Author's Note: Hello again everyone and before we begin with Cringe, I strongly recommend newcomers to read Escape before they read Cringe. This story will be formatted in multiple POVs like chapter 12 of Escape and new characters will make their debut. Cringe takes place four months after the events of Escape. Alice is ten years old, Vinny is sixteen, and Brooke is fourteen.

Riley's POV

Once upon a time, there was a boy who traveled to a quiet town with his best friend and his partner. They met a man who seemed desperate on help and decided to lend him a hand. As soon as they arrived to the man's place, the boy realized was a trap and tried to save them but failed. The reason why the man captured him was that he knew the boy was special than any other child. The boy was also an Umbreon. The boy managed to escape and was later re-captured to save his friends. After two months of being locked up, a girl saved him that he soon fell in love with and they escaped from the man. After many close encounters and danger lurking on every corner, they managed to get away from the man and his allies and the boy and girl lived happily ever after. But, little did they know that the boy would lose everything so soon.

Alice's POV

I leaned against the railing as I saw Castelia City in the distance, almost on the shore of the Unova region. Cinders, my Cyndaquil, huddled at my feet as he felt the cool sea breeze.

"We're almost there," I told him. "We finally get to see Riley."

My older brother, Riley Tanner, was known as one of the toughest trainers back in the Johto region, but he's not exactly what you call an average fifteen year old. He was born half human and half Eevee, a combination that's been passed down on my mother's side for generations. What I got instead of being mixed species was my enhanced senses and my ability to understand pokemon.

"I hope we get off soon," Cinders complained, "its freezing!"

"Don't worry about it," I assured him, "you'll get used to it."

"At least you're not a fire type," he mumbled.

I looked at my reflection on the Xtransceiver that was on my arm, glancing carefully at close facial features I have of an Eevee: big brown eyes, hair being the same color of their fur, and the word innocent built upon my appearance. I looked away, knowing looking at myself reminds me too much horrible memories when Riley and I went to school. I could picture the emotional moment of a brother and his sister laying eyes at each other after so long. But what if he doesn't bother to show up? What if he can't be human and has to spend the moment as an Umbreon? What if something horrible happens that separates us again? I'll never know until I go. I fixed the bill of my beanie and rolled up the sleeves of my dark violet flannel as the boat began to dock on the pier.

"Come on Cinders," I told him, "Riley's expecting us."

Brooke's POV

I stared at the autumn leaves fall down in a gentle and magical way in my bedroom. Castelia in the autumn always seems beautiful to me and almost always wanted to be in my real form to enjoy it. I quickly slipped on my clothes and stared back out the window with a small smile. I leisurely walked out of my apartment and headed downstairs, anxious to feel the sweet autumn air. The calm winds blew against my cheeks as I opened the door and stepped out in Castelia. The streets are always full of people, especially around noon; but today were different. Everything seemed so quiet and empty, highly unusual. I began to head down to the pier, wanting to see trainers from all over arriving here.

"Brooke Shay?"

I turned around and found a boy with short black hair and a girl with dark blue hair, both of them reminding me of a Vaporeon and a Glaceon.

"Can I help you?" I asked them, keeping my distance.

"You need to come with us," the boy said briefly.

"I'm not going anywhere without an explanation," I refused.

"You're in danger."

"So many boys tried to use that card on me."

"My boyfriend is not hitting on you, you self absorbed Zorua," the girl snapped.

"How do you know about that?" I questioned them after a short pause and stared at their faces, knowing they weren't joking around.

"We don't have time before they come," the boy answered.

"Who? They they?"

"No, the break dancer near the fountain," the girl rolled her eyes.

"We need to go now," the boy began to push me.

Then, the whole city grew dark. The three of us slowly looked up and found dark clouds forming above us with lightning threatening to strike at any second. Sigma Six had arrived.

Vinny's POV

"Looks like there's a storm heading this way," I announced as I stared at the dark clouds descending over Castelia City.

"Whose idea was it to cross Skyarrow Bridge in the first place?" Snivy questioned, sounding cross.

"Yours," I grinned. "The only way to continue getting more badges is to pass this bridge."

"Whatever," he looked away from me and walked towards the railing to peek over at the great blue ocean beneath us. "Do you think that this bridge had ever collapsed with anyone on it?"

"I doubt it, they built this thing very secure."

I tried to look through the dense fog, hoping there was at least someone nearby.

