NobodiesHiiro: I was a bit worried that I was going to fast on these "intermission chapters" that happen independent from the main plot (I have a plot, shocking, I know). I attempted to format them as a series of shorts with the purpose of character development, and I was a bit worried that the format wouldn't be received as well. I'm glad to hear that wasn't the case
PS: "Motha' fuckin' Charmeleon" indeed.

Nightelf37: I left a little something for you in that part of the last chapter you mentioned, just for you.

I know now, looking back, the entire reason humanity had a chance in those first days following the shattering. Humans are crafty creatures, quick to adapt and shape the world- not matter how hostile- to fulfill their needs. While human adaptation was quick though, the looming threat of extinction was just was approaching to swiftly, at least in Johto. Ironically, among the targets of my wrath were the causes of our continued survival as a species.

Pokemon as it turns, out are every ounce as petty and diverse as humans could ever hope to be. Wrath, gluttony, envy, lust, greed, pride, and even sloth- the very flaws so long and so often accredited to the human race- made themselves known in the primed pokemon. It was something that a child could have anticipated, if properly motivated. Wild pokemon were often considered docile and aloof due to their relative lack of power, but inability to act and reservations towards acting are two very different concepts. Old feuds, competition for glory, thievery, bloodlust, territory wars, class wars, and simple overconfidence proved that pokemon fare no better than humans in each of these seven regards.

While it was true that since the beginning, humans were always the enemy of pokemon in this war, it was at times unclear to me their goal, the lines blurred by inter-species conflict. It truly was a pokewar, not a pokemon-human war.

I do give certain pokemon to little credit, however. While I cannot be sure whether or not I have experienced it myself, I hear there are wild pokemon that stand against their more varelse brethren. Either out of some sad desire for peace, pity for humans, or a dislike of the pokemon that they once competed against. Were it only that we knew where and which, until then humanity limps alone.


There is the sound of leaves rustling at my sides, grass where I lay, and the sound of a running stream nearby, but while the trees and stream whisper into my ear, the forest is silent.

It is the dead of night, it seems, judging by the surrounding darkness. A lone fire stands out, mere feet from where I sit, but the light breaks as it crashes against the darkness, revealing nothing, and my eyes follow the only unique detail in the scape before me.

"You are distracted"

The voice was deep and solemn, coming from the darkness and blending in with it so seamlessly I could not find it, I chose instead to respond, feeling no danger.

"It is too dark too see well, even with the fire."

There was a pause for a moment, before the voice came returned "But that is not all that taxes your mind, is it?"

Wasn't it though? "Not a thought in my head"

"Hm." The voice grunted, followed by another deliberate pause before it spoke again "You are afraid our enemies will find us, led to us by the flame, and you will be unable to fend yourself off in your feeble blindness."

"I'm not afraid of the dark."

"Only the monsters that lay behind it."

The pregnant silence that ensued spoke volumes that we could not have hoped to have achieved with words.

I initiated conversation this time "I still have nightmares regardless, from the shattering, from before the shattering, and up until the day that I sleep. I won't sleep well until all of our enemies are dead."

There was a sound, a shifting, like someone rolling over upon a bed of leaves, but almost indistinguishable from the sounds of the trees "No wars in recent memory have been ended through the complete eradication of the losing side. Why should this one be any different?"

I found myself about to scoff, but caught myself, not wanting to insult whoever the voice came from "Most wars in recent memory was man waging war against man, not man against monster."

"Oh, and what makes you think these are monsters?"

"They clearly aren't men, and they kill men" I answered.

"They killed as I have killed, each we have encountered on the road has probably killed fewer than I."

"That is different, you were at war, you are human, and you had orders and reason."

A short series of quiet, rapid huffs came from formless man-an alien expression of amusement I realized "And if I said that-in my youth- I had the strength of ten men, such that I could bend steel with no more than my hands and the desire to do so, or that I moved like a spirit through the grass, as I stalked prey?"

"Abnormal, but human."

"And if I said that I could breathe fire?"

That caught me off guard, enough so that my eyes rose from the fire briefly "Could you?"

"No."

