A/N - Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, faved and followed! =D You're all awesome!

I don't really have much to say today. I just hope you enjoy this one.

Disclaimer - I do NOT own Pokemon or any of its critters!

37 – A Cry For Help

Mint crossed her arms and hugged herself, stifling the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She stood with the rest of Rio's team in silence as they watched Razorclaw cover his body with soil.

When the Sandslash finally stood back, Sandpaw shuffled forwards, clutching a red flower in her paws. She placed it on the mound of soil and retreated backwards, wiping her eyes with her foreleg.

Mint rubbed the Furret on the back and turned away, leading the silent Pokemon back to the lab.

She would have gone into Rio's office, but she couldn't bring herself to. She led them down the other side of the corridor into the small room they used when they needed a break. A long, low table stood in the middle of the room surrounded by little stools.

Tantrum fell into one and finally broke the silence.

"Well, what we gonna do now?"

Mint sighed and sat down opposite him. "I think we're all wondering that."

"We never discussed somethin' like this," the Vigoroth went on. "Does someone take over?"

Mint leant forwards on her knees and focused on the grain in table's woodwork. "I don't want to take over."

"Neither do I." Tantrum scratched his head with his long claws. "I aint a single clue what we're doin'. Rio were th'genius. Not me."

"I was just a guard," Razorclaw rasped.

Thunder and Ray nodded, and when Mint looked at Rowap and Spelon – the Plusle and Minun – they just shrugged.

Sandpaw hugged Scout on her lap and looked at the Grovyle. "I think it's down to you, Mint."

Mint sighed and wrung her paws together. "Then I'm disbanding us."

The group stiffened and looked at her.

"Wha'?" Tantrum gasped.

"I can't continue this!" She threw her arms in the air. "This was Rio's group, not mine. We broke off because of a difference in opinion, I only came back because I was worried about him. I only knew about Pokerus, but he wanted to use it for war. I never wanted to start a war, I just wanted to hide. Now we're left cleaning up his mess." She paused and looked from one Pokemon to the next, taking in each bewildered face. "Can any of you honestly say his experiments were sane?"

The other Pokemon looked at each other nervously. Razorclaw shook his head slowly, and one by one the others copied him.

"Nah, they weren't." Tantrum sighed. "We only stood by him 'cos we thought he had a point."

"We all lost our homes," said Razorclaw. "And family." He looked at Rowap and Spelon and the two nodded and shrank down in their seats.

"You all want to stop Hydreigon and I back you on that," said Mint. "But Rio went about it the wrong way. And now, there are loads of Pokemon running around out there with no memories and Pokerus in their bodies. It's only a matter of time until..." She trailed off and visibly flinched.

"Then there's Enigma," said Tantrum. "He still has his memories. What if he hunts us down?"

"He probably will!" said Thunder. "He's already killed Rio. We're the ones who shocked him in the first place!" He pointed between himself and Ray. "We're the reason he couldn't get out of that cage!"

Ray's face turned from black to grey and Mint worried for a moment the Heliolisk was going to faint and fall off his stool. She braced herself but Thunder put a paw on his back and he leant forwards, slowly regaining his colour.

"I stand by my decision," said Mint. "We disband."

The others nodded silently and Tantrum looked up at her.

"Where do we go? The Outcasts won't 'ave us." He narrowed his eyes. "And I aint joinin' no Heretics." The last sentence was laced with a warning tone.

Mint leant back slightly and nodded. "I know. So we... we head to the Border Woods."

"And become outlaws?!" Tantrum gasped.

"Yes." She gave him a graven look. "It's what we've always been, isn't it? Hiding in a Heretic lab was a ruse."

"But..." Tantrum scratched his head. "Yeh. Yeh, yer right. Thing is, in the Border Woods, we're gonna stand out like a sore paw."

"Yes," said Sandpaw. "The outlaws are made up of dragon and dark Pokemon, with the odd poison and ghost amongst them."

Mint shrugged. "What other choice do we have?"

Sandpaw fell silent and leant her chin on Scouts head.

