Summary: Human turned Pokémon have suddenly started disappearing without explanation. Their teammates and loved ones are left to scramble about in worry and wonder as to where their missing friends may be. However, the arrival of Celine, a newly human turned Pokémon, suggests that the Pokémon world is in danger once again. As she sets out on her journey, she is blissfully unaware of the darkness that follows her and her team…
-x-x-x-x-
Chapter 7: The Warnings of Nightmares
Icy paced in her room with her hands resting behind her back. Her head was spinning with the new information she had discovered during her little adventure.
It hadn't been exactly what she planned, but the ending result proved worthwhile. She had planned to follow Team Cosmic, learn their daily activates, find the flaws and weakness' of their team and use it against them, and finally, when the chance presented itself, capture the remaining human turned pokémon.
Instead of this though, she followed them through the forest and towards Zoroark's house. She learned of the possibility to become stronger - to obtain more power beyond her final form. It sounded absolutely exhilarating. Unfortunately for her, he had no information regarding the whereabouts of the items required. And as far as she knew, there were no books in their library concerning the existence of such items.
She tapped her chin in thought. What about her Master? Would he know something? He is, after all, older than all of them and is very wise. She sighed and scratched the back of her head.
Even if he did know something, what good would it do for them? They wouldn't be able to use it against enemy forces. No, in order to do that they would need a human partner and that was simply unacceptable!
A mischievous grin spread across her face. Sure, they couldn't use them, but they could certainly prevent the enemy from using it to. If those items were in their hands and locked away, then their enemy wouldn't get anymore stronger than they already were.
Icy was proud of herself. She would be killing two birds with one stone! If they couldn't become stronger, then neither would their enemy. However, the temptation to use that power was still on the back of her mind.
She sat quietly in her chair in thought. She refused to become a partner to one of the humans, and she knew that the other pokémon here would agree. So, what if they used this power on another human turned pokémon? Would it still have the same effects?
There's only one way to find out, she thought, getting off of her chair and leaving the room. The Master probably has the answers. And if this theory of mine works, then we could use those powers against the enemy!
It only took her a few minutes to reach the giant room in which her master resided in. She bowed before the giant, shadowed figure and greeted him. "Good morning, Master. I trust you slept well?"
"Indeed I have, but it is highly unusual for you to visit me so early. Is there something you forgot to mention in last nights report?"
She nodded, keeping her head bowed. "I was fatigued, Master, so I kept this bit of information to myself until I was fully rested. I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to take a moment to review all the information I had and see if it had any beneficial effects for our cause."
"And what have you come up with?"
"Theories, sir, but if they are proven correct then it would add a tremendous boost to our power. As I had stated in my last report, I followed Team Cosmic to the deepest part of Greenfall Forest. They met with a pokémon by the name of Zoroark."
He chuckled, causing her to perk her ears up curiously. "Sir?"
"It's nothing, continue."
She frowned inwardly, feeling as if he wasn't telling her something. Clearing her throat, she continued on with her report. "The newest member of their team found a book which spoke of a power that enables a pokémon to temporarily grow further past their final form. Zoroark said it was process called 'Mega Evolution,' and that it's an old power dating back when humans inhabited our world."
"Ahh, the Mega Evolution. I haven't heard that in centuries." He said slowly.
She dared to raise her head. "Master? Would you happen to have any more information regarding this process?"
"Well, that depends on what you heard."
"He told them that it requires four things; two of which are items, and the remaining factors are bonds of trust between the human and their pokémon partner. He didn't say, or rather didn't know, where the items for such a thing could be found. He also wasn't quite sure if the process would still work considering the human has been turned into a pokémon."
The room grew silent. Icy felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as each fleeting moment was met with silence. She didn't like when he became silent. It usually meant he was displeased. She frantically reviewed everything she had heard to make sure she hadn't missed any vital information, but when she found none, her panic only grew.
