Now, I have to thank Digital Skitty, for not only telling me how to make page breaks, but letting me borrow the name 'Squee' from her. You rock Skitty! (And since I love kittens, my version of Squee is going to be a kitten too…)

Chapter 21

"'Night Jacob…" Sara murmured, tucking into her sleeping bag with three warm furry or feathered creatures cuddled next to her. It was love at first sight when she'd let Karen out of her Pokeball, after she'd been healed. Like they were bonded for life, true love that could never be broken, through good times and bad.

The next morning, the two of them were in for a surprise, "Hey, what's that?" Jacob asked, pointing to a little cloud outside of the Pokemon Center. Sara shrugged, she had no clue either. The boy grabbed her arm and tugged her out and to the cloud. Alkie and Sandsinger followed, the Flygon carrying everyone else but Star, who was perched on her trainer's head.

"Cara, use Flamethrower!" A dark purple-haired lady ordered her Pokemon, pointing skywards where a Fearow was flying lazy circles around. Her Pokemon nodded at the command and shot a fiery blast at the bird. 'Cara' was a majestic, lion-like Pokemon with an incredibly powerful build. Golden-brown fur that was long and beautiful covered this Pokemon. But the interesting part about her was the flames that burned a pinkish-orange that made up her mane and tail tip. A fire type, by the looks of her.

"Carakel, the fire lion Pokemon." Jacob's Pokedex droned. The workers at the Pokemon Center couldn't fix Sara's, so they were stuck using his. "Carakel own a large territory and will attack with teeth, claws, and flames if it is intruded."

"Cool." Sara murmured. The Fearow was hit by the Flamethrower and knocked out of the sky, in which the Carakel rammed her head into his stomach and sent him sprawling on the ground in a faint.

"Alright Cara!" The purple-haired lady exclaimed when Cara turned and paced back to her trainer, rubbing against her like a house-cat would. The small glasses she was wearing slipped down her nose some as she bent carefully, because she was wearing a skirt, and stroked her Pokemon.

The other trainer recalled his Pokemon and, turning with a huff, left. The growing crowd parted for him as he left, all gaping in awe at the Carakel and her trainer. Sara caught one man whispering to another, "…So hard to get to obey! That trainer actually has a tame one…"

"I don't see what the big deal is." Star finally said with a nip on her trainer's ear to get attention, "It's just an overgrown cat that has a little fire."

"Carakel are hard to train, Star, that's why we're all staring." Althea stated, letting out a puff of flames, "Not me, of course, because I've seen them before."

Finally, the onlookers got tired of staring, and began to part ranks and leave. That left Sara and Jacob standing there with the purple-haired trainer and her loyal Carakel. "That's a nice Pokemon." Sara finally blurted awkwardly.

They finally got the trainer's attention, "Thanks." She stated quickly, "It took a while to train her, you know." She approached them with a slight smirk on her face, "Many people stare when they see Cara being as tame as an Espeon-" Karen let out a huff and stated that she was not tame what-so-ever. "-but they don't understand. Huh, don't you get stares too, girl?"

"Sara, and no, not really…" She responded, still a bit awkward.

"Well, I'd say that your Swellow should get stared at, but that's my opinion."

"Finally someone with a little common sense!" Star chirped, fluffing her feathers and taking in the compliment.

"Swellow are normally impossible to get to behave." The purple-haired trainer finished, "That is, if you don't know what you're doing. How did you get your Swellow, Sara?"

"She was my first Pokemon." Sara responded, obliviously reaching out and stroking her Swellow, "As a Taillow."

"Exactly!" Came the response, "You trained her from her unevolved form. This means that she got to know her before she evolved. Most Swellow are captured as… well, Swellow. They didn't get to know their trainer before then, and they're unruly because of that. There are exceptions, of course…"

"I like Sara." Star responded, her bubble deflating a bit, "There's nothing wrong with that."

Cara purred something to the Swellow, causing her to chirp defensively. "I am not!" She retorted.

"The Carakel said that Star is too defensive about things like this." Karen translated, looking up from the washing of her paw. Sara thought she looked absolutely adorable in that pose.

