I'm glad you all like this so far. The OCs have finally appeared! Sorry for the delay, school is keeping me super busy. -_-' Well, I hope you enjoy this. KCSonic113, I'm glad you're okay with them being the renegades. They'll make a brief appearance in this chapter before joining next chapter.

Also, today in my 16th birthday! Hooray for me! *does happy dance* Well, enough rambling. Onto the story!

Chapter 3: A Young Pokemon's Wish

"Ugh..." Duke groaned, slowly waking up. His whole body hurt, especially his scar. It took him a moment to remember what happened. He found a village, got treated, fought Entei, and blacked out. Great, I'm probably in Giratina's castle by now...

Then he heard voices, many young ones and an older one. Who were they? They didn't sound like Giratina's soldiers. Were they the villagers? But they sounded so young, like children. Duke was so confused and opted for just laying there, pretending to still be unconscious. The Chimchar listened to the soft voices coming from all around him.

Inside of the tent, a group of young Pokemon surrounded the unconscious Chimchar. "Do you think he's okay?" a female Eevee asked.

"I'm sure he'll recover nicely once we care for his injuries," a female Ralts reassured calmly. "Is this enough, Chansey?"

"Yes, dear, that's quite enough. Anymore and he might get ill," the Chansey instructed. The duo was mixing an assortment of berries and herbs in a bowl to give Duke once he woke up. "A few more minutes of stirring and then we can let it sit."

"Yes, Chansey," the Ralts nodded, carefully stirring the mixture.

"I wonder why Entei was after him," a male Turtwig wondered. "Entei said something about this guy destroying the world just before they fought. Do you think it's true?"

"Nah! Why would it be true?" a male Houndour asked, munching on an apple.

"And what if what the Chimchar said is true?" the Eevee added, sitting down beside the Houndour. "If this guy's really going to stop Giratina..."

"What is it, Shadow?" a female Skitty questioned, peering at her tomboyish friend closely. "You have that look in your eyes again. I don't like that."

"Well, I'll go with him!" the Eevee, Shadow, declared. "I want this world to go back to normal, like how mother described it in her stories."

"A blue sky, the gentle breeze blowing in your face, pretty-smelling flowers, green grass..." A female Riolu sighed. "But, like you said, it's just a story our parents tell us...or told us. It's not real."

"Well, I believe it's real, Azura!" Shadow cried. "If he's gonna make it happen, then I'm going to be there to see it!"

The Riolu, Azura, looked shocked. "...Do you really think he can beat the generals...or Giratina?" she asked.

"I'll go too!" the Skitty chirped.

"All right, Kaze!" Shadow cheered.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," the Ralts warned. "First, let's get this Chimchar fixed up before asking any questions. Hastiness can lead to disappointment, as my mother once said."

"Kaori, you wet blanket! Let us at least dream!" the Turtwig complained.

"I'm just warning you guys," Kaori, the Ralts, repeated.

Duke, overhearing everything, had finally had enough. "Don't any of you think about coming with me." He growled.

"Waah!" the Houndour yelped, nearly choking on his apple. A slap on the back with Kaze the Skitty's tail quickly solved that problem. "How long were you awake, man?"

"Long enough to hear every little thing you kids said." Duke replied, opening his eyes. "Where am I?"

"You're in the remains of the village," Chansey replied, bringing the bowl of medicine over to him. "This will feel cold but it will help with your aches, dear."

"Thanks," Duke winced, shivering as the mixture was rubbed on his chest. Almost immediately, the pain melted away.

"Maybe we should introduce ourselves. I'm Kaori," the Ralts said.

"Shadow's the name." Shadow introduced.

"My name is Kaze. Pleased to meet you," the Skitty nodded.

"Hige," the Houndour barked.

"I am Azura, sir," the Riolu said softly.

"Hey there! I'm Justin!" the Turtwig cried. "Nice to meet you!"

"And I'm Chansey. Are you feeling better, dear?"

