The Hybrid Journeys

Lunar Storm

Author to Reviewers notes and dedications:

invader mya and her yami's:

Erm, afraid not, otherwise it would ruin the story, sorreh =( But I will keep on writing! .

Hannah:

I know, in my sudden outburst of energy for writing the storeh, I completely forgot about spacing, guess you can call that enthusiastic :P ;)

Fierystreak:

LOL! Well, I had to do something to get the story movin' and it was by awarding everyone with a unique personality, unluckily, you had the one which was tough and ruthless on the outside because it was funneh =P Well, I have a stupid sense of humour, but then again '

Paladin Dragoon:

:P CHOCKIE FOR MEH! glomps bus-load of chocolate . Mmm, and no, it's not to late, like I told Fiery, you were sort of the carefree one, but your smart-pants nature will come in handy in this one, if not a bit exaggerated ' =)

Aphrode:

I know XX but it wouldn't be fun if everyone was to find each other like that now, would it xD

Gijinka Renamon:

Welcome aboard :P Please enjoy your stay and keep your limbs inside the vehicle at all times =P ;)

Zenith Chan:

Thanks for reviewing, it was actually you we all have to thank, because without your sudden review, I wouldn't have continued the storeh. I'm afraid however, you're the counts in head I think the 13th one to apply with a character, and so, to late, though you will have a special appearance in your normal form ;) Thank you hugglesome .

This chappie of Lunar Storm is dedicated to all those mentioned above! . With special thanks to Zenith for making me realise I needed to continue instead of abandoning things :P

A/N: Changed writing, eh, I like it like that, tell me what you think '''

Disclaimer: Nah, I don't own pokémon, hey, should I ask Santa if I could own pokémon as a christmas present?! . I do own my character 'Kat', which has appeared in Fierystreak's Fic 'Change of a heartbeat'

On with it then

Chapter 3: Reality check

So that's it... Six are we, and we are six. Off to find the next train station, off to find new hybrids... I hope...

There's Starmie, Mel, Ana, Vincent (( Xaero as we have formerly known him as, just remembered that Vincent was his name --''' )) Mya and me... We're not to different, we're not friendly. But I'm not complaining, we're rather weird as a group, but enough moralistic ideas for the day, we've got to get going. Or more precisely, I've got to move my bum before they lock me in this godforsaken shack...

"Day dreaming again, Kat?"Mel stated, in a matter-of-factly tone. I didn't say anything, but blushed at the comment, it was true, I have a tendency of spacing out some times.

"So, where is that train station..." Starmie asked, looking at the trees rather randomly. "Well, it ain't obviously gonna be in those bushes."Ana said roughly, staring at where the Clefable hybrid's gaze had fallen. "I know that!"She replied coldly, glaring at the Raichu hybrid, who glared back.

"This is getting us no where, Pyrite, relax, Rose, erm... Yeah, be cool in the face of fire..." I said, trying to cheer us all up, Starmie giggled, and Ana tutted...

You may be wondering why I said Pyrite and Rose, well. Ana's pendant is embedded with a Pyrite stone, and Starmie's has some beautiful rose quarts within. A pretty sight...

We're nicknamed after our pendant stone, I'm Lazuli, Xaero is Bloodstone, or he prefers Bloodhawk, Ana is Pyrite, Starmie is Rose for short. Mel is known as Agate, while Mya is Opal. I like nicknames, Opal and Pyrite thought them more as code names, since 'enemies' don't know who we're referring to if we call, "Go Rose, get him/her" Basically, another element of surprise...

So we set of, backpacks at hand, to the train station, Agate told us that the closest one wasn't that far, we would reach it easily under an hour. We discussed the pokémon we had, quietly, most of us had at least one Eevee, and Bloodhawk even had an Espeon and an Umbreon.

Time flew by, chatting to ourselves was peaceful, nobody let a rude remark slip them, nobody joked or pranked, just a normal everyday conversation, between some not so normal humans...

Finally arriving at a rather busy station, I have to admit, that didn't surprise me. It was rather modern, and better trains were running, there were still antique trains going though, leaving and arriving all over the place.

We decided to split up, I went with Opal, Agate with Bloodhawk, whilst Rose and Pyrite went together.

Yet we encountered no hybrids, and we were starting to attract attention to ourselves, two hooded forms, one pair after the other, looking around for something. I even began to loose hope in all this.

In this time, the pearl-tailed person had got off the train, and was reading the newspaper, still cloaked. Another girl was listening to some music, you could just see two black wires, trailing from her pocket into her hood, unluckily, she hadn't noticed her feathery tail poking out, and had caught the attention of a young boy, aged about six or seven. The boy tugged on his mothers arms, pointing rudely at the 'hybrid' listening to some music. The lady laughed, before nodding to her son. She then waved her hands in front of the girl, to catch her attention. The hooded figure looked up, removing the wires with what looked like normal hands, "May I help you?" She asked, not noticing her tail. "Yes, my son wanted to know where you got that tail attachment from, it looks like an old Halloween disguise!" She said, smiling gently, she obviously didn't look scared like most people did those days. "Oh... Erm...!" Said the girl, though it was not visible, she was blushing furiously at her stupidity (( No offence meant! )) Of leaving her tail out, "I got it at..." She continued, her eyes darting to one of the signs of an arrival city, "Corao city!" She said quickly, having trouble with finding a destination. "Oh, that's where we're going, thank you so much young lady." The mother said politely, turning her heals, and heading towards the train that was leaving for that city.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god that's over..." She said quietly to herself, putting her headphones back on, while tucking her tail away. The other one was still reading the paper, not far from her, yet she had already hid her tail.

