A month has past since my birthday, and a lot of changes have taken place.

Absol did leave to return to the Frosty Forest, I've been training my tail off and with satisfying results.

I have mastered basic combat and defensive techniques and along the way I learned my force palm, the aura sphere, blaze kick, and detect, which was probably my most difficult maneuver to learn.

I had power I could never imagine a human actually having, but I still had a lot to learn.

I wasn't the only one training though.

Josh and the others finally have the freedom to train with Josh's illusions.

Staraptor's wing finally healed last week and she hasn't been happier in her entire life.

I dropped down from the stone chair and stretched my body out.

"Okay guys. I'm gonna go see Azelf and them," I stated.

"Okay," replied Swellow.

I shrugged and made my way to Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit.

But, I couldn't seem to find any of them.

Over some time of searching, I asked Munchlax where they might be.

"Hey, Munchlax," I greeted.

He approached me with a grin.

"Hi Damian!" He replied.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Azelf, Uxie or Meprit are would you?" I asked.

"I think they're in the coliseum."

"Alright thanks dude."

"No problem. Are you gonna be in the tournament tomorrow?"

"Yeah! Definitely," I stated.

"Okay, cool. See ya then!"

And with that he was gone.

I made haste for the coliseum.

I opened the doors slowly, considering I could hear loud crashing from inside.

I entered the stadium and notice Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit all battling against each other.

I shrieked as a focus blast was hurled straight for me, stretched my arms forward, and caught the blast.

The ball of energy was soon turned into a cloud of smoke.

"Whoops! Sorry Damian!" exclaimed Uxie.

"It's fine," I laughed.

"Nice catch," stated Azelf.

"Nice throw."

They all had a good chuckle from the situation.

"So... I was wondering if I could go and see Absol...?"

Uxie made a face.

"Umm... Man... I guess so..." she staggered.

"There hasn't been word of any humans around. You should be fine, but just in case take Staraptor or Swellow with you okay?"said Azelf.

I smiled, "Alright! Will do. Thanks guys!"

I ran to the stadium entrance, burst through the door, and immediately searched for Staraptor or Swellow.

In no time I found Swellow in the rec room talking to Ampharos and Weavile.

"Hey guys!" I stated.

"Hey Damian," replied Swellow.

"Swellow, I was wondering if you'd wanna go visit Absol with me. Azelf and them said I should take you or Staraptor with me."

Swellow made a face.

"Hmm... I guess I could..." Staggered Swellow.

"Awesome! Let's go then!" I exclaimed.

Swellow chuckled and followed me to the only entry way to the Pokemon orphanage.

After exiting the cave, I took a breath of fresh air.

The orphanage was actually an island shrouded with mist that only humans can't see through.

"Okay, we're outside. Whaddya wanna do?" Asked Swellow.

"I wanna go visit Absol. Think you can fly us there?" I asked.

"Yeah. Definitely. Just hop on," he ordered.

I mounted his back, wrapped my arms around his neck, and he took off.

As we were flying through the sky, I asked, "What do you usually see when you fly out here?"

"Meh... The usual trees, sometimes houses."

"Oh..."

In little time we were out of perimeter from the fog and over a forest covered with trees.

After about ten minutes, we were halfway to Frosty Forest.

The flight was great... Until...

WHOOSH!

A ball of fire stuck Swellow in the chest.

He grunted from pain and swore under his breath.

"What was that!?" he shrieked.

I closed my eyes and looked around for the attacker on the ground, and gasped.

"It's Team Plasma!" I exclaimed.

Two more fire blasts were sent our direction., which Swellow dodged with ease.

"How do they know you're with me? We're a mile in the air!" Yelled Swellow.

Blasts were soon enveloping the skies, making a getaway difficult.

"Oh man! I can't keep this up much longer!" Yelled Swellow.

"Just keep flying, I'm gonna try and make a reflect shield around us!" I assured.

Swellow swerved at a 70 degree angle, nearly dropping me in the process.

"Sorry!" he shouted.

"We need to get back to Azelf and Mesprit!" I panicked.

"They're too far, if we can make it to Absol we'll be fine."

"You sure?"

He dodged another blast.

"Positive."

I concentrated entirely on my reflect shield.

I managed to from a decent size energy shield from my paws.

The blasts were simply reflected back to the Earth.

"Great job! Now we just-"

Everything seemed to go in slow motion, as if the world weren't even spinning.

A Dragonite rammed into Swellow, and with that impact, I was sent falling through the air.

"Nonononononono!" I shrieked.

I was in a panic, but I had enough rationality in my mind to not let myself die.

I began to form an aura sphere into my paws.

Usually, it would only take me 7 seconds to form a decent sized sphere, but I'd need all the power I can get if I don't wanna die.

