"Well, nice to meet you, Leon!" the Buneary said, staring at the small mouse sitting next to her.

This was XV's first time riding a train in his life. He had heard some of the other members talk about the one that stopped in Lizean every day, but he hadn't actually gotten into it. It seemed a pretty normal place: an aisle that ran through the middle of the car with two seats on each side. They were sitting in the two to the right. He got the aisle and the Buneary got the window. A few seats ahead were sitting an Ambipom and Pachirisu talking softly to each other. The Ambipom spoke with elegant words in a flourish tone, something unusual in a species known to be as crazy and loquacious as his was. XV looked out at the sight of the streets moving so fast past his sight once the train started moving. His mind, however, was someplace else. He was thinking about the name he had just said.

'I wonder if It's okay,' he thought. 'I mean, how weird would it be to be called like that? But it'll give me a better chance to go by undetected and prevent them from wreaking more havoc than they already are... I hope you don't mind, Leon.'

"Um, hello?" The Buneary poked at his shoulder. "Still with me there?"

"Yeah, sorry," Leon answered looking at her, still a bit idle.

"Well, thanks for saving me back there!" the bunny said with a smile. "Truth be told, I was pretty scared... If you hadn't been there, I don't know what they could have done to me. You're my hero! Name's Tiffany, by the way," she finished, hugging him.

"Uh, no problem," Leon answered, feeling awkward that this girl he had just met was being so friendly toward him. "It's good to meet you, Miss Tiffany."

"'Miss'?" She let go of him gave him an awkward look. "Just Tiffany. Tiff is fine, too, if you'd like."

"Sorry... Tiffany."

"Well, we're safe now," Tiffany sighed, looking out the window into the fields around the outskirts of Riale. The sun was beginning to set. "I don't think they can come after me here..."


"What were they chasing you for, anyway?"

"Well, I got into some trouble with their mob. Apparently, they can't stand being beaten to a treasure they were after. Here." She searched the bag she was carrying and pulled out a peculiar- looking artifact: it was a circular medallion made of solid gold, covered with Emeralds and Diamonds that formed the shape of a Spiral, with Sapphires around it. Whatever it was, it was truly beautiful.

"Wow...it's pretty," Leon said, taking a good look at the item, becoming idle and lost in its radiance.

"It is, isn't it?" Tiffany put it away, bringing the idle Pichu back to reality. "Can you believe I found it on the street? Anyways, the Machoke and his goons saw me pick it up. And, apparently, their boss had been looking for it for a long time, so they wanted it. But I wasn't gonna give it to them! I took off running, and that's when I bumped into you. Thanks again."

"But, why was their boss looking for it?"

"Their boss, Don Krow, is known to be into all kinds of shiny or valuable items. It seems like he had his eyes on this. But we've left him behind. We're good and on the road now!"

"Yeah, about that...where are we going?"

"Ilsia," Tiffany replied, "a small village in the woods. That's where I'm from! I came to Riale to buy some food because I don't like how the berries that grow in the forest taste like." She made a short giggle. "Who would have thought I'd run into trouble like that, huh?"

"Life's full of surprises," Leon answered idly.

"And where are you from?" Tiffany asked.

"I'm from... Ruby Plains," Leon said. The thought of how such a beautiful place had been ruined and his best friend had died because of him brought a tear to his eye, which reflected the orange-ish light of the setting sun outside.

"I'm sorry," the Buneary withdrew her words, placing her paw on his shoulder. "Word of what happened just reached us over here... I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Leon told her. "You didn't know."

"Well...you want something to eat?" Tiffany asked, reaching into the bag and pulling out a piece of chocolate.

"Sure," Leon answered, grabbing the chocolate and taking a bite. He wasn't so sure what he was going to do now, seeing how he was riding a train towards a town he had never heard of and didn't know how, exactly, he was going to fulfill the promise to his dying friend and beat the guys he had been a part of. The first step would be to get back to the north, but that could take a while. How was he supposed to become a hero, anyway? The concept wasn't too clear in his mind yet. So, what to do? Perhaps he'd just let things flow for now.

