I realized that in English, Amira is pronounced Uh-My-Ruh so I should mention that is not the way this character's name is pronounced. In a more Japanese way of saying I guess, I intended her name to be pronounced Uh-Meer-Uh with the middle part sounding like the beginning of Mirror.

Gateon Port was a rather nice location, with white sun-bleached concrete and docks overlooking the vast sea of bright blue. While Amira was looking over at a building that resembled a giant Krabby, her sister had taken off, looking back at her as she ran. "Look! The sea! Isn't it pretty? The parts shop is this way. Hurry!" Jovi had suddenly run smack into a burly man, knocking herself onto her rear. "Ouchies… Jovi fell down."

"Hey brat!" The man snapped. "Look what you've done! You've gone and messed up the happening look of Zook, the coolest, baddest, most happening guy around!"

"S-Sorry! It wasn't on purpose!"

Amira was quick to intervene. "Hey back off! She's just a little kid!"

He growled at her. "I'll stomp you flat with my shadow Pokémon!" He suddenly tossed out a Zangoose that triggered the shadow monitor. Before Amira could do anything, however, someone else stepped in.

"That's quite enough. Choose your place and time better." It was a tiny old man, bald with large earlobes and round glasses. He smiled calmly as he tapped his cane on the ground for attention. On either side of him were two younger men, one with red hair and the other blue and both wearing dark glasses and odd robes.

"Shut it old man!" Zook snapped at him.

The man in blue stepped forward. "Allow me, Mr. Verich." He sent out an Alakazam that quickly dispatched the Zangoose with Psychic, tossing it roughly into Zook and knocking him over. Startled and angry, Zook recalled his Zangoose before hurrying off somewhere. "Should I give chase?" the blue man asked as he recalled his own Pokémon.

"No, no," Mr. Verich said. "That won't be necessary. I think he's learned his lesson. Let's be on our way." As they made to leave, Jovi timidly thanked them for their interference, gaining Verich's attention again. "Hohoho, that hardly deserves such gratitude young lady. We only did what had to be done. Nothing more. Goodbye now."

Amira watched them go, a curiousness rising within her. After watching them board a luxury boat, her attention was drawn by a woman and a little girl not much older than Jovi approaching.

"Jovi, is that you?" the woman asked. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, Acri and Emili! Yup, I'm okay. Strong people helped us, and big sister was there too."

Acri looked at Amira. "Oh, so you must be Jovi's sister, Amira. I'm glad to finally meet you."

Amira nodded and smiled. "Yeah, that's me. And this is Benny."

"Banette!" Benny greeted them and allowed the little girl to pick him up.

"It's soft!" she said.

"Miss," Amira said to Acri. "Who was that man just now? The older one."

"That was Mr. Verich. He comes with his two assistants by boat from time to time. Mysterious, isn't he? He's supposedly very wealthy. We should be going now. You two be careful. We get a lot of sailors and other rough customers around here."

Emili placed Benny down and said her goodbyes to Jovi before heading off with Acri. Amira followed Jovi to the parts shop, but when they entered, no one was inside. After calling out a couple of times and getting no response, they went back outside. Benny suddenly got excited about something and ran over to a nearby dock. The girls followed and watched as the bridges turned and rotated around to reposition themselves and a teenage boy wearing a red beanie stepped off.

"Whew! All fixed! Hm? Oh, hi there."

"Hello," Amira greeted. "Do you know who runs the parts shop?"

"Yeah. It belongs to my grandpa."

"Oh! Well, we came from the Pokémon HQ Lab to pick up a part, but no one was inside the shop."

"Huh? Agh, he's probably run off to Dr. Kaminko's again. Every time he hears about something that guy's doing, Grandpa gets excited and runs off. Never mind the shop or his grandson. Don't worry, I'll find the part. Come on. Name's Perr, by the way."

"Amira. This is Jovi, and the Banette is Benny."

"Sweet."

Inside, Perr went behind the counter and opened a large vault on the wall. From it, he produced a package. "Here it is! It's a rare one, so it took a while to get in." He handed Amira the package. Say, how's Professor Krane?"

"He was abducted by some weirdos that call themselves Cipher. They even had shadow Pokémon."

