My Pokemon don't notice the signal until the next morning.

Until then, I thought I might have imagined things. I thought that maybe, for once, this timeline was going to be slightly more compliant than the other for whatever reason. Heck, I thought we may have been okay.

It's never okay.

It begins when Ten wakes up and asks, "Does anyone else hear a slight ringing?" I feel my heart drop in my stomach.

"I do and it's incredibly irritating." Basil hisses.

Fang yawns, pressing out the blanket beneath him. He lowers his head and begins scratching his ear with one of his back paws. "I guess it's a little annoying," he admits. "Usually when I hear weird noises, it's just stuff up my ear but nope, definitely something ringing in the area."

"It's not going to stop us." I say cheerfully, trying to hide my dread. "We've got a whole lot of grinding to do today before we challenge the gym, team! Let's get up and go at it!"

The whole team smells the fakeness of my enthusiasm immediately. My smile fades as it's met by widespread disapproval by the rest of the team, all of whom look anxious at best and irritated at worst (especially Basil, who is slowly shaking his head from side to side).

"This happened last time, didn't it?" Rose asks, knowing full well that it's a redundant question. "What's going on?"

"Yes it did." I admit. "It was a signal from Team Rocket. They were trying to control Pokemon using radio waves, but it barely affected us. It did affect a Gyarados at the Lake of Rage, though. We had to take it out and... it didn't end well."

Lilly.

"I can definitely hear it." Rose says. Her eyes narrow. "Whatever it is. Though it hardly seems to be worth worrying about. For now, I say we all stay on our guard, possibly do some flashing, devise a battle strategy for the Lake of Rage, and keep Pisces in her Pokeball. Simple."

"Somehow I get the feeling simple isn't going to cover it." Ten clucks. "This is a frequency I appear to be rather unfamiliar with."

"If it gets too bad, you'll withdraw us, right?" Reginae asks nervously.

"Of course." I say.

"Good." Basil says sharply. "Can we leave and perhaps put some distance between us and this? It'ssss giving me the creeps."

The whole team exchanges nervous smiles and we leave without eating breakfast. Not one of us is hungry.

We're out of the hotel in just under half an hour and almost out to the route when the pulsing grows louder. My Pokemon all seem to notice it and while Fang is cocking his ears to try to get a source on it, the others are either trying to cover their ears or pretending (badly) that nothing is wrong.

I hear a garbled voice in my mind, somewhere between a mechanical whine and Red's overconfident, smug, disgusting voice: Ashleeeeeeeeeeeeey.

"Who are you?! How do you know my name?!"

He's been asking for you.

"Ashley, what's wrong?" Reginae asks. "Ugh- this really- Ashley please answer me. Ashley?"

You're so close. You're so, so very close. How fortunate for you- you get to be next.

I find myself turned towards the lake and shake my head. I begin moving at a quick pace towards Mount Mortar.

"I changed my mind." I say.

Let's leave it hurts I'm hurting

Celebi stirs in my mind. I start walking faster and break out into a run. When I reach the cave entrance, I stare down a massive cave in. The entire area is a wreckage, savagely attacked by wild Pokemon who must have heard the signal. I race across the town and towards the Ice Cave, my heart pulsing faster and faster, and I look around to see that all the Pokemon trainers who usually adorn the route are gone. I notice blood stains leading towards the water and feel sick. Just as I suspected, though, the cave is closed as well. I stare towards my flying Pokemon and feel deeply wary.

I don't know how long we're going to hold out, but one thing is definite- we're stuck.

"Ashley!" Rose's telekinetic powers reach out for my hand and I slap myself across the face. "Calm down! If there's any way to get out of here, it's by taking out the signal. Don't you know where the source is if you've gotten rid of it before?"

"The signal is close to us but we can't go in there alone. I almost died last time and I- I think I'm going to-" I tell them, pressing my face into my hands. I can't vomit and I can't cry now so the previous statement holds no wait. I just need to think. What did I do last time, what did I do- oh Arceus no." I draw my hands away at the realization. "W-we have to go to the Lake of Rage. We need to dispatch the Gyarados there." I mutter.