00 It's strange, isn't it, how sometimes two can get along so quickly? Friendship is a blessing, one that many fail to understand. To some, it's a hindrance; to others, it is a mark of weakness. But to me...well, it's a warm and pleasant feeling.00


===NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED!



Time had passed quite quickly for the Pichu and Buneary as the train kept moving on. Leon was busying himself in his thoughts while chatting with Tiffany at the same time. The sun had already set, even though neither of them had noticed so while talking.

"Hey, look at that!" Tiffany pointed out the window towards a large, glowing mountain in the distance.

"What's that?" Leon looked out to see the large peak, feeling strangely mystified at the sight. The otherworldly cyan glow that irradiated from it awakened something in him that he couldn't understand. He felt restless, excited even.

"That's Hope's Peak," the bunny replied. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I love how it glows at night... Night!" she said, a tad surprised. "I hadn't noticed, Leon. It's nighttime already! Time flies when you're having fun, huh?"

'She's right,' Leon thought, staring at the star-covered night sky above. 'I didn't even notice the sun set. Talking to her sure is entertaining.'

"Let's look at it, while it's still visible!"

The Ambipom and Pachirisu that had been talking earlier got up and walked to the next car. Leon and Tiffany were alone now. The comfortable silence that reigned at this point, combined with the train's dim lights, was incredibly soothing. They hadn't said a word to each other since Tiffany suggested watching the bright mountain.

"So, how long till we get to your town?" Leon broke the silence once Hope's Peak had disappeared into the distance.

"We should be getting there tomorrow," Tiffany answered, leaning back on her seat and hugging herself to stay warm. "We could just sleep for now, if you want. Time's gotta run even faster that way, huh?"

"I guess." He leaned back as well and closed his eyes, trying to sleep, but was unable to. In the silence, he could hear a noise that sounded like sucking and groaning of some sort. He tried to get used to it at first, but after a while, it annoyed him. "Hey." He poked at Tiffany's shoulder. "Hey, can you hear that?"

"Yeah, I can't sleep because of it," she answered, wiggling a little.

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know... Could be a Golbat attacking someone."

"A Golbat?" Leon remembered the Golbat. They were among the few natural denizens of the Midnight World that were unrelated to the Midnight Voices.

"Yup," she yawned, quietly getting up. "I heard one snuck onto the train and drained some poor Miltank of all her blood!"

"So that noise could be a Golbat attacking someone?"

"Well, could be..."

"Then we should do something about it!" Leon whispered as he, too, got up. "We should at least make sure everything's okay."

"Whatever you say, I guess." They both walked, following the source of the sound until they figured it was coming from the next car.

"Let's have a look, then," Leon whispered as he slowly opened the door a little to see what was going on. "And be quiet." He peeked into the next car, the Buneary peeking over him so she could see what was going on as well. The source of the noise turned out to be something entirely different from what they were expecting.

The Ambipom from earlier was sitting on a bed. That wouldn't have been strange. The thing that made it so was that, at the foot of the bed was the Pachirisu, sucking on the Ambipom's Shaft.

"Oh, yes..." growled the Ambipom, clearly enjoying the treatment he was receiving

The Pachirisu seemed focused on what she was doing, bobbing her head up and down, suckling at the rod in her muzzle. She kept going, seemingly tireless in her attempt to milk the male's shaft.
The Ambipom seemed to be getting close to finishing, bucking his hips and grabbing the back of the white and blue squirrel's head with both his tail hands, forcing her down. Instantly obeying, the Pachirisu took the Ambipom's full length into her muzzle, being forced to go faster and faster every time.

"That's it!" the Ambipom exclaimed as, with one final push, he shot his load into the Pachirisu's muzzle, the Squirrel gulping down load after load of the white fluid.


"Whoa..." Tiffany whispered at Leon, her face reddening as they closed the door. "Not what I expected to see..."

"Yeah," Leon answered, remembering the time he had accidentally walked on III and XVI doing something similar. The usual outcome of that would have been to get thrown out the window, but that day the Zangoose had, literally, used him to mop the floor. "I would have preferred the Golbat over that..."

