Beep, beep, beep-

My hand slams down on the cabin alarm clock's snooze button with a groan. I roll to the other side of the bed, praying for a few more precious minutes of sleep, but then my Pokegear starts vibrating like crazy. It moves slowly towards the edge of my desk and then falls off, landing on Fang's head with a clink and a frightened yelp.

"Don't take me! I promise I'm not gonna-" Fang jumps to his paws, then blinks, wincing slightly. "Ouch."

Ten and Reginae both get up almost immediately. "Bloody hell, Fang, we thought something actually happened to you! Now, can someone tell me why-" Ten lets out a small owlish yawn, ruffling up his feathers and clearing his throat, "Why that infernal thing was vibrating again?"

"I don't know! I keep notifications off for a reason." I snap, picking up the Pokegear off the floor. Fang growls at it. Flipping it open, I continue, "I don't really want to deal with other people right now. Pokemon, sure! Whatever! But people? Can I just never talk to a person again? That would be great."

"Right... so what is it?" Reginae asks, stumbling over Fang's tail. Fang yelps again but his frustrated glance eventually gives way to an eyeroll worthy of Rose. Pressing his head against my lap, he asks, "Hello up there?"

I glare over the text messages, not liking what I see.

Ashley!
Ashley did you beat the gym?!

Twenty three days, Ashley...

So... it's been a while and you haven't responded?

Are you okay?
GET YOUR STINKING HUMAN FLESH SUIT HERE RIGHT NOW CELEBI WE HAVE A WORLD TO SAVE AND SO HELP ME I WILL RUN OVER TO BLACKTHORN MYSELF IN KITSUNE FORM AND YOU WILL NOT LIKE WHAT YOU SEE

That was Miki. Not me. I'm not saying she's right but she's right

Ashley?
Okay, I'm tagging this as urgent. Your Pokegear says you're away but online so maybe you're just ignoring me.

Are you getting these?
Good morning.

Hello.

Hi.

I reply, I'm here! Arceus, Mew, and Ho-oh, what do you want from me?!

Why did you never text me back? I've been trying to contact you for days! Lance says Clair told him you got the badge. I'm impressed, usually Clair throws a temper tantrum and challengers have to get the badge from the Dragon's Den.

My Pokemon are good negotiators. Um. I hesitate. Rose died and I blacked out. I've been resting for a few days but I guess there's no use in that now, is there?

Not to be rude but the world is ending. Morty replies. Can you get to Ecruteak by tonight? We're going to have to do this quickly.

I try not to say anything but just thinking of the coming task is enough to set me off again. morty i don't want to do this. I look over the note and then backspace slowly. I shake my head and think of two nights ago, of Reginae and I, of everything Rose stood for. I'll be there. In fact, you can expect me early. ;)

Love you, I type, then backspace.

Missed you! It will be nice to see you again- Backspace.

See you soon. Sent.

Sorry for your loss. See you soon. Lots to discuss then. Safer when we're not alone. He sends each sentence one at a time, with barely seconds between.

My eyes start to water up (not from tears this time, more from the screen exposure this early in the morning) and I finally put the thing away. "Looks like we're heading out." I tell the team. The three awkward men before me look somewhere in the region of casually disappointed and well, ready. It may have been days since the battle, but it feels like years.

I change in a matter of seconds and walk outside, stretching out and running my arm along Pisces's side. She's been sleeping outside of the house since no one has told us she couldn't yet.

"Are we going to go back?" Ten asks.

"Eh? Why?" I stretch my hands skywards, my breath white in the cold morning. The sky is a dull gray, like the underside of a snow fort, and frost settles on everything. Not a single person is out and all the bird Pokemon might as well be gone. It looks as if the city itself has gone into hibernation.

Ten huffs. "You left your stuff all over the place."

"I think I paid rent for a month." I rub my eyes. "If anything happens, I want to come back here. I know it's ridiculous, but this place means something to me."

"Didn't your entire team die here?" asks Fang. "That doesn't sound sentimental. That sounds..."

"Traumatizing." Ten finishes.

"I feel closer to them here." My voice comes out raspier than I intended, almost desperate with some kind of ethereal longing. "Sorry. Anyhow." I compose myself. "Before we leave, I have an idea." I brush past them and quickly enter the Pokemon Center, bringing the three of them along, and tap the counter for a good five minutes.

Though the place smells as nose-numbingly sanitized as a normal Pokemon Center, there's also the faint scent of wood and antiques. Pictures of famous gym battles and old trainers who made it this far clutter the walls, all perfectly framed. The whole place also seems to be empty.

"Maybe we're early?" Ten suggests.

"Eh." I say, sitting down in a leather couch. No Pokemon Center I know could afford this, at least not a Johto one.

