(runaways) ~Picks up where *approach* leaves off~

(authors: Storm, Hanakirei, Neon Dragon, nepryne, Thunder, Kat, & wynnyelle)


In the deep of night Chirin crept along the trail, with only his tail's weak 
light to see by. Somehow the trees had surrounded the Mareep lamb. Now no matter 
which way he went, their branch-bristling trunks were there, allowing only a 
narrow trail for him to walk along where branches grabbed at his wool. He 
remembered only the long walk in the darkness, walking because he was too afraid 
to sleep. The trees had always lurked, safely far away on the horizons of the 
hills. But now the flock was gone, leaving the hills dark, and he must have 
wandered into the forest, paying no heed to the trees which had gradually grown 
thicker. Now he couldn't get out. "Mama," he bleated, "Mama..." 

The call was more of a refrain by now. The tears had long since dried on his 
blue face. Deep down he knew she was not coming. Still, he kept hoping he would 
see her warm red light just around the next bend of the trail, and that the 
forest would open up into the hills again. But all he saw was dark ahead...and 
he smelled strange smells. He was not the only one here. His stomach growled and 
he nibbled on the unfamiliar leaves nearby. At a Hoothoot's call from the crowns 
of the trees, he bolted down the trail. "Mareeeep!" He trotted back to a walk, 
catching his breath. He remembered all the stories about what lived in the 
forest; at his parents' side he had seen enemies, prowling the woods' edge. 

Sooner or later something was going to find him here. He knew he should sit on 
his lighted tail, hide it somehow, but he feared the darkness more. He kept on 
walking, blinking his sore eyes. The forest had to end somewhere and he would 
not give up yet. If he had to go through a forest to find them he would do it. 
He was the only one left. "Chirin," he said to himself, "you have to be brave." 

* * * 

Calima sniffed the Dratini. She had a slight fear of dragon Pokemon. She knew 
how powerful they can be! "Dratini, have something to admit, I fear dragon 
Pokemon, like you... But I don't know if I should fear you or not... But, time 
will tell... that's all I know. Now! It is time to leave and look for Tok and 
Lunarix. Will you accompany us? And, what is your name?"
 
Winding around the dark ashen trees, Chirin-chirin approached at the sound of 
the Nidoran's voice. Maybe she could help him. Maybe she knew where the humans 
were--or at least how to get out of this horrible black burnt place with no 
leaves and no Light. He heard other pokemon there with her but it seemed safe 
enough. 

Anything was better than being alone one more moment. Anything. As he moved 
forward he did his best to shine his tail's tip and see who they were. 

Calima sniffed the air. She looked nerveously around. "Do you smell something 
Teazel? Moonscar?" She asked. Before they could answer she caught sight of a 
pokemon coming into the clearing. and Calima screamed: "FIRE POKEMON! RUN AWAY!" 
and she hid behind Teazel, shaking. 

"What's wrong now?" Teazel asked as Calima darted behind her. Out of the corner 
of her eye, Teazel saw the glint of...something. -IS it possibly a fire pokemon?- 
she wondered, and sniffed the air for any scents that might have drifted over.
It didn't smell much of a fire type, and the light she saw didn't exactly look like a fire... 

At the Nidoran's panicked scream Chirin bolted. He smelled no Typhlosions or 
Charizards but had no thoughts beyond flight--not after hearing a scream like 
that. 

His light barely illuminated things right in front of him. Chirin did not see 
the blackened root sticking up and he tripped, tumbling head over heels into a 
mess of brambles. "*Mareeep!*" Kicking and flailing he only got the thorny 
sticks embedded further into his coat. "Eeep! Eeee..." 

Chirin's voice stopped screaming as he realized that nothing had jumped his 
back, and no big jaws had clamped on his throat. A couple of small sparks of 
static electricity crackled in the air around his woolly coat as his feet slowly 
stopped kicking. He sat still, catching his breath and listening. Night insects 
chirped, the wind waved in the trees (he had wandered back out of that burnt 
place) and apparently nothing was coming after him. 

Well if those other pokemon hadn't known he was there before, they did now. 
Chirin-Chirin tried to back out of the brambles but he had gotten himself firmly 
stuck, with his nose near the ground and his tail and hindquarters sticking out. 
He felt slightly embarrassed. 

Calima stopped shaking and looked at the pokemon. "You're not a fire pokemon... 
you're a mareep, the electric pokemon... Sorry if I frightend you... I 
just...er...we had an ecounter with a quilava... I'm sorry for scaring 
you......Oh! I...uh...heh heh... You need some help?"
 
Moonscar looked at the Mareep. It was in a sticky situation if he ever saw one. 
He just hoped that he wouldn't see the dead Quilava... 

"Err... I'll help you get the Mareep free Calima. Teazel? Will you help us? And 
you Dratini? And, might I add, we STILL don't know your name..."
 
Looking at the oddest assortment of Pokemon that he had ever seen, who now 
surrounded him, Chirin tried to back out more carefully, but the stickers tugged 
painfully at his fur. Chirin had not realized at first but he was hearing 
other peoples' voices, seeing others up close, for the first time in days. As 
others started coming over into the feeble light given by his tail tip, he 
looked at the little white Nidoran--the one who had screamed--and had to smile. 

"You thought I was a fire pokemon?" 

Before Calima had replied, Chirin's sheepy little nose did indeed pick up the 
scent of charmander, faint but it was out there, to the north or west, he wasn't 
sure...and other predators, mostly a way off. As the other pokemon arrived, 
apparently to help him, Chirin got the feeling, here and gone again, that he was 
back in the flock. The disappointment dropped hard on him and he silently let a 
tear roll down his face and off his nose. A wind shook the dark trees overhead 
just as he was thinking of his vanished family, and he wondered if the wind was 
sending him a message from them, telling him not to worry, that he was never 
really alone. He shivered, but a good shiver. Looking around at all the strange 
pokemon here, all these different pokemon come together, he thought to himself. 
Maybe the wind had sent them here too. 

Chirin tried to turn around so his head could face them instead of his rear, but 
he ended up falling again in the thorns' grip. He landed on his belly with his 
legs all over and felt a little more embarrassed. 

Calima walked over to the Mareep and gnawed at the thorns. They didn't hurt her 
much, but she tasted blood. She felt a trickle of blood run down and out of her 
mouth, onto her chin. She kept gnawing and the pain became worse. It became 
awful. Calima gave the thorns one last gnaw and the Mareep was free. But Calima 
didn't feel too good. Her mouth was bleeding, and it hurt really, really bad. 

"Why...you got me out. Thank you!" Chirin-chirin would have jumped for joy if he 
hadn't been so tired. His eyelids felt heavy and he yawned. "Well...at least it 
isn't night anymore!" He looked round at all the pokemon. "Uh...hi everybody." 
His smile turned into another yawn. He looked up at Teazel, the biggest one 
there. "Are you a Venusaur?" 

"Huh? Nope, only a mere ivysaur, I'm afraid," replied Teazel, grinning. She 
nodded, as a way of reply to the mareep's greeting. "And how do you do?" 

Chirin-chirin yawned again. "I'm... fine. But, uh..." he looked around at the 
forest, which he saw more clearly now in the brightening morning. There was so 
much that had happened, but he didn't know how to put it to words. He looked 
down at himself, and saw that he had soot on him, especially on his legs. "I'm 
really dirty." 

"Oh dear..." Calima said, looking at the dirty Mareep. "Uh, lets go to the lake 
and wash you off shall we?" She looked at the Pokemon. "Okay, lets go! And 
Dratini? We STILL DON'T KNOW YOUR NAME!!!!" And they were off. 

"Okay," said Chirin-chirin, following alongside Calima and just ahead of Teazel. 
"I love baths. You're really white. Is the lake close or far away?" 

He thought of another question. "And do you know where the humans are? They took 
the flock away and I'm looking for them." 

The Pokemon were traveling to the lake. It would take a while. Calima had told 
Chirin-Chirin that it might take quite some time to reach the lake. Maybe a few 
days. It depends on what happens. 

Chirin waited to hear Calima's answer, or anyone's answer, but it didn't come. 
Did that mean they didn't know? Too tired to align his thoughts together to ask 
any more, he just took comfort in knowing he wasn't alone anymore. He smiled at 
Calima. It was like her energy kept everyone going.

So far the trip had been fairly uneventful. 
But things were about to start heating up... 

"I'm sooooooooo TIRED! Calima whined. "I...wish...Tok...and...Lunarix...were 
here...right...now..." The other Pokemon siged. Calima had been looking foward 
to this trip, and now she was wishing that they would just stop. 

Chirin yawned. He wondered who they were, but didn't ask. It seemed irrelevant, 
and his mind was slipping off the names for now. He could only focus on so much at 
a time. And now it was his walking feet and the scents and sights of the new company. 
So different from anyone else he had ever known.

It had been a few hours since they had left. Teazel, Chirin-Chirin, Moonscar, 
and the Dratini were doing all right. But if they weren't they sure were doing a 
good job hiding it. Calima began to wonder if she should have ever run away from 
Tok and Lunarix in the first place... 

"Okay!" Calima said, "First things first! I'm hungry, I'm sure the lot of you 
are. I think we should split up for a while and find some food. I think Teazel 
and I should go that way," she pointed to the west, "And Chirin-Chirin, Dratini, 
and Moonscar should go that way," she pointed east, "When you find some food, 
bring as many of it back as you can, and we shall do the same. Once one of us 
finds food, and brings it back, we shall make a cry to tell the other team to 
return. Or vise-versa. Now, if we make the cry, or you do, and you've already 
found some food, go ahead and sean a cry back to us, and we will wait for you to 
return. Same goes for us. If you are in danger, Chirin-Chirin, I want you to 
sent a bolt of electricity in the air, whilst Teazel could send up a swarm of 
leaves. Then either you, or we, shall come to the other teams aid. Is that 
clear?" Calima was a bit suprised at how much she had talked. 

Chirin felt suddenly scared. The Rattata was even smaller than he was and he'd 
never seen a Dratini before but its smell made him nervous. "I want to go with 
you and you," he said, stepping close beside Teazel and feeling safer beside the 
big strong Ivysaur. He had been nibbling leaves--not his favorite food, but good 
enough--as they went along, and since the pace had been relaxed enough for him 
to grab some greens he wasn't too hungry, but he yawned again. He had not slept 
in days. Now his weariness swept over him and Chirin sank to his bum on the 
forest floor. He sat there, chewing, in a daze, his eyelids droopy, too tired to 
tell them that he was still too young to shoot Lightning to the sky. 

Teazel said nothing until Calima finished her little speech, and didn't say 
anything until a few moments later. "Sounds like a good enough plan," she said. 
"Except that we might not want to do any sort of cry. It's probably not just us 
out looking for food, you know." She still wasn't sure about what kinds of 
predators were about in these woods, and it would be best, she thought, to not 
find exactly what kinds by alerting them to the group's presence. 

She looked at Chirin as he sat there half-asleep. "Perhaps it would be better if 
we rested a bit before going off to find anything," Teazel said. 

Calima looked thoughful for a moment. Then she turned to Chirin-Chirin and said: 
"Well, lets try something else. Moonscar, you go with Dratini, Teazel, you go 
with them, Chirin-Chirin, you come with me. Jusst because I am small dosn't mean 
I cannot fight! But I hate fighting..." 

Chirin looked uncertainly at Calima, then Teazel, then back again, backing 
towards Teazel. As he smelled a fearful smell, he stood even closer to the 
ivysaur. 

Errr... Eh? What's that smell?" Calima smelled something like an Ekans. But it 
smelled a little different... What was it. She turned around and got her answer. 
It was an Arbok! A very hungry looking Arbok. Calima knew what was coming, so 
did Moonscar and Teazel. They junped behind a bush as to stay out of Calima's 
sight. Calima's eyes flashed red. She turned to Chirin-Chirin and Dratini. 
"Go! Get over there with Moonscar and Teazel! Teazel will explain! JUST GO!!!! 
STAY OUT OF MY SIGT!!!!" Chirin needed no persuasion as the Arbok slithered out 
from the bushes. "Snake! Snake!" He ran after Teazel, keeping close to her. 
Calima's vision was completly red now. She quickly turned to look at the Arbok 
who looked a little nervous now, she didn't want to see the other Pokemon, or 
she might attaack them. Calima screamed and charged at the Arbok who quickly 
rammed Calima with his tail. Calima was dizzy for a second, but not for long, 
she turned ang charged at the Arbok again and it shot a bunch of poison needls 
at Calima. They hit her and she felt the poison flow through her body. She began 
to feel weak. But she couldn't give up. She had to destroy. Or she would die. 
The Arbok was the one to die. Even if she died, the Arbok would go first. She 
charged at it, it tried to use it's tail to injure her further, but he was to 
slow. Calima leaped onto the big snake Pokemon and began scrathcing, biting, and 
raming it with her horn. The Arbok screamed in agony and tried to shake her off. 
But it was no use. It was doomed. Calima jumped and clung close to his throat 
and rammed her hor into it. The Arbok screamed one last time, then it fell down, 
dead. Calima had won. But she had been injured badly, and she had also been 
poisoned. She climed out from under the Arbok and she began to sway. Her eyes 
returned to normal, and she collapsed. 

Chirin had buried his head against Teazel's side. At the snake's terrible hisses 
his legs moved as if to run. Sparks flew from his tail--weak sparks, but 
probably enough to give Teazel a zap too. All of a sudden he was back there 
again, in the night when the humans had come. The screams were no longer 
Calima's or the Arbok's. They were the screams of Ampharos, and the blue 
lightning of their terror lit the skies over the grass. Their light had not 
saved them. 

Terrified as he was, he turned around to look, just as the Arbok screeched its 
death and collapsed on Calima. Far above a Spearow screeched, cirling over the 
trees. Other than that, quiet. 

Chirin crept over to the inert Nidoran. 
"Calima?" He poked her, as high overhead another Spearow joined the first... 

"Oh my..." Teazel jumped out of the bush, behind Chirin. She looked at the scaly 
carcass of the Arbok, and then turned her head to look at Calima. "She's 
not...dead, is she?" Teazel hoped not, for the poor nidoran would not have 
deserved such a fate. 

A sound came to her ears, a familiar one, and she looked skyward, to watch as a 
couple of Spearows started to group together. She suddenly became a bit nervous, 
and hoped the spearows didn't have any business to do here.... 

"Spearows," said Chirin looking up at the silhouetted birds, as a Fearow joined 
them, "they come when someone goes dark." The smell of the Arbok's blood made 
him fearful. Static crackled around his body, lifting his summer-thin wool but 
nothing more. Again he remembered his flock was not here. "Calima! Wake up! We 
havta get out of here!" He whirled around at Teazel with his eyes wide and 
stayed close to her, wincing at the shrill cries of the fierce birds. "What are 
we gonna do? Cause I don't know, but I don't think anybody here's 
got...electricity...to zap them! Hey I know! Can you whip'em with your vines! 
Calima! Wake up!" 

Chirin ran back to Calima as the Spearows gathered in the sky and began to swoop 
in through the trees, still staying high up but checking out the scene now. 
"Come on, Calima," he said, fervently hoping that when she got up she would do 
to those birds whatever she'd done to the Arbok. "Wait, maybe if we just leave, 
they can just...have that Arbok." He flinched again at the sight of the blood. 
"How about you carry Calima with your vines?" 

"I might be able to do that..." Teazel stopped to consider the size difference 
between her and the nidoran, and whether she'd be able to carry Calima easily 
enough. The caw of a spearow jolted her back to the current situation. "It's 
worth a try, though, but in her state it might not be wise to move her too 
quickly." She got her vines ready, in case Calima still hadn't moved a few 
moments from now... 

Chirin sniffed Calima's nose; she was breathing weakly. His eyes looked upwards, 
following the patterns of the birds dipping through the trees. Some of them 
perched on branches above, apparently deciding that they either wanted to wait 
until the group had left the Arbok carcass, or that they wanted that plus 
Nidoran on the side. One Spearow landed on the ground a safe distance away and 
folded its wings, watching them. Another landed, again just past pouncing reach 
(or vine's reach) on the other side of them. Little by little more of the flock 
began to surround them. 

"Uh...which way were we gonna go," said Chirin, close beside Teazel as one bird 
darted in. "Get away!" he screamed, his wool sparking. He wasn't afraid of one 
of these. As the Spearow darted at Calima he head-butted it. It flew backwards 
with a screech before regaining itself with a rustle of flapping wings and 
re-landed at a distance. "That'll show ya, ya...feathery...freak!" 
He felt pretty clever coming up with that. 

Then more of the birds closed in and Chirin backed against Teazel again with his 
ears lowered, bleating in fear. "What do you want? Please," he said to the 
Spearows as they closed in. "Maybe we can talk about this."
 
The Spearows didn't seem in the mood for conversation or debate.
 
Calima was surrounded by little lights. Colors. Dancing in a swirling black 
cloud. Was she dead? Calima wasn't sure. If she was dead, she would have seen 
her mother and father, and her brother and sister by now. But, she recalled 
another time something like this had happened, she had seen her deceased family. 
But she wasn't dead. Calima felt different in a way. Like she was light as a 
feather, like she was flying. Then she heard a hiss. She turned and saw the 
Arbok, covered in blood. There was a small hole in it's neck where Calima had 
stabbed him. Blood and poison dripped from the wound. 

"Youuuu killllllled meee. Youuuuuuuuu desssssssstroyed meeeeeeee..." It hissed 
angrily. "No! I, I didn't mean too! I'm sorry! Go away! Leave me alone! I really 
didn't mean too! I just, I just, I just cannot control myself when I see a 
predator! Leave me alone! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Calima screamed, putting her 
ears over her eyes and shaking. 

"Youuuuuuuuuu thhhink thhhhhaat wiiiilll heeeeeeellp? Youuuu thiink 
apolaaaaaaagising willllll briiiiiiiiing meeeeeeeee baaaaaaack toooo lifeee?" 

"No! I, I know it won't! Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Go away! Please, just go 
away and leave me alone!" Calima took her ears away from her eyes and looked at 
the Arbok. It was a mess. Calima was so scared. She was begining to think that 
she was dead... she was begining to wish that she was dead... 

The Arbok hissed angrily, and charged. Calima screamed. Then she woke up. But 
she felf very weak from the fight. And she had been poisoned. 

"Teazel, Chirin... Help... me..." 

"You're awake!" Chirin hugged Calima. "But look, there's these birds all over 
the place!" He turned to the Spearows. "See?" he said to them. "She's not gone 
dark so you can't eat her." 

The Spearows continued to close in. 

"Uh, I don't think they believe me." 

"Speeeeeaar!" screeched a Spearow and three or four of them flew up, beating 
their wings in a flurry of feathers, and dove at the two small Pokemon, aiming 
for their eyes. 

Calima moaned. She knew she was going to die. But she didn't care. The Spearows 
flew at her and aimed for her eyes. Calima tried to keep her eyes away from the 
attacking Spearows. But one of them got her left eye. It was ruined. She could 
still see with her right eye though. She could feel blood gushing from her now 
useless left eye. The Spearows gave up attacking her eyes, and they went about 
pecking her on her stomach. She could feel more blood gushing out. And the 
poison was beginning to take it's toll. She felt even weaker. She heard a 
crackle of electricity. 

"Take that! Take that! Mareeeepuu!" Screaming Chirin discharged what little 
electricity he had on Calima's attackers as Teazel whacked several more birds 
senseless with her vines, also releasing a volley of Razor Leaves on them. As a 
Spearow made one more dive at his face Chirin shut his eyes and jumped up. His 
hard head met the bird's chest with a crack. Electricity danced off his fur and 
in the snap the bird screamed, landing before it flew off, injured. 

But Calima didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. Not even her own life. Calima 
couldn't move. She felt two vines pick her up and she heard another crackle of 
electricity, and the angry cry of the Spearows. But she didnt care. She just 
wanted to black out. To die. She wished that she would die now, so it would all 
end. But she wouldn't die. But if she didn't find a cure for her poison, she 
would die.

"Chirin, Teazel... find... herb... It will make... me... better..." 

In a final assault of slicing leaves the birds took wing, squawking in their 
ugly voices. They flew up the way they had come, up through a hole between the 
trees. In a matter of seconds the birds were gone, except for the injured and 
dead ones lying on the ground. Chirin inhaled the frightening smell of blood 
with every breath as he regained his wind. Aside from a few peck marks and 
scrapes from Spearow talons, he was okay. 

He couldn't say the same for Calima. They all gathered round the Nidoran who lay 
in her own blood. Sunlight coming through the trees dappled the ground and made 
the blood glisten on her snow white fur. Chirin had never used his eletric 
current to attack anything before. He had never been able to--and he had never 
needed to. Before the humans had come that night, waking them all up in a sudden 
flash of terror, everything had been clouds and grass, sun and cotton. He was no 
longer in that world. He had stumbled into a new one, of darkness, blood smells 
and Spearow screams. 

Chirin nudged Calima, absently licking her ear where a scratch was. He began to 
sob. "Please wake up. Come on, Calima, don't you wanna get up and let's get out 
of this...bloody place with all these dead things? Oh, Teazel," he said, turning 
to the Ivysaur, "is she going to be okay?" 

Calima felt a little better. But she was still weak. They had found a herb to 
cure her and she was able to walk now. They were once again, on there way to the 
lake.

"Wow, all this, me losing my sight in my left eye, the Arbok, the Spearows, 
everything, just to get you a bath Chirin. What next? Flying Swinubs?" 

Chirin laughed. "Flying Swinubs, that's funny!" 

Dratini had used a sticky substance, like a Caterpie's stringshot, to cover her 
eye. Because it looked awful without the covering. It had been a few hours since 
the encouter with the enemy Pokemon. Calima had discovered that she had not 
heard electricity, but Teazel's razor leaves, and she felt a bit foolish to make 
that mistake. 

"No, you heard me too," said Chirin, walking proudly beside her 
despite his weariness. "Guess what. I used electricity. *My* electricity. For 
the first time! Right Teazel? I didn't think I could do that, you know? But 
Teazel was amazing. You shoulda have seen those leaves!" 

"I think we should be at the lake right about..." Calima said... about two paces 
before ariving at the lake, "now..." The Pokemon cheered and ran into the lake. 
They jumped into the water and played. And Chirin was getting much cleaner, so 
was Calima and the other Pokemon. 

"Wanna see a trick?" said Chirin, and he dunked his nose and blew bubbles, 
making a delightful gurgly sound. Chirin giggled.

Calima sniffed the air. She smelled something familiar.

"Hrm? Eh? Err, I'm gonna take a little walk. Chirin? would you like to come with 
me? I could use some company..." Chirin nodded and they went into the forest. 

He went following Calima, the nidoran who seemed to draw danger to her like she 
had a curse on her. He could use some company too. Even in the forest, which 
was a scary place. Up till now he'd never been in any forest so long. And poor
Calima might get attacked again or something...he didn't want anything happening.

The walk was pleasant, would have been better if Chirin hadn't been so tired. 
Chirin's bleary eyes still explored the trees and other plants all around him. 
He stopped to nibble familiar foods and sniff trunks and twigs in his noses's 
reach. He was learning what pokemon roamed here, the many layers of the entity 
that was the forest.

But, the forest didn't last that long, because about ten minutes later they came 
to a clearing where they saw a strange Eevee eevolution and... Tok and Lunarix! 
"Tok!!!!! Lunarix!!!!! Oh!!!!! My friends! my friends!" Calima said, half 
blinded by tears of joy. 

As Calima ran to her friends Chirin sat himself down and yawned. Teazel was not 
far off, and he felt somewhat safe at last in the longer shadows of the 
afternoon. He would just sit for a while here, ruminating. As the sun warmed his 
head and back, drying his fur from the much-relished bath, he put his head down 
and closed his eyes... 

A brisk wind blew, carrying the sounds of birds and insects in the grass, and 
conversations and laughter of the flock. It was a warm summer day and Chirin 
suckled from his mother as she browsed from one of the bushes that dotted the 
undulating hills like puffs of green, near and far. As the warm milk flowed down 
his throat he smelled far- off salty sea air on the wind. 

He heard his sister's voice, the Flaaffy was saying something to his father, 
"But I *really really* want to go down those hills, it's not far and three 
others are going..." Chirin smiled. His sister was always getting into 
something... 

As the dream faded Chirin inhaled a noseful of strange air that smelled nothing 
like Ampharos. He was not in the flock's summer bed place, the shallow recess 
lined with cotton, against the big boulders. Chirin snapped awake in fear before 
remembering why he wasn't there anymore. 

He realized he'd been sucking on the fur of his own forearm in his sleep. He 
spat it out, stretching himself out and getting up. He waved his tail, feeling 
perkier. 

"Oh!" Calima said. "These are my friends. The Ivysaur is Teazel, the Mareep is 
Chirin-Chirin, the Rattata is Moonscar, and the Dratini is... uh... Dratini." 

Calima noticed that Tok and Lunarix were staring at her left eye. "Oh! Uh... 
Teazel? Since I'm a bit tired of all that has happened, could you by any chance 
explain what has happened?" 

"A Spearow pecked it. Hard," said Chirin with a grave look, as he came up beside 
Calima. Since Teazel was around and Calima was apparently friends with these 
strangers the lamb felt much more at ease. He looked at both newcomers and 
smiled, blushing a little. "Hi. What's your names? I'm Chirin. I can do this." 

He wiggled both his ears in a circular motion. Then he giggled. "We went to the 
lake and had a bath today. I was really dirty. I smelled kinda weird too. But 
not now. Uh...do you know where the humans are?" 

Up till now Chirin had not got a really good look at them. Now he took a better 
look at the fox of stars and his mouth dropped open. The stars were the tail 
lights of the flock's ancestors... his own ancestors. Like Ledians and Lanturns, 
this creature must hold the power of the spirits. Chirin stepped around to look 
at him from the side and back, and when he saw that the fox had a tail of stars 
he was certain. This creature had come to him to help bring back the flock from 
darkness. And if it had not been for Calima leading him here... 

Chirin knew it. The flock had not left him. And like his mother had always said, 
the ancestors really were with him, sending him spirits on the wind. Like she 
had said, he was never ever alone. 

