Erin's wide, staring eyes darted back and forth from the pokedex to the tiny pokemon in front of her, her mouth agape. The pokedex had to be lying to her; it was the only explanation. No, it was a machine; it couldn't be lying. It was just broken then. Gods, there had to be some mistake. Her breathing came in short gasps as she buried her head in her hands. "A mew? How can that thing be a mew? How can we even be with a mew? This isn't happening. This can't be happening. There must be some mistake. There is no way this can be happening. I-"

            "Erin stop!" said Abadon, giving her a slight shake. "It has to be a mew- whatever that is. I mean, the pokedex said it was and you said that Professor Chronal didn't mess up on that sort of thing, right? Besides, you also said that you had never seen this pokemon in your studies at school," the Char continued, pointing to the pokemon in question, asleep on the ground by the fire.

            Erin simply looked back at Abadon in disbelief. "But it can't be a mew!" She looked at the pokedex like it was a foreign object. "This is simply the first prototype of an object that's considered lost technology! The Prof can't have gotten all the bugs out. Don't you understand? A mew isn't merely a Forgotten Pokemon; a mew is an Ancient! An Ancient God Pokemon! That's what all the legends say!"

            "That pokedex device said nothing of god-hood, that it didn't." Chasm said, speaking up for the first time. Erin and Abadon both stopped to listen to what the umbreon had to say. So far, she had only spoken when she had something meaningful to say. Well, that or to argue with Abadon, but this did not seem like the time for that. Chasm stood up and walked over to the miniature pokemon to examine it. "Mews have been part of legend for an eternity, that they have. This must be why they are believed to be a god. That, and their power."

            She looked up at the others. Their expressions showed that they wanted Chasm to continue. "I know nothing other than that. A mew's power capabilities are beyond me. Who knows what they are able to accomplish?"

            Erin and Abadon looked at each other uncertainly. "But I'm sure we have nothing to worry about," Chasm said, coolly sarcastic as she walked back over to where the other two sat.

            The mew made a faint sound and stirred slightly. Erin, Abadon, and Chasm all froze and looked at the tiny pokemon, slightly fearful.

            "What do we do?" whispered Abadon.

            "How am I supposed to know?" countered Erin, somewhat louder than need be. "I just found it!"

            "We do nothing," said the umbreon, calm once more. "Nothing but wait and see what comes."

            There was silence all around for the next few minutes. The water on the mew's fur had evaporated thanks to the fire provided by Abadon. He- that is, the mew- opened his little mouth and yawned as he stretched his arms. The mew rolled over and blinked a few times, revealing eyes of a deep blue. He then sat up and glanced around confused, his long tail waving behind. "How did I get here?" The mew's eyes came to rest on Erin and the other pokemon and his face brightened. He stood up and hopped over to them. "Hi. Who are you? What're your names? Where's here? Whatcha doing? What are you? How-"

            "A child!?!" said Erin, stunned. Abadon and Chasm were surprised as well. "He's only a child? We found a baby, and that's what we were so afraid of?"

            "Speak for yourself," said Abadon, crossing his arms. "I wasn't afraid."

            "Oh you were too," Erin laughed as she gave the charizard a shove, which wasn't extremely hard, considering the height/ weight ratio of the two.

            "I agree," Chasm joined in. She may be wise, but never missed an opportunity to pick on the newly-evolved charizard. "Both of you were frightened."

            "Speak for yourself, ring-tail!" yelled Abadon in mock offence. "I saw you tense."

            "I did no such thing!"

            "I don't know Chasm, I-" At this, Erin stopped. She had glanced over to see the mew child hovering in the air near them with a large smile on his face.

            "You guys are fun to watch," he laughed. "Hey, look what I can do!" With that he flipped over so that he was floating upside down. The mew thought this was outstandingly hilarious and his grin widened. The others couldn't help but smile themselves. "What're your names?" he asked.

            Erin answered for all of them. "My name is Erin, this is Abadon, and she's Chasm. Who are you?"

            The mew snickered to himself, still upside down. "Those are funny names. Mine is Nerotalabiathin."

            There was silence from the other end.

            "Our names are funny?" said Abadon, rather loud. "How do you expect us to prono-mmphffm." Erin had stood up and clamped a hand over his mouth.

            "Does anyone you know call you anything else? Anything shorter?" she asked kindly.

            The mew righted himself with a confused expression on his tiny face. "Why would I be called anything other than my name?"

            "Then do you mind if we just shorten it? Like a nickname?"

            "How do you shorten a name?" He seemed to think this whole conversation on names was incredibly interesting and floated a bit closer.

            "What was your name again?"

            "Nerotalabiathin."

            "Right, well. Do you mind if we just call you Nero? That's the first part of your name, and it's a little easier to remember."

            The mew child was fascinated by this concept. "Nero…" he said slowly, as if trying it out. Then he smiled and performed a small flip in the air. "Nero, I like it. Can you do that to all names? Can I just call you Er?"

