Rachel walked into her apartment completely devastated. It was the finals of the championship match of her league and everything went wrong to her and her teammates. They pulled leg muscles, they broke legs, this one man even chomped down on her poor teammate’s shoulder and injured her then faking it like she hit him! She played for a team in the city known as the New Linians’ Garchomps. They were hosting a brand new league where men and women players would play in teams against other teams of men and women, and it was a success until today. She decided to flop onto the nice bed that was made for her to lay on that morning. She laid with her back to the roof. The apartment was nice, but the one big ugly fact reared its way into her thoughts. This was her last year. Being in Shoeball was starting to get tiring, and her body was not as good as it was when she started. She laid there for a while before getting food. She made herself a nice sandwich, not even smiling. She stood at her window thinking of all the pain her teammates endured.

The Espeon finally finished her sandwich as she heard the doorbell ring. She walked toward the door and with a ho-hum attitude yelled, “I’m coming!” She opened the door to a Luxray that was holding a package and didn’t say anything, tongue tied from seeing the Espeon. It was as if he knew who she was and didn’t know what to say. “Is that package for me?” She asked a little irritated with the way he was staring, “Come on! I get enough of that outside of the apartment!” He snapped out of it and handed the package to her.

 “Here, this is for you ma’am,” he said in a monotone voice. She sighed and snatched the package from him growling a “Thank you” as she slammed the door in his face. Rachel stared at the package noticing it was perfectly square and similar to the size of a Shoeball. She opened it up to reveal that it was, in fact, a Shoeball. It was embroidered with her name and gold combined with the colors of her team, Red and blue. She sighed and dropped it on the floor. The ball bounced a little before rolling against the bed. After having her sandwich she decided to lay down and sleep.

The next morning she woke up like normal, got dressed, got herself breakfast, and sat in front of the TV to eat it and watch the news. The station was talking about her, “… The young athlete of only 28 said it was taking a toll on her body. Her doctors confirmed that she was not in the same shape she was when she had started her career, the part that concerned them was the fact that she had been able to perform well before this year. This was her first year actually experiencing issues. Only the doctors know her actual condition and they refuse to talk about it...” She refused to let herself hear anymore, she knew what was going on and they didn’t need to know, nor did anyone except her.

            Rachel decided, after finishing her breakfast, that she needed a day to cool down and decided to go shopping. She slipped on her shoes, wiggling her toes to make sure they were on firmly, but comfortably. The Espeon walked out the door striding normally as to not bring attention to herself. After that news report people might be desperate to talk to her. She walked outside and jumped on one of the trolleys passing by, handing the man driving enough money to get her to the nearest mall. She jumped out at the mall and walked around. This is what she did when she was feeling down, she wandered the mall in hopes of finding something to do, or something to buy. She glanced at all of the stores she usually shopped at, like the video gaming stores, the sports apparel and the sports gear stores, the specialty shops that sold things that she thought were cute or cool, and finally the food stalls. Unlike most “normal” girls, she didn’t like wearing dresses, they made her feel uncomfortable. She eventually decided to go toward one of those specialty stores that had just opened. She walks in and finds this watch that was also like a GPS and allowed her to play video games and access the internet and other stuff wherever she wanted. It was huge, about half her forearm. She grabbed a box of it and took it to the counter. At the counter was a cute Gardevior she had never seen before. “Hey there,” she said with a slight murr to the Gardevior, “I see you must be new around here.”

The Gardevior giggled as he speaks. “I guess you must be the first to see my actual gender.”

The male voice from him made her paralyzed like she had touched a Pikachu, “Y-you’re male?!” She said and the puts the box on the counter hurriedly, “I-I’m sorry. I am not into guys.” She rubbed the back of her neck as he sighed.

“Even the women that hit on me want girls…” He said as he checked her out. She was surprised it cost as much as it did, by the looks and sounds of it, it should have been more expensive.

She quickly got out of there embarrassed. She decided to take her stuff into the bathroom and hide there for a few seconds. She quickly calmed down and got out. Rachel snuck out, and decided the best thing to do to forget what had just happened would be to get a snack. She knew exactly what she wanted to get, a soft pretzel, she even knew where she wanted to get one. She grabbed her money and walked over to the little pretzel stall known as Uncle Evan’s. In her opinon, they sold the best soft pretzels in the world.

“Hey, Rachel!” the Pokémon managing the register in the stall said to her as she came close.

“Colin, you work here now?” she said, recognizing the Pokémon, but just barely. His clothes were much different.

“Yep, I was surprised myself after being fired from my last one.” He began typing on the register, “I know what your favorite is. Do you want me to get you one?”

“Yes,” she said nodding, “It’s just that, I did not recognize you for a second without your torn clothes.”