"Did you notice that we didn't see or hear anyone since we began crossing the bridge?"

"I was too busy trying to see through this wretched fog to even notice."

I peered down out the railing and looked down on the highway, finding no car in sight.

"And there are no cars on the highway," I muttered myself.

"Maybe it's a holiday today or something," Snivy shrugged.

We continued walking along the barren bridge, hearing nothing but silence. I squinted my eyes as I saw a faint light in front of us.

"What's that?" Snivy questioned as he grew closer to me.

"I don't know," I replied as I saw the faint light getting closer. "Is anyone out there?"

The faint light began to head for us at tremendous speed as sparks began to shower off of it. I focused on it closely and carefully and knew it was a Jolteon dashing towards us with anger in its eyes.

"Oh crap," I muttered. "Move! Move!"

Snivy and I began to run as the Jolteon unleashed a bolt of lightning, barely missing us.

"Use…"

I was struck by a bolt of lightning and dropped to the floor, forcing me to transform into my real form, a Lucario. I grunted in pain and Snivy raced after me, hoping I wasn't too badly injured.

"Vinny!" he exclaimed as he went towards my side.

"I'm fine," I assured, gasping for air. "Get ready to give it all you got."

Snivy began to use Leaf Tornado, trapping the Jolteon in the vortex.

"My turn," I said to myself as I got up and curved my paws together.

I flung my Aurora Sphere at the Jolteon in the leaf tornado, lowering the chances of him going after us.

"Come on!" I ordered Snivy as I began to head towards Castelia City with my clothes and my bag in my arms.

"I don't have long legs like you!" he grumbled as he raced behind.

"We're almost there!" I exclaimed as I saw the tall buildings in the background. "Just a little further!"

The sound of electricity crackling rang my ears as a bolt of lightning struck us violently, forcing us to collapse on the floor with our bodies slightly singed. The Jolteon hissed at us as he headed towards us, his body giving off sparks.

This is it, I thought in my head, we're done for.

Just as the Jolteon was about to give the final strike, an Umbreon and a Leafeon jumped in front of us and slammed against the Jolteon; sending him a few feet away from us. They almost immediately became human and glanced at us as they slowly walked towards us. The Leafeon girl wore a green undershirt and black gym shorts and brushed her dark brown hair with a strip of it dyed green back as she glanced at us with her dark brown eyes. The Umbreon boy, however, looked very familiar to me; his long black hair almost covered his innocent red eyes as he fixed his black undershirt and black bicycle shorts.

"Riley?" I gasped as I slowly got up, shaking off the blow.

"At your service," he gave a cocky grin.

"Everyone thought you were dead!"

"As much as it sounds peaceful resting for eternity, we really need to move."

"I suggest you should change into your human form so you can run faster without getting hunted down so easily," the girl suggested.

"Who are you anyways?"

"I'm his girlfriend, Megan," she shook my paw.

"I'm his best friend, Vinny," I introduced myself, well as a Lucario.

"I really think we should get moving and introduce ourselves later," Riley warned as he looked around his surroundings.

I quickly changed back into my human form, feeling grateful that I was wearing some under clothes. After I shoved my clothes in my bag and slipped it on, the four of us began to run for our lives as we heard nothing but the sound of our breaths through the foggy bridge.

"Vinny," Snivy warned.

"What is it Snivy?" I asked.

"The sky."

All of us looked up, finding a big dark cloud forming around us with lightning getting ready to strike.

"Oh shit," I gasped.

A large lightning bolt struck the wires and the supports, shaking Skyarrow Bridge as it gave a loud moan.

"Go, go, go!" Riley ordered as the wires began to snap and set loose, whipping the ground violently and created sparks.

Then, the ground began to crumble and fell on top of the highway and forced us to tumble on our backs. We quickly scrambled onto our feet and looked around us, finding Skyarrow Bridge getting ready to collapse.

"Jump!"
The four of us headed to the edge as the part above us began to cave in. We stopped at the railing and stared at the ocean below, violent waves as far as the eye could see.

"Maybe jumping is a bad idea," Snivy shivered.

"It's our only option," I told him.

"Ready to jump?" Megan asked.

"Better now than never," Riley replied.

"Now!"

Alice's POV

"Where is everyone?" I asked as we walked around the pier, finding Castelia barren and dead silent.

