The austere, darkened atmosphere had settled upon Midna City. All residents were still recovering from their experiences and had decided to get an early night, so the streets were once again empty of life. Empty save for a singular figure that dashed gracefully and silently between buildings on patrol, accompanied by a Pokémon companion. Now in the north-easterly quadrant, Azima approached the fallen remains of The Jahmiru Tower in a sort of self-assurance, only to discover a bare, limp, badly-bruised form that was partially buried under the rubble. She approached the softly moaning figure with some caution, closed her eyes and held the flat of her palm over the back of his head.

“Di gar gar?” murmured the Pokémon by her side.

“Yes Lerik…his mind seems lost…” she murmured. “There is something bringing confusion upon his thoughts; he seems intent on attaining an important goal, though with his state of consciousness I cannot tell what that goal is.”

Skimming her hand further down the figure, Azima closed her eyes as her attuned abilities continued to take effect. 

“His aura signature has weakened - I sense a volatile foreign presence inside his body.”

“Di digar?”

“I don’t know what it is” Azima replied with an element of sorrow. “All I know is that it would be impossible to remove by pure will alone.”

The gym leader began to unclip her dark blue cape from around her neck, then glanced up as she detected the irritable, somewhat fractious tones of a woman's voice from not too far away.

“It appears others seek this man," she remarked. "And we are not the right ones to free him from his circumstances, though we can help him in this smaller way. His surface motives are questionable but deep down; the inner ethos I saw was a viable one. It will just take time for the true potential, and realisation, to arise.”

Draping her cloak carefully over the half-conscious figure, Azima gave her Diguard a silent nod of acknowledgement and the two vanished back into the night. Moments later, two female figures stumbled into view.

            “I can’t believe we actually got out of that creepy old tower in one piece,” Jessie panted, holding her head.

            “I can’t believe my hearing’s in tact after all that screaming you did,” Cassidy muttered, looking around while grinding her teeth. “And we still didn’t find those exiles, or Butch! Where'd that layabout go?”

            "Apparently, not as far away from us as you might have thought," Jessie remarked, glancing down. Cassidy did the same and her eyes widened as she took in the sight of her partner's battered body lying upon the debris, covered partially in what appeared to be a blue blanket.

            "What happened to you?" she exclaimed in a mixture of annoyance and shock, leaning down to haul Butch to his feet. "Looks like you were beat up and robbed of everything you had!"

            "S'probably what did happen," Butch groaned. Such an intense churning nausea had taken over the man’s stomach that he found himself unable to think straight. Last thing he remembered was manhandling a sizable piece of Team Rocket weaponry with an intent to capture the escaped Team Rocket Intermediates.

Had he blacked out?

Almost by chance, part of the material covering Butch's left arm slipped aside, and two small flesh marks glared back at him.

"What's that?" Jessie grimaced, pointing at the scabby affliction.

"A Pokémon bit me while I was tryin' ta find my flashlight in the woods last night," the man grunted.

"And you didn't disinfect the wound?" came the disturbed inquiry.

"It weren't exactly the first thing on my mind," Butch snapped. "What are you, my mother now?"

Jessie growled and fell silent. Why was she even concerned about Butch's well-being anyway? Even so, the sight of the mark had brought a series of unsettling thoughts to the woman's mind. As Cassidy led her partner away, Jessie gazed down at her white gloved hands and sighed bitterly at the reminiscence of another thoughtless action on her part.

I can’t believe I hit James…my best friend…

I can’t believe I forgot to think first…I promised I would!

 

I promised...

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 

The mistiness began to clear from his vision, and as it did so Errol found himself gazing up directly into a concerned pair of female eyes.

“Gloria?” he murmured weakly.

“Who?” came a youthful voice. It certainly didn’t belong to Gloria. Errol rubbed at his face and lifted his head slightly. He found himself seated inside a little wooden cabin upon a soft, cosy armchair with a warm blanket wrapped around him. There was a log fire blazing in a miniature hearth to increase the heat but even so, Errol still happened to feel a strange chill like something was missing. Standing beside him with a mug of hot drink in one hand was a young girl, about fifteen years old, wearing a blue tank top, 3/4 length trousers and a Pokéball motif headscarf. She offered the mug forward to him.

“Want some?”

Errol’s gut reaction was to leap from the chair and make his escape, but when he tried to move he found he could hardly lift his arm; it was as every ounce of strength had been drained from him.

“What have ya done ta me?” he snapped at the girl. She looked taken aback.

“I haven’t done anything!” she exclaimed. “You’re suffering from exhaustion, I found you collapsed outside in the rain. It seemed the best thing to do was to bring you indoors. I was only trying to help…”

At this last statement Errol relaxed slightly.

“Sorry…dere ain’t many people I can trust nowadays.”

“I see…” she replied softly, turning round. “I guess you don’t want this meal I made for you then.”

“M…meal?” Errol’s eyes had widened as he picked up on an overwhelming aroma that was coming from the other side of the cabin. There, upon the stove in the middle of a tray was a cooked fillet of Seaking. As Errol stared at it, the girl lifted a familiar sparkling object to the light and polished it with a small cloth.

“Nice little trinket you’ve got here," she smiled. "Looks like a replica of one of those Meowth charms. S’got a message on the back too…”

“HEY! Dat’s mine!” Errol yelled, leaping from the chair in an unseen burst of furious energy and snatching the object from the girl’s hand before she had a chance to examine it further. As the blanket dropped to the floor, the girl drew breath, blushed slightly and looked away. Frowning, unclear as to the teenager’s sudden show of embarrassment, Errol looked down at himself and yelped in alarm.

