Bet y'all never thought you'd see this again, huh? I really actually kinda hate this one, because I wrote it in a serious slump, but it's the only one of the remaining five that I actually have finished, and one of these days I'm going to finish this damn story or it will kill me. I don't know when the next one will be released.

You're all amazing for sticking with me this far.

Gliscor, the Fang Scorp Pokémon.

"There's one, Clicks!"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down, Snap."

"Okay, okay. I'm just excited. We haven't done this in forever."

"Shut up, man!"

"Sorry."

The woods fall silent for a second as I wait…wait patiently for the right moment …and, now!

"BUGABOO!"

The human shrieked in terror, drops her rucksack, and promptly flees in terror. Her companion, a tiny yellow rodent thing, screams with her as they run pell-mell away in the direction that they came from. Before too long, however, Snap falls from the tree laughing, and I'm bouncing up and down on my tail contentedly.

Whoo, but isn't that fun?

"Good one, Clicks," Snap tells me, beating his claws on the ground in our gesture of approval. He rolls his springy tail up and snaps it on the ground—his namesake—twice before bouncing up and reclaiming his spot on the tree.

I glide back over to my spot, a couple paces off, somewhere close to the road, grinning all the while.

"She left her bag," I remark, looking at the discarded sack in the road. "She'll be back and probably with someone else who's got stronger Fighters."

Snap shrugs. "Who cares? It's not like we're stickin' around. Ain't nobody else coming down this road in a while."

I shrug. "Very true."

Snap spares a look at the ground. "Clicks, it's Tail-Shadow. We should probably get back to the flight now."

I look down at the ground, noting the length of my shadow, and see he's right. Making a quick decision, I respond, "You go ahead, Snap."

"Why, Clicks? We're gonna be late—"

"It's all right, man. I'll be up in a little bit. I need to take this bag down to the human."

Snap snorts. "Since when do you have a conscience?"

I swing my right wing at him, aiming to cliff him on the head. He ducks with easy precision and snaps his tail on the ground again in amusement.

"Fine, whatever," he replies. "See you later, then." With a whoosh he's gone and I pick up the bag in my teeth. It tastes weird—humans and their things always taste fake—but it's the right thing to do.

The trip down the mountain is easy. I spot no sign of the female or her tiny yellow rodent Fighter, nor the sign of any other Fighters that might challenge me until I get to one of the Human-stops they have in the mountains. The Human-stop is loud and the closest thing I can describe it as is that it's the Human version of a cave. They live there, briefly, and then travel on with their Fighters. Tonight, the Human-stop is full of Humans and their Fighters. A couple of Humans and their Fighters have come down the road and are pitting against each other in combat. It's quite fun, actually. I enjoy watching it.

As I set the pack down, a voice comes out of the darkness.

"Hey, you!"

I turn and see a tiny yellow rodent poking her head out from the bushes. "Hey," it repeats, "I know your smell. You're from up the road? You scared us earlier."

I click my tail and shrug, growling, "Yes, well, there's not a lot to do up there."

The rodent laughs a small chuff-chuff from her nose and wiggles out of the bushes. She's got a berry that she munched as she replies, "No, it was funny as hell, boy! I wish someone would play more pranks on her."

I grin to show my amusement at the little creature. It's short and stout and I can tell instinctively it's one of the Spark-kin that can't hurt me. But, her words haven't fallen on deaf ears. "More pranks, you say?"

She gulps a large piece of berry; her tiny throat comically expands before the berry is swallowed. "Ow, big bite. But yeah! She's like, totally a stiff, man. That was funny as hell…say. You say there's not much to do up in the mountains. I'd love to see some more pranks. You wanna come along with us?"

I consider her speech for a long moment. My heart pulls immediately for my cave, and my parents and siblings, and Snap, and even my potential mate, Trip. Her lovely tail swims in my vision for a moment, but then my heart doesn't seem as connected anymore. Excitement is what the rodent can promise. Trip, lovely as she is, is bound to the cave; as is Snap. They won't ever leave. But I can.

I lean over and beat my claws on the ground twice to show my approval. "It's a deal."

The rodent immediately discards her berry. "Excellent!" she hisses, her nose twitching furiously. "Okay, so, I've got some great ideas! Here's what I was thinking for our first 'joint venture', if you will…"

I listen, and know I've made the right decision. Whoo, won't this be fun?

Gliscor, the Fang Scorp Pokémon. It observes prey while hanging inverted from branches. When the chance presents itself, it swoops!