Meanwhile, back at the gym/cafe, Cress and Chili got up to start their day. Nothing seems out of the ordinary... until breakfast time came. Cress was making pancakes, when Chili walked in looking confused. "Hey... it's kinda quiet around here..." "Yeah you're right... where's Cilan?" "Maybe he's still asleep, I'll go wake him."

The eldest had a look of concern. Something wasn't right... normally Cilan would be already down in the kitchen, having set the table, and having a third cup of coffee (getting caffeine high in the process). Something happened to the youngest... but what? The sound of running feet snapped him out of his thoughts and confirmed his fears... "Cilan wasn't there..." Chili only nodded, before he spoke. "What happened last night? We all had dinner, you took Cilan's place in washing the dishes and sent him to bed cause we both sensed that he would fall asleep at any given moment, and then we went to bed not long after..." "Something isn't adding up... why would Cilan suddenly go missing?" "Maybe he was kidnapped?" "If that was the case, the crooks who did so would've called about a ransom like late last night." "Sleepwalking." "You do that, remember?" "Oh yeah..." "Well there's one good thing: he's not dead, but the bad news is that I can't sense his presence anymore" Chili had an idea. "Hey what about our telepathic link?" "It's worth a shot..." They then held hands and concrete hard trying to see if Cilan would join, but to no avail. They soon come out of it, a bit dizzy and woozy. "Now I know why we never do that anymore..." "We should lie down and rest for a bit..." "No, we need to go to the police and file a missing persons report."

So the brothers head to the police station, a bit wobbly... meanwhile a strange Pokemon was watching them from the rooftop of a nearby building...

Back at the bakery, Cilan had woken up and was playing with an RC train set that his adoptive parents bought him. Huh... so he was awake when his brothers tried to contact him, but he didn't answer... either his link is down or something was preventing them from connecting... but what, is the question...

Anyway, the parents closed shop for the lunch break and to take Cilan out for some fresh air. There was a small problem... it's the way he looks. "Sakura, I got an idea! Why don't we use our illusion ability to make him look like a Zorua?" "I think it would be better if he was a zoroark like us..." "I'm sure Cilan has some kind of special power to make himself small. Hey Cilan, come here for a minute!" He soon came out of his room, wondering what's up. "What's going on?" "Do you have a special power that can shrink you to child size? We want to use our illusion ability on you to turn you into a Zorua. Remember, the little talk we had about you living in this world? You can't let no one know about your human life or living with them." "Right... well I got size manipulation." He then closed his eyes and concreted, while Haru and Sakura were amazed at watching him literally get smaller before their eyes until he was roughly toddler sized. He grinned at them. "See? Told ya." even his voice changed to that of a child's. Sakura immediately picked him up and hugged him close. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any cuter!" "So son, how long can you hold that form?" "As long as I want" "that makes things easier!"

At that, Haru and Sakura pointed their claw at Cilan and soon cast an illusion to turn him into a Zorua. He still has the black fur but where there's red fur, it's replaced with green and of course he had his signature green eyes. Funny enough, his clothes also fit his current "body". Sakura then scooped him up and put him in her mane. Cilan couldn't believe how comfortable it was and sunk down a bit more. "Wow... this is so comfy and roomy..."

And with that the family lock up shop and stroll through the town. Cilan watched from his comfort zone and saw many young fox like and other Pokemon at play. Something within him made him feel strange... it was an unusual sensation... did he want to go play with the Pokemon? It sure seems like it...

"I... I..." "Yes Cilan, what is it" "I want to go play with the other Pokemon" "oh you want to go make some new friends? Ok!" Sakura gently set him on the ground and watched him run over to a couple of the Pokemon: a Vulpix who wore a cute pink bow and Pikachu who wore goggles and a vest that always stayed opened. Haru observed him. "He seems to be enjoying himself." The two went to go sit on a bench and watch him from afar. Seems he was in a bit of a discussion. The Pikachu and Vulpix took notice of him. "Wow a new friend! Nice to meet you! I'm Sparks and this is Ember. She's a bit shy. What's your name?" "I'm Cilan" "interesting, you're named after a food." The Vulpix, Ember, soon spoke up. "Well it's not that surprising, his parents are literally named after things that happen in spring time." Sparks had a sheepish grin at this. "She's got a point, anyway wanna play?" "Sure, what are you playing?" "Tag! Sparks is it!" They all then run around.

While that's happening, the parents head over to the clothing store and see what kind of cute outfits they can find for Cilan. Sakura found the cutest bowtie for him. It looked similar to the one he wore before, just that the green is a bit lighter to match his eyes.Afterwards, they went to smithy, whom happens to be a Charizard. They had the request for him to create a heart shaped locket, with Cilan's name engraved on it. The smithy gives them an hour for it to be ready and gets to work.

While they're waiting, they go over to the ice cream stand and get themselves some cones and get the sundae for Cilan to share with his new friends. Speaking of said fox, he comes up to them. "Whoa those look yummy..." "Oh we got the cones for us but we got the sundae for you guys!" Haru then sat the sundae on the table. Cilan's eyes lit up at the sight. "Sparks! Ember! Come look at what mom and dad got us!" The other two Pokemon come running and are just as awestruck. "Whoa we get all that?!" The fox was already digging in and nodded enthusiastically. The two soon joined him. "To friendship!" the three said in unison.

While they ate, Sakura and Haru were discussing a suitable allowance to start giving Cilan, considering their pastries are extremely popular, they can afford to give him one on a weekly basis.

Thirty minutes later, Sparks and Ember had their fill of the sundae, while Cilan finished it off. The fox soon felt something being tied around his neck. He looked to see a light green bowtie, with a heart locket attached to the center of it. A closer look and he noticed his name engraved on it. "We hope you like the gift, Cilan. We'll add pictures to it later." This was only met with a hug. "thank you..." was all he said.

After saying his goodbyes to his new friends and promising to play again soon, Cilan returns to the cafe with his parents. Once there, he sat at one of the tables and Sakura brought over a plate of freshly baked cookies and warm milk. Haru sweatdrops at the fact that his son is still craving sweets after sharing an ice cream sundae with his friends. He goes back to serving customers with his wife.

Sometime later, Cilan found himself in an unknown location... wasn't he still at the cafe? He decided to explore around and he soon found himself in a courtroom. Why a courtroom? He saw his parents but something was off... Haru and Sakura looked hurt and disappointed while there was an elderly Dalphox glaring at him. "For your crimes against us, I sentence you to banishment from the village and death!" "Wait, what did I do?!" No one said anything and he was soon in chains, being led out. "Wait mom and dad! What's happening what did I do?!" This was met with Haru ignoring his pleas and Sakura crying into his chest.

In the execution room, Cilan sat in the center of the floor, still chained, so there was no escape. He was surrounded by many Decidueye, whom, when given the command, shot arrows into him. When they stopped, he was still alive but just barely. One of the archer owls stepped forward and shot an arrow into his heart, point blank!

At that Cilan woke up with a start and looked around. He was in his bed in his room. There were no arrows sticking out of him... it was all a dream... "Oh man... what a horrible nightmare..." He soon laid back down but couldn't sleep... he needed comfort... he then got out of bed and went to go find his parents. He soon found them in a cuddle pile and crawled into one of their manes. He whimpered softly. He didn't want to be alone that night...

End chapter