How was everyone's Easter? Hope you all had a lovely day! You guys helped me reached 100 reviews! Yay! Thank you so much! :D Please keep on reading and reviewing! Appreciate it loads! Hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

Responses to Reviews...
Pear-Shaped:You're awesome, you little sweetheart! :D
hungryhippo1000: Hahaha! I'm sorry! You're not dumb! xD
Alethea R. Grey: I just wanted to say that your username is so pretty! I love it! It has such a nice flow to it! I wish my name was that cool. :D
chocolatehell: Lol, wait, what? xD My spring break's officially over after tomorrow. Now, I have to endure the last couple weeks of school before I get to leave on vacation for a month. Unfortunately, I might not be able to update my stories as often as I'd like while I'm on vacation. :\
Fprmr1: Lol! If we ever met in real life, I'd totally drag you to go see the Hunger Games! That movie is phenomenal! Like, seriously, I can't tell you how much I love it!
The Real Contestshipping Princess: Thank you so much! I haven't had the time to check out your story so far (sorry!), but I'll be sure to do so in the upcoming week! Get ready for some reviews coming your way! :D By the way, I'm sorry about having to put spaces in your username. Fanfiction kept deleting your username every time I saved this chapter while I was working on it. :\
FlygonFan: Um...the story's not over. Lol, it was an April Fool's joke I played on everyone. Didn't you read the bottom author's note? xD But YES! My love for the Hunger Games pulled through!
splitheart1120: Don't worry, there will be!
Twilarose: Hahaha! I'm sorry for the joke! I'm glad you love my story, though! Thanks! :)
I know Absol isn't a psychic pokémon, but then again, neither is Lapras, and I remember a pokémon episode where Lapras could speak through telepathy! I believe it was the episode with Santa Claus. xD
Glad you read the Cadence Of Their Fear trilogy! They are amazing! I was actually reading some of the first story a few weeks ago. :P And don't worry! I love long reviews! It gives me more to respond to so that I get to talk to you guys more. :D
Pokemaster: Aw, darn! At least I was close. :P I can't answer any of the questions you asked, though, because I don't know the answers! The only answer I know is that Lance is a Pokémon League champion. Lol, and I'm not even sure if I'm correct! Am I right?
LoveLoverGrl: Hah, thanks!
Jace'sVampiress97: Lol, sorry! But I can't say I feel bad about the joke! I got a lot of people with it. xD
Empress Empoleon: Haha! You're not gullible! Believe me, I would've been fooled by that joke, too, if I weren't the one playing it! :) And geez! I need to revise my chapters from now on more than once! I honestly don't even catch these errors when I go back to edit! Thank goodness I have readers like you to point them out to me! And I'm sorry about taking so long to update last time! Inspiration just wouldn't come to be, but at least I got this chapter up in a week, eh? Hopefully I'll be able to update once a week so that I can finish this story before I leave for vacation. :D
EeveeTransformed: Aw, crud! I didn't get you like I did everyone else. Fail. xD And I got this chapter up in a week! Are you proud of me? :D
Monochrome13: Thank you! I hope you had a wonderful Easter! :) Loved the end of your review! So cute!

Absol chapter 8

The moon sails across the sky to take place of the sun as Drew leads me through the forest to find a way to the beach. He's obviously very eager to get me off this island with the way he's refusing to stop, even for a moment. We took a short break earlier, but after a near-death experience with a pokémon during those ten minutes, Drew has been refusing to delay our journey to the beach any longer than we need to.

I had been picking berries high up in a tree during that break. My stomach had been grumbling and tormenting me like crazy, so we had no choice but to stop and search for food. I climbed the first tree that I saw with pecha berries dangling from the branches with Drew's help. He didn't really approve of me being so high up off the ground, but after a bit of reasoning backed up by a loud growl from my stomach, he had no choice but to let me go after the food. After climbing the large trunk, I straddled the closest branch that looked sturdy enough to support my weight and began to pick the berries.

But I must've been too focused on getting the food. I didn't even notice when something climbed down onto the same branch as me from the top of the tree. The pokémon crept up on me from behind while I was trying to pick a particularly stubborn pecha berry. By the time I finally noticed that the branch was shuddering beneath me from all of the weight that it had to hold, it was almost too late. When I turned around, I found myself looking straight into the dark green eyes of a very large pinsir.

