A Cleffa's Tale

I Don't own Pokemon, at all. Anyway, this one shot fic is about a Cleffa and 
other such Pokemon. Enjoy! By the way, the poem "The Way Things Were" and 
"Beans" are owned by me (I changed them a little to go with a pokemon 
writting them) so please don't copy it unless I give you permission, thanks!

```````````````````````````````````````

Cleffa stretched as it woke from it's nap. Cleffa looked around the tree it 
had slept in and noticed a small acorn on a nearby branch. Lunch!! Cleffa 
reached out and grabbed it and hungrily ate it. Cleffa was so small, and had 
such a little appitite that the acorn was more than enough to fill it up.

Cleffa then began to hop from tree to tree as it headed north. Cleffa was an 
orphan Pokemon and had been one for as long as she could remember. Cleffa 
could only remember one thing about her parents and it was a song her mother 
used to sing to her.

"When your lost and have nowhere to go,
Always remember I'll watch you from the north.
When you close your eye's at night,
Always look toward the north.

Because in the north no one will judge you
Before they know the content of your heart.
Because up north there's a place for you
A place where you belong.

When your sad and want to cry,
Always look to the north.
Do not fear and do not fret,
As long as the north wind blows.

Even once I'm gone from you,
I will still look at you from the north.
So when you feel lonesome at heart,
All you have to do is travel north.

There they will greet you and care for you
So when I am gone form this Earth,
All you have to do is travel north,
And there you will once again my love."

Cleffa always felt comforted when she hummed the tune to herself. Once her 
parents passed away, she had took her mom's advice and traveled north. She 
had been traveling north for about a month, once she was able to care for 
herself. However, being the small creature she was, she was slow in 
traveling. But she didn't complain, she was heading north and was sure that 
no matter how long she had to go, it would be worth it in the end.

````````````````````````````

Cleffa had been traveling for about an hour and was out of the forest. Now 
she had reached an open field full of flowers. Cleffa breathed in thier 
sweet fragrance and sighed. The smell of flowers always comforted her. She 
looked around to see if any morning dew still lingered and found a small 
droplett under a blade of grass, which quenched her thrist.

Seeing as how it was the springs summit (or middle of spring), Cleffa was 
surprised to see all the baby pokemon already out and about, but then she 
considered that, like her, were born around Spring's eve, just as Winter 
shut his sleepy eyes. There were lots of Pichu in this field as well as the 
usual grass Pokemon. In the middle of the field was a strange sight. A Pichu 
was on a rock writting in a small notepad, and although many Pichu were 
playing none came over to this Pichu and the pichu seemed content where it 
was.

Although Cleffa was very shy and usually never spoke to other pokemon unless 
spoken to first, she was curious about the lone pichu on the rock, and felt 
the need to ask it of it's strange behavour. Cleffa walked up to the rock 
and cleared it's little throat. The pichu turned around and looked down at 
Cleffa. Cleffa shrank back a little, gathered some courage and spoke up.

"Excuse Pichu, but why do you sit on that rock writting, instead of playing 
with the others?" Cleffa asked then covered her head, frightened that the 
pichu might shock her.

"Well," Pichu began, and by Pichu's voice, Cleffa could tell that this Pichu 
was a girl, "I like to write, I'm the only Pichu in this field that can you 
know. And because I like to write, the other pichu think I'm weird so they 
don't play with me. Speaking of weird, what kind of pokemon are you? I 
haven't seen one of you in this field untill today."

This Pichu seems friendly to me Cleffa was thinking, then she replied "I am 
a Cleffa, and usually Cleffa live in caves, but I'm on a journey. By the 
way, my name's Cleffa, what's yours?"

"Well, I wasn't given a name, but because I usually keep to myself the 
others call me Lonepichu. So I guess my name is Lonepichu. Nice to meet you 
Cleffa." Lonepichu noticed Cleffa looking at her notepad "Do you want to 
read the poem I wrote?"

Cleffa looked down at her feet "I would like to, but I do not know how to 
read."

Lonepichu smiled and said "That's okay, I'll read it to you."

"You don't mind?" Cleffa asked.

