Again, we're going to leave Round 2 of the Noivern battle alone for now, and instead switch back to the Elemental Islets, where two – no, make that three – groups of Pokemon are about to be reunited.

Because who doesn't love a reunion?

-.-.-.-.-.

The little raft floated innocently on top of the water, looking like a mere speck against the vastness of the big blue. Occasionally a Wingull would swoop low over the boat with a screech, only to find there wasn't any food to be seen and subsequently fly off.

Aside from the bird Pokemon, and the occasional Basculin jumping out of the water, the raft's three passengers were alone. Cobalt was beginning to find the alone-ness a little unnerving, as he had been alone ever since the destruction of Diamond Island, almost a day ago.

His Aura, although of course he didn't know it was that, was guiding him in which he felt to be the direction of the Elemental Islets, which the Riolu thought to be a good idea. There were friendly Pokemon living there, and there was always a rescue team keeping an eye on the place, either using the islands as a rest stop on their adventures or just helping Pokemon in need.

For now, though, Cobalt was lost in his thoughts as he rowed his raft. The afternoon sun, indeed sinking lower in the sky as the day grew old, had once troubled him with its heat, but it was cooling down now. The ocean water was pleasantly warm too, he noted as he idly rowed, paying no attention to his surroundings.

His two passengers, Gaby and Luke, were lying down on the raft together. The pitiful sail (made out of an old tablecloth), offered them some shade, which they delighted in resting and cooling down in. They, too, were thinking deeply, although occasionally they would speak their thoughts.

"Why do you think Diamond Island sunk?" Luke asked after a while. The question had been buzzing around in his mind since they had heard the dreadful news.

"I think a natural disaster was behind it," Gaby told him. "Probably an undersea quake or volcanic eruption." She shuddered and mused, more to herself than to Luke, "But a natural disaster that powerful hasn't been recorded before. How come they're suddenly getting worse?"

Luke turned over on his side to face her. "Do you think the natural disasters are connected to the Legendaries disappearing?" he asked, and Gaby turned her head slightly to look at him. This was an unexpectedly deep connection he was making – the Kirlia's first impression of him had been a young, timid, naïve Pokemon. But he was clearly wiser and more mature than his attitude let on.

"I don't know," Gaby murmured in response. "But none of us knows why the Legendaries decided to go into hiding like that. I heard that they used to help us all the time. Seaside Village had Lugia, Diamond Island had Dialga, Deepdark Island had Kyogre… even the Glacier of Absence had Kyurem. But now terrible things are happening to this world… Diamond Island sinking, the Ocean Faction is almost extinct, natural disasters are worsening and crime lords are popping up and taking over…"

It was one of those rare times when Gaby found herself overcome with emotion. This time, it was mostly fear, but there was sadness and confusion as well. The world was changing, and possibly even ending. Gaby herself was separated from her family and friends. The Kirlia was strong, but she was only still a child. Deep down, she doubted herself and often worried. She managed to hide all this behind her tough exterior, but occasionally it bubbled to the surface and destroyed it, forcing her to pull herself together again.

She spoke again, indeed with this emotion bubbling up in her voice. "I'm sorry, Luke," she said quietly. "I'm sorry for… for yelling at you like that earlier. I was desperate to get out of the storm, and I only… I only wanted you to be safe."

The Victini gave her a long look as he processed what she had just said. As he always did when he looked at her, he thought of how pretty she was. Her blue hair clip clashed pleasingly with her green "hair" and red horns, and her big, mysterious eyes were a lovely shade of crimson. She was strong and silent, something he admired greatly, but deeply caring as well, which he also liked. Luke felt like she was as perfect as a Pokemon could ever be. Even if a Legendary Pokemon appeared before him, he would still think that Gaby was just as beautiful and majestic.

But even as he thought these usual thoughts, Luke was also thinking about her apology. From those heartfelt words, he could see that Gaby cared about him, even if it was only as a friend, and indeed cared about him enough to wish for him to be safe. She was guilty for hurting his feelings when she had yelled at him.

In the end, Luke was at a loss for words. But despite this, he reached out and hugged the Kirlia tightly, silently telling her that she was forgiven.

