Book II: Impending Twilight

Chapter 88: The Ways I've changed

Point of View Flare

Everything in my life changed within a week. Nothing was the same for me. There was no Annie, no Hunter, no Team Flare, just me and this idiotic family I was now stuck with. With lived in some cramped condo in Lumiose city. I hated it here so much, this place smelled bad, the house was a mess and I was surrounded by three others I didn't know, nor liked. First there was my obnoxious new owner, Alex I think his name was. I had a hard time warming up to someone like him, he was always happy for no reason and it pissed me off. Someone like him didn't understand loss, struggle and true loneliness. Next there was an absol, I honestly haven't spoken to him yet, and if possible I'd keep it that way. The absol was mostly silent, he didn't appear to be social either, my speculation is that he's some victim of the pokemon rescue program like I am. And lastly, there's that obnoxious jolteon that won't leave me the hell alone. Out of everyone here she annoyed me the most. There was nothing worse than someone who won't mind their own business, especially when you tell them to leave you alone. So, this is now the pitiful life I lead, and I have no idea what happened to Annie, Zylen and Hunter.

Currently I was lying under a bed where no one would interact with me. Perhaps it was cowardly of me to do such a thing, but I could honestly not care less what people think of me. Quite a bit of time passed by that I remained hidden under the bed on the dust infested floor, before I got bored and decided to crawl out from my hiding spot. My eyes stung as the rays of sun burned my eyes; this was a similar feeling to what I would get after leaving the underground Team Flare headquarters.

After a bit of adjusting to the light, I decided it was time for me to go downstairs and get food. Honestly, I haven't had much of an appetite lately, but from time to time I forced myself to eat so I could keep my good physical health. I made my way into the kitchen where I made eye contact with that annoying human. The fourteen year-old gave me a cheery smile as he waved his hand at me.

"Hey Flare, I was wondering where you were, how are you doing today?" the human asked me as he knelt down to my level and picked me up with both of his hands holding me below my forearms.

"Put me down, now," I grimaced as I began to growl at him. Alex quickly set me down as I snapped at him.

"Sorry little guy, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything like that," the human said ruefully as he backed up and gave me a little room.

"Don't call me little, I've seen and done things your little human mind couldn't hand- wait why am I even talking to you?" I said as I remembered the language barrier. I just rolled my eyes as I walked past the human. I was hungry a minute ago, but I lost my appetite now.

I made my way into the living room where I found that anti-social absol napping on the couch. How could he live like this? Was this absol really content just lying there all day with that mopey expression on his face? I looked towards the TV that was in front of the couch to see some stupid TV show playing. I couldn't say I was much of a TV fan since Team Flare never had cable or anything, I mean I couldn't imagine them inviting a cable guy into their base and setting up a cable box so we could watch The Running dead, or breaking good.

"Oh, hey Flare, I haven't seen you all day," a voice spoke from behind and set my fur on edge. It was her again, that annoying jolteon.

"What do you want jolteon, I really don't feel like talking," I snapped at her as I kept my eyes forward and I didn't look back to see her.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing and if there was anything I could do for you, I know you had it rough before this, with your previous owners," the jolteon began to speak but all the gibberish began to sound like the same crap that seemed to never stop spewing from her mouth, "So, I just wanted you to know I'm here for you," I managed to hear the jolteon finish.

"Ya-ya, whatev," I said as I walked away from her.

'Why am I even still here?' I asked myself. 'I just needed somewhere to stay for a bit, so why am I bothering with these low lives?' I questioned even further. Truthfully I only stayed here for as long as I did because I've been a mental wreck. I needed time to think, and I've had my time to think. Annie was out there somewhere, if not dead, and I needed to find this answer.

'Perhaps it's time I part with these nuisances,' I said in my head as I nodded my head. The idea of leaving sounded rather joyous. No more looking at that sorry of an excuse of a father, no more of that annoying child trying to make me into his little pet, no more of that annoying jolteon that won't stop acting like she owes me something. I'd be free to live my life how I want to, and I intended on finding my sister.

Time went by as it usually did, I remained silent for hours and I kept out of sight as best as possible. I did manage to get some dinner, but I didn't stick around to socialize like normal pokemon and humans would. Soon night came and Lumiose city was shrouded in darkness. It was now around Ten PM, so I figured now was my chance to leave this dump. I tiptoed my way down stairs. The silent absol was asleep as usual, Alex was in bed already, and I bet that jolteon was sleeping by his side like the simple minded pet she was.

I made my way towards the front door, and after a bit of struggling I managed to get the door open. It was rather difficult doing such a simple task, I was so used to the automatic doors at my old home. Once the door was opened I made my way outside into the fresh air.

My first response to stepping foot outside was inhaling a deep breath, "Ahh, the smell of freedom is oh-so sweet," I gleefully stated as I made my way through the condo complex. I trotted around freely as I made my way through the city. Being free made me so happy, I couldn't believe I blew it off for a week.

