A/N: UPDATED: I needn't explain the whole 'Updated!' concept for the fifth time in a row. It'd be redundant. :P So here's Chapter 5, readers new and old!

Without further ado, read and review…

Thursday, June 10 - Living Quarters SUB – PokéGene Inc.

Okay, let me tell you something. If you ever had any weird dreams, then it most likely has nothing on the one I had last night. Believe me when I say that it was, though rather foreboding, extremely odd. It was just like the last one I had after I became an Oshawott, only it was a bit "tamer", plus I was fully aware of my surroundings.

…It's strange how Pokémon have such vivid dreams—almost like you feel awake—and it was very unusual to me how these kinds of dreams occur. Brian mentioned to me it's likely a side-effect of that formula, but hey, this might be a little more than that.

In my dream, I was human. I felt human too, which was really odd to me since I had already getting used to having a Pokémon body, and I was walking through the same forest as before. For reasons I could not remember, I was going to meet someone, and I was late. I looked at my watch and realized my lateness, so I began to run.

As I ran however, I began to notice something very strange. Either the forest was getting larger, or I was getting smaller. It wasn't long until grass that was once at my shin level began brushing against my face, which made me feel quite disorientated. I tried to pay little mind to it, and brushed the now huge foliage out of my way. I kept on running, though somehow it was rather…awkward trying to do so. Why was using my feet such a chore all of a sudden? Within two minutes I finally reached a clearing.

The clearing was dark, wide, and empty. It ran in one huge circle pattern, and the grass in this area was unusually short (compared to the tall grass I was wading through moments ago). Something wasn't right. This is where I was supposed to meet someone. But where was that someone? I walked ("waddled" is a more proper term) around the clearing, searching for something—anything—in vain, until suddenly a bright light appeared above me.

I looked up, wincing from the incredible brightness, then saw in the middle of the light…a Pokémon? It had to be a Pokémon…though its name sort of escaped me… Heck, I couldn't even remember what it mostly looked like! But it did have a voice. One that was soft and soothing, yet also firm and orderly at the same time. And I remember what it told me all too well.

"Maxwell… Maxwell," it called out of the brightness. "Answer us, Maxwell…"

Though I felt nervous, I replied, "I…I'm here! Wh-who are you?"

"We are…" The voice hesitated. "…No, it is too soon for that."

"But, why won't you tell me?" I protested.

The voice was silent a moment, then answered, "It is too soon. We will tell you when the time is right. For now, we need to inform you of something else."

I was about to pester for a name, though since I had no idea who I was dealing with I let and be and replied, "I'm listening. What's so important? Who's involved?"

"It involves you, Maxwell. You and your friends. All of them. Pokémon and human."

"And…what is it that we're involved in?"

"…Maxwell, the days ahead will not be easy. We foresee challenges, trials, conflict, and tragedy in your future."

I gulped. Nobody said becoming a Pokémon would be this involved…

"Despite that," the voice continued, "If you proceed forward with your friends, you'll outlast these difficulties. And perhaps someday you'll know true happiness. And maybe even…love."

My mouth dropped open, and I admit my face flushed a bit red. "Say what now? L-love? Are you crazy? I'm only 12! Girls aren't exactly my thing, okay? Eesh…"

"We understand that. It is only natural." I could've sworn that I heard the voice chuckle. "But we are referring to the future, Maxwell. Not the present."

"…How can anyone even predict the future? It's totally—"

"Impossible? Only those without dreams think that. Nothing is impossible."

"Well…okay…but…what do I do?"

"For now, you live. Live and be friends."

"Uhh, that's all? But…"

"For the time being, yes. You're life as one amongst Pokémon will be a challenging one indeed in the years ahead…"

"H-huh? P-Pokémon? Aren't I…human? I…felt human a little while ago…"

"You were. Then you were not. This, is you now, Maxwell."

"Who? Of course I'm me…right?"

"Look upon thyself and see."

I did so, and saw that—to a lot of bewilderment—that I was no longer human, like I was minutes before. Somehow, I had turned back into an Oshawott. This made no sense at all… I was human once, then became a Pokémon, then somehow returned to being a human in this dream, and then, I became a Pokémon again! What was going on here?

"Surprised? You shouldn't be. You chose this. We had already foreseen that decision for a long time, however. We know a lot of things, Maxwell."

I was silent. I looked at my tiny Oshawott body for a moment, then sighed and looked up at the light. "Then…if you do know a lot of things…do you know how I can make friends with Mary and Matthew? They won't talk to me at all, so…"

"Ah, yes. A predicament. Such a large and complicated door, yet with the simplest key."

