New chapter! Finally! Hope whoever still reads this enjoys it.

Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, the only things I own are my OCs and the plot.

Chapter Nineteen: Start of the Quest

Sekani bolted out into the sunlight with a cheerful screech, "Finally! Freedom! Sunshine! Fresh air! Food!" Following close at his heels came the others, equally glad to see the sun after two weeks of traveling down the damp, dank, seemingly endless tunnel. Mira couldn't help but wonder how there was even oxygen in a tunnel that long considering how it went under the sea floor. But, she wasn't one to look a gift ponyta in the mouth, so she simply bounded out with the others and settled for being grateful to be free of the darkness at last.

Bounding past the celebrating group, she shot straight up a tree. Coming to a stop amid the top branches, she tilted her head back and simply relished in the breeze. There were only faint hints of salt water, something that surprised her, she had assumed that the tunnel would end on the coast, but a critical look at the horizon revealed that they were surprisingly far inland. So, the island isn't as far offshore as I thought. Disturbing. Closing her eyes, she took another deep breath, innocent appreciation beginning to give way to tactical analysis, trees of varied kinds … is that Oak? No, that's Western Sycamore. Fresh water, there must be a river or stream nearby. Sandstone? Mountains then, no surprise there and …. snow?

Opening her eyes, she turned on the branch to stare to the south, Yep, snow. I don't remember anywhere in Kanto, Johto, or Hoenn that had only a single mountain in the mountain range covered top to bottom in snow. So … we must be in a different region. One that I am, inevitably, unfamiliar with. Wonderful. Taking another deep sniff, she frowned in concentration, I don't smell any human scent, gasoline, smog, or artificial paint. I don't see any power lines either. We must be very far out in the wilderness then, that's a mercy at least. More time to educate the others on humans and foreign Pokemon clans.

Her sniffing turned into a long sigh, now there was an entirely different set of problems. During the trek in the tunnel, Mira had done her best to educate her friends on humans, Pokemon Trainers, and the like, but the entire effort had been riddled with problems. For one, she had nothing with which to compare humans, the profession of Trainers, or their equipment beyond backpacks and basic supplies.

For another, it turned out that while Islanders had heard of humans, any true information about them had long been lost and the legends that replaced the truth were so monstrous and erroneous that her attempts to rationally explain pokeballs and official battles had been met with nothing but confusion, revulsion, and, in Sekani's case, high pitched screeching. After that reaction to a simple competition, Mira had decided to put off mentioning that some Pokemon clans were nuts enough to eat other Pokemon for as long as possible. It was simply too stressful a topic to discuss in the damp, desolate dark of the monorail tunnel.

Dale's voice interrupted her musing, calling to her from the base of the tree, "What's the news, Mira?"

Mira twitched her ears slightly as she called down, "The good news is that we aren't near any human settlements that I can see!" She paused to climb down the tree, letting the others, namely Sekani and Ahanu, give cheers of relief before she landed on the ground and continued, "The bad news is, I have no idea what region we're in or what clans to expect in this area."

This statement caused the cheering to trail off as they all thought about the implications. Castor shuffled his paws a bit, "What should we do then?"

Leal, who had apparently paused in the inspection of a particularly large hollow log in order to cheer, now turned his attention back to poking his head through a hole in its top, "We must look for the Guardian of course!" His enthusiastic words boomed out through the clearing and most likely the next fifty yards of woodland via the sound amplifying qualities of the hollow log. Mira winced at the loud noise and flattened her ears against her skull while the others all flinched and did the same.

Cora stomped over to the log, scrambled on top of it, grabbed Leal's tail, and promptly pulled, forcing the Riolu's head out of the log with a yelp, "Let everyone in the forest know we're here and what we want, will you?"

Leal extracted his tail from Cora's grip and proceeded to rub it while looking sheepish, "My apologies…" Cora refrained from chewing out the embarrassed Riolu, settling for just glaring at him instead while Mira tried to form a strategy around her growing headache. Right, looking for the Guardian. I could still follow the plan I made in the tunnel, but since I don't know the region … Well, I don't have any backup plans at the moment, so I guess we have no choice.

