A/N:

Soren Whitebird/Killer Storm X: Kimahri's pokemon is the evolution of Sneasel. A Manyula, or however you spell it. I know that technically it doesn't exist (flinches from the angry glares of the pokemon experts here), but that's the best ice type for a few things that I have planned. Well, I could have given him a Jinx, but that would be a bit... wrong.

doom18769: Writer's block officially 'dead' now. School helps fuel my inspiration, so with summer break over, I've got plenty of ideas. I hope I manage to finish this story too.

Fjord Cannon: Sanja wouldn't kill Brock. Slap him, yes. Float him in the air with telekenetic powers? Yup. Make him seem like a perverted lecher (like everyone doesn't know that)? Sure. But no killing.

Lyfe.exe: One rule for this fic: Slow update rate from now on. Rather than my 'insane update rate of doom', or whatever the heck I called it, where I updated twice a week. I don't have the time, or energy, to manage that anymore.

Alone in the Dark: (Chuckles) You're too kind. This story has flaws, and plenty of them in the beginning, which I'm way too lazy to edit out...
I'm sort of leery of Umbreon now, to be honest. I already have one eeveelution in this story, if I put in another... well, eevees are overused a lot. That, and they're supposed to be somewhat rare...

Chigy: In the name of Mew, are you mad or something? Well, now that I got that out of my system, I'm going to update when I get a chance, which I will admit, will not be very often.

seantheimp: (Laughs darkly) Winds of Hope's plot will remain secret. I no tell anything except for pointless and/or frustrating bits of information that lead nowhere. It gets to be more fun that way.Anyhoo, I sort of see the point, since they're alike, but not (Kani / Mathrara). Anything's possible, abiet unlikely... even gravity failing. As for the steel type: noted... yup, noted. But I wouldn't go with Skarmory anyway, Chris technically already HAS a flying-type, in Anekiro (hey, he can hover now).

Sandstone: (counts slowly, pointing to each response) Wow, seven responses. I feel so...

Mathrara: Loved?

Sandstone: I was going to say threatened, if I didn't update and let this die, but yours works too.

Mathrara: (Snort) And you call me annoying.


Night before Trouble:

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Ash asked, "So when do you want to leave for the gym? It's about a day's walk away…"

Chris looked skyward, and then shook his head. "We'll take it easy today, I'm still recovering from traveling, and I don't know about Sanja, but I don't want to walk anywhere further than to a bed right now."

Sanja glared at Brock, then said, "Uh, Misty? Can we share a room?"

Misty looked confused for a moment, then looked over at Brock, who was trying to whistle innocently. She narrowed her eyes, then looked over at Ash. "Um…"

Ash shrugged, then she nodded. "Sure. We'll have a girl's night out."

Sanja laughed lightly, her grin causing Brock to fall over. Chris, who was watching the whole affair, snorted softly. Sanja smirked mischievously at him, and he suddenly understood – she was going to have some fun 'tormenting' him. Mentally, he poked her, then said, (Sanja, you are evil.)

She laughed darkly over their mental link. Chris smiled slightly, then looked back in the direction of the pokemon center. "We'd best get some rest."

Ash nodded, then said, "Uh, we've… I've got these two Rockets chasing after Pikachu. They always show up at least once a week, so you might want to be careful with your pokemon, Chris. They'd try to steal your Dragonair."

Chris looked over at Anekiro, who looked grim (well, as much as a Dragonair could look grim). He said "Dragon… air dra." Anyone could tell, even without pokemon language, that he'd just said, "Let them try."

Misty laughed slightly, while Brock stared at Anekiro. "I've never seem a Dragonair this close before… what have you been feeding it?"

Chris shrugged slightly. "Whatever he feels like, honestly. Sometimes a bit of my food, but he only eats fish, no meat otherwise. And he's fond of Leppa berries, so I usually mix those in his food." Teskara, who had been silent most of the time, smiled slightly, and added, (He goes through them like nobody's business.)

