[Pokémon] Four Paws [Rated T] (Complete)

Chapter 60​

"Jay!" Shock shouted in surprise.

I gritted my teeth so hard as I glared daggers at the retreating trainer. I ignored the burning sensation that I felt and ignored how bright my surroundings were at the moment. He captured Vixie, and I wanted nothing more than to—

A gasp. A lot of them. I saw the trainer turned around and regarded me with a surprised look.

He should be, for I already ran and leaped towards him, my long front paws pushing his chest back, and he landed outside on his back with a thud. He yelped in pain. He gasped in surprise as I growled and leaned my angry face towards his.

"Release her!" I shouted.

He gasped. "Y-yo-you can talk?!"

I sensed something. I wanted to rip him apart right here, right now, but instinct kicked in and I jumped away from him, in time to avoid the fast-moving squirts of water from a Squirtle and a Poliwag.

I growled at them, but kept my eye on the gasping trainer. With a trembling hand, he pointed at me in fear. "Th-that Flareon can talk!"

"I know!" another trainer from the crowd outside said with a confident grin. "And my sister and I will catch it!"

"Right on, bro!" a younger female trainer said with confidence, and pointed a hand at me. "Poliwag! Bubblebeam!"

"Assist with your water gun, Squirtle!"

I growled and easily took a step to the side to dodge the fast bubbles. My vision brightened so suddenly as I glared at the approaching water gun. I allowed it to hit me, and I felt myself be absorbed by the water as I swam towards the yelping Squirtle. I growled as I splashed out from the water, and quickly felt my whole body ache in pain as I zapped the two water types with electricity.

"Wh-where'd that—!?"

I landed, and jumped out of that spot as soon as pillars of earth erupted from there. I glared at the Sandshrew. My body ached once more, but I didn't care as I saw the shrew slowly turned around as I was suddenly behind it. I growled and threw the shrew up with a torrent of water. I felt myself sliding up with the water, and I leaped out and found myself above the yelping ground type.

I felt my leafy bangs glow and harden, and I used it to slash and cut the shrew as we fell down. I used the bleeding thing as a cushion of my landing, and I then blew a wild fume of fiery breath at the sparking —and yelping— Magnemite.

My body ached, but I ignored it. I growled at the gasping crowd, and I furiously looked around as more Pokémon popped out into existence, readying themselves to battle.

I growled again, furiously leaping out to dodge thrown rocks as I countered by swinging my head to throw razor leaves at a Geodude. I growled as I zapped Spearows and Pidgeys. I glared as I floated a flailing Machop into the air and spun him around me and hitting the other surrounding Pokémon. I fried a sporing Oddish. I bit an Abra on its arm, ignoring its psychic energy around me, and tossed it at the crowd of yelping trainers. I headbutted a Mankey and threw a shadow ball at a Gastly. I sent angry psychic waves at a cringing Ekans as I pinned a Slowpoke down. I electrocuted a Psyduck after I froze a Diglett.

I was angry, and still am. He's not here. Where is he?! I jumped high and dodged low. I fired back and held my ground. Where in blazing hell is h—

Down a path, a lone figure was running away. It was him. It is him. I roared to the heavens as I wrapped my surroundings in flames. I grit my teeth and fixed my glare at the retreating trainer as I blew a cold and wild blizzard around me. I kicked the ground and left a roar of electric thunder from my wake. And a startled gasp greeted me as I stopped in front of the trembling trainer.

He gulped and stepped back.

I growled and took a step forward.

He moved his right hand.

My eye twitched.

He pulled out a Pokéball.

That's not the one.

I quickly swayed my head, stabbing a leaf on his right shoulder.

He cried in pain. He was about to run away.

I froze his feet.

He stumbled down.

I walked slowly yet angrily towards his frightened form.

"Pl-please," he cried as I put a paw on his forehead and pinned it down on the ground. "D-don't hurt me..."

"Let," I slowly said, my voice no longer sounded like my own, but I didn't care.

I glared at him, as I trembled from pure rage and anger. My mouth watered as I eyed his throat. I wanted to bite him. I wanted to chew him. I wanted to rip him. The fire within me is uncontrollable, almost.

"...the Vulpix," I slowly said, already finding it difficult to talk.

Something inside my head is kicking in. It's not a Vulpix I wanted to save. It was something else...no...someone else. Someone...dear... Confusion only made me even angrier, and I growled loudly right in front of the trainer's wincing face.

"...GO!" I shouted, releasing sparks of fire, ice and electricity around me. My body was aching too much that I could no longer feel anything but my anger. My eyes were going black and red, and this pathetic excuse of a trainer is pulling my killer instinct out of me.

"O...okay..." the trainer replied, quietly and fearfully.

I growled lowly as he slowly and carefully moved his left hand towards his belt. I glared at his shaky eyes as sweat streamed on his face.

Soon, he slowly pulled his hand back, and shakily showed me a Pokéball. "Th-the Vul..." he gulped as he pressed a button behind the Pokéball. "Vul...pix is inside. I am..." he flashed a very small yet trembling smile. "...r-releasing her now...o-okay?"

Her... Not even the boiling lava of my own anger can stop how lovely that sounded. Her... Who...was she...? I know her... I should...

Did he caught her? Is that why I'm angry? Is he releasing her? He better be!

A popping noise snapped me back and my eyes quickly left the trainer and settled on the white blob of energy. Time somehow slowed as the white energy slowly formed into an Eevee... Yes... Yes, an Eevee. That's what she was...an Eevee. She was an Eevee... I am an Eevee as well... I promised that it would have been our last adventure together... and then... and then...

...and then a confused Vulpix came out from the white energy...

Vulpix... Vulpix... Why is she a Vulpix...?

No... She wasn't a Vulpix... She was an Eevee, just like me! I growled and raised my paw up high, ready to cut this trainer's head off. I glared as the fires within me were fueled once more.

"No!" the trainer cried, closing his eyes and turned his head away, as if that would save him. "Please! I-I just want to g-go home!"

My breath left me as my mind suddenly went blank.

Home... Home... That word. It sounded so...

Home... That...that was my goal... Wasn't it? Home... Eevee... Home... Espeon... Home... Vulpix... Home... Human...

I took a sharp intake of breath as I felt how painful my body suddenly was.

"Vixie!"

That voice... It sounded so familiar...and so foreign at the same time. I gritted my teeth as I tossed around. My body is painful... Argh!!!

"Fay! Shock! Saur!"

That voice... It's her! No! Th-that's not her! That's not her voice! But it is! Aaaccckkk!!!

It's too hot! It's too cold! Sparks... Snow...!

"Jay!" a voice shouted, "s-snap out of it!"

"Jay?! T-that's Jay?!"

"AAAHHH!!!" I shouted as I felt unbearable pain coursing through me. I felt a lot of energy that coursed in and out of my body! I shouted as I looked up, but I couldn't see anything other than colors of red, blue, white, yellow, black...and others...

"Jay!"

Chapter 61​

...

... ...

... ... ...

I feel so...light...and at peace...

I see nothing but black. I guess I'm asleep or dreaming once again.

It's...weird though. I feel like I'm floating in outer space, without the tiniest hints of light from any star, near or far. Weird, but it kinda also felt so...soothing.

I...kinda like it here. My mind feels at ease. I feel awake, yet asleep at the same time. Lucid dreaming, maybe? Wait... I didn't accidentally went inside the spirit world, like in that Insidious movie, right? That would suck.

I looked around, or at least, I tried to, but while I feel so at peace and so relaxed here, at the same time, I could also feel nothing at all... I don't feel the fur on me. I don't feel my limbs... I can't even feel my heartbeat.

At least I still have a mind for thinking all of these stuff... Eh, this is definitely a weird dream.

But why am I here, anyway?

"You lost consciousness."

Well, that's a rather obvious thing to say. Even I could have concluded that. I just don't know why I went unconscious in the first place.

"...what do you last remember before you blacked out?"

Huh... I dunno... Lemme think...

...

... ...

... ... ...

...hm... Well, I remember...that V-Vixie was caught by a trainer... I...am kinda feeling angry about that though. I guess I want to rescue her, or something, but I'm not really sure if I should. I mean...I shouldn't really care, right? Shock pointed that out to me, but...why do I really care, anyway? It's not like I like her.

Um...that last one was a lie... I do like her, as well as the rest of my friends. I guess, as a friend, I just don't want her to be caught, just like myself disliking the fact of getting caught...

I dunno... But whatever. I should probably try to wake up to help Shock and the others to formulate a rescue plan or something.

"Why?"

Why? I just told you: she's a friend. Just like Fay told me before: friends help friends.

"What about home?"

...one step at a time, Darkrai.

"...I am not Darkrai."

Eh? Sorry... I thought you were Darkrai, since, y'know, you're with me in my dream or whatever this place is. Wait...am I in a coma? Or maybe you're a Pokémon that is feeding off of my dream like a Drowzee? Are you a Drowzee? Um...do dreams taste good?

"...I am not a Drowzee, either."

Oh. Uh... An Exeggcute? A Genga—er...Gastly? Any Pokémon that knows the move Dream Eater? Or are you another legendary that shares Darkrai's ability of visiting dreams. Cresselia, maybe? Wait, your voice doesn't sound feminine, so scratch that one...

"...I can't believe how noisy you are..."

Well, excuse me for not being able to do anything else than think! So uh...who or what are you?

"...I am you."

Har har... What movie was that from? I've watched a lot of movies before I woke up in this world, and so if you were 'me', then you'd have no trouble answering my question.

...

...

...

...oi, you still there?

...

...drat. Way to go, me! You scared him off with your yapping mind. Now I'm left all alone, talking, er, thinking to myself... That's a weird thing to say.

Ouch... Okay, where'd that come from. I suddenly felt...pain on my...everything. Ugh, the pain is getting worse and it's irritating that I couldn't move to ease them. Ack... Okay, calm down... How the heck can I calm down!? I am in pain! Well, it's bearable at least, but the helpless feeling of not being able to move to do anything about it is...irritating...and annoying...and ugh...

At least I can faintly hear voices now. I guess I'm slowly waking up. Thankfully. Weird. I guess this his how someone feels when they're in a coma. I did read that the brain is still aware of the surroundings. After I figure out how I ended up like this, I'll try my darnest not to get into this kind of situation again!

"—and then Jay glowed again and changed into a Leafeon and slashed that poor Sandshrew with the leaf on his head—"

Ugh... Fay...

"—and he glowed again and changed into a Flareon before he landed and burned that Magnemite! But then more and more of those human-captured Pokémon came out of nowhere and swarmed him!"

"Fay..." I groaned as I shivered from the cold air I inhaled.

"But Jay was too quick and was changing so fast that not even the swarm of many Pokémon could stop him! There was fire and water and lightning and...and...everything! And then—"

"Fay..." I hissed as I rolled on my belly, slowly, and rubbed my aching head, as if that would heal my aching body. "..shut up..."

"Look who decided to return to the land of the living," Shock's voice reached my ears. He sounded like he was sitting beside me, and was smirking at me.

"—huge blizzard that almost froze everybody outside that healing human building thing and then a loud BOOM of thunder sounded from where Jay once stood! The next thing we knew, he was already far far ahead, in front of that—"

"Tell her to shut up..." I groaned, gritting my teeth and barely managing to open my eyes to bear the pain I felt. "My ears are painfully ringing..."

I heard Shock chuckle, but he called Fay to keep her mouth shut, which I was thankful for.

"But I was about to tell Vixie the best part!"

"Oh, for the love of hotdogs," I hissed and then took a sharp intake of breath. "SHUT UP!"

Finally... Peace and quiet.

"You okay?"

...denied...

I sighed, bearing the pain by grinding my own teeth. "...I think so..."

I felt a nose on my neck, and then it went into a nuzzle. I was too occupied with my own pain to even care that Vixie was nuzzling me. "Thanks for rescuing me," she said quietly.

"Oi," Shock said, "Saur, Fay. Let's give these two lovebirds some room, shall we?"

"S-Shock..." I hissed.

"Yeah?"

"F*ck you..."

He chuckled, and then I heard a series of fading footsteps as Shock ushered Fay to come along.

Vixie already pulled her nose away from me and we were both quiet for a while before I felt her lying down on the ground beside me.

"A-are you still in pain?"

"Nnn..." there's no point in lying, because it's obvious. I just wished she didn't ask the obvious as well... I sighed. "Yeah, b-but I can't really remember why..."

I felt her whiskers on my cheek. She probably shook her head while being so close to mine. "From what Fay told me, I couldn't blame you." She went quiet for a short while. Finally, she laid her head besides mine. "Thank you."

I felt my heart race...and it felt painful as well. But...strange that I like her close like this. Maybe it's because I'm hurt all over. It's...nice to have someone there with you when you need them to...just be there. If she could help me stop this pain, that'd be great, though I doubt that she could do that.

I chuckled lightly. I tried to shrug, but eh, I couldn't. "T-that's what friends are for, right?"

"Friends..." she whispered. "...can't we be more than that?"

"Um...Vixie..." I said, "...I'm in pain right now, so uh...can I postpone to answer that one?"

She sighed quietly, her breath smelt of...berries. "I doubt I can take a 'no' after what you've done."

I sighed. "About that though... I couldn't really remember what happened..."

Silence...

"All I remember was that...I was staring in shock at your trainer—"

"Ex-trainer," she corrected.

I guess the rescue was a success. "Right. Ex-trainer... That, and I felt like I needed to..." I trailed off.

"Save me?"

"Um..." I finally managed to open my eyes without any sharp pain and I saw her eyes reflecting mine, which made my heart go even crazier. "Er...to...to tell the others that...we need to get you out?"

She chuckled, and pulled her head back a bit, which I was thankful for. "In other words, you wanted to save me."

I sighed, rolled my eyes, and closed my eyes.

...and then I felt a soft, wet, and slightly cold...thing on my cheek.

I opened my eyes in time to see Vixie had licked my cheek. "...eewww..." I cringed.

She chuckled, and then she laid her head on top of my head. "This feels nice..."

I deadpanned. "Horay for being a pillow in pain..."

Chapter 62​

"I evolved?" I asked as we sat on a bed in one of the Pokémon Center's rooms, where Bill was furiously filling the air with his furious typing noises on his laptop.

"Yup!" Fay cheerfully chirped, bouncing a bit from where she sat. "You evolved into a Flareon! And then a Vaporeon! And then a Jolteon! And then—"

I arched an eyebrow and turned to Shock. "I evolved?"

"—an Umbreon! And then an Espeon! And—"

Shock shrugged. "I saw it happen. I still don't believe it."

"—then a Leafeon! And—"

I turned to Saur. "I evolved?"

"—then a Glaceon!"

Saur just smiled and nodded.

Fay suddenly blinked, and her smile turned into a confused frown. "And that weird pinkeon with tentacles worming around you."

"That's a Sylll—" I shivered at the sudden pop-ups of images in my head about the 'things' I saw on the internet about that girly 'mon. Brr... "...a Sylveon, Fay... Anyway..."

I shook my head and turned to Vixie, who was annoyingly leaning on me, and resting her head on my shoulder.

"Ahem," I said, pushing her off of me a bit. I failed to get rid of her smile, unfortunately. "So... I evolved?"

"Yep," and she went back on leaning her head on my shoulder again...

I sighed, and turned back to each one of them. "Okay. So, I evolved, as you claim, right?"

They nodded.

I frowned. "Then why the freaking hell am I still an Eevee?!" I held a paw up, stalling Fay's deep intake of breath. "And more importantly, how the hell was I able to evolve into different Eeveelutions?!"

"Eeveelutions..." Saur quietly repeated with a smile and a nod. "I like that."

I glared at him. He shrugged.

Shock cleared his throat. He raised a hand, extending a finger for point number one... "For your first question, we do not know." Second finger. "For the other one, WE should be the ones asking THAT question, not the other way around."

I frowned.

"So, how'd you do it?!" Fay asked excitingly.

My frown deepened.

Saur chuckled. "Jay doesn't seem to know either."

Shock arched an eyebrow at me. "Our party's weakest member happens to be the strongest as well, yet he doesn't know how he did it..." He shook his head in disappointment.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. How sad, isn't it?" I glared at him.

I was being sarcastic. They didn't notice. I sighed.

I pushed Vixie away and turned to Bill, and noticed that his Murkrow was sleeping beside his laptop. What was her name again? I think it rhymns with lies... Eh, whatever.

"So," I said, stopping for a moment when Vixie finally stopped pushing her head back on my shoulder. "What now?"

"We wait for Krys' group," Saur calmly replied.

Fay nodded cheerfully.

I blinked. Oh yeah. I almost forgot about her. "Where are they now?"

Shock shrugged and pointed a paw to Bill. "That human Bill guy over there last said that they were following Scizor's group."

I blinked again. "To where again?"

Shock sighed. "Ever since you evolved, your brain doesn't seem to work anymore."

I glared. "Well, excuse me for waking up and suddenly feeling like I could have been fried to a crisp!"

"Wouldn't that be a wonderful sight to see."

"Shock!" Vixie gasped.

The Pikachu waved her off with a hand. "I was kidding. Sheesh, you're being over-protective of your mate lately..."

I frowned. "We're not mates." I noticed Vixie's frown from the corner of my eyes, and I sighed. Here we go again... "Anyw—"

"Jay," Bill called.

We all turned to him.

