A Cub's Crush

by FenneThePenne

How can Fenara possibly like Fenray? Why does she shiver, yet smile at the mention of his name? Why do her cheeks always burn red? Why did Fenray have to kiss her! - Join Tailo in his scramble to keep the pack together. Join Eseral on her quest home to her loving family. Join Jack in the biggest mistake of his life. And most importantly, join Fenara in her adorable cub's crush.

38. Chapter 38: Thunder!

Author: Holy Arceus, this is a long chapter!

Alisa: I know! It's huge! YAY! MORE ME!

Author: Actually, You're not in this one. (Sticks tongue out) This one is about Jack and Jasmine.

Alisa: Who are they?

Author: It doesn't matter to you. I don't even think this chapter is actually long enough. (Gasp!) I was going to make it longer but I'm splitting them into two chapters. Sorry guys, but the next one after this might also have to be about Jack and Eseral. This is just, way, too, long!

Alisa: Eseral? Wait a minute… Is my mother alive?

Author: Dang it. Narrator? Where are you? I need your help. (Narrator peaks his head from behind the couch)

Narrator: What? I'm trying to hide from, her! (Points to Alisa)

Author: Yeah, I know. But can you make her forget her memory really quickly? She found out that Eseral is alive.

Narrator: Fine. (Snaps fingers and hides behind couch again)

Alisa: What! My mother is alive? Quick! We have to… (Poof!)

Alisa: (moaning on the ground) Oww! Why did you do that? What happened? My head feels like a firework!

Author: Sorry. It's standard procedure for when a character learns something they're not supposed to.

Alisa: What was I not supposed to remember?

Author: You're not supposed to learn about your mother until later in… Aw dang it! Narrator!

(Snaps fingers. Poof!)

Alisa: Ow! Quit doing that!

Narrator: Sorry. It's kind of fun. (Snaps fingers again)

Alisa: Ow! Dang it! I'll show you fun! (Tackles narrator from behind couch)

Well that went well. Sorry that this chapter is so (insert whatever you want here) long. I need to get the three characters back to the pack soon because Fenara, Fenray, and all the other cubs are actually ahead in the story :P. Talk about errors with timing. Silly author, writing on a whim. Probably should've completely thought this one through. Oh well. Two chapters it is with just Jack and… (Looks to see if Alisa is paying attention), never mind. You know who I'm talking about.

I hope you like it. I love this chapter. Make some popcorn, turn on some epic film score music, and enjoy the ride. This chapter is just for you bodacious readers that have made it this far. I'm impressed. We should have a contest to see who stays up the longest reading this chapter. I definitely took long enough to write it! Sorry for the slow updates. (sighs).

Anyways, have a bodacious day. As promised, the summary below will help set up the scene. I also added chapter titles :D Hope you guys have a fantastic time! And review if you have questions or just want to because, well, you're awesome!

One last thing, I suck with Pokemon when it comes to moves and stats and such. If I totally mess something up here in this fighting scene (such as Arcanine move sets or the colors of potions) then let me know and I'll do my best to fix it. Thanks guys!

Summary of what happened before: Jack woke up inside the back of a garbage truck with an ear that was half torn off and bleeding. He meets Jasmine, a powerful Jolteon who is trying to escape from Team Citadel, and he doesn't like her the minute he sees her. After Eseral calms them both down, the three of them get to know each other a little more but not before Team Citadel finds them in the truck and they run for their lives. The three Pokemon escape and make their way through the vast meadow, heading towards Eseral's home.

Jack is having trouble. His mind is recovering and he remembers that he was once human. He nearly gets a panic attack before Eseral stops him. Jasmine learns the truth about who Jack really is and how he and Eseral are trying to find a way to make him human again. They don't know what to do, but they know that getting to Eseral's pack is a good place to start. Jasmine meanwhile yearns for a place that she can call home and find somewhere where Team Citadel can't touch her.

They don't get far when Team Citadel finds them again. John and Chase track them down to the meadow and the three Pokemon are up against Chase's best team. Jasmine faces Team Citadel's most powerful Arcanine and Eseral and Jack run for their lives from the Buizel that wants to kill them both.

Enjoy! :)

Chapter 38: "THUNDER!"

"John. Quick! Send out your Pokemon!"

Chase pointed at his partner frantically who was standing next to him. Behind them was the police car that they had used to pull up to the meadow. The two front doors were still open. Chase's hand shook with fear, pointing at his partner John to release his Pokemon. Chase only had two, but with John's Pokemon they could get back his Jolteon and probably the other two Pokemon running away.

In front of him by about twenty yards, was Team Citadel's best trained Pokemon. Thunder. Jasmine was standing right there. She was growling at the Arcanine that Chase had sent out minutes ago.

Behind the two best fighters, running as fast as his Vaporeon legs would let him, was Jack. The coward ran away as fast as he could, with Eseral chasing his tail, and Chase's next best Pokemon chasing them down.

The Buizel was furious. He wanted to impress his master now more than ever. He could kill them both, and then this would all be over.

Jasmine continued to growl and circle her larger opponent. No similar Pokemon stood taller than the Arcanine before her. Jack wasn't fast enough to escape either. Very soon, he was going to have to fight.

It had been too long. Chase had been expecting little red flashes by now form John's Pokemon. "John! What are you doing?" The policeman was still standing by the open police car staring at the two Pokemon growling at each other. John didn't even look like he cared.

Chase couldn't believe this. What was wrong with his partner? If Blaze didn't get help now… "John! Throw out your Pokemon! The Arcanine needs help!" If John would just release his three Pokemon than they could get this over with in seconds.

John didn't look his master in the eyes for a very good reason. He didn't cary Pokemon. Never had, never will.

Unfortunately, he had failed to ever tell his boss that or at least make that distinction clear. As Chase's right hand man, he was required to always carry three on him or he was fired.

Chase stood and waited. The Arcanine couldn't risk a glance, but after thirty seconds, it started to occur to him.

Was he alone? The Arcanine managed a nervous glance at it's master. Oh no. He actually was alone.

Against Jasmine? He was going to die.

Chase stared at his partner. It was then that he realized John didn't have any Pokeballs on his side. His eyes shot straight up in fear.

There weren't any words to say. John gave Chase a look as if to say sorry but he didn't really mean it. Chase looked back over at his Arcanine twenty yards away. The Jolteon had done a full circle around him now, just waiting to attack.

Chase realized, his Buizel was up against two Pokemon. But even more importantly, Blaze was up against…

The Chief of police felt his throat choke up. He reached down to his belt in a desperate hope that there were more Pokemon there by chance. If he knew his Pokemon at all, then Blaze was dead.

He realized, the tides had turned. his Arcanine was doomed. "Oh no."

…

Jasmine stood ready, she stared at the Arcanine's eyes knowing that would give away his first move. Slowly circling him while keeping her distance like she was trained to. Her fierce growl wasn't very intimidating. The Arcanine's was much louder than hers. But both Pokemon didn't care for that. It only mattered how hard one could bite.

Jasmine just circled. They both waited, never blinking or moving their eyes. Jasmine waited for an explanation, the Arcanine waited for a command.

Thunder waited, and waited. Nothing was happening. She could hear the humans behind them yelling in frustration.

The Arcanine was getting worried. It showed in the twitch in his face and Jasmine caught it. He knew who he was up against. Unless some miracle happened, he was doomed. Why weren't there more Pokemon to help him? He was going to die!

Jasmine quit her growling. She actually stopped in her place. The Arcanine was confused for a moment, but knew Jasmine had a plan.

So, even the humans were frightened of her? Jasmine smiled. The Arcanine's growl came to a sudden halt when he saw that smile. There was nothing more intimidating, then the Jolteon's fearsome smile.

The Arcanine became even more confused. Jasmine looked down at the ground and sighed.

What was she doing? The Arcanine stood in confusion, looking away from your opponent was one of the dumbest things you could do. Even with her eyes averted, the Arcanine didn't dare to leap. Not yet.

Jasmine finally spoke up. She glanced at her frightened master and laughed.

"Well, I guess your master is a little busy to care about your life right now." She mocked, smiling at the Arcanine.

The large fire dog wasn't fazed. He could take insults. I wouldn't be the first time.

Wait, his master? Now the Arcanine was confused for sure. "Chase is your master too." Blaze immediately stopped. He dared to speak? Oops, it was a sign of weakness among team Citadel. They were trained not to give away their feelings.

Jasmine watched his every move. The Arcanine's tail twitched and he licked his lips in frustration. Good, it was fear she was sensing. She knew he didn't have it in him to take her on.

Jasmine continued chuckling. "If you don't make your first move, then I will." She got into a stance that was ready to leap at any moment. She leaned forward and bent down low to dodge whatever came her way and recover with her own fearsome attack.

The Arcanine was definitely confused now. He took a quick step back and got ready himself, leaning down as far as he could go.

Everyone knew that you didn't stand defensive with your first move in Team Citadel. First the Jolteon looked down, now she was standing wrong? Was Jasmine playing something? Was there something he didn't know about? The Arcanine couldn't figure it out, it didn't make any sense.

Jasmine waited. The Arcanine waited. For the longest time, nothing happened, again. This was the lamest Team Citadel battle they had yet to fight.

Jasmine had enough. She clenched her teeth and got ready to jump. So be it.

"Wait!"

Jasmine stopped. She actually stopped, she had never stopped mid attack. It confused her when the Arcanine yelled, but she obeyed. She would have the decency this time, to let him have his way. It was against regulation. Except, she didn't really need to follow regulation anymore did she?

The Arcanine licked his lips again. Jasmine never let her stance down or let her eyes blink.

The Arcanine couldn't help himself. He broke regulation again. "Why are you leaving?" He questioned. It didn't make sense to him. "You were the best one on the team? Chase favors you over everyone."

Jasmine was thrown off guard. She made sure to not show it though and the Arcanine knew that the chance of attacking her then was gone. They both stared at each other, but this time, there was almost emotion in Jasmine's eyes. It was the weirdest sight for the Arcanine. Team Citadel Pokemon didn't have feelings. What was wrong with Thunder?

Jasmine stared him in the eyes and thought her answer. She didn't know what it was. Was the word freedom? She had food and shelter when she was with her trainer. So it wasn't freedom then.

No, it was the horrors. The idea of killing. She hated what they did. Even if it meant starving to death out here alone, she would rather face that than a day that she had in training.

She smiled. "Maybe one day you'll know." Maybe one day, she would know what freedom felt like.

Jasmine was done waiting. She leapt, the first move was hers. It was the first move she had ever done without a command from her trainer against another trainer's Pokemon.

The Arcanine moved faster than lightening. As if by magic, he was at her side and head butted her in the chest.

Jasmine rolled once, but then was immediately upright again. She growled at the monster before her who was ready to do it again.

Jasmine saw it now. Shoot, of course. The fire dog was only stalling her with his questions! It was Blaze's favorite thing to do while fighting. He was getting Agility ready before Jasmine had even spoke.

Jasmine cursed under her breath. This was actually going to be harder than she thought. Her side stung from the hit, it was nothing to the trained Jolteon though. She could take it a thousand times over. But now the Arcanine had the advantage.

Blaze smiled. He got the first hit. "Bring it on, traitor."

…

Jack had never ran so fast in his life. Behind him, the Espeon kept screaming his name for him to stop, and behind her, The Buizel was struggling to even keep up. It was Eseral chasing Jack, and the Buizel chasing Eseral. If it wasn't for the fact that they were going to die, it would've been a really funny sight to see.

Jack was running through the dead grass as fast as he could. He stumbled and muffled noises behind him from the other Pokemon were getting louder. His broken ear still couldn't hear. He didn't turn around as his feet clumsily ran across the endless wave of dried grass.

Jack had one thought. "Fight." His instincts yelled it over and over. "Survive."

No! He hated fighting. It was a Pokemon thing to do. He wasn't a Pokemon. He wasn't!

Eseral finally caught up to him. She tackled him flat and they both rolled on the ground until they came to a stop. Jack stumbled to get back up. Eseral sprang upright and ran in front of the shaking Vaporeon.

Eseral was out of her mind. "Jack! What are you doing!"

"Running!" Jack screamed. He tried again but the Espeon slammed him to the ground with her front paws. Jack struggled to get free and keep trying to run.

He wasn't fighting! "No!" Jack screamed to voice in his head.

"You cowardly water dog!" Eseral screamed in his deaf ear while Jack pushed at her over and over. "Stand up and, fight!" She screamed it at him through his bad ear as Jack struggled to do anything.

Jack didn't know what it was, he didn't want to fight. No, he couldn't! He hated it! He was a Pokemon and he couldn't fight?

He pushed against Eseral. She held him down and screamed at him in his ear. "Jack! Stop! We need to figh…"

The Buizel finally caught up. He skid around and stared at his two opponents, blocking their paths to escape.

The Buizel was going to start growling, but then he actually looked at them. Both Eseral and Jack stopped struggling and looked up at their new visitor. The Buizel was too confused to even know what to do. Were his opponents trying to run, or trying to kill each other?

It was too late, Jack chance of running for his life was gone. Both he and Eseral stared at the Buizel before them who was rather perplexed.

The Buizel finally started growling. He stared his opponents in their faces when he realized something.

Wait. He knew these Pokemon. He stared hard the Vaporeon. It clicked in his mind. This was the one from back at the park!

Jack realized who this Buizel was. It was obvious by the bite mark that had healed on his yellow tube around his neck.

Jack gulped. "Uh oh." Now he stood no chance.

The Buizel was snarling by now. "You!" He leapt as hard as he could at the water dog, aiming for his throat.

It was a poor choice. Jack ducked and hid under his two front paws but Eseral managed to reach out and swipe the Buizel across the face. Immediately the Buizel shot back to where he was, his face now bleeding.

Jack was just too scared. The voice was deafening in his head. He could feel his paws shaking and his claws coming out. His instincts to fight were overpowering his willpower. He wasn't going to be human much longer.

The Buizel realized his mistake, why did he attack when there were two of them together? That was dumb. He rubbed his bleeding face that Eseral had hit and stood back up as if nothing happened.

