The Path of Destiny Part 52

The Path of Destiny

Chapter 52 – Secrets of Stonedust

Despite her worries, Snowcrystal found herself enjoying her time with Damian and the others. It was a peaceful life compared to the one they had been living while on their journey, and seeing her friends grow healthier by the day brought Snowcrystal much joy. Stormblade’s Forbidden Attack wounds had not gotten worse, and some of the injuries not caused by Shadowflare were slowly healing. Rosie had been overjoyed to hear that Eve had finally found a peaceful life, and despite not being much closer to finding the information they needed, the ninetales seemed much happier, especially after being able to meet and talk with the mightyena again herself.

It had now been almost two months since they had arrived at Stonedust City and although Snowcrystal was worried that they were taking too much time, the humans continued to search for information, even though they had probably searched every book in the Stonedust City library. Without wanting to leave for another location without any leads on where to find anything about the Forbidden Attacks, Damian, Justin, and Katie diligently searched over books they had already read or skimmed through, hoping to find some detail they’d missed, or searched other sources, such as the library’s computers or even stories from other humans. They weren’t willing to give up on Stonedust just yet, and neither was she.

Snowcrystal had come to be quite used to looking like an orange growlithe. Damian, Katie, and Justin had perfected the look, and Justin had proudly told her that she looked exactly like a normal growlithe.

As Eve had suggested, Redclaw had gotten his collar removed, and luckily there were no questions asked as to why Redclaw wasn’t in a poké ball at the time. Free of the constant reminder of Master, Redclaw had grown to be happier than Snowcrystal had ever seen him.

Rosie, after much persuasion, and insistence that Eve herself had been given help from humans and trusted them, had gotten treatment for her leg. Her limp was much better now, and she was a much better fighter, too. During the times they were waiting while the humans went to search for information or buy food or battle, the pokémon trained with some of Damian and Katie’s pokémon, learning new techniques from the much more battle-savvy trainer’s pokémon. Damian had bought Rosie some new TMs, allowing her to use moves like flamethrower and fire blast, which she normally wouldn’t have been able to learn after her evolution. They passed a lot of their time in practice battles, sometimes by themselves and sometimes with one of the trainers directing them. Then they talked with each other or simply just relaxed and enjoyed a time when they did not have to worry about traveling or about where their next meal would come from.

Arien and Damian had still been unable to make Justin understand Stormblade’s story, and whenever they brought it up, he refused to talk to them about it and sometimes threatened to leave. They eventually gave it up, although Katie, who had often listened while they tried to explain it, seemed to believe it, or at least was rethinking the idea of Stormblade being a murderer.

There had also been no luck convincing Scytheclaw to heal Stormblade, but there was no more trouble with him attacking the other pokémon. Everyone made a great effort to be as nice to him as possible, and brought food to him even though his wounds were nearly healed, but he still largely ignored them. He obviously suspected they were just being kind to try and get him to agree to heal Stormblade, but in Snowcrystal’s case, the kindness was genuine. Scytheclaw’s behavior showed none of the unfair and cruel leader he had once been; even the arrogance and anger he had constantly displayed toward them in the first few days they had teamed up with the humans seemed to be dwindling. Though he still made no effort to be friendly toward the other pokémon, he showed kindness to Damian and, sometimes, his pokémon team, and he really acted as if he did want to put his old life behind him and start anew. He tolerated the presence of Snowcrystal and her friends, even Nightshade.

And that was the best part. Nightshade was back.

The heracross was nearly fully healed; he only had a slight limp now. He had been able to go back with them a while before, when his wounds had still been healing, but he had been well enough to live outside with the other pokémon as long as he slept in a clean place in Damian’s tent and came to the pokémon center for more medicine and check ups to ensure his wounds had been healing correctly. When he had first arrived, it had shocked the others all over again that Thunder had done so much damage. Though Snowcrystal had felt angry at Thunder all over again, she was glad Nightshade was trying not to encourage the others’ negative thoughts about her.

