~DISCLAIMER~
All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Introduction: Drifting Off

It was dark, pitch black as consciousness roused him from sleep, but as his eyes opened, he felt like he hadn't slept at all, a throbbing pain making itself prominent in the back of his head and the sleep still thick across his eyes, making anything that the slit of vision his heavy eyelids offered a blur of dark, confusing colors. He had only enough energy to look straight, lacking the willpower to turn his head or wake completely, feeling his mind drift along the edge of dreams and reality.

He was soaking wet from what he could tell, but felt warm for some reason, like the water was more like a blanket covering his body, luring him into the thoughts of more rest as the headache moved to his forehead. He couldn't make out very much of his surroundings, just a blur of green and black, probably trees and a dark night sky. The subtle sounds of rushing water and the many croaks and chirps of nocturnal creatures filled the air and he could feel the soft moss that he was lying on, the seemingly insignificant flora feeling very comfortable to him.

Soon however, the vague sounds and sights blurred together in a nonsensical rumble and his eyes slowly closed shut. The comforting darkness returned and his mind devolved into a slur of sleepy thoughts. His consciousness faded away and he fell into the quiet serenity of deep sleep.

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Chapter 1: Skywind Falls

Fren sighed as he picked his way through the crowded thicket, pushing a few of the troublesome tree branches of saplings to the side, not minding too much the occasional scratch to his cheek from the obstructive, wooden limbs. he had forgotten how thick some areas of this forested region could be, the saplings and trees becoming close enough to create the visibility one would have in a dense fog. the tall plants around him were quite literally one or two feet in distance from one another, and he could barely see past more than two to three meters of it, the lush, green leaves like a curtain in front of him. he can see why so many pokemon get themselves lost in this forest. he only hoped at this point that they themselves weren't lost as he padded after his companion with a bit of effort, Fren having made sure to keep his eyes locked onto her so he wouldn't fall behind and lose his way, if they both hadn't already.

His hazel eyes kept trained on the brown mass of fur that he was trailing for a good while now. The only thing making it stand out was the color, the coffee colored tail quite noticeable among the dense green of the leaves that amassed in his vision, but as different a color it was to the majority of his surroundings, it wasn't very useful when it got covered by the occasional leaf filled branch. The fact that she was fairly smaller than he was didn't help either, allowing her to be much more nimble and move between the annoying cluster of practically hugging trees with a lot more ease than he could. His mane was much larger as well, and fluffier, so it was always getting snagged by a branch or two, his companion somehow knowing when this happens and politely waiting for him to get himself untangled before moving on only to eventually get himself stuck once again. If only the path they were on didn't come to an abrupt end, he was pretty sure he wouldn't have had to endure any of this.

Then, to his relief, the thicket seemed to thin out, and before he knew it, he and his companion had found their way to a much older looking path that cut through the woods. He let out a grateful sigh, glad that they weren't lost after all and sat down to take a quick breather, his partner doing the same, her fluffy brown tail swaying in the air behind her as she flashed a smile at him. He huffed at the smile and wagged his own tail in slight annoyance.

She was around half his size, her little paws sitting there in front of her as she sat before him, her lengthy brown ears twitching about, probably admiring the sounds of the many bird pokemon that tweeted above the two. Her mane, unlike his, was pretty clean despite the mess of trees and saplings they had just managed to push their way through, its puffy, cream-colored clusters of thick fur kept nice and fluffed up around her neck, the fur covering the majority of her chest. She simply sat there with him, giving him that innocent look that she always gave her big brother when she knew she had done a great job of making him worry. Regardless, he ignored her evasive, adorable appearance and let his annoyance known to the Eevee.

"Goodness Flaria," he scolded, his eyes revealing his dismay at the state of his fur as he turned to inspect his once clean coat, "you had me worried there for a moment. I was beginning to think we were lost and that I was just following you and your 'intuition' again."

He lifted his paws and quoted with his index and middle digits at the word intuition, the Flareon rolling his eyes before proceeding to pick the little bits of twigs and leaves that had gotten stuck in his yellowish mane, though he couldn't do very much, and a bath would probably succeed much better than grooming it all would. There were bits of those spiky seed things that were literally made to stick to fur tangled in his reddish coat, and twigs in his large, fluffy yellow tail. Hell he even had a few leaves loitering in the clump of equally yellow fur that sat atop his head, the Fire Type being forced to reach up to paw it all out.

Flaria pouted slightly at the insult to her instinctive sense of direction, but then quietly giggled, the sight of her disgruntled companion frantically trying to get the mess of nature out of his fur more than enough to keep her pleased. The large brown mass that was her tail moved left to right behind her, revealing her amused state of mind, if the big, mischievous smile on her face didn't. The flareon picking at his fur let out a grunt and gave up on his red and yellow coat, it still quite littered with twigs and seeds.

