We ended up hijacking a small cargo boat that would fit all of the transformed trainers, including the ones from the cargo ship we used to get to the forbidden place. However, there was a problem: nobody knew how to navigate a boat of any sort. Well, actually there was Red, but we didn't have a PokéCore for him right then. So, Bailey decided to do it with the help of Mark. She, however, refused to let me help due to my head injury that was bandaged as soon as possible.

Thankfully, there was a map and compass in the captain's cabin, making things a lot easier. Of course, we wouldn't be able to do any of this as Pokémon, so we had to transform back into humans. Bailey said that it was most definitely a good choice for me to do so because the electricity I produce as a Pikachu would mess up the compass. I, however, didn't enjoy her suggestion.

Sadly, Victini, Genesect, and Mew had to return to the ancient city (which was apparently known as Pokelantis) to report what I had learned, leaving just the four of us to control the boat.

"We're about an hour from the Hoenn region," Bailey noted, speaking through the intercom of the ship. We had discovered that the Yami Region was just a small island about an hour and a half from the Hoenn region, technically making it part of the larger region.

Red frowned, brows furrowing as he realized he had a small problem. "I live in the Kanto, so I don't have a place to stay. Mind if I could stay at your place, Jacob?"

"Yeah, I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind," I replied, smiling. The grin vanished as quickly as it came when I remembered what had happened to my house before we had escaped into the woods. "Actually, let's get an apartment for all of us; my house kind of..." I trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence. Comparing the compass to the map one more time, I steered the ship North-East towards the nearest dock, which appeared to be Littleroot.

As we docked, Professor Birch and a few of his colleagues saw the Team Thunder ship and appeared with several weapons without us knowing. When they saw the cargo ramp move down, they kneeled down and aimed the tranquilizer guns. I then happened to walk down the ramp and they fired on an instinct of self-defense. When Birch saw it was me, he cursed under his breath.

"Wha? ...What's going on?" I said, the words slurred out of my numb mouth as if I were drunk. I lethargically slumped down to my knees, then face-planted into the ramp as I blacked out. Any pain from gash, bruises, or cuts quickly vanished.

Hearing the firing, Mark, Red, Bailey, and all the other transformed trainers stepped down to see exactly what happened. What they saw was my limp body on the ramp as well as humiliated scientists. Bailey put her hands over her mouth and started to cry, thinking they had killed me. Mark and Red, however, saw the darts sticking out of my chest and neck, so they knew that I had only been tranquilized.

Swearing again, Birch mumbled to himself, "What's Jacob doing with a Team Thunder cargo ship?" He then walked forward, picked up my lax body and quickly walked back to his lab. Everybody else curiously followed except for a couple of Birch's colleagues; they were holding back the crowd of Pokémon that were trying to see what happened.

About thirty minutes later, I woke up on a bed in the lab. When Birch saw me open my eyes, he shook me angrily as he shouted, "Jacob! What the heck were you doing? You could have died if we were using real weapons!"

"I went to the Yami Region and saved Red, just like you asked... As well as all the other Pokémon there." I said, rubbing my head and wincing as the pain quickly returned to my body. I had never seen Professor birch get so mad before.

"...Okay, fine. Just... Just go home." Birch replied in the calmest voice he could muster at the moment. "I'll take care of those Pokémon, er... Trainers."

"Some of them were originally Pokémon, just to let you know," I told him as I walked out of the door, followed by Mark, Bailey, Red, and Samantha.

We quickly reached the nearest apartment building and rented a three bedroom apartment. Then, we went to buy furniture, food, beds, clothing, and everything else.

As we were shopping for the food, we saw a woman with a Sylveon, a newly discovered Fairy-type eeveelution. Bailey saw this, and I could tell that there was a question starting to boil in her cauldron of thoughts.

Suddenly, she blurted out, "I wonder... are we able to evolve, you know, as Pokémon?" This question I had never thought about got my gears spinning, and I thought to myself, what would it be like to evolve into a Raichu?

Before I could speak, however, Mark replied, "I don't know, but I never want to evolve into a Sylveon. They're so... girlish, you know? The same goes for Glaceon, Leafeon, and Espeon. I don't see how any male Eevee could stand evolving into one of those."

"Oh, whatever." Red rolled his eyes. "At least you get to choose what you evolve into. I have to evolve into a Charmeleon." Then, looking at himself, he added, "I don't think I'm ready for that, either."

"I would love to be a Sylveon. I like pink." Bailey nearly whispered, half to herself. She had a far-off gaze as she smiled at something imaginary.

"Yes, but you're forgetting something. You're a shiny Eevee, so you'd be a blue Sylveon, not a pink one. Well, you'd still have some pink on your fur, but..." I noted, trailing off as we headed for the checkout station. The cashier quickly scanned all of the items and I paid for them.

"I'd want to be an Umbreon," Mark said suddenly, thinking that we weren't over with the topic quite yet. I shrugged it off, leaving the conversation behind with the shopping cart as we walked off towards the apartment complex.

Samantha ran ahead speedily on her four legs and shouted at us in a high-pitched, squeaky voice, "You're never gonna catch me!" We never did.

When we reached our apartment, we decided to get some rest. Red instantly went to the small Pokémon bed we had gotten for him, Samantha doing the same.

