"Don't we know that guy?"

"Skyra, you're twenty feet in the air. You're going to have to be a bit more specific," I shouted, so my voice would carry. We had just come out from the Piece Center, and Skyra, who had been cooped up in the room for the entire night, had immediately launched into the sky.

"Brown hair. Long legs. Nervous. Enthusiastic."

"Still not helping!"

She wheeled down lazily and landed beside me.

"We met him while he was being assaulted in the woods."

"Stephan?"

"Yeah. Him."

"You see him?"

"He's getting robbed again."

At that instant, we heard the same frantic shout we had heard a few days ago. Once again, Eris barked and sprinted towards the sound.

"You could have told me that sooner!" I said, exasperated, while we ran after Eris. Skyra blew a raspberry. When we rounded a corner on the busy street, I saw Stephan with a phone in his hand, frantically describing the robbing. When he caught sight of us, he ran to me.

"Alex! It's terrible! Someone stole my suitcase!"

"Was it the dirty pirate again?"

"That was uncalled for, but yes! It was!"

"Did you call the police?"

"I just got off the phone with them. They're coming, but the thief is going to get away!" He started pacing, getting paler and paler. "My D- Boss is going to kill me! The Devon Goods are absolutely necessary!"

"Stephan-"

"What am I going to do? I can't chase him fast enough."

"Uh, Stephan-"

"We can't build it without the last piece! He trusted me on this! The plan-"

"I can go get the Goods for you..." I said in a small voice.

He whirled on me.

"Can you?! Can you do that for me?!"

"Umm... yeah..."

He jumped for joy.

"Oh my goodness! Thank you so much." He grabbed my hand with such an adoring expression on his face, that I felt uncomfortable. "Alex, I'm counting on you! He went that way," he said desperately, pointing towards Route 116.

"It's a new Route," Briar stated, while we jogged towards the end of the sidewalk, "But I doubt this Piece will want to come with us."

"We've only had two refusals so far," Skyra retorted, "there's no need to be pessimistic."

He thought for a moment.

"I'm not being pessimistic," he argued, now picking his way through the tall grass, "I'm just being realistic."

"Oh, how I doubt that." Sarcasm dripped from her every word.

"Can you guys teach me how to do that?" I asked, "The sarcasm. I don't know how to do it."

"Do you not have sarcasm in your universe?"

"We do, but I was never taught how to do it, and I was kept away from other kids, so I never naturally picked it up. I just recently started watching television, so I know it exists but..."

Skyra was giving me a strange look.

"Why were you kept away from other kids?"

"Ah, well," I scratched the back of my neck, "it's sort of a long story. My brother was always really protective, and he thought that the other kids-"

Suddenly, a white blur knocked Eris over, who had been quietly walking and listening this entire time. A nine year-old boy dressed in all white was standing before us. He had a green belt on his shorts, and green, wing-like markings on the back of his t-shirt. He was also wearing grey cloth bracelets. When something glinted between them, I realized it was connected by something that looked like invisible wire.

"Nincada," my Icon said pedantically, "the Trainee Piece. It makes its nest at the roots of a mighty tree. Using its invisible wires, it probes its surroundings in the pitch-black darkness of soil." I thought that would be the end of the description when the Icon added in its mechanic drone, "You are not a good person. You know that, right? Good people don't get up here. And they also let me out once in a while."

For the moment, I ignored the last part of its sentence.

"Eris, Bite!" She leapt forward, and when she opened her mouth, blackness swirled in front of her, taking the shape of jaws. Her teeth clacked together a foot away from the Nincada, but the jaws made from the dark energy closed firmly on the boy's shoulder and arm, gold blood spurting. It disappeared and the familiar red light filled my vision when I threw the PEN. After three rocks and a click, I rushed over and clicked the button again.

I found myself on my back with a wire around my neck.

"Nobody move or I'll kill her." The wire tightened slightly around my neck. Everybody was frozen. "I don't want to be dragged into this."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," I said carefully, making sure not to move.

"Quiet! I still hate you humans. One of you must die if you want her to live. Which one?" There was a silence, and then Torrent burst out sobbing.

"D-don't kill Lexa, you b-bully!"

Briar stepped forward, wearily.

"I'll take her place. Just let her go."

"I don't think so." They all flinched at the edge in my voice. "All of you go back to the Piece Center. Listen to Briar and Skyra. Get on the phone and call Professor Birch. He'll pick up my body."

"We're not leaving," Eris stated in her rough voice.

