This tall grass was annoying.

I probably hadn't realized it before because I had been distracted, but it was scratchy, irritating, painful, and empty.

The grass was very irritatingly high, and was rubbing all over my face and arms, causing rashes and cuts. It was dry, and incredibly sharp.

"How does anything live in here?" I muttered to Echo after another especially long sweep of grass smacked me in the face. Echo, whom was sitting in my arms, shifted her position.

'I-It's not that bad when you have fur, or s-scales to protect you from all of the grass. L-Living here is actually very n-nice for a w-wild Pokémon.'

"People don't live in here," Reed responded as he assisted me over a root.

"I was talking to Echo, not you," I ducked under another swath of grass.

"You can talk to Echo? You must be imagining-" He began.

"A-Ah!" I cried out as I tripped on something. It yelped.

"What in the name of-" I twisted around on the ground so I could see whatever I had tripped over. It was a… Lilipup, I think that's what they're called.

"Oh, um… Sorry," I stared at it. Wait… Where was Echo..?

"Lucy! Are you okay? That was quite the fall," Reed tried to help me up.

'I'm o-over here, Lucy! B-Behind you…'

Are you okay?

'Y-Yeah. Are you?'

"Lucy..?" Reed tried to get me up again. I shook my head quickly and pulled my hand away from him.

Yep, I'm fine.

"Okay… One sec, Echo," I turned around to find she had crash-landing in a patch of little pink blooms. She sneezed and reached out her hand. I grasped it firmly, then guided her back over to me. She sneezed again.

"Oh, I see. You wanted to help Echo before I helped you," Reed concluded. Genius deduction, Holmes.

I stopped looking at Ryan, and turned to see if the Lilipup was okay. My eyes had just began to search the area, when a flash of russet fur body-slammed my face.

"What in the-!?" I yelped as it tackled me again in the stomach.

'D-Don't move!' The words rang in my head. I froze as I watched Echo jump forward and shoot an attack at the Lilipup. Physic waves flew over me, barely missing me. I stared wide-eyed and in shock. The Lilipup flew back and crashed into a patch of grass.

'I'm sorry! Are you okay, L-Lucy? I can't b-believe-'

"Hey, Ryan, do you have an Oran berry?" I asked. He glanced at me with surprise, but produced a sky-blue berry from his pack.

I took the Oran berry and crawled over to were the Lilipup had crashed. My hands' sweated with nervousness as I pushed aside grass to reveal the little creature.

This time, the Lilipup was whimpering fearfully, not growling. I stretched out my hand to it. It's coal black eyes sparkled with doubt and disbelief as it took in the scene before it.

"Here… I'm sorry for tripping over you," I shyly muttered, and then dropped the berry in front of it, and then slowly pulled my hand away.

"Hey," I felt a hand pull me away for the Lilipup, "Let's go." Ryan's hand rested on my shoulder lightly. I felt heat creep over my face. That feeling again…

"O-Okay!" I stuttered. He pulled me up to my feet.

"What was that, anyway?" He asked. I glanced up at his confused expression.

"It… It was nothing…" I responded and started to lean away, towards… The lab? The town? His home?

No.

My home.

Well, I just had lots of fun writing that. Thanks for reading! I'm sorry for being dead so long, I'm leading ridiculously busy, and drama-filled life at the moment. Enough about me, back to the story! With a little twist, though…

Ryan's POV

I had never felt so unsure in my life.

The darkness that surrounded me was like no other that I had ever seen before. It was darker than black. It wasn't black, in all honesty. It was indescribable. It was simply nothing, with no limit, no boundaries. It was endless.

The only times I could see anything was when I imagined it.

I mostly imagined her. Lucy. When I first met her, and all I could think about was freedom. Her attitude about everything. Before we were unlocked, and her smiling widely at her dead or defeated Pokémon, commenting, 'You got me good!' I can think of her and feel secure. Like I'm not the only one who was an imprisoned puppet.

Even when I can't see her, I can feel her. When she first saw me like… like this. The first time I had ever seen her cry. What she didn't know is behind my heavy bandages, I was tearing up as well. The salty droplets stung my eyes like heck, but I was crying lightly. Why, I'm still not sure, because there are so many different things that could have been the reason. But I couldn't let her know that. I had to be strong for her, right?

