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Morana and Incultyr scoured the Bulletin Board. It has been more than two weeks since their first mission at Starburst Islands. Both Morana and Incultyr has had sufficient time to recover, and they've agreed to take their second mission.

"Hmm...this one?" Morana asked, tapping one near the bottom of the board about someone who had dropped an egg in the Misty Forest. Incultyr read it over and shrugged.

"This one's as good as any I guess." he said, about to tear it off, but another Pokemon that had walked up the Bulletin Board knocked him aside by accident.

"Watch it!" Incultyr growled, catching his balance before he fell. The Pokemon looked startled. He was slightly taller than Incultyr, his entire body a shade of steel blue. A mask-like area across his eyes were black, as well as his legs and two oval ears. Incultyr remembers seeing Pokemon like him before, but he can't seem to remember what their species was called.

"Oh, sorry about that. Are you ok?" The Pokemon asked. Incultyr looked back to the Bulletin board.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, trying to find the mission he was about to tear off, before he noticed the new Pokemon putting a piece of paper up. Incultyr stepped over to the pokemon, and without asking, tore it out of his hands.

"Hey!" The Pokemon cried, trying to snatch it back. Incultyr read the mission over.

"Through Warrior's Plateau huh?" Incultyr asked. The Pokemon stopped trying to grab it and nodded.

"Yeah...what about it?" He asked hesitantly. Incultyr walked over to Morana and handed her the paper.

"Well, what do you think, you want to take this?"

Morana accepted the Mission Sheet and read it over, then glanced up anxiously.

"Warrior's Plateau? All the way to the end? I don't know...it would take us at least a full day, and the area's all fighting types..." Morana didn't need to point out that both she, as a dark type, and Incultyr, as a rock type, are both weak to fighting. Although then again, Morana's never figured out why being a dark type made one weak to fighting types in the first place.

"It'll be good training, and honestly it sounds a bit more exciting than rescuing an egg."

"I...I guess." Morana still didn't like the idea of this mission, but she really didn't object enough to gain the courage to tell her partner no. Inculty rolled the Mission Sheet up and turned to face the other Pokemon.

"We'll take your mission. Me and Morana will go and prepare, we'll meet you just outside the castle tomorrow morning."

The Pokemon nodded, looking vastly relieved.

"Thank you! Well, I'm Altus, and you are...?"

"I'm Incultyr, and this is Morana. We're Team Polaris."

---

Morana and Incultyr split the 900 PD their team possessed and went to buy supplies. Morana for the food and Incultyr for items they might need. Both of them were startled to find how little they actually could do with their small stash of PD.

Both hoped they they can get more money from this mission, because after they came back, their team had a total of only 9 PD remaining.

The next morning, Morana and Incultyr woke up early and headed to the front of the Castle just before sunrise. After waiting about five minutes, their client, Altus, joined them, a small backpack on his back.

"Thanks a lot for agreeing to this." He told the two, bowing to each in turn. "As you probably already know, Warrior's Plateau is south of here." As he was talking, Incultyr took out a map of the Southern Territory, and pointed at the area labelled as the plateau.

"Where in particular are we heading to?" Incultyr asked, and Altus pointed at a canyon marked on the map, all the way on the other side of the plateau.

"Here."

Incultyr nodded and rolled up the map. "We don't have any time to spare then." He put the map away, and dug something out of his backpack. He handed one to Altus and one to Morana. They were small blue spheres, which Morana recognized as a Wonder Orb of some sorts.

"These are Rollcall Orbs. We should each keep one, and they can teleport nearby willing Pokemon to you. This is just a precaution, in case we are ever separated." Incultyr explained.

With everything prepared, they were ready to head out. As they turned to leave, Morana stopped Altus.

"Um...Just wondering...but, what kind of Pokemon are you?" It's been bugging Morana for a while, she just couldn't identify their client's species.

"Oh, well, I'm a Riolu."

---

Altus seemed to know the area well, and spent the entire journey there explaining things. The rocks, the plants, the Pokemon- you name it, and he had some information on it. Because of this, Incultyr and Altus became fast friends, the Larvitar being always open to more knowledge. Morana trudged behind them, silent, offering words only when asked.

When the sun finally broke free of the distant mountains, the ground was noticeably sloped upwards. They had reached the plateau.

"Let's take a short break here." Incultyr suggested when Morana pointed this out, and everyone agreed. They found a small patch of grass that was flatter than the surrounding areas and sat down to rest.

"So Altus, why do you want to come here anyways?" Incultyr asked. The Riolu seemed to ponder the question for a moment, and hesitated.

"I'd just like to train and get stronger, that's all."

He was sure Altus was not telling the full truth, but he didn't push it. Altus seemed harmless enough.

Several minutes later, the group continued onwards, climbing up to the Plateau. The grass was thinning out, the land covered in reddish soil. The Sun was now fully up in the sky, unsupported by the peaks of the mountains. Even this early in the morning Incultyr and Riolu were beginning to feel the heat, although the fire-typed Morana felt no difference.

"So how much fighting do you expect us to see here?" Incultyr asked Altus, who thought about it for a moment before answering.

"A lot. Unlike most places, the Pokemon that live here lives for fighting and improving themselves. We'll get a lot of challenges. That's why I wanted an exploration Team escort. I can't make it by myself if I have to fight half the Pokemon the Plateau solo."

This of course, made Morana extremely uncomfortable. She really didn't want to do all that much fighting. And at about the same time, they spotted their first Pokemon up ahead of them.

Higher up, about fifty meters away, on the side of the slope a large boulder was embedded in the ground. On top of it rested some Pokemon, sitting down in an odd pose, facing the rising sun. Which happens to be behind the group, so the Pokemon must have seen them. If it had it wasn't showing any signs of it.

"Should we go around?" Morana asked the others nervously, when she pointed out the Pokemon she had spotted. Both of them thought it over for a moment, before being interrupted.

It seems the pokemon had noticed them after all.

"Halt! Who are you?" It asked. Larvitar looked over to his partners, wondering if they heard the voice as well. It was a quiet voice, but the Pokemon was too far away to be heard unless if he had yelled.

"It's a meditite, a psychic type." Altus explained quickly, assuming that the other two would automatically connect 'psychic type' to the fact it must have used telepathy.

"We're an exploration team, and we're just passing through. Why do you care?" Incultyr asked cautiously.

"We do not permit passage to the weak of mind. Defeat us and pass, be defeated and suffer, or turn back and we will leave you be." This time it was two voices. Startled, Morana spun around and saw a second Meditite sitting on the grass, right behind them.

"Bring it, we didn't come all the way here just to go back." Incultyr challenged the two in a loud voice. He lowered himself into a ready stance, and Altus backed up to cover his flank. Morana nearly tripped over her paws as she backpedaled to form an outwards-facing triangle formation.

"Then let us test you."

The first Meditite jumped off of its rock, landing about a dozen meters off towards the group. It walked towards them, but stopped at about ten meters.

]"We do not permit passage to the weak of mind!" Both Meditites echoed, and then a soft, wavering glow began to develop around them.

"Careful guys!" Altus warned them just as the glow radiated out of the two Medichams, flowed over the ground, and converged on the group.

What happened next Morana wasn't too sure, but she felt Altus stiffen up beside her, and he stopped moving. Incultyr twitched as the attack hit, and began shaking. Morana didn't feel anything wrong at all, as if the attack had simply just passed through her.

The two Meditites were closing in on them now, power pulsing from them. It seemed to get stronger, and Altus yelped and fell onto his knees, and Morana heard Incultyr growl in defiance. She still felt nothing.

Deciding that since her two teammates seemed to be incapacitated and she wasn't, she should really do something. And in the excitement of the happenings, she almost didn't notice that she had leapt forward, fangs bared, until she crashed onto the second Meditite. It was startled, not expecting Morana to be still able to function, and thus didn't offer much of a resistance. Morana had the Meditite pinned, her power jaws threateningly close to its neck.