            "Well," Erin started to say, scratching her head. "Erin's pretty easy to say to begin with…"

            Nero didn't appear to have heard her and continued on as if talking to himself. "Hey, if you say 'Er' like you do for your name, instead of just an 'e' and an 'r' together, then it sounds like 'air.' Does that mean you can fly? Do you fly on Abadon's back? Or should I just say Aba? Or is it Abad? No, your guys' names I like better the way they are. I hope you don't mind, though."

            Chasm had long become bored, if not annoyed, with the whole conversation. She lie down on the grass by the fire and closed her large yellow eyes in hopes of getting some rest.

            "How did you get here?" Erin asked Nero, interrupting his incredibly random train of thought.

            He seemed confused for a second, but then smiled again. "I don't know," he answered, floating over to Erin and examining her brown hair so closely that it was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable. "I woke up and you three were here."

            "That's not what she meant, Squirt," Abadon said affectionately. The apprehension they had all felt earlier had completely vanished by this time. They had nothing to fear from this young mew and his meaningless questions. "What Erin wanted to know," the charizard continued, "was how did you almost come to drown in that river?" He pointed with a clawed hand in the direction indicated and Nero's tiny eyes followed.

            "I don't know."

            Chasm lifted her head. "For an all-powerful pokemon of legend, you don't seem to know much."

            "Hey, now that wasn't very nice." Abadon had taken a fatherly personality toward Nero in this short amount of time. He turned toward the umbreon and crossed his arms. "Now apologize." He was just fooling around and struggled to keep a strait face. Nero was giggling behind him.

            Chasm sighed and rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Make yourself useful you oversized orange nitwit and put out the fire. We should keep going now that the child is awake; that we should." This sent Nero into a new fit of laughter as Abadon shot her a death glare.

            Erin stood up and patted the Char on the back before following. "She's right ol' buddy. We should keep going." Nero followed after her, darting through the air.

            Abadon sighed and began to stomp out the fire, occasionally throwing in sand or rocks from the shore of the river. Before long, he too continued in the direction of the others.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Small, shifty eyes glanced around, searching for sustenance to sustain their owner's body further. It's nose quivered, catching the scent of prey. A low rumbling gave way to a full-fledged roar as the animal charged forward at blinding speed and its mouth watered, its prey in sight.

            Nero clung to the apple and began to eat it while it was still connected to the tree. "Wow!" he said, mouth full. "I sure was hungry!"

            "I didn't know something so small could have a stomach that roared so loudly!" said Abadon.

            Erin looked at the apples longingly. "Hey Nero! Toss some of those apples down here! We're hungry too." One fell almost right into her hands and she bit into it hungrily. "Those travel bars certainly didn't last long…"

            Abadon grimaced and stuck out his tongue. "No thanks. Meager fruit won't sustain a vicious hunter like me."

            "Ha!" Chasm scoffed. "Vulgar beast is more like it." She shrugged of the Char's warning growl and headed toward the nearby forest. "I don't care for fruit too much myself, but I eat it when necessary. If I am unable to find anything to hunt in these depleted woods then there is nothing there and I will return for an apple." With that she was off, seeming to melt into the shadows.

            Abadon pouted and glared sideways at the spot where she was last seen. "I don't like her much…" He only required one flap of his mighty wings of left himself off the dust-covered ground and a few more to clear the trees. Within seconds the graceful charizard was high in the sky on a hunt.

            "I like them both," said Nero innocently, still dangling from the apple, although at this point it was no more than a core.

            "So do I," replied Erin. "Looks like it's just you and me for a while. Pass down a few more apples would you? I happen to like them. And not any with brown spots or parasites or anything. Those'll make you sick."

            "K, I'll be careful. I sure was hungry though." He began swinging back and forth on his apple core and, without moving from his new toy, mentally broke the stems on a few more apples and let them fall to the ground for Erin.

            Erin shielded her head from the sudden assault and then sharply looked back toward Nero. It only now began to register what he was capable of. "How did you do that?"

            He looked down on her as the apple swung to and fro. "Do what? Make the apple swing? Well, first I picked on apple, then I ate it, then I hung on and moved my tail back and forth to get it going. You might have trouble since you don't have a tail but- Wait, you're too big anyway so-"

            "Not the swing, Nero," Erin interrupted. "The apples; they fell without you touching them. How did you do that?"

            Nero let go of his swing and floated leisurely down to the ground where Erin sat. "I don't know."

            Erin sighed. This seemed to be his answer for most everything her group had asked him that morning. As in: where are you from; where is your family; do you even have a family; what kind of things do you like to do; etc. All had the same three-word answer. "Even if you don't know how you did it, can you do it again?"

            Nero smiled and hopped up and down. "Sure!" he said excitedly. Immediately every apple on the ground rose to hover a foot from the grass. It had happened so hast that Erin jumped back slightly. "Whoa. What other stuff can you do?"

            The apples dropped. "I don't know."

            Erin groaned and sat back against the tree.

            "As I said before," said Chasm as she stepped silently out of the forest. "For a pokemon who is supposed to be all powerful, he doesn't seem to know much."

