Here in this chapter, you'll see where exactly Sneasel, Whynaut, and Snorlax have landed after their run-in with Pumbaa! Also, the team tries to get along with Ellie and her possum brothers again! Have fun!


Still flying in the sky after being smacked by Pumbaa, Sneasel, Wynaut, and Snorlax stopped screaming and were waiting to finally land in silence. But then, one of the three Outsiders decided to break the silence.

"Gotta say, that warthog sure has some strength to hit us so hard that we're still in the air." Snorlax mentioned.

"Calling that guy a pig can make him do unthinkable things. Just ask our hyena friends back in our time, they'll vouch." Wynaut said.

Sneasel shuddered a bit. "I can still feel the pain on the day those Pride Bozos tried to take back that lion's kingdom." He then looked down and saw that they were getting closer to the ground and the water. That made him smile a little. "Well, at least we're finally gonna land soon."

"Thank goodness." Wynaut sighed in relief.

"But what are we gonna land in? The ground, water, or a soft pile of snow?" Snorlax asked.

While the Outsiders were still falling, Scrat was on an ice slide to try and get his acorn again. He crouched down on his front to get ready to launch himself down the slide to get his prize.

Scrat counted down in his head before he launched himself as fast as his arms could do to get him sliding on the curvy slide. He went flying over to his prize, and once he was close enough, he grabbed the acorn in his hands and happily hugged it to him. His eyes were closed, so he didn't see that the three Outsiders were now next to him as they splashed into the water.

Underwater, Wynaut was still able to gurgle out an answer for Snorlax. "Looks like we're in the water again, Snorlax."

Scrat opened his eyes to see that he now had a different problem. Noticing that he wasn't alone, Scrat tapped the nearest Pokemon next to him, which was Sneasel.

"What are you looking at?" Sneasel asked. Scrat just pointed his finger ahead of him. When the Outsiders looked in the direction of Scrat's finger, they saw that they were surrounded by a school of piranhas who opened their jaws in unison to attack the four intruders in their water and also have a free meal.

"Uh-oh." Snorlax gurgled.

Scrat, Sneasel, Wynaut, and Snorlax screamed as they quickly surfaced and tried to get away from the snapping piranhas.

"Get 'em off me! Get 'em off me!" Sneasel screamed. A couple of piranhas were literally on his tail.

The four of them were still dodging the carnivorous fish, even as they landed on a solid bunch of ice connected to dry land. Then, there was a pause when a piranha chomped on Scrat's hand...the one he was holding the acorn with.

With a sudden rise in inner power, Scrat narrowed his eyes and grabbed a jumping piranha by its tail fin. The Outsiders and the fish that had the acorn widened their eyes. "Whats going on now?" Wynaut asked.

"Aaaaaah!" Scrat gave out a battle cry before twirling the piranha in his hand. Before any of the three Outsiders knew it, Scrat was punching, kicking, dodging, and smacking the rest of the piranhas that came their way.

"Wow. He's got some moves!" Wynaut commented.

"I don't know who's scarier, the piranhas or that squirrel." Snorlax wondered.

Sneasel then noticed one piranha trying to escape. "Hey, buddy. I think you missed one." He pointed it out to Scrat. The saber-tooth squirrel wasn't gonna let that happen.

With a yell, Scrat jumped and kicked it downward, and out of the fish came his acorn. He held it up in his right hand, quite pleased with himself.

Suddenly an idea came to Sneasel. "Hey, what do you say we sick this squirrel on the Pride Team? They'll never see it coming." He smirked as he explained.

"But, that warthog knocked us away from them, and Cretaceous and Maelstrom. We don't even know how far we are from them." Snorlax shrugged.

Wynaut noticed something behind him. "Uh, I think I know how far." He pointed to what was behind them. They looked and saw the dam that was still slowly getting weaker.

Snorlax blinked a couple of times. "Wow, that warthog really has some strength to blast us right back where we started."

Sneasel looked upset. "Great! Back where we started ever since we came here!" Then he smiled just as Scrat was about to walk away. "Well, if we swim as fast as we can with this squirrel, we can easily help Cretaceous and Maelstrom finish off the Pride Team!"

Just then, something swooped down and snatched the acorn from Scrat. The four of them looked and saw that it was a female condor who took it. Now the condor was flying up to her nest, which was on a higher ice tower.

