A/N: Well, I've suppose I'll add one of these just because I like to. There was a lot that happens in this chapter, and I didn't really want to split it up anywhere (nor was there anywhere that I could have...) so that's why it's so dang long. This chapter is, by far, the longest I've ever made any chapter of any story. Microsoft Word count hit it at 9,789 words. The second longest one is 8500 some-odd, so a jump of over a thousand words is just wow to me. That, alongside the fact that a majority of every other chapter reaches about 5-6k words... Yea... Ok, end rant. I'll shut up now. Enjoy!


I can't sleep. How long has it been since I told my parents what I'm doing? It's still dark out, so it couldn't have been that long. Man, why am I so useless? This is the second time I've had a chance to help Katie… and I blew it again. I've probably also blown it for Sean. My parents are probably gonna tell his what we're doing, and that's gonna get him in trouble. All I wanted was to try and help Katie again… but now I'll never get that chance…

"Isaac, may I come in?" someone, while knocking on the door, asked.

I didn't want to respond, but what would be the point of that? "Yea, what do you want?" I asked back.

The door slowly opened and my mom entered my room. Even though it was dark out, I knew it was my mom from her voice. She closed the door and lit up the candle on my shelf. She came over and sat on the edge of my bed, causing it to swing a little before stabilizing again.

"Well? Come to yell at me or something?" I said with ire.

"Isaac, stop that. I just came to ask you what compelled you to even think about climbing the mountain in your condition." She looked straight at me. "And why you lied to us about it."

"I… saw something. Something at the lake. It was something only I saw-a vision of Katie on the mountain. It's been a week since she disappeared; I just wanted to believe what I saw was the truth."

"Isaac, they already searched the mountain. She's not there," my mom replied.

"Sean already told me that," I snapped back, "but I think that whoever searched the mountain just skimmed it. Everyone's afraid of it, so it makes sense to me that they didn't do a good enough search."

"Isaac, you can't make assumptions like that. I know how badly you miss Katie, but you have to be patient. She'll turn up eventually."

"Yea, and eventually she'll be dead," I said bluntly. My eyes started to water, tears falling soon after. "She's been gone a week, Mom. How much longer do you think she'll survive? I don't want to just sit here and wait to hear about her. I want to do something about it. I saw a lead, and I want to follow it."

My mom stayed silent for a few seconds before getting up off my bed. She walked to the middle of the room before turning back towards me. "Who else was going to go with you?"

"Someone Sean knew. He's a Zangoose named Chris. He told me he's met with the Dragon types before and knew a way up that would be easy," I replied.

My mom turned back around. "When were you going to leave?" she asked another question.

"Early this morning," I replied again.

She walked back over to the side of my bed. "And even though we know, do you still plan to try and go with them?"

I sat myself up in my bed. "Mom… I... will try," I finally said.

She turned back around and looked at the ceiling. "So, you'd go against your parents to help your friend. Am I hearing this right, Isaac?"

I froze up again but still managed to meep out my reply. "Yea… That's right."

"You are stubborn to a fault, Isaac," my mom stated. "But… so was your father." She turned around again. "Isaac, you are still young, but you are growing up. You are getting old enough to know your own strengths and limits. You know that you can't do this alone, so you went and found the most willing help available." She paused for a minute. "You are listening to us."

Ok… Now I'm getting confused. Why is she saying all of this? "Mom, where are you going with all of this?"

"It's not fully important right now, Isaac," she told me. "Get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow." She blew out the candle she lit moments earlier and left my room, leaving it-and me-in the dark.

Where was she going with asking all those questions? And what did she mean when I have a long day tomorrow? She said I know my strengths and limits, and that I found the most willing help, and that I'm listening to them? What does she mean? Unless… Unless she plans on letting me go to the mountain tomorrow? That can't be true… can it? She was completely shocked when she learned the truth and said I'd get myself killed if I went. Did she really have that quick a change of heart? Is she really going to let me go?

She… she couldn't. There's no way she'd let me do that. Besides, how would she persuade my father? He's the one who grounded me. I doubt that he'd have the same change of heart. But… what if she already has? What if they've talked again while I was asleep? It's just like when Tyler first came home, when my dad yelled at me for calling him 'Shrimp.' He said they talked about the night before, and my mom persuaded him to her view. Maybe… maybe this time it's no different.

No… No, it is different. This isn't a silly nickname. This is me climbing a mountain governed by the Dragon types. He was pissed at me for considering it, and I don't think he'd be so quick to change his mind. But there's always the possibility that my mom would let me go even without my dad's approval. Would she really do that, though?

I don't know… I can't know. I haven't a clue what's going on in my mom's head right now. I have so many questions… but maybe it's best if I just leave them for tomorrow.

Katie… just hang on a little longer.


"You… can't be serious. You're going to let him climb the mountain?" I heard a voice-my father-from outside my room. It was loud enough to wake me up. It's not that dark out… The sun must just be coming up. This is when I was supposed to meet with Sean and Chris… Is my mom really gonna let me go?

"Yes, I am serious. He's not a little kid anymore," my mom said.

"But he's still only ten years old! And has a broken arm! What good is he gonna do on the mountain!" I cringed after I heard that. I still don't know if what I'm doing is right, but I don't want to sit around. I'm not going to sit around. I won't be a hindrance.

"It's the reason he has that arm that I'm letting him go. If it didn't break and he saw that vision of Katie on the mountain, he might not have gotten help from Sean or Chris!" my mom argued. She has a really good point-if she knows it or not. I don't really know what I might've done if I hadn't broken this arm…

"That's also one thing I don't understand… This vision-how can we know it was real or not?"

