~(D)~

The two Houndooms sniffed the cage from top to bottom before feeling confident that they had gained a scent. They then trailed out into the woods, keeping their noses buried in the dirt. A ground squad followed closely behind, and a troop of bird scouts flew overhead. The rest of yesterday's patrollers were standing still, awaiting some form of contempt to fly their way.

"Do none of you value your own lives?" Weavile shouted at the prisoners. "Surely some of you were awake when he ran off. You could have stopped them. You could have raised the alarm. You could have talked them out of running away. You are going to pay for this. The moment Charmander is brought back, one of you is going to meet the same sorry fate as that whimpering little Minun. Are you going to think your silence was a good idea when that happens?" He stormed in a circle, kicked at the cage, and pointed a finger at an uncomfortable looking Rhydon. "And you! Have you forgotten how a locking mechanism works? It's really not that complicated."

"I'm sorry, General," the Rhydon said, sternly but shaken. "I thought I had locked his door after feeding him."

"Then you're incompetent. Leave my company at once. As far as I'm concerned, you're no longer a part of the Arashi."

Rhydon sighed. "Yes, sir," he mumbled, with a tone that was coated with what almost sounded like relief, before turning away and walking off into the distance.

"The same goes for you two," he said, pointing at a Monferno and a Raichu. "Falling asleep in the middle of duty. Did you simply forget that active patrolling requires you to stay awake, or did you assume that I had sent you outside to take a long nap?"

"Sir—" Monferno started.

"—I don't want to hear it," Weavile growled. "Go join that Rhydon and leave my sight."

The two Pokémon bowed their heads and walked away.

"As for everyone else…follow me into the bell tower. We need to have a long discussion."

As the rest of them queued their way along the bell tower's doorway, Dewott leaned back and rubbed his sore thighs. He had practically gotten used to prison life at this point. It was a bit demoralizing seeing everyone else set free around him, although what got to him more was his constant worrying about Masquerain. He knew it was pointless to linger over these feelings, but it couldn't be avoided when the last time he had seen him was when he flew off into the strongest storm Neothina had ever seen.

"Excuse me, are you the same Dewott that almost killed me a week ago?" he heard a voice ask his way.

Dewott sat up and turned to face Kangaskhan. She was looking at him unthreateningly, as if she were merely curious of who he was. There's no need for secrecy. We can't hurt each other anymore. "I believe I am," he said slowly.

"I thought so. You looked familiar, but I wasn't entirely sure. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing locked up in here with the rest of us? I had assumed you were on their side."

"It's a little bit more complicated than that," Dewott said. "I am loyal to Masquerain, the previous general of the Arashi. I am not loyal to Weavile."

"Masquerain?" Kangaskhan asked. "What exactly happened to him? Weavile doesn't seem to answer to him."

Dewott shook his head. "He doesn't answer to anyone anymore. Weavile organized a coup against Masquerain and ousted him from control. I was the only one loyal to him that survived. Weavile killed all the rest."

"What a ruthless Pokémon," Kangaskhan murmured. "I can't believe anyone would be willing to follow him after everything he's done. I…I'm still in shock after what he did yesterday."

Dewott nodded. "That Abra must have been a good persuader. If I were that Charmander I would have been too terrified to move a muscle, let alone run away. I don't know why that Abra did it. He was locking me and Masquerain up just a few days ago, and now all of a sudden he's working against Weavile. Whatever the reason, though, I'm glad he did it. Anything that impedes Weavile's plans is a plus in my eyes."

"I'm glad we at least share a common enemy," Kangaskhan said. "I can't exactly forgive you for stealing from my clients and leaving me out to die, though. What exactly was it you were trying to take? I'm sure you know that it belonged to Charmander, but he never told me what it was."

Dewott groaned and put his hands to his head. He just realized how futile that fight was. "That was a compass," he said. "It was supposed to point to Articuno's Fountain. Masquerain wanted it, so he asked that I go and retrieve it. Now it's right back here, in Weavile's hands. I stole it from you for nothing."

"I believe you also tried to take a Cheer Rock," Kangaskhan added.

"It was dark," Dewott said. "I couldn't tell which one was the compass."

"It belonged to that Minun that died."

"And now my guess is that it's also in Weavile's hands," Dewott said. "I am sorry for what I did to you. All of it was so pointless."

Kangaskhan hummed. "I'm not one to hold grudges. I will not forgive you for what you've done, but it simply doesn't feel right to stay mad at you in this situation."

"Believe me, I'm not interested in hurting you anymore." Dewott shook the bars on his cage, as if hoping that they would miraculously fall apart. "All I want is to get out of here and find Masquerain."

"And all I want is for things to go back to normal," Kangaskhan said. "Maybe our goals don't have to conflict with one another. Maybe we can put all this behind us soon enough."

"I have my doubts," Dewott said. "The way things are turning out, more Pokémon are bound to be doomed. My job is to make sure none of them are Masquerain. Not to make things normal again."

"Why do you think more Pokémon are doomed?" Kangaskhan asked. "Do any more Pokémon really have to die in order for you guys to get what you want?"

Dewott sighed. "The world hasn't been very forgiving to me. I have no reason to expect it to let up now. Nobody else has to die, but it'll still happen. I've seen more unnecessary deaths than I wish to count, and things simply aren't getting better yet." He stared out into the southern forest, nervously eyeing the sky as the bird Pokémon circled the hounds below. "I suppose what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't be too optimistic. It's okay to have hope, but don't let it taint your perception of reality."

He took those words to heart as he peered over the forest. He had hope that Masquerain was still alive. It wasn't enough to forbid him from worrying, but it was enough to let him rationalize. Masquerain had already survived a rogue storm in the past, and that was one that he hadn't seen coming. The storm he flew into was one that he knew about ahead of time. It was one that he literally saw before his very eyes as he approached it. He would have known how to safely handle it. And he would know how to keep himself away from any dangers that might come his way.

Or so he hoped. He couldn't bear to consider the alternatives at length.

