BROKEN;;

On the 18th February, 2015, Professor Samuel Oak was assassinated by a Southern Group known as The Cause. He was shot through the temple during a conference. The assassins were caught and apprehended. The North were quick to react, bombing the Southern Bridge between Hoenn and Sinnoh and killing the majority of a small town based on the island. The South attacked back by destroying the Sevii Islands. The war went back and forth and since then, Ecruteak City, Cinnibar Island, Lavendar Town, Olivine City and the Seafoam Islands in the North and Lilycove City, Fortree City, Mossdeep City, Snowpoint City and Canalave City in the South have all been destroyed and left inhabitable. Unova was considered a neutral zone and a safe place for refugees. The North seemed to be winning the war. That was, until the storm hit.

Around two decades years ago, on 12th the November, it stormed everywhere. People hid inside their houses as they spotted the spirits of several Pokémon of legends skittering over the skies. Suddenly, several thousand humans all over the world of the world dropped dead from heart attacks, burst organs, strokes and unknown diseases. Thousands of Pokémon became feral and wild and attacked anything they could, killing another few thousand people as well as their own kind. This was some kind of bad sign, some kind of omen. Some professors philosophised the end of the world, some said this was a new beginning. Whatever it was, it ended as soon as it came; the storm only lasted one night. Everything returned to normal as the sun rose and by morning, the only trace of the storm that was left was the damp ground and the grieving families of those who had died.

The storm unified the five regions. The war ended as everyone tried to pick up the pieces the storm had shattered.

Soon after the incident, Pokémon themselves became scarce. Several thousand more Pokémon were killed during and after the storm as humans began to fear the untamed power of Pokémon, despite what they had been taught for years by trainers and professors. Wild Pokémon became more agitated and attacked at the slightest movement. Captured Pokémon were released, abandoned or sent to the police by their trainers. It only took a few months for Pokémon to be no longer part of daily lives. To the public, the storm was some kind of random event at the fault of Pokémon. Shrines were destroyed and anything associated with Pokémon was considered a bad omen. Today, special forces of soldiers, ex members of the armies and veterans of the war patrol the edges of town to ensure the safety of the human kind. They respond to any call and are known to remove all kinds of Pokémon related threats. However small they may be.

Whatever this was, this was not a good sign at all.

The truth of that night was only known by some. The Pokémon seen in the sky, the powerful souls of their species were desperate for change and possessed the bodies of several human men. Some bodies were not capable of holding the power and died from the inside (hence the deaths). Women were also possessed, but after posession they also quickly died from unknown causes. The Pokémon put their trust to the humans and mated with a human woman each, unknown to the women of their true nature. The night left each women pregnant with a child, a child spawned from a Pokémon. Roughly for each, nine months passed. One after another, each woman gave birth to a baby and died in the process. These infants however, contained the unsurpressed power of Pokémon and measures had to be taken to ensure no other lives were lost. Their powers were sealed and the infants were taken to guardians, professors, remaining trainers and such to be raised as normal humans.

Now, about eighteen years old, the seal that acts on the orphans' power has started to break. Strange, unexplainable, supernatural things start to happen to them and suddenly, after some kind of incident, their guardians reveal to them the truth. The truth behind their birth. The truth of what they are. Handing them a PokéBall, the seal of their power, their guardians warn them of what is to come. If they open the ball, their true form is revealed and they can no longer live as a human. People will fear them, attack them and take away their freedom. Leave it closed and they can hide themselves from the world. Though the seal will break at one point and any emotional experience can cause their power to go out of control.

You cannot hide your nature from the world forever though.

It is now the year 2102. You are one of these orphans, around 18 years old. What did you decide?​

Kerin had spent the past week alone.

Not a lot had happened in that week. Nothing had attacked him, nothing had ambushed him, nothing had even bothered to stop and say hello. It didn't really bother that much, he needed time to think. To process what had happened. To make sure he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating. Still, it had been uneventful, uninteresting and boring. The most exciting thing that had happened to him was when he accidently scratched and made his stomach bleed while trying to pick up a leaf that had fallen on him. Boy, was that fun.

Nothing had really happened at all.

That was, until Jane Notte had turned up.

She had turned up out of the blue, totally unexpected. Kerin hardly recognised her, with the white hair, the sunglasses and the extremely large sword bulging out of her forehead, but his childhood friend still had the same face. He just... knew it was her. It had been a long time since they last saw eachother and she was the last person (well, maybe not the last) that he was expecting. But she was... the only person who he really called a friend before the distance strained their relationship. When he saw her, the first thing he thought was shock. Then empathy. Then pity. Then dismay. So, she was like he was. A freak.

"How did you find me?" He pulled his hoodie over his head further and adjusted himself on his rock so she couldn't see anything. His sleeves were still covering his arms. He didn't want to show her what he was.

Jane, however, had removed her sunglasses and had her eyes fixed on a leaf. It hung onto the branch by a bare thread, seconds away from springing free and being carried off by the breeze. "Oh, hello. We followed the whisper of wind. Oh look - the leaf's free." And it was, dancing in the wind for the briefest moment before gravity took its course and it plummeted to the earth.

"...Do you hate me, Rin? I'm a monster now," she asked quietly, her eyes still on the leaf.

Kerin raised his face up and looked at her and in her eyes. Her eyes, they were red. Bright, blood red. The kind that couldn't be hidden without the sunglasses, which explained why she was wearing them. She didn't answer his question, but Kerin didn't care that much really.