My eyes dropped back to the fire.

The man sounded his amusement again, with another set of huffs "Who is to say that they do not follow orders, do not have purpose?"

"They don't."

"And how do you figure?"

"Because they are monsters."

The man huffed again "Naive, perhaps someday you will open your eyes."

I felt myself grow frustrated, with how he tied my words around me like a noose, and guided my emotions "I see what I need to."

"You see what is in front of you, not why, nor how. If this war is to ever end, you must look not in front of you, but ahead, and deep, with eyes not clouded by hatred or fear." a shuffling came from my right, the rustling of leaves. I turned towards it, staring into the darkness expectantly.

"What convinces you that they are not monsters?" I asked.

There was an uncomfortable silence before he answered "Because I have seen and fought monsters, and won and lost to them- both within and without."

"There are many, I imagine."

"Not as many as you think, for reasons other than the people I've killed."


AUGUST 22nd

"Something's coming."

I cracked open one eye, peeking into the dimly lit room we chose to sleep in. The kitchen was the ideal choice, with enough space for each of us, not far from the door, and arranged in such a way we could see it from where we were with more ease than something could see where we were from it.

Lawrence lay on his side, looking towards the door. Jenny faced the same direction, propped halfway up against a cabinet.

I reflected on the warning, and the dream before it 'Different voices, the one of warning and the one in the dream. The warning was the same voice as yesterday, it hasn't been wrong yet, but is that reason enough to wake the others?'

I peeked out the window over the kitchen sink, finding darkness, darkness, and-lo and behold- more darkness, before I retreated back to the ground. Noctowl was keeping watch outside for any potential threats, and magnezone was watching the other rooms in the house, if anything approached, we'd have plenty of warning.

'Maybe' I reasoned 'assuming that the warning was accurate, it may mean exactly what it said: something is coming soon. It's very vague, it doesn't necessarily mean we're in danger, it may just pass.'

And so I sat there in the darkness, ears peeled, scanning the night for abnormalities. My eyes glued to the door, cast in a dim light of an electric torch.

"You're diligent, keeping watch despite all our precautions."

Jenny's voice cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter, breaking my concentration and causing me to jerk in her direction, startled.

Jenny's eyes met mine for an instant, before turning back to the door and lowering her gaze to her hands, clasped together in her lap before she spoke again "I take it back, you're just restless, though I don't blame you."

I turned my gaze back towards the door, contemplating how to respond, if at all. "You mean you're not restless?"

"No, I am, I've just been restless for a long time."

Jenny chose not too elaborate, and I thought it best not to pry.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" I asked next, eager for dawn to come, so we could flee this forest, again on our way to a supposed safe haven.

"I don't count the hours."

"Did you get any sleep then?"

"Some. I just woke up."

"What about Lawrence?"

"I had to check his pulse to make sure he was alive."

"I'm surprised, I heard his stomach growling like a motor before I went to sleep." I chuckled to myself a little, recalling how difficult it was to sleep before the noise ceased.

Jenny gave a single chuckle ""Is that what it was? I thought that it was one of the pokemon we put on watch." Jenny shook her head slightly "Was my rationing that off?"

"I'm famished, and Lawrence didn't finish his food at lunch, I think the same with dinner, and he threw up what he ate before in the sewers. I think this is hitting him harder than he wants us to think it is."

"I'll have to make sure he eats his food in the future. If you want you can eat something to tide you over until morning. It might help you sleep, just be aware of our ration situation."

I shook my head, remembering the warning that woke me up and thought of an excuse "No, I think I'm better off awake, I couldn't sleep with the dreams I have been having recently anyways."

"Weird or bad?" Jenny turned, her eyes fixating on me, waiting for a response.

I hesitated "Both, to the extreme." It wasn't necessarily a lie, I had been having nightmares similar to the first night early that night, and the dream that I just woke up from was very odd.

Jenny nodded slowly, then faced back forward, tracing her finger along the floor "Its common when developing PTSD."

"No," I said with certainty "I don't think its post traumatic stress, its traumatic stress, every minute of every day, no post about it. I'm sure it will fade on its own once we reach safety."

