In this chapter, you're going to see why I say I didn't rip this off of Yoshiman's video game fanfic!!! It's a coincidence and I need it for my fanfic's plot to work. I really thought of this too, Yoshiman! It's a coincidence and I need it for the story, okay?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 2: Enter Omega

Mark opened his eyes and looked around. Nothing seemed familiar. He was in some sort of forest, and the trees were huge. And he didn't know how, but he felt...different. He looked around and saw trees, no signs of a city or any people living in the forest. "How am I going to get out of here?" He asked himself. "Well, I might as well see where walking through this place will get me. Then maybe I can get some help if I find someone living around here."

After about ten minutes of walking, he heard people talking and came across a clearing, where there was just grass for about a circle of 50 feet with the three biggest trees he had ever seen in the middle. The lowest branch was about 70 feet in the air!!!

He looked up and was surprised to see the voices were coming from two of three figures on a branch and had somehow gotten up there without any signs of help. But people can't just climb trees like that, he thought to himself. He noticed one of the figures was very short, about three feet tall, while one looked about six feet and the other five. They were shaded by the overhanging branches, though, so he couldn't see what they looked like.

The voices started talking again. Mark decided to stay out of site until she could determine by what they were saying if they were friendly or not.

"Well, that's all the fruit we'll need for now," said a normal sounding voice that seemed... familiar to him.

"Yep. So we're goin' tomorrow?" Said a slightly high voice with a Brooklyn type accent.

"Definitely. That Black guy's definitely after us and he gives me the creeps. There's just something about him..."

"I know. He just seems so evil. Well, let's get down from here."

"Okay. Here, it's your turn to carry the food."

"Aw, man, do I have to?"

"Yes. I had to carry 'em last time, and he had to carry them the time before that."

"All right. You first..."

Mark was shocked. In the next second he saw the five foot tall figure shove the tall one off the tree. It hit the ground with a sickening thud. He thought to himself, I'm glad I didn't just walk out in the open. That man's a murderer!!!

Ashley heard a low moaning and was surprised to see it was coming from the figure on the ground. He could see from here that his hair was like the hair on some anime heroes and was snow white. The white-haired man then sat up and said, "Ow, my head! THAT WASN'T FUNNY, NICK!!!" He shouted up the tree.

"Then why're ya' smiling?"

"Okay, it was kind of funny. Just get down here with the fruit, okay? And be careful!!!"

"I know, I know..."

"If those get ruined, we'll have to steal again tonight."

Mark gasped.

The figure on the ground turned, "Huh? Who's out there?"

Just keep quiet and he won't hear me again, he thought.

"I can hear you breathing now. Show yourself!!! You don't want to make me find you!"

Scared half to death, Mark stepped walked up to him. As soon as he saw Mark, however, his expression turned from anger to happiness and relief. As Mark walked up to him, he noticed that not only was his hair white, but his whole body was white! Every inch of his skin was white! He was wearing a white tank top, which made it look like he wasn't wearing a shirt a shirt at all because of his skin, and some torn up jeans. He was bare foot, although his feet had no toes and looked like a shoe with no designs on it. His eyes were huge, like an anime villain's, he thought. Mark loved anime. Not only that, but the figure's eyes were also a light green and so carefree and full of life, and yet so stern and serious. But he noticed the most odd thing last. There was a gigantic circular jewel on his forehead.

Mark didn't notice he was happy to see him until he was face to face with White-Hair. He looked at his face, smiling and said, "Hello."

"Hi." He answered. Now that he was close enough, Mark realized that there was something familiar about that voice. And he couldn't help but look at how odd this guy was.

He seemed to take notice of this. "Hey, I know I'm cool-looking, but you don't have to stare," he said with a grin.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's all right. I get used to it. So," he started, "haven't seen another one of you around for a while."

You? Did he mean a human?

"So," he started again, "come to think of it, I haven't ever seen you around, and I've been all over the world."

Mark decided he wouldn't let the person know about what happened, although he seemed very trustworthy. And, as much as it frustrated Mark, he knew those eyes and that voice but he couldn't think of it! He thought about what to say before she said, "I doubt you've been where I'm from."

