You guys are really gonna hate me after you're finished reading this chapter. That's all I'm saying.

Chapter 21: Team Eeveelution's Farewell

"Wah!" Cindy cried, sitting bolt upright in her bed of straw. Her heart was racing so fast that it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Her mind was completely and utterly blown from the sudden burst of information.

Dreams. Transformation. Saber. Reuniclus. Reuniclus.

She rubbed her eyes and stared out the window to be greeted with the multicolored sky of dawn. It was still too early to be exploring, but she didn't think she could get back to sleep. Instead, she stared out the window, watching the sun slowly rise over the city.

Questions swam around in her mind. While Reuniclus had answered several questions, she had raised just as many. Who was watching her? How had Reuniclus turned her into a Pokémon? And why…?

"Bluh… Buh! Re-Reuni-wha…?"

Phoenix had awoken. He looked around frantically, blubbing nonsense. He frantically glanced around the small hut, looking for something… or someone.

"Phoenix! Phoenix!" Cindy said, placing a hand on the bouncing Piplup's shoulder. "What's got you all in a tizzy?"

"I-I had a dream… Reuniclus was there… she turned you into a Pokémon?!" Phoenix said, panting breathlessly.

Cindy looked down to the ground, sighing loudly. "Yeah. Apparently…" she murmured.

Phoenix stared at Cindy, his gaze unbroken. She strangely found herself on the verge of tears. Perhaps it was the sudden influx of information. Perhaps it was something else, something that even she didn't know.

Cindy melted into Phoenix's arms, finally letting her tears slide. For a moment, she sat there, sobbing in his arms.

"I'm confused…" Cindy murmured.

"So am I, Cindy," Phoenix assured her.

"I just wanna be a normal exploration team… I don't wanna be a human-turned-Pokémon or anything special like that…" she said through her tears.

"I know how you feel, Cindy. I know how you feel…" Phoenix said, patting her on the head.

Cindy tried to say something more, but she simply shook her head and continued to cry into Phoenix's wing.

After a few minutes, Cindy managed to pull herself together. "But… we can't concern ourselves with this now. I'm sure the details about this will become clear later. For now, we'll just explore. Is that okay?"

"Sure! I don't wanna worry about this now. Let's just start exploring," Phoenix said.

Cindy nodded and led the way to the door. A bright smile graced her face.

She may have looked happy on the outside, but her mind was still brimming with unanswered questions. She tried to force the many mysteries out of her head and get to exploring, but whenever she thought she had banished the questions from her mind, they came back, like a dog persistent on finding a lost ball.

XxX

Despite all the questions bouncing around in her mind, Cindy managed to make it through the next few days okay. She didn't have any more dreams about Reuniclus. She talked to Saber on a daily basis; she was somewhat more accepting of her jumbled past, but she still didn't quite believe him.

They also made a habit of talking to Dr. Z about any leads on the Pokérus virus. He still made daily trips to Medicine Forest and came out with a variety of different plants and insects, from soft moss to ripe berries to bubbling substances that even Cindy couldn't name. Despite all the items the doctor pulled in, none of them seemed to be slowing down the virus.

"It's terrible, I tell you. Every day, I walk into Nurse Blissey's place, loaded down with all sorts of things that could possibly cure Pokérus… but at the end of the day, it's like I haven't made a dent. By far the worst thing is seeing all the hopelessness on their blotchy faces… It's terrible. Be thankful you aren't me…" Dr. Z said to them one day.

Phoenix nodded slowly. "I know how you feel, sir… Back in Mead Village, we saw a young Togepi who had Pokérus… He was our friend, we helped him through a lot, but in the end, he was taken away. Golly, I still have nightmares about his helpless face…" He shuddered.

"Oh, by the way, have you, by any chance, seen an Umbreon by the name of Grant? He's been in the institute for about a week now. Is he okay?" Cindy asked.

Dr. Z took a long time to answer. He dropped his gaze, his glasses sliding down his nose. "Yes. About that…"

Cindy's heart nearly stopped. "Don't tell me he's dead. Please don't tell me he's dead."

"No, he's not dead… but… he's getting worse. And… he also had some friends… I think they were… Katie and Travis? The Espeon and Flareon, am I right? Well…"

The doctor closed his eyes and gazed down at the ground sadly. A single tear squeezed out of his spectacled eye. Cindy didn't even need words to figure out what had happened.

"No… No no no no no no no… It can't be… Katie, Travis… they're both infected… right?" she murmured.

Her heart didn't stop; on the contrary, it sped up. She gazed up at the sky, hoping, praying that it wasn't true… that Katie and Travis were just fine… that they would live… live…

"I'm sorry."

That was all the doctor said.