"Okay then." Tantrum gave the other Pokemon in the room a quick glance. "If we join the outlaws then we need to clean up this mess. Get rid of all th'Pokemon that have Pokerus."

"How are we going to find them?" Razorclaw asked.

"It's only a matter o' time when they go mad. We just follow the trail o' destruction."

"What about the dragons?" Sandpaw asked.

"What about 'em?"

"They'll surely know there's other Pokemon types living in the Border Woods!"

"They also know about the outlaws," Tantrum told her. "An' they manage just fine."

"Plus there's safety in numbers," said Mint. "We've been working with the outlaws for some time. They'll know us. They'll back us up."

"What about our plan against Hydreigon?" Thunder asked. "And Enigma?"

"We make a new plan," said Mint. "But we'll cross that bridge when we get to the Border Woods. We might get more Pokemon on our team then, and we'll stand a better chance in this fight."

Scout's eyes lit up. "So we're becoming outlaws and fighting bad guys?!"

Tantrum chuckled. "Sure. That's what we're doin'."

"Cool!" He looked up at his mother. "We're gonna win right? We're gonna be heroes!"

She rubbed his head and smiled. "Yes, you'll be a big hero."

"Then it's sorted." Mint struck both her paws on the table and stood up. "We move out today. Grab what you need and meet me outside."

She turned and left the room. The other Pokemon followed her out, chatting quietly amongst themselves. There was no joy to their voices. Mint was aware this was a huge, unexpected change but she couldn't stay here, and these other Pokemon had told her none of them knew what to do now. She was doing the right thing, wasn't she?

She moved down the hallway and opened the door, stepping outside into the brisk air. The wind blew through her head leaf before settling into a breeze. It was empty, desolate, not a Pokemon in sight. But not being in sight didn't mean there wasn't someone lurking, hiding in the shadows. She'd lived in this forest long enough to know that, and now she was going to leave it behind, moving on to lands unknown to her.

It made her feel a little sick.

"We're ready."

She looked back at Tantrum, standing behind her with the other Pokemon. Each one had a small bag strewn over their shoulder.

"Shall we be off then?" he asked.

Mint nodded. "Yes. Does anyone know the way?"
"Wait fer sunset an' follow the red clouds." Tantrum adjusted his bag and moved past her. "It's always red over th'Shadow Lands."

Mint swallowed drily and followed after Tantrum. The rest of the group shuffled slowly after her.

...

Sandpaw watched helplessly as the other Pokemon moved away, clutching Scout in her arms. As they moved out of sight, she licked her lips and looked nervously from the Sandslash's vanishing back to the trees on her right.

Finally, she closed her eyes and ran blindly into the trees.

"Aren't we going with them?" Scout asked.

Sandpaw shook her head violently. "No. No, we're not."

...

Enigma came to a stop at an open stretch of land beside the river. The forest continued on the other side, connected to his side by a tree that had fallen a long time ago. The roots of the fallen tree arched into the air and curled back down again, ending in a rotten, moss-covered point.

The trees had shed their leaves onto the ground, coating it in a thick blanket that overflowed into the river. The odd leaf was occasionally washed away, carried along the river like a little raft, and several were stuck to rocks that jutted out of the clear water, beaten in place by a frothy spray as the river rushed by them.

Enigma flopped down onto the floor, not caring to hide himself in the shadows. His concerns lay in the folder he was still carrying. Something had snatched his attention when he saw it open on Rio's desk. The title – Project C – had stood out loud and clear at the top of the open page. Below that was something on Pokerus that at first glance had absolutely nothing to do with him, but he wanted to know more about it, even if the thought filled him with an icy dread.

He popped it open on his lap and skimmed the first few pages of scrawled notes on Type 18. Rio had already told him about that. He'd even included a little note on giving the information to Boomer, and how the dragon had failed to deliver the information to Hydreigon. It was all old news to Enigma. He flicked on ahead until he spotted the page that had piqued his interest. There it was – Project C scrawled at the top of the page as he remembered it.

