The group soon walked off together as Akito continued to examine Micco as he had a lot on his mind about the Native American man.
"Yes...?" Micco asked as he noticed Akito examining him.
"Oh, I'm sorry..." Akito said.
"Hey, is this about growing into large size?" Micco asked. "I have a reason for that."
"Uh, I sorta know," Akito looked bashful as he had some trading cards with him. "Especially in the future."
Koda and Teddy were seen running on ahead.
"Let's just say, you'll get to become a great hero someday," Akito said as he looked at his Super Friends trading cards which, of course, included Apache Chief. "I know you will, Micco."
"Well, thank you," Micco said to him. "Let's go catch up or we'll get left behind."
"Not that speed is a problem for me." Akito then smirked.
"Koda, you two be careful." Nita told the bear cub and Ursaring.
"Good to see Teddy having fun," Akito smiled as he took out his PokeBall. "I bet you wanna play too, so come on out!"
The PokeBall was soon tossed and out came Tyraniter.
Vincent and Felicity shared the same look as they also brought out Ninetails and Mismagius.
"Relax, they're fine," Kenai told Nita. "They're just looking for lunch."
"Yeah." Teddy smiled.
"Besides, I'm always careful." Koda said before he slipped on a rock and fell in the water.
"Look, see, we just go down this trail until we hit the river." Kenai soon said once he looked up ahead of the path.
"Oh, that sounds perfect." Felicity smiled.
"River?" Nita asked, looking scared.
"Uh-oh." Micco whispered to himself.
"Yeah," Kenai nodded at Nita. "And then we swim across."
"Swim?" Micco soon asked as he felt Nita's fear.
"Then it's just a little way's to Hokani Falls," Kenai then concluded as Koda came out of the water and shook himself dry. "We'll be there by lunchtime tomorrow."
"That's a good idea." Akito nodded.
"I love the part where we swim." Estelle beamed.
"Of course you do." Vincent smirked playfully.
"Well, that's a good plan, but what about this?" Nita spoke up nervously. "We go up this ridge to that mountain, climb up those cliffs, walk across that snow bridge and avoid the river altogether." she then suggested.
Akito and the others soon looked confused as that made no sense.
"That makes more sense to me." Nita smirked to herself.
Micco nodded for the sake of making his sister feel better.
"That doesn't make any sense," Koda replied. "That's way out of the way, and there's too much up and not enough down. I vote for the river." he then added.
"Me too." Kenai replied.
"Same here," Felicity agreed. "I'm sure my cousins agree too."
"But if you have a problem with the water, Nita; Micco could always help you go over the river." Akito said.
"Huh? Who says I have a problem with the water?" Nita asked nervously.
Akito gave her a bit of a look for that.
"I say we eat right now." Koda suggested.
"I'll help get a fish." Teddy smiled.
"Sounds great, Teddy!" Koda smiled back.
"Why do you wanna go the way you wanna go, Nita?" Akito asked suspiciously.
"Well, it's my amulet." Nita replied.
"So?" Kenai then asked.
"And my wedding." Nita then told him.
"Then you can have your honeymoon up there." Vincent said.
"Yeah, if we all went up that way, it would take all night!" Akito added. "I mean, it could take me at least three seconds, but still!"
"Fine," Nita huffed. "Then I'll meet you all there."
"Nita, what's wrong with you?" Kenai asked.
"Trust me," Nita reassured. "My way will get us there before-"
Teddy soon tossed out a fish out of the water which made Nita scream and fall into the water before she screamed even more and she came out, splashing and soon made it back on dry land as she panted heavily and her heart raced as she looked scared to death.
"Well, that just happened." Vincent said.
"She's not afraid of fish, is she?" Estelle asked.
"...I don't think it's the fish she's scared of." Akito replied.
"What's the matter with you?" Koda asked Nita. "You act like you're afraid of fish."
Nita looked over and bowed her head sadly.
"My gosh, guys, I can't believe it!" Koda then laughed before he soon grabbed the fish and used it to mess with Nita as he laughed at that. "Hey, guys, watch this. Where's the girl who's afraid of fish? 'Hi, my name is Nita, and I'm afraid of fish'. I have a fish. The fish is so scary! 'Oh, no, he's gonna eat me'!"
Kenai laughed for a while until he saw that Nita was still looking scared.
Micco soon sat down to help soothe Nita. "You should tell them." he whispered to her.
"I-I'm not sure if I should," Nita whispered back. "It might be a bit difficult."
