[CHAPTER 2: Follow Through]

I don't know what I was expecting when I woke up. Maybe I just wasn't expecting anything and the fact that I was experiencing anything at all was the largest surprise. However, before I could appreciate the fact I was still somehow alive, I was hit with the first wave of pain. I let out a startled gasp, not expecting such a sharp reminder of the fight so quickly. My sudden noise elicited another from someone who had been in the room with me.

"Doctor, he's awake!" I heard someone yell, causing my ears to ring painfully. Every nerve in my body felt like it had been removed by someone with sledgehammers for hands, burnt to a crisp, and then placed back in my body in the completely wrong order.

"Mr. Abe, can you understand me?" an older voice asked. I tried opening my eyes for the first time since waking up before the burning light made me shut them again. While the man wasn't yelling, his voice still left a loud ringing in my ears.

"Yes," I whispered out hoarsely, the simple action of speaking making my throat burn and my jaw ache. "Where am I?" I asked over the complaints of my body, trying to open my eyes only for my retinas to begin to burn in the white light of the room yet again.

"You're in a medical room here at the lab," the older voice said as the lights in the room dimmed a bit. I was finally able to make out the outline of a man near the light dimmer on the wall. I tried to give him an appreciative nod, but even that caused me to let out another hiss of pain.

"Try to relax," the man said as he walked up to the side of my bed. "It looks like you're still in a great deal of pain."

"Yeah," I muttered in spite of myself, hearing the older man chuckle slightly to himself. "Where's Yovana? Did she escape?" I raspily asked, starting to get used to the constant thrumming of pain coursing through my body. I looked up at the man who had a concerned scowl on his face that didn't sit well with me.

"Whoever Yovana really was, she was a professional. The surveillance for the entire night was wiped. All the records she had, all the research, gone. And, of course, the eevee…" the man had the sense to look away as I felt my anger and grief return. But even through my pain and grief, a moment of clear thinking came over me.

"… Hibiki…"

"What's that?" the older doctor beside me questioned, not quite hearing the murmured name.

"The eevee child, Hibiki," I repeated, starting to move despite the massive pain I felt with each movement.

"Shinen, you really shouldn't be-"

"Where is Hibiki?" I asked urgently as I swung my feet out of the bed and began to remove the needles and adhesive pads attached to me. My brain was screaming at me to stop moving and even the doctor looked like he was getting ready to take drastic measures, but I wasn't going to be stopped until I was sure the single remaining eevee at our lab was safe. I growled in pain as I began to stagger towards the door, hearing the doctor call for help behind me as I pushed past the nurse who I assumed had shouted when I first woke up.

Once I was in the hallway, I easily recognized where I was and began to make my way towards the nearest Hab entrance. I heard some shouts from behind me, but ignored them as I quickly ran up to a door and entered the PIN for entry. Once I was inside the space, I quickly began running towards where the fight had occurred. The morning light was harsher on my eyes than I ever remembered it being, but I couldn't find myself caring as I stumbled into the burnt clearing. The bodies from last night were gone, but there were still dark stains on the burnt and charred ground. The pain that I had been starving off finally came crashing back, forcing me to fall to my knees and suck in shallow, painful breaths.

I felt a small trickle on my leg and looked down to see red blood coming from the freshly opened wound I had received last night. How much of it was actually my blood now? A slight rustling caught my muddled attention from not too far off. Near the spot the silver haired eevee had jumped out from last night, I was just able to make out some brown fur hidden in the lightly charred grass.

"Hibiki?" I breathed out lightly, not sure if I was actually seeing what I thought I saw, or if the sunlight that was entirely too bright was starting to get to me. There was another rustling noise as the brown figure hidden in the burnt green grass moved slightly. I winced silently as I got back up and slowly walked towards what I hoped and prayed was Hibiki's hiding spot. As I drew closer, I tried to get lower despite the pain, both so I could see better, but more importantly, so I wouldn't be as intimidating to any small pokemon that may be hiding. "Hibiki?" I gently called again, this time positive I wasn't imagining the small eevee hiding in the grass.

The small brown pokemon gave an even smaller cry as it recognized me and bounded towards me. I quickly scooped up the small eevee and held them close, feeling no small amount of stress and worry leave me at knowing Hibiki was alright.

