"You're leaving?" a small Pidgey asked with a sad frown.
Two mighty Noctowls were busy preening their wings as they and the small Pidgey stood on a mighty branch of a mighty tree where its thick and many leaves shielded them from the eyes of any passersby.
After she was done preening her wings, the female owl turned to face the little bird with a sad frown of her own. "Yes, Innotui. We must."
"But, why?" the little bird asked, sad eyes slowly falling down on their nest, where a little Hoothoot was looking down, feeling sad as well.
The mighty male owl stopped preening his wing and turned to face the sad bird. "Prey here has become scarce as of late, little one," he explained calmly. "We could, of course, move elsewhere in the forest, but that would risk the safety of our child."
Both the Pidgey and the Hoothoot said nothing.
Innotui woke up, slowly opening her eyes. She yawned, and stretched both her wings. Afterwards, she slowly shook one numb talon at a time. Even though she had been sleeping while standing up, the feeling of having numb feet was still mildly annoying to wake up to. She shook her head slightly, to shake off the sleep and that dream she just had. Ruffling her feathers, she inhaled and exhaled with a smile. It was another beautiful morning, she thought.
"Good morning," she whispered to the wind, hoping that her greeting would be carried by it and be delivered to her dear friend.
She looked around. The morning was still early. And her mother wasn't around, as usual. She frowned. She could never wake up early enough to fly and hunt with her mother. She sighed. Her mother would be returning soon, so it would be best for her not to go too far from their nest.
Her tummy grumbled a little. Sighing once again, she hopped and stood on the edge of their nest, scanning her surroundings. There were also different birds perched on branches and on their own nests, busily talking to one another. They weren't her focus though. Her focus was on berries, but there weren't any on the trees yet. She looked down, and stared at the bushes below.
"...and then she said, 'Well, Fay, I accepted him to be my mate because he had the size, if you know what I mean!'" a cheery Rattata's voice echoed as she and a few other earth-bound Pokémon walked closer to where the hungry Pidgey was.
The Rattata and her three other friends laughed merrily, while the other, an Eevee, who was walking behind the cheery group, didn't seem to pay them any attention, as he was busy looking around his surroundings, as if he was new to the area. He looked up, and he made a brief eye contact with her before he looked elsewhere.
"Oh! Good morning, Innotui!" the Rattata greeted the little bird.
Innotui looked back at her, smiled, and waved a wing at her and her friends. She shook her head. That Rattata... No matter how many times she asked her mother to explain it to her, the cheery rodent will never get it. She and her mother share the same name, and ever since the devolution happened, the Rattata always confused her as her mother. Her mother and the Rattata are friends, although they weren't really close friends anyway. More like acquaintances. Also, Innotui never really had the chance, nor the courage to go down there and talk to them. She wanted to, but maybe later.
As the Rattata returned to chatting with her friends, Innotui blinked. She didn't know who that Eevee was, but she does recognize the Rattata as Fay, as well as her other three friends: Shock the Pikachu, Saur the Bulbasaur and Vixie the Vulpix. She then stared back at the Eevee following behind them. She frowned. There was no sense of recognition no matter how long she stared at him. She no longer paid attention to what the earth-bound friends were talking about as they walked pass her tree.
She shook her head and returned scanning the ground for berries.
Seconds later, she heard a distant yet familiar flapping noise. Blinking, she looked up, and from the small gaps between the leaves, she saw a familiar Pidgey. Smiling, she hopped back to make way for her mother to land on.
The leaves above rustled as the Pidgey dove through. After she flew through, she flew up, flapped her wings a few times, landed on their nest, and spat a decapitated Caterpie on the middle of the nest.
"Good morning, Innotui," the newcomer smiled at the smaller bird. "I trust that my little hatchling is hungry?"
"Mooooom," the smaller bird whined, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Please stop calling me that."
Her mother only chuckled.
Having nothing else to do, the brown bird decided to fly to Celebi's lake after asking her mother's permission and arguing with her that she wasn't going there to find a mate. Her mother could be so silly sometimes. And besides, she was still too young to get a mate anyway.
She landed on a branch of a tree that stood on the edge of the large clearing, where a crystal-blue lake lay in the middle. Surrounding the lake were different species of Pokémon doing various activities.
Innotui smiled. She always loved this place for how peaceful it wa—
"For the hundredth time, no!" a familiar female voice snarled, making the brown bird jump in surprise, her head struck another branch above her.
Wincing, she brought a wing over her head, rubbing it to ease the pain as she turned her head to see what was going on. She saw Vixie, teeth gritting and eyes glaring at a Growlithe who had a sly grin on his face.
Innotui groaned. She would have loved this place even more if that Growlithe wasn't around. She knew that thinking like that wasn't nice, but she couldn't help it if he always acted like a big meanie.
"Oh, com'on, Vixie," the Growlithe's voice echoed around the clearing. Only then did Innotui noticed that the noises from the other Pokémon in the area were no longer present.
