I am sorry for taking so long to update. I'm just really good at starting thirty different projects at the same time. Just last weekend I made a dragon out of newpaper, packing peanuts, and lots and lots of hot glue with some friends. Don't ask, it's a long story. Anyway, at least I finally finished.

-Cut-

It hurt. It hurt a lot, but I kept running. I had to. I had to for Bell. I turned around to see Bell stumbling along behind me. Her stamina was wearing thin.

"Come on, Bell. We can't let them catch us," I called. I ran over to Bell and grabbed one of her delicate, brown paws. I dragged her through the forest path, and we panted along together. We stumbled through countless thickets and scrambled over countless rocks, but, just as it seemed that we had lost our pursuers, a fierce houndoor step out onto the path in front of us.

"End of the line, pipsqueaks," the houndoor taunted.

Then, a horde of houndoors and houndooms surrounded us, and I knew that escape was hopeless. That wouldn't stop me from fighting till the end though.

While the horde was still snarling and trying to intimidate us, I attacked with razor leaf. I actually managed to hit and surprise a few of them, but it did no good. Not only did they have the type advantage, they also had the greater numbers.

"Punk, you think you can stand up to us? The only reason you're not a burnt crisp right now is 'cause the boss has taken an interest in you," one of the houndoom jeered while the rest growled menacingly. Just then a loud howl sounded throughout the forest. "That'll be him. Oh, you're in for it now."

Thudding footsteps came from behind us, and suddenly all of the houndooms and houndoors were in deep bows facing something behind us. Bell and I whirled around to see a houndoom that looked different than the rest of the houndooms in the horde. He was much bigger than the rest, and the bones on his back were larger and had different shapes. Behind the strange houndoom was a man in a strange uniform. I couldn't make out his features because of his hood, but I did notice an odd necklace draped around his neck.

"Nice catch, my pokemon," the man praised in a deep, haunting voice. He then picked up Bell by the furry scruff of her neck and stated, "This eevee is a beauty. She'll fetch a good price." The man then glanced at me, "You don't go seeing many snivy in these parts. Houndoom, knock him out."

The big houndoom stepped up to me as I quivered in fear. Bell tried to squirm out of the man's grip, but it was no use. He was too strong. The houndoom fired off a strong flamethrower. I looked into Bell's fearful eyes for a moment before the flames collided and there was a moment of fiery pain before the world faded to the inky darkness of nothing.

I woke up panting on a soft cot. I looked around in confusion for a second, momentarily forgetting where I was. It took a little while before I recognized the classic medicinal room of the pokemon center. I looked in the corner of the room to see Forrest and LightHero waiting on cheap, plastic chairs with worried looks on their faces.

"I have got to stop waking up like this," I murmured to myself as I propped myself up with my arms.

-Forrest-

I glanced over to the cot that Cut had been sleeping on, and was overjoyed to see that he had finally woken up. I scrambled over to him as he slowly started to prop himself up with his arms, and LightHero scrambled towards him behind me. I had been scared at first when Cut had fainted from that overpowered flamethrower, and had rushed right off to the Pokecenter with Cut in my arms. Now that I think about it, it had probably been a bit sudden to those who had been watching the battle when I had run off. I should have probably apologized to them, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what to say. Every time I imagined the situation, I always ended up freezing before I even started thinking an apology. Oh well, at least Cut was safe.

Nurse Joy had spent the first thirty minutes of the time since I arrived with Cut in my arms explaining that pokémon have this strange ability called Vitapotest, otherwise known as half-life. After finally getting me to somehow stop freaking out, she said that pokemon have a gauge, or special shield if you will, in which they can survive a specific amount of damage. The more damage taken, the weaker the gauge becomes until it disappears, and the pokemon ends up passing out. This shield can be trained to be stronger and last longer and different pokemon naturally have a stronger gauge compared to others. So long as this gauge is not depleted, the pokemon is in no threat of fatal injury or death. That doesn't mean the pokemon feels nothing when attacked though. The shield is usually kept up unconsciously, but if it is damaged then the pokemon feels more fatigued and becomes tired. This information finally managed to calm me down. So long as neither Cut or LightHero are not attacked after their "Health Point" gauge is down, then they should be okay.

"Thank goodness you're okay," I stated, "You had me worried for a little there."

Cut waved loosely in my direction. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

"That's a releif. I didn't get hit nearly as hards as you must have," LightHero yipped. He then turned towards me. "And I'm sorry about not being strong enough, Forrest. I understand if you want to take back the stone you gave me," LightHero said with downcast eyes.

I stared at LightHero incredulously. "Why would I do something like that? I thought you did fine in that battle. Besides, you were tired from a full ay of training."

LightHero pulled is gaze from the ground and questioned hopefully, "Really? You mean it?"

