"[...]And with the relic held high, the hero declared their triumph. With many cheers, tears of joy and cries of relief, all pokémon of the sand rejoiced, for the hero of the sword had vanquished the enemy, and ended the darkest hour."

-The Odyssey of the Sword and Shield, author unknown.


"Twenty-two… Twenty-four… Thirty! T-There." Came the young, jovial voice belonging to a togepi, handing over what appeared to be coins.

"Thank you for your patronage, my young pokémon!" A cheerful chameleon-like pokémon smiled, taking the small gold pieces, and handing the fairy-type a bag filled with surprisingly light items.

"T-Thanks, mister Kecleon!" The small fairy replied. He seemed to be wearing nothing but a silver necklace, with a ornamented pendant jiggling along, clearly adapted to fit the little pokémon's physiognomy. "How do you and your brother always get such fresh apples, y'know, in the middle of the desert?"

The green pokémon laughed merrily, his long tongue wiping out of his snout for a moment. "Hohoho… It's a secret of the craft, my boy! Sadly, I can't go sharing it around!" He winked to Lawrence. "That locket you wear has always caught my eye! I envy the mawalian paws that had the skill to create such a masterpiece!"

"Y-Yeah… it is pretty beautiful, I suppose." He said, feeling a bit gloomy when he remembered how exactly he acquired it.

"I'd be more than happy to buy it, should you ever want to part ways with it!~" The kecleon chuckled, in his ever so pleasant bussinessmon's tone. "I wonder, how have you acquired it? A mawalian heirloom?"

Lawrence just smiled weakly, shaking his little head "I'm good. But thanks for the offer!" His smile got a little bit bigger. "And hey… T-That's a secret! Can't go around sharing it!" He mimicked the kecleon with a playful tone, making the normal-type laugh again, amused.

"Hohoho! Ah, if only all the children were as nice and entertaining as you, Togepi. So very few children stop to have an actual conversation. Even adults are rare these days!" Kecleon kept smiling, his tongue was usually out of his mouth when he did, somehow not impeding his speech. "Jangmo-o was quite the character too. I do hope her recovery is going well!"

The fairy nodded, "Oh, she's much better now! It has been a while since we got hurt… in that s-sandstorm." He said, omitting most of the details about the injuries. "I just insisted on doing her chores until she's back 100%. I-I'll tell her you've sent your regards!"

With a smile and a wave, the small togepi made his way back to the hut he now knew so well.


Chapter VI: A Storm Approaches

-Mirari's House-

"Miss Kommo-o? Mirari?" Lawrence said as he slowly opened the door, peeking around the mostly empty house.

Thinking it was safe to enter, he quietly stepped inside, still looking around with immense caution, carrying the items with care, being sure not to make any noise for some reason.

After a little while, he sighed in relief. He dropped the items on the floor and closed his eyes, feeling his heart calm down.

Just as he was about to go to Mirari's room, he was suddenly shoved against the floor, making him fall face first into the ground and groan, surprisingly not hurt, but clearly subdued. His pendant made a metallic sound as it banged against the hard floor.

"...Aaaaand that's another win for Mirari, the elusive shadow!" The jangmo-o said triumphantly, lifting her head and closing her eyes with a mischievous, proud smirk.

"Yeah, yeah… W-Whatever…" Lawrence muttered, rolling his eyes, unamused. "What does that make? 4-1?"

"Something like that! I haven't been counting, all I care is that I'm winning!" She giggled, still standing on top of him.

"W-Well. At least you're not choking me anymore…" he sighed and closed his eyes. "What was the bet again? If you got t-this one, you'd make me sing or something?"

"Uh-huh! I mean, it was more along the lines of 'do something embarrassing', but I guess singing works! And it might help with that stutter of yours!" Mirari smiled, still unawaringly subduing the smaller pokémon, while casually chatting with him.

"W-Well…?" He stared at her with a serious expression, receiving only an oblivious, innocent stare back, the togepi rolled his eyes once more, and begun to struggle. "Get off me! You've already won!"

She jumped a bit at his sudden shift to annoyance, realising her mistake and carefully stepping away. "Erm… Sorry… didn't mean to upset you." She blushed slightly, laughing sheepishly. "I didn't want to stay that long! I sometimes forget you're like, ten times smaller than me!"

"I'm not that small!" Lawrence looks away, still somewhat irritated. "...and I'm not angry at you…" he sighs and turns away.

"...It's mostly at me, for being so puny and pathetic…" he mutters to himself, not being completely honest, considering she had part of the blame.

Mirari just kept giving him that weak smile, "Hey, don't beat yourself over it! Just because you're not used to battles yet, doesn't mean you're completely hopeless! I'm just better! You'll learn eventually!" She tried to cheer him, only managing to crush his small, almost non existent ego even more.

