"Wh-What?!" Crow snarled, she shook the two Helioptile off her and pinned the smaller one against the earth.
"MOM!" the Helioptile screeched under her claws.
Crow looked up to see a female Heliolisk charging straight at her with electricity welling up in her frills. Crow's eyes widened when Orion pinned her and they fought and tussled.
Crow let go of the little Helioptile and the two ran to their mother. The female Heliolisk headbutted Orion in the chest and Orion fell.
"Mother!" the bigger Helioptile cried, "Are you OK?".
"Better than ever" the female Heilolisk replied, "Toad, watch Frog while I fight these cowards".
Toad ran to Frog and the two Heiloptile ran into a cave wall opening. Crow nudged Orion.
"Let's leave them alone, she's a mother trying to defend her sons, let them be" Crow whispered softly in Orion's ear. Orion sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"Fine" Orion muttered, "We didn't mean to intrude on your family, Miss".
"Willow's the name" the female Heliolisk replied, "And you're forgiven, this is the territory of the Helioptile Tribe".
"A tribe?" Crow asked with curiousity, "Here, beside this cave?".
"Yes" Willow replied, "Come".
Willow beckoned her two sons to follow her as they entered a chasm in the earth near the cave where there were dozens of Heiloptile and only three to four Heilolisk.
"How come there isn't many Heliolisk?" Crow asked as her and Orion entered the cramp chasm, "There's a lot of Sun Stones here, isn't there?".
"Not since the miners took several tons of them from the earth" Willow growled, "Our Heliolisk Patrols bring whats left and we hold the Sun Games".
"The Sun Games?" Orion asked.
"We put all the Sun Stones in the other side of the territory and the Helioptile race to them and the ones to get them first get to evolve" Willow explained, "We hold them once a week".
"Can we show them the Statue of Gemini?" Frog asked Willow. Willow's eyes darkened.
"After the Sun Games" one of the Heliolisk replied to Frog's question.
"They're today?" Thistle asked as he and Stone entered. Willow looked at them in alarm, then back at Crow and Orion.
"You know these two?" Willow asked, Crow and Orion nodded.
"The Deerling's name is Thistle and the Swanna is Stone" Orion replied. The Heilolisk had suspicious looks on their faces and the Helioptile looked nervous.
"Meet Shock, Roadrunner, and my best friend Azalea!" Toad introduced three other Helioptile to the four visitors. Shock gave them a curt nod of acknowledgement, while the girl Helioptile Roadrunner and Azalea waved at them.
"Nice to meet you guys" Crow replied. She kicked up some dirt for a makeshift nest that she rested in. Orion made more room and laid next to her. He gave a loud yawn. They sat there while Stone and Thistle played with the five Helioptile.
"Tired?" Crow whispered, letting her head fall on his shoulder. She was surprised when Orion let his tail fall on her back and his whiskers flickered.
"Little bit" Orion replied, "The region split in half and we've been ambushed since we came here...twice".
"True" Crow replied, her eyes closing, "Hey Willow, when will the Sun Games start?".
"In an hour, we're setting it up" Willow answered as she picked up a Sun Stone and two other Heliolisk followed her outside the chasm.
Crow thought that this was why she needed to protect the Pokemon world, they were just wild creatures just trying to survive.
Just like me, but...I have Riptide's Curse, I'm going to the Darkness Core anyway...I might as well try to save this world while I'm alive...what happened to Orion's tribe, and my half-siblings? Are they dead? Alive?...what about Picasso? Where is he? Is he even alive?
"Crow!"
Crow's eyes snapped opened to see Stone hovering over her, she realized she was still resting against Orion. Her ears burned as she got off of Orion, "Yes, Stone?".
"The Sun Games are about to start!" Stone said with anticipation, "C'mon, you two!".
Orion woke up and him and Crow walked out of the empty chasm to see Helioptile lined up horizontally in front of the chasm, the Heliolisk were beside Thistle and Stone, behind the Helioptile. Willow looked very troubled.
"What's wrong, Willow?" Crow asked as she had a seat next to her.
"Not everyone survives the Sun Games" Willow whispered, "You wouldn't believe what some of these racers would do just to get an opportunity to evolve".
"GO!" the referee Heliolisk shouted, all thirty Helioptile burst into action and ran over cliffs and rocks. Crow looked at the end of the territory, there was only five Sun Stones at the end.
Crow felt a paw tug her shoulder, she saw it was Frog.
"Frog! What are yo-"
"Shush! You and Orion, follow me!" Frog leaded Crow and Orion into the Glittering Cave.
"Aren't you supposed to be in the Sun Games?!" Crow blurted out.
"I have no interest in risking my life just to evolve" Frog muttered, "I need to show you guys the statue!".
"Fine" Crow replied, "Show us".
Frog leaded them deeper into the cave where he took a turn to the left down a tunnel till they ended up in front of a huge stone Purrloin statue on top of a boulder with inscriptions on it. Frog stopped.
"This is it, the Statue of Gemini" Frog looked up at the statue, "Gemini was the son of Riptide, it is said he left these inscriptions on the boulder before he died, and that only the Kalos Hero can read what it says".
Crow shrugged, "I can read it just fine".
Orin choked, "What?!".
"Yeah, it says 'One of night, one of light, bring down the being of death and break the curse that my father has cast so the world may be in peace'".
Orion's jaw dropped and Frog was frozen in his place.
"What?" Crow muttered.
"Crow? Don't you see?!" Orion sputtered, "You're the Kalos Hero!".