He was standing there with just his underwear on.

“I really was expecting you to keep hold of the blanket,” the girl giggled.

“Ya took my clothes off?” Errol yelled. His face was getting redder and redder by the second, from humiliation or anger it was not certain. “Talk about invadin’ someone’s privacy! Didn’t anyone ever tell you ta keep ya hands ta yaself?”

“They were soaking wet!” the girl retorted. “You would have caught a chill if I'd left them on you! And this is what I get for being hospitable…no gratitude…”

Errol heaved a sigh and wrapped the blanket round his shoulders before sitting down again. It was weird how he was the one feeling guilty even though he was certain he hadn’t done a thing wrong. The girl made her way over to the other side of the cabin and began to prepare the dinner plates. Errol could tell she was still annoyed about the previous occurrence, so he tried to make conversation, to lighten the atmosphere.

“So…dis your place, huh?”

“Not really," came the soft response. "I rent it out from time to time when I pass by, just to store my wares.”

The girl turned round again; this time she held a tray in both hands with a plate of Seaking upon it. Now her expression looked a little more agreeable.

“The name’s Ali,” she nodded. “I’m a Pokémon Goods Merchant.”

“What’s dat?” Errol blinked.

“Someone who goes from place to place selling general popular Pokémon items…Antidotes, Repel Sprays you name it…”

“Sorta like a travellin’ Mart?” the man tilted his head to one side. His only other encounter with a salesperson had been a repeatedly unwelcome one - as such, he hoped this young woman traded in far more reliable and less pricey articles.

“Yes, you could say that” Ali smiled. “I also sell gifts for humans too. My dad told me I was perfect to continue the family trade because I had the hereditary ‘gift of gab’…whatever that means.”

Errol hid a smile as the tray was placed in front of him. Telling someone they had the gift of gab was the politest way of implying they could talk the hind legs off a Girafarig, a Stantler and a Ponyta all at the same time.

“So, what’s your name?” Ali continued, as she returned to the kitchen area.

“Itsh’Errol” he replied with his mouth full. He was secretly glad that Ali had brought him into her cabin to help him out. The warm fish was just the appetizer he’d needed after several hours trekking across the hillside after leaving Pachna Town with Copi and Li.

Suddenly Errol spluttered, just managing to swallow what he had been chewing on. Copi! It was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Li, for that matter. Ali had swung round, thinking that her cabin mate had a bone caught in his throat.

“Did you see anyone else about when ya found me?” he gasped in a panic after he had caught his breath.

“No…” Ali trailed off. “Why? Were you with someone?”

Errol nodded silently.

“I’m sorry,” Ali shook her head. “You were the only one lying there when I arrived. Maybe whoever you were with had gone to get help.”

Errol smiled sadly. He wasn't so certain about Li's ideals, but he wouldn’t have expected anything less of Copi - the little guy had somehow grown attached to him. And the feeling of companionship was mutual. But with neither Copi nor Li being that accustomed to the outside world...there was a rising angst in the back of Errol’s head; what if they had been attacked by wild Pokémon…or something worse?

“Where’s my clothes?” he exclaimed, placing the tray to one side and levering himself up with his left arm from the chair. “I’ve got ta find my friends!"

“But you-” Ali hardly managed to get the first two words out before Errol had let go of the chair and taken a step forward, only to have his legs crumple beneath him and for him to land heavily upon the rug in front of the blazing hearth. “You’re too tired,” she finished, unsteadily. Errol looked up at her with a spark of determination.

“I don’t want dem to get hoit…”

“They've bound to have found a place to stay until the morning,” Ali explained hurriedly. “Anyway its too dark to see out there.”

“But I…”

“And you’re too weak to walk!” she snapped, with a definite tone of irritation, like she was addressing a naughty child who wouldn’t go to bed. “I’m not letting you go, you’ve got to get some rest.”

Errol mumbled something undecipherable, but got to his feet once more before Ali propped him up over her shoulder and led him back to the armchair.

“Now I haven’t got another bed to lend you so you’ll just have to stay here. Your clothes should be ready by tomorrow morning.”

And with that Ali blew out the lanterns that were hung in various places about the cabin, leaving the log fire to provide the comforting glow she needed to find her way to her sleeping bag in the other corner.

“Night, Sherrol.”

“Yeesh. It’s ‘Errol’,” came the reply from the dark. The guy was still bemused with having the freedom that he was used to so greatly restricted. But he knew full well that Ali was right; he did need a good long sleep.

 

Fer a kid, she sure is pushy, he thought, before finally drifting into a deep slumber.     

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 

The clouds were thick, laying their threatening greyness like a blanket upon the mountains. No stars could be seen, but between the folds of dark smog-like substance the moon struggled through once more, illuminating the sleeping exiles around their dwindling campfire.

            Something thudded ominously in the background. Its movements were slow and heavy, but the noise of its approach was smothered by the thick layer of mud that surrounded the campsite due to the fact the ground was rather saturated and sludgy from the night’s rain. Its bright, slitted eyes scanned the five bodies of the figures, as if searching for a particular identity. Gaze locked firmly onto its target, and with a slimy grin playing upon its reptilian features, the creature closed onto the victim.

