Two vehicles drove into the parking lot closest to Alex's apartment. One, a silver minivan that kept idling as Alex and his father stepped out of the other one, a simple blue four person vehicle. Alex gingerly made his way around the car and to his father, both having a troubled expression.

Alex's father gave Alex the car key and carefully gave him a one arm hug. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay, Alex? It's not too late to change your mind. You know you're more than welcome to stay with us until you get better," he said with his voice filled with a familiar fatherly concern.

Alex nodded and hugged his father back, exerting a little more pressure than was being used on him. "I'm sure. I need to work some things through on my own. It's been... well it's been quite a few days, to put it lightly."

His father clearly did not like that answer, which Alex certainly could not blame him for. His father knelt down a little to get on Alex's height level and wrapped both arms around him. Alex felt a tiny twinge of pain in his chest, but he bore through it. He and his father both needed the comfort. His father took a breath and muttered in a tone Alex could just hear. "Please, please be careful going forward."

Alex strained his body slightly in response to the chest pain, but made no attempt to pull away from the embrace. "I will. I promise."

The two held the embrace for a solid minute until Alex's father hesitantly pulled away and started towards the idling minivan. "Just call if you need anything, okay?"

Alex nodded, then turned towards the driver of the minivan and gave a wave towards her. "Thanks for the help, aunt Tess!"

The woman leaned out the window and waved back. "Anytime, hun! Be safe now, ya hear? I don't wanna hear about you getting banged up more than ya already are!" she called out back in a thick southern accent.

Alex chuckled at her friendly motherly demeanor and started to make his way towards his front door. "I will! See ya around!"

Alex's father got into the minivan with his aunt Tess and they both rode away from Alex's apartment complex, leaving the blue vehicle behind. Alex clicked the lock button on his car remote and fished for his apartment key, but as soon as he found it, the front door opened up without Alex having done anything. Alex took a slightly startled step back and looked up towards the entryway. Isaac was standing there with an expression of even greater surprise.

"Alex! Holy shit, you're back! Are you okay, hun? I heard about the regirock explosion," Isaac asked in a frantic manner.

Alex held up both of his hands in a placating motion. "Calm down, calm down, I'm fine. Ribs are still cracked and I've got a few bruises, so be gentle with me." Isaac stepped aside so Alex could enter the apartment. Alex slowly walked over to the couch and gingerly sat down on the living room couch, taking in a sharp breath, hissing through the stabbing pain in his chest. "Fuck, that asshole really did a number on me though," he muttered bitterly.

Isaac's eyes flashed with anger, but it just as quickly gave way to concern and relief. "I'm frankly just glad you're home in one piece." He shut the front door to the apartment, but stayed standing near the entrance vvith his hands in his shorts pockets. "Did they say when you're gonna be in good enough shape to go about your life normally?"

Alex threw his head back against the couch cushion and stared up towards the ceiling. "A whole freaking month. Ugh, this sucks so much. I really don't wanna be stuck inside doing nothing for that long," he complained loudly.

Isaac frowned and leaned against the door. "To be fair, hun, there's not much to be done at the moment anyway. A lot of people are still kinda stuck."

Alex bit the inside of his lip. "Yea, but... I at least had the ability to exercise," 'Or train, of course,' "but now I don't even have that," he continued, still complaining, but not as loudly as before.

Isaac righted himself up and reached for the doorknob. "I'm sure there are less strenuous exercises you can do. Maybe some form of yoga?"

Alex just sighed. 'Even if that actually was what I was talking about, I'm pretty sure that yoga is actually a more strenuous exercise.'

Isaac gave Alex a sad look and opened the front door. "Tell ya what. I was already fixing to go grocery shopping cuz we need stuff, so while I'm out, I'll get ingredients to make gumbo tonight since you've had a pretty shitty week. That sound okay?"

Alex didn't look at Isaac, but his mouth widened into a smile that Isaac could plainly see. "Have I ever mentioned how awesome you are?"

That got a chuckle out of Isaac. "You could mention it more often than you do," he responded in a cheeky tone. He began to exit the apartment. "I'll be back in a bit, hun. Take it easy."

Alex shot his head up as he suddenly recalled something. "Oh wait a sec!