She had no reason to panic though. He answered moments later, "It's indeed a very old process. I vaguely remember it myself. However, it should still work. After all, this human disguising herself as a pokémon was originally born a human. Either way, where are you going with this idea?"
"To use it to our advantage, sir," she spoke, lifting her head to gaze at him.
She regretted it immediately. Seeing his piercing red eyes was enough to scare her to the core. But she remained firm in her stance as she spoke with boldness and pride, "I want to find this power and use it to add to our cause. With that extra power added to our army, we will become unstoppable! Not even that human turned pokémon will be able to stand in your way. If it can work on another human turned pokémon, then it is certainly something we should try to obtain. If not, then it's still something we can lock away to prevent our foe from gaining anymore power."
The shadowed pokémon chuckled. The unfaltering gaze of his prized servant amused him. For the briefest of moments, he felt pride. Icy had proven herself time and time again, and her research was always on spot. He could tell she had thought over this theory.
Icy lowered her head once more, closing her eyes, "Sir, shall I search for this power? To obtain and use, or to obtain and not use, it'll still help us in the end."
"Yes," he said, "search for it. Find it and secure it. Test it among your subjects, my loyal servant. If what you said works, and it works on human turned pokémon as well, then you have helped this army grow considerably. You have my permission."
Upon hearing those words, she beamed happily. Nodding, she jumped to her feet and made her way to the doors. Before she left, she turned, bowed, and thanked him.
As she walked back to her room, she couldn't help the grin on her face from growing. It was small and subtle, but she noticed that he had praised her. To be praised by the Master was honorable, and it left her with a warm feeling of fulfillment.
She knew that the research would be hard and extensive, but it would be worth it in the end.
-x-x-x-x-
Annabelle paced feverishly in her cell.
She thought over Icy's revealed plan. Icy must've felt confident in her plan to have revealed it so soon, and that only added to Annabelle's worries.
For the majority of her time, she looked for flaws and mistakes. Thankfully, she found some, but executing it was the difficult part. Despite how confident Icy appeared to be in her plan, it seemed her faith could be easily shattered.
It was exactly what Annabelle was hoping to do: shatter Icy's faith and convince her that human turned pokémon weren't evil. But she found it increasingly hard with how limited her time was. And it made it even harder when she hardly ever saw the dark/ice-type walking through the dungeons.
Her mind traveled to Nyla and her condition. She frowned when she noticed that Nyla was still unchanged.
Ever since her conversion, the normal-type pokémon remained in her cell quietly. Her face was blank and devoid of emotion as she stared off into the darkness of her cell. She was like a puppet, waiting for her puppeteer to command her.
It was unsettling to the leafeon who had grown so used to the delcatty's constant complaints about how dirty the place was.
She began to wonder what would happen if she were to be changed. Would she be like Nyla, discolored and emotionless, waiting to be called into a fight in which she fought on the wrong side? Would she be forced to fight her dearest friends?
The thought pained her. She didn't want to force her friends to fight her. It would break their hearts. They would fight, but not with all their power. They would probably beg for her to snap out of her haze. All the while, she would remain unmoved like a robot and fight.
She thought of Vivian and felt her own heart shatter. Her ears drooped sadly as memories of better times consumed her.
Instead of halting her, though, her desperation grew. She believed in her friends. They would find her before that even happened. And while she waited, she would fend off against the threat as long as she could.
Her resolve only grew as she watched a pair of pokémon pull away another human turned pokémon.
They'll find us, she thought as she rested in a corner of the cell. We will not be defeated so easily.
-x-x-x-x-
Celine shot up in her bed, panting for air. She examined the room, making sure that it wasn't just some illusion. After pinching herself and verifying that she was awake, she released a sigh and collapsed back into her bed.
Her hands rested over her eyes as the screams of pokémon echoed in her ear. She remembered seeing an army of discolored pokémon as they stalked towards her and her team. Behind the army was a pair of crimson colored eyes, and an evil laughter echoed all around. If she remembered correctly, they were the same pair of eyes she had seen before in her dreams. The army of discolored pokémon was screaming in agony, begging for help. It was almost too much for her to handle.
