"That's it..." Seth said, his voice cracking as he saw the volcano explode. "It's over..."

"We c-couldn't do it!" Kieran said, his voice breaking. Kip just remained quiet.

"What's that flying over by the volcano?" Said one little girl, pointing at some dots flying beside the volcano.

"Just rocks and stuff, honey!" The girl's mother said. The girl shook her head.

"No mommy, they're Pokémon!" The girl said, pointing to the shapes again. All three boys jumped up and ran to the front of the crowd. Sure enough, 8 shapes were flying at high speed towards them. They almost jumped for joy at the sight of them....Actually, Kieran DID jump for joy, hopping up and down like a maniac.

But the celebrations were soon over. As the mountain threw it's contents into the air, ash and molten rock flew at them. Everyone watched as the little dots darted this way and that, trying to escape the mountain's fury. Suddenly, 7 of the shapes disappeared, leaving one of the larger ones to battle the mountain.

"We have to get out there and help them!" Kieran said, not waiting for the others and jumping onto the Charizard as it took off. "Come on!"

The other two followed, jumping their steeds. They flew at top speed towards the others.

-----------------

Lily flew through the ash and rocks, dodging the magma and large chunks that flew out at her from the mountain. They were doing alright....But she couldn't see in front of her at all.

"This won't work for long, but..." Lily said. "Red! Let's break through this stuff!! FIRE BLAST!!!"

Both Lily and Red shot flame, cutting a hole in the dense wall in front of them. They weren't that far now...

They shot forward, racing, trying to keep up with the disappearing fire. But they should have been more cautious. A huge chunk of molten rock came down on them, and Red saw too late. The giant rock came down on him, tearing straight through his right wing. He let out a cry of pain as he plummeted through the ash, as Lily and Gaby were sent flying off his back and straight into another rock. Lily flipped Gaby around to in front of her, taking the blow herself and breaking her left wing and leg.

They fell after Red, hitting the ash. Lily could not stop Gaby from being hit by all sorts of junk, cutting her and burning her to the degree where she would have died instantly if she had been human. Lily wasn't doing to well either, suffering the same fate. And the ground was getting close...Wait, not ground...Lava!

Red had managed to fall on a rock some feet above the lava, but Lily and Gaby weren't going to get that lucky. The fell, and just as their lives were about to end...

They landed on something. Lily was aware that she was flying...Away from the lava...Sitting on a Pokémon. She realized it was a Flygon instantly. She turned her head to see that someone riding a Noctowl had Gaby...Kip...And she was sitting behind Seth...She turned her head in the other direction, and saw that Gaby's blue Charizard, Sapphire, was somehow carrying Red (If they can use Seismic Toss on them, the can carry them regularly).

They landed. Lily, too weak to sit up, fell right off the Flygon and landed on the ground, in extreme pain. Seth jumped off after her, just as Sapphire set down Red and Gaby flumped off the Noctowl.

"Lily! Lily, are you ok?" Seth said, jumping off after her and bending down to her. Lily nodded and nodded her head over at Gaby, who Kip was desperately trying to wake up.

"Gaby!!! Wake up!!!!" Kip said, nudging Gaby gently. He felt something on his hand and looked at it. It was drenched in blood. "Come on Gaby! Wake up!!!" Still no response.

"Help! Someone, is there a doctor here?!" Seth yelled. One man came forward and knelt down beside Gaby.

"Pokémorph? Right," Said the doctor. He checked her pulse. His face took on a grave expression. "No pulse. She's dead."

"NO! That can't be right!" Kip said, looking down at Gaby and then at the Doctor. "You're sure?"

Gaby remained motionless, staining the grass around her red with blood. Then, completely out of the blue, she opened her eyes.

"What the hell happened?" She said sitting up. Then her eyes widened as she felt the full shock of pain. She flumped backwards back onto the ground, moaning in pain. Kip was stunned.

"YOU'RE ALIVE?!" Everyone said. Gaby nodded painfully, not even trying to get up. Then, to everyone's extreme surprise and shock, Kip full out hugged her in relief. Gaby blinked in surprise, then turned bright red.

"K-Kip...What are you doing...?" Gaby said, her voice extremely high. Everyone stared at her, especially her friends.

"I though you were dead!" Kip said, hugging tighter, completely unaware of everyone staring at them. Gaby was now so red, her face could have passed for a tomato. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

"Yeah...I am too..." Gaby said, trying to cover up her shock with her regular attitude. "Mind getting off me?!"