He frantically tried to remember if there was something special he was supposed 
to say or do. "Uhhhh...is there something special I should do, or is it ok to 
just say hi?" 
Calima was upset... Big time. Losing her sight in her left eye would mean lots 
of adjusting. And she was just getting used to the Lake with two working eyes. 
Now she had to get used to it with one working eye. The blood coming from her 
eye had dried, and it looked awful. It itched, but Calima knew better then to 
scrathce it. But, luckily for her, she was getting used to it. 
Her friends were at the Lake playing. But she wasn't in the mood to play with 
them, so she stayed on shore, watching them have fun and moping. 
Calima had suggjested that they go to the water, because it might make Celesteon 
feel better to relaxe somewhere a bit chilly. Calima would have givin anything 
to go out there with her friends. Celesteon, besides Calima, was the only one 
not in the water. Calima had nothing better to do, so she walked over and lay 
down next to Celesteon. He slowly lifted up his head and looked at her. He 
looked awful. He was growing old. But he looked a little better then he did 
before. 
"Celesteon? Did you come here with Lunarix?" Calima asked, not knowing if the 
poor Pokemon even had the strength to speak. He nodded his head slowly and 
smiled ever so slightly. "I thought so..." Calima said, smiling back a little. 
Celesteon yawned and lay his head back down and went to sleep. Calima sighed and 
watched her friends playing in the water. 
Calima yawned, and went to sleep. 
Moonscar laughed as he and the other Pokemon played in the water. Dratini was 
particularly good, as Dratini's spent lots of there time in the water. Lunarix 
and tok were playing in the water too. But Moonscar, although he was having a 
good time, felt like he was alone without Calima. He looked around and spotted 
her sleeping next to Celesteon. He smiled, Moonscar had really changed since he 
had met Calima. She had shown him that nothing can come out of power or 
strength, but that it's the strength and power in you heart that counts, not in 
your muscle. He decided to leave Calima be for a while. Everything seemed to 
have happend to her, so she needed a break, and he went back to playing with his 
friends. 
"Mareeep!" Chirin leaped off the rock and splashed in the water. He wriggled 
with delight as its coolness washed over him. Just what they all needed on a 
hot, late-summer day. He paddled over to where Teazel, Lunarix and Moonscar were 
playing. He didn't know where the Dratini, as they called it, had gone to. It 
had always trailed the group, quiet and ghostlike, making Chirin nervous as he 
wasn't quite sure what it ate. 
"Gotcha!" he cried, splashing Teazel and Lunarix from behind. When he got 
grabbed and tickled, his laughter set off a mild shock that everyone felt 
through the water. They decided tickling him wasn't such a good idea till he had 
a better handle on that *denki* of his! 
He was sure now that during his nap, when he had gone to the dream- world, he 
had visited his flock there and during that time the ancestors had seen him 
there and known he needed help. He would go there again next time he slept. He 
would figure out the way to get his family back. And Lunarix would help him. He 
still hadn't had a chance to talk to him, or anyone, about what had happened out 
there on the hills by grasses'-end, his home--and he was beginning to come 
around and realize fully what it all meant. For several long days he had grazed 
those hills alone, bedding down in a little wooly ball on the big empty bed. 
Every day he had waited for them to somehow come back. It was all up to him now, 
and he didn't seem to be doing too badly so far. He would tell them, but later 
on. After he was done having some fun here. It felt like a long time since he 
had played anything. 
"Calima?" Chirin turned his sopping wet head all around, but the white Nidoran 
wasn't in the water. 
He found her curled up by Celesteon just up the shore. Wading up out of the 
shallows, he shook himself, throwing droplets in a spray, and trotted up to 
them. Calima was lying down but seemed awake enough. "Hi Calima. How's your eye? 
Why don't you two come play?" Razkel splashed about at the lake edge. 
"Not coming in Berry?, what about you Mecha, fancy a swim?" he called back to 
the shore. Berry shuck her head, being a rock type Pokemon she wasn't overly 
fond of water, so she sat by a patch of grass and munched happily on it. 
"Chicken," Razkel laughed squirting a water gun attack up in to the air and then 
diving under the water "Meaha? ya coming in or do I soak you from here?" he 
threatened playfully popping his head above the surface of the water.. 
Mecha grinned "You sure I won't end up rusting on you?" With that, he flew up 
into the air, doing a birdyish cannonball into the water. 
Razkel laughed shocked that the bird had actually got in the water. "Hey way to 
go Mecha!" he yelled "And we wait for the marks from the judges, whoa 10 points 
from each" the rattata chuckled. 
As Chirin sampled the long grass growing at the lake's edge, he spotted, some 
distance away but not far, a couple of big Pokemon also having a dip. One was a 
Ryhorn, a young one by the look of it, the other a Dangerous Bird. Sparks popped 
off his wool and he ran on quick little hooves back in among the others, his 
tail's light flashing. "Mereep! Mereeepu!" 
Mecha blinked as he surfaced, looking towards the strange creature with a 
curious glance before smiling "Hi there! Would you like to swim with us?" 
Chirin, standing with the safety of the "flock" swimming/relaxing behind him, 
shook his head. 
Mecha cocked his head to a side looking at the sparks "What's that stuff coming 
out of your fur...?" 
"My *denki*," said Chirin, realizing more fully that he was at present the only 
one of his kind here and not a very impressive example. He sparked anyway, as if 
he were still among his kind, when the warning actually meant something. Some of 
the ones behind him were strong, yes, but they were not a flock of Ampharos and 
some of them were very weak. Chirin said a little prayer to the first Ampharos 
of all, who happened to be shining down most warmly on him in this afternoon 
heat, as he stood there watching the big bird. His mother, his father, everyone 
had always told of the tricks that enemies liked to play. "Lunarix, Teazel," he 
called, still looking at the Pidgeotto as water dripped off its feathers. 
Mecha, obviously not getting it, cocked his head to the other side. The little 
wooly thing seemed to be talking to him...but... 
"No silly, my name's not Lunarix or Teazel." he said in a good natured tone 
"I'm Mecha." 
Teazel had climbed out of the water a few minutes earlier, to allow herself to 
dry off. It wasn't often that she actually went into any amount of water, and 
she still preferred the sun to the water. 
Shaking some moisture from her legs, Teazel looked around her a bit. Over to one 
side, she noticed Chirin standing there, seeming to be talking to a strange 
pidgeotto. Something seemed to be coming out of Chirin's wool, perhaps it was 
his electricity - though she couldn't have known the meaning of it. 
She heard what could possibly have been her name being called, and she twitched 
her ears a couple of times, to try and hear it better. All she heard was the 
muted sound of a conversation going between the mareep and the pidgeotto. 
For a moment, she wondered if the pidgeotto were about to attack...but nothing 
seemed to be happening. Teazel felt like checking, though. Walking up close to 
Chirin, she took a closer look at the pidgeotto - were those really metallic 
feathers?, she wondered. "Hello, stranger," she said to him, her wariness of 
flying types making her a bit nervous. She turned her head to look at Chirin, 
then turned back to the pidgeotto. "I trust everything is okay here?" She 
grinned, more to hide her nervousness than anything else. 
Mecha blinked again "I...don't think anything is the matter..." 
Although looking rather silly, he puffed out his chest feathers slightly for one 
reason or another "And no need to call me stranger, my name is Mecha. That 
rattata is Razkel, and that rhyhorn is Berry." he said motioning to them. "Who 
are you all?" 
Chirin's heart had been pounding in his little chest, and as he realized a 
Rattata was in the company of this strange Pidgeotto, he began to breathe more 
freely again. His thin fleece slowly stopped standing on end. "Yes, I think 
everything's okay," he said over his shoulder to Teazel. "I was just scared that 
you were going to eat me, big shiny bird...I mean, Mecha." He smiled, wiggling 
his ears. "I'm Chirin. This is my friend Teazel. I have a lot more friends back 
there but," he glanced back at all of them, "they're all over the place. The 
wind brought us together. The stars helped too. I'm trying to get my flock 
back." He paused, chewing. He was still coming no closer to the great big 
stranger with the sharp beak and sharp talons. Even his feathers seemed sharp. 
Chiri remembered the Spearows. "I have one friend got her eye hurt. The forest 
was scary but I think we're finally out! *Meriipu!*" He made a little jump in 
the air, and landing he continued to watch Mecha, chewing and looking at him 
thoughtfully. One Pokemon after another was swooping in, and even some who would 
be enemies seemed friendly. He was definitely in another world from his 
now-distant home. "So. Now you're all here, I guess it's time to start. I gotta 
find the flock." 
After the long, hot walk, Celesteon was more then happy to lie in the shade and 
doze, water trickling from his thick fur. 
Lunarix, on the other hand, had never seen water before. Not in such quantity, 
anyhow. Sufficient to say, all around him were forced to listen to him ranting 
about the glorious way the sun shone off its surface and how it felt so weird 
upon his skin and so on and so forth. 
He walked to the shore, once he had talked himself hoarse, and tentatively 
touched the water with one paw, jumping back as the cold hit him. But it also 
called to him, so he approached again, only to jump back as a wavelet lapped at 
his feet. 
He stared hopelessly at Tok, "what do I do now?" He asked. 
The star-fox stared at his water-dog friend, streaking through the water as 
though he belonged there. Tentatively he waded into it, feeling the chill bite 
through his thick fur. It was cold, yes, but also invigorating. The feel was 
oddly wonderful. He walked out further, so that his chest was submerged, and 
dipped his head under the water. Instantly water flooded into his eyes, ears and 
nostrils and he gasped in surprise - swallowing a mouthful of water and 
pondweed. 
Spluttering, he lifted his head, sneezing and wheezing and choking. He shook his 
head furiously, trying to clear the water from his ears. 
* * * 
Saffire had been following his footprints back towards Celesteon when he smelt 
something and poised. Yes, his friends had come this way - they must have passed 
him when he was otherwise involved. Nose down, he trailed the scent like a 
hunting hound, and eventually wound up at the lake's edge. 
Immediately an unusual sight met his eyes - the beach was covered in pokemon - 
both predator and prey (he saw a small Nidoran snoozing beside the great mound 
of hair that was Celesteon), a little Mareep lamb talking with the metallic 
pidgeotto he had met with earlier, Tok and Lunarix in the shallows, a rattata 
(he tried to refrain from drooling at the sight of it), an Ivysaur and possibly 
some others that we forgot about along the way... 
"Well," he admitted to his Pack, "it appears Lunarix is settling in well and 
making himself some new friends already." 
What a glorious sight! What glorious sounds! What a gathering! Chirin wriggled 
with delight, his tail wagging high, shining brightly. Leaping up he tried to 
get the others to play with him, only to find they weren't feeling like a romp 
right now. But that was okay. Magic things were happening, bringing all these 
Pokemon who were friends no matter what their kind, bringing them all here to 
him. Chirin felt the spirits in the air, coming alive as all these Pokemon who 
were surely here to bring his flock back from the evil dark place that the 
humans had taken them to. He threw back his head to the first Ampharos of all, 
his eyes squinting closed in the glare. "Thank you. Thank you." 
It was going to be okay. * * * 
Spirit stirred. What a racket had awoken him! He stretched and yawned, his bones 
aching. He was old. Too old. Nowadays he spent most of the time asleep. 
And what the heck was going on out there? There was baaing, shrieking, 
splashing... It sounded like a party was in full swing. 
Outside HIS house! 
He slammed open his door, almost knocking it off the hinges. A sight behold his 
eyes - the beach was covered in Pokemon of all shapes, sizes and dietary 
preferences. 
* * * 
As if to complete this gathering of gods, now Chirin saw a doorway open on the 
trunk of the great big tree near the lakeside. This tree stood out, being a 
losing-leaf type of tree rather than the pines and spruces that made up most of 
the rest of the forest. Out from this doorway strode a most distinguished and 
wizened old Pokemon of a type that Chirin had never seen. But he was getting 
used to that. Then came something he wasn't used to. 
"Look," Spirit shouted telepathically in everyone's mind. It was easier then 
trying to be heard over this mob. "I am old, I am tired, and I am TRYING TO 
SLEEP!" 
The voice. It sounded inside his head. Yet he had not thought it or heard it in 
his ears. Most definitely the voice of a powerful soul who could speak mind to 
mind. This soul was now inside Chirin's head and telling him that maybe he had 
gone too far. 
"Spirit?" Came a voice, and he saw a huge mound of fur. Celesteon popped his 
head out, staring bleary eyed at the Kadabra and trying not to disturb Calima. 
"Why, if it isn't the mountain guardian! What brings you to the lowlands?" 
Celesteon dragged himself to his feet and coughed, hoarsely. "I am ill and came 
in the hope you would know how to heal me." 
Spirit strolled across the sand towards him. "I am old too, it has been a great 
many years - too many years. We are not young, our bodies are failing. How long 
has it been since last we met?" 
The shaggy Eon's face scrunched in thought. "I think our last meeting was oh, 
about 429 years ago. It was winter. Summer was cooler then." 
"Yes, those were the good old days." 
"Oh," said Chirin, approaching the great one nervously and sitting upon the 
ground in meekest respect, "I am so sorry to wake you up. But I walked so far. 
Thank you so for coming. My flock's not here so I have to be the leader now. The 
humans stole them away into the darkness." he said, feeling tears come, the 
first time he had really cried since he had left his faraway fields. "Maybe they 
even took her to Burakuru! I have to get them back..." His voice lost its hold 
on words as he began to sob. "Please...can you please help me get them back? I 
tried to go and talk to them, I tried...but I can't do it alone." Bleating 
loudly, his small body heavig with his sobs, he threw himself on the ground. 
Calima cowered at the sight of the powerful psychic Pokemon. She feared 
Kadabras. After all, she was a poison type, and was weak against psychic 
attacks. She squealed and ran away and hid behind a larger Pokemon. She thought 
it was Lunarix. But when she looked up, she saw not Lunarix, but a Ninetails, an 
enemy of Nidoran. She squealed and ran out of the forest where the Ninetails 
was. 
"Everyone! There is a Ninetails in the forest! Run away!" and she ran so fast 
she couldn't stop and she fell into the lake. She swam to the surface and 
crawled out onto shore, muttering miserably to herself. All the other Pokemon 
where laughing. Then she remembered the Ninetails. 
"Guys! ThereisaNinetailsinthetrees!" Everyone looked a little confused, that is, 
until the Ninetails came into view. 
Moonscar looked around. He had heard Calima say something about a Ninetails. But 
he saw no Ninetails. He crawled onto shore and shook his fur and puffed up. Then 
he saw the Ninetails. He glared at it. It had been a long time since he had had 
a fight. And now he had a chance. 
"RrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAttATTTAAAAAAAA!" He screamed, charging at the Ninetails and 
trying to bite it with his Super Fang attack. 
Saffire grinned at the tiny Rattata hurtling towards him. It struck him, 
clamping its teeth about his foreleg, but he barely felt them through his thick 
fur. He shook his foot, sending the rat Pokemon tumbling into a bush. 
"What's got into you?" He asked it, "you're just lucky I'm not hungry right 
now." 
Calima watched as Chirin, Mecha and the Kadabra (who's name appeard to be 
Spirit) had a talk, Celesteon had moved into the shallow water nd had gotten 
himself a bit damp, but he appeard to be enjoying himself. He saw Dratini swim 
through the water playing with a Kingler shell, and she saw Moonscar fighting 
(or trying) the Ninetails. Not wanting Moonscar to get hurt, Calima ran over and 
said: "Moonscar, you are fighting a NINETAILS?! Don't push your luck, now go!" 
Moonscar walked away muttering miserably to himself. Then Calima turned to look 
(with her good eye) at the Ninetails. She shivered a bit and said: "Hi... Are 
you Saffire? If you are, Lunarix is in the water. I remember him saying 
something like he wanted to see you..." 
Saffire grinned at the little Nidoran. He looked past her and at Lunarix, 
frolicking in the water. "He seems to be having rather a lot of fun, so I don't 
think I shall disturb him yet. Whose his friend?" He turned to Rage, Autumn, 
Hotstreak and DaroMaro who were behind him. "Well, it appears that everyone has 
come together, with or without my intervention." 
"Oh," Calima said. "Thats Tok. He's a Wuff or so something like that. He's very 
nice." 
Calima siged and looked around. Then she noticed Rage. 
"Are you Suicune?" she asked. "You look like him..." 
She looked around the beach. There were so many different Pokemon here. Chirin 
the Mareep, Teazel the Ivysaur, Mecha the Pidgeotto, Berry the Rhyhorn, Moonscar 
the Rattata, Tok the Wuff, the other Rattata (whom's name she didn't know), 
Spirit the Kadabra, Saffire the Ninetails, Rage, Celesteon, Dratini, Lunarix and 
many, many more. "Well, are you Suicune?" Calima asked. 
Rage stared back, a puzzled expression crossing her face. 'No,' she answered, 
after considering the question for several moments. 'I don't believe I am.' 
As soon as the words had escaped her mouth, however, she knew that what she had 
said was not entirely true. Autumn, too, opened her mouth to speak, giving her 
opinion. 
'No, you're not,' the Vulpix told Rage. 'But you do look more like one than 
anything else. Almost like an evolution of one.' 
'That's probably it,' Rage agreed, though her expression indicated that the 
unanswered question still bothered her and that she did not really agree with 
the solution. 'I'm not a Suicune, but one of its evolutions. My name is Rage,' 
she added to the newcomers. 
The commotion of Pokemon gathering continued but even the sound of Calima 
screaming at something or other (he'd begun to get used to her screams) didn't 
make him stop crying this time. "Mareeep...ma-a-a-a- areeeep..." Each big breath 
he took, he pushed out another loud bleat. His head vibrated with his voice. 
Each new and strange encounter had clung to him, piling on him one by one until 
now it had finally felled him. The noisy crowd here, which had seemed like a 
grand paradise earlier, now felt like one with the strange breezy quiet that had 
surrounded him at home the day after his flock had been taken. Each one--one 
loud, one soft--went about its own business and did not hear him. 
Well he would sit here and scream till he got an answer now. It was all he had 
left. He would finally put to the test what his mother had always said to his 
sister--that temper tantrums didn't get you anywhere. 
"Ma-a-a-a-arre-e-e-ep!" 
Mecha blinked, slightly confused by all the new pokemon who had 
appeared...including Mr. Spirit and the white thing! Laughing at Razkel's 
comment, he suddenly frowned seeing another rattata attack the white thing, and 
called out "Wait a moment...Mr. White Thing has done nothing to you..." 
He ended up cutting it off there as he spotted Chirin crying. With a concerned 
look, he flapped over (spraying some water as he did so), laying a wing over the 
mareep as he reached him, trying to comfort his new friend in hopes of helping. 
Chirin squeezed his eyes shut and just kept on bawling. "I want my mama, I want 
my mama!" 
Mecha head cocked slightly to a side. Mama...? What was a...? 
It clicked in his mind. Mama must be the same as a Mother...something which he 
still didn't quite understand. After all, he had never had parents... 
He smiled slightly at Chirin, cooing soothingly "Shh...maybe we can help you 
find your mama. What does she look like?" 
Chirin sat there panting, his throat sore, his eyes sore, and when he spoke his 
voice was a little hoarse. "My mama is yellow and white and red...She is very 
pretty. She looks like me. That's what daddy says." He sniffled. "She got tooken 
away." His face curled into the folds of crying again. 
Mecha smiled, patting him with his wing reassuringly "How about this...would you 
like me to help you find your mama? I'm sure she must be here somewhere." 
He looked over towards Razkel and Berry "If you like, you could hang around with 
us until we do find her...Berry's parents are missing too. She can't talk yet, 
but does enjoy company. But I promise you, I'll do everything I can to find your 
mama, k?" 
Chirin forced himself to stop crying long enough to get the important words out. 
"Humans...the humans..." He held his arms out wide toward Mecha as the bird 
stood up fully, making the motions that said he was walking away, letting Chirin 
sit here alone in this crowd of chaos. "Don't leave me!" 
Mecha blinked, then smiled "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere..." He cocked 
his head to a side "The humans had to do with your mama disappearing?" 
Chirin nodded. "They took the flock. They came in the night...the dark blew in 
and they were on its wings. I was in the other world and when I waked up they 
were there. Then..." A sob coming up choked off his voice. 
Mecha's wing was once again draped over Chirin "It's alright..." He smiled "I'll 
do everything I can to help you get your family back. I promise Chirin." 
In the back of his mind, he wondered once again what parents were like..but 
shook it from his mind. Now wasn't the time... 
Chirin hugged Mecha, finding his feathers rather cool and unbending, but he 
didn't care. "Oh thank you... So," he said, making a big sniffle with his nose, 
"what do we do first?" 
Spirit frowned down at the little Mareep. "So, you want my help now, little one. 
Well, I am sorry to say, I am not a charity giver. Everyone comes to Spirit for 
help, yet noone lets me get any sleep, or shows me any respect. There is a 
darkness coming, a darkness worse then any of you can ever know, and in all 
honesty, your flock pales in comparison." 
Chirin shivered at the Kadabra's cold gaze and he hugged closer to Mecha. His 
flock paled in comparison to nothing, nothing in all the lands and the wide, 
pawing sea. The memory of his mother's tongue licking his face came back to him 
strongly. He saw her shape in the fluffy clouds that the Sky had scattered 
around today, and knew it was a sign that her spirit was watching him from the 
other place where those dark things--the humans, or even Burakuru herself--was 
keeping them. Nothing else compared to them, his family. 
But he didn't argue. He could feel it, that this great being had the power to 
crush him, not just in body, but in the soul. One did not argue with the spirits 
stronger than them. He concentrated on shining his tail's light bright as he 
could (not very bright, but still), shining it so the clouds could see, that he 
was not going to give up. 
He yawned. Lack of sleep was catching up to him again. "phos don't let me lose 
my light..." he started to sing quietly as Mecha talked with Spirit, but it came 
out in a wispy mumble. 
Mecha frowned, thinking the words of Mr. Spirit rather harsh...but... 
"A darkness Mr. Spirit?" he asked, still in his hug with the tiny mareep "What 
do you mean?" 
* * * 
Razkel was busy shaking the water out of his fur from his swim, he rolled around 
in the grass near Berry who was watching Mecha and Chirin "Well..." said Mecha 
with his odd beaky smile, returning the hug a bit "We could start searching..or 
enjoy our swim for awhile longer. Or perhaps go and meet Razkel and Berry? What 
do you think?" 
"Start searching..." Chirin yawned again, dizzy with tiredness. "I'm not tired. 
I think that the flock will be with humans but I'm not sure. So if we find the 
humans, maybe we can see where they trapped them." He just hoped they weren't in 
a scary forest where Burakuru, the Dark Ewe that he had heard one too many 
stories about (although none in the flock had ever seen her, although one or two 
said they *might* have seen her), might be involved. 
But wouldn't he face Burakuru, Bangaa, all the souls of evil and darkness just 
to be back in the warm yellow embrace of his mother's arms? 
"Wow there are a lot of them isn't there," Maro says in awe. After a moment Daro 
snaps at him and a argument seems to go on in their heads before they turn back 
to the group. "Righto we're off to see if anyone has need of our fine skills." 
Daro says while Maro looks sullen. "We'll be back shortly, bye for now!" They 
trot of after Moonscar and step next to him. "Hello there Mr. Moonscar,  we're 
DaroMaro the traveling sales bird, and wow do we have a offer for you!" Daro 
says while Maro russels around in their bag. He comes up with the old claw of a 
predator, as Daro continues. "This is, a Quick Claw, retrieved off the corpse of 
an ancient Electrode, one of the fasts animals ever!" <Electrodes don't have 
claws of course, and they just found it on the ground one day, but Moonscar 
shouldn't know any of that :)> "It's garanted to grant you the fearsome speed of 
that beast just by holding it, and it can be yours if you introduce us to your 
friends, since you seem to be such a well known fellow," Daro finishes with a 
winning smile. 
"Maybe you are an unevolved Suicune. And maybe there is an unevolved Raiku, 
Entei, Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, Lugia, Ho-oh, Mew, Mewtwo, and Celebi?" Calima 
thoought that was it. Then she saw two strange bird Pokemon taling to Moonscar. 
"Err, one sec." 
Calima ran over and heard the birds say they had found a claw from the corps of 
an Electrode, and that it was a Quick Claw. 
Calima walked over and glared at them and she said: "Elelctrodes don't have 
claws! what are you trying to cheat Moonscar for?!" 
DaroMaro snaps halfheartedly in her direction and stalks off looking for someone 
else not as knowledgable. "It would have made him faster too," they grumble. 
* * * 
Chirin was beginning to feel like he could think again, and like the pieces that 
the world had broken into were falling back together. 
He sniffed the air to see which was the best direction to go. He didn't want to 
go back the way he'd come--he knew nothing was there-- and although his kind 
were good swimmers, he himself was too young and small to swim across that lake. 

As he moved in a circle, his nose pointed him southward. No enemy smells, unlike 
north where there seemed to be a whiff of something unpleasant, though far off. 
It seemed a good place to start. "Let's go that way," he said. 
"Alright." said Mecha, looking off into the direction the tiny mareep had 
pointed out to him. He smiled "But...would you like to rest a bit first off? You 
do look tired after all, and we may as well rest up where's it's safe, right?" 
he said, cocking his head to a side. 
"No...I'll sleep when it gets dark." He had to get a move on finding 
them--before something terrible happened to them. He remembered Burakuru's 
ability to snuff people's lights out with her Rings of Darkness. But the real 
reason he wanted to hurry up and find them...was that he suddenly remembered, 
and missed, the lick of his mother's tongue when she cleaned his face. "Only..." 
Now that they were headed off he remembered something, or rather three someones. 
"Calima! Teazel! Moonscar! Mecha and me are gonna go find my flock amd my mama! 
Do you wanna come with?" 
Teazel, a little ways off, moved a bit closer. She had heard the mareep's 
request easily enough, though. 
"Sure, I'll come with -" she took a quick, nervous glance at Mecha, still not 
entirely trustful of the pidgeotto (many warnings and woes she had heard about 
the flying types!). But....he hadn't done anything to harm any of them yet...so 
he must be okay. "Sure, I'll come with you guys," she finished. 
Mecha smiled at the thing with the leaves and stuff on its back...what was it 
anyway? It looked nice... 
Her name was Teazel...right? Maybe he would ask her later... 
"Yea! *Mareepu!*" Chirin did a leap of joy and danced around in a manner that 
would have looked quiet silly if he hadn't been so young and adorable. Knowing 
that they were setting off to find his flock at last, and the fact that Teazel 
was coming, had given him new energy. He looked up at the clouds of cotton 
drifting in the sky and said a thanks to the ancestors, and the Jumpluff spirits 
in the sky who must have sent this great shining bird to help him. Chirin 
stopped capering around to regard his more sober companions with his tail 
wagging and flashing a happy light. "Oh Waku, Oh Phos, Oh yes. Thank you Teazel. 
And Mecha." 
Being so young he did not notice that the smiles Teazel and Mecha gave to humor 
him were a little, well, odd in reaction to the odd words. 
"Calima, do you want to come too?" Calima gave one last glare at the bird 
Pokemon and said to Chirin: "I'll go only if Tok and Lunarix go." 
Then she said: "What about you Moonscar?" 
Chirin didn't like the look that Calima gave to Mecha. But he thought he knew 
why she did it. He had been scared of Mecha at first, but he wasn't anymore. 
Maybe Calima was still a little bit scared. 
Calima looked in the water where Tok and Lunarix were. She swam over to them and 
said: "Tok, Lunarix, Chirin, Teazel, Mecha and his friends are goingo to look 
for Chirn's flock, will you come? Cause if you don't, then I said I would 
stay..." 
"Oh, I hope they say yes," said Chirin, watching as Calima ran over to them. 
"Mecha, don't leave yet, I'll be right back." 
He glanced back a few times as he bounded down the beach. Mecha didn't appear to 
be going anywhere yet. 
"Hi Calima, hi Tok, hi Lunarix, hi Teazel, uh hi Moonscar. We're going to find 
the flock. I feel the wind is gonna be helping us too. Do you want to come?" 
Chirin chewed his cud rather loudly, his jaws working frantically in time to his 
burning hope that they would stay as one flock. He hated saying goodbye. 
As he waited, he pressed the end of his forepaw into the sandy soil, lifting and 
repeating until he had created a rather lopsided circle of imprints. He had made 
the form of the light of Phos on the ground. He added to it, making lines all 
around the circle that were his best attempt at showing the wind. Recalling the 
forms, some of them ancient, that the Ampharos back home had made on boulders of 
the rock outcroppings rising from the grass, Chirin tried to remember how they 
had made the form of wind, calling on its power. The wind spirits were his own 
guardian spirits. He would need their power on this search. They all would. 
If they came. Chirin looked hard at the pattern he had created. "I wish...I 
wish...I wish." 
"Sure, why not? Sounds like fun!" Lunarix shook himself, spraying water over all 
of them. "Only, my friend CElesten, he ain't well, and well, I don't really want 
to leave him alone without knowing he'll be, well, better. Oh..." He scuffed the 
ground with one forepaw. "You folks are all neat and I'd love to see more of 
this strange and exciting world, but Celesteon helped me soooooo much and I 
don't want to abandon him, cos he's ill and well, what if he dies? If he died 
I'd never forgive myself if I wasn't there to say goodbye." 
He shrugged. "Sorry guys, I'd love to, but I shouldn't. Good luck though." 
Even as tears rose up brimming on his lower eyelids, and the world cried to him 
of being unfair, Chirin knew Lunarix was right. Celesteon still didn't look very 
good. He certainly wasn't up to a journey that might involve confrontations with 
dark forces and beings. 
He ran over and hugged Lunarix. "I'll miss you." 
Calima looked at Lunarix and nodded. She was going to stay with Him, Tok and 
Celesteon. She felt like crying. So she walked over to a small bush and began to 
dig a burrow. After she was finished she crawled inside, sealed off the 
entrance, and began to cry. She knew she might never see Teazel, and Chirin 
again. And if Moonscar left, she would be back to where she started. with not a 
lont of friends. But she still had Tok and Lunarix. But she would miss her newer 
friends so much. Sh cried and cried and she knew that someone probably heard 
her. 
"Calima? Where are you going?" Chirin let go of Lunarix and followed the little 
Nidoran. But she picked up hopping faster than he could run. "Wait! Come back!" 
He raced after her up the shore. To his dismay she turned off the trail, and 
Chirin fought his way through rough brush after the smaller creature; luckily 
there were no thorns and his coat, while poor wool, was not the most prone to 
catching on branches. 
He broke through, following the sounds to a bush. In that bush he found signs of 
commotion. Someone had just dug a burrow here, turning over fresh soil. Along 
with the strong smell of new earth, Calima's scent was everywhere. "Calima, is 
that you in there?" 
Waiting for an answer, he heard only the sounds of little paws scuffling in soil 
beneath the ground, and then a little squealy cry. Then more crying. Chirin 
poked at the dirt sealing the entrance. Was she crying because he was going 
away? 
"Please don't cry! You can come with me if you want!" Calima heard Chirin. She 
opened the entrance (by digging of course), and looked at him. She couldn't see 
him very well, he was very blurry because she was almost blided by tears. Then 
she said: "I...I want to go with you Chirin, but I cannot leave Tok and lunarix. 
They were the first Pokemon I ever met. And Lunarix needs help with Celesteon. I 
cannot go with you... I'm afraid if Moonscar goes I'll end up like I was in the 
beggining. Without alot of friends. It seems I only just met you guys, and now 
we have to go our seperate ways... I was hoping that Celesteon could stay with 
Spirit until we returned. But I don't think it will work that way... Only if 
Celesteon and Lunarix want to. I understand you wanting to find your flock... 
But, before you go, can you do something for me? Can ask Lunarix if Celesteon 
could stay with Spirit until we found your flock? Those two seem to be good 
friends, and the way they talk, I guess you could say it's been a VERY LONG TIME 
since they had last seen eachother... And, if you do this, please do not tell 
Lunarix I was the one who made this suggjesten..." 
"Oh, Calima..." Chirin threw his front legs around her in a hug. "Don't cry. 
After I find my flock I'll come see you all the time and you can come see me all 
the time. But don't cry...cause now I'm crying." 
He sniffled and tried to remember the very long and detailed message Calima had 
told him to give to Lunarix. He wouldn't fail Calima or the fox of the stars. 
"I'll go tell your message. And then I'll come back and say goodbye again." 
Calima watched as her friend ran out and toward Lunarix. She sighed and muched 
on some berries and waited for her friend to come back. If lunarix and Celesteon 
agreed to her "secret" suggjesteon then that might mean that Lunarix and Tok 
would go, so Calima could go. She felt a bit guilty though. 
Chirin dashed back through the brush and bounded down to the lakeshore. Streaks 
of aged late-afternoon sunlight striped his woolly back through the trees and 
grass as he ran. 
He reached Lunarix and stood there with his mouth open. "Uh...Calima said 
something but I can't remember. Oh. Now I remember. She said, Celesteon please 
stay with Spirit until we find my flock. They seem to be *very* good friends for 
a LONG long time. And..." he tried to remember the rest of it... "uh...I'm not 
supposed to tell you who made this suggestion... so it's a secret. That's all." 
"Now I'll be right back, I just have to go say goodbye to someone." Chirin ran 
back up the shore-trail in the darkening twilight. He reached Calima who was 
still at the mouth of the burrow. He threw his arms round her all over again and 
a feeling like a ball of lightning clenched inside his throat, a ball of 
sadness. His *denki* was crying. 
"Goodbye, Calima..." he sobbed. "My flock always said, when we say goodbye and 
Phos is going to sleep...Ledians keep your light and be a beacon. Oh..." he 
sniffled. "That's not right...I think it goes...oh I don't know. So...goodbye 
and ledians keep your, well, you don't have a light but, you can pretend you do. 
I'll miss all of you. But I promise I'll be coming back." He looked around. 
"It's getting dark. Do you want to come back to everybody at the lake? I want 
to, but I don't want to just leave you alone here." 
Mecha looked over towards Razkel and Berry. With a beaky smile, he raised a wing 
in a wave "Hey! Razkel! Berry! Can you come her efor a sec? I need to ask you 
something!" 
"What is it?" Razkel said walking up to Mecha, Berry plodding along cheerfully 
behind. 
"Well..." Mecha looked a bit nervous "You see..I promised Chirin I would help 
him find his mama. And I was just wondering if you guys would like to come 
along..." 
He rested a wing on Razkel's head with a grin "I'd hate to have to say 
goodbye...you know..." 
Razkel beamed "for a moment there I though you 'were' going to say goodbye, of 
course I'll come Mecha" he turned to Berry "what about it Berry you coming?", 
The rhyhorn nodded, if they were looking for someone else's parents they might 
just find here's too. The Rattata clambered on to Berry's back "right then, 
looks like your stuck with us then Mecha" 
Calima looked at Chirin. 
"I think that if Celesteon stays here with Spirit the Lunarix and tok will go 
and so can I. But I'm feeling a bit guilty..." 
"Uh...how about we both go back and ask them and then see what they say?" 
His tail's light blinked and his jaws chewed as he sat waiting to see what she 
said. 
"Okay Chirin. Lets go and ask them..." Calima sad and she slowly walked out of 
the bush and asked Chirin to follow her. 
Chirin trotted down the trail that he was getting to know rather well. He would 
miss Calima if she stayed. Her eye wound didn't smell so strongly of blood 
anymore and she seemed in better shape than when they had first come to the 
lake. 
He remembered the place where he had made the lines in the ground and led Calima 
back to that very place. Far off came a splashing in the lake, near the 
shallows--some creatures fighting down there. He decided to let Calima ask the 
question, and he concentrated on fixing the form he'd scratched in the ground, 
because it appeared he had walked through it. So far its charm seemed to have 
helped. After all, Calima wasn't so sad anymore and now she might come... 
It was getting dark and now a new anxiety filled him. It came from experience. 
Whenever he wanted to go play or go do something important, if it showed any 
signs of getting too dark his mother always told him to wait till tomorrow and 
come bed down. The thought of his search being postponed even a night made a 
wave of nervousness flow through him. He prayed to his ancestors and the wind 
spirits that it would not be so this time. Surely they could get a little tiny 
ways before nightfall... 
Chirin did a capering leap in the air, meeting with the wind that had helped 
him. Landing, he wriggled with delight and excitement. He ran and hugged Mecha, 
again. "*Meriipu*!" Letting go, he went over to the other two, blinking a happy 
light on his tail. He sniffed noses with them, getting to know them. "Well," he 
said to them with a big smile, "we're off to..." His words faded out into a big, 
big yawn. "Off to find the sea beacon flock. That's what my flock is. We light 
the hills and the sea at night and the good spirits can find their way, and the 
evil dark goes away." 
He supposed that they hadn't kept away all of the dark spirits on that last 
night. He had fallen asleep against his mother like every other night, suckling 
for a bit then dropping off and entering the dream world wrapped in her arms. 
His father had been sleeping right on the other side of him, Chirin's back had 
been against him. Somehow Burakuru had sent her dark lambs in after the flock's 
lights were lowered, showing their spirits were away in the other world, their 
bodies left unguarded here. "The dark spirits are masters of sneaking," his 
grandmother had once said. "We must be vigilant." 
It made him shiver as night advanced quickly in Phos's absence. His tail's light 
now lit the ground around him. Up the shore the trees grew fuzzier, the shadowy 
places beneath their boughs growing bigger, opening their black mouths. 
He looked back at Calima and the others. "So...I guess we get to go now, Calima 
are you coming?" 
Berry shuck, a little scared by the shadows created by Chirin's light. 
"It's okay Berry" Razkel laughed patting the Ryhorn's head "imagine a big thing 
like you being afraid of the dark". He looked down at Chirin "Where we going?" 
Calima looked at Chirin. She really wanted to go with them, but she also wanted 
to be with Tok and Lunarix. 
"One second!" She said and she ran over to Lunarix and said: "Lunarix, if you 
and Celesteon agree, can Celesteon maybe stay here with Spirit until we find 
Chirin's flock? I mean, they seem like real good friends and all, but, I really 
wanna go help Chirin because almost all of my new friends are going and I was 
hopeing that if you guys think it's okay then Celesteon can be here with his 
friend and you and Tok could go so I could go... Because I wanna go with them 
but I don't wanna be seperated from you guys again... Please Lunarix?" 
Moonscar looked at Calima. He knew he could not leave her. So he ran over to 
Chirin and said: "Chirin, as much as I would love to go help you find your 
flock, I am afraid that if Calima stays, then I stay. Because I just cannot 
leave her behind. I'm sorry." 
Chirin looked at his new friends, then beyond them, out at the southward scape 
that he desperately wanted to get searching. Too much talking, too much 
discussing, and not enough doing. And meanwhile his flock sat somewhere in 
Burakuru's clutches, or worse. "I have a decision now. I'm going to start 
walking. If you want to come with me...just come, I want you to come. If not you 
can stay here. I don't want to wait anymore." 
As Chirin started walking up he brightened his tail's light as much as he could, 
which wasn't much but did help light the way in the growing gloom. He looked 
behind him to see if anyone was coming...the trees looming just ahead looked a 
little too scary to go into alone. But here he saw something whitish, caught on 
the leafy twig of a bush and tugging at it in the soft wind. A bit of cotton, 
from a Jumpluff who must have soared high overhead. He sniffed it. Yes, 
Jumpluff. Chirin's tongue licked out, and he ate the tiny wisp of cotton spore, 
swallowing hard to get it down and chasing it with a few mouthfuls of leaves. 
Endowed with Jumpluff power he walked to the forest's edge, browsing some more 
bushes for a moment, waiting just one more time. Was he actually going to go in 
there if nobody followed? Chirin realized he hadn't thought this out too well... 

