Chapter 7

Learning to Work Together

Last night, Cyle was back with the castle nurses in less than two minutes. They immediately took Zen back to the castle infirmary. They addressed his wounds, saying that he would be fine. Still, Abbie waited outside the infirmary until night stretched to dawn, and dawn stretched to morning. Deep in the back of her mind, she knew that she was getting in trouble for this, but all that she could think about was if Zen was okay. Training would begin in one hour, with or without him, but the young Umbreon still waited.

She wasn't tired or hungry; the darkness gave her everything she needed for that night. All she needed was to make sure she ate by lunchtime. However, she wasn't sure if she would be able to eat with how confused she felt. Last night, her speed and power jumped suddenly. The Iron Tail Abbie hit Zen with such force that the impact created a hole in the ground. Only a pokemon with years and years of professional training could do that, and all she had was three years of self training in a forest. Where did all that power come from?

Abbie quickly stood as soon as the infirmary door opened. Cyle came out first, and then Zen. He walked with pride, as he always did, but with a slight limp. There was a blue splint on his shoulder, but other than that he seemed to be fine. He glared at Abbie and her ears fell back.

An Audino followed Zne out of the room, closing the door. "You've only got a sprain, Zen." She said sweetly, looking at the papers on her clipboard. "It should heal given a few days. Next time make sure the harness is secure before trying to climb up the rock wall."

Zen half-smiled and chuckled. "Thank you. I'll remember that."

As soon as she was gone, Abbie raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell her it was me?"

"Truth be told I expected you to be gone by this morning," he growled. "So you can either leave by choice or you can be kicked out."

Now Abbie was glaring at him, gritting her teeth. She couldn't believe how Zen was treating her. Sure, she had hurt him pretty bad, but it was an accident. And after seeing how strong she was, she thought that he would think she had the potential to be the Wild One.

"I've said I'm sorry dozens of times, but I will say it again: I. Am. Sorry. It was an accident, but you can't make me leave."

Zen came really close to her, inches from her face, and growled. "Oh really?"

Abbie chuckled. "If you tell Breo that I was the one who hurt your shoulder, then you'll have to tell him how that happened." She stepped back and sat down. "And I guarantee that he knows you hate me and that you'd never invite me outside for a walk, so you'll have to tell him I followed you and Cyle outside because I heard you were training."

"Are you threatening us?" Zen asked, his ears shooting up in surprise. "Because that's not what the Wild One would do."

"You don't know what the Wild One would do, and I'm not threatening. I'm stating what would happen, and I'm not a tattle tail, so go ahead and tell Breo if you want. I'd rather be kicked out before I'd let myself be treated like a runt."

Cyle had been sleepy every morning since his uncle started training him at night, but he didn't care because everything was coming easier to him. He quickly followed some other pokemon into the training hall and checked the board. Today, it was the start of a two day hiking adventure into the mountains. Near noon they would arrive at the camping ground and play a special game that was designed to test them in stealth and speed.

It was only three more days until the start of the tournament, and he couldn't wait.

The board in the battling room had several pieces of paper on it, grouping the pokemon together for the hike. Each group had their own Gemini leader.

Luca's Group: Cecilia, Luke, Trevor, Angela, Colt, Ken, Mark, Priscilla

Cyle was glad his sister wasn't paired with that other Umbreon. He couldn't take it when they bonded over something like noticing when his paws were wrongly positioned when launching Shadow Ball. He couldn't see how the girls got along so well, yet still managed to do everything else in their lives. It was like they bonded when not with each other. He was confused.

The male dark type continued on reading the names:

Zodia's Group: Flin, Shelby, Benjamin, Abbie, Teler, Arron, Cyle, Jack

Cyle growled under his breath, upset that Abbie was in his group. While it was true that she was strong and proved to be an excellent ally, she was aggravating. When he first met her, she insulted his battle style, then during the race she said that he was weak. But, she was stronger than his uncle. At least, from what he saw she was. He would deal with her if it meant becoming the Wild One.

Once everyone was awake, they were herded outside and split up into their groups.

"Okay guys," Zodia called to her group gleefully. "Which way are we going to go?"

A bunch of pokemon started shouting out random ways that were hard but some said the easier routes. One pokemon tried to show the way they could take, but it wasn't even a real route. The other groups were still being gathered together, and one group had left just a few minutes ago. Zodia's group would be next to leave, but they had to decide on a path to take. No one seemed to agree on a single one.

"We could take the easy path," one pokemon stated, "but it would take at least three hours not including breaks."