The fall sent blistering winds into my eyes, making visibility impossible.

I became reliant on my aura vision and found myself close to the ground.

"Here goes nothin'..."

I placed my paws outward, aimed for the ground, and fired the massive aura sphere.

My plan worked, but to an extent.

After my attack, I was pushed upwards, but when I hit the ground, my body nearly collapsed.

I lay on the ground, struggling to stand, but I manage.

I swore as I could hear voices from nearby.

My priority was to see Swellow and how he was doing, but I couldn't find him anywhere.

"He's right here!" A man yelled.

"You know the drill, dead or alive!" stated a woman.

'Dead or alive? Oh boy, they're really serious...'

I was prepared to fight until I was grabbed from behind, and the assailant was covering my mouth.

I tried to get away, but I was interrupted with a, "Shh... I'm trying to help you out. Do you want them to see you?"

He released me and I turned to face him.

It was a Bunnelby, but he looked different compared to others.

His ears were much larger and a necklace was wrapped around is neck, hanging from it, a rock.

"No time to chat! Follow me!" he demanded.

He led me to an oak tree and I was surprised as he jumped through a hatch in the tree.

He poked his head out and muttered, "In here!"

I entered through the hatch and caught my breath.

"Don't stop yet! We got a little more to go till we're safe."

"Wait! What about Swellow?"

"I'm sorry, I can't save him. But if he lands near my friends he'll be fine."

'Who is this guy?'

After leading me through a long underground tunnel, he showed me to the outside world again.

I was very surprised to see a car pass by over my head on the exit.

"Careful, those metal things'll kill ya," said the Bunnelby.

"Yeah... Thanks..." I gasped.

The scenery was revealed as a city.

And I was quite familiar with the city too.

We were in Wisp Town, home of the fire gym leader, Jessica.

I followed the Bunnelby through the streets, running through the park, and into the forest once again.

We finally stopped at what appeared to be a berry paradise.

Berries were everywhere!

Razz, Oran. Grepa, you name it.

"Wow... This is a lot of berries..." I marveled.

"Yeah, it sure is awesome to have all you can eat every day..." he paused.

I was ready to speak, but he cut me off.

"I'm sorry, I totally forgot! I'm Buniot the Bunnelby," he greeted, offering his right ear out for a 'handshake'.

I took my paw and granted his awkward handshake.

"Damian," I replied.

"Damian? That's a funny name. For a Pokemon anyways."

"Well, I'm not really a Riolu. I mean... I am a human."

He gave me a one eyebrow raised look.

"You look like a Riolu to me," he chuckled.

"No! Umm... Let me explain. "

After one long explanation I let out a sigh of relief.

"Hopefully you're the last Pokemon I ever have to tell this to..." I laughed.

"Dude... You've got some heart to be where you are now."

"Meh, I've heard it a million times. Anyways, enough about me! Why'd you save me?"

"Just helping a friend out I guess," he shuffled.

"Well... Thanks. I just wish... Swellow..." I muttered.

"Sorry I couldn't save him. You were closest, and there wasn't any way I could save both of you without being caught."

"I'm sure he's fine though. Swellow's tough," I said, trying to cheer myself up.

A sudden realization struck my mind.

"Azelf, Mesprit, Uxie! Can you guys hear me?!" I asked the skies.

There was no reply.

"Hello?" I asked, losing hope.

"Azelf... Mesprit..." I sighed finally, giving up, "They don't know where I'm at... Damn..."

"Azelf? How do you know her and her sisters? I thought they were just a myth!" stated Buniot.

I shuffled my feet across the dirt, feeling a bit uneasy.

"It's a long story really. But they do exist and they're really awesome," I wanted to change the subject, "So... What's that necklace y'got there?"

"Oh this?" He asked, lifting the stone for me to see, "it's my Everstone necklace."

"Everstone? Did your trainer give that you?"

"Nope. I don't have a trainer. I'm a wildy," Buniot said with a grin.

"Then you don't wanna evolve? Why?" I asked.

"I wanna prove that we, so called, normal types aren't as weak as everyone thinks we are. I mean think about it! Everyone tries to take down a Bidoof or Patrat or Rattata or Buneary or-"

"I gotcha," I interrupted, already knowing every Pokemon he's going to list off.

"Yeah, so... I wanna be the best normal type there is! And I think I'm pretty good so far. I mean... A trainer hasn't caught me yet," he sneered.

"Hmm... How many trainers do you think you've avoided?" I asked.

"Well, let's see here... One, two, three... 46," he said proudly.

My eyes widened at his answer.

"You're pretty good hunh?" I asked.

"Yeah... I'm gonna be the best there is. So who's your trainer...?"

I gave him a second to realize what he just said, and he smacked his forehead with his ear.

"Oh yeah... Sorry..."

