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**Luna and Thief:

The Orange Isles Chapter Ten: Ferocity**

Water... Water... How do you make that, Esi? There's something more to you then you've shown.

His fingers coursed and graced a keyboard with a desperate amount of speed as his ears slowly attuned to the stillness around him, save for the footsteps beyond the walls of the room... it was quiet.

But that didn't stop his heart from pounding against his slimly-built chest as he stared down the vile beside him... one filled with strange sickly sludge.

The blood is diluted with... with all sorts of bacteria, viruses even transmitted diseases from all creature types; it's also partially coagulated. It doesn't make sense. I got too edgy the first time around; the adrenaline got to my head. _If it were me that got cut that night, it could've have killed me.

Safe. Play it safe. _

His fingers stalled as a step got closer to the room that sickly thrill ran down his spine in a way that made his goosebumps show on his forearms.

Adrenaline always gave him an addictive, dangerous, high - the stress here hadn't helped.

He stared at the vial and the machine in front of him as it gently whirred. It hummed in the otherwise deaf room. His eyes dilated past that point of pressure, now that the footsteps drowned out by the light noise around him.

Professor Elm's Laboratory in the center of New Bark Town; it's where all the preparation had taken place, every detail...

Down to even the security guard on duty at two in the morning because of their health issues. A rare night where all the scientists left for research about a storm near the sea, a night they were usually there. Another quick chase over the keyboard came to him as he stared at the Pokemon beside him. In this strange and utterly horrific way, it looked at him. Its eyes usually appeared like disturbing cue balls... but here they were a glorious white, a pearl.

In contrast to her usual, exhausted, and bloodshot look.

It barely let out a breath and only listened. Logan was thankful for that.

Grandfather and I have the same color of hair; I believe she sees every human as a different 'type' of Pokemon. Many scientists suspect Eevees do that. Has she seen a calm one...? Caring? Or heard the voice of an Eevee? The way she steadies now is different than usual? I swear it's like she's patiently waiting and listening, as though she has all the time in the world.

The machine lightly stopped as he stared down a set of microscopes and glared at the results on a small LCD screen in front of him as his vision sharpened onto it with flawless clarity.

**SPECIES UNKNOWN:

Blood Samples Detected:

RH - PH 6.3

AB - Felidae

DEA 4 C

O Negative

Next Page:**

The chair gently leaned back as his elbows rested on the arms, and his fingers interlocked under his jaw as the sample ran through dozens more.

_Is the sample contaminated? No... that's impossible; I got a fresh sample tonight! The blood doesn't make sense; it entirely contradicts itself in every sense of the word.

All of them do. Even the general acidity should slowly kill off the other cells.

There's even Human blood in its pelt and all sorts of blood types from many Pokemon genus's? I swear there are also types I've never seen before. The list goes on._

Another little grace into the microscope left him to study the dried, dead blood alongside the strange murky sludge which rolled and withered under the glass. _I don't even see any immune cells either. Nothing. It's just the blood platelets, plasma, all meshed. It makes this strange black like sludge, as though the blood is saturated oxygen and nutrients without handing it to the tissue around it. Esi can't be alive...? But it's not a ghost if it were; why hasn't Esi turned invisible yet? My Pokemon sense it even without odor sleuth.

I'm terrified if undead would be a new Pokemon type... but that's what it's looking like to me. _

Then there was the scratch of his scalp, just that one spot that tapered his sudden thoughts with a warm, familiar memory that ran through his back. He ran his own fingers through his hair towards that spot and gripped it lightly.

Just something to help calm him.

That's impossible. There's something more; its blood is filled with all sorts of compounds... berry compounds and bone meal? The list goes on and on with materials to sustain Pokemon. His head gently turned to her, that nimble, long and near shadow like feline which tilted its head with curiosity; two separate strangely jointed tails had twitched and spazzed around to feel the ground around it. _That's also odd... it's like it doesn't have fluid control of itself. Reminds me of that puppet show I put on years ago. This Pokemon does this to scare off predators? All those quills... they get long, then short and some go missing...? She's also grown a little since I first found her too. One thirty seconds of an inch, it's there; I've checked it countless times, endlessly; I know my numbers.

Water...?_

He continued to look at her and nervously put his hand next to the strange, alien Pokemon; Esi solely found herself content with gently pushing her nose to his knuckle, curiously sniffed it. _Its body reminds me of a poisonous shrub of some sort; or an undersea creature. That's precisely what it is in some creepy way; a Puppet Show Pokemon?

That's too simple for me; water doesn't come into play there...? How could it? You're playing the role of a puppet, a scarecrow, or an entire theatre.

There's something underneath her strange costume. _

Logan cautiously got closer towards her neckline. His breath slowed to a tediously halt as he began to listen.

That push of the little wind against his bare cheek left the hairs down his body to still on edge.

_It's wearing an outfit or a coat like a Mimikyu? But if I hit the layer, why would there by blood in it? Flowing blood from the stethoscope? Every time I check what this blood type relates to, I get a whole host of Pokemon... many from around the world. Many quadruple Pokemon, save for some canines, bovines and equestrians, felines. It takes maybe ten percent of all the Pokemon.

Wait... _

He re-read over the list.

Most types of fox-like Pokemon are on here; many felines too. Another soft breath slithered out of his lips.

_My damn hunch is correct. It's a Pokemon that's between a critical evolutionary phase; I saw that with the first check into its blood-type, but I didn't have access to all this to draw a conclusion. It may be younger than I think, coming in after humans? But it doesn't know any other Pokemon but... Mythicals?_A gentle yet chilly wind crawled up his spine once again as he glared intensely at her thin, nimble paws; the faint shimmer had touched along the strange wilted flesh and quill-like fur, as though they shriveled in the moonlit glow from the larger windows. _Condensation...? Or sweat? How often do you make water, Esi? That blood in your jacket has no means of fighting off infection. You're in a bubble because your body doesn't have immunity...?

What happens if I drink the water... Esi? _

He swapped the slides around and began to glare down the microscope as he slowly let the machine run; a gaze tossed over the strange Pokemon once more with all sense of scientific expenditure.

What happens if you do...?

I've never seen her drink it, now that she's shown me; she tossed it on the grass whenever she does. I got my first sample from there; It's contaminated too then, but I can't risk her making water here. The noise is bad enough to attract that security officer.

The machine lightly hummed as he stared down the screen once more as Logan looked at the other sample that sat underneath the thin glass of the scope. _Odd... It's sugars and other strange compounds; iron and carbon-oxygen even. Under the microscope... it looks like a bizarre fluid; not like water at all, the viscosity is different. There's not a single foreign bacterium... What? There's no soil or... anything...? Nothing... the blood in the jacket is so heavily diseased but this... chemical water is flawlessly clean.