"I'm just happy you're feeling energetic enough to start playing again. Your head scale even grew back!" He pointed out, staring at the female dragon's quadruped body, now all of her scales had grown back as shiny and tough as ever, there seemed to be no scars and no leftovers from the fierce battle they had. Even the heart-shaped scale on her head had fully healed at this point. Her energy and playfulness seemed to be back tenfold as well.

"Thanks! I really wanna make up for all the lost time with you! So many things we have to do! We can run laps across the oasis, see who can hold their breath longer underwater, train under the sun, punch rocks, climb dunes, see who can get more water to the house from the well in less time!..." Lawrence knew she could go on forever, so he'd better step in and stop her before she went on for an entire hour with ideas for their little 'activities'.

"Geez… not everything has to be a competition or training, you know! Your mother's drills are tough enough." He interrupted. "I really enjoyed when we just layed in bed and just read books together. Or when we decided to write a story, randomly choosing who'd write what!"

She couldn't help but giggle, "That story sucked though! Mostly because you kept changing the focus of it!"

"Not my fault if you wanted to write some weird story about a superhero when I wanted a murder mystery!" He pointed out, clearly with a hint of playfulness.

"Nu-uh! He wasn't 'super', he was just a 'hero'!" She then thought about it for a moment. "Unless you mean 'super cool', then he clearly was!"

"Are you sure you weren't inspiring them around yourself? Even a little?" Lawrence would be lifting an eyebrow, if he had one.

"Nuh-uh. He was completely original!"

"Oh really? What was their name again?"

"You forgot!?" She almost jumped from surprise, "He was called Iramir, the courageous gabite!"

He stared at her in exasperation as Mirari proudly declared her creation's name, keeping himself quiet.

"...In any case," he shook his head with another expressive exhale. "I suppose I-I should tell miss Kommo-o I got the supplies."

"Oh! Sure! Mama's in her room!" Mirari pointed towards another area in the hut. One being their shared room, while this was the kitchen/living room area, the only door leading outside. Lawrence couldn't help but ponder how strangely small and simple this three-room house was, compared to human ones at least.

"She also did mention something about continuing your training. Maybe she'll finally let me join!" Mirari wagged her tail and jiggled her scales slightly at the thought.

"Ah. Okay, I'll go talk her." Lawrence was much less enthusiastic than her. Miss Kommo-o just started showing him a few things, really. Ever since that 'incident', Mirari's mother insisted on at least helping the togepi understand the basics. It did help clarify a few things, especially his ever-so-terrible control over this body's 'powers'.

Lawrence made his way towards the adult's room, peeking through the open space, where it should have a door by all means, and questioned "U-Um… M-Miss Kommo-o?"

He saw the big scaly sitting alone in her room, who seemed as spartan as the rest of the hut, having only a bed, a few neatly placed books and scrolls, and some shelves. She was sitting in front of a large map, covering the wall in front of her, apparently with notes scattered all over it. The dragon type seemed very focused, writing vigorously.

"Yeah she can be like that sometimes…" Mirari suddenly blurted, almost making the togepi jump, her head poking right beside his.

"She's been like this ever since you got here. When she's not cooking or training, she's… doing that." The smaller dragon added with a hint of sorrow.

Before Lawrence could say something, Mirari's mood seemed to shift all of a sudden, from quiet sadness to- "HEY MAMA! LAWRENCE IS BACK!"

That sudden loud noise made the fairy-type jump and fall on the floor, and even seemed to surprise the larger dragon, whom was slightly surprised, looking unamusedly at her daughter and the fallen togepi.

"...Thank you, little one." Kommo-o sighed, setting aside what she was writing.

"I-I got the i-items, miss!" Lawrence gulps, trying to recompose himself.

"Very good. Thank you, Lawrence," she sighs rubbing her weary eyes with her armored claws. "With those supplies out of the way, we're almost all set."

"All set for what? You haven't told us anything, mom!" Mirari whines, irritated at the lack of transparency.

"In due time, little one," the adult gets up, slowly making her way to the children, "for now, we must resume your training, little fairy."

"Awww… ok, I guess…"

"C'mon! Where's your energy? I wish she'd be this eager to train me!" Mirari nudged the smaller pokémon as if to cheer him up.

"Yaaaay. Ok, I guess!"

"That's more like it!" Mirari happily chimed.

Kommo-o and Lawrence merely stared awkwardly at the little dragon. Though the adult was quicker to recompose herself and carry on. "Today, we shall focus on your energy manipulation. It's still inconsistent and shambolic."

"Who even uses the word 'shambolic'...?" Lawrence was sure he heard Mirari mumble, looking away from them.

Seemingly unfazed by her daughter's words, if she even heard them, Kommo-o walked past the two and led them outside.


-Outskirts of the village-

"So, you won't take your pendant off this time?" Came the powerful voice of the adult, as they slowly made their way towards the training spot.

"Um… I actually forgot to ask, miss. I'm sorry." Lawrence replied. He gulped and took off the beautiful locket in his stubby hands. "I just have such a hard t-time doing it alone. Those little arms are annoying to have!" He proceeded to demonstrate this by pitifully trying to remove the necklace, his hands being unable to reach the back of his head.

