Crystal Forest: Manifest Destiny.

Volt stopped midstride. He turned finally to face the Staravia. "This!" he shouted, motioning at the pokemon laying on the ground, exhausted,"is exactly what I am here about!" These pokemon had just worn themselves down to their last ounces of strength, and to accomplish what? To push the humans and their pokemon slaves back to the settlement for a short time while they heal? The humans had machines to do that, machines that did it very well. The pokemon of the forest had the lake, and it had lost its power. "You kids are in way over your heads! Those humans will be back, and they just keep whittling down your numbers while their forces continue to grow!" Still, he felt sympathetic towards them. His voice softened. "I know how you feel about the humans. They're savages. Something needs to be done... but if we can do it without lowering ourselves to their level... well don't you think we should?"

Stanley paused for a moment, taking in everything the jolteon suggested. "Well," he finally responded, "what would you have us do? Yes, these pokemon are young, but they are more than capable of aiding our leader in defending our home. Besides, it isn't as if we go about picking fights. We only battle when attacked first." Stanley's words had a defensive tone to them, as if he were trying to argue that he was right.

"Calm down Stanley," a voice called out from the pile. "I'll talk to this fellow." Flare rose from his position in the middle of the group and leapt over everyone, landing next to the staravia."

"F-Flare, sir. What are you doing? You need to rest!" protested the staravia.

"I'll be fine Stanley," Flare responded. "You, on the other hand, fought hard as well. Why don't you rest for awhile, and I'll continue talking to our guest."

"If you say so sir." Stanley flew to where Flare had been resting, and lay down, still looking a little uneasy.

"Flare turned to face the jolteon. "I'm sorry about him. He has a bit of an ego sometimes, especially after a difficult battle. I've been listening to your conversation, and you're absolutely right. The majority of these pokemon are too young to be fighting. I really dislike leading them into battle, but they always insist. They're worried that if I don't help them, the humans will just capture the entire group."

Flare took on a more serious tone. "To tell the truth, I've against this whole 'battling against humans' business since it began, but like my friend said, there seems to be no alternative." Flare stopped to think about something for a moment. "Do you know of any such alternatives to defend our home?" he asked.

"I do believe he may actually need our help." Will chuckled.
"Ladies first" He said, bowing slightly.

Lavender nodded and bolted out into the Typhlosion's path, skidding to a halt in front of it and creating a wall out of Protect, which the Typhlosion would bounce off if it didn't stop before it ran into her. She growled threateningly, even though compared to the Typhlosion she was barely a quarter of it's size. "Stay away from that Leafeon!" She shouted.

Volt thought for a minute. "No," he said, finally, "not without fighting. Nothing plausible anyway. The humans don't even understand us." He hesitated before continuing. "If fighting is the only way though... it shouldn't be these children. I know several places where they could hide safely, if they're worried about being caught by the humans." Volt started to say something else when he heard something behind him and stopped suddenly.

"You can't seriously be talking about going out and fighting the humans yourself!" exclaimed Nadia from behind him.

Volt turned to face her. "Of course not," he countered. "But think about it, Nadia. The humans are cutting down the forest, no matter how much I ignore them, they will eventually reach us, and then our home will be destroyed. They need to be stopped, but children can't do that. If someone can gather together enough seasoned warriors, then the forest might stand a chance."

"Great," responded Flare. "If you find a safe place for everyone, I could have Stanley watch over the group and make sure they stay out of harm's way. These children...they've been through a lot lately, and especially after today, I would agree that having them hide and more skilled battlers take their roles would be best." Flare sighed. "If only there were some way to communicate with the humans..."

Will lept out beside her, landing and extending all of his extra limbs, the spidery legs lifting him off the ground. "Indeed, do stop. Though I'd love an excuse to hurt you, I'd rather not."

The Typhlosion skidded to a halt but was smiling deviously. "I may not be able to hurt the Umbreon little Glaceon, but you're a different story." He stood up on his hind legs, fire in his mouth and let go a powerful Blast Burn at Will at a close range. Synth shuddered as he saw this, he had run too far to help them right now but he ran back anyway.

Will raised an eyebrow, and unleashed a powerful Blizzard attack to counter it. This caused the flames to lower somewhat, but he was still blasted off his feet by the attack.

