"Sometimes, when we are helping out our friends, it is in fact the opposite: They help us. More often, however, we help each other, even if we don't know we're doing it." -Orthros

Real friends won't stop helping you if you ask them, even if they act like they are going to.

Real friends will stand by your side till the bitter end, even if they seem like they're going to.

Real friends would follow you to the depths of Hell and back, even if they don't want to.

So if a stranger pulls you to your feet...

...Know that said stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet.

-Orthros

-11 PM, Alex POV-

"I'm glad you told me about this." I say softly. Looking out over the curved iron railing, Castelia City's skyscrapers tower above us, filling the night with light from their glow. Kelly snores softly from her blanket, which she insisted on dragging out here to sleep on. It isn't the Lillipup sleeping in the corner that I am talking to, though. Nicky stands on the small porch table next to me, looking me in the eyes for the first time since Devin gave us the Dawn Stone. The Kirlia nods numbly, having finally admitted his concerns to me.

He sighs sadly, speaking to me with Telepathy. "Yeah… I didn't want to, to be honest…"

I put a soft hand on his shoulder. I may only be ten, but I might as well be Nicky's father, even if we consider each other brothers. "I suppose Angel is the reason I'm hearing this, then." He simply nods. "I'm glad you have both her and me to talk to, Nicky. But please. If there's something this big bothering you, you should know that I'll give you a hand."

The Kirlia looks up to me, and without a word we embrace. After a few minutes, we break apart. I pick up Kelly's sleeping form, and without a word, Nicky and I head back inside. We step silently through the room, not wanting to wake Terry and Angel, who are sharing a bed. The situation is kind of awkward, but I shove down the nerves I get at seeing them and head through the door that separates the hotel room that Callen and I share from theirs.

Callen looks tired, dark circles under his eyes. Nonetheless, he's still up. He is making sure his pokemon are comfortable on the extra blankets Nurse Joy brought up for them, finishing as I get into the other of the two beds. He climbs into his a moment later, and hits the lights without another word.

Nicky and I fall asleep soon after.

-Next Day, 8 AM, Alex's POV-

I wake up first, having slept fairly well, as usual. Nicky is still asleep, so I quietly slip out of bed and get dressed. By the time I am outfitted in casual clothing, Nicky has woken up and is ready to go. An idea pops into my head, and I turn to the Kirlia.

"Hey, Nicky. What do you think about walking around town today on our own?" I ask him excitedly, but quietly. Nicky grins wide, and with that I perch my brother on my shoulder. After writing a quick note on a napkin and taping it to the door, Nicky and I, with Kelly in her pokeball, head out.

Stepping outside the Pokemon Center, I feel the brisk morning wind sweeping off the skyscrapers. It feels great, waking me up quickly. We walk down the sidewalk, simply enjoying each other's company, headed to midtown. Breathing the crisp, cool morning air, I feel alive again. Nicky's invigorated emotions fly through my head, showing his content feelings as well. We exchange grins.

Even though it's still early morning, many people are about, headed to their destinations. No one questions a ten year old boy with a Kirlia walking down the sidewalk, enjoying the peace. A few minutes later, Nicky and I arrive in the city circle. A few people are about, though most are just passing through.

I sit on the edge of the fountain, Nicky still perched on my shoulder. The citizens walk by, heading to their various activities. A couple of boys, maybe a few years older then me, walk past, and I hear a snippet of their conversation.

"-guy Terry isn't the only trainer with a Shiny Pokemon around here, apparently…" My eyes widen and I quickly wave to the pair of kids. They walk over and introduce themselves as Arnold and Troy.

"My name's Alex, and this is my partner, Nicky. You said something about a guy named Terry? He's the one with the Shiny Gardevoir, right?" I ask, playing dumb. If I revealed that I traveled with Terry, I would end up with a crowd wanting me to get interviews, so I kept it vague. Troy nods.

"Yeah, apparently a guy here in Castelia City was seen with a Shiny Braixen the other day. No one knows him, but people think he lives here because he seemed to know the streets really well. Man, Shiny pokemon. It would be cool to have one…" Troy says. Arnold glances at his wristwatch.

"Damn! We'll be late! Come on, Troy! Bye Alex, nice meeting you!" Arnold exclaims, before taking off in the direction of a large school building, Troy on his heels.

I wave after them, then notice Alex subconsciously rubbing his chest. It seemed like the same spot where he got bit by Golbat yesterday. I furrow my eyebrows with concern. "Does it still hurt? I thought Angel fixed you up pretty well." I ask him.

Nicky shakes his head and forces himself to stop. "No, it doesn't. I'm just a little nervous… That's all…" He trails off, silent for a moment. I try to speak up, but as I'm about to, he suddenly jabs a finger to his lips. I shut up, noticing his mind spread. He's looking for something, maybe something he heard.