Cindy wailed, flinging herself into Phoenix's arms. She expected him to hold her in his arms and whisper reassuring words into her ear, but he was so shocked and surprised that he wasn't ready to take a full-force tackle hug from Cindy. They both fell to the dusty ground, where they both stayed, unable and unwilling to pull themselves up.

For a moment, Cindy and Phoenix cried on the ground, their tears splattering the dirt pathway below them. A small crowd of onlookers had gathered around them, watching the scene unfurl. Horrible, half-formed thoughts raced through her mind, making the whole situation even worse for the Cyndaquil.

Katie… Travis… Grant… why?! Why did you have to be the ones infected?! Why couldn't Team Nightshade have been infected?! Why… what… how… who… guh! Soon she completely gave up on thinking.

Inwardly, she blamed Team Eeveelution for getting sick, which was a complete absurdity. They hadn't knowingly been infected. They hadn't said one day, "Hey, let's go pick up a terminal illness today! It'll be fun!" It wasn't because of them.

After an eternity of terrible, mixed-up feelings of sadness and anger bouncing around inside her, Cindy sat up, her face still damp with tears. She asked one question: "How long?"

"Pardon?" Dr. Z said, examining Cindy with mild curiosity.

"How long?" she repeated.

"Oh…" Dr. Z rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "I'd say… at the most… one month."

"ONE MONTH?!" Phoenix screeched. "That's too short! They can't die in one month!"

"It may be shorter for Grant, however… since he's had Pokérus for longer…" Dr. Z reported.

Cindy's sadness was abruptly replaced with blind fury. She was angry at Dr. Z now. She blamed him for not doing enough to help Katie and Travis and Grant. She wanted to roast the glasses of Dr. Z's face. How dare he not help them?! How dare him?!

Ah, but remember: Dr. Z isn't the cause for this, a tiny corner of her mind reminded her. It's no one's fault that this happened. There's no one to blame for this.

Cindy sighed, the anger in her fizzling out. "I'm sorry… it's just… they're our good friends, and if they die…"

Quite suddenly, her crestfallen mood was replaced with something else: fear. They had spent quite a bit of time around Team Eeveelution. What if they were infected as well? And if they were, how come they weren't showing signs of it?

"Doctor?" she asked.

Dr. Z looked up and focused at Cindy. "Yes, Miss Brandt?"

"Do you know… I mean, can you tell if we're infected?" she asked.

Phoenix, who had been quietly sobbing behind Cindy, descended into hysterics at this question. "Oh Arceus… no! Don't tell us we're infected too! Oh Arceus… oh Arceus… what'll we do? How long will it be before we're decaying like everyone else? How long do we have to live? When'll we die?! WAAAAAAAAAAH! I DON'T WANNA DIEEEEEE!" he wailed.

"Phoenix! Phoenix, calm down! Calm down!" Cindy said firmly, placing a hand on Phoenix's shoulder. "Don't worry! If we had Pokérus, surely we would've known by now!"

"Yeah, but… Dr. Z said that it takes a while to show itself! What if we have it and we just don't know about it yet?! Oh Arceus… I'm so scared…" Phoenix said sadly.

"Don't worry, chappies. Later this week, I may be able to get you tested for the virus. It's nothing too painful; just a tiny blood sample. I believe there's a kind Beedrill to assist in that… But until then, you can keep exploring. Just avoid direct contact with other Pokémon, if you can," Dr. Z said.

"Okay…" Phoenix said, still jittery with worry.

"Now, I believe I must be going now. There was this one area of Medicine Forest that I have yet to explore… I believe it's the only place in this region that you can find Luminous Moss… Ah, sorry. Just an old doctor's musings. Anyway, good luck in your explorations, young ones!" Dr. Z said, a kind twinkle in his eyes.

"Maybe one day, when we're stronger, we can come exploring again with you!" Phoenix said, his lighthearted mood slowly returning.

"Yeah! I'm sure we can help you a lot!" Cindy agreed, nodding enthusiastically.

"I'll consider it. But for now, stay out of it, okay? Now, I believe I must be going. See you guys later!" Dr. Z smiled and hovered off for another daily trip to Medicine Forest.

Once the doctor was gone, Phoenix turned back to Cindy, his face pinched with concern. "Oh, so many Pokémon are getting sick now… Who knows? If our luck continues like this, the next victims will be Team Au—"

Cindy silenced Phoenix's musings with a slap across the beak. "SHUT UP! Don't say that sort of stuff! You'll just end up jinxing us! You don't really want Team Aura to be sick, do you?!" she screeched.

"Oh my, you're friends with Team Aura, aren't you?"

Just to make a bad day even worse, Mawile and her oversized cronies just had to show up right behind them.