Another person approached, it was a man of 17, dressed in a tunic of some sort, he looked imperial and the sword at his side made him look dangerous. He had a sneer on his face, even an evil grin, to a certain extent, as he approached the girl listening to some music. He waited, standing quiet near her, his sword on the ground, used to rest upon. He tutted, and said, "Hi!" Quiet loudly, as to catch her attention. She looked up again, "May I help you?" She repeated, bored with that game, "Yeah, interesting tail you've got there..." He said, it sounded like he was trying to get a point. "Huh?!" The girl asked, confused, "Oh come on, that is a real tail!" He exclaimed, emphasising the 'is' as if to prove something. Malice was in his eyes, while he eyed the girl with interest. "Don't know what you're talking about, leave me alone!" She said bluntly, going to put her headphones back on. The man sighed, before thumping his sword down in front of her, he had an evil look on his face, "You now what I mean!" He snarled, he had obviously lost his patience, yet the girl remained cool, "If you would get that sword out of my face, I might be able to catch my train!" She replied coolly, making her way to stand up, only to be stopped by the sword once again, "You're not going anywhere, hybrid scum..." He whispered dangerously to her. She started growling "I go where I please!" She whispered back.

The girl reading the paper lifted her head, and stood up discretely, watching the two curiously.

"Watch what you're saying! For it might be the last time you say summit!" He snarled again, raising his sword, reading to strike, but the girl had already gone, running through the crowd of people, only to bump into another hooded man. "Excuse me!" She said hurriedly, jumping to her feet, she heard some shouts, her aggressor was on her track, then a stumble, and then a sword clattering across the floor. She turned around, the person she knocked down had just tripped the armed man up.

"Wow." The being-chased girl said to herself, yet the pursuit wasn't over, her aggressor was getting up, and was facing the other one. "You.." He started, "Yes, go on, me what, ready to assault me with your dangerous weapon aye, next time, pick on someone your own size..." He said calmly, almost enjoying the scene.

She made a dash for the sword, picking it up before the armed one could. As soon as she touched it however, a huge surge of pain rushed through her body, as her aggressor laughed. The feathery tailed lady let it go quickly, backing off, while clinging to her arm, her tail had made itself visible once again, and screams were heard.

It was then when me and Opal made a dash towards the scene, the other guys maniacal laughing was still heard. As I arrived, cloak swishing, the aggressor had disappeared, along with the sword, and all that was left was the swaying music-listener girl, the paper-reading girl, and the tripper boy. The three were eyeing each other in curiosity, as I eyed the swaying lady's tail. "Look Opal, another hybrid!" I said quickly and quietly, she nodded, before heading over to her, "Are you okay little lady?" She asked kindly. "Nu-uh...!" She groaned, still clinging to her arm. "Erm... Can I do anything for you?" Opal asked again, "Yeah, you got a box of aspirin or summit!" She managed to say, the Suicune hybrid giggled nervously, "I'm afraid not, but the others might have something to help you..." She said, watching as the crowd kept well away from them.

I approached the girl I recognised, well... Sort of... There wasn't much to recognise when a person is cloaked... "Erm... Where you at Baiesa train station, a little while ago?" I asked, hoping to strike conversation. She looked at me, pondering her answer, "Yes... I was... Why?" She asked, trying to avoid the same scene as the other one. "Then you were the pearl tailed one... Don't worry, I mean no harm!" I added, trying not to scare, if I could have seen her, I would of noticed her surprised face. "Yes, I am..." She whispered back. "Erm... Could you follow me please...!" I asked, already doubting her answer. "Sure!" She said to my complete surprise.

I saw Pyrite and Rose rush over, "What happened?!" They both asked simultaneously, as Opal lead the still in pain girl over here. "Let me present you Culbo, she's a hybrid!" Opal said proudly, yet quietly. Culbo was still cradling her arm, "I'm a Milotic hybrid at that..." She said, yet her tone of voice proved to us she was still in agony. "I'm Sara, an Aphrode hybrid" (( See bottom of page for more info! )) Said the girl I was talking to, she piped up quick, maybe a bit early as well, Bloodhawk and Agate were coming our way, yet they were oblivious to our conversation...

"Who are the new ones?" Bloodhawk asked. "Sara and Culbo." Pyrite said, giving Hawk a death glare for being late. "Sorry!" He mouthed, though it wasn't visible.

"Let's get out of here, this place gives me the creeps!" Rose suddenly said, shivering slightly, I nodded, "I hate being watched all the time, come on.!" I said, shuffling my weight from one foot to the other...

"Yeah, we've got nothing else to do here..." Agate said simply. "Ah, but you have!" A voice sounded, it was the boy that Culbo bashed into on accident, "You say some of you are hybrids, then I could sure use some 'hybrid' friends to help me at this moment. I'm Max, an Entai hybrid." He said, presenting himself, "Entai huh?!" Opal said, scoffing somewhat... "Yeah..." He replied, sounding slightly pissed at her. "Come on, let's go!" Rose said again, pushing Opal towards the exit, we followed suit, three new hybrids with us. "We're nine altogether..." I thought to myself, after handing Culbo some pain-relievers.

Getting outside was soothing, no more heat, no more eyes watching your every move, you could be comfy once again, maybe someday, we can walk the streets without a disguise, saying hello, having a polite answer... Maybe...

We walked for ten minutes, take it or leave it, before hearing some shouting...

The strange group, us and the rest of this newly formed 'gang' all hid behind some trees, leading to a pretty big forest, observing the new scene presented in front of us, there were three, four men, all chortling like idiots, one was a rather chubby bloke, another one was tall, lanky and bald, and the others were sort of normal weight, yet they had donkey laughs, the sight was hysterical, four old guys, laughing stupidly, if it wasn't for what they were laughing at. A small girl, locked in a cage. Her clothes were only a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt, but that wasn't what caught my attention, no. It was the huge layer of fur, creamy white to be exact, and the tail.

"She's a hybrid!" I heard Rose mumble, Agate nodded, as the girl in the cage tempted to swipe the men around her, cursing and hissing, which only made the humans laugh more. Her brown eyes showed anger, and nothing but anger. One of the humans came to a decision, "Come on, let's take cat woman to the circus, we could sell her there!" He said, as the others nodded in agreement, they then plotted on how to get her there. The 'cat girl' was still hissing, swiping them furiously, until I had enough of watching her. "Come on..." I commanded, gesturing my sort-of-friends to follow me. The good thing about being mysterious, was that you could be followed by the ones you ask, your commandments are obeyed, in a way.

