"You seem surprised." Azelf smiled.
"Well, of course I am. I haven't seen you since I was a little Psyduck." Brine sighed, "But mainly, I'm just glad that Speed Deoxys hasn't gotten you yet."
"Oh, trust me. He's gotten close." Nikki sighed, "He isn't called 'Speed' for nothing you know."
"I know that." Brine folded his arms.
"Anyways." Azelf shook her head, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to show myself sooner. I'm forced to stay in here, least I get captured by Speed and become completely useless. With legendaries disappearing left and right, it's something I must do. I. . .do hope you understand."
"Azelf, you're talking to me as if I would be mad at you." Brine smiled, "I would have been blamed for the city's destruction if you were taken or not."
"That's. . .true, unfortunately. Pokemon always seem to blame the easiest person to blame rather than actually take some time to investigate it." Azelf shook her head again .
"Hey Azelf, weren't you going to give him something?" Nikki asked.
"Right. . ." Azelf turned to the lake, "You see that glowing spot?"
"Yeah." Brine stated.
"That's the pendant, one of the souls of this cave. I always used it when I went on outings to make sure the cave wasn't in danger of anything serious. You can always tell when the cave is in danger with the pendant. I. . .really have no use for it anymore. I want you to have it."
"M-Me? But. . ." Brine stammered.
"No, really, take it. It'll help in the long run. And. . ." Azelf's voice trailed off.
"And what?" Brine asked.
"I have a feeling something really bad is about to happen," Azelf turned back to Brine, "Nikki, retrieve the pendant for me, will you?"
Nikki simply nodded, then jumped into the water, which was surprising because Brine had always heard that Skitties and Delcaties had always hated water. She swam to the glowing spot that rest on the lake, grabbed the pendant with her mouth, than swam back to the peninsula that Brine and Azelf were on.
Once she was out of the water, she held out the pendant to Brine, and he took it, putting it on.
"Thank you again Azelf." Brine nodded, and started to leave, but he turned around and looked at Nikki.
"Nikki? Can you promise me something?" Brine asked, and Nikki arched an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
"Keep Azelf safe for me."
"Of course." Nikki smirked, but it was more of a reassuring one than mocking..
After he was done, he walked back out of the cave, half-cheerful that Azelf was okay, and half-sad. He still didn't know the fate of his mother, and he was no where near clearing him name from the destruction of Destry town. Even though he had technically done it, he was under confusion and it was no where near his fault.
As he exited the cave, he felt the warm kiss of sunshine again, and was grateful. Crystal Cavern, although he didn't know it before he had found this place, was relatively close to one of his hiding spots, little burrows he had made all over the world incase he just needed a warm place to stay.
His long train of thoughts went on, but were cut short when he saw a Scyther, and the Scyther saw him. They just stared at each other for a while, Brine not sure what to do or if he should trust him or not. It could have been a lone explorer, or it could have been another rogue, or it could have been neither. Either way, he was most likely waist-deep in trouble.
Before he could even react, the Scyther was charging towards him, he stepped back as quickly as possible, but wasn't quick enough for he soon found a blade at his neck.
"Who are you?" the Scyther hissed. Okay, so that ruled out that it was a lone explorer. . .hopefully.
"Someone who was just passing by when you attacked me." Brine stated flatly.
"You don't. . .know me?" The Scyther looked surprised.
"I haven't been in a town since I was a little kid." Brine shook his head.
Both of them perked up when they heard rumbling in the distance, then screaming and yelling, and then a cloud of dust forming in the distance.
"I don't know if that's a stampede or a mob coming after us, but either way I think we might want to get out of here. . ." Brine blinked.
"Agreed." The Scyther flew up into a nearby tree, and Brine climbed up after him. Soon enough, the mob passed under them, but they couldn't care less at the moment, because they found something else.
"Who the hell are you two?" an Arcanine arched his eyebrow, looking at the two outlaws, "And what are you doing up here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Scyther simply continued staring at him.
"It's polite to answer a question when asked you know." the Arcanine's eyes narrowed.
"And it's also polite to not ask so bluntly who people are. You never know when you might come across a psycho killer or something." Yagasaki folded his arms.
"I can take care of myself without being reminded what to do!" the Arcanine yelled.
"Ummm. . .guys?" Brine spoke up. They both turned sharply towards him, then looked down where his finger was pointing. Underneath the tree they were hiding in where some not-so-happy looking pokemon standing under them, looking straight at them.
"Okay, I admit, it was my fault for flying in the tree, but he started the argument." the Scyther glared at the Arcanine as all three of them ran (well, the Scyther more of flew) away from an angry mob of pokemon.
