AN: Oh dear, it's been awhile. I'm sorry, I've been really busy this past…month. Yeah. xD

LegendShipping? Awesome name! Sapphy might bite off your face for suggesting it, though.

Don't worry, CrystalSakura, we'll get well in to the entire feral Pokemanz mess here in awhile. It might be a long, long long while, but we'll get there!

C h a p t e r 8

Sapphire following him wearily, wondering who the Elder of this village was. Some sort of old, wise Pokemon, surely. Another Alakazam? Maybe Magnus doubled as both the village's creepy old guy and the Elder.

Probably a Psychic Pokemon, she thought, they're full of old-people wisdom and stuff like that.

To her surprise, she realized they were heading out of little Dewdum entirely. Singe was headed for an old, dusty road that climbed up another small slope into the forest. Rolling her eyes, she followed him.

He must live up here, she thought as they walked up the slope; it was a rather sharp incline, and her legs soon began to burn. I can't see some old geezer trying to hike up here every day.

The sound of rushing water reached her ears, and she frowned; perhaps it was a Slowking, both Psychic and Water type?

Then, as the pair of them made their way through the trees, her eyes widened with disbelief.

Before the two of them was an enormous waterfall, which pounded the rocks below with incredible force before splashing into a large pond, so large it was almost a lake. The waterfall itself came from farther up the slope, which was really more of a hill, where it was rockier. The pond and waterfall both seemed to sparkle, as if they had been purified by Suicune; even the grass around the pool seemed greener than the average grass. But that was not the most incredible thing. A Gyarados, with sparkling ruby scales, was lying underneath the waterfall, his lower jaw resting on a large boulder. He was fast asleep. But even all that was not the most incredible, amazing thing of all; the Gyarados's jaw was actually completely closed.

"Whoa," she whispered, taken aback. "I didn't even know they could actually close their mouths. Aren't they, like, always open?"

"It's a survival technique," he whispered to her. "See, most of a Gyarados's body is covered in those crazy-hard scales. So to a normal Pokemon, it seems like the inside would be the softest part; the weak point. Gyarados keep their mouths open all the time; it looks like they're advertising their immense strength, because it looks like their daring their opponent to attack their weak spot. But most Pokemon don't know that the inside of a Gyarados is as tough as the outside."

"So it's a trick? They're pretending they're bluffing?" Sapphire asked, getting her mind around it. "Weird. But, then…where is their real weak spot?"

He nodded towards the sleeping Elder's mouth. "See those whiskers?"

She blinked with surprise. "Those are the weak spot? He's drawing attention to his mouth, where his whiskers are…but no one thinks about them?"

Singe's green eyes glinted. "Pretty solid strategy then, huh? Come on, we need to talk to him. He's like crazy-old. He remembers Lance."

"Lance?" she frowned; the name sounded familiar. "He was…a Pokemon trainer or something, right?"

He nodded. "A long time ago, a bunch of dumb humans did something to his lake. It caused him to evolve into a Gyarados, and boy was he angry when that happened! Lance and some other trainer defeated the other humans, but they had to knock him out or he would have destroyed the whole town. He slept after his defeat, for years and years and years. Because of the lake's properties, he's lived a long time."

She blinked slowly. "But Lance…he was alive like two thousand years ago!"

Singe nodded. "He kind of overslept, I guess." He gave her a grin, before trotting up towards the pond, heading for the waterfall. Sapphire blinked, seeing his tail-flame flickering; wasn't it dangerous for him to go so close to the waterfall?

"Singe!" she exclaimed. "Be careful!"

He shot her a grin over his shoulder, and said something, but she couldn't hear it. Without fear, the little Charmander hopped onto the boulder upon which the Gyarados's massive jaw rested; approaching cautiously, Sapphire realized the ruby-red creature was even bigger than she'd realized.

Well, he had two thousand years to grow! She thought. Two thousand flipping years! What's up with this town, honestly? And how the heck did he end up here?

Singe tapped the crest on the Elder's head with one hand; he shouted something, but Sapphire couldn't hear it over the roar of the waterfall. He tapped the Elder again, but the great creature still did not move.

