“Oh, Rin!” Shani exclaimed as the pooochyena came skidding to a halt just in front of her, almost crashing into the fox pokemon. She jumped around in a quick circle with excitement at seeing her friend, before noticing the Espeon who had come racing in with him, along with Skὸll bringing up the rear. “Hi-hi! What’cha playin’? Can I join?”

She danced around the larger arcanine’s feet while Rin climbed on top of him, before turning to the fuchsia espeon. “My name’s Shani! Lookie what I can do!”

The golden fox turned away from the group, focusing on a nearby patch of dirt as she scrunched up her face. She could feel the heat starting to gather in her mouth, now she just needed to focus and – release! Shani tried to use Ember, a move she had seen her mother do so many times before, but instead all that came out was a small puff of smoke and she coughed up a mouthful of ash. “Ahhh! I’ll get it one day!”

Iron

"Awwww!" Iron moaned as Honey dug up the Everstone. Sure enough this was what he was smelling... How unfortunate for him that this was all that his nose was picking up though. It wasn't even that big. Iron knew what Everstones were from his mother, and he tends to find a lot of those while he's rooting around. He kept thinking that he's figured out how to ignore them, but evidently he was still going to get Everstones sometimes. "Yes sir Mr. Major Mayor! Everstones, since ya don't ever listen to me Honey, makes a pokemon not evolve. You know how sometimes you feel like you're ready to grow up? Everstones makes sure you don't. They're okay for some people who want to be a kid, but I want to turn into a big and powerful Aron!" While Iron was more or less knew what Everstones did, he still needed to figure out the intricacies of evolution stones, as well as what his own evolutionary line would provide. As far as Iron knows, "evolving" just means "Growing bigger". And in his mind, when Iron becomes an adult, he'd be an aron that's twenty foot tall and twice as wide, knocking over hills. He'd know better, but he's never met another Aron, Larion, or Aggron to prove him otherwise.

Honey Buns

Tilting his head to the side Honey looked at Luke, who took the Everstone from him. Admittedly Honey didn't know a lot about stones; half the time he and Iron are looking for them Honey just finds rocks. He was curios at first, but when Luke stared down at them Honey got nervous. It was like the Alpha was testing them, and Honey didn't study. Despite standing at least three times taller with his ears extended, Honey hopped behind Iron, hoping that Iron would protect him from Luke's piercing gaze. "N-n-no, Sir Alpha senpai..." Iron then helpfully reminded Honey what Everstones did, though unless Iron intended to take Honey hunting for more stones he'll likely forget about it by tomorrow.

Before trying to convince Iron to go somewhere else where the Alpha wasn't staring to intently at them, Honey remembered about his delivery. Nervously he took the basket back into his hands and looked at Luke. Not for very long and not directly, but enough for him to know that Honey was trying to talk to him. "Ah... Um... This is for you... Your wife. Akira." Honey nervously extended the basket of treats towards Luke. Was it bad manners to make the mayor deliver the basket to Akira himself? Shouldn't Honey be the one to do it? She was the one who was told to deliver it after all, not Luke. Honey was starting to have second thoughts now.

Akira became startled.

Immediately, all the grass directly around her was turned to ashes, as the Ninetales spun around and unleashed a flamethrower in the direction the startle came from.

When the flames subsided, she beheld the bane of her existence, Piper. Or at least, the current bane, since the original bane (a Cubone) had left the village. The little Eevee had predicted the Ninetales' response and rolled down the hill. Akira wasn't used to her adversaries predicting her response, though she really should have seen that coming considering her response was always the same.

"You have about three seconds to be somewhere I can't see you," she said blankly, lightly simmering and preparing to lunge at Piper should he not comply.

Piper laughed as she dashed away from the hill. "Bye Akira!" She yelled as she ran, knowing that while the alpha's mate wouldn't really hurt a member of her village for something harmless that she would at the very least get a long lecture for it if she pushed any further. As she ran, she passed by Luke and a couple other pokemon talking about something.

"Hi Luke!" She said, trying to skid to a stop. Instead, she lost her footing and tumbled to the ground, rolling several times before eventually settling on her back facing them. She lay still for a moment, looking up at Luke, before rolling to her feet. "Akira's up!"