Isaac was just starting to close the door behind him before Alex's outburst stopped him. Isaac opened the door enough for him to peek inside. "Yea? Something you need from the store?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just ah... is it okay if I have a friend visit for a bit? I was supposed to meet up with him the day after the explosion, and uh, that obviously didn't happen."

Isaac smiled. "Not a problem. I mean, it's your place too. In fact, ask him if he wants to stay for dinner."

Alex cringed and felt a small pang of guilt. That's not at all what he intended. "Are you sure, man? I wasn't wanting to make you feed an extra mouth. I just wanted to see him and catch up for a bit since we kinda missed our last opportunity to."

Isaac waved off Alex's concern. "Don't worry about it, man. I don't mind doing it this once."

Alex gave a defeated grunt. "I suppose if it's okay..."

Isaac chuckled and pulled his head out of the doorway. "I'm sure. Text me if you need anything from the store." Alex didn't have time to respond before Isaac shut the door behind him, leaving Alex on his own again.

Alex let his head fall back against the couch again and gave a frustrated grunt. 'Stuck inside my home yet again. After everything had started slowly but surely started getting back up to speed too. Fuck's sake...' He pulled his phone out and sent a quick text to Eli, letting him know he was free to visit for a while and even stay for dinner. After hitting send, he carefully got up, moving to his bedroom, and unceremoniously tossed his phone aside onto his bed. Alex simply stood in the middle of his room for several moments. 'I must be insane to even consider doing this with an injury without knowing what will happen.' He took a breath and decided to go for it without second guessing himself. Alex mentally prepared himself, and with a flash of white light, he willed himself into his pokemon form.

Alex steadied himself on the ground and instinctively lifted himself into the air before his awkward body proportions caused him to fall over again. Much to Alex's surprise, his chest pain, while still present, was noticeably more muted as a mew. Alex chuckled. 'Thank you, pokemon durability.' Alex mentally lifted his phone and found that his chest injury also had no effect on at least his psychic powers. He let it drop again and floated over to his bedroom door, giving a quick unnecessary peek outside of his room. He shut his door and locked it, committing himself to training once again, injuries be damned. 'I've got time til either Eli or Isaac gets here. Might as well try and see if I can figure out my supposed invisibility powers and the move Transform.'

Alex's body flickered and shimmered with his surroundings for but a brief moment, but just as suddenly as it started, it stopped, and his pokemon body returned back to normal. Alex let out an excessively loud growl, mentally slammed his pillow against the wall in frustration, and dropped onto his bed. He winced in pain and grabbed hold of his chest, having accidentally aggravated his injury slightly, but he quickly shook it off. He hardly cared about that at the moment. "I don't fucking get it," he growled in frustration, "mews are supposed to be mythical pokemon, right? Shitload of natural talent and all? Yea, so why the fuck am I having so much trouble?" he yelled out to no one in particular. Alex let out a frustrated sigh, and after remembering his arms weren't big enough to reach his face, settled for banging the back of his head against his mattress. 'I mean, I guess I did only just start practicing invisibility, so I guess maybe something like that that's not explicitly a move is going to take a bit to fully figure out, but I at least know it's possible and I'm at a decent starting point.' Alex let out a very irate exhale and yelled out the rest of his frustrations. "So why in the FUCK am I not able to transform?! That should be the number one thing I'm able to do! It's the thing that mews are known for, for fuck's sake! But for some reason I'm completely unable to do it at all? What kind of absolute bullshit is THAT?!"

The moment he finished yelling out his frustrations to no one, he heard a knocking on the front door. Alex yelped with surprise and fear, and rapidly willed himself back to normal. He took a breath to calm all of his nerves and made his way to the door as casually as possible, opening it up to find a slightly confused Eli. "Hey, man. Glad you could make it... what's wrong?" Alex asked, noticing Eli's confusion.

Eli looked past Alex into his apartment. "Hey uh... what was that noise I heard? Sounded like some sort of squeaking."

Alex was even more confused than Eli appeared to be. "Squeaking? What do you mean? I- ahm," Alex stuttered as realization dawned onto him mid sentence. He never really thought about it before since he was always able to understand himself, but he was almost certain that the squeaking Eli heard was, in fact, Alex himself, as he was yelling in his mew form. Luckily, Eli seemed to be completely oblivious to the possibility that those sounds were pokemon in nature. Alex continued on with his original comment as seamlessly as he could manage, "I didn't hear anything of the sort. You sure you heard something from my place?"