There's nothing even poisonous in it. The contents of iron and carbon are no different than purified spring water? _

_Purified... nutritious juice. Vitamins...? Vitamin Gummy Water? I'm looking at this every damn way I can, and it seems perfectly reasonable... VITAMINS?_Logan narrowed his eyes sharply and stared more profoundly into the bright green LCD screen with a look of disbelief as it observed and recorded the chemical under his mechanical eye.

What in the f? He stared viciously at the lens and everything in it. It swirled and oddly... never broke apart. _Mercury, it's like Liquid Mercury, according to the machine, but... it's all Vitamins under the scope - on the computer? Like sugary water that barely breaks apart but holds the same viscosity and density as Mercury!? It seems to react when touched like a quick, solid jelly

It reminds me of an exaggerated raindrop cake; it's like that. The kind we used to have years ago... Dad used to make them - Griffin couldn't even catch on point in comparison._

Logan had scratched that spot to distract his active and panicked thoughts.

If it was Mercury, however, we'd all have been dead by merely inhaling that strange mist she makes with the water. The grass would've been dead that morning... but no pathogens? Plasma...? Wait... there's? Quickly dying and reviving immune cells? Logan magnified it Everything but Memory T cells; like the lymphocytes sleep in a dormant environment? He lightly leaned back in that chair, just enough that a near-silent creak came to it, one that left Esi's ear to perch.

That strange, undead look in her pale, puffy eyes; but in the moonlight, they shone like incandescent milky bloodstones

_Whatever's underneath your costume... I need a sample of that blood, but... if my new hunch is remotely correct, that water is your fractured immune system, and you wear two skins because that's the only protection of it you have _.

If I clean and sanitize that jacket... will it help you, Esi?

_I'm sorry for stealing the use of your machine Elm but thank GOD you have the tech to study Pokemon abilities. I'd never have had this much depth at that school I went to... wait.

Stem cells? I thought it was a fluke, I assumed - I didn't expect to actually see them.

Can you regenerate over time? Is that what those strange panels in your second skin are? Are they on your first skin? Are the Stem Cells for your second skin? _

Another soft lean left the strange Pokemon to tilt its head at him as he simply looked at it in silence, not a word spoken between them as Logan kept himself in his constant trance of work-related thoughts.

_Birch specializes in Pokemon Habitats. I can place Esi into a sterile one and clean the jacket out there; with her out in the open, I can do a proper checkup. Hoenn, back home.

"Hello...?" _

Logan's body twitched and jolted while his heart began to pound and throb; his eyes began to dilate from the strange sound which gently burrowed against his eardrums and along the back of his head. All of it ran through his hair as the small, shy, and meager voice touched his mind instantaneously.

In his ears, head, brain...

The second voice left him to tediously inhale as he gently curled his eyes towards Esi without a single move of his skull; slowly panned his way over to view her. Her tails were in a very odd and strangely crooked symbol, something reminiscent of a cuneiform rune.

Like two external antenna's that yearned for genuine connection. Then gentle... peaceful arms had wrapped around Logan's lower back and stomach in the odd moment of pure clarity.

"Hi."

His voice slipped into his trance as every single thing left him frozen; he didn't break eye contact...

He couldn't. His whole body, even his eyes, had stilled, trapped in his own skin.

This isn't hypnosis...? I've been hit with that. It's something else...? The world is suddenly deaf. I can't even hear the machine... my heart...? My....

Logan moved to hold his chest but couldn't budge a nerve as his eyes began to water sharply. His chest tightened and felt weighed; sweat began to form against his cheeks and forehead as the temperature rose drastically around him.

Endless weight surrounded him, pressured his lungs.

Yet even with his short stopped breath, he found a small cough and sucked in air painfully. His heart began to crack against his ribs from the quick shot of natural adrenaline; his eye contact broken. Sweat poured down his face as he silenced his gasps and steadied his lungs to calm himself...

All Logan knew and felt was that hug in the second after.

As his breathing slowed and Esi tilted her head, Logan softly and idly stared at the computer. My heart just stopped... and beat at... Logan felt the screen swirl and twist; the heat and the rush cut through his body as though his vision faded black. His breath stayed slow, controlled.

Methodical and studious, he controlled his adrenaline from going out of control.

Something Logan forced himself to learn when he was younger; he demanded every second of it, and as he looked upwards, to the computer screen.

"Hey, Bro!" The fingerless mittens caught into his sight, this fuzzy camo pattern type and the crisp white winter jacket. The black snow pants... the baseball bat. It came all to him in seconds after; all he did was stare at the screen in utter silence, and as though he looked at a shard of glass which overtook his world entirely, "We'll play for the whole day! You promised!"

Logan was consumed by that glass and relived a day, one during December where a fuzzy, splotchy, and curled ear Poochyena saw snow in a way where she finally could enjoy it with all of them.

Scarf:

The clock.

It's all he stared at as he sat in the medical wing; his small fuzzy gold paws looked back as though he counted every single second.

Counted every breath as three.

He had done nothing but sat next to Thief all through the night with a clock in his eyes. Cautiously Scarf nuzzled his paw to calm the Growlithe; steady him with every dream.

"Many are symbolic; I know that about memories... my symbols; those arrows...? They're gone for me. Thief. Calm your breath, your thoughts." Scarf muttered it out loud as his ears continued to tenderly buzz against the Growlithe - every bandage... everything caught his eye.

Luckily, you're not human. They can't do much for a broken rib but remove it - at least yours. Calm yourself. It's like Naval again... The Pikachu lightly winced and held his cheeks; the static ached and singed him. It irritated him as much as his shoulder had with its horrid swollen tendon.

That damn Espeon. He does get obnoxious or blinded by obsession and pride like he's taunting everyone, but he overlooked my shoulder. Or did he only care about the crucial injuries?

His tail gently flickered as Scarf glanced down at Thief's. The Pikachu never thought of it as different, without a scar on his back; he felt much the same way the Growlithe did. The only thing that really puzzled him was the Pokeball that Seviper was in.

He's been in it the whole time...? No...? He's not in the Pokeball with him around it feels like a sharp and devious pair of eyes everywhere. Curse of a good hunter when it comes to smart prey. The Pikachu didn't focus his attention on it and solely thought back to the entire night before. _It was cold all through there... but there was a wind coming from another direction? A cold wind; I guess he could've runoff.

