I'm going to leave the Windchaser and its crew to float in the ocean a while longer – we have other characters to focus on for the time being! We're going back to Deepdark Island to check on… hey, why am I spoiling this now?

-.-.-.-.-.

The sun came up over the rocky, barren landscape of Deepdark Island, allowing its warm rays to play over the grove of trees in which Wyvern, Cenric, and Terra rested. The change in light caused the trio to instinctively wake up. They stretched and rubbed their eyes as they shook off their heavy sleep and slowly became more alert.

"Well, should we get to work on hauling these trees down to the beach?" Cenric yawned, contorting his body as he stretched out his spine. Still perched on his limb, Wyvern yawned as well and replied, "We have to take the trees down as well, you know." Terra looked up at the tree, several times taller than her, and groaned aloud.

"Not to worry," Cenric smugly reassured her. "All it takes is a simple… Razor Wind!" he cried suddenly, lashing his tail and sending a blade of energy out at the tree. It sliced clean through the trunk, bringing it down in an instant. Wyvern squawked and hung on for dear life as he went down with it.

There was an immense crash as the tree hit the ground, followed by a great cloud of dust that was swept up into the air. Coughing, Cenric and Terra squinted through the already-fading curtain and saw with relief that the tree hadn't fallen on top of Wyvern.

"Sorry about that," the Buizel smirked at the Archeops. "I just went out on a limb and figured that would work." He snickered good-naturedly as Wyvern let go of his branch and stalked over to another tree.

Wyvern had a similar look on his face to Cenric's as he raised his tail. "Dragon Tail!" he yelled, swatting the tree down. The trunk snapped where Wyvern had hit it, and toppled almost immediately. The tree landed right next to Cenric, who squeaked and jumped inside one of the scraggy shrubs dotting the quarry.

The Archeops brushed his hands together, looking satisfied with his work. "Let's go, buddy," he grinned to the cowering Buizel. "Or are ya feeling bushed?"

Cenric blushed in humiliation as Wyvern and Terra both burst out laughing. "Ha ha," he said sourly, circling his arms around the tree's trunk. "Now are we laughing, or are we lugging?" He then began to pull as hard as he could on the tree, moving it ever so slightly.

The trio thus started the hard laborious process of dragging the two trees all the way back down to the wreck of the Tranquility. The huge logs were each about ten feet long and one foot wide, so at least they weren't attempting to move the largest of trees. However, it was still hard work, especially for the two smaller Pokemon. Terra and Cenric were each tugging on their log's bigger branches, while Wyvern went to the end of his tree and pushed with all his might.

It took them about half an hour to make it out of the boulder quarry in which they had found the trees. During that period, Terra continually looked back at the pale cream-colored rocks, convinced that something was watching them work. However, they made it out of the quarry and down into a lengthy canyon without any incidents. It was through that long gorge that they would travel all the way down to the coast.

The second they were gone, though, the largest of the boulders suddenly opened its eyes. Four legs quickly moved out from under it, allowing it to move freely. It lifted its pincers and held them easily aloft.

The "boulder" clicked its claws as it communicated with its companions, and all ten of them rose onto their own feet. With all present and accounted for, the Kingler squad scuttled after the hardworking trio.

-.-.-.-.-.

Slowly, painfully, the Pokemon began to feel things from the world around it. The cold, hard stone underneath it, the aching pain all over its body, and the sounds of other Pokemon that were apparently surrounding it – those were the things the Noivern detected upon waking up from his incapacitation.

Vladimir's eyelids fluttered up, allowing him to see. The first thing he saw was a group of Zubat right in front of him, all clicking and squeaking as they tried to figure out if he was as helpless as he seemed. Now Vladimir could feel the hundreds of little feet on his back as more of the Bat Pokemon flew down to investigate, and his skin began to crawl.

With a mighty roar, the Noivern stood up on his shaky legs and flared his wings. All of the Zubat shrieked and flew up in a cloud of leathery wings. He fired off a Screech attack that wreaked havoc on the Zubats' senses, sending them scurrying for cover. When the last were gone, he sighed and stretched his aching limbs.

Wings, tail, head, back – pretty much everything hurt. The last thing Vladimir could remember before fainting was that huge beam that had plowed into him painfully, and then everything had gone dark.

But the thing that intrigued him was that the massive – the impressive – energy beam wasn't just one attack. It was the attacks of four Pokemon combined. Those four Pokemon had worked as a team to defeat him, and what was more, they had been successful.

Vladimir was a wild Noivern. He was naturally solitary, and that was because he was powerful enough to deal with most threats on his own. He had already claimed these tunnels for himself, chasing off the Zubat and Golbat whenever they appeared. The only Pokemon he knew that naturally worked together were the small, weak ones that weren't strong enough to live their lives alone.

