AN: Good God it's busy here, sorry about the delay, new chapter!

LIII: Darheel Among The Insects

The Johto National Park lies in the middle of Route 35. Not sure why there of all places, I guess cuz it's outside of Goldenrod. The park is still there I think, I don't keep up with Johto news anymore. It's full of bug-type pokemon imported from Johto and Kanto, none of them bread there. I'm only mentioning that because it's important to this story.

"Why are we even here?" I asked, "I've got an bug-type, I don't need another."

"What makes you assume this is about you?" Charlotte asked.

"It's my journey, it's always about me!"

We were standing inside the building from which you entered the national park. Charlotte and me were doing what we usually did, arguing while everyone else stood behind us and watched.

"If I catch a significant bug-type, I can turn it into the park officials and get a Sun Stone. I can sell that for a lot of money Angela. We could always use more money."

"If you get us a Sun Stone, I'm holding onto it, I don't want you to sell a stone. I could use one, I dunno what I'll catch later!"

"I can earn us some money this way!"

"Would you like to buy a ticket into the park?" A very confused desk receptionist asked.

"Shut up!"


"You know" I said, "You want to catch a pokemon to get a Sun Stone, but those tickets cost so much, that the stone will pay for those."

"Don't remind me." Charlotte said. Quintcel was hovering beside her, waiting for a command. "Quint, we hunt now!"

"By your command Lady Charlotte." The two ran down a path, into the trees. I watched her run off.

"Does Charlotte know that you only get a Sun Stone by catching a bug-type in an insect catching contest?"

"Of course"

"Does she know the contest is tomorrow?"

"Probably not." Michael said. Desiree picked up her canvas and her Iggy.

"There is a beautiful fountain in the middle of the park, I'm thinking of capturing Iggy on the water." The two of them walked off into the trees.

"So, what are we doing today?" Saya asked. "I'd like to fight a Pincer and breaker it's pinchers off with ice beams of pain."

"You guys can go explore the park." I said, "Non-bug types are not supposed to be captured and Darheel can't be due already having been captured." I turned to Michael, "The two of us should go off alone…I need to be serviced." Michael grinned.

"I'll come with you." Anna said, "I want to be with you, and I just can't be alone right now." I froze upon hearing those words.

"…Excellent." Me and Michael began to wonder down a path, Anna riding on my back.

"Angela, why is Anna coming with us?" Michael asked.

"It's a long, blue balled story Michael. Trust me." That left the Worthless Rejects, Saya, and Darheel. Pecha looked around this group.

"Pecha who is I has been of the thinking. I need to raise my strength, so I am off to train! Those who wish, come with me!"

"Training? Ass kicking? I am there!" Saya said.

"I don't wanna train." Emily said, "I did too much of that before."

"Me too." Rush said.

"Rush will come with Pecha!" Pecha proclaimed. He shrugged.

"Alright." The three of them ran off into the trees.

"You know" Streak said, "I some times suspect that like their may be something wrong with that Pikachu." A master of observation that Streak. Trish was fluttering beside him, and just shook her head.

"Sometimes I think something is wrong with you." Trish mumbled. She flew over to Darheel, who wasn't looking at her. "You know, you and I haven't gotten much time to talk to each other Darheel, not for a while."

"I know Madame Trish." Darheel mumbled, looking into the trees. Emily and Streaked walked up beside him.

"Something wrong?" Emily asked. Darheel nodded, not turning away from the forest in front of him.

"I could hear…a voice, someone I once knew. I-I must investigate the source of this voice. Sir Streak, you will accompany me, I will not risk the safety of females."

"We're not just females!" Trish snapped, "I can do anything anyone with a penis can do, and I'll pull your eye out if you disagree!" Darheel didn't respond, instead entering the trees.

"If you wish to follow, then follow." He said. With that, Darheel leapt into the trees, followed by the others.

"I-I don't know if I can keep up!" Emily said, running behind Streak. Streak stopped, and bent over.

"On my back little awesome Shinx" Emily climbed on, and the two took off again. They emerged from the forest, and crossed into the tall grass.

Fun fact, for some stupid reason the National Park of Johto is in the shape of a pokeball with the bottom half made up of a mini forest, and the top is like a mini grass land. Less trees, more tall grass, cat tails, and things I'm allergic too.

Their were bug-types every where, but Darheel had focused in on one. A Scizor, the only one in the park probably, stood in front of a single tree. It was snapping off branches with it's claws.

The Scizor had one eye, with the other looking welded shut. It's wings were bent and its red steel skin was scorched. The left spike on his head was missing. The Scizor turned, to see Darheel skid to a stop.

"Outcast." He said.

"Hello Elim." Darheel said. Trish, Streak, and Emily all pulled in beside Darheel. Trish looked at the two.

"You know this guy?" She asked. Elim the Scizor laughed.

"Outcasts know nothing." Darheel bristled at this mention.

"What does outcast mean?" Emily asked. Elim laughed.

"These pokemon who associate with you do not know of your status Outcast?" Elim said, while managing to suppress a giggle. "You did not tell them? Well I can not say I am surprised Outcast, if I were like you I wouldn't tell anyone either."

"What are you doing here Elim?" Darheel asked, "I can not imagine you willingly leaving our swarm. Unless you were captured." Elim bristled (about as well as a steel-type could) at this. He growled something, and laughed.

"Yes, despite my best efforts I was captured by a hum-mon" He said, mispronouncing the word as he spoke, "This is irrelevant though as I refuse to offer my services to a lesser species such as them. I will be leaving this place as soon as I can."

"Elim, in my time of knowing you" Darheel said, "I found you to be annoying, arrogant, and worthless. You spent more time eating berries then training, and had I known you when you were a Scyther, I'd wonder how you were able to evolve. If you were caught, it was due to your own incompetence. You should feel grateful to serve a human, they might give some value to your life." Elim ignored most of this.

