AUTHOR'S NOTE: In case anyone read Chapter 7 before, I deleted it. I was dissatisfied with it, so yeah. I'm not sure if I can be consistent or guarantee the next chapter, but thanks to anyone who followed it until now. Also, thanks to any new readers!


"I had no idea where this went." Sarah flipped through the notes, recognizing ancient symbols written hastily on the paper. "Where…?"

"It wasn't easy to find. I found a compartment in the back wall of our parents' room." Evan turned to Haku, his eyes turning a shade of soft blue. He felt a feeling of warmth being emitted from the dragon. The color in his eyes shined brighter and brighter until a drop of sweat rolled down his face. Evan felt his energy disappear as he kept his focus on the emotion until it was too much. His head fell with a start as his eyes returned to normal; he felt his empty lungs cry for air. He took in a deep breath, causing Sarah to look up from the notebook.

"Hey, hey. Don't exert yourself too hard." Sarah laid a hand on his shoulder as she studied the book's contents, flipping through the pages. "Take it easy."

Evan peeked at the symbols, asking, "What does this mean? It's not any language I know of."

A picture of a color wheel on the last page caught Sarah's eye. Sarah explained, "Your eyes will change color depending on what emotion you try to convey on the Pokemon." Turning the page over, Sarah continued, "The only…" Sarah stared at the symbols, trying to decipher them. "Branches… Talisters, Yin and Yang. So, there are others. Sorry, I don't understand some of this. After all, it is a dead language. I'm going to hold onto this, okay?"

Ralts pulled on Evan's arm, so he picked her up into his lap. Evan asked, "What language is it? I've never seen it before."

As Sarah packed the notebook in her bag, she replied, "It doesn't have a name. When I went on adventures, I picked up some of the meanings of some of these symbols. I'll probably teach you what I know but right now, I've got to buy more food real quick. You should probably get some rest."

Evan hesitated. Sarah asked, "You okay?"

Evan nodded. Haku was returned to the ball in Sarah's hand as she walked out the front door, closing it behind her. He waited a bit before pulling out his phone. "Hey, it's me. You are? Can you leave right now? Cool, I'll meet you there." He closed the phone, and started to pack his supplies. NaYeon leapt in excitement, ready to go. "Let's go." Evan put on his backpack and ran out of the house in the night.

Sarah stopped on the path towards the store. Turning around, she took out the notebook, cracking it open. Sarah whispered, "The Shino family…" She ran a hand through her hair as she continued walking, flipping through the pages.


Emily sat on a rock nearby the cave. Setting her flashlight down, she started to nod off in the moonlight. This was typically the time she went to sleep, so her drowsiness wasn't surprising. Turning her head downwards, she waited.


Evan dragged his legs through the field. He cursed to himself as his pants became more and more soiled as he got closer and closer to the cave's mouth. Emily was still waiting, looking down from the rock. When he saw her, he waved as a greeting, but she didn't move. As Evan reached the entrance, he realized Emily had fallen asleep. An idea hatched in his head, and his face put on a silly grin.

"Boo!" Emily woke up to see Evan's face in hers. Not only that, his face was completely drenched in what appeared to be blood.

Evan burst into a fit of giggles as Emily let out a cry of horror. Emily caught on quick, and she socked him in the arm. "Jerk." She tried to put on a serious face, but the two ended up laughing together for a moment.

"Ooh, right. I was going to show you this." Evan handed Emily her light as he readied his own. "You ready?" His hand was outstretched to her. Emily rolled her eyes, knocking his hand aside as she stood up. "I thought so!" Evan started to walk into the cave, leaving Emily behind. His voice echoed through the cave. "Em, come on, you Slowbro!"

Emily sighed. Evan seems to get excited about these things too easily. "Yes yes, coming!" She dashed into the cave, trying to catch up to her friend.


Emily noticed a flickering light down one in the caverns. Evan was standing by a lit up corridor, holding a dramatic pose.

