Here's the third chapter of Spirit Animals, probably my favorite one of the first three. Consider this your slightly early Christmas present.

I had a good time writing it and seeing other people enjoy the first two. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. Here we go.

EVAN RAMIREZ, 17

And we did run. We ran so hard that my legs hurt within minutes. And it wasn't an ache, the kind that might come from overexertion; this hurt was pure pain, to the point that it felt like my legs, particularly my left leg, were on fire.

"We need to stop and rest" I told Monica, after about half an hour, panting as I did so. "My legs are killing me."

Even as I said those words, I knew they were a stupid idea. If I were to stop now, even for a brief rest, I had my doubts about whether I'd be able to continue.

Monica saved me from myself. "We can't stop, Evan. Do you want to be cannon fodder for the storm spirits?"

"Storm spirits? That's what they are?" It took everything I had to utter word after word, simply because I should have been using my air for dashing across the muddy roads.

"Until we have a better word, that's what I'm going to call them."

"Fair enough" I replied, unable to think of anything else to say. It was just as well, since, as stated above, escape had to be our first priority.

At least the storm had subsided. The winds had died down significantly, and now it was simply a strong breeze rather than an all-out typhoon. It was still raining, but not nearly as powerfully.

In addition, the first orange streaks of dawn were coming up on the horizon. Soon visibility would be a lot better, and that could only be a good thing. Wandering around in the relative darkness made things more dangerous than they needed to be.

I also noticed something else. My night vision wasn't good, per se, but it was better than I could remember it having been before this storm had arrived. Maybe that was just an effect of the adrenaline, but it was definitely something to take note of.

Still, neither of us quit moving. We couldn't afford to, not when the storm spirits could still be pursuing us.

Isn't running from a storm spirit pretty futile? I mean, they can literally move like the wind.

I didn't think about this any more, but I did find it odd that none of them had caught up with us yet. If Monica and I were the people they were after, why would they not look for us? It would only be a matter of time before we came face to face again.

The rain eventually stopped completely, leaving an extremely humid morning in its place. The horizon was still quite cloudy and gray, but the sun could be seen rising over the ocean. It wasn't that strong yet, but I knew it would be before long. And that meant today was going to be a hot day, just like most days in Alola were.

"We're going to stop in a few minutes," I asserted after another half hour. "I'm getting really bushed, and I'm thirsty too. And hungry." My stomach growled at the last two words, agreeing with me.

This time, Monica didn't argue with me. She knew that after two hours of nearly sprinting, both of us would be exhausted; indeed, we already were. There was just no getting around that.

In the end, we stopped in the shade of a few palm trees. These trees were situated between the beach and the road, in the middle of relatively tall grass.

"We should probably be really careful about this," Monica told me. "Ticks hide in the tall grass all the time, and the last thing we want is to get bitten by one."

"We won't stop for long. Just don't lie down, and we can do tick checks later."

Both of us leaned against one of the palms and sat down. As we looked up, I saw that its branches were brimming with luscious-looking green coconuts.

"What I wouldn't give to have one of those" I mouthed. Yes, it would be very hard to reach one, but at that moment, I wondered if making an attempt would be worth it.

Monica shot me a glare. "Are you crazy, Evan? If you fall while attempting to get up there, you're going to break every bone in your body. All for a couple of coconuts."

"But it fulfills the need for food and water. Aren't you the one who knows more about wilderness survival and all that jazz?"
"If there's an Aipom in that tree, you're screwed. You know that those creatures guard their coconuts with a vengeance here, right?"

I turned towards Monica. I hated to have this argument so early in the morning, but I also hated that my parents were most likely gone. I couldn't change either of those things.

"Monica, what choice do we have? Would you rather risk dying of dehydration out in the jungle, since we've got nothing to purify water with, or would you rather try something that might get us what we need?"

My friend seemed conflicted for a moment, but she quickly made a decision. It didn't seem to have been an easy one, though, by the way she furrowed her brow.

