PD: Just a big heads up, this chapter is quite long so if you get lost, there will be a quick summary all the way at the end. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

My Story, New Perspective

Three days go by… During those 3 days, Mint's wounds started to heal rapidly and the bruise on his head disappeared, now it looks as if nothing ever happened to him. Along with his wounds healing, he also had plenty of time to think deeply about his doubts, feelings, and thoughts on everything that's happened so far. With all this time, he expected to come up with a logical answer for it all, but instead of any answers, he ended up with more questions. He knows for a fact that his past life is haunting him and interjecting itself into his current life. The events that took place during the week in Castelia weren't just coincidental anymore and it all happened because something doesn't want him to continue down this road. Some unknown force… that same suffocating feeling that he had in that nightmare… perhaps they are the same thing and it's trying to tell or show him something but he's blind and deaf to it. It doesn't matter, because at this very moment in time with the sky filled with light grey clouds, he's going to have to make a decision on whether or not he should stay at some point in the near future. He can't continue to be set back by this unstoppable force, eventually it will kill him seeing as how it tried to kill him by using those gang members. He was lucky that there was oil on his fur to deflect the bullet, otherwise he wouldn't be standing on the awning of Fai's apartment, looking at the cloud filled sky.

He thought long and hard about the events that went down and compared it to everything that happened back in the colony. While the outcome of some of the events were a bit different, the end result was similar in many ways. The first fight he got into after arriving in the city, Fai ended up getting hurt, and when he fought Patricia back at the colony, he ended up getting hurt. The fight he got in a few days ago with those gang members ended up causing him to be seriously wounded and needed to go to the Pokemon center to heal up. His father fought Brian and ended up getting seriously injured and required similar medical attention. As for the customer that poured their coffee all over him and insulted him, along with everything the others said to him during the fights, it all comes full circle with some of the insults that were said to him back in the colony. If this isn't proof of his past haunting him, then he doesn't know what is.

The worst part of this all, is that he's not getting what he hoped he would get when he left the colony. He's not loved by anyone, in fact, they all seem to hate him, he's not accepted as a Cinccino and instead, seen as something completely different and unusual, finally, it seems that nobody appreciates what he did for them when looking at what happened that day he got hurt and how they could've just accepted what happened. These thoughts are what currently reside in his head, and as he looks at the slightly depressed sky, he continues to try and figure it all out to no avail. He sighs, lost at this point with no clear direction on what he should do. "Now what…? If I continue to stay here, everything is simply going to get worse and worse until something takes me out. If I go back, I'll be killed on sight for what I've done and what I've become. They'll fear me getting back at them when there's no use in trying to spite those that have years of pain stacked onto me. No matter which option I choose, I'm going to be killed one way or the other."

Similar to how he sat on the couch with Fai that night when he had the terrible nightmare, he's wrapped his tail around the lower half of his body and buried his face into it. His ears are drooped a bit and his eyes are half open and to complete the look, he's frowning as well. He took the bandages and gauze off him yesterday because he wanted to see if the wounds were healing and to his surprise, they were almost fully healed. His body looks as if it never came into contact with those sharp weapons, it's pristine and perfect once again. It doesn't matter, he knows the next fight or brutal beating he's going to get is just around the corner waiting for him, so why feel great about being all healed up when it's simply going to get ruined.

He blinks a few times, then changes what he's looking at to be the ground instead of the sky. "Speaking of bad things happening to me, the next person or Pokemon in this city is waiting for me to walk out into the streets so they can attack or belittle me… I know it will happen, it's happened before and it will happen again…" he whispers to himself. He knows better, but it's not like he's got anywhere to go, Tony said for him to not come back for 2 weeks just to make sure that he's fully healed up and ready to work again. Work. Like that was ever a good thing for him in the first place. "Being confined in that cafe is just begging for someone to walk in and hurt me… it's not worth going back there at all, I'd rather take my chances walking around the streets instead." he says to himself again.