"You're cool," I chuckled, "where do you live?"

"Everywhere! I live where I want, when I want to, how I want to. And by that I mean I live over there," he laughed to himself.

I couldn't help but chuckle at his remark.

He pointed his left ear towards an underground burrow.

"C'mon! I'll show you my place!" he exclaimed.

I shrugged and followed him to the burrow in the ground.

He dropped inside and I quickly followed him.

I hit the floor with a thud and was awestruck at his home.

"Wow... You've got a nice place, dude," I marveled.

His home was impressive for a small underground burrow.

He had a bad made of what looked like several couch pillows, a small FM radio next to it. In a hand woven basket were a ridiculous amount berries, a few precious looking gems, such as diamonds, topaz, and amethyst, were simply stacked neatly into a pyramid, which was quite impressive to see.

"Thanks! I found a lot of this stuff people didn't want anymore."

I gestured at the radio.

"You know what that is right?" I asked, wondering if he was familiar with human devices.

"I dunno what it's called. But it's really awesome. I listen to music on it all the time," he replied.

I was surprised to find a Pokemon enjoying human music.

Whenever I turned the radio on or my MP3 player, it drives my whole team nuts.

"Music? Do you know what kind?"

"What kind? Whaddya mean?"

"Y'know? Genres...?" I started.

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Not all music sounds the same right? Humans have different music types. Like rock and roll, hip-hop, electronic, country..."

He still had a blank expression on his face.

"Here. Let me turn it on and you can tell me if you like the song or not," I explained.

"Okay. Thanks..."

The radio had an interesting hookup to it.

It was solar powered, yet there was no sunlight in the cave other than...

Okay, he's got a tiny hole in the ground beaming light onto the solar panels.

'Smart guy...'

The radio turned on and I jumped five feet into the air as it blasted a song in my face.

I struggled to turn the volume dial backwards with my paws.

"Hey, you made it... not so loud..." Buniot started.

"It has a volume knob on it. It lets you change how loud you want the music," I stated.

"Cool! I didn't know it could do that!"

The station already on was the rock and roll station that played mostly contemporary rock and country.

The song playing was a song by Rise Against, a band I'm familiar with.

"I like that song!" Exclaimed Buniot.

"Okay... So you like rock... Let's change to... Rap..." I said to myself.

I turned the station dial to the only rap and R&B station I knew.

The signal was poor, but bearable.

A song was playing and Buniot cringed.

"Nooooo... Next type of song!" he staggered.

I shrugged and changed the station again.

'Im not big on rap either.' My inner voice chuckled.

I then twiddled the knob again and moved onto the only station in the state that played electronic music.

A song with a soft rhythm and a light upbeat of drums accompanied by a repetitive synth in the background just began playing.

Buniot took a second to think.

"I do like that. Sometimes it's relaxing, but sometimes it's loud and makes ya wanna dance, Y'know what I mean?"

I chuckled, "Yeah, I gotcha," knowing he was referring to either dubstep or electro house.

We continued our search for his favorite genres of music and were finished within five minutes.

"Okay... So you like rock, you like electronic, you kinda like pop, you don't like rap, you don't like country, and... That's it," I summarized.

"Why dontchah mark the music I like so I know what to listen to?"

"Okay... Umm... You got something to write with?"

"Just some paint stuff. You can use your paws to mark the stations or whatever..." He said, handing me a small jar of black goo.

I dipped my paw in it, but for some reason I had an instinct to smell it.

I made a disdainful face at the smell.

It didn't smell like paint, it smelled burning hair and body odor.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's paint I made from different berries."

Cursing myself for idiotic curiosity, I pressed my paw against every station he enjoyed.

When finished, I said, "Done! There, now you can listen to every genre you like."

"Cool! Thanks! Umm... Are you hungry at all?" he asked.

Come to think of it, I did feel a bit famished from all of that falling, landing, running, and hiding.

"Kinda," I said simply.

"Alright, I'll... Getcha some berries then!" he replied.

I couldn't help but think to myself.

He's really nice. Not to mention confident.

He was back in no time with a plethora of different berries.

Impressed with the selection, I said, "Thanks Buniot."

"No prob. Help yourself if you're still hungry. I got lotsa berries."

Buniot seemed very eager to have me as company.

It had me wondering if he gets company often,

I was finished eating in no time.

"Thanks Buniot. That was great!" I praised.

"Don't mention it..."

He paused for a moment.

"I guess you gotta go home now hunh?"

I almost replied with the answer I wanted to hear, and not what he wanted to hear.

He didn't seem to have a lot of friends after all.

I grinned as I replied, "Nah. I think I can stay a little longer."

He seemed quite pleased with my answer.

Besides, Team Plasma is still out there, and Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit will find me in no time.

'I hope...'