Oh look! Another new chapter! What a surprise!

I apologize for not updating that much lately, real lie happened

I want to start a Manga for this story, if there are any good artists out there who like this story, PM me or leave the info in a review!

An underground river fell into a small pond at the foot of the mountain. We all raced down there after Machop, who found the Pokemon down by the pond.

When we got there, we saw an aqua blue Pokemon lying on the ground, passed out. She was an Oshawott, in a pool of blood around her, a small puncture wound in her side. I walked up to her and put my paw on her chest. I felt a faint heartbeat, and I felt something familiar...

Images coursed through my head of a young blonde girl. A girl who I had been admiring for a long time. A girl who defended me against Andrew's gang...

Crystal...

But how did she get there? How did she become an Oshawott?

I grabbed a bandage from an Audino nearby and covered the wound. Putting pressure on the wound, I heard her breathing get a bit stronger.

"Nngh..." She stirred, and opened her eyes to my face, "N-Nathen?"

I smiled.

"Yeah."

"Thirsty..."

I ran to a tree and grabbed a leaf, cupped it, scooped some water from the pond and lightly poured it into her mouth. She sighed in relief and looked to a berry bush greedily, I told her to stay down, as I went to the berry bush and grabbed a Sitrus Berry. I put it in her mouth and she weakly ate it.

Audino walked up to me.

"We'll take her to the infirmary." She said.

"I'll help." I said.

/

It had been hours before she was able to speak in full sentences again, she was so weak. I stayed by her side the whole time, making sure she was okay. She seemed peaceful the whole time I was there.

"Nathen..." She said. "You are, Nathen, right?"

I nodded, bringing her a small wooden tray of food.

"Thanks for helping me out."

"You're welcome, Crystal." I replied. "But I'm confused, how did you get here in the first place?"

"Mew came and told us where you were a couple months ago, and she came again today because she said she was allowed to send us here."

"You said 'us.'" I said, "Who else was there?"

"Aaron." She said flatly, "Why?"

"He's not here."

Crystal froze.

"But... We came together, we both appeared on the top of the mountain together... how did we get separated?"

Alakazam walked into the room.

"I couldn't help but overhear, but I think I know how you got separated from each other." He said, worriedly, "The river that flows down from the mountain comes from a spring. The river flows down both sides of the mountain. If you two jumped or fell into the river, your friend may have been swept the other way."

"Oh, no..." I said, sitting down.

"Yes," Alakazam said grimly, "Your friend is in the territory of Team Darkness."

I bolted out the door, Jake and Regan following me close behind.

"Nathen, stop and think about this!" Jake said, "You can't go into the west side of the island! Team Darkness will catch and kill you...! Or worse."

"What could be worse?" I said, "He's in danger!"

"I've heard things..." Jake said, "Terrible things about what Team Darkness does to intruders... They torture them, beat them, and if they are powerful enough, will brainwash them into becoming recruits!"

I stopped and looked down.

"There has to be a way..." I said, "If they're gonna kill him, I want to at least try and save him. Lucario's there too, if we get them both back, I won't have to worry as much. There needs to be a way..."

I thought for a while.

"If there is any way we can slip into the territory without getting noticed, and we get him, and Lucario, we could be back here before anybody in Team Darkness notices they are gone."

"How?" Regan said.

"I need to go to Alakazam. He'll have some answers."

Alakazam was puzzled with what I told him.

"Both Lucario and your friend are alive. I sense their minds, but one of them is... Confused..." He said.

I sighed in relief, at least they were alive.

"However the issue of finding them still stands. There was once a successful spy mission to the west side a few dozen years ago, if I could just check the records..."

He turned to look at some documents from the shelves behind them.

"As the leader of this town, I have to keep track of anybody who comes and goes from here. Some members of Luxray's guild did come by to prepare for a mission in the west side..."

He continued to search through his documents and records.

"This may take a while, I will contact you when I find something that could help. In the meantime, keep training and looking after your friend."

"Right."

I left the room, and headed back to mine, there were a few things I needed to think about.

Sorry if this chapter was a bit disappointing, but I have been hit with a MAJOR writer's block. I needed to throw something out there to show you guys the story isn't dead. Don't worry, action will pick back up in the next chapter!

Also, that image contest I was talking about earlier is even more important, because I need an original cover for this story! While I am learning, I need someone with a bit more skill! The winner will see their image as the cover for this story!