"It was real to him. We both know that there actually is something in that lake, and it revealed itself to Isaac for a reason."

Ok, I'm definitely confused now… My mom said that I shouldn't be chasing after legends and stuff last night… so why did she just say that they're real? Must be something I don't know… but that's not an important detail right now.

"Ok, I'll grant you that, but there's just one other thing that bothers me. Chris. You said he was a Zangoose, right? I've heard some rumors about this guy. He used to work with Sean's father with scouting. The details were foggy, but when they found something that they ended up angering, he up and left Sean's father to save his own hide! How do we know we can trust this guy?"

"Sean apparently trusts him; he's the one who showed Chris to Isaac in the first place."

"No, I'm not going to risk it. Isaac is not going," my dad said firmly. Great… He's still adamant on keeping me grounded… If this keeps up…

"I've already talked with Isaac about this. He told me that, no matter what, he'd try and go to help his friend; even though it meant disobeying us," my mom replied.

"He's that stubborn?"

"Not too much unlike you, is he?"

There was a bit of a pause after my mom said that. Something happened with my dad that I don't know about… Hehe, I wonder if they'll tell me…

"…Fine."

Hmm? Wait… did he just say what I think he said?

I heard my mom let out a sigh. "Thank you. We have to let him grow up sometime."

"Go… pack him some food. I need to talk with him."

I heard footsteps retreating and also my door opening. My dad entered the room shortly after. "So, I guess you heard all of that, eh?"

"Yea. Why don't you want me to go? I know I have this arm busted up, but I can still help out," I told him, trying to keep his decision to let me go solid.

"I don't want to hear what you can and can't do," he said sternly at first, but then his voice trailed off. "I just want one thing from you. I want you to promise me you won't do anything reckless. I want you to promise me that you'll come back here, to me and your mom and Tyler, safely." He looked at me with a look I've never seen of him before.

"Dad…" That look… It was… Jeez, I can't even describe it, but if there's one thing present, it's an immense worry for me. He's my dad, and he's supposed to worry about me, but… this is just different somehow.

"Isaac, do I have your promise?"

"I promise. I won't let you down." I jumped out of my bed and stood in front of him. "Don't worry. I know my limits."

"I'm holding that to you. I-and I'm sure your mom and Tyler too-will never forgive you if anything happens to you. Got it?"

"Yup."

"Good. Come; the sun's almost up. That's when you were gonna sneak off, right?"

I scratched the back of my head a little. "Well, it's not sneaking off now, is it?"

"Yes. It still is. Rather, it will be once you start towards the mountain. Just be careful, alright? Those guards are really pesky sometimes…"

I looked up at my dad with a look of confusion planted on my face. If that wasn't suspicious, I don't know what is…


Downstairs, my mom handed me the little food sack she left to prepare. It was just a simple piece of cloth with berries in the middle and the four corners tied together to make a makeshift bag. She didn't add much, which was expected. I mean, it's not like we're going to be gone for days on end, right?

I grabbed the bag and slung it over my shoulder. It seemed a bit odd, though-this whole trip now. I did not have to sneak out of my house…

"You'd better get going. They'll leave you behind if you're late," my mom said.

Their new calmness about this is also a bit unsettling… but I guess I shouldn't knock it. At least I won't have to return home to a scolding…

Instead of saying anything, I just nodded my head. I opened up our front door and left for Chris' house. The sun's still not over the horizon yet. I should be fine for time.


Man… it's way too quiet in the morning. I've never woken up this early, so this is the first time I've seen the town like this. Everyone still asleep… man, it's unsettling. But I suppose it's also a good thing. There's no one to question me about where I'm going with a bag of berries. Still… I'd better take the long way. I don't need any other obstacles in my way right now.

The 'long way' isn't actually longer than the normal route. If anything, it's a short-cut. Cutting through the trees that are a bit behind my house will keep me concealed and also make it easier to get to Chris' house. The normal way was going through the main marketplace and go from there, but this way I can skip that and go straight to his house. Hopefully I don't see anyone…

The minutes passed as I made my way through the forest. I can't tell the sun's location, but I still should be fine… that is, if this quiet doesn't drive me insane. A no previous time has it been this quiet! I mean, at least at the cliff edge there's the waterfall to make some noise… This is just unnatural.

Another minute passed before I saw the rows of houses again. Now all I had to do was get to the right one… Crap. I think it would've been good for me to have remembered which house Sean showed me yesterday… I can't just knock on any door and hope it's the right one… Jeez, what do I do?

"Hey, good to see you made it." I jumped ten feet from where I was when I heard that. I turned my head around to see my best friend, Sean, standing there with a grin on his face. "Jeez, did I scare you that much?"

"Yes!" I hissed back, trying to keep quiet. "You scared the life out of me!"

"Well, I saw you trekking through the trees, so I thought I'd join you. Though, I can tell you also can't remember where Chris lives, do you?"

I shook my head. I hadn't a clue where to start looking.

"Well, that's fine. I'll get us there… Hey, what's in the sack?" Sean asked.

"Oh, just some berries. You never know when they'd come in handy," I replied.

"You took some berries from your storage? Jeez, dude. Your parents are gonna flip when they learn about that."

"Oh, yea… Right." I wonder if I should mention that I cracked and that both my parents knew about this. Err… it's not important now. I'll leave it be. "But that doesn't matter. C'mon, get us to Chris."

He nodded and started towards the row of homes. He turned off to the left a bit before circling around one of the houses. He knocked quietly on the door, which means this must be Chris' house. Huh. Guess I wasn't that far off…

"Well, well. You guys are right on time," Chris said from behind the door. He opened it and joined us outside. "No sense wasting the cover we'll lose when the sun comes up, so let's get moving."