Thankfully, Absol caught a whiff of the pinsir's blood just in time from where he stood on the ground. His head snapped up to my location on the branch—or rather, the pinsir's location—and a snarl instantly left his mouth. I was too scared at that moment to do anything other than glance at Absol from the corner of my eye as I slowly back myself up and away from the pinsir, who moved with me, inch by inch. It didn't seem to have even noticed Absol's presence as it snapped its pincers at me, baring its horizontally-arranged teeth at the same time.

At that moment, as I glanced from its eyes and then back down at Absol, I thought for sure that I was a goner. I didn't think that Absol would be able to reach us in time from where he was on the ground; we were so high up. That's why the surprise that came when a white blur suddenly leapt up and tackled Pinsir to the ground threw me off the branch.

I ended up slamming down onto the ground. The pain from the fall was so intense that I didn't even know that Absol had killed the Pinsir until the sound of the sizzling blood reached my ears and Drew's voice entered my mind, asking me if I was okay. I told him yes, even though every part of my body hurt like hell and I was still getting over the shock of nearly getting gripped to death by a pinsir.

I really wanted to go home.

I still want to go home.

May?

I stop walking at the sound of Drew's voice. He's looking back at me from where he was walking ahead of me just a few seconds ago. "Yes?" I inquire.

I think we should turn in for the night, he suggests. There's a cave up ahead that we could stay in for the night. Are you okay with that?

"Of course," I tell him immediately. I'll take any form of shelter if it means I get to sleep. Tt's the only way I can escape reality right now. "It's nothing I've never done before."

A memory of the time Drew and I were rescued by a pack of wynaut and taken to their cave to rest comes to mind after I say those words. It's not much, but it offers some comfort at a time like this. I'm glad that my mind's still capable of thinking happy thoughts after all of the horror that took place in the past couple hours. It means that I'm not as traumatized as I thought.

The words seem to have triggered the same memory for Drew because he chuckles into my mind. Same here. Now, let's go see if that cave's safe for sleeping.

I follow Drew as he leads me through the trees and to a running stream, much like the one that I walked along earlier. My silent footsteps are suddenly making noise as I step onto the rocky ground, the pebbles crunching beneath my feet. Instinctively, my eyes flicker all over our surroundings to check for any lurking predators. It's pretty dark, though, so I'm barely able to see even with the small amount of the light provided by the moon.

Relax, Drew tells me suddenly. There's nothing lurking around. I'd be killing something right now if there was.

True. If there was really a pokémon stalking us right now, it wouldn't live long. Absol would be going after it and tearing it to shreds before it could even get to me. All it needed to do was get close enough so that Absol could get a whiff of its blood, and then it'd be over. It wouldn't be hard for Absol either; I don't even think it would put up much of a fight against him. The other pokémon that he killed certainly didn't.

It's strange, really, and I'm still wondering about it. Drew and I have been tracked down by a total of four pokémon in the past couple of hours—the mightyena from the beach, a houndoom, a raticate, and the pinsir from earlier. According to Drew, not one of them fought back against him, including the arbok that he encountered before he ran into me. It was relatively easy for him to kill them all because they just didn't fight back. It seemed like they were too distracted with me, the desire to kill me overpowering the will to keep themselves alive. This fact doesn't keep me from worrying about him, but at least it means that he has a higher chance of survival.

And now that brings me to the confusing part about Drew. He shares similar traits with the late pokémon, and yet he's so unlike them. He used to be a human like them, he still has his human eyes like them, and, from what he's told me, he's telepathic like them. But he hasn't tried to kill me like them. While the other pokémon seemed to have gone into a frenzy over the smell of my blood, Drew has only gone into a frenzy over the smell of their blood. The effect that my blood had on the pokémon is the effect that their blood has on him. Instead of trying to kill me, he kills them.

It's so weird. Strange. Confusing. I don't even have a word in my vocabulary that can be used to describe the mystery of the pokémon on this island, the mystery of Absol. How did they go from being human a little less than a day ago, to a ruthless, bloodthirsty killer today? What made them all this way? And why is Drew protecting me instead of killing me? Surely, whoever or whatever it is that made them all this way didn't purposely make Drew different so that he can protect me from the others. If they left me as the only human on this island to be a meal for the pokémon, then they obviously want me dead. So, why would they leave Drew to protect me? There has to be another reason as to why he's different from the other pokémon.

