Hello! Yes, I have returned with a chapter for this story. I'm afraid that I have to warn you not to get used to it. I have a huge writers' block on this story that refuses to go away.

Review response: Dear Shadow Snivy, greetings! I'm very glad you liked the Dale/Purrloin fight, I had fun writing it! Yes, there will be lots of cliffhangers, including this chapter. Deepest apologies. Mira's sense of humor is a very rare kind, a kind that can only be developed by surviving more than one's fair share of hardship. Still, perhaps the toothpick crack was a little bit mean. In regards to the flashback, might I point out that Ash Ketchum and several other characters in the anime understand their favorite Pokemon perfectly? In the Pokemon world, when a friendship is truly strong, language barriers mean nothing. Also, in case you are wondering, I am indeed intentionally messing with your head to keep you guessing. Originally, Cassandra was going to be a one time deal. But after reading how much you liked her, I realized that she had not only been fun to write, but would make a wonderful recurring villain. So, thank you for showing me the true charms of Cassandra! Wow, you have marvelous skills at deduction. One of the theories you posted in your review was actually part of my plot line. However, in the effort not to give spoilers, I am not going to tell you which one.

Author's Note: This chapter marks a major plot twist. Good luck guessing what exactly it is. Also, this is the first time I can remember writing from Sekani's viewpoint, it was surprisingly hard. Lastly, let it be known that you should never anger temperamental Aipoms, it takes a lot to get them going, but once they do ... oh boy.

Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or their world, the only things I own are the characters and the plot.

Chapter Fifteen: Fights and Mysteries

It was so dark, so painful. Where were his parents? Why hadn't they come to make everything better? He just wanted this pain to go away. Was this some kind of punishment? If so, he was never wandering out of the den again, no sir. He'd even return his sister's favorite Poke' toy if she wanted him too. Just as long as the pain and the dark and the cold went away. Just as long as his parents came back to tell him that they loved him as they soothed his injuries.

Not even the kind strangers imprisoned here with him could comfort him. He appreciated their attempts to heal him, but … he just wanted his mother and father. He just wanted to go home.

Foreign sounds pierced the veil of his fitful sleep and he cracked his eye, the one that still worked at least, open. It was too dark to see, but his ears twitched as they picked up the sound of fighting and shouting. At first he thought is was just his captors having at each other again. But after a moment more of listening, he heard unfamiliar voices in the mix. So … if it wasn't infighting, then maybe, just maybe, it was a rescue? He forced his head to lift, hope kindling in his heart for the first time in days. That had to be it! A rescue! His parents had sent someone to find him!

Gentle paws caressed his fur and a deep voice murmured, "Relax, kid. I'll go see what's happening."

Sekani ducked underneath a blast of fire while frantically trying not to fall into one of the random pitfalls that littered the area and screamed shrilly, "I told you guys this was a bad idea! We're all gonna - woah!"

Castor closed his mouth hastily, ending the flamethrower he had just shot at the infuriatingly fast Glaceon which had missed and nearly fried his Aipom friend, "Sorry Sekani!"

Dale shot past them, agilely using Swift to distract a highly enraged pair of pursuing Purrloins as he shouted, "Stop screaming and fight these guys Sekani!"

Sekani whimpered, "But … but there are two fighting-types here! Two! How can I fight them?"

Mira's electric rage filled the air, sending the muscular Machoke who had been trying to strangle her flying backwards a few feet. Her green eyes blazed with a feral quality as she roared, "You have a giant hand on your tail that can slap things! Work it out you moron!" Any other words she might have bellowed at him were cut off by an icy wind that frosted her fur and sent her reeling.

The Glaceon took a delicate step forward and intoned flatly, "So much anger. It will not aid in a battle of strategy such as this one. Such rage will only cloud the mind from seeing the most expedient course of action."

His statement only seemed to further enrage the temperamental electric-type, who replied with a snarl of, "I'll show you expedient courses of action you icy jerk!" Sekani winced slightly at the following flash of bright yellow power. Okay, she officially has anger issues. The Aipom sighed miserably and turned to the rest of the battle. Which way do I want to get maimed first? Going up against someone with a type advantage? Roasted by an angry houndoom? Or-

Sekani yelped and leaped out of the way of a wayward WaterGun attack. Hastily shoving himself into an unobtrusive corner, Sekani got a good look at the chaos all around and firmly concluded that this was getting the team nowhere. The fight and the traps were clearly meant to prevent them from going further inside Kuro Cave, a task that was being completed all too well. Of course, the big question of the hour was why? Well, they must be hiding something important. Like maybe … realization dawned, like Cora's brothers or even the Wartortle Rescue Squad! They must be holding them prisoner!

