A/N- People who found the story at the beginning: 12. People who joined in the middle: 36. People who joined recently: 13. Number of people who hate me right now due to the long wait: 48. I think I see a pattern. Note, these numbers were chosen at random. Except the last one xD. Anyways, for really big news, see the ending author's notes. Major thing: It will be more than 30 chapters, and only because I don't want to rush this, and things really need explaining. Enjoy!

My head throbbed with pain as I awoke. I clutched it in semi-agony, wishing that I could do something about it. I opened my eyes, seeing the normal dorm room around me. What the hell is causing this headache? I attempted to sit up, and with a sharp intake of breath I stopped, my back seeming to light on fire, but still impossible with flame-proof fur like mine. Oh well. Pain was pain.

Eventually, after what seemed hours, the pounding subsided, allowing me to finally think. I looked around again. There was a wheelchair… I guessed it was mine, seeing as I wasn't walking any time soon… I was in my dorm room, so I must have been moved while I was asleep… wait… there were voices… Adamant came to mind… that spirit from last night… there was red… and a lot of heat… wait… aren't fires reddish in color and hot? Could that mean…?

"Nate? Reena? Brine? Robert? …Dimitri?" I called out in vain, hoping for someone to come. No one did. "Anyone?" Again, there was no answer. I looked to the window, noticing for the first time that it was light out. Everyone was probably at their classes or something. But a hesitant knock on the door proved otherwise. "Come in!" I said, a little too quickly. "…please!"

A vaguely familiar Gabite walked in, wearing a blue and green tye-dye shirt. "…Is something wrong, sir?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I was in the hospital recently, woke up, and was here with no one around…do you know Brine Reitz, Dimitri Petrenko, Reena Oland, Robert Wesker, or Nate Deeler?"

He held up a violet paw. "First, tell me this: Are you Joss Alanuerdo?" I nodded. "JOSS!" The Gabite ran up to me, pulling me into a tight hug. A tight, painful hug.

"Gack! Please….stop…back!" I wheezed, the pain nearly at bursting point. He hurriedly backed off. "Sorry, Joss…I got a little carried away and forgot abut your back…"

"Wait, you already knew?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yep! Pretty much everyone in the school knows, Joss! And then, there's the wheelchair there." He said, gesturing to said furnishing.

I tilted my head to the side. "Is it just me, or have we met before?" He nodded. "Wait…is it…Marvin?" He smiled, and if I could have gotten up, I would've hugged him back. "Marvin! It's been so many years! Since when did you move back?"

The dragon leaned against the wall. "Well, we spent a few years down in Hoenn, but the climate wasn't really right for us so we ended up moving back a few years later. Unfortunately, I live on the East Side of Veral, so I wasn't able to find you!"

I playfully punched his shoulder, happy to be reacquainted with him. "Well, what about last year in school?"

He punched me back, smiling. "Well, what about it? You weren't exactly as high profile as you are now. Everyone here knows you now."

"I tilted my head. "…point taken," I finished. A few moments passed in silence. "So…" I began. "Aren't classes going on? What are you doing in the dorm halls? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"Well…" Marvin said. "They are, but I forgot my books at my dorm. So I was on my way there to get them."

"I see."

"Didn't you say Robert Wesker?" I nodded slowly. "He's in my class. A Quilava like yourself, right?" Another nod. "Alright, I'll tell him that you're up. But I gotta' go, Joss. I'll see you some other time, all right?" He said, pushing off of the wall.

"Alrighty, then. Thanks, Marvin. See you later." I smiled and waved (Smile and wave, boys… smile and wave…) goodbye as he left the room, gently closing the door behind him.

I turned to my left and checked the time on the clock. Only an hour till lunch, so Robert should be here then. I nodded to myself before reaching over to the desk for the Xbox controller and TV remote. My fingers grazed the controller, but I only succeeded in pushing it further away.

"Dammnit…"

O.o.o.O.o.o.O

"Garth!"

"Joss!" The Totodile ran up to me, pulling me into a friendly embrace and spinning me in a circle. "Whaaassap, maaaan?"

"Nuttin' much, bro!" I replied, hugging him back tightly. "And you?"

"Nothing much….except that I got a new NINTENDO 64!" He exclaimed, letting me go and pounding the air.

"That's sweet, man!" I said, smiling broadly. "Do you think I could come over and try it out with you?"

"Sure thing, Joss! I even got a second controller!"

"And didn't Marvin get one, too?"

"Yeah!"

"Then that means we can all play!" I shouted, jumping and spinning around, literally bouncing off the walls as our parents watched, amused. It was then that a Garchomp, an Ampharos, and a small Gible walked inside.

"Marv!"

"For the last time, Garth! Don't call me that!" the tiny Pac-Man like Pokémon complained, waddling over to us. "Just call me Marvin like everyone else!"

"Whatever, dude."

"Hey," I said, trying to break the growing tension. "How about we go to my room and watch some 'Courage'?"

"Sure. Doesn't matter to me," Garth answered.

"I'm in! Let's go!" Marvin finished, he and the Totodile running to my small bedroom.

I followed, but my father halted my progress. "Joss," the Floatzel said.

"What this time, Dad?"

"Joss!" he said again.

"Daaaaad! I want to go watch TV with my friends!"

"Joss, wake up!"

"Wait, what?"

"Wake up!"

O.o.o.O.o.o.O

"For the last time, Joss! Wake the fuck up!"

My body was roughly shaken, and a fire seemed to ignite in my back. "Gaaaaah...!"

"Gack! Sorry, sorry! Forgot!"

"Robert, that you?" I managed to groan, the pain subsiding.