Sean and I both nodded our heads. Chris took off towards the mountain, and the two of us followed quickly after. He was running straight down the middle of the road, though… Even under normal circumstances this would've appeared odd. There must be a method to his madness, though.

"Hey, Chris, how long will it take us to reach the mountain?" Sean quietly asked.

"Not too long if the guards don't give us much trouble," he replied. "But don't worry; they're all as lazy as can be. It's been too long since someone tried to get to the mountain. They're all relaxed and lazy. This will be a cakewalk compared to when I went up there."

"I hope you're right," I added in. This wasn't some exploration to the mountain. We are going there to find our missing friend. I can't lose sight of that… Pray to Arceus she's safe…

"Alright, we're nearing the border. Get to the trees," Chris said curtly. With even less signal, he darted straight into the trees. It took me and Sean a second to compensate, but we didn't fall too far behind. We were all hidden in the trees shortly after. "This is the tricky part. The guards rotate watch every-so-often. We just have to make our move when they do."

"I thought you said this'd be a cakewalk," I said sharply. If this part's tricky, why'd he say it was easy?

"Hey, it will be. Trust me. I think the one on watch now is a Grumpig. Chances are he's fast asleep. It'll take the replacement watch a few minutes to wake him up."

He turned his gaze back over to a certain tree on the far side of the clearing near us. Sean and I looked over there as well. Sure enough, just like Chris said, we saw the replacement watch, a Vigoroth, jump over to that tree.

"Ok… ready?" Chris asked, but I don't think he was waiting for an answer… "Go!" He darted off into the clearing milliseconds before he said 'go.' Sean and I again struggled to make up lost ground, me especially considering I can't run on all fours. I kept myself as low to the ground as I could without falling over. I was falling behind a bit but not by much.

From that guard tree I heard the Vigoroth. "Hey, c'mon, you lazy bum. Wake up. We gotta follow shifts. Hey, can you hear me? Hey!" Again, Chris was also right about that guard being impossible to wake up. I guess this is pretty easy after all.

We were in that clearing for less than a minute. We regrouped on the other side, the mountain's side.

Chris seemed pretty impressed at us, though I think it was me in particular… "Good job, you two. Now all we have to do is get up the mountain to the trail. There's a buddy of mine up there who can help us with the full search," he said.

Great… he knows a Dragon personally? This guy is an enigma to me… Everything's been so confusing this past week. Katie running away, that bird, Tyr; my parents, Chris. Jeez… What's going on right now?

The sun finally showed itself at this time. The very top of it rose over the horizon. It was morning.

"Alright. Let's get a move on," Chris said. "We've got a bit of ground to cover."

By the time we made it to the base of the mountain, the sun was now almost fully visible. Just a little bit of its bottom half stayed hidden. We managed to make the most of the darkness, though. "Ok, once we walk up this trail a bit, there's gonna be a cliff we'll have to climb," Chris explained. "Let's hope you can make it, Isaac."

"I'll be fine; don't worry about me," I responded. "Let's get going." We'll find you, Katie. Just hold on.

"Hey, Isaac." Sean tapped at my side. "Are you one-hundred percent sure you'll be able to climb this mountain?" he asked.

"Yea, don't worry about me. I may not be able to use my right arm, but I do have one useful tail," I said, swishing it around a bit. "It'll make up for my broken arm."

"Did you have that planned? Or did you just come up with that?" Chris asked from ahead of us.

"Well, I've used my tail for other tasks before, and I figured it'd work for this too."

"Pretty dang clever if ya ask me. This giant lump of a tail isn't as useful."

"I don't even think my tail would be able to work like that," Sean added in. "At least you'll be able to keep up."

"Yea…" Truth is, I'm not so sure that this idea will work. While it's true I've used my tail for carrying around extra objects, they were all fairly light in comparison to-well-me.

The talking we did made the time and the walking pass fairly quickly. Before long, we were at the cliff Chris had mentioned earlier. It wasn't any Mount Coronet, but it was still a pretty high climb… I slammed my tail against the ground a few times to get it ready for the climb… Time to see if this idea will work.

"Well, no sense gawking," Chris stated in his rather impatient manner, though it wasn't an unwelcome attitude. There isn't any time to waste. "I'll start us off." And with that he dug his claws into the side of the mountain and started up. Sean was next to follow, going up next to where Chris started.

"Oh boy…" I muttered before placing my foot on the wall. It seemed solid, so I placed my good paw up higher and pulled myself up. My other foot followed, and I was off the ground. I moved my tail as high up as I could before gripping it along the wall. I pulled down a bit to make sure I wouldn't fall and released my weight on my feet.

My tail held its ground, and I easily climbed up the wall a bit. To balance out my climbing, I kept my tail on my right side, and that just made the climb that much easier. I stole a gaze up to see Chris nearly halfway up and Sean a few yards behind him. I was only less than a quarter of the way up but was making progress.

"Hey, Isaac! How's your tail trick working out for ya?" Chris yelled down to me.

"It works! I'll be up there soon!" I shouted up.

"Good to hear! Let me know if you have any problems!"

I seem to be doing fine for now. There are plenty of solid areas for me to get a grip on. I wasn't as fast as they were, but, hey, as long as I make it up there.

By the time I just passed the halfway mark, Chris managed to make it all the way up. Sean was just a bit below the three-quarters mark. It seemed that even he was having a difficult time climbing, seemingly more so than I was. Well, he is a Pikachu-not too suited for climbing rocks. Trees are more their style.