Jenny's usually sharp red-brown eyes went out of focus for a moment, and she rubbed two fingers against her arm as one would to quell goosebumps "I thought so too, so don't tell me I didn't warn you."

I sensed I was wondering into sensitive territory, and I knew that I should back out of the conversation, couldn't bring myself to pass a chance to analyze Jenny's psych "You were part of the Hoenn police force right? Was it that?" I asked putting as much empathy as possible into my voice.

"Yes and no. I wasn't in Hoenn at the time, but my sister in the international police requested my team's help with an anti-terror investigation."

"Ah" If terrorism was involved, I knew that this was not a path I wanted to talk my way down "Never mind, you don't have to tell me about it, sorry."

"No" Jenny said "There are many reasons for you to know."

I scolded myself for wandering into such unfamiliar territory, but I made my bed, now I had to sleep in it, I figured it would be best to get it over with and save face "Alright, continue then" I said cautiously, this time without any feeling at all, thinking it best to act objective in regards to this story.

"My older sister Jenny was an international police officer investigating Team Cipher- a terrorist group that wished to overthrow the Orrian government. One day she called me and asked me to transfer files on the finances of past terrorist organizations that the Hoenn government knew about- both in Hoenn and otherwise."

She looked at me for confirmation for if I was ready to continue. I analyzed what she said, but tripped over the first statement "I know this doesn't seem like the point of focus, but did you say that your sister's name was also Jenny?"

Jenny gave a dry smile "Yes, and she was a police officer, and we looked identical."

"Was?" I asked cautiously.

"Was."

I let out a small "Ah" before recovering and following up with "My condolences."

Jenny responded only with a curt nod "I don't know why she wanted them, but a month later she formally requested that I meet her in Orre, saying it had to do with something she found in the papers that I sent her. We met on a boat that was going from Olivine city in Johto to Gateon Port in Orre, but we were attacked by pirates, and we wound up shipwrecked in the desert."

"But you lived?"

"We survived the shipwreck, along with the captain and two crew members. Where we set down there wasn't any sign of the pirates, so we decided to camp along the coast, trying to catch the attention of any passing ships."

"You didn't try to walk along the shore to find civilization?"

"Orre's desert region is large and unforgiving, filled with different crime organizations and empty of cities. There's no other desert like it on Earth, there's no pokemon to hunt and eat in them, its the true definition of wasteland."

"Wait, there's no pokemon in Orre's desert?"

"There's none in any of Orre, the climate is to harsh. No wild ones, anyways."

"You'd think that some wild pokemon would be able to survive there, surely its not just the climate."

"Well if there is another reason then I don't know it." Jenny snapped. I jolted startled by her reaction to what seemed to be a perfectly honest question, but given the sensitive subject, I dismissed it.

"You were just talking about when you were camping along the coast."

"Right" Jenny resumed "We were camping along the coast that night, my sister was on watch, and she spotted the same vessel that attacked us beaching itself landing on the shore, and pirates disembarking. In order to avoid the pirates, we fled into the desert. And right into a trap."

"A small scouting group found us and attacked us, the crew did not last long. A man attacked me, attempted to fight me in unarmed combat, I couldn't land a blow. When it seemed I was not long for this world, my sister saved me, using herself as a diversion and cutting him across his abdomen with a knife. I always made fun of her for bringing one, but maybe if I had followed her example I could have done the same for her, instead of lying on the ground while he strangled her. I played dead it wasn't hard, I almost was, and the attackers left."

"I am sorry."

Jenny leaned forward slightly, her gaze fixating on me with a certain intensity for an instant, before her eyes glazed over somewhat, as if she were looking past myself, the confines of the cabin, the sky, or perhaps nowhere at all "Its not your fault, if its anyone's, its my sister's, the pirates, the monster's and my own. Two of them are dead and exempt of blame. One of them died fighting like a hero, the other ran into the desert and bled to death a gutted pig. The only ones left to blame are the pirates and myself. And I DID blame myself. Now I blame no one." Jenny leaned back again, her red eyes returning to their usual level of focus before she scoffed "Go to sleep, I'll keep watch. Any nightmares you have will be yours to deal with."