Abbie wanted to state her mind but pretty much everyone else was yelling out other options. The other Umbreon was actually being quiet and just sitting there alone. She kind of wanted to go over to him, but she left him alone. Everyone started quieting down so that Zodia could speak. Abbie, of course, jumped in and said her idea.

"Guys!" Abbie yelled, quieting the others down. "If we take the harder one then we can beat them there and have extra time to rest."

No one said anything for a while, not really sure if the hard path was safe to take. It was really steep and rocky, but that made it perfect for paw grips. And all that downhill after climbing very high would let them relax while still hiking. It was the perfect plan even for pokemon who didn't have great stamina.

"Well some pokemon might not be able to handle going that far up without breaks." Cyle shouted out.

"There are ledges to take breaks on." Abbie stated. "And if we get there first there's a prize waiting for us."

Both Umbreon looked toward Zodia, expecting her to choose a side. She wasn't planning on it though; picking someone over someone else wasn't really her thing. Zodia actually wanted to ask the other pokemon what they thought. It was, after all, their training so they should choose how they train.

"If you want to go on the hard path, raise your paw."

One pokemon raised his paw, but everyone else exchanged unsure glances, which didn't go by easy with Abbie. "C'mon guys." She looked at everyone, even Cyle. "We've been training for almost two weeks. We're all strong pokemon, and the only way to get stronger, to become the Wild One, is to push ourselves. I know that we can do this."

Slowly, everyone else raised their paw, persuaded by Abbie's speech. Zodia smiled and started heading up, leading everyone to the path. Cyle sat, waiting for everyone else to go ahead so he could be alone at the end of the pack. Whatever he seemed to suggest or do, Abbie seemed to be there to ruin it.

When she passed by him, he stared into her red eyes with his blue ones. His body suddenly felt calm, and his mind questioned it. Her head was gently tilted to the side, her eyes open wide with happiness, and her ears erect. She smiled, and Cyle gave her a second of a half-smile back. They were starting to become friends.

"I'm glad that you care about other pokemon," Abbie stated simply. She trotted ahead a few steps with Cyle following close behind. "It's a good trait of a king."

Zodia led everyone up the steep side of the hill, hopping from rock to rock without touching a piece of ground. Everyone else trudged along heavily, already panting at climbing up such a steep mountain. The rising sun couldn't even be seen over the highest peak about a mile up. Immediately, the pokemon regretted choosing this way up, but they didn't complain and simply kept going. The Ninetails had gotten a tough group.

Halfway through the upward hike, Abbie started breathing heavily with Cyle behind her. She could hear his hard breaths and quiet coughing. Actually, her throat was feeling very sticky and dry, so she coughed too. Still, the pair of Umbreon continued up, occasionally slipping on a few loose rocks. A half hour later, no one was complaining. They stopped for a quick break by a small, pokemon-made water hole. Everyone was relieved to have a drink of water and dunked their heads under the cool liquid, letting it flow down their faces. It didn't last long though, because everyone kept reminding themselves of the prize waiting for them if they beat the rest there.

The crisp autumn air blew against them, cooling the sweat-heated faces that desperately needed it. Small flowers sprung up off the paw-woven path, absorbing small rays of sunlight that poured down on the leaves. It was beautiful, and every single pokemon experienced that for the first time ever. Abbie enjoyed it the most, because she saw it every day and never took the time to appreciate it.

As they climbed, the mountain got a lot steeper and the loose dirt and gravel wasn't helping. Zodia often had to help some of the pokemon get back on their feet after falling down. At one point, every single pokemon wanted to take a detour because it was too hard to even walk. Every single paw that stepped down slipped fully under the gravel. Zodia finally gave into all the pleas and found another path they could take to the top that wouldn't delay them too much. Everyone walked along the steep, thin cliff until they were finally able to start heading up again.

Abbie offered to stay behind, helping anyone who slipped, and when everyone was ahead she continued on up. As her black paw came down, the dirt slipped under the weight, collapsing completely. Abbie's paw slipped.

Arron was way behind everyone else. While the rest of the group was already pretty far up, he was just starting to head up once again. His yellow-furred paws ached, but he kept climbing, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his wrist. Being an electric type, he should be at the front, but Arron wasn't feeling so good this morning and was just getting over it now. He would catch up on the downhill run. The Jolteon looked at the ground and continued hiking.