"Shin?" a female voice called out, breaking me out of my protective cradling of Hibiki. I looked up and saw Alyssa standing at the edge of the burnt clearing with some of our security right behind her. "Is that the survivor?" my fellow caretaker asked, pointing at the slightly frightened eevee in my grasp. I nodded before replying.

"Hibiki," I said as calmly as I could. "Her name is Hibiki."

"Is she going to be alright?" Alyssa asked, taking a step closer. I felt the eevee shift nervously in my arms.

"She's scared right now," I quickly said, making Alyssa stop her advance. "She's going to need some time with individuals she trusts, to let her know that things are going to be okay." I gently began to pet the eevee who was still shifting nervously in my arms but calmed down with each stroke I gave.

"You still need to be checked over by the doctor," Alyssa said, glancing over her shoulder and receiving an affirming nod from the nurse who had been in the room with the doctor and I moments ago. My female co-worker took another glance at me before turning back to the nurse. "Can the eevee come with him?"

The nurse looked affronted by the question at first and seemed to have a sharp negative response on the tip of her tongue before she looked at the small, scared pokemon in my arms. Her retort seemed to die on her lips and after a moment, she gave Alyssa a somewhat hesitant nod.

"Is that okay with you, Shin?" Alyssa asked softly, not coming any closer. I gave a silent nod and without stopping my stroking of Hibiki, stood up and made my way back to the medical room I had ran out of. Every step was still painful and I could feel the trickle of blood on my leg eventually make its way to my foot, leaving bloody prints on the tiled floors. But I didn't let any of it interrupt my attempts at soothing Hibiki who didn't make any attempt to leave my arms.

Back inside the examination room, the doctor performed his tests as quietly and quickly as he could, being mindful of the still frightened eevee I held. He quickly tended to the wound on my leg that had opened back up and gave me some pain-killers that I readily took. After he was done, he took a step back and gave a light sigh before sporting a small smile.

"Well, normally I'd say that you should stay in bed for the next couple of days and take it easy, but seeing as you've already demonstrated both the will and ability to move around, I think you'll be set to go home by the end of the day. Of course, I'm still going to tell you to take it easy and put you on some medical leave for the next couple of weeks, but other than your broken ribs and the wounds on your thigh and arm, you seem to be okay."

"What about the serum?" I asked concernedly. The broken ribs and flesh wounds on my arm and leg were indeed painful, but the constant pain I was feeling with each beat of my heart certainly wasn't caused by them.

"Serum?" the doctor parroted with a confused scowl. "What serum?"

"Last night, Yovana injected me with some kind of serum she got from the silver eevee's blood," I told the doctor as his scowl deepened. "She stuck me with some kind of injector right on my neck," I said, bowing my head so the doctor could look. The man made his way over to me, but after a few moments of looking and gently moving my hair and medical gown, stepped back with a small sigh.

"I don't see any needle marks," the man began, looking at me closely. "And the last I checked, Yumi and Moeru only had one child and she's here with us right now." I felt some worry start to creep its way into my pained heart and apparently Hibiki could sense it too as she began to fidget in my hands. I quickly pushed the worry away and redoubled my efforts at comforting the young eevee.

"But their body," I began, thinking back to the night with no small amount of sadness. "It was lying at the base of the tree…" The doctor gave a heavy sigh before walking up to me and gently laying his hand on my shoulder, mindful to not cause me any pain.

"Shin, only Yumi and Moeru were out there near you when we found you last night."

"But-" I tried before the doctor cut me off.

"Sometimes, when people go through a traumatic experience," he began, "they… see things that didn't happen. They try to make sense of a horrible, terrible thing-"

"But it happened!" I defended, feeling Hibiki start in my hands at my sudden declaration. I mentally slapped myself and tried comforting the eevee again. "I know what I saw," I said much more calmly and quietly. The doctor gave another sigh.

"Look, there isn't anything to back you up. I'm not going to argue the point, but right now, it seems highly unlikely that Yovana injected you with anything nefarious. Even if she did, pokemon blood shouldn't be too much of a threat to a healthy individual such as yourself, especially if it was a pokemon as… well, for lack of a better word, normal, as an eevee." I didn't look up at the man as I continued to look down at Hibiki who was just now beginning to close her eyes and nod off to sleep.