Mecha hopped after him, making sure that Razkle and Berry would follow. He gave 
Chirin a feathery , winged noogie in a way, oddly gentle for someone who's 
feathers were metallic "That was a bold move.." He grinned his odd beaky grin 
"You'll be a good leader someday." 
Chirin's fear gave way to a giggle as Mecha gave him a noogie. He felt his fear 
melting momentarily away, so relieved that his bird friend was coming--along 
with Berry and Razkel. Chirin felt himself blushing a little at the compliment 
and didn't know what to say. He didn't want to disappoint Mecha by saying he was 
no leader... he had only said that because he wanted to get searching, because 
he was so worried. Leaders didn't get worried. They weren't little scared lambs 
like him, they were mighty rams of lightning like his father, or wise ewes like 
his grandmother. Or maybe, he thought, great big shiny birds. "I'm so happy 
you're coming. I was scared you weren't coming. You're one of my best friends. 
Calima is my other best friend. I hope she comes... Uh..." he said, thinking as 
he looked south. It didn't look nearly as welcoming now as it had in daylight. 
Chills crawled over him as he looked into the dark maw of the pines. "It looks 
really scary in there. I wanted to go this way because I smelled bad enemies the 
other way. You know, the ones that eat other Pokémon. I Those smells make me 
sparky and scared." He thought some more. He hadn't really thought of how to 
proceed. "It's dark now and that's when bad spirits come. We have to keep our 
*denki* up, Mama always said that calling on your power helps you...Are you 
afraid of the dark? Uh I'm a little bit afraid of the dark. Actually I'm a lot 
afraid of the dark." Mecha blinked. Obviously, he lacked information in this 
area "The dark...? Is that like when the sun goes down and there's all shadows?" 
The darkness made it difficult for Mecha to see...and he may not had even known 
it, but he was indeed nervous. Of course, he didn't know what 'nervous' was 
probably, so it made no difference to him. Chirin inhaled slowly, sniffing 
carefully to see what was in there. No enemies...but he was still scared to go 
in. He forced his little front leg to take a step. "Watakko, Watakko," he 
whispered to himself as he went from open shore brush under the eaves of the 
forest's edge. His birth had brought the wind and he also had a little Jumpluff 
power in him now. Now was about the best time to begin. 
Chirin looked at that darkness again...not as a small, barely-weaned little 
mareep, but as none other than Den-rai, Denryuu of the Moon. The flock told many 
stories of an Ampharos ram born long ago who sparkled like moonlight and had 
moon powers. He could do anything. And Chirin imagined he was him. 
He turned to Mecha and the others. "I am Den-rai! Dennnn!" 
The little lamb ran around them in circles, sparking and shouting. Mecha grinned 
slightly, althought confused...wasn't his name Chirin...? 
Teazel could only smile at the mareep's antics. She had no idea who this 
"Den-rai" was - perhaps a friend of Chirin's? Whoever he or she was, it seemed 
to help the lamb's confidence. 
-For someone so young, he's quite brave,,- she thought. 
"Okay," said Chirin with a smile, cocking his head and imagining that he had a 
handsome silver face. "Let's start looking." 
Chirin-chirin/Den-rai looked again at the dark and had to try a little harder to 
be a figure of legend. He waited to make sure that the flock of the great 
Den-rai wasn't going to be the only one to go. Chirin took another step in, his 
haunches shaking. Chirin-chirin was scared of the dark...but Den-rai wasn't. 
Mecha grinned again "Thanks Chirin...hopefully your friend Calima will come 
along." 
"Watakko?" Mecha asked with another clueless blink. 
Chirin-chirin nodded his wool-topped head. "She is the Jumpluff. She makes the 
wind go the ways they go. And her children help her. Watakko has many babies. 
Sometimes I see them...floating high, high up there. In the summer. I wish I was 
a Jumpluff sometimes. Do you?" 
Mecha felt himself sweatdrop, but smiled none the same "She sounds 
wonderful...but...umm....what is a Jumpluff?" he asked cocking his head to a 
side, and feeling rather foolish. 
"Jumpluffs..." He thought a second. He'd never had to describe them. "Pieces of 
day sky made of wind and cloud-cotton.Oh, Teazel!" He saw the Ivysaur ambling 
over towards them. "You are coming too? Oh, wonderful! I was really really 
hoping you would. I was thinking that I was going to miss you. Meriipuuuu!" 
"What? Me? Not come?" Teazel feigned indignance for a moment, then chuckled. "Of 
course I'm coming. I said I would before, remember?" She took a deep breath, 
then let it out. "'Sides, it would give me something to do than sit around here, 
you know?" she added, grinning again as usual. 
"Oh yeah." Chirin remembered now. He giggled. 
Calima looked at Lunarix, her eyes shining with tears. Chirin, Mecha, Razkel, 
Berry (and Teazel?) had gone. "Lunarix, Tok. I'm sorry, but I must go with 
Chirin and my other friends. When we find his flock we will return to you. I 
will miss you both so much. Moonscar! lets go!" Calima said, and she ran after 
Chirin and gave him a great big hug and said: "Chirin! I'm coming with you!" 
A tear trickled down Lunarix's face as he watched Calima leave. 
"I'm sorry," he said, nuzzling her goodbye, "but Celesteon helped me lots and 
lots, and I cant just abandon him. Especially not when he's ill. But don't be 
upset, I'm sure we'll meet again." 
He padded over to his old friend, who was talking with Spirit about the "Good 
old days" around about 500 or more years ago. After a while he grew bored of 
listening - Lunarix was better at talking then listening, and Tok joined him, so 
the two of them went to sleep. 
It had been an exhausting day. 
"Oh!" Chirin raced down the shore, nearly tumbling head over heels as he 
collided with Calima. "I'm so happy you're coming!" He hugged her tight, maybe 
too tight because he felt her wriggling a little. He let go, wondering why he 
felt like crying if he was so happy. Breaking with the confusion, he sniffed at 
her eye patch. He hoped she didn't lose the other eye on this trip. Then she 
would have...no eyes. "How does your eye feel?" 
Tok enjoyed his nice swim. He got back on land and shook off the extra moisture 
clinging to his hair and skin. It was intriguing for him to see the wide variety 
of friendly pokemon that had gathered around the lake. It was sad for him though 
when they mentioned that they had to leave. He felt compelled to go along until 
he remembered his friend Lunarix. He couldn't leave his close compannion behind. 
He sadly refused Calima's offer to go along. It made him feel a little better to 
know that they would be back at a later time. The rays of the sun quickly 
retreated and the moon was soon glowing happily in the sky. Tok was fatigued 
from his encounters that day, so he curled up next to Lunarix and slept soundly. 

