((Just letting y'all know, I made a small update to chapter 14, including a small bit near the end of the chapter after the escape that I forgot to add in at the start. Also, per a suggestion one user gave me, I removed the underlines from all pokemon text to try and de-clutter the story a bit. Let me know if this helps or hurts your understanding of the story either way, as I'm eventually going to edit all chapters in the future to be more consistent in style.))

Alex glanced out of the trees just outside of a parking garage, scanning the area for people. Of course, it being a bright sunny day in Austin Texas, there were multiple people everywhere. Alex pursed his lips. It being a busy day didn't matter much to him on his own, since he was currently invisible to anyone looking for him, but it was a different story to the company he presently held. He glanced backwards in a more covered area close behind him. A quilava and a skorupi were patiently waiting behind him, poised to sprint forward in a moment's notice. Satisfied that they were with him the entire way, Alex turned back to scan his surroundings in front of him, waiting for the space to become empty and unnoticed. Then he found it. A couple people had passed and it looked like there wasn't anyone else paying attention to the area they needed to get across. Now was the perfect time.

"Now!" Alex muttered sharply. Instantly, the two pokemon behind him rushed forward, cutting across the street with Alex flying close behind them, and they ducked inside the parking garage. Alex spotted a stairwell close by as they slowed their pace the further inside the garage they went. "Hold up, over here! The stairwell!" he called out, trying to be as quiet as possible.

The two pokemon both stopped in an instant and looked backwards towards Alex's voice, then noticed the stairwell that he pointed out. The pair bolted towards it, hesitating only a fraction of a second when the door opened on its own.

Alex waited until both of them entered the stairwell, then released his hold on the door, letting it swing shut. The two pokemon accompanying him both let out relieved sighs, but Alex was still on guard. He floated up a few flights of stairs, looking to see if there was anyone else in the stairwell. Luckily, they appeared to be alone. Alex floated back down and let out a grunt, alerting them of his presence again. "Mm, looks like the coast is clear," Alex muttered before releasing his hold on his invisibility. "Okay, you guys should both be good to turn back human and just leave. You sure you're gonna be alright though? You don't need help looking for your car, friends, anything like that?"

The skorupi shook his head and smiled at Alex. "Nah, we'll be fine. I know this part of town and we don't live too too far away. Appreciate it, though."

Alex gave a friendly smile back. "Hey, no problem. I just figure-" Alex stopped himself when he notice the fire pokemon shaking. "Quilava? Hey, you okay there?"

The skorupi also looked over and went over by his side. "Hey. Hey Cody, you okay, bud? Talk to me."

The quilava let out a choked up sob and leaned into the bug pokemon. "I don't wanna do that ever again... it scared me so much. I-I don't get how people can be that... that cruel," he silently wept. The adrenaline of the day's events began to wear off on everyone, and it was obvious to Alex that it had taken a large toll on the young fire pokemon.

The skorupi, not used to maintaining balance on four legs while supporting someone else's weight, stumbled a bit as the young quilava leaned into him, but he kept his footing and composure for the fire type's sake. He leaned back into the young grieving boy. "Yea, some people are really sucky. That's... just how it is, sadly. But there aren't many who are that messed up. You're safe now. You'll never have to deal with anything that bad again. Promise."

The quilava quietly sniffed as a few tears fell from his eye and said nothing, simply grateful for the comfort.

Alex felt a pang of sorrow for the young boy and felt somewhat guilty that there wasn't anything he could say or do to make him feel better, but it simply wasn't his place. After waiting a few moments, letting them properly grieve, Alex glanced out the stairwell door, not seeing anything for the moment, but wary something could change in an instant. "Hey, I'm really sorry to rush y'all, but you should get going soon. I'm not sure how much longer this space is gonna be unoccupied."

The quilava slowly lifted his head away from the skorupi, allowing the bug pokemon to nod towards Alex and transform back to his human form. "Thank you so much for everything, Mew. I owe you big- err, well if we ever see each other again."

Alex just chuckled and gave a dismissive wave, signaling to the tall and thin male that it was no issue.

The pale skinned male gave a friendly smile towards Alex, then looked back down at the quilava. "C'mon, Codes. Let's turn back and get you home. Your brother has to be worried sick for you by now."

Not needing much more encouragement, the quilava gave a shaky breath and also willed himself back to his human form. He looked up at Alex, traces of fear and grief still in his eyes, and nodded to him. "Thanks," he muttered curtly.

Alex gave a nod to both of them, willed himself invisible, and started up the stairwell, prepared to leave in a different direction, but his departure came to a sudden halt.