Now he was furious. He thought his plan through this time, knowing he would win.

He growled. Jack heard the low noise in his bad ear and his instincts again yelled for him to stand up.

He ignored it. It wasn't even a noise anymore. It resonated throughout his mind. Any less willpower and he would've leapt at the Buizel and tore its throat out but the Vaporeon stayed curled up in a ball. It was a rather pathetic sight.

"I'm going to kill you!" The Buizel leapt again.

Eseral didn't know what she was doing. Before she could think and try to run, she jumped in the way and saved Jack's life.

The Buizel slammed her to the ground. Eseral did all she could to keep his claws away from her neck.

"Jack!" She screamed while she swatted the Buizel's paws away. She got her paw caught and the Buizel slammed her to the ground with no protection.

"JACK!"

Jack reacted. His instincts couldn't take in any longer. If he wouldn't react, then his life source would. He had to save his friends.

Jack felt it building. A water gun attack. He looked up and growled at the Buizel before him who held up his claws.

His eyes were too wet with tears. For a second, he lost his mind, and shot the water gun as hard as he could. As if he snapped back from a trance, the Vaporeon immediately looked frightened from what he had done.

His thoughts were screaming at him now. "Water gun. Pokemon. Fight!" He was turning into one of them.

The Vaporeon couldn't take it. Even for his life, his thoughts couldn't take it. He curled up tighter than before and sobbed into his paws, begging the chaos to stop before his mind told him it was normal. He wasn't a Pokemon. He wasn't. He didn't want to fight!

Unfortunately for Eseral, Jack wasn't a good aim when he was crying and shivering from fear. He managed to hit her painfully on the head and she skidded out from underneath the Buizel while the trained Pokemon fell flat on his face where the Espeon had just been pinned.

Eseral was now soaked, and furious. That hit was hard, she could hardly move her legs and choked up water.

She gave it all she got in-between her coughing fits. "Dang it Jack! Hit him. Not ME!" She tried to stand but it was too hard. Her head was stunned from the hard hit. Why did Jack always mess things up?

Jack opened his eyes from where he lay curled. He looked up and caught a glimpse of Eseral, moaning on the ground, ten feet away? He had hit her? "Oops," was all Jack could say.

The Buizel shot upright, the attack hardly fazed him at all. He stared at the Vaporeon before him who looked even weaker than before now. Why was Jack shivering like that?

The Buizel didn't even bother to look over at the Espeon. He had a score to settle with this huge water dog before him.

Jack saw the Buizel approaching him. Instinctively, he stepped back and stood up tall, challenging his opponent.

"Good, Fight!" His instincts called to him. The Vaporeon froze in place, unable to move despite his wanting to run. His paws were no longer under his control, but under the mind of a Pokemon. He was losing it. He was losing what little grasp he had.

If he fought, if one more ounce of energy tried to pry his mind free, he was going to lose it. The Pokemon in him would come out. If the Buizel just laid one paw on him…

The Buizel smiled from cheek to cheek. Never had he seen a Vaporeon who was so cowardly before. He leaned down and got ready to pounce on his prey.

Jack's thoughts were being clouded. His paws shoved out their razor sharp claws and he hated the feeling. These things, were meant to kill.

"Pl, please?" Jack whispered. He managed to take a step back. He was begging the voice in his head to stop yelling.

"One hit. Just one. Come on." His instincts called. Jack could feel his muscles tensing up, ready to attack despite his resistance. He couldn't control it. His mind was lapsing by the second with what he feared most. It was turning natural to fight.

"No!" Jack screamed. "Leave, leave me alone!"

The Buizel laughed at Jack's pleading. He stepped forward, his tails started twitching with energy.

It was one of the Buizel's favorite moves. If Jack wasn't going to fight, then he would lay the first attack. It would probably be the only one he needed against this shivering Pokemon.

The Buizel had spent time hitting walls, bricks, other Pokemon… His well trained double hit could make dents in steel. To a cowardly crying Vaporeon? Jack was going to see stars in every direction very soon.

The Buizel readied his two tails. He jumped. Jack screamed. Eseral had just gotten up, but she was too late. She watched in horror as Jack was hit.

Jack resisted just a bit more. He held on and closed his eyes. His paws didn't react, the tails came his way. He didn't duck and fight. He held on to whatever humanity he had left, probably at the expense of his life.

The Buizel spun around. He kept his front paws on the ground, his tails moving quicker than Jack could blink. All he could do was stare in horror. The first tail hit, knocking Jack's head sideways.

The next one hit. It smacked his bad ear right at the injury. Instantly, without a moment to spare, Jack was unconscious. His lifeless body rolled on the ground for six feet.

The Buizel lost his smile. Jack flew across the ground and his ear had been torn even worse. The Buizel almost felt bad from the hit. He wasn't really expecting one hit to knock the Vaporeon out. Why didn't Jack try to move?

Eseral screamed. Jack's lifeless body looked worse than ever. Both Pokemon stared at Jack as he lay there.

There was a good chance, that the Vaporeon could've been dead. Eseral felt her eyes start to tear up. Jack's life source inside him was pounding water harder than it ever had before.

The Buizel didn't even realize that the Vaporeon had a bad ear the whole time. He chuckled, realizing just how critical his hit was. He had hit it in the best possible spot to kill him.

"Wow!" He looked down at his tails in triumph which weren't even hurt. "Never knew I could do that. I should've…"

He didn't get to finish. Eseral tackled him so fast that he didn't even have time to turn around. Eseral clawed for all that she was worth. She was going to avenge her friend. Jack, was probably dead!

The Buizel may have hurt Jack, but she was going to kill him!

…

He was going unconscious. Eseral was screaming. He could hear the two attacking while his ear rang and his eyes saw black enclosing in around him. Every sense was fading.

Every sense, except one. He could feel it closing in. That voice… It was screaming at him to behave like a Pokemon.

"No. No please." Jack whined. He begged. He started to cry. His mind started to return to the black abyss where his life source was. "No. Please no!"

If he gave in? If his life source won, he wouldn't be the same. He couldn't' take it anymore. Human, Pokemon. Fight, die?

Jack was going to have to face what he feared this entire time. Only Pokemon fought like this.

He wasn't a Pokemon. He wasn't a Pokemon! He wasn't one of them!

"No!" Now Jack was standing alone with the beating life source behind him. He was like a cub entrapped in a cellar. The doors were being locked. "No, please!"

There was no hope. He fell unconscious. The Vaporeon's inner mind got to work.

Jack wasn't going to die. He was going to fight. There was nothing to do but face the pounding orb of water that stood before him.

He didn't want to forget. The Vaporeon was crying. He didn't want to forget home. He didn't want to forget Lauren. The pounding orb demanded that he pay attention. It was settling this issue.

It was going to find a balance. Jack's mind was frightened, but his instincts were ready.

…

Jasmine had heard the scream. Both the Arcanine and her turned around at the same time, looking out to where Eseral scream echoed across the meadow.

The Arcanine smiled. "Well, looks like you're out of friends." He taunted Jasmine. The Arcanine wanted to growl in triumph but he kept eye contact on Thunder the whole time in case she tried something suspicious.

Jasmine gulped. She quickly brought her eyes back to the Arcanine. were her friends… Dead?

Jasmine didn't know what it was, friends had fallen in battle before. Actually, they were just other Pokemon, not even friends. Eseral never liked her anyways.

The Arcanine watched. Jasmine gave a look he had never seen before. It almost made him stagger.

It was weight, it was heavy. Suddenly Jasmine's legs couldn't support her weight and she took a wider stance to accommodate. The Arcanine had never seen anything like it.

The Jolteon was experiencing weakness, Jasmine felt something heavy but not from her stinging side where the Arcanine attacked her, from her heart.

It hurt. Those were her friends. She turned around and looked at them getting a good view.

It was a poor move. The Arcanine leapt and before Jasmine could act, he had a paw the size of her face pushing her down.

The Jolteon threw her back paws up. She reached up with her other paw but it was just too late. She had one millisecond to save her life and she missed it.

The Arcanine shoved her paw aside. He held her down and within milliseconds, there was nothing Jasmine could do.

The Arcanine couldn't believe it. He, did he just pin Thunder? Was this possible?

Jasmine smiled. "Good." She leaned back and closed her eyes. "I guess you win."

What! She was giving up?

"Thunder! What the heck is wrong with you!" The Arcanine couldn't keep in his feelings anymore. What the heck was wrong with his partner?

Jasmine always fought to the death. She always kept trying. She never even felt the taste of failure, because she had never let that happen.

It was invigorating. It was freedom. She smiled and looked up at the Arcanine.

Jasmine had a choice. She had the choice and Chase wasn't taking it from her. Even if she had only gotten this far, it was worth it to ride in the garbage truck with the only friends she ever had, only to get caught later on. She was going to die out here.

The Arcanine pressed harder. It didn't hurt Jasmine at all though with the weight pressing down on her. In fact, she was already naturally thinking of ways to escape. Maybe there was hope?

"Go ahead." Jasmine taunted. "Either kill me, or let me go but don't wait."

Now the Arcanine understood. He smiled cunningly. The reverse smile made Jasmine scared for a moment. What was he planning?

Jasmine didn't get it. She was going to die right? She was finally getting her wish.

The Arcanine spoke up. "Sad. I would've killed you, but you're still too young. You know I have orders to take you back alive, Chase says so."

Jasmine felt freedom. She felt an opportunity, but all was lost.

She wasn't escaping, she was going back. It wasn't to a cage or even a Pokeball, she was going back with Chase. She would wake up from this and whatever Chase had planned would be her future.

She did have a future. She had to have some kind of future, she just had to. She was too young, A whole lifetime ahead of her of torture wasn't right.

It was going to be awful. Jasmine started growling. She behaved like a cub. She didn't want to go back. Not now, not ever!

"I'm going to be free!" She growled. She didn't know how, but somehow, she was going to taste those green fields and the smell of freedom. Her mind racked with ways to possibly escape but it was only a matter of time. She didn't even know what it meant to be free.

The Arcanine liked this better. Now he had the opportunity to take something away from Thunder. Now he had a reason to hurt her. It wasn't like he had anything against hurting young cubs anyways, he had always dreamed of the day that he would take Jasmine on in a fight, and win.

He pressed harder and growled inches above her face. Jasmine started crying from the heavy weight.

"No, you're not." He whispered. His fur started turning fire red. He had been preparing his attack in secret, it was his favorite thing to do. He had planned it. He was just stalling Jasmine until it was too late.

Jasmine recognized the attack. She didn't know what to do. The Arcanine was going to burn her to a crisp and she didn't know how to get out of it this time.

There was no hope. Her mind started panicking. It wasn't pain, it wasn't fear, it was the fact that she was going to lose her freedom. Never again would she get to be out here and smell fresh air away from the city.

A thought occurred to Jasmine. Her panicked mind came up with every possibility that she knew to escape the emerging flames form the Arcanine. The large Pokemon's fur continued to burn a deep red, glowing ever brighter.

Jasmine glanced in every direction. If her friends were dead, didn't that mean that the Buizel would've been back by now? He wasn't, so that meant…

She smiled. No. There was always a way. Always.

…

Jack couldn't hear anything. His mind was dark for the longest time. All he could hear was rushing water. It felt like hours. Or maybe seconds.

He blinked. He was alive? The whole area was dark. When he looked up he saw the bright blue orb of his life source pounding water like never before. It was larger than he had ever known. He felt… Overpowered.

Jack represented his mind. Every human thought he had. He was stuck in his subconscious while he recovered. His life source was talking to him.

Jack stared at the orb in wonder. Waterfalls and rivers poured around it with an ever increasing amount of water. It was talking to him. Behind him in the distance he could hear the sounds of a screaming Espeon, but they were too faint to even notice.

Jack stared at the life source. He gulped.

"Water." It whispered.

Jack's ears went down in fear. He backed up in hesitation.

"Pokemon." His life source insisted.

Jack flinched. He found his tongue and tried to speak. He could only back up so far in the black abyss but he couldn't go back much farther.

"No." He told it. He wasn't doing this. He was human. He wasn't changing.

"Pokemon." The life source insisted again.

Jack felt something. Something just touched his tail. He whipped around but nothing was there except blackness.

"Pokemon?" Jack whispered. He felt something touch him again, but there was nothing there.

The life source tried again. The sound came from every direction, hurting Jack's ears. "Pokemon."

Jack felt it again. Something actually tugged at his tail. He was pulled back before he broke free and turned around to stare at the intruder.

The life source was getting farther away. He was being pulled back. Every tug was magically pulling him into the dark void. Something was silencing him. Something was overpowering his mind.

The thing pulled again. Jack slipped and watched as the water started coming around him. The life source filled the blackness with deep murky water until he was swimming.

What was he doing? What was he deciding? He had to fight harder. He wasn't changing!

"Human." Jack screamed. Immediately the life source fought back. The water pounded around him.

"Pokemon!" It screamed at him. Jack was flushed away with the water.

Jack figured out what was happening. He was unconscious. It was like he feared. His need to survive was overpowering his need to remain human.

If he slipped now, if he gave in and the water drowned him here, then… Would he wake up, remembering?

Jack couldn't give in. "No!" He screamed. The water was pulling him back. He wasn't going to be silenced forever.

The life source was winning. Being human kept Jack from surviving. He had lost. It was going to keep Jack alive like it was supposed to, and he couldn't be both human and Pokemon so… It was going to silence him forever.

Jack swam helplessly. He had no control.

The thing that was tugging him suddenly showed itself. This time however, it tugged him closer to the orb. It tugged him to safety. Immediately the water slowed down its current.

Jack caught a small glimpse of it. It was saving him. It was another Vaporeon. It looked just like him for a split second.

When it looked at him though, it smiled. A pure happy smile, one of a Pokemon, who knew no different.

Jack screamed. He reached out for it in his nightmare but the Vaporeon was too fast. He was pulled closer.

The water stopped. The new Vaporeon stood in front of the orb and suddenly, they both agreed. They knew what to do.

"Share!" Both voices screamed at once. Jack was going to go insane.