"Pisces can take her out." Fang says cheerfully.

"We can't let Pisces out. We don't know what she'll do."

"Pisces isn't like that." Fang insists, stomping a paw down. "She's your Pokemon. She's my friend. She's stronger than any of us and you know it."

I shake my head. "I can't risk it."
"She's the only one of us who knows electric moves. If there really is another Gyarados at the Lake of Rage, we're going to need her." Fang says intently. Whatever he's learned from being with Pisces or potentially from evolving has unfortunately made him a great arguer.

As we near the route, I release Pisces. She emits a purring sound as she sees us and then grows stiff and cold. Her face fins twitch. "What's that?"

"It's a signal from Team Rocket. If you feel like you're going to go nuts, can you give us a heads up?"

"This is really that bad, isn't it." Her voice is a low grumble. "I respect your trust in me. I will do what I can."

As we keep walking along, Rose blurts out suggestions like "Move faster!" and "For goodness sake stop tangling with feral Pokemon! Let's keep our strength for the main event."

"Is everyone okay?" I ask.

Everyone nods for the fifth time today. "Okay."

I close my eyes and reach out for the golden bonds only to find all of them thin and vibrating like violin strings, impossible to grab. My mind's eye is incredibly blurry as well, as if I'm just making it all up, and I eventually give up.

"There has to be something we can do." Reginae mutters. "Ashley. Have you contacted Morty? We need to know what's going on in Ecruteak. He might be able to help."

"That's... a great idea." I say. "Everyone keep the pace up." I pull out my Pokegear and my fingers move for me. Morty. Morty can you hear that.

His answer comes in seconds. Oh sweet Lugia you hear it too.

"It's everywhere." I inform the team grimly.

My fingers shiver as I type in the next letters, What's going to happen to us? Pokemon growing very irritable. Bonds not working properly. Unable to flash.

Morty replies, Same over here. Local Pokemon growing increasingly hostile. Putting Pokemon in Pokeballs. Miki also feeling unwell. She keeps returning to her feral form and As for me, I'm going to have to wait this out. Hopefully it goes away?

It's not going to stop. I tell him. Tears splash the screen. My head seethes with pain and urges. I want to break my Pokegear in two. I want to tell Morty every detail of our last kiss. I want him to hurt. He didn't do anything, he failed, I failed, I just want the pain to stop...

It wasn't this bad last time, was it?

I finally text him back. No.

Suddenly, the phone begins ringing.

It's an unknown number. My hand trembling, I pick it up.

A blast of noise and heavy static roars through the phone, followed by the cries of several Pokemon. I can barely identify them through the terrible sound quality, so I just yell "Hello?!"

It goes quiet. A single voice is speaking in a tongue I can not understand. It raises to a growl and then I hear Red's voice: "Nice try."
I drop the Pokegear. It clatters on the ground for a bit and then stops moving. A long, sustained beep informs me that the person on the other side has hung up.

My fingers are numb as I pick it up.

"What's going on?" asks Reginae nervously. "Is Morty okay? Do we have back up?" His pitch raises higher and higher in his panic and I have no idea what to say.

I sound no calmer. "They've got the phone too. I don't know what's wrong with me! Who would even call me anyways?!" I laugh nervously. "Okay. No more contact. We just need to keep going."

As I walk, reaching the last bend in the road before the Lake of Rage with the rest of the team following in complete silence, I press my hands against my ears and try to cup them as if to stop the sound, and they feel fickle and far too long.

These aren't my hands and this isn't my body.

Time is slowing down around me... no. It's normal, but I get the feeling it's not supposed to be like this. I am confined to three dimensions where there should be four. Celebi is panicking as the signal wears at us both.

There's a roar right overhead that snaps me back to reality.

Gyarados.

I immediately look towards the distant lake only to hear another roar come from the opposite direction.

Pisces is writhing in pain, swinging her head about as if to dispel an intruder from within her own brain. She slams downwards, almost hitting the ground, and Fang jumps out of the way.

"Woah! Easy girl." Fang calls up to her. "What's wrong? Are you-" Pisces's slitted pupils fix on Fang standing below her and she bares her teeth, silencing him. Fang tucks his tail between his legs and begins moving away from her. "Are you in there?" he finishes.