"Um, w-wait! Just a second!"

Alex turned around. The older male had opened the door so they could leave, but the boy was looking upwards, calling Alex back down.

Alex narrowed his eyes slightly, wondering if something else was the matter. He floated back down and became visible again, tilting his head and giving the boy a questioning look.

The older male closed the door again. "Cody, what's wrong? Let's go quickly so we can get home."

The boy shuffled in place nervously. "Just a sec. I just um... Mew, I wanted to know if I could- cuz you see, I'm a big pokemon fan, and like, even though it's a crappy moment and all, I think it's still really cool to meet you- could I... um, could I maybe... hug you? Ifit'sokay," he sputtered out nervously.

Alex simply stared for a couple seconds, then let out a good natured laugh. 'You know what, I don't blame you, dude. If I wasn't Mew and I met them, I'd think that's pretty damn cool,' he thought inwardly. To Alex, it wasn't even a decision. He gave a friendly smile towards the pokemon fan and held out his arms. The boy, not needing any more encouragement, wrapped his arms around the small pink pokemon and pulled him close in a gentle but firm embrace. Alex briefly felt a slight awkwardness from hugging a young boy that was basically still a stranger to him, but after internally reminding himself that they had just gone through a massive trial together, any misgivings he had rapidly faded away, and gladly held the embrace for as long as the boy desired.

After a few moments, the older male tapped the boy on the shoulder. "Alright, c'mon bud, we gotta go. Can't stay here for too much longer."

The boy hesitantly let go of Alex and took a step back. Alex noted that his expression was far more calm and satisfied than just a few moments prior. The boy gave a small wave to Alex, along with a small but friendly smile. "Bye Mew. Thank you so much."

The older male turned to open the door to the stairwell while giving a backwards glance at Alex. "Seriously, man. Thanks a ton."

Alex made another dismissive hand waving gesture that told them it was no trouble. With a friendly wave of his own, he once more turned invisible and floated up the stairwell, reaching the door to the next parking level. He pushed the door open, shot out of the stairwell before the door could hit him as he was exiting, and flew out of the nearest opening he could find.

Alex grunted tiredly as he began to fly high over the city, only now realizing how drained he felt after the ordeal he had just gone through. He glanced down at the burning building as he passed it in the distance. A wave of nervousness passed through his body. 'Just ignore it, Alex. You did everything you could. Ignore it and move on.' Alex forced himself to pay no mind to the building and tried to focus solely on getting to his car. Though several nagging thoughts continued to plague his mind about the entire situation.

'That was way too close for comfort, though... Urgh, I wish I had had more time to come up with a solid plan so something like that wouldn't happen,' Alex lamented before letting out a frustrated grunt, 'How did that even happen anyway? The kid is a fire type and he did shoot off some pretty wild attacks, but he seemed so sure that he couldn't have been the cause. So what the hell happened...?' Alex continued to try and piece together the scenario, but gave up very quickly. 'Nope, fuck it. I'm not gonna dwell on it. All the pokemon got out safe. I mean, yea, a couple of people might've... died in the blaze, but it wasn't like we set out to do that, right? I didn't know if I'd have any more time to prepare. It just happened to pan that way. It wasn't on purpose...' Alex tried to shrug off any ill feelings, but even as he ducked behind a university building to transform himself back and made his way across the highway back to his car, he still felt a lingering guilt over the loss of life and a creeping fear that the burning building would come back to haunt Alex later.

Alex slowly braked to a stop at a red light for the fifth time straight and planted his face in the palms of his hands, giving a very exasperated exhale. "Whyyy do I have to hit every fricken red light on the planet right now? I just want to get home," he whined loudly. Alex shook his head, lifted himself off his hands, and pulled out his phone to idly tap through his messages and social media as he waited for the traffic light to turn green. Almost immediately, he spotted a message from Eli sent to him roughly half an hour ago. He raised an eyebrow slightly and opened it up to see what it read.

'hey do you wanna hang out at my place sometime this week after you get a bit better? i can pick you up so you dont have to drive.'

Alex let out a chuckle. It was a bit weird to him to get an invitation like that the immediate day after a pretty heated encounter between them and two other very violent people, but after the day Alex had, it was still very much welcome. Alex quickly tapped a response. 'I could come over today if you like. Kinda need something to get my mind off of things anyway.'

Alex hit send and looked up at the traffic light. Still red. Alex rolled his eyes. Of course he had to hit a slow one. Alex's phone buzzed twice in succession, alerting him of a new message. He looked down and brought it up. To his mild surprise, Eli had already responded.

