~Route 7, 6:00 PM~

"Hmm," Tails pondered while looking at the map with Meka. "Alright we're here at Route 7. We landed on Route 2 where Shadow was. So, maybe he went on a different path than us?" He theorized. The human was tapping her chin with her fist as she thinks.

"You could be right. Your friend could be at Snowbelle City, or in Geosenge City. But we can't circle around the region over and over. It would be a small percentage that we'll cross paths with him that way." The inventor said. The Kitsune nods at that thought.

"I think he went to Snowbelle. He couldn't go far without a Chaos Emerald. And it's not like him to waste energy on Chaos Controlling around an unfamiliar region. Besides, Snowbelle is the closest to where he landed." Tails said dragging his finger to Route 2 then to Snowbelle City.

"So it looks like we're going to Snowbelle City. Hopefully, your friend is alright there." Meka said, before putting away her map. The two saw that Silver was moving rocks and sticks with his telekinesis in front of Mirai. The tall bird looked impressed. His black eyes glowed with his long white wings out. Pyroar, who was sunbathing on top of a flat boulder, floated in the air with a purple aura around him. But was set down gently on the boulder. The lion lifted his head up with his eyes slightly opened. He let out a big yawn, before laying his head down between his paws.

"Impressive." Silver said to the Xatu with a shrug. Meanwhile, Sonic was placing a log on top of a stump.

"Alright Mordred, we'll use this as practice for now. Are you ready?" The blue blur asked as he walks to his partner. Mordred had confidence in his eye, ready to fight the log. But then, it changed to confusion when his trainer lifted him by the hilt.

"Let's go!" In a spin dash, Sonic slashed the log in two with the sword. The hero looked back with his usual smirk.

"Great job!" He said to his Pokemon. Then he saw Mordred's eye spinning as if he's dizzy.

"H-Honedge..."

"Oops, sorry buddy. You can rest for now." Sonic said with an awkward smirk. He set the Honedge down on the grass so it can rest.

"Hey mister!" Lucky said to the sleeping Pyroar. "If you sleep too much then you'll be lazy." The Eevee said. The fire lion opened his eyes, then closed them again.

"And I thought I was lazy." The Eevee commented.

"Maybe he's mute?" Leon guessed as he was sitting next to the rock.

"I don't think so. The fire fur ball is too stubborn to talk." Lucky said before jumping down from the boulder the Pyroar was sleeping on.

"You know if you keep talking like that you'll be in trouble." The jackal said as a warning.

"I've been doing that all the time. And, I haven't got into trouble once!" Lucky said with a mischievous grin.

"Don't you think it's weird that your owners can't understand you, but other Pokemon can?" Leon asked with a raised brow. The brown-furred Pokemon shrugged with his grin gone.

"It kinda is. Silver was teaching me how to talk for a few months. I'm talking fine, but they can't understand me at all." The fox-like Pokemon explained.

"Because you're a Pokemon. That's why we can talk so well." Leon explained with a small smile. The Eevee blinked a few times before chuckling as if the Riolu told him a joke.

"I'll believe it when I see more of me. Come on let's do something else." Lucky said with the grin back on his face.

"As long as you don't prank me like last time." The jackal said with half-closed eyes.

"Got to admit the fake spider on your food was pretty funny." The Eevee said with a chuckle. Leon rolled his eyes with a smile. Sonic picked up Mordred off the ground, and brush off the grass on the blade.

"Are you ready for another one?" The sword opened his eye to see the next target was a bigger log. Mordred closes his eye, and pretended to be unconscious.

"Hey I know you're faking it." The blue blur said with half-closed eyes.

"Why is Sonic fighting like that?" Amy pointed out.

"I don't know," Knuckles said with a shrug. "I remember he said something about being a knight one time. Besides seeing people fighting his battles isn't his thing." The echidna commented.

"So he didn't lie about the whole medieval times' thing? I thought he said that to get out our date." The pink hedgehog said. Knuckles chuckled.

"He would try a little bit harder to get out of it." Amy then glared at the Guardian.

"What's that suppose to mean?" She asked.

