FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"You're not going to find her, Ayden," Russel stated. "We're lucky enough to have found you."

"I'm prepared to accept that possibility," I replied. "Provided that I have first searched every square inch of ocean and coastline between here and Cinnabar."

I shuffled through the charts on the desk in front of me and handed him the large-scale map of the region.

"And as you can see, I'm only about twenty percent done."

"The Coast Guard is calling off the search. You must know that by now."

I merely nodded, not looking up from my chart.

"You're really never going to give up?"

"Not unless I see a body. Show me a dead Ninetales and I'll believe that she's not out there."

Russ put some distance between us, likely my reaction had surprised him. He had already seen the map anyway. He had poured over it with the same dedication that I did. For a while. He left it at the edge of my desk as strode across the Coast Guard control station to gaze out the window at the ocean beyond. It took him no more than a few steps to traverse the narrow room, but he made a big show of the exasperation involved in the movement.

"I do admire you for finally working up the courage to say that to me though," I commented. "It must not have been easy."

He had been sitting on that statement for some time now. I could always tell. He talked differently when he had rehearsed something. It had almost felt good to finally hear him say it. He looked out over the ocean silently; seeming to not have heard me. I knew that he was trying to say it without saying it. Jade was lost. Forever.

I fingered the rough mesh of the small green life jacket at the edge of the desk. To say that I regretted the decisions I had made three weeks ago was to make a Diglett mound out of Mount Pyre. Jade had always hated sailing, for obvious reasons. I can only imagine how frightening being out on the open ocean can be for a fire Pokemon. Yet the one thing that was stronger than her fear of the water was her bond to me. She was loyalty, distilled into the body of a Ninetales. She wanted to be wherever I was. Scratch that, she would be wherever I was. There was no obstacle that could stop her. She would cross the ends of the earth to be with me.

That's part of the reason that I kept her when my other Pokemon and I went our separate ways. For one thing I'd never convince her to leave and for another, I don't know what living without her would be like. It had been so long, I didn't remember how I had ever lived before I found her. She was among the very few who didn't find fault with my decision to give up being a Pokemon trainer. She was no less willing to join me on my new journey as an explorer.

Technically the job title is surveyor, but I'm not in the business to measure hills and draw maps, I wanted to see the world. Unfortunately for my companion, a great deal of the unexplored portions of the world are only accessible by boat, or possibly on the back of a Lapras. I did everything that I could to allay her fears. I even went so far as to make her this life jacket. I had never seen something so ridiculous, but she finally hopped onto the boat without hesitation.

I had taught her not to fear water attacks in battle, that she could outwit and outmaneuver her way past any disadvantage. We both worked hard, and in the end she had become one of my strongest fighters. She showed that same unrelenting determination as I worked with her to get her used to the water. It took weeks of hard work, but I finally taught her how to swim. Even after all that effort she insisted on keeping the life jacket.

She finally could find her footing on the deck. I hoped that she felt as at home on the Essex as I did. Essex was a fine ship, but she was small enough that even light swells would toss her like a bath toy. Jade could hold her own in the water for hours at a time then, but I would still sometimes think I heard a whimper late at night. I couldn't catch her actually making the sound for the longest time. It's wasn't until that day three weeks ago that I finally did. I found her curled up in the corner of the cabin, tails frazzled, trembling uncontrollably.

I picked her up and held her close. She was cold and her fur was matted with sweat. It was so strange. I didn't know that fire Pokemon could get so cold. I thought that she might be sick, but we were days from a Pokemon center. It was all I could do to comfort her. I climbed into bed and held her tight under every blanket I could get my hands on.

Her trembling stopped almost immediately. It was so good to feel her relax again. Eventually she uncurled and stretched out against me, gently nuzzling my face. I her breathing evened out and slowed as she drifted off to sleep. It is times like those, moments of quiet contentment, that I live for. Of course they also tend to cloud my judgment a fair bit.

I had left the tiller unattended. I meant to return to it, but I couldn't leave her. Not after I had just gotten her to sleep. I rationalized a laundry list of reasons that I could stay with her. I had tightened down the rigging and set the rudder well. The seas were calm and we were true to the wind. We would be all right. We probably didn't need to turn back to go to the Pokemon center either. Jade had warmed up just fine. As a matter of fact the heat from her body was very soothing. I found my own muscles uncoiling, basking in the caring embrace of my companion.

When I awoke, I was face down on the deck, looking into a small pool of blood. I hefted myself up to my hands and knees only have it suddenly made clear where the blood was coming from. My head pounded as another few drops trickled down from the gash on the back of my scalp. I glanced around slowly, careful not to aggravate the injury. The sky was overcast and seas restless, but not threatening. The boat though, looked like it had been through hell and back, literally.

There was a large burn mark splayed across the bow. Could we have been struck by lightning? The clouds did look as though they had just shed quite a storm. That would certainly explain how I was soaked to the bone, and would be a likely cause of the gaping hole where the mast used to be. The roof of the cabin was crushed in. The mast had probably fallen on it before tumbling overboard. I scanned out over the sea. No sign of any debris. As if I could re-attach the mast if I found it...

I felt gingerly at the wound. The actual cut was rather small, but the whole area was tender. Likely I got hit by something blunt when the cabin collapsed. The back of my collar was soaked in blood, but there was something else, holes. I sat up and gingerly worked my arms out of my jacket. I recognized the pattern of ragged tears as teeth marks. The holes had been ripped a bit lengthwise, like they had been pulled on heavily.

"Jade," I said. "She must've dragged me out of the cabin before it completely collapsed."

