Me: I bet you guys thought I'd take forever again! Hah! Proved you wrong!

Verto: Let's just get one with-

Me: Oh no! I'm getting this one! Anna-matronic! (Love the username by the way) Thanks so much for the review!

Verto: Typos, huh? I'm very disappointed in you Raven.

Me: Shaddup.

Verto: Too frequently, huh? I think you are nothing if not a foolishly foolish fool of the most foolish caliber. Obscure references aside, she has a point. Buck up, Raven.

Me: … Anyway, Thank you so much for all your kind words! You have no idea how much it means! Seriously! Thank you! Just so you know, Anna-matronic, I had a lot more to say to you, too much for the A/N, so check your PM inbox. Alright? Alright. I don't own pokémon, and thanks to my friend Cathryn for editing, and now, chapter start!

Chapter 6

Hannah's POV

Hannah had never seen her friend so tense before. She looked at Danny, his head covered by the hoodie. He looked normal enough, Michael's backpack strapped to his back, with his hands buried deep in the pockets, hiding any of the fur on his arms. He was standing up perfectly straight, keeping a monotone expression. Hannah knew him better than that.

Hannah knocked on his door. She could hear Danny take a deep breath. Footsteps echoed from the other side of the door. The door was practically swung open. Hannah looked at Danny's mom, Amanda. Her blonde hair was short, with minor split ends. She was wearing a rather dull, simple outfit: a grey t-shirt and some worn jeans, surely a casual wear for home.

"Danny! How are you feeling? Any better? Does your head still hurt? Do you need anything? What's wrong?" She was devoted to her son; Hannah would give her that.

"N-not really. Cough You might cough want to cough sit down." Danny replied slowly, his mom donning a worried expression. Danny waved for me to follow. I signaled my friends to wait in the car. I looked around at Danny's lavish house, the cream couch perfectly matching the light grey, nearly blue walls. And pale curtains. It was much nicer than Hannah's generic furnishings.

"Wh-what's wrong? Are you alright?" Hannah could see his mom panicking, yet trying to maintain her calm. She too had picked up on Danny's unusually serious demeanor.

Danny pulled his hood down, revealing the fur on his face, his black and red hair, and to Hannah's surprise, a pair of fuzzy Zorua ears at the top. Hannah wanted to ask Danny when the ears had become a thing, but that sort of took a back seat to Danny's, for lack of a better word, shocked mother.

Danny's eyes were averted; he appeared to have a sudden interest in his shoes, as his mother looked him over. "We know cough of a way we might cough be able to fix this, but it requires cough us to go with cough a pokémon in the cough forest. It is a sprawling forest, so it cough makes sense. Obviously cough I can't go to school until this cough is fixed, so please cough just tell them I'm cough really sick or something. I'm going with Hannah cough and my other friends, cough don't try to cough stop me. I'm sorry." Danny's mom looked at him sorrowfully.

"Are- are you sure we can't just take you to the hospital?" His mom asked desperately.

"No… cough What cough could they do? This has never happened in the history of the world cough before. Not like this. This cough is our best bet. I'm going to go get something cough from my room." He jumped up and ran upstairs. This left Hannah and Miss Amanda alone.

"This is happening to the others too, but we aren't sure why. An Absol came and told them he may know of a way to help." Hannah explained. "For some reason, I'm completely fine, but they were able to understand the Absol, not me." Hannah couldn't help but let a little jealousy into her voice.

"This… I… What can I do to help?" She asked.

"Stay here, call him in sick for school, and I'd say just… support him. Danny is doing his best to keep morale up, but he will need the support of you and… where is his dad?"

"He has been working, but he should be home in a while… I- I'll explain everything to him. Just… look out for my son, please." She pleaded, tears in her eyes.

"Of course." Hannah replied. "The others will be there too."

"Th-thank you. I'll go get you guys some food."

"The forest is full of berries and apples, but some sandwiches probably wouldn't be unwelcome, especially for Danny." She nodded mutely and went to make some food, but stopped mid-way to the nearby kitchen, and turned around.

"How long will you be gone?" She asked quickly, as if she had been waiting to ask.

"Hopefully only a few days. The forest is fairly safe to travel in. Trainers commonly cut through it as a shortcut from a couple other towns." Miss Amanda nodded, and went into the kitchen. Hannah heard a door shut as Danny emerged at the top of the stairs, and made his way down.

"What did you get?" Hannah asked.

"I grabbed a cough couple changes of clothes, some cough snacks, and just cough another little something I wanted cough to take." Hannah noticed the front pocket was bulging, yet only slightly.

