So... um. Two months. I hadn't realized it had been that long. Or that I was that late with this chapter... um. Oops?

HUGE THANKS to Seas and Shadows, DarkKitsuneFluffy, crazyone-oh-one, Nightwing 509, ultima-owner, FANatic Writer, Wishfull-star, Legolas Dragon Ranger, stars90, and Edir for reviewing!

To stars90: Thank you! I think everyone else pretty much skipped the last author's note, which I don't really blame them for... hopefully I'll get my optimism and enjoyment in this story back. Maybe I'll read some other, better quality HP/Pokemon crossovers to rekindle my inspiration or something.

To Edir: Um... well, you're half right. Centrifugal does exist, and so does centripetal. Centripetal is the opposite of centrifugal. It's in the dictionary if you want to look it up.

To all of you who are still reading: enjoy the chapter, and please feel free to tell me what went horribly wrong and what went sort of right in your opinions! Otherwise I won't know what I'm doing well and what I'm doing, ah, not so well. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Pokemon. I just like to play in their universes.

"I hope you learned your lesson," I mumbled around a mouthful of fur. "How many times do we have to tell you- don't wander into centaur territory!"

Prince hissed sullenly, hanging from the scruff of his neck between my jaws like a misbehaving kitten. "Not my fault that squirrel ran into that archery class," he muttered.

I growled and shook him lightly, resisting the urge to charge up a Thunder Fang on him right then and there. "That was no excuse to cause a stampede!"

Tightening my grip as I seriously considered dropping him into a mud puddle, I clawed my way over a fallen log, taking vindictive pleasure in letting his hind legs scrape over the rough bark. One of my paws smarted from where it had gotten stepped on by a panicked centaur foal during all the confusion, and while it wasn't a serious injury by any means it was still rather annoying. Especially given that the entire incident could have been avoided if Prince had just been a little less reckless.

Before the glameow could retort, we heard thudding pawsteps heading our direction, just before Devil sprang out of the brush. He skidded to a stop as he saw us, tongue lolling out as he panted. Mud spattered his legs and underbelly in tan-brown streaks, twigs and leaves clinging stubbornly to his fur. I sighed in relief- as much as I could while carrying Prince, anyway –and padded forwards to meet him.

"Found the little troublemaker," I announced as I dropped Prince rather unceremoniously at his feet. "Your turn to tell Cub what he did this time."

"Let me guess," Spike broke in dryly as he emerged from the shadows, "he's the reason why the centaurs decided it would be a good idea to walk into our training session and take Cub aside for a little… chat."

I nodded. "Someone decided that it would be a good idea to chase a squirrel right into a centaur foals' archery class. He ran right across the range just as a group was about to shoot, spooking them- which made arrows go everywhere. Then he pounced on the squirrel, missed, and landed on the instructor instead. Instructor freaks out, entire class freaks out, stampede," I explained.

Prince hunched his shoulders and dropped his head, ears flattened and tail tucked. He was starting to look a tad guiltier when it was all laid out like that, blunt and leaving no room for argument or twisting the truth. Good. He needed to learn how to own up to his mistakes. And oh, was this a big one.

Spike winced. "Oh, Arceus. Worse than I thought. I was hoping he had just interrupted one of their hunts or something…"

Devil huffed, embers flickering about his jaws. "One of these days," he growled at Prince, "Cub is going to get tired of putting up with you and you're going to end up as a pincushion. You know he'd do it if you don't behave, right?"

Prince hunched in on himself even further, saying nothing.

Spike released a quiet sigh and scrubbed a paw across his face, the action remarkably human and probably something he'd picked up from one. "Aargh, whatever. Let's just bring him back and let Cub deal with him. C'mon, guys."

I held back an aggravated groan and scooped up Prince again, his fur prickly against my mouth. Right. Time to trek through the rest of the woods.

"What," Cub asked, low and dangerous, "were you thinking?"

He loomed over Prince in ninetales form, huge and black with all his tails fanned out like the spokes of a giant wheel. Prince quailed, shamefaced.

"The centaurs are a proud race. They rarely deal with humans, even a human like me, and regardless of how much trust I had with them that trust is fragile! If it appears to them that I cannot control you, then it would be perfectly within their rights to demand you be removed from the forest completely. And it's not just the centaurs, either! You can't insult the unicorns by comparing them to rapidash, you can't hunt the bowtruckles because it's a fun challenge, and you definitely can't go running off on your own. These woods are still dangerous, even for a pokemon. Got it?" Cub barked sharply.

Prince's ears drooped as he nodded, then slunk off to mope next to Shelly in the cool shade of a nearby tree when Cub turned away in dismissal. Looking the very picture of repentant dejection, he curled into a ball of grey fur and coiled tail and proceeded to ignore Shelly's attempts at conversation.

I watched him go, absently making my claws pulse sparks in snippets and phrases. It had been quite a while since I had last communicated with another of my own kind like that, but half a lifetime of habit didn't die easily.