"Why do you call Darheel Outcast?" Trish asked. "He has a name you know."

"Outcasts are to only be referred to by their position within Scizor society." Elim stated. Darheel now had gone quiet. "When a Scyther or Scizor meet another when in the world, they are to ask what the others place is. Outcasts have no place, no name, they are not even considered to have a gender. They aren't one of us, they are empty vessels, who good Scyther and Scizor do not associate with."

"That's both terrible and stupid." Trish said, "Why would they not have a gender? It makes no sense!"

"Why are Scizor so mean?" Emily asked. Elim turned his back to them.

"I do not need to speak to you. If you are associated with the Outcast, then you are not worth my time. I am above you." Elim then exited their presence.

"That guy is a dick head." Streak said. "The ocean will never wash him clean." Darheel just watched him.

"He is correct, I have been delegated to the position of Outcast." Darheel said. "It is not something that I speak about though."

"Why not tell us?" Trish asked.

"It is not your concern." Darheel replied, "It is my own personal shame. It is why I do not speak of my past. The way of Scyther and Scizor is simple, their standing within their swarm, or where they stood, determines their worth as living creatures. Mine…I have no worth among others of my own species."

"You have worth with us." Emily said. Darheel looked down and smiled.

"I know Ms. Emily. I have worked hard to show my worth among others not of my own species. It does hurt though to a certain degree, knowing among my swarm I have no name, no identity. My own mother is still with them, she would no longer be able to speak my name, to her I am Outcast. You understand how I feel I am sure." Trish thought about it.

"My mother is a psychopath who ruled our flock through fear and death. I left willingly. Not something I ever speak about." Trish said. "So, no I do not know how you feel, I'd be ecstatic to be a fucking Outcast. It would rock!"

"Hey, little Emily chick?" Streak asked, "I don't want to rock the boat, but my back is starting to crack, and if you don't get off I might die. If you want to keep riding the Streak, that's awesome, but don't be surprised if I lapse into a coma."

"Okay!" Emily chirped. She then curled up into a ball and went to sleep on Streak. Streak smiled, then collapsed on the ground. Darheel and Trish didn't notice.

"Darheel, why are you an outcast?" Trish asked.

"I'm not an outcast, I am Outcast, it is my name to others." Darheel said. "As for why, I will first state this Madame Trish, I am not responsible for my title. In fact, everything I am blamed for only occurred because when a Scyther or Scizor commits a crime against the swarm, their entire blood line must be purged."

"Okay, I believe you." Darheel sat down.

"My family consisted of three members Madame Trish, my father, my mother, and myself. My mother was rendered unable to have another egg after mine for reasons I do not understand, and as such I had no siblings. I was three years old when I left my swarm, I'm five years now.

"My father was a negotiator for our swarm, he negotiated peace with other pokemon, and he kept them from stealing our food most of the time. Their were always exceptions of course, when some species just did not like our swarm.

"During my third year, in our forest their was a severe draught, and we ran out of food despite conservation. We had to relocate to another area, and then we ran into a problem. A group of displaced Magmar and Magby had taken over a dry region for reasons I do not understand. The dry region they controlled separated our forest from another with plenty of food, and the Magmar did not like Scizor or Scyther. No, that's not quiet exact, they loathed us and wanted to see us wiped off the map, burn down our forest, and expand their territory.

"My father was sent to negotiate with the Magmar, trading our old territory to them in exchange for safe passage. If anyone could get us safe passage, it would have been my father, and he seemed to succeed. The Magmar agreed to let us pass safely, sparing the lives of all three hundred of us."

"So what went wrong?" Trish asked. Darheel paused.

"I must admit I do not understand how it happened, or what my father sought to gain. We moved through the dry lands, Scizor flanking our group, when the Magmar attacked us." Darheel's eyes water for a second, then dried. "Our Scizor fought valiantly, to the death, while I and my mother, along with the majority of our swarm ran. We managed to escape after four days of running from attacks, but one hundred and twelve of us, my father included, were killed.

"The leaders of our swarm searched for a motive, deciding that my father most likely exchanged safe passage for only him, my mother, and myself, with the Magmar choose not to honor their end of the deal. As such, my father had been punished for his transgressions, but his blood line still existed inside of the swarm, in me."

"Darheel I—"

"Please allow for me to finish Madame Trish, and then you may speak your words." Trish nodded and Darheel finished. "I had two choices, execution or to become an outcast. I selected the latter, and as such I became Outcast, banished and to walk the earth without a swarm until I die. By the time Lady Angela captured me, it had been two years since I left, and I'd still not quit thinking about it."

"So how does Elim come into this?" Trish asked.

"Elim was one of the few Scizor to survive the attack, though why he was one of the ones guarding the swarm I will never grasp. He was an awful fighter without honor, greedy, cowardly, and generally worthless. During the fight he ran away to save his own life, but they never punished him. He was one of the first to join in the hunt to eliminate my fathers blood line, and personally escorted me away from our swarm."

"He's a creep then." Trish said.

"I am not fond of him." Darheel said, "If I were a Scizor and not Outcast, I would challenge him to combat for the express purpose of ending his life, with more honor and dignity then he would show me. I heard his voice, I had to see if he was now Outcast, and though I am ashamed to admit it, I wanted to know just to partake of his misery. To know that he who made me so unhappy could now feel the same sorrow, it would be good." Trish nodded.

"Can I ask you one question?"

"You may always Madame Trish."

"Do you think your father did it?" Darheel looked at Trish, then the grass, then at the other two sleeping, then at the sky.

"Lady Angela will soon come looking for us. We really must be returning."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I know."