?'S POV

I could hardly believe this. The Pokémon we were ordered to capture were now gone. They were so far away, that Falcon could barely detect them in a different region! I could hardly believe that we had to travel across the most of the region to get to a plane. How they ended up in Unova and where we needed to get them to in the first place, I had no clue, but I knew that if this plane didn't leave soon, Falcon would lose their scent forever.

Fortunately, we were able to find out about that plane taking off for Unova. It was going to leave in a few hours, and since we were able to find out from a T.V. in a kids house in Oreburgh city, we were able to know ahead of time. We were able to get past Mt. Coronet quickly, and now we were a few hours early. We both climbed into the cockpit minutes ago, and now we had to wait.

Three hours later…

Out of a puny window in that small cockpit, I had to detect where we were at all times. We were passing by Nuvema town, and according to Falcon, they are somewhere in Striaton city or Accumla town.

"Hey Shard," Falcon asked, and I ignored him.

"Shard, boss, this is important," he continued, pressing my patience, and I couldn't concentrate on where we were.

"HEY, you have to listen to me SHARD!" he screamed, losing my temper. I looked away from the window, looked face to face at him, and asked angrily,

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"We need to jump now, or else we will land too far to catch them today." I felt scared, than rushed back to the window, pushing Falcon out of my way. We were almost above Nimbasa city, which meant we had to jump, now.

"Come on!" I yelled as I picked the scrawny lillipup up with my teeth and ran on all fours. I ran through the cockpit, till I saw the metal wall. Dropping Falcon, I powered up a shadow ball between my jaws and threw it at the wall. A small collision of smoke was conjured up before a ragged hole was made, and most of the luggage was being sucked out and thrown away. I worked up my courage, and ran toward the hole, and without hesitation, I jumped. I fell through the air at an alarming speed, clouds zooming by, and then I felt a tight grip on my fluffy tail. I quickly turned around and saw Falcon holding on for his life.

We were about a hundred yards from landing, so I tried under the pressure to conjure up another shadow ball. We were about to land in front of the entrance to the amusement park, and my shadow ball was too weak. I knew that this was life or death, so I concentrated everything, and I knew I had one shot, and I fired everything I was able to make at the concrete pavement to help soften the impact.

"You better climb onto my back or else you will get slammed into the ground," I warned Falcon after I threw the ball of energy. I huge blast had stuck the concrete as Falcon climbed up onto my back, and then a huge blast had pushed me and Falcon back into the air by a few yards. I quickly used my extra time by making my tail become silver and have a hard exterior, and as we were about to fall to the concrete from about ten yards in the air at half the speed from when we fell, I slammed my iron tail into the sidewalk pavement, my eyes closed.

Reopening my eyes, and saw some smoke. It cleared up, and I saw my plan had worked, and we were actually able to jump out of a plane without a parachute and make it alive. I couldn't help but pant, and I saw that Falcon was alive, but he fainted. My tail was wedged into the concrete and a huge hole was made, so I pushed Falcon to the floor and fell on my four paws. I knew that someone saw the explosion and was coming to see what happened, so I knew I had to get away fast. I got my paws ready, grabbed Falcon in my canine teeth again, and started to use quick attack. I stayed running in place for a second, but my tail came loose and I ran into the amusement park.

I was tired and I was on the verge of fainting, so I looked for a good place to heal. Searching around frantically, I then saw some bushes between the roller coaster ride and the fence that kept people from falling into the lake, so I made a mad dash toward it. I jumped high in the air a few feet from the bushes, and I landed in a tight space. Luckily it didn't have thorns, but I couldn't use anymore moves or else I knew I was going to pass out. The place I landed was small for me and Falcon, but it was big enough. I curled up with Falcon, and I let myself drift off.

Zeke's POV

The sun hovered above us in the middle of the sky. It was partly cold and assortments of colors were splashed onto the autumn leaves Tired, Shadow and I took a nice long break near a lake. The lake was huge, and it seemed to lead somewhere, but there was no time for another crazy adventure. Shadow told me stories by the lake about what happened to him in the lab, the battle, his new found trust, his moral, and everything else! We packed up our stuff and kept going on the route.