I glanced around again.

"Wait, Jade? JADE!"

As my own terrified scream echoed through my head, I felt Russ' hand on my shoulder. Tears streaked the ink of the new search radius I was mapping out. I cleared my throat and tried to speak with conviction. Even if only a sobbing mess made it to the air, Russ seemed not to notice.

"To hell with the Coast Guard. The repairs are almost complete. I'll take Essex out and find her myself!"

"I can't stop you and I won't try, but I won't watch you destroy yourself like this."

"There's nothing wrong with me," I stated.

"That so? Stand up."

I stood, determined to prove myself. My back cracked and my stiff muscles jerked and spasmed. Black patches blocked out the edges of my vision. Only Russ' grip on my arm prevented me from being forcibly introduced to the floor. I barely managed to mumble meekly in confusion.

"H-how long-"

"This is the first I've seen you move around since yesterday morning. You're not going anywhere like this." Russ stated. "I'm taking you home and you're going to sleep."

I didn't necessarily want to do that, but he didn't sound like he was offering me options. We were quiet for most of the ride home. Russ was likely worrying about me, fat lot of good that did, and I had just been made aware of my own crushing fatigue. As we neared the edge of town, he finally addressed me.

"If you're going to do this, you had best do it right. I've cleared you for the use of some surplus radar equipment, and Alakazam has been running the numbers on your course. He's come up with a good plan for a search pattern based on the gap between where you were headed and where we found you. He was very thorough. Weather patterns, ocean currents, tidal drift, he thought of everything."

"Alakazam? My Alakazam? How did he get involved in this? I thought that he had work to do at Professor Birch's lab."

"Even Pokemon get personal leave. I told him that an old friend needed help. He teleported in within the hour. Professor Birch called and said that he was actually glad to see him out and about. His dedication is admirable, but he works too hard."

Definitely my Alakazam. His duty was his life for as long as I knew him. He constantly worked to better himself. I honestly think that the only thing that ever scared him was not having any work to do when I turned in my trainers' card. I was glad that he had found someone who could make use of his genius.

"The area that he has mapped out is quite large. You were adrift for some time and the storm blew you quite a ways. Though I suppose that's good news in a way. I know that you'll search as long as it takes, and there are even some uncharted areas inside the search pattern for you to poke around in."

"Well, I do love a challenge."

Russel stopped the car at the end of my driveway.

"Ayden, take him with you."

"What?"

"Alakazam, take him with you. You're going right back to the spot where you nearly got killed last time, and you're not exactly in the best frame of mind to be out on your own right now. You need a level head out there with you."

I got the impression that he was trying to gently break it to me that I was losing my mind. Alakazam was certainly one to keep his cool under stress, but I liked to think that I could as well.

"I don't want to risk him getting... into trouble too. My Pokemon have stuck their necks out for me plenty long enough. That's why I let them go off to take their own paths."

"See? You're worried about something happening to him. That means you know you're going to go out and do something dangerous. You don't just need his help, you need his protection. Storms, waves, wild Pokemon on desert islands, do you plan to fight off all those with your fists?"

I considered his words carefully. At least I thought that I was doing that at the time. I might've just paused to fight off sleep for another few minutes.

"He wants to go, Ayden. He wants to help you. Jade was his friend too."

He was right. My Pokemon were very close when we were together. The only reason that the whole team wasn't rushing to my house at this very moment was that I hadn't told any of them. Looking for Jade meant so much to me. I could hardly deny Alakazam that chance and leave him here to wait and worry about both of us.

"I'll take him," I said. "But only him. I don't want you worrying all my other Pokemon with this."

"Bargain struck. Alakazam and I will meet you at the marina tomorrow to get the Essex underway. I'm afraid I can't come with you, but I'll see you off as best I can. Now get some sleep already. I can't stand to watch you slowly zombifying like this."

I did feel a bit like a zombie as I shuffled towards the house. My limbs were ungainly and my back still screamed in protest of the slightest movements. I waved to Russ as he pulled away, as best I could considering the whole undeadness bit.

I stumbled roughly into bed, letting go of my troubles for the moment was heavenly, even if I knew that they would be back with the coming of the dawn.

Apparently I did need the rest. I slept quite late. I had neglected to set an alarm. I felt good though. My body seemed to be back in working order. My mind also seemed revived. It felt good to have a plan, to recapture the hope that I could still find Jade. I pulled into the marina and smiled at the sight of the Essex. Rigging floated up the new mast, apparently of its own accord, but a closer look revealed the flickering glow of psychic energy.

Alakazam stood at the bow, spoons raised, in full command of the ship's rigging. He stood just outside the large burned streak in the deck planks. That would have to wait. The shipyard crew had taken me at my word when I told them not to worry about making her perfectly shipshape, just watertight and ready to set sail. Essex still looked beaten, but it would take more than this to stop her. Russ stepped out of the cabin, standing up through the ragged edges of splintered wood where the roof used to be.

"You really shouldn't be taking her out like this. Storm swells would fill her right to the brim and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"Nothing I can do maybe. That's why I have a bit of help. Think you can handle a little water Alakazam?"

Not taking his eyes off the rigging, Alakazam extended his arm out towards the water. His grip tightened and a column of water rose up, propelled by a halo of mental energy. With a flick of his wrist, he toppled the spire in a most spectacular crashing wave. Nearby boats bobbed and heads popped up on deck to see what was going on. A pleased smile tugged at the edges of his gently glowing eyes.