Pisces opens her mouth wide and a bright beam of ice energy grows between her gaping maw.

"Don't you recognize me?" Fang asks, desperate. His ears flatten and for a second he looks no older than when we found him at Bill's doorstep. "I'm your friend."

The Blizzard attack comes out quickly and it's wide enough in range that Ten and Reginae need to move away as well. The grass where they were is now covered in a mess of ice and dirt thrown up into flash-frozen formations.

I slam the Pokeball against Pisces's chest and her whole body glows red before retreating into the Pokeball. Another Gyarados calls in the distance. I can't make out what it's saying either.

When I am closest to Pokemon, somehow I'm growing further away. Is there something different about feralized Pokemon that I can't understand?

Pushing the thought aside, I look around at my team. "Is anyone else... not feeling well?" I look around at the semi-hostile expressions. They're just trying to push it out of their minds. They're fine.

"They're in my head." Reginae admits. "It hurts, Ashley."
"Do you want to go back to your Pokeball?" I'm already reaching for his as I speak, just in case of another surprise attack.
"I can hold it for a little longer." he says, wincing. It's a painfully fake display of bravery but his eyes water up from the pain of holding himself together and I want to find strength in his strength. I slip the Pokeball away.

"I'm feeling just fine." hisses a guttural voice. I recognize the shift as if suddenly someone in the area is speaking a different language.

I turn just in time for Basil to dart forwards and swing around, his whiplike tail hitting me right across the face. It stings badly and I feel the area of impact go numb and suddenly feel quite warm.
"That was for my trainer, you bitch!" he calls. Some residual emotional pain from the last time we flashed bubbles up but these aren't my feelings.

I move fast. Within a few seconds, I hold Basil's Pokeball up but another swing of Basil's tail knocks it out of my hand, sending seething pain up my right arm. Clutching it to my chest, I jump out of the way of his next attack and find myself sprawled on the ground.

"Ashley!"

I don't know whose voice it is. I look up to see Basil, his pupils dilated and his expression ravenous, and as he strikes I tilt my left arm upwards to protect myself. A blade of green energy extends from it and as Basil pounces, his entire head is split straight open.

I scramble back after being hit with a large hunk of bloody snake, getting to my trembling feet and staring down at the bloody, torn up corpse before me. It hardly looks real and Basil's glazed-over eyes stare up at me in pure terror. My reflection glints off his massive top fangs.

I press my hand against my face gently. The gash is long, tracing its way all the way down the side of my cheek and down to my neck, and when I draw my hand back it is covered in blood. My eyes burn and my breathing grows fast and heavy. All of my bones ache and I feel as if my left arm is made of lead.

The team backs away and I move my hand from my face.

"Next time." I say, barely able to process the first time. "Next time anyone feels off in any way. I want you to yell immediately."

Blood oozes from the corpse as I stare back down at it. "Arceus save us all." I whisper, but right now there are no gods.

(A/N: AND WE'RE BACK. How's that for ending vacation with a bang? And by bang I mean a long, painful, shhhhhhhhng type of noise. However it sounds when a blade of pure energy cuts you right through the head. (What a way to die!) Hopefully no one read right down to the author's note because if so I think I just spoiled the chapter.

ANYWAYS I'm going update every day this week and would really appreciate fanart/comments/PM support because this is the hardest arc to write and man did I edit this one up. I still think it's a bit too edgy which makes it a tad cheesy but after MONTHS OF PLANNING I'm finally at the last "mini-arc" of Arc 1 of the story. Arc 2 will involve POV changes, the original team, and way more feels, so get pumped for that.

I will be updating again tonight (probably in about an hour or two depending on when I eat dinner) so if anyone has any ideas for how the next four Pokemon are going to fall I want to hear them. I already know the order but I'm curious how close everyone thinks how close Ashley is to certain members of the team (yes this is a factor but it's not the only factor in how quickly this takes you).

Also if anyone has donations to give to the Help Morty Come Out Of The Goldeneye-Proof Closet foundation, I'll be accepting them now.)