While everything had been happening outside, Will had been sequestered in the large white tent, scattered equipment all around him, fellow researchers bustling around, himself looking very out of place in his bright plaid shirt and black trousers. There were multiple screens erect around the area, all showing different readouts and measurements, a large single screen at the very front of the tent displaying a complete map of the area, certain things marked such as radiation emissions, fluxuation points and overall energy outputs of the area. He had introduced himself to the team who were working on the machine, but many of them disregarded him as unimportant until he soon began looking over their shoulders and spouting off information and explanations they had never heard of before, yet somehow made sense. Soon he was lecturing them all in front of the main screen, telling them of his own theorem and how it related to the events they had been observing. In only ten minutes he had them at his command, telling them what to monitor, what to report and how to think. Will had smiled, glad to be in his element once more, making his way from station to station like he was a professor again, eying his students work.

However, something did not add up in the results he kept receiving. He had turned it over, looked over the data himself, but could not make sense of why it was happening. He had begun looking over the stations and outputs, suddenly discovering the reason for his confusion as he began switching displays on the main screen.

"What is that?" he asked in a very loud and clear voice, turning the heads of various researchers. No one answered so he explained quickly. "Why are there absolutely no emissions from near the centre of the portal?"

"The detectors were knocked out, perhaps." One of the men spoke up, a man in his thirties with bleach blonde hair. "Or it's been overloaded with what it is picking up."

"No, no, no..." Will said quickly, switching the overlays of the map on screen and pointing to the same area, now covered in pure white blotch. "You're still getting readings from the sensors near the edge, the ones picking up the background radiation, and they're reading far too low for that...". One of the men fiddled with a few wires connecting to a large computer box, resetting the connection.

"Maybe it was an error in the system, check it now." He called. But what Will saw was the exact same. There should have been tachyons and other high energy particles flowing from a portal that size like a flood, but instead there was nothing at all. It was as if the portal was not even there. He swore to himself, there should at least be something showing up. Such a sudden and definite horizon from which beyond there was nothing, it shouldn't be possible in this situation.

"How long has this been here?" He asked quietly. "Was this area like a vacuum when I arrived?" One of the researchers shook his head, waiting the screen with a mild curiosity.

"No, it occurred after we finally managed to install sensors around the area." He answered. "It took to convince the general to let us install them so close to the centre of the portal."

"And you never questioned why they were not working?" Will accused, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"We did....for a while, but soon it seemed to become relevant...we assumed something had knocked them out or severed some connection." He answered "We have a lot to deal with here...especially after you gave us all this information..." Will sighed and looked back at the live feed from sensors around the area, the light of the screen in the now dim and stuffy tent reflecting off his glasses, which now had a scratch or two in them, being lucky to have not been broken yet. After a moment he had made up his mind and turned wordlessly away, swiftly marching out of the tent, much to the surprise of the researchers who would have thought he would have continued questioning the matter.


Will made his way first to the recreation room where he had expected to find everyone, however had only managed to call Valerie and Melody. Even in his distracted state he didn't miss the discernable air of tension and feelings of gloom from the room, but decided it was not the time to dwell on this and simply told the two to go to the research tent and wait for him. Tom and Layla were not brawling in the yard as he had heard before, as well as the unruly crowd which had gathered to watch, and in the end partake in, their fight. The camp was a closed area and he had only to make his way quickly around the perimeter to located them, finding both Michael, Tom and Layla within the small border of tree, relaxing by the looks of it. He didn't blame them for doing such a thing in this hour but his eyes glinted with suspicion when he saw Tom and Layla sitting together, only serving to add fuel to the curious fire he had about the two.

The four then made their way back to the research tent after his enigmatic summon, having learnt that in matter such as it these, it was best to simply not question Will and his orders. The researchers gave them all odd looks as they entered, Will asking one to call whoever was in command on the road block, earning him and even odder look. Michael stood a small distance away from Melody, who in turn was staying close to Valerie, unwilling to be so close to him right now. The tent was awkwardly silent for a few minutes, the researchers stationed there not bothering to ask what was happening, knowing an explanation would certainly demanded when the sergeant arrived. After only five minutes and true to everyone's expectations, the sergeant strode into the tent, her stride showcasing his no nonsense attitude when it came to a matter in which she had not the slightest idea what she was dealing with. Her chestnut hair was cut short, barely reaching past her ears, her eyes hard and calculating. She wore standard fatigues, her shirt currently tied around her waist and her white vest smeared in black oil and grime as well as parts of her face. Although she looked unprofessional to everyone, she emitted an aura of confidence that defied this as she immediately locked her eyes with Wills.

"You've called me here for what?" She asked curtly, no room for any banter in her tone.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, we've made some progress but-" Will started, the sergeant cutting him off and look hardening.

"Never mind that, what do you have to say?" She asked quickly. A woman who valued information and information alone in this situation.

"Yes, well..." Will cleared his throat and began, his tone becoming rather neutral. "We've analysed the portal, determined it is so far stable and shows very little sign of collapse at the moment, which would cause widespread destruction, but we have encountered a problem, or an unknown factor to be specific." The sergeants look didn't change as she listened.