Whith its attack disrupted, Incultyr seemed to find the will to move. The Larvitar ran forward towards the first Meditite in a tackle. The Meditite seemed to be ready though, and shifted out of the way at the last second, leaving Incultyr to stumble past. A veteran of many battles, Incultyr expected this, and grabbed the Meditite's arm on his way past. Both pokemon crashed to the ground, and after a quick scramble, Incultyr managed to pin the fighting type down.

"Well?" Incultyr asked.

"We yield, you may pass." The first Meditite told him, and Incultyr cautiously unpinned the other pokemon. Looking back, he saw Morana still on top of the other Meditite, staring at him for permission to release it. He nodded and she backed off of it.

"We have made a mistake it seems." The first meditite told the second one as they joined each other again.

]"Yes, the little one is dark-typed. That's why our attack had no effect on her."

Both turned to the trio and bowed before leaving. They could continue.

Morana and Incultyr turned their attention on their client, who was attempting to pick himself off the ground. He almost got up before one leg gave way and he tumbled back down to the ground.

"Are you ok?" Morana asked, worried, and still trying to figure out exactly what had happened. The Riolu shook his head and replied groggily, "Yeah...I have a headache but I'll be fine."

Incultyr and Morana helped Altus to his feet.

"It seems it's true that fighting types are weak to psychic attacks." Incultyr commented as they continued forward, him supporting Altus. He was starting to get his balance back, and after Morana handed him one of their Oran Berries, he was fine once more.

The land began top even and level out soon. Looking ahead of them, all Morana could see was an endless expanse of rolling hills covered with tough yellowing grass and small bushes. The sun was well above them now, heat beating down on the trio.

Altus wiped sweat off of his forehead, trying to ignore the glaring sun as he studied the map Incultyr had taken out. There weren't that many landmarks to go by around here, and they were worried they might be going in the wrong direction. Even Altus who knew this area so well wasn't entirely sure where they are.

"Well, there's a river that flows just west of here. If we can find it -which shouldn't be too hard, we should just travel west until we hit it- we can follow it south where it meets the canyon, but..."

"But what?" Incultyr asked, peering at the map and wondering why none of them had realized or said anything about this earlier. If there was a river that led to the canyon, then it would make things a lot easier.

"Well, it's the only reliable source of water for miles." Altus answered, sighing. "Most of the Pokemon live near it and protect their territories fiercely."

Morana stepped forward to look at the map.

"Why can't we just continue south until we hit the canyon- oh." She stopped when she saw the layout of the map. The River ran into the canyon, which continued south before turning east. It was possible for them to walk right past the Canyon if they simply went south.

"Well...let's head towards the river at an angle then. We'll have a pretty good chance of hitting the river, but we'll travel along it a bit less...is that good?"

Everyone agreed. Altus took the lead, Incultyr trailed behind, and Morana anchored their little formation. The sun was high in the sky now, baking the ground and distorting the air above it.

Ten minutes or so later, the group crested the top of a hill. The other side of the hill was already occupied.

About five grayish humanoid Pokemon stood at the base of the hill, all of whom were holding up large boulders, apparently trying to see who could hold up the heaviest. All five of them were laughing and joking with each other, but that stopped almost instantly when the five saw Team Polaris and their client. One of them pointed over at them and said something excitedly, and four of them dropped their boulders, heading up the hill towards them. The fifth kept his boulder above his head, walking up towards the trio.

"Morana, to my left, Altus, to my right." Incultyr ordered, and the other two wasted no time in following them, backing up so they were able to protect each other's flanks.

"We don't want to be separated, so stay close."

The Machops closed in, all looking rather eager, and of what, well, that was answered when the machop with the boulder hurled it at them. His aim was true, heading straight for the three pokemon.

Incultyr and Morana dived out of the way in opposite direction, but Altus stayed where he was, in a ready stance.

"Get out of the way!" Incultyr roared as he landed on his feet, five feet away from the nearest machop. Morana had sprinted away from the boulder, and skidded to a stop to watch in horror as the rock fell.

Altus, however, didn't seem worried at all. Just before the boulder which was about three times his size was about to hit him, the Riolu jumped up and back, dodging it. The Boulder crashed into the hill with a thud.

With all three of them split up, the Machops closed in on them.

Two of them ran up to the top of the hill where Altus stood behind the boulder, two -including the one who threw the rock- circled to surround Incultyr, and the last one cautiously approached Morana.

Incultyr watched the two Machop closely as they attempted to surround him. He wasn't going to let him flank him anytime soon. He considered using Screech, what he considers the most effective move in his arsenal, but he understands that it would distract his teammates as much as his enemies, especially since Altus had never experienced it.

So he settled for what he considers the second-best move in his arsenal. He gathered energy within his hands, waiting until he could get a good shot...

Morana was so constantly scared that she doesn't even realize it anymore sometimes. She watched the Machop approach her, and half of her wanted to run away as fast as she could from the fighting-type, while the other half was telling her exactly how to crouch and stalk and pounce on this would-be prey Pokemon.

Before she could really decide between those two options, the Machop was there in front of her. She took a step back, he took two forward. And then the fight started, for the Machop leapt into the air at her, and brought one arm up presumably to strike her. Morana leapt aside reflexively, and when the Machop twisted to try and land facing her, she darted in.

Altus watched as the two machop approached him. He had jumped on top of the boulder, giving him the advantageous high ground. He was ready to fight the two- until something smashed into him from behind. He toppled off of the boulder and landed heavily on the slope. A third machop had jumped him from behind, and the two began to struggle together on the ground, both trying to get the upper hand. The other two Machops reached him then.

Incultyr let his attack go. One of the Machops stumbled back as the dark pulse hit him squarely. He flinched as the dark energy went into him, and that was enough to make him lose his balance. The Machop stumbled and fell, and on the slope of the hill, he began to roll down, flailing.

Incultyr turned, facing the second Machop who seemed less sure of himself. After seeing his friend go down, he's probably cautious of the fact Incultyr has a ranged attack, and he doesn't.

Morana clamped her jaws down on the other Pokemon's ankle, calling flames to her throat and mouth, so that fire seeped out from between her teeth. The Machop tumbled to the ground, twisting to try and get his ankle free from her grasp.

She just bit down harder, drawing blood. Its tough skin protected the machop's ankle from cooking, but Morana imagined that it would still hurt quite much. She could taste the blood, and that set off the hunter in her. This was her kill, she will not lose it. Her fear was gone in that one exhilarating moment. Until the Machop got a good enough angle to chop down on her head. It drove her jaws to close together more, drawing a strangled cry from the Machop, but dazed, she immediately let go. The fire in her mouth extinguished.

Altus managed to extract himself from the fight with the machop that had jumped him, and he was carefully backing up as the two mahops helped the third get back onto his feet. His eyes momentarily distracted by Incultyr's battle, he watched one Machop roll down the hill quite a ways before he managed to top himself, stand up, and look extremely dizzy.

That gave him an idea.

"Ink, dodge!" The Riolu yelled as he turned, jumped on top of the large boulder, and landed behind it. Bracing his weight against the big rock, he pushed. Not well anchored to the side of the hill, it began to roll...

"My name's not Ink!" Incultyr roared, and looked up just in time to see three of the machops get scattered by the rolling boulder. The machop he was fighting took advantage of his distraction to kicked down low, tripping the Larvitar, who tried to ignore him and scramble out of the way of the boulder. It sailed past, knocking the machop aside. It also clipped the larvitar on the side of his head, which drove it to collide with the ground.

Altus watched the boulder hit Incultyr and winced, ready to go over to help him when he noticed Morana dazed, trying to keep her balance as the machop next to her attempted to stand up with one mangled ankle. He looked angry and ready to chop Morana in half.

The Riolu stood there, trying to decide who to help, and then sprinted towards the Houndour. There was no immediate threat to Incultyr yet. Just before the machop was about to attack the houndour, hand raised high up in order to strike, Altus ran past him and punched him in the face. Hard. With all of his momentum behind it. The poor thing was knocked out cold.

"Are you ok?" Altus asked Morana, who shook her head to try and clear it.

"Y-yeah...I think so." She murmured. Looking up and trying to stay on her feet, Morana's eyes fell on Incultyr.

