There was an absence. Espir could feel it immediately. He'd watched Mew rush in after he'd landed from the jump. The pink Pokémon had forced the rift shut before the more sadistic versions of himself and Alexis were able to make it through.
As soon as the rip in space was closed once again, that was when Espir felt it. As if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He felt almost exposed with how swiftly the feeling had gone from his being. He could see Alexis felt a change, too.
"Do you feel that?" The other Pokémon asked as Espir looked around in the now oddly quiet recess.
"Feel what?" Espir replied.
"Something's gone?" Shane said- though Espir didn't yet know his name.
"Yes, yes I do," Espir nodded. "It's… freeing."
"I don't know what it is, or what it was," Shane said, "but now that the magnetism is gone, I need to go. Now."
Espir stepped in front of the other Pokémon.
"Why the rush?" He asked, wanting to get answers sooner rather later, especially after how his last few days had gone.
"The pink being," Shane said hurriedly, "it's been tracking me."
"What? Mew?" Espir said, pointing over at Mew, who was recovering after closing the rift. She had her eyes on the both of them.
"You know that thing?" Shane asked, looking visibly concerned and suspicious of Espir. "I should've known, what with all the jumping through holes in the air."
"I unfortunately know Mew, yes," Espir nodded. "Now, why is she tracking you? You do realize she should be able to find you extremely quickly."
"I'm not meant to be here," Shane said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It might seem hard to comprehend, especially for a Pokémon, but I'm actually a human from somewhere else. This is the afterlife and I'm not really meant to be here."
"It's the afterlife?" Espir asked, before his brain almost slapped him to attention. "Wait. You're a human?"
"Crazy, right?" Shane grinned proudly at Espir.
"The only thing crazy about that is that you're one, too," Espir said, before turning towards Mew, angrily. "So, you screwed up again? Once wasn't enough for you?"
Mew slowly started to float into the air once again. Frustration at Espir's words driving her to act.
"This mishap only happened while I was trying to sort out your problem," Mew retorted.
"Don't turn this on me," Espir laughed. "The only reason any of us have a problem is because of your mistakes."
Mew couldn't argue with that one. She had messed up time and again. She tried a different tactic.
"Be that as it may, human," she said, "it is high time I brought this one on his way to his final resting place."
"Don't you dare," Espir snapped, stepping in front of Shane, between the two other Pokémon.
"It needs to be done, Espir, be reasonable," Mew said sternly.
"No, you be reasonable," Espir replied, "every time you decide to tamper with us, you manage to screw things up even more. How about you shove it and we'll keep an eye on this one until you actually know what you're doing, hmm?"
Alexis was just looking back and forth between all of the Pokémon, unsure what was going on. Shane gave an appreciative head bump into Espir's back, even though Espir was worried he'd overstepped with regards to speaking to what was essentially a god.
Mew regarded the ghost Pokémon silently. Espir had no idea what was going on within her mind but, eventually, she spoke once more.
"Very well."
Espir wasn't sure if he had blinked, or if it was a trick of the light, but as soon as those words had been uttered- Mew was gone. He, Shane and Alexis were left standing on their own in the area where the meteorites would never be again.
Espir let out a sigh of relief at the Pokémon's lack of response. He had half been expecting her to lash out at him. She seemed different, a little less composed than normal. He stood back up straight and turned around to look at the other Pokémon.
"So, what do we call you?" He asked. "What's your name?"
"Shane," Shane replied, "and you?"
"I'm Espir and this human human is Alexis, though she only knows me by my Pokémon name, Marshadow."
"Cool," Shane nodded, "it's so weird, seeing other people like myself. How did you die?"
Espir took a moment to process the question.
"That was… blunt," he said in response. "Let me introduce you."
Espir turned around to Alexis, pointedly not answering Shane's direct question. He pointed at Shane and then gave a thumbs up to Alexis.
"How strange," Alexis said. "I don't think I recognize this one either. How come I'm always stumbling into the most unique little Pokémon? Well, come on. If you're going to be part of our group, let's get going."
Alexis was less bothered about getting moving as a group and she was more interested in simply getting away from that area once more. She didn't want to have to relive a single moment of the hell she had just endured- mainly due to the acts of herself, too. It was something she would have to unravel within her brain as they travelled. Firstly, however, she wanted to get the rest of her Pokémon healed up, after such a long time out of action and likely in pain.
"Pokécenter and then back on the road?" Alexis asked the two Pokémon trailing behind her.
Espir and Shane just shrugged as they continued their conversation.
Alexis didn't mind. She was just happy that they were all safe once again. Getting back on track for her gym badge quest would help settle her nerves and reassure her that she was back in her own world- away from all the strangeness that had gone on in the other one. She still had lingering questions, however, and she couldn't just let them pass her by.
The trip to the Pokécenter was long awaited and Alexis was simply torn by the fact she had to wait even longer until she could see her Pokémon outside of their Pokéballs. She would let them all out when they were on the road, so that they could walk, talk, and get to know the new Pokémon.