"Yeah, I am. Thanks for the help, really, but I have to leave soon." Duke explained, slowly sitting up. "I can't stay in one place too long. If I do, Entei or one of the other generals will find me."

"At least stay until your injuries are healed." Kaori suggested, wringing her hands. "You're better off leaving uninjured than you are if you leave now."

"You better listen to her," Kaze suggested. "She knows what she's talking about and so do I."

"...Fine." The Chimchar reluctantly stayed put. "But you kids still aren't going with me."

"Says you," Shadow grumbled. We'll go with you if we want to. Just try and stop us.

In another village nearby...

Three young Pokemon walked along the outskirts of the village. They were a trio of renegades, former soldiers of Giratina who betrayed him and fled. There was a Squirtle, a Charmander, and a Treecko, all wearing ragged brown cloaks to hide their faces from outsiders. They'd worked too hard at escaping to be recaptured now.

As they left the tiny village far behind them, they finally spoke. "KC, are we almost there?" the Treecko asked.

"The next village should be just another mile or two away," the Squirtle, KC, replied.

"Um, KC? Do you see that smoke?" the Charmander asked, shakily pointing to the giant column of black smoke rising into the sky. "Isn't that where we are supposed to be going?"

"Yeah, Sean. It was where we were going, but not anymore." KC mumbled, turning away. "This way, guys."

"Hang on! Do you guys hear that?" the Treecko suddenly asked.

"Hear what, Dan?" the Charmander, Sean asked.

"I hear nothing. Let's keep moving." KC added, already walking away.

"No, guys! I'm serious about this, just listen!" the Treecko, Dan, hissed.

"Fine, we'll listen," KC agreed. The trio fell silent and finally heard it. Voices...the voices of some of the corrupted Entei's minions. Wandering closer, they listened in on what they were saying.

"I can't believe he escaped Lord Entei like that!"

"Shut up! If Lord Entei didn't kill him, the fumes from the fire will kill him. That little Chimchar won't be a threat anymore if he and the Azure Flute die in the fire."

"And if he survived?"

"...Just hope he doesn't or we're dead for not sweeping the village and killing any survivors."

"Right, right...Should we leave now?"

"Yes," The sound of two sets of footsteps signaled the minion's leave.

The trio of renegades came out, surprised at what they had heard. "Someone found the Azure Flute, KC! We've gotta find them!" Sean hissed.

The trio had been searching for it in order to awaken Arceus and end Giratina's rule forever. Now they had no choice but to find who had it and try to either: 1) Negotiate them into using it to dethrone Giratina. 2) Take it from them by force if their intentions are similar to Giratina's. 3) Join forces with them if they had similar goals to them.

"You're right. We're going to the burning village, guys." KC nodded.

"Then let's go!" Dan cried.

The trio took off at full speed toward the column of smoke. They now had the location of the Azure Flute and all that was left was to find Arceus and wake it up. As if that would be any easier!

Back at the burning village...

"Well, I'm all better. I have to leave now." Duke said, getting up. Quickly grabbing his back and checking for the Azure Flute, he started to leave the tent. Then he realized the youngsters were following him. "What do you want? Go away!"

"We're going with you!" Kaze declared. "We want to see what the world was like before Giratina took over. If you're trying to beat Giratina, we're going with."

"No, you're not. Now...go away!" The Chimchar quickly dashed out of the tent and skidded to a stop. He saw them race out of the tent after him. Why are they following me? Don't they know they could be killed? "Just stop following me! You could die if you come with me!"

"We don't care!" Justin the Turtwig replied. "We all have a reason to fight Giratina and one Pokemon can't beat it all alone. You're gonna need help and we want to help. What better offer is there?"

"...Why?" Duke whispered. Those words were the same ones his old companions had said before they died by Giratina. Why were they saying the same things? "Don't you care about your lives?!"

"Yes, we do," Kaori nodded. "But it is our wish to fight Giratina and save our world. We're going with you!"

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I hope you enjoyed this. I'm adding one more page to each chapter so that's why the chapters get longer each time. Please review the birthday girl!