Walking out of my hiding place, I lowered my hood, and faced the men, growling, "Leave her alone!" I whispered dangerously, the others followed suit, though they didn't say anything, they lowered their hood... It was the first time I could really glimpse the new ones well, Max had an Entai like mask over his face, which really pissed Opal, Culbo had two, long 'bangs', streaked red, proving her to be a Milotic hybrid, whilst Sara had two light blue 'shells' on her cheeks, and a pointy horn, between her cat like ears. Max had a 'red' face, whilst I guess you could say Culbo has some sort of mauve coloured fur, and Sara's is royal blue... We looked like a perfect picture, capable of frightening anything away, which succeded, after being cursed by those 'hunters'. They made me damn right annoyed, they even challenged us to a fight, yet Pyrite soon sorted that out... It was, well... Weird...

We were standing there, in fact, I was making my way towards the cage, before I was stopped by an angry Magmar, a pokémon from that tall guy, he sneered at me, as my face was expressionless, I was caught off guard. Then Pyrite got really mad, and advanced slowly on the fuming fire pokémon, growling. She had her hands raised in a fighting stance, as she whipped her bolt like tail, left, right, left, right. She was very dangerous looking like that. Eyes narrowed, she did something very strange, she clapped her hands, which made a funny cackle sound, before launching a small electric attack at Magmar. I was totally taken aback, I backed away slowly, keeping my eyes on the stunned Pyrite, who was gazing at her own hands. The fire pokémon in question, had skidded backwards, and the men took off like little girls, the tall guy returning his pokémon rapidly, before running off, screaming for his life...

Pyrite only stared at her hands, and I almost forgot our 'damsel in distress' if she hadn't of cleared her throat in a provoking way... Hurrying towards the cage, I started fumbling with the lock, "Almost there..." I muttered to myself, while our friend the Raichu hybrid was still staring at her hands, "What happened?" I heard her ask faintly, probably to herself...

The lock snapped free, as I backed away, a smile of triumph plastered across my black face. 'Cat girl' stepped outside of her iron bars elegantly, shaking herself somewhat, before heaving a sigh of relief... "Thanks!" She whispered to me... I smiled at her, "No problem..." I whispered back, turning my attention to Pyrite, who was glaring at us in turn, with a death stare, "What?" The annoyed Raichu said, flinging her arms in disgust...

"Nothing..." Bloodhawk replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the Raichu hybrid, who was momentarily storming off, "If I want to be stared at, all I have to do is go back in there!" She said angrily, jabbing a brown furry paw in the train stations direction... Rose's face plummeted, as did Opal's, sort of, as well as mine, Max's, Culbo's and Sara's...

Agate's face on the other hand, was a mix of rage and, I guess you could call it, jealousy, "You get back here!" She yelled angrily, walking quickly after her, and on the other side, the girl we had just rescued had a look of utter confusion...

"What happened?" Rose asked simply... "Dunno... Didn't get half of that... One moment, we were preparing some sort of trap, and next minute she's storming off..." Opal continued, regaining her composure, and following Agate's step's, a stern look on her face... "Well... I guess we had better catch up..." I said simply, rubbing my black hands together, Culbo nodded, as well as Bloodhawk, Max and Sara, whilst Rose was intrigued by the new comer, "Who are you?" She asked curiously to the girl next to me, who backed off, probably a bit afraid... "I'm Ciara Sallias" she replied, a faint smile growing on her creamy white pelt...

"No time!" Bloodhawk said quickly, pushing us forwards into the forest...

We could hear footsteps, followed by some angry, yet muffled voices, as well as some colourful language, that was also partly muffled... I gestured the group forwards, peering through branches. Finally coming towards the source of commotion, we stopped abruptly, staring into the green foliage from were the shouts were coming from... Risking a chance to brake up the fight, we approached the trees that surrounded a small, tree-less area...

Shouts were still heard, yet less frequent, and Opal's stern tone of voice could also be heard, as if they were having an argument... Now through the bushes, and fully visible, we were surprised because they had stopped fighting... "This has to be a world record!" Bloodhawk commented jokingly, only to be hit by both Agate and Pyrite, "Shut up!..." They said simultaneously... "You two talking to each over?" Culbo asked cautiously, Opal sighed. "I wish..." She said wearily, as both Agate and Pyrite folded there arms and turned their backs on each over... "Dunno why they're not friends though..." Opal added, sighing at the sight... Dusk was rapidly setting, and the usual ebony blanket was going to cover us without creases once again... Night time was upon us...

We set up camp here, in this place we call our hideout, we gathered branches, dry leaves, and other very-easy-to-find-in-the-forest and combustible items... Treating ourselves to a blazing fire... Culbo's arm seemed to be better, Agate and Pyrite were still not on speaking terms through a fight we have missed, and my pokémon were starting to get restless...

"Here y'are, Moony..." I said quietly to my complice, while my back was turned to my hybrid comrades. I handed my bird pokémon an apple from my bag... My Noctowl cooed with delight, eating the fruit ravenously, after about two bites, he cooed again, and set flight for the night... Watching as my beloved pokémon skimmed the foliage like a boat on the water, I held my other pokéballs tightly, releasing all my pokémon, my Growlithe, Seal and Sandslash, causing a little attention from the others, which I plainly ignored... "Here..." I said, mustering as much strength as I could to split the apple in three, but to my surprise, it easily came open... "Wow?" I muttered to myself, staring at the apple pieces with mixed admiration and confusion, "Pretty bad apple..." I continued jokingly, a small grin on my face... If I was a bit more observant, I would have noticed the gold plates on my wrists glowing a little...

Handing my pokémon a piece each, they just looked at me in complete surprise. My hedgehog like pokémon pointed at me, but was a bit big for precision, my brows were furrowed. "Huh?" I asked, surprised at his behaviour... Seal started yelping her name time and time again, while Growlithe gave a little snarl, yet none could be able to point out the fact that my wrists were almost luminous...