It's smart; I wish all of us could._

The Pikachu silently muttered and cursed to himself as the clock continued to tick; that horrible pain in his shoulder pinched into him - stabbed slowly into him. But I'm the backup. I can't leave this place. They could try to hurt all of them. His ear graced Thief's smaller paw and sent gentle shocks down the Growlithe as Scarf lay on his back. Even that hurts... my back. But my shoulder stings more now. I thought for sure it would snap my spine and kill me, but I got lucky.

Just another empty life flashing before my eyes until I see him.

He simply looked up towards the other chair... the one that Griffin had been sitting in, they moved him to a room to sleep.

The station is still empty... with some officers here and there. That storm is still outside; something disturbed the sea for sure... I remember legends from Hoenn, but could it really be Kyogre... Even Groudon?

A gentle exhale passed by his breath while the clock continued to tick and tick.

Well, this is going to drive me bloody nuts. All Thief is going to do is kick and... cry all night while I mutter about nothing, but there's something... weird.

Scarf touched his nose to the air again with a smaller huff. Gun oil. But it's a police station, what else is...? Scarf pushed his back up and softly jumped to the floor - his legs twitched numb. Being in that position put them to sleep, but Scarf followed a scent as carefully as he could. There's blood. I can smell it. Where? From where? It's not from us... Is that Arcanine...? Would the Zoroark really? The Pikachu made a little scamper towards the door on his two legs and partially skidded into the hallway. The lights above him had turned on as though it were some motion sensor; every office was clean - the halls were empty.

It's dead silent. There's not a single tap on a keyboard or... or anything. No footsteps. Phones...? Where are the police officers?

The Pikachu shivered as he began to follow towards a flight of stairs. The height left him queasy. I can't jump each step or hold the railing. Then a little grin came over him.

It wasn't that difficult to get the ropes and nails at that time. The Sceptile simply tossed them in a trash can after Griffin left.

With a side in paw and just enough length to reach the top of the rail and tie it down...

The Pikachu made a little pully that let him brace his leg so he could climb down the steps single paw.

By the time he touched the last step, he had begun to look about the reception desk upfront.

It's strongest over here, going towards the kennels. The Pikachu felt a soft wind slither around his fur before he narrowed his eyes.

The front door... is open?

The creepy feeling began to tinge up his spine. The pain there reminded him of that as his shoulder softly ached every little step left him to steady his breaths and soften his eyes...

A pair of a strange, rainbow of all color, gems stared back at him in the darkness.

A paralytic fright ran down his back as he swallowed.... Coughed for just a moment - The head twitched in front of him in the shadows. His eyes slowly began to dilate before he stepped into the rain.

"S- Seviper...? What are you doing...? It's.." the Pikachu froze as the earshot up.

The incredibly long ears, with three tails to match it.

It stared at him for a long while, tearing at something in the dark - the odd rip like sound left his whole body to shudder.

His mind went blank as he froze in place, like a statue. Watching it eat.

Every single bit soaked into the pelt, as though it never passed through its neck - the stranger skull...

A weird feathered robot continued to devour through flesh as its claws hung low, like the Chesshira's - it dug down and inward as though hunched with sturdy hind legs. Half Feral.

And it watched him in return.

Scarf hadn't even moved a hair in his pelt the moment they made eye contact, one tail tweaked in a direction as Scarf felt something touch his ears.

"Food... food... food... food... food... food... food."

It's all that touched his mind as the tails slowly began to tweak and adjust; Scarf risked a look away from it, just his eyes. "No thought... food. Precious food... I'll listen, I listen still. I listen to you... food... food..." The still, Pikachu started to slowly drop his tail to the right side. A gentle angle came over it as the other ear perked up in the pitch-black light. "Wind... rain... wind... rain... food... rain... wind..." The odd chant continued time and time again. Even the voice sounded different - that left the Pikachu's inventive mind empty as tiny pulses touched his tail.

**_He began to charge a move to hold a defensive if needed.

"Female...? Female...? Where are you? I can feel... You connected...? Where... Female where?"_**

The sporadic and odd mutters came in cue with every tear of fur and flesh. The Pikachu could only see the silhouettes inside that outdoor kennel. "Why does your scent change...? so close... so far... so close... so far. You woke up. You woke up! I couldn't eat the other one. I didn't have time."

"I need to complete?"

The strange voice continued to pelt into Scarf's head. He solely continued to charge the move Iron-Tail, no different than how Bandit charged her moves; balanced her timing.

The Pikachu felt the time he needed to waste all his energy for the move in a single swift blow.

Then it stirred and stood up... stuck in a trance of negative thought - the strangely colored eyes stared back at Scarf before they dropped to the twitched shadow on the ground below; it appeared like every quill shot out or exploded from it for a moment. "Good thoughts...? Good...? Thoughts...? Good thoughts...? Good... Thoughts? Good... Thoughts..." It continued to say and muttered drastically out loud, then quietly... drastically. The change of tone sent shivers all through the Pikachu's backside, and it hadn't been from the moonlit rain. "Bad... Good Thoughts... Bad...?"

A strange tremor ran down the Pikachu's fur again. No breath touched his lungs. The only thing he could feel was his smaller heart pound from fright. "Full... full... owner...? Owner...? Trainer? Trainer. Where are you...?"

All Scarf did was watch as a creature walked out of the shadows and into the sporadic moonlight. The full sight of this Chesshira...? Scarf knew it was different; the quills were a darker purple - near obsidian as all it did was tilt its head at him. "Too full of killing... too old to taste..."

Was all it mentioned in return before these strange worms began to curl, and from underneath its pelt...

All it did was change into a strange, shadow morphed form of Thief and run off into the deeper woods on the island. As the Pikachu finally let out a ragged breath and looked towards the sky... **_He could see a massive snake-like dragon follow through the moonlight towards...

Towards Johto._**

Absol:

The silence was murder. Everything about left her to etch into the tile. She stared at the strange shadow that flickered in the furthest blurry distance. It took over the moon or at least the bright spot she had the chance to see. The whole thing had left her on edge through the earlier points of the morning, and she only gave Shadow a stare the entire way through.

His eyes are the color of pale ruby. It came to her mind. _They're honest and straight forward ones, but there's kindness or forgiveness behind them. It's humble.

In a way, he's humble until his rage gets the better of him; I can feel a horrid bloodlust - just as rough as Bandits. It's their nature as Mightyena's I've learned. I'm genuinely going to be in these fights alone at my age._ A gentle knead of her paws left her staring downward at the pillow below her. _Mai._The name slithered through her mind, clouded over another as she stared at her now color-filled world. The pain hurt all over once again; it let her rest Bind for the night. By then, her eyes touched towards a faded red once again; that broken appearance over her body until she felt the world turn dark.

