Okay so, yes, I know this story has not been updated in forever. But, better late than never right? This story is not dead, even if it takes another six months or so before the next update, it's just ... partially comatose. (Listens to the echo of Author's own voice) Hello? Is anyone still there? (Sigh) I'll just go back to real life then. Oh! Fun fact, the shiny Bagon in this story actually exists! She is the very first Shiny I ever encountered and I was extremely proud when I caught her. (It only took, what? Twenty Ultra Balls? More?)

I'll go back to dealing with real life now. Hope you like the chapter!

Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or their world, the only things I own are my OCs and whatever shambling resemblance to a plot you might find in this story.

Chapter Eighteen: Other Side Of the Road

The sun shone through the forest canopy, bringing with it warmth and dappled light that constantly shifted in the wind, bringing delight to the many young Pokemon who lived there. The forest was a special one, almost completely untouched by humans or technology. The human government of the region had declared the forest off-limits to all but a chosen few who had sworn to protect the inhabitants of the wild forest with their lives. Not that the Pokemon who lived there knew that fact, all they knew was that their lives were simple and happy, guarded by the friendly non-Pokemon who was allowed to live in their midst.

Deeper in the forest, the sound of steady hammering echoed, accompanied by an encouraging shout, "One more time, Flare! We've almost got it!"

Flare grunted in exasperation at the enthusiasm of her egger-on. Still, he was correct, and with one last determine slam of her hardened head, she shattered the rock pinning the hapless Breloom who had gotten trapped there after foolishly deciding to practice his fighting-type moves near a rock-slide prone area. The Breloom crawled to his feet, muttering sheepishly as he allowed Flare's partner to tend his leg injury, curing it with deft, swift sprays of his potion bottle.

Chocolate brown eyes shown merrily from a tanned face that had obviously spent enormous time in the sun as he set aside the potion and patted the Breloom gently, "There you go. All better. Try not to practice in such a dangerous area again, okay?"

The Breloom squeaked a thank you and a promise to do better before disappearing into the underbrush to rejoin his family. The owner of the chocolate brown eyes watched the Breloom leave, a tiny chuckle rumbling in his chest as he pocketed the potion and stood up. A snort drew his attention to his partner, "What's up with you?"

The green, yellow, and silver bagon eyed him sidelong, "Bay, bagon-gon bay."

Pokemon Ranger Jonathan Patterson ran a hand through his unruly nut-colored hair as he answered dryly, "Yeah, yeah. I should have lectured him about being more careful, but I think the little guy has learned his lesson. He was stuck under that rock for almost an hour before we found him, remember."

Flare, his Bagon partner that he had rescued from some Pokemon thieves two years ago, shrugged, "Gon bay bay."

He smiled at her, "I do say so. Now, how about we go check out the rest of the sector and then have lunch, eh?"

At the promise of lunch, the shiny bagon perked up immensely and hustled off into the forest with the battle cry of, "Bagon!" Jonathan chuckled at his partner's antics. She was nothing if not motivated when it came to food or fighting. Setting off after her, Jonathan allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of the fresh air, the dappled sunlight, and the cool breeze that nipped his nose with hints of its travels from the high mountains in the north.

Having just come back from a Ranger Conference in Lumiose City, Jonathan could firmly say to anyone who might have asked that he was not a city person. Too much noise, too many people, too many stupid alleys that were not on the map. An impatient Bagon partner with a tendency to use Headbutt on anyone who irked her didn't help matters either. The City of Light was a wonderful place he was sure, but it was simply not his style.

The forest, the mountains, the wilderness where nothing seemed to exist except nature and Pokemon, that he could handle. He thrived there. As he sidestepped politely for an Amoonguss and her small brood of Foongus, he dipped his head and softly whistled three ascending notes. The Amoonguss waved to him slightly and whistled back in greeting as she led her young toward a new sun spot. Pokemon are so much easier to communicate with than humans sometimes, I swear.

Up ahead, there was the sharp crack of a certain steel-hard head smashing a rock impatiently and Jonathan called, "Okay, okay, I'm coming! Can't even wait for ten seconds…" As he caught up with Flare, he huffed a little and said dryly, "You know, you wouldn't be left waiting for me if you didn't run off all the time."

Flare blinked at him once, "Bay, bay gon bay." Translation, "I wouldn't run off if you would move faster when lunch is at stake".

