Hey, everyone! Contrary to an anomynous review's beliefs, I am not dead, nor am I done with this story! Sorry it took me so, so, so unfairly long to update, but I've been busy with homework that I didn't finish over the school year, my driver's ed, the outline for my book, and my brother's swimming classes. Also, I started a few new fanfics, like Titans Neo, and Always look on the Bright Side of life (which none of you have seen or reviewed), that got in my way as well, not to mention I've been slaving over the sequel to Fast Love, and my Dad's retiring soon. So, here's my apology.

Anyway...Today's special thanks goes to... Chicflick and her friend! Thanks for the OCs!

The sun rose, painting the Lopunny Village with with bright red light, shining through the dew-drops on the grass. Bessie and Bonehead (after one hundred brushes) were packing their backpacks, preparing themselves for their journey to Dragonite's Trading Post. In little time, they were off, walking down the dirt path and on their way. Bessie smiled as she felt the money for the milk jingling in her bag, along with her own personal treasure; her precious diamond. She had big plans for that little beaut. After a long walk, they could see the wooden buildings that made up the trading post, lying by the ocean.

The post was built about ten years ago. A merchant named Dragonite had come along, carrying many items from the mainland. People would come and buy them, and soon he'd fly back to the mainland to buy more. Eventually, he set up a port, and created the trading post. Ships could land in his port (for a fee) and they could sell the merchandise from the stalls they had rented from Dragonite, who had gone from a salesman to a millionare, setting more trading posts up all over the world, giving his products to those who lived far from most civilization.

Bessie had never been allowed to go the trading post alone. The trading post had its pubs and bars, and it wasn't exactly thief free. The post had its share of scum, but all and all, it wasn't a bad spot to shop. Especially if you lived so far away from the rest of the world.

The duo arrived at the post. Bonehead's curiousity got the better of her almost immidiently; she was looked at everything there was, and then she looked at everything there was again. All of the strange things from distant lands caught her attention. She was almost at every stall at once, Bessie chasing after her all the way.

"Oh, look at that!" said Bonehead as she ran up to a food stand.

"Not milk," replied Bessie. "Come on, we need to go on our errand. We have time to look at this stuff later!"

"Aww..." moaned Bonehead, as they walked to Miltank's Dairy. "After that, we get to go look at the other stands, right?"

Bessie nodded. "Sure, why not," not really meaning it. She had her own plans for the morning, and spending them looking at cheap jewelry was not one of them. "Come on!" she said. "The dairy is this way!"

"Augh..."

Violet's eye slowly peeped open, wincing as light filled her eyes. "What the... Where are we...?" she moaned.

She was laying on a bed in an unfamilier room. Venom was sleeping on the bed next to her, and Cotton was lying on the bed next to his. Aero and Lily were no where in sight. Maybe they had gone to spend their loot back in town.

Speaking of loot...

Violet's eyes widened. She jumped out of her bed and grabbed her bag off the floor, opening it up. Sure enough, there was the Life Fragment, glowing brightly. She gave a gasp of reilief. She had been worried that one of the others might have stolen it.

Where were the others?

"Venom!" she said. "Hey, Venom! Wake up!"

"Dad..." Venom muttered in his sleep. "They started it..."

"VENOM!" Violet shouted directly into the snake's ear.

Venom's eyes shot open, and he bolted up. "What was that for?" he growled, looking down at the cat.

"Bright and alert as always, I see," remarked Violet. "Do you know where the others are?"

Venom nodded. "Aero woke me up a while ago. She said that she and Lily were going out for breakfast, and then they were going shopping in the market-place."

Violet made a sour face. "And they didn't ask me?" she asked.

"Maybe they found you annoying," Venom retorted.

Violet huffed and turned away. "They were probably just hungry, and were too polite to wake me up."

Venom rolled his eyes before laying his head down on his pillow again. "Whatever."

Cotton chose this minute to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she groaned as she got out of bed. "Where are we?" she yawned.

"In the inn at the trading post," said Violet, looking around. "Nice room. First class, it looks like!"

"I think it was the squirrel's idea," Venom hissed. "She wanted a nice bed." He shook his coils, releaved to find that they didn't hurt at all. "Good decision, on her part. I haven't slept that well in weeks."

"We're rich now, remember?" Violet reminded him. "I saw we use some of our newfound wealth to enjoy some roomservice!"

Cotton nodded, very hungry. "Do you think they have apples?"