"Oh my..." Morana and Altus went to Incultyr's side. His touch skin had protected him from having his head torn off by the boulder, by the impact with the rock and then consequently the ground had knocked him out. There's no telling how much damage it must have wrecked.

"Oh god...I'm so sorry...I..."

Morana stared at her partner fearfully, and then glanced around at the machops who were stirring. They couldn't stay here, they might get up and attack them again at any time.

Altus and Morana took turns carrying Incultyr until they were well away from the machops.

"Why did they attack us?" Morana asked at one point, carrying Incultyr on her back. Altus shook his head.

"I don't know exactly, but knowing the pokemon that live around here, they probably just wanted to test their prowess against new pokemon. I'm afraid both of us probably pushed it too far..." Altus's voice was choked and quivering. The Riolu still hasn't recovered from the fact what he did had possibly seriously injured Incultyr.

When they neared the river, two mankey stood in their way, looking agitated. Obviously frustrated, Altus didn't even wait for anything to be said. Before Morana had even caught up to him, the Riolu had grabbed the two pokemon, and smashed their heads together hard enough to make both faint. Morana only stared at the two unmoving pokemon for a second before running to catch up with Altus, trying her best not to jostle Incultyr whom then had secured to her back.

A few minutes later, Morana and Altus could see the River, and the ribbon of green that followed its path. Green grass grew on the ground and trees clung to the water's edge. Altus sprinted into the shade of a tree with relief, and Morana padded to his side.

She sat down and Altus helped lower Incultyr from her back. The sun was directly overhead now, beating down on the three of them. While it didn't bother Morana, even she could feel it.

Altus stared down at Incultyr, worry in his eyes.

“We can't just go along like this...if we follow the river north, it'll lead us back to the palace.” He suggested. Morana padded over to his side and pawed at Incultyr's backpack, digging something out of it while trying not to jostle the Larvitar too much.

“But...your mission...” Morana murmured, looking at Altus with concern. She finally found what she was looking for- their explorer's badge. “We can get back at any time with this.” She explained, holding the badge up for Altus to see before she put it into the pouch tied to her collar.

She nuzzled Incultyr before taking a step back and glancing over at the river. “I think we should take a break here. It's nearing noon, so we should eat. I have apples with me...”

Altus agreed, and the two Pokemon took out some of the apples from both Morana and Incultyr's bag. Morana headed to the river for a drink.

She padded up the riverbank. The edge of the soil dropped away sharply, with the water about a foot below solid ground. Morana stared at the water, which was a milky green opaque colour, and tried to figure out how to take a drink without falling in or getting wet.

And just as she was shuddering at the idea of getting wet, the water before her seemed to explode, water flying up and then cascading back down, saturating her fur and drenching her to the bone. The shock of being doused in water paralyzed the Houndour, for whom too much water is anything but healthy.

“What the-!?” Was all she heard Altus yell out before something seemed to scoop Morana up and dump her in the river.

Ok, so, you've got Morana, who's usually a nervous wreck although she's been doing admirably well today, who's a fire type, who's also insanely terrified of water. Yeah, you guessed it, she's in ultra panic mode.

Morana's never been in water before, because, well, being in water is just a bad idea for her species. So she really didn't know how to swim, and her wild flailing was hardly any help. The current of the water was stronger than she though -the surface had looked so placid and slow!- and it dragged her along, despite her best efforts to fight it. She tried to hold her breath, she really did, but the shock of falling in didn't really help with her control. So she breathed, and water came down, and she began to cough and hack. There was also the matter of what had dragged her down. It was probably still in the water.

Then she felt a big hand grab her midsection (She tried to bite it but the reflex to not get more water down her throat prevented her from doing it effectively) and then she was lifted up out of the water. She instantly began coughing and hacking, taking deep breathes of the wonderful wonderful air. Shuddering, Morana was barely aware as she was placed onto the shore.

“Are you ok!?” She heard Altus yell, and within seconds the Riolu was by her side, shaking her. She coughed up some more water, shivering violently. She felt her inner fire flicker, trying to stay alive.

She really didn't know what was going on, but she caught snatches of conversation as she laid there, semi-conscious.

“The fight is off, we must tend to the little one...”

“I'm sorry for attacking so suddenly, I didn't think anyone else would have come here...”

“She's going to be ok.”

“Morana, wake up damn it, Anna!”

She raised her head with a jerk at the familiar voice and the use of her nickname. Blinking and trying to shake off the nausea, she looked up to see Incultyr standing by her, looking worried.

“Ink...you're ok...” She murmured, twisting her head to see him better past a strand of hair that had fallen down in front of her eyes. Incultyr brushed it away.

“I have a headache but I had an oran berry, and I'll be fine Anna. What I'm worried about is you.”

Altus appeared next to Incultyr.

“Thank goodness you're awake, here, eat this.” Altus took out an Oran berry. Incultyr took it from him and helped Morana eat and swallow it. She felt better immediately, although part of her noted that this was the third Oran berry out of the four they had brought.

“Thanks.” She said weakly, smiling. She shivered, rolled over, and promptly began to throw up.

When she finally felt better, she got up onto her feet and looked back to see a peculiar sight. About a dozen pokemon excluding Incultyr and Altus were standing there. About half of them were big and blue, and the other half were about half the size and yellow. All of them were looking at her.

She felt really self-conscious then. It seems she had been lying on dry land long enough to dry out completely, but that had left her fur in a tangled mess, with sand and soil strewn in. Couple that with the fact she had just thrown up, and she felt like a complete wreck.

“What...what happened?” She asked in a small voice, not liking the attention she was getting.

One of the big blue pokemon stepped forward.

“I'm sorry. We the Poliwrath Clan had agreed upon a battle today here with the Combusken Clan. When you approached the water where we had planned our fight, we thought you were them, so we attacked. I apologize for myself and on the behalf of the entire clan.”

The Poliwrath then bowed before stepping back. One of the yellowish pokemon stepped forward.

“I'm sorry you were caught up in this little ones. We heard that you are heading to the canyon down south?”

Morana nodded, and then looked over to Incultyr for help. She really wasn't all that comfortable talking with these Pokemon, especially the big blue ones. Incultyr obliged and stepped forward, taking out his map as he went.

“Yes. You said you know where it is and where we are right?”

The Combusken nodded, and the two pokemon began to discuss it over the map. Altus dropped a small pile of apples by Morana's feet.

“If you're feeling up to it, eat something. Both me and Incultyr have finished lunch.” he said, and by the way he stole an odd glance over at the Larvitar when he said this, Morana assumes that the Riolu had found out about Incultyr's diet of soil.

Morana thanked him and quietly worked her way through the apples, barely tasting them. As always when she ate apples and berries and other “prey-food”, a part of her wished for meat.

Incultyr walked over to her as she finished off the last apple, and laid the map down. Several meters away the Poliwrath and Combusken were rescheduling their fight to later that week. After waving the trio goodbye, the fire-types headed back into the wide flat expanse of the Plateau and the Poliwrath dove into the water.

“We are here, according to the Combusken.” Incultyr indicated the spot on the map, next to the river.

“The area where the river meets the canyon is here.” He pointed at an area not that much farther south.

“So we're not all that far off.” Altus commented, and Incultyr nodded as he rolled the paper up.

“Yeah, so let's finish this.”

They were relatively undisturbed as they continued their way down the river. Morana was understandably more nervous and kept away from the banks of the river. Altus was surprisingly quiet, and Incultyr was still trying to ignore the headache caused earlier by the boulder.

And thus none of them really talked much. At one point they bumped into a Croagunk arguing with two Heracrosses. When the three irritated pokemon lashed out at the trio, the Houndour, Larvitar, and Riolu beat them back surprisingly effectively. Even more grumpy, the three of them stepped aside and continued their argument as if nothing had disturbed them.

It wasn't long before Incultyr pointed out that the river seemed to be cutting deeper and deeper into the ground, so that cliffs were forming at the edge of the water.

At one point, the three of them saw a Pokemon on the horizon, but before they could see it properly it had turned around and ran off.

"You know what pokemon that might have been?" Incultyr asked Altus.

