The short figure sounded adult, surprising for the tiny figure being only a Snivy. His voice was not one I was familiar with. He approaches

 me and lightly whips my nose with his vine. “If you vant to keep from being caught, don’t touch eet vis your body. Use steek or ozer object.” He takes one of the balls and puts it down in front of him and did it with the other six, tapping the circles with a nearby stick in with his vine. None have Pokemon in them. “However, I already released ze Pokemon. Eef you vant to see zem, you can follow me.”

            Rachel approaches the Snivy, “now, mister…”

            “Sven, my name is Sven.”

            “Sven, we’d love to meet them, but we are here to save them.”

            “Vat? Nothing is vrong here. Unless zere is a disaster or somezing that I am not avare of.”

            “My mayor. He wants to come here and destroy every Pokemon here because he believes every one of them is brainwashed by humans through those balls to work for them.”

            Sven takes the news surprisingly well. “I’ll just talk to heem. I vas in one of zose, and I only helped zem for companionship.”

            I flinch at the idea after hearing this, I could never understand companionship between a Pokemon and a human. I shake the thought from my head, this is not something I usually would think about.  Rachel shakes her head, “Sven, you don’t know him. He is irrational. He will take your words and twist them. And if he doesn’t twist them, he will just claim it is the brainwashing. I can’t let you stay here and face him.”

            “Fine. I vill gazer zem.” He walks out, waving, “Stay here please.”

            All of us wait and Cole comes close. “Don’t ever scare me like that again Oma, I thought I was going to lose you!” He says with a giggle. I giggle back and then he looks around, “I had some strange thoughts about how I had never experienced companionship like that… But I wanted it.”

            I look shocked. “I thought the exact opposite of that!”

            Cole seems confused. “That is strange… Maybe it has to do with…”

            Cole’s sentence cuts off there with me shrugging. The subject makes us go quiet for a bit. Sven finally appears in the doorway again and he calls us out. Rachel goes first arranging where they would stay. I listen in to realize that most would be staying in a nearby cave. One, however, refused to do so. She was a Dratini who had lost everyone she knew and didn’t want to stay in the large crowd of Pokemon. Cole stands up and volunteers to house the Dratini at our home. I have no complaints, and neither does Scar. The only thing is that Sven doesn’t quite trust us because we have just met them, and so he tells us he would be staying with us as well. After all is decided, we head off to our respective places quickly. It starts to become apparent that The Mayor has sent out his party already, and is heading it. Scar senses them and orders us to hide in a bush, he uses the aura to hide us and make us undetectable as they pass by. After they pass, Sven asks, “So, you say he only zinks for himself, correct?”

            Rachel replies with a nod, “Why do you ask?”

            He nods again, “Vat if he wants to have more food for himself?”

            Rachel looks up thinking curiously, then she takes off to the town without explanation or hesitation. Without thinking twice we follow her. Once we get there she stands on a rock where announcements were made and shouts, “Citizens of Ring Rock. Please gather beneath the Meeting Stone.” While she is making her announcement, Scar tells us to stay as he guides Sven and the Dratini home. All of the Pokemon in the town gather, many confused, all of them eager to hear what she has to say. “Our mayor has always had the best intentions for us, always thinking for us and keeping us safe, making sure we all had food, shelter, and all else, correct?” They nod, a little confused. “Well, I have been told to keep something from you by him. Something that I have been trying to keep from you for the longest time. He is a selfish, greedy, and self-centered-“

            “Arrest her!” suddenly everyone looks in the direction of The Mayor’s house with a collective gasp. “She speaks lies!” It is The Mayor himself! He is shouting for her arrest.

            Rachel turns her focus to the crowd, “Don’t listen to him! He only wants his meat that he steals from you!” the crowd begins rioting around Rachel, with The Mayor in the center.

            “She is not psychic at all! She is an imposter! If you believe me, then ask her what I am thinking!” The spotlight is on her, and she doesn’t know what to do. She is sweating. All I can do is watch as this terror unfolds; The Mayor is trying to get to her.