"How about this," the doctor said after a pause. "We'll do blood tests every day until you're fit to start working again? On the off chance she did inject you with something, we'll be able to notice it and get you any medical attention you may need. Sound good?" I knew the man still doubted I had been injected with anything, and I knew I couldn't really blame him for thinking so, but I knew what I saw had been real. I gave the doctor a silent nod as I continued to stroke Hibiki who was now asleep in my arms.

"Alright then," the doctor said quietly, respecting Hibiki's slumber. "I'll be in my office if you need anything, but otherwise, you're cleared to go home. The nurse will be in with your clothes and other items shortly." I nodded my understanding before the man left, leaving the room with just me and the eevee in my arms its sole occupants.

What had been done with the silver eevee's body? Had Yovana taken it? What else had she done before I had been found? Why wasn't I dead? I shook my head at all the thoughts running through it. For now, I would just be thankful for the few weeks I would get off of work and the fact that both I and Hibiki were still alive. It wasn't long before the nurse walked in with a change of clothes that had been in my locker and left.

I gently placed Hibiki on the examination bed before quickly changing into my spare clothes, glad to be out of the drafty medical gown. As I made all the necessary movements to undress and dress my self, I felt each and everyone of my muscles complain over the dulling effect the pain-killer was trying to have. Once I completed my slow changing, a thought came to me as I looked over at the sleeping eevee. Where would she stay while I was recovering? Hibiki no longer had any parents and with some psycho lady hunting for her and me, just leaving her alone and defenseless in the Hab didn't sit right with me.

Then, I thought of the one person, or perhaps pokemon, in the Hab who I wouldn't ever call defenseless.

Being careful not to wake up the sleeping eevee, I scooped her up and made my way into the Hab once again, noticing that the halls had already been cleaned of my bloody footprints. Once I entered the Hab, I made my way towards where a large tree had once stood, knowing I would most likely find my query near the massive stump. As expected, pacing around the large stump was Karie, seemingly deep in thought about something. So deep in fact, she didn't seem to notice my approach until I stepped on a fallen branch that cracked under my weight. The absol immediately looked up and upon recognizing me, made what I assumed to be a happy cry. The sudden noise was enough to wake the sleeping Hibiki who tiredly observed our surroundings.

As Karie approached, she seemed to notice the eevee in my arms and stopped short of me by a meter as I began to crouch down and gently place Hibiki on the ground.

"Hibiki, this is Karie," I began, looking first at the eevee and then at the absol behind her. "She's a strong and loyal friend who will make sure you stay safe while I'm gone," I continued. "Won't you Karie?" I asked, looking pointedly at the absol who came over and experimentally sniffed the eevee who looked a little intimidated. "Don't worry, she's really a big push-over," I whispered to Hibiki, earning a light smack from Karie's scythe-like horn. The eevee tentatively sniffed at one of Karie's comparatively large paws before turning back to face me with what I would call a worried expression.

"You'll be fine," I said encouragingly, though deep down, I was still extremely worried about the eevee. "Karie is going to make sure you're safe, and I'll come to visit every day, I promise," I said as I reached out to stroke the eevee's head. "And you," I started as I reached out with my other hand and gave Karie a few pats as well. "You make sure she is safe. From everyone. Okay?" The absol sharpened her eyes and gave a resolute nod. "Good." I stood up, still wincing slightly as another wave of pain managed to overcome the pain-killers I hadn't taken more than an hour ago.

"Be good you two," I said as I looked down at the two pokemon. "I'll be back tomorrow." With that, I began to walk back towards the exit of the Hab, glancing back only once to see that both pokemon were still watching me walk off.

"They'll be fine," I told myself as I came to the door of my home. "They'll be fine." I pulled out my keys and undid the lock of my door. As soon as my foot entered the house, a worried 'Kin' came from a nearby room before Kogeta rocketed into the entryway to greet me.

