Ragnarok

Note: So lame. I had all this mess typed out, and when uploading, I accidentally clicked one of the links to the side, removing everything I wrote.

I'll try to remember what I wrote.

First off, I'm not going to apologize for my lateness, but only because everyone should expect it by now. However, holidays are around the corner, and I should be getting down to business once December starts rolling.

Ausare, the writer of "Northern Star", is someone to be loved, if not for his interesting story, for his colorful and hilarious dickery in his author notes. I salute you, good sir.

This chapter is pretty big, and without intermissions. ~19K words, added character bio included, so be sure to be comfortable when you start reading.

As for comments of my chapter, I enjoyed writing this chapter for the most part, but proof-reading was a bitch. I'll be keeping vigilant watch over this to make sure I didn't skip something.

The "novice mini-arc", the chapters starting from session 1 until now, are almost over. Be sure to enjoy the happy, flowers, and whatnot, because I have some TRAGIC PAST to bomb in on some of the characters after the next few chapters or so are done. S'gonna be fun, I hope.

As always, read, review, blah blah blah. Reviews encourage me to continue my story, and getting them always empowers me to start writing again. It DOES make a difference to comment.

With that said, enjoy the read!

11/30 Note:

Revised it after I noticed a TERRIBLE mistake in the writing.

Oh, and to avoid any possible confusion: Pokemon can only speak their name. However, for convenience, I type down what they actually mean. The only humans who can understand the speech will be noted to be able to talk to them from this point on.

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1:09
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Back in the silent little smudge known as Pallet Town, Blue darts down the path from Route 1, clearing it without even breaking into a sweat. Civilians from the outskirts of Viridian City stared on as the spiky, brown haired young man dashed straight through the suburban households that bordered the edges of Viridian. When he finally had enough breathing room near the entrance to the small city- though exponentially larger compared to Pallet- he grabbed a single Pokeball from his belt, nearly wrenching the occupant from their state of stasis.

"Teleport, now. You know where."

His Alakazam understood right away, focusing all of his energy around his trainer and himself. A loud crack burst throughout the area, and just like that, the hasty Trainer had vanished, the essence of both him and his monstrously powerful Psi Pokemon traveling near light speed toward the meeting location deep inside the Viridian Forest. The ground in which they had vanished from left behind a small crater that fried anything in its path. Alakazam was still having a difficult time restraining his awesome psychic prowess.

Another crackle and snap later, they reappeared in front of an enclosed empty space within the deepest regions of the Viridian Forest. Before the migration, the only creatures here were weak little Pikachu and the typical bug types. Times had changed though, and now one would run across a strong Raichu now and then, the Pokemon having to raise their strength to continue to compete with the foreign invaders. The Raichu and Pikachu units in the forest were all that remained for several weeks until they too, like every other Pokemon in the Kanto-Johto land mass, traveled North to Sinnoh. Blue would've loved to catch a Raichu at their levels in the forest, but now was not the time for such silly matters to be filling his troubled mind.

In front of him, three Pokemon were sparring in a free-for-all typed battle. A large pink creature with a vacant expression on his face stared blankly at the power struggle in front of him, between a sleek green dragon and a devilish-looking dark canine. Houndoom was held in place by Flygon's deceivingly tiny claws, grabbing the canine by his horns and trying to plant his face into the ground. The green dragon quickly shot his eyes across the field of battle, a powerful burst of water firing from the Slowbro's mouth, heading straight for him. He quickly released the mutt, letting the enemies large horns ram into his gut, sending him back into the air. He struggled and stuttered in the skies above the trees before regaining control, watching as the water gun's new target stopped right inside the attack's range. Houndoom's entire left side was drenched in water, the force of the attack launching him from the ground and straight into a nearby tree, several hairs of his fine black fur shredding off on impact. Any other Houndoom would've howled as the water made contact with their bodies. He wasn't as pathetic as the rest.

"Sorry for being late. Gramps took longer than I thought he would talking to me," Blue interrupted the fight. The Pokemon ceased, heading to the sides of their trainers, the three humans looking back at Blue, no spite apparent for his tardiness. The Pokemon were all quickly gathered up into their Pokeballs by the three trainers, opening up a large amount of room in the field for the Mezzanotte to finally discuss current urgent events.

"How are things going in Johto, Lorelei?" Blue asked the older woman with the deep purple hair, neatly styled into a long ponytail. Lorelei pushed her glasses up with her index finger while pulling out a small notepad, scribbled with writing so horribly bad that only she could truly translate.

"With Lance gone, Johto's been on edge, especially since Cianwood's sudden disappearance."

"I heard about that several days ago. What do you guys think it is?" Blue asked the group.

"No human could set up something on that kind of scale," Lorelei added. "At the moment, my best guess is that the Cianwood incident has something to do with the Legendary Ones. Palkia's ability to distort and twist space around makes it the prime suspect. However, it's entirely possible for Mewtwo, Mew, and perhaps even Kyogre to be solely responsible."

"Palkia does seem to be the most logical choice of the group," the other woman spoke up, her mess of bright white hair covering the top half of her back. "And if Kyogre was responsible, the weather in all of the regions would've surely drastically changed within the last few weeks, right?"

"Correct," Lorelei answered, "and Mew has never shown even a tiny sign of hostility toward humans, so Mew seems out of the question as well."

"What about Mewtwo?" The tallest in the group, a sun-bathed man in a captain's outfit, continued, "He can easily teleport an island that small to another location. It doesn't seem like something he couldn't do, right?"

"We won't know for sure until one of us decides to go down to the Dungeons in Cerulean and interrogate him," Blue rubbed his hand down his face, "I'll go discuss this issue with him tomorrow, he's a little more friendly to me, anyways." Blue absolutely hated talking to Mewtwo; even if they were technically "allies". That stubborn creature still had mental problems that continued to bubble up as it aged- all due to his strange, erratic birth, and his incentive to attack any intruders in the Unknown Dungeon only increased after his encounter with Red those many years ago.

To any spectator, such claims and discussion would seem like nothing more than a practical joke at best, treating the Legendary Ones as simple creatures one could just walk up to and ignite a discussion.

"No one here can really get in touch with Palkia," Blue laughed, "except...Cynthia. She was our only link to Sinnoh, and her going missing just days before our rendezvous couldn't have been at any worse of a time."

Investigating Cianwood's remains was also out of the question, none of these powerful trainers even bothered to mention such an absurd suggestion. Cianwood left not a single trace, even the tiniest bit of evidence that it had once been located south of Olivine.

"Things are still calm here in Kanto, as you can tell," Lorelei continued, looking back at her notes, "But...He's back from his assignments."

The group went silent for a moment. Blue's fists balled up at the simple mention of his old friend. Lorelei continued to read her messy writing. "Red was last seen heading West to Indigo Plateau. I have no clue what he's up to."

"Indigo Plateau's within the borders of High Noon. It's alright." Blue knew that none of them were authorized to enter the region splitting Kanto and Johto- High Noon's Headquarters. They had all completely refused to become involved with the government, and by disagreeing with the Sol's new methods after the last great revolution, were expelled from all related affairs within the Government. Red's mission was a prime example of High Noon's neurotic behavior. The actions they had taken, in short, terrified the Mezzanote.

"Anything else, Lorelei?" Karen asked.

"Losing Cianwood wasn't a huge loss to Johto geographically, but the people are frightened. High Noon's having a very difficult time in transferring many families over to the Hoenn and Kanto landmasses. The evacuation of Olivine has left the city completely deserted, and without a lighthouse keeper, transported goods from Vermillion in Kanto and numerous cities in Hoenn are slowed to a Slowpoke's pace. If people continue to evacuate Johto in this manner, then Johto's going to be completely dry of inhabitants. The entire Johto branch of High Noon would break apart, and the power within the government could easily shift to any other region's advantage."

"At the moment, Johto's region is under joint authority, right? However, another catastrophe like Cianwood on any of the other three regions and Arceus knows what would happen to that already severed balance," said Drake.

"Why don't you go next, Drake?"

Drake, the ex-dragon champion hailing from Hoenn, an answer to the Elite Four's Lance, fixed his hat before shaking his head. "Nothing to report outside of what's already been said. Lorelei and Karen pretty much summed up going ons in my regions. Just an influx of people and a sharp drop in the Pokemon population."

"Which reminds me, think any of the Legendary Ones might have any clue as to what's going on with the Pokemon?" Blue asked the group. "This migration is completely unnatural. Damn it! If Cynthia were here..."

"None of the Legendary Pokemon will talk to us in my region." Drake chuckled in his throat. "Something about not being worthy of their time, or some nonsense like that. They're always so damn stuck up. Arceus should knock 'em down a peg or two."

"This situation seems the same in Johto, and Lugia's completely vanished off of the ocean floors, ever since what happened at Cianwood," Lorelei added in.

"And we all know what's become of Kanto's trio," Blue grunted, the urge to beat the ever-living crap out of Red boiling his blood. "How the fuck can he do that?! We both agreed that tampering with ANY balance between the Legendary Ones was below us."

"Things change, Blue," Drake answered, "I don't know what's going through that idiot kid's head, but there has to be a damn good reason for him to agree to doing something like that."

Karen diverted attention to herself by clapping her hands together. "All that's left is the Seviis. Absolutely nothing, zip. Oh, but Flannery and Red were both seen heading toward Mt. Ember a day or two ago. They both returned safe and sound, but I haven't heard from Moltres since those two left."

"Do you think Red got to Moltres already?" Blue paused, frightened that Red had so quickly finished off the third of the majestic birds.

"Not sure, but neither of the trainers seemed damaged, although Flannery did seem a bit shaken up."

"She must've gone to aid the poor thing. They're both in High Noon. But...she's never seen Red before face to face. He must've made her shit her pants several times over. It's probably best to assume that Moltres was taken out by Red too...and I have to deal with him as soon as possible"

Lorelei jumped in the conversation again, eager to get Blue's mind off of Red, even for just a moment. "What about your boyfriend, Karen?"

Karen brushed off the insult. "It's not like that you fucking hag. He's just come to an understanding similar to our own, and wants to help us out. He says that he can't investigate any further than beyond the borders we're limited to as well, but I'm waiting for him to report in again. I convinced him to try and discuss the Cianwood situation with some of the lower leveled Legendary Ones, if possible."

"I wouldn't think that Dialga OR Palkia would think too highly of him," said Drake.

"It's better than just sitting around and watching everything and everyone fall apart."

"Only several more things to discuss," Blue continued. "Before Cynthia went missing, she told me some very interesting information regarding Team Galactic's previous activity."

"Galactic? Weren't they that ridiculous group that tried to capture Palkia and Dialga?" Karen asked.

"Yeah. They tried and were beaten twice. Once by some rookie trainers, and again by the Sols before their passing."

Lorelei chuckled. "It wouldn't be the first time a large criminal organization has fallen to a group of young teenagers...twice."

Blue reminisced for a moment. His and Red's ambush of the Silph Co. building in Saffron City nearly ten years ago was one of the most exciting moments of his training career. "Well, just take a look at this."

Blue reached into a small bag on his back, pulling out several copies of a single report. Cyrus' face, that colorless skin and expression on the mug shot on the first page, made every single one of the members of Mezzanotte uncomfortable. A hush fell over the group as they all skimmed down the report.

