"So... this is the once beautiful Verdanturf town?" I asked myself, staring at the horrid ruins of the town from a high point of view, the darkness of night really didn't accommodate it well, all it did was make everything creepier in this area. We had just arrived at Verdanturf at the top of a large hill, as we walked down the dirt path that lead to the small, deserted town, I had realized that there was nothing left of that place but dirt and death, it was like the town was completely taken out of society and just died out, the town really didn't look like it was destroyed by violence it was more like it was abandoned.

We were all traveling on the steep, edgy path of a large mountain that overlooked Mauville and Verdanturf, it was an extremely large risk to be on the side of the mountain facing Mauville though, I didn't know what Belisivious was thinking, we were very lucky to get through there and to a secret entrance into Verdanturf town without attracting any attention to any PEF or any citizens of Mauville.

"God... this place really creeps me out..." Yurrei muttered as we stopped our mobilization at the wall of Verdanturf. The town was completely surrounded by a metallic wall and there really was no way inside for anyone who was just looking for a quick entrance. The environment kind of rattled my nerves as well. This place was just begging to be a graveyard. There were spider webs on almost every corner of the metallic wall, there were no living plants anywhere near here, all I saw were dead trees and light brown grass, here and the path we walked along to get here. The only thing I liked about this place was its beautiful view of the lake that partially surrounded Mauville city, but I couldn't enjoy this scenery at the moment.

For a second I began to wonder what that metal wall was doing there, but then I remembered that ever since that day when Verdanturf was completely destroyed, the PEF barricaded the entire town with this metallic wall. We stood before a side entrance, our presence near Mauville was luckily blocked by the huge wall, but we still had to figure out a way inside, and I just had a feeling that Belisivious was going to come up with a plan, and so he did, "Zangoose, have you learned the attack 'Dig'?" he asked, awaiting impatiently for my answer, "Yeah, I can dig" I responded, figuring out where Belisivious was going with this, I began to think that Belisivious actually thought that I could dig under this huge wall, "I want to see if you can dig under this wall and make a tunnel for Yurrei and I to squeeze though" he said, "I knew it..." I muttered, staring at the crusty-looking ground, "I can, but it's going to be murder on my claws..." I complained.

I didn't really expect an answer, I just prepared myself for a long struggle underground, but before I started, I had some concerns about my recovery from the pneumonia, I probably shouldn't be working myself like this and I might pay for my stupidity later, but now I guess I really had to do this.

I lifted both of my arms and waited for the perfect chance to bring my claws pummeling into the ground. I arched my back over and kneeled down as I brought my claws down against the floor and began to dig like a savage, clawing my way deeper and deeper, throwing the dirt that collected in my paws out behind me. I heard Yurrei and Belisivious back away from me so they wouldn't get any dirt on themselves, how selfish, here I am getting my white fur as dirty as hell and dulling my claws to no end, and as they witnessed all of this, all they could do was watch. Not even a simple, "Good job!" or anything of the matter, that kind of pissed me off but I guess this is one way to repay them for taking care of me while I was ill.

Finally I began to break through the rough and crusty core of the Earth into a more softer surface, it felt like this place hasn't had any water in a very long time but that is a strong possibility because this place is deserted, except for the savage Pokemon that lurk within, but I'm sure they aren't smart enough to water the plants everyday.

I kept digging straight down until I got to a point where I was able to begin to move forward under the wall itself. Finally Yurrei let out a cheer, "Whoo-hoo! Go Jherek!" she squealed, I began to laugh when I heard her, "Well, that took long enough" I muttered as I began to claw away at the dirt faster, "Hey guys, come down here now" I yelled, hoping they could hear me from my little tunnel in the ground. I was a little relieved when I heard Belisivious and Yurrei crawl into my tunnel and jump down next to me, at least I was certain that they heard me so I wouldn't have to go up there myself, once I stop digging I get really tired so that probably wouldn't have been a stress-free situation.

I felt like I was getting a bit of revenge when the dirt that got trapped in my paws as I dug through the ground splattered all over Yurrei and Belisivious as I continued the digging cycle, fair is fair, we all have to get dirty.

"Wow, good job Jherek!" Yurrei cheered as I got through to the other side of the wall, "Looks like I did it..." I whispered, my heart thumping against my chest continuously as I tried to catch my breath, but there was a very deep pain in my chest as I tried to take one deep breath, soon I felt myself having a troubled time trying to catch my breath, it was the same feeling from those 2 weeks ago. My knees hit the ground as I began to cough violently, "Jherek, are you alright?" Yurrei asked, grabbing my shoulders, "He's just trying to catch his breath, leave him alone, Yurrei and I will continue down this path, feel free to catch up whenever you retain your energy" Belisivious ordered as he grabbed both of his bag handles against his shoulders and walked across the dirty sidewalk, it had some pieces of wood lying on it, some nails were visible as well.