'are you sure? arent you still hurt pretty bad?'

Alex bit his upper lip and inhaled sharply. 'Yeeaa, didn't think that one through.' Alex glanced up from his phone. The light had turned green again. Alex began driving again and thought about his predicament. Eli still believed Alex was in a fair bit of pain, even if last night's encounter was not that bad in the long run. Alex had two options... well three, but ignoring the comment and sweeping it under the rug didn't seem like the greatest of ideas for several reasons. As far as Alex was concerned, he could either backpedal and say it was mostly wishful thinking since he hated being stuck in one spot, or he could tell Eli the truth regarding his condition. Alex thought about lying for a moment. It would be a lot easier. Especially since he had already complained about not being able to move several times in front of multiple people. But then...

'No, I should tell him the truth. It might be easier to lie about it short term, but in the long run, my blindingly fast recovery is not going to make sense at all. Eli may not see it, but Isaac sure as hell will. Eugh, especially if he's home by now,' Alex shook his head as he drove along, still somewhat uncertain about his decision. Glancing down at his phone for a brief moment, Alex hit the voice to text button on his phone to respond. "Actually, no I'm not. Period. Long story short, I was able to find a pokemon that could heal me up last night after you left. Period." Alex hesitated for a moment then hit the send button. 'Whelp, gotta go with the truth now,' Alex thought to himself.

As he continued to drive towards his apartment, his mind began to drift off about his identity and his actions over the course of the past few days, as well as the thought of Eli knowing. 'I wonder if I should tell him the entire story. I mean, he is a pokemon too. If anyone... else... would be understanding, it'd be him for sure.' Alex reached the front of his apartment complex and carefully made his way towards his parking spot. His phone buzzed again, prompting him to look down at it.

'holy shit really? danm you lucked out. is it that bad anymore? i cant pick you up today tho cuz my car is in the shop.'

Alex made a noise that was a cross between a scoff and a laugh. "Bro, how? How did you manage that when half the city's cars are wrecked to shit?" he wondered aloud in amusement. Alex parked in his spot and began idly walking towards his apartment as he tapped another reply to his friend. 'Nah, not bad at all. I'm well enough to drive. In fact, I can drive over to your place in a bit if you're okay with having me over. Just give me a bit to get ready if that's the plan.'

Alex unlocked the front door and walked inside. The apartment was still empty. 'Hmm, guess Isaac still isn't home.' Alex walked to his room and set his phone up to charge up what little battery it had lost when he first left that morning. He glanced over at the clock. 6:21. 'Well he's not gonna be away for too much longer. Guess I ought to hurry up and get out of the apartment, then.' Alex felt somewhat guilty as that thought popped into his head, making it seem like he was avoiding his roommate, but he reasoned that he was still going to tell him about his recovery anyway, and it's not like he was going to actively avoid him at all times. Alex just needed a little bit of space before he faced his roommate's overly concerned moods that may or may not even happen anyway.

Alex's phone buzzed again. He knelt down to ground level so not to disconnect his phone from the charger as he read Eli's response.

'sounds good then. heres the address. just head over when youre ready.'

Alex parked in front of the building his phone's GPS led him to and stepped out of the car. His phone pinged just as he shut the car door, alerting him to another text message. He took a sharp breath and opened it. It was from Isaac.

'Alright. Have a good time, then. And glad to hear you're doing better. Just be careful from now on, yea? At least try not to die.'

Alex chuckled and tapped out a short and sweet response. 'Yes, mother. I promise.' He tapped the send button and slipped his phone into his pocket. Isaac hadn't returned to the apartment by the time Alex was ready to leave to go to Eli's, so he had sent Isaac a text notifying him what happened the night before. His roommate didn't take the news the greatest at first, understandably having several questions. But once Alex explained the situation, he had seemed to calm down and was a fair bit more accepting, which Alex was thankful for. Not that Alex thought he couldn't take care of himself anyway, but it's always nice to not be hounded one way or another.

Alex double checked his message to make sure he wasn't going to the wrong apartment number, then knocked on the door. Much to Alex's surprise, however, instead of the door opening, he heard a voice shout from the inside of the apartment. "It's open!" Alex, only slightly perturbed, followed the voice's implied request and opened the door himself. 'Why does it always feel this awkward visiting someone else's place for the first time? It never fails to happen,' Alex internally griped. He slowly opened the door and stepped inside, eyes scanning around to see if anyone was nearby. The living room, kitchen, and dining areas were all empty which served to only heighten Alex's anxiety, up until Eli peeked out from his room.

