Two hours earlier, she had thought it would be fun, exciting, and all of those things to find the source of those mysterious cries. How wrong she had been. Still walking, still searching. And she still hadn’t found anything. Not yet anyway. Except maybe a Poochyena or two that would run by on the odd occasion. She didn’t try to capture them. She couldn’t be bothered. Walking took a lot out of you after all.

“Oh there’s nothing here. What is the point of this!” she whined, suddenly frustrated.

She clenched her fists tighter together and pulled on the strap of her shoulder bag as it slid off her shoulder for the third time.

Maybe it isn’t some rare pokemon in desperate need of assistance…

She badly wanted to just walk on through to Petalburg to catch up with Joey at long last, but she was adamant to press on into the very heart of the forest. To at least reassure herself that something was in there. She breathed in and out heavily in an attempt to calm herself down.

“Come on Zigzagoon, we’re nearly there!” she encouraged, stopping to give him a chance to catch up.

“Zagoooon” he panted, clambering into her arms and gratefully closing it’s eyes.

Davina chuckled as the half-expected snores sounded. At least then if she didn’t find this ‘mysterious pokemon’, Zigzagoon would have had a nice and calming rest. She walked on, hugging Zigzagoon close for security. Yawning, her eyes closed instinctively.

Suddenly, something seized onto her foot and she forced her eyes open as she felt the world underneath her tilt alarmingly.

“Wha-!”

Then a scream.

DEAD BODY!!!!

Everything had happened at once.
Starting with Davina, whose left foot became entangled in an uplifted root. Zigzagoon was dropped and his acute hearing made Davina’s shrill scream all the more louder. He fled the scene in both pain and perplexity.

Breathing heavily again, this time for a completely different reason, Davina lay in a bedraggled heap in a mess of hair. She tugged on her foot, fearful of a broken ankle, but luckily she hadn't broken anything. Only bruised it. Brushing aside her hair, she breathed heavily out again before leaning against the trunk of a sturdy oak.

“What the hell was that?” she whispered absent-mindedly as she stared up at the tree canopy. Thin rays of light filtered through the leaves.

Slowly sitting up, Davina placed a hand on her head, a shiver went up her spine as the just recent memory of seeing that disturbing ... thing entered her mind. Her head throbbed painfully as she tried to whistle and call for the Zigzagoon back, but found that it had ran off to far for it to hear her. She could only hope that it wasn’t what she had first assumed – a dead body. She shivered again. Maybe that was what those cries had come from. The cries of a person slowly dying. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and crawled closer towards ‘it’.

She peered closer and closer, her courage slowly returning as she noticed that the dark silhouette was not human-like she had thought first of before. There was a blade that stuck repulsively out of one side of it’s forehead like the curved blade of a sword, only that this blade was a part of the creature’s head – like a horn only different. A throaty sound emerged from the creature as it scrambled to get to it’s feet, but failed, it’s eyes anxiously checking either sides as if it were expecting someone or something to attack suddenly. How could she have thought that this creature with a blade as a body part was a human?

“Poor thing” she mumbled as she traced a delicate finger over the creature’s face, tracing all of the scratches and scars, outlining ever minor to major feature.

It’s muzzle was bushy and a snowy white with something much darker spluttered over it. Blood. The legs were not lanky-like or stubby, somewhere in-between as they were slender and appeared so powerful and strong. It’s tail too was perfectly formed, this time a washed out and dull grey, like the clouds on a rainy and dreary day. It’s paws were like four huge, round clumps with three threatening looking claws that gleamed in blood also. It took note of her presence, it’s dark eyes glaring at her with the pupils shrivelled in fear. It attempted a fierce growl, but it ended up as a frightened whine, making Davina pity it further.

This didn’t look like anything she had ever seen before.
The pokemon that is.

And that surprised her since nearly every pokemon alive would have spent a day at her dad’s laboratory. She pulled out her PokeDex and it greeted her in it’s usual mechanically-engineered voice.

