Chapter 25. With much love and caring compassion.

-Chapter 25: Boundary of Dragon Mountain-

-?'s POV-

These two… Something's up with them… That green one looks familiar… What's he wrapping his arm with? Oh. Leaf bandages... Sableye, huh? Never heard that one before. Well, let's go say hi…

-Treecko's POV-

I wrapped our arms in leaf bandages, just in case some pokemon found us before Dusclops woke up. The mark was as obvious as Dialga to anyone, so I had to cover it up… My excuse was that sableye got us, and I was bandaging the wounds, if anybody asked.

Then, I tensed up from a voice, "Stop! Who goes there?"

I looked to the cliff overhanging us, and saw a big, muscular four-armed pokemon leapt down. He landed on the stone in front of us, cratering the ground and making a cloud of dust. He walked out of it, and grabbed me before I could protest.

He grabbed Dusclops in another of his big, muscular hands, and leapt back onto the cliff. He pinned me down with one hand, and set Dusclops down gently. He took my bandage off with another hand, and his eyes filled with pure rage, "Your friend, if I take 'is bandage off, will he have th' mark too?"

I nodded, not seeing a reason to lie to this pokemon, because he was already squeezing the breath out of me. I gasped for air, and the hand let loose for a moment, allowing me to gulp in the air.

He looked at me right in the eyes, and said, "I can't allow an agent of Dialga to live t' see Dragon Mountain. Sorry, nothin' personal. He grabbed my arms with two of his hands, and my ankles with the other two. He began pulling in all four directions, and I protested, "Stop! I can explain!"

He stopped for a moment, not letting loose, "Explain. Quickly, before I lose my patience. This is the first spy regiment Dialga's sent in weeks. It's been gettin' rather boring 'round here…"

I nodded, "We're not spies, I swear! My parents were on there way here, but they're dead now… Actually, my dad might be alive, and part of your group!"

He smiled, appearing almost amused, "Oh, yeah? And who's your father, boy?"
"Basileus the Sceptile. He is my father."

"Oh, so now you're sayin' that your father's third in command? That's cute, but I guess that goes against protocol…"

Third in command? Behind who?

The muscular pokemon continued "I'll have to take you in, and if he recognizes you, then you're good. What 'bout your friend? Does he have a family member in th' Insurgo?"

"Well… No. But he's with me!"

He nodded, "Alright, let's hope that your father recognizes you two, because there're pokemon in our group that want t' do worse things than rip ya limb from limb, trust me. If they saw this mark… Well, why the heck'd you come here anyway? Didn't someone warn you what would happen if we found this?"
"I came here hoping that you knew of a pokemon that could manipulate aura to the extent of removing our mark. You see, I hate Dialga just as much as your group. My brother decided to try joining him to stay safe from the sableye, then make a run for it here, but we got in too deep. We want these marks gone, but we can't do it ourselves. That's the truth."

"That Dusclops is your brother…? Oh, I see. Okay. Well, I'm Machamp. And what was your name?"

"Treecko."

Seriously? He bought it just like that? I mean, I told the truth, but still…

Machamp laughed, "Yeah, I know. I'm way too trusting. But you're telling the truth, so I suppose it's alright."

Wait, he lost his accent… And how did he respond to what I was thinking?

He smiled again, "You know, Treecko… For the son of Basileus, you sure are underwhelming. You can't even tell what I am."
What he is…?

He set me down on the stone, "Observe."
His arms retreated and melded together into two, steel-clad wings, his legs shrinking into little bird legs, and his head becoming more streamlined, a lot smaller and with sharp teeth. He roared, "Skarmory!"

His voice sounded very metallic, almost like he was speaking through a tin can, "You see, Treecko? I can transform into anything I wish. Can you figure it out yet?"

Pokemon… that can transform… Ditto!

The metal bird nodded, "Correct! I am a Ditto! I can transform into anything I have ever laid eyes upon, with all of said objects' properties, and/or abilities! I could become a pidgeot, or a Gengar, or even a Grovyle. But sadly, I'm not actually a part of your evolutionary line, so I can't be the one that the prophecy is about.

He transformed into an Abra, a Kadabra, then an Alakazam, and back into a Skarmory, and I smiled.

I see what he did there…

He transformed back into Skarmory, and continued, "Yeah, magician's pun." He smiled, "Whenever I try really hard, I can use any pokemon's abilities from another form; That's why I could read your thoughts earlier."
Ohh...

Ditto-Skarmory nodded, "Let's go, you two! I need to blindfold you, though. No outsiders allowed to see where it is until they are properly initiated."

He tied dusclops and me back to back, and blindfolded us. He grabbed a vine that i'm guessing he had summoned, and carried us through the air. He moved very quietly, and I asked, "Why are you so quiet?"

He hissed, "Silence, boy! The dragon Pokemon are what give Dragon Mountain it's name! They protect from aerial assault, but only because they attack all pokemon that fly through here, even each other. Salamence, Hydreigon, and Noivern are especially territorial… We need to get out of here as soon as possible."
I couldn't see anything, and suddenly I was on the ground again. I didn't hear anything, but then Machamp-Ditto took off our blindfolds, and said, "Man, your friend really drained his power, huh?"

He transformed into a long, purple snake pokemon with a pattern on its hood thing that made me back away. It was terrifying. Then, it dawned on me that that is what it was supposed to do.

Then, Ditto-Snake hissed, "Thisss is Arbok. He isss one of my favorite formsss to intimidate other pokemon…"
Really…? He's doing the hissing thing with his S? Isn't that just a stereotype?

Ditto-Arbok smiled, "Yeah, just kidding. I was trying to see if you would catch on."

His voice was still hissy, but the accent on the S was gone.

He slithered back and looked at the wall in front of us, like he was looking for something.

He chanted, "Aperi magicis lapidem ostium." and slithered backwards, "Get ready."

I want to say thank you to all three of the guest reviews that I have gotten; It is greatly appreciated. Love you all, and see you in the next chapter!

-PL