"Y-you know how to help me?"

"The only thing we know, Maxwell, is that to make a friend, you must be a friend."

"…That doesn't really help, I've tried that…"

"Have you really? Did that attempt come from your heart? From your soul?"

"Uhhh, well…I don't know… I'm not really sure…"

"Hmph. Then you have not. Friends are something special—something eternal—that is only bested by love itself. But in this case, your friends are also your family, and, being that situation, you should love them. Every human and Pokémon loves their own family. Our question is: Do you love yours?"

The question took me rather odd-guard. "I…they…I…I do…I really have wanted a family all my life… So I guess I love them in that sense…but…"

"'But' is a word of skepticism. A word of question. A word of doubt. A word of conflict. So, what is the meaning of your 'but'?"

"…Umm… I just don't really know if it can really happen… To have a real family, that is… I hope it would, and I want it to, so…"

"'Want' is greed. It is a burden. To want something is to hold oneself back from enlightenment to fruitlessly pursue nonsense. 'Hope', on the other hand, is a desire for faithfulness. It unites us. Having hope is what makes us all strong. Do you understand?"

"I… I… Yeah. Yes, I do."

"Good. Now you see, the other five members of your family have been linked by fate since birth. Even when you never knew each other, you were bonded. It was fate that brought you here. Of course, there is something about one member of your family that will make him or her closer than you think. Something you may not see coming. It should become apparent someday."

"W-woah… That's…a lot to take in…"

"Indeed. Now, before we leave, remember this: 'To make a friend, you must be a friend…from the heart and soul combined.' Never forget this, and your life will be long, happy, and peaceful."

"…And that's a guarantee?"

"Sadly, we can't guarantee anything. The future always moves. It all comes down to your choices. In the end, it will be up to you to decide for yourself, and hope you make the right decisions. Just…do what you feel is right. Farewell…"

"Umm, bye…light…"

"And remember… Be a friend Maxwell… Be a friend…"

The bright orb of light retreated into the air, and quickly vanished without a sound. I was standing there, as an Oshawott, alone in the now-dark forest. At this point I actually had wonders whether or not this whole occurrence was real. But before I could dive too deep into my thoughts, I heard a rustling noise in the brush close to me.

Not knowing who or what could be out this deep in the woods, I called out, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"H-Hello?" a timid voice that seemed to belong to a young boy responded. "Who's that? I'm scared… I-I want my mommy…"

"Don't worry! I'm right here, just come on out of there!" I said, looking at the bush the voice was coming from.

There was a brief silence, then the voice said again, "Y-You're not going to h-hurt me…right?"

Hurt him? What's he talking about? And why was a kid in the middle of a forest, away from his family? "No! Of course not, that's just not right… It's okay, I won't do anything to you! I'm a friend!"

"…Friend? You'll be my…friend?"

"Of…of course. Any friend in need is a friend indeed…right?"

"I…think so… Okay, I'll come out."

I half-expected to see a kid—a human one that is—come out of those bushes, but I was quite surprised that, as the being was revealed, the voice had belonged to a Pokémon; a Caterpie to be exact. It looked really frail and near-terrified, which was understandable. The caterpillar Pokémon came out of the bushes, saw me, and then came rushing to my side. Caterpie huddled itself against me, as if it was seeking comfort and protection, so I gave him a little hug to help reassure him.

At that moment, I heard the voice of that Pokémon in the light. "The first test," it whispered, as if the voice was resonating throughout the forest. Strangely enough, Caterpie didn't seem to hear anything.

"Did you…hear something just now?" I asked, a bit curious.

Caterpie looked up at me with confusion. "N-No… Not just now anyway…"

Here is where I got confused. I heard it, but Caterpie didn't? Then how… Well… it didn't really matter at that point. I asked him what he was doing in the forest.

"I…I was with my m-mommy," he began, voice cracking, "And then…I wandered a little too f-far into the forest…a-a-and…and…I…I can't find my mommy anywhere!" Caterpie broke down in tears, so I gave him another hug. He was obviously just a baby still…so…I had to help him get home. What else could I do at that point anyway? Besides, I couldn't stand the thought of just leaving him alone there.

"Don't worry," I told him reassuringly, "I'm here. I'll help you. You can trust me—as a friend."

Caterpie sniffled, and seemed to cheer up a bit. "T-thank you…friend…"

I felt touched by this little Pokémon's innocence and helplessness. He really seemed willing to trust me. Then again, if you were alone and lost in a dark forest, I'd imagine that you wouldn't be picky in choosing your heroes. But something about this whole situation seemed 'off'… If this was a dream, it was way too real to be one.