"Hey there Kogeta," I said as I shut the door behind me and crouched down to give the fennekin the attention it hadn't received in my absence. "I'm sorry I wasn't here last night," I apologized as the pokemon tried to meld its self into my hands and legs. "I'll be making up for it over the next couple of weeks though, so settle down." Kogeta gave me a somewhat reproachful stare before following me into the kitchen where I gave her a larger than normal serving of food. I wasn't too hungry myself and headed for my bathroom to get ready for an early rest.

I was nearly done with my routine for going to sleep before something in my reflection caught my eye.

All my life, I had plain brown eyes, unimpressive in every way. The most normal, boring shade of brown you can imagine, not even a fleck of uniqueness in them. So when I noticed them a nearly iridescent amber color, I forgot about the pain that was once again beginning to course through my body like blood. Blood that wasn't completely mine. As if suddenly noticing the change had flipped a switch, I began smelling a plethora of smells I had never noticed before. The stale oder of milk that had begun to go bad in the kitchen sink from when I had last had breakfast two days ago. The large pile of unwashed clothes lying in the laundry room. A strange smokey, campfire smell that seemed to hang in the air.

The large array of smells was overwhelming me and making the mounting headache that had been slowly building suddenly reach a critical point. I grunted in pain and winced my eyes shut, opening them a moment later to look back in the mirror. Normal, unimpressive eyes stared back. The strange smells in my house were now gone. Suddenly, my nose began to bleed so I quickly reached for a tissue and made my way towards my bedroom.

"What the hell is happening to me?" I asked myself as I dabbed at my nose as I walked into my bedroom, turning off all the lights as they were making my head pound. My nose slowly stopped bleeding just as I put myself to bed, the dull pain wreaking my body lessening just enough for me to fall asleep.


Before I was even fully awake, I knew something was wrong.

Or different.

Weird.

Definitely weird.

I knew I could get into some pretty strange positions when I slept, having had to apologize to Kogeta some mornings for my fitful sleep pushing her from the foot of my bed. But this felt even stranger than that. I tried opening my eyes, but somehow the blanket had managed to come up over my head and all that greeted me was darkness. Strangely, the pulsing pain I had been dealing with from before was gone, but in it's place was something almost equally disturbing. Every movement my arms or legs made seemed… off. My fingers didn't seem to be working quite right, and even my ears felt strange as I moved my head around to try and find the exit to my sheet prison. As I slowly made my way towards what I hoped was the head of the bed, I even began to feel a strange sensation come beyond where my spine should've ended…

Without meaning to, I felt myself begin to panic, the fact that I still couldn't see anything due to the covers blocking out my vision making my attempt to escape the clutches of my bed a little more desperate. Since when had it been this big anyways?

Finally, my head escaped the confines of my expansive sea of sheets, answering some of my burning questions, but raising too many more in their place.

The first thing I noticed was that my bed was definitely larger now than it had been when I fell asleep. Then I noticed my hands were covered in black, short fur. And they weren't hands any more. I felt my ears go flat against my head as they involuntarily reacted to my shock and mounting panic, causing my shock and panic to increase even more. My ears shouldn't be moving this much!

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" someone yelled from behind me, causing my ears to yet again instinctively flick away from the sound. I quickly tried removing the rest of my body from the cloth ensnarement I had woken up in before turning to face one very riled up fennekin.

"Kogeta?" I asked, astonished to hear something other than a friendly 'kin' come from her.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" Kogeta shouted at me, her eyes seeming to go even wider in anger and shock. "WHERE IS SHIN?! SHIN! SHIN! INTRUDER! SHIN!"

"Kogeta! Calm down! It's me!" I pleaded, looking around slightly worried someone may actually come to investigate what was going on. My pleads went unheeded though and seemed to only stoke Kogeta's flame, literally. I was beginning to feel an unnatural warmth radiate from Kogeta as she continued to yell at me.

"IT'S WHO?! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH SHIN?!" Kogeta asked me, beginning to march up to me despite her still being smaller than me. "DID YOU EAT HIM?! DID YOU EAT MY HUMAN?!"

"Eat him?" I asked, confused how Kogeta had managed to get to that. "No! Look, Kogeta, it's me! I'm Shin!"