I'm completely sunk into its comfort when A Nurse Joy finally arrives from the back. Her eyes are rimmed with dark circles. She has an Audino instead of a Blissey, a worn outfit with subdued, almost dismal hues, and she overall looks more like a funeral mourner than a nurse. "Hello? How may I help you?" Her smile is unbearably bittersweet.

"I need to make a withdrawal. Can you pull up Minerva?"

"ID?" she asks, typing something into an old PC that hums violently as it boots up.

"506309." I reply, staring at my trainer card.

She places a Pokeball on the counter within a minute. The machine stops humming.

I take it and throw it across the room. It bursts in midair, and out comes a pissed off Vulpix. "Where am I?!" she demands.

Fang blinks. "Her?"

"Yep."

"Me." confirms the Vulpix. "Now, what do you want?"

"We kind of sort of need a new team member." I tell her, sitting down so we're at eye level.
"Same as I sort of don't have a choice." Minerva replies curtly. "Never fear. I have plenty of free time, now that I've been confined to a Pokeball. Really enjoyed spending the last month of my life in there, by the way."

"I can release you." I say sheepishly.

"No, no. I absolutely insist you use me." She waves her paw lazily, her gaze venomous. I reach towards my Pokeball and her fangs show, sharp and white like large thorns. "Seriously. I mean it."

I withdraw her anyways, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, and Reginae, Ten, and Fang all give me a look that says something like nice going, real great job. I huff. "We're going."

When we make it outside, I withdraw the others, including Pisces (who merely yawns at my presence, hardly impressed). Ten, the last Pokemon standing, shakes his feathers and his wings grow bright with the blue blades associated with Fly, putting an entire extra foot on his wingspan. I crawl on and he takes a running start and leaps into the sky. It's a rough ascent and my bags jostle for a good minute before settling high above the ground. Despite how unsteady he looks and how small he is, he's actually quite the efficient flier. The cave, strangely low as it is, passes us by over the course of a few minutes. Ten adeptly swings around its highest peaks and dips low over Mahogany to ride the currents there before moving back up around Union Cave. While this might sound beautiful, even idyllic, I assure you it's anything but.

Ten cooes as I cling on for dear life. "Enjoying the ride?"

"I never thought I'd have to use you as my flying Pokemon." I tell him, staring down at the world as it passes beneath us, only to grow far closer as he dips and then further away as he soars back upwards with almost no effort, propelled by the sheer might of his extended wingblades. "A-aren't you a bit uneasy with me on your back?" I ask.
"Huh? You want to defy a cheese back? Ashley, are you quite alright?" Ten tilts his head and we swerve to avoid a tree.
"No!" I yell. "Forget it, I'll talk to you later."

"You can talk to me here! Looks like we're going down!" Ten says, circling over Ecruteak.
"Take it easy!" I yell again, clutching onto his feathers. My bag sways slightly and I begin to pray that my Pokemon are safe in their pocket.

"Make you queasy? Well, I dunno, but if you insist..."

"TEN!" I shriek.
"Lay off, I heard that one. I'll make this an easy descent." Ten takes a few sweeping circles as he descends slowly, letting me slide right off his back and onto the ground in one miserable lump of depressed, seasick Celebi Goldeneye.

Ten bows. "Thank you for flying with Noctowl Airlines, if you ever need a ride, we'll be by your side! Make sure to upgrade to our new first class-"

"Ten. Shut up." I say, lying on the grass in front of the theatre with my arms stretched wide. "Ugh. I loved this place last time around. Sky and Khrys had some kind of engagement party or something here."

Ten takes my Pokeballs out of my bag, one by one, and struggles to get them open with his talons. I grab a few and throw them, and Reginae and Pisces both emerge. Reaching into my bag, I throw out the others. Fang immediately runs to Pisces, yelling, "Awww yeah! Who's ready to throw down?!" and Pisces roars so loudly that I think my eardrums are going to pop again. Several townspeople look up.

"Okay." I say, lifting myself to my feet. "Alright. We're fine. Everyone good? Good." I take a Pokeball and point it towards Minerva's head. "This battle's going to be one of our toughest yet. For now, I think it's best that you-"

"Hold up! Are you leaving me out of this?!" Minerva asks. "I'm not here to sit pretty, sorry to break it to you." Her tails swish and another cold as ice glare lets me know she means business.

"Knock yourself out." I say, in no mood to argue. "Literally. You're going to get knocked out." I throw the doors open and see the five kimono girls already standing there in formal attire. Morty sits where the audience would usually cluster around on throw pillows, but today, I am the show. I move forwards, Pokemon by my side, and take the left stairs up to the stage. Props litter the back of the stage, all of them clustered and thrown against the sides, including multiple murals detailing old landscapes. "So?" I ask. "This is some kind of test, right?"