Gaby herself was unsure of how to take the hug. By the Victini's smile, she could gather that it was meant to be affectionate. Was he forgiving her? Or was it something else? Either way, she moved to push him away, when she at last felt how good the hug really was. His head was snuggled on her shoulder, his little hands were firmly pressed against her back, and his silky fur felt soft and warm.

Gaby couldn't help herself. She hugged him back.

-.-.-.-.-.

The sun was just touching the horizon, setting the sky aflame with orange and pink, when the raft finally hit land. Cobalt had seen it only ten minutes ago, and the sight of solid ground seemed to spur him into a frenzy of action. Gaby and Luke, who had taken a short nap, were woken up by his actions and rapidly used their hands to paddle as well, not wanting to be floating in the ocean a millisecond more than they had to be.

At last, the raft ran aground on a small, sandy beach, and everyone quickly abandoned it. They instinctively relaxed when their feet finally touched the ground, although Cobalt had difficulty getting used to the sensation after almost a day of sailing. As they made their way further inland, he would frequently trip or stumble over his own feet. Gaby didn't notice her hair clip, already loosened from all the drama she had been through, fall to land gently in the sand.

The tenth time Cobalt fell, as they made their way into the forest, they decided to take a quick break for now. Much to Cobalt's relief, they all slumped against a tree and rested, still enjoying the sensation of having solid through and through to sit on.

The Riolu reached into his bag and pulled out a tattered map. Gaby looked over curiously and saw that it was a map of the western ocean, extending from Diamond Island in the south and Long Talon Peninsula in the north. Cobalt studied the map before nodding in satisfaction and putting it back in his treasure bag.

"We're on Fire Isle," he informed the other two. "Luckily it has a direct trade route with Seaside Village, so we can head there if we want and then plan our next steps."

Gaby frowned. What are our next steps? Do we head to Seaside Village and just go our separate ways? Or do we continue journeying together until we complete what seems to be being asked of us? As a Psychic-type Pokemon, Gaby was a great believer in destiny. And now she began to wonder if this storm hadn't separated her and her friends for any reason. Maybe they were meant to be scattered. But why? She shook her head – it was all so confusing.

"I think it would be safe for now to just focus on reaching the village," Luke chirped. "I heard there's a village around here." Cobalt nodded at this and replied, "Yes, there's a village on each of the isles – Ice Isle, Thunder Isle, and Fire Isle. I hear that their guardian Legendaries are Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres."

As Luke and Gaby mulled this over in their minds, there was a sudden rustle of leaves coming from somewhere, deeper in the forest. The Kirlia was so startled by the unexpected noise that she instinctively clutched Luke's hand. When she noticed this, she let go and shuffled away from him slightly. But she never noticed that his face was a bright shade of pink, bordering on magenta.

The bushes physically rustled this time, and before anyone could prepare for a potential fight, three figures jumped out from the foliage. Two were Eevee, and the other was a rare breed of Pokemon that everyone vaguely recalled being known as a Sylveon.

"You guys look unfamiliar," the Sylveon noted, obviously the leader of this little gang. "Right back at you," Cobalt said pointedly.

The Fairy-type Eeveelution nodded and replied with a bright smile, "I'm Okami. Pleased to meet you! We're Team Eevui, the rescue team from around these parts. These are my sisters, Miranda and Amanita." The two Eevee gave enthusiastic grins and nods to the group.

"You're a rescue team?" Luke said in astonishment. "That's right!" Okami said cheerfully. "But we mostly hang around here and do good, unless the Guardians send us a mission. We're new to this whole 'rescuing and exploring' business, you know." She dipped her head modestly and traced a random design with her paw in the dirt.

"So… could you help us?" Cobalt asked. Gaby nodded and stood up to Okami's eye level. "Yes, could you? We were separated from our friends in a storm. We ended up heading here to get help."

The three fox-like Pokemon shared skeptical glances. Luke saw this and said, "It's true! That storm scattered us all over the western ocean. And Cobalt said that Diamond Island was destroyed in another natural disaster!"

The urgency in his voice either didn't convince them, or wasn't noticed by them. Instead, Team Eevui snickered madly. "Are you serious?" Okami said when she had caught her breath. "Natural disasters can't destroy entire islands. You're either messing with us, or you're trying to con us into helping you with whatever your needs are."