Eli's eyes narrowed and his expression grew even more perplexed, but then he simply decided to wave it off. "Maybe I just heard someone's dog or birds somewhere else or something."

Alex gave a quick nod. "That's entirely possible. The upstairs neighbors have a couple of pet parakeets in their living room." Alex had to suppress a chuckle. 'It's funny cuz that's not even a lie.' Alex gave Eli a friendly shoulder pat and a smile. "It's good to see you again, though. Sorry I couldn't make it for training. I really did want to be there so bad."

Eli spared Alex a soft smile. "It's no big deal. I'm just glad to see you're okay. How's your chest?"

Alex's smile melted a bit and gave a frustrated grunt. "It's not unbearable, but it's really bothering me. In fact, I'm gonna get some advil for it real quick." Alex turned to go back inside the apartment, but stopped himself and opened the door further for Eli. "You can come inside, though. Make yourself at home."

Alex trudged over to the bathroom and quickly grabbed a couple of over-the-counter pain pills. He walked back to the kitchen area to grab a small glass from the cabinet and noticed Eli was sitting on the couch, looking very uncomfortable with the situation. "So how have you been? Training going alright?" he asked, hoping to help his friend relax. He filled his glass with enough water for a single swallow and used them to down both pain pills.

Eli shrugged and didn't look Alex in the eye. "I mean, I guess. Haven't really been motivated to do much of it since last time, and especially after I heard about you getting hurt."

Alex pursed his lips and felt yet another pang of guilt. "Ugh, I'm really sorry to have worried you, man."

"Don't worry about it. It's no big deal."

Eli was being dismissive about it, but Alex could tell that it was a bigger deal to Eli than he was letting on. An awkward silence hung in the air briefly before Alex decided to change the subject. "But you did train some, though? What all did you work on?"

Eli cheered back up a bit. "Ah, well actually, it wasn't a move I worked on. I tried something else zoruas are known for; creating illusions. It's actually way easier to make small illusions than you'd think."

Alex smirked and made his way back towards the living room right by where Eli was sitting. "So you could totally be disguised right now without me knowing it."

Eli started stammering slightly and looked away. "I uh, no that's- n-no I... don't think I could. Um, keep it up, I mean. The illusion. It's uh-"

Alex chuckled and gave Eli a friendly shoulder pat. "Relax, man. I'm just teasing."

Eli tried giving Alex a glare, but it melted fast and he just sighed. "Either way... illusions are easy enough to come up with, but I can't keep em up for long stretches of time just yet. Can't really keep em up very well as I'm using attacks either. But I'm working on it."

Alex nodded and started thinking of what things a zorua could work on in their training, then thought of a detail he remembered seeing in one of the pokemon movies that featured a zorua. "Hang on, you said you can create small illusions, right? I'm assuming this means you can disguise yourself into other pokemon or humans?"

Eli nodded. "That's right. I sometimes disguised as other pokemon, but I usually did my human form so I could get used to it."

Alex felt a flash of irritation that he didn't outwardly show. 'How come he can turn into other pokemon and I can't? Ugh... well I guess it is just an illusion. Still- ah, whatever. Not the point.' "Is there any sort of physical aspect of your pokemon body that doesn't change in your illusions? Like, say your... tail is still there, for example."

Eli raised an eyebrow as Alex spoke, but realized what he meant by the end of his question and nodded. "I know what you mean. And sorta. Nothing as noticeable as a tail, though. My hair actually gets red highlights at the front of my head."

Alex chuckled. "Wow, very noticeable difference, but absolutely no one would think it's pokemon in nature."

Eli couldn't help but laugh, himself. "That's pretty much what I thought. Hell, I may dye my hair that way too just to complete the look. I don't think it looks too bad either."

"Yea, dude, go for it. I think it'd be a good look for ya anyway."

Eli looked away. "Oh I dunno about that. I just personally like it for myself." Eli's tone sounded reserved, but Alex couldn't help but notice that Eli was smiling.