Cackling, he shakily got back up. "Was that the best you could do?" He taunted, his fur charred.

Volt snorted. "Good luck with that one," he said sarcastically. "I'd bet my life that even if we could communicate with them, they still wouldn't listen." He looked around at the gathering of ragged pokemon. He looked at Nadia and she gave him a nod. "As soon as your... followers are well rested, we should set out. It's only a couple hours to get to where we are headed, but we'll want to get there as soon as possible."

Nadia stepped forward slightly and addressed Flare. "If your people need anything, food, water, I can help you get that. I even know a little about treating minor wounds with different herbs. Anything you need, just let me know."

Volt was about to search the area for something, anything that would distract him, when he turned back to Flare. "I'll need you to return with us to our den after we bring your people to safety. There is more that needs to be discussed."

"Alright," Flare said in response to Volt. "If the journey is going to be a couple of hours, then it would be best for the group to rest for a little longer. The good thing about these young ones is that they regain their energy quickly. We should be able to set out soon."
Flare then turned to the vaporeon. "Thank you for your offer. I'm sure by the time we reach wherever it is we're going, everyone will be hungry and tired again. Any assistance you can offer would be most appreciated." Flare paused for a moment, thinking of something. "Oh, right, I don't believe I've formally introduced myself. My name is Flare, although you probably gathered that by now."

Volt continued off to look around the perimeter to keep himself occupied. Nadia smiled at Flare. "It's good to meet you, Flare. I'm Nadia. That was Voltico. Don't mind him if he seems upset, today has been rough on him... on both of us. If anyone needs help, have them come see me and I'll see what I can do for them."

Copper awoke to a loud thumping outside the burrow. Through the entrance tunnel emanated assorted voices, excitedly shouting and murmuring among themselves.

"General!", A youthful sounding voice from outside squealed, "The prints end here!"

"Good work, boy.", A much-too-familiar voice replied, "I guess we found him then. COPPER!"

The meowth winced as he heard his name shouted by the commander.

"Copper! We know you're out here somewhere. Come out now so there needs be no more bloodshed."

The cat flattened down his ears. From what the captain said, it appeared that they didn't know about the burrow. He could hide here, but if they discovered it, Mister Voltico and Miss Nadia's home would be lost... No... He couldn't let that happen. Copper pushed the bag of files and his rapier into the corner and headed to the tunnel. Hopefully those little souveneirs would be able to tell Voltico and Nadia what they needed to know about what had transpired...

As he poked his head up, just barely still inside the tunnel, Copper could see the small army of pokemon awaiting him through the brush. Just as he thought, McCormick stood in the middle of the clearing, looking about. The other pokemon were all nearby, none of them looking in his direction. Two armed humans accompanied them, but seemed to be off in their own little world. Apparently capturing a pokemon was no big deal to them. Copper slipped out of the tunnel, staying low so as not to be seen, and scurried around to a bush a few meters away. From there he stood up and walked into the clearing with his paws raised above his head.

"Alright, Cyrus. You've got me.", He said, not having to try hard to sound defeated.

The humans suddenly sprang to life as they pointed their firearms at the meowth and moved back a bit as McCormick moved closer, binding Copper's arms behind his back with a pair of shackles, then attaching a second pair to his legs, preventing him from being able to run.

Syrus looked the meowth in the eyes. "Where are the files you stole? And your rapier, come to think of it...?"

Copper looked away, as though ashamed, "I lost them in the woods, I got ambushed by some thieves and they took them."

McCormick chuckled pompously. "I'm not surprised, Copper. You never were able to take care of yourself."

The cat growled a bit, but was cut short as a chain was locked onto his collar and he was pulled along by one of the humans.

"Time for your walk of shame, Coppy. Assaulting an officer, Theft of classified documents, not to mention you abandoned your post, and may have even been the one to let those rebels in... You aren't looking at a misdemeanor, kid.", McCormick said, displaying a more serious look on his face than Copper had ever seen before.

Copper glared at the Scizor. "I've studied everything you have, 'general', I know what's waiting for me."

The scizor looked straight ahead, walking beside the captive meowth, "Then I can only hope you have a good case kid. Those gallows haven't been used in a long time, and I have no desire to see them back in action..."