I began to lead Caterpie through the forest, and, even though I honestly had no clue where I was going, I pressed onwards with the baby Pokémon under my protection. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the forest around us became brighter and brighter, and I realized that exiting the forest was imminent.

"We're almost there!" I exclaimed, patting Caterpie on the back. "It looks like the exit is real close, so hang on a little longer, okay?"

"O-okay!" Caterpie said with a hint of excitement in his quiet little voice. "I get to be with my mommy again, I'm so happy!"

I smiled brightly down at him, noting his growing eagerness, and then looked back ahead. The path we were on was starting to become wider, and the light brighter. Finally, I could see a distant opening in the thick forest bush: The outside world.

A feeling of anticipation suddenly rushed through me, so I yelled on impulse, "There, there! We're almost out!"

Caterpie wasted no time in picking up the pace significantly, and he somehow managed to run—err, crawl ahead faster than me. I ran faster in response, and under a minute later, we were finally outside. The moment the bare sunlight washed over us both we stopped and tried to catch our breaths.

"We…made it… Hoof…" I said in-between gasps for air. "We're out of there… Huff…"

The little Caterpie was also exhausted, but seemed to pay no mind to that fact. "Where's my mommy? She's supposed to be right around here!" he squeaked.

"My baby! You're safe! I've been looking all over for you!"

Surprised, I looked up to see a Butterfree quickly fluttering towards us, and Caterpie squealed with happiness. "MOMMY!" he cried in response, and rushed as fast as he could to the Butterfree's open embrace. It was quite obvious to me that this Butterfree was Caterpie's mother.

"Caterpie! My little darling!" Butterfree cried, holding her 'baby'. "I'd thought I lost you! Oh, heavens above, where were you?"

Caterpie was weeping quite a bit, obviously overjoyed to be reunited with his mom, so his speech was pretty cracked. "M-M-Mommy… I-I…thought I'd n-n-never…s-see you a-again… It was s-so s-s-s-scary…"

Butterfree sighed heavily and hugged him tighter. "It's okay, sweetie… You're safe now…"

"M-Mommy, mommy! My friend over there helped me out of the scary forest!" the Caterpie said, and looked back at me, his eyes sparkling.

His mom looked over at me as well, and immediately flew over to where I was, cradling Caterpie while doing so. "You were the one who saved my precious baby?" she asked.

I was feeling pretty nervous, but I smiled as sincerely as I could and replied, "Uh, yeah… I suppose I did. It was really no trouble at all—"

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Butterfree cried. "I'm so grateful! I can't thank you enough!"

"Umm… That's…okay. I just thought it would be a nice thing to do is all," I said shyly, chuckling with a little embarrassment. Okay, I'll be honest here in saying that I was faking modesty, though Butterfree bought it full-priced and then some.

"You're too modest! Who knows what could've happened to my baby in there all alone! I am in your debt!"

If this was a dream, then I guess it didn't really matter who was indebted to whom. It would all just vanish in the end, anyway. But despite that, I went along with the situation (on the off chance it wasn't a dream). "Uh, you're welcome…?"

"Oh, won't you please tell me your name, so I can remember you properly?"

"Err…" Should I really? Or maybe not? It wouldn'tve really mattered either way, so I decided to tell her. "M-Maxwell… That's my name. Real name, anyway."

"Maxwell? That's quite an odd name for a Pokémon. But oh well, it doesn't matter. I must thank you again!"

"Eheheh… That's okay, really… It wasn't a problem at all."

"Oh, again with the modesty! Heehee… Well, if you're ever around here again, then do come by and see us! You're always welcome to our home!"

"O-okay…sounds great!" But where is here? That wasn't really obvious from just looking around…

"Great! I'm sure my little Caterpie would love to have you over to play sometime, too!"

"Y-yeah! I love playing!" Caterpie chimed, still being held by his mom.

Again, I was touched by the little bug's cuteness and innocence. Many people aren't all that 'fond' of bug-type Pokémon, and I'll admit I wasn't either. But here I had a previously unknown sense of empathy for all Pokémon. I suppose that's what I get for being a Pokémon myself, heh.

"Come on Caterpie, it's time to go home," Butterfree said, and after a final farewell, she and Caterpie went off into the distance to their home, which left me alone at the forest's edge. As they flew away though, I could hear Caterpie cry out to me, "Bye, friend!"