Alex grinned back at him. Eli was being too humble for his own good. Alex said nothing more on the subject, however, and walked over to the front window of the apartment and stared outside longingly. "Well I'm glad you were still able to get some practice out of that time. Wish I coulda been there to help. Not like I'm a pokemon, myself, but maybe having even a friend coach you could go a long way..."

"Alex, please. It's okay. I know you're worried about me thinking you abandoned me. I don't." Alex turned to face Eli as he spoke. Eli's face was full of concern. "You totally have an excuse for not showing up. I'm just glad you're not worse off than you are."

"Heh, alright alright, I'll stop apologizing," Alex said before turning back to face outside the window. He sighed and shook his head. "Still wish I could've been out there with ya instead of in a hospital. Between that trip, the initial day that it happened, and now apparently I have to take it easy and recover... I dunno about you, but I'm tired of being stuck inside dwelling on my emotions."

"Well... what if we went outside, then?"

Alex took more than a moment to process the question and he turned to face Eli with a slightly perplexed look. "Wait, what?"

Eli flinched at Alex's expression and shied away slightly, but continued on with his thought process. "I mean, uh... well we don't have to do anything too tiring, right? I'm pretty sure just a walk isn't gonna hurt your chest too much. A-and if it starts hurting too much, we can just go back, right?"

Alex digested this idea. 'I suppose something like that wouldn't hurt, right? I can't be stuck in here forever. Gotta get moving somehow.' "Actually. that doesn't sound half bad. We could take a short walk around or just outside the complex before my roommate gets back. That sound okay?"

Eli regained his confidence and gave a small nod with a genuine smile. "Sounds good."

The pair grabbed a water bottle for each of them and Alex slowly made his way to his room to get his keys. It took him a bit, but Alex started to feel the pain pills kicking in, numbing some of the pain in his chest, and he was motivated to move a bit faster. Alex locked the door behind them and started slowly towards the pathway just outside the apartment complex. The two walked side by side, not saying much, but simply enjoying the other's company, up until they reached the front gate of the apartment, where Alex noticed two guys yelling loudly over a third.

Eli made a face Alex couldn't decipher. "What on earth is going on over there?"

Alex rolled his eyes at the scene in front of him. "I don't know, and I don't want to know. There are some complete fuckheads in this complex that like to be loud for no reason. I'm betting these are two of em," Alex spoke with exasperation in his voice, "C'mon, let's just ignore em. Nothing good can come from-" unfortunately, Alex kept his gaze on the loud duo for too long and made the mistake of making eye contact with one of them.

"Hey! Hey Shawn! These guys are eyeballing us!" The two men started walking up to Alex and Eli rather aggressively.

'Oh jesus christ, please don't start. Please.' Alex tensed up nervously. He could feel Eli backing up little by little, as well as hear him breathing faster. Alex turned his head slightly to quickly address Eli in a whisper. "Eli, no matter what happens, do not transform."

Eli flinched and gave a startled whisper back. "What? But-"

Alex didn't give Eli time to voice his objection. "I'm serious. People hate pokemon right now, and pokemon or not, you would not be able to win a two on one, and I can't do anything. Just lay low," Alex rapidly whispered. He then turned to face the two men and tried defusing the situation before it got out of hand. "Hey look, I'm sorry for staring, but I didn't mean-"

"Hear that? Boy says he's sorry!" one of the men jeered. Both of them were skinny but muscular, in very loose white tank tops. One of them had silver baggy shorts and a headband while the other had tattered jeans on. "Think it's fuckin funny to be making faces, huh?"

Alex glanced towards the background. There was a third person, right? Then Alex noticed he was making a beeline towards the opposite direction. 'Figures.' Alex cursed under his breath. "No, no, definitely not. We were just passing through-"

"So then mind your own goddamn business, shithead. Anyone ever teach you staring is rude?" the man in the baggy jeans interrupted angrily.

Alex was inwardly both seething and terrified of any rising conflict, but he forced himself to keep his composure. "You're right. It's rude and it won't happen again."

"Damn straight, it won't. Get lost, punk-ass," the same man spat, shoving Alex in the chest for good measure.