The group walked through the forest, heading back to the manor in grave silence.

Flare glanced at the group. Stanley and the others were sound asleep. Flare figured it would be at least a good half hour before any of them stirred. He hoped the anxious-looking Voltico wouldn't mind waiting that long. In the meantime, Flare lay down and began thinking about everything he and his "troops" had been through, and what life would be like for them after he left. He was going to miss everybody, and was sure that they would all miss him equally, but it would be best for everyone's sake. Flare's head grew more and more heavy, and soon, he was asleep, still a little worn out from the battle himself.

Nadia walked over to the sleeping Flareon and gently shook him. All the others were up already, and had been for some time. Volt had wanted them to wake Flare up right then and get moving, but she told him that he needed to sleep more. But now they were cutting it close, and had to move fast if they wanted to make it in a reasonable time.

"Alright," Volt said, addressing the young pokemon gathered around him. "You will no longer be fighting in these pointless battles." He looked around to see the reactions of the group. Satisfied with what he saw, he decided to continue, "I will be leading you to a hidden spot in the forest where you will be safe from the humans. I will then confer with your leader, and assist him in assembling a team more fit for the task of fighting. There will be nothing keeping you from leaving this hiding spot, but I ask that you please stay put and not throw your lives away." He finished his speech, and walked back over to Nadia to see if she had gotten Flare up yet.

Flare stirred and looked up at the vaporeon. "I'm sorry, I must have nodded off." He looked around and saw his crew, awake and seemingly ready to go. It looked like Voltico had been talking to them. He hoped everyone would be okay with the situation.

When the jolteon had finished talking, Stanley stepped forward. He was a little upset about the words he had just heard. The jolteon had made it sound like all of their efforts had accomplished nothing, yet each time the humans were prevented from tearing down more of the forest. And yet, the news of a place to hide, and a stronger group defending the forest did sound appealing to him. Stanley had grown tired of fighting almost every day. He missed the old times when he could play with his friends. And now, it seemed like the old days would be finally given back. After contemplating all of this, he finally spoke. "It sounds good to me!" he said loudly, so the rest of the group could hear. "If this is what our leader thinks is best, then I fully support it." The other pokemon behind him let out a cheer.

By the time Stanley had spoken, Flare was fully awake, and had moved close enough to the group to hear Stanley's word of encouragement. "Thank you, Stanley," he addressed the staravia. Flare then turned face the group. "This of course means that I will not be there to protect you all. This job I now leave to Stanley." Everyone murmured in agreement. "Excellent. Now then," continued Flare, "let's get moving. The journey is a bit of a hike from here, so I'm told. Is everyone ready?" The group let out another cheer.

"Follow me, and do exactly as I say. It's the only way to remain safe on the route we are taking," Volt called at the group as he started out into the forest.

For the first hour or so of the journey the going was easy enough, these pokemon had lived in the forest all their lives, they would know how to maneuver around simple obstacles like roots and fallen trees, rocky river beds and thorny plants. It was after this time that Volt began to give instructions on where the pokemon should place their feet, and which way they should distribute their weight. "The forest may not look much different," he explained, "but one wrong move could cost you a limb."

They went on like this for a while, not seeming to make any progress, until Volt called them to a halt. He approached a thick grove of trees, so tight that all visibility was cut off, and made a show of sweeping the tree limbs aside.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced, "Valley Haven." The sight beyond the trees was astounding. A deep valley with rocky walls and a river flowing through the bottom. But the amazing part was that, evenly spaced along the walls, were identical caves, perfect for making homes in. A good number of these buzzed with the activity of the pokemon living inside. Other pokemon were gathered in small groups around the river bank, conversing.

Everyone in the group was in awe. It was beautiful. Some of the younger pokemon ran off into the valley, with the older members of the group running behind to make sure they stayed out of trouble. Flare and Stanley stayed behind and stared out at the view. After a long silence, Stanley finally turned towards Flare.

"Well," the staravia began, his voice breaking a little, "I guess this is goodbye, sir. I'd like to thank you for everything you've done for us. Ever since you first saved us, you've always had our best interests. When we went into battle, you did everything in your power to keep us out of harm's way, even jumping in front of us to shield us from attacks. Flare, sir, for everything, thank you so much."