"Heehee. Well big brother, If it wasn't for my intuition we'd have been in those thickets forever. and judging from your once pretty fur, you've had enough of that." She stated as she leaned over and flicked a twig off his mane, stifling her laughs for the sake of his sanity.

"It isn't pretty." he growled, getting up and wandering a few feet along the path. Fren didn't much like the ground he walked on the whole time they were in this forest. it felt dry, and dense beneath his paws. Walking for hours on it made his feet ache, but only enough to where it only hurt when he bothered to notice.

"well, it isn't right now." Flaria giggled, the eevee getting up to pad along with the flareon. She teasingly bumped her hip against his side, pushing him to the right side of the path. He let out a deep growl, startling the smaller pokemon before clamping his maw over one of her lengthy ears, nibbling away at it in a playful form of revenge for the earlier acts of mischief.

"Ah! F-Fren don't! gah! it tickles! n-noooo!" she squealed, lowering her head in an attempt to get away from the tickling assault from her brother. He continued the onslaught, the little eevee shaking and pawing at his face, trying to get him to let go. He was too stubborn, however, and his sibling was forced to make amends for her actions.

She lowered her tail submissively and managed to bark out an apology in the midst of her laughing. ", haha, s-stop! I'm - I'm sorry for making f-fun of you, nyah!"

Fren smiled in victory, satisfied with his revenge and released the ear, which Flaria immediately started to inspect with her paws, an unpleasant expression on her cute little face as she stood herself back up. "eeww, you got your nasty flareon drool all over it..."

Fren laughed at her discomfort, giving her a taste of her own medicine. His sibling smiled back up at him, swiping her paw at his shoulder. The flareon still felt rather uncomfortable with the sorry state of his mane and took a moment to shake himself, getting some more of the plant based debris out from his fur, but there wasn't much he could do about the rest, deciding in his mind that this will have to do for now.

"come on," he said, "we have a job to do. if I'm going to come out here and get all dirty along with almost getting lost, we had better find that shinx. I wanna get this over with so I can get back to castle town and relax. Plus, I never did like forests. I always have to be careful not to set anything on fire."

"Yep," his sibling chimed,"and Alex isn't here to put out any fires you start, so you better watch your aim." Alex was a member of their team, and was usually the one who put out the fires that Fren caused, unable to put them out himself if they were not quenchable via stamping. Being a fire pokemon sometimes really isn't all its cracked up to be.

Fren, however, let out a careless grunt, clearly offended by the thought of a water type pokemon being a requirement whenever he was on a mission, whipping his tail once in slight annoyance. "Well it isn't like I'll need to use any. we are just here to find a lost kid."

"yeah, one that got kidnapped by some bandits." she pointed out, rolling her eyes at how inattentive her brother was capable of being sometimes. "Do you ever pay attention to the mission board?"

"ah right. there's always something," he muttered with a roll of own his eyes, turning his head toward her with a smirk."if you didn't have to remind me every time were on a mission, then what are you good for - ouch..."

Flaria had kicked him in the side as payback for the smart remark, the flareon chuckling to himself as they walked on. Fren knew they were headed In the right direction, having previously received word that the missing pokemon was last seen in the more ancient looking, ruin infested part of The forest, the occasional stone steps and vine entangled columns becoming more common here than before, eventually to the point where you couldn't face a direction that didn't have some aged, cracked piece of old pokemon temple obstructing the view.

Fren himself has been here, in this forest, a couple of times before, but this would be the first time Flaria had visited the temple infested wood, the awed expression on her face at some of the taller structures, like an obelisk, with its unknown lettering etched down each side, making him giggle to himself. the vast ruins still provided the strange feeling of excitement that had surrounded him when he first saw the architecture, every visitation like a brand new experience.

"so, these are those ruins that everyone talks about huh?" Flaria said as she stopped to inspect some of the incomprehensible language carved into several large blocks of stone that were partially sunken into the ground."they're... they're so cool!"

"careful sis," Fren warned, "its best not to touch anything while we're here, there might still be some traps lying around. the path is safer."

She looked up from her curiosity and reluctantly bounded back over to the path."okaaay..."

Fren knew about the traps. he hasn't seen any lethal or harmful ones, but they were a real pain to get out of and usually, more often than not, left you with some unpleasant, long lasting 'effect', whether it be a stench, or drowsiness, and sometimes even hunger. Regardless of what, he'd rather not be under the influence of one, and much less his sister. Being the older brother, he would be responsible.