~(C)~

The lower branches of the Chesto trees were withered and leafless, and the upper branches were shedding. A cold, sepia light pushed through their cracks. In the distant woods, Charmander saw a poochyena trot up to a little minccino and snap its neck effortlessly with its jaws. As he walked away with his dinner in-mouth, Charmander looked back to the path ahead of him. An empty wind blew. He felt it bat against his eyes, but it shook none of the pale brown leaves that littered the floor. They simply rested there, still as stone. Yesterday the dirt was moist and brown. Today it was dry and gray, and it dusted his feet and clumped between his toes.

Suddenly, an odd instinct bubbled up inside of him: there was something nearby, he felt. Something that was waiting for him. Something that wanted him to come. Perhaps if he listened closely enough, he could hear….

Yes, there it was. Far ahead, he could hear the sound of a cry. He couldn't tell what type of Pokémon was emitting it, but the noise distressed him, and he felt inclined to follow it.

"Victini, follow me," he said quietly. "I think I hear something."

Victini was trailing close behind, but it was only just then that Charmander realized how tired she looked. Her eyes were baggy and softened, and while she tried to mask it, she was clearly winded. Nonetheless, she nodded and said, "Let's go."

All Charmander could tell was that the voice was ahead of them. So without betraying any hesitation, he marched forward, hearing Victini's footsteps echoing behind him.

But as they continued, Charmander felt a sense of dread wash over him. At first, it was silent—invisibly hugging the edge of his heart. But then, it grew. With each passing footstep, another drop was added, until he found himself slowing down from the weight of the grief. His blood thickened, and his heart strained. Something bad was going to happen. Heck, it felt like it was already happening: he just needed to discover it. Maybe Victini—

Charmander stopped. He couldn't hear Victini's footsteps anymore. He swallowed and turned around…and there she was, fallen over. One arm was just barely keeping her head from hitting the ground while the other was clutching something on her chest.

"Victini!" Charmander quickly ran over and held her in his arms. Her fur was loose and cold.

Her face was matted with pain. Her breathing was jagged, her eyes could hardly open, and a silver stream of tears was starting to form at the edge of her eyelids. "Charmander, I…I can't keep going." Her voice was so delicate that it sounded like a slight breeze would snap it into pieces.

"Victini," Charmander said. Gently, he lifted Victini's arm. It revealed a massive gash in her abdomen. Maggots were crawling within the flesh, mixing around the internal concoction of pus and blood. Charmander's heart sank. "Victini. How…how long have you had this?"

"…Since…the fight," she murmured in half-dead shivers. "I'm…I'm…I'm sorry, Charmander."

Charmander felt a wave of bitterness steep inside of him. How could he have been so blind? How was she able to hide this from him for so long? He didn't feel angry with himself, or with Victini, but…he felt disappointed. There was nothing he could do now to help her. All he could do was sit here and hold her in his arms. "Don't worry, Victini," he cooed. "Everything's alright."

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She sounded like she wanted to say something, but the words never came through.

When she died in his arms, he felt something ephemeral pass through him. He felt the last of her life force fade away with her last breath. And when her head slumped back, she felt…heavier. As if she had suddenly turned from a creature to a mere object.

With a heavy heart, Charmander lay her down on the side of the ground. He wanted to close her eyes to symbolize bringing her to peace, but her eyes were already closed. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm sorry….I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

He stood up all alone and turned back around. All the leaves had now fallen. The last of them fluttered to the ground, turning into a gray ash the moment they hit the floor. A weakened emolga tried to climb the tree in front of Charmander, but she lost her grip halfway up and fell down, hitting her head against the sharp end of a rock below. She didn't get back up.

Charmander heard the cry more clearly now. It echoed through the dying woods in the direction of the shadows. Slowly, he shuffled through the dirt and followed.

He walked and walked and walked, and found himself growing more and more fatigued. His legs grew sore and achy, and he began stumbling over himself. At one point, he tripped over a rock and fell to the ground. When he pushed himself up against a tree to try and regain his balance, the trunk snapped and the whole thing fell over. The wood was rotted and soft, and its structure gave with the slightest amount of force.

He looked to the shadows again, waiting for the cry to come to him again. And the cry came. And Charmander followed it.

Just when he was on the verge of collapse, Charmander looked up in front of him and found a clearing in the forest where the sun shone down on the bed of ashy dirt. He jogged over to the clearing, tripping over himself several times along the way. And the second he passed through the last tree before it…

…there it was: a little child Minun, standing all by himself, crying his lungs out in the wide open.

Charmander's heart skipped a beat. "Flux!" he shouted as he ran over to him. He still fell to his knees repeatedly due to the ache in his legs, but he managed to scramble up to him all the same.

"Waaaaaaaaaaah!" Flux bawled as he ran into Charmander's arms.

"I've been looking everywhere for you, Flux," Charmander said. He held the child close to him as he cried into his shoulder. "I've been looking everywhere."

He wrapped his back arm around him and stroked the back of the Minun's head. But then…the head fell off. With the slightest push, it rolled over Charmander's shoulder and hit the ground behind him with a dead thud. The crying stopped.

Charmander stood still for a while. "Oh, right," he murmured. "…I forgot about that."

Misery overtook his quivering heart, and tears came pouring down his eyes. He gently set down Flux's body just as he had done with Victini's. He then limped over to his head and picked it up, placing it down right before his severed neck so that he looked whole again. He then closed the Minun's eyes and collapsed next to him. "Sleep well, my child," he softly said before curling up beside him, staring off into the gray woods. "Sleep well."

He slowly closed his eyes…

…and slowly opened them back up. The forest was gone. Flux's body was gone. The daylight was gone. He was inside a cave, lying on a hard, elevated rock. Victini was sleeping in his arms.

Victini! She was okay. She had no injuries. She wasn't cold. She was alive. He could feel her chest rising and falling, and he could hear her quiet breathing along with it. Charmander heaved a sigh of relief and held her closer to him, gently burying his muzzle between her soft ears.

With her eyes still closed, Victini placed her hands on Charmander's arms and said, "Good morning," in a tired voice. "You didn't seem to sleep very well."

"Sorry," Charmander said. "Strange dreams, I guess. Did I wake you?"

"Don't worry about it." She pushed her head snugly against Charmander's chin. "I'm comfortable like this."

