I walked to Route 202, towards Jubilife City, pack on my back and excitement running through my head. Despite the fact that something was wrong with Pokémon, in my young innocence, I saw it as an excuse to travel. And the journey would have been fine...if not for a few sites that I can never forget, no matter how hard I try.

It started out normal, besides the fact that there were no pokemon...at first. I got to a particular patch of grass and heard a rustling. I looked around, but didn't see anything. I walked a few more steps and heard it again. This time, I turned around and saw it, staring at me.

It seemed like a normal Bidoof: brown fur with a dark brown snout and small, red nose; cream colored markings on its face; round tufts of fur forming its tail; black paws with three toes; and its large incisors sticking out from its mouth. It's black eyes stared at me, as if in curiosity. I slowly held up my watch and an electronic voice spat out information.

Bidoof: The Plump Mouse Pokémon. With nerves of steel, nothing can perturb it. It is more agile and active than it constantly gnaws on logs and rocks to whittle down its front teeth. It nests alongside water. A comparison revealed that Bidoof's front teeth grow at the same rate as Rattata's.

The amount of information coming at me seemed helpful, even if it was a lot. I looked back at the Bidoof as it stepped closer to me with its paw. It slowly moved its incisor up and down like it was...hungry.

That's when it Tackled me, running against my leg, surprisingly fast, making me fall over. I landed in the soft grass on my backpack and it immediately jumped on my chest, jaws chomping and it's eyed twinkling with glee in a mad glare.

My eyes widened as pushed it off of me. One of the paws scratched my arm in the process, however, and a thin red line of blood appeared. I didn't pay attention to it, though, as I was running away, as fast as I could. I looked back after I ran for a minute and didn't see anything. I had lost it.

After I had a minute to rest, I looked at my right arm, the scratch bleeding profusely, probably from the adrenaline. It stung a little,if not too much, but my main concern was the blood. I didn't have any bandages when I checked my pack,so I had to improvise. I took of my shirt and tore a piece of the sleeve off, which I then wrapped around my wound tightly before tying a firm knot. It emitted a sharp pain when I knotted it,but then it simply became a dull ache and the bleeding soon stopped. Afterwards, I put my one-sleeved shirt back on, threw my backpack over my shoulder, and proceeded towards Jubilife City again, more cautiously now.

My second discovery was a lot less dangerous...but more worrisome. About ten minutes later, I saw a green tattered fabric on the ground. I looked closer at it, and even picked it up,before I came to a shocking conclusion: It was Jerry's, from that bag he always carried around. I searched for any sign of him, maybe a tuft of blond hair, a tear from his shirt, one of his shoes overturned even,but I didn't find any trace of him. Even so, I couldn't shake the overwhelming of dread that something had happened to my best friend.

The most disturbing discoveries nearly made me vomit. When I could see Jubilife City in the distance, I sat on a rock for a moment to rest. I heard a thump behind me and quickly turned around. Laying there was a man, dead, with his body contorted into strange angles under a tree. He had a camera frozen in a dead grip and I realized that this was the cameraman the blond reporter had seen get carried off. I turned away and ran from the body until I tripped. What I had tripped on was even worse.

There, staring at me with cold dead eyes, was Nurse Joy. Her hat was gone and her pink hair was torn, revealing a bloody scalp. She had tears all over her face and arms from what looked like birds pecking her over and over. There were also many kinds of feathers laying around her and she was frozen in the fetal position, a look of terror on her face. I tried not to cry as I got up and jogged the rest of the way to Jubilife.

I came to the outskirts and the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. I expected a city full of people to hustle and bustle, with people yelling and high heels clacking and a million other noises, but it was pure silence. I saw a sign outside of Jubilife and couldn't help but laugh at the phrase: Jubilife City: The city of joy. (The town of happiness where people gather). How a city full of people could be so hushed is something I didn't want to know. However, I continued into the city, my footsteps the only sound.

