It's dark. There's nothing I can see except for a nice purple goo in front of me.
I can't remember anything.
How did I end up here?
The goo does not speak or make noise, but it calls my name and I know what to do. Do not attack any Alakazam, Floatzel, Mankee, Flareon, ButterFree, or Drowzee. I do not know what or who any of these are. To resolve this, the nice goo shows me pictures.
When I reach the last picture, I know to obey anything that the Flareon tells me to do.
I exit the void, and the first thing I see is the Flareon swaying in front of me and then walking past. Through the corner of my eyes, I can see the tips of my arms. I want to get a better look, but… the Flareon hasn't told me to. So I shouldn't, right?
It's boring, doing nothing. I stand waiting for orders from the Flareon, and I try to imagine what I probably look like. In my boredom, I retreat back to my inner consciousness, only barely tuning into the real world to listen in for orders. There's still just the purple goo, which has been here the entire time.
"Adam." I turn around, and I immediately recognize the source of the voice.
That is my name. I am an Eevee.
The light moves, and my eyes follow it. In its trail, it leaves behind two objects.
I float over to the first trinket and notice that it's identical to what's on my paw. It's a claw.
Being cautious, I lightly tap it. Almost immediately, I can see them both.
Their names are Concord and Chary. I know them, Chary, he… he-... It lies. The purple entity that I've been listening to lied to me.
The black void around me is replaced by Foggy Grove. It's the first place I recognize, and it's where I found her. The second trinket falls to the ground once gravity establishes itself.
The evil purple goo tries to consume memories and reclaim its power over me, but the light replaces them twice as fast as the purple entity can destroy them.
I walk over to it, and it's a small wooden structure, small enough to be held by me.
I touch it, and again, another rush of memories floods my brain. Ian and Dan. Kecleon. The Guildmaster. Everyone is here. With so many faces, I can't help but ask,
'Is there something I'm forgetting?'
Oh. Right.
I leave my inner consciousness and begin to focus on the real world again.
Tony is trying to place an apple under my paw, and his annoyance with me is obvious. Instead of letting him win, I nudge the apple and make it roll away. I begin silently scanning the room and as Tony bends over to pick the apple, I spot my crossbow. He walks back over ready to try again. He gives me a command, but I know I'm not gonna a listen to it.
"Adam, I know you're not deaf, just hold this apple and eat it when you're-"
I cut him off and push him to the ground, giving me a few extra valuable seconds to reach my crossbow. As it turns out, Tony still isn't stupid, and he has already emptied it. As Tony gets back up, I use the crossbow as a bluff to stall for time while I reach for my second, loaded crossbow.
"Don't move, or else I'll shoot!" I threaten him, holding my crossbow as stable and intimidating as I can. I couldn't bring myself to shoot him before, but he's made the decision easier on me. Tony stares at me in horror and confusion before asking me the obvious question.
"How did you do that?" I don't answer and simply smile at him, inching closer to the second crossbow. "Don't shoot me, Adam! It would be a..." he stops, and I don't know why yet. "...Are you seriously threatening me with an empty crossbow?" His wide-eyed stare turns into laughter as my cover is blown. Unsure of what to do next, I pretend to make an attempt to sprint past him, but instead, I change directions and jump out of the window, grabbing the other crossbow on my way out.
Tony gives chase, and I run as hard as I can. I'd use the crossbow, but between the pedestrians and the bumpy sprinting, this isn't exactly the optimal conditions for it.
I weave between the pedestrians on the street, through the night wind. I jump and using my open hands, I reach into a shopkeeper's stall, like a thief. I look at the item, hopeful that it could be something that could help me, and instead, I see a useless berry.
I'm about to throw it at Tony when a better idea comes to my mind. Using the crowd as a cover, I throw the berry at a nearby Lopunny, knocking their stiff body into an alley on the left. As I do this, I dive around the corner into an alley to the right. Silently, I creep around the alley and I move to behind a gray, smelly trash can.
I'm finally safe now. It takes me a moment for me to gather my breath, as I can't breathe too hard or loud right now.
"Find Adam." I hear Tony say, and I realize that I'm no longer safe. I had failed to consider this as an opportunity.
Now running even faster than before, I route my way to my house, with a small crowd behind me, full of people I know. No, people who know me. I close and lock the door to my house as I run inside. Great. Now I've locked myself in a room with no good escape route. Why the hell did I think this place was a good idea? The arrows in storage here can only do so much…
That's when I remember the board sticking up from under Ian's bed. No…
As I jump into the room and close the trapdoor from below, I can hear the door break under the weight of at least a dozen people pushing up against it. I can't see anything inside, but I can still feel around enough to know where everything is located. Luckily, Ian did me a favor and tore everything down and replaced it with a storage room. Even with all these arrows, there's no way for me to escape.
"I know you're hiding somewhere in here. I'll be searching for a while." I remain quiet and try to think of a plan.
"What happened Adam? How did I get myself into this mess? I'm sorry that it has to be this way. There's no backing out now, not for you, not for me." My thoughts on what I should do next break, and I can only think about what he just said.
I hear Tony rummaging around above, breaking plates and knocking over the furniture with no concern, only for the goal of finding me. The floorboard above me creaks, signaling that he may have just found me. I inhale, and mentally prepare myself to do something drastic.
"No... I'm lying to myself. There is still a way out for me. You probably hate me for what I've done, for the crimes I've committed, for the character that I've left behind... You probably aren't even here anymore, so who am I even talking to? The people under my control who can't hear me?" I hold my breath, and he continues. "I've decided. This is the end for me. I give up. Everyone, stop searching for Adam. Tell Alakazam I'm no longer on their team. Tell them to protect the machine, then you may go back to where you were before this all happened…"
There's no movement.
"He's at the Observatory! Go! Just go!" Tony ordered them out, and I hear the floorboard above me creak again, signaling his leave.
Slowly, I exit the trapdoor and sneak out of my house, holding both crossbows, and now with plenty of arrows in a bag. I thought I see that Flareon in an alley watching me for a split second, but I'm not going back and checking.