Riven walked along the plains after morning, alongside his pokemon under the morning sun, sweating a river due to the unusually hot weather and lack of any shade whatsoever. Haona and Aine bounded ahead, glad to stretch their legs and run around to their hearts' content, something they couldn't do much in a city or town. Baron preferred to stay alongside Riven, since he couldn't really run that fast and could do something in case said trainer got attacked by a wild pokemon. However, not many pokemon were around, except for that stray Tauros herd and a few wild Ponyta here and there. Riven had attempted to catch one of the fiery horses, most likely because it would save him from a grueling walk, but found no luck as it chose to run away instead of stand and fight.

The black haired trainer adjusted the heavy backpack, it had been aching his shoulders for a while now and his back was damp with sweat. "Where is this Gale? We've been walking for like a day and a half. If I have to walk more than this, I'm going tear my hair off." Riven stopped for a moment, using his right arm to shade his eyes. He squinted and tried to see further ahead, nothing but more grass covered hills. He exhaled deeply, an exasperated breath- having no transportation really sucked. A bike would be invaluable at this moment.

At mid-day, the sun was at its highest point in the sky, heat from its rays bombarding the trainer as he made his way along the hills. Tripping over his foot, Riven caught his footing before subjecting himself to a pain roll down the hill. The trainer wiped his brow to prevent sweat from dripping into his eyes and drank from his water bottle. He briefly stared up at the bright ball of fire in the sky and groaned.

Some cloud cover would be nice. There isn't shade for miles. Just my luck. Riven kicked a patch of grass forcefully, uprooting it and sending a bit of dirt flying along with it. Capping the bottle, he placed it back on his backpack and a feeling of immense irritation came over him. He was not going to yell, even if he was rather cranky at the moment.

Riven ruffled his damp hair, shot a finger in the air and treaded up another hill. Slowly climbing up(backpack was heavy), he reached the top and rested his hands on his knees, panting. He took out a small cloth and wiped his face with it. Baron looked over the hill and his mood lifted, if that was indeed what it appeared to be, then maybe they wouldn't have to walk for much longer. If it was, then his trainer could stop bitching about how tired his feet were or how much his back ached. He hit Riven on the leg with a small fist and pointed to the small building in the distance with his other hand.

Riven's head shot up, and squinted to see a small house in the direction his Kirlia was pointing in. "Finally!" Gale could give them a ride in a car or a truck and his feet wouldn't have to kill him for much longer. It took a couple minutes to get over there, the house's image gradually getting larger. It was a cabin, basically. Not really a house at all. It was probably only fit for a small family at most. Of course, Riven didn't really expect a huge estate to be out on the plains , but still, it still looked out of place. Coming up to the front door, he used the metal ring on the door to knock.

Two knocks. Nothing.

Three knocks. Nothing.

Continuous knocking. Nothing.

Riven cursed and threw his hands up. "How quaint. Gale isn't here. Assuming this is where the son of a bitch lives. What now? Do I wait? Argh!" He sat down on the porch, running a hand down his face. He watched as White Queen cried out further ahead with Aine, effectively getting his attention. She was telling him to go see something. He joined the Absol and Combusken on the hill and saw a Pidgeot in the distance with a smaller figure alongside it.

That's either Gale or someone else.

The tired young man was able to make out the figure's features as he got closer. It wasn't Gale, because the figure was obviously female. Long dark brown hair, pale complexion, average height and too thin for a man's frame. Riven's backpack clambered along with him as he jogged up to her. At least he could get some directions from her. "Hey, you there. Girl."

She turned around, slightly perplexed. She pointed to herself in question. "Of course you, there isn't another girl here for miles is there?" The girl crossed her arms, she probably didn't like that tone. But he was finding this Gale, making friends was not a priority. It hardly mattered that she was a female either, he only wanted information, there was no need to play the nice guy.

"What do you want?" The brunette asked.

"Directions."

She eyed him, skeptical of the guy's intentions. Early twenties, medium length jet black hair-with a strange white splotch-and a noticeable scowl. She stared him up and down, analyzing him. A belt with three pokeballs on it caught her eye. The fact that a trainer had come here was interesting. Trainers hardly ever did, mostly because there wasn't much of interest. "What do you want to know?" She asked hesitantly, still wary of him.

The older boy took off the backpack, letting it slump to the ground with a heavy thud. He moved his shoulders about in circles, trying to ease the shoulder ache that stupid backpack had caused him. "I was looking for a Gale. Supposed to be around here. I've been walking the plains for about two days and my feet are killing me. You have any idea where he is?" He twisted and cracked his back. The brunette winced.

