"C'mon, wake up."

At the moment the voice penetrated my consciousness, I was enmeshed in the same nightmare that I had been having for a few days. It always started the same way-- I was standing in the middle of an empty prairie, faced with two different choices. One was to set out across the wide open grasslands, in search of who knew what lying somewhere in the distance. The other was to attempt to navigate a flimsy rope bridge that stretched across a mysterious chasm in the otherwise unbroken plain.

The first couple of times I had the dream, I naturally chose the obviously safe route. I had no idea why any path across the featureless swells of the prairie should seem more right than any other, but one nevertheless did, so it was that path I chose to follow. As I would walk along this strange path, I would gradually become aware that I was surrounded by the ghostly images of hundreds upon hundreds of other Pokemon, all headed in the same direction as I was, all facing straight forward without any apparent realization that they were not alone. I would be looking around at the others, trying to make heads or tails of the situation, when suddenly some instinct would bubble to the surface of my mind, making me turn my eyes in front of me again. But I never quite got to see what was there. There would always be a flash of pain, a moment of sheer terror, and then I would find myself abruptly awake, trembling and coated with sweat.

The third or fourth time I had the dream, I began to remember what awaited me down the first path, and as a result, I decided to try the other route. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the bridge was just as deadly as it appeared. I tried it multiple times, but always ended up plummeting to my presumed death.

"Guys? Wake up."

The voice jerked me from the dream just as it was about to begin again. I couldn't tell if I was grateful or not.

"Good morning. Hope you all slept well. I made some dinner. Eat it before it gets cold."

I raised my head and pried my eyes open. Ashley's trainer was crouched in front of a campfire that hadn't been there when I had gone to sleep. The world was not so dark as to make vision difficult, but daylight was nevertheless in short supply. After a few minutes, I puzzled out that it was evening and not morning. How long had I been asleep?

Next to me, Courtney sat up and yawned. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ashley crawl out of a sleeping bag and stretch herself. Apparently I wasn't alone in sleeping late. It had been extremely late at night-- or rather early in the morning-- when we had finally decided to stop walking and make camp, but I was still astonished that we had slept through the entire day.

"Where are we?" Courtney asked sleepily. She rubbed her eyes, then accepted the plate that she was handed and seemed to stare uncomprehendingly at it for a moment before taking the plastic fork and beginning to eat.

"If memory serves, we're a few hours south of Crossroads. We'll be travelling some more in the dark, but we should be sleeping at the Pokemon Center tonight. Assuming nothing else happens."

"What else could happen?"

King-- as I was beginning to think of him, for lack of a more convenient label-- didn't answer that question. Instead, he silently set some food in front of Ashley, then picked up his own plate and began to eat.

Courtney must have realized that further inquiry along that line was unwelcome, at least for the moment, because she changed the subject. "And how come we didn't come to a Pokemon Center before? I thought there were supposed to be towns, or at least Centers, spaced no more than a day's travel apart."

"You forget that we left Radjin just after noon," Ashley's trainer pointed out. "The highway between Crossroads and Radjin is one of the longest single stretches of road in the League circuit, and it's not one that most trainers take. Most take the dirt road northeast through Harrier and then on to Kelton via Cornell. That's the route I'd normally have taken, too, but the weather..." He did not have to explain further. The small stretches of muddy road we had endured in the town had been bad enough; to spend several hours walking under those conditions would have been intolerable.

Courtney nodded, her curiosity satisfied, if only for a moment. "I suppose that makes sense."

He grunted and went back to eating. He didn't seem very talkative this morning. But then, neither did anyone else except for Courtney.

"Is King your real name? Or is it just a nickname?"

He looked up in mid-chew, then finished swallowing before answering. "Just a nickname."

"Do you mind if I call you King?"

He shrugged. "Why would I mind?"

Courtney shifted position again, sitting up fully. "I'm not sure. That Langley person called you King, and he said it like it was an insult, so I thought it might be some sort of bad nickname. Given to you by people who didn't like you."

"Langley could call me God, and coming from his mouth, it would sound like an insult. The words don't matter. I don't give a damn what he calls me." Another bite. "Langley was one of the people who gave me the name, actually, but that was when he was still my friend."

"Langley was your friend?" Courtney sounded astonished. I was, too, although I didn't show it.