And then, just like that, it all vanished and was replaced with another scene.
In this scene, she watched as Vivian and her team approached the rocky cliffs of Rocky Meadows, all wary and cautious of their surroundings. Suddenly, a group of pokémon attacked them, knocking out the team and carrying away an unconscious Vivian.
Celine thought back to her earlier dreams. She couldn't distinguish what was a nightmare or a possible future. She chuckled weakly. I can't foretell the future. I'm not a psychic type. But… how did I see the danger last time?
She clutched her head in her hands. A headache was beginning to form. "It's probably best I don't dwell on it… the answers will come soon enough."
She left for the kitchen. Lizette was sitting at the table, happily munching away on a berry.
Noticing the drowsy fire-type, she greeted her warmly. Celine smiled. "Good morning. Sleep well?"
Lizette finished the berry before replying. "Of course! It's probably the best sleep I've had in a while! If fighting makes me that tired, then I should get over that fear real soon."
Celine laughed. "I'm glad to see you're in high spirits!"
"Do you guys always feel that tired after a fight?" Lizette asked with a tilt of her head.
Celine shook her head. "No, but that's probably because we're used to it by now."
Lizette immediately scowled the moment Aiden and Jaxon entered the kitchen. She kept her eyes locked on the raichu. Seeing this from the corner of his eyes, he chuckled and took a seat next to Celine. "Don't worry, fluffy, I won't be messing with you today!"
"Fluffy?!" she growled. "Who are you calling fluffy you oversized rat!"
A pained expression appeared on his face. "Hey! That's not nice at all!"
She snorted and looked away, angrily flickering her tails. He grinned a moment later. "Oh, I get it. You enjoyed our little game!"
Her ears immediately went up and she hissed at him. "Stay away from me you… you…"
"Now, now!" Celine laughed. "Settle down before you two hurt each other! By the way, Jaxon, where is Kalista?"
The raichu grabbed a berry from the proffered bowl Aiden had set in the center of the table. "She left earlier this morning. She went to see if there were any updates from headquarters. We're hoping that there is so that we have a lead to go on. She'll be back soon!"
Celine nodded, her uneasiness growing once more. She looked down at her hands and started twiddling with her thumbs. What was causing this sudden uneasiness? Nothing seemed to be out of order. Yet, no matter how many times she tried convincing herself of this, she couldn't ignore the gnawing feeling that something was wrong.
Aiden noticed this. "Celine, what's wrong?"
She shot her head up quickly, as if caught off guard. She opened her mouth, but quickly closed it. She wanted to tell them that it was nothing, but she knew that Aiden wouldn't take that for an answer. With a sigh, she decided she would tell them.
"I had a new nightmare."
This caused the fighting-type to sit up straighter with a slightly alarmed look on his face. "It was sort of like the one I had before – you know, about the red eyes and the cries for help? Only this time, it was more detailed. I saw an army of discolored pokémon. All of them looked so…emotionless, but I could hear their cries of agony as clear as day. And I'm not sure if this means anything, but I saw a few pokémon in front of the army that seemed to stand out in comparison to the others; a delcatty, ninetales, and a meowstic," she said.
"Who I could not tell the gender of," she quickly added, noticing Aiden's narrowed gaze.
Jaxon nearly choked on the berry he had been munching on. He quickly covered it up with a cough. "Swallowed it the wrong way," he said, smiling at the trio's confused stares. Lizette raised her eyebrow, obviously not buying it.
"Do you think the dreams are a promotion?" Aiden asked.
"They could, but at the same time they probably aren't. I'd understand if Celine was a psychic pokémon, but she's not. She's just a fire-type," Lizette countered, folding her arms in front of her chest with a thoughtful expression.
"Yeah, but she's no ordinary pokémon either. She's a human, or was."