“Well, I need to dress like this because it is the uniform. I still have not gotten enough money for new clothes. But enough about my stuff, why are you upset?”

She blinked, confused, “Wha-“

“You think I don’t know that when you come here you order your favorite when you are upset? We used to be best friends after all! You don’t think I would pick up on things like this?”

She sighed, “You know about how I quit, don’t you?” He nodded, holding out his hands for her money as he opened the drawer on the register. “Well, I just wish I could have done a few more years. But it hurts when I play.”

He handed her a pretzel with cinnamon and sugar on it. “Don’t worry about it, I understand. Now, why don’t you take this and enjoy your pretzel, you need it.”

She nodded, smiling at him, “Thanks for understanding.”

He smiled back, “Don’t worry about it. Plus, someone might eavesdrop if we were to talk about it in public.” She waved to him as she walked away with him nodding back saying, “Have a nice day!”

She walked out to the outdoor sitting area of the mall and sat down eating the pretzel. She ate, watching Pokémon pass by. Luckily, none of them recognized her. Once she was about halfway done with her pretzel, a noise rang throughout the mall. The sound of someone charging through avoiding cops could be heard, but the sound that rang was the sound of the Pokémon throwing furniture and other items at them to slow them down. Rachel stood up and tried to figure out where it was coming from. Eventually, a crowd came through running away, trying to get out of the Pokémon’s path. It was not before long until Rachel was knocked on her behind by a tall white figure ramming into her, not looking where he was going. The Pokémon stared into her eyes before standing up and running off again at full speed, blocking up the hallway behind him. She didn’t have enough time to yell back before realizing he had taken the little computer she had just bought right from her arms. One of the police, a strong Arcanine, stopped to stand her up, “Ma’am, did you get a good look at the Pokémon that ran into you?” She nodded, shocked by what happened, “Then I am going to have to ask you to come outside and describe him.”

She nodded as they took her outside. Outside she was told to wait. Eventually, after they knew he had gotten away, a man with a note pad came up to her and asked questions as to what the strange thief looked like. She answered, “White fur, red-furred face, a tail like mine, red blade-like horn on the side of his head, purple eyes, and white fur that goes down the opposite direction of his horn.” The man held up a drawing very similar to him, but something was missing. She finally figured out what it was and grabbed at the tufts of fur on the side of her face and said, “A red set of these.” Then the drawing looked exactly like him. There was no doubt. They claimed that the Pokémon did not exist. She shook her head and said that that is what he actually looked like. After that, they asked other onlookers who said he looked like an Absol or an Espeon. Only one other claimed he looked like what she said, and that was Colin.

“Hey, when they let you go, go home and have the rest of your pretzel. You need some time to just relax.” Colin said to her while they wait. After letting them go, she did as he said. Hopping aboard the trolley to get home, she saw several musicians on the street playing their saxophones and acting joyous. The music they were playing just made her happy and calmed her down, even making her smile again.

After returning home, she laid on her bed and stretched, turning on a radio to help her relax. After a while of laying on her bed in her room, she heard her TV turn on and one of her game systems turn on as well. She didn’t invite anyone in, so who in the world was turning on her TV? She walked out cautiously, not afraid of anyone stupid enough to start playing a game when they are invading her home; she just wanted to see them before they dashed off. Right as she poked her head around the corner, the figure paused the game and started looking around. Before the figure made eye contact, she hid. She knew who it was, it was that Pokémon who ran her over back at the mall! She turned the corner quickly and grabbed him by the hair. “Who are you, and why are you here?” She asked, gritting her teeth.

“Playing a game.” He said innocently.

Rachel slapped her forehead and shook her head, then stared at him. “You ran from the cops, ran in to me at the mall, and now you are at my apartment playing videogames and you are acting as though this is perfectly normal?”

He blinked, “I thought you would find it funny by the coincidence, now you are acting pissed! I thought you would have called it fate with the way you stared into my eyes.”

She slapped him, “Who do you think you are if you can just barge into someone’s apartment whenever you feel like you have found love?”

He gulped and his eyes shifted from left to right, then he answered, “My name is Xell?”

She sighed, “Okay then, Xell, are you just here looking for a place to hide? Because I could call the cops if you are.”

He shook his head, “I’m only here to wait.”

She stared back at him confused, “Wait for what?”

A loud banging from the door area suddenly was heard. He grabbed the gaming system and TV while smiling and chuckling. “Them.”

“Oh no, you are not just walking out of here without your own personal pair of handcuffs!”

He looked at her as he stood at the window as the banging occured again, “Police, open up!”

“Neither are you, Pretzel Girl.” He said staring at her.

“What do you mean?!” She asked and panicked as he stood there. She approached him then grabbed his wrist, “You were the one who broke in and entered my apartment. You are paying for this!”