His cheeks reddened slightly, but he held his position. "Yeah…me too."

She opened her eyes slowly and yawned. "Unfortunately, we have to get up. They're probably on our trail already."

"Right, right." Charmander promptly let go of Victini and stretched his back. His muscles ached from resting on the solid ground and his legs were still sore from yesterday. "So…how do we lose them?" he asked as he and Victini stood up.

"The only thing we really left behind is a scent," she said. "If we get rid of that, then we can get away from them."

"Okay, so how can we do that?"

"We have a scent left on the ground and a scent left in the air. We might be able to shake off our air scent by masking ourselves with dirt and travelling downwind. To eliminate our ground scent…I was thinking maybe we could find a river and just walk down it for an hour or so. I know you don't like water, but it should work."

Charmander sighed. "My legs can get a bit wet; it won't bother me that much."

"Good. We've got no time to waste, then: let's go. The sooner we lose them, the sooner we can find something to eat. Can you hunt?"

Charmander shook his head. "Not…particularly well."

"Damn. Well, we'll figure something out." Victini walked towards the dark passageway and Charmander followed close behind her. The walls soon swallowed them whole, and the morning daylight from the cavern's entrance swiftly blinked away behind them.

She was doing something to him. It might not have been intentional, but he felt it in his heart. Her presence continued to bring him solace and calm. He felt comfortable around her: he felt comfortable speaking with her, and opening up to her, and sharing her struggles. And he wasn't sure exactly why. Perhaps in the midst of his heartache and loss, he felt a cathartic need to have someone to cling to. Perhaps he simply needed to have someone by his side that he could respect, and whose shoulder he could lean on.

Despite that, though, he still felt empty. He still felt lost and hopeless and bereft of any sanguine sensations. But at least he had serenity. With Victini by his side, he could find the will to keep going. And as long as she continued to matter to him, keep going he would.

~(M)~

For the first time since the storm, he was able to sustain level flight. No longer did the pain of his weakened wings overpower his sense of balance; the wounds were healing and his mobility was returning to him.

The noonday sky welcomed him with a pool of fresh, warm air. A gentle breeze caressed his feelers and the summer sunlight left little more to be desired in his newfound forest residence that day.

He had hoped the whole time that he would be able to come up with a suitable plan to reunite with Dewott without getting himself recaptured by Weavile's forces, but he simply had no means to advance. The storm had temporarily immobilized him by straining his bad wing—he had discovered that after he had woken up the very next day. But even if he had had his flight, Dewott had likely been captured himself, meaning he was now in the middle of the entire encampment. Or perhaps, miraculously, he was free, but what means would he have had to find him? Masquerain couldn't fly high up in the air and scan the trees below him without scouts eventually locating him. And Dewott couldn't flag his own location with smoke or fire without scouts eventually locating him either. He was stuck in the woods—the same damned forest that he had been stuck in this entire time.

At least he had food and water where he was. A southward flowing river passed through the cavern he had taken shelter in on the night of the storm, and the current was fast enough for the water to feel safe to drink. And shrubs and fallen trees had offered him a fresh bounty of leaves for him to eat, though they were bitter and not particularly filling. Now that his wings were working again, perhaps he would venture into the cave and see if the ensuing mystery dungeon would offer any apples or orans.

He landed at the bank of the brook and lowered his head into the water. The current was still reasonably fast, but the water level had been slowly declining ever since he had found it. The storm's runoff was gradually running its course, and the liquid litter was slowly ebbing away into the ocean whence it came. The water was cool and fresh, and it vivified his mind and muscles. The bubbling of the brook reverberated around the air and echoed above the trees.

And then he heard…splashing? It didn't sound like the typical rattling of the stream over the cobble and shale, nor did it sound like the front strokes of the schools of basculin that occasionally ferried through the current. Instead it sounded like a rhythmic pulse of swishes through the water. Splish, splish, splish…almost as if they were footsteps.

Masquerain immediately lifted his head up and fluttered away from the river. Yes, now that he listened more closely, those were definitely footsteps. And they were coming this way. Shit! Had they found him? Were they coming to get him now? He had to fly away and find somewhere else to hide. Maybe he could—

Wait a minute. Masquerain stopped. The footsteps were in the river. Whoever was walking this way, they weren't walking along the river; they were actually in the water. Why? Walking through a river was one of those strange things that you'd need to rationally justify doing in the first place: nobody just did it if there was perfectly level ground beside them. And Masquerain could only think of one possible rational justification, and it wasn't one that any scouts would have.

Masquerain fluttered back near the river and hid himself behind a fallen tree. If they weren't after him, then maybe they could help him. They might at least have a map so that he could find out where he was.

Peeking his head over the log, he saw the figure approaching around the bend. Actually…figures. There were two of them. Chunks of brown adorned their bodies, making them tough to identify, but after a few short seconds, Masquerain managed to make out their shapes: one was a Victini and the other was a Charmander.

Masquerain's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately ducked below the tree again. Charmander? What was he doing here? Had he escaped? Yes, that would explain their trudging through the river. But…how did they find him? Maybe they didn't. Maybe he found them by coincidence. Some coincidence, then: how many rivers passed through Chesto Forest?

If he stayed put, they might freely pass by him. That was Victini who was beside Charmander: Masquerain knew that Pokémon. She was the Training Camp's second-in-command. In other words, she was powerful and passionate and an enemy of the Arashi. He held his breath, hoping she wouldn't see or hear him.

But as the two continued to pass by, a nagging feeling stabbed Masquerain's mind. If Charmander was running away from Weavile, then it was possible that he wasn't interested in finding the Fountain. This Pokémon might have been the one that the gods chose, and whether he liked it or not, he had a role to play in all this. If he didn't yet acknowledge that role, then maybe Masquerain should step in and push him in the right direction.

They were right behind him now. The sound of their footsteps was deafening. In terms of the prophecy, two humans working together seemed like a better idea than two humans working alone. If he could manage to gain their trust, it made the most sense to reveal himself.

Masquerain heaved a sigh to relieve his own nerves and fluttered up. "Excuse me," he said, just as a voice inside of him started screaming, Wait, no, you're gonna die!