"Course I do. Plus, I would never even think of forcing you to do something you didn't want to," I replied with a smile. I then turned to Cut. "Well, now that Cut's feeling better I guess we can check out and continue on our journey. Maybe we can even get some training in before we leave."

"Sure," Cut stated half-heartedly.

"Is something wrong, Cut," I questioned.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing," Cut replied.

"Is there someting I can do to help? Maybe if you talk about it?" I asked.

"No!" Cut stated forcefully, then, "Uh, I mean, no. I'll be fine. Let's just get going."

I had heard that a pokemon's first loss in battle can be rough, but I was not expecting it to be this bad. That just goes to show you what a great trainer I am. LightHero had been easy to cheer up. LightHero was LightHero. Nothing could keep him down for long, but Cut was a different matter. Honestly, I had expected him to be fine in the first place. He seemed like the kind of pokemon that had seen many a different battle. I wouldn't be surprised if he had been part of another trainer's team, as depressing as it was to think of the reason why he was no longer with that trainer. Cut had just seem so expirienced in the way he battled. I guess, as a trainer I should have been prepared for this, but I wasn't. It broke my heart that I couldn't do anything else to cheer him up, but all I could do for now was leave him be.

"Alright, I guess," I stated, unconvinced. "Come on let's go see Nurse Joy and head out."

The two pokemon nodded, and we headed out of the small check-up room with LightHero bounding out happily in the front. Cut was, of course, trying to seem upbeat, but I could easily see is feet dragging a little.

We stepped out into the main lobby of the poke center, and I was surprised to see Calem standing there with Charmeleon standing boredly off to the side.

"Hey, I'm sorry if Charmeleon was a little rough in that battle with Cut," Calem apologized. "Now say you're sorry, Charmeleon."

"Whatever," Charmeleon harumphed with her nose upturned.

"Charmeleon," Calem whined. "That did not sound like a sorry at all." The situation, as unexpected as it was, gave me a new view on Calem as a person. He, unlike so many other people I had met in life, actually came back to me and apologized, even though it wasn't his fault at all. Not many people do that kind of thing for the "white haired freak". This act of kindness almost made me forget about my fear of people, almost.

"It's... uh, fine. I just kinda overreacted, probably," I replied timidly while clutcing my right arm.

"Oh, uh, right," Calem stated, dubiously staring at me clutching my arm for some reason. "Anyway, I also came to tell you that Professor Sycamore said something about a lead on mega evolution coming from the mansion located at the northern end of town. It's huge, you can't miss it." Calem then paused for a second before continuing, "I'd go there with you, but my pokemon could use a rest here at the center."

I nodded at this information and awkwardly replied, "Ok then. I guess I might as well, get uh, you know, going."

"Yeah sure, I hope you find something interesting," Calem stated.

With a quick bob of my head, I was out of that center in a flash with LightHero and Cut trailing behind me.

"Wow, you really are bad at talking to people," Cut commented mirthfully as we left the center behind us and stepped out into the peaceful cobbled streets of Camphrier Town. It was quite a nice, small town actually. Not as small as Vaniville Town, which was more of suburb honestly speaking. Still, with a few houses scattered about and a hotel or shopping center placed here or there it really was a nice breather compared to the stuffed up, compresing feeling of the City.

"I told you so," LightHero replied knowingly.

"I had partially believed you, but I hadn't known it was this bad. You have a serious problem, you know that, Forrest?" Cut stated. Cut seemed a bit better in spirits now, but I was still worried. The problem wasn't solved yet.

I smiled at the light banter. "Come on it's getting late. I want to have this mansion meeting over with before dark."

With that, we headed towards the ancient mansion towering over the northern part of town.

-Forest-

As we come upon the weathered mansion I was instantly struck by the feeling of ancient secrets just waiting to be uncovered. Old, stone bricks held an ornate roofing that had probably seen better days, and a a rotting, wooden drawbridge sat across a moat that surrounded the mansion.

I was just about to step onto said bridge when, for the second time that day, I heard Shauna call from beind me, "Hey, Forrest!"

I sighed, again, and replied, "What now, Shauna?" I just too tired now to deal with the bubbly mass that was Shauna.

Thankfully, Shauna was seemingly in mastermind mode, and answered curtly, "What? Didn't you know? Professor Sycamore told us all about this place. I came here to learn more about Mega Evolution."

"Oh...right." No wonder Calem didn't come with me. He must have known Shauna was coming. Well, I might as well get this over with.

Shauna, probably thinking the same thing as me, stated with distane, "Kay, then, time to go talk to the care taker of this rotten old place." She then walked across the bridge with her head held high, and I followed mutely behind her. Mastermind Shauna just seemed to have an air that made you feel like she had to be followed. I felt myself reaching for my right arm.

