Episode #64:
Shinx Returns!
The Tale of The Concealed Ruins!

Cody, once again, was the early riser at the main base. As such, he looked out to the sea, never getting tired of the dawn reflection on the ocean. He smiled as he went back outside onto higher ground, where he decided to go shopping to see if he could get some supplies.

“They'll probably be up by the time I'm done,” Cody said.

He headed off to town where he hoped to find some useful items and see some old friends in the process. He hadn't seen too many Pokemon in a while. Once he arrived in town, he looked around to see all the usual suspects, but not anyone new. Someone suddenly bumped into him, knocking him and the offender down.

“Sorry, I should have...” Cody said.

He stopped before realizing who he bumped into. It was none other than Shinx, the innocent cub member of the Luxray and Luxio tribe!

“Hey, I haven't seen you in ages!” Cody said.

“Cody!” Shinx said. “I can't believe I ran into you!”

“What're you doing here?”

“I asked my pack leader if I can venture off on my own. You know, spend time in the outside world. He said yes and I decided to come here!”

Cody felt surprised that Shinx was allowed to venture on his own. It must have been Cody himself that made him want to pursue whatever dream he had.

“So, are you planning on being an explorer?” Cody asked.

“I'm not sure.” Shinx replied. “I just wanted to see old friends, like you!”

“That's really thoughtful.”

Cody soon saw someone coming from behind Shinx. It seemed that he found more friends of his. Marill and his brother, Azurill. Cody waved to them as they happily came over to him.

“Cody!” Marill said. “It's been so long!”

“Hi, Cody!” Azurill said. “We missed you!”

“We heard that you vanished and came back, but we weren't too sure, since we've yet to see you. But now...oh, I'm so glad you're alright!”

“Sorry I made you worried,” Cody said. “I had no idea either.”

Shinx looked at them and realized how cute they were. He noticed “something” about them that somewhat disappointed him.

“Something wrong?” Cody asked.

“Oh, it's nothing, really,” Shinx replied.

“Guys, this is Shinx. He's part of a group known as the Luxray and Luxio Tribe.”

Everyone stopped as they looked at them, leaving Cody to looked at everyone nervously as if they found something bad about it.

“What's everyone looking at?” Cody asked.

“He's...with them?” one of the Kecleon said outside of their shop.

“The dreaded Luxray and Luxio Tribe?!” the other said.

They all spreaded murmurs around, wondering why he was here. Shinx didn't know what was going on at all.

“My clan isn't bad, really!” Shinx said.

“Those guys are dangerous!” one of the villagers said, approaching them.

The Pokemon that came up to everyone appeared to be a large, sloth-like Pokemon with a tuft of red fur on his forehead and brown stripes on his back. He appeared to be slouching over a little and had a somewhat fierce look to him. He was also energetic, unlike his evolution, Slakoth, who was lazy and slow.

“It's Vigoroth!” Marill said.

“Mr. Vigoroth!” Azurill said.

“Who's the Pokemon that came from that group!” Vigoroth asked.

They all pointed to Shinx. Well, everyone except for the three closest to him, including Shinx himself.

“But...I'm not bad, honest!” Shinx explained with worry.

“Kid, those Pokemon are vicious!” Vigoroth said. “You better have a good reason as to why you're here!”

“I'm not here to cause trouble,” Shinx said. “Honest! I'm just on my own, away from my clan. I'm aware of their reputation, really, but I'm not like them!”

“Is that right? I don't know about that, kid!”

“It's true! Honest!”

Vigoroth went closer to them, while everyone chanted to get rid of him. Cody didn't know what to do. He looked at Shinx and saw the fear in his eyes.

“Hold on!” Cody said. “This is no way to treat a Pokemon! So what if he's from that clan, that gives you no right to treat him like that, he didn't do anything to you!”

“He'll be done for, trust me!” Vigoroth said, smiling.

“HOLD IT!!!!” someone shouted.

They all turned around to see Chatot and Wigglytuff approaching them. Vigoroth seemed to be happy that someone came to deal with them, but Chatot glared at him, making Vigoroth nervous.

“Where do you guys get off attacking him like that?! He’s part of the Luxray and Luxio tribe; so what? That doesn’t mean anything! If he’s with Cody then I have no reason to doubt him! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!”

Shinx seemed to admire him, especially since he was going out of his way to defend him.

“I expect an apology from all of you!” Chatot snapped.

“Sorry,” they all replied.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. It’s that poor Shinx that you’ve stricken fear into!”

Vigoroth was the first to go to him and bowed to him.

“We’re sorry,” Vigoroth said. “We’re just…well…we’re a little jumpy. Those guys are dangerous and, well….I guess we didn’t want any trouble. Can you forgive us?”

“Of course!” Shinx said. “I understand that my family isn’t the nicest of Pokemon. I figured something like this would happen.”

“Well, I don’t think we need to drag this any further,” Chatot said. “Continue with what you were all doing!”

They went back to their usual duties. Chatot and Wigglytuff both went over to Cody and Shinx, making sure that they were all right.

“That was a close one,” Wigglytuff said. “I thought they were going to kill that poor Shinx.”

“Thank you so much!” Cody said. “Don’t know what I’d do without you!”