It was only then that Kip realized what his was doing. He IMMEDIATELY jumped off of Gaby. It was his turn to turn red. Everyone burst out laughing as Gaby tried to worm her way away from him.

But that moment ended then when Lily screamed out in pain and fell over again. Gaby pulled herself over to her using one arm and Kip went over beside Lily. They saw to their horror that one of Lily's wings was horribly mangled, as well as her leg. Gaby also yelled again and toppled over onto her back as she once again felt the full shock of pain hit her, mostly centered around...Well, she was covered in burns and deep cuts, so it hurt everywhere.

"Kip...Get...Silversong..." Gaby said. Kip nodded. Then he looked worried.

"What about all these people?"

"Oh, yeah..." Gaby said in mock forgetfulness. "WHO CARES RIGHT NOW?!?!?!?!?!" Kip nodded and released the Lugia. When it appeared, everyone gasped and backed away from the legendary.

"My god..." Said the man that had resisted them earlier. "That's something you don't see every day..."

"Silversong...!" Gaby said. Kip had a sudden idea. He whistled. Then his little Lugia came flying from behind them, scaring the people at the back of the crowd.

"What the hell is going on here?!?!" Seaflyer said, spotting the two Pokémorphs. Gaby, Kip, Tami and Silversong all looked shocked.

'What's with that attitude?!?!' Silversong said, staring at his little sister. She glared in his direction.

"Why the hell should I tell you?!"

'Watch that mouth!!!'

"Guys! Please!" Tami said, stepping between them. They stared at her.

"Telepathic, eh? Cool!"

"Nice to meet you. Now help these two out!"

"Oh...Yeah..."

Each Lugia picked a person: Silversong to Gaby, Seaflyer to Lily. Then they each laid a wing on them. Simultaneously, they glowed as one, and all injuries disappeared. They both sat up.

"Seaflyer! You've gotten better!" Lily said. The Lugia looked proudly at them all.

"Stop being so cocky," Kip said. Seaflyer glared at him.

"At least I'M USEFUL!!!!!!"

"Take that back!"

To all but the Psychics, this looked incredibly funny: Kip yelling at this Lugia, and responding to it when it hadn't replied. But to the Psychics...

"Make me!"

"Do it! Or I'll put you in a Pokéball and shut you up for good!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

Then Kip pulled out a Pokéball and tried to contain the Lugia. Unfortunately for him, it was much faster and simply jumped out of the way every time he tried. He kept at this for some time, all the while enduring Seaflyer's taunts.

"You call that aim? Was that going for me? Oops, you missed again! And I though you were much faster then that! Why on Earth did I pick you to be my master? You can't even contain your own Pokémon! How pathetic!"

"SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!" Kip said, chucking the Pokéball at the Lugia. Seaflyer was caught off-guard and was hit. It disappeared inside the ball.

"Finally! I thought I'd never..."

"That's what you think!"

"WHAT?!?!?! BUT YOU'RE INSIDE YOUR BALL!!"

"You think that would stop me?! BAKA!!!!" (Baka means Idiot in Japanese, for those of you who have forgotten)

"ARG!" Kip said, flopping backward onto the ground in defeat. Everyone laughed and watched as Mt. Chimney gave a spectacular show.

----------------------------

"BYE!!!"

The group had decided to leave after they had dropped everyone off back in their town. It was in ruins, but at least they were all alive.

"Oh, and one last thing..." Gaby said, turning back to them all and raising her hands up. A sudden flash emitted from them, and all of the people were knocked over.

"What did you do?!" Seth said, staring at all the unconscious people.

"Erased their memory," Gaby said as if that explained everything. They were still all confused. "If the Team heard that we had come here, they'd kill or capture ever single person here to find out where we went. Though I was a bit worried about Tami...I'm not sure how she'll take this one. I mean, she's a psychic too."

"Good thinking!"

So the went on their way, walking casually. Unfortunately, Lily had taken such a severe hit to her wing and leg that it would take a day or two to heal completely. And all of hers and Gaby's Pokémon were so tired out by the ordeal, she was using crutches to walk.

Thankfully, then now had some food to live on, so they stopped for dinner when they were far enough away from the town.

"Real food..." Kieran said hungrily, looking at the meal before him.

"When was the last time you had a decent meal, Kieran?" Lily asked as he started wolfing down his plate.

"Since...Never...This is so good," Kieran said happily between swallows.

"You must have been really hungry..." Lily said as she started to eat her meal. Gaby, for the first time in days, was eating, and she was almost as ravenous as Kieran.