“Absol. The disaster pokemon.
This mysterious pokemon is constantly sighted on the scene just before a natural disaster hits the area. The blade on it’s head is made purely of ivory and it’s snow-white and washed-out grey coloured pelt acts as a suitable camouflage for it’s mountainous habitat. It is only found in Hoenn and is hunted popularly throughout because it is believed to be the causer of bad luck.”

A pokemon that is the bringer of bad luck, hunted throughout the region and is now found covered in blood half dead. Coincidence?

She pressed her hands down onto the Absol’s side to pressure it down; something she was certain her dad would have done in this kind of situation. She could almost hear his voice; ‘This will help relax the pokemon. This works on not a lot of pokemon but it very handy, especially when it’s stressed. When it’s stressed, it can be as much danger to itself as it could be to others…’

The pokemon growled at her, baring it’s teeth and as it did so, Davina could clearly see it’s few remaining baby teeth. It was probably a year old judging by the size of the canines she decided.

Now what to do?

The rest of it’s lean body was a snowy white, and at a closer inspection, the teenager could see clearly enough, even more splodges of blood staining it’s beautiful pelt of white. Brushing a way the thick layer of leaves and bramble that covered the back legs of the pokemon, she caught the malicious gleam of metal and a shiver ran through her spine the instant she laid eyes upon it.

Her head filled with anger and rage.

Poachers’ snares were illegal!

All of Davina’s past assumptions about the Absol vanished; no pokemon deserved this. The splodges of blood were darkened with age and instinct told her that this Absol had been here for some time now.

The snare tore into the flesh and dizziness overcame Davina the moment she saw something white in the midst of the disarray of blood and metal. The iron teeth of the snare were lodged deep inside it’s flesh and as Davina’s pale hand approached the wounded limb, the Absol used the last of it’s strength to lash out at her with it’s blade.

Slash attack.

Luckily Davina dodged out of the way and instead a paw with claws hooked and slashed at the sleeve of her denim jacket. There was an ugly tear left as the evidence.

She retreated backwards.
The tear looked pretty bad – it had gone right through.

“Looks like I might need to buy myself a new jacket when we get to Petalburg then”, she muttered to herself.

She was temped to take out her cell and ring her dad’s Lab number. She knew it off by heart. He could help the Absol, research about it, even update her PokeDex for her.

No ... But I can’t...

She knew her own dad well enough to know that once something would catch his attention, it was unlikely he would let anyone near it. And with pokemon as his first love and interest, Davina could assume that the chances of her seeing the Absol again would be low. Very low.

“Shhh, calm. I’ll help you little fella,” Davina whispered to the Absol in a hushed tone. She stroked it’s muzzle comfortingly, “Just stay still and I’ll get this horrid ol’ thing off you”

With eyes still on the snare and one hand still stroking it’s soft muzzle, Davina tried to figure out a way to get the snare off without harming it any further. But with the Absol was still wary of her, this proved difficult. Trying to reach out for the snare, this too also proved useless since Absol would thrash wildly in a fury of claws at her whenever it would catch her approaching it’s back legs. Despite how weak it was, it refused to let her go anywhere near it’s legs.

Full of dejection, Davina had no choice but to call the Lab. After all, it was about what the pokemon needed – not the other way round. It needed medical attention. And she had something to be proud about – she was helping a rare and endangered pokemon!

“Time to stop being selfish Dav and think of the Absol” she said to herself proudly as she pulled out her mobile from her jacket reluctantly. She punched in the cell number of the Lab.

The monotonous tone sounded and after about five rings, Davina was pleased to no end to hear the expected ‘Your call cannot be taken right now ... please try again later’.

“Well I tried,” Davina said, switching off the mobile and shrugging happily as if it were no big problem, “Let’s get you quiet and calm now.”

Now where were they…?

She dug her hand inside her shoulder bag and rummaged inside.

“Uha!” and she tugged on the thin cord of the small leather pouch.

Berry pouch.
There had to be one berry in there. One berry strong enough to daze Absol long enough to take the snare off. Then she found it. A rich-coloured, purple berry. Huge in size – bigger then the rest anyway – with a stubby green stem where it had been pulled off. A Wiki berry. A berry that, when used on a pokemon, would recover a little stamina and had a one in five chance of confusing it. It had something to do with the pokemon’s diet and such, but Davina was sure that this one Wiki berry would do the trick.