I just kept a steady pace, looking for every solid handhold. However, there was this one little rock above me that seemed out of place… It was colored different from the rest of the rock wall. I grabbed onto it to test it and it didn't move, but I was still curious.

"Hey! What'cha doin'! Let go of me!" a voice called out. Instantly after, the rock shot up the side of the cliff. I held onto it as hard as possible, trying not to fall off. I passed right by Sean who I could hear was calling out my name. Chris was yelling too, but I didn't think enough to hear what he was saying. All I wanted to do was hold on.

The rock eventually ran out of cliff wall to scale and shot up into the sky, with me still along for the ride. I could now see it wasn't a rock but a Pokemon instead. I pushed off from it, pushing myself to the spot where Chris was standing. I tried to correct myself to attempt to land on my feet, but I'm not too good in the sky… At how I was falling, I was gonna land on my back.

"Hang on! I got ya!" Chris yelled. He appeared underneath me just as I was a few feet above the ground. "You alright?" he asked as he set me down. I just nodded my head. That was not fun… "Well, you managed to catch a short-cut on that Gible."

"Gible? Is that a Dragon-type?"

"Yea, but a low leveled one. They're also Ground-types, so they lose the Dragon's resistance to water. Just though I'd let you know."

"Isaac!" I turned around to see Sean making his way over the ledge onto solid ground again. He was winded but seemed more worried for me. "Dude, you alright?"

"Yea, I'm fine, Sean. Catch your breath," I called back to him.

He took a deep breath. "Whew… What was that?"

"Apparently it was a Pokemon called Gible," I responded.

"Yea… though something's not right… I think I know that Gible," Chris stated.

"You do?" Both Sean and I said simultaneously.

"Yea… We may be in trouble…" he said reluctantly.

"Trouble? Why?" I asked. I got my answer quickly. The entire ground started to shake with fury. "Gah! What's happening? An earthquake?"

"No, not an earthquake," Chris replied. "Reinforcements."

As soon as he said that, three plumes of dust shot up a few yards away. One of the plumes was fairly small, but the other two were over twice as large.

The dust up front, the smaller plume, settled first, revealing that Gible from before. "Hehe… This'll teach ya not to mess with me when I'm asleep," it taunted. The other two plumes settled to reveal two much larger versions of that little Gible. Their claws were more pronounced, that fin on their head larger, and they just looked overall menacing.

"Gabite," Chris quietly said. "Listen, we didn't come here for a fight. We gotta find my buddy to help us. She'll guide us around the mountain."

"Well, I don't think your friend can help us now," Sean said. "These three look ready for a fight."

That couldn't have been truer. The two Gabite stepped in front of the Gible, showing off their claws. "Alright, which one of you cretins woke our brother up from his nap?" one of them said.

"It was that one, the Buizel!" Gible called out from behind them, pointing at me.

"So, ignoring the obvious fact of you're not supposed to be here anyways, we're gonna kill you for messing with our brother," the Gabite said.

Chris put his arm in front of me. "Hey, you want him, you go through me!"

"Oh? Don't we know you? Hmm, yes, a few years back. We were caught in this same situation, no? Except you were fighting for your own life. Had Irene not come to your rescue, you'd have died. But… she's not here to save you this time."

"What?" Chris shouted out. "What happened to her?"

The Gabite started laughing together, mockingly. "She's fallen ill. No one, not even our leader, can figure out why. It looks like the end of the line for four Pokemon: you three and Irene." The trio burst into laughter again.

Sean moved behind Chris as well during all of this. If what Chris said earlier is true, all three of these guys are also Ground-types; therefore immune to electricity. None of Sean's attacks, save for his Iron Tail, will work on these guys. Chris, however, looked completely enraged. Whoever they were talking about earlier, Irene, must be his friend up here, and she's sick.

"Well, enough talk. It's time to finish what we started." Both Gabite dashed directly towards us.

"Stay back, you two. This is a personal fight now," Chris ordered.

"We'll jump in only if we feel we need to," Sean replied. I nodded in affirmation.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that…" Chris took off towards the two as well.

"Well, the Buizel can wait. We'll take you out first!" one of the Gabite screamed out. It formed in between its claws a blue-green sphere of energy. I saw Chris react by holding his two claws apart and having a solid blue sphere form in the air between. The Gabite's attack I wasn't familiar with, but with Chris' I was. He had a Focus Blast ready.

The two released their attacks in unison. The two balls of energy met mid-air and blew up. The cloud of dust that got thrown up covered the Gabite and Chris, preventing him from seeing the other Gabite charge into the dust. It all quickly settled, showing Chris narrowly avoid the Gabite's Slash.

Chris fell backward to dodge it, so he flipped himself over and gave a Slash of his own at the Gabite. He was able to move fast enough to just graze against the Gabite. "You've gotten quicker… but you're still too slow," one of them said. That one's claw started to glow the same blue-green as that energy attack before. Chris was able to react even faster than before this time, distancing himself from the Gabite just as it swung its claw down.

"I'm not as weak as I was all those years ago," Chris stated. "Don't underestimate me."

"Heh, looks like we have to stop holding back. We wanted to drag out our victory, but if you're able to dodge so well… No restrictions." The two of them started glowing blue-green. That glow must be akin to the Dragons or something…

"Dragon Dance… If that's how you want to play, I'll play. I still won't lose to you."

The two Gabite just smirked. "We'll see about that." And they were at it again. The Gabite's speed looked to be much faster than before, and their attacks looked more powerful. Chris was having a tough time getting a counterattack in.

