Chapter 6

West stepped out of the thick forest into a small clearing. He looked out at the Pokemon town, aghast. A small wooden archway was serving as an un-needed entrance. There was a dirt patch maybe around 10 to 15 feet wide beyond the entrance. It seemed like it had been walked on a lot, although there weren't any Pokemon at the moment. A large wooden bulletin board was stuck in the middle of the dirt circle. It looked more like scrap from a garbage can that was somehow miraculously put together. It had parts of various sizes, some radically larger than others. The visible side to West was covered head to toe in papers, held in place by other splinters of wood.

Directly next to the sign was what could only be described as a receptionist desk. Built much like the scrap bulletin board. On the table was a bowl filled with an unknown substance. Behind the piece of scrap, standing up, was a female Monferno. She was turned sideways, leaning on the thin part of the board with one hand on the table.

She seemed to be distracted as Diem and party walked up to the board. But she noticed them out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and smiled, revealing a few small fangs.

"Aha! Team Envoy! I was wondering when you were going to be back. And I see you have an addition to the party. Or is he the client?"

"Oh, he is not related to the mission request." Diem replied. "We found him struggling with two savage Pokemon on the way back. We thought we might as well pick him up."

"Well, more power to ya buddy." The Monferno said, shrugging. She then proceeded to walk to the other side of the board. West heard a ripping sound and she came back from behind the board in a few seconds. She put the paper on the makeshift table as she dipped her hands in the bowl. When she brought her hands out, the tips of her fingers were darkened by a sort of ink that smelled of crushed berries and plants of a sort.

The Monferno did sort of a waving motion over the paper with her hand, as if writing a signature. She handed the paper to Diem when she was done, who took hold of it in his mouth.

"You know the drill. Bring it to-"

The Monferno stopped and sniffed the air for something. Her eyes slowly examined the surroundings and stopped abruptly at West.

"You. You smell funny."

"We were by a human town." RM retorted. "We all smell funny."

"Yes but… oh well." She said, waving one of her hands in the air dismissively as if she was swatting a fly. "As I was saying, just take it to Trish, she is in her usual spot nearby the residential area."

The party continued to the left. All West could really see is a whole bunch of foliage just perhaps a foot taller than he was, consisting of a bunch of bushes and shrubbery. He stopped abruptly in front of it, while Diem and the others kept walking through. It looked like a tight squeeze. He stood there anxiously, not quite sure what to do.

"Are you coming or not?" RM shouted back. "Come on!"

West cautiously worked his way through the bushes. Branches scraped across his face and engulfing all vision. He stepped and, almost expectantly, the ground disappeared from underneath his feet. He fell only about two feet, landing safely but ungracefully on his feet (or paws).

What was really surprising is what he fell into. The bushes surrounded a dug out square hole about 40 to 50 feet long. The bushes and foliage formed a type of wall around the area. Large trees loomed overhead from the sides, covering up the top as if it were a roof. Sure there were holes in the canopy where the branches did not reach, but it was fairly well covered, and the holes let cool air in. There were about a dozen Pokemon scattered in here, some sleeping, some talking, and some baby Pokemon were even play fighting.

"Hey West! Over here!" Rukii cried from the right of West.

West headed over to the right corner of where he entered. In the corner was a huge bunch of foliage that sort of engulfed the small corner, like a side of a picture frame cutting off the picture's edge. In front of it was a thin, long creature. It was covered in tan fur, along with brown fur stripes circling around the creature's body. Overall, the Pokemon appeared as if it could be 5 feet tall, but the way it was standing made its head was only a foot or so above West's.

But something peculiar he noticed was what the creature was holding. It was an oval shaped item, coated in a white shell with blotches of different designs which were shaded in brown. It was fairly large, actually only little smaller than West.

"Oh, is the funny smelling guy over there your friend?" The Furret questioned happily.

That's twice now…

"Yeah, we picked him up along the way." RM replied. "He was being attacked by savage Pokemon."

"H-hi there." West forced out of his mouth, mouth accidentally curling into an embarrassed smile.

"Its nice to meet you!" She said, smiling and nodding at the Riolu. "Now, what did you all need?"

"Mff miff muff miff miff." Diem tried to say through the paper in his mouth.