The sound of the apartment doorknob turning catches his attention and he looks down to see who it is. The door opens and Fai comes out, she's looking for him for some reason and she calls out to him. "Mint! Are you out here!?"

As much as he wants to be left alone to think about all of this, he can't ignore her. She's been a big help to him since he arrived in Castelia and it wouldn't be right to do that to her. He responds in a low tone. "I-I'm up here… on t-the awning…"

Hearing his voice, she turns around and looks up at it. She raises an eyebrow. "What the hell are you doing up there?" she asks.

"Thinking…" he says quietly, almost to the point that it couldn't be heard due to the sounds coming from the street but Fai has good hearing and she hears this.

"Thinking… about what?"

"...E-everything…"

"Everything? I don't get what you mean by that."

He sighs. "You wouldn't understand… y-you're not the one dealing w-with it…"

Her tone changes, becoming a bit more serious. "Maybe I can understand it…"

He shakes his head slightly. He raises his voice ever so slightly, the fact that she's trying to understand what he believes she won't be able to understand makes him a bit upset, combined with the fact that he's already upset by everything that's happened so far. "N-No… You won't u-understand…!"

She puffs the right side of her cheek out for a second before jumping up and gliding onto the awning where she lands to the right of him and takes a seat. She picks the conversation up again after she situates herself comfortably. "You're right, I won't understand unless you tell me, silly. So why don't you tell me, what is it that you're REALLY thinking about?"

He closes his eyes and presses his head deeper into his tail, it now covers most of his face and will muffle his voice if he decides to speak, and that's exactly what he does. He says something along the lines of her not being able to understand what he's going through because while she's lived a terrible life herself, she can never comprehend what he's gone through. She doesn't understand a single word of what he said because of his muffled voice. She chuckles, trying to ease him up a little. "Mint, I didn't understand anything that you said. Please take your face out of your tail so I can hear you better."

He doesn't want to. Even after everything that she's done for him, he STILL doesn't fully trust her, but at the same time, he's not going to be able to make her go away and while he doesn't trust her, a very small part of him says something different. She's given him a place to stay, she's tried to help him get through some of the darker days he's had, hell, she's trying right now! She took him under her literal wing and showed him around the city, she's taken care of him, helped him get a job, and even saved him from what could've been a bad situation after the fight he was in a few days ago. He stays silent, but in his head, he's conflicted. "I don't know… She's helped me so much over the last few days… would it really be right to keep it locked down in secret from her anymore? She's kept her word on everything she's said, she's never hurt me or threatened me, nor has she ever had the intent to do that. Am I wrong to continue doubting her of all Pokemon now?"

His thoughts are slightly interrupted by her kicking her feet up and down slightly. They hit the top of the awning lightly and make a small 'bang' sound with each kick. She looks at him. "Well? Are you going to tell me so I understand, or are you going to keep being uptight and closed off? I can sit here all day, I don't have work until tomorrow, so…"

His expression changes to have a serious look about it. "No… I… I have to say something… it's not right, she told me her story and everything about her life, including stuff that she said she usually never says to anyone else. I guess she must've trusted me more than anyone else for her to tell me everything. I can't keep being reclusive like this… she's right." He takes a deep breath, unwraps his tail from his body, looks at her, and prepares to tell her everything he's been holding in since day 1.

"You… you really want to know?" his voice, while serious and upset at the same time, is suddenly much more confident than usual, almost as if in that short moment, he managed to overcome something that he's been dealing with this entire time. It surprises her, but she can't let this show and instead she nods 'yes', also placing her full attention on him now.

He exhales, relaxes a bit, and then breaks out into what she knew he'd eventually tell her, but what she's about to hear is something that's completely different from what she thought it was going to be, something far more deeper than anything, and in her eyes, worse than what she experienced when growing up. He begins. "You… you told me to tell you my story when I first came here, but I didn't trust you enough. Even when you showed yourself to be trustworthy, I still didn't see you as someone I could trust. You even shared your entire life story to me, all the personal bits as well. I bet most Pokemon you've met in your life weren't trustworthy enough for you to reveal everything. You must trust me more than anyone, perhaps even more than Scott, but I'll never know, I'm not you. Unlike you, I'm not as trusting of others, it probably stems from everything I've gone through in my life, and because of this, I feel a little bad that I've gone this long without being able to really entrust you with anything from my personal life… I hope you aren't upset by that."

