Slowly, Isa opened his eyes. He was expecting the darkness of the forest from before, but it was instead the familiar light from the various colors of glass-stained windows that were in the chapel of Effervescent Village. He slowly pulled himself up from the bed he was laying on, looking around to see a girl standing near one of the windows in the chapel.

"Hello?" His voice came out much weaker than he had hoped for, but was still enough to cause the girl to turn around. Her face was similar to Ayana's, although slightly older.

"You've finally woken up!"

"Miss Rika?" The girl nodded to the name, confirming that she had been Ayana's older sister. Her sister was training to soon take over the roles of being Effervescent Village's head Saint, and was also mentoring Ayana. "How long was I asleep?"

"Let's see..." Rika started counting out loud, trying to come to a conclusion. "The village rest day was about four days ago, and we found you late at night that day. So no longer than four days, but no shorter than three. You've been moving around a little bit since then, but it was all just little things. So many people thought you wouldn't make it."

"Is Sandshrew okay?" As if on cue, taps starting echoing across the room as the small Pokemon leapt onto Isa's bed, nudging him on the side.

"Shrewww!" Isa smiled, rubbing a hand against Sandshrew's head.

"Aww, it's nice to see you too."

Rika smiled at the interaction. "Oh, that little one was the one who let us know something was wrong in the first place. It came scurrying back to the village and starting calling out for help until some of the people followed along. Your father was actually one of the first to follow after recognizing that it was your partner. He's been at the chapel nearly the whole time you've been here. We had to send him home at one point because he was getting in the way of the healing some of the more experienced Saints were doing."

Isa laughed a little. "Can you go get him?"

"Of course. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, and I'll bring something back for you to eat as well."

"Okay. Thank you!" Isa waved to Rika as she started to leave the room, but then quickly remembered something. "Wait, did you see Ayana?"

"What?"

"Ayana? Did anyone see her when they found me?"

Rika looked at him, slightly confused. "Ayana? I'm sorry, but I don't know who that is."

---

"As if getting all that attention from the elders in the village was enough, now you're got an imaginary friend to boot?"

"Come on, Isa. We're way too old for that!" There was a light slap on the back to follow up the comment.

"She's not fake!"

The teasing had gone on for weeks ever since some of the other village boys had caught Isa crying to himself over losing Ayana. This instance was no different, two of the boys that were around his age now had him cornered, their Pokemon by their sides. It didn't help that Isa hadn't known their names; he had never really payed attention to the kids in the village besides Ayana.

She's real. Just keep saying that. Don't let them get to you.

"Maybe something happened in those woods that made you go crazy in the head."

"I've heard lots of stories about strange psychic type Pokemon who live in those woods, maybe they did something to you."

"I'm fine." Isa shrugged off the comments, holding Sandshrew tight to his chest.

"You sure? Because you sure do act as if you could have been possessed. You know, they say that anyone who enters that forest never returns the same."

"If there was possession, one of the Saints would have taken care of it by now." Isa started turning away, stopping suddenly when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Awww, you know that the elders aren't always right! I think we should help you out. Shock the ghosts right out of you!" One of the two boys, the taller of the two, smiled, looking down to his Pokemon, a Mareep that often marked the presence of a farmer-to-be. "Come on, give him a little shock!"

The Mareep let loose a few sparks from its coat, before forming a full on bolt that connected to Isa. He let out a yell, Sandshrew falling from his arms.

"Stop it! Don't you have anything better to do?"

"What about you? You've been slacking off on your job for a few weeks now, isn't that against village law?"

Isa pulled himself up from the ground, a cold touch on his hand from Sandshrew. "Just leave me alone!" His voice grew more hostile as the boys continued to laugh.

The taller boy pointed out a finger again, causing the Mareep to let out another shock. Isa picked up Sandshrew and swerved to the side before setting Sandshrew on the ground, reaching out and tackling the shorter of the two. "She's not a lie!"

The boy was caught off guard, but quickly recovered, attacking back. They wrestled with each other for a bit, Isa pulling at the boy's longer hair while the boy yanked on his arm, twisting it in a snake bite. Isa yelled, but ended up kicking the boy in the knee, causing him to collapse. He looked up at the taller boy, his face growing pale when he saw what the boy was holding.