"N-Nothing. Hey, um, it's getting dark I should get wood." Knuckles said as he quickly runs to the forest to get away from the angry hedgehog. Once he was deep in the woods he catches his breath.

"I should think before talking in front of her." The red echidna said as he got his breath back to normal. As he was walking to get firewood something from the corner of his eye saw something blue. It was bubble beam attack.

"Whoa!" Knuckles jumped back before the bubbles could hit him. Lucky was silently snickering as he was on Pyroar's head. His front paw was holding a toy Spinarak hanging by a string right next to sleeping Pyroar's face. But, bubbles hit the Eevee in the behind, making him fall while screaming in surprise. Pyroar raises his head, and looked down at the fox Pokemon who landed between his paws.

"That was close." The echidna commented to himself.

"Sand!" The Guardian turned in response to the high-pitch noise. The echidna saw in a lake nearby was a fight. A Crawdaunt was in the middle of the shallow waters fighting a short crocodile with mostly brown body expect black stripes on its back, and on the long snout with a pink underbelly. Its body looked smooth like wet sand. The large crab Pokemon lift its claw to reveal a star piece, and smirked. The crocodile growled, and charges to the Crawdaunt with screech.

"Sandile!" The Sandile jumped up and tried to chomp down on the opponent. But the Crawdaunt was prepared for that, with a night slash it hit the crocodile. But it made the crocodile's muzzle have a long scar from the corner of its mouth to the middle. The Sandile landed in the water as the blood from the scar stains it. Knuckles' eyes widened in shock after the battle. The Crawdaunt laughed before leaving with the star piece. The crocodile Pokemon saw it with black eyes before closing them. After the crab Pokemon was gone, the echidna rushed to the injured Pokemon.

"Hey, wake up!" Knuckles saw the crocodile Pokemon stirring before opening its black eyes. The scarred Pokemon saw the Echidna and slightly tilts its head in confusion. But a moment later, it screeched in pain from its muzzle.

"Hold on, little guy." Knuckles then dragged the Sandile out of the lake to a bunch of bushes.

"Okay, let's hope I remember this from Roark." The red echidna said to himself before grabbing a few leaves and Oran berries. The injured crocodile watches the Guardian punching the berries until they were mush, and places them in the leaves.

"These might sting, but they'll help stop the bleeding." Knuckles advised the Sandile. The scarred Pokemon nods, then show the red echidna where the scar began.

"He's trusting to be a wild Pokemon." He thought as he put a leaf in the crocodile's lip. The Sandile screamed in pain from the burning feeling.

"Hey, it's okay. The pain will pass in a few seconds." Knuckles promise as he puts more Oran stained leaves under the crocodile's lip. Once he got to the middle of the Sandile's long snout, it stopped screaming.

"There," The echidna sighs "The Oran berries will heal your scar." He says with a smile. Then the Sandile jumped on him, and nuzzle the good side of his snout on the echidna.

"Whoa there, your skin is like sandpaper!" Knuckles said while smiling. Once the Sandile stops nuzzling, the echidna started asking questions.

"Now, why were you fighting that Crawdaunt?" He asked. The Pokemon looks down at his shifting paws while having a troubled face. Knuckles frowned at this.

"You can tell me later. Right now you need to go to a Pokemon Center." The Guardian picked up the Sandile with one arm before leaving the area.

~With the others~

"Knuckles has been out there for a while. I think I scared him off." Amy pointed out while looking at the forest. Sonic was wiping grass stains out of Mordred's blade with a wet cloth.

"Don't worry about him. He might have found something cool in there." The hero commented as he finished cleaning the sword. Mordred jumped in happiness with his eye closed. That was when Knuckles came out of the forest with an injured crocodile under his arm.

"Guys! We need to take him to a Pokemon Center!" The echidna said in a panic. Meka and Tails heard the shouting so they went to him. The human examined the Sandile to see that looks like it's burning up.

"You're right. Camphrier Town is the closest place with a Pokemon Center."

"Let's go then!" The two-tailed fox shouted. Silver and Mirai heard that then called to the Eevee and Riolu.

"Lucky we're going!" The time traveler shouted to his Eevee.

