The sun shone brightly above the trees, filtering through their many leaves. Six teens stood in a circle, tension rising as each of them passed around a folded piece of paper. When all of them had read the note, no one said a word. Instead, the six of them looked around, no doubt thinking about what the proper course of action would be to this newly received information.

"Can we trust whoever left this note?," the soon to be ranger spoke.

"I realize this entire situation isn't ideal, but this is the closest thing we have to getting answers. Sitting around and leeching off of the professor won't get us anywhere. I, for one, think we should at least see if those metal things in the bag open our pokéballs. Luke and I talked about this in the morning, and we're on the same page about this," Soul responded.

Silence returned between the anxious teens, sounds of the forest taking the opportunity to make themselves noticed. The wind gently blew through the forest clearing, swaying small plants that littered the forest floor. Calls of pokémon added to the mix, creating what could only be known as a song of nature.

"Let's take a vote," Amy suggested. She smiled, her light green eyes lighting up. "If we keep arguing we'll never reach a decision. This way, majority wins, and those who don't agree will just have to suck it up. It's the best way to make a decision at this point," she concluded.

"What happens if we're tied, there are six of us after all," Allen argued.

"Not really. There are five of those things in the bag, yet there are six of us. Amy already opened her pokéball so she's most likely the one who doesn't have one. With that said, there are technically only five of us who have to make the decision," Luke countered.

"Alright, so we'll take a vote. All in favor of at least seeing what's in our pokéballs, raise your hand," Soul spoke.

In response, Luke raised his hand. Soul followed, expectantly watching her friends. After a moment, Allen raised his hand and smiled uneasily. They all looked over at the remaining two, Rose and Cora.

The two girls looked at one another as if they could find the answer from each other. Finally, Cora shook her head, her mind made up. Rose hesitated for a moment before also shaking her head, her gold eyes looking down at the grass.

"Well, it's three to two. So Luke, Allen, and Soul are going to open their pokéballs for sure. I guess you guys don't have to, but either way, some pokéballs are going to be opened," Amy concluded.

The five teens smiled at one another and watched as Amy's Espeon waltzed into the middle of the circle. The Espeon's eyes were now bright blue, and the bag with the badges as well as a rectangular device that resembled an ipad floated behind her. She placed the bag into Allen's hands and the device into Cora's. The calm looking creature then padded back to Amy who was now leaning against a tree.

Allen dug into the bag and picked up a piece of metal from the mix. The badge was a simple crimson heart surrounded by silver sparkles. He picked up his pokéball from beside him and attempted to fit it into the indent on top of it. After a few seconds of fumbling around, he sighed and passed over the badge to Rose who was standing beside him.

She stared at the piece of metal for a moment before smiling and picking up her pokéball. The burgundy-haired teen whispered something to herself before placing the badge directly into the indent on her pokéball. With a satisfying click, the badge molded into the pokéball and created a smooth surface.

"This is actually happening," Rose murmured.

"Amy, make sure Espeon is ready to help in case Rose's pokémon isn't too happy," Luke advised. The green-eyed trainer simply nodded in response and walked back to her previous spot in the circle. With her Espeon at her heel, the two of them watched Rose intently.

The other four teens backed away, making more space for whatever would come out of her pokéball. Rose took a deep breath and stepped forward. She swiftly kissed the pokéball and tossed it into the air, immediately stepping back as she let go. The pokéball flew up, and on it's way down, opened with a flash of light.

Much like Espeon's appearance, a pokémon began to materialize in front of the group of friends. With one last flash of light, a new pokémon was standing in front of them. The pokémon had the basic shape of a feline, and most of its body was covered in white fur. The parts of its body that weren't covered in fur were a dark blue, almost black, color. It had a crescent shaped horn on the side of it's head, and a tail that resembled a scythe. Above it's red eyes was a black oval on top of it's tuft of hair. With four sharp nails protruding from each of its four feet, the pokémon looked quite intimidating.

"Absol, the disaster pokémon. Absol has the ability to foretell the coming of natural disasters. Usually found in a harsh, rugged mountain environments, it warns people of upcoming disasters," the pokedex explained.

"Absol, it's nice to meet you! I'm Rose, I'll be your new trainer, I suppose. You've got a beautiful coat of fur," the new trainer offered. She reached out to pet her pokémon, stopping inches away to let it sniff her. The Absol cautiously sniffed her, then promptly walked over to her and sat beside her. The gold-eyed girl looked down and smiled at her new companion, gently petting the top of it's head.

"Well that went better than I thought it would. Taking your pokedex from your bag was a smart choice Cora," Amy complimented. The blue-haired girl awkwardly shot Amy a smile before looking back at Rose's new Absol.

"These things are like keys," Allen compared. He dug into the bag once more and randomly picked up another badge. This time, it was a bright red plus sign."This reminds me of a hospital logo," he commented before placing down the bag and picking up his pokéball.

"It's Cora's. Think about it. Rangers are supposed to help pokémon, just like doctors do. No one here is supposed to train at a pokémon center, so it's the closest choice," Soul theorized.