"We're not giving you the Tidal Bell, the ancient key to summon Lugia, until you can prove yourself worthy. Perverted or not, our lord will not be summoned early without it." Kuni, oldest of the kimono girls, who is wrapped in beautiful cool blues, dangles a small bell from her fingers, attached by a string. It's toll is lovely and deep, like ocean waves. She snatches it away, holding it in her palm.

"This isn't your Lugia." I tell them.

"This isn't your fight." responds Kuni. "We're simply giving you a chance to participate. Fail, and we take care of Lugia our way. You're lucky my dear sister and Morty think you have a chance at all."

"Don't be so harsh." Naoko says. "We've all seen her kindness. We've all watched her from afar throughout this journey. With or without our sister's advice, she is the one human besides Morty himself we can trust with this."
"We owe her this. For our mother. For our brother. For all the worlds that will never be." Miki insists.

"Don't bring her into this!" snaps Kuni. She fixes me with a canine glare. "Now, hero of Johto, if that is what you wish to be... you must fight us all at once. Are you ready?"

I look to my Pokemon. "Are we?"

They nod. My eyes blaze gold.

We begin.

All five of the kimono girls take on kitsune form, even more fearsome than their regular Pokemon forms, with all nine tails streaming out behind them. Kuni lunges for me first and I duck aside, only for Reginae to cover the hit. Leaves fly through the air, a swarm of them just shy of her back, but she disappears and reforms just inches away.

I can feel all of my Pokemon, even Minerva, engaged in the battle. Ten and Pisces take alternating shots at Naoko and Zuki, who fight in tandem, using Psybeam or Bite to cover while the other heals. Fang jumps at the chance to finally use Assurance, his newest move, and Pisces simply swings her tail and sends the others flying. Energy wells in her mouth only to be deflected by Naoko's Light Screen, and a lightningbolt hits her square in the face. She roars, falling back, and Fang hesitates. Zuki jumps forwards with shining jaws and sharp claws only for a blast of fire to hit her straight in the face. She falls just to Fang's side and the two engage head on, biting and tussling.

Just feet away, Minerva smirks, snorting smoke. She rushes to Sayo, one of the youngest, who seems to be avoiding her every move. Sayo brushes past her and paralyzes her with just a touch of her fur, but the instance brings her close enough for her to burn her opponent. She smirks, lying still on the floor- Sayo flinches slightly, the fire beginning to sap away at her health.

In the heat of it all, I stand silent, tracking every battle in my head and giving silent orders. Open your jaw and keep shooting, Minerva! Fang, hit her around the rings, that's how she uses Moonlight! Reginae-

"Turn around." whispers a voice.

I turn and am immediately kicked in the gut by Miki. She snarls and rounds on me, a furious ball of teeth and fire, and I see two paths in my mind's eye. Against my common sense, I move towards her. She jumps straight upwards and Reginae barrels her out of the way, followed by Kuni, who is still at his feet.

Seriously, nothing? I ask.

I have one more trick. It's going to be risky. Reginae exchanges a single glance with me and we understand.

Now's the time!

His eyes burn white and a storm of petals flow around him, more than I've ever seen in the whole time we've been together. The utter tornado of pink engulfs Kuni and Reginae begins focusing the entire blast of flowers (a phrase I now have the pleasure of having said) into a small, direct beam as I dodge another attack from Miki, this time by diving to the right. She pushes me back towards Reginae's line of attack and I try to snap him out of it, but nothing's working. The petals just keep coming and Reginae is crying out in pain now.

Shoot shoot shoot-

Petal Dance. Of course he can't switch out of Petal Dance.

Miki rushes forwards, cloaked in fire, and Ten's wings flare outwards and then funnel into a blade of air. It hits her right in the face and she flinches just long enough for Reginae to stop, staggering backwards. He mumbles something beneath his breath and I move to protect him. Miki ducks down and pounces. My protective instincts kick in and a blade of energy extends down my hand and outwards past it. The vorpal sword rakes along her side, a long and awful gash, and I scream in my throat, remembering Basil. She falls and stops on the ground, skidding across the contest hall floor with blood rushing down her side.

"Miki!" call Morty and I at once.

"I'm fine." she says, turning to Morty. "Really." She falls over, breathing heavily.

"Y-you could have died! Are you kidding me?" I ask.

Miki smiles. "I didn't." She turns back to her human form, still lying on the ground, and clutches her side. Her clothes are unbloodied and her fellow sisters around her get up from where they were lying, as if the entire thing was little more than a dramatic interpretive dance. "Not only did you win, you won spectacularly. From me to you, I believe you've earned this." She passes me a small rock and my mouth falls open.

"Really? These are super rare, you know!"
"Exactly! Don't you have someone who needs it?" she asks.

"Minerva, you interested?" I ask, turning to the Vulpix.