"Uh... Koda, come on," Kenai soon told his little brother. "Koda, stop."
"No, he almost got me." Koda continued while Teddy began to look uncomfortable from the bear cub's playing around as Nita looked deeply upset.
"Koda, stop!" Kenai then called firmly.
Koda soon stopped messing with Nita as he dropped the fish. Teddy whacked the back of Koda's head.
"Hey!" Koda glared from that.
"We were just kidding around about the fish." Kenai frowned softly as he came to sit next to his childhood best friend.
Nita sighed as she knew that it was time to confess.
"Go on," Micco smiled at his sister. "I'm sure they'll understand."
Nita looked at her brother before looking back at her childhood friend as she came clean. "No, it's not the fish. It's the water. Ever since that day I fell through the ice when we were kids." she then explained to Kenai about why she felt so scared.
"Oh... I didn't realize." Kenai said softly.
"That's why I didn't grab the bag in the river," Nita continued sadly. "It wasn't your fault we lost the amulet. It was mine."
"Hey, we got it back together," Kenai then said with a small smile to help cheer her up. "That's all that matters, right?"
The two then began to smile at each other.
'They're starting to fall in love.' Micco thought to himself.
Koda looked at Kenai and Nita before glaring at the fish as he was left out. "What are you looking at?" he then huffed before swatting the fish back into the water.
"So much for lunch." Teddy shrugged at himself.
"You ready to keep going?" Kenai soon asked Nita.
"But I'll never be able to cross that river." Nita replied.
"We can do that together too." Kenai told Nita.
Nita smiled fondly from that as they soon walked off together to get on with the trail.
And so, they walked along to go do what they had to do so that Nita could get married to Atka.
"I can't believe we met Apache Chief from the Super Friends," Akito said to Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity as he looked through his trading cards of other superheroes than in the Justice League, such as Apache Chief, El Dorado, and Samurai. "Though I wonder how he's alive in the future like that when he's an adult here?"
"Maybe when he became a superhero, they gave him some sort of immortality?" Estelle guessed.
"That must be it." Vincent nodded.
"Still, it's pretty cool," Akito replied. "This is like a watered-down version of the Justice League."
"I guess that's how the Super Friends work," Estelle smiled. "I like to see you excited though, Akito. I don't think I've seen you this excited since we've became honorary Loonatics."
"That was a really good time." Felicity beamed.
"Yes, it was." Vincent nodded.
They passed by blades of grass before they soon ended up stumbling into some geese who then suddenly flew away. It was a bit startling, but Nita laughed it off before Kenai laughed along with her. Koda began to glare as Nita was getting more attention from Kenai than he was. They soon came to a log bridge but just as Koda was about to cross it Kenai stopped him so Nita could go first.
"I guess that's an act of ladies first." Micco remarked to himself.
"Could be true." Vincent replied as he would do the same for Jenny.
Koda looked grumpy as Nita walked across the log first since Kenai allowed her to do so.
"I don't think Koda's liking the attention Kenai's giving Nita." Teddy whispered to Estelle.
"I can see that." Estelle replied as they soon crossed the log next.
"Careful now, Tyraniter." Akito told his Pokemon who was quite large for his size.
Tyraniter nodded as he began to cross with Ninetails and Teddy while Mismagius simply floated. Koda soon ran right past Nita which nearly knocked her off of the log, but luckily she didn't fall off. Kenai and the others soon caught up with Koda and the Pokemon. Koda still looked grumpy around Nita, especially since he couldn't knock her off of the log.
They soon rode on some woolly mammoths and rode through the hot springs. Manny and Ellie smiled once they saw Akito, Estelle, Felicity, and Vincent again, even Ellie's brothers: Crash and Eddie. The ride through the hot springs was fun for them. Koda then smirked as he got a mammoth to step over a hot spring. This made the mammoth yelped and trumpet from that before going a bit faster. Nita and Kenai laughed from that, though Koda grabbed onto the mammoth's tail as he nearly fell off of the mammoth's back.
"Are you guys gonna have a baby?" Estelle asked Manny and Ellie who looked bashful from that question.
"Uh... Well... If we do, don't tell Sid." Manny said nervously.
"We promise." The fudo siblings smiled.
Manny and Ellie smiled back from that.
"Boy or a girl?" Ingrid asked as she carried Roshan.
"We would love a daughter." Ellie said hopefully.
"Aw!" Estelle, Felicity, and Ingrid smiled.
