Author's Note: Effective immediately, I'll be posting two chapters a week. Enjoy. :)


Suddenly I was falling, and scrambled to hold on.

Then there was a cry of pain. I kept trying to grip whatever I was hanging from.

"Sonic, STOP!"

The command cut through everything: layers of instinct and fear and terror. My arms were wrapped around a man's neck. I could feel his hot breath on my chest. I could feel his hands under my legs and back, wedged between my spines.

The room was dark, but cool evening sunlight was peeking in.

And in the stillness, some of it came back to me.

"Giovanni?"

"Let go of my neck before you snap my head clean off," he hissed.

I threw my arms back, away from his head, letting myself fall. His hands stopped me part of the way down, but then they started moving, taking me with them. Then I landed on something soft, and he pulled them out from under me, while his black eyes stared at me in disappointment.

I was disappointed, too.

"Geez, dude, I'm sorry. I was having a nightmare." I pulled myself up to sit, scratching my head. "Then I was falling."

He rubbed his neck, wincing. "I was putting you on a bed. After I carried you through Nimbasa City, across the Drawbridge, and all the way to the Grand Hotel in town."

I looked down. "I'm sorry. I forgot where I was. I just thought I was falling." Then I looked back up at him. "Are you all right?"

"That's what I should be asking you." He pulled his neck back and cracked it.

I blinked, looking down. My head didn't hurt as much, at least. My stomach felt better. I wasn't quite so tired. And yet… the room we were in felt so dark, so small. I tried not to look around. "I feel a lot better, thanks. Sure beats trying to walk home when I'm sick."

"I think beats is the operative word, there." He turned away from me.

"Aww, come on, Giovanni, don't be like that. I didn't mean to hurt you, and you know it." I shook my head. I felt pretty bad, but I had to snap myself out of it. I had to believe myself if I was gonna convince him to back off. "I mean, come on, I wake up in the arms of a strange man when I'm sick and you expect me not to freak out a little?"

"And think of how I feel. I carry a strange Pokemon who insists on meddling in my affairs across two towns and a drawbridge and get strangled for my efforts." He turned back around. "I respect you enough not to try to put you in a Pokeball while you sleep. Can you respect me enough to not be surprised when I'm rightly perturbed at having been assaulted?"

I couldn't help myself. I rolled my eyes. "Dude, I said sorry, and I mean it. And if I could do something to un-hurt you, I would. But it's done. You don't need to be like this. Now, can I go find some ice for ya or not?"

He grumbled. "Now what is the point of you getting ice for me when I carried you all the way in here? You should rest until you regain your senses. I'll get the ice myself." He stormed out of the room.

That was when I took a minute to look around. It felt so small, but actually it was a pretty big bedroom. The walls were a soft gray with green trim, and all the linens—the bed I was on, the curtains, even the little mat at the door, were a goldenrod color. There was a little table and two chairs, a bed, and a lamp. A hotel room, and a pretty swanky one at that. The curtains were pulled, but it seemed like the windows were easily big enough for four or five people to stand side by side, lookin' out. And there were two glasses on a tray on the table, along with an alarm clock.

I lay back on the bed, sighing. That whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. He was a jerk. I mean, I guess it's understandable... and I got the feeling people there weren't used to violence. They were used to Pokemon protecting 'em, and they built us up like we're danger…

Us?

I put my hands on my face and groaned. I was starting to think of myself as a Pokemon. Not good. I needed to think of myself as human for my whole plan, or what little plan there was, to work. If I started acting like a Pokemon…

From there I rolled onto my side, looking at the glasses on the table. Water. I needed water. I hadn't had a drop since we'd gone out to the desert.

But, the way he sounded, it was almost like he was gonna bring something back there. Or like whatever had been wrong with me, it'd go away if I laid around. He knew the world better than I did. Besides, if he were still wigged out? My head still hurt a little. I didn't need the noise.

I was just about to nod off again when I heard the door open. I opened my eyes, and he was there, silhouetted by the door. He had something in his hands.

"I hope I didn't wake you." His voice sounded so soft. I didn't know it could go that soft.

I started to sit up. "I wasn't asleep yet. You ok?"

He sat a bowl of something down on the table, along with two bottles of water. Then he took an ice pack out of his pocket and put it on his neck. "I think I'll be all right. You're just a bit stronger than my son was at your size."

I nodded. "Heh. Guess I am. … So what's happening now?"

"I couldn't be sure when you'd need to eat again. It can be touch and go after a change like this. So I ordered a berry salad from room service. I also brought you some water."

"Two whole bottles? Just for me?" I grinned, playful.

"Well, Sonic, I thought you might want some company. But, if you still don't trust me, I can leave."

"Nah, I think you're good. But you don't have to babysit me, you know." I reached into the bowl and picked out a berry. It looked almost like a teeny tiny melon. Hondew berry? I popped in my mouth. It was kinda dry and bitter, and I almost spat it out, but for some reason I liked it anyway. "If you've got something you'd rather do, don't feel like you gotta watch me."

He shook his head. "There's nothing else for me to do. I'm just off the phone with my son. He wasn't pleased." He looked at the sunlight sneaking in around the curtains, on the floor, the wall. "If you aren't too tired…. I'd like to hear about this world of yours."

I smiled. "Maybe I can tell you a little."

We talked late into the night. He had some pretty cool insights about my adventures, more than the Pokemon did. He noticed things I didn't, like how the storybooks I got stuck in had similarities to what was going on in my life. I almost didn't wanna stop because it was nice to have someone listen, but by the end of the night he was nodding off and so was I. I went to bed feeling better, but I don't remember the nightmares I know I had.

Then that phone rang again.

I scrambled for it and opened it. "'Lo?" I asked. I saw a dour face with blue eyes staring back at me.