She let it lie in the centre of her palm and held it close to Absol, encouraging it to eat it.

There wasn’t really much of a chance that the effects would work on Absol. But it was worth a try. And the sooner she could get Absol out of there, the better.

*~*~*

“Well what have we here then Lola?”

Human?

“Looks like a pokemon Abbey”

And a pokemon…

Zigzagoon opened one tired eye, two figures slowly coming into view. He closed them, and stretched out his aching muscles before opening both eyes again.

Now it was clearer.
One human; a female by the looks of the curvy frame. And a pokemon. A Jigglypuff, judging by the light candy-pink pelt and it’s big adorning blue eyes. The Human girl had a slender figure and long, brown hair that cascaded down past her shoulders. She was almost as pretty in her own Human way as his current human trainer. Covering one eye was a long fringe that kept to one side of her face while the other side was left bare, exposing her only visible eye, shining with warmth and comfort. What had the Jigglypuff called this Human girl? Ab-beeey? Abbey. Sounded like something out of a dream. Gazing up at the soft complexion, the Human girl looked like someone he once knew before.

The Jigglypuff was like any other Zigzagoon had met before, only this one was strangely familiar to him. It’s large coin eyes of blue were filled with curiosity and intelligence as they looked him up and down. The Jigglypuff approached him, prodding the yawning Zigzagoon roughly with it’s foot and inflating angrily as it ignored her still.

“Lay of it Lola,” and Zigzagoon looked up from his regular yawning ritual to see the Human girl shove the Jigglypuff playfully out of the way.

Going onto all fours like a Poochyena, the Human girl stared into Zigzagoon’s eyes. The pokemon felt itself looking away by natural instinct, but the Human soon locked her gaze with his again skilfully before breaking into a huge smile.

“Hey there Tuff. Remember me?”

Zigzagoon looked up at the mention of his old Human name and studied the Human girl in front of him. It took a while, but soon Zigzagoon found a match. A face came to view in his mind. An always delighted expression on her face, a long fringe that would always shadow over the pale face in a messy-kind of way.

It had been a few years; Zigzagoon was sure, but this Human girl in front of him was one of a kind. The name Abbey reminded him of all of the other Humans who were constantly with her. They were Rangers. Pokemon Rangers who patrolled the area and had helped him out when he fell into the river when the brutal current had swept him far away.

How old had he been? One? No, too old. It was more in the months limit. Nine months? Now he was three years old, Zigzagoon was amazed at how much she had changed. The Jigglypuff too. Last time he had checked, it had been a sassy Igglybuff who hated getting dirty. This had always resulted in a fragile friendship between the two.

“Tuff?” the Jigglypuff asked, eyes widening further with disbelief. Then, happier, “Tuff!”

“How’d you come this far out partner?” Abbey asked in her rough, country-western accent. She ruffled Zigzagoon’s fur before picking him up and settling him down beside her on the grass.

So that was what had been so comfy.
Zigzagoon had been sleeping in Abbey’s rucksack the whole time. Then he remembered. He was hungry after all of that running and smelt the sweet aroma of Pecha and Oran berries. And they were inside Abbey’s bag. Then he had felt sleepy and must have stowed away still inside without her noticing. It was a shock at how she didn’t realise until now. His human Trainer never failed to comment on his chubbiness, even if she said that made him look the cutest of the team. Like his old pile of leaves, the rucksack was comfy and warm to snuggle into. Sure some other pokemon would say that sleeping on leaves would be very uncomfortable, but Zigzagoon’s bristly fur had always protected him from that problem.

“Last time I saw you Lola, you were an Igglybuff” Zigzagoon stated, whilst he finished his usual stretching routine.
“It’s been over two years so yeah. I evolved when I was fighting against a Shroomish” she replied triumphantly.

“So Tuff, lets have a look at how you’re doing buddy” Abbey said, taking out a strange red object that blinked into life.