She blinked. "Gale?"

"Yeah, that's right. I was told he was around here. I saw the house so I figured he must live there, but no one answered when I knocked. And I knocked very loudly," he explained. The knocks were probably loud enough to wake up a sleeping Snorlax really. There was no way a sleeping person wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Oh." She twiddled her thumbs.

"Know where he is?"

She nodded nervously. He was giving her a glare that said tell-me-or-die, making it hard for her to respond. Her Pidgeot saw her discomfort and screeched loudly, threatening to use gust. "No! No! It's okay, calm down," she reassured, running a hand through its feathers. When she turned around, she saw that the trainer had three pokemon alongside him, suspiciously eyeing her Pidgeot. "Sorry about that, he's just a little jumpy. He didn't mean any harm," she explained. That Absol's horn didn't look particularly friendly.

The trainer's eyes narrowed. That was when she noticed that his eyes didn't quite match. One was brown and the other was a deep blue. Peculiar. He waved a hand, "it's fine. I don't blame him, I'm fairly jumpy myself. Anyway, back to what I asked before. Gale?"

Very direct. She gave a small chuckle and reddened. "Actually… I'm Gale," she said.

Riven looked like someone had slapped him with a board. "Uh… What?" He thought Gale was a man. It was hard not to think he was a man, considering Gale was usually a boy's name. His urge to punch the imaginary image of Gale in his mind lessened considerably.

Gale giggled. It amused her when people reacted like that, since they always expected a guy and not a girl, their expressions were priceless. "Yep, I'm Gale. Unorthodox name for a girl but my dad had terrible taste in names," she said. "But I'm sure you don't care about that. Why were you looking for me?" Some scenarios ran through her head. She hadn't pissed off any bad people, so he wasn't going to hurt her right?

Riven composed himself, face returning back to its normal seriousness. "I was told you could give me a ride. I can pay if you like." He opened up his wallet and took out a couple of bills. Gale looked at the bills before waving her hands, turning his offer down.

They went back to the cabin and spoke for sometime after he had used her shower to get rid of the sweat from the two days of walking. She was glad that he wasn't some sort of hitman, despite having that serious face and a glare potent enough to set healthy trees on fire. He didn't talk all that much either, only responding in short sentences or even one word answers. They were currently eating some Tauros stew, which the hungry boy lapped up like a ravenous Poochyena. "So, ummm, where do you want me to take you?"

Still eating, the trainer-whose name she didn't know yet- responded, not even bothering to look up. "Forina."

Gale wasn't surprised. Usually, the only regular people that gathered in this area were those that went for the millennium festival. Trainers almost never bothered with Forina, but when one did appear in the plains, that was usually their destination. "I figured as much," she smiled. "I can take you there, but it will be a three days ride at a moderate pace."

The trainer looked up at her this time."That's good. Do you have enough gas?" Getting stranded in the middle of a valley or on bare cliffs with dangerous pokemon about was the furthest thing from his to-do list. The desert was an excellent example of how fast things could go to shit.

Gale raised an eyebrow, then broke out giggling.

"What?" Riven couldn't figure out what made his question so hilarious.

She was still trying to contain her laughter. "No, it-it's just… Haha! You think I drive a car?"

"Well, yes. By ride, I thought Nurse Joy meant a car." It was a fairly logical assumption. Riven fought his hardest not to redden in embarrassment, he needed to maintain his dignity after all.

"Nope. By car it would take even longer, and you'd have to go pretty fast too. The road is way too bumpy and the cliffs are dangerous. I wouldn't recommend it." People had steered right off the cliffs before. They sure wouldn't be trying that again.

"So then how are you going to give me a ride?" Riven looked utterly clueless. The fact she had a Pidgeot out with her sometime ago went completely over his head. The obvious escaped him from time to time.

Gale grinned, hazel eyes full of mischievous glee. "Why flying of course!" She could tell he was a first timer. By way of his reaction( lost color in the face and swallowed nervously) she just had to mess with him.

"Wait, huh? Flying? As in, ride enormous birds hundreds of feet in the air with no harness or saddle of sorts?" He looked genuinely skeptical, and a little hesitant, paranoia rising to dangerously high levels. "Is that, I don't know? Safe?" She smiled sweetly, making Riven more uncomfortable with the idea than he already was. This was going to suck, and his stomach agreed.

"HOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY SSSSSSHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!" Riven screamed at the top of his lungs, wind howling in his face as the Pidgeot he was riding on dive bombed in the direction of the ground at breakneck speeds. He tightened his grip on the bird's plumage, now a white knuckled, iron vicegrip. "I'M GOING TO DIE!" Riven closed his eyes, waiting to become a colorful splat on the ground below.

The infuriating laugh of a certain girl over the howling wind reached Riven's ears, he cursed under his breath and hoped his death was instant. But before the Pidgeot hit the ground, it turned its body and soared straight ahead, avoiding the ground by thirty or so feet. Gale gave it an order and it began losing speed, finally landing. Riven let go and threw himself on the ground, thanking the ground for existing.

"Ground. Sweet , sweet ground. I'm glad you're here. I don't want to do that again, please no. Please, no." He was face down in the grass, stuck like an Octillery to its prey.

Gale put her hands on her hips and broke out into hysterical laughter. "Oh, come on! It wasn't...that...bad!" She was holding her sides, feeling like they were going to explode, she hadn't laughed like that in a while. His reaction to the little maneuver was hilarious, which was compounded by his normally serious expression.

He shot an incendiary glare at her. "Are you insane? THAT WAS MY FIRST TIME FLYING! Why would you do something like that?" He was giving her equally amused Pidgeot a very wide berth. He was practically spitting venom. "If that was a joke, it was despicable."

Gale stopped laughing. "I was trying to make you conquer your fear of flight. You know, like how Swellows shove their Taillows off the nest so their instincts can take over?" Her father always told her that the best way to conquer fear was to face it. He probably should have mentioned that wasn't the best way to go about it with everyone. But alas, the damage was done.

"I am not a bird," he spat, having no feathers and especially no wings. People and pokemon were two very different things.

"I can see that," she replied, noting the position of the sun in the sky. "Crap. I know you won't like it but we need to head off now. No tricks this time. Promise." She held out a hand and gave a comforting smile, like Joy's whenever she greeted trainers in the center.

Riven, however, remained glued to the floor. "Hold on, just let me…appreciate the ground a little more. Just a little break, need to…recover my courage." The mortified young man was sprawled out on the ground, rubbing his face and hands on the grass in case he never saw them again.

Gale shook her head and grinned in disbelief. His seriousness was starting to ebb away, the guy started to appear a little more friendly in her eyes. It took him twenty minutes to finally gather his courage to even get on the bird again. When they began to take off, he kept his eyes shut as they ascended. Gale watched him, whose face was buried deeply in the Pidgeot's feathers; it looked like he was praying to whatever deity he worshipped to help him.

As they flew at a moderate pace, she called out to him, voice louder than normal because of the rushing wind. "Hey! You can open your eyes now! I won't tell him to dive anymore. I'm sorry about that. It was in poor taste." Gale's apology was sincere, but it wouldn't change a damn thing. "You'll like what you see, honest."

Riven scoffed. Poor taste? The girl has a sadistic sense of humor, she's freaking insane! I am NEVER getting a flying pokemon. I'll keep my feet permanently on the floor, thank you. He reluctantly opened his eyes, putting on his desert goggles to keep the wind from irritating them.

Gale was right though, the view was fantastic. They were high above the clouds, a puffy sea of white below them, reflecting the golden rays of the sun. It was a majestic sight, breathtaking yet bewildering. Riven remembered how Samuel described flying, a wonderful feeling of freedom, grace, and beauty. It was true, despite the fact that it was also absolutely terrifying that his flyer could potentially send him spiraling down to his untimely demise via gravity with a single order. He had to trust her, for now.

Gale smiled warmly, seeing the trainer's look of awe as he saw the clouds below. "Amazing, isn't it?" She patted her Swellow's head, who seemed rather pleased with the attention. The feeling of freedom never got old, just flying through the air was sufficient payment for her. If she got to help people while doing it, it was all the better.

"It's quite something. I think I kind of understand the craze for bird pokemon now, this is pretty impressive." Riven had to admit it, it felt pretty great. It almost took his mind off the ordeal Gale had put him through, almost. The birds descended, making Riven anxious. He sighed in relief as they leveled out amongst the clouds.

"Touch it," the girl said, running a hand through the wispy clouds. He did, gaping in awe as he ran a hand through them as well. "Change your mind about flying yet?" A trainer having a fear of flying was certainly going to be problematic, they usually relied on birds or winged pokemon to get around.