"Not at all. It's called 'The ay Things Were.' Here goes:

There I sat, alone at the edge of the woods,
A gentle breeze blew my fur and I was happy.
Many thought me to be sad because I sat all alone,
But they couldn't see that I was happy
Because I liked it that way.

There I could think of many things
That others would think weird
Like what will happen once I evolve
And When is the end of forever.
I liked to think of the impossible mysteries
And I was Happy
Because I liked it that way.

After many years had gone by,
The woods were cut down
And the wind ceased to blow,
But I had my memories
And I continued to be happy
Because I had liked it that way."

Lonepichu stood back and took a bow, "So what did you think?"

Cleffa was sniffleing, it had never heard anything so beautiful, well 
besides the song it's mother sang. It looked up at Lonepichu and said "I 
liked it, I could never write anything like that."

Lonepichu smiled again "Glad you like it. By the way, you said you were on a 
jorney, where are you going?"

Cleffa then had an idea, "Lonepichu, you said pokemon here think you're 
weird, what would you say if I told you that there is a place where you 
could go and not be judged untill the content of your heart is known?"

"Well I would first have to say sounds that grand, but there is no such 
place that I know of."

"Well, actually there is. All you have to do is travel north. My mom used to 
sing me a song about such a place. Although my parents are no longer of this 
world, I still remember the words and I now travel to look for the place my 
mom sang of." Cleffa said determindley.

"Can ask you something?" Lonepichu asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Cleffa inquired.

"Would you mind singing the song for me?"

Cleffa took several small breaths, it had never sang for anyone before. Then 
again this pichu shared her poem with Cleffa, so she could at least share 
something with Lonepichu. Cleffa began to sing, and as she sang, she noticed 
that a new found confidence flowed into her heart.

When she finished, it was Lonepichu's turn to sniffle. "That place sounds 
wonderful! Now can I ask you one last thing?"

Cleffa smiled, sure she knew what Lonepichu would ask. "Go ahead."