Sapphire's eyes widened as the Charmander, balancing precariously on the boulder, gently wrapped his hand around the Gyarados's whisker. He gave it a tiny tug.

Instantly, the crimson eyes opened, and the Gyarados let out a frightening roar that made the waterfall sound like nothing more than a gentle splash. Singe was thrown backwards by the force of the sound, nearly falling into the lake. Sapphire quickly grabbed him, her hands cupped around his armpits, pulling him back. She let out a growl, ready to attack, but as the Gyarados's head slowly rose and his true size and power became apparent, her growl became little more than a squeak of fear.

"Thanks," Singe said, and she quickly let him go. He cupped his orange hands around his mouth. "Hey! Elder!"

The Gyarados looked down, eyes narrowed, as if sizing up the threat Singe posed; Sapphire's heart beat rapidly in her chest as her mind flitted through all the stories she had heard, of Gyarados rampaging through towns, destroying entire cities, smashing anything and everything in their paths….

"Should we run?" she hissed in Singe's ear, but he seemed to be unafraid, perhaps suicidal so.

"Elder!" he shouted again. Slowly, the massive creature's head lowered itself, jaws gaping wide, until it was nearly level with him. It let out a low, deep breath, the hot air rippling over Sapphire's scales uncomfortably.

Then, to her surprise, the jaw closed and the crimson eyes seemed to become almost…gentle?

"Singe," the Elder said; his voice was so low that she could feel it through her feet as the vibrations shook the ground. "Hello there, my boy. How are you?"

Sapphire stared at him incredulously as Singe grinned. "Pretty good, Elder. And you?"

"A little tired, but that's expected for one of my age," the Elder said; his jaws opened again, and Sapphire tensed, but the mighty serpent only yawned. "My whiskers are a little sore now."

Singe smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that, we just needed to wake you up. It won't be long, I promise; then you can return to your nap. We've just got some questions for you."

The Gyarados slowly moved his head back towards his boulder, allowing his jaw to rest on it once more. He considered the pair of them with mildly curious eyes. "Ask away."

Singe opened his mouth, but Sapphire beat him to it.

"Hang on, now," she said. "Aren't you Gyarados supposed to be these huge, dangerous, violent creatures? Don't you tear entire towns apart? You're just sitting here sleeping, and you didn't even bite Singe's head off when he woke you up! And how did you get here, anyway? The lake in Johto is really far away!"

The Gyarados blinked, turning his head slightly towards her, and for a moment she was scared that he really would bite off her head. Instead, he smiled.

"It's true that most of us are filled with rage, yes," he said slowly, his voice sounding like low thunder, "but that's mainly in competition for mates. The older we get, the less of a, ah, drive we have, to put it delicately. And the less drive, the less rage, and the less rage we have…well, you see. And I am much older than most. I really have no desires anymore, except perhaps to sleep. As for how I got here, well…I was asleep for a very long time. Very, very long. Somewhere around a thousand years, probably in that vicinity. When I woke up, I found that a lot of things had changed; later, some Pokemon told me that the seismic activity from the comet coming and all that really changed the landscape. I didn't know what had happened, though, when I awoke; I didn't even know how long I'd been asleep. All that I knew was that our water was almost gone. But, in place of the water, was a new, narrow river flowing from the lake. I followed it, all the way to the ocean."

"And then you went through the space-walls and found the island?"

The Elder glanced at Singe, looking faintly puzzled, and he blushed slightly.

"Space-walls helps to explain the island thing," he said, and the Gyarados nodded slowly.

"I see. Well, yes, that's right, I found the island through the, ah, space-walls."

"But how did you get here?" she asked, interested despite herself. The Elder laughed quietly; his laughter seemed to vibrate through her feet into her stomach.

"Well, it wasn't really that difficult. It just took a few Psychic Pokemon…and about a hundred Flying types." He laughed again, his ruby-red eyes seeming to glow at the memory. "You see, I didn't find the island first thing; I roamed all over the world, seeing what had changed while I was sleeping…but by the time I finally found this island, I was desperately tired. All I wanted was a secluded place to rest…the coast was too noisy for me. That's where most of the big cities are, you know. Too stressful.