"Fine. But you're doing the climbing. I'll try to catch you if you fall."

The particular coconuts I wanted to nab were at least forty feet up, so I wasn't sure that attempting to catch me would do any good for either of us. Nonetheless, I didn't see any alternative, so I grabbed onto the trunk of the palm tree.

Climbing was difficult at first. The tree itself was very slippery, since it had just been through an immense downpour. In addition, my upper body strength wasn't the best.

Soon, however, I discovered that the small grooves in the trunk made for decent footholds. They weren't ideal, but they got the job done.

When my feet were about five feet above the ground, the strangest thing happened. There was a tugging sensation in my chest.

What could that be? If it's a heart attack, I'm screwed; we're like ten miles from town! And "town" is probably ruined as well.

I couldn't possibly be having a heart attack, could I? I was only seventeen, after all! Besides, the pain wasn't that bad; it wasn't even as painful as indigestion would be. So I continued to climb.

Quickly, it became clear that I'd bitten off more than I could chew. However tall the tree had looked from the ground, it felt even taller when I was actually trying to reach the top. I had to be careful not to shake too hard, or else a coconut might fall on my head.

When I was about halfway up, I heard what sounded like chirping. Perhaps it was some sort of bird; there were any number of such varieties in the Alolan archipelago. But the further upward I climbed, the louder the chirping became.

And then I realized: It wasn't chirping.

It was laughter.

I froze where I was climbing, some thirty feet above the tall grass. If I were to fall from this height, I was going to be very badly hurt even if the grass somewhat cushioned my fall. And, for a moment, I entertained the idea that Monica was right, that this had been too big a risk to be worthwhile.

No. I have to keep climbing. What would Monica call this; the sunk costs fallacy? Basically, that's the idea that I've gone too far to give up now. But it's not a fallacy at all, because I Will. Get. Some. Coconuts.

When I was within striking distance of the fruit, I wrapped my legs around the palm's trunk as tightly as I could. In that regard, I was just like an Aipom, able to hang onto trees with my surprisingly strong limbs. Hopefully none of them are up here.

With my legs keeping me on the tree, I lifted my left arm up until I could just barely touch one of the coconuts. I would shake the fruit to get it free, and then I would let it fall to the ground.

"Look out below!" I shouted, not looking down for fear that if I did, I would lose my nerve on account of just how high up I was.

I really hope she heard me, because if she didn't…

I couldn't think about that. I gave the coconut a slight push leftward, and it fell out of its tree and to the ground. I heard a noise that sounded like a rock colliding with the ground, which I took as a good sign; at least it hadn't collided with Monica's noggin.

For good measure, I cleared the tree of all of its coconuts, just so we'd have enough now, but also enough later. And with that, I prepared to climb down the tree; it was too thick to slide down like a fireman's pole.

And then I heard the chirping again. This time it was much louder, and it could not be mistaken for laughter. It was simply far too high-pitched, and there was some anger present.

Against my own better judgment, I looked skyward. And there I saw them.

A pair of Aipom were standing on top of two nearby trees, clearly furious with me for stealing their precious coconuts. Both of them looked ready to pounce, and I knew I'd most likely lose this fight.

Righteous anger was practically pouring out of both monkeys. They had a right to be angry, but I also had a right to plead with them for my life. And plead I did.

"Please, guys, you have to understand. My friend and I are on the ground, starving. We just need a few coconuts, and we hate that we have to do this. Will you please let me go?"

One of the Aipom frowned at me, but did so in an irate manner. His teeth were showing, and I'd heard anecdotes about just how sharp they were. I knew that I did not want to be on the receiving end of an Aipom bite.

"Only if you give us back our coconuts. Then, we might let you go."

"I'm afraid I can't" I replied, letting tears form in my eyes so that I looked genuinely helpless. "Please."