He looked at her, pursing his lips. "A bit. I mean, I'm still scared shitless after that stunt you pulled but it isn't so bad when you're not divebombing at over one hundred miles per hour straight down." Gale scratched her cheek, feeling a little guilty about his newly formed flying anxiety. "The view sure is nice but when we descended just now I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I'm still not investing in a flying type though, which isn't your fault in the slightest, by the way." She noticed he was holding on pretty tight, and frowned.

"Sorry. I just thought it would make you more comfortable with flying. You know how guys love an adrenaline rush and all, I thought you'd enjoy it. Guess not." She looked down, continuing to pet her Swellow's head.

"It's fine, I guess. Just...don't do that again. If you do, I can't guarantee you that my bowels won't empty themselves forcefully," he mentioned dryly. He had to fight it the first time, or else his pants would ruined by now. And most likely smell something fierce.

"That's gross."

"Well it's true."

She scrunched her face. "Why are men so crude? You're going to make me lose my breakfast."

He rolled his eyes behind the goggles. Damn near lost mine.

Gale waited a few minutes, listening to the wind blow past her ears. She still hadn't learned something crucial, his name. Calling him trainer or guy got awkward quick. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

She fidgeted a bit on her bird, she didn't want to come across as a desperate girl, even though that wasn't her intention at all. "I-I never got your name. If that's too much to ask." She cursed mentally, he probably thought she was flirting. The guy wasn't bad looking, just scruffy, which seemed to be a universally common trait among male trainers. Most of them never even bothered to comb their hair.

However, his expression didn't so much as move an inch. It seemed like she worried for nothing, that was good news."Riven."

"Hi, Riven. Wow, that's weird." The name sounded strange. She thought it would be something generic like Bob or Dylan. Actually, he looked like more of a John.

"What is?"

"Your name," she explained.

"So is Gale on a girl," he retorted.

"Touche."

"Touche?"

"It's a way of saying you have a point. Never heard of it?" Nearly everyone knew what that meant. That or he was literal to the point of ridiculousness. Certainly would explain quite a bit.

"No," he confirmed.

She cocked her head. "Did you grow up under a-"

"I DID NOT GROW UP UNDER A GEODUDE. DO NOT EVEN UTTER THAT SENTENCE," Riven shouted, earning a wing smack from the Pidgeot. His shout had made the Pidgeot's ear canal ring. The human's iron grip on his feathers was starting to irk him considerably too.

Gale held up her hands, giggling. "Okay, okay! Lighten up a little, will ya?" He was so serious, it made it difficult for her to talk with him.

Riven stared at the girl, uncomfortably so. "Forgive me for being so peeved. After all, I'm only the victim of a cruel practical joke that very well could have repercussions on my psyche for the rest of my life. Here's a smile." His remark was laced with acid, sincerely demonstrating discomfort. His "smile" was instead a very deep scowl. Gale decided to stay quiet.

Eventually, they touched down in the valley area and found a nice cave in which to sleep for the night. Pokemon were faster than cars, but they were still living, breathing beings, and they needed to rest as well. Neither of them wanted the birds to overwork themselves and fall asleep mid-flight. They set up camp to get some rest.

After two hours of restlessness, Gale turned on her side. She watched the back of Riven's head as he lay on the floor, a messy mop of black hair.

"What?" he asked, surprisingly aware that she was watching him.

Gale squeaked, being discovered. "How did you know I was looking at you?"

"When you laid down, you were facing away from me. I heard you turn. Not that hard to figure out that you're currently facing me. Also, it's hard to sleep when you feel someone is burning holes into your skull with their eyes."

"And here I thought you had eyes in the back of your head."

Riven weighed the pros and cons of that in his mind. "That would suck, actually. My hair would get in the way."

"It's a bit long. You should cut it before you start to look like Mankeyzan."

"Let's just pretend that I know what you're talking about." The reference was clearly lost on him.

"Really? You've never seen Mankeyzan?"

"Never heard of it until now."

"You are a deprived child, you know that?" Gale couldn't believe he had never seen a single kid's movie. Mankeyzan was a classic. Now it made sense why he was so sour.

"You've no idea," he responded cryptically. "You should go to sleep. Insomnia isn't good for you."

"Someone's being a hypocrite. You can't really sleep, no matter how hard you try, can you? And don't ask me how I know. If you were still awake to hear my shuffling, then you're an insomniac too."

The boy stayed quiet. Her reasoning was solid, there was no point in denying the truth. He sighed deeply. "I guess you got me."