May? Are you okay? Drew's voice asks suddenly, making me realize that I didn't respond to his earlier comment. I've also stopped walking, as well, and he eyes me with concern. Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'll keep you safe, he promises me, and then nods his head forward. Come on, let's go. The cave's just up ahead.

"Yeah," I manage to breath, willing myself to move forward, following him to the entrance of the cave. "I know you will."

Drew tells me to wait outside of the cave while he goes inside to check out the inside of the chamber. I instantly wrap my arms around myself as I wait for him out of the need to keep myself warm and out of the fear of lurking predators. He promised to keep me safe, I know, but that doesn't stop me from still being a little bit frightful. We're on a hostile island, after all. You don't know what to expect here.

May, you can come in. It's safe.

I let out a breath of relief and begin to head into the cave. The inside is dark, almost pitch black, but it's not very deep and the moonlight illuminates it enough for me to see where I'm going. Stalactites hang from the roof of the cave while a stalagmites rise up from the ground, so I have to watch my step to avoid tripping over one. Drew's standing near the back beside a rather large boulder. It's probably big enough to for him to completely conceal himself if he stood behind it, but I can't really tell if there's space between it and the back of the cave. I step a little closer with the hopes of getting a better look.

Watch your step, Drew warns instantly. The ground dips a little in front of you.

I heed his warning and proceed with caution, carefully feeling the ground ahead of me with my foot before taking every step and before placing all of my weight down. Once I feel the edge of the raised part of the cave, I step down and begin walking normally again.

"Thanks for that," I tell him.

No problem, he replies. Then he begins to head behind the rock. We can sleep behind here. Less of a chance of being seen, he says, and I watch as he lays down, bending his hind legs and tucking his front legs beneath him.

I approach him slowly and take a seat down beside him, trying to get over how strange it was to see how lie down that way. It's still hard accepting the fact that he's an absol now when he was still human a day ago. I can't imagine how he must feel being inside that body right now.

A shiver rattles my body involuntarily, but I can't decide if its from the nerves or the cold. Probably both. I look over at Drew, meeting his emerald gaze that seems somewhat expectant. As if he's waiting for me to do something. Like talk. It takes me a moment, but I finally bring myself to speak to request something of him. "Hey, Drew? Would you mind if I...curled up against you?"

Drew chuckles into my mind. Glad you asked. I was going to ask if you were going to or not. He nods in the direction of his midsection. Come here.

I smile a small smile and start to crawl closer to him on the cold, cavern floor. Once I reach him, I settle against his side and snuggle up against him to warm myself up with his body heat. His fur slightly reeks of the smell of blood, but there's still a pleasant, musky scent present to overpower it. His scent. I automatically press myself even further into him to breath more of it in.

This is weird, Drew mutters after I situate myself.

"How so?" I inquire, my voice already soft from drowsiness.

The last time I slept with you, I was still human. But now...I'm an absol.

My breath hitches in my throat as the memories of that night flood my brain. Our lovemaking had been magical; his kisses and caresses had made me feel wonderful and loved. Then, when I fell down on the bed beside him, I felt nothing but bliss as his arms went around me as I cuddled into him. His musky scent wafted from his skin that was covered in a sheen of the sweat. I looked up at his face before I settled to sleep and he smiled down at me with his emerald eyes that were still smoldering with passion. And when I reached up to brush his damp green hair out of his eyes, he'd taken my hand and planted featherlight kisses on the tips of my fingers. I fell asleep after that.

It's an entirely different story now as I cuddle into him. His body is entirely different and he doesn't even have arms to wrap around me. And we aren't falling asleep together after a tiring night of lovemaking. We are falling asleep together after an exhausting day of running around a hostile island, trying to get to the beach so that we could get rescue to get us home.

How did all of this happen in such a short amount of time?

"That was only two nights ago...," I whisper mournfully. "But why does it feel like a lifetime ago now?"

Drew's silent for a long time. I almost think he's fallen asleep until he suddenly speaks up in my mind again. I'm sorry this had to happen, May.

I lift my head to look at him. His eyes are sad as he stares back at me. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault," I tell him. "You didn't want this to happen."

But it did. And now, we're stuck here on this blasted island.

