Chapter 7: Blazing Fires

"Alright! Who are you and why are you terrorizing this cave and the Pokemon in it?!" Hikaru screamed angrily, looking like she really wanted to battle this Charmeleon and give him the spanking he deserved so much. Sparks of yellow electricity crackled and cackled around the pouches on her red cheeks, obviously wanting to let all the thunder and lightning out and let it all run rampant. Me? I just hid behind her, shaking like a leaf on a Sewaddle, completely scared out of my mind.

"So...am I to understand that you two little bumpkins actually want to challenge ME?" The Charmeleon asked in a surprisingly and weirdly high pitched voice, like that of a nine year old boy. As far as I could tell, he looked like he could be the second evolution of a Pokemon, not the first, even though I had no way of knowing that for sure, so why did he sound like a little boy when he looked like he could be very close to his final stage of evolution? That was even more jarring than his appearance. Hikaru didn't seem to notice this detail as she's too busy staring him down with the angry look she gave me when we first met, only this look was literally filled to the brim with rancor and animosity.

"Who are you calling a bumpkin?! I'm only asking you stop terrorizing all these Pokemon for your own amusement!" Hikaru snapped angrily. I didn't understand why she wanted to fight so bad when Odette clearly told us to run if we ever so much as made eye contact with him. I knew a battle like this would be a lost cause, a battle that we both couldn't win, even though we outnumbered him.

"Hikaru! We have to run! Odette said so!" I yanked on her tail with my mouth and tried to drag her away from that fiendish Charmeleon but she refused to budge no matter what I tried. All of a sudden, the Charmeleon jumped from the tunnel he came from, approached us with a curious but bitter look on his face, grabbed Hikaru by the ear and threw her against the wall like she was trash.

"Hikaru!" I tried to run to her aid, but Charmeleon suddenly grabbed one of my flowy streamers really hard and yanked me toward him. It really hurt! He forcibly turned me around and stared down at me with a very scary and frightening face. He looked very intent on killing me. The rancor he had in his glinting eyes was almost blinding, like flames of hatred and animosity were dancing in them at every turn, without any intention of stopping anytime soon. I tried to get away, but I was too frozen with fear to do anything.

"Hmph! You're trash! I might as well burn you and put you out of your misery. Seeing you turn into a charred black corpse will definitely give me great pleasure," Charmeleon hissed in a slithery tone of voice.

"Leave her alone, you bully! Thunderbolt!" Hikaru unleashed a huge thunder bolt and made it rain down on Charmeleon. I wound up getting electrocuted, but I managed to escape once Charmeleon got hit and lost his grip on me. Soon, Hikaru was right in front of me, her cheeks literally spewing electricity.

"It's you and me, pal! Leave her out of this!" Hikaru yelled boldly. I couldn't believe she was protecting me from this evil Charmeleon.

"Out of my way, you worthless piece of junk! I want to see this worthless trash burn at my hand!" Charmeleon yelled as he tried to punch her.

"Iron Tail!" Hikaru's tail glowed in a white light at first, then it looked like it was completely encased in sleek, sharp, shiny, silvery metal. She whipped her tail around and stopped Charmeleon's fist from making contact with me. Not only that, she managed to make Charmeleon step back a few paces.

"You're NOT hurting her! You're gonna have to go through me if you want to lay your grubby claws on her!" Hikaru yelled again.

"Hmph! So be it! You will both BURN!" Charmeleon screamed with a loud voice full of hatred as he was suddenly enveloped by scorching, blinding red flames that turned into a tornado and tried to engulf Hikaru. I found myself able to move again and knocked her out of the way, saving her from the tornado of flames, even though some of them got onto some rocks.

"Volt Tackle!" Hikaru allowed herself to be swallowed by blinding electricity as she charged right at Charmeleon and managed to throw him against a wall, leaving a huge hole in it. But Charmeleon wasn't going to give up. With both of his fists, he knocked Hikaru off of his belly and got back onto the cave floor.

Then he did something so deplorable, so horrendous, so noisome, so utterly horrendous, it would remain firmly planted in my brain for the rest of my life.

As soon as his feet touched the floor, he raised both of his fists into the air, and columns of flames that rose into the air surrounded him like a band of snakes. With a flick of his hands, he unleashed them all onto every single part of the cave. We managed to not get hit by the flames, but the temperature suddenly skyrocketed to boiling hot levels. I felt so hot, so weak, and so inundated by the intense heat that I couldn't move, nor could I stop this Charmeleon from abusing his attack more and more. We were trapped, surrounded by fire, fire, fire! But it wasn't the fire that scared me. I saw some small Pokemon be engulfed by the flames, screaming for help as they got darker and darker until they were reduced to charred remains. I was helpless to save them from this cruel, merciless fate, just like how I was unable to save Katie. It made me sick. I felt like I wanted to throw up.

But that wasn't even the worse part. The worst part was that throughout the entire time he was engulfing this part of the cave in flames that he himself created, Charmeleon was LAUGHING!