“I’m always willing to help a fellow guild member no matter what!” Chatot said proudly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Shinx,” Wigglytuff said.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Shinx replied. “I heard a lot about you.”

“Well, take care.”

They both headed off elsewhere, leaving Cody to sigh in relief.

“That was close,” Cody said.

“You guys were lucky that Wigglytuff and Chatot came,” Marill said. “Well, we better head off. Come on, Azurill.”

They both headed off, leaving Cody and Shinx to head off on their own. They decided to head to Sharpedo Bluff to see Turtwig and Cyndaquil, who were probably awake by now.

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As soon as they arrived back at Sharpedo Bluff, they were greeted by Turtwig and Cyndaquil, who were both happy to see him as well. He said his hellos and went over to see the water. He looked at it in awe, apparently never seeing such a beautiful sight.

“Wow, it's so beautiful!” Shinx said.

“Isn't it?” Cody said. “Turtwig said he got this place from some random Pokemon.”

“Yeah, I happened to have stumbled onto this place and he just gave it to me. He's very nice. Too bad I can't remember what he looked like.”

“This is awesome. Glad I took off.”

“Took off?” Cody asked.

“Uh, you know...went on my own.”

Cody felt a bit of nervousness within him. He thought it might be after that run in with the Vigoroth. Shinx went over to Cody and wondered what he wanted.

“Hey, have you ever heard of the Concealed Ruins?” Shinx asked.

“Can't say that I have,” Cody said.

“Well, it's recently discovered. It had a name, but it was impossible to go into. Now the entrance is open and everyone's exploring it! Want to come?!”

“I don't see why not,” Cody said. “Not like we have anything else to do.”

“Yeah,” Cyndaquil said. “That sounds like fun!”

“It's always fun exploring new dungeons,” Turtwig said.

Shinx wagged his tail happily. He finally got to enjoy the comfort of people he knew best, even though he hadn't seen them in a while.

“So...where is this Concealed Ruins, anyway?”

They all paused to think about it. None of them even gathered the thought. Cody decided to take a map out and saw if Shinx would know. He put his paw to his chin and looked at the map.

“Right there!” Shinx said.

Where he pointed seemed to mark a familiar area. It was close to Aegis Cave, where they just came back from.

“We have to back out there again?” Turtwig asked.

“We just came back from Aegis Cave ourselves,” Cody replied, trying to explain Turtwig's comment. “If you want to explore, we don't mind going back.”

“That's be awesome!” Shinx replied happily. “I heard that there's a bit of treasure there, so let's go look for it!”

“We should teleport to Aegis Cave and go from there.”

They all agreed on the idea and took out their Explorer Badges. Cody wondered if this was what Regigigas was doing when he emitted that powerful energy. Either way, they decided to head off to the Concealed Ruins.

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The gang traveled through a small forest on their way to the Concealed Ruins from Aegis Cave. They saw Shinx ahead of them, since he seemed to know the way. Cody still wondered about something, though. He couldn't figure out what, though.

“So how far is this ruins place anyway?” Turtwig asked.

“It shouldn't take us much longer,” Shinx replied. “Trust me.”

“Hey, Shinx?” Cody asked. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, what's up?”

“Did your dad really let you go off on your own?”

Shinx stopped and so did everyone else.

“Wh-What do you mean?” Shinx asked nervously.

“I mean, did you really go off with your dad's permission?” Cody asked.

“Of course I did!” Shinx said.

“Then why are you so nervous then?”

“Cody, what are you doing?” Cyndaquil asked.

Cody just shook his head before looking back at his teammates.

“I know he's lying. He ran away from home! Isn't that right?!”

Shinx backed away nervously. Cody knew that he was right, and so did shinx. He just didn't know what to say.

“Please don't send me back!” Shinx said.

“Why did you run away?” Turtwig asked.

“I really don't want to talk about it!”

Cody knew that he had some fear within him. Something must have happened with him and Luxray, but what? Was it some argument, or was he thrown out?

“It's okay,” Cody said. “You're allowed to talk to us.”

“Yeah, we're not going to send you back!” Turtwig said.

“We'll be friends for life!” Cyndaquil replied.

Shinx began to get all teary-eyed. He never had friends like this before, especially not with his clan.

“I'm so lucky to be with you all,” Shinx said.

“What do you mean?” Cody asked.

“My family's been very bad with me. They all treat me differently because I'm not a Luxio. I was just a newborn when I first became part of a family.”

“Really,” Turtwig said.

“All the other Luxio have evolved within two months. I've been a Shinx for eight. Only because I want to prove myself as a Shinx to them. What a mistake that was. No matter what I do, I can't gain their trust!”

They all felt bad for Shinx. He had been spending his life through abuse and neglect. It was heartbreaking almost.

“We'll be happy to take care of you,” Cody said. “You don't have to worry about us being mean to you.”

“Thank you,” Shinx replied. “Everyone!”

“What're friends for, right?” Cyndaquil said.

“Yeah!” Turtwig cheered.

“Now tell us,” Cody said. “What happened between you and Luxray.”

Shinx really didn't want to tell anyone, but he felt he has to. He had to make sure he was not weak and fragile, like they thought.

“Okay,” Shinx said. “This is what happened.”


To Be Continued!