"Do you have room for one more on your jorney?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

````````````````````````````````````````````

Cleffa and Lonepichu had walked through the remainder of the field and had 
approached another forest. The two pokemon chatted as they walked. For once, 
Cleffa was not lonely on her quest. The forest was so thick, that no outside 
light could reach the darkened undergrowth. Because of the lack of the sun's 
rays, the forest floor was at a very cool temperture. Cleffa was used to the 
cold, having lived in a cave most of her short life, however Lonepichu was 
shivering.

"It's a lot colder in here then back in that field we came from." Lonepichu 
shivered.

"To bad there aren't any fire pokemon around here." Cleffa sighed, but then 
she heard a voice behind her.

"Says who?" a charmander called from one of the trees. He jumped down from 
the tree and stood in front of them. "What ails you two fine ladies?"

"My friend Lonepichu is used to warm fields, could you provide us with some 
fire in order to keep her warm?" Cleffa asked.

The charmander winked and said "I'll do you one better. I know these woods 
like the back of my claws. I can take you to the end and provide the warmth 
of my tail flame."

"Is it alright if we exit at the north end?" Lonepichu asked, "We're heading 
northward."

"Northward, huh? There's an area outside this forest, northward to be exact, 
where the north wind is said to gather. I could take you there if you like." 
the charmander said as he examined his claws.

"Yes! The north wind was mentioned in the song! If it's not to much trouble 
Mr. Charmander." Cleffa said.

"Please, Mr. Charmander is my father. Call me Claude. It'll be my honor to 
lead two lovely pokemon, such as yourselves, out of these woods at the north 
end."

And so it came to be that Claude temporarily joined Cleffa and Lonepichu on 
thier quest to find the place of which the song tells of. However, the sun 
grew wary, as did the travelers, and the moon took it's place in the sky.

Cleffa yawned, she was tired from all the traveling she had done that day. 
And  as all their apitites agreed, dinner was way over due. Together they 
gathered some fire wood and Claude used his tail to light a fire.

"Well, ladies I want you two to try and gather some leaves for our bedding. 
I'm gonna get some food. Try not to wander to far away, it's easy to get 
lost in these woods." and wih that Claude went to look for some berries that 
they could munch on.

Lonepichu and Cleffa did as instructed and gathered leaves and other soft 
items for bedding. Once they had finished, the two sat around warmed thier 
hands at the fire. That's when Cleffa had an odd feeling. A cold shiver ran 
down her back, but she shook it off and moved closer to the fire. Not even 
two minutes had passed, when Cleffa had the feeling again. Cleffa began to 
shiver as she glanced behind her, but nothing was there.

"Hey, Cleffa is something wrong?" Lonepichu asked as Cleffa began to shiver 
harder.

"I think something is watching us." Cleffa squeked, but no sooner had these 
words escaped her mouth, then Lonepichu and Cleffa found themselves 
surrounded by Shuppets.

"Well, what do we have here? A couple of baby pokemon lost in the woods. 
What do you suppose we do with them?" the feminine voice of the larger 
Shuppet asked another.

"I could go for some Cleffa puffs and roasted pichu, Sabrina. What do you 
think?" the Shuppet responded.

"Just what I was thinking." Sabrina said, as the Shuppets began to advance 
on the two. Cleffa hid it's eyes in it's hands, waiting for the Shuppet to 
harm them, but the pain didn't come. Instead she heard Sabrina laughing. 
Cleffa raised her eyes and saw Lonepichu using a spark attack, however 
Lonepichu was too young to cause much harm with her attacks.

"Is that supposed to hurt us? I have seen better attacks on an old Rattata. 
Now you shall see ours." Sabrina and the other Shuppet began to glow as 
beams of dark energy shot out at the two.

"Thier using night shade. That attack becomes twice as effective at night." 
Lonepichu said as the beams grew closer. Lonepichu attempted a light screen, 
and the attacks bounced harmlessly away.

"You may have blocked that one, but it will be harder to deflect an attack 
if you are asleep." Sabrina was about to use hypnosis, when a shout was 
heard.

Claude came running in front of Lonepichu and Cleffa. The flame on Claude's 
tail grew bigger as Claude leered at the Shuppet. "Go back to your side of 
the woods Shuppet and leave these lovely ladies alone. You know as well as I 
do that an agreement between the ghost pokemon and the other inhabinants of 
this forest states that the forest will be evenly divided among the two. 
Your kind is not allowed on this half."

"That maybe true, but we grow restless. You pokemon have more of the forest 
than us." Sabrina raged with murmurs of agreement from the other Shuppet 
with her.

"We have more because there is more of us. Anyway, we are not the one's to 
complain to, so leave before I force you to." Claude growled as smoke began 
to come from the cornors of his mouth.

"Fine, we shall leave for now. Soon, though, this forest will belong to us 
and your kind will be forced to leave." with these words, Sabrina and the 
other Shuppet flew off through the trees. Claude turned to Lonepichu and 
Cleffa, the flame on it's tail returned to normal and smoke stopped coming 
from his mouth.

"Are you two lovelies okay?" Claude asked them.

"Fine, were fine." Cleffa squeked out. She had been frightened. If it hadn't 
been for Lonepichu and Claude she would have been a Cleffa puff.

"Good to hear. I forgot to warn you about the ghost pokemon in this forest, 
but I do have good news." Claude said as he brought out six berries from 
behind his back. "I brought oran berries for dinner!"

The berries were divided out, with two berries per each of them. Cleffa took 
five small bites of her berry, and she was stuffed. She wiped her little 
mouth with a stray leaf and let out a yawn. "I'm stuffed, does anyone want 
my remaining berries?"

"That's all your going to eat? It takes at least four berries to fill me 
up." Lonepichu said in amazement.

"You can have these. I have a small apitite and it doesn't take much to fill 
me up." Cleffa replied.

Lonepichu took the berries and ate them as well. Once everyone had finished 
eating, they each picked out there own pile of bedding, straightened it out, 
and lied down for bed. Cleffa snuggled down into the leaves, and as she did 
every night, checked the sky for the north star. Upon it's location, Cleffa 
closed her eyes and soon fell fast asleep.

````````````````````````````````````````

When Cleffa woke up, she stretched her little arms and rubbed the last hints 
of sleep out of her eyes. She looked around camp and saw that Lonepichu was 
just getting up as well. Claude, on the other hand, was already up and had 
started cooking breakfast. Cleffa sniffed the air and smiled. Roasted 
acorns, her favorite.