During the time Snowcrystal wasn’t accompanying the humans at the library or practice battling with the others, she often went off into the forest alone with Nightshade. It was partly because she suspected he was lonely; Thunder may have been rude and awful to him at times even before she attacked him, but she knew Nightshade still considered her a friend, something Snowcrystal wasn’t sure she would be able to do in his position. She also knew he had talked with Thunder about things he hadn’t told anyone else, though what those things were, she had no idea. He had to have been close to her, in some way. Another reason she spent time with him more was because she wanted to talk to him. He was the sort of pokémon she could tell anything to, about how she missed her home, the random, silly things she did as a puppy, the stories she was told by flying pokémon visiting the mountain, or even more serious things such as how she was worried about Stormblade. Nightshade had even told her how much he worried about Thunder, caught by that terrible human again. She had known he would be worried, but she hadn’t known he’d be worried so much. Then again, it did make sense. Nightshade knew of the horrors Thunder had gone through more than anyone else, even Redclaw, and it helped both of them to have someone to talk to. She and Nightshade had spent much of their time together, and were quickly becoming close friends.

He was also, she knew, becoming close friends with Damian as well, and before the constant searching for information had taken its toll on the trainer and what little time he had was spent resting or battling for money, he had also spent a lot of time with Nightshade. However, now that he was becoming so busy and exhausted, Nightshade’s loneliness had seemed far stronger, so Snowcrystal had decided to help him in whatever small way she could.

During their aimless wanderings together, they often went somewhat far from the group. They were confident enough in Snowcrystal’s new trainer-taught fighting techniques, and the fact that Nightshade was experienced enough to be a skilled fighter even without the humans’ training, that they didn’t worry about the wild pokémon. Most of them weren’t aggressive, and they had never had any need to fight, but it was comforting to know that they would be able to if it came to it. The poacher traps had long been cleared out, so they explored the forest in peace, Nightshade sometimes pointing out certain herbs or flowers or berries to her and telling her what they were.

On one such day, when they had walked further than usual, they reached a strange place near the city that looked odd and out of place compared to everything else. It took Snowcrystal a moment to realize why it struck her as so odd. The trees were lined up in a very unnatural way; only a human could have planted them like that. The grass and other plants looked precisely placed as well, and there were odd looking human made things scattered about the area. They were a little more than twice her height, and they had strange openings in the top. She could smell a delicious smell coming from the nearest one, and was about to move closer to investigate, when she noticed that Nightshade was acting strange.

“Come on,” the heracross told her in a voice that faltered a bit. “Let’s go.” He quickly guided her away from it, urging her to move toward a different area. She asked him if there was any danger, but he did not reply. As they walked away, Snowcrystal looked back at the strange place, noting how serene and pleasant it looked, even in the shadow of Stonedust City’s buildings. But she trusted Nightshade and tore her gaze away; if he suspected there was something sinister about it, there probably was.

A few days later, as Snowcrystal sat with the group on a warm night lit by hundreds of stars, she watched Wildflame and Spark play fighting at the edge of the clearing. The rest of the pokémon sat around a small fire where Damian was cooking some sort of human treat; cooking was one of the many odd human things she’d learned about since being there. Justin and Katie had already left, but Spark had stayed behind with them for the night. A few of Damian’s pokémon were talking excitedly with Redclaw, and Blazefang was muttering to Dusk the absol; the two of them had seemed to become friends, or at least as close to being friends as Blazefang would allow, over the past few weeks. Scytheclaw just watched the fire with a forlorn look in his eyes.

Snowcrystal looked past the others and noticed Nightshade by the edge of the clearing, looking up at the stars. It was too early to sleep, and Snowcrystal was feeling restless, so she got up and walked over to him. “Want to walk around the forest?” she asked him.

She was expecting him to say no; he hadn’t wanted to explore the forest near the edge of Stonedust City much at all lately, and they rarely walked through it at night, but to her surprise, he nodded, and they set off through the trees.

“There doesn’t seem to be much hope left for that library anymore,” Nightshade said as they began walking. “Sooner or later we’re going to have to find out where we want to go next.”

He seemed distracted, and Snowcrystal had a feeling that wasn’t what he wanted to talk about at all. “Are you worried about Thunder?” Snowcrystal asked as they walked under the starlight with only the sound of crunching leaves beneath their feet.