Without a word, Allen handed the badge over to Cora. The blue haired teen stared at the badge for a moment and then back up at her friends. They all watched her as she slowly brought the key over to the indent on her pokéball. Just as she was about to place it in, she paused.

"We're all here, nothing's going to happen to you when you open that pokéball. Absol and Espeon are right here if something does happen. We won't let anything happen," Rose comforted.

With that, the yellow-eyed teen placed the badge into her pokéball. Just like before, the pokéballs surface smoothed over. She took a deep breath and threw the it forward. The pokéball landed on the grass, then opened with a flash of light. A pokémon appeared before the six teens, surprisingly faster than the others.

The pokémon was quite small, but had a long neck. It's body was a light blue, almost the color of Cora's hair. On each side of its body was a dark blue crystal. Matching the color of the gems, it's eyes were the shape of almonds. Above the eyes were features that resembled fins, with a color gradient of yellow to pink. Its short tail wagged happily as it ran up to its new trainer.

"This ancient pokémon was restored from part of its body that had been frozen over in ice for over 100 million years. It lived in a cold land where there were no violent predators like Tyrantrum. It's said that when Amaura whines, auroras appear in the night sky," the pokedex informed.

Cora's face lit up as the pokémon happily ran around her feet, playfully letting out cries. The once nervous teen sat on the floor and pet her pokémon, laughing in joy. The group of friends laughed as Amaura played with Espeon. The two pokémon happily ran over to Absol, most likely trying to play with it. In response to the other pokémon, Rose's Absol layed down and let out a yawn. Defeated, the two pokémon returned to their trainer's side.

"So who's next," Cora asked.

Allen reached into the bag once more. This time, he pulled out a badge that looked like half of a yin yang symbol. Soul walked over to Allen and looked into the bag. She pulled out another badge, the other half of a yin yang. The symbol in Allen's hand was white, with a black dot at the top. The other half in Soul's hand was black with a white dot at the bottom. Luke joined the two, and Soul handed him the key she was holding.

"They've got to be yours. I mean, come on. Yin yang, and tag battles. How much more obvious could it get. That means the last one is mine. You two figure out which badge belongs to which one of you," Soul stated.

The two boys argued amongst themselves while their silver haired friend sat down against a tree, staring at the badge in her hands. Her key was a simple hourglass. The top and bottom of the symbol were colored black, while the falling sand was a warm gold. The teen ran her fingers gently over the emblem, watching as her friends laughed and talked.

After a moment, her right hand closed around the hourglass. With the effort, her already pale knuckles went white. She suddenly stood up and joined her friends, who were now preparing for the next pokémon to be released.

"Who's going next," Soul asked her friends.

"We were hoping you'd go next. I know it sounds really cheesy but Luke and I wanted to release our pokémon together. If you have your pokémon, we'll have four pokémon to make sure nothing happens," Allen explained.

All eyes were on Soul as she looked down at the key in her hand. The teen girl looked rather intimidated by the request, as if whatever was tucked away in her pokéball wasn't something she wanted to discover.

"If it's okay with you guys, I've had a change of heart. I don't want to open my pokéball just yet. I don't really know why, but I just don't want to see what's in there," Soul stammered.

"What do you mean you don't want to open it? This entire thing was your idea. You were the one who found the note and the bag. You have to open it, not opening it would just be stupid. We opened them because you wanted to. It's your turn to open it," Cora ranted.

There was a long silence between the group of friends. Soul and Cora glared at one another, anger obvious in their expressions. The rest of the teens seemed to be shocked by their two friends.

"I'm not going to open the pokéball. I don't want to. It's my choice, and you all had a choice too. Don't put this on me, I just happened to find the note. I'm sick of you guys putting me in this unspoken leadership. I'm not ready for all of this, I'm just like you guys. I'm probably worse as a matter of fact. I can't open the pokéball because that would make all of this too real," the silver haired teen angrily countered.

Rose and Soul made eye contact briefly, a flash of understanding exchanging between the two. A sudden gust of wind passed through the clearing, whispers of the forest hiding in it. Soul closed her eyes briefly, letting the wind push the strands of silver hair that were hanging messily in front of her face. She took a deep breath before snapping her deep purple eyes open.

"Luke and Allen are next, I'll see you guys later. Don't worry about me, I'm just going to walk and clear my mind. Be sure to tell me what pokémon you guys get once I get back. By the way, I'm telling you this because I don't want to be followed. I need some more time to process. While you all are seemingly fine, I'm not in the right mind to deal with all of this. Sorry," Soul blurted.

Without a second thought, the girl quickly turned on her heel and walked away from her group of friends. She hummed as she left, the melody that most wouldn't hear nature sing. Leaves crunched as she walked, leaving a sort of footprint path in the damp forest floor. As she disappeared behind the trees, her friend's guilt became overwhelmingly apparent. Before any of them could stop her, she was gone.

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Author's Note

I was dealing with writer's block so I tried third person for the first time. Tell me what you think, I could use the constructive criticism. I hope you guys liked the chapter anyways.

That's all for now, paalam~ <3