I got this comment from a reader about the acronym IRAA about how it shares a similarity with a terrorist organization in Ireland. Let it be known that this is entirely coincidental. It certainly wasn't an endorsement of terror. I do not condone terrorism, or any form of hate for that matter, at all. It's 2020 and we are better than that.

This is a shorter chapter, but it's really more of a transition chapter than anything else, going from the first major arc of the story to the second, so it's something I hope I can be forgiven for. We're sitting at 25 favorites and nearly twice that many followers...pretty crazy!

Enjoy the chapter!

BRADLEY CLARION

Nine days.

I remembered hearing a story that had been written by an ancient poet, from the fictional land called Greece, about it taking nine days to fall from the surface of the Earth to the Underworld. Not that I believed in the Underworld, but damn, that was a long time.

If it's really going to be nine days, I thought to myself, this is going to suck.

The scarlet gemstones that ringed the sides of the hole did indeed seem to be related to fire in some way. Every time I passed a cluster of them (and this happened maybe every ten or fifteen seconds), I felt a blast of heat, much like when you walk into a room in which the furnace is on full blast.

At first, I kept spinning around in midair, to the point that I was starting to feel very nauseous. I tried to keep my mouth shut so that this wouldn't happen...what exactly happens when you throw up while in freefall?

I didn't know, and I didn't particularly want to find out.

Soon after falling into the Shaft, however, I figured out that if I spread my arms like a skydiver or a bird, I could control the spinning. I was no longer tumbling head over heels, but rather face-down, at an angle that meant hitting the ground with a belly flop.

The sensation of falling down a dark vertical tunnel is one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced. Feeling your ears popping painfully every few seconds, hearing the air rush past you at a deafening volume, and constantly wondering...how much further do I have to fall? How much time do I have before I have to brace for impact?

Of course, there was no way I would live to tell the tale unless something crazy happened. Even if it had not been entirely intentional, I was in absolute awe of my own stupidity for following Jacob into the void.

Speaking of which...where is Jacob?

I didn't see any sign of a white Alolan Vulpix anywhere in the Shaft. Perhaps he was falling faster than me, but that didn't make sense; I weighed a lot more than Jacob did, so the force of gravity should be stronger on me than it was on him.

I kept falling, and I once more wondered...how far down was the bottom? Was there a bottom, or would I just keep falling for all of eternity?

Recalling what Jacob had told me earlier about being doomed, a "dead man walking" as he put it, I started to think that maybe this was a worse fate than death. If I could do it all over again, I would certainly have been more careful.

I fell for what felt like hours. Was it really hours, or was it only a matter of minutes? I honestly couldn't tell you; I was a poor judge of time, and this particularly applied when I was tumbling down the Shaft.

All I know is, after a certain period of time, I became certain that I wasn't falling so fast as I had at the beginning. My ears were popping less frequently, and the rush of air past me wasn't as violent.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll live to tell the tale...but then what?

I felt utterly despondent at the prospect of never being able to see anyone familiar again. If it had really been hours, I must have fallen many miles into the depths of the earth, and the chances of finding a way back out would seem to be rather remote.

I couldn't help myself. As I began falling in slow motion, tears began welling up in my eyes, and I started bawling almost immediately. You can call me a wimp if you want; I deserve that title for what happened that night.

Eventually, after what seemed to be an eternity, I saw something solid beneath me. Maybe that's the bottom!

Bracing for impact, I managed to turn my body into a seated position. That would probably be less painful than a belly flop, or so I thought.

I hit what must have been a trampoline of sorts. I didn't feel any pain as I did so, and I realized that I must have been falling even more slowly than I'd thought.

After hitting the trampoline, I bounced upwards and landed in a pool of water.

The landing nearly took my breath away. The water was very cold, fifty degrees at most, even colder than the water at Pastoria Beach during the beginning of swimming season.

Pastoria Beach...a place I'd probably never see again.

Fortunately the pool of water was only about five feet deep if I had to guess, meaning that if I stood up to my full height (6 feet, 2 inches), I was able to keep my head above the water. As I waded around, looking for the edge of the pool, I silently appraised my current situation.

I fell down the Shaft, a massive hole that goes many miles below the surface of the earth. Clearly, Jacob wanted me to follow him...this is how he rewards me for saving him? By dooming me?