Seeing this, Scrat twitched his eye and groaned in dismay.

"Uh, do you think this plan involves getting the condor to help us?" Wynaut asked after a moment of silence.

Sneasel blinked, "I didn't think about that." Then he suddenly smirked again, "But, that is a GREAT idea!"

Looks like the Outsiders will be sticking with Scrat for a while.


With the group back further on dry land, they were passing a hill on another hill leading to the ground below, as well as a pond nearby.

However, Crash and Eddie were still playing around. They were pushing a log up to the top of the hill to roll all the way down. "Almost...there!" Crash said once they got it in place. "Okay, ready Eddie?" He asked his brother in excitement.

"Set. Let's roll!" Eddie answered. They pushed the log and now it was rolling down the hill with Crash on the side of it. "Wait for me!" Eddie cried out before he landed on top of the log.

Eddie tried to keep his balance on top of it, but he ended up getting tangled in the log and began rolling with it. Inside, Crash was repeatedly rolled. They passed by the Pride Team who stopped walking to find out what was going on now. They were surprised to see Ellie happily rolling on her own log. "Whoo hoo!" The female mammoth happily cheered.

The possums crashed against a dead tree and came to a stop, but their mammoth sister rolled over it and was still rolling on her log. "No breaks, gotta roll. Meet you at the other end." She called to the others. She was now further ahead of them.

"Sid, are you sure she's the girl for Manny?" Simba asked the sloth with a raised eyebrow. After seeing what Ellie does and after hearing about Manny in the past, the king of Pride Rock was kinda doubtful.

Sid just shrugged at the lion's question. "Oh yeah, she's tons of fun and Manny's no fun at all. She completes him."

"I don't know." Riolu then noticed they were missing someone. "Hey, wait a minute! Where are Kate and CatDog?"

They heard Cat's scream and turned to the hill next to them. CatDog was rolling on their own log down the hill. Even though he was screaming, Cat was still holding on to his laughing sister's legs. The only ones enjoying that ride were Dog and Kate.

"We'll be with Ellie! We'll meet you guys at the other end as well!" Kate called to the others. "High-ho-digety!" Dog cheered. "NO-ho-digety!" Cat argued.

Max watched them go with a smile. Riolu then casually walked over. "I'm noticing it." Riolu whispered to his best friend in a sing-song tone.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Max asked in confusion.

Riolu showed a knowing smirk. "You like Kate, don't you, Max?"

Blushing heavily, the Pikachu tried to deny it. "WHAT!? Me like Kate? No way! Well...only as a friend and nothing more!"

Riolu saw through that, however. "Uh-huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that, buddy."

Max turned his head away from his partner without another word.

Crash and Eddie, completely dizzy from the log roll, wobbled a little from the log and tried to give each other a high-five. They missed and Eddie landed on his front.

Crash shook his head and he thought of a different stunt to do. "Hey, hey Manny!" He bounced off his brother's head and climbed up the tree to make a request to the male mammoth. "Can you pull back the tree and shoot me into the pond?"

"No." Manny firmly responded, walking past the tree.

"Oh, come on!" Crash whined.

Pumbaa rushed over to walk next to Manny. "Manny, you'll never impress Ellie with an attitude like that."

"I don't want to impress her." Manny grumbled in annoyance.

"Oh. Then why are you trying really hard to convince her that she's a mammoth?" Pumbaa asked curiously.

"Because that's what she is! I don't care if she thinks she's a possum. You can't be two things." Manny answered.

"Oh, Manfred, that's where you're wrong. There's the bullfrog, the chicken hawk, and the turtledove." Pumbaa replied knowingly.

"He's never gonna let up on you. It'll be easier on all of us if you just go with it." Diego said knowingly. Timon and Sid nodded in agreement as they walked by. Timon was actually walking and not on someone's back for once.

Riolu, Max, and Simba looked kinda worried though. Manny, on the other hand, groaned in defeat and walked over to the possums. Crash was using his tail as a swing while Eddie pushed him.

"So uh, what do you want me to do?" Manny asked Crash. Crash stopped swinging and hopped back on the branch. "Pull back the tree and shoot me into the pond."