"Why is this important?" She asked after a second, although it was not sarcastic.

"This area here..." Will continued, pointing to the map where the enigmatic white spot lay. "Should be emitting some kind of high energy output, however it isn't. This means that the portal cannot and should not exist. We've checked the equipment and it is functioning perfectly, but this unknown factor...we can't be sure of anything with it. We can't detect the maximum energy output of the portal, and because of that we can't be sure something...bad, may happen." The sergeant continued to stare at him for a few seconds before glancing at the screen. She didn't understand all that was written, fed from machines whose workings she could not fathom, but she did know that not knowing your enemy could lead to ones downfall. She had learnt that from multiple assaults, both successful and failed, on multiple organizations who vie for power in the black market and try to drag the civilian world with them.

"And what are you suggesting?" She asked carefully, eying Will sharply again. "You called me her for a reason, not just to tell me about this. You have an idea, or a fix for it?". Will took a breath and steeled himself, preparing to speak confidently, knowing hesitation would only show the strong minded woman that he was not sure of this.

"If something is stopping us from getting readings from the sensors near the centre of the portal then it needs to be stopped. If the sensors are faulty then they need to be fixed, but if something else is interfering, we need to know what it is." He said, keeping his tone as fixed as possible.

"So what is the basis of this suggestion, what do you want us to do?" She said, awaiting the final response.

"We need to send people in to fix this." He said calmly. The sergeant's face darkened, visibly becoming redder as her anger rose. The man had no right to ask to her to send in her men, men who trusted her with their lives, into a situation which she knew was far too dangerous to be worth the risk.

"We are not sending a squad in." She said sternly. "It isn't worth it just to repair a few sensors we placed a week ago, which were also at the cost of one man's life." Will met her glare with his own sly gaze.

"I understand the dangers better than anyone, but I also understand the risks just as well." He said carefully. "The centre of the portal is the most vital area to monitor, it's where we get the fastest data about fluxuations and changes."

"More important than the life of these men?" She asked, her voice edged with insult.

"It could be the difference between detecting a sudden change and evacuating quickly or detecting the change minutes after it's happened and having to spend extra time confirming and calculating the time until a potential catastrophe." He responded quickly, the sergeants glare still illustrating that she would not take the risk. Will put his hands up in a calming gesture and continued. "But I know you don't want to risk your soldiers dying needlessly...so I suggest you send us." The sergeant straightened up and perked a brow. Tom gave Will a glare and Michael choked on a breath. Layla, although not liking the thought of going near something which had brought her to the other world, so strange so seemingly lifeless without aura, but also relishing the thought of having a slight adventure in her newly healed body. Valerie paled at the thought, also not thrilled about the idea, grabbing Melody's hand in an almost reflex action. During her travels she had become attached to Melody as a friend, and with her nature, it helped more than she knew.

"You're asking me to send civilians into a warzone?" She asked incredulously. Will shook his head.

"It's hardly a warzone, but my companions are very experience with these things, we've all probably had more firsthand experience with these portals than anyone else in this region." He said, smiling a little, wondering if the sergeant would ask the question forcing him to reveal things he would rather not.

"How can you claim that?" She asked, Will mentally wincing that the question had indeed came.

"...we've been through one." He said, fighting to hide a smile at the look on some of the researchers faces around him. The sergeants eyes widened, if only by a fraction, as she thought out his claim carefully.

"You say you've actually stepped into one of those...portals, and survived?" She asked, disbelief evident in her tone.

"Yes, you see we were actually near one when it opened and...well, it was much smaller than this one, small enough to remain stable without destroying its surroundings, but we were pulled into it while it was forming." He said, mixing truth and fiction as best he could, choosing to carry on before she asked further questions. "I'm sure you know that people from the world on the other side of those portals have come through?"

"Yes, we found a few in the wreckage of the city the first time we swept through it, they somehow had survived coming through, most of them claim they were thrown onto high rise buildings, and their injuries were not serious enough to cause death..." she answered.

"Then, surely you've interrogated them about where they came from?" He asked slyly, edging the woman towards his way of thinking. The sergeant narrowed her eyes.

"They say that their world is just like ours, expect there aren't-" she found will finishing her sentence along with her.

"aren't any Pokémon..." Will repeated. "It's true as well...you see, we were in that world for a while, however we were...lucky enough...to find another portal which was had only opened seconds before we crossed it, smaller portals do not last as long, you see, and ended up in Sinnoh." He gave Michael a look as he mentioned the part about finding the portal, remembering how desperate the man had been at that point and had forced them to follow on as he threw himself through. The sergeant stood for a full minute, eyes flickering between Will, the small group of people gathered in the tent, and the screen, before finally speaking again.

"If I still think it's too dangerous?..." She said slowly.

"Then you're only putting your men in more danger at the risk of this portal collapsing and obliterating this encampment." He said calmly, this time returning the hard look of the sergeant, old eyes matching her youth and passion with age and experience. She turned her head to look at the rag tag group of civilians who had walked into her operation, turned the situation on its head and were now trying to attempt, what she considered, a suicide mission. She shook her head and grunted in frustration, turning to the tent entrance, ready to leave.

