I should've been more alert. And I probably would have been, but ice does horrible things to my system. In all honesty, I was probably worse off than I'd let on to Praseo. So when he picked me up and threw me out the window, there wasn't really anything I could do, other than be a living Bullet Seed. "Praseo...?"

Cici's claws fastened around my arms, and she rose into the air, repeating several human words I wouldn't have thought a lady would know. Down below me, in the window, I could see Praseo just before he was drawn into the Pokeball, the Professor and Kip's human standing together.

Kip's human! But he had been in Fortree. Why had he come out to the Professor's lab all of a sudden, especially after what had happened? It was almost like... "He was looking for us," I realized. "By Arceus. He's one of them, Cici." She responded by flying higher. "No, wait, we have to go back! Praseo's in trouble!"

"Yeah, I know," she muttered with a few more choice words. "Man, I knew I had a bad feeling about that kid."

"Cici, go back!"

"We're not going back," she said, moving toward the forest. "You and I are thrashed, kid. We're no match for a Magikarp at this point. We need to meet up with Absol and figure out what to do."

"But Praseo! What if they hurt him?"

"They won't do that. If they wanted to, they'd just kill him and be done with it."

"Cici, that's not reassuring."

"Yeah, well, bite me. Aw," another choice word. "We have incoming, kid. Can you grab onto me? This is going to be rough."

I twisted around in her grip, looping my tail around one of her legs. Ahead of me, I saw a flock of Wingull and Pelippers. For a moment, I thought they might just be a wild flock-but no, they moved too well for that, and I could see trainers on the ground, pointing at us, tracking us. Cici ducked down into the trees, heading deeper into the forest than I'd ever been, and for a few moments, everything was branches and leaves, poking and prodding at my already-sore body. Every inch of me felt drained, and it wasn't just the Ice Beam talking.

Cici finally landed in a little clearing among ancient-looking trees, listening. "All right, I think we lost them. At least for the moment. You okay?"

"No, I'm not okay," I snapped. "One of my best friends is in their hands, Cici! They must have figured it out because he evolved. He's in trouble and it's all my fault. I should be the one back there-"

She smacked me in the face with a wing. "Oh, quit your complaining, rookie. You know what happens when you lose a contest? You prepare for the next one. Praseo's not dead, and as far as we know, he can't be infected, so we have a little time. So first things first. We need to make contact with Absol. I'm going to try Shifting and see if I can connect with Deoxys. You stay quiet and rest."

Too exhausted to even argue back, I flopped at her feet as she Shifted back, then to her Meowstic Forme. "No good," she said after a while, "either they're out of range, or I'm just too tired myself for this nonsense." She Shifted back. "Let's lay low for a bit."

"We can't stay here. Praseo-"

"And what are you suggesting we do? Go running back into the waiting arms of our enemies?" Cici snorted. "Look, I get it. You're worried about him. You aren't doing him a bit of good as you are. Sit down, shut up, and eat some Arceus-cursed berries." She raided a nearby bush, handing me some sweet berries, and I numbly obliged her, eating them.

We stayed that way for a while, eating berries and trying to catch our breath. No sound came from around us, no sign that they had found us, though I couldn't quite shake the impression we were being watched. "What do you think they'll do to him?" I asked at last.

"Dunno. If he was human, I imagine they'd interrogate him, but you said that Professor of yours can't speak the Pokemon language, right? What about that human brat?" I shook my head. "So then, if nothing else, our secrets are safe. Maybe your Professor just got tired of you two running out and is grounding him."

I let out a half-hearted giggle at that mental image, unable to work up the energy for anything else. Despite the berries, I still felt exhausted. And I still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. "Cici... Are you positive we weren't followed?"

"Only Plusles are positive." She looked around.

"Um," a voice came from the nearby grass. "I don't think you were followed, but they keep snooping around... And you know, it'd be kind of awkward if they found this place, so I don't suppose you'd consider leaving, would you?"

I sprang to my feet, and regretted it almost immediately. "Who's there?!"

The grass rustled, and a blue head reared up, wide-eyed. "Don't do that so suddenly! You startled me."

It was a Pokemon, some kind I had never seen. She stepped into the clearing, stepping gracefully around the berry bushes, towering over the two of us. She sort of resembled a Mightyena, in the way that I sort of resemble a Sceptile. Blue all over, with delicately shaped legs and a magnificent purple mane. "By Arceus," Cici breathed, "you're so pretty."