Sandslash prodded me with his huge claws. He prodded my arms, before prodding my black, furry hands. All this commotion grabbed most of the attention of my hybrid companions, who muttered with anger, "Lazuli, if yer can't control yer pokémon... Hand'em over..." Bloodhawk said, rather pissed that his one minute peace and quiet didn't succeed... "I'm trying, to calm them down..." I said, blushing furiously at the comment, hushing my pokémon with gestures, like those of a bird flapping it's wings... That's when I noticed the feeble luminosity of my wrist bands... "Hey?!" I muttered to myself, intrigued, I grabbed my wrists cautiously, staring at them with my undivided attention...

I turned my head sharply to the group near the fire, "Could someone give me a rough estimate of how much an Umbreon's gold plate should shine?" I asked, rather surprised at my own question... "Not much... You would be lucky if it glinted..." Agate replied rather coldly, she still hadn't got over the fight with Pyrite... "Why?" Opal asked curiously, a brow furrowed in slight confusion... "Oh... Nothing..." I said cautiously, staring in bewilderment at my wrists...

Opal exchanged glances with a random person around the campfire, brow raised... The person actually turned out to be Max, who replied with a small nod... "Not on that tone of voice was that question asked for nothing..." Opal said sternly... I gulped silently... "Oooooooooookkkkkk, there might not be nothing... But it won't catch your interest..." Hardly had these words left my mouth, that there was already a ring of hybrids around me, muttering as they stared at my wrists... "Wow... You're all fast..." I commented darkly, as well as sarcastically... "Since when do Umbreon's shine so bright, even at night?" Bloodhawk questioned, eyeing me with confusion, I merely shrugged, hiding my wrists in my pocket, only for them to be forced out... "Weird..." Rose commented, staring at them with lost interest... "Thank you..." I muttered darkly again, wishing for this to end... "Erm... I'm not something from the zoo..." I said, giving Culbo and Max a slight shove, well, they were the one's in front of me...

"Yep... Just as weird as that electricity..." Pyrite said, rather bored now... "Yeah, you still have to explain what happened!" Agate replied angrily. "And you're supposed to be the smart one right..." Pyrite mocked somewhat, and Agate gave her a furious look, "Yeah, I am actually!" She said, a look of great distaste on her face...

"I reckon, because we're turning into pokémon, we might have adopted their abilities..." Culbo said quietly, as to not start another fight... "Hey, that's some good thinking." Sara said, smiling at Culbo, who had a sheepish grin on her mauve coloured face. "So Pyrite is well and truly an almost-pokémon..." Bloodhawk said jokingly. The Raichu hybrid, however, did not find it funny... "So!" She said, shrugging at the thought. "You might all be able to do something weird and wonderful, and only I've thought about doing it!" She continued, as if she was explaining something to a five year old. We looked at each over, "Yep... Good theory to me... But how did you do an attack..." I started, trying not to put any tone of voice, as to not arouse an argument... "Dunno... I thought that if you were fried, we might be doomed, so I was full of anger towards that Magmar, whilst full of panic for you..." She said, rather kindly... I smiled at her, "Thanks..." I mouthed, and she replied with a simple nod... Max then took speech, "I reckon we should sit down..." He said plainly, yet happily, as if it was more an order, and almost imediatly sat down, not to near the fire. We followed suit, most of us, except for Culbo who was in great thought... "Culbo?!" Rose said, waving a hand in front of her, "Earth to Culbo!" She joked quietly, smiling at the Milotic hybrid... "Huh?" She asked suddenly, jolting awake at the sound of her name being said twice...

There, all around the fire, all a lot calmer, and my wrist bands luminosity was dying down. The only person who hadn't really participated in all of this is Ciara, she was pretty much quiet, and tended to her pokémon when we had our 'discussion'. Her pokémon team consisted of a Persian, a Manectric and an Eevee...

"Eevee..." I thought plainly to myself, what was with all the Eevees... "Yes, do explain Pyrite..." I heard someone say, but I wasn't focused on them, more on Flamerez, my canine companion, fussing him, while in deep thought...

It sounded like Opal had took speech, and there were quick remarks, but definitely a lot of thinking...

"So... What did happen back there?" Opal said casually, jabbing a blue, furry paw to where we were before...

"You saw what happened, better than myself in fact!" Pyrite said, rather annoyed with this conversation, "I just... Did..." She continued, struggling to find the right words...

"How?" Bloodhawk persisted, and Pyrite rolled her golden brown eyes, yet again, Bloodhawk had found Pyrite's rather annoying side, as the Raichu hybrid started with a slow explanation, I focused once again on the conversation, so did the Persian hybrid...

"I sort of... Pictured the attack, pictured a simple Raichu hitting a Magmar, with a sort of electric attack, and there... I did it in reality..." She continued slowly, pondering back to the fight... Rose stared at us, before fixing her pink hands, it looked like she was in deep concentration. She placed her Clefable like hands as if she was forming some sort of ball, a minute passed, as we stared at her with interest, yet nothing... "Nothing!" She exclaimed suddenly, letting go, her hands limp from the effort...

"And you!" Bloodhawk started suddenly in my direction, "You have shiny bracelets..." He joked, as I shrugged, "It might be because I'm a hybrid, look at Agate..." I said, gesturing our Dragonair comrade, who pouted, "So..." She said coldly...

"Maybe she's just a shiny Dragonair hybrid?" Culbo suggested thoughtfully, Sara nodded...

"Nicknames!" Bloodhawk said suddenly, "They need nicknames as well!" he said, pointing to the newer members... "Yes, they do!" Opal said, though her voice was distant...

"Nicknames?!" Max said with a frown, "Why?" He continued, the frown still on his Entai like maw...

"The element of surprise!" Pyrite interjected rapidly. "Oh..." Max said simply, not finding a come back... "Show then!" Rose said happily, Culbo had a faint smile, "What?" She asked innocently, "You do have a pendant, don't ya!" Rose replied with a grin, Sara nodded, "I do!" She replied quickly, she fiddled around a little, then retrieved a necklace, embedded with a sapphire, "Good, now you're Sapphire!" I said happily, doing a sort of small wave as is I was dubbing her...