"No." he replied, perhaps a little too quickly.

They continued walking through the afternoon heat, the river next to them carving down into the rocks deeper and deeper until it could be called a canyon itself. They met no pokemon during this time, though both Morana and Incultyr had the feeling of being watched.

"How much farther is it?" Incultyr asked Altus as he looked up at the sky. The Sun was noticeably starting on its descent.

"The Canyon should be just up ahead..." The Riolu responded, and sure enough, a few minutes later, the river next to them linked into a large chasm that seemed to have opened in the ground. The three stopped at the edge, looking down at the steep slope of the cliff walls. About fifty meters below them, the river they had followed fed into a larger, fast-moving river that had cut this little canyon after years and years of erosion.

"Is this it then?" Incultyr asked, and Altus nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah...this is it." The Riolu turned to face Team Polaris.

"Thanks for getting me here, I couldn't have done it without you two." He told them gratefully. Reaching into his backpack, Altus took out the Wonder Orb that Incultyr had given him at the beginning.

"I guess I don't need this anymore, I hope I'll see you two again somed-"

Distracted, none of the three Pokemon saw the attack coming. A blue blur appeared in their midst, slamming into Incultyr. The Larvitar stumbled backwards, trying to regain his composure.

But there was no ground behind him, only the cliff face that led down to the river.

Morana watched in horror as her partner tipped over the edge, arms flailing to try and regain his balance, but to no avail. He fell backwards and down.

"Ink!" Morana rushed to the edge, nearly falling off herself as she tried to catch the falling Larvitar with a paw. She brushed the top of his head, and that was it. Behind her Altus grabbed onto her collar before she fell in behind Incultyr, and yanked her back onto solid ground.

It was odd, the only thing she saw as she fell down into a sitting position was the item held in Altus's hand. It was a blue orb of some kind, a wonder orb...what did Incultyr say it did again?

Altus was yelling something, but Morana didn't hear it as something clicked in her mind. She snatched the orb from Altus's hand with her mouth and activated it.

There was a flash of light, which blinded her. Altus gave a shocked cry, and she felt him stumble beside her. She reflexively clamped her jaws down on his arm -not too hard!- to keep him from falling as well.

When her vision returned, a rather dazed looking Incultyr was lying down beside her, thoroughly shaken. The Rollcall orb, it teleported teammates to the user's side.

"What the hell just happened?" He growled, and then turned to the place where he had been pushed off from. He blinked, looked at Altus, then back, because there, where he was attacked, was standing a Riolu, and it wasn't Altus. It looked scared.

Looking back, Incultyr noted that there were many more Riolu standing in a semi-circle around them, backing them up against the edge of the canyon. Incultyr counted nine, and then there was the one right up against them. So that makes ten.

"What the hell was that damned about?" Incultyr growled, walking up the the Riolu who had pushed him. The little one -for he or she was definitely young- yelped, turned, and ran back to the rest of the group.

The three of them turned to face the Riolus.

"Why are you here?" The oldest of them asked, stepping forward. Morana and Incultyr looked over to Altus expectantly, both pretty sure that these Riolu had to have something to do with their client (They've been through so much in such a short time that Morana had a hard time thinking of him as the client anymore).

Altus stepped forward, looking sligthly nervous.

"Don't...don't you remember me?" He asked apprehensively, and he looked nervous. The oldest Riolu looked at Altus closely, and slowly, he seemed to show recognition.

"...Altus?" The Riolu said, a look of incredulity on his face, which soon became a scowl.

"You abandoned us all those years ago! Chasing after some slut of an eevee!" The Riolu growled, getting down in a battle position. All of the other Riolu assumed similar aggressive poses. Altus looked thunderstruck, and then angry.

"Don't talk about Veritas like that!" He yelled. Morana and Incultyr backed up so that they formed a defensive triangle again, it looks like there was a fight about to happen.

"Damn it, listen to me! I'm sorry I left, but I had to! I loved-"

He wasn't given the chance to finish his sentence, for the first Riolu jumped at him, faster than any of the three could follow. Morana crouched, ready to pounce, bringing fire threateningly to her mouth.

They were outnumbers more than three to one, and the Riolu all seemed to be hostile towards Altus.

Altus grabbed the Riolu that had jumped at him, and the two wrestled, both coming precariously close the edge of the canyon. Three of the Riolu were advancing on Morana, and she barely knew what to do. She growled and released a jet of flames at the nearest one, but the experienced fighter dodged it agilely and quickly. She saw Incultyr release a Dark Pulse towards another Riolu, and that pokemon dodged it similarly.

"Damn it, they're too agile." Morana heard the Larvitar grumble. She had to focus back to her own battle though, for the three Riolu were all approaching her cautiously. One jabbed at her experimentally, and she attempted to bite the arm. He withdrew it faster than she anticipated, and barely registered the fact before he smacked her hard across the jaw.

She shook it off quickly enough to close her teeth around his arm. The fire in her mouth died away, and instead, electricity crackled through her teeth, going through the Riolu, stunning him.

"How the hell did you do that Anna?" She heard Incultyr ask somewhere behind her. It sounded like quite a battle was taking place. She let go of the Riolu's arm, and he stumbled backwards a step before tripping over his own feet, forcing one of the other Riolu to jump aside.

"My daddy's a Manectric!" She replied, staring carefully at the two remaining Riolu she faced.

"Damn it, stop it right now, listen to me!" Morana heard Altus yelling, but all of the Riolu ignored him. Altus sounded desperate.

"Damn this, we can't fight them all off!" Incultyr yelled, followed by a grunt as he was presumably hit by some attack or another.

"Altus, Anna, cover your ears!" Incultyr suddenly warned them. Morana, understanding exactly what the Larvitar was getting at, jumped back to avoid another attack from the Riolu, then bent down so she could cover her ears with her paws.

She could still heard the screech from Incultyr, but because she was ready for it it didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have. The Riolu though, well, none of them were prepared for it. The peircing noise that came out of the Larvitar's mouth was enough to stun anyone, freezing them in their tracks.

A second after it stopped, Morana got up and searched for Altus, who had seemed to have heeded Incultyr's warning and covered his ears. The three Riolu in front of his had all taken a step back, dazed. Morana and Incultyr both motioned for him to run, and all three sprinted through the group, pushing past the Riolu that tried to stop them with whatever attacks came to mind first.

"Well!?" Incultyr asked Altus as they ran, looking nervously behind him where most of the Riolu had regained their senses.

"Well what?" Altus asked, and Morana noticed for the first time that his eyes were filled with tears.

"The Mission is completed. Me and Anna are heading back to the Guild. Are you staying or are you going back?"

The Riolu looked back, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"It seems...It seems I'm not welcome here anymore...I'll head back to the palace..."

Incultyr skidded to a half, nearly choking Morana as he grabbed her collar to stop her, and ripped their Exploration Badge out of her Collar Pouch. Holding onto both Morana and Altusu, he activated the magic before the Riolus reached them, and they disappeared in a beam of light.

Morana and Incultyr thanked the Guildmaster before he left. The two turned to the three Pokemon that wanted to join.

"Hey there kids." The Poliwrath greeted. It took both Morana and Incultye several minutes to explained to the three that Team Polaris wasn't ready to take Recruits yet. Then they turned on Altus, who seemed to be considering the Guildmaster's (very subtle) suggestion seriously.

"And...what about me?" he asked, sounding unsure of himself. The two members of Polaris looked to each other nodding.

"Of course you can join us Altus." Incultyr told him with a grin. The Riolu sighed in relief.

"Thanks a lot guys..."

Morana hesitated for a moment, but she finally spoke up.

"Altus...do you mind telling us what that was all about, with the other Riolu?" She asked nervously, hoping that she wasn't prying too hard. Altus seemed to almost physically wilt.

"I...I'll tell you. Can we go somewhere a bit more private first?"

"Of course, c'mon, let's go to our room."

