The Flygon remembered the maps he had seen when he was still a Trapinch; they had all said that there was a mainland somewhere north of Hoenn. He wanted to head for it now, and maybe the humans would stop following him then.
He heard a soft cry in the distance, and looked back slightly. He almost faltered in the air; there was another Flygon! It had a human on its back, but that was not what held his attention. This Flygon was beautiful, even at a distance; and it was female. He suddenly didn't mind if he was followed, even if the female was most likely brainwashed by her human.
He let out a small cry in answer, speeding up in his flight to the mainland. He would test this female's endurance while he was escaping; she may be half wild after all.
The female sped up in reply, flying easily. The Flygon smiled to himself, and did a difficult aerial maneuver. The other Flygon did an even more difficult trick, with a human on her back!
His eyes widened in surprise; even he couldn't do that maneuver! He finally just stuck to flying straight; he would reach his destination soon, and save himself some embarrassment as well.
"Well, Snap, looks like we won't have any trouble following him, right?"
"Yeah, Tessa. He seems to have been chastened by the last move I did." chuckled the Flygon.
Tessa giggled. The Shiny Flygon might settle in a place that would be far away from human civilization, making her job easier; she could probably talk to it and find out what was wrong when it calmed down, too.
She wondered whom the trainer was that it attacked, and why it would. Professor Birch had said that the boy who had trained it had been badly burned, but would survive. That was good, since if the Pokemon had killed a human, he would have a certain death sentence.
Snap let out another soft cry, stiffening her wings in a slow glide to match the speed of the distant male. The other had slowed down considerably, and looked to be tired.
"He may have to land soon," said Tessa worriedly, "but we can't get any closer in case he attacks."
"I understand." said Snap, watching as the other sank down onto a small island in the ocean.
"Hmm, he must have listed east while we weren't paying attention, because that looks like Cinnabar!"
"It does! That means he's heading towards Pallet Town!"
"My old home!" Tessa gasped, "I hope he doesn't ruin it!"
"If he tries, we'll stop him!" stated Snap, landing softly on a small island a fair distance from Cinnabar, but still in plain view.
After a few minutes, the other Flygon struggled into the air. He looked disheveled from his long and tiring flight, but was still flying strong.
"Ready to go?" asked Tessa.
"Way ahead of you!" answered Snap as she sprang into the air, churning her great wings to gain altitude.
They followed the Shiny for three hours, waiting nearby each time he stopped at a small island to rest. He was traveling straight for Pallet Town, just as Tessa had feared; but just before he got there, he swerved west.
Tessa watched carefully, and saw the exhausted Pokemon disappear in a cave a few miles away.
"He's stopped. Why don't we go down to the town and visit people while we wait to see what he does?" asked Tessa.
"Fine with me, I need a rest from all this flying."
"Yeah, but you need to meet my friends and family first!"
"Okay, which house?"
"The white one by the forest."
Snap landed gracefully at the front porch. When her wings were safely folded, Tessa's mother came running out of the house.
"Tessa! I haven't seen you in such a long time! How are you?"
"Hi, Mom. This is one of my Pokemon, Snap."
"Flygon!" said Snap.
"Nothing like arriving in style, huh dinkus." said Tessa's sister, coming out of the house.
"Hey, Amber. Nice to see you again! How're your Pokemon doing?"
"Thorn evolved, and Bunny is doing great. The rest are fine; I see you have a Flygon now."
"Yeah."
"Well, come in! Let's not stand around all day!" said Tessa's mom, beckoning the sisters inside.
"Snap, return!" called Tessa, and the Flygon gratefully turned into red energy and was sucked into the sphere.
The Shiny Flygon watched from afar as the female was absorbed in one of the humans blasted Poke'balls. He cried out in anger, but was still too tired to fly; he would do something about the problem later, after he had rested.
For now, he curled up in a corner of the deserted cave, ready to sleep and regain his health. A horrible image of the female Flygon being turned into red light invaded his thoughts as he fell asleep.
Cougar arrived on the mainland of Kanto. The trip had taken a whole day, and he still had some serious biking to do if he wanted to get to Pallet Town in time to help with the Flygon. He took his mach bike out as soon as he got off the boat.
He had to call back Sparkle because she was too big to fit in the basket, but Jaycou was still able to ride. He set the Baltoy in the container and set off. The bike sped down the road, but he was in Vermilion, and he had to get to Pallet Town fast!