The one who hadn't shown his teeth, clearly a female (maybe his mating partner?) leaped off of her tree and managed to grab onto mine. She then must have reached upward with one of her long arms, because I felt a scratching sensation on my left leg. That was going to hurt tomorrow morning.

Grimacing in pain as red clouded my vision, I shook my head. Actually, it hurts right now.

As the scratching sensation (not a pleasant one) worked its way up my left leg, it got harder and harder to hang onto the tree. The male Aipom began climbing downwards on the same tree, and I was cornered within seconds.

With no other choice (since a pair of Pokemon would no doubt beat me in a fight), I let go of the tree and jumped rightward. I heard a gasp from the ground as I realized just how insane (and impulsive) this move was.

There was the sensation of falling forty feet, then the impact, which sent a jolt running up my whole body. I managed to land on my feet, but I immediately fell forward as I did so.

"Evan! Are you okay?"

In the midst of the adrenaline, I barely heard Monica calling for me. I barely saw anything either, just grass and mud.

"Yeah…I'm fine…" I groaned, wheezing; the impact had knocked the wind out of me.

By any reasonable standard, that fall should have killed me, or at least injured me so severely that I wouldn't be able to continue walking. But after a few minutes on the ground, Monica helped me up, and I found that I was still able to move on my feet, albeit shakily.

I then looked at the base of the palm tree and saw that there was nothing there. I suppose tall grass and mud is "something", but you know what I mean.

"What happened to our stash? There aren't any coconuts there!"

Monica frowned at me. "The 'stash' belonged to the Aipom couple, and they took back every last coconut. I'm afraid that our search for food wasn't fruitful in the end."

Fruitful. I could make a joke there, but I won't.

"You didn't try to fight for them? You just rolled over and surrendered?"

My friend shook her head. "I'm sorry, Evan, but there's no way we could take them in a fight. You know that. We'd get our asses handed to us!"

I knew she was right, even if I didn't want to admit it. My whole quest for coconuts had been a waste of time; no, it had been worse than that, as I felt something drip down my left leg.

"What happened to your leg, Evan?" Monica gasped.

I looked down and saw that a pretty decent wound had formed on my left leg, right below the knee. That was no doubt from the Aipom scratching it a few minutes ago.

"The monkey scratched me. Just as I was climbing down ready to cash in our payday."

Monica shook her head once more. "Evan, you've got to be more careful. I know we've just come out of the frying pan, but we might well be in the fire now."

I didn't argue with her any more. I knew then that the climb for coconuts had been a wild Swanna chase, and we were now worse off thanks to my own stupidity.

So the injury count for today goes up to two: A laceration of unknown origin while running through Palmwood Village, and a huge scratch from an Aipom up in the trees. AND I'm in the jungle. Things just keep getting better and better, don't they?

With that, we decided to cut our losses and keep moving. We might not have gotten any coconuts, but we'd managed to come away with our lives, at least for now. That was the most important thing.

The rest of the day can only be described with one word: exhausting. When we couldn't run anymore, we began alternating between walking and jogging. We had to get away from Palmwood; we just had to.

Not only was the endless movement physically draining, but it was also emotionally exhausting to constantly be on edge. I felt like at any moment, we might get ambushed by storm spirits or hostile Pokemon. In the span of just a few hours, both groups had shown themselves to be threats to our progress.

Finally, every time I blinked, I saw the horrific image of Vance the Ninetales, lying dead beneath the fallen palm tree. I saw the village of Palmwood inundated by the Great Storm. I saw the dark-winged angel, the storm spirit, taunting me.

We followed the road inland as the sun dried it off. While the day was cloudy, the sun was still just as powerful as it always was in the tropics. Not for the first time, I wished we'd had the presence of mind to bring sunscreen. That, along with any number of other provisions, would have worked wonders right about now.

My left leg kept throbbing, and soon my head did as well. I hadn't forgotten Monica's warning that wounds in the jungle could get infected very quickly, and I sincerely hoped that wasn't what was happening to me.

