The sun was beating down harshly against me as I adjusted my hat to provide further shade. Crowds of people passed by me, each one engulfed in their own affairs as I stood in the middle of the Castellia town plaza. The heat of the sun, combined with the large crowd of people around made me irritable. Even with the harsh heat, many people still came out to enjoy the last eight days of summer with their friends and pokemon; me included. My friends and I had decided to leave Nimbasa amd head to Castelia for a bit of shopping and fun.

As I turned around I picked up the sounds and sights of the nearby park; it was teeming with battling trainers and little kids staring in awe at the pokemon their siblings had. Squeals and laughs filled the air as well as the cries of pokemon, rumbling of cars, and my grumbling.

"They're late, late, late." I muttered to myself as I strained my neck to look over the waves of people passing by me.

"Hey, Ulrich! Over here!" A voice called. I turned to see Michael's thick wave of brown hair and arm waving from somewhere in the crowd.

I slowly walked over, and as I was about to greet him I was suddenly tackled with a hug from behind, followed by a sudden shout of, "SNEAK ATTACK HUG!"

"Gah!" I shouted, stumbling at the sudden weight on my back. I turned my head around to glare at the person clinging to my neck.

"You're late." Raymond said, he drawled out the word for extra emphasis, knowing I hated it when people did so, however, he ignored my glares and continued talking, "but not as late as Gabrielle. She even had the nerve to call me last night to remind me not to be late."

"I'm sure she'll be here soon." I snapped back, "now will you please get off me!"

Raymond complied with a small playful pout on his face and muttered a quiet 'meanie'.

"See, there she is now!" Michael said happily.

"Sorry. I'm. Late." Gabrielle gasped between breaths.

"You better be! You made me get here extra early only to show up late yourself. What kind of person does that, Gabby?" Raymond said as a smile curved on his mouth.

"I told you to stop calling me that! Even the teachers call me that now!" Gabrielle shouted, her face turning light red. She raised her bag threateningly and Raymond started to jog around as Gabrielle chased him leaving me and Michael to laugh at the scene.

"Wait, why were you late?" I asked, causing Gabrielle to stop running.

"Oh, well I was walking here when I met up with this lady who was giving out fortunes. So, I gave her my palm and she told me I'd be needing these." Gabrielle began fishing through her bag, and after a minute she pulled out four pokedexes.

"Woah, cool!" Raymond said, picking up a dark blue one and examining it, "aren't these the newest version? Why would she give you them?"

"Hm, beats me. She said that they were important." Gabrielle replied, picking up a pink one of her own. "I was going to ask her more but I got pushed aside by people who saw them and asked her for one."

"Well, they don't look like they're rigged with an exploding device. " Michael said, inspecting his red one. Seriously? That's the first thing he had to say? "However, it doesn't look like it'll open up."

"Well, we should probably register our pokemon with the pokedex first anyway." I said. The pokedex looked brand new; the cover shone in the sun, the lens was unsmudged, and it had that new machine smell. I took some time to examine it before clicking the yellow button on the side and positioning it so the lens of the pokedex was able to get my five pokeballs in its vision. A light flashed and registered all of my pokemon. Raymond, Michael, and Gabrielle all did the same as well. After the scan was completed all four covers popped up at once, letting us take a look at the screen. It was black with the occasional pulse of light coming from the center. The tabs were on top and the tab farthest to the left was giving off a faint green glow.

"Hm, it looks like an ordinary pokedex." Gabrielle said with a frown and obviously disappointed. She began inspecting it, turning it over, sideways, and under. What is she doing? Looking for a secret button?

"Wait, there's a new message in all of our inboxes." Michael pointed out, tapping the mail icon.

Good Morning~

Today at 4:00 p.m. A man will be found dead, the bite marks on his neck are consistent with that of a Crobat's teeth.

At 7:30 p.m. Four teenagers will be attacked and killed by a large pokemon in a cemetery.

At 8:00 p.m. A black out will take out all of the electricity in the city.