"Oh... You really think so?" She shifted her feet around. "I've not really heard that... well, I mean, I don't really talk to a lot of strangers, so I guess there's a lot of things I haven't really heard. I mean, not that you're strange, just that I don't know you? Not a lot of people come to this part of the forest. I mean, that's good, because we like our privacy, and we definitely don't want humans to find this place, so that's why we'd rather you not stay here... Am I talking too much? Sorry, like I said, I don't really deal with a lot of people so I'm not really good at dealing with them..."

I blinked. Somehow, I hadn't expected something that majestic looking to be so... socially awkward. "Really, that's no good," Cici said. "You should think about trying Contests. You'd kill at them."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want that! I'm really not violent at all."

"It's a figure of speech. I mean you'd be good at it." Cici sighed, the same kind of sigh she used when dealing with me. "What's your name?"

"Oh! I'm Suicune. At least, that's what everyone calls me, so I guess that works, right? Sorry, you must think I'm terribly rude, not giving you my name right off. You see, I don't really-"

"-deal with a lot of people. I get it." Cici rubbed at an ear. "Look, we'd actually love to leave, but she's injured and so am I. We need to meet up with our friends."

"Oh! You have friends, then? Friends are nice," she chattered. "It's just me and my big siblings, really. Though I had a stalker once. That's what my big siblings called him, anyway. He was really quite nice, although he wouldn't stop throwing balls at me every time we met. And he seemed a bit slow. You know, I got the impression that he never really understood a word I said to him. Do you have a lot of friends? Where are you meeting?"

"It's a Secret Base in the mountains between Rustboro and Verdanturf," Cici said. Her eyes lit up. "Hey, Suicune, I have an idea. You want us gone, right?"

"Yes! Well, I mean, no, I'm really quite enjoying your company. It's more my big siblings that want you gone. And it's not really that they dislike you, it's just the matter of keeping this place private-"

"Yeah, I get it. Look, we want to be gone too, so how about you give us a hand?" Cici coaxed. "You've got strong legs. How about you give us a ride to the mountains?"

"Ohhh!" Suicune sat down, thunderstruck at the idea. "That's a good idea! I can get you there in no time. I'm really quite fast, you know. Well, you probably don't know, since we just met and all. I mean, my big siblings say they're faster, and I guess they are a little bit, but other than them I'm like the fastest thing around here."

"That'd be great," Cici said. "I'd love to see how fast you are. So, think you can get us there?"

"Sure! Let me just check with my big siblings..." Suicune hopped into the bushes, disappearing from sight. Cici flopped down next to me, and neither of us moved until Suicune returned. "Okay! Just hop on my back, and we'll go. Do you know where it is?"

"I can direct you, I think." Cici hauled herself onto Suicune's back with some difficulty, and I followed, digging my fingers into the soft fur. "It's near the Verdanturf side of Rusturf Tunnel. You know where that is?"

"I sure do! Hold on tightly, I'll have us there in no time."

Suicune wasn't kidding when she said she was fast, I quickly realized. Ordinary trees suddenly became green-and-brown blurs, that turned into browner blurs. "Slow down once we get close!" Cici yelled over the sound of the wind. "Otherwise I won't be able to tell where we are!"

"Oh. Say that a little sooner, would you?" Suicune dropped to a trot, and our surroundings turned into mountainous foothills. Ahead, to the north, Mt. Chimney loomed high. Now that Suicune had slowed down, picking her way through the loose rocks with dainty paws, I didn't have to cling on for dear life. I tuned out the rest of the world, trying not to think of anything in particular as Suicune reached the Secret Base at last.

"Cici!" Deoxys's voice greeted us. "You brought a friend."

"Yes!" Suicune replied. "Well, at least, I think we're friends. We haven't really known each other very long-it's really only been about fifteen minutes, probably, but people can become friends that fast, right?"

Deoxys blinked through Suicune's verbal onslaught. "I like you!"

"Thank you! I like you, too!"

"Deoxys?" Absol's voice, from inside the base. "Who's out there?"

"A new friend!"

Cici urged Suicune forward, and she entered the cave, ducking down. Cici half-slid, half-fell off her back, too tired to even sweep the entrance. "Just so you know, Absol, I don't think we're up to fighting Gym Leaders and their entourages on a regular basis."