"So that's why your Carakel is so tame?" Jacob asked, breaking his silence. The purple-haired trainer nodded, "Well, it makes sense after all. Carakel are evolved, right?"

"Yes, they are." The lady held out her hand, "May I see your Pokedex? I'll show you the unevolved form…"

"Sure, uh, lady." Jacob handed it to her awkwardly.

"Please, call me Autumn." She responded, clicking on the buttons in the Pokedex for a while before returning it to Jacob, "That's it."

Sara was taken by surprise when the boy let out a cry that sounded a lot like an 'Awww!' and looked over his shoulder at one of the cutest Pokemon she'd ever seen. A round puff-ball of cream fur in a sitting position, the Pokemon was looking at them with rounded sapphire eyes. "Adorable!" She cried, attempting to wrestle the Pokedex from Jacob, but he held it.

"That's a Squee." Autumn said, "But they have pink flames for a little collar, you can't see them from that picture and a little tuft of tail flame as well. Baby Carakel, I had to fight Cara's mother to get her."

"That sounds painful…" Jacob stated, pocketing his Pokedex again.

"'Twas painful, indeed." She nodded, "Well, you can find Squee everywhere right about now, with their moms, of course. I'd suggest you look around Forest Path for one, yet if you burn easily, I'd tell you to stay away from them." Autumn chuckled, "So long friends!" She waved and left them to stare after her and her Carakel.

"I don't like the look you have." Jacob said, turning to Sara.

"I'm going to catch a Squee." She responded in a star-struck tone, "If it's the last thing I do. Come on Jacob! I'll fly on Sandsinger!"

"Wait a minute…" The Flygon began to argue, but stopped when the fire in her trainer's eyes was visible. "Oh, alright, but please don't pull on my neck again. It was painful."

"That was Drake; Sara only flew on your back once." Star grumbled, "I had to carry her last time, remember?"

"Whatever. Someone hurt my neck when they were flying on my back." Sandsinger sighed when Sara eagerly jumped on her back, "Ready?"

"Ready!" Althea responded, curling up in front of Sara, with Karen right next to her. Jacob opened her mouth to argue some more, but Sandsinger took off and left him behind.

"Looks like we're going to have to follow…" He murmured to Alkie as he got on her back and they sped off after her.

"You imbeciles didn't get Althea?" Dominus's voice was calm, but it oozed hatred and his annoyance at the two cowering figures of Adam and Famulus.

"No sir… but-"

"I haven't the time for this!" He slammed his fists down on the stone throne's arms, causing them to break clean off, "You two… you're chances are slimming!"

"B-but, they had a Dewgong-" Famulus started, but was cut off again.

"And you? Did you not have your Aerodactyl?" The icy blue eyes were narrowing, "Wasn't he enough to take down a stupid Dewgong?"

"A-actually sir, it w-was a Seel when it k-knock out the Aerodactyl…" Adam corrected, hoping to shift the blame off of him. No such luck.

"So your Pokemon was stuck with a Dewgong and an Espeon-that was ready to faint I might add-and you lost still! My word, you two are hopeless!"

"B-but it did a Sheer Cold attack… y-you know what that a-attack does." Adam stammered.

"Indeed." Dominus then fell silent, different punishments flowing through his mind. Finally, one came to him, "You two have one more chance." He finally said, pursing he lips in an evil thought as the two men appeared to have their spirits rising, "But you're not after Althea anymore." He cackled happily at their look, "That Vulpix may have powers, but that doesn't matter anymore! You're after a much bigger target… and if you fail this time, it is curtains for the two of you. Permanently."

They both swallowed, "W-who do you want, sir?" Famulus finally had the nerve to ask.

Another cackle of laughter from Dominus, "I want the girl's Espeon. The one they call, Karen. You two need more Pokemon than just two for this job, so take others if you have to."

"Can we have the new one?"

"Which?" Dominus raised an eyebrow, "We have many coming in now, with the summoned Pokemon starting to arrive." He was right, of course, many Pokemon, not just dark-types, all the ones with evil hearts and intentions, were arriving.