The trio suddenly became serious. Miranda yelled, "Yeah, we don't tolerate bad Pokemon!"

Cobalt's temper started boiling over. Gaby motioned for him to stay put as she glared defiantly at the rescue team. "Are you serious?" she asked. "Rescue teams don't frame Pokemon as 'bad' on a whim. You're either messing with us, or you're just a terrible rescue team."

The Sylveon's eyes blazed with anger. "No one calls us a bad rescue team!" she shrieked, the lack of reaction in Gaby's eyes angering her further. The two teams of three squared off, neither yielding an inch to the other.

But then, a hostile-sounding voice rang out into the forest. "Then I guess no one tells the truth!" The six Pokemon turned as one to see a Glaceon and a Tirtouga walking towards them up the path.

Gaby and Luke simultaneously blinked and rubbed their eyes. It was Tortuga!

The Victini squealed with joy. Gaby simply broke into a relieved smile. Cobalt glanced from one to the other, thoroughly confused.

"Are these the friends you were telling me about?" the Glaceon asked curiously. Tortuga blinked blankly at said friends. "I can't remember," he said simply.

Cobalt, Gaby, and the Glaceon all blinked. Luke stumbled and fell, he was so shocked at Tortuga's answer. "Whaddaya mean, you can't remember?!" he demanded, for a moment sounding a lot like Pteryx.

"Yes, I thought you said something about a Victini and Kirlia before," the Glaceon said, confused. Tortuga shook his head and said calmly, "I did mention that, but I can't remember anything else about them."

Gaby shook her head, forcing herself to remain under control. Although she hadn't known the Tirtouga all that long, she couldn't just believe that he had gone and forgotten them just like that. The storm must have traumatized him in some way, she realized.

"Hmm… This is something to tell Nursey about," the Glaceon mused. "You claim not to remember them, but they claim to know you. How very strange. You must have hit your head or otherwise caused yourself to forget."

Okami and the Eevee twins stepped forward to take charge of the situation. "Of course they claim to know him! They were just now lying about Diamond Island sinking and accidentally washing up on shore!" Okami yelled.

The Glaceon gritted her teeth, and her fur seemed to freeze up into spikes, making her look very intimidating indeed. "Diamond Island did sink, you thick-headed ditz," she growled. "Team Bloodsucker told me about it just before I found this guy washed up on the beach with his Archen friend. If Team Bloodsucker's lying, then I'm a smoked Magikarp with steamed rice on the side!"

Okami, Miranda, and Amanita all paled. "Um… Ah… O-Okay, then…" the Sylveon muttered, heavily embarrassed at her blunder. The Glaceon advanced on her and said harshly, "I'd suggest you ask Team Bloodsucker for some much-needed advice on how to be a good rescue team while they're still in town."

Team Eevui all shook their heads. "Hanging around those creepy Bug-types? Nuh-uh!" Amanita protested. "Besides, we like to learn on the job," added Miranda.

Gaby shot them a glance and muttered, "Haven't been on the job much, then." If Okami caught the comment, she didn't say anything. Instead, she turned to Gaby, Luke, and Cobalt and said, "I'm sincerely sorry about that. It looks like we have a lot to learn about being a good rescue team."

The Kirlia accepted the apology graciously. Waving with their tails in farewell, Team Eevui bounded back off into the forest.

The Glaceon's spikes smoothed down again. "Sorry about them," she said with embarrassment. "They mean well, certainly… they just don't always do well." Cobalt waved off her apology and replied, "It had nothing to do with you. Don't apologize."

Tortuga raised a fin and said, "Look, if you're my friends, it's nice to see you again. If you're not, pleasure to meet you. My name's Tortuga."

Cobalt, who didn't know the fossil Pokemon to begin with, shook his flipper warmly. Gaby, however, said, "We are your friends, even if you don't remember us. And did you say 'Archen friend'?" she added to the Glaceon.

"I did," she said. "My name's Celosia, Celly for short. Tortuga washed up with an Archen wearing a black bandana. Sound familiar to you?"