"No more Team Flare to manipulate me, no stupid Alex, no…" I stopped. "No Annie," I said as I hung my head low. It now made sense to me why I chose to stay with them. Perhaps I was afraid, afraid of being alone. Never before in my life have I been on my own like this. Sure Annie wasn't around a lot, but I had others around me to help guide me, plus Hunter and Zylen specifically were a big hand. Now I had nothing, I had no idea where to even go to find Annie, if she was even alive. For all I know she could be rotting inside the Team Flare base below a pile of rubble, or Arceus knows what.

"No," I stubbornly stated, "I'm not wussing out now, I have to find Annie," I said as I began walking again.

As the night went on, the streets of Lumiose became more vacant. Soon I found myself completely alone on a street. Some of the neon signs on the buildings lit up my path, but other than that everything was dark.

"Flare, where are you running off to?" A voice called out from behind me. My ears flicked upon recognizing that voice, my head spun back to that same obnoxious jolteon that kept harassing me.

"Why are you following me!?" I snapped at her. She flinched back a bit as she rose one of her paws off the ground as if she was ready to turn tail and run.

"I… I just thought it was kind of late to be out roaming, so I followed-"

"Actually, I don't care, just go home," I interrupted her as I continued walking in the direction I was heading.

"Flare, hold up!" Kana pleaded as she followed behind me. "Where are you going, it's not safe to roam around at this hour."

"That's nice," I shrugged as I continued anyways. 'Stupid jolteon, just who the Hell do you think I am, I'm ex-Flare, I'm not afraid of your common thug, thugs should fear someone like me, I've done things that make thug's look innocent' I commented in my mind.

"Can you at least tell me where we are going at this hour?"

"We!?" I repeated. "Listen jolteon, go home and keep fulfilling the role of a house pet, because unlike you, I'm not pissing away my life in that run down condo," I wryfully spoke with disgust just from the thought of that craphole..

"I'd appreciate it if you don't call me that, and second, I'm not wasting my life," the jolteon defended, yet still managed to keep her cool.

"Keep telling yourself that sweetie, humans will just piss on you every chance they get, I learned that the hard way," I warned her as I remembered how Team Flare backstabbed us pokemon.

"I know you think humans are bad and stuff because of your previous owner, but Alex and Mr Hayter are good people. They'll treat you with respect and they're not going to hurt you like your old trainer-"

"Shut the Hell up!" I yelled at her as I spun around while gnashing my teeth together, while smoke managed to escape between the crevices in my teeth. "Just shut up with the whole abused pokemon shit, you make me want to barf, why the fuck do you think you need to help me? Do you like owe me something or are you just so lonely in life that you're going to keep harassing me in hopes of being friends?!" I shouted at her as I felt the urge to vent some of the flames within me. Oh she'd be perfect to vent my anger on, I bet she'd cry like a cub as I burnt the fur right off her. Then we'd see if she's interested in helping me.

"Because, you look miserable and I can't help but want to help mend your heart," the jolteon said as calmly as she could.

"You're full of shit!" I snapped as I darted towards her and slammed myself into her. The jolteon let out a yelp as her and I tumbled to the ground. While she scraped along the sidewalk, I managed to roll along the ground and use the momentum to carry myself back onto my feet. As the jolteon was trying to get back up, I quickly ran to her with an ember charging in my mouth.

"Get the Hell away from me!" I screamed as I sprayed my attack towards her. The jolteon's eyes widened as she jumped away from my attack. I didn't leave it at that though, I opened my mouth and shot out a flamethrower. The semi dark street was illuminated by my raging flames. My flamethrower stopped immediately once I noticed the jolteon dashing towards me along the side of my flamethrower. I jolted back as she closed in on me, I was screwed, there was no way I could charge another attack in time. My eyes clamped shut as she neared me, but no pain came, instead I felt something warm and comforting wrap around me.

My eyes opened up in surprise to see that the jolteon had both of her arms wrapped around me in a tight hug that cut off all my movement.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have it in my heart to harm anyone, so please... stop this," she gently whispered into my ear.

"Kana, why? I just tried to hurt you, not only that, I really wanted to hurt you badly," I said in shock as I felt powerless against her gentle nature.

"I don't fight fire with fire, I'd prefer to put out these angry flames," Kana said as she kept her arms around me.

"That doesn't answer my question though, why would you risk me attacking you again, I could easily kill you right here?" I stated.

"You could, but I don't think you're a bad person. I think you're just lost and you don't know what to do," Kana told me.

"Just let go of me," was all I could think of saying as I processed her words. The jolteon waited a moment before she released me. I backed away from her, something about her seemed so friendly, something that wouldn't allow me to hurt her, I couldn't hurt someone that was trying this hard to help me. She wasn't fake, this was real kindness, and it was different from the smugness I grew up around. It was real love, like what I'd feel from Annie.