            As its orange, clawed hand began to descend directly over the sleeping form of James who was curled up under a tattered sheet, Denise opened an eye just in time to see the partially shrouded reptile poised, ready to attack. Without a second thought she grabbed the largest log she could carry from the woodpile by the fire, clasped it in both hands and struck the creature as hard as she could. The impact was met with a mixture of shocked croaks and hisses from the recipient, who skittered away into the night, a lot quicker than it had arrived. Denise breathed a sigh of relief, and lowered her arms. James stretched obliviously and sat up, straight into the end of the log.

 

Donk!

 

            “Ow!” James exclaimed, rubbing his head. “What did you do that for?”

            “Oops!” Denise dropped the hunk of wood to the ground again. “I’m sorry. There was this weird creature behind you and-”

            “Where? Where is it?” James leapt out from under the blanket and cowered behind Denise.

            “It’s gone…I scared it off…”

            “But what’s the betting it will be back again to eat you the moment you fall asleep?” Adam snickered cruelly as he sat up. James shuddered at the thought and decided to crouch back under his blanket.

            “That was uncalled for,” Denise gave Adam an unforgiving stare.

            “I can’t help it if nancy-pants here practically wets himself at the sight of his own shadow” he sniffed. “It was probably a Likitung or something.”

            “A ten foot tall Likitung? I doubt it,” Denise muttered. There was a hint of worry in her voice; Adam did have a point, what if the creature did return? Caley pointed his glasses at the receding silhouette in an attempt to get some data on it.

Kenjoko. The screen read. These nocturnal dragon-like reptiles grow to about 5 foot long and feast on smaller Pokémon and vegetation.

“So what did your ‘dex say the thing was?” Rose asked curiously.

“Something called a Kenjoko” Caley murmured. At this Adam began to grin nastily again.

“Ohhh! I’ve heard of those, supposedly they can tear a guy apart in under ten seconds.”

This caused the blanket to emit a pathetic whimper, to which Adam burst into more fits of sniggering. Rose rolled her eyes.

“But what I saw was way bigger than a Kenjoko,” Denise exclaimed. “Twice as big, and it was standing upright on two legs! Kenjokos crawl on their bellies.”

“Surely if it had been one of Team Rocket's genetically enhanced creations then your Pokédex would have recognized it,” Rose remarked. 

“Whatever the reason, I'd suggest at least two of us keep watch while the rest sleep,” Caley said. “We’ll do it in shifts; James, you can go with Denise on the first one, Adam and I can do the second one and-”

He paused for a second as a thoughtful look flitted across his face.

“Oh…we’re going to have a problem. There’s an odd number of people.”

“Uh…I, I could do a third shift,” stammered James from under his blanket.

 

“And I get to hold the log, ok?”

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 

                Jessie was woken by loud groaning next morning. It was the last thing she wanted to hear, especially because she had been kept up so late by Cassidy who had decided to ramble to her friend Maya on the other end of the compact radio once she had stashed away in her TR issue phasepack, along with a pair of sleeping bags and a few nutritional supplements.

            “Can it will you?” she grunted, and pulled the blanket over her head. A second later Jessie felt the impact of a well-aimed heel.

            “Get up,” Cassidy sniffed from above. “You may have been able to sleep in on your old pointless Intermediate duties, but when you’re an Elite there’s no time to rest.”

            “Ok, ok! Anything to stop your blabbermouth,” Jessie muttered, and removed the cover. Cassidy smirked to herself then took a glance at Butch, who was lying flat out under a blanket, rubbing his head. He looked pretty worn out; there were leaves in his hair, mud streaks up each arm and a huge red mark spread across the left-hand side of his face.

“I got the biggest ‘eadache…” Butch grumbled.

“You’re pathetic,” Cassidy muttered, walking over to his side. “A few nights out in the open and you’re already moaning about something."

 

Get yourself together!”

 

She yanked the blanket off Butch, but soon wished she hadn’t. Jessie’s sour face creased into a huge smile as Cassidy stared at her partner’s stark-nakedness. Butch yanked the blanket off her and covered himself up embarrassedly as Jessie’s smile soon became sniggers of amusement.

"Taken to sleeping like the Pokémon do, eh?"

“Shut up!” Butch snapped, grabbing the blanket back from Cassidy and searching the campsite for the whereabouts of the secondary uniform he was sure he had donned as a replacement for the other one he'd lost. There was an expression of angry confusion on his face that the women hadn’t picked up on. “If you’ve ‘idden my kit, Jessie I’ll make sure you get demoted to bathroom duty!”

 “Now why would I want to do a stupid thing like that?” Jessie remarked haughtily. Butch hadn’t any ideas. All that filled his head was the stinging throb of a certain impact with an unknown hard object. The pain had become too strong for him to think any more.

“Ferget it,” he muttered.

“It doesn’t matter where your back-up uniform went…all we know is that it’s gone, and that we’ll have to compromise!” Cassidy said dismissively. A quick flash of humiliation passed over Butch’s face at that point.

“What am I meant to wear then?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Cassidy hid a smile. “Now get on with it, we can’t have you sitting around in a blanket all day!

You!” she snapped in Jessie’s direction. “Get the breakfast started… on second thoughts, forget the breakfast, you’ll just burn it anyway. Start packing up our stuff, and make it quick!”

Jessie shot a requesting glance at Triply, who acknowledged it and became its own pseudo-human form to assist her with the equipment.

“It’s going to be one of those days again,” she sighed.

