Eatacheesemonkey, you'd got me curious too now. What do you think the name means, and how do you think Caw's trainer tricked Elliot? I'm glad you like Elliot, I'm always wondering if I've got him wrong. And I'd prefer the pancake over the trout.

Charles RocketBoy: Hello again! The idea about the pokemon food comes from something I've heard about feeding sled dogs and my own experience with petfood. And the pokemon training advice is more disturbing than just an innocent urban legend – the girl said she actually did this. Yet it would seem that anyone trying it should be dead. And then she told Elliot to do that. So…

Hi Keleri! Glad you like the story. I do write this on Word. There are some words the spellchecker and I disagree about, especially base words that I've made adjectives (adultly), but besides that, it says there aren't mistakes. If there are others, could you point them out?

And now, the chapter. I think I did a much better job with transitions this time, so see what you think!

Fire and Children

-

Prowler returned much later, carrying a sleepy Din in her mouth.

((Where were you?)) said Caw, who'd missed the scene earlier by being in his pokeball. ((Why were you off alone? You're not supposed to do that and you know it. Pokemon stay with their trainer.))

((Be quiet, Bird,)) Prowler grumbled idly. She stretched out by the fire, stomach facing the flames. Din, belly round, curled up next to her.

Caw wasn't content to let sleeping cats lie. ((Not scared of fire, wild persian?))

((Why would I be?)) Prowler murmured sleepily. ((We had fire.))

((Only humans do, and everyone knows that. Stop lying about being wild.))

((We had fire,)) she repeated, not particularly vehemently. ((In the winter my mother made a fire.))

((Liar.))

Discord was interested. He'd been staring at the flames, entranced. ((How?)) he asked. ((Can you breathe fire like Howler?))

((No. My mother hit the rocks with her claws. It broke them, but it made little bits of fire come from the walls, and from that came a large fire.))

((Stupid stories. That doesn't make any sense. You're just making things up.)) Caw paused, but seemed unable to let any flaw in her story go. ((And no persian would break their claws on purpose.))

((No Bird would so much as move a feather for their kind. What would you know about what we would do?))

((Liar,)) Caw said.

((You believe only humans can do anything in this world. Stupid Bird.))

((You're jealous of them,)) Caw said. ((That's why you make up these stories.))

Prowler yawned, showing off her teeth. She closed her eyes again.

Elliot returned to the camp carrying wood. "Oh, you're back," he said. "What were you doing?"

Prowler looked up at him. Slowly she got to her feet. ((Din was hungry. I told you this.))

"But where'd you get food?" Elliot asked, baffled.

Prowler walked up to him and rubbed her cheek against his side affectionately. She purred, finding his inexperience funny. ((I found food. There is food everywhere here and it is easy to get.))

"Okay," Elliot said, the uncertainty in his voice making it clear he didn't understand. "How come you aren't growling at me anymore?"

((Then I thought you might be dangerous. Now I know you are not. You are a kitten.))

"I'm not a kitten!" Elliot said.

((Yes you are. You are smaller than others and weak and you do not know how to do things.)) She licked his hand. ((How would you eat on your own?))

Elliot started to say he was on his own and that he could buy his own food, but reflected that was probably not what she meant and was silent. He fed the new sticks into the fire instead, and then began to boil water for his supper.

It grew darker. The fire died down to hot, smoldering embers. Din woke up and began to walk around, enjoying the rare night. Prowler remained near the fire pit, her eyes closed.

Elliot enrolled his sleeping bag and climbed in. He closed his eyes and then felt a second body press up against him. Prowler lay down by him, purring, and then went to sleep. Somewhat surprised, Elliot did the same.

In the morning, Elliot found her gone. He blew on the remaining embers, which had been improperly banked and were nearly dead, then gave up trying to restart the flames and ate fruit he'd bought at the previous town instead.

Prowler returned as he was packing up, carrying Din like before. She set the puppy down.

"Where were you?" he asked. Din barked cheerily in response and Prowler looked at him calmly, apparently not noticing the question. "We're going now, so you'll have to return."

((I return. Din has eaten. She must not for a time.))

"What? What does that matter?"

((Din has eaten. Until finished, she must not return. Put in bag or leave me out and I carry.))

"Fine," Elliot said, picking up Din and putting her into an open pouch at the top of his pack. "Return, Prowler."

Elliot traveled southward uneventfully for a time. Near the edge of the town, right before the grass gave way to cement, he met a trainer.

The boy was about his age, and Elliot saw a white pokeball on his belt. "Hey," he said. "You want to fight?"

"Sure," Elliot said.

"How about a double battle? Four pokemon each."

"Um, okay," Elliot said, thinking it was odd how several people had wanted double battles recently. "Is there any reason why?"

The boy answered casually, obviously not the kind of person who wondered about things. "I want to try it out. I just heard about it myself when I went to a Hoenn building." He threw two pokeballs, releasing a kadabra and a machop.

Din wiggled around as she heard them, pulling out of the pocket and plopping to the ground.

"Okay, Din. And…" he pulled off Sono's pokeball, remembering that he'd heard fighting pokemon were bad against flying types. "Go, Sono!"

Sono chirped enthusiastically and the battle began.

The spearow managed only a single gust attack before being taken out by confusion. Elliot recalled her, realizing he should probably remember to heal pokemon that were knocked out in battle before using them again. He chose a pokeball and tossed it without looking. Any of his four pokemon would be an okay choice.

