"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"

Ugh... no...

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"

No, just 5 more minutes please...

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"

At least one more minute...

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"

AAAAAAAAGH!

"BEEP BEEP BEE–"

Frustatingly woken up, I tried to smash the dammed alarm clock by punching it, but all I managed to do was hit the snooze button... and hurt my paw. "Ow!" I yelled, nursing my knuckles. "Ugh, why did I do that..." Looking at the alarm clock, I checked the time. It was 4 A.M

...

4 A.M!?

"Wah!? Why would Sam or John set the clock to four in the morning!?" Confused, I looked around. Sam, Jonathan, and the rest were all still fast asleep. "Uhm... okay..." I said to my reflection in a small desk mirror. "Either this is real, or I'm in some sort of dream where a real alarm clock would wake me up."

For a second, I thought my reflection winked at me. But since I'm still sleepy and tired, maybe it's just my eye twitching... Settling back on the corner where I normally sleep, I tried to go back into a state of dreamless rest...

But it didn't come.

"Stupid alarm clock..." I said, shooting it a dirty look. "Why'd you have to beep..." Right as I finished my sentece, the alarm clock started beeping again. "GODDANGIT!" Running over to the alarm clock, I threw a fury of punches at it, but since it was made out of metal, I only hurted myself. So I kicked it off the table. "I swear, if I ever, ever hear that thing beep again..."

Once again, I went back to the corner, trying to get some rest. But still, sleep didn't come to me. It might have been because of the small angry rush of energy that came over me when I tried to destroy that clock.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"

After hearing that alarm clock beep again, I lost my patience. "AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

But suddenly, there was a loud sound; the sound of something being crushed. Looking over the table, I saw the alarm clock on the floor, smashed to bits, as if someone had slammed down a sledgehammer on top of it. "Oh, thank Mew..." I sighed in relief, not caring about how in the world it suddenly broke. "Now maybe I can get some sleep..."

Going back to the corner – again – I curled up to get some well-deserved rest...

"Keith!"

My eyes shot open. It was morning already. "Keith, finally you're awake!" Arthur said to me, shaking his head. You overslept, you know?"

"Ugh..." I groaned, getting up to my feet. "It's morning already? Sam and John haven't even woken up yet!"

"Dude, we always woke up before Sam and John. Are you getting sloppy?"

"I'm not sloppy!" I snapped at him, but then I noticed his expression. "...Sorry."

Arthur merely shrugged. "Figures." He said coolly. "I thought you would snap. You have short temper." I rolled my eyes hearing Arthur comment about my lack of patience. "Anyway, Spark's already woken up. Adam's still snoozing. Spark's over there if you want to talk to him." He pointed at Spark, who seemed to be staring at something laying on the ground.

I walked over to Spark, followed by Arthur. "What are you looking at?" I asked him. Spark looked up, noticing me for the first time.

"Ah, Keith, you're awake." He greeted me. "Well, I'm just looking at this pile o' mess over here." He pointed at the pile of crushed metal, glass, and electronics in front of him. "Seems to be Jonathan's alarm clock." Not sure how it smashed though..."

"Maybe it just... dropped on itself?" I replied innocently, trying to keep my composure from slipping. I was the one who broke it after all.

"Pfft, there's no way it could drop on itself." Spark objected. "Either there was a really stupid and clumsy burglar here last night, or someone smashed it on purpose." Sub-conciously, I gulped, but somehow Spark noticed. "Did you just gulp?"

"N-no." I answered a little too quickly.

"...Okay then, I now deduce you the guilty one who broke this alarm clock." Spark said, smiling.

"Oh come on! You can't just say that I broke that the damn thing simply because I gulped!"

Spark chuckled. "Maybe so. But either way, ol' Johnny over there is gonna be pissed to see this thing broken."

I simply shrugged. "Welp, there's nothing we can do about it." Then I casually walked away, leaving them both to stare after me.

I looked outside the window. The sun had barely risen, or maybe the buildings were blocking the sun's actual position. Staring off into the golden-orange sky, I started to contemplate again.

This life... do I really want this? I mean, it's good and all, but... it's not great. Neither Sam or John are keen on battling, and they're not really that devoted on Pokémon. It's as if we're a side-hobby. Or maybe I'm just saying that because I keep getting left out. Sam hasn't really been paying much attention to me, mostly on Adam and Vivico. Perhaps living with Jonathan changed him a bit, or am I overthinking this?

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. But then I suddenly realized that someone was sitting right beside me. "Eeek!" I shrieked back in surprise. The figure also seemed surprise, letting out a small gasp. Sunlight breaking through the clouds revealed that it was just Vivico, Sam's Leafeon.

"V-Vivico!?" I gasped, not expecting her presence. "How long were you sitting there!? And I thought you were still inside your Pokéball?"