A room of mirrors awaited her; that strange gloss showed her angle and image from every side of her body.

These large pure white lights fluttered around her as a voice came onto the intercom.

"Absol, Five Years; Average life Expectancy is sixty, without complication. Number ......... you're still awake?" The voice made this strange scratch-like sound in the background, the sound of a marker. "This is the sixth day in a row. You've even received sedatives. I've never seen drug tolerance so high in an Absol before. IVs are... as expected." A lengthy sigh came by him as she stared at her reflection, by now - the kibble; they refused to clean now. Neither had she seen a single metal one in days. "Number, you perplex me; confuse me. You've given up in a way, but your previous information was... perfect for us." Something jostled and stabbed at her chest - another shock, she was aware of them by now when she stirred.

"Current mortalities, high. At least the ones I care about, Show me a sign; Number ......... You're the closest one to freedom, and I have just the breeding partner with me. He's quite curious about you. I've even helped him with the name. It'll be a few years before we finalize things."

Absol twitched her ear and tail as her tail flicked and spun - it tore apart the room in a way that the gloss on every panel; on the glass between herself and the human; it got slashed roughly and dimmed the lights above her. A black room of sparks and shredded metal was all that remained in a flash. Just her Aerial Ace and Psycho Cut combined; back when her tail had felt better, and her youth still showed. The man began to speak, and as his lips moved, her mind jumped towards another dream, one where she was amid a fight - the place felt solid, like cedar and stone. Her world went into a quickly fluttered haze of putrid colors again, unconsciousness from her rest... then the room came back, and that voice crackled in her eardrums.

"Number......... Today's the day - such a long wait indeed." A man's charming voice came to her ears. She had desperately hoped for the woman, the one that sent those robots every time to test her. "It's a special day. We've decided to pit you against one of our top numbers. One, hand-picked by my particular friend." The man expressed, _"To place it bluntly Number..... ..... ."

"This Lottery is to win his courtship." _

The violent slither through her throat as the shadow behind the glass stirred, then the odd floating creature beside him. "It's a simple fight, do or you both die."

Then a settled moonlight graced her eyes and stuck into her mind. The patter of rain followed. Her horn gingerly pulsed as she stared at the sea on the horizon. That Pokemart Foyer around her.

Just the small crack of moonlight that broke the horizon line woke her from that slumber.

As she gently rolled her back, every bone stretched and ached into place. It was a morning routine for her as she stared at the glossy speckled floor of the Pokemart.

A city fight. An underground battle; build notoriety through them - I'm just hoping his Pokemon can hold out with the way they're trained and drugged._The Absol rolled her shoulders and gently pushed to her feet. _We're walking into a trap, though. It's easy to tell; solely having Shadow here with you exposes one of your members. Isn't that sloppy work? No...? not when you have a backup. You weren't alone in those woods; that's why your Pokemon wanted to handle it non-lethally. You want to spring the trap by making it so damn evident for them? You distracted the police by letting them take the members that were alive along with Griffin and the others to keep them safe?

_Another direct ass, I love it. It's no different than a guerilla operation that turns into an unexpected blitz. You're all planning to hit them and hard. They were tracking us with Pokemon from the start; that's why I noticed the Pidgey squirm away - who's, is that?

it's why I haven't seen any of Team Rocket as of late either; they brought out armed teams... not grunts to deal with the issue; they're protecting the younger members and innocent people. Genius. The 'bad guys' are backing up the cops._

But we're all still going to lose numbers that way.

That reality of thought stuck in her mind as she found herself beside her 'trainer', right before he returned her to her Pokeball, and they boarded a boat headed to the island city. The Pokeball was a much smoother ride now, in fact... there weren't any shocks. It left her to wonder as she began to charge bind, and a shock stuck her in return.

_That strange ball wasn't to train me; it was to stop me from wasting energy aimlessly through charging. They know of a unique way to fight; they release tremendous power with minimal loss. Either way... we're going to be on our way.

Hold out for me, Bandit. If it's who I fear it to be, it's going to be the very definition of torment. The kind of people who see us as solely lower animals, stripped bare of all decency. _

Her paws gently kneaded into the solid ground below her feet as they softly burrowed in.

But that... human, in that last second, was terrified. I hesitated, spared them. The Houndooms; the letters came willingly...?

It's not just using locals for odd jobs... Trainers Pokemon? The grunts are the trainer's that agree to them like Team Rocket... but they toss them in Life or Death situations? That trainer because he spoke to Griffin... That thought entered her head

Mai's head.

With every little thought and twitch of her tail, the Absol planted her feet down to it.

_Numbers are the only real threat. There's a trainer that follows them - the ones they choose. It's because all of us are in a group; the actual number follows each and every one of us.

Does this mean they know of Logan's software? Are they using it... to transport the Chesshira around? It would explain the frequency of it._

It left her to bitterly swallow and pant. The external pressure she felt before was gone by then; there wasn't any form any other direction.

"Those damn bugs give me a headache." The Umbreon commented idly as Mai twitched to the sound of it. The Pokeball had flooded with a noise like any other Pokeball would. "All their annoying ass chitters. 'Help me. It hurts.' "Yeah, quiet the hell down so I can sleep."

The strange ball this man had, changed types - like a light switch.

It left the Absol to blink at the bland, boring grassy meadow which unfurled around her. It was like any other Pokeball - a Meadow with a pond and a sky so fake that she thought she stared at a television screen.

Nothing like Griffin's at all. I have been spoiled as of late. That's a strange way of training us, Griffin... You're teaching us by bonding us all together; if we never had these issues, I think we'd make one decent team.

There's a brighter side to it. That's what you've wanted to show us from the start... Griffin. That's what you share with Bandit. That's why you're going so far.

Both you and your brother search for that brighter side, don't they? That's why I know you can't break down on me.

Logan:

His vision had come back into play, and all he could do was glance at the computer screen. His heart had slowed down as every little trick the eye could play had done. Those black-white dots squirmed around him as though a headrush shot through his body.

Like he stood up too fast, even though he had sat the entire time zoned into the computer.

Logan half dared another look in Esi's direction but went silent, quiet... focused on the windows in front of him as shards of moonlight scattered against the glass. He grabbed the USB that was set up to the terminal, the one that recorded everything for him as he showed the Pokeball to Esi.

What just happened...? Logan softly swallowed to himself as a pressure softly touched his skull.

"I don't know." The voice replied to him in ways that left his body to shudder. It wasn't a cruel voice but a weak one, a strained one.