Bill turned, slightly carrying the chair as he turned so he could face us directly. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I..." I suddenly felt how free my neck was. I touched my neck with both paws, and yep, no collar there.

"Ah, right," Bill said, smiling sheepishly as he scratched his head. "The collar was...fried...by the time I got to where you were resting after that...incident."

I turned and glared at Shock. "See? I was fried!"

Shock just rolled his eyes as Fay giggled.

"Anyway," Bill said as he returned his attention back to his laptop. "While you were sleeping earlier, I took some blood samples from you and—"

I gasped. It wasn't enough to break his concentration on whatever was on his screen.

"—compared it to the other Eevees from the trainers that were here."

My eye twitched. I hate needles so much. Just imagining myself being stabbed by... I shivered, and Vixie was quick enough to lean her head on my shoulder again. I sighed.

Bill turned his laptop for us to see two large images side-by-side. It was that aurora-like-rainbow-thingy-thingy again. Bill was frowning at he turned back to us.

"There wasn't any difference, as far as I can tell..."

Well, that was useless information. I frowned. "Can I have my blood back?"

Bill shook his head and returned to his laptop. "Professor Oak went back to Pallet Town so he could do his own research better. And..." he trailed off. He was already absorbed by his laptop that waiting for almost a minute for him to continue became pointless now.

"So..." I said as my friends turned to each other. "We wait?"

Shock nodded. "That's the plan, yes." He suddenly shook his head. "But I don't like staying here for long." He looked around. "Feels like we're captured and forced to follow that human." He looked back at us. "We're leaving."

I arched an eyebrow. "We leave to...where?"

Shock shrugged. "Nowhere." He turned to the only window in the room, smiling at the calmly rolling white clouds on a blue sky. "It's a big world out there. There are still so many things for us to see."

I rolled my eyes. "When did you become so poetic?"

"Shut up."

I chuckled. "Anyway, so we'll go on an adventure while waiting?"

Shock grinned at me.

I turned to the others. Fay was smiling happily as usual. Saur was smiling calmly as usual. Vixie was annoyingly leaning her head on my shoulder, which I am hoping will not become a usual.

I sighed quietly. Our little group started this little adventure of ours so that we could get to Professor Oak, since that's where Bill was, in hopes for me to return to being human.

We ended up with failure, since Bill can't help me with my situation.

I am still kinda waiting for Celebi, or any legendaries that might bring me the word that Arceus is finally going to help me.

Waiting... Waiting...

Am I just going to sit here and wait? I could. That's a safer option. I thought of that as well when I was in Oak's lab. I ended up working with them to at least help solve the devolution mystery, with the promise of them helping my situation. The promise ended up being nailed in the waiting list... Also...helping them, I kinda didn't like it. It wasn't about me...

Selfish I may sound, but I am truly not supposed to be here. I need to go home. The legendaries, as far as I've seen, are powerful, and they can help me, and it's going to be worth the wait...no matter how long?

Shock wants us to go on an adventure...the five of us. But for what? I think I'm satisfied with the knowledge that I have about this world from the animé, game and manga. I don't really want to experience everything firstha—paw... And there's also t— "Eep!"

I jumped aside in a jolt after I felt a wet lick on my cheek. I stared in disbelief at the giggling Vulpix.

"You think too much," she said.

"And welcome back to reality," Shock grinned with an eye roll. "So, what do you say?"

I sat down, leaned down, wiped my cheek on the soft bedsheets, and stayed lying there with a confused sigh. Bad idea. Vixie laid her head on my back. I grunted in annoyance.

"You two look cute together."

"Shut up, Fay."

Chapter 63​

It's been two days now since my friends and I left Viridian City. I doubt Bill would be happy that we left though... But I did left a note.

Holding that pen on paws was freaking difficult that I had to ask Saur to wrap a vine around it, and I just used my paws to guide the pen on what to write. The letters we wrote wer squigly, but it was readable at least. We could have used his laptop though, but Lais might notice and wonder what we were doing. That, and it's probably protected with a password.

Anyway, I still didn't like the idea of leaving. Then again, waiting would be boring...and my friends threatened me that they'll leave me and Vixie behind. I...do NOT want to take care of Eggs!

...what? I'm not that oblivious. From what Vixie has been doing, it's obvious that she'll force me at some point in time if she ever gets the chance...

I shivered, not from the cold night air.

I sighed, and then stared back at the vast sea of stars up in the heavens. My friends and I took yet another Tauros ride on Mister Tauros. I was actually quite surprised that the herd were just about to go back to Johto when we arrived there. Mister Tauros was more than happy to give us a ride, which we were quite thankful for.

I lied on my back, so I could stare at the stars properly. Vixie's head was on my chest, and she was sleeping peacefully. I got tired of shoving her away. That, and her body heat helped a lot in staying warm during nights like this one. It's probably good being a fire type, I guess.

...or are they maybe constantly in heat?

I chuckled quietly at my own terrible joke.

My friends were already sound asleep. I'm still quite surprised that we all can sleep comfortably on a single Tauros' back.

I sighed again and caught a glimpse of a shooting star. Aside from the constant sounds of hooves on ground, I heard quiet sounds of awe from a small number of awake Pokémon who also asked for a ride on other Tauroses. Yeah, shooting stars are really a cool thing to see at night. Sad that we had so much light pollution back home though. No one there could actually take a moment to appreciate how beautiful the night sky truly is.

My ear twitched when I heard Shock mumbled something from his sleep. I suddenly remembered the weird look he and the rest of my friends gave me when I suggested that we return to Johto.

I took an hour to think about Shock's offer of going out on an adventure. There really was nothing there for me to gain, so I thought a lot about the things that I might get from adventuring.

I suddenly thought about my favorite Pokémon movie. The third movie. The Unown. After I saw the Jirachi movie, I dubbed the Unowns as the true wish makers.

If the legendaries are busy solving the evolution mystery, then I would try and see my chances with the Unown. I already told myself that I shouldn't heavily base everything on the animé and manga, but eh, it's worth a shot. Besides, Fay and Saur liked the idea of seeing the Ruins of Alph.

According to Saur, the old daycare couple used to tell him and the other Pokémon some stories, and included was the mystery of the Alph Ruins. Saur shared some things about the story, but I couldn't remember any of it right now. Eh...sleep is probably and finally getting to me.

I yawned. Long. Wow, I guess sleep finally caught up with me. I wonder what time is it now.

So anyway, Fay liked the story as well, so she's excited to go there. I also dug a little something about my friends' past. Apparently, Fay used to visit the Daycare often, just to snatch some free food if she felt lazy of fighting other Pokémon for berries in the forest. That's how Fay and Saur met.

"Mmm..." Vixie suddenly mumbled, her ear twitched a bit. With eyes still closed, she rose to a sitting position, though slowly. I'm guessing animals can do those while asleep. As I thought, she used a hind paw to scratch behind her ear, and then she went back to lie on my...

I stifled a gasp. She lied her head a little too low for comfort. Zip it, brain. Anyway, I carefully and gently grabbed her head and dragged it back on my chest.

Huh, strange... I kinda like how my paw rested behind her neck like this. Feels nice, actually...

I sighed as I gently stroke her neck's fur with my paw. I hate to admit it, but I really am starting to like her... Which is wrong... Super duper wrong. I shouldn't be attracted to her. I'm human, for f*ck's sake, and she's...just an animal.

...an animal that could talk and think. An animal with emotions. An animal with a conscience...

I've been torn away from my home for far too long, it seems. There are still humans here in this world, sure, but I'm not... They treat me differently here... Bill already knew I was human, but I could barely feel him treating me like one. I guess I just miss the normal days of my life back home... I wonder if that cute girl back in the office misses me...or maybe I'm just a nobody to her and she already found a guy to be with. Sigh...

This sucks. This really sucks.

I like Vixie, yeah, and so are my friends. But I'm starting to like Vixie more, and it feels so so freaking wrong. We need to get to the ruins while I could still control myself. I just hope I won't regret this later down the road.

I sighed again. Damn, where did sleep went off to? It was suppose to make me fall asleep minutes ago...

...

... ...

... ... ...

I wonder how Krystal is doing.

If the Unowns can help me return home, I wonder how the heck can I let Krystal know. Maybe I can ask my friends to do it? Hey, it's going to be another adventure, so chances are that they might do it.

...

... ...

... ... ...

I should get some sleep. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea right now. All of those thoughts made me kind of depressed...

"Night, Mister Tauros," I whispered.

"G'night, kid," he replied.

I stared at the stars for a few more moments before sighing and closing my eyes. "Night, guys," I whispered as I stroked Vixie's neck one more time. "Night, Vixie..."

Chapter 64​

I heard my friends' voices as I rushed back to them.

"—and they said that the trainer got really bad burns, and his Growlithe disappeared."

That was Vixie's voice... I turned and finally reached them, who were seated in a circle, eating berries, and were outside the edge of this forest.

Shock nodded as he chewed. "Sounds like Lithe alright."

A three rhymed words combo. Nice.

"Saves us the trouble of informing his mates," he added with a smug grin. "If we see them along the way, that is."

Vixie sighed as her ears drooped. "I just hope to never see him again." She looked up in time to see me arrive. She instantly brightened, which made me roll my eyes. "Jay! How was it?"

I glared at Fay as I sat beside Vixie. "Remind me not to eat rotten Makigarp meat ever again."

"What?" Fay asked innocently. "It was deliscious."

Shock and Saur suddenly stared at the berries with disgust.

"Or anything rotten by that matter. Anyway," I cringed before I turned to Vixie, "it...went well, but..." I closed my eyes and shivered. "A...a Poliwag saw everything."

"So?" Shock asked as he took another berry.

"I still don't get this whole 'privacy' thing for just taking a poop out of your system," Fay said, giving me a confused frown. "I do it all the time!"

Thank the heavens that I have never seen any of it, and I plan of keeping it that way.

"Exactly," Shock added before taking a bite.

I glared at the two of them. "Well, excuse me for being a descent and proper human. What? You expect me to take a dump here while you guys eat?"

"As long as you don't poop on the berries," Saur calmly said.

"Or on any of us," Vixie joined in on the teasing.

I groaned, ignoring their chuckles. "Yeah, yeah... Laugh it up." I took a berry and was about to take a bite when Vixie interrupted me.

"So, what was so bad about a Poliwag seeing you doing...that?"

"Aside from the fact that it saw everything, which is disgusting, and creepy, and weird, and a violation of my privacy and concentration..." I ignored Shock's rolling eyes, "it also..." I suddenly lost my appetite, slowly returning the berry back. "...it also offered...some...er...service."

"Which is...?" Shock asked as he chewed.

I sighed, and groaned. "It...wanted to...l-l-lick my butt clean." There. I said it. Goddamn it, I know wiping my butt with this body is close to impossible, but damn, that Poliwag...

Vixie choked on a berry as the rest of my friends burst out laughing. At some point, as I helped Vixie recover from her choking fit, Shock choked, but kept on laughing anyway...

Chapter 65​

Goldenrod is a really big city.

My friends and I walked outside the city's border, hidden behind the safety of the trees and bushes from any human eyes. I don't want to risk them seeing us, or ME, and then try to catch me, and ruin my day.

Despite that though, I felt really glad to see the golden city under the morning glow of the already risen sun. Memories started flooding back in, the good, the fun, and a whole lot of annoying and bad memories as well.

...I suddenly felt a great pang of guilt. I wonder how Kit is doing...

"Well, well, well..."

...Well, that answers that question.

We stopped and looked up, and saw the Meowth standing on two legs on a thick branch, staring at us—or at me—with piercing eyes. He was also slightly tossing a gold coin up with a hand, while the other was resting on the tree. "Never thought I'd see you again."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Shock asked. I cringed at how straightforward and stupid that question was.

Kit didn't respond as he jumped down and landed in front of our party. I winced slightly after I saw some clear and furless scars around him.

"Do you know him?" Vixie asked, who was beside me. She must have noticed my reactions.

"Oh, he definitely does," Kit glared at me. "And I'm here to settle a score with him."

I gulped and took a step back, as my friends turned to look at me. I just smiled nervously. "Eh...heheh...uh... Can't we just...talk about this?"

He clenched a paw and punched the palm of his other paw. "No."

Loud rustling noises echoed all around us, making my friends and I to look around. I turned back to Kit, and saw him flashing a wicked grin. He showed the coin, one side had a Meowth face, the other had a Meowth tail.

"You've put me in a lot of pain, Eevee," he said as he tossed the coin up in the air. He then caught it before it could land on the grassy ground, and showed us his paw, and the coin with a Meowth's face. "It's your turn."

"I was in a lot of pain that time, too, y'know!" I shouted, but it was completely drowned from the loud battle cries of many many many different Pokémon that jumped out from the sea of greens, and each one of them were ready to hurt us.

... One shockwave, heat wave, swift wave and leaf wave later...

All of them were painfully wincing on the ground, barely able to move or even groan in pain.

I nervously stared at the Meowth, whose mouth hung agape in shock, losing his grip on his gold coin. "So, um..." I took a few steps forward, so I would be in front of my friends. I cleared my throat and calmed myself down. "Kit, listen." I frowned. "I'm sorry for what happened. I was...just desperate to get home... I still am..."

Sounds of rushing footsteps from afar reached our twitching ears. I turned and saw people running towards us from the city.

"Time to run, guys," Shock said, running away, followed closely by Fay and Saur.

Vixie ran to my side and nudged me to move. "Let's go, Jay!"

I gasped at the realization that I was just simply standing there. For a moment there, I completely forgot that I was still an Eevee. I looked back and saw that Kit was no longer around. I sighed internally and ran after Shock, with Vixie following close behind.

Away from the area of the battle-that-wasn't-really-a-battle, we reached a small clearing where Shock and the others were waiting for us.

"Okay," Shock said as I sat down to catch my breath. "Who was that cat and why does he want to hurt you so badly?"

I slightly shook my head, still catching my breath. "I guess I'm starting to get my very own Lithe."

Fay blinked in confusion. Saur arched an eyebrow. Vixie just stared blankly at me.

Shock glared at me.

I sighed. "Remember that wrecking ba—accident that I caused in the city?"

"The only thing we know about it was that you were the one who caused it," Fay said, strangely in a seriously confused tone.

Saur nodded. Vixie sat beside me.

Shock crossed his arms and was still glaring at me.

"Kit was there," I said.

"You almost killed him?" Shock asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No!" I yelped. I stopped. I gulped. "M-maybe?"

Shock sighed. "Explains why he wants to hurt you so badly."

"He agreed to help me!" I reasoned.

"Which was stupid of me," Kit's voice echoed from the trees.

We turned and saw him lazily lying on his back on a branch, glaring at the small gaps of the sea of leaves up above while casually playing with a coin on a paw.

"Round two?" Shock dared, taking a step forward. I grabbed his tail and tried to pull him back.

Kit closed his eyes and tsk'ed. "You guys are too powerful." He stood up, opened his eyes, and glared at me. "Expected from used-to-be evolved Pokémons."

"For your information," Shock glared at him. "I never evolved into a Raichu, and I don't plan to."

"Why?" I blinked, letting go of his tail.

Shock turned and blinked at me. "...because they're fat and slow?"

I shrugged. "Eh, good enough. Anyway," I looked back at the glaring Meowth. "Look, Kit... I am really, really, really, REALLY, sorry for what happened!"

"That's four 'really's'," Fay chirped suddenly.

I ignored her and continued, "I was scared that they'll take me away and never let me go home again."

Kit hissed. "Bill. Returns. A. Month. Or. Two." He shook his head. "So what if they'll take you in? At least you get free food!"

"I like free food," Fay chirped once again.

"Not now, Fay," I sighed and pushed her to Saur. "Kit, I couldn't wait that long. The longer I stay here, the longer I..." I bit my lip and took a glance at the curious Vulpix beside me.

"Does he know?" Saur suddenly asked.

I blinked and look at him. "What?"

He gestured his head, pointing at Kit. "Him. Does he know?"

Does he know what? I don't get it.

"That you're a human..." Vixie quietly whispered.

Oh...that. I shook my head. "No, he doesn't."

"Keep it," Kit suddenly said as he went back to lying on his back on the branch, his angry gaze on the leaves. "Keep your stupid reasons and secrets to yourself. I don't want to carry it."

"Good choice," Shock said.

I glared at the Pikachu. He ignored me. I sighed as I stared back at the Meowth. "So...we're cool?"

"Meh," Kit said, unamused. "Just leave already before I decide to call your dog friends."

"Dog friends?" Vixie asked, looking at me.

I sighed. "How are they, by the way?"

"Better with you no longer there," Kit replied calmly, yet his voice still felt cold.

I winced. I regret what happened. I didn't mean for those things to happen, but what could I do at that time? They were holding me down, so I had no choice. But still. I took a step forward as I took a deep breath. I looked back at the Meowth, and wanted to apologize again, but his angry eyes, even though directed at the leaves, still were...

I sighed, my ears drooping. "L-let's just go, guys..."

Chapter 66​

Two days after that Kit incident, my friends and I stood on a tall hill, and we were staring down at the peaceful town a few rolling hills away. It was a beautiful and peaceful town, being painted by the wonderous glow of the setting sun, and the tall tower beyond it was really breathtaking.

It would have been a magnificent sight if I didn't say the "oops" word that time.

Shock turned to me and gave me a very, very icy stare. "What do you mean, 'oops?'"

