Me: Sorry for the wait on this one! On the bright side, eighty-five hundred words for you to read! Verto is asleep right now. It's 1:30 in the morning, so I'll be taking the reviews alone.

Nova Ozuka, to me, Bound Hoopa is more of a minor legendary. Unbound Hoopa, though, would very quickly drain Ditto of his power.

Anna-matronic, I explained the mountain better in this chapter. Thanks for the kind words! I… didn't know you thought of Danny as shallow. I can see why though. And Hannah can only use the move Aqua Tail, hence needing a tail to do so.

Brightclaw237, I'm so glad you think so! It makes me really happy!

Well guys, that's it for the reviews! It means a lot to me that you guys took the time to do so!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! It's a long one!

Chapter 11

Rachael's POV

"Rachael. Wake up." She heard a voice deadpan. She groggily opened her eyes. Her wing was hurting her. She looked around. Absol was sitting right next to her, eyes alert and searching.

"What happened?" she asked. They appeared to be in a small cave, with a mixture of grey and brown stone walls, perfectly chiseled and smooth. There were little indentures in the walls where dragonfire burned; which was their only sources of light. There was a large doorway in one corner of the room. Rachael tried to walk that way, but was stopped when her foot refused to move.

She looked down to see her foot buried in a small mound of rocks, which were secured in the ground. She tugged at it, but the rocks didn't budge.

"It appears to be a makeshift shackle." Absol supplied. "I have one too." Rachael noticed his foreleg was caught in a much bigger mound of rocks. "They are very well secured rocks. A pokémon may have moved them here with stone edge."

"Did they only take us?" Rachael asked, forcing down her panic.

"It would appear so. Here they come. I'll follow your lead." Absol quieted, and stared straight ahead at the doorway. Three pokémon walked slowly in. At the lead was an Lairon, with a Skarmory and Aerodactyl behind him. The two bird pokémon stared diligently at Rachael and Absol, as if daring them to try and do something. The Lairon looked at them with some level of sympathy.

"Release them." Lairon demanded. The Aerodactyl glared at Rachael for an instant, then growled as his eyes started to glow a bright blue. Rachael had to force down a squawk of surprise as the rocks around her foot dislodged themselves and dug back into the ground.

"Do you have names?" Lairon asked, his voice surprisingly quiet, but firm.

"Rachael." She replied without thinking.

"So you are those humans' pokémon? That is your nickname?" He asked again. Rachael thought off the top of her head.

"Yes. And this is… Noctus." Rachael lied, gesturing to Absol, who stiffened slightly.

"Why do you look different than most Starly, brave Rachael?" Lairon continued. Rachael almost panicked. These pokémon would likely have a violent reaction if she said she was human.

"Well… uh my father was a shiny Honchcrow. His shiny genes passed black feathers down to me when I… hatched." She continued. "But because of it, my moves are all screwed up, to the point where I can't even use moves." She needed an excuse for her lack of moves.

"I have yet to hear of that ever happening, though I wouldn't put it past the phenomenon some of the shiny pokémon create. What village are you from? We can return you there as to those trainers." Rachael remembered Audino saying she didn't know most trainers had to be eighteen today. These pokémon must not know that either.

"My parents belonged to my trainer's father. I was given to my trainer as a present." Her lies were slowly becoming more sure.

"What's with your weird 'trainers!'" The Skarmory behind her screeched angrily. "They could use pokémon moves!"

"Hmm… yes. Brave Rachael, do you know why this is?" Lairon looked concerned.

"No… they never told me. They always looked weird like that." Rachael feigned fear. Lowering her eyes.

"We can liberate you from them. They have escaped from us for now, but we will find them. Then we can deliver punishment to them. Fear not." Rachael felt several things then. She was relieved they got away, but the idea of being "liberated" from them was mildly terrifying.

"What would happen to me and Noctus?" She asked, acting meek and fearful.

"We have different habitats for any type of pokémon here. Right now you are in the rock and steel habitat. We will take you to the flying habitat. Noctus will go to the dark, psychic, and ghost habitat, but he will be allowed to visit with you after a few days." Lairon continued.

"Why after a few days?"

"Because we don't need human lovers like you stabbing us in the back!" The Skarmory blurted angrily.

"Skarmory! Calm yourself!" Lairon retorted.

"Whatever."

Rachael didn't see any way out of this that would not arise suspicion. It would be best to play along until she could find her friends. "Okay. Thank you for your hospitality."

"No problem, young Rachael. Now Skarmory, guide our new resident to the flying habitat. I will have someone else guide your friend, brave Noctus."

The Skarmory was not very warm and friendly. He began to walk out the door, Rachael scrambling to follow him. The pathway was carved with similar stone to the room they were earlier in. Once the pathway opened up, Rachael gaped as she stared in awe.

It was beautiful. The entire cavern was the size of a small stadium. The walls were smooth and exact, creating a perfect spherical dome. They seemed to be made out of pure metal, dim reflections visible in the walls. The ground was made of hard-packed dirt, yet there were pillars of crystals of varying colors lining the walls. Stalactites and stalagmites made of red crystals hung from the ceiling and protruded from the ground, yet they were hollowed out in the middle, with a blue glow coming from it. The light from the crystals reflected in the steel walls and crystal pillars, lighting the entire cavern up in a variety of different colors. There were also smaller arches carved from crystals lining doorways of multiple sizes, and even some high up for bird pokémon.

