GRRRROOOOOOWWWWLLLLL

My head snapped off the wall I was dozing against, and I frantically looked around to find the source of the deep growl. Before I could find anything, the carriage suddenly jerked to a halt, and I yelped as I was unceremoniously tossed to the floor. Fumbling around, I tried to regain my bearings. Eventually, I was able to get my paws underneath me, and I jerked myself to my feet. With a spinning head, I anxiously searched for whatever had made such a loud noise.

I looked towards Fabian to ask what was going on, but I paused when I saw his face was scrunched up, and the usually blue scales on his snout were turning a weird shade of purple. As soon as our eyes met, however, he bellowed out with the loudest laugh I had ever heard. I watched dumbfounded as he threw his head back and guffawed, slapping a paw on his knee. I had no idea what was going on. One second there was a growl like a charizard was attacking us. Next, Fabian was laughing in my face like a moron.

There was a knock on the top of the carriage, and the dewott's muffled voice called from outside. "Is everything okay?" he asked, sounding just as confused as I felt.

"Yeah," Fabian managed to say before he was overcome with another fit of laughter. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, working to suppress his mirth long enough to answer. "It was just the ol' belly letting me know it's lunch time," He said, accentuating his statement with a big slap to his stomach.

"Oh, um, okay," The coachman said, and in a few moments, the carriage jerked into motion once again.

I stumbled as the carriage moved from underneath me. But I managed to catch myself before my chin struck the bench, and I shot Fabian a withering glare. "That was just your stomach?" I asked.

Fabian chuckled and patted his belly a few more times. "That's how you know when a pokémon is really hungry," he said. I rolled my eyes and got back into my seat, situating myself in the most comfortable position I could manage. I turned around to say something else, but I stopped when I saw what was in front of me.

My whole view was filled with the scarlet ridges of the feraligatr's back. Fabian had leaned all the way forward until his head was placed in between his knees. His claws fumbled around underneath his seat as he searched for a particular item stowed below, mumbling quietly to himself with each object he pulled from the space below his bench. I watched him from my position, lying comfortably across the seat, my tails curling over the backrest while my paws laid crossed in front of me. He seemed to be having difficulty finding the thing he was looking for because he pulled out item after item only to grumble and return it.

Fabian suddenly let out a surprised grunt and sat up in his seat as he pulled something out from below. He held a small leather bag in his claws, the same bag my father had given me. Fabian inspected the bag with a raised eyebrow, turning it around in his paws so he could examine every inch of it. He then looked at me and gave me a soft smile before placing the bag in the empty seat next to him, muttering something along the lines of, "save that for later." He grunted and leaned forward to reach below his bench once more. I could hear him fumbling around for a few more seconds before he let out a triumphant, "Aha."

Fabian sat up straight once again, holding a small crate in his claws. His eyes sparkled, and a wide grin stretched across his muzzle as he pried the lid off. The feraligatr carelessly tossed the top to the side and reached into the box. I could not see inside the crate from my position, but I could assume there was more than one object inside because Fabian wiggled his claws around as if he was moving something out of his way to reach his desired goal. I saw his claws grab hold of something, and I watched with a perplexed frown as he proceeded to pull out a… Berry?

Fabian looked at me and lifted the berry into the air as if it was some great trophy or piece of art he wanted all to see. "This right here Ninetales," Fabian said, putting extra emphasis on the word ninetales and giving me a jaunty wink as he said it. "This is the lifeblood of all adventurers everywhere."

I eyed him suspiciously. This had to be a joke. He spoke as if he was holding some kind of magical artifact capable of bringing a pokémon back from the dead. Yet, in between his claws, he only had a single sky blue berry.

I had to admit, the berry did look appetizing. Its light blue skin caught the light shining through the window and reflected it outwards, causing the berry to sparkle like a diamond in the glow of the sun. While its round shape and the small indents formed on the skin by Fabian's claws suggested it was soft and juicy.

As I inspected the tantalizingly delicious looking berry, I realized just how hungry I felt. I had not eaten breakfast this morning, and the hustle of getting shipped out like a peasant had kept my mind too occupied to focus on the lack of food.

Now, as I gazed towards the delectable blue berry in the feraligatr's paw, I could feel my mouth water. My stomach let out a small growl as if it was trying to tell me to stop admiring and just eat the dang thing.

Fabian must have noticed my hungry gaze because he leaned forward and held out the berry, "Would you like to try it?" he asked.

