Eternals

It was no secret that Nyarth did not listen to his heart that much anymore. No matter how far he was pushed, his fear of hurting himself or someone else he loves was too much for him to bear. He still had some of his qualities that made him, him. But he also presented himself as being a rather paranoid and scarred creature. How he represented the Element of Laughter was still beyond him. But when he questioned it, his heart had said it was right. He listened that time.

It was also no secret that those he was closest to often acted like his shadow, watching him and trying their best to protect him from whatever they could. Mainly Roketto-Dan, the Rainbow Factory Controllers, the Drugers, and Amber. Roketto-Dan especially. Their bond had linked their souls for life and when Kojiro began to feel overprotective of his best friend, it was enough to send Nyarth into a series of fits that sounded much like his old self. And when he had finally snapped, he didn't ask, more demanded that he stop being so overprotective of him. At the moment, he had not seemed scared of what would happen. He just only cared about that given moment.

That was the Nyarth they had grown to love.

But what really struck them was his most recent injury, one that had left him slipping into a very easily, a bad state. It had affected all of Roketto-Dan, especially Musashi and Kojiro, who had been with the feline longer than anyone else and, despite knowing he was unable to die, even the thought of losing him was too much for them to bear.

Was his actions foolish? Maybe, but what if he had reacted on instinct, on his heart's desire? He had reacted how the Nyarth they had grown to love would react and whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was too early to figure out.

Why the original three, the TRio, decided to just wander into the peaceful Pokemon world that morning was still a mystery to them. They just thought it would be a good idea, a good change of pace.

The entire time, Kojiro had been watching Nyarth, who rarely said a word and, with one slight nudge to his mind, realized that he was remembering. Remembering everything that had happened before... well the incidents. Multiple times, they would stop when he would stop, his eyes becoming unfocused and when he looked into his mind, came across a bad memory, normally of him being separated from Musashi and Kojiro. After they would calm him, they would continue on their way.

Silence dragged on between them before Nyarth stopped once more, them having wandered into a field with a large tree in the middle. Pausing, Musashi and Kojiro looked back to him but when they probed his mind, instead of him remembering a bad memory, he simply had placed a strong mind barrier up against them, making them unable to see his thoughts without hurting him.

His eyes were not unfocused but instead thoughtful as he stared at the tree, a memory flickering in his mind. A memory that didn't remind him too much of Pikachuu at the given moment but of the second time he came here. It had not been the time when he and Pikachuu had stayed there when they had been bound together, when their bond had begun truly. In his mind right now, nothing else existed but himself, his two best friends, and that tree. That was it.

The second time was when they had stayed there for a night and when he had let his emotions slip slightly when he realized that he had been questioning his relationship with his partners a few days earlier. He had not cried but apparently, he had made some sort of noise for both Musashi and Kojiro to soften themselves to pull the scratch cat into their embrace, comforting him in a way he had never been able to process until he felt it again years later. Now they had returned to it. On purpose, accidentally, he didn't know. And he didn't care. They were just back.

"Do youse guys miss it?" he asked suddenly, his voice deprived of emotion as he refused to avert his attention away from the tree.

His question caught both of them off guard and surprisingly, even Musashi couldn't think up a respond. Nudging Kojiro, she cast a glance between him and Nyarth, knowing that he should answer the very open minded question.

Arranging his words carefully like he did every time he spoke to Nyarth nowadays so as to not emotionally hurt him, Kojiro took a step towards Nyarth, who still refused to look at him.

"Miss what exactly, Nyarth?" he asked steadily. What else could he say?

"All of it. Every damn t'in'" Nyarth reported, a slightly annoyed glint falling into his voice. "Maybe not so much of da bad stuff but... ya know, just da t'ree of us. No worries an' our relationship rada... uh, strained" His voice grew softer with each word. His answer was more specific than either of them wanted. And his words drew a hole in their own hearts.

Musashi took it upon herself to understand why he believed their relationship had been strained. She remembered deliberately taking all her anger out on Kojiro and Nyarth, hurting them but not to a point of no return. She remembered the coldness she had felt towards them at first and then how, slowly, her heart began to soften like they were getting to her hardened heart. They had and now the evidence of the change was right in front of her.

Tearing her gaze to look at her feline partner now, she couldn't help but see what he had meant from a conversation a few months before. They had asked him if he could ever return to how he had once been before. He had said that he could be like that again but not completely. The damage had already been done and it could not be reversed.

Seeing him now confirmed that statement. Instead of just Nyarth she saw, she saw a damaged and scarred Nyarth. He had become someone thrown into a world he never knew existed until it was too late. He had received so many scars for his loyalty but the one thing he had said to them was that he would do all of it over again if it meant he could have what he had now. Friends, a life, a lover, and... a family. Love was the one key thing that made him keep going.

Love. Such a cheesy word that the hard-hearted Musashi often times brushed it off as just being that, but seeing all Nyarth had gone through and continuing on with such power and determination was inspiring, even though she would never admit that out loud. He would go through all of the pain and suffering again and again just to feel the love he felt now. Why did he need to be so badly damaged for her to finally realize this?

Crouching down next to Nyarth, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to get a further reaction from him. Nothing. He remained silent.