'Project C is the next instalment into our super-powered army. Project B wasn't quite a failure, but we had lost all the notes in the fire that devastated our lab research.

'Here I shall write what I remember of it. Project B was a Tyranitar chosen for our Pokerus research. This new strain was discovered in our lab when an Oddish showed to be improving drastically in a training regime. We pulled this Pokemon aside and examined it, and were surprised to find Pokerus. However, this strain seemed slightly different as it pushed the Pokemon past its normal capabilities. It did, however, wear off and the Pokemon's power's remained the same. The odd thing about it was how none of the other Pokemon contracted it. It wasn't contagious. Normally Pokerus would move from host to host, but this strain just developed, and went away.

'The sample was taken to a lab in the Border Woods where the Pokemon there examined it and modified it. The ways are unknown to me, but the virus mutated vastly. It was delivered back for further experiments and Project A was born.

'Unfortunately Project A reacted badly to the virus and ended up attacking itself until it was completely mutilated. It seemed the new strain caused madness after a mere few hours of infection. This was reported back to the lab and they made some more modifications. The next batch was sent over and we started Project B.

'Project B was a success, increasing in strength with every battle. We thought it would become a power-house, one of many in a vast army. However, after a season passed by, it started to exhibit signs of madness. It would fall into a blind hysteria, attacking anything that moved. We had no choice but to remove all Pokemon as sparring partners providing a moving target. However, during these outbursts, its attention was taken from the targets provided, instead deciding to rampage around the room in an attempt to get out. This would wear off and the Pokemon would have no memory of the events, regaining its normal composure. We felt it best to remove the Pokemon's memories entirely in fear that it would target those it knew in its rampage. Unfortunately it's not that simple a task. If the Pokemon is awake, it is constantly taking in information and making more memories, but when it is asleep it dreams. I removed as many as I could and hoped for the best. It seemed to work as when it fell into its outbursts it would keep attacking the moving target rather than hunt around the room.

'After four seasons passed from the start of the experiment, Project B was completely consumed by madness. We were left with the decision to destroy it, or keep it. Its strength was remarkable, so it was decided to keep it in chains. An army of these monsters would give us an edge in our attack on the Shadow Lands.

'Then Type 18 showed up. We selected several of the Pokemon with this type – a Snubbul, an Azumarill and a Whimsicott – and after a month of training removed their memories and sent them out into the world with a tracking device. We intended to track their progress to see how much damage they could do when they hit a burst of hysteria. However, it was reported that the Whimsicott lost its tracking device, and the Snubbul and Azumarill have long since vanished off our radar.

'Project C, however, must not fail. We will not make the same mistakes. Our test subject will keep its memories so its first target will be the Pokemon it is closest to-'

Enigma stood up and threw the file to the floor, giving it a hefty kick.

"What have you done to me?!"

He turned his back on the offensive object and put his hand to his chest, his breath coming out in heavy gasps. He couldn't believe it. The more he read, the sicker he felt. Rio had been completely insane. He'd believed he could build an army of monsters to attack the Shadow Lands and had dragged Enigma into it.

He'd tried to turn him into one of his monsters.

He looked down at his paw, still red with sticky blood, and frowned. He didn't want anything to do with that crazed Meowstic any more. He should wash it off. Turning sharply, he staggered towards the river, teetering slightly as the momentum threw him off balance. Great, he felt dizzy. After reading all that, he wasn't even entirely sure if it was from the Pokerus or sheer terror.

He dropped onto his knees by the water and stuffed his paw under the freezing surface. Gritting his teeth as the icy water washed over his claws, he scrubbed his fur with his other paw, removing the congealed blood that was oddly reluctant to come out.

His mind reeled with the information he'd just taken in. Putting the string of events together, it didn't make sense. Weren't they Heretics? Weren't they trying to win favour with Hydreigon? If not, then why bother to tell Boomer about 'Type 18' in the first place?

His mind was too muddled to make head nor tail of it. Maybe there was something about this elaborate plan in the file? He'd seen Boomer's name in there, the events had been recorded.