Well, looking all around the lake, Chirin saw in the last light of twilight that 
the forest ringed it entirely. To leave the forest, he would have to go through 
the forest. South still seemed as good a direction as any to start. 
Looking around him at all the pokemon who had gathered, he wondered what they 
were waiting for. 
Were they really all waiting for *him* to start first? 
"...uh..." He poked his paw at the dirt. 
But no. Den-rai wouldn't sit here poking his paw at the dirt. Chirin- chirin 
knew he should be saying something now, like the leaders of the flock did before 
beginning a journey, but he couldn't remember all the grand words they said or 
all the dances they danced. And he was getting messages from inside of him, 
feelings that made it so he didn't want to dance. 
"Uh...I just hope that the good spirits help us and the bad ones stay away," he 
said, blushing a little. "Oh yes..and Spearows be good too. Not like last time. 
Cause Calima only has one eye left now." He worried for her. 
Looking at all the eyes on him, however friendly they were he suddenly didn't 
feel like capering around anymore. He felt like the little yellow light on his 
tail was barely holding apart the weights of the shadows that kept trying to 
press into him from all around. He turned away towards the dark so he wouldn't 
have to see them all waiting. Remembering his mother--knowing she could not come 
to him now--he started into the forest, blinking bleary eyes that wanted sleep. 
Finding Calima, he walked next to her. In his mind he pretended that he was 
Den-rai and that they were all strong and mighty children of lightning. 
Calima smiled as Chirin walked over to her. She was, for the first time in a 
long time, happy. 
"My eye is fine Chirin. Thank you for asking," Calima said. She looked around. 
It was quite dark. Remembering the encounters with the predators she began to 
wish that they had left when it was light. Calima sniffed the air and her ears 
perked up (I'll give ya'all three guesses 'bout what's gonna happen now). she 
smelled something like................EKANS! And there were more then one. There 
were three if them. Calima's eyes flashed red. Her vision began to turn red. 
"GUYS! IT HAPPENING AGAIN! FIND SOME PLACE TO HIDE! ALL OF YOU!" Calima 
screamed. She looked at the approching Ekans and she charged at the nearest one 
and started scratching it. It hissed and tried to shake her off. Another Ekans 
tried to grab Calima in its teeth, but she jumped off and the Ekans got the 
other Ekans by the throat. The Ekans hissed and flaied, then it dropped dead. 
The ekans that had tried to get Calima hissed in outrage. It looked at its 
falled comerade and then turned to face Calima. It hissed again and sent many 
poison needles in Calima's direction. She dodged and the poison needles hit the 
other Ekans instead. Calima ran over to it and rammed her horn into it's throat, 
killing it instatly. The other ekans, plainly upset now, began to glow an eerie 
white. When the light vanished, the Pokemon was much bigger, and it looked even 
more mean. It had evolved into an Arbok. Calima charged at it and tried to jump 
on it, but it dodged out of the way and it tried to whip her with its tail. 
Calima dodged and tried to jump on the Arbok. It worked this time and she 
started biting it. It hissed and flailed and tried to shake Calima off. Calima 
clung on for dear life and tried to ram her horn into its throat. After the 
Arbok stopped shaking she quickly jumped on it close to its throat and rammed 
her horn into its throat. It hissed loudly and then it fell down, twitching. 
Calima crawled out from under it. A few Fearows dropped in out of nowhere and 
started pecking at the Arbok and the Ekans. one of them tried to grab Calima, 
but she jumped on it and started slashing at it. It shook her off and then 
decided to stick with the Ekans and Arbok. The large bird Pokemon grabbed the 
dead snake Pokemon in their feet (it took three of them to carry the Arbok) and 
they flew away. 
Calima's eyes returned to normal, and she staggered a bit. Then she lay down and 
closed her eyes. But only for a second. 
"Chirin..." Calima said, but that was all she could say. 
Moonscar watched the fight with slight fear. Three Ekans were attacking Calima. 
Two of them had died and the last one had evolved into an Arbok. Things didn't 
look good for Calima. He, Chirin, Mecha, Razkel, Berry, Teazel were iding behind 
a tree. After Calima had killed the Arbok as well, some Fearows came and took th 
bodies of the dead Pokemon. As soon as Calima returned to normal, Moonscar ran 
over to her and he heard her say "Chirin..." in a weak voice. Moonscar began to 
worry. Was she dead? No, she was breathing. 
"Chirin! Mecha! Razkel! Berry! Teazel! Come quick! Calima dosn't look too 
good...!" 
A sliver of time. A moment like a little bite of grass, cropped then swallowed, 
just a tiny time Chirin had felt himself landing back in the world where he had 
been before. He had begun to feel safe and relaxed in this new "flock" of 
friends. The shadows had cleared. Things had felt real again. No more, not with 
this attack from the dark world. He was not Den-rai. Den-rai meant nothing right 
now, against the shrieking bird-screams still inside the minds of his ears. 
Snake- souls hovered here where they'd died, slithering just above the 
ground...for ghosts never touched the ground. In Chirin's mind the souls of 
snakes strangled the moon-ram he'd pretended to be. 
Chirin-chirin crept out from the bush he had darted into and stood, staring, 
shivering, at the bloody mess before him. Mama...Mama...He wanted Mama. He 
wanted the presence of other lights around him. They were receding from him, 
less and less able to hold off the dark that Chirin knew was after him. The 
longer that a soul was lost the farther it was from home. They were far away, in 
body and spirit, and the dark humans who flocked with Burakuru must know Chirin 
was trying to find them. 
He tried to think of what the wise ewes would say to this flood of otherworldly 
things, and thought of the words: *Signs of darkness. Bangaa stirs in his bed 
beneath. Burakuru may be near.* 
"Chirin..." 
At Calima's voice, he crept out from the bush he had dashed into, already 
smelling blood. The ghosts of Fearow screams, fear screams still whispered in 
the minds of his ears. He still breathed fast. At first the crackle of his own 
feet on leaf litter made him jumpy. 
As the others gathered round he gained the courage to approach Calima and the 
site of the attack. Her snowy white body lay in a splash of red whose smell 
pulsed to him. Snake souls hovered here where they had died. They slid just 
above the ground, for ghosts never touched ground. All around their life-blood 
lay and it whispered to his own blood, screaming to flee or fight. 
"Calima?" He waited. "Calima!" 
Pale blue sparks snapped from his wool. His denki was crying, it wanted out. But 
he could not yet speak to it. His soul still said it was not time yet. 
What had brought about such a strange twisted attack? The flock had always 
warned of Ekans and Arbok hiding alone in the grass, waiting for small prey 
(such as Mareep). But what did it mean when they came in groups? And the 
Fearows--had they, too, been part of this horde sent from darkness? 
"Oh Calima, please wake up." 
He huddled against the Nidoran and began to cry. He remembered and kept his tail 
shining bright, trying to call her soul back to her body before it was gone too 
long. "Calima please." 
Calima stirred and she slowly opened her eyes. She felt very dizzy and nauseous. 
She tried to stand but it made her head spin. She felt like something hot was 
rushing up her throat and she threw up. The umplesent taste lingered in her 
mouth. She tried once more to stand up. She rose onto her legs and, once she 
thought she could stand again, her legs began to feel like jelly, and she 
collapsed again. The stringshot fell from her eye, revealing a blood-stained eye 
with a gaping hole in the middle. Dried blood stuck all over her eye, and some 
of it fell down onto the already horribly blood-stained grass. the sight of the 
her eye seemed to make everyone queasy. She tried to get up once again, 
sucseeding this time, and she looked at her friends and said weakly: "C'mon, 
lets go find Chirin's flock." Then her weakness seemed to slowly fade away, and 
in a more normal tone, she said: "And, dose anyone know what we can cover up my 
eye with?" 
Chirin flinched and turned away reflexively at the sight of her gored eye, 
illuminated by his tail tip. The image of Calima's white face with one normal 
eye and the other a black-red clot stayed even when he looked away, and he could 
not rub it out of his mind. "Oh Calima, you are so hurt. You poor thing." 
He looked back around, placing his tail tip behind him so her face was in 
shadow. At least she was still in this world and her other eye had survived the 
last fray. "I'm glad you didn't die. Hm...We always use cotton when blood won't 
stop coming..." but he wasn't home anymore and he himself could not make cotton. 
"I dunno. If it's not bleeding maybe leave it like it is. But it is ugly. I 
dunno. But, uh, I noticed something. Ekans always attack you." 
Calima shrugged. 
"Ekans always attack Nidoran. We're their favorite food. Same with Quilavas." 
Razkel hoped off Berry's back and sided up next to Mecha, motioning for the 
young Rhyhorn to follow. "What we waiting for?" he whispered to the bird 
Pokemon, he looked over at Chirin "is this kid okay? seems a little 
screw-ballish and what's all that he keeps talking about spirits?" 
"Well..." Mecha looked over "Calima did get hurt..." 
"By the way...what is a spirit? Is it like Mr. Spirit?" As they walked on, 
picking up after the horrible little serpentine incident, Mecha posed this 
question to Chirin. Another question that Chirin had never been asked before! 
"Uh...A spirit is something that is inside everything. And, uh, Yes, Spirit has 
one too. But... I don't know if his is nice or not." 
"A spirit is inside everything...?" Mecha blinked again, as if the concept 
confused him throughly. 
Chirin smiled at Mecha. "Yes." 
Calima shook her head and looked around. She saw a little Caterpie eating a 
leaf, and it looked like it was completly unaware that they were there, or that 
there had been a fight. 
"I know how to cover up my eye...!" Calima said, and she sneaked up on the 
little Caterpie. She jumped up and said "Boo!". The frightend caterpiller 
Pokemon shot a stringshot attack at Calima. It was the nature of Caterpie to aim 
for the enemy's eyes. So Calima silently said to herself that she was lucky that 
the Caterpie got her forever ruined eye. After the Caterpie quickly left, Calima 
turned to her friends and smiled. Then she said: "Should we keep going? Or 
should we find a place to crash for the night?" 
Chirin cast his tail's light around, looking for a suitable bedding place. It 
all looked the same: close and scary. He didn't want to have to sleep in this 
forest, but he just couldn't walk another step and he was beginning to not care 
where they stopped, so long as they did. He sniffed the air, trying to pick the 
best direction. Now that he thought about sleep sweet sleep he felt his own 
tiredness and had to concentrate on keeping his head from drooping. He leaned 
against Teazel, whom he had been walking next to. He closed his eyes for just a 
moment, letting them pick a place, telling himself he'd open them and follow 
them there. Yes, just a quick little rest here... Calima yawned. She sat down 
and scratched behind her ear and yawned again. 
"Good," Calima said, carefully rubbing her working eye, "I'm pooped." 
She walked over to Chirin and snuggled up next to him. His wool felt nice and 
warm. There was a slight breeze which made it a bit chilly, so she felt nice and 
warm close to Chirin. 
"C'mon guys, lay down," Calima said to the rest of the gang, patting the ground 
close to where she was. Then she drifted off into silent slumber. 
Mecha grinned, settling down next to Razkel and Berry. He wasn't exactly 
tired...but that didn't mean he couldn't rest for a bit at least, right? Chirin 
went to sleep curled up, a little hot, between Calima on one side of him and 
Teazel on the other, with Moonscar and Razkel by him too. They snuggled only 
loosely in the warm, late-summer night, not far off the trail they had been 
traveling. At first the night noises kept him jerking awake, but the dream-world 
had begun calling to him more and more strongly all afternoon and now he let 
himself go there. 
Just before he slipped from his body, he thought of what he must try to do... 
then he was asleep, and aware. 
And afraid. 
It was so hard to keep hiking. And he wasn't on the right hill--he had started 
out at the base of where he had wanted to go but it had somehow changed to this 
hill--another one with many rocks. Chirin climbed along the hill anyway, but it 
grew steeper and steeper. The grasses grew more and more timid as he went along, 
shrinking ever sparser against the stones and growing in tufts near them. And 
the rocks grew bolder. As if attacking, one rolled out from under his left hoof. 
"Mama!" 
Chirin regained his footing. He could hear his flock crying out just on the 
other side. Closer now...he was almost there...But when he reached the top, he 
found no one, only a lonely wind sweeping the stone and grass. 
Then he heard a big, deep ram's voice--or was it the voice of that Spirit 
creature who had spoken in his head? 
"Nothing...nothing..." 
The voices of his flock had faded away and Chirin somehow knew that the voice 
speaking now knew where they were. And that he just might not want to tell. 
"Nothing you do..." 
"Where's my flock?" he tried to say but his throat wouldn't work. Trying to 
move, he found his muscles wouldn't work. He lay there, helpless to whatever 
happened next. 
An Ampharos lifted its mottled gray head and stood up from the grass, an 
Ampharos made not of yellow and white flesh but of the same kind of rock as the 
outcroppings. Who was he? 
"Nothing you do..." 
Chirin realized he had a skull for a head, with a moving jawbone. A skull of 
stone. 
"...is forgotten." 
Chirin struggled awake and the first thing he did when he got air in his lungs, 
was scream. 
Mecha jumped "Wh-wh--What was...?!" He sighed seeing it just Chirin, somewhat in 
relief, before hopping over and resting a wing on him once again "Shhh....did 
you have a bad dream Chirin?" 
Chirin nodded as he continued to sob. *Bangaa*, he wanted to say, but the word 
would not come out. He hugged Mecha and cried some more. 
He had seen Bangaa in a dream. Bangaa. That creature hadn't looked quite like 
they said Bangaa looked...but it was close enough. When Bangaa visited you in 
the other place, death was close. Chirin clung to Mecha like the great bird 
could keep the other world from grabbing him into its clutches forever. 
What did it mean? Did it mean his flock had died? Were the waving 
shadow-branches that surrounded them, eerily lit by his tail, were they his 
family weeping? Were they trying to tell him not to go on? 
"Oh Mecha...I want to go home." Moonscar jumped up and glared at Chirin. 
"What? Why the heck did you scream?! I was sleeping!" He glared at Chirin even 
harder and then he walked away to a nearby bush and started munching on some 
berries, muttering mserably to himself. Calima bolted awake and she looked 
around, her eye bulging. And she began to run around in circles, head-butting 
the air and screaming "RUN! WHO SCREAMED?! WHERE'S THE DANGER?! RUN!" She began 
to grow tired and she ran into a bush and back and then she head-butted a tree 
and fell backwards and she kicked her legs in the air but she couldn't get up, 
but she just kept on moving her legs as if she didn't notice that she was 
upside-down. 
More awake now, Chirin looked first at Moonscar, then at Calima. He barely had 
time to get upset at Moonscar's words before Calima was thrown into a panic. 
"I'm sorry I screamed," he said. "I was scared. I almost didn't get away." He 
was so grateful to be back in this world, still scared it wouldn't last, he 
huddled against Mecha and thanked the spirits & ancestors that Bangaa had not 
got him yet. 
"He was all stone with a bone head," he said, his lips quivering. "He- -he 
talked to me. He said...said..." Recalling the image, he started crying again 
and couldn't talk any more. 
Mecha patted Chirin with his wing, even if he was still confused...all stone 
with a bone head...? 
Calima looked at Chirin (the best she could as she was still upside-down). 
"Oh, that was it wasn't it? Sorry..." Calima said. She kicked her legs some 
more. She couldn't get back up. 
Calima moaned and looked at Chirin and smiled and said in a rather annoyed 
voice: "But before we go back to sleep... CAN SOMEONE HELP ME UP!?" 
It was all starting make some sense, why Bangaa had approached him. He was away 
from the flock now, away from home and all the sacred places, out of reach of 
the protection they had given him from the dangers of both this world and the 
other one--the dream one. His one light was not enough to keep the evil away. 
But what could he do about it, here and now? His mind was a whirl, and in the 
center of the swirl were all the forces of the dark he had run into tonight. 
He sniffled, snuggling against Mecha. "I can't sleep. Can you tell me a story?" 
Chirin saw Calima struggling...and smiled. Poor Calima, always getting herself 
wound up. 
"Here." He used his head to sort of roll her over, avoiding her legs which were 
still kicking a little. They looked like they could really pack a wallop! 
"There. Is that better?" 
Settling back down next to Mecha and Calima now too, Chirin waited to see if he 
would tell a story. Chirin *loved* stories. He especially loved the chilly 
feeling that came over him sometimes when he listened to stories and they came 
to a really exciting, or special, or sweet, cotton-cuddly part. "Oh...uh...but 
can it be a not scary story? Like..." he looked around at the shadows shivering 
in the light of his tail, "with not that much dark in it." 
Chirin yawned, though he didn't feel as tired as he had before. How old was the 
night? "I wonder if the night is going to get darker or lighter. Huh Calima? I 
hope lighter." His tail twinkled. Calima moaned again. She kicked her legs some 
more but she still couldn't get up. 
"I'm sorry you had a bad dream Chirin, a Pokemon made of stone and a bone head." 
Calima shook a little, trying to get up again, but she couldn't. "Please, 
Chirin, somebody... Will you guys... KINDLY HELP ME!?" 
Chirin sighed and giggled. "Oh Calima." Doing his best, he helped her again and 
got her the right way up, with her feet on the ground and her head above all 
else. He straightened her eye patch. He almost told her that it hadn't been just 
a Pokemon with a bone head...but thought better of it. Telling her it had been 
Bangaa might get her all running and screaming again. He gave her a hug and 
returned to snuggling up with the group, waiting to see if Mecha would tell a 
story. Even with only his light here, the fear from the dream had begun to wear 
off and things felt more safe and cuddly than before. 
Mecha grinned "Sure..." He sweatdropped...at least he knew what a story 
WAS...but...he didn't have any to tell really... 
An idea came to him, but from where he had no idea as well. He grinned at 
everyone "Or maybe...we could all tell you a story." Mecha grinned "Well...the 
sun should come up soon." 
Calima smiled and said: "Thank you Chirin! Uh, Moonscar? I need to have a word 
with you..." And she walked over and slapped him across his face. "That's for 
being mean to Chirin." 
Moonscar tried to dodge but Calima's little clawed paw connected with Moonscar's 
cheek. He fely a little blodd come from a scrape on his cheek. He growled and 
lunged at Calima! 
At the sight of Calima slapping Moonscar, and then Moonscar jumping Calima, 
Chirin's adorably cute little lamb face folded into a silent sob, his pink mouth 
opening up showing tiny little teeth on the bottom. Then he managed to take in a 
deep breath and the silent cry suddenly became a very loud one. 
"MAAAAAAAhh...." 
Mecha fell over at the loud cry, twitching a bit, eyes spinning slightly 
"Wow...that...was loud..." He looked rather silly of course... Razkel jumped in 
shock at the sound from the little creature and dived beside Mecha his paws over 
his ears. 
Berry not knowing what to do just looked from one Pokemon to the other. 
Teazel growled a bit, softly. She jumped over to the spot where the two had 
started to bicker, and took out one of her vine whips. She wrapped the vine 
around Moonscar's waist, and pulled him away from Calima. 
"Knock it off, you two!" she said to both Moonscar and Calima. "Can't you see 
you're just upsetting poor Chirin even more?" 
Calima growled a bit and she looked at Teazel. 
"Well, Moonscar was the one who was being mean to Chirin in the first place!" 
Calima protested. and she walked away, muttering miserably to herself."I'm 
sleeping in a burrow tonight!" And she started to dig. 
"Calima no!" Chirin ran over to where Calima was digging. "Please come back to 
stay with us." But the sounds of her digging apparently kept her from hearing. 
Chirin decided maybe he should wait till she was finished. He made his way back 
to the rest of them. 
The bluish light of earliest dawn had dragged the forest from shadow. Over there 
the others were talking, perhaps discussing the fight that had just happened. 
Fights had happened in the flock between lambs sometimes...but the grownups had 
been there to set everything right. 
Among the trees near the group but not really with them, Chirin- chirin closed 
his eyes and called with his mind to the wind spirits. Then he opened them, and 
sang softly to himself. 
"Days go by and wind it sighs, Nights go by in a big blank haze. Crazy lights, 
oh Crazy lights, Come into my sight in a lightning craze!" 
A telltale light flashed from behind some bushes. Then, out from behind a tree, 
came a Mareep lamb with wiggling ears and a crazily blinking light. Of course, 
no one else would have seen or smelled this Mareep besides Chirin, for he was 
Chirin's imaginary friend. 
"Crazy Lights!" Chirin flung his arms around his old friend. "Oh, I missed you 
so much. I had this thought--that if I sang one of your favorite songs you might 
hear me and come!" 
"I know, I heard your voice!" said Crazy Lights. "It was so so so hard to not 
get lost in all that dark forest. But you know, I saw your light too. It helped. 
Uh, can you not hug me so hard? You're very huggy." 
Chirin let go. People back home in the flock had said that too. "You have to 
meet my new friends," he said. "Come on!" 
"I want to play Den-rai!" 
"Okay we can play that later. But first I want you to meet my friends. Oh--and 
then before we play I have to tell you who I met in the dream world." 
"Who?" Crazy-Lights' light blinked even faster. 
"Can't tell yet. We have to prepare first before I start talking about him." 
"Oh no I'm scared!" Crazy-lights began to run away. 
"Crazy come back!" Chirin chased Crazy Lights all around a tree trunk, round and 
round and round till Chirin finally got hold of his tail. He hugged his friend 
again. "Don't be scared, it's going to be all right. We just have to stick 
together. Now come on, let's get back to the others. You won't believe what 
kinds of Pokemon they are." 
So Chirin and Crazy Lights walked back to Calima's burrow side by side, both of 
them feeling a lot better than when Chirin had first run off. Maybe meeting 
Chirin's spirit-friend would help cheer Calima up a bit, from the fight. Chirin 
stopped short of where Calima was still digging. Digging looked like hard work; 
he had never tried to dig before. He didn't like close places such as burrows. 
He looked at Crazy Lights and cocked his head. "Mother Megga, Crazy Lights," he 
said, like his uncle might have said, "What happened to your wool! We have to 
get all these sticks out of it. Calima, are you finished digging yet? I want you 
to meet someone." 
Calima stopped digging and looked at Chirin and she tried to see his friend. But 
she simply couldn't. 
"Where is your friend, Chirin?" Calima asked, burrying the hole that she had 
started. 
"Uh...He's next to me. You can't see him. Only I can see him. He's my 
spirit-friend. Crazy Lights was riding on a lightning bolt one day, I remember 
it was a wonderful storm." He almost told her how Mama had been holding him, but 
he didn't want to talk about Mama right now. "And that bolt hit me, and Crazy 
Lights landed on my head! I helped him get up. Then we were friends. Crazy 
Lights has lights on his ears and his tail!" 
Chirin whirled to the side. "Me too." To Calima, he said, "Crazy Lights says 
that he's hungry. He's going to eat. How about let's go eat too? If we can get 
past these trees...maybe we can see Phos get up. I love watching Phos come 
awake. And I love good grass. But I don't think there is any here. We just need 
to know where good leaves are for munching." He looked up at the tree branches 
waving softly in a weak morning breeze. It was a big pine tree. "Tree, do you 
know a good place?" 
The old tree remained in grumpy stillness. Not everyone was a morning person, it 
seemed. But then, wind waved the branches, sweeping around southeastward. "Thank 
you!" He bounded off after the wind, then spun around for Calima to catch up. 
As he waited, something small and round fell on the ground behind him. Turning 
around, he saw it was a green apricorn. He was standing under a rather scraggly 
apricorn tree. 
"Thank you, tree," he said, for the gift. What had been the flailing flippers of 
ghosts last night were now friendly forest souls. He thought maybe the tree had 
given him an apricorn because it had seen him waiting to get an answer from the 
grumpy pine! But you could never tell, with trees. But he gave the skinny trunk 
a pet. This was a nice tree. 
These things were hard to get open. Taking the apricorn in his mouth he tried to 
crunch the tough shell. Failing that, he shot a tiny spark at it; that too was 
ineffectual, especially because he couldn't control his *denki* so well and most 
of the electricity spilled out all the wrong ways. He tried stomping it--it 
still held up. Feeling bad for putting the thing through so much, he took it in 
his mouth again and tried a gentler approach, gnawing with his lower front teeth 
along the seam that went almost invisibly around it. Bit by bit, he worked the 
shell until it split neatly in half, giving its fruit. 
"Mmm..." he said, munching the sweet fruit inside, and leaving half. "Thanks 
again, apricorn tree! Calima, do you want half of an apricorn?" Calima looked at 
the strange fruit. It was all white, like Calima. Calima remembered, that when 
she was little, her mother would bring her white apricorn whenever possible. 
White was her favorite. 
"Yes please, I would love to have a little," Calima said. She walked over to the 
fruit and took a little piece, and began nibbling on it. 
"You can have that whole part. I saved it for you." 
As Calima ate the fruit Chirin looked the green shell halves over. Using his 
front feet and his mouth he tried to fit them back together again, and 
succeeded. They held together, and only a few telltale teeth marks and its light 
weight told of any breaking and entering. 
He wanted to keep this. He wasn't sure why, but among other things it felt right 
and good to keep close to him a gift from a friendly tree, a sign that even in 
this dark and dangerous place there were spirits looking out for him. It might 
help protect him when the wings of night spread again. It might help see him 
through his dreams. But how would he keep it? 
He remembered the trick Calima had used to get the Caterpie to string- shot her 
wounded eye over. He didn't see any Caterpies around... 
...but, poking and peering about, he found the web of a small Spinarak. 
"Spinarak, spinarak, may I have some thread?" 
The Spinarak, smaller than Chirin's snout, scrambled away at his question. 
"I'm sorry I scared you." He returned to where he had left the shell lying 
there, and Calima who was finishing up the fruit. He nibbled a nearby bush, 
trying to think of a solution, but he found his mind wandering, abandoning 
itself to his enjoyment of the leaves and of the lightening, blushing sky. 
Watakko the Sky always blushed when Phos was coming. 
Feeling fuller, he sat satisfied, enjoying the feeling of being well- rested and 
with a full stomach. Thoughts of the flock began to return to him. Perhaps they 
had told the wind to tell the tree to give him a gift and show him where to go. 
Chirin passed droppings by the foot of the tree, glad he had something to give 
back and as he turned to go back to the rest of the group, he said, "Soon we'll 
start walking again." 
Right then a wind came up from the south, butting heads with the breeze he had 
followed, and told him something else. It lifted the wool on his head and 
whispered up his nostrils: the smell. The same stench the humans had spread on 
that night, with shouting voices and stomping feet. He could barely picture what 
they looked like, but he knew what they smelled like. 
"Humans, that way." A chill swept over him. Would he turn back now, or go on, 
chasing the most dangerous thing he had smelled so far, the only thing linking 
him to his family? 
He couldn't go on. No way. Yet as he stood there with his wool fluffing, he knew 
he had to. Why had he come here, after all? He put his hoof lightly upon the 
apricorn shell. 
"Wait!" Calima said, "I know a way to keep that apricorn shell togehther!" And 
she ran over to where the Spineraks were, and she said "BOO!" in a lound voice 
and all the Spinaraks shot a stringshot attack at her, and the thread covered 
her wholde body, except for her head and feet, she walked over to Chirin, 
looking pleased with herself. 
"Wow, Calima...you're wrapped in silk." As Chirin took a few threads and (with 
some trouble) wrapped the apricorn shell and made a string to hang it by, he 
felt a little guilty since Calima had scared the lights out of those Spinarak, 
but the knowledge of the humans far to the southwest weighed more heavily on his 
mind. Sitting briefly up he clutched the little green sphere to his chest and 
whispered something that Calima could not hear. As he nosed it on over his neck, 
he felt suddenly endowed with the powers of the friendly tree. Its fruit was 
inside him and the shell round his neck. Whatever he did today, whatever he ran 
up against, he had it on his side. 
Then he watched to see how Calima was going to get the rest of that thread off! 
It was sticky stuff, at least when fresh. He looked her up and down, giggling. 
"Do you need some help?" 
"Yes please," Calima said, trying to get the thread off and falling over in ;the 
process. "Help!" Calima said, wriggling. 
"Hmm..." He tugged at the tough threads and tried to bite them through, but his 
mouth was made for cropping grass and the silk strands were much tougher. He had 
a good grip on them, they just wouldn't break. Pawing at them he managed to 
loosen most of it, some of the sticky stuff still clinging to her white fur. 
Calima had also managed by now to get quite a few leaves and sticks stuck to her 
too. Getting her free for the most part, he said, "Let's go back to the others. 
I have to tell them about smelling the humans." He smacked his lips, feeling the 
gummy sticky residue on them from the strands. 
"Humans? What is a human?" Calima asked, all inocince. 
Humans. No one had ever asked Chirin that before. In fact, no one back home had 
ever asked him any questions, besides asking him what was wrong (if he seemed 
upset) or how he felt, if he was hungry, how he liked the grass. Or, "do you 
know how much I love you?" like his mama had said to him sometimes when she 
swept him up onto her lap. Before this, he was always the one asking all the 
*knowing* kinds of questions. 
"I don't know," he said, as they picked up walking back over to the group. "But 
they're big, as big as a Tauros even. My grandma Lararu-- she knows 
everything--she said that humans live out on the sea very very far away, on 
these moving floating things. Sometimes the *denki* of the ancestors try to zap 
them away. And they live in some places on land too. 
"I only ever saw humans one time. That was when they took away the flock. The 
humans came in a big pack. They were dark things--and they had these things that 
made everybody go quick away..." 
As they walked he looked at the ground. The green apricorn shell swung on his 
neck, bouncing against the thin summer fleece of his chest. "I think they were 
like black apricorn shells, that Burakuru did something to them with her 
darkness so they could do this. It was like--dark red light and these clicking 
sounds like enemy teeth biting air, and these whooshing sounds like wind being 
sucked in something. The humans must be from Burakuru's flock...and they're 
dangerous. The humans might even get me, if I try to get my flock back. I guess 
I didn't think about that when I started looking. Now..." The air spirits had 
changed back to their usual westerly ebb and flow, and he couldn't smell the 
humans anymore, but his nose had already been told of them. "I'm scared." 
Chirin felt tears threatening to come, but he held them back. "Crazy Lights says 
he's scared too, but we're going to do it, somehow. Are you still with me, Crazy 
Lights?" Chirin's light blinked and he smiled. "He says he's with us. Oh...and 
another thing. There's another word we call humans. We call them *burakos*. That 
means they have no lights. Denrai sent the first human away out on the sea and 
that's where they still are. But some of them are starting to wander their way 
back." And Burakuru could have easily lured some of them to her dark ways. 
Chirin had never thought of the reason why the humans had attacked them. He had 
never thought of them wanting to get back at the Ampharos because they were 
still mad. "I never thought." 
They had reached the others now, or at least the place where they had bedded 
down. Everyone else was also awake in the bright cool morning. Phos's Light was 
poking and prodding through the trees and Chirin breathed in the air, enjoying 
the sensation, but feeling burdened by all the thoughts in his brain--all the 
hard-to-do things he was going to have to somehow do, and the dangerous ones 
too, not to mention his imaginings of humans, what would happen when he saw 
them...and they saw him. He sniffed the air more carefully and searched round 
for enemies, and finding none, sat and waited for everyone to gather back here. 
He wasn't going to walk off with just Calima. Someone big needed to be with 
them. 
Gusts of morning wind played tag and follow-the-leader through the high 
branches, and Chirin thought of head-butting Calima, gently, just for fun, and 
getting her to play tag. But although his body was full of energy, his mind 
didn't feel like playing. He lay down, chewed his cud and kept his eyes and ears 
open, watching and waiting. His tail wagged up and down, its hard yellow orb 
thumping the ground. 
Crazy Lights lay down next to Chirin and chewed his cud, too. Calima whined and 
walked up to Chirin and rubbed against him. 
"C'mon Chirin," Calima said in a sort of a purring voice, "lets go find your 
flock." Chirin smiled at the affection. He nuzzled her back & they started 
walking, along the same trail they had been taking last night. "We're starting 
to get going again," he said to the rest of them. He made a little wish on the 
apricorn shell round his neck for all the ancestors to see them safely to the 
south... and finding a little red flower, about the size of your average 
Ampharo's head jewel, he tucked it in the wool next to his ear. 
Up ahead of them, Chirin saw gaps of open air past the trees--the edge of the 
forest. Or was it? It was most like a peculiarly wide trail. Checking the air 
for enemies briefly, he ran a little way ahead to see what it was. 
The trees stopped. The dirt stopped. Everything stopped, as if there were water 
here, but there was no water. On the ground was a long black strip, almost as 
flat as water, of a substance Chirin had never seen before. He pawed at it, and 
sniffed it; it was hard and smelled strange. It seemed safe to walk on, but he 
stayed where he was. 
At that moment the wind brought him tell of death, from close by. Looking a ways 
down one direction of the long black trail, he saw a small Pokemon lying on the 
side of the black trail. It was a Meowth. Its body had been crushed by 
something, something big. Flies buzzed around it, little black dots creeping and 
hovering over the matted, dirty fur. He had never seen a Meowth so close. Those 
he had seen had eyes that glittered in the flocks' lights... What should he do? 
The flock back home would have sung a song and helped guide its soul to freedom, 
for anyone--predator or no--could cause the living trouble in death if they were 
not at peace. Forcing himself closer to the twisted carcass, he shook the flower 
from behind his ear, picked it up and dropped it on the Meowth's body. 
"Fly like Watakko. Fly like Watakko," was all he could remember to say. The 
scent of death clouded his mind and made his legs twitchy and eager to run. 
He ran back to the others and hugged Mecha and Calima, shivering a bit as he 
nuzzled them, glad to be surrounded again by warm living bodies. 
"There's a black river of rock and somebody died," he said into Calima's flank. 
"Black river of rock...?" Mecha looked surprised by this "And someone's died?" 
He shivered involunteraily. 
Calima looked over to where Chirin had been a second eairler and gasped in 
horror. And dead Meowth lay, not so far away. Calima, even though she had no 
great love for Meowths, could not help but feel sorry for the poor creature. 
Then she heard a meow, and a Persian walked up to the crushed body that was once 
a Meowth. 
"Meooooowwww!" The Persian said again, it was a long, sad meow. "Meow meow meow, 
meeoww meow, meowwwwwww, meow...." it chanted, and it burst into tears. 
"That is the Meowth's mother," Calima said. The sobbing Persian picked up the 
body, and carried it away, she and her fellow cat pokemon were most likely going 
to preform a sort of ritual, or funeral, or both for the poor Pokemon. A single 
tear rolled down onto Calima's cheek. She snuggled up against Chirin and said: 
"Humans must have done it..." 
Cuddled with Calima, Chirin watched the cat leave. Its slinking, graceful walk 
made him shiver again, despite its obviously having no intention of hunting them 
right now. Seeing its face and the jewel on its head he was reminded of his own 
people. Looking both ways up and down the river of black, like water turned to 
stone, he saw how it divided the woods in two, and only a few sprouts of grass 
struggled up through a few cracks in it. He had no trouble believing humans had 
killed it, but why and how were they so possessed by the darkness? 
They rejoined the others, not far from the evil place, and walked on. Chirin 
wanted no more than to leave the rock-river behind, for it was dark-power made 
by dark creatures, but he knew it was some sort of path that would lead to them. 
Chirin and the group went on, scared but needing to find the source of this. The 
air warmed as Phos roamed higher in the sky, and Chirin smelled humans ahead 
again--not because of the wind, now, but because they were just so close. Along 
with that came many, many other smells. He even thought he smelled ahint of his 
own kind--just for an instant--and with an anxious feeling filling him, he 
tucked another flower behind his ear. 
Mecha frowned slightly. He wasn't overly fond of humans at this point.... 
Not only for...earlier incidents, but to see that they had killed that innocent 
creature... 
And to make it worse...THEY had made him... 
Chirin saw the sad--or bothered--look cross Mecha's beaky face. He thought he 
might know why, but wasn't totally sure. He himself was upset that any creature 
out there could be so dark and cruel as to do that to that Meowth--and to his 
flock. But he thought, now, that there seemed to be something different about 
Mecha, that the strange shining bird had always seemed a little sad. 
"Mecha, what's wrong?" 
Mecha blinked, then grinned slightly at the small mareep, resting a wing on his 
head "Don't worry yourself about it Chirin....it's not a big deal." 
He looked ahead "Let's go see if your mama's there.." he said with a gulp, 
slightly unnerved by the fact that he would have to face humans again... 
Calima looked at Chirin then Mecha. She walked over to the large bird Pokemon 
and said: "Mecha, really, what's the matter?" 
Grownups often said these things when they were sad. Chirin didn't know how he 
knew, but Mecha's smile was not a real smile, and it was a big deal. "I'm 
worried too," he said. "If the humans did that to the Meowth, would they do it 
to us?" He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he asked anyway, hoping Mecha 
would somehow know something Chirin didn't and that he had things all figured 
out. He was a grownup, after all. "How are we going to find my mama if they do 
that?" 
Mecha closed his eyes, as if thinking. He knew somewhat what may have done 
this....what was the word for it...? 
As if in reply, a large, metallic animal came down the road. Or that's what it 
seemed like... 
The word came to Mecha as he heard it, his eyes shooting open "Car...it's a 
car!" 
He kept a wing draped over Chirin "Whatever you do, don't cross paths with that 
thing..." 
The shiny, giant creature with fly-like whitish eyes roared towards them where 
they all stood by the side of the road, half hidden in the shrubbery. Feeling 
the vibrations of its approach through his hooves and in his stomach, Chirin 
pressed himself deeper into the hug of Mecha's wing. He was sure that it was 
headed straight for them, barreling down the rocky river like it had been made 
to. Chirin braced himself, ready to spark at it, for all the good it would 
do...and then in a deafening groan it flashed past them, swathes of sunlight 
streaking along its top and sides. As the groaning, roary sound dipped lower it 
sped away from them as if it had not even seen them. It slid on its black feet 
further away. 
Chirin let out his breath, as the vibrations of the creature's beating on the 
road died away. Chirin released the built-up electric charge, too, by accident. 
He felt the weak zap reverberate in Mecha's feathers, like an aftershock of the 
"car." 
"I'm sorry Mecha." 
Mecha didn't show much of a reaction to the shock, which was probably a good 
thing. It stung, but he was definately good at hiding it..^^; 
"It's ok Chirin." He said, a smile making its comeback. 
Chirin was quite used to sounds much louder than that. Having been part of a 
flock of Ampharos, thunder at close range was commonplace, and it was (probably) 
why their ears were made so peculiar--so they would not deafen themselves. But 
never, ever had he seen anything move so fast. Especially not something so big. 
Or so smelly. Chirin was wrinkling his nose in the foul air the thing had left 
behind. It was one more strange creature linked to humans. What other terrors 
did they have? Chirin had a feeling he had only begun to learn. 
"Uh," he said finally, "can 'cars' go *off* this black thing?" 
Mecha sweatdropped slightly "That's a very good question...I hope not..." 
"I hope not too." Still staring at the road, Chirin said, "I guess, uh, we'll 
just not get too close to it. I don't think the car saw us." He decided to treat 
these "cars" as any other predator and just keep clear of them and not get 
separated from the group. They continued on the trail, and Chirin kept glancing 
through the trees to see if any more cars were coming. Only one other did, but 
as they kept walking closer to the place where a whole pack of humans--judging 
by the smells--seemed to be staying, Chirin heard other, very distant sounds of 
cars on roads. It was a very distinct noise, a rather constant one, ebbing and 
flowing like waves on a lesser sea. 
When Chirin saw the trees parting not from a road, but from a clearing--showing 
sky and grass beyond--he jumped up. "Maaareep!" He ran to the edge of the wood, 
barely able to keep his legs still as he smelled for enemies. He didn't smell 
anything dangerous besides the humans, of which he saw none. What counted here 
was, there was grass and open space--a place Phos smiled and shone on. He 
stopped to give the apricorn shell a little lick of thanks. 
"Thank you Phos!" Chirin ran out into the grass. He ran and leaped and bounded 
and rolled in the thick, soft grass. Eyes darting all around at its lushness, he 
chomped down on some pink clover blossoms. His favorite! 
"Come on out everybody! Maaareep!" 
Chirin bounded out further-- 
And smacked into a fence. "Oh!" 
Feeling a pleasing little zap of electricity, he found his footing again and 
examined the thing that had tripped him. His ears sensed the source of the 
electric field quite near him--it was that silver, leafless vine. Touching his 
nose to the vine, he felt it again-- electricity flowing from the vine, into 
him. The fence ran several long, long vines and the posts--short, standing 
corpses of trees-- went either way, out over the grass in a manner similar to 
that of the road. A human thing. 
Chirin touched the vine several more times, enjoying the sensation. It felt like 
a very long time since he had felt another's *denki*, from the sky or from one 
of the flock. It was nice of the humans to put this here for him to 
enjoy...could it be? Could the flock be on the other side of this? Poking his 
head through the two lowest vines, he sniffed the air. Faintly, he smelled it: 
his kind. His sparks released in his excitement. He smelled it, breath after 
breath--his kind, but all young--all Mareep. No adult scents came to him. But he 
didn't care. As the smell of Mareep filled his nose, everything inside him 
seemed to grow bigger, till he would burst. 
Tears ran down his cheeks. "Mama! Mama! It's me! Mama! I came to find you!" 
No answer came. The only sounds came from behind, where his friends were ariving 
at his call, the grass brushing aside to admit their steps. 
"Mama?" 
If the flock were there, they were too far to hear. Chirin jumped up and down, 
rearing up before the fence, putting his front feet against the post. 
Or maybe they were being stopped from coming or answering. Chirin's eyes watched 
how the grass waved in the wind beyond the fence posts, trying to see if they 
had a message to give. The waving blades and blossoms seemed to be beckoning him 
to come over and see. 
Chirin let himself slide back onto all fours and ran bounding back to them. "We 
have to get past these vines! I think maybe my flock's over that hill! I smell 
it! Do you smell it?" Two tears, one on each cheek, were sliding down his face 
as he ran to them. He threw himself to the ground. "Ancestors of Light! Phos, 
Watakko! Draa, thank you! I forgot to say thank you before. And the wind and the 
tree. Thank you now." 
"Hmm...." Mecha thought for a moment, obviously forgetting a certain pair of 
somethings he had that would make it easy to get over...well, for him anyway. He 
couldn't exactly carry anyone like Berry or Teazel over it... 
Of course, this didn't matter yet as he hadn't thought of it yet...--' 
As Chirin got back up and ran back over to the fence, he saw that someone coming 
over the hill on the other side of the fence. It was another Mareep. This 
Mareep, a stranger, was a bit older than Chirin, but that was not the most 
impressive thing about it. Its fleece was a beautiful ivory white, and fluffier, 
softer, and fuller looking than that of any Mareep Chirin had ever known in the 
flock, or in any of the few other flocks he had met in his short lifetime. As 
Chirin baa'd a greeting to this other one, she stopped short of the fence to 
stare down her nose at Chirin. Even from here Chirin could smell that she was 
healthy and well-fed. He looked almost in awe at this luxuriant white cloud of a 
lamb, who looked almost out of place on the grass. She was definitely one of 
Watakko's children! 
As she baa'd a greeting back, in a rather perfunctory way, several more of the 
cloud-Mareep were coming over the hill some distance away. Chirin only now 
realized that he might have gotten excited for nothing, that there were many 
other flocks out there besides his. But at least they're Mareep, he thought, 
trying to stave off a wave of disappointment. He blinked the threat of tears 
away. Perhaps these sheep from the sky could help him. They must have some 
special powers. They were all part of this magical land he had crossed into from 
a dream. 
Chirin smiled, wagging his tail at the first Mareep. "Hi, light- sister. I'm 
Chirin-chirin, of the flock of Pharos. Who're you?" 
The ewe's pretty blue nose wrinkled slightly. "Where did you come from? 
And...why is that apricorn around your neck?" 
Several other Mareep had begun to gather near the new visitor. 
"Oh!" one cried out, rearing up. "It's a Pidgeotto!" 
"No, he won't hurt you, he's my friend!" said Chirin as the Mareep backed from 
the fence, clustering together in a cloud of sparking wool. 
Calima jumped up and down, she was happy for Chirin... Maybe a little too happy 
though. She walked over to the strange vine and touched it, she felt an small 
electric shock run through her body, although a bit small it still hurt her. She 
drew back, wimpereing in pain. 
"Oh," Calima muttered, "Chirin, this electric vine may not hurt you, but what 
abut th rest of us? I mean, you and Mecha can get through okay, Mecna can just 
fly over the fence and you can... Oh" Caliam had just realized a problem. Chirin 
couldn't get through. His wool could get stuck in the vine. It had little sharp 
things on it too. "Hey! Moonscar, Razkle, and I could dig a hole big enough for 
all of us to crawl through, then we could get in!" 
"How do we know that?!" one of the smaller ones yelled, pressing close to the 
first ewe that had come and spoken to Chirin. 
Mecha shifted uncomfortably "I won't hurt any of you..." 
Another's nose wrinkled "Why are your feathers all weird?" 
Mecha blinked, looking at his feathers "Long story..." 
The small one pressed closer to the ewe, still frightened of the metallic 
looking pidgeotto as Mecha continued sweatdropping, trying to hold up his wings 
in a way that seemed non-threatening "Really, I won't hurt anyone!" Razkel 
looked doubtful "I'm not sure if Berry could get through a hole" "Well he hasn't 
flown over yet," said another Mareep. "They do seem friendly." By now, a couple 
dozen more had come over the hill and now they all clustered close, staring at 
the odd strangers, especially Mecha. 
Mecha felt himself continue to sweatdrop at the staring Mareeps. He wasn't that 
odd, was he? Well...he probably WAS but..:p 
"Don't be so quick to trust, Petunia! He could just be taking his pick!" said 
the one who had screamed at first. Mecha blinked "Taking my pick...?" His head 
tipped to a side. Of course, anyone reading this is probably wondering how he 
doesn't get it, and it was the same the at least the tiny mareep, who was 
shaking "T-taking the pick of which one of us you'll carry off!" 
"But how could I carry any of you off...?" Mecha asked, tipping his head to the 
other side "I'm not THAT big, am I?" 
The little one blinked, then ended up looking rather confused. 
"No, Mecha and my other friends are all nice," said Chirin. "We're here because 
we're looking for my flock. My flock got taken away by humans from the dark..." 
Chirin pawed at the soil by the fence's edge, poking his nose in to see if he 
could squirm through, but it was too high to jump and the gaps too small to 
squeeze through. 
"Are you trying to get in?" said Petunia. "You're like that other one- 
-Mimishi--only she got out." 
"What's going on here?" Another Mareep came in on the scene. He looked like one 
of the oldest ones. "Those are wild Pokemon--and they're clearly trying to break 
in. Someone has to get the farmer. He'll know what to do!" "What's a farmer?" 
said Mecha. 
Chirin stopped poking and just stood there with his head poked through the 
fence. That sounded bad. "Please...please just listen. We're not going to hurt 
you--" 
"If you do that he might shoot them!" said Petunia as the ram dashed off, with a 
clump of other Mareep picking up and following. "Oh, dear, oh dear..." 
"I'm....guessing shooting is bad?" Mecha asked, sweatdropping. ~*Maybe they 
would have been better off if I hadn't come after all...*~ he thought to 
himself, shifting uncomfortably. 
Chirin tucked his tail, frightened. He had a terrible feeling that this was all 
his fault. He began to cry. Draping a wing over Chirin, Mecha simply hoped he 
could calm him down "It'll be fine.." 
"The best thing you can do now is run and hide, and come back later, maybe we 
can help you then," said Petunia, just as Chirin smelled a human approaching, a 
male one. "Sounds like a good idea." said Mecha, nudging Chirin gently. 
The smaller mareep still cuddled close to Petunia, unsure now. 
Petunia joined the remaining Mareep and they moved like one Pokemon, trotting 
back over the hill to rejoin the rest. Chirin decided to take her advice. 
Turning around, he... 
But he never turned around. The vines jerked on his head, holding him fast 
between jaw and nape of neck. He tugged ackwards again and still they held him 
fast. The electricity pulsing its pleasing current through his body suddenly 
seemed to mock him. The fence had fooled him. "I'm stuck! Help!" bleated Chirin 
as the distant figure of a man came to stand on the hilltop, an odd stick in his 
hand. 
Mecha frowned seeing the man, and did the one thing he could think of "Hold 
REALLY still Chirin." he said simply, moving one of his wings towards the tiny 
mareep. Carefully, he launched a small, razor sharp feather, slicing the vines. 
"Can you get out now?" Mecha asked with a nervous edge. Chirin's answer was 
another desperate tug. His thin wool came loose, though not without a few 
painful pulls. At the sight of the human holding up the stick at them, he was 
startingto run even before he was fully loose. He barely felt the tufts of wool 
come loose--then his feet were running and running. The grass whipped his 
hooves, a refreshing feeling. "Oh, thank you Mecha, oh--" 
"darn varmints, get away from my mareep!" the human bellowed. 
From behind, Chirin heard a loud shot, like the sound of thunder. In a flash, 
Mecha's wing shot protectively over Chirin. The sound on something else metallic 
coming in contact with his feathers was heard. He now had a nice dent in his 
feathers, but was otherwise fine. 
With a sigh of relief, he nudged Chirin again "Let's all get moving before he 
gets the chance to shoot again!" 
Calima was frozen with fear. She saw the human. He had a long, black tube in his 
hand, and it was pointing in Calima's direction. There was a bang, and Calima 
jumped out of the way, the the fire that the tube shot grazed her thigh, and she 
yelped in pain, and fell down. 
Chirin had run from the human and his smell; the thunder-sound did not scare 
him. *So humans have a *denki* like my own,* he thought as he kept on. He ran as 
fast as he could--he was not running he was gliding, sliding between Watakko 
above his head and Megga below his feet, like that great bolt of lightning in 
the first days of time. 
He heard a loud ping! clank agaist Mecha's wing as the bird swooped behind him 
with a wing outstretched. Calima screamed at the same time he heard the second 
bolt ring out. 
So the human was trying to hurt his friends too now... 
It was all his fault. 
He reached the shelter of some bushes by the wood's edge, panting. Looking back 
from behind the foliage, he saw the man still there, looking their way. "Mecha, 
Calima," he said; Mecha was there but Calima was not. The white Nidoran lay lame 
out in the grass with blood on her leg. How had it happened? How had the human 
hurt her from so far away? Powers of darkness, beyond his understanding... 
"Calima!" Chirin dashed from the bush. She would not go dark because of what he 
had done. Looking the man in the eye across the great span of pasture as he ran 
into the place of danger, he prayed to his ancestors to please get them safe 
away. 
"Wait, Chirin!" Mecha called, looking nervously at the human man. 
He reached Calima at last. "I'll help you, come on! Can you run?" 
Mecha took a deep breath, finally remembering his wings as he took off flying 
towards the human. The metal things didn't hurt him, but did the others...so if 
he could keep the human distracted. 
He wouldn't hurt the man...but if he flew close enough... 
He swooped down about a foot in front of his face, flapping and screeching. ~*If 
this doesn't work...*~ he thought with a grim expression ~*Then...~* 
Still helping Calima up, Chirin saw Mecha fly out at the human. Shouting, the 
man lifted the stick and shot more of the thunder that made no light. Mecha was 
too close; any moment now the human would spirit him away like the flock. Or 
make him fall bleeding to the ground. 
"Mecha! No!" 
Caught between the fear of staying and the fear of leaving them, Chirin broke 
down, threw back his head and bleated. His screams were drowned in the bangs 
from the stick. "...no, Mecha, no... Mareeeeep..." 
Never more than now had he wanted Mama back. 
The man stopped shooting, seeing that Mecha wasn't actually attacking, and that 
it wasn't working anyway. Gripping one end of the stick with both hands, he 
swung it out with a whoosh sound, aiming for Mecha's head. 
THAT was something Mecha hadn't been expecting. With little to no time to react, 
the gun made impact, making a loud cracking noise against the side of his beak 
as well as sending him flying back and slamming into the ground. 
With a painful shake of his head, he launched one razory feather at the gun, 
making sure it wouldn't hit the man. 
Chirin screamed again, clutching Calima as he heard the sickening sound of the 
stick cracking against Mecha's head. He was crying, rocking back and forth, 
wondering how he had cursed his friends with this luck. Had all the dark rubbed 
off on him? 
The neatly aimed arrow-feather knocked the gun from the farmer's hands. It 
landed right next to Mecha. With a shout, the farmer backed away, apparently 
afraid to reach close enough to grab it. "You keep away from me, you durn wild 
pokemon! I got more where that came from!" From his pocket he brandished a 
sphere resembling an apricorn. "You look like one of them Shiny pokemon they pay 
so much for at the market. Hold still now, this won't hurt..." 
Chirin's heart leaped. The apricorn thing. The Apricorn Thing! Like they had got 
the flock with..."Mecha! Fly Away! FLY! FAST!" 
Mecha narrowed his eyes at the man as he pulled himself to his feet. His beak 
throbbed, and his wing ached slightly from landing on it. He took off, launching 
one more feather at the man before flapping off towards the bushes... 
Apparently Mecha's being still strong enough to get up and fly away, after a 
round of bullets and a good sound whack on the noggin, was something the farmer 
had not expected. He picked up his gun and shook it at the disappearing bird. 
I catch you with my mareep again, you're gonna be scrap metal!" 
He headed off over the same hill the Mareep had disappeared over. 
"Oh Mecha," Chirin's next ragged breath caught in his throat as he saw his 
friend soar over the fence, with a little struggle but strong and alive. He 
didn't know what had saved him, but he thanked everything from the soil to the 
sun and beyond and all he wanted to do was hug him. "Are you okay? Are you okay? 
Oh, I was so scared." Never before, had Calima been fiiled with such a deep, and 
terrible rage. Her eyes flashed red. She looked at Chirin. 
"Oh no!," she thought, then stopped when she realized that she wasn't attacking 
her frineds. She could at last control this rage of hers! It must be some sort 
of cross between a rage attack and focus energy. Calima looked at the man, she 
squealed and charged. 
But then she stopped. Her eyes turned back ou normal... When she wanted them to. 
Now she could choose when this rage would come and go! Calima had an idea, she 
would show that man that they ment no harm to his Mareep. She walked over to him 
and started rubbing against his leg in a cat-like fashion. 
"I hope this works..." Calima thought. 
Mecha rested his non-sore wing on Chirin's head with a grin "I'm alright...kinda 
sore, but alright." 
In truth, his beak throbbed terribly, a slight crack up the side. While his 
feathers were metallic, his beak obviously was not. The dents in his feathers 
looked worse than they were, which was good, and his wing had simply been landed 
on the wrong way. 
Chirin looked at his friend's wounds and burst into more tears, crying from 
already sore eyes. "It's all my fault," he sobbed as he hugged Mecha. With his 
face buried in Mecha's wing, he didn't see Calima get up and bound through a gap 
in the fence, after the farmer. "Oh...I'm so sorry...it was me who wanted to go 
this way...I didn't know...Ma-a-a-a-aaahhh..." Mecha blinked, then smiled "Hey 
hey, I'm ok! These are just dents..they don't hurt." he said cheerfully "It's 
like when you..umm....it's hard to think of an example really..." 
"And it's not your fault, it was the most lgical way to go really." He nodded, 
as if anknowledging something...and again, looking quite silly..^^; Chirin 
pulled back and looked at Mecha's face. He smiled, a little. "Like when you get 
your wool pulled out?" For the places where the vines had tugged out tufts of 
fleece were starting to bother him now, just enough to notice. "Well...you don't 
have wool I guess. When you get your feathers pulled out." Mecha nodded "Of 
course, I never did get my feathers pulled out.." he said rubbing the back of 
his head with a wing. 
He listened to the new silence, the farmer gone and no one screaming anymore. "I 
don't know what to do now," he said. "Petunia said she'll try to help me if I 
come back later, but I don't want to come if that farmer comes back. I saw--I 
saw how he was hitting you..." Chirin closed his eyes, wishing the still-raw 
memory of the clank and Mecha falling flapping on the grass would just go away. 
He clutched the apricorn shell, remembering what the tree had told him. He had 
to go on. But what would the others think? He couldn't do this if it meant that 
they, too, would become prey to Burakuru's tricks. And he knew it-- the Dark Ewe 
was watching them. 
Mecha continued grinning at Chirin "I'd say go for it...if Petunia can help, 
then...And besides, I've dealt with worse humans before. If that nasty farmer 
comes back, I won't just give him a warning this time." 
"Calima?" He didn't see her anywhere. He stood up. "Calima?" 
Mecha also looked around "Where did she go...?" 
Calima stopped rubbing against the man. He smiled and said: "I guess I was wrong 
about you Pokemon. Just stay away from here though or you might not be so lucky, 
okay?" Calima nodded and ran over to her friends. 
"I'm back," she said, "The man said that he guessest that he was wrong about usw 
but he also said not to come back or we might not be so lucky. And I can control 
this rage of mine! It's like a cross between rage and focus energy..." 
"Calima!" Chirin nearly knocked her over with the hug he gave her. She still 
smelled of blood, but less so. He nuzzled her. She was nicer to nuzzle than 
Mecha, since Mecha's feathers were kind of hard and pointy. "You're all right! 
Is your leg okay? I saw there was blood and you were laying there..." He screwed 
his face in that confused way. 
"What's focus energy?" 
Calima almost fell head over heels with laughter. 
"Focus energy is a move that makes your attacks stronger Chirin. All Nido-kind 
know this attack and we cherish it, as it is where our power lies." 
"Really? Wow." He had never cared about his own fighting ability before, but it 
would probably come in useful out here, where there were so many dangerous 
things. "Back in my flock, we learn the Hand of Lightning. It's when your 
*denki* can go out through any part of you, not just your tail. And they can 
also make the Spirit's Light. This is a special light. It comes from your soul. 
It makes your soul stronger. And it protects you. It is beautiful to make and my 
mama said it feels beautiful too." He sniffled, his ears drooping. "You can't 
make that till you get big." Then he wondered something he had never wondered 
before. 
"Where did you come from? Where is your mama and dada?" Calima's ears drooped 
and she sniffled. 
"I really do not know... But I know what they look like... I had a black Nidoran 
for a brother, he was the only one in the family that wasn't an albino, my 
sister was an albino Nidoran and so am I... My father was an albino Nidorino and 
my mother was an albino Nidorina... I do not know what happened to them... I 
think they are dead... I keep having a dream where my family gets killed by a 
black and white Quilava that shoots out black and green flames... If that is 
what happened... Then I want to avenge my fmaily! It is my mission to find this 
Quilava and destroy it!" Calima said, her eyes flashing red for a second. Never 
before had Calima been so full of the desire to kill. And it scared even her. 
A lone tear glistened down Chirin's cheek. She was like him. She had no one. No 
one alive, at least, that she could feel and cuddle up to. Chirin had always 
known that the dead were never dead, that he saw them all around. It was what he 
had always told himself when he thought of Great-Grandmother Chenja, who had 
died at the end of the last winter. Winter was hard on everyone, and while piled 
together with everyone sleeping, her tail had gone out in her sleep. 
But as much as he told himself that his flock's spirits were all aropund him, 
dead or alive, it wasn't the same. It just wasn't good enough. He silenced the 
thoughts, in case the ancestors could sense their vibrations; and it was no good 
letting dark feelings drag him down. 
Calima's right eye, her only one left, flashed red. At the light Chirin found 
his voice, after hearing her story had quieted him. 
"That Quilava--who got your family--it seems like it wants you too. It's trying 
to get you when you go into the dream lands and that's dangerous. It could 
be...why you keep almost dying here. Like all those attacks with the Ekans? 
Me...I have that too, there's this thing trying to get me, he talked to me last 
night but I don't remember what he said. I don't know if it was Bangaa. I 
thought it was. But now I don't remember. We have to do something but I don't 
know what. But maybe we can both help each other. I don't know how though." He 
cuddled closer to her. 
Calima smiled. She looked at Chirin and said: "Well, thank you Chirin, I think 
we should go, and we must hope that the goddess Dendeona is watching over us 
now." 
Chirin blinked. He looked around, as if something had just come out from the 
bushes all around them. He or she sounded important, perhaps a spirit watching. 
"What is the Goddess Dendeona? If, uh, you want to say." 
He let go of Calima, nosing around in the nearby grass for only the very best 
blades. Ah, the pleasure. It helped bring him back to feeling again, after what 
had just happened with the *burakos* called Farmer. Grass this good, like on 
many hillocks back home, had quickly turned him pickier, whereas in the forest 
anything from pine needles to tree bark had gone down his gullet. They were in a 
scrubby, grassy place at the wood's edge, hidden from the fenced pasture, but 
when Chirin stepped past the bushes and looked out, he still saw the strange 
stalks, on which were strung the even stranger silver vines with their alluring 
grasp. 
One or two of the Mareep had returned, grazing the near side of the hill. But 
Chirin was not going to show himself yet, not until he knew that Farmer wasn't 
there... 
He tried to think of what he would do, how he and Calima would banish the dark 
ones after them. He could tell easily by now that the dark was striking not only 
him and his, but others too. Every new bad thing that happened was one more beat 
of its heart. 
He thought of something. "Where's a big rock?" He looked around, but 
unfortunately the outcroppings plentiful back home were absent here. In fact he 
hadn't seen a single rock bigger than a pebble all day. This was troubling. The 
making of a form this important needed something better than a bare patch of 
dirt. "We'll make a form, Calima," he said. "And I think it's best if it's by 
where we sleep, I don't know where that is though," he said, recalling the 
images created countless generations ago all over the rocks the flock had slept 
by. New ones had been made all the time and old ones redrawn. Too much to do at 
once! He wanted to meet Petunia, she said she would come back, but unless they 
stopped these bad spirits in their tracks, one or both of them could start to go 
dark any time. 
"Crazy Lights! I have an idea! Crazy Lights, help us look for a place. Then help 
guard it and make it good. Twinkle away the shadows. and when you find a place, 
come back and we'll follow you there." He smiled, blinking his own tail as his 
imaginary friend ran off. "It's good we have Crazy Lights with us." 
Phos was passing high over them and the gentle heat warmed Chirin's back. He was 
feeling better. Grazing some and sitting down to have a good chew, he kept an 
eye on the fence. Calima looked at Chirin as if he were mad. 
"Dendeona is the Nidoqueen goddess. There is also Dendeono, the Nidoking god. 
Their legend goes like this: 
Once, before the earth was created, there lived the goddess Dendeona, the great 
Nidoqueen. She shot her strongest flame attack and there was the earth's core, 
and then she froze it over with her ice beam attack. Then she shot another 
fireball at the frozen fire, and thus became water. She then used her earthquake 
attack and there was land. And she was happy. But there was something missing. 
Life. And she created Dendeono, the great Nidoking god. She shot a stange beam 
at the planet, and there was life. There were animals and pokemon, and humans. 
Then he used a solar beam attack and the plants were created. Then focus energy, 
to give the creatures the power to survive, and at last, they used a strange 
move that gave them intellegence. And that is how the earth was created." 
Calima looked at Chirin, wanting to know what he thought of the god and goddess 
of the Nido-kind. 
Chirin chewed thoughtfully. From the look Calima had given him, he gathered that 
all this was something he was supposed to know, but he had never heard of 
Dendeona or Dendeono, or of gods or goddesses. However, he supposed they were 
other words for the powerful spirits who had first sparked light from darkness. 
"Actually...that's not quite how it happened," he said, because she really ought 
to learn the facts, especially since she would be with him helping to drive away 
evil spirits, and knowledge was important there--Chirin knew he had precious 
little of that himself. Then, not wanting to make her feel bad, he added, "But 
it is close. You're a wonderful storyteller. You just forgot Phos, I love that 
part. And how Mother Megga changed into a great big Venusaur. Oh, and Mother 
Megga. And Bangaa. And humans weren't there till later. Oh, and, uh...what's a 
planet?" His ears twitched with uncertainty, as he wondered if that was also 
something he was supposed to know. He also didn't know what the earth's core 
was, but for once he tried to ask just one question at a time. 
Calima's ears drooped slightly. 
"Well, I do not know of Phos I am afraid... But us Nido-kind worship Dendeona 
and Dendeono. There are most likely gods and goddesses for lots of different 
kinds of Pokemon. Can you tell me who Phos is? And a planet is what we are on 
right now. Planet earth. And also, who is Mother Megga and Bangaa? Maybe another 
god or goddess created prehistoric Pokemon after the earth was made...?" 
Prehistoric pokemon? What were they? It might have helped if Chirin had known 
what "prehistoric" meant, but it was one of those big words he hadn't learned 
yet, and there were things that troubled him more. That Calima did not know who 
these great beings were, and that she clearly hadn't been lambed in just the 
last season or so, left his mind blank. He did not know what to make of it. But 
Dendeona and Dendeono seemed to be her ancestors, or at least powerful beings, 
and out of respect, just in case, he would not utter their names; it was not his 
place to. 
"If you want to call Mother Megga Planet Earth, I guess that's okay." He 
giggled. "But I call her Mother Megga because that's her real name. I can tell 
you who Phos is, and Mother Megga and Bangaa. But, uh, I never told the story 
before. I heard it lots of times but I never told it." He had always kind of 
wanted to, but young lambs weren't asked to tell stories for the flock and 
Grandmother Lararu had always told them so beautifully that he'd preferred to 
listen to her. But with evening a while off, and Petunia still not by that fence 
(and him still too afraid to go over there) it seemed like a good time for a 
story. "Okay. "I'll tell the story of, Phos and the Path of Light. It's kind of 
long so sometimes I might just stop if I forget something." He swallowed the cud 
he had been chewing. "Okay. Phos and the Path of Light. 
"You know, before Mother Megga was there, there wasn't anything? Actually, there 
were only some things. It was dark and there was only a dark black sea. And it 
was cold. Then Mother Megga came. She's also Mother of Lightning. Mother Megga 
struck Lightning up, with her *denki*. And her voice sang thunder. And 
everything got lit up in a big Light. Then it got dark again. 
Chirin stood up. "Mother Megga boomed out a thunder and shot out a bolt of 
Lightning. "Light! Come!" said Mother Megga. And the Light lit the air but then 
it went out. 
And now, she was trying as hard as she could, she slammed out Thunder, and shot 
out a vine of light. It came out long and thick and whitish bluish. If you ever 
look right at the lightning when it hits you that's kind of what it looked like, 
but I don't think you ever got hit by lightning so...uh... Mother Megga shone 
Lightning again, and now the Light stayed alive. And everything was nice and 
warm and bright in the big, wonderful Light. 
The next day, Mother Megga gave birth to Watakko, the Sky. At first Watakko 
could not fly. She and Mother Megga were stuck together. Because of static I 
think. So they had to rub together to get unstuck. It made bolts shoot out of 
static electricity. Then Watakko got free. She floated way high up and you know, 
how electricity's still there between them now. 
On the third day Mother Megga changed into a giant Venusaur! And with the head 
and the tail like a Meganium. She sat in the sea and went to sleep. And she's 
still sleeping. But she knows we're here, on her big, big back. 
Now back then," he chewed for a moment, thinking, "there was light all the time. 
And Watakko brought wind, and the wind spirits brought the thunder, the thunder 
made the rain rain down on Megga. And lightning came. More Lightning!" Chirin's 
front feet made a gesture in front of him, as he sat up. "Whenever a bolt 
flashed, a new Pokemon came up out of the plants on Mother Megga. And, oh yeah, 
some people say that when you see a bolt of lightning, someone was just born 
because that's their soul. 
And all the creatures got borned. But one pokemon was borned in a bad place. He 
was borned way under Mother Megga. His name was Bangaa. Bangaa heard the other 
Pokemon singing and playing and laughing. They were having fun. But he could not 
get up there. Then he dug up and reached them, but he was in the dark so long, 
that when he looked at the Great Big Light, something bad happened. He almost 
went blind and it hurt his eyes a lot. Bangaa got angry. Bangaa got scared. He 
was very strong and he climbed up to the Light. Then Bangaa grabbed the Light. 
Now, he climbed down with it and ran away." Chirin capered around in a circle, 
then he faced Calima: "Bangaa stole the Light!" 
"He hid the Light in a deep dark cave. But now the world got all dark. It got 
cold. All the pokemon got lost and scared. They all hided away because they were 
so scared and they couldn't see anything. 
Now, Phos the Ampharos was nibbling some leaves, I like to say, he was eating 
pink clover flowers, they're my favorite. But I don't know what he was eating. 
Then, it got dark. But Phos was the first Ampharos, and back then, he had no 
lights. Phos used his *denki* and his instinct to look for the Light. He knew 
Bangaa did it. And he had to go meet Bangaa to get it back. 
"When Phos met Bangaa, he was scared. Bangaa was as big as a Tyranitar, with a 
spiky tail, and a bone head like a Marowak. Bangaa attacked Phos with dark 
powers. But Phos looked for the power of light in his soul, and it became a 
streak of Lightning. Phos said, "Lightning, find the Light of Mother Megga!" 
Then, the lightning, went through the air!" Chiring jumped up. He had hardly 
kept still throughout the story and now all four feet left the ground as he 
jumped. His voice also got louder. "Phos--grabbed the bolt of lightning by its 
tail! He rode on the Lightning! He landed on the Great Light. He grabbed it. He 
could do anything. 
But Bangaa was coming up behind Phos. But Phos--spinned around--" Chirin himself 
whirled around full circle, "and he shined the light at Bangaa in the face. 
Bangaa screamed. 'Baaaahhh..." because it hurt his eyes. Now he was blind. Phos 
put the Light on his tail to carry it, and ran off with the Light, and he 
carried it up above ground again." 
Chirin wagged his own lighted tail. "Now is my favorite part. Phos went all over 
with the Light on his tail, and everywhere got lit again. All the pokemon came 
out from their hiding places, and they followed the light as Phos traveled all 
over. They weren't lost anymore. They could see. They were happy. 
Finally, Phos lit up every place with the Light. Oh, and he woke up all the 
plants too. The plants were starting to get weak while the Light was 
underground. So finally, Phos jumped up to Watakko's head, with the Light on his 
tail, and stayed up there, so the Great Light could shine down again. Phos met 
Watakko and they fell in love. Isn't that great?" Chirin had a great big smile. 
"He made her electric. And Watakko gave birth. And all their lambs had this 
electricity, this, *denki*. They said, "Shine and be Beacons to all the world," 
and they said, "Light up the great big Water." And those were the first 
Ampharos. That's why we have fluff like Jumpluffs and shine like Phos. And we 
have Lightning. 
"Oh...I forgot one part. Bangaa. Bangaa got so scared because he was caught, and 
so he dived deep back down underground. Even the great big rock snakes couldn't 
find him he went so deep. And Bangaa went to sleep. But one day he will wake 
back up and try to steal the light again. He is of the dark. And light's 
stronger than dark, so he's scared." 
Chirin's voice felt a little scratchy, and he was sweaty and a little winded, 
like he'd run a long way. He sat back down, feeling proud to have told the story 
a lot better than he had thought he could. Of course the ancestors had 
helped--they had to have helped. They must want Calima to learn the story as 
much as Chirin himself did. "I love that story. It's beautiful." 
Chirin looked back at the fence again. Before he had been wondering how he would 
ever get the courage to approach it again. But now, he felt much stronger, and 
certain that he was up to it. He was a lamb of Phos. He could do it. Soon, after 
a little more rest and preparation, he would go back to see the Mareep. He had 
to; his flock was depending on him. 
Mecha, sitting to a side, had listened to every word that Chirin had said, quite 
interested by the end. 
He grinned "That's a wonderful story Chirin. You tell it well." 
"hmmm" Razkel muttered he hadn't really listened, stuff like that always flew 
over his ears. 
Berry just smiled, she liked stories even if she didn't understand any of it. 
Chirin turned around behind him to see Mecha there. Somehow, hearing Mecha say 
that made him teary again. He wiped it away, not understanding why. 
Phos was getting on his way across the sky. Chirin should make the form and 
protect himself and his friends now, before he went out there where that human 
prowled. "Mecha, did you see any big rocks around here?" 
Now he saw Razkel and Berry too. Everyone seemed to have come back together at 
the telling of the story. Just like Phos had gathered together all the lost 
Pokemon and led them from dark. 
Of course, Chirin wasn't Phos. "Oh...hi. I--I forgot to say, thank you. I just 
wish my grandmother was here. She tells it much better." He sniffled. "Did 
anyone see any big rocks around here? That's bigger than me, or even bigger than 
Berry?" "Hmm..." Mecha spread his wing, flying up a bit "Let's see...." 
A somewhat large stone was about a few yards from them, bushes and such neavry 
it. With his beaky grin, he swooped back down "A few yards that way Chirin." he 
said, pointing to his left. 
"Oh, thank you Mecha." Chirin made his way where Mecha had pointed, not knowing 
what a yard was but knowing it was close because Mecha had only made a couple 
small circles before landing. The short trip took him up onto a higher area of 
ground. 
The boulder lay mostly buried with grass and brush grown up around it. Chirin 
walked easily up onto it; it was almost as wide as an Ampharos was tall, light 
gray and flecked with lichen. Part of its surface was mostly bare, and smooth. 
This would do. 
Now to find something to draw it with. At home they had kept pieces of charcoal, 
shells or rocks to scratch with, berries or silt or clay to color it with... 
here, he was rather limited. But this was no time to be picky. He needed the 
power of a form to protect him as fast as possible. Chirin grabbed a small rock 
with a jagged edge and sat down. Taking the small rock in one folded stub of a 
paw, he began scratching on the stone. He kept losing the poor grip he had on 
it, and it was a pain to get it back in hand again. When he got older it would 
be easier, but for now he had rather poor motor skills, plus no digits. 
Chirin created a form of the dark spirits, represented by the bone- creature he 
had seen in his dream. He enclosed him in a circle of light, trapping him. 
"You're trapped in there, you're trapped forever, you can't get out or the light 
will blind you." Finally he drew a bolt of lightning coming down. The bolt did 
not strike the bone creature, but waited right outside the circle. "The bolt 
waits. If you come to get me or any of us, it will get you." "Ahh, no," said the 
bone Ampharos. Then he drew Crazy Lights making the bolt. "I will guard you. 
Stay there," said Crazy Lights. Chirin didn't know why he'd put Crazy Lights 
there, but he had a good feeling about it. 
Finally he made a little hole in the bottom of the circle so the bone- ram could 
get out into the dark, but not the places of light and air. This way he would 
not get mad because he was imprisoned. "There. You can go there, but not out 
here. Tonight we go to the other world and you'll be far underground." 
Chirin-chirin drew himself and Calima-- but without faces or lights, which were 
usually omitted so that the form-maker was not putting their souls at risk of 
being hurt by others who might find it. He gave his apricorn shell a lick, and 
made his tail spark. He was surprised when it sparked the amount he intended, 
right when he intended. The spell must be giving him power already! 
He tried to remember what to say but couldn't. He sung something his mama had 
always sung to him. "We are strong, we are Light, we are beacons in the night. 
We are Deh--" He stopped, frowning, because he was the only one of his people 
here and he was just a lamb. He gave his tail another spark and said, "I'm going 
back to the Mareep now. I want to sleep here tonight, though so we'll be 
protected." He secretly hoped that Mecha would not follow, although he couldn't 
bring himself to tell him not to come. Mecha was a great friend and he had found 
the stone. "Crazy Lights can guard this form till tonight, right?" 
"Right," said Crazy Lights. 
"Thank you Crazy Lights, you're wonderful." He gave him an imaginary hug, then 
gave one to Mecha and Calima so they wouldn't feel bad, and began trotting back 
towards those pastures. 
Calima's mind was a tangle of questions. Oh well, no matter what Chirin or 
anyone said, she would still be faithful to Dendeona and Dendeono. She smiled 
and ran after her friends who had found a large rock. 
"Prehistoric Pokemon are HUGE Pokemon that lived before anything else did. There 
was Areodactyl, who was so big, it could swallow a Tyranitar whole! And there 
was Kabuto who was small, and it had sharp calws, and its evolved from, 
Kabutops, who looked like a brown Scyther but meaner and bigger. And Omanyte who 
was also small that looked like a little snail thing and Omastar who was abit 
small and looked like Omanyte with spikes on its shell," Caliam explained. Then 
she looked around. 
"I have an idea!" Calima said, "I'll make traps and we will be safe!" And she 
started to dig in. She dug underground, making one hole, and leaving some dirt 
there, so what ever stepped here would fall in. And they wouldn't know about the 
hole until they fell! Then she made another one and another one, and another 
one! Until the whold were all over the plave. Calima came out of the hole that 
she had used to get underground and she sealed the entrance. 
"I'm gonna sleep in a burrow. It feels more natural to me. Okay?" ACalima said, 
digging another hole. After she was finishe she crawled in and sealed off the 
entrance. She looked around her burrow, she mad little holes with her claws in 
the ceiling, and she had some light. She smiled and curled up in a ball, and 
went to sleep. 
Chirin only watched with slight dismay as Calima dug with amazing ease, creating 
hole after hole until there was loose soil and holes everywhere. He was rather 
concerned that he or someone else would step into any of the unseen holes and 
get hurt. He had hurt his own leg once back home when he had stepped in a 
Diglett hole by accident. But Calima was so enthusiastic about her idea that he 
didn't want to say anything. Who could tell, anyway? The holes might really trap 
something after them...but he feared most of all the forces with no feet. 
He arrived at the fence, and kept clear of the wires this time. No one was 
there. He thought about calling out, but the others were not right next to him. 
It was late afternoon, and the shadows of the woods' edge were feeling their way 
up the grass, towards the fence and hill beyond. Chirin sniffed around and had a 
look for enemies, including Farmer, and satisfied for the moment, he grazed the 
delicious grass while he waited for the other Mareep to get here. Every so often 
he raised his head and looked at his friends not far off, just to make sure they 
were still there and he was not alone. 
Mecha hopped over, settling down so he was sitting next to Chirin. He winked at 
him "Just in case..." 
"Yes...just in case...we just got to be really careful. I was scared that if you 
came, that the Mareep would get scared and then they would go get Farmer again 
like last time. But I'm glad you're here now, I love company." 
Having someone big and strong around made him relax. He had begun rolling in the 
soft cool grass, just for the enjoyment of it, when another Mareep gave a soft 
baa on the other side of the fence. Chirin opened his eyes, got his four feet 
back under him and trotted up to the fence. They touched noses through the 
silver vines. 
"Petunia! It's great to see you again! I'm sorry about last time. But you don't 
have to worry, Mecha's my friend. He won't hurt anyone. I don't know what he 
eats but he won't eat mareep. Right Mecha?" 
"I only came to tell you that I can't talk for long," said Petunia. "The farmer 
takes us into the barn at sundown. You were saying something about getting lost 
from your flock?" She shook her cloud-topped head. "You poor thing. You could 
join our flock if you like, but I don't know if the farmer would...prize your 
wool. It, er, isn't the same quality as ours and you might end up at market." 
"Where's Market?" His ear twitched. 
Petunia shrugged. "I don't know. No one knows what it is or where it is, no one 
ever comes back from there. It's just where he sends anyone who isn't growing as 
much wool as they used to." She sighed. "I worry." 
"That sounds scary, I don't like that," said Chirin. "Are you scared you're 
going to go there?" 
Petunia just shrugged again. "I'm just being silly. Anyway, Chirin-- that's your 
name, right?" 
Chirin nodded, still not able to return her smile. It was, again, one of those 
pretend smiles. 
"Anyway, we don't leave our pasture--we can't, as you can probably see--but it's 
quite large and some of us hear tell from the Pidgeys and Butterfree about 
goings-on beyond the farm." Farm, Farmer. Those two were connected, thought 
Chirin. "I haven't heard of where any wild flocks are, but if I do I'll be sure 
to tell you." 
"My flock--isn't at Farm?" 
Petunia smiled. "No, no, little one. I'm sorry. But I'll be sure to gather up 
all the hearsay I can. If you're here tomorrow I'll come back, and two or three 
others may too--my friends. I'm sure I can convince them." She smiled. 
He didn't. "That Market thing--does that happen a lot?" 
"Oh, Chirin, don't worry about that! The farmer won't try to catch you, unless 
of course you try to make trouble--like earlier today. Goodness, that was the 
most excitement any of us have had since a Beedrill got stuck in the barn!" 
Chirin wasn't worried about himself. 
Calima was floating in a balck and blue cloud. with colors dancing against the 
cloud. Colors that were unown to anyone. There came a small sqeal. Calima turned 
areound and she saw her family. Bango, her brother, the only blck Nidoran in the 
family, Simisa, her albino sister, and her mama and dad, her albino parents, a 
handsome, strong and brave Nidorino, and a beautiful, kind and loving Nidorina. 
The smiled and beamed at Calima. Then her father spoke up: "Come with us 
Caliam," he said, "come with us..." his voice echoed in the strnage nowhere tht 
Calima was in. Her mother nodded and her brother and sister giggled. Then it 
came, the black and white Quilava. It raised its head, and shot out green and 
black flames. Her family screeched in pain, and soon they were only come charred 
ashes. Then the Quilava turned to Calima. It opened its mouth, and suddenly 
Caliam saw brief flashed of her past. Her family getting killed in their burrow, 
the squeals of her brother and sister. 
Then she woke up and screamed. 
A familiar squeal, albeit muffled, from way down by the stone and the bushes 
broke Chirin's thoughts about the Market. Chirin froze, listening, and Petunia's 
wool sparked; the white of her eyes showed as she shied away from the fence, as 
if she'd suddenly realized she was alone except for them. 
"Uh, Petunia, I'll be right back." Edging off through the grass, against his 
instincts, he heard the others talking; whatever it was couldn't be too bad. He 
should have known by now that Calima screaming didn't necessarily mean an enemy 
attack, but the blood and *denki* running inside him remembered farther back 
than he could, recalling countless death screams and predators. People never 
screamed like that for no reason. Besides, there were enemies who went unseen 
and unsmelled... 
Seeing there were no dangerous pokemon, Chirin ran the rest of the way to 
Calima's burrow, barely avoiding some of the other holes she had dug. She'd gone 
in for a nap, he now recalled. "Calima! Are you all right? What's wrong?" 
Calima heard Chirin and jumped out of the burrow, unblocking the entrance when 
she did. The dirt was through her fur. Calima clung onto Chirin and cried. 
"I-I had th-that dream again! M-my family... It-its true. They are d-d-de-dead!" 
Calima said, crying. 
Chirin hugged the dirty, crying Nidoran, trying not to cry himself. He could 
think of no other reason why the evil had broken through to her even here, other 
than the fact that spells did not always work. Sometimes the dark was just too 
strong. "It'll be okay. I know how you feel. My whole flock is gone, and I miss 
them too. I don't know if they're dead though. I'm not giving up on them yet. No 
matter what, they're never really gone." His own words surprised him. It implied 
that eventually, if he didn't find them, he would have to give up, and accept 
that they were dead or otherwise gone from this world forever. Up till now he 
had assumed they were somewhere near and all he had to do was track them down. 
But the world beyond the hills of Pharos was much bigger than he had thought. 
When he'd first come to the lake he'd been so sure that he was on the brink of 
finding them. He'd been so sure that all the forces on Mother Megga were 
sweeping in to help in. Now, he was not so sure. 
Sometimes it was so easy to misread what things were trying to tell you. 
He was crying again. "I have to get back to Petunia. I was talking to her and 
she said some things make me worried. Do you want to come with me?" Calima 
looked at Chirin, her eyes shining with tears. 
"Yes... I'll go," Calima said. 
Phos had bowed down behind the trees, grazing on the horizon. Chirin and Calima 
arrived at the fence again, but Petunia was gone. "She was here," he said, 
sniffing the air, "but she said that she couldn't stay here much longer. I guess 
we'll see her tomorrow." Which was just as well; Chirin himself was tired. He 
went back down to the stone and accidentally put his foot in an unseen hole. He 
jerked it back out again, his wool sparking with surprise. Using his front feet 
he started sweeping some of the loose dirt back into the hole, and other holes, 
leaving Calima's burrow alone. After he finished with this he would have a last 
chew and then go to sleep. Calima followed Chirin back to the rock and she went 
back into her burrow to go to sleep. 
Chirin sat on the special rock, ruminating. He watched wispy clouds sweep across 
the sky. Watakko's children were having fun scattering their cotton, playing 
together. If he were back home now he would be playing with Rona, Meibu, and 
little Kunos, the other three Mareep. They would sometimes play simple games 
like follow the leader, tag, Ram of the Hill (which Meibu, being the oldest, 
usually won), but often they played Chirin's favorite kinds of games--anything 
where they pretended to be other people, like Denrai. Chirin usually got to be 
Denrai because the only other male there was Kunos and he could barely talk. 
Sometimes his big sister joined in their games, but she had lately taken to 
spending most of her time with the two older Flaaffy--there was no one in the 
flock close to her age. Chirin looked out at the grass and bushes here and now, 
smelling the scents of summer's last breaths, and could almost see them all 
again. 
Soon it would be fall. Leaves on some of the bushes were already starting to 
change color around the edges, throwing flecks of yellow here and there. The 
night was going to be a cool one. 
"Well, Crazy Lights, are you tired?" 
"No." Crazy Lights began pacing around. 
Chirin stood up on the rock, tail high and waving. "I'm not either. I have an 
idea. I want to go all the way around that fence and see how far it goes. Did 
you hear Petunia talking about 'hearsay'?" 
"Yes." 
"Well I want to hear hearsay too. Only...it's not safe for just us to go. We're 
only lambs. We need someone big around, like Mecha or Teazel or maybe Berry. 
Let's go ask Mecha." 
So Chirin and Crazy Lights trotted off to find Mecha, only one of them making a 
track through the thick grass. Mecha wasn't around, not in the immediate area, 
anyway. Chirin sniffed some flowers that were nodding their heads in front of 
where he had stopped, then he ate them. He loved flowers. The many sunset smells 
on the wind called to him, and Chirin decided that as long as he was more or 
less alone right now, and there were no enemies to be smelled, that he could 
wander off a ways along the fence. Remembering a little of how he had once 
climbed hills just to see Phos go down, or played in the pond or in tide pools 
just to enjoy the cool water and the glimmer of the moon and his own light, he 
set off, close along the fence so as to keep an eye on things. It would be dark 
soon so he couldn't go far, but his feet wanted to move. Munching choice grass 
and flowers along the way, Chirin set off at a trot. He kept his eyes, ears and 
nose open, enjoying the feeling of the grass swishing against his legs. Crazy 
Lights ran beside him, jumping ahead, falling behind, but always near 
"Wow, Crazy Lights, look!" Chirin called his friend over to a small gap in the 
fence. The lowest vine had come a bit loose somehow and bent out of shape. 
Chirin gazed at the grass beyond. It was much greener and thicker over 
there--and nearby grew a clump of red clover blossoms, his favorite! 
"I don't know about this, Chirin," said Crazy Lights as Chirin stuck his head 
under. "I think we'd better go back." 
"We will. But first..." 
Chirin got the rest of himself under the fence. A few strands of wool got 
snagged, and he yelped when it tugged out. Otherwise intact, he frisked clear of 
the fence and whirled around, looking back at the fence from the other side now. 
There were no Mareep here and no smell of humans (otherwise he wouldn't have 
gone under). Still, he wouldn't stay long, only long enough to indulge a little. 