"Yes... good thing you thought to bring him. You two certainly won't be stymied by a lack of confidence."

Ropes pulled taut and the sails billowed as Alakazam released his hold on them. His expert knots always withstood even the harshest conditions. They could be made much more tightly and intricately when one didn't have those pesky hands getting in the way of the process.

"I've cast off your moorings, shall I weigh anchor?" Russ asked.

The clattering of the anchor chain responded before I could. In a flash it rose from the water and was pulled tight to the side of the ship. Alakazam stepped up beside me and stood proudly. I smiled at him. It had been a long time since I'd had him at my side. Russ took a large, unceremonious step onto the dock.

"It seems that I leave you in capable hands," he said as Essex drifted out into the marina. "Entirely too capable for their own good."

Alakazam and I exchanged a knowing glance.

"You probably just precluded a big safety speech," I told him, then yelled back to Russel. "I know you're disappointed that you couldn't give a lecture before we depart!"

"All the overprotective nagging I have in me has been done. You know how to stay safe, you merely choose not to. The radar gear is all set up in the cabin. You can use that screen to track anything that you may find. You've got the applicable charts in there too, though I'm sure Alakazam knows the way perfectly."

I was only half listening. I was back in my element. I hadn't realized how much I missed this when Essex was being repaired. I heaved against the rigging of the jib boom, turning the mainsail to the winds and edging us out of the marina. Russ continued to yell after me.

"And for the love of Arceus radio once in awhile! Don't make me come after you out there!"

"Yes, mom! I won't let the Sharpeedoes get me and I'll be home for dinner!"

"Alakazaaaam!" My first mate waved and said his farewells as a turn put a line of moored boats between us and our chaperone. A bit more careful maneuvering left us on the cusp of the open ocean. The sparkling water stretched out before us as far as the eye could see.

"She's out there, Alakazam. And we're getting her back."

He glanced in my direction. His eyes were drawn up with the same determined conviction that I felt. And Russ thought I was stubborn. Clearly he had never seen Alakazam when he had a job to do.

"Well don't look at me," I teased. "You're the one that knows where to look."

A gentle nod answered. He extended his arm off to port. I adjusted course to match. We looked ahead as the mainland faded away behind us.

As dedicated as I was, by the fourth hour the open ocean was wearing on me a bit. I checked the radar again, still in good condition, still not showing a thing. That wasn't really a concern, the water was deep here and this was a relatively sparse portion Alakazam's search area. It wasn't hard to tell when we were nearing the edge. He was quite assertive in directing me when needed.

Taking orders from him wasn't entirely unusual. I'd found his strategic mind to be a valuable asset in planning battles. And it helped to have a leader that actually understood what everyone was saying. I did my best, but interpreting all their different calls was cumbersome. He and I shared something of an easier rapport though. His ability to communicate thoughts and memories streamlined the process a bit, but it still required some significant work on my end. I liked to think that I had gotten good at it.

I noticed Jade's life jacket at the edge of the table as I scanned the radar screen. Russ can be so bizarrely thoughtful at times... I took it with me out onto the deck to check on Alakazam. He was watching the water intently, surrounded by an air of pensive concentration.

"This wouldn't be of any use to you, would it?" I asked, extending the life jacket. "Psychic impressions or somesuch..."

He smiled gently and grasped my wrist. The image of a wild gypsy fortuneteller, gesticulating mysteriously over a crystal ball entered my mind.

"That's not how it works huh..."

He grabbed the jacket as I turned away and stared at it intensely. Maybe I did have something here. He touched my arm again as he fingered the buckles on the front of the small vest. I saw Jade's paw-prints in the snow as she walked away from me. When my vision returned to normal I saw Alakazam snapping the buckles together.

"Jade's paws and plastic buckles... I'm not seeing the connection."

Alakazam unbuckled the jacket again. A memory of his popped into my head. It was me snapping the jacket onto Jade. I couldn't help but smile at the sight, we looked so happy together. Alakazam twirled one of his spoons theatrically between his finger and his thumb. His thumb...

"Jade has no thumbs," I thought aloud. "The jacket wasn't torn off. It was unbuckled when I found it. Someone had to take it off for her."

He glared at me, expectantly waiting for me to fully grasp the implications of this.

"She was captured!"

Alakazam nodded gravely. We passed the next few dozen sweeps in silence. I sat and brooded over questions that my friend did not have the answer to. Who would take Jade? Why? Did they want a ransom? How would they contact me?

Fortunately I had the hang of his search pattern now and could keep up with the navigation even distracted as I was. Alakazam stood stoically on the brow with his eyes sealed shut. Meditating perhaps, sometimes it was hard to tell with him. He was well known for appearing to be in a deep, unresponsive trance, but the first person to disturb him would find themselves hoisted up by their ankles. I saw fit not to risk that. Whatever he was doing, it was in support of our search, I knew it. He didn't have anything in him but duty. A faint chirp came from the radar. I checked the screen to find that the depth gauge was no longer blank. The seafloor was at Two Hundred feet and dropping.

"We're shallowing out. Could mean islands ahead," I announced.

No response. I checked the charts, they showed the shallower water, and a few sandbars and other hazards were marked out. No islands were listed though. I saw a sudden reduction in depth, a sandbar. I ran back on deck and leaned on the tiller. I heard the beeping of the radar begin to subside. We had been headed straight for it. I was surprised that we didn't scrape the hull. Alakazam's spoon authoritatively guided me back into the search pattern.

