Um... I have this rule for myself, that if a chapter has less than 1,000 words, it needs another one to make it better. Of course, that rule is going to ruin me some day... but until that day, it's a rule! Onward, my peeps!

Lunaria

With Rosebud and Flare following me, I step out of the center and into the bright sunset. The sky is pink. I hate pink. Purple and black. Nothing else. That's why I love Rosebud's roses so much. SO… FREAKING… AMAZING! I've never had a shiny before. I wonder if that's what's in Romeria's PC. It's become almost a legend, like John Henry's Hammer or The Holy Grail. Somebody's already hacked into Juliana's PC and has taken everything, even her shiny Panpour. Juliana sent me messages saying that he was absolutely evil. Apparently, he had somehow set Romeria's pants on fire, forcing her to buy a new pair. I never got a description of those pants, but then Juliana had also said that Romeria's fashion sense was also pretty nutty.

Suddenly, a Vibrava barrels into me and I tumble into a bush, but the Vibrava doesn't care about me, and she leaps at Rosebud's face. Rosebud shrieks, "What the heck?"

Flare leaps, and yells, "Get away from her!"

The Vibrava looks hurt, "You don't remember me?" she whines.

"Oh, crud," Flare curses, using Curse at the same time.

Rosebud looks like she's about to choke, "Arielle?"

"Arielle," she confirms.

"Arielle!" someone shrieks, "GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" followed by a long string of less-than-complimenting names.

"July?" I laugh when I recognize the voice, "Where have you been?"

My friend's face appears from around a curve in the road, "Oh hey, Lunaria, here, let me give you a hand," she says, pulling me up with so much force my arm is almost pulled out of the socket.

"Haven't seen you in a while!" I say, combing my fingers through my hair to remove all the leaves and twigs.

July, as always, is wearing her favorite pair of black boots and a black shirt. She's a lot like me— the weird, somewhat nerdy girl in our school, the emo freak, except her hair is light brown, like the color of perfectly cooked pancakes.

"Yeah, same, have you been in Ecto for a while?" July replies. Behind her is a scene of chaos— Arielle the Vibrava is attempting to hug Rosebud, who is freaking out and running in circles, while Flare is using Curse, over and over again, and simultaneously cursing, yelling words that only July would actually say in public. July seems to not notice or if she does, not care.

"Yep, I've been here for half a year now," I say, watching Flare use a poorly aimed Ember attack.

"Just got here yesterday," July flips her hair, making me jealous for the millionth time that my hair isn't as smooth as hers, "It's kinda spooky. Stuff you'd like,"

July is the only person who really knows me. My mom doesn't count. She knows that I'm terrified of Darmantian, she knows how embarrassed I felt when the teacher caught me writing stories in my notebook and read each and every word to the whole class. It took the whole period of humanities, but I remember glancing at July and she was blushing two shades darker than me.

"Actually, I'm here to find my sister," I say, glancing at Rosebud and Flare to make sure they're not hurt.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," July bends down to hug me. She's three inches taller than me and always makes a huge deal about it, "I'm sorry,"

"Don't. So many people have said that recently, and it's not Juliana I'm looking for. It's Robyn," I shrug her off, "Can you call off your attack Vibrava, please?"

July finally looks back at the massacre behind her and laughs, "Oh, they're just having fun!"

Rosebud screams, "No, we're really not!" but is drowned out by Arielle the Evil Vibrava's maniacal laughter.

"We need a nickname for her," Flare grumbles, "How about 'Nasty Evil Destruction-Causing Irritating She-Devil'?"

"Suits her," Rosebud coughs.

"Please?" I ask again.

"Oh, fine," July pouts, holding out Arielle's pokeball. Arielle zips back into it as a red flash.

"So, ready to meet my team?" I ask, holding out five pokeballs.

"Doesn't those five, plus the Flareon and Roserade, make eight?" July's forehead furrows with the mere thought of doing simple math.

"Seven, actually, and Rosebud and Flare aren't actually caught yet," I explain, throwing my team into the air.

Star, Selena, Teri, Flameback, and Deathwing all pop out of their homes. Star doesn't touch the ground, flying circles around my head as soon as she comes out. Selena yawns, the flower petals around her neck expelling pleasant-smelling powder. The fire on Flameback's mane flares once. Deathwing looks at July quizzically. Teri looks around, panicked, and when her gaze settles on July, her eyes go so wide I can see the tears balanced delicately on the rims.

"Romi?" she asks, and then the tears fall.

"Huh. Nice team," she observes, staring at Teri like she's a pile of trash buzzing with Venonat.

Teri starts wailing some more, screaming in July's direction, "I'm so sorry, Romeria, please forgive me! He… He… I'm so sorry I couldn't stop him, he killed Juliana and…"

"What?" I ask, surprised, "What did you just say, Teri?"

Teri ignores me, throwing herself at July's feet. July steps away quickly, spooked by my crazy Eevee, "Teri, return," I say, making the Eevee return to the Pokéball.

"Huh," I say, staring at the red and white sphere in my hand, "I wonder what who 'he' is."

July, staring back at Deathwing, says, "I don't know… She called me Romi and Romeria, too. I don't look too much like Romi, do I?"
"July, I only think your hair is the same color as your cousin's hair, nothing else," I say, "You did get the news about your cousin's disappearance, right?"

July nods, "First Juliana, then my cousin? I wonder what's going on… Romeria never sent anything back home, not even any Pokémon! I wish I knew what happened on her journey."

"You didn't know that Romeria and Juliana were traveling together?" I exclaim.

"They were?" July asks.

"Yes and they died on the same day in the Pokémon Tower," Deathwing says from behind July.

July shrieks bloody murder before turning around to punch the Darkrai. After the Darkrai makes her fist pass through him, he continues talking, "I heard from someone I met a few months ago, that the day Nurse Joy found Teri trembling in front of the Pokémon Center that two different screams had come from the top floor of the Pokémon Tower. Also, when somebody flew towards the top of the tower, that person noticed a Luxio's tail from under a pillar."

"Sparks!" I realize. "Deathwing, why didn't you tell this to me earlier?"

July says, "I do know of a myth about the Pokémon Tower."

I do too. I know this myth because of Mom. When I was younger, maybe three years ago, when I was seven, Juliana and I would sit with Mom, and she would tell scary stories about a zombie called Buried Alive. After a while, I decided that Buried Alive was just one of those tall tales, but ever since Juliana died, my fears of the zombie have been reawakened.

"Oh, well would you look at the time," July remarks, looking at my watch. "We should go get a room at the Pokémon Center."

"Well," I say, "I was actually thinking I'd get to Suto Mountain by dawn…"

"Lu, look at Rosebud and Flare," July says, "They look so tired, don't they?"

Rosebud and Flare are sitting on a tree branch, staring at the moon. I return all of my Pokémon, except for Deathwing, who requests to go to the forest to practice his Shadow Ball.

"LET'S EAT!" July yells, running into the Pokémon Center.

"Sorry, Flare, Rosebud, but we have to go back into the Pokémon Center to eat," I say, "I'll give you two Poképuffs to make up for it?"

Rosebud jumps off the tree and onto my head in reply, "I take that as a yes," I laugh.

Flare makes a laughing sound, and then leaps to the ground. As we walk into the Pokémon Center, I wonder whether Buried Alive was the one who killed my sister. As I leisurely walk into the building again, I pluck Rosebud off of my head and carry her the rest of the way to the cafeteria, where July waits for me.

Um... comments comments comments... thanks?