Yeps, this is my first successful all-Pokemon fanfiction. It's sorta based off of Mystery Dungeon ... I need to buy that ... coughs Anyway, it's rated T just to be safe, since there will be spilled blood in later chapters. And I don't own anything about Pokemon, just the charries in here. Sorry if it's sort of long, but I enjoy writing ...

Prologue

Bloody Bandana

A light wind blew across the forest, bringing with it a ghostly chill and the rattle of shivering bare branches. Dead leaves, most crunched and trampled on, made an eerie carpet on the cold green grass. A few bare twigs snapped from another, stronger gust, and shot through the air before becoming discarded on the forest floor. The steady, dry whistling was the only sound in the woods.

Out of nowhere, a black cloth flew through the air. It twisted and twirled like an acrobat, stopping only when the long, pointed fingers of the trees snagged it. The cloth billowed as the wind rammed against it; the dark fabric was blasted one last time, and it floated to the hard earth.

A small, violet-colored creature stepped out of a small burrow hidden by a thorny tangle of branches, which had been a thick bush. It picked up the cloth, fumbling with the smooth black fabric, before giving it a small and hesitant sniff. "A bandana," it said softly, dropping it and backing away. It stared at its white paws, gasping. They were stained red with blood. The bandana had been drenched with the stuff. The creature began to pant heavily before rushing through the cold, dead wood. There was a town up ahead, one that it needed to get to in order to report this. In its hurry, the bandana was forgotten on the ground.

Chilled, almost frozen rain began to fall from the thick gray clouds, dripping down the icy tree trunks and spilling onto the stony earth. The cloth moved again, showing on its blackened surface a red streak, a line that curved into a spiral at its right point. As the rain fell harder, the liquid mingled with the blood in the grass. An hour after the downpour began, the water had managed to wash the blood and soot away, and the bandana blew off, a dark green color with the streak white. The pool of watery blood rippled as the breeze stroked it, as if the wind itself was trying to rouse it into life.

A tall, white animal pounced out of the shadows, her shaggy white fur parted with nasty and recent scars. Her face, claws, and tail were ebony, along with a scythe-like growth on the side of her head. She sported a cloth around her throat, green with a white mark. It was a long bandana like the one the rodent held. The she-beast bent down to the puddle and sniffed. "Ruka," she murmured, before letting out a mournful yowl. Her long, sharp claws cut into the ground beneath her, and hatred flared up within her heart. "It has to be someone else …" However many times she repeated this, she knew that it was not true. Her angled, ruby eyes squinted, and she turned away.

She suddenly reared back, throwing her forepaws against a tree in pure rage. Her voice rose into an angry snarl. "Damn you, Akaro! I'll avenge my friends if it's the last thing I do! You won't live to see the sun's warmth!" She gritted her teeth, turning her slender form. She held the stance of a wolf, her muscle rippling with all of its power, yet her balance matched that of a big cat. She threw her head back, rain falling onto her dark face. The creature's hoarse voice began to trail off even when it began again. "Oh, Ruka … I'm so sorry …"

An evil snicker, inaudible to the female, rang out softly in the bushes. The dark scarlet creature bared its long fangs, before his blue eyes flickered down to the dripping bandana torn in his hooked white claws. "I'm afraid," the dragon whispered, "you're wrong." He lifted his gaze to the black sky, smiling cruelly before beating his leathering wings and pushing himself into the smoke-colored clouds.

In the center of a small, rural town, there was a broad, wooden building. Its frame creaked against the freezing cold, but inside was the sound of a cackling fire. Within the building, a golden, nine-tailed fox sat before a large flame. Wise red eyes stared across the scarlet flicker to pin the small purple rodent with a stare.

"Are you sure?" he growled, his demand as clear as his gleaming white teeth. "You found a bloodied bandana in the forest, half a day ago."

The rodent nodded solemnly. "Yes," he replied. "It was pure black, but it was so dark and it was so bloody that it must have been another color."

The fox lowered his eyes with a frown. "Did you see a mark on it?" The other shook his head. "Should I trust a loner such as you? Lately, the elements have destroyed our brethren, or have caused them to go quite mad."

"On my word as a Rattata," the creature replied proudly, "I'm telling the whole truth. But … I didn't bring it. It was lost in the rains." His attention was distracted by the other creatures sitting around them. They murmured amongst themselves, looking terrified.

A brown, bipedal creature with a bone-white head walked forward. He rested the femur he carried on the floor beside him and remarked, "Regardless of its color or markings, a bandana usually signifies a Rescue Team. These teams we cannot spare. A member has either died or has been wounded, and if the cloth was that soaked, he or she must have lost a lot of blood."

"I agree, Thane, but we still need to know who it was. If we knew the markings and color, we'd get a clue as to the other members were," the golden creature replied sadly.

Suddenly, the door burst in. A bloody, white beast staggered into the room. There were many cuts across her short muzzle and shoulders. She came forward, dipped her head in respect, and whispered, "Fen … Ruka is dead." She collapsed, but Thane caught her before she hit the floor.

Fen's ears shot up, and he leaped over the fire. He nosed the fainted creature helplessly before pleading, "Wake up, Aiyanna. Tell us who did this. What happened?" He looked up at the others, then growled, "Thane, you and your cousins go out and scan the forest for danger." As they left, he backed away from Aiyanna. A half hour passed before she was able to weakly open her eyes. Most of the others had gone, but Fen, Thane, and the Rattata were still there. Fen smiled at her, a rare thing, and asked gently, "What happened, Ai?" She blinked at him in surprise, and then collected herself before explaining.

"Ruka and I were scouting along our border, heading toward the Post Office to get another mission. Then … this dark red streak flashed in front of us." She shuddered from her memories, her eyes unseeing. "I saw long fangs, and a burst of warm blood sputtering from Ruka's throat. It was … Akaro, the Charizard." Fen shook his head sadly, and Thane beat the palm of his paw with the bone he held, glaring into space. "Ruka ran off, still alive, but he was bleeding too much … That's the last I saw of him. I found his a last puddle of his blood a half a mile off."

Her eyes glimmered sadly, and Fen sighed in defeat. He swallowed and said, "So you're the last of the Green Wind Rescue Team." Her expression grew distant, and her breath came out ragged. She let her head sink onto her forelegs, and she pressed her cheek against the torn fur.

"I'll have to recruit more members in the summer …" she murmured, closing her eyes.