"No kidding." Avocado, still in Salamence Forme, laid in the back of the cave, and now I could see he was hurt. "Though at least we know we can. Hey, Cici. I thought you were heading home?"

"We have a problem," Cici said. "Least of all is you being injured. Why don't you go to your partner? Doesn't she have healing stuff?"

"Yeah, well, she's over in Petalburg right now, and this was really as far as I could make it." Avocado let out a sigh. "I hope she's not worrying about me. I haven't even had the energy to Shift back yet."

"Oh, you're injured?" Suicune spoke up. "I can help! Well, not me personally, my big sibling knows how to heal others' wounds. He's never really explained how he knows that, though. I mean, it's not really something that you think would be in his area of expertise. My other big sibling thinks he cheated a bit to learn how-"

"Suicune," Cici cut her off. "If your big brother could heal Avocado, we'd be really grateful. Can you bring him here?"

"Oh! I'll try." Without waiting for a response, Suicune exited the cave in a puff of dust, streaking off out of sight within seconds.

Cici sighed, tiredly brushing at the dust. "Just one base with a floor. That's all I want. Absol, about that problem. Praseo's been caught. Probably by the infected."

Absol looked over at me, then back to Cici. "Okay, tell me what happened."

"I'm not really sure myself," Cici said. "I think that kid, the one with the Marshtomp that those two know, he's one of them. All I really know is that Praseo had the presence of mind to chuck Midori out the window before they sucked him into a Pokeball."

Absol turned her gaze to me, silently prompting me. "Um," I walked further into the interior of the Secret Base, flopping down on a cushion Cici had scrounged up from somewhere. "We got home and the Professor came in, and then Kip's human was right there. Praseo, he... he must've figured out that Kip's human was there because of us, because he was infected... He threw me out the window, and Cici caught me, and... Absol, what's going to happen to Praseo?" I couldn't hold it in any more. I began crying, pressing my face into the cushion.

She put a paw on my back. "Midori, they're humans, and Praseo is a Pokemon. Unless there's someone who can understand Pokemon speech, there's no incentive for them to do anything other than hold him in a Pokeball. Didn't you say the Professor and the human couldn't understand Pokemon speech?"

"Yeah. You think... they'll just leave him alone, then? That we might be able to get him back?"

"Are you sure they don't have anyone that can understand Pokemon speech?" Cici spoke up. "We don't know how many people are on their side."

"Yes, but it's really not a common trait. The only one I've even heard of is Avocado's partner."

"Yeah, Astra can-oh, crap!" Avocado half-rose, wincing in pain as he did so. "I, I gotta go. Astra could be in danger from those goons."

"For crying out loud, Avocado, what are you going to do in your shape?" Cici said. "Sit your rear down. Does no one here know their limits?"

"She's right," Absol said. "I'll go find her. I know what she looks like. You said Petalburg, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He sank back down heavily, and stayed still.

Poor Avocado. I didn't know he'd been so badly hurt. Now I wished I knew some healing moves, myself. Was there some kind of Forme I could acquire for that? I felt so useless. My friends were hurt and I couldn't do anything. I hadn't been able to do anything for Praseo. Heck, I couldn't even evolve right now, the familiar rumblings having abandoned me. "Avocado, Cici, Deoxys... I'm sorry. I had to open my big mouth and say we had to go help Kip's human, when he's probably been one of them all along. Because of me, everyone-"

"Will you shut it already?" Cici said. "We all went into this of our own free will. We knew that something like this could happen. We won some and we lost some in this round. That's just how a contest goes down, rookie. So get your head back in the game and think about our next step. Once we find out Astra's status, we'll have to find out where Praseo is-if he's still back at the lab, or if they've taken him elsewhere-and figure out how to rescue him. By Arceus, I'm sick of your whining. You'd think you'd never lost a round before."

I rubbed at my face. Deoxys sat next to me, imitating Absol's gesture with a hand on my back. "You're right, Cici. Sorry."

"Finally, she gets it."

"That's kind of harsh, Cici," Avocado said.

"But accurate."

"...yes. I thought you were kind of spoiled when we first met, but you're handling this better than I am right now."