"Impossible. This report's saying that Galactic's responsible for the murders of Richard and Vivian?" Drake questioned.

"They're straight from Cynthia herself," Blue added in, "-and I don't see a reason for her to give us false information in any way."

"Take a look at that," Karen added, pointing to a picture taken of a sample from the "mush" that made up the remains of Richard in the photo. "What the fuck is that?"

"Richard, obviously," Blue said, reading the notes below the photo, the joke not going over too well with the rest of them. He hid his newfound knowledge from Professor Oak from the group, at least for the time being. They all had enough on their plates monitoring the strongest of High Noon officials, as well as keeping a vigilant eye on their designated regions.

"That's not funny," Karen remarked.

"I know, I know. What bugs me the most about that thing is that I have no idea of exactly what he did to Richard to make him into that."

"Yes," Lorelei added, "I can't think of a single Pokemon whose attack would leave him as a pile of ambiguous vomit."

"I know Cyrus and his organization are tough, but there's no way he could grow that much stronger in such a short amount of time to be able to take both Sol's out. No one's been able to beat the Sols. No one. Do you think Galactic had help?"

"Team Rocket?" Lorelei suggested. The possibility that any of the four broken organizations between Rocket, Magma, Aqua, and Galactic would combine put the group on edge.

"Rocket's dead," Blue stated, "and Magma and Aqua disbanded since the incident in Hoenn between Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza. Although Maxie and Archie are still running around somewhere, they're not much of a threat anymore now that the orbs are gone."

"Perhaps a new group?"

Blue's eyes narrowed at the question. He didn't like the suggestion of a fifth group rising out from the ashes of the previous four, assuming that Galactic was absolutely gone. Looking back at the report, Blue noticed one small detail at the bottom of the page.

"What about their son?"

The entire group gave Blue a good long stare before looking back down at the paper. Lorelei would be the one to say what was on all three of the powerful trainer's minds.

"I wasn't even aware that those two...even had a son. When? How old is he?"

Blue read down Noah's tiny profile hidden within the documents before responding. "According to Cynthia and this report, Noah's identity was kept confidential for the most part," he looked up from the paper, "Cynthia actually mentioned him once to me, said something about how most of Sinnoh had no idea he even existed until he started going to the Twinleaf Academy at the age of four. Currently, according to this, he should be about nineteen or twenty years."

"Any reason that they'd keep him hidden like that?" Karen asked, her curiosity about an heir to the Sol name perked.

"None really. But this Noah kid might be someone worth checking out. He does have Richard and Vivian's blood running through his veins."

Blue's head was buried behind the papers again, trying to dig up any additional information. "Nothing else here seems to be written on him. This document was from the day of the Sol's murder, so there's no way to tell where he could be currently."

"Poor child. Losing his parents like that." Lorelei added on, gazing back at the purple muck in the previous photographs.

Blue folded up his copy and shoved it in his backpack. He had finally made up his mind. He had plenty of other pressing matters to engage in, but finding out about Noah Sol was just what he needed to push him over the threshold. "Lorelei...can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure, captain." Lorelei responded.

"I need you to look after Kanto for me. I'm going on a vacation to Sinnoh. Karen, you're going to help Lorelei watch over Johto as well, but stay at your post on the Seviis. Drake, just stay where you are. Inform me of any major updates as soon as you learn of them. If any of you happen to spot this Noah kid in your regions, inform me at once. This meet is over."

The trainers quickly made their leaves. Karen flew off riding south atop her beloved Honchcrow, Drake leaping atop his Salamence to soar back to Hoenn in the far east, and Lorelei walking back into the thick, dense forest, toward her station back in Goldenrod City; the magnet train from Saffron would be the fastest way to get back since she lacked a teleport or flying Pokemon.

"Oh, and Drake!" Blue shouted from the ground, Salamence beginning to lift into the air. "Tell Steven I said hi!"

"Sure!" Drake bitterly barked back.

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The artificial lights at the entrance to the mines guided Noah and Luna through the main entrance. Save for one or two working overtime, most of the miners had finally called it a day and were returning home to their family and friends for a good night's sleep. This made traversing the entrance of the mine much easier by default, not having to worry about screwing with any of the mining machinery while it was active.

Several large, blackened machines stood to the side of a large conveyor belt that stretched to the coal factory on the other side of the small valley across the cavern's opening. They continued to give off heat from the long day of grinding their metal gears together without breaks. The lack of ventilation didn't help, beads of sweat already starting to make their way down Noah's forehead. Luna didn't seem much too affected by this, strangely enough.

The first room with these machines was massive, taking up as much space as the auditorium back at the Twinleaf Pokemon Academy. It would be a great place to battle with Luna, since she needed the room to fight effectively. Noah made sure to make a mental note of this.

Noah needed to find a way to get his mind off of his sweating body. The lights suspended from the wall guiding them deeper into the cave, passed the last working miners, all giving him a bizarre glare as he head in the direction of their "monster".

"Luna. Since we have some time before we reach the ends of the mine, I wanted to ask you about these coins," he said, pointing towards the artifact.

Luna gave a quick glance around before speaking out. "I honestly don't know any more than you do, really. Maybe a thing here or two, but that's as far as I am along." She thought about her dream with that strange masked entity, and about how her plates would seemingly restore her memories.

"Can you tell me everything you know right now?"

"Well," Luna hesitated for a moment, "I can try."

"Then give it a shot."

"Well, as far as I know," she started off, pointing to the largest coin in the center, and then to the purple one right above it, "we both started off with these two. We made a deal that if I were to save you, that you were to help me with finding these things. I had no idea why I needed to find them..."

"Wait a minute," Noah didn't miss a beat, "-had? Did you learn anything new about them?"

"It sounds stupid."

"Just tell me."

"This isn't what I was gonna tell you, but hear me out first. Neither of us has any idea what these things do, and what they're really for, or why I need to find them so badly. I've tried looking through your unblocked memories that you've shared with me, and found nothing. There doesn't seem to be any benefits to getting these things for myself, but something drives me to do it anyways."

"All I know is that I got the silver one with the medallion from my father several years ago. He said it was called the 'Soul Plate'".

"What do you know about these 'plates'?"

"The plates are from a legend they shortly went over at my last year in the Pokemon Academy back in Twinleaf Town. Supposedly, the only part they taught us about in this legend is that the Alpha himself forged the very fabric of time and space using these plates, as well as creating human and Pokemon existence through a collaboration with Mew and the three spirits of Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit."

Even Luna was able to piece together the similarities in their current situation. "You don't suppose that-"

"It's just a myth, Luna. Besides, if these were really the plates from that legend, why is there seventeen grooves? The legend speaks of only sixteen plates in total, and I'm sure they wouldn't let some inaccuracy in the legend go over their heads."

"Maybe they counted wrong?"

"That's not good enough. Arceus itself has been proven to exist, but other than that, no one really knows what it can do outside of outrageous and unreliable reports from the previous ages. As far as we know, it can be as useless as a Magikarp."

"Well, it's just that I think I might have an idea for what they do for me."

"Yeah, you never told me about what you might've learned."

"It came to me in a dream." Luna then told Noah, in as much detail as possible, about her dream the other night, everything from the cloaked man's appearance, to her revisiting her first memory from her appearance at the lake, and even up to the man's debriefing of her mission."

"But it's just a dream...right?"

"I know, it sounds stupid, but I want to see that new memory that opened up. If this turns out to be true, then perhaps we can use the dreams to help us find exactly what these plates are for."

"I guess. Knowing more about them would give us a better idea of where to find them, hopefully. The entire dream thing sounds absurd, but then again, nothing about you has really been normal."

"What, that I can talk?"

"Oh no. Most Pokemon actually have the capability to talk. Most of them just refuse to because it takes a large amount of dedication and energy to do so. Time that could be used to survive in the wilderness or train and be stronger for their trainers. The odd thing about you being able to talk is that you were able to do so right from the get-go. No practice, nothing. You learned everything overnight."

"That's all? Remember, I copied your patterns of speech through the mind plate."

"Of course that's not all. You said at the beginning that you were an angel sent on a mission. You're looking for colored stones that come from a legend that has no validity. You and I share a single bond that keeps us both alive as one entity rather than two. Everything that we're doing sounds crooked."

Luna chuckled a little. "Yeah, if you put it that way."

"And then there's that stunt you pulled on the route before Jubilife City."

"What?"

"You don't remember what you did?"

"Well, no. I just remember fighting him...then kinda just waking up in the Pokemon Center."

Noah recapped everything that happened during Luna's radical change against the Arbok guardian. She stared at him as though he were making the story up on the spot until he finished retelling.

"So, you're saying I changed?"

"Completely."

"I don't remember a thing about that," she said, crossing her arms.

"It wouldn't be the first thing you've forgotten."

"Yeah."

"So," Noah said, looking around. The lights that exposed the walkway in front of them were starting to grow sparse, their own shadows slowly starting to take over the walls and ground. "These plates we're looking for: if we find more, we'll find out exactly what they are, and why you need them."

Luna was busy playing with one of her ears while he talked. "Yeah, probably. It doesn't really matter why though. I just need them, and you agreed to help me."

"Then I guess that's all there really is to it."

"Yeah."

It didn't take long for the Pokemon resting deeper within the mines to begin attacking the two travelers. Noah had to pull a flashlight out of his trainer bag to compensate for the pitiful amount of light the cavern walls were giving off at this point. Noah let Luna warm up on these easy pickings, mostly consisting of Geodudes and Zubat. The rocky Pokemon took several more hits to take down than the speedy little packs of Zubat, but being exponentially slower than Luna made defeating them no more than a mundane, simple task.

The Zubat's became irritating, zipping around and taking small nibbles at Luna's fur, missing contact with the flesh on most of their attacks. A single swipe from Luna's powerful claws would easily take down several of the winged devils if enough were in range.

Several other battles later, and about three minutes walking distance into the mines, a fork in the road. Noah and Luna decided on the road to choose through a game of rock-paper-scissors, winner being the one to choose. It would take Noah longer to teach Luna the hand signals, even through shared memories in their link, than it would be to just pick a tunnel at random.

It took several improper games before Luna was able to get the patterns and symbols down properly, and despite how long it took for her to get the concept down, it was a great way to kill some time, breaking the dreary flow that stalked them through the caves. The two of them squared off, throwing their hand and paw out in front and counted to three. Noah's hand was flattened, Luna's paw balled into what could've been taken as a fist. Before Noah could decide the winner, Luna extended her claws out. Scissors. Noah sighed.

Luna chose the right path.

Noah's mind felt as though it was beginning to rot away with the lack of discussion going on between the pair. He had an urge to break the silence, even if just for a single moment.

"Hey Luna, I wanted to tell you something."

Luna's ears jumped at the sound of his voice from behind her, since she'd been leading the two of them deeper into the mines, ever watchful for wild Pokemon that would kill to flank the two of them.

"What is it?"

"Well, about this deal we made involving the pendant and your job."

"What about it? Something wrong? You better not be changing your mind," she threatened with her claws semi-extended.

"Oh no, not at all. I don't mind helping you, otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to in the first place."

"So what is it? Go on."

"Well, if we're going to be looking for these coins all over the region...and possibly even other regions, I thought perhaps, if you wouldn't mind...helping me with something."

Luna slowed down their progress, focusing on Noah's voice without turning back.

