Eatacheesemonkey, thanks for finding the mistakes. I can't believe missed them…exams must have fried my brain. I've fixed it now. Hopefully there won't be more in this chapter.

The Mad Tortoise – Actually, I still see this as being a realistic pokemon journey. I think that if pokemon was real, then there'd need to be explanations for why things are the way they are instead of just having it accepted, and things that happen would have real results. No being burnt to a crisp and then being healed in the next shot here. But the story certainly is more of a conspiracy-ish thing than just an adventure romp.

See how soon you can pick up what's going to be the surprise in this chapter, everyone!

Everything's Normal

-

At the next town, there was still no mention of a Jenny's death. Elliot didn't understand, but he tried to stop thinking about it. What Prowler had done…and yet, what the Jenny must have been doing…

He almost wished Prowler had just killed someone for no reason. Then at least he'd know what to do, how to feel. He'd be sad, but at least he'd know he was doing the right thing.

But he didn't know what to do now, so he just tried to keep going, keep doing the same thing. He wished he could ask someone, but he was too scared to talk to a Jenny about this. He couldn't, not after seeing the dead one alive again. It was just too much for him.

Everyone in the town seemed normal, going about their lives without any sense of worry. He imagined they could tell he was different, tell that he knew, tell that he was hiding a pokemon that had killed someone. He tried not to look at people, telling himself he was just imagining everything.

Instead of staying at the Pokemon Center for the night as he usually would, he kept going, traveling further down toward the ocean.

It was darker than usual when he stopped to start a fire and feed his pokemon.

Elliot began setting out full bowls. Din started toward them but was stopped by a soft growl from Prowler.

"Hey," Elliot said. "Don't threaten her. There's enough here for everyone."

((It was no threat,)) Prowler said.

"She's got to eat."

((I will feed her. There is no point in eating if you will recall us anyway.))

"What do you mean?"

((I do not know.)) Prowler thought for a moment. ((When we eat hunger stops but that is all. No fat. So there is no point in Din eating now because she is not hungry. And the food you offer is empty too. If you will leave us out I will get Din food when she becomes hungry.))

((Liar,)) cawed the murkrow derisively. ((Storyteller.))

((Stupid Bird, human Bird,)) Prowler taunted in return. ((Abandoning Bird, betraying Bird, disloyal Bird.)) And then she laughed. ((Storyless Bird.))

Caw looked livid. He started to speak.

"Stop it you guys," Elliot pleaded before anything else could happen. Obediently, Caw stopped.

There was a slightly uneasy quiet, broken by Sono returning to her song. Everyone went back to what they were doing.

-

-

Prowler returned before Elliot woke up that morning, coming from the north where she'd been all night. The other pokemon were already awake. Caw looked as if he wanted to say something, but, perhaps remembering the last night, didn't.

((Birdy!)) Din said.

Prowler purred. ((Yes, Din, bird. Want bird?))

((Want bird!)) Din repeated, running in an excited circle.

((Caw, come down here.))

The murkrow looked at her distastefully. ((No.))

((Din wants to say hello. Don't be mean to her.))

Suspiciously, Caw landed.

((Birdy!)) Din jumped at him, playfully biting into his feathers. Caw squawked, beating his wings. Din managed to lick his face twice before the murkrow managed to get away. He landed on a branch a good distance away and began preening his ruffled feathers.

Din was tumbled onto her back. ((Birdy?)) she asked Prowler, staring at the persian upsidedown.

((Is that all she says?)) asked Sono from the safety of a different tree branch.

Prowler nuzzled Din. ((Who are you, Din?))

((Din!)) Her tail wagged furiously.

((Who am I?))

((Din sister!))

Prowler looked accomplished. ((See? She can say plenty.))

((She's just repeating you. She doesn't have any idea what it means.))

((Where's the bird, Din?))

