A/N: Hello, and welcome back to sound of the mountain hear my roar. I Know it's been around three whole months since I've updated this (or any of my other fics) But, rest assured I am not dead and I have not abandoned this or any of my other works. It's my life is often gets complicated with work and family, so I haven't found myself being able to write as much as I wanted to. Also, writer's block is an old nemesis of mine that for some reason wouldn't leave me or my plot bunnies alone.

However, with Detective Pikachu having been released (It's awesome guys, check it out if you can.) and pokemon sword and shield having been announced (Woo, finally a game based around my home country), I've found myself being more and more motivated to write and continue this story. So here it is, enjoy.

Posted:17/05/19 | Word Count: 3,126

Chapter three: The duty of a teacher

Sometimes, just sometimes, she wonders if maybe this long unending segment of her life could have ended better, smother, and without all of the heartbreak that life seemed so determined to throw her way. She supposes, in that ever reflective way of hers, that maybe it could have.

That maybe, just maybe, in some perfect world where her grandmother was more open and a little less headstrong, and she herself a little more trusting and a lot less stubborn and angry, then perhaps maybe the following installment of her life might have concluded just that little bit less solemnly, and without all of the pain, the agony, and the bitterness that seemed so happy in its attempts to smother her.

Her grandmother, by most peoples accounts, is not the sort of women who backs down easily from something she's set her mind to, no matter the stakes and no matter how difficult or impossible the challenge might seem.

Her grandfather as weary-eyed and kind as he had been, had always put it down to way his wife had been raised, or if she happened to catch him in a more loosed lipped and talkative mood after enjoying a little bit too much sake - A very rare occasion in and of itself since her grandfather was never too fond of drinking, for whatever the reason. - And was in an unguarded state of mind which only ever appeared after the consumption of too much alcohol or illness, the type of state that makes it easy for a small child of six or seven years old to pry for information that was not freely given.

It made it easier to understand why things were and are the way they are at the very least. He would tell her how her grandmother was not so much as raised, but how she was instead created. Molded and crafted into the perfect image of what a leader should be, what her peers and elders wanted to her to be.

A leader who would one day be entrusted to govern and watch over their clan, when her father either retired or died.

To be fair, she often wishes she hadn't have been so inquisitive or curious as a child and had instead let sleeping growlithes lie. Since she now finds it hard to be truly resentful towards someone who wasn't so much as born into this world with love. But, instead made and created to be nothing more than a pawn in someone else's rigged game.

"You're two sides of the same coin, Hanako. More so then your grandmother is willing to admit." Said her grandfather once, when her grandmother had pushed her just that little bit too hard. She sure those words were meant to comfort her, and admittedly they did for a little while. Before she grew up and realized just how tragic those words really are.

"And that is why you should never ever trust a wild sneasel, no matter how injured they appear to be. Hanako? Hey kid ….You haven't been listening to a word I've said, have you? Hanako."

"Huh?" She groans, rousing at the sound of impatient fingers clicking together by her ear.

"Just like I suspected." Said Hibiki. "You know, I always thought it was a common courtesy to listen to someone when that someone is talking to you. Especially, you've asked that person for their assistance." He crosses his arms over his chest, forehead creasing in poorly concealed annoyance as she blinks up at him from where she's sat. "You did want my help, didn't you?"

Her hands subconsciously thread together on the table as she replies. "Of course I do." And it's true, she did ask and does still want his help. She just doesn't understand what wild sneasels have to do with anything, it's not like she's going to be coming across any anytime soon. They're not native to this part of the region for one, so she'd much prefer it if he'd just skip to the point already.

"Then why, pray tell, are you not listening."

She shifts in her seat, threaded her entwined fingers twitching against each other as she tries to restrain the urge to fidget with a nearby pen or the hem of one of her sleeves.

"It's just, er." Replies Hanako dumbly, eyes drifting automatically towards the red speckled egg that sits beside her, then back to her sensei. "Sneasels aren't native to this part of the region." She adds, for the lack of anything better to say.