I hid behind Vixie's side, staring apologetically at the glaring Pikachu. "Eheheh... Um... We...might have made a wrong turn..."

Shock's eye twitched, and then he groaned as he rubbed his forehead with both paws.

"Well," Vixie said, smiling at me, and then looking at the town. "That village looks really nice. For humans, at least."

"It's Ecruteak City..." I replied as I mentally slapped myself 'cause I've been calling it a town from the start.

"Ehku-huh?" Fay's face scrunched in confusion.

I ignored her. "The ruins is south-east from here..."

I wonder how we missed the route to Violet City though. I guess we were probably asleep on Mr. Tauros' back while we were passing there...

Shock sighed. "Anything you want to do here before we move on?"

"We can rest here," Saur suggested.

Shock gave it some thought before nodding.

... Those events were yet another two days ago.

My friends and I were now seated on the edge of a forest, quietly waiting for Saur, who was talking to a Mantine by the river. The ruins were really visible from here though, but damn, this river is big! That, or my small body is making it look big. Though the ruins does look far away from here.

While Fay and Shock were busy arguing about clouds being a Pokémon or not, I was lying on my stomach on the grassy ground, groaning in annoyance as Vixie 'groomed' my backside by licking and biting my fur. She has tried to do this in the past few days though, but I managed to push her away and stop her. This time, I was too freaking tired to say no, 'cause we didn't get some sleep last night 'cause there were trainers who decided to catch Pokémon in the night.

"You really need to clean yourself more often," Vixie whispered.

I groaned. "I don't want to choke on my own hairball." I sighed as she went back to grooming. "Seriously, there's water literally right in front of us! Can't I at least just take a bath there? What you're doing is really, really disgusting!"

"I actually feel jealous."

"Oh, go kill yourself, Shock," I hissed as I glared at his chuckling form.

I suddenly yawned like I haven't yawned in my life, and licked my lips as Saur called us. The Mantine then dived underwater, making me arch an eyebrow.

"So?" Shock asked as we got there.

Saur shook his head with a frown. "None of them are willing to take us there."

"Well, that sucks," I sighed.

"See?" Fay stared angrily at Shock. "I should have been the one to ask those meanie rays!"

I doubt she could even catch any of their attention.

...or maybe she could. But eh, the results would still be the same anyway...

"So, what now?" Vixie asked.

"We go around it," Shock said as he stared at the ruins.

I blinked at him, and looked left and right. "Seriously? This is a big lake!"

"It's a river," Saur corrected.

"Rivers, lakes, seas," I rolled my eyes, "they're the same bodies of water."

Saur shook his head. "No, they're not."

"Whatever," I sighed and sat down, wincing that I sat on my tail a bit. Hey, I'm starting to know how to control it, but still kinda not used to it. "I'm still too tired and sleepy..."

"All of us are," Shock pointed out.

I looked around and spotted a group of Pidgeys. "Can't we ask them to fly us to the other side?"

Shock wondered what I was talking about. He turned, and scoffed. "Good luck."

I turned to glare at him, but my gaze fell on Fay, who was cheerfully humming to herself as she swam in circles in the river.

Hm... I turned to Shock. "Can you swim?"

He tore his gaze from the ruins and turned to me with an arched eyebrow. "Yes?"

I nodded and looked at Saur. "You can swim?"

He just blinked at me.

"I'll take that as a 'no.'" I then turned to Vixie. "How about you?"

Vixie frowned at me, and then frowned at the river. "I...can...yes... B-but I don't do it often..."

I nodded. "Good enough."

"Oi," Shock called. I turned. "What are you up to?"

"Water jet ski," I said, turning to the river. I hope the water's enough to rid of our sleepy status condition. "...minus the 'jet' part."

"Hm?" Fay stopped and floated, blinking at us.



Shock was grumbling, but I couldn't hear what he was saying 'cause his mouth was under the water. Fay was humming cheerfully as the two of them swam ahead.

A vine was wrapped around their back and belly, pushing the frowning and floating Saur along, his abdomenal-parts completely under the water's surface.

Vixie was trying her best to stay out of the water on top of the frowning Bulbasaur, while I tried my best not to let go, holding onto Saur's bulb as I kicked my hind legs against the water to at least contribute something.

...I can't swim, by the way.

"This is fun!" Fay shouted ahead.

"This is, by far," Saur said, wincing a bit when Vixie placed a paw on his head for balance, "the stupidest thing you've come up with, Jay."

Vixie yelped when she almost lost her balance. "V-v-very stupid," she gulped.

I am trying to control my nervousness, 'cause if I let go, I'd drown for sure, so I ignored them and the strange looks we were receiving from the eyes of the many water types around the river.

Chapter 67​

The closest that I could describe the ruins though, was that they looked like they were made out of bricks that were used to build the pyramids back in Egypt. The entrances, I mean, since they all lead inside this huge mountain. Anyway, yeah, these bricks were old and yellow, and so freaking huge! I haven't really gone to see the pyramids myself but, I've seen images online.

And just like the pyramids, the walls here have patterns on them. They looked like they've been carved, and then painted black. Whatever paint the old people or Pokémon used, it sure could withstand the test of time! I mean, just wipe the dust away, and I could still clearly see each and every Unown markings that were written.

I was quite thankful that Shock and the others were stubborn enough to rest first before we went inside. After a good rest and...a berry-filled belly...we went inside and began our little exploration inside one of the many entrances that didn't have any human presence.

At first, we went back outside 'cause it was too dark. Shock volunteered to shed some light, but he might be drained out of energy if he did, reminded by Vixie. Shock argued that he was stronger than before now, but still accepted that fact. So Saur volunteered, absorbing some sunlight and his bulb actually glowed while we were inside the dark chamber!

Do Bulbasaurs normally learn Flash? Eh, whatever...

Aside from the fact that the place was dark, the air here was also cool, and carried the smell of old and...weirdness. I can't describe it pretty well. It just felt really weird in here. The closest I could guess is that we were feeling a faint psychic wave around the place. If that was true, then that would explain why we could listen to the Unown through the radio in the games.

I haven't played HeartGold or SoulSilver, unfortunately. I skipped to Black after Ruby, and then skipped to X. Damn, Unown knowledge is pretty useful right about now...

Anyway, Saur and Fay were on one group, chatting quietly yet excitingly. They sounded really amazed though. Shock went on his lonesome, studying a different wall, while, as usual, I was stuck with Vixie.

I decided not to trouble myself with her for now. At the moment, I'm wondering where on earth these Unown messages start...

"May I ask," Shock asked, squinting his eyes as he leaned closer to a particular spot on the wall, "what are we looking for here?"

I returned my attention back to the wall in front of me. "I don't know yet." I started 'reading' the letters.

Shock sighed. "That's useful..."

"Hmm..." I hmm'ed as I mentally read what was written on the wall.

"You can read these?" Vixie asked.

Her question broke my concentration, and I blinked as I turned to her. "Y-yes?" I blinked again. "Wait...you can't?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Nope."

I blinked again. "Really?"

"None of us can!" Fay chirped cheerfully.

I felt my two ears droop. "...really?"

"Yes, really," Shock replied, irritated.

"B-but I thought—"

"Well, you thought wrong," Shock angrily said. He then took a deep breath, and sighed as he rubbed his forehead with a paw. "Sorry... Anyway, no, we can't." He took another breath and fully turned to face me. "Wait... You weren't expecting us to know how to read these, right?"

...I guess my sheepish smile was enough of an answer to him.

He groaned and shook his head. "You can at least read these, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. At least, I think so..."

"Wow, really?" Fay asked cheerfully, hopping from where she stood. She spun around, facing a wall, and pointed. "Oh! Oh! Read this one! Please, please, please, plea—"

"All right, all right," I hurried over, Vixie following me behind with a chuckle. "Sheesh. Don't wet your pa—fur?"

"What?" Saur blinked.

I shook my head as I reached them, Shock approaching us. "Never mind," I said.

Fay stepped aside and faced me as she pointed at an Unown letter on the wall. "What does it say?" she asked.

Huh... Strange that this letter followed a blank space. I guess this is a start of a new line of sentence or something. I looked right, to the following letters, and wiped the dusts off of them as far as I could reach just by standing on this spot. Vixie wiped the rest.

"Okay," I said, squinting my eyes a bit as I realized that whoever wrote these didn't know how to separate each new words with spaces... "It says... 'us get agua plants grow make food'..."

Fay giggled at how silly I sounded. "You talked silly..."

"Wow," Shock said with a deadpan, "that was reeeaaalllyyy informative."

"Well," I shot him a soft glare, "that's what was written." I looked back at the wall and wiped the top parts. "Hm... 'unown act weird many people stand in unown home'... Well, that's something..."

"Try that one," Saur said, pointing on another wall with his vine. He was pointing at a drawing of a sun.

"Huh," I blinked as I got closer. I actually didn't expect other symbols besides the Unown letters were used here. "'Sun too hot we pray unown rain and sky rain'..."

Fay giggled again as Shock sighed.

"This is useless," Shock shook his head. "There's nothing here but gibberish texts of ancient humans!"

I shook my head. "Wrong," I said as I read it again, a small smile forming on my lips. "What I just read is proof!"

"Proof of what?" Shock asked, unconvinced.

I turned to him with a smile. "The Unown made it rain that day!"

"So?" Shock arched an eyebrow. "They just rain danced. Drought problem solved."

"Nah ah ah! That's the thing!" I said happily. "Unowns can't do rain dance, or any other moves! They only know hidden power!"

"What's a hidden power?" Vixie asked.

I ignored her as I looked back at the wall and went to read a random spot. "They can grant requests! They're the true wish makers! Or wish granters? Whatever! Like this one! 'Food not enough pray unown food and unown give food'!" I ran and stopped and read a random spot. "'Unown make dead tree alive again!' Or this one! 'angry magical beast attack we pray unown protection and unown help us!' Or this! 'cannot make mate pregna...' ...er..." I took a step back and shook my head. "Whatever! You get the idea!"

I turned back to my friends, a giant grin on my face, actually feeling overjoyed.

"Can't you see? They can help me! They can help me go back home!" I was actually jumping in place from joy. "I can go back home!"

Saur was smiling calmly at me. Fay was smiling and jumping on the spot as well. Shock was somehow smiling at me as well while his arms were crossed. Vixie...has a sad smile.

But whatever. This is good news! Definitely good news! "This is great! Now all we have to figure out is to how to call them ou—"

I landed on some sort of scrabble piece on the floor. I stopped as I stared at the spinning piece on the ground, and then it settled on the floor...and then it glowed in blue... and went back to normal.

"...uh..."

The walls glowed in a blue aura, and a few of us yelped in surprised as we grouped together, and nervously staring at the glowing walls.

"Wh-what did you do?!" Shock asked.

"Th-they look pretty though," Fay said in a nervous tone and followed it with a nervous chuckle, failing to help us calm down.

I...was starting to feel like every hair around my body were standing.

"L-let's get outta here!" Shock said, grabbing Fay and Vixie as he dashed towards— "Where'd the exit go?!"

I gasped after I nervoulsy took a glance up. The others did as well, and we saw a swirling white and blue other-worldly cloud swirling on the ceiling, a starry world in the black and blue hue beyond.

Aside from the faint sparks and air current, an other-worldly hum echoed all around us. The ground was starting to shake as I slowly felt gravity malfunctioned. I felt a vine wrapped around me and saw Saur, already floating, has grabbed me as he grit his teeth, trying not to let his other vine lose its hold on a jagged spot on the floor.

"Jay!" Shock shouted. I turned, and saw him extending a paw towards me. I caught him. "Wh-what's going on?!"

I nervously stared at Fay and Vixie, who were grabbing on Shock's tail. They both looked really terrified... I nervously looked back at the confused and nervous Pikachu. "I...I-I don't know!"

There was a loud noise, and everything went white.

Chapter 68​

White... White...

...and sounds of falling paper everywhere.

...and I just realized that I'm buried in a huge pile of paper.

...what just happened?

"Oh my god!" gasped a very very familiar female voice, and immediately followed by sounds of hands digging through papers. "I-I'm so sorry, Jay!"

A large hand emerged from the papers, and I froze as I saw it bump into my eye.

"Ow..." I winced.

The hand immediately pulled away. "S-sorry."

The papers slid off of my head, and I saw... "C-Claire?"

I blinked. She was that cute office girl I really wanted to ask out for lunch or dinner or whatever. Fair complexion, long black hair that was tied into a ponytail, beautiful brown eyes... And oh, behind her was...

"Mike?"

He was smirking and mouthed the words 'you're welcome', then gestured with his lips, pointing at the sorry-looking Claire, and then he walked off.

"What the hell is going on over there?!" shouted the voice everyone dreaded to hear. I gasped and immediately tried to push myself away from the pile of papers that buried my...body...

...I...have human arms...

"Jay?!"

I yelped and stood up straight. At least, I tried to... I stepped on a few pieces of paper, and I slipped, my back landing on the bed of papers. After wincing for a short bit, a fat and angry face of my boss glared down at me. He held a hand in front of him, his thumb and index finger extended, and almost touching each other.

"You are this close of getting fired, stickboy! Clean this mess up and get back to work!"

"Y-y-y—"

"NOW!"

I shut my mouth, rolled and pulled myself up half-way before kneeling down, and hurried to pick up the papers. I heard his loud footsteps, getting fainter and fainter, until it was drowned by the sounds of keyboards, printers, yawns, and other usual office noises.

I am still a bit confused as to what just happened. Wasn't I in the Pokémon world a few moments ago? Wait... Wasn't I there for...how many days was I stuck ther—

I accidentally grabbed a very smooth arm instead of paper. "Sorry!" I said as I jerked and let it go.

Claire just shook her head, shot me a sad frown, and went back to picking up the papers. "I'm really, really sorry, Jay," she said, stacking her collected papers on a trolley that I just noticed. "I tripped...and...a-and almost got you fired, and—"

"Nah," I waved her off with a few papers I had on my hand. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

She looked at me, her frown went further down. "I almost got you fired because of my mess up!"

I shrugged, and continued to act casual, but it was freaking hard to do so with my stupid racing heart. "Eh, I'm still here, right?" I smiled as I put some papers on the trolley. "So really, don't worry about it."

I saw Mike out of the corner of my eye, giving me a thumbs up and gesturing for me to keep it up. I rolled my eyes. He's one of a few of my best friends here, and he has tried to convince me to date someone already. I just told him that I wasn't in a rush. That, and none really caught my interest before Claire got hired.

I just took notice that two of our co-workers, whose tables were beside mine, started helping out as well. As we gathered the papers, I chance a glance at Claire, and she was still looking quite troubled. I sighed internally as I thanked the two. I turned and wanted to smile at Claire, but she already pushed the trolley away towards...wherever she needed it to be placed.

I frowned and sat back on my chair, and immediately stared blankly at a website that was currently displayed.

'What was I doing here again?' I asked myself. Seriously, what was I doing before I woke up as an Eevee? Then again, how DID I woke up as an Eevee?

I shook my head slightly and checked my email. The boss usually sends us emails about the tasks we're needed to do for the day.

I...had a hard time controlling my own fingers... And...my butt felt kinda awkward without that tail... And I suddenly felt colder...

I closed my eyes and once again shook my head. Concentrate, Jay. Concentrate! You're back. You're back. I am back, right?

...y-yeah... Yeah, I am back... I should stop pinching myself now.

I...failed to stop myself from smiling. I suddenly felt really...happy. I want to jump and shout and tell the world that I'm back!

...unfortunately, that might get me fired, so yeah, I'm going to have to contain my joy, at least for the time being.

Okay... Work... Damn, it's still ten in the morning...

Aw well. I'm going to do my task, and then finish this day, and celebrate. But before that, work.

As I clicked on my email on one of the tabs of my browser, I suddenly noticed my Skype icon was flashing an orange circle. Meaning, someone chatted with me. I clicked it, and saw that it was Mike.

"dude!" his chat began. "whyd u hold back?"

"eh?" came my usual Skype reply.

While he was busy typing his reply, I went back to my email and read the task that was given to me. From the looks of it, it was going to be yet another long day, but eh, screw it. I'll finish this and be done with it. I don't want it to haunt me in my sleep later tonight!

"you know what I mean!" Mike replied. "did you ask her out for lunch at least?"

I was about to reply when another person started a chat conversation with me. It was...

"er..." I replied to Mike. "brb"

"hey" began Claire's chat message. "sorry about earlier"

I rolled my eyes as I typed my reply. "it's fine. really" Really, it really was no big of a deal, sheesh...

"i feel bad about what happened" was her reply. "i wanna make it up to you"

I sighed and ignored Mike's reply for a while, as I typed my reply. "fine, fine" I heard the word 'fine' had a different meaning to females. But eh, screw it. "what do you have in mind?"

"well" she took a few seconds to continue, so I read Mike's reply. It was just spam, so I didn't bother to reply. "how about ill treat u lunch?"

"Er..." was my reply as I er'ed. I slowly opened Mike's conversation window. "she just asked me out"

"YES!" Mike suddenly shouted from where he sat, his loud voice echoed in the office.

It was then followed by an even louder, and scarier, voice that called his name and made some stop from chuckling.

Chapter 69​

After the double glass doors slid open, Claire and I stepped out of the building where we worked. A gust of dusty air blew past us as I looked around. I stared at the cars moving and waiting for the traffic lights to change. I stared at the tall trees that stood on sidewalks to give some shade and fresh air. I stared at my favorite hotdog stand, where Mr. Kelly had just given a hotdog on a bun to some gangster guy.

