Welcome back! For those of you just now joining the non-sensational story, welcome to our… What are we? Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! This stuff is getting difficult to write for… Eh, it is what it is.

But remember! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

That is all… For now…

Univerce


Off to Castelia

Morning's suck. Big time. This morning began with the most obnoxious wake-up call of a Patrat breaking branches in a hurry and taking off with the Sewaddle Ash has been stalking. Almost immediately after that was Pikachu screaming like a banshee about it and then Ash racing down the tree much the same way Patrat had done. Even more annoying, the others had followed him as well. On the bright side, I was able to go back to sleep for another hour before their voices woke me up and got me moving. Whoever thought an early wake-up call was a good idea for me clearly never met my mother – she's an AB negative blood-type…

Dad says that's where I get my morning disposition…

To my deep annoyance, the transceiver on my wrist starts to go off. Much like yesterday, in fact, at a time that is probably close to when my parent would usually wake me up. Looking at the offending gadget attached to me, my gaze makes out the slightly blurry letters of the word 'mother.' So they are calling me. After a heavy sigh, I finally tap the call button, allowing the call to go through. And the screeching starts immediately.

"YOUNG LADY! IF YOU EVER HANG UP ON ME AGAIN-!"

And I quickly hang up. If she had finished that sentence, I might get into very deep trouble. When a few moments have passed, another call comes in, labeled in the caller ID with the word 'father' instead. At least he'll be slightly understanding and won't yell in my ear. After a moment of debate, my finger presses against the call button yet again.

"Hi, kiddo! How's it going?" Dad chirps through the transceiver, the shouts of my mouth filling the background.

"How'd you know I wasn't listening to mom?" I huff quietly, shifting my position in my spot to curl around Shinx.

"Because I know you. You won't listen to your mother's screeching even if it means being grounded for the rest of your life."

"True."

"With my point made, let's move on, shall we? How are things going out there? Get to Castelia yet?"

For a second or two, my mind splits and does the fastest debate it's ever done. On one hand, he's the idiot that stranded me in Pinwheel Forest despite the dangers of leaving a young girl on her own in an unknown area. Then again, he's also my father who loves and cares for me, and will probably break if he hears me breaking down and begging for him to let me go home. But he also knows me well, as he said himself, so that breaking down plan won't work… Crud…

"Not yet, but it looks like the others are packing up and getting ready to go," I sigh into the transceiver's microphone. "So long as Burgh doesn't run off on me, I should be able to just follow him straight there. No problem."

"Sounds good!" my father cheers, the screams in the background no longer filling in the silence. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my wife is glaring heatedly and wondering who I'm on the phone with…"

A sneaking grin spreads across my face at the thought. "Love you, Mom! Love you, Dad!" And my ears are soon filled with screeches yet again, quickly hanging up the phone to avoid it. "Enjoy the punishment, Dad," I snicker quietly. "Love you both so much and absolutely can't wait to see you again. This might be easier than I thought."

Satisfied with the way the morning is turning out, my arms reach out above my head, stretching the entire torso of my body. Carefully, my legs do something similar, stretching out even the toes in my shoes. Happily sighing as a few bones pop and the muscle retracts, I climb up to my feet, quietly recalling my still asleep pokemon before descending from the tree. At the bottom, the others look up in slight surprise, no doubt having forgotten that there was even another person they knew in the woods. Either that, or they figured that there would be no waking me at this time in the morning.

"I'm surprised your awake," Burgh chuckle. "Lenora always told me you usually slept in as late as possible."

"You woke me up," I grumble, quickly understanding that not only did Burgh know this, he had shared it with the others. "Quit staring at me! I'm not a morning person, okay!?"

Ash was the quickest to turn away, followed by a very polite Iris who had given me an apologetic smile. Cilan was the fool of the group, having ignored how the others turned, Burgh included turning to a Leavanny sewing leaves, to just smile brightly at me.

"How about some coffee?" the green haired boy suggests. "Or maybe something to eat? It is morning, after all. We might as well eat breakfast!"