Kojiro may not have been as cruel to Nyarth or Musashi but he had done his fair share of it towards Nyarth especially. Of course, he not being as fragile as he was now at that point, he had not reacted too much to any abuse he would inflict onto him. But Nyarth was in fact, simply hiding such emotions. Never did he show his intense pain, whether physical or emotional. He hid it, rather well. Now even, he could see the emotions flicking in his blue eyes, though they stared, unblinking ahead of him.

He knew Nyarth cared though. If he was willing to go through his life still even with how he was now, a battle damaged and scarred Pokemon, then who was he to oppose him? He knew that even with him standing up to him about him being too overprotective, it was still clear that he cared enough to not be too angry. He more or less had been more demanding than angry.

Love was not something he thought much about, seeing as how he had trouble experiencing it himself but Nyarth had learned to feel it the hard way, far too many times. But he knew it was strong, at least in the heart of the scratch cat. He had proved time and time again that he would do anything for anything he loved. Anything. That was admirable. How could he not figure this out before he had become this badly damaged?

Following Musashi's lead, Kojiro crouched down on Nyarth's other side and very carefully and gently pet the back of his head, unsure if the friendly gesture would flip a switch or not.

Silently, they all agreed to remain in silence until Nyarth cracked it as he gently pushed his friends off of him and took a few steps forward only to stop and turn back to stare at them, his blue eyes blank but hinting with a tint of sadness and longing.

Shaking his head as if to rid himself of bad thoughts, which he most likely was, he finally spoke.

"I miss it. A lot. But we have what we can get an' I'm happy wid dat but..." He trailed off, pain filling his eyes. "But I feel like instead of growin' closa, we're only growin' furda apart" his voice grew fainter and fainter with each word. Dragging his gaze away, he finally resisted any and all eye contact with his friends.

His words were probably not meaning to be powerful but they were, cutting a hole even in Musashi's heart, Kojiro' being relatively easy.

In a way, they knew where he was coming from. Before they became Eternals, they did not have many worries and their bond had been strong yet strained at the same time. As Eternals, they had appeared to have grown closer but was that true? In fact, Nyarth's lack of following his heart seemed to be driving a wedge in their relationship. They never admitted to it though, of course, but it was still true.

The nightmares the three shared did not help either. Nyarth would normally be the one to constantly have them and, if it is that severe, would sometimes crawl from wherever he had fallen asleep and seek them out in order to receive comfort. They rarely said anything about it, but they too were having nightmares, specifically of their relationship being put to the test and then failing without so much as a kick.

But before either could react, Nyarth returned his gaze and fought with himself inwardly, finally gaining the courage to look into their eyes. He held it, no matter how much he desired to pull away and sink into a pit of his own despair. Normally, that would be exactly what he would do. But not this time. This time was much too important for that.

"But I dun care t'ough. But I must ask... What am I ta youse guys?" he asked, though his voice hinted at a tone of demanding, like he needed to know. He just needed the answer to the question.

The question, despite put in simple words, was not so easy to understand.

"What do you mean, Nyarth?" Musashi asked cautiously, catching a glint of annoyance in his blue eyes at her question.

"I mean what am I ta youse guys?" he forcefully said now, narrowing his blue eyes slightly.

The question was not the most easiest to answer, especially for Musashi. But It was a good question nonetheless. What was Nyarth to her? Was he a friend? Just a partner? Or something more? It all was so very complicated that even with her usual confidence, the intensity of her smaller partner's gaze literally sucked out any smartass answer towards him. Plus, she knew better than to ask for his opinion on them first. He would definitely take it the wrong way and push them away and probably cut his relationship with them completely off because he would believe that they didn't care about him at all.

But that wasn't true. It never was.

He was a bipedal and talking Pokemon. A Pokemon, that was what he was. Did she ever really see him as that? Maybe a few times but in normality, his species had not mattered to her. He had been smarter than all Pokemon they had ever come across and plus, he never acted like one of them, appearing more human each and every day the trio remained together. At some point, she had completely forgotten about what he was and only focused on who he was. At first a partner, then her friend.

In Eternalship, she easily concluded both Kojiro and Nyarth as her best friends, knowing very well that Nyarth needed all the support he could get in his time of need and as he began to slip away from his true self and deeper and deeper into depression, she had not just let him figure it out on his own nor did she feel the need to abandon him when he refused her help. Best friend was a good choice of words, but he also slowly began to become something even more. Something that was beyond anything Musashi could have imagined she could feel about anyone. She found it in both Kojiro and Nyarth.

Despite all she had done to them, they still remained by her side. Even when they both had had the chances to leave her and go their separate ways, they refused, standing by her side and refusing to give up. Especially Nyarth. Back then, he had rarely backed down from a fight and that was a quality he still embraced. Even when she got so angry that she just wanted to rip his head right off of his neck, she could never bring herself to do so. Something deep within her told her not to. Something always stopped her and only now was it starting to click.

Kojiro had very quickly seen Nyarth as more than just a partner and quickly as a friend. Even despite his minor abuses towards him, he would still stick by his side, just like how he did so with Musashi, though he always knew that the scratch cat was just doing what he thought he needed to do. And that was being loyal to his friends.

