Chapter Three:

The Lake

The gentle, early-morning breeze swept through the trees, along the grass, and sent ripples across the lake. The clouds up high parted dreamily, and the sun blazed into the heart of The Forest.

Occasionally the water gave a gentle murmur as a single Pokémon swam in a graceful breaststroke from one end of the lake to the other, sometimes above its surface, sometimes below it, casting the whole area into complete and total calm. Once the Pokémon was nearing the centre of the lake, it plunged further below, not stopping until it had reached the very bottom of its depths where the roots of the most peculiar tree in the entire forest were anchored firmly into the earth.

The Pokémon let out some of its breath to examine the roots more closely, feeling the bark, dragging its claws along the surface to test its resilience.

The tree was old and strong, and its leaves hung in elongated strips, similar to that of a willow tree, but that was not the reason why it was peculiar.

Its roots and trunk were submerged in water while its branches lingered above it, reaching out in a wide circle, hiding the tree behind a curtain of yellow-green leaves.

Howl resurfaced, breathing in deep gulps of air before he struck out for the opposite bank.

The water was crystal-clear, clean, and pleasingly balanced between cool and warm. Many rumours were passed about between the forest-dwelling Pokémon as to how the lake remained so clean; for no matter how many Pokémon swam in it, no matter who drank from it, there was not ever a trace of filth within the next morning. It was as clean as if it had never been disturbed at all.

The most popular theory that was discussed between the forest-dwellers was that somehow, the tree was what cleansed the water, and that as long as the tree was alive and healthy, the water would remain safe to use. There was no real evidence to support this rumour, but it was by far the most believable. Even the Guardian felt it held some truth.

Eventually Howl reached shallow waters and reclined against the bank, breathing in deep, slow breaths.

He looked out across the lake at the great tree, his mind lingering on the recent night's events.

He was deeply troubled. He had never questioned his own cause before. His motives for protecting The Forest were true and firm: Too many Pokémon had suffered terribly even before the arrival of the human race; too many Pokémon had lost their homes; too many had been driven into this forest seeking the protection of the Guardian over the last two years alone. That reason was true enough, yet what was this uncertainty?

It was strange to think that barely hours ago Howl had left Sally's tavern with feelings of great relief and reassurance, and even some small amount of pride, and yet now he was faced with deep apprehensions and complex questions he could not find the answers to.

He tried to bring his frustrating thoughts together, tried to separate them into sections so he could pass his judgment on them with clarity.

He knew for a fact: Sally and Rowan were good, trustworthy humans.

'Define trustworthy,' a thought in the back of his head pleaded, but he forced it back and concentrated on the point again.

Sally and Rowan were trustworthy… because they were good, kind people who did not hate him simply for being a Pokémon.

That was why - he told himself - he had deemed them trustworthy in the end. He had followed Rowan because he had seemed to show some sympathy towards the Pokémon race, and because his Aura had indicated the traits of one who could be trusted. He knew without question that he had been right to do so. Which led him unwillingly onto the next of his doubts: his own classification of a 'trustworthy' human.

Could it be, perhaps, that Sally and Rowan were no different from the people of Rota Village? That was not to ask if they were as cruel as the villagers, but to ask if the villagers were, in fact, as much good people as they were? And that the only difference between them was the villagers brutal treatment of any race other than their own?

Howl had to close his eyes and think for a moment before tackling this idea. If he was being completely honest with himself, he had looked deep within the Aura of this villager or that from time to time, and every now and then he had been surprised, even hopeful by the result he'd seen. But then, always, they had ended up being no different from the rest of the village. Their attitudes and treatment towards Pokémon being just as despicable as the last human.

"And that is why…" he concluded, opening his eyes, "they are not like Rowan and Sally. They…" he paused briefly, "They… choose to hate us. They choose to treat us the way they do in that village. They fail to understand us through sheer ignorance and lack of effort, whilst Rowan and Sally try to respect us. Maybe the villagers aren't truly bad people, but the fact that they choose to see themselves above us simply because of their own ignorance proves that they're not exactly good people either."