"What?" Ash whines. "But I wanna say hi to Sewaddle!"

Speaking of the annoying bug pokemon, my eyes graze over the area, unable to find the little caterpillar slithering around. Where could it have gone? It's not like it disappeared from the area now after spending so much time with its 'future trainer.' Despite the way Sewaddle treats Ash, it'll probably end up much like Pikachu, absolutely adoring its trainer. After all, Burgh told us that the bug was a sweet one, albeit stubborn.

"The center is at least a day's walk away," Burgh tries with Ash. "You can trade out a pokemon once we get there, but rushing now won't do any good. Save maybe tire us out to take even longer. Besides, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"

"Can we just eat?" I ask, slapping a hand over Ash's mouth as he attempts to speak again. "As much fun as this banter is, I'm starving."

With that, my eyes turn to the many berry trees now surrounding us, quickly picking out a few to snack on during the trip. All that's left is to actually pick them without forgetting to, and maybe explore the stupid bag up in the tree… I probably should have brought that down with me… Well, great. Time to climb some more.


Sitting outside the center, Burgh is joyfully helping me mark up a map from inside. The more important part being the Pinwheel Forest in which we still are. Just inside the tree line, actually. After all, if they built it inside the forest, no one would have been able to find it – natural labyrinth and all that jazz. At least now I won't have to worry about getting lost or anything. And surprise, surprise, the map just so happens to be electronic and downloaded into my transceiver. Which is quite a shock, might I add, that none of the others have thought of getting. Especially Cilan, being a connoisseur and what not. But whatever.

After another few minutes of playing with the electronic map, in which Burgh even highlighted the route to Castelia for me, Ash finally came back out. All of us turn to the eager trainer, him pulling out a pokeball.

"Well, Ash?" Cilan urged. "Did you succeed?"

"Yep!" the boy grinned back. "I called Professor Juniper and she's taken care of it!"

Lucky him. Juniper never helped me take care of my problem, and probably never will, either. In fact, I'm somewhat wondering what exactly my mother most likely blackmailed her with to keep the woman from trying to contact me. Had to have been pretty bad, for sure. Back to the point at hand, though.

Ash holds out the pokeball in front of himself, aiming towards the ground. With a light toss, the ball taps against the surface and out comes a very familiar little Sewaddle, complete with weird leaf clothing and adorable cry. For some reason, I just couldn't help the twitch of my lips as the little bug chirps happily while being lifted into Ash's arms. Idiot or not, kid's got a way with the pokemon around him. Whatever odd reason it might be, they just seem to love him no matter what, all the way down into their little souls.

"Nice to see you again, Sewaddle!"

The little bug cries happily as the two of them finally touch their foreheads together. Personally, I preferred when the idiot got head butted by the little caterpillar, but that's just me…

"Sweet inspiration!"

Oh no…

As one, the rest of us look over at Burgh as he stares down the trainer and his pokemon. Clearly the gym leader has had a strike of, as he said it, inspiration. This should prove to be a rather interesting moment, no doubt.

"Yes! Thank to Ash and Sewaddle, I've got an idea for my next project!" Burgh cheers. "I'm off to Castelia, now, so I'll see you there."

In an instant, the man is racing off, and only my own reflexes built up by the last day and a half of dealing with him have me keeping up. Barely a few meters away from the others, the man skids to a stop, somehow catching a dramatic wind as a particular trainer calls out to him. Sliding just past him, I watch the short interaction as Burgh looks over his shoulder in a rather impressive manner. Seriously, actor material!

"I'll be waiting for you at the Castelia Gym. Farewell!"

With that, he races in my direction, me quickly turning to race right alongside him. Why he's running instead of sketching the project out, I've got no real clue, but more power to him if burning the energy helps. Maybe we'll see something interesting and he'll skid to a stop again.