If I ever saw Jacob again, it wasn't going to be pretty. That much I was sure of.

As you can probably imagine, it was very dark in the cavern I'd landed in. I couldn't even make out the walls, let alone the ground. Fortunately, the pool of water wasn't very large, and I found the edge quickly.

Climbing out, I began shivering almost immediately. It was so cold in there...I just wish I knew where I was.

My teeth were chatting so violently that I worried one of them might break. That wouldn't be a good way to start my new adventure...or was this an adventure?

Suddenly, on the ground, I saw something that looked like a flashlight. Even though it was dark, I was able to confirm that it was indeed a flashlight.

Please have battery power left. Please.

I reached over and grabbed the flashlight. Pressing the button, I gave a sigh of utmost relief when a beam of light shot out of it and illuminated much of the area.

The cavern I had found myself in was not large. It was probably roughly the size of a preschool classroom, and I saw that the pool of water I'd fallen into was about three times the length of my bathtub at home and five times the width.

The water was also murky, and, as I looked down at my clothes, I saw that they were absolutely filthy, covered in muck.

Jacob had told me that the only way I could survive would be to follow him, but right now I had no idea what he could possibly be talking about. If there were any other cuts on my body, I could very well get a second infection.

I shuddered at the memory of the fever, and how I really didn't want that to happen to me again. That had been the most miserable I could ever remember being in my life.

More to the point, as I shone the flashlight around the cavern (whose ceiling was only about seven or eight feet high), I saw a white Alolan Vulpix using some sort of move to shake the dirty water out of his fur.

"Jacob!" I yelled angrily.

The Vulpix turned to face me. "Why are you so angry, Bradley Clarion? I saved your life! You realize that, right?"

I hadn't expected to be intimidated by a little kid that way, but I had to admit that I was. Despite the fact that he couldn't be older than ten or so, Jacob spoke with authority.

"You wanted me to jump down the Shaft to get here" I said to him, trying not to let my voice break. "You said I needed to if I wanted to live".

"And I was telling the truth," Jacob replied simply. "This was the only way you could survive the infection. It was going to kill you".

I still had one burning question.

"But why?", I all but yelled at the Alolan Vulpix. "Why did you want me to jump down the Shaft?"

"All will be revealed to you in due time".

That wasn't a very satisfying answer, but Jacob gave me a death glare, so I figured it was best not to press him. That didn't mean, however, that I wasn't still mad as hell.

"Follow me" the Vulpix said.

The last time I followed you was just a couple hours ago. The way you led me ended up going down a massive hole, so maybe I have the right to be more than a little skeptical.

Even so, I didn't argue with Jacob. I got to my feet and started walking in his wake.

He led me into a hallway lined with several torches. Instead of burning orange flames, however, these flames were an icy blue color, not the color usually associated with fire.

I vaguely recalled making that mistake once before, though. As a child, when my mother had been cooking, I'd thought that blue flames were cooler than orange flames, and had put my hand up to them. Not a bright idea.

In the present day, I followed Jacob down the hallway and into a room that appeared to be a basement of some sort.

This place looks a lot like a clock tower, I realized.

It really did; there were gears turning all around me, and I heard the chimes begin. I recalled that the clock tower back at home chimed as many times as the number of the hour that had just been reached.

One...two...three...four...that's it. It's four o'clock...four in the morning?

I wasn't sure precisely how much time had passed in the temple, but I had to have fallen for at least six or seven hours if my math was correct. Thus, I must have been deep in the bowels of the earth at this point.

If I'm so far down, why am I in a clock tower? What clock tower extends this far underground?

"Jacob? Where are we? JACOB!"

I yelled the last word as loudly as I could muster, but there was no response. I shone my flashlight all around the basement of the clock tower, and I saw that he had vanished.

Okay, so now I'm all alone down here. That's just great.

Suddenly, my entire being was filled with the most blissful sensation I had ever experienced. It was very calming, and, what was more, it made me feel extremely drowsy.

No...I can't fall asleep here...uhhhhhh…

I was starting to lose my battle, though. As though I were sinking into a warm bath, I felt every square inch of my body slowly give in to the lure of sleep.

Only later would I learn that a Jigglypuff was behind me, singing me to sleep. At that moment, however, I was happy...and then I felt nothing at all.