"How in the world did you manage to fit all that in the smallest pocket?" She asked incredulously.

"Putting more cough things than possible cough into small containers is my superpower," Danny informed with a smirk. "I hate having to take multiple trips." Hannah rolled her eyes.

"We'll have to hurry or that won't be your only 'superpower.'" She joked. Danny looked momentarily pensive, staring out the window, until his mom came back in, with a plain metal lunch box, likely full of food.

"I made some sandwiches. Miss Amanda said eagerly, waiting for Danny to take the lunchbox out of her hand. They're in a lunch box because this kiddo here," she gestured to Danny, "would completely obliterate them all compacting them into the bag." Danny didn't even try to deny it. Danny smiled, looking pleased with himself as he managed to fit the somewhat large lunchbox into the front pocket, with next to no extra bulge.

"Thank you so much Miss Amanda. We had best be going. Our friends are in the car. She nodded numbly, and quickly turned to leave. Hannah could see her trying to hide the pain she was feeling, given her stiff movements and small, aimless steps.

Danny ran up to her and gave her a hug. "I'll be back soon." He assured in a raspy voice. She nodded.

"Be safe. I love you Sweetie." She sniffed.

As they were outside, Hannah decided to take a jab at him. "Aw. That was sweet!" She said in an overdramatic voice.

"…Don't tell cough Rachael. She'd never let cough me hear the cough end of it."

"I'll tell you what she'll never let you hear the end of." She flicked one of the Zorua ears. "When did those even pop up?

"In the car, after cough I put my hoodie up." The ears lopped adorably to the sides. "Yeah. I can cough hear her cough snickering now."

"You can what?" Hannah almost shouted in shock.

"Quiet down! You'll bust my cough eardrums. Anyway, don't cough worry. I've been cough thinking up retorts since cough it started happening."

"They are adorable though."

The ears lopped farther. "The one comment I wasn't prepared for. Dang. What did my mom say anyway?" Danny asked, wanting to know more. Danny and Hannah returned to the car. Michael was wrapping fresh bandages around Absol; the old ones were covered in blood.

"There you cough guys are. I was just cough replacing cough the bandages. And don't worry cough Hannah. I cough made sure to keep your car clean." Michael clarified. Hannah nodded, as she turned on the car and started driving to Rachael's house.

"I'd say cough something cough about the ears, but I cough really have cough no room to talk."

Hannah could hear Rachael smothering some snickers that Danny was no doubt hearing, his ears twitching.

"You cough birdbrain, have no room to laugh."

Rachael started laughing, with a chorus of chirps mixed in.

"We'll se who's cough laughing when I'm the cough only one who can laugh!" At that, Danny started laughing too.

"Sol-Absol." Hannah heard the Absol say. Michael chuckled.

"Yeah. They do." Michael and the others understood Absol perfectly. Hannah couldn't help but envy them. She almost wished it were happening to her too. Speaking of which, why wasn't she transforming? This sort of thing had never happened, yet it only happened to them. Did they do something she did not? Did they go somewhere she did not? She shook her head. These were mysteries for later.

"Oh whatever! At least cough I'll be able cough to create illusion! Michael cough could do emotion voodoo! Why cough not illusions?"

"If this chirp continues, I'll have chirp wings. An Instant one-up."

"Rachael. Sorry to crash your party, but we're at your house." Hannah saw Rachael stiffen. Her breathing quickened. "Calm cough down Rachael. Don't cough worry. There is no cough reason to worry. Michael assured her in a calm tone, despite the rasp. Rachael took a deep breath, nodded, grabbed the backpack from Danny, and slowly got out of the car.

As they were walking up to the door, Rachael flinched when she saw two cars in her driveway. "Of course chirp they're home chirp now of all chirp times. Just come chirp on in." Hannah nodded, and followed Rachael as she opened the door, quickly making her way up the stairs, Hannah in tow. They opened the door to her room, Rachael shutting it behind her.

"You have to tell them, you know." Hannah pointed out.

Rachael sighed. "Yeah. I know…" She dug through her closet, picking out a few pairs of clothes, as well as some object Hannah couldn't see. She put them all into a larger pocket of the backpack. Someone knocked on Rachael's door.

"Rachael? You home? I thought I heard someone with you." Called a masculine voice, her father, Gregory.

Rachael cleared her throat, "C-come in." The door slowly opened. Rachael's dad looked incredibly formal, clad in a black business suit, with a blue tie and matching pants. His auburn hair was well combed. Though he entered the doorway in a somewhat sluggish manner, giving the impression he was extremely tired.