"Since we're going to be traveling, I thought it wouldn't be much of a bother if we did the gym leader challenge."

"The...what?"

"It's an event that runs all year, every year, which usually leads up to the Sinnoh Championships sometime toward the end of the year."

Luna looked a little irritated. "What is it for?"

"It's a challenge Pokemon Trainers take to try and become one of the greatest trainers to ever live. To become renowned and respected as a high leveled Pokemon Trainer, and to hopefully secure a spot as a Gym Leader, Elite Four, or the highest crowning achievement of all: A Pokemon Master."

"...why?"

"Well...it was something I've wanted to do ever since I first started school back when I was a small kid. I," he pinched his eyes together, "never got too far due to certain circumstances."

"But you need to help me, Noah. We don't have much time to do something like that, do we?"

"Well, the only reason I asked if you could help me was because of how we're going to be traveling everywhere. Gyms are located all around the entirety of the Sinnoh region. We'd have to pass through major cities that have these gyms to look for your plates anyways."

Luna hid her annoyance at the sudden request. She was reluctant to reply to what seemed to her like an idiotic waste of time. However, like the ocean's tides, it quickly receded when she finally decided to talk back.

"How does this...help me?"

"Remember the Arbok? Luna, that wasn't just some standard battle most trainers are involved in. That was a fight to the death, and we almost lost."

"We won though, right?"

"That's not the point, Luna!" he raised his voice. Luna jumped. "I won't allow my Pokemon to go running headfirst into something that could easily kill them!"

Luna's eyes flared. "YOUR Pokemon? Last time I checked, I didn't belong to you."

Noah made a quick attempt to ease her rising temper. Having it dead quiet would be better than having an argument, especially with someone whose personality resembled a wild firecracker.

"...No, no. Sorry," Noah quickly tried to calm her down, "I mean...I don't own you...but you are with me, and you are a Pokemon."

Luna's quiet growls ceased. "So, what are you trying to say, Noah?"

"What I'm saying," Noah said, glad to jump back to the point, "Is that we were threatened by that Arbok because we weren't strong enough. Going through gym leader challenges, training in the wild against feral Pokemon, and all those things that revolve around a Pokemon Trainer doing the challenge would without doubt make you and whoever else we add to our team stronger. If we even add what we're doing here right now, for you, it'll only increase our strength faster."

"And with more strength, the easier it will be for us to get more of those coin-plates."

"I think you finally got it. We're gonna be passing through the cities anyways. If anything, it'll only cost us a few days in each town, at most."

"Hmmm," Luna pondered, scratching her head.

"You don't have to decide now though," Noah added, setting himself up just in case she decided to go against the idea, "if you think it'll take too long, I'm fine with that. Just keep what I've said so far in mind."

"Okay, I'll do it."

Noah paused, unsure he heard correctly. Luna was brought to a halt several moments after, when she felt their link weaken by the distance.

"...What? You sure?"

"Well, you said it will make us stronger, right?" Luna asked. Noah quickly nodded. "Well, if I'm stronger, getting what I'm looking for will be easier. Simple as that."

Noah looked to the rocky ground beneath him. "Thanks."

"However, if it starts taking up too much time, or will be too much in the way for our main priority, we're kicking it to the curb."

"So we'll just put it on hold then, right?"

"Yeah."

"Fair enough. Thanks Luna."

The furry little monster grunted back. "C'mon, we gotta keep going, and hurry up. The light's in your hand, and I can't see a damn thing in front of me."

Noah quickly caught up, his mind wandering to planning training sessions and gym battles in the near future. A part of him was, to his surprise, extremely excited at the prospect of continuing his chosen career path, while another was fearful of the results that could mimic what has happened once before. Again, he repressed the memories, making sure Luna couldn't feel or sense them for herself.

He quickly thought about the gym badges they'd have to earn through the challenges. He remembered a small case he had quickly packed in his bag back at Twinleaf Town. Without actually opening the bag, he thought about the contents.

'Coal...and Forest badges. I have those two.'

'What's that mean?' he heard a familiar voice in his head. Luna was giggling up ahead.

'One: They're the badges I already have from before, so we don't have to worry about the gym challenges in two of the eight cities, and Two: Get out of my head.'

Those pearl colored orbs stared right back into Noah's dirtied, brown eyes, teasing him through their thoughts again. 'Sorry, but sometimes I have way too much fun in here.'

'C'mon, get out.'

Luna approached him, wrapping her paws around the top of his head, moving them through his light-consuming hair.

'I wonder what else is in here,' she mused, obviously playfully mocking him again.'

Noah was about to pull her off of his head when he heard a faint, peculiar noise. A shuffle that came from directly in front of the pair. It seemed a small distance away, but at the same time, awfully close when the point was to keep any and every possible threat away from the two of them while they plundered deeper into the mines.

Another small shuffle from the rocks petrified his body.

"Wait a minute, don't move," Noah grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her toward his body. Luna could feel his warm breath burning the fur at the tips of her ears, forcing them to twitch against her own will. She fidgeted when she felt the heat from his mass travel down her back, making her hesitate reluctantly, pushing herself gently- though not without regret- away from him several inches, the blood rushing into her face.

They had reached the end of the tunnel path that they had chosen prior. Small, darkened and dried blood stained the coal-filled walls of rock. At the end of the enclosed path was a frame of a child, balled up, comfortably rocking itself back and forth to a smooth, invisible rhythm. Noah's flashlight focused on a portion of the empty wall away from the frame, careful not to suddenly alarm the little one.

The sickly and malnourished body seemed grotesque. The light that did land upon the mound reflected the tiny ball, its supposed yellow skirt covering most, if not all of its body. Her- Noah had assumed from the outfit- feet were hardly visible with the light, but from what could be made out in the darkness, they were blackened and dirtied by the coal resting on the floors of the numerous tunnels inside the mines.

She was weeping quietly to herself, her arms wrapped around what Noah thought to be a large pillow, itself completely submersed in the coal's black properties. The near silent movements of the pathetic child stopped as the light from Noah slowly crept onto her, trying to reveal her true figure. She eerily crawled away from the spotlight, toward a corner of the cave, her head still turned to face the light as it continued to stalk her. Her volume of her cries dropped almost completely, had Luna not been picking them up over their bond with her own sense of hearing.

Luna had been slowly inching her way toward the tiny kid, sniffing the air around her while trying to get a good look at her frail bodily figure without startling her. Everything she sensed was passed on over to Noah, in the hopes that he'd possibly be able to identify her sooner than she could without that light.

'Luna,' Noah sent to his companion, 'get ready. I'm going to flash the light straight on her.' He held his breath as the beam shot quickly from the wall to the girl's exposed face. Her eyes dilated, her pupils reverting to tiny slits. She quickly buried her face deep into the pillow, a single eye still visible from the corner of her face. Her skin, that is the skin on her face, matched the same color as her dress, her eyes the same deep red as the dried blood on the walls. Luna sent him a better visual coming from her perspective.

'MOVE!!' Luna heard him shout into her mind, rattling her senses for a fraction of a second. The pillow shot straight up and over the girl's body, and with enough force to split the ground, slammed down were the mongoose had just been standing. The ground beneath the attack cracked in several places from the sheer power exerted from the move.

'That's no child I've seen so far.' Luna sent back at Noah.

'The eyes and face gave it away.' The "girl" was recoiling after the attack, exposing herself fully into the light as the pillow sluggishly crawled back to her. 'Those aren't the eyes of a human.'

The flashlight shined fiercely onto the cretin. Her "pillow' was connected by a thick, sturdy piece of flesh that seemed connected to her skull, its rough black exterior matching her hands and feet. Her yellow fur covered her from head to toe in a simplistic design with no true pattern. Her lips seemed, at the time, more like a beak because of her facial structure. Had Noah not already known what this "monster" was, the black extension from her head would've been the trademarked giveaway to its identity. It opened wide, seemingly split into an upper and lower jaw, fangs protruding from the sides and at the front. A large, grey tongue lashed out, dripping with saliva that fell to the floor as it growled- to Luna's disgust. The entire maw shifted to the front lines, ready to take on the intruders.

'What the hell is it?' Luna asked, her claws extended to match and intimidate the giant mouth- she herself was clearly nervous about charging such a large appendage.

'Damn it, I should've expected something like this,' he thought back, his voice stressed. 'It's a Mawile, a pure steel-type. As far as we've trained, we don't know a single move that can hurt it from our arsenal.'

'What? This tiny little thing is stronger? Than me?'

'I'm not sure about its offensive strength beyond that surprise attack, but Mawile generally have tank-like battle-styles that make it hard for physical attacks to get through, which is all we know at the moment...' Noah thought for a moment, 'We can still take it out if we manage to get inside its defenses and nail the weak spots. If we wait for an opening, we can exploit this.'

'Then that's just what we'll do...'

Luna stared back at the foe, waiting for her to make the initial attack. Silence for one minute. Then two, slowly followed by three. Five minutes later, and the Mawile had yet to make a move of any kind. Luna's posture started to slouch, she wasn't used to standing still, having a difficult time keeping her composure. Mawile looked as attentive as she did when the staring contest began.

"Aren't you going to...well...fight?" Luna asked.

"You're the intruder. It's you who has to make the first move, right?" the small devil replied in her species' language.

"I wouldn't put it...that way."

"Well, how about this. As the intruders, your goal is to overcome me."

"That's the general idea."

"So you're supposed to attack, not me. I just need to protect myself, and as long as you're not trying to hurt me, I'm doing my job. I just protect."

"Protect?"

The pendent resting on Noah's chest started humming, almost pulling Noah toward the wild creature. Mawile looked behind her opponent toward the golden artifact, recognizing the coins inserted.

"Three already?! You guys have been working hard!" Her voice confirmed to Noah that one assumption of his was correct: she was still only a youngster. "Finally! I've been waiting forever for you to come!" She turned around, her second jaw twisting to stay faced against her opponents, in the case that they decided to take the initiative and attack while her back was turned. In the corner where she had bundled up her small body, she dug into the ground with the tiny but sharp claws at the end of her individual "fingers". She reached into a small hole, pulling out a tiny, small coin that was now resting in her hands. The coin was coated in a natural, earthly brown color, just as the dirt on the roads outside of the mines.

"See, I have been given the honor of protecting this thing," the guardian sarcastically continued, "I'd give it to you right now if I could, so I could meet up with my clan, but I can't."

"What's wrong with just handing it to us?" Luna asked out of obligation to Noah, who she was letting in on their conversation. Her mind was elsewhere, such as why the pendant hadn’t picked up the signal earlier, or why hadn't that urge to attack the guardian resurfaced from Route 202.

"Well, you have to earn it by beating me in a fight."

Luna snapped herself back into the situation. 'What now, Noah?'

'What we did against the Arbok. We fight. You up for this? It's going to be difficult netting any damage on her since her type has an advantage on your fighting style.'

'Of course,' she said through a fanged grin on her face, her claws at the ready. She turned back to the Mawile, who had reburied the coin back into the ground. "We'll be more than happy to take that coin off of your hands."