"Hah?! You're kidding?"

She shook her head.

"I've been through something like that before… I hope he's found soon and unharmed. I'll be routing for you guys, so don't give up!"

"Thanks," she replied with a smile. "Come on Jovi. We need to get this back to the Lab."

"Okay! Bye-bye mister!"

After returning home to the Lab and delivering the package, Amira went to the kitchen to get something for lunch for herself and her two Pokémon. She released the Teddiursa from its ball, placed a bowl of honey and berries before it, then sat down cross-legged on the floor with a sandwich for herself. Benny picked up a bunch of berries, the strange zipper for a mouth unzipping, then shoved them all in his mouth in one gulp before zipping his mouth back shut. This was how he always ate. Professor Krane had told her once that Banette have a strange energy inside that leaks out when their zipper is opened.

Amira turned her attention to the Teddiursa, who had not spoken since she had snagged it. The little bear Pokémon was quiet and unreadable, sitting there and staring down at the bowl of food. "Teddiursa like honey, right?" Amira asked. "Go ahead. It's for you."

Teddiursa looked up at her, twitched its ears, then dipped a paw into the honey and licked it.

"Do you have a name?"

It looked at her again, tilting its head slightly, then spoke in a soft voice. "Name?"

Amira nodded. "My name is Amira. This is Benny. I named him, but I know some Pokémon have names for themselves sometimes. Do you?"

She seemed to think about it for a while before picking up a berry. "Can't remember."

"Oh. …Do you want a name?"

Teddiursa took a bite, chewed it for a bit, then swallowed before responding. "It doesn't matter."

Amira wondered if all shadow Pokémon were as emotionless and uncaring as this. Professor Krane did say that shadow Pokémon had their hearts closed off. Truthfully, Amira was surprised that the Teddiursa even spoke. "Well then," she said, "I'll call you… Tia!"

"Okay." Tia continued to eat.

Later, as Tia was licking the rest of her meal from her paws, Amira's mother Lily entered. "Ah, there you are. How is the shadow Pokémon doing? Purification progresses as the Pokémon spends time with a kind Trainer."

"I'm not sure," Amira admitted.

"Use the shadow monitor installed on your PD*A to check. It should come up with something we call a heart gauge."

Amira pulled out her PD*A and pulled up the monitor. It seemed react to Tia and displayed a purple bar on the screen. Lily looked, too.

"Not quite," Lily said. "When the heart gauge goes down to zero, that Pokémon is ready to open its heart. But that alone isn't enough. It will need to go through a purification ceremony to return to its natural state. If the chamber were complete, we could do it there but… I think you should try a different process for now. There is a village called Agate, and in that village is a relic stone which has the power to turn shadow Pokémon back to their natural state."

Amira got to her feet. "Really? Where is Agate? I can go today!"

"Today has already been so hectic for you… It worries me to send you to someplace so far on your own… But I also think that this is something only you can do. Agate is southeast from here. It's not too far, but it's not close either. Look for a man named Eagun. He's the one in charge of tending to the relic stone. I will get in touch with him so that he expects you. Please be careful."

"I will. Thanks, Mom. Tia, return." Amira held up the Pokéball, which produced a beam of light that absorbed the Teddiursa and pulled her in. "Come on, Benny." Benny jumped up and ran after her as she hurried out of the kitchen.

Lily watched her oldest daughter run off. "…She's just like you."

Amira straddled her scooter and waited for Benny to settle on the back before driving off along the dirt road, heading southeast as she was instructed. Eventually, she came to a fork with a directional sign and slowed to check it before taking one of the paths. She finally came to an area flooded with clear water around hills and slopes of brilliantly green grass on which small homes and buildings were built. At the center, on the highest hill, was the remains of a giant tree, its roots cradling a house. Amira parked her scooter before crossing the bridge into the village. Remembering what her mother had told her, Amira decided to let Tia out of her ball.

Tia glanced around, ears twitching, before looking up at her expectantly.

"Follow me," Amira said, and both Benny and Tia followed as she walked through the village.

"Pretty," Benny remarked at the small waterfalls the splitting river made around the slopes. Tia looked at them, holding her paw to her mouth as she passed.

"Excuse me," Amira stopped an elderly gentleman. "Could you tell me where Eagun lives?"

