A longer chapter which will hopefully offset the shorter last chapter! Enjoy, and please review my fic - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Michelle's feet pounded against the soidewalk, occasionally leaping over a small pool of sludge from burst waterworks. Skirting a small pool of sewage from a burst wastewater main, she checked a road sign to get her bearings.

The streets of the city were almost deserted at this hour. No National Guard patrols, no Pokemon with elemental powers. Michelle snorted. The old monster movies she used to watch in college felt so ridiculous and larger-than-life back then.

Agitated hissing from an alleyway drew her attention.

Michelle turned to see a purple-furred, rat-like creature hissing at her. It leapt at her throat with unearthly speed-

She sidestepped just in time and brought her aluminum flashlight down on its neck. The thing squeaked in agony before another few strikes with the flashlight silenced it.

By the end of the beating, her flashlight was partially covered in blood. She got up and ran. Her apartment block was nearby - she'd checked a map on the nearby bus stop bus stop. Another turn through the ruined streets, and there it was.

It was relatively untouched, considering all the damage the nearby buildings and road had suffered. Half-ruined houses stood, water soaking into their foundations from burst pipes - the work of tunneling Pokemon, probably. Briefly, she contemplated going inside to find her old apartment, but decided against it.

That was a shock. Wasn't everything supposed to be ruined, like the apocalypse movies? She'd expected little more than rubble and rebar jutting out of the ground like a metal rib cage.

Her old life was gone. That realization hit her like a sack of bricks, and she collapsed on the sidewalk, crying.

A convoy of three Humvees moved through the street towards Michelle. Great, she thought. A National Guard patrol. The vehicles moved with purpose. It was not a blind poke in the dark - they were searching for something.

Her.

The doors opened, and a group of soldiers came towards her.

"Michelle Deri, we're here to help." When she didn't answer, their leader extended his hand. "Sergeant Lance," he said. "What in the blazes are you doing out here?"

"I..." she began. "I'm Michelle," she replied. "Just walking."

Lance didn;t buy it. "At this hour, with only a flashlight?" Shaking his head, he continued, "Jackson sent us to bring you back to the shelter. Get in the Humvee, now."

Of course, Michelle thought. Someone would have raised the alarm the moment she ran.

The soldiers prodded her with questions as they drove off. Lance was incredulous at her answers. "Damn. You're a brave one, walking around the city like that."

"No shit," she replied.

"That was not a compliment," he replied, glancing over to his fellow soldiers. She couldn't help but smile weakly.

Michelle spent the next ten minutes in the Humvee attempting to formulate a defense for her situation. She'd expected an explosion of rage from Jackson, but the Sergeant seemed to find it quite funny.

"Ah, Michelle, is it?" He gave a slight chuckle, motioning for her to sit down. "Thought you'd go walkabout at night with a light when everyone else was asleep?"

There was no answer.

He sighed, continuing. "You've always wanted to see actual Pokemon up close, didn't you? Was that why you left?"

"Sir, please! I wanted to find my house! Look, I've been away for so long... and-" Tears streamed down her face as she continued, "This can't be happening! Every morning I wake up hoping it's just a stupid dream." The flashlight, still covered in blood, slipped from numb fingers, clattering on the concrete floor. She took no notice.

"What do you mean, your old life?" Jackson asked with a slight frown.

"People have had their homes destroyed. I don't know how many people died out there! My family..." It was hard to speak; her throat felt like it was trying to seal itself shut. The thought hit her. Where was her family now, even? Were they wandering the streets of San Francisco armed? Maybe they were now dead- no, no, she told herself, that wasn't yet possible. They'd be safe, probably. "Please, I almost got attacked by some rat-like Pokemon as I was out walking. Didn't even enter my old house," she continued. "What can we do against these things?"

"We're recovering more people. Some of them holed up away from the Pokemon. Others..." He looked away. "They didn't fare too well. Why didn't you call your family?"

"What if they're already dead, like you said?"

"Michelle," Jackson said, placing his hand on hers, "You won't ever know unless you find out. Look - if you have any concerns, come and speak to me. Or one of your friends."