"You kind of remind me of someone," I admitted, "Just a bit though, you're a bit too soft to fulfill the roll though," I finished.

"And who do I remind you of?" Kana asked me with obvious interest.

"Never mind," I quickly spoke.

"Hey Flare?" Kana asked.

"What?"

"If you don't mind, can we head home, it's dark and lonely out here, and I'm getting a bit cold as well," Kana asked me.

I remained silent for a moment. She was willing to invite me back into her home after I tried to inflict pain on her, her kindness was going to be her downfall if she trust's pokemon like me, but perhaps she wasn't that bad of a person like I thought she was.

"Sure," I said silently, but the jolteon's face still managed to light up with joy as she smile at me.

"Kana," I said to myself as I came back to reality. "You really did save me." If not for Kana, I would probably be another thug on the streets. I was different back then, I was hostile towards those I didn't trust. Not only was I hostile, I thought I was on top of the world, I would have taken on an onix at one point I was so cocky.

I stood in silence within the briefing room inside the Team Flare base. The only light I had was the dim Flare I created that was slowly growing more and more dim with each passing second.

The sound of a rock getting kicked filled the air and my ears rose up as my head snapped back. My mouth opened wide as I spun back and blasted a spray of fire out of my maw. My ears flicked again as I heard something searing through the air, and my fire attack collided with an ice types attack. The two attacks ended up creating a thick steam and it was near impossible to see anything.

"Flare it's me!" A deep voice called out from across the room.

"Gray?" I called out in confusion as the steam cleared up and revealed my team member, "What are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same question," Gray stated as he walked through the room with a mesmerized look on his face as he observed the Team Flare base, "A breath of fresh air, huh?" Gray referenced what I said before I left.

"Yeah…" I awkwardly responded as I kept a safe distance from him.

"So, this is what this place was like," Gray commented as he continued to look around, "I can't say I wasn't curious," Gray continued to speak as he looked around at all of the computer equipment this base had. "But that still doesn't explain a few things," Gray spoke as he peered at me out of the corner of his eye. "What are you doing here?"

"I was curious," I quickly answered.

"I see," Gray said with a dismissive nod. "There isn't much left of my original horn, but just being here gives me this alarming eerie feeling. To think that this place was almost the end of us all."

Gray's comments continued to wear me down. Each one felt like a knife in my heart as I was reminded of my old life, reminded of my sins. But Gray didn't know, and if I keep it like this I should be fine. I just have to survive the night at Geosenge, after that I can put this whole nightmare behind me and move on. Everyone could continue thinking I was the carefree fennekin that doesn't have a problem in the world.

"You know, this really reminds me a lot of before I was adopted by Alex's family, since I should have been here at one point," Gray said out of the blue and instantly caught my attention. "Of course you wouldn't know anything about me, I never talked about my past with anyone," Gray rambled on. "Before I was with everyone I was a part of The World Peace Association, perhaps you are familiar?" Gray questioned me without looking in my direction.

My eyes grew wide as I stared at the back of his head. 'He's lying, that's complete crap, but why would he lie about that!' I screamed within my head as I began to grow uncomfortable.

"I'm slightly familiar," I answered as calmly as I could. "But why are you with Alex if you were a part of that, and why didn't you tell us?" I began to question.

"A lot happened," Gray said as his stare went towards the ground. "It wasn't until recently that I told myself I was going to start opening up more, because I realized that I was bitter towards the world, including anyone who reminded me of a certain somebody," Gray said in a hollow voice.

"And what happened?" I asked with curiosity. I had to find out if this was serious, if Gray was really with WPA, then that makes us natural enemies.

"I never would have talked about this before, but I guess this is as good as the setting is going to get for setting the mood to spill my guts a bit," Gray began to say as he kept his back facing towards me. "Quite a while ago, since I was pretty young actually, a friend and I were saved by a group of odd pokemon. Of course these pokemon happened to be the ones known as WPA. My friend, Aaron, he had a strong interest in joining, and Aaron was like my brother, so naturally I followed my friend," Gray told me as his voice became more and more hollow, almost as if this was stirring up some of his past emotions.

"Years passed by, Aaron and I formed a team of six, Sarah, Joel, Katherine… well we called her kat most of the time," Gray said before his claws dug into the ground and scraped the steel floors, "and then there's Eclipse," Gray bitterly said as I saw a tremble run through his body.

"Did something happen with this Eclipse person?" I questioned as I noticed him growing more bitter.

"Yes," Gray said with a pause, "I will get to that in a moment. But, for years I built bonds with this team. I grew close to them, I learned their secrets, their past's, their motives, favorite foods, past relationships, we were all kind of like a family; we trusted one another," Gray's voice was full of loss, I could tell just by hearing the sorrow in his words, it was obvious that he cared for these characters, there was no way he was telling me a fib with this much emotion.