When he had become an Eternal, Kojiro had very quickly saw both Musashi and Nyarth as his best friends. Nyarth, who had been beginning to slip deeper and deeper into madness, was exactly why he had become overprotective of him. He needed help and was paranoid to the point where he was growing suspicious of those he was closest to. Even Pikachuu and them. Kojiro had simply wanted to protect him and in doing so, had begun to figure something out about Nyarth.

Nyarth was his best friend but with this growing realization, he began to think a little bit harder. Was it possible that he was something more? Why was it only taking now for it to finally click?

Nyarth watched them carefully, his gaze never wavering as he waited for their answer, if they even had an answer to give. Just when he was sure his heart was going to melt away into nothingness, they spoke. Not at the same time but they spoke and their words honestly surprised him, surprised him to to point that he took a step back in shock.

"You're not our friend Nyarth" Kojiro started, watching him flinch in internal pain at the words but he did not hesitate anymore. He needed to say this. "You may not be our friend but according to me, you are much more than that. I know you may not understand this but... You're like a brother to me, you and Musashi" Nyarth seemed to freeze, though his gaze remained blank. He did not speak.

Seeing her opportunity, Musashi awkwardly took it upon herself to say her thoughts. "I guess I mean the same thing as Kojiro. You and him are more like brothers to me than anything. So, does that answer your question?" She tried to make it not sound annoyed, hoping he didn't interpret it that way. When he took a step back, she instantly regretted her decision to say that last part.

It was so simple yet so filled with meaning but his mind couldn't believe their words. Sure, he considered them his family but going so far as to say that Musashi and Kojiro were his brother and sister... Could he really call them that when his own blood brothers and sister fell to his own claws? How could they think of him in such a way anyways?

Struggling against his own thoughts, he forced out a word, a question if you must call it that. "W-Why?" His voice shook as he spoke and confusion and fear filled his blue eyes. The fear was what caught the two others off guard.

"Why what, Nyarth?" Kojiro gently asked him. The scratch cat didn't respond for he had pulled his gaze away, his eyes wandering.

"Just tell us what you mean Nyarth" Musashi added, her voice strangely soft and confused.

Shaking slightly, Nyarth straightened himself as he rephrased his question entirely. "Why youse t'ink dat may not have an answa. So how 'bout dis?" he said as he stepped back forward, lifting his head to meet his friends' gazes evenly.

"If I was hurt, would ya help me? If I was dyin', would ya save me? If I was in danga, would ya risk yer life for me? If I was anyt'in' would ya die for me? 'Cause I would do so in a heartbeat" Nyarth confidently said, letting out his true emotions once more, holding his head high and not pulling his gaze away. He had said it and now all he needed to do was face whatever answers they came up with. A part of him said he should prepare for the rejection. The other part of him remained silent, telling him to stay silent.

Silence regained them, as thoughts raced through the three of their minds, The silence seemed to last forever, to the point where he began to feel his heart begin to break. But he stayed still and didn't move, a quality he had also been able to keep from his true self.

But the thing was, they didn't answer his questions in words. More like actions. They were the ones to break his gaze, and were very close to breaking his heart as they shared a glance. Smiling to themselves, they reached towards Nyarth and gently pulled him into a hug, a joint embrace of what they would normally do at night, when Nyarth needed comfort because of a nightmare.

This one was not exactly the same. It was instead more gentle and more loving than usual. It was more safe and welcoming. And he liked it. He liked it a lot.

Kojiro had removed one of his hands from the embrace and began to gently pet the back of his head while Musashi too removed a hand to trail her fingers on his chest in her way of petting him without making her seem softer than she already was. Holding back a purr, he stared up at them and, very carefully leaned upwards to gently nuzzle into them, which they welcomed almost immediately, allowing for a smile to fall onto his own face.

For the time being, none of them cared where they were. Just as long as they were together, they felt like nothing could get in their way.

"Dis is not ma fault" Nyarth grumbled annoyingly to Musashi and Kojiro as he continued walking down towards the exit to the cave.

"If it's not, then whose fault is it?" Musashi reported back to him, causing the Pokemon to avert his annoyed glare up to her.

"Hey, youse were da one who told me ta remove da stupid rock in da first place" he shot back, matter-of-faculty.

Oh how much Musashi wanted to hit him for that, but she ignored the urge, knowing all too well that it may not end well. But he was sort of right. She had been the one to tell him to remove the rather large rock beside them when they had wandered on top of the hill. But who would've thought that the rock would cause them to fall through the roof of the cave and into the cave itself? Good thing they were not too far away from the exit so they didn't have to aimlessly wander throughout the dark cave without knowing where they were going.

"Can we just stop arguing about this for once? It wasn't anyone's fault, alright?" Kojiro cut in, annoyed himself but for other reasons. Arguing was something Musashi and Nyarth always resorted to and now was no different.

"Fine" they said at the same time, Nyarth turning his gaze back to in front of them. Without thinking and not caring what the other two did or say, he raised his paw and unsheathed a claw. Carefully, he brought the claw through his soft front paw pad on his other paw and watched carefully as the blood began to seep out of the wound he himself had made. Ignoring the way his vision began to see things in blurs, he gently licked the blood off of his paw, savouring it and swallowing it whenever he began to feel his vision lose a blur or two.