"Hate you? I don't... think I could hate you, Jane," Kerin smiled at her. A forced smile. He really didn't have the energy for a genuine one. His hood around his head started to fall (Kerin thanked gravity for that) and he quickly caught it before it fell all the way down. Ugh, it was no use. She was... what he was, right? He let the hood fall and stood to his feet.

"Hi Jane, it's nice to see you again!" He said, letting another smile through. He hadn't even said hello yet!

She looked up at him curiously, giving him a small, dreamy smile. Then her brows furrowed. "Rin, did you... dye your hair?" she asked, confused. "It looks like -" fire "- the wings of dusk. It's beautiful."

He pulled at his hair and shook his head. She... she didn't suspect anything? Well, Jane always seemed one sandwich short of the picnic.

Jane's smile returned. "Hey Rin, how're the others?" And with that, her eyes slid from his face and latched onto the first interesting thing she could find. This happened to be a flower - small and yellow and cup-shaped, but a person would have to be as tall as her finger to drink from it.

"They're... fine," Kerin lied, trying not to remember anything. His inevitable train of thought was interrupted though by the sound of a tinkling bell. Kerin snapped his head to see where it was coming from, only to see an Abra form out of a beam of light. Kerin stepped back, readying himself for a fight. "Jane, don't go near that thing! That's a Pokémon!"

The Abra tilted its head slightly, made a small shrilling noise and started to glow. Kerin, his eyes widening, grabbed Jane as best as he could with his clawed hand and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction. The shrill from the Abra turned to a screech and Kerin tensed himself as he ran but lost his grip on Jane, who fell before he stumbled about and fell face first into the grass.

"J-Jane, watch out!" He quickly scrambled to his feet and turned around to get Jane. Not another! He didn't want to lose another to a Pokémon. Why was he so helpless? He jumped down next to Jane and looked up at the Abra, only to see it miliseconds before it shot a white beam at him and Jane. "No, Jane!"

The beam didn't hurt. In fact, it didn't really do anything at all to him physically. When Kerin opened his eyes, his arms over Jane, they were... somewhere else. The ground was covered in cold, dew-ridden grass. The sun was out in the sky, a few clouds dotted across it. They weren't in the frozen wilderness of the Giant Chasm anymore, they were... well, he didn't know. Only that is was warm and welcoming. This place was way better than the Giant Chasm!

"Where are we?"

Rain. Its ability to nurture life unrivaled. Its ability to bring the rise and fall of civilization unmatched. Its ability to bring negative emotion to Lyle unquestionable.

Lyle had left his comfortable home in Castelia City. Him leaving was inevitable at the time. His adoptive parents did not force him out in any sort of way. In fact, they wanted him to say ever since his Uncle Ray broke the "news." Ha, the news. It's not every day that you learn your mother had a fetish for Pokemon and decided to have sex with one. Thats how Lyle chose to look at it at least. Twisting the facts into some twisted humorous story was Lyle's way of coping with the fact he was freak. Lyle continually explained he needed to leave Castelia for his own reasons. Lyle put in a vague way: "To find something." What that something was? Hell, he didn't know. He was hoping it would be a clue. A calling perhaps for what he was destined to do. His brother, Neil, went on a quest of self-discovery a year or two ago and discovered he wanted to become a historian after visiting Johto. Lyle had hoped it would work for him as well. Packing a bag full of clothes and stuff, Lyle took out his bicycle from the closet and walked out the door proclaiming he will return but as "a man." He was never skilled with words.

That was a week ago. Now Lyle finds himself on a dark, dim, empty road leading to some city he was never been to combating the elements and losing. Walls of rain blocked his vision and the wind was pelting him in the face with sticks, stones and anything else that can break bones. The street was barely lit and most would refuse to travel it in this inclement weather, but Lyle had little choice. Standing around was not his style, but it was slowly becoming the more attractive option. "Bah, this crappy weather sucks," Lyle complained. He had given up. I probably should of a few hours ago when it started, he thought to himself. He had hoped in his gut it was a temporary shower. He then remembered hope gets one nowhere.

Taking cover under a few trees on the side of the road, Lyle crouched down, reaching into his pockets for his pack of cigarettes and his lucky sliver lighter with a distinct medieval design. Getting lucky on his fifth try, Lyle managed to light his cigarette. Taking in some smoke, he exhaled slowly letting the stress leave his body. Smoking was probably the only thing that could make him forget about the weather. With a sigh, Lyle let his mind wander taking in the sights and sound of the weather. "From this angle, the rain ain't too bad. I still hate the rain," Lyle mumbled to himself.

Glancing over to his bag, Lyle remembered the conversation with his Uncle Ray. Shuffling through his belongings, Lyle took out the Pokeball that supposedly contained the spirit of some Pokemon or something as he remembered. Inhaling a deep breath of smoke, Lyle stared at the Pokeball playing around in his imagination. "My father must be a fire type. Would explain why I hate the rain," Lyle concluded sarcastically. On several occasions, he had considered opening the ball refusing to believe his Uncle's story. It was a hard pill swallow. After all, he had to believe his mother loved Pokemon more than the next person. Or worse, believe that Pokemon spirits are capable of possessing people and then forcing the reproductive process to happen. Then again, it does explain a number of the strange events in Lyle's life including the day he roasted an entire gang. He hoped going out and wandering the world would lead him to an explanation for all this. Pessimism would say it was pointless to expect that answer to magically appear. For once, Lyle was trying to be optimistic.