Satisfied he'd removed all of the blood, he scrambled back to the file. None of the pages had torn free after he'd struck it, but it was lay open, the papers rustling in the wind. He flipped it back to the beginning and skimmed over the writing.

Nothing.

All that was written was: 'We put our plan into action and sent for Boomer to demonstrate Type 18. Once he'd seen it for himself, he was sent to Hydreigon to deliver the news but was unfortunately killed on the way. This failure may not have been a bad thing, as it was pointed out to us that giving Hydreigon such information might not have the affect we desired and instead would cause the dragon to riot.'

That was it.

A plan... he'd glossed over it. Enigma slammed the file closed and looked around for something to destroy it with. There were some large stones and pebbles by the river. If he could find some that were dry enough...

The Meowstic probably hadn't felt the need to write such information down. If it were meant to be his legacy, then anyone that heard about it would likely know his plan anyway. Enigma couldn't see any logical sense in telling Hydreigon about a type that could indefinitely wipe him out as though he were nothing more than a mere Caterpie being engulfed in flames. Maybe it was just a convoluted effort to win favour with him, to trick him into believing his lab was on his side. But why reveal part of his plan?

Enigma snorted, sorting through the scattering of pebbles. He'd found some that were dry enough to cause some sparks. He returned to the folder and smashed the stones together. The first spark didn't take, so he struck them a few more times until little sparks of flame started to eat up the pages.

There.

Whatever it was, it was done. Over.

He picked up the folder and watched as the flames spread across the paper, dropping little ashen wisps towards the ground that were burnt up before they touched the dry leaves.

The lab wouldn't be getting this information back. The question was, would they try again? Without Rio, they would need to start over. Unless one of them was educated enough to continue on with such a ridiculous idea. One thing he'd clearly not considered was what he'd do after his army had ravaged the Shadow Lands.

It was clear to Enigma which side would have won. No army of Pokemon would be able to withstand a wave of Pokemon that had a massive type advantage, never mind an army fuelled with murderous insanity caused by a mutated, power-enhancing, parasitic virus. So what would happen when they had nothing left to destroy?

He flicked the remains of the file into the air and watched as the flames combusted over it and vanished, leaving it to fall to the ground as tiny sparks of ash. The leaves began to smoulder and spark and small flames sprouted from them.

They'd find something else to destroy. They'd move across the region, wiping out any Pokemon they could get their claws on.

He crushed the flames under his foot and smothered them into the dirt.

Rio was an idiot.

...

"Help! Please, help!"

Cleo stirred and mumbled, rolling over on the grass.

"Cleo?"

She opened her eyes and blinked, the dull yellow of the tent coming into focus. Spark stirred at her side and sat up, rubbing her large, black eyes.

Mischief stared at her from outside, leaning on his right paw to peer over his shoulder.

"Erm... someone's here."

Cleo stood up, stooping as she left the tent.

"Someone's here?" she asked.

"Yes. She's asking for help."

She looked past Mischief and had to gather herself for a moment as words seemed to vacate her head.

A Furret stood shaking a few feet away, clutching a young Sentret in both arms. She glanced at the tent and from Mischief to Cleo, then her eyes fell on Spark as she strutted forward to stand between Cleo and the Furret.

"What's going on?" the Dedenne asked.

"I'm not sure..." Cleo frowned at the Furret. She could just make out the Heretic tattoo on her left shoulder. "You're a Heretic?"

The Furret shook her head violently. "No! No, I'm not!"
"But you have the tattoo-"

"I didn't want it! No... I'm not..." She hugged the Sentret tighter, causing him to wriggle and protest. "We ran... I don't know where to go."

"Ran from what?" Cleo moved towards the Furret, ignoring the grunt of protest as a sleeping Harlequin was dragged from the tent.

"Cleo, you can't -" Spark was cut off as Cleo strode over her head. "Argh! I hate it when she does that."

The Furret backed away from her, twisting her body to turn the Sentret away as though she worried Cleo was going to hurt her child. Her demeanour seemed to change when she spotted the badge on Cleo's bag.

"You're... Guild members..."