Eventually we reached a sign with the following words on it: SELE CITY - 20 MILES.

"Sele City" I mouthed (pronouncing it SELL-AY), realizing just how dry my lips were despite the humidity. "Do you know anything about that city, Monica?"

"Yeah" my friend replied, not taking her eyes off the road. "It's also known as the Garden City, because of all the plants that grow around it. It's a very lush place. But it's still twenty miles away, so we'd better keep moving."

It was then that we reached an unspoken agreement: We would try to reach Sele City, come hell or high water. Once we got there, we'd plan our next move.

I suppose one silver lining of this event would be that I'd get to see more of the world, since I'd hardly ever left Palmwood during my first seventeen years. But it wasn't worth everything else, certainly not losing my parents.

By midafternoon, both of us were too tired to continue without resting first. We found a pile of coconuts next to the trunk of another palm tree, so that's where we sat down.

I could practically feel the exhaustion radiating off of Monica. She'd done a good job of not voicing it, but she was definitely running on empty. Of course, I was pretty much the same way. If we didn't get some sustenance, and soon, we wouldn't survive the trip to Sele City.

"Want me to open a coconut?" I asked her.

Monica nodded, so I grabbed one of the green coconuts from the ground and tried to crack it open. I'd seen other villagers do it with their hands, simply ripping them in half and then tearing off chunks of the coconut's meat. But in my current state of tiredness, I wasn't confident in my ability to do this.

The aura is with me.

I opened my mouth, gasping. Those words weren't my own thoughts; it was as though someone had opened my brain and put them there.

"The aura is with me"...what can that mean?

I called upon my determination to open this coconut. My resolve to get some of that sweet, juicy, meaty goodness from within the fruit. My will to soak up enough nutrients to live. And I channeled it all into one mighty ripping motion.

The coconut broke into halves, and I gave one of them to Monica and kept one for myself. I was quite proud of having done this.

The coconut's fluid was just as sweet as I remembered. It rehydrated my mouth, as well as the rest of my body; I could feel every last drop giving me more strength, and the same with Monica.

And, although I'd eaten a lot of coconuts in my life (par for the course in Alola), none of them had tasted this good. There simply hadn't been the satisfaction of taking a long drink when you've been thirsty for some time.

But then something else happened. It was something I should have expected, but that I'd been too blind to foresee.

There was more chirping, a sound I recognized from that morning. I could also feel the fury in the air, the fury of an Aipom whose property had just been stolen from him.

"Monica, get ready to run" I mouthed, dropping the coconut I'd been eating from. "They're coming!"

Monica dropped her half of the coconut and ran to my side. We were about to sprint away and escape this situation, but all of a sudden, a group of Aipom jumped out of seemingly nowhere in front of us.

I turned around like a ballet dancer, intent on escaping in the other direction if need be, but as it turns out, they'd thought of everything. There were also several Aipom on that side too, and they were closing in on us.

"We're surrounded!" Monica exclaimed frightfully. "They're going to make mincemeat of us!"

"Damn right we are!" one of the Aipom, a particularly aggressive-looking female, taunted. "You're going to live to regret the day you stole coconuts from the pile!"

"You're not going to live to regret it" a male Aipom corrected the female. "You two are going to die while regretting it."

At that moment, everything seemed pretty hopeless. These apes of wrath had us cornered, and in our somewhat weakened state, we were screwed.

Remember, it's important not to get frustrated.

My father's words came back to me at the worst possible time…or was it the best possible time?

There had to be a way out of this. There just had to be.

"My arm," Monica groaned. "It hurts."

It wasn't like Monica to use such childish language, but it didn't take me long, either, to realize what this meant.

"Use your power, Monica!" I exclaimed. "You know what to do!"

The Aipom horde looked rather confused, and I didn't blame them; I would have shared their confusion. They'd thought they had us cold, but Monica had one last ace in the hole. That is, if she knew how to use it.