Castelia City is one of the largest in the world, and most certainly the largest in the region. It takes up a vast majority of the peninsula of Unova, the docks stretching out into the waters around it like fingers of a hand. And if a person just so happens to actually look at a map, the place does look like a freaking hand! Burgh has been showing me around the city while we wait for Ash and them to arrive for his battle, which is taking forever, by the way. The two of us managed to arrive after one more night just before crossing Skyarrow Bridge. Anyway, as we ran around the city, me enjoying the sights – eh, in a way – and Burgh enjoying getting me into some sort of art, the both of us grew concerned.

When I used to come here with my dad on his business trips, it was always full of life, and not just human life. Pokemon would be running about, playing with children and sometimes even playing pranks on the businessmen and women that ran around some of the streets. It got pretty funny every once in a while, too. One time, they even managed to trick my dad into eating the wrong flavor of ice cream. We'd visited the place called Castelia Cone and he ordered a cone, but refused to let the man behind the counter try to scoop a different flavor.

In hindsight, the shop employee probably realized the flavor was wrong or had been switched and tried to give him the right flavor… Dad's fault.

Now, though, as Burgh has wandered off today to be on his own to spend time with his bugs, my attention turns to the problem at hand. Bug types all over the city have gone into hiding, some even going so far as to escape the city altogether. Other pokemon have taken the hint as well, hiding away and running off themselves to the point that pokemon are no longer a regular sight in Castelia. Knowing this is so odd, I already called Lenora to give me any history on the city that could be relevant. She's still looking around her library and research websites, though. That won't be useful for a while…

So, at the moment, my feet have been planted on the very outskirts of the city, staring out into the desert beyond where a number of other pokemon live. At the moment, my only clue is a rogue Venipede that had wandered an alleyway and almost out into the street. It probably would have been run over by a car, if I hadn't sent Shinx as an intervention. After a short, but violent, reaction from the bug, it turned around and waddled off… before turning back and staring at me.

After following for who knows how long, it led me here, to stare at the desert where the poor thing most likely came from. Knowing this, I'm debating calling Burgh and asking him what he knows about and of the centipede pokemon in the sands. He probably won't know much, since he's more of a leaf and tree bug type trainer, but at least he knows bugs, even if only basics. Assuming he knows at least a little bit, he'd be able to tell me what exactly might affect a bug to leave the desert…

"Excuse me?"

My eyes shift from the sands in front of me, along with the Venipede waddling back and forth between my two pokemon worriedly guarding it, to a man in a lab coat. Not exactly a man, though, as much as an older teenager. He looks somewhat like a lab assistant than an actual professor, though probably not from lack of trying. His shifting posture has me somewhat confused, but that's okay. I think.

"Yes?"

"Are you planning to head out into the desert?"

"Not really," I sigh, giving the Venipede a sad look as it turns back almost heartbroken. "The city's about to be in some big trouble, if the bugs are anything to go by. They've been hiding out since before I got here, and it's concerning."

For some reason, his eyes brighten up, a small smile gracing his face. "So you know about it, too! Good, then maybe you can help me. Would you tell me anything about the Venipede colony in the desert? The one that's migrated here to Castelia City? Professor Juniper needs some more information on them."

Ouch. Wrong question. It isn't that I wouldn't know anything, but he happens to be asking me at the wrong moment. The books in Lenora's library might be able to tell me something, if anything at all, but she hasn't gotten back to me quite yet. And if even the professor of Unova is in on this looking for an explanation, then clearly there's something going on… Wait, did he say the colony migrated?

"I wouldn't know, actually. Burgh might, though. You could ask him."

His face falls quickly at that. "The gym leader isn't there at the moment. We can't find him."

"Why not just call him?"

His expression at my words is rather comical, ranging somewhere between shell-shocked at the suggestion and embarrassment at not having thought of it. With a roll of my eyes, my arm lifts up, transceiver still attached as it's always been, and I tap on the buttons a few times. And so the ringing begins. The lab assistant steps closer, striding up to my shoulder and looking at the screen with me, eyes widening no doubt because of the name on the display. After a few more rings, the call is picked up, but easily a second priority for the receiver as he calls out a quick order to someone off-screen.

"Adlien? Where are you!? We could really use your help right now."