I blinked at the sound of his voice as if I was coming out of a trance. I shook my head and tried my best to regain all of my regal composure, absent-mindedly running a paw through my mane. I looked away from the berry and turned my gaze towards the feraligatr's infuriatingly happy face, holding my head high in defiance to his joyous expression. "Yes, I would," I said curtly, giving him a small nod as if he had received my permission to share a berry with me.

Fabian smirked and gave the berry in his claws a little toss. I watched as the small fruit flew in a gentle arc, only to land dumbly in between my front paws. I glared bewilderingly at the fruit sitting at my feet for a few seconds before I looked back at Fabian, fixing him with a questioning look. The feraligatr in front of me leaned back into his seat and gave me a nod of his own as if he was now giving me permission to eat the fruit he had gifted me.

I briefly glanced at the berry between my paws before returning my gaze to the feraligatr. "I need a plate," I said with an expectant look.

Fabian smirked and raised an eyebrow, his eyes sparkling playfully. "Did you bring a plate?" he questioned, annoyingly responding to my question with a question of his own.

My brow furrowed in irritation, and I huffed quietly. I raised my chin higher, trying my best to show him I was still royalty, even without my title, and he was supposed to treat me as such. "No I did not," I responded, not bothering to hide the annoyance in my voice. "However, I need a plate."

Fabian's playful smirk was replaced with a questioning smile, while his eyebrow raised itself even further. "Now what would you need a plate for?" He inquired as he reached to scratch underneath his scarred chin before making a loose gesture towards my outstretched paws. "You've got some perfectly good paws right there."

My head went back as my ears flattened against my skull. I could feel my mouth fall open as the meaning of his words struck me. He expected me to eat off my paws, something I had not done since I was a kit. my eyes narrowed, and I glared at Fabian. "I will not be eating from my paws like a wild pokémon," I spat with enough venom in my voice to rival any poison type. "A princess should never act in such a savage manner."

Fabian chuckled and grabbed another berry from the crate, utterly unfazed by my outburst. "All right then, I'll be sure to tell any princesses I meet they should starve instead of eating a perfectly good berry from their paws," He said. Then tossed the berry he held in his paw into his mouth and chewed contentedly, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the fruit.

My mouth flapped open and closed like a magikarp out of the water. I tried to think of some kind of retort, a way to jab back at him. Yet nothing came to my mind, so I turned my anger towards the berry sitting between my paws.

I glared at the small blue fruit laying on my paws, imagining how pleasing it would feel to smash it onto the floor of the carriage. However, the more I looked at the glistening blue skin of the berry, the more my hunger grew as my stomach released another growl.

This was probably the most hungry I had ever felt in my life. Back in the castle, whenever I felt just the slightest twinge of hunger, I would send Jeni to get me a small snack from the kitchens. Now, the kitchens were miles away, and I was lying on a bench with a berry in my paws. My mouth watered as I imagined biting into the sweet fruit. The plump, round features of the berry tantalizingly suggesting there was plenty of delicious juice just waiting to be enjoyed.

I huffed and turned my gaze away from the tasty looking fruit, trying to force any thoughts of food and berries out of my mind. I must not lower myself to such barbaric actions. I was royalty, the pinnacle of high etiquette and elegance. I could not possibly resort to eating from my own paws.

My gaze turned towards the window, looking at the passing clouds to occupy myself, yet the constant pangs of hunger coming from my stomach never ceased. I shifted slightly in my seat, trying to see if a little bit of movement would take my mind off the annoying pain coming from below. Yet, my stomach still held my full attention, crying out to be both figuratively and literally as another growl sounded from my abdomen.

I could feel my resolve crumbling. Every little thing around me seemed to be striving to break my will. Even my own senses were fighting against me. My ears were bombarded with the sounds of Fabian chewing berry after berry. At the same time, my sensitive nose was filled with the deliciously sweet aroma coming from the crate full of fruit held in the feraligatr's paw. My mouth watered in anticipation, and my stomach always reminded me of its empty state. It was all made worse by the sight of the plump berry I had lying in front of me.

This was the worst part of my whole situation. I literally had a berry sitting on my paws, just waiting to be eaten. It would be so easy just to lower my head and eat it. I could practically hear it calling to me, giving me promises of joy and satisfaction if I just gave in and ate like any normal pokémon.

I used to be a princess. I used to be the one to uphold the highest standards of etiquette, but now I was nothing, and it was all my parent's fault.

As a new thought entered into my mind, I smirked. My parents had worked so hard to educate me with royalty's proper mannerisms, and I had obeyed and had taken every lesson to heart. Now, my reward for my obedience was being sent off to a faraway land to live like a commoner.

