"Where in the world did you get those wounds!?" Nurse joy cried as Greg turned around, revealing to her his criss-crossed back.

He was in the pokecentre, having gotten there after a particularly painful walk, almost naked, the marks across his back stinging and smarting. Cindyr stood besides him, the wound on her left side having stopped bleeding come time before, though the fur around it still sported dried blood and her entire form was covered with dirt and strewn with leaves and twigs.

"Tend to Cindyr first..." Greg muttered as nurse joy tutted and pulled out a super potion.

"Young man! You have been injured!" She almost screeched at him, but he turned towards her, putting his back out of reach. "Fix Cindyr up first." He said firmly.

Nurse joy glowered at him but acquiesced, kneeling by the Pokémon and pulling the fur apart gently to examine the wound, cleaning it with a little water and then dabbing at it with a cotton bud soaked in potion.

"Now how did you get your wounds young man?" She asked sternly, glaring at him while still managing to tend to the ninetails at the same time.

"I got attacked by a wild Pokémon okay? He said, frowning for a second and then grinning as Cindyr blushed.

"I'll never get you young people..." Nurse joy said with a huffy sound, finishing healing the wound and then turning Greg around forcefully and slathering potion on his back, making him arch and let out a soft cry of pain.

Cindyr whimpered softly and nudged at his knee, leaning up to lick his neck reassuringly.

He managed a weak smile and then a grimace as more potion was sprayed across his wounds.

It was ten painful minutes before he was allowed to go, told to lie on his stomach in bed for a few hours, sleeping or reading or whatever, but his back needed to have full air contact for the potion to gel properly and treat the wounds to full effect. She also gave him a stern warning that if he didn't let the air get to the slashes then he'd end up with scars.

Greg took her advice and pulled himself into the room he and Cindyr had been allocated, collapsing on the bed with a sigh of relief.

Cindyr leapt up after him, landing lightly on the bed. He had a funny feeling she was closely inspecting his wounded back.

"I sure hope you're not thinking of signing your work..." He murmured weakly, earning himself a soft laugh and a lick from his ninetails.

"No...I was just wanting to see how far it is to the next town. See, I just follow this road," She said, tracing her claw parallel to a mark, making him shiver, "then I go here..." Her claw moved down lower and then curved back up, making him shiver again and goosebumps erupt across his skin.

The ninetails giggled and dropped down besides him, licking his cheek. "I made you get goosebumps!" She declared happily, licking his face.

"Yes you did." He murmured in return, eyes closed, yawning softly.

"So....how exactly did you get that wound?" He asked, opening an eye to stare at her.

She looked at him a second and then sighed softly. "Monty wanted to mate with me...I refused, he pressed the issue, and we fought...I won of course, but he got a good hit with one of his claws..." She sighed sadly

"Don't worry love...at least you could say no..." He said with a sad look, yawning again.

Cindyr took the opportunity to kiss him deeply, smiling and murring against the kiss, snuggling in close to his body and changing the subject. "I think tomorrow we should go challenge Faulkner, I can take him." She said confidently.

"I'm more worried about his Pokémon myself..." Greg murmured, and Cindyr gave him a playful nip to the arm. "Hey! Think up your own jokes!"

"Or else what?" He asked, grinning, opening his eyes to lean forwards and kiss her nose.

"Or else I swear to god I will lock you in a room with me when I go into heat." She said threateningly, licking his nose in return.

"Was that a promise?" He asked, grinning.

Cindyr just shook her head.

* * *

By morning Greg's wounds had healed, and when he went downstairs, backpack packed, the rest of the gang were assembled, even Hitan was standing there, sword across his back, looking like he had just walked off the set of an old Japanese movie.

All three, Bugsy, Nevyda, and Hitan looked up at him, and Nevyda gave him a sly grin, to which Cindyr replied with a soft growl. Monty was nowhere to be seen, but Greg had an idea that he was safely within Nevyda's pokeball. He avoided her eyes and walked past, with a murmured "well let's go then..." to all of them.