"Hey Alex! Sorry, gimme a sec. Just tidying up. Go ahead and make yourself at home." Eli ducked back into his room before Alex could respond.

Alex's mind was set a little more at ease after seeing his host and gaining approval to enter the apartment. He closed the door behind him and looked around his friend's place as he went over to the couch. The living room, dining area, and kitchen were all one single large rectangular room, but were sectioned off in such a way that it would've been obvious to the tenant where every area started and ended. Alex sat down and his eyes were drawn to the entertainment center. There was a television set up on a stand with multiple shelves hosting multiple game consoles, as well as many figurines and small plushes from various video game franchises, most of which Alex recognized as very well known Nintendo games. Alex couldn't help but smile. 'It's like this guy never grew out of his childhood. Honestly, I can respect that.'

"Hey, sorry bout that." Alex sharply turned his head as Eli walked from the hallway to the living room area, sheepishly holding the back of his head. "Was just doing a bit of housework. Didn't expect to have company so soon, you know?" Eli blinked and swiftly held up his hands, defensively. "Ah, but it's okay really! I'm glad to see you, man. It's no trouble."

Alex chuckled and stood up from the couch to meet his friend head on. "As long as it's not an issue for you. Glad to see you're doing alright too. I was kinda worried for ya after yesterday."

Eli dropped his hands and raised an eyebrow. "Um, no offense dude, but I don't think I was the one anyone should've been worrying about after that day."

Alex shrugged and placed his hands into his pockets. "Yea, well... I tend to worry about others. I was concerned that shit might've scarred you mentally or something."

Eli made a sour face and looked away. "Ugh, don't remind me... it wasn't really those idiots that put me in a bad spot- err well, it was, but it... erm, never mind. Just brought up bad memories."

Alex narrowed his eyes, confused by the statement he made. But then he remembered what Eli had told him when he first met him. 'Oh shit, maybe he's talking about his friends lashing out at him and ditching him?' Alex's eyes widened a little bit and took in a breath. "Is that why you went so quiet after we got back to my place?" he asked just loud enough for Eli to hear. Eli pursed his lips and didn't respond, but he didn't need to. His silence did all the talking. Alex shook his head. "You know, you don't have to say anything to me if you're not comfortable, but that offer I made to hear you out when we first met, that's not a conditional offer. Anytime you wanna chat about shit, please. Message me or something. I mean it," he finished gently.

Eli didn't face Alex, but Alex did notice he was letting off a smile again. "Appreciate it, man."

Alex nodded, content to leave it at that for the time being. Looking for something to change the subject towards, he glanced upwards a bit and noticed Eli had red hair highlights. He grinned a bit. "Looks like you followed my advice and got those highlights, huh? Told ya they'd look good on you."

Eli reflexively glanced up and gave a modest smile. "Oh that? Yea, decided I'd do that last night... and then actually did it this morning. You think it looks alright? Be honest."

Alex rolled his eyes, still grinning, and walked over to give Eli a reassuring pat on the back. "I am. You look good, man. I think it suits-"

Alex cut himself off. His hand passed straight through Eli's body. Alex blinked and his smile faded. 'Brain... what the fuck just happened?' Utterly perplexed, Alex just stared down at his hand. "Uuhh... what. Hand. Body- dh.. what?" he sputtered out.

Eli gave a sheepish grin, backed up a few steps, and with a quick flash of a semi bright purple light, his body disappeared and shrunk down until the light faded, revealing a slightly smug, slightly sheepish zorua in his place. "Surprised?" Eli's voice asked, without his pokemon form even moving his lips, "I was kinda wondering when you were gonna figure it out."

Alex stared with his mouth hanging open for a few seconds before he found his words again. He cleared his voice and held up a single finger. "Okay, I have a couple questions. First off, the fuck? Second, how? I can hear you speaking still-" Alex cut himself off, dropping his arm again, and let off an exasperated groan. "Please tell me that stupid anime plot device isn't real and that you're not actually speaking with telepathy."

Eli shook his head and trotted over to the couch, hopping up onto it. "Nuh uh. It's not telepathy. Pretty sure Brock was wrong in the movie too."

Alex narrowed his eyes, walking back over to the couch and taking a seat next to the zorua. "Okay, so then what is it?"

The zorua chuckled and with another quick flash of purple light, his human form returned again, sitting in a reclined position with his arms crossed in his lap. "It's another part of my illusion. Simple as that."

Alex gave a perplexed look. "...yea, I'm gonna need a little bit more. So it's an illusion. Sure. But shouldn't I... you know, not be able to hear your human voice right now?"

