Hey, everyone! Ta-Ni here. Sorry about last week; been trying to find someone to review my work, and thus make it better quality. Anyway, if anyone wants to be a beta reader, let me know in a PM. That being said, here's the next chapter in Sol's journey.

Note: I do use the term 'bitch' in this chapter, but it's in the proper context; I do not intend to offend anyone with my writing.

Many moons passed and the seasons changed. The cold season was the hardest on me, with my feeble flame and all, so I tended to stay in the cave all day and sleep. I continued to grow, watching my tail split once, then twice. My teeth grew in sharp fangs and canines like Nana's, only smaller. With those, I could no longer drink milk from her; she would bring part of her hunt back with her for me to eat. At first, I hesitated, unsure for some reason, but the scent of partially-seared meat soon overwhelmed me, and I dove in with ravenous hunger.

During the flowery and hot seasons, Nana would let me leave the cave and wander the woods nearby. I never strayed far from the entrance or Nana, my ears perked high and nose alert for danger. Then, one day during the flowery season after my third hatch-day (I think), I heard a great roaring coming from deep in the forest. I immediately ran to Nana, who stood with her hackles raised facing the noise. It steadily grew louder, until a huge blue dragon with red wings burst from the trees, bellowing its head off.

It spotted Nana and stopped roaring, landing hard before her with a snarl. It spat something out of its mouth, before saying, "Finally! A sign of life! Do you know how long I've been flying around here?" Nana didn't say anything, her lips pulled back in a snarl. Then, the dragon spotted me cowering behind Nana's paws, and stared. I whimpered and tried to hide in the shadow of her paw, but I was too big. "Well, what have we here? A young Vulpix, barely three tails old. Tell me, young one, are you by chance related to an old Ninetales I met a few years ago?"

I shook my head, and Nana said, "My friend found him barely hatched, three years ago, and brought him to me to raise; I gave him the name Sol. How do you know her?" The dragon laughed. "I fought that crazy bitch, alongside my trainer, about that long ago. She beat me handily, but my trainer disappeared. It took the better part of a year to break out of my Pokéball, and another to recover enough to look for him. Have any humans come around here?"

Nana growled at the mention of 'trainer', saying acidly, "No filthy two-legs would dare come near my den, so no, I haven't seen your 'trainer'. You had better hope he doesn't come here, because I would tear him to shreds!" I'd never seen Nana this angry before, and it was starting to scare me. She glared at the dragon and said, "Now. I suggest you leave, now. Trained Pokémon are no better than their owners, and I will show you no mercy or sympathy if you bring any two-legs after my pup!"

"All right, I'm going!" he replied. "No need to get your tail in a twist. I'll search elsewhere then." He bent down and grabbed what looked like a mangled black-and-yellow ball from the ground, and took off again, roaring loudly once more. As the dragon disappeared over the treetops, and the noise subsided, I slowly crawled out from behind Nana's paw. She still had a scary scowl on her face, causing me to whimper in fear again. I hope she never gets that mad at me, I thought.

The little sound seemed to snap her out of her trance, for she stopped scowling and bent her head down to look at me, concern in her eyes. "Honey, are you okay?" she asked gently. I nodded carefully. "I'm sorry I scared you; it's just… whenever I run into that kind of Pokémon, it always makes my blood boil!"

"What… what Pokémon was it? And why were you mad at it?" I asked quietly. "That was a Salamence, a very powerful dragon-type Pokémon, and as for why I was mad… well, it was a trained Pokémon. You noticed the ball in its mouth? That was probably its Pokéball, the sign of enslavement all trained Pokémon bear. When certain two-legs, called trainers, throw those balls at you and catch you in them, you are forced to obey them without question."

"How can a huge Pokémon like that fit inside such a small ball?" I asked. "I don't know, sweetie," she replied. "All I know is being inside is uncomfortable, and life under a trainer is downright unbearable!" The scowl returned, like she ate something sour; this time, since I knew she wasn't mad at me, it wasn't as scary. "Sol, I want you to promise me something. If you EVER see a two-legs in the forest around here, come RIGHT back to the cave IMMEDIATELY. You are much too young to be caught by a trainer; the binding process could possibly kill you outright."

I nodded once, and she relaxed. "Now, how about we return to the cave, and I see about getting you some dinner, okay?" I yipped in delight and bounded back the way we came, Nana easily catching up to me with her much longer strides. Still, I wondered, how did she know so much about these odd two-legs called trainers?

How indeed? Stay tuned; maybe he'll find out. By the way, that is Henry's Salamence.

Read, review, and may your Ember never fade!