Something didn't sit right with me… "Hold on…" I looked around the cliff edge. "Where'd that Gible go?" The Gible wasn't anywhere to be seen. Either he fled… or…

"Isaac, look out!" Sean screamed. I turned around to see that Gible behind me, about to hit me with its Rock Smash. I froze up. I'm not gonna be able to move fast enough to dodge. However, Sean was and managed to intercept it with his Iron Tail, sending the Gible flying. "You alright?"

"Y-Yea…" I stuttered out. I can't allow myself to get careless like that… I still have a promise to keep. "That was some save; I owe you one."

"You can pay me back now. None of my Electric type attacks work on these guys, but your Water type attacks can deal some damage. C'mon, Chris has his fight; we have our own."

"Yea. Right."

The Gible was back on its feet already, but Sean and I were ready for it this time. "Hmm, I would say it's a two-on-one, but you have a broken arm, and your attacks don't even work. So now I say it's a one-on-one-half!" It burst out in laughter after it finished.

That just got me angry, though. "Hey! I may have a broken arm, but I'm still strong enough to take you out!" Arceus, I hope so…

"And Electric type attacks aren't all I have!" Sean called out immediately afterward. That's right… I'm not alone. Together, we have enough power to take down this single Dragon type.

"I'm still a Dragon, one of the strongest! I will never lose, just like my brothers!" It yelled back. I took a quick glance back to Chris. He was distanced from the Gabite and had another Focus Blast ready. He seemed to be doing well against those two, so there isn't any worry about him.

"You ready, Sean?" I asked.

"Anytime you are, Isaac."

This was not going to be fun… Might as well try and do some damage from a distance while we're still apart. "I'll start this off!" I sucked in as much breath as I could before focusing the inner water Water types have in them for my Water Gun. The jet flew toward the Gible, but he simply went underground to dodge.

"Great, now how are we supposed to fight him?" Sean asked, frustrated.

"Keep your head, Sean. We have to pay attention for when he comes up." I looked around for any sign, but there was none. "Jeez, where'd he go?" All I could hear was the battle between Chris and the Gabite behind me. Nothing else…

"Ok, hang on… Heh, I got an idea." Sean jumped into the air and started spinning head-over-heels. The speed he was spinning was impressive, but it left me wondering what he was doing next. His plan suddenly came to me, and I knew I had to act fast. I was closer to the edge than he was, so I quickly replaced myself closer to the mountain. Sean's tail started shining just as he slammed it into the ground. With all the energy he put into it, Sean's Iron Tail felt like it shook the entire mountain.

It did its job, though. Under the ground, through the cracks, we could hear that Gible crying out in pain. Getting slammed under so much rock must've hurt.

Unfortunately, the Gabite also heard. "Hey! What are you doing to our brother?" one of them yelled. He broke away from fighting Chris to change targets to Sean. Just like with me and the Gible before, I intercepted the Gabite before he got to Sean with a Water Gun.

However… this guy was a lot stronger than the Gible… He easily shook off my attack. "So, you want to be first, eh?" Dang it… I don't have anywhere to go, and there's no way Sean can blindside this guy…

But, I got saved again. Chris managed to break free from the other Gabite to fire off a Focus Blast, one that flew right in front of the Gabite. "Hey! Your fight's with me, bub," Chris called out.

"I suppose it is. We can take care of these two afterwards." The Gabite again changed targets, focusing again on Chris. Unfortunately for him, he also turned his back to Sean.

I still don't know what goes on in Sean's mind, but he sometimes has moments of brilliance. Chris' Focus Blast missed, so the Gabite thought that was the last of it, but Sean had other ideas. He ran over and used his Iron Tail as a bat to hit the Focus Blast back. The attack somehow managed to stay intact and not blow up in Sean's face and traveled back to the Gabite.

I knew the Gabite wouldn't be taken out by it, but if I followed up with something, that might. But what do I use? Well, Water Gun seems to be the only thing I can think of… The attack blindsided the Gabite, causing him to lose his balance. Following up, I blasted him with my Water Gun, fully making him lose balance and fall flat down.

"Hey, I'm not being left out of this team attack!" Sean yelled out. I turned my head, but he wasn't where he was before. Instead, he was in the sky, spinning again. He slammed down with Iron Tail just like he did earlier, this time on the Gabite's back.

The triple dose of damage, coupled with the fact that he had already been worn out a bit by fighting Chris, meant that he was down and out. I could hear more moans coming from underground, too. The Gible must've taken some more damage when Sean slammed down again. So that's two down, one left. Things are looking up for us.

"What is going on down here!" a voice bellowed out. It came from above us, but just as I craned my neck back, a massive figure slammed into the ground behind the last standing Gabite. Another plume of dust obscured our view, but as it settled, the figure became visible. Just like with the Gible and the Gabite, this one looked like the two but larger and darker.

Chris seemed really freaked out too. "Chris, who is that?" Sean asked from behind.

He just stared blankly. He slowly turned his head towards us. "Run…"

I tilted my head a bit. "Run? But why? What're you gonna do?" I asked.

"Don't waste time. Run!"

"Do not move a muscle, little one," the large Pokemon stated. "You're going to pay for injuring my sons."

"Your sons? Maybe you should tell them not to pick random fights with others," Sean called out.

"I said get out of here!" Chris snapped back. "There's no way even all three of us can deal with him, but I can at least hold him off for you two to get away!"

Sean reeled back a bit at Chris' words and seemed to understand what he meant. I understood too. Chris knew this was a hopeless situation, but he didn't want us hurt. He'd be willing to sacrifice himself to give us a chance.