"What are you standing there for?" Claire asked, but I ignored her for a moment.

I still couldn't believe that I'm really back. I really am back, aren't I? I could breath the dusty city air. I could hear the city noises. I could even feel the harsh noon sun!

"Jay?"

Finally, I blinked and looked at her frowning yet gorgeous face.

"Something wrong?"

"Not..." I slowly said, looking back, and through the glass, I saw Mike sweet talking to the woman behind the information booth. "...sure..." I breathed out as I noticed a few of our coworkers were walking towards us to go out and eat lunch.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

I shook my head and sighed with a small smile. "Nah, nothing..." I turned to her. "Eh, lead the way, I guess?"

She blinked, and studied my expression with concerned eyes. "You're...um...acting weird..." she said as she moved closer to me, to give way to those who just went out of the building. "If you do anything funny, I'm calling the cops," she said with a slight glare.

I arched an eyebrow. "Where'd that come from?" I closed my eyes and slightly shook my head. "Eh... I guess I'm hungrier than I thought I was..."

She tilted her head slightly, but then nodded. "Well, that's good." She turned and stared at some restaurant not too far from where we were. "I may be new to the company, but I'm not new to this city!" She looked back to me as she pointed at the restaurant. "That there's a good place to eat! Good food and price, too."

I nodded, and tried to feel my wallet through my jeans. The Next payday is next week, if my estimation is correct. Hope I have enough cash left... "Sure," I said as I turned to the road, just in time to see the pedestrian light turned green. "After you, then," I said with a small smile.

She nodded and led the way, though it wasn't really needed. We still don't know each other that much, so walking side-by-side would be awkward, to me at least. That, and I could steal a glance at her ass.

...what? I'm a guy! So it's natural for us to do these things.

Anyway, normally, I'd do that, but as I followed her, I was also looking around, staring at the parked cars, taxis, and other vehicles, shops and stores and restaus and other establishments around.

I don't really know. I should really be happy to be back, but at the same time, I also find it hard to believe that I'm back.

...or maybe the thing I find hard to believe was that I went to a new world, leaving my world frozen in time until I returned.

...or maybe, just maybe...I'm trying to spot a creature, or three, with a yellow, purple, or brown furs...

"Here we are!" Claire's voice broke my train of thought.

I turned and saw her grabbing the door handle, and pushed the glass door open.

I mentally slapped myself for letting her open the door. Minus points for being a gentleman, Jay. Damn, I'm having a bad start already...

The place is well-lit. Not too much, and not too dim. Wall was dark blue, I think, and the tables here looked not so classy, with plain maroon table clothes. Chairs were black and looked like they're made of metal.

There were a few diners as well. Hm... I guess they're called lunchers? Eh... Anyway, it's not really a fancy restaurant where some waiter or whatever the guy is called, who stands by the door and escorts you to your table. Nah, here, there were already cooked meals at the counter to my left, behind clean and transparent glass. I guess this is one of those self-service Asian restaus? Anyway, the food there were steaming as I followed Claire.

As she looked at the various food, I already took a tray.

"What will you be having?" she asked without breaking her eyes off of the different food.

I shrugged. "Something cheap that won't put a hole in my wallet." ...I should probably try not to sound too...uncaring?

She looked at me with a frown. "I told you that I'm treating you to lunch, right?"

...oh yeah. I forgot. I just smiled, shrugged, and play it cool. "Oi, what kind of a guy would I be if I'll let you pay for everything?"

She frowned even further. "A guy who almost lost his job because of my screw up."

There she goes again. I rolled my eyes and slightly shook my head, and stared at the food, or to be more specific, at the food's price tags. Huh, food here's cheap. "Aaand I told you not to worry yourself about that, didn't I?"

"But still, I—"

"Can you two lovebirds get a move on?" said a very familiar voice behind us.

I gulped, and suddenly found it hard to turn, yet I still did, and saw the boss boringly staring at the both of us. I smiled nervously as I tiptoed to the side, Claire did as well. "A-after you, boss!"

"We're not in the office," he said, taking a step forward and stared at the food. "So don't call me that."

I blinked. Weird to see him so calm and not caring like this. Then again, maybe he's just different depending on where he is. Some people are like that, right?

Here, he acts like he doesn't even know who we are. He just made his order, the two middle-aged females behind the counter prepared his food and placed them on his tray, and off he goes to a table by the corner, his eyes glued on a television screen that I just noticed.

Claire stared at him for a few moments before staring back at me. I just shrugged and ordered rice and chicken curry. Claire ordered some veggie salad. Sheesh, females and their dieting habits.

Anyway, I led her to a table, a few tables away from our not-our-boss-at-the-moment boss. I held my tray on one arm and pulled a chair for her with the other. She rolled her eyes, but smiled nevertheless. Score points! After she sat down, I went to my seat and we quietly, and awkwardly began eating. Awkward for me, at least. I was always eating lunch with Mike and a bunch of other dudes in some fast food restaurant. Here though, I'll have to properly hold the silverware while I eat. Y'know, for more plus points. At least the curry taste good.

"Jay?"

"Hm?" couldn't give much of an answer if I'm chewing.

"I'm sorry again for what happened," she said, staring at her salad. "I know, I know... I apologize too much, but I couldn't help it." She looked at me with a sad frown. "I really felt bad about it."

I shrugged as I swallowed. "Eh, it's fine, really." I was already getting tired of saying that answer again and again. Hm... Eh, screw it. "At least I ended up having a lunch date with a cute girl like you."

"Har har," came her smiling answer. "You boys are all the same."

I shrugged. "Can't blame me for trying to steer the conversation to other roads."

She frowned at that. "If it ticks you off if I apologize too much, then I'm n—"

"Oi, oi, oi," I said, stopping her. "I never said that. I get it that you felt bad about what happened and all, but, please, when I say it's okay, it's really okay," I smiled, "okay?"

She took a breath, and nodded. "Okay."

I nodded and then returned to my meal. "Sorry for interrupting you though."

"We're switching places now?" she smiled and ate.

I rolled my eyes. "Hahah."

And we were quiet as we ate. I have to admit, I'm quite surprised how composed and calm I am. I mentally shrugged. But anyway, this silence is a bit uncomfortable, and even though I'm usually the quiet one, I need to say something to break this silence.

"So," I began, "how's work so far?" It's better than saying that the weather today's nice.

She focused on her meal as she thought about it. "My first week wasn't really that exciting."

I believe this week's her second week. Anyway, I smirked. "I doubt any week will be."

"How do you manage?"

I shrugged. "Eh, by listening to music as I do my work. Though that method backfired a couple of times. I erm...couldn't hear if other pipz are calling me, especially the boss."

She frowned at me. "What's the purpose of Skype, then?"

I shrugged again. "Eh, I didn't question it."

"Oh," was her only reply before she went back to eating. At least, for a minute or two. "How long have you been working there?"

"Hm..." I paused from my meal to think about it. "Dunno... Two years and a few months, maybe? I lost count." I suddenly felt a heavy hand pat my shoulder. I looked back, and froze in the middle of the process.

"Food's on me, kid," said our boss, and then leaned closer and whispered to my ear. "Nice catch, by the way." Strange that despite my frozen state, I could actually feel his smirk as he said those lines.

"Eh heh heh heh..." I chuckled nervously as he walked towards the counter. I turned back to Claire. "Phew... Well, that was weird."

"What just happened?" she asked, staring at the boss.

"He...just paid for our meal." I guess he really is a different person outside the office. Wait...how'd he ate so fast?

Claire seemed shocked to hear what I just said. She waited for the boss to leave before turning to me. "R-really?"

I have no idea... I turned to the counter, raised a hand with a thumb's up and with an arch eyebrow, and the ladies there smiled and nodded back. I turned back to Claire. "Yeah, really."

"Weird."

"Tell me about it," I chuckled.

She chuckled as well. "Lunch suddenly tastes better."

I smirked. "Free food always taste better."

She chuckled, and then we went back to eating. After a few moments though, "hey," she said, "just curious, but are you um...s-seeing someone?"

...and there it was.

Weird how the times have changed over the years. Before, it was the males who ask the females out. Not that I'm complaining.

Anyway, I couldn't help but smile shyly as I suddenly found my almost empty plate to be the most interesting thing to stare at. Can't blame me for suddenly feeling nervous. "Er...no... None..." ...Vixie doesn't count. "...at the moment..." I slowly stared back at her. She was also looking at her salad. "H-how about you?"

"Well...no." She slightly shook her head and looked up at me with a shy smile. "What are you looking for in a girl, anyway?"

I shrugged. "Simple, and cute. Loyal could be an added bonus. I guess..." I swallowed, and shouted 'f*ck it' in my head. "...someone like you."

Her reddened cheeks reminded me of Vixie though. Strange, even I don't know why.

Anyway, we were quiet for a long while until I took a glance at my wrist watch. I almost let out a gasp. Lunch time was almost over. "Okay, I'll be frank," since time's a-wasting already. "I like you. I started liking you on your first day, while you were introducing yourself to everyone. I don't understand it, but no other girl made me feel this...spark...and...um..." ...and my tongue got tied...darn it.

Whether I blew it or not, it's up to her. At least I told her how I felt towards her, right? If she turns me down, then at least I wouldn't feel so bad...I hope. Anyway...reality calls.

"Anyway," I slowly and awkwardly stood up, my legs suddenly felt weak and shaky. "Lunch time's almost over."

"Oh!" she said as I quickly walked behind her to pull her chair as she stood up. "T-thanks." She shyly said. We then slowly and quietly walked towards the door, her following me from behind. "Can I um...have your number?"

...goal! I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Too hard to hide it and play calm though, but I managed it, thankfully. I turned around as I pulled my phone out. "S-sure!" Bottling my excitement failed. Whatever. "Why not?"

She smiles with reddened cheeks as she pulls her phone out from her small bag, and then started pushing some buttons. "Also, c-can we go out for dinner tonight?"

...really, really weird times now, the girls are asking the guys out. Aw, what the heck. "Su—" I stopped myself, surprised, after I saw my phone...

Chapter 70​

...or to be more specific, after I saw the date on my phone.

I stammered as I argued with myself inside my head of what to do. The weighing scale appeared and started measuring both sides, and for me to see who would win.

For one, I really, really wanna be with Claire. She's cute and she just asked me out! That has to be one of the rarest of chances I'll ever have in my life.

B-but...today's my bro's...birthday... I...love my brother so much, and so are the rest of my family, that I actually put them first before my own needs...

...I sighed. "I...can't...tonight..." I looked up and saw her disappointed frown. I flashed a small and hopeful smile. "M-maybe tomorrow evening?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off when my phone made a sound. I received a text message.

"Hey bro," the text began. "Don't worry about me."

I almost let go my phone. It's impossible for my bro to text me, let alone for him to own a cellphone at his current state! He's in a hospital! He's in a coma!

I received another text message. No, I didn't. But the one I recently received...from my brother...was updated. "Hey Jay," it now began, "don't worry about your brother tonight. I'll take care of it."

It was now from my mom. But she's not even in this city! Nor is she anywhere near this city!

My phone rang again as the message probably got updated again, but I wouldn't know...since I already dropped it in...horror.

"Jay?" Claire called.

I looked up to her, but before I could see her face, a bright flash of white blinded me for a split of a second, and I immediately felt a very powerful pain that coursed around my body. It disappeared as soon as I felt it, but that didn't stop me from flinching and gasping for breath.

"What's wrong?" ...her voice dropped when she said that last word.

I looked back and gasped when I saw her...'glitched' up, like some sort of video that got corrupted. Not only her, but the restaurant itself started...changing, and going back to normal, and back and forth.

I looked around in panic, and decided to run towards the door, but as I grabbed it, my hand went through it...or rather...my...brown paw went through it...

"W-what...?" I gasped in shock as I nervously and slowly pulled my...paw...back...through the door.

The door itself turned white, black, white...until it was gone.

"Ack!" I shut my eyes and held my head with both my...paws...as a powerful wave of pain coursed through my body once again. I gritted my teeth and took sharp breaths as it felt like the pain I felt was being turned on and off like a switch. "Gah!"

Through blurry eyes, I noticed my surroundings were now dark, dimly lit by purple and white light. Through the loud painful ringing noises in my ear, I could faintly hear...this weird and otherworldly noise...like a panic...otherworldly chant noise...

"J-J-J-Ja-Jay..." Claire's voice echoed behind me. "W-w-w-w-what's wrong?"

Despite the pain I felt, I took a breath, and shouted my pain. The otherworldly noise buzzed louder and louder as I felt gravity had grabbed me and pulled me down to a solid and dusty floor.

I painfully coughed several times, and I suddenly felt how seriously weak I was. I noticed the noise were above me, and I weakly looked up, and saw a small group of Unowns, formed in a circle, and were shivering as they floated in their spots, their eyes visibly closed in pain. In the middle of their circle was an energy sphere of some sort that is white and purple...and white and purple...

...was I...?

I weak ears twitched when I heard other noises to a direction. I turned towards it, and was too weak to gasp. Shock, Fay, Saur, and Vixie were each inside that same sphere, and were also being held by other groups of Unowns, chanting and circling at each of my friends...

...and they were smiling... My friends were smiling...b-but their bodies...!

No... I... I...

I gritted my teeth as I pushed myself up on all four paws. As I did so, I was staring down, staring angrily at my bone-thin paws.

...I...I want to lie down...and rest...

...N-no... I...I can't...do that...

"Jay," her voice echoed as my group of Unowns began circling around me, encasing me with the sphere.

My vision was changing again, but I gritted my teeth and glared at each faintly-passing Unown. Claire was visibly naked in front of me, but I glared through her lovely eyes, and directly into the eye of each passing and panic-looking Unown.

I was slowly feeling the pain once more, yet I ignored it as I clenched my fists, and punched her in the face, my vision returning to normal as the Unown shivered in panic.

I suddenly felt my sharp nails and tried to swipe a vulnerable Unown that was in front of me. But I stumbled, my paws too weak for that sudden forward motion I just did, and I collapsed on the dusty floor yet again, coughing...

I gritted my teeth as I tried to stand back up again, ignoring the dusty skull that was lying in front of my eyes.

Ungh... D-darn it...!

I was back on all four and was breathing deeply for air, and glared at the shivering Unown in front of me.

Bite... Bite...

B-bite is a dark-type move...

Psychic-types are weak against dark...

Bite... Bite...

I moved forward. Only inches away now. Just two or more limp steps...

One... ... ... ...two...

...this thing is bigger than I thought...

The white part of the Unown's big eye...reflects an image of a deep-breathing, thin-looking and glaring Eevee.

It suddenly stared at me, and I immediately jabbed a paw at its eye, feeling a weird...slime...

It yelped, and quickly hovered away as I cringed and wiped my slimey paw on the dusty ground. The others sounded like they cried in shock and disbelief, and began to circle around me again, this time with angry and glaring eyes.

"Go..." I gasped for breath... "...away..."

My vision was changing again...

...I can't let it...

...b-but what can I do...?

...if...if only I know a stupid range-attack move...

The Unown were slowly, slowly, fading away as they trapped me in this false reality...

...I...I don't want to be trapped here... B-but I'm too weak... I...I can't...escape this... I-I'm sorry, guys...

I hung my head as a false light of a room shone above me, and my eyes started to water as I quietly stared at my own shadow.

...

...

...!

"Well, duh!" I suddenly remembered what Fay said to me that one time... "Anyone can do a shadow ball!"

...shadow ball...

...t-that's it!

I shot my head back and glared at the faint frames of the Unown that circled me once more. They're psychic-types. Shadow ball is a ghost-type move... And psychic-types are weak against ghost-type moves!

I spread my legs apart and opened my mouth...as I seriously try to ignore a certain illusion that started to unzip my jeans.

...shadow ball...shadow ball...shadow ball...!

Come on! Shadow ball! Just one freaking shadow ball!

Fire already!

H-how the freaking hell do I do a goddamn shadow ba—oh, there we go...

It exploded, and my vision suddenly returned to normal. As I collapsed on the ground, I saw an Unown fell down on the ground a few feet in front of me as well, and it was smoking...and faintly shivering.

I heard the other Unowns gasped in their own otherworldly way as I slowly rose back up, and I slowly turned, and glared at them as I prepared another one.

I don't know how I'm doing this, but right now, I don't freaking care. These little lying pieces of sh*t need to die!

I hit another one, and the others finally got the message and created a small portal for them to run into.

I ignored how painful my body was becoming. I need to save the others! This was my fault from the start, and I don't want them to...!

I turned and fixed my aiming glare at the closest group of Unowns. I hung my head to at least try to calm myself for only a bit, so I could concentrate, ignoring my long and black front paws as I took a few breaths.

Okay. I snapped back and quickly prepared a shadow ball with ease. I've no idea how easily I prepared this third one, but it suddenly felt natural to do it. I fired it, quietly in awe at how big it was and how powerful the explosion was.

Shock dropped down with a weak and sleepy groan as his Unown captors turned to look at their fallen comrade. I fired another one, hitting another one. Each gasping survivor escaped through opening a portal again.

I took aim at another group, saving Saur. Another group. Fay fell down. Another group. Vixie fell down.

All of those floating f*cking letters disappeared, and the chamber became pitch black without their glowy bodies and psychic spheres and...whatever.