But his actions did not go completely unnoticed. Even though they had seen him do this multiple other times before, Musashi and Kojiro still had trouble understanding his blood desire. It was no longer an interest or an addiction. It was now a thing he needed to survive and to prevent himself from going completely insane. Sure, he did not desire Eternal blood and would slaughter any other Pokemon or Immortal he came across but if neither were present, he had trained his mind to feed off his own blood. It was strange but not something they would question. He seemed to be rather sensitive on the subject in general anyways.

They were near the exit now and good thing too. The darkness was beginning to take their toll on them. But right when they were going to walk out, Nyarth froze, letting his paw drop slowly to his side as he looked behind him into the darkness, his aura vision having turned itself on. He had just accidentally looked back and now, he instantly regretted it. In a bright red aura was the silhouette of a not so happy Rhyhorn, a Pokemon of which lived in caves. They must've awoken it on accident.

Briefly gathering a wave of it's thoughts, he slowly flattened his ears to the top of his head, his right ear unable to fully flatten due to the nail sticking straight through it. He knew that it was planning to hurt them and no amount of talking could waver it's decision. But maybe they could convince it that they were no threat. Maybe, but he doubted it.

"Musashi. Kojiro. Turn 'round an' slowly back away" Nyarth hissed quietly to the two others, hoping that they could understand his warning. As he spoke, he slowly began to back away from the angry Pokemon, that had begun advancing on them.

Musashi would have said something to him if she did not notice the downright fear in his eyes. Following his frozen gaze, she too carefully followed his lead, Kojiro following as well. Nyarth silently thanked the Funnelers that they didn't say anything. That would have only made things even worse.

He honestly had no idea what to do but he did catch a projected, stray thought towards him from the Rhyhorn. It was then that something snapped in his mind. His mind was in a frenzy immediately while his heart remained calm, even though it was beating faster than ever before. His mind told him to stay still and to let whatever was going to happen, happen. He had the full urge to agree and do nothing but his heart... It hurt. It hurt so much to know that he had the urge to do nothing while the Rhyhorn would try to kill his partners, his best friends, his family.

And it was not a thought driven process as he thought over his options. There was no time for that. No, instead he reacted on instinct, his heart taking him over as he allowed a fire to burn in his eyes and, without a word, he shouted a dragon shout into the air that sent off a blinding white light around the Rhyhorn. It should have been enough to scare it away but the fire in his eyes was not doused just yet. With a sharp growl, he lept into the white light, very much intending to hurt it, to kill it.

But the white light also had a sound barrier up, one that prevented all sounds from outside and inside to reach the other side. Nyarth had used such a thing before so Musashi and Kojiro knew that trying to yell out to him was useless but still, the sickening silence that occurred was the worst thing ever. Whether Nyarth could take the much larger Pokemon was unknown to them. They had seen him take down dragons without so much as moving but also get completely torn up from another nyarth. So they honestly had no idea what was to happen to him. He was unable to die sure, but that didn't mean he was completely invincible.

The silence seemed to last for hours and hours when in actuality, it only lasted for a few short minutes. Suddenly, the bright white light and it's sound barrier vanished into thin air and both Pokemon jumped backwards, away from each other. Nyarth landed clumsily to his feet, his body shaking and his claws caked with blood, his blue eyes still burning with anger. The Rhyhorn was bleeding, heavily from multiple different wounds, some of which looked like some kind of power beams or something. What kind of things Nyarth had done to it were probably only ever going to be in the minds of the scratch cat and his victim.

The Rhyhorn stumbled when it tried to charge once more at Nyarth who used the energy he was given from his fury to use a water infused power beam which shot straight into the confused Pokemon. He smirked deviously as he jumped up once more and flew towards it, his most powerful dragon shout burning up in his throat. Without a second thought, he released the Fus Ro Dah, sending the rock type into the stone hard cave wall.

The Rhyhorn slowly stumbled to it's feet and immediately turned tail and fled back into the cave's darkness, intent on getting as far from there was possible, terrified of what the little normal type scratch cat could do.

Musashi and Kojiro were in complete shock. They had seen Nyarth fight before, but not to this full extent. He seemed to be the most powerful thing ever at that point but the one thing that struck them as odd was the fact that he didn't kill it. He always killed his enemy whenever he thought it was necessary. Plus, this Pokemon deserved it. So why would he let it go? Certainly not a change of heart right? Definitely not.

It was then that they noticed truly how Nyarth looked. He was not invincible and did not get out of that fight uninjured. He was shaking uncontrollably and his ears were still flattened against the top of his head. His tail only now showed it's true self; limp and blood seeping from multiple cuts. His left leg was barely had any weight on it, implying heavily that it was broken. Multiple other cuts and bruises covered his body and the soft pads on all four of his paws were bleeding. His charm was the main thing wrong though. It was a dull grey, the very faintest hint of gold still lingering but in all honesty, there was no trace of it in the other twos' eyes.

He was holding one of his paws against the ground, struggling to hold himself upright but he was failing. Slowly, he turned his eyes up to his best friends, his eyes pleading and painful, the fire having died down moments ago.

"M-Muh-sa-sa-shi... K-Ko-ji-r-ro..." He choked out, his voice weak and pained. He was hurt. A lot, and they didn't know how to help him.