Oh, please. Enough with this sentiment. Do you think I can't take on this sniveling excuse for a-

Suddenly, I felt as if somebody was pulling the strings in my spine and I reached over my shoulder and grabbed the Nincada, twisting at the same time so my neck was freed, and threw him over me.

I didn't have control over my body anymore. Laughter bubbled out of my mouth. Insane, maniacal laughter. I now found the situation, which had been dire, hilarious. Every time I tried to suppress my laughter, more would spill out, until I was hiccuping and laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. And as abruptly as it started, it stopped.

I gasped, trying to catch my breath. When I turned around, I found the Nincada on the ground, wide-eyed in fear. Further away from him, Skyra had already flown thirty feet into the air, Eris over her shoulder. Briar was standing in front of Torrent in a defensive stance.

"Lexa! You didn't die!" Torrent blubbered. The tension completely dissolved from the scene. He ran into my open arms, crying as hard as I had been laughing.

"Of course I didn't die, silly." I tried to make my voice as soothing as possible. "I won't leave you guys." Briar released the breath he had been holding and Skyra dove to the ground, breaking her decent last minute in a flutter of wings.

"You bully!" Torrent hissed again. I turned my attention to the Nincada, who had been sullenly standing behind me the entire time.

"Hush, Torrent."

The white-haired boy and I stared at each other.

"You don't have to come," I repeated, softly. He simply stared at me, fists clenching and unclenching.

"I fear you," his words were bitter, "and this is strange. My culture dictates I must come with you. So, I will. When I no longer fear you," he leaned in, "I will destroy you, Master."

It looked like it physically hurt to say the title.

"What are you talking about?" Skyra interjected, "At your level, even Eris can probably kill you in two Bites." Eris wagged her tail at the sound of her name, making the seat of her pants move. The Nincada, on the other hand, just glared.

"You can call me Alexandra," I said, "And it's fine. You don't have to come."

"Unfortunately, I do."

"Don't you want to stay with your family?"

"You humans enslaved my family," he spat, "Our culture has almost disappeared because of the PALs you use."

"I don't use PALs."

"And your family?"

"My mom isn't a trainer. I haven't seen my dad since I was four, and I know he's not a trainer. My brother..." I paused, "...isn't here anymore." My mouth arranged itself into a half-hearted smile while Torrent nuzzled against me. "I don't have a family here, besides my Pieces and maybe Brendan."

"Maybe," Torrent echoed.

We stared at each other longer, until the Nincada bowed.

"I will not be the first to dishonor my family by breaking the tradition." Then, almost frighteningly, his disposition changed. Smiling happily, he chirped, "My name is Foxglove. Nice to meet you!" I was shocked by this complete shift, but my Pieces seemed to understand what had happened and introduced themselves normally.

While they were doing that, I took out my Icon for the first time in a while, remembering the extra lines it had added.

"Well, you found me," the Icon said in its cool, female voice, "Congratulations. Was it worth it? Because despite your violent behavior, the only thing you've managed to break so far... is my heart. Maybe you could settle for that, and we'll just call it a day. But I guess we both know that isn't going to happen."

"I'm really not sure if this was programmed into you, or if you're an A.I. unit."

"Do you think I'm trying to trick you with reverse psychology? I mean, seriously now."

"I knew those lines were similar! You're quoting Portal!"

"I thought you would enjoy the situational irony."

"Where there's a malicious robot trying to conduct tests on me while I try to run away with a huge dimension-bending gun in my hand?"

"No wonder your birth mother left you at the doorstep." I rolled my eyes.

"You can't use quotes if they don't make sense."

"Or maybe they do. How would you know?"

"Why does it seem like Foxglove is bipolar? Do you know?"

"You'll find out on his birthday. There will be cake."

I sighed.

"What's your name? I doubt you want to be called Icon."

"My name is GLaDOS."

"Liar."

"Have I lied to you?" The Icon paused. "I mean, in this room?"

"If you lie to me, I will drown you. I don't like liars. Portal only exist in my dimension."

"And if I can quote Portal, then the obvious must be true."

I blinked with the realization.

"Someone from my world made you."

"But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."

"Who made you?"

"Classified information, test subjects."

I shut the Icon firmly and put it back into my bag.

"Okay guys! Remember we're still chasing someone!" I swung Eris up in my arms. "Let's go. Foxglove, do you want to lead the way so you can-" Swiftly and silently, Foxglove jumped past me and wrapped his wire around a Taillow's neck. Within seconds, the Piece had dissolved into stars, and a handful disappeared into his wire, making it gleam momentarily. In just a couple of minutes, the entire field was glittering with the stars. GLaDOS pinged.