"I don't know..." Manny raised an eyebrow. This just had 'bad idea' written all over it...somehow.

Crash leaned against the branch and examined his nails. "Well, if you're too lame to do it, we can get Ellie."

"No, no, no. No, I can do it. I can do it." Manny then used his trunk to pull the tree back.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this." Simba whispered to Max and Riolu. "You're not the only one." Riolu whispered back.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, come on." Crash coached Manny.

Max quickly went over to the tree. "Uh, Crash? Have you done something like this before?" Max asked, sounding worried.

Crash smirked, "Ha! Only a million times." He went back to coaching Manny. "Farther, farther, farther." He then saw that Manny placed his foot on the tip. "Perfect. FIRE!" Manny let the tree go as it snapped back into place. Eddie smiled at first once Crash was launched, but then he whimpered a bit when he saw some of his brother's fur shaped like him before scattering all over.

"Crash?" Riolu saw the possum flying.

"Yeah! I can flyyyyyy!" Crash cheered. Ellie, Kate, and CatDog saw Crash flying by and they were wondering what made him fly like this.

"~I believe I can flyyy~" Crash was singing just before he smacked against another tree without looking. He moaned as he fell off and landed on his back, now unconscious.

Eddie saw what happened and he screamed in horror, then he rushed over to see if his brother was okay. "Crash!"

"Oh no!" Simba shared a worried glance with Max, Riolu, and Manny. They then rushed off to check on the down possum.

Eddie made it to a moaning and unconscious Crash. "Crash! Crash! Crash, are you okay?"

Ellie rushed over with Kate and CatDog by her side. "What happened?" Ellie asked in concern.

"Manny shot him out of a tree." Eddie replied while holding Crash close.

Once the rest of the group finally arrived, Ellie turned to Manny. "What's wrong with you!?"

"He said he could do it." Manny defended himself.

"And you listened to him." Ellie argued.

Max winced when he saw the body mark Crash left on the tree. "Boy, that's gotta hurt."

"Crash! Whatever you do, don't go into the light!" Eddie shook his brothers while the others watched.

Manny felt guilty and wanted to fix this. "Can I help in any way here?"

"You've done enough." Ellie glared at Manny, heartbroken and thinking that she might've lost a brother today.

Timon turned away from the possums to give Pumbaa and Diego a dull look. "Oh, great suggestion, guys." He said sarcastically.

"Sorry." Pumbaa apologized. Diego even cringed a little with guilt.

Then they sadly turned to see Eddie pretty sad about this. "Crash! Crash, don't leave me! Who's gonna watch my back? Who's gonna be my wingman of mayhem?" He dropped and brother and then got to his knees in despair. "Who's gonna roll in the dung patch with me?" He sobbed a little.

"Dung patch?" Crash suddenly asked in excitement. Everyone was surprised to see Crash recovering. With Eddie's help, Crash was on his feet again. "Wait, my legs. I can stand!"

"He can stand!" Eddie cheered.

"I can run!" Crash was running in place, recovering right away.

"He can run! It's a miracle!" Eddie and Crash were happily hugging each other.

"Hallelujah!" Ellie cheered for her brothers who happily ran ahead. She began to laugh, but she stopped when she saw that the others were giving her blank, stunned, and confused faces. "What can I say? They're boys. They make my like a little adventure." She told them sheepishly.

Kate nodded in understanding. "I can relate. CatDog can make my own life an adventure too." CatDog looked at her with only Cat raising an eyebrow.

Knowing that this was Crash's fault to begin with, Ellie marched over to her brothers. "You guys are so DEAD! Thanks for embarrassing me!"

Max and the group just watched and cringed in sympathy when they saw Ellie smacking her brothers like a mother dealing with her troublemaking kids.

Crash and Eddie were crying out in pain. "Ow! Owowowow! Not the face!"

"I'm glad I'm not them." Timon muttered with a scared expression on his face. In fact, most of them had scared expressions on their faces. Kate, however, just smiled and chuckled a little with her eyes closed. She understands what it's like to look after two brothers, even if those two brothers shared the same body.


Later in the early, the Pride Team, the herd, Ellie, Crash, and Eddie were walking up another hill, moving away any logs that were in the way. Sid tried to help, but he broke off a small twig and land on his back clumsily.