As a shadow rolled past his feet, making his instincts kick in. Suddenly, his claws seeped into the ground as he hung over the cliff, just barely holding onto the edge with his back paws. Arron's front paws dug into the side of the mountain before he even realized flesh was inside his mouth. He could taste the blood because of his biting and loosened his jaw just a little bit so he would hurt whatever pokemon he had caught. The electric type peered down carefully, barely seeing the brightly glowing band of light.

Abbie whimpered the second she felt something puncture the excess skin on her neck, and the rings glowed brightly in alarm. She waved her paws trying to find something to grab, but nothing was there. The dark type hung over a large drop by the scruff of her neck. She looked up, seeing a male Jolteon doing his best to prevent her from falling to her death. The grip loosened and she felt herself drop just an inch, making her squeak.

"Are you okay?" Arron yelled through his teeth. "Am I biting too hard?"

"No," Abbie gasped. "I think I'm okay."

"That's good," The Jolteon sighed with relief, pulling her body closer toward the ground. The Umbreon got her claws ready. "I thought I might've hurt you."

Abbie's back paws hit the edge of the cliff and she immediately sunk her claws into the ground and turned herself around. Arron grabbed her front paws and let go of the scruff of her neck, pulling her back up onto solid ground. He looked at her brown eyes and his ears perked up. She was very pretty.

"You did." She said, sitting down to catch her breath. "That's some bite you got there."

Arron's yellow ears fell back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay. And you did just save me." The Umbreon smiled and stood back up. She started trotting after the group, since they were a little behind. "My name's Abbie."

"I'm Arron."

Zodia went back down and hurried the last two, especially Abbie since it was her idea to take the hard path in the first place. However, the Ninetales knew why they were behind, and smiled at the thought.

"Listen closely!" Zen shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. "We will be playing a game called Capture the Flag."

Gasps and shrieks of joy rang through the sky. Pokemon immediately started picking teams, choosing their friends or others who were strong and fast. Zen tried to get their attention back, but everyone else was too excited to care what the Umbreon had to say.

Not Abbie, though. She sat at the front of the pack, her ears perked up and listening closely. When Zen glanced over, he met her eyes and growled low under his breath. She simply shrugged him off and continued waiting. Despite it being the middle of the day, she would blend in with the shadows easily. No one would catch her.

Zen rolled his eyes and walked to Swipe, who was instructed on what to do. He stepped forward, examining the width of the pokemon crowd. He flapped his wings once, immediately jumping high into the sky. The white gem on his back glowed brightly. The wind switched direction, swirling around the flying type slowly at first. It sped up, quickly flashing white against the blue sky and took the shape of a bird. With a flap of Swipe's wings, the shape thundered toward the pokemon, disappearing into wind and knocking the crowd onto their stomachs and backs. Abbie, however, was unaffected by the breeze. Everyone looked in amazement as Swipe landed gracefully.

"Well done Swipe. Now, if everyone will pay attention." He turned toward the once shouting pokemon, getting complete silence. "Swipe just demonstrated a slight amount of power of what the gems have to offer. You will have to pay attention to training if you want to learn to use it."

Everyone was silent, pleasing Zen. The Umbreon walked closer. "There will only be two teams and I will be choosing them. Boundaries have already been set up, and each of you will have a band around your neck with your team color and a flag. If you step into enemy lines, and are hit by a move, the sensors in the bands will automatically paralyze you until another teammate comes and resets it."

Zen paired the teams: Zodia's group and his own, Luca's group and Kila's group, and he split Swipe's pure flying type group evenly between them. Cyle and Abbie were on the same team, of course, with their team color blue, and Cecilia was on the opposite team with her team color red. The blue team got the east half of the field, red got the west. Once both flags were hidden, the game started.

Red players were the first to cross, two of them getting close to the flag but Abbie quickly sent them running back. She didn't use a move on them because she didn't want to waste energy. The female Umbreon stayed behind her boundary line, watching and waiting for when her help was needed.

A flying type from her team crossed over, only to be hit by an electric type move and sent in a downward spiral. Abbie reacted quickly, darting into enemy lines with Cyle telling her to come back. A Razor Leaf was sent her way which she evaded with something she saw Zen use. The falling bird was near the treetops. She jumped from branch to branch until she pounced onto him. The sensors in the bands reacted, and the Tranquill was free to move. He quickly spread his wings and pulled back into their territory with Abbie on his back.

Luca saw what Abbie did. He was about to grab the Tranquill himself to prevent it from getting hurt, but the black shadow reacted first. He admired what she did, risking herself in the game to save a teammate. A small piece of his heart believed she was going to be the one.