Acertus x〤x Saesia x〤x Nané

Nané fluttered around the hall with wide-eyed curiosity. This was so different from the cold, dark chambers of the Temple! And there were so many different types of Pokémon, too, of all different colours and species and it was just amazing. She was likely getting some strange looks from the other Pokémon for the way she was behaving, but she couldn’t help it!

At first, she had wondered if leaving the Temple was really the best idea, but now, Nané had absolutely no regrets as to what she had done, save for maybe her parents’ reactions when they realized she was gone. The Vibrava flew over to where her new team leaders were skimming through the missions tacked onto the Bulletin Board, having recovered well from their last mission.

“-absolutely not going to take the mission for the Swirling Sea,” Acertus was saying to Saesia. He caught sight of Nané and gave her a smile, tilting his head for her to come over, before turning back to his co-leader. “You know I’m weaker in water. Besides, I doubt Nané will be pleased to have to swim using her wings.”

“Oh, please, don’t use Nané as an excuse, and just admit you’re afraid of water,” Saesia taunted. When Acertus’ face started to turn pink a little, Nané quickly picked out a piece of paper from the bulletin and practically shoved it at him to save him a bit of his pride. He spluttered a bit before grabbing onto the paper.

“Warrior’s Plateau,” Acertus read out loud, Saesia hovering over him to read it.

“Hey, this one isn’t so bad either. Come on, partner, what d’ya say?” Saesia grinned, sliding back onto the floor lazily.

Nané was a little wary when a Mothim came over to them, but his face held something akin to desperate relief rather than hostility. “Are you planning to take that mission?”

“What’s it got to do with you?” Saesia eyed him suspiciously. While he didn’t exactly look shifty, per se, but the fact that he was watching them and only came over when they took that mission was more than just suspicious. It was downright creepy.

“Those three are my boys, and I’ve been so desperate to find them,” the Mothim said, his voice sounding a little hoarse. “Please, bring them back for me!”

“Of course we will,” Acertus said firmly, not allowing any wise-a** interjections by Saesia, who huffed a little. She hadn’t been planning to say anything rude this time!

“Their names are Brecht, Daniel and Jay,” the Mothim added helpfully.

Acertus gave him what he hoped was a reassuring nod. It seemed like it succeeded from the way the father visibly relaxed. “Nané, do you mind picking up some supplies while Saesia and I prepare?”

The priestess smiled, shaking her head, “I would be glad for the chance to learn more about how the city works.”

--

They stared.

Saesia recovered first, as per usual, to deliver her usual snark. “Think the client will still pay us if we come back with dead sons?”

"I don’t think you shouldn’t joke about things like that,” Nané frowned slightly, tucking her wings in as she landed on the ground. It was true, the plateau did look very menacing, though to her, no more menacing than the dark, unexplored caverns of the Temple. “He looked like he was very worried about them.”

Acertus began walking towards one of the cliffs, and leapt onto it without hesitation. Such a small leap was nothing for him. “That’s why we should hurry before anything happens to them. Nané, can you check the map?”

She nodded and swooped up to where Acertus was standing. As Saesia began to make her way up, Nané withdrew the map from Acertus’ pack, and unfurled it neatly for him and Saesia to see. They were slowly teaching her how to read the civilized language, but she hadn’t quite grasped it yet. She could only make out a few words here and there on the map, such as ‘dead end’ or ‘pack’.

“Alright, I have a clue of which way to go so that we cover the most ground in the most efficient amount of time,” Acertus finally said, looking up from the map and gesturing for Nané to put it back. “I don’t think it would be wise of us to split up, so we’ll have to keep a brisk pace.”

“Fine with me,” Saesia answered, along with Nané’s nod.

They continued for some ways without too much trouble, until a blue blur came out of what seemed like nowhere and barrelled into Saesia, nearly throwing her off the side of the path. She let out a loud hiss as she struggled to regain her balance. “What the hell?!”

“Watch out!” Nané cried out to Acertus, pitching herself into the air to remove herself from its line of attack. The blur came to a stop, revealing a menacing looking Poliwrath. At a loss for what to do, she tried an old tactic of dealing with attackers. “We haven’t done anything to you, so leave us alone!”

Ignoring her, he went straight for Acertus, who did a dodge that was pretty amazing. Taking this as a sign that he wasn’t going to listen to her plea of peace, Nané frowned and focused her mind on him. The team had decided to give her the TM they’d received from the guild leader, and after a lot of practicing, she could use it fairly well by now.

The Poliwrath recoiled, as if struck by an invisible force, and then turned to glare at her, changing his target from Acertus to her. The first thing he did was pin her to the ground, unfortunately. This was one wild Pokemon who had done his research! With her wings immobile, Nané was, frankly, completely vulnerable. Acertus leapt over them to get a shot at the unguarded back of the Pokemon, but in his hurry, pushed off with too much strength and skidded into Saesia, very nearly throwing both of them off the side.

“Hey, watch it!” Saesia pushed her partner off so she could move.

Nané struggled futilely, before the great weight on top of her suddenly disappeared and a somewhat friendly looking face held out a hand to her. She accepted it gracefully to launch herself into a hover once again; loosening out her wings from how tightly the Poliwrath had grabbed them. The Combusken straightened and gave her a concerned look. “Are you alright, missy? Looked like that guy did a number on ya.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Nané gave him a little half-bow, before looking around for her team. It seemed the Combusken had brought his friends and had teamed up with Saesia and Acertus to bring down the Poliwrath. They looked like they were taking care of it nicely, so Nané turned back to the Combusken who had rescued her and the little Burmy half-hiding behind his leg.

The Combusken must have noticed her curious look because he nudged the Burmy out from behind his leg. “I found this little guy half scared to death out here when my pals and I decided to come out here to train, and brought him along. I was afraid a wild Pokemon might get him. I was going to bring him to the guild afterwards, just in case his family put up a poster or somethin’. Do you know who he belongs to?”

“I might,” she told him before perching herself on the ground so that she was eye-level with the Burmy. Nané gave him a kind smile, the kind meant to completely reassure whoever you were speaking to that they were safe and the one in control of the conversation. It seemed he was too terrified for it to work. “Hello. What’s your name?”

He mumbled something. Nané gave him a curious look, and he spoke up a little louder, “Daniel.”

“Your father has been worried about you and your brothers,” she told him. He sniffled a little and nodded. “He asked us to come find the three of you. Come with us, and we’ll find your brothers so you can all go home, alright?"

Daniel nodded and scooched from the Combusken’s leg to Nané’s, just as Saesia, Acertus, and the other Pokémon came over, having scared off the Poliwrath at last. “M-my brothers left me behind… because I was too s-slow…” He sniffed again.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get eaten,” Saesia commented, earning herself a dirty look from both her teammates. She was just telling the truth! Oh, great, now the kid was crying. “We’re wasting time, and time is PD! Thanks for the save, guys, but we’ve gotta go.”

“Good luck,” the Combusken bid them as they left, both Acertus and Nané trying to stop Daniel’s tears and Saesia leading the way. Correctly, for once.

It wasn’t long before they came across another group of Pokémon, Heracrosses this time. Before they were spotted, the team hid behind a large rock to spy on the Pokémon. They were standing in a circle around something. Saesia squinted a little to try and see through a few cracks in their formation, but no luck. Though it looked like the Burmy saw something, from the way he gasped. “Brother! I-it’s my brother, we have to help him…!”

“It looks like they’re literally planning to eat him,” Acertus frowned, giving a meaningful look at Saesia. And this was exactly why they shouldn’t say things that might jinx their mission. He counted exactly five Pokémon, forming a neat circle around their prey, their claws clacking together ominously. “We’ll have to take them on together, from all sides. Daniel, stay here and don’t come out until we tell you to, alright?”

The young Burmy nodded, as the team got ready to attack. Nané focused hard on the ring of Pokémon, sending waves of psychic energy crashing into them, hopefully making them dizzy. Acertus and Saesia bolted from behind the rock as Nané shot up into the air. Acertus took a flying leap and landed on two of them, biting down with a flaming mouth and not stopping until he heard a loud ‘crunch’. Saesia grabbed the Burmy with her tail and got the hell out of there, bringing him back to his brother, before going back to help Acertus.

