Note: Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter... Which I hope isn't too shabby... I've got studies and my Shiny Sigilyph and Giratina hunt haven't been to successful so far so I doubt I'd be uploading another chappie next week...

Umi's POV:

The scent of panic was evident, though the army still obeyed with discipline.

We had barely started travelling, and I already felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew.

Arashi noticed the worried expression on my face and slowed down to swim beside me.

"Are you okay, dear?" he asked in concern.

I tried to put on a brave face because I knew that I was the one who talked big awhile ago, I didn't want to discourage everyone else.

"Nothing, Arashi," I answered, my voice shaking.

"You sure there, Umi?" he asked, unconvinced.

I sighed.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" I teased, "Well, I'm feeling a little scared actually... I mean, I'm not sure if I can do this..."

Arashi swam closer to me.

"Umi, don't worry," he comforted, "Even I'm... sorta scared. But, I know that with the two of us, we can surely make it!"

He planted a small kiss on my cheek as he said so and smiled, trying to hide his blushing.

I giggled at his sweet way of comforting me.

"Thanks, Arashi," I giggled, causing him to blush even deeper.

We continued to swim forward but we were now in a lighter mood.

Arashi and I looked like we were carefree and happy as we chatted with each other while we swam, no one would've guessed that we were actually heading out to stop a war.

I smiled. How does he make me smile? Even in the worst of situations, he really knows how to lighten up my mood.

"Oh yeah," he suddenly interjected in my daydreaming, "you sorta forgot your things back at the colony and they were all messed up... So I uhh... decided to make this for you."

He held out a kelp-sewn bag, identical to the one he always wore, towards me. He had neatly arranged all my belongings in the small bag.

"Thanks, Arashi," I smiled, "I didn't know you could sew..."

He blushed slightly at the compliment. We continued on with this jovial and light tone for several more hours.

Our laughing and teasing soon ceased after we began to hear some signs of the war.

I looked down at the war site. It looked horrible! Thousands of Gyarados and Milotic, who were accompanied by Kingdra, were in the middle of a huge scuffle.

I stared in horror as I stopped swimming. Arashi, too, must have noticed because he was also frozen in place next to me.

The army of Huntail and Gorebyss looked down at the horrible scene of carnage below us. They murmured among themselves, probably in fear. I couldn't blame them though, I mean, who wouldn't be scared after seeing that?

"A-arashi?" I stuttered, suddenly feeling less confident.

He turned towards me with his eyes softened by tears. He held his tears in and tried to smile.

"Don't worry," he tried to comfort me, "This will all be gone. But only we can do this, so we shouldn't be afraid."

I nodded and blinked. I felt burned up with the determination to change this.

"Fine, let's do this!" I yelled, psyching up our army of Huntail and Gorebyss.

We were about to go down when a familiar voice called out my name.

"Umi!" the voice called.

I turned around and saw a familiar friend swimming towards us: Ai.

"Ai!" I called back out to her.

She swam up to me and tried to smile, but I could clearly see her lonely expression.

"Oh Umi," she cried, "It's terrible! Armik usurped the throne and when we tried to resist, he had several brutes under his command. He launched the w-war!"

Armik? My eyes widened. That freak did this? Oh no, NOT on my world. I'm gonna make sure he'll be sorry he ever even thought about doing this.

Ai suddenly lightened up when she saw Arashi beside.

"Oh, is this the Arashi you've been speaking of?" Ai smirked.

"Umm... Y-yes," Arashi timidly replied.

"Ehehe," Ai giggled, "You two do make a cute couple."

I began to blush, wishing Ai had never come at this time.

"Come to think of which," Ai pondered, "Since when did you two become a couple?"

"Ai, focus!" I yelled, "We've come to stop the war... Could you help us?"

Right at that moment, a Mudkip swam out of nowhere and tackled Arashi.

"Arashi!" he yelled, "Where have you been? I missed you!"

"Kip!" Arashi returned happily, "Well, I've been away somewhere with Umi for some time..."

I recognized the Mudkip to be the same one who lived all by himself on the outskirts of my tribe. How Arashi came to know him, I didn't know.

"It's terrible, Arashi," Kip tried to explain, "Armik seized the throne here and Ikari managed to do the same, they're gonna end up destroying the two tribes in this war!"

"Ikari?" Arashi asked.

I approached Arashi.

"This can't be good," I said, "What now?"

"Take them down one at a time," Kip answered.

Arashi and I looked at each other.

"Take them down?" we both asked, "How is that possible when a war is happening?"

Kip merely smirked, "Simple, you already have this army of Huntail and Gorebyss here. Have them distract the war, while they do the distracting, sneak off to defeat Armik and Ikari!"