"How on earth did you come up with all this money? Don't tell me you got a loan." Bailey asked, looking up at me in complete awe. She was sitting on the brand new leather couch, reading a book on Pokémon Genetics. Mark, who was watching Bailey, turned to me as if he were wondering the same thing.

"Nah, something much better than a loan. I've had a bank account for a long time. My parents put in around two-hundred thousand dollars into my account when I was three." She lifted an eyebrow as I shrugged carelessly in reply.

"You obviously don't think much of money. I can tell." She said while she paused the game, stood up, and walked over to me. She put her right hand on her hip and leaned against it slightly. What was up with girls doing this pose all the time?

I frowned, my brow furrowing hard enough to form deep creases on my forehead. "What? Is that a bad thing?"

"Oh, no. Not at all." She replied sweetly. Then, without warning, she gave me a kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad you don't like money more than your friends and family."

She backed away, smiling. I blushed as I delicately pressed my hand where I had been kissed. After a minute or so, I checked the time and realized that it was time for dinner. "Who's hungry? I know a restaurant we can go to, but I'm not sure if you've ever heard of it. It's called Fat Al's-"

Mark cut me off. "I love that place! I used to go there when..." his voice faded off as he tried to hide a couple tears. I instantly knew why he had stopped and placed a hand of apology on his shoulder. Bailey, however, was left in the dark, not knowing what had happened to Mark's parents.

After a few moments of silence, we decided to leave the apartment and headed for Fat Al's. I thought that that the employees there wouldn't mind if I had a couple Pokémon with me, so I brought Samantha and Red along with us.

As I entered the door, I realized that they had remodeled the place. The tile on the floor was now made of checkered light grey and white marble and the hardwood tables, which were covered with white plastic with red stripes on the sides, were supported by sturdy steel poles. The benches, seats and cashier's counter had a similar design. The walls were painted white with a few vertical red stripes breaking into the pattern.

As we walked up to the cashier, a young, beautiful woman appeared from the kitchen to get our orders. "Hello, welcome to Fat..." She trailed off as a plump man in his forties came out of the restroom.

It was Fat Al. His slightly dark hazel eyes looked at me, then did a double take, a sudden look of recognition in his eyes appeared. "You're Jacob King, right?"

"That's right!" I responded. Then, taking another look around the building, I said, "You guys did a great job remodeling this place. It looks so different!"

"Yeah, I know. It's tons better than that pitiful shack we had two years ago. Spent thousands of dollars just to do the flooring." He laughed heartily, then continued. "So, what would you guys like? It's on the house, my favor. After all, you are my favorite customer, as well as a hero."

"You talking about that time when I escaped the Team Thunder base? That was nothing. Anyway, I'd like my usual." I said, then turned back to my friends. "How about you four?"

Mark and Bailey answered simultaneously. "Super bacon burger supreme sounds good to me." Then, they turned towards each other and let out a short laugh.

"Um... I dunno what I want." Red said, looking at himself. "I don't think they allow Pokémon here... Do they?"

"I don't know about that, either." Then I turned back to Fat Al and asked him whether or not they served Pokémon as customers.

"I usually don't, but I'll allow you as long as you don't tell anybody else that I let you," he said jokingly.

"Okay then, I'll have four Pecha berry doughnuts for Samantha and Red," I told him, gesturing over towards the two creatures that sat behind us, mouths watering at the heavenly smells emitting from the kitchen.

The young lady then handed us three cups and assigned us a table, where we sat and waited for our food. Occasionally, one of us would run out of a drink, so we'd go back to the drinking fountain and refill our drinks. For Red and Samantha, the waiter had placed a bowl of water in front of them to drink out of. Red was not very fond of the idea, however.

Finally, after about five minutes, we got our food and ate happily, striking up a conversation every once in awhile. Red was a bit hesitant in trying the Pecha berry doughnuts but finally gave in, taking a small bite in one of them.

"Oh... These are so good!" he managed to say in between bites. He looked over at Samantha, who was enjoying them just as much as he was.

I smiled as I set down the quadra cheese and sausage burrito. "I know, right? Even people like them. I've always wondered what was in them that makes it so good." I felt several pairs of eyes looking at me, and I turned only to see that people were looking at me as if I had lost my mind. I was, after all, talking to a Charmander.

The rest of the time, we ate in silence. I was too self-centered to reply to the Pokémon that were making complimentary comments to the food that they snarfed down. Then, still feeling the eyes digging into me, I finally realized why all the other customers were looking over at us, and I didn't blame them.

"Is that really Jacob King? Why does he have Pikachu ears?... And a tail?" I heard one person say quietly. My ears twitched when they spoke and I turned to the person who had said that, thanks to the keen hearing that Pokémon had. It appeared to be a boy, about the age of eight. The mother of the boy quickly hushed him and quickly apologized to me.

"Alright, I'm ready to go," I said, quickly turning away from the boy as my face turned red with embarrassment. "How about you guys?" Everybody nodded, and we left the waiter a generous tip. Fat Al waved at us as we headed out the door and back to our apartment.

By the time we got back, everybody was tired and wanted to go to bed. I was the last person to enter the apartment, locking the door behind me. Then, I stopped to look around the building. To be honest, there wasn't really any significance whatsoever with the plain white walls, the bland carpet and the dull colored tiles in the kitchen. The only things that seemed to bring color into the building were the cream colored leather couches, with the light brown pillows and the small, pink figure sitting on them.

"Mew, what are you doing here?"