"Do not worry, little one. This session we won't get… physical, so I don't really see the removal as a necessity, this time around."

"Thanks… I'll try to remember asking for your help next time." He let go of the locket, staring up at the much taller pokémon.

"Besides, it would be a waste of time for us to return all the way back for such a trivial thing."

"Well, I could wear it! I bet it would look great on me!" Mirari suddenly butted in between the two, like she often did.

"Why didn't we leave you in the house? I was starting to enjoy the silence these walks with miss Kommo-o provide." Lawrence rebutted, with a hint of playfulness.

"Oh shush! I bet every time she took you away to play, you kept thinking of how much ya missed me!"

"Making a lot of assumptions there, Mirari." The togepi rolled his eyes.

"Am not!" She answered, staring at him sharply.

"You are!"

"Am not!"

"You are!"

"Just a reminder, sweetie:" the usually quiet female interrupted, knowing her daughter, this could go on for a while. "We're not playing. I'm teaching him the basics of battling."

"Sounds like fun to me! When is my turn?" She seemed to abandon the previous argument as she stared into her mother.

"Lawrence's the priority, sweetie. He needs it more than you do." She readily replied, the jangmo-o lowered her head and mumbled something Lawrence couldn't hear, yet he could feel a spiteful feeling suddenly appearing on Mirari's usually positive and upbeat demeanor.

"T-There. This is the place, right?" The togepi declared, hopefully breaking the small dragon away from whatever negative train of thought she was in.

The scaly pokémon nodded as she stared into the little oasis they found themselves in. A lake surrounded by beautiful trees, just hanging in the middle of a sea of sand and heat. A miraculous sight to people lost in the desert, Lawrence thought.

"Wow! It's been so little time, but this place already brings me back memories!" Mirari seemed back to her cheerful spirits, looking around with a huge smile in her snout. "Oh! C'mon Lawry, race ya to the crater where we met!"

"'L-Lawry'...? Don't-" The togepi tried to speak, before the jangmo-o ran full speed towards the endless horizon of sand and dunes, kicking a large cloud of sand that easily covered him.

He coughed, closing his eyes, desperately trying to stop her, only to feel tough claws touching his shoulder. "Let her. She'll be at it for a while. Perhaps that's the cue for us to start."

After coughing and wiping the sand away from him, he looked at Kommo-o with a worried expression. "B-But… She's all al-alone…"

Usually, the kommo-o was stoic and he could barely detect any emotion by staring at her scaly face alone, her light blue eyes always wandering away, as if she was always on the lookout for something.

But this time, she looked down at him with a genuine, if a bit unnerving, but still very sincere smile. "Not to worry. As her mother, I'm always watching over her. She will be fine."

Her powerful and confident tone put the togepi's heart at ease. He merely nodded, the bigger pokémon then walked away from him, standing right in front of the togepi, in their usual training positions.

"Fairy-types are known for being empaths," her voice boomed, Kommo-o putting one of her claws closed into a fist in front of her, with the other close behind, standing upright from her usual leaning position, "that is, pokémon whom have an extraordinary ability to sense others' feelings and emotions."

She took a deep breath, a royal blue aura covering her. Lawrence could hear she was faintly snarling, the feral sound sending shivers down his spine. The aura around her licked her scales like small flames, her muscles and veins bulging slightly.

"As a togepi, you are particularly sensitive to others' feelings," she kept saying, reminding him of a teacher, while her tone was wise and calm, her speech was being complimented with a few growls and snarls, "I assume you must have felt like you could understand and empathize with other pokémon more easily? Perhaps you felt what they felt without realizing how?"

Lawrence shivered some more, gulping and remembering the times in which that could have applied, surprised at the many examples he could recall, from how he knew how Pichu was feeling when he was stuck in her house, to then multiple times he could read Mirari's feelings (not that it was that hard to tell, anyway).

"Good! I can see you've understood what I meant!" She growled one last time, opening her arms wide, and sending a controlled shockwave around her, which shot sand in the area surrounding her.

Lawrence covered his eyes, and when the sand lowered, he froze in fear when he saw the adult. Her royal blue aura was burning slowly around her, like a flame. Her blue eyes were shining, and she seemed to be panting, showing off her razor-sharp teeth. Her scales faintly clanged, the wind seemed to almost be influenced by that amazing display of power.

"Now tell me… little togepi." She put one foot forward, growling threateningly now as she slowly made her way towards him, loudly thumping against the sand, her tail slapping the ground as well, which made his heart skip a beat, as well as his fearful shivers to increase. "Tell me… what am I feeling?"

He froze once more, his mind so clouded with fear and bewilderment he barely had time to process that. Her authoritative gaze snapping him out of it. She took another step, and yet again, his motivation seemed to sink back down.

