Team Destiny: River the Manaphy

Chapter 1

The sun was shining and the sky was clear blue. It was just the perfect weather for chilling and doing nothing.

"So, what did you want to talk with me about?" Thunder inquired, blinking and tilting his head to the side.

River sighed softly and twitched her antennas nervously from left to right. "It's about Shine," the Manaphy eventually replied.

At the mention of his girlfriend, Thunder's ears went straight up in alarm. "What's wrong with her? Is she ok?"

"Yes, yes she's fine," River replied hastily, "It's just that she's been acting strange ever since we finished that mission a few weeks ago."

The smaller Pokémon blinked and a worried frown tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his thunderbolt-shaped tail lashing worriedly behind him as he spoke.

River let out a heavy sigh and stared down at her webbed paws. "Well, I-I don't know... It's like there's something going on that only she and Sapphire know about."

"What do you mean?" Thunder repeated his earlier question.

"It's just like I said Thunder." River replied calmly. "If you want answers, you'll have to ask either Shine or Sapphire about it." The small Manaphy answered him truthfully.

"Then what are we standing around here for?" Thunder exclaimed furiously, his eyes going wide as he leapt to his feet. "Come on River! Let's go back to camp and see if we can get some answers."

Before River could open her mouth to say another word, Thunder ran as fast as his name suggested and River had to race after him.

As River was racing after the blur of yellow fur in front of her, her mind kept flashing back to what she had overheard Shine and Sapphire talking about.

"What are we going to do about this?" Sapphire asked her best friend, her ruby-red eyes gleaming with concern as she stared at Shine.

Shine sighed softly and fidgeted nervously with her hand-shaped tail. "I-I don't know... but how do I stop this from happening? I don't want to change!"

Sapphire's ears went flat on her head and her tail dropped low to the ground. "I don't know Shine, I honestly don't know." She replied truthfully.

"But you have to promise me that you won't say anything to Thunder!" Shine told her with a pleading look on her face. "Please Phire! Please don't tell Thunder about this!"

Sapphire's gaze lowered to the floor and after a few moments of silence, she raised her head and looked into Shine's eyes. "I promise," she told her friend. "I won't breathe a word about this to anyone! It'll be our secret."

River was brought out of her thoughts by Thunder shouting to her that they were back at camp.

The Guardian of the Sea blinked rapidly and shook her head back and forth to clear her thoughts away. It was time to get some answers.