She stays silent but is ready to take in everything he's about to say. He continues. "You've shown me that you're quite trustworthy, and while I still don't know what to think, I know that it's not right to keep this a secret from you anymore… My life… it's the reason I came to Castelia, but there's much more to it than being in a toxic environment or living with parents who have constant issues." He looks up and out across the ocean, looking towards the direction of Pinwheel forest. "As you already know, I'm a Cinccino with an unnatural fur color. The mint-green fur I have is very rare and as far as I know, I'm the only one of my kind with such a color in the world. I'm different, but in the eyes of the other Minccino I used to live with, this wasn't a good difference. My parents probably even hated it in the beginning, but I remember being taken to see someone… someone who would shed light on the strange fur color I have…" for the first time in many days, the pendant around his neck and scarf begins to glow brightly and emit sparkles.

"The colony elder, she was also a Cinccino. She was wise, kind, understanding, but most of all, had a pure heart. When I was a very young Minccino, about 1 year old, my parents took me to see her and from what I remember, she said that I was as normal as any other Minccino in the colony. I was simply born with a very rare fur color that hasn't been seen in hundreds of years, possibly even thousands. I don't remember much from that time, but I guess she might've also said a few other things to them because as I grew up, my parents had an unusual amount of patience. When I was old enough, I was allowed to see the other young Minccino that lived in the colony. Instead of them being nice to me, they made fun of me and picked on me. I would come home, hurt and upset, but my parents would help me. They'd dry my tears and say that I should be proud of my fur color, be happy that I'm different, and that one day I'd be the one to have his pick of the litter, but that's not the case. As I grew up, being made fun of turned into straight bullying, and recently, that turned into being kicked, punched, attacked, and even spat on. Some days I'd come home just plain upset, other days I'd limp my way home, only to lick my wounds and wake up the next day, knowing that I might be in for another beating."

She's in awe over what she's hearing, but he's not done and her shock will continue to grow. "Only my parents loved, appreciated, and accepted me for who and what I was. Everyone else in the colony didn't. They hated me, they wanted me to leave and never come back. Those that didn't bully me, which was most of the other adult Minccino, would ignore me and pretend that I didn't exist if I went up to one of them and tried to talk to them. Nobody wanted anything to do with me and nobody wanted to be associated with what was considered a "hybrid Minccino" when they simply didn't understand that I had a very rare fur color. The bullies even mocked it, saying that the only other fur color that was "acceptable" was pink, the shiny variant. I couldn't get a break from it, and all I wanted was to be loved, accepted, and appreciated by everyone else. I wanted to be normal…! I wanted to have a regular life, being a Minccino with grey fur and not having to worry about being bullied or hurt or anything like that. I wanted to be like them, but instead, I've been given the complete opposite. I'm not proud of my fur color, and I'm not happy to be different than everyone else, it just got me hurt."

He sighs, this trip through his life is making him upset as well, but he keeps going strong. "Had I not lashed out and attacked one of the bullies because they talked bad about my parents, maybe things would be different and I wouldn't be here right now. I could be back home, still a Minccino, dealing with the usual shit I deal with but at least I'd still have my parents to go back to. They'd continue to dry my tears and help keep me going, but, I don't have that anymore…" his expression loosens up and he takes on a somewhat hopeless and sad look. "I got into a fight with that same bully, but because I knew that if I beat them up, the rest of the colony would come after me so I allowed her to defeat me. She broke my nose and someone from another colony in the forest found me and took me back home since they were friends with my parents. In response to this, my father tried to battle the father of the bully, and in the process, was seriously injured. Me and my mom had to take him to Nacrene city to get him help and afterwards, I ran home because I caused him to end up like that."