...despite the total darkness, I could see clearly, and my anger was quickly washed with guilt and worry as I approached one of my friends who was closest to me.

Shock looked so...frail and thin...b-but still breathing. I swallowed a lump as I slowly felt my ribbon-like feelers began to move and slowly and gently wrapped around him.

...I...don't care what I am and how I did it at the moment. My vision wasn't as clear as earlier before I felt these new appendages of mine, but I don't care.

I placed him gently on my back as I moved to pick Saur up. He's...so yellow and dried up...b-but still breathing... I whispered an apology, then I put him on my back beside Shock as I stared at my two other friends. Their thin frames were still moving, and it made me feel a little bit relieved to know they're still breathing...

I slowly moved, and picked Fay up, who looked so thin as well...and her mouth hung open, and her tongue was stuck out, complete with drool... I frowned... Fay...even in near-death, you're still looking quite stupid.

My back felt like it's only good for two passengers, so I carried Fay on one of my ribbon-thingies and carried Vixie with the other.

Vixie looked so thin... So...weak...and so...fragile...

I pushed back a sob as I started to move. Fairies are drawn to the light, it seems, and I'm following that instinct as I slowly moved so I won't trip on the bones that were lying around...

Chapter 71​

"...nothing happened," the female Chikorita said with a breath of relief.

She and her Surskit friend, who was currently wrapped around her back, weren't really super excited to evolve just by simply touching the towering gem of rock under many layers of earth beneath a tall mountain. At first, it sounded...suspiscious, so they and their Eevee friend followed the evolved trio into the mountain with caution.

It would seem as though their efforts of being alert and cautious all fell for nothing. The evolved trio has guided them here without any trouble.

"Strange," one of the evolved trio, the Pidgeot, said with a confused frown. He rubbed his chin with his pollex in thought. "Why did the gem glowed from your friend's touch, yet nothing happened?"

His other comrades bore confused looks as well. All of them stood there and saw the Eevee touched the base of the massive gem with her paw, and almost instantly, if the seventeen seconds of nothing counts as 'almost instantly', the gem hummed and glowed. The female Eevee and her two friends gasped when it happened, but after only a few seconds of glowing, the gem dimmed and returned to 'normal.'

None of them evolved. That fact alone was a big disappointment for their small audience, who were already moving back to where they had come from.

"Bummer," Mew said in disappointment as she floated down until she sat on the ground near the Chikorita. She had arrived a day or two before they got there. The Eevee was pleasantly delighted to see her the first time, and Mew was more than happy to be friends with them. "I was looking forward to something cool..."

The Rapidash, one of the evolved trio, shook her head. She couldn't believe how carefree the legendary sounded. She also couldn't believe that nothing happened after the gem glowed.

"Though..." Mew continued, looking up at the gem. "I did felt something while that big rock-thingy glowed..."

"Oh?" the Pidgeot asked, quite intrigued. "Pray tell, dear Mew, what was it that you have felt?"

"I'm not..." Mew murmored, but stopped as she looked at the Pidgeot. "You talk like Ho-oh."

The Pidgeot blinked at that. "Um...thank you?"

"Ancient and boring," Mew nodded, to which the Pidgeot almost lost his balance and for the Scizor, a member of the evolved trio, to laugh at. Mew then shook her head, hopped to the air, and floated there as she stared at the gem. "It felt like how I change forms."

"Evolution," the Surskit muttered.

Mew nodded. "Yep! Changing my form is almost like evolution...I think. But something's weird..."

The Rapidash's eye twitched. She was starting to hate Mew for keeping them in the suspense, so to speak.

"Why?" the Scizor asked.

"It was like psychic, see," Mew explained as she darted her eyes to each one of them, waving her hands around as if to try and make her explanation clearer. "When I use psychic, I connect my mind to something, like a rock! And then I can lift that rock!"

"So..." the Rapidash deadpanned. "...you felt a rock."

Mew blinked at her.

"Well," the Scizor scratched his shoulder, trying his best not to show his dissatisfaction with Mew's 'new' information. "Uh...the gem kinda is a...rock, after all..."

Mew blinked again, and suddenly, she laughed. "Oh! No no no! That's not what I meant at all!"

"Ah," the Pidgeot exclaimed as his face brightened with a thought. "I believe I get what you mean now, my dear Mew. What you mea—"

"I'm not a deer," Mew frowned at him. "Unkie Xernie is a deer." She turned to the Rapidash. "Do I look like a deer?"

The Rapidash was about to respond, but bit her lip in annoyance. "...ask someone else."

"Ahem... If I may?" the Pidgeot said. "I believe what our d...what Mew is trying to tell us, is that she felt a 'link', to make things simple enough to understand, that linked the gem," he extended a wing, pointing at the dim evolution stone, "to another," he made circle motions with his other wing. He then folded both his wings back to his sides as he slowly shook his head. "To where, I do not know."

"So..." Scizor blinked. "...what does that mean?"

"Someone evolved," the Rapidash guessed. "But is that even possible?"

The Pidgeot looked down in thought. "Hm... If what that old Golem had told us earlier was true, then quite possibly, yes..."

The Rapidash felt angry at that recollection. "To think that a stupid Umbreon and Espeon were the cause of all this!"

As the Pidgeot tried to calm her down, the Scizor turned to the floating legendary. "So," he began, "someone evolved..." he waved a pincer at the dark tunnel, "...out there?"

Mew simply shrugged. "I dunno..." she turned and looked at the dark tunnel. "I can probably trace it." She shook her head. "But I dunno if I should follow it, or tell the others first."

"I think," the Chikorita voiced out, "that you should go and follow it. I may not be a psychic type, but I know that traces can disappear if left alone for too long." She turned and smiled at their Eevee friend. "Right, Krystal?" She blinked, her smile fading. "Krysie? Something wrong?"

The Eevee however, was still standing there, her paw still on the gem, her absent eyes locked on her paw.

"Krystal?" the Chikorita called once again, approaching her friend, making splashing noises as she walked through the shallow water that surrounded the gem. She was starting to get worried. "Hey," she said as she reached her, slightly poking her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Ruins," Krystal replied blankly, completely ignoring the voice that was coming from her earpiece.

Mew finally decided to approach them, confused at the whole scene. "Is she okay?" she asked, waving her tail in front of the Eevee's eyes. "Maybe not."

Everything was suddenly enveloped with a bright white light as the cavern was suddenly echoing with a loud humming noise.

Mew floated back in surprise. The Chikorita jumped back, and slipped. The evolution trio yelped as they shielded their eyes from the bright light.

Finally, after a few seconds, the evolution gem slowly dimmed.

"Poopie," Mew rubbed her eyes, as she ignored a series of splashing noises. "That hurts..."

"Kr-Krystal?!" the Chikorita called, unsure if she was seeing things.

"What the—?" the Scizor yelped in surprise.

"Who the—?" the Pidgeot blinked.

A quick purple blur just ran past them and headed towards the dark tunnel.

"It's her!" the Rapidash galloped after the blur. "She's one of them!"

"One of who?!" the Scizor asked, flying after the flaming horse.

The Pidgeot froze, not knowing what to do. He finally snapped back after he heard another series of splashes. Turning, he saw the frantic-looking Chikorita running after them. Taking a quick glance at the gem, he then flapped his wings and grabbed the grass-type with a talon, and then he flew up, flying through the hole above where the gem continued to tower.

The Chikorita yelped. "Wh-where are you going?!"

"The shortcut," the Pidgeot simply replied, as he tried to piece together what just happened.

Mew finally recovered her sight, and then she blinked, looking around her. "Hey!" her petite ears drooped. "Where'd everyone go?"

Suddenly, a hum.

"Huh?" Mew turned back, and saw the towering evolution gem, glowing and fading.

She wondered what was going on, but she then heard the Rapidash's voice that echoed from the tunnel. Looking back from the tunnel and the gem and back, she blinked and quietly hovered after the voice.

"Stop her!" the Rapidash shouted, who was still far away from the small and fleeing Espeon. "Stop her!"

The Pokémon living in the dark cavern were confused about what was going on, while some were too slow to move or to try to be a hindrance to the Espeon's path.

Suddenly, the earth started shaking. Geodudes and Golems up ahead suddenly created a massive wall of rock, but the Espeon kept on running towards it.

"Is she mad?!" the Rapidash shouted.

The Espeon glowed white, and vanished just before she could collide with the wall.

"...of course..." the Rapidash growled as she skidded to a stop.

"Pyra!" the Scizor called, stopping beside her. "What was that all about? What's going o—"

"Just break the Arceus-damn wall, already!" the Rapidash snarled, making the Scizor flinch.

Meanwhile, the cave-dwelling Pokémon were either unable to stop the escaping Espeon, or were having no idea what was going on to do anything. The latter became common as the Espeon was getting closer and closer to the surface. At one point, she finally took notice of the earpiece on her ear. She just simply used a flicker of psychic energy to pull it off and smashed it on the ground as she kept her pace.

Finally, she was out of the cave.

...but a large shadow loomed over her.

Giant talons suddenly appeared in front of her, and she gasped as she was caught in a split of a second.

The Pidgeot flapped his mighty wings as he headed straight into the cave once again. Looking at his catch, he noticed the Espeon glowed in white.

...and became a puff of white smoke.

"Wh-what?!" the Pidgeot gasped, losing his aerial balance as he tried to stop and control his surprise.

An explosion of dust and bubbles erupted meters away from the mouth of the cave, near the line of trees.

The Pidgeot awkwardly landed on the ground and turned to look.

The Espeon jumped back to avoid another series of bubbles that were aimed at her.

"Krystal!" the Surskit's partner shouted as she threw her head in a waving motion, throwing sharp leaves at the Espeon. "Or whoever you are! Stop!"

Both the Surskit and the Chikorita still couldn't believe what the Pidgeot had told them as they flew earlier. With the Eevee suddenly disappearing, and the Espeon suddenly appearing out of nowhere, then...

The Espeon suddenly glowed, and turned into a Jolteon with a snarl as jolts of electricity sparked around her, zapping the leaves in the process.

With a yelp, the Chikorita pushed the stunned Surskit out of the way as the Jolteon fired a bolt of electricity...behind her.

"Gah!" the Pidgeot's pained shout was almost completely drowned by the sounds of sparking electricity.

The earth shook beneath her, but the Jolteon needed a moment to recover. A Diglett emerged, headbutting the electric-type's belly, and sent her flying above.

The Scizor suddenly appeared, and jumped towards the Jolteon to attack as his pincers glowed. The Jolteon yelped, and the Scizor...hesitated. Instead, he grabbed her, or at least he tried to.

"Aaahhh!" the Scizor cried in pain as he suddenly found himself in flames.

"Scythe!" the Pidgeot cried, helplessly paralyzed.

A blackened and smoking Scizor landed on the ground with a dull thud as the Flareon landed on top of the unconscious bug, and continued her escape towards the trees.

The Chikorita called, but she yelped instead after strong and powerful hooves broke the ground beside her as the angry Rapidash dashed after the fleeing fire type.

Digletts and Dugtrios emerged from the ground, in hopes to stop or slow the Flareon, but the fire-type expertly avoided each one (and three) of them while still keeping her pace.

Pyra was now a Rapidash away from the fleeing Flareon.

...or five Flareons.

"Why you...!" Pyra growled, her horn glowed as she darted her eyes from every shadowy copy of the Flareon's double team ability. With a powerful kick, she jumped, and slammed all four hooves as sharp and spinning stars quickly flew out of her horn, hitting every Flareon in sight, including the real one, and exploded upon contact.

"Ahh—" the Flareon wasn't able to finish her shout as she lost her balance, and rolled painfully. Finally, she reached the trees, and she rolled towards a bush, and emerged on the other side, hurt and bruised, and landed on the ground with a painful thud. She tried getting up, but a strong hoof pinned her nape down.

Pyra leaned down and snarled into her ear. "Stay down!"

A violent wave of water suddenly pushed her off after the Flareon glowed, and the yelping Rapidash found herself being pushed against a tree with a mighty torrent of water pushing her there for a few seconds. When it stopped, she collapsed on the wet and grassy ground with a pained groan. She weakly glared at the Vaporeon, who was limply making her slow escape.

Mew suddenly floated in front of the Vaporeon, curiously blinking at her. She tilted her head as the Vaporeon prepared another water attack with her mouth.

"Weird," Mew muttered, blinking at the Vaporeon. "You're linked to the gem, too. I wonder..." she yawned, suddenly feeling quite sleepy after a soothing melody echoed around the forest. "...why..."

Mew's eyes slowly drooped, and so did her, and so did the Vaporeon.

After a moment, the Chikorita stopped whistling on her leaf with a frown. Pulling her leaf back, she slowly began to approach them, the Surskit on her back removed his two front legs from his ears.

"That went well," the Surskit whispered as the Chikorita finally reached the Eevee right next to the Mew, both in deep slumber.

"S-Shadow..." Krystal weakly whispered in her sleep as the Scizor limply reached them, the Rapidash slowly getting back on her hooves and the Pidgeot slowly landed.

Chapter 72​

I have lost track of time as I limply, and finally, walked out of the stupid ruins.

"Well, that twenty-seven minutes of walking and flying around in darkness is finally over!"

...I sighed as I ignored my flying clock.

"You're welcome," the Zubat smirked, gliding above me in a circle.

I gritted my teeth as I slowly and gently placed both Fay and Vixie on the ground. My extra ribbon-thingies hurt so so much, but I took a deep breath as I tried to move them, grabbing Saur and Shock off of my back, and gently placed them with the others. With that done, I collapsed on the ground, panting for breath as my vision blurred.

"Oh! Oh!" the Zubat yelped in fright. "Food! Right! H-hang in there, big guy!" he said, his voice trailed off, as well as the flapping noises of his wings as he flew away.

The evening air was really cold out here. Trainers or other predatory Pokémon could easily spot us here in the open, but luckily, the ruins' entrance walls kinda extended further, shielding my friends and I from sight.

...and that Zubat... I met him...er...rather, I stepped on him while I was still inside the ruins. He said something about making a slow progress of crawling out so the Unown wouldn't notice him. He and his friends were caught in the Unown's trap, and he was the only one lucky enough to survive. As a bat, he was blind, so luck really contributed a lot to his survival back there.

I was too weak to yelp after two berries fell on my head. I didn't realize the Zubat, but now that I did, I heard him already flying away again.

My stomach growled weakly after the smell of berries entered my nostrils. Despite my blurry eyes, I saw the other one rolled away from me, and stopped beside one of my friends. The other one was a paw's reach in front of me. I gritted my teeth as I forced my brown paw to grab a hold of it with the help of my nails. I...guess I'm an Eevee again... I exhaled, then inhaled as I pulled my paw back. Ugh...my body is so painful right now, but my mind was too weak to register them al—ow...

The Zubat dropped two more berries on me, and flew away again.

I was really really tired, but I had to eat something... I might not be able to wake up if I do give in to sleep, and that scary thought was enough for me to force myself to eat the berry on my grip.

The berry felt hot and spicy, but I tried my best to ignore the burning sensation on my lips. I'm probably eating something that removes the frozen status... Rawst, maybe? Not sure... I never cared for the berries except for Orans, Sitruses and Leppas when I was still playing the game... I'll just...try and eat the counterpart berry next...

The Zubat kept on dropping berries, either on me or not on me. I was getting annoyed at him for dropping them on me, but I kept it in. I should be thankful that the bat was doing the trouble of collecting berries for me...for us to eat.

...I just hope my friends wake up soon...

"Is that plenty enough?" the Zubat asked, gasping for breath as he wobbled from where he stood.

...I was actually having a hard time seeing him able to stand up like that. Weren't their feet...pointed, or something? Anyway, I weakly nodded. "Ye-yeah... This is...plenty enough..."

"Cool!" he said, swiping a wing on the small mountain of berries to grab one. He bit on it...and sucked the juices quicker than a blink. "Ah! That hits the spot!" he said as he grabbed and bit another one. He spat it back. "Pleah! Sitrus! Bleak..." he stuck his tongue out in disgust. Poor guy, can't see the berries he wants to eat. But...

"Can't you smell them?"

He grabbed another one. "Too hungry to smell." He bit the berry and sucked it dry.

After about...I lost count how many berries he sucked...but after that, he lied down on the ground on his juice-filled belly.

"So..." he said as I was chewing on my third berry. "...who are you and where's the big guy?"

I gulped down what I was chewing and winced at the pain that I was still holding back. I'm slowly regaining my strength, but at the same time, I'm also slowly feeling how painful I was at the moment. I took a deep breath, the cold air easing the pain a bit, and sighed. "I...was that big guy..."

"Oh?"

My ears drooped as I sighed again and grabbed another berry. "It's a long...and complicated story..." I still couldn't believe I could do that. Also, I have no idea how I did that. But I was so thankful that I did it. 'Cause if I wasn't...then...

The Zubat nodded with a smile. "Okay, okay! Maybe you can tell me all about it in the morning?"

"Erm...h-how can you tell the time?"

"Dunno. I just know."

"Ah..." I don't wanna know then.

We were quiet after that. He was blindly staring at me, and I was eating a few more berries. As I chewed, I was also cursing myself for putting myself and my friends in danger...

My excitement made me blind of what the movie had showed me. The Unown couldn't grant wishes. They only make you think they can, through illusions and psychic powers... That little missed info almost caused me my own life, and my friends' lives, and I doubt they could ever forgive me for that... I doubt that even I could ever forgive myself for that...

