"Here we are." Jay Coals stops at a small boulder formation with a small mouth in it. Not literally, of course, but there's just a hollowed out gap in the rocks. We step into the gap and I see that it's a cave that leads nowhere. "You can sit down." He points to a rock covered with moss and then eyes Ren.

I cautiously lay Ren down against the rock and then sit down next to him. "How--"

"Hold your questions." He smiles mysteriously. "First, help me make a fire. Then, all will make sense."

I look around the little cave. "Um, there--"

"Just stay here with your wounded friend. Go look in the back for logs, I'll be back soon." Without saying anything more, Jay Coals exits the cave.

For a moment, all I do is sit there, reciting a certain sentence he said on the walk here to me. "This is just history repeating itself, you know." Even when I say the words, it still freaks me out. When I asked him what he meant, he just told me it was nothing.

Finally, I walk to the far back of the rocky room to find two full burlap sacks. One of them, to my surprise, is full of dried-out berries. The other contains a bunch of crude pieces of cut wood. I pick up a large log, careful not to get splinters in my hands. I bring it over to where Ren is. I find a few more slabs of wood and bring them over.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm back!"

I jump up, shocked to hear another voice again. "W-where were you?"

"So sorry it took so long, Sekia, my friend, but it's harsh out there." Jay Coals drops another burlap sack on the ground, similar to the ones in the back. "Go ahead, open it." He grins.

Hesitating, I inspect the contents of the bag, one by one. There are many dry leaves and twigs. "For the fire?" I guess.

He nods, taking the leaves and twigs and throwing them on top of the logs.

I hold up a small, uprooted Oran berry plant next. I also find more uprooted berries: Sitrus, Pecha, Aspear. "Why berry plants?" I ask.

"I need some source of food besides meat, don't I?" Jay Coals takes the delicate plants from me.

There are other strange items in the bag, but I should be helping Jay with the fire.

We both blow small flames over the wood and the branches spark to life almost immediately.

"So. Uh, not to be rude or anything, Jay Coals, but who are you?"

Jay's eyes gleam. "You have no idea."

"Well, yes. That's why I asked."

"I can't really answer that question myself, actually. I don't know for real. But I will tell you all I know." He takes a deep breath. "Well, my life began when Eclipse and Chaos rescued me from the shelter."

I look at Jay curiously. "What's the--"

"The shelter is exactly what it sounds like. It started off as just a small house with a few stray Pokemon. It grew to a huge building with walls lined with Pokemon enclosed in cages, some of them Gijinkas. They were forced into their Pokemon forms, they didn't even know what they were capable of. It was terrible, and I was there from the beginning.

"Finally, one day, something incredible happened. Mast-, er, Eclipse and Chaos broke in. They took as many Pokemon cages as they could, and I was one of them, just a Charmander at the time.

"I was one of the only ones who survived the journey back to the mountains where Eclipse and Chaos lived. So they gave me most of their attention, training me and taking me in as their own. Soon enough, I had evolved into a Charmeleon. That's when I finally discovered that I'm not just a Pokemon, I'm also a human." His voice is choked up, and I sigh. Tears slowly trickle down his cheeks.

"But you're safe now." I whisper.

He nods, smiling at me insincerely. The Charmeleon suddenly stands up. "Uh, I'm sorry, I need some fresh air. I-I--" He doesn't finish his sentence, instead he just runs out of the cave.

I stare after him, but I soon turn back to Ren. I decide to make him look nicer to pass the time. I pull at his hair, trying not to hurt him with my claws. "Don't worry, Ren, this will all be over soon."

~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I-I'm back." Jay stammers. "Sorry I just--left."

I smile. "I understand."

He nods, and sits down next to me. "Ren looks better," he comments.

"Yeah, I fixed his hair and washed his face while you were gone. He looks a little more like himself now."

"Not that. I mean, his cuts are healing, and I think he's a little more awake."

"Oh, yeah. That too, I guess." I mutter, feeling a little stupid now.

We sit in silence for a few minutes, watching the flames dance around. Small rain drops start falling faster and faster. It isn't long before we're hiding from a downpour.

"I-I wonder if everyone else is okay." I think out loud in hope to start a conversation.

"Something tells me that they're fine. That they defeated the Pokemon." Jay replies, staring into the fire.

"Right. Positive thinking."

"It's not a thought. I know it."

I just nod slowly. I'm making a complete fool out of myself, even though I'm acting like I normally do. "Um, Jay?"

The redhead looks up curiously.

"How old are you?"

"Well, I was rescued by Eclipse and Chaos about twelve years ago."

"So you're my age?"

"But they told me that I've been living for about four years, almost five, before they found me."

"You-you're almost seventeen?" I exclaim. He looks like he's younger than me.

"Well, I guess you could say that. But according to me, my life started when I met Eclipse and Chaos. So, according to me, I'm only twelve, your age."

That explains it.

Suddenly, Ren's eyes flutter open. At first, all is silent. Jay and I stare at the boy like he just came back from the dead. He returns the look, but more curiously.

Then, he speaks. "W-what happened?"

"You don't remember anything?" Jay asks, sounding as puzzled as Ren. I'm still speechless, but I pull the Shaymin into an affectionate hug.

"The last thing I remember is being on the beach. And talking to a tree..."

"T-that's okay!" I exclaim. "Nothing interesting happened--"

"You were possessed by that tree. After that, well, everything happened."

Ren holds up his hands. "I don't want to know any more. I already know a lot about those kinds of Pokemon."

"Um, Ren?" I ask, still hugging him.

"Yes?"

"Why did you summon him?"

"Not sure."

"What?" That's Jay. "You must have done it for some reason."

"I was trying to summon someone else, but I kinda messed up. Or something."

"Who were you--" Jay starts.

"Hard to say. I just wanted to summon someone for... A project I was working on. Just something that you don't need to worry about." He mutters.

We both stare at him.

Before we get a chance to say anything more, Eclipse and Chaos run through into the cave, both panting. "Jay! Sekia! We defeated--" Eclipse starts, but her sentence trails off as her eyes land on Ren. "You're awake," she says instead.

"Of course he is. Remember, whoever is possessed by Xiuhcoatl will only awaken when--"

"Yes, I know, but he's so we--"

"Don't say that to his face!" Chaos scolds Eclipse.

She holds up her hands. "Okay, okay, but I have a point."

"I know you have a point, but you don't need to mention it."

"What are you two talking about?" I interrupt. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, your friends are fine. We couldn't bring them to Jay's hideout, of course, so we decided to take you to them." Eclipse replies.

"Where are they?"

"Back on the beach."

"What? No, they can't be on the beach!" Ren exclaims, suddenly standing up.

"Why not?" Chaos questions, grabbing the Shaymin before he can run out of the cave.

"I--- there's something that I'm working on there, it's too dangerous for them!"

"Everything on the beach is fine, Ren." Eclipse tells him in a reassuring voice.

"But--"

"There's nothing there that can hurt them." Chaos walks out of the cave, motioning for us to follow.

~*~~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*

"Mirka!" I run up to the older girl, glad to see her unharmed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine. That demon wasn't as hard to defeat as you would think."

 I smile. "Good."

~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~

Finished!

Wow, guys, I just finished the very first real book I published on Wattpad over a year ago.

I've been working on this book for more than a year.

This is insane!

Well, guys, there will definitely be a second book, with all of the characters in it from this book.

I will be accepting new characters, of course, and the first chapter of it will be up by the end of this week.

But before that, there will be one final chapter that I'll write, it won't have any real story, it'll just be my thoughts on the book and how it turned out and stuff like that.

So until then,

Shine Bright,

Peace Out from PokeNova