"No! Nooo!" He screamed, he tried to swim away. The new mind took over. Jack wasn't going to let this happen! The new voice was getting control. What was happening to him?

The life source faded. He felt something pushing against his chest. The water surrounding him just mocked him now.

"No! Please! No!"

"Share!" The other Vaporeon screamed. It was standing over him now, Jack had no choice.

Share? Human and Pokemon? His mind was going to have to get along with, his inner life source. The new voice was controlling it all.

"Share!" The Vaporeon beamed in it's blissful smile.

…

The Buizel was suddenly slapped. It had Jack in its grip and the unconscious Vaporeon was slapping him in its sleep. The water dog wouldn't quit moving in it's nightmare!

"Hold still!" The Buizel yelled. It got slapped again and Jack was screaming for him to stop in his sleep. In fact, the unconscious Vaporeon was winning the fight. For the Buizel, it was rather pathetic. It was embarrassing. The Buizel was getting beat up by an unconscious Pokemon who kept writhing about. The Buizel got slapped again and he felt claw marks against his cheek. He was going to tear this Pokemon to bits when he finally got him awake.

The Buizel shoved Jack's head to the ground. The hard hit to the head instantly woke Jack up. The Vaporeon shot open his eyes to stare at the growling Buizel above him that had him in a pin. Jack could feel the heavy paws pushing his weight down forcefully. It was rather painful.

The first thing Jack noticed was that everything was silent. He couldn't hear a thing. He thought the Buizel was screaming at him but there wasn't even a ringing noise in his ears, his head had too much pain to care.

It was weird. There was no noise at all. The side of Jack's head felt rather light. The other side was too exhausted to hear anything. His senses weren't able to accommodate to the problem on his left side, so they stayed silent altogether, creating a complete deafness that Jack had never heard before.

It was silent, Jack took a second to figure out what was going on. He stared at the furious Buizel above him.

The Buizel was right above him. He felt the heavy weight of the Pokemon holding him down in an inescapable position. Jack's muscles tensed up when he realized, he was still his attacker in the face. He was the one in the pin.

The Buizel smiled. He had a cut against his right cheek and his yellow tube had a bite mark on it. His fur was worse than ever from Eseral's tough claws from before.

But, there was no Eseral in sight. The Buizel had won, now it was Jack's turn.

Jack looked down where the Buizel was gripping his blue fur. He noticed something in-between it's red claws.

Pink fur. Oh no! The Buizel had killed Eseral, and he was next.

The Buizel enjoyed it the first time, so why not do it again? He slammed Jack's head down to the ground painfully making the Vaporeon yelp.

Jack yelped? It was weird. He didn't hear a thing. The Vaporeon could've cried, or even screamed, but instead he felt that whimpering was his best option. He yelped from the pain of the Buizel squeezing his neck. Jack didn't know what to do to get out of a pin. His mind was still recovering.

The Buizel prepared itself. There was no one watching. Besides, he liked to taunt his victims.

He reached up, and clawed Jack's face. The Vaporeon yelped again from the pain. He couldn't hear, but he could feel it everywhere. He was so beat up. Injuries and stinging pain everywhere!

"That's for hitting me back at the stream, jerk!" The Buizel smacked him again with it's claws. "And that's for my neck!"

The Buizel was about to do it again. But something happened.

Jack had a thought. His eyes shot wide in wonder.

A pounding in his head. An unfamiliar voice of a Vaporeon yelling at him. He felt a light click in his head and suddenly, his mind felt lighter, it felt like it was working.

A pounding in his head. Jack shut his eyes from the quick sensation. It hurt. Then, as if nothing happened, it was gone.

"Block!" The voice screamed in his head. "Block the attack!"

The Buizel reached up again with it's claws. It brought them down quicker than before with the intentions of ripping Jack's fur off painfully.

Jack reached up, and blocked the hit. It was natural, he just did a perfect block. He had no choice, his mind clicked and it was more natural than ever before.

The thoughts of humans shaking hands suddenly disappeared. Jack twitched, and then remembered how to do a perfect block. It was like, he had never known any different. He forgot something human, in exchange for something Pokemon. He was… Sharing.

The Buizel blinked. He looked over at his paw which was gripped tightly so he could no longer use it. The Vaporeon knew how to fight?

Jack stared at his paw. Suddenly, his other one was begging to twitch. It was screaming at him to move. His mind was screaming at him that another one was coming.

He couldn't stop it, his mind took over. Before the Buizel even thought about it, Jack had his other paw gripped tight. A strangle. It made it so the Buizel's paws were helpless in the fight.

Jack's mind worked frantically. Something was pouring out of his chest into his heart and soul. The life source pounded viciously. Adrenaline was coming.

Jack was going to fight. It was inevitable. The trained wild Pokemon started growling with anticipation to survive.

The Buizel started growling back. Jack had both his paws held tight and there was nothing either water Pokemon could do. They were both stuck like this.

"Defiance." Jack's instincts yelled. Jack growled until the low tone sent chills up the Buizel's spine.

The water flooded from Jack's life source. It found an accommodation to his human Pokemon problem.

He didn't forget being a human, but what he could forget, like how to walk, talk, or even think like a human…

Well, it could replace those with Pokemon instincts couldn't it? The new voice in his head was at work. The new Vaporeon was making both his mind and life source, share.

"Fight." Jack thought. His instincts thought the same. With a violent twitch that made the Buizel scared, Jack suddenly looked different.

The Buizel watched. It was unnatural, it was almost like Jack was waking up from some sort of sleep.

The Vaporeon gripped his paws tighter. He felt his powerful tail as a weapon and his back paws got ready to throw the Buizel off him. Jack knew how to fight. He had forgotten how to walk as a human, but by Arceus, he knew how to fight!

Everything shifted naturally as if he had been walking for years. He felt strength in paws that he never knew how to work before. More and more thoughts disappeared as cold instincts took over. Jack's eyes fixed on the Buizel above him and he felt the cold rush of adrenaline pound through him.

The Buizel didn't have time to react. The Water dog, it was fighting? He had to act now!

The Buizel leapt off and jumped back. Jack immediately leapt up and was ready to fight in seconds.

The Buizel gulped. "You, you can fight?" Where did this wild Pokemon learn to kill?
Jack didn't respond. He snarled so hard that even the Buizel had trouble staying upright. This wasn't even fighting. The Vaporeon was going to kill him.

"Survive." Jack's instincts demanded. Jack forgot another thought. His head twitched.

"Survive." He whispered. It was the most natural thing. It was always the heart of ever wild Pokemon. "Survive." Jack knew no different. Survival was the only thing keeping him alive now. He was more Pokemon than human.

"Survive." Jack looked up at the Buizel before him. The blood from his cuts only enraged him further. "Kill." The last word rang in his head.

Kill… Kill? Jack felt a sudden sense of remorse. Did, did he know how to kill?

The Buizel stepped back again. This thing in front of him was behaving like a fully trained wild creature. Jack stepped forward, complete with the intentions of only surviving. He had to kill, another violent shudder. "Tackle." His instincts said.

Jack knew what he had to do. He bent low for the first time, knowing how to tackle. He had just forgotten how to run as a human. "Kill. Survive."

The Buizel was scared out of his wits. This creature was most demented thing he had ever seen. Something of a nightmare. This Vaporeon had gone from an innocent water dog, to a trained killer…

Wait a minute. The Buizel stopped backing up. What was he doing? He was part of Team Citadel. He had taken on Pokemon twice as big as this Vaporeon before him.

The Buizel didn't want to be here much longer, this would be over quick. Jack was still a wild Pokemon that didn't know how to survive. He would end this just like Eseral.

Jack tried to focus. His vision was blurry but his thoughts raced like mad.

He couldn't resist. He had to survive. More and more thoughts disappeared as his muscles aligned for the best possible attack. He had to survive against this trained Buizel, it was his job, he was a Pokemon.

The Buizel crouched down into a tackle. Jack saw it coming. He didn't know what to…

A violent twitch. The voice in his head screamed again. Jack recovered from the attack and immediately he knew what to do. He had to duck low to dodge a tackle and roll to the right. He had known that his whole life.

He didn't know how he knew that. One more thought of how to drive disappeared as his mind told him how to fight. He had already forgotten about the laboratory that he worked at. His mind was forgetting the more important things as long as his instincts to kill kept overcoming him.

It was natural. One by one, very slowly. The thoughts of being human were disappearing.

He was fighting. He was Pokemon. He had forgotten how to drive, in exchange for how to fight. He had forgotten about his home, for the biggest thought of them all.

Jack was doubtful, but now there was no question. He was going to kill if he could. If this Pokemon dared to jump at him and came any closer, he was going to kill without hesitation.

It was the most inhumane thing Jack could do. Only Pokemon would kill like this. But his new mind thought otherwise. He circled the Buizel waiting for the attack.

This Buizel had hurt his friends. Some of his only friends. Jasmine and Eseral were his only closest friends that he had, he didn't know many others. He was going to tear the Buizel's neck out and forever scar his mind with the taste of revenge. With the taste of death.

Very quietly. Somewhere in the back of his mind. One last thought was begging to never be forgotten.

"Lauren." It whispered.

…

Jasmine watched the Arcanine above her. He was preparing an attack.

She started preparing her own. Her best known discharge was her only hope. Maybe, if she got lucky, she would be able to launch it and send the towering dog over her into paralysis.

It was hopeless though. Jasmine knew when she was staring death in the face.

The Arcanine's paws pressing on her fur started burning hot. Within seconds, they were heating up to hundreds of degrees.

She stared at them in wonder. The fur burned red like lava. Flames erupted as they melted into her fur.

She looked up into the Arcanine's eyes in pain. Fire was dancing behind them. The white fur on his face was already burning red like molten steel.

Jasmine wasn't ready. She needed more time. She needed three seconds more than this Arcanine would give her. The spark in her own heart just started leaping to life from her exhausted state.

The Arcanine smiled. Red fire leapt from the back of his throat like a scorching furnace.

He crept inches from her face. "A good flame wheel out to teach you to obey our master." The flames got so bright that they danced off his face. The white fur on his head was disappearing into flames.

Jasmine gulped. Flame wheel? It would knock her four feet into the ground at this distance. She was going to wake up in pieces if he dared attack at this distance. It would likely kill her, or not and she didn't want to wake up after suffering through it.

Her life source sparked to life. She felt the familiar touch of electricity jumping to her paws. It made her feel alive.

It was too late though. Her fur was being burned. She whined at the scorching feeling on her chest as the flaming Arcanine pressed against her skin and burned past her fur. It was painful, but she could take some pain.

It was too much. She couldn't focus. The spark inside her blinked and tried to stay alive but its as struggling to attack. This was going to be the end.

The Arcanine was ready. He leaned back, his entire body engulfed in flames consuming both of them at this close distance.

He got ready to attack. The fur on the strong Jolteon was being scorched as he stood ready. Jasmine was more black than yellow now.

The Arcanine smiled. He had won. He lifted his paw off Jasmine's chest so he could leap forward and crush her.

"Wait!"

The Arcanine stopped. The flames burned both of them but he stopped from where he stood. Jasmine slowly rolled over and stood up. She stared at the flaming mess in front of her.

She was done for, she could only look up into the confused Arcanine's eyes. Why did she yell to stop?

Thunder smiled. She just had to. It hurt her mouth to be touching so much fire but she could tolerate pain. "Where's," she took a breath, needing more air. "Where's, your friend?"

The Arcanine didn't hear her at first. Then his fire red eyes blinked in concern.

His friend? The Buizel? The Arcanine glanced to his left where his friend should've returned by now.

It was all Jasmine needed. She braced herself for the worst feeling in the world.

They were going to collide. She just knew it. It would probably kill them both!

The electric life source buzzed in her heart. It was a little spark, dancing between two imaginary poles of light. It jumped back and forth a thousand times a second.

Electric types were fast. While fire types burned continuously, water poured endlessly, her electric life source only raced faster and faster.

The more it raced. The more power it generated. A thousand times a second. Ten thousand times a second.

The Arcanine looked back over. Jasmine's fur was standing on end. sparks was starting to show.

He had been tricked. Arceus! He had to attack now.

It happened instantly. Jasmine shut her eyes. A billion times a second! Four trillion! The source was brighter than the sun inside her.

Her fur started to shine. Electricity poured out into the ground. Anything within a hundred foot radius was buzzing with intensity from the single dancing spark. It was faster than light, beating faster than imaginable.

The Arcanine leapt. Jasmine leapt and let out her own attack. The dancing spark went from four trillion, to just one in a second.

The Arcanine hit first. Jasmine was slammed to the ground and skid back for ten feet. Her entire body was engulfed in flames.

Her attack came just after. Her fur shone like the sun, then the light exploded.

The wave of energy shot out in a circle. The Arcanine felt his heart instantly stop and he was blown back twenty feet. The explosion echoed across the meadow. It was quite literally as her name implies. Chase liked to call the move…

"THUNDER!" Chase screamed when the light exploded. He didn't have time to think before it was too late and the attack was loose.

The Arcanine was thrown back. Jasmine rolled on the ground. Every strand of grass blew out from the yellow wave of intense energy.

John didn't have time to act. He shut his eyes when the discharge hit him and smacked him into the police car.

Chase didn't stand a chance. He was thrown to the ground, instantly unconscious. It was painful, even in his sleep.

The loud crack. The echoing boom. Everything stopped. The grass was blown back, the Arcanine was on the ground, everything was dead silent except for the distant echo. The bright yellow flash dissipated as the electricity lost it's power.

It was quiet. Thunder sounded in the background from Jasmine's attack. She wasn't moving, but neither was anything else. The whole meadow was as quiet as could be as the electricity disappeared into the ground and air.

Nothing was moving. The fire continued to burn her fur as she lay on the ground and smoke rose from her defeated body. The Jolteon had been burned as far as she could take it, hardly any energy was left.

She slipped, into unconscious, it was the one thing that Team Citadel Pokemon were not supposed to do and that was fall unconscious in battle.

The Arcanine's flame was done. It barely stayed alive enough to light a match. If no potion or revive was applied within the next hour, he would be staring at death's doors soon. His heart had completely stopped from Thunder's attack.