Vivico giggled. "Keith, I was here first! You simply walked over beside me and didn't notice me at all. Arthur let me out this morning. It's good to enjoy fresh air again; Sam's kept me in that ball for way too long."

"Sure, tell me about it." I said plainly, not really caring. Vivico raised her eyebrow.

"You know Keith..." She started. "I've never actually seen you smile before, let alone be cheerful. Can you show me your smile?"

I looked at her, showing her a fake smile mixed with unpleasant emotions. "Happy now?" I asked her.

Vivico just sighed. "Forget it. You'll smile when you're in the mood; no one can force you to smile." She gave a small bow and walked away.

Minutes later, another Pokémon camed. A Kirlia, which belonged to Jonathan. She's the most patient and calm of all of Sam and Jonathan's Pokémon, especially towards me. She seems to see that I have a socialization issue and that I just don't like talking so much. Other than being cool and calm, another thing to be known about her is that she doesn't have a name, since she came from an egg that Sam got. No one could think of a good name for her, so we just called her by her species' name, Kirlia – which ironically is a very good name if you think about it.

"Good morning Keith," She greeted me casually as she sat down beside me.

"Morning, Kirlia." I answered blankly.

"...Stuff on your mind?" She asked suddenly. I resisted the urge to face and glare at her.

"No."

"...You know, you seem to be contemplating your life a lot lately."

"H-heh, wh-whatever do you mean by that?" I asked her, chuckling nervously.

"Well... when you keep your guard down and fall into a state of deep thought, your thoughts seem to be... 'leaking out', so to say."

I glared at her. "Y-you've been reading my thoughts!?" I shouted at her.

Kirlia merely shrugged. "Is that so wrong?"

"Y-yes it is! Those thoughts are private and deeply personal!"

"Well, it is not my fault that your thoughts keep leaking out."

"'Thoughts leaking out' makes no sense at all!"

"Do I really have to explain the basics of mind-reading?" She asked, a small smile forming. "Every time you contemplate about your life, you focus on your memories and certain thoughts, and set some aside... if that makes any sense to you."

I kept my mouth shut, not sure what we were even arguing about anymore. "Just... just go away Kirlia. Just go."

But she stayed put, staring off into the sun.

"Kirlia, you know the meaning of 'leave me alone', right?" I asked her. She looked at me, and sighed.

"Keith..." She said calmly. "Perhaps you might not realize this, or you simply ignore your feelings all the time, but you feel like you are letting Arthur down, aren't you?" I gave an involuntary shudder. "As I expected. Although you don't show it, you deeply care about Arthur. Perhaps it is because you do not want to look soft or compassionate, or you feel like emotions are preventing you from becoming strong, or maybe something else entirely; I do not know. But what I do know, is that you still have a heart. If you really want Arthur to be happy, I think it might help if you bend to his will. His royal majesty would be quite pleased to see you loyal to him." After that long speech, Kirlia got up and left, leaving me to think about her words alone.

"Bend to his will..." I muttered to myself. "Do I actually care? I don't think so, I've never upset him." But then I felt a drop of water onto my paw. I suddenly realized that it was coming from my eyes, as tears. "Wha –"

I heard Kirlia's footsteps stop from behind me. "You can cover it up and convince yourself all you want, Keith the Vulpix..." She said, a bit dramatically. "But no matter what, your heart will always say otherwise." And with that, she went to talk to the rest.

I gave Kirlia's words some thought. Was she right? Do I actually care? I do feel like Arthur's own brother sometimes... I frustatingly shook my head, refusing to believe her. Bah. That's bull. You're Keith the half-tough guy, not some wimpy caring mommy! Kirlia's wrong. I know who I am, and I don't need some manipulative psychic grass-head to tell me otherwise!

Calming myself, I turned and walked back towards the group. But for some reason, there's a tiny, lingering seed of doubt in my mind that Kirlia seemed to have placed, making me wonder... if maybe her words are true? But I shook the feeling off, focusing on reality. "So... what now?" I asked my five 'pals' – including Adam.

"Maybe we should wake those two up," Kirlia pointed at Jonathan and Sam, still sleeping. "I think it's about time that they should wake up."

"I'm pretty sure they'll be mad at us if we disturb their sleep, whether abruptly or slowly," Spark interjected. "Maybe we should just wait."

"I'm not sitting here waiting to starve!" Vivico cried out. "I haven't eaten for so looong!"

"They'd be pissed if they find out that the Pokémon food ran out!" Arthur told Vivico. "I agree with Spark; let's just wait it out."

"Do you hear that?" Kirlia suddenly said. Everyone instantly stopped talking and listened. There was a sound of incoherent mumbles as Sam's body started to shift. "He's waking up."