The rain didn't die down at all in the span it took Lyle to finish his cigarette. Flicking the cigarette aside and packing up his bag, Lyle mounted his bicycle. A sign a while back said the city wasn't too far. I'll be there in no time, Lyle reasoned. Braving through the weather blind, Lyle trudged forward at a fair speed. Squinting as he pedaled, Lyle could see the lights of the city. "Almost there," Lyle called to no one in particular. However, a dark shadow appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The rain prevented his vision from deciphering the shadow's shape. It looked like a person and he did not want to be responsible for murder. Unable to slow down, Lyle veered to the right, crashing into the railing, rolling several yards landing with his face deep in mud and water.

"Arrgh," Lyle groaned in pain. "What the hell…was that?" Lyle rolled on the ground for a while hoping the pain would wash away. Picking himself off the wet ground, Lyle made sure his bag was in good shape and put it back on his back. His bike, while not ruined, was damaged. The chain looked usable, but dangerous to ride. He would have to hope there was a bike shop in town. With a sigh, Lyle then turned to his attention up the road a few yards. The shadow was still there standing in the dark rain. It appeared ominous and dangerous. Nevertheless, Lyle was a little more than angry.

"Hey you! Moron! What the hell were you doing in the middle of the road? I should have you to pay for a new bike you motherf-" As Lyle made his way to the figure, he began to notice something. Unless rain has the ability to distort vision, Lyle was going nuts. The figure wasn't a person. It was a Pokemon. At least it looked like one. Not like the ones his sister's friends had as a pets. One of those not so accepted ones.

"Kadabra!" It said.

"Yeah, I don't speak Pokemon. Now take the costume off, kid. Cough up some money while you are at it. I need to fix my bike," Lyle retorted with some anger. The Pokemon stared at him in response and titled its head in confusion. Lyle was not amused. "Alright fine. You wanna play Pokemon eh? Fine I'll play," Lyle chuckled. "Fire Punch!" Lyle winded up a punch and lunged forward. It wasn't a flaming fist but Lyle dreamt it was. Seconds before contact, the Pokemon disappeared. Lyle almost fell over his own feet. Spinning around looking for the Pokemon, Lyle began to panic. There was no obvious place to hide and how would it dodge his attack with less than second anyway. Turning around with a sigh, Lyle was then caught by surprise.

"Kadabra!" The Pokemon roared. With that, Lyle blacked out.

------------------

Light filtered through into Lyle's eyes. Slowly his vision was consumed by sunlight blasting through a few clouds. It was far warmer that it was before. Whatever happened earlier must of knocked him out. The Kadabra must of used some attack or something, Lyle said to himself in his head. Attempting to lift himself from the ground, Lyle took in the beautiful sky. it was a sun-filled sight. Lyle always preferred the bright sun over the dreary clouds. "Guess, the weather cleared up when I was out…wait a minute…" Lyle, now more awake, felt around. No longer was he surrounded by pavement, but instead found himself in thick green grass. His bike was gone too, but his bag was on the ground only a few inches away from his body. Lucky for him, as his bag was far more important. He could afford to lose the bike. Walking suited him fine. Dusting himself off and realizing his face was covered in dry mud, Lyle looked around at his new location. Nothing seemed familiar. It was a beautiful grassland with a few trees scattered across. Ideal weather too. Comfortable enough for him to keep his jacket on at least.

"Where am I?" Lyle wondered, pausing to take a deep breath. "Well, I won't find out standing around here. If I keep walking, I'll eventually find a road. Or maybe a town." With a new mindset of finding out where he ended up, Lyle lit up a cigarette and stared walking with no destination in mind hands in his pockets and his head held up high.

Daphne was taking a stroll in the countryside, outside the borders of Accumula Town. She stopped every now and then to sniff the flowers that were swaying in the breeze and if they were suitable, she picked a bundle of them. Hanging by her right was a basket of flowers she had gathered along the way. Blooming red, mild amber and charming cool turquoise; the bouquets were like rainbows collected as tiny petals and stalks. She hummed a joyful tune while walking through the soothing countryside and she came until a small acre of forested area.

The canopy created an overhanging shadow over the earth, and the further Daphne walked, the more obvious silhouettes appear and vanish as quickly as they came. She halted for a moment to dawdle around several shrubs of nearly-wilting flowers. Producing a miniature watering can from the basket, she poured the crystal clean water all over the dying plants. Almost instantly, the sparkling droplets of water nourished the shrubs and the pale-brown leaves gradually took on a shade of dusky green. The weak stems started to straighten up slowly for a while, but it returned to its drooping state a moment later. Daphne cradled one of the drying brown flowers in her palm, observing it all around with a melancholy gaze. "The effect may seem instantaneous but it's just the goodness starting up. It'll need time to work efficiently." The few lines of old lady echoed within her vast mind and then, she got up on her feet and left the plants and the special liquids to have their effect.

Moving along through the woods, Daphne felt an uneasy gut feeling all of a sudden. The mood of the vicinity took on an unusual foreboding feeling. The more she walked, the greater the shadows casted by branches and vines. She finally came to a halt when the path spread out to reveal a clearing. The saplings lined the borders of the clearing danced slightly in the summer breeze, and the sun was partly covered by the treetops, providing a faint coolness to the clearing. There were a few stones and small boulders popped around the clearing, varying in colours that glittered under the sunlight. Opal green and granite grey, earthly azure and glossy clay amber; the stones gave off a multitude of shifting colours. Then across her she espied a flowering bush of flaming purple and ice blue. Daphne drew in a gasp and hurriedly walked over to the plant. On the bush, there were countless flowers and also, richly-scenting berries. She placed her basket on the ground and went to sample a berry and absorb the aroma of the violet flowers. After a good moment of consideration, Daphne pluck a handful of six to nine berries and neatly wrapped them up in a satchel before placing it in the basket where they wouldn't be squashed.