I was in no mood to argue with Jenny after hearing her recollection, one that I had brought on through prying and misleading. I didn't think I could fall asleep, and in spite of the warning that the voice had given me when I awoke, I was wrong.


"Hey kid, that's enough beauty sleep for one night. Wake up."

I groggily pushed myself up from the floor, pushing myself upright to see Lawrence's somehow jovial face. "Alright, good start. Now you should go grab Noctowl from where you left him on watch. Wouldn't do to leave the night owl here when we take off in some fifteen minutes eh?"

"Yeah yeah" I waved him off "This is a new level of cheery for you, pleasant dreams?"

Lawrence chuckled to himself "Well what can I say? The fresh air is getting to me. I think after this I'll become a mountain man, wandering through the wilderness of Sinnoh with nothing but my clothes and my wits, along with an incredibly long, graying beard and a stick to wave at teenage hooligans that wander into my neck of the woods."

"You do that old timer, I'll help you pack when we get out of this. But you should stop the crappy joke and go eat before we leave."

"Tough crowd" Lawrence's face turned into a mock scowl "Kids these days, wouldn't know good comedy if it hit them in the face

"Yeah yeah, tragic. Do...whatever half useful thing that you do, I guess. I don't want to have Jenny breathing down my neck because you were burning all my time" I said, walking over to the corner of the kitchen to grab my bag, before I remembered something "Oh Lawrence, you said you never fired a gun before, does that mean you don't have any weapon in you?"

"Aside from my amazing shoveling skills?" Lawrence laughed for a moment before his face became completely serious "No."

"Well then, here." I said, handing him the odd weapon that I found the day before while searching the house.

"Kid, I appreciate the gift, but I just don't think I can use a gun, even if I tried."

"Lawrence, the only way you wouldn't be able to use this gun is if you didn't have any hands." I scoffed "Its just a shotgun with a ridiculously small barrel. You load it with birdshot and use it to kill snakes I think, with that barrel there's enough spread that it will always brain a wild ekans."

Lawrence still looked doubtful "You sure you or Jenny wouldn't be better off with it? You would still use it better than I could."

"Lawrence, shoveling skills will only take you so far. Me and Jenny both have real weapons in case worst comes to worst. You don't. Besides, with the range on this thing you'd only really use it if something was right on top of you. Aim won't matter."

Lawrence nodded and tucked the weapon away "Well, I'll hold onto it for the time being. Thanks."

I nodded in acknowledgment and stepped outside, keen on finding Noctowl.

And I did. I walked around the back of the house and gave a sharp, shrill whistle. A branch in one of the trees rustled and Noctowl swooped down and onto my outstretched arm. I gave it some words of praise and returned it to the pokeball (now marked with a single long, deep scratch.) and deeply inhaled. It would be a relief to be back on the road. By Larwence's estimate we could be on a well maintained highway where we could drive through the night safely by noon, surrounded by nothing but open fields.

Of course, the open fields only removed the pretense of safety before we would be attacked, which I realized meant I was looking cheering for the fear before death. Then again, in these forests, danger was nowhere to be found, therefor death could be anywhere, and fear was everywhere.

I sighed and brushed off the thought. The line between vigilance and paranoia was thin, and I walked down the border. My vigil would only do so much to keep me safe in this forest where anything could hide anywhere, but paranoia would distract me from true threats.

I walked back around the house and waited for Lawrence and Jenny to emerge, twiddling my thumbs aimlessly and scanning my surroundings in lieu of Notowl.

I whirled when the door opened behind me shortly thereafter, Lawrence walking out first, a slight limp still clinging to his gait, and Jenny followed.

We were mostly silent as we prepared to leave, myself loading items into the cabin, Jenny taking the driver's seat, while Lawrence loaded the fuel tank with gasoline and hopped in the back.

Jenny turned the key in the ignition, bringing the engine to life with a hum. Lawrence cheered somewhat as the wheels began to turn, bringing us closer to our final destination.

"They're here"

My eyes went wide, and then my world flipped upside down.


As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. The next one won't be so long in the making (probably).