A/N: Hiya again. Thank you for everyone who took the time to review, I'm glad you're enjoying this! Hopefully you'll like this next chapter as well as the first. Any Roy fans who may happen to be reading this will probably be happy.

Disclaimer: I own the plot and Kitasha. Oh, and Isorfold too, I suppose. Though I don't honestly want him… Everything else is owned by their respective owners. They know who they are, though I don't know why they'd be reading this…

Chapter Two

"Al, we can't even keep a regular cat, let alone a chimera!" I jolted awake, the loud voice echoing in my ears. I groaned and rolled over, trying to find a more comfortable position. My bed was surprisingly lumpy, but still soft.

"Brother, you're waking it up!" This voice, though close and urgent, was far quieter and more soothing than the first. I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep, but I was content to listen to that voice and just lay with my eyes closed.

"And you know what they'll do if we don't take it in," the nice voice went on. There was a pause before the harsher voice answered.

"…Yeah. I know."

"Please, Brother, at least ask the Colonel." The nice voice said. The first sighed.

"Fine, fine. I will. But knowing him, he'll probably say no anyway." And that was about the time that the fog around my mind lifted, and I realized that the voices that were speaking weren't those of Pokemon. It took me less than a second to put the pieces together. Those voices belonged to humans.

My eyes shot open, and the first thing I saw was a gray head with a spike jutting out of its forehead. It immediately made me think of an Aggron, until I realized it was far too small, in spite of the fact that it was still much bigger than me. I squeaked in surprise and fear. The strange creature looked down at me, its face blank and its eyes a startling red. I quickly tried to scramble to my feet, when a strange jerk knocked me flat again. Somehow, wherever we were seemed to be moving.

"Good job, Al, you scared it," the first voice spoke from my right. I turned my head until I saw the human that was speaking. He was young, as far as I could tell, but old enough to be a trainer, with long, golden hair and matching eyes. His clothes were dark, or what I could see of them was, for he wore a blood-red coat. I was somewhat relieved when I noticed that there were no Pokeballs visible on his belt. He seemed smug, though why, I didn't know.

"I, I didn't mean to!" The second voice, apparently called 'Al', reverberated from behind me, sounding high and distressed. It belonged to the strange creature I'd seen, but that kind voice hardly went with those cold features. I shivered slightly, but relaxed. The fact that I wasn't yet in a Pokeball, despite having been knocked out, was reassuring. At very least, they weren't going to try and capture me without a proper fight.

Instead of worrying over what was going to happen, I tried to get a grip on my bearings. Whatever I was in, it was moving, meaning I was in some kind of human vehicle. It was fairly spacious. The two humans I was with sat on a bench, and surrounding them were more benches, separated by the backs of their seats. Across a narrow aisle were yet more seats. As best I could tell, most of the other benches were empty, and I could just barely hear muted conversation over the sounds of the rumbling vehicle. It was strange, sitting still and yet knowing I was moving. I wasn't entirely sure that I liked it, even if it was effortless.

I turned and settled into my 'bed', which I soon discovered was the lap of the metal thing that was the second human, but covered in a soft blanket. I couldn't understand exactly why the human looked like that, but there was no denying it, with that voice, regardless of how kind it sounded. They had apparently been watching me the whole time I had been assessing my surroundings, and when the metal one looked away, the normal one still continued to stare. I stared back. It was the boy who looked away first.

"I dunno, Al," he said as he looked out the window at the green scenery flashing by. "It's just kinda weird. Those yellow eyes are kinda disconcerting." My gaze at him quickly turned to a glare. My eyes? His were practically the same color!

"Yours aren't much different, Brother," Al replied, sounding almost exasperated. "I know, you just don't want to mess with it. But where will it go if we don't take it? They might just send it to a lab to be dissected, so they can see how it works." It didn't take long to figure out it was me they were talking about. I could take care of myself, thank you! I didn't need humans to look out for me. I didn't like the sound of a lab, and getting 'dissected', whatever that was. Why would they want me in a lab, though? It wasn't like Shinx were rare or anything.

What was going on? How did I end up with these humans? Nothing was making any sense. The last thing I could remember was being pulled through those doors by the shadows. Where had I ended up? Obviously not back in the forest, or else I probably wouldn't still be alive. My mother's cold eyes popped into my head, and I couldn't keep from shivering. I felt something touch my back, and gently stroke my fur. I stiffened, but it was comforting, and I slowly relaxed. Gradually, I could feel my worries drifting away.

"See, Brother? It's not so bad," I heard Al say encouragingly.

