“Hyaaa!” SHWEE!! There was a quick glare of metal as a creaking sound followed behind a sword swing. The cloak turned around to see a large tree falling towards them. “What in the heck?” “Look out, sis!” The boy grasped the girl about the waist and leapt off to the side just as the giant tree came crashing to the ground. Furret was close to the crash, but not close enough to get hit. “Darn, I guss I missed.” Landon stood in the tree’s wake with his friends behind him. His eyes narrowed into a dangerous purple rather than their sweet sapphire and his sakaba-tou was unsheathed. “…A kid?” The boy blinked. “Catching Poke’mon is fin in itself, that it is.” Landon started, “But torturing a Poke’mon for personal gain is something I’m not willing to accept. So collect your own Poke’mon and leave.” “Who are you to tell us what to do? We battled it, so we keep it.” The girl said. “I don’t think you want to mess with us, kid.” The two grinned and stood back to back. “A stealth like dark, we’re shadows of the night.” “Blanketing over those who do things right.” “Where treasure glitters, we’re there to claim.” “To higher riches, we’ll surely aim.” The girl and boy performed a cartwheel to the sides, “I’m Tsubimi!” “And I’m her brother, Yoshimari!” “We’re Team Darkhorn, the pirate thieves.” “Don’t mess with us; you’re out of your league!” They ended with their arms folded. “You’re sick!” Landon snapped, replacing his sword in the sheath. “Toya, we have to get Furret out of the rain, but we’ll need to beat these two first.” “Mudkip!” Toya leapt onto the ground, more than happy to fight. “Fur…” Furret, who was still panting, looked up at Landon with a weak and puzzled expression. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt as if she was going to come out of the situation safely. “Don’t be so selfish, Lan. Go, Treecko!” Zeru tossed the green poke’ball onto the ground and Treecko burst out. “Treecko-ko!” It put up its fists. “Toya, use your Tackle attack!” Landon shouted, pushing his wet bangs from his face. Toya started to charge towards Tailow; she pounced into the air and crashed into the bird’s stomach. “Ah!” Tailow nearly lost its air. “Treecko, use Absorb!” At Zeru’s voice, Treecko dashed up to Loudred and spread its tail leaf open. “Loudred, use Earthquake!” Yoshimari shouted. Loudred stamped the ground harshly with its foot; the earth started to shake and Toya leapt into the air with Treecko. Landon’s emotions rose to a pitch; he could feel the power in his link with Toya rising to take on physical form. “Ready, Toya?” “Mudkip-mudkip!”

Suddenly, the Crystal Bell around Landon’s neck reacted to their emotions by bursting with a blue light, but still rang without sound. He could feel himself synchronizing with Toya like before, “Water Gun!” “Double team!” Loudred held Tailow by the wing and the two started to produce images of themselves, forming a circle around their opponents. Toya’s water gun spurt right through the hologram-like doppelgangers, causing them to disappear upon contact. “Treecko, use Absorb attack to try and find the real Tailow and Loudred!” Zeru said. Treecko’s tail leaf spread again and started to glow with a green light. Beads of green energy started to drift from the Poke’mon on the far left. “There you are! Toya, Water Gun attack!” “Use Razor Leaf!” “Muudkiiip!” “Trreeecko!” Toya blasted her jet-stream water attack at full force; Treecko spun and shot two razor-sharp leaves from its tail. The two attacks crashed into Tailow and Loudred, forcing the images to disappear. “Good job, guys!” Zeru said to the Poke’mon. Landon let his eyes fall on Furret, who was now shivering on top of her panting. She looked so helpless—he had to end this battle and rush her to the Poke’mon Center. If she stayed out in the rain much longer, she could catch a cold or worse… “Toya!” The Crystal bell started to glow even brighter. Everyone watched it feed off its bearer’s emotions. “Just like at the Poke’henten!” May’s thoughts drifted back to the first time she had seen Landon and Toya do the same against Miru. “The EX—” “—they’re harnessing it!” Zeru finished for her. Landon’s hair lit up to a bright blue color and Toya’s body did the same. “Go, EX Burst Attack!” He shouted. “Muudkiiiiip!” Toya’s body burst with threads of energy that darted towards Loudred and Tailow like full-speed arrows.  “Loudreeeed!” “Taaillll!” KABOOM!! There was a mini explosion as Team Darkhorn’s Poke’mon flew back into a tree harshly. Both Poke’mons’ eyes spun dizzily, showing that they were in no condition to fight anymore. “No way!” Yoshimari gasped. “Loudred, return!” “Tailow, return!” He and his sister called their Poke’mon back to their poke’balls. “Beat by a kid…” Tsubimi growled, “Miru isn’t going to like this one bit.” “Better break it to him fast, sis.” Yoshimari sighed and Tsubimi glared at the group of kids. “Don’t think your victory will last. We’ll be after your EX Poke’mon next.” With that that, the two darted off into the trees, disappearing. “Treecko, good job; return,” Zeru recalled Treecko. Landon’s and Toya’s emotional outbreak simmered down back to normal, returning them back to their normal selves. Without time to waste, Landon started towards Furret. “We have to get her to the Poke’mon Center!” He shouted, taking her into his arms gingerly. Her fur was cold and wet and he held her closer to keep her warm. Toya jumped onto Landon’s shoulder to keep a close on Furret. “Here, Lan; use my raincoat.” Zeru took off his yellow raincoat and tossed it to Landon. He wrapped it around Furret like a blanket and took off running with his three friends following. “Don’t worry, Furret, I’ll get you some help in no time.” Landon assured her. On the verge of fainting, Furret used the rest of her energy to look up at him. This human boy was trying to save his life out of concern. He didn’t even care if he got sick, just as long as he got her some help. She smiled and closed her eyes.