Yes, laughing right out loud, like he was having the best time of his life! Like a little kid on a ride in an amusement park. But no, this wasn't the merry laughter I was used to hearing. It was merry, but...not the kind of merry I thought was natural. No, Charmeleon was having fun killing Pokemon and setting everything on fire. This was not something that could make any normal person or Pokemon happy. Nobody could ever see something this sick, this deplorable, and this utterly terrible act as fun, but for Charmeleon, it was like the sight of a room encased in flames made him the happiest Pokemon in the whole world. Watching Katie successfully kill herself was one thing, but watching a Pokemon go around killing everything and everyone around him while laughing like an overly happy drunkard having the best time of his life as the Pokemon he's murdering are crying and pleading for help which will never come...

Naturally, I couldn't stand it, and apparently, neither did Hikaru.

"Discharge!" Hikaru decided to do what Charmeleon did and encase this entire part of the cave in thunder and lightning, finally managing to stop Charmeleon from doing any more damage. The cave literally lit up like a light bulb as Hikaru unleashed her explosion of thunder and lightning, and I was so blinded I had to squeeze my eyes shut in order to preserve my eyesight. Charmeleon's attack stopped, but the flames persisted and continued to engulf everything.

"Why do you get in my way?! Let me have my fun!" Charmeleon sneered, looking like he was getting angrier and angrier by the minute.

"Your fun consists of killing innocent Pokemon and putting everyone in danger! That's why! Now stop what you're doing and get out of here before I do something that'll make you regret ever messing with us and the Pokemon in this cave!" Hikaru yelled. As usual, Charmeleon didn't relent.

Suddenly, he knocked Hikaru away and managed to grab me. He pinned me to the ground, made a fist of his left hand, engulfed it in flames, and began punching me repeatedly. I tried to fight back, but the burning blows were so strong, so painful, and so excruciating that I couldn't move at all. No matter what I tried, Charmeleon refused to release me, and burn marks were beginning to appear all over me. He showed no mercy. He was too strong for me to fight off. His punches came so fast and so swiftly that I couldn't even react in time to force him off of me. It was like he was doing everything in his power to do away with me and not care about what I was feeling. I was only his victim, his prey, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. Thankfully, Hikaru, being the bold and strong willed Pikachu that she is, bit Charmeleon's tail so hard that he howled in pain.

"Syl! Run! Find an exit!" Hikaru commanded. Once she got Charmeleon's attention diverted back to her, I managed to find a hole and try to escape through it until a huge horde of the gear Pokemon flew into the flaming room with angry faces and courage in their hearts, surrounding Charmeleon with intent to fight him. One of them promptly shooed Hikaru into the tunnel with me. Even Hikaru looked surprised.

"We are Klink! Go and find an exit! Fast!" The gear Pokemon, Klink, exclaimed in a rather funny, monotone, and robotic voice.

"But you'll get killed! Steel is weak against fire!" Hikaru pleaded.

"No care! Klink will take back Chargestone Cave no matter what! Leave this place or be his dinner! Now run!" Klink shouted. We didn't want to leave Klink and his friends behind, but Charmeleon was too strong for us, and was probably way too strong for even all of them to handle, if what Hikaru just said about steel types being weak against fire attacks was true. We knew this was a lost cause and we couldn't do anything, so we did what Klink said and ran as fast as we could through as many tunnels as we could find. We needed to find an exit or else we'd suffer the fate as the Pokemon that were engulfed in flames.

However, Chargestone Cave, as the Klink called it, didn't exactly have one direct route to an exit. Some of the tunnels we went through, calm and peaceful as they were, felt like they went on forever. Other times it felt like we were going deeper and deeper into the bottom of a cave with no way out. Some Pokemon we ran into helped us out, like the spider Pokemon called Joltik, Tynamo, and Boldore, and they were very helpful despite the danger. As thanks, Hikaru allowed many of the Joltik to feed on her electricity so they could have some to eat and defend themselves with, along with providing them transportation so she could have them escape with us in case Charmeleon tried to follow us and kill us. I was scared that this might make her lose her strength but that didn't prove to be the case because one of the floating stones gave its electricity to Hikaru.

"So this place is called Chargestone Cave, huh?" Hikaru asked one of the Joltik on her back.

"Yep, jolt! This is our home, jolt! It's been filled to the brim with electricity since it was made, jolt!" One little Joltik explained sweetly.

"But I wonder if the fires will be put out, jolt?" Another Joltik asked.

"For that matter, shouldn't that Charmeleon be dealt with, jolt? He's the one causing them, jolt!" Another one piped in bitterly.

"I hope the Klink are okay. Is it true that steel types are weak against fire?" I asked Hikaru, curious as to what she said was true or not.

"Absolutely," Hikaru replied sharply.

"Your electricity is awesome, jolt!" The first Joltik exclaimed happily.

"So what kinda Pokemon are ya, jolt?" A fourth Joltik asked.

"She's a Pikachu," I told them with a smile.

"Pikachu's an electric type, right, jolt?" A fifth Joltik asked.

"Yep! She knows Thunderbolt after all," I told them again.

"What kinda Pokemon are you, jolt?" A seventh Joltik asked me.

"I'm a Sylveon, and before you ask, I'm a new type called fairy," I replied before they could ask me the question everybody asks me.

"Ooooh! Fairy! Sounds nice, jolt!" An eighth Joltik said.