Rachel finally snaps out of her trance and stares at him furiously, “You want to get rid of me. You want to get rid of me and my sister, you want me gone.”

He looks shocked, and then panics, “N-no! No, that’s not true! I-“

The crowd speaks up against him.

“But didn’t you just say she lied to us?”

“Yeah, and you asked her to read your mind, why would she lie?”

“Why do you want our psychic gone?”

“Wait, where is her sister?”

“Yeah, we rarely don’t see Mary around, and if you wanted them gone, and she is missing, then where is she?”

I stood there watching them get closer to the stuttering Arcanine, “You really are greedy! You pig, when have you ever had us in mind?”

The Arcanine runs. Everyone watches him, his tail between his legs as they shout, “Good riddance,” and, “Never come back”.

They sit there as the other group comes back with the other Arcanine. “So, how was everyone?” The Arcanine asks.

Everyone looks shocked and mad at the same time. Eventually one Pokemon throws a stone at him and the Arcanine falls over and it changes form. The Arcanine had found and hired a Zoroark. Before the Zoroark can regain consciousness, everyone takes him to the jail while they explain to the party what happened.

“Wait,” Cole yells over the commotion and celebration that came after, “If he’s gone, who will be in charge next?”

Suddenly a gagged Umbreon comes out of the Arcanines house. The gag is made of a rather large Oran Berry. She looks beaten, but not badly. She spits out the berry and speaks up, “Well, I’m not sure if it is just me, but I think I know who!” She winks at Rachel.

Rachel hops down and nuzzles her sister happily, “Thank Arceus you are safe.”

The crowd, after hearing Mary’s comment as to who should be in charge, pick her up and she seems surprised by it. I watched them carry off the Umbreon who was surprised by the sudden attention. I approach Rachel and ask how they could have misunderstood her statement, and Rachel replies, “I don’t know… Politics?”

I stare at her confused at what she said, that was word I had never heard, and it certainly did not seem to fit the situation. I shrug it off and Rachel flicks to me to follow her. Cole follows. We head to the jail where they had just dragged the Zoroark. The Espeon shows us to the Luxray, Leon, who had ran through the town, and who is now cowering in a corner from Rachel. “Now that everything has calmed down and I have the time, why are you here?”

He looks at her, “I wanted to punish him.”

“Who?”

“Scar. He killed innocent people,”

“I have read Scar’s mind and I have seen his memories, I know for a fact that that is not true.”

Mary stumbles into the jail and walks close to Rachel, “I’m here, sorry about that. I was hoping that would have been you up there.”

Rachel nods to her, “I was just explaining to this Luxray that he had no right to attack our town and that even if we were harboring a criminal he would be here for terrorizing us.”

“B-b-bu-“

“But you came for revenge. And you are lying.” Rachel stares into his eyes. “I can read your mind, don’t lie to me. Why are you here?”

“Because I didn’t know what to do and my anger took hold of me. I felt as though it was him, I had no proof but I felt as though it was.”

“There we go. Thank you. Now, Oma and Cole, please follow me to The Mayor’s house.” We look at her confused. She seems to be moving quickly from one area to the next, not stopping. “And Mary, could you tell the Pokemon out there that there are some Pokemon in a cave east of here? Tell them to gather them and have the construction crews begin work on building new homes, after you have done that, meet me at The Mayor’s house.”

Mary gives Rachel the strangest of looks. It is as if she is inquisitive, but also trying to see into her. “Yes sister.” She bows as she exits.

We begin to head toward the house. Upon entering it Rachel states, “That is not Mary.” We both look shocked to hear this, “She’s not energetic enough, she is remembering everything she does, and she is always polite, and I know for a fact that I can’t use her to use telepathy. Everything is still fuzzy while she is near me. But she came from here, which is suspicious. Cole, I need you to bring your brother here and explain everything quietly, if this imposter is to hear you she may knock you and Scar out as well and we will never be found.” Cole nods and bows, then takes off for our house. “Omega, you need to tell me if you have had any strange thoughts. If you have thought anything strange recently, that may be a good sign.”