Have a nice day~

Everyone's eyes were wide, including my own. I read the message again and felt a bit sick inside, my mind pictured the image of the bloodied body of a man and four teenagers in a cemetery. I groaned a little and forced myself to keep the bile down. This stuff can't possibly come true.

"This is a load of garbage." Gabrielle said, she shaked her head with a frown, "that fortune-telling lady must be pulling our leg or something."

"Yeah..." Raymond agreed, although his voice was a little shaky. I just nodded in agreement and all of us besides Michael hastily tucked our pokedexes away. We stood their silently for a few moments. I was personally hoping for one of my friends to speak up to end the awkwardness.

"Well, it's 1:00. We still have plenty of time to do something fun!" Raymond said as he took the initiative to leave. We followed with a smile, the message leaving our minds momentarily. We walked around town, taking time to stop at the arcade and several other stores. After doing some window shopping for himself and buying food Raymond asked us where we wanted to go.

"Let's head for the shopping district. It has the best of everything." Gabrielle said, she looked to the side and the far-off look on her face told me she was day-dreaming of the things she could buy. Raymond looked at me for help, I pretended not to see him and he scowled before reluctantly agreeing. Gabreilled squealed slightly before dragging us to her favorite stores. The shopping district was filled with the high-notes of screaming children, the middle range of the radios, and the low basses of rumbling cars. It all reminded me that summer was almost over and life was going to become boring for another ten months.

The loud argument between Gabrielle and Raymond snapped me out of my reverie, we had stopped at a plain white store with a glass window display case. Ignoring the wealthy looking people inside, with their silk dresses and tailored suits the store looked normal to me, but my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the price tags attached to the merchandise.

"Doesn't this purse look nice? But it's so expensive..."

"Eh, can we NOT shop for girl stuff when the majority of us are guys!" Raymond said, rolling his eyes with a sigh.

"Well, you asked me where we should go."

"I didn't think you'd drag us around for an hour and a half!"

"Fine, what do you suggest we do, Raymond?" Gabrielle retorted.

"We can go find people to battle of course, I bet there are tons of them in the park." Raymond said, pointing to the park's direction dramatically. We followed him blindly, not having anything better to do. When we got to the park, the sounds of laughter greeted us.

"Okay, we're at the park, Who do we ask for a battle? Everyone here is a kid." Michael said with a frown, he was still tinkering with the pokedex and the constant walking made it difficult for any specific investigation. I sighed, Michael always wants to find the answer to things that catch his curiosity.

"Oh look! It's Daryl!" Gabrielle pointed out. A male with atrociously long brown hair smiled and approached us. Daryl was Gabrielle's long time crush since forever ago, he was around two years older than us and a ranger to boot. We first met last year in a small city competition and she had been infatuated with him ever-since.

As he made his way towards us Gabrielle was waving the entire time to make sure he didn't lose us in the sea of children.

"Hi Gabrielle, long time no see. How've you been?" He asked with a wink.

"Just fine." Gabrielle replied with a small giggle and blush. Raymond was looking to the side with a scowl on his face, I was going to ask him what was wrong but before the words could leave my mouth, Daryl answered it.

"Aw, what's wrong Raymond? Still sore about our last battle?" Daryl asked in a mocking little kid voice. Raymond turned around quickly to glare daggers.

I sighed, Raymond and Daryl have had a rivaly ever since they met, sometimes it was funny but other times I just wasn't in the mood to hear them squabble. Even though those two argued to no end, I sometimes wondered if they were secretly best friends with each other. All the other girls at school that I knew seemed to enjoy thinking about it, except on a much more intimate level than I did.

"Critical luck! That's all it was! How about a battle right now?"

"Nope. I have to find someone, but ask when you get better and maybe I'll say yes." Daryl said with a grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat's. He walked away, waving to us from the back. Raymond just "Hmphed" and looked away while Gabrielle still seemed to be in a dream. I looked at Michael for help, but he was still messing around with the pokedex.