"Answer at once!" Her voice seemed only to get louder and more intimidating. "Inaction can be fatal in both a conversation, and a battle!" Her growls only grew the closer she got. Now about two steps away from reaching him.

"I-I-I-" Lawrence gulped, closing his eyes shut, trying his best to focus, unsure exactly how or what he was supposed to do, he tried centering an imaginary line on the pokémon in front of him, while his heart threatening to jump out of his chest. He absolutely couldn't get even a hint of what exactly she was feeling- Anger? Rage? Disappointment? Murderous intent?

"You what!?" She took another loud step. "I can't hear you!"

He was shivering uncontrollabl, his hands were shaking, his eyes tightening even more, his voice completely gone. Until he heard another step, the faint clanging of scales hauting him as he now felt the shadow of the huge dragon completely cover him, his instinctive fear skyrocketing.

"I-I… y-you…" he couldn't get his tongue to work, trying his best to resist the urge to curl around in a ball. Suddenly felt something… a sudden surge of courage burning inside his heart.

The kommo-o stopped a moment, and tilted her head in confusion. Suddenly she saw a silver-ish white aura covering the togepi, he raised his arms to the sky, charging a small energy sphere made of pure white light, that shone like rainbow when in contact with sunlight. She then noticed his locket was flashing the same radiance, turning the small sphere into a medium sized one. "Y-You… y-you're scaring m-me! S-Stop!"

He then swings his hands down, firing the energy sphere at Kommo-o, with his eyes still closed. She opened her mouth in surprise and took a single step back, slapping the orb with her right arm, using her armor-like scale to easily deflect the blast. The sphere flew to the side, harmlessly hitting the ground, exploding in mix of glitter-like shine and sand.

When the togepi opened his eyes, he was no longer covered in that gleam, and was no longer trembling uncontrollably. He had a single stray tear of fear in his left eye. Lawrence gulped when he realized what he did, taking a step back and raising his hands apologetically. "I-I'm s-so s-s-s-sorry miss! I-I d-didn't-" he stuttered uncontrollably in a mixture of emotions, only to be interrupted by the adult, whom reassuringly touched his head.

"It is fine, little one. You did nothing wrong." She revealed her face, showing a proud smile to the small pokémon. "You passed the test with flying colors."

As she saw the poor, helpless togepi's confusion, Kommo-o decided to elaborate. "I was trying to see how you'd react under extreme pressure. I pretty much gave you an impossible task." She couldn't help but chuckle.

"W-What…?" Was all he managed to blurt out, looking apprehensive and confused at the adult's sudden shift in demeanor.

"You see, fairies are very dependant on their feelings and emotions, as I said before," she dusted off some stray sand that had clung to her body. Lawrence thought she looked cool doing it, "and I asked you to try and use your fairy powers whilst not only making sure your emotions were unbalanced by intimidating you, but also trying to mask and fake what I was really feeling."

Lawrence finally seemed to be catching on, nodding and calming down at long last. "I-I get it… you wanted to see what exactly I would do in a seemingly impossible scenario…"

"Pokémon show who they truly are under those circumstances." Lawrence saw her royal aura fully disappearing, leaving her looking exhausted. "I'm impressed by what I saw. That was a very strange use of Magical Shine, but it sure caught me off guard for a second."

"T-Thanks, I guess…" He gulped, looking over her. "Are you ok…? D-Did I do that to you, miss…?" He asked, his voice dripping with both concern and guilt.

She smiles sweetly at him, shaking her head. "Of course not, little one. I'm merely spent over using that technique, Soul Beat, or Clangorous Soul, whichever you prefer."

He could tell she was only tired, her feelings were calm, with a hint of curiosity (probably at his earlier stunt), though he could sense… worry? "Miss Kommo-o… are you afraid of something?"

She looked intrigued by the question. Before smiling down at him with one eye closed. "Ah. I told you, it's instinctual. You'll get the hang of it in no time. Though be weary, more experienced pokémon like me can create barriers to prevent an empath's meddling if they really want to."

He noticed she was trying to avoid the question, but before he could inquire further, she interrupted him once more.

Kommo-o takes a deep exhale, closing her eyes, trying to catch her breath. "As for all that drama with Soul Beat, I had to do it to feign a real threat to you, and keep up the 'angry' act."

The togepi nods. He has an idea. Lawrence approaches Kommo-o and puts his little hands on one of her large, armored legs, closing his eyes and channeling Life Dew, the aqua blue light covering himself and her.

She allowed him to finish, again putting one hand in his head, sighing as the effect of the move refreshed her. "It takes way more than that to fully heal an adult like me. But thank you, little one."

"It's the least I can do." He smiled weakly.

Kommo-o nodded, shaking her body a little. "Your control is getting better. You must find what emotions, thoughts or feelings help fuel your moves, and start to harness them without much thought." She then pointed with one large claw to his necklace. "It seems that this little locket is more than just a pretty bauble, as I suspected."

Lawrence tilted his head. "Huh? The pendant reacted somehow? And you knew it would?"

