I'm awoken by a swift prod to side, followed by a far less friendly punch to the gut.

"Is he up?" asks Dusty, turning to Lilly, who splays her hoof in what I think is supposed to be some kind of thumbs up.

"Yes," I reply, sucking in a breath and propping myself up against the willow. "Awake and in pain."

"Sorry." Dusty calls as I brush myself off and hoist myself onto my back legs. Out of everyone on the team, it's most likely that Dusty would legitimately push me off a branch 'on accident', so I'm willing to let it slide. Still, a quick glance around lets me know everyone else is watching and they're definitely not snickering on accident.

"Next time, you can just ask nicely." I cross my arms, feeling both embarrassed and a little sore in the back.

"We did. Then we tapped nicely. We wanted to pour some water on your head nicely, but Toxis said that was going to cause a lot more problems than it would solve." Dill says.

"Seriously, though, you sleep like a Snorlax. Were you having intense dreams or something?" Sky asks, patting me with one of her upper wings. "If something's wrong, you can tell us."

"What's wrong? Well, I was just hurled out of bed, but besides that, I'm fine." I say with a sideways leer. Upon thinking about it, I can't seem to remember my dreams at all, which is a good sign at this point. The last thing I need is to start dreaming about what an incompetent leader I am. Speaking of such... "Let me guess, we need to get going, don't we?"
"Now that you mention it." Sky flaps up and lands on my shoulder. Khrys, egg lodged between his stubby appendages, is on Shika's back already. Ferro and Chompers have a large bark tray of berries between them and another is tied to Dill by some vines. "We're ready when you are."
I nod. "If you insist. Let's get going, team!"

Lilly and I take up the front, with Toxis on Lilly's right and Rage on my left. The massive water snake has found his own way to traverse the forest, soaring just a foot above the ground and weaving through the trees like bizarre poles in some athletic contest. There are points where he hardly fits, but he's careful not to complain and the trees, firm as they usually are, crack and bend as he barrels through.

The rest of us, especially those with less fighting capability, take up the rear and middle. Gaia speaks with Shika in a hushed tone while Dill, Ferro, and Chompers contend with the burden of our food supply. Sky occasionally takes flight and circles us from above, dipping down to report, and the others are just keeping pace.

Still, I feel a swell of pride as I watch our little procession make good time through the forest. We look sophisticated. Lilly seems to share the sentiment, because she's smiling and though the morning sunlight is strong, I catch the faintest red glow from her head and tail gems.

To my surprise, Grim is standing unconcealed in the clearing, looking bored. Hux and the other Houndoom are nowhere in sight. The Gengar flashes us all a winning grin, but his minions are far more blunt. One of the Gastly states, "Took the lot of you long enough."

"Rick!" gasps Grim, hand half covering his massive smile in mock appallment. "That's no way to treat our honored customers."

"I apologize for our tardiness, but we're here now and we're ready to get going." I say, dipping my head. "I trust we'll need to make good time if we want to get out of Goldenrod in a matter of days."

"We could have you out by tonight. See, that's just one of our many virtues here at the Grim Road- we're efficient." Grim smirks, "Suppose you're right though. On with the show!" There's a snap and crack not unlike lightning fills the clearing as Grim disappears and reappears just past the edge of the tree line, and with another snap, Gastly appear all around us, just skirting the edge of our party save for a large gap in the line where Rage stands (or floats), looking bored.

I begin walking and the others follow my lead, pushing through the dense foliage. It's too dangerous to light a fire anywhere around here, but Toxis can hack away just as fast and I have a nice set of shears on me as well. More often than not, our 'guides' will fail to clear the way or just teleport around, through, or over obstacles, so we're on our own, which is hardest on Rage.

I scan the edge of the forest around his massive, red form, looking for signs of human civilization, and I'm grateful for once to find none. Shika was right about Rage giving up a lot to come back here- not only is it going to be far harder for him to quell his instincts, but he's also doomed to a life of being a walking target unless we can get him back to Ashley, fast. I feel a twinge of sympathy, but his face is still heavily intertwined with that night in my mind, the scent of blood and dead fish, the crunch of jaws closing on flesh...

I only realize I'm snarling when Grim calls me out on it. "You alright back there? Looks like someone swallowed a lemon."

"Are we close to Goldenrod?" I ask.

Grim has his arms crossed, tapping his fingers on his other arm. He's stationary, staring back at me, but as soon as I approach there's another crack and he's a good ten feet away. "Oh, so you're a results type. Fine, fine, we're close, but we're going to have to make a detour in a little bit. Be ready to veer right and run."

He's right, the trees clear up not too far ahead. Grim waves us off and the whole team stops, save for Rage, who's still undulating in midair. Grim's ears flatten like those of an angry cat and then, with a single nod, his arm snaps forwards. "Now."