AsNyarth's vision blurred to the point that he could no longer keep his balance, he was surprised when he did not hit the ground but was instead caught by the gentle grasp of Kojiro. Struggling to focus his eyes, he felt himself beginning to be picked up off of the ground. In any other case, he might have opposed it but he was just too weak to complain right now.

Nyarth's lack of response to the movement really made them worry. He would always react in some way, shape, or form. Now, he said nothing. He didn't do anything. If anything, he let out the smallest of whimpers as Musashi gently touched his severely broken tail. Even with the warmth from both his friend and the sun overhead, he still shivered, the pain in his body too much for him to bear.

"Musashi we have to help him" Kojiro said to the other, his grip on Nyarth tight yet gentle as to not hurt him further.

Even Musashi could tell the serious condition he was in and the colour of his charm was not helping. No longer was any trace of gold in it but just a dull grey. Kojiro was right, he did need help.

"How though?" she asked carefully, looking worriedly at her smaller partner. Carefully, she tried to touch his broken leg but she only received a painful whimper when she barely touched it. She pulled her hand away the moment he made a sound.

They had seen him hurt before but never had been in this condition of barely being able to speak, barely being able to react to them. He had become minorly injured before their Eternalship too but nothing this severe and they were no Curer, they didn't know how to take care of him.

"We could take him to a Pokemon Centre" Kojiro suggested.

"N-No!" Nyarth choked out, his eyes widening with fear and even more pain as he spoke loudly, catching the full on attention of both Musashi and Kojiro. "N-No P-Pokem-mon Cen-ntre" he stammered, his voice fading to a whisper.

His sudden outburst told them that he was listening to them but wasn't reacting unless he needed to. Why he didn't want to go to a Pokemon Centre could have many reasons but his was probably different than what they were thinking.

"Why not Nyarth? It could be the only way to help you" Kojiro told him, noticing the change in attitude in his eyes. They were fearful as well as pained and held a tint of annoyance at his words.

"I-I don't c-care! D-Dey will t-ake me away f-from y-youse guys" he choked out, forcing back the tears threatening his eyes. "F-Find a way t-ta get da o-ders" he added more calmly.

They knew who the others he was talking about were. The other members of Roketto-Dan, which included; Sonansu, Mudkip, Reginald, and of course, Master Nyarth and Pikachuu. What Nyarth expected them to do about his situation was not known, but Kojiro suspected it had something to do with his desire to be comforted by those he loved. So that may be just why he wanted them there along with them.

Musashi knew another reason why he hated Pokemon Centres. They treated him as a Pokemon and he hated that. He had a human mind and heart now. His Pokemonness meant little to him now. No wonder he feared being taken away from them.

"N-No signal h-here" Nyarth added weakly as he watched Musashi begin to try and get a signal for the other Eternals. He was observant, Musashi will give him that.

Sighing in defeat, knowing that he was right, she turned her attention back to Kojiro, who was still holding onto and watching their weakened partner.

"So, do you know where it is exactly?" she asked, somewhat annoyingly. If they were going to try and find a signal, they certainly were not walking there.

Kojiro didn't have to ask what 'it' was. Anyone in Roketto-Dan would know immediately what she was talking about. Carefully he shrugged, honestly not knowing where their balloon was at the moment. "How could I know?" he asked.

She wanted to make some sort of remark, she really did, but it appeared like Nyarth was once more watching them and listening to them. He blinked his eyes to focus them before he spoke calmly, "D-don't argue. I'll g-get it"

Without another word, he leaned upwards to a more sitting position in Kojiro' grip and focused his attention on an empty space in the field in front of them. Fighting with himself to remain focused, he lifted his paw and twisted it carefully in the air, magic beginning to work from his paw. He bit his tongue while doing so, as he felt the soft pad on his paw continue to bleed, the aching pain in the rest of his body coming back to focus.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, gathering more energy, he forced the magic forward from his paw, a blinding white light appearing in front of them once more though this one only lasted a few seconds. When the light subsided, he shut his eyes and slumped backwards and further into Kojiro' grasp. "D-Dere ya g-go" he said simply.

Well, he got the balloon. There was that problem. Positioning Nyarth in a more comfortable position for the both of them, Kojiro glanced towards Musashi and a somewhat surprised manner, who too simply decided not to question the logic of Nyarth anymore.

Even with being in his condition, Nyarth still continued to be the stubborn Pokemon he was. Musashi and Kojiro kept telling him to rest but he kept refusing, instead just hanging onto the edge of the balloon and looking out, enjoying the familiar feeling of just the three of them up in the air without so much as a care in the world.

But there was a care being given here. Even though he put no pressure on his broken tail and leg, his other injuries did not stop aching. He ignored it though as he tried to put on a brave face and struggle through it.

But he was no fool. He could tell that Musashi and Kojiro were worried about him. He was fighting his desire to sleep. But that was his heart talking. Yes, he was finally listening to his heart and he liked it. He always thought that he would fear it but now, despite the pain, he felt almost like the same old Nyarth he had been before he had allowed his mind to take him over.

Musashi and Kojiro were noticing it too. He was a lot more stubborn than usual ever since they had been up here in the sky a few hours ago. He would snap a little bit at them sure but he was still rather quiet at times and he would still become sensitive if something was mentioned but other than that, he really seemed like the Nyarth they had thought they had lost all those months ago.