"Well, it's your fault for not telling me your guys were outlaws! I would have been a lot quieter if I had known!" the Arcanine defended himself.
"I would suggest you guys focus more on running and less on talking. They're ganging up on us." Brine pointed out, looking back really quick to make sure they were still there.
Both of them stopped short as they reached a very steep cliff. Below, there was a lake, and behind them were the mobs.
"Guys. . .do you trust me?" Brine asked.
"Absolutely not!" The Arcanine shook his head.
"Considering we only met you a bit ago, no." the Scyther sighed, but Brine grinned anyways.
"I'll guess you'll just have to hate me later." and before either pokemon could react, Brine grabbed both the Scyther and the Arcanine and jumped, landing with a big splash in the lake below.
A couple minutes later, Brine resurfaced, along with the Scyther and Arcanine.
"I admit, that was smart, but I'm still not going to trust you." the Scyther eyed Brine.
"I got you away from the mob, didn't I?" Brine pointed out.
"Why did you help us anyways?" The Arcanine asked.
"I'm an outlaw, I'm not heartless," Brine shrugged, "Besides, I was wrongly given the title anyways."
"How did that happen?" Scyther asked, evidently skeptic.
"Let's get to shore first. It's a long story." Brine started swimming towards shore. The Arcanine and Scyther looked at each other, shrugged, then swam after him.
After they settled in another patch of the forest, Brine started.
"Before I tell you anything, I want to tell you my name so I don't have to go through the entire thing if you already know it." Brine sighed, "My name's Brine."
The Arcanine snorted.
"Sure, and my name's Yagasaki." Arcanine said, obviously being sarcastic.
The Scyther eyed the Arcanine.
"Then that would make my name Kiba." he arched an eyebrow, and Kiba stared at him in disbelief.
"How do you know my name?" Kiba asked.
"How do you know my name?" Yagasaki asked.
"Well, duh. You were on the wanted list for-"
"I don't live reliving my past, thank you very much." Yagasaki cut him off, then turned back to Brine, "So. . .you're saying you're the all powerful Golduck who destroyed the entirety of Destry Town?" he raised an eyebrow.
"All. . .powerful?" Brine blinked.
"Well, that scratches off that rumor." Kiba shrugged.
"And that fact that it was an accident in the first place." Brine sighed.
"Accident? How do you destroy an entire town 'by accident'?" Yagasaki questioned.
"I was confused by one of Deoxys's minions after they barged into my town looking for Azelf." Brine folded his arms, "After they took my mother to locate Azelf."
"Deoxys?" Kiba asked, and Yagasaki remained silent.
Then, the pendant Brine had on was starting to flicker in odd ways, like it was trying to find more life. Brine stared at it in disbelief, while the other two just stared in confusion. Finally, Brine looked back at the other two outlaws.
"I'm sorry, but. . .I have something I need to take care of." Brine started to get up.
"Hold on," Yagasaki stopped him, "I would like to. . .come along. You did save our asses back there."
"You don't have to, but thank you anyways." Brine smiled.
Yagasaki eyed Kiba, who was remaining silent, clearly not wanting to go. Yagasaki smirked, then started to walk away.
"Fine, if you want to die of Hypothermia here along, be my guest." Yagasaki shrugged as both rogues walked away. Kiba seemed to mull over it a bit, then run after the duo.
"Something's wrong." Brine stated as the trio entered the cavern. He could sense it, and it was plainly seen too. The crystals were dim, not shining brightly as they had before. And the air was still, as if life was completely devoid.
"No shit Sherlock." Kiba mumbled, only to receive a glare from Yagasaki.
When they reached the room with the three crystals and the big one in the middle, Brine gasped. The giant crystal that once existed in the middle of the room was now completely destroyed, only leaving the opening that it held. Crystal fragments were littered everywhere around it, showing something powerful must have destroyed it.
"What happened here?' Yagasaki asked.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Brine shook his head, "Come on, let's keep going."
Soon, they reached the giant room where Azelf once resided, and it was no better off than the crystal room. The once clear water was now foggy, giant craters littered the walls, and more crystals littered the path to the peninsula. And, if one would listen closely, they would hear soft moans echo through the cave.
"Nikki. . ." Brine said softly, then broke out into a run.
"Brine! Where are you going?" Yagasaki sped after him, Kiba close behind.
When Brine reached the peninsula, he screeched to a halt, and all he could do was stare. Laying in front of him, was an unconscious Nikki, and no Azelf.