Most of you are wondering now.

What happened to Terry?

What's wrong with him?

National Suicide Hotline:1-800-488-3000

When they fear you, they will obey you.
When they love you, they will save you.
So which form of respect is better?

Brandy packed my collection of poems and a few other papers into his backpack. He lifted his backpack up with a grunt. He smiled signaling that he was good to go. That's when the house phone started ringing. It made the two of us jump and knock our heads on the ceiling. We crept quickly down the stairs and back to the back door. We barely reached the living room again when the machine picked up.

"~Hello you've reach the Lawrence residence we can't come to the phone right now so *static**beep*~ Hello, this is Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Center. You're not going to believe this, but… we've found a Pokémon that's registered under Mr. Jonathan Lawrence. I can't give you all the details over the machine so…"

"Hello, this is John," Brandy answered the phone, "You found my Pokémon?"

"(What are you doing?)"

"Look," Brandy covered the phone, "She obviously doesn't know that you're dead and you've only ever had one Pokémon."

"(Terry!)," I realized, "(Thank you, but are you crazy!)"

"I'm sorry about that. Is it my Treeko? Yes? That's Terry! He's been gone for…," Brandy's eye's widened, "What did you say was wrong with him? Well, is there anything that you can do? … I see… Yes… I'll find it and then be right over."

"(What's wrong with Terry?)"

"Wouldn't you rather see him again?"

"(Of course, I do.)"

"Then tell me where you kept his Pokéball and your Pokédex. I'll tell you on the way there."

"O M G," Benny yelled, grabbing a shirt with a baby Whismur, "It's as cute as a button."

"You realize I hate cute, right," I groaned deeply. This woman put me in six or seven different clothes that were fluffy, poofy, pink, blue, green, and plain old 'blah'. Now she's holding up a shirt that I'm certain a five year old would abandoned, "With a passion."

"Well, I've had my fun," she laughed, "what kind of clothes do you like?"

"I don't like any clothes," I sighed picking up another shirt with a Pichu on it, "Especially, cute."

"(I like this one.)," Sue hopped onto the counter wearing some weird looking blue and white hat.

"You look like the severed head of a Pachirisu," I screamed, "Where did you find that?"

"Give me that," Benny nearly shrieked herself, "It's mine."

"Why do you have something like that?"

"No reason! I'm just holding it for a relative," she hid it in her purse, but the bag had more than 'just makeup' in there.

"Why are you holding that many costumes for a relative?"

"Okay… I admit it, but only because my Honey Cake trusts you," she got in close to whisper, "I'm a closet cosplayer!"

"A what?"

"You know," she dug for another hat and forced in on her head, "PikaCHU!"

"Not to sound like I care but, A What?"

"Basically, I'm someone who likes to dress up like Pokémon," Benny laughed, "It's kind of embarrassing, since I'm not a little kid any more."

"I didn't think that hu… people like you existed."

"I just can't help myself," Benny laughed, "Plus your Uncle seems to like it."

"Let me guess, he has a thing for women with tails?"

"How'd you guess?"

"That explains why he likes you…," I frowned.

"I especially love Vulpix and Ninetails," she switched hats to that of a Ninetails scalp.

"Then you'd really love Uncle Smith."

"Of course, I do! I love everything about him!"

"Trust me, he's not the, um, man for you."

"(He's a monster!)," Sue started crying, "(A liwer and a big Jewk.)"

"Sue, stop crying," I pat her on the back, "I know, there, there."

"You're not like you mother at all."

"You know my mother."

"Only what I've heard from your Affiliated Uncle," she smiled tickling what would be the Eggsecute's 'belly', "You're almost a natural at this yourself."

…It helps when you've had a good mother once…

"Well, here's you bag," Benny handed me my backpack, "How about we go to the next store? They have these Tails in the back that i'm just dying to get."

"Oh Mew, look at the time," the clock on the store's wall suddenly caught my attention (and by that, I mean: my attention finally caught wind of a clock), "I've really got to go. I was supposed to meet Lou over an hour ago."

"Oh, please just one more store…"

"No, I have to get going now," I didn't hesitate to distance myself as quickly as possible from that woman.

"Okay, see you," Benny waved good-bye, just as her phone was ringing. She flipped it out only to hear…

"Hello, sweetie! I hope everything is going well between Babie and you."

"Ugh. You're too late, you can stop that now," Ms. Zaiten snapped, "She's gone."

"Ooh, so you let her escape?"

"Let her escape? No offense, but I couldn't even keep her captivated for a moment. Not even when she found this cosplay trash."

"Not even when you showed her the Vulpix costume?"

"I thought you said she'd be drawn into it."

"Well… this might pose a problem…"

"I embarrassed myself with these stupid hats for nothing," Ms. Zaiten yelled on the phone, "Frankly, are you sure that she's the Vulpix we're looking for?"

"As positive as you are the Sixth," Tenma chuckled, "You make a marvelous actress, Madam Zaiten."

"She didn't even have a proper Pokémon," she yelled at him, "Even if I challenged her to a battle, she wouldn't be able to participate."

"Oh, yes she hates to put Pokémon in Pokéballs," Tenma laughed, "I don't know where she'll get a Growlithe, but she does have an Azurill."

"Tell me again why you think that she's the Vulpix."

"She was always fascinated with Vulpix. She even has a whole set of Vulpix tails hidden in her room."

"So you've said… but she wasn't the least bit interested in the matching hat."

Tenma explained to the woman again, "and one of the laws of Future Telling is that: If the future states that the shoe fits then it will happen. So that means when the shoe doesn't fit then make it."