"The one you got yourself." Famulus didn't look up, didn't want to meet his master's eyes, "The one you call… Rikeren."

"Ahhh, Rikeren." A pause as he thought, "Fine. Take him, and any others you may need. Now get out of my sight you sniveling wimps!"

"Where are all the Squee today?" Sara asked as she looked under a leaf, to no avail. "We haven't seen any."

"Hmmm, let me see." Jacob had long since lost his patience with Sara, their trip had taken them to the Fire Plains, but they hadn't seen any Squee. And the sun was going down too, not a good thing for them. "Maybe they don't live here!"

"Oooohh, I'm so scared of angry Jacob!" Star twittered sarcastically.

"Maybe not." Sara responded, still looking, "But I think I saw one a while ago…"

"That was a Meowth." Jacob sniffed, "Look Sara, let's stop for tonight. Autumn said that Squee live around Forest Path…"

"Do Squee live around Forest Path?" Sara echoed the question to Althea, who had lived there for who knows how long.

"Yes, of course they do." She responded, "I had a friend that was a Squee once."

"Then you know what they smell like!" Sara grabbed her Vulpix and thrust her in the lead, startling her, "Go on, go find one!"

"Uh, Sara…" Karen murmured, "I don't think she'd be able to find a Squee-"

"I'll find a Squee if it's the last thing I do, thank-you-very-much!" Althea snapped as she turned and walked forward, head bent down to sniff at the ground.

"You'd think those two are sisters." Star remarked with a chirp.

"Speaking of family, Althea, where did your father go?" Sara finally realized that Solorite hadn't been with them since yesterday.

"He told me he was going to go back to Sundav and Rio last night. He didn't come back, so I guess he's waiting with them for you to get there."

Alkie translated for Jacob, making him gasp in anger, "We should get back there then! Sara, they're waiting for us, and all you can think about is catching a Squee?"

"Yup. They probably don't miss me."

"That's wrong." Sundav stated as she appeared next to Karen, looking up at her with narrowed green eyes, "What are you doing way out here? We've been waiting for you all day!"

"Looking for Squee." Sara responded with a shrug, "Like one day will make a difference…"

"Squee?" Sundav repeated, "And you're wrong still, Lady, things can happen in a day, you know that. Day by day, mortals build their lives off the important and moral things in their lives… a day has its purpose. Besides, humans don't see many days in comparison to as many I've seen."

"Huh." Sara really didn't have anything to say to that, so she went on with another topic of conversation, "Squee are cute kittens that can breathe fire and we're trying to find one…"

"There aren't any here though, or at least that's what Jacob says." Star continued for her.

"You're out here searching for fire-breathing kittens? You've got to be kidding me!" Sundav ruffled her feathers, creating a show of light, "Lady, you can search for kittens later or at least with some protection!"

"When would later be? Hey Althea, have you found a trail yet?"

"Nope. There aren't any here as far as I can tell…"

"Later when you have time. Now are you going to just stand here looking for fire-breathing kittens?"

"Yup." Sara responded stubbornly, "That's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Huh, humans can be so thick-headed sometimes. Look, would you feel better if I just turned into whatever you're looking for and we head off for the others now? After we're done with Team Magma, we can go search for a real one."

"It's not the same though." Sara responded with a sniff.

"Where did you say these Pokemon were again?" Sundav finally blurted to whoever could answer.

"Forest Path." Jacob responded quickly.

"Right, Forest Path…" Sundav pressed her beak to Sara's shin, and the rushing of wind hit Sara's ears once again. The next second they were standing under the darkening sky with long shadows of the trees everywhere. Sara's only Pokemon that came with her was Star. "Find your kitten and let's go." Sundav growled with impatience.

"Right… but where would one be?"

"Try looking down." Star murmured sarcastically, looking down herself at a couple of puff-balls rolling around. She flinched when Sara cooed and snatched one up. "Uh… Sara…"

But she didn't have time to warn her trainer. The Squee Sara had picked up cried at the top of her lungs for mommy, and the responding roar said that mommy had come. "Oh, no…" Sara squeaked when the mother Carakel jumped out of a bush and roared again at the human that dared touch her little one.