Noah analyzed the battlefield, focusing mostly on Mawile herself. More than anything else at the moment, he was curious about her strange behavior. Mirroring the Arbok on Route 202, she too had in her possession a strange-colored coin that seemed to fit inside of the grooves on his pendant. She also seemed to be obligated to protect the coin from others, specifically the two of them. However, without needing to think too hard, Noah found the key difference in the behavior of this guardian when compared to the first: she seemed to act sane. Normal, not out of the ordinary, deranged, or psychotic.

'Luna, we need to figure out how she reacts first. Attack, but don't burn your energy. I need to see what she can take and give out. We'll work out a strategy from there, understand?'

Luna affirmed the message, dashing toward her foe in the small, restricted space of the tunnels; something Noah had already realized would be a huge problem. Mawile's body spun completely around, facing Luna, her second jaw covering the entire area in front of her. Luna swung her claw almost mockingly at the giant shield, scratching straight across its deceiving metal exterior. A high pitched scratch rang inside Luna's head, deafening her sense of sound for a moment. The ringing sent waves of pain into her head, and because she had forgotten to close the link before the impact, the agony was sent over to Noah, who was at the same time, clutching his head and clenching his teeth. He stumbled forward, cupping his ears, while Luna was immobilized directly in front of her opponent, stunned by the sound, and confused by her temporary deafness. Noah's hold on the flashlight stumbled, causing Mawile's frame to disappear from their sight.

Mawile's massive jaw lifted into the air, slowly readying an attack. Luna could smell the saliva building up at the open mouth, and before it came swinging down yet again, she rolled to the side. She could feel the ground rumble around her as the attack tore easily through the weakened rock floor. The ringing in Luna's ears started to subside when she smelled a sweet scent coming from the large maw. The alluring smell coaxed Luna in a foot closer, well within Mawile's range of attack. Still in the darkness, she whipped her head around, the jaw following close behind her movements. The jaw's hardened surface collided into Luna's side, sending her tumbling back and into one of the walls in the cave. The beacon of light finally refocused on the dead end of the tunnel, Mawile back in full few, her arms held out in front with her jaw resting on the torn up ground in front of her.

'Luna, you okay?'

'I'm fine, I'm fine. I thought it was gonna hurt a little more than that.'

'How hard was that hit? It sounded pretty intense from my end, and you closed the link after the sharp ringing sounds, so I couldn't feel anything.'

'I mean, it hurt, yeah, but it's nothing I can't handle.'

'Try approaching again, but try not to scratch. I couldn't see a thing because I dropped the flashlight.'

'Smooth.'

'Just go and fight.'

Luna backed up several feet before running directly into Mawile's defenses yet again. The grayed ball of fluff approached from her foe’s left, kicking up small rocks as the distance between them closed. Mawile brought her jaw up at the ready, preparing her counter. Luna, expecting this after a discrete message from Noah, nearly vanished from clear sight. The furry blur shifted to the opposite side, the jaw's range just short of where Luna reappeared. Mawile was in the middle of turning to meet Luna when she felt the larger opponent's paws slam into her side. She didn't seem to be in much pain from the attack, but the momentum knocked her off of her balance, allowing Luna to follow up with another paw-slap right behind Mawile's head, underneath the attached flesh.

The small deceiver’s mouth quickly shot in front of her face, launching itself straight into the ground. The delay in her fall gave her second maw enough time to fill itself with chunks of the rock floor, the teeth forcing their way through the solid material. Luna approached again, seeing that her entire back was open to a full, head on attack.

'Get her, now!!'

Luna acted immediately, swinging her claws down onto Mawile's exposed metallic exterior. Her eyes widened as her claws shot straight through her body and into the dirt. Luna's face smashed into the ground, straight through Mawile's supposed body. She quickly stood back up to face the trickster, both her and Noah realizing that the opponent’s body was no longer there. The small cavern was silent.

'Do you smell her? Hear her?'

'Nothing. She's go-'

Noah looked on in shock as Mawile seemingly jumped out from Luna's shadow. The large jaw, still full of heavy rocks, swung once again into Luna, nailing her right above the shoulder and below the neck. The added weight from the rock added to the power of the swing, sending Luna back toward Noah and the exit.

"That little trick of yours didn't feel too good," Mawile said to Luna, smiling as if she hadn't suffered any damage. Fragments of Luna's fur where the impact of both of her jaw's swings were scattered about the room- she still needed to focus on grooming during her free time- and Luna herself was already panting.

"What the hell was that? Damn...it hurts." Luna whined to Noah before falling to one knee.

'Luna,' Noah calmly spoke, 'We're leaving.'

Luna turned back to her trainer, feeling somewhat betrayed of her promise of a good fight. A part of her, the part that wanted an easy way out of avoiding more pain, was overjoyed with hearing the news.

"We're leaving?!" she said aloud, disappointing Mawile a little.

"Aww. I think I got too carried away. Did I do something wrong?" Mawile asked Noah. She looked ready to cry.

"No. You fought excellently. For now, we're leaving." He looked back at Mawile. "Right now, there's no way we can take you down, and Luna's already been severely injured on top of that."

"B-but...you're supposed to take the coin!"

"Not until we win, and right now, that's not very likely."

"What do you mean unlikely? I feel fine!" Luna lied before flinching from the blow she had just taken, a free paw reaching for her neck.

Noah smirked. "We'll get you healed up right away when we meet up with Lyn." His attention went back to Mawile. "How about tomorrow? No running, and winner takes all?"

Mawile's teary eyed body seemed to calm down. "Yes, yes! I'd like that very much. Thank you!"

Luna, still disgusted at Noah's surrender, kept quiet, wearing a gritty angry look the entire way outside of the caves. Mawile waved them good-bye until they were out of her eyesight.

The skies outside of the mines were already completely dark, several lights in town revealed the trail back to the Pokemon Center.

"Nice girl," Noah commented, "that dried blood on the wall must be from other trainers' Pokemon."

"What the hell was that?!" Luna finally raged, knowing that there was no one else around to hear.

"We weren't going to win, just like I said. You're way too injured for any of our practical attacks to work."

Luna looked away, gently touching her new bruise. The pain kept coming back in intervals.

"See what I mean? Besides, now I can see exactly why she's so hard to take down for rookie trainers."

Luna's ears perked up. "And just why is that?"

"Didn't you see where we had to fight her? A small, enclosed tunnel with barely any leg-room, and she stayed near the end of the wall for the entire duration of the fight. Someone with a defense like hers, as well as her elemental type, is much harder to take on when the trainer's Pokemon has to stay in her face and avoid her wide ranged attacks with that large jaw. Couple that with her endurance, and you have a hell of a time just getting close enough to do something without getting countered."

"Well, I took it easy like you said."

"I know, and I'm proud of you for keeping your cool," Noah praised, petting her dirtied coat while she purred at the reinforcement.

"So, what's the plan then? For tomorrow?"

"It's not too difficult really. We just need to get her into a larger room, if we can give her a reason to chase us into that first room before the tunnels begin; we'd fair a much better chance against her. You'll have all of the room you want to run and throw her around."

"Wait, what about that one attack she did at the end? Just what in the world was that?"

"Oh that? It's called Faint Attack. It's one of the most difficult moves to avoid since it allows the user to attack from any nearby shadows. I was surprised because she actually knew it, personally."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well," Noah started, "Back in the day, when Pokemon's strength was actually gauged by a 'level-system', Pokemon of the same species were found to have a tendency to learn attacks at the same levels of one another. The only reason we don't use the system much anymore is because it's unreliable once a Pokemon surpasses a certain level, since their move pools seem to vary based on the training methods after that breaking point."

"And what level is that breaking point?"

"One hundred, I think."

"...and what level am I then? Or that Mawile?"

"That's another reason I decided to postpone the fight. The last actual technique you learned was Slash back at Route 203, fighting off those swarms of weaker Pokemon. You have yet to learn the next natural attack in the lineup, so the accurate estimate for your level is between eighteen and twenty one."

Luna frowned, honestly hoping she'd be somewhere closer to that one hundred mark.

"And Mawile knows Faint Attack. That puts her anywhere between twenty six and thirty."

Luna looked as if she had just swallowed some coal from the mines. "...so, that little thing..."

"By level, she is stronger than you, yes. Adding in her elemental advantage, field position, and fighting style, you can easily see that we're at a HUGE disadvantage, especially in such a tiny cave."

Luna felt a sense of helplessness wash over her. This was quickly dispersed by another set of petting from Noah, keeping her from feeling worse about her lack of abilities.

"Don't worry about it. Besides being unreliable after one hundred, levels are also never the end-all-be-all of a fight. For example, a Magikarp at level seventy would STILL have a hell of a time fighting a Pidgey at level twenty. Some Pokemon are just naturally more powerful than others, like the Legendary Ones. So it's still not all that impossible for you to win tomorrow."

The two of them, walking while they discussed this, had neared the Pokemon Center doors; Lyn was waiting in the lobby for her friends, standing up quickly the moment they fell into her range of sight.

"So, get her out of the tunnel, then just pound her?" she asked.

"Easy, right?" Noah added.

"No problem."

Luna was sent for a quick healing in the main lobby while Lyn scolded Noah for keeping her waiting so long. After an elaborate lie about why it took him so long to be unable to recieve Bee's parcel, the two of them rented out two rooms yet again- after Luna was returned to Noah, and waved each other good night before shutting the doors.

Noah had fallen right to sleep the moment his head made contact with the pillow, his body aching from the hike inside the cave. Luna stayed awake yet again, flipping on the television set in front of the bed for some late night romping.

Luna had been slowly losing her interest in soap operas. She slowly started to experiment with other shows, mostly focusing on action and fighting- secretly to imitate the great warriors displayed on the shows she saw. For this, she'd skip right to the Pokemon Battle Network, watching reruns of classic fights between trainers whose names she couldn't comprehend or read on screen without Noah's conscious feed in their link.

Tonight, she was treated to a battle between a Tentacruel and a Machamp, squaring off in a battlefield made completely of water, with several small pieces of landmass for the grounded fighting type to stand on.

The muscled beast seemed completely outclassed, the jellyfish Pokemon circling fiercely around his prey. Tentacruel finally attacked, sending several short but massively powerful jets of water hurling toward the muscled creature. Machamp jumped from one land mass to another, easily dodging the water guns, sometimes even opting to punch the jets, letting the water spray all around one of his four fists.

After proving ineffective, the jellyfish submerged its entire body in the water, positioning itself underneath the Machamp's small piece of Earth. Every single one of its poisonous tentacles lashed upward, enclosing the space above Machamp. Each and every appendage then forced themselves into the dead center of the small island.

It was then that Machamp did something so amazing, that Luna's jaw dropped wide open, sending her into an "awe-coma". The crowd in the stadium went absolutely berserk, there screams silencing anything else that could be heard in the vicinity.

The match had been decided. A defeated Tentacruel floated above the water's surface, Machamp raising his fists in the air.

The TV turned off, Luna crawled up to Noah, following her routine of scaring him awake for some cheap laughs- and a reason to tease and hit him- something she herself didn't understand. As she continued to slowly doze off into her own slumber, she thought about that amazing technique the Machamp did during the battle.

"That...could work," she yawned.

----------

Six hours and a fresh slap across Noah's face later- obviously from Luna's daily routine of baiting him into startling her, giving her reason to "playfully" bash him- Noah and Luna had quietly made their way out of their single bedroom, heading toward the lobby and off toward the mines once again.

