Chapter 3

Ago's POV:

The forest was alive. As the Pidgeys twittered in the trees and the flowers danced in time with the wind, Ago plodded through the trees towards the river. His little paws left tracks behind in the moist earth. Before long, he reached the swift moving stream. There was a small pool that branched off from the rest of the water here, where the current slowed to almost a stop. Pebbles at the bottom shimmered in the sun as the beaver Pokemon waded into the shallows.

Ago calmly lapped at the water flowing beneath his paws, eyes half closed as his mind wandered. It wouldn't be long before work on the dam would begin, so he planned to enjoy his hour of freedom. After he'd finished getting a nice drink, he would go and find some nice berries in the trees around the river. Then, he would...

Ago was interrupted from thought as something splashed into the river, spraying water all over his soft brown fur. A Bidoof is almost never startled, but he became quite curious, and looked up to see what had caused the ruckus.

It was a Zubat, flopping in the current and desperately trying to stay afloat. The Bidoof immediately took action, lumbering through the calmer waters to paddle into the faster part. The current was too powerful to fight, and the Pokemon knew this. So, relying on experience and good swimming skills, Ago cut through the water effortlessly towards the floundering bat in a diagonal line. Then he seized it by one of its large ears and dragged it to shore.

"You okay, buddy? Zubats aren't really water-types," the beaver chuckled to the sputtering flying-type. It sprawled out on the ground, looking quite pathetic. After coughing raucously, it looked up, pulling its round head up at an awkward angle.

"Thanks, I-" the Zubat hacked up some more water before continuing, "didn't mean to go swimming, though. If you can't tell, I don't have eyes. Kind of hard to see how close you are the river when you're blind, eh? Mind tossing me off of something so I can get into the air again?"

The Bidoof stared at him, but obligingly dragged him up to the top of a small rock. All the while, the Zubat struggled and growled, doing his best not to complain. Then he shoved him off of the boulder. The blue Pokemon then flapped its soggy wings and clumsily took to the air.

"Thanks for that. Usually, if one of us crash-lands, it's a dead stop for him. He can't get up because he doesn't have any feet. Life sucks when you're a Zubat. But, anyways, the name's Kuro. And you might be?" Kuro asked gruffly. Ago raised an eyebrow and scuffed the ground with his two front paws.

"No problem!" he gazed over the bat again, "And... I... I'm behind you," the Bidoof said politely, for the Zubat was facing the opposite direction. Kuro immediately swung around, flattening his ears.

"I knew that," he lied terribly. Ago rolled his eyes.

"Mhm. Well, I'm Ago. Nice to meet you, Kuro..." the Bidoof suddenly looked up in surprise, hearing a faint voice in the distance.

"Get your lazy tails back to camp, everyone! Time to finish this dam!" it hollered. Ago slowly backed up, to the confusion of Kuro.

"Hey, why're you going so soon? I barely ever get to talk to anybody!" the Zubat protested.

"Sorry, I've got to get to working on the dam. Or else our lead Bibarel will kill me," he replied glumly. Kuro was silent for a moment, then his toothy mouth widened into a crooked grin.

"You kidding? I've seen enough of your place at night to know that there are dozens of you. That Bibarel can't remember all of your names, can he?" he snorted.

Ago considered Kuro's proclamation for a moment.

"Well... he doesn't know any of our names. Come to think of it, he doesn't even acknowledge us as individuals! Nor does he consider the fact that we might have feelings. In fact, he's also quite rude... and does almost no work himself on top of it! He just judges all of ours..." all the resentment Ago had against the lead Bibarel began to spill out of his mouth, and although he showed no outward sign of it, he was smoldering with anger.

"Why don't you come with me? I've had it with being treated like an object, too. That's why I was so far away from the caves and near this river. I'm leaving my flock. We'll do better off together than as part of a whole. Because when you are, nobody knows who you are, y'know?" Kuro replied eagerly.

"You know what? You're right. I don't need them! I've had it with fetching logs for his majesty. I can build whatever I want whenever I want!" Ago said determinedly. And just like that, his mind turned inside out. He decided to stop being a follower and become a leader instead.

"That's the spirit, Ago!" squawked the Zubat. He fired off an echolocation blast and then came almost face to face with Ago.

"You ready to take on the world, bro? We'll prove them wrong!" Kuro grinned. And even though he had no eyes, the Bidoof could sense that if he did, they would be sparkling.

"Heck yeah! Let's show 'em wrong!" he held out a paw, and Kuro slapped it with his leathery wing.

Flit's POV:

The lithe bird followed her two new companions from above, swooping through the air towards the Caterflight warren. She couldn't see them, as they were underground, but they'd agreed to meet back at the warren, which Flit had seen before. She tucked her wings into a dive, determined to succeed, as she had never managed to complete one smoothly. They always ended in wobbly jerking motions or a sharp turn that ruined the perfectly straight drop.

The wind whipped her feathers, and she kept her eyes wide open as she shot towards the green below her. She ever-so-slightly extended her streamlined wings, breathing in deeply. The ground was approaching fast.