But… that isn't what I wanted to have happen… I just wanted to be on and off this mountain, hopefully with Katie. I never wanted us to get in this situation… But we are, and we're in this together. I'm not going to leave anyone to get hurt on my account. I just can't.

"Chris, I'm not going to leave," I told him.

"What? Isaac, we don't have time for this!" he yelled back.

"Seriously, dude, we should run. Chris is the only one with any chance against that guy," Sean said. "Why do you want to stay?"

"I never wanted this… I only wanted to find Katie and leave. But now that we're here, I'm not going to let someone else get hurt for me. This whole thing was my idea, so I'd be responsible if someone got hurt… I can't run and have that happen."

"Isaac, is that really how you feel?" Sean asked me. I just nodded my head in reply. "Jeez… Then I'll stay too. I wouldn't want anything to happen to my friends if I ran, too."

Chris just stared at us. All this time, the Dragon types just stared too. The large, final evolution one broke out in laughter. "Foolish children. You would've been wise to flee. Like this Zangoose said, even all three of you are no match for me. He knew this from our last encounter. This same situation happened long ago. He fought and won against these two here, but when I came, he fell. I would've killed him if it weren't for that accursed Irene."

This story again… but with a bit more detail. Bottom line is Chris got saved by this Irene, but she's sick right now. But now the question is… what do we do? We don't have anyone coming to save us.

"Now then, are we done here? Good, because now it's time for you all to die," the large Pokemon said. That blue-green energy I've familiarized with Dragon types surrounded it, but so much more intensely than I've seen before. We are in for a fight…

"Enough!"

A voice screeched out from above us all. As I looked up, a beam of blue and white shot down the mountain, freezing everything in its path. It crossed in front of us, creating a wall of ice between the Dragon types and us.

Through the ice, I saw the large Pokemon seem to freeze up as if he got hit with that Ice Beam. Oddly enough… Chris looked the same way. Sean just looked amazed at that wall of ice but then turned his head skyward. I did too. I wanted to see what exactly just saved our tails.

Still flying high in the sky was a large blue Pokemon with wings that looked like clouds. Behind it, though, were two more Dragon types: one a larger blue Dragon with red wings, and the other more familiar to me, Dragonite.

"Three Dragons…" I said quietly. "And they're on our side." I gotta say this: I don't know what all the others are so afraid about. I can understand being scared of the Gible, Gabite, and whatever the final evolution is called, but those three up there? That's just an incredible sight.

Suddenly, though, the one who fired the Ice Beam started losing altitude. Its wings weren't flapping very evenly. Then, it just stopped altogether and started falling. The Dragonite looked back at the other Dragon type, giving a short nod. Instantly after, it shot down and caught the falling Pokemon on its back. All three of them then landed right in front of us.

The Dragonite came over to us first. I didn't know what to think. Was it friendly, or was it going to tell us to leave?

"Hello, all," it said calmly. "I hope that Garchomp and his family didn't give you too much trouble." Neither I nor Sean could say a word. This Dragonite's initial attitude just went against everything we've been taught about Dragon types. We couldn't even reply. "Ah, I see you're a little surprised. You're from that village at the base of the mountain, no?"

"Y-Yea. We are," I managed to reply.

"Then what, if I may ask, are you doing up here?"

"We're looking for a friend of ours," I said more solidly.

"Ah, a friend. Maybe my friend could help you, though she's not feeling too well right now… Even I can't figure out why," the Dragonite said.

"Wait, 'she?' And she's sick?" That sounds a lot like that Irene that Gabite mentioned and Chris freaked over about. "Is her name Irene?" I asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Yes it is. How did you know that?"

"Our other friend Chris said that she was his friend from a few years ago."

"Chris, you say? I think I remember a fellow from a few years back by that name. In fact…" The Dragonite looked over at the aggressive Dragon types behind the wall of ice. "Yes, it's all coming back to me. This all happened fairly the same a few years ago. So that's what Irene meant…"

"Excuse me. Could I say something?" Sean spoke up. "This is nuts. We were always told that the Dragon types were fiercely territorial, yet here you are just talking to us like we're able to be here. What am I to believe?"

"Believe? What do you believe right now?" Sean reeled back at the Dragonite's question to him. He hung his head and ears down and just looked at the ground. Seems like he doesn't know what to believe. Can't say that I know what to believe either… "Do not be discouraged. I will tell you my dream. First, I shall do something I should've said before this conversation. My name is Aether, and I am the leader of the Dragons of this mountain.

Both mine and Sean's eyes shot open when we heard that. All this time we've been talking to the leader of the Dragons? "No… no way! You're the leader?" I blurted out.

"Ha ha ha… Is that such a surprise? Yes, I am. And my dream is to end the false accusations given to all Dragon types through the dealings of a small faction of our population." He gazed over towards the Pokemon behind the ice. "I will never condone the actions taken by those four. I did not do so four years ago, either. There are no second chances this time."

The tone of this Pokemon just changed completely. From beneath that calm manner came a complete seriousness. He walked right past Chris, Irene, and the other Dragon right towards the ice wall. With one swift punch, he shattered the entire thing to pieces. All four of them were now awake again and standing. Aether just kept walking towards them.

"I told you… four years ago; the last time Irene came to me for help. I warned you that if you ever pulled something like this again…" A burst of energy loosed itself from Aether's body. The sheer force of it nearly blew me off my feet! "I would show you no mercy!" The waves of energy just kept coming from him! No wonder he's their leader!

The Garchomp didn't look like he wanted to give up so easily though. "I will not lose! You will fall here and now, Aether!" Garchomp shouted out. He then rushed straight at Aether, completely surrounded by a blue-green energy.