I first stopped at the Pokemon school. The doors were open and I began to walk in, but an overwhelming stench took over as i suddenly realized that I was smelling decay. I couldn't bear to go any further, not wanting to know what had happened to the children who simply wanted to learn or the teachers who took satisfaction from the joy in a child's eyes.

I passed the Pokemon Center as I ran off, but didn't pay attention to it. I didn't want to find another dead nurse. I then looked to one of the crowned jewels of Jubilife: The TV station, where everything from news to lotteries could be held. I noticed, again, no people around, but also something strange: a smoking hole in the side of the building, as if something had exploded. I cautiously held a Pokeball and looked nervously at my watch as I went inside.

It was chaos. Papers were everywhere and the inside looked destroyed, as if it were a battle ground. There must have been dozens of bodies, including a clown and many reporters and office workers. I notice that the redhead and the blond were nowhere to be seen and I couldn't tell it that was a blessing or a curse. That was when I heard a rustling behind the front counter.

"Who's there?" I yelled. I figured that I would have alerted my presence sooner or later, so I figured I may as well when I was expecting it. Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind the desk. A human figure.

She looked to be in her twenties, with her black hair in a ponytail and brown eyes red rimmed with tears. Her chocolate skin was trembling as she looked at me and stuttered, with glasses shaking violently on her head. "Who are y-y-you?" She asked, scared out of her mind. I calmly smiled and put my hands up as I approached her slowly. "I'm Jacob. I've come from Twinleaf Town. What's your name?" I asked, trying to be gentle.

She sniffed as she said "A-Angela. Angela S-S-Simmons." She stood up and I noticed that her clothes had tears and maybe even burn marks with a gash in her exposed left shoulder. She seemed disheveled, and walked with a limp around the counter. I looked with unashamed worry and curiosity at her as I asked "What happened?" She looked at me with terror in her eyes and simply said "It w-w-was h-horrible..."

I tried to calm her down, and we sat on a couch in the lobby. I patted her on the back softly and she cried for a few minutes before she finally became quiet. She looked at me and gave me a very small smile. "Thank y-you, J-Jac-cob." I smiled and hugged her, as she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me back.

After about a minute of that, we finally let go and I looked into her eyes, kindly. "So, Angela, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened? Where are all the people?" Angela closed her eyes suddenly, as if not wanting to relive her terrible experience, but when she opened them again, she seemed to have a look of resolve, however slight it may have been. She floded her hands in her lap and looked down at them and spoke in a strange tone, almost as if reciting from a script.

"It was j-just a normal day. People w-were going about, l-lotteries were being announced, and t-the clown was being so j-j-jolly. Then there was a t-terrible commotion. From the front counter, I could s-see a blond woman who I recognized as a reporter. She c-came around often for work. She was talking about an event that she had witnessed n-near Twinleaf. Through the o-open door I could hear her talking, but I honestly couldn't r-r-really comprehend what she was saying. That's when the attack began."

Angela closed her eyes again and curled her hands into fists, still in her lap. "I'd never actually s-seen a C-Charizard before. It was so huge. I would have called it m-majestic had it not started breathing flames everywhere. People d-disentigrated before my very eyes. The city suddenly seemed to empty, citizens either l-locking themselves in or running out of town. The two reporters did the latter, while me and most of m-my colleagues did the former. After the Charizard left, we thought we were s-safe...our security was short lived..."

The dark-skinned woman composed herself, choking back tears. She seemed a lot younger than twenty and much more like a child, but she continued on regardless. "There was an explosion, someone s-said that a Graveler had used Self-Destruct, and they came pouring in. Dozens of P-pokem-mon of all kinds, ones that I never evem knew could exist in this region. People ran, trying to escape, but they quickly perished by the sheer amount blocking them. Others sought refuge upstairs, but some followed. I-I even heard glass breaking, I assume the windows, and so many s-screams. And all I could do was stand at my counter, frozen."