"Say that again?" Said Trish.

"Murf miffl muff miff MIFF!" He struggled again.

"Who fell out of a tree?"

"MIFFLE!"

"Ooooh, you've got pain down there? I've got a mixture of berries in my nest over here that can-"

Diem spit out the paper in his mouth, licking his mouth again to try and get the paper taste out.

"We just came back from a mission request!" Diem said in a loud and annoyed voice. "We came here to get the reward!"

"Oh, well why didn't you say that?" Trish asked happily. She sure was perky. "Uhhh, could you hold this for me please?"

She gently gave West the item she was holding. He was going to refuse, but he didn't want to drop the object. Expecting to topple forward over the weight, he braced one of his feet in front of him. The heavy weight hit his arms, but miraculously he was able to lift it with ease. West leaned back a little and propped up part of it with his head. When the Furret saw that he had it under control, she nodded and then dove directly into the bushes behind her.

West took the time to examine the object again. The outside of the item was covered in a shell. It was cold to the touch, and it even felt fragile, like it could just break in his arms. Although the outside of it was cool, he could feel a little heat radiate from somewhere in the center. What it was, mental or real, he was unsure. But with his head right against the shell, West could have sworn he heard a noise.

*Thu-thump* *Thu-thump* *Thu-thump*

Trish came back as fast as she went in, but when doing something unpleasant or undesirable a second or two or can feel like an eternity.

Trish nimbly moved over to Diem with a bag between her paws. She fastened it on Diem's waist. "Here is your bag you asked me to hold onto. It's got all your stuff that was left in it, along with the reward from your last mission.

"Thanks." Diem replied. "Mind if we ask another favor? West here is unfamiliar with his senses, and I was hoping you could teach him the basics. The rest of us are going to be doing another mission, since its only mid-day." Rukii and RM looked at each other and groaned. Diem ignored them. "We should be back by night time."

"Come on!" Trish said.

"I'm telling you, I can't hear anything out of the ordinary!" West retorted.

West had been going at this for a while now. They were now located inside Trish's nest. There was a hollow dome-like pocket inside the bundle of bushes. It was not easy for West to get comfy in such as small space, and the hardest part was getting inside. Furret nests are made to be almost impossible to force your way into. West had tried to struggle his way in, but Trish had to help him by working her way halfway through the wall of bushes and use her long body to create an opening for West. Trish was now curled up on the other side of her nest wrapped around her still mysterious item.

"E-explain to me again please."

"Ok, fine." She said in a sort of pout. "Pokemon have the basic sense of smell, sight, touch, and all that. But there is another hidden sense for all Pokemon, different for each and every one of them. I don't know much about it, but from what I learned it's easier to tap into it if you heighten all your other sense."

"I know! I got that, but how do I do that!?"

"I told you! You gotta focus!"

West let out a groan of rage and frustration. He had never had this much trouble with anything in his life. He breezed by school (except for PE), he could tell the exact anatomy of a Rattata, he could probably re-construct Pokemon skeletons like a Jigsaw puzzle, but these things were news to him. And West knew how Pokemon's sense of smell and hearing were heightened compared to humans. However, West had not felt any change in his senses.

If he recalled correctly with what he had read in the newspaper, Lurcarios sensed emotions, and they called that Aura. Riolus supposedly had this power too, but he had no idea how to harness it. West sighed and tried to focus again. Going through the mental files of his mind, he had already tried to remember something from science and informational books, but he could remember nothing. Well, he had been turned into a Riolu, anything is possible. He tried to remember something from his fun reads: fantasy, fiction, and such. Crazy things were happening to him, perhaps the solution would crazy as well.

He tried the first thing that he remembered reading, focusing at the center of his forehead. After trying that for about a half-minute, he succeeded getting nothing except a bigger headache. He next tried shouting commands in his head. Still nothing. Finally, he tried to be in a clear state of mind. Like what he felt like before he started to pray. He closed his eyes, forgetting the world through sight.

He almost had it. West felt like he was on the brink of it, almost there. He could not explain it. It was like he was on the brink of feeling an emotion he had never felt before. But something snapped him out of it. A scream, a punch, and the sound of footsteps.