“Alright there, partner?” she called, slamming her tail into one of them and sending him flying. By now, last two had wisened up and were being cautious about their approach to the battle. Unfortunately, just a few moments too late, as Nané dive-bombed into them both, and then followed up with a Sand Attack. “We are so awesome.”

“Thanks for helping us,” the second Burmy brother said, coming out from behind the rock with his little brother. “I’m Jay. Have any of you seen Brecht? He… went to look for food yesterday, but I haven’t seen him since… I’m kind of worried about him.”

“Only ‘kind of’?” Saesia snorted. “What a great relationship.”

“We have not seen your brother,” Nané said, actually answering his question, for which Acertus was grateful. Honestly, he was afraid some day that tongue of Saesia’s was really going to anger one of their clients. And then their reputation as a team would be shot.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and back to the topic at hand. “Where did he go?”

“I… think he said he was going to find a stream or something for water,” Jay answered after a moment of thought. “He’s not a very good fighter, so I don't think he’d be able to defend himself if he was attacked, which is why I was so worried.”

Nané pulled out the map again and they all hunched over it to check it. There was a blue line snaking down a section of the map, which she assumed was water of some kind. Maybe the stream that Brecht had gone looking for? The others seemed to agree.

“If we follow that path, it should lead us right to the stream,” Acertus informed them, gesturing over to their left, where a thin trail was just visible. “Let’s hope we get there in time, and nothing has happened to him already.”

Unfortunately, luck seemed to be working against them today, as the end of the trail led them to the sight of an unconscious Mothim, dangling half in the water and half sprawled onto the riverbank. Saesia grimaced, “Hey, two out of three isn’t bad.”

“Stop saying that!” Acertus bristled. As far as he was concerned, ‘two out of three’ was a failure of a mission. And he refused to have his second mission already be a failure. How would they ever become a respectable team if they couldn’t even safely rescue a few children?

He approached the limp form but jumped back when a Poliwrath leapt out of the river to land by the Mothim’s side with an outraged cry and a feral look on her face. She beat her fists together warningly, speaking the City tongue pretty crudely. “No! Not touch! Leave!”

Nané looked around to see everyone at a loss for what to say, and stepped forward. Her clan had always been taught in both the City tongue and the Wild speech, for communication purposes. After all, that was how they had survived for so long. She mentally shifted gears to the Wild language. “We’re not here to hurt anyone. We just want to bring him home to his father.”

“Ya speak?” the Poliwrath looked taken back, relaxing her stance a little. She looked down protectively at the Mothim before looking at the group again. “He saved my life. I don’ forget my debts. How do I know you’re tellin’ the truth?”

Nané gestured to the two brothers behind her. “These are his brothers.”

Saesia shook her tail out of boredom when the two Pokemon started garbling away in what sounded like wild Pokemon language. It figures Nané would know something like that, as polite and nice she was normally. She did used to be a wild Pokemon after all, living out there in a musty old temple with her kin. Saesia straightened up eagerly when the Poliwrath nodded and pulled the Mothim out of the river, carrying him over to the group.

“Thank you," Acertus said gratefully, helping her settle him onto the ground in front of them. Right now, the most important part was to get him back to the guild so his injuries could be treated properly. The Poliwrath shook her head and pressed a fist to her chest before saying something completely unintelligible.

“She says that this is the least she can do for him,” Nané translated for them. The two little Burmy’s were instantly by their brother’s side, sniffling and practically yarning up a eulogy. Saesia rolled her eyes, activating their exploration badge. Nané gave the Poliwrath a smile. It had been nice speaking in such a familiar tongue again. “Thank you, and goodbye.”

When they reappeared in a hallway of the Pokemon guild, Acertus immediately ran to go find a doctor, while the father Mothim joined his two younger sons in worrying about his eldest.

Saesia x〤x Nané

Oh, damn, this was going to be hard. Man, why did Acertus have to run off so quickly? He was always the one who suggested which recruits should join the team and whatever. Saesia surveyed all four Pokemon in an attempt to gain some of Acertus' wisdom. To her surprise, yet again, Nané spoke up first.

"Missions are very dangerous," she said unusually sternly, sensing his desire to protect his family. But running away to join a team definitely wasn't the best idea. For her, she'd just wanted to see more of the outside world. "If something were to happen to you, what would your sons do? If you want to protect them, then stay by their side."

"Well spoken, missy," the Combusken from before clapped his paws appreciatively. Daniel gave him a tentative wave before turning back to his brother. "M'name's Dallas. I saw how your team helped these little fellas. Not much point in havin' strength if it ain't being used for the right things, is there?"

Nané nodded with a smile. His manner of speech was definitely strange, but it looked like had his heart in the right place.

"This is getting way too heavy," Saesia muttered, before raising her voice. "You seem cool. You and my partner can bond over your mutual fear of water! Mothim Papa, you heard what Nané said. The rest of you, scram, we're not taking any more recruits. Seriously."

There was a loud knock on the Team's door on the boys' side, early in the morning. Most of Team Polaris was still deep asleep; none of them were very early risers.

Except for Altus, who was sitting at the desk reading a book about the history of the Southern Territory. He started at the sound, not expecting anything so early. Was there an emergency and they needed the now well-known Team?

Placing a bookmark on the page he was reading, the Riolu snapped the book shut and carefully weaved between the sleeping forms of his teammates. Crescendo the Milotic had his head rested against the door, and Altus carefully picked it up and moved it aside before opening the door a crack.

"Yes?" He asked, trying to see who it was. He caught a flash of blue before the door was forcibly shoved in, pushing Altus off his feet. The little warrior caught himself with an arm though, pushing himself back up and in a ready stance. Beside him Crescendo's eyes popped open and his head rose, staring at the door. Behind him Altus could hear his teammates stirring awake from the noise. His eyes were pinned on the two Riolu that now stood in the doorway.

"Infidus! Fastus!" Altus exclaimed, his eyes widened in shock and recognition. The two Riolu did not look happy, murder in their eyes. "What are you doing here!?"

One of the Riolu -Fastus- spat to the side, nearly missing Cress, and didn't say a thing. He extended a paw, offering Altus a piece of paper. Altus snatched up the paper, staring at the other two for a moment before looking down to read the paper.

"What the hell's going on!?" Incultyr asked behind him, but the Riolu ignored it.

My former son. You have disgraced us all with your shameful actions. The clan suffers for your weakness. I give you this chance to repent and redeem yourself. I challenge you, He Who Has Lost His Name, for the right to rejoin us. Beat me, and you may once again claim the role as my son, the future Chieftan. Lose, and I will have the pleasure of taking your life. Flee, and we will hunt you and your followers down.

Come alone.

-Chieftan of the Riolu tribe, Custos.

Altus was shaking by the end of the letter. The little Riolu rarely got angry, but this was pushing it too far. With a snarl, Altus leaped forward, knocking Fastus over and pinning him down. The other one -Infidus- moved to attack but a barrier was suddenly erected in front of him and he smacked face-first into it. Crescendo cried out angrily; he did not like violence.

Altus ignored the other one and stared intently at the Riolu he had pinned down.

"I will fight, brother. Tell my father that. But after I beat him and prove myself to you self-righteous bastards, I am not staying. I belong here." He growled, claws digging into the other Riolu's shoulder. Fastus's eyes narrowed angrily as he struggled to throw Altus off.

Altus let go and hopped back, allowing Fastus to stand back up. The infuriated Riolu though, hopped to his feet and charged at Altus, who was frankly expecting this. Altus, unlike most of his species, rarely paid attention to aura readings, but the anger came off of Fastus so thickly no Riolu could miss it.

Altus dodged to the side, grabbing Fastus's arm as the other Riolu tried to halt his momentum and swing out for a punch. Altus twisted that arm, forcing it behind Fastus and jerking it upwards, the other Riolu growling in pain.

"Damn it, don't make me do anything I'm going to regret. I won't enjoy killing my own brother." Altus growled in a threat. Behind him his team members had all woken up, staring at the scene in shock and confusion. None of them had ever seen Altus like this before; the Riolu had always been so calm, kind, and level-headed. Whatever this was about, it must be really upsetting.