The young adult choked back a sob, reaching what felt like the climax of her tale. "M-my friend was being chased by an Audino of all things. He t-tripped and yelled for help. I snapped o-out of my state and ran to his aid, b-but...I was too late. A Magmar made him unrecognizable and the heat was so much that it caused my skin to welt. Then I tripped hard on my l-leg and had to crawl under the counter, doing n-nothing but listen as the cries for help grew q-quieter and quiet-er-"

Angela's voice cracked as a sob came through and she grew quiet. She removed her glasses and held one of her hands to her eyes, rubbing them. She put her glasses back on and was silent, apparently over with her experience.

I digested this information in my head, giving both me and her time to deal with the situation that we were in. After I had thoroughly steeled myself and finished analyzing her story, I spoke, calmly as I could, which I'm sure wasn't much. "Angela...I'm so sorry. I wish I could help in some way, that I could reverse all that's happened...but what's done is done, and we need to move on."

Angela looked at me sharply, a mix of worry and shock on her face "W-what are you talking about. M-my friends are dead, Pokemon have gone certifiably insane, and I can hardly w-w-walk. You're a child, how can you be so calm about a-all this?"

I took a moment to think. I wasn't calm, not in the slightest; I was actually terrified. And yet, I knew that, even if I didn't believe in Dr. Twinneedle's plan, I still had to have hope. I couldn't just give in to despair and let it overcome me. Even if it took the rest of my life, I wanted to set things right, somehow, even if that was impossible. And I couldn't do that if I focused on the past. I had to move on to the future. I didn't know how to explain all of this to Angela, since I barely knew what I was thinking, but I tried to comfort her all the same.

"Ms. Simmons...I don't know how I can tell you that everything is going to be okay and that this will all just disappear, because i doubt it will be that easy. But, maybe, just maybe, if we move forward, we can find a way out of this. Even if it costs us something greater than ourselves...but if it saves even one person from going through what we have, isn't it worth it ti try?" I clasped the receptionist's hands and looked through her spectacles, searching for some glint of understanding.

She blinked slowly, as if I had just spoken Eevee to her, and slowly shook her head side to side. Then she spoke "I can't believe it...I can't believe that a ten year old is smarter than me and much more optimistic in this situation." Angela's eyes seemed to solidify like browns orbs, and she seemed more confident, or at least a little less frightened, even if her voice seemed to betray that image. "You're r-right, Jacob. Even if this crisis never ends...even if w-we have no idea how to even begin changing this world...we need to t-try."

The twenty something stood up, slowly, so as not to put too much strain on her leg and looked at me, showing a small smile. "Guess we can't stay h-here, can we?" I nodded, returning the gesture and standing as well. I held onto her and helped her as we walked out. When we were about to go out the door, however, she looked back at the lobby, or, rather, at a burned body in the lobby. She seemed to give a faint smile and mouth a few words to it. I didn't ask as we left, but I like to believe that the words she spoke to her deceased colleague in that moment was "I'll make things right."...

Okay...I know that I've been on hiatus forever and that this chapter isn't exactly long. However, I had a massive case of writer's block. I can't tell you how sorry I am, but I think I'm getting my groove back a bit. I also have another fic I'm collabing on at the moment, so this won't have my full attention, but I promise that I'll get back to this one. i have more ideas and I really don't want to just abandon all of you who took the time to read this. To help me know that you still want me to continue this, don't forget to review, since I do loved knowing what you think. Also, you if you haven't by now, despite my hiatus, please follow and favorite. It makes me feel good when I know that people want to see more from me.

Oh, and for those of you paying attention, I got some of this info from Bulbpedia, like Bidoof's Pokedex entry and the sign outside Jubilife City. I can't take credit since I barely remembered any of what I read after I wrote it down XD. However, I'll probably still take some liberties in the future and not be completely accurate, since this is A/U. And one more things, for you reference seekers out there: I recently became obsessed with Danganronpa, so I may have dropped a small ref to that in there somewhere, hehe. Don't worry, I've got many more references to stuff waiting in the wings. Anywho, that's all. Until next time, which I hope will be soon, so long! *fades out*