Eli shook his head and leaned forward slightly, resting his arms on his knees. "Actually, I figured out that the way zorua illusions work is that they can mess with your sight and hearing. Maybe cuz they're the most vulnerable senses or something? Just a guess, anyway. But you're half right. If I tried to copy someone else's voice," Eli paused and his body momentarily froze in an unnatural way, until just his lips started moving again with Eli finishing his thought in a very unnatural sounding man's voice that almost sounded robotic to Alex, "it ends up sounding all sorts of wrong."

Alex cringed and shook his head. "Right, right, got it. You've made your point," Alex said quickly, trying to shake off the paranormal sounding voice.

Eli's body unfroze and pursed his lips, feeling a slight twinge of guilt. "Ah, sorry, didn't mean to freak you out... but yea, that's what happens when I try a different voice. My own works just fine cuz, well, I've lived with it for basically my entire-"

Eli was cut off when a loud banging noise started, cutting through the ceiling of Eli's apartment, causing Eli to flinch and Alex to jump out of his seat. Alex took a step back and gave a startled look towards the ceiling. "The hell is that noise?"

Eli gave an annoyed look up at the ceiling and sighed, shaking his head. "It's just my upstairs neighbors... just my luck, I had to move in right below a couple of people who do carpentry as a hobby. I mean, they only do it during the height of the day, but still. It can get kinda annoying." Eli paused and noticed the slight distress on Alex's face, causing his own gaze to soften. "Hey. Hey, you okay, bro?"

Alex buried his face in his hands, then dragged his hands down in an exaggerated fashion, letting out an obnoxious sounding groan as he did so. "...I'll be fine. It's just with the past couple days I've had, I'm just kinda on edge at all times right now." Alex let his arms fall to his sides again and gave an annoyed glare to the ceiling again.

Eli gave an understanding grunt and slowly nodded his head. "Yea, I don't blame you. Like, at all. Heh, sorry my crappy neighbors aren't helping matters," he added with a good natured chuckle.

Alex gave a shrug. "Ah it's nothing I'm not used to. My own apartment walls are about as thin as paper. Which- I mean thankfully I don't have particularly noisy roommates, but sometimes they can get up to shenanigans that basically render walls useless with how loud they are," Alex added with a chuckle of his own.

Eli frowned and gave Alex a confused expression. "Wait, what? But... then how did you not hear...?" Eli trailed off in a voice so quiet Alex could barely tell he was saying something.

Alex noticed Eli's expression, and matched his friend's confused look with one of concern. "Eli? You okay, buddy?" he asked. Before anyone could say anything else, however, Alex's phone buzzed in his pocket and let off another ping, alerting him of another message. Alex gave a slightly frustrated grunt and fished his phone out of his pocket. "Hold on a sec. Ugh Isaac what do you want now... oh wait- Preston?" Alex quickly unlocked his phone, expecting another message from his roommate, but instead, it was his coworker who had messaged him. Alex quickly tapped the message to open it.

'Check the news. Now.'

Alex stiffened up, worried what this might lead to. "Uh oh," he muttered quietly. Alex imagined that considering how serious Preston had gotten over the past couple of weeks, this couldn't lead to anything worth smiling about. He locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. "Hey, do you have cable?" he asked, focusing his attention back onto Eli.

Eli did a double take, not expecting the seemingly random question. "Um- y-yea, I have Spectrum. Why? What's up?"

Alex sighed and fixed a tired gaze in Eli's direction, already exhausted from the incoming stress. "I just got a text from my coworker saying that we should check the news right this moment."

Eli nodded and reached for the remote. "Say no more. I gotcha." Within seconds, the television began booting up and Eli started flipping through the settings, switching it from his gaming consoles to cable TV.

Alex glanced at Eli and began wondering how he was even doing this in an illusion, but said nothing. His mind was too focused on finding out what was so serious that it prompted a text from his coworker. When Alex got his answer, his blood ran cold.

It was a local news story based on that afternoon's events. The botched rescue. Except... it was being presented as anything but a rescue.

"...are saying that the pokemon spotted coming out of the building were the ones responsible for the fire in the first place. Witness and victim accounts confirm that the group of hostile pokemon included one with the ability to breathe fire, which they claim was the cause of the arson." The news report cut away from the burning building and shifted focus to an injured looking woman Alex recognized from the building, who appeared to be breaking down crying.

"I mean, we were just researching these new fruits and stones and this floating pink cat thing shows up from out of nowhere with a group of pokemon and just starts attacking us-" the woman blubbered before her voice got cut off by Eli.

