Sorry i ts taken forever to get back to writing another chapter! Those who sent in OC's, I've figured out where I'm going to put them so thats good, obviously!

The three Pokemon stood, with varying levels of shock as they looked in the direction their master had left them in. For one Pokemon, it was a sliver of ice in his heart. Abandoned. Almost.

The three Pokemon lapsed into silence for several moments. Finally, Poison spoke up, hurt palpable in his expression. "I'm going to clean myself off, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow."

He was gone before Nova could say anything to get him to stay but she resolved she wouldn't be separated from Gold. To her surprise, Gold was still there.

"I'm surprised, I would have thought that you'd have taken off by now." Nova said.

Gold's face looked slightly more impassive now. "Our trainer might not realize this, but this forest ain't exactly safe ta be walking around alone'n." Nova wanted to correct Gold's anger with Sam but her thoughts were too caught by Gold's sureness and words.

"What about Poison then?" Nova asked, glancing over to the direction he had left in, slightly worried that he'd be ambushed by an organized group of Ratatta.

Gold sneered. "He'll be fine, if he sees any Pokemon, 'e'll just hide or cower. If something was happening, you'd probably get yerself involved."

Nova decided that was as good a segway as any. "Why don't you like Poison?"

The Sandshrew was quiet, deciding how much he cared to tell her.

"It's not him, I guess…eh…its too easy fer him. Not fighting, but just getting along, bein' liked. But, that isn't it. I really hate this town…"

Nova was torn, it was definitely the most honest thing Gold had told her the last few days but it was clearly meant to cover something up. She didn't want to push farther though, as she was lucky to get this much conversation out of him.

"You are well-liked, Gold. The entire team considers you a friend…you know, except for Poison but if you didn't act so hostile, I'm sure he'd change his mind."

Gold laughed humorlessly, "Having friends, that's new."

Nova's green eyes widened slightly. She was started to put pieces together. Now all she had to do is trick him into saying what she wanted to know. She looked around where they had started to walk for show.

"Wow, this place would probably be confusing even if I lived here," Nova said, inwardly hoping her tone had been conversational.

It was, apparently.

"No, not really, it's-" Gold cut himself off and stared at Nova, shocked that she had gotten the information she wanted out of him so flawlessly. Nova grinned so large she looked slightly possessed and sat down were she stood. Gold reluctantly stopped and turned around to look at the roan Eevee.

"You lived here. When? What happened?" She persisted. Gold grunted and shifted his weight slightly as if measuring his chances to get out of the situation. When he came out with nothing, he stared at his teammate, calculating whether or not he cared enough about her to tell her, or to simply refuse point-blank.

One way, he would show a level of weakness, but be able to get something deep-seeded off his chest, and another, he could remain safe—burdened—but safe, and loose a someone he was beginning to trust.

The former won out. "I…dislike Poison for his confidence. I was born ta a Sandshrew colony but wasn't really raised by 'em. They didn't like me 'cause I couldn't burrow, didn't think I'd amount to anything and they didn't care when I…left. Their burrow is about a half mile from 'ere." Gold told her, coal black eyes carefully judging her expression. He didn't want pity. There wasn't any. He could see solemness, mild surprise and maybe even empathy. Gold found himself pleasantly surprised. He had assumed that she would be the emotional type for some reason. He felt a little guilty for thinking that now.

"And you think about them often?" Nova asked him carefully, pulling back Gold's attention.

"…Yeah, I guess."

"Alright then, let's go find them!" Nova exclaimed, jumping up.

"What?"

"You know, show up, tell them they were wrong, challenge someone to a battle and finish with no regrets! You could both go on feeling better, I'm sure!" Gold frowned, it was tempting. A good challenge that could put his mind to rest and he could come out stronger for it. He didn't expect a competent suggestion coming from Nova.

"We'll need to go back to the Gym though." Gold reasoned, not sure which side he was on himself.

Nova looked at him incredulously, then looked up at the sun. "We have about 16 hours until we need to be there."

Gold snorted, surprised, "You're not serious? Did your mother drop ya as a pup?" He squinted at the sun, measuring something with his paw. "We 'ave 22 hours until noon tomorrow."

"Oh." Nova's ears flicked down slightly in embarrassment before returning to their original location. "All the more time! Are we gonna do this, Gold?"

Gold cracked his claws and changed directions slightly. "It's this way."

*NOVA*

I nearly ran into Gold's brick back armor when he abruptly stopped.

"What? Gold, why did you stop?" We had been walking for about half an hour in near silence.

"This…was supposed to be it." Gold pointed ahead of him to a large burrow entrance, compressed sandstone that had just started to begin crumbling into the hole. No one had been up keeping it. I circled around so I could inspect Gold's face. He was frustratedly rubbing one of his eyes. For lack of better words, he looked crestfallen yet angry.

So he actually does want to confront them now.

I walked past him to the burrow entrance, mindful that getting too close too fast might cause the outer layer of loose pebbles and rocks to collapse. Eventually though, I did make it to the burrow's entrance. I could smell something, something not yet whisked away by the wind. If I could just get enough of the scent, I'd probably be able to pick it up in the root and plants on the forest level.

Pushing myself a little bit further onto the steep slope, I tentatively let my front legs slide in with a few gravelly chunks of sand.

Musky? No, not really, more—

"Rusty, I doubt you're any better suited than me fer underground liven'!"

"Hold on, I've almost…" I slowly placed one of my back paws on the slope I was trying to hold myself on, now with only one paw anchored on flat terrain. Stretching, my head reached past where the tunnel became shaded and dark.

"It smells—Sandshrew smell like…almost like an apple fallen off a branch on a humid, hot day. With sand and dirt stuck to it. Earthy but swe—"

"Alright, that's enough with the poetry, Rusty. Let's just head back if you're not gonna be helpful." I could tell he was turning around.

"Wait, hold on!" I called, turning around and pulling myself out as gracefully as I could. He turned around and I gave him a smirk-like grin. "Who said we couldn't find them?"

Gold was getting impatient now. "Well, as fun as this little adventure has been, having you nose through a tunnel is not my idea of—"

"I've got the scent." A few paces from the tunnel now, I sniffed the base of a stout fern.

"You…what?"

"I. Found. The. Scent. While you were enjoying the sound of your own voice, I was being productive and now I have their scent so let's go!"

He approached the shrub the was still standing by, not wanting to loose the scent for even a moment. Gold sniffed the plant experimentally, like he'd never tried picking up a scent before.

"It smells like plant," Gold said finally.

"Well, it is a plant, so that makes sense. But it also has another scent. You're as bad as the humans with picking up scents," Nova laughed.

Keep looking for updates but remember that I'm ridiculous and that I'm actively writing two other stories.

YAY please review my lovely friends!