Alex couldn't keep his composure any longer after being shoved right where it hurt most. He stumbled a few steps backwards and yelled out in pain, falling to his knees. "Aahh, fuck! Fuck fuck, shit, that hurt!" he cursed while clutching his chest and screwing up his face in pain.

Eli gasped and rushed over to Alex to comfort him. "Oh God, Alex, are you okay?"

This outburst of pain only provoked further interest from the two aggressive men. "Hah! Get a load of mister tough guy, here, Jace! Down after just a push!" The two got closer to Alex and Eli, causing Eli to withdraw slightly out of fear. The man in the silver shorts got in Alex's face. "You really that big of a pansy that you go down after a shove?"

"Shut- s-shit..." Alex bit back a retort, knowing it would just make the situation so much worse. Unfortunately it didn't work as much as Alex would've liked.

"What was that? You telling me to shut up?" the man in Alex's face spat, giving Alex another push in his chest.

It wasn't as forceful as the last push, but it was still incredibly painful for him. Alex fell to the ground entirely, writing in pain. "F-fuck... cracked rib," he managed to croak out.

The man closest to Alex stood up. "Oh, I'm so sorry, ooohhh... that's gotta hurt like a bitch, huh?" he said, not sounding the least bit sorry.

The other man, which had taken a backseat to the scene until this point, walked up and tapped the other aggressive man's shoulder. "Hey Jace, you know what? I heard about a fight that happened a few days ago between a couple of those pokeyman freaks. How much you wanna bet he's one of em and that's how he got hurt?"

The man in the silver shorts, apparently named Jace, walked back up to Alex and towered over him. "That true, pansy-ass? Is that why you were fuckin makin faces at us? Cuz you think just cuz you're a freak, you're fuckin better than us?!"

Alex tried to yell out a defensive response through his pain. "N-noho, I'm not- AGH FUCK!" Alex was interrupted by a hard kick against Alex's shoulder. Alex instinctively curled up, trying desperately to protect his head and chest as pain exploded all over his body.

"Turn into it then, fuckface! I'll fuckin take you by myself even with- wohfuck!" The aggressor was knocked off his feet by Eli, who gave him a running shove.

"Stay away from my friend!" he yelled out in desperation, voice still strongly laced with fear.

"Hey woah, back off, jackass!" The other man blindsided Eli with an even stronger shove, sending him crashing against the ground on top of his arm. Eli yelled out and reflexively rolled off his side, onto his back, and held onto his arm, grimacing in pain.

Both men walked over to and towered over Eli, who by this point had shaken off the initial blow, but was too overcome with fear to do anything else. He attempted to crawl backwards in a futile attempt to put as much distance between himself and the unhinged men as possible. Alex, still writhing in pain, could only watch helplessly as his friend was ganged up on. "Eli... f-fuck..."

"Fuckin pansy-ass number two over here wants to be the fuckin hero, huh?" "Dipshit wants to protect his pokeyman freak buddy. Not what I'd call smart." "You think he's fuckin one of em too?" "No doubt. All you freaks need to be taught a thing or two, thinkin you're better than everyone. No one wants you here, shitbag."

Tears stemming from pure terror started to well up in Eli's eyes. He began to hyperventilate. "Please... n-no, please..."

"GET AWAY FROM THEM BOTH!" a new voice called out. One that sounded all too familiar to Alex. Everyone's attentions shifted to the voice's origin. It was Isaac. He was standing outside a car parked by the sidewalk, pointing a gun at the two men.

The two men flinched and backed up a few steps away from Isaac with their hands held up to head level. "Hey woah! Ease up, big man. We don't want no trouble-"

"Last warning. Both of you," Isaac interrupted forcefully, "Back. The fuck. Off. Or both of you find out what a bullet feels like today."

The two men exchanged nervous looks and took the message. They both walked back into the apartment complex without another word or look back.

Isaac lowered his gun, but silently kept an eye on the men for several moments before he holstered it and rushed over to Alex and Eli's aid. "Alex, oh fuck dude, are you okay? Please say something."

Alex groaned in pain. "Urgh... something," he mumbled weakly.

Isaac gave an irritated scoff. "That's not as funny as you think it is. Can you move?"

