Chapter Two:

Beep...........Beep...........Beep...........Beep...........

"..y God! Get over here! Found anot..."

Swinging... noises all around me... flashes of green... faces pairing down at me... the sky is wheeling...

"...hat happened to him?" "Not sure yet, the police just bought him in, something about a poaching ring and a raid..."

A siren wailing in the distance.... so tired... shaking....

"... out of the way! This one is in...."

I wanted to cover my head, somehow block out the sounds, but my body wouldn't move.... Why can't I move?

"...im?" "What's the diagnosis?" "Fractured femur, 4 fractured ribs, tail snapped in 3 places, compound fracture..."

"...way that he could have survi..."

Dull pain in my side.... a soft moan.... was that me?

" ..at? Shit, he's still alive. Get me an adren..."

Beep......................Beep................................ Beep.................................Be-

"...ing into cardiac arr...." "...e defribl....."

Purple in the distance fading.... important? Why is everything so.... hazy?

"There will come a time when you will face much danger and I will not be there to guide you. You must take this path by yourself, without me. I have shown you everything I can, and it pains me that I cannot do more. Remember though, the dawn always comes. Always. Remember that, young one, remember...."

Wait! Come back... Who are you? Who...

OoOoOoOoOoOoooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Consciousness crept upon me like a shadow, pushing aside the peaceful void of sleep. Slowly I forced my heavy eyelids open, struggling to make sense of the swirling colours. Gradually, images formed out of the chaotic swirl of light as my surrounds slowly came into focus: pristine white tiles bled into a soft red ceiling, from which garish harsh fluorescent lights burned.

Where am I? I tried to move my head, so sit up, but my body felt like lead. So tired...

All strength gone, I sank back to the bed, darkness rising to catch me like a warm wave as consciousness fled.

Where am I? How long have I been here? Is it hours, days, or even weeks? Nothing made sense... only the gentle rocking or something-I awoke with a start, startling the human leaning close to check something. It had been holding a metallic instrument of some sort in one hand, a clipboard in the other which it dropped with a gasp as it leapt back, the board clattering dully as it collided with the floor.

The human -female I assumed based on her appearance, though you can never really tell with them- was dressed in pure white as clean as the walls around her, the red crosses adorning her hat standing out in strong contrast to the rest of her monochromatic apparel. She looked down at me with an expression that could have been concern, reaching out as if to touch me with her now free hand.

"Abra..." I said weakly, trying to shrink back from her touch, my head spinning. Celebi no, don't touch me, just leave me alone. It wasn't what I had meant to say, I wasn't sure if it was even words -or if humans can understand a real language- but it worked.

The human -called a nurse I would later find out- withdrew her hand, instead placing a sole finger on her lips."Shh, rest. You are safe." She said, sounding out the words like I was a child. Great, she thinks I'm some common Ratatta that's lost the way to its garbage can.

I tried to speak, only managing a weak 'ab' before dreamless sleep once again claimed me.

When the grip of sleep released me again night had fallen; silvery rays of moonlight breaking through long drapes of material replaced the glaring fluorescent bulbs from before, casting long shadows across the room. I lay there for a few minutes only half aware that I was conscious, listening to the low hum of some unseen machine working quietly somewhere in the room. Is this a dream? I groaned softly, pushing against the bed-pausing when something resisted. Groping blindly, my hand touched something-a hard plastic tube connected to my arm, causing me to snatch it back as if burnt. 'What the hell?' my voice echoed hollowly thought the room.

As my eyes became accustomed to the low light, my surroundings slowly came into focus. I was lying on a human style bed, in what to all appearances was the same room. But then again, how can I tell? I've heard about these places: they are all supposed to look the same. I could be in another region for all I know. From my arm two clear tubes emerged, running up to the shadows above me. The tubes terminated in two evil looking needles that were buried deep within my flesh. What have they been doing to me?

I pulled at the tubes, heedless of the pain it caused; getting them out and ending whatever the humans had been feeding into my veins mattered far more. The needles moved slowly, as if unwilling to release their hold. After what felt like an eternity the tips emerged, trailing a translucent mixture of blood and some clear liquid. I stared at the glistening tips, shuddering inwardly from pain and fear before flinging them into the darkness, hearing them land with a soft clink.

With effort I reached for the metal railing, trying to will my weary body over the edge... stopping when my vision began to blur. Instead, I collapsed back onto the bed with a wheezing sigh, waiting for the world to come back into focus. So weak... Celebi, I've been through too much lately...

I only intended to rest till my strength came back, but as I lay back, sleep overtook my body, this time dragging me into an all too familiar dream.