Fine then, if my parents wanted me to live like a peasant, then I'll act like a peasant, just to spite them and all the years of work they put into teaching me good manners.

My mind was made. I glanced out of the corner of my eye towards the feraligatr as he devoured his food. I waited until I saw him toss another berry into his mouth and close his eyes to enjoy the flavor before I made my move.

My head darted forward, moving much like an arbok when it strikes, my mouth parting just wide enough to fit the berry inside. My teeth closed around the berry, my sharp canines gripped onto the flesh of the fruit with just enough force to dent the skin but not break it. I moved my head away from my paws and shot another tense glance towards the feraligatr sitting opposite me, making sure he had not seen a thing.

With a soft sigh, my body relaxed. The feraligatr had not seen anything. His eyes remained closed in gusto as he continued to chew the berry he had in his mouth. I turned away and focused on my own berry, taking a deep breath and biting into the fruit. The plump berry promptly burst under the pressure, and its juice washed over my tongue.

My eyes widened in surprise. It was one of the most delicious things I had ever tasted in my life. Even the castle bakers, who spent their whole lives perfecting their pastries, had never made something as sweet as this.

I chewed faster, trying to squeeze as much of the delicious juice out of the fruit as I could. Before I could stop myself, I swallowed what was left of the berry, leaving my mouth feeling empty and sad. I rolled my tongue around my maw and licked furiously at my teeth as I tried to taste every last bit of the delicious fruit. But I was soon left with nothing but a dry mouth and a desire for more.

I expected my stomach to be satisfied after eating the berry which captivated my attention. I was mistaken as my stomach let out another growl, crying out like a pidgey chick wanting more food from its mother. I frowned and turned my head to fix my midsection with a disapproving look, as if I was scolding it for making such a loud noise.

"So," a voice said.

My head shot upwards at the sound of the unexpected voice, my gaze flying over to the only pokémon who could have spoken to me. I found Fabian with his eyes still closed and mouth still chewing on the remnants of a berry. I stared as he chewed for a few more seconds before he swallowed and opened his eyes, his amber irises meeting my azure one's. The corners of his lips pulled into a slight smile before he spoke again. "Did you like it?" he asked, his eyes shimmering with mirthful energy.

My eyes widened, and my head jerked backward, "I-I. B-But how?" I stammered, my ears flattening against my skull. I had watched him the whole time, his eyes hadn't opened, how could he possibly have known?

Fabian's smile widened further, his lips sliding back to reveal rows of sharp white teeth reflecting the midday sun. His teeth clenched together while his cheeks pulled upwards to form the toothy grin I was getting really tired of seeing. "You moaned," he stated as his eyebrows raised in expectation of my reaction.

I gasped softly, and my mouth fell open. I reached upwards with a paw to cover my open mouth while my eyes widened, feeling like they were about to pop out of my skull. My tails stiffened behind me, rustling as they pushed outwards from their naturally curled position. I could not believe it, I didn't remember making a single noise.

Fabian chuckled, and I could feel my cheeks burn. He reached to scratch underneath his chin. "Don't worry about it," he said, lazily waving his paw in the air as if he was fanning away the fumes of embarrassment. "I've heard some pokémon make far stranger sounds when they try their first oran berry."

My ears perked as my expression changed from embarrassed to curious at the sound of the new word. "That was an oran berry? Why have I never had one before?" I asked.

Fabian shrugged. "There's a law that says they're supposed to be only for explorers, rescuers, the like."

My brow furrowed. It seemed absurd such a delectable fruit should be reserved for such a low class of pokémon. "That is ridiculous," I stated matter of factly, turning my head to gaze out of the window, "Who was the simpleton to make such a law?"

I hadn't asked him. It was a rhetorical question to no one in particular. Still, Fabian took it upon himself to answer the question anyway. "I believe it was your mother," he said.

I stiffened and turned my eyes to glare at the feraligatr. My expression soured as I fixed him with an icy stare. Fabian stared back at me with his maddening, goofy smile before he chuckled and pointed half-heartedly at my scowling muzzle. "Oh Arceus above, I feel like I'm back in the good ol' days with your mother," Fabian said as he began staring wistfully above my head. "I'll never get tired of being on the receiving end of that icy look your mother loved to give me."

I pursed my lips and looked away from Fabian before I slowly drew in a long, steady breath, and I turned to look him in the eye. "Why does she care?" I asked in a calm voice, the singular word cutting through the air like a dagger.

Fabian's smile faltered, his expression shifting at the sight of my behavior. "You see," he started, shifting slightly in his seat to better situate himself for a long explanation. "When I first showed you an Oran Berry I said, 'This is the lifeblood of all rescuers,' or something of the like."