We looked at each other and nodded. It did sound reasonable... I mean, what better way to eradicate a problem than destroying its root? Like a weed, even if you uproot its leaves but ignore the root, it will grow back in due time.

"Fine," I answered, "but who do we take down first?"

"Ikari," Arashi heavily said, "I've got a score to settle."

I looked at his eyes and I could see his tears had dried up only to be replaced by burning determination.

"Umi," Arashi softly told me, "I'm gonna go myself and take care of some business. Please stay here and keep yourself safe-"

"NO!" I interjected, "I'm going with you! Besides, wasn't it you who told me that we would get through this together?"

He smiled.

"Okay then," Arashi whispered, "Thanks a lot Umi..."

"Whew, looks like your girlfriend's a tough one," Kip chuckled, breaking the serious atmosphere.

The army of Huntail and Gorebyss immediately caught the attention of the Milotic and Gyarados. At first, they ignored it until one of the Huntail launched an attack. From above, it looked like a crazy three-way fight.

"C'mon now," Kip hurriedly said, "This is your chance! Both of you stop Ikari! I'll distract the others too."

We made it to the Gyarados Tribe's palace.

"This used to be my home," Arashi bitterly muttered.

"Then let's take it back," I cheered him up.

We both stared at the stone palace that loomed before us.

We knew that we had to do this. It was our one and only chance. The chances of winning through two fights with two overlords... One in four... Our chances were looking pretty dim.

My heart pounded hard on my chest, making me feel nervous. But for the sake of everyone, especially for Arashi, I would be willing to push through.

Arashi's POV:

Things were looking grim. We had just left for the site of war and everyone already had a face that spelled the feeling of despair.

Umi was swimming behind me so I decided to slow down and gently swim next to her. She had a worried expression about her face.

"Are you okay, dear?" I asked, concerned about her. It's not everyday that I see her so down on herself.

"Nothing, Arashi," she replied, her voice shaking.

"You sure there, Umi?" I continued, doubting her with the expression on her face.

She sighed.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" she teased, "Well, I'm feeling a little scared actually... I mean, I'm not sure if I could do this..."

I swam closer and showed her an understanding smile. I knew how it felt to be all riled up and worried for something like this.

"Umi, don't worry," I told her, "Even I'm... sorta scared. But, I know that with the two of us, we can surely make it!"

I planted a small kiss on her cheek after saying so, ignoring my usual sign of embarrassment which I am surprised that I haven't gotten used to yet.

I didn't know whether I did a good job of comforting her or not but she responded with a giggle, which I hoped was a good sign.

"Thanks, Arashi," she sweetly said, causing me to blush harder.

After that talk, the march continued as usual. But we felt much lighter and happier.

I looked back at Umi and secretly smiled. She made me feel more relaxed somehow. I forgot about the war for a moment and the two of us looked like a normal happy couple.

"Oh yeah," I suddenly interrupted, remembering something, "you sorta forgot your things back at the colony and they were all messed up... So I uhh... decided to make this for you."

I handed the bag I had made for her this morning. She seemed surprised to receive the green bag but she smiled, telling me that I did the right thing.

"Thanks, Arashi," she playfully thanked, smiling, "I didn't know you could sew..."

I blushed at her comment, but I guess this kind of ruined all the seriousness we had before. We continued to joke around laughing at each other as we continued to chat about stuff. It felt great to be able to enjoy each other's company without thinking about the chaos that was about to be ensued. Is this what a normal date like?

However, when we neared the site of the war, all signs of seriousness had returned. Our faces, laughing awhile ago, had transformed back into nervous creases.

We looked down at the horrible sight of war, hoping that it wouldn't be as horrible as we feared it would. Sadly, hoping was never something that we could count on.

Thousands of Gyarados were pitting themselves against the various Water-Types of the Milotic Tribe. This was all a misunderstanding, yet it had grown into something as grave as this. I wanted to change it so badly.

"A-arashi?" Umi asked, her voice losing confidence as we watched the horrible view below us.

I looked at her, trying to hide the fact that I was also scared. I had to be brave, for her sake. But I couldn't help showing a defeated expression on my face.

"Don't worry," I tried to comfort her, "This will all be gone. But only we can do this, so we shouldn't be afraid."

She nodded at me and seemed to be fired up. If she was doing her best, then I thought that so should I.

"Fine, let's do this!" she yelled, allowing a positive burst of emotions from the army of Huntail and Gorebyss behind us.