"Ah, but you see my dear student." Says Hibiki, leaning over the table to tap on the cylindrical case that his student's egg rests in. "While it may be true that sneasels are not native to this part the Kanto region the analogy I was using can still be of use. For example, say you're making your way back home from Route twenty-two later today, and happen to stumble across a group of very hungry and upset Mankey, tell me how would you stop them from stealing that defenseless little egg of yours and turning into a tasty little snack."

"I….I mean. I'd er..." Stutters out Hanako caught off guard by her sensei's question. "I guess there's really not that much I could do. Aside from you know running away screaming."

He mulls his student's words over for a moment or two before speaking. "You see what I mean. There are many more threats to that egg then what you would expect and some much more common then you might realize."

Her eyes follow him as he crosses the room, stopping in front of one of the large wooden bookcases that line the room. He hums to himself softly, a simple tune that she recognizes but can't quite place as his hand glides searchingly along the spines of books. Before, stopping on one of the thicker leather bound books that sits two shelves up from the bottom of the bookcase.

He grabs the book from off the shelf and brings it back over to where she silently sits, placing it in front of her.

He grabs it and places it down on the table in front of her. "It's old." He says. "And maybe a little outdated in some respects. But it's still good. I'm more than certain you will find some of the answers you are looking for in there."

He shrugs at his student as her confused eyes trail across the worn leather cover of the book 'From egg to birth: the guide to raising juvenile pokemon' explains the books cover in faded black text.

"And even if it's not what you're looking for at least it's a start in the right direction."

"I thought you said you were going to teach me?"

Confused eyes fix on his own and he sighs, crossing his arms back in front of himself as he turns to look out of one of the windows. "Yeah, well, if you had been listening like you where suppose too, then you would know that this isn't exactly mine or my sister's area of expertise." His lips turn down into a frown as he averts his attention to the scenery of the outside world. "I mean, I'm actually considered to be a bit of a jinx at this type of thing, so much so that I'm not permitted to step a foot in the direction of my villages nesting grounds or handle any unhatched eggs."

"That doesn't sound fair." Said Hanako her own face scrunching into a frown, she knows about her sensei's home village from what he, his sister, and her grandmother have explained to her over the years.

She knows how that clan two had it owns sets of traditions and rules that must be practiced and followed above all else, and she knows how sacred and valuable their villages nesting grounds are to its people, and to the pokemon that reside there, so much so that it's very location is a strictly kept secret within the clan and amongst its people.

In fact, it's very location is said to be guarded by only a select few of the villages strongest trainers. Although, she doesn't know if Kotone Sensei was being truthful with her or if she was just trying to mess with her. Misinformation can sometimes be a valuable key in defending something so precious after all.

The very fact that they could exclude one of their own from something so important, so precious, just doesn't make sense. What could Hibiki Sensei have possibly have done to make them forbid him from taking part in something so paramount to his fellow clansmen.

She doesn't know, and judging by the way her teacher casts his eyes away from her and out the window, towards the mountain that sits far away in the distance looking far older and more defeated then any twenty-five year old has the right to. She realizes that her words have upset him, in some way or another.

Should have just kept your stupid mouth shut.

"You see, Hanako." Said Hibiki. "While it is both an honor and a tradition to both visit and protect the nesting grounds so fiercely guarded by my people. Sometimes things just don't happen the way they are supposed to, the way they are intended to go."

He pauses taking a breath as he continues to stare out the window, lost in some memory or emotion that she can't even begin to try and decipher from the haggard look that lingers in the corners of his eyes, across his face, plaguing his features and twisting them into something sad, something lonely.

"When I was ten years old I was entrusted to care for and hatch an egg of my very own, just like every other child ten-year-old child in the village, really." He shakes his head, lifting his hand to pinch his forehead as he inhales and exhales deeply. "But, unlike the other children, I never was able to fully participate in that tradition. Since I was never able to successfully hatch or rear an egg, no matter how many times I tried I always failed one way or another."