"Wait, wait, this needs a more dramatic reveal!" Holding up his hands, he cleared his throat. "Welcome, to the new hideout! Ta dah!"

"A bit extra there Ev," Emily stated, holding up her hand in disapproval. Evan feigned a sob for a moment. "Shut up." She lightly jabbed his side, but she realized something. "Wait, how is this a private hideout? It's pretty open and obvious."
"Ah." Evan rubbed his side; she had poked him pretty hard. "Did you not notice the fact that this cave is closed to the public?"
"Yeah. I guess that would be an important thing to know."

Emily walked into the hideout, looking around. In front of her was a couch and a spot for a fireplace. A tent that wasn't put up was in a pile on the side. To her right was a lake. It sparkled as it reflected the moonlight that fell through a hole in the ceiling.

"I don't know what to say." Emily was astonished. "Did you do all this yourself?"

Evan scratched his head with a sheepish grin. "Sorta. Maybe. Yes."

"Why?"

"I wanted to."

Emily felt a rush of warmth hit her cheeks, and she quickly covered her face.

"Something wrong?" Evan took a step closer, with a look of concern.

"No, no. I'm fine." She raised a hand while keeping her face covered with her other arm.

"Alright. Let me know if something happens."

"Ev…" She stared at him. "Why did you really make this place?" He didn't answer, so she pressed the question further. "Hmmmmm?"

Evan turned away, stammering, "I… just felt like it."

An awkward silence filled the air for a moment. Suddenly, Emily snatched Evan's hand, dragging him along the bank of the lake. "C'mon, let's check out the lake!" As they ran, she noticed the water was moving next to them. Not moving, squirming? It was alive somehow…

Evan felt his face ram into Emily's back, and he quickly recovered as he asked, "Em, are you okay?" She didn't answer, and he was about to ask again, when he felt a presence nearby. A shadow loomed over the two, so he slowly turned. Emily was staring up, a look of awe written across her face. Evan looked up as well.

The first thing he saw were the eyes. Cranky… and red. A brown, thin body. Silver blades. The Kabutops slowly rose from the surface of the water, poised to strike. Emily was frozen; she was staring at the knife-like claws. Evan couldn't think of what to do. We can do this. He heard a whisper as he mentally reached towards the Pokemon. The Kabutops froze, but then obediently withdrew into the water. He felt as though he wasn't communicating; rather, controlling it.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as he realized he had zoned out. Emily stopped shaking his shoulder when they caught eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah… Yeah…" Evan had mixed feelings about what had just transpired. On one hand, this newfound ability could be useful in certain situations. On the other, it was an ability easily exploited. Emily turned away as they both sat at the side of the lake.

"Actually there's another reason I came to meet you here. There's something else I gotta tell you…" She was still avoiding his gaze. Evan almost didn't want to ask, but he felt as if she was waiting for the obligatory question.
"What's up?" Emily had finally turned back with a smile, but Evan could see the real feeling of sadness behind it.

"Ah… Never mind…" She blushed, but covered her cheeks in an instant. Evan kept his composure despite the fact that he was blushing himself.

"I can't force you to tell me, don't worry about it." Evan was dying to know, but he knew that she wasn't ready to tell him.

Emily softly pulled away, then stood up. "Thanks Ev. Actually…" She cut herself off, biting at her thumb.

Evan wasn't sure how to respond, but then he felt something tug at his shirt. "Huh?" His Mawile had somehow escaped from his pokeball, and was now begging for attention. Evan immediately noticed something, and he reached out to pick something up from the rocky floor.

"What is it?" Emily peeked over his shoulder, trying to catch sight of what he grabbed.

Evan felt her weight on his back, and his face flushed with embarrassment. Well, at least she isn't heavy… He didn't mind her leaning on him, but he reckoned this wasn't something that needed to be mentioned. A thought popped into his head, so he asked, "Do you happen to have your Bagon right now?"

Emily seemed startled, but she took out her Pokemon. "Yeah, but what did you need Shelgon for?"
"Oh! Congrats!" Evan looked at the proud Pokemon for a second, but turned back when his Mawile started squirming to slip from his grip on his jaw. "Yeesh, hold still!"