Alex moved his right arm without much issue, but trying to move his left arm caused pain to shoot in his shoulder. An even worse pain shot through his entire body when he tried straightening himself out. "FUCK! Ahh nope, not really!"

Isaac took a hissing breath in. "Okay okay, I got it, don't force it."

Eli finally recovered from his fear paralysis and rushed over to help. "Oh God, Alex, I'm so sorry. I-I tried to help, honest to God-"

Isaac did a double take, processing Eli's presence. "Wait, who are- oh. Alex's friend? Never mind, not important right now. Help me get him to the car."

Eli gave a nod and shakily moved over to Alex's side.

Isaac moved to Alex's opposite side and took a breath. "Okay, I'm sorry Alex, but this is gonna hurt like hell."

Alex braced himself and nodded.

"Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three!"

Blinding pain. Alex yelled out in agony. The worst of the pain was mercifully short lived and Alex was able to process the slow walk to Isaac's car. "I'm... I'm sorry," he forced out in a whisper-like tone.

Isaac and Eli both glanced towards Alex with worry and sorrow. It was Isaac who spoke up. "It wasn't your fault, hun. You're gonna be just fine, though. Let's get you home."

Alex silently closed the front door behind him later that night. Isaac was already long asleep and it gave Alex the perfect opportunity to step away from the apartment for a bit.

Alex's injuries from the attack earlier that day were thankfully not too serious after all. After a couple hours, most of the pain went away, and he had little more than a few more bruises than he had before the day began. It presumably only felt worse because his body was still recovering from the beating it took several days ago. Eli had come and gone, having been even more reclusive than when Alex first met the guy. He hardly spoke a word the entire evening. Though Alex could hardly blame him. An encounter like that would be traumatizing to a lot of people. Isaac, much to Alex's irritation, did not let Alex out of his sight the entire night, especially after Eli went home. It was very stifling to Alex, who felt the need to let loose a bit of steam after the day's events.

He walked over to the wooded area near his apartment complex. He had in the past dismissed it as a bad idea to train in, but at this time of night as a one time spot? Alex figured it wouldn't hurt. He ducked behind a building that he knew would shield himself from view as he transformed into his pokemon form. He transformed and quickly flew up to treetop level, traveling a fair distance inwards before peeking downward. After deciding that the area was clear, he floated downward and took a slow and deliberate breath. The pain in his body and especially his chest had noticeably dulled. He let himself relax slightly, cherishing the small amount of respite his pokemon form gave him from his pain after the near hellish past few days he had.

His serenity didn't last long, however. The more he chose to dwell on the events leading up to the present, the more infuriated he got. Alex's body tensed up as he psychically ripped a large branch off of a nearby tree and hurled it towards a large tree trunk with such velocity that the entire branch exploded on impact and left a rather large gash in the target tree's trunk. Alex let out a frustrated yell and flew straight at the tree and punched it with considerable force. Enough to dent the trunk yet again. Alex just floated in place seething for several moment after, until he gave a defeated sigh and lowered himself down until he was sitting on the ground. He leaned his head against the wounded tree trunk and let his arms hang limply. 'How the hell is any living being supposed to cope with all the shit that has happened to me in just a few days worth of time? First I get nearly blown to pieces, Nick did get- oh fuck...' The mere reminder of Nick caused Alex's body to shudder with sorrow and worry. 'I really hope he makes it... please God, Arceus, I don't even know which I'm supposed to pray to anymore. Whichever of you is watching, please let Nick make a full recovery. Of all the people this could've happened to, he deserves it the least. Please, please, for the love of all that is holy, please let him be okay...'

"M... mew?"

Alex swore his heart stopped beating in his chest for a second. He shot into the air and turned around with incredible speed to see who the owner of the surprised voice was. Alex was shocked yet again after seeing the owner of the voice was not a person, but some manner of creature he didn't recognize. It was a small round pale pink creature with pale blue hair bigger than its body, and a horn coming from the back of its head that resembled that of a stereotypical party hat. A pokemon from the games that were supposed to be released by the end of the year, perhaps? Alex paid little mind to it, however. He had been spotted. It was time to get away.