The two Pokémon scrambled. They flung themselves around and faced the Masquerain with aggressive, fight-or-flight stances. Charmander's posture slowly melted into confusion. Victini's posture only hardened with each second.

Once Masquerain found his words, he said, "We've never met before. But I know you. And I believe you know me."

Victini protectively stepped in front of Charmander and scowled. "What do you want?"

"Not a fight; that's for sure," Masquerain said. "You two are running away from Weavile, right?"

Victini looked suspiciously from side to side. "How would you know that?"

"My party has had to walk through rivers to lose our tracks and scent as well. I have fond memories of my body going numb after sailing through the water in the winter."

"You're not going to stop us if that's what your plan is," Victini said. "Try scrambling back to Weavile and I'll blast you into a crisp where you stand."

"I'm not going to do that," Masquerain said. "Believe it or not, I'm in the same position you are. I'm running from Weavile as well."

"Why? Just because he demoted you?"

"You understand what demotion means for the leader of an organization, right? It means a coup. It means he stripped me of my authority by force. It doesn't sound to me like you learned about Weavile too intimately. He's a madman and a sadist. He pinned the brotherhood against me and killed anyone who remained loyal. I command no one anymore."

Victini squinted suspiciously. "Why should I believe that story?"

Masquerain sighed. "I'm at your mercy. My wings are weak, and I cannot fly very fast with them. If you think I'm dangerous, then there's little I can do to stop you from incinerating me. But if you trust that I'm willing to help you take down Weavile in any way that I can, then let me live, and I will do just that."

Victini slowly lowered her guard and closed her eyes. "I'm not going to kill you," she said. "I only end someone's life when it's theirs or mine—unlike you guys. From what I've seen with Weavile, your story's believable enough. But don't think this means that I trust you. I'll cooperate with you, but I'm not letting you out of my sight. Charmander, what do you think?"

Charmander was silent for several seconds, and then shrugged. "He doesn't seem dangerous to us. Who knows? Maybe he'll be helpful. Listen, my feet are freezing right now. If we're not going to keep walking, can we step out of the river?"

Victini sighed. "I guess it's settled, then." She stepped out of the water, with Charmander soon following suit. As Charmander rolled onto his back and pitted his feet against the fire on his tail, Victini advanced towards Masquerain. "Give me any more reason to suspect that you're going to endanger my life or Charmander's life, and you're toast. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Masquerain said sternly. "I am yours to command."

"Good," Victini said. "Because you have a lot of explaining to do."

"We shouldn't do it in open daylight, though. Come: I'll show you the cave I've been sheltering myself in."

One by one, the Pokémon parted from the river and delved into the woods. Charmander was too invested in reheating his legs and failed to hear the first cue to leave. When he realized that the others were wandering off, he scrambled to his feet and jogged up beside Victini.

"If either of you are hungry, I'm afraid I don't have anything to offer," Masquerain said as he led the way. "I've been mostly eating leaves, and I'm sure those aren't very appetizing to either of you. But if you can hunt, there's lots of creatures in the woods. Just make sure that if you cook anything, you do so with a small fire and before the sun sets. You'll also need to make your own beds if you don't want to sleep directly on the floor."

"Masquerain," Victini said, "what are you doing here in the woods?"

Masquerain was quiet for a moment, scanning his mind for the right words, considering where or how to start. "The Arashi…they don't do what they do for selfish reasons. They aren't deranged or sadistic or bloodthirsty. They—"

"—Yes, yes, we know all that," Victini said. "You're saving the world from the wrath of a god named Koorom or something, and you're doing it by harvesting a bunch of Pokémon souls. Weavile threw the whole martyr complex at us already."

Masquerain nodded. "Of course, of course." He turned his head; Victini was staring straight ahead, awaiting further explanation. Charmander was gazing down at his feet with a slight scowl on his face. "Did he explain how humans were involved as well?"

"Yes," Victini said. "He talked about how all the souls were being collected at Articuno's Fountain, which still had yet to be found. Only a human that had transformed into a Pokémon could find it. That was why he captured Charmander: he's a human that transformed into a Pokémon, so he could find the Fountain. But I assume you already know that."

"I see. And my guess is that he refused to cooperate."

"Of course I refused to cooperate!" Charmander suddenly snapped. "What else was I supposed to do? What, was I expected to just hand myself over after they destroyed the Training Camp and turned all my friends against me? Was I supposed to just work side-by-side with Weavile after everything that he's done to me? How is any of this my fault?"

"It isn't your fault," Masquerain said, taken slightly aback. "I never said it was."

"Weavile did, though," Charmander said with an angry quaver in his voice. "He killed a kid—a tiny little Minun who wasn't a day over seven. He killed him right in front of us…and he blamed me for it. That evil bastard, he…he took away everyone I loved."

Victini placed a hand around Charmander's shoulder. Masquerain sadly turned back to face the woods ahead of him. What a fool he was to think that Weavile had long since finished surprising him. He's not going to underestimate the capacity of his evil anymore. "I'm sorry," he said. "That's something we have in common."

"So you're saying that Weavile did all this to you," Victini said. "Why would he do that? What did you end up doing?"

"Nothing," Masquerain said. "In fact, that was the problem. I'm a human-turned-Pokémon just like Charmander here. I was that one who was tasked to find the Fountain. When I couldn't find it, Weavile turned the Arashi against me and honed in on Charmander. Anyone who remained loyal to me was killed. The only Pokémon left on my side was my partner Dewott."

"Dewott?" Victini said. "Is that the same Dewott that sent our town into a state of panic after he nearly killed Kangaskhan?"

"I…didn't know he did that, but yes, that would be him."

"Did you tell him to do what he did?" Charmander asked.

"Not exactly. You had a compass that led to the Fountain. I needed it. That's why I sent Dewott over to your village."

Charmander was silent for a few seconds before hesitantly saying, "…That was the compass?"