Shizuka's patrol was largely uneventful. The village was slowly waking up and going about their business. Luke, the village Alpha, had begun his patrols and seemed to be teaching some of the local children about everstones. She knew the two kids; Iron and Honey Buns. She made notes on their actions before, but has never interacted with them. Perhaps it was for the best. Shizuka was dreading a boring day when she felt Masa poke her with her tassel. "Hmm? What it is Masa?" Masa silently pointed over at the direction of the forest. Shizuka supposed a walk through the forest could be eventful... And then she noticed the smoke. It was only a little bit, so it was no forest fire. However it could soon become one. Shizuka was hesitant at first. She wasn't one for leaping into danger. And yet...

""Mr. Alpha, there's something happening in the forest! Shizuka said as she used her teleporting powers to head towards the forest. Teleporting was tricky business, since it relied heavily on knowing the details of where you wanted to go. Fairly easy if you could see it, but harder if you can't. Fortunately for Shizuka, she keeps notes about everything. Everything. She knew a rock near the forest fire where she could teleport to easily, bringing Masa along with her. Masa took it upon herself to unsheathe herself from her scabbard and float protectively around Shizuka. "Remember what I taught you?" "Yes. Just like we practiced."

Shizuka was no fighter, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to protect herself. She loosen her mind a bit, allowed thoughts to flow freely around her like water. And her mind, a boat. No... A island. Stable. Calm. And capable of fishing out whatever she needed from the water. Like say, hostile threats. In her hands Shizuka also had one of her psychic powers ready. A defensive ability: Protect. Whatever was a causing the fire, Shizuka would find it first. Unless they were a stronger psychic then she was... But still, she had protect! She could protect herself from anything with it. Masa simply kept sharp. She kept her eyes on things that Shizuka might not be able to detect with her telepathy, or simply what she couldn't react to fast enough. Masa Autotomized herself, shedding excess weight so that she could move quicker. "Sharpening" herself.

The two tiny pokemon could smell the smoke now, and what seems to be Ursaring in the distance. Shizuka just wanted to go see what was up; surely Luke would arrive soon and deal with them. This was going to be an exciting day.

He'd smelled it before Shizuka even ran past. "Sorry, Honey. Deliver those to Akira yourself. You two, stay back and protect the village." Luke commanded, send the two young pokemon a commanding glare. And then, he was off.

"I need every able bodied water pokemon and psychic pokemon to come with me. Children are to stay in the village with Aster. There is no time to lose. This fire may very well grow into something we can't handle." He yelled as he slide his way through the village, towards the source of the smoke. He wished that he had a way to quicken himself but he could only go so fast. However, for a snake like pokemon, he was pretty fast. He hopped and slid over hills and splashed into streams to get there as quickly as he could.

What seemed like hours went by as he finally got closer and saw Shizuka and Masa getting ready to attack the Ursaring. A scowl on his face, he quick as lightning lashed out his tail and picked up the two pokemon, getting cut by Masa in the process. "Children should stay in the village, you two. Head back. We can handle this." He told them, still glaring as fiercely as ever.

His eyes narrowed, he slid his ways towards the pokemon causing the distress, pushing away his own fear of fire. His glare was piercing and was enough to send even the mightiest of enemy running. Several of the Ursaring jumped in shock at Luke's sudden appearance and ran, but one dumbass continued to stare back at Luke.

Luke scoffed, a grin growing on his face. It'd been a while since he'd fought anyone. Still, with Shizuka and Masa behind him, he'd rather not. "Stand down." Luke barked, his nerves slowly affecting him as the fire slowly spread around him. Hopefully those water pokemon would get here soon.

"No. Fire is pretty. Want fire." It responded, clearly unintelligent. That was the reason it wouldn't back off. It literally didn't know any better. Luke let out a sigh, attempting to stall so that the water pokemon could arrive. He couldn't do much until them.

It was then that he noticed the Gallade standing nearby. He probably wouldn't be of too much use with the fire, but he could probably knock the brute out. Luke glared over at him and then looked at the Ursaring, making motions with his eyes at the Gallade.

---

Aster and Scorch were headed towards the village when he heard Luke calling out. Aster turned to see the smoke billowing out of the treeline and sighed.

"It seems the berries will have to wait." Aster spoke softly. He turned to Scorch with a soft smile and began to hum a soft tune. It was simple for Aster to project the tune towards the children of the village, avoiding the adults where he could. Slowly, they all began to fall asleep in their places, nice dreams soothing them.