However, these four had all been powerful Pokemon, ones that were, on their own, strong enough to fend for themselves. But as a team, they were even stronger! Why, the only powerful Pokemon that Vladimir had heard of that worked in groups were –

The Guardians.

Vladimir had heard stories of those legendary warriors from his parents. Every wild Pokemon had stories about the Guardians, and how they flawlessly defeated everything that stood in their way. At first, Vladimir had wondered why they didn't just take over the entire continent for themselves – as that was what wild Pokemon did with their territories. But his parents had said to him that they were kind and humble, and used their incredible power to help others.

Such selflessness was alien and a little bit frightening for a Pokemon born to fight tooth and claw to survive. But that was what those four had to have been – a rescue team! Even now, those legends held Vladimir in awe. And how much stronger would I be if I, myself, had a team to back me up? he couldn't help wondering. What could I accomplish if I had teammates to combine my attacks with?

The Noivern would be unstoppable. And just like the Guardians, he wouldn't use his newfound potential to conquer – he'd use it for good, to protect the helpless.

To make strong the weak, mend the broken, and vanquish those who abuse the frail, Vladimir remembered. Isn't that how the legends went? Now, I will be a part of these legends too. Wild Pokemon will one day tell stories about me and my team. I will be remembered as a hero and a warrior.

Vladimir grinned, and immediately knew where he must go to fulfill his dream. He was going to Vulcana City.

-.-.-.-.-.

Iron Talon hadn't budged an inch since the Windchaser had vanished on the horizon. All night, he had stood there glaring at the water, silently cursing Team Bloodsucker and how he had managed to let them get away. He had failed not only the Darkfeathers, but himself as well. The Pidgeot stamped a metallic talon and wondered if Mara would give him a demerit.

Every victim of the Conductula's Electroweb had had their feathers sodden so much that they sunk into the briny deep, but one had managed to make it back to shore. At last, Iron Talon averted his eyes to stare at the wet heap of brown-and-black feathers that had just rode in on the last wave.

Clawface looked horrible. His feathers were badly charred, and the char marks themselves took the shape of the web he had been snagged in. In some cases, the electrical threads had burnt the feathers right off, leaving stringy bare patches all over the place. The bright red of the scar tissue would ensure that they would never grow back. He didn't seem to be breathing.

Out of all the Darkfeathers on the beach, only Herra looked upset over his demise. She could hardly eat a morsel of the dead Eeveelution in her claws. Everyone else just didn't care.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings caught everyone's attention. Iron Talon allowed a rare smile cross his beak as he saw Mara, flanked by her Murkrow, soaring over the ocean to meet them. Then he remembered that they hadn't found the Shard or the Discoverer, and the smile faded.

The Honchkrow landed and immediately took note of Clawface's limp form. "What's this?" she asked snappishly. Iron Talon bowed and said, "The murderer Fearow, madam. Team Bloodsucker shot him down and into the water."

After a moment, Mara cackled loudly. "Good riddance," she laughed, wiping a tear away from her eye. "We didn't need him anymore anyway! Look what my Murkrow found us!" She held up a piece of something in her wing, and all the assembled Darkfeathers gasped.

"A Shard," murmured Iron Talon. Mara cackled again and said, "You're right! We found what we've been looking for all along!"

Now the Darkfeathers all clacked their beaks and murmured to each other. "Come on, gang!" their leader instructed. "Let us fly back to our hideout, where we can plan our next steps!"

Within seconds, the air was filled with flapping, cawing, and shrieking bird Pokemon. More seconds passed, and the air over Fire Isle was completely devoid of them as they made their way into the distance, heading back to the mainland.

Herra the Skarmory stayed behind. She had been Clawface's partner, and thus, never a Darkfeather. She stepped over the Glaceon's body she still held on to and stopped when she reached the Fearow. A pang of sadness caused her to quiver and almost tear up.

But just then, another pang shot through her, this time of excitement. Herra dared to let hope return to her as she peered closer at Clawface's body, trying to confirm what she had just fleetingly saw.

Then it happened again – Clawface's talons twitched.

-.-.-.-.-.

Fixing the Tranquility turned out to be harder than Terra, Cenric, and Wyvern had thought.

It was late morning by the time they had finished hauling the two heavy logs down to the shipwreck, and the sun was high in the sky. One would think that their troubles were over once they had brought the logs to rest beside the ship and they had finished panting. But no, they quickly found another challenge – they didn't have the proper tools with them.

Wyvern and his brother had lived in Seaside Village for a while, and they knew a thing or two about shipbuilding. However, in order to chop the logs to the right sized planks, they needed a saw, a hammer, nails, and quite a few other tools with them as well. Now, the Archeops was busy puzzling over whether or not he could chop the logs without those tools, and, if he could, how he would do it.