"Run!" Star exclaimed, digging her talons into her trainer's shoulder. Sara didn't need told twice; she turned with the Squee in hand and fled for her life.

Sundav watched the two of them run and shook her head, finally letting out a squawking laugh as the other Squee pounced on her back. "You're a playful one." She stated, nuzzling the male Squee as he found pulling out feathers was fun. Sundav grew a bit, so she was about five times the size of the one-foot tall Squee, and took off in flight after Sara.

She and the little Squee found Sara and her Swellow up a tree, looking down on the mother Carakel, who had begun to pace around the bottom of the tree. Her kitten mimicked her at her mother's side, having been freed when she bit down on Sara's hand too hard.

"Amusing, isn't it?" Sundav asked, turning a glimmering eye to her own Squee, "I can understand why she wants one of you now." She let out another squawking laugh and grew a bit more, so that she was about the size of the mother Carakel, who was easily six feet tall on her hind legs.

"The human is mine." She said in a squawking voice, "Leave her, you've got your kitten. She means you no more harm." The mother Carakel turned and had another flash of anger at the sight of her other kitten on the back of some bird. But that was when she saw which bird it was, and backed away quickly, disappearing into the underbrush with her single kitten not far behind.

"That was awesome Sundav!" Sara exclaimed as she landed on the ground again, "Now, can I have that Squee…?"

Sundav chortled when she realized she had a bargaining chip now, "Not until we return to your poor other Pokemon and that upset boy, Jacob. Then we're going to return to Rio and Solorite, and THEN you'll get your Squee."

With a sigh, Sara agreed, "Alright…" She murmured, allowing Sundav to teleport them back to Jacob, Alkie, and her Pokemon. "We're back guys!" She exclaimed, grinning, "With Squee in tow!"

"Sundav caught it." Star chirped, which caused Jacob to laugh when it was translated to him.

Sara returned Sandsinger, Karen, and Althea to well-deserved rests before Sundav took them back to Dark End Path, where a very worried looking Rio was waiting on a tree-stump with Solorite pacing around.

"Hi guys!" Sara exclaimed, like she hadn't been doing anything wrong, "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. We've just been worried sick about you." The Absol responded calmly, in a conversational tone. Then, surprisingly, he began to berate her, "Why in the world did you run off like that? You could have been hurt! You could have been killed for all I know!"

"Sorry." Sara murmured, looking down at the green and purple undergrowth at her feet, "But I got a new friend."

"The Squee?" Rio asked, peering at the cream bundle on Sundav's back, "It's cute."

"It's a he river boy." Star jibed, and her trainer groaned.

"Not that again, please Star!" She exclaimed, "We need to catch the Squee now anyways." She pulled out a Pokeball from her pocket, because she hadn't gotten a backpack yet, and tossed it at the Squee.

The Pokeball hit Sundav instead of the male Squee, and she disappeared into the ball for a second, before it began to rock like mad. Sparks flew from the Pokeball as it exploded, leaving Sundav where she was standing again. "Wow." Was all that Sara could say as she stared at the light bird, "I take it you can't be captured?"

Sundav waited for the dust to settle before replying, "No, with my kind, we may only be captured when we want to be captured. So that is why I wasn't captured."

The male Squee was bounding away, the collar of pink flames and tiny tail flame alight. "Well, Star I think you need exercise. Tackle him!" Sara finally said, choosing to keep this little bit of information in the back of her head for the moment.

"Now you're talking!" The Swellow cried as she took flight and dove right at the Squee. She missed by a foot from her target. "He's fast!" She grumbled, pecking at the kitten that was now close to her. He dodged her attack and let out a scorching pink flame that scorched her chest feathers.

Star squawked in fury as she slapped the kitten across the head with her wings. He wobbled a bit before recovering and jumping. The Squee landed on Star's back and clamped down, hard.