"Lookie, jolt! There's the exit, jolt!" The second Joltik exclaimed. She was right. When Hikaru and I looked up, we saw a small light at the end of the blue tunnel.

"Yay! An exit! Let's go!" I exclaimed and was about to literally run ahead of them, as I had gotten very tired of being in Chargestone Cave. I feared that if I stayed here any longer, Charmeleon might have been able to track us down and kill us, and I really didn't want to deal with him anymore.

Unfortunately, that didn't even matter, as when I tried to run, I felt something yank on one of my flowy streamers, stopping me from going any further. I turned around and, to my utter, unadulterated horror, there was Charmeleon, right behind me, looking at me like he wanted to eat me! If he was here, then there was absolutely and positively no doubt in my mind that the Klink failed in trying to stop his despite their best efforts.

Just like with Claudia, who got recaptured by the Kalos scientists to help me escape, the Klink probably died to save us from Charmeleon's wrath. Only this time, their sacrifice was in vain.

"I have you now, you pink pansy trash!" Charmeleon sneered.

"Joltik! Run! Get out of here!" Hikaru commanded that all the Joltik get off of her and make a run for the exit, which they promptly did without any protest or trepidation whatsoever.

"Jolt jolt jolt jolt!"

"Get off me!" I didn't want to be beaten up by him anymore, so I wound up kicking Charmeleon in the face with both of my back legs. All of a sudden, I found myself in a battle stance, almost looking exactly like Hikaru when she was in battle.

"Trump Card!" I leaped into the air and made the glowing cards appear around me. Then they aimed at Charmeleon and flew right at him, managing to leave some scratches on him. But they weren't enough to defeat him, as he got right back up as soon as he fell back on the cave floor.

"You can't defeat me! I am invincible! You're just an outlet for my desires!" Charmeleon sneered. "You're just trash!"

"You don't have any right to decide that! Swift!" Without meaning to, I found myself shooting a shower of glowing yellow stars at him. But they didn't hit him, as his left fist became enveloped in fire and he used his flaming fist to knock away a lot of the stars. Thankfully, a few of my stars did manage to land some good hits on him. But even they weren't enough to defeat him.

"Thunderbolt!" In case he tried to attack us again, Hikaru shocked him with another one of her signature thunderbolt attacks. Sadly, even that wasn't enough to render him immobile or unable to battle.

"You're a bunch of weak little pansies! You will BURN, or else!" With his face contorted and beet red with anger, just like his red fur, the flame on his tail exploded into a bright, huge blaze, and his eyes looked completely bloodshot as he charged at us with a bellowing howl. Hikaru and I were about to make like the wind and run for our lives, but strangely enough, something came out from one of the many tunnels we came out of really fast and managed to knock Charmeleon right out.

At first we didn't see what it was because it came so fast and looked kinda blurry, but I could see that this Pokemon was a tan color. As Charmeleon was pinned down by it, struggling to break away from its grasp, we both got a better look at this Pokemon. This Pokemon was a big, shaggy, furry, fluffy looking dog Pokemon, with an orangish brown face completely covered with tan fur, and the long stretches of fur coming out from both sides of his face looked like they stretched all the way down to his back feet, they were that long. The rest of his fur is dark blue on the top, and bluish green on the bottom. He had small black eyes and a big, black, oval shaped nose. He had a tiny little dark blue tail sticking out from his rear end. This Pokemon was much bigger than Charmeleon, and easily managed to keep him pinned to the cave ground like it was nothing. The flame on Charmeleon's tail returned to its normal size, but his rancor and animosity didn't go away. Charmeleon howled and tried to break out of this big shaggy dog Pokemon's grasp, but the bigger Pokemon proved to be much stronger than him.

"Get off of me right now!" Charmeleon yelled angrily, trying desperately to break from this dog's grasp, but nothing he did worked one little bit. Hikaru and I couldn't help but watch.

"Dilandau! You must stop this right now!" The big dog Pokemon yelled angrily in a deep, rich voice.

Hikaru and I looked at each other with confusion. Dilandau? That's Charmeleon's real name? Do they know each other? They definitely talked like they did.

"I can't stop, Nicodemus! You know that very well!" The Charmeleon, or Dilandau as we just learned, howled back angrily, referring to the big dog Pokemon as Nicodemus. They really did know each other.

All of a sudden, a pink bubble emerged from Nicodemus' mouth, floating right onto Dilandau's face and popping as it made contact. All of a sudden, Dilandau found that he was growing woozy and couldn't keep his eyes open. He tried as hard as possible, but no matter what he did, his eyes closed against his will, and everything started looking blurry. His rage dissipated and right after his howling stopped completely, his eyes closed and he completely lost consciousness, looking like he just fell asleep, dead on the street. As soon as it was safe, Nicodemus removed himself from Dilandau. Hikaru, bold and strong willed as she is, decided to ask the first thing that was on her mind as soon as she heard Nicodemus refer to Dilandau by name.

"Do you...know this Charmeleon?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes. He and I are comrades. I am very sorry for the trouble he's been causing to both you and the Pokemon in Chargestone Cave," Nicodemus replied softly in his deep voice. I could tell from looking at his face that he very genuinely disapproved of what Dilandau was doing and really looked sorry for all the damage Dilandau caused. Hikaru, however, didn't see what I saw and just got angry.