"If you can call it that. There was a time when he and I were at least on speaking terms."

"And now the two of you hate each other. What happened?"

King almost choked on his food. He blinked a few times before he could answer. "It's probably better if you don't ask that question."

I saw something glimmer in Courtney's eyes, and inwardly I sighed. Courtney might make a show of dropping the subject, but if I knew anything about her, she was now twice as determined to find out about this Langley. Langley, of course, was the sort of person I would have preferred to have as little association with as possible.

"King. No offense, but you don't really look like the sort of person who would get that nickname. What are you supposed to be the king of?"

He blushed. Yes, he actually blushed. It was a reaction I had not seen from him before under any circumstance. "That's another question probably best left unasked."

That look in Courtney's eyes again. I winced. I thought enough of Ashley's trainer to trust his judgement on matters like this, and I suspected that Courtney could get herself in quite a bit of trouble if she persisted along these lines. Which she would almost certainly do, at one point or another. I resigned myself to the inevitable and hoped I could deal with the issue when it came up again.

We finished the meal in silence, then immediately performed what little cleanup was necessary and left the campsite. The main road was only a few minutes away through the forest. We found it easily and continued on our journey north.

"How long until the sun sets completely?" Courtney asked after a few minutes had gone by.

Ashley's trainer shrugged. "Hard to tell. Maybe an hour or so."

"And how much further to Crossroads?"

Another shrug. "About two hours if we walk fast. We'll walk fast."

I looked sidelong at Ashley. She had been almost completely silent since we left Radjin. Now, riding in her master's backpack as seemed usual, she kept her eyes focused on the road ahead and continued to say nothing, not even bothering to take part in the conversation. I wondered what had gotten into her. She was normally one of the more talkative Pokemon I had encountered.

Maybe the encounter back in the Pokemon Center had rattled her more than had met the eye. Her trainer certainly seemed to have had some unpleasant run-ins with Langley over the years. Perhaps Ashley had been part of some of those encounters. I made myself a note to ask her about it the next time an opportunity for private conversation presented itself.

"How long have you been training?" Courtney asked after another protracted period of silence.

King seemed to relax, sensing a relatively comfortable topic of conversation. "About seven years now. Started when I was almost sixteen years old. That's late, I know, which is something of a story in itself. Not to mention being yet another question you won't want to ask me."

Courtney didn't-- at least she was that smart-- but she wasn't done questioning yet, either. "No offense, but you don't look like you've come very far for seven years. Most trainers make it to the finals of one of the big Leagues--Johto or Kanto-- within their first year."

"It's not like we've been in a hurry or anything." He chuckled a little. "Life is too short to rush around everywhere. You're always reading about trainers who burned themselves trying to reach the top in a year or two, then were forgotten by history. Everybody calls it a Pokemon Journey, after all, and in my mind there's more to a journey than just a destination."

I listened with some interest. It was true that most Pokemon trainers I had encountered seemed to think of the profession as a quick route to glory, with little thought of what lay afterwards. I thought of what Supernova had told me. Hadn't his trainer won the championship of Johto in just a few short months, only to wash out completely afterwards and vanish from the Pokemon scene?

Perhaps there was something to what Ashley's trainer had to say.

"So what do you do?" Courtney was asking. "Just wander around?"

"Mostly. See the sights. Give a match to anybody who wants one. I can't remember the last time I fought a gym leader-- or even cared about fighting one, for that matter."

"Did you grow up here on the peninsula?"

He shook his head. "No. I was actually born on another continent."

"Why did you come here, then?" Courtney seemed perplexed. "I mean, I've always liked living here and all, but it's a backwater. Why would anyone want to come here?"

Another chuckle of laughter, slightly more subdued this time. "It wasn't entirely my choice."

That time, Courtney held herself in check without needing to be prompted, but I could see that look again. Once more I sighed and gave a microscopic shake of my head. If there was one thing Courtney could not abide, it was something she was not supposed to know. If only King would recognize that and stop dropping hints.

As if somehow aware that my thoughts were directed at her, Courtney turned around and glanced at me. "Hey, Ponyta. How are you doing? Everything okay?"

((I'm fine,)) I answered her.

She frowned at me and slowed a bit in her walk, as if so she could study me more carefully without having to worry about what was in front of her. "Ponyta, are you feeling all right?"

