Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

I hope you spent it with the people you love.

Let them know you care!

…no other comments.

National Suicide Hotline:1-800-488-3000

The enemy of my enemy… doesn't know it yet.

"Okay, so we need to get through that back fence without being seen," I said, "Any ideas?"

"Why don't we just go inside and ask those nice people?"

"Because I don't want to be eating Pokékibble for the rest of my life."

"It will only take a second. "

"Lou, get back here," I dove after him, not noticing that my tail was caught on the bush.

SO to make a long story short, I fell backwards with Lou in my arms.
I yelped so loud that a deaf woman three Regions over could hear me.
Lou's broken Eggsecute were sent flying over the fence, with a cheerful, "Weeeeeeee!"

For once, a knock to the head didn't knock me out. It still hurt though…

"(What hit me?)," Fia came back to her senses, "(Hey, Eggs!)"

"(Sorry, about that fluffy Torchic!)," they all said together.

"(Wow talking eggs!)," Fia was about to rant again.

"(Hey, Dad, watch this.)," I nudged.

"(That's so amazing, how do you do that without being hatched yet, are you like Psychic Pokémon, Of course, you'd have to be to talk to me without being hatched yet, but then how do you put that face on the outside here, are there more of you than one, two, three of you, how long until you guys hatch, ooh ooh ooh and you look like you're about to hatch right now!)"

"(Could you follow all that, Dad?)"

"O-kay…," Brandy scratched his head, "so how did the Eggsecute get here?"

"(We flew!)," they shouted together, I translated. Brandy didn't say a word.

"(Aren't there supposed to be six eggs to every set of Eggsecute?)," I asked, Brandy nodded, "(Where's your other half?)"

"(They're…)," the half set of Eggsecute began looking at one another, "(wait, where's Sue?)"

"(Where is he?)," Leo growled, and crashed through the door of the stall. Yes, I mean 'through'. You'd think that a cannon was shot to make that hole in the wooden door.

"(Tarsa! Where are you!)," Leo barked and scoured the area searching for him, "(Show yourself!)"

"(Yippie, another Puppy!)," two of the Eggsecutes cheered, but one of them screamed, "(He's gonna kill us! Eek, you're right! Run!)"

"(Hey, we got more players.)," Fia, thinking that it was part of that stupid game, ran off somewhere.

"Tar, Crack, Shelly," a kid ran to the fence and the Eggsecute.

"Oh, you're Louis, Right?"

"Yes, I'm Lou," he nodded, "why are you scaring my Eggsecute?"

"I'm not."

"(Where Where! Where!)," Leo kept sniffing the area.

"(Don't you think that you're going a little bit overboard?)," I asked when he started sniffing near us.

"(I know that scent anywhere. Tarsa's here somewhere!)"

"(What!?!)"

"What's going on," Brandy asked out loud.

"(Leo says that he smells Tarsa!)"

"But that's not possible," Brandy said, "Tarsa's locked up tight and was close to death."

"(Tarsa, I'm going to kill you for taking my Aniki away!)," Leo howled, but couldn't find him anywhere, "(He's so close that I can almost taste him.)"

"What's going on out here," Karen poked her head out of the stalls with Ms. Kay and slowly joined the rest of us outside, "Leo could you calm down?"

"(No I can't.)," Leo sniffed closer to the Eggsecute, "(You! You smell like…)"

"(Ah, don't eat us!)," they cried.

"There's nothing here to worry about," Ms. Kay pet him.

"(But you're not Tarsa…)," he whined, "(I must be getting old.)"

"Lunch is ready," Mom shouted from the back door, "Oh, we have more guests. Would you all like to come in."

"Yes, please," Lou said, "I'm starving!"

"We all could use a meal and you can come out of hiding now," Ms. Kay smiled at the bush, "I know that you're there."

"Ehehehe," Tyrone stood up from the bushes, "Well, I guess I'm out of luck."

"(Aniki?)," Leo was about to cry.

"Tyrone," Karen screeched, running to the fence, "Where were you? Do you have any idea what your disappearing act has caused?"

"I- I just was," Tyrone looked scared, he sat down and covered his head, "I don't remember…"

"You don't remember! How can you not remember," Karen yelled at him again.

"Well then maybe some of Cathy's home cooked meals will help you to remember," Ms. Kay said, "but first you and Leo can catch up."

Ms. Kay opened the fence so that Leo and Tyrone could have one of those moments.

"(Aniki, How could I not notice your scent?)," Leo happily licked away at Tyrone.

"It's okay Leo. I'm fine," Tyrone laughed, "You can stop now."

"(I can't believe that's the same Tyrone that's been wailing on me for the past three years.)," I said to myself.

"Tyrone is not a bad guy, 'Tyler'. He just didn't have a way to open up to people," Brandy told me.

"(That doesn't excuse what he did.)"

Brandy picked me up and started to carry me inside, "Come on, I promised you a meal."

"Leo, I'm so glad that you're safe."

"(I am too Aniki!)"

"Have you been eating right? Was Karen mean to you at all?"

"For your information," Karen tapped her foot in irritation, "I took care of him just fine while you were out playing runaway."

"Hey, I told you that I-ahh," Tyrone yelled, but then flinched as Karen formed a fist.

"God, I'm glad you're back," Karen surprisingly hugged him instead of hit him. Just as Brandy removed them from my line of sight.

Meanwhile in town…

The waitress brought Jennie her coffee and an apple cider for myself.