I am Pride, one sequence of energy spelled out. Time to hunt, said another.

Storm coming. Winter approaches. Stay away. My territory. Injured. Watch for traps. Danger. Protect the cubs. Welcome home.

Cub walked over and lay down beside me with a near-silent huff, tails curling gracefully around his paws. "And I thought I was stupid when I was younger," he grumbled. He yawned, showing off every tooth, then shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Oh wow, now I feel old."

"Well, you sort of are, comparatively," I pointed out. "Prince is barely growing out of his kitten fur, and you've been on your own bizarre version of a pokemon journey for years already."

Cub made a noise of agreement. "Fair enough. And speaking of which- Gringotts sent back earlier. They figured out how to purify the diadem without destroying it, which they will do free of charge. Except, only catch is that they want to keep the diadem afterwards."

I snorted, watching as Spike and Draca sparred on the far side of the clearing. "Let them have it, then. We do need to stay in their good graces."

"Yeah, I thought so," he concurred with a nod. "While it would be useful, I don't think it's worth the risk. If word got out somehow, everybody in the school would want their hands on it. Besides, the goblins have far better security than we do."

"Mm. And how are preparations going to get the horcrux out of you?" I asked. "It's been awhile since they started, hasn't it?"

"Well, it is a very complicated ritual, and they're busy with other things too," Cub pointed out. "But I think they're almost ready. By this summer at the latest, I'd guess."

"Good," I told him as I ducked under a stray Aura Sphere. "It doesn't seem to have affected you negatively so far, but who knows what'll happen in the long run."

Cub sighed. "Thanks Arceus for that. We still have to figure out who was controlling the basilisk thing, as well. All she would tell me was that whoever it was is her master's heir, and we already knew that bit."

I flicked an ear, watching Spike accidentally decimate part of a tree when his Iron Tail missed. "Isn't there some sort of magical way to track people, or find things or something?"

The young wizard narrowed his eyes, considering. "Well, Point Me needs a specific target, so that one's probably a bit too iffy for my tastes. Could try scrying, though. It's harder, but more precise."

I nodded. "Good. Then we should get on that as soon as possible, in case the Heir figures out that their weapon is out of commision and goes looking for a new one."

Behind us, there was an abruptly heavy thump-thunk sound, simultaneously accompanied by affronted yowling. Cub closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pointedly did not turn around. "I'm going to ignore that," he said deliberately, "and pretend that I didn't hear anything. Anything. This is clearing is peaceful, calm, and quiet."

His friends laughed at him. "Oh, Harry," Hermione giggled, "nothing's ever peaceful, calm, or quiet around you."

Glider snickered from a nearby tree. "And never have truer words been spoken."

It was a gloriously wonderful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, etcetera etcetera. Winter was well and truly over by that point, having finally lost its grip on the ancient school. Grass grew lush and thick, sun-warmed and inviting to any who wanted to bask on it.

Of course, that meant that I had to spend the day doing what was rapidly becoming one of my least-favorite activities. Prince hunting.

The young glameow had, for whatever reason, apparently made it his mission to find every single hiding place he could possible squeeze himself into. And hide in them. For hours. Without telling anybody where or when he decided to wander off, which meant that we'd often look around, realize he wasn't there, and proceed to try and track him down.

After the fifth time, Cub finally gave up and put a tracking charm on him. However, that just meant that, while we saved time finding Prince, we still had to spend time extracting him from wherever he had decided to hole up. Again. It was usually somewhere very small and difficult to reach, as well, which only added to our ire.

"One of these days," Cub told him, "I am going to lock you inside a closet and permanently charm it closed."

Prince, huddled in one of the boots of a particularly stubborn suit of armor, ignored him.

Now, on a perfectly fine day that I could have spent doing something far more productive, I was once again tracking down the wayward pokemon. Except… this time, there was a bit of a problem.

"You have got to be kidding me," Spike groaned as he saw where Prince had disappeared to. "Really, Prince? Really?"

Cub sighed. "So much for laying low," he groused under his breath.

Luna, perched up in the branches of a wide oak, looked over at us and smiled. "Hello, Harry!" she called. "Are you looking for the blibbering humdingers?"

"No, actually. I was looking for my cat, and I think you've found him for me," Cub replied as he craned his neck to look up at her. "Sorry, but he really shouldn't have wandered off. May I have him back now, please?"

Curled up in Luna's arms, purring as Luna stroked him, Prince stopped just long enough to glare.

"Oh…" Luna's face fell as she glanced down at Prince. "Alright. May I hold him for a bit longer, though? Daddy used to tell me all these wonderful stories about pocket monsters and other worlds when I was little, and I always liked the ones about the cat-creatures especially…"

Cub froze. "Wait a minute. Luna… do you know what he is?"

