~Preston’s POV~

The early morning sun shone brightly as we walked on and on. It was just past sunrise when Aphmau stopped us.

“Okay guys. We are getting close to where Husky was spotted, so we should split up into four groups of five and a group of two.” Aph said, stopping us in a clearing. “I’ll take Preston, Vylad, Sonja, and Brice. Garroth will take Lachlan, Travis, Tiffany and Tom. Aaron will take Wag, Lizzie, Rob, and Tucker. Dante will take Laurance, Tyler, Vikk, and Katelyn. That leaves Ant and Cave to go together.”

Aphmau pulled out five small horns and handed them to the leaders of the groups.

“Take these. When you find him, sound the horn and it will teleport everyone who holds the horn to you location. When you hear the horn, quickly grab everyone in your group as you will have ten seconds before it’ll teleport you. Now let’s split up and find ourselves a Mudkip.”

Everyone quickly split into their assigned group and ran off. I turned to Aphmau and walked alongside her and Vylad as Sonja and Brice trailed behind.

“So where was Husky sighted?” I asked. “I mean, I know it’s around Austrana, but do you have an exact pinpoint as to where he is?”

“We have a basic idea of where he is at. Somewhere in these woods, is where we know he is. We had our friend Lucinda set a basic shield around the edge of the forest do he can’t escape.” Aphmau explained.

“We’ll also know when we get close. Because every time someone comes across a wild Pokemon, a random voice will sound. It will let us know if we come across Husky.” Vylad said.

“Here’s a question, how exactly do you become a Pokemon hybrid? Do you start out as a Pokemon or is it just a random occurrence?” Brice asked from behind us.

“It’s none of those actually. So when a Pokemon trainer tames a Pokemon, it’ll either stay as that Pokemon, or it will transform into a human version of the itself. If you catch a Pokemon and it turns human, that means you are destined to mate with it. It’s basically a soulmate system.” Vylad told him.

“That’s, interesting.” Sonja said as she pulled her light brown hair into a ponytail.

“Yeah it is.” Aphmau said. “But that’s life for some people.”

“Is anyone in your group hybrids?” I asked.

Aphmau nodded.

“We have only a few hybrid. Travis is a demon. Laurance and Vylad here are Shadow Knights, guardians of the Nether Realm. MOst Shadow Knights work for Herobrine, but Laurance and Vylad have remained loyal to our cause. Most of us are descendants of really old gods. The grove where we met, was named after my relative. Lady Irene.”

“I’m not exactly a hybrid, Aph. You have to de to be chosen as a Shadow Knight.” Vylad said.

My eyes widened.

“You have to die? Really?” I asked.

Vylad nodded.

“May we ask how you died?” Brice asked him. Vylad took a deep breath.

“That is something I forgot when I was reborn. Even if I remembered, I probably wouldn’t want to tell.” Vylad said. Aphmau put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“It’s in the past now. Now come on, we still have quite a few places to look.” She said, pulling Vylad along.

I slowed my pace down so I was walking right alongside Sonja and Brice. We walked around in silence before I decided to break it.

“So how long have you and Seto been dating?” I asked, looking towards the blonde.

“It’ll be four years next week.” He answered. “We haven’t seen each other for a few month because I’ve been away helping my parents across the sea. I wanted to surprise him for our anniversary. But when I heard he was taken, I rushed here as fast as I could.”

Silent tears ran down his face and his hands were clenched at his side. His electric blue eyes turned yellow as he glared at the ground.

“I swear to Notch I will tear apart whoever took him from me…..” He growled. His fists started glow a bright yellow.

“Woah woah woah woah woah.” I said, stopping him in his tracks. “You need to calm down dude. Your fists and eyes are bright yellow right now. Come on, you need to stay calm until we find Seto. Then you can kick butt.”

Brice calmed down slightly and gave me a small smile.

“Or in the words of Sky, they’re turning budder colored.” He said with a laugh. “Thanks for helping calm me down.”

Suddenly a horn sounded from somewhere to our left. Aphmau turned to the noise before calling to us.

“Brice! Sonja! Preston! Hurry and grab onto each other!” She exclaimed as she grabbed Sonja’s arm.