"Foxglove has leveled up."

We walked behind him, dumbfounded, as he laid waste to any Piece that crossed our path with his wires and teeth. Unlike the blood splatters of those caught by PALs and PENs, the golden blood of the wild Pieces dispersed into the shimmering lights, leaving the battlefield clean.

"Ah! Please! Give me back my Peeko!" An old man came into view, shouting into the mouth of a cave. "Please! Don't hurt her!"

"Sir?" He fell on me, gripping my arms tightly. His face was red, his unfocused eyes wide with terror. "Please! Someone has taken my Peeko!" With a start, I realized his filmed, white eyes couldn't see anything. Spit gathered at the corners of his mouth and his wheezing grew into a crescendo. "She is my darling Wingull! Please get her back!"

"Sir! Calm down!"

He started coughing.

"Please help her!" he managed to choke out. His knees buckled and Briar helped me lower him to the ground. "I couldn't bear if something happened to her!"

"We'll get Peeko back for you!" Torrent said, "But you have to calm down or you'll get hurt."

"I'll stay with him," Eris said. I nodded.

"Okay. Keep him safe." We ran into the cave, peering through the semi-fog. The vague outline of two retreating figures shifted in the mist.

"Briar, can you use seeds to leave a trail? I feel like I'm going to get lost."

"I'm on it." He started to drop seeds.

"Skyra, cut them off." In an instant, she disappeared. After thirty more seconds of chasing them, I heard a surprised yell and a joyful twitter.

"Get away, you stupid bird!" We caught up to see the shady man, who we had met in Petalburg Woods, caught in a stalemate with Skyra. Every time he would try to run past, she would use Quick Attack and lash out almost invisibly, striking the ground in front of him.

Behind him was a petite Piece, who looked like she was about eleven years old. She had short, light blue hair, with a single streak of black down the middle, which was under a white and yellow sailors cap. Her collared shirt had blue on the cuffs, the same blue as her hair, and her white shorts had the same cuffs. Her wings were wider than Skyra's and looked like they had been made for cruising in the air for hours. The yellow flip-flops on her feet squeaked when she jumped again, trying to get away from the criminal's grip.

"Team Aqua," I said, "when will you realize that drowning the world is the worst idea ever?"

He gave me a blank look.

"What?" was his reply.

"Never mind. Can you just give me back the Wingull?" He pulled out a knife and held it to her throat.

"Nobody move! Poochyena! Tackl-" But Foxglove was there before he could say the command. As silent as a ghost, he wrapped his wire around the Poochyena's neck and bit down, hard, on the jugular. The wire absorbed the blood and Foxglove slowly lowered the Poochyena to the ground, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand when he was done. Briar knocked the knife out of his hand with a seed from his slingshot.

"Just give it up," I sighed. "Whatever your Boss paid you, it wasn't enough."

"You don't realize how important this is, little girl." He was looking around for an escape route, but Skyra blocked his every move. "I was told everything yesterday. You could not even imagine- I was going to let go of my Poochyena, but I needed a Piece. You see, the water runs much deeper that you can see."

"HALT! THIS IS THE POLICE!" the voice amplified by the megaphone said, "LET GO OF MR. BRINEY'S PIECE!" The pirate's motions grew frantic as soon as he heard the police approaching. Once again, he tried to turn around, but Skyra was constantly shadowing him. "LET GO OF THE PIECE AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD! YOU WILL BE BROUGHT IN FOR QUESTIONING!"

"Damn it!"

Without another word, he pulled another knife he had been hiding and drew it across his abdomen. It was curious, what he was doing. I didn't quite understand his actions until intestines came tumbling out, and his stomach hung from his esophagus. Yellow fat slid from his organs, landing with a wet plop on the ground. His liver glistened smugly, and his kidneys looked like two sad beans hanging by a string. Crimson blood immediately splashed on the floor, and the pirate, trembling, fell forward in a pool of his guts and blood.

"What-?!"

Then, Torrent was covering my eyes and Briar was supporting me while I retched. The sickly smell of vomit mixed with the smell of blood and feces.

"Get her out of here," I heard Foxglove order, "I'll get Skyra and Peeko." I felt myself being led outside, still gagging. Stones rose to trip me, and only Torrent's coaxing convinced me to keep walking instead of sitting down and crying. Stumbling out of the cave, I sat on the ground by the side and tried to control my frantic breathing. I couldn't get enough of the fresh air.