It was late in the afternoon when we were walking down the main street of the town. The sun was beginning to set, tinting the top of the sky a light pink, the middle orange, and bottom light blue.

"Man, those trainers were no fun at all." Raymond groaned, he was walking lazily with arms behind his head. He closed his eyes for a minute but when we all stopped at the loud whine of a siren he bumped into me abruptly. Raymond fell back a little before he noticed we weren't moving, "hey guys, did you turn into statues?"

"Shh, just listen." He closed his eyes and tried to listen, sirens could be heard from a short distance away.

"I wonder what happened..." Michael said in a murmur.

"Why don't we take a look?" Gabrielle suggested, and we all ran curiously towards the sound. When we got to the scene, there were police lines surrounding the perimeter of a building and people were gathered around in large lumps. Several of them whispered to each other so loudly that I was able to make out some of what they said.

"I heard there was little to no blood left in the man."

"Hey dude, do you think a vampire did it?"

"Wasn't it just a Crobat?"

My blood went cold. A dead man, bitten by a Crobat. I looked at my friends, each one equally in shock. Even though I saw no body I ran over to the nearest tree I could find and chocked up some saliva. When I returned, my friends were still standing there. But no one dared to bring up the warning we recieved. Even though I felt sick at the thought of the man, I also had a strange urging curiosity to know, "hey guys... What time is it?"

Michael's arm shook as he brought the watch on his arm up to his shifty eyes. He stalled for a bit before he answered question. "It's 4:00."

"No way." Gabrielle said in shock as she double-checked the message again. Raymond had his mouth open in disbelief and even though I knew the answer I was shocked myself. We slowly distanced ourselves from the crowd and walked as far away from the scene as we could.

"The message came true." I breathed out in shock when we stopped under a tree.

"No, this is getting way too creepy." Gabrielle said, she wrapped her arms around herself self-consciously trying to find security in them, "let's just go home.. please..."

"I agree." Michael replied. We all headed for the subway station in silence. People walked by us towards the scene of the death in curiosity, some of them even had cameras and cellphones out and this made me a bit frustrated. Like onlookers of a car crash, as long as it didn't happen to them they're dying to see. I felt like speaking out and yelling several times but Raymond told me to ignore them.

At the station the sounds of several voices yelling angrily in protest filled the air, but I couldn't see the target of their frustration. I tried to move around to see what was going on, but the action was in vain, there were far too many people in front of me. A loud mega-phoned voice boomed through the station area, trying to calm down the crowd.

"Everyone, there is a dangerous gas leak in the subway line. It is harmful to people and pokemon alike so please remain calm and wait until it is clear. " This same message was repeated to the crowd several times until they reluctantly accepted it and walked away. I looked at Michael for suggestions but he just shrugged which made me begin to panic.

"Does that mean we're stuck in Castelia?" Gabrielle asked in panic. Raymond had a worried look on his faces as well. I was feeling pretty scared myself, but put on a brave face for everyone else.

"We'll be stuck here until the government lets us out." A voice said from behind me. I jumped nearly six-feet in the air and turned around in surprise to meet a girl in a clean white dress-shirt.

"Who are you? Also, what do you mean?" Michael asked.

"All these barricades, it couldn't have been set up spontaneously. The government has been planning this for a while." The girl explained, "oh, my name. I'm Rae-Lynn professional news reporter in-training from Atoria, but just call me Rae."

"So, when will be let out?" Gabrielle asked rubbing her arm worriedly.

"Tomorrow? A week? A month? Never?" Rae shrugged with a grim look on her face, "no one knows."

I was going to argue, but she disappeared into a crowd. A dark note hung in the air leaving us shocked and disoriented for the third time that day.

"Come on guys, let's look for another way out." I suggested. Everyone nodded and followed me; even though I myself did not know where to go. We checked every station that we could walk to, each one had a small barricade of barbed wire and police tape; which prevented people from entering. Even the routes and gateways leading out of the city were blocked off.

That's when I realized that we were stuck, trapped just like Rae said.