While Kojiro was busy trying to control the balloon and find an Eternal signal, Musashi took it upon herself to try and look too. She did this for a while but eventually found herself watching Nyarth more closely, noticing his struggle with his already weak self to cling onto the edge of the basket while also holding himself up high enough so he wasn't touching the ground.

She could also see the pain and tired look in his eyes each and every small time he would glance back behind him to look at his friends, probably thinking about some sort of memory to make him look back at them for comfort, to know that they were there.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice quiet and strained. It stuttered a bit but that was just him gaining control of his voice once more. "I-I love y-youse guys" It was almost a whisper, and he didn't look at them as he spoke. He just stared off into the distance.

Love was a phrase that Nyarth never joked around with. If he said he loved something or someone, he meant it, with all of his heart. His love for Pikachuu was a great example of this. When he said that he loved his former arch-enemy, he meant it. Just seeing him around Pikachuu was enough to suggest this. Anyone who called him 'cute' would receive a few good swipes of his claws but when Pikachuu called him cute, it was a different story. Musashi had no idea how many times she had seen his heart melt out of love for the other.

But for that amount of love to be directed towards them, his best friends and now his brother and sister, he must really mean it. But they honestly had no idea on how to react. He was in pain sure but not insane. He knew what he was saying and even with his quiet voice, it was filled with emotion. Was there any doubt on how they felt too then?

Sharing a glance with Kojiro and exchanging a thought, they looked towards Nyarth who had turned his head backwards to look at them, not expecting an answer.

"We love you too, Nyarth" they responded at the same time. A silence enveloped around them. It was broken when Nyarth smiled softly at them and then turned back around to continue his staring off into the distance.

Smiling themselves, Musashi and Kojiro returned to their businesses, both taking their time to look back at their injured partner, someone that they loved.

"I found a signal" Kojiro said calmly, and not too loud.

Musashi glanced towards him and used her levitation magic to hover their balloon in one place. Walking over to Kojiro side as he worked to project the signal of the others in Roketto-Dan, she noticed Kojiro looking towards Nyarth, who was still clinging onto the side of the basket. He was asleep though. Whether he was having a nightmare or not, she couldn't tell. Whenever she looked into his sleeping mind, it was cluttered and foggy, too much for her to handle without awakening him and even she knew that he needed the rest.

"So where are they?" Musashi asked simply, not taking her eyes off the battered form of their injured partner.

"Just give me a second to concentrate" he answered, not totally used to the projection magic he had been practicing for a while now.

Sighing slightly, she decided to just continue to watch Nyarth. It was not really something to do but within a few minutes they would have the help they needed.

Minutes dragged on before Kojiro finally was able to project the signal, revealing a screen that showed Pikachuu's point of view. At first it was blurry and as it began to become clearer and clearer, Kojiro noticed that the signal was getting stronger and stronger.

"Uh, where are they exactly?" Musashi asked carefully, noticing the familiar background they were in.

As if to answer their question, a voice behind the Pokemon surprised them to no end.

"Roketto-Dan! Give us back Mudkip and Pikachuu!" That voice was so sickeningly familiar, they almost closed the signal.

Satoshi. The twerp.

The Pokemon were running and as Pikachuu averted his attention behind them, they noticed that all of the twerps were there. They were running after them, very intent on getting back their Pokemon. Or their former Pokemon in this case.

"Wait, are they..." Kojiro trailed off, seeing the caretakers from which they had tricked into believing that Nyarth was a wild and injured Pokemon who was then to be handed off to their kids as their starter Pokemon. Funnelers did they give them the boot the last time they saw them.

"Hahaha! Ya'll neva catch us alive, fuckas!" a maniacal voice yelled as the focus of Pikachuu's vision showed Master Nyarth, looking rather crazier than usual. It didn't help that, in his eyes, there was a clear hint of anger. He too hated them.

As Pikachuu turned to his sides to look at the others, Musashi and Kojiro noticed something, a thought that somehow went through their signal.

'I hate you twerps!' It was Pikachuu's thought. He was thinking like them now and they could only imagine the reaction of the twerps when they heard that.

The signal pulled back from Pikachuu's eyes to do an almost third-person point of view behind them. When Pikachuu looked up into the sky, he charged up his thunderbolt and shot it upwards and on an angle. At first, Musashi and Kojiro were confused as to what he was doing but then Musashi had to look back at Nyarth who had at some point woken up.

The thunderbolt hit their balloon but instead of blowing it up like it should've, the electricity from Pikachuu held onto it like a magnet. Carefully, Kojiro watched Pikachuu use his electricity and magic to pull the balloon carefully through the air and begin to lower it into a clearing in the forest they were currently in. All the while, all of them continued to run, picking up speed as they began to dash towards the clearing in which the balloon would land.

While Kojiro watched the scene play out before them, Musashi looked at Nyarth who had remained unnaturally quiet the entire time. He was staring down at the source of the electricity with wide and pained, yet hopeful eyes. It did not surprise her when she saw his love for the Electric Pokemon sparkle in his blue optics.

Sighing, she turned her attention back to the nearing ground, the thunder of running all too loud enough for anyone for miles to hear.