Lizette frowned and tilted her head to the side with her eyes closed. "If that's the case, then it is quite possible… Celine, didn't you say that you knew about the danger that you and Aiden would face in one of the situations not so long ago?"
Celine nodded. "Yeah. I heard screaming, but I never saw the actual event."
Lizette rubbed her chin. She was trying to see if there was a connection between the dreams and reality. The idea sounded outrageous for a non-psychic-type to see the future. But as outrageous as it sounded, she could make a few connections. Of course, they were only theories.
"I have some notion," Lizette said finally, "but they might not be correct. It could be another ability she obtained during her transformation from human into pokémon. They could actually be telling her the events of the futures, or just events linked to the purpose in which brought her here."
Everyone seemed to agree with her.
Suddenly, Kalista burst into the room. Lizette, Celine, and Aiden were all startled, but Jaxon seemed to be unfazed. He just looked at her. "What's the rush?"
"I have some bad news," she said, heaving, "a note was sent to the headquarters informing them of a seriously injured team near Rocky Meadows!"
Lizette stood up on her chair. "Wait, that's where Team PokéStars went!"
Celine felt her uneasiness grow again. She looked visibly sick. Ambush? Rocky Meadows? Oh no… Aiden saw the sudden paleness of her face from the corner of his eyes, but made no move to question her.
"We need to investigate," Celine said immediately. Aiden nodded in agreement. "Lizette, will you be staying here or coming with us?"
"I'm coming of course! Do you honestly believe I'm going to sit here while my comrades go rushing off into a potentially dangerous situation?" she asked, her eyes slightly narrowing.
"We're coming too," Kalista spoke up. "Safety in numbers – especially if it is our group of friends who have been wiped out."
"Then let's get going," Celine said as she left the kitchen. "Kalista, rush back and tell them that Team Cosmic and Team Echo Hearts will investigate the matter. Lizette, go with her in case they need confirmation from someone on our team. Everyone else, gather your things and lets get going."
And with that, they all prepared themselves an unsettling trip to Rocky Meadows.
-x-x-x-x-
The trip to Rocky Meadows was far, but the dungeon itself was easy. In fact, it was too easy. Celine didn't like it. She couldn't tell if it was because their team was larger, or if there was something more sinister hiding amongst the shadows of the area. Either way, it didn't settle well with her stomach.
With each step they took, Celine felt her panic grow. Fear was gripping at the corners of her mind. Did I see Vivian and her friends get wiped out in my dreams? she thought, Why wasn't I more cautious? I should've left quicker to investigate!
Aiden rested a paw on her shoulder, startling the girl out of her thoughts. She looked towards him nervously. In response, his frown deepened.
Her face fell knowing that he wanted to talk. He could sense something was wrong, and it was likely he'd noticed her strange reactions since earlier that morning. Their pace slowed, allowing the others to walk further ahead.
"Celine, there's something you didn't tell us, isn't there?" he asked.
She nodded regretfully. She was fighting back the tears. "I…I…think I saw Vivian and the others get wiped out in my dreams last night… I didn't think too much of it. I thought that it might've been just another nightmare - a trick on my mind. But ever since I woke up, I've felt this knot in my stomach. If I had witnessed the fall of their team, then I've failed as a friend. If it is them, then I should have insisted we left sooner!"
Her sobs captured the attention of the rest of the group. But Aiden's gaze told them that he would handle it. He wrapped an arm around her, holding her close as they walked. "If you saw this during your dreams, then chances are that it has already happened. That's not within your control."
"But…"
"Celine, it's not your fault. Nobody would blame you if it turns out to be them. Yes, you might've seen their downfall, but what could you have done? It was an event that already occurred."
She whimpered and nuzzled her face against his shoulder. "Even so, I'll still feel guilty."
"You have no reason to be guilty," Aiden said.
She looked at him with despair in her eyes. She wanted to believe him so much, but she couldn't find it in her heart. She had elected to brush it off as just a common nightmare. She wouldn't have bothered to give it a second thought until days passed and there were no signs of the team.