Noah checked his bag to make sure they came fully prepared: potions, a couple of antidotes, a revive or two, and a paralysis heal. He was prepared for most situations, and looking over his supplies with Luna at his side gave him a sense of confidence that seemed to cheer Luna up through the connection.

"Ready to take her out?" he asked her.

"Sure, but you haven't told me anything as to how we're gonna bait her away from the tunnels."

"Oh that? That's no problem." He took a breath and signaled the plan into her head. She giggled off to the side.

"You find it funny? I think it's pretty simple."

"No," she chuckled back, "it just kinda tickled my brain," she tapped her head with an extended claw.

The pair approached the nurse at the front to hand over the keys to the room.

"Oh, Mr. Sol, I forgot to tell you last night, but you have a package waiting in the mail room. It was delivered several nights ago by an anonymous sender." The nurse got up and quickly head to the backroom behind the desk, closed off to the public. She came back with a small box about the size of Noah's handbag.

Noah looked about the surface of the box after the lady had gently handed it over to him. At first he hesitated to open it, only deciding to remove the seals that kept the box closed after he and a very curious Luna passed through the mechanical doors.

Luna tried getting close to sniff at the box, watching anxiously to see what it kept hidden on the inside. Noah removed the final seal on the edges of the box, and flipped the lid off, trashing it in a nearby wastebasket. A note appeared on the inside, which Noah quickly read:

"Hi Noah, it's Bee. Sorry that I had to leave Oreburgh so soon, but things got way too heated for me to stay any longer. Inside you'll find something to help you on your way to Eterna. The wild Pokemon on the roads are becoming restless and very hostile in the forest, so be careful once you head my way. Have a safe trip, and I hope you enjoy your present. - Bee"

"A present?" Noah asked himself. Tossing the paper into one of his many pockets on his pants, he looked back at the contents in the package. Inside was a small white piece of cloth, long enough to fit on the arm or neck. It had a peculiar smell to it, one that Noah recognized from messing with certain types of trainer's items back in the academy.

"What is it, Noah?"

"It's a silk scarf," he replied. "This...this will help us. We've got this."

"What exactly does it do?"

"Turn around."

"What?"

"Just turn around, trust me," Noah added. Luna did as she was told, nervous at what he was gonna do. She felt the material of the cloth wrap around her neck, fitting comfortably above the fluff that covered her chest. She smelled a peculiar incense that seemed imbedded into the smooth material.

"What's that smell, Noah?"

"It's the smell of the silk scarf. The scarf is soaked in the main ingredient that also makes up the battle items Pokemon Trainers use during a fight. Silk scarves take in the scent of the contents that make up the X Attack drug. The scent alone will give your attacks a small boost. It's not as potent as the actual drug, but any boost is a good contribution, especially considering OUR situation."

"So...I'm stronger?"

"In a word: Yes. We're gonna have to really thank Bee for this once we finally get to see her."

After Noah rid himself of the bottom end of the box, the group made their way to the mines without speaking another word. They were determined to get this over with as soon as possible, and now that the battle plan was set in stone, they were confident in their ability to do so.

----------

Lyn slowly transferred from sleeping to waking through a course of several minutes, trying to will herself out of the comfort of the center's bedrooms. She wiggled around underneath the blanket, enjoying the warmth of her little nest. The sun's rays shined through the crack underneath the blinds in front of the window, letting her know that the day refused to be ignored. Reluctantly, Lynus made her way out of her bed and slapped on her new trainer gear before making her way out of the door.

She gently knocked on the room straight across from her own, waiting for Noah to respond. She heard nothing from the other end of the generic brown door after a second wave of knocks, and gently twisted the knob to see if he was still sleeping inside.

Noah's old clothes from yesterday still lay on the floor nearest the bed, but Noah and Luna seemed to have vanished. Irritated that they had seemingly ditched her so early in the morning, Lynus walked back to the lobby to check out.

The nurse at the front was head deep in what seemed to be medical reports, but no one was in any type of line at the desk. Lynus made her way to the lady, passing a tall young man with black, curled hair, seemingly talking to another passing trainer. She quickly got the nurse's attention with a simple clearing of her throat before returning the key card for her room to the lady. She nodded, and after a short "thank you", began to walk out, passing the boy once more.

"...a trainer with a Zangoose walking with him..."

Lyn stopped, turning around the get a good look at the trainer. He was moderately built in body frame, his hair a raven black with the ends curling ever so slightly upward. He wore a nice brown trench coat with khaki pants and a white-buttoned shirt, with some boots that matched the color of his coat. The conversation with the other trainer continued:

"I'm looking for this trainer. I was supposed to be meeting him here. Have you seen him?"

Figuring that it'd be easier to track him down, Lyn quickly walked up behind the young man and tapped him on the shoulder, catching the attention of the two male trainers.

"I'm sorry, but were you saying that you were looking for a trainer with a Zangoose?"

----------

"You came back, just like you said you would!!" Mawile exclaimed when Noah and Luna nonchalantly greeted her back at the end of the tunnel half an hour after they had left the center. "I was afraid that you two just left, or something."

"I'm a man of my word, Mawile. And you seem awfully eager to get rid of the coin. Why don't you just hand it over? It would make both of our jobs that much easier."

"I would. I'd love to, but I can't. I was given specific instructions." Mawile waived her fingers about in the air, recalling her orders:

"Hold on to this. Don't leave this place. They will come, and when they do, you are to fight them. You may hand over the coin if, and only if you truly mean to give it to them if they were to win. It has to be intentionally won over in this way."

"Who told you to do that?" Luna asked the guardian.

"I can't really describe it. It wasn't a person or a Pokemon who told me to do it. It was just a voice that spoke to me in here," she pointed to her heart. "It felt like the right thing to do, so after I explained it to my clan, I stayed behind."

"So that's why you want to give it up so badly? To return to your family?"

"Of course. Wouldn't you?"

Noah made no comment..

"Then I suggest we get this over with right away," Luna extended her claws out as far as possible. Mawile's giant jaw came swinging to the front of her body as a shield. She didn't seem all that worried of the bigger heavier enemy before her.

"Luna, you know what do you, now go!"

The mongoose kicked up some dirt as her paws left the ground, running on all fours to quickly max out her speed. She seemed like a blur to Mawile, who had trouble keeping up with her figure, even in the enclosed tunnel space. Mawile wasted no time, raising her appendage high into the air, and slamming it onto the ground, the earth weakly shaking underneath the group.

Luna's speed dropped sharply as she lost balance, but before the ground halted her completely, she jumped to the side, nearly gripping the wall with all four of her paws before launching off and again to Mawile's stationary position.

Mawile's tiny claws swung toward Luna is a half-hearted attempt to block her incoming left claw, but Luna's swing was exponentially more powerful than that of Mawile's smaller arms. Luna's claw lightly scratched across Mawile's dress-like skin, sparked flying from her body as the sharp material collided with the steel. The screeching was nowhere near as painful nor as disorienting as the day before, mostly due to the skin being a much weaker type of steel than the jaw itself.

Mawile's body spun completely around, giving Luna the opportunity she had been waiting for. She quickly wrapped her front paws around the enemies' body, using her hind legs to balance herself as she easily lifted Mawile off of the ground. The scarf's power finally showed its effect when Mawile was hurled clear into the right side wall, rocks blowing out of the new crater that she quickly sunk into, her body now trapped inside the rock.

Mawile shook off the attack, her head spinning but otherwise not much damage besides a small pain in her side from the initial attack. She looked over at Luna, smiling that she was so determined to take her out and take the coin. A grin came across her face at the thought of going back to her clan, but at the same time, her battle spirit began to kick in, and the thought of losing made her blood warm up.

"That was a good attack. It almost hurt," Mawile mocked her. "Maybe you should work more on your-"

Luna, obeying Noah's commands, was digging up the dirt at the spot Mawile was protecting from the other day. It didn't take long for Luna to find the dirt colored coin, the small piece held in her paws.

"W-What are you doing stupid!? You're supposed to WIN that from me!" Mawile snapped, struggling to pull herself from the crater, lodged in much deeper than she actually thought.

"What's a matter, big mouth? Don't you want your little coin?" Luna taunted back, waving it at Mawile's direction. The child-Pokemon slowly crawled out of the hole in the wall, reaching with her claws for the coin, Luna making sure to always wave it only inches farther than she could reach. Mawile was losing focus, somewhat drawn to Luna teasing her ad nauseam.

"Give it back! You can't just TAKE it!"

"That's right, we need to win it right?" Luna said, sticking her tongue out at Mawile. An audible growl came from both of Mawile's jaws, eager to teach them how to play properly.

"You're breaking the rules you- you idiot!"

"You want it back, you're gonna have to catch me!" Luna pushed on, backing up and out of the tunnel backwards as Mawile started to pursue the thief, ignoring Noah on the way out.

'It's working as I thought it would, Luna. Now just take her to the large room on the outside, and we'll finish it there.'

'Got it.'

Luna's speed easily dwarfed Mawile's clumsy run up the stairs, though Noah would pin her slow-pace on her panicky nature, as well as the fact that she kept stumbling over her second, also panting mouth, something Noah found oddly cute to watch. Mawile would, at points, hurl rocks at Luna with her second jaw, but thanks to the still darkened tunnels, Noah would quickly shut off his flashlight, the sudden change of lighting usually causing Mawile to miss her target completely. Despite this, she refused to turn and take care of Noah, her mind completely obsessed with teaching Luna a lesson.

They reached the point where the lights along the edges of the mine began to trace their way to the main room full of machinery and conveyor belts, but the lights themselves were only dim, the light from the sun outside enough to cover half of the caves.

The mouth of the tunnel passed Noah by as they reached the open ended room. It was circular in shape, with two large mining machines in the middle, a belt full of coal running down the center and along the right side wall of the cave. Both machines were offline, and all of the workers could only look on in wonder as they saw the mammal and the strange looking "beast" chase it like the child that it was. The miners quickly moved off toward the side of the room toward the exit, giving the trainer as much room to fight while still continuing with their jobs.

Noah was on the other end of the room while Luna led Mawile near the exit of the caves. Just as she reached the opening that led to the interior of the town, she quickly shifted her body back toward the pup. Mawile flinched at the sudden change, Luna grabbing the opponent's shoulders and leaping right over her head. She landed right on Mawile's second jaw behind her, and kicked off, running back on all fours to reach her top speed while Mawile was sent in the opposite direction, stumbling over herself and toward the exit.

"Excuse me," Noah yelled at one of the employees, "Are any miners down in the tunnels yet!?"

"No, everyone's just filing in now."

Noah smirked to himself. "Thanks, I'll fix this place up once I'm done, okay!?"

"Wha-"

'Luna, keep her in this room! Do it!'

Luna nodded as she increased to her top speed, heading back toward the openings of the tunnels. She leapt into the air, toward the top of each opening, and with a mighty swing of her paw, slammed into the rocky earth above the mouths of the tunnels. Boulders loosened from the individual impacts, slowly caving in and closing the entrances to the small tunnels.

Mawile could only look on, unable to keep up with Luna's superior speed and strength. Luna turned her head back at the creature, who was now in the wide open area of the mines.

"Now you're all mine." Luna seductively noted with a toothy grin, still holding the coin in her hand. "Now come and get it."

Mawile was nervous to move. Noah had her right were he wanted her.