“Yes, and you are the one who’s coming with me.” Instantly, she realized he had slapped some handcuffs on her. “Ready to get out of here?”

“How?!” She shouted right as the door got kicked down.

“Don’t move! You are both under arrest!”

“This way!” He said running toward a window, grabbing her free wrist as he jumped through the glass that instantly shattered. Rachel panicked as she began to plummet from her 20-floor apartment building. She was not able to think properly as to what to do. All Xell did was giggle and laugh as they fell, making her want to kill him. “This is fun!”

“What’s so fun about jumping to our death?!” She said as she saw the ground so close she thought she was going to die. She was so scared that she closed her eyes. It took her a few seconds to realize she was not dead.

“You could use telekinesis you know!” He said as they floated there. He realigned them to standing positions. “Those incompetent police, they forgot to surround the building! It’s almost as if they want us to escape!”

She panted then she started panting through gritted teeth, “You son of a-“

“Let’s go to the mall!” he said, interrupting her.

“We can’t, you idiot, you got it closed with your escape scene!” She said furiously.

“Oh yeah! Then let’s go to my hideout!”

“I am not going anywhere with you.”

“Oh? Well I hope the cops have fun with you!” He said, eerily happy.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” She said, staring him down, “We just fell twenty or more stories and all you can think of is how fun things are?”

Xell shrugged and then grabbed her wrist and started running, “Hey, look! It looks like they still think the game is on!”

While walking home, Colin decided to stop by some places and check out the price of clothes at the time. All he ended up getting was a red beanie with holes for the ears on them. His jeans looked like they were thinned from all the wear he put on them. His white shirt was more durable than his pants with how few holes it had, most being in the back. It was his unbuttoned long-sleeved shirt that he wore over it that showed the most wear, with the material thinned at the cuffs and button area. His collar was the most lucky of the edges of the shirt still holding up.

“Don’t you DARE hurt him!” She growled.

“I thought you weren’t into men!” He retorted with a chuckle.

She growled back, “If you are going to take us someplace, do it and stop talking.”

He chuckled, “Okay miss pretzel pants!”

            Eventually Rachel saw the edge of the city coming up, marked by a wall. “Xell, you are running toward a wall!” The tall wall was easily over 40 stories tall, and they were coming up on it fast.

            “Don’t worry! We’ll jump it!” He said.

            “You can’t jump that high, nobody can!” Colin yelled in frustration.

            “Not without a little help,” Xell said as his hands and body began to glow a pink-ish color with the other two starting to as well.

            “Even telekinesis won’t help you!” Rachel yelled at him.

            “No, but it will once we hit the spring!” The moment he said that the two started to look away, knowing the end result of what he was about to do. That is, until they felt their feet stop touching the ground. They both looked down with the three of them hovering well above the wall, and them floating down slowly.

            Colin felt his hand touch Xell’s and he grabbed onto it for dear life. All Xell did was yell “Wheeeee! Parachute!” as they descended. The two were frightened to death by the madman that was Xell. He acted like a child who had been given espresso and a big slice of chocolate cake, nothing like what they expected a wanted criminal to act like. The moment their feet touched the ground, they all released each other’s hands. “That was fun!” he said stomping the ground three times in a rhythmic fashion where he stood.

            “What about that was fun?” Colin asked, “You nearly killed all three of us!”

            “But you are alive right?” He asked with a smile, his tail wagging like an excited cat. Colin stared at him just as confused as Rachel was as a camera appeared from the ground in front of where Xell stood. “It’s me! Let me in August!”

            Both stared at Xell as the camera sunk back into the ground where it had come from. Eventually the sound of machinery was heard whirring below them as a door rose from the ground. Xell entered it, skipping. Both Rachel and Colin proceeded with caution as they looked in. It lead to a hallway leading into the ground, obviously leading to some underground facility. Colin entered first, following the tail of Xell as quickly as possible, with Rachel close behind. They eventually reached a room with a few giant computers. It was a huge room that was all white, but not a sterile white. Xell hollered and ran toward the closest outlets with the TV and game system, setting them up.

            While he is doing that, the Gardevior from that one store came in. “Hello, Rachel. Nice to see you again.”

            Rachel looked so shocked, “Y-you? What are you doing here?”

            He laughed, “Well, this would have been explained earlier if it weren’t for my cohort here completely screwing up my plan-“
            “High score!” Xell shouted loudly, filling the mostly-empty room with the reverberations of his voice.

            “Do games even have high scores anymore?” He shook his head then returns to what he was saying, “If he didn’t screw up my plan, all of this would have been explained. But, now I have more time to do a better explanation.”

            Colin stared at him suspiciously for a second, “Wait a second, you aren’t one of those cult leaders are you? You aren’t trapping us here are you?”

