I rubbed my bleary eyes with numb fingers. Where the heck am I? All I remembered of my dream last night was a creature calling for help… I rolled over, the last wisps of my dream faded in my memory. Stretching, I tried to remember where I was.
"Hey! Are you up yet?" Oh. That's where I was. I'm currently at my best friend's house. In Australia. Halfway across the world, at least for me. I live in the US. "Come on! Wake up!" I groaned, and rolled out of bed. I'm here for the summer, because my friend Pierce lives here now. He moved right before school ended, and invited me to spend the summer with him.
"Fine, I'm awake… just let me get ready."
"Ok! Breakfast's almost ready. Mom's making pancakes!" I almost jumped out the door.
"Pancakes? I'll be out in a few seconds!" I ran around my small guest room, throwing on my usual. A pair of jeans, a simple t-shirt, some tennis shoes, and a light jacket. I yanked open the door. "Pancakes! Here I come!" Pierce and I raced down the stairs.
"Hey! Slow down or you'll trip!" his mom called as we jumped into our seats. "What do you plan on doing today?" she asked as we ate delicious pancakes.
"Mmm… these are really good! Oh, and I thought we could go exploring, you know, out in the woods. Around the river." I raised an eyebrow.
"Over the river? And through the woods? To Grandmother's house we go?" Pierce grinned.
"No way." He leaned over and whispered, "There's something I want to show you." I was excited.
"Well then, you better hurry up!"
We were trekking through the Australian landscape. A line of thick trees was in front, maybe a mile away. A clear river ran beside us, with small fish darting around. I wanted to get there as fast as possible, so we were at a slight jog.
"So, what's this whole thing relate to? I mean, this whole place is incredible! What could you possibly show me that's more mind-blowing than this?" I spread my arms wide.
"Well, you'll have to wait and see. I found this right before you showed up, and thought I'd show you before anyone else." I felt a sense of pride that he would trust me over anyone else. Now, don't think that Pierce and I had some kind of relationship. We'd just been friends since we were little, and trusted each other more than anyone else. After a few more minutes, we reached the forest line. There was a well-beaten trail, but we headed a little to the left.
"Wow, that's some cave. What's down there?" Pierce shrugged, a bit embarrassed. I looked at the surprising well-lit cave. "Well, there's only one way to find out!" I jumped into the cave's entrance. Pierce landed lightly beside me, and pulled out a random step-stool. "Umm… random much?"
"I brought it here after I found this place. We'll need a way to get out, right?" Oh.
"Yeah… so, Scout. Do you have a flashlight?" I grinned, and whipped out one of my own. "Ha! Beat you to it! Let's go!" I crouched down, and shimmied my way through a small lip in the cave.
"Wait up!" Pierce came in after me, and we stood up in a large cave. "Wow. Wait. What's that? Over there, on the wall. They look like weird letters." I followed his eyes, wondering what he was seeing. I gasped, and started to shake.
"There's no way… are those? Are they Unknown?" Pierce gave me a worried look.
"What on Earth are you talking about? What are Un-Unknown?" I debated telling him. My addiction was one of the only things I hadn't told him about.
"I know what they are. They're the letters used in the ancient Pokemon world…." Pierce was shocked.
"Pokemon? Are you serious? You still are on that whole bandwagon? Why?" He shook his head. "Never mind, I'll ask you later about that. Anyway, can you actually read it?" I nodded slowly.
"I finished it as soon as we walked in, and I noticed them. They say: A passport is needed to pass into our world. If none is available, a strong bond of two is worthy of passage. I guess, that there's a tunnel that leads somewhere, but you can only get there if you have a passport… Whatever that is. Or, a strong bond between two people will work also…." Pierce pondered the possibilities, and blinked as a slight rumble shook the floor.
"What was that? We should get out. Maybe the roof will collapse…." He turned around, and yelped as he realized a door had appeared and locked us in. I was in a trance, reading the words over and over again. What did they mean? I noticed a faint aura surround Pierce, who also seemed to go into a kind of trance.
They are needed… should we accept them? They will be the first in centuries…. A faint whisper echoed around the cavern.
We are in desperate need. They carry the aura of two close beings. We shall accept them. The voice seemed to answer itself. To you, humans. When we take you, do not be frightened.
You are on your way to an incredible adventure. Do not be frightened. The aura surrounding us brightened, and a pinpoint of light began to glow in the center of the room. In perfect synch, we walked forward, and touched to point of light.
A rush of power flowed through me.
You boy, you are characterized by your fiery passion for your partner. That will be your contribution to our cause. The aura enveloped Pierce, and he was absorbed by the point of light.
You girl, shall be the balance to your partner's fire. You shall be the mediator to the force that will save our doomed world. Do not be afraid. The aura enveloped me, and the warmth of the power became my very being. I was absorbed, and my memory failed after that. I've never been able to remember exactly what happened as I passed through the light, but my memory started again when I hit the ground.
I groaned, and mumbled something that sounded like Pierce. I stood up on shaky legs, and realized I was no longer myself. My four paws were a light tan, with a fluffy white collar of fur around my neck. Large ears twitched at every sound, and I quickly gained my bearings.
"Pierce? Are you- are you there? Hello?" I heard faint rustling to my right, and jumped into stance. How could I do that? I saw a small purple tail twitching above a leaf, and I aimed a Shadow Ball at it.
My shock wasn't nearly as great as the Espeon's that popped up. "Who the? Who are you? Why did you just attack me?" I opened my mouth to respond, but no sound came out. She growled. "Why. Did. You. Attack. Me? Answer!" I couldn't, and instead curled into a ball, overcome with exhaustion. Espeon's expression softened.
"You must be exhausted. I can feel it. How about you come with me? I won't hurt you." Before I could protest, she lifted me up with Psychic. "We'll get you some food, and then you can rest." I blacked out, too tired to do anything.
"That's weird. I found one just like her, he's over there. He passed out just like her, and I had to drag him back here. I wonder if they know each other?" I opened my eyes to find a small campfire burning, with four Pokemon surrounding it. Then I spotted another Pokemon off to the side. I'd know that face anywhere, Pokemon or not.
I stumbled to my feet, and tottered over to the Pokemon. The four Pokemon whipped around, surprised that I was up. I made it to the Flareon. I licked his cheek, and whispered, "Pierce? Is that you? Please wake up…" His eyes snapped open, and he tackled me.
"Julie? Is that you? What are we doing here? All I remember… is that cave…" The others walked up, cautious.
"Do...do you two know each other?" We nodded.
"We- we…" I looked at Pierce. No, Flareon. That sounded right. Much better than Pierce. "We… came here… from a different world…." And we lay down side by side, to tired to stand anymore. That's when I realized that I could hear Pierce. Even though he wasn't talking. Was this the bond that the voices had talked about?
Can… you hear me? Flar-Flareon? In your mind? I watched him nod.
Yeah… this is weird, but I think your name is much better as Eevee, not Julie.
I agree. But, we should really talk to our helpers….
"I don't know any good way to explain this…. Flareon and I, we're from a different world. The human world."