The Jolteon felt embarrassed. He accidentally launched that bolt which hit one of his own team members. Arron didn't want to admit it, so he would stay quiet about it. Another Thundershock bounced off his fur and zapped an incoming Flame Burst. He saw the line that symbolized his territory and ran for cover, just barely making it across.

Abbie trotted over to the electric type. "Arron, are you alright? Did you see that Thundershock hit Tranquill?" She smirked and winked at him, telling him that she saw his attack and pranced away like nothing happened.

The electric type followed the dark type to the tip of boundaries, watching her look into the forest. He looked too, not seeing what she was looking at. Members of the red team stared at her trying to predict when and where she would run, but she wasn't focused on them at all. Her eyes darted back and forth, glancing from tree to tree as if she were looking for something. Cyle and Arron couldn't help but wonder.

Abbie taped each guy on the shoulder and walked back a few steps so the enemy wouldn't hear. "Their flag is on a rock in the middle of a pond where a waterfall flows into. Cece and a couple other of pokemon are guarding it. There's a path that isn't guarded too heavily toward the north that we can take. The only problem is getting past the guards."

Cyle's ears perked up in amazement. "How did you do that? Is there some kind of trick?"

"Look, listen, smell. That's the trick."

Arron came in with an idea. "If we go along that path, you two can blend with the shadows. If someone spots me I'll let them hit me and when they go one of you can come back and tag me. At the waterfall I can keep everyone out of the water with my Thundershock."

Cyle nodded. "Okay. What if we get some other pokemon to help?"

"No." Abbie said. "The more pokemon that try to help, the less cover we'll have. The red team will surely win if we lose our players."

"Then are we ready?" Arron asked. The two Umbreon nodded. "Then let's go."

Arron led the way with Abbie second and Cyle last, but the Jolteon let the female go in front of him. Cyle nudged him with his elbow as he walked by Arron, making fun of the way he treated Abbie. The electric type treated Abbie like she was a lady, which Cyle believed was right, but Arron looked like a pokemon hit him with an Attract.

Arron felt his cheeks burn with happiness when Abbie walked by. His sharp nose caught the scent of Oran flowers, which were in bloom at the castle. She must've picked one. He didn't know why he treated her so differently than other girls at this place, he just did. Arron snapped himself into reality and trotted forward, last in line.

Abbie's glowing bands were completely off. As she slipped under a tree, her body became invisible to the eye. She was tricky as an Umbreon should be, which bended to her capability. Cyle, however, couldn't dim his lights enough so Abbie had to walk beside him to cover the light.

Whatever light was inside the male Umbreon was scared out of him as a Vivillion faced them. She quickly noticed the yellow stripe dart past her and used String Shot to hit Arron. The sticky web wrapped around him once, tagging the blue band around his neck. A small wave was sent through the electric type's body, paralyzing his muscles. The colorful pokemon looked back toward the shadows, face to face with Cyle. Abbie put her paw over the male's mouth; they were completely covered by the shadows, the Vivillion couldn't see them. She quickly flew along, not caring to guard the downed pokemon.

Abbie lit up her rings and ran to Arron. "Hey! Are you okay?" She touched the blue sensors and Arron was able to move again.

"That was a close one," Cyle said, walking over to Arron. "You okay?"

The Jolteon unsheathed his claws and cut the sticky webs on his fur. "I'm good, but it's gonna take a whole lot of soap to get this web out." He tugged his paw out of his sticky fur.

As they continued walking, the ground started getting a little wetter. They were getting closer to the waterfall and closer to victory. The sound of water pounding on water had been ringing in Abbie's ears for a while now, but she wasn't surprised that Arron and Cyle didn't hear it until now. She knew about her stronger senses, which let her feel the pokemon watching them around her. They were waiting for the group of Eevee evolutions to get to the water before they would attack. Abbie knew it, but said nothing. She would be ready.

There it was. On a small piece of land in the tiny pond there was the red flag stuck in the ground. The two males didn't know that Cece was waiting in the water, completely camouflaged. Her cell structure was similar to water molecules, which let her become invisible to the eye inside of water. Abbie felt her there, she felt Cece breathing the oxygen from the water.

"Hey guys!" Cyle yelled. "Look the flag is right there!"

Cyle started running, but Abbie wasn't counting on that. "Cyle wait! Don't go over there."

The female Umbreon joined in the running, preparing Shadow Ball to launch at Cecilia, but the Vaporeon was moving swiftly through the water and Abbie couldn't see her. The water type grabbed the ice cold energy from the orb in her chest and let it escape her mouth. Cyle was hit in the leg and paralyzed, rolling close to the island but not getting onto it. The Abbie shot her ghost type move where Ice Beam was fired, distracting Cece long enough to pull Arron on the island and tag Cyle.