((Birdy!)) Din shrieked excitedly, running to the tree and circling the tree while barking. ((Birdy birdy!)) Sono looked disturbed. She shifted nervously, as if thinking about taking flight.

((What are you trying to do, train her to kill us?))

((Good Din. Eat bird?))

Sono jumped, fluttering her short wings. ((What?))

Din grinned. ((No eat bird yes?))

Prowler purred. ((Yes. Good, Din.))

Sono did not look reassured.

Elliot thought his pokemon were acting somewhat odd when he woke up, but couldn't decide exactly what it was. He recalled them and continued south through the forest.

After several hours, he noticed there was a strange smell in the air, one that slowly mixed into the smell of vibrant life so discretely he couldn't tell when it first appeared.

The smell grew as he continued, growing stronger, more sickening. A smell of putrefaction, something he couldn't recognize because he had never encountered it before.

And when he came upon it at last, gore rose burning in his throat.

Another psyduck – they seemed to be everywhere. The helmet was there – that, too, seemed everywhere. The helmet was still in good condition, the metal shiny.

Strips of flesh were dangling off of it. In some places, Elliot could just make out the bone. It was in a sitting posture, the same way he had always seen it, right next to the road.

The eyes were at last open, staring out from rotten sockets, the eyelids gone.

Had Elliot been capable of looking at it calmly, had he been used to things like this, he would have seen that despite the rot it was still easy to make out the way the chest and stomach were sunken, the remaining pelt tight against the bones, as if by starvation or thirst.

He was not. He ran blindly until he fell to his knees and retched.

-

-

Elliot was shaky, unsteady. He felt a sense of relief when he finally reached Pallet. Earlier in the day he had been scared by what had happened in Viridian, but the shock of seeing a rotten corpse had replaced that, at least partly. He didn't feel as safe as he would have normally, and he still felt nervous, like he was hiding something, but it was better than the fear of stumbling onto some new horror.

He was grateful that he wouldn't have to go back into woods for a time. The next part of his trip would be on a boat, surrounded by other people, and then he'd be on an island.

Elliot quickly found the docks. A boat was leaving in a few hours. It was good luck he'd gotten in that day, as the ferry was only there once every three days. He purchased a ticket, for a price less than that of a meal. He didn't notice how cheap it was. "How come there are only boats here?" he asked the man there. "Why aren't there ferries in Fuchsia?"

"Haven't any idea," said the man dismissively. "Doesn't matter, anyway."

"Oh…yeah, I guess so."

Elliot boarded the ship early. He felt better already, the strange surroundings distracting him from his thoughts. He didn't go to find his room. He wasn't sleepy, after all. Instead, he went to the front of the ship. What was it? The prow? he wondered to himself. He'd never been on a boat before.

The wood rocked under his feet. It was strangely hard to get used to. The motion was gentle enough to forget about for a moment, but strong enough to make you stumble if you forgot about it while taking a step.

When Elliot stumbled his sixth time, he knocked into the railing. The lower rung bumped the three pokeballs on that side, and they opened.

Sono, Discord, and Prowler appeared, taking in their surroundings. Sono fluttered nervously, upset more by the dampness than the movement. Discord let out a soft whimper and latched onto the bottom of the railing, afraid of being blown off. Prowler's claws flexed once, digging deep into the wood instinctively when she felt the motion, but then relaxed. She sniffed the air. She had never been anywhere like this before.

"Sorry, guys," Elliot said. He pulled off two of the pokeballs, one in each hand, and recalled Sono and Discord. He replaced them and was about to pick Prowler's Ultraball when she spoke.

((I want to stay out. I haven't seen this before.))

"But it's a boat and you're a persian and..."

((And?))

"It's all wet," Elliot said lamely.

She cocked her head at him curiously. ((It is.))

"So you're a persian and persians don't like water."

((Where did you hear that? I like water. Especially if there are fish.))

"But…"

Prowler reared up onto her hind legs and stood against the railing, looking down. She ignored him.