As he picked up another log, Manny looked over at Ellie. The female mammoth has cooled off by now and was playing around with Crash and Eddie.

Simba walked over with Timon and Pumbaa. "She's really not that bad." Simba told Manny.

When Manny turned his head, Simba and Pumbaa ducked their heads to avoid getting hit by the log. Timon, however, got hit in the face and landed on his back off of Pumbaa. "Oh!"

"A bit strange, and confused on who she really is, but, she seems nice." Simba added.

"So?" Manny asked, turning his head. Simba and Pumbaa ducked their heads. Timon got on Pumbaa's back again, shaking off the pain, only for the log to hit him in the back of the head. "Ow!" Timon grunted and landed on Pumbaa's snout.

"So, is there anything stopping you?" Pumbaa asked in confusion.

Manny threw the log away, then he sadly gave the warthog an answer after a little silence. "My family."

Max and the others paused. Their hearts went out to the poor mammoth. Max felt bad for Manny, but he also felt sad for himself. He's still upset that he might be the only human-turned Pokemon in the world and has never come close to finding another Pokemon who was once a human being.

Sid poked through another log Manny picked up. "You can have it again, you know." the sloth pointed out to Manny.

"Sid, this is Manny's choice. I can understand his fear, I'm still upset with the fact that I might be the only human-turned Pokemon in the world and will NEVER find anyone like me." Max pointed out. He didn't see the determined/serious look Kate was giving him.

Sid cried out while Manny held the log up high. "Okay, okay, but, but, but think about it, Max. If Manny lets this chance go, he's letting his whole species go, and that's just...huh, that's just...selfish! Just like how if you give up, you'll just be a true loner in a crowd of Pokemon!"

Manny and Max gave Sid hard glares before the mammoth tossed Sid and the log away. Sid was screaming before he crashed to the ground. His bottom half was sticking out of the log.

"I think I'm starting to get through to him." Sid said happily about Manny. Riolu, Simba, Timon, Pumbaa, CatDog, and Diego walked by with amused smirks, smiles in Pumbaa and Dog's case.

Ellie, Crash, and Eddie were playing chase with Ellie chasing after her brothers. She tried to crawl underneath a fallen tree to catch them, but had no luck. "Wait, wait! I got you!" Ellie missed.

"Slowpoke!" Crash teased. He and Eddie laughed and ran on ahead.

Ellie tried to move, but she found herself to be stuck. She slumped and puffed in frustration.

Manny, Max, and Kate went to her. "Ellie? Do you need some help?" Kate asked.

"No, no. Just uh, catching my breath." Ellie lied. She tried to make it look like nothing was wrong.

Max raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "You're stuck, aren't you?"

"I am not." Ellie replied, stubbornly.

Manny just shrugged. "All right, then, let's go." He and Max began to walk away while Kate stayed with Ellie.

"I can't." Ellie called in defeat. "I'm stuck."

Manny and Max walked back over. Manny lifted the log. "Don't you think picking them up like this would be easier?" Manny asked after he tossed the log aside.

But then, they saw that the log landed and blew away some loose leaves hanging from two trees next to them. They saw that it looked like a path leading to another clearing in the woods.

For some reason Ellie walked into the pathway to the woods, confusing the other three.

"Ellie?" Manny asked. He followed her into the woods. Max and Kate silently looked at each other in confusion.

"What's with her?" Max asked. He then decided to go after the mammoths. "We should follow them."

Kate, however, saw this as a chance for Manny and Ellie to be alone together. She also looked like it was time to tell Max something. "Max, wait." She held Max's arm to stop him. He looked at the Togetic in confusion. "We should let them have a moment alone. ...Besides, there's something I need to tell you. So, you think we can talk...just the two of us?" Kate looked nervous.

Blinking in confusion with Kate's attitude, Max gently smiled and nodded. "Sure, Kate. Lead the way." Kate smiled and took a different path with Max following her.

Riolu, Sid, Diego, Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa turned their heads to see their friends walking off. Manny and Ellie down one path, Max and Kate down another. The six of them smiled and decided to let their friends have their moments. Crash and Eddie were still playing with each other while Cat decided to have a little fun with Dog, they didn't notice what was going on.


As she kept walking down the woods with Manny following her, Ellie kept thinking that this place looked familiar to her.