Shock would be so angry at me... Fay and Saur would be disappointed. Vixie would...

"Hey," the Zubat suddenly said, breaking both the silence and my train of thought. "I heard that half-eaten berries won't be delicious if you let it seep a lot of cold air."

...oh... I forgot to continue eating...

"But since I'm talking now, I just wanna say that it was really cool how you managed to save yourself and your friends from those energy-leeching bastards!" he said with a smile.

...without the eyes' expressions, I could barely tell if he was smiling genuinely, sarcastically, angrily, or whatever...

"So if you're thinking that you did something bad, then don't! You saved them! And they're alive!" he blindly turned to my friends' sleeping forms, his smile had gotten smaller. "...unlike I...who was helpless... I just listened to my friends' cries..."

"You were powerless..." I said, not in the mood to feel sorry for anyone else but me and my friends. "...and you're a poison-type. You're weak against them anyway."

His smile was gone, and he was quiet for a while, until, "you're bad at helping others' feelings..."

"Sorry..." I sighed. "I'm still...angry at myself. I...was the reason the Unown got us..." I weakly threw my half-eaten berry...somewhere. "I almost got them killed because of my selfishness..."

I was being selfish from the start. They didn't mind it at all. Have I gotten used to it? I selfishly try and steer our group to one hopeful place to another, hoping that I could find a way to go back home, without thinking of the dangers that awaits us there!

...then again, how could I even know what the Unowns were capable of doing...or their intentions of meeting other Pokémon...

I sighed... Again, selfishness... If I was patient, like Saur, then I could have thought of asking the nearby Pokémon about this place first...

"You're a good Pokémon," the Zubat suddenly said in a calm voice.

I glared at him. "I got my friends almost killed. I guess that's your definition of a 'good Pokémon.'"

He shook his head, albeit with a little bit of difficulty. "You admit to your mistake. You felt sorry for your actions. And I think you also think that you want to change your ways." He nodded with a smile. "That's what a good Pokémon is."

I frowned at him... I wanted to argue that I'm not really a good Pokémon. I'm not even supposed to be a Pokémon in the first place. But, arguing with this simple-minded Zubat might be not worth it...

...still...

"T-thanks," I said with a small, yet sincere smile. "I'll...try to be better."

He nodded twice, still with a smile, and then flapped his wings. He flew up, hovered there, and circled, flew back at the ruins' entrance, and hung himself up-side-down on the ceiling.

I arched him an eyebrow.

"I'm sleepy, which is kind of weird for a nocturnal Pokémon such as myself. So, good night, little big guy!" He stretched his wings, and folded them back on his sides. "I'll keep an ear out in case you need help with anything."

Wow... I'm actually cursing myself for cursing the Zubats to just die during my cave travels in the games. I wanted to ask for his name, but I think he's already asleep.

"Ungh..."

My ears perked up as I sharply turned, and hissed at the sudden jolt of pain that coursed through my body.

"Guh...muh..." Shock mumbled, stirring weakly.

"Hey, hey," I hurried over to his side, and helped him to sit. "E-easy now..."

"I'm so...weak..." he blinked weakly. He sniffed, and his mouth started to water. "...and so...hungry..."

I picked up a berry and...pawfed(?) Shock. He didn't want to be helped like that, but after the berry fell off of his hands, he surrendered and allowed me to help him.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked after his fourth gulp.

I slightly shook my head. "Long story... I'd rather...tell everyone what happened at the same time, if it's okay..."

"Wh-where are..." he slightly turned, and saw them. "...oh..."

My ears fell flat. "Yeah..."

He turned to me, and studied me.

I sighed through my nostrils and nodded slowly.

He looked ahead and sighed. "I...guess that's what happens if all of you make babies all the time..."

I blinked at him. "Wait...what?"

Chapter 73​

"Let me get this straight," Shock said as he rubbed his forehead while he tried to stall an incoming headache. "We went inside the ruins. The Unown then trapped us each inside a psychic sphere-thing where we dreamt of happy things while they 'leeched off of our energy?'"

I simply nodded as I chewed a berry. "I think they just feed on positive energy. I woke up after I wasn't feeling happy anymore..."

All five of us were now awake, and we all sat around the small pile of berries that Zubat collected. It was also already morning, where the sun was just starting to crawl out from the horizon, if the early morning colors were any indication. Our location was surrounded by trees anyway.

I was really happy to see them all awake. They immediately started eating to get some strength.

"And then," Shock continued, waving a paw at me. "You 'managed' to 'wake up' and started firing shadow balls at them. They escaped, and you dragged us out of there, all by your lonesome?"

"Well," I swallowed. "Yeah." The Zubat doesn't count. I did all the dragging. And carrying.

"Puh," he scoffed in disbelief. "I think you're still dreaming."

I frowned at him.

Fay, despite still being weak, jumped on her spot as she chirped. "Oh! Oh! Maybe Jay evolved again!"

I turned to her and frowned even further. "I did... I just didn't know how I did it..." I then turned back to Shock, my frown still present. "And I still can't believe you dreamt about us se-having sex to death."

Shock just shrugged. "Hey. It's always my dream to see my friends happy. Of course," he took a berry, "the sex happened after we were done adventuring in our lifetime. I'm gonna miss seeing you guys in your evolved forms though."

I sighed. I already knew who I was paired with. Thankfully, Saur sat in between Vixie and I. Fay was seated on my other side. Shock sat beside Vixie and Fay.

Hm...

"Shock," I called, catching his attention as he chewed. "Just curious. Who was Saur paired with?"

"In my dream?"

I nodded.

He shrugged. "Nah. It might ruin the surprise."

I arched him an eyebrow.

He shrugged again. "Ask him if you wanna know."

"I hate you." I then turned to the Bulbasaur. He looked like he didn't hear anything. Oh, and he's not-so-yellow anymore, which was really comforting to know. "Saur?"

"Hm?" he turned to me, with a half-eaten berry on his vine-hold.

I deadpanned at him. "...don't tell me you didn't hear my question with Shock just now."

He just blinked with an 'innocent' smile. "Nope. What was it?"

I sighed, and felt my ears droop as I heard Fay and Vixie chuckle. "Never mind." I looked back at him again. "So, what did you dream about?"

He shrugged and looked back at his berry. "Same as Shock, minus the adventure and that 'activity to death' part."

"So you did hear us..."

He ignored me. "Was just happy raising a family as an Ivysaur."

I blinked at that. "Ivysaur? Why not a Venusaur?"

Shock suddenly began laughing. "Hahahah! Poor girl's gonna get flattened if Saur evolves into that!"

Vixie shot him a glare as Fay laughed along.

I just shook my head before I turned my attention to Fay, her laughter already died down. "What about you?"

She blinked at me with a smile. "What about me?"

I glared at her.

She chuckled. "Same as Saur. Enjoying a life with my own family."

"I'm sure your kids would be pooping with energy," I shook my head and turned to Vixie. She opened her mouth, but I stalled her with a raised paw. "I already know. Me and you, raising a family. Yeah, not happening."

Vixie rolled her eyes and continued eating a berry.

I turned to Shock. "What about you, Shock?"

"Huh?"

"Kinda unfair if only us were 'having fun' while you weren't."

Shock blinked at me, then frowned, and then stared at the berry on his paw. "Erm..."

I blinked with a sly smile. "Oh? So you weren't just watching in the sidelines. Well, was it that...Pikachu back in Vi—"

"Arceus, no!" Shock suddenly said, glaring daggers at me. "That will not happen! Never! Period!"

"You mean, 'exclamation mark,'" Fay giggled.

"Shut it," Shock snapped at her. He then glared back at me again. "It was Vixie, okay?! Not that Pik...uh..." Shock's red spots on his cheeks grew, almost painting his whole face in red. He looked away, angrily mumbling something.

I was just staring at him in...shock. "Wow..." Busted. I grinned, looking at Vixie, who was staring at our Pikachu friend in surprise. "So that's why you're still very protective over her."

"Say another word, and I'll zap you."

I chuckled.

Fay suddenly chirped. "So, who was Jay with?"

Uh... "...do I even wanna know?"

Shock's face went even redder. "Er..." he fidgeted uncomfortably... "...obviously with Vixie..."

Vixie's own red-furred face went even redder.

My mouth hung agape, my mind went down the drain.

Fay blinked, confused. "Wait... How does that even work?"

Saur just calmly took another berry with a vine. "Fay, you're better off not knowing."

Chapter 74​

We spent a day by the ruins' entrance, for us to get our strengths back. Not one hundred percent, but enough for us to get the hell outta there. During that time, I introduced them to the Zubat, and I thanked him properly before he flew away for good.

Shock and Vixie were really quiet with each other though. Either one of them would immediately jump to the chance of getting away from each other during berry hunting. Just like now. I offered to go berry picking, and instead of Saur, Shock went with me.

Anyway, Saur, Fay and I weren't blind to notice the tension between the two of them. But the three of us just kept quiet. I don't know about Saur, but Fay and I have no clue of what to say to the two of them. But I'll think of something...I think...

If I recall, those two were mates for a period of time before they found me. How long or how short they were mates, I don't know. Though when I asked, Fay told me that it was only for a short while. She guessed that it was only two or three moons, and Saur confirmed it with a nod. So, Shock and Vixie were a thing for three months.

Despite them being mates at the time, there weren't really any actual mating that happened. Fay said that Shock couldn't, 'cause he was still believing, or rather, he was still trying to overcome his belief that he should only mate with his own kind.

Shock was hurt, but a huge part of him was relieved when Vixie 'broke up' with him. During that time, Shock told them that he just probably jumped to the affection that Vixie showered him, and that he also kind of liked her.

They were living in Ilex Forest, and the whole forest knew of them being mates. After the news that they were no longer mates, Lithe started pestering them, or Vixie, to be more specific.

Then the devolution happened a few moons after.

...and then they found me unconscious a few more moons after.

"Do you think," Shock said in a low voice as we picked some berries around the area. "Th-that I made things worse?"

I ignored him as I struggled to pull this pesky berry with my mouth. Yeah. Berry picking is not easy if one has no hands. That, and this berry was too high for me to use my nails to cut the ... thing that attached the berry on the tall bush.

Shock sighed. "I'll take that as a 'no.'"

Thud! I landed on the ground on my butt pinning my sensitive tail. I cringed in pain, the berry in my mouth that I finally pulled out almost bled its juices out.

"What are you doing?"

"Berry pulling," I groaned after I spat the stupid thing on a giant leaf on the ground. We've collected a rather satisfying amount already. I guess it's time to go. "So, what was it that you were telling me?"

He shook his head with a slight glare. "Never mind."

I arched him an eyebrow.

He just looked away.

I rolled my eyes then I bit the giant leaf, and started dragging it back towards our resting site.

"It's...weird..." Shock said, following me from behind. "...that there's only a number of Pokémon around here."

I noticed a Pidgey shadow passed over us. "Hrm... Mhbeeh ee's cosh of zah Unoun..." I said with a bit of difficulty.

"Guess so," he replied as he walked beside me. "Need help with that?"

I stopped and blinked at him. I shrugged and let go of the leaf.

He grabbed it and dragged it as we headed back.

Heh... Less work for me! Anyway, now's my chance to talk to him properly. I don't want this tension to last longer that I'd want it, and neither would the rest of us, Shock and Vixie included. "So, Shocky..."

"I told you so many times not to call me that."

I ignored him. "You still have feelings with Vixie, huh?"

Shock was quiet for a while.

I pressed on. "And it looked like Vixie does, too."

"...and you don't."

I glared at him. "I don't swing that way, buddy."

He blinked and looked at me, confused. "What are you—?" he stopped mid-sentence and glared. "That wasn't what I meant!"

I chuckled. "Just trying to lighten the mood." I looked ahead. "But...I won't lie. I like her, too, but..."

"You're a human. You wanna change back. You want to return home," Shock finished.

I nodded. "Yep. Kinda silly, now that I think about it..."

"Oh?"

"It's like I'm repeating history again. First was Krys' journey. Mr. Tauros confirmed that."

Shock blinked. "His name was Rumblehoof, not Mr. Tauros."

"...and now, I'm repeating your journey with Vixie..."

Shock was quiet.

"I heard that you liked her, but you were held back because you want to settle with another Pikachu. Or a Raichu. Anyway, I...guess I like her too, with all of her attempts for me to like her back. But..." I sighed, my ears drooping. "I'm a human, Shock. Was, at least. And...I'm not really into furries..."

"...another human term?"

"Er...you can say that."

"And what does it mean?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. It's just a term I learned from the internet. I didn't bother looking it up." I quickly continued, because I freaking do NOT want to explain to him what the internet is. "I just assumed that it meant that, humans attracted to ani—er, to creatures with fur..."

Shock looked ahead. "Hm... Is that related to that—" he shivered slightly, "—uh, that bestiality word?"

I shivered. "...maybe? Not sure."

Shock nodded. "I still don't believe you. You being a human, I mean."

"Yeah, I know..." I sighed. "Maybe its this Eevee body I'm using. It maybe still has it's instinct-mode turned on." I shrugged. "Probably why I started liking her, despite me not wanting to."

And we went quiet for a while.

...and I just noticed that we have been walking for a while now. Did we really went too far? Though the path we were walking felt familiar.

Shock suddenly broke the silence with a sigh. "I made things worse, didn't I?"

I looked at him and saw his ears and face drooped. "Not really. At the very least, you made Vixie stopped pestering me."

He rolled his eyes. "And I'm sure you're thankful for that."

"Hey," I looked ahead, seeing the edge of the treeline already. "At least you can get another shot at her, right?"

"What about you?"

I turned and arched him an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"You like her."

"I like to be a human more." I shook my head. "I do NOT want to be stuck as an Eevee forever."

Shock shrugged. "You can evolve."

"You know what I mean!" I looked ahead. "Besides..." I paused what I was saying as we emerged from the line of trees, and saw our friends talking with Darkrai and Celebi. "I think it's already long overdue for me to return this Eevee body that I accidentally borrowed."

Chapter 75​

"Hey, Bi!" Shock greeted as the both of us reached our friends and the two legendary Pokémon.

Celebi was floating. She turned around and smiled at him. "Oh! There you two are! Hi, Shockie!"

Shock's ear twitched as he mumbled quietly.

Bi then smiled at me. "Hello, future mate!"

"You'll be charcoal if you say that again," I grinned after I noticed Vixie's eye twitched from Bi's greeting.

Bi blinked, her smile gone. She didn't get it. Maybe she doesn't know yet.

I shook my head. "Never mind." I then smiled hopefully at her. "So... Any news from Arceus?"

She suddenly huffed in anger as she floated and sat on Vixie's back, her arms crossed. "I tried, I really did, but he's so...so...grr!"

My smile and two ears drooped.

"Arceus is just busy, Bi," Darkrai said, trying to calm the small green fairy thing.

"He's an old meanie! That's what he is!"

Darkrai sighed as he rubbed his head with one hand. He then turned to me. "Jay, right?"

I nodded, suddenly remembering about the topic of our first meeting. "Yeah. So, any news about the evolution problem?"

"Well," he scratched his head. It's really, really freaking weird to see Darkrai acting like...that.

I noticed that my friends were already eating the berries that Shock and I brought. I waved a paw at them. "What some berries?"

Darkrai just calmly shook his head. "No thanks." He then blinked at me. "I'd be honest. I've been curious as to what those taste like, but..." he then put a hand on where a mouth should have been.

My drooped ears drooped some more. "Oh, uh...s-sorry..."

"Jay," Vixie called. "Bi just told us something about Krystal."

"Oh?" I blinked at her. "Let's hear it, then."

"Allow me," Darkrai landed on the ground, the base of this floating shadowy body-thingy suddenly pushed out two pairs of thin black legs, and it was creepy to have seen it. "Krystal and her frie—"

"Krysie and her friends went to that biiig big old mountain where deep underground is where the evolution gem is located and Mew was there too and they found out that Krysie was the Espeon that came with the Umbreon that made the evolution gem go wonky and Krysie tried to escape but they managed to stop her and now they are questioning her about the Umbreon she called Shadow!"

...if a pair of blank eyes could burn, all of our eyes would have turned Fay into ashes by now. How she said all of those words in one breath was beyond understanding. And oh, she just went back to eating berries.

"R-r-right..." Darkrai stammered. "What she just said."

Bi chuckled. "Never change, Fay."

I shook my head to snap myself back. "O-okay, so wait..." I turned back to Darkrai. "Krystal's also a human, like me! How could she...er...be an Espeon if she was turned into an Eevee like me?"

"Like you..." Darkrai echoed, staring at me. "Hm..."

I arched him an eyebrow. "What? So, I'm the Umbreon of the story, too?"

"...maybe?" Darkrai shook his head. "I wouldn't know."

I sighed. "Well, if I am, then that might explain how I could evolve and devolve..."

"Really?" Darkrai and Celebi asked at the same time.

"Yep," Shock answered. "I've seen it, but I still couldn't believe it."

"We've seen it!" Fay chirped.

"I've only seen him turn back to an Eevee from being a Flareon," Vixie smiled at me, and went back to eating as I rolled my eyes at her.

"Oh yeah," Fay nodded. "You were inside a Pokéball almost the entire time."