"Ah, so Weavile told you about that as well. Yes, that was the compass. I don't know how you found it, but you had it at the time and I needed it. I'm sorry to hear that someone got hurt as a result." Masquerain knew that he was lying a bit when he said that. At the time, he was willing to accept that someone might've gotten injured or killed when he had Dewott retrieve the compass. In fact, he wanted Dewott to kill Charmander if he could. But they didn't need to know that just yet. He wasn't quite ready for either of them to turn him into bug powder. "Anyway, after I was captured, I managed to escape on the day they attacked the Training Camp. Dewott fell behind, and I've been waiting here for an opportunity to find him again ever since."

The cavern was coming into sight. It was marked by a jagged perturbation from a cliffside, with a wide, slanted opening crevice. "We're almost there," Masquerain said. "You'll have to watch your step when you step inside; the ground isn't very level."

"Wait, Masquerain," Charmander said. "How did you know that I had that? I didn't even know what it was that I had, and I never told anyone that I had it except for Kangaskhan."

"That's…." Masquerain sighed nervously. No, let's not open that can of worms just yet. "That's not a question that I can answer without simply raising more questions in the process. I promise I'll answer that, but maybe at another time."

Masquerain fluttered through the crevice and into the cave. A pair of red eyes met him inside.

Masquerain jumped mid-flight and held his breath to suppress a shriek. Once he realized whose eyes they were, though, he melted into a scowl and growled, "Is this spontaneous appearance going to become a regular thing for you?"

A glowing light entered the cave, followed by an "…Absol?" from Charmander.

Absol smiled.

Masquerain frowned. "So you two have already been acquainted, then."

"Yes…we have," Charmander said. "It's been some time since we last met, though."

"Congratulations on finally running into each other," Absol said. "I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time."

"Excuse me, I think I'm out of the loop a bit on this," Victini said. "Who are you?"

"I'm a good friend of these two," Absol said. "I serve as an advisor and a guardian to them."

Charmander and Masquerain simultaneously raised vocal objections to that description, drowning one another's words out into a jumble of frustration.

"I think a more accurate description for her would be a manipulative snake that has taken a very cumbersome interest in my affairs," Masquerain remarked. "She's not my friend."

"I wouldn't exactly call her my friend either," Charmander said. "We've only met a few times."

"Fine, then," Absol said. "I'm an associate of theirs."

"No, that's still not right," Msaquerain said. "Associates don't betray you."

"That—…." Absol grumbled. "'Betray' is a strong word, Masquerain. You should only use it when you know that you mean it."

"You stood by Weavile's side after he had locked me in a cage."

"And then I broke you out of it. Did that mean nothing to you?"

"Sure, it meant something. But not enough to turn you into someone that I can trust. Look, why are you here? Whenever you show up, you have something to say. So say it."

Absol paced closer to the exit. There was something different about her this time. She looked…conflicted. It was as if she were keeping a secret. Well—she always acted as if she were keeping a secret, but now she looked like she was feeling guilty about it. "There's somewhere important where we need to meet. And we need to meet there soon. I've left a map to it here. Start following it tomorrow and you should arrive on the next day."

"Hold on a second," Charmander said. "We're already busy with something. We can't waste time going other places right now."

Absol raised an eyebrow towards Charmander. "Busy with what? Recapturing Machoke's Training Camp? How exactly are you going to do that?"

"We're—"

"—And before you tell me that you're going to raise an army from King Lucario in Suntower City, let me remind you that they're already preparing one. The villagers managed to escape, and they're spreading the word of what happened. Lucario's army is not going to be ready to set off for another few days, though. You'll have plenty of time to meet up with them after we're done. Trust me, you want to follow my instructions this time. Everything will make sense after we reconvene. I promise."

Neither Masquerain nor Charmander had a response to offer. They simply mulled over Absol's words as she walked out of the cave.

Masquerain felt that he shouldn't have had any problem deciding whether or not to listen to Absol. If history were any indicator, following Absol's instructions would bring him nothing but disaster. Whatever Absol wanted from them, it would do Masquerain bounties of harm.

And yet…there was something in his mind pushing him in the other direction. Whether it was curiosity or an intrinsic sense of trust in Absol's promise, he felt that he couldn't just walk away from this.

"So…" Victini said. "Who was she?"

"Absol is a messenger of Zekrom," Masquerain explained. "She's been intertwining herself in my affairs pretty much ever since I came to this planet." He glanced at Charmander. "Before we get too on-topic, you should know that she was the reason why I knew you had the compass."

Charmander pulled his head back, as if dodging a punch. Bug-eyed, he said, "She told you?"

"She did," Masquerain said. "You seem surprised."

Charmander blinked several times. "Why would she do that?"

"I can't be certain, but I think she was trying to interfere with me," Masquerain said. "I had plans to break away from Weavile before he betrayed me, but once I knew you had the compass, I was inclined to stay until I had gotten captured."

"But…she told me to keep it a secret. Why would she do that if she knew you were going to steal it?"

"She's not on our side, Charmander," Masquerain said. "She just wanted you to hold onto it until Weavile got his hands on it."

"Why would she want Weavile to have it?"

"That's beyond me. And I honestly don't care to know." Masquerain fluttered further into the cave and landed next to a piece of parchment. Charmander and Victini followed, surrounding the map.

"So…what do we do?" Charmander asked.

"Where does the map lead?" Victini asked.

Masquerain looked closely at it. A dotted curve connected somewhere in the forest to a place further up north. "It looks like following it will take us into the Iron Desert. We would hook around the meadowlands east of Cherish and then take an auxiliary path northwest. According to this, there's a mystery dungeon north of here that will take us closer to Chide. There's also a mystery dungeon north of Chide called 'Gaigur's Pass' that will take us closer to the Iron Desert."

Victini bent down to read the map herself. "Even if we decide not to go to this place in the Desert, most of these instructions will still be useful to us. Absol was right: our plan was to see what King Lucario could do for us. And Suntower City's in the same direction. Also…" she squinted at the circle in the woods on the map. "…I think this is where we actually are. From what you've told me, this Absol character is sketchy at best. But she's still helping us out a lot here."

"Absol deceived me when I first met her as well," Masquerain said. "She is not to be trusted."