The first thing Michelle woke up to was a pounding headache. The second was Werini looking at her.

"You're up for another shift at 1pm tomorrow," he said.

She forced herself to smile in response. "I'll be there." A pause, then, "Will I still have to see the Pokemon again?"

"Yes. Why?"

"It's-" she began. "I'm not the best for taking care of the Pokemon. You already have the animal control officers, veterinarians and zookeepers handling that. I'm just a security guard!"

"Having people seeing the Pokemon would get them an idea of how they behave on Earth-"

"Animals make me uncomfortable, never mind super-powered ones. Please - I'm a city girl."

Werini sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But you must do one last shift with the Pokemon. Understood?"

Michelle only nodded in response.

Jackson looked out the windows of the gymnasium to the school fields in the distance. They had been repurposed into Pokemon pens, with guards patrolling the pathways. He moved out for a quick chat with his fellow soldiers before walking around the adjacent cortyard, where a simple chain-link fence had been erected around the field's perimeter.

Victini was there, still bright-eyed and smiling as ever. Todd and the other animal handlers had done a pretty good job taking care of much of the Pokemon brought in.

"Hey, Victini!" he called out.

"Jackson? What is it?"

"Keep an eye on Michelle the next time you see her, alright?"

"Will do."

For a moment, Jackson allowed himself to think of Michelle, and her circumstances. He couldn't blame her. Thousands of other people were probably experiencing the same thing to varying degrees right now, though not as aggressively.

He turned to see Todd walking towards him.

"Sir. I need to tell you about the job we undertook with Corporal Tovar and the policeman - bringing in that Pichu."

"What of it?" he asked.

"It was a failure, right? That Pikachu tried to attack us. Hell, what if I wasn't able to convince it to come along with food? We'd need some mean firepower to stop it, not to mention being unable to react in time!"

"Don't worry. We'll try again and try to use whatever we learned."

"That's not it. Look. When we - that is, me and my partner - managed to find Victini - well, it was an easy affair. Shot it with a tranquilzer gun while it made my partner convulse."

"Easy?" Jackson shot him a disbelieving look. "That - I wouldn't call it easy. You were in just as much danger at that time, probably."

Todd held up a magazine of tranq-darts. "I guess. But, I think it seemed really disoriented. Must've been the entirely new setting it found itself in. The Pikachu? They seemed to have been there for a few days at most." In response to Victini's death-glare, he added, "He. Sorry, Jackson. You know, I'd rather not have my brain scrambled. Anyway, I wonder if that Pikachu was hungry. Certainly seemed like it, otherwise why would it come along for food?"

Jackson laughed heartily. "Oh, don't apologize to me! Apologize to him!"

"You seem oddly cheerful for a soldier. Like Tovar."

"It's just part of the package deal, you see. Never expected Animal Control to be a dour bunch."

Todd looked at Victini. "Sorry about how I addressed you earlier. I-" He abruptly paused, before replying with, "Uh-huh. I understand. See ya, Jackson." He turned and walked away.

"Todd - I want to ask about Michelle. She sounded really messed up when she came back last night. Did you speak to her?"

"I did, sir, about a week or so ago. She sounded really hostile towards Pokemon in general. Said they'd screw up the world. In fact she outright said I'd die if I continued in my line of work. And, well, I'm saying that after yesterday - she might be right." Frowning, he continued, "I'm not certain just how much the appearance of Pokemon has changed her. She was always a person in favor of rigid routines."

"She was quite rude, I admit. It took a psychically-induced headache and stern warnings to stop her."

"I'm sorry," Todd said, checking his watch. "Something else needs my attention. See ya next time, sir."

"Any time, Todd." Jackson replied. "I'll be leaving too, Victini. Enjoy your day."

"Goodbye, Sergeant." The mental link closed without further words spoken.

Michelle stood in the gymnasium, phone in hand. She dialed her parents' number and pressed the call key.

One ring.

Two.

On the third ring, a response came.

Character development for Michelle, who knew?