Zigzagoon came closer, sniffing the new ‘thing’ in newfound curiosity. Abbey laughed and the red thing blinked again and said in a human-like voice:

“Species: Zigzagoon
Level: 13
Status: 27/ 29 HP
ID No.: 26648
Trainer: Birch, Davina”

“It talks?” he asked Lola, wrinkling his nose.
“Yep. Abbey has it with her all the time these days. She calls it this strange Human name called a Po-kay-nav-e’ she replied, over-exaggerating the pronunciation of the strange red object.
“Po-key-navey?”
“Something like that” Lola replied, waving her hand in a way that meant ‘forget about it’.

“So the famed researcher’s daughter is your trainer now?” Abbey asked, delicately placing the PokeNavi back inside her bag and pulling out yet another strange object, “What happened then Tuff? Did you decide to get yourself lost again buddy?”

Zigzagoon shook his head then said, "Something happened and she screamed, dropped me and I ran off”

Abbey frowned and ruffled Zigzagoon’s ears, just like she used to all those years ago, right back to when she had first found him.

She always had this strange connection with pokemon.
She could understand everything he would say and then reply back in Human speech, but in a way that he himself could decipher. The last time Zigzagoon had tried to figure out how she did this, his head had hurt so much that he had concluded never to bring that topic up ever again.

Clutching the strange object in one hand, Abbey pressed a series of things called ‘buttons’ and a strange ‘dun’ sound was emitted in a tiresome tone.

Zigzagoon watched in amazement. What were these weird contraptions called again? He could remember his Trainer holding one before. What had she called it? A mo-bile was it?

Abbey, after about seven button presses, lifted the mobile to her ear and spoke into it. Zigzagoon soon lost interest in the object-that-is-called-a-mobile, though, he still heard snippets of the conversation involving certain words like ‘Davina Birch’, ‘Professor’, ‘Daughter’, ‘Tuff’, ‘Perfect Health’.

“So you’ve got a trainer then” Lola asked.
“Yeah. She’s the best. She’s really nice too, and there’s this other pokemon she has. A Combusken. There used to be that boy who hung around too, he had a Mudkip, but I haven’t seen him ever since we had that fight.”

Zigzagoon scowled.
His Trainer would never abandon him. Just this morning she had let him explore the outside as if he were free. No, that was a bad thing to say. ‘As if I were free’ Zigzagoon scolded himself, I’ve always been free. Right from the very start.

Lola soon lost interest in talking with him and nudged Abbey demandingly in an attention-seeking way. Abbey laughed like she always did and the sight made Zigzagoon’s eyes prickle. He longed to be back with his Trainer, even if it meant leaving his old friends. His Trainer would be worried sick at where he had gone.

*~*~*

The effects of the one Wiki berry kicked into action in less than ten minutes, and in that time, Davina took the opportunity to bond with Absol. It was what her dad would have recommended to do at a time like this. He would try to get the pokemon to trust him – and that was what Davina’s exact motive were.

Absol’s eyes grew heavier and heavier, Davina watching and still stroking it’s muzzle. It no longer glanced around and twitched nervously in fear, it just lay, it’s head resting on her lap. It would occasionally though, twitch at the sound of a bug pokemon rustling in the trees overhead, but Davina would whisper comforting words to it.

“That’s it” she encouraged as she noticed Absol’s eyes close for a second or two, “Take a rest, you deserve it little fella”

Absol fought the effects of the berry. But it was a losing battle. Davina didn’t expect Absol to fall asleep, it’s flickering eyes gave that factor away, especially since the effects were only supposed to leave behind a very confused pokemon, not an unconscious one.

“Let’s get to work” she said in a cheery tone as the Absol let out a drugged-sounding hiccup.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t snap out of it half way through, she thought as the Absol hiccupped some more. At least the effects would make it’s body go numb.

Her pale hands paled even more as the hard touch of metal made contact with her skin. Her fingers gripped against the steel frame and then, with all of her gathering strength, she pulled.

“Ah” she groaned through gritted teeth, examining the damage.

Her fingers had gone a raw pink and Absol move it’s head to face her, it’s eyes like lasers, burning holes all through her. It knew what she was up to. But it didn’t do anything surprisingly.