Anekiro rounded on her, his expression slightly shocked, before he started to laugh. Mathrara stared at the Bayleef like he'd never seen her before, and just realized that she existed.

Ash said quietly, "That's cool… could you give me that gift? So I can understand my pokemon better?"

Chris and Kani exchanged a significant look, which the entire crew caught. Silently, Kani shook her head, and Chris sighed. "We can help, but we can't do very much. Anekiro can't mark you, he's not an elder, it's not within his rights as a dragon… and I think only marked gifted ones can understand pokemon like I can, if they find a psychic type willing to unlock that talent."

Brock asked, "So you have to be a gifted one to get this? What if you're not marked?"

Kani replied dryly, (It's possible the gift will develop on its own, anyway. Humanity is remarkable in their ability to change, if they need to.)

Ash looked confusedly at the two, and Chris added through the mental translation, (I'm translating Espeon telepathic waves to human 'wavelength', and sending it on to you. It's how your able to suddenly understand her. I need to start charging her for this, sometimes it's a strain to translate some concepts and words that the human language has no word for).

After a moment of blankness, Sanja and Misty got the joke, and laughed slightly. Ash shook his head, a grin on his features a moment later, while Brock's brow just narrowed. He finally asked, "What sort of concepts?"

Chris shrugged. "Mind to mind type things, honestly. The word that she used for 'change' is very specific to needed changes in order for the species to survive… it's like learning a language that has words for some things your own doesn't have. It's a major strain to translate sometimes."

Sanja nodded slightly. "He's telling the truth. Most pokemon take care to translate what they're saying telepathically before they talk to a psychic, but some don't."

The group slowly walked to the pokemon center, Misty and Brock occasionally asking the two psychics what it was like to use a specific ability they had (though Sanja lacked some powers, she could accurately describe what it was like to utilize that power, she'd been in the academy for some time).

Ash and Chris were talking quietly about being a gifted one, Ash curious about the experiences and what changed, while Chris occasionally asked about the legendaries Ash had encountered.


Late at night, Ash remained awake, while Brock was snoozing. Through the wall, he could tell that the girls were sleeping as well; he could hear Misty's unique breaths, even through the wall (she didn't snore, but her breathing pattern was unique). He sat up, and looked over at Chris, who was in a stretched-out position, his pokemon lying either on his bed (in Kani's case, she was sleeping like a cat, her head supported on part of his pillow), or on the floor nearby – or air, in the Dragonair's case. Chris's head moved, and Ash was surprised to see he was awake. He heard in his head Chris's voice ask dryly, (Worried?)

Ash mentally responded (by concentrating really hard on sending it back), (Not really.)

Chris winced. (Not so loud, there's no need to shout. Just think at a normal volume, not that loud.)

Ash sheepishly replied (Sorry,) and laid back down again, carefully not waking Pikachu.

Chris smiled vaguely in the darkness. (That's better.)

Ash continued, (I've fought other Rockets before, but how you describe this Tssalyo guy… I'm worried about my pokemon. Who's going to offer a pokemon for a chance to fight him?)

Chris sighed over the link, and then his eyes drifted to the ceiling. (Mathrara's going to volunteer. Even if that idiot tried to take his pokeball, it wouldn't do much now. He knows Psychic, and he's fast enough to get out of there. I hope.)

Ash asked, (But what about your Dragonair?)

Chris shook his head slightly, carefully not waking Kani. (Anekiro? He's carefully going to be INSIDE his ball, and I'm going to figure out a way so that he can see through my eyes instead of going in blind. Teskara is going to stay out, she won't be a challenge to a poison-type gym leader, so she's staying out of the fight.)