"Morning lovelies, sleep good? Breakfast is ready." Claude set the acorns on 
a nearby rock. Lonepichu yawned as the three of them sat down at the rock. 
Cleffa took an acorn and popped it into her mouth. Cleffa loved the acorns 
so much, that she had three, and was quite full after that.

When everyone had finished breakfast, Claude got up and stretched his arms, 
then he put his arms behind his head. "Well, ladies, were almost at the 
northern exit. Shouldn't be too much longer now."

Claude waited for Lonepichu and Cleffa to rise before he continued along the 
north path. After they had been traveling for at least an hour, Cleffa began 
to notice that the trees were becoming less and less. Soon there were only 
about five trees left.

"Well my fine lady friends, if you keep on this trail to the north, you 
should come upon an ancient city that now lies in ruin. That is the place 
where the north wind gathers. I guess that this is good bye." Claude turned 
to leave when Cleffa stopped him.

"Would you like to go north with us? We're trying to find the place where no 
pokemon is judged on apperance alone. A place where friend and confidence 
can be found." Cleffa asked him.

"I could use a break from the endless trees, but I'm not sure." Claude said 
as he scratched his chin.

Lonepichu had an idea. "To bad, I heard that thier a lot of nice Charmander 
girls up there. Oh well, I guess they'll just have to live alone without a 
fine Charmander guy in thier lives." Lonepichu sighed, then looked up at 
Claude.

Cleffa caught on "Not to mention all the other poke-girls there. Oh well. 
Let's go Lonepichu." The two turned to leave, when they heard Claude call 
out to them. Cleffa and Lonepichu smiled at one another.

"Well, I guess the forest can do without this Charmander for awhile. What 
the hey, I guess I can grace you ladies with my presance for a little 
longer." Claude ran up to them as Cleffa and Lonepichu giggled.

``````````````````````````````````

The three pokemon had been traveling for about thirty minutes when they came 
upon the place Claude had told them about. In a vast field were the remains 
of many buildings that appeared to have once been made of marble. Crumbled 
coloms lay all around, but in the center of the vast ruins (which closley 
resembled those of Greece) was a small marble building that seemed barely 
touched by the passage of time. It gleamed in the mid-morning sun and shone 
brighter than the glow of a Flaffy's tail-orb. Carvings of ancient people 
and pokemon were seen all around the building.

"This must be the place where the north wind gathers." Claude said in a 
whispered tone, as not believing what he saw. The three walked inside the 
building. The inside was brighter than the outside, so no torch would be 
needed to examine the inside. The walls here were carved with writtings as 
well, but one wall also had writting on it. Lonepichu walked up to the 
writting.

"Hey, this is sort of like a poem. I think I can read it." Lonepichu 
exclaimed. Cleffa walked up to the writting and examined it, but she could 
not read.

"Can you read it?" Cleffa asked Lonepichu. Behind her, Claude nodded in 
agreement.

Lonepichu cleared her throat. "Sure can, it goes something like this:

When our city was still young,
A great wind blew at us from the north.
It blew just once and soon we had forgot
All about the mighty wind's roar.

Ages passed and our grand city grew,
Soon we all began to believe
that no treasure could match the value of our city,
That is wind the north wind blew again.

This time a creature did arise with the gale,
A creature of blue whose furr rippled like the wind,
And that is the day we found the treasure
that surpassed our cities worth.

The creature of the wind came to live amongest our city
And we built this temple in it's honor.
A temple that will stand untouched by time
as long as this creature shall survive.

However soon our grand city crumbled
and most perished, but a few did survive.
We had the creature's protection,
but not all were as grateful as they should.

Creature of the north wind, they cried
Why did you allow harm to befall us.
This creature was angered when it heard these ungrateful cries
and it roared in fury, did it not just protect those that accused it?

The creature then turned back into the wind,
and in it's fury it took the lives of those who cried.
The creature then blew back from wince it came,
and we never again saw the creature we had come to call
Suicune."

"Do you think what's written is ture?" Cleffa asked, not quite sure what the 
writtings exactly meant. However the other two were as stumped as she was.

"Wait, didn't it say that this temple will stand as long as Suicune of the 
north wind lives?" Lonepichu questioned.

"Yeah, so?" Claude said.

"Do you think the north wind knows of the place in the north, which we 
seek?" Lonepichu asked them. Cleffa understood that part.

"If only we knew where it was, then we could find the north in no time." 
Cleffa sighed untill footsteps of a much larger creature could be heard. 
They all turned around to see a humongus blue dog-like creature with it's 
fur rippleing as if the wind were blowing it.

The creature stared at them and roared loudly. <What are you three pokemon 
doing here in the temple of Suicune, as a matter of fact, MY 
TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!> Suicune did not talk like other pokemon, but instead it 
used telepathy.

Cleffa trembled in fear and covered her eyes with her hands. Claude stepped 
forward, ready to attack. Lonepichu, however, calmly walked towards the 
creature.

"Are you Suicune of the north wind?" Lonepichu asked in a small voice.

<What concern of it is yours? You are the ones trespassing and you dare 
question me?>

Lonepichu got on it's knees and held out it's hands in a praying fasion 
"Please forgive us. We were simply heading northward, when we saw this 
temple and became curious."

<You are not from this city, are you?>

"I'm from Springleaf field." Lonepichu said.

"I come from Vandilan forest." Claude replied.

"Mt. Moon." Cleffa squeked, still frightened.

<Then you are no enemy of mine.> Suicune turned to leave, but stopped when 
something grabbed it's leg. It looked down and saw Cleffa clutching his leg. 
<What is it little one?>

"Please, we are heading north because of a song my mother used to sing to 
me, could you take us north?" Cleffa had surprised her self with her 
boldness and quickly shrank back, hands over her eyes.

<Do not be frightened little one. I, too, have heard the song which I think 
is the one you speak of. While I can not take you there, I will let you off 
at a small city called Nautington. It is on the way to the north, from this 
city you will not be to far away from where you wish to go.>

Cleffa looked up at Suicune and smiled. "That would be kind of you, if it's 
not too much trouble."