JENNA IZOLA

One morning during my February vacation, with no classes to go to that day, I slept in, not seeing any need to get up early. I was the type who liked to sleep late, so please don't judge me.

By the time I woke up, it was fully light outside, although you wouldn't know it if you didn't live here.

You see, I lived in the town of Skylock, located on the continent of Ilion. They said that the reason for its name was because it felt like here, the sky was closer to the ground. And, while that technically cannot be true when you're at sea level, it very often felt that way.

The vast majority of the days here were rather cloudy, and rain was a common occurrence, especially in the winter. On days like today, which promised to be cold and rainy, it was hard to get yourself out of bed.

And yet, even though I had nothing in particular I had to do that day, I managed to climb out of the simple bed in the small room I shared with my younger brother, Nick, who was already up, as evidenced by his empty bed.

Before I got ready for the day, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was 5 feet, 9 inches tall and had dark gray fur, with a crimson ponytail that went down my whole back. My eyes were teal and brutally cold, and I had sharp claws rather than fingers.

If you can't figure it out by that description, I am a Zoroark. This means that I am a master (or should I say mistress?) of illusions. With a little bit of effort, I am able to take on the appearance of another Pokemon or human. Thus far, I hadn't found a practical use for those abilities, but that was about to change.

"Jenna? Are you almost ready for breakfast?" I heard my mother shout from downstairs. My house was made of wood, and didn't have much furniture, meaning that even relatively quiet noses could be transmitted throughout it pretty easily.

"Coming!" I exclaimed. "I just have to brush my fangs first!"

"You're able to wait to do that until after breakfast, I should think!" my mother yelled. "Come down now, please!"

I sighed. When my mother insisted on something going a certain way, there was absolutely no arguing with her, not unless you wanted to lose said argument. I certainly wasn't going to make that mistake again.

As I headed downstairs to the kitchen, I suddenly felt a weird tugging sensation around my middle.

That's weird, I thought. It's like there's a rope around my waist, pulling me...somewhere.

I shook my head. I could worry about that later; right now, I wanted to make sure my parents weren't too mad at me for being late to breakfast.

My mother was setting plates of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of my spot at the table, as well as Nick's spot at the table. She was just putting together her own plate as I sat down at my usual spot, and my next thought was…

"Where's Dad?" I asked her.

While it was unusual for my father to be out of the house this early, it wasn't unheard of. He worked as a doctor in Skylock, and that came with demanding hours. Perhaps that was the reason why he wasn't present in the kitchen.

"He's off at work" my mother replied, which was just the response I had expected. "Come on, eat before your food gets cold".

I looked over at Nick, who was always hungry. He looked a lot like me, only male, and was 14 years old to my 17. Despite the age gap, we normally got along pretty well, but as we had gotten older, we had been spending less and less time together.

Did I mention that he was always hungry? He had already wolfed down almost half of his plate within a minute or two, and I was tempted to blurt out, Dude, have some manners. I was able to restrain myself from doing so, though.

As I ate, I took a few glances out the nearby window. It certainly wasn't the nicest day we'd ever had.

With the low, slightly dark cloud cover, it was virtually guaranteed to rain if it wasn't raining already. My home was right next to a pier over the ocean, and said ocean was gray and menacing today.

During the warmer months of the year (of course, warmer is a relative term, as it very often wasn't that warm at all!), sailing competitions were often held. There were lobster traps in the harbor, and the port was very busy with all sorts of ships.

Right now, however, this ocean was no place for anyone wanting a pleasure cruise. Indeed, it was no place for anyone at all. The waves were extremely choppy, with white caps. The wind blew twenty-five miles an hour, at a volume that could be heard from inside the house.

Even though my father was a doctor, my family wasn't particularly well-off, meaning that we could not afford the degree of insulation in our house that would make it more comfortable during the winter months. As a result, it was rather drafty on many days, including today.

After Nick finished his breakfast, he left the table, but I remained there, finishing up a slice of toast. As I did so, I watched my mother wash Nick's empty plate, sighing.

"What is it, Mom?" I asked her. "You look stressed".

"I don't know," she replied. "I didn't sleep very well last night, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the wind".

I frowned. "You've lived here for longer than I've been alive. I would think that you would be able to tolerate it by now".