The clouds above us were as black as the night and brought lightning that could destroy anything it chooses. I looked around, feeling the cold chill on my shoulder and the feeling of being watched.

"Alice, I want you to stay close to me," Cinders warned.

"What's going on Cinders?" I asked him.

He was too busy glaring his surroundings from replying.

"Cinders?"

"A little girl and her Cyndaquil shouldn't be out here all alone."

We turned around and found a girl around Riley's age with creamed colored hair and wore a white dress. Her ember like eyes glowed as she wandered towards us with her bare feet.

"I'm pretty sure that you're Miss Alice Tanner, Riley's little sister."

"You know my brother?" I asked the mysterious girl.

"Your brother and I had some history together. Do you want to see him? I know he misses you something terribly."

"It's a trap Alice," Cinders whispered.

I glanced back at the girl carefully, she grew suspicious.

"What's wrong? Doesn't the little Eevee trust me?"

My heart began race as I slowly back away from her, she's definitely a threat. I bumped into something big and slowly turned around, finding a tall man with short blond hair. His dark blue eyes stalked me as the large scratch mark on the left side of his face and the bite marks on his arms began to produce a faint glow.

"Leaving so soon? We would really appreciate it if you stayed with us a little longer and perhaps talk about our brother," he announced as he grabbed my arm tightly.

"LET ME GO!" I screamed as I tried to pull myself away. "Cinders, use Flamethrower!"

Cinders inhaled deeply and shot a jet of flames at the man with his backs covered in flames. The man held out his hand as if he was giving the signal to stop to the incoming to incoming wicked flames and the flames were suspended in mid air, inches away from us. The man placed in front of the frozen flames and looked at Cinders.

"I really think you shouldn't attack or she'll get hurt."

Cinders stopped and the flames quickly disappeared.

"Let's take you to where you belong."

I bit him on the arm hard, causing him to shout in pain and releasing me from his hold.

"Run!" I ordered Cinders and the both of us began to run for lives.

We quickly ran out the pier and began to run on the empty, big streets. The ice cold air began to whip our faces as our legs burned and ached.

"You're not getting out of here so easily!"

I looked back and found the girl chasing after us as a Ninetails.

"Don't stop Cinders!"

The Ninetails finally caught to me and tackled me, forcing me to tumble on the cold, hard concrete. She dug her claws deep in my arm, making me scream in pain. She gave a mild smirk as blood oozed out of my arm and into the concrete. Cinder grew ready to use Flamethrower when the Ninetails growled at him and exposed her knifelike, sharp teeth.

"Try to do anything and she'll be ripped to pieces."

Cinders watched helplessly as the Ninetails jabbed her claws in my other arm, causing me to scream louder.

"Now for the final step," she said deviously.

Her eyes began to glow as puffs of smoke began coming out of her nostrils. I began to squirm violently, trying to escape from her grasp.

Run. Hide. Predator. Fight. Run.

I curled my fingers and scratched the Ninetails hard in the face, causing her to yelp in pain. I quickly crawled out of her grasp and lured away from her. My arms began to burn and trembled in pain, growing weaker, and huddled close to Cinders.

"YOU STUPID LITTLE BRAT!" the Ninetails snarled as she crept towards me with more puffs of smoke snorting out of her nostrils. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"

Then, a jet of flames appeared before my eyes and formed a wall between me and her.

"Stay away from her Shelby!" a boy threatened as he slowly came out of the shadows.

"Like the pathetic Flareon will protect the small, helpless little Eevee!"

"We'll see about that!"

The boy's body began to shake and transformed into a Flareon before my very eyes. He glanced at me softly and then disappeared in the fire, going after the Ninetails named Shelby.

"Alice! Are you okay sweetie?"

I slowly looked up and found my brother's best friend that stood by him since they first met.

"Lilly!" I squealed and hugged her tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting you out of here."

"Let me wrap up treat those nasty wounds dear," a girl around her twenties told me softly as she pulled out a potion and bandages. "I'm Heidi. What's your name?"

"Alice," I replied as I watched her spraying the potions on the wounds I received from Shelby, "Alice Tanner."

"So you're the famous Alice Tanner. Your brother talks a lot about you."
She wrapped up my wounds with the bandages and the three of us stood up.

"Let's get you out of here."

Lightning began lash around the city, destroying everything in its path.

"We need to go now," Heidi announced.