She smiled smugly. She could play detective too. There was one thing she was slightly interested in, though. "Riven, what's your plan to get the Dawn stone? If you don't mind… I'm just really wondering… how exactly your plan is going to work. Those are tall spires."

This time, Riven couldn't help but chuckle. "You really want to know?"

"Well, I suppose it isn't necessary for me to know but I'm still curious," she admitted. "It's not like everyday a trainer decides to tackle the caves without a flying pokemon. Things can get interesting."

"I'm one hundred percent sure you're going to call me a lunatic though."

"Entertainment is good," she said with a light smile.

"It's like this..."

The next two days were spent in the same fashion as the first. Fly for a while, then land and sleep. Gale and Riven exchanged few words the following two nights, mostly because Riven had gotten nightmares every night, at one point accidentally attacking Gale as she tried to wake him. He apologized and told her that the nightmares were common; she didn't have to worry, he'd be fine. The rest of the journey was spent in neutral silence. Riven enjoyed the quiet and simply enjoyed the trip, it was kind of like riding a bus, which was very calming, in a way.

They landed on the outskirts of Forina on the third day, tall spires rising above hundreds of feet, the rocky sky-scrapers of mother nature herself. Thick forest covered the ground below, drawing suspicion from Riven. Stepping off the Pidgeot, whose name was Emile, he surveyed the area with a sweep of the eyes. Gale stood behind him, a little skeptical about his "plan" to get into the caves. It was extremely risky and very, highly, stupid. Genius in a mad scientist sort of way, as in, crazy enough to work, or stupid enough to fail fantastically.

"Hey, Riven."

"Yes?"

"You know your plan is absolutely absurd right?"

"It makes about as much sense as time travel does," he joked. It was ironic really, for being such a person wrapped up in the idea of safety and logical thought, he was proposing a ludicrous plan that had slim to no chance of succeeding. He was an idiot for trying but it's not like he hadn't done things like this in the past. Granted it did nearly get him killed multiple times but he had cheated death so many times that the effect of his batshit crazy schemes hardly fazed him. Riven wasn't afraid of death, but he didn't actually want to die, he'd prefer to avoid that if necessary.

Gale let out a frustrated huff. "Men." She crossed her arms as the trainer continued scouting the area. "Or you know, I can let you borrow Emile to take you up there and back down so you don't have to end up a human pancake on the way down?" She had thrown the bait, now it was up to him to see if he would take it. Emile was not amused though. He protested loudly, then Gale gave him a look. He piped down.

Riven turned on his heel to face her. Gale's willingness to help him was unnatural. She gave him a ride for free and asked for nothing in return and now she wanted to help him get a dawn stone? Something was up here. "Why are you so eager to help me?" His eyes were incredibly narrow, drawing the darkest conclusions to her motives.

She looked slightly offended. "Fine. If you don't want me to help you, I won't. Trainers are so stubborn, no wonder everyone thinks you're all stupid." Everyone who wasn't a trainer universally agreed that most trainers were unbelievably naive, hot tempered, and of course, stupid. Hence, the notorious stigma that all trainers were brainless, blundering fools with utter disregard for common sense. Sad part was, most of them were. Many of them being males.

Riven noticed that he just figuratively shoved his foot into his mouth. Time to rephrase. This was a good opportunity, his logic told him not to be an idiot and waste it. Tactful was good, he could do that. Briefly. "My mistake, I'm just a little...apprehensive. Most people charge for these things." People were ambitious, greedy bastards. Most of the time. There were exceptions, very few exceptions.

Gale's anger subsided. "I just like helping people. My dad did it all the time, he told me that it was best to help people in need. And I don't care about money. In case you didn't notice, I live out in the middle of nowhere. Mortgage isn't one of my problems," she pointed out. "But there is one thing that I do want from you."

"And what is that?"

"Before I answer that, how long are you going to be there for?"

Riven had never really considered how long he'd be there. He did want to experience the wild again though, the last couple months spent with civilization had gotten him into more trouble with the law and unsavory characters than he'd like, with killers and violent surprises at every corner. He required a much needed break, where the only things that wanted to kill him were pokemon. He was fine with that. Attempted assassinations? Not so much. "Couple months I suppose?"

Gale grinned, it was perfect. "There's going to be an event near Meteor Falls in five months, around June. The tickets cost two thousand each, and I don't have enough to pay for the ticket." She innocently placed her hands behind her back, letting the scruffy one figure it out for himself.

Riven stared blankly at her. "Oh god. You're guilt tripping me aren't you."

She smiled wryly.