"Xatu!" The bird called to Leon. The two looked at them before running to them.

"Come on Pyroar!" Tails called to the fire lion. Pyroar stretched while yawning before jumping down the rock. Everyone run together with Sonic in the lead. Knuckles looks down at the Sandile in his arm.

"Don't worry you'll get better soon." He promised. The Crocodile nuzzled the echidna's side before closing his black eyes.

~Pokemon Center, 8:00 PM~

"Got to admit, it's odd to see a Sandile in this area. Their habitat is in the desert." Meka pointed out. Everyone was at the waiting room, some of them looked nervous if the crocodile will be okay. Nurse Joy told them she need to do a small operation.

"Really? Then why is it in a forest fighting a water type?" Tails asked with Pyroar sleeping next to him. Lucky was jumping on his back while Leon watches nervously from below. Nurse Joy came out with Wiggytuff with calm faces.

"Is he alright?" Knuckles asked.

"The Sandile is going to be fine. Luckily you patched up the scar before it got infected." Nurse Joy explained.

"Wiggy!" The pink Pokemon agreed.

"That's great!" Amy said in relief.

"Can I ask you a question Nurse Joy?" The inventor asked.

"You're asking why a Sandile is in this area, aren't you?" The pink-haired nurse asked. Everyone raised a brow excepted for the Pokemon.

"Ya, why is that?" Meka asked.

"Well, the Sandile's trainer left it around here to protect a star piece. But it didn't know that the trainer told it that, so it could stay where it was."

"That's terrible to hear." Tails said with sadness in his eyes.

"How long did he guard that star piece?" Knuckles asked with his arms crossed.

"A year." Nurse Joy simply answered. Everyone had shocked reactions when they heard that. Of course, except for Pyroar and Lucky.

"A full year?!" Sonic asked with Mordred having an angry look in his eye.

"But he was taken care of by the townspeople. Passing trainers met with the Sandile, so that's why he wasn't hostile towards you. But every time someone wants to catch him, he disagrees because he waits for his owner to come back." The nurse explained. The group was silent for a moment until someone broke it.

"Could I see him?" Knuckles asked. Nurse Joy nods to him.

"Yes, he's awake." She said with a smile. The echidna smiled.

"Good." He went to the door to where patients were in.

"Oh ya," The pink-haired girl said, "The Sandile's name is Dustin." Nurse Joy informed the red one. Knuckles nods to her before going through the door.

"I guess that Knuckles sees himself in that Sandile." The pink hedgehog said.

"What do you mean by that?" Meka asked. Knuckles was walking past a bunch of injured Pokemon's rooms.

"All his life Knuckles have been protecting an artifact. He almost dies a number of times guarding it." The two-tailed Fox explained. The echidna stopped in front of a window to see the scarred Sandile eating a bucket of berries. When the red one opened the door, the crocodile Pokemon looked up while chewing an Oran berry.

"Hey, Dustin! Remember me?" Knuckles asked while walking to the Pokemon. Dustin smiled before nuzzling him while making happy noises.

"That's good. How's that scar?" The echidna asked. The Sandile smiled to show that where the scar started that some of his teeth were missing. They were only red gums with tiny stitches.

"I guess that Nurse Joy took them out because they were damaged. But your teeth will grow back soon." Knuckles said while patting the crocodile's head. Dustin licked his pale scar with his tongue to get used to the feeling.

"I've heard your story about your trainer." He said with a frown. The Sandile stopped licking, and looked down.

"But if you want I could train you, so you can defeat that Crawdaunt." The crocodile looks at the echidna with surprise.

"I won't catch you though. After you get the star piece, we'll leave you alone." Knuckles said. Dustin stared at him for a few seconds before the red one spoke again.

"So what do you say? Would you let me train you?" The echidna asked with a smile and a hand out to the Pokemon. The scarred ground type stared at it for another few seconds before putting his paw on it. Dustin grinned big with his gums showing. Knuckles nods with a smile.

~The next morning~

"Alright, guys. Let's have a nice clean battle." Amy said to Knuckles and Sonic.