"Alright, Cenric," Wyvern finally piped up, directing the Buizel over to the log he was scrutinizing. "Use your Razor Wind here, and here," he instructed, gashing two vertical lines in the bark with his claws and then stepping back a safe distance.

Cenric walked closer to the log and eyed the fresh gashes. He then shrugged and swung his tail twice, flinging two blades of wind at the tree. The Razor Winds sliced clean through the log, exactly where Wyvern had indicated.

"Excellent, lad!" the Archeops congratulated. "You've really got an eye for accuracy, I'll give you that." The Buizel just ducked his head modestly.

Before they could continue with their work, though, they heard Terra calling them over from farther up the beach. "Um, were these rocks always here?" she asked nervously, pointing at the rocks in question. Wyvern and Cenric looked up and blinked in astonishment.

There, sitting on the beach where nothing but pebbles had once sat, were eleven cream-colored boulders. They looked just like the ones that had occupied the quarry where they had found the trees, although no one had actually consciously noticed them. But their sudden presence here, whether anyone recognized them or not, was certainly suspicious.

"How did those big rocks get here?" Cenric asked, squinting at them. "Beats me," Terra said, still sounding a little on edge. "They were there at the quarry where we found those logs." The Charmander walked up to one and poked it, but got no reaction, obviously.

"Well, they didn't just get up and follow us," said Cenric, then thought about it and added, "I hope." Terra shivered and whispered, "Maybe they're spying on us."

Wyvern chuckled and waved a wing dismissively. "Come on, seriously," he said amusedly. "These monoliths aren't lithening to our conversations. And they're certainly not any boulder than the other rocks on this island. You guys are just being paranoid." He chuckled again, this time at his witty rock-related puns.

"All these rock jokes coming from the fossil," Cenric muttered exasperatedly. "I have a sense of humor, but honestly? Let's just ignore the mysterious boulders and fix this boat so we don't have to worry about them again."

But before the group could take three steps toward the ship, the water lapping at the edge of the beach suddenly began to boil. The trio froze and stared with surprised looks on their faces as a small army of red-and-blue fish-like Pokemon rose up out of the water menacingly, displaying their razor-sharp teeth.

"Carvanha," Wyvern growled, as Terra instinctively hid behind him. "Now we can't get the boat into the water even when its fixed – they'll rip it to shreds!" He heard a squeak from behind him as Terra tried to hide herself even more.

"No biggie," Cenric said nonchalantly. "We just won't go into the water until they leave." He folded his arms and sat on his tail, giving the Carvanha a bored look.

That was when the suspicious boulders sprang to life, revealing their beady eyes and enormous claws. They were Kingler! They clicked harshly to one another as they advanced and surrounded the completely shocked Pokemon. Now they were trapped between bloodthirsty fish and savage crabs. What a choice, Wyvern thought bitterly.

The Kingler herded them toward the water. The group tried to resist, but were beaten down with Crabhammer attacks. Wyvern tried to fly away with Terra and Cenric in his talons, but he was again beaten with a well-placed Bubblebeam.

Now they had nowhere to run as the Kingler shoved them into the shallows. The Carvanha swarmed closer, savagely snapping their jaws like little Ursaring traps. Wyvern spread his wings and snarled, prepared to fight to the death and take as many fish as he could down with him.

But the Carvanha didn't attack. Instead, little red heads appeared in the water and swam between the fish Pokemon to reach the group. The Krabby swam forward and attached themselves to each of their bodies with the claws on their legs. The three of them squirmed as the Krabby scuttled up to their heads and used Bubble.

The huge Bubbles were filled with air, as the three friends realized when their heads were fully encased. Only when the Bubbles were in place did the Carvanha advance once more, grabbing them with their jaws surprisingly gently and tugging them under the water.

Wyvern, Cenric, and Terra had no choice but to follow. The Charmander's Krabby used Bubble on her tail to keep it burning underwater as they dove. The Carvanha fanned out and surrounded them, moving in perfect formation. Wyvern was intrigued – he had never seen packs of Carvanha move in unison like this before.

And they don't seem interested in eating us, he mused further as the school led them down into the ever-darkening depths of the ocean. They seem to be leading us somewhere. But where?

And… why?

-.-.-.-.-.

Introducing Vladimir the Noivern! He, too, holds the Guardians in high esteem and dreams of being one of them. But will he ever find teammates to call his own? Will he find the Guardians and form a rescue team?

What about the Darkfeathers? What will they do now that they have what they want? And is Clawface still truly alive?

And who were those aquatic ruffians who captured Wyvern, Cenric, and Terra? Could they have some connection to a certain gang of criminales we encountered way, way back?

Mysteries, mysteries everywhere! But all will be revealed in due time…

Vladimir: "Review, or I'll smash your skull in! Wait… that's not what the Guardians do… Um… do the right thing and review please!"

Chapter Question #8: What are your three all-time favorite Pokemon, readers?