Riven's hand connected with his face. Should've known. Every girl I meet in my age group either blackmails me, guilt trips me, or attempts to do so in some form or another. He sighed deeply. "Guess there's no way around it. I'll pay for your ticket but you have to provide the transportation. It's the least I could do to repay you for helping me," he said through gritted teeth. Although, the deal would work out for him too. It ensured a ride out of Forina, saving Riven two months of walking. Being the pragmatist he prided himself in being, he chose the option that would bring about the most benefit and save considerable amounts of time best spent doing something other than walking back to Lavaridge. Also, blisters were pure evil.

The brunette squealed and hugged him tightly. He locked up and pried her off of him, like a person would a pesky piece of chewing gum. The death glare returned full force. "Ah, you don't like being touched. No hugs, sorry about that. But anyways! Deal!" She held out her hand, which Riven shook firmly. "Here's my number. Save your holo caster's battery, or find an electric pokemon to zap it. I'll call to check up on you, in case you're still alive. "

"Thanks for the wonderful vote of confidence," he commented dryly.

They exchanged numbers and she got on her Swellow, waving goodbye to Emile and Riven. "Emile, when you're done helping crazy here with his quest, come back to the house. You know the way."

"Geot," he affirmed.

"Good luck, Rivy!"

Rivy? REALLY? Riven's upper eyelid twitched furiously.

The blue flying type lifted off the ground with a powerful beat of its wings, ascending further and further until Gale and her Swellow were but a tiny speck in the sky. Riven eyed Emile, who impassively preened his plumage. He brought out his translator from his trainer bag and turned it on. "Right then. Pid- errr, Emile." The large bird stared at him with faint disdain. "When we get up in the sky, no pranks, alright?"

The Pidgeot gave a smug look. "I can make no promises."

"Like trainer, like pokemon," Riven muttered sourly. The Pidgeot gladly ignored him and went back to preening. Riven stared back at the Forinan landscape and precariously flipped open Charles for a debriefing of dangers. He knew nothing about the area, so it was best be prepared for anything.

"Ngh," came a digital voice. "Uhhhh. Sir, I'll have you know I was kindly napping." He made a yawning noise. Could AIs even do that? Riven had no clue, he couldn't work a computer to save his life. No sense in even attempting to understand.

"Charles, you don't- can't sleep."

"Contrary to popular belief, I do fatigue."

"But I haven't opened you in a long time."

"Precisely. I was hibernating."

"You're not an Ursaring."

"I could be."

Riven gave up, tackling a brick wall only meant hurting yourself. "Fine, 'Ursaring'. I want to know what dangers I could find in Forina. Assuming you have any relevant information at all. That actually helpsthis time. Not that amazingly useful advice you love giving." The monumental "survive" that Charles had given Riven and Will back in the desert was a prime example of completely useless fucking information. Actually, most of the pokedex entries on pokemon were either useless, or obvious exaggerations. Made him wonder who wrote them.

"There are nothing but cute Jigglypuff and cuddly Pichus in there," Charles stated with complete confidence, not even bothering to check. Blatant lies of course, but he was not to be mistreated like a common pokedex, he had a voice, and he intended to use it. Mouthing off to his owner was amusing in its own way.

"Ah, so this is your rebellious phase?" Riven asked.

"No, that was sarcasm. You might've missed it," Charles quipped.

"I'd love to continue this Charles, but I need the information somewhat urgently."

"Do you?"

"Not really. But you don't want to make me run your battery dry in the shade, do you?" Blackmail certainly did have its perks. It was no surprise why weasels and manipulative bastards loved it so much.

"Argh, fine. You win." Charles' blue lights flashed repeatedly, looking up anything referencing Forina. "Ah, here we are. Plenty of things capable of disemboweling or incinerating you sir. Just how you like it. Maybe beaten to a bloody pulp is better? Forina has that too."

Riven snorted."That's good to hear. Show me what she's got then. And not just the lethal stuff, I want to know everything." He was also on the lookout for a fourth team member, something fierce and powerful was preferable. Or maybe something that would give him an advantage over flying types. They were always pains in the ass for Aine(and for Baron, once he evolved). His flight anxiety only served to make his once reasonable and now irrational dislike of flying types even worse.

"Let's see here, shall we? We got Shiftry, Sandslash, Nuzleaf, some Scyther(Riven shuddered), Absol, Altaria, Vibrava, Flygon, Linoone, Zangoose, Seviper, Tropius, Beautifly, Breloom, Shroomish, Castform, and Swellow. There are also some sightings of wild Salamence too." Most of the pokemon Charles had named were, in fact, capable of gutting someone rather easily. Or turning them into cinders, either way.