"Oh what?! Do you think sorry's just gonna magically make the Pokemon he killed come back to life?! Do you even know what that crazy maniac's done?! Or do you actually let him run wild and not do a thing about it?!" Hikaru yelled angrily, and wanted to do more until I put my foot down in front of her.

"Hikaru! Calm down! Don't say stuff like that!" I scolded firmly, hoping Hikaru would stop, and thankfully, she did. Nicodemus looked down at Dilandau with a very abject look, like he had lost all hope or something. I couldn't help but find his dejected expression to be rather unsettling.

"You are right. Dilandau has done many terrible things, yet I am powerless to do anything to both stop him and help him. He and I have been through many horrible ordeals, and they have left great scars on him. Scars that can never be healed no matter what," Nicodemus told us softly in a sad tone of voice.

"So...what Pokemon are you?" I asked softly.

"I am a Stoutland. As Dilandau has said before, my name is Nicodemus. I am his only comrade. I, alone. Hm?" The Stoutland, Nicodemus, told me, then suddenly became curious about my appearance as he looked at me funny.

"In case you're wondering, I'm a Sylveon, and I'm apparently the first ever fairy type. Oh! My name's Sylvia, by the way, and this is Hikaru, a Pikachu," I told him kindly, forcing a smile on my face to let him know that we're not trying to hurt him.

"You used Yawn on him. I thought Stoutland weren't supposed to know that move," Hikaru piped in, calmer this time.

"That is true, yes. But as a result of the experimentation done on me, I know attacks most Stoutland can't. Yawn has proven to be very useful in rendering Dilandau unconscious when he's about to cause trouble, so I don't mind knowing it. What are you two doing in here anyway?" Nicodemus said. "You don't look like you live here."

"I'm trying to get back to my home, Floccesy Ranch. Hikaru's my friend and she joined me recently. But we don't know the way back, so we're traveling around to try and find out how we can get back by any way possible," I told him calmly.

"I wish I could help you in your endeavor, but I haven't any knowledge of this Floccesy Ranch, so I'm sorry," Nicodemus replied in a sad voice. I could tell he really sounded sad and helpless. I wondered if he felt this way about Dilandau.

"It's okay. I figured you wouldn't know anyway," I said.

Nicodemus then proceeded to pick the unconscious Dilandau up and throw him on his big hairy back. "Let's get out of the cave this instant. We can't stay here any longer."

Hikaru and I nodded and we followed him out, even though I could tell that Hikaru really didn't like the idea of Nicodemus taking Dilandau out with them. I silently agreed with her, though in a way, I could tell that Nicodemus is a genuinely good Pokemon, but he probably can't bring himself to leave Dilandau behind out of the kindness of his heart, bad as Dilandau was. Maybe he's the only friend Dilandau has and trusts with his whole heart? He said they're comrades who went through some very bad experiences with scientists. Kind of like me, only the scientists I dealt with, like Dr. Urbschat and Dr. Mingues, treated me kindly even though I was their Tepig for a new evolution. As we walked out of the cave, we were all shocked to find that the sky has been cloaked with a pretty blue and black cloak, gleaming with the starry jewels in the sky, crowned by the moon.

"Wow. We must have stayed in that cave longer than we thought," I suddenly said out of the blue the minute we found ourselves sitting in front of some trees. We could see a nearby town up ahead, but we didn't go there.

"Yeah. It's night time already," Hikaru said.

"I recommend we stay here tonight. You two can go to the village tomorrow morning. It may be too dangerous to get there now," Nicodemus warned us as he placed Dilandau very gently onto the grass.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Wait a minute! Who do you mean 'we'?! Don't tell me you guys are gonna spend the night with us, too! How do we know this isn't a trick to make us into bait so that Dilandau friend of yours can burn us to a crisp with his Flamethrower?!" Hikaru snapped angrily.

"I do not trick anyone. It is not in my nature, and even if I wanted to, I'm terrible at it. In regards to Dilandau, I will make sure he doesn't do anything, even though I can't guarantee anything. Even I am unable to control him at times, and there is little that I can do once he goes on a rampage," Nicodemus told her kindly and calmly. He looked down at the grass as he said this, and I could see that, from the sad way his eyes looked, it really looked like the look that people who feel horrendously guilty about something often put on. I know I gave Serperior that look once, when Katie died. I almost felt sorry for Nicodemus, whatever he and Dilandau went through together. Hikaru, however, didn't see it that way. As usual.

"Cut the garbage! What are you trying to pull?!" Hikaru yelped, looking like she wanted to shock them both with another Thunderbolt or Discharge, but I stepped in.

"Hikaru! Stop! Yelling at them isn't going to get us anywhere! Nicodemus isn't a bad Pokemon! Can't you see that? Sure, Dilandau's done bad things, but it's not like Nicodemus approves of what he does! There's only so much that he can do to make sure he doesn't do anything worse! Now, go and get some wood. Let's make a fire and sleep for the night, then we can get back to our journey," I told her.

"But Dilandau might wake up and set this whole forest on fire! They come with even more casualties!" Hikaru argued.