We looked at each other, understanding the determination burning on each other's eyes. I knew Umi's eyes well... At times they were as gentle as a summer breeze, gentle and beautiful, but today her eyes had a different feel to them... They were flared up, fidgeting with energy. We were ready... We were about to solemnly charge down in between two warring tribes.

We were seriously about to do just that when a feminine voice interrupted our sudden rush to charge downward.

"Umi!" she softly called.

Umi turned around with a surprised look on her face.

"Ai!" she called out to the Luvdisc, whom I presumed was named Ai for that was what Umi had called her.

"Oh Umi," she cried, "It's terrible! Armik usurped the throne and when we tried to resist, he had several brutes under his command. He launched the w-war!"

Armik? The guy Umi had always hated? Something told me that he wasn't going to enjoy my company when we finally meet.

Ai finally noticed me beside Umi and a sly smile crept up to her face, which puzzled me. I would probably never understand girls, one moment they're crying about the war and later they suddenly smile before a minute could pass.

"Oh, is this the Arashi you've been speaking of?" Ai questioned Umi, gesturing towards me.

"Umm... Yes," I replied, feeling left out in the conversation.

"Ehehe," Ai giggled, "You two do make a cute couple."

I started to fake a cough, looking in the other direction while Umi began to blush.

Yep, I was right... I would definitely never understand girls, even if I survived that war.

"Come to think of which," the small matchmaker pressed on, "Since when did the two of you become a couple?"

"Ai, focus!" Umi snapped rather irritably, "We've come to stop the war... Could you help us?"

As the two continued talking, I felt a familiar presence among us.

Although I knew what was coming, Kip's tackle took me by surprise.

"Arashi!" he yelled, "Where have you been? I missed you!"

"Kip!" I happily replied, "Well, I've been away somewhere with Umi for some time..."

Kip tried to smile, but a lonely expression overshadowed his smile.

"It's terrible, Arashi," Kip solemnly said.

"Armik seized the throne here and Ikari managed to do the same, they're gonna end up destroying the two tribes in this war!" Kip exclaimed, panting heavily.

I frowned. Ikari and Armik both usurped their respective thrones? I began to suspect that there was something fishy behind this, and I'm not talking about their pre-evolved forms.

"This can't be good," Umi said, her face slipping back into another worried expression, "What now?"

"Take them down one at a time," Kip suggested before I could open my mouth.

I found Kip's idea better than telling Umi that we had no plan and we were gonna mindlessly run down there into the battlefield and risk our lives.

"Take them down?" we both asked in a unified puzzling tone, "How is that possible when a war is happening?"

"Simple," Kip answered, having a mischievous smile about his face, "you already have this army of Huntail and Gorebyss here. Have them distract the war, while they do the distracting, sneak off to defeat Armik and Ikari."

Umi looked at me and I nodded. That certainly sounded better than my plan. I was thankful that Kip had cut me off before I could spit out my stupid suggestion.

"Fine," she softly said, "but who do we take down first?"

I knew that what I said sounded selfish, but I felt much safer on fighting a foe that I was already familiar with.

"Ikari," I gravely said, "I've got a score to settle."

I tried to hide the tears I've shed; this war had just taken too much from me already. I didn't want it to take away Umi too. I selfishly thought that if I brought her along, I might lose her too.

"Umi," I firmly said, "I'm gonna go myself and take care of some business. Please stay here and keep yourself safe-"

"NO!" she cut me off, "I'm going with you! Besides, wasn't it you who told me that we would get through this together?"

Hearing her say this opened my eyes. She was also fighting for something. She had a right to fight, which I shouldn't be so selfish by depriving her from doing so. I looked at her and smiled, I knew that this also meant that she cared about me.

"Okay then," I replied, "Thanks a lot, Umi..."

"Whew, looks like your girlfriend's a tough one," Kip chuckled, ruining our get-ready-to-fight moment.

This only made me blush and wonder how the young Mudkip became my best friend.

The small army we controlled immediately did their job. They managed to distract the two fighting factions after joining the war themselves.

"C'mon now," Kip signalled, "This is your chance! Both of you have to stop Ikari! I'll distract the others too."

We both charged into the now open field towards the Gyarados Tribe.

"This used to be my home," I sadly muttered, remembering my times as a child here.

"Then let's take it back!" Umi smiled, making me feel better.

I stopped before the stone palace. I just knew Ikari had to be stopped. I just had to be careful because, knowing her; she was the trickiest Gyarados I knew. She actually relied on brains and brute force on the same time.

I took one last glance at Umi and grinned. We came to defeat her, not to be defeated by her!

Note: That's it for now... Things sure are getting more and more intense here... I'm quite tired today so I'm not gonna say much... So leave a review... Thanks! ^^ (Drops down sleeping.)