"We can't just leave him here!" Yurrei yelled, her plea causing Belisivious to stop in his tracks, "No... no, just move on... I'll... I'll catch up" I said, having an unbearably hard time breathing, she hesitated for a little bit but wanted to make sure if I was really okay, I answered her with a head nod. I guess she felt a bit better as she ran over to join Belisivious, leaving me here to catch my breath.

My chest felt so horrible, I just felt like I was going to die here. I could barely even breath anymore, now would've been a good time for Belisivious or Yurrei to have come and helped me, but I was stupid enough to say I was alright and not show weakness. Wow I am an idiot, my chest felt like it could explode in any minute, I just couldn't hold myself up with my knees anymore, I collapsed to the ground with a loud yelp of pain. My energy was just draining away once again. The last thing I remembered was turning my head towards where Yurrei and Belisivious walked away, it looked like a pathway between two very tall hills into another area with a wooden fence surrounding it, "Please come back..." I whispered aloud, my last words before I lost consciousness.

I couldn't hear anything anymore, it was like I was in a completely new place where no life inhabits, all I could here was the rustling of leaves against the sidewalk and the wind blowing against my ears, "Jherek?" those words echoed through my mind, but something was dreadfully familiar about that voice, "...could it be...?" I asked myself in disbelief, the voice I had just heard was the voice of my trainer, Cindy, "Jherek, come on, talk to me!" she yelled in concern, "Oh my God... is it really you?" I was still in disbelief, I squinted my eyes in the sunlight, "Daytime...?" I thought, trying to visualize the person speaking to me, "Yes, yes it's me!" Cindy whispered into my right ear, "It's definitely you... only you can understand me so well" I whispered, tears flowing from my eyes and flooding my furry face. Cindy hugged me tightly, I wanted to hug her back but I was in shock, Cindy is back? After all of this time she's finally back and... and she's hugging me? It all felt so real, it must be real. "This... this is all real..." I whispered to myself, I burst out with tears, squeezing Cindy as hard as I could, "I missed you so much Cindy, you wouldn't even believe it..." I proclaimed, looking into her eyes, "I know... I know..." she said, I could tell she was so happy to see me too, but of course she was, I was one of her favorite Pokemon back in the day, "Don't worry... I'll never leave you aga..." suddenly she inexplicably ceased talking, her eyes blank. I waited for a little while for her to continue, but she didn't, "C-Cindy...?" I asked, getting a bit nervous about what was happening with her.

"No... way..." I muttered as Cindy turned into a pile of ashes right before my eyes. I stood up in anger as the ash dust began to fill the air with a cigarette-type smell, I couldn't hold in my anger anymore, I let out a long, overdue scream of pain and agony, "Why must this happen to me?!" I screamed, almost pulling my hair out, "Cindy... this isn't real!" I yelled, my voice echoing throughout the empty Verdanturf town. A white mist began to creep from the sky and cover the ground, causing the place to look dreadfully mysterious, "So... this is how my mind toys around with me... damn it, damn it to hell!" I yelled as my knees hit the floor once more and the white mist covered my vision.

"Hey Zangoose, are you alright?" I heard a male voice ask, his voice echoing throughout my mind like it was a canyon. I felt a bed under me and I opened my eyes to a Raichu standing over me, his face very close to mine, so close that I could fell his warm breath on my nose, "It... it was just a dream..." I whispered in disappointment, trying very hard not to cry, not now, especially not here, "Hah, you're okay, I was starting to worry about you there, buddy" the Raichu said with a friendly tone, putting one brownish paw on my shoulder, "My name is Kaine, what's yours?" he asked, seeming really quick to know me, "Eh, my name is Jherek" I said in a low tone, my head was still throbbing from... whatever happened to me back there, "Wow, what an unusual name" I heard a female voice in the background, I looked over and I saw that it was a Pikachu, "Well, you might as well get to know everyone else, there is Riolynn and..." Kaine stopped short when a human walked into the room, "PEF!" I yelled in fear, trying to get away but realizing that the bed I awoke in was in the middle of the room, so I fell over flat on my face, "No, no, I am not a PEF, I am a Pokemon Defender" the human said, it looked like he was sharpening a piece of wood with a small knife, "Yeah, that's Jacob over there, he's a really nice human, don't be afraid of him" Kaine said, trying to calm me down.

These people must have saved me, I was grateful so I decided to not ask "Where am I?" that would just be a stupid question, I know for a fact that I'm inside Nighthawk Outpost, but now I became concerned with that fact, where were Belisivious and Yurrei?

I calmed down after a while, I learned to trust that human, he really didn't look like someone who could be in the PEF either way, he wasn't in shape at all, a little fat, Caucasian male, had hair growing on almost every part of his face, and he wore a dirty white T-shirt with dirty camouflage pants.