"We know that. Nicodemus knows that too. You saw how he knocked him out. If he wakes up, he can use Yawn on him again!"

"But he needs his sleep too! Nobody can stay up all night!"

"Just get some wood!"

Hikaru scoffed and walked away. "If Dilandau wakes up and sets the forest on fire, I'm blaming you, Stoutland!" She shouted before making a break for it into the forest.

Feeling exhausted, tired, and hungry, I fell on my rear end on the ground. I didn't care if I got a little dirty. I just felt tired and really wanted to go to sleep, even though I had to agree with Hikaru. If Dilandau woke up, he could set the forest on fire, and I was still extremely scared of him despite Nicodemus being there. Dilandau showed absolutely no mercy or restraint when killing the Pokemon in Chargestone Cave. If the forest gets set on fire, it could very well go into the nearby town, and kill not just Pokemon but people, too, and maybe even us included! Worse than that, there aren't any water type Pokemon around that we know of, and none of us are water types, so if there were a fire, we'd be unable to put it out, especially if it spreads far enough and if the flames are too strong to be put out. I found myself so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even see Nicodemus sitting down next to me until I saw his shaggy fur.

"I understand your friend's concerns. Yes, it is true that Dilandau is a clear danger to both himself and others. I don't fault you friend for suspecting that I might be a threat too, considering I'm his comrade," Nicodemus said.

"Umm...Nicodemus, sir?"

"Feel free to call me Nico. Some have said that my name is too long."

"Okay, then...Nico? Um...I was wondering...why do you stay with him?"

"I am the only family he has left. If he is alone, he will be much worse off than he is now. I'm not sure if you know, but there's more to his homicidal tendencies than you assume. He's not in his right mind, and he probably never will be. He is beyond all help."

"What happened to the two of you?"

"It mostly starts with me. See, my family and I grew up in an impoverished area with practically no order or infrastructure," Nicodemus began. "Food was scarce, and my wife and children were starving. I had to resort to stealing to give them what they needed. One day, I was caught in the act, and given up to some scientists. I assume that my wife and children are dead now. Anyway, that was when I met Dilandau, as a Charmander. He had been separated from his family, and his brothers had been killed long beforehand. That's what made him develop his pathological fear of being alone. I wound up taking him under my wing. I couldn't stand to see such a tiny Pokemon be scared and upset, especially in the environment that we were trapped in. However, despite our growing bond, I was helpless and unable to save him from the horrors that those blasted scientists put him through. I don't know what experiments they put him through, but as far as I know, they were very cruel and horrifying, and they practically destroyed him from the inside out. He used to be very sweet, but they turned Dilandau into a monster...and all because they were curious as to whether a Pokemon's full power could be unleashed if they performed some modifications on him. They're unaware of the damage they do to us Pokemon by doing that. His mental state has deteriorated to the point where he's so unstable he could break, and he has lost all self-control. Whatever they did to him, they made sure to eradicate every single shred of his individuality."

So that was what happened. I really felt sorry for both Nicodemus and Dilandau, Nicodemus for being forced away from his family like I was and being unable to save both them from their doom and Dilandau from being tortured by those scientists, and Dilandau for pretty much whatever those scientists put him through. Now I can see why Nicodemus follows Dilandau around: he's all that Dilandau has, and Dilandau's all he has too. They needed each other, Nicodemus because he lost his wife and children to starvation, and Dilandau because he needed someone to care for him and help him when he needs it, even though he's beyond both help and reason. It's no wonder Nicodemus always looked and felt so horrendously guilty. He fully acknowledged that what Dilandau's been doing is wrong and continues to disapprove of it, even though there isn't much he can do to stop him from committing all of this genocide. However, none of what they went through justified what Dilandau did. I knew this for a fact. I'm sure Nicodemus did too. But then again, if Hikaru and I were subjected to whatever they went through, we'd probably come out the same way Dilandau did. I didn't want to even think about turning into a Pokemon like Dilandau. I looked up at the stars to try and take my mind off of that thought, and it worked like a charm.

"The stars are pretty. I've been so focused on my journey that I never took the time to see how beautiful they are," I mused to myself quietly, though Nicodemus heard me.

"Yes. They're truly exquisite. Nothing can taint them," Nicodemus muttered,

"Got some firewood!" Hikaru suddenly interrupted our stargazing with her comment, arrival, and the fact that she literally threw a bunch of sticks right in front of us like they were trash. Without a word, she let a small wave of electricity loose on the wood, and a flickering orange and red flame popped out from it, lighting up our resting area.

"Thanks, Hikaru!" I told her happily, but she just laid down on some dirt and sulked without a word. I did feel that was rude of her, but I figured she'd be angry if I said that to her so I said nothing.

"Go and get some sleep, Sylvia. Sleep is imperative to one's health. You'll need it for your journey back home. I'll keep watch for now," Nicodemus whispered as he gently tapped me on the back with his front paw.

"But you need sleep too, like Hikaru said," I said. I worried that if they all fell asleep and Dilandau woke up, he'd probably go around setting things on fire and killing every Pokemon or person he crossed paths with. I didn't want that to happen.