"…" Kogeta looked like she was about to go off on another shouting rant but paused in her intake of breath to actually look over me. "Don't move," the fennekin quickly commanded before cautiously inching closer, keeping her eyes trained on mine for any hint of movement. Once she got closer, she began taking small sniffs of the air around me, pausing after a couple of breaths. She pulled back a little and scowled hard at me before taking another sniff to be sure.

"Satisfied?" I asked hopefully, watching intently as Kogeta stepped away from me again.

"Prove it," the fire type demanded, giving me a hard look. "Prove you're him."

"Then what was the sniffin-"

"Just because you smell like him doesn't mean you're him!" Kogeta quickly responded cutting me off and springing back to an attacking stance. "You could have… rolled in his clothes… or… something..." she trailed off, adverting her gaze somewhat.

"Why would anyon-"

"JUST PROVE IT!" Kogeta yelled pointedly, not quite managing to meet my eyes despite her ferocity.

"Your favorite human food are pickles!" I shouted back, causing Kogeta's eyes to widen in surprise and her tail to drop in shock.

"How did you…?"

"Your previous owner was Hanae. You refuse to eat the pink Poke Puffs. It never takes longer than ten seconds for you to greet me when I come home. Happy?" Kogeta was silent for a few moments looking me up and down.

"Shin?" she finally asked, speaking to me in a normal voice for the first time since I could understand her. "But… How?" Kogeta asked as she began to come closer again, looking over my body.

"I don't know," I replied, looking over myself for the first time as well. My whole body was covered in midnight black "So what now?" Kogeta finally after a while. "What's your next move?"

"I don't know," I replied, just now beginning to think about what I was going to do. Somehow, I had been turned into a pokemon, probably at the hands of some nefarious organization that even now was actively looking for me to either take in for research or kill on the spot, and there was no clear way of returning to the life I had lived before. I didn't even have a house to sleep in at the moment.

"Well, is there any place we can stay while you figure it out?" Kogeta asked, sounding a little upset that I didn't have my life more together. "I don't think either of us are particularly battle proficient and I'm not too comfortable walking into the woods without some kind of insurance against being attacked by some feral forest-dwelling pokemon."

The first place that popped into mind was probably the last place Kogeta would want to go after hearing my story, but it was the only place I knew there would be individuals who might be willing to help me.

As I expected, Kogeta was initially very opposed to going to the lab. Who wouldn't be after hearing that three, nearly four deaths occurred there in the last 48 hours. But, after I reasoned that there would be plenty of hiding spots, pokemon that would be friendly and helpful to me, and perhaps most importantly for Kogeta, a climate controlled environment, she reluctantly agreed that the Hab was the best place to get ourselves figured out. However, even as we began to walk towards the lab, I tried to figure out what I should do.

I was sure that whatever organization Yovana was part would continue to hunt for and perform experiments on eevee and eeveeloutions, and seeing as I was part of that group now, it would probably be prudent to figure out how to expose the group to some kind of enforcement agency. Maybe while I was at the Hab, I could try and find out what I could about what Yovana had been up to while she was there. There had to be something she left, something she overlooked when she decided to make her move. After all it wasn't just me who had been wronged by her. Yumi, Moeru, Hibiki and her sibling had all suffered at her hands, so if I wasn't going to do it for myself, I would at least try to do right by them. fur, interrupted by occasional bands and circles of muted blue. I spotted my tail and once again became aware of the strange appendages presence. As Kogeta and I were looking over myself, a sudden shattering noise came from the kitchen, both of our ears flinching at the noise.

"What was that?" we asked each other simultaneously, turning towards where the sound had come from before quickly glancing back at each other. Our attention was once again pulled back towards the door of my room as we picked up hushed voices coming from outside the room. I suddenly remembered what Yovana had told me before leaving me to die.

"I'll be sure to keep my eye on the papers to see if your obituary shows up. Expect a visit if it doesn't."

"We need to get out of here," I whispered to Kogeta urgently, my eyes now darting around the room for an escape that didn't involve going through the door the noises were coming from. Picking up on the need to be quiet, Kogeta nodded her understanding before locking her eyes on the window of my bedroom. I followed her gaze and saw the curtains fluttering slightly from the outdoor breeze. Understanding she intended for us to get out of the house through the window, I quickly followed her lead as she nimbly leapt from the bed and towards the window. I, however, was unused to having to land on four legs.