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 

The sun had been beating down upon Caley and his friends for the past hour or so. Dehydration had begun to set in, and to try and cool themselves somewhat everyone had removed a layer of their upper body clothing. The thing was, James only had one layer of clothing.

“Ugh…put your clothes back on, wiener brain!” Adam exclaimed loudly. James glared at him as he wiped the perspiration from his forehead.

“You’ve got to be kidding! I was practically boiling in that sweater.”

“Yeah Adam, he’s…I mean, it’s real hot” murmured Rose, secretly thankful that no one would be able to define the redness upon her face as blushing, since it could just as well be a result of the blazing sun.

 

Mmm….now if only I had some whipped cream…

…heehee... mind out of the gutter, Rose.

 

Caley’s eyes widened at such a freely spoken statement. Did he honestly hear what he thought he heard? Expecting a reaction from the others Caley looked over at James and was equally alarmed at his completely unfazed expression. He seemed focused on his own ideals. In fact, the whole group were. Caley turned his head back to the road and almost at once the voices of his friends arose again.

 

What I wouldn’t give for a taxi… Denise intoned.

…not to mention a large stick to whack Adam with. He can be so irritating sometimes!

 

He thinks he’s so great with those abs and that body… Adam was muttering.

Well, it’s not making me jealous…no way.

Nope! I don’t care if it draws Denise’s attention…

 

My feet hurt so bad! James wailed.

My legs ache and my tongue feels like a dry wad of sandpaper…

 

Not only did the guys seemed to be taking no notice of each other’s conversations they also were speaking together in a repeated, united thrum. It was more than poor Caley’s overheated mind could take.

“Will you lot just BE QUIIIET!” he yelled out finally. The others’ voices fell silent.

“But Caley…” James began. “We weren’t saying anything.”

“Yeah,” Adam sniffed. “There wasn’t any noise until you started screaming.”

“But I…" the trainer blinked. "I’m sure I heard Denise say something about wanting to get a taxi.”

"Well she didn't," Adam responded bluntly, while James and Rose exchanged puzzled glances. Denise, on the other hand, was beginning to look rather pale and uncomfortable. Caley examined the girl's face expectantly.

Oh great, now Caley’s gone nuts…

“Adam! I have not gone nuts!” Caley snapped. Adam’s eyes widened with shock and he went slightly red, which caused James to snigger somewhat.

“This is freaky, Caley,” Denise began. "You heard what I was thinking!"

"I...I did?" the figure responded in stunned tones.

"Yeah, and presumably Adam, by the way you just reacted toward him," came the noticeably disturbed response. Caley scratched the back of his head.

"That explains why it sounded like everyone was talking around me when they weren't," he murmured. "I was hearing what you guys were thinking!"

This revelation caused Rose and Adam to blush profusely, while Denise looked somewhat awkward and James gazed into space thoughtfully. Adam's expression was quick to change to one which firmly dictated if Caley were to detail the thoughts he'd heard, he'd soon find his glasses inserted into a very uncomfortable place. Caley took the hint; he was already mentally retracing what Azima had said to him the day before.

Cho'moken... having the abilities of a Pokémon sounded too farfetched to be believed, but with such obvious effects of such abilities making themselves present, how could he not? Still, there were other questions regarding this weird development that he longed to answer.

Hungry hungry I am hungry, table table here I come.

Caley swung round and glared angrily at James for disturbing his train of thought by singing in his head. First thing’s first, he had to find somewhere for him and his travelling companions to rest up and consume food and drink.

 

He would have to find a way to answer those questions and control his unwanted mind reading later.

 

The travellers were thankful to rest their weary feet and tuck into a meal at last; even if it was in a rundown, cramped roadside place called the Lumina Café. Rose walked over to the counter to address the grumpy-looking cashier. She had ended up with the short straw after Caley had mentioned that he needed to make a phone call and the rest of the group had moaned that they were too hungry to be able to think properly.

“Whaddya want?”

“Uh…I’ll have two fried breakfasts, a blueberry muffin, latte and a cappuccino,” Rose replied absently, reading the list of choices that had been written messily on a napkin. She turned her head as the cashier began yelling the order through the serving hatch that opened into the kitchen. Sitting not too far away, slumped upon a stool, was a teenage boy, about eighteen years old with golden coloured hair strikingly similar to Rose’s own. He wore a grey jacket over a green t-shirt, a pair of navy blue trousers and some dark trainers.

            The boy looked up at Rose and as he did so his stomach gave a pained gurgle. She smiled with pity as the boy sighed miserably.

            “Wait, I’ve got something to add to that,” Rose lifted her hand as the cashier glanced round.

            “Wot?”

            “Go on,” Rose motioned to the boy. “Choose anything you like.”

            The boy’s emerald eyes lit up at the offer. He stood up on the rim of his stool and pointed at something upon the menu above the counter.

            “Copi!” he exclaimed. Rose and the cashier, not to mention everyone else in the café that had been eavesdropping pulled a face and the boy sat down just as hurriedly, his face red with realisation.

            “Wot did ya say? Coffee?” the cashier asked. The boy shook his head in silence this time, but pointed yet again to the same picture on the menu. Rose followed his finger and her face brightened.

            “I think he’s after that bacon and tomato sandwich.”

            The boy nodded furiously, and to this Rose shrugged while the cashier gave the pair of figures at the counter a look that told them he considered them both weird, before continuing to yell through the serving hatch. Rose glanced over at the boy who was now wearing a wide grin of complete gratitude.