Morana and Incultyr glanced at each other, knowing more about what was going on than anyone else in the Team (except for Altus himself of course). The two of them strode forward just as Crescendo's barrier dissipated and the second Riolu lunged at Altus. Morana foresaw this -her Future Sight under much better control now- and sent an attack into the future.

Infidus nearly reached Altus before sheer psychic power stopped him like a wall and flung him back the same instance a bolt of lightning crashing from the Houndour to it. Morana's lips were raised in a growl, showing her teeth.

Incultyr had a ball of dark energy collected in his hands threateningly.

"Leave Team Polaris's Room, now." He commanded.

Fastus looked around to see an upset Turtwig poke its head out of a cardboard box, the large Milotic staring at him with eyes narrowed, and two other Team members coming through another door in the wall, both looking rather annoyed.

Knowing this was a fight he could not win, Fastus walked over to the unconscious form of Infidus, slung him over his shoulder, and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

The Team Room was silent. Incultyr grabbed the letter from Altus, read it, and turned to Altus.

"We're going with you." He declared. Altus shook his head.

"No, this is personal, I don't want you caught up in-"

"Damn it! Personal affair!? They broke into our team Room and threatened the safety of our members. Like hell I'm staying out of this!"

Altus sighed, collapsing on the floor.

"Please, Incultyr...this is between me, my father, and my former clan."

The Larvitar stared at the Riolu.

"Fine then, we won't interfere in the fight. But me and anyone who wants to go with me will escort you safely across the plateau."

"Thank you Incultyr..."

---

Incultyr, Morana, and Altus stared at the wide open plains, filled with dry bare earth and small tufts of yellowing grass. Before them sat two familiar figures, two Meditites calmly facing the sun, their legs crossed.

One of them turned to greet them in the same voice as last time, a voice within their minds.

"Halt. Who are you?" It asked.

The three Team Polaris members glanced at each other, remembering the last time they fought these two.

"We're an exploration team. We have defeated you once before; let us pass." Altus spoke up. The Meditite opened its eyes, looking over their little group before nodding.

"Yes, this was the little one who was dark-typed." It motioned to Morana.

"We demand a rematch, Team Polaris. You denied me entry into your team once; I hope that I have become strong enough for you to reconsider." The second Meditite sounded in their mind.

Incultyr growled and lowered himself into a ready position.

"Fine then. Let's get this over with."

The three Team Polaris members backed up to form a defencive triangle like the last time they came here as the two Meditites took their positions, one on either side of the group. Before any of them had even registered the fight had begun, one of the Meditites had appeared impossibly close in front of Morana, startling her. It clapped both of its hands in her face, sending a shock wave through the air that knocked the Houndour backwards, right between Altus and Incultyr.

The two of them turned to face the Meditite, but the other one sent a wave of psychic power over them. They knew to take out Morana first this time, the one their psychic attack would have no effect on.

Altus groaned as he felt the attack on his mind, luring him into unconsciousness. Beside him Incultyr was growling through a headache, and managed to throw a ball of dark energy at the Meditite attacking them, who dodged out of the way with ease. It had expected the attack; the partly psychic type was detecting their every move.

Morana groaned, picking herself up and trying to recover from the sudden attack. The Meditite that had attacked her ignored her teammates, going straight for her. The Houndour shook her head, growling as she faced the Meditite. She opened her mouth, letting forth a burst of fire, but the physic-fighting type rolled out of the way with amazing dexterity.

It caught itself, barrelling forward in a cartwheel, using the momentum to launch himself into a kick at the Houndour. He caught Moran in the skull-bone, snapping her head back and she flipped up and onto her back from the force. She was out like a light.

The Meditite turned back onto Incultyr and Altus, adding his own physic attack to a assault.

Incultyr saw Morana fall, and he felt fury rise up within him. A deep, ancient, terribly fury that consumed all rational thought. With a mighty roar, his eyes glowing, dragonfire leaped up and out of his skin, coating him in an orange inferno. The Psychic attack on his mind was no longer of consequence; he didn't need to think within the rage that he had summoned, the rage of ancient dragons.

The two Meditites didn't understand their danger until the Larvitar walked straight up to one of them, dark energy cackling around his fist. The Meditite's eyes opened wide when he realized this and he stumbled backwards, but Incultyr swung his arm forward in a heavy punch, right into the fighting type's face. The Meditite fell back forward, quite unconscious or dead.

"What are you doing!?" Altus cried behind him, the attack eased by the elimination of one of the attackers. He knew what was going on though; Outrage. It was a move Incultyr calls upon by choice, but it leaves him unable to control himself. It was an effective way to break through the mental attacks, but at the cost of his reasoning.

Altus watched as Incultyr stalked up to the second, now terrified Meditite, and put a fist into its face, this time without the added dark pulse. He collapsed anyways, falling limp to the ground. With the battle over, the dragonfire subsided, and Incultyr gradually returned to himself.

Altus tried to stumble over to Incultyr, but fell to the dry, cracked ground, his head swimming and his vision wavering oddly. Cursed psychic attacks...

"Morana!? Anna!" he heard Incultyr's frustrated cry, and then a bright flash at the edge of his vision that brought a sharp stab of pain through his head. Groaning, he shut his eyes tightly.

"Eat this." He heard Incultyr's voice right next to him, and he felt rough hands grab him and pull him to his feet. He opened his eyes, accepting the Oran berries offered to him.

"Thanks." Altus murmured, gulping the berries down. He felt relief crash through him almost instantly, his headache reduced to a light throb and the world stopped tilting randomly. He glanced up to see Incultyr standing right in front of him.

"A-are...did you kill them?" He asked, shaking his head in an attempt to rid himself of the last tendrils of the attack. Incultyr turned back and shrugged.

"Probably not?"

Altus sighed. Team Polaris always seemed to leave behind them a trail of dead bodies every mission, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out if it was normal or acceptable or not. Looking around, Altus couldn't see Morana.

"What happened to Anna?" He asked, worry rising within him. Incultyr growled and held up Team Polaris's exploration badge.

"I sent her back. She took a hard blow to the head." Incultyr explained, placing his explorer's badge back into his bag.

"Let's get this over with. We heading for the river like last time?"

Altus nodded, hoping that Morana was properly taken care of. The two turned to their right, heading for the river that flowed through the plateau and eventually entered the great canyon Altus's former clan lived by. Both of them knew what to expect; a lot of enemies, just like last time.

The two walked along in silence, Altus's mind filled with thoughts of his clan and Incultyr just determined to see his friend through this trial. When the two saw the thin line of trees on the horizon, signifying the little band of vegetation around the river, the two stopped and headed left.

This time, they're going to try and avoid all the territorial disputes along the river by staying away from it, but still being close enough to use the trees as a guide. Hopefully, they'll have a more peaceful journey this way.

It was mid-day when the two stopped for a break. They found a familiar large boulder sitting at the bottom of a familiar hill, and the two went to its shaded side.

Altus sat down with his back to the boulder, taking his backpack off and rummaging for an apple. It was lunchtime, and after all the walking the two of them did, he was hungry. Incultyr sat down next to him, and started working on loosening a chunk of the rock-hard earth.

As Altus took a bite of his apple, he watched as Incultyr finally loosened a small chunk. It was mostly clay, white, hard, and crumbly. Incultyr bit a piece off, chewing and swallowing it, like anyone else would with regular food. Shaking his head, Altus went back to his apple. He's known Incultyr for a very long time now, but he'll never be used to seeing his leader live off of soil as food.

"Altus?" Incultyr asked, finishing off his first chunk of the clay and moving to loose another piece off the ground. Altus scraped the last bit of meat off his apple core and threw it aside, reaching into his bag for another one.

"Yes?"

The Larvitar turned to face Altus, looking rather serious.

"Whatever happens, I'm with you. If things don't work out, signal me. I'll have the explorer's badge ready." Incultyr explained. Altus hesitated, but then nodded, staring down at his paws and the apple.

"Yeah...thank you." Altus murmured, suddenly not very hungry.