The kind of voice that begs for help because it's in pain...?

Logan touched his chest with his hand and silently thought to himself. The water is... your immune system. It precipitates into your blood - you're not a Desert-type at all. You're reactive to your environment... No, you must be a desert type...? I can see it, a Desert Dragon. Logan softly swallowed. _There's something wrong... you're ill...? And it has something to do with your heart; how else would it have hurt me?

I felt it still for a moment. My heart stopped...? before it started again - like my heart rate dropped rapidly._

"It doesn't feel different. It always feels like this." The voice replied to him as Logan swallowed. The last trail of sweat had fallen down his chin in the strange - green-tinged light. "I don't know what that is... though; it happened with Absol too." Logan felt more thoughts slip into his skull as he fell back to what he focused on. He knew he couldn't jump ahead of his schedule. Do you make water often, but how do you eat...? Can you... without your jacket on? The Esi partially made a shrug and nodded as Logan sighed and pocketed a USB from the computer before he showed the Pokeball to her. We'll go now. It came into his head as the Esi simply pushed the button with one of her four paws.

Feral, a quadruple Pokemon that simply shook a strangely quilled, bristle covered paw that pressed the ball before it drew into the capsule.

Then Logan had made his way out of the room with Esi in toe as he stared down his jacket.

"They'll be able to track and catch you if it's more than one Pokemon, Logan. This... is a stun gun. Non-lethal; I'll show you how to use it - we can't risk handing you a tranquilizer gun." It's what came to his mind as he stared at the holster inside of his jacket, the one that sat overtop a light and fitted vest - it hid under a lab coat he 'borrowed' "Lastly, I'm giving you a knife. It's ground from a Kommo-o Scale, heated and folded with composite steel. That's your last resort since you refuse to hold a real firearm. The adrenaline is too much for you. I get that." Logan softly crept around a darker corner, one where these stairs circled upward to his left and another hall to his right. He took the longer route in silence and adjusted his jacket.For a 'light vest' too... it's freaking massive. I'm happy it fits. If I'm lucky... it'll stop a nine mill... one. Logan took in a gentle breath as the footsteps came around the stairs, his timing had been off

Esi threw him off.

Silently he entered the room to the left of him, another dark room with all sorts of instruments. It left him to hug the wall and look further in. There was a light on, illuminating a desk in the distant corner by the window of the room.

An employee left a light on; just hug the wall. The torch flooded the door-side window - left side. His heart pounded frantically. Don't twitch; it's no different than a Pokemon in the woods. The handle jostled as the woman opened it and walked inside. Logan kept his eyes glued to the stranger and softly went for the handle of that stun gun in silence; his arm trembled when it just grazed the grip.

The security guard investigated the light, and as she walked just halfway in the room, Logan snuck out the door and down the further staircase as quietly as he could.

I'll never understand people hurting people. I couldn't do that even if she caught me. I don't have much time left.

Then the door was in front of him, a quick exit... it was still unlocked

All thanks to the nifty device that endless entered the code after the door locked every time. It left Logan to sigh and let in more air while he stared at the Pokeball on his right side. _"Sorry, kid, you can't risk your Pokemon out in the open; anyone could recognize your team by look and name alone. We got a man on overwatch for you. Just take Esi - There's less clutter that way. I'm glad you made up your mind about our Team. Even though I wish the circumstances were different. That's my honesty, young man." _

The thought made him still and sigh gingerly in the chilly and now dark night.

Team Magma... Aqua... Rocket. How many? You bastards copied the Global Police, and you're doing it to help where the police can't. An investigation? Are you even military? Your stories seem like what I want to empathize with - not what's the truth.

Talk about a strange case of vigilantism. Honor among Thieves to a literal Tee; Underworld must threaten them - it could be disrupting an entire ability of shipping in criminal networks; judging by their obscene open attacks - not only that they're slowly making false ends and forcing the police to dig deeper; Many criminal teams would be angry.

Logan let out a sharp, vicious grunt and clung closer to the now grown in the brush as his hand chased the back of his hair.

Calm... If those guys were evil, they'd kill me outright. Underworld won't hesitate to, especially if I give them Esi. Calm. It came to his thoughts as something strange twitched his ear.

"Logan...?" The strange quiet voice slithered into his ear as though the pure emotion of fright touched his skull - it made his legs numb as his vision sharpened again. "There's something bad... dreadful things are coming. Run... please. It's another me, but it's bad; horrible."

It spiked his heart rate. Fear shot down him from a genuine emotion in her tone. All he could do was take one quick bearing from his compass and booked it in that direction. It's as though he just took a shot of it. Out of nowhere, his senses felt an overload.

Through thick dark trees and narrow brush, with only a small LED light and the occasional ill voice, the kind that sent shivers down his back - to guide him.

My god, my Grandfather, only barely gave me information; everything had been written down. There's a sound, that strange sound. A Chitter? I heard that before? This one is constant, but the first one I swore was Esi...? I need to go back to your cabin too, don't I? There's something more, and I need Moonlight to find it.

He's always been capable of moving mountains in his own way.

Logan panted as he drew out the larger survival knife from the front of the vest he wore as a silhouette blocked out a small glimpse of the brighter velvet blue sky.

He barely caught onto the glimpse of a low riding branch and slashed at it in a flurry of adrenaline-induced paranoia.

The only luck he had was that the blade had been sharp enough - strong enough... and that the branch was thin enough to be cut through in a single quick slash - he tackled his shoulder into it to knock it away. The pain ran through his arm.

Dumbass! Slow down, control. I could've knocked myself out! It's not a Sword. Its a knife and I'm running HEADFIRST INTO IT. His feet came to a harsh skid as the trail went dark ahead of him with just the hints of the horizon.

His flashlight barely showed the cliffside, and like a reflex, he halted out of the break in the woods.

Screw thoughts! Move safely. Move safely - don't swing your arms! Hold the light, center it. Calm down, I feel like my body doesn't want to listen like I'm not entirely in control.

His arm shivered and pulsed as the fear crawled into him. The dark, the sounds of rustles, and other strange shadows... But his flashlight steadied, and he began to move down the pathway.

I came up this way. I noticed the cliff earlier tonight. I'm close; He's bound to see my flashlight.

Logan hug as close to the wall as he could before he gave a narrow swallow.

The cliff was way too steep, even though it looked much broader a minute earlier.

Shock ran through head. He looked at the Pokeball on his belt and the ground with a soft tilt of his skull. It was a long way down and an incline that quickly went to one hundred- and ten-degrees midway down. Logan hadn't noticed it at all and froze, tried to disperse his weight, and hug the wall.