Jasmine, felt a small spark. It beat, one time every second. Two… Three.

…

Jack saw the attack. Both he and the Buizel turned to see the blinding flash and the thundering noise. It sent both of them into a crouch to avoid being blind.

Jack couldn't even hear. He hadn't heard a thing yet. But when that thundering crash erupted, he felt his skull tremble and he heard the loud beat of thunder reach his ears for just a second. It was that loud.

Jack watched the wave. The bright yellow flash exploded and he felt the wave of electricity rush over his fur, just penetrating the outside from over two hundred yards away. His fur stood on end from the aftershock.

The Buizel was a little more worried. He gulped. He knew what caused that explosion.

"Blaze?" The Buizel cried. He didn't see anything burning. It was just a giant shock. A giant discharge. It was like Zeus himself sent a bolt down from above. The attack was almost Godly.

It was bad news for the Buizel though. His partner was definitely dead. No hope, whatsoever.

He turned. More furious than ever. Jack was still getting over the shock of the attack.

Jack didn't turn in time. The newly raged Buizel tackled him flat.

Jack did what he did best. Fight. He reached up and blocked his attack knowing it was coming. The next paw almost hit his face if Jack hadn't flinched just in time.

The Buizel tried to bite him. Jack shoved his back paws up and kicked his stomach up. The Buizel tried to scratch him, but Jack grabbed both his paws just in time.

They were stuck again. There was nothing either of them could do.

"I'm going to kill you!" The Buizel screamed. He tried again to get free but Jack's back paws were naturally stronger and held him above his neck.

Jack growled right back. "You, killed, Eseral!"

Jack slipped. The Buizel's face fell forward. The water Pokemon bared it's teeth to bite his neck for the last time.
Jack moved just in time. He didn't know why, but he felt that the left side of his face was better defended than his right. His instincts demanded him to flinch his head to the right even though that would expose his injured ear. His instincts demanded it.

Jack moved, knowing the Buizel was going to rip his ear off. He twitched his head. The Buizel bit down right where his ear was and he braced for the worse pain he would ever feel. There was still no noise yet except for the thunder that he had heard.

The Buizel bit. Nothing happened. Jack opened up his eyes. The Buizel was biting where his ear was, but nothing was there.

It gave him the opportunity. He had a split second to react. He had the chance to do what wild Pokemon did best.

"Bite him!" His instincts demanded. "Kill."
Jack bit. He reached up and grabbed onto whatever was in reach.

He bit the Buizel's ear. The water Pokemon screamed and jumped back off him attempting to get free.

Jack didn't let go. He was thrown upwards but he latched on. He bit down harder.

The first real taste. His memory lapsed, his mind freaked.

Blood. Real, live, blood. His mouth filled with it.

The Buizel tugged harder. Like a wild dog, Jack tugged back and made the Buizel scream in pain. He wasn't letting go.

"Kill him!" His instincts warned. Jack tugged harder. He was trying so hard not to think. "Kill him for Eseral!"

It was too much pain. The Buizel kept it's mouth shut pulling and tearing up. Every movement was causing more pain. He could feel the blood loss from his ear as his head got light.

Jack wanted to think. He didn't know what it was, was it human? Was it Pokemon? What was he doing? HIs mind was getting scared every second with something it would never recover from.

It wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to kill. The Buizel tugged harder.

Jack had two choices, let go or hold on. He chose the wrong one. He braced his head and tugged back twice as hard.

The Buizel screamed. Jack's memory lapsed again.

It was terrible. It was horrifying. The sound of pure pain coming from the Buizel's mouth as he pulled. It echoed in Jack's deafened mind.

Jack wasn't a Pokemon. He was supposed to be human. The sound of death and pain screaming in his face scarred its way into his memory.

He wasn't supposed to kill. Not like this. He wasn't a murderer. He was just a Vaporeon. Four blue paws. A tail. Tv. Pizza… He wasn't supposed to kill this creature.

It was too late. The Buizel in one last attempt tried to pull free. It was all the force the little ear could take.

There was a terrible ripping sound, and suddenly Jack was free.

He fell onto his back. The Buizel screamed in pain, writhing on the ground, and then ran away. Heading back to its master.

Jack blinked awake. His mind was blacking out. He was still gripping something in his teeth.

He looked down, it was a Buizel ear. He had torn it right off!

There was too much. There was too much, blood! His mind clicked like crazy.

"Good. Survive."

"No." Jack fell asleep. His Pokemon mind couldn't take it. "I, I… Lauren?" He fell asleep and his mind was forever scarred, with the fact that he had tried to kill.

Surviving wasn't like this. Survival didn't mean tearing live Pokemon apart. What was wrong with Jack? He fell asleep but even there in the dark, there was no peace. If Jack didn't figure this out soon. He was doomed.

…

Jasmine felt the small murmur of life. She stared at her blinking life source amidst the dark abyss.

She knew this place. Her mind freaked out. She watched the life source, judging it's state immediately.

It beat so slowly, that she could actually see the bolt jumping back and forth.

The Jolteon in the unconscious world jumped right up. She was nearly dead. She had been trained to wake up from this place the minute she ever set foot in it. This black abyss with her life source meant she was exposed in the real world.

She had to wake herself up now. She had never seen her life source this low before, this fragile, but she had to wake herself up no matter what pain lay ahead.

The dark started to fade. Her life source beat back to life. A hundred times a second. A thousand times a second.

…

Jasmine blinked. She opened her eyes to the sun above her.

She had a few seconds to think before pain took over. She stared at the sun. It was twenty minutes later! She didn't have…

Too late. The pain came on her.

Jasmine screamed. The Jolteon turned herself over on the ground and stood upright, whimpering from the pain.

It was too much. Every inch of fur on her had been badly torched. The white fur under her yellow showed itself. Hardly anything on her represented a Jolteon anymore. Her yellow spiked fur was burned to the skin.

She looked down at the worst pain of it all. Where the Arcanine's molten paws pressed against her skin, her muscles showed underneath her fur. They were burned, severely. They were probably getting infected as she stared at them.

Jasmine gulped. She sat down on her back paws to relax the slightest bit. Her trained mind demanded that she get back up and fight more, but she was done. She didn't want to listen to it's screaming voice to survive anymore.

Everything was burnt. If she didn't find a burn heal soon, or something.

There was no hope. She was out in the fields alone. The Jolteon looked around her, painfully standing back upright and forced her mind to forget the pain. Even with this, she could ignore it, for some time.

She looked around her. There was an unconscious Arcanine. The field was burned in dark patches where she had stood. Two humans were unconscious on the grass near the police car with the open doors.

Jasmine looked to her right. A Buizel lay about fifteen yards away. Its ear was gone. It was unconscious as well.

Jasmine wanted to puke. This, this was horrible. What had she done? What had Team Citadel done? For the first time. Jasmine hated the stench, of death. It didn't feel like victory. this felt like misery.

She tried to stand. The pain in her chest gave out suddenly. Her mind refused to think of it. She felt her body becoming light.

Wait, she knew this feeling. Jasmine blinked again as her eyes wanted to close and she started falling asleep. Her back legs gave out and they collapsed to the ground.

"No. No please." She begged. She didn't want to die. She tried to stand again while the black enclosed around her opened eyes.

She didn't know if she was giving up. She wasn't part of Team Citadel anymore. Did she have the ability to just give up?

"No." She didn't want to quit. She didn't want to die. There was no hope though. Nothing out here could save her. But if she could just find a way.

Jasmine started to cry. She hadn't fired since she was a little cub. Everything was going numb. She found the strength to stand only because she no longer felt pain. The black was quickly closing around her even with her eyes opened.

She never told anyone. Even Chase didn't know. Everyone thought she was older.

"I'm just a cub." She whined. "I don't want to die." She wanted to cry for mommy. She wanted to cry and curl up tight against something cold and soothing. Something that would make her feel safe. She didn't want to have to survive anymore

Jasmine was only six years old, five years as a Jolteon. She was no older than Eseral's oldest cub.

She felt her mind start to black out. She had lived so little. There was no hope. No freedom. she didn't get to taste the fresh green grass after all.

She blacked out for a second. She stood there, helplessly as she fought and tried to blink back awake. Then she blacked out again. The dark abyss flooded around her.

She blinked. She felt back alive. Why did her life source keep bringing her back here to the abyss?

She wasn't dead yet? Jasmine blinked and stared at her life source. She was completely pain free.

What was it beating for? She tried to call to it. The spark beat like normal, thousands of times a second.

Was she dying? Did the life source find something else to live for?

"Friends." It called.

Jasmine blinked. What friends?

"Friends. Pack."

Jasmine blinked again. She knew what she had to do. She knew what she needed.

As if by some miracle, she knew what she had to do. Her memory shot back to her and she woke up just seconds after.

She wasn't giving up. She never was. It wasn't because of Team Citadel's training, she was number one because she would never give up. Her body was numb, it allowed her to stand while she still had life. But she wasn't giving up.

She had friends. She had Eseral, and Jack. She, she needed to protect them.

Friends were worth living for. She would never forget that. Freedom, was looking out for Eseral. Even if the Espeon hated her. Freedom was caring for Jack even if he lost his mind.

Jasmine looked over to the police car. She found just enough strength, to smile.

The glove box. She needed to get to the glove box. It was standard issue. Every police car had one, and this one was no exception. Team Citadel had made it necessary to carry at least one ever since the police accident many years ago, when she was still in training.

She limped her way to the car. Her back foot was broken too? Great. This would make things more difficult.

It didn't matter though. Inside the glove box next to the open door, if Jasmine had any luck at all, was a potion. A standard issue Team Citadel full heal.

…

"Look, everyone! Please? Give me some room!"

The attendant at the front office had no control. The bottom floor to the police headquarters was packed.

Everyone had an issue with the police department that ran everything in the city. Two accidents in one day? What the heck!

A man pushed his way up to the front of the mob. "Mrs. My insurance claims it was the police's fault…"
The lady tried to interrupted. "Sir? I know. But please we have…"

Another person pushed forward. Same problem. Everyone was still yelling! It was giving the receptionist a headache. No, she was getting a migraine!

"Please? People. One at a ti…"
Another man pushed to the front. Everyone else tried to have their turn.

That was it. The lady jumped up from her desk. "Stop!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing. The receptionist turned red in her cheeks when everyone looked her way.

She blushed. "Umm, ok. One at a time."

Another man stepped forward. He wasn't like the last ones. This time, he threw his hands on the counter and leaned in.

The receptionist finally had control, and then this guy had to come in? "Arceus! Why can't you people wait in line like normal human beings!"

The man heard complaints behind him. He turned around but decided to keep doing what he was doing. His problem was too important to just wait in line.

The receptionist shrugged. She sat back down and pulled up her computer screen. "Alright, what's the make and model?" The receptionist noticed that the man was only about twenty from his looks. What was he doing here?

The man spoke up. "Can I speak to Lauren."
The lady stopped dead. Lauren didn't really sound like a car name.

"Umm, who's she again?" The lady asked. She didn't even look the man in the face to see how serious he was.

The young man leaned in. He tried to get comfortable knowing he was going to be here a while. "She's the one who blew up the building."

The receptionist stopped typing. She looked up at the man's face.

Who does this kid think he is? "Umm, yeah? That's cute that you want to see her but, no. Move along." She signaled for the next person to come forward.

"Hey!" The young kid pushed the person back in line who was eager to cut just like he did. "Why can't I go see her?" He begged the receptionist while he fought for his spot at the front.

The receptionist actually laughed. "Because, she's a criminal! You can't just waltz in. You need permission from the chief. Who by the way, isn't here!" She made her point clear and tried to get back to work. "Please? I have so much work to do. Next!"

Again, the kid shoved the man behind him back in line until the man was on the ground.

The receptionist was surprised by his determination. "I need to speak to her." The young kid demanded it.

The receptionist didn't know what to do. Fortunately for her, two of the policeman who had been watching stepped forward. This was a rather unusual request from a young kid so they felt they needed to get involved.

The young kid noticed the two officers near him now. One of them he could take on but the other would lay him flat in one shot. He had to look up just to meet his eyes.

The taller one spoke first. When the kid saw him, he flinched and jumped off the desk holding his arms by his side.

The officer smiled. "That's right. She told you to leave. So move along pipsqueak."

Now the kid was furious. He stood as tall as he could. "I have a right to stand right here as long as I want. Now, I demand an answer to my question."

The officers laughed. The kid was sure to remember their reaction. Wasn't this odd behavior for the best police force in the region? He thought they handled situations liker his delicately, not by force.

The man made a motion for his side. The boy caught it. The man was reaching for his well trained Pokemon by his side. Standard issue for Team Citadel but the kid didn't know that.

The man couldn't believe this. "Seriously? I'm just asking a question!" The stubborn kid refused to leave even when the officer made a motion for his belt.

The officer stepped up, challenging the boy just after the receptionist cut in to try and ease the situation. Something about this officer's forceful behavior was completely unethical and everyone knew it, but he wasn't backing down, and neither was the boy.

The boy stood up tall. The policeman, a foot taller than him, challenged his authority.

It was a boy's determination to get an answer, over an officer's right to use brutal force. The officer pulled the Pokeball out of his belt and put his thumb over the button.

Everyone went silent. This poor kid was asking for it. What was his problem?

The silence was cut off when a large cardboard box dropped onto the front desk. Everyone turned to the noise in surprise.

It was James, the once hired police officer. He wiped his brow and leaned against the desk in exhaustion.

"Hey Tracy." He acknowledged the lady at the front desk who was the receptionist. Tracy was surprised that James was one of the few who actually took the time to learn her name. She didn't get time to glance at the cardboard box full of all his office belongings.

James tried to smile, but the truth was that he was just too depressed to try. "Did you fill out the papers like I asked?"

Tracy flinched. "What papers?"

Now James was upset. He growled under his breath and threw his hands up in exhaustion. "The retirement papers. No? Arceus!" James grabbed his head in despair and grew ever more frustrated, but he kept his temper under control. "The ones that I get when you quit your job. Those ones. I asked you to have them ready an hour ago!" He complained to Tracy.