```````````````````````````````````````

The sun was low in the sky by the time Suicune had arrived at Nautington 
with the three pokemon in tow. Suicune allowed the pokemon to slide off his 
back before he turned to go. with the parting words, <Keep to the north 
little friends. When you come to a lake whose opposite shore isn't visible, 
you are close. Cross the river and you shall be where you wish.> With that, 
Suicune lept into the air, turned into the north wind, and disappeared from 
sight.

Cleffa yawned a little as the three walked into town, and as it turns out, 
this town was inhabited solely by Wynaut. As they walked around town, they 
kept seeing the same sign every where. Lonepichu translated it to mean "Wy? 
Wynaut. A Wynaut philosiphy."

"What do those signs mean, and why are they every where?" Lonepichu asked a 
nearby Wynaut that they were passing by.

"Oh, those signs? Some crazy Wynaut thinks he's a philosipher. He runs an 
inn over on Wys Street. Basicly he just tells everyone that why, why not is 
the answer to life, but his inn is the cheapest in town." the Wynaut said 
before scurrying off.

Cleffa yawned again "It would be nice to stay in an inn, that Wynaut said he 
has the cheapest inn."

"Does anyone know where Wys Street is?" Claude asked Lonepichu and Cleffa. 
They shook their heads, but a differant Wynaut had over heard their 
conversation.

"Wys Street is the first left you come to." the Wynaut replied, "But only 
wierdos would hang with that Wynaut, so I don't think it would be a good 
idea to stay there. You might give the Pokemon around here a bad impression 
of yourselves." the Wynaut then scurried away as well.

"Should we still go there?" Claude asked the two. "He sounds kinda weird."

""Who cares what other people think? I was an orphan, and the other Cleffa 
thought I was wierd. Lonepichu likes to write and they thought she was 
weird. I say we stay." Cleffa shouted.

"Sorry, I didn't know. Well, ladies lets go." Claude said as he lead the way 
to Wys Street. The inn was surprisingly easy to find. It was small, but the 
signs completely encircled the building. When they entered, they were 
greeted by a small Wynaut wearing a green headband.