He found a small opening in the trees that was close to the city, and we checked it out. Inside was a group of patrat, one saw me and then it did a weird scream. It jumped at us, little paws ready to strike us. I ran behind Shadow for cover, and he sent a strong leaf tornado at them. The ones at the very front fainted, and the others retreated. Few remained, and then he used iron tail on this really old one. He seemed to be one of those wise and old guys, but he looked weak. He was definitely too slow to get out of the way and was knocked back on a tree. The remaining patrat fled. We were about to leave, when I heard a bark. Shadow didn't seem to hear it, so I pulled his arm. He turned back annoyed, and I pointed to where the barking came from. Several yips came from a tree, and then out ran this dog.

It was a small, light brown, dog-like Pokémon. A huge bundle of tan fluff covered her face and she had a dull black spot on her back. She had this red scarf wrapped around her neck, and it seemed pretty beaten down. I introduced myself, and so did Shadow. Ends up she wanted us to guide her while we were on our journey. She wanted to go to some place called Nimbasa City, but Shadow said that it was on the way to where we were heading, so I was okay with it. Rachel ended up becoming a new traveling partner, and a new friend.

We passed by Accumla town, and quickly ducked behind this large building. Shadow and Rachel went looking for some food while I stayed put, and they came out minutes later with three apples. All three were gently placed on the dirty ground and we snacked down. I haven't eaten ever since we were back at the lab during dinner. I was half-finished with my apple, and I was already full. When we were all finished, we all headed toward Route 2. We climbed up the ledges that were near the entrance of this short route, and we took the short way, and were able to dodge everybody, but it took forever. We finally made it to Striaton city, but it was now dark, and for some reason, snow was everywhere.

"Shadow, why is there snow everywhere?" I asked.

"Well it is mid-November, so something with the alignment of the earth and sun must be off balance creating snow early," he explained, but I was lost.

"Uh, okay, I get it," I lied. We looked for a place to rest for the night, and then Rachel announced,

"Hey guys, there is a small alleyway down behind these apartments, we should camp out there!" She was right. Behind these apartments was a small space, but it was all dusty. Fences separated some parts of the alley, but it wouldn't stop us. Shadow helped me and Rachel get over the fence, than he climbed over by himself. We said we were going to catch him on the other side, but I was too scared when he fell and I backed away, and he had fallen to the cold ground with a thud. He lifted his head up, and snow covered his face, and I gave a small chuckle. I said sorry once he stood up, but he was still angry.

We then we searched for a place to protect our fragile bodies from the snow. Luckily, this part of the alley had two cardboard boxes on the side so we could crawl in. They were old, and some garbage was on the inside, so I wanted to pass. I was about to back away, but then Shadow reached for my arm and with a tight grip, he pushed me into the box that Rachel was resting in, and I knew I had to resist the urge to breathe through my nose. Accidentally, I took a deep inhale through my nostrils, and the smell of garbage was more disgusting than I thought. How could Rachel stand this? I dashed out, about to puke some warm vomit in the frosty snow, and I did. My mouth had the revolting aftertaste stained onto my taste buds, but then I saw this cat.

It was the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. The cat had this gorgeous purple fur that was bewitching and green eyes that shone in the faint moonlight. Her stunning tail was covered in that exquisite velvet coating and she stood on two feet instead of four, and I knew what this was: love at first sight. My heart was pounding hard, and I felt my feet shake. I couldn't take my eyes off that dazzling fur, and I blushed. I saw her spin around her tail, and hearts seemed to surround her in a circle. I must have been seeing things as I knew I was in love. Then the hearts swiveled its way around me, and I knew that I wasn't being delusional. Quickly, they hit me and my vision went pure white for a second when I heard a twinkling sound. My vision had recovered, and something was really different about that cat resemblance Pokémon. She was no longer beautiful, she was perfect!

Her purple velvet fur was now ravishing and gorgeous. I just wanted to sink my head into its silky fur. Its green eyes shone like emeralds, and the faint moonlight acted like a spotlight from a stage. Her pink eyelids were magnificently charming. That tail slowly swished back in forth in the foxiest way and the tan spots randomly placed on her body just made her look more divine. My skin shook. I had so much courage then and I ran up to the mysterious creature. I saw a shocked look on her face as if she hadn't seen this ever before, but I knew she was 'purr'-fect.