Just then, she accidentally dropped her purse and a red-and-white ball rolled out. The seal rolled until it settled slowly a distance away from Daphne. At the same time, a small-sized bird had hopped out of the undergrowth and chirped cautiously. It eyed the ball warily with a sharp gaze of a pair of glinting almond-shaped eyes. Its small wings were red and yellow, along with its bodily plumage of red-and-green with black accentuates. A tiny vermillion crest shot out from his head and its body was so round and spherical. Daphne noticed the Pokemon and carefully tip-toed forward. In a movement of alarm, the green tiny bird bounced backwards but remained staring at the seal. Slowly, she bent her body down and picked the seal up in her hand. Charmed by its cuteness, Daphne kneeled down near the Pokemon and gently remarked, "Aren't you a cute little thing? How are you, small one?" She giggled and reached out to caress the bird's feathers. It chirped sharply while hopping back. Then, Daphne was drawn to the black beady eyes of the little green bird. Then, its eyes sparkled and a greenish aura surrounded the two of them. Soon, little orbs of bluish-yellow light appeared around Daphne and the bird Pokemon was cloaked in light. Suddenly, space all around her and in the clearing became distorted and she was temporarily blinded by the sudden burst of light.

In a moment's flash, Daphne found herself at a different place all together. She found herself in a beautiful vast clearing and the sky glowed brilliantly in the sky. The air was cooling and a faint gust traveled along the clearing, creating rippling movements in the grass. There were faint figures in the distance and they looked like humans. Daphne gazed around her, taking in the fascinating beauty of her surroundings. Where….where am I? Where is this?

Lacunosa Town was bright enough with its white walls and buildings, but the combination of the sun's light and the sand's color was blinding. The heat was unlike that of the Village Bridge's, which stayed fairly warm throughout most the year. Perhaps it was the water that had an effect on the temperature. Nonetheless, wherever Johann was now wasn't anything like home. He located the town's information sign and walked up to it.

"Undella Town - A summer retreat with a beach full of people who enjoy summer vacations," the sign read in its big, bold lettering. Johann read the sign a couple of times until he had the name of the town memorized, then headed over towards the beach. He noted the umbrellas set up all across the shore, then headed over to one of them. Although the umbrella provided shade, the sand was still warm beneath his feet. I wonder what this place is like at summer's peak, Johann thought, laying himself beneath the umbrella. I bet it's far more packed than it is now, that's for sure. He began to mutter one of his incantations. This one was for protection from the sun and from any sort of harm. As Johann finished his incantation, he felt his eyes close...

~x~

Johann was fairly certain he was dreaming. All he could see around him was darkness. There was no light, no life, nothing. It was the perfect limbo. I've had stranger dreams. Besides, this one seems like it'll be a relaxing one. Johann was surprised at how loud his own thoughts seemed to be. It was as if they were being spoken aloud. Guess I'll walk around for a bit. He slowly stepped forward before speeding up his pace. As he walked further and further Johann noticed that there was something red...no, yellow...green? up ahead. He stopped to watch the mysterious light, which seemed to alternate colors every few seconds. Rather than run away, Johann decided to approach the source of the lights.

Now a few yards away, Johann could see a shape begin to form. It was humanoid, but not human. It was also green, and the multicolored lights he had seen were coming from its hand. Johann stepped closer to it, but the creature didn't budge. Instead, it looked at Johann with its green eyes.

"El?" The voice resounded in Johann's head loud and clearly. But it wasn't his.

"Is that...you?" Johann asked the creature. It nodded. "You're not a Pokemon, are you?" It nodded again.

"Elgyem." The creature cocked its head slightly, as if awaiting some sort of answer.

"What are you doing here? Why are you here?" Johann's curiosity of the creature was rising. The creature seemed to ignore Johann's questions, however, and instead moved closer to him so that its hand was next to his.

"Elgyem. Elllllll!" Without warning, a bright light surrounded Johann and the creature, and Johann felt like he was being lifted out of his dream.

~x~

Johann noted the disappearance of the umbrella he had been under, as well as the warm sand that was supposed to be beneath him. Instead the sun shone high in the sky and grass tickled his skin. Johann sat up and noted the lack to shrubbery around him. There were others around them. Did that creature send these guys here too? Or maybe they came on their own. Everyone has to have a reason for being here, after all. He got up and began humming yet another incantation, this time one for good luck. From this moment on Johann had a feeling that things were about to get much tougher.

Kerin's head flicked around as a dark figure appeared in the distance. He spun around. Another. And another. And another! He stood up quickly, his head darting in different directions, trying to watch all of the shadows at once. Ambush?! Was this another ambush? He started breathing heavily, he started to panic. That stupid psychic Pokémon, that Abra had teleported him to this place so that they could finish him off, finish off what those Zebstrika had started. This was stupid, why had they chosen now to strike? Why when he was with Jane?

He went to pull up his sleeves, to ready himself yet again, when one of the figures started to run towards him. But... it didn't run like a Pokémon. It ran like a human! A person! Was this a trick? An illusion?

Suddenly, his vision started to blur. He blinked a few times, trying to wipe away the smudges that formed on his eyes. Only... it wasn't his eyes, it was the surroundings! The middle of the field began to almost melt in front of him, heat haze forming up from the ground. Then... something flashed! An image was attempting to form in front of his eyes, but it could only get parts of it.