Sekani looked around, we could definitely use some Water-type backup … or any backup right now. Sekani's eyes flickered from corner to corner, a plan forming in his mind. With agile leaps and bounces, the Aipom took off across the wall, his paws easily finding holds to support him as he skirted around the roiling, electric-charged brawl below him with the skill of a spinarak.

It took seconds to bound across the wall to the dark tunnel on the other side of the yawning pit that Leal had fallen into earlier. Hesitating only a moment at the looming aura of foreboding that he always felt when facing dark places, Sekani swallowed hard and darted forward.

The dark was terrifying, the tall expanse of the tunnel making the sounds of the fight behind him echo eerily. Careful to avoid the metal rail in the middle of the tunnel, Sekani kept running, searching intently for something he hoped desperately would be there. Shapes far to square to be rocks suddenly loomed into sight. Sekani paused, wondering what they were, but too frightened to get closer.

Something inside the square shape moved and a voice hissed desperately, "Is someone there? Hello?" Not a ghost, its not a ghost, its not a ghost. You've just found what you were looking for is all.

Swallowing his fear, Sekani skittered carefully over to the square thing that turned out to be made up of metal 'branches'. Peering past the branches, Sekani spotted the silhouettes of several Pokemon trapped inside. One of the silhouettes turned into a rather haggard looking Wartortle. The Wartortle whispered, "You … you aren't part of that Mawile's gang."

Sekani shook his head, "No, I'm a friend of Cora Squirtle of clan Blastoise. Are you one of her brothers?"

The Wartortle breathed a sigh of relief, "No, I'm Captain Caspian Wartortle. Her brothers are part of my team. They're in the other cage. How did you find us?"

Sekani looked over to his right, finally spotting the wartortles within a smaller 'cage' as Caspian had called it. Looking back at the Captain, he whispered, "Long story. How do I get you all out of these things?"

"Simple! You don't!" Sekani squeaked in terror and whirled to face the new voice. Static electricity lit the dark cave, revealing a pudgy, cocky looking Elekid. The Elekid whirled one arm casually, generating extra power for his light as he sneered, "Who are you supposed to be? Cassandra told me that someone might leave the fight and show up here, but I wasn't expecting a teeny Aipom like you."

Sekani backed cautiously away, a small voice in the back of his mind sarcastically commenting on the Elekid's choice of words, seeing as how the Electric-type was shorter than him by seven inches. The Elekid took a menacing step forward, "So, let me lay it out straight Aipom. You want to free these wartortles, you're going to have to go through me. Really wanna risk that?"

Now, Sekani was well aware of what was expected of him. He was fully aware of his reputation as a slight coward. It was true that he was easily frightened by things, confrontations being a big one. But his fear originated not from an unwillingness to risk his own skin, but from an intimate knowledge what it was like to almost die.

There was nothing more confidence shattering, more fear inducing, then to wake up one morning to discover that the very place you had always considered a safe haven, a sanctuary, had suddenly collapsed around you. To have it suddenly cease to be your 'hiding place' and to have it become your prospective tomb.

Sekani felt his blood flood with adrenaline as his instincts screamed for him to run away from a Pokemon who was almost assuredly a much higher level than him. His feet didn't move. The Elekid smirked and urged him forward with a flick of his paw. Sekani's feet still didn't budge from their spot. Instinct warred with a sense of duty to his friends, holding him in place like a statue.

The Elekid taunted again, "Come on! Are you just going to stand there? Fine, it'll make you an easier target. I was hoping for a more of challenge though. You're just as pathetic as that weird Pokemon Fuyuki brought in."

A small lightning bolt whipped out from the Elekid and Sekani dodged with a yelp of terror. He cringed behind a rock, desperately berating himself for his inability to take action, Come on! Stop hiding like a newly hatched dunsparce and fight! Other Pokemon are depending on you! If you don't fight … they're going to be left alone in the dark just like you were … all alone … in the dark … without hope … just waiting to die…

Horrid memories flashed through Sekani's mind and he felt his spine go tense at the sound of cruel laughter from beyond his hiding place. What happened to me was an accident, a natural disaster that couldn't be prevented. But … but those Pokemon out there, and this Elekid … they locked these wartortle down here on purpose. They locked them up, away from the sun and wind, for what? To feel power over them? I can't let them do that … I can't let others suffer like I did … I … I can't, "and I won't."