            He walked over to the Zangoose and puts his hand on his head. “I’ll explain when you wake up. The way you talk implies you are tired and stressed, am I right?” Colin nodded as he slowly fell asleep on the floor. “Sorry about that, I will take care of him, let’s get down to introductions, I’m August.”

            “That’s kind of funny that your name is August when you’re a male…” she noticed him staring at her, and she coughed into her hand. “I mean... Nice to meet you.”

            “Thank you. Now, that, over there-“

            Almost, as if on-cue, Xell interrupted with a wave and a “Hi!”

            “-is my companion Xell. I apologize for his actions, he’s our best at running and fighting. But, he is also extremely childish, hyperactive, and has a tendency to steal things,” he then sighed. “Now that we have that out of the way, we are an organization of Pokémon looking for Pokemon that happen to be in that city. Unfortunately, I was hoping that this would be the first volunteer… but I guess your friend will have to be.”

            “So, what are you two hiding from out here?” Rachel asked curiously.

            “I harbored a hybrid. Xell over there is a hybrid of an Espeon and an Absol.” August said before moving on, “After being chased out, we eventually found this cave, and in this cave we found this…” He looked over to a book and picked it up and handed it to her. Rachel examined the book for a while. The book was red with the word Dawn on the front. “That book, at first, made no sense. It talks about Pokémon who would be descendants of The Great Warriors.”

            “Wait, you mean those warriors that our parents tell us about in the fairy-type-tales?” She laughed, “You must be crazy! Those are just stories, you know?”

            He sighed, “That was exactly my reaction. But, upon further inspection, it has specific names. One of which, is yours.”

            She shook her head, “Wait, what?” Opening the book she flipped through the pages and read each, until she found one naming every descendant of this one Espeon. She was also named Rachel, and the lineage ended with Rachel herself. “Th-that’s impossible! You must have been stalking me and wrote this!”

            “I have not, and that book is indeed from the past. It is written by a psychic.” He sighed, “If you don’t believe it, then what if I find a name in here that is random and I find him or her?”

            “That would just prove that I was not your only target!”

            “Just trust me.”

            “Oh, fine,” she finally gave in. “But only if you tell me what is with Xell.”

            “I think he is related to one of the warriors, but I don’t have any proof.” He shrugged then walked off waving for Rachel to follow him as he picked up Colin. “Come, I will show you to your room.”

            They walked down a hallway, quickly making their way through the little underground building until they reached a door with B108 labeled on it. August opened the room to reveal a small room with a TV, 2 beds, a computer, and a small kitchen area and a sofa. The room was a sky blue on the roof with a slightly darker blue on the walls. The beds looked just like the one she had at home, a square bed with no definite top or bottom to it. The TV was a small flat-screen hooked up to nothing but the wall for power. The kitchenette was like a better version of her kitchen at her apartment. The only difference in this room between her apartment and this was the sofa and the color of the walls. And then it hit her, everything here was hers! “Hope you enjoy your room. Xell set it up with items he stole from your apartment. And before you ask, no I don’t know how he did it. He’s a mystery to me still.”

            “I also forgot something!” Xell said, scaring everyone because the door had been shut firmly behind them and none of them heard it open. He walked over to the TV and set up the game console with 4 controllers below the TV.

            Rachel, after the initial shock went away, decided to lay on one of the beds. August took the unconscious Colin and laid him down on the other bed, tucking him in so that he would be comfortable. “Now, Rachel, I have one question that just came to mind. If you are a psychic type, why don’t you use telepathy or telekinesis?” August asked politely.

            “Yeah, I was wondering that too, Pretzel Girl!” Xell stated afterward.

            Rachel shrugged, “I don’t know. I can feel them within me and I can try to use them, which gives me the sensation that I am, but nothing happens.”

            August scratched his chin, “Interesting. The book doesn’t speak of any of the warriors having trouble with any ability, in fact, many of your ancestors are powerful psychics.”

            “Strange,” she said as she laid on her bed. “Anyway, either of you have a-“

            “Pretzel?” Xell finished her sentence as he pulled one out from behind his back, handing it too her.

            Rachel took it and bit into it, “Thanks.”

            “No problem, Pretzel Girl!” He said as he hopped out of the room.

            “Okay, well, I’ll leave you to your pretzel. It’s getting late, so I will retire to my room. If your friend wakes up, tell him to sleep.”

            She nodded with a yawn as she continued to eat away at the pretzel. August left and she was left alone with the sleeping Colin. “Well, hope you enjoy your sleep Colin.” She said with a yawn as she finished her pretzel. She removed her clothes and threw them into the laundry hamper in the corner and laid in her bed, pulling the covers over her and fell asleep.