"Zeke, was that you I just hear just know? I want you to go back into that box!" Shadow yelled, but it was like a whisper since I was busy concentrating on this cat that I was immediately in love with.

"Zeke, what are you doing! Get back over here and stay away from that purrloin!" he screamed in demand at me, but I wouldn't listen. Finding out that this Pokémon was a purrloin, I felt my heart beat even harder in my chest at the fascinating name of a Pokémon.

I saw those hearts spin around her like a carousal, and when it left, I turned around to see it aimed at Shadow. It engulfed him, and then I saw him stunned when he looked at the purrloin. He ran up to her and did something that I was too tongue-tied to do, talk to her.

"Your madam, what are you doing in this dusty alleyway all by yourself? You deserve better than this for such a dazzling creature-" I quickly interrupted him in his new sudden attitude.

"Hey, leave her alone you selfish, cold-hearted snake!"

"Who cares, she isn't going to go out with you, you are just a kid; this lady deserves a graceful adult like myself." I felt my eyes fill with rage.

"Why would you love her, you are more cold-blooded than any snivy in the world! I mean come on; your name is Shadow for Arceus's sake!"

"Oh yeah, what are you going to do about that corn snake?" he teased.

"Maybe I'll just have to battle and defeat you!" An evil smirk appeared on his face.

"You think you can defeat me with those noodle arms?"

"I can do it with my eyes closed!"

"Okay than, bring it on!" he screamed and he dashed at me with a weak shadow claw. I attempted to dodge, but then I was too slow and was hit, leaving a shallow cut on my left arm. How dare he attack me for real!

About to launch a vine whip at him, I felt some major pain to my side. It was Rachel, tackling me. I could tell she was strong, and I felt the world go out of focus and I blacked out.

Shadow's POV

The next morning…

I felt a harsh pain in my side and my bones ached. I felt a slight chill from the freezing snow that lay just outside the box, and it was still snowing. I was lying down in the cardboard box, but Zeke was next to me on my right side with his head lying on my stomach. Did I let him in this box last night; I thought he was with Rachel. I settled the thought to the side for the time as I wondered if Zeke felt the same thing.

"Zeke," I called out. He slowly woke up with weary eyes, but remained in his transfixed position.

"What?" he harshly called with a raspy voice.

"Do you feel all roughed up at all?" I questioned. He gave a slight nod in response. A new question popped into my mind.

"Do you at all remember anything from last night after we decided to sleep in these boxes?" I felt like I had sudden amnesia.

His weary eyes snapped alert, and he shook his head after he sat up, fully awake from the confusing question.

"Well that's strange, I wonder what happened last night," I mentioned.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Rachel's voice screamed in. She jumped in front of the side way box, her fluffy face suddenly furious.

"Rachel, were you eavesdropping on us?" I asked, a little mad myself.

"No, well yes actually… well it doesn't matter! How come you don't remember anything last night, it wasn't like I tackled you on the head!" She tackled us last night; why did she do that?

"Why did you tackle us last night?" Zeke blurted out, thinking just what I was.

"Uh, you guys are so stupid," she insulted, and I went from angry to furious.

"Just explain what happened last night!" I yelled.

"Finally, you were both acting like idiots last night. A stupid purrloin came by last night and she used attract on both of you. Well, I'm guessing attract, I didn't see you guys till you were in an argument about which one should date her." I sweat dropped, feeling so idiotic for doing that with Zeke.

"I tackled you both and surprisingly, you were both knocked out with a single move." There was only one way that I could have been defeated so easily, and it would only be if she was at a really high level like 30 or 35.

"You slashed Zeke in the middle of your pathetic brawl, and then after you were knocked out, I had to chase that annoying purrloin away and then I dragged you into this box." I didn't remember any of that from last night, but did she really have to tackle us? Now that is what you call pathetic! I couldn't believe that I hurt Zeke, but when I looked at his left arm, I knew it had to be true, but I wasn't going to apologize for it.