"You're going to have to call school and tell them I wont be there for a while." Rachael said with averted eyes. Hannah could hear the strain in her voice as she did her best not to make chirping noises. Her father looked incredibly worried.

"Honey, you never miss school. What's wrong?" He looked from Hannah to Rachael. Rachael pulled down her hood and rolled up her sleeves, revealing the feathers that were rapidly growing. Slowly, she looked to her father, dreading what she might see. He was calm.

"What happened?" He asked in monotone. Rachael blinked several times. Hannah saw a tear make its way down Rachael's face. Rachael gasped, and collapsed on her bed, clutching her head.

"Rachael? Rachael! Are you okay?" He looked to Hannah, pleading for an explanation. Just then, Rachael's mom rushed into the room.

"Rachael? Rachael! What's happening to you?" She was panicking.

"They, Rachael, Danny, and Michael, that is, have been… turning into Pokémon for some reason. Every time one of them gets a huge headache surge, something new… happens. Rachael's seems to be going the fastest though." Hannah explained. She could see them try to maintain their calm. Mr. Greg was able to keep his expression serious, but Rachael's mom Becky's long, brown hair, was already soaked in tears, though her expression was neutral. Rachael continued clutching her head on her bed. It had been about thirty seconds.

"We met someone, a pokémon, who told them that there was a place that might be able to help fix this. It's in the forest, so we may be gone for a few days. We have food, clothing, and all the necessities.

"Why… why not call the E.R.?" Becky asked, grasping at straws.

"They won't be able to help. Never in the history books has anything like this happened before, and anyway, the pokémon said he needed help from us anyway."

"I'm not buying it. Why do you think you can trust this pokémon?" Mr. Greg demanded.

"Never once did he give me the impression of anything devious, and he seemed genuinely grateful once we helped him with something." Hannah omitted the Pangoro attack. Rachael's parents didn't need to hear that part.

"Why should we trust your judgment?" Hannah looked at Mr. Greg. He did not seem to be trying to insult her. He was testing her, to see if she could think of a rational argument."

"Don't. Trust hers instead." Hannah gestured once again to Rachael, who's breathing was slowing a bit; a sign that the pain was lessening.

"We came here to tell you we would be leaving. Your daughter believes the pokémon." Mr. Greg gave a weak smile.

"Alright then."

Hannah's mouth was agape. "Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Hannah admired the way that Rachael's parents so strongly trusted their daughter's judgement.

Hannah heard Rachael move,, slowly, she sat up, while rubbing her head.

"Hey honey. Are you feeling better? Miss Becky sat down next to her daughter. She seemed to be much calmer. Rachael nodded mutely.

"So, you really have a way to fix this?" Rachael nodded once again.

"Okay… Sweetie… I love you. We'll call your school for you. We won't tell them about… you know…" Rachael nodded. They stood up. Rachael's father step forward and they embraced. Hannah could tell Rachael wanted to say something, yet she strangely stayed quiet.

They exited Rachael's house. Hannah noticed Rachael moving faster, as if in a hurry to reach the car. It was peculiar, Hannah, while not admitting it to herself out loud, knew why.

"How'd cough it go?" Michael asked as they got in the car.

"Surprisingly well, until another headache came." Hannah explained. They all turned their heads to look at Rachael.

"Absol-ab?" Absol seemed to ask something. Hannah cleared her throat, signaling for a translation.

"He cough asked 'What changed this time?'" Danny clarified.

"Star- Chirp ly- star- chirp!" Rachael covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes widening. "Star! Ly chirp star chirp!" She buried her head in her hands.

"That's about what I expected." Hannah admitted. Rachael blinked in surprise. The others all looked at Rachael, not with shock, but with pity and worry.

"Did your throat seem to feel different? I noticed you avoided talking after your headache." Rachael nodded, surprised. "Danny, Michael, you guys speak pokémon."

"We understand it. Not cough speak cough it. Rachael cough doesn't speak cough it either. It's completely cough incoherent."

"Sol-Absol-Ab-absol." Michael and Rachael looked pensive. Hannah raised her eyebrow.

"He said 'Perhaps as the changes continue to occur, the speech cough patterns will improve." Danny clarified.

"Rachael, in cough each pocket of the cough backpack I put a cough notepad and some pens."

Rachael dug through her pocket, and grabbed the notepad. She started writing.

"I'm driving. Someone read the note to me." Hannah grunted.

"Alright." Michael said. "It cough says 'It's as if I forgot how to cough speak. With the fanciest penmanship you'll see cough in your life." He added. Rachael rolled her eyes.