That last word 'friend' made me feel unusually happy. I waved to them, even though they were quite far away, up until the point where I could see them no more. Right then, I heard that strange voice speak to me again. "Very good. You have learned what it means to be a true friend. Our work is done here. From here on out, you must find your own way…"

What is he—I'm assuming it's a he, for simplicity's sake—talking about? Learned what it means? Must find my own way? And why does he keep saying "we", "us", and "our"? Is there more than one somehow…?

"Now, Maxwell… Awaken."

It was around then that I suddenly woke up, gasping with surprise. It seemed almost as if someone had suddenly kicked me out of my unconscious state. The dream was still fresh in my mind, as if it was burned into it. What was all that about, I wondered? Who, or what, did that voice belong to? How does it somehow know "everything"? And why do I keep asking myself obvious questions with no good answers? …Heck if I know.

Upon realizing that the whole event was merely a dream, I wearily pulled my groggy self out of bed and instinctively went to put on my clothes. How stupid is that? I wandered around the room searching blankly for clothing to wear (I was so used to doing that at the orphanage) until it occurred to me that, not only was there no dresser to be found anywhere, I wasn't even able to wear human clothing anyway! When I realized that oh-too-obvious fact, I swear my face turned quite red with embarrassment. Not just because I looked stupid trying to do what I did, but also because Pokémon are always…bare (I'll leave it at that, figure the rest out on your own). It would've been much worse if everyone else was even awake at that point, but thank God they weren't. I'm going to have a hard time looking at Pokémon the same way again, though…

I quickly remembered about both my baby-sized baseball hat (which funnily enough I had left on my head since yesterday and had worn throughout the night) and my shell, which I left hidden under the bed's pillow, so I hurried back to my bed and fished the latter item out from under said pillow. Right when I was attaching the shell back to its proper position, I heard a voice behind me. "Eh…? Maxwell? Yer up already?" it said. Recognizing it as Warren's voice, I spun around to see him sitting up in his bed, gazing at me curiously.

"Oh, umm… Good morning Warren!" I said rather cheerfully, hoping to ease the morning tension. "How was your night? Mine was…okay." I didn't really feel like telling him about that dream I had just yet. If I did, he might call me crazy or something, so I pushed it to the back of my mind.

He was silent for a minute, his expression frozen with uncertainty and ears drooping a bit, then finally replied, "Y-yeah, it was a'ight. Nuttin' special or anythin', so…"

"So…what?"

"Uhh…nothing! Nothing at all! Eh-heh…"

I gave him a weird look. Something about Warren seemed a little apprehensive, as if he was holding something back. "Is something the matter?" I asked at last, simply dying to know. "You seem a bit on the…dodgy side."

He seemed surprised by my implication. "W-what? Eh…n-no! Nothin's the matter! Honest! And…err…it's not really important anyway!"

"…"Not really important"? You just said there was nothing!" I insisted. Okay, his behavior simply screamed 'weirdo!' at this point. What is he hiding?

"It's…it's… Uhh… Oh! It's morning, right? Er, yes it is! Breakfast time! Um, see ya Max!"

"But—"

Warren sped right off before I could stop him, so I couldn't make him come clean about his behavior. But before I could chase him, the other Pokékids started waking up, starting with Steve. I heard him rise from his bed, so I turned to look at him. His red eyes gave me a very curious stare when my own met them, and he said nothing for a few moments. Since it was only proper courtesy, I spoke first, "G-Good morning, Steve."

"…Morning," he replied quietly, still staring at me intently, as if he was trying to see through me. What on earth was he thinking? Does he—oh no, did he figure out about the dream…?

Shuffling nervously, I asked somewhat jokingly, "So, what stuff are you trying to dig out of my brain now?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "At the moment, not a whole lot. I'm just curious 'cause your mind's all clouded up. I can't really 'see' anything, if you get my drift."

"Umm… 'Clouded'? Wha?"

"Something's happened to make your mind a bit…hard to read. Maybe it's some kind of interference, or…I dunno. Something."

"Well, I do still feel a bit tired, since I just woke up…is that it?"

He shook his head. "Not that I've seen before. It's more 'extreme' than that… Interestingly enough, I could feel the same thing coming off of Warren…"

"Huh… What about the others?"

"…Hmm. No, I can still see their thoughts fine right now. Heheh. You should hear the stuff Matthew dreams up…"

I grimaced. "Something tells me I don't want to. Well…see ya. I guess I'll…have breakfast?"

I saw Steve glance at a nearby wall clock, and then he looked at me with a coy smile. "At 5 o'clock in the morning?"