I cocked my head slightly to the side in contemplation, "You said 'adventures' the first time," I said.

Fabian smirked and waved his claws dismissively, "Whatever. I said it because Oran Berries have amazing healing properties," he said before he gestured towards his scar covered body, "And seeing how adventurers get pretty banged up every once and a while, we need them in order to heal up."

My gaze traveled over the scarred body of the feraligatr, inspecting every pink line cutting across his turquoise scales. My eyes returned to his face, focusing on the smaller scars dotting across his muzzle. His rugged snout was covered in so many small crisscrossing pink marks, although many of them were pulled into thin white lines by the never-ending smile on his face. "They obviously do not work very well," I said flatly.

Fabian laughed at my comment, his scaly chest bouncing as he did so. "Take this as a lesson Ninetales," he said as he once again gestured towards his scars. "Always bring more oran berries than you think you'll need."

My ears lowered when he called me Ninetales. I could feel the corners of my mouth, trying to twist their way into a scowl. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing all my emotions, and removing any type of expression from my face.

I opened my mouth, planning on giving the feraligatr a witty retort. But I was kept silent as my stomach released another hungry growl, and I cringed. I had hoped the berry would have been enough to keep back the pestering sounds coming from my stomach, but it was obviously not enough.

My hunger did not go unnoticed by Fabian as a smirk pulled onto his face at the sound. He reached into the crate in his paw, pulled out another small blue oran berry, and extended it towards me. "Would you like another one?" he asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

My gaze focused on the berry. "Yes." I said, my flat tone wavering in anticipation of another chance to enjoy the delicious fruit.

The feraligatr once again gave the berry a little toss, making sure the plump fruit landed in between my outstretched paws. As soon as the oran berry landed in front of me, I began moving my head forward to grab it between my teeth. However, before my maw got very close to the berry, I briefly glanced towards the feraligatr sitting opposite me. He stared at me expectantly, still grinning like an idiot.

I turned my head away from the oran berry to look Fabian straight in the eye before I spoke, my face set in an annoyed frown. "What are you doing?" I asked.

Fabian's head shifted backward, and his eyes widened slightly at my question. He gave me a small shrug as his smirk changed into a slight smile. "I don't know, is there something I'm supposed to be doing?" he asked.

"Do not look at me while I eat," I said, staring straight into Fabian's eyes challengingly. Fabian chuckled but complied, turning away from me to gaze blissfully out of the window. I turned back towards the berry I held between my paws and slowly lowered my head, taking my time instead of striking quickly the way I did before. I gently took the oran berry into my maw and began chewing, trying my best to savor the juices instead of swallowing immediately.

I had to stifle another small moan of enjoyment I felt rising from my chest. The deliciously sweet juices still managed to surprise me even though this was my second berry. I chewed slowly, enjoying every last drop of juice I could squeeze out. As I swallowed, I could practically feel my stomach celebrating the arrival of the food it so strongly desired. Yet, after a brief period of satisfaction, my stomach again called out with a growl, crying like an impatient child at the dinner table.

I turned impassively towards Fabian, focusing on not showing him any emotion. "I would like some more," I stated, my tone making my statement sound more like a command than a request.

Fabian turned away from the window at my voice and reached into the crate to pull out another berry. However, instead of a bright blue oran berry, he held a slightly smaller pink berry between his claws. "Try this one," he said, tossing it towards me.

I inspected the new fruit as it landed in between my paws. It did not sparkle in the light as the oran berry did. Instead, it seemed to absorb the light, giving it a soft glow. "What is it?" I asked, nudging it with my paw.

"It's a pecha berry," said Fabian, as he tossed his own pink berry into his mouth. "Try it, it's good."

My gaze returned slowly to the soft pink fruit before I rolled it towards me. I tentatively grabbed it in my maw and bit into it. My eyebrows twitched slightly as the flavor of the pink berry hit my taste buds. The juice was sour, yet sweet enough for the sourness to not be unpleasant. It reminded me of the lemonade I would get in the castle. It was good, but I enjoyed the oran berry more. I finished it rather quickly, and after I swallowed, I turned back towards Fabian and was greeted by a paw right in front of my face.

The cheeky feraligatr already had another berry in his outstretched paw. However, this one wasn't blue or pink, but red. My brows furrowed in confusion, "How many berries do you have?" I asked with a curious look.