"Perhaps not," Victini said. "But we can still take advantage of her gifts. What I'm trying to say is that we don't need to make this decision now. We can follow the map up to here." She pointed to a crossing in the map that the marked pathway passed through. "Once we're there, we can either go north to the city and meet the king, or we can go west into the desert and follow the path that Absol marked."

"I like Victini's idea," Charmander said. "I don't really know what to do right now. Absol might have something important to show us. She also might be trying to lead us into a trap. But whether we want to follow these instructions or not, we have to take the Training Camp back. That means getting out of these woods."

"Agreed," Masquerain said. "We also need to get that compass back from Weavile. If we can simply remove him from the picture, then we won't have anyone getting in our way of finding the Fountain…other than Absol, of course."

The others elicited no response. They looked at one another slowly, and then back to Masquerain.

Masquerain sighed. "You're not convinced that we need to find it yet."

Charmander pursed his lips. "Let's just say I'm not convinced that I need to be involved."

"Don't be dishonest with yourself; that's not all that you're not convinced about. You've been told about Articuno's Fountain by a lunatic who killed your friends. I wouldn't expect his word to mean that much to you."

Victini suddenly spoke up. "Masquerain, we've suspected that humans had something to do with the Arashi for a long time now. We've intercepted letters and overheard conversations that suggested that. What Weavile has told us is consistent with what we've understood about the Arashi up to now. Charmander and I are convinced that what we've heard from him is what all of you believe. And that would have been the case if we heard it from Weavile or you or anyone else in the Arashi. We're not convinced, however, that what you believe is actually true."

"And even if it is true," Charmander said, "why go chasing after me? I haven't been a part of anything so far. Why do I need to get involved now?"

Masquerain thought for a second. How to convince these two…. "Do you both believe in Zekrom?"

"Yes," they both said.

"Okay. Charmander, do you believe that Absol has ties or connections with Zekrom?"

"I…." Charmander grumbled. "I don't know. I suppose it seems like she does, yes."

"Alright. Now, do you think Absol believes—"

"—Yes, yes, she seems to agree with the Arashi on the Kyurem ordeal," Charmander interrupted with a frustrated scowl. "If she believes that, then she probably also believes in the Fountain, and she seems more likely to know what's going on than anyone else because of this connection of hers. I…I don't know. I still don't know what she wants. She could be lying to us, or…I don't know."

"These are high stakes, Charmander," Masquerain said. "If we're right about this, then it could mean the destruction of our entire planet, and we don't have a lot of time left before that might happen. If the Fountain exists, then we're most likely to find it by working together."

Charmander opened his mouth and then closed it. He let out a conflicted groan and said, "I'll think about it," before turning around and walking out of the cave.

"Where are you going?" Masquerain asked.

"I'm hungry," he said. "I'm going to try and find something to eat."

"I'll go too," Victini said.

"Don't wander too far," Masquerain said. "Make sure you know your way back."

The two left without another word. Masquerain brought his eyes back to the map and scanned over the marked pathway. He could hardly read it anymore with Charmander gone.

He didn't know whether to feel terrified or optimistic. The future was uncertain now—it all depended on how well Charmander and Victini could get along with him. They had a common enemy for now, but once Weavile was removed from the picture, would they be willing to cooperate? By that point, would he be able to convince Charmander to keep following him? Would he even be able to retain their trust until then?

There was a second problem: the last time Masquerain saw the compass, it had failed to point. Why was that? Masquerain wouldn't put it past Absol to be dishonest about that object's true nature. Perhaps it wasn't a compass at all, and all Absol has been doing was sending him on a pointless wild goose chase for some strange reason.

But then again…maybe it would simply start pointing when the right time came, or when it went into the right hands. At least Masquerain had a plan now, and at least he had a means to execute it. He never had that until today.

~(C)~

Something felt strange. Beyond the soreness of his body was an unsettling sensation in his mind. Masquerain…there was something about him that resonated in Charmander's psyche. Something about the way he spoke felt…natural. It felt like he had been talking with someone that he knew long ago. He knew that this was probably because Masquerain came from the same world that he came from, but it still instilled into him a sense of unease with his presence. He almost felt forced to trust Masquerain, even though he offered little reason for him to do so.

He pulled his head from his mind briefly and listened to the crackling leaves and branches below his feet. It felt nice to run his toes over something other than cold river water. Crispy, grassy ground was a welcoming change. Victini stayed by his side, and before they were far enough away from the cavern, they only communicated with one another through their rumbling stomachs.

"This is absurd," she said eventually. "The old commander of the Arashi bumps into us and acts all buddy-buddy the second we meet. This guy was our mortal enemy less than two weeks ago, and now he's sharing his cave with us."

"Do you think we can trust him?" Charmander asked.

"I don't know. But he's a wounded bug and we can breathe fire. As of right now, he doesn't seem like a threat. Also, I can't think of any reason for why he'd be here other than what he told us. So I'm not willing to call him my friend, but I am willing to stick around with him until we get out of the forest. He is the one with the map, after all."

"We could take it from him and run away ourselves," Charmander suggested.

Victini sighed. "Yeah, I know, we can do that too, but…I'm not comfortable with that idea. It'd be one thing if he were definitely still trying to kill us, but I don't want to end up being the one turning against him if he was being genuine this whole time. We should at least wait until he shows his true colors to us."

"I was thinking the same thing," Charmander said. "Some turn of events this turned out to be."

"That's for sure. I think this'll turn out good for us in the end, though. I think we would have been totally lost in these woods if we didn't run into him." Victini looked around. "Hey, there were a lot of fish in the river, and it was pretty shallow where we left it. Want to try catching a few of them?"

"Catching them? With what?"

"Did you have any plans for catching anything on land?" Victini asked.

Charmander stopped and sighed. "No."

"Well, fish seem easier to catch than sentrets. Let's give it a try. We can make some spears, or…I don't know; try and catch 'em by hand."

Pains of hunger reverberated out from his stomach at the thought of sinking his teeth into a fillet of flaky river fish. That was all the convincing he needed. "Alright. It's worth a shot."