"I know. If I get too sleepy, I'll wake Hikaru up and have her keep watch for a while. Go on and get some rest," Nicodemus said.

This time, I relented. "Thank you for telling me your story, and I know you're a good Pokemon. And thanks for helping us back in Chargestone Cave. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sylvia," Nicodemus whispered as I laid down next to Hikaru and fell asleep. I had to admit, it didn't feel too nice to sleep on dirt and rocks, but I knew I had to put up with it or else I'd be too tired to go on. It was already late enough as it was, and even though I was scared with the fact that Dilandau was nearby and the revelation that he could wake up any moment, I tried not to think about it. Maybe Nicodemus or Hikaru can handle him better than I could. With that in mind, I drifted off to sleep, steadily losing consciousness.

I don't remember how long I slept, but I do remember being woken up by my greatest fear.

"FIRE!"

A Pokemon's voice pulled me out of my sleep, and I woke up to yet another horrific sight. Just as I feared, the forest was completely engulfed in walls of ephemeral shades of red, orange, and yellow, with huge, thick, ugly clouds of noisome grey and black smoke going up into the sky, dirtying the sky and air up above. I saw some humans dressed in yellow outfits and big red hats going into the blaze with big hoses, trying to contain the flames. Some water Pokemon, mostly Marill and Azumarill, helped out, along with many other water Pokemon I didn't recognize. Fire trucks came to the scene, and the eerie echoes of the sirens blared all through the night. I found myself on Nicodemus' back, far away from the flames, with Hikaru at our side.

But Dilandau was nowhere in sight.

"What happened?!" I yelped as I saw the flames eating up the forest like it was nothing.

"We failed to keep Dilandau in line! He woke up before all of us and set fire to the forest!" Nicodemus roared.

"I TOLD you we should have made a break for it when we had the chance, Syl! We all knew Dilandau was gonna pull this off sometime!" Hikaru yelled at me, like I was the one who started everything, even though I knew she only yelled because she was angry, not because she really blamed me for anything.

However, I wondered if people and Pokemon were really inside, stopping him from going on his rampage. I saw firemen find some injured Pokemon and take the survivors to safety, and some water Pokemon went in to put out the flames even further...but did anyone ever even see Dilandau?

I don't know what was in me that time, but on an impulse, I hopped off of Nico's back and raced into the forest.

"Sylvia, no! You'll be burnt to a crisp!" Hikaru tried to grab me and make me stay back, but I was too fast for her despite being bigger than her.

I went pretty deep into the blazing forest, and the deeper I went, the higher the temperature rose, and by the time I went in about twenty feet, I was completely covered in sweat. Thankfully, I saw no Pokemon getting hurt. But the sight before me was utterly frightening. Trees were being swallowed by flames, turning into nothing but charred black sticks. One big flaming tree branch almost fell on me but I managed to evade it without touching it, so I was spared from getting permanent burns. The ground below me felt hot too, even though the places I touched weren't engulfed in flames. I saw some frantic Pidove and Tranquill fly right above me, trying to get away as fast as they could.

"Dilandau! Dilandau! Where are you?! Come on out, please!" I called out for him, but I didn't see him until I heard a sound I really didn't want to hear in a forest engulfed by huge, scorching flames, as it was really out of place.

Laughter.

I followed it and finally managed to find Dilandau, unabashedly and unashamedly using Flamethrower on every tree or bush he saw, intent on seeing everything burn.

"Burn! Burn! BURN!" Dilandau screeched in between Flamethrowers while laughing at the same time. I couldn't believe it. First he sets fire to a cave and kills a bunch of Pokemon it it, and now he was setting fire to a forest that could potentially kill both Pokemon and people, and if unattended, it could spread as far as the town.

What made me even angrier was that Dilandau didn't even seem to realize or care that what he was doing was wrong. Someone had to knock some sense into him. I didn't care if he went through bad things that made him into the way he was. It still wasn't right to just go around hurting Pokemon and people just for his own amusement. I knew exactly what Hikaru felt back then.

"STOP IT!" Unable to take it anymore, I rammed myself against Dilandau's back, causing him to stop his attacks and fall to the ground. I was reminded of that time Alseides yelled at me about Bolt, only I stood up for myself back then. Now it was time to call Dilandau out on his evil acts. Someone had to do it. Why not me?

"Stop! Just stop all of this incessant slaughter right now! Do you even realize how much damage you're doing to everything and everyone around you?! Have you even thought about what your actions might to do the Pokemon and people around you?! Have you even considered how they felt about you destroying everything?! Why can't you understand how they feel?! Why do you do this?! You can't just go around doing whatever you please if it means causing pain and suffering to whatever you're destroying! It's wrong! Wrong wrong wrong!" I yelled and screamed with all that my voice could muster. I didn't even know I had that much courage and valor in me, and I was one of the shy and meek ones in my family. "How can you do this to innocent Pokemon and people who haven't even done anything to you?! If you really want to express your anger and frustration, go ahead! But don't murder everyone and make innocent Pokemon and people who didn't do anything to you suffer horribly! That won't solve anything! That'll just make your anger and hatred worse, you crazy nutbag!"