What was she getting at? ((I'm fine,)) I said again. ((I feel as good as ever. Why do you ask?))

Now she stopped and turned completely around, scrutinizing me. Ashley's trainer did so too, a perplexed expression on his face.

"You look... different," was Courtney's assessment of the situation after a few moments of study.

((Could you be a little bit more specific?))

"It's your... color. It's a bit light. Yellowish." Courtney stepped towards me for a closer look, then rubbed her fingertips through my mane and inspected them.

"She's right," King spoke up suddenly, his eyes widening. "You do look a little bit different than you did a few days ago. At least I think so."

I curved my head around to look at my back. It took a few seconds before I realized what Courtney was talking about. My coat had taken on just the barest hint of a gold-like color. Not anything that would be considered especially out of the ordinary-- Ponytas and indeed most Pokemon came in many different shades of their respective colors-- but it was definitely a change from the way I had looked a few days ago, if not yesterday.

"Have you ever seen anything like it before?" Courtney was asking King.

He shook his head. "Never. But I have to say that I'm suspicious of judging it in this light." The setting sun was at our backs, or had been, and was casting a ruddy orange glare over the landscape and over us. "It still seems a bit off, but we should wait and examine it under better light before we go worrying about anything."

I could tell Courtney wasn't quite convinced, but she nodded as though to accept what he had just said. She didn't stop looking at me, though. "It looks almost like..." Her voice trailed off. After a moment, she nodded and turned around to continue walking. King looked at me for a moment longer, smiled as though to reassure me, then likewise began walking again. I followed suit, and we trudged onward.

***

The town of Crossroads turned out to be just what it sounded like: a conglomeration of buildings that had sprung up where the highway intersected a smaller road that ran from east to west. The town's largest building was its Pokemon Center, which stood at the northwest corner of the intersection proper. The Center was surrounded by a smattering of shops and businesses that probably got most of their business from Pokemon trainers, and whose services and merchandise reflected that fact. Further out were the houses where the village's small population made their residence. Nothing about the town seemed remarkable to me, but by that point the changing of one town to another had begun to seem almost routine.

It was late when we walked up to the first row of buildings, and most of the lights in the town were dark, but King still pulled us down one of the side streets a block before we reached the Pokemon Center.

"Where are we going?" protested Courtney. "I thought we were going straight to the Center."

"Not exactly. We'll go there in just a little while. There's a guy I want to look up first. Old friend. Name of Greene. Last I heard, he had set up shop here."

We turned two different corners before Ashley's trainer found what he was looking for. The storefront was, like all the others, darkened and mostly nondescript, with cracked masonry and paint in an advanced state of disrepair. The handpainted sign above the window read HYDROSPHERE: YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR ALL WATER POKEMON PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. Below that, in smaller print, MOST MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED.

"Water Pokemon?" Courtney echoed when she saw where we were heading. "No offense."

"Why would I take any?" King tried the front door experimentally, despite the prominent CLOSED sign, then led us around to the back of the building, where he knocked on the back door. No answer was immediately forthcoming, and he appeared resigned to wait.

"What makes you think this person will still be here?" whispered Courtney. There was nobody nearby, as far as I could tell, but the atmosphere of the dark alley seemed to urge us to be as quiet as possible. "Everyone else has closed up shop. I couldn't see any lights on inside."

"He'll be here," King responded, trying to put a note of confidence into his voice but not quite succeeding. In a muttered tone, he added, "I hope."

The door did not open, but less than a minute after the knock, a voice issued from within. "Can't you read? I'm closed. Go away."

"Hold on a moment," Ashley's trainer said, raising his voice to make sure he was heard through the door. "I bought a pair of rubber gloves from you earlier, and I want to return them."

"Rubber gloves?!" whispered Courtney, with a voice and a facial expression that both suggested she was questioning his sanity. "What do rubber gloves have to do with anything?"

King smiled and motioned her to silence. After a moment, we could hear the sound of the deadbolt being withdrawn, and the door opened. Greene-- if indeed it was he--appeared to be in his thirties, with a tall, thin figure and a head of curly brown hair that was just beginning to thin. He had on a rumpled blue T-shirt and blue jeans, with sandals being his choice of footwear, and did not look at all like someone you would want to buy anything from if you valued your money.