He takes a few breaths, he spoke for quite a long time, but after he breathes, he continues. "The next day, I ended up finding a Shiny stone and against my will, I evolved into what I am now. Unfortunately for me, this was a fatal thing, because in my colony, we had lost the elder I had mentioned earlier and she was supposed to give one of the members a shiny stone, but it was stolen from her and because of that, there was no elder and the tradition says that if anyone were to find a shiny stone and come back as a Cinccino, regardless of age, they'd be the next elder. Nobody would've wanted that, and when my bullies found out about the shiny stone being used because I left it at home to go do something, came back, and overheard them talking about killing me if they found me to prevent me from becoming the elder and making rules that would get back at them for everything they did to me over the years. This hurt me in more ways than one, and with my parents, the only ones that I could trust, stuck in Nacrene city, I had nobody to help push me forwards. I gave into my fears and In response, I screamed, used my "Hyper Voice" attack and I'm sure everyone heard it and went to investigate what it was. Before they could find me, I ran away. I ran through the colony and left, heading for the Skyarrow bridge and, as you can guess, Castelia city."

He shakes his head, the memories of what happened the day he left are still vivid and tears form in his eyes but he stays strong. "I came here because I heard from Pokemon that came from the city that they got new beginnings there, and their lives had changed for the better upon arriving. I wanted my life to change, I wanted to escape the pain, sadness, and suffering forever. I wanted to be loved, accepted, and appreciated by those around me and I hoped that coming to Castelia, after hearing the rumors, would do just exactly that, but no… Instead of that, I've been doubting myself ever since I came here after meeting you. Everything that's happened, the fight with the Garbodor that ended up with you getting hurt, the customer pouring hot coffee on me, the gang members attacking me, and everything those three people and Pokemon ended up saying to me… It all just reminds me of what I had back at home. Nobody appreciates me there and nobody appreciates me here now, nobody accepted me there, and nobody accepts me now, and nobody loved me there, and nobody loves me here. It's the same exact thing…!" his tone begins to deepen with anger. "I ran away from home to escape from those things! I thought I could run away and change my life, but instead of that, everything that I ran away from simply chased me down like a fucking predator and continued to attack me!" he growls for a second before calming down. "...I don't know what to do… If I go back, I'll be killed, and If I stay here, I'll eventually be killed if my past life continues to insert itself into what I've got now…" he stops, this is the end of his story.

Fai is blown away. She never expected such a story and thinking about what he went through, being bullied his entire life, it's sad. She wants to say something but she has a feeling that she should be careful with what she says. She can't come up with anything on the spot so she stays silent. She thought that perhaps he was just living somewhere that was bad and he wanted to leave it and start over, she didn't expect what he told her.

Mint wraps the lower half of his body with his tail once again and buries his face in it. He's said what she wanted to hear from him since the beginning, and while it did ease up a bit of the stress that was pent up inside him, it didn't relieve all of it and he's still thinking about what to do now. Fai can see that he's in desperate need of help, and even though she doesn't know if it would be the best idea for her to tell him what she's starting to think of in her head, she sees it as better than sitting here and doing nothing. "Mint… if… if I knew about this sooner, maybe all of this wouldn't have happened." she says while twiddling her thumbs.

He picks his head up slightly from his tail, his voice has gone back to its usual tone and somewhat nervous stutter. "...w-what do you mean?"

She looks down at her hands. "...I thought you came here for something much different than what you told me. Your life… for all those years you've been bullied, beaten, hated, and thrown around… I thought I had a rough life." she then chuckles. "It just goes to show that sometimes there are people and Pokemon who've had it worse than you did. In my eyes, what had happened to me felt like the end of the world at times. I can only imagine what it's like to be constantly harassed, bullied, and beaten… it must be awful."