Manny and Ellie smiled back before dropping them off so that they could continue their journey.
"We have to go now," Felicity said. "Maybe we could meet your baby someday."
"That would be nice," Ellie said as she and Manny left with the other mammoths. "Good luck on your adventure."
They now began to climb up the ridge together, very carefully. As they climbed up, Kenai and Nita got a chance to get a look at an eagle family.
"Part of me wonders if that's Sitka." Akito smiled softly.
"Yeah." The others added as they remembered what happened to Sitka.
"How very brave." A nearby hawk smiled at Ingrid as she managed to help her baby brother in, coming up with them.
"Thank you. You must be Chatan." Ingrid smiled back.
"You are smart too," The hawk replied. "It's good to meet you."
"Good to meet you too," Ingrid beamed at the hawk. "What's your element?"
"Courage and bravery and I can tell you have a lot of it." Chatan replied.
"That I do." Ingrid nodded.
"Congratulations." Chatan told Ingrid as he soon gave Ingrid her next tattoo/marking.
Ingrid beamed. "Just two more." she then said to herself.
Roshan smiled in excitement for his big sister. The mother eagle soon began to feed her babies as Kenai and Nita watched from afar. Unfortunately, Koda couldn't see a thing.
The group soon walked along the snowy forest together.
"What are those words you say before you grow big?" Akito asked Micco.
"'Ineck chock'." Micco replied as he soon grew up to 50 feet tall after saying those two words.
Akito looked up from that.
"See?" Micco asked Akito.
"Very interesting," Akito replied. "Maybe you could teach me that so I can buy a car."
Micco looked slightly confused by what a car was as he shrank back down to human size.
"Uh... Well... Oh, never mind..." Akito said bashfully. "That's still pretty cool though."
"Well, thank you." Micco then said.
"And maybe he'll give you a rematch in the future." Vincent smirked playfully to his little brother.
"Hm, maybe so," Akito smirked back. "You guys wanna watch?"
"Might as well," Estelle shrugged. "You're overdue for a little match at some point."
"Yeah, I guess I miss training/wrestling practice with Slam back in Acmetropolis," Akito replied. "We should probably invite the Loonatics over sometime... See how they like the 21st century where their ancestors were popular."
"Yeah." Vincent nodded.
"That'll be a good time," Felicity smiled. "Having the Loonatics in our time since we were in their time."
Kenai soon smirked as he playfully hit a tree beside him which made some snow in the tree tumble over and fall right on top of Nita. Nita soon smirked back before playfully hit a tree so some snow would tumble over and fall on top of Kenai but fell on her instead. The others gasped from that, but chuckled a bit as it looked pretty funny to them. Kenai looked over and he soon laughed from that himself. Koda rolled his eyes grumpily as he continued to follow after them.
The next thing that happened during their journey was that Nita and Micco were pole-vaulting. Kenai laughed as he ran off after them as it reminded him of the good old days with Nita. They soon came over to the edge of a hill.
"Looks like it's time to go sledding." Felicity grinned as she brought out a random snow sled to sled down with her cousins.
Once they were on the sled, the Fudo cousins soon went snow sledding. They laughed quite happily in their little activity. Kenai and Nita also decided to sled their own special way down as they laughed together like when they were kids. Koda looked out to see the others, only for him to slide down the hill as well. After sledding for a while, they soon reached the bottom. The Fudo cousins laughed as they ended up in the snow together with Kenai, Nita, and Micco.
The childhood best friends then ran off together, just as Koda made it to the bottom himself. They soon had a little snowball fight as they made their way to the river. Nita laughed before she looked out into the water and suddenly felt discouraged because of her fear.
"Oh, Nita..." Micco said softly to his sister.
"It's the only way," Kenai said to his childhood best friend. "Let me help you."
Nita smiled to her childhood best friend as that would help. And so, Nita was on Kenai's back as he was about to cross the water like a Lapras.
"I changed my mind." Nita said nervously.
"Nope, it's too late for that," Kenai smiled. "We're going across. Whatever happens, don't let go."
Nita was still hesitant, but she soon gave in. "...Okay." she then said to her childhood best friend.
They began to make their way into the river.
"Kenai has evolved into Lapras." Akito chuckled.
"Very funny." Felicity rolled her eyes playfully as Akito and Estelle both laughed at that.