“Yes…” Nightshade sighed, obviously not caring to bring up the subject of the library again. “I don’t know what’s happening to her now, but…unfortunately, I have a good idea.”

“Do you think we could rescue her somehow?”

Nightshade looked back at her with a sorrowful expression. “…I don’t know.”

Snowcrystal didn’t know either. It would take a miracle for Thunder to escape again, especially since Master would be extra careful not to let her. And even if they could bring her back, would the rest of the group allow her to stay? Would she be in an even worse state…and would she attack any of the others? They walked on for a while, Snowcrystal lost in her own thoughts while Nightshade stayed alert and watchful.

“Nightshade,” Snowcrystal began after a little while longer, “do you think the humans could do something? About Master, I mean.”

“I’m not sure,” Nightshade replied. “We don’t even know his name. I’m not even sure the police know he’s one of the humans who’s a part of that circle of pokémon abuse. We have no idea.”

“I wish Thunder never tried to attack Master,” Snowcrystal said uselessly. “I wish she never attacked you.” Nightshade didn’t reply, and she continued, “I know some of the others hate her, or at least they act like it, but I don’t think they all do. Rosie saw her rescue Stormblade from the mud. She must remember that. And Redclaw knows some of what she’s been through. And Wildflame…” She paused, for Nightshade had stopped walking. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Nightshade was staring straight ahead, unmoving.

Snowcrystal walked forward and peered into the dark, but she couldn’t see anything that would have made Nightshade stop. She was looking about wildly when she noticed lights above the tree tops. A building. “We’re really close to Stonedust,” she pointed out. Slowly she took a few steps forward, and when Nightshade made no move to stop her, she passed a group of trees and came upon, once again, that eerily perfect area with the all-too-straight rows of trees. She hadn’t noticed it up ahead in the darkness. With a jolt of surprise she quickly backed up until she stood beside Nightshade again.

“Nightshade…” she asked, “what is that place? Why is it bad? Is it dangerous?”

“It could be,” Nightshade replied quietly. “But I don’t think so. At least not now.”

“Then what is it?” she asked, smelling the sweet smell coming from the human made things, but no longer having the desire to go closer to them.

“It is a protected area,” Nightshade told her. “A pokémon sanctuary. Trainers are not allowed to come here. I heard some humans talking about it while in the pokémon center. It’s mostly used for helping to bring back species of plants and pokémon that have become uncommon in these parts of the region. But…that isn’t all I heard. That is a dark place, Snowcrystal.” He didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t question him.

Snowcrystal realized, not for the first time, that this part of the wilderness around Stonedust was much more lush and full of the signs of pokémon having recently passed through than the other nearby areas. The place where Damian and the others had set up camp didn’t have nearly as many healthy trees and plants as this area did. And the place didn’t seem as rocky, either, as if all the rocks had long since been cleared away. “Oh…” she replied quietly. “It must seem peaceful to the pokémon here, though. And they must know that the people from Stonedust are in charge of the place.” She looked at Nightshade. “Are you sure it’s not dangerous here? Maybe we should warn some of the pokémon, if it is…” She glanced back at the moonlit area, her gaze fixated on several massive trees that looked quite out of place in a long line next to the smaller, more spindly ones that grew in random places near them.

“I don’t believe they’re in any danger now. And even if they were, there’s not much we can do,” Nightshade replied. “Most wouldn’t leave…some simply can’t. For some species, their only suitable food source is grown right here. And any pokémon who has been put here by the city will not likely have much to worry about. Those who travel here…should be wise enough to not rest here long. But yes…” he added after a moment, “it is safe now.”

Slowly, Snowcrystal ventured out onto the smooth grass. It was odd, planted in blocks, and even though it was overgrown and wild looking, she could still see that it had been put in specific places. Some of it looked recent too, as if the humans had decided the grass was too wild and torn it out, then planted new grass in its place, in that same strange, orderly way. Why a human would do that, she couldn’t begin to guess. She walked up to one of the blocky human things with the sweet smell, and stretched up on her hind legs to try and look inside. She was too short, but the smell was familiar. It was pokéblocks, a human treat she had seen Justin giving to Spark sometimes. Damian had even offered them to her once, but she preferred the normal pokémon food, or, on the occasions the humans brought some back from the city, fresh meat.