"Miss, are you okay?" Through my haze, I saw a police officer crouching beside me, holding out a cup of water. I quickly took it and gulped down its contents, only to regurgitate it a few moments later in the grass. He gave me another cup, and this one, I drank slowly, taking time to rinse my mouth.

"This isn't a game," I cried, when I had finally composed myself enough to speak. "This isn't a game at all!"

Who said it ever was?

"Get out of my head!" I screamed, clutching my ears, "Please leave me alone! Let me think!"

It's only your first death, Alex. You'll see much more.

"MY NAME IS ALEXANDRA! GET OUT!" Torrent patted my hair fretfully while Skyra hugged me tightly, murmuring something about stress. The voice seemed subdued at my outburst.

I'll leave... for now.

The voice receded, and so did the whispers.

"Miss? Are okay?"

"Who was that man?!" I turned to the police officer. "He was just going to be questioned! Why did he kill himself?" I pulled Torrent to me, holding him close. The police officer's face darkened.

"He belongs to one of two very dangerous criminal organizations. The police call them Team Aqua and Team Magma, but only for identification sake. Most of the citizens of the Hoenn region call them Everything and Nothing, respectively. But we managed to find out that, within the groups, they really have no set name. Yin and yang. Water and fire. Death and life. They seem to think they represent the balance and yet, they are openly hostile to each other. We think that Team Aqua plans to flood the earth, while Team Magma plans to expand the land through the use of volcanic eruptions. But when we mentioned this to some of the members we had managed to capture, they simply replied with something like, 'Water runs deeper than we can hear' or 'Fire spreads farther than we can see.' We believe that the lower level members aren't told very much."

"But why?! Why did he kill himself?!"

"We don't know. Most of the members we try to capture do the same. Right now, there are none surviving." I felt sick.

"Excuse me?" I turned my head slightly to see the old man I had seen before approach me. The police officer walked away to give us privacy. "Thank you so much for saving my Peeko." Behind him, I saw the Wingull peeking around his legs.

"No need to thank me," I said weakly, "I'm sure you would have done the same."

"I'm sorry you had to see something so terrible." He touched the skin underneath his eyes. "Sometimes, I'm glad the world is dark. If there is anything you ever need from me, please don't hesitate to visit me at my cottage on Route 104." With that, he called Peeko to him, who took his hand, and they hobbled away together.

The police officer came back with a small, circular package.

"This was found on the Team Aqua member's body. Would you happen to know what it is?" I turned the package over in my hands.

"The Goods. They were stolen from someone named Stephan-"

"Stephan Stone?! Then they must be-"

"Oh, Alex!"

I looked up to see Stephan running towards me.

"You got the Devon Goods for me!" he exclaimed, "Thank you so much!" He paused, his brow furrowing, "Alex? You don't look very well."

I didn't want to talk about the horror that had just unfolded in that cave.

"I'm okay, Stephan," I said and stood up reinforcing my mind with slow breaths, forcing myself to believe my words. "Adapt," I whimpered to myself. "Just like he said. Adapt, adapt, adapt, adapt..."

"If you say so..." Stephan said doubtfully, "Oh, here! Take this Great PAL as a reward."

"We use PENs!" Foxglove hissed, "In case you haven't noticed, our faces aren't as blank as the dead and we can speak for ourselves!"

"Oh." There was an awkward moment as I started to pack up my things to go back to Rustboro. "Well... I have a couple of PENs, too, if you want..."

I looked at him, puzzled.

"I thought PENs where thought inferior here."

He squirmed uncomfortably.

"They are... but I still have a couple with me..." After looking through his suitcase, he offered me a Great PEN, which retained the classic design found inside the Pokémon games. "Just don't tell my boss, okay?" And when he smiled, this slice of humanity calmed my jangled nerves. It was a pleasant smile. And it made him seem less twitchy.

"Thanks, Stephan. That's really sweet of you."

And then he was back to his nervous self, stuttering about how it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Calm down, Stephan. You were cute before, but now you're twitching again."

"Hey, would you like to come meet the Boss? I'm sure he would like to thank you for rescuing the Devon Goods. They're really important for... well... everything!"

"I would love to but, I just went through-" He was giving me the look again. The excited puppy look. I smiled with as much enthusiasm I could muster. "I would love to." I called Briar to get everyone else, who had wandered away during the conversation, and followed Stephan back to Rustboro.