Emily unconsciously let out a small laugh, and she almost covered her smile with her hands. "Uh, thank you, but… What did you need Shelgon for?"

"My bad. I need some fire." He waved over the Pokemon and he waltzed over. "Shelgon, I need some fire over here." Evan raised up Mawy's jaw. Shelgon was baffled, but realized this was a free shot to "attack" him. "Oh-to!" Evan tried to pull Mawile out of the way of the concentrated fire blast, but he wasn't fast enough.

Mawy let out a loud screech, then leapt straight into the lake. Evan and Emily winced as they heard a fizz and saw smoke rising from the water. Emily turned around and saw Shelgon was laughing. Letting out a sigh, she started to walk over and scold her Pokemon, but a noise stopped her in her tracks. Mawy burst out of the water, her second mouth already swinging out.

"What the hell…" Evan watched as Shelgon flew backwards and smashed into the wall, then rolled down to the floor. It looked as if the two were about to charge at each other again, but they stopped.

"Evan, what did you do?" Emily ran to her Pokemon's side, unsure what to do.

"I didn't do anyth…" Evan stopped as he heard a rustling sound behind him. Turning around, he looked into the darkness. His eyes scanned the shadows, but he couldn't see anything.

Evan's head whipped back to see Emily pulling at Shelgon, but it looked like he was stuck. "Could you help me here?" Quickly scooting over, he tried to pick the Shelgon up, but he wouldn't budge. Evan could feel some sort of confusion and panic coming from the Pokemon. "Something's wrong here!"

Evan laid his hand on her shoulder, and he said, "Calm down, we have to stay calm." He felt his heart pounding in his head as he realized what he had just done.

"You say that, but you're shaking so much…" Emily replied softly. Evan looked at his arm, and he jumped slightly as he noticed that his arm was in fact, trembling as it rested on her shoulder. He watched as she gently took his hand in hers. She continued, "I'm okay now. Thanks."
She let go, and he sighed. I'm not okay though. Suddenly, they remembered what was happening right now. The rustling became louder and louder with each passing second. Emily felt a drop of sweat rolling down the side of her face as she saw a pair of red eyes approach. Her eyes flicked to Evan, expecting panic, but it looked like he had fallen asleep. "Evan!" She whispered, trying to warn him of the impending danger. He didn't move, and Emily broke into a full on sweat. Urgently, she hissed, "Get up!" She slowly shook his shoulder, but his eyes stayed shut.

Emily let out a squeal as Evan suddenly gestured for the mystery creature to come closer. "Come here," he softly whispered as the shadowy creature approached.

"What are you doing?!" Emily yelled in disbelief as she quickly crawled away. She could feel more and more sweat rolling down her face, but Evan was still cool as a cucumber.

"You aren't in trouble, c'mere." Emily watched in astonishment as the eyes slowly faded. "Raaaaaaalts…" Evan's hands were outstretched, and she could hear the pitter-patter of a something small running towards them. Crying, a Ralts ran into his arms, and he embraced her. As she nuzzled him, Evan pat her head. He then turned back and stated, "She escaped her Pokeball again."

Emily's head whipped around as she heard the painful cries of the other two Pokemon. Still dizzy, Shelgon stumbled to his trainer and fell over. Mawy just seemed to have given up; he was still sprawled all over the rocky floor.

"Even though I should be mad, you did a good job." Evan laughed as the Ralts happily nuzzled her trainer's neck. Suddenly, she started to shine brighter, and brighter. The group looked on with excitement and awe as the Pokemon evolved.

"I've seen this happen numerous times but… this never gets old…" she whispered.

"I don't know if 'never gets old' is the right phrase to use." Evan responded, but didn't break his gaze from his newly evolved Pokemon. "Even when you grow older, you're still the same, huh?"

His attention was still on his Kirlia, when Emily blurted out, "I'm leaving."