Snatches of movement on all sides, the silhouettes of unseen foes illuminated by brief stabs of light from the tortured sky above. They stood surrounding me, numberless like the waves readying to crash upon a battered coast. A Sneasel emerged from the crowd, claws flexing menacingly. His face twisted into a snarl of hatred as he fixed a bloodthirsty glare at me-in a flash he leapt, claws glinting briefly in the dim light.

Time seemed to slow as the razor sharp claws filled my vision, the bone white blades almost singing as they whistled toward what their master thought another slain enemy. At the last second I threw all my weight backwards, twisting to the side and away from the blow. A look of surprise crossed the Sneasels face as his killing stroke was rendered harmless, the momentum of such a wild swing sending him stumbling forward. Without hesitation I countered, a brief look of fear shining in the now helpless dark type's eyes as my arm sped toward his unprotected back. Wreathed in pulsing green energy, the sound of bone snapping mixed with the sharp crack of the attack detonating as the blow slammed into his back. The would-be killer cried out in pain, falling to join the fallen bodies littering the ground.

Rolling with the momentum, I spun with the blow and fell into my usual guarded stance, ignoring the new addition to the dead. The crowed flinched back, shaken by the near instantaneous demise of one of their fighters, giving me a few blessed moments to catch my breath. As I stood there, struggling to hide the weariness seeping over me like a cold blanket. Just give up and die, it'll be over faster that way a voice purred, bringing with it another wave of exhaustion, the horde mustering up their courage for yet another attack.

How many have fallen before me by now? Ten, twenty, one hundred? Does it even matter? The numbers arrayed against me are beyond counting, an unstoppable force that will wear me down, and grind me into the dust by sheer weight of numbers. Yet still I held my ground. I have to hold on. I needed to give him that much.

They rushed together, a heavily scarred Zangoose leading the mad charge; obviously they assumed that I would be unable to fight more than one enemy at a time: a fatal mistake. Drawing once more upon the dwindling reserves of energy in my body, I allowed a brief, cold smile to cross my features as I bent the flow of energy, willing myself to shift spatial locations. A momentary sense of dislocation overtook me, as for a split-second the images of two separate locations were overlaid, before snapping into a single image-directly behind the foremost attacker.

In one fluid motion I changed the flow again, charging a blast of psychic energy and leaping onto the still running Zangoose, picking up momentum as I ran across his broad back. Upon reaching the normal types thick neck I leapt, using the tensed mass of muscle as a springboard, twisting around in midair and releasing the pent up attack. Blood, fragments of bone, and other unidentifiable matter flew outward from the impact, the blast giving me the extra momentum to hurdle toward a group of Houndoom who had only moments before been trying to sneak up behind me. The last I saw of the ferret was a headless body taking a blind step-its last- before collapsing, staining the ground crimson.

The lead canine had no time to react, a look of dumb realization just dawning as my feet planted firmly onto its nose, smashing it-and its owner-to the ground even as I leapt off my momentary perch. Though no telltale crack followed, a blow like that surely dislocated its jaw, if not something worse judging by the startled yelp of pain that followed the motion. Ignoring the canine I braced for a rough landing, rolling with the momentum and zeroing in on the nearest enemy: a Weavile, head and shoulders taller than the fool who charged alone.

This one's got more than bone in its skull! The dark weasel saw me coming, throwing himself forward much like the fool Sneasel before. I stepped into the attack, bring a fist sharply down on the Weavile's extended arm, being met with a satisfying crack as the joint snapped. Not waiting for the pain to register, I grabbed the injured arm, driving my shoulder into his ribcage and sending the wounded weasel stumbling into a Hitmonchan.

The fighting type dodged my little care package, hardly blinking as the weasel flew by, throwing a quick jab as he closed the distance. Feigning a dodge, I elected to teleport directly behind him, leaving the deadly blow to connect only with thin air. Again, not waiting for a retaliation I delivered a sharp backhand blow to his head, sheathing my arm in writhing psychic energy; the attack knocked the fighting type flat like someone had swept his legs out from under him, as he landing with a heavy thud. He didn't get up. Momentarily without an opponent, I dropped back into a guard stance, fighting back tears as my body screamed for me to stop.

The mob flinched, stopping their charge; the now still fighting type must have been a prized fighter in their ranks to create such a reaction. The remaining Pokemon began to retreat, giving me a chance to catch my breath and fight off a fresh wave of pain. Despite it all I found myself smirking at the growing panic in a once confident horde now trembled like a Poochyena beaten with a stick. Cowards, preying on those they see as weak and relying on numbers; it serves them right to feel the true sting of defeat.

As the mass of cowards moved on with increasing speed, something caught my eye. A group moved forward, swaggering with a confidence that was either from skill, or still outnumbering one they saw as weak- probably due to their type advantage- and judging by the fleeing group, favour fell to the latter. Narrowing my eyes, I took a quick count: two Shiftry stood in front of the rest, arms folded across their chest. Behind them was a quartet of Nuzleaf, their lesser evolution but no less dangerous in numbers. Next was a Weavile-a female judging by the sadistic smirk, and flexing claws, and a smaller Sneasel.