Incultyr winced, his fears confirmed. Altus didn't expect to win this fight.

"I won't forgive you if you die on me Altus. Remember, you always have the option of getting stronger if must be." Incultyr told the Riolu, patting the fighting-type on the arm where his solar Ribbon was tied. Altus looked down at it, nodding.

"Yeah, I...I guess so."

After the both of them finished their lunch, they wordlessly packed up and headed off again, north towards the canyon. The sun was directly overhead now, the heat making the distance seem to waver and distort. Incultyr was unaffected by the heat, but Altus was surprised at how uncomfortable he was under the blistering sun. It had been only a few years since he's lived here, but already the place was no longer welcoming or home to him.

The little Riolu sighed as he remembered his last trip here. He hadn't known how much his clan ended up hating him for leaving, had attempted to come back once more and live with them. But he had been chased off, and with nowhere to go, was taken in by Team Polaris. He had thought and hoped it was the last of it; it would have been so easy if it simply never came up again!

They veered towards the right as the canyon came closer, towards where Altus's former clan used to live. Both of them were tense.

"So how will this work?" Incultyr asked Altus as they neared the lip of the canyon.

"This is a challenge issued by a member of the clan. Everything will be done to ensure a fair, honest fight." Altus replied. "Probably out on the open plains, with the clan members as witness."

Incultyr frowned, not entirely sure if a 'fair, honest fight' was going to happen. He didn't know the clan very well, but so far they haven't left the leader of Team Polaris a very good impression.

"And this guy you're fighting-"

"Custos. He's my father."

"-Custos. How strong is he?" Incultyr asked, and Altus winced in response.

"The strongest of the clan. Warriors of all over the plateau come to challenge him but he's never lost once."

Ok, that's...more than a little impressive. The Larvitar glanced over at his friend worriedly.

"So why did you accept the challenge?"

"How could I not?"

Incultyr's response was cut off when he caught a blue of motion at the edge of his vision, Spinning around he saw a Riolu standing several yards from them, glaring at the two of them.

"That's my brother, Fastus." Altus mumbled.

"We told you to come alone! How dare you bring a second to this fight!" The Riolu yelled. Larvitar looked over at Altus, shrugged and stalked forward towards Fastus, who got down into a battle-ready crouch.

"I'm here to ensure Altus gets where he's suppose to get to safely, and get back home safely. You've got a problem with that?" Incultyr growled. The little Riolu bared his teeth, and then was promptly shot off his feet by a a fist-sized rock the Larvitar had just thrown at him. It pegged him in the chest with enough force to topple him over, backwards.

Incultyr stalked up to the Riolu, grabbed him by the fur of its chest, and dragged him back up his feet.

"Now get us to where this damned fight is suppose to take place, now, and I'll let you keep your tail attached."

---

The area cleared for the fight was right next to the cliff of the canyon. The ground was smooth, hard, made up of a salmon-red rock. A ring of Riolus and a few Lucario stood around in a circle, and in the middle of the fighting area sat a Lucario. His eyes were closed as if in meditation, but Altus knew Custos was alert.

Incultyr patted Altus reassuringly on the shoulder, the glint of their exploration badge hidden under his other hand. He was ready if things turned ugly. Altus took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and pushed his way through the ring of Riolus to stand in front of Custos.

Every eye was on Altus and the larger Lucario, the two sharing the same oddly off-shaded fur. Custos uncrossed his legs and stood up without opening his eyes, towering over his son.

"I, Altus, have accepted your challenge to fight here at warrior's Plateau before the clan." The Riolu declared. The Lucario before him slowly opened his eyes, glancing down at Altus with indifference.

"So you have finally returned. Do you repent for your foolish actions?" The Lucario asked. Altus glanced up angrily.

"No! I did nothing wrong!" Altus growled.

The fight began in an instant. Altus was detecting for any signs of movement that would indicate the start of the battle and the moment Custos twitched he was out of the way in a flash, the Lucario's strike missing his tail by inches.

Custos turned to face Altus and the two circled each other, Altus knowing he has to play on the defencive, Custos confident that he can defeat the Riolu.

Custos shot forward, so fast he was a blur and Altus quickly crossed his arms in front of him as a shield. The larger Pokemon slammed into him, and he slid back, his hind paws struggling to cling onto the surface of the rock. His arms ached as the force of the blow reverberated through them, but the metal guards on his forearms stopped any local serious damage.

The Riolu threw his arms down, forcing the Lucario's down as well and he hopped onto Custos's hands, using them as a springboard to jump up, and he spun in midair, feet leading, in a counter. The Lucario ducked and backed off, and Altus landed having hit nothing.

Incultyr watched the fight nervously. Altus could not hit his father at all, while Custos was getting several small hits in. The two exchanged several more blows, Incultyr nervously fingering the explorer's badge.

The fight wasn't at all an even match, and the cheering Riolu couldn't be all that good for Altus's confidence.

As Custos took a swipe at Altus, the Riolu ducked and spun himself in a kick, this time fire trailing from his foot. He managed to catch the Lucario's ankles, and Custos stumbled for a second before jumping into the air, doing a backflip, and landing several meters away, unharmed.

Altus was breathing heavily now, exhausted, but Custos wasn't even winded.

"It's time to finish this." Custos spoke coldly, bringing both hands to his side. A ball of blue aura started to collect and form.

With a growl Altus charged forward, desperate to interfere in the attack before it got launched. Custos threw the half-formed Aura Sphere at Altus, realizing he didn't have enough time to fully charge the attack.

The Riolu saw the attack coming his way. His reflex was to dodge out of the way, but something else told him to stop; there was another option. One power of the Riolu was the ability to read another's aura and replicate their moves.

Altus reached his hands forward as the Aura Sphere struck, but instead of being blown back by the force, he caught it! Spinning around, he redirected the momentum of the Aura Sphere attack back at Custos.

The Lucario caught his own aura sphere with a growl, throwing it off to the side and into the sky where it dissipated.

"Enough!" He roared, eyes narrowed dangerously. His aura began to glow about him a bright blue as he read Altus's every action. Dodging to the side with barely a thought, he allowed Altus to skid past and attempt to turn and hit him with a punch. The Lucario smashed a clawed paw down onto the Riolu's head.

Altus's trained punch hit Custos straight in the chest, just under his spike, and the Lucario stumbled back. But his own attack had hit its mark, smashing between Altus's ears, leaving bloody furrows where his claws had gone through skin.

The Riolu hopped back and out of the Lucario's reach, grimacing through the pain. The blood trickling down his face from his head wasn't helping him much at all.

"Not bad." Custos grunted in acknowledgement, stalking forward towards Altus. The Lucario placed its two hands together and slowly spread them, a thin bar of energy appearing between them. Then he took one hand off of it, leaving a large bone of aura in his right hand. He swung his newly-formed weapon at Altus, who jumped up and over the attack, rushing forward to try and get another hit in.

The Lucario brought his other hand forward, another glowing blue ball of aura formed, right in the path of Altus's charge. He ran into the ball of aura and simply stopped, paralysed. Custos squeezed his hands together and the aura blasted outwards, the force throwing Altus back into the crowd of Riolu. They all scrambled out of the way, letting him hit the ground, hard.

"That's it." Incultyr growled, walking forward as the Lucario stalked towards the stunned Riolu. The Larvitar roared, grabbing the ground, ripping out a large chunk of the red rock with his magic. The end of it was razor sharp, and the Larvitar heaved it at Custos with all his might.

The Lucario was out of the way within a fraction of a second, and all angry eyes turned on the Larvitar.

"The rules of engagement has been broken!" Several of them hissed, stalking towards Incultyr. The Larvitar ignored them, rushing forward to Altus, who was groggily getting back up to his feet.

"Wait- Incultyr? What are you-!"

The Larvitar grabbed the Riolu by the shoulder and activated the explorer's badge, to the angry howls of the other Riolu.

"We're going back. I'm not watching you die!"

((Note: If the reward is a Lucario recruit, can we just pretend that part of the reward vanished? >.> The clan hates him right now and wants to murder Altus, none of them in their right mind would want to join his team.))