"Well anyway, I'm hungry," Zeke blurted out once more. I was starving as well; I haven't eaten ever since yesterday at noon, and I was pretty sure that because of this snow, all the food on bushes and in trees would be dead.

"Well, if you guys are hungry, I know this great place around here; it's a restaurant," Rachel mentioned.

"Well what kind of food is there?" I asked. I wasn't going to eat there if they served meat; I was a vegetarian, so you could call me an herbivore.

"They make all kinds of food. My favorite is this delicious croissant that is packed with an assortment of berries. Sometimes, they add a splash of ginger and pepper that just makes it even more scrumptious." That description was so well thought out, as if she had said it a hundred times before.

"I want to go and try that!" Zeke yelled enthusiastically as he jumped out of the box and stood next to Rachel in the shallow snow.

"What about you Shadow, are you in?" Rachel questioned. I thought about it for a few seconds, and then replied,

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go!" I slowly limped out of the box with my ache limbs. I stretched for a second, than followed the pair that was dashing through the bitter snow.

We climbed back over the fence, but that time I was caught instead of falling face first into the snow like yesterday. The clouds blanketed the sky as a weak army of snow fell gracefully to the ground. The clouds made the sky misty and hid the sun making it impossible to tell what time it was from the blazing ball of fire. People shoveled snow off their driveway pavements and volunteers shoveled the snow off the sidewalks. Some people worked on the streets since the roads were too small for snowplows to come by. Snow covered the rooftops of buildings like a coat of icing on a birthday cake. We wandered across the street to a big building. Surprisingly, the little dog didn't go to the front door, but went down a different alley way that had no fences, but was just as dusty and narrow as the other one.

We all walked through the lonely area till we arrived at what seemed like a backyard, but wasn't like one to a house. There were some glass tables with umbrellas and plastic chairs. A fence separated this place from a Pokémon center, and the whole area was blanketed in the falling snow, and there was no effort to remove it. The back of the building had a weird red door. It seemed like you could open half of the door on top, and then open the other half which could let someone in. This place was vacant, and this must have been the back of the restaurant. Rachel scurried up to the mysterious door and scratched at it with her dull claws and her numb paws. I hoped she would hurry this up, because I hated the cold.

I heard quiet footsteps edge its way toward the door, and then the top part of it opened, letting the guy look out, but making us unable to come in. A strong smell of food flowed out, and I licked my chops. The guy had the weirdest haircut ever; it was fire red in the shape of an ember. I had a feeling that I wouldn't like this guy that much.

"Rachel, how are you doing, I bet you came here till must of this snow is gone, didn't ya? I bet you came here to see Cilan too, right?" he asked. Rachel replied with saying, 'Yes, yes, and I have some friends too,' but I knew all he heard was little puppy barks and he mostly just saw the red scarf of hers. He left, and I simply adored that delicious scent that blew out of the kitchen. I couldn't wait to go inside… if they let us.

About a minute later, a guy with light green hair came out. His hair was similar to the shape of the fire head that was just there. I saw Rachel start to shiver from the cold, even with that ruby scarf around her neck.

"Hey Rachel, long time no see! I thought you already were in Nimbasa city, but I guess not." I had a feeling I would like this guy.

Rachel replied with little barks in Pokémon language, and I knew all he heard was puppy barks also.

"Well come on in, oh wait, do you want those two weird colored snivys to come in as well?" he questioned before he pushed open the other part of the door. She stared at his face, and then nodded with a wide grin on her fluffy face.

"Well then come on in guys! Remember, they have to work for food though," he shouted in a friendly tone as he pushed the other half of the door open, but what did he say about us having to work? Rachel dashed inside after she shook all the snow out of her light brown fur, and I followed her, and decided to ask the question later. I acted polite and wiped my tan feet on the brown mat that was on the white tiled floor I noticed. I felt the heat wash over me and my numb feet were getting better fast. The leaf head guy who I know as Cilan smiled at me, and then I followed Rachel and Zeke who were running ahead. On the way, I slipped and fell on the tile floor since Zeke didn't wipe his feet and he left wet footprints. I moved around them and continued after them, but I didn't run, I just slowly walked, enjoying the wonderful aromas that filled the rooms.