"Well, it's too late in the night already," Tiffany whispered as the two headed back to where they were sitting. "Let's just try to get over...that. And get some sleep, huh? We should be arriving at my home tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's do that," Leon said as they sat down and he closed his eyes. Tomorrow he would arrive at this new town. Hopefully, he'd find something to do there, and could decide how to carry out his goal.

Far away from there, someone was waking up...

The Nidoking weakly raised a tattooed arm as he regained consciousness. He had no idea how much time he had been unconscious, but he was certain it had been more than a few hours.

"Damn," IV muttered as he got up after quite a struggle. His entire body was sore and aching, and just moving an inch hurt him. The craggy, hard soil he was now sitting on was hot and the skies were grey, with no light visible through the many mountains in he distance except that of the lightning that was striking some of them, punishing the rock formations with a thunderous roar. He grimaced, holding one of his gigantic hands to his face and shaking himself awake. "What the hell's that rat made of? Ah, whatever...the guys are gonna hear about this." He lowered his hand and looked up, but the flash of another lightning bolt when he looked up blinded him and made his eyes sting. 'Oh, hell...' he thought, looking down. 'This is worse than a hangover. At least with the hangover I know I enjoyed myself before passing out, but this...this is like a crash. A VERY painful crash!'


=== POOR RESULTS?


The Midnight World, on the other hand, was not as fortunate as to enjoy the flashes of light the lightning offered. There were no such things as thunderstorms there (although VII was able to summon rain), leaving the grim skies, the deathly silence and the dull blue lights as the most common weather.

Quietly, a Lucario made his way around the sinister fortress. He walked up a set of stairs and kept going. Finally, he reached a long spiral staircase. After reaching the top, he found himself in front of a Mewtwo. The cold, emotionless stare of the Mew replica was enough to unnerve most, but III in particular had never felt too threatened by it.

"Did you find him?" the Mewtwo asked, staring at III with his penetrating gaze.

"He was nowhere to be found," III replied, crossing his arms. "Lizean, Frost, all those places...there wasn't a single trace of him."

"I see..." I answered. "The Professor appears to have given him a lot of importance, wouldn't you agree?"

"He IS rather unique," III said. "So far, I don't think there is anyone else with the ability he possesses..."

"IX came to see me not long ago," the Mewtwo continued. "He reports to have seen XV in Riale."

"That can't be," III shook his head. "That place is incredibly far from here."

"Apparently, our Absol friend found him quite some time ago, but decided to keep the information to himself. He, in his own words, 'wanted to see XV's situation unfold' before telling us about him."

"IX must be mistaken," III insisted. "Perhaps he saw another Pichu?"

"IX mentioned that the Pichu he saw grabbed a Machoke and used a Seismic Toss attack on him with the greatest of ease," I said. III's attention was attracted by these words. "No other Pichu can do that but the one we own, I think."

"'Own'?" III answered. "We do not 'own' him. That is one part of the Professor's plan that went wrong. And now that XV is pulling his own strings," he stared at his hand, making some energy radiate from it, glowing in the darkness of the room, "he wants him back. This is all pointless, I think. We should just let him live his life."

"Are you saying we should leave our one most successful creation to wander about?" I's stare seemed to turn sharper. The Lucario, however, did not show any trace of being intimidated. "Perhaps I was mistaken about where your loyalty resides, III."

"I only meant to say that there are other ways. We could create a new one-"

"How? Do you forget one of our subjects is gone?"

"I just...never mind," III looked away. "How shall we proceed about IX's report?"

"First, send someone to search for IV. According to IX, he was sent flying a rather long distance. Once he is back, we shall discuss how the mission shall proceed."

"Understood," III made a slight bow. There were few things he despised more than having to bow to others; I, however, was in a higher authority than he was, and he had no other choice.

"Then get on with it."


00 They would never leave him alone. Half of them didn't even know why they were really after him. It was just orders, I guess. How painful it must be, for one to gain his freedom only to have it snatched away from him...00Chapter End Notes:So...How was it? I tried to skip the Time leaps in this one. please, Review and tell me what you think