_Esi, can you make that water? Can you change its form at all? Control it?

"I don't know." _

Falling into a vat of mercury at this height would break every bone in my body if the ground didn't. Regardless of if she can shape it. Logan bit his tongue and began to head upward, flickering the flashlight in the way of Morse Code.

A simple SOS was fine.

Logan's hand just gripped the more considerable edge above him while climbing down by his foolish reflex... when the ground below him shifted. It left him one-handed and dangled over the mountain's ledge. His second hand that gave way forced upward and made him just grasp it with both hands as the cliffside shifted up.

Dig your feet in, push up; you're at the top. Imagine it's your damn brother on your back and climb!

The adrenaline ran through him, pumped, and throbbed as he pulled his arms and pushed his legs into every reliable plant he could find. He forced his heart to slow - his breathing and focused everything into his arms, shoulders, hands, and thighs.

The gentle bend in his arms against the cliff left him to push further until his elbows touched the solid ground; the knife stabbed into the earth so he could brace it.

He nearly used his body entirely to pull himself over it and swore endlessly at his panicked flush of thrill-full adrenaline.

The pound in his chest let him crawl further in before he stood and faced towards the woods as he dryly gasped, sweat had poured down his face.

I need to go right. It came to him as he pushed towards the other brush... and realized something.

He had no light. He dropped the flashlight when the ground crumbled.

Light over fight; Light over FIGHT. He investigated the dark, pitch-black woods - the bushes... and held his place...

A knife held in his injured, rock-cut palms and the plume of his breath in the cold, pitch-black air.

It left a small shudder to run through him until he checked the holster by a second reflex. It made him softly chuckle, laugh...

Whichever god graced him with the stun guns' presence, he was thankful for.

_Great. A fight with what I presume is a Pokemon; I can't let mine out clearly. I don't hear it... No... There's something off with the sound - it's deaf on approach? Like the entire forest goes still. I can listen to its direction - the wind stops like a ball of silence. Focus... Control it.

There's a damn reason why I was always so busy to notice you, Griffin... There's a reason why I wrestled and talked endlessly with Trevor, trained boxing... but his favorite sport._

Who else do you think taught me Kendo? It's an obvious answer. Clear your head with a deeper breath.

Discharge the battery of the stun gun in one shot. It's my one shot against any Pokemon; it can drop a Tyranitor - Rhydon even. The knife is too risky. It'll kill me before I have the chance.

"Logan... It's close. It's remarkably close. I can hear it... I can... hear it...? It's ahead of you. It's... I've..." The odd, sad emotion ran through those words, the otherwise lackluster or excited chirps she appeared to make in hushed whispers. Logan felt his lungs fill with air and his hand shot of the holster. He dropped the knife to his feet, against the light-dark rain and stones below him. A chilled, calm breath, a safety flicked as Logan patiently waited for the stillness to approach him. The pound touched his feet as something jostled a bush.

"Female... female... where'd you go?" The strange voice touched Logan's ears.

It projected a human voice to me? They're evolving to Human speech patterns; it sounds much like Psychic - how can I hear it? Are... Logan stared it down as his heart thumped out of his chest, and he slowly inhaled.

Like a game of hide and seek, he stayed still... as a pair of the rainbow like eyes stared him down with every predatorial like gaze he could witness.

They're evolving too swiftly?

The large ears touched the light first - in the moonlight it showed a glossy obsidian-purple. The strangely arched position caught Logan's eye as he watched it walk into patchy moonlight, clouded by shade from the thick brush nearby.

Frozen still determined and looked for an opening; Logan held his ground and kept the sights in line.

"Bug...?" It began to say before it tilted his head and narrowed on Logan's chest - his left side "Strange patter... moving rock? Female... Where'd you go?"

Rock? All the strange creature did was stare at Logan, even with the clear view of its eyes on him; Logan didn't move or also change his tone of breath, his hands steadied slowly. "No thought... no thought... Connection...? Connection... no thought? Dead female? Dead female...? Food... Food... Food...?" The wind flurried, and Logan had to wince his nose from the scent of fresh... and decaying blood.

Rock? Really... A rock?

"Female... female... Trapped in rock?" The sound left Logan's eyes full as it wandered to him with a near hop of their hind legs. The strangely metallic pelt eyed him down as it's odd robot-like face showed salivating jaws - fangs.

Easily under ten meters of distance.

It raised a single claw and dug it's feet into the earth as Logan exhaled slowly; a light patter of sporadic rain came in as he stared at it intensely.

Like thin knives. Scalpel sharp. I'd be slowly torn to ribbons if it's not fast or unexpected. Logan's eye sharply dilated as it took another step, all while its utterly fluid head turned; he swore it could move the neck in any given direction. A second skin, but that one isn't like a prickle bush - it's like a costume of the Theropoda? There's a resemblance. I don't... see those hexagonal plates now. I guess the immunity became inside its body, and it grows into its second skin? Like a reversed, twisted snake? A feline snake... that builds its immunity into dead flesh? But why is there canine and human blood? Why is there even Avian?

It left Logan to change his thoughts as all it did was stare at him, sniffing the air and chittered with aimless curiosity. Something oddly isolated, different.

It's nimble- it'll aim low then strike high. Its paws are more gigantic too - it makes those claws are at least seven inches long. It continued to chitter repeatedly as Logan held in place.

"Underground... Female... Underground? Den... Den... fo...? Den?" It continued to say and flickered its tails in this strange expressive way; somber. Logan heard the stutter clearly and twitched an eye, both dilated further.

"Rock... moving rock... Why have no thoughts? Why do none? Moving rock... Moving rock. You talk, you talk... right? Do some not talk? Bleeding rock...?" Logan's brow twitched as he let out a softer exhale and watched it suddenly dart towards the earth in a flurry.

Chesshira used Dig and slashed its way through solid stone to make the hole.

It left Logan's back to shuddering as the forest got eerily quiet.

Can it just... casually listen to Pokemon's subconsciousness...? Wait... could this be a trainer-pokemon relationship then? Esi slowly understands things naturally... Every thought for the Pokemon would count... and if it's as scary as that thing - projecting its voice...? Like it copies a human's tone. Logan simply stared at the forest and began to walk from the way he came.

He still held the stun gun in his palms - blood slowly trickled down them.

_Focus on surviving! A Pokemon that tunes out noise from afar? I haven't seen that with Esi, but that thing... for a moment, it seemed tone-deaf... during the... the high?