"Ahh...clover..." 
Chirin shoved his snout at the flowers and chomped, taking a big bite of sweet 
flowers and succulent leaves, filled with pleasure as they slid down his throat. 
Mouth watering, he ate more... and more... 
"Oh Crazy Lights, you got to try this! Oh it's the best I've ever ate!" He said 
no more, and continued eating. Moving his head low over the grass, letting his 
nose and mouth lead him, he walked slowly from patch to patch, barely grazing 
one area before he saw a fresh patch only steps away and moved to that. His 
stomach full, Chirin rolled in the soft, fluffy, cool grass, loving the feeling 
and the smell of the flowers. "Mahhhh...reeep." It was the best he had felt in a 
long time. Oh, he was going to make up a song about this. 
"Clover, sweet clover, tastes so good..." 
His head was full to the brim in flower smells, so the smell of human came as a 
sharp surprise. Abruptly he stopped singing. He got to his feet but just as he 
got his feet under him, something hooked him round the chest. 
"*Mareep!*" Chirin reared up, but the thing remained around him, with a funny 
smell that he had never smelled--rubber. Sparking quite ineffectually against 
the rubber-covered crook, he turned around to see it was held by a human. 
"Calm down there, I'm not going to hurt you!" she said. She was smaller than 
Farmer, and by her smell, female. "Don't know why I missed you. Don't have to be 
scared. Now come on, I'm locking up the barn for the night." 
"Let me go!" Chirin tried to back out of the crook, but the hook outpaced him 
expertly. He discharged all the electricity he had, to no avail. She led him 
over the hill, through the pasture to a thing, a structure of some sort, that 
was, again, totally alien to him. 
"Come on, cut it out! If you don't settle down I'm going to have to use this!" 
She showed him one of the apricorn things. Chirin immediately quieted down, 
although he had not understood a word she'd said. All he needed to see was one 
of the things that had taken his flock away from this world. 
"Where's my flock?" he asked, but she didn't answer. It occurred to him that if 
he did not understand her, she might not understand him either. "Can you 
understand me?" 
She still didn't answer. Chirin walked on shaking legs, trapped in the crook, as 
she walked towards the big rocklike red thing. 
His flock. Was his flock in there? Chirin's heart leapt and he took in a big 
breath. It made sense. She had the same apricorn things. All of a sudden Chirin 
didn't care if he would be trapped in there, if Mama was in there with him. 
Still keeping him hooked, although he was no longer fighting, she opened the 
door to what was, unbeknownst to him, a barn, and guided him into a place softly 
lit up by the tails of many mareep at rest. 
The big, stiff, wooden flap (door) shut behind him and did not reopen. Chirin 
looked around him, feeling safer smelling the strongly mareep- flavored air, 
along with straw and, more unpleasantly, droppings. Over his head, beams of wood 
crisscrossed and lay parallel, going up and up to meet at a straight furrow at 
the very peak, all made of wood. Down at his level, were mareep, most of them 
laying on the same soft straw that he now stood on. At once, he felt his hopes 
plunge. His flock was not here. But then, no Ampharos were here, not even a 
flaaffy. The room got suddenly brighter as a few dozen tails lit up at the sight 
of the newcomer. All of them mareep. They stared at him, and he just stared 
back. Then one mareep stood up with her ears perked in surprise. It was Petunia. 