"I can't believe I'm having coffee with you," Jennie quietly cheered to herself,

"Seriously, it's no big deal."

"No big deal? This is a huge deal for me," Jennie yelled, the rest of the restaurant was starting to looking at us.

"Could you try not to draw attention?"

"I love this coffee," Jennie shouted, everyone else got back to their own business after that. A few of them smiled about Jennie's comments, but pretty much ignored us afterwards.

"Works every time," Jennie winked, "Seriously though, thank you for agreeing to have a drink with me."

"(Can I try some of that?)," Sue was eyeing enviously at my apple cider.

"You want some," I asked the single Eggsecute. Without a second thought I let it take as sip or two.

"Is that even healthy for it?"

"Contrary to popular belief around here, Plant-Pokémon can survive on more than just soil and sunlight."

"I know that. I did raise a few Plant Pokémon myself, you know. I meant that it's sort of like cannibalism, isn't it?"

"Don't be ridiculous," I sighed, honestly It didn't matter to me, "So what did you want to talk to me about."

"Right, I was hopping to avoid talking about this for a little longer," Jennie took a sip of her coffee, "You remember Tarsa?"

"The Plant Pokémon loving egomaniac that tried to make me murder for him so that he could achieve godhood or whatever?"

"So you do remember."

"Considering that it wasn't that long ago, duh."

"And here I was going crazy," Jennie took a soothing drink of coffee, "no one else can recall anything about him."

"You don't say…," I looked down at Sue.

"Seriously, I tried everybody," she said, "I think that Tarsa might be using some of his Voodoo magic to make people forget him."

"Don't be silly, there's no such thing as magic," I faked a laugh. Being born a Vulpix, I knew better. Besides that, Tarsa was sitting in my lap or at most, a sixth of him was.

"Well, real magic or not," Jennie sighed, "Just be careful. Out of everyone, you needed to be warned the most."

"I'm not afraid of Tarsa," I grined a little, "If he tries to mess with me I'll show him who's boss."

"(Jade's the boss!)," Sue hopped a second. I think that Louis is rubbing off on it.

"Yes, but he might not go after you directly," Jennie explained, "He might go after the people you care about like Louie or even your Mother."

"That woman is not my mother," I snapped at Jennie. At that, the entire shop became a graveyard. Sure, now they noticed us.

"Not your mother?"

"…What I mean is…," I tried to calm down, "we don't see eye to eye."

"Still she's your mother," Jennie tried to comfort me, "You'll miss her if she…."

…I wouldn't miss her, even if I threw a rock in the opposite direction…

"I shouldn't have said that," I sighed, even my apple cider couldn't taste good if I tried it now, "Just forget about it okay."

I picked up my things and Sue. I couldn't stand staying here to explain the whole story again, "Thanks for the drink."

"Wait," Jenny grabbed my shoulder, "Just be careful okay."

"I'll be fine. I'm not a helpless little kit anymore."

"I get that you're not a child, but I'm just asking that you…"

"I know exactly what you were asking me," I snapped, "I've heard it all before."

"What is taking so long," Blair's partner complained to the pilot, "We have to be over the drop zone by now. It's been hours."

"Have patience, it hasn't been that long," the pilot waved his hands from the front of the extremely small plane.

"(Yo mister tight-britches, I know you can hear me.)," Blair said quietly, "(I know my partner's real bad about judging time, But we have been on this here plane for days. Why is that?)"

"(It's nothing, my friend just got in trouble with the higher ups is all.)," Not Squirtle whispered to himself in the seat next to me.

"(If he was caught, why are we still 15,000 ft. in the air?)"

"(The higher ups are hearing my friend's case and as such, have not decided on whether your presence is needed or not.)," Not Squirtle sighed, "(As it turns out this area you're 'going' to is messing with the balance of life and death somehow. More people are dying than there should be and some people who were supposed to be dead didn't make it to the other side. They just caught a soul who's not even supposed to exist.)"

"(Real messed up place this Golnar huh?)," the Charmander nodded to herself, "(Wait, Why is it ya're telling me all this now? I thought ya ain't allowed to tell us anything.)"

"(Because whatever they decide, I fear that this might be the last time that I get to see you.)"

"(Gee, I didn't know that you…)"

"(And boy what a load of my back that will be! Let me tell ya!)," Not Squirtle laughed, "(taking care of you has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Day in and day out nothing, but constant protection.)"

"(Is that so…)," Blair started growling.

"(Yeah, I can't go five minutes without having to swoop down and tie your shoes so you wouldn't trip up.)"

"(Well, if that's how you really feel then, Leave! Go on! GET! I never want to see you again!)," Blare yelled, Not Squirtle vanished from her sight, "(Good riddance…)"

Not Squirtle didn't leave exactly…. He just moved outside onto the right wing of the plane.

"(You did the right thing.)," Not Machop patted his friend on the back.

"(Shut up!)," Not Squirtle sniffled, "(I hate having to do that.)"

"(I didn't say to make her that mad. You just needed to sever your ties with her.)"

"(Just get her through this blasted barrier so that she can help.)"

"(For what it's worth, she's a great charge that you raised, and I'm sorry for asking you to do this.)"

"(It's not your fault that the area is messed up.)"

"(Higher ups say that it's going to be another day before the plane is able to break through…)," Not Machop crossed his arms and sat down indian style, "(but it's going to be out of gas.)"

"(That wont be a problem. She wasn't planing on landing with the plane anyways.)," Not Squirtle chuckled a little, "(that's just the kind of girl she is.)"

end…