            "Chasm, play nice with our new friend," Erin reprimanded.

            "Isn't that big oaf back yet" she said, ignoring Erin's comment.

            "What's an oaf?" asked Nero before Erin could answer. He made his was over to the umbreon. "Are you an oaf?"

            "What?" she said, her ears pricking up.

            "What did you say earlier? Nitwit? Is that good or bad? Are you a nitwit?"
            "Come here and I'll show you…" Chasm growled softly. She began walking slowly toward the mew with an obvious intention.

            "Nero, I don't think-"

            "Abadon called you ring-tail. Can I call you ring-tail?" he continued, cocking his head to the side.

            "Chasm, now remember, he's only-" Erin's attempts to stop what she knew was coming failed as Chasm leaped for Nero, claws out stretched. "No!" yelled Erin.

            Chasm landed only to find her paws empty, the mew a few steps in front of her. She leaped at him again, but once more Nero stayed ahead of her. She continued to feverishly chase him, but seemingly effortlessly Nero stayed just beyond Chasm's grasp. He began to laugh which only made Chasm angrier and try harder to catch the tiny pokemon, but it was all to no avail. She leaped off rocks and sprung from trees, but Nero was never any closer to being within reach. Soon enough, Chasm lay on the ground panting while Nero was rolling in fits of laughter, not the least bit exhausted.

            "Doesn't that thing ever rest?" Chasm asked herself between breaths.

            Nero suddenly sat up strait, and then zipped toward the apple tree once more. "I'm hungry again," he said.

            Erin continued to laugh.

            Abadon suddenly landed on the path and licked his mouth. "Aaahh yes, pidgiotto, young and in it's prime. I won't have to hunt again for about a week. Man, that was good!"

            Chasm, now sufficiently rested, stood up and rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, please, tell us all about your glorious hunt…"

            "You see, first I sniffed the air to catch a scent, then I bravely set out after my prey and trailed it carefully until-"

            "Abadon, she was being sarcastic, as usual. We don't really want to hear about your massacre." Erin began to fill her bag with apples for later incase they didn't reach a town before nightfall. "Now that we're all here," she began, ignoring Abadon's sour face, "we should be off again."

            "Where're we going?" asked Nero.

            "We're going to follow this path until we reach the next city, where we will hopefully find a map of the surrounding area so we will no longer be lost, and somehow get more money, which we will need to survive."

            "What's money? Do I have any? I must have, if I'm surviving, right? What's a map? Is it kind of like an apple? 'Cause those apples were good. If a map is like that then I'm sure I'll like it. How long 'til we find a map? I think I'm getting hungry again. If I'm hungry again before we get to a map, can I have another apple? Hey Chasm, how come your eye is twitching? Did something get in it when we were playing chase?"

            "Let's play a game!" said Erin suddenly, noticing what Nero's constant questions wee doing to the umbreon.

            "Oh boy! A game! What kind of game are we going to play?" Nero asked, darting around the heads of the rest of the group.

            Erin grabbed him before he flew too close to Chasm's awaiting claws. "The game is that you stay on whatever side of me that Chasm's not. No matter where she goes, you're on the opposite side of me, got it?"

            "Oh boy, this is fun!" he promptly flew to Erin's other side as Chasm sighed in thankfulness. Then she froze.

            Chasm looked at the ground in slight confusion and soon Abadon was doing the same. Human senses aren't as sharp as a pokemon's, but after a few seconds, Erin could feel it too: a rumbling within the earth. Something big was coming. As one, the four of them looked toward the sky as three grant black fighter jets screamed overhead, moving they were soon dots on the horizon.

            "Oh no," whispered Erin. "The war is spreading. Those jets shouldn't be here, not now. It was only a week ago that we saw the news. Right Abadon? It said that we hadn't entered the war yet. It was only isolated in Jhoto and Kanto. Hoenn was only just getting involved. It was only my stupid parent' country that was supposed to get blown up…" Erin said, her lip quivering.

            Chasm peered up at Erin. "A volcano cannot explode and not affect its surroundings. I believe that is a popular saying in the Cinnibar Islands, am I right?"

            Erin watched the umbreon silently.

            "What's that?" asked Nero, coking his head.

            "I think you're a little late for that, Squirt," said Abadon. "Erin already explained what those jets meant."

            "No, listen," said Chasm, ears twitching it pick up the minute sound of movement in the brush. Everyone stood still.

            Nero's face unexpectedly brightened. "Khyt!" he shouted, zipping off into the forest. "It's Khyt, it's Khyt!"

            "Nero, wait!" hollered Erin, chasing after him.

            "Wait up, Squirt!" yelled Abadon, following.

            Chasm sighed once more. "I suppose I'll come as well." She slinked after the other three and into the shrouded forest. She had no problem jumping through the tightly knit vines that created a barrier surrounding the forest itself, but knew it must have been slightly more difficult for the bulky charizard.

            She caught up with them shortly after, but Abadon and Erin were standing alone with seemingly no inclination to continue forward. Nero was nowhere in sight.