I've got another chapter here. It's not as long as some of the others, but I think it's still a decent length. And please, PLEASE, put your pitchforks down regarding the chapter's title. I thought it was clever.

While I am currently bogged down with finals, I have enough of a cushion that updates can continue as normal (I'm on Chapter 16 right now.) So this shouldn't affect the upload schedule.

Current music: End of Me - Billy Talent

ROYAL REDMOND, 25

An hour later, I was back in my hotel room, making sure to keep a close eye on Spoink. Even though the hotel presumably had decent (or better) security, I was more than a little antsy about letting the Bounce Pokemon be out of my sight. After what I'd seen in the streets, I thought this was fully justified.

I sighed. I'd ordered room service to deliver lunch to myself and Spoink, but it was already about five minutes late. I knew patience was a virtue, but this was starting to get ridiculous.

In order to occupy myself, I began pacing back and forth in the room, still having one eye on Spoink, who was sitting in front of the TV (which was off.) I did this for several minutes.

At one point, I headed back over to the floor-to-ceiling window, and took another look at Statue Circle. From this vantage point, I could see traffic moving once more, albeit much more slowly than it had been prior to the Team Skyward protest.

Team Skyward...I didn't know too much about them, but what I did know, I absolutely despised. How else could I feel about an organization that disrupted traffic in order to rage against equal rights?

If you're going to block off an entire street for the better part of an hour, it had better be for a worthwhile cause!

Sighing once more, I returned to the couch and sat next to Spoink. The Bounce Pokemon looked at me, appearing as though he were about to cry.

"You're safe here" I told the cute little creature. "They're not going to get you. The hotel has excellent security."

Spoink was still clearly on the verge of tears, but nodded.

I continued. "You have to realize that most of the people in this world are good people. The hateful men in that crowd...they don't speak for all of us, or even most of us. The fact that they're so vocal makes it seem like more people agree with them than do in actuality."

Although my words were intended to reassure Spoink, I found myself desperately hoping they were true as well. I was hooked on what some might call "copium", because I simply did not want to believe that Team Skyward had a wide following.

There was a knock at the door. "Stay back, Spoink. I think it's room service, but just to be safe, hide behind the couch."

I realized, too late, that I was sending mixed messages to my new friend. He was safe in this hotel, but he still had to hide from what was, in all likelihood, a friendly person just bringing us food.

Spoink did as he was told, and I answered the door. On the other side was a man pushing a cart containing several metal covers for dishes.

"Royal Redmond?"

I nodded to confirm my identity, and then the man continued speaking.

"I'm sorry for being late. We have a lot of people ordering room service today; they're scared to go out because of the Team Skyward rally. Can't blame them, of course, but it means we've got plenty of work."

"Don't worry about it" I replied, accepting the tray of food that the man handed to me. "It's not your fault."

The man nodded. "Well, have a nice day, Mr. Redmond."

With that, the man left to deliver food to his next customer, and I closed the door. I went back over to where Spoink was hiding behind the couch.

To my dismay, and slight guilt, the Bounce Pokemon was wearing an expression of fear. I patted him on the back, hoping to reassure him.

"I shouldn't have scared you, and I feel terrible about that. I really do!"

Spoink nodded, and he spoke for what I realized was the first time since we'd entered the safety of the hotel room.

"I understand. It's just...those people really freak me out! They probably want me dead; it took everything for me to even be in that traffic circle earlier."

I could have asked Spoink why he had been there in the first place but decided against it. Rather than interrogating the poor little guy, I decided to direct my anger towards those people who'd made it unsafe.

"Anyway, here's some food" I told him, well aware that I was changing the subject abruptly. At that moment, it was probably the best thing to do.

I'd ordered two meals from room service, one for humans and one that was more suited for Pokemon. We sat together on the couch, and I decided to turn on the TV.

This was a mistake.

Vulpix News was airing a segment about the rally that we'd seen in Statue Circle; in fact, that rally was still ongoing. The protesters were marching through a different part of Coronet City, still with their fists in the air, still disrupting traffic.

All of them were chanting, "Pokemon will not replace us! Pokemon will not replace us!" They shouted it so many times that it eventually sounded like pure gibberish, like the words had lost all their meaning.

Can't they think up a more original line? This gets old fast.

Jokes aside, the very sight of the protesters made me sick to my stomach, but I didn't want to turn off the TV. There was no un-ringing the bell, as it were; I was morbidly curious as to what would happen next.

One of the talking heads at Vulpix News, a man named Bradley Clarion, came onto the screen in order to provide context to the scene being played out on the screen. Of course, I didn't necessarily need that context, given that I had already witnessed the parade.