"Close your beak. You look like an idiot." Skarmory snapped. Rachael complied. Now was not the time to pick a fight. There was no point in drawing the attention of the many rock and steel pokémon. Barely any of them gave Rachael a second glance. There were the occasional odd types here and there, but not as many as the rock and steel types. Rachael could see evolution lines of Geodude, Aron, Onix, Roggenrola, Larvitar, as well as many pokémon considered extinct, only found in fossils.

"Hurry up, Rachael." Skarmory demanded mockingly. He took flight, and started gliding towards one of the elevated doorways. Rachael followed suit, albeit in her far sloppier and unrefined way. The doorway they went through opened up very quickly, making it a lot easier to fly through it. The path was well lit with those crystal lanterns for the first while, but as they made their way through the varies turns and inclines, Rachael saw less and less of the crystal lanterns, in favor for stone lanterns similar to the ones back at Torterra's village.

After a minute of flying like this, there was a much more natural light ahead. Rachael welcomed escape from tunnel. The sky opened in front of her as Skarmory started taking a wide circle around the mountain. It was even more mystical than the far off view she had earlier.

The mountain literally looked like an element casserole. Different sections of the mountain clearly appeared to look like a completely different habitat. The entire mountain was not visible from Rachael's angle, for it was massive in ways Rachael had not before seen. Near the summit, it appeared to be a normal mountain, with a rugged appearance.

A slightly higher up, a large plateau that led into the mountain was covered with lush grass, flowers, orchards, springs, and other types of nature. She could only see a small portion of the mountain, so Rachael made a mental note to try and see the rest. It would probably take several hours to fly around to the other side of the mountain.

Rachael noticed where Skarmory was leading her. It was very high up, with cliffs hanging over the mountain, waterfalls, plateaus, and a surprising amount of trees, given its altitude. Once again, Rachael could not see the entirety of the habitat, but what she could see was strangely charming to her.

Rachael had to keep herself from panting as Skarmory and her landed on one of the cliffs. Almost immediately, a Fearow came to greet them.

"New kid. This is Rachael. She's your problem now." Skarmory snapped before anyone could say "hi." He turned and took off.

"Hello, little Rachael! Welcome to the flying zone! I know you'll love it here!" That perky voice was giving Rachael a headache. "We get humans' pokémon every so often when our scouts come back with some, so you won't be the only pokémon from a human!"

"Um… great. Thank you."

"We have a place for trainers' pokémon to live, though you'll have to be with a roommate! Follow me! I'll take you there, then your new roommate can show you around the town!" The Fearow quickly ascended, and Rachael, already tired from the previous flight, had to struggle to keep up.

Rachael hadn't seen much of a town when Skarmory was taking her. It was beautiful, but not exactly striking her as a town. The Fearow was leading her to a section where the rocks and plateaus were significantly higher. After they flew over it several minutes later, Rachael knew what was meant by "town" Enormously high "walls" surrounded the whole town, making it impossible to see from the far off landmass her and her friends had started at.

The town was incredibly intricate with a surprising amount of attention to both form and functionality. The ground, which was really just a collection of several enormous plateaus of varying heights, were mostly orchards of varying berry trees and bushes, which many bird pokémon were cultivating. Springs were ubiquitous, with several pokémon, especially Duckletts and Swannas, relaxing in the cool water, which was crystal clear and sparkling. Wooden scaffoldings poked upwards in many places, which appeared to be resting spots for the pokémon. They were all very large, with enough room for about a dozen different pokémon to have their own personal space.

The town stretched out for several miles. The side of the mountain is where the "houses" were. Holes of varying sized were in the mountain, but they had a certain order to them. They resembled something along the lines of a hotel in terms how the holes were aligned. They were all very orderly. There was about four feet of space between every hole. The corners had dragonfire lanterns on them. Intricate patterns were carved in each doorframe. They all had some variation of wings, feathers, wind, and other bird-y things like that.

Every doorframe was different in some manner. It must be how the pokémon kept track of which room was theirs. The keen eyes of a bird pokémon allowed easy differentiating of little things, so if you knew what pattern was yours, noticing it would be fairly easy.

They had to fly for about twenty minutes. In that time, they didn't even make it through a fourth of the town. The Fearow had chattered incessantly the entire way there. Rachael had paid attention at first, trying to gather what knowledge she could, but she couldn't help but tune her out when she basically did nothing but reiterate the point that Rachael would enjoy the village.

They finally reached what seemed to be the residential area for trainer's pokémon. Fearow led her through one door that seemed to be bigger than the rest. It led to a small room. The room had one large wall will red footprints imprinted in pairs on the wall. It seemed to represent which pokémon were in each room, for the prints were surrounded with a simplified version of each pattern surrounding the two.

There were several boxes that only had one footprint on them as to the two most had. "Hmm…. Let's see… Let's see… this kid has been alone for a while… I think that'll do! Dip your foot in this!" The Fearow pushed forward what seemed to be red dirt and clay. Rachael hesitated, but lightly dipped her foot in the clay, coloring the bottom of it a dusty red. The Fearow gestured to a lone footprint near the top.