We passed by several parks on the way, each one was filled with people. The adults seemed to be whispering nervously to each other while the children ran around; completely unaware of the situation they were in.

"What is going on?" Gabrielle asked, as all four of us sat down on a bench which was on a rather empty street.

"I don't know." Michael, Raymond and I chorused together. My stomach let out a loud growl and my face reddened up quickly.

"I guess I'm a little hungry." I say quietly. Raymond just let out a laugh and pulled out two sandwhiches, handing one to me.

"Chicken, your favorite right? Let's eat!" I thanked him and began to nibble on it slowly. Gabrielle and Michael pulled out their own lunches and we began to eat while also trying to cool ourselves off. Gabrielle sent out her Snowrunt to blow cold air on her face while Raymond had his Tropius fan us with its thick, green wings. It provided a mild comfort against the intense heat.

"What time is it now?" Michael asked. Raymond checked his cellphone before replying with a simple '6:30'.

"Wait, you had a cellphone?" Gabrielle exclaimed, "why didn't you call someone?"

"Well, I lost my reception at around three." Raymond said with a frown, "I don't know why. It just stopped working all of a sudden."

That dampened everyone's mood slightly. We began moving again after a few minutes, the roads and stations were blocked off so I don't know why we did; I think we were starting to get desperate. A few minutes passed and a faint *tut tut tut* sound filled the air. We looked up and saw a large helicopter was passing through the city, sending out a broadcast as it moved. "Attention all citizens, due to the gas leak we are requesting that all non-residents sleep in the central park. We will try to clear it as quickly as possible. Please remain calm, and head for the park."

"Liars." I muttered darkly.

"Well, there's no point walking around in circles. Let's just do what they say and head to the park." Michael said, standing up, "the central park is a good one hour walk. We should try to get there before the sun completely sets.

"Don't worry! I know a shortcut!" Raymond piped up, "if we follow my route we should be able to get there in half an hour."

We decided to go along with Raymond's route, desperate to reach a place where we could feel some-what secure. However, the sun was setting a lot faster than we anticipated and it had almost completely set down the horizon as we were passing by the cemetery. The dead trees looked ominous and added with the bending shadows created with the setting sun it could even be called grim. Our feet made cracking sounds as it made contact with the gravel belown and everytime someone accidentally stomped on the cobblestone path, I would flinch.

"Did your shortcut have to go through the cemetery?" Gabrielle asked, she was carefully manuvering herself to avoid any tombstones and her voice rang with annoyance.

"Unless you prefer walking around it." He retorted.

I was about to tell them to stop arguing but a loud roar cut me off before the words could leave, again. I heard stomping, then the sound of several Murkrows cawing as they quickly fled the trees they were nesting in and flew away. The sound of being trees being ripped from their roots and pushed aside could be heard as loud stomps grew louder. Suddenly a large Rhypherior appeared from the nestle of trees at the far end of the cemetery. It's face was covered over with a mask which had the roman numeral for four etched on top. The pokemon seemed out of control and we all stood there, frozen, as it let out another carnal roar. Pure panic filled my mind and any coherent thoughts I had collapsed, I was drawing a blank on what to do.

"Guys... It's 7:30!" Michael yelled. At first I had no idea what he was talking about, then I remember. The e-mail! Four teenagers will be killed by a large pokemon in a cemetery. Michael, Gabrielle, Raymond, and me; we were going to die right now!

"R-r-r-run!" Raymond stuttered out as we all ran towards the exit, however as we approached the cemetery gates a group of boulders to the side of them began moving. That's when I realized they weren't boulders at all; they were a family of Graveler! Each one had a mask on it's face designed almost exactly like the Rypheriors and they formed a solid barricade preventing us from passing.

"It's getting closer!" Gabrielle screamed. The Rhypherior was now only a few meters way and still stomping towards us.

"Guys, calm down. It's a pokemon like any other. We just have to make it faint, right?" Michael said, pulling out a pokeball. Micheal was right, after gathering my composure I nodded and pulled out my own pokeball as well.