"Indeed. It has boosted your desperate attack, for some reason. Ever since I touched this locket, I have felt a strong energy from within. Positive energy." She crossed her arms. "Much like yourself, this object seems to have secret powers hidden within."

"Like myself…? Powers hidden…? I d-don't understand… How much have you not told me, miss Kommo-o?" Lawrence seemed more and more frustrated with her, but mostly at not getting exactly what was happening.

"I'll explain it all in time, little one. Sometimes ignorance is a ble-" She immediately stopped her sentence, her head snapped in another direction, as if she heard a loud noise somewhere, her eyes were wide,"-Lawrence, run back to the village. Hurry!"

The togepi was taken back again. "W-Wha-"

"This is not a test, just go!" She growled, the royal blue aura returning to her in full strength, burning even brighter than before, further tiring the adult's body.

"B-But M-Mirari…!"

"I'll worry about that! Run back to the village and don't leave. GO!" She commanded.

Kommo-o then snarled and dashed towards the horizon. The sheer force of the running sending the togepi flying back to fall on his rump. Stunned, confused and scared, he could only look to the royal blue flash sprinting through the desert.


-Western Gobi Desert-

"Oh boy… I sure hope I didn't left him behind on accident…"

A lonesome, confused jangmo-o muttered to herself, looking around as she walked aimlessly.

"Mama's gonna chew me if she finds out I lost Lawrence on accident…" she laughed nervously to herself. "Note to self: Next time, look behind to make sure that small fairy friend is tagging along. Or just carry him again. Whatever works!"

Despite her high spirits, Mirari was clearly lost looking for Lawrence, wandering aimlessly through the desert, probably also lost herself, though she refused to admit it.

"Lawrence! Lawry! Laurie!" She screamed, gulping as worry overtook her.

The area around her was barren, everything looked the same, just sand and dunes everywhere, no oasis nor settlement nor caves anywhere in sight. Just sand and sun.

"Oh… please be ok! I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" She thought to herself, looking down, closing her eyes, trying to focus, sniffing the air, trying to find something, anything.

And just as she was completely lost to her tracking, she yelped, butting her head in something… or more precisely, someone.

"Ouch! Sorry!" She shook her head, rubbing her snout. "I didn't see you there! Couldn't catch your scent neither… my nose must be stuffy!"

In front of her stood a tall, biped figure, covered in a dark cloak, not a single shred of skin, scale or fur appeared. The one thing she could see of the mysterious being were their shiny red eyes, their face was otherwise completely covered under the shadows of the hood.

"Hello! Fancy seeing you here!" She suddenly jumped from joy as her brain processed what this stranger meant. "Oh! You must be with the guild over at Gobi! That would explain this impractical yet surprisingly cool-looking cloak you're wearing!"

The figure silently stared at her, his body like a statue, slowly tilting their head as it stared to the blabbering child. "Have you seen a small, cute and sorry-looking pokémon walking around here? He's like, a good friend and I… maybe kinda might have accidentally lost him while we played! Hahaha…"

The weird figure keeps silently staring at her still. The jangmo-o just sights and looks away. "Yeah, I know… I should have been more careful! He might be thirsty, alone and most likely crying, thus spending even more of his limited water supply!"

"..."

"I'm sure he was following me too! He wouldn't just let me go alone, he loooooves playing with me!"

"..."

"I never thought about it. But I'm sure he tagged along! He wouldn't let me spring by myself towards the middle of the desert, right?"

"..."

"Right. Yeah, he wouldn't just leave me! He's not like the other kids..."

"..."

"Oh right, I didn't really told you anything about me! Would you like to know?"

"..."

"You must be busy, yeah..."

"..."

"I've always wondered why the other kids avoid me. I kinda blame my mama for that, she's so protective and overbearing, sometimes I feel like she's choking me! She refuses to let me go to school, and always tries to keep me home. It's infuriating! She also refuses to let me go explore and forbids me from ever leaving the village!" Mirari looked down, the figure only kept staring.

"..."

"Have you had that problem? Like, dreaming of wanting to be someone. Dreaming of not being just an average pokémon who'll be forgotten as soon as you're gone?"

"..."

"Of course, I can't talk about those things with Lawrence- Erm, that's the name of the friend I'm looking for- Because he might think I'm weird, and then I'll lose my… first and only friend." The jangmo-o walked in a direction whilst she contemplated things, only for the figure to almost robotically walk towards the other, always remaining exactly the opposite of her.

"..."

"Oh, sorry if I'm just throwing random stuff at you. I dunno, being alone for the first time in four days just made me… think about stuff. I'm terrible at keeping things to myself, see! You seemed like a nice enough pokémon."

The shape tilted its head to the other side, with and stiff movements.

"Thanks for the nice talk! I gotta go find my friend. Good luck on whatever you're doing, mister explorer!" She chirps happily, turning around to resume her search.