Monica seemed to focus very hard for a few seconds, and a dark red circle appeared around her body. Before long, the tall black-haired girl vanished, to be replaced by a small purple Aipom.

The other purple monkeys looked very confused; they clearly hadn't expected anything like this to happen. They turned their heads repeatedly as the Aipom that was really Monica (although it was kind of hard to tell, she looked identical to the others) ran circles around them.

I didn't waste my opportunity. When the other apes were focused on Monica, I sprinted out of the circle, trying to move lightly on my left leg (since it really was hurting quite badly.)

Dashing down the road, I didn't even look back to see if my friend had followed me, or if she was still trying to confuse the horde of Aipom. My instinct for self-preservation was simply that powerful.

Eventually, however, one of the Aipom did catch up to me, and I nearly had a heart attack before Monica revealed herself. She'd just said, "Hello" and the illusion faded.

It wasn't for another hour or two that either of us let up the pace. Given how depleted we felt, neither of us should have been able to run so hard for so long; adrenaline is a powerful thing indeed.

"We should probably stop here" Monica told me, breathing heavily after each word. "The sun's not going to stay up much longer, and I'd hate to move around when it's so dark. Better, in my view, to wait for morning."

I didn't argue with her; I saw no reason to. It was far preferable to be able to see where we were going.

"Do you know how far Sele City is from here?" I asked, sitting down in the grass. The road had turned somewhat inland, so we couldn't see the ocean from here. It must have been on the other side of this field, beyond a thick jungle that I had no interest in exploring.

"I don't," Monica replied. "Maybe ten miles? That's a very wild guess, though; we can get there tomorrow, and then we'll have all the food and drink we could ever want."

I laughed slightly. "Yeah. That'd be awesome." My stomach growled in agreement.

As we sat there in the field, too tired to talk very much, I had ample time to wonder what would come next once we reached the city.

Would we be able to find a place to stay? Who would take in two teenagers who'd essentially become refugees from a Great Storm? Two teenagers, additionally, who possessed such cryptic birthmarks and what seemed like supernatural powers.

Wait a minute…supernatural powers?

"Monica, how did you become an Aipom?" I blurted out.

My friend turned to me. "What do you mean, Evan? I didn't become an Aipom, I just created an illusion of one and weaved it over myself."

I was taken aback by how casually she explained it, as though she were discussing the secret to solving a difficult math problem. It was as though it came naturally to her.

"But how? That must have felt so weird."

"I'll be honest", Monica replied, "it seemed absolutely ridiculous that I could have done it. But with your birthmark and such, I decided to reach inward and channel the power of Zoroark."

In spite of the gravity of our situation, I couldn't help but chuckle. To an outsider looking in on our conversation, we must have appeared so ridiculous talking about channeling the powers of Pokemon. We were both in our late teens, far too old to play pretend.

But we weren't playing pretend.

"If you can weave illusions, and I can see things others can't…I hate to sound cocky, but I think we're ready for just about anything. Nothing's gonna stop us now."

"I appreciate your optimism, Evan," my friend said. "But we have to reach Sele City first before we can get too confident."

Eventually the stars started appearing overhead, and a yawn forced itself out of me.

"I'm pretty bushed" I said, not that Monica needed me to tell her that. "I think I'll lay down and sleep."

"Sounds pretty good. Should one of us keep watch at night?"

"Nah, I don't see the need to. Who's going to attack us?"

Monica gave me a quizzical look. "Maybe, I don't know, the ones who attacked us already, just this morning?"

"You've got me there. But still, if they were going to find us, they would have found us already. I think we're in the clear, at least for now."

"Have it your way," Monica responded. "But if they come and capture us in our sleep, I'll make sure you never hear the end of it."

I was about to reply with something witty, such as that if this happened, we'd have much bigger problems on our plate. But I didn't waste any of my energy doing so; rather, I simply laid down in the damp grass and closed my eyes.