The two men stared at each other for a few moments. "You know I don't sell rubber gloves, King," Greene said at last. "Or anything of the sort."

Ashley's trainer grinned. "I know you don't. But you know I'm one of the only people who would know to ask you about rubber gloves. Not to mention their myriad uses."

"Not to mention them. Or else." Leaning against the doorframe, Greene waved a finger at me and Courtney, who were standing a few steps back and observing the goings-on. "I see you've picked up some traveling companions. Mind introducing me?"

"Not at all. This is Courtney. We've been traveling with her since Radjin. This is her Ponyta, named... named Ponyta, I guess." He looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded quietly. "We've actually known Ponyta for longer. It's a story I'll tell you sometime."

"Uh huh." From the way the comment was delivered, I guessed that King owed a lot of people a lot of stories. "What about your little girl? I don't see her. Is she with you?"

King turned his head to peer into the open top of his backpack, where Ashley had disappeared from view at some point during the evening, and gave a chuckle at what he saw. "She's still asleep, of course. She's small enough to ride, so she gets to snooze while the rest of us walk."

"Lucky fox. I guess she won't be wanting to play with Janus or Artemis, then. Maybe in the morning, eh?"

King sighed. "We may not be here in the morning. Dude, it's great to see you and all, but I didn't come to chat. I've got something I need to ask you, then I think we'll be going on to the Pokemon Center to hit the hay."

Greene seemed to take this in stride. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the doorjamb again. "Spill it."

"Have the PLA been poking their noses around here?"

The curly-haired man smiled. "Strange you should ask that. One of them was around here just this morning, asking people questions. He didn't get much cooperation, but I gathered he'd be back."

King frowned. "Asking questions? Questions about a Ponyta and her trainer, perhaps?"

"Oh, so that's why these two are with you, is it?" Greene chuckled, and Courtney blushed, although I couldn't quite figure out why. "No, as a matter of fact, he was asking about a Vulpix and her trainer. Quite a difference, eh?"

Ashley's trainer gave Greene an incredulous look. "Asking questions about us?" he almost exploded. "When the hell were you gonna tell me?!"

"I figured I'd wait for you to ask me yourself." Greene's face bore a look of barely-concealed amusement. "PLA's coming around asking about you, ten-to-one you'll be around soon enough asking about the PLA. It doesn't matter. There's no hotel in town, and I doubt he'd get a warm reception at the Center, so I'm sure he's not spending the night. He left town before two o'clock, I think."

"Just as well we came in after dark, anyway," King muttered, regaining control of himself with obvious effort. "Nothing to be done about it now. What are the locals like? Friendly?"

"Friendly enough. They won't report you, I'm almost certain of it-- they have no love for the PLA-- but they won't take kindly if you stay around long enough to cause any trouble. These people value their peaceful existence. They don't care which side is which as long as nobody disturbs it."

Ashley's trainer seemed to be thinking furiously. "Fair enough," he murmured after a moment. "Nice talking to you, Greene. Take care, eh?"

"Eh," agreed Greene. "You're the one who needs to take care of yourself, looks like. Give me a call when you get to wherever it is you're going."

"Hate to tell you, but that's a call you'll never get. I'll call you one of these days anyway. Bye."

We walked away. Courtney glanced back once, briefly, but neither I nor King did, not even when we heard the steel door clang shut. We emerged back out onto the street without incident, heading this time toward the center of town where the Pokemon Center stood. About a block away, he stopped once again and turned to face Courtney and me.

"I've been thinking about it, and I've decided there's only one thing for us to do. That's to split up."

"What?" Courtney sounded astonished. "We've been following you all along. You're the only one-" Her tongue stumbled, and she took a deep breath, regaining her composure. "You're the only one here who knows how to deal with these PLA people. We might have been captured at that Pokemon Center back there if you hadn't sent Langley packing. Who knows what we'll do if you're not there next time?"

"You want a crash course on how to deal with the PLA? I can give it to you, easy. Won't take me a minute." His words suggested it might have been a joke, but his face and his crossed arms were deadly serious. "One lesson. Best way to deal with the PLA: Stay the hell away from them. That's all you need to know."

"You think I'm joking."