* * *

The trip was entirely uneventful, and barely lasted a day, all the wild Pokémon took flight at seeing the group of them marching near them, taking to their little hidey-holes until the group had passed before returning to what they were doing.

They came upon the town that night, just as the sun slipped below the horizon, and the four let out a collective sigh of relief. None of them liked camping in the middle of nowhere, especially when a wild Pokémon could come and trash and their camp.

The four took a quick trip to the pokemart for food and other things, and then straight onto the pokecentre. Greg wanted rest because he intended to challenge Faulkner the next morning, while the other's reasons were their own.

This pokecentre was quite a bit nicer than the others, with a small rock-pool out the back surrounded by obscuring trees and with a large heater that caused steam and vapours to hang in the air.

This was Greg's first port of call, as he needed the steam and hot water to sooth his muscles, after the scoring and healing they had received they were tense and sore.

* * *

Greg was already in the water, resting his head back against the edge, almost asleep, lulled by the calm, soothing quality of the slowly-bubbling water, when he heard the footsteps. His eyes opened blearily and he barely had time to move before a large furry shape came flying over his head, landing in the water with a large splash, drenching him with the large waves.

"Cindyr..." Greg said with a soft sigh, moving off the wall to swim the short distance to her and hug her, burying his face in her sodden neck fur, nibbling at her skin gently.

She giggled and writhed against him, white fur shimmering in the moonlight, the vapours obscuring their form from any who could be watching, so she felt safe in leaning down and kissing him passionately, pressing her furry muzzle firmly to his mouth, her tongue meshing with his.

Greg swam them back to the edge, smiling at her while not breaking the kiss, even when he had his back pressed against the wall, the ninetails straddling his body, front paws on his chest, claws lightly scraping against his flesh as she murred into the lustful kiss.

Cindyr growled and her back paws raked lightly across his abdomen, catching on his pants and pulling them down to float along in the hot water, barely visible in the mist.

"Do you love me?" She asked in a sultry murr, nibbling lightly at his earlobes, punctuating her question with a tightening of her paws on his shoulders.

"What a stupid question." He replied, taking one of her ears in to his mouth and nibbling at it gently, mimicking her own actions.

She murred in contention as she began to rub her body back and forth, her thighs and swollen cunt brushing the rapidly hardening length between them, arousing him with gentle caresses.

The ninetails pressed her body firmly against him, feeling his hard cock pressed tight against her belly, smiling and then kissing him lustfully, rubbing her body in sinuous motion against him, so that the lips of her cunt massaged across his head, teasing him in the most delightful ways.

Cindyr drifted off him gently, and then dragged herself out of the water and onto the edge of the tub, spread out, revealing the length of her body to him, smiling at him enticingly, motioning for him to join her, which he did in an instant, heaving himself out of the water and laying with her, dripping and wet, a hand travelling down from her neck to her leg, rubbing lightly at her cuntlips with his fingertips.

She shuddered, arching her back a little as a finger delved deep into her body, exploring her depths and probing for her most sensitive spots, making her close her eyes and arch her back again, spreading her legs as best she could.

The ninetails almost yelped when he put his tongue to her, lapping at her clit gently, making Greg smile and hold her open with his fingertips, lapping deeply at the exposed flesh with a smile and a soft chuckle as she writhed under him.

Cindyr growled softly and rolled onto her feet, pressing him firmly onto his back and then turning around, lifting all nine of her tails in the air as her hind legs straddled his face, her wonderful tongue descending on his cock, giving him a slow lick from the base of the shaft right to the tip as he moaned softly and once more put his tongue to her cunt, lapping deeply at her, toying with her tender flesh.

A soft yip escaped the ninetails quivering muzzle as a sudden cascade of liquids spilled across her human's face, slicking his skin with her fluids as he lapped eagerly at her, making her arch and quiver more as she took his throbbing erection into her mouth and suckled at it deeply, powerful rippling motions cause by the convergence of her tongue and throat muscles as she encouraged his orgasm her sweet ministrations.