Finally when they took a left into a room, I broke into a mad dash. When I entered, I saw many Pokémon in the room. There was a red carpet that matched the color of the scarf Rachel wore. A brick fireplace had sat in the back of the room and next to it laid a window with red curtains. The fireplace had bundles of firewood chucked in and were being settled a blaze with a warm fire. Just like the room back at the lab, the walls were made of mahogany, but it was a dark brown. A green, silk couch faced the fireplace and I saw many pillows probably used for beds on the left side of this big room. I saw lots of food bowls with names carved into them with something like a knife. A few of the names was Fluff and Patches.

I saw so many Pokémon in this room. I saw one other Pokémon that was like Rachel, but the fur on his face was matted and really unkempt. I saw also saw four patrat, a pansage, panpour, and a pansear. The lillipup was eating out of a food bowl that was labeled Fluff and all the patrat were lying on top of each other in a pile next to the fireplace, sleeping, and each had a collar. The pansage, pansear, and panpour were shivering and partly covered in snow and they were by the fireplace; looked like they were playing outside earlier. The monkeys each had a sweater that matched their Pokémon element; for example, the pansear had a red sweater. The Pokémon ignored us like we weren't that important. I decided that this was the perfect time to ask some questions.

"Rachel, what-" Rachel interrupted me.

"Hey guys, sit on this couch, it is 100% made out of pure silk imported from Kanto." She jumped up onto the couch, and we followed. When I jumped up and sat right next to her, it was so comfortable. It was just like the luxury ball cushions I slept on back when I was with Juniper. I forgot about that comfy bed and focused on the question.

"So like I was saying, what did Cilan mean by us having to work?" I asked.

"Well, it means you have to work," she mocked.

"Well I mean why do we have to?"

"They don't just let Pokémon come in here and eat and rest for free, you need to help. After all, they need the help since this is the best restaurant in the region. All you have to do is help make the food or take the food out to the customer, so it is pretty easy," she explained. That was a pretty good bargain for that kind of food. Zeke jumped off the couch and went toward the pile of patrat, watching them for some reason.

"Why is he doing that?" Rachel asked.

"I have no idea," I answered.

"So did you used to live here?"

"Yes, I was actually Cilan's lillipup, but now I have to go to Nimbasa city for something, but I'm not telling you about that yet!"

"So who are those guys?"

"They are Cress, Chili, and Cress. They are three elemental gym leaders. They managed to make this building into a gym as well."

"Why are there three gym leaders?"

"Well they wanted to give themselves the upper hand so that trainers had to use strategy to defeat them." Another question came to mind and I asked,

"Rachel, who and why is everybody here?" She quickly moved her red scarf since it was starting to fall off her neck, and then started to explain.

"They are the Pokémon that live here, and they have to work as well. That lillipup with his face in the chow is Fluff. He loves to have his fluffy face all tangled and overgrown. He hates to have his fur groomed, pampered, or trimmed. There is another lillipup, but he seems not to be here. There is supposed to be five patrat, but I guess the other one is working. The names are Handy, Glove, Patrick, Patrat, and Pouches. As you can see, they have licenses to help us tell who is who. They usually help us in rush hour, but I guess they needed one right now. The three monkeys over there are Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour. They are the main partners of the three cooks in this kitchen. They also were missing a few days ago, and a rumor told me that they were infected with something, but were found at Juniper's lab two days ago, and was returned yesterday." I remembered that I battled a pansear, panpour, and pansage, but was that possibly those ones that I attacked? I stared at the pansear, and I saw a small bruise on the side of his stomach. Was that possibly from that thing that attacked him? Was that the pansear that bit into my skin so badly days before?

"There are even two purrloin, but I guess they are both working right now." I didn't really listen to her, and I walked over to the group of apes. I tapped on the pansear's shoulder, then he turned around to face me, and he jumped back, looking scared.

"Hey, are you that pansear that I battled against a few days ago?" I asked. He was cowering, but then he knocked the feeling off.