Sonja grabbed Brice’s hand as I grabbed his arm; Vylad held hands with Aphmau. Green sparks began to fill my vision as a wave of numbness went through my body. Soon we were standing at the edge of a large clearing, watching as a very drenched Aaron ran over to us.

“Aph! Husky is pretty strong as a Mudkip. As you can see, Husky can douse us with water but not harm us. He can only harm other Pokemon.” He said, motioning to his sopping wet clothes.

“Yes I can see that. Where are the others?” Aphmau asked, walking into the clearing with us by her side.

“Rob, Tom, Lizzie, and Tyler are all over by Husky. They’re the most wet out of everyone because they keep trying to catch him. Husky somehow knocked out Garroth, Tucker, Dante, and Travis. Laurance, Katelyn, Ant, Cave, Lachlan, and Vikk are watching over them. We have Wag, Tiffany, and I are watching from the outskirts, making sure Husky can’t leave this clearing.” Aaron told us.

“Good. Preston and Vylad, go help catch Husky. Me and Brice will watch from the outskirts while Sonja goes to take care of her boyfriend.” Aph said.

Sonja shot her a grateful look as she ran off to where the other sat. Aphmau, Aaron, and Brice separated to go around the edges while me and Vylad raced towards the middle, where the gang were running around getting sprayed with water by a small blue creature.

I let out a laugh when I see Rob turn towards me, his facing dripping with fresh water. His hoodie and shirt were off, allowing me to see his bare chest.

“Oh shut up. You’ll eventually get wet since you’re here.” Rob said as he went back to trying to tackle the Mudkip.

Next, Lizzie stopped next to us. Her pink hair stuck to her skin and her blue eyes shined. Her school uniform was replaced with a grey t-shirt and blue shorts.

“This is the most fun I’ve had in years. Say, who has the beanie?” She asked, pushing her hair back.

Vylad pulls out a small bag and opens it. He then pulls out the beanie and holds it up.

“I have it here. Once someone catches him, I’ll run over and place it on his head. Now go catch him.” Vylad said, ushering me and Lizzie away. Lizzie turned to me.

“Ready to get wet?” She asked, a big smile on her face.

I pulled off my hoodie and shirt before turning to Lizzie.

“Yep. Let’s go!” I said, racing to where Husky sat watching us.

I went to tackle Husky, but was immediately shot in the face with water. I landed with a huff in the grass. I stood up quickly and raced off after Husky. It seemed like forever until we finally had him cornered. Husky hissed at us and backed up farther into the tree.

“It’s okay Husky. We’re aren’t going to hurt you.” Lizzie said, trying to soothe him.

Husky growled before sending water flying at my face. On instinct, I raised my hands to cover my face. BUt instead of cool water, hot scalding water hit my arm; causing me to scream out in pain.

“Oh sweet mother of a prickly cactus that hurts!” I yelled out backing away slightly.

Tyler took this moment to tackle Husky and yell for Vylad. Vylad ran over and knelt down in front of Husky.

“Hold still!” Vylad exclaimed as he tried to put the beanie on. Husky shot his and Tyler’s hands with hot water which caused Vylad and Tyler to let go.

“Don’t let him get away!” Lizzie exclaimed, grabbing the beanie and rushing after Husky.

Husky stopped for a second to sniff a flower, which was a bad idea on his part.

“Gotcha!” Lizzie exclaimed as she put the beanie in his head.

At first, nothing happened. But then a loud ‘boom’ sounded from the beanie. Smoke surrounded Husky in no time, leaving us staring in shock. A few seconds later the smoke cleared to reveal Husky in his human form, laying face down on the ground. A groan was heard from his body as he sat up and looked at all of us.

“Hey guys….” He said, hos voice low and raspy.

“Quentin!” We yelled. We all rushed over to him as he looked down at his hands.

“What can you remember?” Wag asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“I remember, smoke. Red smoke. Me and Jason went home after learning that Seto and Jerome were missing. But once we got there, we were ambushed and taken to the Nether. Herobrine was there. He started putting spells on everyone. Starting with Sky. After my turn, it’s all a blur. But I remember hearing one thing.” Husky said.

“And what’s that?” Tucker asked.

“I remember where they were gonna send Seto.” He answered.

“Where did they send him?” Aphmau asked him.

“They sent him, to a city called Roundstock.”

Oh no…..

~~~~~~~~~~

Yay! Back to back update!

~Mia