"Apples?" asked Violet. "This is a first class in we're sleeping in! We're not just getting apples! We're ordering bread, and eggs, and cheese, and cherries, too!"

Venom felt his stomach growl. "You think they have hash browns?" he asked.

Violet grinned.

Noon had arrived, and the square was currently crowded. Hundreds of Pokemon were running about, buying, selling, stealing, complaining, and bargaining. Almost every kind of Pokemon could be seen, from Bulbasaur to Snivy, from Flareon to Leafeon, and so-forth. Shopkeepers peddled their wares, shoppers bought what they wanted, and performers played for an extra Poke, dancing, singing, or playing music as onlookers gave them loose change for their talents.

The place was so crowded that few looked as cloaked figure walked in, pushing a cart that smelled of warm noodles, followed by two squid-like Pokemon with curvy shells, and two brown-shelled crab-like creatures.

The hooded figure pulled the cart up to the side of the dirt road. He turned to his head over to his followers. "You two," he said to the squids, "you stay here and sell the noodles. Keep an eye out for the people I've described. Is that clear?"

The two squids nodded. "Yes, Lord Tsa' aal," they said, unhappily.

Behind his cloak, Tsa' aal nodded. "You two," he said to the Kabuto. "Keep quiet and hidden. We're going to hunt them ourselves. Make sure they don't see you, otherwise you may give us away! I'm going to ask around and see if anyone knows them."

The two Kabuto nodded. "Uh... Sir?" one quietly asked. "Are you certain that they'll be here?"

Tsa' aal glared. "Are an idiot or something?" he said, scathingly. "They just raided an ancient treasure trove! They'll want to spend their money and get themselves something nice."

"Oh!" the Kabuto said. "Of course, sir! Eh, forgive my own... eh, stupidity."

Tsa' aal rolled his eyes. "If you see them, report back here. I'll be back before sunset. Find out where they live, and who they are. Once we find who has the shard, we find him or her, and dispose of them."

The Kabuto blinked. "Dispose of them?" one of them exclaimed. "You mean, kill them?"

"Shh!" Tsa'aal hissed. "People... are... looking..."

The Kabuto turned to see a few onlookers staring at them curiously. "But, sir!" he hissed. "From your discription, they were very young! We really need to kill such younglings?"

Tsa' aal sighed. "Well, fine. You don't have to help me kill them," he said. "But keep something in mind." He glared down at the Kabuto and hissed, "If you don't, you're risking her wrath. You know what she'll do to you if you don't follow her orders." He put the flat side of his blade onto his neck and made slicing sound.

The Kabuto shrunk back. "I... understand, sir."

"Good," Tsa'aal said, turning away. "I'll be back before sundown. You'd better have some information before then, for your sakes."

"Yessir!" the group of fossil Pokemon answered, before seperating and heading off.

Tsa' aal grit his teeth, before walking off, dissapearing into the crowd.

"Hey, man! Wakey wakey! Let's go! Up and at 'em!"

Chris groaned as he opened his eyes. Breaker was kicking the side of his shell in an effort to rouse him from his slumber. "I'm up... I'm up..." he moaned as he sleepily got up.

"Glad to hear it, sleepin' beauty," Breaker said. "Yer the last one up. Everyone else is eating their breakfast."

Chris stretched. "Great," he said, as the two Pokemon walked to the galley of the Avenger. "Where are we? Any closer to the mainland?" he asked.

Breaker nodded. "Yeah. We landed near a little, out of the way island called Tiny Island. We need to pick up some food supplies. Never counted on having five extra passengers."

Chris nodded. That made sense. "Good to hear."

The others were in the galley, eating their breakfast as the ship sailed along. Faye and Ghost were having an apple slice stacking contest, Nicholas was chewing his pieces quietly while Trinity went on and on about the honorable career that was blacksmithing, Blade was in the corner, his arms folded, and Shadow was off somewhere being Shadow-ish.

"Alright, folks," Breaker announced. "We're near Tiny Island. We're stopping off for supplies and food, and then we're heading on our happy little way." He looked over his passengers. "Alright, here's the deal. I'm going to buy our food. Iron is staying behind and making sure the ship isn't stolen or anything. He's a bit paranoid about it, but it is our only form of transportation! Blade is heading to the post office to check if we have any mail, and he's sending a letter to the mainland to Trinity's apprentice. You all can go ashore too. However, we are leaving come sundown. If you aren't back, we're leavin' without you, got it?"

The passengers nodded. Breaker cracked a grin. "Good. Nicky, you got the kids."