He lapped deeper into her body, his tongue pressing between her lips as he clenched his toes, his cock pulsing within her mouth, twitching and spurting pre cum at every lap she gave his head, making him arch and moan softly, pressing his tongue deeper as he thrust two fingers back into her depths, pumping them in and out.

Cindyr raised her rump higher and gave out a muffled growl as she came again, her delectable liquids spilling into his mouth and running hotly down his neck as he shut his eyes and screwed up his face, hot cum exploding into the ninetails muzzle.

The ninetails murred happily, gulping as her mouth was suddenly filled with spurts of hot, creamy white cum, the liquid spilling from between her lips as she guzzled hungrily at his length, releasing him with to let his cum gush from the tip and run down his erection. She grinned and lapped at the mess, eagerly cleaning it up as he did the same for her, the ninetails suckling him clean as she smiled with satisfaction.

Cindyr murred louder as the repetitive licks to her sensitive flesh started to turn her on again, wrapping her tongue around his length and squeezing gently, hoping to elicit the same response for him, and giving a delighted little yip as it did, his length starting to harden in her mouth as he gasped at the touches to his over-sensitive flesh.

He sat up suddenly, pulling her around to kiss her eagerly, the ninetails tasting her own liquids strong in his mouth.

She murred and kissed him harder, meshing her tongue with his, pressing her delightfully wet and hot cunt against his aching length, rubbing the soft lips over the tip, making him moan softly, before she suddenly slid down, taking his length within her body as she murred into his mouth.

Greg stiffened under her, grabbing her hips and starting to trust up into her delightful cunt, feeling her depths grappling at his length as she humped her rear, her tight flesh rippling around him.

But then suddenly, she stood up and off him, walking a few steps away to swing her rear towards him, nine tails swirling through the air enticingly as she looked over her should with a come-hither expression, her dripping cunt on display for him, the swelling from within holding it open, the pink, swollen flesh beckoning him.

He knelt behind her and gently pressed his cock against her tight cunt, pressing into her a little as she murred and pressed back against him, taking his length again and starting to work her rump, murring with satisfaction.

Greg knelt over her further and began to thrust deeply into her body, making her give soft yelps and yips, and then started to hilt her firmly, thrusting his hard length deep into her body.

Cindyr murred softly and then took a shaky step forwards, so that his length slipped from her.

He almost gave a cry of protest, moving back behind her, about to thrust his hard length deep into her body once more, when she turned her head and gave him a mischievous smile, lifting her rear higher and curling her tails as far out of the way as she could. "You know you want to..." She murmured in her most seductive tone, pressing her rump back towards him.

Greg took his wet length in his hand, pressing it up and down her tight cunt and then up to her even tighter tail hole, running it in little circles, before pressing it against her pucker and releasing it, leaning over her to kiss the back of her neck as he started to gently press forwards, the head of his cock spreading open the entrance of her rear and slowly slipping inside.

He held himself in check, the head being the only thing within her tight ass, kissing her neck gently to let her get used to the new feeling.

Cindyr's eyes were unfocussed as she murred softly, a deep reverberating sound from the depths of her body as she gathered her feet beneath her and began to press back against him, forcing more of his cock into her rear.

He groaned softly at the sheer tightness of her as he pressed himself deep into her body, slowly, so as not to hurt her, until he was hilted within her tailhole, both of them panting and moaning softly, her liquid spilling from within her body to drip to the ground as she strained against him, eyes closed tightly.

Greg pulled out slowly, gritting his teeth at the tightness that drew him in deeper, forcing him to work a little harder than he normally would have to withdraw from her, before pressing himself back in with another moan, the ninetails beneath him tensing and arching her back, pressing he rear firmly against him as his cock pulsed within her tailhole.