"Lithe," a Pikachu said, he and his other friends stood behind the Vulpix. He crossed his arms before saying, "I'm actually getting tire of you and your insistence of getting our friend be included in your circle of mates."
Innotui shuddered. She knew that some males have many mates, but Lithe so far has the most!
"I'm not talking to you, Shock," Lithe said. "Stay out of this."
Her attention shifted to a startled Fay after a Bulbasaur wrapped a vine around her mouth for some unknown reason.
"Look, Vixie—"
"I said no," Vixie cut the Growlithe off. "And I mean it! Now scram!"
Innotui sighed, shaking her head.
"Could you let me finish?" the Growlithe asked with a frown. "You've been playing hard-to-get ever since I first asked you out. I'd walk away when you say no." He suddenly grinned. "But I'm actually feeling lucky this time! So I'm not gonna stop asking until you say yes."
She saw the Bulbasaur asking something, but his voice was too low for her to hear.
"'Cuz I got my twelfth mate earlier today!" Lithe suddenly announced. "And twelve is my favorite number!"
The Pidgey blinked. She couldn't believe it. Twelve mates? She suddenly shivered.
She stopped paying attention when said attention caught an Eevee by the lake, who was looking around the area. Wasn't that the same Eevee who followed Fay's group earlier?
"Fine!" Vixie suddenly snarled loudly, making the bird jump in surprise again. And hitting her head, again. "But on one condition!" the fire fox said with a grin.
"Oh? Anything, my dear number thirteen," Lithe grinned back.
"Beat me in a battle," Vixie announced.
Her friends behind her gasped in unison. Fay started to squirm to set her mouth free from the binding vines.
"Vixie, that's crazy!" Shock shouted.
"Totally crazy!" Fay chimed in.
Innotui blinked. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Sure, she and Vixie weren't close friends. They were more like acquaintances, but still! She saw the Bulbasaur walking towards the Eevee by the lake. Saur didn't care?
Vixie lost. She knew Lithe was strong, but she also knew that Vixie was strong, too, but seeing her defeated so easily was—
Electricity sparked on the ground in front of a startled Lithe, who stopped approaching the fallen fire fox.
"I clearly won," Lithe snarled at the Pikachu after recovering. "And now I claim her as mine!"
Shock was glaring daggers at him, sparks flying out from the glowing red pouches on his cheeks. "The only thing your claiming will be your sorry roasted arse, Lithe!"
"Who in blazes are you to try and stop me from claiming my prize, huh!? What!? Are you her mate or something!?"
"She's my friend and as her friend, I will protect her from the likes of you!"
Innotui and a few Pokémon in the area gasped when Lithe suddenly blasted Shock's face with a fiery train of flames. He quickly stopped and dashed towards the electric rodent, but Shock suddenly disappeared from where he stood.
Before Lithe could recover his momentum, Shock reappeared beside him and shocked the both of them with bright electric shocks.
It only lasted for a few seconds before Lithe roared and managed to tackle Shock away from him. He then turned and saw Vixie walking away while being assisted by Fay. Gritting his teeth, he was about to run after them when he got struck by another bolt of electricity. Snarling, he turned around and breathed out a fierce torrent of flames.
Shock countered it with bolts of electricity.
The two elements met and exploded, creating a thick smoke, making both battlers unable to see what their foes will do next.
As the fight continued, the Eevee ran towards the two females and helped Vixie walking away from the scene. The trio stopped when their friend Shock flew and landed beside their Bulbasaur friend.
The Eevee pushed the Vixie back on Fay, turned around, and gasped when he saw Lithe was already in front of him. The Growlithe tackled him, throwing the Eevee back but still managed to land on his four paws beside the Bulbasaur.
"I won't let anyone get in my way! Not even you!" Lithe snarled, flames starting to swirl around him.
"Hey!" the Eevee shouted back. "You need to cool off! Who said anything about m—"
"Shut up!" Lithe roared, and dashed towards the Eevee as a vortex of flames swirled around him.
The Eevee quickly dug a paw on the ground and threw grass and dirt at the fast-approaching Growlithe. With no time to run, the Eevee instead dropped himself on the ground.
Lithe tripped on the Eevee's paws, slamming himself on the ground and skidded towards the lake.
Innotui was glad that the fight was over. She even laughed a little when Saur fished Lithe out of the lake, dropped him back there, and fished him out again. Saur could be silly at times, although she still wasn't sure why he didn't help Vixie. Fay and Shock helped her, and so did that Eevee, but why didn't Saur do anything?
She shook her head. No, she shouldn't think of bad things about him, or any of Fay's friends for that matter. Saur probably had his reasons. She nodded. Right, Saur probably had a reason for not helping his friend.
...It didn't make sense.
She sighed. She probably should go back home now. She wanted to spend time here to just...relax, but instead she witnessed an intense battle, and it stressed her a little. A little nap could fix this up, she hoped.
Turning towards the direction of her nest, she extended her wings and—
"Humans!" a few Pokémon below her gasped, running away.
She blinked, folded her wings back to her side, turned around, and gasped. There, on the other side of the clearing from where she was, were two young human trainers, a boy and a girl.