Arthur hopped over and jumped onto Sam's lap as he rubbed his eyes. "Oh, morning Azumarill." He said, petting his head. Then he noticed the daylight going through the window. "Wait, what time is it!?" His eyes darted towards where the alarm clock would normally be, but then he saw that it was smashed to pieces on the floor. "Ah, shit!" He cursed, jumping off the bed. "Need to clean that up later." He rushed over to the desk and opened one of its drawers. He picked up the watch that Jonathan usually wears and looked at the time. "HALF-PAST SEVEN!? I need to get into the shower, pronto!"

We only stared bewilderedly at him as he ran into the bathroom carrying the clothes he's gonna wear, slamming the door behind him. "What the hell's wrong with him?" I asked, trying to understand what just happened. "Sam's normally a laid-back person!"

"Oooh! I think he's getting ready for a date!" Vivico squealed. Everyone just stared at her... "Heh... désolé..."

"What's desoil or whatever Vi just said?" Spark asked Kirlia.

"It's French for sorry." Kirlia answered. "Now could everyone just shut up and let Sam explain?"

Everyone immediately went quiet, waiting for Sam to finish taking a shower. A few minutes later, Sam stepped out of the shower, all dressed up. "Ah, much better." He said, his voice still a bit panicked. "Argh... Jon's still asleep... Gah! I'll just go first!" With that, he rushed out of the door. "Come on you guys!" He added, waving at us, before heading for the stairs.

"Well..." Arthur said, beginning to walk towards the door alongside Adam, Vivico, and me. "Spark, Kirlia, we've gotta go, okay?" His two friends nodded. "Great! We'll see you soon!" And we ran off after Sam.

...

After an hour of running and fast walks, we finally stopped. Looking up, I saw that we were at Weinstein Library, Jubilife City's only public library, and one of the oldest buildings in the city. Sam ran up the stairs and went through the doors, remembering to not barge into a library and anger its receptionist, like last time. Last time he did that, he got kicked out from that library. Sam calmly walked towards the History Section of the library, finding a well-groomed man reading a book. We only watched as Sam walked up towards him.

"Excuse me?" Sam tapped the man's shoulder. "Are you Mr. Newmich?"

The man noticed Sam, and nodded. "Why hello there, young fellow." Mr. Newmich said, ruffling Sam's hair. "Are you the one named Samuel?"

"It's just Sam, sir." Sam answered politely.

"I'll take that as a yes to my question." Mr. Newmich smiled. "Please, come with me. It would be much more suitable to have this conversation in the Reading Corner. The man then guided Sam through the library's hall, with us following him.

Arthur tapped my shoulder. "Keith? Who is that guy?" He asked me.

"I dunno..." I whispered to him. "Maybe it's for a job interview?"

"Likely." Adam agreed – annoyingly. "But let's just see."

Sam and Mr. Newmich reached the Reading Corner and sat at the table at the corner of the room. Mr. Newmich noticed us for the first time. "Ah, I didn't see these four when you walked up to me." He said, crouching down to get an eye-to-eye look. "I assume that these are your Pokémon?"

"Yes, Mr. Newmich." Sam replied.

"Please, call me Matthew." His eyes continue to scan all of us... until it landed on me. Of course, I immediately knew that look on his face. "Samuel, your Vulpix's eyes are blue."

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Is there something wrong with him? A disease, perhaps?" I growled a bit as he said that. It was like him saying that I had rabies. "Because that's not normal!"

"I checked the doctor when I saw that his eyes were blue." Sam explained. "But the doctor says that its fine. Although rare, Pokémon can have different colored eyes than the normal ones."

"Fascinating..." Matthew said, getting back up. "Now, if we may begin?"

"Go ahead."

Sam and Mr. Newmich chatted and discussed all day long. Adam groaned loudly. "Ugh, why did he even bring us here in the first place?" He complained. "We're not even doing anything! We're just watching from the sidelines."

I nodded, agreeing. "For once, I agree with you. This is a waste of time." I looked at Arthur. He seems to be busying himself by reading a book titled 'Bonds Between : Ties That Bind' I walked over to him, peeking over the book to see its content. I read it out aloud. " 'If one were to leave their partner behind, then what kind of partner are they?' Hendry said to Alfred. "If you think that it is okay to leave me behind in that cursed city, you have another thing coming!' Without waiting for Alfred's reply, he stormed off, leaving his used-to-be friend behind..."

I looked at Arthur, confused. "Um... Arthur? What exactly are you reading?" I asked the Azumarill.

"Oh... this..." Arthur seemed reluctant to tell me. "It's not exactly a type of book you would like to read, so..."