My left leg, however, had other ideas. With every beat of my heart, a specific spot right below the knee, near where I'd been scratched by the Aipom, seemed to pulse painfully. In addition, it felt warm to the touch whenever I put my hand to it.

That's generally not a good sign. But I'll worry about that in the morning.

I finally managed to drift off, at which time I sank into an abnormally vivid nightmare. It didn't start that way, though; it started just like any other dream, not that I had very many of those.

In the dream, I had a bird's-eye view of Palmwood Village in the middle of the night. Despite the late (or early) hour, there were some people and Pokemon out and about, but only a few.

Clouds were gathering on the horizon, and that's what clued me in: I was watching, in time-lapse form, the Great Storm wreak havoc upon my hometown. That hometown may have been little more than a humble fishing village, but it was all I'd ever known. I'd been proud of it, and now it was about to be gone.

I knew it was only a dream; the storm couldn't hurt me anymore. That didn't make it any less horrifying, however, to see it destroyed.

To me, Palmwood wasn't just the physical structures and natural beauty that made up the coastal landscape. What mattered just as much were the human connections that I'd formed over the course of my youth.

In a way, it was rather paradoxical. Something can be built up over such a long time; I'd spent seventeen years savoring the village, appreciating all it had to offer. And yet, it had all come crashing down in one night.

And then the storm began. Gale-force winds forced themselves upon the village, levelling palm trees, tearing the roofs off of buildings, and shattering windows.

The aura of panic (which, it turned out, was just as acute in the dream world) made itself known. There wasn't a single resident of Palmwood who wasn't in great fear, and who could blame them?

I saw the palm tree come down, crushing every bone in Vance's body. He'd been one of my best friends besides Monice, and in one fell swoop, he'd been cut down in such brutal fashion.

I'd been on the other side of the tree, and thus hadn't gotten a very good view of my parents. Therefore, while I'd strongly suspected they were dead, I hadn't actually been able to confirm that. In some ways, it was better not to know, as I'd soon realize.

Both of my parents, holding hands as they watched the horror unfold, were standing stock-still in the middle of an enormous puddle. Above them, a power line was tilting violently from side to side. They only had seconds to get out of the way, but that was still ample time they weren't making use of.

Get out of the puddle!, I wanted to scream. Run for your lives!

Of course, they didn't hear me, and I was unable to tear my eyes away from what happened next.

The power cable fell down and touched the puddle. While clean water doesn't conduct electricity very well, the puddle was quite murky, and thus the water was lit up with a very high level of voltage.

Both of my parents lit up in literal shock. I was under no illusions whatsoever that anyone could survive such an electrical incident, but it was still pretty horrible to witness.

Yes, it was just a dream, but I knew with absolute certainty that I was witnessing real events. They'd occurred less than twenty-four hours ago, and all the physical distance in the world wouldn't provide me any emotional distance from that cursed memory.

I woke up seemingly not long after that, clutching a hand to my head as though making sure it was still there. A black-haired girl was looking over me with concern, and there was a foul smell in the air.

"It doesn't look like you slept well, Evan," Monica told me, frowning. "Did you have a nightmare or something? You're soaked in sweat."

I realized that my shirt was practically stuck to my back. At first, I didn't think much of this; in this humid environment, clothes simply didn't dry naturally after being as drenched as mine were.

But then I noticed just how chilled I felt. My teeth were chattering, which made no sense; why would I be shivering so much, yet perspiring profusely at the same time?

"I'm c-cold" I admitted, and that only increased Monica's apparent level of worry. She put a hand to my forehead.

"Your forehead isn't," my friend said grimly. "And your leg…it's not cold either, is it?"

I looked down at my left leg, the one that had kept me awake at first. To my horror, a change had come over its appearance.

The wound had closed over, and the area in which the Aipom had scratched me was red, puffy, and, just like Monica had guessed, hot to the touch.

My eyes opened even more widely, despite my vision being somewhat blurry from sweat, as I understood what had happened.

I'm dead.