"I can't believe there is finally another intelligent male Pokemon here in Nighthawk Outpost, it's nice to have someone to talk to who actually knows what I'm talking about" Kaine said with an excited look on his face, "What about Jacob, he never talks to you?" I asked, "Well... yeah, but he doesn't understand my dilemma. Tell me, is it wrong for me, as a Raichu, to be attracted to Riolynn?" he asked me, making sure his voice was coherent and at its lowest volume. This must have been a question he had asked Jacob before but he probably didn't get a good response, "Well..." I started but was blocked off by Kaine, "...but who can blame me? I mean, just look at her, those eyes... those curves... that tail... those paws... those feet, they just yell 'Fuck me!'" Kaine said, staring at her with his tongue sticking out, "I don't think its wrong, it probably would be a little odd if she was like... a water Pokemon or something, but I think you have every right to like her, I may not be attracted to Pikachus but I think that she might be perfect for you" I said making sure I had a friendly tone, "Hah, good thing too, but I just can't find any way to tell her how I feel, I mean this place doesn't just scream "Romantic" we are in the middle of a very deadly place here" Kaine explained, looking at Jacob who was trying to get a signal on a radio.

"Don't worry, we're getting you through this place, we've heard from Miir Cyraa that you were traveling in a group, I believe their names Belsevious and Yurry?" Riolynn said, apparently her telling me this information was like that game "Telephone" it got pretty badly mixed up so I corrected her, Belisivious and Yurrei" I blankly said, hoping that wouldn't offend Riolynn, "Oh yeah, sorry, well Jacob is trying to signal the Pokemon Defender who is guiding those two through Nighthawk, it shouldn't be long until we escort you as well" she said, a little embarrassed that she messed the names up.

"Hello...? Jacob Mercai reporting from Checkpoint 2, Checkpoint 4 do you read me?" I heard Jacob say, "This is Checkpoint 5, we have received information that Checkpoint 4 has already begun its Pokemon escort mission, but we can get them any information when they pass through here" I heard a female say over the radio, I slowly walked towards Jacob to get a better view of what he was doing, "Yes, tell Checkpoint 4 that we have taken complete custody of the Zangoose Jherek, tell them to forget about Jherek and continue their mission, I repeat, forget about Jherek" he ordered, no expression on his face what-so-ever.

"Forget about me..." I thought, "I wonder how they'll respond to that" I whispered to myself, "We will tell them that information, but we have some really bad news from the frontlines, PEF soldiers are coming to cleanse the area of any life in this place, repeat, all Checkpoints are to evacuate the premises, I repeat, evacuate" the same female voice announced, "This is Checkpoint 12, did I hear correctly? Evacuate the area?" a male voice asked, "Yes, I repeat once more, evacuate the area ASAP" the female announced, then I heard "Roger that" almost 15 times, "Heh, that means we're finally leaving Nighthawk Outpost?" Riolynn asked, anxious to hear the answer, "Yup, we're finally going to Miir Cyraa" Jacob announced, holding up his arms in the air with excitement, Kaine and Riolynn let out loud cheers of happiness, I wasn't really feeling much like cheering after this entire confusing incident, where did my pneumonia pain go? Why did I have to dream about Cindy...? That blow hurt me the most, seeing Cindy in an incredibly clear and vivid dream made it all feel so real and... and I just believed that I was going to be with Cindy once more. Just thinking about it made me angry and almost forced tears out.

"I recommend you guys start getting ready, this is not going to be an easy mission" Jacob warned, "We're not just going to Checkpoint 3 and leaving, we're going through the full Nighthawk Outpost, get whatever you need out of this place... I'll be waiting outside" Jacob said with a grim look on his face, I could tell he was very excited to leave but frightened that he might lose someone here today.

"Well, you'd better get ready, put on some clothes from Jacob's closet if you want" Kaine suggested, putting on the same place PDF jacket those Alakazams had, "You sure it's okay?" I asked, looking at Kaine's jacket, "Of course, the closet is right over there, help yourself" he said, pointing towards a slide-open door near him. I walked over to it, the floor creaking with every step I took. I slid the door open to see the entire clothes rack was filled with the same exact jacket all around, plus these black pants, but I decided not to take those. I took one of the jackets and put it on, in my opinion, I looked much cooler with the zipper open so I decided to leave it like that, "Remember everyone, Nighthawk Outpost is not a place to take lightly, be vigilant, you cannot let your guard down. This is our final moment in this accursed place, we've been here for all of these months, now don't die on me now" Jacob proclaimed, stepping towards the front door with a shotgun strapped to his back and a revolver in his pocket, "Let's go..." he said, kicking the door open and letting the chilly wind inside of the Checkpoint.Chapter End Notes:March 13, 2098: I now know that I have woke up past midnight, around 1:00 a.m. I believe and if I want to catch up to Belisivious and Yurrei in this horrible place, I guess I really have to pick up the pace