With that thought in mind, how could she call herself a friend? Had it not been for Kalista, Grovyle and Silver would've been left out there to die.
"I see someone!" Lizette called.
Celine lifted her head. The moment of truth, she thought.
She grabbed Aiden's hand and squeezed it. She was afraid of what she was about to see. He squeezed back, wordlessly telling her everything would be all right.
Then, she heard the words she did not want to hear, "I-it's… Silver! Grovyle!"
She watched as Kalista, Jaxon, and Lizette ran over to the unconscious forms of Team PokéStars. When Aiden and her got closer, she had noticed that Vivian was not among the unconscious bodies.
This caused her heart to stop with fear. Releasing her grip on Aiden's hand, she ran around the area searching for any clues of Vivian's whereabouts.
Jaxon noticed this. "What's she doing?" he asked Aiden.
"She saw this as a part of her nightmare last night," Aiden said, instantly making the others look at her. "She saw them as they got ambushed in her dreams, and watched as the enemy dragged away Vivian. She told me that she thought of it as just a common nightmare, but it would appear that's not the case."
"V…Viv…Vivi…" Silver groaned, stirring from his unconscious. Lizette immediately stopped him when he attempted to get to his feet.
"N-no, Silver, stop! Your badly injured, you need to stay still!" she urged.
"Liz…Lizette…?" he questioned, turning his head slowly in her direction.
She covered her mouth in pure shock when she noticed the gashing scar over his left eye. It was still shut, but his right eye was slowly opening.
"Oh my god…" Kalista whispered.
Lizette bit her lip and placed her paws on Silver's shoulders. "Yes, it's me Silver; don't talk, don't move. We're here to help. Kalista, do you think you can carry him?"
Kalista nodded. "Provided you can help him get on my back."
"I'll help with that," Aiden said, going to their aid.
Jaxon watched wordlessly. His gaze shifted to the unconscious form of Grovyle, then back to the frantically searching form of Celine. He felt his heart drop.
So, he thought, she predicted this would happen. Then that means… the dream she had…Oh Nyla…
-x-x-x-x-
It was difficult, but Team Cosmic and Team Echo Hearts managed to bring back the two badly injured pokémon.
Silver would dip in and out of conscious. Grovyle, on the other hand, stirred halfway back and remained awake since. Lizette and Aiden kept a constant eye on the two and made sure neither fell nor obtained further injury.
Jaxon would watch Celine for the rest of the trip. She mopped and kept her gaze downcast the entire walk home. She didn't say anything to the rest of the team. It was because she was not feeling well that Jaxon had not approached her. He desperately wanted more information regarding her dream with the delcatty, but he knew that she was in no condition to be asked.
Celine was partially grateful that nobody attempted to strike up a conversation with her. Nobody knew that she fought the urge to cry and run away. She was ashamed, and felt like she had failed her two friends.
Each time she stole a glance of the two injured pokémon, her heart would twist. It reinforced her urge to cry, or to run away, but she knew she couldn't. She was vaguely aware that despite his watch on the injured pokémon, Aiden kept an eye on her as well. But she knew, without a doubt, that he had told the others: she had seen Team PokéStars downfall.
She stood outside their base, watching as everyone worked to get Grovyle and Silver inside safely. Aiden would occasionally run outside and out the back, then run back inside with an armful of berries.
Deciding it would be best not to get in their way, she rested beneath a tree. The guilt was gnawing at her, causing her to fall deep into depression.
She thought about turning herself over to the enemy. She believed that her friends would be spared the agony and pain. Part of her attempted reasoning against this, saying that it would only make matters worse.
But she was still stuck to the idea that her friends' misery was because of her. She hated seeing them suffer because of her and wanted nothing more than to put an end to it.
You know that they wouldn't accept that deal, her reasonable side said. They'd lie to you – tell you that they would be spared when in truth they would be the first to suffer the enemies wrath!