"My stories were popular with the Pokemon there, so I was well-known; the red scales probably don't hurt. Anyway, there were plenty of Pokemon willing to help me find a new home; some Psychics helped show me the entire region in their minds, showing me all of the places that I could live. I finally settled on here."

"What were the Flying types for?" Sapphire asked. "Did they carry you here?"

He let out another rumbling laugh. "Dear Arceus, no. They simply managed to get me into the air, so the Psychics could Teleport me here."

She frowned. "Get you into the air?"

"Teleporting works with all sorts of motions," Singe explained. "Like, you move side-ways through space to get to another place, you know? But moving up and down is hard for them; if you're on the ground, you'll be on the same level at wherever you Teleport to. The coast is lower than here, so he would have appeared in the middle of the ground, or something."

The Elder nodded. "It's possible for them to move smaller objects up and down, but it would have been impossible for them to raise me up. So the birds helped me into the air, and the Psychics Teleported me here. I was a little too high, but it was okay, I was tough enough to withstand the fall." He yawned, his great jaws gaping wide.

"After all that excitement, I'm afraid I fell asleep again, for a very long time; I completely missed the whole Time Gear business."

Sapphire glanced at Singe; he smiled, and she didn't even have to voice the question.

"Dialga made the Time Gears to keep the flow of time in this region steady; sometimes the space-walls kind of mess it up a bit. We had some trouble about another thousand years ago with those; that's when the second Transformed came along."

Sapphire wrinkled her nose. "I don't want to mess around with any Time What-sits."

"You won't have to," he assured her. "They're hidden in new places now, no one knows where they all are."

She nodded, then blinked. "Wait, why were we here? What were you going to ask him, before he started talking about his backstory and everything?"

"Oh yeah!" Singe exclaimed. "Elder, we were wondering…well, okay, first…what we're about to tell you can't go outside of Dewdum, okay? We're trying to keep it quiet, for now."

The Elder's whiskers twitched, and he yawned. "I'm feel a nap coming on, so don't worry, young Singe. I'll keep your secret in confidence."

Singe nodded. "Okay, then. Sapphire, would you like to do the honors?"

"I'm a human," Sapphire said bluntly. The Elder blinked slowly, and for a moment she was worried; after all, he hadn't had the best experiences with humans. However, instead of anger, his eyes seemed to show only speculative curiosity.

"Humans can be good creatures or bad; much like Pokemon, there is no way to know for sure how a human will turn out," the Elder said slowly. "The other Transformed were obviously very good, but…hmm. A Totodile. Troubling."

Sapphire glanced at Singe curiously, but he obviously was focused on his question.

"Anyway, we were wondering if you knew anything about the Legendary that everyone says is waking up, or whatever," he said excitedly. "We figured that has to be what brought her here, right?"

The Elder nodded slowly. "That sounds about right; if a Legendary was to be harmed, the world would certainly be in danger. Let's see, a Legendary…perhaps one of Unova? They haven't joined the Legend League, have they?"

Singe frowned. "They've pretty much kept to themselves still…the Legend League just now started allowing Unova Pokemon into our region. The Unova Legendaries themselves haven't really done anything…and we probably couldn't venture out of this region, so I don't think it's that." He frowned. "Are there any other ones? Any that haven't been accounted for, or something…?"

"Deoxys land now and again, to visit," the Elder said. "But they're too powerful for anyone to really take them down…hmm. It's a puzzle…oh!" His eyes seemed to glow. "I think I might know what it might be. There's a legend…."

There was a sudden humming noise; Sapphire blinked with surprise, and glanced around, but there was no one in sight. The glow in the Elder's eyes seemed to fade, and he frowned.

"Oh…there it goes again. My memory…hmm. Not what it used to be, after more than two thousand years, you know…." He sighed quietly. "I'm sorry, I can't remember what I was going to say now."

"Do you have any idea?" Singe asked hopefully. "Anything for us at all?"