Suddenly, out nowhere, I feel his emotional state take a wild turn, shifting from content to anger and panic so quickly that I visibly flinch, putting a hand up to my temple.

"Dammit, Nicky! What's the problem!" I say loudly, receiving a few stares from passerby. Nicky doesn't answer, instead he jumps off my shoulder and runs off, heading down a side alley. "Wait up!" I shout as I fly off the fountain and race after him, dodging pedestrians as I do so.

In moments I reach the alley, only knowing where Nicky is because we're in sync enough for me to pinpoint his location. As I slowly catch up to him through the maze of buildings, zigzagging around corners, I start to hear a couple of voices.

"-Was an easy battle! How could you lose, you worthless excuse for a pokemon!" I hear. The words almost make me fall over, but I manage to keep my footing as I hone in on the source that Nicky had sensed. Moments later, I catch up to Nicky, who is crouched behind a trash can on a corner of a small, dirty street. I slow down and kneel behind him, trying as hard as I can to slow my breathing silently.

Nicky turns around, looking at me. His eyes are filled with so much anger and hate that I almost shrink under his gaze.

"Look," is all he says.

I peek my head around the trash can, and what I see turns my blood cold. A rather short, muscular man dressed in an expensive looking tuxedo is standing, facing away from me. Off to his right, laying on it's back, is a small pokemon. From the form, it looks like a Riolu. But something's wrong. Where blue fur should be, it's snow white, and the grayish black masklike fur has turned pitch, charcoal black. The spots on the backs of it's hands were colored like gold, rather than white.

"What the hell…" I mutter to myself. The few shiny Riolu whose existence had been recorded, they were colored with Gold overall coloring, not much other difference. My confusion was answered moments later by the continuation of the trainer's outraged lecture.

"Team Plasma was supposed to make you stronger with their experiments, and here you are, unable to beat even a measly little Patrat! I should send your sorry ass back to their labs so they can teach you a lesson." He threatens. The Riolu let out a panicked wail, crawling backwards away from its trainer. By the sound of her voice, I figure it was a female. As she slowly moved, I saw blood smears on the dirty cement.

She's injured…

"Or better yet, let you die here where you lay!" He suddenly shouts, taking out a pokeball from his pocket. Tossing it on the ground at his feet, the enraged trainer stomps on the device, crushing it into tiny bits. Without another word, he strides past the injured Riolu, walking down another alley exit and out of sight.

The instant the trainer was out of sight, I leapt to my feet and approached the Riolu. I was within ten feet when she noticed me. She shivered in fear and backed up farther, ending up against a wall. I knelt down and tried to console her.

I start to speak. "It's ok! I'm not like him. I just w-" Quick as lightning, the Riolu jumps to her feet, smashing a small white fist into my jaw. The strength of the blow was incredible, I got flung across the small flat and crashed into the trash bins I was hiding behind.

Bruised but overall unharmed, I quickly sat up, just in time to see the Riolu dart around a corner and out of sight. Behind her was a small trail of blood, quickly starting to dry in the ever increasing heat. I glance at Nicky, and without a word, out loud or telepathic, we agree to find the girl.

-Two Hours Later, Alex POV-

We've followed the trail for over two hours now, darting through the alleys and across the streets. Overall, we headed south. Somehow the Riolu moved quickly, though her wounds must be severe. Nicky rode in my arms rather than on my shoulder, after a miraculous idea made sure we didn't lose track of her. The Kirlia attempted to invade the Riolu's mind. He wasn't very good at reading the thoughts of others, but one clear message came through.

The humans will kill me. I must hide.

A half minute break from jogging allowed me to think, letting me figure out the most likely place that she would head to escape from humans: Castelia Sewers.

We race around the streets, eventually coming to the plant. Cameras are located all over the property, and the sewers seem almost impossible to get to from their location: Down a steep decline at least forty feet, forming a crevice for the semi-clean water to flow through. Regardless, I can see some muddy paw prints at the entrance to one of the large pipes.

"All right, Nicky. Let's help her out. Teleport us into the pipe, on one of the sidewalks." I say, closing my eyes tightly as I do so. Even with them shut tight, my vision flares white as Nicky throws us through space. Thankfully it was only a short distance, so I didn't end up with a headache, and Nicky wasn't tired after the effort.

Inside, bare bulbs light the cave like structure. Two foot wide sidewalks span either side of the slow moving canal. Nicky takes a moment to hone in on Riolu's thought waves, before leading me through the maze like structure. My nerves skyrocket as we start to encounter pokemon, though they must be nocturnal. Grimer, Zubat and Muk lay about the caves, Venipede bunched in hordes every few feet. I pray to Arceus that they don't wake up, stepping light-footedly through the crowds.