Kenai soon decided to go under the water which prompted Nita into holding her breath as they began to go under the water. And when she opened her eyes while still holding her breath, Nita was amazed by what she saw. The Fudo cousins soon swam after Nita and Kenai as they returned their Pokemon briefly as they crossed the river. Ingrid rode a boat over while making sure Roshan was safe and secure inside as they looked all around. Estelle beamed as they passed some turtles and she pet some of them. Akito and Vincent smiled as swimming underwater was always great. Soon, they made it back out over the water as Nita seemed to get over her fear.
"I did it! I did it!" Nita beamed happily for herself before smiling especially to her childhood best friend for helping make it possible. "Thank you, Kenai."
Kenai smiled as he was happy to have helped Nita. Nita then suddenly hugged Kenai thankfully as he beamed from the hug. Koda stared out to the distance as he began to feel like Kenai had forgotten all about him.
"We're finally on the other side." Estelle said before seeing Teddy coming out of his PokeBall.
"Yeah, we made it." Akito smiled.
"But we're missing someone." Teddy told them.
Estelle began to count everyone before realizing Teddy was right. "Where's Koda?" she then asked.
The others looked all around before looking back across the river.
Akito paused thoughtfully before he used telescopic vision to take a closer look as he saw someone there, but then recognized who it was once he got a closer look. "Oh!" he then said. "I found Koda."
"Didn't Kenai remember to go back for Koda?" Felicity asked.
"I think Kenai's too busy right now." Vincent said as he gestured at the adult bear who rode away with Nita, both laughing happily.
Koda sniffled as he sat by himself.
"Could I go see him?" Teddy asked Estelle. "I feel like Koda and I are best friends."
"That's so thoughtful of you, Teddy." Estelle smiled at her Pokemon.
"So...?" Teddy smiled back.
"Okay." Estelle smiled back.
"Do you think you can swim yourself over?" Akito asked.
"Well, I guess I could try, Uncle Akito, I do have some experience myself, even if I'm not like a Horsea or a Water Pokemon like that." Teddy replied.
"Okay, you go to Koda," Estelle smiled at her Pokemon before kissing his forehead as he tilted his head at her. "We'll wait for you."
Teddy soon dove in the water before swimming to Koda.
"You raised him so well." Vincent smiled.
"Oh, thanks, Vince." Estelle beamed from that.
Koda sniffled as he sat all by himself before he saw Teddy coming.
"Hi, Koda." Teddy smiled softly at the bear cub.
"Teddy." Koda said softly.
"Want some company?" Teddy asked.
"...Well, it would be nice to have some sort of attention." Koda sighed softly.
Teddy soon sat next to Koda. Koda sighed, but they wouldn't be just the two of them for longer.
"Hey, Smallish Bear and... Pocket Bear..." Rutt greeted softly as he joined them. "So, where's Big Bear?"
"With Nita," Koda firmly pouted. "He never has time for me anymore. He's too busy helping her."
Teddy could tell his uncle had heard what Koda said even from across the river.
"Koda..." Akito frowned softly as he did, in fact, hear that.
"Shee! Boy, do I know how you feel," Rutt said to Koda. "My own brother gave me the heave-ho, eh, all for a babe. Actually, two really, really hot babes. Better watch your brother doesn't walk out on you, eh?" he then advised to the young bear cub.
"Kenai would never do that to, Koda." Teddy said.
Koda shook his head firmly as he agreed with Teddy.
"I said the same thing, eh? But get a load of Moose-anova over there." Rutt continued to sulk.
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's dew?" Tuke smiled as he walked off with the two female moose.
"Did you just make that up?" The lighter female moose smiled back dreamily.
"Beauty, eh?" Tuke smirked coolly.
"He's such a poet." The darker female moose chuckled.
"He's kidding, right?" Teddy asked.
"Yeah, I guess I'll see you around, Little Bear." Rutt sulked as he decided to walk away.
Koda soon pouted as he felt worried about Kenai forgetting about him like Tuke forgot about Rutt.
"I'm still with you though," Teddy told Koda. "And I promise that I won't forget about you."
Teddy soon helped Koda across the river.
"Thanks, Teddy." Koda sighed.
"Of course, Koda." Teddy reassured.
Kabutops took a look out before looking back. "Teddy and Koda are coming back." he then told the others.
"Thanks, Kabutops." Ingrid nodded at that information.
Teddy and Koda soon made it to the other side of the river as it was getting dark. Koda pouted as he slopped a bit in the mud as they made it to the other side. Roshan beamed once he saw that Koda and Teddy were back.