            “What’s your name then?”

            At the sound of the question the boy’s smile dropped and he began to look desperate. Rose watched him with concern.

            “What is it? Don’t you want to talk?”

            The boy shook his head with his gaze fixed firmly at the melamine counter. Rose sighed with acceptance at this reaction.

            “Ok. If that’s the way you want it. Enjoy your sandwich,” she winked at him. The boy’s face lightened and he waved as Rose returned to her place at the table with her travelling companions.

            What a strange kid… she thought. Still, there’s something oddly familiar about him.

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “Who would you like to place a collect call to?” the operator enquired, as Caley stood outside the café with his PokéGear pressed to his head.

            “262336, Prela Village.”

            “Ok, hang on.”

            There was a succession of weird electronic noises, then a cheery female voice answered.

            “Hello! Wilson residence, Pat speaking.”

            “Hi mum.”

            “Caley! It’s so great to hear from you after so long, it’s almost been a week now, hasn’t it?”

            “Uh huh.”

            “I told myself that would be the last I’d hear of my little trainer after I rang you, but seems I was wrong!"

            There was a short silence.

            “…Caley?" Pat began, somewhat worriedly. "You seem so distant, darling – what’s the matter?”

            Caley shuffled his feet hesitantly.

            “I...wanted to ask you a question,” he murmured. “Why did you never tell me I was psychic?”

            “Wh…what?” the woman's voice had weakened considerably at this point.

            “You know, like being able to read minds and sense people’s emotions and stuff. Azima said it was something called Cho'moken and that you'd be the one with the answers I-” Caley paused, the features of his face creasing up with unjustified shame as his mother's sobbing was heard on the other end of the line. This continued for a few moments, until Pat was able to regain some semblance of composure.

            “I was hoping that you would never need to know,” she murmured, a wobble in the tone of her voice. “Your inherited ability was only from your father, therefore it was very slight and shouldn't have become active...at least not of its own accord.”

            The trainer sat bolt upright as the floodgates to his thoughts were flung wide open. Cew... the vision... that weird blue aura when the Pokémon touched him on the face. It must have transferred its remaining power to him before it died. That energy would have been the perfect way to ‘kick-start’ his abilities into life. But Caley still didn’t understand one thing.

            “Why didn’t you want me to find out, mum?” he asked calmly. “Dad used to tell me that unusual talents were nothing to be ashamed of.”

            “Maybe not," Pat said quietly. "But pure psychic Cho'moken is one of the hardest types to control. The sheer power is enough to turn the minds of even the most rational people. You see, Caley...it was responsible for the destruction of your father's life."

            "Buh-but you said he'd died from an incurable illness," Caley faltered, struggling to stay upright.

            "And that's exactly what it was like!" Pat exclaimed. "The very drive for dominance ate away at Jack like a hideous disease, causing him to lose consciousness with his stubborn attempts to perfect his skills. One day, his body just gave up on him.

            I never wanted such a thing to happen to you also."

            As his mother gave way to tears once more, the PokéGear slipped from Caley's shaking hand before clattering harmlessly to the ground beside him. The statement had been like brick to the stomach; why would Cew unleash such an unmanageable force upon him if it would consequently seal the trainer's fate? He looked up to see his friends and other customers in the café staring out the window at him, then slumped against the wooden fencing miserably, trying to choke back his disbelief.

            “Listen Caley…" Pat's saddened voice rang out from the PokéGear that was lying in the dust by the trainer’s boot. "I don't know how your psychic abilities came to light but, what happened to your father...it doesn't have to be the same for you. Just... know when to stop. A gift can become a death warrant if you don’t treat it with respect.”

 

 

            Then the line cut off.

 

 

“Caley sure looks miserable about something,” Denise sighed, as she fiddled with the salt shaker. “I wonder what he was so horrified about a second ago.”

“I wonder when this food is going to get here…I’m going to waste away if they don’t bring it soon!” James whined.

“Maybe I should ask them to hold on a bit longer,” Adam smirked. James tossed a crumpled up napkin at him in annoyance. Adam returned the favour, but harder.

“Ow! He just hit me in the eye with that!”

“Grow up, you two…” Rose trailed off as she noticed the waiter approaching with a tray. He smiled, placing the article down on the table, and the others breathed their thanks before diving for the nutrition. But Rose just sat there, staring rather rudely at the figure standing in front of her. After a moment or so, the man scratched the back of his head topped with crew cut, neon blue hair before passing an inquisitive glance.

“Can I help you?”

“It’s me! Rose!" the woman exclaimed, causing Denise to look up in surprise. The man blinked, appearing none-the-more informed.

"Rosemary Renwick! We used to work together!” she persisted. There was a short silence, while her listener processed the additional surname. Then he shook his head.

“Can’t say that name rings a bell. I think you must have me mistaken for some other guy.”

“You’re called Lee, right?”

“Yes…but…" the man looked taken aback at this point. "How did you know that?”

Lee took a step back as Rose grasped him desperately by the shoulders.

“I told you! We were work partners. Side by side! Don’t you remember?”

“I’ve never seen you before in my life!” the figure spluttered fearfully, backing further away from Rose’s reach before disappearing behind the counter. For a moment, the woman sat in broken silence while the others in the cafe offered puzzled and annoyed expressions. Then, before those sitting at her table could inquire as to her reaction to the waiter, Rose left the table and hurriedly exited. Adam looked up with an apathetic expression

 

 

“What was that about?”