“Uh… I had some thoughts about human companionship and how I hated it, when I had never even thought about the subject,” I say confused.

“Good, that means Yveltal has awakened a little within you. Remember to make sure you always know what you are doing, even though he was not the perpetrator, I don’t trust him as far as I could levitate him. Anyway, I want you to watch the imposter while I am looking around with Scar. If she sees that nobody is observing her that is powerful she may take advantage of the moment and strike.”

“Got it!” I say as Cole comes back quickly, with Scar coming in behind him.

“Alright, where do I begin?” Scar asks.

“In the walls, then the ground. If we can rule those out, I may know where she was put.” He nods and starts looking around. Moments later the fake Mary enters, calmly walking up to Rachel.

“Rachel, sister. I have some questions for you. Don’t say anything, until I have asked them, but, I must ask, why are you searching my house?”

“Mary, we are going to live together, and you know that, we always have.” Rachel says calmly, playing her role well, “I just want to make it safe for us.”

“Well, okay. Now, what if I don’t want you to?”

“Then I will continue and ask you to do what you do best,” she continues to scan the area for notches and holes that could be used to find openings. “This belonged to one of the greediest Pokemon I know, I would not be surprised if there was a trap or two just in case something like this happened.”

“What if I ask you to stop then?”

“Then I will continue to do so to keep my sister safe.”

“What if I command you to?” She growls deeply.

Rachel stops, while Scar continues. He seems to be getting close because of the way he is acting. “Mary, this isn’t like you. I’ve always respected you as a sister, and you have me, and you know my one secret.”

“Rachel, this is no longer a question. Cease your actions immediately or I will be forced to take action.” She growls.

“No Mary! I am your twin sister and I refuse to have any family of mine in a home where they may be harmed!”

“Then, maybe you should start thinking of yourself!” The Umbreon leaps and I charge from where I am standing and leap at her side knocking her to the ground. I had never felt so strong, Rachel was right, he was lending me power. “Gah! What? I’m weaker than a mere pup? I refuse to believe that.”

“Believe it, faker! Rachel saw through your façade long before you asked questions, she told me to protect herself from you! Neither of us thought that you were stupid enough to try to leap while she was looking directly at you though!”

Right as she nods, Scar appears beside her, “I found something.”

“Good, lead the way. Cole, could you please help this faker up and have her walk with us. Oma, could you watch her from behind to ensure she won’t try that again?” We both nod and follow them.

We enter the bedroom of The Mayor, Scar walks to his bedding and he moves it aside. There was a small bit of wood made to cover a hole. He lifts it to reveal a tunnel. “So you are sure she is through here.”

He nods quietly. “I have no reason not to believe him,” Rachel replies and walks into the tunnel. I follow him and scar prevents the Umbreon from entering and Cole stays with the Umbreon.

I can walk through the tunnel perfectly fine, but Rachel is struggling to keep her shoulders from touching the top. The tunnel seems to take forever to get down to where it starts to flatten out, then it widens up. Once we reach the point where Rachel can stand comfortably, we pause a second to stretch. We return to walking. It is somewhat hard to see. I am able to see down the hallway with very little problem, but once there stops being walls, it starts to get difficult. Eventually I step on a rock. The rock sinks into the ground and some noises can be heard and then light illuminates the cave. In the middle of the large room is where we are, and then there are Pokemon at the end of the cave. All of them are tied up and have their mouths stuffed with items. “I see, he used the fire on his breath to see where he was going to hit that rock. What that did, I don’t know, but that is clever.”

“MMMMPH!” The loud sound can be heard from the other side of the cave. Turns out all of them are blinded too, as they don’t notice us until we speak. The sound comes from the middle of the crowd. I instantly run to the sound; the Pokemon that is making the sounds continues until I find her.