"Um… I can't reach that." Contrary to what some television showed, bird pokémon could not fly in place. She would run into the wall if she tried to fly up there.

"No worries, little Rachael! Here!" The Fearow held her wing down for Rachael to climb on. It was awkward, given Rachael couldn't set one foot down, but Rachael managed to climb on, using her own wing for support. Rachael stamped her foot next to the footprint Fearow gestured to, leaving her own footprint next to it.

"Wonderful! I'll take you there now! You can get settled! Your new roommate should be back there soon! You'll know the room based on the pattern. Let's go!" Rachael almost groaned. Her wings were aching from all the flying. Hopefully she could take a break soon.

Her room was very close to the top. The pattern surrounding it was a very elegant wing pattern, with feathers accurately carved into the wings. The wings were attached to a heart that had a small indenture with a miniscule amount of dragonfire in it.

"Alright! This is your new room! If you need anyone, you can find someone by waiting in the room where you were assigned your room! I'll see you and fly right over!" The Fearow quickly took off and glided excitedly to wherever her destination was. The pokémon here did not seem to be very strict. They left Rachael here without supervision, despite her strange appearance and background as a "trainer's pokémon." This could make it easier to sneak out when the time is right to find her friends.

The room was tidy. That's the first thing that came to Rachael's mind. There were two straw beds. One was slightly messy and scattered, yet self-contained, with little items on it. Rachael saw interestingly shaped crystals, a couple berries, and one small, red crystal with a small dragonfire hearth in it. The other bed was neat, with no sign of anyone having slept in it. Rachael assumed this would be hers for the time being. Clay pots of varying sizes, probably for storing larder, aligned one side of the wall. There was a wooden box next to her roommates bed full of more crystals. Rachael had a similar one, which was empty. Her heart broke a little when she realized she didn't have her book with her. It was still in the bag with her friends.

It would be unwise to leave right now. She knew nothing of her friends, or their whereabouts. The pokémon here would be suspicious of a lone Starly, never mind one looking as strange as her, flying around on her own. She also had little way to defend herself, given she could not use moves.

Ditto and her had been talking before the pokémon had attacked. She did everything he said in terms of how to use moves, yet the energy needed to use moves simply wasn't there. She had no way to fight and defend herself. Perhaps whatever turned her into a pokémon did not fully complete itself.

She noticed one more thing in the wall. A metal sheet, perfectly polished, showed her a clear reflection. She looked at herself. She had never been able to get a full view of herself, and she did look odd. The black feathers, which were the same color as her hair had been, spotted her face, neck, wing, and even her tail feathers were completely black.

It was generally fun to be a Starly, though mostly because she could fly. It was thrilling she'd never had that much fun as a-

Rachael gasped in horror. She didn't want to be human again! She liked being a Starly! Rachael shook her head. This was crazy! She had to go to school! She had to keep learning if she wanted to be a pokémon professor! And yet, she'd learned more about pokémon than the entirety of her time in high school. Rachael shook her head. She had to become human again! She had to become human again! She had to become human again! Rachael chanted this in her head as she lay down in bed. She needed rest.

Rachael opened her eyes, and immediately flapped her wings backwards, sending her straight into the wall. There was a pokémon right in front of her face. "What in the world!?" Rachael exclaimed, letting out an indignant squawk. It was a Fletchling. The Fletchling jumped back a bit at Rachael's sudden outburst.

"Are you new here? I don't remember you! Are you my new roommate? I haven't had a roommate in a while! I hope we can be good friends! What's your name? I'm just Fletchling!" Arceus this pokémon talked fast. What was it with talkative bird pokémon?

"I'm Rachael. Yes, I'm new here."

"Oh cool! That's an awesome name! You're lucky to have a nickname!"

"What's so special about a nickname?" Rachael asked.

"You really don't know? That's hard to believe!"

"I… uh…"

"Well it's an honor to have a nickname! They symbolize being liberated from a trainer! There are a lot of bad trainers, so they're a symbol of bravery!" This was not a very suspicious Fletchling. That was good. Rachael could gather a lot of info from her.

"Are there not good trainers out there that have nicknamed their pokémon?"

"Well sure there are, but we don't get very many of them here! To them, a nickname is a sign of a bond between pokémon and human. The queen of the mountain, for instance! Her nickname was given to her by a loving trainer!"

"I see. Thank you for the information. This clarifies many things for me."

"Wow! You sound smart! Are you a genius? You speak like a psychic type!" The Fletchling commented gleefully.

"Um… thank you. I never spent much time around pokémon until coming here, so I don't know much in the ways of… general pokémon knowledge." Rachael explained convincingly.

"Oh okay! That makes sense. Well since you'll probably be here for a while, I'll tell you anything you want to know! Like how we need to win the monthly tournament!"

"The what? Huh?"

"Every month there is a tag team tournament! The scouts never let children who haven't been in the top four leave. The wining pair fight each other for a grand prize, though the winning team gets a prize too. If we win, we can leave the town during the day to explore! I never won because I usually don't have anyone to team with. Everyone thinks I'm annoying. But you don't, right?"

"Not particularly." Sure the Fletchling was loud, but not annoying. It was clear she meant well.