Tracy didn't hear anything about it. Maybe it was in an email? Either way, she didn't have them ready. Oops. She was so getting fired later today when the boss came back and heard about all this.

James couldn't believe this. How could Tracy be so… "Oh." The fired officer looked to his left and noticed the long line. That explained the delay in his papers.

Everyone was staring at James. Even the two officers forgot about the kid next to them.

James almost wanted to laugh, but he was an officer, he handled things with delicacy. "What's happening here?"

No one responded. James noticed that the main confrontation was between the four people at the front desk. Those people were Tracy, two officers, and a young boy. He even dressed weird too. Why did his coat have so many pockets?

James left his box on the desk and began to work. He might not be an police officer anymore, but he could definitely help.

"What's going on?" James asked. This time demanding that someone answer him.

James caught the motion. The taller and more stubborn officer moved is hand away from his belt.

James went wide eyed. "You were going to attack him!" He yelled to the officer that was over a foot taller than him. "Arceus, that's illegal!" He threw his hands at the officer and almost wanted to shove him to the ground.

The officer didn't know what to do. He quickly put his hands in his pockets and turned back to the boy.

No one noticed it before. The young boy took out a notepad and a thick black pen.

Everyone heard the small click of a pen. The boy scribbled notes on the pad. "Illegal activity, from officers." He wrote down, saying it aloud as he did. He smiled at the brute officer before him.

The receptionist squeaked in horror. Oh shoot, she was definitely losing her job. This kid was a reporter!

The young kid looked back up and smiled. The taller officer immediately regretted everything he had done.

"Well." The boy was glad that now he was in charge again. "Like I said, can I ask some questions?"

Tracy didn't know what to do. No one responded.

As usual, the well trained James took the lead. "Sure. Anything for the news."

The officer who threatened the kid earlier tried to tell James not to by waving his hands. The reporter caught the motion, and wrote it down.

"Hey?" The taller officer reached out but failed to snag the notepad. "Give me that!"

"Too late." The kid shoved it into his pocket. "Can I get some answers here or not."

"Not while you keep writing down everything I do." The officer was actually losing his temper now. "Give me the notepad."

The boy laughed. "Do I need to write down that you tried to illegally take my notes? I will, the news will be all over you."

"Ok, enough." James stepped in-between them.

"One," he turned to the officer. "You have no right to take his stuff. So, back off!"

The officer didn't want to, but he turned around and left. As a Team Citadel member, it was easy to think that force solved everything. His partner left as well, but not before he gave the young kid his best sneer.

The kid laughed. He pulled out his notepad and wrote it down.

James finally decided to end this conflict. "Listen kid. As much as we'd like to answer questions, as officers, the Chief himself keeps things only on a government level. I can't…"
Wait. James stopped in the middle of his memorized speech.

He wasn't an officer anymore. He could say whatever the heck he wanted.

"Actually," James picked up his cardboard box filled with his stuff. He had quite a lot to rant about from his old job. "Do you want to get some coffee?"

The kid smiled. "Sure. I know a place. My girlfriend works there."

…

Jasmine made it. Her back foot wasn't working. It was broken.

But who cared? She made it. The burns on her fur were starting to sting as her senses came back.

It was painful. She felt at least thirty cuts that were deep in her fur. She counted at least five burn wounds, three of them on her paws. One on her broken paw at her back. The other one was on her chest. That one was the worst of them all, right where the Arcanine had pressed and burned deep down into her fur. Her left leg refused to move from it's stiff position where the bones were broken.

The worst of it all, was where the Arcanine had placed it's paws. The searing, lava hot claws dug into her fur until it even passed the muscle. She didn't dare to look, in case she fainted.

She made it. She reached up, yelping from the pain but grabbed onto the passenger seat where Chase had left the door wide open.

She leaped up. She landed horribly, but she was here, she had made it.

It was now or never. The black around her eyes was worsening. The numbness was gone, but she couldn't even comprehend pain.

She stared at the glove box. The small latch begged her to open it.

There might be a full heal inside. Or… There might not.

She lifted herself up onto the latch. She struggled with her paws and finally flipped the switch.

It was stuffed with papers. They shot out in every direction. Dang it! Please let there be one?

She brushed the papers out of the way. The touch of paper on her fur hurt like crazy where her nerves had been burned.

She spotted it. A little yellow container, way at the back. Standard issue. It was required in every police car for Team Citadel.

She reached in, and wrapped her paws around the small bottle.

It was there. It was real. Jasmine started to cry. She stared at it for the longest time. She had never been so happy to ignore pain in her life. Her life source felt stronger just by staring at it. She could almost smell the liquid inside.

The soothing liquid inside was yellow. The little latch to spray the container was begging her to use it. No more pain. She was going to live.

She was going to taste freedom! She was going to have friends.

Jasmine lifted up her paws to press on the latch. She didn't care. Just smelling it would be enough.

She stopped. Her eyes shot open.

How much was in here? She looked down at the container thoughtfully. She knew very well that there were only about ten sprays of the potion in each small container. Ten was plenty for one Pokemon. They were designed that way, the small yellow glass container was just the size to neatly fit in her paw.

But, could she use all of it? For the first time. Jasmine was wondering, was she supposed to care for others? Like her friends?

Maybe Jack was dead. Maybe Eseral was too. No one else out here was alive except her.

Jasmine felt it. This deep pulling. She had her paw on top of the container just ready to let the juice flow free and heal every one of her wounds.

Deep inside, her instincts said something else. "Friends." It told her. Not survive.

Jasmine thought about it. She thought quickly, before the black faded she had to make a decision. Her back leg still stung in pain.

She would use one spray on herself. It would at least stop the pain, but she doubted it would heal everything.

Jasmine had one use. She leaned in close and brought the bottle to her chest, where the Arcanine had burned through her skin leaving black scorching marks. She could still walk, or limp on a broken leg but she couldn't let this burn wound become infected or she would for sure die out here.

One weak little spray. She pressed awkwardly on the bottle opener with her paw which was designed for human use.

It worked. One little spray. The yellow mist shot out and covered her wound.

Jasmine breathed. It was miraculous. She felt the potion at work. Her nose was flooded with the strong scent of the potion she knew so well.

It healed wounds. It would help out tremendously. She could deal with cuts and a broken leg for some time, but that wound was going to be fatal.

Not anymore. Jasmine looked down to the wound. It was the oddest feeling.

The potion smelled like berries. A combination of the best berries for all types of purposes. It touched her skin, it sparked the life back in her.

Her life source beat twice as fast. Electricity buzzed around the wound. She watched as it magically closed and healed itself. The burned fur turned yellow. She felt the cells revive and cooperate.

It was over quickly. One spray didn't fix everything. Immediately the pain came back but she could tolerate it better now.

She was so used to using the full bottle. She closed her eyes and was about to press it again.

She looked at the bottle. It was a fifth empty. Maybe she had used a large dosage in her panic.

"Ugh," Jasmine wanted to cry in anxiety now. What was her problem? "Use the whole bottle you moron."

No. She had to save it. She gripped it in her teeth and went to find Jack. Hopefully Eseral too, but her scream from earlier probably meant she was dead. Somehow Jasmine knew that she would have to face that. Her wound stung, but it was healing. In a matter of days, that burn wound on her chest would be back to normal. Hopefully she could survive that long out here.

She jumped out of the truck. Her short tail hit the glove box and she heard the clatter of glass hit the floor of the car. Nothing broke though.

Jasmine stopped. Her damaged ears perked upright.

Glass? Was something else there? Maybe another potion!

She turned and threw her front paws on the door opening. Her back one was still broken, her other weak paw shook, supporting her weight.

Jasmine couldn't believe her eyes. There was another one. Green color!

"Burn heal!" She squeaked in delight. Never had she been happier to get pain over with. There were two potions in here. She was going to be alright.

…

Jack was having the most awful of dreams.

He realized one thing at first. He wasn't actually dead. That surprised him. He thought for sure that he had done it this time.

He was back in that black void. There was no pounding water orb though. Actually, it felt kind of dry to the Vaporeon.

He waited, he waited for a while. Suddenly, he heard paw steps approaching.

Jack jumped up from the ground. He wasn't injured, but his body still felt weary and heavy from the fight. He could remember everything that happened.

He looked around him. He finally spotted the source of the noise. Paw steps, coming his way.

It was another Vaporeon. It looked just like him. Except, this one was smiling.

Jack knew it. It was the one from before. He started growling at the intruder.

The other Pokemon spoke up first. "It's ok."

Jack didn't believe it. His mind was definitely telling him that it was not ok.

"Do you know me?"

Jack stopped growling. What kind of question was that?

"I come." The Vaporeon started. It walked forward. "You need to forget some things."

Jack's ears twitched in confusion. What? Was this thing speaking in riddles?

"Forget things like television, and pizza." The smiling Vaporeon did walked a full circle around him.

Jack didn't know what happened. When the Pokemon said it. He suddenly forgot about TV, and pizza.

"What, what are you doing to me?" Jack tried his best to keep his eyes on the moving Vaporeon. It was like it had him in a trance.

The Vaporeon continued. "You need to learn. Forget and learn."

What? Forget and learn? How could he forget things and learn them.

The Vaporeon did something Jack wasn't expecting. It leaped forward at him. Jack did the only thing he knew and backed up quickly.

The Vaporeon shook his head. "Nope. Play. It's only natural." He leaped forward again.

"What?" Jack ran for his life. "No! Go away!" What was this thing's problem? This dream was turning into a nightmare.

The smiling Vaporeon stood back up again. "Do you know me?"

Jack flinched from the distance he stood at. But somehow he knew it wouldn't matter in the dark abyss. Something patted his face in reality and it made his face hurt now. Was someone touching him?

Jack didn't get it. It had asked him twice now.

The Vaporeon sprang right back up. "I know you. You transformed."
Ok. Jack figured it was making some kind of sense. He couldn't help but think that this Vaporeon was somehow part of him. He was unconscious wasn't he? Was this some kind of weird mental trauma?

The Vaporeon continued. It said the most scary thing Jack had ever heard. "I'm you. Pokemon. We need to share. Share." The Vaporeon walked forward again.

Jack took a second. He stared at the creature before him.

It dawned on him. He took a step back in fear.

It was him. But, it was him… Without anything human. A completely, wild, Vaporeon Jack.

Jack started to whimper. "Go, go away." He whispered. "don't touch me!" He demanded. "Stay away from my thoughts." He hoped the Vaporeon would get the message. "I'm, I'm human!"

The Vaporeon jumped right back up. Even the way it acted and sprang about was like it had been born and raised an Eevee.

"Share." The Vaporeon growled it this time, but it kept it's creepy smile. "Forget and learn."

Jack didn't want to. What was this thing? If he dared to share, what would he forget?

"Lauren." Jack gulped and said it aloud. "No, no! Don't make me forget her!"

The weird Vaporeon tilted it's ears. It considered the thought.

"Lauren." It mused to itself. It said it in the absolute creepiest way possible. It started walking to Jack.

Jack screamed. He turned to run but the Vaporeon sprinted at him. Within seconds he was in a pin.

The Vaporeon placed a paw on his head. Jack was forced to shut his eyes and he whimpered. He whimpered as the Vaporeon made him share his thoughts.

"Learn." It told him. "Forget and learn."

Jack had no choice. Even now he was losing control. He couldn't even struggle while his mind took control.

He had no choice. His life source was winning. He had spent too long in the body of a Pokemon, that was starting to become like one.

Jack's thoughts disappeared. Millions of things left his mind. Cars. TV. Science…

"Good." The Vaporeon smiled at Jack now. They were sharing. "Forget."

Jack finally found his choice. He had to fight back. It would make him sick. It would destroy him. But he was a human!

"No! STOP!"

…

"Jack! Wake up!"

Jack woke up. He blinked and was suddenly staring up at the bright sun above him.

He yelped. Arceus, he had the biggest headache ever!

Something was trying to get his attention. He had closed his eyes from the bright sun above him but he finally managed to open his eyes again once they adjusted to the light. His headache never calmed down. He wondered if it was from the lack of energy or if his mind was still at work.

Jasmine was above him. She was smiling and waving her paw frantically in his face.

Jack flinched. He tried to struggle but Jasmine easily held him down with one paw. Jack noticed how cut up his fur was.

He still couldn't hear a thing. Jack tried to talk but Jasmine plugged his mouth with her paw. There were scratches on it, but overall, she actually looked ok.

"Listen." Jasmine continued. "You're ear. It's badly…"

Jack stopped struggling. He froze still and stared at Jasmine in wonder.

He heard something. It sounded like a really muffled whistling. It sounded like a voice, maybe even Jasmine's voice. He had heard something for the slightest second.

He looked up at Jasmine. She finished talking and smiled again.

Jack crossed his eyes. Wait, was she speaking to him? "Huh?"

Jasmine tried again. "I think we should be friends!" She said it loud enough for the Vaporeon to hear. She couldn't stop smiling at the thought.

It was the weirdest thing for the Jolteon to say. But she had to, she couldn't hold it back anymore. "Jack? I'm your friend." she pleaded again. She knew what she needed to do now that it was out of the way.

Jack tried, but he couldn't hear anything. The right side of his head felt fine. Slowly, he reached his paw up to his left side where he knew his ear was. Everything was still dead silent. Only this weird whistling in his ear remained. He felt like the left side of his head was so much lighter for some reason.

He reached his paw closer to his ear. He kept moving his paw closer. Any moment now, he would touch his ear.

He touched his head. He felt a small hole, it was wet, and cold.

There, there was no ear. It was… Gone!

Jasmine wasn't expecting it. The Vaporeon screamed and struggled so hard that Jasmine had to squish him to the ground to get him to stop.

"Jack. Stop." She commanded trying her best to keep him down. She managed to hold him down even in her weak state but Jack was still screaming in terror. "Jack? Please! I have a potion. It'll fix it! Stop struggling." The Vaporeon couldn't hear a thing.