"You're welcome Stanley," Flare responded warmly. "I know it'll be hard, but I feel confident that you all will be able to live peacefully without me here. I also know that you'll do a great job as their new leader." Flare looked back towards the valley. Several of the pokemon from the group were down by the river, conversing with the other local pokemon. Everyone seemed to be happy. Flare chuckled softly.

Stanley was about to fly off to join the others, but Flare called out to him before he could take off. "Stanley! Wait a minute!" The staravia turned around and looked at Flare. "I want you to make sure everyone stays here. Also, this isn't goodbye forever. I promise, I'll come and visit." Stanley nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes with his wing. He cast one more look at his former leader before taking flight. Flare watched him go, feeling sad that he was leaving his friends, but glad that they would finally be safe.

Nadia looked at Flare and smiled. "We need to talk to someone first to make sure that the youngest ones are taken care of properly," she said to him.

Volt started off into the valley, Nadia following behind him. "C'mon," he said to Flare, "We'll need you to be there with us." He walked through the valley a ways before coming to a small cave right on the shore. Volt stopped and motioned for Flare to do the same, but Nadia continued into the cave. There were shouts of excitement, and a short muffled conversation before Nadia returned to the cave entrance, beaming.

"Alright," she said cheerily, "Come on in." Volt signaled Flare to enter and went inside with Nadia. Standing inside were an aging Vaporeon and Leafeon.

"Ah, Voltico, it's good to see you again," said the Leafeon in a gruff voice.

"But tell us, who is your friend?" inquired the Vaporeon.

"Mom, this is Flare," Nadia said to the Vaporeon. "He has some friends who need to get away from the humans."

"Oh?" chimed the Leafeon. "And just what did they do that would get the humans so angry?"

Flare followed the two other eeveeloutions down to a cave by the river. After a few minutes, he was called to follow in. Inside was an elderly looking couple, a leafeon and another vaporeon. From their conversation, Flare guessed that the two were Nadia's parents.

"You see," Flare began, in response to the leafeon's question, "these pokemon and I have been defending the forest from human invasion. So far, we've been successful in holding the humans back. However, our last battle today was the most vicious one yet, and I'm afraid that things will only get tougher from here on out. I'd like to have everyone stay here so they don't endanger themselves anymore. Is that alright?"

"Hmph," was all the Leafeon said in response.

"Oh ignore him," said the Vaporeon in a rather matronly fashion. "Rafe's always been stubborn when matters involve humans. Of course it's alright if your friends stay in Valley Haven. There are a lot of pokemon around here who will be happy to have new faces around."

"But what if they attract the humans, Giina?" Rafe burst in.

Giina looked about to say something when Volt cut her off. "Really now, Rafe, I'm offended." Rafe looked at Volt, confused. "I had them step deliberately in order to hide their tracks when we got close enough. I told them that the ground was treacherous, that they might lose a limb if they stepped wrong. I figured that would convince them to do what I said."

Rafe still looked unconvinced. Finally he let out a sigh. "Alright, they can stay here, but they'll be expected to pull their weight. No freeloading."

((Giina is spelled correctly. The G is pronounced like a guh sound, not like a juh sound. Gi-nuh))

Flare smiled. "Thank you, Rafe, sir. I promise, they'll all do whatever you need them to. They're all very capable." It was a relief that his friends would be cared for. Flare knew they wouldn't mind doing some work to help out their new community. It looked like things were finally going to turn out well for the young pokemon.

The Leafeon grunted. Nadia turned to Giina and said "Well we had best be off, it was good to see you again, mom, and you too dad."

"Oh, you're leaving so soon?" Giina asked, hoping that her daughter would have stayed longer.

"Yes," Nadia replied. "I'm afraid we have important matters to discuss with Flare."

"I hope you're not planning on getting involved with humans, Nadia," her father chastised her.

"You know we have no intentions of dealing with the savages, sir," Volt cut in.

"I still worry about you," responded Rafe.

After saying their goodbyes the group headed out once more. Volt lead them around to a different exit from the valley, explaining that any tracks they did leave should be as far away from their others as possible, so that the two sets wouldn't seem related. They started back in the direction of Volt and Nadia's den.