"Floating pink- they found Mew?!" Eli shouted out in shock. Alex said nothing in response. His jaw hung open in shock.

The news report cut off the woman's testimony and began showing stock footage from a few website pages with Mew on them as the reporter continued speaking in the background. "The description eyewitnesses gave match up with a pokemon known as Mew; a powerful legendary being with the ability to copy any other pokemon's abilities in existence, making it one of the most dangerous and unpredictable pokemon, despite its appearance." The scene jumped back to the news anchor, closing off the news story. "Authorities have stated that Mew is currently wanted for the alleged arson of the warehouse building and multiple counts of assault and murder. They have asked the public to report any information they may have on the whereabouts of the pokemon, as well as anyone who might have had contact with them. We'll give you more information when-"

Alex turned off the television, cutting off the anchor. He stared slack jawed at the blank television screen in horror. "Y... you've gotta be shitting me right now..." he whispered out. 'This is bad. This is really. Really. Bad. Holy fuck, I'm a wanted man. They're going to be looking for me all over. How am I even going to go out in public anymore?'

Alex was jarred out of his stunned state after hearing a loud and sharp crash coming from the kitchen area. Alex swiftly faced the source of the noise. Eli had thrown the silverware tray off of his counter and was hunched over, leaning his arms against the countertop. "Eli!" Alex exclaimed, jumping up and rushing over by his friend's side to comfort him. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Alex attempted to console him by resting a palm on his shoulder, but his hand passed through his body again. Alex bit his lip, feeling silly that he had forgotten that Eli was still in his pokemon form. Instead, he simply stood by his friend's side.

Eli's body shook and flickered, indicating that he was having difficulty maintaining the illusion. "Of course, something like that had to happen," he muttered darkly, "Of course, right after things started to quiet down a bit, right when it seemed like we could get on track to being accepted, a news story about a legendary murdering multiple people happens to pop up."

Alex felt a strong mix of emotions well up in his chest ranging from anger, to fear, to guilt. He spoke gently, trying to keep the emotions out of his voice. "Eli, I'm sure that isn't the entire story-"

"I know it's not the whole story! But that doesn't make things better now does it?!" Eli's image flicked his head over to face Alex for a brief moment before the illusion broke. In that brief moment, as well as looking at the zorua's face now, Alex saw just how pained his friend's expression was. The zorua, standing on the counter in an aggressive stance, had tears streaming down his face and he was fixing a stare of pure anger and grief at Alex. "I've had a hard time believing anything that hasn't been double checked nowadays, but that doesn't stop the fact that many others still believe it all! They hate us! They fucking hate us, Alex! Maybe not for no reason, but almost none of us even wanted this bullshit to happen! And now a story pops up about one of the most powerful and iconic pokemon killing multiple people?" Eli let out a very loud scoff before he continued, "Honestly? Considering they mentioned it was multiple pokemon and there was no warning about this before, AND there's no explanation on why those humans were even at an abandoned warehouse instead of a university lab or something, I'd bet serious money that it was the pokemon that were attacked. Not the other way around. But no one's gonna see it that way! All they see are a bunch of monsters that want to kill anyone not like them, when really I just want to be left alone!" A dark aura surrounded Eli's body and he lashed out at the knife block that was perched on the corner of the counter, knocking it over, and with a loud clatter, scattered all of the knives all over the floor.

"Woah!" Alex jumped backwards, trying to avoid the knives, and nearly slipped on a few pieces of scattered silverware. "Eli, careful!" After steadying himself, Alex watched as Eli hopped off the counter and onto the couch, curling up into himself. Alex simply stood there for several seconds, not knowing how to react to his friend's outburst. He could hear soft whimpers and sobs coming from the vulpine pokemon, causing him to feel a pang of guilt and sorrow. 'You know what... if he wasn't, I would be.' Alex carefully stepped over the knives laying on the ground and made his way over to the couch, sitting next to his friend. He reached a hand out, but then froze, hesitating for a moment. '...ah screw it. Who cares if it's weird? He needs support right now.' Alex gave the softest of pats on the zorua's backside. Eli flinched and stiffened up on contact, but eventually relaxed, making no effort to stop Alex.

After several moments of quiet comfort, Eli began to calm down and took a small shaky breath. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I don't mean to bother anyone. My issues are my own deal," he muttered quietly.

Alex gave a more firm pat to Eli's back. "Hey, you don't have to keep apologizing. I've told you already, I'm here if you need to blow off some steam. Trust me, I know..," Alex trailed off momentarily, feeling a fear creeping through his body again as he reflected on what caused the outburst in the first place, "...I know how fucked up this situation is," he finished with a mutter of his own.

