Well the last few chapters were fun, weren't they?

:3

Anyways, here's Umbreon travel, and not too much. Next up is the actual final special episode.

Chapter 15; humanity, and an old friend.

It had been days.

Ian had been travelling across the Mist Continent for about a week at this point, and was beginning to get worried. He had not come across any civilization, and if it weren't for Ava having been teaching him to hunt since the day they met. he would have starved by now.

As he walked across a featureless snowy plain, he contemplated everything.

'I leave my journal out for one day, and suddenly, I'm being treated like some menace to society… god. Does this world just hate me?' he thought, as he trudged through the land.

He had been using the stars during the night to tell what direction he had been travelling, and was going south. He knew from the games that other civilizations existed, and he had a vague idea of where they were. He also had one more goal.

He was going to find whatever had made him a Pokémon, and make them pay.

'Alright, so who are the possible suspects? We have the voice of life, where I might be some spare human who went missing or something, we have Darkrai, which is very unlikely, we have Ninetales curse, which is even more unlikely, or we have Mew.' he sighed. 'As for why Mew would bring me here… I don't know. I really don't want to have to save the world, especially without Ava.

He hated what had happened. It finally seemed like he would be settled down, maybe even preparing for the future, but life had to throw him a curveball. And now he was homeless. In the middle of nowhere. With his partner being trapped with his prosecutors, and he couldn't do anything.

As he continued to travel, he eventually caught sight of something.

A distant cluster of buildings on the horizon. They seemed to be in a flat area between the southern mountains, and the endless northern plains.

'Is that Post Town? I hope so…' Ian though, as he approached the village.

After a few minutes of travel, he reached a small crossroads. It had been shovelled as well. To the west was the village, presumably Post Town, and to the east, a dilapidated cluster of assorted buildings, much different than the village.

The Umbreon headed to the west, and entered the village square.

Not many Pokémon were out, mostly just a Kecleon running his stall, alone, and a Cofagrigus greedily counting poke behind another counter. The other stalls were abandoned, or closed.

Ian walked up to the Kecleon. "Hey, uh, is this Post Town?" he asked.

"Why yes it is. What brings a young Eeveelution such as yourself up this far north?" the Kecleon asked.

"...just travelling. Trying to find myself I guess." Ian lied. Well, not a total lie.

"Oh. I wish you good luck with that. The inn is over there, old Swanna is there, as well as some old heroes if you need a place to stay." he told the Umbreon.

"Thanks Kecleon." Ian headed over to the Swanna Inn, and pushed open the door.

A wave of heat from the inner fireplace left the building. A Swanna at the back quickly left from behind the counter. "What are you doing?! Shut the door! In or out, come on now!" she huffed, quickly shutting the door. "You'll let all the heat out!"

"Sorry, ma'am. I was just looking for a place to stay." Ian defended himself with. "Is this the Swanna Inn?"

"Yes… yes it is. Have you come for a night, or are you just someone just showing up to ask that old human and his partner about the Bittercold again?"

"Ummm… both?"

Swanna sighed, and gestured to the stairs. "They're upstairs. Head on up if you wanna see em. It's 50 poké a night as well. Are you interested?"

"Yeah, I guess." Ian dug through his bag, and pulled out a pouch with coins in it, and picked out 50. "Here."

"Thank you dearie. Have a good one." Swanna headed back behind, presumably to cook something.

Ian walked up the stairs, only to see a line of beds, and a couple tables. One table had a sleeping Raichu, and a half awake Servine at it. There were quite a few empty glasses nearby.

Ian headed over to them. "Hey, uh, are you a human?" he asked.

The Servine halfheartedly glanced over. "What of it? Wait… Nova?"

Ian seemed to take offence to this. He sat down across the Servine. "Nova, almost KILLED me. He's an asshole, and a bigot. And racist, honestly." Ian said to the Servine.

The Servine seemed to perk up a bit. "Well why would that old coot attack you? He only hates… humans… wait, are you… another human?" the Servine was laser focused on Ian now.

"...Yes."