“Mary!” I shout as I start to gnaw at the ropes tying her paws together. Rachel comes right as I undo the paws and I pull off the blind and Rachel gets the stuff out of her mouth.

“Blech! That tastes nasty. That sick bastard, I want to rip his tongue out, claw his eyes out, and break his legs, just to he can know what it’s like to feel what he did to us!”

Rachel chuckles and nuzzles her sister. “That’s the Mary I know.”

Mary looks at me confused as she continues to nuzzle her, “What did I miss?”

“Not much. About a chapter of a book.” I say.

“What’s a book?” Mary asks.

My eyes shoot open as soon as she says that. I suddenly start looking around, “I- I don’t know!”

They both start laughing as they walk out, with me following behind so confused by what I had just said. Suddenly the voice that brought fear into my heart talks to me in my head, “Don’t worry, I have finally regained control of myself. The talk of objects made of paper and things you would never think of will cease.”

What’s paper? I think to myself, unaware that he is in my head.

“Don’t worry about it.” He sighs out.

I continue to follow them to the top, where Mary saw the imposter. “Who are you?” She asks the imposter, being closely watched by Scar. She looks away trying to avoid eye contact with Mary. Mary then takes her tail and rubs the ring made to look like hers to reveal it was dyed using Tomato berries. “Huh, clever. I never would have thought of that myself.” She then stares at the imposter and then snaps, “You were going to replace me!” She jumps on her attacking her from atop her. “You were going to kill my sister and much more, and you won’t ever-“

“Mary, stop!” Rachel says as Scar pulls her off the other Umbreon. “I know that she was trying to replace you, but you don’t need to make this day any worse than it already is.” Rachel was tearing up, I see it in her eyes as she watches her sister get pulled off her.

Mary begins to look into her eyes and begin crying herself. “I just wanted to make sure you were safe. But I could not, being tied down there I could not.” Rachel has Scar put her down and Scar carries off the other Umbreon to the jail.

I decide to follow Scar to the jail, where I met with Leon again. “Huh? What do you want?” he asks me curiously.

“I just wanted to know if you would like to come to my house instead of being locked in here.” I have already watched Rachel interrogate him; I feel bad for him.

“I guess I could let him go. But if you want to have more Pokemon in your house, you will need a bigger house.” Rachel says out of nowhere, with Mary right behind her. “I just had some Pokemon go down and free the bound Pokemon, and it is getting crowded in this little jail, so I think it would only be fair to let one of these Pokemon go.”

Leon looks into her eyes. “But, why me? Why the one that you made terrified of your figure?”

“Because you aren’t bad, you just needed some time alone to think, I gave you that time and I can see that you have already learned from it.”

He stands up and Scar stands right next to him as he is about to leave. “I will shelter you Leon. You may have taken my sight, but I never hold anything against a fellow Pokemon.”

Leon approaches Scar and he places a paw in Scar’s now outstretched paw as Mary removes the invisible wall from the jail. “So, friends again?”

I feel happy, but a little shocked. They are friends! They have just had a fight that caused them to lose touch. “Yes, Leon, friends.”

They walk out and I go home to find that Cole was left there alone with another figure. It is Sven! “Ah! Zey are home!”

Cole looks shocked from Leon being here. “B-b-bu-“

Scar pats him on the head. “Don’t worry Cole, everything is fine now.”

I decide to suggest that Cole and I have some food and then we go to sleep. We all agree to sit down and eat, then we go back to our room. We go to sleep while we watch Leon go to a room with Sven and Scar go to a room alone. The Dratini from earlier came into our room and coiled itself up on some of the bedding left empty by us.  Mary and Rachel enter our home, coming back to our room, laying down and curling up with each other’s head on the other’s stomach and tails around each other. It was a long day, and everything seemed to go fast, but it was a day I would not forget anytime soon.