Sara watched her Swellow do crazy maneuvers to try and shake the Squee, but he held on tightly. She finally did a barrel roll that sent the kitten falling down at an alarming rate. "Finish him!" Sara yelled up to her Pokemon, "Slam him to the ground!"

Star replied with a squawk as she snatched the Squee up in her talons and went in a dive while still holding him. At one foot, she snapped her wings open and released her burden, which fell to the ground and lay there, fainted. Finally, Sara took out her last Pokeball and hurled it at the Squee.

For a couple of heart-pounding seconds, it seemed he was going to break out again and fight Star some more, by the way the ball kept rocking past the normal three rocks. But the ball finally fell silent and returned to Sara's shaking hand with a click. "Well done." Rio said, "Especially on the Squee's part."

"Be quiet river boy…" Star growled, making a threatening pose on her trainer's shoulder. Sara popped her new Squee's Pokeball into her Translator and waited for it to translate him, while telling Star what a good job she did. Only then did Sara notice that the sun had gone down completely and the only light to see by was coming from the stars and very bright full moon.

Finally, the Squee was translated, and Sara let him out again. He looked around, puzzled for a second, before spotting Star and pouncing on his paws in a belligerent way, "Come on, I can take you big bird!" He cried, voice slightly squeaky and not very intimidating. The Squee was puffed up, and looked serious.

"Watch it, small fry; I eat bigger things for lunch!" Star grumbled, not making a move to jump off Sara's shoulder and back into battle.

"You do not!" He exclaimed, but stopped trying to challenge Star. He found it was more interesting to paw at Solorite, who had fallen asleep. Sara watched nervously as he finally flamed the Absol's tail, causing him to yelp.

"What in the heavens?" He blurted, looking around, then down. "What do you want?"

"Play?" Squee asked sweetly, pawing at Solorite and finally rolling over to show the cream fur on his belly. The Absol sighed and gently tickled the kitten's belly for a moment, his eyes shining lightly.

And that was when the Squee pounced on top of him. Purring, Squee ruffled the Absol's back fur, causing him to appear very annoyed. "I feel young again, little one. Now please stop so this old geezer can get some rest." Solorite shook the playful kitten off his back and, with a sigh, settled back down and fell asleep again. This time, Althea joined in next to him, keeping one eye open and locked on the Squee.

Giving up on the very grumpy Absol, the Squee bounced back over to Sara and found her shoe laces very interesting and even more so after he figured out how to untie them. Through all of this, all the Pokemon and humans had been watching him, excepting Althea, Sandsinger, and Solorite, who all fell asleep and were snoring slightly.

Sara finally picked up the 'wild-cat' that was gnawing her shoelaces off with sharp teeth and his tiny, half-grown claws. "We should be getting to sleep now, don't you think?" Sundav suggested aloud.

"Nooo! I want to play some more!" The Squee went after Sara's fingers, in full play-mode. His flames had turned themselves off after Solorite shook him off, so he wasn't burning anything down now.

"Isn't he cute?" Sara exclaimed, cuddling the Squee and receiving a sharp bite. "Ow!"

"We don't even know his name yet." Karen remarked, curling her body around Sara's feet and half-chewed shoelaces.

"He hasn't corrected us when we've called him Squee, so he must be Squee." Sundav murmured, but the Squee shook his head.

"Meep." He said instead.

"Huh? The Squee-"

"Meep!" The Squee exclaimed louder.

"He's saying meep…" Sara murmured, confused.

"Meep!" He kept saying, then finally Sundav figured it out.

"His name is Meep." She said calmly, "That is what he wishes to be called."

"Awww, what a cute name! Meep the Squee, it has a ring to it!" Sara hugged her kitten and laughed. "We should be going to bed now."

"I agree with that!" Rio exclaimed, "Good night then."

"Good night." Jacob, who had also not talked at all, but made cooing sounds, said. Following Solorite's example, all but Meep fell asleep almost immediately.

If Star thought that one night stuck in a Pokemon Center with Mellow was bad; it was nothing compared to getting a furry thing jump on your back in the middle of the night!