"I know this place." Ellie muttered. When she looked at a nearby branch, she quickly thought back to that branch being covered in ice and snow and also the trumpet sound of a mammoth.

She then noticed a familiar looking tree ahead of her on the edge of a cliff. An image of that tree covered in ice and snow quickly played in her head.

Then, Ellie's eyes widened when a memory from long ago came to her.


Flashback:

A younger Ellie was wandering around, cold and lost during the Ice Age.

She tried to call out for help with her trunk, but she got no response.

Scared and searching for her mother, Ellie noticed something up ahead. Since it was mammoth shaped, Ellie quickly went over to see it it was her mother.

It wasn't, it's just a tree covered in snow that made her think it was a mammoth.

Since it was pretty cold, the only thing Ellie could do was close her eyes and curl up against the tree in sadness.

Then a noise got her attention. Ellie opened her eyes to see a female possum hanging on a branch by her tail, smiling warmly at the poor young mammoth who blinked in confusion.

From behind the female possum, two smaller possums peaked from behind their mother. They glanced at the mammoth in confusion and curiosity.

Ellie stood up and smiled back at the possums.

Flashback End:


As soon as the memory faded, Ellie blinked in surprise. She unknowingly walked under the same tree the mother possum found her.

Turning around, she saw Manny standing there. The male mammoth somehow found out that Ellie finally figured out who she REALLY is.

As she approached Manny, Ellie saw the mammoth footprints were in between them. Like Manny showed her earlier, she placed her front foot on one of the prints and she smiled when she saw that it fit perfectly. Manny smiled as well.

Now the two mammoths were walking side-by-side.

"You know, deep down, I knew I was different." Ellie sighed. "I was little bigger than the other possum kids." Manny stopped and gave her a confused look, so she rolled her eyes and corrected herself. "Okay, a lot bigger." Manny just smiled at that. Then Ellie realized something else. "Oh! Now I understand why the possum boys didn't find me appealing."

"That's too bad, because as far as mammoths go, you're...uh..." Manny began to trail off, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden. "You know."

"What?" Ellie was curious.

"Well, dah, well...oh...attractive." Manny said sheepishly, then he began to walk away.

"Really?" Ellie sounded surprised.

"Sure." Manny answered.

"What about me is attractive?" Ellie asked. That Manny stop.

"Huh? Wha-oh, well...I-I dunno. Uh, well, there's your...uh, butt?" Manny said awkwardly.

Ellie looked at her butt. "What about it?" She asked suspiciously.

"It's...big?" Manny replied, cringing as he did.

At first, she looked suspicious, but then Ellie smiled after a pause. "Oh, you're just saying that."

Hearing that made Manny relax as he continued. "No, no, no, I mean it. It's huge. Biggest darn butt I've ever seen."

"Oh, that is very sweet." Ellie was touched by what Manny told her. "What a crazy day. This morning I woke up a possum, and now...I'm a mammoth."

Manny smiled at her while hearing that.


Back at the dam, it was melting and spewing out more water and also releasing more ice chunks that fell off and crashed down below.

The three Outsiders and Scrat were hopping and climbing towards the condor's nest, dodging the ice chunks as they did.

"Okay, just remembered what we talked about, buddy. You let me and my friends talk to that condor, and that acorn is all yours." Sneasel told Scrat.

Scrat smiled and nodded happily. Then they swung on a loose stick to get to the big nest.

"Hey, I don't see any condor here." Snorlax said. They looked around and saw that it was empty, except for an egg and the acorn.

Not seeing the condor anywhere, Sneasel sighed in annoyance. "Okay, your prize is over there, bushy tail. You know what to do." Scrat happily ran over and held his prize close.

Then everyone heard a cracking sound. Scrat wondered if it was his acorn, but another crack was heard behind him. Everyone turned to the egg, just as the top opened up to reveal a baby male condor.

"...I guess the condor left to find something for the little one." Wynaut guessed. The baby condor looked at the acorn Scrat was holding.

Scrat held it close to him, glaring at the baby condor. As he moved the acorn a bit, the baby condor kept his eyes on it. Screaming, Scrat ran away. But, with the baby being bigger than him, he easily caught up and chomped on Scrat's tail. That made Scrat scream in pain and release his grip on the acorn.