I get down onto all fours and dash for it, bounding out of the woods and across asphalt that burns beneath my paws. I can feel the others nearby but I have no idea if we've been spotted or not, and there's nothing but the adrenaline of the run until I hit a wall. Recoiling from the hit, I stagger back onto my hind legs and look around. We're in a dark alleyway stocked with hulking, gleaming dumpsters and the other guide Pokemon standing at the exit. I breathe a sigh of relief as I count fourteen heads, one egg, and two close to full berry trays.

"Not bad, not bad. Entrance is up ahead." Grim says, and his smile looks a little more genuine and a little less creepy than usual.

The others seem in no mood to run again, and there's still fear in Shika's eyes. "Are we sure we didn't get seen?"

Grim shrugs. "Nah, it's early in the morning and we're in the suburbs, not the city proper. Lucky for us, there's this nice cluster of terrible fast food restaurants and a back entrance into the underground not too far from Illex. It's also a nice pit stop."

"I know where we are." Dill's fins perk up and he scatters berries as he rushes to the front. "This place is the best. Absolutely flooded with..."

"Garbage." Chompers wrinkles up his nose. "We noticed."

"Okay, you're the rat here. No need to be so self conscious." Dill snorts, then wriggles out of his reigns and passes them to Toxis, looking deathly serious all the while. "Hold my sleigh."

Toxis reaches out and grabs the reigns, clenching them tight against his chest as his boyfriend jumps on top of a dumpster, flips the top open, and begins rummaging through the trash. Several members of our team flinch with every loud noise, but Grim is just leaning against the alley and staring at the opposite wall.

"Oh man, these are still here?" Dill says, picking up a greasy bag. He throws it in the general direction of Gaia, who steps back with her hands up, and a sickeningly sugary doughnut slides out onto the alley ground, still intact. "I thought this place would've closed down by now... anyone want that?"

"I'll pass." calls Chompers.

"Not a fan of doughnuts, really." Gaia backs away from the saccharine infested nightmare before her.

"I'm debatin' if this is better or worse than eatin' grass." Millie says, casting a sideways glance towards me.

Sighing, I decide to take the safe option. "Worse. Our berry stores will hold us just fine. Dill, get out of there."

Dill nods and jumps out of the dumpster with a loud, metallic clang that shakes the whole area. The whole group flinches as if we've been hit, but Grim, who'd seemed stoic up until this point, is most disturbed. He looks out of the alley, and all our eyes follow his to find no one there. Still, he insists, "Well, we're leaving." and descends into the hellish depths of the tunnel system.

We follow without hesitation. It's a quick, coordinated action, and we come out into a well-maintained workplace, with all the scaffolding still in place. Though it looks a mess, it's decently vacant and quite a few ghost types are clustered about, talking about nothing. Their natural phantom phosphorescence lights the tunnels a strange violet. I count thirteen heads and turn around, realizing our mistake.

Someone can hardly fit into the tunnel. Rage is wriggling through the entrance with a pained expression, and it takes a painful few minutes for him to slide his whole body into the tunnels and he's still scraping every wall once he's free of the entrance. "Anyone behind you?" I ask, worried I may have miscounted.

"Are you kidding? No one wants to be anywhere near me." Rage grumbles.

Another count reveals that we do indeed have fourteen, so depressing as that was, he's right. Grim begins leading us past the mildly displeased ghost types with his signature grin still intact, all his earlier fear dissipated like morning dew on a blistering summer day.

I return to shepherding my teammates, though Lilly, who's lit up in her glorious red hues, has already assumed a role at the front. As I press through the others, I stop next to Dill and Toxis for a while to listen in their conversation and potentially have a chat with Dill about his recent behavior.

"Smells like something curled up and died here." Toxis says, speaking to his chubby Vaporeon companion. "I still have no idea how you're so calm about all this."

"Oh... I grew up here." Dill says. His fins flutter slightly and he tilts his head and raises a shoulder, which messes his stride up. Most I can figure, it was a vague attempt at a shrug, but none of us can quite make the same expressions as Pokemon as we could as humans.

"You never told me that." Toxis replies.

Dill laughs, "Well, I kind of fell here after I got separated from my mother. I was suffering some real good amnesia so I walked around, got beaten up, good times, good times. Eventually I just kind of made it up to Bill's house and then Ashley found me. That's pretty much all the childhood I had."

The team, which has been paying rapt attention up until this point, dares not offer up any stories of their own. Most of us were either young or alone when we were caught, so it's unlikely we had good family lives. Lilly, who must be bored at the front, calls back and breaks the tension: "It's probably better for those of us who didn't have one. Considering that we were written out of existence, our loved ones likely won't recognize us anyways."

"You haven't thought about this already, have you?" asks Shika.

"I... Never mind that. " Lilly says, perking her ears upwards. She takes a few good steps away from Grim and the group, standing on the metal tracks that have begun to occupy more of the tunnel's width. "Does it bother anyone else that this place feels familiar?"

"Was there somewhere like this in Kalos?" I ask.

"No, there wasn't." Sky promises, laughing. "If it was Kalos, it would be ten times nicer- and there would be baguettes."

"Is that all you got from living in Kalos for a year?" asks Gaia. "You are aware Kalos has a rich and diverse culture outside of a few pastries, aren't you?"