"Seriously, Arthur?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow. "I'm just curious. Besides, it's not like I would want to read it!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Fine... It's a series a friend at the playground yesterday recommended to me. It's the Bonds Between series. This is the first book, Bonds Between : Ties That Bind. It's about this guy named Hendry who was invited to go to a fancy party, which the party was attacked by criminals that killed almost everyone inside. Now he and a few friends are trying to escape these criminals, hoping to get back to their own region, and –"

"Okay, okay, Arthur." I cut him off. "I get the point."

Arthur just stared at me. "Keith, you've been pretty mean to me lately." He told me, passive-agressively. "Is there something I've done wrong? Did I insult you or something?" I opened my mouth to reply but then he stopped me. "No, forget it. You're just being you; I'm overthinking this... See you later..." Without another word, he walked away, leaving me behind.

Spark walked up next to me, noticing Arthur leaving. "You did it again, didn't you?" He said to me, more statement than question. "You really know how to hurt people don't you?" I didn't answer his question. "Well? I'm waiting?"

I just sighed frustratingly. "Look, I didn't mean it like that, I just –"

"Oh, so you were being you again?" He stopped me, infuriated. "You were just being yourself!?"

"Spark, I –"

"Listen to me, Keith." He said dangerously. "I know Arthur. You may have spent most of your childhood playing together with him, but I know him better than you now. Don't you realize it? You hurt the feelings of everyone around you all the time! Whether you say it directly or passive-agressively! Vivico, Adam, me... even your best pal Arthur. I don't know what's wrong with you, whether you lack a heart, or whether your skull's just thick as rock."

His words left me stunned. Have I really messed up this time?

"I'm gonna go fetch Arthur." Spark said, turning away. "This is your second strike Keith. Get a third and you're out of the playing field." He then ran away, trying to find Arthur. I only stared off after him, his words sinking into my heart.

Not paying attention to Sam and Mr. Newmich's conversation anymore, I slowly walked away, disheartened. I pondered Spark's words. "I've hurt everyone's feelings..?" I asked myself. "Am I really that blind that I don't know what I'm even saying or doing?" Kirlia's words earlier this morning also rang in my ears. "You still have a heart, Keith..." I repeated her words as much as I remembered. "Maybe it would help if you bent to the king's will, he'll be quite pleased to see you still loyal to him..."

Kirlia has always like speaking in strange metaphors, but I understood this one now. If I were to ever get Arthur's trust and friendship back, or anyone else's as a matter of fact... I would have to bend to his will. Listen to him when he's talking, helping him do things... Is it just like that? I looked down at myself, my paws shaking. "Have I really been this stupid...? Why hasn't anyone told me?"

No. They wouldn't have said that directly to me. I'm sure that they would think that I'd go on a killing spree if anyone said that. So... I have been ignoring their silent messages. I was too blinded by pride and the sense of feeling powerful. I was so blind that... I've forgotten Arthur...

I feel... I feel so dumb, I thought to myself, tears dripping onto the floor. I messed up... I messed up so bad... Kirlia was right. I didn't want to look weak, so I threw away my emotions... I ended up throwing it away forever...

I wanna change... Let's start with Vivico... what would she like? I thought as hard as I possibly could, but I couldn't think of anything that Leafeon would like. Was it perhaps that I've always neglected our chats? I felt a sharp pain in my chest at the thought. It must be guilt... it's back with a vengeance, heh...

I sighed. I'll just have to think this out later... With that being said, I got up, and went back to Sam.

By the time I got back to Sam, it appeared that his conversation with Mr. Newmich was almost done. Arthur and Spark were also back. I tried to look at Arthur, but he wouldn't even make eye contact with me. Tears streamed down his eyes. For some reason, I knew that they were tears of anger and frustration, aggrivated by my behaviour towards him. A deeper pain hit my chest. The guilt was growing, I can literally feel it.

"Well, Samuel..." Mr. Newmich said. "I'd say you're a very promising recruit. I'm sure that the boss would love to have you on our team. I'll need to discuss this further with him, personally."

"I thank you, Matthew." Sam said, smiling. "It's my passion to go on adventures and achieve great things."

"Splendid! I hope we could meet again some time." The two shook each others' hands, and parted. Sam ran over to us.

"Guys, guys! Did you hear that!?" Sam said excitedly, jumping up and down like a little kid. "I might have a shot at joining the Myth Hunters! I'm gonna run back and tell Jon!" Without waiting for us, he sprinted towards the door, getting scolded by the library keeper. "Oops, sorry..."

I turned to Arthur and Spark. "What are the Myth Hunters?" I asked them. But neither of them of them answered, in fact they ignored me. I looked down at the floor. I've effed up for real this time... I looked at Adam. I could ask him, but I have a much worse relationship with him than both Arthur and Spark combined; he would never tell me. I have so many mistakes I need to make up for...

Walking out of the library, I felt awful. Once I get home, I'm getting advice from Kirlia...