"Me next, look!" Culbo said, showing us a pendant with an amethyst in it, "I'm Amethyst right?" She asked, a sly smile upon her mauve coloured face, "Cool, so I'm Ruby... Ain't that a girls name?" Max asked, rather worried with his new code name, we burst out laughing, "I guess it's for both girl and boys!" Ciara said, chuckling.

"Yours next then!" Ruby said, rather annoyed... "Eh... I'm Crystal..." She said slowly, without even taking her pendant out to show...

"There! Sorted!" Bloodhawk said happily. "Bracelets... I'm sure that ain't just because you're a hybrid..." He said, his thoughts drifting off, like most of ours...

I was pretty unsure myself... That incredible strength I suddenly had, it wasn't the apple, was it?

Getting to my feet quickly, I moved swiftly to retrieve the fallen fruit, Flamerez at my side. Picking up the remaining fragments, I studied it carefully, the apple looked fine if you forgot the grass all over it. "It looks pretty ripe to me, what do you think Flamerez?" I asked my pokémon quietly, who nodded.

Sighing slightly, I sat myself back down, pokémon at my side... "I think I've pieced the bracelet mystery together..." I said, rather unsure of myself, yet I had caught the necessary attention to continue. "Before I realised anything, I was splitting this apple in three for my pokémon..." I started, showing them the remainders of the fruit, they stared at it, in slight confusion. "It fell away so simply, as if the food was rotten..." I continued, only to be interrupted. "It doesn't look rotten?!" Agate stated in confusion, yet I only gestured her to quiet down. "My pokémon wouldn't have it, yelping at me if I was a stranger..." I continued, my red orbs fixed on this fruit, my gaze fixed on an unimportant part of it. "So Terra, my Sandslash prodded my arms, obviously trying to tell me about my glowing bracelet, which I hadn't noticed..." I said, now staring at each comrade in turn, they were deadly silent, this was turning out to be one creepy evening...

Chucking the apple to my side, I stared, disgusted with myself for no apparent reason, red gaze on my bracelets. "The feeling I felt when pulling the apple apart, I had never felt anything like it... So unreal, so... Weird..." I finished, the disgusted look still on my face... "You're suggesting you used some, imaginary strength. To pull it apart?" Opal asked, rather disbelievingly, her tone of voice wasn't natural, for the first time, I thought I heard a hint of fear in it...

Yet I'm positive my reply spooked her, and the rest of them, out, "That strength wasn't imaginary..." I said, in a chilling voice, the other's looked frozen with panic. I think I've just made the right affect on them...

Agate's answer, however, was simple, "I think we should sleep, it would do us some good, we'll return to al this in the morning..." She said simply, grabbing her backpack, and using it as a pillow, but not before she released her pokémon. Her team were pretty interesting, just like she was, someone you might wanna know better than just a simple acquittance.

Her team consisted of, Aracanine, Pidgeotto, Meowth, Quagsire, Geodude and Staryu. Pretty interesting. While as the Mel we used to know seemed to dress herself in a particular fashion. She seemed to prefer casual, even a little adventurous. Wearing a blue shirt, denim trousers and black shoes. That wristband was also pretty fancy, I think I might poach it throughout the night, it's gold, and it's engraved with a Dragonair... Pretty...

Mel herself was also a sight, her Dragonair appearance mixed with her human one. Black, chin length hair, red, Dragonair eyes, at least I'm not alone for an evil look... Her frilly like things on her head are silver, instead of white, red jewels replaced the normal blue, and gold stripes decorated her white and blue body. She looked polished... Funny that, a polished human, but where a Dragonair is scaly, she was scaly to, and those scales are polished...

Sapphire nodded in agreement, grabbing her rucksack and the lying on her back, using it as a pillow as well, she had released her pokémon, which turned out to be all water pokémon. There was Vaporeon named Aoide, a Dratini dubbed Arethusa, a Horsea who had the nickname Artemis, Azurill going by the name Erato and a Marshtomp called Kekasmai, cute they were, as interesting as Sapphire herself...

The 18 year old teenager has the appearance of an aquatic cat, standing, like a feline itself, on her toes. A small pointed horn was visible, between cat like ears which are decorated with a small pearl. Royal blue fur covers her from head to tail tip, which is also ornated with a pearl, what we hadn't noticed however, was the retractable claws, impressive, yet 'normal' for a cat. Grey eyes, which are probably the only thing that hasn't changed, along with her long, brown, silky hair...

Amethyst looked perplexed at the whole thing, taking her bag a little further away from the rest of the group, she released her team as well, not wanting to keep them locked up in there for ages.

A strange looking Ninetails, going by the name Tiedye (( This is her pokémon, I'm afraid I've had to change the stats, other wise it might seem a bit unfair, sorry =( )) He was a more whiter looking fire pokémon, a bit fluffier to, also able to say a few human words.

There was Sundae the Girafarig, she looks pretty 'normal' compared to the Ninetails.

Nightwing the Swablu was also a slight surprise, the normal blue fluff that this bird fly's around in is silver... Weird, but then again, I can't complain much...

Slight snuffling was heard, Amethyst had almost instantly fallen asleep, short blonde hair covered her face, as she turned slightly.

Opal sniffled, as if she was sad to see them sleeping so soon, so the Suicune hybrid withdrew herself from the group, backpack in hand, as she threw it down gently, then landed on top of it, giggling slightly. Releasing her pokémon when comfortable, she aroused some hybrid's attention with the appearance of her Nidoqueen, her Ninetails sniffed the air quietly, sensing another of her species around, then spotted Tiedye, as Opal's fire pokémon made to lay down. Raichu then appeared, catching Pyrite's attention slightly, the electric mouse made to chase it's tail, before it fell over with surprise at the sight of the 'bigger' Raichu around. Pyrite looked hurt somewhat, and focused on the fire in front of her, as to not think about the lightning pokémon any more... Noctowl and Cyndaquil then appeared in a flash of red light, I didn't have time to comment on Opal's bird pokémon, since she looked like she was sleeping, her dark bird took flight, probably hunting, and her fire pokémon settled on a patch of grass right by his trainer.