"Jane... can you see that?" He pointed towards it before the air around the haze began to physically crack, like glass. It spiderwebbed around it, like a dome then shattered, the psychic barrier falling to the ground before disappearing. Where the seemingly peaceful grass once stood was four beasts, though they looked more like glowing ghosts than beasts. Monsters! Pokémon? They were all different and glowed different colours. A short but large brown one, a tall and skinny green one, a small blue one and a taller, more well built silver one. Kerin took a step back but then noticed these monsters were not facing him. In fact, they had their back to him and were circled around something. It was hard to see but... yes, it was a man! But not just a man, floating beside the man was, the only way Kerin could describe it, a pink flying fetus cat. Kerin hadn't seen the likes of it before. Ever. But it was unmistakably a Pokémon. The glowing ghost Pokémon growled at the man, before he thrusted his hands foward, blowing the silver ghost back towards Kerin with an invisible force. Kerin quickly grabbed Jane as best he could with his claws and dived out of the way before the silver ghost skidded past them, sliding back several dozen meters from where it stood. The man then stopped as he noticed that he wasn't as alone as he thought he was.

"Finally, you're all here! Mew, it worked! This is fantastic!" He yelled out. His voice was quite gruff, though he sounded pleased. Kerin looked around at the dark figures again, their attention all on the man. What exactly had worked, and why was he grouping these shadowy figures with Kerin? Kerin looked back at the man, he could now see him clearly since that giant ghost Pokémon thing was out of the way. He was middle aged, maybe 40 or 50, fit with a short goatee and silver hair pulled back into a short pony tail. He was grinning quite stupidly, turning to face all of the shadows, as well as Kerin and Jane. He then nodded and pressed his hands towards another ghost, the brown one this time, forcing it back between two of the shadows. The pink fetus cat thing bounced around next to him, a shrill cry could be heard from it over the grumbling of the ghosts. The green ghost stepped forward and lurched its head forward towards the man, creating a green slice through the air. The man jumped back, narrowly dodging the slice before the blue ghost sent out a jet of water, hitting the man back, sending him flying through the air. Kerin heard a growl behind him and spun around as the silver ghost got back up. The man rolled back up to his feet, the pink Pokémon by his side again, and sent the green and blue ghosts flying with a thrust of his hand.

"What are you doing? You g--aaaaggghh!" the man went flying as the brown ghost rammed into him, forcing him across the field. Kerin's eyes were fixated on the silver ghost though. What did he do? He didn't know how to use his powers, but the silver Pokémon was looking right at him, as if it was trying to grab Kerin's life with its eyes. Think, Kerin, think! How did you use your powers last time? It was... it was an act of pure emotion last time, he was angry! But now, Kerin wasn't angry. He was pissing himself where he stood. He had never liked Pokémon very much and now one was staring at him, ready to kill. What the hell did he do?! "Fight!"

Kerin pulled his hoodie off, threw it onto the ground, counted himself in then dashed forward towards the silver ghost, arms and claws raised to strike. The ghost followed suite and ran towards Kerin at full speed, its head down, ready to ram itself into Kerin. Kerin wanted to move, he wanted to get out of the way, but there was not enough time and there was only one thing he could rely on, and that was his stupidity.

"Go on Kerin, you can do this!" He egged himself on as he grew dangerously close to the silver Pokémon. He needed that dark fire again, that dark energy. He closed in and at the very last second, Kerin held a clawed fist out, screwed his eyes up tight and lurched his arm forward, into the silver ghost. He yelled a battle cry as he felt his arm come into contact with something but the sheer momentum of both forces was too much and every force needs an equal or opposite reaction. Hence, both Kerin and the silver ghost were sent flying in opposite directions, Kerin sliding and stopping next to one of the shadows, rolling over to lie on his back. He opened his eyes and looked at what stood near him. Another person! Though, this person was not like Kerin or Jane. This person was normal. Though Kerin was having a hard time identifying this person, his eyes were all blurry and it was hard to focus.

"That's the way!" The man's voice rang out. "We need to defeat these Pokémon!"

(OOC: Action! Go check out my post in the OOC to get a bit of a better idea of things for everyone!)

Jem drew nearer to the people. He didn't recognize any of them. This put him a bit on edge, but he shook his inhibitions away. For one good reason, they looked just as confused and stunned as he was. Truly if they meant him harm, then hey would have gone at him before he even got a chance to come to the understanding of his surroundings. As Jem went to approach some people, either to calm his nerves about the unknown, or to get answers, something stopped him dead in his tracks.

The air in front of him began to melt. Haze, steam, whatever you want to call it was filling the center of the clearing. What the hell is going on..? Jem thought to himself. Things like this only happened in fairy tales. Of course, what was he to say with everything that's already happened and been explained to him? This occurrence made just about as much sense as everything else that happened to him for the past few weeks.

"…" Jem tried to speak, to ask if anyone else could see what he was. But for some reason, no words could come to his mouth. Then he felt extremely hot, this extra insulation brought about, it was killing him. Maybe I'm still back at home… he thought, maybe… I'm sick. Maybe I had a heat stroke, and I'm imagining things.. It had to be. It all made sense.