"Does that mean you'll be my partner in the tournament? I promise I'm really super powerful!"

"I would… but I'm not powerful. I can't use moves." Rachael admitted. "My father was a shiny Honchcrow, and his shiny genes messed with my move energy pool, so I look weird and physically cannot use moves. Rachael lied smoothly.

"That's okay! We'll practice tomorrow! You still look tired, and it's getting late."

"That's true. Thank you for your kindness."

"No problem! Ooh! Want to see something cool? Promise me you won't tell anyone!"

"Sure."

Fletchling joyfully bounded over to her box, and dug around in it with her beak for a moment. The next moment, she came back, gripping something in it.

"This is my personal treasure! I've spent months on this!" It was a red crystal. The only thing different about it was its shape. It was made to look like a feather, carefully carved, though still somewhat rough. It was impressive though, given its attention to detail.

"You made this?" Rachael asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. I carve things with my beak. Sometimes I manage to find crystals in the flying-type caves when I go looking. Isn't it pretty?" Fletchling looked hopefully to Rachael.

"Yes. It is gorgeous. Are you carving something with that crystal that has the dragonfire in it?"

"Yeah! I managed to get my talons on it. I use peck to carve it! I'll show you how to some time."

"But I can't use peck."

"You don't need it; peck just makes it go faster. Anyway, let's go to bed for the night! I'm absolutely beat!" The Fletchling did not sound "beat." Regardless, Rachael returned to the bed.

At first, Rachael thought bird pokémon to be far too lax in their rules. Their methods made sense though. You had to train to be allowed to leave. You would achieve what you worked for. It was logical and surprisingly well thought out.

On the downside, Rachael had to win a tournament to be allowed to search for her friends. On the upside, she would likely have fairly free rein of where she could search. She needed more rest, though.

The sun rose, shining into the cave. The golden light woke Rachael up. She felt far more energized. She looked to Fletchling's bed. She was still sound asleep. Rachael looked out of the little cave. Only a few pokémon were up and flying compared to the number of bird pokémon that lived here. Rachael yawned. She may as well find something to do while she waited for Fletchling to wake up.

Rachael glided down to the berry bushes. She saw some Pecha berry bushes lined up in a long row, the Fearow that guided her here yesterday picking some, setting them in a bird-friendly basket. "Hey, Fearow!" Rachael called out.

"Hello little Rachael! Did you sleep well?" Fearow asked her.

"Yes. Thank you. What do I need to do to earn some berries?" Rachael asked. She was somewhat hungry.

"Get a basket and pick them. You gather what you want. Baskets are kept over there." Fearow gestured to the other side of the expansive orchard. "But as a welcome gift, you can have my basket!"

"Really? Are you sure? I don't mind picking them." Rachael insisted.

"I insist! I was going to bring these by your room either way!" Fearow continued. "Really! They're yours!"

"That is very kind of you. You have my gratitude." The basket was about half full, and looked to be the limit of what Rachael could carry either way. She took off, circling around to the basket. She quickly grabbed it with her talons, carrying it to her room. When she got there, Fletchling was still asleep.

Rachael settled down next to a bare wall on the side of the canyon. She slowly ate one of the berries. It was still awkward, eating with a beak, but she was getting better. The Pecha berry oozed a sweet, viscous, purple juice. Rachael sucked some of it with her beak. She figured there was quite a bit on her beak. An idea came to her mind.

She plucked a somewhat large feather from her wing. She used her talon to cut one of the Pecha berries in half. She quickly grabbed a small clay pot that was lying on the other side of the room, as she picked up one half of the berry and poured the juice in. Once the juice was squeezed out of both, she grabbed another berry and did the same until the small jar was full of berry juice.

She grabbed the feather, and dipped the feathered end into the juice, using it as a makeshift paintbrush. She was half decent at drawing manga as a human, so with some effort, she figured out how to move her head to draw with the feather.

As carefully as she could, she drew on the wall. She drew a Zorua, a Riolu, a Milotic, and a Starly, stroke by stroke. It was difficult, and took a lot of time, but she was able to draw fairly accurate pictures. Next to the trio of purple pokémon, she drew her friends. It was a bit harder to draw from memory, but she drew the key details. She drew Danny, with his skateboard and silly smirk. She drew Michael, with his kind eyes and warm smile. She drew Hannah, with her perfect hair, excited stare, and beautiful outfit. She probably spent a few hours on the drawing, but she was proud of it. If her friends ever made their way here, they could know she was here.

"Wow! You can draw?" Fletchling asked, amazed. Rachael jumped a bit. She didn't realize the bird was awake.

"Yes. I loved to read and draw when," Rachael caught herself. She was about to reveal her being human. "When… I belonged to my trainers. My father taught me to read and draw. I can even write a bit."

"Wow! That's incredible! I've never met anyone who can draw like you! I got an amazing roommate!" Rachael blushed a bit. As a human, she never attracted this kind of praise from anyone. "Well are you ready to train?" They flew from cave, as Fletchling guided her across the town. Rachael looked upwards, noticing some fully evolved bird pokémon watching them, perched on grooves in the mountain. There were also a few keeping watch on the few other basic stage pokémon. They must be the pokémon in charge of making sure children don't leave the village.

