AUTHOR'S NOTE

To the readers who were reading this scrap of writing before I did my revision thing…

Thank you so much for waiting!

Sorry for the long wait too!

I know I've been really slowly… It's been like three months on this revision thing!

But at last, Moonlight's Shadow is back.

An important advice from me is that you might want to kind of skim read the chapters again.

I've rearranged some ideas (though not the main ones) to make the story work better and clues for what might happen next have kind of been added.

So yeah. But even if you don't re-read, it'll be all right mainly. Just don't hit me with a hammer when you read a bit of the story that kind of doesn't make sense!

Whether my writing has improved and you, the reader is actually in for a better read is probably up to you…

Hopefully the revision thing was worth it!

Again thank you so much for waiting!

-StarDragon X

Finally. I'm not doing revision work! Here I go with the next chapter!

Moonlight's Shadow Chapter 13:

Genie in a Pokeball

Koja couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it…

"Wanna play Koja? Wanna play?"

The furball was… back. It was a disaster… Just when he thought the thing was gone forever, she had returned… It was strange, unnatural, and absolutely annoying.

"No." the Absol's answer was stern.

Koja sighed. He and Shadow had heard rumors about an Alakazam in the forest so after leaving Pep to her family and Skye, the pair had set out to track down the Pokemon. And how an Alakazam would help Shadow in finding her parents, the Absol had no idea. But he was just thankful for the absence of Pep so he could regain his peace. But sadly, that peace lasted for around four to five days.

That was when the abomination had returned to finish Koja off. Riding on Skye, the Poochyeena had suddenly swooped down to meet the two of them. She had grinned and explained after much convincing and asking done by Skye and herself her parents allowed her to travel with them.

Shadow had smiled- Koja had tried to smile politely. The Absol had succeeded though it looked more like he was snarling… Fortunately, Pep being Pep didn't notice and grinned at both Pokemon. Skye after seeing that Pep was fine, took off and flew away.

That terrible incident had happened yesterday. Koja knew he was going to crack soon under Pep's babble and petty questions. The Absol answered them all using the same answer…

"Why is the sky blue Koja?"

"Because the Gods made it that way."

"Why do I have a heart?"

"Because the Gods made it that way."

And on and on it went. Pep saw this as some type of game unfortunately. A wave of relief flooded into Koja as he saw the Poochyeena trot off to go and 'play' with Shadow. The Absol had no idea how the Umbreon did not lose her temper…

Shadow just merely nodded and smiled, while once in a while giving a response or an answer to Pep. It wasn't long, however before Pep trotted back to Koja and asked a question.

"I asked Shadow 'why I had a heart' like I asked you and she had a different answer to you!" The Poochyeena's brow furrowed in thought, "You said 'because the Gods made it that way' and she said, 'because otherwise I wouldn't be alive'."

Koja grimaced and glared at Shadow. The Umbreon merely grinned back at him.

"She knew this would happen! I'm going to kill her…"

"That means one of you is wrong or that one of you just isn't very smart as the other or that you're both right and I'm confusing myself or it's neither and I have no idea of why you both had different answers!"

The babble continued on in the same way. It was a fierce battle. Koja's mind was fighting its hardest but Pep had the advantage with her high pitched voice which kept cutting through Koja's mental barriers. So finally, when the Absol decided that he had lost, he relented and tried his normal tactic that almost never worked.

"Why don't you go tell all this to Shadow?" Koja tried to put his nicest voice on.

"Because she's up ahead and you're here." Replied the Poochyeena before continuing to babble on.

Koja glanced to where the Poochyeena had pointed with her paw. Shadow was up ahead, scanning the forest area from her vantage point at the top of a hill. The Umbreon wasn't what you would call beautiful, but she was pretty, in her own sort of way. The evening sun made Shadow even more beautiful and for once her eyes didn't seem to deter her physical beauty. The Golden Ringlets shone and the black fur gleamed.

A gold tipped ear twitched and in another second, Shadow bounded back to meet Pep and Koja.

"Nothing… No Alakazam like what we were told…"

"Alakazam's normally travel by teleportation. I doubt we'll catch it…" replied Koja.

Suddenly, it hit the Absol. The Poochyeena had stopped talking! Yes! Miracle! Wonderful! Once in a lifetime achievement! Yes! Yes! Ye-

"What's this? It's shiny and it's red and-"

"Noooo!" was the mental cry of the Absol. But Koja soon turned thoughts to what the object was…

"A Pokeball?"

Koja bounded over to where Pep sniffing to foreign object.

"What would those things being doing in the middle of the woods…" Shadow murmured.

"You never know," shrugged Koja, "Humans are pretty strange."

Pep in the meanwhile was finding her new discovery a lot of fun. The Poochyeena had never encountered a thing like the Pokeball. The bite Pokemon found out that the object could roll around and was engrossed in seeing what she could do with it…

"Pep don't touch-"Koja's words were too late.