The Servine looked surprised. "Sparks, get up! Now!" he began to shake awake the Raichu. "Dude, wake up!"

"Uhng… what… Brandon… I was asleep…" he mumbled.

"Get up you dolt!" The Servine kicked the Raichu.

"Okay, okay! What? What is Nova doing here?"

"I'm not Nova god damn it!" Ian said.

"Well who are you?" sparks asked.

"I'm Ian. Another former human I guess. And I don't know why." Ian said, agitated.

The Raichu looked at the Umbreon surprised for a moment, and then calmed down. "Tauros-shit. This is the eighth time this year someone told us that." Sparks said.

"I don't have amnesia though." Ian said.

Brandon looked surprised. "That's a first. But can you prove it? I used to be able to go between the human world and this one at will, I'll know if you're lying. What's the central communication method used by humans around their world?" Brandon asked, skeptical that Ian would know.

Ian thought for a moment. He knew what it was… it wasn't coming to mind. He suddenly realized, though. "The internet. Electricity based, massive web of stuff and info. Computers, all that shit. Look man, I'm the real deal."

Brandon just stared for a moment. "So you are real… no wonder Nova tried to kill you. See, a few years after the Bittercold, when Dark Matter attacked, he and Neo became super paranoid, and saw all humans, including me, the way most Pokémon see Absol. Disaster bringers. I tried to convince them to stop, but they wouldn't listen, and eventually they left to make an Eevee only branch of the society up north. I'm assuming you were up there?"

"Yeah. I was. And I met the love of my life there, only for her to be ripped away from me when I got outed." Ian said regretfully.

"Ouch buddy. That hurts. So what are you doing now?" Sparks asked.

"Searching out the other humans, and trying to find what turned me into a Pokémon." Ian said. "You wouldn't happen to know where the voice of life is, would you?"

"Hydreigon? She's up at the ruins of paradise still. She's been single handedly trying to repair it for months." Brandon said.

"If you wanna go talk to her, now's a good time. One more question, how long have you been a Pokémon kid?" Sparks asked.

"Over a year. It's been maybe 15 and a half months. Or about 16 "moons" Ian said.

"Shit, you shoulda seen us earlier. We were selling out our old travelling gear to different Pokémon around the area." Brandon said.

"Thanks, you guys. And sorry for bothering you." Ian said, getting off his stool.

"No problem kid. Have a good one." Brandon said, turning to sparks to talk about something with his Raichu partner.

Ian dashed down the stairs. "Hey Swanna, I'm just gonna be out for a few hours. Kay?"

"Whatever. Just don't die. Or do. Nunna my business." Swanna said, not looking up from her book.

Ian stepped outside into the cold winter town, and walked back to the crossroads.

The cloud cover made determining features in the endless snow impossible unless they were dark like rocks. It also made the world feel stagnant, and cold, literally and figuratively.

Ian headed over to the east road, and came across a rocky valley fairly quickly. Many ruined and dilapidated buildings were around, with most of them having been ransacked, or otherwise ruined.

'It's like a ghost town… jeez. What happened after the Bittercold here?' Ian thought, as he walked through.

One building stood out. It was less like a stall and more similar to the cabins from Frosted Village, except it had burned down. It was a wreck.

Ian looked around the wreck, and noticed the inside had a lot of old furniture. 'They hadn't saved this stuff… jeez.' As Ian continued through the ruins, he contemplated a lot. What had led him here, what had led others to leave here, everything.

Eventually, he went to turn around. He hadn't found a trace of Hydreigon when

"What are you doing here?" a voice called from behind him. "State your purpose, or leave."

Ian turned around carefully, and spoke. "Hydreigon?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I was looking for you. I was wondering if you knew anything about another human."

Hydreigon looked surprised. "There shouldn't be any more. The world is at peace. I would know, being the voice of life." it said, eying the Umbreon.

"Well then what am i? I'm a former human, and yet here I am," Ian stated. "Wouldn't you be able to know that?"