Alexis consulted her map, to remind her of where they were meant to be heading next. Her journey to collect the badges was taking longer than she'd hoped and the detours were becoming more and more deadly as they went on. She just wanted to focus on the badges and hope that nothing further would keep her from her goal.
The next gym badge- number four- was located in Pastoria City. That was some good news in her books. Pastoria City meant warmer weather, so there would be no need to go near the mountains or the snow for a little while. She could make the most of the warmth and potentially get some more relaxing days in ahead of her, after all the rushing around she'd done recently. Her legs deserved a break.
Espir and Shane were deep in conversation and had been since they had begun walking around, following in Alexis' footsteps as she went about getting prepared for the trip down south.
Espir couldn't believe the chances of, not only there being another human in the same situation as him- which seemed to be a near impossible situation in the first place- but for them to be located in the very same city as him, on the same world. The odds must have been so close to impossible that they wouldn't have been able to count. Two instances of this happening in an infinite number of people, and they both happened in the same city? He needed to know everything about Shane's situation.
If Espir could remember correctly from his time playing the games, Shane was a Zorua. Now Espir not only had an additional human to talk to, but someone to help back him up in arguments once Letos was finally let loose. It had been so refreshing to not have that scowling bird around, but after all the troubles he'd been through, he knew he would appreciate seeing him healthy and active once again.
Taking their trip down south towards Lake Valor and then, hopefully, Pastoria City- both Alexis and Espir noticed the absence of the influence from the other world, more and more as they travelled. Everything felt brighter, happier, less negative and more positive. Alexis' drive to become the greatest Pokémon trainer and her frustrations with Espir were toned down. Not entirely gone, just… tempered somewhat. Espir felt all of his stabbing anger at Alexis ebb away, too. They were both becoming less selfish and more reasonable the further away from Veilstone City that they got.
"So, you're certain you died?" Espir asked Shane as they walked side by side.
"As far as I can tell," Shane shrugged. "It's the only way I explain everything that has gone on since."
"Did you die in your sleep?" Espir asked.
"Nope. Out in the street. I probably should have looked where I was going," Shane said. "It's annoying because I really wanted to let my family know I would be okay."
"I know how you feel," Espir said, "though I never died. Mew took part of me away and now my family only thinks I'm close to death."
"So, they still have hope?" Shane said.
"Only, I don't think that's such a good thing, you know?" Espir shrugged. "Unless this all gets sorted soon, all that hope has done is draw the pain out over a longer period of time."
"I guess so," Shane nodded, "but you can never count out hope for good. We both made it here. I'm sure there's a way for us to make it to our homes again."
"But, you're dead," Espir said, confused.
"I don't seem so dead to me," Shane grinned. "It's all about perspective. Sure, we're in a bad spot, admittedly. It doesn't have to be the final spot, though. We can make it back, if we work together to figure this thing out."
"You know," Espir said, reaching out to nudge Shane, "I feel like I'm going to be glad we met. Even more than I am already, I mean."
"That is certain a compliment, I think," Shane nodded.
Espir made a mental note to work on his niceties, though he got the impression Shane wasn't the best with socializing either.
There was a flash of red, followed by another. Alexis sat down heavily on a rock and watched on as the newly healed Staravia and Letos looked around to get their bearings, both of their set of eyes settling on the new arrival to the party.
"Who's the new one?" Letos asked. "Why is he already out and about while we've been stuck around like chumps?"
"I had the strangest dream," Staravia said. "Were we indoors, in a… I want to say hospital?"
"Not exactly," Espir said, before turning to Letos. "This is Shane."
"Shane," Letos muttered. "Odd name for a Pokémon."
"Not so much for another one of my variety of Pokémon," Espir said, with a wink.
"That's ridiculous," Letos said, shaking his head.
"That's what I thought," Espir said with a smirk.
"Hi, I'm Shane," Shane said with a smile, oblivious to the dislike that was radiating out of Letos.
"Oh! A positive Pokémon," Staravia cheered. "Finally!"
"Hey, I take offence to that," Letos muttered."
"Exactly," Staravia retorted. "I'm going to like having someone else who has a positive can-do attitude around."
"Makes one of us," Letos continued to mutter.
"I don't see why you're so salty, Letos," Espir said. "This just means more Pokémon to take the hits meant for you in battles."
"That's not a good thing, you idiot," Letos snapped. "By this rate, I'm going to end up off the team by all you freaks."
"It has only been two of us," Espir said.
"Two too many," Letos replied. "Two so far."
"I could only wish," Espir laughed. "I'd love to see the look on your face if that ever happened."
"I'm glad to see you're all getting along!" Alexis exclaimed, satisfied from the time she had spent just watching and listening to the Pokémon all chatter around her. "We're going to set up camp earlier today, so we can all just have a rest and get to know one another, okay?"
All the Pokémon nodded in agreement with the trainer, going back to the back-and-forth argument between Espir and Letos, as Shane became fast friends with Staravia.
Alexis was most definitely the happiest she had been in a long time. With the Pokémon around her, it felt more like a family than ever. Yet, still, something nagged at her. An errant thought that continued to persist.
Family.
She needed to see her family. She had to see if she had a brother.