Ok.

Sorry to any of you who have been waiting on a new update for a long, long, long, long, longlong, longlonglonglonglong time.

I would like to blame it on life, but then I would be lying.

Truth is... I've been lazy. So lazy that I forgot to put TPD on hiatus.

But now I'm back, so expect new chapters soon, at least every Wednesday.

Also: I didn't want to have you guys wait for a chapter too long, so I have one right here.

*I do not own pokémon, that belongs to Nintendo. However, the story itself and OC's are mine. If any events or characters are the same as someone else's, I did not intentionally do so, it is a coincidence.*

So here it is. Enjoy!

The terrain had long since changed from grassy fields to barren, craggy rocks. I was really glad I was a fighting type. I had already walked a mile and scaled two cliffs, something I couldn't do as a human. I frequently checked my map to see if I was going in the right direction. Whenever I passed a graveler or some other pokémon I would ask what my current position was, and then mark that place on the map.

So far, I had made it a quarter of the way to Snowpoint.

Currently I am traveling along a somewhat flat part of Mt. Cornet. It is midday and clear, perfect weather for being outside. "I wonder how Kiara is doing…" I thought. "Probably worried sick," my negative half said. "Thank you Mr. Positive."

The path suddenly turned from relatively flat to relatively steep. I adjusted my pack so it wouldn't fall and started to climb. Luck was still in my favor since it was easy to climb, like the rest of them. Eventually I grabbed the ledge and pulled myself up onto the cliff. As I looked ahead I saw two pokémon fighting not two yards away.

One was blue, skinny, and was in a karate-like uniform. The other was red, thick, and had the same outfit. The blue one seemed to be on the offensive with outrageously fast flips, kicks, and punches. The red one was taking the hits like they were nothing. The blue one did a backflip and followed up with a jump kick. Just when I thought red's face was going to get smashed he grabbed blue's foot and started to swing him in a circle like he was in the Olympics. Red spun around for a few seconds then sent blue flying into a boulder.

Surprisingly blue managed to land on a kneeling position. He got up and walked over to red. I thought that they were going to throw some more punches, but they both bowed. "Great work on your form," red praised. "Nice grab. Maybe next time you shouldn't hold back," blue replied. "Hold back? You're the one who hits like a jumpluff," red teased. They started to walk off to the right, but before they could get out of my line of sight I ran up to them.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?" I asked holding out the map.

"Oh! A traveler! Sam, mark our current position on his map."

The blue one, who must have been Sam, took the map and made a mark.

"So where are you headed?" the Sam asked.

I was about to tell him Snowpoint, but I guessed they didn't call it that.

"I forget the name, but it should be around here somewhere," I said pointing to where Snowpoint would be.

"The frozen temple?" Sam questioned, "If that's your destination, then you've been going the hard route."

"Wait, there's an easy route?"

They both laughed at my statement. "Yes," the red one said, "Who did you get directions from?"

I blushed from embarrassment. "Myself..."

They laughed again. "Well it's a good thing you ran into us. If you'd like, we'll show you to the easier path," Sam said.

"Yes, I would like that."

The red one clapped his hands, "Alright! It's settled. Let's get going."

The duo started off in the direction of this "other" way to get to Snowpoint. I followed them, trying to keep up with their pace.

"So where are you from?"

Shit.

I didn't know where Kiara lived was called, so I told them the truth.

"It's pretty far from here, a continent called North America."

"North America?" Sam questioned.

"Never heard of it," the red one said.

"Well, I'm not surprised. They don't associate with Sinnoh."

"Hmm. Could you tell us more about this North America?" The red one asked.

"Sure."

I told them how america was very diverse, like sinnoh, how people love it there, how it constantly is in wars with other nearby regions. I explained the everyday life in America, then my life (leaving out how I got here of course), and finally told them how our country works-its laws, procedures, etc.

"It sounds interesting. I have to go there and see it for myself," Sam said.

"Me too," the red one added.

"I hope you can," I said, knowing it will never be.

It took almost four hours to get to our destination. It was a sloppy dirt pathway that looked like someone took horses through here every day for the whole year. When I checked where we were on the map I was infuriated with myself. I had been going around it.

"If I had climbed that cliff I would have already been to Snowpoint," I mumbled.

"Well here we are. Just follow it until you get to where you're going," the red one said.

"Thank you. I'm pretty sure my feet thank you too."

"Hahaha. You're funny," the red one laughed.

"We better get going," Sam said with traces of laughter in his voice.

"Yes, we better. Goodbye traveler, hopefully we meet again."

And they left. "Next time we meet, I'll have to ask for the red one's name," I thought. I looked down the trail, then to my map.

"Looks like... ten miles. I should expect the weather to get cold in six."

I then made a plan to go on for the rest of the day and make camp, go till it gets cold and make camp, then get prepared for cold weather and proceed to Snowpoint.

I took a deep breath, put the map away, and hiked northward.

"I'll be home soon, Kiara."

Alright, finally the 14th chapter is out of my head.

I have some news, I'm not sure to classify the news as good or bad though.

First off I'm getting rid of Shadow and Sarah since I have no idea of where it's going. If you guys for some reason want me to keep it tell me, otherwise it's going bye-bye.

Secondly: Looking at this story, I have to say that it is shitty. The foundation is good, but the storyline is not so hot. This has provoked me to rewrite it so it isn't shitty. Hopefully you can wait while I go through each chapter and correct the many mistakes and make the flow of the story smoother. (Not to mention nintendo making the frigging pokemon of life and destruction)

... *sigh* this will be fun.

Anyway, there is another piece of news I would like to tell you. I briefly covered it at the beginning of this chapter and in the Q's around chapter 11, but I would like to hear from you guys what stories you would like me to write. I won't reject any stories, but if I'm not familiar with them it'll take me a while to research the topic.

So that's it for the news.

Reveiw and criticize constructively. It helps, and nothing you say will make me blow up on you. (unless it's a direct insult, then I will find you and make you have a reason to fear the dark :) )

So this is Umbrenox, signing out.