"Oh! Big brother!" the female one squealed, tugging the boy's shirt while pointing at the Eevee. "Is... Is that an Eevee?"
The boy gasped. "Oh, wow! You're right! Eevees are quite rare!"
The Eevee suddenly ran towards the trees and bushes, and the two humans chased after him.
Innotui just realized how fast and hard her heartbeats were. She was scared. She heard that humans capture Pokémon like her, and control her to fight her own kind! And some other scary stuff that she couldn't remember at the moment.
She quickly turned around and flared her wings to fly away. But she couldn't. She cast her gaze down as her mind screamed at her to fly away. But... But that Eevee! He was Fay's friend! She should help him!
But... What could she do? She didn't know.
"Run for it!" she heard Vixie's faint voice that echoed from the trees.
Those humans are after Fay and her friends now, too!
Breathless, she jumped off the branch and flapped her wings. Heart pounding hard in her chest, and barely able to see the many leaves and branches on her path, she flew towards the safety of her home, whispering a quiet apology to the wind.
Author's Notes
First, sorry for a late chapter. I was so freaking busy with work. Second, Chapter 11 was almost done, but I decided to write this "Chapter Break" which also was the reason why it took me longer to post a new chapter. Third, what in blazes is a Chapter Break?!
Also, I added a little tidbit about Fay and Innotui greeting each other, to fix a contradiction in the events in Chapter 3. Aw well~
Anyway, the replies~
—Wulfyre
Sky probably knows about the Unown. Or maybe he doesn't. Or maybe he does, but doesn't care? I don't really know what he's thinking. I guess we'll find out in the next chapter! Or next few chapters! ...If they get there, that is. o.o
—Modern Silver
*too lazy to reply*
Nah, just kidding. :3 Anyway, Johto is a big enough region for Sky to fly around, so I'm pretty sure that the author would be too lazy to include any other regions. This world isn't in the anime, nor in the manga. I believe Krystal told Jay that neither Ash nor Red exist in this world. So...who stopped Team Rocket?! D: Also, gratz on fishing Shadow Snivy out of hiding. She almost murdered the reviews page. xD
—AlexanderMugetsu
Yeah, I hope so, too. :3
—NinetalesSky
You're being a meanie. Innotui hates you now. :(
—Idontexistexceptinyourmind
One day, some day, he'll get a chance to make a dramatic reveal that will shock the world! Or just Jay's friends. Yeah, he'll settle with that just for a dramatic reveal. :3
—cookBoss88
Well, last I checked, yeah, I'm noypi. At eh, okay lang. Medyo inaantok and pagod sa daming chores sa haws. xD
Ahem, anyway, Sky is older than Innotui. ...Hm, or maybe Innotui's older? Maybe they're the same age? I dunno. I'll ask them later.
And look! Lithe is back! Well, kinda. Anyway, I think Sky can take down an Arcanine if he finds a Focus Sash somewhere and become FEAR Sky! :O
Um, hey. Are you paying attention? Hello! I'm talking to you. Stop playing an emulator and listen to me! :(
—aaron perla
For some strange reason, FanFiction removes your name if there's a dot in there. Anyway, Sky will probably continue to encounter meat problems. And probably a future tummy ache if I'll remember to write that stuff. xD
—Shadow Snivy
Ah... Welcome back, murderer of review boxes! :3 ...Wait... If you're back from the dead, does that mean you're a zombie? o.o The REVIEW BOX IS A ZOMBIE NOW! AAAAHHHH—*gets slapped by a wet and zombie trout*—ouch...
Ahem, actually, your review in chapter 5 was the 100th review this fic received, so... *gives Shadow Snivy a Shadow Snivy Hat* There. Now you got a hat. It's not a Rocket Hat, but it somewhat looks identical, right? Please say yes. D:
I actually didn't research if birds could digest meat. I'll just give him a tummy ache in the next chapter. ...Or not. Anyway, insects? He should eat insects? Sky will be offended when he hears you saying that he should start acting like a bird! You big meanie! :(
And Deoxys' tentacle things... Bweheheheh... Bweheheheh... BWEHEHEHEHEHEH—*gets slapped with a Deoxys' shaped trout*—ow...
And Spongebob wants his pineapple back. :/
...Ghosts eating pizza. I suddenly remembered that Casper movie. xD WHAT A WASTE OF GOOD FOOD! D:
—Cl8tron
You can't clone Pokéballs, bro. Mewtwo will sue you. o.o And you don't want an angry Mewtwo hunting you down. That's be scary, yet epic at the same time! :3
—Sdarkynecro
I WANT HIM TO BE A TAILLOW IS THAT WRONG?! D: Also, hai! :3
Sky's starter? Probably Totodile. No, wait. It was a Chikorita. Ah, darn it. I think it was a Cyndaquil!
And PokePuff? *munch* What PokePuff? *munch munch* Nope. No PokePuffs here.
And Mudkip is for cool kids who are cool and are kids. :(