The door to the station opened, and the Totem Gumshoos pushed me to the ground. I met the hot concrete of Hau'oli's road, and I stared down at it, afraid to look up. The giant Pokémon above me sneered, grabbed my head and yanked it upward, forcing me to meet the most terrible sight I've seen since the last time I saw my mother.

All around, Grimer were emitting Poison Gas attacks in every alleyway, slowly working their way down the city. Once they met the alley I called home and sprayed the gas, Pokémon began spilling out of it and onto the streets; Litten, Torracat, Meowth, even a few Persian, all coughing and gagging at the stench of the Grimer as it filled their lungs. I gasped when I saw my father follow them, paw over his face to try and block out the gas. He looked in my direction with defeated eyes, and my heart wrenched. I tried to go to him, to scramble off the ground by any means necessary, but the Totem held me firm, watching me squirm and struggle with little more than a tiny hiss of amusement.

"Now!" the Totem ordered suddenly. From above, a huge flock of Wingull, likely in the hundreds, descended upon the streets, beaks open and ready to fire Water Guns and maybe even Hydro Pumps. They fanned out, two or three going after each member of the fleeing pack. Water-type attacks hit my friends at full force, and the painful mewls and yowls that ensued made me sick. It took little more than a few Water Guns to fell the little Meowth and Litten, the more powerful Hydro Pumps being reserved for the Torracat and Persian. My father, still coughing from the Grimer's attacks, scrambled around with a panic-stricken face, trying to swat Wingull out of the sky and taking attacks to protect his pack. That should've been me. No, I realized. This shouldn't be happening at all, and it's my fault it is!

"Let me go!" I begged. "Stop the attack! They're suffering! Please!" I gathered all my strength and tried to squirm out of Totem Gumshoo's grip, but it was futile, and I sank to the ground helplessly. My father's attention turned to me then, and he began to barrel toward me, shouting my name and poising for attack. Gumshoos pointed at him with the arm he wasn't using to hold my head, and two powerful Pelipper swiftly landed in front of him seemingly out of nowhere. The Evolved form of Wingull, those guys had beaks so big they made up most of their bodies, able to hold, and shoot, gallons of water. And there were two of them. Ready to attack my father.

"Hydro Pump!" they yelled in unison, and two giant jets of impossibly pressured water shot from their beaks. Eyes wide, my father barely dodged the first one, but didn't get so lucky the second time. He screamed a blood-curdling yowl as the water hit him, sending him back several yards. All I could do was stare at the mess I'd created and hope that he would make it out okay.

When the Pelipper ceased fire, my father still stood, though he was breathing hard and shaking slightly. Relief washed over me all the same. "...Darkest Lariat!" he yelled, beginning his counterattack. Similarly to when I had done it, his paws were surrounded in dark fire, and he began spinning at high speed toward the Pelipper. They began to prepare another Hydro Pump, but he was too fast for them. His claws met one of their beaks dead on, and the Pelipper staggered back. For a minute, I was excited. I knew my father could take those two. He could do anything.

...Right?

"Air Slash!" the uninjured Pelipper squawked, covering for his friend. He flapped his wings until he had created a compressed blade of air, and sent it flying at my father. He flinched at its fast approach, then took the attack with a pained grunt; it was the perfect opportunity for the other Pelipper to swoop in. She got in close and started firing huge Hydro Pumps in a barrage, soon to be joined by her comrade. My father was brought to his knees, and his roars of pain didn't stop. Neither did the attacks. He was forced to the ground, no longer the strong, invincible god of a figure that was my father. He gathered the strength to look up at me, and though it destroyed me, I looked back at him and didn't look away. We were both being held down, our paws were on the ground. We were on the same level. Both helpless. But still I looked to him for guidance, thinking he'd know what to do. He'd know how to get out of this, like he always did. Yeah...it was only a matter of time...

Suddenly, the Gumshoos let go of my head, and I hit the ground hard. I groaned as he stepped over me and started toward my father. He called off the Pelipper, and cast his mighty shadow over my father's bent form, long now in the oncoming dusk. I knew I was free, that I should get up and get away while I still could, but something kept me from doing so. It was like some invisible Totem Gumshoos still held me down, forced me to watch what was about to happen.

"You are defeated," the Totem growled. My father daringly looked up at him, barely conscious now. "You and your pack. And I'll have you know that this is all his doing." He pointed to me, and my heart seized up.