 

 

            All of a sudden Caley felt another presence, far more sorrowful than his own. He looked up to see Rose sitting hunched upon a rickety fence outside the café on the opposite side of the roadway, her head in her hands. As he approached, Caley couldn't help picking out the repeated sentence running through the back of the woman’s mind.

They did it to him…they did it to him too…

Did what? To who?

“Oh…hi Caley,” Rose mumbled unenthusiastically.

“Mind if I join you?” the trainer asked tentatively, placing himself next to Rose on the fence. She gave a slight nod. It was almost like a reflex, as soon as Caley closed his eyes Rose’s voice was there, in mournful longing tones.

I know I wasn’t wrong…that was Lee Mitchell, my old Intermediate partner...

 

...my fiancé...

 

Caley spluttered and shook his head violently in a fruitless attempt to prevent his psychic abilities from revealing Rose's thoughts to him, but the woman's attentions appeared too distant for her to notice. She took a quick glance in the window of the café, at the man she once knew, who now seemed so alien to her.

No one would believe we’d even met, from the way he reacted to me today. Just because they did it to him…

…personality reprogramming…the contents of his memory have been erased, he does not remember anything but his name.

The trainer’s mouth fell open. The fate of Rose’s lost loved one suddenly seemed so much worse his own. Was it because he could sense the disparaging misery inside Rose’s heart?

I bet it was because of the ‘Avalanche Incident’ Rose continued. Suddenly a blurred mental image formed in front of Caley’s eyes, almost like a television show, with him as the viewer. It was the inside of a cave. Masses of Team Rocket drones in their navy blue, almost black uniforms were hacking away at the walls with pickaxes, drills and shovels. And further away, there stood two tall figures in white uniforms, watching them. One, the female, who resembled an eighteen-year-old version of Rose, was wearing a large complicated rectangular device on her back. The male next to her, who must have been Lee, appeared about twenty and was scribbling upon a clipboard.

There came a panicked shout as the cave walls began to shudder. Lee seemed to raise his arms and order something loudly in return as the drones began to run, hauling their crates behind them. Rocks and rubble broke away and started to fall as Lee ushered the drones toward the exit. There was a petrified cry from Rose, who seemed unable to keep up due to the device that was strapped to her, weighing her down.    

It was…the most horrifying experience of my life… Rose whispered in her mind. I stood there, screaming as the walls began to crumble around me…then…I must have blacked out. When I awoke again, Lee was gone. Rumours passed about the Headquarters of an Intermediate who had died while trying to save his partner, sacrificing an entire fossil haul and risking drones’ lives in the process. What else was I to believe?

But in a sense, those rumours were true. Lee may not have physically died that day, but his compassion must have cost him his mind.

The two figures gazed up at a pair of Taillow as they flew gracefully into the morning sky. Caley decided to take a risk and let Rose know that he had been unintentionally eavesdropping.

“That guy must have cared for you,” he murmured. Rose didn’t flinch; it was almost like she knew the whole time.

“What they did to Lee was a long and expensive process, only used as a last resort," she responded. "Usually, failures are just demoted. But what my partner had done was so ‘financially catastrophic’ in the Boss’ eyes that he had to be removed from the organisation. And no member leaves with vital Team Rocket information still in their memories.”

Caley lowered his head. Being punished for helping someone - that was the worst type of injustice, especially for the victim’s loved ones. He had felt angered at his dad for being so selfish in his pursuit of power, but now it paled in insignificance compared to the utter disbelief that Rose was under.

There was a crunch of gravel underfoot. It made Rose and Caley look up in surprise to see the tall, wide-shouldered countenance of the waiter Rose had dealt with previously. He was wearing a look of concern as he approached.

“I guess…I’ll leave you to sort things out, ok?” Caley replied softly, hopping from the fence. “Don’t want the others to eat my share of breakfast now, do I?” He gave a half-hearted laugh as he disappeared back towards the café. Rose turned her head away as Lee came closer. She wasn’t sure whether she could bear to look at him again, after all, every time she did so all she could think of was that fateful day when his bond with her was broken forever.

“I..uh…I apologise if I upset you back there,” Lee murmured. “Rose…is it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m sorry…Rose.”

Hearing his voice speak her name again almost lulled the woman into a false sense of security over matters of memory. But as she glanced up and saw the distant expression on Lee’s face she knew that he had no idea what he had apologised for. It was as if he was meeting her for the first time all over again and the thought scared her somewhat.

“So…did I remind you of somebody?” Lee continued, placing his hands on the fence to steady himself.

“Yes…someone who meant a lot to me,” Rose replied with a slight nod of the head. It seemed so ironic that she happened to be sitting next to them.

“Where’d he go?”

“I’m not sure really.”

“That’s too bad,” Lee sighed, turning his head to stare away at the seamless horizon. For a split second Rose wondered whether familiar thoughts were crossing his mind. A tiny smile lit up the corners of her mouth as she pondered over the fact that even though he had undergone a process of reprogramming, his caring, chivalrous personality had managed to break through. Maybe with time, his memories could be salvaged also. But for now it was here he would remain, oblivious to his criminal past and his relationship with the one who sat beside him.

“Well…I have to go.” Lee said finally, as he stood up to leave. “I hope someday you find that friend you lost.”

“So do I,” Rose said quietly, sniffing back a tear of despair. “Goodbye.” And in softer tones she added:

 

“I’ll miss you…”

 

As Lee returned to his post inside the café, the four familiar figures of Rose’s accomplices exited, with contented murmurs between them.