"The anti-Pokemon rights movement has found its audience in central Sinnoh; the clip you're watching is live from Coronet City. You can see the protesters marching down the street, chanting that the Pokemon will not replace them."

Clarion frowned at the camera. "Of course, I think it's pretty clear what the chant means. However, it isn't all fun and games."

I wouldn't think that it's all fun and games. Team Skyward is a hate group, so tell it like it is!

"The leader of Team Skyward, seen here marching raucously through Coronet City, is a man by the name of Jeff Monopoli. Monopoli, sixty-three, who might appear as spry as a man half his age, is also well-known for a different reason."

I held my breath without realizing it. Whatever this reason was, I didn't expect it to be anything positive; indeed, it was probably horrific. I was, however, surprised.

"Jeff Monopoli, yes, the same Jeff Monopoli, is also a hotel magnate. He owns a chain of luxury hotels, under the brand name Monopoli Grand Hotel, and has a net worth of over thirteen billion dollars."

"There's one here in Coronet City" Spoink piped up next to me. "I've seen it from the streets."

I rolled my eyes, not taking them off the TV screen. "Remind me never to support any business with his name on it. I didn't realize that he was so powerful."

"In any case", news anchor Bradley Clarion continued, raising his voice so as to get viewers' attention, "as I've said, this isn't all fun and games. Although Mr. Monopoli has outwardly condemned human supremacists who have resorted to violence, this hasn't stopped some people from giving him partial blame."

The scene on TV cut to a grisly one; and by that, I mean more grisly than Team Skyward protesting in Coronet City.

A small building with an awning reading PIGOUT BAKERY was seen, surrounded by Water type Pokemon spouting water at it. Because of all the Water types around it, it was difficult to make out the sign, but there was another reason for this as well.

The building's facade was on fire.

"What you're looking at is the Pigout Bakery, a Pignite-owned small business in Goldenrod City, Johto. This footage is actually from yesterday, when there was an arson attack on the bakery. The suspect is currently in custody, but…".

Clarion was breaking down; there were visible tears in his eyes, and he was sniffling as though trying not to completely burst into tears. It was evident that all his efforts to appear neutral were falling apart.

But then again, how CAN you be neutral when you're looking at something as horrific as this?

"Of the individuals inside the bakery at the time, the only survivor was a gravely injured Delphox. It may be that its status as a Fire type is the only thing we can credit for its continued existence in this world. Nonetheless, the Delphox is still in critical condition at press time.

"Now, why am I telling you all this? Well, the answer is quite simple. The suspect, whose name we will not be publishing at this time, has claimed that Team Skyward was a big part of his inspiration to attack the bakery. I wish to impress upon all of you the following truth: Words matter, particularly when the speaker is as visible as Jeffrey Monopoli."

I shut the TV off seconds later; I just couldn't take it anymore. I then turned to Spoink, afraid of what I might see.

The Bounce Pokemon was shivering, and not because the hotel room may have been a bit chilly (it was actually rather warm in there.) Spoink's shivers were those of fright.

"I understand why they're not publishing the suspect's name. We shouldn't be glorifying people who do things like that" I told Spoink. Perhaps saying something unrelated to the little guy's fears would help to alleviate them.

I was wrong.

Spoink looked up at me with pleading eyes. "You're not going to let anything happen to me, are you, Royal?"

I couldn't help but pat the Pokemon on the back. I didn't have any children, nor had I even found a suitable partner, but the bond I had with Spoink felt almost...parental, in a way.

They say that a parent's love for their children is very different from a child's love for their parents. I'm not sure if I feel that way with Spoink, at least not yet.

But looking at how afraid the Bounce Pokemon was, I couldn't help but feel a certain degree of affection. And I knew, more than anything, what I needed to say.

"I will protect you, Spoink. I might have only just met you, but I'm going to move heaven and Nexus to make sure you're safe."

Was it a bit early to make that level of commitment? Perhaps, but the thought of Spoink being left alone on the streets seemed like the worst thing in the world. I was determined to make sure that didn't happen.

"By the way", I said as something else occurred to me, "do you have a name? Because I don't want to keep calling you Spoink, it feels disrespectful."

Spoink didn't respond, so I assumed the answer was no. And so I decided to give him a name of his own.

"From now on, I will call you...Dakal." I didn't know why that name sounded good; it just felt fitting for someone like this Spoink who was too cute for this world.

The newly-christened Dakal smiled at me. It seemed that he felt safer now that he knew someone cared about him, although exactly how safe he felt is anyone's guess. I never pretended to be able to read minds.