That was a good deduction, and it gave him assurance. He felt the haze in his mind lift gradually until he was presently at ease.

A light breath of wind passed over his face, and he welcomed it too, because the morning sun was hot. He laid his head on the grass and closed his eyes again, listening to the profound silence all around.

Distantly he heard a voice in his head. A voice he knew well.

"Honestly, Howl. I don't know why you'd even consider being sympathetic towards those villagers. What they've done is unforgivable, and you've done everything in your power to stop them. So why not just leave it at that?"

He smiled.

"I know, I know…" the voice said, or would have said if its owner had been at his side, "Good old 'noble Howl' has to see the skirmish from all angles before he can pass judgment."

The wind battered his face again, and silence rang through his ears once more. He felt his heart sink as the realisation fell upon him again:

He would never hear that friend's voice again. Never see her bright smile, and never share a wonderful memory with her again.

He was alone.

Always alone.

He ran across the path, wading in-between the flames and called out desperately the names of his friends. There were no responding voices.

"Anyone?!

Is anyone here?!

Can anyone hear me?!"

Each of these shouts was echoed across the sky, but it was just his own voice he could hear, repeating his own words back to him. Again and again.

He slid under a gap in a particularly large wreckage blocking his way across the bridge - but to his horror, he did not stop sliding! The surface of the bridge felt unnaturally wet and oily. He slid farther and farther until he skidded to a halt on the ash-covered earth, then he turned sharply over to face the bridge, and what he saw made his breath catch in his lungs and his heart seem to fail.

The small, flat, wooden bridge was soaked crimson.

Everywhere he looked around him there were signs of battle, destruction and devastation.

He straightened up and drew a deep, calming breath, but panic and terror were threatening to engulf him.

What had happened while he was gone?

"Somebody! PLEASE!"

He knew that it was pointless to yell, knew that if anyone had heard him, they would have surely called back.

"ANSWER ME!"

He fell to his knees and clutched his head. It could not be true! It was not true! They had to be here! They had to be alive somewhere!

And then it came to him.

The only place he had not yet searched.

The only place where they could all be.

The place where it had all begun.

He turned his eyes towards the cliff by the town entrance, his very last hope.

They had to all be up there in the guild. It was the only place they could all be. It was the very last hope he had, and he was going to cling to it until he was forced to let go by cold, hard, undeniable proof.

He scrambled up again and began to hurry back towards the cliff, blasting aside the rubble in his path with the newest Move he had learned: Aura Sphere, the blood thundering though his mind as he ran.

Whatever had happened here had been terrible, and most of all; it had happened recently.

He felt his insides ache with shame. The one time he had not been there to help was the time he had been needed more than ever before.

He was back by the town entrance again, bent over and clutching his throbbing stomach.

After the pain had eased a little, he looked up directly ahead, and despite his entire being shaking with grief and shock, he still felt a reminiscing shudder pass through him.

Right beside the bell-tied sign was a watering hole filled to the brim, apparently undamaged during whatever had transpired. He could not remember ever using it, but he had passed by it as many times as he had done with the sign, and just the sight of it filled him with memories.

He moved forward and turned to his left.

The cliff seemed to stretch on to an unfathomable height, reaching towards the sky whilst the carved-in stone steps seemed to carry on for miles and miles, so that both distance and height were defied as one.

Howl braced himself for the task ahead, and as though in sympathy with him, he felt the wind at his back urging him forward.

He had to get back.

Back to the guild.

Back to everyone.

He had to find out what had happened.

But most of all, he had to ensure that no-one was…

Something stirred beside him and he heard the sloshing of water.

Was it the watering hole…? No, it sounded much closer than that.

He turned his head to the right, and in the precise moment when his surroundings were obscure, everything changed all at once.

He was no longer standing before a great cliff, covered in ashes and dirt; he was sitting in clean, cool water, and the sun was shining down onto his face.

Then he heard the noise that had woken him again. The sound of something dipping its head in water to drink, and judging by the size of the sounds being made by… whatever it was as it gulped and sipped, it was someone small.