"Huh. I guess that makes sense. Anyway," Hannah stated distractedly, "We're at my place. I'm going to have trouble explaining this away… Danny! Say 'cheese'." Hannah held her phone up and took a picture.

"Seriously Danny? A peace sign?"

"Duh."

Hannah face-palmed. Shaking her head, she pulled into her driveway. Her house was a one-story brick house. Everything about it, from the white door to the blinds on the window looked clean and well kept. The lawn was freshly cut, and there was a small garden in front of the house. Her friends didn't know this, but Hannah had done most of the housekeeping herself. She nonchalantly got out of the car and entered her house. "Hi Hannah!" She heard a tiny voice shout in glee. A small boy about seven years old ran up to her and hugged her. He had brown hair, which was a shaggy mess. His normally mildly tanned face was covered in dirt, giving the impression he had been playing outside. His clothes were in no better state.

"Hello Harry." Hannah greeted him.

"I'm not Harry! I'm Harrison!"

"To me you will be Harry. Anyway, where is Dad?" Hannah asked.

"Dada is upstairs in his room! Mama is outside! I heard your car so I snuck back inside!" Harry informed.

"Go back out with your sisters, Harry." Hannah commanded. "I'm sure Bella and Taylor miss you." Hannah had three siblings. Harry, age seven, Bella, age nine, and Taylor, age three. It made her house quite the riot, but Hannah adored them all.

"Okay Hannah! Bye Bye!" Hannah chuckled at his enthusiasm. Sighing, while shoving down the fear that was making her stomach twist in knots, she made her way to her father's room. It was a complete disaster, with children's toys littering the floors, the bed unkempt with the covers balled up at the end, and the normally green walls showing some signs of crayon having been haphazardly washed off the walls. Compared to Hannah's small but tidy bedroom, this room looked as though a machoke and hitmonchan had had a fight using crayons and toys. Her father was on his bed, looking exhausted; his black hair was a mess, and dark bags drooped from his eyes. He must have been out late working, only to come home to noisy children.

He seemed to be mindlessly watching TV. "Hello Dad." Hannah greeted.

Her father grunted. "What do you need?"

Hannah flinched. "I'm leaving for a few days. My friend's have been having issues and-"

"Fine. Have fun kid. See you when you get back." Hannah almost breathed a sigh of relief not having to explain the situation, but his short, careless words caused a stab of pain.

"Uh… okay… bye then." Hannah shook her head at her father's indifference and forced down her emotions.

Hannah walked across the hallway and into her room, grabbing what she would need as well from her room. She heard a light knock on the door.

"Hannah? Where are you going?" Asked the innocent voice of Bella.

Hannah opened the door. Her little sister's childish gaze met Hannah's stare.

Bella was wearing a casual yellow dress with blue stripes on it. Her blonde pigtails perfectly matching, making her just about the cutest thing Hannah has seen. Despite having been playing outside, she was relatively dirt-free.

"I'm going somewhere with my friend's for a few days." Hannah replied. She couldn't lie to her sister.

"Where?"

"The forest…" Hannah said, growing weary.

"But there are pokeemons there." Hannah inwardly chuckled at her sister's adorable mispronunciation of "pokémon."

"Can you keep a super-secret for me?" Hannah asked, kneeling down to her sister.

"Yes! Yes! I can keep a secret! Pinkie promise!" Hannah shook pinkies with Bella. Bella was very adamant when it came to the "pinkie promise." Breaking it was a mistake Hannah never repeated.

"I'm going with a pokémon." Hannah told her.

Bella gasped in excitement. "I wanna see the pokeemon! I wanna! I wanna!" Hannah almost burst out laughing.

"I suppose I can show you. Just pinkie promise you won't talk about him to anyone." Bella crossed her arms in anger.

"I already did!"

"Do it again, please, it's very important." Bella promptly did so, beaming as though it was Christmas.

The two walked out to the car, Bella holding Hannah's hand. She opened the door to her car, only to be met with Michael's (who had his hoodie on) raised eyebrow. Hannah held up her hands. "She wanted to see Absol! I am not bringing her!"

"Ah."

Bella squealed. "A pokeemon! A pokeemon!" She crawled to the backseat before Hannah could stop her, and proceeded to hug Absol. He looked surprised more than anything.

"A-Absol." Hannah could see everyone struggling to hold in laughter and/or chirps of amusement.

"Alright Bella. Time to go back to Mom." Hannah commanded.

"Aw… okay sis… bye bye!" She took slow, sad steps back to her house, closing the door behind her.

"Anyway! Ready to go?" Everyone nodded.

Time to go on an adventure.