"I warn you that my blade is sharp," Mordred said to Dustin. "If you get cuts, then I'm terribly sorry." He apologized with his cloth around of him, as if bowing to the other.

"I'll be fine. My skin is hard now, so you can't scratch me." Dustin said with a smile.

"So Dustin's moves are Rage, Crunch, Sand Tomb, and Sand Attack," Meka informed the echidna from her Pokedex. Lucky and Leon was watching the scene.

"Who do you think will win?" The Eevee asked. The Riolu put his paw under his chin as he thinks.

"I think Dustin will win. Since he's a ground and dark type, Mordred wouldn't stand a chance against him." He explained.

"Why couldn't Dustin fight someone tougher? It feels like he's fighting an easy opponent." The fox-like Pokemon pointed out with his ears twitching.

"This is a practice battle remember? Dustin is still weak from yesterday. Besides, Sonic and Mordred needs training." Mirai explained as he stands with the two.

"That makes sense," Leon agreed with his mentor.

"Hey, when can I battle? It sounds fun." Lucky said with big eyes filled with excitement. The psychic bird chuckles softly.

"Dear child, you can't battle yet." He said. The Eevee had a confused look while his big ears went down.

"Why not?" He asked, looking pitiful to the Xatu.

"Because you're level one." Mirai simply explained. The evolution Pokemon stared at him for a bit.

"LEVEL ONE?!" Pyroar was chewing berries in the forest when he heard the shout from the Eevee. The lion snorted in annoyance before resuming eating.

"Alright, let's get this started." Knuckles said as he and Dustin gets into position.

"You're right." Sonic grabbed Mordred by the hilt, and gets into fighting position. Of course, everyone was confused including the sword Pokemon.

"Sonic, what are you doing?" Amy asked with confusion.

"I'm battling." The hero simply explained, slashing the wind to get warmed up. The haunted sword let out noises as his eye went around in circles.

"I'm guessing that this isn't normal here." Silver said with an angry Lucky in his arms.

"Then again, Sonic never had a Pokemon in Sinnoh." The two-tailed Fox said as Pyroar came back, and laid next to him.

"Okay, begin!" The pink hedgehog shouted in excitement as the battle starts.

"Dustin use Crunch!" The echidna demanded. The Sandile's teeth glowed as he rushes to the opponents. Sonic had a smirk on his face as his grip on the Honedge's hilt tightened.

"Mordred use Shadow Sneak!" He demanded.

"Hon!" They disappear in a second before the crocodile could bite them. Dustin stopped and looks around the area. He froze as he felt someone appeared behind him, then being sent flying after getting hit on the back.

"Dustin are you okay?" The Guardian asked. The Sandile got up from his back, and faced the opponents with a growl.

"Use Rage!" Knuckles demanded. Dustin's eyes turn red as he growls louder. He rushes towards Sonic and Mordred with fangs ready.

"Use Tackle!" The hero demanded. Honedge blinks in understanding before thrusting his blade to Dustin's chest. The Sandile bit onto Mordred's blade hard.

"Hon! Hon!" The haunted sword moved around to get the crocodile to get off of him.

"Easy buddy!" Sonic shouted as he tries to calm the sword down, or his wrist will be twisted from the sudden movements.

"Better close your eyes for this one!" Knuckles warns with a confident smirk.

"What do you mean by that?" The hero asked as his partner continues thrashing around. The Guardian chuckles to himself.

"Dustin use Sand Tomb!" He demanded. Dustin grinned while still having a grip on Mordred. The sand around them started to shake before making a tornado around them. Sonic put his free arm over his eyes to block sand. The Sandile lets go, and dug under the sand.

"I hope Sonic and Mordred are okay," Amy said with worry.

"Don't worry they'll find a way." Silver said with a smile. Lucky was angrily eating a Poke Puff with Leon sitting with him, calmly watching the battle. Pyroar went back to the forest after Meka asked him for something. The Honedge looks around frantically for his disappeared opponent. His trainer slightly opened his eyes.

"It's okay! Just calm down, and I'll give you the signal to slash." Sonic said with a smirk. The haunted sword stopped moving before blinking in agreement. The hero closed his eyes again to focus on feeling the movement from under his shoes. He felt something swiftly moving under the hedgehog before jumping out from behind.

