I woke up, and found myself staring at a white ceiling. I felt tired all over, and I wanted to fall back to unconsciousness. I could have easily have done that though, but after I turned to my left to have a more comfortable position on this comfy bed of mine, the crestfallen faces of Saur and Shock shook my sleepiness away. The two of them plus Fay were all seated on the bed right next to mine.

"Um," my throat felt itchy and dry. "Hey guys."

Saur and Shock just glanced at me, and went back to staring down. Fay, on the other hand, who's back was on me, turned to flash me a...rather pained smile.

"Hey, Jay," Fay chuckled, lowly. "Good to see you're awake."

It's strange that Fay was the one who greeted me. It felt like Shock or Saur should have been the ones doing the greeting. I forced myself up into a sitting position and ignored them for a short while as I scanned my surroundings.

We were inside a white four-walled room. The wall close to the bed's head had nothing but two picture frames. Opposite to that wall only had a door. The other two walls had glass windows, where I could see a hallway on the other, and a city under the golden hues of a...rising or setting sun.

I saw a bowl of water on the middle of my bed though, and beside it was my black collar, with a few holes on them. Huh, I guess that thing kind of saved me from Lithe's bites. Anyway, I satisfied my thirst first, which helped me with my throat problem. With that done, I returned my attention back to my friends.

I just then noticed their bandages. Saur around his forehead, Fay around her stomach, back, a paw and her tail, and Shock on one ear, and around his chest and back. I inspected myself and noticed that I had some around my neck, stomach and back, and on my right paw.

"So," I said, "what'd I miss?" I then slightly looked around again, double-checking. "Where's Vixie?" Not that I really care that much, anyway. She's a tough cookie.

I noticed my friends wince, making me arch an eyebrow.

Fay chuckled nervously at me. "Um... Lovely weather we're having?"

I furrowed my brows at her, ignoring the growing worry within me. "Fay. And the rest of you. Where's Vixie?"

Shock turned to look at me, and he tried to glare at me. Tried though. The intensity of his glare was...off, and...weak, and... "Why would you care, anyway?" He looked back down on the soft white bedding. "You don't care about her, anyway."

I gritted my teeth, forcing my mouth to not bite on that one. I turned to Saur. "Saur," he winced slightly, but didn't look away. "Where's Vixie?"

"She's...still recovering."

I blinked at him. I furrowed my brows as I glared at him. "No lie?"

He shook his head, slowly. "No lie."

I sighed in relief, if only slightly. I then rolled my eyes. "Sheesh, so she's still recovering. That's good to hear, right? Or..." I suddenly felt my throat dry again. "...she's not dying, right?"

"Of course not!" Shock suddenly shouted at me. He gritted his teeth and hissed as he looked away.

"What the f*ck is wrong then?!" I shouted back at him. He ignored me. "She's alive and recovering! What's the big deal then?!"

"The big deal—" Shock shouted as he turned and glared at me, and this time, I felt his glare, "—is that she's—!" he stopped. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but he sighed in frustration and looked away again.

Saur looked worried at him. "She's...in another room."

"A-and um," Fay stammered, keeping her back on me, "we...we just don't know if she's already awake or not! Yeah!"

"Uh huh," was my only flat reply. Yeah, I'm not buying it. I wore my collar back, and winced during the process, and glared at my so-called friends. I was about to ask why they were lying when the door of the room suddenly swung inward, Nurse Joy and a tall Chansey coming inside.

"Good afternoon, every—h-hey!" she yelped as I jumped down, bore the pain from landing on my four paws, and scurried out of the room.

Fay and the others called for me to come back, but I ignored them. They're clearly hiding something, and it's about Vixie, too.

The hallway felt really big and long for a small one like me, but I finally reached an intersection of sorts. I turned left, for it had the brightest of lights out of all the three.

Up ahead was the main hall of the Pokémon Center. Y'know, where trainers come in and out, and where another Nurse Joy was stationed at the counter. That's what's up ahead. A few inches in front of me was no other than a startled Vixie, and if I hadn't stop in time, I would have crashed into her.

"Vixie!" I gasped, taking deep breaths as I suddenly felt how tired I was for bearing my painful body.

She was surprised. She was conflicted. Her mouth curved in a loop of smiles and frowns.

I actually felt...relieved to see her okay. I smiled, but now that I'm here...erm... I should probably say something other than shouting her name though. Maybe after I've caught my brea—

"There you are," a teenaged boy said, stepping a few feet behind Vixie, who winced after she heard the guy. "You seriously need some training and discipline if you're going to run off like that!" The guy said as he pulled out a small Poké...ball...

My mouth dropped open in shock at the sight of the Pokéball, and I ignored the slow footsteps of my friends coming closer from the hallway behind me.

"Vi...Vi..." I stammered. I couldn't...believe it... I...

She looked away.

The Pokéball grew bigger after the trainer pressed the button on the middle of the device. "I already have an Eevee if you're looking for a good time. But," he pointed the ball at her, "that would be your reward if you decide to be a good Pokémon."

"Jay... I..." Vixie said, looking at me with tearful eyes, but she couldn't finish whatever she was going to say. A red aura enveloped her, and soon she was absorbed into the trainer's Pokéball.

"Vixie..." I whispered...at nothing...

"Go find another Vulpix, Eevee," the guy said before walking towards the exit. "It was trouble enough to catch her from those rampaging Growlithe and Pikachu in Viridian Forest." He shook his head. "Caught that strong Growlithe though, which is nice."

I snapped and inhaled sharply at that.

"Tsk, but that Pikachu got away. Missed that Abra, too..." he sighed.

Time seemed to slow down as I stared at the trainer's retreating form. Vixie was captured, by that guy... He stood in front of the door, waiting for them to slide open.

...he caught Lithe as well...

"Jay..." Fay whispered behind me.

I ignored her as I watched the trainer walk out, and as I felt hot all over...