He smiled as he turned to Scorch who was now sleeping soundly. Using his telekinesis, Aster moved Scorch to the Nursery Nest and then slowly did the same for all of the other children. When he was done, he counted them. A frown formed on his face as he realized he was missing a few. A quick teleportation and he'd found Shizuka and Masa at the scene of the fire. Without a word, he enveloped them and took them out, humming to them as they entered the Nursery nest.

"I'm certain they will all be mad at me about this later but, they will understand one day." He spoke softly, drifting off into the children's dreams himself.

---

He'd heard Luke and was racing towards the forest when the sleep came over him. "Ast...er..." He mumbled as sleep overcame him and dreamed of being the Alpha.

Iron

"Huh? What? A fight? Let me at 'em!" Iron jumped into the air (Well, a couple of inches off the ground) and got himself pumped up. He had a few scraps before and thinks himself as a great fighter. He was super tough. But Luke told them to stay and protect the village, which he'd totally do, but figured that he could protect the village if he stopped the bad guys! Of course he'd have to get to them first. Luke zoomed off before Iron could ask for a ride, so he started to run. Honey easily caught up and told him not to do it however. Said that it was too dangerous. "Well yeah, that's why I'm going! You need to deliver that basket doncha? Go find Akira and give her your stuff, I'll stop that fire!" Iron tried to get past Honey, but Honey was waaaay faster then he was and kept getting in his way. He told Iron how much of a bad idea it as, and that Luke told them to stay in the village. Thinking quickly Honey also mentioned that Luke told Iron to protect the village. And he can't do that if he's not at the village, can he?

Iron thought about this. It was true. And it's not like Luke was going alone. Both the young pokemon heard him shouting for the help of water and psychic pokemon. And even then Luke was pretty tough too. He wasn't the Alpha for nothing. Still... Iron wanted to show his stuff. Prove that he had what it took to protect others and be the new Alpha, one day. But he guessed every mountain starts as a pebble. Protecting the village was still important. "Alright, I'll patrol around the village then. You find Akira and give her your basket, then come find me! I promise I won't go into the forest, but I can't protect the village all by myself. It's... Very big. And I'm kinda slow." Honey nodded and raced off. He was really fast. Iron looked at the forest. He really wanted to go... but if things turned bad he'd need to get ready. He needed to get the village ready for an attack. Looking around Iron noticed some rocks. He could lay traps, get ready for the bad guys to come. Yes, fortify the village! He could do that. Iron started pushing some rocks towards the edge of the village to set up some Stealth Rocks.

He didn't get to do much however. He set up a few traps but then... But then he started getting sleepy... "What? No... No! I have to fight... Have to... Protect... Village..." Iron laid down and fell to sleep. His last thoughts before slipping off to the dream world was what would happen to the village now. He had no idea what was going on.

Honey Buns

Honey adverted his eyes as Luke commanded them. "Yes sir!" He squeaked out in fear. He was gone before Honey bothered to look back up. Almost immediately Iron ran off to join the fight, but Honey stopped him. "Iron, what are you doing!? It's too dangerous for you to go into the forest!" Iron pushed past Honey, which was easy for him, but it was easier for Honey to stand in his way. Seriously, Honey could crawl faster then Iron's full tilt run. "Iron that's smoke in the forest! Smoke means fire! This isn't like the Blitzle thing that happened a month ago! Fire isn't something you can just smash with your head. You could get burned alive, or a tree might crush you, or you could fall into a hole! Luke said that we had to stay in the village and he's the Alpha. You're suppose to do what the Alpha says. And besides, he also told you to protect the village. How can you do that if you're in the forest? What if whatever is causing the fire in the forest comes here?"

Iron took a moment to consider this. Honey could tell however that he won out. Soon Iron told him that he'll stay in the village. Honey should still go deliver his basket to Akira, but he needs Honey to come back to hims ASAP. He can't protect the entire village himself, what with him being slower then a rock buried in the dirt. "Alright, but you better be in the village when I find you! When I'm done I'll meet you at the village square." Honey quickly ran back and got his basket. He figured that Akira was still at her den, unless of course she also went to the forest. Maybe she was the cause of it... No, surely not. It would be much more noticeable if Akira was the one who started the fire. Most of the village would have been burned down if it was her.

Honey soon saw Akira sitting on the hill near her den. Moving as quickly and carefully as he could Honey also called out to Akira. "Madam Queen Alpha Akira!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. He didn't really comment on the grass around Akira being burnt. He just sort of assumed it was always like that.