"So do I. I'd remember you. So," he said, which seemed to be his favorite word, "What's your name?"

"Mark."

"Heh. That's funny. I've never met anyone around here named Mark before. My friend used to have that name, but I had to leave that place."

"It's not me."

"Being him is almost impossible. I won't see him again." He said.

Mark thought, I'd better ask him. "I've told you my name. How about yours?"

"Oh, my name's Omega. At least that's what the cops call me, Halfling Omega. I shortened it to Omega, though, because it sounds cool. I haven't used my real name since a lifetime ago. The cops are all over these woods a lot, but I usually scare them off. Of course, you know all about that, don't you?"

"What?"

"You're illegal."

"What? Why?"

Omega suddenly stared at him like a deer in headlights, and finally said, shocked, "you mean... you don't... know, do you?"

"Know? Know what?"

He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Aw, geez. I hate having to do this. Wait right here." He groaned.

He ran behind the nearest tree, and ran back holding a blue backpack. "Hang on a sec. I need to find it." He started sorting through the backpack furiously, while Mark wondered how it could hold that many things. "Hair gel, different hair dyes, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy games, make up, Discman, CDs," he muttered under his breath. "Ah, here it is. My hand mirror. Here," he handed it to him, "look at yourself. But you might not like it. Although, some do. I was happy, believe it or not."

Mark looked at himself in the mirror. His reflection was weird looking. This must be wrong, he thought, and looked at his hands. The mirror wasn't weird! He was some sort of mix between a human and a Raichu Pokemon! He was as tall as normal, and not as chubby as a Raichu. He had the fur, and the tail, along with smaller-than-normal Raichu ears. He thought, I can't believe I didn't notice sooner. The only unchanged thing was his eyes. He said "I'm some sort of half-"

"Halfling." He interrupted. Mark looked up at him while he was still talking. "A Pokemon halfling. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of them because the government tries to cover it up so much. I don't know why it happens, it just... does."

Mark said, "now what am I gonna do?"

Omega said, "hey, now, no moping, okay? Hey, do you wanna spend the night at me and my friend Nick's place for the night? Speaking of which...", he turned around, "hey Nick, how long does it take to climb down a stinkin' tree?"

Mark heard the other voice from behind the tree, "I'm comin', I'm comin'." Someone stepped out from behind the closest tree. It was another halfling, a Meowth. "I was down a while ago, and wanted to give you two a little time to finish yer' conversation."

Omega said to Mark, "Mark, this is my best friend Nick. He's a Halfling too. Nick, meet Mark. He just changed, so I invited him over to our place for the night."

Nick looked extremely confused, "huh? But you said..."

Omega, obviously not wanting Mark to care about what was going on with him, interrupted Nick, "I know what I said, but it can still work, okay?" He suddenly looked like he had done something stupid and said, "oh, geez, I almost forgot," he looked up to the tree, "you can come down now, Gengar!!!" The third figure in the tree (you forgot about him, huh? I did too) jumped and went through the ground, then 'floated' out of the dirt.

"Mark," Omega said, smiling, "I'd like you to meet one of my two Pokemon, Gengar."

"Two?" Mark asked, "I only see one."

"Oh," said Omega, "the other one's gathering berries. She should be back any minute. Speak of the devil..." he said, looking off into some deep grass. A Flareon came out of the grass with a basket full of berries, "hmm?" It asked, "who's this?"

"Flareon, this is Mark, he's going to stay at our place tonight, you know we've got plenty of room." He turned to Mark, "Mark, this is Flareon and... what?" He asked, noticing that Mark was staring at Flareon, wide-eyed.

"What? That Pokemon just talked, that's what!"

"No it didn't," Nick said, "you can understand Pokemon language now. Gengar didn't say anything because he doesn't talk much. I forgot ya' wouldn't know."

Omega turned to Mark, smiling, "the quickest way to our place is through the trees. Would you like to try one of the advantages of being a halfling?" He nodded. "Okay," he said, walking to one of the trees at the edge of the clearing. "Now, come here," he said. Mark walked up to the tree. "Okay," he said again, obviously excited to be teaching about Halflings, "now start to climb this tree, and the instinct will kick in."