Hydreigon looked at the Umbreon for a few moments. "... you are. Not like Brandon or the others. You were not transformed. You have the soul of a human which has been hastily put into the body of a Pokémon. Same result, different method." Hydreigon stated.

"But you didn't do it, did you?" Ian asked hopefully.

"No. This was done by another. A legendary Pokémon… hold on." Hydreigon inspected Ian closely. "...I know who did. This body you reside in now was created directly from Mew. Mew is likely the cause of your new state of being." Hydreigon said.

"So Mew came, found some random human in the middle of the night, made them a Pokémon, and shoved me in the middle of nowhere in this world?" Ian was noticeably angry now. "Thanks Hydreigon. I got my goal now. Where is Mew?"

"Hold on, don't just…" Hydreigon sighed. "I do not know the location of Mew. The best option would be to check with the expedition society. They have detailed records on all the legendaries, and many other prominent figures. You can find them in Lively Town on the water continent." She said.

"Okay. So I gotta go talk to Mawile or Ampharos?"

"Yes. Now leave. I have much to do, and the cold weather has not been helping my productivity." Hydreigon said.

"Why not wait for summer?" Ian said.

"..."

"I mean, it just, like, makes se-"

"Go. Now. Before I lose my temper."

The Umbreon quickly dashed off without another word, back towards the Swanna Inn.

After a few minutes, Ian walked back into the inn. It had been getting dark out, and he needed to get some sleep.

Ian quickly stepped inside, and shut the door. It was empty on the lower floor, but Ian looked around. One of the beds had a small note on it. It read 'reserved for Umbreon.'

'Must be mine.' Ian thought, as he hopped onto the bed. As he tried to fall asleep, he found he was unable to, however. His mind raced.

'Why? Why would Mew put me into the body of a Pokémon? Did something happen? There's so much that doesn't line up here…'

Eventually as the sun began to rise, he managed to fall asleep.

Frosted Village.

As Ava woke up, she yet again sat there, still. She had been locked up in the cabin for over a week at this point, and was refusing to do anything.

As the day went on, she did little other than drink scarce amounts of water, and lay there. She felt so hopeless. Everything was going good, and then bam. It all came crashing down. It's not like she could have escaped either. Her travel bag had been confiscated until the house arrest was up, and she was alone the entire time too.

It had been like this for days. She sat alone in the cabin, doing nothing. She just wanted to be able to leave, or see Ian, or do anything, but she couldn't. She just sat there.

It hurt more than anything.

Post Town.

Evening came, and Ian was jostled awake by Swanna. "Hey. Mr Umbreon. Wake up. You'll have to leave soon or pay for another night." she huffed.

"What? Oh… I'm leaving. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to sleep in. How late is it?"

"Sunset. Get going kid."

Ian quickly got out of the bed, grabbed his half empty bag, and ran out of the inn.

'So I gotta get to Noe town so I can take a Lapras to Lively town… got it.' he thought, heading to the crossroads.

He looked at the 4 directions. North where he came from, east, the ruins of Paradise, west, Post Town, and south.

The road to Noe Town.

'It's already pretty late… should I really head out now?' he thought. He decided that it would work, and started off down the long road.

As he travelled, the sun began to set again, and the stars were out. It was pitch black outside… and yet Ian could see.

He wasn't tired at all, and as he travelled, he found himself more energized than usual. He was able to see the slightest details in his surroundings.

'...I never noticed this before.' he thought, as he walked. 'I think I have night vision now as an Umbreon… and… I might be physically nocturnal… weird…' he thought, as the path wound up and around a small hill.

Eventually, after some time, he even began to run. It felt right to just use the extra pent up energy to move faster. May as well get there faster.

Eventually, as the night began to fade however, he arrived at a hill… and on the other side.

A relatively large city, much larger than Post Town lay. The houses and buildings were all made out of carved stone, and the entire village looked like it had been carved out of the rock around it. The entire village had a thick layer of snow as well. The streets were empty at this time though.

In the distance, the town was situated on the coast, with a multitude of docks set up. There were Lapras, as well as simple boats everywhere. The town didn't quite seem to have a dedicated middle either.