"You're far from home little Abra, and with nobody to hold your hand." The taller Shiftry said, drawing out the final words to emphasise the mockery. "Where's your mummy and daddy, they must be worried about their poor liddle abby-kins. Or were they the two that begged for mercy a few days ago, crying out to be our slaves rather than die like the cowards they were." The other Shiftry said, moving next to his evolutionary partner and making the most undignified face. They just get dumber by the kill.

The others let out a brief snarl of laughter at their leaders goading, which I elected to ignore; it was far more important to study my opponent, than rise to such crude bait. Like any bully leader, the taller Shiftry's upper body bore several dark scars, culminating in a vivid slash that dissected one side of his face, ending just below his nose. A fighter it would seem, and possibly a challenge if that mouth is anything to go on.

"I give you three seconds" I said, resuming my stance.

"Ha, you hear that? The little whelp thinks he's tough." He retorted, spreading his arms wide in mock fear. "You want to dance with me, tough guy? I'll even count to three for you. One, two, thr-"

He never had a chance to finish. In the blink of an eye I closed the distance between us, zeroing in on his exposed body and gathering what was left of my energy for another teleport. All at once, his taunting voice ended in a dull wheeze, eyes bulging like sickly yellow marbles as my elbow slammed into his stomach, silencing him. Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed one of his arms with my free hand, fighting back the revulsion as his dark aura bit into my own psychic one, leaving my skin tingling.

Forcing through the sickening aura, I jumped into the air and releasing the pent up energy as I took flight. Suddenly, we were fifteen feet off the ground and still flying upwards, not that the Shiftry had noticed. As he started into a coughing fit, I rolled my body in the air, throwing his barely struggling form back to the ground with considerable force, vanishing and reappearing just as his body left a sizable crater. After delivering a swift kick to his head for good measure, I turned back to the rest of his mob, glaring at the other Shiftry. The wily Pokemon gaped for a second, before bellowing out a primal war cry and charging, flanked by the rest of the still stout lackeys.

"You think the odds are for you? Fine." I said, launching myself with a snarl.

Seeing me coming, the Shiftry threw a sucker punch, hoping to catch me flat footed and at a type disadvantage. However, rather than fight directly I dropped to the ground and slid between his open legs, resisting the urge to attack due to the obvious repercussions. Once clear I launched myself into the Nuzleaf behind him, catching it completely by surprise. My head smashed it directly under the chin, silencing the strange dark type, landing on his falling body and riding it to the ground on all fours.

A tiny disturbance in the air-and lightning fast instincts-was the only thing that saved me from death. Frantically, I threw myself to the ground, narrowly dodging a razor sharp leaf as it sliced through the air. Wheeling on all fours, I turned to face the cowardly attacker, locking eyes with a stunned Nuzleaf, its arm still extended from the last attack. The well aimed attack had hit its mark; a second Nuzleaf stood like a statue, a second leaf sprouting from between its eyes. Using the momentary shock to my advantage, I righted myself and charged, ducking rather than face decapitation from the second blade. The leaf whistled through the air, passing close enough that I could feel the wind brush my ears before embedding itself within the slain grass type.

As the Nuzleaf muttered something in its own strange tongue, I caught a snarl coming from behind. Half turning at the sound, I soon found myself howling in pain as a set of needle-like claws tore into my back. As beads of blood flowed from the wound I spun around, forcing myself to ignore the lancing pain and preparing to return it twicefold. Grabbing the arm of my unseen assailant and twisting, I was rewarded with a high pitched shriek as I felt muscle and sinew tear-which combined with the poisonous aura left my ears ringing. The Sneasel who had snuck up twisted its damaged arm, crying out a deathsong through its pain as it lashed out with the other paw; a simple thing to counter. I spun the weasel around, releasing its shattered paw and ducking, flinging it into the path of an incoming razor-leaf. With eyes wide open in shock, the ice type fell with a final whimper, the shuriken-like leaf buried deep in its skull.

He slumped to the ground, blood blossoming from where the razor leaf tore into its skin. Howling out a war cry the Weavile charged, launching a furious assault that forced me back. I struggled to defend myself--vanishing only moments before the remaining Shiftry swung wildly, smashing the Weavile hard enough to send it flying backwards. As gravity pulled me downward I teleported again, this time appearing directly above the careless Nuzleaf, grinning inwardly as the satisfying crunch of my knee connecting with its skull rang out over the chaos.