Luke leapt up and did an enthusiastic victory pose. "Yeah, that's Pteryx all right!" he cheered. "Where is he, where is he?!" Now he was back to being the old Luke – bouncing around like a hyperactive child.

"We left him at Nursey's hut," Celosia replied. "He's in a mild coma, and being washed up on the beach evidently left some water in his lungs, but he'll be fine. That Audino is the best I've ever seen." Nodding in agreement, Tortuga piled on, "We were planning to go check up on him before the sun set anyway."

Celosia nodded. "We can take you to him, if you want. And who knows, maybe Nursey will be able to help Tortuga with his memory problem too."

The group set off with their new goal in mind. Celosia, however, lagged behind, trying to think. I promised myself since the death of my family that I'd never grow close to anyone else, she said to herself. But here I am with four new friends. I'm going to have to be careful and not let them get too close to me, otherwise it'll only come back to bite me in the tail.

-.-.-.-.-.

Rudy, Shadepelt, and Sylvester had been waiting for almost an hour on the coast of one of the Elemental Islets. They had abandoned their stolen boat in favor of pacing the beach or tossing seashells into the water. Even after an hour of this idle activity, Clawface still hadn't shown up.

"Seriously, how long can it take for one bird Pokemon to get reinforcements?" Shadepelt complained, throwing the hundredth clam shell in a row into the water. "When there's an entire ocean to cross?" her brother answered. The Purrloin grumbled under her breath and hurled another shell into the waves.

"Hey guys!" Rudy's voice shouted over to them from the other side of the beach. "Take a look at what I found!" The Krokorok had previously wandered off to explore – not that he thought he'd find anything interesting – and it appeared that he had indeed found something of interest.

The two cat-like Pokemon bounded to the other side of the beach where Rudy stood examining something. "Look at this," he said, pointing to whatever it was. Sylvester and Shadepelt raised their eyebrows in surprise upon discovering what it was.

It was what looked like a raft that was beached on the beach, so to speak. It appeared to be made of stray pieces of wood lashed together with rope, and the sail was made of a damaged tablecloth. It seemed to be in pretty rough shape, but also looked rather seaworthy for a vessel of its size.

"Hey, you think this came from Diamond Island?" Sylvester asked, and Rudy looked down at him with interest. "Maybe," he replied. "I guess if there were any survivors, they would have made this little craft and rowed out to sea in it looking for a safer place to live." He picked up a long, flat piece of wood that may have functioned as an oar.

Something shiny farther up the beach caught Shadepelt's eye. She slunk over to it and gingerly picked it up. It appeared to be a blue-colored hair accessory of some kind.

"Check this out!" she yelled, and her two partners came over to investigate. "The survivor seemed to have dropped this." She held up the blue clip.

Sylvester looked very unimpressed upon seeing it was only a hair accessory, but Rudy looked interested. He took it from Shadepelt's paw and held it up to the light. "I've seen this somewhere before!" he said suddenly. Then when he thought about it a little more, he exclaimed, "Got it! I have seen this before! The Kirlia Clawface and me were after was wearing it."

Shadepelt and Sylvester now looked almost excited. "You mean the one with the Shard?" Shadepelt asked, and Rudy nodded enthusiastically.

"This'll be easier than I thought now that we know she's on this island," Sylvester remarked, and then he suddenly stopped as a faint thrumming noise reached their ears.

Rudy glanced up to see at least forty bird Pokemon headed their way, led by a familiar long-beaked figure and an unfamiliar shiny-clawed figure. "Then let's tell that to them," he said with a smirk, indicating the incoming flock of Darkfeathers.

-.-.-.-.-.

I love those tender Luke/Gaby moments. But this time we see enough to be sure that the Victini is madly in love with her. Will she ever realize, or indeed return, his affections?

That aside, we can rejoice! Tortuga is reunited with (some of) his friends! But will it last, and will they be separated once more? And will he remember them again?

And will the Darkfeather gang at last get their talons on Gaby, and possibly the Shard she still hasn't revealed the existence of?

The answers will be revealed in the next chapter, readers…

Chapter Question #2: Both junior members of Team Eevui are going to evolve in a later chapter. Which Eeveelutions would you like to see? Old ones, recent ones… or something brand-new…?