Cindyr moaned beneath him as he started to thrust harder and faster, pressing his cock deeper into her tailhole, as deep as he could go, making her moan and writhe, her liquids seeping out as his balls began brushed against her cunt every time he pumped into her.

Her legs became unsteady and she shifted a little, inner muscles tensing and convulsing on his length as he thrust harder and faster, forcing himself into her rear again and again, making them both moan as he grabbed her hips and started to pull her back against him with every thrust of his solid cock into her tailhole, feeling her body resist, tightness gripping and grappling at his hard length.

Cindyr started to yip with every hilting thrust, feeling his cock as deep inside her as it could go, smoothly working in and out of her body as she raised her rear as much as she could, hot liquids cascading down her thighs and belly as she clenched her eyes shut, feeling his cock start to pulse within her.

Greg gave a smooth, hard shove up her tailhole, holding himself there as he suddenly came deep inside her tight ass, a flood of hot cum spurting into her body as she let loose a howl, her rear tightening and milking at his length deliciously as her cunt convulsed and a veritable gush of liquids surged from her body. She could feel every pulse of the hard cock within her, every spurt of seed as the hot liquid spilled into her body, feeling the warm cum coating her depths as he sagged over her, gently withdrawing from her and panting against her neck, both of them feeling their heads spin at the intense rush of pleasure.

Cindyr murred loudly as Greg pulled her close, kissing her neck and face eagerly, and then locking his mouth against her muzzle in a passionate kiss, staring into her eyes. "I love you..." He murmured.

"I love you too..." She murmured in return.

* * *

"So...how do you intend to defeat Faulkner?" Greg asked of Cindyr, stroking her neck gently. She was curled up to him, her back pressed against his stomach, nine tails slowly swishing back and forth, her eyes closed.

Cindyr yawned slightly and rolled over to face him with the sound of fur on skin, licking his neck gently. "Well...I was thinking maybe a fire blast, a few tail whips and maybe an iron tail to take him out...and then a scratch to defeat his Pokémon." She said confidently, grinning. "I mean, how hard can it be to take down one pigeotto?"

* * *

"Cindyr! Fire blast!"

There came the swoop of wings and a blast of fire rushed close by Greg, singing his clothes and making him leap backwards as the ball of fire hit a wall and dissipated into black stains on the brickwork.

The pigeotto swopped again, this time its sharp scythed across Cindyr's muzzle, making her yelp and leap backwards, whimpering and pawing at her muzzle slightly, pining at the gash that now adorned the area between her nose and forehead.

"Cindyr, stay focussed! Tackle when it get's close!"

Cindyr growled and squared off as the Pigeotto returned, wing flaring as it got close, drastically reducing it's speed.

The ninetails leapt at the almost stationary flying Pokémon, aiming to take it down out of the air. But she got there too late. The bird closed its wings and dropped to the ground, before launching upwards and catching the airborne ninetails squarely in the stomach, sending her bouncing across the floor to lie in a heap for a few moments, before she launched herself to her feet and attacked again, snarling and growling, claws scything.

Faulkner's pigeotto leapt into the sky and came down hard in a drill peck, slamming into Cindyr's back and almost getting caught in her tails as it slid off like water on a duck's back, rounding on the ninetails and throwing a tri-beam her way, the combination of ice, lightning and fire pummelling her relentlessly as she yelped and tried to back away, before flicking her paw once, the claws that tipped it flaming to life, blue flames dancing along them as she raked her claws from left to right, slashing the pigeotto and sending it to the floor in a puff of feathers.

The injured pigeotto rose and launched another attack, sharp talons digging into Cindyr's sides, making the vixen yelp again and latch her teeth onto the bird wing, tugging hard to send it to the ground once more.

Cindyr slowly advanced on the downed bird, smiling triumphantly, rearing back and spitting a huge fireball at the almost defeated bird.

"Pigeotto! Counter!"