"True, true." Khrys pauses, eyes glittering with mischief, "There'd be baguettes and those Pokepuff things. Perhaps a salon..."

"I'm going to be honest, I could actually go for a baguette right now." Sky sighs, stopping on Shika's horns and curling her wings inwards around her stomach. "How's the egg?"

Khrys smiles. "Fine."

I let out a sigh of relief I didn't know I had in me. The group is doing well and that's all I can ask for.

"Are there other places like this in Johto?" asks Lilly. "This is fascinating."

Grim replies, "I wouldn't know. Haven't left the area since I was a Gastly."

"I feel like we would have stumbled on it. Adventure and danger follow Goldeneyes like Beedrills follow picnickers." Chompers mutters. "Did you ever see anything?"

Grim pauses, shifting to look over at the sheepish Raticate. "Did one of you just say 'Goldeneye'?" Many of the Gastly escorting us swivel around as well.
Given our track record, this is enough to send the whole team into defense mode. Elemental energy crackles around my teammates, who seem ready to strike, but I wave them down.

"What's it to you?" I say, the faintest hint of a growl in my voice.
Grim laughs, a deep and uncomfortable sound. "Oh, don't stress it. Us Gengar, as one of the noble breed, know plenty about Goldeneyes. One of my cousins is under the services of a Goldeneye himself."

"Would that so happen to be Morty?" I ask, excited. "We're going to find Morty ourselves."

"Ey, why didn't you just say so?" A friend of Morty is a friend of mine. Ghost type users are good folk, if a bit erratic. They have great taste in companions." His disposition has changed entirely, and the whole team seems to be feeling much less tense. This also happened not to be a trap... so, all in all, score one for Bronze.

Feels good.

"Morty's a real strange one though. You have a kitsune at your services and you turn to catching ghost types?" one of the Gastlys cackles. "He could be the champion now if he played to his strengths."

"I suppose it might be to find the spirits of the Pokemon he lost. He had a whole team of Pokemon who went down during a tragic battle. I don't think Miki- er, the kitsune... she doesn't fight for him." Sky says, explaining the ordeal.

Grim flicks an ear, looking pensive. "So the rumors about him losing an entire team are true, then. Shame that he's still wasting his time."

Another Gastly replies, "Eh, I don't blame him. There've been attempts by humans to find their loved ones by rummaging through the ranks of the dead ever since humans first began to tame Pokemon."

Far away, a train wails and the whole party stops dead. "Speaking of the dead... we need to get out of here. I want all of you that way, stat! There's a side tunnel that we can hide in until it passes."

There's another screeching cry, growing louder and louder, and we run as if Red himself is at our heels. Grim teleports ahead, a symphony of snapping sounds as his Ghost type companions fall away, spooked enough to disappear to who knows where. He guides us right into the tunnel, and I help the others pile in. Everyone dashes in save for Rage, who is stuck and thrashing. The earth above threatens to give way, crumbling around him as the old scaffolding of the side tunnel shakes, and Grim snarls.

"We don't have time for this!" Grim snaps, "We need to get out of here. You two, grab my hand. We'll teleport away."
I stare at the tail still swinging violently just inches from us. "I can't let him get cleaved in two by a train."
"We're about to be cleaved in two by a train if we don't move!" Grim spreads his hands out. There's a bright light in the distance, a thousand beams of awful white shining around Rage's tail, and Grim stares us both down.
"This is where we part ways, then. Good luck, but I'm not dying for a job."

There's a snap, a wail, and Lilly and I kick it into high gear.

Lilly aims a blast of lightning, aided by my fire, just above the tunnel, and the rock explodes around Rage, letting him free. The tunnel trembles, but another blast of lava holds the scaffolding against the ceiling as Rage wriggles free, lips wide, and flies past the others, knocking several of them over. Sky cries out in alarm as Shika falls with her egg, and Lilly and I dash into the tunnel. The metal, now burned and twisted, isn't holding, and as the train speeds past the unstable supports give way. This time, it's Ferro and Chompers who step forwards, and with a double Protect they deflect a massive slide of rocks from us, their blue light burning my eyes until it, too, finally gives out and we're left to darkness.

(A/N: Oh, the delays. I'd have these out sooner if my characters weren't so intent on talking to each other so damn much. Everyone wants a piece of the screentime pie... save for maybe... uh... Gaia, but Gaia's always been a strange Ducklett. Anyhow, here you go.

Side note, for the laughs: my cousin recently got their first game (Sun) and has since beat the entire game in the time it took me to... get to the second island. While competing on the Battle Tree, they asked for my advice on who to fight (between Red and Blue). I obviously replied Red, and they came back fifteen minutes later and declared that "Wow, Red was really easy!"

You heard him, Red. If a thirteen year old can kick your ass in our world, so can a traumatized fifteen year Goldeneye in the body of a thirteen year old who's really the reincarnation an almost ageless onion fairy. Everyone's going to kick your ass. Chompers could kick your ass. You're easy. We're coming for you.)