The two changed their course and headed for the river. Charmander's mind ran through a number of possible techniques. Fish were slimy, scaly, and rapid movers in the water. But if they found a shallow enough spot in the stream, they might be able to outmaneuver them. How could they outmaneuver them, though? Stand in the way of the stream flow and try and grab them? Craft a pointed stick and try and poke them to death? Throw rocks at them?

The babbling brook emerged from the trees, flowing gently over a bed of rocks. Charmander and Victini stepped foot into the water, surveilling the river for potential prey.

"See anything?" Victini asked.

The water was clear and shallow. The deepest part of the bend went up to his knees. "Nothing yet," he murmured. "Just rocks and pebbles."

They strutted upriver for many minutes. No fish presented themselves aside from the occasional school of minnows. They agreed to stop by a narrow clearing in the river that converged over some shallow rapids. Victini noted that any fish in the river would have to pass through the narrow bend, which would leave them more vulnerable.

The rocks were coated in soggy moss, and Charmander struggled to find his balance after setting foot over the tiny waterfalls. Victini took position on the other side, and together, the two stared up the river, waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting some more.

"You definitely saw some fish in here as we were walking down, right?"

Charmander nodded. "They were swimming downstream as well. So they should eventually show up, unless we already missed them."

Their patience seemed to finally pay off when they saw some splashing in the water up ahead coming their way. Charmander's stomach howled.

"Get yourself in position," Victini said. "Any slight movement once they're too close and they'll—…."

Charmander saw it too. There was a stray blue-striped basculin right in front of them in the water, far ahead of the rest of the school. Slowly it swam. It dragged its body over the slimy cobblestone, letting the current pull it down the stream. Victini and Charmander both held their breath. it was heading right between their legs—right where they could reach it.

As it inched ever closer, Victini raised her hands slowly, curling her fingers into hooks. "You're mine," she whispered.

In the seconds before it would have passed over the rapids, Victini made her movement. In the blink of an eye, she plunged her hands into the water and chased the fish down. "I got it!" she shouted as she pulled the basculin back up. "I—whoa!"

Before Charmander knew it, he was holding onto Victini just inches above the water. Charmander had nearly lost his footing as well in the process of trying to catch her, but he managed to catch himself.

A heartbeat passed where they looked at one another in the eyes. Charmander briefly mused that if he were a character in a poorly written romance novel, then this would be the optimal moment for a prototypical 'look away from each other, flustered and blushing' scene. But then Victini shouted, "You idiot: go after the fish, not me!" and at that moment, he deduced that if anything, he was in a poorly written comedy.

"Oh," Charmander said. He looked downstream and watched as the basculin scurried away. "…Sorry." He then brought Victini back to her feet and looked back ahead at the larger school heading their way. They still swam merrily down the stream, oblivious to the scuffle that happened ahead of them. "I suppose we could call that a practice round?"

"Call it whatever you want; as long as we don't let it happen next time." Victini lowered her stance so that her hands were right above the water. Charmander did the same, dropping his center of gravity and staring down the cluster ahead of them.

Soon, their individual bodies began to take form. They were more basculins. There were perhaps fifteen in the whole school, each casually sitting in the water, floating idly with the flow of the current.

"Hey," Victini said. "Do you think it might be possible for us to use our fire to kill them?"

Charmander gently shook his head. "It takes a lot of energy to heat up a mass of water like this up to lethal temperatures. It takes a lot of time as well."

Victini sighed. "Worth a thought, I guess."

"Get ready. Here they come."

When Charmander and Victini had first stepped foot in the river to lose their trail, the water had disturbed him greatly. The cold ripples of the current had slithered all over his legs and feet, and within minutes, he hadn't been able to feel his toes. Of course, he had eventually gotten used to the sensation; an hour's worth of walking in it sufficiently did that. Soon enough, the pain, while perpetually unpleasant, had been tolerable and ignorable by the end of it all.

Now, however, it was coming back. He was able to handle the pain when he was free to move his legs, but now that he had to stay completely and utterly still, the pain gnawed at him. It was like thousands of fish hooks were scraping past his ankles. The pain built, and built, and built. He didn't know if he'd be able to hold himself for long enough. The fish were getting closer, but they were getting closer ever so slowly.

But dammit, he was hungry. He was so hungry. Food was there for him: he was staring right at it. He just needed to want it bad enough. You're mine, he thought. You are not getting away from us. Charmander noticed that he was salivating heavily, but he was too focused on keeping himself composed to swallow. The agonizing screams of his frigid feet and weak legs clashed against the quavering pleas of his gut.

Stillness prevailed. The first basculin floated over his legs without paying them any mind. With a quick and dedicated swoop, Charmander made his movement…

…a fraction of a second too slowly. The basculin swam off down the rapids, and Charmander grabbed nothing but water.

The fish betrayed their serene composure and Charmander and Victini betrayed their subtlety. Both of them went chasing after whatever was moving in the water, grabbing at them at every opportunity they found. They even started chasing the fish downstream to get at them. At one point, Charmander and Victini got out of the water and started following them along the rocks. The basculin calmed down after a few seconds, giving the two the opportunity to continue chasing them down.

"Charmander, I'm not too sure if this is going to work," Victini said. "We should try making some weapons first and then come back to them."

Charmander growled. "I want those fish now."

"Catching them by hand isn't working. We'll get them; we just need the right tools."

"It almost worked," Charmander said. "C'mon, if we can use our hands to fight back waves of Arashi soldiers, then we can use our hands to pull a basculin out of water." Charmander jogged ahead of the basculin and set his feet into the water again.

"Suit yourself," Victini said. "I'm going to find a stick and sharpen one end into a point."

"Wait, wait!" Charmander said as he lowered his stance. "I can do this. I think I figured out how to….Hah!"

Charmander's revised method was to aim his first hand for the tail. The tail always seemed to be the slowest part when the fish was turning, and there was a natural handle for him to grab onto right before the fins. His first grasp was too slow; the basculin's tail strafed away much more quickly than Charmander had anticipated. But the fish slowed down, and Charmander took a careful step onto a rock positioned above the water. With its body faced away from him, Charmander tried a different technique: this time, he would go for the gills.