"Slash!" Sonic demanded. The Honedge's blade glowed on command. His trainer swings the sword to the opponent behind him. The attack hit the crocodile on the belly, causing him to roll out of the Sand Tomb.

"Are you okay?" Knuckles asked. Dustin quickly got on his paws as the Sand Tomb stops. The wind blew the sand away to reveal Sonic with his usual smirk.

"This is getting good," Leon commented. Lucky angrily chews off a part of his Poke Puff.

"It'll be better if blood was involved." The Eevee said darkly. The Riolu flinched at the dark commented. Sonic raise Mordred to point at Knuckles.

"I'm ready to end this battle!" He said with a grin. The sword closed his eye in excitement as his cloth unconsciously wrapped around his trainer's wrist. Sonic's eyes widened slightly before falling on his back.

"Sonic!" Both Tails and Amy went to help the down hero. Mordred bounces around his trainer with his eye filled with concern. Both Knuckles and Dustin had confused faces.

"I guess it's a draw." The echidna said with a shrug.

"Sand." The Sandile agreed. The hero slowly stood up, his muzzle was pale as if some of his energy was drained out of him.

"I'm okay." He slurred out with sleepy eyes.

"How about we take a break?" Silver suggested with a sheepish smile. The gang walked to Meka who was cooking in a pot over a fire. Pyroar came back from the forest with a Razz berry in his mouth. When he got to the human's side, she pats his brown head.

"Thanks, this is what I need." She said as she grab the berry, and dumps it in the pot.

"Roar." The lion Pokemon said before grabbing an unused Oran Berry, and walked away to eat it. The human turned to see Knuckles and Silver dragging a zoned out Sonic with their Pokemon behind.

"Let me guess, Mordred accidentally drained Sonic's energy?" Meka guessed after seeing the sword jumps around his blue trainer with a widened eye.

"Yep." The Mobians said in unison while Sonic was slowly blinking. A few minutes later, everyone sat on the grass eating their food. Dustin was eating a bit farther than everyone else.

"Is there something wrong?" The ground type looked up, his mouth filled with berries to see Mirai. He swallows his food in one big gulp.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm not used to eating with a lot of people, that's all." Dustin said with a weak smile.

"I know. But you won't get rid of the fear if you do nothing. Come with me." The bird offered before walking away, and Dustin follows behind.

"Man, that sword can't calm down for crap." Lucky commented as he sees Mordred shaking near him.

"Don't worry Mordred. Sonic will be fine. He just needs rest." Leon assures the haunted sword. Mordred's eye looked at the Riolu.

"I know, but I'm afraid that I'll suck all of his energy on accident." He said with worry. Dustin walked to the three pokemon with Mirai next to him.

"Um, hey." He greeted with a grin showing some of his missing teeth. The Aura Pokemon looked at him.

"Oh hello." He said shyly before looking away. The scarred crocodile tilted his head at Leon's attitude.

"He's always like that." The Eevee said while chewing some berries. Dustin raised a brow at the other.

"It was a good battle with you. Too bad we didn't finished it." Mordred said awkwardly to the crocodile. Dustin nods to him.

"Ya, but it was cool. I want to battle someone else!" The scarred ground type said with his tail wagging in excitement. Lucky looked to his right to see Pyroar eating his Oran Berry alone. The blue juice was around his muzzle as his tongue cleans some of it off.

"Oh! How about him? He's too lazy to fight against a fly." The Eevee commented with a smirk. The Sandile stared at the lion Pokemon before nodding.

"Okay!" He said excitedly before running to the Mobians.

"Sand! Sand!" Dustin yipped while making small jumps.

"Do you think he's ready for another battle?" Silver asked. Knuckles looked at Sonic who was taking a nap between Tails and Amy.

"Well, he'll have to battle against someone else." The echidna said. The Sandile turned around to point at the now sleeping Pyroar with his long scarred snout.

"You want to battle Pyroar?" The Guardian asked. The crocodile Pokemon nodded a few times to the Mobian.