The balloon landed, so carefully it was hard to believe that the one to land it was being pursued. At first, they only heard the distant running as to which they took their time to climb out of the balloon though Nyarth used what little energy he had to teleport himself out. Despite not liking it, he allowed Kojiro to hold him, for he was too weak to even hold himself upright anymore.

Suddenly, the bushes in front of them exploded and Pikachuu barged through, leaping in front of them as he spun in the air, landing in front of the three and turning to face away from them, electricity sparklingly angrily from his body. Sonansu and Mudkip followed behind them as did Reginald.

It took a few extra seconds for Master Nyarth to jump through for he had fell behind on purpose to mess with the twerps. It was something they all knew he would do and as long as he didn't get hurt, they were not going to oppose him.

Awaiting the arrival of their enemies, Pikachuu cast his glance behind him to his injured lover, the nail sticking through his own left ear sparking, as did Nyarth's on the contact.

Both Musashi and Kojiro noticed this exchange, the mystery as to how they knew Nyarth was in danger and why they were in the Pokemon world in the first place having been solved. Of course their bond through their nails would tell the other when the other was hurt, physically or emotionally.

Nyarth smiled weakly, his blue eyes longing and pained as he wanted to just hold onto Pikachuu to make the pain go away but not now. Now, he knew they had a problem. A problem he would, any other day, love to deal with. But the pain in his body right now was too much for them to bear. Pikachuu briefly smiled as well, turning his attention back to the situation at hand.

Suddenly, the bushes exploded again only for the twerps and the caretakers to burst through and stop dead, their 'leader' Satoshi, the twerp, taking in the sight before them.

Even with Nyarth's weakened state, he still refused to be seen as just that. He narrowed his blurry vision hatefully and let out a small growl. Sonansu and Mudkip were mainly protective, and even though they didn't growl, they still looked threatening. Reginald hissed angrily and Master Nyarth unsheathed his claws and swiped them through the warm air, his eyes narrowed and a maniacal grin on his face, the anger in his eyes never subsiding.

Musashi and Kojiro sure weren't happy either. Musashi was able to hide the majority of her anger but some of it was slipping out. Kojiro too couldn't help but let his anger slip out, more so with his arm wrapped protectively around Nyarth's body. At the moment, he didn't seem to care, despite the arm causing him pain. He ignored the pain though, wanting to remain strong in front of his arch enemies.

Pikachuu was probably the most furious out of all of them. The anger in his eyes never subsided and the electricity growing in his body was about to shoot towards them in a mere few seconds. Once, he had seen Satoshi as his best friend, now he didn't see that. Instead, he saw someone who would take away the one he loved, the one he would die for over and over again. No amount of talking would change that.

Silence took over them, the Pokemon standing defensively in front of their injured teammate. The twerps and the caretakers simply stood in shock at the scene. How could this be happening?

Finally, Satoshi took a step towards them, causing Pikachuu to growl threateningly, his tail flicking in a warning for him to step back and/or to just stop. Satoshi stopped and stared at his former Pokemon, his best friend. He was with Roketto-Dan? No way! He must be getting controlled!

"Pikachuu? What did they do to you, buddy?" the twerp asked cautiously, casting an accusing glare at the main three of Roketto-Dan.

Brock, despite being one of the oldest, too took a step forward, his gaze caught on his own runaway Pokemon. "Mudkip? What happened?" he asked simply, actually scared by the hatred in the water Pokemon's eyes as he narrowed his eyes and refused to move or speak.

"We did nothing to them" Sonansu spoke, shocking all of those present. Nyarth was one thing but another? What was Roketto-Dan doing to their Pokemon?

"Dey are actin' on deir own accord, twerp. Now back down or dis will turn more serious dan it already is" Master Nyarth added, slashing his paw through the air, a maniacal grin upon his face.

The twerps and the caretakers stared at them, though none made a move or speak. The only one who had the courage was Satoshi. The poor bastard had no idea what he was messing with. They almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"There is no way that's true. Pikachuu would never side with Roketto-Dan. He doesn't care about them!" Satoshi shouted, silencing them all once more.

The electricity in the Electric mouse's body was becoming overwhelming now and he could barely hold it in along with his growing anger.

"I am one of them now, and you cannot stop me from protecting them!" Pikachuu roared, breaking his truce to never speak directly to Satpshi again. But it didn't matter to him, not when the twerp was trying to say he didn't care about his newfound family.

Satoshi froze, the voice of Pikachuu ringing in his head. He... he could speak too. Was that good or bad and why would he be protecting Roketto-Dan unless he was being controlled?

Before he could react, Nyarth was growing impatient with himself. Having enough, and fighting the sudden urge to just pass out, he growled softly and clawed into Kojiro' arm, his grip loosening in slight pain. Seeing his opportunity, he lept forward, right towards Pikachuu.

"Pikachuu, look out!" one of the twerps, the little girl named Eureka yelled out.

Pikachuu did not need the warning though, for he understood what Nyarth was trying to do, and plus, he knew that he would never hurt him. Ever.

Leaping into the air, he somersaulted in the air as Nyarth clumsily landed on his feet, holding back a whimper of pain as he finally put pressure onto his broken leg. He had landed in front of where Pikachuu had been, while Pikachuu himself landed beside him, his defensive side becoming more and more clearer, especially by the way that his electrified tail wrapped around the injured feline.