"Ride like the wind! Woohoo! Eat this!" Flit instantly spread her red wings out to their full length... and watched as she jerked to the left involuntarily and shot into the trees with a screech of horror. She barely avoided running into a tree, and slowed considerably until she could flap in place. She sighed miserably. Why did she always fly off in random directions when she tried to dive? She didn't understand. She slowly flittered into the clearing of the warren, watching as Setchi, Angel, and Chisai clambered out of one of the holes in the side of the hill. The Sentret waved invitingly to Flit, and she forced a smile as she swooped down to join them.

"Hi, there! Look who's awake!" the bird twittered in a friendly manner to Angel. The green youngster trembled and immediately jumped behind Setchi, who looked concerned. Flit frowned. "I, uh, sorry, little one. I didn't mean to scare you..."

Setchi laughed softly.

"You're fine, Flit. She just gets scared of strangers sometimes. She warms up pretty fast. Don't you, my lil' sis?" the purple rodent sat back on his hind legs and picked her up, tickling her head with his whiskers. Angel giggled, snuggling against his fur.

"Aww!" Flit sighed admiringly. Chisai just snorted. The Spearow was silent for a moment, then she pounded her curled talons into the soil, startling the other three.

"It's not fair! Those Mightyenas have been ruling this entire forest for what seems like forever. Poor little Angel shouldn't have to see all this violence in the world. Not when she's so young. Chisai, I can smell the Mightyena on you. I may just be a bird, but those nasty wolves reek. You got your tail bitten off by one, right? We shouldn't let this continue. Those bullies need to be stopped. What if the three of us worked together to stop them?" Flit asked determinedly. Chisai and Setchi looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

"What do we look like, Dragonites? We can't take on a dozen Mightyena! Not in a million years! We're just... commons. Weaklings," the Sentret replied. Setchi nodded his head slightly.

"Chasai's right, Flit. We're no elite trainer's Pokemon. As much as I don't want Angel to see all of it, I'm not strong enough. None of us are," the purple rodent sighed. Angel just looked up at him adoringly, seemingly immune to all other conversing. Flit then put both wings down firmly on Chisai's shoulders, startling him.

"Hey! Watch where you're-" he began.

"Now you listen to me! Don't you dare say that you're just a weakling! Yes, we're common. No, we're not the most beautiful Pokemon in the world. BUT! We can be strong if we just stop listening to what the world says to us. You're just like all the other Sentrets in the world right now. You believe that you're a weakling just because everyone SAYS you are! But are you, Chisai? Are you really a weakling? Or are you just submitting like a scared Lillipup? Tell me!" the Spearow's voice rose in anger as she went. The others looked up from their foraging to see what in the world was going on.

Chisai was speechless at the bird's sudden outburst, and even though Setchi had not been subject to it, so was he. They both stared in shock at the furious bird.

"I... you're... I..." the Sentret stuttered. And as if she couldn't get any more dramatic, Flit pecked him right in the stomach, bowling him to the ground. Growling, Chisai leapt up and launched himself at Flit. The two began to scuffle, shrieking unintelligible phrases at one other. Immediately, Setchi set down a terrified Angel and jumped in between the two with a flurry of claws.

"Woah! Calm down, you two!" he yelped, knocking both of them in opposite directions with a well-aimed scratch. The Sentret and the Spearow both glared viciously at one another.

"He didn't tell me, Setchi! Are you just being a coward, Chisai? Are you? I've had enough of it. We need to fight back!" she hissed.

"Flit, you're right," the Sentret finally sighed.

"No! That's not the-" she stopped, surprised. "Wait, I am?"

"Yeah. We do need to fight back. I always told myself I was weak. You're right... we need to try. I won't let these Mightyenas attack my warren again. Not after what happened..." Chisai looked over into the distance. Underneath a gnarled oak tree, three rocks marked the spot of the three scouts who had died last night. Flit and Setchi bowed their heads for a moment.

"What about you, Setchi? Will you fight with us?" Flit asked, a determined gleam in her eye. The rodent hung his head shamefully, clutching his sister close.

"No. Not with Angel around. I one hundred percent agree with you, Flit, it's just that I refuse to leave her alone... she needs me. Look what you two did! She's terrified of you two now!" he protested. Angel trembled beneath his grasp, tail limp. Flit looked like she was about explode again, but she took a deep breath and settled herself.

"I'm sorry, Setchi. Very well. Think you can find any other Sentrets who'll help us fight?" Flit looked back at him. He nodded and smiled.

"Most of us are wimpy, but I know a few who'd stand and fight. Those Mightyenas will be back for a second bite, I can assure you. But the only thing they'll be biting when we're through with them is the dust!" he smirked. Flit pumped a wing into the air.

"That's the spirit! Let's do this!" she cawed roughly. The two scurried off towards the holes. The purple rodent sighed, lifting his sister up onto his back as the other two departed.

"Why won't you fight, big bro? It's only right!" once the other two were out of hearing range, she immediately piped up.

"Yeah, but I think you'd like me more as a brother if I remained in one piece. Flit's reckless, it's easy to tell. And she's got that weird vibe that drags anybody around her into her hothead ideas. They'll be dead by morning, I can assure you. Let's go home," Setchi said quietly.

"But-!" she squeaked.

"I don't want to hear it, Angel! I know the difference between bravery and stupidity!" he replied sharply. As the shiny Rattata resided on Setchi's back, he didn't notice the crestfallen look that appeared on her tiny muzzle.

Setchi trekked off into the trees, ignoring the sounds of laughter and chatter behind him.