Rearing up on her hind paws, Mira called out, "Alright everyone, listen up!" Looking around to make sure she had everyone's attention, Mira took a quick breath and launched into giving orders, "As I explained in the tunnel, since we have no real clues as to what happened to the Guardian, we're going to have to start from the ground up, so to speak. Now, I have a strong suspicion that the Guardian of your island has either been drawn away from the Island by some unknown matter, or more likely, been lured away and captured by humans." Sekani opened his mouth to gasp, but Mira quieted him with a look, "The only way to confirm this is to head to human settlements and gather information. So that is what we're going to do."

Dale flattened his ears a bit, "Are you sure that's a good idea, Mira? All of us … we've never even seen a human before."

Cora nodded nervously, "What if we get spotted and a human uses one of those … poi-balls on us?"

Mira idly wondered why she always seemed to end up in charge in situations like these as she answered, "Okay, one, the word is pokeball, pokeballs being the plural. Two, I have a plan for that. When we reach a human settlement, most of you will stay well hidden on the outskirts and ask around among the wild Pokemon while I scout in the town itself. Should you need to enter the town with me or for any other reason, just use your skills to stay hidden and remember to wear an accessory of some kind. Wearing a bow or a pendant like what Castor has will make most humans believe that you already have a trainer and will not try to catch you. The ones that will try anyway are either thieves or just plain stupid and should be easy to shake off."

Mira shrugged fractionally, "Besides, there's no other way to get the information we need. If humans did capture the Guardian, and he is as important and ancient as you all say, then it will be big news. Humans love to brag about rare pokemon captures, so it should be a simple matter to start gathering clues. If he was captured by criminals, then the police pokemon should be able to tell us, they keep track of any unwanted or illegal activity in their territories."

Shooting them all as soft a look as she dared, she added, "I wouldn't have us head to a human settlement unless I really believed it was necessary. The clans around here who do not have human contact will not be able to tell us anything about the Guardian. We need to find humans and go from there."

The others all exchanged looks before slowly nodding, even Sekani and Ahanu nodded from their positions of huddling against each other. Mira glanced at them in surprise, "You're agreeing with me, just like that?"

Ahanu gave a tiny shrug, "Well … you've been right so far. You're plans always seem to work out … somehow … so … if you really insist."

Sekani nodded and squeaked, "What he said. I'll go, but don't expect me to sneak into any human settlements! Or interact with humans … or ghosts … and no more caves! And-"

Mira waved a paw to cut Sekani off, "I get it. We'll worry about human settlements and who goes where later, for now, we need to figure out which way to go."

Dale drooped one ear thoughtfully, "Couldn't we find and ask one of the native pokemon for directions?"

Mira frowned, "Yes … but we'll have to be careful which clan we ask, we don't want any unnecessary trouble. For now … We should either double back towards the coast or make our way towards a mountain I saw while up in the tree. Humans tend to live near water, so places where fresh water flows into the ocean or where mountain snow melts and forms streams and rivers would both be safe bets."

Castor twitched at the mention of the ocean, no doubt not happy at the though of heading towards a massive body of water, "I vote we head for this mountain you mentioned."

Dale wagged his tail a bit, "This forest doesn't seem too different from my home, as long as we stay in the woods, I should be able to forage for supplies whenever we need them."

Cora rubbed her head thoughtfully, "Doesn't really matter to me, but if we head toward the ocean, we might be able to find more people from my clan. You said there were Blastoise members in regions other than on the island, right?"

Mira made a so-so motion with one paw, "Yes, but wild ones are extremely hard to find, most of the Blastoise clan members I've ever seen had human trainers." Mira almost rolled her eyes at the horrified looks that were shared between Cora and the others, but managed to ignore it for the moment.

Recovering from the horror glancing, Leal said tentatively, "The Guardian is said to live in the depths of the ocean … if humans were indeed powerful enough to capture him … would they not take him far away from his natural element to weaken him further?"