The baby caught the acorn in his beak and stomped on Scrat. This was entertaining to Sneasel. "That was a good one."

"That squirrel must be pretty hurt after that." Snorlax said. Scrat shook off the pain and jumped after the baby to get his nut. That made the two of them fall over with the acorn free from the baby's beak.

"Guys, we should probably get back to finding the adult condor." Wynaut suggested to Snorlax and Sneasel.

"What? And miss this?" Sneasel motioned his arm to Scrat and the baby condor having a tug-o-war match for the acorn. "I've never enjoyed myself more! This is even better than seeing Banzai and Ed fighting after we got our butts kicked by Mufasa!"

Scrat and the baby pulled so hard, the acorn was launched into the air. Scrat ran to catch it, but the baby condor stopped him with his foot before he swallowed the acorn.

Sneasel was even cheering for the baby. "Yeah! Awesome move, kiddo!"

Not one to give up, Scrat scurried up, yanked the beak open and pulled the acorn out of the kid. But that made the kid angry. He tried to chomp down the scurrying Scrat. And while the condor chased Scrat, Sneasel was laughing pretty hard. There was a pause when it looked like Scrat got his head bit off.

The Outsiders gulped at that, but it turns out Scrat hid his head in his body and had to pull it out. Scrat glared as he looked around for the little brat.

"Okay, that was good and all, but we should find that mother condor." Snorlax said. Then a shadow loomed over Scrat. Wynaut saw who the shadow belonged to. "Uh, guys? The momma's back."

They heard and looked up, even Scrat and his eyes widened and he let his acorn drop. The mother condor stood on the edge of the nest, looking down at the Outsiders and Scrat since she knew they were causing her baby trouble. The baby smiled, knowing his momma came to the rescue.

Scrat tried to make the condor think he's one of them pathetically. "Peep?"

Sneasel walked over next to Scrat to speak to the mother condor. "Allow me." He then turned his attention to the condor while Wynaut and Snorlax were behind him. "Evening, ma'am. Name's Sneasel and I'd like to ask you for a little help in ridding me and my friends of a little problem, not meaning the nut ball next to me. Just fly me up in the sky and I'll point them out to you. In return, we'll help bring all the food for you and your kid. What do you say?"

The mother just narrowed her eyes at the Outsiders and Scrat.

Next thing the four of them knew, the Outsiders were kicked off to the side and Scrat was pushed through the nest. All four of them were screaming as they fell down to the water below them. The baby condor even waved his wing goodbye at Scrat.

The Outsiders hit the water with a splash. They quickly swam over to a floating piece of ice.

"Okay, that didn't go well." Wynaut said.

"I can see where I went wrong. I just didn't give her enough details on what I was offering. And because of that, she gave us the boot off her nest." Sneasel was still determined to get the condor to help.

"Maybe we should just find a way to get back to Cretaceous and Maelstrom to help us deal with the Pride Team." Snorlax suggested.

"Those two useless Magikarps? Forget it! We had them deal with those bozos on the thin, and they couldn't dispose of them!" Sneasel looked up at the nest again. "I might have failed to get the condor to listen to me, but that's not gonna happen twice."

However, after the Outsiders got to the nest two minutes later...

"It happened twice! IT HAPPENED TWICE!" Sneasel screamed. He, Wynaut, and Snorlax were kicked out of the nest by the mother condor and hit the water once again.


Continuing on the trail at night just wasn't such a good idea, so the Pride Team decided to camp out for the night. Even Crash and Eddie agreed to get some sleep before getting back on the road. Max, Kate, Manny, and Ellie have yet to return to Riolu and the others.

Having learned how to make fire, Sid was testing rocks to make a campfire. He frowned when one of the two rocks he picked up was too flat, so he threw it away before he heard rustling behind him.

Looking over, he saw nothing but bushes. Shrugging to himself, he found another rock and smiled when he saw a spark after smacking the rocks in his hands together.

More rustling was heard, making Sid look back at the bushes and saw that they were still.

He then saw Diego, Riolu, CatDog, Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa walking by to find spots to sleep for the night.

"Boy, Manny sure took a big leap with Ellie today." Sid commented with a smirk.

"Yeah, he sure did. Just like how Simba and Max helped Manny fight one of those dangerous fishes." Dog happily agreed.