"Y-yes, I'm so sorry that I r-r-ripped at your flesh like that, please don't hurt me!" he replied. No one was watching us but Rachel and the three monkeys.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you, I was just wondering if you were that monkey and why you did it."

"Y-you want to know why? I was a-a-attacked by this purrloin, and so were my brothers. It ran u-up to us and injected us with this purple s-s-stuff. I went out of control, and she almost killed us; she tried to cut our necks I think. The purple stuff made my head fill with noises and I went insane, and I just felt like it was e-eating my insides. Fortunately, Juniper took the stuff out and we went back to normal. I'm r-really sorry." I was shocked. I remembered that one time when I was about to blackout, I saw this lightning bolt and then a purrloin. I saw the three monkeys, and how their necks were cut by her claws. Did I see the past? No, it wouldn't make sense that on the verge of passing out that I would see the past, but what he said matched the description of my dream perfectly, so it must be true! Well it only happened once; it had to be a coincidence.

"Thanks for your time," I thanked as I walked away. They turned back toward the fireplace, shivering once more. I jumped back onto the couch, and Rachel didn't say anything. She seemed stunned, but didn't want to say a word. There was a disturbing silence, than this guy with blue, aquatic hair walked in, breaking it.

I saw a patrat, lillipup, and three purrloin walk in. The patrat had a collar that said 'Glove' on it. The lillipup had dark brown fur instead of light brown, and he seemed really relaxed. The three purrloin all looked just like the ones from the vision, but one of them seemed to be familiar. It was strange that Rachel said that there were only two purrloins, but there were three. Rachel seemed to be focusing on the elemental primates, not noticing the Pokémon coming in.

"Come on guys, time for your break, we can take the heat for about half an hour," the water haired guy said in what I'm guessing is an England accent before he walked back into the kitchen.

"Hey Rachel, do you know the names of those guys over there?" I questioned, hoping that Rachel just forgot about one of the Pokémon.

"Well the lillipup is Sonny. He loves going in the back of the restaurant during the summer and tan. There is Glove with that name tag around his neck. The two purrloins over there are Scratches and Claws. They came here about a month ago so they are new." She looked over at that last purrloin, and she growled with a deep snarl carved into her face. She must know that purrloin, but doesn't like it very much.

"Rachel, why are you growling?" Zeke asked, looking away from the patrat. He walked over, waiting for a response besides the menacing growl.

"That is the Purrloin that made you idiots fall in love with last night, she must have been hired a while ago," she managed to say through her wide snarl, and her fur started stacked up.

"Well she does look pretty hot," Zeke blurted out. I couldn't resist this time and I slapped him on the head. He rubbed his now bruised head, then said,

"Why did you have to slap me? Can't you just ignore it?!" I took his advice, and instead of slapping him that time, I ignored his question. Rachel finally ran full speed toward the purrloin, and unfortunately, Chili was walking pass the room in the kitchen. The purrloin didn't move, but wasn't shocked in fear. She gave a devious grin, and I could recognize that look. She looked so innocent, but looking closely, you could tell that she was guilty of something. I ran into a running frenzy as well to help Rachel. Chili grabbed onto Rachel, and she struggled for freedom, but with two strong, bulky hands, he kept a firm grip. He couldn't stop me with those hands; if he tried to keep Rachel trapped in one of his hands while he reached down to get me, Rachel would easily break free, so he watched me zoom right by him. I prepared my iron tail and was ready to strike, when I saw she wouldn't move. Why wasn't she moving to get out of the way? About to give her some of her own medicine, I saw that silver glimmer. I knew it was too late, and then I saw the purple tail transform into and iron tail, and the last thing I saw was a tail, about to slash me before I could get out of the way.

Rachel's POV

From all the work he does in the kitchen, his hands were rough and muscular, and it was hard to get out of his grasp. Grease was covering his pale hands, and then I knew I had a chance to escape. I used my dull claws to dig into his skin so I could do as least pain as possible, and his grip had loosened. I pulled my feet back, and used it as a spring and I was shot out of his hands. Purrloin was gone but I didn't know where she went, but I wasn't worried about her anymore. Shadow was in deep pain, and I saw him punched on the head. She attacked fiercely than ran away like a coward; who knows what she could steal as a cat burglar with strength like that.

