To Be All I Can Be Part 10 By: EmeraldDragon Moon sat and leaned against a tree. Her pokedex had said that the Ilex Forest was dense, but that was an understatement. She had been travelling for most of the day; during that time she had found her way back to Azalea Town twice, past the rock that reminded her of a lapras at least five times, and had yet to see a single pokemon. Rolling her head back to look at the sky she could just make the first stars out through the thick foliage. "Guess I'll set up camp for the night." She signed. As she unrolled her sleeping bag, Moon released her pokemon to stretch and keep her company. With in a half-hour the camp was set. Moon had sold her tent to buy a bridle for Articolt, so now she was sleeping in just her sleeping bag on the ground. It didn't bother her though, she had never been able to set the tent up properly anyway. Hades had lit a fire that was warding off the encroaching darkness. Night fell quickly in Johto, but it fell even faster in the Ilex Forest. She supposed this was because it was so dark to start with. Moon was just drifting off in the last light of the fading fire, when she saw a flash of blue and sliver. Not sure what she had seen, Moon looked again. But whatever it was had vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Deciding it had only been her imagination she again closed her eyes and went to sleep. ************************************************************ Moon was jolted suddenly awake. A mahogany haired girl had her by the front of the shirt. Her eyes were a strange color of azure and her brown hair fell in shoulder length locks. "What are doing here!" she demanded. "I WAS sleeping!" Moon replied pushing the girl off her and getting up, "What's it to you?" "I won't allow you to interfere with my search for Shadowulf!" "I don't care about this Shadowhatever. I'm trying to get to Goldenrod!" "My Umbreon tells me different." She said suspiciously, "She said you have been scouring the forest all day." "I've been lost." Moon snapped. The girl narrowed her eyes and studied Moon for a few moments. "My name is Adrienne," She said, "and this is my umbreon, Silver" She gestured towards the bushes, and out came a silver umbreon with blue markings. "Moon. Now do you want to tell me what that was all about." "Well," Adrienne said, "Let's go back to my camp to talk. It's safer there." ************************************************************ Moon set her pack down next to a pile of hot coals that was the only reminisce of Adrienne's Camp fire. The sky was a deep blue velvet cloak with just a hint of fading on the eastern hem. "Now," Adrienne said sitting next to her, "Shadowulf." She paused here to look around. "You've heard of Entie, Raikou, and Suicune; right?" Moon nodded. "Well, they are the three most famous of the Legendary Beasts. There is a Legendary Beast for each of the pokemon types, with the exception of Dragons and Flying. Shadowulf is the Beast of Darkness, I've seen it in this forest and I'm going to catch it. It's my goal to one day own all of the Legendary Beasts." "That's quit a dream. So if it is here, then why aren't you trying to catch it now?" "The Beasts won't normally battle in the wild. You ether have to trap them or run them down. The problem is the only pokemon I have are Silver here," She patted the umbreon's on the head, "a Rhyhorn, a Dewgong, and a Magby. None of which can out run or even battle one if we managed to catch it." She sighed with this last statement. "How about you, what pokemon do you have?" "I have Hades my houndoom, an Articolt, an Espeon, a Thundar, and Volcanine." "Volcanine? What is that?" "It's an evolved Arcanine." "Is it strong?" "Yeah…" "And your Articolt, is it fast?" Her eyes were starting to gleam. "Of course…Were are you going with this?" Moon asked. Adrienne suddenly seemed to catch herself. "Um…well…I mean…With a fast Articolt and a strong Volcanine it would be a breeze to catch Shadowulf." She stuttered. "I'm not giving you my pokemon!" "Relax, I just want you to help me catch Shadowulf." "What's in it for me?" "What do you want?" "So when do we start?" Moon asked with a smile. "In about a hour." ************************************************************* Adrienne woke her promptly on the hour. Groggily Moon looked around the small campsite. The fire had gone completely out, but the sky was flushed pink and orange. Stretching, Moon got up and grabbed her stuff. "Ready?" Adrienne said, a little annoyed. "Yeah, lead the way." Adrienne struck out southwest with Moon walking behind. They walked for hours. By the time Adrienne signaled her that they were close it was nearly noon. They crept silently up to a bush and looked through. In a small clearing about a hundred paces ahead was a huge black creature. It looked like a wolf, but it was the size of grizzly. Its head was up and ears and eyes alert. Checking the wind Moon know that it couldn't smell them. How an animal this size could live in this dense forest Moon didn't know, but she was sure it was not going to be easy to catch. Moon took Volcanine and Articolt's poke balls from her belt. She released her horse and climbed on. "What is your plan?" Adrienne asked from the ground. "I'm going to first try and make it fight with Volcanine, if it runs I'll chase it on Articolt. I'll try to run it this way so you'll be close when it's time for the capture, if not I'll catch it for you. "Volcanine GO!" Moon through her ball. Shadowulf's head shot up. Volcanine was easily three heads taller then her opponent. The two predators stood snarling at each other for a moment. "Volcanine, Flamethrower!" The firedog released a volley of hot flame at Shadowulf. The wolf pokemon nimbly dodged and took off into the woods. Moon returned Volcanine as she passed on Articolt. The Ice horse lived up to it's breeding and kept easy pass with the wolf. The wolf charged head long through the woods, braking branches and crushing any thing under foot as he went. Articolt followed easily in his path. The chase continued for over an hour. Suddenly Shadowulf burst into a clearing. "Articolt Ice beam!" Moon ordered before he had a chance to escape into the woods on the other side. The attack meet its mark and had its desired effect. Shadowulf's back right paw was frozen to the ground. The wolf lurched forward with a yelp as it stopped. "Volcanine Go!" Moon's firedog reappeared ready for a fight. With out orders Volcanine hit Shadowulf with an Extreme Speed. "Volcanine, Flamethrower!" Landing on all fours Volcanine replied with a column of white-hot flames. Shadowulf tried to dodge but with his foot frozen in place it was impossible. The wolf was engulfed in the flames. Shadowulf emerged on the other side of the fire singed, angry, and free. Moon expected him to make another run for it, but she was wrong. Shadowulf took up a fighting stance. In a flash the wolf had used a faint attack that left a hard cuff on Volcanine's shoulder. "Volcanine Crunch!" Volcanine rushed in for the throat of her opponent, but was meet by Shadowulf's crunch attack. The two canines locked jaws, each jockeying for the advantage. Volcanine's superior size served her well, with one swift fluid movement she through her opponent to the ground and sunk her teeth into its throat. Moon through the shadow ball. Shadowulf was sucked inside. The ball shook and jumped and then stood still. Shadowulf had been captured. Moon climbed off her horse and picked up the ball. As she climbed back on it occurred to her that this pokemon was probably wasn't at a very high level. Recalling Volcanine, Moon began to retrace her steps. ***************************************************** Moon recalled Articolt as she entered the camp. "Adrienne? Adrienne? Are you here?" Moon called, "I got Shadowulf." "I'm here." Moon heard her say from behind. "I got Shadow…" Moon was cut short when she turned to see Adrienne pointing a pistol at her only three feet away. Adrienne was decked out in a classic red, white, and black rocket uniform. "I heard you the first time. Now hand them over; all of them." Adrienne ordered. "I don't under stand." Moon said as she placed the pokeballs in Adrienne's out stretched hand. "What's there to understand. I tricked you into doing my work for me and now I'm stealing your pokemon. It's that simple." "Why?" "Because it's my job. Besides I'm sure my boss will pay handsomely for Shadowulf and Volcanine. The rest will be distributed among the other rockets." "I'm going to get you for this." "Some how I doubt that." She said cruelly and pulled the trigger.