"Salamence?" Riven hadn't heard of those, but it definitely sounded intimidating. He was entertaining the thought of catching it at the very mention of its name.

"If you're thinking about catching a wild Salamence, you should leave that thought in a dark place, far, far away from you. Six feet under the ground is a good start," Charles warned.

"What's so bad about Salamence?"

Clueless trainer was clueless, Charles scoffed. "It's a dragon?" Riven didn't sound surprised yet. Charles let out a loud digital groan. "Fine. Let me give you an idea, since you seem insane enough to try and catch one. Wild Salamence are extremely territorial, go on rampages when angered, spew very hot flames from their mouths and fly very, very fast; it's one of the fastest flying types in the pokemon world. It razed towns to the ground in the past, single handedly, by the way, not in groups. Also, wild ones tend not to listen to trainers, even ones with all eight badges. Trainers who own Salamence all raised them from Bagon or occasionally Shelgon. No one has tried catching an adult. Think about that."

Riven swallowed. "Is the core of the earth a deep enough hole for that thought?"

"Just about."

"Point taken, Salamence is out of the question. Wait, did you say Absol?"

"Yes, there are sparse Absol populations scattered throughout Forina. It's one of the few places where Absols can be found in groups. The other being in close proximity to Fortree City."

"Huh." Riven mouthed an 'oh'. That suddenly explained why Haona tackled him in Rustboro when he mentioned going to Forina. She must be excited to see her own kind. I can't blame her, I'd be excited myself if I saw someone from my own time, however unlikely that would be. He'd search for the Absols later though, the dawn stone came first. Riven thanked Charles and told him to go back to hibernation, then addressed Emile. "You ready?"

"Let's get this over with. The faster the better. Plus, I don't like you anyway, you hold onto my feathers too hard," the Pidgeot bluntly stated. At least he got straight to the point, which was leagues better than most people.

"Hmph. That makes two of us," Riven sneered.

It took a couple days to find the correct spire. Riven expected to get it over with in a day, since Emile could fly him around, but there were lots of spires, and most of them had holes in the top. The Pidgeot was obviously very miffed about spending more time with someone who wasn't his master and eagerly flew the trainer around, desperately wanting to go back. It was snow season and Forina got considerable amounts around this time of year. Frost plus wings was the perfect formula for disaster, death by falling was a shameful way for a prideful flying type to die.

Eventually they came to a spire with a gaping maw, pitch black darkness going down hundreds of feet. Green little specks glittered around the edges, suggesting that the caves were near the sides of the enormous hole. Riven decided that the best point of entry was the left most side. Emile landed on the rim of the hole and patiently waited. Riven set his backpack down, but not before peering to the side, all the way down. They were really high up, one slip could very well entail death. He uncoiled a very large rope from his packpack, a culmination of tightly knotting three coils of escape rope together.

Taking out a metal ringstand, he used his foot to jam it into the rock at the edge of the chasm and looped the end of the rope through it, making a knot and letting the rest descend into the hole. Emile had flown him in to gauge the approximate distance from the nearest cave entrance from the top. It was about thirty feet down and forty feet away from the rope's position. Riven craned his neck and looked down into the pit, getting a little nauseous. He calmed his nerves, inhaling and exhaling deeply, then lowered himself down the rope into the darkness. He reached the end and began to swing, just like the kids did in the playground in Petalburg park, albeit on a much more massive and dangerous level. Picking up speed, the daring teenager swung back and forth across the chasm, gaining more distance with each progressive swing.

The rope was beginning to feel the strain, if he swung for too long, it could snap and Riven would be unbelievably fucked. He was close enough to the entrance and waited for one more swing before going for it, still holding onto the rope. As he flew through the air, Riven felt a rush as he attempted to cheat death once more. His feet made contact with the ledge, but just barely, his own momentum nearly sending him backwards into the seemingly endless pitch black void. Desperately struggling to keep his footing, he fell to the side, mere centimeters away from the edge, holding onto that length of rope like his life depended on it.

Riven laughed in disbelief, sweat coming down his forehead. "Holy shit. That actually worked." Riven patted himself down, still in disbelief that he stuck the landing. "THAT WORKED! HAH! AND YOU DOUBTED ME YOU OVERGROWN PIDGEON!" The trainer hollered out, giving Emile confirmation that he was good. The Pidgeot couldn't believe the human's utterly insane playground swing gambit worked.