Copper sat alone in a dark musty cell, his leg had been shackled and chained to a wall to prevent his escape. His arms had been freed but that meant little as his shackle was locked via combination with no keyhole to pick. Every few moments the sound of the guard's footsteps would echo along the long corridor, making sleep nigh impossible. A beam of light shone through the small window above the meowth's head, illuminating a small sqare of space outside the cat's cell. He sat and watched it silently, reflecting on the events that had occurred just that evening. Over the course of one day, a dear friend had been lost, another infected with a horrible disease. Forest pokemon had attacked his home due to his negligence and he was now suspected of conspiracy with those very rebels. All this and the sun hadn't even begun to set yet.

The cat's mind was brought back down to Earth as the footsteps became louder and the guard approached his cell door. The guard's face was solemn and cold as he pulled the cell doors open and stepped to the side to allow a young woman of about 25 years to step into the chamber.

"Copper... I can't believe you'd do something like this..." Her words cut into his heart like a hot knife through butter. The young lady was the mistress of the manor, Dahlia Aeris. Her hair jet black along with just about everything she wore. Her long dress swayed as she approached him. "Copper, I ask you to do a simple job and this is what happens? I know you couldn't have stopped that raid, but I know you could have alerted the guards and escaped. Instead, we have one dead and numerous injured. You're lucky no humans were actually harmed in this attack or the charges would be much worse." The woman walked over to the cat and forcefully turned his head up and away as she entered the combination to the lock binding him to the wall.

"The council won't hold a trial until a full investigation has been carried out, so until then, you're under house arrest.", The woman said sternly as she removed the meowth's collar from his neck, quickly replacing it with a sleeker, more metallic collar, locking it on with yet another combination. The cat whimpered at the heavy device around his throat.

"This steel mesh collar will prevent you escaping while the investigation is carried out. Now come along, Coppy." The meowth blushed as the woman picked him up and carried him out of the cell like a child. As they reached the outdoors, several pokemon and human alike stopped their labor in repairing the damage done earlier and watched the meowth carried up to his chambers. The cat struggled a bit, but could not find the strength to fight his owner and companion. Especially on the empty stomach he had. He hadn't eaten since the night before and the result was rather unfortunate given the circumstances.

Dahlia opened Copper's door and carried him inside, locking the door securely behind them. The room had some new additions since Copper had last been there. Bars secured every window, a bowl of water and a bowl of the cat's favorite food had been laid out beside the window, instead of in cups and plates like he had been accustomed. Most interesting was the thick chain attached to the leg of his bed, which Dahlia wasted no time in locking to his collar.

"Alright, Coppy, there's a bowl of water and a bowl of ramen by the window if you get hungry or thirsty. I'll have the guards check up on you every hour. Try to get some rest, okay?" She gave a soft, but sad smile as she slipped out the door, fastening several locks behind her, fully trapping the meowth in the chamber.

Copper tugged on the chain fastening him to the bedpost. The chain was heavy and not looking like it would be easy to break through. The cat sighed and approached the bowls on the floor. He got down on all fours and began to lap at the ramen.

Flare was silent for most of the journey. He couldn't keep his mind off of his friends he had left back in the valley. He knew they would be safe there, and even happy, but he missed them already, and it had only been about an hour. Flare sighed quietly, hoping that he would be able to see them again soon, once the conflict with the humans was over. If it ever ended...

A short while later, Flare heard what sounded like battling. He perked up his ears to try and get a better idea of what was happening and where the sounds were coming from. From what he could tell, the noises seemed to be coming from the other side of some tall bushes. Flare ran and caught up to Voltico and Nadia. "Did you hear that?" he asked them. "It sounds like there's a battle going on. I'm going to go check it out to see if someone's in trouble.

With that, Flare darted towards the bushes, stopping just before them to peer through at the scene. He saw an umbreon and a glaceon squaring off against one angry-looking typhlosion. He noticed that the two other eeveeloutions were different than normal however. The glaceon appeared to have ariados-like limbs growing out of his back, and the umbreon had purplish rings and wings. Flare looked a little further away and saw a black leafeon cowering, watching from a distance. Flare could only guess that the umbreon and glaceon were protecting the leafeon. Flare decided to wait and see how things turned out before rushing in to aid either side.