"No, please wait!" the high pitched feminine voice called out as Alex began backing away. But Alex ignored her completely. He needed to get away. He turned to get around the tree trunk so he could fly away as fast as possible, but unfortunately for him, his getaway was incredibly sloppy, and almost immediately after turning to face the direction he was going, he plowed into another tree, causing him to tumble to the ground again and land on his chest. Pain shot through his body yet again and he curled up, groaning from the recoil. 'Fucking again?! I am so sick of being beat and battered! Fuck!' he cursed inwardly.

The creature rushed forward to aid Alex. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you-"

Alex forcefully held an arm out to the creature. "Stay back! Don't touch me- agh!" He grimaced in pain and held onto his chest. The pain was starting to reach levels matching what he felt in his human form.

The creature flinched and stepped back, keeping a healthy distance. "You're hurt. I can help."

Alex shook off some of the pain and glared at the creature. "I don't want your help. Urgh, fuck, just leave. Please. I don't want to be seen by anyone."

The creature took an indignant stance. "Yea, well you shouldn't even be out here in that condition! I know a healing move. So please. Let me help."

Alex's glare faded and was replaced with a wary gaze. "What move?"

The creature shuffled uncomfortably. "I... I don't know."

Alex gawked and clenched his teeth. His patience was beginning to run thin. "The hell do you mean you don't know?"

The creature shied away, but continued to speak. "I mean I don't know what the move is! Some sort of healing water drops? I really don't know because I'm a pokemon that gamefreak hasn't even released yet!" The creature paused and took a calming breath. "I tried looking up the info for my species, but the pokemon company and gamefreak haven't said a word since the pokemon shift happened. So I can't tell you what I am or what I know because I really don't know. I think I might be a psychic type and the healing move I know is some sort of healing water drops that can heal both the user and an ally. But I can help, so... please. Let me," the creature finished with a nervous stance.

Alex studied the creature for any ill intent, but there was none. Multiple thoughts ran through Alex's head, including several telling him that this was a bad idea and he should just flee, but eventually, he gave a defeated nod, giving the okay to the unknown pokemon.

The pokemon girl swallowed nervously and began to faintly glow a turquoise color. She concentrated the glowing to the ends of her hair, and extended it as if they were appendages towards Alex.

Alex flinched, but forced himself to stay as the glowing concentrated to a single point until it became a droplet before his very eyes. It dripped onto him and he immediately felt a massive relief flood his body, and most notably, his chest. Alex exhaled and closed his eyes as his body's aches, fatigue, and pain all melted away with the droplets of healing liquid.

The unknown pokemon smiled gently and stepped back after finishing her healing move. "There. You okay now?"

Alex nodded weakly, suddenly realizing just how tired he was. His body was still very much sore, but it wasn't nearly as painful as it had been. "Yea... thank you so much." Alex opened his eyes again and faced the pokemon. "Forgive me if I don't introduce myself. I'm sure you understand why."

The girl nodded. "I totally get you. I'll just call you Mew. I'm Lila."

Alex nodded and took to the air once again, flexing various parts of his body. Still sore, but much better than before. "Thank you, Lila. I really appreciate it. But I have to go now." Alex turned to fly away.

"Oh, hold on a sec, Mew!"

Alex inwardly groaned. Against his better judgement, he turned to face the girl again to see what the matter was. "What is it?"

The girl took a fidgety step forward. "Um, I was wondering if you knew about all the disappearances."

Alex tilted his head, confused at the question. "What disappearances?"

"So... my friend disappeared a couple days after the pokemon shift happened. I was looking for her, and I found out that there was multiple people all around Austin who were all just fine after the shift happened, but now they all just vanished."

Alex crossed his arms, losing more and more of his patience. "Isn't it likely that all those people got scared and ran away, at least for the moment? I'm pretty sure there's plenty of fear going around that people cope in different ways." 'This is ridiculous. I'm wasting too much time being in one spot where someone else could see me.'

The girl shook her head adamantly. "No. Definitely not. Not my friend. She's the type to always let you know what's on her mind. And besides, where would they run to? My friend also turned into a pokemon, and I've been hearing that all the missing people did too."

Alex narrowed his eyes. Okay, maybe there was a bit more to this. But even so... "I mean, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm not a detective. I wouldn't even know where to start even if I could do something."