 

“Nurse Joy!” The group burst into the Poke’mon Center, dripping wet. “Oh my goodness, where did you four go?” Nurse Joy grabbed some towels from behind the counter and ran up to them. “Thanks, Nurse Joy,” Zeru, Shoura, and May smiled politely as they took up the white drying cloths. “Don’t worry about me, Ms. Joy; this Furret needs some immediate treatment.” Landon unwrapped Furret from the raincoat and looked up to Nurse Joy pleadingly. “Right, you just dry off and I’ll take care of Furret.” In exchange for the Poke’mon, Landon took the towel from Nurse Joy, who shot him a sudden frown. “And next time, I wish you’d alert someone instead of rushing out in the rain.” With that, she walked down the hall to the right and disappeared into the emergency room.

 

Minutes turned into hours as the afternoon pressed on sluggishly. The hefty rain clouds had drifted away back to Littleroot and allowed the afternoon sky to turn gold and scarlet. “She may still be sleeping.” Nurse Joy warned Landon as she took him to the emergency room. “Don’t worry; I won’t wake her up.” Landon nodded, fully dry now. Zeru, May, Shoura, and Toya were bunched up on the couch in the lobby, sleeping from the long wait. Landon, however, couldn’t sleep until he was certain Furret was okay. He pushed through the doors and Joy led him down yet another long hall. They stopped at a white door, room three-thirty-two, and Joy pulled out a small key from her pocket. “I’ll have to thank you for bringing Furret in; she seriously needed the treatment.” She pushed open the door and allowed the hall light to fall into the window-lit room In the middle of the orange-tiled room was a small square bed where Furret was sleeping soundlessly. Her fur was free of the scratches from before and she her breathing had returned to normal. “Oh, here,” Landon turned and Nurse Joy held out his poke’dex. “My poke’dex!? Thank you, Ms. Joy!” He exclaimed in a whisper, taking it from her. “I had someone go out and find it for you when you and your friends came back. I’m surprised to see it in great condition.” “Thanks for all of your help, Ms. Joy.” Nurse Joy smiled and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Landon walked up to the bed and glanced at Furret. Her ears twitched and she slowly opened her eyes. “Fur…” She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “How are you feeling?” Landon asked her and she turned to him, jumping a bit out of fright. “You took quite a banging earlier today, but you still remained strong.” He smiled at her, then started to walk away. Little did he know that the crystal bell was vibrating lightly.