Rachael noticed a few structures. They appeared to be arenas. They were made out of the same light brown rock of the mountain, with openings to the sky, and a few perches in the arena for battle tactics should they be needed. The arenas were plentiful and large, allowing for plenty of mobility while still remaining in the arena. A few of the arenas had groups of pokémon fighting in them. Fletchling took her to one of the vacant arenas.

"All right! Time to spar!" That was the rest of the day. They tried different tactics and strategies for fighting other pokémon. Rachael had to rely on her flight skills since she couldn't use moves, while Fletchling would be the one using the moves to inflict damage.

At the end of the day, when the sun was setting, they were both exhausted.

"Wow! That was so fun! The tournament tomorrow will be a blast!" Fletchling declared exuberantly.

"Wait, its tomorrow?" Rachael asked, shocked. They were both perched in the arena.

"Yeah! We should probably get to bed." Fletchling continued.

"Okay. You go ahead. I'll be there after I get some more berries for dinner"

Fletchling happily flapped away. Rachael glided over to the berry orchard, preparing to grab a basket. This was until something sickeningly familiar caught her eye. In a dark corner, she saw sparks lighting up a certain Eelektrik watching her. She glared, and soared over to him, making sure there were some nearby pokémon she could call out to if it came to that.

"What are you doing here?" Rachael demanded.

"Hello to you too, brat. I'm here to help." Rachael glared.

"What can you do to help me? Why should I even trust you?"

"Because I know where your friends are, and can pass a message to them if you like." Eelektrik revealed.

"What's in it for you?" There had to be a catch.

"Well I can't make it past the fire-type wing of the mountain, which is needed to make it to the electric habitat. I can't get home alone, as much as I hate to say it."

"The pokémon won't let you past?" Rachael asked.

"Nope. The fire-types are not kind to 'outsiders.'" So do we have a deal? I help you find your friends; you guys help me get home."

"Where are they?" Rachael asked suspiciously.

"After you guys were taken, and your two human friends were wounded, Ditto transformed into a bound Hoopa and took them to an underwater cave system. I found them while I was trying to find alternate ways home. They're all asleep. I checked. It took a lot out of them. I think Ditto put them all to sleep so they could properly heal. Even that Milotic human had some fairly bad injuries… that weren't the ones from me!" Eelektrik continued. "Well that kid with the blond hair looked odder than he did earlier. I saw him several hours ago, and he slept all hunched over in a ball, with his hair looking different." This troubled Rachael. Danny must have been transforming further. On the other hand, Eelektrik must not have been lying if he knew that.

"Okay. Deal. Keep tabs on them and give me the news over the next few days. Tell them this, word for word. 'Birdbrain needs Kitsune Boy's help.' They'll believe you then."

"Fine, kid. I'll be back in a couple days. Sit tight." He seemed far more mellow. He turned and left for one of the caves on the ground. Humans… some pokémon hated them. Rachael always thought about the humans that couldn't get pokémon due to all the previous violence enacted on pokémon. She never thought about what the pokémon thought of it all.

Rachael hesitantly flew to the orchard. She would have to bet on Eelektrik for the time being. He was her best shot at finding her friends. She grabbed one of the baskets. She noticed the Cheri berry orchard was somewhat small, and there weren't many birds there like the Pecha orchard. Rachael flew over and picked enough for her to eat. She then picked enough Oran and Pecha berries for her and Fletchling both.

She noticed she picked a few too many. The basket was really heavy. She flapped her wings as hard as she could. She was able to lift the basket off the ground, though it was somewhat difficult. Within a few minutes, she made it back to her room. Fletchling was pecking at a purple gem.

"That took quite a while! Did you bring Oran berries?" Fletchling asked excitedly.

Rachael nodded. "I brought Pecha, Oran, and Cheri berries."

"You like Cheri berries? Usually only fire types like those spicy berries. They'll probably grow on me later, but I can't stand the spiciness. Those are all yours." Fletchling said, pulling out some Pecha and Oran berries with her beak.

"I figured as much. Hey. I have a question." Rachael admitted, pulling out her Cheri and Pecha berries to eat. "Why don't you think I'm weird? I look odd, I act odd, and I know very little about pokémon civilization."

"I think you're weird, and I think it's great!" Fletchling gleefully admitted. "Normal birds are so lame!"

"I see. Thank you for informing me. We should turn in for the night." Rachael said, as she finished her berries. She never really thought of it like that. Weird was always a derogatory term for her. She had been called weird, among other, not as good things. It rarely ever got to her, but this Fletchling acting as though she were totally normal, despite her clearly being out-of-place.

"All right! We have the tournament tomorrow in the bag!"

Rachael followed Fletchling the next morning. "They have a bracket with our room patterns all set up! I entered us in yesterday! There are thirty-two teams. We have to win four matches to be allowed to fly outside of the flying type mountain, and another one to win a really cool item!" Fletchling explained.

"What item?" Rachael asked.

"I don't know. But we'll both get one!"

"I see. Where do we go to see our opponents?"

"We'll go to the main stadium! They have a ton of seats there, then they'll split us up into the different arenas to battle another duo!"

As it turns out, the "main stadium" was just a significantly larger arena. It was about the size of three arenas. There were also more perches coming from the ground up to various heights. There were perches imbedded into the walls too.