Shauna banged her fist against the heavey wooden doors, sending an echoing sound throughout the mansion. I heard a scrambling coming from behind the doors, and a few moments later a man wearing a dirty karate uniform that smelled like moldy pizza opened the door.

He looked at the two of us witha dopy expression and drawled tiredly, "The mansion's closed to the public, girls. If you want to see something shiny I recomend going to Parfum Palace. That's where everyone seems to be going these days."

Shauna, nose scrunched distain, stated, "We're not here to goggle at your dusty antiques. Professor Sycamore sent us here for a lead on Mega Evolution. I assume you were truthful in your claim?" I winced at Shauna's rudeness, but the karate man did not seem to mind. In fact it was as if he hadn't even heared the first half of Shauna's statement.

"Oh that, right. Come on in. I'll tell you what I know." With that, the karate man opened the door fully and retreated into the reception hall of the mansion.

The inside of the mansion was actually much nicer than the outside. The hall was well cleaned and old relics were placed in neat displays periodically around the room. I found it hard to believe that a man like the one standing in front of me could possibly keep a mansion this large this clean. I barely could imagine him even keeping a small bedroom clean. I guess this just serves as a lesson to never judge a book by its cover.

"Pretty nice, huh?" the karate man commented. "Yeah, Alfred sure can keep a place clean. Me? I can barely clean my own bedroom, heh." Nevermind, I had been right to judge this man by his looks. He was probably a complete slob.

Just as the man was about to turn around to begin talking to us, a telphone rang from somewhere off to the right.

The man sighed. "Ugh, dad, of all times to call. I'm sorry ladies. This could be awhile, but feel free to look around the mansion while you wait." Without much further ado, the karate man hurried to a small servant's passage and dissappeared behind a door that said "employees only" in bold black letters.

Not wanting to just stand around awkwardly with Shauna for who knows how long, I stammered, "I'll... just be looking around a little, I guess." Then, I hurried off with LightHero and Cut scampering beind me, not waiting for Shauna to reply.

Once I was out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief, and took a moment to really take in my surroundings without the distraction of other people. The clean cut stone bricks in the walls and the patterned, marble floor tiling gave the place a timeworn, yet pristine, feeling.

"Wow, this place sure is...antique," LightHero commented.

"Yeah, nice joint," Cut added.

"This place once belonged to a powerful nobleman, if I remember right," I stated, recalling one of my history lessons from my latest school. Something about some dude during the reign of some powerful, vain king who was always so upidy about showing off his power and control, I think.

"Wow, is your house this big, Forrest?" LightHero questioned. His question stopped me in my tracks for the pause of a heartbeat. I had almost forgotten that I did not go back to my house after meeting LightHero. I had left in such a rush, not wanting to deal with saying good-bye to my mom. I wonder how things were going back there? Mom was probably just training for her next race while dear Ryhorn ran back and forth again and again. Not for one second did I miss the rigorous days at home, but I felt a small pang for that ryhorn waiting at home. It was quickly forgotten though, as I came upon the house's master bedroom.

It was magnificent, full of delicate designs in gold plating. I had to admit, it was one of the best rooms in the mansion. Elegant, silk blinds draped the windows, letting in filtered light that shown faintly on a huge, king sized bed with expertly carved wooden canopy sitting on top. Ornate bookcases lined the entire perimeter of the room except for two spots where silver-framed paintings hung with an air of solemnity. The first painting depicted a well-groomed archinine standing prodly next to an aristocratic looking man, and the other painting showed a family portrait. The same man standing next to the archinine was also in this picture. He stood staring seriously out into the distance while a middle age woman with plastered smile on her face sat in a chair next to him. The woman, presumably the man's wife, had a small child sitting in her lap who had a look of boredom on is cherubic face.

I walked over to the family portrait and inspected it. "Duke Louis Shabboneau, his wife Mary, and son Igneal," I read from the plaque under the painting. Something seemed... off about this painting. It had a strange feeling coming from it that I couldn't really explain.

"Look at the size of that pokemon!" LightHero exclaimed, cutting me off from my thoughts. I looked over to see LightHero staring up at the other painting, which had to be twenty times is size.

"Eh, I've seen bigger," Cut commented.

"Really!" LightHero questioned excitedly.

"Yeah, there was one time..." Cut then went on to tell LightHero about a trainer with a tropius that he had stolen from, and I went back to looking at the painting in front of me.

I kept staring at it, not having any idea of what my problem with it was, when I finally noticed it. There was a small piece of the painting missing of where the boys hands sitting on his lap should be. I reached out, knowing that it was probably a bad idea, and fingered the hole in the painting.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed infront of my eyes and then dissappeared. I was about to ask if LightHero or Cut had seen it when I realized that I was definitely not in the master bedroom of the mansion anymore.

I know this chapter wasn't super exciting, but things will pick up in the next, don't worry.