The joy of having named this Pokemon myself wore off quickly. My mind returned to the news broadcast we'd just been watching; it was the Donphan in the room, that thing you can't stop thinking about even though you very much want to.

I've got a great amount of power over Dakal here, and with great power comes great responsibility. I'm going to protect Dakal, even if the sky falls and crushes us. I'll take on the curse of Atlas if I need to.

CODY HARVARD, 19

In the end, I decided to sleep at the inn during my stay. For some reason, I would have felt guilty staying with a family. I just couldn't accept such a massive gift, even if it was exactly what the villagers wanted to provide me.

On the way up to the inn, Mayor Lumine was constantly praising me for being willing to take the plunge into the frigid lake, for being willing to leave my humanity behind and eat pancakes without utensils. What were those words he'd used again? Oh yeah...rite of passage.

By now the village was starting to come to life a bit more, and as we passed through a decently populated area, the sight of me with the mayor did raise some eyebrows of the residents. Nonetheless, they also appeared happy to see me, so that was a plus.

We finally arrived at the inn, which was one of the larger buildings in Lycan Hollow. It looked like your stereotypical chalet that you'd find in the Coronet Range; it was even constructed out of the same materials. The dark wooden building didn't look very sturdy, but I knew that appearances could be deceiving.

"Yeah, it's an old building," Mayor Lumine told me, echoing my thoughts as we walked up the path to the inn. It was situated right at the base of the mountain, in a field of relatively tall grass. It had also been a decent incline uphill from the rest of the village, so there was a nice view from here.

This is going to be a great view to wake up to in the morning. Better than a cup of coffee.

"It's still structurally sound, though, right?" I asked. "Because if it's going to collapse all around me while I'm sleeping, then I don't want to stay there. I'd rather take my chances with a family."

Mayor Lumine shot me a slight glare, the first real hint he'd shown of any hostility towards me. I knew immediately that, while I was still on his good side, I did not want to get on his bad side.

"You're not taking chances either way, Cody. Both options are perfectly safe; the village's architecture is a lot more durable than it looks, and there's not a single family here that would mind putting you up."

"Okay then, I'll stay in the inn" I asserted, realizing too late that I might well have ended up offending the mayor. If he did feel that way, though, he didn't show it any further.

Once inside the inn, I saw that it felt extremely cozy. The same dark brown wood that was visible on the building's facade was also present on the walls. In addition, the floor was made of green carpet that looked almost like fake grass.

Behind the front desk, there stood a Lycanroc who clearly had a lot more confidence than I did, as evidenced by his posture (he was on his hind legs, but looked pretty stable.) This didn't stop him from smiling warmly as I walked up to the desk on my four legs.

"Welcome to the inn at Lycan Hollow!" the Lycanroc man announced proudly. I didn't blame him for being proud, for that's exactly how I would have felt had I owned this inn. "How may I help you?"

I looked behind me and saw that Mayor Lumine hadn't followed me in here. This felt like a very slight betrayal, but on the whole, it didn't matter too much. Still, my social confidence was going to take some time to recover.

"I'm Cody Harvard, and I'm visiting the village at the moment" I told the innkeeper. "I'd like a room for...two nights?"

Two nights sounded like an ideal length of time to stay. Once I left Lycan Hollow, I would be in danger of arrest again, but I also didn't want to burden this village by making them host me for longer than that. Even if they didn't mind.

The innkeeper nodded. "That can be arranged; there's plenty of space at the inn, since we don't get a lot of visitors. The price will be…".

"Uh...about that" I replied anxiously. How was I going to explain to this kind Lycanroc man that I hadn't brought any cash with me, and therefore was asking for him to let me mooch off of the village's dime? Begging is usually frowned upon, isn't it?

But if this village is as welcoming as Mayor Lumine told me, they should let it slide just this once. At least, I really hope they do.

"What's the matter?" the innkeeper asked me.

I cut right to the chase. "I didn't bring any money with me. I flew here in the middle of the night."

"Uh-huh," the innkeeper replied. I wasn't sure whether he believed me or not. Knowing what I know now, he probably did, but at the time, it was daunting to speak with him when I had nothing to give.

I didn't play this card often, but I felt rather desperate. I made the best Bambi Eyes™ face I could, in the hopes that the innkeeper would find it impossible to turn me down. As low as it was to do this, I couldn't think of any other play.

"So where are you from, Cody?" the innkeeper asked me. He said those words in a conversational tone, but he was pushing this conversation into dangerous territory.