Ahanu shuffled uneasily, "There are more things to hide behind in the forest…"

Sekani, from his newfound perch on Ahanu's head, said flatly, "We are intentionally seeking out danger and either choice probably has plenty of it. So, I really can't offer an opinion except … no more caves. I am done with creepy, wet, dark, slimy, echoey, potentially haunted, endless…" He trailed off when he spotted Cora's increasingly exasperated look before squeaking out, "caves. No more caves, please."

Cora, despite the seriousness of the conversation, muttered, "Is it really so hard to just say that and save us all the melodrama?"

Sekani flattened his ears, "I'm trying to convey my sincerity!"

Castor waved his tail to get their attention, "Focus, you two!" Turning to Mira he asked, "What do you think is the best idea, Mira?"

Right, I seem to be the official leader of this group now. Then again, if Mira thought about it, she had been the leader of the motley band for a while now. Straightening up a bit, Mira pushed down the lump of unease forming in her stomach and took charge, "Like I said, both ways are good ideas, but since the general consensus is for the forest, we'll head for the mountain. It will give us better opportunities for the other part of my plan anyway."

Leal cocked his head to one side, "Other part?"

Mira looked around at them grimly, "Yes, training. If we run into other clans, they may not take kindly to us trespassing on their territory. We may have to fight them to make them let us through. If we meet any human trainers a fight is guaranteed. All of us are interesting pokemon that they will want in their possession. Cora and Leal, especially. The Lucario clan is rare even on the mainland and Cora, your shell color is extremely unusual and thus, makes you a much more interesting catch. Castor and Dale, you two are also rare, the Charizard clan is hardly ever seen in the wild and the Eevee clans many evolutions makes your clan famous as unique and valuable battlers."

She took a deep breath and briefly observed the frightened looks on her friend's faces, "For those reasons, as well as the nature of our mission, you are all going to have to get much stronger. I will be training you as we travel. Endurance training, strength training, new moves, IV stats, everything." She shot a dangerous look at Sekani and Ahanu, "Pokemon with human trainers are usually much stronger any of the 'wild' clans. They battle more, they see more, their trainers drive them to be the best they can be. You thought the fight with the Spearow gang was hard? That our battle in Kuro cave was tough? A fully trained team of Pokemon following a human trainer could have sent them packing in minutes. If we want to all stay free, then all of us are going to have to be able to hold our own. I am going to do everything I can to make sure that all of you handle yourselves in a fight against those kinds of odds and there will Be. No. Complaining. Got it?"

The entire group nodded mutely, obviously trying to wrap their minds around the enormity of the task ahead of them. Even in the long tunnel, it hadn't seemed to fully sink in just how much of a wild Ducklett chase their quest was. Now at least, with the massive and unfamiliar forest all around them, they appeared to be realizing just how much tougher the world outside their home was. Mira allowed her stance to relax, alright, now that I've made my intentions clear, time to get this show on the road.

Readjusting the pack on her back, she said, "Okay, with that out of the way, let's get going. I want to find a river or something before we start training." No one seemed to want to speak as they obediently fell in step with Mira as she headed in the direction of the mountain she had spotted.

They walked in a subdued silence for several hours, all of the islander pokemon feeling too nervous at their foreign surroundings and Mira's words to speak, Mira not really knowing what to say to help. She had only spoken the truth, it was not something she could soften unless she wanted to risk letting one of her friends get hurt. The silence was finally broken by Leal, who had been looking around intensely at their surroundings throughout the entire hike, "I don't sense any Pokemon nearby. Shouldn't this forest have many clans?"

Mira frowned slightly, she had noticed the disturbing lack of pokemon, but still wasn't sure what to make of it, "It … might be the entrance to the tunnel. The clans of this forest might be trying to stay well away from it."

Leal nodded slowly, "It does give off an uncomfortable aura…"

Sekani finally piped up, apparently amendable to conversation so long as someone else broke the silence first, "It's a cave, of course it gives off an 'uncomfortable aura'."

Leal huffed, "It is more than that. It … and the other Kuro Cave in Meiro Woods felt very … dark. Like … I'm not sure how to describe it."