Cindy took a step back, the flames on her back sputtering in case of a fight. "Yeah. Do you have a problem with that?" she said.

"Why, yes, I do. I heard that the leader, Emile, has serious anger issues. He'll scream at you if you enrage him enough… I heard one time, he even threatened to kill a defenseless Chatot who couldn't do anything against him! Imagine what he'll do to rookies like yourselves…" Mawile said, her voice lowering conspiratorially.

The flames on Cindy's back rose angrily, her emotions reaching a peak. She didn't find this statement entirely unlikely, but still, no one insulted her friends like that. "I'm the same way. If people insult my friends like you just did, then I'm really tempted to barbecue their faces," she warned.

"Oh, and did you hear that rumor about Dr. Z?" Magmortar continued, completely ignoring Cindy's threat. "I heard that he has no medical expertise! He just guesses with his patients. That's why this crazy virus is killing so many Pokémon: he's too stupid to figure out the cure!"

Phoenix's blind fury emerged again. His eyes shone with rage, and his body trembled angrily. "DON'T YOU DARE INSULT DR. Z IN FRONT OF ME!" he screamed.

Before Cindy could stop him, he lashed out at Magmortar, his eyes wild and unfocused. Before he could unleash his full fury on the brute, Electivire stepped in, his body crackling with electricity. Phoenix backed down, barely avoiding getting shocked.

"Now, now, don't lose your temper, honey," Mawile said, regaining her normal friendly tones.

"Just for your information, we know stuff about Dr. Z and Team Aura… stuff they were meaning to keep hidden… Terrible things that hide under their veil of fame…" Electivire said.

"Did ya hear that fact about Terrakion? It's a fact that he gets angry when Pokémon spread lies about famous explorers, and he will threaten to destroy anyone who does so. Am I right, liars?"

Terrakion, the great, brutish ox, had overheard the last snippet of their conversation. He lumbered toward the two teams, the ground beneath him shaking with every step he took. He was wearing his usual grumpy expression, but now, a tinge of anger was mixed into his tones.

Electivire and Magmortar stepped away from Terrakion as he approached them, however, Mawile held her ground. Cindy found it hilarious that two giant Pokémon cowered away while a tiny, wispy Mawile stood up to him.

"Terrakion! What're you doing here?! You're supposed to be—" she cried.

"Yeah? Well, what're you supposed to be doin'? Spreading lies about perfectly normal exploration teams?" Terrakion retorted.

"Don't you remember—" Mawile said.

"Yeah. I remember that. But that doesn't mean I have to do exactly what he said, does that? You'd back down from the girl now if you wanna know what's best for ya," he said.

"But—"

"Now."

Mawile whimpered and backed away, scowling. "Fine. We'll go back. Keep in mind, you only have yourself to blame when he punishes you for disobeying," she said.

"Scram!" Terrakion ordered.

Electivire and Magmortar scampered away to the rundown store they worked in, while Mawile begrudgingly followed behind.

Terrakion turned back to Cindy and Phoenix, who cowered in his gaze. "T-Terrakion, sir…" Phoenix stuttered.

"Don't worry yourselves none. I'm not gonna hurt ya," he said.

"But… What… why did you…?" Cindy said, struggling to find the right words.

"You're wondering why I stood up to them?" he completed. Cindy nodded.

"It sounded like… like you knew them from before now. You were talking about following someone's orders and stuff like that… What did you mean?" Phoenix asked.

"It's a long story… I'll tell ya later. But honestly, I hate it when people spread lies 'bout other people. It's bad enough to lie; it's even worse to lie 'bout a fellow Pokémon, ya know?" he said.

"But I thought you hated us!" Phoenix cried. "You're mocking us and threatening us and—"

"I know, I know. Truth be told, I still hate ya. This 'lil incident hasn't changed a thing. Next time we meet, expect to see me mocking ya again," he admitted.

Phoenix could do nothing more but nod frantically.

"Thanks, Terrakion. We owe you one," Cindy thanked him.

"Nah, ya don't owe me nothing. Just watch your back; once Team Chompy decides they hate ya, they aren't gonna change their mind 'bout ya. Okay?" he said.

"Okay…" Phoenix said.

"Now, I'd best be going. See ya later, I guess. And don't expect me to be all Mr. Nice Guy next time we meet, ya got that, pipsqueaks?" he said.

"Yeah," Cindy said.

"Good."

The barest hint of a smile graced Terrakion's face, if only for one fleeting second. Then, he turned around and lumbered off into the city, leaving Cindy and Phoenix wondering about his sudden mood swing.

It didn't look like they'd figure it out any time soon, though.

XxX

So... um... yeah. Review, I guess...?