I can't tell him everything. If I do, he's going to get suspicious, and maybe the police will be involved. But can the police even find this place?

Still, if they're going to be so kind to me, I owe them at least part of the truth.

"I'm from Skylock, a small town in the Greater Pastoria Region. One of the golden Lycanrocs woke me in the middle of last night and led me here. And that's more or less my life story."

"Very well," the innkeeper replied, holding out a paw for me to shake. This was rather difficult, since I had to stand on my hind legs to do it, something I didn't have much practice doing.

Still, I managed it somehow.

"My name is Gregory," the innkeeper told me as he shook my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, and it's no skin off my back whatsoever to let you have a room for these two nights. Enjoy your stay."

With that, Gregory handed me a room key, which I was forced to put in my mouth since I didn't have hands. The innkeeper assured me that the key had been washed before he gave it to me, and would be washed again after I gave it back upon leaving.

The key in my mouth, I climbed the stairs to Room 274. There couldn't be anything close to seventy-four rooms on the second floor, but I wasn't going to question the naming conventions here. Not when the owner of the inn was willing to put me up for absolutely nothing.

The room itself was nothing fancy, but I was okay, even happy, with that. Had it been a five-star hotel, it might not have felt as welcoming. Along with the same green carpet, there was a fireplace on one wall, a four-poster bed along the other, and a window from which I could see much of the village.

My first instinct was to unpack, but then I remembered something important. I didn't have anything to unpack; all my belongings were still at my primary residence in Skylock, hundreds of miles to the south. Instead, I simply sat down on the bed, sighing in contentment.

"Ooooh, a guest!" squealed an excitable voice from just outside in the hall. Too late, I realized that I'd forgotten to close, let alone lock, the door to my room.

I learned of my mistake when a young Rockruff, perhaps ten or eleven years old, came scampering into the room, wagging his tail back and forth. He leaped onto my bed.

"Uh...not to be rude, but who are you?" I asked, using a rather irritated voice that I probably should have kept to myself.

The Rockruff boy smiled. "I'm Jeremy! Hello there, friend!"

I was more than a little weirded out by this, but I tried to remain calm as I weighed my response to Jeremy's exclamation.

Eventually, I said, "What I mean is, what relation do you have to the innkeeper, Gregory? Or are you just staying here?"

"He's my daddy!" Jeremy exclaimed happily. "And he was allowed to bring me to work today!"

"...but don't you have school?" I replied quizzically. "You look pretty young to me. I bet you can't be older than twelve."

"I'm eleven!" the little Rockruff replied excitedly, bouncing up and down on the bed as though it were a trampoline. "And the school understands, even though it's Tuesday."

Tuesday. That was a key thing to remember; I'd managed to lose track of the days of the week; it was hard to believe that my arrest had only been three days ago. But I didn't want Jeremy to know about any of my legal troubles, for obvious reasons.

"So they just granted you an exception?"

Jeremy smiled widely, revealing perfectly white fangs. "I'm doing really well in school, so they're fine with that! And come on, why don't you play with me?"

This kid needs some serious ADHD meds, I thought to myself. There's no way all this excitement can be healthy.

I shook my head. "You don't understand, Jeremy. I'm too old to play with you."

Now it was Jeremy's turn to shake his head. "You're never too old to play tag!"

I hated that I had to burst the kid's bubble, but I just had to. "At a certain point, those games just aren't for you anymore. Once you get to my age, you'll understand."

The Rockruff boy frowned. "How old are you, anyway? There's no such thing as too old, like I said."

"I'm nineteen" I replied, managing not to let any tears escape my eyes. In reality, I was already starting to feel nostalgic for the good old days. Back when I was still living the good life, before I was bitten and became a social outcast.

Nostalgia is a strange feeling. It can make you feel warm and fuzzy inside as you remind yourself of how much fun you had as a kid, but it's a double-edged sword as well.

For when you remember the good times, you're also reminded constantly that those halcyon days will never come back. That you'll have to live the rest of your life as an adult who will never experience being carefree ever again.

And let me tell you, that's the hardest pill to swallow. Forget a breakup, this is so much harder to deal with. It's like a breakup with yourself; some would even call it an identity crisis of sorts.

Jeremy's words sent me back to Nexus.

"I never want to grow up" the Rockruff kid said morosely, facing the green wall-to-wall carpeting. "I just want to be a kid forever."

"Oh, so you want to be like Peter Pancham. You want to be a child forever, to not have any responsibilities."

I tried not to sound condescending or derogatory, but the way I saw it, there were benefits to being an adult. They might not be able to fully replace the joys of carefree childhood, but life had to go on, whether we liked it or not.