"Oh, yes! He lives in the house under the big tree." He pointed. "Up there."

She thanked him and began to make her way to the tree. When she knocked on the door, an elderly woman answered.

"Why, hello! Are you perhaps Amira?"

She nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, come in, come in!" She stepped aside to let them enter the quaint little home. "I'm Beluh. We got word from Lily. The instant my husband heard what she had to say, why, you should have seen his excitement. Shouting, 'this calls for my services!' or something. He ran off somewhere, but he should be returning soon."

It was then that the door flew open and an old man with a long beard shouted, "I've got everything ready! Oh?"

"Oh, hello dear. This is Amira. She just arrived."

"Uh, hi," Amira said.

"What perfect timing!" He took her hand and shook it. "I'm Eagun! I've heard everything from Lily. As you must know by now, a shadow Pokémon must first open its heart to the Trainer before it can be purified."

"Right."

"There are several approaches, but battles are the best. No doubt! Nothing strengthens the bond between a Trainer and Pokémon like a battle. Come! I will show you the relic stone."

She followed him outside and down a few slopes until they reached a tunnel in the earth where a small stream passed through and roots hung down from the ceiling. Just as she was thinking how tranquil Agate Village was, they exited the tunnel, stepping onto a stone platform surrounded by a beautiful forest. There was green everywhere, from the trees, the moss, and the lily pads floating on the water below. Shafts of golden sunlight shown through the treetops and were warm to stand in. At the center of the platform was an odd rock formation that looked somewhat like circular stones stacked atop each other.

"This place is beautiful," she remarked.

Eagun chuckled. "I'm glad you think so!"

"Pika!" An elderly Pikachu bounded over to them.

"Ah, there you are," Eagun said. "Amira, this is my old partner. The Pokémon that I obtained as my very first and that has stayed with me ever since."

"Hi there," Amira smiled.

Pikachu smiled back. "Hi!"

Eagun continued. "To help further the progress of your shadow Pokémon, we would like you to use it to battle us."

"Right then," she nodded. "Tia!" The Teddiursa stepped forward.

"Pikachu! Off to our first battle in five years! Let's keep things tight!"

"Pi-Pika!"

"Tackle!"

Pikachu slammed into Tia, knocking her back.

"Quick Attack!"

"Tia! Fury Swipes!"

Tia reacted quickly and began swiping rapidly with sharp glowing claws that had suddenly protruded from her paws as Pikachu got near, forcing him to back off.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Piiii-kaaa"

"Tia! Move!"

"Chuuuuu!"

Tia narrowly dodged, but the force of the attack hitting the nearby ground caused her to fall forward.

"Get up! Use Lick!"

Tia sprung up, grabbed Pikachu, and licked his face, causing him to shudder as visible static passed over him.

"Fury Swipes!"

Again, Tia swiped wildly, knocking Pikachu down. After a long moment in which Pikachu remained on the ground, exhausted, Eagun declared Amira the winner and went to pick up his Pikachu. "Great work, all of you!"

The PD*A suddenly buzzed, startling Amira. "Ah. It says she can be purified now."

"Perfect! Take Teddiursa to the relic stone."

Amira picked Tia up and placed her near the stone. It began to glow a light green that enveloped the Teddiursa before dispersing suddenly. Tia opened her eyes and looked around, this time with much more curiosity and personality. "What… What happened? I feel better."

"It worked!" Amira smiled and scooped up Tia. Tia squeaked in surprised but soon began to smile and laugh.

Eagun and Pikachu were delighted. "This is a cause for celebration! A successful purification! Still, one can't be too happy with the news of Professor Krane's abduction…"

Amira held Tia closer and turned to look at him.

"He was a frequent visitor here up to several years ago. He was conducting extensive research into the relic stone, saying that it was for completing a purifying system that his friend thought up."

"Oh yeah. That friend was my dad."

"Really? My, isn't this ironic? Oh yes! I have a friend by the name of Vander who lives up on Mt. Battle. It is a place of training. He claims to have seen sinister characters out in the desert recently. Perhaps it could be related to Professor Krane's abduction?"

"Mt. Battle, huh? Could you give me directions?"

To be continued…