But if I don't do something, they'll just continue to get hurt because of me, her depression countered.
She'd been so lost in her inner turmoil that she hadn't noticed when Aiden tried speaking to her. Waving a hand in front of her face, he earned her attention. The look he got, however, made his heart sank.
She looked at him with nothing but hopelessness and pain. She gave him a pitiful smile. "I have a plan," she said.
"And what's that?" he asked, sitting beside her. She lifted her gaze to stare at the sky.
"I'm going to turn myself in."
Aiden froze, not believing the words he just heard. "If I do, you guys will be spared. No more harm."
"I won't let you do that." He said, grabbing one of her hands tightly
She looked down at their adjoined hands, then back at him. "I don't know where this foolish thought of yours came from, but turning yourself in will only make things worse."
"How?!" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in distress. "How could it cause more damage?"
"Because they'd have the final threat against them gone," he said. "Without you, other pokémon would suffer at their hands. You're the only one who can challenge this enemy and win."
He lifted a paw to her cheek and stroked it gently. "If you're thinking that you'd be sparing us, you're wrong. You should know by now that I would fight a thousand enemies just to get you back. I'd fight until I die. The others care for you too. It's not just because you're our hero, but also because you're an irreplaceable friend. We'd all risk our lives to save you. Also, I know that you care for this world, and I know that it's just the depression talking."
Neither said anything for a while. Celine looked into his eyes; she was letting the reality of his words sink in. He looked back at her with nothing but love and compassion, reassuring her that he wasn't lying.
Finally, she caved in and began sobbing. She pressed herself against him, letting out all the emotions she'd been keeping in since that morning. Aiden only smiled, closed his eyes, and held her close.
"That's right," he whispered, encouraging her, "just cry it all out."
The two of them sat there for what seemed like an hour. She cried for about a half an hour, then subsided into short hiccups, and finally, stopped her crying all together. Her face was nuzzled against his chest.
Hearing him chuckle, her ears perked up. "You're such a weirdo."
"Huh…?" she asked, looking at him in confusion.
"Where did you get such crazy thoughts? I've never seen anyone get that worked up. You sure you're not just some overly sensitive girl?"
A blush crept onto her face. She looked away, pouting. "I'm sorry for caring so much…"
"No, that's a great quality in you," he reassured, "That's what I adore about you, but what I don't understand is where you got those thoughts."
"It's… I…" she frowned. "I feel so guilty."
He sighed, shaking his head. "All right, fine. Think of it this way then: you didn't predict the future."
"What do you mean I didn't?" she asked, baffled. "Judging by what we found today, I think we can say I did!"
"This happened yesterday," he said. "We were in Greenfall Forest the entire day. Unless you had the vision the night before, you really didn't predict it. You just saw the conclusion."
She looked even more confused. "Then… what was the point of showing me that vision?"
He shrugged. "Maybe it was due to your strong devotion to protect your friends. Even if they aren't apart of the team, they're still good friends. To you, they're just as important as the mission you have in this world."
"To put it simply," he began, seeing that she was still confused, "I believe your visions are based on things that are directly related to your mission. An example would be the situation we went through that earned us our evolution."
Slowly, the pieces began coming together. Finally, it hit her. Everything she saw were things that were meant to become key figures in her final battle!
Aiden smiled. "Did you make the connections?"
"Yes, but…how…how did you figure that out?" she whispered in admiration.
He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "A hunch."
She scowled and gently punched him. "You based all of that off of a hunch?"
"Yep!" He gave her a toothy grin. She attempted to glare at him, but couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her face. She embraced him once more.
"I hate you."
"Love you too."
She paused. He may have not meant it literally, but his words warmed up her heart. The thought made her smile pleasantly.
"Honestly," he said, grinning mischievously at her, "What in the world would you do without me?"
"I don't know." She blushed, smiling at him.