We settled into a rhythm. Long periods of tedium, dodge a sandbar, dodge a spire of rock, course correction, more tedium. After a few hours I noticed a change in Alakazam. Every time I turned the ship he stiffened a bit. The turns seemed to be distressing him somehow, and he wasn't normally one to betray his emotions. Finally I went to the bow and asked what was bothering him.

He pointed at the rudder and made a swinging motion, then pointed towards the water in front of us.

"Of course I can't see anything in our way. I've been relying on the subsurface radar to warn us in advance. Normally we could just use the chart to avoid all this, but we've got to sail through the whole area to get a good search. We've got to have a way of keeping ourselves from running aground."

He hopped down from the bow. A wave of his hand folded the sail and the ship coasted to a stop. I followed him into the cabin and found him scrutinizing the radar screen. It clearly showed a large mass in front of us. He turned to me and touched one of his spoons to my head. It had been awhile since I'd felt the touch of his psychic silverware, but I knew what it meant. He had something important to tell me. Another complex concept that I was meant to glean from disjointed images.

I closed my eyes only to find by field of vision filled by a sunny room containing a single table. A glass of water sparkled in the light. My attention was drawn to its shadow, against the white tablecloth. There was a bright spot where the glass focused the light. I looked across the room to see a large funhouse mirror, bearing a stretched and distorted image of me. I reached out to the mirror, but my image failed to do the same. The glass shattered at my touch and scattered across the floor. My eyes opened and I took a deep breath.

"All right, this is going to take a minute."

Alakazam pointed at the radar screen, using a spoon to reflect light into my eye.

"Gah! Okay, I get it. Light coming from the radar. The radio waves."

He fingered the curved edge of the spoon. I thought of the glass on the table, a curved lens of sorts.

"Something is bending the radio waves."

He nodded, pointing to the screen again. I spied his reflection in the glass of the screen. I thought of the funhouse mirror.

"The bent rays are... creating false images on the screen..."

He tapped the large, impassable mass of seafloor at the top of the screen.

"You're saying that there's nothing there? That we can't trust the radar at all? How are we supposed to navigate?"

He placed a hand over his eyes and pointed forward.

"Just ignore it and sail on?"

He nodded. I considered his uhh... "words" carefully. This was exactly the kind of dangerous stunt that Russ was warning us not to do. It fit though, someone had taken Jade, and they were trying to keep us from finding her. I had to try. I didn't come this far to turn back on account of sand.

"Let's do it. Full speed ahead."

The looming mass soon filled the screen. The radar squealed so much that I had to silence playback. I looked over the side though, and saw only blue. Deep blue. We were nowhere near the seafloor. I felt a rush of excitement. We finally had a breakthrough. I rushed to the bow. Alakazam held out a hand and gave me a casual, "calm down" gesture. He knew that there was still much work to be done.

We continued on our course uninterrupted for some time. I dozed in the cabin. I knew the importance of this search, but it was still dull work. A wailing alarm from the radar roused me. I silenced it and looked at the warning panel. A red light labeled "Independent Motion" was lit. I clicked the audio response back on. The echo beeps were steadily rising in frequency. It meant that another craft was approaching us. A huge one by the looks of the screen. These false images were getting a lot more sophisticated. Unless...

"Alakazam," I called. "Anything unusual off to port?"

"Alakazam!"

I heard the sails billowing and the rigging straining over his call of alarm. I leapt onto the deck and looked in the direction he pointed. A white streak was splitting the waves. Something was headed right for us, something big. Alakazam was already swinging the jib boom to tilt us into a turn. I spun the tiller as I gaped at the object's rapid approach.

"Can we get any more speed? It's going to hit us at this rate!"

"Alakazam!"

He spread his arms wide, enveloping the ship in psychic energy. Essex lurched forward, edging out of the path of the-

"Oh, sweet mercy of Arceus! It's a Wailord!"

Not only was it a gargantuan Pokemon, it was one that seemed intent on hitting us. Its massive flanks heaved as it turned to chase us down.

"We're not going to get away. We have to abandon ship!"

Alakazam raised his arms, straining under a mental burden. Essex lurched again, this time upwards. Was he insane? He had never lifted anything this large. And that Wailord was-

A cataclysmic crash sent splintered wood flying past me. I felt the deck rent beneath my feet as the tremendous beast obliterated my craft. My vision whited out and I lost all sensation as the ocean opened up under me.

I was hanging, somehow, but not really suspended from anything. I looked down to see the wreckage of the ship several yards below. Debris swirled as the larger pieces were swallowed up by the ocean in the frothy wake of the Wailord's pass. The gargantuan creature seemed barely dazed as in slinked back into the water. I nearly panicked and thought I was dead before I noted the light tingle of a telekinetic hold. Alakazam had managed to levitate us out of harm's way.

"What the hell was his problem?" I asked, somewhat rhetorically, but I soon heard Alakazam trying to get an answer across to me. He tapped his head, then made a circle with his fingers and held it out to me.

"You read his mind... and it was empty?"

He nodded. He mimed the movements of a puppeteer with an invisible marionette.

"Someone was controlling it. Like it was hypnotized?"

He nodded again.

"Someone really doesn't want us to find Jade..."

An interesting trick of his, Alakazam had settled us onto the surface of the water in the middle of the remains of the Essex. I walked about, simultaneously enjoying the novelty of walking on water and trying to look for anything useful. Alakazam's pokeball floated by. I fished it out of the water and attached it to my belt. It might be useful if he needed to rest later. We likely wouldn't get the chance to properly sleep for some time.