Honey didn't really make it far however. He started slowing down. He was getting tired. So very tired. Carefully putting the basket on the ground Honey took a few steps forward before laying down on the ground. It had been a very tiring morning.

Piper

Piper could feel the sleep coming over her, and didn't fight it very much. She knew when to play and when it was time to listen to others. Before she drifted off, however, she muttered something under her breath, singsonging it like a nursery rhyme.

"Side by side, Alpha and Mate. A flame that burns wickedness, a wit that fights fate. Gather up your little ones, safest in your care, but one day soon they're taken from you, alone in your despair."

Rin falls off Skòll's back. Rin is sound asleep. Aster comes and takes Rin away to the nursery. Luke runs straight though the town square. He is shouting for water and psychic type to combat the potential fire outbreak. Since Skòll is neither a water or psychic type, he decides to stay put. Skòll walks over to a shady tree and relaxes for now.

The tiredness came upon Shani suddenly – one minute she was bouncing around in front of the new espeon and Skὸll, and the next her feet and tail were responding even less than usual. Her ears drooped, and despite having only just woken up less than an hour ago, the fennekin’s eyes grew heavy and she let out a large yawn. ”I – why am I so slee-heepy?”

She fell asleep where she stood, kind of flopping to one side. Shani thought she dreamt of flying at one point, but that was silly because Fennekin’s don’t fly. Maybe when she’s a Delphox, she’ll learn a psychic move and go flying with her (hopefully one day) trainer…

He watched as the Gallade swiftly took care of both the Ursaring and the water, quite a feat for a pokemon that still looked and sounded as young as it did. Luke had to admit, he was a bit bitter about his fight being taken from him like that. With a small pout on his lips, he watched the bear pokemon sprint away from the scene.

He blinked however, as the Gallade spoke to him. He glared back, his signature piercing glare, now gauging the Gallade. "Tell me your name, and I'll be happy to help you and your friend." He explained as the rest of the psychic pokemon arrived, the water pokemon more than likely slowly behind them. He turned back to them to speak. "My apologizes, it seems the situation has improved significantly. You may herald the water pokemon and let them know that they may return if they wish."

"Oh, and tell Aster to let the children wake up. I'm on a rescue mission if any of them older than 5 would like to join me. Make sure that this rule is enforced, Azta." He added, glaring at the Alakazam before him. Azta quietly bowed and disappeared again. He'd never been one for many words. Luke turned once again to the Gallade. "Oh! Where are my manners. I'm Luke, the alpha for that village over there. Once we find your friend, both of you are more than welcome to come become a part of the family." He explained, his voice sounding much more friendly than his narrow eyes portrayed. In fact, his words were tinged with a bit of this black-green emotion, pride. He snorted as he came closer to the Gallade. "I can't very well keep calling you, 'the Gallade,' can I?" He added, his expression unchanged. To even the most fierce pokemon, Luke's tone and expression were unnerving. The only people in the village it didn't seem to affect were Akira and Aster. He would feel threatened by Aster if he didn't know that the pokemon had no ambitions to be anything other than what he was. And Akira... Probably the only pokemon in the field that knew exactly what to do to make Luke piss his proverbial pants... tail... thing.

---

He heard it before even waking up, Azta's voice. He smiled as he yawned and awoke. As he did, the children did so as well. Well, the ones that he wanted to. Everyone under the age of 5 was left sleeping. Everyone else, slowly woke as Aster woke them from within their dreams.

He sent a message to all of their minds as they woke. "My children, it seems that Luke, the alpha, wishes for you all to train today. That fire over there was caused by a pack of Ursaring. And they took off with someone's precious friend. All who wish to come and help, please come find me outside. The rest of you may go about your normal day as usual." Aster explained and slowly drifted outside, to wait by the village center, his nest was very close by to it, being one of the central nests.

Did Luke really want to do this? Aster sighed. He just hoped that no one got sent to the Healing Nest today. Somehow, he figured that even if the Ursaring went down quickly, Luke would be out there sparring with them for the rest of the day. Nothing like a crisis to get that fight-crazed Serperior pumped to do battle. Still, he should be gentle with the children. At least, that's what Aster hoped for.

Shani woke quickly, never having really been one for slow awakenings, and looked around her in surprise. She was in Aster’s nest, a place she didn’t spend too much time in because her mother lived nearby and the young fire-fox could just hang out there instead, but it was still a place that she recognised. Aster’s words penetrated her mind, and Shani jumped up with excitement.