Not pausing to think, Howl opened his eyes and found himself staring directly into the sun. He grunted and slapped his paws over his eyes, sitting bolt upright and groaning in anger.

He heard someone spluttering beside him, apparently due to the fact that they had inhaled a lot of water when he had awoke so suddenly.

He blinked hard behind his paws and rubbed his eyes for a moment before looking towards the source of the noise.

The sun had thrown a great burst of light into his eyes so that for a moment, the shape and size of the Pokémon next to him was all he could make out, but then he heard a voice; a child's voice.

"Sorry…" they said, backing away meekly, "I-I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to wake you up…"

Howl knew that small voice.

"Pip…? Is that you?" he asked, setting himself on the bank and looking down at the little figure.

"Oh…" said the little Eevee, his voice full of disappointment and worry,

"Yeah, it's me… I'm sorry, Howl, sir. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's all right, little one," said Howl, rubbing his eyes again with his sodden paws.

'Little one' was what Howl called all of the child-Pokémon of The Forest, and there were many of them. Pip, however, was not familiar with this nickname and looked puzzled and slightly affronted.

As there were many children in The Forest, it was natural there were just as many adults. Some were related and some were not, but every so often, there came a sad, terrible case when a Pokémon had made it to The Forest alone, and bearing the news that they had originally been with friends and family.

Pip was one of those cases. Not only had he lost his home to a terrible tragedy years ago, but barely months previously he had lost both of his parents directly at the hands of Rota Village.

Together, Pip and his parents, an Espeon and Flareon, had struggled through the most treacherous of environments, wriggled their way past countless humans, and lived off the land's plants and herbs until at last they had found their way to The Forest.

They had been on the verge of crossing the plain and entering their safe haven when they had been attacked out of the blue by a group of villagers on their return journey home.

Pip's father had told him and his mother to run whilst he lured their attackers away. They had made it into The Forest, and as soon as Pip's mother had explained what had happened, a search party - mainly comprised of Bird-Pokémon and a small section of land-walkers led by Howl - had immediately spread out and searched for Pip's father. And for some time, it had seemed that their trials were over, and that it was time for them to wait and hope.

A few nights afterwards, however, Pip's mother had slipped away to the very edge of The Forest until Howl had intervened and called her back.

Her face had been rigid with sorrow and wet with tears.

She had told him that she could not bear to stay in The Forest while Pip's father might still be alive and in danger.

She had told him that she was an incompetent mother, and that the parent Pip had always looked up to had been his father, and although Howl had assured her that they would search for him again when morning came, she had still refused to return with him.

The two of them had argued with passion, until finally Pip's mother had declared,

"Guardian…! Please understand why I have to do this. Pip will be safe in The Forest, under your protection, but as long as his father is gone, he will be miserable - even more so when he is with me…"

"Don't be ridiculous," Howl had said with a note of impatience in his voice,

"He will not be miserable when he is with you. You're his mother! If you leave him here, a child among a forest full of strangers, thenhe will be miserable! His own mother abandoning him in the dead of night will not bring happiness to anyone!"

Silence had passed between them for a moment, then she had smiled at him, a sad, wise smile. The very same smile he had worn for Illume so long ago.

"Guardian… you are far kinder than one would expect… But you mustn't leave this forest. You are needed here, you must protect the Pokémon who live here.

Please understand that I must do this. Not for me, but for Pip. I would give anything just to see him happy again…"

and with no warning whatsoever, she had turned and ran out of the shade of the trees and onto the moonlit meadow.

"No! STOP!" Howl had made to chase after her, yet he had barely stepped out into the moonlight himself when his way was blocked by solid, inflexible air.

Pip's mother was a Psychic-Type, and had used her power to create an impassible barrier. Howl had struck and beat at it as hard as he could, but all that had happened was that a burst of light had sprung from the point where he had struck, illuminating where the barrier was, but as he had tried to move around it, she placed it back in his way again. Finally he had thrown all of his strength down on the barrier and had managed to lodge his fist in place.