"He's right...It's great!" Gaby said happily. The boys nodded in agreement. They all ate, Gaby and Kieran taking 3rd helpings of everything before Lily stopped them, saying that they'd run out of food if they at any more. When they had all finished, it was getting dark.

"Man, I need to get cleaned up," Lily said, looking down at herself. She was completely covered in soot. Gaby looked the same, but hadn't seemed to notice until now.

"Oh...Yeah..." She said. The bandana, which was back on her head, was now black.

"Wasn't there a little river not far from here?" Lily said, looking back over her shoulder (I know there isn't one, but OH WELL! THERE IS NOW!!!).

"I think so..."

"Ugh...But I hate taking baths...I mean, I'm a fire-type..." Lily said grumpily.

"I suppose that makes sense. I mean, I love water, and Lugia are the guardians of the sea..."

"Well, I can't stay like this...Let's go," Lily said reluctantly, grabbing her crutches and limping back the way they had came.

"Follow us and die," Gaby said threateningly as an afterthought to the boys. They nodded, very scared looks on their faces about what the girls would to them if they were caught anywhere near the river. Then Gaby and Lily disappeared into the night.

-------------------

"Water...I hate this stuff..."

Gaby was already swimming around in the water. Lily stared at her.

"How can you like this?!"

Gaby dove underwater, sending waves over to Lily on the bank. She jumped out of the way.

"You like lava."

"Good point. But I wouldn't hate it so much if my TAIL didn't have a chance of getting wet," Lily said, glancing over at the flame on her tail. "Stupid thing..."

Of course! Gaby thought as she surfaced again. That's why Lily hates water so much! If too much touches that tail, she's dead!

Then Gaby got an idea. She focused her power and managed to create a little bubble around the flame on Lily's tail. Lily's eyes widened.

"Great idea! You sure it's safe?"

"Positive!"

Lily undressed and slipped into the water carefully. She kept her tail above the water, but the field was holding out. She relaxed dove under the water and surfaced, shaking her bright orange hair.

"I've never been in water before like this..." She said. "I always had to be extra careful...But I'm free now."

"That's got to be the oddest thing I've ever heard: A fire-type loving water!" Gaby said. Lily laughed. Then she turned quiet. "What's up? Something on your mind?"

"Can't you just read it?"

"I don't read your mind. I'm not that prying. Though I can't say that for anyone else..." Gaby said. Lily sighed.

"Well...I do have something on my...It's just stupid."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Spit it out, Lily."

"Well..."

"Come on! Spill!"

"I'm just not sure..."

"Of what?! Don't make me read your mind!"

"I think...I think I really like Seth..."

"Duh. Tell me something I don't know."

"No, but you see...I don't know if he likes me."

"Hmm...I don't know...He's minds kind of strange for a human's...Kind of blocked out..."

"So you don't know?"

"I'd guess yes...But I could be wrong..."

"I think I really like him...But what if he doesn't like me?"

"Hard to say...I'd check for ya, but he's got that barrier thing..."

"Maybe I should just forget about it..."

"YOU IDIOT!!!" Gaby shouted. "Look, you'd hate yourself forever if you were wrong, right? The only way to tell is to ask him yourself!"

"ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?!?" Lily said, staring at Gaby. "Not in a million years!!"

---------------------------------------

"Kip...Do you think Lily likes me?" Seth said suddenly. Kip and Kieran both blinked.

"I don't know...Maybe..." Kip said.

"Of course she likes you! You're her friend, right?"

"Kieran, he doesn't mean it like that!" Kip said, nudging the Mightyena morph.

"Oh, you mean likes him."

"I'm just not sure if she likes me at all."

"Hmm...It's a tough call..." Kieran said thoughtfully. "It's kind of a bad thing if the liking's only one-sided..."

"Who knows into a woman's mind?" Seth said.

"They're crazy. All of them," Kieran said. The other two nodded in agreement.

"But still...I'd like to know, one way or the other..."

"Well, the only way to know is to ask her..." Kip said.

"Have you gone completely INSANE?!?!?!?!" Seth said.

"Seth, you missed it! That happened a long time ago," Kieran said.

"If I ask Lily...She'll think I'm a freak or something for even thinking it!"

"Yeah, but if you don't..." Kieran and Kip said in unison, "It'd be a real waste if you didn't know..."

"No way! Not in a million years!"

And at that exact moment, Gaby, Kieran, and Kip all cracked into identical evil grins. Oh, they'd confess alright: One way or another...