A/N: Thank you for coming back! You, who read the first chapter and decided that you wanted more! Please feel free to comment/review; I would absolutely love it. I do not own the pokemon world, obviously, but I do own the original characters seen here. Please enjoy!

Every step that Molly took solidified the fact that something was wrong. The smoke was too much for a simple cookout; someone's house had to be on fire. Speeding up to a jog, Molly contemplated who's house it might be. Mrs. Gray was always spending so much time on her hair; she probably left her straightener on or something stupid like that.

As she bounced through the grass with her Marill by her side, Izak's arms wrapped tighter around her. She tilted her a bit to get a peak at him through her soft, blond hair. "You okay back there?" The boy nodded, eyes closed. He was sweating a lot; Molly had a feeling that the heat was only partially responsible. Weren't you supposed to ask someone questions when they were in shock? Or was that concussions?

Shit. For once, the girl wished she'd paid more attention to her mother's health classes. Deciding that it couldn't hurt, she cleared her throat, trying to think of things to ask. "Hey Izak, how long until your birthday?" The boy paused, silent for a long time, then shrugged, mumbling something about a few months. She paused, mulling his answer over in her head. She was in the middle of trying to remember just when his birthday actually was when there was a scream.

Molly froze, chills running up her spine. She'd never heard anyone scream like that before; it wasn't a scream of surprise or anger, but of pure terror. There was something awful about the way the sound grated on her ears, and something even worse about the way the scream turned to an abrupt and chilling silence. Somehow the quite after the scream was worse than the scream itself, and Molly found herself wishing that whoever was shouting would start up again, just to fill the haunting silence.

"M… Molly…?"

The voice was soft and weak, just a timid whisper over her shoulder. The girl immediately knelt down, ushering him off of her. She pulled him around in front of her so she could check him over; he was so much worse than she'd thought. He was absolutely drenched in sweat, face pale, body occasionally jerking in small twitches. "Oh my god…"

Embracing her brother, Molly felt the tears start to well up beneath her eyes, building until they finally began to flow down her cheeks, cascading down to her chin where they gathered and then fell in large, full droplets, splattering against the soft fabric of Izak's shirt where they left naught but a dark spot on the green cloth.

Why was this happening?

Why was any of this happening?

The fire, the screaming, her brother being bitten…

Molly whimpered softly, hugging her baby brother's limp form tighter to her chest. She needed to get him help, but she was afraid of what could be happening. Was it just a fire? That scream had really set her nerves on end, and the more that Molly looked at the smoke trail ahead, the more it seemed too excessive even for a single house fire.

What in the hell is happening…?

Just then she felt a violent shaking against her chest and pulled away, wiping the sweat from her brother's face. He was coughing, hard, barely able to lift his hand to his mouth. "Izak…"

The girl bit her lip softly, trying to be brave. She laid the boy down in the grass, petting his hair out of his face. His eyes were closed and he was whimpering softly, shaking ever so slightly. She had to get him help. Molly stood slowly, a resolution building. "Marill, protect him with your life until I get back." The blue creature gave a sort of salute, the best it could manage with its tiny forelimbs.

Turning, Molly began to run, quickly breaking into a sprint while her eyes continued to fill with tears. The girl could barely see where she was running, but it wasn't a hard journey, just a straight line…

Right into the mouth of hell.

As Molly got close enough to her home, she could tell something awful just by the sounds coming from the small village. It was a sound she knew well on a smaller scale, but nothing like this. The soft crackle of flames had given way to the roar of a blazing inferno, much louder than something completely ethereal had any business being.

Columns of smoke rose into the air in every direction, but she didn't dare stop; she had to find her parents. The thick, black substance filled the air, making everything putrid, unbreathable. It was awful; she couldn't see, her chest hurt… the girl cried out for someone, for her mother, her father, for anyone, but all she could hear was the roaring of that goddamned flame coming from every direction, blocking out even the sound of her own screams as she collapsed to the ground, coughing and gagging, sucking in the cooler, wetter air next to the ground.

"Why…"

What had she done to deserve this? What could she possibly have done to attract the universe's attention and warrant this awful punch to the face? Her brother was dying on the ground while she crawled around through the ashes of her home town.

The heat was unbearable, and the longer that she was there the harder it got to breathe. Fire burned off of oxygen, and it seemed that it was running thin in the middle of the burning village. Molly sighed, collapsing softly into the ground beneath her, blades of grass tickling her face lightly. She turned her head to the side, eyes searching for any sign of hope and when she found none, well…

She gave up.

Just as consciousness was beginning to fade from her, there was a sharp pain in her side and she was forcefully rolled onto her back. She squinted up through the smoke but could see nothing but shadows. They got closer, forms becoming something roughly human.

"Looks like this one's still alive."

"How the fuck did we miss her?"

There was a pause, something touched her cheek, something rough. "What do we do with her?" She couldn't make out the next thing said, but she was vaguely aware of her shirt being moved. She began to fight it, but before she could even make herself move she was being lifted into the air, body going limp.

Just before unconsciousness claimed her, Molly heard a harsh voice call out from somewhere nearby. "She's… might as well…with us."

"You're… time…"

"It's not like… hurt…"

"It's… call…"

"…"

And darkness took her.

A/N: Okay, hope you liked it and remember, please leave a review with any comments you have. I'd love to hear a bit of input from you guys. And if you really liked it, then make sure to let me know so I'll have the motivation to write more.