Jack didn't hear a thing. He wouldn't stop screaming. Jasmine rolled her eyes. What was she supposed to do?
She slapped Jack's head on the left side as hard as she could. Immediately the Vaporeon quit struggling.

The explosion in Jack's head was terrible. HIs headache swelled to twice it's original size. After twenty seconds, the terrible ringing replaced itself with the odd whistling noise again. That was all he could hear now but his head still stung slightly. He didn't even realize that his headache was slowly fading.

"Jack?" Jasmine tried again. It occurred to her that maybe he couldn't hear. She blinked at the thought. "Oh… Duh." She almost wanted to slap herself. "Dang it Jasmine. You know that. Pokemon can't hear without ears!" She had torn the ears off plenty of Pokemon before, she knew that they go into shock for a while until their head recovers but Jack hadn't exactly had time for that since he was busy surviving.

Jasmine made up her mind. She reached over and gripped the bright yellow container in her jaws. The liquid inside swished about, half full.

She didn't have much left. Only half, five dosages. Jack alone to heal ever injury would need at least five, but that wasn't her goal.

She leaned in close to Jack's ear, and then pressed down with her teeth, aiming it correctly. The small squirt of berry scented potion sprayed out onto the wound.

Jack felt nothing but pain for the longest time, he couldn't even move from the struggle because it was too intense. Then he felt something else hit his head. Gently, the pain soothed away.

What happened? Why was the pain disappearing? Was that… Berry?

Jack waited. The left side of his head went numb. What did Jasmine do to him?

He waited. Nothing was happening. Jack noticed when Jasmine's ears went down in worry.

Shoot. It wasn't working. Jack was going to need another dosage to heal that wound completely. The potion wasn't able to heal that much damage with just one little spray.

Jack's wound was pretty badly damaged. Jasmine had her hopes, but she knew it was going to take more than one dosage. She hoped she had enough and pressed down again.

This time Jack felt something different. His head wasn't just numb anymore. It was suddenly like he couldn't feel a thing.

He tried to move, but his head was frozen. What was happening? Was he tired or something?

He felt it. The smallest weight change. The left side of his head was getting heavier where his ear used to be.

Jasmine smiled. Two dosages, that was enough. Jack slowly reached up to touch his regenerating ear.

"Don't!" Jasmine immediately stopped his paw from touching it. "Jack. Don't touch it!"

Jack's eyes went wide. He had heard something. He stared at Jasmine funny, the left side of his head was now heavier than ever. His ear was healing.

Jack crossed his eyes. He heard noises. The sound of wind. Jasmine speaking to him. It was still inaudible though.

"Huh?" Jack questioned. Looking up at the huge Jolteon.

Jasmine smiled. "I used a potion." Jack had caught that much. He didn't understand the rest though. Why was she whispering? "I used a potion because, I thought that we could be friends." Jack didn't catch any of the last part but he could tell that Jasmine was excited about something.

Jasmine finished what she wanted to say. She turned back around and looked behind her. Jack's ear was almost complete now.

"I'll be right back. … Needs help." The Jolteon turned around and left, grabbing the almost empty bottle in her jaws and running off.

Jack was amazed. He could hear! His hearing was coming back!

The Vaporeon shot upright. He went to touch his ear, feeling the heavy weight on his side. Was something stuck to his head?

His paw touched his ear slightly. It was sticky, the thick potion was at work. Immediately Jack pulled his paw away, small sensations of pain came back to his left side.

The final amounts of pain went away. The potion continued working. Jack stared at his paw feeling the sticky yellow substance in-between his fur. It was like it was rebuilding his ear on it's own.

Jack realized what was going on. The last part of the fin formed. The cells took over and multiplied, healing his wound. Within moments the entire appendage was back and the blood had disappeared.

He heard a small pop. Instantly the rest of his hearing had returned.

"Huh?" He questioned looking around him. The noises were deafening. He hadn't heard anything in so long.

He looked around him. He could hear everything. Wind, his breathing, he could hear Jasmine working to his right.

Jack smiled. He actually felt, happy. It was as if the fight hadn't even occurred to him.

Wait. The fight? Jack remembered. He remembered the horrible taste of blood in his mouth.

It was, inhumane. He remembered the scream from the Buizel.

"No." His instincts suddenly interrupted. Jack flinched from the voice, throwing his mind from the subject when he was interrupted.

Jack thought he heard someone behind him. He turned around but nothing was there.

"Nope. Not inhumane." The voice said. It sounded happy, it sounded like him. "Share."

Jack shook. His head exploded in a headache and he suddenly fell to the ground.

Jasmine didn't see it. Jack lay on the ground shivering, his head hurt like a million needles probing in one place.

He stopped. It was over. The Vaporeon immediately shot upright.

What was he thinking? Oh yeah, blood. Jack remembered the taste of blood on his lips and the Buizel attacking him. He even remembered the horrible ripping sound from the ear and the scream from the Buizel.

Jack knew though, deep in his heart. If someone attacked you, you were supposed to kill them. He shook his head and walked over to Jasmine. The Buizel deserved what he got, Pokemon fought for themselves.

Jasmine was busy. When Jack realized what she was doing, or more importantly, who she was standing over, he nearly cried.

"Eseral!" He ran right over but Jasmine stopped him. She stood between Jack and the Espeon that was nearly dead.

"Eseral?" Jack whined. "Is, is she ok?"

Jasmine smiled. "I think so." Jack saw the wound on Eseral's neck.

"Arceus! She's not ok!" Jack screamed and ran for her.

Jasmine yelled for him to stop. She tripped the Vaporeon with her paw and then held Jack down before he could move and get any closer.

"Jack. Don't touch her. Not yet."

"Why?" Jack whined. He struggled to get free. "Eseral. Eseral!" She wasn't responding. Jack wasn't even sure if she was moving.

Jasmine had to get to work. She didn't have much time. "Jack. We have to be careful. There's not much potion left."

Jack stopped squirming. He held still and whimpered where he was. "Please tell me she's ok." He just wanted to know that she was alive.

Jasmine walked back over. She picked up the nearly empty bottle in her teeth.

The wound on Eseral's neck would definitely need one full dose. Jasmine knew that only left her with about two more dosages.

But then, Eseral's fur was torn up everywhere. Even if her neck was healed, she doubted the Espeon would even be able to stand. Two dosages. Two dosages and that would heal both her neck and her fur wounds. That left just one for her leg so Jasmine could heal…

Jack shot upright again. He ran over and grabbed the bottle in his teeth. "Quick! Use it. She's dying!"

He struggled. He managed to get it from Jasmine, but then the small sound of a bottle squirting filled the air.

Berry scent. Jack had accidentally sprayed it right into the open air. A complete waste of a squirt. The yellow mist floated to the ground where it died.

Both Pokemon froze. Jack looked down at the ground where the useless berry scented spray lay on the ground. He had just wasted a full dosage.

"Jack!" The Jolteon slammed the Vaporeon to the ground with the biggest tackle she could. It knocked the bottle clean out of his teeth.

"You idiot! We're almost out of the potion! You wasted it!"

Jack held his breath and closed his eyes. Jasmine was standing right over him. He was so dead.

Jack finally found his voice. He stammered and tried not to cry. "Sorry."

Jasmine couldn't believe this. She wanted to tear this creature limb from limb…

But, what was she experiencing? Friendship? Something was keeping her from doing what she wanted and that was tear Jack's ears off and mouth so he would never talk again.

But, she didn't know what it was. She didn't have a feeling or a word to describe it. "Friends." She whispered below her breath, still grasping the frightened Vaporeon's fur.

Jack flinched. Did he just hear… "Friends?" He questioned much more loudly. Jasmine looked at him, but didn't answer. She jumped off and continued her thought. Jack was glad that he wasn't going to die after all.

Jasmine figured it out. It was forgiveness. For once, she forgave someone and didn't give them what they deserved. Pokemon always got what they deserved at Team Citadel. If a Pokemon wasted a potion like that, they were killed.

Jack stood back up and smiled. "Sorry." He shook his head. He figured whatever Jasmine said wasn't very important but he knew apologizing was the best he could do.

He looked back over at Jasmine. She was busy studying Eseral's wound again, deep in thought. Jack fought the mental urge to rush over and try to help knowing that he would just slow things down.

Jack tried to walk over. Immediately Jasmine growled at him.

Jasmine may have forgiven him, but she was still furious. "Don't get near her, please." She added at the end, growling her last word.

Jack thought they were ok now, but when he heard Jasmine's voice, he immediately shrank back. The poor Vaporeon felt his ears fall flat against his head. Both of them too, not just one like before. It was weird and Jack wasn't quite used to it yet.

The feeling was so weird. Jack shot upright and pawed at his ear.

Wait, pawed? He immediately stopped and looked at what he was doing. What kind of person pawed…

"No." The voice said again. Jack felt a twinge in his head and he yelped from the sudden pain.

Jasmine wondered what was going on. She turned around finding Jack with his eyes closed as he battled the stinging pain in his head.

It was over just as it began. Jack opened his eyes and felt the relief in his head. What was he thinking about doing?

Oh. He pawed back at his ear again. His front paws wouldn't reach so he sat down and used his back one. He was able to reach it and feel it with his back paw.

It was weird. He didn't remember the ear feeling this way. Vaporeon's ears were rather large to begin with, from having no ear at all, to suddenly having a fully grown one was weird on Jack's mind.

What wasn't weird however, was that he was pawing at his ear. He put his back paw down and smiled at Jasmine. It didn't even occur to him what he had been doing. Just as long as he got too feel his ear. Jack wished there was a stream nearby so he could actually see it. He wondered if it looked the same.

Jasmine knew Jack was weird, but sometimes… She turned back around and addressed the more important situation.

She looked at the wound on Eseral's neck. That needed one dose. The rest of her needed at least one dose more from all the scratches she had.

That meant, they were going to be out of the potion. "Come on Jasmine. What are you waiting for?" Jack whined.

Jasmine had a thought. It was difficult. Eseral needed two doses.

"Jasmine. Come on!" Jack whined. He wanted his friend alive now.

Jasmine made up her mind. She took the bottle and lay it on Eseral's fur.

She pressed down, and aimed it just right. The yellow liquid squirted out in a mist and hit the wound on Eseral's neck perfectly.

Jasmine hesitated. But she clicked the button again. This time addressing the scratches that the Espeon had covering her body.

Jasmine looked at the bottle. It was done for, that was it. She gulped and dropped the empty glass container.

Jack ran right over. Jasmine didn't try to stop him this time but let him see the potion at work.

Instantly the wound started closing up. The wound shut closed and the blood disappeared.

Jack had never seen anything like it. "She's healing." He gasped at the sight. The wounds on her fur were turning bright purple again as Eseral regained her lost color. Jack could see the life literally returning into her.

He squeaked in delight. He almost jumped around in joy. "She's healing. Jasmine? You saved…"
He stopped. His head throbbed in pain. He stopped jumping suddenly and slammed his head into the ground in pain.

The voice was back. It was asking more of him. "Share." It begged.

Jack didn't want to. He tried to stop it. For a moment, he fought back.

But he failed. He blinked his eyes back open, feeling exactly the same.

Jasmine was staring right at him. Her eyes were wider than ever before. What was wrong with this Vaporeon?

Jack shook his head. He didn't notice Jasmine's glance, but he walked right back over to Eseral. He didn't know what he had forgotten. Or what he had learned instead.

The rest of the claw marks shut close. The blood started disappearing. Jack squeaked in delight seeing that Eseral was almost healed. He had never felt happier.

Jasmine couldn't face it and looked away from the sight. She was out of the potion. She needed at least one more dose. She limped a few feet away and then collapsed onto the ground in defeat.

Her leg was still broken. Her and her moronic friends were going to be the death of her someday. Probably sooner than later with Jack.

But no. She wanted friends. She stood back up and ignored the pain she was putting on her leg.

Jack watched. Eseral's fur glowed pink again. Her ear twitched and she suddenly shot to life.

She squirmed. She moaned. She had the worst headache in her life. What the heck had happened? Where was she?

"Eseral!" Jack jumped up in joy. Immediately Eseral whimpered and tried to cover her ears.

Jack realized his mistake. "Oops." He said, much more quietly this time.

It took fifteen seconds before Eseral finally opened her eyes. She was alive. Jack had never been happier.

Eseral was coming back to life. The wounds on her fur closed up. She looked just as healthy as ever, except very exhausted.

Jack had a thought. He was supposed to do something. How could he show his joy? It wasn't like he could just hug her now. He stared at his paws below him wondering how this would work.

His head twitched. He didn't see it coming but while looking down, he felt the pain once again.

His mind exploded. The small headache he had returned. After twenty seconds, he finally woke back up.

It was twenty seconds. Twenty seconds of Jack complaining, "No, stop. Please."

When he finished, he looked back up. He felt happier than ever, but obviously something was wrong.

Eseral was staring right at him. She had gotten up only to see the Vaporeon squirming about in pain. She didn't know how she came back to life. But both her and Jasmine were staring at Jack. How couldn't they with his weird behavior.

Eseral saw it. Jack was standing more upright than ever before. He was behaving, jumping about in joy like a… "Pokemon." She whispered.

Eseral found her voice again. "Jack?" She asked him. The Vaporeon stopped jumping in joy.

Jack looked over at Eseral. He squeaked in happiness.

Jack felt something else this time. How could he show his joy, tackle her!

He jumped on Eseral and slammed her to the ground. Eseral screamed from the sudden attack.

"Eseral!" Jack screamed.

"AAH!" Eseral panicked and threw the Vaporeon off her. Jack was thrown three feet, landing right next to Jasmine where she moved aside so he wouldn't hit her.

Jasmine had never seen anything like it. What was Jack doing? It looked, well, not like he usually did.

"Eseral?" Jack whined. He struggled to get up. "I was just trying to help. You didn't have to throw me like that." That had actually hurt.

"Arceus, I thought you wanted to play." His mind told him it was a good idea, but apparently Eseral disagreed.

Eseral let her head fall back down to the ground. She was overjoyed at being alive. But there was nothing like a Vaporeon suddenly screaming and standing over your lifeless body.

She tried to lift her head. She couldn't though, she was too weak. She hardly even heard what Jack had said.