 “Your name…is Lan?” A young voice sounded from behind his back. A puzzled look spread on Landon’s face as he raised an eyebrow. “Huh?” “Uh!?” Furret gasped, utterly shocked. “You…understand what I’m saying?” Landon dared to nod to Furret when he turned to her. For a while, the two stared at each other in utter amazement. “…Yeah, I’m Lan. Landon Himura,” Landon forced himself to talk. Furret stared at the ground, “Why did you save me? You didn’t have to do it—no other human would’ve.” She told him. “Well, maybe I’m just different.” Landon sat down on the ground and folded his legs. Furret seemed to calm down a little as her tail wagged slightly, “Sorry I tried to bite you. I thought you were trying to hurt my sisters. Please, accept this as my apology.” Furret crawled off of the bed and started slowly towards Landon. Her cheeks went rose pink and her eyes started to glimmer. Landon blinked with a look of question. Furret stepped into his lap and pressed her lips to his cheek. “That’s for saving my life. My name is Princess Tambourine…uhn…” Furret’s body became limp and she collapsed in Landon’s lap. “Heh, take care, Tambourine.” Landon placed her back in her bed and started out of the room.

 

“Here you go; you’re all registered for the Hoenn league.” Nurse Joy smiled to Landon, May, Zeru, and Shoura. She handed some bronze-colored cards with their pictures and trainer numbers printed on them. “Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy.” Zeru said as he examined his picture. The four headed out the glass doors and into the evening-painted outside. “Maybe we should just rest here; I don’t want to travel at night.” May glanced up at the sky worriedly. “Tch! You’re such a wimp, May/” Zeru said, putting his hands in his pocket. “I’M NO WIMP!” May shouted. “Calm down, May; let’s just travel at night.” “What? You’re not agreeing with him are you?” She asked Landon with a hint of disbelief in her voice. “Just think, May; if we keep going, we’ll be able to find some cool nocturnal Poke’mon and make it to the next city.” Landon told her, sweating anime style. “Don’t worry, May.” Shoura retrieved the Hoenn Field Guidebook from her backpack. “Most of the Poke’mon around here won’t really pose a threat to begging trainers…unless they attack in groups…or if they poison you…” May started to look more worried as she read down the list, “Or if you become paralyzed…or Poochyenna food…or—” “She gets the picture.” Zeru and Landon snatched the guidebook from her with May looking simply horrified. “Furrett-Fur!” “Huh?” They turned around to look behind, but no one was there. Suddenly, the bushes beside the Poke’mon center doors rustled and a Furret leapt out, smiling at them. “…Tambourine?” Landon blinked. “You named it?” “No, that’s just her name.” He told Zeru mindlessly. Tambourine cleared her throat and the Crystal Bell started to vibrate again. “I want to thank you again for helping me, Lan…actually, what I really came back for was so I could ask a favor from you.” Tambourine’s cheeks went a little pink. To Landon, Tambourine was speaking as if she knew the entire dictionary. But to the others, she was just repeating her name over and over again. “You see,” She continued, “I’m really not a girl who likes to stay in one spot. I want to travel and see the world. Do you think we could do that together as friends?” She smiled to him and he smiled back. “Sure thing,” Landon told her. Furret nodded and he took out his Premier Ball. “Mom said to use this on a special Poke’mon and I think you’re something special, Tambourine.” He let it open up and it sucked the Poke’mon up in a red light gently. With the flash of red on the button, the Premier Ball became occupied. May, Shoura, and Zeru didn’t really ask questions, but rather smiled at him. “Are you ready to go?” Shoura asked. Landon nodded and the group started to walk on with the sinking sun ahead of them. (And so, our heroes continue their journey with a new friend on their side. You can be sure that Landon will help Tambourine grow to be strong. But what about Yoshimari and Tsubimi? Find out in the next exciting episode of Poke’mon X!!)

 

 

                                      “Shine the Sky” (Ending Theme)

Shine the sky!

Crystal power hit the high—

Flying current to my victory

Try and Try!

Never give the fight away

I’ll take every challenge that I can get in my hands

Des—tiny!

Prophecy I can’t ignore

Know what surprises that it has in store

Shine the sky!

A knew adventure I will face

Another chance at victory with Poke’mon!

 



THIS IS THE END OF CHAPTER 4. SEE YA' IN CHAPTER 5