Cleo nodded. "Yes."

"You... help lost Pokemon, don't you?"

"Usually. Are you trying to get somewhere?"

"I thought you might be Guild members." The Furret shifted uneasily. "Please help us. We don't know where to go!" She flopped to the floor and released the Sentret, covering her face with her paws as she burst into tears.

The Sentret looked up at her. "We were meant to go to the Border Woods!"

"We're not going there!" she squealed through her paws.

Cleo raised her paws. "Okay! Okay, calm down. What's happened?"

The Furret looked up at her, drying her eyes with her paws. "Everyone went to the Border Woods."

"Everyone? Who's everyone?"

"Everyone." She took a deep breath then jolted, her eyes fixed on something behind Cleo. "Oh my goodness!" She leapt to her feet, dragging the Sentret by his paw and throwing him behind her.

Cleo looked back with a start. Harlequin stood looking a little fed up, her eyes bloodshot with tiredness.

"Oh, Harlequin." Cleo looked back at the Furret. "It's okay. She won't hurt you."

"You're friends?!" the Furret hissed.

"Not exactly. She's... a captive." Cleo indicated her bracelet. "She can't use her attacks, or move two feet away from me."

"I'm not sure." The Furret looked from Harlequin to Cleo. "Why is she with you?"

Cleo shrugged. "Believe me, I ask myself that question every day."

Harlequin snorted. "As do I." She looked at Cleo. "Mind standing closer to the tent? I want to go back to sleep."

Cleo turned to head back to the tent. Faith was standing at the entrance and stood aside for Harlequin. The Mawile gave Cleo a little smile.

"Is everything okay?"

"Erm." Cleo looked back at the Furret.

She hadn't bothered to follow her. She was still standing protectively over her child, watching them with confusion and fear.

"Oh my!" Faith clapped her paws together. "What a delightful little hatchling!"

The Mawile scooted over to the Furret and crouched down so she was on the little Sentret's eye level.

"You're not even fully grown! How old are you?"

"I'm am grown! I'm a big boy!" the Sentret retorted.

"He only hatched at the start of the warming season," said the Furret.

"So two seasons!" Faith gasped. "Wow, you're going to be tall!" She looked up at the Furret. "You look positively shattered. Why don't you come inside?"

"Wow." Spark looked up at Cleo. "It's gonna get really cozy in there tonight."

Cleo watched as the Furret's demeanour changed from worried to calm in a mere moment. Faith had certainly had a calming affect on the frightened Pokemon. She may very well have the Heretic tattoo, but she was almost certain this Pokemon wasn't lying. No mother in her right mind would want to put her child in danger, so there was little chance she'd risk a fight when she was outnumbered.

"Are you sure there's room?" the Furret asked.

Faith laughed. "Oh, it'll be fine! I'll just squeeze myself into a corner! I'm Faith, by the way. And the Meowstic there is Cleo."

"And who's the tiny Dedenne?" the Sentret asked.

"Oi!" Spark waved a fist at him. "I'm a big girl!"

"That's Spark," said Faith. "And the nice Whimsicott on watch is Mischief."

Mischief gave a little wave.

"Oh, he looked worried when I ran over." The Furret covered her mouth. "I'm sorry."
Mischief shrugged. "You don't need to apologise for being lost."

"You do when it wakes me up!" Harlequin snapped from the tent.

The Furret's face fell. "Hmm... I'm not sure I'm happy staying in a tent with..." She trailed off and gave a small nod to the tent.

"That's fine," said Cleo. "I'll kick her out for the night. It's my watch next anyway."

Harlequin's face appeared in the opening. She fixed her blue eyes on Cleo and frowned.

"My name's Sandpaw," said the Furret. "And the little one is Scout."

Faith smiled at him. "Scout, huh?" She looked back at Cleo. "Are you sure this is all right? I just can't turn a mother with a little child away like this."

Cleo smiled. "It's fine. I can tell when I'm being lied to, and she's telling the truth."