There were several rows of high up perches behind the actual stadium, much like the seats of an ordinary stadium, except with the bird pokémon in mind. Several pokémon were already on them, most of them in pairs. Shiny pokémon were extremely common, given the rarity humans thought them to be. Extra precautions must be taken by the normal pokémon to ensure their special abilities remain a secret. Shiny pokémon would be in much more danger otherwise. Do shiny pokémon that managed to be caught hide their special abilities from humans? They must, for humans to never know about this.

Rachael and Fletchling sat together on one of the perches as the other children pokémon excitedly chirped about the matches.

"Attention!" Screeched a loud, metallic voice. It was a Skarmory. This Skarmory was shiny though, with green on their wings where the red usually was. It was not the same one that led her here. "The tournament shall begin! The winning pokémon will both receive a quick claw! You must make it to the finals to be allowed free roam of the mountain!" Cheers rang around the stadium.

"When you hear your group, head to the same arena! First up…" The Skarmory called out various groups, sometimes calling a pokémon name, and sometimes calling a nickname. It took a while, but eventually their name was called. "In arena nine, it is Rachael and Fletchling versus Sparx and Hydro!" Rachael followed Fletchling, who quickly flew off towards one of the many arenas. Two more pokémon were following them. They reached the arena, where a Tropius was waiting for them, likely to be the judge.

Rachael and Fletchling perched on one side of the arena. An Emolga and Wingull perched on the other side. The Tropius listed out some rules, which mostly involved trying to stay within the arena borders, though the goal was not to ring out, and once both pokémon were defeated on one side, it was game. Once a pokémon was knocked out, they must be left alone, and not hurt further. "Begin!" The Tropius shouted, flying out of the way.

Sparx the Emolga jumped onto Hydro the Wingull, using him as a means to get higher up. Fletchling charged towards Sparx, her body bursting into flames for a flame charge attack. Rachael noticed Wingull trying to fly behind and attack the distracted Fletchling.

Rachael charged towards him, grabbing his wing in her talon. She stopped flapping her wings, allowing herself to fall, which knocked Wingull of balance. He let out a squawk of frustration, as water shot from his mouth in a ray headed straight for Rachael. She snapped her wings open, gliding out of the way of the water gun. Hydro grunted and charged towards her at an astonishing pace. Rachael flew away as fast as she could, but she could feel the wind from Hydro on her tail feathers. Abruptly, Rachael flew upwards, looping upside down, now behind the Wingull.

The Wingull realized what happened, and tried to stop himself, but was unable to stop in time, running into the wall of the arena. While he was dazed, Rachael went to help Fletchling, who was struggling with the electric attacks of the Emolga. Sparx was latched onto the back of Fletchling, repeatedly releasing electric shocks. Fletchling was chirping in pain. Rachael shrieked, and rammed into the Fletchling between her intermittent shocks.

The Fletchling took this time to unleash a flame charge upon the dazed Emolga, who fell to the ground after the impact.

"Sparx is defeated!" Tropius shouted.

Rachael let out a squawk of pain as the Wingull rammed into Rachael with a quick attack, sending her flying into the wall. Fletchling let out a shriek of rage, and engaged with the Wingull, as both of them wrestled mid-air. Whenever Fletchling tried to use flame charge, Hydro blasted her with a water gun. Fletchling was tiring, so with her talons outstretched, Rachael swooped under Hydro and flipped upside down, grabbing his legs.

Rachael snapped her wings together, forcing Wingull to carry her weight or land. While he was slowed and distracted, Fletchling rammed into him with a quick attack. Rachael let out a chirp of surprise as she was dragged along, hanging upside down from the Wingull as Fletchling forced him into the wall.

"Wingull is defeated!" Tropius shouted excitedly. Rachael glided to the ground, shaking her head in a daze. A Chansey that must have been brought in for the tournament radiated a pink aura that soothed Rachael immediately; it also removed the headache being rammed into the wall caused.

The Chansey ran over to Hydro and Sparx, healing them after healing Fletchling, who was joyfully jumping up and down. "All right! One down!"

The rest of the matches finished up around that time as well. They didn't take very long. Once they were all concluded, everyone met back together at the main stadium. Rachael's next two matches went off without much of an issue. Despite both of the pokémon being capable of using attacks, they did not act truly as a team, instead disjointing their efforts and paying no heed to their partner in the slightest.

"And now for the semi-final matches! Golbat and Noibat versus Murkow and Ninjask in arena one! Riot and Fletchinder against Rachael and Fletchling in arena two!" Fletchling chirped in surprise. They would be fighting an evolved pokémon and whatever pokémon this "Riot" was.

They flew over to the arena and stood on one of the perches in anticipation. A Fletchinder and Skarmory perched on the other one. Unlike the other Skarmory Rachael had seen, this one was smaller, more like a child. The Fletchinder was likely that of an older teenager. There were many pokémon spectating, muttering as they stared at Rachael and Fletchling. Rachael heard some of them muttering.

"I have never even seen that one use a wing attack."

"She looks kind of odd."

"She only showed up a couple days ago from what I hear."

Rachael payed them no mind. A Pidgeot was the judge for them this time. He recited the rules as Fletchling tensely waited. Rachael tried to relax.

"Begin!"