'Now she has way too many opening to cover, and she's nervous about it all. Luna, go for it.'

'No problem.'

With no pockets or bags, Luna popped the coin into her mouth, keeping it safe without having to break her flow in the battle. She quickly ran toward the foe, whose expression was beyond horrified at watching the mongoose seemingly eat the coin.

"What did you just do!?"

Luna made sure to speak in her native tongue to avoid the miners overhearing her, "Relax, it's right here!"

She had quickly closed the gap between the two, right up in Mawile's face. She grabbed her arms, Mawile now in Zangoose's powerful grasp. She opened her mouth, sticking her tongue out in front of her face, the coin sitting quite firmly on her rough extension, doubling as another taunt. The large second jaw shot up, completely vertical with Mawile's body. The jaws opened, saliva dripping onto Luna's grey-white fur, a sweet smell coming from the juices. Luna's grip tightened as Luna tried to ignore it, squeezing her prey harder, much like a snake, trying to knock her unconscious by constricting her.

The jaw, still open, came down upon Luna's head. She barely had enough time to release Mawile from her deadly grip before the jaws clamped down on either side of her body. The teeth, while sharp, weren't very long, but still dug lightly into Luna's skin, her cries ringing throughout the cave. The teeth easily pierced the uppermost layer of her flesh, blood staining her fur and dripping down the jaw, along with the sweet smelling spit.

Luna's arms were squeezed against her body inside the jaw's mouth, her head deep inside of the jaw. Looking up, she would easily have been able to see the "throat" of the mouth that lead down to her head, but the waves of pain from her sides kept her from doing so.

'Luna! C'mon, muscle her jaws off of you!'

'I'm trying, damn it!'

Luna struggled to weaken Mawile's grip on her torso and arms, pushing against both the roof and the base of the inside of the bear trap. The teeth were slowly pushed out of her flesh, small holes spewed tiny rivers of Luna's essence. Bracing her hind legs, Luna pushed her arms out with as much of her strength as she could muster. The smell from the scarf was being completely overridden by the jaw's saliva, something she and Noah didn't account for.

The mouth revealed Luna's bloody, furry body once more, Mawile struggling to keep it tight. She tried kicking and scratching weakly at Luna's lower body, but her attacks were too weak to stumble the powerful cat ferret. With a vicious roar, Luna nearly punched the jaws off of her body, the maw swinging back behind Mawile.

Luna's eyes pierced right into Mawile's heart, the cold, intense glare freezing the small kid with fear. The Zangoose used this to her advantage, ignoring the aches coming from her arms, and darted back to her attacker. The scarf's scent filled her body, seemingly adding onto her rage. Noah's voice was completely blocked out as Luna swung her extended claws straight at Mawile's face, slashing clear across, more sparks flying onto the ground from the hardy contact.

The force of the attack caused Mawile to stumble backward and onto her second jaw, sending her to the ground. Luna used the opportunity, pouncing atop her prey. Her claws shrank back into her body as her paws came down upon Mawile's hardened body, clubbing her consecutively, each blow rougher and more savage than the last.

Mawile's poor head slammed against the ground swing after swing, popping back into the air for the next. The attacks continued to confuse and dizzy the enemy, Mawile's body finally registering the pain from each attack as they continued to soften her metal flesh.

It was then that the image of the Machamp and Tentacruel from the television show from last night popped into her head. She decided to try the same technique. Luna ceased from tenderizing her face, opting to grab it by keeping it between her paw and re-extended claws. She quickly jumped off of Mawile's body, lifting it in its entirety with her power, matching the Machamp's powerful fists grasping each individual tentacle of the massive jellyfish. She carried her across the room, constantly slamming and dragging her face into the ground every few feet until they reached the wall opposite the conveyor belt, sure that the Machamp did the same by slamming the enemy into the stadium walls. Luna pivoted, running alongside the wall. She brought Mawile back a ways before swinging her entire body into the side of the mine, again, dragging Mawile's body through the thick rock, only slightly dropping her running speed.

Luna was about to reach the exit of the cave before she stopped completely. Pulling the stunned Pokemon from the new channel along the side of the cave, she hurled her back toward center stage, the miners even taking a break from their work to watch the savage battle style of the trained creature, awed at how vicious her attack seemed to be.

Luna gave her no time to react, back on top of her opponent once more. Improvising from this point on, she reached for the large jaw, keeping it closed with her herculean strength. She lifted Mawile's body clean off the surface like a sack, slamming her back into the ground, rocks firing in every direction like a splash of water. Again, Luna picked her up, throwing her to the ground once more, refusing to let go of her jaw. Mawile's cries picked up with every pair of throws Luna dished out, her body eating blow after blow with the rocky surface, proving much more effective than Luna's flesh or sharp claws. Finally, the grey ferret rocketed Mawile's body into the sky with a jump, Noah watching in shock as she brought her down with yet another seismic toss-like attack into the ground. Luna's grasp weakened before backing off and creating room between the two of them.

Mawile landed face first, small pebbles coated in black spilling from the tiny spot in the ground where she landed. She just lay there on the ground, motionless.

"Do you have any idea," she sniffed, on the verge of tears, "any idea at all...exactly how much that...hurt?"

Luna finally calmed down, trying not to sniff any more of the strength enhancing fumes from her scarf. Clueless, she glanced over at Noah, who was completely speechless.

"Luna...just...god DAMN."

Through their bond, Luna realized that he wasn't horrified by her string of assaults at all. He was completely blown away, excited, at how powerful she seemed to be at that one moment of time. She could feel him, his racing heart, his attention all on her and nothing else. It pleased her, strangely enough, that his eyes were on her, and only her. She smiled gently, her own heart beating at a steady pace, her focus regained.

"Sorry, but I'm fighting to win," she barked to Mawile.

Mawile's arms poked out of her sides, pulling her head from the dirt. She seemed to pop from the ground, shaking her head and her injuries away. Her second jaw was to her side, its tongue sticking out and drooling along the ground.

Her face was scratched up, and there was one spot where blood started to seep out. Dried tears seemed to have ran down her cheeks, around the wound.

"I don't like to bleed," she sniffed again, getting back into position, her jaw floating above the ground ahead of her. She had a difficult time understanding why, despite her elemental type, her body was aching so, her face heated up from the dozens of impacts she'd taken in. She knew at this point, that she was on the losing end of the battle, and tightened her tiny fists in frustration.

Several workers began to cheer, their spirits excited at such a battle.

----------

Above the caves, atop the rocky structures that made up the mines, where no one was permitted to go, a familiar couple paced around. The man, pale, but frighteningly muscular, carried a large bag once filled with many Pokeballs. Scattered around him and his companion were several more, each strategically placed in certain spots marked on a device held by a blonde haired women. Each of them wore black outfits with a grey vest, both marked on the chest with a shiny golden letter 'G'.

"Place another one here," Eris pointed. The man quickly grabbed another ball from the sack, gently planting it on a specific part of the ground, despite his ripped body. Each ball the two had dropped off were marked with a strange piece of machinery on the release button in the middle, each marker blinking a dull red color.

"Boss is one crazy son of a bitch," Cratos muttered, looking into the bag: only two more left to place and they were done. "I thought all we had to do was follow the boy...and keep him away from Eterna."

"Well...burying him in the caves counts as stopping him, right?"

"True...I guess, but couldn't this kill the kid?"

"It could, but at that point, it'd be his fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What I don't think I get it?"

"You weren't paying attention to him when he gave us this mission, did you? This isn't about the boy. In fact, he isn't even aware that the boy's anywhere near the mines since we haven't reported in yet."

"So...we're doing this...why?"

"Cyrus believes that one source of Sinnoh's strength as a region is its sources for power. Think about it. Oreburgh has the coal mines, and Floaroma has windmills. There's also several key power generators scattered about Sunnyshore City, and these are just three of the cities in Sinnoh. Other places like Kanto and Johto rely on one or two cities to power up their nation, while Sinnoh's individual cities manage to sustain themselves."

"So..."

"My point is that while Kanto, Hoenn, and Johto can be taken down by knocking out key cities, Sinnoh needs to be taken apart piece by piece. Each city is capable of keeping itself stable, and because of that, Sinnoh as a region is much more difficult to bring down to its knees. Communications networks run off of these individual power sources make it difficult to make a move without risking exposure and whatnot, especially to High Noon. The moment they get wind of what's going on, they deploy their top trainers, and we're done.

OUR job, Cratos, is to weaken each city, destroy their power sources and force them to begin to rely on other cities for energy. When that happens, we strike down that main power source, and Sinnoh will be helpless once Cyrus makes his move."

Cratos chuckles, the bass in his voice gave Eris the shivers. "So trapping the boy is only a bonus known to ourselves."

"Yup. Now place another ball here."

"I wonder though," Cratos pondered as he placed another ball down near the mouth of the mines, "the government will eventually catch on to the plan. This is gonna be hell to do once they start reinforcing the sources of power for each city."

"Yeah, so enjoy these easy missions while we can. We only had to do this one because we're in the area keeping an eye on Noah. Now, place the last one here."

The last Pokeball rested several feet from the mouth much like the previous one. Cratos sunk it into the ground a little deeper for assurance.

"Alright. Let's get the hell out of here, Cratos. I don't want to be anywhere near this cave when it comes crumbling down."

They wasted no time, running down the opposite end of the mountain trails toward Sandgem Town. Eris used the touch screen on the device, placing her finger on a button that opened in a tiny window labeled "Arm". On top of the hill, above the coal mine, each individual Pokeball beeped, ripping themselves open simultaneously. Of the approximately fifty balls they placed, about half were composed of Voltorb, the other half full of Electrode, each and every one of them frightened to death by what they knew was about to happen.

A new window popped open on Eris device, labeled "Detonate". Eris' finger childishly twiddled above the button as she turned to look into Cratos deep red eyes.

"Hang on sweetie."

----------

Luna and Mawile stared each other down, Mawile waiting for Luna to make a move. The bleeding from both ends of the battle seemed to have completely stopped, the wounds subject to open again given the proper beating. Luna made sure the coin was still secure inside her mouth, resting beneath her tongue. She went back to all fours on the ground, preparing another charge.

Noah, Luna, Mawile, the workers, and all of the coal on the conveyor belt all tumbled helplessly to the ground. A colossal rumble from the heavens above violently shook the entirety of the cave, knocking everyone off of their feet, the machinery tumbling to their sides. What sounded like ten thousand bombs exploding at the same moment completely shut down anyone's sense of hearing inside of the cave. Large rocks came raining down from the roof seemingly at random, endangering the safety of everyone inside the cave.

'Noah! What the HELL was that!?' Luna screamed through their mind.

'Why would I know!?'

Luna and Noah, along with everyone else, struggled to get back to their feet. The mini-quake was over, but rock and coal continued to rain down from the roof. Luna looked and felt around her body, making sure she was okay. Her eyes widened, as if she had just seen a specter.

'Noah...?'
'
The ringing still hadn't gone, but Noah heard her thoughts loud and clear. The fear in her voice, and her thoughts fumbling across their connection put Noah back on edge.

'You...no...no no no...'

Mawile looked over at Luna after getting back to her own feet. The coal miners were already running about, assessing the damage and stumbling over the ground, trying to start an evacuation of the caves.

"You...you stupid...stupid...AGH!! You SWALLOWED IT!! STUPID!!" She yelled in her language, fuming.