"Sure it isn't around you. It's obviously part cat. Cats like you. They don't like me. It'll probably attack me in my sleep or something." He gave me an expectant glance. I glared back.

"See? Now it's glaring at me. It obviously doesn't like me." Al sighed.

"It's just agitated because you said its eyes looked weird, Brother."

"Yeah, right, Al. Like it can understand everything we're saying." My glare intensified. What, did he think I was stupid? I hoped he wasn't a trainer. If he was, I felt sorry for any of his partners.

Before any more could be said, the vehicle came to a screeching stop, nearly knocking me off of Al's lap. I only kept my place by digging in my claws. The two humans seemed completely untroubled by the sudden cease in movement, like they were well used to it.

"Now stopping in East Station…" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the disembodied, albeit bored sounding, voice. My ears twitched as I tried to identify the source, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere, like an echo. Frightened and confused by everything around me, I sank into the blanket, wishing that the world would stop and give me a chance to get off. Too many things were happening at once for me to comprehend, too many new people and things for my mind to grasp. Even so, I had to admit that it was better than home. A lot more confusing, but better.

"Well, this is our stop," the yellow-haired boy said, and stood with a stretch. "Gather up your new friend and let's go, Al. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible."

"Okay, Brother." I felt gentle hands wrap the blanket around me. I've never liked enclosed places, and this blanket wasn't any different. I struggled to at least stick my head out, to see where we were going, and finally, Al consented.

"It won't stay in the blanket," he said, not sounding too worried, to his brother. "Could you…?"

"Gotcha." The other human walked purposefully until he stood right in front of Al, who crouched down with me in his arms. To my surprise, he opened up his chest. I figured out quickly that this metal body was some sort of clothing that humans could put on, or at least, that was what I guessed. Except, well, it was empty.

He placed me gently inside of him while I tried to figure out exactly what he was. Was the metal thing his body? But then, where was the rest of him? He couldn't really be hollow, could he? When I was nestled inside one of his legs, he quickly closed his chest, and semi-darkness descended on me. Then, he stood, with a shifting of metal plates, and stared to walk.

And I had thought the vehicle ride was bad. Being inside someone's leg was decidedly worse. I could tell that Al was trying not to jolt me too much, but it didn't make much of a difference. I was soon glad that I hadn't had anything to eat in a long time. The worst part, though, was the smell. It was hauntingly familiar, mixing with the tangy scent of metal, but from the way the two mingled, I couldn't identify it. Whatever it was, it made me uneasy. The sooner I got out of there, the better.

The walk seemed to last forever, stopping occasionally for who knew what reason. At one point, I think they were even climbing stairs. Finally, though, I heard the squeaking of hinges that indicated a door opening. It was several seconds later that Al finally stepped forward. A voice, human, deep, and self assured, rang out through whatever room we had stepped into.

"Well, Fullmetal, I wasn't expecting you back quite so soon. And without your target in custody, too. Has your lack of height been hindering your mental capabilities, or did you just not notice?" I could practically hear the smirk in the man's voice.

"I wasn't the only one who let him go," Al's brother replied, to my surprise, sounding irate. I had been wondering if maybe the name 'Fullmetal' was some kind of nickname for Al, but was instead his brother's name. It hardly made any sense to me, but I wasn't exactly in a position to question anyone. After all, humans can't even understand Pokemon speech.

"Havoc and your men let him get away," Fullmetal went on. "Though, if that's how you're going to greet me, I guess I won't show you the chimera we found." His comment was followed by silence. I could only guess what they were doing. From the conversation on the train, I had already gathered that I was the 'chimera', though what that really was, or why they were calling me that, I couldn't begin to guess. Nor did I understand why a chimera was so important to them.

"He'd already made it." The resigned comment from the unknown man wasn't a question. A pause followed, probably to give Fullmetal a chance to nod. "Show it to me."

The front of Al's body was opened, and light streamed in. It was natural light, from a window, that much I could tell. A silhouette of Fullmetal stood above me, and reached in to pull me out. I let him without much struggle, though I couldn't help twitching in surprise from the feeling of his gloved hands. One, the left one, was warm and obviously flesh, but the other was impossibly cold, like metal. These humans were strange, very strange.

I was set onto a hard surface, polished wood, dark but real. I dipped my head down and sniffed the top. The scent of the wood was only barely distinguishable from the scent of whatever had been used to make the top so impossibly smooth, but was oddly comforting all the same.

"A… Cat?" I lifted my head at the sound of the other man's, Mustang's, voice, and I got my first good look at him. He was different from Fullmetal, with paler skin and smaller, more slanted eyes, and his short hair was black. The eyes were dark, like black coals, and hard, but I could see compassion there. Maybe not a lot, but it was still there, hidden behind a façade of cold indifference. There was a commanding air about him as well, and I immediately shrank down on the desk into a submissive stance as he continued to scrutinize me.