Rose nodded her 'sleep well', before grabbing her bag, rummaging through it, and then throwing 3 pokéballs. It's content happened to be an Eevee, a Skarmory and a Sneasel. Her Eevee bounced playfully towards her, whilst her bird pokémon took flight like the last two, and her dark pokémon had rushed towards the bushes, the two on a probable prowl for prey.

The Clefable hybrid giggled quietly, as to not wake the others, hugging her beloved pokémon, then settling for a sleep on her bag.

Ruby followed suit, the fire hypnotising him into an almost slumber, until he realised his pokémon were still inside their pokéballs. Unhooking the miniaturised balls form his belt, he released his pokémon, which turned out to be a Quilava named Blaze, a Machoke nicknamed Chopper. A Jolteon dubbed Rai, then he stopped abruptly, unsure of releasing the next pokémon. Hesitating a few seconds, he clipped the pokéball back on his belt, miniaturising it again, he shook his head, slightly worried. He then proceeded to the next pokémon, which turned out to be a Houndour named Kage, last but not least, a Nidorino called Nidon... Backing away form the fire with a small salute, he gestured his pokémon to follow him, settled down on an unused piece of grass, and fell almost instantly alseep, his pokémon keeping good guard of their trainer...

Crystal yawned suddenly, rubbing her thoughtful brown eyes wearily, she waved to us a little, before heading up, and setting down her 'camp' a little way away. Tail swinging slightly as she walked, she sat down, and almost immediately grabbed something out of her pocket, another pokéball, tossing it lightly on the ground, it revealed a Persian, later known as Kalo, grabbing two others and repeating her move's, out appeared a Manectric named Cion, and an Eevee named Stiker, funny as it was, they didn't look to sure of themselves, and stayed real close to their owner, Kalo taking a seat upon Crystal, Stiker curled up in a ball next to the Persian hybrid's head, and Cion pranced around slightly, finding a place not to far away to lay himself down...

Pyrite then turned to face us, the only one who was falling into a light sleep, she got up, nodded a quick bye, before heading as far away as possible.

Settling down, she filed her pocket's for her pokéballs, and then released her pokémon one at a time. First a Skitty, named Spirit, that cat like pokémon was definitely happy to be out, and pounced her trainer playfully, and then retreated on the Right's shoulder, after shaking herself a little. Next was Mauve, an Epson, rather pretty to tell the truth, she curled up at the Rae's feet, all snug and tight. Next up was a Poochyena dubbed Lupus, who nipped his owner's hand playfully, before diving into the bushes happily. Then appeared a Charmander, who looked slightly confused, but none the less hugged his trainer affectionately, before coming over towards the fire, poking it playfully. I stared for a few moments, disbelief in my eyes, before a sly smile lit up on my face, I directed it to Pyrite, who smiled sweetly in return. She then released her Lavitar, nicknamed Mountain, who ran about like a mad chicken for a few moments, before diving behind Pyrite, who had a sheepish smile upon her maw. Last, but really really not least, was Ryuu the Dratini, who stared at everyone with interest, before propping herself against Mauve. Pyrite yawned, and fell down onto her bag, her Skitty snuggled up close for their comfort, Mauve and Ryuu at her feet...

That left us, me and Bloodhawk, who was giving me a so-why-aren't-you-going-to-bed-huh-? Look. I returned it with an angry glare, pointing to myself, "I live in the night, you fool..." I said rather coldly, gaze transfixed on the fire, whilst showing him my bare arm, my black arm. He nodded apologetically, and took up the chore of releasing his pokémon. There was a Sneasel, who instantly took up the position of sitting right next to Bloodhawk. They looked like twins, an older one, and a younger one. There was Umbreon and Espeon, they were mate's you could tell by the way they curled up together near the fire. There was a Houndour, who spied on Kage, Ruby's Houndour, before sitting down proudly, somewhat near Bloodhawk, there was a Charmander, who stared gormlessly at Flambé, Pyrite's Charmander, who was still poking the fire, before joining him and his little game. Then there was a small Eevee, you could only guess that she was a pup, but the fact that she ran over joyfully to curl up with her parents proved that she was their pup... The Sneasel hybrid smiled kindly, nothing gave him more pleasure than seeing a family reunite once again...

I stared at him once, before my gaze returned back to the Eevee family, something gave me an idea... "Training!" I said suddenly, Flamerez looked at me, annoyed because I had stopped fussing him. Ahprodite (( My seal )) jolted from her snooze, and stared at me with a dazed expression, whilst Terra (( My Sandslash )) just stared at me for no apparent reason...

"Come again..." Bloodhawk said wearily, confused by what I said, "Training!" I repeated with triumph. "Yeah, I heard that bit kid, but what about training..." He asked, almost if he had been woken from a slumber. "Well, you know the phrase 'I teach you, you teach me'" I said slowly, my eyes bright, my smile as much. "Yeah..." He said slowly, trying to see my point, "Oh come of it! We've taught our pokémon by training them, now they teach us something... If we're pokémon, then shouldn't we perform an attack of some sort?" I asked slowly. Bloodhawk shook his head, clearly exasperated, "Listen girl, we said we would sort things out in the morning... ... Wait, did you hear something?!" Bloodhawk stopped, distracted, as his Sneasel like ears swivelled to catch any noise. My auds did the same, as I got up slowly, "Yeah..." I whispered under my breath, looking around curiously.

It sounded like many people, feet inching across the ground in a deadly way, it was quiet... To quiet...

My Sneasel hybrid friend got to his feet, looking around the camp site, then peering threw the bushes, until suddenly he staggered backwards, crashing to the ground, winded. He looked hurt, as he clutched his ribs, looking like he was about to be sick.

I was panicked, terrified, the others didn't even wake up, it was a silent attack.

Then my gaze focused on something, it was a simple, green blur, yet it was heading straight for me... To late to react! We collided together in a sickening thud, the wind was whipping through my ears as I bounced off, landing on my shoulder, a crimson gash appearing on my black arm...

Terra was immediately up, slashing at that blur, which turned out to be a Sycther, the two armed-with-sycthes took to a titanic battle, as if they were sword fighting. Vincent's Sneasel also took up the challenge of fighting the Sycther, but was almost instantly faced with a Dophan, whose roars woke my comrades.