Though she stopped and turned around when she heard movement. Her eyes widened when she saw the shape offering her their hand, still completely covered by the rather oversized sleeve of their black cloak, though in between their three fingers, a shining grey and gold scale could be seen.

"Oh! Is that mine? Where'd you get it?" Mirari smiled, picking it up like it was no big deal. "Maybe you went to little sandrop cave? I must have dropped there! Thanks!"

The oblivious dragon held the little scale in between her claws, examining it with her scarlet eyes, lifting it up towards the sky, watching as it shone. She had her back turned to the stranger and couldn't really see as they slowly approached her, their hand leaving the sleeve, revealing a thin furred purple frame… Their three-digited hand shining a dark purple glow that swallowed the light surrounding it. It reached for the dragon from behind.

She turned around at the very last second, seeing it mere inches from her face. Her eyes widened, mouth opening for a scream that never came.


-Oasis village-

"C'mon… Where are you…? Where are you…?" Came the faint whispers of a very worried, small fairy-type.

He was walking around uncontrollably, staring at the scorching sun above, gulping and shaking all at once. Still unsure of what exactly happened, his heart beat loudly when he thought of Mirari.

"Did she put herself in trouble a-again…? Maybe s-something happened…? But w-what…!?" Lawrence put two of his little hands on his head, trying and failing miserably to calm himself down.

While he kept thinking about all the terrible things that could have happened, the togepi failed to notice someone approaching from behind.

He suddenly felt a furry, yellow paw touching his shoulder, making him jump back in fright, opening his mouth to scream, but stopping at the last second when he saw a confused and concerned Pichu staring back at him.

"Um… Lawrence, is everything alright?" She had her little paws raised reassuringly.

"P-Pichu! Miss Kommo-o, me and Mirari were t-training in t-the desert when she s-suddenly left in a hurry!"

"Really? And where is Mirari?" The rodent stepped closer, he could feel she was somewhat scared too, but mostly concerned.

"S-She ran off! Miss Kommo-o said we should l-let her play while we trained a-and… and suddenly, after we were done, s-she just ran off and told me to w-wait here!..." Lawrence recollected, desperate and stumbling on his words.

"Calm down, it's gonna be ok!" She again touched his shoulder with one paw, looking around her nervously. "Erm. Let's go to Mrs. Kommo-o's home. It's nearby. There you can relax and tell me what exactly happened."

The togepi merely nodded, following her. Pichu blushed madly, now holding his little hand with her paw and leading him to the stone hut.


-Western Gobi Desert-

Opening her previously closed shut eyes, Mirari's heart skipped a beat. That hand was mere inches from her face, almost touching it with that glowing dark energy.

On the cloaked figures' side though, a very tall, very angry Kommo-o stood, holding their arm with one of her clawed hands, the other tightly closed into a fist. Her royal blue aura firing up as her anger grew.

The figure's arm was still, even as they tried to overpower the dragon they were unable to break her steel grip. They quickly moved their other hand, channeling a ball made of pure black energy, aiming at the adult, only to be met with a insanely quick blow to the face, which send him staggering back.

Kommo-o growled, keeping her momentum, she let go of his arm and landed another two precise blows on their chest, causing shockwaves as they hit. The sequence of attacks pushed it behind some more. And when she was certain they were far enough for her to step in between it and her daughter, she did. Each movement earning the fierce melody of her clinging scales, in a vicious dance.

Finally, Kommo-o ended her flurry of blows on the cloaked pokémon by drawing both of her clawed hands back, gathering her energy. Her aura burned even more intensely around her. She proceeded to touch the bottom of her palms together in a quick, loud slap, her scales clinging louder as a large blue sphere formed in-between her hands.

"Begone! Wave Bomb!" She hissed as the ball grew larger and fired it right at the pokémon's chest, the recoil made Kommo-o's arms shoot up in the air whilst sending the figure flying back to a dune nearby.

Even as they were viciously assaulted by a fast-paced, bone-crushing barrage of punches and that powerful aura sphere, the pokémon didn't utter a single noise or acknowledgement of pain. The little jangmo-o couldn't help but stared silently at the sight, struggling to proceess it all.

"What are you doing!? Stop staring and get out of here!" She snarled, Mirari jumped and lowered both her tail and her head meekly.

"B-But Lawrence-"

"He's back in the village! Run there and don't you dream of leaving!" The dragon/fighting-type kpet her gaze focused at the dune where the pokémon flew, with her guard up.

"B-But m-mama-" The little dragon tried to argue back, only to be silenced by a serious leer from the bigger pokémon, making her whimper and have to turn around to flee towards the town. Those eyes made Mirari want to sob.

"I'm sorry, little one. I know you don't react well to tough love." She sighed, calming herself whilst grimacing.

"I only managed to push him back again thanks to surprise and speed, not power." Her aura flared back up, whilst she grunted and growling to herself. "And soon, I fear power will catch up to me. And I'd rather have you be safe when that comes, even if you despise me for it."