"Welcome vistors of Why. Why's name is Why. What can Why do for vistors?" 
Why asked them, talking in third person. Cleffa found this odd.

"Why do you talk like that, Why?" Cleffa asked.

"Why talks like this, because he feels this way is more efficient than how 
other pokemon talk." Why answered.

Claude mumbled 'crazy' under his breath, but no one heard him.

"We need a room, if you have any avalible." Lonepichu said as she watched 
Why jump in the air excitedly.

"Come, Why has a room for Vistors. Why has rooms for free! But no one has 
ever stayed in Why's inn, Why? Why does not know." Why ran down the hall way 
with the others in pursuit.

'Wonder why' Claude mumbled as they ran to their room.

Why stopped very abruptly and the three crashed into one another. "Why has 
found a room for vistors. Why hopes that vistors like room." Why smiled as 
the three entered the room.

The room was bigger than any of them could imagine, maybe a better 
description would have been a small house. "This is free?!?!?" Lonepichu 
exclaimed as she looked around.

"Why is only sorry he has only small room for vistors." Why sighed.

"This is perfect! Thank you!" Cleffa and Lonepichu shouted as Why bounded 
back down the hall to do who knows what. Cleffa and Lonepichu ran and 
claimed two of the three bedrooms, Claude how ever just stood where he was.

"That Wynaut isn't quite right in the head." Claude said as he walked to the 
kitchen.

"He's just a little weird, like us. Besides he gave us this room for free." 
Cleffa said.

Claude just nodded as he got out assorted food items from the cupboard and 
put them in a stew pot. Cleffa and Lonepichu took showers in thier 
respective adjoining bathrooms. When they were finished, the aroma of veggie 
stew filled the pervaded the air.

"Smells good." Lonepichu commited as she sat on the couch and began to write 
in her notepad.

"It's my own secret recipe." Claude said with a wink and went back to 
stirring. Claude had found an apron and was wearing it, the print on the 
front read (Lonepichu translated for Cleffa) "Kiss me, I'm a fire type." 
Cleffa and Lonepichu sweatdropped as Claude's manly image began to shatter 
before them.

"What are you writting?" Cleffa asked as she sat next to Lonepichu.

"A poem called Beans, I'll read it to you:

I don't know beans about poetry,
however I do know beans about beans.
Pinto beans, baked beans, green beans,
great northern beans, white beans, more.
I know all about beans.

Beans are very colorful and cheerful,
you'll never find a bean with tears.
Though beans can make you gassy,
they taste better than molassy,
and they're even made in Tallahase.
Beans, beans, beans!!

Kidney beans aren't made with kidneys
and great northern beans like the south.
Baked beans are really fried,
and white beans are actually blue.
I may not know beans about poetry,
but I sure do know beans about beans!!!"

When Lonepichu finished, Cleffa sweat dropped once again.

"I was hungry while writting this." Lonepichu said.

"Dinners ready, I call it Claude's stew." Claude said as everyone got their 
share and sat at the dining room table.

"Very original name." Lonepichu said as she began devourering her stew. 
Cleffa had eaten a few spoonfuls, and began to feel full, however like the 
acorns, it was so good she finished her bowl. Soon everyone was finished and 
sighed in content with their full bellies.