The adrenaline surging through Sekani's veins slowly turned to fire, a fire that pushed him to his feet and made him glare directly into the eyes of his antagonizer. Balling his paws into fists, he hissed, "Let them go."

The Elekid stared at him as if he was crazy, "Uh, why? Cassandra has big plans for them. Besides, who's gonna make me? You?"

Sekani didn't answer. His paws unclenched, his sharp little claws leaping from their sheaths with an audible noise as he felt his fear morph from an inhibitor, into an asset. With a horrid, terrifying Screech that reverberated loudly through the tunnel, Sekani charged the Elekid and clawed his face with a savagery the Aipom hadn't known he'd possessed.

Five times his claws raked across the Elekid's face and body, the painful actions causing the bullying Pokemon to stagger backwards with a wail of pain. Leaping off of his opponent, Sekani Screeched again, whirling to slap the Elekid repeatedly with his tail hand while his opponent's guard was down. Slap after slap pummeled the Elekid's face until the Electric-type crumbled to the ground, stunned and moaning. Sekani stopped, his body shuddering as he gasped for air and his senses started to clear.

Sekani blinked a few times and straightened. Turning to look over his shoulder, he spotted the Elekid, fainted flat out on the tunnel floor. Did I do that? Captain Caspian accidentally answered his question, "Wow, Aipom, nice move combo. Now, we need you to get us out. Can you do that?"

Sekani focused his attention on the Wartortle, trying not to let himself get distracted by his own unexpected act of bravery, "Uh, sure. If you tell me how."

Caspian tilted his head slightly, "Cassandra's goons use a little metal piece. It fits into the door to our cages and when it's turned, it allows the door to open. They keep the metal piece over there, in a niche between two rocks." Sekani nodded and scurried away to find the key.

Dale leaped to one side, eyes narrowed in concentration as he fought against the two Purrloin thieves Chono and Neko. The two felines had stubbornly chased him around the battlefield, demanding a rematch and preventing him from helping his friends against their opponents. Luckily for him, the twins were far from experts on team work. Several times now he had managed to dodge the attack of one so that it would hit the other Purrloin.

Still, he was rapidly tiring. He was good at surprising others with his speed, but only three legs were not conducive to keeping the pace indefinitely. Chono hissed at Dale from below the Eevee's new precarious perch on a ledge, "Come down here and fight us!"

Dale bared his fangs and growled, he wasn't falling for the trick. The section of tunnel they were fighting in was layered with traps. He had already almost fallen into three pitfalls, dodged two woven nets, and jumped aside from five falling contraptions made of bars of wood that could trap a Pokemon inside. Flattening his ears and trying not to show how heavily he was panting, he snarled, "Make me scruffy fur."

The desired reaction was immediately given, all felines hated insults to their looks, females especially. Neko shot up onto her surprised twin's back, scrabbling her claws against the wall in an effort to climb up to him, completely ignoring the stepping stairway pattern of ledges the Eevee had used to get there, "You didn't just dare! When I'm through with you, you'll look like a Stunfisk out of water! Get down here!"

A sudden blast of water sent Neko and Chono both flying. Dale twisted around in surprise, he'd thought that Cora was busy battling the Machoke. From the direction of the water blast, a voice bellowed, "Wartortle rescue squad! Take these criminals down!" Dale felt his mouth flop open in shock as, with eager roars, a sizable pack of wartortles charged out of the shadows of the tunnel and joined the fight. By Ho-Oh! Were did they come from?

Dale felt a smile break out over his face, no matter where they came from, they arrived just in time. "Dale!" He blinked as Sekani appeared from the same tunnel as the wartortle had, "Dale! Come quickly! We need your revival herb!"

Leaping down from his ledge perch, Dale ran over to Sekani, "What's going on? Where did you find those wartortle?"

Sekani shook his head frantically, "No time! There's a Pokemon back there, he's dying!" Dale's ears stood straight in shock, dying?

"Lead the way." Sekani shot off down the tunnel, Dale hot on his heels despite how tired he had been minutes before. Another's life was in danger and he was needed. Sekani led the way through the dark passage, finally skidding to a stop in front of two wartortle who were hovering agitatedly over a very still form. Dale gasped for air as his eyes briefly swept over the shadowed form of the Pokemon.