Jonathan rolled his eyes, "Seeing as how I'm the one carrying the lunch, I'm not sure how running around ahead of me is going to make your food arrive any faster."

Flare growled dangerously, a dark glint entering her eyes that held the promise of midnight skydiving sessions off of his bookshelf with his stomach as a landing pad if he didn't shut up and Give. Her. The. Food. Jonathan sighed as he obediently plopped down on the grass at the base of a tree and pulled Flare's lunch out of his pack. Guess the sector checkup will have to wait a few minutes. There's no working with her when she gets like this.

Flare's temperament drastically improved once she had food to munch on and Jonathan took the opportunity to relax and stare through a gap in the tree foliage at the occasional fluffy cloud rolling overhead. His mind wandered idly, thinking about random things and generally relaxing to the sounds and smells of his home environment after a stressful two weeks in Lumiose City. Just as his eyes were drifting shut to the sound of Flare talking to a wild Fletchling that happened to be wandering by, his Holo Caster beeped demandingly.

With a vague sigh of disappointment at how the startled Fletchling flew off with a chirp and a mental note to look into getting something less noisy for communication with Ranger HQ, he sat up and flicked the Holo Caster on. It activated with a small 'zop' noise and he raised his eyebrow at the silvery image of his fellow Ranger Maddie Coreson, "You look terrible."

Maddie scowled, immediately derailed from whatever reason she had called him for, "Excuse me? Go find a reflective surface and look at yourself Mister Patterson. I look fine compared to your spiky haired-ness!"

He rolled his eyes, so touchy, Flare's sniggering sounds told him that she agreed, "All I'm saying is that you'd look much better without the lipstick and floofy hair. You look prettier with your natural hair and less like a … uh …"

Maddie deadpanned as she supplied, "Less like an upper-crest Lumiose bimbo who likes to humiliate her male Gardevoir by dressing him up as a princess?"

Jonathan coughed slightly in embarrassment, "You, ah, you heard about that?"

Maddie smirked ruthlessly, "You were all over the news, Patterson. All. Over. The. News. Now I know why the Director lets you skip so many meetings. You do worse in the city than a Gible in a lake."

Flare muttered, "Bagon, bay bay," and Jonathan shot her a hooded look. How dare she agree with Maddie on this? He hadn't yelled at the woman that much. Besides, it wasn't as if the air-head hadn't deserved it.

Turning back to the Holo Caster, he said, "What was the reason you called me again?"

Maddie immediately settled down to business, "There's suspicious activity in the tenth sector, the Director wants you to check it out."

Jonathan frowned, "Tenth sector? Isn't that Hamilton's sector? He's the Water-Type geek."

Maddie shrugged, her holographic image fuzzing slightly at the motion, "Hamilton has the flu and Ricky is still busy wrapping up the Team Flare debacle."

Jonathan normally didn't balk at an unexpected assignment, but he couldn't help protesting a little, "Then ask Cherry, or go yourself, you're a great field agent. But why me? I just got back here, Maddie, I just got home."

Maddie gave him a sympathetic look. Everyone knew that Field Rangers were attached to the area they patrolled and cared for, having come to know the Pokemon who lived there better than they knew their own neighbors from whatever town in which they had grown up. She hesitated then said, "The Director thought you might say that. He told me to tell you that it looks like…" she paused and seemed to read a note off screen, "it looks like it was done by the perpetrators of the Indigo Incident?"

Jonathan stiffened, every muscle seizing at those words. Slowly, he ground out, "What?"

Maddie shrugged, "That's what the note says. He thinks that the poaching in the Tenth Sector is being done by the perps of the Indigo Incident. Whatever that means."

Jonathan forced himself to resume breathing, adrenaline now pumping through his veins, "I'm gonna need to borrow Fletcher. Coldwave and Phantasm too."

Maddie raised her eyebrows, "Okay … I'll tell the Director you're on the case then?"

Jonathan nodded sharply and began packing up his stuff, mentally compiling a list of everything he would need to get for his trip to the seaside sector. Maddie watched him over the Holo Caster for a few seconds, then said, "Hey … you okay?"

Jonathan paused, sensing that Flare was thinking the same question. He huffed softly, "Yeah. Fine. I just … it's a long story okay?"