"Err…yes?"It's THAT early? Wow, I can't believe I never noticed…

He shook his head and chuckled, then just mumbled something barely audible and seemed to go back to sleep. Wow, that was quick.

With that little conversation with Steve over, my thoughts quickly turned to how Warren was behaving. He wanted to skip that question I asked him like it was his butt on the wire, which struck me—it would've struck anyone—as strange. All I know is that if he thinks I'll forget to ask him that question again, then he's got another thing coming. But for now, I do have more important things to attend to. Namely, my breakfast.

Yeah, breakfast…

Well, I really didn't wanna run frum Max, but whut choice did I have? I couldn't jus' tell 'im whut happened last night—or the nights before—'cause he'd never believe me. That there boy's a good kid, yeah, but ah'm sure he has a limit on 'crazy'… But, if ya'll ask me, he's too inquisitive fer his own good.

Eh? Oh, right. The name's Warren. Y'know, the friendly neighborhood kid-turned-Pikachu with a PhD in tinkerin'. Heheh, okay that was a joke, but ya'll get whut I mean. Ah'm here since…well, I told Max 'bout it already; 'bout how I ditched my old home and went out Lord knows where… An' then Brian picked me up at that there orphanage and offered up the chance ta become a Pokémon. Obviously I took it, since I figured it would be better than whut I was going through at the time. Why a Pikachu ya'll might ask? Well, they're cute lil' thangs, plus that 'lectricity-making power is purty useful for stuff. Do I regret any o' that? Heck no! But that dream… Yowsa.

Anyway, I ran inta the kitchen area after leaving the bedroom - I ended up having ta run on all fours, since it was faster that way - then took a peek o'er behind myself ta make sure Max wasn't followin'. Luckly, he wasn't, but I could clearly hear both him and Steve in the bedroom talking about somethin'. Since becomin' a Pikachu, my sense o' hearing got way better than usual (thanks to them big ol' ears of course), so I could hear their conversation purty well. 'Spite that I didn't really care much ta pay a lotta 'ttention ta whut they were sayin', so I wandered around to try and find some kinda food (since I was feeling purty peckish).

As I looked 'round, I began to notice how hot it was gettin' in here. Right away I blamed it onda fact that I had fur coverin' my body instead o' just skin. I guess it would be useful fer outdoorsy places an' the like, but in here it wasn't really doin' a whole lot fer me comfort-wise. Eh, ah've put up with it fer the last two days, and ah'm used to it by now, so it don't really matter. I kinda get itchy sumtimes though…'specially behind my ears or neck or…wherever else…

Finally, thanks to my much better sense o' smell, I found the 'fridgerator. I managed ta pry the door open and checked the thang top ta bottom, lookin' fer somethin'—anythin'—edible. Lucky fer me, I found some o' that Pokéfood frum yesterday (Brian made sum extra, so we could have somefin' ta eat if we ever got hungry). I grabbed a bowlful of the stuff, then walked on o'er ta the little table back in the living room. Sittin' down at it, I started munchin' away at my food fer a minute or two, 'til I heard a voice make an "Ahem!" noise.

Right away, I knew who it was, so I didn't bother ta look up. Wasn't until I heard him callin' my name, "Warren," a buncha times that I slowly looked up. As I thought, it was Maxwell. He was holdin' a bowl of his own fill'd with food, and his dark-color'd Oshawott eyes were givin' me such a pitiful look…

I was NOT in the mood ta talk, since I knew he would throw that dang question on me again. So what'd I do? I just slid mah goggles down over my eyes ta cover my own look of weakness, and then looked back down at my food, sayin' nothin' more than a, "Hey."

Maxwell sat right on the opposite side of the table, facin' me, and started eatin' his own food. Neither o' us spoke fer a minute. You know, I wanted to tell him. I really did want to. But…I couldn't. Like I said, he'd never believe me. But, if he's so darn desperate for answers then…

"Warren… Come on… What's the matter?" he said suddenly. "All I did was ask a question. You didn't have to run from me."

I didn't look up, I merely mumbled somefin' that made no sense ta me or him, mainly outta uncertainty.

Max sighed loudly, an' he kept up wif the attempt ta persuade me. "What is the matter? Did something happen last night?"

"…It's nuttin'," I said under my breath. "Ya shouldn't be too worried 'bout it…"

"But I am! Come on, you weren't—and aren't—acting yourself. Tell me the problem already!"

I said nuttin'. Maybe if I kept silent, he'd just leave me alone. But if I did that, then I wouldn'tve learned frum what happened with Steve yesterday…

Max was clearly getting a lil' peeved, as he slapp'd a paw down onta the table. "Alright, seriously! What's with the silent act? Aren't I your friend? Can't you trust me?"