Alakazam had retrieved Jade's life jacket and found that it fit him well enough. He allowed himself to drop into the water and swam a few laps through the debris. He was certainly not one to fear the water. He was nudging a plastic bag with a block of Styrofoam in it towards me. He returned to his casual swim when I lifted it out of the water. The bag contained a handheld radio that I had kept aboard for a situation just like this one. Well, I'll admit that I didn't anticipate exactly this, but it was close enough. I clicked it on and hailed anyone that could hear. Only static in response. I turned it off again to save the battery.

On the open ocean, signal transmission range was a direct function of how high you were. I could have Alakazam levitate us up into the air, but I didn't want to risk overexerting him in an attempt so unlikely to work. If we could just find land... Even if it was uninhabited I could climb on top of something and give us a better shot at a signal. There was no sign of my other emergency supplies. That would complicate things.

"Could you teleport us?" I asked.

Alakazam sloshed to a stop and made a sweeping motion towards the featureless horizon. Right, he had to be able to visualize where he was going. We were well out of range of any place he had been before, and there wasn't much to distinguish any particular patch of open ocean from any other given large patch of open ocean.

"I suppose we could walk until we die of exhaustion. Though I'd hope that we could have a bit more to go on for a choice of direction than a random guess..."

Alakazam turned his gaze skyward. He seemed to see something that I didn't. I was about to ask, but he held up his hand to silence me. I listened hard. Clearly there was something that I was meant to hear. There it was. The distant call of a Wingull. We both knew what it meant. That bird had to land somewhere. Alakazam rose from the water. We both walked off in the direction of the sound. It had occurred to me to run before it got away. That was foolish though. We couldn't afford to waste our energy getting all worked up. If there was one Wingull in that direction, there was sure to be more that we could follow.

Soon we saw one, gliding lazily overhead trying to catch a thermal and rise higher into the clear blue sky. As we walked we found that its general direction was northeast, the way we had been turned when we had our encounter. Our feet gently splashed while we followed our contact. We "spoke" of our theories on what was going on as we walked. Alakazam didn't think that the Wingull was being influenced in any way, but he was still unsure of how someone had managed to command the might of a Wailord. Clearly we had run afoul of someone very powerful. Much of this area was uncharted or listed as impassable. Only we knew why. Well, in the immediate sense we knew why it seemed inaccessible. We could only guess as to why someone would want to hide here, or what...

An island rose up from the horizon in the distance after a long walk. I couldn't say how long, the ornate ship's clock now decorated the seafloor. The sun was a noteworthy amount lower than it was before, probably a few hours or so. The Wingull veered off, intent on its own business. We stayed on course for the island for a moment. I held out a hand to stop Alakazam.

"Isn't it odd that the Wingull wouldn't head for the island?"

"Alakazam..."

"Unless there's no island there."

We turned and went after the Wingull again, intent on following it to its roost. It turned out that we would not be disappointed. It soon started flying lower and lower, and an island resolved itself slowly from a cloud of mist.

"Odd weather..." I mumbled. "It's perfectly clear everywhere else."

I was going to have to start making a list of things I found suspicious about this. I collapsed to my knees as soon as there was sand beneath them. The unsteady surface of psychically hardened water beneath my feet had worn on me. Alakazam sat next to me as I rested briefly on the beach. I thought that he might need to rest after holding us up for hours, but he showed no sign of fatigue. He seldom did, even during a grueling battle. He had found this show of strength to be a very different kind of psychological warfare. His apparent invulnerability would dishearten his opponent and keep them from pushing through to the bitter end.

I pulled the radio from its bag and called a few times, listening to several channels of static before clipping it to my belt. I took my first good look at the island we stood upon. It was ringed by a thin sandy beach that extended as far as I could see. The terrain quickly turned to dense jungle a few dozen yards from the shore. We were in luck though. There were some impressive mountains further inland. There was a good chance of getting a signal up there. I saw the clouds streaming off the edges of the few visible peaks. They were either much taller than they looked or there was something making those clouds.

"Up for a little climbing?"

"Ka-zamm!"

I hefted myself stiffly to my feet. My muscles were still sore, but I was in no mood to sit still. If we made it a ways inland we could at least find some shelter if we couldn't make it all the way to the foothills by nightfall.

The jungle was thick and humid. The muggy air had us dragging our feet before long. I say us, but Alakazam seemed just as resolute as ever. I was surprised when he stopped. I was about to remark about his giving in before me, but then I saw his eyes. He sensed something. We stood still for a moment, but I could gain no indication of what he was looking for. He signaled for me to walk with him, slowly in another direction. I got the idea and kept my steps as quiet as I could. I heard a rustle. I jumped, worried that I had made it, but it came from behind us. We were being followed.

We exchanged a glance. There was still no movement to be seen in the dense undergrowth. Alakazam crouched in the brush and motioned for me to continue. I didn't like the idea of splitting up, but it looked like his plan would work. If our stalker continued to follow me, he would walk right by Alakazam. I saw him focusing silently. I noticed no difference, but he was likely working to make himself harder to detect to others.

I clambered over a fallen tree as I left him behind, no longer keeping my movements silent. I had gone just about as far as I was comfortable going when I heard a noise off to my right. Apparently Alakazam had failed to intercept our pursuer. Pursuers... There were two distinct sets of footfalls. They seemed to be getting more careless with their stealth as well. Or they were getting closer...

I swung around to the left and doubled back as best I could. If this was a group, Alakazam could be overwhelmed while he waited. I had to warn him. He popped out of the brush in front of me as I rounded a large tree. I nearly spoke, but remembered that we were being hunted. Alakazam glanced behind him and held up three fingers. So he had multiple parties after him as well. He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the brush. I felt the grip of his psychic energy. He was attempting to conceal me as he had himself while the hunters neared. Nothing could've prepared me for what leapt out from the jungle next.