The feraligatr's happy grin was replaced with a contemplative expression as he withdrew his paw and reached back into the crate. He searched around inside the wooden box as he mumbled something under his breath. He pulled his fist out and extended it in front of me, his claws opening to reveal five different colored berries sitting on his palm. I recognized the blue oran berry and the pink Pecha berry, but I could not identify the red, purple, and green berries sitting next to them.

"Alright, these are the five essential adventurer berries." Fabian said as he used his thumb to point at different berries in his palm. "You've already had an oran and a pecha berry," said Fabian as he gestured to the blue berry and then the pink berry. "And this is a cheri berry, a chesto berry, and a rawst berry," Fabian stated, pointing first at the red berry, then the purple berry, and then the green berry. "They are called the adventurer berries because they all have special effects which are very useful for adventurers."

Fabian placed the crate onto the bench and used his now free claws to pick the blue berry from his palm. "I already told you an oran berry has special healing properties, they are probably the most useful berry out of them all just cause we adventurers are always getting ourselves into scraps." He put the oran berry back into his paw and pulled out the pink Pecha berry. "Pecha berries help to get rid of poison and cure infections." Fabian returned the Pecha berry and then withdrew the red berry from the pile. "Cheri berries can kick someone out of paralysis so they can keep moving." Next, he pulled the purple berry. "And chesto berries can be used to wake someone when they've been put to sleep or hypnotised by some pokémon." Lastly, he held the green berry. "Finally, rawst berries are helpful for dealing with burns and cooling someone off."

"Here," he said, leaning forward and depositing the three new berries in front of me. "Try them out."

I silently looked at the berries then turned to stare at Fabian. He stared back expectantly until he finally realized why I was looking at him. He chuckled and turned his head to look towards the window, giving me the privacy I wanted while I ate.

I ate the berries one by one, taking my time to pick out all the berries' individual flavors. The Cheri berry was slightly spicy, leaving me licking my lips to quell the soft burn. While the Chesto berry was incredibly sweet, too sweet for my liking. The Rawst berry surprised me, it didn't have much taste, but it left my mouth feeling cold as if I had just eaten a mint leaf.

When I finished eating the last berry, I turned to look back at Fabian. He was still staring blissfully out the window, so I cleared my throat to get his attention. "You said my mother was the one to make the laws concerning the use of adventurer berries?" I inquired and received a small nod from the feraligatr in reply. "Why would my mother care about these berries in the first place?"

Fabian scratched at his chin as he contemplated my question, his eyebrows scrunching together in deep thought. "Have your parents ever told you how they met?" he finally asked, the topic of his question catching me off guard.

I shook my head as my own eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Of course, they never shut up about it," I said before I fixed him with a questioning look, "What does this have to do with the berries?"

"I'll explain in a minute." responded Fabian, holding his claws out in front of him. "What exactly do you know about your parent's meeting?"

I absent-mindedly ran a paw through my mane while I thought over his question. "My mother was kidnapped during some kind of rebellion and my father was the one to rescue her," I answered after a brief pause. "I still do not see how this has anything to do with the berries."

"Patience, patience," chuckled Fabian, slapping a paw onto his stomach as he laughed. "Let me explain, it'll all make sense in a minute." Fabian cleared his throat and sat up in his seat before he continued. "What you said was right though, there was a lot of civil unrest at the time and your mother was kidnapped by rebels who were trying to threaten your grandparents. Your father and I were just junior explorers in the expedition society while all this was happening, and we had been trying to climb to the next rank for the past few months. So when your grandparents put out a bounty for your mother's rescue, your father immediately saw it as an opportunity to finally make it to the next rank."

My head cocked slightly to the side as I listened to the feraligatr's story. I had heard this tale a thousand times before, but I had never heard it from the perspective of the duo, which went to rescue my mother. "The bounty was supposed to only be for senior ranked explorers, but your father didn't care. He snuck into one of the leader's offices and stole a sheet with the basic information needed to complete the bounty."

Fabian's gaze grew distant with each passing word, and his eyes lost more and more focus until they became fully glazed over. His smile softened as he wistfully remembered the past while he continued with his story. "We set out with barely any supplies, your father was just so excited to get going. We followed the instructions on the sheet your father stole until we made it to a mystery dungeon on the northern side of Kalia. I don't know how, I guess Arceus was on our side, but we were the first explorers to find the group which kidnapped your mother."

Fabian snorted and laughed while one of his paws slapped onto his knee, briefly filling the carriage with the sound of scales smacking against scales. "Your father was smitten the second he saw your mother, that's why he had me go distract the guards while he went to break her out of the cage they put her in. He sure took his sweet time talking to her, while I got my backside handed to me by those rebels. They probably would have beaten me senseless had your father not blinded them and gotten us all out with an escape orb."