Maddie asked, "This the same long story that led you to wear that silly little Pokemon necklace everywhere?"

Jonathan paused, reaching up to stroke his neck where the small trinket in question lay underneath his shirt, "Yeah. Something like that."

Maddie fell silent. Everyone in the Ranger Force knew that Jonathan was a ranger with a grudge. He had volunteered for the Force when he was fourteen after moving to Kalos, dropping a promising career as an up-and-coming trainer in Kanto to hike out in the Kalos wilderness helping wild Pokemon instead. No one but the Director knew why, though many could guess. The realities of Pokemon theft and poaching had hit Jonathan, hard, and many suspected that he was still looking for the ones who had shattered his dreams of being a trainer all those years ago.

They weren't wrong in their assumptions. Not that he would tell them that. As he slung his small pack over his shoulder, he glanced down at the still active Holo Caster, "I'll get there as soon as I can."

Maddie nodded, "Sure, I'll have Fletcher and the others waiting for you in the PC. Hey, you'll be careful, right?"

Jonathan smiled tightly as he motioned for Flare to lead the way, "Always am, Maddie. Always am."

Maddie made a doubtful noise, "Well, good luck then, Ja- Jonathan." With a click, the Holo Caster clicked off, leaving him alone in the wild except for Flare once more.

Flare looked up at him worriedly, "Bay bay gon gon?"

Jonathan lowered his gaze from his surroundings to lock eyes with his partner, "I'm fine, Flare. I'm just eager to get started is all."

The noise Flare made indicated just how much she doubted his statement, but for once he ignored her. His hand idly rubbed his small good luck charm as he set off into the forest determinedly, never again. I'm not letting them do that ever again. I failed my best friend. I'm not letting others lose their family too. He thought back to Maddie's goodbye. She'd almost used his old name, that meant she was worried. She knew he disliked being called by that name anymore, disliked it so much that Maddie was one of only four people to even know it. Almost calling him that, while knowing his dislike, was her roundabout way of telling him to be at the top of his game out there. It was her way of asking him to stay safe.

Jonathan shook his head to clear it. The person belonging to that name had been an up-and-coming trainer, reckless and full of eager ambition. Jonathan was a Ranger, and Rangers were nothing if not efficient and careful about their job. Too much rested on their shoulders for them to be reckless. Still … Jonathan rubbed his good luck charm again, feeling the tiny bumps of the mini-Pokemon's form underneath his shirt as he considered something. If he really was getting a chance to track down those men after years of fruitless searching and waiting, maybe channeling a little bit of his old self wouldn't be a bad idea.

He grinned mischievously, maybe it was time to have a bit of old fashioned fun. Smack-down style.

Mira finished packing the new bag that a Zoroark had kindly given her. Why am I doing this? She paused, reaching up one paw to trace the large, ugly scar that ran across her face. Right. To keep others safe. Let's get going then. Slinging her pack over her shoulders, she strode out of the small room and headed for the huddled group of Pokemon that had become her friends.

They looked up at her approach, serious and wide eyed. Mira could smell their nervousness, their fear. Mira smirked at them, not letting them see that she was just a frightened as they were, "Relax everyone. Just remember to do what I say, stay together, stay close, and you'll be fine. We'll find this Guardian of yours in no time and be back on the Island before you even miss it."

Ahanu wiggled his blue arms in a rough approximation of twiddling his nonexistent thumbs, "I already miss it…"

Mira deadpanned, "You're standing on it."

Sekani hugged his blue friend, "But we won't be soon!" In fine form already I see.

Mira shrugged, "You don't have to come," she turned to eye the others seriously, "none of you do. No one will blame you if you stay here."

Leal shook his head, "Nay. I set out on a quest to find the Guardian, and find him I shall!"

Castor swallowed hard, obviously trying to not be afraid, "This is our home, if there's any way we can help protect it, we will. We have to."

Mira nodded grimly, "Then let's get this show on the road."

Delano's gruff voice spoke from behind them, causing them to turn, "More like track. Come on, scamps, we don't have much time." Mira eyed the Zoroark and his silent Greninja companion warily as the two led the way down a series of surprisingly well-lit tunnels, track? Let me guess…

Mira adjusted her pack a little bit as she asked, "The monorail runs all the way to the mainland?"