"Well…." He frowned, trying to collect his thoughts. "Something about a bright light…in the sky, I thought…hmm. That's all I have for you, I'm sorry…perhaps Magnus would know more. If he's willing to tell you, I suppose." His whiskers seemed to droop. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

"That's okay, really, it gives us somewhere to start," Singe assured him. "We're sorry for waking you up. Right, Sapphire?" He nudged her, but she wasn't paying attention.

My dream, she thought. I dreamed of a bright light, didn't I? It has to be connected. This bright light, whatever it is…that's the Legendary this is all about.

But what kind of light was it? There were white lights in darkness…crystals, maybe? It was hard to tell…perhaps I was in a cave. Or maybe the light came from electricity? Zapdos lives in caves sometimes, right…?

Singe nudged her again, nearly tipping her over – her balance was still a bit iffy – and she blinked.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," she said quickly. The Elder gave them a nod, his eyes already clouded with weariness; slowly, he lowered his head until his chin rested on the rock once more, his eyes drifting shut.

Singe made a shooing motion with his hand, and the two of them headed down the slope together.

. . .

They headed for Sunlit Meadow once more; at the entrance was a Sentrat who introduced herself as Tracery. They gave her a Chesto berry, and she presented them with one hundred and fifty coins in return – why she didn't just buy the berry herself for much less was unclear – before they plunged into Sunlit Meadow.

Sapphire glanced around the first room, noting the Chesto berry plant in the corner. She smirked at Tracey's stupidity, before remembering that the same items didn't always appear in the dungeon; Tracey might have gone through the whole thing without finding any Chestos at all.

The two of them quickly harvested the plant, grabbing four berries - Sapphire wrinkled her nose at the idea of eating them; their dryness didn't appeal to her at all – before continuing on their way.

Their first challenger was a Rattata; Sapphire and Singe leaped into action at the same time, but Singe, being slightly faster thanks to Sapphire's waddling gait, got their first.

"I bet I can beat more ferals than you," he boasted, grinning at her. Her eyes glittered at the challenge.

"You're on!"

At that point, they split up, and their mission became fighting ferals, rather than finding the Flagstone; after all, this time all they had to do was find an apple. Sapphire KO'd the ferals with ease, bringing down a few of them with Water Guns simply for the pleasure of it. Singe carried the map, but she had the badge, as team leader.

She finally stumbled upon the Flagstone, and found Singe waiting for her, grinning.

"Ten ferals!" he exclaimed. "How many did you get, Sapphire? Did you put them all back inside the grass?"

"Eleven," she said, grinning crookedly at him. "I guess that makes me the winner!"

Singe rolled his eyes. "For this floor, maybe; next floor, I'll beat you, just you wait!"

Sapphire stepped on the Flagstone, and the two of them quickly hurried onto the second floor, taking off in opposite directions.

Sapphire managed to find the Flagstone very quickly, but she didn't care; she was foraging for items as well as more ferals. She could feel herself growing stronger as she trained; instead of aiming for the whiskers to instantly beat a Rattata, she could simply Scratch its flank and have it run off. A smug look crept over her face, as she chased off two Pidgey simultaneously.

She found an apple tree, and managed to grab a few from it, but was forced to carry them around in her arms since she no longer had a bag. It made the going a lot slower; she could only carry three at a time, and she had to keep stopping to pick them up. Finally, frustrated, she allowed the third to roll away into the grass, pushing the remaining two apples under her armpits and continuing.

But the apples proved to be more trouble than they were worth; they seemed to attract hungry feral Pokemon, and with her arms full she could only attempt to Water Gun them. When she finally found her way back to the Flagstone and sat down to wait for Singe, she was exhausted.

"Only six this time," he said when he returned. "I couldn't figure out where they had all gone."

"Seventeen," she wheezed. "I was attracting all of them."

He blinked in surprise, quickly putting the apples into the bag and offering her half an Oran berry. She nibbled it, feeling it's confusing-tasting juice flood her mouth, filling her with energy.

They proceeded to the third floor.

The badge in her hand glowed immediately as they entered the third floor; the "special apple" was obviously here. Singe and Sapphire started down the hallway, before Singe paused, frowning. She glanced at him.

"What is it?" she asked; he was looking down at the Wonder Map.