The feraligatr's eyes focused back onto my form, and his toothy grin widened at the sight of me. "Don't fall out of your seat just yet, the story's barely started."

I started and looked at myself to see what he meant. I found myself leaning forward in my seat, anxiously clinging to every word he said. I quickly sat back and tried my best to appear uninterested, but it was too late. The feraligatr had already noticed my eager posture.

Fabian scoffed at how I tried to hide my interest, but luckily, he decided to keep any further comments to himself. He turned towards the left side window and pointed out. "You can actually see the mountain where the rebels brought your mother, it's the one with the white cap next to the…"

He suddenly stopped speaking, and the abrupt lack of sound grabbed my attention. I looked over at him and was surprised to see his usually unvarying grin had disappeared, leaving his face in a shocked expression as his maw hung open. His eyes shook, and I saw something in them I never expected to see in the water type.

Fear

I could feel my chest tighten, and my heart beat faster in my chest. It felt as though a bucket of freezing water was thrown over my body as I was filled with a sense of impending doom. Whatever could scare the feraligatr in front of me must be something dangerous.

I lifted myself to peer out of the window, trying to find out for myself what it was. As I gazed anxiously out of the window, I saw nothing but the endless green landscape I'd been looking at all day. Until a small group of pokémon entered my field of view.

The group was walking in the opposite direction, so I didn't have long to take in their appearance. It was a group of three bipedal pokémon. I recognized one of them as a grovyle and another to be a mienshao. However, the third pokémon was a complete mystery to me.

It had bright yellow fluffy sections of fur covering his forearms, legs, chest, and head. The yellow areas of hair covered over what seemed to be a black shorthaired undercoat visible around his feet, upper arms, abdomen, and face. Its face and snout were undoubtedly feline, and the cat-like characteristics didn't stop there. It had sharp black ears poking out of the yellow fur on its head and bright blue whiskers sticking out from each side of its muzzle. Small patches of blue hair lined the feline pokémon's body. In addition to the blue whiskers on its face, there was a blue patch on its chest. And sticking into the air like a horn was a streak of blue fur. The blue contrasted nicely with the yellow and black to create a very unique and visible form.

I turned back to look at Fabian and had my vision filled with the still shocked expression on his face. I watched as his snout slowly turned, following the passing group of pokémon, his wide eyes following the trio. "What is going on?" I whispered.

Fabian jerked sharply at the sound of my voice, snapping his head away from the glass he had pressed his snout against. He inhaled quickly through his nose and cleared his throat, reaching to rub at his temples. "It's nothing, don't worry about it." he said quickly, waving his paw in the air to push away my worries.

I wasn't so easily turned away though, "Like distortion it is nothing!" I said, practically shouting. My lungs twinged with each inhalation, forcing me to take short, shallow breaths.

I wasn't going to admit it, but the way he had been staring out of the window scared me. I hadn't known the feraligatr for long, but I could tell he was the type to not get intimidated by anything. He would face an entire army on his own and do it with a smile. Yet, whatever he saw in the passing trio of pokémon had spooked him, I saw it in his eyes, and now he wanted to turn around and tell me it was nothing.

"You were staring at them as if they were about to attack us!" I said with a furious shake of my head, causing a few curls of my mane to fall across my face.

"It wasn't them…I just…thought I saw something." he said with an exasperated sigh.

"No! It definitely was them. Your eyes were glued to them like mud to a diggersby." I snapped and took in a shaky breath, my life could be in danger, and it filled me with so much dread I could feel another episode coming. Yet he wanted to keep secrets, to hide the truth from me.

And it pissed me off.

"I am not going to be kept in the dark," I said through gritted teeth as my heart pounded in my chest. "Are they outlaws?"

"No, if anything they're from the exploration society, and besides, it was only one of them that…" he started, only to get cut off by me.

"Only one of them," I interrupted. "Was it the weird yellow one? I have never seen a pokémon like it before, I never even learned about it in my studies. There should not be…"

"Ninetales, stop," Fabian suddenly barked, now taking his turn to interrupt the other. I opened my mouth to continue my tirade, but he quickly silenced me with a raised paw, a single white claw pointing into the air to demand I wait. "I'm sorry I frightened you, what I saw was just not something I expected to see for a long time."

My eyes widened slightly, and I defensively curled into myself. I had almost fallen into another episode, and the feraligatr had seen it. He couldn't know, nobody could know, I had to find a way to hide it.

My musings were cut short as he continued, "Yes, it was the 'weird yellow one' like you said. That was a Zeraora, a very rare, and very powerful pokémon."