Delano shrugged without looking her way, "The tracks do, we've sent three teams to the mainland via the tunnel and, while we've always received word that they made it to the other side, we never hear back from them after that. The longest we've ever heard from a team was two weeks after they went to the 'mainland' as you call it. After that, nothing. No word, no invasion, nothing."

Sekani started freaking out in the background but was, surprisingly, quiet enough that Mira could concentrate on the conversation, "You heard from them via that signaling method Wyandanch mentioned in the briefing? Laying strips of different colored flammable material in the tunnel and then igniting one strip for either yes or no?"

Delano nodded, "Yep. Probably enough strips in there to check in five times by now. Each member of the team was to lay down one strip of each color, making six strips total for each team. But only the last team ever used the second set of strips."

Castor waved his tail a little bit in nervous agitation, "So … we're going down another tunnel?" Sekani squeaked uneasily and Castor hastily tried to reassure his friend, "Don't worry Sekani, it's just another tunnel. There won't even be enemy Pokemon in it! There's nothing to worry about. Right … Mira?"

Mira smirked a little bit, "Right." Except for the fact that it will be a tunnel under the sea with who knows what dangers on the other side waiting for us while we search for a mysterious Guardian who has probably been captured by enemies even stronger than him. Oh, and we have no clue as to where this Guardian is. So, except for those minor details, yeah, there's nothing to worry about.

Her smirk fell as she suddenly thought, Good Palka, this'll be like babysitting the old team all over again, won't it? Wonderful. A gentle nudge against her shoulder made her look up. Dale gave her a tight little smile and a soft whisper of, "Relax, we'll be fine. You're here to train us and we're here to learn and help you."

Mira took one look at the utter trust in Dale's eyes and, instead of feeling sickly nervous at someone having so much faith in her, she felt some of her jittery nerves calm. She dipped her ears and sent him a grateful look, not trusting her voice to convey her gratitude without breaking up. Delano sighed and came to a stop, "Alright, this is it. I'm not cleared to go farther than this point. Just keep going straight and you'll find the entrance to the, what'd you call it? Monorail? The monorail tunnel. There are Zoroark on guard but you won't see them, so don't bother trying. Just … get going."

The group nodded and, with low mutters of fear from Ahanu and Sekani, set off without Delano toward the start of their quest.

Delano watched the group of young pokemon, intrepid and innocent save for their jaded electric member, walk away and tried not to feel dread. He had seen many things in his time on the Island, many wanderers, many adventures, and many strange event. Yet never had he thought he would see the time that one day his clan, the ones who had claimed the position of secret protecters, would send a group of untested first evolutions off into the Dark Ones' territory. To a world filled with other clans, and worse, in the hopes that they would succeed where his clan had failed.

Tynan ghosted up to his side, silent as ever, watching as the mysterious Pikachu led the way to unknown dangers. Delano sighed, "We're going to regret this."

Tynan narrowed her eyes, a look of intense scrutiny in her gaze before she signed to Delano, "Perhaps not."

Delano snorted as he turned away and started marching back to the village square, he had supplies to pick up before returning to his post, "Never took you for an optimist."

Tynan simply signed, "Not optimistic. Just observant. I know the mark of a survivor and the Pikachu bears all the symptoms."

Delano ran his claws idly across the right side wall of the tunnel as they made their way up a slope toward the surface, "What about the others?"

Tynan's silent statement conveyed confidence to his skilled sign-reading eyes, "They have already survived attacks, a rapid river, earthquakes, and criminals the like of which our Island has not seen in great number for many years. Yet despite their lack of experience, they adapted to each scenario flawlessly. They may not be survivors yet, but the Pikachu will teach them and they will learn."

Delano hummed as they emerged into the main area of their hidden village, "I hope you are right. Now, what was it Wyandanch wanted us to investigate?"

Tynan accepted his abrupt change of subject without comment, they had lived together long enough to accept each others quirks without argument or pause, "According to the reports, the Mawile mentioned a 'boss'. This indicates a coordinated effort of larger proportions than originally speculated. Wyandanch wishes for more information on said coordinated effort and its hidden leader."

Delano snorted, "So, we're back to wandering the Island in constant disguise. Eh, I was getting tired of being a hermit anyway."

Tynan nodded absently, "That, and your cooking is terrible."

Delano scowled, "Watch it, Greninja! I'm the one who controls how our paycheck is spent!"