They continued on, keeping their ears standing as they listened for any calls for help from the pokemon they were searching for, but heard nothing but the crunch of the dry leaves at their feet, which were from last years autumn it seems, and the subtle wind that drifted along throughout the wood. The path they have been traveling on was mostly of a lighter colored dirt than the majority of the forest floor was, along with being cleaner, void of moss and weeds. On occasion, one of the pathways of stone brick would overlay the path and the firm softness of the ground was temporarily replaced with the cold hard stone as they crossed them.

As much as the flareon wanted to say the area looked familiar, he couldn't see any landmarks or structures that he knew. Every time he had traveled through here, it was always different somehow, especially since all the structures of forgotten stone looked alike. Even when something was unique in some way, he could never recall seeing it again, even when using the exact same path he had just traveled. There was a story told among some of the locals that the ruins change when no one is nearby, and he believed it. Nothing was ever the same. Only this path that they were on had ever remained unchanged. it was the only thing he could trust when going through the region of Skywind Falls.

Fren stopped walking and turned to see that his little sister had come to a halt a few feet behind him, her lengthy ears twitching about in curiosity. "Hey brother, whats that... rumbling noise?" she asked, the eevee turning her head to get a sense of which direction said sound was coming from.

He raised an eyebrow and listened aswell, keeping himself still as he heard something more akin to a faint roaring than a rumble. It was a constant sound, it acting as an unnoticeable background noise all around them.

"Ah," he said, "i think we must be nearing the falls. There are a lot of them around here you know, all different shapes and sizes. that one we're hearing now must be a decently sized one."

She looked up, the eevee obviously excited about seeing the thing that put the region on the map. "You... you mean the waterfalls? Ooh..! i always wanted to see some! Like... like the Cresselia Falls!"

"Well," Fren explained, chuckling at her enthusiasm. "i'm afraid we're too far south to see the Cresselia Falls. The waterfalls around here are usually rather small, but no less beautiful. You wont be disappointed, sis."

And disappointed she wasn't. They made their way along the path for a couple more minutes to where the sound of rushing water was loudest, the little eevee instantly bounding toward a wooden bridge that had come into view from behind the green foliage that bent over the path. Fren hurried after her, his paw pads meeting the dry oaken wood before resting his paws over the makeshift railing beside his sister.

The bridge lay across a stream of rushing water that dumped itself over the side of a rocky cliff, the contents of the stream forming a bright, white wall of glistening water as it fell, all of it collecting into a clear pool of constantly moving waves almost twenty meters below. The boulders and mossy stone that jutted out from the cliff made for great decoration, lining the waterfall along with tilted trees full with leaves and part of a broken stone column that sat at an angle along the rocks, covered with moss and grayish-green lichen. The water of the pool continued on its way, forming another stream until it flowed into the darkness of a cave that led it all underground, where it kept going beyond their vision. With the dead leaves floating along the current like boats and a large branch that was stuck in the pool arcing itself above the water's surface, it all seemed so natural, and yet was still a sight to behold.

Flaria's fluffy tail wagged back and forth in excitement as she watched the stream empty itself in its majestic way, Fren smiling brightly at seeing his sister happy with the view. However, as much as he wished to stay and admire the waterfall before them, they had a purpose for being in this forest and their mission did not allow time for dawdling. He let the eevee enjoy the moment for a little longer before getting himself back on his fours and nudging his sibling's side, ushering her across the wooden bridge.

"Come on now, we didn't come here to sight-see." He said, pushing her along until she walked by herself with a whine, the job given to them always being the main priority in Fren's mind, especially if it concerned rescuing someone in need of help.

"Aaawwww... i wish i could see this kind of thing all the time..." she whimpered as she reluctantly released the railing and walked with her brother onto the other side of the stream.

"Ah but if you saw a beautiful waterfall on an everyday basis, it wouldn't be as special of an experience now would it?" He pointed out, trying to pull out some of that big brother wisdom.

She simply sighed, nodding her head at his words. "yeah, i guess your right. well i wish i could at least enjoy the experience longer. Our mission is taking up all of our time."

"Don't worry sis, were in the region of waterfalls. im sure well see more as we search for that Shinx." He assured, the Flareon laughing to himself in realization. "you know, i keep forgetting what the shinx's name is, care to remind me?" He asked, aiming to take her mind off the fact they weren't going to be able to enjoy the scenery much, and it seemed to have worked as she shook her head in disbelief.

"See! that's what i'm talking about, you never pay attention. what would you do if i wasn't here?" She exclaimed, gesturing at him with her paw in dismay.