Pip's mother had turned slowly to face him, her pink fur shining brilliantly, and said very clearly,

"Tell Pip I love him… and that I'll come back soon. And when I come back, we'll be a happy family again…"

And then, as quick as a heartbeat, the barrier had been dropped.

Howl fell hard to the ground crushing his arm against his ribs. He had only been dazed for a second before he had pushed himself up. He had raised his head to see where she was. And his eyes had seen nothing ahead but the wide stretch of darkness. No-one running out of sight; no noise of feet scurrying away. The silence had been immense. And she had gone.

Howl had clenched his paws and gritted his teeth, fighting to stop himself from roaring into the night.

He had wanted to chase after her, wanted to abandon his place at The Forest and find her. He had wanted to make Rota Village pay for what it had done, wanted to destroy it entirely.

But what he may, or may not have done then, even he did not know.

For there had been a rustling in the bushes behind him, and as he'd listened more closely, he thought he had heard someone crying.

Back in the present at the lakeside, Howl asked,

"What are you doing here up so early?"

"U-Um…" Pip hesitated, "I… I was just getting some water. Miss Mist asked me to."

Howl looked round, and sure enough, there was the bucket that had been obtained from the village so that food could be rinsed and washed before mealtimes.

"She also told me to be careful not to wake you up… Sorry, sir," said Pip, lowering his ears in shame.

"Don't worry about it," Howl told him,

"I'm actually glad you woke me up. My sleep wasn't exactly peaceful…"

And as Pip's eyes darted up to him and back to the ground again, Howl realised something: This was the first time the two of them had spoken to one another since the night Pip's mother had run away.

And then another realisation came to him: This was also the first time he'd so much as seen Pip since then. He had looked for him from time to time, but not thoroughly, and he did not know what Pip's Aura was like, so that had left him somewhat stranded.

He tried to make eye-contact with the Eevee again, but his face was fixed determinedly elsewhere. Eventually he turned his gaze away as well and looked across the lake, watching the sun shine into its own reflection.

"Sir…?" said Pip eventually.

Howl looked back and said,

"Yes? What is it?" Preparing himself to be asked something about Pip's parents, or perhaps one of the questions children usually asked him.

Pip hesitated briefly, cast his gaze around here and there, and asked finally,

"Can you… Can you teach me to swim, please?"

"Excuse me?" Howl replied, completely caught off guard.

"I saw you swimming earlier," Pip went on, starting to blush, "and you're really good. So, I was just wondering if…"

"Don't you know how to swim?"

Pip's cheeks flushed even warmer as he shook his head.

Howl stared at him, perplexed.

"My dad never liked the water," Pip went on, "So I couldn't ask him to teach me, and my mum…" But he broke off at the mention of his parents, and his ears and tail drooped slightly.

Howl pretended not to notice.

"Well…" he said, thinking his answer through.

This was not the first time a child-Pokémon had asked him to teach them something. The children of The Forest were deeply in awe of him, and almost half of them had requested to be taught by him at least once:

How to fight;

How to sense the Aura;

How to understand human words;

How to communicate via telepathy.

But by the time he had finished lecturing them on the basics of how to fight and sense Aura they had all lost interest completely, and whilst some had requested that their lessons come to an end, most had simply 'forgotten' to turn up again. They were only young.

"Please?" said Pip beseechingly when he had still not responded.

Howl looked down at him at last.

"Is anyone else awake?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think everyone's eating breakfast right now."

Howl was silent for another minute, then he decided,

"Let's go and eat first, and if you still want to learn how to swim afterwards… then, yes. I will teach you."

The effect that these words had was incredible: Pip's whole being seemed to brighten; his tail and ears lifted; his eyes widened and seemed to shimmer as delight spread across his face.

"Really…? You'll really teach me, sir?"

"I'll teach you what I can," Howl said placidly.

He smiled down at the hopeful look on Pip's face, which in turn made Pip blush and have to look away again.

Howl clambered out of the lake, filled the bucket Pip had brought with lake water, and carried it in his arms as they made their way together to The Forest's 'eating area'.