Jasmine stepped forward slowly. "Here, I'll he…"

She didn't get to finish. Jack ran right over and pushed Eseral up with his nose, using his four paws and body as support for her to stand.

"Come on Eseral." He pushed her with his head again until she flipped over. "Get up."

Eseral realized what Jack was doing. "Hey? When did you learn…"

Jack gave one last push. As if instinctively, he let Eseral rest against his side and he used his strength to support his weight. Eseral didn't get to finish her thought as she leaned against Jack for support.

Jack smiled. "Hurray!" Eseral was standing upright.

Eseral wanted to faint. She gently looked over at the Vaporeon next to her.

There was something different. Something was… Wrong. Again! There was always something wrong with Jack, every time she woke up, he was messed up again. What happened this time?

"Jack?" She whispered. She suddenly noticed that he had both his ears again.

Jack smiled. He stood back a little and let Eseral support herself. She felt the life in her legs return instantly as her limbs got to work. She felt most of her strength returning. How, she didn't know but she was glad to be alive.

"Jack?" Eseral questioned, looking right at him. "What happened to your ear?"

Jack's smiled disappeared. He glanced upwards, but his ear was too far away to see.

He reached up with his front paw. He could almost touch it. Instead he sat down and used his back paw, realizing what she meant.

"Oh, yeah. It grew back." Jack jumped upright again. "Jasmine used a potion on both of us." At this, Jack turned to Jasmine. When he saw her confused stare, he immediately stopped smiling, just in case this Jolteon still wanted to kill him somehow.

Eseral had a million questions to ask, but all of them disappeared when she stared at Jack.

He was different. He was standing correctly. He even sat down correctly. She almost yelped when he used his back paw to feel his ear. The way he tackled her, he was acting normal. Where did he learn to do that? He made being a Vaporeon look, natural.

Jack realized that both of his friends were giving him that stare again. Wait, they only gave him that stare when he was going crazy. This wasn't the first time he had seen that weird look from Eseral.

"Hey!" Jack jumped upright. "I'm not going crazy." He growled in frustration. "Don't stare at me like that."

Eseral shook her head. She sat down and tried to think it through.

Jasmine laughed. "Oh, you're not?" She smiled like a mischievous cub when Jack growled at her instead.

Eseral flinched. She felt her ears lower in confusion. Did Jasmine just tell a joke? Was everyone going crazy besides her? Maybe she was dead after all.

Jack didn't enjoy the joke. How was he supposed to show his anger? He couldn't exactly just frown and he didn't want to insult anyone…

The voice shot back. Eseral and Jasmine watched as Jack suddenly yelped and he held his head tight between his paws. His headache hurt terribly. It was much worse this time.

Jack braced for the pain. After a few seconds, it was gone.

He blinked, he let his paws back down. "Umm." He wasn't sure what just happened.

Eseral had never seen anything like it. Did Jack just flinch, or was it worse?

Jack tried to remember. What was he doing? What happened for the last three seconds?

Wait, he was supposed to insult Jasmine. He turned right to her.

"I don't like sarcasm." Jack growled. A deep annoyed growl that only Vaporeon's could use. "I'm not crazy. We've been over this." Jack knew that he wasn't losing it this time. He still had his mind. In fact, he felt happier than he had in a long time.

Eseral face turned mortified. "Jack. What did you just do?" What was with the whole moaning on the ground thing?

Jack turned his head back around to Eseral. She looked scared but he had no idea why. "What do you mean?"

Eseral couldn't believe this. "The whole head twitching thing!" She yelled. She brought her paws up to her head and pretended to squeeze, mimicking Jack exactly.

Jack was confused. His ears shot up in confusion. "What are you doing?" It looked funny when Eseral did that. "I didn't do that."

"Yes you did." Jasmine answered before anyone could speak up. She joined in the argument, chuckling at Jack.

She knew it, this Vaporeon was crazy all along. "You did just do that Jack. How could you not remember?"

"What are you talking about?" Jack stood back defensively. "I didn't…"

It happened again. Jack flinched and he fell to the ground in pain.

This was only a short one. He stood there for a few seconds and then suddenly was awake. What did he just learn? What did he just forget?

"I'm not crazy. I haven't touched my head yet." Jack stood back upright, bringing his paws that had been squeezing his head to the ground.

Jasmine laughed. "Oh yeah?" She nodded her head in conformation. "I knew it. You were crazy all along." She yelped when she accidentally put too much weight on her back paw. Eseral saw it.

Jack didn't see anything. He started growling until his damaged fur was on end. "I'm, not, crazy! You're the one who's crazy, stub tail!"

Eseral actually yelped in surprise. An insult? A Pokemon insult? From Jack!

"Jack. Are you ok?" She whispered. She took a step back from the crazed Vaporeon. Jasmine did at the same time.

Jack knew he was ok. He had never felt better. "Yes. I'm fine. Look." He closed his eyes and thought. "Look, see? Lauren. Pizza, umm… TV."

The last word made him twitch again. His ear shot sideways and shuddered for a second.

Jack tried to remember what he just said. Funny, all he could remember was Lauren. What did he just say?

Jasmine was just joking before. But now…

"Umm…" Her back foot started to shake in pain but she ignored it. She didn't want her friends to see that her paw was broken. "Are you sure, that you're ok?"

Jack wasn't so sure anymore. He thought he was just fine. But now he couldn't even think when he wanted to. "Umm. Yes?"

Eseral was scared of him. Deep inside she knew Jack could snap again and try to kill her. But, he seemed harmless. It was almost like he wasn't at war with himself. It was weird, Jack looked more natural than ever.

Wait a minute. Eseral's ears shot upright. Jack, wasn't struggling?

"Jack. Think something human." Eseral demanded him. Everyone looked at the Espeon.

Eseral was out of patience. "Jack. Just think something human. Think of…" Shoot, what was something human? She had no idea.

Jasmine answered. "TV. Think of TVs." She offered. She remembered Jack yelling it back at the garbage truck when they fled. There was nothing more human to Jack than TVs.

Jack stared at Jasmine as if she was the crazy one. "What's a TV?"

Oh no. Everyone stared at Jack. Eseral realized, "he is crazy." She whispered.

"Hey? No I'm not." Jack defended himself. "Why do you guys keep calling me that. I'm not."

Eseral wasn't sure. "What's happening to him?" She asked Jasmine with Jack standing right in the middle of their conversation.

Jasmine wasn't sure. "I don't know." She complained. "You two were the ones who said you knew what was going on." She wanted to take a step back but she had to yelp again when her back paw nearly fell out. She couldn't put this much weight on it but she didn't want to look weak either.

Jack realized, both his friends had backed up by about three feet. He didn't even realize before that they were trying to create as much distance as they could. "What did I do?" He complained. "Guys, I'm just fine."

"Maybe it's happening again." Eseral worried. "Jasmine. He could be snapping again!"

Jasmine shook her head. "I doubt it. If anything, he looks more normal."

Normal? The word rang in Eseral's head. "Normal." She whispered.

That was a problem. It wasn't normal for Jack to be a Vaporeon. The large water dog sat down as if it was instincts. It didn't even occur to him how natural he looked.

Eseral gulped. "He is normal." She confirmed it. "He must be forgetting that he was human."

Everyone looked at Jack. He smiled. "No I'm not. I remember." He knew darn well that he used to be human. He still remembered Lauren.

Jasmine had an idea. "Maybe he's just accommodating." Everyone looked her way now.

Eseral didn't get it. As if to prove that Jack was crazy, Jasmine walked over and sat down next to Eseral. Eseral felt uncomfortable with the large Jolteon so close to her but for some reason, Jasmine didn't seem to mind at all.

There was so much pain in her leg, it was a struggle just to stand upright. Jasmine quickly blinked and turned away when a tear shed loose, but she didn't want to let Eseral see it.

"What do you mean, accommodating?" Eseral asked. She had a hard time getting the large word out to the Jolteon that had walked over.

Jasmine explained. "Well, sometimes in training, Pokemon make two identities with way they can fight and kill, but then afterwards they don't remember a thing." Nobody questioned the fact that Jasmine had just said that she had personally dealt with crazed Pokemon. She didn't even hesitate when she spoke about what had happened in her past.

Eseral thought about it. She looked up at Jack. "Jack? Is that you?"

Jack couldn't believe this. "What? Of course." Who else was it supposed to be?

The voice came back. Jack was starting to worry, so it sprang right back up.

"Share." The Vaporeon said in his head. Jack suddenly realized that maybe there actually was something wrong.

"But, but…" He didn't want to share.

"Jack!" Eseral yelled. it was the third time. He wasn't paying attention.

Jack did it again. He shuddered. He didn't know what he forgot this time, but it sounded important.

Eseral was wanting to cry. "He's, he's not normal. What's wrong with him?" She wanted to know that Jack was ok. He was acting crazy!

Jasmine stood upright. Just by doing so, Jack snapped out of his trance and stared at the large Pokemon. "Perhaps he's just fine." Jasmine motioned towards Jack for Eseral to see. "He looks fine. I know crazy, and umm…" Well, she was going to say that Jack didn't look crazy, but sometimes he actually did.

Jack didn't know. He wanted to cry.

"Nope." The voice suddenly said. Jack tried to ignore it this time.

It wasn't possible. He felt his paws get lighter like he was full of energy and he stood up taller.

He smiled. He was just so happy to see that Eseral was ok.

Eseral was going to lose her mind herself if someone didn't confirm what was going on. This wasn't right.

Eseral stood up. "Jack. I think…"
Jasmine tugged her ear. It caught Eseral's attention before she finished her thought. Jack was busy looking around him like he had just woken up. The Vaporeon had never realized how nice the meadow smelled. He liked it better than where he used to live by far. Where was that actually? The city? He couldn't remember, and this time for good.

Eseral looked over to Jasmine. She was smiling.

"We'll talk about it." Jasmine whispered. She turned to keep walking out into the fields away form the fight and where the police car still was. She was heading away from the city.

Jack stared at her in wonder. "Hey? Where are you going?" Wait, was she limping?

"I'm going to find…"

"What happened to your paw?" Jack interrupted. Jasmine suddenly looked like she had gotten caught. She froze dead and held still.

"It's, it's nothing." She turned back around so Jack couldn't see her limp. "I was going to go…"

"But," Jack interrupted again. "But you're limping on it. Is it…"

"I"m fine!" Jasmine suddenly yelled. Everyone went quiet.

She calmed herself down. "Eseral? Where's this pack that you were talking about?"

Eseral's ears shut upright. That's right. They were heading back to her pack.

She looked up at the sun. It was almost getting dark. They probably had a few hours left before night came on them and their shadows stretched across the ground. Did she know the way back? She had never been this far out of her home, besides the city of course but Eseral didn't want to think about that.

Eseral looked at the sun. She looked back over where Jasmine was. "I think it's this way." She offered. She started walking where Jasmine was already going, deeper into the dead meadow grass.

Jack didn't even know what happened. He stood there, watching his friends once again leave him alone. They did that a lot.

That was the second time they had shunned him today. "I'm not crazy." He told himself. He wasn't. "I'm not. I can still remember Lauren." He remembered her loud and clear. "I, I even know what I looked like."

He shivered. He actually felt it coming. His life source pounded and something twitched in his head.

What the heck was wrong with him? Jack didn't feel like walking anymore. He bounded up to to the three and tried to keep pace but even to him, it was hard to keep up. Were they doing that on purpose? He tried again but his running was too slow for a Vaporeon. It was more like bounding anyways with his step. Why was he so happy?

He bounded? The Vaporeon actually bounded. He forgot how he even looked as a human. He forgot about clothing and shoes and how to even walk across the street.

Jack looked down at his paws. Arceus, his fur was a mess! He wanted to fix it now but for some reason, the gross thought of garbage on his fur stayed there.

It was like Jasmine said. He was… Accommodating. Some things remained, but most things were gone. Only Lauren remained. That, and some things that Jack hoped would never disappear.

Much like, cleaning his fur… The Vaporeon couldn't help himself when his nose dragged him to all the wonderful smells around the meadow. He bounded around happily searching for something to ease his troubled mind.

The meadow felt normal. Four paws felt normal. What didn't, was the city. Jack hoped he had to never go back there.

…

The Arcanine felt terrible. Only once had the great warrior ever felt worse.

But, he needed to wake up. The Arcanine pounded on the black abyss around him trying to wake up. He was still confused though. For a while there was nothing. It was like his life source had stopped.

Then, unexplainably, he felt alive. He hit the wall one last and broke free of his trap.

When the Arcanine snapped awake, he realized why he felt terrible. He had never hurt so badly before.

Every inch of him was electrocuted. He felt what looked like lightning fire dancing around his limbs. It stung, the aftershock of the electricity hurt tremendously. Every wound he had on his body cut deep with the yellow sparks.

They stopped. The Arcanine opened his eyes immediately, blinded by the sun.

Why did the pain stop? He felt his strength returning. A little too fast, it wasn't just healing naturally. There was no one around him unlike just moments before. whoever it was had fled before the Arcanine was awake.

Something was at work. He had felt this before, a million times. His body recovered at an alarming rate.

He smelled it. The faintest whiff of… Berries. Had someone used a potion?

The Arcanine looked around him. His trainer and his partner were still unconscious. There was no one there. Who helped him? The Buizel was still passed out, but his ear had healed. Blaze knew that only a dosage of a full heal could help a wound like that. Someone did use a potion.

But there was no one in sight. The Arcanine stood up only to find that whoever had saved his life, was long gone, running off into the meadow to save her own friends.

…

Jasmine was walking next to Eseral. Like usual, Jack was behind them by about ten yards. Eseral and Jasmine had tried to keep Jack at this distance so they could finally talk alone.

Eseral wasn't in the mood for talking though. She was worried. It would get dark in two more hours. they had only been walking for one, and Jasmine kept going at a really slow pace. Eseral wanted to reach her family now.

Jasmine sighed. She did it to signal that she was ready to talk. "So," Eseral wasn't even paying attention. "What's wrong with our Vaporeon friend."