"Zeraora," I mouthed, trying the word out on my tongue. It was a bizarre name. Why had I never heard of it before? I was supposed to have learned about every pokémon during my studies, yet I had never heard about a zeraora. My attention was pulled out from my thoughts as the feraligatr continued his explanation.

"Don't worry if you haven't heard of it before," he said, quickly discerning the confusion on my face. "Very few pokémon even know of its existence, like I said, it's very rare. That's why I was so surprised to see one just meandering down the street."

My eyes narrowed, and I glared at him. The way he had been staring at the passing group of pokémon wasn't out of curiosity. He fidgeted under my gaze and rubbed his paws together.

"There is something you are not telling me." I stated, causing him to raise his head to meet my stern gaze.

Fabian pursed his lips, "There are things you wouldn't understand." he responded flatly, his grim expression mirroring my own.

I scoffed. "Like what? I am a princess. I received the best education in the kingdom. "What could a commoner like you know which I do not?" I asked.

At my comment, Fabian's mouth pulled into a dry, humorless smile. "Experience is a better teacher than any scholar in the world, Ninetales. I've been to almost every corner of the frost continent, I've seen, fought, and spoken to many types of pokémon your teachers could only dream of," He said in a low voice.

I huffed and looked away, "Whatever," I said, tossing my head to move the locks of my mane that had fallen across my face. I glared out of the window, watching the billowing white clouds drift above us as they floated away without a care in the world. Endless thoughts circled around in my mind as I thought over what had just happened.

There was something more to that zeraora than Fabian was letting on. He wouldn't have been staring at it the way he did if there wasn't something more. He said a zeraora is a very powerful pokémon, but power is a very flexible word. Was the zeraora able to wield incredible amounts of energy? Or did he have a lot of cultural influence? Or political clout. Or maybe even religious power. There were too many ways to interpret what was said, but there was one thing I did know.

The zeraora scared Fabian.

The clouds I watched drifted lazily through the air towards the mountains to the west, a low flying cloud parting around the tallest mountain's white peak. I was well acquainted with that mountain. It was known as Hoarfrost Peak. It was the tallest mountain in Kalia, and a few legends call it the birthplace of the ninetales, well, the ice type ninetales at least.

Legends say over thousands of years ago, a herd of wild ninetales got trapped by an avalanche near the very top of Hoarfrost Peak. To survive, they had to change ,and over time, they did. After hundreds of years, they finally descended the mountain as a new type of ninetales. These new ninetales wielded ice instead of fire, and their fur was soft and curled to better insulate against the cold. Their usual cream-colored hair was replaced with a solid white coat, which blended seamlessly with the snow. And dazzling blue irises had taken the place of the red eyes of normal ninetales.

My brows furrowed as a thought struck me, Hoarfrost Peak was the mountain Fabian was pointing to before the zeraora caught his attention. This means Hoarfrost Peak was where my mother had been brought after she had been kidnapped. He said they had escaped from the rebels with some help from my father, but I knew the story didn't end there.

"What happened next?" I asked the feraligatr without even looking towards him.

I heard him shuffle in his seat, and he let out a questioning, "Hmm?"

A sigh escaped my lips. "After you escaped from the rebels. What happened next?" I asked again, still gazing lazily out of the window.

Fabian chuckled, and I could hear the smile on his lips as he spoke. "Well, the rebels weren't none too happy to have their hostage taken from right beneath their noses. So they sent out a whole bunch of search parties to try and find us. They also took control of all the nearby towns so we wouldn't have anywhere to go to," he said as he began tapping absent-mindedly on a knee.

My eyes widened, and I turned to look at the feraligatr. "Helion City is a week's journey from Hoarfrost Peak. How did you manage to make it all the way back without getting caught?" I asked.

Another chuckle left Fabian's throat. "That's the thing. We didn't go back to Helion City," he said with a laugh.

My brows furrowed. "What?" I asked, and I was about to question him more before he stopped me with a raised paw.

"Let me explain," the feraligatr said before lowering his paw. "Your father had the bright idea of going back into the mystery dungeon we had just rescued your mother from."

I opened my mouth to make a witty remark on my father's terrible planning skills, but Fabian held up his paws. "Now hold on, I know it may seem like a terrible idea at first. Your mother constantly hounded him on it when he first presented his plan, but it was actually a very smart move on your father's part," he said before bringing his paws together with a loud clap. He leaned forward in his seat and rested his elbows on his knees.

"You see, everyone expected us to run straight towards Helion City. So who would have thought we would go back to the place we had just escaped from? Had we gone down the fastest path to the capital like your mother wanted, we would have been captured for sure," the feraligatr said and leaned back into his seat.