Sandshrew.

"Hey, what are you doing? Don't hurt him!" Isa called out, reaching a hand for the small Pokemon. The shorter boy's Pokemon, a Froakie that marked a village guardian, shot out the bubbles from around its neck, latching onto Isa's arm. Isa missed his reach out, falling to the ground and getting stuck to it.

"So you'd really stoop so low as to attack us? Wow. I can't believe a Patron hasn't come to take you back to the capital yet." The taller boy smirked at Isa, turning to face Sandshrew. "Now what kind of a messed up Pokemon are you? You're supposed to be a Sandshrew, but you're cold to the touch. Oh well, a useless Pokemon for a useless job."

"Stop it! Sandshrew never did anything to hurt you!" Isa cried out, struggling to get free from Froakie's bubbles. He used his other hand to try and pull them off, only getting more stuck. The taller boy laughed, starting to poke at Sandshrew. "Please stop..." The other boy had gotten up from the ground, joining in on the teasing.

"Hey, what's going on here?" A sharp female voice shouted straight at the three, all three of them falling silent. The two other boys looked at Sandshrew before letting him drop to the ground, running away. Just as they left, a Sylveon came running to see the situation. Its predominantly blue color scheme and scarred ear marked it as Rika's.

"Miss Rika?" Isa looked around, seeing the Saint in training. 

"Isa? Oh, are those boys teasing you again? Did they hurt you or Sandshrew at all?" Rika's voice grew into a panic as she came closer, looking over Isa for injuries. The Sylveon touched her feelers to the ground, rubbing them against the bubbles. They soon evaporated, allowing Isa to get up.

"I'm a little sore, but it's fine. I just wish they'd stop." Isa muttered, shaking his arms. "You still don't know who Ayana is, right?"

Rika shook her head. "As much as I'd like to believe she's real, I just don't think it's possible anymore. She might have been someone you met in the forest that day, but there's never been anyone with that name in the village before." She started moving her hands to Sylveon, functioning as a form of sign language. Sylveon let out a soothing light, relieving some of the tension Isa was building up.

"Thank you." Isa signed the word to the Pokemon before reaching over to Sandshrew, looking over him for any injuries. "Sorry about that, little guy."

"Hey Isa, do you still want to become a Duelist?" Rika asked, the question somewhat out of place.

"Yeah, why?"

"I thought about it for awhile, but I think you should have this." Rika reached behind her, pulling out a sheathed sword. Isa looked at her confused, but Rika simply nodded, allowing for him to hold the sword. He grabbed it by the hilt and started to pull it from the sheath.

It was the same blue sword that Isa had been given by the Knight of Darkrai.

"I came along with the rescue party that found you. The others in the village protested to bringing the sword back, so we had left it there. I ended up going back and getting it after seeing how you were so lonely. I thought maybe it'd have some connections to this Ayana you're speaking of?" Rika gave Isa a soft smile. It looked just like Ayana to him.

"Yeah, it's connected to her." Isa said quietly, returning the smile. "Are you sure I can just have it though?"

"I don't see anything against it. I'd just make sure those boys don't know about it, or they might get jealous and take it. You know, it's common practice for Duelists to name the swords they fight with. Why don't you give that a name?"

Isa examined the sword, looking at the designs on the blade. They were like ivy vines, crawling up the sword until it formed a blossom of roses near the hilt. Sandshrew put a claw on it, the shade of its skin matching the sword almost perfectly. "How about the Ice Rose Sword?"

"That's a pretty name." Rika smiled, looking closer at the designs. "It matches the sword and the person who holds it quite well."

"I guess." Isa did agree, his light blonde hair and ice blue eyes matched the sword closely. "Thank you, Miss Rika."

"Oh, you can stop calling me that. Rika is just fine."

"Okay then, Rika." Isa stood up, putting the sword back in the sheath. "I'll remember you when I finally become Axiom's top Duelist."

"That's the spirit!" Rika laughed a little, bringing a laugh to Isa's voice as well.

"Yeah, nothing can stop me!"

And maybe then I can bring Ayana home...