"But there are people everywhere," Elliot said, realizing the fact he was losing an argument with his pokemon in public a moment after the words left his mouth. He glanced around, making sure no one was watching him.

((All the more reason,)) said Prowler firmly. ((I won't be able to do anything inside there.))

Elliot remembered what 'doing anything' had involved with the trainer they'd met on the road two days ago. "Please don't scratch anyone this time. Please?"

Prowler didn't answer.

"Please?"

((I will not do anything unless I have reason.))

"Prowler, waving your hand isn't a threat."

Prowler looked at him pityingly. Elliot sighed. "Fine. But I'll ask if I need help, okay? If I scream, then you can do something. Okay?"

Prowler didn't answer. She flopped down on the deck.

"Okay." Elliot continued up the boat. He wanted to go to the very tip.

Once there, he stared over the edge, amazed by how the water was split apart and tossed up in two white lines of froth. He didn't know why, but it was almost hypnotizing…

"Hi!"

Elliot jumped backward, surprised. A girl, about eleven, had snuck up next to him.

"My name's Pauline."

"I'm Elliot."

"Is that your persian?" she said, pointing. Prowler was hissing at an older trainer who had nearly stepped on her tail.

Elliot blushed, looking down. "Um, yeah."

"It looks great! I've never seen a persian that big. My mom's was a lot smaller. Did you buy it somewhere?"

"No, I caught her in the mountains near Viridian."

"Lucky!" she said. "I wish I could find a pokemon like that."

No, you don't, Elliot thought, his temporary happy mood vanishing as he remembered the Jenny. "She can cause a lot of trouble," he said.

The girl laughed. "I bet! I hear big, high-level pokemon can be hard to handle. I'm impressed you can control it." She grinned. "Hey, want to have a pokemon battle? I've got an eevee and I'm trying to get him to evolve."

"Sure," Elliot said, picking a pokeball. "Into what? An espeon or an umbreon?"

"I don't care which one. I like both! So I decided to just leave it to chance." She tossed a Greatball.

Elliot threw his pokeball, releasing Howler.

"Quick attack!"

"Flame wheel!" Elliot yelled, but Howler was knocked back before he could attack the eevee. The move misfired, flying upward and missing entirely.

"Bite!" Howler did so, grabbing the smaller pokemon by the back.

"Tickle him, Vee!"

The eevee wiggled his tail over Howler's face and neck. Surprised, the growlithe released his grip. Vee landed perfectly, and immediately tackled Howler. The growlithe started an ember attack, but Vee ran back, making distance, then dodged the attack when it came.

"Finish it off, Vee! Take down!"

The eevee charged, sending Howler flying. The growlithe struggled to stand up again.

"Return, Howler," Elliot said. "Wow, you're pretty good." He handed her money.

"It's nothing," she said modestly. "You wouldn't believe how weak the rest of my pokemon are. I train Vee mostly, so he's stronger than most people who train all of their pokemon evenly. Once he evolves, I think I'll try doing that too."

"What other pokemon do you have?" Elliot asked curiously, noticing she had only five pokeballs.

"A paras, a poliwag, an ekans, and a clefairy. I used to have a psyduck, but he got so boring, so I let him go just before I got here."

Elliot stared at her cheerful face, then rushed to the side of the boat and threw up.

"Seasickness," someone murmured sympathetically off to his left.

Well, what do you think?

I imagine Prowler's about cougar-size. So she'd be bigger than the persian stats in the pokedex (unless the numbers refer to height and not length). But I think it's okay because in the game people report pokemon are all different sizes. Anyway, large cats often like water. Actually, so do housecats. The reason Kitty tries to climb out on your arm is that cats don't like unstable ground, and if you touch water, that's what it feels like, ground that doesn't support your weight. Since Prowler's smart enough to understand water, she's not scared of it at all.

Next chapter: Well, Blaine did look angry, but he can't have had anything to do with it. Right?