Eli lifted his head up, glanced at Alex's expression briefly, and lowered his gaze. "Well no offense, man, but I don't think you do..," he continued so quietly that Alex almost didn't hear him.

Alex raised an eyebrow, not offended by Eli's comment, but also unsure as to what he was getting at. "Well... if I don't, I'm here to listen, man," he said, gently.

Eli shifted around in place and made a quiet high pitched grunting sound. "I'm sorry, that was mean. I didn't mean it that way. Not entirely. I mean I don't wanna downplay what happened to you or anything, cuz it sucked ass. It's just... you weren't the target or anything either time- well, I mean you kinda were the second time, but only cuz they thought you were a pokemon, for some reason. Imagine if you actually were. You didn't do anything, but you're still gonna get judged to hell and back because they're afraid you're gonna snap one day and go on a killing spree or some shit. And then someone completely unrelated to you actually does. Or they said he did. I don't know, and I don't care. Point is," Eli paused and gave a dejected whine, "they're starting to make me feel like a criminal just because of what I am. Like my mere existence is a danger to society. I..," Eli paused again, starting to silently weep again, "I can deal with being on my own... but why do they have to hate me too? I didn't do anything wrong..."

Alex swallowed his own sorrow and despair. 'Damn it, dude, I really want to tell you the full story right now, but if I do, I may end up putting you in danger.' His body trembled lightly as he forced himself to continue softly stroking Eli's backside. "You're right, I may not know exactly how that feels... but I have an idea," he muttered.

Eli looked up at Alex again helplessly. His eyes were redder than normal and his fur below his eyes was damp. "Hmm...?" Eli made an expectant murmur with his pokemon voice instead of his spoken voice.

Alex gave a sad smile and gazed off in the distance. "I have another friend who turned into a pokemon. Can't remember off the top of my head if I told you about him, but I work with him. And he has had it rough, to say the least. Without going into too much detail, his life had basically been changed permanently, even setting aside the fact that he's a pokemon. And he's... well, he's not coping well." Alex gave a melancholy sigh and shook his head, smile slowly fading into a frown. "He's had it so rough... and most of it was caused by horrible horrible luck involving other pokemon. And he has to live with the knowledge that he's also in that collection of species that caused the problems. He hasn't said it, but I'm pretty sure he either blames himself, hates himself, or both cuz of it. But it's not his fault. It has never been his fault. But the world just won't let him see that and accept it, and I just-" Alex scrunched up his face as he spoke, "I-I just feel awful for the guy. And not just him either. I've seen dozens of pokemon on that very first day that had their life just ruined. Some permanently, some not, but all of it just because of something they couldn't control. It..," Alex swallowed nervously, "it still haunts me to this day. I still have the occasional flashback of pokemon... or Nick... suffering, and I just felt like I should've been able to do something for them. None of it was their fault. It wasn't. But they're all suffering anyway. All because of something no one could control. They don't deserve it," Alex finished, wiping his eyes of mist that started to form.

Alex felt a small nudge to his leg. He looked down to see Eli bumping his head against Alex's leg, then looking back up at him giving him a sad look of his own. Alex gave a mirthless chuckle and gave Eli another stroke down his back. "Sorry, kinda made it about me there for a moment, didn't I. Wasn't my intention. Point is, I roughly know where you're coming from."

Eli simply stared at Alex for a few seconds, digesting all of what his friend had told him, until his lips suddenly curled back up into a smile and let out a slight chuckle of his own. "Didn't you just tell me to stop apologizing? Practice what you preach, my guy."

Alex's eyes lit up in surprise at the sudden playful jab at him, but then rolled his eyes and gave a light swat to Eli's forehead. "A'ight, look here, you. I'm trying to cheer you up here and you're being a smartass," he responded in a faux outraged tone.

Eli let out a mischievous giggle, despite himself and the situation. He then stopped, closed his eyes, and took a calming breath. Alex could tell that Eli was visibly relaxing after taking a few of these. After a few seconds had passed, he opened his eyes again and gave Alex a small but warm smile. "Thanks, Alex."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For hearing me out. Having my back. All that good shit." Eli gave a slight shudder. "This whole thing is still scary as all hell. I'm... honestly terrified at how I'm gonna go about doing anything pokemon related at this point, but having a buddy who understands... really helps a ton. Like, you have no idea."

Alex smiled. "Anytime, man." Alex reached over to pat Eli again, but the fox pokemon ducked and hopped away.

