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Andarien paled slightly. "Both of them ... gone ..."

His mind was racing. The last place he remembered seeing either of them was when he had first let Eon out of his Pokeball and Miyuki had let Ai out of hers ... when they'd first arrived in the clearing where Luk had made the shrine for his parents. What had happened after that ...? He couldn't remember. He had been so focused on the event that he hadn't even thought about his Pokemon until after the celebrations had ended late that night.

"I've been working all week," he said anxiously, "so I haven't had a chance to look anywhere ... have you looked around for them? Has anyone seen them at all?"

Stupid questions - of course she had looked, and of course no one knew anything. Why else would she be so worried? But he had to ask anyways, just to find out what she had been doing all week.

"Do you think maybe we could get some people to help us look?" Andarien asked anxiously. "The more people who are looking, the better the odds are of finding them ..."

But who could they ask for help?

"Where would they be?" Andarien asked anxiously. "By the beach or something?"

He was beginning to realize that as busy as he'd been, he knew absolutely nothing about what anyone else in their party had been up to during their time here.

Ai was not alone, heading towards the house: Eon was trotting proudly alongside her, pretty much prancing. Every once in a while he would lean over and lick her cheek or something, but he made sure that they didn't get distracted from their destination.

Andarien nodded. "Then let's go," he decided. "Do you need to grab anything first?"

It was high summer, so she wouldn't need a cloak or anything, but she might want to grab a bag or her staff or something. He didn't have anything with him, but he didn't foresee the need for anything either, so he wasn't worried, personally.

Eon didn't change his pace when he saw his master and Ai's mistress ahead of them, but continued with Ai as if nothing was wrong and they hadn't just disappeared for a week.

Andarien whirled around to see what had startled Miyuki, and his eyes grew wide when he saw Eon and Ai coming up the path.

"EON!" he exclaimed, his heart jumping into his throat. He turned on his heel and ran to greet his Pokemon. Eon perked his ears up when he heard the joy in his master's voice, and only when Andarien called him did he leave Ai's side and bound forward to greet his master.

"Eon, where were you?" Andarien cried, kneeling down and hugging the Umbreon to his chest. Eon squeaked and yipped at him, and Andarien frowned.

"What do you mean, you were just in the forest?" he demanded. "That's not a safe place to be! I was worried about you!"

Andarien ran his fingers gently over Eon's body, checking for scrapes, cuts, or anything else that might have happened to him. "Yeah, why did you stay gone for a whole week?" he asked with a frown. "We were worried sick!"

Eon nuzzled Andarien's cheek, trying to reassure him that he was all right, and he made quiet yips and squeaks all the while, speaking in Pokemon talk.

Andarien wasn't quite sure what to make of the explanation. "Lost track of time, huh?" he muttered. "For a whole week? You're smarter than that, Eon. I know you are. You can't tell me you just lost track of time."

Eon pressed his ears against his skull, but went silent.

"Yeah, don't run off like that," Andarien agreed with Miyuki.

Eon lowered his head submissively, and Andarien stroked him softly. "Yeah, okay, I'm done being mad," he murmured. "I'm just glad you're okay."

He straightened up, still holding Eon in his arms. "Mi, do you have berries for Eon too?" he asked, looking over at his sister. "I don't have any with me."