Celine found herself lost in Aiden's eyes, and was vaguely aware of the growing warmth building up in her heart. She recognized it as love immediately. But that didn't seem to matter as all her senses began to fade away. She closed her eyes and leaned towards him.
The action surprised Aiden at first. He wasn't sure of how to react, obviously knowing how much things would change after they kissed. But part of him didn't seem to care. He was living in the moment, embracing this tender moment with Celine. Following his own heart, he closed his eyes and began to lean towards her.
Suddenly, it started pouring, catching the two off guard. A second later there was a shrill scream echoing from the base. "AIDEN! CELINE!"
The sudden appearance of rain and the shrill scream startled the two of their haze. Celine, realizing how close they were, immediately turned bright red. She quickly got to her feet and looked away. The rain didn't seem to bother her as much as the current situation had.
Aiden was also blushing, but grinned. Part of him was peeved that the sudden change in weather and the scream ruined their special moment. He shook his head and got to his feet. "Shall we check on them and see what the problem is?"
All she could do was nod.
-x-x-x-x-
- Before Aiden left to check on Celine -
Lizette and Jaxon were running around the house, gathering first-aid kits. Kalista and Aiden helped the injured pokémon into the guest rooms.
Lizette was beyond horrified. She'd never seen wounds as grave as the two pokémon bore.
Someone attacked them with the intent to make them suffer, she concluded. But who? Could it have been those barbarians, Team Poisonix, or someone else?
"Liz, did you find the other first-aid kit?" Jaxon called, snapping her out of her train of thoughts.
"Yeah!" she yelled back, rushing back into the room. Food for thought, though. Maybe I should bring this up next time I talk to Aiden and Celine.
She spread the two first-aid kits out and opened them. She swiftly gathered antibiotics, creams, and bandages. She passed him half of the medical supplies while she kept the other half. He worked on treating Silver's wounds and she worked on Grovyle's.
Gratefully, Silver was out cold, so he didn't feel any sort of pain. Grovyle, on the other hand, constantly twitched and hissed whenever Lizette touched his wounds.
She glared at him. "Stop moving!"
"I can't help it! It hurts!"
"If you don't stop moving I'll never get these wounds treated! Unless you want them to go untreated and get infected and hurt even more." She eyed him as he grunted. He held out his arm, biting his lip as she continued to treat his wounds.
Kalista was sitting off to the side with a worried look. "Grovyle, do you remember what happened?"
"Vaguely," he answered. "It happened so fast. By the way, where are Celine and Vivian?"
Jaxon and Kalista exchanged looks. Aiden, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, sighed and answered. "Celine is outside, however… Vivian… was captured."
Grovyle's eyes went wide. "Vivian? Captured? But… she's…"
"I have a bad feeling," Lizette murmured. "I think Team Poisonix was behind this. And since we know they're working with the enemy, Vivian might be used-"
"Lizette!" Aiden scolded, immediately silencing the meowstic. Grovyle went silent himself, staring off into space.
Aiden sighed. "I'm going to check up with Celine." He waved his hand in the air dismissively before leaving the room.
When he was gone, Lizette spoke again. "I'm sorry, Grovyle. That probably didn't help, huh?"
"It's fine," he said. "Vivian, even captured, is still a force to be reckoned with. She'll be able to free herself."
"It's still unsettling though," Kalista said. "I can't believe Celine saw it…"
Grovyle perked his head up in interest. "Saw what?"
"Aiden told us that Celine told him that she watched someone attack you guys in a nightmare. They ambushed you and kidnapped Vivian. I don't think she knows who the attackers are though. She seemed pretty shaken up about it."
"That's not the only alarming thing she saw…" Jaxon trailed off. Kalista stared in his direction.
"Nyla…?"
"I don't know." He shut his eyes. "She said she saw a delcatty, a ninetales, and a meowstic in her most recent dream."
"Ninetales?!" Kalista gasped. "Do you think it could be…?"
