"Go away," Kenya said. Druddigon growled threateningly.

The man with the lab coat returned his knocked-out Klang. He scratched his head, his blue bang wiggling.

"Your Druddigon is very powerful." He approached Druddigon. Druddigon growled again. "I mean you no harm."

Kenya got between them, pushing the guy away.

"Who do you think you are?" The guy backed up, raising his hands.

"My name is Colress." He smiled. He offered to shake Kenya's hand. She glared at him.

I moved over to them. Bianca stayed back. "Oh, you look familiar." He looked me up and down.

"Hey Kenya, let's leave this guy alone." She nodded.

"I had a very good friend with green hair like yours." Colress put a hand on my head. I flinched, shuffling away from him. "I didn't know her very long, admittedly."

"Hey!" Kenya got between us. Druddigon roared, responding to her anger.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Colress backed up. He stared past Kenya at me. "He's gone now."

"Let's go!" Kenya insisted. The three of us started walking away, continuing on the path. Druddigon followed closely behind. Colress maintained a distance behind us.

"He's still following us," Bianca said. She glanced back at him a few times. Snivy cooed at her.

"I should get Druddigon to beat him up," Kenya said. I thought about what he said about my hair. What an odd thing to say. Id never met

"Let's just ignore him," I said. Kenya grumbled.

"Look at that." Bianca gestured further down the path. A large tree had fallen onto the path.

"Hey, Druddigon, can you move that?" Kenya asked. Druddigon grunted. Druddigon hoisted the three into the air.

A Scolipede appeared from off the side of the trail. It moved quickly, ramming its body into Druddigon. Druddigon dropped the tree, stumbling backward. "Get it, Druddigon!" Kenya yelled. "Hurry!" Druddigon slashed at Scolipede.

"Watch out!" Bianca shouted. Scolipede twisted its body, hitting Kenya with its hind legs. Kenya flew back, rolling across the path. I ran to her side. Druddigon roared, grabbing the Scolipede. Kenya grunted as I helped her up.

"That thing sure is dangerous," Colress said. He walked past Kenya and me.

Bianca encouraged Druddigon as it pummeled Scolipede.

Another Scolipede appeared, followed by a wave of Venipede and Whirlipede. The second Scolipede pushed Druddigon into the brush. The rest of them following close behind.

"Wait!" Kenya stumbled, starting to run after them. She felt her head wincing. She ran over to the fallen tree, Bianca and I on her heels. Druddigon was nowhere to be seen. "Druddigon!" I noticed a path of destroyed brush.

"Come on." The three of us followed the path.

Colress continued to follow us. I let out Tepig. Kenya sent out Darumaka, and Bianca sent out Audino. There was a knocked-out Whirlipede on the ground. Colress threw a poke ball at it from behind us, capturing it.

"Why are you still following us?" Kenya asked. I looked further ahead, spotting Druddigon fighting off the Scolipedes.

Colress shrugged his shoulders.

"Kenya, there's Druddigon." I nudged her.

"Druddigon!" Kenya ran towards Druddigon, Darumaka hopping after her. Bianca and Audino followed them. I glanced at Colress. He was fiddling with a needle. I heard Kenya and Bianca giving commands.

"What are you doing?" He let out the Whirlipede. He inserted the needle into Whirlipede. Whirlipede made a raspy noise. "W-what did you do?" Colress backed up, looking over at me.

"Be careful." The Whirlipede charged at me.

"Tepig!" Tepig jumped in front of me, getting knocked aside. Whirlipede hopped, midroll, slamming into me.

The forest spun around me, the air leaving my lungs. I landed on my side, rolling. Whirlipede sped off, weaving between the trees. It circled back around, heading for me.

"It seems much faster," Colress commented.

"Tepig," I sputtered. "Flame charge!" Tepig ignited, meeting Whirlipede's charge. Whirlipede jumped over Tepig. It bounced off a tree and smashed into Tepig from the side.

"Perhaps it's more intelligent? Or more capable of complicated thought patterns?" Whirlipede was targeting Tepig now, running into it and circling for another attack.

I sat up, holding my stomach.

"Ember! Protect yourself!" Tepig waited until the last moment, firing an ember at Whirlipede right before being steamrolled. The embers hit their mark. Whirlipede spun off course. "Flame charge!" Tepig ignited, attacking Whirlipede again.

This was much more effective, knocking it out immediately. Tepig started to glow. I watched as the light faded. Pignite.

Colress returned Whirlipede. I looked over at Kenya and Bianca. They were battling a swarm of Venipede and Whirlipede. The Scolipedes were both knocked out.

"What a shame. It didn't use any actual moves. Maybe because it's a wild pokemon?" Colress continued to mutter to himself. I regained my bearings and got up.

"What did you do to that Whirlipede?" Colress looked at me, seeming to remember I was there. His face softened.

"Where are you from?"

"Answer the question!" He sighed, taking out another poke ball.

"Do you believe in fate?" I was getting tired of him. He turned the poke ball in his hand, waiting. "Yes? No?"

"It doesn't matter." He chucked the poke ball at me; I caught it.

"Have you ever been to Lacunosa town?"

"Andrew!" Kenya and Bianca were running over to me.

"Get away from him!" Kenya yelled. Druddigon roared behind her. Colress disappeared into the nearby brush.

I looked at the poke ball while Kenya threatened Colress. Bianca was complimenting Pignite. I released the pokemon inside. It was a Tirtuoga. "Oh? Did you catch that?" Kenya asked. The Tirtuoga stared at me. I'd already decided to keep it.

It was like poison. It was Pignite's voice. That man poisoned the Whirlipede. I stared blankly at Tirtuoga and returned it.

It happened again. Could everyone speak telepathically with their pokemon? I assumed I would've heard of something like that.

I tried to reply, throw my thoughts at Pignite. Kenya and Bianca stared at me. Are you alright? That Whirlipede hit you pretty hard.

"I'm fine," I said.

Bianca returned Audino.

"Are you sure?" Bianca asked. "You were staring at that tree for a while."

"It's a nice tree." I decided not to return Pignite.

We made our way back to the path. I spotted Colress standing by a tree. He was speaking on an xtransceiver. I didn't call him out.

Getting Kenya riled up again wasn't in our best interest. We followed the path all the way to Skyarrow bridge. I didn't say much as we crossed the bridge. Bianca pointed out a flock of Swanna and Ducklett.

She tried to take a picture, but they didn't show up on her camera. We stopped, enjoying the water view. Bianca took more pictures. Kenya leaned against the railing, yawning. The sun was still high in the sky.

What wonderful memories.

My hair stood on end. I felt a strange chill. I looked over at Pignite. It wasn't Pignite's voice. It was different. My head throbbed. Kenya looked over her shoulder at me.

Come to me. I will have them.

The sky darkened. Kenya and Bianca didn't react to this. I stared blankly at the sky. It was there. The monster was standing over the water.

I shrunk to my knees. Kenya and Bianca were both saying things.

My head hit the pavement.