Cindyr could only yelp as her attack was cast back at her ten-fold, sending her spinning and bouncing across the room once more to lie in a singed, crumpled heap, whining piteously.

Greg ran over to his beloved ninetails, pulling her into his lap and stroking reassuringly at her neck and head as she whined and licking his stomach weakly, smelling strongly of singed fur. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly as the judge declared Faulkner the winner.

She whimpered an affirmative and tried to struggle to her feet, failing at that and just lying with her head on his lap, whining at her helplessness. "I think we need to go back to school..." Greg murmured to his Pokémon, sighing softly.

* * *

Greg and Cindyr lay in bed after their defeat, Greg frowning and trying to think of why they lost on the cusp of their victory while Cindyr growled at random things and snarled as she nibbled at a paw, no matter how much Greg soothed and placated her.

He stroked a hand up her side and she sighed and rolled to face him, a petulant look on her muzzle. "Why didn't we win" she asked in a huffy voice, growling and nibbling vociferously at a paw again.

Greg took her paw in his hand and carefully turned her muzzle to face him, giving her a long look. "You really shouldn't do that, you'll end up hurting yourself...and I don't know why we didn't win, but I'm going to find out, we're going back to school." He said firmly.

Cindyr sighed and then looked him up and down, blinking a few times with a look of half-surprise. "I thought kids hated school?"

"If it stops you getting hurt again then its well worth it." He said firmly, giving her a warm kiss.

* * *

The Pokémon School wasn't exactly packed, but it wasn't empty either, and the sheer amount of noise and activity in the large room made it seem as though there were many more people in there than there actually was.

Greg led Cindyr straight for the teacher's desk, and she sat obediently nearby while he tried to explain his problem to him.

"Er...excuse me? I was wondering if you could help me?" He asked nervously. He had never really liked teachers; they always have him the feeling of being inferior, like they were so much better than him.

The teacher, a grey-haired, wizened man in spectacles looked up and then gave him the once over, looking down at his singed ninetails who looked up at him with a cute, attentive expression.

"And what would be the problem?" He asked, lowering his head to look at him over the rim of his glasses.

"I'm Greg." He said, holding out his hand nervously, shifting from side to side.

"And I am Professor Martin." He said I return, shaking the hand and then peering back down at the book he was reading. "And what seems to be your problem?" He asked, and Greg sighed quietly in relief. It was so much worse when they were staring directly at you as if you were some kind of stupid little kid.

"Well see...I...er...actually, Cindyr...well...we both challenged Faulkner..." He started, stumbling over his words and wincing each time he made a mistake.

"And you lost?" He cut in, looking up at him with a questioning look.

"....Yes..." He said, and was ashamed to feel himself blushing. Cindyr put her paw on his lower leg reassuringly.

"Do you want me to show you something?" Professor Martin asked, standing up and pulling open his desk drawer, taking out a Pokéball. He clapped his hands once and instantly got silence. "Class, outside on the lawn for today's lesson."

The class immediately made their way outside to what appeared to be a grandstand, eagerly sitting down on it and staring at what Greg knew to be a Pokémon battle ring, though it was a little smaller than the ones he was used to seeing in the gyms.

Martin motioned for him to follow him outside as he took his position at one end of the field, popping open his Pokéball to reveal a Ratatta. "Pokémon battle, use any Pokémon you want." He said offhandedly.

Greg looked at the Ratatta with wide eyes. Surely he didn't intend to let that little thing fight his ninetails! But Cindyr had already stepped into the ring, eyes gleaming, ready to take her anger out on the puny Pokémon that was forced to face her, relishing the hunt, licking her lips.

"Begin." Martin said calmly, inclining his head.

Cindyr leapt forwards at the words before Greg could say a thing, quickly closing and throwing a fireball and a paw at the Ratatta.

But neither connected. The Ratatta just took a few steps to either side at the exact right moment and then leapt for the ninetails face, giving her a scratch with its little claws.