Despite my screaming at him, Dilandau got back up and immediately clenched his claw against my throat. "You know NOTHING about me, you trash! Let me have my fun! Or do you want me to do the same to you?!"

Fun? That's what all of this slaughter was about? FUN? Now I was mad. I didn't know how I did it then, but all of a sudden, I found myself glowing in a pale blue light that looked like a little mini tornado. Then, it all moved to the front of my mouth to form a big glowing pale blue sphere of light. In my anger, I unleashed it, and it knocked Dilandau against a burning tree so hard, it managed to make him so weak that he couldn't stand up. I didn't question what happened at the moment, because I was still absolutely choleric and needed to get my feelings out. Nobody deserved to get away with killing innocent Pokemon and people for the pettiest of reasons, especially if it's considered fun to them!

"You're sick, you know that?! You're absolutely sick! You may have been mutilated by bad people, but that does NOT give you the right to go around killing innocents! Especially if you think it's FUN! Do you seriously think this is a game?! That it's fun to watch innocents suffer and die, to watch Pokemon and people cry and mourn those who YOU KILLED OFF?! You're terrible, you know that?! Maybe spreading violence and hatred is in your blood! Do you have any idea how much Nicodemus cares for you, how much he's CRIED FOR YOU, and how guilty he feels about not being able to stop those scientists from ruining you?! He cares for you like you're his child yet you thank him by treating him like garbage and killing everything and everyone you see for your own amusement! They all deserve to be happy! They all do, even if they have to go through your garbage to achieve it! You should be ashamed!" I screamed even louder this time. I didn't even realize both Hikaru and Nicodemus were behind me. I was so focused on calling Dilandau out on his senseless acts that I wound up leaving myself wide open for a Flamethrower.

"AGH!" I felt my body burn on the outside and myself get thrown against another tree.

"You know NOTHING of my suffering, you puny pink pansy retard trash! You're a spoiled little brat who doesn't even know the MEANING of the word suffering, so don't go around preaching trash you don't even know or care anything about! If you can't kill anyone, you can't survive in this world! Only kill and be killed! That's the law of survival, pinky, and clearly you're the lowest of the low! You're only my prey, and I'll prove it right here and now!" Dilandau screamed as he yanked on my ear and tried to finish me off. Again, Nicodemus pushed him off of me.

"Dilandau! This has gone on long enough!" Nicodemus yelled.

"Run, Syl! The Palpitoad are coming!" Hikaru advised as she ran ahead of me. I ran after her and saw six big frog-like Pokemon, probably Palpitoad as she mentioned, run past us, deeper into the forest. They were water types, as I saw many Pokemon like them shooting water at the flames, which are now thankfully being managed. As soon as we made it to clear ground, Hikaru and I ran behind a fire truck.

"Sylvia...that attack you used...what was that?" She asked.

"I don't know," I replied as soon as the memory of my using it dawned on me. Then something else lit up in my brain like a light bulb. "Maybe...maybe it was Moonblast."

"Moonblast?"

"Yeah. I heard someone on TV talk about it. Remember? We were trying to use it before Heidi told us that Silas died? Maybe that attack I used was Moonblast!"

"So it only works at night, huh? That sure explains why you couldn't use it before-HUH?!" Hikaru was about to say that Moonblast could be used at night until she suddenly rose into the air. It didn't take too long to figure out why. Someone grabbed her by the tail and yanked her up into the air. A police officer with rubber gloves on both his hands, looking at Hikaru like she was a vermin.

"So this is the Pokemon who caused the fire, eh? You're coming with us!" The police man exclaimed.

I couldn't believe it. These people thought Hikaru was the one who caused the forest fire? How can they assume that and just stick to that so quickly without looking into it further? I couldn't let them take Hikaru away, and Dilandau was the one who needed to be put away, not Hikaru. She didn't do anything wrong. I ran to the officer and begged him to let her go.

"Let her go! She didn't do it! It was Dilandau!" I begged him, even though it only came out as, "Syl! Sylve Sylve Sylveon!"

"Outta my way! I don't have time to deal with you!" The officer pushed me aside and proceeded to put Hikaru in a cage and throw her into the police car. But strangely enough, the man didn't close the car door right away, as he got distracted by someone telling him about some evidence they found. An opportunity to help Hikaru escape opened itself up to me, and I knew that if I let this chance slip by, Hikaru would likely be thrown in some kind of Pokemon jail forever. I couldn't let that happen, so as he was distracted, I leaped into the back of the police car and hid myself in there. As the officer finished talking with the other one, he closed the door without looking inside, went to the driver's seat, and proceeded to drive away.

One thing about being in this police car that made me feel relieved is that in between the back seat and the backs of the front seats were big, thick screens that prevented both the prisoner from seeing the cops up front and the cops from seeing the prisoner in the back seat, probably to prevent certain things from happening. This was perfect in helping me break Hikaru out without getting caught. Once we started moving, I hopped onto the seat, cupped the lock into my hand, and immediately began using Swift on it. It managed to leave some dents on the lock, but it didn't break it right off. I motioned for Hikaru to step back as I silently used Trump Card on the lock. After a few slashes from my glowing cards, the lock finally came off! Hikaru got out from the cage safe and sound. But then we encountered a new problem. We tried to open the doors from the inside, but they were locked, probably to prevent prisoners from escaping. We tried to open the windows but they were locked too. The only way for us to get out would be if the officers opened the car from the outside, and if they did, they'd catch us in the act right off, and the screen blocking off the back seat and the front seat wasn't helping matters. But I knew that it was the only way to escape. I had hoped we wouldn't have to resort to actually hurting the officers.