And yet…

I didn't get much of a chance to realize those benefits. At age fourteen, my life was completely rocked by a Lycanroc.

And, as I looked down at how upset Jeremy was at the idea of adulthood, as I thought about my own desire to experience not worrying, I knew, more and more, what I was going to say.

"You're right, Jeremy."

"What about?" the Rockruff kid asked, looking back up with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

"Maybe there's nothing wrong with escapism. Adulthood is scary; it's something we all have to go through, though. But if you want to play with me, then let's do that."

Jeremy's despondence was immediately tossed aside like the core of an apple. He perked up noticeably, and shouted, "Yay! Catch me if you can!"

With that, the Rockruff kid leaped off the bed and raced out of the room.

He can jump off the bed like that, on all fours, and not worry about breaking any bones. Man, do I miss that or what?

As though a switch had been flipped inside of me, I sprang off the bed and began chasing after Jeremy.

At the time, I tried to justify this by telling myself that I was simply looking out for the Rockruff kid's best interest. I didn't want him to get lost, even if he'd lived here his whole life and presumably knew his way around.

However, if I'm being honest with myself, it's pretty obvious what the real reason was: I wanted to be carefree again. I wanted to play Jeremy's game, if for no other reason than to be kind to the kid.

The only person still in the lobby was innkeeper Gregory. He didn't seem to have bat an eye at his son's sprint out of the hotel, as though this were a common occurrence and not one to be concerned about. To him, of course, it probably was precisely this.

Anyway...how was I going to find this kid? He ran a lot faster than I could, simply due to his smaller stature, so it was probably going to be more similar to a game of hide-and-seek rather than tag.

And then I felt rather aggravated, because this village was pretty big and I didn't know how to navigate it. The only landmark I could really point to was the lake at the village's edge.

"You know what, Jeremy? I think you win" I said aloud after a few minutes of looking around the hotel; I hadn't wanted to get too far away for fear of becoming lost. I didn't expect him to hear me, since he was more than likely halfway across Lycan Hollow by this time.

Instead of looking for the Rockruff kid, I re-entered the hotel and saw that Gregory was still behind the desk. He was typing something onto his computer as though nothing had happened, as though he hadn't just witnessed his son run like the wind.

"Hey...Jeremy's gone" I told Gregory. "He just ran away through the village."

The innkeeper nodded, frowning. "I should have warned you about that, sorry. My son's nothing if not playful, and he does this with every new guest. But he'll come back in the end. He always does."

"Oh" I responded simply. I felt like an idiot.

Gregory's frown left his face. "Anyway, if you'd like to explore the village a little longer, be my guest. Really, it doesn't seem like you have any obligations here."

"What obligations would I even have in a place like this?" I asked.

The innkeeper shrugged. "Almost all of the adults in Lycan Hollow have jobs of sorts, whether that be foraging for berries in the woods, helping to teach at the local school, or fortifying our defenses. If you become a resident, you will need to help around somewhere, but since you're just visiting at the moment-".

"Wait...fortifying your defenses?"

Those words had seemingly come out of nowhere. Until this point, I'd thought of Lycan Hollow as a carefree place, one where I could belong no matter who I was or what I had done.

It was still accepting, but if defenses had to be fortified, that implied that this place had a military of some sort. And that begged the question...why did they even need a military? This place didn't seem to be of strategic importance, let alone a military threat to anyone else, so who would attack them?

"Forget I said anything" Gregory said curtly. "There are more important matters to attend to for both of us. You need to relax and enjoy your stay, and I need to catch up on some paperwork."

I didn't bother the innkeeper any further; instead, I headed up to my room, the door to which remained wide open. Anybody could have come in there and taken my room key; fortunately, this had not happened, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if this place had secrets I wasn't aware of, the fact remained that I belonged here. I would tell myself that ten times a day if I needed to, because that's what would keep me going.

Yes, there was still plenty of suffering to come, but for now, I could live the way I was meant to. It was as though the threads of destiny were weaving themselves together, and they had come to the conclusion that I, Cody Harvard, belonged here.

I sat on my bed with a feeling of contentment, even jubilation, coursing through my veins. Although there was evidence to the contrary, I truly felt like my worries were gone, at least for the time being.

This couldn't last forever, though. And indeed, it wouldn't last very long at all.

I hope everyone has a wonderful December. Crazy to believe 2021's almost over, but we've still got quite a few more chapters to go before the end of the month. And, as always, thank you to everyone who's supported this story thus far.

I will see you all next time.