A New Journey
By Belletiger
Chapter 3- Loss

It has been several months since Blue met his new friends, Sora the Pidove and Green the Mienfoo. Blue liked Sora; she was very kind, always happy to share her berries with them. Green was also cool, as long he wasn't trying to protect him from everything all day in an attempt to pay off that supposed debt. Green often took his duties as Blue's bodyguard to incredible extremes; he once destroyed one of Blue's favorite kind of berries right as he was getting ready to pop it into his mouth because there was a small worm inside of it. Blue often found himself wishing that Green could just forget about the debt.

One bright, shining morning, Blue and Green used some vines and twigs to make a couple of rods to fish for food while Sora was training with her parents to learn how to fly better; she needed to be prepared for the great migration since winter was just around the corner. The leaves of the trees were already falling and had turned various shades of red and brown, substituting their usual green color.

Blue yawned. It wasn't because he was bored from the fishing; a couple of days ago, he'd started having odd dreams, hearing voices that sounded familiar somehow, but he couldn't see who they belonged to. The only ones who knew about his dreams were Sora and Green. Blue didn't tell his mother about his dreams because he didn't want to worry her.

"Still having those dreams?" Green asked his friend.

"Yeah…." Blue replied, yawning again. "I dunno why I keep having those weird dreams. I hear voices, but I can't see who they belong to."

"Why don't you see Flora? She might be able to help you with those dreams," Green said to his friend.

"The Dream Eater? Nah, no thanks. I don't want her telling my mother about my dreams. I don't want to worry her."

Flora was a Munna living in the White Forest. She liked to help Pokémon who have sleeping problems, especially with nightmares, but Blue's problem wasn't really nightmares; he felt they were not dreams at all. In fact, they seemed more like lost memories. The blue dog Pokémon decided to change the subject.

"So, what are you going to do for the winter, Green?" Blue asked. "This will be our first winter, and I know Sora will be very far away with her parents and the other bird Pokémon from the forest. We won't see her again until spring."

"Dude, I won't see you until spring, either," Green said as Blue blinked, confused. "My mother and I will hibernate, and we'll only wake up when spring arrives."

"Wait! Are you telling me I'll be alone all winter?" Blue was totally shocked. Why had Green waited until now to tell him this?

"Sorry Blue," Green said with an apologetic look, "but in the winter, it will only be you and your mother."

Blue sighed; he couldn't believe he would be spending his first winter alone. Then, he and Green pulled on their fishing rods at the same time, only to find out they had just caught a pair of old boots.

"Blue, I might not be there for you in the winter, but…" The little Mienfoo held out his paw, clenched softly around a small object, and handed it to Blue.

The Riolu looked confused when he saw a shining and colored stone in his paws. He wondered what that stone was; it seemed different from an evolution stone.

"My mama said my papa was from a very faraway place. She said papa gave this stone to her in the hopes that she would become stronger, but nothing happened. We know this stone is special, but we think it doesn't work for our kind," Green explained. "I want you to have it."

"But this stone belongs to you. I can't accept it."

Green smiled as he placed his paws in Blue's.

"Please, Blue, I insist. May this stone help you to survive the winter."

Blue sighed as he looked at the stone in his paw once more. He looked at Green as he kindly accepted the stone.

Some weeks later, the snow began to fall, blanketing the White Forest in its namesake color. Sora and her group had already left for Sinnoh to spend the winter there, while Green and his mother had already begun hibernating in their den.

Zoroark used her mane to keep Blue warm. Like every winter, finding food was hard, and Zoroark had to look all over the forest for some frozen berries and Pokémon to hunt to feed themselves. Zoroark and Blue were eating a Watchog that Zoroark had hunted down when Zoroark felt a presence; they were not alone.

"Mommy?" Blue questioned hesitantly as he noticed his mother's odd behavior.

Zoroark had no time to answer as she took her pup in her arms and jumped away as darts struck the ground where they had been a second ago. Zoroark growled as two humans, a male and a female wearing an odd black uniform, approached them.

"So, the rumors were true," the male said. "There's really a Zoroark with a Riolu in this forest."

"You can have Zoroark. I'll have that Riolu," said the female.

Zoroark growled as she ran off with Blue in her arms. The dark fox Pokémon could hear the howls of a pack of Stoutland. This was really bad; while she could fool the humans with her illusions, she couldn't fool a pack of Stoutland because they would still be able to follow her scent. Zoroark found a hole in the top of a tree, most likely made by a bird Pokémon. She climbed the tree, and she noticed no one was inside of the hole. She sighed in relief; it was one of the few times that Zoroark was thankful for the birds' migration to Sinnoh for winter. The hollow was big enough to comfortably hide Blue.

"Blue, stay here," Zoroark said as she placed Blue in the hole.

"But Mommy, what about you?" Blue asked, worried about his mother's safety.

"Don't worry about me, Blue," Zoroark said softly. "Please, stay quiet and do not get out for any reason until I return."

"But Mommy…" Blue whined as Zoroark softly petted his head.

"I'm sorry, Blue…"

Blue's eyes widened, horrified as he remembered the last dream he'd had. The dream had a lot of blood, and he could see a bloody hand petting a strange yellow mouse with red cheeks, the owner of the hand saying almost the same thing that his mother had just said while the yellow mouse cried and licked his face. Before Blue could say anything else, Zoroark struck the back of his neck, making him fall unconscious.

XXX

Blue groaned in pain as he rubbed the back of his neck, right in the spot where his mother had hit him. He tried to remember why his mother had hit him, and he gasped in horror when he remembered the human duo and the pack of Stoutland following them.

"Mommy!"

Blue quickly got out of the hole. He forgot that he was in the top of a tree, until he slipped and fell to the ground. Luckily, the snow had softened his fall, but that didn't matter for Blue now; his main concern was his mother. He started to look for her, calling for her several times around the forest but without any success.

But he didn't give up, not even when the snow started to fall again. He was freezing, scared, and alone. He was sobbing as he continued calling for his mother. Then, he gasped in shock when he saw a large figure before him. It was a stag-like quadruped Pokémon, aqua-blue in coloration. Its yellow horns somewhat resembled thunderbolts, and its snout was a slightly lighter blue than its fur. Blue recognized the Pokémon before him; it was Cobalion, one of the legendary fighting Pokémon. He was just like the description his mother had given him once. But what was he doing there?

"Your mother can't be with you anymore," The legendary Pokémon said.

Blue's eyes widened in horror. No, that couldn't be true; his mother couldn't be gone. He fell to his knees as he started to sob. He was now alone without his mother.

"Your mother asked me to take care of you should something happen to her," Cobalion said to the small Pokémon.

Blue didn't react to the legendary Pokémon's words, and Cobalion couldn't blame him; losing his mother at such a young age was almost certainly very hard for him.

"Come, young one. I will take you to your new home."

Blue didn't say anything, only nodded to the legendary Pokémon as he started to follow him. Blue looked behind him one last time to catch a final glimpse of his home forest, as it would probably be a while until he would be able to return. Blue gritted his teeth; he would never forgive the humans who'd taken his mother away from him.

To be continue

A/N: There is the third chapter. There was not much change from the original chapter, except Green giving him a special stone. Can anyone guess what this stone is? Stay tuned for the next chapter! PLZ, do not forget to review the chapter.

I want to thanks to Flock o' Seagulls for beta editing the the chapter.