Cindyr leapt back, shaking her head and blinking at the drop of blood that fell, growling as if offended.

Martin surreptitiously took a step to the left, as his Ratatta leapt around the ninetails, which released a blast of fire that would have hit Martin had he not moved.

The Ratatta growled in a puny way and leapt at Cindyr, fangs glowing, before they scythed across her back, barely breaking the skin, brushing through her fur.

Cindyr whimpered and looked up at Greg entreatingly, and then dropped, like a puppet with its strings cut, hitting the ground with a dull thud, making Greg rush over to tend to her, once again holding her head in his lap and stroking at her fur while murmuring reassuring words in her ears.

He glared up at Martin who withdrew his Ratatta, and the kids made their way off the grandstands and back into the classroom, sensing the show was over.

"You see now?" He asked softly of Greg as he stroked at his Pokémon's fur.

"See what?" He almost spat, glaring up at him.

"That it doesn't matter how powerful your Pokémon are if you don't understand them?" He said, shaking his head slightly.

"I understand Cindyr!" Greg protested, standing up and stamping his foot for emphasis, "I understand her more than most people ever understand their Pokémon!"

"Then what is she thinking now? What is she feeling?" He asked, almost as if curious.

Greg faltered then, looking down at her crumpled form and then sighing softly. "I don't know what she's thinking...I don't need to, if she wants me to know how she thinks she'll tell me..."

"And that's exactly the attitude that will get you beaten by nearly every gym leader you face." Martin said, sighing wearily. "You need to know what your Pokémon is thinking, be completely in tune with them, only then, will you be a great Pokémon trainer. When you're ready, come back to me, I will teach you how to become more in tune with your Pokémon."

Greg shook his head as Martin walked away, glaring a hole in his back and then picking up Cindyr with a groan, sighing as he started to carry her towards the Pokémon centre, kissing her forehead reassuringly. It looked like he had a lot to learn.

* * *

The next day found Greg and Cindyr sitting in the classroom, at a desk towards the back of the room, while Martin explained things about Pokémon and the world. Martin had 'suggested' it to him that morning, when he had asked what he should do to become a better trainer.

Martin was explaining an old Pokémon legend, the legend of the legendary balls...even the name made it sound like a complete charade.

"Once upon a time, back when men and Pokémon did not train together, during the dark ages where man lived in constant fear of the Pokémon that inhabited the world, a man had a glorious vision."

"This man was Otori Hamato. He was the inventor of the Pokéball, and the first person to successfully capture and train a Pokémon. He wanted a way for people to work in tune with Pokémon, to become better friends and mentors to their pets, and so he used his own personal funds to create the towers."

"The towers were tall and strong, each one unique, and Hamato, showing amazing foresight and intelligence, set men and Pokémon about building these colossal monuments. Many, many years passed before the first tower was constructed, but during that time man and Pokémon saw mutual interests in each other, and the first Pokémon trainers were born."

"The concept of fighting Pokémon came about from Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, when the men working saw the two sparring during a rest break. Several of the men, who had smaller, and yet, just as ferocious Pokémon, took to this idea and battled their Pokémon. Thus was the long lineage of Pokémon training and battling born."

"Now, to this very day, the work of Hamato stands tall and proud outside our window, and in other places too. Ecruteak once had two of the mighty towers, but one burnt down in a mysterious fire a few years ago, it is even said that the three legendary Pokémon, Suicune, Entei, and Raikou, resided beneath the tower in slumber, but were awaken and fled, though this is only a rumour."

Greg shifted and then said quietly, "I saw her..."

The teacher raised an eyebrow and looked over the sea of heads at him, "Saw who? Exactly?"

"Suicune..." He replied, shrugging. "We fought...she beat me."

"You saw the legendary Pokémon Suicune? Have you any proof?" Martin asked wearily. He was probably quite used to being told many a strange thing by drunks, and children with overactive imaginations.