Nicholas blinked. "Wha-? Why me?" he stammered.

"Because, you're the best with the kids, man. I sure as heck ain't letting Shadow keep an eye on them," Breaker said.

Shadow made a humph sound, but said nothing.

Faye and Ghost were excited, and the two children grabbed Nicholas' hands and pulled him up, heading up to the deck to see the island up ahead. Chris sighed as he followed them, walking up to the deck above.

Tiny Island lay about a mile away. The island was, well, tiny. He could make out a port and a small town by the beach, but other than that there were no signs of civilization or advancements that could be found on larger, more advanced islands. Like Jade Island.

Chris frowned. Maybe that was why this little out of the way place was still around. Because it wasn't well known, or important. Maybe that's why it hadn't been destroyed.

Yet.

Chris leaned against the railing on the boat, as Shadow joined him, staring out at the port as they sailed towards the island.

"Nice lookin' place, eh, man?" asked Breaker.

Chris said, "Yeah," and Shadow nodded, saying little as per usual.

Breaker nodded. "Hey, Iron!" he shouted, turning to the Garchomp, who was driving the ship. "Ready to dock this thing?"

Iron nodded. "Should just take about five minutes, Boss!

Breaker nodded. "Good! Get to it! Blade, help me get the ropes so we can tie up at the dock!"

Blade nodded and walked off with Breaker, who was still shouting orders.

"Well," Chris remarked, staring out to the port, and watching as other ships docked. "This ought to be interesting."

"Yes," Shadow said. "Interesting."

Shade groaned in pain as Kiara and Echo, followed by Gizmo, forcibly escourted him to the Doctor's Office at the trading post. "Really, girls, this isn't a big deal!" he protested, as the two females shoved him into the town. "I'm fine really!"

"Oh, you're fine, are you?" growled Echo. She slapped the now festering bite mark from the Houndoom's battle with the Arbok from a few days ago. The dog howled in pain. "You don't look fine to me! The bite is infected, stupid!"

Shade winced in pain and he hissed as the pain shot through his body. "Don't do that!" he groaned.

Kiara slapped Shade in the back of the head. "Then stop whining!" she snapped. "This is your fault, anyway!"

Echo muttered, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, kitty cat," earning a glare from Kiara.

"Shade, when we're in the market, can we go and play some games?" asked a very excited Gizmo. It wasn't everyday you got to go to the trading post, especially if you had an unsavory reputation.

Shade sighed. "Maybe. Depends on whether or not they throw us out."

Gizmo laughed. "They're just too amazed by you and Kiara, so they're jealous, right, bro?"

"Sure, kiddo," replied Shade, lying to his younger brother much to Echo's distaste.

"But first, you ARE going to see the doctor!" ordered Kiara. She poked his wound again.

Shade's pained cry echoed throughout the island.

"Oh, what about this one?" asked Lily, as she held up yet another hat.

Aero shrugged as she payed the starry eyed owner of the stand, a now much richer Zigzagoon. "Beats me," she said, too happy with her own purchases to really see what the Pachirisu was wearing. The Mawile was covered in necklaces, bracelets, and a new beautiful hat. Sure, she still was planning to head to the mainland and get a nice, new house (maybe a mansion) but a nice new wardrobe could help her make a few new friends. The amount of loot she was keeping in her second mouth was staggering.

"Well, I guess I'll just buy both!" Lily said, pulling a few coins from her bag and placing them into the Racoon Pokemon's shaking hands. She placed the green beret on her head, while putting her yellow sunhat into one of her many shopping bags. "So," she asked, as they exited the shop, "where to next? There's a nice store a few blocks down the street with nice bracelets and necklaces!"

Aero shrugged. "I guess so... But I know a better place!" she said. "It has the greatest looking... Tsa' aal?"

"It has Tsa' aal?" asked Lily, confused.

"No!" Aero said, grabbing Lily's hand and pulling her behind the shop they had been in. "Over there! It's him!"

Lily looked over to wear Aero was pointing. Her mouth dropped open. Although he was wearing a cloak that covered most of his face, they could easily see Tsa' aal's blades and hate-filled eyes as he walked throughout the markey place, occasionly speaking to a passerby, asking about something.

Lily swallowed. "Oh, boy," she said. "We're so screwed! What if he sees us?"

"Be quiet and he won't!" hissed Aero, as she kept her eyes on the Kabutops. "What is he doing here?" she muttered. "I thought we lost him back in the cave!"

"Well, he's out!" said Lily. "We need to tell the others! If he finds them, who knows what could happen?"

