Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Pokémon. Obviously. I would also like to thank nightdragon0 for his wonderful fics about Chimera, and dragons, as well as the whole Chimera C2 for their wonderful stories and ideas. Needless to say, I hope this fic will be as good as theirs, and I hope to implement this story into their web of complicated links.

Also, this chapter is dedicated to Chili Helena Sphinx, who is pretty much the one who made me continue the story. Props, and I hope you enjoy it.

Note to Chili: this is your birthday present, so quit complaining, kay?

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Chap. 2: Grace

written by Sandal that Stinks

"Let us go back, Vulps."

The Vulpix tilted her head at Josh, her intelligent expression mirroring her trainer's good mood. Meeting Matt was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to Josh: his bitter feelings towards strangers, towards the citizens and visitors of Celadon, had suddenly ceased. As a result, his juggling had improved greatly, allowing them to gather more money than during peak season. And that was saying much, considering that it was pretty much rainy season at that time. "Go back where? The Pokécentre?"

While most people could guess what their Pokémon were trying to say because of the close bond linking trainer and pet, hardly any really knew for certain what the Pokémon were saying. This was not the case for Josh. For some reason or another, he did not know why, he was able to understand Pokémon speech, every single word of it. As such, he knew what Vulps had asked, despite the fact that a tilted head usually meant confusion, and despite the fact that he had no way of knowing that a single 'Vulpix' might actually be Vulps' way of saying 'Pokécentre'.

Rainy season here or there, the evening sun was quite present at the moment, shining blindingly into Josh's eyes. "Yes, the Pokécentre." He knew for a fact that Vulpix despised that place, more than just from the telling crease in her forehead. She was proud, perhaps prouder than any Ninetales. Living as a beggar must be like living through hell for her. And staying in the Pokécentre, a place with beds only for those in need, thanking its existance to charity from the rich, was nothing but a daily reminder of this.

'If only I had money...'

That reminded him of the time when he had run from the orphanage. It was barely a year ago, but memories faded quickly when you were concerned about your own survival. Life over there had not been good for him. He was not the kind to get along with other kids, and often enough, he would end up as an outcast, isolating himself in order to avoid being mocked.

He would have run away much earlier, had it not been for Chili, his sister.

'Well, not really sister. Not my biological sister, in any case...'

Chili had been able to understand Pokémon as well. She had also been the one to teach him how to juggle, even though he did not have the same knack for those things that she showed. They had pretty much been brother and sister, each looking after the other.

One day, though... Josh still thought of that day as the apocalypse, the end of the world. He had not been able to help her, not been able to reach far enough to catch her flailing arms. Their lovely stream, from which they were often sent to collect water, had suddenly turned into a raging river, taking his sister from him, leaving him nothing but her drowning screams. He had been made to watch her end, just like her Fire-type Pokémon. Vulps...

A piercing scream interrupted his thoughts. Vulpix and he stood just in front of the Pokécentre, Route 7, and with it the dangerous habitat of wild Pokémon, barely a stone's throw away. Josh sprinted away from the Pokécentre door, which had automatically opened, towards the wild, Vulpix close behind him. He stood on a rather high ledge, peering down into the tall grass, knowing already that a pack of Growlithes must have cornered some young trainer. And there! As predicted, a young girl stood, filled with fear, her back to the ledge wall. Oddly enough, she was surrounded by a dense mist, which, so it seemed to Josh, was constantly growing, enveloping the attackers.

'She looks one or two years younger than I am. And she looks...wow.'

Josh shook his head, concentrating on the matter at hand. He looked down at Vulps, who immediately dashed forward, using their higher ground as opportunity to knock out one of the three attacking Growlithes in one hit by leaping onto its neck. As soon as she had landed, however, she was immediately attacked by one of the pack. Though she managed to dodge a swipe, she found herself cornered, along with the girl.