Flamerez was already at my side, licking my face anxiously, as if to keep me from falling into death's trap... A faint smile was planted on my face by his gestures, they were kind, sweet, loyal gestures of a truly loyal pokémon...

My hybrid fellow's however, weren't smiling, each sharing the same look of rage, each showing the same fury, each followed by their pokémon.

Our enemies finally showed themselves, they turned out to be Team Rocket not to my surprise, but what I saw next angered me unlike ever before, they had caught each of our pokémon who had been out hunting, there was Moony, my Noctowl, Rose's Skarmony as well as her Sneasel and Opal's Noctowl. All of them looked unconscious. I scrabbled up, holding the cut on my arm gingerly, as did Bloodhawk, who was still clutching his sides in agony.

The battle between Sycther and Terra, Sneasel and Dophan did nothing but dramatise, with the appearance of Rocket's Porygon and Rocket's Arbok, the two counter pokémon were Sapphire's Vaporeon Aiode, and Amethyst's Ninetails Tiedye.

They started latching on to each over fearfully, my red eyes full of panic, whilst I still clutched my now crimson arm, I had totally lost sight of Terra in the fight, which had now became a melee. It was not a one on one battle, neither a two on two, it had now become a just-hit-as-much-as-you-can sort of battle, and you were unable to tell heads to tails who was winning or not...

Our doubts however, were easily modified when a sort of robotic yell, which only a Porygon can do, because Bloodhawk's Sneasel had latched himself onto the cyber-pokémon's face.

The Rocket grunt not having another choice, returned his fainted pokémon...

"I can't bare this any longer!" Pyrite suddenly said, pointing at the battle, "Go Mountain, Flambé, Lupus, Mauve, Spirit!" She yelled angrily, hesitating on sending out Ryuu. "She's right! I'm gonna finish this once and for all!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed, flinging the only pokéball we didn't know what was inside it. It turned out to be Fang, Ruby's Gyrados, which might explain why he didn't call him out before...

We finished the battle quickly, or more in particular, Fang drenched everybody so most pokémon were K.O., including Flambé, Terra, Mountain and Tiedye.

With that, the rocket's retreated...

Happy, I sat myself down, now tending to my cut. It was bigger than I expected, straight down my whole arm, from my shoulder to a little further than elbow level... Mental note, never get in the way of a Scyther... Little did we except some rockets to hang around... As I sat cleaning the cut, handing Bloodhawk some pain killers. He had been badly hurt by the Dophan, tackled, by the looks of it, or even slammed... Most of the surrounding hybrids were doing some sort of victory dance, how comedic, watching them prance around the flames joyously.

After a few minutes of watching them, somebody had the bright idea to tend to the wounded. Ruby assisted Blood', whilst Amethyst tended to me and my great big cut. Well... I ended up looking like half a mummy, my completely unusable and bandaged up arm being the spotlight of many rather nasty comments, each said for fun. But maybe Bloodhawk ended up worse than me, his lower torso wrapped up in bandages as well, that Dophan had really rammed him...

Most of the group returned to the fire, each bringing K.O.ed or non-K.O.ed pokémon with them, listening to Pyrite's lecture on how to stay alert. I was focused on moon, filing through my bag to see if any could come in handy... Unfortunately, I might have human aids and medicine, but I only carried around with two potions, three antidotes and one awakening... I'm useless at remembering shopping lists! On the good side, Agate spared all those in need of it a revive, so I could heal Moony without much difficulty... That would be the last time I set him out alone in a strange forest!

"Hey, Lazuli, are you even listening to us?" Someone shot angrily at me, I snapped to attention, my gaze darting from 'anthro' to anthro trying to see which one had talked to me, it was Bloodhawk... Again... I stopped fussing my bird pokémon, looking slightly guilty... All seemed to glare at me, making myself and my dark/bird pokémon very uneasy... "No, I wasn't..." I mumbled quietly, my gaze on the ground. Somebody sighed, I didn't bother to find out who...

More farther away, secretly spying on us as far as possible was that sword-and-tunic fellow, he seemed doubled up with devilish laughter, our ignorance and naïvety, well, especially mine, seemed to be what was amusing... "They're easy prey, are those the ones the Resistance chose, not very wise, they're young and fragile, innocent and unknowing... Well that will change! And that will change now!" The man murmured to himself, darting down of his tree-perch, getting ready for a show he wouldn't miss for the world! At his side was an Absol, pearl coloured appearance not to be messed with, seeing that Absol's are more devilish than angelic... Flanking his other side was a great big Victreebell, massive in size... He approached our campsite with unrivalled stealth, preparing a plan of attack, thank the heavens those Rockets hadn't messed up... His piercing emerald gaze surveyed the group of hybrids with growing curiosity, he needed one, just one, but who? It took him a few more seconds to make his choice, and a few more to whisper the plans to his pokémon, Absol... About ten seconds ticked by, and the canine like pokémon sprang out of the bush, now fully visible by us. No one really took the pokémon seriously, as Ruby set Fang on him, we continued to talk, the Entai hybrid concentrating on the battle at hand... But it was quiet interesting, as Bloodhawk watched in amazement, "That dog goes fast..." Murmured the Sneasel-Hybrid, but it only took his five seconds to realise why. "Ruby, watch out, that pokémon must belong to a trainer if it's that fast!" The young man suddenly bellowed, catching everyone's gaze, as soon as our backs where turned and we were watching the battle with growing curiosity and interest, something hit us in the back, not hard, but strong enough to send us flying, it felt like a vine pushing you forwards...

Only then did I realise we were in serious trouble... Something wrong, something bad was going to happen, I felt it, or I knew it. I checked myself over again, my golden Umbreon plates were shining once more, closing crimson pools shut, a white flash, premonition wise, appeared before my minds eyes...

Rose! Save her! Quick! Was all I told my mind, as the flash ended, Rose had been kidnapped by these vines! I got up, pokémon-like agility and strength, and raced towards the bushes, that was were those vines were, or at least from what that flash-forwards had told me... Only who was I to see racing in front of me?! Bundled up in a cocoon of vines was Rose, the Clefable hybrid... "No, you can't have her!" I groaned from under my voice, forcing my pace to go faster... Little did that serve, I had to veer and dive to avoid little bits of me being chopped off by a Razor Leaf attack...