The haze, or whatever it was, began to crack. Like glass, it spider webbed around, before completely falling through. As the pieces of the barrier fell to the ground, they dissolved into nothingness. What he saw didn't give him any answers. It only led to more questions, more questions, and… more questions. There were figures in the center. Who are they? he thought. What are they doing here? They certainly weren't like any of the other people that he has seen around. Did they cause the barrier…? His mind was flush with a thousand more questions, questions he knew that he would probably would never get the answers to. At least not now.

Jem stared intensely at the ghost-like creatures before him. Even though his attention was focused on them, it seemed to be that they didn't even notice his presence. Or they didn't care. What those creatures were focusing on, rather, was a man, and a floating pink cat? That was confusing to Jem. He assumed it had to be a Pokémon, but other than the ones on his farm, he hadn't heard much. Then he remembered his brother telling him a story he had heard from his friend who heard that from his older brother, and then a lot more confusing train of the hand me down tale. Most of the tale hadn't stuck out to him, what did though, made him to believe that this Pokémon, or creature, was named Mew. As for the man, he couldn't place a name on him if he tried.

The man in the center seemed to wield incredible power, tossing these ghosts around without even touching them. Silver one flew in the midst of two people and landed on the ground, seemingly finished.

"Finally, you're all here! Mew, it worked! This is fantastic!" the man shouted. From what Jem could now see, this man was quite old, with silvery hair tied back into a ponytail, and short little goatee. What the man said had just about confirmed the tale Jem had heard, this creature was indeed Mew.

Jem watched as he then he launched a brown ghost passed Jem, landing a bit behind him. He ignored him, focused on what was unfolding before him. The green ghost attacked, slicing through the air with vibrant green energy, he missed. Then the blue ghost shot a surge of water, nailing the man in the back, sending him through the air. As he got back up, he used his power to send those two ghosts flying off as well.

"What are you doing? You g--aaaaggghh!" The man was trying to explain something? Tell them something? But the brown ghost had gone up and rammed him, cutting him short. This made Jem a little angry. These ghosts seemed more threatening than the man did, and he already had a liking to the man. He seemed friendly, nice, he smiled a lot like Jem did.
Facing the brown ghost, he glared him down. Jem was big, but this thing brought a whole new meaning to big. This thing also sent a man flying across the field. A man who also had incredible power. Jem didn't know if he would fare well, but he decided he'd give it his best shot should it come down to it. The creature came charging at Jem, and his first instinct was to dash out of the way. He narrowly avoided the thing, falling to the ground as he stepped out of the way. He stumbled to his feet, and the creature was already upon him. It had pinned him to the ground. Jem began to thrash about flailing his arms around, attacking the creature. A side-hook to the left front leg knocked it off balance, and Jem skittered about beneath him. He was fighting on pure instinct, his eyes white and glossy, life-less. Charging the creature, he leapt forward, grabbing a hold of a horn and punching it in the face. It let out snorts of discontent and attempted to toss Jem on. But his grip was strong.

Jem finally regained his senses, gripped on to the creature's horn for dear life. It was running somewhere, full speed. Jem wormed around, and the creature flailed him into a tree. Instantly, the tree was uprooted and splintered into a bunch of pieces. Large chunks of wood stuck into Jem's back, and a few had gouged the side of the creatures face. Jem struggled to get up, and he barely managed to with his strength. This creature was a lot stronger than any fight he has ever been in before. Winded, beaten, and in pain, he staggered over to a tree to catch his breath, regain his composure. Glancing back over, the creature seemed to be in some kind of pain. It was fighting with the same charisma of before. It glared at him, and stamped his foot on the ground, prepping for another charge. Jem's grip tightened on the tree. He really didn't think he could take another hit, but he was ready.

Jem never really was good at baseball. He was that kid who could run like hell, and hit the ball a good distance. But that was his problem; he never could hit the ball. Of course, this creature was no baseball. Using his strength, he lifted the tree out of the ground. "Do your worst." In that instant, the creature was upon him. He hadn't realized it, but he met the creature half way, which was actually a good thing. Swiping at his feet with his bat, he knocked the creature down. Jem went to swing again, not realizing that the tree had once again shatter on impact. He swung through the air. There was only a stump in his hand, so he turned to run. The creature had got back to its feet, and gave chase. Turning around, Jem hurled the stump back towards the creature, nailing it in the face. That slowed it down a little, giving Jem the lead he needed to stay out of harms way. He ducked to the side behind a large tree. In, out. Jem exhaled deeply, and the noticed the pain in his back from the splinters. He reached around and felt them; they were huge, probably the only thing keeping the blood in. He felt three. This would soon be a problem. In deep breaths, he slid down to a sitting position, relaxing against the trees.

For some time Lyle walked through the grassy fields without a second thought, distraction or anything to disturb the peace he had found. The calm little breeze echoed in and out. The sun staring down on him. It was a nice change of pace compared to the urban hell that Unova had become.

Peace never lasts.

In the distance, Lyle saw several different figures scattered across the field. They were definitely humans. That much was obvious. At first, Lyle thought he was in a field close to a town or something. "I could probably ask for directions…then," Lyle said barely making out the last word. It was in that instant of slurred speech that a spectacle like no other occurred. Haze, or at least something like it, cracked like a piece of glass struck by a sledgehammer. Pieces rained down on the ground and disappeared like magic. Four beasts of varying size, shape, color stood where the haze once stood. They glistened in the sun, almost as if they were glowing. They were quite large in their own way. The one that caught his attention the most was the silver one. Its majestic size was something to be amazed at. Lyle was quite far from this whole ordeal and could not grasp what they were or what they were doing. His first thought that it was a fancy light show, or perhaps an opulent magic show. This theory was supported by the fact that as Lyle crawled closer to the beasts, an older man stood before them as if he summoned them. Perhaps he was the magician, Lyle thought. He was clearly speaking to them, but Lyle could only hear bits and pieces as he crawled closer, hugging the ground.