"What was that?" a voice asked from beyond my bedroom door after I had landed about as gracefully as a hastily thrown sack of potatoes.

"Well, I didn't see you dropping anything else, so it was probably someone else in this house," another voice murmured. Both seemed to be closer than they had been just moments before and instead of running towards the window in my panic, I quickly scuttled under the bed. Just as soon as my new body was enveloped by the shadow of the bed, two pairs of feet came into view from the doorway. I anxiously looked back towards where the window was, but other than the fluttering curtains, there wasn't any movement. I hoped that meant that Kogeta had already gotten out of the room.

"Look, the window!" one of the voices said, to the other, both sets of feet walking towards the opening. "You think he got out?"

"If he did, it's because you went and gave us away with your carelessness," the other voice replied, followed by a light smack and a swift cry of pain from the other person.

"Now what?" the first voice asked, worry lacing their tone.

"We make sure we cover our tracks and keep an eye on the places he's likely to visit," replied the other voice. "You get this room, I'll do the others." One set of feet began to walk towards the bedroom door again before they suddenly halted.

"What is-"

"Shh!" the other voice suddenly hushed.

"What is it?" the voice that had been interrupted asked again, whispering now.

Suddenly, without warning, the pair of feet next to the door moved and the person they belonged to was suddenly on the floor with their face peering into the shadows I was hiding in. I froze in fear and surprise, unable to do anything but stare back at the face that seemed to be looking right through me. The person had a pale face that would've been flawless if it wasn't for the long, uninterrupted scratch that ran from his right eyebrow down to his left cheek. His piercing green eyes didn't move for a heart stopping moment as he stared me down but after another breathless moment, the man grunted in frustration and got back up.

"Nothing," the man finally replied. "I thought I heard something moving under there, but I didn't see anything. Anyways, keep an eye out. Other agents reported he lived with a fennekin."

"Oh, so that's why we're burning it," the other person replied. "I was wondering about that…"

"Don't. It's not part of your job to think. Now, get a move on before he gets help." The feet next to the door finally left and I allowed myself to breathe again. Why hadn't he seen me? Before I could wonder about that question much more, a noxious smell suddenly began to fill my nose accompanied by some sloshing noise. I glanced at the other pair of feet and saw a liquid pooling near them that was giving off the overpowering scent.

In some far off part of my memories, I remembered the same smell from when I had visited a harbor a ways away from where I lived. Near the docks where some people were refueling their boats, the same smell had wafted from the pumps. I remembered someone nearby being yelled at for training with their fire type near the fuel as it was very flammable and dangerous. Suddenly, everything began to click.

I tried moving as sneakily as I could towards the door while still remaining under the bed, a task complicated by my new physiology that I had no idea how to operate normally, let alone quietly. Luckily, the person who was dousing my room in fuel was making enough noise to muffle out my clumsy attempts at moving around in darkness unnoticed. Once I was at the edge of the bed, I quickly peeked to make sure the man in my room was still occupied, and upon seeing his attention on one of my Employee of the Month awards that was shiny enough to distract him, I quickly darted out of the room and into the hallway. I decided to try and head towards the back door, hoping the small flap door I had installed a couple of months ago for Kogeta would be large enough for me to get out without attracting attention.

As I tried moving through the house as fast as I could manage on my new legs, I kept a look out for the other man. I was beginning to think I wouldn't have to deal with him when I suddenly spotted him in between me and my exit, dousing the walls and floor all around him in fuel. It was almost as if he were dancing to some unheard song while he sloshed the liquid out of the container he was using, the corners of his mouth pulled up just enough to make me think he was enjoying what he was doing. Seeming to feel the eyes watching him, the man spun around before I had a chance to react and smiled a feral grin.

"Well, an umbreon, huh?" the man said as he quickly tossed the fuel canister to the side and began grabbing towards his waist. I recognized the motion enough from the previous night to begin to move before whatever the man was grabbing for could be pulled out. I dodged into my living room and hid on the other side of my couch, my ears flush against my back and my tail sticking as close to my body as possible.