My mother turned to face me, a slightly exasperated glint in her teal eyes. "Just because I tolerate it doesn't mean I like it, Jenna. I don't think I'll ever like it".

No need to be so hostile about it, sheesh.

Once I was finished eating, I took my plate over to the sink and washed it myself like the responsible older sister that I was. To me, it seemed like a good bet that my mother's frustration was partly due to Nick's laziness.

As soon as I had put my plate in the dishwasher, I felt the same tugging sensation around my waist. Nothing was there, but it was as though the force of gravity itself were tugging on me, and I was attempting to resist it.

That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but not a huge one. It wasn't going to be easy to resist it, that was for sure.

I told my mother that I'd be heading out towards the bazaar, and that I'd be back by lunchtime. Even though I'd started the morning as feeling rather sluggish, I was now restless; I had to be doing something, or else I might legitimately go insane.

"Okay, Jenna. That's fine. Just make sure you're back by noon. And stay away from the harbor, will you?"

Skylock Harbor is the most dangerous part of town. Even though it's where people and goods arrive on ships (not that anyone would really want to vacation here, since it's rather drab and boring), or perhaps especially because of it, there are a lot of pickpockets. Fortunately, I had no plans to take any of my valuables with me.

"I will," I promised.

After giving her a good-bye kiss, I left the house and headed past the pier.

Unlike the beach piers of popular vacation destinations, there were no tourist activities here, just sailboats coming in and out. As stated above, Skylock wasn't really an ideal tourist locale.

The tugging sensation of an invisible rope led me towards the bazaar. Along the way, I passed a store selling masks for the upcoming carnival.

Ah, yes, the carnival.

The carnival, scheduled to happen in a week, was the one time that Skylock was colorful and cheery. For most of the rest of the year, the city looked dull and depressing.

Revellers would take to the streets by the thousands, wearing colorful masks and throwing rainbow-colored powder into the air. There was a parade through the streets, and it was usually a cause for celebration.

When I was just a Zorua, I'd thought the carnival was the coolest thing since sliced bread. However, now that I was older, it didn't interest me quite as much. It just wasn't my thing anymore, and my family respected that.

Once I was in the bazaar, I saw my best friend from school, a female Lucario named Lucia. She was standing over a vendor, a Marowak selling cured Magikarp from the nearby ocean.

"It's three for ten dollars," Marowak told Lucia. My best friend paid for the fish and then turned to face me.

"Oh! Jenna, good morning!" she exclaimed. She was a pretty enthusiastic Lucario in general, and that was one thing I admired about her. Even though it was such a gray day and a downpour seemed imminent, she was still smiling.

"Morning, Lucia" I replied. I did not share her optimism about today. Something about the tugging sensation around my waist was telling me not to feel optimistic. Trying to make small talk, I continued with, "Are you going to the carnival next week?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, smiling widely. She opened her handbag to reveal that she was carrying a purple mask inside.

"Sweet" I replied. "Well, enjoy it for me, okay? I don't think I'll be going". Little did I know how right I would end up being.

Lucia looked slightly crestfallen. "Oh…".

I nodded. "Sorry about that. It's just not my thing anymore. It's really nothing personal, but I have to get going now".

"Okay. See you back at school, Jenna".

After I bade her good-bye, I continued following the source of the pull. This wasn't a difficult task, mind you, because trying to go in a different direction was like trying to swim upstream in a rushing river: You're just not going to do it unless you're a superhuman...or superPokemon.

It was midmorning, and the streets were fairly crowded. I was jogging down the cobblestone paths, working up a thin layer of sweat, when it started raining.

A few seconds after the rain had begun, I ducked below the awning of a three-story apartment building (Skylock's building codes mandated that nothing other than the Skylock Clock Tower be built higher than six stories, so this wasn't too short a height for such a building).

Catching my breath, I saw that, speaking of the devil, the Skylock Clock Tower was right ahead. It was on the other side of Central Square, and it rose sixteen stories above the square. It also just so happened to be the apparent source of the tugging sensation, or rather, where I was "anchored" to.

So there's something going on in the clock tower. At least, that's what I now believe.

Normally, I was a lot more cautious than this. I didn't share Lucia's zest for taking risks, nor was I a particularly adventurous Zoroark. But something told me that I had to go to the clock tower, if for no other reason than to see what was going on.