"He is only getting bolder and bolder too. To think he would make contact with her at this time, so close to the village…" Kommo-o cursed her lack of care silently, never would she have even thought of bringing the children outside had she known the figure would break the pattern, and risk themself like that.

Then out of nowhere, a gleam of purple light left the dune, soon followed by another, and another. Until the large formation of sand exploded, showering the area in sand, making the Kommo-o cover her eyes for a moment.

As the sand stopped falling, a lone, tall dark cloaked figure was revealed in the middle of the blast, still remaining creepily stiff and minimalistic in movement or expression. His hood was down, revealing his glowing eyes behind the red lenses of the black, demonic mask. His very thin purple fur appearing somewhat.

"Come on, monster. See if you can keep up this time!" She snarled once more, charging two small spheres in each hand, tossing them at the creature, who reflected both with a simple wave of their hand. A large cloud of smoke and sand obscuring his view when the deflected spheres hit the ground.

When the cloud dissipated, the dragon was nowhere to be seen. With yet another robotic head tilt, the shape soon teleported away.


-Mirari's house-

"And t-that's pretty much it…" Lawrence looked down, sitting on the large nest-like bed he came to like so much. Probably the pokémon in him talking, but he didn't care. He seemed to be carrying a simple cup, with a colorful liquid inside.

"That was rough." Pichu solemnly nodded, after hearing the tale of what happened in the desert moments ago. "But there was nothing you could do. Mrs. Kommo-o is capable, she knows what she's doing."

"I understand… But I feel useless. I-I… wanted to help, but I was too s-scared to even think about that…" He kept staring down in shame. "To be honest, all I wanted was to leave and let her worry about Mirari… But I know that's wrong..."

He takes another sip of the drink, his expression still neutral, though he forced a smile. "This is really good, by the way."

"Thank you. I learned from mrs. Kommo, since she said Mirari doesn't like cooking." Pichu smiled back at the togepi.

Then her expression became a bit more serious. "There's nothing wrong about being afraid, Lawrence. You're weak, mrs. Kommo-o is strong. Let her handle things and just… stay back."

He felt his heart tighten around his chest, a feeling of dread washing over him. "I guess you're right… but I don't like being weak… I don't like being so helpless and..." 'Cowardly...'

"You said yourself when we met: we're just kids, Lawrence." Pichu tried to console him. "You gotta let the adults solve things. It is how it is."

He merely put his hands in his face, deep in thought, his pendant softly moving like a very slow pendulum.

Detecting the gloom that was overtaking the fairy type, Pichu decided to move the conversation forward.

"That is a beautiful locket, by the way." She looked at it intently. "I never saw you using it. Where did you get it?"

Lawrence locked up, setting the cup down, suddenly feeling another sting in his heart as he remembered that… Peculiar situation in his first ever day in this world.

He could see flashes of those crystals, plastered all over the dungeon. Those mirrors reflecting the worst in him. A shape lurking inside those magenta, mirror-like stones. A feeling of dread washed over him the more time went on, like if a thousand eyes were staring at him, whispering promises, secrets, offering salvation, controlling him.

Longing for him.

He suddenly jumped when he saw Pichu's face inchest from his, slapping her paws close to where his ears should be, making the little male jump back a bit. "Hey! You ok? You scared me! You weren't even blinking... what happened? You just spaced out! Then..."

The togepi shook his head, trying to get his feet back on the ground. A headache overtook him. His breath became louder and chaotic. As he threatened to space out again, he could see a warm light radiating out of the pendant he wore. The clear, bright light washed away the dread that threatened to swallow him again.

"Then… that happened!" Muttered Pichu, pointing at the ornamented globe on his neck.

Feeling his heart beat normally again, his mind stop racing and falling apart, he found energy to finally speak. "I… I was given this by a pokémon. When me and Mirari entered a cave, in the day we met." Pichu tilted her head, confused, but very intrigued.

Lawrence continued, clutching the pendant. "He was alone, lost and bitter. He… he couldn't dispel the darkness within himself. So he chose to give it to me… maybe so that I would never end up like him…" Lawrence himself had no idea where all that came from, thanks to his limited interactions with Sableye. Yet, it all felt so genuine and natural… like ideas he had known for a long time, but never realized. He admitted that it all sounded far too corny for him, yet it was the best way he could phrase what he felt, and honestly, he didn't care how it sounded. It was like he was on autopilot.

Remembering what happened to the ghost and dark type almost bought a tear to his eye, remembering what he'd done to him… Yet for some reason, he tried to avoid recalling what happened. Perhaps he was cold and didn't care, perhaps he was stupid and didn't' know, perhaps he was in denial, and didn't want to know. "H-He… he's gone. And I didn't have the decency of shedding a tear for him until now…"

Lawrence couldn't really see it, but the pendant shone faintly at his words.

