeat.

"I'm not gonna die here. I have to save this world, and if I lose here I wouldn't be able to do that. So even if you blast me again, I'll stand right back up. You can cut me or punch me or kick me all you want, but I will never stay on the ground, you hear me!!" Rio shouted, and for a moment, his aura flared up again. Zen paused, taken aback by the Outlander's sheer will and stubbornness. The Bisharp lowered his hand.

"You are still incredibly weak. You only damaged me because I let my guard down. If you don't get stronger, our next encounter won't leave both of us alive." Zen stated, walking past Rio.

"However, there are not many who can survive my Dark Pulse point blank like that, even with the type advantage. You have yet to earn my respect, scum, but you have piqued my interest." Zen said before disappearing outside the forest. Rio fell on his back when he was finally alone, the orange sunlight above the trees warned him of the coming night. He panted lightly, his breath appearing as a faint cloud in the decreasing temperature.

"Owwww... I wanna go to bed." He said to himself.

"But first, I gotta help Kora and Minerva." Rio raised himself off the ground, his body feeling heavy again. 'D-damn it,' he thought, 'I hope I can give the others my help.' The Lucario walked towards the sounds of fighting, holding his stomach with one hand.

"No, I have to help them! No matter what!" Rio ran out the forest, trying to surprise the thought of pain from his mind. The beach looked like a battlefield, craters scattered across the shoreline, cracked shells littered the sand and the sounds of battle rang clear through the air. Rio saw Kora and Minerva teaming up against Eva and Kane, each of them looked almost as bad, if not, worse than Rio. Even more evident to Rio was the light that came off of all four of them. Eva and Minerva had light grey auras while Kane and Kora had almost pitch black auras.

/Right at the Shoreline of the Beach/

"*pant* *pant* This fight should've been a landslide! How are either of you still standing?!" Kane shouted.

"That's because, neither of you could compare to us, and pretty soon, you're both gonna regret thinking you were better than either of us." Kora said, getting ready to fight once more.

"If ya both wanna run away, I wouldn't stop ya. I haven't even broke a sweat!" Minerva mocked the ferret and lizard.

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you!" Eva yelled, jumping high above Minerva, her claws glowing a bright red. As she came crashing down, the Zangoose was stopped by Kora catching both her arms. While Kora was busy holding off Eva, Kane quickly ran up to attack the distracted fox, before being stopped by Minerva. The fox and feline were more talk than they were bite, unfortunately, and both of their defenses starting to fail. Kora quickly threw Eva behind him into the ocean, however he also fell backwards and couldn't catch himself in time.

Eva recovered right before she landed, running back to attack the fallen fox. Her claws again glowing bright red.

"Die! Crush Claw!" As she reached Kora, Eva slammed her claws right into Kora's chest, but instead of feeling the body of a Zoroark, her claws went right through him and into the sand. The Kora she struck faded as the real one was just a foot away from where she struck.

"I won't be hitting any of your illusions this time, fox!" Eva said, readying to attack again. Rio finally reached the four, his aura again radiating from him, and hit the ferret with both palms.

"You're only half right, you won't be hitting anything this time!" Rio said, even with his aura making it easier to move, he could tell that it is right at its limit. Rio turned to Minerva, who was struggling to keep Kane from overpowering her. The Lucario ran up and kicked Kane as hard and as fast as he could, landing the hit right on his shoulder.

"Damnit, the Outlander made it back? Wait, where the hell did Zen go?!" Eva shouted, seeing how fast everything was going downhill.

"That stuck-up bastard must've left us for dead!" Kane shouted, holding his shoulder. Both the lizard and the ferret stared at Rio in surprise.

"Th-the Outlander's aura! Did that prick help him?!?" Eva exclaimed, her anger rising.

"I'm gonna strangle that Bisharp when I see him again! Kane, let's go!" Eva demanded, running down the shore with Kane right behind her. After a minute, the two darted into the forest. Rio's aura faded and he fell to his knees. Minerva and Kora both walked over to Rio and helped him up.

"We... we did it... right?" Rio asked, his voiced sounding strained. Minerva nodded and smiled.

"Yep! We showed them punks not to talk trash about us again!"

"And I think we did it with minimal broken bones, too." Kora said, putting Rio's arm around his shoulder and chuckling. Rio chuckled lightly and smiled weakly.

"Maybe you guys did, I'm pretty sure I have a lot more than a few." The three of them chuckled and started walking back towards the path leading to the square.