The others hiding in the forest immediately took action, firing all their long range attacks at the three intruders. Every single one of them missed because of that Umbreon. She was firing back to back Shadow Balls to block them from hitting herself and the other two. The red members came out of the shadows, still shooting at Abbie, Arron, and Cyle who were safely on the island.

"Quick Arron!" Abbie yelled immediately as she released another ghostly orb. She saw a small ball of ice forming in the water. "Use your Thundershock on the water!"

Arron, not caring that he was being ordered around, charged up the electricity from his orb into his fur. The static charged until he released a medium sized bolt onto the clear liquid. The electricity traveled through the water and was sent back into the air, blocking many of the oncoming attacks. Cece laid in the water, unconscious and paralyzed, until one of her teammates came and pulled her out.

The three stood on the island, guarding each other. Arron had static running around his body, Abbie had a fully charged Shadow Ball in front of her mouth, and Cyle was gripping the red flag between his teeth. All he has to do is get it into his boundaries and the game would be won. The only problem was the pokemon watching them like Hawlucha.

"So what do we do now?" Arron asked, glancing over to the Umbreons. "We're kind of trapped on this tiny island."

"I don't know." Cyle replied, looking toward the only other dark type on his team. "Abbie, what do we do?"

Abbie said nothing for a little bit. Her eyes darted back and forth, so Arron and Cyle assumed that she was thinking of something. "I've got nothing guys." She responded, sitting down and letting her Shadow Ball dissipate into the air.

Arron and Cyle were shocked; Abbie always had a plan. They didn't know what to do without her, and soon the pokemon trying to get the flag back joined in her sitting. They let their charged moves disappear just like Abbie let hers evaporate into thin air. The pokemon watched her carelessly, and the other two caught on.

The surrounding pokemon were letting their guard down and while Cecilia was still knocked out, it was time to make their move. Arron eyed Abbie, trying to tell her to do something that could let them win the game. She didn't budge, but remained in her sitting position doing nothing. Cyle realized how tight his teeth were sealed onto the red flag. He had seen the object so many times before but never actually got to hold it. He was nervous and wanted to run as fast as he could.

Abbie could feel it. All the dark type energy in her life source was slowly draining, flowing through her veins and into her paws. The energy was building up to a dangerous level and the dark energy started flowing into the ground, shaking it ever so slightly. She couldn't start her move with the surrounding eyes watching her. Plus the Umbreon needed to be careful not to hit her friends around her like Arron and Cece. She didn't care if it hit Cyle; he wouldn't feel much.

But she didn't know what would happen. This was her first time using this move.

Several pulses of blackness traveled through the ground hitting nearby pokemon and throwing up water, shaking the ground and trees. The sound echoed through the air like a bomb, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look. The nearby pokemon became fazed and dizzy except for Arron and Cyle.

The female slammed her body into the other two. "Go! Run now!"

They didn't hesitate, bolting like a Sawsbuck away from a Pyroar. Arron was ahead with Cyle right behind him. Since the male Umbreon had the flag, Abbie was right behind him, nipping at his heels to make sure he kept up. Many of the pokemon hit by the attack shook off the effects and came running for the flag. Moves were being shot toward them, but Abbie and Arron took care of the attacks.

To the right a Vivillion spit a String Shot toward Abbie. The Umbreon reacted, draining energy from her orb and quickly forming a sphere in front of her. Shadow Ball completely broke the sticky web, sending it back where it came. The three team members kept running until their paws were sore and their lungs ached from breathing. Abbie made them run further with the line about twenty yards away.

"C'mon Cyle!" The female dark type encouraged. "Keep running!"

"I can't!" He said in between breaths, gasping for air. "I need to rest!"

"You can rest once we win this game!" Arron snapped. "Now move your tail!"

The Pidgeotto dived downward, slipping his wings straight into Cyle's legs, causing the four legged pokemon to fall over. The flying type circled around and went for the flag. Abbie flickered her tail, an iron color coating it. She jumped and twisted her body, slamming Iron Tail straight onto the flying type's back. Cyle scrambled to his paws and jumped over the line

All was silent for a few seconds, but when the realization kicked in every blue member pokemon was cheering for him. Abbie collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily in desperation to get her heart to the normal speed. Arron sat beside her, also panting. Once Cyle was able to get away, he joined his two new friends.

"Good job, prince." Abbie complemented. "Way to hang in there."