Ash's eyes flickered over Chris's available pokemon, and he asked, (What if he wants a three on three, or a four on four? You'd have to send out your pokemon…)

Chris sighed, and nodded. (That's what I'm afraid of. Teskara's… well, she's not exactly up to speed with my other pokemon.) He reached down, and stroked the Bayleef's neck, causing her to smile in her sleep. (She really couldn't handle any poison-types Tssalyo sends out. She can't learn Earthquake, and thanks to her mental scars, she can't use any of the moves she inherited from her parents.)

Ash stared over in Chris direction, and caught a scowl crossing the trainer's face. (I know it sounds wrong, but I honestly hate that Jake. He destroyed her self-confidence, and scarred her terribly. Heck, I think she was gang-raped while he merely watched, but she's suppressing it so strongly, she's forgotten it herself. Eventually, she'll remember... I just hope it's not at the worst time possible.)

Ash gulped silently, and asked 'softly', (Will she recover?)

Chris sighed. (I have a healing gift, so maybe…) He trailed off, then explained, (other gifted ones have different abilities, like being able to replicate any attack that their pokemon can produce, being able to stop any pokemon from attacking, some are even tied to the legendaries, and can temporarily assume their form… you've heard of pokemorphs... people who can turn into pokemon? They're the source of that rumor.)

Ash blinked. (I think I've heard about pokemorphs… these gifted ones can turn… into a legendary pokemon?)

Chris nodded. (Yeah. For a short while, then pass out for a week. Enough time to defeat their enemy, whoever they are. But that branch of the gifted ones died out, they don't exist anymore.)

Ash replied, (That explains the fact you called pokemorphs rumors. How do you know this, anyway? Is that a gift, too?)

Chris sent a mental wordless 'no'. (It's Kani's doing. I don't know how, but she has this endless database on everything in her head. She's yet to be wrong about something that's based on facts.)

Ash looked over at the sleeping Espeon (he could barely see her in the dim light), then looked away. (Wow.)

Chris didn't respond for a short while, then said tiredly, (She's really confused, thanks to it. She's fallen in love with me, though I hope it's just a crush.)

Ash choked, and Chris's smirk was easily seen, even in the dim light. (Surprised? So was I.)

Ash replied, (Is it even…)

Chris closed his eyes, then replied, (Not illegal, considering she can show consent to marriage. Not legal, though, because the state doesn't want to think about it, neither do lawmakers. So it's just, 'don't ask, we don't want to know'… and to be honest, she's slowly getting over the crush.)

Ash looked over at Chris. He seemed to be asleep, though his mental commentary betrayed that he was wide awake. He hesitantly asked (Misty told me that you two were… what about that?)

He smiled, his eyes shut. (We're destined to be together, according to a prophesy surrounding her. Or someone like me…)

Ash sat up again in shock. (What?)

Mentally, he heard Chris laughing cynically. (It's true. She doesn't like to think about it, and frankly, I don't like it either. But we're just friends, right now.)

Ash shook his head, and said, (Wow, you sure get in a lot of trouble.)

Chris laughed mentally, and replied, (You don't know the half of it. You've been in some life-or-death scrapes, so have I… just get to sleep. I'm going to need the energy, and I can imagine that you're tired too.)

As Ash nodded, he felt the strange sensation of another inside his head, listening to thoughts directed at it, fade away, then disappear. He heard Chris yawn widely, then apparently turn over, and fall straight asleep.

Ash was about to stay awake for a bit longer and think, when his body caught up with his mind, and demanded that he sleep NOW. He passed out from exhaustion.


Pikachu opened his eyes, and sighed loudly, making a "cha…" sound. After a few moments, he shut his eyes again, and curled up in sleep. Ash really didn't understand the cost of being a gifted one, or really being 'special' – special enough that others hated you with envy for something they couldn't have.

And he was worried about that. When Ash got into real big trouble (even by their standards), if (or when) he got marked. Plus the way his mother would react when she heard Ash had got a tattoo…

Silently shaking his head, Pikachu determinedly cleared his mind, and fell asleep.


A/N: Yay! Bombshell! It's possible Chris is right about Teskara, in which case... things will get interesting (if they weren't before)