She noticed that she couldn’t hear much of any other pokémon, except for a quiet scampering in the tops of the large trees. She turned around to look and noticed Nightshade staring at them, but unwilling to go closer.

“Nightshade?” she asked, walking closer to him. “Is something wrong?” She glanced around quickly to see if any sort of threat had come near, but detected nothing. “Maybe we should leave this place,” she stated in a whisper. “You’re right, there’s something wrong with it…I’m really sorry. We shouldn’t have come. I know you didn’t want to…”

“No,” Nightshade replied. “I did want to come here. I just didn’t expect to come across it tonight.” She noticed that he was staring at one large tree in particular.

“Nightshade…?” Snowcrystal whispered nervously.

“There is no danger, Snowcrystal,” he told her calmly. He paused for a moment. “Do you want me to tell you something?” he asked her, his look calm but serious, with a hint of some other emotion she wasn’t quite sure of. She nodded. “This place…is where I once lived.”

“You used to live by Stonedust?” Snowcrystal asked, surprised. “How long ago?” she questioned, having a bad feeling that whatever Nightshade remembered about this place wasn’t good.

“Many years ago,” he replied. “When I was a lot younger. It’s funny, but it hasn’t changed much since then. It’s as if Stonedust City wanted to keep it looking exactly like a neat and clean human’s park all this time. I didn’t live here for very long, but I still remember what it looked like.”

“Why did you leave?” Snowcrystal couldn’t help asking, but something in the pained look Nightshade gave her told her that she probably shouldn’t have asked.

Nightshade, however, just sighed. “We had to,” he replied. “Those of us who were left. The rest of our group…” His voice gained a more serious tone. “The humans killed them.”

Snowcrystal’s eyes widened in horror. The humans in Stonedust City…the city that had helped her friends so much…had slaughtered innocent pokémon? That had to have changed by now; it was so long ago. Surely the humans were no longer a threat. “What?” Snowcrystal cried, astonished. “How? Why?”

Nightshade looked away, looking as if he was trying to decide whether or not to tell her. He started to walk away from the tree.

“You can tell me,” Snowcrystal told him. “I mean…if…if you want to.” After she said that, she had the horrible feeling that she’d made things worse.

“The humans chose to do it,” Nightshade replied after a moment, his voice icily cold. “No, they were not the sort of humans who wanted to destroy wildlife for their own gain. They…well, I didn’t find this out until later, but they attacked our group of heracross because…because there were too many of us in one area. We were destroying the trees.”

Snowcrystal listened with wide eyes, wanting to say something, but thinking that she shouldn’t interrupt in case Nightshade wanted to say more. She had a feeling that she had been very wrong to ask that question, and was all the more wishing she hadn’t. But Nightshade didn’t seem angry, just lost in memory. Whatever had happened, it had happened long ago, and she had a feeling that Nightshade didn’t often dwell on that part of his memories.

“We didn’t know we were destroying the trees,” Nightshade continued, his calm tone suddenly vanishing as his voice started to shake, and Snowcrystal thought she saw the hint of tears in his eyes, but he looked away before she could be sure. “We just came here because it looked like a better home than the one we’d left. There was plenty of food, or at least…we thought there was. But the humans…they knew we were disrupting the balance in their newly-built reserve…we weren’t supposed to be here, especially in great numbers. So they…they poisoned us.

“I’m still not sure how, exactly, they did it. But they waited until most of us were gathered on our favorite trees, then…they released their poison. They must have made sure it only lasted long enough to poison the heracross there and not any pokémon they put on the reserve after…because when I came back…”

“When…you came back?” Snowcrystal repeated.

Nightshade was silent.

“You don’t have to tell me anymore,” Snowcrystal told him, still in shock over the whole thing. “I understand.”