At first glance, he could have been mistaken for an Eevee, four legs, a bushy tail, fluffy chest fur, the similarities were startling. However, the curled patch of thick fur on his head and the shorter, more triangular ears gave the unconscious creature away. Dale also would have guessed that his patient's fur color wasn't anything like an Eevee's either, but it was hard to tell in the poor lighting.

Dale got to work, "Sekani, get the sack off of my neck, you two get his mouth open."

The wartortles obeyed hastily, one of them gently prying the small Pokemon's mouth open while the other explained, "We've been trying to keep the little guy stable for weeks now, but that Mawile's goons injured him pretty good and we didn't have any healing items. The sick monsters beat him up whenever he started to recover."

Dale grunted slightly as he worked the sack open and Sekani pulled out the Revival Herb, "Put it in his mouth and hold his jaws closed, Sekani." Dale's instructions were followed to the letter and soon, four Pokemon were standing around the limp form of the fifth, waiting with baited breath to see if the herb would do its work.

The little Pokemon shuddered softly and slowly opened his eyes. Blinking his large blue orbs at them, he asked softly, "Huh? Where … where am I? Who are you?"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. One of the wartortle said gently, "You're safe now, cub. Remember me? My name is Bo."

Blue eyes blinked sluggishly, "Bo? I … I think I remember that name." The young Pokemon looked up at them earnestly, "Have you … seen my mamma? Or my papa? I really want to go home…"

Dale soothed gently, "We'll get you to your parents, I promise, but first," he shot a meaningful glance at the two wartortle, "we need to deal with some unwanted guests outside. Sekani, stay with this one, we'll deal you know who." Sekani nodded mutely and Dale, Bo, and the other wartortle took off towards the fight.

By the time they got there, however, the fight was already coming to a close. Cassandra, the Glaceon, and the Houndoom were the only criminals still standing, their backs pressed together in a defensive formation. The largest of the wartortles stepped forward menacingly, "Surrender, Mawile, you and your gang are hereby placed under arrest in the name of Queen Absol."

Cassandra hissed in hatred, one paw clutching her right side, "You are all going to regret this."

Leal, who had apparently managed to climb out of the pitfall, snorted, "And who, pray tell, is going to exact this measure of regret you speak of? We have already proven ourselves as better battlers than you and your brigands."

The Mawile's eyes flickered briefly over the crowd before settling on Mira, who Dale noted had regained her self-control, "Our boss will. By the by, Pikachu, our boss gave me a message in case I ever ran into you again. He said to tell you hello and that he would be seeing you again very soon."

Mira's ears straightened, but she said nothing. The wartortles crowded around the surrendered gang members and Dale trotted over to Mira, "Any idea what she was talking about?"

Mira shook her head, "None. Who are those two?"

Dale looked over his shoulder and realized that Bo and his friend had followed him, "Uh, well, this is-"

His introduction was cut short by a shout, "Bo? Arroyo? Is it really you?"

The two wartortle whirled, both exclaiming in surprise, "Cora?" Cora cannoned into her fellow water-types with a shriek of joy, tears falling down her dusty face as the three embraced and chattered over each other in a desperate reunion.

Dale looked over at a mildly disgruntled Mira, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that those are her brothers."

Mira nodded slowly, "I'm going to guess you're right." Dale watched Cora happily semi-strangle her older brothers, face alight with an emotion that had evaded his friend for the weeks of their trip, and smiled. Well, that's one mystery solved.

The sound of Sekani shrilly screaming as he tore down the tunnel caused him to stiffen. Sekani ran past and hid behind Ahanu, "Save me, save me, save me, save me! That Pokemon we revived can turn into me and now I'm sure he plans to replace me with a horrible evil double and everybody will hate me and when I finally escape and come back everyone will think that I'm the one who did all of his horrible crimes and-"

Leal took the liberty of filling in for Cora and slapped Sekani's ear to silence his nonsensical tirade, "Stop blithering and speak clearly, Sekani! What-"

Pattering paw-steps announced the incoming arrival of the source of Sekani's distress and everyone fell silent in shock at what they saw. An exact duplicate of Sekani cocked his head to one side and asked innocently, "Why'd you run? Don't you wanna play with me?" With a flash of red energy, the Aipom duplicate disappeared and in its place stood the fox-like Pokemon Dale had given his Revival Herb too. On to the next mystery. Oh boy!