Thankfully, once we stopped and an officer yanked our door open, we didn't have to. Hikaru was small enough to slip right by them without hurting them, and because the officer was so distracted with catching her, I managed to slip away into a nearby bush without getting spotted. I stayed there for what felt like hours, hoping that Hikaru would be safe. After the sun began to rise, Hikaru came to the bush I was hiding in. She looked fine as far as I could see. The minute I laid my big, round, pale blue eyes on her tiny yellow body, a huge torrent of relief swept over me and I hugged her in extreme elation.

"Hikaru! You're safe! Thank goodness!" I squealed happily as I hugged her tight. I wanted to hug her so tight that she'd never be able to break free from my grasp, but if I did that, then I'd probably choke her to death, so I didn't.

"Sylvia...you're the best friend I've ever had. Thanks for breaking me free," Hikaru told me.

"You're welcome!" I chirped happily. But then another revelation dawned on me. We're outlaws since we escaped from the cops. "But...they'll try to find you in any way possible, right? How will you be able to outrun them?"

"I'll find a way. I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Syl," Hikaru said.

"No no. That officer shouldn't have accused you of starting the fire. You didn't do it!" I told her.

"I know, right? What's his problem?" Hikaru asked as she crossed her arms.

"Let's get out of here. If we stay here we might get spotted, and I already attract enough unwanted attention as it is," I suggested.

Hikaru nodded and we made a dash for it. We had no idea where we were, but since we were already in the town that we saw when we took a rest last night, it seemed pretty easy to find places to escape to. But we did have to avoid some police officers, as they ran all through town, trying to look for Hikaru. I had to wonder if Nicodemus was okay. I certainly hoped that they didn't accuse him of causing the fire! How could he, when he's not even a fire type? How could a normal type possibly cause a fire that ate up an entire forest? I didn't want to think about that.

Then, speak of the devil, we found Nicodemus and Dilandau again, sitting in front of some huge puddles, watching some floppy fish Pokemon flop around.

"Nicodemus! You're safe!" I exclaimed as I hugged Nicodemus, happy that he was safe and sound.

"Sylvia! Hikaru! I'm so glad you're both alright," Nicodemus told me gently as he hugged me. All of a sudden, Dilandau yanked me out of his grasp and smacked me so hard I fell into the puddle.

"You're not worthy of Nicodemus' affection! Only I receive it, not you, so get out of here!" Dilandau snapped angrily.

"Dilandau! That was rude! Apologize this instant!" Nicodemus scolded angrily, appalled yet again by Dilandau's very intractable, notorious, and recalcitrant behavior.

"Why should I? She's just a worthless piece of trash!" Dilandau sneered angrily, ignoring Nicodemus' heed.

How could Dilandau display absolutely NO remorse for all of his transgressions, especially after he practically decimated an entire forest and killed God knows how many Pokemon? Both Nicodemus and I were about to shout at him again but Hikaru did it for us.

"Sylvia is NOT worthless or a piece of trash! You are, you sick and evil monster! It's your fault that some cops accused me of causing the fire! You should be the one to get caught since you started it!" Hikaru snapped angrily.

As much as I was grateful to Hikaru for standing up to me, I really wished that all this fighting would stop. I really didn't want to be involved anymore. I was tired, hungry, perturbed, and really wanted to just go somewhere and relax and not think about any of this chaos and madness. I wished we could all just get along and find a way to Floccesy Ranch together now that we're in a town we don't even know. I didn't want to stay, so I just wandered around. I had intended to stay within Hikaru's vicinity in case she stopped and wanted to travel with me again.

But then I saw a Jolteon.

I had never seen a real life Jolteon before, only in pictures and books. The one I saw just about twenty feet from me was certainly very tenacious looking and beautiful. His body, other than his slender yellow legs, was completely spiky, with spikes protruding from all over. Even his white neck ruffle had spikes sticking out from it. His black eyes glinted in the morning sunlight, and his expression looked very bitter, like he had been through some bad times. He didn't look at me, and I was glad he didn't spot me.

However, something about the Jolteon caught my attention and made me separate from Hikaru. He felt familiar, like I had known him from somewhere. But I never met a Jolteon in real life before, so I didn't understand why he felt familiar.

Then the idea of one of my siblings being him hatched into my head.

Maybe, it might have been Bolt! He dreamed of being a Jolteon, so maybe...this could be him!

A new resolve formed in my heart. As soon as the Jolteon left, I secretly followed him from behind, taking great care to make sure he didn't notice me.

I had to confirm it. I had to talk to him and ask him if he was Bolt or any of my other siblings. Lucretia evolved into an Espeon just like she wished. Maybe Bolt evolved into his dream Pokemon as well. I couldn't let this chance slip by, so I decided to take the plunge.

Unfortunately, I would soon regret taking that plunge.