"Mew, it worked! This is fantastic!" Lyle barely heard it over the breeze. Mew. The name sounded familiar. Lyle may have read it somewhere. And he did remember his brother bringing it up after his trip to Kanto last year. What it was…Lyle couldn't recall off the top of his head. It possibly was related to the floating pink creature next to the men. As Lyle lost himself in thought, he also lost track of what happened before him. Lyle focused on the field and heard a scream of agony as the man was sent flying across the field. It appeared that the summoned glowing beasts turned on his master. Lyle couldn't help but wince at the strike. It looked painful.

Lyle peered closer and saw the shadows of the other people from earlier jump into the fire of battle and fight. What could possibly motivate someone into fighting towering beasts like those? Ones that easily pummeled a full grown man with such ease. It was foolish. Borderline idiotic. Screw that, it was idiotic. Running away, even if one is being attacked just seems like a better idea. Then again, Lyle realized he fought several times despite being severely outnumbered. It was hypocritical to not tell them to fight…but this…this was different. This wasn't a gang fight. This was a fight against magical beasts.

Agonizing whether or not to help, the decision became a little easier. The silver one that Lyle admired earlier crashed down near Lyle. It seemed to have been struck by one of the shadows in the distance. Whatever the shadow hit him with, it was impressive. Lyle looked down at the silver beast. It was incredibly large, standing about a foot taller than Lyle. It was well-built with horn-like things coming from his head. It became to twitch and slowly rose from the ground. Lyle inched a back as it stood tall trying to strike fear into Lyle. Well, it worked. The beast began to stare down Lyle as if it wanted to strike fear into Lyle's soul before killing him slowly. Lyle closed his eyes and shook his head. "Your cheap parlor tricks ain't gonna work on me your overgrown silver piece of cr-"

Lyle's boastful words were spoken at a poor time as the beast swung its large head and set Lyle flying like a rag-doll in an explosion. A cry of anguish fittingly followed as he crashed to the ground and coughed up some blood. It was obvious the beast didn't hold back. It smelled blood in the water. Wincing in pain, Lyle managed to pick himself off the ground and wipe the blood from his face. Luckily, none dripped on his clothes. That would of pushed him over the edge. He lost his cigarette, forcing him to light a new one. Fighting with a cigarette in his mouth calmed his nerves and let him think straight. Standing straight up, Lyle braced himself for another attack. The silver beast charged head first, its head shining like a piece of metal. The attack was predictable and Lyle easily leapt out of the way, making sure to clear enough distance between him and the beast. The beast shifted around to look at Lyle, its eyes burning with frustration. Lyle smirked and bolted in the other direction, leading him to a small gathering of trees. The silver beast followed, of course, wanting Lyle to be nothing more than a beaten corpse, charging head first with a slight growl. Lyle hid behind a single tree for a while before the silver beast crushed it with unparalleled strength. He repeated this process for some time, hoping to outsmart the beast.

A rather large tree called out to Lyle and using his momentum and athleticism climbed the tree. The silver beast charged, striking it with its iron head. The tree slowly crashed down, but not before Lyle mounted the silver beast, grabbing its head with a tight grip. The beast failed to loosen Lyle's tight grip on its yellow horn, flailing around like a fish out of water. The beast made its way back into the open field, Lyle still holding on to dear life. Sweating out of nervousness, Lyle felt his grip loosen. "God damn it! Calm down!" Lyle ordered it to no avail. "Not listening, eh? How about this?" With a snicker of anger, Lyle began to strike the beast with all he had left in its face. With each punch, Lyle felt a wave of pain enter his body. It was like punching metal. Despite feeling like the bones in his right hand were broken, Lyle continued to punch the Pokemon repeatedly. Each punch only angered the beast and began to flail more violently, almost sending Lyle soaring through the air, his left hand holding on to dear life. Hoping what he learned in school wasn't a lie, he had hoped the composition of the beast's body would lead to his single spark of inspiration actually working.

As the beast began to slowly stop flailing like an untamed monster out of fatigue, Lyle improvised a wrestling move to execute on the beast. Grabbing it by the neck and with a front flip, Lyle drove the beast's face into the ground (OOC: Look up the cutter on google. Its a wrestling move.) The beast's long neck worked against it as the weight of its head and neck pulled the beast down. Lyle's body crashed and rolled on the floor, and he was likely covered in bruises from the fall. But at the very least, the beast was incapacitated for some time.

"Are you alright?"

Kerin blinked as the person lowered... her hood. So it was a girl. She offered him an outstretched hand but Kerin didn't take it, instead he helped himself up. He didn't want to hurt her hands anyway with... his arms! He quickly hid his arms around his back as he realised he wasn't actually wearing his own hoodie anymore, though the gesture was probably unnecessary; his arms, like they were, were heavily noticeable. Even a stupid person could see that.

"I'm fine," he said, stepping back away from her. Her notion was kind and all, but Kerin really didn't want to hurt her or scare her or something. If he was to take of his shirt, there would be a stupid amount of bruises and scratches from Kerin himself trying to do something simple, like washing himself or trying to put a shirt on. His worst, regrettably, was on his back from where he had an itchy spot. Man, did that turn messy.