I'm not much for having any of this to be a memory of mine, but if this Underworld does become a hugely influential team, it could take over the minds of vulnerable trainers; They're full of hypocrisy. They've already tried to hurt Griffin, but I haven't much of a clue how he's doing now. It cut off so unexpectedly. I last saw a cop grabbing his things; I know he's alive - but those men with me cut the feed._

It's the smarter choice to send you home, Griffin. We'll deal with Bandit and the others, but I knew they'd try to kill you. I read out the plan quickly... they want me too. That phone will bring the police to Hoenn and check in with our grandparents.

He slowly began to walk, half puzzled, and lost in his thoughts as he double-checked the compass. It made his mind wander in the now calmer sense he felt.

_Thank god, Rebecca was there. I just hope she's doing well in Kalos; knowing her, she's checking up on Madre; they even have people looking over them. That thing is a Chesshira?

Radio silence, I guess the males can hear you if you're 'connected.'_

The words came to his mind as he swallowed softly and continued to walk through the dark woods. Panic of a thought came to him as he turned the safety for the stun gun back on.

I nearly forgot - I hit a human with the full battery. I'll kill them. It's Less than Lethal, Logan. You know that. Calm... It raced through his head as that heart began to pound again. Breathe... my eyes have adjusted a bit; I'm keeping on the trail - checking my compass; thank god the arrows glow in the dark.

Thanks again... Dad.

He slowed his pace and listened while the branches curled around him; every single one loomed as the entire path became a near oval for a moment As though the fluids in his eyes swelled.

There's pressure!?

Logan jolted and twisted. He jumped back as something tugged or tore at his jacket. His foot twisted, caught as his body fell, and hit the ground. He hit the trail that was a quarter a foot below, on his back; it sent a shock through his entire body as he sucked in air and exhaled while pulling himself up in a stupor of breathlessness - his ankle sprained while blood ran through his head.

The safety of the taser.

His finger jolted as he moved back against a more extensive pitch-black trail. Fabric - he noticed it in his peripheral vision.

I dropped the damn knife. No, it's okay; I have gloves on - they're sterile rubber...

The light vest I have on, it only cut at the lining of it - snagged the kevlar mesh, but it ripped clean through the chain mail. I think it's testing integrity because it didn't cut me.

Logan stared it down again. The light had flickered and flashed.

"Are you female...? You're strange female...? Evolved female...? Rock... no thought...? Scent." He softly exhaled again and focused the rear and foresight onto it.

I get it...? It's following her scent? It nagged at me to catch my attention because it heard me leave. She hasn't made a sound, a thought even... if I could listen to her voice...? The males can sense them. The females, too, could sense him in return. "Scented rock? Scented rock?" It trilled softly and twitched a quill on its pelt, Logan felt the adrenaline in his legs

One cut, and he'd be as good as dead from infection alone.

The vest seemed pointless to wear now as it only blocked the one quick slash thanks to knitted chainmail-Kevlar, but Logan couldn't risk moving from his stance to unclip it. Hesitant... Waiting to counter the alien Pokemon. "Scented rock...? No thought... no sound...? Just breath that goes around and around. No female... trick. Tricky rock."

_It sees me like a stone, but it said bug to start with? It doesn't even seem that surprised about it? Can it hear even small insects?

This Pokemon is trying to learn about the world around it too?_

Logan froze and bided his time as another strange quill shook or vibrated on it - it sounded like a faint rain stick.

It's a strange stance like it's mimicking a Kommo-o? I think they're both from the same family group. The arm stretched and trilled again as the head began to go spastic; twitches... shocks...

And then it held its paws together and began to create soil from the space between them... enriched soft soil.

It can feel me walk just as quickly as it can hear me. The type... the environment...? She was in a forest; plenty of rain. They're all susceptible to it like Eevee's? No, she lives in a desert; she grew up in one just from how she acts alone. What changed for her then?

Logan's eye tremored as he noticed the Chesshira partially opened its mouth; the fangs were no different than those strange quills on its body

The tails... the joints are... bending and rotating like nuts - it's trying to signal me? Like her? I can't make eye contact.

Logan softly swallowed, and that's when it twitched its body - head to toe in a flurry of shivers as he focused on its breastbone to avoid any eye contact; his sights were lined for its quilled chest. A click came from the safety - Logan's finger slipped off it as he aimed down the views to acquire the dimly lit target ahead.

"Strange sound... Strange sound...!? Food.... Food? Food!" The whole pelt had erupted into strange shimmers of purple colors as though it vibrated every quill at once with a sadistic shudder. The head bent to touch its skull to its spine and showed off it's strange curled quills that writhed around its throat.

A spark and flash of bright shocked-black blue ran into the air as Logan pulled the trigger.

Scarf:

There was a fright; he hadn't the strength to investigate the room that thing had been in as he looked at the stairs with a sharper huff. All he could do was spark his tail... spark his ears... and thump against the step with his iron tail. He hadn't thought of a way back up; there wasn't one in his eyes... not without a healed shoulder. It left the Pikachu to half lean on his good one as he winced lightly with a firm trail of pants.

_When I charged Iron Tail...? The weight shifted naturally, even wary of my lousy shoulder; it still hurts.

It only hurt in the end. When I was sure, I'd kill it in one shot._

He looked back at it and curiously tilted his scalp.

That's odd...? I sense that with Moonlight? He charges lethal force first... and then switches to a non-lethal blow split second?

The older Pikachu panted; a soft trail came from his jaw as he suddenly clasped his mouth with his paw.

I did the opposite, and it hurts...? There's a repercussion on either side. A lethal trade-off later could injure or damage us...?

_That Chesshira is doomed to kill and be killed because it hasn't learned that necessary thing? I lost my cheeks... I lost them because I did what Moonlight did; but went for a lethal blow instead of changing last second.

It's the mistake Bandit made...? What move did she cripple then? Cheat? We can work around the disability. _

A tremor ran down his bones, from head to toe. He left his mind in utter silence as another strange pain ran down his back as a frost slithered over his pelt while he stared at the window against the foyer.

Another direction...? I'm not alone in this silent Pokemon center; there's a ghost?

Age had benefits, and Odor Sleuth would draw them out; the Pikachu touched his nose to the air as a gentle patter came across his two legs... another collection of sniffs and deep inhales through him as he idly charged his iron tail. I'm lucky I didn't use the attack; I could've lost my tail... Thank Arceus for putting a little fear in me.

Teaching me just a hint of patience.

A waft touched his nose; Scarf went still and glanced around the room.

_There's one in the corner...? I can barely smell it, except now that the Chesshira was nearby. I can feel it more; all the Growlithes would be asleep... The humans wouldn't notice unless it timed it wrong.