"Thank you." Sandpaw smiled. "I really hope we're not an imposition. I just didn't know what else to do. When I saw you, I-" She trailed off and wiped her eyes with a paw. "I just found myself asking for help."

"Come on." Faith ushered her towards the tent. "Get some sleep, you're exhausted."

As Faith entered the tent, Harlequin slipped out and moved round the side, curling up in the shadow of the large rock they'd camped beside. Her blue and black colouring caused her to blend in almost seamlessly.

Mischief caught Cleo's eye and she looked at him. He shrugged and leant forward on his knees, making himself look oddly small. The moonlight reflected off his smooth fur, defining his build and when he glanced back up at her, she became aware that she was staring. Her face flushed and she glanced away from him, flexing her paws and trying to fathom the anxiety that was slowly filling her. She looked back down at him and cleared her throat.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He shrugged again. "I can't say I wasn't a little surprised."

She gave a nervous laugh and sat down next to him.

"You should go back in there." He nodded to the tent. "You need more sleep than that."
"It's almost my shift anyway. I may as well stay up and keep you company."

She stared out across the glen. The land here was flat, but the horizon was filled with the tops of the mountains that surrounded the Moorland's Forest. Trees were few and far between so they'd had to improvise with the tent using a long, stiff plant broken in two and stuffed into the ground, joined together with a stringy, vine-like weed which they tossed the sheet over. So far it had worked, but Spark was waiting for the moment it would fall down on top of them.

"It's not for a while," Mischief told her.

She looked at him. "Huh?"

"Your shift. It's not for a while."

"I really don't mind."

She glanced back at the tent and he followed her gaze, then gave an understanding nod.

"You don't trust the Furret do you?" He kept his voice low and poked at the ground with a thin twig.

"It's not that I don't believe her," she said softly. "I agree with Faith. But I find it hard to trust anyone."

Mischief chuckled. "You're total opposites."

Cleo fixed him with an amused stare. "What are you getting at?"

"She sees the good in everyone. She even went out of her way to rescue Enigma."

Cleo sighed. "Yes, I have to admit I don't really understand that one."

When they'd asked Faith why she'd done something so reckless, she'd merely smiled and said: 'A little bit of kindness can go a long way!'

Cleo shook her head in her paws.

"Personally I'd rather know that someone who is out to kill us is behind bars, out of the way."

Mischief looked at her. "He had his chance to kill us then though didn't he? And he didn't."
"He was probably too surprised."

"Or Faith is right."

She removed her paws from her face to fix him with one eye.

"She has the same outlook as Rose," he went on. "She's a 'peace enthusiast' as Tinker put it. She showed kindness to Harlequin with the belief he can change. I think she'd be happy to know she's right – that showing a little kindness works."

"Enigma still tried to kill us," said Cleo. "And so did Harlequin. Pokemon like that should be locked away."

Mischief was quiet for a moment. He looked up at the sky, the occasional cloud blotting out the spread of stars.

"So did I."

Cleo felt herself jolt and she looked at him.

"Do you think I should be behind bars?" he asked.

She shook her head sharply and looked down at her paws. "You weren't in your right mind." She paused. "And you also saved our lives."

He was quiet, dragging the thin twig across the ground creating an illegible pattern in the dirt.

"If it weren't for you," Cleo went on, "then we'd be dead. That Noivern would have still attacked us even if we hadn't been trying to catch you when you robbed us. It would have still been flying over the forest, and it would still have targeted us. You really helped us back then."

"I still killed him," he said.

"It was self defence."

"It was still wrong."

Cleo stared down at her paws and rubbed them together nervously. "Maybe so." She looked out at the glen. "I don't really agree with it either. But unlike him, you're not evil."

"He could have had the chance to make amends."

"You believe that's even possible?"

"Yes." Mischief dropped his stick and leant back on his paws. "Yes, I do."

Make amends... Cleo looked over at Harlequin, just visible in the shadow of the large rock. She appeared to be asleep, but Cleo wasn't sure if she caught the glimpse of one of her blue eyes in the starlight. She turned away and leant back to look at the stars.

"Maybe you're right."

...

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