"Petunia?" 
"Chirin!" she said, weaving through the other mareep to get to him. "Are you 
okay? What are you doing here?" 
That seemed like a cue for all the others to start talking. 
"A wild mareep! In here?" 
"That's him, I saw him today--" 
"With the Pidgeotto!" 
"--And it attacked the farmer!" 
"I saw him too!" 
"I'm just looking for my flock," said Chirin to Petunia, who stood beside him 
while the others all buzzed with conversation, blinking their tails and fluffing 
their wool. To all of them, he said, "I'm just looking for my flock!" 
"Well, unless your flock is this flock, you're out of luck," said one. "And 
since the farmer doesn't keep unimproved mareep here either, you're unlikely to 
stay here long." 
"Unimproved?" Chirin had a feeling it had something to do with his wool, but 
there were more important questions in his mind. "Uh, Where's all the Ampharos?" 

"The what?" said Petunia, turning on him with a funny look, similar to what the 
others were giving him. 
"You know, the grownups?" 
They looked at him blankly. 
"Uh, you know...Ampharos... what we evolve to?" 
One of the Mareep laughed. "Silly wildling! Mareep don't evolve!" 
"Uh, actually, they do, actually." 
"Perhaps if you described it to us," said Petunia, "we could tell you if we've 
seen any." 
This had to be the oddest conversation Chirin had ever had, in the dream world 
or this world. "We turn into them. They're tall, yellow, and they lost all their 
fleece...and they walk on two legs. And they have lights on their heads." 
Chirin's statement was followed by silence. Then, bleats of laughter. 
*** 
Razkel lay on his back in the grass besides the stony form of Berry, the 
Rhyhorn, chewed rhythmically on a mouth full of leaves, the two of them having 
lost track of Mecha and the others. 
The Rattata watched the sky as one by one stars appeared in the slowly darkening 
sky. "Pretty huh Berry?" he said rolling over and getting to his feet, his 
companion looked up and nodded as Razkel clambered on to her back and looked 
around. 
"You can see the town from here" he said sitting up and sniffing the air "You 
can almost smell the pizza" the Rattata laughed "It's been along time since I've 
been this close to home, wouldn't have minded getting a closer look but I think 
people would notice a Rhyhorn wandering the streets" he jumped back to the 
ground yawning, he curled up next to Berry "Lets get some sleep and then we can 
see if we can find Mecha in the morning" 
Calima yawned. She couldn't get to sleep, so she got out of her burrow, deciding 
to sleep with Chirin. She heard a bleat of fear. She looked arond, wide eyed. 
And she saw Chirin being takien away by a female farmer. 
"Chirin! I'm coming!" Calima said, running after them. The female farmer took 
Chirin to a large cave made of some kind of stuff, like on a Steelix. After the 
female farmer went away, Calima ran over to find a way to get Chirin out of the 
big cave. 
*Chirin! Chirin! Chirin! Are you okay? Chirin!" Calima said, scratching at the 
sealed off entrance of teh big cave. 
* * * 
The baas of laughter bored into his head. Chirin felt like he was sinking. 
Ordinarily he might have felt humiliated or embarrassed, but he only felt scared 
and in total despair. Staring at the straw between his feet, he let the tears 
drip down through the blur. It dawned on him that he had come here for nothing. 
If they didn't even know what an ampharos was, they could know nothing about his 
flock. Even worse, *they didn't even know what an adult was*...he wondered 
whether he should be helping them rather than the reverse, because something was 
very wrong. But where on Mother Megga's great back did it all begin? *I wonder 
if they also don't know about Phos and Mother Megga and all them too.* It 
wouldn't have surprised him. 
"Don't let it get to you, Chirin," said Petunia, leaning against his side for 
comfort. "it's just that it is quite funny, when you think about it. Who told 
you that you're going to lose all your fleece? What a dreadful thought!" 
Chirin looked up at her, blinking the tears away to try to see. But they kept 
coming. Thought they were all of his own kind, he felt less in common with them 
than even his other new friends. "You don't even believe me!" He threw himself 
at the door. "Lemme out of here! Mama! Mama!" 
"Goodness, don't throw a fit in here!" said Petunia. "You'll upset the lambs!" 
But Chirin had lost it. He leaned against the door, bleating and pounding on it 
with his front feet. All hope was lost, Burakuru had tried to take his flock 
away from him forever, and she had succeeded. He didn't know where else to go or 
what to do. His mother's voice and her smell called to him from his memory, all 
he wanted was to run to her and leap into her arms. "I want Mama!" 
Then he heard a familiar voice from outside, calling his name. Calima was 
scratching at the door! 
"Calima! I'm right here! But I'm blocked in!" 
"The farmer or his daughter will let us all out tomorrow morning," said Petunia, 
who had stepped back from Chirin, as if uncomfortable talking to him now that he 
had thrown a tantrum. Chirin didn't care. He couldn't stay here with these 
strange, deceptive cloud folk-- Mareep who were not Mareep--another moment. 
Calima was not the type to give up or give in. So she did the only this she 
could do to get inside with Chirin.... dig. And she did, She dug under the door 
and into the cave where there were alot of Mareep. she spotted Chirin and ran 
over to him. She hugged him the best way she could. 
"Oh Chirin! I was so scared that you were lost forever! But Dendeona must have 
been watching over you with the help of Dendeono! Oh, I am so happy!" 
Chirin hugged her back and sobbed into her white fur. "I want to go home." He 
cried till his eyes hurt and cried some more, so strong was his longing for a 
place that didn't exist anymore. All his legs wanted to do was run home, but 
without the flock it was not home. Pharos was not the house of Light if no 
lights lived there. 
*Who will keep the light alive for the ancestors?* a little voice said in the 
back of his head. But Chirin couldn't go back there, not alone, not if the only 
thing to greet him was the waves beating on the sand. He couldn't be the only 
living one there. The living were weaker than the dead. They needed others 
there. 
The other Mareep were murmuring to themselves. "I'm sorry we made you upset," 
said Petunia. "You're welcome to stay here with us if you want to." 
Chirin's wool sparked. "No. I have to go. Oh Calima I'm so glad you're here." 
He poked his head through Calima's hole, but the rest of his body couldn't fit. 
But the was not what bothered him. Looking out in the dark air, which was much 
cooler than inside the barn, dark confronted his eyes and strange 
smells-including humans, although that was in the barn too--confronted his 
sensitive nose. He backed up out of the hole, momentarily relieved to once again 
be surrounded by Mareep, their smell and their lights. The pull of an instinct 
to stay among lighted tails was stronger than he had realized. Chirin couldn't 
fit throught the hole. So Calima made it bigger. 
"You can fit now Chirin, lets go!" Calima said, crawlint through the hole. But 
she came scrambling back in a second later, wide eyed. She burried the hole and 
hid under some hay. "The farmer! He's coming!" 
Just as Chirin heard heavy human boot steps bumping up the walk, the farmer 
flung open the barn doors. Chirin skitted back, kicking up straw. Without 
thinking he mixed himself in among the other sheep. 
"What in tarnation's going on in here?" 
He looked around at all the mareep, as if expecting them to start explaining. 
Giving the barn a once-over, his eyes lit on Chirin, but kept moving. 
"You all settle down now, it's time to go to sleep. Can't have you keeping me 
up. I'm going to market tomorrow and a couple of you're coming with me." Chirin 
saw he had his eye on Petunia, whose wool was not so full as some of the 
others'. "So rest up, and sweet dreams. Ooh, what's this?" He peered at Calima's 
hole. "Darn Nidos, digging up my whole farm...gotta lay some more traps." 
Yawning, he closed the barn in a considerably calmer manner than he had opened 
it. Chirin listened as his booted feet thumped away over the sparse grass just 
outside the barn. 
As Chirin's black eyes met Petunia's, he saw that the ewe was trembling. "Oh, 
no," she said. "It can't be me. What am I going to do?" 
"It's me too!" said another mareep from back by the wall, who shouldered his way 
through towards Chirin and Petunia. "He looked at me!" Both Petunia and this 
other one were older mareep with sparser wool, who looked somewhat close to 
evolving, or closer than the rest. 
"Don't worry," Chirin found himself saying. He nuzzled Petunia, and tried to 
nuzzle the other, but he backed off, giving Chirin a suspicious look. "We'll 
find a way to keep you from going, uh, wherever Market is. By Phos's light, I'll 
find a way." Although he had no idea, he thought, lifting a forefoot to wipe the 
drying tears off his face. Why had he just made a sacred promise he didn't know 
how to keep? "Calima where are you? Are you still here?" 
At Chirin's words Calima jumped out of the hay, scattering a few Mareep, who had 
jumped out of the way in alarm with loud "Marreeeep!" 
"Chirin, we have to go now.... C'mon" Calima said, heading toward the hole. "Let 
us be off!" 
Chirin looked from Petunia's teary eyes to Calima's rather frightened ones. His 
hooves stepped towards, one, then the other. He tried to decide what to do, and 
tried not to cry again. 
"You can go," he said to Calima. "I'll be coming. I just have to find out what's 
going to happen if Petunia gets taken away to Market. I don't want anything bad 
to happen to her." He looked at Petunia. "What's so bad about Market?" 
"Oh, Chirin, I didn't want you to have to hear it." Petunia was crying now. 
"It--oh, never mind. I'm so sorry I even talked about it. What could you do 
anyway? No, Chirin, you'd better get back to your home. And your friend." 
That was what a big part of him wanted to do. Calima was waiting by the hole she 
had dug, poised to dart through. 
"No, Petunia. What's going to happen to you." 
"It's not just her!" said the young ram, the other one who believed he had been 
singled out. "What about me! I don't want to become some human's dinner any more 
than she does! Because that's what they say happens there! You get slaughtered!" 

As Chirin's jaw dropped, Petunia shook her head. 
"Oh, Willy, why'd you say that? Now he'll feel like he can't leave us! Besides, 
they say that's not the only thing that happens at Market..." 
"It's what's happening to us!" said Willy. "Now that we're not so good at making 
wool anymore..." 
"I can't leave you if that's what happens!" said Chirin. "You can't stay here! I 
know what to do, you can just come with me and Calima, we'll get you away from 
here forever." 
The other Mareep were beginning to murmur and mumble as Chirin spoke. Another 
thought hit Chirin's young, troubled little mind. 
"Is that going to happen...to all of you? When you're not making as much wool?" 
Petunia didn't answer; she was too busy sobbing. 
Chirin nuzzled her, a tear slipping from his eye. Seeing others cry always made 
him follow suit. "It's gonna be okay. All of you can come with me." 
"And end up as some enemy's dinner out in the wild, instead of meeting a nice, 
humane death at the slaughterhouse?" said Willy, as if putting into clear words 
the mumbles of the many Mareep surrounding them. 
"Well, uh..." Chirin didn't know what to say to that. 
"It's not humane!" another mareep piped up. "A Pidgey told me once...that you 
can hear them screaming!" 
Chirin just couldn't believe it, although it made sense, since humans were ruled 
by darkness, and he had heard his own flock's last screams. He saw Petunia 
sobbing, and heard the growing conversation of these Jumpluff-fluffy Mareep--who 
had looked yesterday as if they had everything so perfect--and knew that no 
matter what he chose to do, he could not, would not let it all happen again. He 
licked his apricorn shell, making a plea to the spirits of forest and grass and 
ground to somehow make this work out right. 
Calima looked ready to sream. She couldn't leave the Mareep any more than 
Chirin. 
"I'm staying too. We have to help them before the farmer comes back!" Calima 
said. Then she turned to the other Mareep. "I have a plan. Before the farmer 
returns, we all sneak out through this hole I made," she gestured to the hole, 
"But if the farmer DOES come back, then, Chirin and I will sneak in too. Then we 
can stir someting up and the market and escape." Calima's ears perked up. She 
poked her head through the hole and her jaw dropped into a silent scream. "The 
farmer! He is in a big truck! Looks like it's gonna be plan market....." 
"Oh no!" cried one Mareep, hearing Calima. "He always takes them away in the 
pickup! What are we gonna do?" 
"Calm down!" cried Chirin as some of the sheep began to get up and pace around. 
"He might hear us!" 
"Well *you're* bleating to wake up the dead!" said Willy. "All he's doing is 
parking the thing anyway, who ever heard of driving to market in the middle of 
the night! So he can load us up tomorrow." 
Chirin clutched his apricorn shell, closed his eyes and knelt down, his nose to 
the straw, praying to his ancestors to not anger at Willy's words of disrespect 
to the dead. Getting up again, he looked up at the larger ram, instinctively 
avoiding eye contact. 
"Please Willy, don't talk about the dead that way. We need their help too right 
now. Now if we get out the hole now, I think we can--" 
Willy looked him right in the eye. "You're crazy. And you're not leading anyone 
out into the wilderness, to die of who knows what! Everyone, stay where you 
are!" 
"Please, Willy, I know you don't want to get slaughtered, I know you're 
scared--" 
Willy charged Chirin, ramming him in the chest. Chirin flew backwards into a 
bale of hay. He gasped as he rolled himself onto his belly, the wind knocked out 
of him. 
"That's for calling me scared!" 
Sniffling, crying, Chirin got up on trembling legs. He shot Calima a pleading 
look for her to not get into the fight. He had seen what her poison could do to 
an Arbok, and he didn't want Willy dead. 
Willy stood before Chirin, in front of the rest of the mareep. Sparks leapt off 
his tail and wool coat. 
"Leave. Now. This is probably my last night alive. Don't ruin it." 
Chirin saw the tears in Willy's eyes, but he had established that Chirin had no 
right to say anything more against him--not even if Chirin was trying to help. 
Petunia ran over to Chirin. 
"Are you okay?" She added, "Well I'm coming with you." 
"What?" said Willy. "How can you--you mean you're just going to march out of 
here--" 
Petunia stared right back at him. Willy looked at Chirin, then Petunia, and then 
behind him as another Mareep ran over to the two. 
"I'm coming too," said the newcomer. Suddenly three, four, eight more Mareep 
were running over, oblivious to Willy's bleats of authority. 
"Oh, thank you!" Chirin flung his head up and spoke to the ceiling, speaking to 
the open air although he saw no sky. As the Mareep rushed in around him, he felt 
the spirits' presence strongly. They were with him, the spirits of his flock, 
and they were going to help them. 
"Wait, what about the farmer?" someone said. "Is he still out there or has he 
gone back to the house?" 
Chirin ducked down and poked his head through the hole. Over the smell of the 
freshly turned earth, and the other rather strong farm smells, he immediately 
smelled something else, which was only newly familiar. It was the smell the 
"cars" made. And not far from the barn, on grass-patched dirt trail with double 
tracks, as if cars traveled it a lot, was a rather big "car." It sat silent, its 
lights gone dark. Farmer was nowhere to be seen, althogh the air betrayed that 
he had been here not long ago. 
"I don't think he's there," he whispered, forgetting that his head was still 
outside the barn and he was the only one looking out. When no one answered he 
backed out again. He shook the soil from his coat and wandered back among 
Petunia and the other Mareep, and Calima. He and the other Mareep rubbed their 
wool together and created small sparks, these were sparks to comfort each other 
and feel better. "I didn't see Farmer or hear him or smell him. And there's a 
car there now, but it's gone dark, but there were tiny little prickly noises 
coming from it that were very very quiet and, uh, I don't know what that means. 
But I think it's safe to go. But I'm not sure." He was afraid to go out himself, 
and he didn't want to ask Calima, for her own safety. 
"Those noises mean the truck just parked," said Petunia. "If you didn't hear 
him, he's not out there and the truck won't move. He's planning on taking three 
or four of us tomorrow. That's the way it always goes." 
"Before we go out," said Chirin, "I think we should all ask our ancestors to 
watch us and help us, and keep the dark spirits away. And keep Farmer asleep." 
The flock back home would have cast long sparks up into the air in a gift of 
*denki*...but here, that would be too loud, and with the smell of old wood above 
their heads, it might start a Fire. They could give their electric thanks once 
they were clear of Farmer's territory. For now, words and forms would have to 
suffice. Chirin cleared a small space on the ground and, for lack of anything 
else to use, began arranging strands of straw as Petunia and a few other Mareep 
watched with looks of curiosity. 
"We must ask the help of Watakko and her cotton children, to make us light and 
quiet, outside in the dark. Come in, come close around me." He continued 
arranging hay. Then he sparked from his wool, giving off what little electricity 
had collected in his fleece. He did not have a hair from a Pikachu or Raichu 
here, so the form would have to work without it. 
"Make us fast like Pikachu!" 
"Hmph," said Willy, who had his back turned. 
Chirin said more things, made more sparks, and when he felt that the ritual of 
askings and his meager offerings was coming round complete, he said, "Now we 
have Pikachu speed. And Jumpluff lightness and quietness. And the lights our 
ancestors gave us. And the *denki* they gave us. We should all give them a spark 
to thank them. Make it small though! So it's not so loud." 
A few Mareep, hesitating at first, made a small and rather uncertain little 
spark, following Chirin's example. Willy didn't, of course. 
"You can all go without me. I'm not going out there. This whole thing is crazy 
and you'll all end up dead." 
"Don't talk like that!" Chirin felt fear creeping into him. "That only makes the 
dark spirits get stronger when you talk like that." 
"You are a superstitious weirdo. Have fun everyone. I'll see you back here when 
you come trudging back. If you even live." 
Chirin scrambled for something to say to make the air around him positive and 
good again. "Even though we're scared, remember that our ancestors gave us great 
gifts and no one can take that away. No one can take our *denki* away. Is, uh, 
everybody ready to...go out that hole now?" 
He realized they were waiting for him to go first. Calima felt the rage boiling 
inside of her tiny body. Her eyes flashed red, and stayed that way. She ran over 
to Willy, knocking him over, Calima jumped onto his stomach and looked right 
into his eyes. She didn't let anyone hurt her friends. 
"If I were you, I would loose that snotty attitude of yours. Because if you 
don't," Calima shook her horn in his face, "then I just might kill you." 
"Calima!" cried Chirin, horrified. Calima didn't really mean kill, did she? 
Still...that was not something to bandy about. "Willy...Please...let's please 
all be friends. I'm not hurt." He wiped his eyes on his foreleg. "See? Willy 
wasn't really trying to hurt me. He's just like all of us, he's--" Chirin caught 
himself before saying 'scared' this time, and returned his gaze to the hole. 
Calima looked at Chirin, then to Willy. Oh, she could kill him if she wanted to. 
But she backed down. 
"I'll let you go this once Willy, but next time you might not be so lucky." 
Chirin thought quick. What would Denrai do? Denrai wouldn't hesitate here. He 
would charge right down that hole, out into the dark, unafraid. Chirin thrust 
aside the fact that he was hardly Denrai. In his mind, in his soul, like when he 
had played pretend all that time ago back home, he again became Denrai inside. 
Oh! and Crazy Lights was here, Chirin suddenly remembered. He had followed 
Chirin all the way across the field and slipped inside the barn with him. Right 
now Chirin caught sight of him, perched up on one of the wood beams because 
Crazy Lights was an uncanny jumper. 
"I'll be right with all of us," said Crazy Lights. 
"Wonderful," said Chirin, before he remembered that they couldn't hear Crazy 
Lights, and Chirin didn't care. It was a good word to say right now. "Come, come 
now, we are thunder and lightning! We are...We are Mareep!" 
Chirin stuck his nose down in the hole again and squeezed himself through. The 
dark and cool air made him shiver, but he kept his light bright. The lights of 
both dead and living were close around him now. Indeed, Petunia was the first 
one to follow. In between Chirin and Petunia there had been a few long moments 
of uncomfortable waiting, but once Petunia was out and stood next to him, 
Calima's clever hole popped out Mareep after mareep, shaking dirt and sparks 
from their coat as each one clambered out. It was such a strange thing to see 
happening, almost comical. They all seemed to gather, in general, around Chirin. 

Chirin was excited. The spirits were there, and his flock--he could feel them in 
the air. He swallowed back a sadness that came over him as he thought of 
Mama--and he reared up, as if to paw at her, feel for her. As the last Mareep 
exited, Chirin took a look out at the moon-silvered field. He leaped into motion 
and his four hooves hit the ground again already running, bounding. He was 
Denrai. 
"Dennnn!" He shot a bigger spark than he had thought he could make. It zapped 
the air loudly, lighting up the grass nearby for a moment. 
In a distant dark thing by the horizon, which looked to be some sort of 
outcropping like the barn but bigger, little squares of light blinked on. Chirin 
stopped his capering and rejoined the other Mareep staring out at the lights. He 
heard, far away, a Growlithe barking. 
"Now you've done it," said Willy. "Farmer's up." The rest of the Mareep looked 
out at the farmhouse; some began pacing; sparks cropped up among their bodies. 
Some of them started to look back at the hole under the barn door, as if 
debating whether to go back. 
"What do we do?" said one. 
"We go back," said Willy. "After you. And this wildling," he snorted at Chirin, 
"and his dirty little nido friend will get back under the fence, if they know 
what's good for them." 
Calima snorted. 
Chirin's head was spinning. "Please, Willy, I guess I can't make you go but I 
think you really should. Now...Let's go! *Meriipu! Meriipuuuu!*" He sprang up, 
running at a gallop over to the hill. Only when the fence came into view did he 
remember that he had to head toward the gap he had squeezed through. 
Changing trajectories and bounding downhill straight for the gap, he ran, afraid 
and thrilled and exhilarated all at once. He felt the breath of the grass 
beneath him, lightening his feet and making his legs spring up higher. It was 
his ancestors, moving in the grass. The air spirits filled his lungs, the mareep 
were running free at last, free... 
He realized he saw no one running beside him. Feeling the night creeping in on 
him, he stumbled to a stop and looked back around. Behind him, the mareep had 
straggled, strung out over the field in a ragged row of yellow and orange tail 
lights, like a trail, leading almost to the barn. Chirin sparked his tail, 
waving it; the orange- yellow orb flew back and forth in a little arc against 
the darkness. 
"Come on! The hole's right here! *Meriipu!*" 
"Oh, Chirin..." Petunia staggered through the grass, huffing and puffing. "I'm 
afraid... we're not used... so much running..." 
Far away the Growlithe was still barking. Now he heard the voice of Farmer: 
"Mareep are out! Louise, get your Raichu, and Annie, get your Growlithe!" 
"Come on! I know you can do it!" Chirin jumped and bounded desperately around, 
waiting for the tired mareep to at last arrive. "Call on Watakko! Call on the 
spirits inside you! Call on your denki inside you, oh!" 
He was surprised, hearing what words came out. He paused to catch his breath as 
the last mareep caught him up. Grandmother Lararu would have said those kinds of 
things. But then, she was with him right now, in soul, inside him. It was her 
speaking, not Chirin. He was Denrai, he was Lararu... 
"It's only a little bit more!" Chirin ran down to the gap and got down on his 
stomach. He squirmed over the ground, pressing the grass flat, then with a final 
kick he was through on the other side. "Just do that and then you are free like 
this!" His voice cracked, tired from so much shouting and from being up so late. 

Petunia was right at his tail. She got down on the ground like he had, a little 
less confidently, and began to wriggle. Then she was wriggling, but not moving 
forward. If Chirin had been a human being, he might have said she was spinning 
her wheels and going nowhere. 
"Oh, goodness, I'm stuck!" 
"Here. Let me help!" Chirin got his forelegs around her shoulders, which were on 
the free side of the fence, and pulled. She was stuck fast. The wily silver 
vines had dug themselves into her billowy wool. 
"Dirty am I? Well, you are the one that is dirty! Just because some pokemon look 
a bit....er, not pretty, that dosn't make them dirty. As for you Willy, you are 
a pretty Mareep, but you are the dirty one!" Calima snorted again and ran after 
Chirin, trying to help him get Petunia through the fence of gray vines. 
Chirin tried to get Petunia through by biting away the bits of her wool that 
were stuck, but as he worked he realized that her body itself was larger than 
his own, and too large to fit underneath, wool or no wool. "Ow! Ow!" said 
Petunia, her wool pulled by the barbs as Chirin and Calima pushed her back 
through. 
"We need a bigger hole!" said Chirin. "Calima--can you dig the hole bigger?" 
Right then a shaft of lightning streaked skyward from up the field. 
"*Rai...chuuuu!*" And another giant spark split the night. 
"Oh, it's Kiku!" said one Mareep. "I love Kiku's electricity..." 
"Me too," said another. "But why's she out here so late?" 
"Come and get some sparks!" called the Raichu, running down towards them with a 
hopping gait. "It's specially for tonight! Come on! If you promise to get back 
in the barn you can have plenty of sparks tomorrow too." 
Chirin was rather confused, but the thought of getting sparks appealed to him, 
as it did all the Mareep. "I think this is some kind of trick," he said, hearing 
a Growlithe approaching. That Raichu's eyes glittered with the fake sort of 
happiness that in the past had betrayed deception. Something told him she was in 
league with the humans, possibly possessed by the same dark spirits. 
"I don't think anybody should go in that barn!" said Chirin. "Uh, Raichu--just, 
please, leave us alone. We're getting free now." He glanced back at the hole, 
then remembered why they weren't through yet. "Calima--uh, can you dig that hole 
any bigger?" 
As Chirin backed away from the Raichu, he also separated himself from the bulk 
of the flock. Far off he saw the light of their tail bulbs reflecting as a 
glint, a glow in the Growlithe's eyes as the canine ran towards them. "Uh...can 
you dig that hole bigger *real fast*?" 
"Of course!" Calima said, digging at super speed. In less than five seconds, the 
hole as big enough for the Mareep to fit through. "You guys, go on throught! I 
will keep Kiku busy!" Calima ran over to the Raichu and headbutted him. He 
turned around and shot an electric spark at Calima. 
Calima dodged and said: "C'mon! Hit me! You can do better than that! Hit me!" 
Kiku shot more electric attacks at Calima, but she kept dodging them. She would 
really attack him if she needed too. 
With her Raichu agility, Kiku expertly dodged the Nidoran's attacks; she had not 
arrived with the intention of attacking anyone; she was the family's Raichu and 
served to help with the Mareep, since they were highly attracted to electricity. 
It was why she was there now. Flustered at the wild Nidoran's attack and clearly 
fearing the young animal was rabid, she zapped Calima good and hard, standing 
between her and the flock to protect the mareep. "Bub and Louise want you back 
in the barn!" she shouted. "They're saying a person might be trying to steal 
you. Is there a thief or any Rocket agents about? Or just this crazy Nido?" 
At that moment the Growlithe arrived. Chirin bolted on instinct around the body 
of the flock and then in among them, brushing past Kiku. The Growlithe did not 
try to pick off one of them, as Chirin had feared; rather it ran behind them, 
zigzagging back and forth as the Mareep nervously trotted away to avoid it. Bit 
by bit it began herding them back towards the barn. Kiku took the front of the 
flock, shooting sparks up and out to attract them, while the Growlithe brought 
up the rear. 
Chirin broke from the flock. 
"Don't let them fool you!" he bleated, dashing to Calima's hole. "The barn is a 
place of dark! You can go back...but what about the market? Farmer's going to do 
it tomorrow! Petunia, Willy, please, everyone, save yourselves! You can do it! 
Use your *denki* soul!" 
The Growlithe turned on Chirin and snarled, abandoning the flock. 
"So it's you," it growled, advancing on Chirin. Chirin heard its breath hiss up 
its nostrils. "You're not one of the flock. You're a wildling--vermin." He 
growled deeply. "I kill vermin." 
"Striper, no!" Petunia stood on the edge of the flock. "He's my friend! You 
can't kill him!" 
"This one's trouble," said Striper. "Get back to the barn, I'll take care of 
him." 
Striper whirled on Chirin again and leaped at him. Chirin turned and zipped in a 
gallop for the hole. As he clambered under the fence, with much room to spare, 
he felt the Growlithe's hot breath, in pursuit. Chirin caught only a glimpse of 
Calima, and several Mareep dashing towards the hole after them as he came up 
through. He ran down the grass, through the field, over his special stone and 
into the brush with the Growlithe hot on his tail. 
At first Chirin had hoped, even half expected, that the Growlithe was more like 
Kiku--bound to the humans' dark will but not about to attack anyone. This place 
had seemed, very subtly, under the same strange friendly spell as the lake had 
been, but no more. 
Out over the field Chirin ran for his life. He huffed and puffed, barely keeping 
ahead of the dog. Above him, through the tall bushes and saplings, wings seemed 
to move in, or Burakuru's waving tail...shaking shadows down onto him from the 
sleeping sky, rippling the stars, as his legs pumped, springing him through the 
grass blades. The farm, the fence, were long ago and far away... behind him 
stretched a long life of running through darkness and dark spirits in the form 
of shadow-bushes, tall and standing in his way as he ran on. "Oh, Mama," he 
bleated from his burning lungs, "Help me!" 
Something heavy landed on his back and his legs gave way. His belly and chin hit 
the ground with a painful thud; the grass shrieked hard against him as he slid 
to a stop, burning his neck. Striper pinned him on his stomach. "A job well 
done, vermin," he said, breathing hard. Then something hot and wet and stinking 
of dog breath clamped around the back of his neck. 
Chirin let out a scream. He was not dead yet. He was Denrai. 
The electric blue boomed out and Striper's whine sang above it as the dog was 
propelled off Chirin's back. With another whine the Growlithe landed on the 
ground a few tails'-lengths away. Its body scattered the newly falled aspen 
leaves as it twitched. Chirin watched with wide eyes, lying still for a few 
moments before it kicked in. He took off, away from the moving body, back the 
way he had come. It was a long way. 
Striper hauled himself up, forcing his feet to stay steady as they sklipped a 
little on the fresh leaf litter. Never before had a mareep shocked him, but then 
he had never encountered one wild--not up close. He had become too used to the 
ones on the farm. Twitching slightly, he made off back the way he'd come, 
smelling the sheep's fresh trail back. He would get that wildling next time! And 
next time he would be more prepared. 
Calima screamed in pain as the Raichu shocked her. She watched as Chirin shocked 
the Growlithe and as it walked away growling. Calima had a dazed look in her 
eyes. Where was she? Was she dead? Or alive? Who was she? She saw something in 
the sky. Her family. A pathway appeared. Calima walked up it, she wanted to be 
with her family. She looked back down and saw her own body laying there. Should 
she go back? To be with her friends? Or should she go with her family? What 
should she do? 
"Come young Calima," said her mother, "Come with us. Forget about the Mareep. 
They will be fine without you. Trust me honey." 
"Yes Calima," her father said, "Come to us." 
"Pwese Clima? Me missy oo much!" Her brother said. 
Her sister only giggled. 
"I do not know..." Calima said, looking from her family toward her body. What 
could she do? 
Chirin brisked back through the loosely growing saplings and brush, over all the 
ground the Growlithe had chased him through. That chase had felt like 
forever--but reaching the open and the gap in the fence seemed to take even 
longer. As he trotted along, his lungs sore and his *denki* drained, he wondered 
what he had done back there. Had it really been him, calling on his *denki*--the 
thunder in his soul? He had lain face down in the leaves, his muscles clenching 
to the squeeze of the dog's jaws. Then the air cracked open in white-blue 
spirit's light, booming with its voice, flinging the weight of the Growlithe off 
of him...then the smell of singed leaves. Before this, never had all his 
straining produced more than small stings of sparks. Tonight he had cried out 
for Mama. Had she answered? 
Coming out into the taller, thicker grass again, Chirin heard commotion before 
he saw it. Small electric pops, acompanied by worried bleating--"Chirin," 
"Chirin," he heard a few of them calling, from several directions. 
As the fence came into view, lit by the moon and showing over the tops of the 
grass up the gentle slope, Chirin caught sight of Mareep clustered mostly on 
this side of the fence, but some still on the other side. Another tuft of breeze 
brought the smell of humans--of Farmer in particular. The man was still a way 
off, but Chirin heard rapid bootsteps running nearer. He flashed his tail, 
sparking. Other Mareep in eyesight turned their heads, flashing their own tails. 