"Looks like we're paying dividends now." She smirks. "I'll bite." Minerva presses her head against the blazing rock fur shines with vibrant light as it turns from orange to a pale cream, her eyes blazing red with all the fury of her old pelt. Her nine new tails flare out behind her like those of the kitsune, and she stares back at us all with elegance and pure elation alike. "Oh. Oh yes! That's some firepower!"
"Whatever." Fang says. "Now where are we spending the night?"

"I've got a guest room." Morty pipes up from the audience. "My house is just a block from here."

"Oh." I say. In all honesty, it doesn't sound that bad. "Well, if you insist..."

We walk back in the darkness, and this time Pisces unfortunately can't sleep around the house. Instead, she withdraws into her Pokeball and Morty walks me up to the guest room, which is out on the corner of his house. It's a pale blue room that was clearly not designed by him in any way. It's nigh untouched, decorated only by a few empty picture frames and a few boxes in the closet.

"Sorry, this is all stuff from my old house. Before I became a gym trainer." He kicks the closet closed. "Hey... you mind if we have a minute in here alone?"

I nod, trying to stare past his closet door. The room smells like new paint and half broken things collecting dust. It makes me sad just being in here, but I'm also grateful to have a roof over my head, even if it reminds me of my room in New Bark- empty.

Even if it smells just a bit too much like the empty room next to the attic that my mother doesn't sleep in anymore.

Home just creeps its merry way into every bit of this place.

Morty closes the door and I sprawl out onto the bed.

"We're going to go tomorrow, aren't we?" I ask, staring up at the ceiling.

Morty stares out at the city, head in one palm, his other hand clenching the side of the guest bed. "Sure are."

I spread my arms out wide, hitting the edge of the bed on one side and landing just inches from Morty's fingertips on the other.

"Do you think we're going to have to kill him?"
"That's what Lance has ordered, but there's a reason we're getting a Master Ball." Morty says, not meeting my line of sight.

"Would that even be better?" I ask. "We don't know what's happened to him." My fingers clutch at the bedsheets. "He might not even remember me, Morty. Wait... he can't."

"What do you mean?" Morty asks. His tone is still comforting but there's a note of confusion in it, as if even he has no idea what to say at this point.

"The 'Ashley' he grew up with was different." My grip on the blankets tears the side of the fitted sheet up.

Morty stands, looking down at the bed, and then his gaze meanders back towards me. "I don't know what to tell you, Ashley."

My Pokemon are making a ruckus in the hall by now. "What are they even talking about in there?" asks Reginae.

"Nothing interesting." grumbles Minerva. "Humans, am I right?"

"Our human!" snaps Fang.

I look back at Morty, who is staring down the hallway absentmindedly. "I can't do this." I tell him.

"The universe isn't giving us a choice."

"We have time. We have weeks." I plead. I'm standing up now too, just inches away from him. "We can put it off."

"The longer it takes, the harder it will be. Whatever Team Rocket needed a month for, I can guarantee it isn't pretty." Morty insists. He grabs my hand. His own fingers are hot and slightly sweaty, terribly uncomfortable and in no way reassuring. He's trembling slightly.

I tighten my grip and make it a mutual hand hold. The two of us stand in silence again, listening to the clatter down the hall.

"Alright, all of you away from the door!" barks Miki in her Flareon form.

There's a skittering of paws and Minerva's high pitched laughter. Something hits the ceiling and I let go. "We should probably take care of that."

"Yeah." He touches the bottom of my chin with his other hand, his fingers barely stroking it. His touch is electric and his dark eyes are like the Illex Forest, dappled with distant light. He leans in and kisses me, and my hand releases his. I pull away suddenly, his lips hot on mine, and suddenly I'm back in my bed and my body is too small and I am emotionless, stuck in between two realities.

I am not real.

Morty is gone down the hallway. The team continues to bicker but my ears are ringing and I can barely hear them. Minerva and Fang lie on opposite sides of the room and yell about nothing.

I think of Morty.

Morty and I.

In my mind's eye I can see thousands of universes where we are happy. There's so much I could have been and so much I could have done.

So much proof that I should feel something besides emptiness, even on a night like this. I should at least feel comforted knowing I won't be alone.

I lie awake in bed that night, watching the lights of Ecruteak go out one by one just judging by the patterns the light casts on my walls.

I'm so tired. 

(WEW LAD

THIS WAS THE FIRST REAL WRITING I'VE DONE IN WEEKS SCHOOL IS A BITCH AND I'M DYING

Anyhow the reason this took so long was 

1) It's almost 4000 words what do you want from me

2) motivation is ded

3) characters are ded

4) trying to contest

5) i am ded

okay i also wanted to put out the last three chapters at once but I think for now this will do

I miss you all, I miss your comments, and I miss updating daily. You guys make me so happy and your continued feedback makes all of this worth it.)