Soon they heard others' voices and the sounds of talk and laughter as they walked along the paths leading them through the trees.

Occasionally Howl caught sight of Pip glancing left and right warily, as though he were afraid of something. He had to slow down a couple of times so that Pip could keep up with him, and each time Pip was more and more flustered, as if his mind had been elsewhere. But Howl said nothing about it. He thought he knew already why this was, and if he was correct, it was something to do with Pip, not him; and if there was reassurance to be needed, Pip would surely bring it to his attention.

They turned left into the clearing, and sunlight streamed into their eyes.

Everyone was sitting in small groups at various locations: beside rocks, under the shade of trees, next to tree stumps, or just with their friends in general - and always with a large pile of fruit and berries in-between them.

Some Pokémon saw Howl and smiled and waved, and a few from various different groups beckoned him to join them.

He raised a paw in response and looked back to Pip, who had withdrawn behind him at the calls and greetings of other Pokémon. Understanding what this meant, Howl carefully placed the bucket down on the ground, hiding him from view, and under the pretense of crouching to briefly check the water, muttered out of the corner of his mouth,

"What's wrong?"

Pip gulped and looked up at him, and there was true fear in his eyes. Howl had seen that expression many times when he'd left The Forest to help a Pokémon who was in danger (which he knew either from his schedule of Aura-scanning every morning and noon, or from being alerted by the Bird-Pokémon).

He whispered,

"Are you nervous?"

"A little…" Pip replied.

"Would you prefer it if we ate somewhere else?"

"Y-Yes please…"

Howl nodded.

"Wait here, then. I'll be back soon. Don't leave.I'll just need to make an excu-"

But before he could complete his sentence, there came a call from someone out of sight,

"He-e-y, How-ull!"

Howl groaned and stood up.

"Lopunny," he said coldly, turning to face the voice's owner.

Lopunny appeared as if out of nowhere amidst the throng of Pokémon and sidled her way through them towards him.

"I've been wondering when you'd show up!" she said once she was in the centre of the clearing, moving purposely towards him.

Some of the Pokémon in the crowd smirked and leaned close to one another to whisper and point.

Howl glared warningly to indicate he was in no mood, but she continued to smile demurely as though that would mask her intentions.

"Well, you seem tense today," she said when she had drawn level with him and he was still glaring,

"D'you maybe want to eat somewhere more… private? Away from all this noise?"

Snorts and muffled laughter rang clearly, but Lopunny had eyes only for him. He glared back and said nothing, and stooped to pick up the bucket.

"Oh, allow me," she said, crouching and placing her hands beside his. He tugged the bucket away and pushed past her, trying to move through the clearing quickly so as not to draw attention to Pip, who was no doubt trying to hide at that very moment.

"Why won't you talk to me?" she asked him in a falsely hurt tone.

"I have nothing to say to you," he said curtly, not looking at her.

"Ohh, why not…?"

"Why do you think?"

He set the bucket down and turned back just in time to see Pip shrinking back into the distance - but his pace was not slow and cautious; it was a quick, frightened scurry, as though he had no intention of stopping.

Howl started towards him and was about to shake his head as if to say 'no, stay where you are', when Pip turned and ran back along the path towards the lake.

"Wait!" he called and broke into a run, but he had barely taken a few steps when someone - whether it had been deliberate or not he neither knew nor cared - made to stand up, and as they put their arm out, he stumbled over them, nearly falling, but he regained his balance, stood up, and then in a second he heard footsteps behind him, and then Lopunny crashed hard into him.

"Oops! Sorry!" she cried loudly.

The crowd all around them roared with laughter.

Howl had managed to avoid falling by narrowly flinging out his paw. He looked up desperately, hoping to see that Pip had stayed as commanded, but the path ahead was barren. Pip had vanished as successfully as his mother had done.

He pushed Lopunny off of him and stood up slowly, closing his eyes, clenching his paws, breathing deeply.

The laughter died at once. Nobody seemed to move apart from him and Lopunny, who was smiling innocently up at him as if what had happened was of mutual amusement. He turned away, not looking at anyone, and tried to contain his anger.