Jaxon shrugged. "I don't know. She said she saw an army of discolored pokémon, all of whom were emotionless. But she said she heard their cries, so it might be possible that our friends are being corrupted and forced to fight us."
Kalista's ears flattened against her head. Oh Jaxon… She thought bitterly, watching as he sat there sadly. She walked over to him and rubbed her face against his. "Cheer up. Nyla wouldn't want you to be sad."
"But… Kalista… I've been with her for so long. We've been through so much… To know she's being hurt… tortured…" he jammed his eyes shut and prevented himself from speaking anymore. Kalista wrapped one of her giant paws over him and brought him into a hug.
Grovyle watched the scene. He remembered he had gone through something similar to them. He lowered his head, his mind traveling to Annabelle. He thought about when she was a human, their journey, her warm and gentle smile, and her never-ending supply of energy. It was something he always thought about during their separation. It was the only thing that pushed him onward during his mission.
Lizette noticed his frown. Finishing up the wounds, she started gathering the dirty supplies to throw them away. "Thinking about your friends?"
"We'd gone through something similar to them. Or, at the very least, I have." Jaxon flicked his ear in Grovyle's direction. "It's not easy not knowing how your partner is and whether or not they're safe and sound. When I first lost Annabelle, I constantly worried. I thought about giving up my mission to find her, but I knew that wasn't what she wanted. So, I pushed myself forward. It wasn't easy, but in the end we found each other again."
"You were known as a thief," Lizette said matter-of-factly.
Grovyle chuckled. "Yeah. Everyone thought I was trying to destroy the world when I was just trying to save it. That was both of our missions – Anna's and mine."
Lizette paused, thinking back to what he mentioned before. "You said you met her as a human?"
He nodded. "Yes."
"Does that mean the humans return to our world?"
"No, she was the only one in the future. If I remember correctly, she just appeared out of nowhere. She was near my home, wandering aimlessly and without a clue as to her whereabouts. We met, bonded, and resolved together to save our dying world. We were very close until that accident." Grovyle examined his wounds.
Jaxon spoke up quietly, looking over to grovyle, "You were able to cope when you lost her? How?"
Grovyle chuckled again, a fond smile on his face. "As petty as it may sound, I just needed to remember her smiling face and our promise. We promised that no matter what happened to the other, the surviving member would continue with our mission. I knew she would be upset if I broke that promise, so… I used it as a reinforcement."
"That sounds like Nyla!" Kalista laughed. "Always so stern about those promises!"
Jaxon grinned weakly. "Yeah…"
Happy to see that Jaxon was beginning to cheer up, Lizette smiled. As she left the room she decided she would leave the trio to joke of fond old memories.
She found herself thinking about the closeness between the human turned pokémon and their first partner. She wondered what it felt like to have such a tight bond. Her heart twisted in mild pain and interest when she thought of whether or not it was normal for the two partners to become romantically involved.
She thought of her two teammates, Aiden and Celine. She could already see that love was beginning to bloom between the pair, and she couldn't deny the jealousy she felt in her heart. She had grown up with Aiden and thought that they were inseparable. It hurt her to know that he had moved on and fell in love with someone else.
She shook her head. She wouldn't give into that jealously again. All she could do was be a good friend and support him when needed.
Her ears flicked in the direction of the living when she heard a thump. Hearing Jaxon call out Kalista's name, she grew anxious. She ran back into the room and instantly froze.
Kalista lay on the floor unconscious. Jaxon was hovering over her, shaking her and urging her to open her eyes.
"What happened?" Lizette asked, running over.
"I…I don't know!" Jaxon cried. "She just said that she suddenly felt tired and the next thing I know, she falls right over!"
Lizette checked the arcanine's pulse and let out a sigh of relief. "Well, she's not dead. But she is asleep. Was she exhausted from the days work?"
He shook his crestfallen face.
She felt her heart drop as the realization sank in. She lowered her head, watching Jaxon shake his partner desperately through her banes.
Then, as she shot her head up, she screamed, "AIDEN! CELINE!"