"We won't be here forever," I assure him, reaching over to press the palm of my hand into his cheek. I stroke it gently with my thumb with the hopes of comforting him. "We're going to get help. We're going to go home and then we're going to get you back to the way you were. You won't stay like this forever," I pause to place my head back against the side of his stomach and retract my hand, "Let's just get through this night so that we can get to the beach tomorrow morning."

He's silent again for a moment, but then he speaks.

Okay. We'll set out for the beach tomorrow morning, he says, his telepathic voice barely a murmur. And then, he curls his body around me protectively, resting his head on the ground in front of me to complete the circle of his body. After a moment of silence, we both fall asleep.

Sunlight finds its way into the cave early the next morning. I open my eyes as it lights up the cave with its warm glow, only to find that Drew is already awake. He hasn't moved from the position he was in last night, though. Probably to keep me warm and to keep from waking me. Once he sees me stirring, he lifts his head from where it was on the ground to look at me.

Good morning, he greets upon meeting my eyes, which I blink groggily.

"Good morning," I greet back just as a yawn escapes my lips. Then, I push back from him so that I can stretch. After I'm done, I stand up and turn to face him. "How'd you sleep?"

Well enough, he informs as he stands up as well. How about you? I smile and tell him same. The corner of his mouth tugs up in a smirk at this, and then he asks me, Ready to go?

"Yes, absolutely. Let's go," I tell him, trying not to sound so eager. But I really am. I'm ready to get off this island.

Drew heads out of the cave first to make sure there aren't any pokémon around. Once he makes sure the coast is clear, he calls for me to follow him out the cave. A breeze greets me once I step out, blowing my hair into my face, which annoys me very much with the way it's tickling my nose. To get it to stop, I gather every last strand and braid it into one single plait going down my shoulder. It isn't until I pull my hands away that I notice the bits of dried blood on them. I wrinkle my nose in disdain.

You can wash up in the stream, Drew suggests.

I nod my head and immediately walk to the stream, crouching down on a big enough rock lying above the stream on the bank. I dip my hands into the water, hissing as it gets into my various scratches and cuts, but allowing it to wash away the crimson stains just the same. Once they're thoroughly cleaned, I cup some water in my hands and bring it up to rub off the stains on my arms, which are spotted with purpling bruises. My legs are next, ugly bruises spotting them, too, but I ignore them and I finish washing them off quickly. Unfortunately, the stains on my plaid shirt and twill shorts are obviously there to stay, so I don't even attempt to get the blood out. I just give my hands one last wash and then stand up.

Done? Drew asks.

"Yeah, thanks for waiting," I respond, and then follow him as he leads the way into the forest.

We walk for a while through the trees, but we don't talk much. Aside from occasionally asking me if I'm okay, Drew really tries not to make any conversation with me in fear that my voice may attract pokémon. I find it ridiculous to think that silence will keep the pokémon from finding me. They only need to catch the smell of the blood and they'll come bounding through the trees in no time at all, but I don't say this to Drew. He just doesn't want to kill anymore pokémon than he already has, so I keep my mouth shut for his sake. He's already hurting enough from the five lives that he had to take, as it is. I don't want to hurt him anymore.

May, listen, he says after a very long time of not talking.

"Listen to what?" I ask, not knowing what it was exactly that I was supposed to be listening to. I step closer to him thinking that maybe I was too far away to hear. I still don't even when I reach his shoulder, but after a minute, the sound reaches my ears.

Its the sound of waves crashing against a shore. The sound of the ocean I realize, and I instantly feel my stomach fluttering. We made it! I can't see the beach yet, but considering the fact that I can hear the waves, we're probably very close. It's probably just beyond the trees ahead of us. We're only a short distance away. Words can't describe how happy I feel right now. I turn to Drew and beam at him. He smiles back at me...

But then my happiness is cut short when Drew suddenly freezes and the sound of stomping feet come from around us, drowning out the sound of the waves. Branches crunch beneath feet and leaves rustle as whatever's running past the trees whips up some wind. Drew begins to growl, his lips pulling back from his teeth in a vicious snarl. Next thing I know, we're surrounded by a circle of eight different pokémon. Eight, incredibly large pokémon.

Shit.

Author's Note: Oh no, ambush. And a cliffhanger! Woopsies. :P Lol, I'll try to get the next chapter up either next Saturday or Sunday, but no promises! Until then, please review! :)