He stopped to ask directions from a man who was weeding his garden. The man laughed and pointed down the road.
"In a mile or so, you'll come to a small cave. Enter it, and it'll bring ya to Viridian. Go south from there, and you'll get to Pallet Town in no time! Look out for Diglett, mind ya."
"Thank you!" called Cougar, already on his way.
The cave was just where the man had said it would be, and Cougar only hesitated a second before entering. It was dark, but torches had been set up at intervals to light the way for travelers. Apparently, this was a well-used path.
He biked quietly for most of the way, but suddenly, a brown head popped up in front of him, and he braked as fast as he could. The bike stopped abruptly, and sent him flying over the bars.
"Yah!" he yelled as he hit the ground.
The tiny Diglett came up to him.
"Diglett?" it said.
"I'm fine, are you okay?"
"Diglett, dig!" the Diglett exclaimed, smiling.
"Good, I have to be on my way, then."
"Diglett."
"Bye." said Cougar as he got on his bike.
"Dig!"
"Huh, what?" asked Cougar.
"He seems to want to go with you. He wants to make up for tripping you." answered Jaycou, who had miraculously managed to stay in the basket.
"Really? Well, he could travel ahead to warn other Pokemon not to pop up in front of us."
The Diglett nodded once, and was gone. Cougar got back on the bike, and the rest of the tunnel proved to be uneventful. He came to the end of the cave, and suddenly, the Diglett was traveling beside him.
"Hey, Diglett, thanks for warning the others. You don't have to go with me just because you think owe me. It was an accident, I understand."
"Dig, diglett, dig, dig, diglett, dig!"
"He thanks you for you're kindness. He says that from now on, Diglett will always help you whenever you're in need."
"Thank you, Diglett. Here, I'll give you this for helping and being a good friend." said Cougar, tying a focus band around the Pokemon's head.
"Dig, lett, lett, dig!"
"He says that he will wear it proudly, and it will symbolize the friendship between Diglett and human."
"Goodbye, Diglett. My name is Cougar."
"Dig, dig."
"His name is Sander."
Cougar waved as he left the tunnel. The Diglett watched till the human was out of sight, and then disappeared into the cool earth of Diglett Cave.
The Flygon woke suddenly from a terrible dream. He jumped up, ready to fight, but the terrible human was gone, though the image of the steel-edged whip still lingered in his mind. He hoped that the vicious human was either dead or too injured to go after him again; he didn't want to train anymore.
A growl in his stomach brought him to his current problem; he needed food. He limped to the edge of the cave, favoring his sore left leg, and scratched the scar on his neck where the chain used to be. He saw a few plump Rattata in the distance, and lifted off.
His wings were aching from the strain of the previous day, and he winced from the sting of the newly opened gash in the membrane. The Rattata still had not seen him, and he folded his wings and dived for the kill. There was a panicked squeak, and he had a limp Pokemon in his jaws.
He traveled back to the cave to enjoy his meal, and ravenously ripped into the fresh meat. The Rattata wasn't much of a meal, but he was too hungry to care. Soon, only the larger bones remained, and the Flygon leapt out of the cave to hunt again.
The Rattata were gone, but there was still other prey. He saw a group of Pikachu past a town a few miles off, and flew towards them. His eye caught a particularly large Raichu in their midst, and he marked it as his prey.
The Pikachu cried out as he approached, and he cursed his luck. Surprisingly, they stood their ground, and with a chorus of 'Pika!' they shot dozens of Thundershocks at him. The bolts hit him, but instead of electrocuting him, as the 'chu expected, they just bounced off him.
'They've obviously never met a Flygon before.' the Flygon thought to himself as he picked the Raichu from the group. He flew the lengthy distance back to his cave, and finally satisfied his hunger.
"Now for the human problem..." he said to himself.
He licked the gash on his wing, making sure that it had no infection before he took off again. The sore leg would remain a problem, but it always was, and always had been since the human trainer had broken it years ago.
With a loud cry, he rose from the ledge. He scanned the town, and finally found the human who had been following him. She was outside a white house, talking with two other females and a boy who was on a bike.
The Flygon began flapping his wings so that a cloud of sand surrounded him. He bellowed in anger, and flew towards the group. The female human looked up into the sky, and her eyes widened as she saw him coming.