I stifled a gasp. It was an Umbreon. Sort of... It had landed on two legs and had very clear hands and arms that it was using to balance itself as it sniffed the air. Or I should say as she sniffed the air. Her bust became increasingly apparent as she raised her head. The rings along her body glowed brightly in the dappled light that filtered through the trees. She wore an expression of focus very different than that of my companion. Hers was the face of a predator, and she could tell that she was very close to her target.

Her eyes glowed a sinister red as they swiveled in my direction. I had thought that was normal for an Umbreon, but as they swiveled in my direction I felt a powerful dread take hold of me from within. There was no spark in those eyes. She was consumed with single-minded determination, as if she existed only to accomplish her task. Her life was not an entity unto itself. She was tied inexorably to another...

I realized that I was perceiving Alakazam's impressions as he stretched out his mind to her. He withdrew suddenly to avoid detection. A word popped into my head. Pokemorphs... How was I receiving his thoughts so clearly? And how did he know what these things were? I was still locked in the gaze of the strange Umbreon woman. I felt the disquieting grip of another's will subsuming my own eating away at me and yet I could do nothing to stop it. An image wormed its way into my mind. Jade...

It was Alakazam trying to snap me out of it. The feeling vanished as soon as I remembered my purpose. I shook my head and looked down to keep away from her eyes. She scanned the small gap in the brush again suspiciously and stalked off once more. I let out a long held breath. I looked to Alakazam. He gave me the "empty mind" hand signal again. I couldn't wrap my head around what I had just seen, but there were much higher priorities to be considered. There were too many of these things, and now they were close. We'd never escape unless we could find who was controlling these creatures and stop him somehow.

A vine shot through the underbrush. We threw ourselves in opposite directions to avoid it. The Leafeon creature that launched it had blended in perfectly until just that moment. She cracked the vine whip with a flick of her wrist, sending me back to the ground as I dove to avoid it. Alakazam ran up behind me and grabbed my ankle as he landed near me. There was a sudden rush and soon I was crashing through a large leafy bush.

Short-range blind teleports like that were risky, but so was staying back there with that Leafeon. A quick glance to check that we were alright and we took off running. We stumbled into a clearing. This was not what we needed. We were too exposed out here. Though it wasn't like the cover of the forest seemed to do us much good. Likely they knew the island well and were adept at fighting in dense jungle. This might actually be our best chance. At least out here we could move. And if we could move we could fight. It appeared we would soon have our chance to do so.

A Growlithe morph dropped from the trees and roared ferociously at us. We stood our ground, seeming to confuse it. Clearly it was used to its fury being respected.

"Wait a second," I said. "Just about everything we've seen thus far has been an illusion. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if these 'pokemorph' things were too."

I grabbed the nearest throwable object, Alakazam's pokeball. I hurled it at the creature, waiting for it to sail right through. The Growlithe's hand came up and smacked the ball away. It clattered off into the brush. The canine fixed me with an angry glare, showcasing that characteristic red glow.

"Well I look rather foolish now don't I?"

I ducked down as a stream of fire shot over my head.

"Well, they're real. So I suppose Psybeam is a viable option."

Alakazam wasted no time. An expertly honed psychic aura surrounded him as he crossed his spoons and a prismatic beam leapt from them. The Growlithe stumbled under the force of the psychic assault. Then he began lashing out and shooting flames at nothing when he regained his footing.

"Good shot. He'll attract attention though, we'd better get moving."

We had made it only a few dozen steps when a huge shadow passed over us. I looked to the sky to see a glinting pair of wings folding into a sharp descent.

"I hate it when I'm right... Alakazam!"

He turned to see the Skarmory speeding towards us and raised his spoons once more.

"It's going to try to pull out of the dive at the last second. Use Psychic to pin its wings to its body!"

Alakazam's eyes glowed, and it all happened in a flash. There was a stunned squawk from the Skarmory as it slammed into the ground at full speed. Alakazam leapt aside as the mass of steel wings tumbled towards him. He ran to my side as the dust settled.

"We sure showed it who's boss. Just like old times..."

Alakazam thumped his chest proudly, squeezing a few drops of water out of the now heavily abused life jacket. I had to admit, part of me sorely missed this. A sudden gust scattered the twigs at our feet. A swirling vortex sucked up the dust could that hung above the Skarmory's crash-landing site.

"Razor wind, Get down!"

We both crouched behind a fallen tree as the howling wind tore across the clearing, tearing anything loose up from the soil. Twigs and pebbles peppered our backs as we shielded our faces, but we were protected from the worst of it. I felt the thundering footfalls of the enraged Skarmory in my chest as the wind subsided. Alakazam was already back on his feet, vaulting the tree to meet our foe. I scrambled to get up only to be driven to my knees by an ear-splitting screech.

I held my hands to my ears and looked up to see Alakazam barely holding his own. He couldn't focus, bolts of psychic energy flew wild, burying themselves in the dirt or glancing ineffectually off the Skarmory's flanks. His eyes were shut. He was desperately trying to regain his concentration. He could just look, I knew it. The screech didn't affect his eyes. I struggled through the keening cry to reach him and placed my hand on his shoulder. I had to tell him, I thought frantically. Just look! The Skarmory is right there, right THERE!