"Cindyr is my evidence...she was killed by a onyx...Suicune brought her back to life, against the orders of her trainer..." Greg sighed and stroked Cindyr's neck gently; painfully aware of the suspicious looks cast his way.

"She had a trainer? Why has no one come forwards claiming to have caught the legendary Pokémon?" Martin asked, as if explaining to a child that one plus one equaled two.

"I don't know...he's not the most brazen guy...he's evil, and he works from the shadows..." Greg stared at the ground, "Just go on with your story if you don't believe me."

Martin gave him a long, searching look and then almost shrugged before continuing his story.

"The towers still stand in many places in the world, the goldenrod communications tower was the site of one, the radio tower in the Pokémon graveyard town used to be one as well, until it was torn down by a twister, there still stands one in Ecruteak, our very own Bellsprout tower, and it is said Hoenn has it's own massive tower, which is so high it is called the sky pillar."

Martin leaned backwards on his desk and sipped at a glass of water, and then put it down, "Any questions?...yes Johnny?"

A little boy in the front row fairly bounced out of his chair in excitement. "My daddy says the tower's have secrets!"

Martin cocked his head to the side and peered at the boy. "Yes that is true, that secret chamber under the tower was only discovered after the legendary Pokémon rumours started circulating and true search was interred. As for the tower of the ancients, the other tower in Ecruteak, it is filled with secret room and passages. Even our own Bellsprout tower had secret passages that we know are there by have no way of knowing how to open them."

"But daddy says it has elemental secrets!" The boy piped up, staring at his teacher expectantly.

"Ah...the elemental orbs. Now we delve into the realm of rumour and speculation." Martin sighed and stared at his hands for a second, as though deciding how to continue.

"It is said that Otori Hamato was one of the greatest minds in history. His philosophies on life and Pokémon are unmatched even today. It is said that he harnessed the power of the primary elements, earth, fire, ice, wind, water, darkness, and light, and imbued the special powers into seven magical balls of energy. It is not known why he would do such a thing, but evidence from that period of time indicates that there were massive eruptions of volcanoes and tidal waves, and that destruction was the norm."

"Now...we can only speculate as to why, but there are several theories. The most plausible one is that Pokémon in ancient times were powerful, much more powerful than they are today, and that several of these Pokémon went wild, causing widespread destruction and chaos. The evidence, what little there is of it, supports this theory, because, shortly before construction of the towers began, all chaos and destruction abruptly ceased."

"It is said that Hamato hid the orbs within the towers, to safeguard them for a time when they were needed, or to keep something secret and locked away. It is not known what it could be that would cause him to hide the orbs so thoroughly, but if there really are orbs, then he did a very good job hiding them, because not one has been found yet. The only orbs in existence at the moment are the orbs of fire and sea, on Mt Pyre in Hoenn, and they are chemically inert, just pieces of stone, although the value they hold to the people of Hoenn is immense."

Cindyr frowned and licked her paws, looking bored, though her tails were slowly swishing back and forth, a sign of contentment, or, in this case, agitation.

"What's the matter girl?" Greg asked, leaning down close to whisper it in her ear.

"I want out." She whimpered softly, and Greg put his hand up. "I'm sorry sir, my Pokémon is feeling uncomfortable, I have to leave."

Martin shrugged and made a shooing gesture to him, then continued with his history.

"What was that about Cindyr?" Greg asked the moment they were outside, leaning down to be on her level and wrapping his arms around her neck.

"I just don't like that story..." She said, turning her head to the side and licking at his cheek entreatingly.

"What's wrong with the story?" He asked, cocking his head and rubbing her side gently.

"I just don't like it..." She said, and was cut off from any more conversation by a booming crack coming from within Bellsprout tower and sudden smoke billowing from the entrance.

Greg was stunned for a second, but was then up and running towards it, Cindyr a close second.

The entrance was billowing thick black smoke, hot and oily, obscuring whatever was happened. Monks ran out of the entrance in droves, hands over their mouths, coughing and wheezing, collapsing to the ground once they were free of the cloying smoke.