"That's what we guessed," Fullmetal replied. I didn't glance back at him, my whole attention focused on Mustang. "We don't know what else, though. It's too strange. I've never seen and animal with coloring or a tail like that. It's like some completely new species."

"Yes, it seems that way, doesn't it?" His gaze softened somewhat, his analyzing giving way to careful curiosity and consideration. Fullmetal's comment had made me realize, though, that these people had no idea what I was. As impossible as it seemed, they had never heard of a Shinx. Then again, it was true that we were only plentiful in Sinnoh. Could I be in another region completely? But how had I gotten there so quickly?

Something else bothered me, as well. Fullmetal hadn't called me a Pokemon. He called me an animal, and a chimera, though neither word made any sense to me. Could it be possible that these humans had never heard of Pokemon, either? But there were Pokemon everywhere! The only way they could not have heard of us would be if…

If I was in another world.

No, that couldn't be it. That was too crazy. Even with the doors, and the weird lightning, and waking up with the two human boys, it just couldn't be possible. Couldn't. I was just in another region, that was all. One where they'd never even heard of a Shinx.

"You know something." Fullmetal's accusation jolted me out of my own thoughts. Glancing back at him, I saw that he was glaring heatedly at Mustang. "Tell me."

"And what makes you think you need to know?" The older human replied coolly, though with a hint of a warning tone.

"Dammit, Mustang, it's my mission! I need to know!" Fullmetal yelled back. His right hand slammed down on the desk, hard, and I felt like I jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Brother!" In the whole proceedings, this was the first time Al spoke. The suit of armor rushed forward and grabbed me off the desk, cradling me in his arms. "You scared the chimera!" At his brother's urging, Fullmetal calmed down somewhat, but he still glared at Mustang.

"Point taken," the older man replied calmly. Leaning both elbows on the desk, he looked out at us over steepled fingers. "The main reason Isorfold was rejected the title of State Alchemist was not because he was not talented. In fact, he was very good, an expert in using alchemy for transportation. That branch of alchemy is nearly as dangerous as human transmutation, because so many things can go wrong during the transfer, but he managed to perfect it. He can travel to anywhere he wants in no time, using nothing but a pair of transmutation circles." I listened, but didn't understand a word of what he said. Alchemy, transmutation… It sounded like a bunch of gibberish.

"No, the reason he was rejected," Mustang continued, "was because he was deemed mentally unstable. He talked of another world, beyond a Gate, where unimaginable creatures could be brought from, if you could figure out the right way to do it. Of course, no one believed a word he'd said."

"No…" Fullmetal said, nodding thoughtfully. "But we know there's a Gate. Al and I saw it. So, what if the rest of it was right? He finally succeeded in bringing a creature over, and it was this little cat." I felt three pairs of eyes drift to me as I laid in Al's arms.

"Maybe not completely right, then," Mustang said. "They were supposed to have strange powers. Has it exhibited any?"

"No," Fullmetal replied. "At least, not in the time we had it."

"Then maybe they're harmless. Or, at least, as harmless as our world's equivalents," Mustang concluded. "In any case, I want you two to keep your eyes on this thing for now. If it does have any unusual talents, we don't want it getting in the wrong hands."

"What?!" Fullmetal whirled on the older man. "You can't be serious! We don't have time to take care of—"

"That's an order, Fullmetal," Mustang cut in, a smirk beginning on his lips. "Unless you'd like to be court marshaled instead?" Fullmetal stared him down.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Do you really think so?" The staring match went on for several seconds, until Fullmetal finally looked away.

"Fine."

"Good." Mustang sat back in his seat, picking up a long, slender object off his desk, which he then proceeded to use to write on a white sheet of paper. "It seems to like your brother already, in any case."

"Of course it does," Fullmetal growled under his breath, turning to leave with Al, holding me, not far behind. "It's a cat. Cats love Al."

"I expect you to track down Isorfold as well," Mustang continued as we left. "No doubt he is bringing over more creatures. We need to round them up before he starts something." Fullmetal just acted like he didn't hear him and shut the door behind him.

"Stupid Mustang," he muttered under his breath once we were out of earshot. "Dropping me with his dirty work. Leaving me to take care of the chimera…"

"Oh, c'mon, Brother," Al said happily. "It won't be that bad!"

"You're just happy because you finally got a pet," Fullmetal replied, not looking back. "Even if it is some weird animal from another world."