"I won't deny my trainer takes good care of me," she said with a flip of her tail, "but I'm also a professional. You don't get far in the contest world if you let every loss and every bad day get you down. You have to be able to put it aside and focus on the task at hand."

Focus on the task at hand. Hearing those words put everything in perspective for me. I shoved aside my worries about Praseo, and tried to figure out what their next step would be. If Absol was right, and they truly didn't have anyone that could understand Pokemon speech, would they keep him at the lab? No, I didn't think so-if they thought he was connected to Absol's human persona, they'd use him as bait, or at the least lock him up in a more secure location. After some hesitation, I voiced those thoughts aloud. "In that case," Avocado said, "I think we should look to the old institute. We know they have a presence there. Deoxys, what can you tell us about that place?"

It looked at us, then filled our heads with an image of a reinforced room with an observation window, scientists visible behind it. "This is the only place I know," it told us. "There were other places, but..." It presented more images to us, blurred hallways and featureless rooms. "I didn't really take a look around."

"That's understandable."

Deoxys removed its hand from my back, standing up. "Oh, our new friend is back," it said. "And she brought other friends."

"Other friends?" I sat up as Suicune bounded back into the cave, with two others behind her-one red and bulky, with a severe-looking face, the other somewhere inbetween the two in yellow and black, with a blue cape-like mane.

"These are the intruders to our forest?" the yellow one said, looking at me. "Suicune, you need to stop finding weirdos. Wasn't that stalker enough?"

"They said they liked me and we're friends!" Suicune protested. "This is the injured one. He's my friend too-at least, I think he's my friend. You're my friend, right?"

"Always happy to befriend a legendary," Avocado said with a weak smile.

Cici did a double-take. "Wait, she's a legendary?"

"Yeah. At least, I think so. I've heard Astra mention the name 'Suicune' before."

The red one snorted. "Great. You've got another stalker, Suicune."

"Yay!"

"Yay!" Deoxys echoed, throwing its hands in the air.

The yellow one looked at Deoxys, then to Cici with what I thought was a sympathetic look. "I see you have one of those, too."

The red one gave them both a look. "That's not really a 'yay' moment, either of you." Standing next to Avocado, he began to glow with a red aura, flames flickering around his feet. "My name is Entei. You'd better remember the name of the one that saved you."

"Understood, Ser Entei," Avocado said, closing his eyes as the red aura extended to cover him.

"That's a pretty neat trick," I said. "How did you learn to pull that off?"

Entei glared at me, but didn't answer. I guess he was too focus on healing Avocado. The yellow one cleared its throat. "It's probably best that we not go into that," he said. "It involves some breaking of the rules that we'd rather not elaborate on."

"Still," Avocado said, "it's a pretty useful thing. I don't know a lot of Pokemon that can heal others. Thought about joining a Pokemon Center? I bet you'd be in demand. Or come join the Pokemon Rangers."

Entei scowled as the red glow ceased. "Do I look like the sort that wants to voluntarily associate with humans?"

"Alright, just asking."

I wondered what it would have been like if we had that ability just earlier today. "Hey, Cici, Avocado. We should tell them."

"You're joking, right?" Cici said. "Isn't secrecy one of our big core things? Our best defense and all that?"

"They're not humans, and they don't associate with humans. I think it would be alright to tell them."

"That's... not actually a bad idea," Avocado said, testing his legs as he stood. "We can use their help, especially their power. They're legendaries. That kind of power isn't exactly common."

"Now wait a minute," the yellow one said. I finally could identify the other in the trio: Raikou, the legendary beast of thunder. I did feel a bit silly that I hadn't been able to do it before. Oh well, legendary research-well, research in general-was more of Praseo's specialty than mine. "Who said that we wanted to be involved in anything that you're doing? Whatever your problems are, it has nothing to do with us."

"Oh come on now," Suicune said. "Don't be such a sourpuss."

"I'd rather be a sourpuss than naive, you idiot."

"Hey, that was uncalled for!"

"Let's not fight," I said to the three of them. "If we tell you what's going on you can make the decision on your own. But please consider the possibility of lending us your power. If things go the way our enemy wants them to go, it's impossible that you won't be affected."

"Well I'll listen," Suicune said, planting her rear with a thunk. "I, for one, and capable of listening to the facts first."