Alakazam's arm sprang up, nearly catching me under the chin. A powerful Psybeam leapt from it and landed square between the eyes of the wailing beast. It gave a strangled gasp as its eyes narrowed to pinpricks. It teetered precariously for a second before losing its footing and crashing to the ground. Alakazam seemed as surprised as I was. He pointed to his eyes, and then at me.

"I don't know what happened either, but we don't have time to wonder about it. If we didn't have the whole island's attention before, we do now!"

We both ran. We didn't know where to, but staying behind would certainly mean more Pokemorph attacks. Or plain Pokemon... That had been a normal Skarmory as far as I could tell. It certainly wasn't human sized or shaped. It still bore a set of those sinister glowing eyes though. What could possibly be next?

Alakazam grabbed me by the collar of my shirt just in time for a shadow ball to rip through the air in front of me. I thought of the Umbreon, had she followed us so easily? A gout of flame leapt through the treeline, followed by a menacing Houndoom morph. Alakazam swept the flames aside and fired a Psybeam at the bounding hound. He easily leapt over it, hurling back a shadow ball from the air. The attack slammed into Alakazam's lightscreen with concussive force. He had brought the barrier up so fast I didn't even notice. He would've been laid out by that attack if he didn't have the presence of mind to defend himself in the split-second he had.

Our acrobatic foe continued to evade any attacks with well-timed jumps. He could change direction with remarkable ease. He was a sharp one. Agility was a move often underestimated on uneven terrain. I noted his focus on jumping though. He had nothing to push off of for much of the time.

"Hit him in the air!" I yelled.

Alakazam understood. Two quick energy bolts shot from a sweeping motion of his spoon. One forced the Houndoom into a blind leap. The other knocked him back to the ground. He rolled to his feet and shook his head briefly. His tail whipped back and forth angrily as he recovered his senses. He did so just in time to roll out of the way of a Psybeam and charge us again.

"He's too resilient. Let's get physical."

I was about to explain what I meant when I felt his psychic field envelop me. My weight fell away and I was lifted into the air. I knew what he was planning, I just couldn't believe it. I had only seconds to prepare before I was launched through the air at the charging morph. I didn't exactly have marshal arts experience, but Alakazam put my foot in just the right spot. A savage kick to the chest drove him to the ground. My body crumpled onto his at the sudden stop. I found myself face to face with some very menacing canine jaws. Fortunately the morph's tongue hung limply out of them, he was clearly down for the count. Alakazam hefted me off the beast.

"You know you could've used a big rock or something."

He waved his arms about, indicating a lack of suitable rocks.

"Well I suppose it worked out for the best. We'd best get moving. Standing still seems to attract trouble."

Apparently so did moving. The Umbreon morph I had seen before leapt from the treeline in front of us. She effortlessly swung out of the way of Alakazam's Psybeam, swerving and ducking all his attacks with ease. Too much ease. She wasn't even trying to attack or advance on us. It was like she was-

"She's a distraction! To your left!"

Alakazam turned just at the moment the streak of chaotic blackness hit him. He reeled backwards as the dark energy cascaded across his body. His toes scraped across the ground as he was driven back by the Dark Pulse. His arms stiffened though, and he fluidly produced a lightscreen as though the attack had never happened. Two morphs, Absol and Mightyena, leapt from the jungle, both launching shadow balls. Alakazam's arms jerked with every impact. I didn't know what to do. We were hopelessly pinned down. Alakazam's grip on his spoons tightened. A sudden rush of energy seemed to suck the sound from the air. A distortion gathered in front of him. It was like a lens of air, building in magnitude as he fed it with his energy, Psywave.

The morphs had no idea what hit them. The wave tore across the ground, ripping up the soil and sending them both flying. I could hear them crashing through the trees. I looked to my right. The Umbreon had vanished. Smart girl. Psywave was a dangerous and unpredictable attack. So much so that the technical machine I had used to teach it was not available for public use. Me and my connections...

I walked up to Alakazam. I didn't even have time to ask if he was alright before Glaceon and Leafeon morphs leapt up from behind us. He grabbed my arm and I felt the rush of teleportation. We landed quite smoothly I thought, and we were out of danger. Yet Alakazam didn't let up his grip on my arm. I noticed that he was leaning a great deal of his weight on me. His chest heaved as he struggled to keep on his feet. In all our time together I had never seen Alakazam pant. This was bad. His forceful breaths agitated the small stream of blood coming from his nose. He really was at the end of his rope.

I had him sit and rest a moment. Running was no longer an option with him like this. I unbuckled the tattered remains of Jade's life jacket to free his chest. I laid it on the ground and tried not to focus on the emotions that it stirred in me. We were finished. Random pokemorph attacks we might've been able to deal with, but someone was coordinating these. It was no accident that we were suddenly tripping over dark types everywhere we went as soon as we let loose a few psychic attacks. We couldn't run anymore, I doubted even that Alakazam could fight anymore. I would die here, on some unknown island, having never seen Jade. Never getting to tell her-

The radio at my belt crackled.

"...General hail to the Essex on all channels. Come on Ayden, you've got to be out there!"

I should've thought about how the noise was giving us away. I should've done a lot of things differently, but I was too excited about the hope for rescue. I pressed the transmit button. My voice was inordinately calm. Perhaps it was just the exhaustion.

"Russ, you're not going to believe this."