Immediately, the Skarmory launched off the perch. His mouth glowed, releasing a flash cannon. Fletchling and Rachael closed their eyes and separated to avoid it.

Fletchling let out a cry, the Fletchinder chasing her with a flame charge while Fletchling used a quick attack to try and avoid the flaming bird, while nearly clipping the wall due to the Fletchinder keeping her from turning.

Rachael hurried over, only to be intercepted by the Skarmory, who started chasing her with a quick attack of his own. Rachael let out a cry as he made impact almost immediately, sending her into the wall. Rachael shook her head. She noticed Fletchling nearing her quickly, still being chased by Fletchinder.

Rachael feigned weakness, lowering herself with a tired expression. The Skarmory took this moment to help with Fletchling. Rachael waited until Fletchinder carelessly passed right over her while he and Riot tried to force Fletchling into the wall. Rachael flipped upside down again, grabbing the flaming bird's talons with her own, as the fire ate at them. She let out a cry of pain, but still held on. She pulled the left leg down, causing the Fletchinder to tailspin right into the Skarmory, sending them both flying.

Rachael flew upwards, Fletchling doing the same. While they were dazed, Rachael charged towards them. With a startled cry, Riot flew upward haphazardly, prepared to stop Rachael. She dove under him as he tucked his legs in to avoid what happened to his partner. Rachael heard a cry of pain as Fletchling barreled into him right after her. The two fire type attacks he had taken in a few seconds were too much for him, as he fell to the ground.

"Riot is defeated!" Shrieked the Pidgeot. The crowds gave startled chirps. Fletchling shrieked in pain. Fletchinder had hit her square on with a quick attack before Rachael could do anything, Rachael charged towards the Fletchinder currently forcing her friend towards the wall with a flame charge

Fletchling seemed to light herself on fire, startling the Fletchinder, though not hurting him much. Rachael took this instance of hesitation to grab his wings with her talons as she flew upwards, pulling him into a spinout. Fletchling hit the dazed bird with a quick attack after circling him, sending him quickly into the wall. He crumpled.

"Fletchinder is defeated!" The Pidgeot sounded almost as shocked as the crowd, who were astonished two basic pokémon had just defeated their opponents. Fletchling and Rachael landed, breathing heavily. An Audino came to them this time, healing them instantly. Fletchling started joyfully flying around the arena.

"Woohoo! Rachael! We did it! Maybe we can even win this whole thing!"

They got an hour to take a break. Apparently Golbat and Noibat won their round. They must be good. Rachael noticed Fearow flying towards them.

"Wow! You guys beat the semi-finals? That's amazing! Well let me just give you some quick rules for after the tournament. You must not leave the mountain. You must be back by sundown. Alert us if you see any humans, though that is unlikely." She was very serious about this. It made Rachael sad to think she would have to leave Fletchling alone.

The sun was starting to set when the final round started. The finals took place in the large colosseum, where all the children were perched, chittering excitedly. This is when Rachael noticed the first problem. The Noibat was a dark teal color. He was shiny.

The Skarmory was the judge for this round. The Noibat and Golbat were calmly waiting to begin.

"Begin!"

Rachael charged towards the two pokémon. They quickly flew upwards, staying close to each other. Rachael turned and charged them again. She flipped upside down and grabbed the Noibat's legs in an attempt to throw him off balance. She let out a cry when her back lit up with pain from the Golbat's wing attack. She held on though.

Fletchling used a quick attack on Noibat. Rachael let go, snapping her wings out to catch up to Golbat, who was chasing Fletchling. Noibat managed to free herself from Fletchling, while wings illuminated with a bright glow. Fletchling shrieked as she was launched into the ground from the sudden attack.

Rachael prepared to bombard him from the back, but he twisted to the side and hit her down with a wing attack before she could get close enough. Rachael quickly got back up Fletchling doing the same. Together they rushed at the Golbat, Rachael grabbing him by his feet, and Fletchling forcing him in the direction of Noibat. Fletchling forced Golbat into a reluctant Noibat, Rachael letting go and grabbing onto Noibat instead. She forced Noibat behind her as she used him as a means of climbing onto his back.

Rachael forced Noibat to fall to the ground as he slammed downward while Fletchling kept Golbat occupied. The Noibat forced Rachael up, and let out a screech from his ears. Rachael shrieked, as did most of the crowd. Noibat should not be able to let out deafening screeches like a Noivern could. His being shiny must allow him the amplified powers of a Noivern, as well as even more strength. While Noiverns could be deafening, it took about three seconds for Rachael to be dazed due to being so close.

Noibat quickly hit her with two wing attacks, sending her flying backwards. The world seemed muffled. She couldn't hear anything, and her vision was going fuzzy. She struggled back up, chasing Noibat to stop him from hurting an already struggling Fletchling. She was fighting mid-air with Golbat, but had trouble landing a blow as they circled around each other.

Rachael couldn't reach Fletchling in time, as Noibat charged up a wing attack, quickly knocking Fletchling to the ground, and turning around to hit Rachael once more. She slammed into the ground. The world was muffled. Her vision was fuzzy. Every muscle was screaming with pain. Fletchling was not moving. She must be defeated.