Already, quite a crowd had gathered and several people were tending to the monks. Greg looked around at all the coughing people and the people wheezing and gasping for air, and something in his head clicked.

"You up for a run love?" He asked quietly of Cindyr.

She nodded determinedly.

Greg dove forwards, delving into the crowd and then through it, dodging a guy who tried to stop him and plunging into the foggy, disgusting darkness of the what appeared to the flaming the Bellsprout tower.

"Cindyr! Fire blast!" He called, and then coughed, dropping to his knees, trying to get away from the smoke that hung so heavy from the ceiling.

A blast of fire rushed throughout the room, pushing the smoke back and catching the wheezing a glancing blow, knocking him askance slightly and stopping the rush of oily smoke from his mouth.'

It turned towards Cindyr, and then rushed forwards, spewing poisonous fumes as it went.

"C-Cindyr! Fi-fi-..." His words broke up into hacking coughs and he doubled over, almost retching.

Cindyr squared off and growled softly, the smoke affecting her less than it did him, before she fired a single blast of flame from her mouth, catching the advancing wheezing dead-centre, knocking it backwards to lay on what passed as it's back, black smoke still drifting from it's mouth.

The ninetails leapt forwards and latched onto Greg's shirt, dragging him towards the nearest staircase and quickly yanking him backwards down them, sending them both tumbling to the bottom to land in a painful heap, bruised and sore.

Greg moaned softly and clumsily extricated himself from his ninetails, coughing and spluttering still, collapsing onto his ass to take deep, slow breaths, looking around.

The room most definitely was not on the normal tour of Bellsprout tower. It was beautifully carved with artfully designs of intricate flowers and blossoms leading from stems of painfully detailed green paints and carvings.

To him, it seemed as if he had just fallen into a garden, even the floor was carved, in a very odd way.

The floor was completely uneven, because it made entirely of carved roses. Each rose must have been made a different length and then placed individually, because all you could see of the floor was the petals and buds of roses, and the occasional gap, leading down to the floor.

Greg peered through one of these and his eyes widened.

Each flower must have been at least twelve metres high, closely placed, but with several areas that, strangely, had no stems at all but just small spaces.

But that wasn't what was making his eyes widen, if you stepped on a flower patch that was unsupported, you would fall, and each beautifully carved stem sported very painful looking thorns, at least three centimetres long each, wickedly curved upwards. One thing was for sure, if you managed to step on an area where the flowers would collapse under your weight, you weren't going to be climbing back up. You would be dead.

"Umm...Cindyr...we might have a problem." He said, grabbing her tails as she started to walk away, bringing her up short.

"Like what?" She asked, raising a brow and looking at him like he was stupid.

"Come here and look for yourself." He said, gesturing towards the gap.

Cindyr did so, and almost yelped with shock, looking around wildly. "How do we got down there?"

Greg looked at her a second, frowning thoughtfully, and then shrugged. "We need to figure out the code...no one would make a trap like this if they didn't leave a way for you to get across."

He frowned down at the flowers, and then at the wall, looking at all the carving suspiciously. They repeated, several times, the same six flowers, but he found one that didn't quite match, one of the flowers was missing.

Greg strode straight towards it, too scared to whimper or actually let the fear affect him, marching up to it and staring at it, and then around the room again. The next one that was different had an extra flower, so he just marched towards it as well, Cindyr following cautiously, yelping when she stepped on a sunken flower, thinking that she was falling through.

He stared around again, and caught site of one, this one was actually marked, the flower in the centre a bright, vivid green. He shrugged and walked towards it, and then stopped, looking around, eyes wide. He could see no less than three other flower panels on the wall with missing flowers, and one with a flower added, when he looked closely. There was one with three flowers missing, one with two missing, one with one missing, and the one with one added.

Cindyr came and sat besides him, looking at the floor with scared eyes, "Now what?"