"What about Gregg?" Lilly asked.

"He'll be fine," Heidi assured. "We need to leave now!"

I picked up Cinders and held him tightly as we began to run.

"Keep going!" Heidi yelled as abandoned cars were destroyed by the bolts of electricity.

"There's a Pokemon Center right there!"

We were almost there, almost in safety, when more lightning hit the roads and remains of gravel, dirt, and mud whipped out faces. I was the first to arrive the doors of the Pokemon Center and tried to open the doors.

"They're locked!" I yelled as I tried to open them once more.

"Alice!" Lilly screamed.

BLAM!

I collapsed to the ground, feeling the blow heavily on the head. Then, the world grew black.

Brooke's POV

We slowly came out of a shed in the alley, knowing that the lightning ambush was over. I slowly glanced around, finding the destruction that the lightning had left behind.

"They definitely did some damage," I announced as we wandered out of the alley.

"I just hope the others are okay," the girl named Trina muttered.

"Wait, weren't Riley and Megan on Skyarrow Bridge?" the boy named Peter asked her.

"Oh god."

The three of us quickly ran towards the road, seeing everything slightly singed. We stopped the second we were able to see what's left Skyarrow Bridge and gasped in shock.

"Riley! Megan!" Trina shrieked and began to race towards the bridge.

Peter held her down, trying to calm her down, and she struggled to break free from the hold.

"Trina calm down," Peter said firmly.

"That fucking bastard killed them!"

"They know how to take care of themselves. They'll be fine."

She slowly looked at him and then stood up.

"Alright then," she said softly after a deep breath, "let's go find the others. If I were Megan and/or Riley, I head towards them."

"Do you guys hear a high pitch noise?" I asked them as I covered my ear, trying to protect my hearing from that awful earsplitting sound.

"I hear it too," Trina announced. "It's coming from your pokeball, Peter."

"My pokeball?"

He quickly pulled it out from his belt and held the sphere in his hands as dark violet sparks shot out and began to vibrate violently.

"What the hell?"

"I think it's coming from yours also," I told Trina.

She quickly pulled out her pokeball and saw the same effect on it like Peter's. Flashes of bright lights nearly blinded us as the pokeballs snapped open, releasing their pokemon.

"Lopunny?" Trina asked as she saw her partner looking around groggily.

"Stravi?" Peter saw his Staravia appear in front of him.

"Ugh, what happened here?" Trina's Lopunny asked as she looked around.

"Long story," Trina told her.

"I think the pokeballs are fried," Peter said briefly as he examined it, "must be from the lightning."

"Why haven't your pokemon came out?" Trina questioned me.

"I'm not even a trainer," I replied.

"Did you guys hear that?" Stravi hushed us. "Someone's nearby."

"Maybe it's the others," Trina said and then wandered around. "Hey guys! We're here!"

"Wait a minute," I whispered to myself as I quickly figured out who it was. "Trina! Come back here! It's a trap!"

"Quit your worrying Shay!" Trina yelled as she continued wandering around.

She spotted a dark shadow heading towards her and followed it.

"Megan?" Trina called out. "Heidi? Lilly?"

Then, she struck. A multicolored beam hit Trina in the back, forcing her to change into a Glaceon.

"Glaceon! Glace!" she shouted in pain.

"Trina!" all of us screamed and ran towards her.

"Where's the attack coming from?" Peter questioned as he looked around.

"Are you okay?" Lopunny asked her fallen partner as she stroked her fur.

"I-I'm fine," Trina assured, "and I'm pretty sure I don't need to be groomed right now."

"Guys watch out!" I warned.

Like Trina, Stravi and Lopunny weren't fast enough to react and collapsed on the ground, trembling in pain.

"Stravi! Lopunny!" Peter yelled.

"Keep it down or she'll find us," I hushed him.

"Who's she?" he asked me.

"Me."

The both of us turned and found a young woman wearing black robes as her curly emerald hair touched her shoulders and her dark green eyes focused on us. Gwen, the third member of Sigma Six. Her eyes quickly changed color and unleashed a multicolored beam, striking the both of us. Peter quickly transformed into a Vaporeon and I became a Zorua, yelping in pain.

"All of you look so adorable in these forms," she gave devilish grin.

"Luna, use Nightshade!"

I looked at the corner of my eye and found an Umbreon with blue rings attacking Gwen. Then, everything became dark and dead silent.