"Yep. All three of them stood on the shore of uncertainty and dove right in." Sid then slid over to Simba and Diego. "Splash. Kinda brave, huh? The way you, Max, and Manny faced your fears." Sid took a sideways glance at Diego while he said that to Simba.

Simba just shrugged. "Well, I was just doing what I could to help protect the others."

"Diego, what do you think?" Pumbaa asked the tiger.

"I wouldn't know. Sabers don't feel fear." Diego replied. That made the others look at him with sweat drops.

"Oh, come on. All animals and all Pokemon feel fear. It's what separates us from, say, rocks. Rocks have no fear." Sid tossed a rock into a puddle behind him. "And they sink."

"Just what are you getting at, Sid?" Cat asked skeptically.

"It may surprise you guys to know that I, too, have experienced fear." Sid proudly informed.

"Oh really?" Riolu mockingly said. He and the others held mock surprised looks/deadpan looks. For Dog and Pumbaa, it was real surprise.

"Oh, yeah. Yes, as impossible as it seems, the sloth has natural enemies that would like to harm or otherwise 'kill' us." Sid put air quotes for the word, kill.

"I wonder why?" Diego asked sarcastically.

"Well, jealousy, mostly." Sid replied.

"I highly doubt that. It's almost like saying most animals try to eat meerkats like me because they're jealous of us." Timon muttered to himself.

Not hearing the meerkat, Sid concluded what he was trying to say. "But the point is that fear is natural."

Sid leaned back a bit when Diego leaned forward with a terrifying sneer. "Fear is for prey." He then turned to walk away. Simba may be a predator but even he realizes that all living creatures experience fear, so he just gave Diego a look of disagreement.

"Well, then, you're letting the water make you its prey." Sid then zoomed over a tree and over a bush behind Riolu. "Just jump in and trust your instincts." He dived into the bush to pretend he's swimming in water. "You know, most animals and Pokemon can swim as babies."

He was now on a log and pretending to be a predator stalking prey. "And for a tiger, it's like crawling on your belly to stalk helpless prey." He disappeared into the trees.

Sid suddenly appeared to the group's right, making them jump a little. Sid was using vines to keep him a little off the ground. "But faster, OK? Now, claw, kick, claw, kick. I'm stalking the prey. Claw, kick. Now, I look back over my shoulder to see if I'm being followed. And I'm breathing." The more Sid was faux swimming, the more annoyed the others, minus Dog and Pumbaa, were becoming. "And I'm stalking and I'm stalking and I'm...Ah!" Sid yelped when Cat used his claws to cut the vines.

Sid fell on his back on the ground in front of the others. "...I'm falling." He weakly finished.

"Correction, Sid. You're sinking. Kinda like a rock." Cat replied. The others walked away while Sid just laid there, groaning.


Meanwhile, Max and Kate were out in an open field with plenty of grass and with plenty of stars in the sky.

"Wow. Those stars looks amazing, don't you think?" Kate asked Max.

Max looked up at the stars himself. "They do look astounding. Seeing those stars makes me think back to what Simba's father, Mufasa said about them."

"Really? What did he say?" Kate asked, interested.

"Back when he was still alive, Mufasa said that the great kings of the past are up there watching over us. Whenever we're alone, those kings will always be there to guide us." Max then turned his head from the stars and to Kate. "Ever since then, I've felt as if those same kings have been watching over me, Riolu, Simba, and everyone else in the Pride Team, acting like our spirit guides."

Max then decided to ask Kate something. "Say, Kate. You said you wanted to tell me something?"

Kate looked serious as she turned from the stars to Max. "I did say that. ...Max? Remember what I said about you meeting another Pokemon that was once a human before?"

Max nodded. "You did say that."

"Well...you're looking at her, right in front of you." Kate finally revealed. That shocked Max pretty good.

"Wha...!? Kate, you were a human before?" Max asked.

Kate nodded, "Like you, I got turned into a Pokemon a long time ago. I was an adventurous little human girl when it happened. One night, I was looking up at the stars like what we're doing now. Then, I saw this unique shooting star out there, so I closed my eyes and made a wish on it."

"What wish was that?" Max asked.