The release button on the Pokeball was pressed accidentally by the Poochyeena and a red light appeared. The Pokeball opened and a split second later…

"That's just…"

"Impossible…" finished Shadow

"Hey there!"

Pep waved her paw amiably at the Alakazam.

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Saffron City, Johto Region

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"Look… I'm really sorry about the Pokemon Center trouble Grandma…"

"You should be! Do you know how much trouble and embarrassment this has cost me!"

"Well…"

Sami was standing with her arms crossed near the main door of her grandmother's house. With Inferno and a backpack sitting beside her.

"But my mind's made up. I need to get out of Saffron. I'm going hiking- to visit my old teacher. Once this has all settled down, I'll come back. Simple."

"Simple?" Sami's grandmother shook her head sternly, "There's a bad weather forecast for those mountains Sami! Go somewhere else!"

"I've traveled through storms before…" Sami sighed, "Besides, I'm going to the mountains bordering Johto and Kanto Grandma! I know that mountain range like the back of my hand!

"You might get hurt… It's a bad storm!"

"I'm really sorry grandma. But I'm going to those ranges whether you like it or not. I have to. Besides, it's only a few weeks. I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

The trainer kissed her grandmother on the cheek and turned to head out the door.

"You mother wouldn't approve of this you know…"

Sami turned around slowly- ever so slowly.

"Grandma. Mom is dead. I know she wouldn't approve of this. She didn't even approve of Inferno or anything I did as a Pokemon Trainer! And she's dead grandma. Don't act like she was alive. Anyhow, I've got to go. I want to make it to the mountains before dark… "

After a final goodbye, the trainer left out the door with Inferno after slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

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Forest near Saffron City

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"Finally… I though that I would be trapped in there forever…"

The Alakazam stretched before turning to notice the three Pokemon that where staring at him in awe.

"I suppose you want something since you freed me… I'm what you might call a sort of genie…" The Psi Pokemon laughed before she continued, "You can ask for one thing then poof- I'm off."

"Oh! Oh! I do! I do!" Pep waved her paw vigorously.

She was shushed by both Shadow and Koja.

"Hurry up!" whispered Koja, "He's not going to wait all day you know!"

"Well! I'm still recovering from the fact that this is amazing!" shot back Shadow back the Umbreon cleared her throat and spoke, "Sir-"

"I'm a she…" the Alakazam's eyes narrowed.

Oh. That was unexpected.

"Oh…I'm really sorry Miss!"

"I am not a miss either. I have children and a mate."

Oh. That was unexpected. At this point of time Koja took over.

"I'm really sorry Madam…"

Koja nudged Shadow.

"Yes, we really are! Umm… I happen to be searching for my parents…"

Now that the moment had come, Shadow was finding it hard to even string a sentence together.

"And?"

"And she, and she, needs you to-"

Pep's voice was cut off again by Koja's paw.

"I was wondering if you had any knowledge of them…"

Shadow was by now finding this all very uncomfortable as she realized that there was almost no way that the Alakazam would be able to find her parents for her…

"Do you know their names? What they look like?"

"No… But they should look kind of like me…?"

The Alakazam sighed. Why did the Pokemon who freed her always end up asking silly and inane questions? But…

"Well… This is just my guess but you look to be about two years old."

"I'm a yearling…"

"Well you're two years old." The spoon-wielding Pokemon ignored Shadow's last statement and continued, "Anyway, around two years ago, a couple moved into some mountains. They apparently came from a forest not so far from where we are. They were separated from their pack and child."

It fit. Other than when it happened. Apparently Shadow's parents had been separated from their pack two years ago? Shadow was a year old. She was separated from her parents when she was few weeks old… It didn't fit. And besides, the flood happened a year ago so it just didn't fit.

"I'm a year old." Repeated Shadow.

"Well you sincerely look to me like you're two years old- same age as your Absol friend."

Something struck Shadow then…

"Koja… Have you heard of the flood?"

"Yeah… It happened when I was really young. Two years ago- around then."

"Yes that flood." The Alakazam shook her head, "That wiped out a lot of Pokemon that flood did."

Shadow ignored the Alakazam, "Did another flood happen a year ago…?"

"Definitely not. Otherwise it's no flood that I know of. What are you getting at anyway?"

Shadow swallowed. When she was really young there she had being carried away from her parents by a major flood. She was found by the White Paw Pack and had been adopted. That had been a year ago.

Shadow shook her head- it really didn't make sense…

"You're two years old little one. Whether it makes sense to you or not."

With that statement the Alakazam closed her eyes for a brief moment, used her powers to make the pokeball which held her captive explode, then teleported and disappeared.

Finally… Done! This is Chapter 13. Hopefully it isn't scrappy and finally please leave a review. But then maybe everyone HAS forgotten about this story… Sniffles.

Oh well. Just leave a review and come back for the next chappie!

-StarDragon X