"I'm here!" he cried, running over to the nearest group of Mareep. "What 
happened? Does anyone know where Calima is?" 
"The farmer's coming," said one. "The farmer! What do we do? Do we go back?" 
"I guess if...If you want to go to that market, go back," said Chirin. "If you 
don't, stay here. Me and Calima are going to get us all away from here. And, uh, 
I think we should do it now. Petunia!" 
The ewe, already headed towards him, ran the rest of the way. Chirin touched 
noses to her, sparks leaping between their coats as they gave each other brief 
comfort in having found each other. 
"We're all over the place," said Petunia, shaking her head helplessly. 
"I know, we got to get them all on this side but we need help. Did you see 
Calima? Calima!" he called again. 
"I didn't--but I heard her. Kiku gave her a big shock and I heard her scream. I 
think she's still inside the fence!" 
"Oh...Mother Megga!" Chirin tried not to panic. "Oh...I have to find her!" 
"Chirin no! The farmer's right on the other side! He's waiting for you! You'll 
get killed!" 
But Chirin wasn't listening. He ducked down into the hole and ran out into the 
pasture crying, "Calima!" and getting no answer. 
Then he saw why. Calima lay in the grass. "Calima wake up!" Chirin nudged her, 
turning her over onto her face. "Calima!" 
Sniffing at her nose and mouth, he felt no breath coming out of her. "No! 
Calima, come back!" 
He ignored the tears in his eyes. What would Lararu do. What would Denrai do. 
Calima's soul. It was lost, wandering...he had to call it back. He channeled a 
bit of his *denki* into her, remembering that she was not a Mareep and would 
only need the tiniest bit. 
Calima's body jumped at the shock, trembling then lying still again. 
"Oh, please..." 
He shocked her again. As he threw himself over her, praying into her fur, he 
inhaled and smelled Farmer. He was marching right over to them, his eyes 
sparkling with Chirin's own tail light. Chirin grabbed Calima by the nape of her 
neck and began to drag her to the hole. What was a short distance to gambol over 
to suddenly became very, very long. Farmer ran on long legs, closing the gap. He 
came to stand between Chirin and the hole. 
Chirin looked up at Farmer, than further up, into the sky...praying. 
"Well varmint, we meet again. I'm pretty sure it's you done all this. You're a 
clever little lamb. Unfortunately," he said lifting up the stick that he had 
used on Mecha, "a little too clever." 
Then the air behind Farmer lit up in electric blue, briefly silhouetting Farmer, 
then engulfing him. Zap, zap went sparks, twining about his body. Farmer 
screamed. A divot appeared in the ground before Chirin's front feet as his hand 
involuntarily squeezed the trigger. Farmer fell face down on the ground. The 
zapping came to a stop, with a few last pops. 
The joint attack had brought the air to life, lifting the wool on Chirin's head 
and body. Behind Farmer stood several Mareep, fluffed with spent electricity, 
Petunia included. A cool breeze blew in, tousling the hair standing on end on 
Farmer's head. A long groan escaped the human, but he still did not move--apart 
from the random twitching. 
Chirin stood there breathing with his mouth wide open. Calima watched everything 
that had happened. She couldn't leave nw, not yet. 
"Sorry my family. I must stay with my friends. I hope you understand," Calima 
said. 
Her family nodded and dissapeard. Suddenly Calima was back in her body, alive. 
Chirin felt Calima stir, her warm furry body wriggling to life again. It jolted 
him back to where he had been before Farmer had rained terror over him with his 
horrible gaze and horrible voice. 
"Oh, you're alive!" Chirin hugged her. Then, sniffling, he heard the bleating of 
Mareep near and far. 
Farmer, his hands clenching and unclenching, gave another grunt. 
"He's going to get up again!" Shocks tufted up Chirin's wool and for a moment, 
fascination took over as he stared at the big beast gripping the strange stick, 
blocking and yet not blocking the hole. 
"Come on!" said Petunia from the other side of the fence. "Quick, while he's 
still down!" 
Chirin knew he had to get over there...the smell was terrifying him. With every 
breath he took in, he smelled the human's closeness...like on the night they'd 
taken the flock--chaos, bleating, screaming, sparking, and humans. He remembered 
again his promise to Phos that it would not happen again here, and in his mind 
he put Denrai in his own place. Chirin minced forward on wary little hooves, 
skittering widely round the body. He glanced back at Calima to make sure she was 
doing all right. "Calima," he said, "I'll go in the hole after you." Looking 
round at the few Mareep clustered still inside here with him, he saw that they 
had been watching all along from a safe distance. A wind brought to him the 
smell of sweat in their wool. 
"If you want to be free," he said, "follow me now. If not...may your ancestors 
keep you alight," he said, remembering a parting that his uncle had once said to 
someone in another flock when they had parted ways last winter. "Because," he 
added, "I think you're going to need their help very very much when Farmer gets 
up!" 
As if to confirm this, Farmer struggled in earnest, though failing to get up. 
Chirin danced out of the way of his kicking leg. 
Willy came back through inside the fence, stepping around Farmer with a snort. 
"Look everybody, either we get out of here or face what you've done to him 
here!" He flicked a hoof at Farmer. "So move it, or stay here, I don't care. At 
this point there's really no choice. Stay here and get in trouble, maybe all go 
to market, or use your brain a little and get moving!" 
Some of the Mareep began to respond. Willy leaned in close to Chirin as he again 
passed him by on his way back to the fence. "You got us all into this, so anyone 
who dies can blame you," he whispered. 
Before Chirin could reply, Willy slipped through the fence again, leaving him to 
chew long and hard on what all of this meant. Anyone who died... Part of 
Chirin's mind said that Willy was only frightened and angry over what had 
happened, the other said that his words were nonetheless true. 
"I'll wait till everybody else goes out," he said, more afraid for them than 
himself now. 
Calima nodded and scrambled throught the hole, and waited for Chirin. 
It was a strange feeling that Chirin got, seeing Calima dash through the hole, 
followed by the Mareep, who were slower and more awkward at it. One by one they 
filed through, and as they went Chirin sniffed the air around him, also 
listening and looking. Insects chirped in the cool night air spiced by browning 
grass and the first leaves changing. A thin net of clouds drifted in front of 
the gibbous moon, splaying its light out in puffs. Clef, the moon, liked to play 
with Watakko at night. 
Chirin thought of a short little song and sang it to Clef and Watakko as they 
watched him, hoping they would lend this flock their luck. He realized that he 
had prayed first for this flock, and not his family, and felt sad and wished 
that it had been otherwise...but looking out at the Mareep waiting for him, put 
those thoughts aside. He winced his way around Farmer, who was moving more now, 
and stumbled through the hole, up into the field. Reaching Calima, he hugged 
her, then rubbed wool with Petunia and a few of the others. 
"I wonder..." He cut himself short, realizing that he had no idea what to do 
next. What was the best thing to do now? Well, Mecha, Razkel, Berry and Teazel 
were probably very worried. And he was tired. Looking around at the flock, they 
seemed tired too...or worse. A few of them were trembling in the gentle, cool 
wind, looking around at what Chirin realized must be a new place to them. If 
they had never come out here, this was a place they had only ever seen from the 
other side of the fence. 
Farmer was getting up. "We can't stay here!" said Chirin. "I have an idea, if I 
run to the special stone, you all come with me, that way we can stay together. 
We should all try to stay together. That way we won't get lost. Uh..." he said, 
seeing both Farmer and the flock at the same time (for sheep can see nearly all 
the way round their heads) "I guess now is a good time. Dennn!" he added, just 
so he could feel like Denrai again as he raced down the slope down into the 
brush. They all had to get to a place whre Farmer could not see them...and now 
Chirin remembered something else. That Growlithe. He headed further down towards 
where the sun had set, rather than turning northwest where the stone was, (ooc: 
I got to make a map for all this!) before heading at last in among a scrubby 
area spiked with sapling spruces. He kept close to Calima, brushing her side 
every so often for comfort, same as he would also walk closely with Petunia and 
a few of the other Mareep. He took comfort in their warmth, their closeness. It 
helped him not be so scared when he trotted clear of the flock now and then to 
look back behind them and make sure Farmer wasn't coming. He wasn't. 
They really were free. Chirin shuddered, not from fear...he wasn't sure why, 
actually, but he enjoyed the feeling. 
"Uh I changed my mind. A Growlithe's that way that the stone is. So we're not 
going to the stone yet. Actually we don't need to go there. But I do. I have to 
go tell my friends, and thank the ancestors, they helped get us out of Farmer's 
dark place." He also had some questions for the spirits, actually, a lot of 
questions. As he traveled he realized he would need to get them all a good safe 
distance away, then run back and get Mecha and everyone. Mother Megga, what a 
lot to do when he was already so tired! 
He yawned. Maybe when they all found a safe place he would sleep first and then 
go tell Mecha. Actually, they were passing by now not far from where the stone 
was...could Mecha maybe see them? Mama had once said to Chirin-Chirin that 
Pidgeottos could see really well. 
"Mechaaa!" called Chirin, also sending up a rather feeble spark. He didn't call 
again...the quiet--or at least, the sound of many feet crunching over grass and 
debris, following his voice felt too dangerous. Huddling closer against the 
other Mareep in the lead as he walked, he felt the dark reaching its paws out 
for him, like Farmer's hand curling round the stick. 
He sensed the nervousness of the Mareep around him, too--sparks did dances from 
wool coat to wool coat and the light of blinking tail bulbs shone off their 
sides, as all of them were holding their tails low. Chirin did his best to keep 
his high, forgetting for the moment the dangers of the night. He was thinking of 
the other dangers-- Burakuru's ilk--those whose signs of existence were in the 
shadows hanging round the saplings and curled under bushes. Light and only light 
could keep them at bay. "We are beacons," he said. "We are Light. We keep the 
dark away." 
*** 
Striper wriggled his way back under the fence, using the hole that the little 
Nidoran had conveniently widened. 
"Striper," said his Owner, getting to his feet as the Growlithe nudged him 
worriedly and licked his face. Bub petted his dog. "I'm okay--mareep're gone, 
though, all gone. Aw, boy, look at you--" he smoothed the fur on Striper's 
back--"looks like something shocked ya, your fur's standing. What is it boy?" he 
said as Striper began to bark, trying to communicate. "You say you want to track 
the mareep down? Good boy! Yes, you have my permission! Now take care of 
yourself and bring'em home!" 
After more parting words from both Pokemon and owner, Striper set off down the 
trail, sniffing out where the mareep had gone. They had apparently gone a long 
way even tonight, and he himself was tired, but it wouldn't take long to round 
them all up. As he followed his nose, he slipped back into his wild, hunting 
mode of mind. He would bring those sheep home safe and sound--it was his duty. 
And he would kill that wildling. That evil creature who had come out of nowhere 
and lured them to a certain death--unless he intervened. 
The demands of further travel at night, when he was already beat and still 
recovering from mild electric shock, forced him to rest. It didn't matter. A 
flock left a strong smell and he would easily catch them up some time tomorrow. 
Mecha looked over, a smile creeping onto his still slightly sore beak "So that's 
where Chirin is.." 
Spreading his wings, he flew up and over, landing nearby. His head cocked to a 
side "Chirin...why do I get the feeling I missed something?" 
Chirin bounded up to Mecha as he landed. He reared up and threw his forelegs 
around Mecha in a hug. Tears sprang to his eyes. "Oh Mecha..." And suddenly he 
was a little lamb again. 
And suddenly the rest of the Mareep were making quite a ruckus. 
"That Pidgeotto again!" 
"It's got Chirin!" 
"No, no--" Chirin whirled back around, trying to calm them down before they all 
bolted. The Mareep packed together tightly and backed away as one from Mecha, as 
if pulling on a vine attached to Chirin and the bird. Their wool began to buzz 
and zap. "He's my friend! He won't hurt anyone!" 
Petunia stood by Chirin's side again, seeming to believe him, though she 
couldn't seem to bring herself any nearer to Mecha. Willy, shoving his way 
through, looked at Chirin and Mecha with his dark eyes narrowed in suspicion. 
"How are you friends with a Pidgeotto?" 
"I met him at the lake. He's nice." Chirin hugged him again just to show 
everyone he wasn't dangerous. The flock had stopped backing away and was slowly, 
with cautious steps and murmurs of uncertainty, coming back forward again, as if 
the invisible vine had been slackened again. 
"Quite an unusual friendship there," said one, "but if he's not eating you now, 
he's got to be safe, right?" 
"Yes," said Chirin. "I, uh, I have an idea. I'm really tired so let's all find a 
nice place to sleep." 
He yawned. 
"Just remember this," said Willy, "now that you've gotten us out here in the 
middle of nowhere, if your 'friend' eats any of us you're responsible. Oh and if 
you think you're the leader here you've got something coming. I always was and 
still am, leader of this flock." 
Chirin swallowed, backing towards Mecha. Willy took a nervous glance at Mecha 
and backed away, but still gave Chirin his glare. 
"Okay," said Chirin, cocking his head and lowering his tail. "You can be 
leader." 
"All right everybody," said Willy, "for good measure, everyone keep away from 
the bird for now. And...I guess just keep on moving!" 
It might have occurred to Willy at this point that he had never led the flock in 
*doing* anything. Chirin just smiled, falling in with the rest of the flock. 
"Why are we heading this way?" said Willy. 
"Because it's away from the humans," said Chirin, "and after we get past the 
forest there's lots and lots of grass. I think. And, maybe we'll find a place to 
sleep, because I think we're all really tired." 
"I'm not tired," said Willy, even though Chirin could kind of tell he was. But 
he didn't say that to Willy. He just enjoyed the comfort of other Mareep around 
him, feeling safe against the dark at last. He kept his tail high again as he 
walked. 
"Oh, Mecha," said Chirin as the flock kept moving, "I'm so happy to see you 
again. I guess you weren't there when we all got out. They're my friends. My new 
friends. From the farm. They came here to get away from Market. They said the 
humans *kill* you there." Chirin shuddered. "So we got away. Aren't these Mareep 
so pretty? They have such nice wool, they are Mareep that have souls of Jumpluff 
I think, and they are really nice too." He sighed, feeling very tired. "If 
Watakko licks your spirit before you are born, then you will have nice wool and 
nice thick cotton. Mama always said I was licked by Watakko. But I think 
everybody here...was licked *twice.*" 
His conversation was halted by one or two Mareep bleating, from way back at the 
rear of the flock. "Selden? Selden?" 
Ears perked, Chirin weaved his way through fluffy bodies toward the commotion. 
"What? What is it?" 
A rather long-legged ewe whose face was drawn with worry, spoke up. "It's 
Selden, I've lost track of him, no one knows where he is! Selden?" 
"Oh, no," said Chirin, looking around even though he didn't know what to look 
for. "What does he look like?" 
"He's extremely young and was limping," said the flustered ewe. "He was directly 
behind me, and now I can't see him anywhere! Selden?" 
"Selden!" called Chirin, looking beyond the flock's edge to the bit of forest 
trail they had just passed through. Now that they had entered the woods again, 
they were on a narrow path that had forced them to string out, walking no more 
than three or four abreast. And they had traveled a long way already. "Selden 
where are you? Selden!" He turned to the ewe. "Let's look for him, it's 
dangerous in the woods alone! Especially if he's little..." 
"We will not go back and look for him!" hollered Willy. "I know it sounds harsh, 
but we can't get separated now, it's too dangerous. Selden probably went back to 
the farm." 
"He's too little to go alone!" said the ewe who had first announced Selden's 
absence. She turned to Chirin with a helpless, pleading look. 
"We'll look for him," said Chirin, although the dark woods scared him. He put 
himself in Selden's place. Selden must be scared even more. "Uh, Calima, or 
Petunia, or Mecha, you can come with me if you want but if not you can stay 
here, that might be safer, uh, everybody, we'll be right back!" 
Chirin and the ewe trotted back down the trail calling for Selden. "Hold your 
tail high and wish in your mind for him," said Chirin. "We have to call out to 
his soul with our souls. It's going to be okay. The tail holding high is so the 
dark spirits stay away." 
"I should have kept him in front of me," said the other mareep. "Dark spirits?" 
"Yes...they're afraid of our lights. And Selden might see our lights." He was 
already looking for Selden's light, but saw nothing so far. 
*** 
"Don't anybody go anywhere or do anything," said Willy. "Poppy's going to get it 
when and If she gets back. I've never been so angry." Calima growled at Willy. 
She walked up to him and raised her little clawed paw and slashed Willy's cheek. 

"Why don't you shut up and quit being such a mean *Beep* you *Beap* Mareep! I am 
so *Beep* mad at you, you, you... you *Beep* little *Beep*! Now shut up!" Calima 
yelled. 
Growling (Mareep do know Growl, odd as that seems) Willy then answered Calima 
with an angry baaa of a voice, glaring at her with his chin down as if ready to 
charge. 
"Why don't *you* shut up--*and* grow up! So you're mad because I'm trying to 
make sure no one gets killed. Have you ever led a flock? No? Well try to see 
things from my view here. Your crazy little wild mareep friend just bursts into 
our barn, hears one thing about the market and goes 'Oh! That sounds awwwful! 
Let's all run away into this deep dark forest, we'll be *safer* *there*! Sure 
enough, someone goes missing pretty quickly--as if that's anything compared to 
what's sure to come--and what does the ratty-wooled little lamb do? Runs off 
trying to find him, leaving the rest of us here--you know, if I weren't here 
they wouldn't have *anyone* leading them right at this minute. As it is they're 
all half tharn. And now you're yipping at me because I suggested we all stay 
together rather than trot off all different ways, at night, down a trail we've 
never been, looking for someone who's lost who knows where! Yes, it's a shame we 
lost him. But I have to consider everyone and there's 63 others--64 with your 
friend! So unless you know a better solution I suggest you shut your 
buck-toothed trap!" 
A few of the Mareep began to maaa softly to each other, watching in the warm 
collective bulb-light as the blood rushed to Willy's angry face, bruising his 
blue cheeks purple. Calima squealed and ran into Willy. She got on top of him 
and scratched his other cheek. 
"I know that you do not want the flock to get killed. But I think that those who 
are more experianced have the right to look for those who are missing. And I am 
wishing that you had gotten lost. Because we would have left you there to get 
eaten by a Quilava or something! How would you like it if YOU had gotten lost 
and we NEVER came to look for you? Huh? You big fat son of a *Beep*! 
Willy jumped and bucked, throwing the Nidoran off. A trickle of blood now ran 
down his cheek, deep red on the purple blush, a double bruise. "You just don't 
know how to control yourself, do you. Do you see ME jumping all over YOU? No, 
and it's a good thing too. I also know better than to let myself get lost. I 
stay with this flock because I look after them. Besides," he said with a 
disdainful snort, "I think I'd be better off if you didn't look for me. Oh, 
sure, they have the right to do anything they want to. But I'd prefer they 
didn't go get themselves killed and I'm going to try my hardest to keep them all 
safe! If I put the whole flock in danger to go look after one that got lost, 
does that seem very fair to you? Huh?" 
The other Mareep were either watching the fight or browsing whatever leaves and 
things were edible in the forest. Or, they were beginning to talk amongst 
themselves. 
"I'm tired..." said a ram, munching a mouthful of leaves. "Do we sleep here or 
what?" 
"I don't know about you, I'm not falling asleep in this place," said someone 
else. 
Just then Petunia ran up to Willy and Calima, with another ewe behind her. 
"Me and Peony smelled something bad down that way!" She pointed with her tail to 
the north. "It smells like an enemy, but we don't know, I've never smelled it 
before! This forest gives me the creeps..." 
**** 
Giving his apricorn shell a lick for luck, Chirin sniffed the cooling air, 
checking it for enemies and feeling too scared now to feel lucky that he didn't 
smell any. *Denrai, I am Denrai.* Despite the comfort of another's flank against 
him as he walked and another light held high beside his own, Chirin's natural 
fear of dark began to nip at him. He felt the other Mareep shivering and knew 
she felt the same. He took comfort even in that--it had been a while since he'd 
shared anything, even fears, with his own kind. 
"What's your name?" he said as they walked on, searching. 
"Poppy. Selden's like a little brother to me. I always liked to pretend he was 
my brother, although I don't know for sure." 
"That's so nice. So you always play together?" 
"Yes." 
"I had a big sister back home." *Had* a big sister, he realized he had said. 
"Where are all your parents--the flock, I mean? Where did you all come from?" 
"Interesting. I was going to ask you the same thing." 
"I come from west. By the sea." He didn't want to say more--thoughts of home had 
a way of tugging him away from whatever he was in at the moment, and there was a 
lost lamb out here. 
"What's the sea?" 
"The sea? It's--" 
Chirin cut off his own explanation as he caught a glimpse of a mareep light. He 
heard bleating. 
"Selden?" he called as Poppy looked where he was looking. 
"Selden!" she cried, racing towards him without even a sniff of caution. Chirin 
followed, keeping pace. They tracked the little lamb down the trail, where he 
lay on his side crying. Moonscar had seen the whole thing, the part where Calima 
got into the barn, when all the mareep came out, when Calima almost died, the 
raichu, the growlithe, who was off somewhere now, and the escape under the gray 
vines. 
"I'd better follow Chirin... It might be safer..." Moonscar said, watching 
Calima fight with Willy. Moonscar sneaked off and into the woods where Chirin 
and Poppy had gone. 
The darkness seemed to be ganging up on Moonscar. It comepletly surrounded him. 
Hit was in almost total darkness. He prayed to Geoson, the Raticate god, that he 
and his friends were okay. Then he dashed off into the darkness. 
Chirin huddled against Selden, nuzzling the little mab gently as Poppy did the 
same. Their lights carved caverns in the pine boughs above and he gave a 
shudder, his wool fluffing. He passed a few of what Mama had always called 
"fuzzy-buzzy" sparks to Selden to comfort him. "It's all right, Selden, you're 
found now." This lamb looked even younger than Chirin had been when his family 
was taken. He had grown a bit since then. Had he really looked something like 
this to Calima, Teazel and Moonscar on that night in the forest--a night much 
like this one? 
"We've been looking all over for you," said Poppy. "Come on, we have to get back 
to the others!" 
"No," whimpered Selden in a limp little bleat. 
"But we have to!" said Poppy. "It's dangerous out here..." 
"Why?' said Chirin to Selden. 
"I hurt." 
"Where?" said Poppy as Chirin began to inspect him, looking him over for wounds. 

"Foot." Selden wiggled his back leg. 
"I don't see anything there," said Poppy as Chirin brought his tail's bulb 
around front to get a good look. His tail was just short of what would have made 
it easy. 
"Selden, hold your tail there...that's it. You're doing great. Let me see..." 
Sure enough, there was something dark in there, wedged in the cleft between the 
two hooves. "I think you have a thorn in there. I know how that feels. I got one 
once too." 
"Get--out?" said Selden, a tear slipping down his face. 
"Of course we'll get it out, Sel," said Poppy, peering at the hoof herself. "But 
how, Chirin? I can't--I don't think I can get my teeth in there." 
"My mama used her tongue and her flipper," said Chirin, "but she was really good 
at it. Maybe I can lick it out." 
"Oh, be careful," said Poppy, her head darting nervously about as Chirin licked 
at Selden's hoof. He could touch the thorn but couldn't get a hold on it in any 
way, it was lodged in there. Strange, he thought--he could stun a Growlithe but 
he couldn't pull a thorn from a lamb's foot! 
"I've almost got it," said Chirin, lifting his head to take a brief break. 
"I'll try," said Poppy and she took over. As she did so, Chirin nuzzled Selden's 
face again and huddled close, his light flickering, throwing anxious flashes on 
the branches of the leering trees. 
It was awful in the woods. There were so many noises. Mostly of predatory 
pokemon. But they seemed to want Moonscar to suffer from fear before finishing 
him off in one simple attack. Even the trees seemed to stalk him. And 
occasionally, he thought that he heard a noise coming from behind him. Then 
there came a roar, and Moonscar bolted. 
He saw a light, it was Chirin and Poppy! He ran over and hugged Chirin, his eyes 
shining with tears of joy. 
At first the rattata's approaching footfalls made Chirin leap up in a fray of 
electric pops, but as soon as he saw it was Moonscar, Moonscar was already 
hugging him. 
"Oh I'm glad to see you too!" Chirin hugged back, but the other two Mareep 
clearly thought he was being attacked. 
"Moonscar, no, Poppy, Selden, he's my friend! Moonscar! Hi!" said Chirin. "We 
found Selden. How's everybody? We want to all come back but Selden can't walk. 
He has a thorn in his hoof." He had an idea. "Hay, Moonscar? Maybe, do you 
think, you could help us get it out? I'm trying to with my tongue but my tongue 
can't grab it." 
Selden bleated softly again, his feet kicking in fear at the new arrival. Poppy 
was nuzzling him, saying it would be okay. But Selden was crying again. "We go 
home now?" he bleated. "We go home?" 
This mareep could not have been lambed more than a season ago. Selden was the 
youngest, or one of the youngest, in the flock. Chirin felt horrible for having 
brought him out here. For having brought them all out. Why hadn't he given it 
all more thought? 
He nuzzled the lamb again, sitting against him. "I'm sorry," Chirin tried to 
begin, with lame, limping words. "We're going to try to find a place that's 
better than home, where humans won't ever hurt you. Humans like Farmer." 
"Farmer good," said Selden. "Annie good. We see Annie now? Annie come?" 
Chirin was too tired to try to explain and he sensed that Selden would not 
understand anyhow. Looking into the lamb's teary face Chirin felt on the verge 
of tears too now. 
"Oh, Selden, I'm so sorry." 
Seeing Chirin crying seemed to give Selden free license to start up all over 
again too. 
"Don't cry, don't cry..." He had an idea. "How about I sing you a song! A short 
little song?" 
Selden sniffled, not seeming too sure. Finally, he said, "Song. Sing song." 
Chirin tried to think of a good song--a happy one. "Do you know the song 'Five 
little Ledians?'" 
Selden shook his head, wincing as Poppy continued to try to extract the thorn. 
Chirin sent more "fuzzy-buzzy" static to kind of take his mind away from the 
pain. The pain was dark inside the body--driven into Selden by the wicked 
thorn--and Chirin was now remembering that countering with good feelings of 
light would help drive it away. It would not be a bad idea, either, to call on 
the Ledians, the light- sisters who guarded over night. 
"Oh, it's a lot of fun. I'll teach it to you! Okay. Fine little Ledians. 
Everybody blink your lights as bright as you can!" 
And the little pine-shrouded place on the trail became a little brighter. 
"When five stars shone in the big dark sky, Five little Ledians went for a 
fly..." 
(and so on and so forth) 
Moonscar looked at the thorn and then at Seldon, then the thorn again. 
"Yes, I can get it out," Moonscar said. He walked over to Seldon and said: 
"Don't worry, this will only hurt for a second..." Moonscar then walked over to 
the thorn and opened his mouth slightly. Then, when he knew to, his teeth 
slowly, gently, clamped down on the thorn. Moonscar gave it a quick tug and the 
thorn was out. 
*** 
Calima glared at Willy, her eyes flahing red for a second. 
*NO!* Calima thought to herself. *I musn't loose my temper, as much as I would 
simply LUV to kill him here and now...* 
"Says who the WHOLE flock has to got look for Seldon!? None of the other mareep 
have to go! So, you think that it is no big deal to forget about Seldon?! Hmm? I 
don't! I'm sure that Chirin and Poppy have found Seldon by now. Listen, I know 
they are okay, I just saw Moonscar, my rattata friend, follow the path taken by 
Chirin and Poppy. Moonscar is tough, they will be fine. I killed an ekans, a 
quilava, and an arbok once. Well, three ekans and two arbok. My friends helped 
me beat one... So if a little nidoran like me could do that, don't you agree 
that a rattata who is ten-times tougher then me could protect them? Or help?" 
"Get out of my face for just one second!" said Willy. "Cleomie, Cobby, where are 
you?" Two sturdy ewes turned their heads. He nodded towards Calima. "Deal with 
her, before I rip her head off, I have to go see what's up down that way." He 
raised his voice again. "Now everybody, crowd close together, those on the edge 
face out, look sharp, and save your sparks! Yes, there's an enemy nearby, but we 
have enough electricity to fight back. NOBODY PANIC!" 
He turned back to Petunia and Peony. "Show me where you smelled it." 
They quickly led him through the flock, over to the north side. 
Willy's voice was soon heard again. 
"We're moving again. We can't stay here. We'll give Poppy and Selden a few more 
minutes, but it's dangerous to hang around here any longer. Now just sit tight 
everyone, just a little longer and we'll be out of here." 
Mecha frowned...then smirked in Willy's direction "How about this..I can go and 
see what is there. If I can get rid of whatever it is, then we can wait for 
Chirin to come back. Would that be alright?" 
* * * 
"Maaa..." Selden cried at the pain. "It's not out, it's not out..." 
"Yes it is!" said Poppy. "See it? It's right there on the ground!" 
Chirin licked Selden's hoof clean, where a bit of blood had begun to trickle out 
from the opened puncture. Poppy did not seem to know what to do, so he finished 
up the cleaning. He was beginning to realize that she and these other mareep 
might have lovely wool and great health, but they were strangely innocent of 
taking even crude care of themselves. 
"Thanks, Moonscar." He looked back at Selden. "Can you walk?" said Chirin. 
Selden tried to get up, but when he tried to place his hurt hoof down he yanked 
it back up and started crying again. Chirin smelled the blood in the air and 
became more aware than ever that they were three small mareep and a rattata, 
alone in the dark, tired and now smelling of blood. They had to rejoin the flock 
now...and best to do it while the presence of Ledian spirit-stardust hung in the 
air, called by the song. 
Sizing up himself and Poppy, Chirin realized that he was in fact a bit bigger, 
and he knew he was in better shape. He knelt down. "Climb up on top of me, 
Selden! It's going to be a fun ride. You can ride on my back. Do you want to 
try?" 
"Oh, Chirin, I couldn't let you do that," said Poppy. "You'll get tired." 
"We'll take turns, until Selden can walk," said Chirin. With Poppy coaxing and 
helping him, little Selden climbed on, then Chirin stood up. Getting up was 
suddenly more difficult. He could do it, but he would get tired soon. He led the 
way back to the flock, trying not to stumble while carrying the lamb. 
As the many tail lights came into view through the trees, Chirin faintly smelled 
the scent of Persian, to the north. Once again he wished that Mama was with him 
right now. Was her soul here now? Was she watching him, stumbling and 
bleary-eyed, carrying Selden down a dark, enemy-infested forest trail that he 
had foolishly led these mareep along? He sensed the enemy presence growing, 
feeding off the night that was their home. The feeling that it would get darker 
before it got lighter. 
"Send me a sign, Mama," he whispered. "I need a sign." 
Right then a fit of bleating and zapping erupted from the north side of the 
flock. The strobing of electric blue contrasted with the warm orangeish tail 
lights, illuminating together the spotted Persian whose jaws were buried deep in 
a mareep's woolly neck. 
"Shock it! Shock it!" said Willy, barreling towards the attack, but the 
thundershocks landed too late. Grasping its fluffy prey, the Persian retreated 
into the shadows. The tail of its victim spluttered, then flickered out. 
Mecha narrowed his eyes, standing "We can't help that mareep now..." 
With a sad sigh, he looked over into the shadows "But...I can either go after it 
to makes sure it doesn't come back...or stay here and make sure the rest of you 
stay safe." 
Inwardly, he cursed himself for not doing anything... 
"Well, Pidgeotto," said Willy, who seemed to have realized that Mecha really was 
a friend or at least an ally. "That would be actually be quite helpful." 
** 
Chirin heard the screaming just as he and company met the flock's east edge, 
still backed up the trail. And past the sea of woolly coats, he saw the Persian 
bound away, an electric flash in its wake. He tried to tell himself that hadn't 
been a mareep in its mouth. It had looked so unreal, up off its feet, hanging, 
flopping eerily. "Calima!" he cried, running rather slowly with Selden lying 
over his back. "Calima are you okay?" 
A sign, he remembered through his panic. He had asked for a sign. Had Mama sent 
this? No, other spirits had heard...those of other things... and it could only 
mean one thing. 
The spirits were angry at Chirin. He had brought these poor Mareep into a 
dangerous place, and it was something he should not have done. The fact that the 
humans would have killed them, tomorrow or next year, if they had stayed at Farm 
did not occur to Chirin at the moment. All that occurred was the terrible clench 
of fear at the sight of the spotted enemy...Selden's whimpering in his ear...and 
the frightened bleats of the other mareep as they shrank away, still sending 
long lines of voltage at the area of the attack, now singed black. As if by 
pounding on it they could undo it and bring back the one who had just died. 
The spirits were angry, very angry. Chirin did not fully understand why... but 
then, it was always a guess at best. A thorn in a hoof, a beak in an eye, sharp 
teeth in a neck--they were angry and crying for blood. Exhausted by carrying the 
lamb and falling into despair and panic himself, Chirin's legs folded under him 
in the midst of the crowd. Willy was standing over him. 
"I see you found Selden...while you were gone some beast killed poor Lilac. If 
we hadn't had to wait here for you Lilac would still be alive!" 
Chirin began to cry, following the example of Selden at his ears. The spirits 
were mad...and he didn't know how to appease them. And if they were after him, 
everyone around him was also in danger. He looked up at Willy, and also saw that 
Calima was indeed safe and unharmed. But for how much longer? 
Mecha draped a wing once again carefully over Chirin "It's not your fault 
Chirin...it's nobody's fault. Anyone here could take the blame...I feel guilty 
for not being able to do anything... But don't blame yourself.." 
"Everybody, we're moving," said Willy. 
Chirin didn't know what he was going to do, but he had to do something, and 
quickly. Poppy took over carrying Selden, but when Chirin stood back up his legs 
felt even shakier. They were trembling before the dark powerful beings that had 
invisible lights, invisible *denki* and invisible claws and teeth. He looked at 
his friends but knew he could not tell them, or it would only make them more 
scared. No, he had to take care of this on his own. They could not help him 
here. 
Chirin looked to the side, over at the blackened spot from which a burning smell 
wafted up. He felt the pained spirit of Lilac, a mareep he had never really met 
but led to her death, hovering over the spot, crying. She was cursing him, and 
he could not blame her. Mecha focused his eyes on Willy for a moment. He nudged 
Chirin gently "It'll be alright...all we can do now is keep moving." 
With one last gentle nudge, he gave him a small smile "I'll be right back, 
alright Chirin?" 
He made his way to Willy "Excuse me...I'd just like to say, I'll watch from now 
on to make sure you all stay safe. If you like, I can do it at a distance as you 
seem still...a bit nervous around me. But please, be kinder on Chirin...he is 
still a young lamb, although he is powerful in mind for someone of his age." 
Chirin just kept quiet, knowing that Mecha could not understand. The spirits 
were angry at him and that was that. But he was collecting his thoughts...he 
knew what to do. 
"That would be excellent," said Willy. "Eyes in the sky are what we need. We 
need a place to sleep, first of all, with as little travel as possible. As for 
Chirin, he may have nearly lead us all to our deaths but I'm going to see it 
doesn't happen. I plan to return this flock home tomorrow or the following day." 