Thank god for the Wiki berry, she thought as she watched the disaster pokemon slowly close it’s eyes again and let out another agitated hiccup. Seems like the effects had an added bonus... heh…

She let a moment pass until she was sure Absol had drifted half-asleep before tightening her grip once again on the poacher’s snare. And then, once again, she pulled.

She knew how to disable a snare. Get a screwdriver and work your merry way to unscrew the thing apart. But Davina didn’t have a screwdriver. After all, what trainer would go around with a building tool like a screwdriver in their pockets? Davina could have used something very useful to her. Or someone to be more specific.
Combusken to be dead specific.
One Ember followed by a hard delivered Double Kick would have left the snare in pieces before Absol would have had a chance to feel the pain. But Combusken wasn’t with her either.

“So stupid. Stupid stupid STUPID” she muttered as she hastily let go of the snare yet again.

She glanced down at the Absol which had opened one eye, watching her still. It was no longer wary, but that flicker of anger and irritation in it’s eye was enough to tell her that the snare wouldn’t be coming off any time soon.

“Sorry to do this to you, and I know it’ll do no good at all whatsoever, but, this is my final option”

Absol watched her still, waiting for her next move.
Davina tried to comfort the Absol as she unclipped an empty pokeball from her belt and enlargened it, eyes still locked with Absol’s. This wouldn’t help the situation much at all. When you return a pokemon into a pokeball, there’s a chance that an object they are holding will go inside with them. And Davina's worst fear right from the start is that she would take not only Absol into the pokeball – but the snare too.

“I’m sorry to do this to you. But it’s the only way.”

There was a rustle over heard followed by the chirp of a Taillow. It was enough of a distraction to Absol as it twisted it’s head, it’s eyes darted nervously about.

“I’m sorry Absol!”

And she tossed the empty pokeball at the disaster creature. It split into two halves and Absol was sucked inside. It had been too slow. Too slow and too dazed to do anything except yip out in shock.

The pokeball hit the ground with the captured Absol inside and rocked violently side to side, glowing brightly before giving one last violent shudder. Davina was amazed at the fact that Absol still had enough strength and will power to fight against the pokeball. She bent down to retrieve the pokeball.

“Let’s find Combusken buddy” she whispered to the pokeball before clipping it back onto her belt.

~

With both hands wrapped around the steaming mug of hot chocolate, Davina felt the boiling steam sweeping over her cheeks and warming her instantly. It was around ten. But surprisingly, she didn’t feel the slightest bit tired. Maybe watching the now energized Absol in it’s ‘bashing’ state was entertaining enough to keep her awake, or Combusken’s snores were loud enough to keep the whole region awake for the whole night. Or maybe it was the fact that she had just ended her call with a Park Ranger who had found Zigzagoon and they were on their way to deliver him back to her.

Davina wasn’t scared, not even intimidated by the tone of the man’s voice she had talked to. All she would have to do is simply explain the situation. She had proof after all. And it was trying to break out of the Containment Cage it had been put into.

It didn’t look much like a cage, despite it’s name. To Davina, it looked more or less like a glass dome that completely surrounded Absol with a control panel next to it. The nurses had assured her several times now that not even Absol’s strength could dent the glass. But watching it now, she wasn’t so sure.

Davina’s eyes were glued on the glass wall which separated her and Combusken in the Emergency Waiting Area from Nurse Joy and several other scientists and doctors who scurried about. She watched on, eyes full of sympathy as the Absol pawed the glass longingly.

“Is there a Ms Davina Birch in the building?”

Davina swung round in her seat to see a tall, slender figured woman with a western-sounding accent standing by the Main Reception desk. The receptionist, an elderly lady named Ella, was busy giving the stranger directions to her room. Davina listened; if it concerned her then she might as well stay alert.

“Well thanks a lot” she finished, then turning so that Davina could clearly see her face, she said “Well then partner. Time to see your Trainer”

In the stranger’s arms was Zigzagoon. The same slightly chubby but cute racoon pokemon.
Her Zigzagoon.

“Zigzagoon!”

Heads turned but Davina didn’t care. It was her same old Zigzagoon. On the chubby side with that lazy look on it’s face and tail wagging like a delighted little Growlithe.