The water around him was so shallow that the basculin's spiny dorsal fin poked out of the water. This was it. This was his opportunity. He didn't even need to have his feet in the water this time. He carefully navigated over the natural stepping stones of the river and stood over his prey. With the same swiftness of motion that he had exhibited countless times, Charmander reached down and grabbed…

…and he held on! His left hand sunk into the fish's gills and his right hand cradled the other end of the fish's body. It was heavy. He wouldn't be able to hold onto it for long. With haste (and without much forethought) he threw the fish in Victini's general direction. He looked over, and it landed on a bed of rocks beside the river, flopping around violently.

"You did it!" Victini shouted as she ran over to detain the basculin.

"I did it!" Charmander shouted back as he raised his fists into the air.

"Alright, now grab a rock and bash it on the head."

Charmander lowered his arms. "What?"

"We dealt with fish all the time back in the kitchen. This is how you work with them. Hitting it on the head will knock it unconscious. This will allow us to bleed it out before we cook it. This way is more merciful than letting it suffocate in the open air."

"Okay, if you say so," Charmander said. He hopped over to the captured fish and grabbed hold of a chunk of cobble.

Victini positioned the fish vertically and said, "Right between the eyes."

That made not looking at the fish in the eyes while he did the job remarkably difficult. It helped that its eyes pointed in opposite directions, though. Charmander only hesitated for a few seconds before delivering the blow.

After the basculin was stunned, they walked along the river, bringing it back to Masquerain's hideout. Cooking it ended up taking longer than it took to catch it: Charmander bled the fish in the river by severing its gills and letting the blood flow away in the water while Victini dug a fire pit for them to cook on. After it was bled, Charmander then had to gut it. Victini had given him instructions on how to do this: cut shallowly along the bottom of the fish from the anal fin up to the jaw, and then remove anything that doesn't look like meat. The only problem with these instructions was that Charmander only had his claws and a conveniently sharp shale rock to do any sort of cutting. The result was messy: the bottom part of the fish had devolved to a mangle of shreds after all was said and done. But he got the guts out of it and Charmander figured that that's all that mattered. It would taste the same in the end.

That wasn't the last of their troubles, though. Victini had insisted on cooking the fish properly. This meant building up the fire until it was a bed of smoldering hot ashes. This meant waiting for the campfire to turn into that. All the while, Charmander's stomach protested furiously.

"I think Machoke has rubbed off on you," Charmander said offhandedly as the fire burned away. "Why can't we just cook it now?"

"It's not hot enough," Vicini said.

"Sure it is," Charmander said. "I cooked with fire all the time when I was stuck in the woods with Snivy."

"Well, you did it wrong. Trust me on this."

Charmander sighed, but offered no more protest. After waiting another half an hour for the embers to settle, Victini granted him permission to place the basculin on the coals. Each side was cooked for about five minutes, and then the two split it. Charmander removed the head, and split the rest of the rest of the fish down the middle before handing Victini one of the fillets. They were both dripping with extracted moisture, and the smell it produced was like the soft, crispy salmon that he had once eaten at the Training Camp dinner.

Charmander stared at his own serving with eyes larger than his stomach. The meat was white and flaky. It was steaming and dripping and leaning into his hands. There were still ribcage bones inside the meat, but Charmander hardly cared. Victini had said that the skin was edible too, so he bit into it like a sandwich. The whole bite fell apart in his mouth and coated it completely without any chewing required. He let out a contented smile and swallowed with a satisfied sigh.

Victini squealed with joy after she took her first bite. "See, Charmander? Was the food you made with Snivy any better than this?"

"Not even close," Charmander said with his mouth full. "What we made was always tough and burned and unevenly cooked—" he swallowed. "I have to give it to you, this was worth the wait."

"If only we had some lemon or spices," Victini said before sinking her teeth back into the fillet.

"Y'know, it almost tastes kinda lemony."

Victini chewed a few times before saying, "Yeah, basculin's are like that. They've got a distinct acidic flavor to them."

"Dear Mew, I'm almost tempted to get up and try and catch another one of these."

"No, don't. We don't have a lot of daylight left, and Masquerain said that we shouldn't be starting campfires after dark—which he's right about."

Charmander grumbled. "Fine. Hey, did you check the map for the path we'll be taking up north? Maybe we'll be travelling along some rivers."

Victini shook her head. "I don't remember seeing any. Most of the path was covered by the mystery dungeon. But we'll be stopping to rest by the meadowlands to the east. There should be some rivers there, and I think there'll be basculin swimming in them too."

Charmander sighed happily and took his final bite into his meal. The fish fell right off the bone. "Glad to hear that. It seems like we've got the trouble of finding food squared away. And we've got shelter too. Y'know, even with all this confusion with Masquerain, today's been…." And then, out of nowhere, the memories intruded. "It's been better than yesterday, that's for sure."

He looked down at the bones of the fish that remained and tossed them one at a time into the pit of hot coals. Flux probably would have liked this basculin. He would have thought it was much better than that porridge they were forced to eat the other night. Charmander would have happily given him as much as he wanted. He probably would have been stuffed to satisfaction after eating just a third of the fillet anyway.

Oh, he missed him. It had only been a day and already he missed him more than anything.

He felt Victini's hand touch his shoulder. Charmander looked at her. She gave him a kind smile, and inched closer to him. He reached over and hugged her, curling his jaw against the side of her neck. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and just let his mind focus on her softness.

"I'm really glad you're here with me," Victini said. "You know that, right? You matter so much to me, Charmander."

She was going to keep doing this, wasn't she? At every sign of weakness, she was going to sit by his side and comfort him without question, wasn't she? Was she just doing it out of kindness? Was she just trying to make him feel like he meant something to her? He needed her, and she knew that he needed her, and every second of care that she gave him was further proof of those two things. Was that the only reason she was doing this? Because she saw how helpless and broken he was, she took pity on him, and she felt the need to try and remedy his woes? If that was all, then Charmander was simply a burden to her. All he was was a Pokémon that fell apart every now and again, useful only for the occasional fishing endeavor and spelunking expedition.

Nonetheless, he appreciated her kindness, and he accepted it fully. He just hoped that there was more than a shallow reason behind it.