Chirin only cried more, tears traveling down his face and coming to meet and 
fall at the end of his nose. He didn't know what to say or do. There was nothing 
that could save them until the spirits were no longer angry. 
But he needed to act, and prepare. 
"Once we get away from this place..." he started, not sure who he was talking 
to, but perhaps it was Calima--yes, she was right here, and Mecha was too... 
"Then I think we should sleep." Despite everything troubling him, he yawned. 
Sleep would be good--for everyone else. It would give him time to slip away and 
do what he must do. 
Mecha looked...uncertain to say the least "But...if you go back, then you will 
be killed, won't you?" 
He dragged a talon through the dirt beneath him "And not all of the outside 
world is as bad as you have seen so far...and it is possible to live out here if 
you have little to no real instincts...trust me on that. Like...when I first 
arrived, it was by the lake...I was a pidgey at the time. And slowly learned 
from them how to live." 
Rubbing a wing on the back of his head mareepishly, he coughed "Sorry...enough 
about that. I'll be off then." 
He spread his wings, taking off to find the flock a place to sleep... 
"Ah, I get it," said Willy after Mecha had taken off. "He thinks that just 
because we've been raised on a farm that we have no real instincts. And I don't 
see why heading back where we've already been is going to get us killed more 
than heading into even stranger places. Somehow our lot in life hasn't exactly 
gotten better since we left the farm, and I say, the sooner we're back there the 
better." 
"Please, Willy," said Chirin, "please let's just all not fight. Soon we'll get 
some sleep and things will get better..." 
He prayed they would get better, anyway...once he reached the angry spirits, 
once he did his best to calm them. His stomach roiled around with just the 
thought of what he must do tonight, alone and in the dark. 
"Yeah, chirin," said Willy, "like I said they've gotten a *whole* lot better 
than they were before." 
Chirin was confused. "You really think so? But Lilac..." 
Willy shook his head. "I can't believe the whole flock is following a total 
idiot." 
Chirin's ears drooped. Willy's insults barely scratched him compared to the 
memory of the Persian grabbing Lilac and giving a shake...that memory, a spirit 
that had entered his mind and would not leave him alone. 
Mecha sighed as he flew...this wasn't going well at all. Still...if he could 
survive out here... 
He shook his head. No...he couldn't exactly compare himself to them. They were 
Mareep, probably born and raised on a farm. He was a former Pidgey...never 
really born, merely made. 
Still...if he could survive, couldn't they as well? It would take some time of 
course...and it wasn't looking good so far... 
How had he survived this long anyway? He was learning yes...but he still didn't 
know as much as he should. He didn't know what had attacked the Mareep...or what 
else may attack them. Hopefully, any shred on instinct that lingered inside 
would let him know... 
Razkel woke up, he'd been having a dream about when he was still owned by his 
trainer. He'd been in a battle with a Caterpie and had lost, waking up just as 
he saw the disappointment on his trainers face. The Rattata rubbed his eyes and 
got up, looking over at the glow of the town lights, he frowned. "Berry wake up, 
were leaving" He said nudging the stony side of the young Ryhorn. "I don't want 
to stay here anymore" Berry grunted and got to her feet yawning loudly and 
flowed Razkel who was already walking away. "Wonder where Mecha is" He said 
looking up at the sky for a moment. 
Chirin watched the moonlight silhouette of Mecha soawing over the trees. A 
faithful friend, shadowed under the same tree of danger that all his companions 
here were...the one that Chirin was at the center of. He chewed his cud 
nervously, waiting for him to land back down here and show him the way to sleep. 
Inwardly, he tried to prepare his mind and body for the task ahead. 
Moonscar growled at Willy. He helped Calima up and asked her: "Calima? Are you 
okay?" 
"Yea..." Calima said weakly. 
Moonscar glared at Willy. 
"Chirin is not an idiot! Okay? *Beep*? Apoligise now!" Moonscar yelled. 
Calima jumped up and looked wildly about. 
"We forgot Berry and Razkle!" 
The flock was still awaiting Mecha's return, but Chirin realized that indeed, 
Berry and Razkel were not with them now. 
The Persian. The other enemies. All a part of the bad luck befalling them now... 
Rearing up and looking all around for them, Chirin got the feeling like his soul 
was standing on something crumbling apart, something swooping in on it that 
would bear him down and crush him. 
"Razkel! Berry! Where are you!" 
He put his nose to the ground. "Please...Lilac...I'm so sorry...let all my 
friends come back okay..." He stopped short of promising he would make it up to 
her, because he couldn't. Not right now, anyway. Berry stopped walked she 
listened for a moment, grunted to Razkel and turned round and started walking in 
another direction. 
"Huh? hey where do you think your going?" Razkel said "I told you I want to get 
away from here" 
The Ryhorn continued to walk away and Razkel not really wanting to lose another 
friend chased after her and climbed on her back. 
"What is it?" he asked wondering what had attracted his friend. From his vantage 
point he looked around as Berry continued to plod along, suddenly the Rattata 
spotted Chirin up ahead. "Hey Chirin! wow we found you guys...well Berry did 
anyway" 
Chirin hugged both of them... beginning to hope that maybe Lilac wasn't as angry 
at him as he had thought. Hadn't she just granted him a favor and called them to 
him? 
"Oh..." Chirin didn't know where to start. A yawn took over for him. "I'm so 
glad you're okay. The dark is in the air and...Mecha is in the air looking for a 
place to sleep and soon we'll sleep." But Chirin remembered that he was still 
bad luck right now. They might be okay because they had been away from him and 
what he had done. Until now. As much as he hated to give up the closeness of 
friends that he always loved to feel, Chirin stepped away from them, nibbling on 
a scraggly tuft of grass that, like him right now, had been deprived of Phos's 
light for too long. 
Moonscar smirked at Razkle. 
"Hey! Lookie whos here! The wimpster rattata! Nice to see ya, pip-squeak!" 
Moonscar said to Razkle. 
Calima walked foward and kicked Moonscar hard. 
"Grow up Moonscar!" 
"Why you little *Beep*..." 
"Look, Moonscar. Just make friends with Razkle will ya? 
As if the spirits of the forest were creating even more badness, now they seemed 
to touch down on the heads of Calima and Moonscar, breathing on them with the 
spice of a Bayleef. One thing after another...He prayed Mecha get here soon so 
his friends could sleep. 

"Please!" He winced as Calima kicked Moonscar, setting off a string of electric 
shocks over his wool. "Please, stop fighting! Don't let the spirits take over! 
We can't let them take over our minds! It's the forest!" 

Calima yelped as a little electric spark hit her. 

"Ha! Is Chirin really your friend? He just shocked you! I bet he did it on 
purpose! Hahahahahahahahaaaaaaaha!" Moonscar laughed. 

"Stop it! Chirin would never to something like that on purpose to his friends!" 
Calima said. 

Calima lay down, and Moonscar did the same. 

"Goodnight all, and Moonscar? Razkle? Tommorow, we can arange a competition for 
you to... ZzZzZzZz..." 

Chirin had not meant to shock Calima...the spark had just jumped... but again he 
knew what had really caused it. The angry spirits again. Bad luck, radiating 
from him was causing him to harm them in all ways, big and small, visibly and 
invisibly. Chirin waited until they were asleep, and made his way away from 
them, so he would not hurt them again. 
He must purge himself of this evil, he must placate the spirits... before too 
late. Where was Mecha? He had to wait until they had all found a safe sleeping 
place before slipping away unseen. He knew that if his friends saw him slipping 
away they might not let him go alone. 

He closed his eyes, breathing deep and trying to tune into the spirits, find out 
what they demanded. They could conquer anybody, the ancestors and spirits--he 
had no power compared to them. Not even great-grandmother Chenja, who had been 
alive since before any in his old flock could remember, had been able to shake 
the possession of her soul by that of a snow-pharamp late last winter. Chenja 
had been strong. She had saved the flock from many evil beings. But in the end 
she too had been stranded and lost. Winter saw the dance of the dead, and souls 
returned to living flocks. 

She was buried in the sleeping place of the flock, the place by the rock of 
Pharos, where her mate and many others had also been buried far beneath the 
cotton. They had been buried all except for their tail lights, which should 
never be trapped because that was the part of the soul that feared dark the most 
and must always be free for the spirit to return to. A cave within Pharos itself 
housed these souls. Chirin had been in there a few times, with the rest of the 
flock on special nights when they had communed with these ancestors. Chenja had 
always led these meetings with the dead, and on the last time Lararu had. He 
remembered the closeness of sweaty bodies, the crackle of electricity thick in 
the air, and the smell of their breath mixing with mildew in the damp little 
cave as they spoke and sang together, and bowed and huddled together. The lights 
of the living had reflected in many, many red orbs lined along rock ledges and 
on the ground. Occasionally they would see one or more of them seem to light of 
its own accord, weakly, briefly. 

Chirin could no longer see Mecha up there. It was getting very late. 

* * * 

Soaring nearby where the herd was waiting, Mecha kept his eyes sharp for any 
area nearby that looked safe... 

There was alot of trees...not many wide open spaces that he could see at first. 
He did eventually find one however, luckily for him. And it wasn't too far from 
the flock...again, that was good.
 
Still...he wanted everyone to be safe this time... 
Landing in the middle of the field, he looked around with cautious eyes...it 
looked safe enough... 

It was always better to be safe than...something...though. 
Carefully moving himself closer to the trees, he heard a slight rustling. 
Hopping closer, he thought he saw something move... 
A weedle. 

Letting out a sigh of relief, Mecha smiled at the cowering bug pokemon "Don't 
worry, I'm not going to--" 

Before he could finish his sentance, something snatched up the tiny Weedle. He 
cringed at the noise it made as it died. 

Mecha had no idea what it was really that had flapped down in front of him, dead 
Weedle in its talons. It was large...and black oddly enough. There was a tuft of 
nearly white feathers on its head, almost like that on a human's face, over 
their eyes. The talons were sharp, the head slightly oval, and the eyes were 
piercing. It seemed to be sizing him up as well. 

Finally, it spoke "You..you are different." 

Mecha tipped his head to a side. This thing sounded female...a bit like Pyone's, 
only deeper "Well...I am..." 

The eyes continued sizing up Mecha, making him shift a bit nervously as the dead 
eyes of the Weedle stared up at him "I am different as well you can probably 
see.." 

"I wouldn't know...I haven't even seen something like you before.." he said, 
looking quite curious. 

She looked at him for a moment oddly before chuckling "Ah...that's right. Your 
kind usually only come up in the day, yes?" 

It came to Mecha then that she had an odd sound to her voice..an accept was it 
called? No...no an accent. That was it. 

"Our kind are Noctowl, as called by the humans." she continued "Our coloring is 
usually brown. However, I was born with black feathers." 

"Ohhhh..." Well, at least she was making more sense to him now. 

She smiled "My name is Ebony, for my color being like that of the god of night. 
Of course, you would know that, wouldn't you? What is your name, shinning one?" 

"Well...I'm Mecha...and actually..I haven't heard anything of this God of 
night..." He cocked his head to a side "I have heard of Mother Megga and Bangaa. 
And such.." He stopped talking once he saw Ebony looking at him as if 
he had just sprouted a Bellsprout on his head. 

"What is this foolishness...?" she asked "Was your flock queer or such?" 

"Well...actually, I never belonged to a flock.." Mecha said sheepishly. 

Ebony seemed to think for a moment "I see...you must have been left behind for 
your odd look then, yes? My parents told me of it...our kind do not fly in 
flocks as yours do." 

Mecha decided not to say anything yet as she looked as if she was going to 
continue. 

"You see, the world began when at the edge of existance, a mighty Pidgeot by the 
name of Thonor called forth an immense Mud Slap, creating our world. His mate, a 
Fearow by the name of Mimosa, soon after layed 6 eggs...one red, one blue, one 
yellow, one white, one black, and the final a beautiful rainbow. They went on to 
hatch into the first birds of power...Fade the Moltres, Shun the Articuno, Perri 
the Zapdos, Gira the Lugia, Kismet the Darkius, and Karma the Ho-ou. 

Thonor then said to them 'I have created this world..now I leave it to you, my 
children, to make it thrive and grow.' So, that they did. 

It started with Fade. She created the sun in the sky, then touched the ground 
with her wings to form volcanos. With that came fire types...such as Growlithe 
and Pontya. 

Gira decided to go next, as the earth was parched and dry. She formed the bodies 
of water, and the rain clouds, as did water pokemon. And with the water also 
came plants, which used the water to drink and the sun to grow, as did plant 
pokemon. 

Perri went next, creating lightening to go with Gira's storms...he got along 
well with his sister, but it was later discovered that his electricity did 
anything but get along with her water, and his pokemon of thunder were of the 
same way. Perri also created the stars in the sky with his sparks. 

It was then that Kismet came. He created something awful, but 
nescessary...death, fear, night, and all of that. With that came dark types. His 
darkness blocked out Fade's sun. 

Karma, the rival of Kismet from birth, disliked what her brother had done to the 
world intrusted to them. She created rainbows, along with bird types, bug types 
to feed them, and others as well to balance it out. In her constant struggle 
with Kismet, she grew weary...and finally created Nam, the pidgeot of daylight. 
Kismet was enraged. Not to be outdone, he did worse than that... 

He had one of his dark birds, Shadow the Murkrow, snuck to lure Ivy, the first 
Noctowl, to the night, and to become his mate. She soon fell in love with him, 
and agreed. 

Their first child was a pure black Hoothoot, who quickly evolved into a Noctowl, 
her name Ebony. Kismet was pleased with her, as the rest were brown like their 
mother, and choose her to take over the honor of the night. 

Nam and Ebony stayed rivals, fighting for dominance. So, it ended up that there 
was a day, and a night. Sometimes, days last longer, somedays, night lasts 
longer." 

Ebony took a deep breath "So, you understand now, yes?" 

He felt a bit confused as Chirin had told him something entirely different...but 
nodded "I think I do.." 

"Good." she smiled "So, we be friends then, yes?" 

Mecha smiled "That would be great Ebony...but tell me, you're the only preditor 
here, right?" 

"Of course..if anything else were to come into my territory, I would chase them 
off. Of course, I haven't chased you off yet..but you don't look like you're 
here to steal my hunting area, yes?" 

"That's not the reason at all...you see, there is a flock of Marrep that wishes 
to find somewhere safe to sleep for the night, and some others as well. 

So...could they sleep here and you don't eat them?" Mecha prayed to..whatver god 
that this would work... 

Ebony smiled "It is fine then. They may sleep here. I eat only bug types, so it 
should work fine, yes? As long as they don't steal my bugs." 

"Alright then, thank you Ebony! I'll be right back!" 

The black Noctowl smiled after him as he flew off. He could be quite fun... 

****** 

Mecha spotted the large group of white, and landed beside them, noticibly 
scaring a few "I found a safe place to sleep!" 
Berry settled herself down and fell asleep pretty quickly. Razkel glared at 
Moonscar for his comments but let it go, some Pokemon were just like that, 
Razkel grinned, he'd get him back later on. He snuggled closer to Berry before 
closing his eyes. Moonscar knew that he could beat Razkle in this competiion. He 
smiled as he drifted into a sweet slumber. 

But Calima was a bit nervous. She didn't want any of her friends, especcially 
Moonscar and Razkle, to fight anymore. She hoped that this competion would make 
them get along. 

Chirin's head had grown heavy. He, and apparently most of the other Mareep, had 
begun to think that here was as good a place as any to sleep...but he knew he 
couldn't go to sleep yet and it was a fight with his own body, that he could not 
afford to lose. 

He hugged Mecha when the bird returned...he smelled vaguely different, as if 
he'd been somewhere different, but then he had been in the sky a while. 

It was only with some difficulty that all the half-asleep mareep were roused and 
goaded into traveling again, but the clearing was not far away. And once they 
were there, they all began to clump together and bed down. 

Chirin pretended he, too, was going to sleep, but he kept his eyes open, 
watching and thinking as the others' tail lights dulled with the absence of the 
souls that lit them. Some snored, chorusing along with the insects, the tiny 
bugs singing their sad, early autumn songs. 

He lifted his head from where it had been resting on Petunia's leg. The mareep 
slept in a huge cluster, tails casting puffs of light over wool. Occasionally 
one stirred with a smattering of static. A larger, wiry blue current buzzed in a 
brief life over the center of the shaggy bodies, wiggling and probing over them 
like a great big antenna befre winking out. Chirin stood up in stages, 
disentangling himself from those he's been resting against. He took a last look 
at his friends, at Mecha, all asleep. He would not return to them until this 
curse was gone.
 
Aware of every sensation, from the timid scrabbles of insects to the feel of the 
trail under his feet, he looked, listened and sniffed, paying the most attention 
to the wind. 

"Chirin-chirin...blow wind blow. Rain, snow, blow wind blow," he whispered. The 
wind was part of his soul. Mama had always said that a stray breeze's spirit had 
slipped through her skin into her belly when she had been with her mate picking 
up abalone shells, one cold day in late autumn on the rocky beach. Right then 
she had come into heat, and they had mated that day, right beside the small pile 
of abalone shells she had collected. And Chirin had been born later than the 
others the following year--on a hot early summer day, when abalone shells strung 
on silk went chirin-chirin round pharamps' necks and arms and feet, and seduced 
the cooling winds to come wash their sweaty skin. Chirin-chirin was that sound. 
He was the shells and the wind of sweet respite. 

As he walked, Chirin began to cry. His mother had smiled so lovingly, hugging 
him so close when she had told him that story "of how my beautiful, littlest 
lamb came to be." It had been such a beautiful way to start, and look at him 
now. How could he go from dancing shell- dances beneath summer clouds, to 
setting out in the dark alone to talk to spirits who wanted to destroy him? 
His old fear of the dark haunted him again, those spirits that always liked to 
prod you when you were alone. He stopped in his tracks, looking back in the 
direction of where the flock rested. 

"Chirin! Chirin, wait for me!" 

"Crazy Lights!" Chirin leaped and bowled him over in a great big hug, landing on 
top of him. 

"Ugh...let me up." 

"Sorry." Chirin got up and helped Crazy Lights brush himself off. 

"I'm not sure if you should come," said Chirin as they walked along, still 
afraid but slightly less alone. "I'm going on a very important journey." 

"Well," said Crazy Lights, "I can help you get there. Since it's not safe to 
walk around here alone. Mama and Dada probably wouldn't let you do this." 

"No, they wouldn't. But Crazy Lights, I wish they were here to tell me not to." 

"Don't cry," said Crazy Lights. "You can't now. You have to on your important 
trip." 

Chirin followed where the swaying black treetops around him seemed to say to go. 
He followed to where the trees parted. In a meadow not far from the clearing the 
other slept in, lit by clouded moonlight, Chirin appeared, toning his tail down 
low. He smelled what the spirits had led him to. Pokénip. 

Pokénip was used only in very special times, when the flock had needed to go see 
the spirits. The couple of times they had done this during his life, he had been 
too young--not yet weaned. Chenja had used it more often to seek out the soul of 
someone fallen ill or to find the cause of a drought or other things caused by 
evil spirits. Traveling to the spirit world this way was dangerous if done 
wrong. 

Inhaling the sweet scent of the leaves, he hesitated. He could go back...slip in 
among the warm mareep and go to sleep. But what would await him there? Would he 
even find his way back to his body come morning? Nobody else was going to take 
any action on it either...they all seemed strangely blind to the presence of 
even the most obvious spirits. It was something that he had only begun to notice 
and it troubled him, for their sake.
 
He stepped into the patch and began eating, leaf by leaf. He saw no other way 
out for them. Leaf by leaf he chewed and downed the sweet, odd-tasting leaves, 
as he shook with fear and anticipation. It was a taste that got better as he 
continued. 

The lone pine in the middle of the clearing stood waiting for him, blck against 
a deep blue sky that seemed somehow pale--the day in the middle of the night, 
some called it. Its power would protect the body he would leave behind during 
his journey. Chirin ran to the tree, running because he was not sure how much 
time he had left in this world to get there. He knew next to nothing about 
this...but he knew it happened quickly. No time to cry now for a world he was 
leaving. The grass seemed to bob under him, carrying him like the lilting sea as 
he made his way to the shade of the tree. Chirin's feet felt different...he had 
left them partly behind, the heavy part--keeping only their lightness. Every 
step was a bounding leap and every leap was flight. 

The sensation...the lightness grabbed him. Jumpluffs in his head. Chirin began 
to draw lines on the dirt, but fell on his side, unable to stand... His own tail 
light looked different. Staring at the unowns writhing in it--he had never seen 
real unowns, only drawings of them--he uttered what he remembered of the song, 
and other voices joined his own, Their voices. They sang with him and they knew 
the words because they were at once inside him and outside him. 

"Take my *denki* 
Blow, wind, blow. 
Dance in my electricity 
Blow wind blow. 
Lift my feet 
Blow wind blow... 
And fill my head 
Blow, wind..." 

Now the myriads of spirits came to him, oursing in the air, still singing 
fragments of the song he had done his best to call them with. Closing his eyes, 
he still saw them... He saw them all, in the spindle of pine limbs overhead, in 
the grass beyond, and in the air, tracing circles and other shapes like 
amorphous unowns. They had always said that the spirit world brimmed with 
unowns. 

There in the unowns...came twin lights...set to either side of a hazy shape of a 
face. Crazy Lights? But then it was gone. 

And among the voices singing and speaking in a throbbing haze, Chirin heard 
Chenja...and then Mama. And then, among the unowns, came her face. Oh, Mama... 

"Mama," he said, and his voice echoed, strange and distorted. His eyes had been 
starving to see this face for so long now. Her rather long ears, rounded chin, 
and big, beautiful, black eyes, which crinkled round the edges at the sight of 
him. 

Up to now he had been overwhelmed by the strangeness of the spirit world, but 
now he remembered what he had to do, and that he only had a little time. 

"Spirits...I beg you!" He ignored the strangeness of his voice, the layers of 
echoing and mimicking by the spirits. "Spirits... I'm so sorry that I made you 
mad...I'm giving you my *denki*!" 

His own electricity took new shapes and colors, alive like he had never seen it 
s he cast out all the lightning he had, which wasn't much. He sparked till he 
was empty, empty and helpless with nothing left to give. 

"Chirin..stop..." 

"Mama?" 

Through the swirl of unowns, at the calm center of lights he had never seen, 
Mama stood, unsteady but there. 

"Oh, Mama, I'm so sorry... Mama, where are you now? What happened to you?" He 
was crying, his tears feeling weird on his face. "Oh, Mama, what did I do to 
make them mad at me? Can I please, please make them not mad? Oh Mama come back 
to me." 

"Chirin...what are you doing here? It's dangerous," she said, like she had said 
to him many times long ago, back home. "You did nothing. I'm so proud of you, my 
lamb. It is not your fault..." 

"But they're cursed by dark! I need to make them not mad...Can you tell 
the...the unowns..." 

"The unowns love you. I love you. We miss you. We are not angry." 

"But...what is it? What's happening back at the other place? I feel the spirits 
and they're angry. He sniffled, trying to run towards her. "Mama, stay in one 
place...I want to hug you." 

Something was changing. Mama's body wavered and then slipped away, as if the 
unowns were carrying her away out of danger. "Mama! Mama! Come back! Oh, come 
back, please..." 

Heavy boots, Farmer's heavy boots beat upon the ground as dark shapes came, with 
human voices echoing, shouting like they had when they had taken his family 
away. This time he saw their faces. They had dark ampharos faces, like Burakuru 
was said to have... with dark gold rings like apricorn things in their hands, or 
flippers...it kept changing. That was what was causing all this...the same 
darkness that had taken the flock were still after him, and his friends. 

"Why? Why are you doing this? Bring back Mama!" 

They did not answer. Chirin knew there was only one thing he could do to scare 
them away. With all his *denki* spent, he lay down, begging them with his mind 
to enter him. Only when they were with him could he crush their power, and 
frighten them away forever. 

Then he felt them coming to him. It was a terrible feeling. They were inside 
him. They were crawling in his wool, feeling all over his body with wormy 
flippers and tongues. Crying, Chirin sat through it, waiting until the moment 
was right. And when he could no longer stand it anymore, he did it. 

Chirin shone his light. In the radiance, the spirits danced anew, swirling to 
new heights of life and lustre. The darkness, frightened, bolted away. "Mama?" 
he called, but she did not appear again. He should be grateful he had gotten to 
speak to her even that little bit...that he had heard her say she loved him one 
last time. 

He had to chase that dark away or it would come back. Wavinghis tail and 
screaming, Chirin shot off after it. He ran fast over the moving, uneven ground, 
never knowing whether his feet would land high or low. It slowly steadied as he 
ran, with his lungs filling with a burn, huffing in fire and puffing out pain. 
He was leaving the spirit world but he must use the time he had left, to chase 
this dark away. 

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" 

A scraping, distant thrumming sound came to him from far away as he raced 
through grass, coupled with the smell of asphalt and car fumes, still a way 
away. 

Through the loosely standing trees and bushes, he saw a red light flash. 
"Mama? MAMA!" 

Chirin fought his body's exhaustion as he raced at the light. She was here, in 
this world. She had followed him back!? 

He stopped at the road's edge. He had seen her here... 

The second car driving by roared at him, spilling light at him from behind, 
light of this world, where the spirits could not be seen. As he turned around it 
passed him harmlessly by but for a slap of wind...and as his eyes followed it 
away he saw its red rear lights. 

"Mama..." His eyes welled with new tears as he sank to the grass. The lonely 
road lay quiet as he curled into himself, weeping. 

A third car whipped by, taking with it the darkness. Chirin rubbed his eyes open 
aganst his forelegs and sat up, feeling a slight headache. Phos had come 
already, over the trees. It was mid morning. 

"Where am I?" 

But he knew where he was, in relation to the rest of the flock. One always knew 
somehow. Chirin had a short, thoughtful graze as last night's trip came back to 
his mind, together with a sadness stronger than himself. 

Crazy Lights rejoined him as he headed back, taking a diffrent way then he had 
come by, a more direct one. Crazy Lights and Chirin nuzzled noses and such, but 
said nothing. 

Had he really seen Crazy Lights last night? Was Crazy Lights...real? 
Chirin shook away the thought and continued on.