Mira sighed faintly, knowing that this topic would not make anyone feel better, but deciding to help Leal elaborate anyway, "It feels like death and suffering. I may not be able to sense aura like your clan can, but I know what the tunnel smelled like. All of you probably have never smelled death before, at least not in great enough amounts to notice its scent when its many years old. I've heard that really strong or traumatic emotions can become imbedded in the aura of places when there isn't lots of activity afterward to replace it. Judging by the smell of the tunnel, no one had been down there for years after the imprinted incident until the Zoroark started sending search parties through."

Silence fell over them again for a few moments before Dale asked softly, "Have you smelled a lot of death and suffering before, Mira?" Mira stiffened fractionally, mind running over her previous sentences until she figured out what had prompted the question, Lightning bolts.

Without looking away from the imaginary path she was leading them down, Mira murmured, "Enough times to recognize the scent."

Ahanu, waddling quietly at the back of the group, asked timidly, "W-why? W-was it humans?"

Images flashed through Mira's mind briefly before she pushed them away and whispered hoarsely, "Death is a big part of this world, Ahanu. It's the counterpart to life. One cannot exist without the other, no matter if humans are there or not. I just happen to be a more closely acquainted with it than others."

Mira sensed the mood falling even further and, knowing that low morale would inevitably lead to poor training, stress, and emotional breakdowns, sought to cheer the mood, "We'll take a break for lunch soon, it's past noon. Leal, can you sense anyone nearby?" Leal hesitated in his walking, eyes squeezing shut to concentrate on the world around him. With a low growl of concentration, the two black bulbs on the back of his head slowly rose and quivered for a few seconds before falling back into their previous position. Leal opened his eyes and panted a bit as he shook his head, "I sense … no one … but my Aura Sight … is far from the best."

Mira nodded calmly, "You did fine, we'll practice it later. For now…" She pricked her ears and focused, consciously searching for the sounds of running water that she'd been dimly hearing for a few minutes now on the very edge of her hearing range. That way.

Dale's ears twitched slightly on his head as he turned in the same direction Mira was starting to face, "I think I hear water that way." Mira nodded her agreement and the group altered their course to head for the stream.

Soon, they broke out of the thick trees and into a long, narrow clearing through which the stream Mira and Dale had heard ran. Late afternoon sunshine spilled freely across the swaying grass and flowers, unhindered by the thick foliage that protected the rest of the forest interior. It refracted off of the wide, shallow stream like rippling white crystals, the pebbled bed of the babbling stream clearly visible through its shining depths. Despite the heavy mood of the group, Mira heard several of her friends give tiny gasps of delight. It was truly a beautiful sight after having spent so long in the dark tunnel and then in their dark thoughts.

Cora made to run to the stream, but Mira stopped her with a swift flick of her tail, "Wait." Sniffing the air carefully, Mira inspected the clearing for signs of traps or other visitors before lowering her tail into a relaxed position again, might as well start the lessons now, "When approaching a new place, especially one that's open, always check for strangers, traps, or out of place scents before proceeding. We're clear, so you wouldn't have gotten in trouble, but clearings like these can be popular spots for humans and pokemon alike."

Cora made a nervous face and Mira rolled her eyes, "I'm giving advice, not trying to scare you. Now go splash around in the water. I know you want to." Cora glanced sidelong at Mira before resuming her trot for the stream, the others following close behind. Watching them all crowd along the stream bank for a drink, Mira briefly shot up a tree to regain her bearings on the mountain's direction and the surrounding area before jumping down to have a drink herself.

Over the course of lunch, a good mood finally returned to the group, automatic antics and teasing amidst the chattier members of the group slowly restoring the youthful air of optimism that had been present during their earlier adventures. Mira munched reservedly on a poffin, knowing that once they ran out, they wouldn't be getting any more by legal means. Pokemon in the regions outside of the island didn't cook for strangers unless they were a community of domestic pokemon.

Sekani attempted to steal an extra poffin from Dale, who playfully snapped at the Aipom's paw while Cora ran around the clearing chasing Ahanu, who had successfully snatched several poffins from the Squirtle's pack when she wasn't looking only to attract her attention with his loud chewing noises when he tried to eat all of them at once. Mira kept an ear idly cocked toward the rest of the forest even as she smirked faintly at the antics of the group. Might as well let them enjoy this before things get difficult.