The radio exploded out of my hand. I noted a Jolteon morph off to my right. His arm was outstretched and sparks leapt menacingly across the tips of his spiked fur. Glaceon and Leafeon tore out of the foliage behind me. Absol leapt down from a tree to my left. In seconds the pack had us surrounded. All those morphs that were pursuing us, and a few that I had never seen before had encircled us. They closed in, but paused just out of striking distance. Alakazam was back on his feet, once more apparently oblivious to his own exhaustion. Dozens of blazing red eyes were trained on us. They had us. I had no choice but to accept defeat.

"If you're waiting for a last request, I want to see Jade. And I have a few choice words for the one who took her from me."

A female Mightyena morph stepped forward.

"Oh, you'll meet the master," she growled. "He has ordered that you both be brought to him alive. An order that Gravis seemed not to understand particularly well..."

She glanced briefly at the badly beaten and ruthlessly enraged Houndoom behind her. He still had a shadow ball floating ominously between his hands.

"We are simply waiting for you to answer a simple question," she continued. "Are you going to come quietly, or not?"

"I wasn't aware that I still had options..."

"Enough!" The Houndoom roared. "Talk won't get them anywhere."

Alakazam raised his arms apprehensively. I had to tell him to stand down or that Houndoom was going to tear him apart.

"Alakazam," I started, too late.

"Gravis!"

The Mightyena leapt up, but in a flash the Houndoom thrust the shadow ball forward. Alakazam braced himself, but his lightscreen failed to materialize before him. I didn't even have time to think as I sprang forward. I suddenly found myself in front of the shadow ball. My feet left the ground. My back connected with something soft. I felt an arm wrap around me as I flew back. My vision flashed and I suddenly felt very light...

My lungs seared as I took a breath. My eyes opened to take in the trees above me. I was laying on my back in the dirt. It felt like I had been there for awhile. I tried to reassemble what happened. Alakazam had caught me. He must have been all right. My hand jumped to my chest as I felt another stab of pain. A rough circle had been blown out of the front of my shirt. Small burns streaked out from the place where the shadow ball had hit me. The wound was sore and stiff, but I didn't feel like I had broken any ribs. I sat up and tried to figure out where I was. That was something of a lost cause. All the jungle on this island kind of looked the same. I heard voices in the distance and crept toward them.

"His mind is a steel trap." An unfamiliar, businesslike female voice said from beyond the trees. "It could take me hours to break his defenses, by then the human could be anywhere."

I chanced a closer look. I crouched as I edged forward and peered through some shrubbery. An Espeon had her hands on Alakazam's temples. The gem on her forehead sparkled as she tried to psychically press him for information. She continued speaking without taking her gaze from him.

"And no, Gravis, torturing it out of him won't work either. He would die before he told you a thing."

"You've made this much more difficult than it had to be." I recognized the voice of the Mightyena that appeared to be leading them. "He might've cooperated if you'd simply allowed him the chance."

"I still say that he's dangerous," The unmistakable bark of the Houndoom responded. "Even the Boss thinks so. We shouldn't let him have his way."

"Just because he crushed you like a dead leaf doesn't make him dangerous."

The Mightyena walked into view and motioned for the Espeon to step aside. Alakazam looked up to her. I had never been more proud of him than at that moment. They had taken his spoons and bound his arms, but his eyes were still set with unwavering determination. The Mightyena's voice was kind and soothing as she addressed him.

"This can still turn out all right you know. Just tell us where you sent him, and this whole nasty business can be over."

He of course, politely refused. His defiance seemed to surprise the Mightyena, as though she expected her sweet words to magically change his tune. She sighed and turned to face the Umbreon that had appeared behind her.

"What have the scouts found?" She asked.

"Nothing, and lots of it." Though it sounded like a report of failure, the Umbreon didn't seem the least bit perturbed. In fact I'd describe her tone as intrigued. "We're about half a mile out with not a trace of him."

Alakazam's cunning never ceased to amaze me. He put me right next to them, probably within the circle they had formed around us. It was the absolute last place they would look. That's why there were only a handful of them still around. The rest had been sent off to look for me again. Hope flared in me for just an instant, before I realized that I was just as helpless against four morphs as I was against the whole pack.

Then there was this Gravis fellow. He was loyal to the same master as the others, but still seemed intent on making me pay for laying him out the way I did. His eyes still shone even in the bright sunlight. I knew that he couldn't see me, but it still felt like his gaze cut through me. I was still stymied by those eyes that the ensnared creatures possessed. This wasn't like any form of hypnosis I had ever heard of. None of these creatures were blindly following subliminal orders. They were certainly following some very explicit instructions, and they didn't seem to have a choice about doing so. Yet all of them still had very distinct personalities and opinions. For better or for worse...

Perhaps if I focused on the better half I could find an appeal in reason. The Mightyena seemed very sensible. And it looked like she genuinely regretted what had happened. I winced a few times as I shuffled to my feet. I had made my decision. I was going to be captured anyway. If there was any chance at saving Alakazam in the process I had to take it.

"How about I save us both a lot of time?" I said as I strode out from the brush. "Let him go and I'll come with you."

Alakazam didn't show the slightest hint of surprise. In all likelihood he knew exactly what would happen if he tried to get me to leave him behind.

"Oh, you know I'd love to hon," the Mightyena cooed, making her the only morph not stunned into silence by my return. "But I'm afraid that releasing him is not an option. I do apologize for all this though. It was never supposed to be this difficult. For any of us..."

The glowing eyes and protruding muzzle made her a bit hard to read, but her regret was very genuine. I felt a tap on my shoulder. The Umbreon was behind me. She smiled playfully at me as her Leafeon friend stepped forward and blew me a kiss. I barely had time enough to recognize the attack before I collapsed. Sleep powder...