He turns to look back at the red speckled egg that sits on the table beside her before casting his gaze back out the window, and towards the mountain on which he was raised, the place he calls home, a place which is so close yet so incredibly far away.

Ketone and he will probably be returning there soon, possibly sooner then his sister and he are expecting, but not before their promise to Hanako's grandmother has been fulfilled.

"It still doesn't sound fair." Said Hanako meekly, voice cutting through the silence he had unknowingly left them in. "You shouldn't be blamed for something that isn't your fault."

The laugh that escapes past his closed lips sounds bitter and jaded to his own ears. But, seeing his student sitting there with her eyes submissively downcast towards the table he forces the next himself to relax, to make his next laugh that breaks out from his mouth sound lighter, more jovial.

"Don't worry about it." He replies, remembering the times he'd had this exact conversation with her grandmother and his sister, it's just one short part of his life that he has never seemed to be able to escape, and one that seems to always crop up in a conversation when he least expects it. "It all happened years ago and to be honest it doesn't bother me anymore." He lies.

His efforts, for the most part, seem to have appeased his student's nerves, she lifts her head to him and then to the book and back again.

Three loud consecutive beeps sound from his student's wrist, startling her for a brief moment before she hastily turns it off. She turns to look at him. "Sorry, Sensei." She says, standing up from the table. "But I promised my grandmother I would be home by four. She wants me to practice my dancing again, I keep getting some of the steps wrong."

Her face scrunches in distaste as she places the book in her bag, and truth be told he can't the reaction. He knows what training under Lady Miku entails and how strict she can be in her methods.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

He smiles as his student scoops up the egg's case into her arms, nodding her head at him. "Thank you, for the book. I'll bring it back with me next Monday."

"Eh, keep it. I don't have any use for it anymore and something tells me you'll get more use out of it than I ever will."

"Wait, are you sure?" She asks.

He shrugs. "I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't"

Hanako returns his smile, bright and beaming as she thanks him yet again for the book and for his time. Before turning and making her way out of the room and out of sight.

He exhales deeply, releasing a breath he didn't realize he had been holding as he walks across the room and busies himself with tiding the room, putting away left out some books that had been left on one of the tables, and clearing away some odds and ends that have been discarded and left around the room. No doubt by his sister in one of her late night studying sessions or that pesky Gengar of hers.

"Having fun?" Questions a voice behind him.

He huffs, turning around to face his sister. "Time of my life." He retorts as he tries to scrub some scribbles off of one of the walls, he going to have to have another word with his sister about her little ghost pal it seems.

At least it's only drawn in crayon this time and not something more permanent. Although, the mischievous little brat will be hard pressed to find any, since he'd taken liberties to dispose of any and all marker pens he could find the last time he'd caught him drawing on the walls

"Brilliant, you won't be so pissed when I tell you that ganger's flooded the kitchen."

"He's done what?" Hibiki all but shouts as the scrub brush he's holding falls out of his hand, clattering to the floor.

"Just kidding."

Hibiki groans, letting out a nervous breath of air as his sister smirks at him. "Idiot. Don't scare me like that."

"Aww, but where would the fun in that be." Her smirk transforms into a full-blown grin as she leans back against the wall. "And who are you calling an idiot, dufus."

"I'm not a dufus. You're the dufus, idiot." He grumbles. "You do realize that until three seconds ago I was ready to murder that mischievous little punk of yours."

She laughs loud and full of mirth as she retorts "Good luck with that. Gengar's a ghost type and the last time I checked you can't murder something that's already dead dufus."

"Shut up." He says dumbly, crossing his arms over his chest as he grumbles under his breath at her. "Unless you want me to start warding the house again."

She gasps, smirk dropping from her face as she looks at him incredulously. "You wouldn't."

"Try me." He says, shooting back a smirk of his own at her.

She huffs, muttering to herself under her breath at him, while she grumbles that she'll have a word with her pokemon about what is and isn't considered acceptable behavior, again.

