"Get him, it's Brine!" One of the many pokemon in an angry mob yelled as they ran down the path, chasing a lone Golduck, apparently Brine, and were catching up on him
Brine didn't even look back. He knew that if he even looked back, it would slow him down enough for the other pokemon to catch him. So he just kept running, even if his amphibic legs told him to stop, he didn't pay attention. It was true that he was used to being in the water, but there were no bodies of water near where he was running.
Then, the forest cleared, and a river was seen just ahead. While the other pokemon were preparing to stop before they fell into the rushing waters below, Brine ran even faster and dived into the rushing waters below.
Looking back at the mob, he would of laughed except for the fact that the bubbles it would produce would give his condition under the rapids that plagued the top of the river as he floated slowly near the bottom of the river. The pokemon that were chasing him were now in a big messed up heap, probably from the confusion of the sudden stop. He had noticed before that there weren't any water types within in the mob, but he didn't think it'd actually come into play.
Brine soon lost interest and swam down with the rapids. He didn't really care where the river took him, as long as he was away from the mob. They had, every pokemon in existence that wasn't a rogue had been chasing him nearly all his life, somewhat for things he had not done, and mostly for something he did not mean to do. He was confused, all because of that pokemon that was looking for Azelf.
As he noticed the end of the river after who knew how long, he could never tell how much time passed when he swam, he swam to the edge where the river ended and pulled himself out of the water. Once his entire body was on solid ground, he rested, weary from all the running and swimming. Once he felt he had rested enough, he got up, and saw a small opening in the crags that rose high before him.
He looked slowly back, and hearing shouts, sprinted into the cave until he could see the entrance no longer. Multi-colored crystals illuminated the crevices of the dark walls, making up for the lack of sunlight, and almost giving an almost eerie feel to the place. Almost like the feel when you're about to be-
"Flash!" His train of thought was interrupted when a giant flash of light filled the entire room and blinded him, and he brought his arms up to block the light. When the flash died down enough for him to see, he brought his arms down, only to see a Delcatty leap right at him. He sidestepped quickly and turned to the landing Delcatty.
"What are you doing here? Leave!" The Delcatty hissed.
"Who are you?" Brine asked cautiously, but the Delcatty just seemed to get madder.
"That doesn't matter! Leave now, or I'll force you to!" The Delcatty leaped at him again, her paw glowing from a prepared Double Slap, and Brine sidestepped again.
"Why do you want me to leave?"
"You were sent from Deoxys!"
"No, I wasn't, trust me!"
"Than prove it!" Delcatty leaped at him again.
"I'm from Destry Town."
The Delcatty pulled back when she landed, landing herself in a fumbled mess. When she set herself straight and got back up again, she shook her head like a baby Growlithe to shake off the dust and looked up at Brine again.
"She. . .told me not to attack anyone from Destry Town." Delcatty looked away, embarrassed from her fumble.
"Who's she?"
"I ca-" The Delcatty stopped herself again, then sighed, "I'll. . .need something for payment. . ."
"For what?"
"To show you something. Trust me, I think you won't mind it." She smiled, "She. . .had told me to do it. She had heard about what had happened in Destry Town."
"Umm. . ." Brine went through his bag for a bit, then produced a necklace, "If it's nothing, I want it back." He said in a serious voice.
"You don't have to go all rogue attitude on me Brine." The Delcatty smiled, taking the necklace.
"How do you know my name?" Brine asked.
"She told me what had happened to Destry Town. She told me everything." The Delcatty started walking, "My name's Nikki, incase you were wondering."
"I would tell you my name. . .but you already know it." Brine shrugged.
"That's true." Nikki shrugged.
"Are. . .you a rogue too? Sorry if it's-"
"No, it's fine. I really only got into it because somebody framed me." Nikki sighed.
"What do you mean?"
"Someone disguised as me and attacked my best friend, then when I came back, some random Quilava that had come to help her from the poser started attacking me. I fled, and he reported me as a rogue. Then I landed myself here when I was hiding from a mob of angry pokemon." Nikki turned to Brine, "What about you?"
"Well, I don't have to tell you my story since you already know it, but everyone blamed me for the destruction of Destry Town, and they just kept piling more and more accusations on me. Hell, my bounty's now over half of what they had on Grovyle when they thought he was trying to destroy the world."
"Over half of Grovyle's? Sheesh, and I though mine was bad." Nikki blinked, then stopped in a clearing in the cave with three large crystal jutting out of the ground. Two of them were blue, and one of them was yellow.
"Can you do me a favor, touch that yellow crystal over there." Nikki smiled. Brine walked over to the crystal and touched it, and it turned blue like all the rest. A large rumbled, almost like an earthquake, ensued. After a couple seconds of rumbling, a large blue crystal jutted out from the ground in the middle of the three crystals, showing a passage way that Brine assumed wouldn't have been there without the three blue crystals.
"Come on, in here. We don't have much farther to go." Nikki nodded, walking into the opening in the large crystal, followed by Brine.
"Why aren't there any pokemon in this cave besides you?" Brine asked curiously.
"Well, she told them all to get out of here, ever since a lot of Deoxys's little minions started to pour into here like ants to get to her. She didn't want anyone in this cave to get hurt. She told me to leave too, but I didn't want to leave her all alone." Nikki shrugged.
"Who exactly is she?"
"I said I wasn't telling until we got there." Nikki smiled again and started walking a bit faster. Brine did the same to make sure he didn't loose her as he secretly examined the crystals. As they went farther into the cave, their light seemed to become more intense
Brine almost stopped as he followed Nikki out of the cramped tunnel into a giant clearing in the cave with some crystals even bigger than the doorway taken to get here. The lake was a clear blue, so clear that you could see the bottom straight down no matter how deep it was, and there was a spot in the middle of the lake whose light seemed to penetrate through the lake, shining in and out of the water.
Both rogues walked quietly alone the path until they reached the strip of land that outstretched almost to the little glowing spot, then they walked on that until they almost reached the end.
"We're here." Nikki stopped, and Brine did the same, then gasped at what he saw.
"It's been a long time Brine." The creature turned to Brine, "I hope you weren't too worried about me."
"A-Azelf." Brine finally managed to stammer.