"…Course I can," I said at last, lookin' up a lil' bit. "I jus'…dunno if you would believe whut I have ta say…"

He looked at me weird; as if he was tryin' ta say "Are ya kiddin' me?" through looks alone. "Of course I'd believe you! Since when have you lied about anything?"

Well, he has a point. I have been purty truthful, I'm sure, so I don't see a reason not to tell 'im. Then again, would he believe me if it sounded crazy enough? I shook my head in r'sponse to his question.

"There! See? Even if it sounds crazy… Believe me, I've seen crazy."

"…How crazy?"

"Crazy and then some."

"Then why don'tcha tells me about your story?"

"Well, would you believe me?"

"Uh, sure… Ah'll bite. Whut is it?"

Max took a deep breath, and looked ta the side a bit. "…I had a dream last night."

I suddenly looked right up at him, and pulled my goggles off. "A d-dream? Ya had one too?"

"Well…yeah, it was pretty weird… A voice was talking to me about really philosophical stuff… And how all of this was pre-determined or something."

"…Really now? No kidding?" Holy roly-poly, somefin' ain't right here…

"I'm sure of it. After that, I helped this Caterpie escape from a forest back to its mother, and then…it was over."

"Wow…that's…sum dream."

"And to cap it off…it felt so real…like…I was actually there. I couldn't tell if it was real or not; heck, I still can't!"

"…Insanity, I say. Not that I don' believe ya, but man, oh, man…"

"Well, I've told you my crazy night. Now tell me yours."

Ugh. I guess I was atta crossroad here. Whut shud I tell 'im? Max looked purty honest, so I guess… Why not… Ah'll tell 'im. "…Ya got me. It went like this…"

He chew'd onna coupla pieces o' his food, an' look'd back at me. "Go on. Do tell."

"Well…I hadda dream too, ya know. Kinda weird like yers, but slightly different."

"In such a way as…?"

"Well, that them voice was there, talking all philosophy and all. Kinda like yers, only I had this dream twice 'fore too."

"R-Really?Were they the same thing, or was it different every time?"

"Eh, yay and nay. It was the same voice and place - a forest - every time, but he would tell me different thangs. Like, onda first day, which was the night I 'came a Pokémon, that voice told me 'bout pre-destiny and how my "family" would soon be brought together."

"Wow…that sounds a bit like mine, only now the 'family' is already together…"

"Yeah, I guess so… Yesterday night, the night Samantha, Steve, and Mary show'd up, the voice told me that there would be challenges ahead, an' that ta make a friend, ya gotta be a friend."

"Oh! That's exactly what he said to me last night!"

"No kiddin'? I guess that voice is…the same one somehow?"

"How is that possible? I think the voice is actually a Pokémon…but I don't know its name… Heck, I can't even remember what it looked like!"

"Me neither. Let's assume that it is the same one, ta be simple. Anyway, jus' last night, when you an' Matthew first showed up, the voice said that the seal o' friendship is close ta bein' made…an' that today is the day it wud be finalized."

"Now that, I don't remember from my dream…"

"I s'ppose not. It said that Steve is the key or somethin'… An' that you and Matthew are s'pposed ta be my closest friends."

"…Really? Heh, well…I guess that's half true, huh?"

"Yeah, heheheh… Ima been thinkin' it wud take me and ya both ta persuade him over, so…maybe we shud do that later?"

"I don't like the sound of it, but we could try sometime. We'd probably fail, but…eh, whatever."

"Alrighty then… Anyways, it also told me somefin' a bit more…unsettlin'…"

"Umm…what?"

"…Well…it said that…it sees…tragedy…in the future…"

"It said that to me too… Hmm, but what kind of tragedy?"

"Not sure… But I think I'd rather not know, buddy…"

"…Me neither. I've had enough craziness for two lifetimes already."

I chuckl'd a bit at that. That Maxwell, he can be a pretty quick-witted guy, though I hafta wunder where he cums frum sumtimes… We didn't talk a whole lot after that, but at least the ice was broken b'tween us. I carried on wif eatin' my food, but when I did I coulda swore I saw somefin' jus' disappear inta the bedroom through the door… Ah, it was probably jus' my imagination again, so I ignored it and carried on with my meal. Then I thoughta somethin'.

"Hey, Max?"

"Huh? Yes?"

"Ya ever wunder why we're here?"

"Umm…is this a trick question?"

"No, it isn't. Ima just saying, why are we here here?"