"I'm not sure," he said slowly. "There's just this orange icon, here on the right…." He pointed with one claw, and she blinked slowly at the little orange spot. Then, to her surprise, it began to blink.

The badge suddenly vibrated gently.

Quarry has been picked up by: Rattata, the badge said. Sapphire and Singe exchanged glances.

"The Rattata must have the apple," Singe said. "I guess the orange icon is supposed to tell us that, or something, hmm."

The badge vibrated again.

Quarry has been stolen by: Pidgey, it said. Singe looked nervous.

"If the ferals start fighting over it, we'll have a mess on our hands," he said. "Come on, let's hurry up and find this thing!"

The two of them began walking quickly, down the twisting passages and through the large rooms. Every few moments, their badge would vibrate gently, telling them that something else had stolen the special apple.

Sapphire was growing increasingly frustrated, as they took down feral Pokemon after feral Pokemon, while not getting any closer to finding the apple.

"This is ridiculous," she grumbled. "Here, we'll split up. If I find the apple, I'll Teleport us away. If you do, just come and find me on your Map. Okay?"

Singe nodded. "That might be the best way to go around this. Okay, I'll head down that hallway; you go down the other. Hopefully we'll have some luck…." He sighed quietly, heading down the hall. She paused for a moment, watching him go, before heading the opposite direction.

The gentle vibrating of the badge quickly grew annoying, but there was no way to turn it off. It was only slightly useful to know what Pokemon currently had the apple; since there were only Rattatas and Pidgeys here, it didn't really help.

She Scratched a Rattata, sending it running for cover, but leaving no apple behind. She felt like hitting her head against a Flagstone; how on earth were they supposed to find this apple, with infinite numbers of feral Pokemon hanging around?

Not infinite numbers, she thought firmly. Just lots. And if I have to knock them all down to find this stupid apple, then I will!

. . .

She wasn't sure how long she walked, or even whether or not she was going in circles; all she knew was that no matter how many feral Pokemon she took down, there was always another waiting, always another vibration of her badge telling her that someone else had the apple now. When she found the Flagstone, she nearly collapsed; her stomach rumbled loudly, and she felt completely drained of energy. Propping herself up against a rock, she was forced to realize that she was not going to find this apple. It was up to Singe now. She simply didn't have the energy.

Her stomach gurgled again, and she touched it with a wince; she was starving. She hated feeling weak, but there was nothing she could do; Singe had all the items.

Her badge vibrated again gently, and she scowled, not even listening to the words. She tucked the badge underneath her tail, muffling it; why did it matter who had it now?

She must have drifted off, for when she opened her eyes, the sun had migrated; it was almost sunset now. She sighed quietly, before a small thump caught her attention. She turned, and her eyes widened in alarm; Singe was lying in the entrance of one of the hallways. She rushed to his side quickly, rolling him over; he let out a quiet moan. He was covered in small scratches and abrasions. Tucked under one apple was an apple, huge, round, glistening. It was all Sapphire could do not to gulp it down.

"Singe?" she asked anxiously. "Singe? Are you okay?"

"Hey, Sapphire," he croaked, his eyes fluttering open. "I got the apple…how many did you beat, huh? I took down…thirty seven…they really wanted this apple, Sapphire…."

It was obvious that he was completely drained; she went to their bag to retrieve an Oran berry, only to find that it was empty.

"Sorry," he said quietly, his voice a whisper. He struggled to sit up. "There were just so many of them, you know…."

Her red eyes softened. "It's okay, Singe, you got the apple. You did good, okay? Come on, let's get home." She touched the apple with one hand, feeling its firmness – this was better than a normal apple, certainly; no wonder the ferals were after it – and felt the badge vibrate again.

Quarry retrieved. End mission?

"Heck yes," she said tiredly. "Badge, take us home."

Everything dissolved away in a bright flash of light.

. . .

They appeared just outside of Sunlit Meadow; the glow of Dewdum's gentle lights spilled out ahead of them, nearly hidden by the forest. Sapphire yawned; she felt even more tired out of the dungeon, if that was possible. She struggled to her feet, supporting Singe on her shoulder, as the two of them slowly headed back to the town.