Entei let out a growl that may have also been a grumble. I took a breath, aware suddenly of how important this conversation was. I was trying to convince three legendaries-creatures that could wipe me out in an instant, most likely-and they weren't really inclined to listen to what I had to say (well, except one.) Boy, did I suddenly wish I had a way with words. Without hesitating further, I launched into as short a description as I could get of the space virus and the threat they posed to humanity.

"So what?" Entei said after I paused. "It doesn't have anything to do with us. I'm not interested. It's the humans are wiped out, it's no sweat off our backs."

"Oh, really?" Avocado said. "What makes you think that once they finish enslaving humanity and have them as their own personal resource, that they'll just blindly turn an eye to the powers of a legendary?"

"Even so, what are you wanting us to do?" Raikou said. "Entei's ability can cure disease, but probably not on the scale that you're thinking if we're talking about the entire Pokemon League."

I blinked. I hadn't thought that the power of the legendary might be to actually cure the infection. It was definitely worth investigating. What would Praseo think if I could cure the professor and Kip's human?

"That's not it," Cici said. "We want your muscle. We are fighting the humans that are infected-in fact, we're probably going to be going after them in a little bit. They have one of our own. So we want your ability to fight."

"And I'm telling you," Entei said, "that it has nothing to do with us. Even if your friend is a Pokemon, we don't get involved in human affairs."

"You don't have to get involved," I said, realizing what Cici was thinking. "We just want you to lend us your power. You can do that and go on your way." I took another breath. This was the big secret-even more so than the infection itself. Our power to Forme Shift. Well, I thought, in for an Oddish, in for a Vileplume. It would be easier to show them rather than explain, so I proceeded to do exactly just that, Forme Shifting into my Venusaur Forme.

"This is Forme Shifting," Cici took over the explanation. "Think of it like transforming, like Ditto do. See? You don't have to actually be there to lend us your power. All we have to do is touch you. Then we don't have to ever meet again and you'd still be lending us your help."

They all looked surprised-even Entei, who seem to wear perpetual grumpy face. "That is so cool," Suicune said, breaking the silence.

"I know, right?" I replied, Shifting back to my ordinary Forme. Since our secret was now out of the Pokeball, Avocado took the opportunity to Shift back as well.

Raikou and Entei looked at each other. "It blows our cover," Entei grumbled. "After all, most people think we're still in Johto."

"All the same," Raikou said slowly, "I don't think it's a good idea to simply ignore this threat in the hopes that it will go away or pass us by. Letting them borrow our power and fight in our stead seems to be the safest course for not being discovered. And that's what this is about after all, right?"

"Big sibling," Suicune said. Her voice had taken on a warning tone, which surprised me. I wouldn't have thought that the rather spacey legendary could pull off that kind of a menace.

"Alright, I get it, I get it already," Entei grumbled. "What do we need to do?"

"All we have to do," I told him, "is touch."

"That's it?" Raikou look surprised.

"That's it."

Suicune looked at me, and offered me her paw, like an oversized Growlithe who hopes to get a treat. I took her paw, and focused on acquiring her DNA. Nearby, Entei reluctantly offered his paw to Avocado, and Cici and Raikou paired up. "You know, you didn't tell me your name."

"It's Midori." Suicune yawned as I acquired her DNA, and it reminded me of how early tired I was. It had to be getting close to sundown. My first thought was that I need to get back to lab-the Professor would be missing me. Then I remembered. The professor was infected, and she knew about us. The lab wasn't home anymore. "I'm going to nap," I announced to the others. "Wake me up when Absol returns."


I would've thought that I wouldn't be able to sleep with Praseo in trouble, but I guess injury and exhaustion have a way of sneaking up on you. When I woke up, light was still streaming in, and I wasn't sure how long I was actually sleeping for. "Absol?" I murmured, wondering if she would be mad at me for revealing our secrets to the legendary trio.

"She's not back yet." Suicune's voice, from the entrance. "I'm kind of worried for your friend. Petalburg isn't that far, is it?"

"No, it's not." I stretched, feeling the aches start anew. Perhaps I should've begged Entei to look at my injuries, too. Too late for that, apparently-I didn't see him or Raikou anywhere. Oh well, it wasn't like I was actively bleeding or anything. "Did your siblings leave?"

"They haven't gone too far. I said I'd be the lookout since you all fell asleep pretty quickly," Suicune said. "You must've been pretty tired."