Luna had her paws covering her mouth, letting her tongue move around, hoping by some off chance the coin was still somehow there, but there was no denying it. She felt herself swallow the coin after the explosion occurred, the shock enough to knock it down her throat, the gag reflex enough to down the important item.

She looked down at the floor, again wishing for the impossible. Nothing. Her eyes seemed glazed, so much so that she neglected to realize Mawile was tearing a path straight into her. Noah's calls, both through their bond and through his own voice didn't reach her.

Mawile jumped into Luna's body, knocking her down, her mind still in a state of shock. Mawile pinned her arms and legs with her own, keeping her from struggling while her jaw gripped the ground beneath them. Small chunks of rock came down on all sides, the size getting larger and larger.

"I NEED that!!" Mawile yelled. She let go of Luna's arms, and wrenched Luna's mouth open with ease. She almost pulled Luna's tongue straight out searching for the coin inside, her naive young brain working its magic by denying her logic at its finest. "I.NEED.THAT. Give it back!"

Without a single thought, nor without hesitation, Mawile smothered Luna's opened mouth with her own.

Noah's jaw dropped.

Luna's mind warped to Mars.

Obviously oblivious to Mawile, she was in the process of giving Luna her very first kiss. She sucked as hard as she could, hoping with her pre-teenage mind that the coin could be brought back out like a vacuum. Luna's tongue, motionless and free, found its way passed Mawile's teeth. Annoyed by the obstruction, Mawile used her own tongue to force Luna's out of the way, its effect very weak as the slippery muscle kept slipping about in Mawile's mouth as she continued to practically inhale Luna into her own being.

Had Luna ever been sent the sensation of kissing, tongue and all, by Noah before, she may have understood what was going on herself, but at this point, it wouldn't be necessary. As bizarre as the feeling was, as odd and as uncomfortable it was to have a small creature pressing her paralyzed body against a rocky floor while the sky rained deadly objects from above, Luna was enjoying the contact. Her heart raced as the sensation continued to build, her face burning as though it would catch fire.

Unfortunately for Noah, the sensation was brought full force into his own mind, courtesy of Luna's complete loss of control. He felt everything she did; the rough yet exciting feel of Mawile's tongue against his own, the submission of his body to her, letting her do as she chose. Noah fought with Luna's feelings, his face turning red.

"No...no. HOW can I be...liking this? She's a Pokemon. This is so...what the hell is this? Luna...please...control yourself. This is t-too much..." Noah was starting to enjoy what was also his very first "kiss".

Luna refused to reply, enjoying it to its fullest without giving anything in return to Mawile as she continued her fruitless task.

The blood began to rush to a delicate part of Noah's body.

"STOP IT!!" Noah broke the awkward moment. The ringing in their ears from the explosion dropped enough to allow Mawile to hear his outburst, cartoonishly popping her mouth off of Luna's, a line of saliva still connection each Pokemon's lips to one another.

"Please...just stop it."

"I can't, I need that coin she ate..."

The moment passed when they heard a man running into the cave from the outside. Rocks the size of large boulders were now falling from the ceiling. Noah thanked the forces that be for the man who effortlessly halted what was possibly the most bizarre moment in his entire life...as well as the most arousing moment thus far; something he'd never, ever admit to anyone.

The man looked familiar to Noah. It didn't take him long to realize that it was the most powerful trainer in Oreburgh: Roark himself.

"THIS CAVE'S COLLAPSING!! EVERYONE EVACUATE AS FAST AS YOU CAN!! LEAVE THE MACHINERY AND THE COAL BEHIND!"

No sooner did he say this, a large rumbling sound came from behind the closed tunnels that Luna had made earlier. The rumbling grew louder, and with another burst of energy, the rocks came flying toward the fleeting people. A large number of Geodude, Graveler, Zubat, and Cranidos came stampeding from the tunnels of the caves, aware of what was happening.

Noah and Luna finally snapped out of their trance, and with a quick punch to Mawile's gut, Luna was free from her grip. Mawile shot only two feet from Luna from the pathetic attack. Luna backed up toward Noah, and was trembling from the excitement of Mawile's lovely technique.

'N...Noah...I-'

"Not now, we have to get out of here! We'll talk about it later!"

"Right."

"Wait, what about our fight!? AND my coin!?" Mawile shouted as they turned toward the exit.

"You still want to fight? HERE?" Noah replied.

Mawile quickly looked around. Most of the workers and Pokemon had already gone. She was behind everyone else.

"N-no! Of course not!"

"C'mon then, let's get the hell out of here!"

Just then, a large rock about five times the mass of Noah fell from the ceiling. Noah watched helplessly as it targeted Mawile without her aware. His voice boomed over the noise of the crowd.

"MAWILE, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Mawile looked around, startled by Noah's shouting. She saw the shadow of the rock at her feet, and because of her childlike behavior, had the opportunity to look at the source moments before it came crashing only inches away from her body. Her eyes widened as it crashed into the earth behind her. She wasn't taking any chances, deciding that it'd be more safe to fight Noah and Luna outside.

Noah and Luna had already turned to leave, the three of them lagging behind most of the escapees, when Mawile starting to follow suit. She ran two steps before being tugged back. Turning around, her face lost all of its color. Her second mouth was completely pinned down underneath the large boulder.

Luna's ears perked up when she heard Mawile's shrill cries for help. She turned around, realized what had happened to Mawile, and dashed back into the cave, leaving Noah's side.

"Luna! What are you doing!?" he asked before looking back at Mawile.

'Noah, she's stuck! Come on!'

Noah didn't waste any time heading back into the cave, running passed the last few mine workers on his way. Luna was wailing on the large rock when he finally got to the two of them.

Mawile was struggling, pushing the large mass while trying to pull her second jaw out toward her. Noah quickly aided her, pushing the boulder in the same direction. Luna was striking at the boulder, quickly trying to cut it down to reduce the weight.

Noah clenched his eyes shut; yelling as he pushed with all of his might to remove the boulder. The adrenaline rushed through his body, drowning out Mawile's cries as she tried helplessly to remove the boulder before the cave came crashing down around them.

Luna frantically sliced pieces of the boulder off, chunk by chunk, somewhere in the back of her mind, wondering why the hell she was bothering to help someone who she didn't even know. She subconsciously chalked this up to Noah's personality poisoning her own through the connection.

The scarf's scent gently made its way to Luna once again, and in a crazed fury of slashes, the boulder was cut down to only half the size of Noah's body. Their combined efforts forced the rock off of Mawile's jaw. She quickly lifted it with her muscle attached to her head before resting it in her hands.

She felt someone lift her up, the arms wrapping themselves around her and into the person's body, cradling her as she nursed her jaw. She looked up, still crying, as Noah carried her, Luna running at his side as they turned back toward the exit. More chunks of cave the size of the one that pinned down Mawile's jaw began to fall, the sun's rays starting to penetrate the gloomy caves. The entrance was closing up due to the rocks. Roark was still on the other end, yelling inaudible words at Noah. The commotion from the cave made everyone's voice seem like the drop of a pin.

Noah and Luna had to serpentine to avoid what felt like a meteor shower, zigging to the left, zagging to the right, Luna kicking and slashing smaller chunks away but keeping herself at an even pace with Noah and the injured Mawile.

'LUNA! BREAK IT DOWN!' Noah's mind rang. Luna looked up at where Noah's finger pointed: A massive chunk was about to fall right in front of them, and would cage them on the inside of the cave if they couldn't make it passed. Luna quickly sped up and charged straight at the rock.

'FURY CUTTER!!' he ordered.

Luna understood, her claws extended and seemingly radiating a green-tinted energy around them. She slashed at the rock to no effect outside of a tiny scratch on it's surface.

'KEEP SLASHING!'

Luna continued her rapid assault, the scratches quickly turning into large gashes that ran along the rock. The mass slammed deep into the ground as Noah approached it. Luna landed and charged again, her claws now pulsing with energy. She quickly slashed once more at the barrier, finally breaking through and creating a small fissure along the front end, giving Noah enough space to run cleanly through it.

They were inches from freedom. Just inches, before another heavy set rumble went off somewhere deeper in the mine. The tremor made the group stumble, Noah's heart stopping as he fell onto his shoulder, Luna face planting right beside him. He got up, Mawile still safe in hand, just in time to watch a shower of rocks quickly cover up the mouth of the cave.

They were trapped in the cave.

"NO! Luna, break through! Fury Cutter!"

He looked back. Luna was still on the floor, panting, and almost completely out of breath. He went through their bond to gauge Luna's strength. The battle and escape had completely drained her body, and she seemed ready to lose consciousness at any moment with all of her energy evaporating.

"Mawile, can you break through?" he hoped. Mawile was still crying when she signaled at her mouth. It was grotesquely bent out of shape at the connected flesh.

"It hurts...so much...I can't move it without it hurting..."

"Shit. It might be broken...SHIT," Noah thought aloud. He took several breaths before running back to Luna's side. There was still plenty of oxygen in the cave, but it wouldn't last forever, and Noah was beginning to become paranoid.

"Damn it...damn it," he muttered as he looked at Luna's body, placing Mawile to the side. He turned his flashlight back on, giving it to Mawile to give her some closure as well as to light up Luna's body. The wounds from the battle had reopened during the escape, and several bruises began to form along her arms and claws from attacking solid rock so much. Blood ran from her pads, arms, and body.

Her weakened form slowly began to feed off of Noah's energies, weakening himself during the process. He stumbled for his potions and bandages. He recklessly applied them to her wounds and wrapped them up as best as he could, though they were too loose to stop all of the spots from bleeding. His world began to spin.

"This can't be it...I've only started."

Noah sat down, looking at the closed entrance, hoping for a miracle.

Noah proved to be one lucky man.

A crumbling sound from the outside caught his and Mawile's attention, their heads turning toward the wall. The rocks were being pushed away from the wall at a frighteningly fast pace, and before Noah could realize what was going on, he and Mawile jumped back at the sight of a fist bursting through a small hole in the rock. Sun light came in as the fist disappeared and reappeared in several other areas. The wall quickly began to collapse in as the inhuman fist broke its way through the thick layer of earth.

"What is that?" Noah wondered. He heard a primal cry from the holes of the wall, knowing what it was by the name it bellowed as another fist crumbled a large chunk of the wall, exposing a good sized hole that Noah and Mawile could crawl through.

The chimp-like Pokemon crawled inside of the opening, using its burning tail to light up the area, quickly scanning and finding the Mawile, Zangoose, and human trapped inside. The Monferno grunted in excitement before crawling back out of the hole. A few moments later, Noah heard a familiar voice from the outside.

"Hey! We made an escape route. Perhaps you'd like to get out?"

Noah, who was prepared to go to war with his thoughts of dying in this place, was chuckling, not at how unbelievable lucky he was, but at who it was who had just saved his ass from death's grip.

Noah let Mawile through the hole first as he went back to pick up Luna, having a difficult time because of their bond weakening. He tried as delicately as he could to push her through the hole, the Monferno helping from the other end on the outside. He took a breath as he forced his way through the opening himself, looking ahead at a hand that reached out for him.

"What were you doing? I don't want to have to constantly save your arse when we start traveling together."

Amid the group of people who were now applauding the safe rescue operation, Noah looked up at a face as he was lifted to his feet.