Nightshade suddenly began to talk again, acting as if he hadn’t heard. “Yes, when I came back,” he said quietly. “I only survived because I had been gone at the time. Usually we all gathered together in the evening, but I had gone off to ask a nearby beedrill swarm for some honey. I wanted some…to give to my children. My mate, Treeflower…it was her turn to watch them at the time. When I came back, they were all lying on the ground. Along with most of the others from the group. Treeflower wouldn’t wake up, and then some of the humans came back.

“I did not yet know the others were dead, so I attacked the humans. They must have been surprised…a heracross attacking them, when we’re normally so peaceful, but they sent out pokémon to fight me. They were not very strong, and I took a few of them down; I don’t remember how many. Then when I was wounded they sent out a pidgeot. I was fighting so fiercely that they considered me a real threat, and their pokémon was no longer using the sort of restraint pokémon usually did for trainers’ sport battles to ensure that the attacks did not seriously injure. No, that pidgeot was doing his best to make his attacks as strong and damaging as possible. And so was I. I didn’t care that I was getting wounded; I was too angry. Then, during the battle, I got close enough to Treeflower and my children to see them closely, for longer than the few brief seconds I’d had to see them the moment I first came back. When I looked closely at them during that the battle, it was then that I realized they were dead. And I gave up.

“The pidgeot realized I wasn’t going to attack him anymore and there wasn’t any risk, so he came closer, and used aerial ace…” He ran a claw along the scar over his left eye. “It knocked me out, but only for a minute or two. When I came to, the humans were gathering all the heracross and moving them away, including Treeflower and both of our children. They came for me, but I didn’t try to fight anymore; I ran off. They told the pokémon to leave me alone, that I'd just die off. I didn't realize until later that they must have thought I'd been poisoned too and that it was just affecting me slower than the others. For a while I just stumbled around through the trees and rocks, having no idea where I was going. I found the survivors after a few days, and we traveled further away as soon as we could. One of them, a heracross named Rosethorn, took care of me. I learned most of the healing skills I have from her. The others told me what they saw happen…with the poison…most of them hadn’t seen much, but it was enough for them to understand what had taken place.”

The whole time Nightshade had been talking, Snowcrystal had sat in stunned silence, but now she couldn’t help crying, “What? Why would they do that? How could they…Nightshade, I’m so sorry…” Her voice trailed off. She really didn’t know what to say. When she and Nightshade had talked alone all those days before, she thought Nightshade had been telling her everything that was wrong. But he hadn’t told her this. She couldn’t imagine what she would do if such a thing happened to her growlithe tribe. She didn’t want to imagine.

“I don’t know,” Nightshade replied before she spoke again, his voice sounding weaker than ever. “They could have had trainers come and catch them…but they didn’t. Maybe they didn’t think that enough of them would…that most trainers would want a pedigree heracross from one of the breeding centers in the city. Or maybe they thought what they were doing was the quickest, easiest solution. But no, I don’t know why they would choose that either.”

“I’m sorry,” Snowcrystal whispered. “We shouldn’t have come here.”

“It’s all right,” he replied. “I did want to come here…to remember the happy times in this place.”

‘But we didn’t talk about the happy times…’ Snowcrystal thought miserably. She was sure she had just made things a lot worse. For a while the two of them sat together. Snowcrystal wanted to help him, but she didn’t feel like anything she could say would do any good. For a while they just sat in silence, Snowcrystal wishing she knew what she could do for her friend, and Nightshade with his own thoughts.

Finally, Snowcrystal said, “I think I understand now. I think I understand why Cyclone is doing what he is.”

But when Nightshade looked at her, she saw that the look in his eyes was almost like the look she was used to, before they had come to this place. “No,” he said firmly, standing up again and looking almost offended at what she’d said, his eyes suddenly gaining a cold look that seemed so unlike him. “What Cyclone is doing is wrong. He’s not only acting under the misguided idea that all humans are selfish and evil, but he is dragging other innocent pokémon into it, and they want to harm countless humans and pokémon who have done nothing wrong. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why Cyclone is doing what he is.”