"You will not succeed," Aether said calmly. "Begone." The energy waves from Aether stopped, but now he started gathering the energy. The Garchomp inched closer and closer to Aether with its attack but was still yards away when Aether released all his stored energy. Waves of the same energy the Garchomp radiated met with it. The Garchomp was easily overpowered and sent flying by the powerful strike. He stopped at the side of the mountain, completely out cold.

The Gabite and Gible looked completely terrified. Aether started to walk back to where we were but stopped just as he took a few steps. "When he wakes up, you are all to leave this place and never return. Do not go to the village at the foot of the mountain either. Leave to the east. That is the only way I'll allow you to go," he said calmly and started walking back towards us again. The Gabite picked up their unconscious father as best they could and took off down the path away from us.

"Well, we were at least taught right that they were powerful," Sean said jokingly.

"That's an understatement," I replied though. These guys were beyond powerful-at least once fully evolved.

"You two, come over here. It seems there's something you request of Irene," Aether called out to us. I was still in awe of Aether's power, but a memory in the back of my head pushed itself to the front. I was so mesmerized by these Dragons that I completely forgot about why we came here and the one we came looking for was right there!

The two of us sprinted over to the group. Irene wasn't on the other Dragon type's back anymore and was on her own feet instead. At least she's well enough to talk to.

"You are Isaac, correct?" Irene said to me the moment I was next to her. "Chris told me you were the one with the broken arm, and that you were the one who had something to ask of me."

"Err, yea. I am, and I do." Chris must've been catching up and explaining why we were here when Aether was busy talking with us. "Chris and Aether both said that you could help us look for our friend. I saw a vision of her up on this mountain yesterday in the lake."

"You are correct. I can help. For as long as I remember, I've had the ability to see the aura of those who come close enough. An odd ability for an Altaria," she explained. "However, I have become ill, so my powers may not be as attuned as you need them to be."

"Any bit helps," I told her. "In the past week, have you ever sensed anyone else on this mountain?" Please say yes… Please say yes.

"I have not used my ability in the past week," she told me. "And when Chris told me of this same fact, I tried again but to no avail. I could not sense anyone new." My heart quickly sank when she finished. The chance that Katie is still on the mountain is slim… "But, two nights ago, I had a dream. In the dream, I did see an aura which was unfamiliar to me. It ended up in one of the caverns on this mountain. I was still too ill at the time to investigate, and I did not want to burden anyone with what could've been a hallucination."

I quickly perked up at her words. "Can you remember where it was that you saw the aura?" I asked loudly.

"Isaac, calm yourself," Chris said first.

"It is alright, Chris. And yes, Isaac, I do remember. I can lead you all there." She looked over to the Dragon which I still didn't know what to call it. "Would you carry them to where I lead, Roy?"

"Yes, of course, Lady," the Dragon responded. He looked over to us. "Climb onto my back, please."

Me, Sean, and Chris all jumped onto Roy's back. Irene spread her cloud-like wings and took off to the sky. A few flaps of his wings and Roy was off too. Aether followed behind us. We easily cleared the entire mountain, reaching a portion of it on the opposite side. There was a small opening on the side of the cliff. It looked exactly the same as what I saw, and we were heading right for it.

"There, that's where I saw the aura," Irene announced. Roy started to land, but I got impatient.

I jumped off his back when he was still a few yards off the ground. Sparing no time, I ran to the mouth of the cave. "Katie! Are you in here! Katie!" My shouts echoed in the cave. It was too dark in there to see anything, so I was just listening for any sound of her.

Instead I got Irene's voice. "It's dark in there. I'll light the area up." I looked over at her just as a shining ball of light appeared above her head. She shot it into the cavern, and it illuminated the area instantly. Once it dims down a bit we'll be able to easily see into the cavern.

After reopening my eyes because of the bright light I looked back at Irene. "Tha-" I didn't finish… because her face didn't look right… I looked over and neither did Roy's, Aether's… Chris and Sean's, too. My breathing turned shaky. I slowly turned my head around to look into the lit cavern… "No… Please…" …to see my first friend, that happy-go-lucky Pokemon I've known for over half my life, completely immobile on the ground.

Without another thought, I ran into the cave. I heard everyone else follow as well. I stopped myself just shy of Katie, though… With how she looked… I couldn't bring myself any closer. Her tail had no glow to it, no movement. No other part of her moved. Her wool was mangled, and there were cuts all along her body… Her paws looked like they had been through hell and back. Only explanation for that is she climbed her way up here… All this because of one incident…

"Katie… No…" Sean said shakily. I looked back at him to see him in the same state I am. Both of us just lost one of our best friends. I collapsed down next to my Electric type friend.

"Isaac, Sean… I'm so sorry," Irene said from behind us. "If only I acted on that dream. We would've found her before."

Her words just went in one ear and out the other, though. Nothing else worked in my mind. All that it tried to do was comprehend this. She'd only been gone for a week… There were no truly serious injuries on her, and she didn't starve… So how did she die? Why didn't she recover from her depression? Why did she have to die?

"Isaac… Your aura… It's falling into darkness…" Irene stated. "Sean, yours is too."

"You two, I must offer my apologies as well," Aether said. "It's my fault for not noticing your friend. I, too, could have prevented this."

"This wasn't your fault…" I told them through my tears. "If anybody's… it's mine. I didn't try hard enough to save her when she was still with us… This all happened because of an incident with me. She's dead because of me!"

"Snap out of it, Isaac!" Sean screamed at me. I stared blankly at him. "This wasn't your fault, either. It wasn't anybody's fault."

