Shadow Fire

Inside, Rusl had left a wooden sword, which he had sharpened for Kaze. Meanwhile, the children huddled about outside, chattering among themselves as to what Rusl had left.

Casting a glance over at his friend to see that she was okay, Link breathed a silent sigh of relief.

If anything, her skills have improved a lot.

Silver turned to Cynder and gave a sad smile.

"I don't know, exactly..." he admitted. "I had entered the Hall of Fame after defeating Lance, and then when I stood on the teleporter, a strange light surrounded me, and I woke up here as a Totodile. This little guy found me. He actually reminds me a little of Snappy."

With the two of them attacking, it wasn't long before Link and Kaze overcame the beast, which shrieked in defeat, and burst into a puff of smoke. The bars disappeared, letting them into the next chamber.

Rusl's smile widened and he nodded.

"Glad to hear it..." he chuckled. "Well, have a good one."

With those words, he returned to the village.

Silver jumped towards Ethan, giving happy sobs, as the other young trainer and the smaller Totodile looked on in confusion.

"Hmm..." the young boy said. "It seems he knows you."

The tearful Totodile nuzzled into Ethan's chest, whimpering softly.

"I wish you could understand me..." he said. "I was so scared I'd never see you again... but... I found you again! Now, I just need to find out how to become human again... and find Snappy."

*Skipping ahead to later*

Noticing Kaze returning to her house, Rusl smiled.

"Ah, just in time, Kaze..." he said, warmly. "I just delivered something to your room!"

Noticing the fishing pole on the young girl's back, his smile widened.

"Oh, I see you got the fishing rod..." he continued. "Colin will be pleased. And it works better than you would think, right?"

Watching carefully, Link noticed an opening when the monster attempted to attack Kaze. Acting quickly, he lunged, his blade meeting its mark. With a groan, the Stalfos turned his attention to Link. The boy smirked to himself.

It seems he can only focus on one of us at a time. Looks like I'm the distraction, now.

"...and yeah, it was the strangest thing!" the young trainer babbled. "I saw the two of them, and since they're rare in this region, I attempted to capture them, but my Quick Balls were blocked, indicating they belonged to someone."

Glancing back over at Silver and noticing how upset he looked, the young boy called out to him.

"It's okay!" he said. "We'll find your trainer!"

Silver turned, but his eyes fell on a familiar looking Typhlosion.

"Cynder... is that...?" he began, suddenly gasping at the sight before him. "Ethan...!"

Sure enough, he noticed his beloved was talking to the young trainer who had found him and the smaller Totodile. Tears began to well in his eyes, and he made a mad dash towards the ebony-haired boy.

"Ethan!" he sobbed out. "It's really you!"

Unfortunately, all the humans could hear was "Toto-toto-toto-toto-toto-toto-totodile!".

Another snap of the jaws.

"Umm..." he mumbled. "He said he was looking for... Ethan! That's the name."

Meanwhile, Silver was looking all crestfallen. He didn't seem to be having much luck.

Silver was too busy looking around to have heard Cynder, so the smaller Totodile looked at Cynder and snapped his jaws.

"I'm from around here!" he exclaimed, before scratching his head. "I think. I don't know. But him..."

He pointed a claw at the former trainer.

"He isn't from around here. We're looking for someone he knows."

Drawing his sword and shield, Link glared at the monster.

I've a bone to pick with you...

A short time later, they all arrived in Driftveil City. Silver began scanning around, worriedly looking for his beloved.

"Ethan... where are you?"

The young boy began going around to other trainers, asking if they were missing a Pokemon at all. Suddenly, he came to a boy with a black and yellow hat, or rather, he accidentally bumped into him.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. Um... I see you're a Pokemon Trainer. I was wondering... and no, it's not a battle I'm after... were you missing anyone?"

Ilia, in the meantime, was at the Ordona Spring with Epona, giving her a clean and some food. Turning to Kaze, she smiled and explained that she'd taken care of the horse while she was busy with the children.

"Well, she's all prettied up now, so I suppose you can ride her back..." she said. "But don't you make her do too much, OK?"

Epona simply gave a happy snort.

Silver gave a sad smile, and nodded.

"Yeah..." he agreed softly. "I'll look all over the world if I have to."

His smile faded, and a thought went through his mind.

How will he know it's me though?

The small Totodile gently pet Silver's back with his paw in a comforting gesture.

Oddly enough, this chamber looked empty, and was merely a connecting corridor. Or, so it seemed. When the two had ventured far enough, bars came down over the doors, and a Stalfos appeared.

Great... a giant skeleton soldier.

Malo gave a soft whine, pouting.

"But... our allowances are terrible..." he complained. "Aww, I wish I was born into a family with a slingshot instead of one with a waterwheel..."

With a nod, Link made his way towards the door and opened it, looking inside carefully.

I have a bad feeling about this...

The larger Totodile nodded.

"Yeah..." he mumbled. "I'm actually a human. I don't know how, but I'm now a Totodile. The human I'm looking for is my mate. That may be why I couldn't be captured."

Lowering his gaze, he spoke softly, sadly.

"I hope I find him..."

"Oh, okay." The smaller Totodile snapped his jaws as he continued to walk. "I think it's nice. Pretty."

Silver, in the meantime, was wondering whether he should explain himself to the Butterfree. However, his maw seemed to have a mind of its own.

"Hey, um... can I tell you the truth?"

Folding his arms and nodding, the green-hatted boy stared around the chamber.

I wonder where a good place to start would be...

Talo gave a cry of disbelief, shrugging.

"Do you see any Rupees in my hand?" he asked, incredulously. "I can't afford that thing! C'mon, Beth, can't you just loan it to us for a while?"

I made another one.

As the two proceeded deeper into the temple, they came to the central chamber. Suddenly, Link gasped as four ghosts appeared. Using their otherworldly power, they appropriated the flames from four strange torches, which caused what looked like an elevator to lower into the ground. With ghostly snickers, the four of them vanished.

Well, this just got more interesting.

It was an odd sight indeed. A young trainer being accompanied by three Pokemon, none of them in their Monster Balls. The little Totodile stared up at Butterfree.

"Wow... you look different from the Butterfree I've seen. Why are you a different colour?"

Silver smiled to himself. It seemed the little Totodile didn't know about what humans referred to as "Shiny" Pokemon.