“But…” Snowcrystal began, taken aback. “Those humans you told me about…they did horrible things. Cyclone probably had horrible things done to him by humans too. I mean, I can understand why he’d want to fight them, considering the things they do.”

“Those humans may have done a bad thing,” Nightshade replied sadly, “a very bad thing, but they did not choose badly because they are humans. Most humans, just like most pokémon, are not like them. Most of them are trying their best to do good. Being a human doesn’t change that. There will always be bad pokémon and bad humans; it’s not what you are that determines whether you do good or evil.”

Snowcrystal realized he was right. What Cyclone was doing was the equivalent of a pokémon trying to eradicate all growlithe because the ones he’d known had seemed to only do harm to other pokémon. It wasn’t right. Cyclone might think that he was doing the right thing, in some twisted way, but his hatred of humans, whatever the reason for it, blinded him to the reality of just what his actions would cause to befall upon both humans and pokémon.

“You’re right,” she said in little more than a whisper. “Cyclone is wrong…even if I can understand why he might be angry.” She looked up at Nightshade. “Why did you want to tell me this?” she asked. She hadn’t thought this would be something Nightshade would want to tell anyone, let alone some silly growlithe like her who was completely useless when it came to being helpful.

“Because you are my friend,” he replied. “And… I guess that’s what I’d been trying to tell Thunder. That there is value in having friends, and talking to them about things that are hurting you. I hope she understood that…she would have understood it, had she been with us longer. She’s a smart scyther.”

“I…I think she would have too,” Snowcrystal replied, though truthfully she wasn’t sure. The image of Thunder finally snapping and attacking Nightshade was still too firmly ingrained in her mind. There was something truly wrong with Thunder, and she wasn’t sure it could ever be made right.

“I’m sorry if I upset you,” Nightshade said quietly.

Snowcrystal looked back at him in surprise. She felt that, if anything, she should be the one apologizing. “No, it’s okay. If talking to me helped, then I’m glad you did.”

“Thank you,” Nightshade replied with a small smile.

The growlithe smiled in return.

“We should go back,” said Nightshade, in a voice much more like the one she was used to, but still with a hint of sadness. He didn’t wait for her answer, and simply walked away from the human’s protected area without looking back.

Without a word, she followed.

                                                                                          -ooo-

The next morning, Snowcrystal offered to go with the three trainers to the library once again. She was eager to do something to help, even if all she could do was to try. Though Justin had grown extremely impatient and was constantly demanding they find some other place to look for information, and fast, Damian had insisted that there must be something at the library they had missed and that they should look again.

So, after a brief argument, they decided to go, and Snowcrystal went with them. During the journey to the library, she was so busy thinking about what Nightshade had told her, and about Cyclone, that she didn’t speak to any of the other pokémon until they walked through the library’s doors.

“The library is so boring,” Spark complained as they walked down a hallway. “I wanted to do battle practice today!”

“Why didn’t you stay with the others, then?” Wildflame, who had chosen to come along too, asked.

“Justin wanted me here,” Spark told her. “I’m his pokémon. If he wants me to be here, I’ll be here! I just….really think this is boring.”

“You could have just made it clear you wanted to stay,” Wildflame muttered. “Justin isn’t right about everything. Look at how he still won’t stop thinking of Stormblade as a murderer.”

“Hey!” Spark cried. “You…you can’t judge him just because of that! He-”

“Drop it, Spark,” Wildflame snapped. “Let’s do what we came here for.” She turned and sped up to catch up with Katie, who was leading the way down the hallway. Spark slowed down and trailed behind everyone else.

Snowcrystal waited until he could catch up. “Don’t worry about it, Spark,” she told him. “I…I think it was nice you wanted to keep your trainer company.”

Spark acted like he hadn’t heard the compliment. “I don’t know what to think!” he almost wailed. “Stormblade is my friend, but Justin is too, and he’s the friend I’ve known the longest…ever since I was an eevee! He did so many things for me, but…but I don’t know. I mean, I can’t blame him for being angry about losing his license, even if it wasn’t Stormblade’ fault. I…”

He paused, for they had both heard someone calling to him. The growlithe and jolteon whirled around to see Eve running toward them. They had seen the mightyena a few times since meeting her, but she usually stayed in some other part of the library with her trainer or, occasionally, the child humans, and had only really made an effort to meet any of them when Rosie was there. Snowcrystal looked at Damian, who told her she and Spark could catch up later if they wanted. As the humans left, Eve stopped in front of them.