The stranger seemed surprised at first to see a girl run up and pull the pokemon away from her, but decided against interrupting the little introduction.

“I was worried about you Zigzagoon. What have you been doing for the whole afternoon?”
“I found him in my bag, he’d been snacking on my berry supply” replied a voice in a matter-of-factly tone.
“Oh” came Davina’s sullen reply as she ruffled his bristly fur, “So you’re that Pokemon Ranger that man said he would send over huh?”
“I’m a Ranger yes, but I volunteered instead to come here” she replied, reddening and giving Zigzagoon a small handful of Oran berries.

The Ranger was tall.
Tall and slender were the two words to best describe her. With her dark brown hair tied behind in a hair band and allowed to fall down, a long fringe completely covering one eye while the other large hazel eye examined her up and down. Strange was definitely another word to describe her. Her uniform at first looked no different from a police officer’s. But at a closer look, she could see that sewn onto the dark green jacket, was a small embroidery-designed badge showing a tree in the middle, a powder-white cloud on the left and three thin navy ripples to represent water. She wore tight-fitting three quarter lengths and what looked like Doc Martens under all of the caked in mud and grass that had been mixed in after days of patrolling the area.

“Thanks anyway” she mumbled, pulling out Zigzagoon’s pokeball and returning it back inside in a flash of light.
“Well anyways, I’m Abigail, but mostly Abbey is what people call me. And Tuff seems to be in pretty good shape” grinned the Ranger, “Besides, from what your ID tells me, you must be the famous Davina Birch”
“Er .... yeah. I'm Davina Birch. Why?”

Being Professor Birch’s daughter, Davina had grown accustomed to people usually getting excited over her like she was a brand new toy. So Abigail’s next reaction wasn’t much of a surprise, but it caught her off-guard; that’s for sure.

Abbey continued grinning again and picking the Jigglypuff up off the floor, handed it to Davina and said “I’ve always wanted to ask Professor Birch this one question you see, and I was wondering if you could possibly hook me up with him.”

There was a pause. Davina nodded slowly, “Okay then. He might still be working but if he’s free yeah I guess so”

Davina led the Ranger to the VideoPhone booths and dialled in the Lab number, all the while Abbey grinning in delight. Davina’s stomach rumbled in hungriness. She hadn’t had food ever since the morning after al; and even then she had only eaten two slices of toast. With her mind set on finding Absol all day and then walking the rest back to Petalburg, it was surprise really that food hadn’t once come to mind throughout the course of the day. She thought about ordering some, the café should still be open. But then again, she could tell him all about her Combusken and how it evolved a few minutes after she had let it out of it’s pokeball. Maybe in tell him about Zigzagoon and how she met Abbey.

“Er, hello? ..... Yeah this is Davina .... Can you get dad please? Okay thanks” and the teenager handed the receiver to Abbey.

“Omigaaaawd! Professor Birch!!! I'm your biggest fan!”

Davina sweat dropped.
She had heard this ‘Omigaaaawd conversation’ too many times before and suddenly, the thought of ordering food sounded like her best idea yet.

~

Now most people don’t even think about eating at a late time like 11pm. But Davina had an excuse, it would be rude to leave Abbey talking to Professor Birch all alone in the lobby, and the thought of leaving the Absol all alone was enough to put Davina off her food.

“Well thanks Ms. Birch.” Abbey said, stifling a yawn and stretching her arms, obviously tired, “If there’s any way I can repay you just say the word. I'll do anything!”

If there’s any way I can repay you.....

Davina perked up immediately. Anything?
Now she could really show that Joey who’s the top gal in Hoenn. But what about Absol? She couldn’t leave it here. Maybe she could just check up on it then the moment she would get to the next town, yeah. And she could have Absol teleported to wherever she would be and she could win her first badge with him.

“If it’s not too much trouble...”

----------------------------

Author’s Notes:

Heh heh.
Clash Of The Titans has once again been nominated for the RCA's.
Thank you a lot and sorry for the delay everyone. This is actually and probably will be the longest chapter yet, well for a while though.

Next chapter features our little friends Brendan and Wally in 'Ditch & Run'.