"There wasn't any mention about an umbreon at all," the man called out as he entered the room with me. I couldn't see the man directly, but his shadow was visible on the opposite wall of the room, the moonlight streaming into the room enough to back light him. "I imagine they'll pay a little extra for a side extermination…" the man said lowly as he began to search around the room. I carefully watched his shadow and prepared my exit, waiting for the right moment. Just when I was about to make a break for it, the man suddenly yelled out in pain.

"Sylus?!" the man I had left in my room called out upon hearing the pained yell. "What happened?"

"The damn fennekin bit me!" the man replied, now searching around for who I assumed was Kogeta. I frantically joined him in his search, hoping to spot her before the weapon wielding man did.

"Shin," Kogeta suddenly whispered from right beside me, nearly making me yelp in fear and surprise. I looked over at her and noticed her limping slightly, but otherwise uninjured. "Let's go before they find us," she encouraged, nodding her head towards where I had tried exiting earlier. The two of us quickly ran towards the exit. I found it easier to keep up with Kogeta now that she was limping, but realized that I would soon have to either get used to walking on four legs or figure out how to get my old form back. I didn't spare a glance behind us as Kogeta and I ran through her small door. We didn't dawdle next to the house and quickly ran towards the small woods near by, watching from the shadows of some low hanging trees. It wasn't long before there was a bright flash inside the house before two figures quickly retreated from the burning building.

"What the hell happened yesterday!" Kogeta finally asked after watching my house burn for a few moments. "You come home from work after two days of being gone and suddenly you've turned into an umbreon and people are showing up trying to kill you, and when they can't do that, burn down our house!" I winced a little at hearing the last 48 hours being summed up so scathingly.

"I have just about as much of an idea as you do as to why those people were trying to kill us," I replied defensively, trying to wrap my head around everything that was happening.

"How'd you know they were after us then?" Kogeta challenged. "Back in the bedroom, you said we had to get out of there after you got that far off look." I sighed heavily realizing that the night was just beginning and right now, there wasn't much of an option for me to do anything other than explain what the last 48 hours had truly been like to Kogeta. The fennekin quickly lost her angry scowl as I told her about the fates of Yumi and Moeru and their silver haired child. As soon as I finished filling her in, she got a faraway look in her eyes and turned to watch as my house continued its blaze. Somewhere in the distance I could hear some emergency sirens as people began to notice the smoke and flames that were growing out of control.

"So what now?" Kogeta finally asked after a while. "What's your next move?"

"I don't know," I replied, just now beginning to think about what I was going to do. Somehow, I had been turned into a pokemon, probably at the hands of some nefarious organization that even now was actively looking for me to either take in for research or kill on the spot, and there was no clear way of returning to the life I had lived before. I didn't even have a house to sleep in at the moment.

"Well, is there any place we can stay while you figure it out?" Kogeta asked, sounding a little upset that I didn't have my life more together. "I don't think either of us are particularly battle proficient and I'm not too comfortable walking into the woods without some kind of insurance against being attacked by some feral forest-dwelling pokemon."

The first place that popped into mind was probably the last place Kogeta would want to go after hearing my story, but it was the only place I knew there would be individuals who might be willing to help me.

As I expected, Kogeta was initially very opposed to going to the lab. Who wouldn't be after hearing that three, nearly four deaths occurred there in the last 48 hours. But, after I reasoned that there would be plenty of hiding spots, pokemon that would be friendly and helpful to me, and perhaps most importantly for Kogeta, a climate controlled environment, she reluctantly agreed that the Hab was the best place to get ourselves figured out. However, even as we began to walk towards the lab, I tried to figure out what I should do.

I was sure that whatever organization Yovana was part of would continue to hunt for and perform experiments on eevee and eeveeloutions, and seeing as I was part of that group now, it would probably be prudent to figure out how to expose the group to some kind of enforcement agency. Maybe while I was at the Hab, I could try and find out what I could about what Yovana had been up to while she was there. There had to be something she left, something she overlooked when she decided to make her move. After all it wasn't just me who had been wronged by her. Yumi, Moeru, Hibiki and her sibling had all suffered at her hands, so if I wasn't going to do it for myself, I would at least try to do right by them.