"Nice to see you too, Jerry."

----------

The Pokemon Center was busy, the nurses and several volunteers from the mine and the town were busy tending to several Pokemon who were injured during the collapse of the mines. After they had collapsed, Roark vanished, no one knowing where or why he was absent. Noah and Luna were sitting in the lobby several hours after their ordeal, both feeling much better after a long rest, eating a quick dinner with Lyn and Jerry, the four of them talking amongst each other.

"How did you find me?"

"Are you kidding, Noah?" Jerry started, "Well, this nice young lady over here," he pointed at Lyn, who blushed a little, "said she was traveling with a trainer with a Zangoose. I knew it was you right away, so I helped her go looking for you since she said you had left your room early that morning. The town's not that big, in comparison to Jubilife, Noah, so imagine what we thought when we heard a battle was going on between a wild Pokemon and a Zangoose in the mines?"

"That's when we heard a loud explosion coming from that direction," Lyn added in, over Luna tearing a cooked piece of meat Noah had ordered for her. Luna wasn't paying any attention, but was receiving the conversation through Noah's mind.

"Roark came through the section of the town that we were looking for you at. He was running like a maniac toward the caves, and when we saw the smoke rising from above the buildings, we knew there was trouble. My Monferno was already out helping us look for you in town, so when Roark saw me bring him along, he told me to help his Cranidos break through the wall, saying that there was still someone trapped inside."

"That's something," Noah replied. "I could've sworn I was gonna die in there for a moment. I owe you one, Jerry."

"It's nothing, really. What I'm more concerned about is the cause of the explosion."

"What do you mean?"

"You were sent off to the Pokemon Center the moment you were released," Lyn said. "Jerry and I stayed behind and helped Roark and several others for an hour or two before coming over here to check up on the two of you."

"So did you find out what happened?

"We found bodies," Jerry answered

"Eh...what?"

"Dead Voltorb and Electrode...as far as the eye can see...or...pieces of them, at least."

"...What the fu-"

"It looks like they did self-destruct. But I've never seen a self-destruct powerful enough to kill the user. Whatever happened to provoke the group to explode at the same time must've been extreme. Whatever the case, there's no suspects, and Roark's disappeared. If anyone knows what's up, it'd be him."

"...so what do we do?"

"What can we do?" Lyn asked.

"...."

"Oh, and by the way..." Jerry said, a smirk on his face. "You two were resting up when we got here. When we found your Zangoose-"

"It's Luna," Noah corrected him.

"Oh, that's a nice name. Anyways, when we saw Luna, the nurses handed me this, said something about Luna spitting it up during her recovery."

Noah and Luna looked up at Jerry as he placed a small, stony coin on the table. Luna giggled like a small Zangoose-kitten.

"I don't believe it. I just don't believe it."

"What is it?"

"It's the reason we went to the mines in the first place. It belongs to Luna."

"Oh, I see. Well, that's good news then," Jerry finished, not bothering to question why Luna had eaten it to begin with, nor why it belonged to her.

"Excuse me? Mr. Van Tussel?" The nurse came walking in, a small creature walking behind her legs. "This Pokemon came in with Mr. Sol and his Zangoose."

The group looked behind her exposed legs to see Mawile peeking out from one of the sides, a little embarrassed. The base of her jaw was completely bandaged up, but the rest of her body seemed to be in perfect condition.

"Actually, that's a wild Pokemon we saved," Noah stated, signaling himself and Jerry.

"Oh, I see then." The nurse turned back toward Mawile. "You can go free now, just try not to move the jaw so much for at least a day, alright? It took quite a beating."

Mawile nodded at the nurse as she returned to the back to help aid others. Mawile looked at Luna and Noah, noting the coin on the table as well.

She gasped. "My coin! You guys got it back! Thank you!"

Mawile quickly ran to the table, Lyn "awing" at Mawile's cutesy run with her jaw hovering a few feet above the ground behind her. She crawled up Jerry's pants to his amusement, and onto the table, sitting down with the coin in her hands, hugging it.

"I thought you wanted to get rid of it Mawile." Noah asked while he and Luna finished the last of their dinners.

Mawile ignored what he said. "...you guys saved my life. You could've left me trapped, but you bothered to come and help me, even though you were my enemy. Why?"

"Because it was the right thing to do. I don't think I'd be able to stand watching another Pokemon die helplessly in front of me again."

The "again" flew right over everyone at the table, except Jerry, who averted direct eye contact with Noah.

"Noah, you can understand Pokemon speech?" Jerry asked, opting to look at Mawile instead.

"Kind of, yeah," Noah replied, "It's a boring story."

"Well...thank you a lot...uh..."

"Noah. Noah Sol."

"Thank you Noah." Mawile looked at the coin, then back at Noah. "You...you can have it."

Noah and Luna looked at her. "What? I thought we had to fight for it?"

"...that's true for the most part. But there was another part of my order that I didn't mention to you guys, mostly because I didn't think it would come up: I'm allowed to give the coin away, but only if I really wish for the reciever to have it. I couldn't give it to you earlier because I didn't feel like you deserved it...but now..."

"I understand," Noah said, petting Mawile on the head to her satisfaction. "I'll gladly accept it. Thanks."

Mawile gripped the plate in a single claw, bringing it close to Noah's necklace. She aligned it with one of the grooves on the necklace, and placed it, pushing it in until she heard it click in place. The plate began to glow for a moment before dying down.

"Thank you," Luna said, refusing to look at Mawile after that "experience" they had in the cave. She reminded herself to talk to Noah about that the next time they were together in private.

"So, where are you gonna go now, Mawile?" Noah asked.

"...back to my clan, of course."

"Do you know where they are?"

The thought never occurred to Mawile. Her clan had migrated along with the other Pokemon groups from Hoenn, and the thought never once come to mind. She felt frozen in time.

"I...no. I don't,” she said through tearing eyes.

Noah reacted almost immediately. "Then why not come with us?" Noah invited her, Luna looking back at him as if he'd gone insane.

"...really?"

"Sure. We're going to be traveling all along Sinnoh. If your clan's in this region, we'll be sure to find them at one point or another."

Mawile struggled to come to a decision. Jerry and Lyn, through hearing only Noah's side of the conversation, were following along quite well.

"I...if I found my family...you'd let me leave? Even though I'd become your Pokemon?"

Luna snorted at the statement.

"Yes. Of course. You can count on me to keep that promise." Noah extended his hand out to Mawile. She sat still at the table, looking at her feet.

"Okay. I'll do it. Thank you again, Noah. You're the nicest person I've ever met." She walked up to his hand, hugging it, as a handshake was something her clan had never opted to put into practice.

Noah pulled an empty Pokeball out of his belt. "I'm glad to have you on our team, Mawile."

"Oh, my name."

"...name?"

"Yeah. Can you call me by my real name from now own? I don't like to be called 'Mawile'. It's dumb."

"Oh really? I didn't know Pokemon were given names in the wild."

"Of course we are. My clan always names the children."

"So what's your name then?"

Mawile stood up to introduce herself. "My name is Rokoko, and I'm of the royal family of the Mawile clan residing in Granite Valley," she introduced herself properly, even going as far as to curtsey, something which Lyn found utterly adorable, even for her tomboyish nature. Jerry chuckled under his breath while Luna just looked away, embarrassed to be in her company.

"You're royalty? Well then, the pleasure's all mine, your highness," Noah replied, bowing his head to her. Mawile laughed as she backed up.

"Please though, call me Koko. I like that much better."

"Koko, huh? Sounds good. Consider it done."

With that, Noah opened his ball, Mawile turned into a ball of pure energy before the capsule closed around her. It put up no fight, glowing and signaling the successful capture. Luna was shocked that another would so willingly jump into one of those traps.

"Koko?" Lyn asked.

"It's her name from the wild."

"That's interesting," Jerry added, "I had no idea Pokemon had names prior to capture..."

"She says she's royalty...from the 'Granite Valley'."

"Granite Valley?" Never heard of such a place," Jerry continued, "but Mawile are only found in Hoenn, and Mawile ARE natives in the Granite Caves. Maybe that's what she's talking about?"

"Sounds about right. Royalty too...Pokemon really do have an interesting family structure in the wild."

'Koko...sounds pretty weird,' Luna thought to Noah.

'But it's her name, and we're going by that, okay?'

'Fine.'

----------

Noah, Luna, Lyn, and Jerry talked for the rest of the night at the table in the center, up until the moon floated directly above them in the night sky. Lyn introduced herself properly to Jerry, who wasn't too shy of giving her a gentleman's kiss on the hand, and the group held a small discussion on Pokemon. Luna power napped for the majority of the round table.

"It's getting late, we need to rest up," Jerry finally broke the conversation off, yawning and stretching. The rest of the center was already almost cleared out, several trainers sitting around and about fiddling with their bags or watching the PBN reruns on the televisions hovering above the tables.

"What are we gonna do now, Noah? Did you even find Bee or whatever you were looking for?"

"Of course," Noah said, "This morning we got a gift from her: A free Silk Scarf. It helped us a lot in the mines today."

"And for tomorrow?"

"We're gonna make our way to Floaroma town next. The safest route would be through Jubilife, and straight through the routes all the way to the city. I do, however, want to train a little bit before we get to Floaroma. I need to get in sync with my team. Besides, Jerry, we need to have another sparring match. We haven't had one in ages."

Van Tussel just shrugged. "Typical that you'd challenge me so soon. You always used to do it back then. What the heck, it'll be fun."

The group parted ways for the night, the troubles and excitement from that day drained them of their health. Sleep was all that was on their collective minds as they each rested in their individual rooms at the Pokemon Center.

Luna didn't even bother to watch television that night, or even sleep near enough to Noah to scare him again in the morning. Sleep sounded much, much better at the time.

----------

Name: (Ro)Koko/Mawile (Noah's)
Type: Pokemon/Steel Type
Height: 1'08'' (her secondary jaw is roughly 2'06'')
Age: ~1 year old. (Mental age equals that of a 12 year old)
Weight: 33 lbs.
Eye Color: Red
Hair Style/Color: No hair. Skin is yellow and seems as a dress-like material. Made of solid steel and is surprisingly thick.
Body Type: Typical Mawile build. Her jaw is roughly twice her size, which is abnormally large for a regular Mawile.
Outfit: None.
Other Items: None
Hobbies: Picking flowers and playing with her jaw.
Homeland: Granite Cave, Hoenn
Personality: Hyperactive and Playful
Bio: A Pokemon of seemingly self-proclaimed royalty, she is a guardian chosen to protect one of the many plates Noah and Luna pursue. Although loyal to Noah and her duties, she only wishes to return to her family and her clan. ???
Weaknesses: In combat, Mawile has the natural Steel weakness to fire, earth, and fighting types techniques. Despite this, she still has an overwhelming amount of stamina and endurance given her size and age, mostly due to her hyperactive behavior. Intense hits and landing attacks at her blind spots are the most effective approaches in battle. End it quickly; the longer the match draws on, the more unlikely the foe will be to defeat her. Her personality is very jumpy, and being a defensive fighter forces her to calm down, something she hasn't quite adapted to yet. She is very easily provoked and inexperienced, and can be manipulated through these bad habits to the foe's advantage.
Pokemon Team: ---
Threat Level: Minimal