Fren smirked. He never was one for paying attention to the complete details of a mission, or anything else now that he thought about it. All he really knows is that he gets paid to do these jobs, and that the cash helps him take care of the eevee walking parallel to him. Plus, he kind of liked doing what he does, the appreciation and acknowledgement a bonus payment in his opinion. His reasons for being an explorer were pretty simple, which was just how he liked it.

"Heh, i'd probably still be lost in that thicket." He said with a chuckle.

Flaria laughed at the remark, deciding to help her clueless brother out. "Her name is Kirie, silly."

He quickly took a more confident and dedicated stance, stamping his front paws at the same time for effect. "Oh, so its a girl shinx that got kidnapped! We had better rescue her asap then!"

She laughed loudly and pushed the flareon away in a playful manner, "haha! that's what you said before we left Castle Town, your such a slowpoke!"

They were making their way down along a slope away from the waterfall as they talked, the sound of the rushing water getting more faint as they moved away from it. The path in this direction was harder to distinguish, the dirt becoming interrupted by more ruined blocks and large stones, making it harder to travel, especially with the path going downhill. Not only that, but the terrain seemed to be more rigorous, more rocky with high cliffs and steep hills. Fren was hoping that the land would keep itself safe to walk on for his sister's sake, but it was looking more and more unlikely as they progressed through the leaves and tall trees. They didn't come across any more waterfalls, the only reason for seeing the waterfall from before being the fact that the path was near it, any other falls usually being difficult to spot in the thick forest around them.

The sun above announced with its position that two hours have passed since they saw the waterfall, and still no sign of Kirie or the kidnappers. Fren kept his ears up high as he walked, not wanting to miss the shout for help from the lost shinx they were looking for, and since there was always the possibility that Kirie's kidnappers had her muzzled, he listened especially closely for any sign of the bandits. It was their mission, the reason they were here in the first place. To find the shinx that was kidnapped from her home in Castle Town and Fren was determined to see it through, even if he had to scour the forests outside of the Skywind Falls region to do it.

His ears picked up the roaring of another waterfall ahead, the flareon hoping the eevee tagging along with him wouldn't try to enjoy the view and use up more of their time, of which was growing more precious the more of it passed. He looked back at his companion, watching as she craned her neck to see the natural beauty of the waterfall hidden behind the trees, but she kept up with him regardless of their growing distance from it. Hopefully she too has realized the time crunch that was making itself prominent and see that the mission was more important than seeing a waterfall.

But to his dismay, she suddenly rushed over to where the veil of foliage was and poked her head through it, letting out a gasp of what could only be astonishment at the waterfall's, agreeably, stellar beauty.

"Woooaaahhh, brother look!" she exclaimed, the entire upper portion of her body covered up by the leaves of the low lying branches, her tail waving about in what her older brother assumed was intrigue.

Fren continued walking, knowing the eevee would follow him eventually, tilting his head from side to side as he recited the line he had stored in his head for this particular kind of moment. "Flaria we don't have time to be staring at the waterfalls..."

"No look! There's someone unconscious!"

"Yes, i know its pretty and that you don't get to see it everyday but there's a shinx tha - wait, wha...?" He turned on the dime after realizing what his sibling just said and hurried over to her side, pushing his head through the leaves to take a look.

It was just as beautiful and serene as the last waterfall they saw, the white water of the stream spilling out over the side of a rocky cliff face, the boulders and rocks supporting two mossy stone obelisks, one on each side of the waterfall, tilted slightly in two different directions. The water collected into a small makeshift lake that had two small streams of water flowing into the density of the forest's flora, disappearing among the branches of the trees and green bushes laden with berries of many assortments. In the center of this lake was a mound of the sediment that had washed along with the water, all of it having gathered in the middle of the lake due to the way the current flows, creating a small, makeshift island right in the middle. A few plants grew along the shores of the mound, along with a few small stones and a good amount of bright green moss. But it wasn't the beauty of the falls that made him rush out over to it, the water sloshing loudly as he quickly waded through with his sister not too far behind.

For lying on the small island of now gathered, washed away dirt and sand was an unconscious Riolu. His fur was soaked, and his body was scraped and bruised, probably from the rough trip through the many rapids that inhabited the rivers and streams of the region, not to mention the fall from the cliff after being dumped over it by the waterfall. The riolu was breathing, so thankfully he was alive, but he had a pretty bad scar on his cheek, which must have been bleeding for a good while, the fur surrounding it soaked red with blood.

Fren looked up at his sister who was sitting on the opposite side of the fighting type, who looked on in anticipation along with great interest as to what may have happened for the unconscious pokemon to have ended up here. Fren gathered his calm and took a breath, slowly reaching out and shaking the riolu carefully, yet firmly, by the shoulders.