"Man, what is Mom gonna say when I bring you both back looking like this?" Kora sighed, "What is Kai gonna say? Actually, it'd be smarter to ask what he wouldn't say. Ugh, the last thing we need is him talking our ears off all night." Rio and Minerva laughed a bit, making Kora's eyes light up.

"Hey, you guys actually laughed at my joke! Maybe we should get beat up more often!" Kora joked, this time getting a smaller reaction.

"How about we don't do that. I think the one fight is good for now." Rio said.

"Yea, I don't think I could take fightin those goons any longer. Thanks to Rio, we were able to scare 'em off with their tails between their legs!" Minerva said gratefully, grinning at Rio.

"Oh yea, you got your body to give off that aura and you punched Eva away from me. Guess I owe you one." Kora said, lightly hugging Rio to the side. "Speaking of your aura, what did Zen do to you that awakened it?"

Rio winced at the thought of being crushed by Zen's Dark Pulse, and all the attacks he was tormented with. "Maybe I'll tell you when we get back. Kai and Miss Diana are both gonna want to hear it."

"Oh! I almost forgot! Minerva, I'd rather not leave you by yourself when you're almost as busted up as I am, so I was thinking you could spend the night over at my place until we got better. That cool with you?" Kora asked. Minerva shrugged, which she regretted after, holding her arm.

"Yea I won't mind. Hopefully your Mum won't mind lettin me crash for the night."

"Even if she was upset with how bad we got hurt, she'd never turn you down. It's not like the fight was your fault, right?"

"I guess you're right, twerp. It's a shame how far away your house is from the beach, it's gonna be a long walk," Minerva looked up. The sky was purple and dark blue above them, "and we definitely ain't gettin back before nightfall." The three tried to pick up the pace as much as they could muster, which was a little slower than a jog, and didn't talk most of the way to the square.

/Kora's House, 23 minutes later/

Home sweet home! We finally got back." Kora said, they were able to recover a bit before they arrived, but Rio's body still felt heavy and Minerva's arms were still sore. Kora was bruised all over his body but managed to power through most of it.

"We're back, and I brought Minerva over to stay the night, if that's alright." Kora said aloud, his mom's voice came from the garden.

"Of course she can stay! We decided to eat diner in the garden so come and join us!" She shouted back.

"You beda hurry befer I eat it all!" Kai shouted, it was clear his face was stuffed from the muffled sound of his voice. Kora took in a deep breath and walked into the garden with Rio and Minerva. As they approached, Diana, Mia, and Kai, they each had a different reaction to seeing the three beat up Pokémon.

"How was you- oh my goodness, what happened to you three?" Diana said, a very worried look on her face. Kai was more in awe of cool they looked, and Mia didn't seem to care too much. Diana got up and hugged all three of them tightly, which hurt them more than she intended.

"W-we got in a big fight with Eva and her two goons. Can you please let go, we're still extremely sore." Kora sputtered out, wishing his mother wasn't crushing him in a loving embrace. Diana quickly realized what she was accidentally doing and let go of them. Diana sat them down infront of the metal pot, this time it was hot and steaming, with the charred and burnt wood below it keeping it warm.

"You guys look like you got totally beat! Did you win?" Kai asked, thankfully he swallowed whatever was in his mouth earlier.

"If you think we look bad, you should see how bad Eva and the others look. We swept the beach floor with them!" Kora responded, a proud grin plastered on his face.

"Rio here was even able to use his aura to fight with us! He actually saved us both in the end." Kora said with a cheerful smile.

"You got your aura to awaken? How does your body feel now, sweetheart?" Diana asked, giving the injured Pokémon each a bowl full of the Mixed Berry Stew she made.

"When I was fighting, well at first I was getting effortlessly beat up by Zen, but after he hit me with a Dark Pulse, I got covered with this blue light and it made my body feel light. Unfortunately, after my aura turned off after the fight, my body went back to feeling heavy." Rio explained, drinking a mouthful of the stew.

"Hmm, maybe when your body was under great stress and at risk of defeat, it awakened the aura so it could protect itself. I don't think you've yet to make the body your own, so it might still feel heavy until you can." Diana replied, that worried look still didn't leave her.

"Don't worry Miss Diana, we're fine. What's a little bit a fightin gonna do to us?" Minerva said, trying to reassure her.

"Yea, there was no way we were gonna lose!" Kora added. The two succeeded in easing Diana's worries, although only partially.

"If you say so. I don't like seeing you this hurt Kora, any of you for that matter. If you run into those three again, try and be more careful. Promise me that, you three, please?" Diana asked, holding her paws together.