The pokemon girl let out desperate whine. "Please, you have to! I-I know where they might be going! There's an abandoned warehouse that a bunch of shady people like to hang around like they're in a gang, a-and the missing people pass by that area from time to time!"

Alex was starting to be taken aback by the girl's desperation. "Look, even if I knew exactly what they were up to and where they were, what makes you think I can do anything? Yes, I'm a mew, but I'm just a normal guy who has already gotten hurt one too many times for my liking. I'm sorry, but I can't help you. If you're that convinced something is wrong, contact the police," Alex said, trying to make his tone cold. In reality, he felt a great deal of sympathy for her, but Alex was convinced that there really wasn't much he could do to help. Alex turned around again and began to float away, but was once again stopped in his tracks by the girl calling out to him.

"Aren't you supposed to look after pokemon-kind?"

Alex froze and his mind very briefly flashed back to the pokemon and people he had in the past had passing thoughts of not being able to help them when he should've. The passed riolu, the shinx in agony, and- "Nick," he whispered so softly that no one could've possibly heard him.

The girl may not have heard him, but she took Alex freezing in his tracks as her cue to continue. "Look, I-I know you're just another person who didn't ask for this. But right now, you're the best chance they have of being found. The police aren't doing anything. I know. I've tried. But they're way too busy trying to do literally everything else to help with a bunch of people who they say 'may or may not be actually missing.' A-And... you're so much more powerful than most other pokemon right now. I've been training every day since the pokemon shift, and I'm still having trouble using anything more than a decent confusion attack. And then you come along and do, well, that," she said motioning to the very abused tree, "so please... please help. I miss my friend. I'm worried about her so much. Please..."

Alex still hadn't turned around again to face her, but he didn't have to to see how she felt. The girl sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Alex chewed on his lip. 'I can't believe I'm even considering this. Every part of this absolutely screams danger, and I've had enough of that in one week to last a lifetime.' Yet Alex's mind couldn't stop replaying through those pokemon he was supposed to be able to help. As well as Nick. Alex's heart fell. 'I guess if she has as good a friendship with her friend as I do with Nick... ugh, fuck, I know exactly how she feels. Damn it, this is a really really bad idea. But...' Alex sighed and turned his head the slightest amount. "Where is the warehouse?" he asked simply.

The girl paused and looked up at Alex. "...somewhere on West 1st street in downtown Austin. Does that mean...?" she trailed off hopefully.

'That's... not an exact location, but it gives me a pretty solid starting point. Fuck it, at the very least, it's worth checking out.' Alex looked forward again and prepared to take off, not wanting to stay in one spot any longer than necessary. "I make no promises, but I'll see what I can do," he muttered just loud enough for the girl to hear. He took off almost immediately after, flying above the trees. He could vaguely hear the girl eagerly calling out her gratitude as he flew away.

Alex just gave a frustrated grunt. 'Damn it all, this is what I get for complaining about being confined in one spot, I guess. I've had just about enough danger already.' Alex spotted the edge of the woods. He ducked behind the building he used for cover before and quickly willed himself back to normal. After the light faded, he began walking back towards his apartment, not even noticing how little pain he felt. He had too much on his mind. 'Maybe with any luck this is all going to be some misunderstanding. Or maybe the building is gonna be totally empty. Kinda hope it's the former, if anything.' Alex reached his front door and unlocked it as silently as he could manage, so not to wake Isaac up.

'That can wait tomorrow, though. I'm fucking exhausted.' Alex locked the door after entering, slowly trudged to his room, closed his bedroom door, simply flopped in bed, not even bothering to change out of his day clothes, and let the sweet embrace of a peaceful night's rest overtake him at last.

((And at last the plot begins to thicken! It took a bit to get here and make it feel natural, but the adventure is finally starting! I'm honestly kinda excited for the next couple of chapters. I've got several ideas on how to approach this storyline already, and some of them get kinda crazy.

I also wanted to address one other point. I've had one person approach me about this already, but if you wanted to make a story that takes place in this universe, feel free! My only ask is that you credit me for this specific universe idea in either your story description or in an author's note on your first chapter. Other than that, go wild! And message me if you have any questions regarding my universe's rules. I'll gladly answer them!

And as usual, comments and critiques about this story are greatly appreciated. Thanks!))