After the dishes from dinner were done, they all said their good nights and 
went to bed, but before Cleffa went to bed she, once again, located the 
north star. She got in bed and pulled her covers over her. She could hardly 
believe that their journey was almost over.

````````````````````````````````

Cleffa woke up, this time the aroma of freshly toasted bagels met her nose. 
She got up and went to the dining area where Claude was setting a platter of 
bagels on the table, along with a tub of cream cheese. Lonepichu soon 
followed Cleffa and sat down at the table, yawning.

"Hope everyone's in the mood for bagels and cream cheese." Claude said as 
everyone began to fill thier plates.

"It's my favorite breakfast." Lonepichu said as she began to stuff her 
mouth. Cleffa, on the other hand, was full after consuming half a bagel. She 
gave the other half to Lonepichu who ate it faster than slicked up 
Elektrike.

After breakfast, the three went to say thier good byes to Why. Lonepichu and 
Cleffa glanced at each other and smiled. Four would be a nice even number, 
even if Claude didn't approve.

Why hopped over to them and smiled. "Why hopes that vistors enjoyed stay of 
theirs, Why only wished that other vistors would stay at place of mine." Why 
sighed.

"Well, Why we have a suggestion. We're heading north, would you like to 
come?" Cleffa asked.

"Why? Why not! Why would love to come with vistors on journey of thiers!" 
Why smiled as Claude groaned. However it was settled and what was three now 
became four. Why showed them out of the city and back onto the northern 
trail.

While they walked, they chatted and before they new it, Claude was actually 
warming up to Why. Although the sun was shineing, ominous grey clouds could 
be seen in the distance. The four below didn't notice the clouds on the 
horizon.

After about three hours, they reached the lake that Suicune had told them 
about. Suicune sure wasn't kidding about it's size eithar. The lake was so 
big that it made Lake Eerie look like a mere rain puddle after a light rain. 
The opposite shore was not visible from where they stood.

"How do we get across that?" Lonepichu asked as she marveled at the lake. 
Unbeknowest to them, the grey clouds were growing nearer.

"Why thinks vistors should build a raft." Why said as he ran over to Cleffa.

"I'm game for that idea." Claude agreed.

"Sounds great." Cleffa agreed as well.

So the four split up to find wood to make a raft. After the wood had been 
gathered, then the task of gathering vines to tie the wood together was upon 
them. Fortunatley, Claude was an expert at things like this because he had 
lived in a forest most of his life.

In a few hours time, they had constructed a strong raft. They set it in the 
lake and Cleffa jumped on. "Come on guys, were almost there!"

It's amazing how in just two days Cleffa had made so many friends and 
traveled so far. However sometimes things sneak up on you when life seems to 
be going your way. In the blink of an eye, the grey clouds were upon them 
and great gales of wind blew as it began rain began to pour from the clouds. 
The storm blew the four pokemon. Cleffa was still aboard the raft and the 
last thing she remembered before she blacked out was the shore growing 
smaller and smaller.

`````````````````````````````````````

When Cleffa came to, she wasn't sure how long she had been out, but the sun 
was now shining brighter than ever. Cleffa looked around and realized that 
she was aboard the raft. When she had blacked out, she had been on the 
southern shore however it was nowhere in sight. She looked to the north and 
saw something that made tears come to her eyes.

A place of beauty lay along the northern shore. The few buildings she could 
see gleamed colors of blue, red, yellow, gold, silver, crystal, ruby, and 
sapphire (pokemon game colors). She could barely hear the faint tune of her 
mother's song coming from the city.

She was so close, only about twenty or thirty yards away. She could probably 
reach the shore with a good ten minutes of paddleing. She couldn't believe 
that her journey was almost complete. She reached for the oar (which hadn't 
fallen off during the storm, thank goodness) and began to paddle towards 
shore, however something was missing.

She looked around once again and noticed that Lonepichu, Claude, and Why 
were nowhere to be seen, they had come to found this place as well. She was 
so close that she could smell the aroma of lunch from the shore. So close, 
yet so far. She couldn't go there with out her friends, but wasn't it she 
that originally searched for this place? Wasn't it she that knew the song of 
the north? She began to paddle once again.

She stopped and thought that if it wasn't for her friends she would never 
have gotten this far. If it wasn't for Lonepichu, she would never have asked 
anyone for help and would probably still be cowering in fear. If it wasn't 
for Claude she would have become Sabrina the Shuppet's snack of Cleffa 
puffs. If it wasn't for Why, the raft would never have gotten built.

'They deserve to be here even more than I do.' Cleffa thought. That settled 
it, and with a heavy heart she turned the raft around and paddled away from 
the north shore. Soon she could no longer hear the music, or smell the food. 
The cities shine soon faded and when she next turned around, the city was no 
longer in sight.