Her sympathy is nice, but it pales in comparison to the pain he's experienced. She looks back at him. "If I knew you were hurt this much, perhaps I might've been able to say something to help you…" she thinks about it for a second, a little hesitant but she decides it's for the better. She stands up and puts her hands on her hips. "Mint, look at me and listen closely."

He looks up at her, her expression has changed and she seems like she's about to tell him something that might be very important. His full attention is on her now. She speaks. "I… I don't really know what to say to make things better for you, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna try. I don't want to see you upset, I hate seeing that." she stops for a moment, then continues. "I don't know if you're familiar with different views on things, something that's called a perspective. Have you heard of different perspectives?"

He nods 'yes' but is a bit confused as to where she's going with this. He stays silent though and she keeps going. "Okay, that makes this a bit easier to explain then. I know what you've said is terrible and nobody should ever have to live a life like that, being constantly bullied and shit… but you lived that life. Some say that bullying is all bad, and I would never side with those who bully others for fun, but sometimes, bullying can have positive effects on the one that's being bullied. You may not see it like this, but perhaps after I explain it all to you, you might see it like that, or not, everyone has a different perspective on everything after all."

She clears her throat, takes a couple breaths, then begins to explain it. "You're Mint the Cinccino, and at this very moment in time, you stand in front of me with the following personality traits that I've seen. You're very shy, socially awkward, easily embarrassed, you have a kind heart and will help others around you if they need it, but above all, I see someone who doesn't even acknowledge what they are, and that's a problem. Think about what I'm saying. If you weren't bullied…. If you were born a normal Minccino with regular fur… if you never went through any of the life experiences that you went trough… would you be here sitting in front of me?"

He thinks about this for a moment. She continues. "Hell, do you think you'd be the same Minccino or Cinccino that you are at this very moment? Would you have the name "Mint"? Would you have even been born?"

These questions are all valid, and as he's about to open his mouth to give his answer, she puts her right hand up with one finger pointed up to silence him. "Ah! I don't want to hear the answer, I don't need to know!" she puts her hand back on her hip. "That's right… we may not have ever met, nor would you have ever come to Castelia. You might be a completely different Pokemon… you could've been born a human, or even an alien for that matter! If it wasn't for everyone bullying you, hating you, and not acknowledging your existence, you wouldn't have grown up into the Pokemon that's sitting in front of me right now. Your bullies helped shape you and your personality. By being insulted, you grew distant from others and slowly but surely, you started to have issues talking to anyone that wasn't your parents and you'd become easily embarrassed in most social situations. By being beaten up and having very few friends, if any, you grew up to only trust someone once they've proven to you that they can be trusted and that they won't try to pull a quick one on you. Underneath that prickly outer shell of yours is someone that's soft all over and full of love and affection, at least, that's what I want to believe. You only show your true self off to those that you can trust, and anyone who manages to gain your trust should consider themselves lucky. They cracked the code and are a true friend to you, being able to endure the trial of the spiky shell and break through to reach the soft interior. I've seen it myself, when I first met you, you were almost dead silent and didn't want to speak to me that much, let alone at all. You fully opened up to me moments ago and told me something that you said you couldn't tell me on day 1 because you didn't trust me."

She nods and gives him a smile. "You see? Because of what they did to you, you grew up into Mint the Cinccino! There's nobody else in this world that's like you and if you were "normal" and "just like everyone else" you wouldn't be who you are right now! You might be one of those assholes on the road that looks for hot Pokemon to bang all day, or you could be one of those rich fucks who only speak to people with money! I don't know, you could be anything for all I care but the point is that you would never be who you are today!" She's onto something with this, and as he listens to her, the pendant around his neck seems to slowly glow brighter and brighter with each passing minute. He keeps listening to her, interested in what she has to say next. "As for what you said about not being loved, accepted, or appreciated, you're wrong!"