"You mean, here—at the facility?"

"Nah, nah; I meant like, why we even exist? On earth?"

"…Philosophy makes my brain hurt, okay? Can we please—?"

"Well, I might havit figgered out! You know how people are always going on about God and stuff? Well, I have this theory…"

"Ugh… Here we go…"

Phew, I hope that they didn't see me just now. Perhaps Warren did, as I could sense him gazing in my general direction curiously, but he seems to have ignored me. That conversation of theirs had more than enough information to take in, so at least now I have a half-decent explanation for how their minds are all fogged like that. Okay, I know eavesdropping on those two is kind of…not so good, but I needed to know.

I'm Steve by the way, in case you haven't caught on to that yet. Not sure if I should explain my past…but…hmm, I may as well, if you're so curious. I had no parents, as far as I could tell. I was raised for most of my life by a spiritualist, who had taught me much about the world of psychic abilities. Make sense now that I became a Psychic-type Pokémon? A Ralts, specifically? Anyway, she somehow even predicted her own demise, with startling accuracy, so after that I had to make do on my own. I got picked up by a city orphanage over on the outskirts of town about a week after that, and I stayed there for a few years. I never bothered in socializing with others; I just stayed in my room honing my psychic abilities, which weren't very impressive to say the least. A couple days ago, Brian came and found me, and before I knew it…here be I. Interesting story or not, that's my life.

After I was done listening in, I hurried back to the bedroom to think for a bit, and maybe practice my skills as well. When I entered, I was half-surprised to see Matthew and Mary both fully awake. It didn't surprise me that they were awake, what surprised me is that they were talking to each other - in a fairly civilized if somewhat reluctant conversation. Even stranger, now both of their minds were all clouded up like Warren's and Maxwell's! Very strange, as it wasn't like this when I was here minutes ago. As such, I couldn't tell what they were thinking, so I had no idea what prompted this sudden change of heart. Before this, those two wouldn't talk to each other or the rest of us…

"…So, uh, did you have a weird dream lately? Out of curiosity?" I heard Mary ask Matthew. Neither of them had noticed me yet, so I hid behind one of the beds and continued to listen in.

"Hmm. I may have, though I don't really see why you're so concerned, or why you're even bringing that up," Matthew replied rather stiffly.

"Well…I actually had a real strange dream myself, and I was wondering if you might know anything about it…"

"Then why don't you go ask those other drips? Looks like most of 'em are in the other room, so go knock yourself out."

"B-But…it was the voice… I-it told me to…to talk to you…"

"Me? The heck? Now you're creeping me out, Pengi."

"It's Mary… But, oh…I can't take acting all hissy and mean-looking to everyone anymore… I really don't want that…"

Matthew gave a snort of derision. "Hmph. Probably shoulda thought of that BEFORE alienating yourself. Way to go, Bluebell."

"My name is MARY… Please… Oogh… That v-voice…it said you were supposed to tell me something!

"Why, sure it did! I was supposed to tell you to GO AWAY. Now beat it, I need some time to myself…"

"…Matthew… That's your name, right? I… Oh, forget it…"

"I never thought it would end. Get outta here, please. There. I said please. Now go."

"…Fine. I'll…talk to the other guys then… Sigh…"

As I hid, listening on their conversation, I must say that Mary wasn't really as bad as she seemed. Of course, I could tell from loose mind-reading that she wasn't evil or anything, but she obviously kept her feelings bottled up (a bit like Max, I noted). Mary, from what I gather, is emotionally sensitive, meaning that she is deeply affected psychologically by stress and other forms of harassment. I began to wonder, was Mary ever bullied harshly in her life? I'd have to say maybe, but to be sure I could skim through her thoughts…

…Oh, right. Silly me, I forgot that her mind is somehow unreadable right now…since it's so clouded. But why is it that way? From what I can tell, everyone whose mind that has been "fogged-up" (so I couldn't see their thoughts very well at all) had a dream last night. Each of their dreams had a common theme: A voice would speak to them about something. I'm not sure what Matthew's dream was about, since he never elaborated (when I was listening in anyway), but I'll assume it was similar. The only one who probably didn't have a dream like that is Samantha, since her mind was still clear (if a little turbulent). And of course, I never had a dream like this ever before, since if I did, I wouldn't be so curious about all this. Now, the only question is, why and how were those dreams happening—

"Eeeep! W-were you listening to us just now?"