"Aw! Good to see you too, buddy." Teddy smiled at the boy.
"Let's get to the campfire." Akito said.
"This way." Ingrid pointed out.
They soon went to go to the campfire as Kenai and Nita were talking and sharing stories with each other.
"You had a whole clumpful." Kenai smirked.
"Oh, you're making that up." Nita replied.
"All I know is I had all my fur when we went into the river, and two handfuls were missing when we came out." Kenai then told her.
"Well, maybe you're just going bald." Nita then said.
Micco smiled, happy to see Kenai and Nita getting along.
"What?" Kenai soon asked Nita.
"You know, it does look really thin right through here." Nita replied as she pulled on his fur on his head jokingly.
"Yeah, very funny." Kenai playfully rolled his eyes from that.
Koda rolled his eyes at that.
"Should we let them know where we were?" Felicity whispered to the others.
"I don't think they'll listen." Koda huffed.
"Oh, Koda, don't be like that." Estelle frowned.
"Well, it's true," Koda rolled his eyes. "Ever since that girl came around, it's like I'm invisible to Kenai."
"It's true that Kenai has been a little forgetful." Teddy said.
"This is the most fun I've had since we were kids." Kenai smiled at Nita.
"Fun but cold." Nita replied as she briefly shivered.
"On a night like this, it's good to be a bear." Kenai then said.
Nita giggled from that. "I bet."
"How about some honey buns?" Estelle smiled at Koda. "I make those for Teddy sometimes."
"They are delicious." Teddy smiled down at Koda.
"Hmm... Well, okay," Koda said. "I guess I could try some."
"Good," Estelle smiled. "This oughta turn that frown upside down."
"Yeah." Teddy smiled back.
"Could you help me get food for Mismagius too?" Felicity asked Akito.
"Sure, Flick, I'll help you there." Akito smiled as he decided to bring out the food for his Tyraniter as Ingrid had some food for Kabutops and Vincent began to feed Ninetails.
"Those are some pets you kids have." Micco said as he sat by the fire.
"They're not pets," Akito said. "They're Pokemon."
"I think I've heard of those, but I'm not sure," Micco replied. "They are friendly though, right?"
"Of course they are, for the most part," Akito smiled. "Ours are anyway."
"But just like people, there are good and bad Pokemon." Estelle said.
"I might take that as some advice if I should run into any Pokemon of my own." Micco replied.
"I'm sure you will, sir," Akito nodded from that. "Animals seem to like you enough."
Micco smiled a bit from that. "You know, young man, you remind me of myself when I was your age," he then said. "You seem like the kind of kid who would always be there for your friends and family when they need you and they rely on your special talents to help get you through any kind of trouble you might face."
"Yep, that's Akito for ya." Vincent smiled.
"So I see," Micco replied. "Well, keep up whatever you're doing, Akito, it seems to be working."
"Thanks, Micco," Akito smiled. "That means a lot coming from you."
"Akito's always been like a hero," Estelle said. "And a leader."
Akito smiled bashfully from that.
"Yes, my father wants me to become a leader someday," Micco nodded at that. "To become a new chief for our village. Hopefully, even meet the future mother of my children."
'I have a feeling he will meet that special lady of his in the future.' Estelle thought to herself.
"So, Hokani Falls," Nita sighed at her childhood best friend. "I guess we'll make it there in time, huh?"
"I guess." Kenai said softly.
"A lot sure has changed since the last time we were there." Nita then said.
"No kidding." Kenai slowly nodded.
'Sounds like they don't want to go to Hokani Falls, even though it's the only for Nita to get married.' Felicity thought to herself.
Estelle soon brought out honey buns for both Teddy and Koda. Koda looked unsure about eating the honey buns at first.
"Look, Koda, see? Good!" Teddy smiled as he began to eat his honey buns with glee.
Koda looked at him, then began to eat some himself before he got into it and ate more as he loved the taste. Estelle smiled, happy to see Koda enjoying it.
"Do you ever miss being human?" Nita soon asked Kenai. "I mean, have you ever thought about changing back?"
Kenai paused with a lot on his mind before he answered her, "Yeah, I've... I've thought about it."
"Seriously?" Teddy asked.
"I knew it." Koda pouted.
"Koda..." Kenai called softly to his little brother.
"You're going back with her!" Koda cried before he soon began to run away.
"Koda, wait!" Akito called out.
"Oh, no." Ingrid frowned at that.
Koda just kept on running which made Kenai run after him in concern. The others soon joined him.