A doubtful frown pulled onto my face. "So then what? You were still stuck behind enemy lines and you could not hide forever." I said.

Fabian grinned, his pearly white teeth glinting in the midday sun. "Us sneaking back into the dungeon bought us precious time. After word got out that your mother found some way to escape, your grandparents immediately sent in the army to subdue the rebellion," he said.

"So that is it. You waited in the dungeon until the army arrived?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Heh heh, if only it was that easy," Fabian said, chuckling softly. "The rebels weren't going to go down without a fight, so they sent an assassin after your mother. This assassin was probably one of the most dangerous pokémon in the continent, and she had a perfect track record. We were forced to run around the dungeon like scared bunearies while she hunted us down."

"There were some times when she was this close to catching us," he said, holding up two claws a hairsbreadth apart. "We ran and ran until, one day, we got cornered. We had nowhere to go, so our only choice was to fight. We obviously stood no chance though. Two junior explorers and a princess against the continent's most dangerous assassin, it was going to be a slaughter."

A heavy sigh passed through the feraligatr's lips. "We tried our best, but we stood no chance. Most of my scars actually come from the fight with her. I tried to take her on my own because she was an excadrill and I had the type advantage, but she wiped the floor with me," he said as he rubbed an incredibly long scar across his chest.

"So there I was, laying on the ground in a bloody mess. Your parents were backed up against a wall, and they couldn't do anything against her, she had a type advantage over both of them. As I watched her approach, I thought we were finally done for." Fabian said, his expression turning solemn and severe for the first time since I had met him.

"Then, out of nowhere a pokémon came and attacked the assassin. For a second, I thought a wild had decided to attack her, but by the way he fought, you could tell he wasn't wild. This new pokémon was an electric type, so he was at a serious disadvantage, but he fought unlike anyone I had seen before. He danced around the excadrill like an oricorio, and she couldn't land a single hit on him. After a minute of ducking and weaving around the assassin, the new pokémon knocked her out with a few nasty kicks to the head," the feraligatr said and let out another long sigh.

"I was way too injured to make it out of the dungeon, so the new pokémon had your parents go on their own while he tended to my wounds," Fabian said before he paused and let out a chuckle. "The very first thing he said to me was 'Boy, she got you good,' and he was right, I was really messed up."

"Wait," I said. "My parents went on their own? On their own to where?"

Fabian clicked his tongue a few times. "They tried to find the road that led southwest to Helion City. Somehow they ended up getting turned around in the dungeon and they found themselves going north instead of southwest," he said.

"Heh heh, I can only imagine the tongue lashing your mother gave your father when she found out that they had been going in the wrong direction the whole time," The feraligatr said with a chuckle. "The other pokémon and I eventually found them, and we all walked back to Helion City together. It was right before we reached the capital, on the top of the hill, when your father finally took up the courage to confess the love he had for your mother, and he got a slap in the face for it."

My eyes widened as I remembered this detail he had said earlier today. "That still does not make any sense, my mother would never hurt anyone. Why would she hit him?" I asked.

"She was scared," the feraligatr said, his usual smile slowly returning to his face. "Because she loved him too, over their time together they had grown an incredibly strong bond, but she was a princess, and he was a common boy. She knew her parents would never accept the love that she had for him, so her only hope was that your father didn't return her feelings. However, as soon as he told her of his love, her whole world came crashing down."

Fabian brought his palms together in a vicious clap, the loud sound making me jump in my seat. "So she hit him, and it wasn't no love tap either, he got knocked clean off his feet. The poor guy just laid there, while your mother ran off to the nearest woods. Arceus, I couldn't imagine how your father must have felt. It probably didn't help that your mother was just like you." He said with a laugh.

I gave the feraligatr a wary frown. "What do you mean when you say 'Just like me'?" I asked.

"Hmmmm," He said and tapped a claw to his chin. "I mean, egotistical, short-tempered, prideful, witty, snarky, stuff like that, you know?"

My mouth fell open before a snarl pulled onto my face. "You-you cannot speak about royalty that way." I said.

"Hah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. You think that because you used to be a princess then I'm not allowed to insult you," Fabian said with another laugh. "Ninetales, this is going to be a very rough trip if you can't handle a few jabs."

I huffed and turned away from the feraligatr, looking towards the window and beyond as I thought over everything. The stupid feraligatr had a point.

This was going to be a very rough trip.

Thank you for reading through this chapter. I know it might be hard to read sometimes, but I think my writing is improving.

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