"I think no such thing. Are you? Because I'm not." King fumbled at his waist, then found the small object he was looking for and held it out to her: his cell phone. "I want you to have this. If you think that anybody's following you, watching you, anything-- you call the police. Whatever happens after that, it's better than just letting the PLA catch you. Understand?"

"I can't take that." As the words left her mouth, she reached out almost unconsciously and took the phone from him, holding it gingerly in her hands. "You might need it."

"I'll get another. And if you need to get in touch with me before then, call my parents. Their number is in the phone's memory. I'll check in with them from a pay phone every two or three days, at least." He gritted his teeth. "Now listen to me. I want you to leave here as early as possible in the morning. Get a good night's sleep first, but don't wait too long. When you do go, try and keep Ponyta in her Pokeball if you can. Attracts less attention. Try to head for a big city if you can-- straight north to Kelton would be best, but they'll probably be watching for you on that road, if anywhere, so be careful."

There was silence for a moment. "Why are they after you all of a sudden?" Courtney said, in what seemed a transparent attempt to change the subject. "Aren't they supposed to be after me and Ponyta?"

"Yeah. Two possibilities. One is that Langley thinks getting at you will be easier once I'm out of the picture. The other is that he's decided to take the opportunity to indulge his own personal vendetta against me. Damn sure he's behind it one way or another. In any case, though, you'll almost certainly be safer without me around."

"Where will you go?" asked Courtney in a voice that had grown smaller. I could tell she was becoming scared of the situation. For my own part, I didn't know what to think. Events were moving so fast that my mind could hardly keep up with them. I felt numb. Numb and confused. And the tingling sensation was starting to appear once more at the very fringes of my perception.

"Ultimately? Who knows? Immediately, east. I think it's best if you don't know more than that." King hesitated, then reached out and patted Courtney awkwardly on the shoulder. "Thank you for traveling with us. It's been a real pleasure, and I'm only sorry that we couldn't part under better conditions. I wish you very good luck, and I hope we meet again."

"Likewise," whispered Courtney.

He nodded, then stepped over to me and petted me a few times on the neck. "Ponyta, always a pleasure to see you. I hope you and Courtney find a safe place. A Pokemon like you doesn't deserve a life like this. Nobody does."

I nodded. I would have said something, but I knew he did not understand my language, so there would have been no point. At the moment, the physical gesture communicated well enough the extent of what I was able to feel. No more was necessary.

"Wait. Ashley would kill me if I didn't let her say goodbye." He unslung his backpack and set it on the ground, then reached inside and shook its occupant gently. "Ashley? Wake up, girl. You need to say goodbye to Ponyta."

((Huh?)) Something stirred inside the pack, then Ashley poked her head out, blinking her eyes sleepily. ((Say goodbye to Ponyta?))

"Yes. And Courtney. We're leaving them. I'll explain it to you later."

I was surprised when Ashley seemed to take the news in stride. Were unexpected partings really that much a part of her life that she had become accustomed to them? ((Goodbye, Ponyta. I've got so much I should tell you, but... but I guess we don't have the time. We'll see each other again sometime.))

((I know we will,)) I told her.

((Will you promise me one thing before we go?)) Ashley's large eyes looked like they might fill with tears at any moment. I knew the feeling.

((What's that?))

((Never be ashamed of yourself.))

That was a promise I knew I could not keep, no matter how hard I tried. But I couldn't tell Ashley that, not now. ((I'll try my best,)) I said instead. And I would, I told myself. For Ashley, I would try as hard as I could.

She smiled, a sad smile. ((Thank you, Ponyta. Take care.)) She turned her head to Courtney, standing next to me. ((You too, Courtney.))

"Goodbye," answered Courtney with a half-smile, though she did not speak Vulpix any more than King spoke Ponyta. "See you soon."

Nobody said anything else. After another moment, King sighed and hoisted the backpack back into place on his shoulders. He looked at us for a few more seconds, as if trying to think of something to say, then finally nodded firmly and began to walk away.

What was happening? I stood there as though frozen in place, watching Ashley as the pair receded into the distance. She was looking back at me, her eyes searching out mine. Was she trying to say something? Was I trying to say something? What was going on? What was happening to me?

The night and the shadows swallowed them both up. Despite the presence of Courtney standing at my side, I suddenly felt very much alone.