"W-what?!" Bi suddenly gasped, clasping Vixie's cheeks with both her hands and pulled the Vulpix's face closer to hers in a panic. "You've been caught?! When?! How?! Where's your human trainer?!"

A vine pulled Bi away from the choking Vulpix. Shock and Fay helped Vixie out as Saur told Bi about what happened.

I smirked at how silly the scene was. After a few moments, I turned back to Darkrai, who was still staring at me.

I awkwardly blinked. "Um...something wrong?"

"...this Krystal friend of yours was also able to evolve into different evolution forms of your species."

"She...can...?"

Darkrai nodded.

I sat down in thought. "Huh, so...I guess I really am using the Umbreon's body then... But...why? And how?"

"Krystal is not telling us anything." Darkrai shook his head. "She kept on demanding to see her mate, Shadow."

Shadow? Well, that's a cool name for an Eevee, even cooler for an Umbreon. ...come to think of it, was that voice I heard long ago was Shadow's? What did it told me that time? Gah... I couldn't remember. Did Shadow say something important?

Wait... Wait wait... Maybe Shadow's an outlaw! Like in those mystery dungeon games, where there were also Pokémon doing bad stuff!

I yelped in surprised when I felt a poke on my side. I turned and saw Shock.

"Glad that you're back," he snickered as he waved a paw at Darkrai. "He asked you a question."

"Oh," I turned to Darkrai. "Erm... Sorry... I wasn't paying attention. What was the question again?"

Darkrai nodded. "That is alright. Though it wasn't really a question. It was more of a request."

"Okay..."

"I'd like you to come with us to the evolution gem. That is, if it's okay with you."

"Oh..." I blinked. "Um..."

...if it's okay with me? Like I have a choice of the matter! If I say no, then Darkrai try and get me.

Obviously, he really does think that I'm using the Umbreon's body. It would make sense for me to go there to 'return' the evolution power back to the gem.

I got a theory though. Maybe the power was too much for both the Espeon and the Umbreon to hold. Of course, they'll need to discharge that said power so they won't explode from the overcharge. That happened to my previous phone. It was hella expensive, too...

Anyway, maybe that discharge caused some sort of distortion that then pulled Krysie and I to this world.

That's just a theory though... A game theory...

But why was Krystal sent here first before me? And with a gap of a month! Maybe the Umbreon held onto it longer than the Espeon? Well, females are weaker than males.

Oh, hey... So I devolved into a sexist now, too?

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I'll go there."

"Jay..."

I ignored Vixie's sad call. I looked at Darkrai with a serious look.

Another theory... If I were to return the evolution power, then the original owner of this body I'm using might finally wake up and take over... What would happen to me?

"I need to know something," I said. "What will I do when I get there?"

"You and Krystal will return the gem's power." Darkrai then looked skyward. "Mew said that she knows how to return that power if either one of you, or both of you, will refuse to return it. Or..." Darkrai looked back at me with an awkward blink. "...if one or both of you don't know how to return it."

I nodded. "I see..." I shook my head. "But after that, what happens then?"

Darkrai shrugged. "I don't know. Mew will maybe guard the gem more closely after. Or Arceus might assign someone else to watch over it, or he'll simply move it elsewhere, out of reach from any normal Pokémon."

"That last part sounds the best option that he'll do." Although that wasn't really the answer I was seeking. I once again shook my head. "But that really wasn't what I wanted to know."

"Oh?" Darkrai blinked. "Apologies for assuming."

"Meh, it's fine." I turned at my friends, who were listening intently to my conversation with Darkrai. "I have a theory..."

"Which is...?" Shock pressed.

"I don't think I've told you guys this before, but I...think...that while I was out cold, I had a strange conversation with a voice in my head."

Shock sighed and shook his head. "I think Jay's gone nuts."

Saur though, arched an eyebrow. "When was this?"

I looked up in thought. "Erm...maybe...after Vixie was caught? Yeah, I think that was it."

"And the voice?" Bi asked, completely curious. "What did it say?"

I sighed through my nostrils. "I...don't remember. But...my theory is that..." I turned back to Darkrai, his white hair-like thingy swayed with the nonexistent wind. "...that voice belonged to someone."

"And?" Saur asked.

I turned to him with a serious frown. "I...think that voice belonged to the original owner of this body I'm using. I don't remember rescuing Vixie from that trainer who caught her, so maybe..."

"...Shadow took over." Darkrai finished with a nod. "That's a possible thing to happen. Mostly common to soul collectors like Spiritombs..."

"Eh?" Shock was surprised to hear that. "Really? There are Pokémon that collects souls?"

...I guess Spiritombs don't exist here. Then again, they are found in Sinnoh. I wonder what happens if trainers start dumping Spiritombs here from their many failed attempts of IV breeding. I wonder if IVs are even a thing here. Meh...

...I wonder if shinies are a thing here. I haven't seen one since I first came here. They're maybe very rare, or don't exist at all.

Ahem... "Anyway," I turned back to Darkrai. "My theory is that maybe, just maybe, that after I return the evolution power thing, if I really do have it, then the owner of this body o'mine might regain control. W-what would happen to me?"

...I actually wasn't expecting us to go all quiet. I looked at my friends and the legendaries present, but all of their gazes were elsewhere, thinking about what my theory as they formulate a response.

"W-what's happening to Krystal now?" I mumbled the question, but the silence made it loud enough for everyone to hear. "The human Krystal, not Levie..."

"...Levie?" almost everyone asked in chorus.

I arched them an eyebrow. "Yeah. That's the Espeon's name, right?"

Darkrai shook his head. "Her friends claim that her name was Krystal. Assuming what you've said is true, then the Espeon's real owner has 'regained control of her body.'"

I blinked...and blinked. "Uh... H-how'd I know her name?"

"Good question," Shock said, crossing his arms. "I'm waiting for a good answer."

I shook my head. "I...don't know. I just knew."

"You are the Umbreon, then" Darkrai noted. "...minus your mind, or spirit..." He awkwardly scratched his head. "...this is confusing..."

"Tell me about it," I sighed. I then lifted my gaze back up to him with a serious face. "Anyway, I'm sorry. Unless you can assure to me that I'll still stay conscious or still in control of this body after I give the gem's power back, then I'm not going." I stomped a paw on the ground as emphasis. Why would I surrender myself to them just to restore evolution in this world? I'm a victim of this mess as well! I do NOT want to just...disappear inside the mind of this Eevee or Umbreon after whatever process is done! If ever I don't disappear, then I do NOT want to just be taking a backseat on the Umbreon's mind, watching every single Umbreon-ly things that he will do!

Darkrai simply nodded. "That's understandable." He turned to Bi. "We should contact the Eons."

"Huh?" Celebi suddenly blinked in surprise and turned to him. "Auntie Latias and Uncle Latios?"

...are all legendaries related?

Celebi smiled and nodded. "Sure! I haven't seen them in, like, forever!"

Darkrai nodded and turned to me. "They will be able to help you with your worries, Jay. So I ask that you and your friends to wait for us here."

...okay... This world has solutions to all problems, it seems. Now where's the solution of me going back home... Anyway, I shook my head. "No. We're not waiting here."

"Huh?"

I turned to my friends with a smile. "What do you say, guys? One last adventure before I go 'poof?'"

"Poof?" Saur tilted his head in confusion.

Vixie frowned.

Fay cheered.

Shock blinked.

I turned back to Darkrai with a serious look. "Just promise me two things."

Darkrai nodded.

"...I haven't even said what they are yet..."

Darkrai blinked. "Sorry. Sometimes, a nod meant 'I'm listening, so go on...' That's what Mewtwo always does, at least..."

"Really?" I shrugged. "Anyway, for one, if I can't control this body, then at least find me a place where I could stay..." ...I wonder what being a soul would feel like...

Darkrai nodded. "The Eons can do both. But if only one of them is present, then he or she can only store you in a...sphere..." He shook his head. "I forgot what they call it..."

"The...Soul Dew?" I asked as I blinked.

"Ah, yes." Darkrai nodded. "That's the one."

"Huh...okay... Well, for the second one, I want Arceus to send me and Krystal back to our rightful worlds! Our families back home must have been worried sick!"

Darkrai just nodded. "Arceus will be pleased of your cooperation. I'm sure he'll help after everything is sorted out."

"And oh...a third one."

Darkrai blinked. "I thought there were only two..."

"Let Arceus move the damn evolution thing somewhere else so no other human or other creature accidentally gets here!"

"But there are humans here..." Fay said in confusion.

I shook my head. "You know what I mean."

Fay frowned. She obviously didn't know what I meant.

"I understand." Darkrai nodded. "However, if you and your friends are not to stay and wait for us here, then it'll take us a while to find you."

I turned to him. "We're gonna head to the evolution gem. Just tell us where to go from here and we'll go there."

"Or..." Celebi said in a happy tone as she floated above the curiously-blinking Saur. The said Bulbasaur yelped in surprise when Celebi pushed her hand inside the opening of Saur's bulb, and pulled out a black seed with a chuckle.

...yeah, at least I still have an annoying dirty mind that I'm turning off right now...

"Uncle Darkrai and I will put this seed by the cave so Saur can follow it." ...legendaries are all related. It's confirmed!

Saur was cringing from where he stood. "I...I thought I told you not to do that..."

"Whoops," Celebi giggled, and Saur gave her one of his rare glares.

Chapter 76​

We were heading north-east, with Saur leading us. The Bulbasaur explained that all plants are connected. He can sense every plant life by just standing on the ground. He could feel their roots, and he could feel the seed that Celebi has planted, which, sad to say, was very far away.

It made me remember about that night when we reached Pallet Town. Saur did the same thing as well. He planted a seed where I was before he ran off to call our other friends.

Anyway, it was close to nighttime now, and there really was nothing exciting that happened during our travels. I tried staying behind, but Vixie was walking way too slow that even my slow pace outsped her.

She was really troubled, I could tell, and so was Shock.

We camped by a small stream, the territory belonging to friendly Woopers. As long as we don't harm them, they won't give us any trouble, they said. There were a few berries around, since there were quite a lot of Pokémon living in the area. So, we just grabbed what we could and ate around a small bonfire, courtesy of me coughing a small ball of fire since Fay dared me that I couldn't do it as an Eevee.

If it weren't for Fay's and Saur's conversation, our entire dinner would have been dead quiet. While Saur and I enjoyed listening to Fay's crazy blabber, I can't help but feel a bit guilty for making both Vixie and Shock feel uncomfortable around each other.

I stayed awake, even after we called it a night two hours ago. Everyone were sound asleep, but I know one or two of them would still be wide awake. Well, I know one of them was still awake, at least, since the other one was peacefully sleeping beside me.

I sighed and slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position, careful not to disturb Vixie's slumber. On my other side was Saur, and beside him was Fay, and beside her was...

"Can't sleep?" said the voice I knew who wasn't asleep yet.

I slowly shook my head. "Eh... You could say that..." I turned and stared at Shock.

He was lying on his back, both arms behind his head. He was quietly staring at the sea of leaves above us, where the gentle rays of silver moonlight passed through the small gaps.

"What about you?" I asked as I scratched my ear with a front paw. My friends find it weird though, with me using a front paw to scratch an itch. Huh, I wonder if there are lice Pokémon that lives in furs.

"Couldn't sleep... I have a lot on my mind lately..."

"A lot?" I asked with a grin. "Or just one?"

I chuckled quietly as he glared at me. "This is your fault, you know."

"Yeah..." I said, suddenly feeling not-so-happy anymore. I shifted from where I sat and slowly lied on my back, and stared at the leaves. "You're right on that one. And I'm sorry...but..." I took a breath, "...it's also your fault that you kept quiet about how you really feel towards her, you know..."

We were quiet for a while. I know he was still wide awake. I could tell. We've been together for a long time now, and Shock snores when he sleeps, even though he doesn't believe it.

"Shock..." I said quietly, "will you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what that is..."

"It's nothing really big. Well, it may be, depending on how you look at it, but I—"

"Spit it out already. Sheesh..."

I sighed. "When I do get back home, to my real world...will you take care of Vixie for me?"

"...what?"

I sighed again and stared at the peaceful dance of the leaves with the gentle wind. "...as...as much as I hate to admit it, Shock, but I've really grown to like Vixie. I know she'll get hurt when I leave, so...can I trust her to you when I'm gone?"

No answer... We were quiet... I sighed through my nostrils as I listened to the quiet and unrecognizable conversation of the nocturnal Pokémon in the area.

Vixie's ear twitched, and she mumbled something in her sleep as she slightly shifted, her paw now pinning my ear. "...I think she still has feelings for you, Shock. Little as it may be, but it's still there. If there was none, then she would have dismissed what you have said and will tell you directly that she's really all over me, but...she didn't...so uh...yeah..."

I heard a quiet sigh. I turned my head and saw him rubbing his head with a hand. After a few moments, he put his hand back behind his head and stared up. He was still quiet.

I sighed. I was about to say something when he suddenly spoke up.

"I'll do it."

"Buh?"

"That favor you asked. I'll do it," he said in a quiet voice, but it brought a great amount of determination, and a pinch of doubt. "But...only as friends." He sighed. "Jay... If you do leave us, she'll be a total wreck. I can only promise you that I'll be there for her, and to help her move on, but I can't promise you to keep an eye out for her forever..."

"...if you two won't be mates, you mean." He didn't respond. Ouch... I guess my teasing was of bad timing? Heh, that rhymed, but anyway... "...sorry..."

"...you know... Sometimes you confuse me if you are being serious or not..."

"You should know by now that I don't like being serious all the time," I smiled. "It makes me look older than I should be..."

"Heh... So you mean to say that I'm older than my age, huh?"

"Eh... But anyway... Thanks, Shock."

"Huh? For what?"

I shrugged, even though he wouldn't see me doing it. "For taking my favor."

"I don't need to do you a favor when it comes to my friends," he quickly replied. "...and I still don't believe that you're a human that just borrowed an Eevee body or whatcrap. But..."

Silence... We were quiet for a short while. "...but?"

He sighed. "If you do leave us one day, then...I..." He sighed again. "...just know that I'll miss you... Not that much..."

I closed my eyes and stopped myself from chuckling. "Heh. Thanks. It's nice to know that you care."

"You're my friend, despite how much of an idiot you are."

"Yeah, I hate you, too."

He chuckled quietly.

"So...before I showed up... It was you and Vixie, huh?"

"A Raichu and a Ninetales. Yeah..."

I blinked at that. "Oh? You were a Raichu back then?"

"Yeah... When I first got to Ilex Forest, I was still a Pikachu, and she was already a Ninetales. I didn't like her personality, and neither did she liked mine. We kept on arguing and fighting back then, that even Bi couldn't stop us. But, of course, when we're fighting, she always beats me... Advantages of being an evolved Pokémon and all."

I chuckled. "The more you hate, the more you love, it seems."

Shock sighed, but it felt like he was smiling. "Yeah... We were like that for a month or two, I think. I couldn't remember. Last time we argued, Bi wasn't there, and Vixie made me so mad that I evolved, and I won that fight that we had. But... But I hurt her, badly. I didn't mean it. I was in a panic that I started yelling for help. That's when an Ivysaur stepped out to help me; Saur. But he made me promise not to cause any more trouble. I didn't care, so I accepted, and he helped. Damn, he was a great healer back then."

"And I guess that's how the gang started?"

"Yeah... Good old times."

"What about Fay?"

"Eh... She and Saur already knew each other back then."

Huh... Go figure...

"Anyway, after Vixie was healed, I apologized to her, which, now that I think about it, was really funny, with the odd and confused look that she was giving me back then," he chuckled.

And I listened and listened as Shock retold their little misadventures. Yeah, from what Shock was telling me, he really cherished his friends. He's very loyal, and he really cares for everyone that he loves. ...especially Vixie.

"Oh, but Arceus, she's so annoying when she's in love!" Shock groaned, and I chuckled wholeheartedly.

Chapter 77​

Another day went by without any exciting incident.

...well, there was that part where a trainer saw us and wanted to catch me just 'cause I'm an Eevee.

I easily knocked all of his six Pokémon though, and all the while, I made sure I shot venomous glares at my friends who decided that it'd be fun to watch me fight for once. Sigh...

Anyway, I honestly didn't expect that I had it in me. Then again, I was aware of what I was doing back in the ruins, so I guess it's about time for me to know how to fight and defend myself, without evolving of course. That might get the kid more reason to want me. Sigh...

...but of all times to learn these cool attacks, it's when we're having our last adventure together...

...well, I'm pretty certain that Shock and the gang will go on more and more adventures. It's just sad that this will be my last adventure with these four crazy Pokémon.

...and it's really sad. I'm sure going to miss them. But I must stay strong. Home is more important. Besides...I...don't belong here anyway. As cool as this place is, the reality is I belong in my home planet.

...I wonder if I would think and feel like this if I was instead just warped here. Unchanged and still a human. I might ditch my home and travel this world as a Pokémon trainer!

...yeah, keep dreaming, Jay. Even if I was still a human and was transported in this world, I would still try to figure out a way back home. But now that I think about it, traveling around to gather information would be SO MUCH FREAKING EASIER if I was a human! ...sigh...

"What are you thinking about?" asked a very happy voice from behind me. Fortunately for me, I already have gotten used to Fay and her strange ways. I would have yelped in surprise if I wasn't.

Still, I flinched a bit from supressed surprise, and I shot her a glare as she sat beside me. "I told you not to surprise me like that."