"Another battle?" Meka asked. "It hasn't been five minutes since the last one." She said. The ground type was bouncing up and down, getting pumped up for the next battle.

"I think Knuckles' personality is rubbing on Dustin." Amy said with a chuckle. The said echidna looked the pink female with confusion.

"What's that suppose to mean?" He asked.

"Besides," Tails got up from his spot, dusting himself in case grass was on him. "We haven't seen Pyroar battle yet. So this way, we could see a glimpse of his power." The fox said with a smile. He grabbed an Oran berry from a tree, and walked to his sleeping Pokemon. He put the berry in front of the lion's black nose to get the scent. The Pyroar opened his eyes, and eyed the blue berry.

"Go get it!" Tails threw the berry at the battlefield. Like a dog, the fire lion slowly got to his paws, and trotted to the berry. After sniffing it he began to chew on it, immediately staining his muzzle with the blue juices. Meka was looking at her Pokedex as data popped up.

"Pyroar's move are Hyper Beam, Fire Fang, Overheat, and Noble Roar. Pretty strong for a lazy Pokemon." The inventor commented. Knuckles nodded at the information as Dustin gets ready to fight. Tails gets behind his Pokemon who was licking his stained muzzle.

"You can go first." The Kitsune said to the echidna, his tails twitching in excitement. Before the Guardian is going to say his first attack, Meka was looking more information about Pyroar. When she got to his level, she gasped at the two numbers.

"Guys wait! Pyroar is level 9-"

"Dustin, use Sand Tomb!" Knuckles commanded. Dustin stomped his front paw to the dirt ground. A sand tornado surrounded the lion Pokemon who was busy cleaning himself. Pyroar's eyes shrunken when he saw that he was trapped in the Sand Tomb. Images of a small Litleo battling with a smile blinded his vision. But then, the Litleo getting beat up by a large Pyroar was being shown. The heavily scarred Litleo evolves into a Pyroar during a battle. The last image was the Pyroar running away from a man with spiky orange hair while tears escape his eyes. The lion Pokemon snarled at the images. He looks up to show his now shrunken angry eyes and clenched fangs.

"Pyroar, use Hyper Beam to clear away the Sand Tomb!" Tails commanded with his hands cupped around his mouth to be louder. After a few seconds, nothing happened with the sand tornado still raging on.

"Pyroar?" The fox asked in concern. More seconds went by, and concern was increasing.

"Hey Dustin," Knuckles called out. "Can you stop the move?" The echidna asked. Leon and Lucky was watching the battle.

"Man, even in battle, that Pyroar is lame." The Eevee said with his paw on his cheek, looking bored. The Riolu was about to say something, but was then a flash of a Pyroar with intense eyes hit his mind. He screamed with his paws on both sides of his head.

"Whoa, something's wrong?" The fox Pokemon asked with sweat under his shaggy fur. Before Leon could explain, Pyroar jumped out of the Sand Tomb, and lands on his paws. His head hanged low as a strong wind from the sand tornado pushes his fur, revealing many pale scars. Everyone looked surprised at the discovery.

"W-What?" Silver and Amy shouted in surprise.

"Guys!" Meka shouted with her hands still holding her Pokedex. "That Pyroar is high leveled!" She shouted. The lion Pokemon lifted his head to show his opponents his dilated shaky eyes. Red was around them in result of the sand getting in them. He was snarling, curling his lips to reveal long sets of fangs.

"He's level is 99!" The inventor shouted. Pyroar let out a might Noble Roar that made the bird and forest Pokemon flee.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Originally there wasn't going to be a second part of this. But I thought that it was long enough.

I changed Pyroar's backstory. Originally, he was a Litleo that ran away from his pride after they were captured by Team Flare. Which is why he's lazy. But I thought that it would be more interesting if he was trained until level 99.

I have to rewrite most of the chapter to fit my current writing style. Note that I don't have Grammarly anymore. Thank Arceus. I still struggle with commas and past/present tense, so hopefully it's not terrible.

Thank you guys for being patient. And thank you Denkoy for that wonderful review! It got me back to writing this chapter. I promise that the second part won't come out next year. Anyways, have a good day/night!