“That was the best meal I’ve had in ages!” James grinned.

“If I find out it was you who nabbed my last slice of toast…” Adam growled in his companion’s direction. Caley shook his head in disbelief. He appeared to have come round slightly from the previous shocks he had been dealt that morning.

“Don’t dwell on it…you’d had loads to eat already.”

“That waiter guy,” Denise blinked. “Did he seem oddly blank to you?”

            Caley bit his lip. The reprogramming; it was responsible for what Denise had picked up on. Lee couldn’t access his old memories; they had been locked away in the back of his head or erased from it completely. It was a disturbing concept, which Rose was finding hard to handle.

“You ok Rose?” Denise asked.

“I’m…fine…” she replied slowly. “I just got a few things to get over, but I’ll be ok.”

“That’s a relief,” James chipped in cheerily. “From the way you acted in there I thought someone had just died,” Adam muttered, with less flair.

Yeah, that's pretty much the case… Rose thought as she tailed behind her friends, walking down the road towards the next town in the distance. But I’m not going to give up on Lee. Somewhere, somehow, there has to be a way to bring him back.

 

There has to be…

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 

It was about ten-o-clock as a youth entered the outskirts of a quiet, seemingly generic little town. From the look of determined angst on his face, it was obvious he was searching for something. Someone in fact, as this individual happened to be Copi, on the hunt for a fellow Pokémon companion. He had realised that walking around in Mondo’s form any longer could provoke a case of mistaken identity and, in a show of true genius, Copi had borrowed the identities of five travellers he had discovered camping the night before and merged them to make his own personal image. Then, after being granted a small bite to eat in a rundown café by one of these kindly strangers, he had returned to searching.

            Copi didn’t understand why Li would run off like that. He had clambered up a tree to pick some fruit and noted the Tisker's swift escape. Part of him had been worried about leaving Errol as the man slept below the tree, but part of him also felt a loyalty to the mecha Pokémon and thus, had followed her. And his pursuit had drawn him here, Takielian Town. It seemed just like any other town on the outside; rows upon rows of formal terrace and concrete with miniature gardens and long stretches of walkway. Copi wasn’t sure where to start looking.

            Then an idea struck him. Maybe some of the inhabitants had seen his friend! There just so happened to be a violet-haired man sitting on a bench by the roadside underpass entrance. He was wearing a casual outfit, and had a laptop computer on his knee which he was typing upon in a heavy-handed manner. Adjusting his glasses and muttering under his breath, the man didn't even look up at hearing the sounds of footsteps that dictated Copi’s purposeful approach.

            It was then that Copi remembered. He didn’t know how to speak the human language! How was he going to ask for help?

            “Listen kid, I’m busy,” the man spoke up testily. “I have a serious problem here and I need the utmost concentration. Now if you’ve got something to say, say it. If not, then leave me alone.”

            Copi turned his attentions to the screen of the man's laptop and raised an eyebrow - he couldn't see anything wrong with the machine himself. Granted, he didn't know much about computers per se, and a black screen with white writing on it was hardly enough information to go by. Copi edged closer to the laptop with his hand out, almost entranced. He needed to have a look inside.

“Hey!” the man exclaimed as the youth’s flat palm touched the device. “Just what do you think you're doing? This is….” He trailed off rapidly as Copi removed his hand, and the system began to reboot into its designated operating system.

“How did you do that?” the man asked after a thoroughly awestruck silence. He looked at his computer, then at Copi, then back at his computer again, trying to figure the situation out. Copi wasn't really sure either. Upon contact with the laptop, the Pokémon was able to sense every component within. He had found himself within an ethereal void which he could only assume was his own twisted mental interpretation of the laptop's innards, surrounded by billons upon billions of lights which passed along channels all around him. And there, a violet cloud had surrounded a particularly sizable cluster of these lights, preventing their motion. Somehow, he had been able to disperse this cloud before rapidly finding himself in the open air once more.

Receiving no response save for an expectant gaze, a tiny smile lit up the man’s sullen features.

“You’re a weird kid," he remarked. "But I like you. Sit down.” He motioned to the empty spot on the bench beside him. Once Copi had positioned himself there, he looked back with the same expectant expression. But the guy was still astounded with his breakthrough.

“Do you know just how long I’ve been trying to get my laptop functioning again?” he exclaimed. Copi shook his head. “Four hours. I’d tried everything. Recalibration, decryption…but I guess that kind of thing comes with the territory."

Noticing Copi's inquisitive expression, the man chuckled slightly.

"Okay, I pretty much set myself up for that one, didn't I?" he smirked. "Alright, I'll elaborate. I'm Miles o' Mallery, professional glitch seeker."

Copi's expression deepened into something far more puzzled. Somehow this felt like something he should know about, but the Pokémon didn't really know why that should have been the case.

"Figures you'd be confused, not many people know about this kind of thing," Miles continued with a shrug. "And with good reason - glitches are a highly unpredictable facet of our data-reliant world. They don't make sense, and yet they exist regardless. Their ability to manipulate our world is beyond any of today's scientific explanations. Because of this, I've made it my aim to seek out and research as many of these occurrences as I possibly can.

The man glanced down at his laptop solemnly for a moment before folding it shut.

"I may not have been in the field long but I do know when you're dealing with things like this, its dangerous territory. Your equipment, your surroundings and even yourself are at risk."

