For most people, complete silence would be conceived as eerie. To me, it was comforting, and extremely appreciated. I took a deep breath, taking in the scent of fresh grass and sweet flowers. This was exactly what I needed, a chance to clear my head.

It was dark now, the sun had completely disappeared behind the tall trees hours ago. I'd stayed outside by the beach to watch the sunset, I needed the time to think. After everything that had happened, pretending everything was fine would no longer work. I needed answers, sitting around and waiting for them to appear would get me nowhere.

I had originally planned to walk home, but seeing the beauty of the night compelled me to stay out a bit longer. Pushing aside the thought that my friends would be worried about me, I began to walk the opposite direction of the house. I absentmindedly hummed as I walked, the melody seemed familiar, as if I'd heard it years ago.

A rustle in the bushes nearby caught my attention. The leaves shook, some falling with the movement of whatever was lurking behind them. I felt a piercing gaze, someone or something was watching me. A feeling of unease settled in the pit of my stomach.

"Who's there," I called out. In response, the rustling of leaves came to a sudden halt. "Show yourself," I demanded.

Stillness overtakes the night, the cool breeze from before coming to a stop. Something wasn't right, it was as though life itself had paused. As though a restless teen had finally decided to get some sleep and closed their time consuming game.

The sounds from both pokémon and nature had disappeared, replaced by a dreary silence. Crisp air was replaced with suffocating humidity, as if someone had shut off the air conditioning to the outdoors. "I know you're out there," I coaxed.

Despite the lingering fear, I took a step towards the bushes. The moon glimmered above, amongst the twinkling stars. "You don't scare me," I challenged.

As the words left my mouth, the bushes began to shake violently. I stepped forward once more, struggling to suppress my fear. Suddenly, a blur of blue and red emerged from the bushes.

I stumbled back, unsure of what to do. It flew around so quickly that I could barely make out what it was. I crawled backwards, attempting to get away from it.

A sharp whistle cut through the air. The blur stopped flying around, revealing a large blue and red dragon-like pokémon. A feeling of awe engrossed me, dissipating the fear from before. Its cold eyes locked with mine before it took off once more, flying off into the night.

I layed down on the grass, releasing a sigh of relief. Calming down, I began to look around. I'd walked into a beautiful clearing in the forest. Flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors were scattered around. The trees were tall and green, and there was a small pond to my left.

'Do pokémon like that just roam around the forest like that? It seemed too strong to be a wild. Not to mention that whistle, it was almost like it was commanding that pokémon to come back. It definitely had a trainer, but it doesn't make sense as to why it was out here hiding in the bushes," I concluded.

I got up from the forest floor, brushing off the remains of grass on my clothes. Taking a deep breath, I noticed that life had continued again. The cool breeze had returned, sounds of nocturnal pokémon glided through the air, and the aroma of the salt in the nearby ocean danced in the wind. Peacefulness had returned, thankfully.

'I should go back soon,' I told myself. Looking around once more, a small glimmer in the bushes caught my attention. I walked over to the bush, the fallen leaves from the trees crunching beneath my feet. I bent down and moved the branches aside to get a better look.

Inside the clearing was blue velvet bag. I picked it up, realising it resembled the small bags that you get after buying an expensive ring. I turned it around, looking for any type of label or name to give me an idea as to where the bag had come from.

I carefully opened the bag and looked inside. I took out a folded piece of paper, it was sloppily folded to fit inside the small bag. I began to unfold it, taking note of the ripped edge. The first thing that caught my attention was how the writing went from neat to sloppy and quick. 'Whoever wrote this was in a rush,' I realized.

I began to read the note, curiosity strong handing my appreciation of privacy. It read:

Dear Soul,

I know you're probably confused. Needless to say, I was fairly shocked to find out you'd finally made it. There's still so much you don't know, it's actually quite amusing. Only because I'm growing impatient, I've decided to give you a helping hand.

In the bag are five small metal symbols. Just like the badge that Amy received from Professor Oak, it can be used to unlock your pokéballs. They're not all for you, it won't be that easy. Each symbol is used to signify the path you and your friends must follow. They are as followed;

Amethyst Quinn- Professor Program

Cora Lockwood- Pokémon Ranger Program

Luke Roveri and Allen Griffin- Duo Gym Battles/ Tag Battle Events

Rose Orasi- Pokémon Contests

Soulstice Smith- Solo Gym Battles

To unlock all your pokémon, you must follow your path and win awards. The awards for your individual path will open your pokéballs. Now, you can't say I haven't helped you before. I'm excited to see you, Soul. Good luck on your journey.

Sincerely,                                                                                                                                                                                       Your Helping Hand

Chills ran down my spine. The note was left for me, but by who? How could they possibly know me if I shouldn't even be here? Questions continued to surface, my mind spinning in confusion.

I looked inside the bag. Surely enough, five shiny metal symbols were inside. Nothing made sense, who could've left this note? Deciding that I probably shouldn't stay here all night, I began the walk back.

Lost in thought, the walk seemed shorter than usual. Soon enough, I was back at the familiar building.

"Where the hell have you been? Do you realize how long you've been gone!" someone behind me asked.  Without turning around, I immediately recognized who it was. I could tell just by the voice.