The bird shook his head. That human is a crazy bastard.

Riven walked along the interior of the cave, shining his flashlight on the walls, light reflecting off greenish crystals embedded in the walls. He was looking for something small, green, and circular. The shards in the wall were much too huge and his knife wasn't a damn pickaxe. It would snap if he tried prying off a piece. He continued further in, where the cave hollowed out into a large cavern, revealing multitudes of sleeping Aron and a couple Lairon. In the middle of the mess, there was a collection of dawn stones.

The black haired trainer turned off his flashlight, and carefully tip-toed across the Aron field, exceedingly careful not to disturb them. Aine could take a few of them anyday, maybe even a Lairon or two, but fifty plus? No way in hell. They could also cause a cave in, which would doom Riven anyway. His best bet was stealth. He took small, soft steps, heart hammering in his chest, being as quiet as humanly possible. His heartbeat felt like a drumroll for war. That's how loud it sounded to him.

Reaching the center, Riven slowly bent down and grabbed two of the green stones. He tried to swipe them all but before he could, the disturbance caused the remaining stones to roll away and clink very loudly against the metallic hide of a sleeping Lairon. Time seemed to come to an agonizing stop as Riven froze, silently hoping the pokemon would stay asleep. But as all things with wild pokemon went with him, nearly every single creature's eyes shot wide open, unsurprisingly pissed off. He felt the gaze of every single eye on him.

"Why couldn't you just stay asleep?"

He sprinted for the exit, narrowly dodging angry metal claws and rock tombs. He stumbled several times because of the shaky ground but managed to find the place in the wall where he anchored the rope. Securing the two stones in his bag, he freed the rope and swung out into the chasm just before the herd of iron armor pokemon metal clawed him down. He laughed at them and began climbing back up, when a sharp jolt rocked him. Riven's eyes widened as the rope thinned near the top. Bad news, very bad news. "Emile! The rope is getting weaker!" He cried. The rope gave way and snapped. "EMILLLLLLLLE!"

The Pidgeot just barely picked up the trainer's voice and rushed down to save the human. The Pidgeot was hesitant at first, unable to see the bottom of the chasm but dived down anyway, Gale wouldn't be pleased if the human male died. Riven closed his eyes in pitiful acceptance when the giant bird caught him by the legs. Riven desperately held onto his bag and belongings, he was not going to lose the stones he had traveled half across the damn region for.

It was terrifying being dropped off on the ground after that but Riven was still riding on the adrenaline high. He was alive. He had escaped and damn did it feel downright amazing. As Emile set him down on the ground, Riven jumped as high as he could into the air. His serious demeanor smashed to pieces, he felt great as his ego inflated."I. AM. FUCKING. AWESOME!" He shouted up into the sky. Felt good cutting loose with no one around."WHOOOO!"

About to bring out his pokemon for Baron's evolution celebration, something cut him off. Any and all cheer was completely eviscerated, including his ego boost, only to be replaced with dread and a strange feeling in the intestines that also happened to coincide with the browning of pants.

It was a roar. A defiant and absolutely pants shitting-ly terrifying roar. Suddenly, fire erupted, covering the wide open space in blue flames as tall as a house. Riven and Emile froze. A blur of red and blue rocketed through the air, coming directly at them, blue flames incinerating the ground below.

"Ahahah… shit."

I found it odd that in the RSE games, you couldn't capture anything but Bagons in Meteor Falls. Considering the pokedex entries for Salamence, it made me think that an explainable reason for not being able to capture Salamence is that they are way too dangerous to attempt catching. Of course, they probably made it that way so people couldn't have access to a powerful dragon but still, it makes sense to me.

Allow me to explain.

Dragons have little weaknesses and looking at it realistically, rock types are slow as balls. They wouldn't be able to fling huge rocks hundreds of feet in the air to ground one. A dragon can roast an ice type and can outspeed flying types. Also, they shrug off electric like nobody's business. Point being, taking on a dragon without another dragon is not a good idea. And even then, risking it isn't worth it either. Baby Bagon it is.

Before anyone mentions that Forina doesn't have Salamence, yes, that may be true. But take into account that pokemon can be introduced into other areas or move, just like animals would. Forina has an abundance of tall spires and a plentiful food source from the forests below, it would be an excellent place for a small group of dragons to thrive. After all, Flygons are usually found in the desert and there are some in Forina. Meteor Falls isn't the only place that some stray Salamence could be foun