"Yeah!" Aero said. "Heaven knows that Gramps can't hold him off."

The duo waited for Tsa'aal to walk off, and then headed as quickly as they could back to the inn.

"H-hey!" Nicholas shouted. "Wait up, kids!"

Faye and Ghost were running throughout the noisy, chaotic, and altogether glorious for a child. They could smell fruits, noodles, and many other foods. A Chansey was passing out eggs to shoppers, a Parasect was giving out diced mushrooms, a Scyther was slicing up vegetables for his customers and a Pikachu was frying them with bolts of electricity, making delicious kabobs. While that was going on, a Sableeye was selling jewelry to a few females, a Snorlax allowed children to use his stomach as a trampoline for a small fee, and Ponyta and Rapidash acted as taxis, carrying people from one spot to the next. The noise was absolutely chaotic. Everyone seemed to be speaking at once:

"BZZT! THESE APPLES ARE TOO EXPENSIVE! BZZT!"

"Fresh eggs! Fresh eggs here!"

"Even FRESHER eggs! Right here, come on!"

"Stuffed toys! I have stuffed Pikachus, Growlithe, Squirtles...!"

"Hey! Ya gotta pay for that!"

"Race you back home! Let's go!"

"Hey, watch it!"

"I swear to Arceus! I'm really a human!"

"Hey! Look at that! Is that a mole?"

"It's called a horn, ya moron!"

"Ugh, my stomach! Let's get some lunch!"

"Gah! My eye! Watch where you're goin'!"

The sound was booming. Nicholas chased after Faye and Ghost, trying to not to lose them in the massive crowd. The two younglings were scampering around, looking at anything and everything.

"Wait!" shouted the Lopunny, as he followed the two kids. He chased aftet the two, until he bumped into Blade. The Scyther was standing in line for the post office.

"Lost them already?" asked Blade, slightly bemused.

Before Nicholas could answer Faye and Ghost ran up. "Hi, Mr. Blade!" they said, in unison.

"Heya," Nicholas said. "How you doing?"

"Just fine, thank you," Blade replied. He walked up to the post office stand, reaching into his bag. He pulled out a small badge. "My name is Blade," he said to the Wingull that was inside. "Team Berserker. Do you have any mail for us?"

The Wingull carefully examined the badge, making sure Blade was the real Mccoy. "Okay, sir!" the bird chirped. "Let me check..." He ducked under his desk, looking through a few envelope filled drawers. "Aha!" he said, pulling out an envelope with his wing. "It says 'To a Mr. Blade from a Ms. Leah'! I assume that's you?"

Blade nodded, taking the letter and leaving a few Poke for the Wingull's tip. "Thank you," he said, with a slight bow. He walked off, Nicholas and the two children following him.

"Who's Leah?" asked Faye, a teasing tone in her voice.

Blade opened the letter and began to read it. "A friend," he answered, simply.

"Is she a 'special' friend?" Ghsot teased.

Blade said nothing, but you could faintly make out a tinge of red crossing his face. "She's just a friend," he insisted, hiding his blush. He placed the letter into his bag. "She just wants to know when we make it home to the mainland."

Faye and Ghost began to make kissing sounds.

"That's enough, you two," Nicholas said. "Blade business is his own."

"Thank you," Blade said.

The sound of pottery breaking cut off any further conversation. The group turned to see Shadow, lying in a pile of broken clay pottery. A group of angry looking Espeons were charging him, their eyes filled with rage.

Shadow gave an angry grunt and jumped up, dodging the Psychic Eeveeloutions attack. He unleashed a Shadow Ball, striking one of them and knocking her aside with an angry grunt.

The Espeon growled and surrounded Shadow, who was breathing heavily.

"Look out!" Faye shouted, frightened.

"Intervene now?" asked Nicholas.

Blade raised his swords. "You guessed it."

Before the Espeons could tackle Shadow again, they found themselves cut off by Blade and Nicholas. One of the Espeon snarled angrily at Nicholas.,"Get out of the way, woma-!"

"I AM NOT A WOMAN!" roared Nicholas, making all four Espeons jump.

"Sorry..." the Psychic type muttered quietly, throughly frightenend. (A/N: You said that this joke was still funny, so I'm still using it!)

"Whats going on here!" demanded Blade.

One of the Espeons, their leader, appearently, angrily answered, "We found this mutt snooping around out ship! No doubt a spy sent to destory us and sabotage our ship!" She glared at the wounded Umbreon. "That was your intent, wasn't it, you miserable shadow lurker?"