"Ohh!" I exclaimed, startled at being discovered, so I quickly turned to the voice's source. Turned out, it was Mary, since she was passing by to leave the room and saw me hiding when she went past the bed I was at. "Umm… Well, truthfully, yes. Forgive me; I was just being curious…"

Mary's look of shock slowly dissolved into one of annoyance. "Oh, don't do that, you…nrgh," she grumbled, and finally left the room. Right then, I suspected that Matthew was aware I was hiding here, since I heard him call me out.

"Hey! Whoever's hiding there, you better come out before I have to come and get you myself!"

I sighed gently, and shook my head. I wasn't meaning to confront him, but now was a better time than ever. Walking back out into the open, I looked at the Snivy named Matthew, who was giving me a nasty glare that probably would've unsettled me if it were not for the fact that I could handle him no problem in a fight...but no part of me wanted to come to that.

Matthew tapped his foot impatiently, and shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk… Didn't your momma ever teach you to not eavesdrop? It COULD land you in big trouble, buddy," he said sharply. Clearly, he was not fond of me.

"For the record, I never had a mother," I dully informed him. "I was raised by a clairvoyant for most of my life, so—"

"A gypsy?" he spat, and chortled. "Heh. No wonder you're such a loner, and a pussy to cap it off."

"Speak for yourself, snake eyes. Why don't you wipe that smug grin off your face and act like you actually have a spine?" ...Hey, I can be witty if I want to.

Matt didn't seem to like that one bit, as he clenched his small three-digit hands and gritted his teeth. "You talk big. So, do ya like playing Mr. Wise Guy?"

"Not really. I have more dignified things to do, so you can have that position."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, dude. I suggest you leave me alone before I have to do something nasty."

"Hm. Of course. I apologize, dude. I actually have more interesting things to be doing, so I will leave. Take care, then."

"…Just get out of here. And you better watch your step from now on, kiddo."

"How terrifying. Let me know when you have a real threat planned out."

I quickly started out the door after letting him stew with my retorts, but I wasn't quite finished with him yet. As I stood in the doorway, I looked back at Matthew, who was still giving me that glare. I sighed a bit, and then decided to pull one last gambit. No jokes this time 'round.

"…Matthew. Your life sucked, I imagine."

"That's none of your business! What's mine is mine, so you can butt out!"

"I'll take that as a yes. Look, isn't there a reason you came here?"

"There may have been. But why do you need to know?"

"I'm just curious. I came here because I was hoping to be part of something great. And right now, you're not helping."

"Who cares?"

"Everyone. Me, Warren, Samantha, Maxwell, and even Mary care. And so do Brian and Frank. Can you face us all at once, and say you don't care about us or anyone else?"

He was silent.

"I thought so. You're making it hard for not only us, but for yourself. At this rate, you'll be miserable for the rest of your life. Do you really want that?"

Again, Matthew did not respond.

"…I heard Warren and Max earlier say something about being friends with you, believe it or not. According to them, they all heard a voice in their dream too. It told them, "To make a friend, you must be a friend." We're trying to be friends now. We tried, Brian tried, and on top of that, everyone tried. And you brushed us off."

The Snivy slowly looked at the floor.

"I've never in my life seen such an anti-social monster like you. I may have avoided contact with most others, but at least I was friendly and willing enough to try and be a friend now. You…you're something else. You know what? You don't deserve to be friends with us anyway. You don't deserve to be here. You don't even deserve to exist."

Matthew's head drooped even lower.

"We'd be better off without you, you know. It's as you said: 'Who cares?' Who cares if you're not here? No one will, that's who. So, just take that in mind."

"…I thought I asked you to leave."

"I will. And I am. Goodbye…you big jerk. Drop dead."

Without another look back, I went out the door into the kitchen. I could hear voices that belonged to Warren, Maxwell, and…someone else, so I went to rustle myself some food from the fridge (where else would it be?) so I could join them in eating breakfast (Still wasn't even past 5:20 AM though).

Heh, I sure gave that Matthew something to chew on back there. I wondered for a minute. Will it convince him? Who knows. Maybe not, but as he said, who cares?

After picking me up some of that rather great Pokéfood, I walked back into the living room area, where I saw, to great surprise, Mary at the table talking with both Warren and Maxwell. They really seemed to be engaged in some interesting conversation, so I walked up to them and joined in, taking a seat at the table.

"Morning, guys. What're you talking about?"

A/N: UPDATED: So, how'd you like the edits? You may or may not have noticed too much difference, but that's okay I guess… I did change up some of the dialogue I didn't like, however. It doesn't really change the story much though, so old fans don't need to fret. ;)

Review where it's due, osha! Until next update, fare thee well!

-TheAuthorGl1m0