Miles paused to pull out a long roll filled with meat and salad from a bag beside him, and began to unwrap the plastic coating. At the sight of this Copi’s tongue hung out, and he looked intently hopeful, to which Miles expression became amused.

“You hungry?”

Copi nodded furiously. Miles proceeded to break the roll in two and hand the bigger half to his companion, who promptly shoved it in his mouth sideways.

“Ugh…” Miles groaned, as Copi chewed thoughtfully, spraying crumbs all over the place. “Doesn’t the phrase ‘smaller pieces’ enter your vocabulary?” He shook his head in disbelief, but still the look on his face proved he had found it mildly amusing. “So, kid. What’s your name?”

Copi was so engrossed in the delicious taste of the food he was sampling that he forgot that he didn’t know how to speak a word of human language. He also forgot his mouth was so full any attempt to speak would result in a nonsensical muffle.

“Cuhry…” he said. Miles pulled a face.

“Cory, did’ja say?”

It was at this point Copi had realised what he had just done, but luckily Miles had misheard his reply, and in a surprisingly good way too. He nodded, before scrambling to his feet. Best to return to searching while he still had the advantage as to his own identity.

"Hey, where are you going?" Miles held up a hand. He hadn't expected "Cory" to be leaving so suddenly and he was still curious as to how this strange figure had managed to fix his computer without even using the keyboard. But Cory was already a fair distance away by now, prompting Miles to strap his laptop back into its carry case and follow.  

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 “Errol!” The figure skidded to a halt outside the hut and swung round with an impatient expectance as Ali stood in the doorway with an anxious glance. “You haven’t-”

“Listen…I stayed da night like ya made me now I need ta find da kid, before it’s too late!” Errol snapped. He made a move to go again but Ali held up her hand.

“Well…wait a second then.” She ducked back into the hut, out of sight. Errol stood there, tapping his foot for what seemed like five minutes. He was just about to truly leave when Ali reappeared, holding her bag and locking the door behind her.

“I’ll come with you,” she said. Errol’s mouth dropped open.

“But why?”

“Looks like you could use some company,” Ali smiled. “Besides, does there seriously have to be a reason to help someone?”

“I guess not. Jus’ most of da people dat helped me usually wanted somet'ing in return,” Errol murmured as the pair set off across the fields. Ali looked hopeful.

“Well…I’d like to know a bit more about you. Where you came from, where you're going to. Things like that.”

Errol slowed his pace and looked at his boots, then up at Ali.

“It’s best ya didn’t know.”

At first, Ali looked a little surprised, but her expression then turned into a sly smirk.

“Mysterious. I like that,” she murmured.

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 

Takielian Town’s northerly region didn’t happen to be the most active of areas. A major part of the reason why fell to the gang of street thugs that exercised their presence there. They called themselves “The Charizans”, and this ruthless lot prided themselves in creating trouble. Their leader was Ivan, a man with the body of a Tauros and the intellect of a Magikarp. The epitome of everything distasteful about a human being, Ivan drank, swore and frequently got into fights with people because they looked at him in ways he considered unsuitable. Most of the time, Ivan and his followers would prowl the back alleys and side streets looking for ways to make nuisances of themselves. On rare occasions, they looked for other, more important things. This morning happened to be one of those latter times.

One of the gang members (a slimy little man simply known as ‘Shark’) leant against a lamppost, nonchalantly lighting a cigarette as a shop door nearby swung open and Ivan strolled confidently into the street with a four pack of beer in one large hand. In a phone box nearby, a young woman with flame red hair and leathers was busy attending to some far more important business.

"Do you have what I asked for, Ms. Rimera?" came a heavily modulated voice from the phone's earpiece. It was obvious that the caller, whomever it happened to be, did not wish to be identified.

"We got it, alright," the woman responded proudly. "Know these streets like the back of my hand, I do. Didn't take long to find where they were keeping this baby."

"Good," came the response. "I shall have my executives meet you at a designated location in the next hour."

"And what about my end of the bargain?" the woman inquired, leaning closer to the phone handset with a frown.

"You shall get your motorised transport and reward payment as promised, Ms. Rimera," the voice acknowledged. "Do not move from your position. I shall contact you with your meeting location details very shortly." Then the line went dead.

Hidden in the shadows under a wide cycling bridge, Raquel Chilton (a tall blonde-haired woman with worried-looking eyes and spindly figure) held tightly to a medium-sized black cylinder while eyeing Shark with noticeable disgust. She refused to let go of the cylinder after The Charizans had broken into the lab she and her mentor Diane had been working in. As a result, both of them had temporarily been taken captive, Diane more for her knowledge than anything else.

Raquel had no idea why these thugs wanted the cylinder so bad, or what it even contained for that matter, but something told her it was not the kind of thing to let the more thoughtless members of the group handle.

Diane stood close by Raquel, almost protectively, while a familiar metallic shape cowered behind her left leg. As she watched a merciless-looking Forretress hover overhead, Li was desperately wishing she had never made that decision to leave Errol and Cory's side to go looking for answers on her own. Originally, the Tisker had thought this would help to speed her research up. All she had managed to achieve was being cornered and collared by a group of thuggish humans who had threatened to dismantle her using their Pokémon if she hadn't obeyed their wishes. Overriding security systems to enable these humans to break into a laboratory was not Li's idea of progress. Even so, the Tisker couldn't help being intrigued by what the gang had stolen.

"How'd it go, Althea?" Shark asked, wandering under the bridge towa