Central Square was the most upscale neighborhood in town; the townhouses were at least twice as expensive as my own home, and they were much bigger as well. They looked out over the majestic stone fountain in the middle of the square, and it was quite a sight to behold.

The particular fountain I am speaking of had a father-son pair of a Lucario and a Riolu as statues. Water spouted out of their foreheads into the fountain, making a rather satisfying trickling noise. Even amidst the rain, it was still a sight to behold, and I could have stayed there for an hour or two, just watching it all happen.

I'm not staying here too long. I have business to attend to.

Luckily, Central Square wasn't very crowded at this time of day; most of the well-to-do, or what passed for it in Skylock, were staying indoors, and I couldn't blame them. If I didn't have this weird tugging sensation, I would be doing the same.

Once across the square, I opened the door to the clock tower. It was considered public property, meaning that you could enter for free so long as you did not deface the property in any way, shape, or form.

Of course, it's not like I had ever intended to do so; it was the most impressive building in town by a long shot. I certainly didn't want it to be ruined at all.

Wow, this is pretty incredible.

I'd probably been inside the clock tower hundreds of times, but even though I often went there, it never failed to amaze me. The sight of all those gears working together to keep the clock going is pretty impressive when you take the time to observe it.

The interior of the tower was made of stone. Since it was such an ancient structure, a copious amount of moss had begun to grow in between some of the stones; this was basically the only natural green you could find in Skylock.

All that moss served to make the floor rather slippery, so I watched my step very carefully as I climbed the stairs downwards into the clock tower's basement.

What is going on here?, I wondered.

The basement of the tower was deserted, but for one individual. It was an individual whom I'd never seen before, as there were no other members of his species in Skylock, and I'd rarely if ever left the town. I'd certainly never left the small continent of Ilion on which Skylock was located.

Anyway, a male Braixen, maybe about six feet tall, was sleeping on the ground. His fur, yellow, white, orange, and black, all looked pretty matted, as though he'd been here for some time.

I'm not just going to leave this guy here to die! I have to bring him home!

That was my first instinct; you can make fun of me all you want for it, but that was the first thing that came into my mind at that moment.

I had always been taught to be wary of strangers, and not to interact with them any more than absolutely necessary, but I had also been taught to help those who couldn't help themselves. Those two values came into conflict, and the latter won the day.

"Wake up, Braixen!" I exclaimed, nudging him on the shoulder. "Are you okay?"

For a few terrifying seconds, nothing happened. Even though I hadn't shouted it too loudly, it sounded audible enough to wake the dead, let alone those who were only asleep or unconscious.

Then, the Braixen began to stir. There was a slight groaning noise that came from his mouth, and he said, "M...morning".

"There you are! How did you get here?"

When no answer was forthcoming, I realized that he was probably more than a little disoriented. That is, after all, how I sometimes felt after waking from a deep slumber.

Braixen shook his head. "I don't...actually, yeah, I know. First of all, my name's not Braixen".

Well, sorry. I didn't know your name! It didn't occur to me to call you anything other than Braixen!

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Bradley" he croaked. "Bradley Clarion. Fell down...couldn't get back up again".

I was surprised that he told me his full name right away, but I didn't question it. I wasn't the type of Zoroark who would hurt him.

I sat down next to Bradley. "It's fine. It's all going to be okay".

Even though I said that as though I believed it, I wasn't too sure about it. Skylock wasn't very kind to newcomers. Some of the townspeoples' attitudes towards new arrivals were as cold as the ocean was during the winter. Bringing in someone nobody recognized was definitely going to be frowned upon.

At the same time...how could I not?

This time I spoke with total conviction. "Let's get you out of this place".

Originally, I was going to have an exotic animal market be the place Lucia was shopping, but given the current worldwide situation, I decided that would probably be in poor taste. Also, I kept almost typing Lucas instead of Lucia, since the former is my real name. (To those who had any doubts, yes, it says that on my driver's license and passport).

In any case, this is where the story is about to kick into a higher gear. Bradley Clarion is now a Braixen, and the next chapter will focus on how he copes with this new reality of being a stranger in a strange land.

Finally, if anyone here wants to contact me, you can find me on Discord at Lucas Whitefur #9745. I'd really love to meet a few readers; that would be cool. In any case, stay safe, and I'll see you guys next time!