“Yes! Training! Oh, I can’t wait to do some training! And helping!” She skipped in a circle and charged out of the nest, a brilliant smile on her face. She was halfway there when her mother’s words rang in her mind. ‘Don’t go outside the village!’ “Oh…phooey.”

She pouted, sitting back as she glanced in the direction of her home-burrow and back at where Aster was waiting patiently, looking between the two locations. With a heavy sigh, she slunk off towards her home, yearningly looking back at Aster and the other children gathering. But she couldn’t go with them – her mother asked her to stay in the village and that’s what she would do, however reluctantly. “I really want to help out though…”

Iron

Iron woke up with a start. He remembered stacking rocks on top of each other for a big fight and then... And then darkness. Did he die? Checking himself, he didn't seem hurt. He looked around and noticed he was in Aster's den. "That... That bully! He knocked me out!" Iron looked around to find Aster. He saw him and was about to give him an earful when he noticed Shani walking away. Curios Iron ran over to her. "Shani! Shani! What are you doing Shani?'

Honey Bun

Honey woke up slowly. He didn't remember what he was doing aside from the fact he was with Iron. Something about... Fighting? Honey sure hoped he didn't get into trouble. Looking around he noticed he was in Aster's den. He's been here before, but why was he here now? That's when Aster spoke about training, which was when Honey went off. He had his fill of combat training with Goro. That's when Honey remembered that he still needed to find Akira and give her the basket. But seeing that he doesn't have the basket, maybe he already gave it to her? just to be safe, Honey hopped on his way to the Alpha den.

Skòll saw that Aster woke up some of the kids. Aster was outside and some of the kids were gathering around him. Skòll did not want to know what is happening. Skòll did notice Shani was not joining them. Sahni is walking away and is looking sad. Skòll remembered that Shani tried to do ember on a patch of dirt but failed in doing so. Skòll also saw an aron chasing after her. Skòll got up and went over to them. Skòll said to them " Do you two want to train with me in town? For example, Shani, I can help you with ember. For you, my little aron, I can help you withstand the hotest of flames."

Shani honestly wasn’t expecting anyone to chase after her, as most children would jump at the chance to join Aster and Alpha Luke and help out, so when the smaller Aron came bounding after her, the fire-fox was surprised. ”Oh, I’m not allowed outside the village. My mama asked me to stay inside today, so I can’t go help Alpha Luke and Aster.”

She pouted again, her ears dropping in disappointment. It sounded like they would all be going off on a great adventure, and she would be stuck at home alone because her mother didn’t let her go outside the village boundaries. Skὸll joined them at this moment, and Shani’s ears perked up at the older arcanine as he spoke.

”You want to train with me?” She asked in surprise, before grinning and letting out a squeal of excitement. She wouldn’t be home alone and bored after all! The little fox pokemon danced on the spot before bounding around the canine in excitement. “We can go train! Iron, are you going to train with us too? Or did you want to help Alpha Luke and Aster? They were going into the forest.”

Iron

Train? There was no better training then trial by fire! And by that Iron meant that it would be better for them to train by finding those things that started the fire in the forest and beat them up. "No way. Didn't ya hear? The Alpha is going to take us to fight against bad guys! This is better then training! It's a real fight, where we can really learn how to fight!" Iron knew a few tricks to get the an advantage over most opponents. Of course, having a partner was best. And who else could partner up with him but Shani?

Well there was Honey, but Honey didn't seem to like fighting despite training with Goro. Iron wanted to prove to the village that he was the toughest though, and best fit for Alpha, so he needed to show his chops. "Come on Shani, come with me! I promise I'll protect you! I swear on my honor no one will hurt you."

Shani glanced between Skὸll, her home burrow, Iron and where Aster and the other children were gathering. “I-I-I really want to. I really want to. And – I suppose Alpha Luke did say he wanted our help…”

She deliberated for a few seconds, weighing her mother’s wishes against that of the Alpha’s, and eventually coming up with the fact that the Alpha’s wishes overruled her mothers in this case. The fire-fox danced on the spot nervously for a moment before turning to the little aron and nodding. “Okay! I’ll come help, as this is really important, and the Alpha asked for all the kids. But! You have to help me explain it to my mama, okay?”

She narrowed her eyes at the smaller pokemon’s green ones, trying to look super serious and impress upon him how big a deal this was for her.