"Whuh-oh," came Lopunny's voice, "someone's really cranky today."

A collective shudder seemed to pass throughout the whole area.

He said nothing, and walked on to the nearest group, whose food pile was among the largest, and began to fill his arms with fruits, berries and leaves.

He heard Lopunny say something, but he ignored her. The crowd seemed to be holding its breath, and those nearest to him had shifted carefully away.

When his arms were filled, he nodded to them in curt thanks and began to follow after Pip. He could not have gone far.

"Hey, where are you going?!" said Lopunny as he moved past without sparing her so much as a glance.

"I haven't upset you, have I?" she added, switching to her falsely concerned voice.

She made to follow him, but he stopped and looked at her over his shoulder, and such was the danger in his eyes that she froze on the spot. But she caught herself and went on persistently,

"I…" and she added a small, emotional tremor to her voice, "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to. I-I didn't realise that-"

"Liar."

Lopunny gasped, "Wh-What?" she stammered, half deceptively sad, half truly shocked, "What do you mean? I'm not lying! I really am sorry!"

"Don't even try it," he said, looking away and moving forward.

She gave a little exclamation of pretend guilt and started to walk after him until he turned and glared at her with all the ferocity he had.

"Don't you dare follow me, Lopunny!"

She recoiled, all unreal emotions wiped out and true fear etched on her face.

"OK, OK, OK, OK!" she spluttered, backing away as quickly as she could, looking anywhere, at anything but Howl, who turned away once more and strode away along the path, his heart still thumping with barely-suppressed rage.

As he reached the pathway leading to the lake, his anger began to subside, and be replaced by a small hint of guilt. He was far angrier then he had needed to be, but Lopunny had been bothering him for too long! Surely at that point anyone would have been angry!

Lopunny had once been a shy girl, never quite mingling in crowds, never really speaking to anyone and often going to a quiet little corner by herself at mealtimes. But now she had outright refused to leave him alone for more than two days at a time ever since around a year ago, and he was in no doubt why.

There had been an incident, one rainy evening just before dinner, when she had been tricked by a group of mischief-makers into leaving The Forest, in search of something which had apparently been stolen from her by a Bird-Pokémon. She had left The Forest and tried to find the thief by herself, and she had not returned.

Luckily Howl had been informed of this by a very young Pidove who'd overheard most of the conversation, and upon scanning the Aura within The Forest, he had sensed strong traces of a solitary Aura leaving The Forest and heading east. He had followed after it at once, and after half an hours run, he had found Lopunny, kicking, struggling and crying out as she was dragged along the ground, ensnared in a net.

She had been caught by a band of self-proclaimed 'monster hunters'.

Howl had beaten them all down and led her away, half-supporting her, half-carrying her, limp, cut, bruised, and sobbing into his shoulder as they made their return journey.

They had taken shelter from the night's torrential rain under a large, overhanging rock, where he had treated her wounds, and even after that, she had still been crying.

She had apologised again and again as they had been on the move, but as soon as they were stopped, she had resorted to berating herself. She had said she was a fool to have believed what the group had told her, she had told him that she was a worthless drain on The Forest's precious resources, and he had firmly told her that if she truly believed that, then it was time for her to grow stronger, time for her to overcome over her own weaknesses. She had replied that she didn't have any strengths to work on, and he had told her that no-one was born knowing their strengths. For some, he had told her, it took their whole lives to find a strength they both truly possessed and truly valued, and he had gone on to tell her of some of the Pokémon he had known in his life who had been through such circumstances. She had listened to him disbelievingly, but attentively. They had talked long into the night, and by the time the rain had subsided it was nearly dawn, and all of her sorrow and guilt had been replaced by a kind of cautious optimism.

Howl had been pleased to see such a change of heart. It had made him hopeful and expectant. Perhaps Lopunny would be more confident around others, and perhaps she would even be willing to take some charge in The Forest. But instead he had been presented with a result he'd never hoped for within the following week.

Lopunny had been that way with him ever since.