The rest of us had instantly snapped to attention at her words, surprised. Pocket monsters was another, little-used term for pokemon, but- how did Luna know of it? And apparently her father had told her stories about pokemon? How did he know about that? We had been under the impression that knowledge of the creatures that had once shared this world was lost. Clearly not.

Luna smiled dreamily and nodded. "Oh, of course. I've never met one of his kind, before, so that was why I was curious. He's very soft. And he's much more like a cat than I thought."

Cub looked like he was about to choke on something. "Erm. Yes. Yes he is."

Prince, as if to emphasize the point, purred louder.

Luna tilted her head to the side, regarding us with vague curiosity. "What's his name?"

"Prince," Cub replied. Walking over, he apparently decided that neither of them were going to come down anytime soon, so instead he climbed up the tree and settled himself on a branch right near Luna's. "Because he certainly acts like one. He really shouldn't be out here, though. I haven't managed to get him to follow instructions very well yet."

"He's still young, isn't he?" Luna asked, scratching gently behind one ear. "Fascinating."

"He is, yeah." Clearing his throat, Cub then bluntly asked, "Luna. What do you know about pokemon?"

"I know that they exist, no matter what other people say," Luna hummed after a moment. "I know that they used to live here, with us, until wizards drove them away so they left. Daddy says that they're still out there, somewhere, in a place where the grass is always green and the waters are always clear and the wizards never bother them anymore." She turned to Cub, that innocently vacant smile still on her face. "I know that you come from where they live now, and that you brought some of them here with you. And they're just behind those bushes over there."

Cub stared at her. "Oh. So, this whole time…"

Luna nodded. "The moon frogs know quite a lot about what's beyond our world. Sometimes they hop into my dreams and tell me about it."

Green eyes blinked at her. "Um… okay. Sure."

Crouched behind the bushes, the Pride watched at the unfolding scene in a unanimous state of confusion. Luna knew. She had known the entire time.

...Huh. That was somewhat unexpected.

Turns out, Luna reminded both Prince and Shelly of their old trainer. They took to her like ducks to water- or, in Prince's case, like a cat to sunbathing. Within a week, the pair were already seeking out Luna every chance they had. Soon enough, Cub decided to make it official and gift Luna with Prince's and Shelly's pokeballs.

"I can help you train them," he told her as he added anti-theft charms and protective enchantments to prevent the pokeballs from breaking or cracking. "Hermione and Neville, too. I think you'd like Amethyst."

Later that week, when she came into our training clearing for the first time and saw just how many pokemon were actually living on school grounds, she was over the moon with excitement. Pun intended. The Pride still found her a little odd, but honestly, who wasn't among our group? It barely mattered. Not compared to some of the other stuff we'd seen over the years, at least.

Prince had settled down, as well, now that he had a proper trainer who would actually have time to give as much attention to him as he needed. Something Cub had, unfortunately, been unable to do. Shelly, who was very easygoing and got along with everyone, easily rolled with the transition. She just wanted to stay with Prince, and beyond that, she didn't mind where they went or who their trainer was. She was easy to please like that. It was really quite refreshing.

"You know," Hermione remarked as Amethyst obligingly showed off her psychic powers to a wide-eyed Luna, "once you get to know her, she's really not that bad."

"Pretty cool, actually," Neville added as Luna tried to imitate Amethyst with some clever tweaking of a levitation spell. "I think she's smarter than a lot of people give her credit for."

"Of course. She's a Ravenclaw," Cub laughed. "Like me."

"I was almost in Ravenclaw," Hermione noted. "But the Hat decided on Gryffindor instead." She eyed Cub appraisingly. "Actually, now that I think about it, you're not exactly a typical Ravenclaw… you'd fit Gryffindor a little better, in terms of personality. Why?"

He shrugged. "The Sorting Hat takes your own opinion and choice into account too, I think. I just wanted a house where I wouldn't stand out too much, and where not too many people would bother me. Ravenclaw was a better fit for me han Hufflepuff, so here I am." He grinned widely. "Besides, eagles and phoenixes are both birds. Kinda funny how that turned out."

Glider swooped low overhead, Avis close in pursuit. The three humans automatically ducked, then straightened up and resumed their conversation as if nothing had happened.

"Anyways, that's probably a coincidence, but still cool," the Pride's trainer continued. "Honestly, though, I'm just glad that Prince and Shelly found someone they like. Wasn't really sure what to do with them, considering that the Pride is all I need, and you two were already busy with Ursa and Avis…"

"They'll be good for Luna, too," Neville agreed as he watched Prince slink between Luna and Amethyst. Luna immediately stopped what she was doing to pet him, Amethyst looking vaguely miffed as Prince stole all of the girl's attention. "I think their personalities will balance hers a bit. Sort of. Hopefully."

"Yup," Cub said with a nod. "And now," he added under his breath so that his friends didn't hear, "I can focus on the important stuff. Like figuring out who exactly was controlling the Ancestor… and making sure that they never do it again."