As he put his hands around the tree, wondering what Omega meant, suddenly Mark had climbed half- way up the tree. Omega climbed up to him, looking sort of like Spider-Man (you've seen how Spider-Man climbs, that's what I mean), "see what I mean? It just comes naturally. Now, follow me," he said, leaping from tree to tree.

Before Mark knew it, he was matching Omega's moves perfectly, hopping to one tree, then the next, then the next, all the while thinking about how this person could be familiar. After about four minutes of tree-jumping, they got to, "a part of the forest?" Mark asked, puzzled, "I thought we were going to your house."

"I didn't say it was a house", Omega said, smiling at her puzzlement, "hang on, you can't follow me, so I'll get a way to guide you."

He walked off into a particularly dense area of plants. Nick and the other two followed him. About thirty seconds later, Mark heard someone playing a guitar, and, realizing it was Omega's guide, he followed the sound.

Omega was right. Mark couldn't have followed him because there were so many plants so close together. After about thirty seconds, Mark found his way into a large cave, where Omega was playing a guitar.

"So Mark," Omega asked, tuning the guitar, "I hardly know anything about you. Where are you from?"

"Idaho," he answered, cursing himself for being so stupid afterwards. There might not be an Idaho here, he thought.

Omega, though, acted surprised and said, "oh... never heard of it."

Mark was intent to find out how he seemed to know it. "You're a bad liar, Omega." she said.

He looked up, for once serious, "I wouldn't go around telling people you're from Idaho. There's a boy around these parts who says he was transported here from a land called Idaho."

Could it possibly be Brian? Mark thought. "When did that happen?" he asked.

"Oh, about a year ago. You couldn't find him if you tried, though, because he's hardly human. He morphed into the weirdest Halfling of all. Besides, he's almost impossible to find because he's good at hiding."

That could definitely be Brian, Mark thought. Brian was always a little odd, and he wasn't very strong, so people liked to pick on him, and he became an excellent hider.

"What's the boy's name?" Mark said, determined to see if it was his friend.

"Brian," said Omega, "his name's Brian."

"So," Mark said, "What kind of Pokemon are you a Halfling of? I've never seen one like you. Wait a second ... the boy from Idaho, it's you, isn't it?"

Omega smiled and put the guitar down, "surprised it took you this long, Mark. Long time no see. How'd you get here?"

Nick, who was lying on a red couch, said, "what? You know 'im?"

Omega turned to him, "yeah, Nick, this is one of the friends that lived with me in the other world."

"Cool." Nick said, before falling asleep.

"I don't remember you being able to play guitar." Mark said.

"Taught myself. I've got loads of time. I play by ear, though, I can't read sheet music. So how'd you get here?"

Mark quickly explained what happened up to the 'hole' in the TV, then Omega interrupted, "wait, lemme guess, you blacked out and woke up here."

"Yeah, how'd you-"

"When I fell in that puddle, a hole opened it and I fell through, blacked out, and woke up with Nick by me."

"Were you-"

"I wasn't a Halfling, I changed into one later. That's enough history for now," he said, obviously trying to avoid a certain question, "let's talk about tomorrow. Me and Nick are going through something tomorrow we call a Window that we've gone through before. We're going to hide out at a semi-friends place. Anyway, I believe it was a Window that brought us here, plus we might want to see if the others are here, too. They were there when you blacked out, right?" He smiled. "I might actually get to see Ashley again. Do you wanna come with us? If not, you need to find somewhere else to go because some guy named Black is trying to find it and I don't know what he'll do when he does. He's not very nice, if you know what I mean."

"It seems like the best choice, so I'll go with you." Mark said.

Brian smiled. "Great," he said, "now, I'm tired and it's late. Let's get some shut-eye and leave in the morning."

Mark was warm enough in his fur and shorts. He slept on the floor (there was nowhere else to sleep but the couch, and Nick was there) while thinking, I wonder if the others are here and what's happening to them if they are.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You'll find out in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy this, and you'll soon see who "some guy named Black" is.