"...No," my father retorted, but with none of his usual confidence. "He did nothing. It is you, refusing to let us live in peace. We steal because it's all we can do. So please...spare my son."

The Totem made a hiss of a laugh and kicked my father slightly, resulting in a fit of coughing and groaning. "You could've ended this peacefully, you know. This Incineroar...your son..." He gestured to me again. "was captured earlier today and was offered freedom with a warning. All you had to do was quietly relocate your pack, but that didn't happen. He went inexplicably berserk, took down countless of our soldiers. He is the reason you have fallen now. He is the reason I must do this." He brought his face close to my father's neck, charged up a Hyper Fang...and chomped.

"N-No," I stuttered. My mouth went dry. "No! Y-You...no!" I got to my feet, my shaky legs giving everything not to buckle. The giant Gumshoos turned to me, staring with dead, relentless, predatory eyes, fangs wet and red. I remembered that look and those fangs, from a memory I'd rather have suppressed...

"Litten, go! Hide! I'll be alright!" a compassionate voice sounded all too clearly in my mind, a voice of kindness I desperately needed but couldn't have. Then, I was a Litten again, tiny, unknowing and innocent, as I watched my mother try and fight off a group of Pokémon unknown to me at the time. I peeked my head out from our alley and watched her battle, and I was amazed at her strength. I found it fun, actually, to watch them go back and forth, seeing who would win. Perhaps they knew each other, and were simply battling for fun, or to test their power. But then, the strange Pokémon struck her down, his white fangs were suddenly stained red, and my mother didn't get back up. I wanted to run out there, ask the red-fanged Pokémon what happened to her, but I was pulled back into the alley before I could. A reassuring, yet saddened paw met my tiny shoulder and stroked it, and I looked into the eyes of my father, thinking that maybe he'd have the answer.

I learned about death that day, about how the Kalosian Yveltal spreads his red wings, swoops down and takes Pokémon's lives. His victims would never stand again, and my mother was no exception. I hadn't wanted to believe it at the time; I knew she would get back up and continue to live with us. I had hope. I just had to wait. So, I had left the alley, ran along the rooftops of Hau'oli City until I reached the Outskirts, previously unexplored to me. I came across a beach with an old human house supposedly inhabited by Pokémon, and I saw something stunning. A little Popplio, sitting alone by the water, watching the waves rise and fall as the moon moved the tides this way and that. I walked over to her, made no mention of my mother, and we became fast friends. I call her Primarina today.

And now, those frail legs of a Litten carried me once again, away from the Totem Gumshoos's angry stare, away from the lifeless body of my father, away from Hau'oli City. The Pokémon watched me leave in silence, letting me escape only to establish that if I was ever to return, they'd end my own life. They didn't say anything, but I was able to infer that for myself. The sky was stained orange as the sun set below Melemele Sea, normally a beautiful sight, but today I didn't care about it. Everything was gone now. I had no place to go.

I ran until the city was out of sight, and stopped somewhere on Route 1 to catch my breath. Closing my eyes, I lay on the grass, unafraid and uncaring this time of any Pokémon approaching me. I don't know how long I sat there, but when I opened my eyes again, countless stars dotted the sky, and the moon shone bright above me. Rarely did so many stars become visible back in Hau'oli City, and it dazzled me. I stared up at the deep blue night, searching out constellations and feeling accomplished when I found them. It was fun to be careless for once. If my life the way I knew it was indeed over, then I might as well make the most of what I had left.

"Hey." I jumped at the sudden sound, sitting straight up and breathing hard. I expected the worst, but as I searched around for danger, all I found were a mighty Dragonite and fair Primarina: my girlfriend's parents, walking toward me with sorry expressions. "You alright? We heard what happened." Her father spoke with an odd amount of sympathy, as I'd never heard anything but insults and ridicule from him.

"Uh, I...er..." I had no idea what to say to them. I must've looked like a fool, even more so than earlier. Dragonite sighed and held out his sharp claws to help me up. I absentmindedly took them and was pulled to my feet, nodding my head in thanks.

"I'm assuming you've nowhere to go," Primarina's mother said. "And I know we haven't been exactly...approving of our daughter's decision to date you, but...we want to do everything we can to help. You may stay in our home until term at the API begins. Does that sound alright?"

"Uh, well...okay." They nodded, and without another word, we started walking back toward the Outskirts, as the day of darkness, my eviction day, drew to a close.