Author's Announcement

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I plan on updating every other Wednesday from now on. Again sorry this is a bit late, I was busy over Winter break with a family trip so I didn't get to write more. Please enjoy the read! Lots of feedback is greatly appreciated, I want to make the story better for you the readers!

Narration

Thoughts

[Telepathy]

"speech"

"pokespeech"

"pokespeech translated"

POV Switch

First Person: Leo

I wake up to a sudden knock on the door, I sit up groggily and look at the clock, four thirty in the morning. I get out of the bed and tidy it up before I head to the door and open it to find a set of clothes set out in front of it, I pick them up and bring them inside the room, closing the door behind me. I set them out on the bed, just a normal pair of jeans, T-shirt, and work boots. I get dressed in the work clothes and walk out if the room to be greeted by another new face.

"Hey there, your name is Leo correct?"

"Yeah, who are you then?"

"The names Tim, I'm the head logger in the village, it's nice to see a new face."

"It's nice to meet you Tim, where are we headed then?"

"Just follow me this way."

I follow him outside the inn and towards the edge of town and to the dence, dark looking forest.

"Okay, so your first task on the job today, Leo, is to head into the forest and cut down old trees for us to take back into town, we want the old trees because they're the biggest and hardest and make good building material for us to sell. Here's an ax and a flashlight, it gets dark in the forest since it has such a dense coverage of leaves, almost blocking out all the sun in there."

"Alright then-"

Being cut off a few children run up to me and stare at me in almost a daze.

"What are those things all over his body?" one of them ask.

"I think my mom calls those scars, she says you get them after scraping your knee real bad," the second one says.

"There's so many of them…" says the third.

"Where did you get them from mister?" says the first one.

"Kids, it's not nice to pester an adult! Get back home!" sternly says Tim.

"Aw man… Alright fine Mr. Tim."

They head back to the village and soon disappear from my sight. I look at my arms to see lines of scars tracing my bones as if I've had surgery. They go off and spread out to each one of my fingers and knuckles.

"...Leo...Where did you get such scars?"

I look down at Tim, "I-I don't know… I can't remember anything before waking up a couple days ago…"

"...Oh, that's unfortunate, I hope your memories come back then…" He looks away solemnly and walks away a few steps, "...Get to work please, we'll see you when you get back then… be safe."

I nod and walk into the opening in the forest, as soon as I walk in I her what sounds like millions of whispers. Quiet, mysterious conversations that I can't make out whatsoever, no matter how hard I concentrate on them. I look back at where I came from to see the the entrance had disappeared, confused I keep walking forward to find a suitable tree to take down. All of the sudden the whispers stop, so do I, dead in my tracks, my heart races and adrenaline kicks in, I look around, no wind, no draft, no sounds but my own heartbeat.

"You're different…"

My heart just about stops itself, a darkness, whispering to me. Dark and terrifying, yet somehow feminine…and….soft….

WHAM! I'm thrown against a tree, my ax flies off in some unknown direction. My body slumps to the ground, pain shooting through my body. I look up to see a dark figure approach me.

"But still weak like the rest I see…. Oh do I love playing with my food, hehehe…"

"...What?!" I try moving away but pain ravages my body and I fall over onto my side with a grunt.

"Mmm, you've trespassed on my territory and as punishment, you'll be my next meal." She smiles hungrily down at me while I try to crawl away. "Hehehe, don't think you're getting away from me that easily," I get picked up by my shirt collar and brought to eye level with the creature which I soon realize is a Zoroark.

"Haha, so you're a Zoroark huh? I've never seen one before," I comment nervously, "Much prettier than described on the pokedex, heheh," I scratch my head nervously.

"That's a nice thing to say and all, but~ flattery ain't gonna get you anywhere kid, hehe you're lunch," she brings her snout to my ear and inhales while I shake both disturbed and nervously.

"...Uh… did you just sniff me?"

"Mhm, for some reason I just couldn't help it. And since you seem to smell nice, I think I won't eat you...hehehe," she whispers into my ear.

I blush from her breath blowing into my ear, "Uh, then what do you plan on doing with me then?"

"Simple… I'm going to come with you to wherever you may go and study you, mister mystery scent. Hehehe…"

"Mystery scent?"

"Yep, but I'm going to stay in this forest until you leave the village," She sets me down on my feet, "The name's Rose, what's yours kid?"

"Leo, as far as I know… I guess it's nice to meet you even though you threw me into a tree?"

"Hehe, I guess I should apologize for that, hmm? I'm sorry for throwing you into a tree, Mister Leo," she slaps me on the back firmly and smiles at me in which I return a nervous grin.