"Okay, you two take care of the Goliath, Gabby and I will take on it's grunts." Raymond said, sending out his Ivysaur. Gabrielle scowled at the nickname but sent out her Snorunt regardless. The dinosaur pawed the ground eager for battle, Gabriell's Snorunt much less so. I tossed my pokeball into the air, letting my Scizor run free while Michael called out his Jellicent.

The Rhypherior's large feet was pawing the ground, and its lightning rod of a horn was directed not at the pokemon Michael and I sent out, but us. Its roar signalled an attack and it ran (or whatever you call quick movement of a two ton pokemon) straight at us. Michael and I ducked over behind a rock while his Jellicent shot a pulse of water at the large ground-type. The attacked seemed only to damage it slightly, the Rypherior stumbled for its footing only for a second before regaining its balance.

"That did not go as expected." Michael muttered.

The Rhypherior glared at Jellicent and his arms seemed to revolve, before turning into vulcans which shot boulders at the jellyfish.

"Scizor, Bullet Punch!" My Scizor sped up, and smashed each boulder quickly before moving up the the giant and punching it several times. Once again, the attack seemed to do little to nothing. The Rypherior was now looking extremely agitated. It swatted my Scizor away before letting lose another barrage of rocks at Michael's Jellicent.

"Use Surf!" Jellicent summoned up a large tidal wave from who knows where and sent it crashing into the boulders and Rhypherior. The large pokemon screamed in pain at the amount of water slipping into the cracks of its stone body. Scizor got back up and attacked with another flurry of punches, one of which struck the mask on its head. The mask cracked, then completely shattered. The left over crumbs of it were washed away by the water, leaving me to wonder what the heck it was.

"High-five!" Michael cheered as he raised his hand. We celebrated our victory with cheers but a loud shriek ended our celebration short. Gabrielle was being cornered by a Graveler and her Snorunt had been tossed to the side.

"HELP!" Gabrielle yelled. The Graveler was slowly closing in on her with a malicous smile streaked arocss its face. She began to back up, but she instantly paled when she felt her heel touch a wall. Michael and I started to run towards her, Raymond was already there battling the Graveler, but his Ivysaur was just about ready to collapse from its previous battles.

"Mr. Mime use Energy Ball!" A blob-like ball of green appeared from nowehere, it struck the Graveler causing its mask to shatter and then faint. Gabrielle let out a sigh of relief before returning her Snorunt into its pokeball. A lady stepped out from where the Energy Ball was shot from; her eyes were a pale color and seemed omniscent of everything that was happening.

"My name is Ami, what are you doing here, children of Arceus?" Her voice was like a wave of water. Strong but relaxing at the same time.

"We were looking for a way to the park." I explained hastily.

"I see, then you can stay here tonight. It will be much safer, no raging pokemon will be able to reach us." She nodded, her Mr. Mime began doing weird movements and a sudden flash at the gates told me that a barrier had been set up. Even with the barriers up, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. I knew we were safe, but what about everyone outside? Rae and Daryl, the children and elderly. What were my parents doing, were they worrying about me?

"Wait, I don't like the idea of staying in a cemetery! Why do we have to stay here anyways?" Suddenly, as if to answer her question all the streetlights nearby blackened, leaving us in the dark; I couldn't see two feet in front of me anymore. I heard a loud screech of a car, followed by a crash and alarm.

"It's 8:00." Michael said in a whisper, "it's the blackout."

"All of the predictions came true." Raymond said in awe.

"No, four teenagers weren't killed." Gabrielle said, her pokedex was open and she pointed at the e-mail.

"Yeah, but only barely..." I muttered, "we could've died."

That ended the conversation. All of us were looking at each other, and the pokedexes we recieved. It was clear that the e-mails weren't a hoax, but why did we get them? I kept thinking about this late at night when everyone else fell asleep, in the dead of night I recieved another e-mail which read:

Let's survive...