What the heck am I saying..? I sound like some sort of stupid, over-analyzing character added to spice up a story.

"Ryan," I heard someone's voice.

"Yeah? Who is it?" I responded in a flat voice.

"Professor Juniper!" She replied energetically. I nodded and turned my head to face where I thought I heard her voice.

"Ryan, why'd you stay here instead of going out with everyone else? I mean the least you could do was get some fresh air with us! Oh, why don't you let Riolu out?" She spoke extremely fast. I clenched my jaw in irritation.

"It's no use. I can't battle. Why are you even here…" I groaned.

"That's no way to act! You have to get up and try! Follow the road you've chosen for yourself!" She chirped joyfully.

"Oh, yeah? How am I suppose to follow a road if I can't even see it!? What type of cheesy movie did you get that from, any-" I was cut off by speedy, sharp footsteps. A hand grabbed my shirt collar roughly.

"Listen, Punk. Quit your whining. How about instead of thinking of everything you can't do, why don't you think of things you can do, huh? Let's think a little. You can smile. You can speak. You can move. You can see," She growled.

"No, I can't, my eyes were gouged out!" My voice shook, but I remained stubborn.

"Those aren't the only things you see with. You can see with your heart, mind, hands, and emotions. Not to mention, your Riolu," She retorted viciously and pulled my collar closer, to the point our noses' touched and I could feel her hot breath on my face.

Shock ricocheted through my body. How did she know that? I didn't tell anyone. I wasn't too obvious, I think.

"H-How did you know that-?' I choked out. She released her hold on me, leaving me shaking. Who was she? This is not the Professor I knew. Cold, cruel, physical, fierce, strong and terrifying… What the heck was going on?

"I can hear the thoughts of Pokémon, Ryan. Plus, I'm quote on quote allies with a flippant god. What do you expect?" She sneered.

"Flippant god..? The Grandmaster? He's a god?" I gasped. I heard chuckling.

"Yeah, he's a legendary, you know? Twisted, unpredictable guy," She answered sharply and then paused.

"He's also kind of… sort of… Oh, never mind," She mumbled. Okay, this was just getting absolutely out of control… And off-topic…

"Fine, okay, whatever. What do you want me to do? It's not like I can grow back my eyes," I muttered. This was rewarded promptly with a slap to the cheek.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a grumpy old lady telling you to get off my lawn! There needs to be respect here, got it? Anyway, you know what you got to do," Juniper barked.

"No, I really don't…" I sighed under my breath. She groaned. I heard the sharp click of heels on wood as she stomped away. Following that, I heard a thundering crash.

"Darn these heels!" She yelped. I smirked behind my hand as a stream of foul words flew from her mouth. Well, even with her reverse-personality, I guess she was still as clumsy as a Girafarig on stilts.

A door flew open and slammed shut. She left. I felt behind me and found the cool window. I leaned back and rested my back on it.

What does me mean, that I 'know what to do'? I don't. There is no simple answer to this, as far as I can see… I flinched. If I could see at all…

The door creaked open slowly. I jumped at the noise.

"Ryan..? Ah, I thought I'd find you here!" My heart sped up. It was Lucy. U-Um..! What am I supposed to say? Hello? What's up? Oh, hey, didn't see you there? Ha, ha, get it?

"Hey," The word slipped out for the tumbling whirlwind spiraling through my mouth.

"Lucy, be careful! You almost made me crash into the doorframe!" I heard someone hiss. Oh. He was here. I should've known Reed would be here…

"Sorry, Reed. Anyway, Ryan, why don't you come outside for just a little? I know you must be feeling really depressed, but it feels nice out here. Please?" She pleaded.

"Um… Well, I'd rather not-" I began.

"Please, Ryan. Just for a little," She interrupted me before I finished. My heart beat increased even more. God, if she kept this up, I'd have a heart attack…

"Okay, I will. But only for a little, okay?" I gave in. It couldn't be that bad, right?

At least, that's what I was telling myself.