He immediately raises an eyebrow and goes to speak but she silences him again like she did before. "No! Don't say anything!" she puts her hand down and continues. "You had EVERYTHING you wanted, but it wasn't quite what you wanted at the same time. You said you wanted love, appreciation, and acceptance... You ended up getting it, but not the positive form that I'm thinking you're longing for. You've got the negative version of it, Mint. Life isn't black and white, there aren't only two sides to everything, there's a rainbow that makes up our lives, and what I said before about the bullying falls into that rainbow as well. It's not fully bad, nor is it completely good, it's everything at once! Even though what you have is negative, there's still positive things to be found in it! In order for those bullies to do what they do and bully you, they have to love, accept, and appreciate you. They love to hate you, as well as love seeing you broken down and crying, they appreciate being able to insult someone like you because there's nobody else for them to insult, and they accept that you're different but it's good news for them since they can use it to better themselves, while it's bad news for you since you're on the receiving end of it! Since they have to worry about what they'll say and have to put care into their insults to get a reaction out of you, they have some form of love, appreciation, and acceptance for you! It might not be the type that you're looking for, but you've still got it regardless."

She throws her hands up over her head. "You had everything! All of this put together makes the life that you've been wanting to live, and you ran away from all of it!" she then puts her hands down and her expression rapidly changes to be serious. "Now… you're questioning and doubting the choice you made to run away from home, wherever that was, to try and get "a better life" that hasn't really turned out much better than when you were living back at home. You have two options logically. Your first option is to stay in Castelia, and like you said, have your past life continue to "haunt" and "hunt" you down until it takes you out. The other option is to go back to the place you ran away from, face whatever it is that's going to come at you, and regardless of what it is, face it with your newfound knowledge and maybe things won't be as bad as you think they'll be."

She wipes her forehead. "Phew! That was a lot to take in… I hope you got that all…" she stretches herself out for a second and then walks to the edge of the awning. "I don't know if you'll fully see it the way I see it, for all I know, you're so far gone in those thoughts that you can't see it being different. In any case, think about it. Maybe it'll grow on you and give you the answer that you're looking for. I'm going inside, so if you need something, just holla for me." she then jumps down from the awning, walks up the steps, opens the door, and enters her apartment but leaves the door open just a crack so he can come in if he needs something like she said.

He sits there, his mind has been opened to this new view on his life, and as unexpected as it was, perhaps this was exactly what he was looking for to help him arrive at his answer.

A couple hours or so later, the light grey clouds have thickened quite a bit and the wind has started to blow a bit more than usual. Something real nasty is approaching and in an hour or so, it will be here and anything caught in its path might have quite the bad time. The sky is darker than earlier and if one didn't know, it's not looking too good.

Mint, after some serious thinking about what Fai said, decided to go inside and think some more in the guest bedroom. Unlike yesterday, he's keeping the door open in the event Fai has to ask him something. He lies on the bed, arms and feet stretched out. His doubts are starting to clear up and with the new perspective that Fai brought to him, he's starting to realize that everything she said is true.

"If I wasn't bullied, I wouldn't be socially awkward, shy, quiet and reserved, and I wouldn't have trust issues with other people and Pokemon. She's right in that sense, and if I wasn't born the way I was I born, a Minccino with mint-green fur, none of this would've happened and I wouldn't be who I am today. I might not have liked being bullied and beaten, but without that, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd probably be normal like I said, and I might not even have the things I have right now either." he stares at the ceiling as his mind continues to think about what she said to him. It's starting to make much more sense and his doubts are fading rapidly. "Life ISN'T black and white. Not everything is fully good or bad like Fai said, if that were true, then I might not be here lying on the bed thinking about all of this…" he decides to randomly grab his pendant with his left paw and he holds it up. To his surprise, it's glowing brighter than ever before and radiating a copious amount of sparkles, and, for the first time ever, there seems to be streaks of light shining out of it, which is something he's never seen it do before.