"Okay, but maybe a little bit less of that. It was nice when I was down, but it still feels a bit weird as hell to me," Eli stated with a pointed stare at Alex.

Alex laughed. "Ah, sorry sorry, you'll have to forgive me. I can hardly help it. The pokemon fan in me and the desire to pet is too strong, especially when I see a cute pokemon."

Eli sputtered and averted his gaze from Alex. "Please don't call me cute. It makes me feel just... weird."

Alex gave a smirk. He was pretty sure if Eli would've been in his human form, he'd be blushing furiously. "Bro, you better get used to it until you evolve. I'm pretty sure zoruas are on everyone's 'cute' list. But alright, I won't say another word about it."

Eli sighed. "Thanks... I think," he muttered.

Alex chuckled, but said no more on the subject. "So... I dunno about you, but I think training sounds like a good idea right about now. After the week we've both had, it'd be nice to get our mind off of things. That and I still owe you a training session from before. What say we go do that while there's still daylight?"

Eli made a concerned face. "I mean, we could, but... I dunno, I'm still not sure I'm comfortable going out in public like this anymore."

Alex held up both his hands in a placating manner. "Hey, that's totally fine if you're not up for it, man. It's up to you, after all. I just thought that with the story still being relatively new, and the fact that you can walk out in public as a pokemon without people even knowing, it'd give us ample time to find a good training spot out of public viewing."

Eli looked down, appearing to consider Alex's point. After a moment of thinking, he nodded and gave Alex one of the zorua species' trademark half-smirk-half-smile expressions. "You know what, you're right. Might be a good way to pass some time. I'm game." Eli's body flickered pale purple again, once again conjuring his human form illusion. "Do you think you can grab my keys and a couple water bottles from the fridge?"

"Can do." Alex turned as he spoke, spotting the keys on the counter, and carefully stepping around the scattered knives and silverware to get to Eli's refrigerator. After grabbing everything, Alex and Eli both made their way to the front door. Alex held out the keys. "Here you are, but uh... what about the knives and stuff?"

Eli turned his head to face the mess he made. "Eh..." Eli made a face, then gave a dismissive wave. "Ah, I'll deal with it later. Don't feel like messing with it right now."

Alex gave a slight shrug. "Fair, I suppose... yoouu gonna take the keys though?"

Eli faced Alex again and gave him a deadpan stare.

Alex blinked and turned red in the face. "Ah, right. I'll uh... I-I'll just hold onto them for now and lock up, myself."

"Why thank you. How thoughtful," Eli said sarcastically with a smirk.

Alex raised an eyebrow as he opened the front door, letting both of them outside. "Dude, you are really sassy today, holy shit," he said with a chuckle.

Eli froze up for a moment, then gave a dismissive hand wave. "Eh, maybe it's the pokemon form. I dunno why, I just feel comfortable like this."

Alex grinned. "I think it suits you."

Eli sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, thanks. Alright, now let's get going. Looks like we still have a decent amount of daylight left, and I wanna make use of it."

"Right behind you, man." Alex quickly locked the door and turned to walk with his friend, out towards a nearby wooded area, hoping to find a new place to explore and train.

((Right, so... I could give a couple excuses as to how work has me slammed and I've been working at least one double digit shift a week [which is true, mind you], but that's honestly not why this chapter is so ungodly late. Truth is... I went through four different drafts before I found a route for this chapter I didn't absolutely hate. I don't know why, but I absolutely suck at writing post-fight scenes or chapters. Oh well. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. And the end result didn't turn out too bad, I don't think.

But anyway, to address a concern I don't doubt some of you may have, this story is not dying. I know it may seem like it since I've been consistently late on my deadlines, but that's partially because I'm still trying to balance my ever changing work schedule with the amount of free time that I have. I'm starting to have a consistent pattern of trying to squeeze in a few hundred words a day [though sometimes that may not be possible for above reasons]. But it's also partially cuz I'm still trying to pick an exact direction of where the plot is going. I mean, I already have a general idea and overarching plot. I'm not just... winging it the entire way. But for small plot points like this chapter, I sometimes have trouble coming up with ideas. My passion for this story hasn't faded, though. I'm always looking for avenues to advance and improve. So as always, please let me know what you think! I love reading all comments and constructive criticism. And I genuinely feel like I'm slowly becoming a better writer because of it.

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that it's been a whole year since I started posting this story. Ah, fond memories~ And my love for pokemon hasn't done anything other than grow since then. So thank each and every one of you that has read my story since then, and here's to many more years to come! Or however long it takes me to finish the tale!))