"It was just a couple hours, calm down. It's not like you all needed me anyways. I didn't think anyone would even notice," I mumbled quietly.

"Don't be stupid, we were worried sick. We decided to take turns looking for you, I just got back from checking the beach," he revealed.

I turned around and glared at the green-eyed teen standing in front of me. "It's not a big deal, stop overreacting. Am I suddenly not allowed to take a walk? You're not in charge of me, no one's ever been in charge of me. My entire life has been doing things on my own just to survive," I snapped.

Luke let out a sigh and walked past me, up to the door of the lab. "You should've at least told us where you were going, we didn't know what happened to you. We're in a new world, who knows what could've happened to you," he explained.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just needed time to think. I assumed no one would notice because everyone was distracted by Amy's Espeon. Just go and get some sleep, it's late," I whispered.

"Everyone's going to be waking up soon anyways, and I'm not tired anymore. Did you see anything interesting on your walk?" Luke asked. He held open the door, wordlessly asking me to come inside.

"I was just going to go and sit on the porch at the back. Do you want to come with me? There's actually something I wanted to show you," I offered.

Luke smiled, his eyes shimmering in the moonlight. "Why not?," he answered.

We walked to the back of the Professor's house in comfortable silence. Reaching the back porch, I sat down on the nearby couch. Luke sat down beside me, brushing his light brown hair out of his eyes.

"So, what did you want to show me?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"I was out on my walk and something caught my attention. I found this in a small velvet pouch," I recalled. Purposely leaving out my encounter with the unidentified pokémon, I handed over the ripped note I'd received.

Luke began to read it, his eyes widening in shock. Once he was done, he set down the paper and took the blue pouch from my hands. Looking inside, he picked up one of the metal symbols.

It was the first time I'd actually looked at one. Before, I'd only looked inside to see if they were there or not. The one in his hand was a crimson heart, surrounded by small silver sparkles. I picked up the note and scanned over it, attempting to determine who's pokéball it would unlock.  

"That could be Cora's," I suggested. "Maybe it signifies the love she should have for pokémon. Or maybe it's Rose's, because she does contests and hearts are pretty?" I asked.

"Aren't you more curious about who wrote this? How they know about us? How they know about the locked pokéballs if we just learned about them? I mean, can we even trust it?" Luke stammered.

"I know, it doesn't make sense. Right now, it's the only thing we have to finding a way back home. If we're going to find answers, this is the only way. I've been thinking about it. I understand that it is fairly creepy, and probably really sketchy. For now, it's all we have," I reasoned.

Luke stood from the couch, staring straight ahead at the sinking moon. "Have you ever thought about staying? It's so much better here. I mean, we haven't been here for long, but everyone seems really happy. Much happier than any of us were back home. You of all people should know that Soul. You of all people should feel that. Why go back? What do we gain from it? This is a new start, a new life. Maybe we were brought here for a reason. It doesn't seem so unbelievable that we were given another chance, does it? I don't think anyone wants to go home. I don't, and you shouldn't. Of all people, you have the best reason for wanting to stay here. For wanting to forget everything about our lives. Sure, our families are back there. I don't know about everyone else, but I miss my parents. At the end of the day, I know they'd just want me to be happy. For all we know, we disappeared. There could be news reports about us, people theorizing and joking about what could've happened to us. Would it be so bad to stay here?," he asked.

He turned around, his eyes gleaming with bittersweet sorrow. "You really want to stay?" I questioned.

"Beats the alternative," he observed.

"Yeah, I suppose it does," I realized.

"It's not just our decision though. We have to ask the others," he pointed out.

Luke sat back down, taking in a deep breath. Comfortable silence returned, both of us watching the sun peek out from behind the trees. The whispers of the night faded out, replaced by cheerful cries of awakening pokémon. Beautiful pastel colors of pink, orange, and yellow painted the sky. The rays of light from the rising sun filtering through the leaves of the tall trees.

My mind wandered back to what Luke had said earlier. Maybe staying here would be a good idea. How bad could it be, compared to what was waiting for me at home. If we really did disappear, then people would grieve. Not for me, but for my friends. I wouldn't be remembered. Everyone who's ever cared about me was right here. Luke was right, I had no reason to want to go back.

The scent of morning dew filled the air, mixing with the smell of coming rain. It was then that I realized it. I was content. I was actually content here. Despite whatever we'd go through here, it would never be as bad as going home. Plus, we all still had each other. Who knows what this new life had in store for the six of us. This was it, this was the new start I'd always dreamed about.

There were still so many unanswered questions. So many secrets and mysteries to discover. It didn't matter to me, this was what I wanted. To stay, and to start again. I wouldn't forever be known as "the poor girl who was abandoned". I would give my name a new meaning here. One that I would be proud to own. Soulstice Smith would mean so much more than just a name, and this would be the first step towards accomplishing that goal.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Author's Note

I actually had time to write today! I've got a huge test tomorrow that I need to study for though.

Anyways, I was thinking about my previous idea about having you guys create characters.

I think I might do that. Maybe the chapter before I need a new character, I'll make a list of what all I need for the character. Then the first person to either comment or PM their character will be in the next chapter.

That's all for now, güle güle~ <3