He stares at it for a few seconds, trying to figure out what would be causing it to glow and sparkle like this. He looks at it longingly, his eyes start to burn, his mind goes numb, and everything around him turns to black but the pendant lights the void. He keeps his gaze held on it and it seems to glow brighter and brighter. The sparkles coming off the surface and the streaks of light are mesmerizing and right as he's about to put it down, it hits him. He gasps, his eyes go wide, and his mouth drops open as wide as it can go.

He didn't see it before, he would've never seen it before if he kept going down this path. He saw the pendant do this to him when he asked himself the question, and it would always glow in response. Was it trying to answer the question all this time? Is the answer staring him right in the face at this very moment? He nods, his eyes gaining an intense look about them. Perhaps he thought it would do this in a different form, but now that he knows which form it uses, it won't go unnoticed anymore. "Y-You've been trying to tell me this whole time…! Naomi… I should've known… when you said the pendant would guide me, you weren't talking about a physical manifestation coming to me, telling me what I need to know. The guidance isn't in the form of your soul, but rather…" He remembers something that she told him when he first saw her.

"Life isn't always about those you've grown to know, but sometimes, it's about those you meet along the way."

He smiles. The guidance that he was looking for was next to him the whole time. Fai. She was the missing piece of the puzzle. She had the answer he was looking for. He would've gotten this answer had he told her earlier, but the saying "Better late than never" couldn't be more true at this moment in time. "Along the way through this entire life journey, I've encountered nice people and Pokemon, like Scott, Fai, and Tony. I've also encountered bad people and Pokemon, like my bullies, the rude customers at the cafe, and that Garbodor and his friends. All of them have placed their own keys into the puzzle, be it through insults, help, or advice. The final key was staring me in the face since day 1, and if I trusted Fai more, I would've been able to figure the answer out much earlier."

He grips the pendant tightly, not because of anger, but from a feeling that he's a bit unfamiliar with. A feeling full of positivity, energy, and hope. Some may call it the ability to persevere, others may simply call it strength, but in times of crisis, some may say they're determined to see something through to the end. This feeling, determination, now beats to life within him and with his mind set on his next course of action, his doubts are gone, and he has the answer he needs. His smile is wide and with no time to lose, he jumps off the bed and leaves the room. He's gonna tell Fai what he plans to do and once he does, the stage will be set and his final moments will truly begin, but what he doesn't know is that this act is only just beginning, and what he'll find when he arrives back at the colony will test everything he's learned so far since evolving.

In the colony, everyone has returned to the fountain plaza. The entire section of Pinwheel forest that was deemed to be "safe" by the colony elder has given false hopes and zero clues to anyone. Mint is nowhere to be found here, and the only option left is to expand the search into the forbidden zone. Everyone knows that once they go in, they might not come back since nobody knows what lies beyond the safe zone. For all they know, there could be Pokemon capable of ripping them all to shreds, killing them all in one fell swoop, just waiting for them to cross over.

Emilia addresses everyone, her voice, while still solid, is starting to carry a hopeless undertone to it. "We've combed every last blade of grass, overturned all the rocks, and searched through each bit of the safe zone. Pinwheel forest is massive as we all know, and although elder Naomi had warned us to never go into the forbidden zone, it seems we don't have a choice. Mint could be out there, and even if he's wounded, he still has to be rescued. I won't stand to see my son get killed. Even if he is a different color of fur then the rest of us, he's still a part of what we all are, a colony of Minccino."

She goes to say something else, but the sound of a spine chilling howl is heard by everyone. It sounds clear and close, and they all know that whatever it is, it isn't the howling of the Herdier and Stoutland from the colony in the distance. Whatever it was, was something far different, far aggressive, and far more dangerous than anything they've ever heard before in their lives.

PD: THIS IS IT! The ending of this chapter is quite interesting and I will NOT say a single word about it! I think WE ALL know what's going to happen, and if not, you better believe this'll blow you away! With Mint sharing his life story and finally putting his trust into Fai, she sheds a new spark on the whole situation and with this new perspective, he's finally wiped away the doubt he has and made his decision on what he's going to do! I bet you can't wait for the next chapter, so I'll seeya when that gets put up!