"Yeah, yesterday was kind of a long day for us. How long was I out?"

"It's a little past dawn now."

I used one of Cici's choice words. "I didn't realize it'd been that long. Where is Absol? She definitely should've been back by now."

"Want me to go take a look?" Suicine offered.

"Absolutely not!" came Entei's voice from outside the secret base. "Petalburg is full of humans."

"You guys. I get one human interested in me years ago and you guys never let me out again."

"...technically, there were two."

"I'll go," I spoke up, glancing toward the others. All still asleep. Let them rest a bit longer. "Suicune, could you give me a ride to Petalburg? I'll look for Absol once we get there."

Suicune looked at the entrance of the cave, her expression taking on the warning edge she'd had the night before. Then she gave me a smile. "Okay, let's go."

I hopped on her back, and closed my eyes until she had slowed down again. "I'm on her trail," Suicune said. "She's not that close to town yet. Maybe we can find her together."

"Thanks for bring me, Suicune. I'm sorry if I got you in trouble with your big siblings."

"My big siblings are too overprotective," she sniffed. "I can understand why-I mean, every time we've had dealings with humans, it's been dangerous and troublesome. But we can't keep running away from everything, you know?"

"Yeah, I agree. Running away doesn't do anyone any good." Suicune came to a sudden stop, head up. "Something the matter?"

"...Possibly." She walked forward at a slower pace.

I didn't have to ask further, because I could smell it-the smell of violence, of blood. And a familiar scent, as well. "Absol!" I leapt off Suicune's back, tearing ahead as I saw the unmoving shape. "Oh no, Absol! Please don't be dead!"

"I'm not dead." Her voice was quiet and calm, just like always, a stark contrast to my own panic and the bright red against her fur. "I've survived worse, so don't panic. Though I won't say no to a good potion."

"We... we didn't bring any, we didn't know... What happened?"

"Midori," Suicune's voice stopped me. "Can you... help get her onto my back? We should ask what happened after big sibling Entei helps her."

"Y-you're right. Sorry." I looked at Absol, then at my own hands with a sigh. Now would have been a good time to be evolved. I Forme Shifted instead, using my Venusaur tendrils to situate Absol carefully until Suicune and I were both satisfied we wouldn't jostle her too badly. Then I returned to normal, trying to hold on as best I could to both of them as Suicune ran.

She didn't even appear to be winded when we got back to the Secret Base, and I wondered how long she could actually run. "Entei!" she called as I carefully worked on lowering Absol to the ground.

Avocado jumped at the bark, then skittered over to us. "By Arceus, Absol... What happened to you?"

She opened one eye, looking at him, then turned her head. "I apologize, Avocado. I wasn't able to stop them."

"Worry about that later!"

"I've told you to call me bi-What, there's another one?" Entei scowled at Absol as he entered, as if her injury was some sort of personal grudge against him. "Is it going to be like this all the time?"

"Big sibling, please."

He looked at her, then to Avocado. "I'm still tired from you. Why don't you give it a try? You have my power, don't you?"

"I... you're right. Let me try," Avocado said, already beginning to Forme Shift.

"Big sibling!" Suicune shot him a look. "He's barely recovered himself, how is he going to be any less tired than you?"

"You're the one that wanted me to trust in them, Suicune," Entei said. "Where'd all that confidence go?"

"Entei."

"No, he's right." Avocado's voice came from Entei's new twin, who didn't seem to wear the perpetual grumpy face Entei did. Apparently that part wasn't genetic. "If I can't handle this, how am I going to handle his battle power? Though, I'll take any pointers you've got."

Entei met Avocado's eyes for a long moment. "It's the flames of life. Draw on it like you would any power that rests inside your core."

"So not too much different from anything else I do, then." Avocado sat next to Absol, closing his eyes. Flames flickered around his feet. I caught myself holding my breath, hoping that everything would work out. Just like Entei had done with him, the red glow moved to Absol, blanketing her, fire circling around her body. After a bit, Avocado sagged, the red glow dying down. "Wow, that's a piece of work. Good thing I got to see it in action first."

"Absol?" I asked.

She got to her feet slowly, testing her movement carefully to see if any weakness remained. Turning to the two legendaries, she said, "Thank you for your assistance."

"You can thank us by keeping this space menace thing out of our fur," Entei said. "Suicune, are you satisfied?"