"Sorry," Singe said again in her ear. "I shouldn't have used all the berries…there were just a lot of them…did the badge tell you I had the apple? I thought you would come and help me get back…."

She felt a pang of guilt.

When the badge vibrated and I ignored it, stuffing it under my tail…was that when he got the apple? She wondered anxiously. I should have been there to help him…he's all beat up now, tired…how will he get back home? I don't even know where he lives….

They entered the town, and Singe's eyes, almost closed, seemed to open slightly as he breathed in the scents of his home. Sapphire led him carefully to Skylar's shop; there was a small Cleffa there, her eyes round with worry.

"Appie!" she squeaked, racing forward as she saw Sapphire and Singe. Singe held out the apple to her with one hand. She grabbed it, laughing delightedly and hugging it; the apple was nearly as big as she was.

"Applie! Appie!" she giggled. A smile came to Singe's face, and he let go of Sapphire, swaying unsteadily on his feet.

"Thank you!" the Cleffa beamed up at him. "My Appie was so scared that he was gonna get eated! But you saved him! Thank you!"

A gentle glow came into Singe's eyes. "You're welcome," he said. "It was nothing."

The Cleffa grinned. "That's good, cuz we don't have much money. I was in the dungeon trying to get monies with my Appie but some big bad Pokemon got us and I had to use my special Orb but I dropped Appie…." Her lip trembled, as her face changed from happy to sad. "I thought I'd lost my Appie. But you saved him! Here you go! All I managed to get from the dungeon before the Pokemon got us!"

She offered him a tiny pouch; it clinked gently as it settled in his hand. Singe blinked at it, then glanced at Sapphire, a tiny question in his eyes. She sighed quietly, realizing what he wanted, and gave him a nod.

Singe handed the pouch back to the Cleffa. Her round eyes widened with surprise.

"Like I said, it was nothing, not hard at all," Singe said gently. "If you guys need the money, you should keep it. We can always get more."

The Cleffa's face lit up in delight. "Mommy will be so happy! Thank you!" She raced forward, wrapping her stubby arms around Sapphire in a hug. Sapphire froze awkwardly, uncertain of what to do, but the Cleffa quickly released her, hugging Singe tightly. He grimaced in pain as her hand brushed one of his wounds, and she seemed to almost be tipping him over, but there was still a glow in his green eyes.

How can he do that? She wondered. Say it's nothing, when he's so hurt and tired…refuse the reward….Who does that? We put in a lot of effort for that stupid apple, and he just….

Her thoughts trailed off as she understood, seeing Singe look down tenderly at the Cleffa as she continued to hug him.

Because that's just the stupidly gallant guy he is, she thought, feeling almost sad. This is why he wanted to make a team, to help people…even if he gets all beat up doing it.

She suddenly felt a wave of guilt. And here I am, trying to take advantage of him…just using him until I can figure out why I'm here….

Her stomach knotted with self-loathing, and she quickly looked away from Singe.

The Cleffa finally let go, and with another sweet 'Thank you!' she trotted away, holding Appie and the pouch of money tightly to her chest.

Sapphire felt Singe's gentle warmth against her side, as he leaned on her once more. Only when she heard him let out a quiet sigh and felt his weight increase did she realize he'd fainted clean away.

She turned, catching him with her stubby arms before he could completely fall, then looked around helplessly; she couldn't completely carry the Charmander on her own. She swallowed, feeling panic rise up inside of her; then, she heard a quiet cough.

Skylar was watching them, in his shop; for once, he didn't look angry or sulky.

He turned without a word, disappearing into the back of the shop. He was gone for only a moment, before he was coming around from the outside of the shop, having exited through the back.

"Here, let me help," he said quietly. Gratefully, she surrendered singe to his feathery hands. He picked up Singe like the little Charmander was nothing.

"We'll take him to Miss Liss, to get patched up," he said. Sapphire could only nod, following him through the town until Miss Liss's shop appeared in front of them.

The sun was nearly completely down now, and Miss Liss wasn't there. Leaning Singe against the shop's wall, Skylar tapped on the shop counter, calling her name.