"Gym leader Burgh!" the assistant breathes. "You have his number…"

"Uh huh, it's real special," I mutter at the man beside me. "Look, Burgh, I was wondering what you could tell me about the bug colony that's here in Castelia. Juniper has her assistants in the area looking around for any additional info. Got anything?"

The gym leader looks away for a moment, calling out to someone else yet again, before turning back, only to look off to the other side. It looks like they're extremely busy out there, meaning they probably could use my help at the moment. Shinx and Murk would most likely be a very welcome addition to whatever fight they might be participating in. And if it has Venipedes anywhere on it, that usually means poison attacks, so a flyer would be amazing for them. Turning quickly myself, I debate the run while studying my own pokemon.

"I can't tell you much at the moment," Burgh groans, dragging my attention back. "I've already spoken with the professor about all the bugs in the area. All I can tell you is that we need some help here with the Venipede leader. It's rather large and- Ash!"

To my slight surprise, the call cuts off mid-explosion. For a second, it looked like something had… attacked him? Whatever it was, clearly he's having problem. He did say something about a leader of the Venipede, so maybe it was that, or something similar. Most likely he just pissed off some random bug and got attacked.

Well, time to go help.

"So… He's got nothing, then?"

"About right," I sigh quietly. "Well, go ahead and keep asking around. It seems my idiot friend needs my help with a Venipede invasion and would like my presence."

"Alright," the boy/guy sighs. "If you come up with anything, let professor Juniper know, would you?"

Giving him only a nod, I head off to look for my current guardian and whoever the heck is blowing up the city. They better not have ruined Castelia Cone, though, or there will be hell to pay for it. And the hell to be paid will be very painful.


What the heck is this supposed to be? An entire swarm of Venipede are strolling along down one of the streets, several others slipping off the walls of the buildings and back down to the ground to join them. Among them is a strange little Venipede with a bandage on its back, looking a bit slower than the rest. Well, clearly someone helped that poor little bug out, but that's not the main concern right now. A small cry at my side turns my attention to the centipede pokemon at my side, who quickly cries once more and shuffles forward to enter the herd.

Together with my own pokemon, I follow after this strange scene, keeping pace and eventually moving faster than the herd itself. If they're going somewhere, the leader must be commanding them, right? And Burgh said something about their leader, so that's the direction that everyone working with him should be heading. On instinct, my pokemon collect any straggling Venipede hiding out in the alleyways or still stuck to the buildings.

Racing ahead of all the bugs, we find ourselves at the entrance to the park in Central Plaza. Bug after bug enters through the gates, a couple Herdier guarding the roads with some officers as they scuttle by. It seems someone actually had a bright idea today – good for them. Whether that bright idea came from the police or a random kid, though, is anyone's guess. Funny enough, the police seem to be pretty useless in almost all things unrelated to berry thieves and repeat offenders. It'd be a surprise if one of them ever got a case done without some form of outside help somewhere. Even more shocking if they did so quickly…

Why are the officers here so useless?

After shoving that thought aside, and gathering a few other stray Venipedes, we follow after the bugs, completely ignoring any cops that try to stop us. Shinx races into the park ahead of me, prompting myself and Murk to race in as well. If he's running in, then there's no danger ahead. Probably. He did like to jump in and tackle that Cinccino of Lenora's…

So long as he doesn't run off on me, I think we'll be okay. But he happens to be running off on me, so… Definitely not okay!

"Shinx! Get back here!"

"Adlien?"

My eyes look up, locking on a very familiar brunette gym leader with a flute in his hands. Just behind him, a very familiar Venipede is standing next to another injured one. A little further back, another rather large on is stood on the ledge of the fountain, overseeing every bug that comes into the park. So that's who had the bright idea, then.

"Burgh," I nod at him. "I'm guessing my help is no longer necessary?"

"No, it's not," the man smiles kindly. "But I'm guessing you caught a few stragglers along the way? That's always helpful, even if you didn't realize."

A weak smile spreads over my face. "Yeah… Sure thing…"