However, one verse of the song burst into her head, spoken by a familiar 
voice,
<Do not fear and do not fret,
As long as the north wind blows.>

When the voice finished, she felt a strong gust of wind which blew her raft 
to the east. She looked over her shoulder and saw the familiar outline of a 
Suicune. Suicune smiled at her and said, <Do not fear or fret little one. 
The north wind will blow you in the right direction.>

She soon came upon a small patch of an island. There a happy Why was jumping 
up and down. "Why, you are about to be saved by the vistors. Does vistor 
want another room? Why, Why not!!!" Suicune stopped the raft and Why jumped 
on board.

Suicune then blew the raft towards the west. After about twenty minutes they 
came upon a small sand bar. There, lounging in the sun was Claude. " 'Sup my 
fine gal? Claude is always concerned about the ladies." Claude, too, jumped 
aboard.

"Why wonders why Claude was talking in third person, Why thinks that he is 
odd." Why said to himself.

Suicune began to take them to the southern shore, but no one was there. 
Suicune blew them to the west and the east, but they couldn't find Lonepichu 
anywhere. Suicune growled in frustration and said <I am having problems 
locating your friend, the pichu.> Suicune began to head back to the north.

"Wait! Why sees something yellow in the water." Why pointed ahead of them, 
and sure enough something yellow was in the water. Suicune blew them 
forward, and then gasped.

Yes, it was true that it had located Lonepichu, but Lonepichu was lying face 
down in the water. Cleffa covered her mouth with her hands as Claude drug 
Lonepichu aboard. Lonepichu wasn't breathing. Claude happily performed mouth 
to mouth, but nothing. He put his ear to her chest, however there was no 
heart beat. Lonepichu had gone to join Cleffa's mother and father.

Cleffa began to cry, as did Claude. Why pounded his tail on the raft. Cleffa 
thought that if it hadn't been for Lonepichu, she would probably still be in 
Spring Leaf field.

Suicune watched the scene in front of him and sighed. Then he thought to 
himself <Perhaps the old north wind has seen one to many eras. Maybe I 
should use my powers for something that is not for destruction, this once 
and final time.>

Suicune shed it's first and only tear as it began to glow. Lonepichu glowed 
as well, and Suicune growled as it transfered it's life energy into 
Lonepichu. When the glow subsided, Lonepichu stood up and sretched. "So, 
guys, what'd I miss?" Lonepichu said as everyone smiled and hugged her. With 
Suicune's last burst of energy, he sent the raft in a north direction.

```````````````````````

Back at the ruins by Vandilan forest, the only building that was still 
standing collapsed. Some say it was an earthquake, others say it was 
destroyed by vandalizers. The truth of it's destruction to this day, is 
known only by four pokemon.

````````````````````````

Back with Cleffa, she once again saw the shores of the north. She could feel 
excitement flow through her body. Just as she was about to reach the shore, 
she heard a voice in her head that sang a new song then the one of the 
north:

"Look around you my dear,
at all the friends that you are near.

I told you in song that when you reached north,
that you would no longer be scared or alone.

You made three friends along the way,
and confidence from them you did gain.

It is not the north alone that would bring you what you sought,
but the journey along the way as well.

The friends you have made did not judge
before they knew the contents of your heart.

With your friends you do belong,
they have made a place for you in thier hearts.

All three did greet you with happiness,
and through them you feel my love."

"Mom!" Cleffa yelled, for the voice she heard was that of her mother.

"What's a matter?" Lonepichu asked her.

"Nothing, must have been the wind." Cleffa answered as she smiled. As the 
raft was docked and they stepped on shore, a cool breeze blew through 
Cleffa's furr. Whether her mother had spoken to her or not, the new song was 
true. This city may be paradise, but Cleffa had finally found where she 
belonged. She belonged with Lonepichu, Claude, and Why; her best friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	THE END

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the longest fic that I have ever written, I also think that it is my 
best. To think I started this because I was bored. Anyway please review and 
tell me what you think. Also tell me if you want to see Cleffa, Lonepichu, 
Claude, and Why in another story about the legendary North City (that's it's 
name in case you didn't know) By the way, yes, Lonepichu is me. I do star in 
this story, and Beans and The Way Things Were are poems that I have actually 
written. Till next time,

~lonepichu is signing off.
e-mail: lonepichu@msn.com