Kora, Rio, and Minerva each nodded their heads and said, "We promise we'll be more careful." Diana smiled her sweet smile and hugged the three again, much softer this time, for their sakes.

"Thanks kids." She said before letting them go again. "Now, I know that you three must be tired and hungry, so you can stay up and eat as much as you like before getting your rest. Kai, Mia, let's go inside and get ready for bed.

"Alright Mom, see ya bros, see ya Minnie!" Kai said, bouncing back inside behind Diana.

"Why I... ya know what, neva mind. I'm too tired to punch anything else today. My paws are sore as hell." Minerva said to herself. The three, even with the extra space around the pot, stayed next to each other as they ate. Kora in the middle, Rio on the left and Minerva to the right. The dim light from the firewood was practically unseeable under the light of the moon, which was high up in the sky.

"It feels like the moon never leaves its place sometimes. It just waits in the daytime until the sun comes down." Rio said, eating his second bowl of stew.

Kora nodded, "It comes out earlier in the Fall I guess. If we waited any longer in that fight, Zen, Kane and I would've been powered up by the moon. That would get real ugly real fast." The fox stated, finishing his bowl.

"Uhg, ya mean the lizard would get even more obnoxious! 'With the moon on my side, there's no way I could lose to you now, pussycat!' That's exactly what he woulda said." Minerva said, while imitating Kane's voice and pretending to flex her muscles. Kora and Rio got a good laugh from her impression. After downing atleast three bowls each, Kora and Rio both drank five, they laid on their backs and watched the starry night sky. Rio yawned and stretched until his bruises stopped him.

"I'm beat. Honestly, if it wasn't for the almost getting beat to death, I'd say I had a pretty great day." Rio said, thinking back to how ruthless Zen was in the fight.

"You and me both. I wish we had more time, we coulda went to the hot spring and washed out some of the sand and pain. Rio, if you hadn't stopped Eva from attacking me, I'd be in much worse shape right now." Kora thanked Rio again. The bruised blue dog smiled.

"Oh you flatterer. I'm sure you wouldn't be that bad."

"Nah, ya saved me too, fuzzball. Those three brought their a-game to that fight. I think they might've started trainin." Minerva added.

"What? Why would any of them train for anything? You don't think they're actually out to get us, right?" Kora asked, lowering his voice a bit.

"Nah, atleast I hope not. I think they're gettin prepared to join the guild."

"That would also explain why they'd wanna get Rio. Geez, they can't even rely on their own strength, they gotta try and force Rio to help get them in." Kora said, frowning at the idea.

"Maybe, we should train up too," Rio suggested, "seeing how close we were in the fight and all. We could also join the guild after I get used to this body." Minerva and Kora thought about it. The idea to join the guild hardly ever crossed either of their minds. They could have joined with just the two of them, but they didn't really have the urge to actually apply.

"That sounds, like a great idea, actually." Kora said, "once we're part of the guild, we can see places off the island, right?"

"And we could go on expeditions, too." Minerva added.

"And we'd be able to get stronger! Plus, I bet if we're a better team than Eva and her guys, they'd leave us alone!" Rio also added, which seemed to also resonate with the other two.

"We'd be able to show up that cocky brat and her drones."

"And finally shut her stupid yap while we're at it!" Minerva and Kora both hugged Rio, it was more Kora hugging Rio and Minerva jumping on top of Kora, actually.

"Rio, you're a genius!" They both said in unison. Rio laughed and blushed from his friends kinda over-the-top reaction as they both landed on him.

"Th-thanks guys, but could you not lay on me?" The fox and feline rolled off of Rio and snickered.

"Alright so tomorrow we rest up at the hot spring and the day after that we start our training!" Kora said aloud, making Minerva and Rio shush him. Each of them smiled and laid on the soft dirt. They were soon drowsy and started to fall asleep. With the faint warmth from the pot and the moonlight shining all around them, Kora, Minerva, and Rio dozed off into slumber.

/End Of Chapter Two/

Fusion: honestly, getting back into writing has been a whole lot of fun. Sometimes I look back at my first story and I'm amazed at how incredibly awful it was. This story, I'm putting in much more effort than I did in my first story and I think there's a clear difference between them. I still have a LOT of small mistakes and habits I'm trying to get out of my system so I can make the story as great as I can. Since next week is Thanksgiving, I might have the next chapter out on Sunday instead of Saturday, which isn't a problem at all for me.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you all in the next chapter.

See ya!