When lunch finally wound to a close, Mira stood up and called, "Alright everyone, listen up." All gazes swung to her and Mira leveled her firmest stare at them as she continued, "Since there don't appear to be any other pokemon in the area, this is the perfect place to start your training. Normally, training would come before lunch, but since this is the first day, I'm going to start you off easy anyway. As we get deeper into the region, I'm going to be shifting up training times and increasing the difficulty of lessons, but for now, we'll get started on the basics. Got that?"

Sekani gave a dramatic groan, but hastily quieted down when Mira, Cora, and Leal all glared at him simultaneously. Castor waved his tail a bit as he asked, "Where do we start?"

Mira narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and crossed her front paws over her chest, "Warm-up stretches for all, then move practice." With quick efficiency born of long experience, Mira organized her friends into groups, making them first run through warm-up routines specially designed for their body types, then separated them further so as to start giving them orders on what to practice. Ahanu, as he had no attacks of his own, was immediately given the honor of being the target for special attacks so as to get in some deflecting practice.

It took almost a minute of glaring and explaining to get everyone to consent to using Ahanu as a target for their special attacks, Ahanu included. But, after repeating her stipulation that she was teaching them to survive in the "outside world" and that they had agreed to follow her orders without complaint, they fell obediently into line. Placing Ahanu at one side of the clearing, Mira calmly pointed at Castor, who was standing just on Ahanu's side of the stream, "You first, Castor. Start using Flamethrower on Ahanu. Start off slow then begin increasing the speed of your attacks. Ahanu, if Castor starts legitimately going too fast, either start dodging or call for a break."

Castor blinked reluctantly at Mira before turning towards Ahanu, "Here I come, Ahanu!"

Ahanu gave a salute, "O-okay! Hit me!"

Taking a deep breath, Castor opened his mouth and fired a flamethrower attack just as Mira added dryly, "Oh, and Castor…" The flamethrower attack surged through the air at Ahanu, who crossed his arms in front of his face and immediately glowed with psychic energy as he initiated Mirror Coat. The flamethrower smacked off of the Mirror Coat and surged back toward Castor at easily double the speed and power at which Castor had launched it. Castor gave a high pitched yelp of shock and barely managed to duck under the rebounded attack, the fire sizzling across his back scales as he failed to get completely under its trajectory in time.

Mira watched the jet of flame surge past her face and into the stream, extinguishing with a hiss of steam before turning back to the smoking and big-eyed Castor and finishing calmly, "Remember that Mirror Coat reflects any Special Attacks back at the attacker at double the speed and power. You'll need to learn to dodge while you shoot as you start increasing the speed and intensity of your flamethrower."

Castor shot her a pleading look which she promptly ignored in favor of turning to an uneasy Cora, "Cora, until Castor is done, practice the strength and speed of your Tackle. Hit that tree," Mira pointed at a tall oak, "As hard and fast as you can from different angles, first from the left, then right, then a jump tackle, then straight on. Got that?"

Cora blinked and muttered with incredulous sarcasm, "Sure. Want me to knock the entire thing down with one blow too?"

Mira retorted in complete seriousness, "Not on this particular tree, but yes. Once you can, we'll be moving on to some of the more taxing physical attacks." Cora's mouth flopped open wordlessly in shock, watching for a few moments as Mira walked calmly away to stand by Sekani before obediently turning toward the tree.

Seeing her coming, Sekani cringed a bit, not even glancing when Castor shrieked in surprise at a particularly fast flamethrower rebound. Mira lowered one ear at Sekani thoughtfully before turning to Dale, "Dale, come over here."

Dale trotted over unhesitatingly, ears pricked in curiosity, "Yes, Mira?"

Mira motioned to Sekani, "Start teaching Sekani how to use Swift, that way you'll get in more practice with it and he'll learn how to do something other than running up to the enemy screaming and scratching hysterically."

Sekani blurted, "Hey! At least I run toward the enemy! Sometimes…" Mira shot Sekani a look that stated in no uncertain terms that she was not impressed.