"You do realize that Cross Transceivers have cameras, don't you, Sonic?"

I blinked. "Oh crap. At least it's you."

Cheren blinked, too, leaning in a little toward the camera. "That's not something I hear often." Then he leaned back a little. "So what happened yesterday? Why did Giovanni have to carry you?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know. I started feeling really sick after we caught that Sandile." I cracked my neck. It hurt a lot more than it should have. "I was feeling better last night, but now my head hurts again."

"Where are you?"

"The Grand Hotel in Driftveil, I think." I looked around on the table for something that said the name. "Giovanni's hotel room."

"Do you need someone to help you escape?"

My head snapped back toward the cross-transceiver at that, sending a twinge of pain through my temples, and I felt a surprising anger welling up in me. I barely noticed the pain in my head as I moved. "Why would I need to escape? I got sick and he carried me here."

Cheren shrugged. "I don't know, maybe he wasn't as nice as you thought he was." He raised an eyebrow. "Sonic, you seem agitated. Your defense of him yesterday seemed much more… I don't know how to explain it."

I rolled my eyes, scratching my nose. "I'm not feeling well and I was sleeping. And then you called and woke me up. Of course I'm agitated." Then I frowned. "What'd you call for anyway?"

"Are you alone?"

"Does it look like I have company?"

He frowned, and pushed glasses up on his nose. "What's your ability, slow start? That berry checked out. It was a normal Lum berry."

"Man, you aren't even gonna give him a chance, are you?" I leaned in toward the phone. "Asking me if I wanna leave before you even tell me the thing he gave me was safe."

He stared at me for a second, his jaw falling away from his top lip. And then he turned, and said, "Bianca."

That familiar, blonde face appeared, moving the camera of the transceiver away from him. "Hey Sonic. How are you doing?"

"I've been better, thanks." I smiled at her. "So why did Cheren call you over to talk to me after I ticked him off?"

"Oh, I don't know." She smiled. "Sometimes I don't really get him. But what's wrong? If you're sick, we can probably find a doctor who can help you. Old Team Plasma is loyal to N, and some of them have a place in Driftveil…"

"Giovanni and I are gonna make arrangements, but I'll mention that to him. Thanks." I smiled back. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great. You should have Cheren analyze berries for you more often; it's not often he comes home to visit!" She looked off camera, and smiled. "Hard to believe two years ago we were here every day, us and Hilda."

I smiled, wondering if they were like Tails, Knuckles, and me.

"So how are you liking that Pokedex?" She asked.

"I haven't gotten much chance to use it. I've had humans around to tell me whatever I wanted to know." I smiled. "But I feel better knowing I could look anything up."

"So Giovanni carried you all the way from the resort to Driftveil City?"

"From Join Avenue, yeah. He's a lot nicer than I expected."

She smiled, but her eyes looked a little sad. "It sounds like you and he are starting to be friends. Maybe walking along the same path has helped you understand each other."

I nodded. Her comment seemed kinda weird, but I couldn't say it wasn't true. "Yeah. I don't think he's so bad at all… just that he never knew anything else. I think I can change him, Bianca. And with his help, we can save the Pokemon."

She grinned. "Oh, that's great! You sound just like Hilda! She thought she could change N, and she totally did!"

"Except N wasn't so bad to start with," Cheren quipped from off screen.

"Well," she conceded, looking over at him, "N wasn't really bad at all. Just misguided. He thought the people he was working with wanted what he wanted… and they were really just using what he wanted to get what they wanted."

The comment sent a chill down me, but I didn't shudder. I just frowned. I made my voice as stern as I could manage without actually being a jerk, and I said, "I wonder how he feels about how people talk about him. Behind his back."

She frowned. "Probably the same way they talk about me behind my back, more or less."

"Are you two done over there?"

She looked over at Cheren, frowned, and handed the Xtransceiver back to him.

"So, happy?" I asked.

"No. He put you in a Pokeball, didn't he?"

I was so shocked by that I let my shoulders fall forward, staring at Cheren from under my eyebrows. "Are you freaking serious, Cheren?"

"Not in the least, Sonic. I only asked you to get a rise out of you." He rolled his eyes.

I did the same. "Of course he didn't. Don't you think if he had I would be all 'Oh, Pokeballs aren't so bad; I know, 'cause I was in one?'"

He shook his head. "If you need anything, you know how to get ahold of me. And if I can find N, I'm giving him this number, so he can find you." And he hung up.

I glowered at the screen for a while, seething. I show some interest in someone they don't like and they start accusing me of being a Pokemon? Like I can't make my own decisions? Like I don't know what's best for me…

"It's often best not to keep such negative influences in your life," came a voice from behind me.

For the first half a second, I jumped, terrified. How long had he been here? What was he doing? But then something deeper in me soothed me. Relax, I thought. It's just Giovanni. Still, I stared at him with blank eyes, not sure how to feel about his eavesdropping.

"I'm a little hurt you don't trust me… but I was happy to hear your defense. But Cheren's known for running his mouth no matter how it might make others feel. It may be best to ignore him." Giovanni approached, a styrofoam container in one hand and another bottle of water in the other.

"He means well, I guess," I excused. "So what have you got there?"

"Your breakfast. I had to run to Castelia City, so I grabbed you a bite on the way back. The Casteliacone is in the minifridge." He sat the box on the table next to me, and sat down in a chair.

"You ran all that way?"

"I flew. Golurk are marvelous creatures." He put his elbow on the arm of the chair, and his face on his fist. "Sonic, are you all right?"

"I will be." I opened up the styrofoam box, and gasped.

Inside it was a chili-dog, Westopolis style, just like I like. Piled around it were fries, and a little cup of yellow berries with pointed bottoms. Grepa berries.

I thanked him and dug in.