There was a roar and a crash and Kerin spun around, seeing another person taking on the silver ghost. Kerin, wide eyed, watched in disbelief as a person faced the silver monster and forced it to the ground, taking him with it. This guy... this guy was strong! As strong as Kerin? He looked around at the other shadows, no, people, were they like him too? He glanced back at the girl.

"Can you..." Kerin made a face. It was hard to ask that sort of question. Hey, hello, are you a freak? "Can you d- ah!" His reflexes kicked in as he quickly jumped back, a jet of water exploded between the two of them. Kerin's eyes followed it back to see the blue ghost, staring them both down. Oh great. Why couldn't they be humans?! This would be so much easier if it was a bunch of bullies ganging up on one person. He could punch them, lesson learned, they could all go home having learned something (or not. It didn't really matter). But, with Pokémon, it wasn't so easy. Kerin hated them as much as he was scared of them. He had seen what they could do, he had seen what they are capable of. It pissed him off that they just attacked, without warning or reason. They weren't like people. They were all monsters. Mindless demons.

Rose had been baking and decorating cupcakes all day. She had no idea what she was going to do with them all. Delicious as they were, there was no way she could eat dozens of cupcakes. Not without getting really fat and REALLY sick. Still, she continued to bake anyways. Working in the kitchen always made her feel better, and she'd been kind of stressed lately. Finding out you're adopted AND you're half-pokemon AND you have magical powers can stress a girl out. She finished putting the tiny gum-paste flowers on the third batch of cupcakes and put them in the fridge so the icing wouldn't melt. Wiping her hands on her sunflower apron, she went back to her room for a while.

The seal was sitting right next to her computer, in plain sight. Rose had tried to hide it somewhere to make her feel better, but that plan didn't work at all. Actually, the fact that she couldn't see her seal made her even more anxious. At least she knew it wasn't about to crack or anything if it was sitting on her desk. She picked it up and rolled it around in her hands. It was hard to imagine that such a simple little thing could make so much of an impact on her life. She thought about opening it sometimes, but never very seriously. It was just interesting to imagine what her life would be like once the seal broke. She would look like a freak, obviously, but would her appearance be the only thing that changed? No one knew what exactly was held within this seal. Maybe some of her personality would change too. Maybe her entire personality. Who knows what 'awakening her powers' would do? There was more at stake here than her looks.

She was making herself stressed out again, but she had used up all the flour so she couldn't bake anymore. Instead, she placed the seal in her bag, flung it over her shoulder and left the house. "I'm going for a walk!" she shouted as she was closing the door. No need for her parents to worry about where she'd gone.

Rose's walk took her to the edge of Pinwheel forest once again. It was like the place was calling to her, beckoning her to enter the forest. She never actually went in, but this time was different. This time, something in the forest had changed. Right at the entrance, a white and green pokemon was spinning and dancing away. It stopped when Rose appeared. "Kirli~ Kirlia~" It bowed to her and danced deeper into the forest.

"Hey, wait!" Rose called out to the pokemon. She followed it into the forest, paying no attention to the other wild pokemon that may be hiding somewhere. Something about this dancing pokemon made her feel compelled to follow.

"Kirlia~ Kirliaaa~" it called from a distance. When Rose finally caught up to it, the pokemon was standing on top of a huge mossy rock. She looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings. She had never ventured this far into the forest before. Turning back to the pokemon, she noticed that it had started glowing white. Wait... she was glowing white too! What was going on here?

~~~~~

Rose opened her eyes to a clear blue sky and the sun shining in her face. Squinting, she sat up and looked around. What had happened to the forest? There were hardly any trees anywhere now. Just fields of grass as far as the eye could see. She stood up to see if she could get a better view, but with no luck. Still only grass and some tree-- wait... Was that tree moving? No, it wasn't a tree, it was a person! Maybe they could tell her where she was. Rose dusted herself off and made her way towards the person in the distance.

She could do something indeed as the girl took on the blue ghost as it charged forward, grabbed it by its back legs and threw it. Yeah, threw it. Threw it quite a ways too, as it flew a few meters into a tree and smashed it in two. Kerin blinked. So he wasn't the only freak then. Though, from what he could see, he was the only one (other than Jane) who looked like one. Unless the other people were, he couldn't tell.

"Hey boy! You ready to fight?" Kerin swallowed and nodded slowly, stepping forward. Just fight like you would a person, no big deal. He joined the girl by her side as the Pokémon got up again and charged, more pissed off than before. It was roaring, if you could call it that since it was rather high pitched compared to the others, and had its mouth wide open. Oh crap, that was easy to see what that meant. Kerin pushed the girl aside as it fired yet another jet of water. The water missed both of them and so did the blue ghost; it ran between the two, tapping Kerin on the arm with one of its "horns". It spun around when it realised it had passed its targets and looped around, this time aiming for the girl. Kerin jumped in front of her as it dashed forward, its head lowered. Did they do nothing but ram?

"St-stop it!" Kerin grabbed the horns, trying to slow down the blue ghost. No, no, it wasn't a blue ghost, it was a stupid bully. It was one of the kids who had teased Frederick. It was one of the kids who had punched Axel in the nose. It was one of the kids who had pulled Dana's hair. "You ass hole!" Kerin pulled him arm back as he slid along with the... thing and punched it down this time, square in the head. That did the trick as the ghost's legs collapsed below it and its face went sliding into the grass. Kerin, still holding onto one of the horns, slid with it before he let go. Was... was it dead?

Nope, as it got back up to its feet, snorting quite violently. Ah crap. Maybe they needed to go about this with teamwork.