I turned to face the remaining horde, noting their lack of confidence from seeing their number reduced so easily. "You still want to fight?" I called mockingly to the Shiftry, falling into one of my fighting stances. The Dark type glanced back at the growing circle of Pokemon.

"Kill him!" He screamed. The group hesitated for a moment, before breaking into a haphazard charge. Fine then, come to the gates of death.

"Sma, I can't h-" A voice rang in my head, drowned out by a massive explosion, the resulting shockwave knocking me to the ground. Like a clap of thunder the concussive burst roared, pounding into my skull like a drum. The Pokemon around me were far less fortunate; most were lying stunned on the ground, a tangle of limbs and crumpled bodies all dripping blood from their ears and mouths.

A feeling of dread washed over me as I rose, struggling to remain upright, and turned toward where the explosion came from. A massive cloud of dust rose above the battlefield, turning the sun blood red. Dark shapes moved within the choking haze, though through it I could feel a power expanding about one of them; his presence masked by a chaotic cloud of pulsing energy, like a bubble of raw psychic energy torn by shards of pure darkness. I felt like retching as the terrible miasma expanded, washing over everything it touched and leaving a growing sense of nausea pounding into my mind. My heart felt like it had jumped into my throat, as I realized the constant pull of my masters' presence was being cut by that terrible intent-a life-force slipping away.

Yet, into that terrible void I must go, for that is where my master is. He needs me now more than ever, but how can I stand against something like that? It was a rhetorical question and the answer irrelevant; I knew that it must be done, no matter what the odds are; I must act now.

I tried to gather my energy together and teleport, but it was like trying to push through a wall of fire. The virulent energy burned like fire, a sickness beyond any I had felt before seemingly seeping into my very soul as my mind shrieked for it to end. I guess it's the hard way...

Panting with the effort of trying to teleport, I broke into a run, shaping the energy into balls of raw power in my hands. I could see about a dozen Pokemon between me and the swirling wall that marked my goal. If you can't go through them, I thought, gritting my teeth you go through them!

Just as I reached the first Pokemon blocking my way, I threw my arm back, mustering the strongest attack my weary body could create.

Pain lanced up my arm, snapping me back to reality with a crash of flying ceramic and plaster. Somehow I had managed to embed my arm up to the wrist in the wall, shattering tile and drywall with ease. My fist had struck with such force that a spiderweb of cracks splintered through the surrounding tiles and deep into the plaster base.

Without thinking I ripped my arm free of the walls clutches, grimacing in pain as the jagged tiles tore into my flesh, tearing them free as I spun to face my attackers. What!? Where did they go? Is this some sort of trick!? My mind raced as I staggered backwards, slamming into the damaged wall and struggling to see through the gloom, trying to understand how a group that large could vanish in an instant. My fur stood on end against the clammy tiles, body tensed in preparation; my heart hammered as it was about to burst, adrenaline surging as I stood there, expecting an attack at any moment

Pulse throbbing in my ears, I began to pick up other faint sounds; an odd humming seemed to come from all around at once, a distant subsiding cough. What in Arceus-oh no... I took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm my racing heard as I lowered both arms from their defensive guard. Just a dream... a nightmare...

I collapsed against the wall, slumping down the cold surface as I slowly began to calm down. Just a dream, it isn't real... it can't be real... I thought over and over, trying to shake the oppressive feeing of dread that shrouded my thoughts. It can't be real.

I'm shaking... Huddled in a corner of the room I couldn't do anything to stop it, only curl into a fetal position as deep shudders wracked my body. What is wrong with me? I've spent the last five years of my life running from the same dream, yet I don't know why it scares me. All I know is that something terrible awaits at the end-I know that for certain, even if it is inherently illogical.

All psychic types pride themselves on logic: it's what separates us from the common 'mon, or so the elders taught. "Celebi turned to the people, and seeing their need he descended upon them and gifted them with rational thought, so that they could walk the path to enlightenment" and other such rubbish. I never bothered paying much attention to them: the elders were always spouting some nonsense about clarity of mind, or purity of thought-utter nonsense from 'mon with inflated egos. Like Celebi gives a Rattata's arse about what happens to us mortals.

But, what has been plaguing me for years now... it's something that can't be rationalized, no matter how many times I try to face it. Something compels me to run, to flee from whatever dreaded thing awaits. Every time, there's an overwhelming fear that wells up when even a stray thought about that dream comes to me, which has driven me to the brink... living like a simple Meowth, worrying only about my next meal, or avoiding predators. Not once thinking, lest it return.

The constant hum was soothing, like the Yanma from the days of old flitting across the sky... from days gone, now just another memory among the fleeting images, lost in the shifting barriers of reality and fantasy I was reduced to. Only the cold tile against my fur kept me from falling asleep. That, and fear of what demons lay in wait should I enter their realm again this night. Or any night...