"You didn't look like you were surprised though..."

"I was..." I deadpanned.

She tilted her head, and stared at me in confusion. "If you were, then wouldn't you be like..." she looked ahead, and suddenly jumped and shouted in surprise. "AHHH!" She then turned behind her, and glared at nothing in particular. "Fay! I told you not to surprise me like that!" She then turned to me, smiling. "Or something like that."

I was still giving her a deadpanned expression. I sighed as I slightly shook my head, and turned my gaze ahead. We were on the edge of a not-so-tall cliff, and I stared at the landscape under the evening sky.

"Jay?" Fay called.

I took a breath and sighed through my nostrils. "Sorry... Was just...collecting my thoughts..."

"Really? That's a weird collection..."

I groaned. "Fay, are you really this...this..." I shook my head. "Never mind." That's one of her uniqueness that I'm probably never gonna get used to. "I guess I was just...thinking..."

"Of what, exactly?"

I turned to her with an arched eyebrow. Why was she here all of a sudden anyway? "Shouldn't you be bugging Saur or Vixie instead of being here?"

She shook her head and stared ahead. "Nope... Saur didn't want me around while he talks with Shockie and Vixie..."

Oh yeah... I did ask our Bulbasaur friend if his calm and collective mind could help our two friends out. "I see..." I stared ahead.

We were quiet for a while. We were quiet for quite a while, and it was longer than I have expected with Fay around. Something must be on her mind if she hasn't broken the silence yet.

...she hasn't broken it yet...

...still nothing...

...

...I wonder if she's dead...

I turned, and saw her, still sitting there. "Fay?"

"Hm?" she blinked a few times before she turned to me. "Oh, hi Jay!"

My ears drooped as I deadpanned. "Don't 'oh hai thar' me, Fay." I slightly shook my head. "So what's on your mind?" Full of crazy, I bet. "You're not usually this quiet, and...it's quite...scary, to be honest."

I think it was my first time to see her giving me an arched eyebrow. "Well, duh! If a Pokémon is quiet, then they're probably dead, and you should stay alert, for you might be the next one to be dead!"

...full of crazy... "Seriously, Fay..."

"Well," she frowned and looked down on the ground. "...I've been worried recently...and me being all happy isn't really helping me nor my friends to get rid of the bad bad feeling of worry..."

I blinked. "Worried of what?"

"You know..." she looked back at me. "Shockie and Vixie... They're like...not talking to each other anymore... M-maybe that's why Saur wanted to talk to them with me not being there..." She looked away. "Last time this happened, Shockie and Vixie almost broke their friendship... And I did little to no help at all! A-and I'm...scared if that were to happen."

I took a very deep breath and sighed quietly. Never was I expecting to see and hear Fay like this... "Fay... You really, really love them, huh?"

"Of course!" she turned to me with a sad frown. "They're my friends! Bestest friends in the whole wide world! And it..." she looked down again. "...makes me so so sad to see my friends sad..." she sniffled.

...I couldn't take it. I took a quick breath and threw my paws around her, and pulled her into a hug. "There, there..." I patted her back. I really couldn't believe that Fay would be like this.

"Um..." Fay squirmed a bit, and wasn't returning the hug. "What are you doing?"

"...er..." I broke the hug and chuckled awkwardly. "...I was...giving you a hug? You were really feeling so down that I felt like you could use one..."

She blinked. "...a hug?"

...

...

...

... "...don't tell me you don't know what a hug is..."

She shook her head with a growing smile. "Nope! Is that what humans do when the other feels down like I was?"

I blinked. "Well, yeah... It usually helps you feel better." I shrugged. "It doesn't help solving the problem, but hey, a hug can really do wonders! It's like...telling your friend that you understand what they're going through and telling them that you love and support them, and some other sappy-sappy stuff like that..."

Fay was smiling now. Beaming, even. She then chuckled lightly. "Well, it was weird, but it's the thought that counts, right?"

I was about to reply, but her smile suddenly disappeared as she hummed in thought and looked elsewhere.

"...or maybe I should start practicing this 'hug' thing."

I...was about to reply again, but she then turned to me with a sad frown.

"What about you, Jay?"

I blinked. "What...about me?"

"We're going to that place where you'll give back that evolution thingy back to the rock-thing, right?"

...and here I thought she wanted to ask if I needed a hug. I could actually use one though... "Well, that's the plan, yeah... Why?"

"What happens after that?"

I shrugged. "I guess the legendaries can take me to Arceus so I could...return...home..." My voice faded when I figured out what Fay was actually asking me. She was frowning, and so did I. "Fay...I..."

"I-It's okay," she tried to smile, but her sad eyes and trembling voice betrayed her. "W-we knew your goal from the start. I...just didn't expect that it would be this soon... But we're really, really going to miss you, Jay."

I took a breath and sighed through my nostrils. "I'm gonna miss you guys t—"

"Why do you have to go back?!" she suddenly snapped, a tear rolling down her face.

That caught me off guard.

"Don't you like it here? What about Vixie? Don't you like her? Don't you wanna be with her forever and start a family with her?"

...she was crying now...

"What about Shock? He's your best friend, right? And Saur? A-and me? W-we're your friends, r-right?"

I then remembered something... I never actually told them why I was so desperate of going back.

"I'm sorry, Jay..." she sniffled as she tried to calm herself down. "I... I just really don't like friends leaving friends without a good reason..."

I tried to smile, really, I did. But my eyes were stinging and I suddenly was having a runny nose. "Fay..." I slowly started patting her shoulder. "...I do have a reason why I need to go back..."

"...oh..." I waited for her sobs to stop. When she did, she looked up at me. "Can I...Can I st-start practicing that hug now?"

I gave her a small smile and a small nod before I hugged her.

She awkwardly moved her paws and slowly wormed their ways on my back.

"Um...you don't have to reach my shoulder blades, Fay..."

She moved her paws lower.

I blushed. "Er...not too low, Fay..."

"Jay..."

"...yeah?"

"...hugging is weird."

Chapter 78​

Saur and the others quietly watched Fay leave, heading towards where Jay was at the moment. Once they were sure that the saddened Rattata was out of earshot, Saur exhaled through his nostrils as he turned to look at his two other friends: Shock and Vixie.

The two sat on the ground, with a very noticable gap between them. From Saur's analysis, a Venusaur would easily lie down and sleep from that big of a gap.

Nevertheless, he smiled and called their attention.

"Shock," the Bulbasaur nodded at the Pikachu, before he turned and nodded at their Vulpix friend, "Vixie."

"Glad to know that you still know our names, Saur," Shock deadpanned at the grass-type.

Saur ignored his friend's sarcastic remark. He has gotten used to it already.

"That was mean thing to say, Shock," Vixie shot him a side-way glare.

...well, only he and Fay were used to Shock's sarcastic remarks...and maybe Jay as well. Saur chuckled.

Shock just awkwardly scratched his neck.

Vixie then returned her attention at their Bulbasaur friend. "So...you wanted to talk to us?"

The Bulbasaur nodded. "By Jay's request."

"Oh?" the Pikachu and the Vulpix said at the same time.

Saur nodded again. "The tension between the two of you are very worrisome..."

Shock frowned. "That's ridiculous! Jay and Vixie? Really?!"

Saur turned to him and frowned. "...I was talking about the two of you."

The Pikachu blinked. "Me? And Jay? What?"

Saur deadpanned.

Shock's ears drooped as he sighed and looked away.

"Jay is worried about the two of you. Fay is as well. I am, too."

Vixie was already looking elsewhere. She doesn't want to talk about this. "T-thanks for worrying about us, Saur, but we'll be fine..." She took a deep breath and quietly sighed to calm herself. "We'll sort this out...eventually..."

Saur nodded. "The question is, when?"

"Soon..."

The Bulbasaur shook his head. "That's not a good answer, Vixie, and you know it."

Vixie growled, clearly annoyed.

Shock stood up with a sigh. He turned, and slowly walked towards the Vulpix. Slowly...

Saur quietly watched him.

Vixie tensed up as she sensed him approaching.

Finally, with a sigh, Shock hung his head after he was a Pikachu's tail's length from the Vulpix. "Vixie," he said quietly, barely managing to open his gritting teeth. He never liked apologizing for something as big as this one. Then again, he did promised Jay to look out for her. But how could he if they're avoiding each other? No, he's not doing this for Jay. "Even a Zubat can see the two of us avoiding each other..." He's going to do this for the sake of his friendship with Vixie. He took another breath and exhaled quietly as he turned to look at her.

She still had her head turned, staring at nothing.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said," whatever it was that he said. Now that he thought about it, what he said back then wasn't really that big of a deal. They were a thing before anyway... "...and you're one of my best friends, and it..." he looked down, and glared on the ground as he clenched his fists. "...i-it hurts me to a-avoid you, and you to avoid me, j-just because of what I said. I...I-I'm sorry if it made you feel awkward towards me." He then looked at her. He needed to stop himself from being surprised after seeing her finally looking at him with teary-eyes. "I really, really, really am sorry, Vixie..."

Vixie sobbed, once at least, and hung her head. She lifted a paw to wipe her tears off of her eyes as she took a deep breath. She held her breath as she took a few more seconds to calm herself down. Finally, she looked at him with a small smile.

Shock's heart almost skipped a beat. Finally, they coul—

The Vulpix breathed a bright and powerful train of fire, swallowing the Pikachu's face completely. After a few seconds, she stopped and glared at his blackened face.

"Just a warning if you ever think that dream of yours is going to happen."

Saur chuckled.

Shock coughed, twice. "...I'll...keep that in mind."

---

"Huh," I said as I walked alongside Saur. "So that's what happened?"

Saur just smiled as he walked, his gaze ahead where Fay, Shock and Vixie were having a lively chat. "Yes," was his simple answer.

I smiled as I looked at our friends who were walking ahead of us. "Well, it's nice to have my crazy friends back."

Saur nodded. "It's nice to see them back. Thanks, Jay."

"Buh?" I turned and blinked at him. "Whatever did I do?"

"For that favor you asked me."

I arched him an eyebrow. "You obviously will go and talk to them anyway."

Saur just nodded. "Yes, that's true. If you didn't ask me to do that favor, then I would talk to them. But the question though, is when."

"When?"

He shook his head. "I don't like going head to head with trouble, Jay." He turned and smiled at me. "If my friends are in danger, then I'll face it head on." He looked ahead. "But if the trouble is something like they had, then..."

"Eh... You have Fay to push you to help them, in case I'm around to ask you anyway."

"Maybe," Saur shrugged.

I rolled my eyes. "Damn... You're a pretty good downer, you know that?" I smiled as I looked ahead. "We should be happy that we have Shock and Vixie back. Fay is extra happy to see them. We should, too, right?"

Saur nodded. "...but for how long?"

"What?" I frowned as I turned to him.

"You're leaving soon, yes?"

I inhaled, and sighed through my nostrils, carrying the happiness out of my system... "You really are a downer..."

Saur shook his head. "Sorry... I just...like to look ahead. For preparation purposes..."

"Whatever..." I rolled my eyes and looked ahead. "I'm gonna concentrate on the present...for now, if you don't mind..."

Chapter 79​

We were standing on the edge of a small cliff. And we were all staring at a very simple yet magnificent city that was surrounded by tall mountains under the afternoon glow.

There was a lake at the northern part of the city, where a long building with dragon-like details stood by the bank.

Well, I am pretty sure that we're still in Johto, and that building-with-dragon-decos already made it obvious what this city is called.

"So," I said, finally breaking the silence. "We're gonna go around it?"

Saur nodded.

Shock looked at him for a moment before he turned to me. "Well, obviously. Since we can't risk running into any humans down there."

I noticed Vixie shivered a bit. Yeah, I still remember that weird yet comforting but still weird feeling inside a Pokéball...

I slightly shook my head. "Well, alrighty th—"

Even though it was far away, we still heard the faint explosion sound from the gym's now-smoking roof. A beam of light was heading to our direction, and as quick as a blink, the beam hit the face of the cliff, and obviously, it exploded upon impact.

The earth violently shook as a loud cracking noise pierced my ears. We lost our balance and I fell on my side, and gasped as a large crack on the ground appeared right in front of my face. As soon as the crack appeared, smoke covered my vision. I coughed.

I blinked as my ears registered the frightened cries and shouts of my friends. Instantly, I jumped up as the smoke thinned and began to clear, and I then looked over the new edge in panic.

I called out their names in a shout as I saw the ground they were lying on, well, slid down towards the base, as if like a sled.

I panicked, heart racing, as many thoughts clashed in my mind. Should I go after them? Should I? I gritted my teeth, I shouted 'yolo' in my head, and jumpe—

"Gah!" I yelped when I felt a sharp pain shot through my head as my tail got yanked back. I landed on the ground with a thud. "Oomf!"

"A-are you crazy?!" Vixie exclaimed after spitting my tail out of her mouth. She then ran to my side.

I stared at her in a daze, my mind suddenly blank.

She gave me a worried look before she turned ahead and walked on the edge of the cliff, leaning forward a bit as she looked down.

"That was fun!" Fay's voice echoed quietly down below. "Let's do it again! ...Ow!"

Vixie visibly sighed in relief. "You guys!" she shouted back at them, "we're gonna find a way down!" She then turned back to me, and helped me back up on all four. "You okay?"

"G-guess so..." I said as I pulled her head away from me. "I said I'm fine, so stop nuzzling me..."

She frowned as I looked around, searching for a way to get back to our friends down below. I walked towards the edge and looked down, seeing humans starting to increase in number, surrounding where our friends have landed.

"I sure hope that none of them got captured or anything..." I said before turning back to my Vulpix friend.

She shook her head. "I—"

Something popped out from the ground in between us, and I yelped in surprise, almost falling off the cliff.

"Hi!" Fay chirped brightly, the lower-half of her body still under the hole she made. She shook the dirt off of her fur and smiled at Vixie, and then at me.

I hit her head with a glare. "I almost fell!"

"Ow..." she rubbed her head, shook it, then smiled again at me. "Well, you didn't!"

"That's not the point!"

"Anyway," she completely ignored me as she turned to Vixie. "Shockie said that we should regroup by the lake! Bye!" She took a deep breath and dove back inside the hole.

I blinked and looked down on the hole, but all I saw was darkness. I looked back down the cliff, and saw Fay emerged from the ground, and ran through the horde of people. None of them seemed to be interested in her.

...well, she is a Rattata, after all...

"Should we follow her through this hole?" Vixie ask.

I shook my head. "Nah. We might get captured right before we could resurface..." I turned to her. "Come on. There's probably a way for us to go down safely and without being noticed by people."

Vixie just nodded and we both started walking. She was walking way to close on my side though, but I tried to ignore it. Despite my efforts, she still thinks that we're a thing. Sigh... I did give in a few times, but we didn't really officially became a thing...

...do Pokémon need to be officially be a thing so they could be a thing?

I'm not really sure if we're already close to our destination. Not the lake, but where the evolution gem was located. We may still be very far, or we were already close. I dunno. I forgot to ask Saur about it for maybe two or three days now...

Still, I think it's about time Vixie and I had some alone time...to t-talk about stuff!

"Something wrong?"

I shook my head to get rid of what my nasty brain just thought. I can't believe I actually thought of that! Gah... "N-nothing..."

I saw her frown at me from the corner of my eye. "Jay...why are you...?" she took a breath as she stopped walking with me.

I stopped as well and turned around to face her.

She sighed quietly, turning her gaze to the city.

I blinked. I then looked around.

...welp, things got awkward way too fast than I expected...

I sighed and faced her. "Vixie, we need to talk."

She looked at me.

...er... I guess only humans know what that sentence actually meant. Bleah... "I..." gah... I just want this to be over with. Here goes nothing... "I don't want us to be mates."

She quickly nodded with a neutral and unreadable expression. "I know..."

I blinked.

She took a breath. "B-but I want us to be..."

Oh, for the love of...! Not this again... "We're not gonna go there again, are we?"

She furrowed her brows. "No. I'm not letting you change the topic..."

"What I meant was..." ...I think I should stop talking like a human and start talking simple for this Pokémon right in front of me... "You know what? Never mind. Just...I don't want us to be mates anymore, okay? Okay! We're still friends right? Right! Okay!" I turned back and started walking. "Now let's g—gyah!"

I jumped to the side in panic when a bright and hot stream of fire passed me by. I quickly turned back and stared at her angry face. And oh, I don't know how, but I felt my two pupils shrunk into dots.

She took a step forward. I took a step back. "Er..."

She took another step. "Do humans end relationships in an uncaring and selfish manner like what you just did?"

...for a fire-type, she sure knows how to ask with a scary-icy tone... "N-no...! Of course not!"

"Lier," she spat. "I went too low for a female just to get your attention, and you still rejected me. At least reject me nicely than what you just did!"

Er... "You know... To ber fair, I have already lost count of how many times I have told you about me not wanting to be your mate..."

She was still glaring at me, but she didn't respond. She breathed out fumes of fire towards me, and I gasped, but the flames only reached a few inches away from my nose before it faded in thin air. Still, the message was clear.

Also, Vixie was no longer where she stood a few seconds ago. I turned and saw her walking away, hopefully looking for a way down.

"H-hey! Wait up!" I ran after her.

"Go away!" she shouted back. She didn't even bother stopping nor looking at me.

Welp, I did it... I went to her bad side, and I doubt I'll like it.

...at least we're no longer a thing, right?