"Hanako seemed to be in high spirits when she left." Said Kotone. "What you did you do?"

Hibiki shrugs as his sister leans against the wall, watching him as he picks up the brush from off of the floor. "I let her keep one of my old books is all. She needs it more than I ever will."

His sister sighs, looking from away from him and up to the ceiling. "There's not much time left, Is there?" She asks.

He shakes his head. "No, there really isn't." And it's true, time keeps ticking on and it seems like all they're doing is clasping at straws as that inevitable deadline draws ever nearer.

"Do you think she's ready?"

"Do you?"

Kotone sighs, turning her attention away from the ceiling and back towards her brother. "Truthfully, I'm not sure. She's nothing Lady Miku and I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse that she hasn't inherited some her mother's more, er." She turns, bringing a hand up cough into. "Brasher, shall we say, tendencies."

"At this point, I'm pretty sure we should class it as a blessing, we may not know everything, but I'm sure we've both heard enough rumors between us to be grateful that we don't have a mini version of her to deal with."

She sighs, throwing her head back with a light thump against the wall, brows creasing together and marring her face with lines of self-doubt. She knows as well as her brother does that the clock slowly, but ever surely ticking, they're all slowly running out of time, some more than others and she doesn't know if they're going to able to properly prepare their student before the little time they still have together runs out.

"Our elders are going to eat her alive, aren't they?" He asks.

"Yes, yes they are," She says, running her hand over her face as she turns to look at him. "But, it is up to us to make sure she has enough faith and courage in herself to get back up and try again."She pushes herself from off the wall, grabbing the brush from out her brother's hand as she peers down at the colorful scribbles that decorate the wall. Before she turns to look back at Hibiki. "And to do that we need to have faith in her, otherwise we're just setting her and our selves up for failure.

"But what about-"

She cuts him off. "The only thing we should be concerning our selves with at the moment is making sure our student is both ready and able to face the challenges ahead of her. There's no point in worrying about the past and event that have already happened, only what is to come when that egg of hers hatches."

Her bother remains silent, his eyes fixed on her as he thinks over what she has said. Before he sighs, shoulders slumping in defeat. "You're right." Said Hibiki. "There are still things we need to discuss. But, you are right about one thing."

She turns her head back to look at him from over her shoulder. "We all need to start having a little more faith in Hanako."

A/n: Okay, so I'm not 100% happy with this chapter. But, I've literally re-written and re-wrote it over thirty times since I've been away, and this is as best as I could get it. No lie, I'll probably end up returning to it sometime in the future to touch it up in some places. But, not today. I just hope you guys out there have gotten more enjoyment out of it then I have.

Anyway, I kind of find it funny how many incarnations of this fic I have written over the years. Believe it or not, I first started writing the first draft of this fic in 2015, and proceeded to leave it on an old flash drive and forget about it for nearly 2+ years. I dunno, I just find it amazing that I can procrastinate that long and still find people willing to support my fics.

So shout out to all you everyone that has taken the liberty to actually, you know to read, follow, favorite, or comment on this fic. You guys out their make it worth it, seriously. Thank you.

Also, we finally got to meet Hanako's teachers. Who are, shall we say, less than convinced that their student is going to make it.

And as you can all tell there's been a little time skip since the last chapter, nothing major just a few days/maybe a week at most. Also, she has an egg, wonder if anyone can guess what's in it. Will, probably anger a few readers when it hatches. But, hey, it's my story and everything more or less has a reason for being written (For the most part at least).

SIDE NOTE: Sometimes I'm writing this fic and I remember my original thought process when I was writing it was exclusively, I love Celebi, Dragons are awesome. Lance is cool and also hot for some reason. I'm going to make a fic, and here it is.

P.S. For those of you wondering what characters sound like in this fic I suggest you watch the pokemon generations shorts on youtube. Because

A. There really good.

B. It gives you an idea of what characters look and sound like in this fic.

Regards, TheGutsyWolf.