She used her wings to force herself up. She was once more standing. She took off, flying sluggishly towards her opponents. Noibat quickly retaliated with another wing attack. She let out a cry she could not hear. She fell again. She got back up again.

Her body was screaming for her to stop. She kept going. She flew towards them again, this time trying to dive under and grab Noibat's legs. She was hit again, this time harder. She was hit again. She was hit again. Every time she fell, she got back up.

She was hit again. She fell to the ground. She had never been in such pain, but she forced herself back up. She could've sworn she saw some red on the ground. She couldn't move her wings. She could not keep doing this.

No.

No.

She had to keep fighting.

She needed a way to make it up to Fletchling.

She needed to win this.

If she was going to abandon her newest friend to find her old ones, she needed to leave her with a gift. She needed to win this for Fletchling. She could not give up. She had to win. She needed to apologize to Fletchling. She needed to win!

She shrieked, strength returning to her bones. She felt stronger. She could hear again. She could hear the murmurs of shock and excitement. Her vision cleared. She could see the shock on her opponents faces. She felt stronger. She felt taller. The setting sun meant nothing as bright light flooded the arena.

She flew with more speed than ever. She flew directly to Golbat. He had no time to react. She grabbed his wing, and flung him into Noibat. She charged again, and drove them to the ground. They tried to get up. Rachael grabbed their wings, and with all her might, she drove them into the wall. She jumped onto one of the perches and grabbed the struggling Noibat. She flung him into his partner. They both fell to the ground on top of each other, unconscious.

"Golbat and Noibat are defeated!" Boomed the Skarmory excitedly. Cheers erupted from the audience. Rachael glided to Fletchling. She was waking up. "Did… we… win?" she asked.

"Yes. We won." Rachael answered. Her eyes widened.

"Rachael! You evolved! And your bleeding!"

"Yep…" Rachael collapsed, panting. An Audino hurried over to her, healing her and Fletchling instantly. She was still exhausted, though. She noticed the arena floor had some red smeared into its hard-packed dirt floor. It wasn't much, but it was noticeable.

She was now much taller than Fletchling. She analyzed herself. He wings still had their many black feathers, but the size, shape, and other feathers all matched that of a Staravia. She did really evolve. She still couldn't use moves though. She couldn't feel any reservoir of power Ditto had described.

The Skarmory flew to them excitedly. "And the winners of the tournament are Rachael and Fletchling!" he shouted. Cheers erupted from the stands. "I present to our winners two Quick Claw pendants!" With his beak, Skarmory put a pendant around both of their necks. They were small enough to not get in the way, but big enough to be noticed. Strung onto a well-made piece of rope, a cream colored talon was embedded in a piece of translucent blue crystal. It was well-chiseled, but also lightweight. The top of the crystal had the hole the small rope was run through. It must have been made in another part of the mountain, given the careful attention to detail.

Maybe this would make Fletchling happy. Rachael would have to tell her the truth in their room.

Fletchling was excitedly chattering about their victory as she stared dreamily at her prize. "Thanks so much for being my partner, Rachael! I don't know what I would have done without an awesome friend like you!"

"Yeah… Fletchling, can I tell you something?"

"Sure!"

"Can you keep a secret? It is very important you keep this a secret."

Fletchling donned a serious expression. "Yes. I promise I'll keep what you say a secret."

"Well… okay… just make sure you stay quiet… I'm…" Rachael hesitated. "a… a… human." She admitted, looking to the ground.

"W-what?"

"I wanted to win this tournament for you as an apology. I'm a human, and I need to find my human friends. We're trying to find Snowfire." With that, Rachael explained what happened. She gave every detail she could.

When she finished her story, Fletchling was surprised, but she remained calm. "W-wow. That explains why you had so many questions about nicknames and such… So… are you a nice human? I didn't know they existed. My mama hid me from her mean trainer, before I found my way here…" She trailed off.

"Can you draw yourself for me?" This surprised Rachael. She nodded. She grabbed some more of the berry juice. She spent several hours as the sun set drawing herself. Fletchling used her dragonfire gen to light the wall. Rachael drew until she had the best picture of herself she could draw. She finished, stepping back to look at what had been herself. The picture was not perfect, but it was as accurate as she could make it.

"You look nice." Fletchling commented. "Thank you for drawing that for me. When are you leaving?"

"Someone is looking for my friends for me. I'll leave when he finds them you won't tell anyone, will you?"

"No. I won't. You'll tell me first, right?" She seemed desperate, as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Of course."

"Okay… Thank you, Rachael. I didn't know nice humans existed."

"No problem. Consider that Quick claw my thanks to you."

"Yeah. Thank you so much… you'll come back, right? Even when you're a human again, promise me you'll visit me!" Rachael nodded, and embraced Fletchling with her wing.

'I've thought of a nickname for you."

"You… what?"

"Well you said nicknames come from humans, right? Well I've thought of a nickname for you. You can tell everyone you kept it a secret, if you want the nickname." Fletchling nodded, sniffing.

"What is it?' She asked quietly.

"Amicus. It means 'friend.'"

"Yes… Amicus… I love it… Thank you, Rachael." She cried quietly as night bathed the flying type city.

"Well, Amicus, let's go to bed." Fletchling nodded, still crying, as she lied down in her bed.

Rachael did the same. All she could do was wait for news, now.