After about ten minutes, we enter a large room. Several steel tanks lay about, covered in various gages. The Riolu lays off to one side, appearing conscious but incoherent. I quickly drop to my knees beside her. Upon seeing my face, Riolu starts hyperventilating quickly, squirming slightly. Even without Nicky at my side, I would have known she was terrified.

I wish Terry was here… He would be able to talk her into calming down… I think to myself as I quickly tear off my shirt. I rip it down the front, creating a large piece of fabric. After that, I tear it into three equal length pieces, long but fairly thin. Taking the first two pieces, I carefully pick up Riolu by her shoulders, leaning her forward so I could inspect her back. She shivers at my touch but is too utterly exhausted to do anything about it.

Her wounds fill me with despair and a raging anger at her prior trainer. Her back has large teeth marks, deep and gory. Another set of marks across her lower left leg reveals a shiny white bone. Riolu's skin below her fur has turned ashen.

As gently as I can, I wrap her back. She whimpers in pain, streaming tears down her cheeks. After I finish tying the piece of fabric in a knot around her front, I take a moment to look her in the eyes.

"Shh," I say softly. "I'm not like him. I'll protect you. My name's Alex, and this is Nicky. Do you have a name?" I add, as I slowly set her head back down, trying to keep her distracted. She shakes her head slightly.

"All right. Let's see…" I wonder aloud as I lift her leg next, sliding the bandage under it. A random thought suddenly comes to me. I was homeschooled most of my life, and I always moved at an accelerated pace, learning about subjects that usually wouldn't be pursued until much later. One of those subjects was the Greek Myths. I enjoyed the stories a lot, even if most of them seemed needlessly violent. Then again, my life hasn't exactly been peaceful since I set out on my Journey...

(Author's Note: Yeah, I know, big real world reference here, but fuck it. Besides, I'm going to work out my version of the Greek/Roman Gods/Goddesses so they would be compatible with the Pokemon World. Nonetheless, since I just kind of threw this in here, feel free to rage and bullshit me about it. In all honesty, at the moment I feel like I deserve it.)

"What about Athena?" I ask as I finish tying her leg. She seems more alert now that I've been talking to her and stemming the bleeding, but still woozy. Nonetheless, the resilient Riolu nods slightly, smiling a little. "Athena it is!" I say happily as I pick her up, cradling her against my chest.

As I'm turning around, everything goes to Hades.

(Author's Note: Fight me. ^)

A roar echoes through the chamber, followed by the sound of a thousand tiny footsteps and what sounds like slow moving waves behind me. An army of Grimer, Muk, and Venipede stand in the only exit, and all seem extremely angry.

"Oh shit…" I mumble. I speak up nervously. "H-hey, you guys. We were just passing through, you know. See, this Riolu got hurt and was scared, so she ra-"

"MUUUUUUUUUUK!" The largest pile of sludge roars, effectively shutting my trap. It whips one of it's purple arms around, sending a wave of poisonous goop raging towards my head. I duck, quickly, smashing to the floor on my side with Athena facing away from the attackers. Before I can even think of moving again, a pair of Grimer send two more clumps of goop, slightly smaller but surely as deadly. I brace for the impact, but the goop suddenly defies all laws of physics and takes a 90 degree turn to my right, slamming into the wall.

Suddenly Nicky is in front of me, arms outstretched, protecting myself and Athena. I read his mind and realize a split second before he does what he's about to do.

"NICKY! NO! DON'T!" I shout in vain a split second before my vision once again flares white. I find myself behind the enemy line, far enough away that they won't notice me. Not that the small army of poison types want to. They're all focused on Nicky.

All at once, the flurry of pokemon charge, and I choke on a scream. Fumbling one arm in my pants pocket, before I know what I'm doing I'm throwing a small shard of rock into the fray, where Nicky is just holding off the poison types with Confusion. He looks at the rock for a split second, and just before it lands he nods at me. Smiles slightly

Then it hits him in the forehead and a harsh, bluish white light flares through the cavern.

(Author's Note: Well, that was a thing. I wonder what that rock was… (As if it wasn't obvious, RIP my cliffhangers) Anyway, I'll do my best to have Chapter XIV out by next Sunday. Please note, I finished this at 12:30 AM Monday morning, so if I have any grammar mistakes please let me know about them. As for the mysterious man and the Shiny Braixen… If you want a bit of information on them, read "The Red Sky" by Zenxolu here on Fan Fiction. I'll keep the surprises vague and say that he and I have teamed up a bit. Nonetheless, I can't wait to continue this. Good Luck, and Happy Reading! -Orthros)