Eseral snapped awake. She glared at Jasmine and jumped back. "Friend!" She shouted.

Jasmine was scared by the response. For a second they stopped walking, both looking back at Jack who hadn't even heard them. What the heck was he doing anyways? Jasmine watched as the Vaporeon suddenly ran over and smelled a flower.

"Umm," Jasmine went back to Eseral. The Espeon was glaring at her. "Friend?"

Eseral was furious. "No, no!" She jumped right up and challenged the tall Jolteon. "Listen closely, you are not friends with Jack. Jack and I are friends. We," she gestured with her paw to both Jasmine and herself, "we are not friends!" She made her point clear, and then continued walking.

Jasmine lost all her hope. Again, that feeling of her heart sinking crept back over her.

She sighed and ran back up to Eseral's side before Jack noticed they were talking about him. She tried again, on a different subject. The swelling on her back paw wasn't noticeable if she kept going at the same pace. She hoped Eseral wouldn't see that she was crying over the pain, just slightly.

"You know, your friend is acting rather strange." Jasmine said. She made sure to stress the word friend this time, it annoyed Eseral but she put up with it.

Eseral glanced behind her. Jack was, bouncing?

"Jack?"

The Vaporeon stopped. "Huh?" He asked, snapping back to reality.

Eseral was now completely and utterly confused. "What are you doing?"

Jack smiled. "Smelling the flowers." He bent down and smelled another one. "Wow. Vaporeon's have good noses." He wrinkled his nose at the thought.

Something small twitched. Eseral saw it. The small twitch of his face showed that he was forgetting even more. "Oh no. Jack? Are you…"

"Wait a minute!"

Everyone looked back at Jasmine. She stared at her friends.

She looked straight down. It didn't even occur to her yet until now.

What the heck? "The grass. It's green!" Jasmine couldn't believe her eyes. It was dead the last time she checked. "How did it turn green!"

Eseral looked down also. She didn't have to just to see the grass. There was green grass in every direction.

Jack laughed. He stretched in the hot sun, doing a stretch that only a Pokemon would know. He stood back upright, feeling great about the meadow and the smell of fresh air.

"I don't know how you guys could've missed it." He taunted. "It's a beautiful day out. It turned green suddenly about twenty minutes ago."

No one was listening. Jack sighed when he realized that he was still being ignored. He probably could've told them that he saw the grass suddenly change like a fine line drawn in the dirt. It was weird, maybe even unnatural at the sudden change in environment but his friends didn't even care so he forgot the thought and kept walking.

Jasmine stared at Eseral who was deep in thought.

Suddenly, it dawned on the Espeon. Green grass? The wish. That wish from Tailo…

She, she was almost home!

"Jasmine! We…" She stopped. Wait? Should she tell her about her home?

Jasmine listened. Eseral stared at her, and then as if saying that she didn't care for the Jolteon, she turned and kept walking.

Jasmine was faced with a choice. Either walk with the stubborn Espeon that she hated, or be with Jack.

The choice was obvious. She ran forward to the Espeon and tried again. Her paw nearly gave out.

"What were you going to tell me?" Jasmine asked.

"Nothing." Eseral snapped right away. She quickened her pace.

Jasmine couldn't believe this. She held back her tears and kept going forward. "Is there anything you need to talk about?"
Eseral needed to talk about the whole world, but not with this Jolteon. She didn't trust her.

Jasmine could sense it. There must've been something that Eseral was willing to talk about. She just needed to break the ice. Hopefully before her leg would…

"Crack!"

"AGH!" Jasmine fell to the ground. She whimpered and doubled over in pain.

Jack immediately lost his blissful sense. He hurried over while Eseral turned around hearing the scream.

Now they could see it. The swelled paw was contorted sideways from the pressure. It had definitely snapped until it was out of use. Jasmine's back paw was down for. She held back her tears and bit her tongue so she wouldn't scream.

Jack gulped when he saw it. Jasmine was trying her best not to look at it, breathing erratically. She hoped she wouldn't pass out from the pain.

Jack finally saw the injury. "Jasmine! You're paw is…"

"No!" She screamed. "Its fine. I'm fine!" She couldn't stop her tears now. They were flooding down her cheeks.

Jack did something not very sensible. He reached out and touched it.

"OW!" Jasmine screamed and growled at him. She wasn't putting up with this. Jack jumped back from the snarl she gave.

Eseral finally saw what had happened. "Your paw? It's broke…"

"NO!" Jasmine screamed. She rolled over and forced herself upright.

She didn't last long. Jack ran over to offer his support as the Jolteon leaned against him and her foot stung in immense pain. She couldn't even extend it to its full height, it curled up useless and defeated while it stung in pain from broken bones.

Jasmine wanted to have Jack's help, but she couldn't. She was too stubborn to accept help. "Stop! Leave me alone." She growled, pushing Jack away from her. She had her claws out now and threatened to hit his face when Jack was forced to back away. Immediately Jasmine fell back down to the ground.

Eseral was confused. "Was your paw broken the whole time? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because!" Jasmine now glared at Eseral. Eseral was forced to meet her furious eyes.

Jasmine looked so helpless. She collapsed to the ground and forgot about trying to stand. Jack walked forward, holding out his paw to touch the wound.

Jasmine was crying now. Not from the pain, but from emotion. She had never felt more emotion in her life.

She was about to speak. Then Jack touched her paw again just the slightest bit.

"Ow! Jack, stop!" She screamed. Why was he doing that?

Jack jumped back. Both Pokemon were staring at him. Jasmine was holding her breath again until the pain faded and she could see. Every time something touched her paw, it hurt so badly.

Eseral glared at Jack. "Dang it Jack! Quit touching her! She's hurt."

"Sorry." Jack whimpered, standing back. "I just wanted to help."

Eseral knew a lot of things, and she knew that touching a broken injury was never a good idea. She growled at Jack until the Vaporeon stood back with his ears against his head. Jack figured he wasn't going to try and help out any further but he knew he probably would jump back in any second. Jasmine needed his help.

Eseral turned back to Jasmine, she was breathing erratically with anger. "Why didn't you tell me your paw was broken?" If she knew that she had a broken paw, then she would've slowed down. What was Jasmine thinking?
Jasmine lost it. She couldn't hold it back any longer. "I, I just…" She just wanted to look tough.

She lost it. It was anger. She shot upright on her broken paw and glared at Eseral.

"It's your fault Espeon! It's all your fault!" Jasmine screamed. The cub in her was starting to come out. "What's wrong with you! I help you with my life, I try and kill others to make sure you stay alive, I used up the potion, and you can't even…"
She fell again. She hit her head on the ground and her paw hurt worse than ever. She whimpered and cried in defeat. She was just so angry.

Eseral was speechless, she was starting to get the point.

"I, I just…" Jasmine couldn't say it. It was so hard. "I just wanted to be your… friend."

Eseral took a step back. Her mind was telling her this was a bad idea.

Friend meant that Jasmine could travel with them. Friend meant that she had to trust Jasmine. Friend meant, that she would take this Jolteon back to her pack and help her from her condition.

"No." Eseral whispered. She shook her head. "No, no, we're not friends."

Jack ran back up. Jasmine was staring at Eseral in worry.

Jack couldn't believe what he heard. "What do you mean we're not friends?" Jack questioned. He had no idea what was going on. "Jasmine's not a friend?"

"No!" Eseral interrupted. "Of course not. She's, well, creepy."

"I'm creepy too!" Jack interrupted. "Arceus, Jasmine's creepy? She's the most normal one here. We all smell like garbage anyways."

Everyone stopped. Jack looked between the both of them. "It's true. I was standing so far back because we all smell like garbage." Jack hated the smell of the city. They all reeked of it. "If you two just stopped arguing and got along, maybe you would notice that too."

Eseral looked down. Jasmine did too. Besides the obvious cuts, it was true. They were filthy. Sitting in a garbage truck, fighting, and then walking for hours in the hot sun didn't exactly make for good hygiene.

All three of them were filthy. They wouldn't have been touched in the city by any human who had half a brain. They smelled so bad that if it wasn't for Jack's nose, he could've picked up their scents from over a mile away. They were utterly exhausted, filthy, and one of them had a broken paw too. They were the worst trio ever.

Jack knew he had to speak up. He could still tell that Eseral was furious. "I think we should work together, as friends."

"No!" Eseral screamed. She jumped back. "I can't be friends with, her." She pointed at Jasmine.

Jasmine actually smiled. "Good. I don't like you either." She snarled in defense.

Jack knew this couldn't end well. "Well, we're all heading the same direction right?"

Eseral shook her head. Jasmine nodded in agreement, just to disagree with Eseral but it was true either way.

"Good." Jack made a motion to bend down and he lay low next to Jasmine's side. "I guess we should get moving."

Everyone looked at him awkwardly. "What are you doing?" Eseral asked.

Jack realized that they had missed his intentions in the first place. "Oops, I don't think Jasmine can walk much further. I think I can carry her…"

"No!" Jasmine shouted. She immediately tried to back off.

It was hopeless though. She didn't even stand up when her back leg collapsed in pain again.

Jack smiled. "I can carry you. We'll travel slowly but we'll get there in time." Jack bent down low near Jasmine again.

Jasmine didn't want to look weak. She wanted to walk, but she couldn't' even move her broken paw up or down. Walking was out of the question.

Eseral didn't want to be anywhere near this trained Jolteon. Eseral hated the sight of this huge Jolteon that had once tried to kill her. She didn't care how many times Jasmine tired to save her life, she was still a creepy Pokemon that she didn't trust. Fortunately for her, Jasmine didn't like her much either.

It was Eseral's stubbornness, versus Jasmine's. The two were at a mental standoff.

Jack smiled. "Eseral. Help me get her up." He pushed with his head and tried to lift up Jasmine who didn't try to resist this time. She didn't even know what he was doing.

Eseral didn't move. "We should leave her here." She whispered. No one heard her so she quickly walked off and left before her anger erupted.

Great, that left just them two. "Jack. I really think…"
Jasmine didn't get to finish. With one push she was suddenly on Jack's back, hanging limply on his back. She was too exhausted to move, her body actually dragged across the ground slightly.

Jack tried to stand up, but his paws were already shaking. He took one step forward, and then another, struggling with every step.

"Arceus." He grunted. "You weigh as much as a boulder." This oversized Jolteon was super heavy. How did Jack not see this coming?
Jasmine chuckled. She hated this. She looked like hunted prey. Everyone back at home would've laughed at the condition she was in.

But, it was nice. She was being carried because her paw was broken. Her friends were caring for her. It was the first time someone had done something nice to her.

It was worth living for. She let her broken paw hang loose on the ground, no longer feeling pain. Jack continued on at a very slow pace.

The trio made it slowly. Jack took each step after each step. Jasmine almost fell asleep from how exhausted she was. Soon, she was actually limp on Jack's back while her paws dragged on the ground where Jack tried hard to stand upright. She couldn't help herself as she slipped into unconsciousness and fell asleep.

She was really heavy. After a while of just walking, Jack didn't know how much longer they could go. Eseral wouldn't slow down at the least so Jack just gave up trying to keep up with her and let her walk ahead in her anger. He made sure to keep her in sight though. Eseral just really wanted to get home.

Unfortunately, he didn't have to go far. He found Eseral suddenly stopped, wide eyed, staring ahead of her in fear.

Jack heard a faint buzzing sound. "Hey?" He questioned, making Jasmine blink awake.

Jack looked around him. "Eseral? What's wrong?"

Eseral pointed. It was about ten feet in front of them, how could Jack miss it?

It was her home. The grass on the other side was tall and greener than ever. It was the reserve. The lake and her home were just inside there, only miles away. She was almost home.

Except for one thing, the reserve was protected. To keep humans from entering the police had put up a barrier a long time ago. The barrier to save the Pokemon reserve had been there for the longest time. Never did it occur to the humans that it would stop Pokemon from coming in though.

Jasmine blinked awake. The sky was slightly darker than before. She immediately figured it to be twenty minutes since she had last been awake. She gave it an hour and a half before their shadows stretched across the ground.

She had been sleeping? She looked around finding that she was on Jack's back still. Immediately she felt embarrassed. Her paw did feel much better though. The swelling had gone down just the slightest bit. There wasn't any pain, it just felt very stiff. That was good, maybe it was healing.

A small buzzing? Jasmine looked up. All three Pokemon stared at the tall fence ten feet away.

Jasmine knew that small buzzing sound. Her life source sounded the same way. They weren't getting within one foot of that fence without risking injury.

"Uh oh." She whispered. That fence was electrocuted. One touch and they would be dead, or at least fall into paralysis. Maybe at her best, Jasmine could tolerate it.

She slipped off Jack's back. She landed on her paw, but it felt fine enough to walk on. It was obvious that it was still broken though so she limped off it using only three paws.

They stared at the fence. Jack thought one thing. A new thought that he hadn't felt in his whole life.

He was a water type. That buzzing sound, it sent fear down his spine. He understood as a Pokemon that the fence was meant to kill him.

Water types were susceptible to electricity. It was a completely Pokemon thought, nothing human about it.

His mind twitched. It was just the slightest bit. Jack took a step back. He feared the electricity. ti wasn't normal. The way it sounded, the way it acted, he knew he had never wanted to do anything with it. He forgot about electricity and how it worked, only knowing that it would hurt him tremendously. He backed up as far as he dared.

Jack feared the fence. Eseral stared at the green grass that she knew as home on the other side. She was this close to getting home. The lake was on the other side. She could almost see it.

Jasmine stared at the fence, and smiled.

She had never seen such greener grass before. She had never smelt such fresh air before.

"The reserve." She said dreamily. "Of course." That's where Eseral's home was.

A reserve, filled with tasty berries, fresh water, and bright soothing sunshine. No human would ever go in there, she could be free, free from the city, free from trainers.

Free from Team Citadel. Jasmine didn't know such a place existed. She felt her paws springing to life at the thought.

She could be free. She could have friends, maybe even a family. She didn't know how but her and her friends were getting in there. Dead or alive, she was going to taste freedom on the other side of that fence even if it killed her. She was tasting that freedom that she longed for.