"Isn't that cheating," Ms. Zaiten's sweat dropped, "I mean…"

"Oh Mes Ami, What you call cheating, I call fulfillment."

"But does it really fit with the Pair's prophecy?"

"Just leave it to me," Tenma chuckled, "I'll make sure that she'll have a decent Pokémon by tomorrow. Even if I have to give her my own."

"I'm so sorry Nurse Joy. I've got a bad case of Pink eye," Brandy apologized for wearing the sunglasses and my old hat, "Here's Terry's Pokéball."

"Good come this way… quickly," Nurse Joy pulled Brandy down to the ER. I had to follow foot. The last time that I was in this place, I was the patient. And before that, I was the Trainer. Now, I'm neither one. Sort of…

Sorry, just thought it's kind of funny.

"So where did you find him," Brandy asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if we told you," Nurse Joy walked over to the table where Terry was laying down. Water was being poured on his body constantly. Some kind of drug was being pumped through his vain. His colorings were all off. His green skin was faded, his red belly was almost a tan and his tail was a brownish red. If I didn't know better, I'd think that Terry turned into a Shiney Pokémon overnight. An oxygen mask was over his muzzle which was the only thing that let anyone know that the Treeko was still breathing.

"So you found him like this?"

"Actually, he was in better condition before," Nurse Joy sighed, "There's not much else that we can do for him."

Brandy had explained to me what was happening to Terry. I don't think that even he understood it very well himself. Terry somehow developed an unstoppable Burn. Normally, an affliction like Burn would go away after a Pokémon Faints, but it didn't. Normal Burn Heals and Full Heals weren't working and Full Restores only helped to extend his suffering. There was the only thing that they could figure out to do now. They had to put Terry into a Pokéball and use the Healing Machine. When they tried to capture Terry themselves, it didn't work. It was only then that they discovered that Terry was already registered under a "Jonathan Lawrence". If this didn't work then they only have two options… Both of them not very pleasant.

Either A: They keep Terry isolated in a Pokéball for years to come, until they find a cure.
Otherwise B: Stop his suffering… *gulp*… permanently. Mew forbid or else I'll roast Mew myself.

"(Brandy…)," I nudged at his pants leg. He looked down at me, but understood what I was going to ask of him.

"Nurse Joy, can I please speak to Terry alone for a minute, before we try this? Just in case."

"I wouldn't advise it, but I'll give you a few minutes," Nurse Joy shooed all of the Chansey and Blissey out of the immediate room. Brandy picked me up and set me next to Terry.

"(Terry? Can you hear me?)"

Terry's bloodshot eyes opened to stare at me. I couldn't tell if he hated me or was overjoyed. His heart monitor didn't seem to change much so he might have not any strong emotions either way.

"(Terry, I'm sorry about the last time we spoke… I wasn't myself.)"

"(Even on my deathbed… you still want to haunt me…)," he breathed heavily.

"(Terry, this isn't your deathbed. I wont let it be!)," I cried a little bit, "(You're going to get better. Even if I have to go beg Mew for it.)"

"(I said stop… messing with me… Youko.)," Terry turned his head away from me.

"(Terry, I'm not Youko. I'm John. I'm sorry, but I am. Ask me anything. I'll prove it to you somehow.)"

"(Why bother… you probably… already know… everything… about him.)"

"(Terry, Please I'm begging you.)"

"(Okay then… why do you love Torchic so much?)"

"(I don't. I think that they're the lowest scum of the planet and deserve to be thrown into the great abyss where they belong.)"

"(Lucky guess…)," Terry would have spat if he could, "(The day that… I was kidnapped… we played a game…)"

"(Tag… But then I lost track of you. I don't know where you hid, but it must have been close to where that Fake Team Rocket were hiding. Why else would they take you?)," I blurted out, Terry's heart was racing a bit more now.

"(I. I… I wasn't finished… with the question…)," he almost growled.

"(Liar… You know that you can't lie to me.)," I laughed a little.

"(John?… It is you…)," Terry's heart was racing now, "(So you really… did die?)"

"(Yeah, I don't like to talk about it.)," I stared at him, "(I need to ask you about Youko. Who is he?)"

"(Did you really… forget?… You used to dream… about him for… the longest time… you woke up… screaming…)"

"(I did?)"

"(You kept… dreaming about… that monster… )," Terry was crying himself for, "(for weeks you… woke up screaming… I was powerless… to stop him… from haunting you…)"

…so that's what my suicide note was about…

"(He kept taunting you… I had to watch…)," Terry looked at the ceiling, "(But you refused… to give in… You stayed strong… no matter what… Youko said… all I could do… was watch.)"

"(Terry, that's not true… you were there for me. Even if we couldn't talk like we can now. You were there. That was good enough for me. It always was. Rise or fall, we were and always will be partners.)"

"(John… I swear if you're… really Youko… I'll kill you.)"

"(It's really me. Just you wait. Once you're all healed up, Brandy can take you with us.)"

"(Is that who… that guy is?)," Terry smiled with his eyes.

"Nice to meet you Terry," Brandy took off the glasses for a second, "My name's Brandy. I'm going to substitute for the things that John can't do anymore. Like use thumbs. Hehehehe."

"(I appreciate that.)," Terry 'smiled' again, before his body suddenly became engulfed in flames.

"(Terry!)," I screamed.

The next few moments happened so quickly. I know that the Nurses came in to take Brandy and Terry away. But I could still hear him screaming. The flames must have died down at some point, but I was in too much of a panic to process what had happened. I remember Terry's cries. That's the last thing that I remember clearly, everything else was a big blur.

Terry's screams, and that the flames were violet.

That's all I can remember.

End

Sorry guys…