Dale quietly entered the conversation so as to prevent Sekani from earning any electric shocks, "It's fine, Sekani. Besides, Swift would be a good move for you. Its more long-range to mid-range instead of close-range. If you learned it, you wouldn't have to get so close to an opponent in order to defeat them." Sekani perked up at the prospect of not having to run toward the things he feared and he and Dale sequestered themselves in a corner of the clearing to practice where they wouldn't risk hitting the others or being hit by the increasingly hard to ignore flamethrowers Ahanu was reflecting.

Finally turning to the last of their group, Leal stood rigidly at attention as Mira approached, "What are your instructions, Lady Mira?"

Mira studied Leal thoughtfully for almost a full minute, weighing the pros and cons of her next action. I promised I'd teach them so as to keep them safe … but is he ready? Course, I could train him to be ready … "How good are you at harnessing your energy, Leal?"

Leal's ears twitched in surprise at the question, but he maintained his militaristic stance, "Well … according to the clan instructors my sensitivity to Aura is abnormally high for my un-evolved state and my physical prowess is adequate. However … my abilities to harness the energy needed for special attacks aren't what they should be." So, naturally higher attack stat, lower special attack stat. I … can work with that actually.

Mira looked around the clearing critically, watching the others all working on their respective exercises before turning back to Leal, "Follow me, we need a little more room for what I have in mind." Leal gave a puzzled frown as he followed Mira a few yards into the trees where they could still easily hear the others, but were removed enough so as to prevent any friendly fire from either groups. Picking out large rock as her target, Mira said, "Watch carefully, Leal. I'm going to be teaching you a new move." Leal's aura-sensors bobbed faintly in surprise as he nodded and shifted on his paws attentively.

Closing her eyes, Mira concentrated, right front paw clenching into a fist as she stood before the rock. With a battle-cry, her eyes snapped open and she leaped high in the air, her fisted paw taking on a bright glow that slowly increased in intensity until she reached the apex of her jump and came crashing down on the rock, forcefully punching it with her glowing fist. The rock shattered into several large shards, dust flying into the air as her fist kept going, through the rock and into the ground underneath.

Jumping away from where the rock used to be, Mira turned back to Leal, "That was a Fighting-type attack called Focus Punch. It requires intense concentration. Your mind must be cleared of everything except the battle and the attack you are about to perform before you can successfully launch it. It takes a bit to charge up, so if you get hit and your concentration breaks, you'll be in trouble."

Leal, who had been gaping unashamedly throughout the explanation, finally recovered enough to ask, "How … how do you know a fighting-type move?"

Mira shrugged and carefully shook her right paw in an effort to work off the sore feeling in it, "I was tutored, same as I'm doing to you. It's a powerful technique, good for taking an opponent off guard. They don't usually expect a little electric-type like me to know a move that powerful."

Leal sputtered faintly, "Why did you not use it in any of our previous battles? It-it's so strong!"

Mira scowled a bit at her paw as she answered, "One, because gossip works fast and there's no point in having a surprise move if you use it all the time and gain a reputation. Two, I prefer electric-type attacks or Iron Tail. Three, Focus Punch hurts my paw like nobodies business and requires me to get in really close with my opponent. Thunderbolt or Electro Ball usually do the job from a safe distance and without taking up my concentration or making my paw feel like its been badly bruised."

Looking back up at Leal, she continued, "But, what with you being a Fighting-Type, you won't have my pain problem, it will come much more naturally to you, and it is a good fallback attack for when more complicated ones fail."

Leal practically had stars in his eyes, "Teach me!" That's what I'm doing, isn't it?

Mira calmly pointed toward the largest surviving rock chunk, "We'll start with the most basic part of the move. Punching." Then comes concentration, then combining the two into an attack. As Leal eagerly jogged up to the rock and began punching it, Mira tilted her head back to check on the time, late afternoon to early evening … I'll let them train for about an hour, then we'll get moving again. Looking back down, she immediately scowled, "Oy! Your stance is all wrong! You expect an opponent to just stand there and let you punch? Light on your paws, Leal! You know that from previous fights! Light on the rear paws, throw your weight into the punches, and always be ready for retaliation!"