"Shadow, are you okay?!" I screamed in panic. He didn't reply.

I started to cool down, and thought maybe he was pretending. I shaked my paws in front of his eyes and joked,

"Shadow, are you there?" He finally responded, but it was in a raspy whisper, as if he lost his voice. Zeke has arrived at the crime scene and was about to hear his reply.

"Rachel, Z-Z-Zeke, I can barely t-t-talk. That n-no good crook used an attack r-right at my n-n-neck. I nee-need to r-rest." Why did that Purrloin have to show up in the first place and attack us? This Pokémon just comes out overnight and now is one of my new arch enemies. I wish I could have helped Shadow in any way, but I knew I couldn't. Chili just put him down in my old bed that I slept in when I used to live here. Chili also thought I did it out of all people, and now I have this punishment. He scolded me than doubled my shift during rush hour, and out of all the days, it had to be on a Saturday.

An hour later…

On my back I had a tray tied to it with rope and on top of it was a really expensive dish. It was a turkey dinner for an early thanksgiving meal. It had the complete package of yams, mashed potatoes, and a big turkey. There were many other sides, and they also ordered unlimited breadsticks and croissants, so all together it was about $150.00. I hoped that I wouldn't drop it, and I had to get it to their table fast, but I slowed down because it wasn't like I had any hands to catch it if the heavy tray slipped off my back. I was walking past the counters that lead up to the doors that lead to the tables, when I saw something. It was a black leg with a red tip on the end, and it came out between the spaces between the counters. It was inches away from my feet, and with it so close, it tripped me. I closed my eyes and covered my ears with my light brown paws. Even though my ears were covered, I could still hear the clanking of the steel tray, the squishes of the fallen and ruined food, the clinking silverware, and the shattering glass plates. I opened my eyes and stood on my four paws, and then I quickly looked between the counters that the leg tripped me from, and saw that nothing was there. Whoever tripped me had fled, just like that purrloin.

I knew that Cilan would understand me dropping everything. It was just a simple mistake, and what does he expect; I don't have hands. I saw the disturbing scene of food that crumbled and shards of glass scattered on the tile floor. Silverware and the tray were messed around and were in random places along this now dirty floor. I looked up, and saw Cilan. His rough hands were clenched into a hard fist, and his eyes were boiling just like the pot of water cooking the spaghetti on the stove. His feet partially rattled the floor like a mini fissure and I saw the working Pokémon stop and stare at the scene.

"RACHEL, HOW DARE YOU!" his voice hollered through the room, filled with a furious rage and a deep hatred. This was the first time in my life that I saw Cilan this way. His words echoed through the room, and I could bet that the people at the tables heard it as well. I flinched as he ran up to me, and he ripped my red scarf off harshly than scooped me up by clenching his tight fingers onto my delicate scruff. His fingers inched its way to have a thick grasp around my scrawny neck, and he lifted me into the air, squeezing the breath out of me, hard. Choking, I gasped for air as he gave no mercy, and began to take the breath out of my puny lungs. He never had done this before; one time I dropped a dish that cost fifty dollars more than this, but all he did was taking a few berries out of my dinner. I struggled for freedom, but the skin behind the fluff on my face started to burn and turns red. The arm that I was being held captive in was pulled back, and he kept this position for a second, like he wanted to see me try and get free. I knew that this wasn't Cilan; he would never do this to me. At an alarming speed, he threw me into a wall that was right by a kitchen counter. I took in the oxygen in mid-throw before I hit the wall, and the air was sucked back out of me again and I yelped for help.

Cilan stormed off down a hallway, and when he took a left, he was gone. I could hardly breathe and I couldn't help but pant. Chili and Cress must have seen the scene and they rushed over, dropped everything they were doing, and attempted to help me. I heard some worried murmuring from some Pokémon, and I knew that these guys would help me.