It took her several moments to appear; when she did so, she was yawning, before her pretty blue eyes widened as she saw the state that the two team members were in.

"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, hopping right onto the shop counter and then jumping beside Sapphire. "You two look awful!"

"They just came back from a mission; apparently a hard one," Skylar said. "I figured you could patch them up."

"Of course, just a moment," Miss Liss said. She clasped her hands together, and closed her eyes. Sapphire stared at her, wondering what she was doing, before Miss Liss suddenly emitted a pulse of pink light. Sapphire gasped, feeling energy fill her body; she could almost feel her wounds healing themselves. Singe's wounds healed as well, before her eyes, as if he was still in the dungeon. He stirred, but his eyes did not open.

"He should be okay, but he'll need some rest," Miss Liss said anxiously.

"I can carry him home," Skylar offered. Sapphire was surprised at his kindness; but she could see his anxiety as he looked down at Singe.

He's one of them, she realized. He lives here, in Dewdum…Skylar's probably known him since he was little. They all know how he is…how nice, how welcoming, how selfless…he's like part of their weird Dewdum family.

"I don't know where he lives," she admitted. "He can just stay with me."

Skylar nodded, and picked up Singe again. Sapphire thanked Miss Liss, but she only nodded, and the three of them headed through Dewdum.

They climbed up the slope together, with Sapphire's legs again complaining of the hike. She led them down the path, finally pointing at her house; it looked like even more of a ramshackle shack with Skylar's critical eyes glancing over it.

He flexed his powerful legs, before leaping, jumping over the water that encircled her house, landing in front of the porch. She quickly followed, jumping into the water and then allowing her powerful tail to propel her into the air.

Skylar glanced around inside the hut; the light was dim, the last rays of sunlight filtering in through the cracked windows.

"Put him there," Sapphire said, indicating her bed. Skylar nodded, placing Singe on the bed, moving his tail carefully so that the dimly flickering flames wouldn't catch the bed on fire. He sat back, staring at Singe's tail for a moment as if transfixed, before turning to Sapphire.

"Thanks," she said quietly; she wasn't sure what else to say about Skylar's unexpected kindess.

He gave her a shrug. "No problem, dudette," he said. "Just take care of him, okay? He might just kill himself working so hard, if you aren't there to watch him. I wouldn't want that to happen."

There was a quiet threat behind his words, as his beady bird eyes looked down at her. She nodded quickly, and Skylar moved past her, out of the hut.

She turned to watch him go, seeing him leap over the river and running through the woods, disappearing. She turned again to look at Singe, sleeping peacefully. She took a step towards him, then hesitated; she wasn't experienced with things like this.

"Hey," she whispered to him; he stirred again, but didn't open his eyes. "Sorry about all this...today…I should have been with you. Splitting up was a dumb idea…sorry." She reached out, resting her hand on his stomach. "You won the competition, okay? You're…you're loads better at all this than I ever could be."

She felt another rush of guilt, and quickly pulled her hand away. She sighed quietly.

The Elder was right…I'm not like the other Transformed. I'm not a hero, like they were…I don't know how to be, she thought, as she curled up on the floor. A nail poked into her leg, but she ignored it. Why was I chosen for this? I don't know what to do, about any of this…I'm not….Her eyes were drifting closed, as her tired and battered mind fled to sleep. She tried to focus, to think, but she was losing herself to the tide of weariness overcoming her.

I'm not a hero.

AN: I was always curious about those delivery missions. It seemed like they could just use an Escape Orb and buy the item from the shop, or something…although in this case Tracey had an excuse. I wouldn't want to deal with Zee just to get a Chesto berry, would you?

Also, can you guys guess Sapphire/Singe's natures? Singe's is obvious (I've made both his berry dislikes and likes apparent) but we've only seen Sapphire's disliked berry, so I'm curious if you can figure them out.

I was also always curious why the Pokemon in the games didn't steal from each other, since they were supposed to be all bad/crazy and stuff. Hmm.

Sorry again for the length between updates; it's partially because this story doesn't feel as though it's getting as much interest, compared to my other projects. Maybe a few more reviews, instead of just three in a month? Pretty please? ^^;