Suicune paused, looking at me. "Will you... be okay now?"

"Yes, of course," I reassured her, then paused. "Well, I don't know. I still don't know how I'm going to rescue my friend or stop this invasion. But we're okay for the moment. You were a lot of help. I don't know what I would've done without you."

She beamed at me. She probably was pretty lonely, even with her two siblings. I could understand that a bit. "Come back again and visit me sometime!"

"That's not necessary," Entei grumbled as he exited the cave. Ah, back to perpetual grumpy face. I waved, and Suicune followed him out with a bound.

"Nngh... Is it morning?" Cici stirred in the back of the base, giving Deoxys a prod. "You took your sweet time, Absol."

"She was injured," I told Cici, "and it's a little after dawn. Good morning."

"Good morning," she repeated the greeting around a yawn.

"Good morning!" Deoxys echoed, its arm-tentacles twirling around each other in what appeared to be some sort of morning stretch routine. "I hope everyone is well this morning. Shall we have breakfast?"

"That's a good idea," Absol agreed. "But we don't have anything in the cave. We'll have to leave if we-"

A sudden cascade of berries came from the entrance of the secret base. Apparently Suicune and Entei hadn't quite left yet. I picked up a few, handing them around before munching on one myself, not thinking too much. "By Murkrow!" Cici exclaimed suddenly, having seen the dried blood on Absol's side. "Girl, you're a mess. You need to hit the showers."

"In a bit, perhaps."

I gave Cici a look. "Shouldn't you be worried? I did say she was injured."

"'Was' being the key term here. If she was still injured, you wouldn't be so calm, would you?" Cici asked with a fluff of her tails. "So what happened? Let me guess, there were ten of them, and you should see the other guy?"

"Six, not counting the pokemon, and I'm pretty sure I had the worse end of the deal." Absol sighed. "Again, I apologize, Avocado. I was hoping that I would be able to hold them long enough for your human to escape, but..."

He Shifted back to his own form, hunkering down. At length, he said, "It isn't your fault. I'm her partner. I should've been there. But if you couldn't do anything, I wouldn't have been able to, either. It... it is what it is."

"At the least," Absol said, "I do know where they were taking her-to the Institute on Route 119. I also don't know how long it takes to infect a human. We may not yet be too late."

"Absol," I remembered suddenly, "the legendaries."

She glanced toward the cave entrance, as if expecting another shower of berries. "Did you become acquainted with them, I take it? They're not known to me."

"Yes, by accident. Absol, I told them what was going on," I continued in a rush before she could scold me, "about the space virus and also our power. They let us acquire their DNA. Cici, Avocado and I can Forme Shift into the three of them. And that's not all-Raikou thought that Entei's ability-that's the one Avocado Shifted into, just now-might be able to deal with the virus."

"I see." She laid down again, a few berries gathered nearby so she could eat. "That's useful to know. Are you all rested?"

"We're fine," Cici said, "but you look like something the Persian dragged around."

"I'll be fine. It isn't the first time I've seen a battle like that." That made me intensely curious, but Absol didn't elaborate further. "We need to come up with a plan."

"Can we sneak in?" Avocado said. "Midori has the Kecleon Forme, and we could also use our human Formes. Well, except for you, Absol, oh 'mystery trainer'."

Cici perked up. "That's right. When we get done here, I've got some clothes for you to try on."

"Are you familiar with the building layout?" Absol asked Avocado.

He shook his head. "Only in passing."

"I don't know that sneaking in is viable," Absol said. "We've done that to two of their meetings before. They may be on alert."

"Well, what other options do we have?" Cici pointed out. "It's not like we can burn the whole thing to the ground."

Absol looked at her, then to Avocado. "Well, actually..."

"You're suggesting massive violence in the place of a calm, rational, well thought out plan?" Cici shook her head. "Who are you and what did you do with Absol?"

That got a snort. "You should've seen me in my younger days. But charging in with a legendary's power may be an option. Let's have one of us sniff around the area and see if we can determine some facts. How many are in there, what the entrances are like, that sort of thing."

"I'm on it." Avocado went to the cave entrance, taking off once he was outside.

Absol looked over at me. "You did well to avoid being caught. And also for getting three recalcitrant legendaries on our side. Well done."

Suddenly, I didn't feel so useless anymore.