"Don't worry Rachel, help is on the way. I have no idea what got into Cilan, and I'll go get the first aid kit," Cress said in this calm, reassuring voice with his weak England accent. I couldn't move at all and remained in my position. He ran out of my vision, and then Chili went out of my sight also, and seconds later, Chili came back with my scarf, and wrapped it back around my neck. I felt just a little happier when he did that for me, and I saw his comforting grin.

Cress ran back down the hallway, with the case. He placed it on the counter next to me and opened the latch. That's all I saw before I was forced to look straight ahead at Chili when my eyes grew weak. Someone took off my scarf and lifted my head, than used it as a pillow, and I felt way better. I saw a Popsicle stick in Chili's hand, and Chili asked me to say ahh. I said ahh, but he most likely only heard a bark or yelp. My throat was itchy and swollen, and my voice sounded so raspy and light. Chili was then holding what seemed like a Pecha berry in the shape of a claw. He asked me to eat it, so I tried my best to open my mouth and forced myself to take a bite. My teeth burnt hard and I thought that a lot of my teeth probably broke. The berry was very sweet with a bit of a spicy taste, than my throat felt a lot better. I was even confident enough that I could stand up for at least a second.

Before I got too cocky, I looked at my body with as much power as I could with my heavy eyes. It was covered in big bruises around my arms, legs, my back, and I felt some pain under the fluff on my face. This huge thing was swelling up on my back and I could barely tell that some blood stained the fluff on my face, and I couldn't feel one of my legs. There was way more injuries and I knew that a human couldn't be that strong and gave me that much damage from chucking me across the room. Cress than asked me to stand up, and I knew I had to. When I stood up, I heard a crack from the leg that I didn't feel anything from, and I knew that it shattered. My vision got blurred and it was finally enough damage to knock me out and end up into an unconscious state.

Shadow's POV

I was curled up and shivering in the potato sack. What were my friends doing to find me? Did they even know that I was kidnapped? Seconds before I passed out, I recalled seeing an image of me. It was like there was a duplication of me, or a clone, and it was able to convince them that I was just punched in the neck. The bloody slit along my stomach had begun to fill with puss and was starting to get infected. I could hardly breathe till about every few seconds. A metallic taste of blood lingered in my mouth as I felt weak from the big wound. What kind of iron tail could leave a slash like that? How could that cat even use an iron tail; I wasn't even sure if a purrloin could use it, but my head was misty and I wasn't thinking clearly. I was stuck in a sack that smelled like French fries and no one knew I was missing.

Suddenly, I felt the cold ground beneath me get removed and the bag was moving back and forth violently. I heard no footsteps, so it was weird. I felt a rush of wind and a hard pound against my back, and then the rope that kept me in this bag had gotten loose and I rolled out of the small prison from the impact. I opened my eyes slowly to reveal a dark room. The walls were made out of steel and so was the floor. Out from some shadows ahead of me came this ghost Pokémon. I think it was called a haunter, and it had a levitating purple body with two purple claws that wasn't attached to it but floated as well.

"Who… who are you," I barely managed to make out.

"It doesn't matter about who I am kid; you should just be more worried about…" He paused for a second and gave an intimidating, evil laugh, then continued, and who was he calling a kid?

"You should be more worried about what will happen to you!" He went back into the shadows, but about a few seconds later, an arbok came out of nowhere and used its slimy tail to grab onto me. It started to squeeze and pack me in, and made the bruise from the impact to the wall and the slash on my stomach grow in pain. I was on the urge of blacking out again. Then, I started to feel a familiar dizziness.

I saw that dark room again with the streak of lightning. The blast of white came out of nowhere, and then I saw the weirdest thing. There was a hole in this chamber place, and Zeke and Rachel were there. I saw a salamence fly up to the ship, and it fled. The vision stopped and I saw the bright light, the lightning, and the darkness, then I came back to reality.

It happened again for the third time. It was the third time when I had this weird dream before I fell to sleep or was about to pass out. The first one was about when I saw Juniper for the first time. The second was when I saw the thing about the monkeys and the Purrloin, and the last was just a few seconds ago. Even weirder yet, I saw two of these things in the-

I couldn't think about it anymore from the tight squeeze of the Wrap. I had drifted off before I could end my train of thought.