But Josh was just behind her, and with a quick motion, he threw two of his Pokéballs at the Growlithes. Even though they quickly broke free, this gave Vulps the time to Double Team, creating a near perfect image of herself. Along with the mist, which, rather conveniently, had a smell of its own, this was enough to confuse the fire-dogs. The image rushed towards the first Growlithe, disappearing as soon as it leaped at it. Vulps quickly caught it at its landing, striking a terrific Take Down on it. The second dog, however, made its way towards the girl, apparently wanting to Tackle her. Vulps spun around, not knowing what to do. Josh, however, standing just next to the fox, quickly gave his orders. "Vulps, Quick Attack, then finish it off with a Faint Attack!"

The Vulpix responded almost instantly. Sending the Growlithe flying thanks to a Quick Attack to its side, she faded into a purpleish darkness... Only to reappear close to her still airborne opponent, ramming her shoulder into its neck, projecting it into the ground with a rather loud 'thump'.

As soon as the last Growlithe fell, the mist began retreating to its centre: the girl.

"What was that, Josh?" Vulps turned towards the girl, eyeing her suspiciously, as if not knowing what to make of the whole situation. Before Josh could even raise his eyebrows, the girl took a step forward, inclining her head slightly, as if in thanks. Josh could hardly stare enough, such was the grace in the girl's movement. He did, however, note that she held a Togepi in her arms, cradling it like a baby.

"Thank you very much, dear Vulpix. And you too, Josh."

Josh's astonishment immediately turned into mistrust. "How do you know my name? And who are you?"

"Ah, of course, I'm so sorry. My name is Grace Cela. As for your question, my dearest Vulpix, that was the equivalent of a Safeguard and Mist attack combined. Togepi here managed to conjure it up as soon as the Growlithes attacked. I don't think we could have done anything else to fend off their attacks, though, so many thanks to you."

Josh cocked an eyebrow, debating whether Grace had been able to guess what Vulps had said, or whether she had actually understood it. Shaking his head, he quickly dismissed the second explanation.

"So what are you doing here? You should know better than to travel through the wild with just a Togepi."

"Aye, I was waiting for my brother. We had an appointment here, and usually he comes earlier than this." Grace paused for a moment, then, bending down to Vulps, decided to change conversation partner. "What is your name, my dear?"

Vulps's expression had lightened at the girl's manners, and her manner of moving around like as if the wind were carrying her, stepped forward, and, without thinking twice, rubbed her nose against Grace's outstretched hand. "My name's Vulps", she purred, forgetting that humans couldn't understand her.

To Josh's amazement, Grace simply carressed Vulps's head. "Vulps, huh? I must say, your trainer wasn't really original in choosing the name. It is, however, a very nice one. Do you like it?"

The Vulpix nodded, enjoying the strokes too much to notice anything. Before Josh could question her, Grace gazed up at him, smiling a wonderfully beautiful smile at him.

'Wow, even that little dimple under her cheek fits', he noticed absent-mindedly.

"You understand them too, don't you?", Grace stated, revealing what Josh had just wanted to ask. He simply stared at her. "You... you are like us, my brother and me. You can understand Pokémon, every single word they utter, can't you?"

Josh hesitated. All his life, he had guarded this secret. All his life, until Chili, just like Grace now, had displayed the same skill. She, too, had instantly known that Josh possessed the same ability as she did. And thus, they had come to cherish their secret, like a special gift to one another, a promise to stay friends... forever.

He nodded tentatively, snapping out of his thoughts once again. "How did you know?"

Grace shrugged, her pale, slim, and foremost cute face losing a bit of its smile. "I can just tell, just like I can foresee the weather, at times, or…" She glanced past Josh, as if suddenly distracted from whatever she wanted to say, then began waving, her expression brightening up again. "Here comes my brother! You should meet him, you'll definitely like him!"

What Josh glimpsed when he peered around his shoulder was enough to make him swallow his tongue, once again. Vulps, however, screamed his exact thoughts, so excitedly that it could have been classified as hysterical: "Oh my god, Josh, it's him! It's Matt!"