"After a while us WPA members started getting hunted down and murdered. Soon members of the WPA lost faith in our cause and cowered away, leaving only the true members to fight. Soon our team was hunted down, but they didn't attack us like how we were expecting. Like a cancer they corrupted our members, made them turn against their brothers and sisters. One day Eclipse lured us all out into a secluded area, there we were ambushed by mercenaries. Joel and Kat were both killed and the rest of us were abducted. Afterwards we were sold into slavery. We were brought to some mines and there we were forced to work tirelessly," Gray said as his body began to tremble a bit, "I remember all the days of non-stop work. The hard labor just continued and continued until it was burned into my mind and I'd even dream about the hard labor. The feeling of being trapped in hard labor even in your sleep is horrific, soon I forgot what it even felt like to breathe fresh air." While Gray was telling his long background story I continued to wait patiently as this story had no end in sight, I found it unbelievable that someone like him went through all of this, but I didn't think Gray was lying either, he just wasn't the type.

"Sarah was the first to die in those mines out of our group; I only pray that when the cave collapsed it was quick for her. At this point I was breaking down and becoming an empty shell. Eventually though, I got a sign of freedom. One day all of us pokemon rebelled and managed to break free, but not without a battle. Finally after being trapped for so long I was free, but not without losing something precious to me," Gray's voice fell silent near the end of his sentence.

"When you are with friends, all you think about is survival, but when you're alone all you think about is when death is going to finally end all this pain and suffering. Well, on that day I lost my brother. I may have achieved freedom, but I was alone and everything I have ever cherished was taken from me."

"At this point I didn't care about fighting for world peace, why should I have, in my time of need the world just drowned me in misery and loss. I just couldn't find it in my heart to care for anyone. All of this happened because of that umbreon Eclipse," Gray said as he turned back towards me and revealed his sorrowful look that would have been impossible to fake.

"You've probably wondered why I hated Black so much. Every time I looked at an umbreon all I saw was Eclipse. I didn't matter if they resembled him or not, all I saw was Eclipse," Gray began to say with hysteria. "I couldn't see Black for who he was, all I kept seeing was that horrible traitor that took everything from me," Gray said with resentment towards this Eclipse pokemon, "This is why I have been so quiet and bitter over the years. I've been a shell of the proud absol I once was. I'm only beginning the climb my way out of this hole I sank into now," Gray said as he closed his eyes and exhaled a deep breath.

After Gray finished his story I stood frozen in place with my jaw hanging low. This all seemed so far fetched and impossible, but I know he was telling the truth. To think someone like Gray went through so much, and no one knew. All these years he has been keeping this all bottled up inside. It was honestly heart wrenching. I always thought Gray just had social problems along with a bad temper.

"Thanks," Gray spoke up.

"For what?" I questioned him as my head cocked to the side.

"For listening. I can't remember the last time I've talked this much, let alone about my past and feelings. Thanks, it truly means a lot that you'll listen to an absol such as myself that has only been harsh towards everyone," Gray said as a small yet pained smile forced itself onto his face. Afterwards the room fell in silence for a moment.

"You have quite the backstory, Gray," I commented in an attempt to break the silence. Because of Gray's story I nearly forgot why I was originally here, I never expected this to turn into a confession from him.

"Yeah, sorry I should have given you more of an abridged version," Gray stated.

"It's fine, I think the way you told it actually makes sense out of everything. Perhaps you aren't a bad person at all, just a bit lost in this world," I told Gray.

"Perhaps," Gray said with a nod.

"Why don't we go back to the hotel, I don't really think we're allowed to be down here, plus I think everyone will freak if they beat us back to the hotel," I added on.

"Right," Gray said with a nod. I began to lead the way towards the exit as Gray followed behind. "Flare," Gray called out from behind me.

"What's up?"

"What about you, how did you deal with your emotions, I know you weren't exactly in good shape when you first arrived in Alex's home?"

"I gave it time, and I learned to just live one day at a time," I answered with a bit of truth. I wasn't lying on this. Me transitioning into my new life took a while. I wasn't magically the happy fennekin I think I am today overnight; Kana had to work with me a lot and bring me back down to reality and to help me with some problems I had with how I interacted with people.

"I see, well hopefully there will be some light down the road," Gray said as we made our way out of the facility.

It was kind of sad to think that the moment Gray opened up was the moment I realized that we were natural enemies. Revealing the truth of who I am would be suicide, Gray would attempt to kill me. WPA and Team Flare resented each other, we killed each other left and right, I'd almost say both sides found joy out from terrorizing the opposing side. For now, I have to keep my true self hidden in the shadows.

Chapter End

Thanks to genericgamer207 for editing this chapter