We don't see that many wild types, because there aren't any insects around. Any Pokemon knows it's a sign of serious trouble . I haven't noticed. It's so minor that I overlooked it. _ Scarf felt his little heart begin to pound; a soft swallow came to him as he looked at the small transparent bug with his nose. That's why you've got such a damn headache Moonlight - you can sense a frequency; it's messing with you. Scarf grit his teeth as he stared at the corner in the ceiling panel; that strange, unsettling thing that suddenly woke from its slumber... before the strange scent faded.

It's like a recording device? Made from a Pokemon? But it doesn't explain why the station is this empty...?

The storms are essential to deal with, but it's nothing like the ones I've known over the years.

They're much worse than this.

"Hello?" Scarf jolted nearly a few feet from the small chirp. "Is it okay? I... see blood." The Pikachu lightly turned his head and let out a soft cough.

"S - Something bad happened... Spearow?" The sharp-eyed bird tilted its head at him. "It already happened when I got there... do you have a trainer?" It puffed out its feathers in a sharp retort.

"I do not... But I have a message." The Pikachu tilted his head and panted

"Don't tell me it's a bad one. I've seen enough bad stuff." The Pikachu expressed and gingerly coughed into his paw.

"It's for any of the Trainers Pokemon. He said..."

"Who?"

"Seviper..." The Spearow replied as the Pikachu tilted his head. "We've been searching for him for a long while. But he had some believable story... There's been some trouble for you 'pets' he says." The Spearow continued to say, "So I was asked to investigate after he talked. Not for long; he says that the human he has isn't bad... dumb." Scarf twitched his tail and quirked his brow.

"What did he say?"

"Well, he got the gist of it; some Mightyena was taken... and then I had to fly all around the place after digging deeper. The story went around and around - I've gotten my fill."

"Then, you know, Luna?"

"It's hard not to get their names from anyone. Other trainers Pokemon even talked about it; said she was hurt and bad, some Growlithe and Flareon too." The Spearow gingerly flaked out his feathers with his beak. "Word of advice ditch her. She's unwelcome news." Scarf felt his entire back stiffen as the memories ran through his pelt.

"Why?" The Pikachu began to say as the Spearow huffed.

"Every trainer that's found her gets hurt. I'm surprised she's even alive."

"If I've heard correctly, your trainer is the one she's been with the longest."

Scarf gently exhaled as a gentle laugh came over him. One that became bitterly somber

_Good to know her previous trainers haven't lasted as long... why does she never talk about them?

Does she even remember them? Is she too scared to?_

An idle cough came past his lips as another strange sickly feeling crawled up his back and against his stomach as the Spearow turned from him.

"Wait. Tell me where Bandit is."

"The Seviper wanted to know that." Scarf twitched his tail to his voice.

"Then tell him that they took Luna too." The Spearow tilted its head at him. "Tell him that they took the Vulpix too. We're fine... We're fine for now. If you want proof of the trouble we're in, take care of the window on the second floor. I have to find my way up." The Spearow trilled

"I'll help you with this one thing. Pet." It explained as the Pikachu narrowed its eyes on it. The Spearow shot down its gaze onto its feathers.

There's no number or letter on him... or both. It's an actual wild Pokemon. Seviper ran off... to find Bandit? Why?

Why go off when you've hardly been with us for a week? Why even think about asking for help so soon?

A frigid spark ran down his back, one that left him utterly silent as the Spearow tilted its eyes and feathers towards the Pikachu. Another crawled around his pelt.

Damnit, the Seviper is a traitor - he wouldn't do that; there's no point for him. The Pikachu let out a smaller crack and tiredly rubbed his eyes in a fit of optimistic anger.

_Seo...? No, the police aren't here because of the storm - they're using the wind to move ahead of schedule. That's why they're not here. That group is causing panic and problems.

Are you already in those fights...? Please tell me, that's not true._

Mai:

The muffled sounds and calls came to her ears from the capsule she sat in; The color had rested in her eyes... a gentle fade of a colorful world...

Greyscaled.

The blurry view shot past her, that strange wisp that hung around her eyes like a dreadful cloud.

Like any disaster waiting to happen.

Rain, she could barely hear that as though to try and drown out every single yell and roar of the crowd.

She couldn't count the number of times Vaporeon and Umbreon went in and out of that Pokeball.

It left her with a gentle swallow to trickle down her scorched throat. Every time they came back, they'd studiously sit and wait.

Hardly a word to be spoken, as though the objective became their only world.

"Anything?" Shadow had barely huffed as his tail sparked and fluttered through his pelt. It left him wiry on a literal silk-thread.

His eyes had fluttered in from a rose-hue to a blood-brown. All Mai handled with it was her hearing.

"Not yet. If there is anyone, if I recognize them - I'll know by the tone and pitch alone. But my hearing isn't what it used to be. Understand that, please." Mai returned with a calmer tone. She knew that Shadow couldn't risk jumping into the battles at all; in some cases, her silence was the best answer to give him. It gave her plenty of time to charge bind, his little shocks, and her ability worsened the pain that would stab under her paws.

_Those fights could take a while... if I go against that strange trainer... the one Leafeon spoke of.

There's no telling what I'll run into; it could be a monster from a totally different region. _

The Absol gently put on her somber grin as Shadow sat with a near devilish and utterly hate-filled look. The occasional mutters, prayers it seemed. All Mai could find in those words were other sounds aside from fright...

Anger, all along with the fitted sounds of snarls - wails and sharp screams of pain. All she did was soften her eyes and let them become a dilated empty space. A sharp hotter breath passes by her lips.

I'll keep my type as Psychic for now, charge Psycho Cut; I understand what they want. It's like giving me a time out to think - they're doing the battles for me... for now, at least. Mai had sharply passed a chillier wind as her mind became soft and numb.

I have to rely on instinct. I only have one. Mai let her core hold her posture for a time. Her breath slowed to focus.

"Oh! Look at that." A voice brought up, "Hey, check it." It came up again as something crawled over her back.

The short phrase, there's a scent that's...? Something trembled around them. "Headcount, how's that for a trade of wonders?"

Strange, the ceiling and walls; that's peculiar. Don't tell me... It's a mix of it all. Seo froze for a moment and anxiously listened. _It's like gas, hissing? We're in a bunker, alright... it's not underground - above ground..._The thought ran down her back as the chill of cold air touched her nose.

That they used a twitchy Abra to teleport the battle from place to place, many of them until she heard a noise - ditto_..._

It solely meant it was a time-bomb clicking tedious seconds away.