"Yeah. A Gabite told me you were up and that you sent him. Looks like you fell asleep again."

"Guess so." I replied.

"Joss? Can I ask you a question?"

"Lay it on me."

"What were you dreaming about?" Robert asked.

"Uh…well…" That wass…an odd question… "It was about when I was younger…I was hanging out with that Gabite and another friend."

"Was it Garth?"

"…how did you know?" I asked, confused.

"You do realize that you talk in your sleep a lot, right? Even Nate complains about it every once in a while." He answered, his face devoid of any emotion.

"…well, yeah…I was…"

"I thought you were after his guts?"

"…he was nicer back then, alright?"

"If you say so," the Quilava finished. "But we still have to get you in that wheelchair, Joss."

"Alright. What's so bad about that? I can get around on my own."

"Doc said it would hurt like hell the first few times, being moved, until you get the brace on."

"Wait," I interrupted. "Why the hell didn't they put it on while I was there?"

"They had ordered one, and it came the day the hospital burned down."

"Say what?" I asked, eyes wide.

"Wait, you didn't know? You were passed out in the middle of a hall somehow! We all thought you smelled the smoke and tried to get out by crawling!"

I slowly shook my head, somewhat scared. "No…but I can remember a red light and fire, along with…wanting something to end…"

"Joss? Do you think…you went Reverse again?" I gave him the blankest look I could, given the circumstances. "…berserk?"

"I don't know…" I answered, looking at the bed spread and sighing. "It probably did, knowing everything that happened, what with the whole Link fiasco and my parents…" Robert seemed really troubled by that statement. "Something wrong?"

"Aww, shiznips…I didn't want to have to explain this to you…Joss…your parents are missing, presumed dead…Magnezone sent an investigation team, and they saw signs of struggle…there was a lot of broken furnishings and blood, they said…and they found this…" Robert reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, some spots stained red. I hurriedly snatched it and held it to my face, my eyes beginning to well up with tears.

"No one harbors a fugitive. Galik, Second in Command of Plasma."

"Dimitri…"

"What?"

"They're talking about Dimitri…his parents were part of the Plasman war, but…the only thing I don't understand is…it would be the school protecting Dimitri…" The paper fell out of my limp paw. "Why Mom and Dad…?"

"Joss…" Robert sat on the bed next to me, causing it to sag. "They're alright…when this all clears up, they'll have just been missing…not…not that…" He placed his arm gently on my shoulder.

"I…I don't know…" I said…my voice beginning to shake as several tears fell onto my chest. "I…I want to know for sure…get me into my wheelchair…please…"

Robert nodded, and he began lifting me out of the bed by my armpits. Any time my back moved in the slightest (In other words, constantly), my back seared with pain. However, my sorrow dulled it, and I could not think of anything but the single question; were my parents alright?

O.o.o.O.o.o.O

The five of us stood (Or in my case, sat) outside my home, staring at the broken-down door.

"Joss," Reena began.

"For the last time," I interrupted, "Stop trying to stop me. I'm going to do this. Brine…let's go…" I sighed, and Brine, whom had taken the liberty of pushing my chair, wheeled me inside.

The den was a mess. That was as simple as it could be said. Tables lay on the ground, overturned, with chairs broken by their side. The single, small TV was smashed, and the couch had been ripped to shreds. Patches of a dark, crimson color were splattered across a room, and a broken trail of it led into another room.

"Brine," I choked. "Let's…continue…that room…" I managed to finish, pointing to my old room. Brine complied silently, and I saw the destruction of my old haven.

The bed was on its side, blankets strewn everywhere. Old collections of the years past were piled in a corner, stuffed Teddiursas from my younger days lying with their head ripped off. The blood trail led into here, and stopped at the wall, where it had seemed to pool.

"Nate," I began, breaking the deathly silence. "Go to the wall, and…there should be a small lip…pull on it…please," I added, trying to control my quiet sobbing. Nate nodded, standing up on his hind legs momentarily to do as I asked, causing a small section of wall to swing outward.

"Thank you…" I nodded, and Brine pushed e inside, Nate, Reena, and Robert following me inside, Dimitri having had to have stayed back at the school in the health room, not exactly in the best condition.

It was a small room, entirely dark, formed by a hollow in the roots of the tree. Everything in it completely natural, including a sickeningly sweet smell. "Guys, stop," I ordered. "Robert…light please?" He nodded in the dark, and his back lit up. The light revealed several papers lying about, along with jugs of water and multiple food items; a small fallout shelter. Two still forms revealed its darker purpose: a grave.

"…Mum? Dad?" They didn't move, as I knew they wouldn't. my head unable to cope with the fact. Brine wheeled me closer, and I saw what had happened. A scarlet stain was placed on the Floatzel's chest, and his eyes were closed, as if sleeping, as if he had been wounded, and then died in semi-peace in this cave. My mother was a different story. Her body had been lacerated, her body maimed and nearly unrecognizable. As if she had been slashed repeatedly. As if she had refused them information and been tortured.

I sobbed.

I wanted to fling myself from the wheelchair, hug my parents one last time, even if their bodies had started to lightly decay. I loved them, had loved them, but we were torn apart. Torn apart by ruthless Pokémon who were trying to seize control. An army that, at this second, was in the Veral region between Johto and Orre.

A/N- And so the chapter draws to a close. More of a sad story here…and it was kind of rushed, possibly because I haven't updated in a month. =p And now for the big news…OC SUBMISSONS ARE NOW CLOSED. No one may submit any more characters, HOWEVER, if you have only submitted one, you may still submit the second. I hate to do this, but I'm already at 59. So until the next update, farewell.