"How is this not my fault? I'm the one who didn't warn her about Tyler and her tail. I'm the one who wasn't able to get her back before she left. I got myself injured and knocked out the moment I learned that she was gone!"

"Isaac, calm yourself. There are some things are out of our control," Aether spoke up. "Blaming yourself will not do anyone any good at all."

"But…"

"No. No 'buts.' Do not blame yourself, Isaac. Only more grief and heartbreak will come from that. Now, if I may, I offer you all a trip back to your village. Roy will carry you, and, if you will permit me, I'll take Katie."

I didn't want to leave… but Aether was right. I'd only end up more miserable than I already am if I keep blaming myself. I still can't feel somewhat responsible, though… All of this started a week ago with me… And how can I face Katie's parents after this? I was the last one to see her alive…

"Isaac? You there?" Sean called out to me. "C'mon, dude. Let's go back home."

"Y-Yea… Al… right." I slowly picked myself off the ground. Sean was there next to me. His eyes were wet with tears too. Both of us knew nothing would bring our friend back. Aether walked by us as we got to everyone else. I glanced over my shoulder to see him pick her up. The sight brought a pain to my heart. I turned my head and closed my eyes as more tears fell.

We got onto Roy's back and took off back down to our village. Chris was the only one who was still in control of himself, so he directed them to the market square. Me and Sean just kept next to each other, grieving over our lost friend.


It wasn't long before the square came into view. Every Pokemon there started running as soon as we were visible. At least it made a landing area for us… Roy was the first to land, followed by Irene and Aether. I heard everyone saying multiple things about us, the Dragons… and Katie.

"What's going on here?" the Head Pokemon of our village exclaimed. Chris slid off Roy's back and met with him. They started conversing silently. Sean was next to slide off. His parents were in the crowd, and, since they thought he was still in the village, came running over to him to see if he was alright.

I stayed on Roy's back a little bit longer. After a minute I slid off though. I was just being an unnecessary burden to Roy. I looked around the crowd for any familiar faces… and saw a pair I really didn't want to… Katie's parents.

The instant Aether walked around Roy, their faces froze up completely. They broke through the crowd to get to their daughter. Aether set Katie down on the ground and stepped back. The two Ampharos knelt next to Katie, crying out themselves.

A pang of guilt hit me again… I had to get away from here… I slowly walked away from Roy, passing Sean and his parents, Chris, and to the edge of the crowd. They were all saying different things, but I blocked it all. I didn't care. I was just hoping they'd let me pass.

They didn't at first. To them, I was like some criminal for breaking the rule about going to the mountain. But after one apparently understood how I was feeling, they moved out of the way, one by one. As soon as a path was made, I just kept walking along. Every step pained my heart, but I had to leave. There was nothing else I could do. There was only one place I wanted to be, the only place where I can have my thoughts to myself, the cliff edge.

It took me longer than normal, but I finally made it. Since Sean, Chris and I started this whole thing in the morning, the sun was still high in the sky. I set myself underneath a tree… and let out all of my sorrow and grief.

I cried out to the valley below as tears flowed from my eyes. I relived every moment from this past week in my mind. Despite all my efforts… I failed. I wasn't able to save Katie.

Well… at least we found her… Had we not gone up there, we never would've found Katie. Her parents would have never known where she was or what was happening to her… though what did happen isn't too great a substitute. Maybe even Aether's dream will come true too. He, as the Dragon's leader, can meet with our head and possibly discuss a truce.

At least someone's dream will come true. I just wish Katie didn't have to die for it to happen. This whole week… I wish it never happened… but it did. Nothing can change that. Katie's gone… I can't change that.

I… I'm not going to go back for a while. I want to just stay here… I can't face anyone just yet…


"Hey, Isaac, wake up," someone called out to me. "Wake up, dude." I slowly opened my eyes. Sean was standing next to me.

"Hey, what happened?" I could see the sun was near setting. I must've fallen asleep.

"I thought I'd find you here. You missed Katie's funeral. They've buried her already. I thought I'd let you know," Sean said somberly.

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

"It's alright. I snagged an extra one of these for you." From behind his back, Sean pulled out a single white flower and gave it to me. "You can still go give this to her."

My eyes started to water up again. "Sean… Thanks."

"It's no problem," he said back. I could see water under his eyes too. He wiped it away, though. "I'll see you tomorrow, Isaac."

"Yea, see ya later, Sean," I replied. He left, and I was again alone, but I had something to do now. I looked down on the flower Sean gave me. A single tear fell from my eye and landed right on the center of the flower. I picked myself off the ground and started back to the village.

As I got there, I walked around the outside of it until I hit the path that leads to our graveyard. I never liked going there… but I'm going for a friend. It didn't take me long to find Katie's grave. It still had the fresh flowers around it.

I stayed there a while, though. I wanted to tell her my final thoughts… "Katie… I'm sorry I couldn't help you out better. I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you." More tears fell from my eyes. "You always kept me happy. Before we met, I was alone, sad. You saved me from that sadness. You were my very first friend, and you were the greatest friend I could've ever asked for."

I set the flower leaning against the center of her gravestone.

"Goodbye, Katie… I'll miss you."


A/N: Yea... This again. I'm only adding this down here because if I added this up top, it would've spoiled too much, and I really don't like to do that... Along with being the longest chapter I've ever written, it also ended up being the hardest for me to. I've never felt such an emotional overflow like that since my dog died three years ago. I even went back and reread portions of my favorite story because they're heart-wracking too. I finished my story at 12:30 at night and wasn't able to fall asleep until about 3:00, also. Me getting so worked up over my writing has only happened one other time, but when it happened for this story, that was the hardest.

Ok, end rant numero dos. Hehe...