It was only then did the injuries of Nyarth click in Satoshi's and the others' minds. He looked like he had walked through hell, which he had in fact done, twice, and the way that Pikachuu held his tail around him, it was almost like there was some sort of friendship between them. But how could that happen?

One of the caretakers, a young woman narrowed her eyes at the sight of the injured Nyarth, recognizing him as the one they were after. "We'll help you, Satoshi. Rhyhorn, let's do this!" she yelled as she threw the pokeball, a large Rhyhorn appearing before them.

Nyarth's breath caught in his throat and Musashi and Kojiro froze at the sight. The Rhyhorn had bloodied cuts and bruises and was relatively weak against it's own will. It looked around at it's opponents and then froze, fear crossing it's entire body.

Nyarth weakly smirked, recognizing the Rhyhorn as the one from before, the one who had done this to him. He growled in warning and, although he did not have to energy to do so, just by giving a glance to the others, they understood. Especially Master Nyarth, who narrowed his eyes even more and a crazier glint shot into his eyes.

He strode forwards, his paws pushed together as he silently began to gain energy for a spell. "Well, ya were da one ta hurt ma blood brotha, now weren't ya? Well, I'll make sure dat ya will neva hurt him, or anyone, eva again" And with that, he cackled maniacally as he shot a red hot beam of light towards the Rhyhorn. Despite it's armour-like skin protecting it, the fire still engulfed the entire Pokemon, lighting it on fire.

"Rhyhorn!" the caretaker exclaimed as she watched her Pokemon begin to get burned alive. She fumbled for the pokeball to return it but Reginald had found it first and, before she could realize it, he had crushed it with a powerful spell. Sonansu and Mudkip had then used their magic to hold the Rhyhorn in place as it burned alive.

Master Nyarth was the closest, and he wore a victory-full and pleased expression, his smirk deepening when he looked back to his blood brother and thus then went back over to his side. As he did so, Musashi and Kojiro had put a protective barrier around them, not wanting the others to get any funny ideas.

The Rhyhorn finally ceased to be alive as it was thrown to it's side by a forceful wave of magic, the combined forces of all of Roketto-Dan, even Nyarth who was now using one paw on the ground for support. They pulled it into the air and let it disappear into a beam of light, sending off into Nyarth's blood dungeon for whenever he needed blood when they got back.

As the twerps and caretakers watched in shock, Musashi had already moved towards Nyarth, who was struggling to remind standing by this point. She gently picked him up and into her arms, his eyes struggling to remain open by this point. Kojiro helped Sonansu into the balloon while Reginald and Mudkip hopped right on in. Pikachuu leapt in just as Musashi and Nyarth walked in as well.

Master Nyarth was the only one who hesitated and without so much as a paw flick, he cast a blind white light spell on the twerps and the caretakers, blinding their vision as they began to make their escape. Careful as to not their memories, he turned tail and jumped into the balloon just as it teleported away leaving behind many very confused and heartbroken twerps and caretakers behind.

There was no trace of Roketto-Dan left.

"Just leave him alone Masty" Reginald spoke calmly as he looked over to the maniac who was trying to telepathically enter the passed out from his alter ego. After they had teleported out of there, he had finally slipped into sleep. Now, Master Nyarth was trying to enter his foggy and blocked out mind, wondering what he was dreaming about, if at all.

"Hey, I just wanna see if he's alright, okay?" Masty reported back, somewhat annoyed at getting his actions questioned.

Pikachuu, who was pretending to be sleeping besides his lover, peeked open as eye to stare right at Masty, who paused to tilt his head almost innocently at him. But he was not getting fooled by him. The maniacal grin on his face that he was trying so hard to hide was not getting past him. "Back off Masutā Nyasu" he said, slightly growing with warning.

Taking a half-step back at his Japanese spoken name, he shook his head before retreating to the other side of the basket. "Alright, alright. Fine. Just stop callin' me like dat" he added before sitting down and tilting his head back in his failed attempt to fall asleep.

Rolling his eyes slightly, Pikachuu averted his attention back to the sleeping, broken form of Nyarth, who he had carefully wrapped his tail around in a protective way. In the given situation, he could only imagine what kind of nightmares he could be having right about now. Judging by what he had done to that Rhyhorn in the first place to make it terrified of him, he must have been intent of killing it for even thinking about hurting Musashi and Kojiro.

Pikachuu didn't blame him, he would have probably done the same, though probably not as passionately. He was close to the two though but his bond with them was in no one as strong as the original trio's was. If Nyarth had reacted in just a second in order to protect them, then his bond with them must be truly strong enough to show these emotions and go to these lengths to ensure their safety.

But his constant nightmares would surely take advantage of that situation. They would probably put him back in that situation where his mind would overtake him and make him watch the Rhyhorn injure or even kill his best friends as he was powerless to even try to help. Even thinking about it from Nyarth's point of view hurt Pikachuu. Who knew how much it would hurt him if and when such a nightmare occurred.

Although both Musashi and Kojiro were technically both trying to find a full on Eternal signal and keeping the balloon under control, they couldn't help but to keep looking back at Nyarth, wanting desperately for his pain and suffering to end. But they couldn't end it and thus needed to help of the other Eternals. They hated being powerless to help him but alas, it was the only thing they could do to help him.