Prowler had been recalled last, putting her first. Now she appeared, looking around. She quickly took in the necessary details – two large pokemon, an unknown human, her human, and Din.

The other boy began to order his pokemon to attack. Prowler ignored this. Neither pokemon was particularly strong and from her limited experience with human-owned pokemon, she knew that ones that stood still didn't hit hard. She walked up to Din, picked her up, and then walked back to Elliot, depositing the puppy by his feet.

((Din should not fight,)) she scolded, and then walked forward again to fight.

Ignoring the odd look his opponent was giving him, Elliot recalled Din and sent out Caw. The battle restarted, his opponent ordering the kadabra to attack Caw with psybeam.

-

-

Prowler purred reassuringly, rubbing her cheek against his side. ((Don't pay attention to what he said,)) she told Elliot. ((He was just mad he lost. There's nothing wrong with type matching.))

"But it makes you look weak," Elliot said despondently. "Like you couldn't have won if you didn't."

((All you do is choose which is sent out. You can make a good decision or a bad one. You made a good one and he was mad because you did better than him.))

The faint sound of an infant crying angrily drifted through the air for a moment, then stopped.

"I guess…" Elliot said.

Prowler's ears were pricked. She stood still. Elliot stared at her. Seconds ticked by. Without a word, she suddenly ran across the street, nearly getting hit by a car, then jumped a white picket fence on the other side of the road. He heard wood grind, then crack.

"I'm sorry!" Elliot yelled at the driver, scrambling across the street to follow her. The man shouted something and continued. The road was mostly empty, with cars only passing by every few minutes. It was just bad luck Prowler had tried to cross then.

Elliot climbed over the locked fence door to see Prowler throwing herself against the door. It was splintering under the force.

"What are you doing!" Elliot yelled. "You can't do that!"

She didn't answer. The wood split, sagged. She continued to batter herself against it.

"Stop it, Prowler!" Elliot said, running toward her. "Stop it!" If he'd been an older trainer, had been used to disobeying pokemon, he'd have remembered he could recall her. He didn't. And he was so used to her being out, to her doing what she wanted. "Prowler please stop it!" He tried to grab her, but he couldn't get a hold on her.

The wood gave. Prowler almost slithered through the hole she'd made, gone in a second. Elliot pushed at the door, and the cracked bit broke off further at his touch. He climbed through.

Inside, he found Prowler. She was standing on a dead Jenny. Her mouth was crimson, as was the body's throat.

Next to them was a white crib, now lightly splattered with red.

"How could you do this," Elliot said. He didn't know if he was shouting or not.

((The child is dead,)) she told him, licking her paws distastefully. Humans tasted foul.

There was a young girl in the crib. Her blue eyes stared up blankly, her face framed by light blond hair.

"That's not her fault!"

((I heard noise and I heard noise stop and when I came in she was covering the child's face with that.)) Prowler pointed with a pinkish paw.

The pillow was still in the Jenny's hand. Elliot recalled Prowler and walked out of the house. His legs felt strange, light and insubstantial, as if he were dreaming. He kept going down the street, trying not to run.

What was he supposed to do? He had to go to the Jenny…but she was in there and who were you supposed to confess murder to when you'd killed the police officer?

He wound up at the Pokemon Center. He handed his pokeballs over automatically and sat, feeling strangely numb.

Elliot ate, the food bland and unmemorable. The other trainers chattered around him, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. He stayed at the Center for the night.

When he woke, he wondered what would happen. They must have found the body by now. Were they looking for a killer yet? It'd be obvious that a pokemon had done it. Maybe they could even tell it was a persian.

Everyone else seemed calm, subdued the exact amount expected for children who'd just woke. They must not have heard yet, Elliot thought.

He ate breakfast, finding it as tasteless as before.

There was a television off in one corner. It was on, with a group of trainers, mainly older ones, gathered around. Almost unwillingly, Elliot listened. It was reporting mundane things: the scarcity of a particular kind of pokemon in the area, crop problems in the eastern area, recent tournaments, a girl named Lahela had died last-

Elliot jerked out of his thoughts. Dead.

The reporter continued tranquilly, the words spilling around Elliot without effect as he stared at the image of a smiling infant. Died of unknown causes…loss for the community…mother was taking a two day leave…

Unknown causes. And what about the Jenny? She was dead, she couldn't be on leave, he'd seen her blood on the floor. On Prowler.

"That…that's impossible," he whispered to himself, lurching to his feet.

He walked out. Had he just dreamed it? But the girl…was he insane?

There weren't many people on the streets, and an early morning mist surrounded everything, giving the world a hazy quality. Everything looked clean and wholesome.

He saw her standing on the corner of the street. The Jenny.

He didn't look at her, couldn't look at her, but she didn't seem to notice him or care.

He was out of the town before he realized he was shaking. He pulled one pokeball off his belt clumsily, his fingers feeling as though they couldn't bend. He opened it.

"Prowler," Elliot said. She looked at him. "What happened yesterday?"

((Yesterday…hm, you walked around and got there. I don't know. You let me out once and fed me.))

He was insane.

Prowler looked around. ((Hm,)) she said again. ((It looks like morning. Is it the next day?))

Elliot wasn't listening. "You didn't kill anyone?"

((Yes, just a few minutes ago.)) She looked at him oddly. ((You were there and yelling.)) She began to lick her paws, now clean. ((Why do you ask?))