I lay in the grass minutes on end, an eternity must have passed before I grabbed courage with both hands and pushed myself upwards. The sight I saw was better than what I had in mind... Opal was gesturing me towards the fire, while the others seemingly looked sad and sorry for themselves. "They took her. Didn't they, they took Rose?!" I murmured, already regretting the answer, which turned out to be a seldom 'yes'. Crystal fixed me with an odd stare, "You knew she was going, when on the ground, I rolled over to see what was going on, you were streaking ahead, and the cocoon of vines that took her was catching you up nimbly... Yet you knew, you were heading straight for where she was heading, until you were attacked, how could you know?" Her voice was faint, but perked with curiosity, her words brought many heads of all different shapes, sizes and colours to turn to me... A sigh escaped my vocals, "Premonition, or at least a flash-forwards of some sort, it told me what would happen, and seconds later, it did..." I finished, gulping, now feeling desperately weak and sleepy... That whatever it was that told me the future had made me drastically unable and not very strong... People's thoughts and remarks about this were kept to themselves...

I edged my way from the fire, but still stayed quiet near, the flames heating me, giving me a little more energy, the last thing I remembered was Moony, staring into my fogged up crimson eyes with sadness, until I blacked out from lack of strength or will to continue...

I awoken some time in the future with Entai-eyes peering over me, before I screamed, and crashing to the ground... Wait? I was in the air?! It turned out that I had slept thought the whole night without moving, or so Pyrite explained ever-so-kindly to me, not! Then it approached midday, so Pyrite and Opal had agreed that we needed to get going, and that somebody, or somebody's, had to carry me... Those beings turned out to be Ruby and Bloodhawk.

The good thing about my awakening was that Pyrite could finally give us a prep-talk on how we should act, should train ourselves, should train our pokémon, those sorts of things, to my surprise, I listened with undivided attention. Some questions were asked, such as 'How and are you sure we can train powers that we don't even know of?' Or some others to which we knew no answer, like 'Will we ever become human again' and 'will we be able to eat pizza in the following hours to come' I doubted positive answers for both, not that I'm pessimist, merely opting for the reasonable one...

Finally, we could get moving again, this time, I walked by without aid, Flamerez at my side, my trustworthy and loyal canine guard.

We kept on for what seemed like hours without a word, until a faint noise awoken us from our thoughts, a smell let us on the right track, water! The group and I started running, faster and faster to reach the heavenly noise and sight. Within minutes, we had stretched ourselves out like at a beach on the riverbank. Then, some of us took up the task of washing, whilst others, gathering supplies. This was done in deadly and morbid silence, which was rather depressing... For some of the journey, I had managed to keep my thoughts off of Rose, off of guilt, but it all came flooding back when I splashed my face.

The only one to not join in with out activities, was strangely Crystal, she seemed bothered and upset about something. I approached her quietly, yet she could still hear me, I guess it was those pokémon senses. She frowned at my arrival, bringing her legs up to her chest, and giving me a short glare, which soon broken-down with sadness... "I'm sorry about Rose, if I was as active as you, maybe we could have saved her..." Came her small, mouse-like murmur, I shook my fuzzy black head, "No, it's not your fault, how were you supposed to know?" I asked quietly, gently, and trying to be comforting, but the persian hybrid obivously took it wrong, as she furrowed her head in her knees, trying to hide the fact she was crying...

There was nothing more I could say, I myself wanted to cry, but instead, I travelled to my bag, and grabbed my diary.

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was awful. We got attacked by Rocket members, though they were easy to defeat, they slitted my arm and bashed Vincent's sides in, I feel ashamed that I didn't pick up on their footsteps... Shortly after, we got attacked from behind by an unknown foe.

Rose has been kidnapped by this enemy, and I knew... I knew she was going to be taken from our midst... I tried, I'm real sorry...

Something had occurred to me suddenly, who was this person, this enemy, this strategic thing which had divided our attention so wittingly it got away with a hostage...

"Who was it, that kidnapped Rose, any ideas?" I suddenly asked the group, now that they had all arrived. I saw from the corner of my eye Crystal had lifted her head...

"Maybe it was Team Rocket, yer never know when they'll strike next." Bloodhawk managed gruffly, sitting down as his chest was heaving dangerously. He still hadn't recovered from his blow from last night.

"No, they would have made more of an entrance... Something that would want to remain hidden..." I murmured in reply, though I was most probably heard, Agate nodded in agreement, until Amethyst's shrieks were heard, ringing through our now sensitive ears like a siren. "HIM!" Came her gasp, as she propped herself against a tree. We all looked slightly confused, for the exception of Sapphire and Agate, even Ruby to a certain extent, who's face showed curiosity, comprehension and confusion. Saph's face showed sudden awe, "You think... Well... He was following me when I first took the train, he was on it himself, didn't you see him, Lazuli?" The Aphrode anthro suddenly asked me, I shook my head, my face full of surprise and confusion.

Amethyst looked like she could have killed herself because of us, with an exasperated sigh, she started her own explanations, "The stalker, the guy who's sword burnt my arm!" Amethyst exclaimed shrilly, pointing at the limb in question. Crystal seemed on the verge of comprehension, "Did he wear an old-fashioned tunic, had locks of black hair and emerald green eyes, right?" She asked suddenly, surprising us all, Culbo nodded, now in awe that such a small and young figure piped up with interesting information. Yet curiosity now drowned me, which drove me to blurt out, "How did you know?" Crystal turned to face me, as did the others, I felt a slightly silly and rude, but who cares really? Crystal spoke, loud, the words poured from her mouth like a never-ending flow of water, but everyone knew they came from her heart...

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Me: And that my friends, ends chappie 3 of Lunar Storm nods All positions taken and I've left you in a sort of cliff-hanger snorts in corner Heh heh heh... Lookin' forward to gettin' this up on the net, so you know what to do, read and review shuts Kitty up in dark room so she can't talk Heh heh heh...