After waving goodbye nervously, I turn to head back to the village and realize I still need to cut down a tree. Where's my ax?! Crap~ I still need to cut down a nice tree for them to come in and drag out! Wham! I cup my face in pain and hunch over. I remove my hands to check if my nose is bleeding, but I guess I was lucky and found no blood. I look up to see my ax wedged in the trunk of a tree. I grasp it and rip it out of the trunk, I start wailing the ax at the base of the tree and soon fell the tree. I wedge my ax hard into the base of the tree as to mark it for them to come a drag it into the village. I head back to the village and meet with the rest of the loggers. I find Tim and walk up to him.

"Hey, I did as you asked sir. The tree is a little ways in there"

"Jeez you've been gone an awfully long time kid, what happened in there? We all heard a big crash."

"...Uh, I…. Really don't want to talk about it, let's just say I had some Pokemon trouble while looking for that tree…"

"Oh, well… sounds like a swell time, I'm glad yer not banged up too bad then. You can be done for the day though, you've been in there for over twelve hours after all-"

"Twelve hours!? What?! I thought I was in there half an hour max…."

"Time travels slower while you're in that forest son, we don't understand why, but it does and we just deal with it…" he looks off in the distance into that forest and a gleam of fear passes through his eyes, "Alright everyone! Swell job today! Head to your homes and stay inside the rest of the night please, tell everyone to not leave their homes tonight! Be safe!"

I walk back to the inn and into my room to find a set of pajamas for me to sleep in, I throw them on and open my window to allow the nie cool breeze in my room and lay myself under the covers and drift asleep for a little while until I feel something touch me. With a jump I sit up straight and look around for what touched me, just to find the same dark figure from earlier…

"Rose? What are you doing here?" I ask nervously, remembering how easily she tossed me in the forest.

"Shhh, someone sent soldiers in the forest to look for me, I need a place to hide for a while until you leave…"

Seeing as how worried she looked, "Y-yeah you can stay with me until then, but please lay low until we leave. Why are they looking for you?"

"They heard I was pulling pranks on this village and they've been looking for Zoroarks for research and experiments…" her voice trails off sadly.

"What's wrong? Did something happen between you and those soldiers?"

"I don't want to talk about it… I'm sorry, but especially since I just met you I don't quite trust you…"

"It's alright, I understand," a thought comes to mind, "on another note… what do we want to do for sleeping arrangements?"

"Hmm, I think I'll just cuddle up right next to you in your arms," she whispers seductively in my ear.

"Wha-What?!" I blush madly as she giggles at me.

"Pahahahahaha! You're so cute when you act like that!" she cups my chin in her hand and looks into my eyes, "Hehe, you're so precious and innocent. I'll sleep in this love seat for the time being until we get out of here." she walks over to the love seat, with what I notice, a sway in her hips and plops down on the small couch. I shape the thought out of my head and cover myself back up under the warm blankets and sleep.

I wake up to a tap on my shoulder and groggily open my eyes.

"Hey, it's time for you to wake up little pup." Rose says while standing above me, "You need to go back to work with those loggers again."

I yawn, "...Yeah, I need to make money in order to leave this place or get supplies," I sit up and get out of bed. I start to undress and then realize that Rose was standing right there, blushing madly I grab my clothes and run to the bathroom to finish getting dressed. I finish getting dressed in my work clothes and walk out of the bathroom to find Rose smirking at me.

"Uh… Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Hehe, why so shy?" she walks in front of me to block my path, "I am just a pokemon after all, why be shy to get dressed around me?"

"Um...Uh…," I run around her and out of the room and down the hallway towards the exit. Whew, that was close…

I walk outside to a pillaged village, houses in tatters and… bodies strewn about everywhere. Being both horrified and confused I look around for the cause to no prevail.

"Rose? What happened while we were asleep?"

"The soldiers must have wiped them all out

"But… quiet enough for us not to hear it? Why? Why would they wipe out an entire village like this?"

"They're looking for something, but it wasn't them… they lost something that they wanted," she looks over to me, "Would they be looking for you? Is that why you're different? Is that why they want you so bad that they'd wipe out an entire village?"

"I… I wouldn't know, I don't remember anything before I woke up a few days ag-" I drop to the ground in pain as my head erupts in fiery pain. I grasp my head in my hands as I lay it against the ground writhing in hellish agony. "Aaaaaahhhh! Why?! Why does it hurt so much?! Aaaah!" Flashes of images pass through my mind…. White… Lab coats…..Metal tables… surgery equipment. Why was I seeing this? Was it part of my past?...All is dark again…. Why does it have to be dark, empty...lonely?

It-It's warm… again…. A gentle breeze and grass rustling… haven't I been here before? I open my eyes and sit up groggily and look around, it was the same place as before…. I look in the bag, everything from before was in it… What happened? Was it just a dream?