Kate kinda hesitated to answer, but she decided to answer anyway. "I...I-I wished I could be able to understand Pokemon a lot more."

"Really? You're a girl that seems to love Pokemon and adventures." Max commented.

Kate smiled and nodded, "More than anything." Her smile faded as she continued. "But, the next day...I guess my wish was granted in a way. I woke up one day as a Togetic, lost...and alone."

Max felt real sad for his friend, but then something else came to him. "What about CatDog? How did you meet them?"

"I was lost in that world, and I was still not used to my wings at the time I stumbled upon where CatDog lived, Nearburg." Kate answered. "Maybe I was still tired from that sleep I had on that fateful day, or maybe I wasn't thinking clearly because I haven't eaten anything for a couple of days after that day, but I smacked my face against the front door of CatDog's house."


Flashback:

CatDog were watching TV on the couch when they heard something smack against their door. They yelped when they heard that.

Cat carefully walked over to the front door to find out what it was. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see a bruised Togetic, Kate, lying in front of the house.

"When I came to, I've found myself in their living room with bandages around me and with a meal right in front of me." Kate explained.

Kate was enjoying some food while watching TV, but then she looked over at CatDog.

"At first, I was surprised to see a cat and a dog attached to each other, but they explained what happened to me. In return, I've told them about me being a human once."

After Kate explained her situation, CatDog looked at each other skeptically.

"Even so, Dog was really kind and suggested I stay with them. Cat, however, was kinda skeptical about it. But, after a while, he kinda warmed up to the idea." Kate added.

Images of Kate playing with CatDog appeared, as well as Kate scolding Winslow for picking on them and even multiple images of Kate using her powers to protect CatDog from the Greaser Dogs: Cliff, Shriek, and Lube.

One last image showed Kate and CatDog hugging each other.

Flashback End:


"Ever since, I've been living with them as their adopted sister." Kate finished her explanation to Max.

The Pikachu was surprised with what Kate went through during her first days as a Togetic. "Kate...Do you ever want to be a human again?"

Kate smiled and looked up at the stars. "I did once, but I'm really happy living with CatDog as a Togetic. I've learned that it's kinda fun to fly around with my wings." She then sighed a little, "But, I have to admit, it felt kinda lonely being an only human-turned Pokemon around the area before I met you."

Max nodded a couple of times. "I understand the feeling. When I was a human, I was tasked with defeating an unusual enemy with a Pokemon named Mew."

"What enemy?" Kate asked.

"Dark Matter. An enemy created from negative feelings in Pokemon and something that was able to turn Pokemon, legendary, mythical, or otherwise, into stone. I was tasked to bring Dark Matter down before the Tree of Life could be destroyed by the sun." Max explained. He looked down as he continued. "As a human, I've failed. But a long story involved me turning into a Pikachu and having a second chance to stop Dark Matter with Riolu."

"Riolu? You mean your partner and best friend?" Kate asked.

Max nodded. "Neither one of us knew it until some time after Dark Matter was defeated, but it turns out Riolu was once a reincarnation of Mew." That shocked Kate a bit.

"I thought I was gonna return to the human world once Dark Matter was gone...but I was wrong, Riolu was the one that disappeared." Max said sadly.

Kate was confused. "Huh? But I've seen Riolu around. How could he have disappeared when he's still here with you?"

"That's because I went through a lot to bring him back. I met up with another Mew, traveled a little with him, but then I was able to get Riolu back, thanks to Mew's help...thanks to the help of all of my friends from the Expedition Society." Max finished explaining.

"Wow, Riolu sure is lucky to have you for a friend, Max." Kate said with a smile.

"Well, Riolu's been there for me from the very beginning. He's like my best friend...my brother. We've always been a team. He finds a way to remind me that I'm not alone in this world." Max looked up at the sky and imagined Riolu.

Kate then suddenly took a hold of Max's paw in comfort. "I guess we're more alike than we both think."

Surprised at first, Max smiled and held Kate's hand back. "I guess you're right. All the more reason for us to stay together...as Pride Team members."

The two human-turned Pokemon said nothing else. They just sat there and looked up at the stars while holding their hands.


Finally finished with this chapter! The stuff that Max was to Kate about, involving Riolu, happened in the game Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon if any of you were curious. Sorry it took so long to complete, see you in the next chapter!