Shadow said nothing, as usual.

"Answer me!" the female demanded.

"Enough!" Blade said, raising his voice for once. "Shadow is not a spy! He has been travelling with us for a few days now, and we found him on an island several miles from the mainland! He has no part in your idiotic clan war!"

The Espeon cringed at the samurai's words, backing off. A Bug Type against a Psychic Type was not a match in her favor. And that Lopunny didn't look all that happy. "V-very well!" she snarled, trying to seem tougher than she was. "We'll let that mongrel off... this time!" She turned to her companions. "Come on!" she ordered.

The Espeons ran off with their tails between their legs.

"Cowards," spat Blade.

Nicholas helped Shadow get onto his feet. "You alright?" he asked the Umbreon.

Shadow nodded. "I'm in one piece."

Nicholas nodded. "Good. What on earth was that all about?"

"Haven't you heard?" asked Blade. "The Umbreon and the Espeon clans have been at war with each other for almost a year now back on the mainland. They thought Shadow was a spy trying to gain information against them."

"Two clans of Eeveeloutions at war?" Nicholas said, shocked.

"That's so sad..." Faye said.

"It is," Blade said. "Just six monthes ago, we were hired to save several unevolved Eevees who were kidnapped by the Umbreon tribe and were being forced to evolve into Umbreons. It's awful and dishonorable, for any Pokemon."

"Then why would they be out here, so far from the mainland?" asked Nicholas.

"A few miles south, there's a tribe of Vaporeon that live on a small island. They're likely heading down there to try and arrange a treaty with them," Blade said, sourly. "This war is getting more and more out of hand every day. A few towns on the mainland won't let Eeveeloutions inside, to avoid getting involved with it."

"It's iditotic," remarked Shadow. "All these natural disasters... We need to be focused on those, not killing each other."

Blade nodded. "Well," he said, "speaking of natural disasters, we'd better head back to the ship soon. Breaker will want to be out of port ASAP."

"Thanks for the milk! Bye!" shouted Bonehead, as she waved to the Miltank who was running the dairy. The Cow Pokemon waved back, happily.

"Well, that was easy!" remarked Bonehead, as she and Bessie carried the milk bottles in their bags. "Let's get home really quickly and show your Mom!"

"Uh, yeah, about that," Bessie said. "See, before we go home, there's an errand I wanna make. A really quick one, I swear!" she added.

Bonehead nodded, naively. "Sure!" she said, cheerily. "Where is it?"

Bonehead and Bessie immediently found themselves in front of a dark, smelly and dirty looking bar. Bonehead's enthusiasm had died down immensely. "Bessie..." she said, uncertainly. "Why are we here?"

"Okay, look," Bessie said. "I never, ever get to go to the post alone. Which means I never really get to look around. See, I really, REALLY need to talk to someone in this bar. So, that's why we're here! I just need to run in really quickly, and then I'll be back, okay?"

Bonehead shook her head. "But your Mom said to stay together!"

Bessie rubbed her eyes. "I know what she said," she told the Cubone, irittated. "But, I really need to go and find an explorer! It's important!"

"I'm an explorer," pointed out Bonehead.

"I know you are," Bessie said. "But I need an official explorer for this job! One with a license and a good sense of detective skills!"

"Oh," Bonehead said, as if it were obvious.

Bessie looked down at the smelly old bar. She took a deep breath. "All right," she announced, "I'm going in!"

She walked bravely into the bar, followed closely by Bonehead. The Buneary kicked open the door and boldly walked inside.

The bar looked even worse on the inside. Shadows were cast in every corner. A deep musky scent was in the air. A lone, sad-eyed Nincada was tending bar, while a few Nidorans sat by a table a few feet away, playing cards. There weren't many Pokemon in the room, other than a few folks who looked they'd had too much to drink.

Bessie put on her bravest face and calmly walked inside.

Not two seconds later, a foot stuck out and tripped her.

Bessie hit the floor with a cry, dropping her bag. She angrily looked up at her attacker.

A very smug looking Sneasel was leering down at her. A wide brimmed hat was on her head, and her claws were unsheathed. "Well, well!" she said, with a grin. "What do you reckon we have here?"

Uh, oh! Sydney, the Sneasel who speaks with a Western Drawl is on the attack! Tsa' aal is loose in the city! The Espeon and the Umbreon are at war! What will happen next! If I can actually update soon, you'll find out!

Til next time!