Yeah, I have no excuse for my very long hiatus. It just kinda happened, sorry.
This chapter is groundbreaking by any means, but I wanted to get something out so I could get back on track.
Enjoy!

"Ben? Ben, wake up!" I slowly raised my head up from my desk. I hadn't even bothered to rest my head on my arms, I just conked out on the table. A small pool of drool had formed and my cheek felt hot and sticky. "Look, sleep all you want at home, but when you do it here your snoring kind of interrupts my teaching." Miss Grayy said wearily. Some people laughed a bit, but most were more than used to it by now.

"Sorry Miss." I grumbled before resting my head back on the desk. I heard her sigh before turning back to what she was writing on the board.

"You know, I don't see why you even bother coming into school. All you do is sleep." Luke whispered beside me. He almost looked like he was going to fall asleep too, but that was more from boredom that exhaustion like me.

"Yeah, well, your face."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"That's what she said" I was already bored of this conversation. I wanted to get back to my nap.

"Now that could make sense. If this 'she' you speak of thought that the person she was getting with was actually a guy, but it turned out to be a man with a lack of 'manhood' or just a really buff lesbian who in turn thought that she was a lesbian." He paused. I cracked an eye open curiously. He was staring down at me. "You're not even listening to my riveting recount of the night out I had in Celadon are you?"

"Not in the slightest." I promptly turned away from him and within seconds I was asleep again. I almost felt bad for Luke. He tried to comfort me and stay friends with me. Almost all the others started to avoid me, as if they might catch something.

Death was not common on our island. Most people lived into their eighties. The last reported murder was over thirty years ago and suicide was as good as nonexistent. Occasionally someone might fall off the cliff face and into the ocean, but even then it's sparse. That was until recently. Three people have fallen to their deaths in the last 5 years. Two of whom I'm related to.

I threw my bag down on the floor inside the hall and collapsed in front of the television. Rey followed behind me and proceeded to groom himself. I felt time pass slowly as I watched reruns of sitcoms. They spouted jokes that were tired and boring, most of them bordering on cliché. I heard the watch on my arm beep, signalling it was half five. I made myself a quick dinner of some instant noodles, which I wolfed down, before changing for work.

The summer was slowly receding into autumn, but the heat of the sun still shined down on our quaint little island, combated only by a cool breeze that drifted in from Sinnoh. I made a quick stop to grab a coffee from the Pokemart and then headed towards the quarry. It tasted like muck but at least it kept me going through my shift.

Rey bounded ahead of me and sat himself patiently on the massive rock that signalled the entrance to the town, his tongue hanging out of his mouth lazily. I felt a smile twitch on the corner of my mouth. Rey was the one constant throughout the last ten months. He was always there, curled up at my side or yapping at my ankles.

As I passed he jumped down off the rock and started zigzagging his way onto the beach. He sniffed something and darted off, only to reappear carrying single sandal that someone must have lost. I squatted down and scratched him behind his ear. He inclined his head upwards and let his tongue hang out once more, panting.

"I'm sorry buddy but you've got to get in your ball now." He let out a single "Trike" before he returned to his ball. Only certain Pokémon were allowed to work on the quarry, and they were generally ones that could help with the heavy lifting. While electric Pokémon can definitely be of use at the work place, Rey wasn't high enough level to keep up.

The quarry is the main place of employment for people on the island. It was founded my one man, who spent months digging into the cliffside until he finally struck gold. While gold finds are very rare, we also dig up large quantities of marble and quartzite. It's very lucrative for the island.

This was one of my longer shifts, not ending until two in the morning. Luke's parents got me a job here once I turned sixteen in order to keep me afloat. The money I make here, along with the insurance money that got payed out to my name is enough to keep me going.

I like working here. It keeps me distracted. The rhythmic pace that sets in as soon as you start does not let up until closing time. The other workers were sceptical about me when I started, but they soon accepted me and now treat me as equally as everyone else.

Once my shift ends I barely have enough strength to walk home. It is an amazing effort just to get changed for bed. Some nights I collapse straight onto my bed, too exhausted to even take off my shoes. I'll wake in the morning to find a dirty imprint of my face on my pillow.

However, no matter how tired work makes me, sleep escapes me. I will lie awake for hours, my limbs aching. I would be lucky to get a couple of hours of rest, let alone a whole night. It could be the coffee still coursing through me, but it's more likely something else. The house is eerily quiet at night. Rey sleeps at the end of my bed, but he doesn't make a sound. He has so much energy while he's awake but he'll fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

I guess I've gotten so used to my mother crying at night that I can't sleep without it.

And that sickens me.

To be so utterly dependant on someone else's misfortune disturbs me, especially my own mothers, a misfortune that I shared. Unfortunately (or fortunately, whatever way you look at it) there is no one that shares this with me.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this sir?" a woman asked. She walked briskly behind a smartly dressed man as they descended through dimly lit grey corridors. Her hair was tied up on the top of her head in a bobbin and her head was held high. "He is your ow-"

"I bloody well know that Sylvia. The boy needs to learn and he needs to be prepared." The man barked back, a slight Irish accent creeping through. His black suit was too small for him and it hugged the muscles on his arms. "I wouldn't have made these preparations if I didn't think it was necessary."

The pair arrived at a steel door. The words 'Authorised Personnel Only' was painted on in big black letters. The man typed something in on a keypad beside the door and it swung open, revealing a large, high-ceilinged room. Human sized test tubes lined the walls on each side and computer monitors beside the flashed with different information. Misshapen shadows could be seen inside of the tubes and scientist darted between them writing information down on clipboards.

The two made their way towards a single, smaller test tube in the middle of the room. Unlike the other tubes this one was clear. Inside of it a small pink Pokémon could be seen curled up in a ball. Various fluids were pumped in out and out of its body through a series of small medical tubes.

"At last, we are ready!"

"Mew."

Ooooh, somethings actually happening :P
Expect more soon.
R&R Please.