Then while he sobbed, Lawrence felt tiny arms wrap around him, only to see Pichu touching her forehead on his, small bolts of blue electricity leaving her cheeks. "I… don't really get what happened, but all I can say is that if that pokémon really saved you, then it was for a reason. In my culture, I learned to honor the dead not by crying, but through actual actions. They wouldn't want you in tears, but… trying to be the best pokémon you could be. I think that would make them happy!"

Pichu smiled, pulling away from the hug with her cheeks even brighter than what they already were. "You should try talking to Jangmo-o too! I think you two are quite close, and she went through the same as you, no?"

Feeling Pichu's sincere and innocent attempt to lift his spirits surprisingly made him more energetic and less gloomy. "T-Thanks, Pichu. I needed that…"

The fairy then sighs and looks down again. "But I can't tell Mirari that. She might not be going through the same as me. She'll just laugh and say I should get over it or something. She'll think I'm stupid…"

Pichu frowned, she really had no idea how to tackle a topic involving the strange Jangmo-o. "Well, if it's any help… we could go see elder Crustle tomorrow. Maybe he can give you some answers regarding that locket."

Lawrence smiled again back at the electric rodent, nodding. Picking up the cub and taking another sip of the tasty juice inside. "Thanks… I guess that would be really nice." He would certainly feel less lost, alone and confused if he understood a tiny bit of all the wacky, fantasy stuff that was happening to him.

"Then tomorrow we'll-" Pichu continued, only to be interrupted by a loud bang at the door, seeing a very tired, very sad and very shaken jangmo-o appear.

"Mirari!" Lawrence immediately got up, looking straight at her.

"Lawry!" Mirari screamed, her eyes tearing up.

Before he could say anything more, the togepi was tackled to the ground, thankfully falling on their shared bed, his cup flying away comically, the female dragon's face nuzzling and rubbing against his.

"You're ok! Thank the deities above! I was SO WORRIED!" She sniffles, Lawrence was stunned, only managing to pet her scaly, tough hide in response. His heart being invaded with a bomb of good and bad emotions, probably from the dragon. "Where were you? I looked for you everywhere!"

"Huh? I was training with miss Kommo-o! You just ran off!"

"Wait… you didn't follow me?" She pulled away, now her face in front of his, her breath hitting his face. "I was so worried thinking I lost you! How could you!?"

"W-What do you mean? W-Why would I have followed you? Are you nuts?" Lawrence struggled to get free, though like always, her grip was too much.

"To play, duh! Seriously, how could you leave me running all alone? What are friends for?"

"Hey…?" Came a third, meeker voice.

"Your mother herself said I-I was to train! You expected me to just d-ditch her for a pointless race I-I had no chance o-of winning?"

"And you expected me to just sit around doing nothing and watch you have all the fun with mom?"

"First: Training isn't fun. It's an obligation I-I have if I don't wanna die in those creepy c-caves. Second: You agreed to go and watch! S-So of course I thought you'd be okay with not jumping around f-for 5 minutes! And get off me already, y-you know I hate when you constrict me like t-this!" The togepi struggled, while the jangmo-o remained steadfast.

"Guys?" The third voice tried to interrupt, only to be ignored again.

"First: Of course training is fun! It's what we pokémon do… fight and get stronger! Second: I agreed to go spend time with my friend. And friends don't have all the fun alone! You know how much I wanted to play with you after spending so much time healing! And third: This is a hug, you dummy! I'm not a serperior to constrict you!"

"I told you already, I-I don't like fighting because I'm not a-"

"GUYS!?" A squeaky voice suddenly shrieked, the two stopped their bickering and saw a drenched, very sorry-looking Pichu, with a cup stuck in one of her ears, juice flowing through her yellow and black fur.

The duo just stared at her, silently. Before looking at each other and giggling at the sudden scene.

"Oh, ha-hah. Yes, laugh at the least fortunate, you shaytan-spawn! Keep laughing…" She crossed her arms, frowing at the duo.

"Little do you two know, you'll be the ones cleaning my fur and the mess on the floor!" Pichu smirked, the duo stopped their laughing and stared silently at each other nervously. Then they looked at the colorful, large juice puddle on the ground, and all over the pichu.


A/N: Boy oh boy, I originally had bigger plans for this one- involving more fighting and desert adventuring. Oh well, maybe next episode!

Lupercus1944: I actually am very flattered you'd write such lenghty, constructive and kind reviews! Please, if it's no bother, I'm very happy with them as they are! I tried my best with nailling the punctuation and tried to double check on syntax and such, thank you for pointing it out! I'm very proud to have surprised you with that little lampshading trick- I am a fan of campiness, cheese and corny things in movies and in fiction, so of course I'd shower my fic with that! It's sometimes very effective to show your characters acknowledging it to a certain extent! Makes the reader relate to them, and can be useful as a comedy tool. And hey, I just try hard to use english in the correct manner, it might somtimes sound unnatural, I'm sure you can make it more fluid than me, hah! Glad to hear you like Mirari too, it's always very heartwarming to see a reader really liking a character! Thanks again for the review! I hope you continue to like the next chapters!