Ian walked down the path, and entered the village. As he walked through it, the silence was deafening.

Eventually, he reached the docks just as the sun began to peek above the horizon. A Lapras was there.

"Hey, do you do intercontinental travel?" Ian asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah man. I'm not too fast though. Might wanna ask him." The Lapras gestured to one of the others at the end of the dock. "Go talk to Jared. He's the express guy."

"Thanks." Ian headed over to the other Lapras.

"You're the express Lapras?" he asked.

"Yep. sure am. Are you looking for a lift?"

"Yeah. I need to go to the Water Continent." Ian said.

"That'd be two thousand poké for one way, three and a half thousand for two way." he said. "Travel time is a day. If we left now, we would arrive by sunset."

"That sounds good." Ian dug through his bag, and found his money. "I only have just over two thousand left…"

"That's fine. One way to Water Continent. You alone? I can only take 1 Pokémon."

"Yeah… just me." he sighed.

"Hop on then." Jared said.

Ian did just that, and in an instant, the Lapras sailed off, at an alarming speed. Ian jolted a bit. "Are you sure this speed is safe?" he asked.

"I'll know if you fall off. Don't worry. You can take a nap or something and you'll be fine." he said.

"Okay…" Ian laid down, and fell asleep to the bobbing of the Lapras, and the sound of the wind and the waves

As land came into view again, the Lapras jostled its shell a bit. "Wake up kid, we're here.

Ian jolted awake, and looked around. "Huh… oh wait, is that the water continent?"

"Yep. Lively Town. Largest town… ever. Probably."

The Lapras was right. The town seemed to stretch on and on. Across the coast, and deeper into the mainland. It could probably go as a small city.

Right in the middle of it, a large tower, with probably five stories, sat a large telescope sticking out of the front of it at the top.

The weather was warmer, but there was still a lot of snow everywhere. Far back in the land were tall mountains. They stood like a wall to the inner continent.

As the Lapras landed at the dock, Ian hopped off. "You have a good one kid, alright?" the Lapras said.

"You too." Ian started off into the town, up a set of stairs, and into the square.

There weren't many Pokémon out, as it was late evening, with the sun beginning to set.

"I may as well go to the society then…" Ian mused aloud.

He headed right, to the large building, and pushed open the door, stepping inside. A Dedenne quickly ran up to him.

"Hey mister, we aren't accepting visitors right now!" she said. "Can ya leave?"

"Uh, I'm not visiting. Or signing up. I wanted to talk to Ampharos." Ian said.

"Yeah well he isn't taking visitors right now! Get going!" She yelled, trying to shoo the Umbreon out the door.

"What's all this then?" a voice said, coming down the stairs. It was Ampharos. "Dedenne, why would you push a guest out of the door like that? It's absolutely frigid outside, have some decency!"

"Jeez… sorry." she mumbled. "He wanted to talk to you."

"You did, hmm? What would… hold on." Ampharos pulled a piece of paper out. "I was given this by a Pelipper earlier today, from the Frosted Village branch. It mentioned another human having been found."

Ian looked down. "Uh, that would be me… then. Nova banished me." Ian said guiltily.

"Oh dear, well that isn't good is it?. I'm not The expert on humans here though. You would have to talk to Ms Mawile about that. She's the expert around here." Ampharos said. "She is up the stairs to the left."

"Thank you Ampharos." Ian quickly dashed past him and Dedenne.

"...Dedenne, send a letter out to the other humans. Brandt, Jonah, Churchill, Brandon, and, if you can, the Gengar. It would be wise to inform them of another human.

"Yes sir." Dedenne ran off to her office.

Upstairs, Ian stepped into the office. Mawile was there, writing in what appeared to be a journal. She had a slightly smaller than usual maw, and a thin gold chain necklace with what appeared to be a marble strung onto it.

"Um, excuse me? Ms Mawile?"

Now that's a fun thing to end it on. My first attempt at a cliffhanger, even though everyone will know what it is.

As always, review and stuff.

:)