“Back here again?” she asked, and there was a curious look in her eyes. “You come here a lot, don’t you?” she added, glancing at Wildflame and the humans as they walked out of sight.

“Yeah,” Snowcrystal replied. “We’re…we’re trying to look for something.” She took a deep breath. No point in keeping it a secret. “We’re looking for books that mention the Forbidden Attacks. Do you know of any?” There wasn’t much of a chance the mightyena would know of a book they hadn’t looked through already, but she figured it was worth a shot.

Unsurprisingly, Eve shook her head. “I don’t know what any of the books say,” she admitted. “I hear them being read aloud in the children’s room sometimes, but that’s it. And no, no Forbidden Attacks there. I’m sure they’re in the stories for older humans, though.”

“We’ve looked,” Spark told her, trying to sound normal, though his voice shook. “We haven’t found anything that’s helped us.”

“You’ve looked in all of them?” she asked.

“We had to have searched every book in this whole stinking library!” Spark growled in frustration.

Eve looked thoughtful for a moment. “Why do you want to find out about the Forbidden Attacks so much?” she asked.

Snowcrystal didn’t know what to say. Where would they begin? Would Eve even believe them? She opened her mouth, but it was Spark who spoke first.

“Because they exist!” he told her. “We need to find out everything we can. You know that forest that burned down near here? A Forbidden Attack did that! No ordinary fire would have done that much damage. It was a Forbidden Attack! We need to see any book that could tell us anything!”

Eve just stared at him. Snowcrystal was sure she hadn’t believed one word that had come out of the jolteon’s mouth. She probably even thought he was crazy. But when she spoke, she didn’t even mention Spark’s outburst.

“There are…other books in the library,” she said slowly, keeping her voice down as if she was afraid someone – though there was no one in the hallway but the three of them – would overhear. “People aren’t allowed to look at them or check them out; they’re too valuable. You see, Stonedust City’s library contains some very, very old books. My trainer says that most of them are one of a kind. Only certain humans are allowed to read them, humans that study those old times, I think, and then only with certain permission.”

“Books older than the ones on the fifth story we were looking at a little while ago?” Spark asked, his anger temporarily forgotten and the light of excitement in his eyes, which brightened when Eve nodded.

“Much older,” the mightyena said.

“Are there copies of these books anywhere?” Spark questioned excitedly. “You know, have humans rewritten them?”

“No,” Eve replied. “The Stonedust City library doesn’t want them reprinted, at least not fully. I don’t know why for sure; it might be because they want them to stay more valuable or they want the humans who study things to come here. And I’m sure they don’t think they’re important enough to most people for it. To most humans they’re just old stories.”

“Could we get permission to read them? Our trainers, I mean?” Snowcrystal asked.

“No,” Eve replied. “They’d never let a couple of teenagers and some twenty-year-old in the place where they’re kept. I’ve never even been in there myself. But I know where it is.”

“Where?” Spark asked.

“I…” she paused, hearing a human voice calling to her. “I can’t tell you now,” she whispered. “But tomorrow evening, meet me in the big circular room. I’ll explain then. Bye.” She hurriedly ran toward the voice.

Snowcrystal and Spark stared after her in stunned silence. Secret books? That no one but a few were allowed to read? And they were very old…

Snowcrystal was suddenly seized with a brilliant, fleeting hope. Books that old…could have something none of the other books had, even if they were only stories. They could be stories that had some truth to them. They could find what they were looking for at last in those mysterious books…right here in the library they had been about to give up on.

But she also knew it was likely that none of them had any information at all, and she felt that brilliant hope fade. She was probably getting too excited over the idea of the old, all but forgotten books hidden in the massive Stonedust City library.

But even still, as she watched Eve turn a corner and join her trainer, a bit of that wild hope still lingered.

To be continued...