"I'll let them go...but this is for the sake of the soldiers I have under my command. If they die, there's no funeral and no mention of them in the reports, they will have never existed here as far I'm concerned." She said, opening the tent flap and telling them one last thing before she went. "If this is as important as you say it is, then they can leave ASAP, which will be as long as it takes for us to get a car and a driver. They'll be dropped off at roughly three kilometres outside the city, no closer."

"Why did you do that?" Tom asked frustratedly after the sergeant had exited. "We could've just been on our way."

"I know, but..." Will glanced at the screen again, serious visage reapplied."I have a feeling it isn't the sensors..."

"Do you think it's Palkia...?" Michael asked abruptly, lowering his voice slightly as not to be heard by the researchers who now had returned to their stations. "Can we find him here instead?..." Michael hoped for it but at the same time dreaded it, knowing that once they found Palkia it may all be over, leaving him with a broken promise and only half of himself.

"It's possible...but if it is then i need to know..." Will turned back to the group with a grim look. "Why isn't he stopping it?"

"...how dangerous is this?" Michael asked, glancing over to Melody, who listened quietly and held Valerie's hand, letting Valerie's mind calm her slightly. It wasn't a full connection but for Melody it helped, being a lifeline she had used when he was absent, a drug for the pain.

"The portal is situated above the city and seems stable enough, so you won't have to worry about stray emissions of ionised particles and high energy-" He stopped himself and realised he wasn't talking to the researchers any more. "...lightning and radiation. But there could be smaller portals clustered around anyway and those could give them off...and if there are any survivors or wild Pokémon in the area, they may act aggressively..."

"So we should look out for wild Pokémon, bandits and lightning from the heavens...brilliant." Tom said sarcastically.

"If you just make your way to the centre and don't approach anything obviously dangerous...portals included, you should be fine." Will said in a reassuring tone which lacked any assurance whatsoever, ushering the group outside, the camp now busier with activity.

Three men were adjusting the tires and refuelling two cars which sat near the gate leading into the forest, making quick work and soon closing the hoods and starting them up, the frames shaking as the engine roared to life. One man was sitting in an open tent, adjusting radio equipment and setting up an antenna, soon handing the men working on the car two of the small black radio boxes to place in the car, followed by another who loaded a few packs. It was like watching the finely tuned mechanisms of a clock as the crew of men worked, trained to react quickly and get a job done. The sergeant watched them work, making her way over to the group when they were done. She eyed them all and spoke quickly.

"The cars are ready. There's some rations in the backs we've given you, two radios, and a pistol with a few magazines." She said curtly, motioning to the tow idling cars, drivers already in their seats. "Radio us when you need to be taken back." The look on her face told them that may not happen.

Valerie was looking nervously around. Her hand brushed over the pokeball at her waist, holding the small Buneary she now cared for, becoming like a child to her. She didn't want to bring him into the fray, put him in danger. But at the same time she didn't want to leave him at the camp, in case...she didn't come back. He had lost one friend; she didn't want to potentially deny another. She also hated to leave Melody when she seemed so fragile, having felt only the edges of the overbearing sadness Melody felt from when they held hands, providing small comfort.

"I...I don't want to go..." she said pitifully. She looked at the others with shame in her eyes, despite the lack of conviction in theirs. "It's dangerous...I don't want to...die."

"We all risk that these days." Tom said "I think everyone could be..."

"But this time..." Valerie couldn't come up with much beyond the fact that she didn't want to go. "...we don't have to this time..."

"According to your friend, you do." The sergeant said, glancing over at Will, who held her gaze for a moment before turning to Valerie.

"Valerie, if you think it'd be better for the rest, then you should stay." He said plainly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Truly, he held nothing against her for it, she was young and still had a life ahead of her. If it were him, he would prefer staying too, having gone along with the group other times because he had little choice in the matter, and also perhaps out of some fascination with everything about this world. "The other can handle themselves and it won't help to have someone who's scarred, which is completely justifiable here." Valerie breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him.

"If you're staying then you're not shirking getting something done here." The sergeant said, looking her up and down, assessing the young girl with a critical eye. She hoped the girl was capable and not simply a girl who kept a Pokémon as a pet to show off. "Are you good with a wrench? Computers? Anything useful?"

"I...I can take care of Pokémon...my grandmother ran a herb shop and-" She started, the sergeant cutting her off and pointing to a portable building on the far side of the camp, a pokeball sprayed on the door in militaristic fashion, double doors bolted open with two flaps on the base of each.

"Good, go to the kennels and talk to someone there about a few jobs, the Pokémon get restless if they aren't cared for in between operations." She said, turning back to the others and ignoring Valerie. "The rest of you, get moving, I'd rather have this over as quickly as it can be..."

Melody looked at Valerie almost pleadingly, not wanting her to leave her alone, making her feel hopeless again. Valerie took her hand again and gave a reassuring squeeze, speaking as lovingly as she could.

"It's going to be fine..." She said gently, glancing over at Michael, forcing Melody to do the same. "I know you don't like it but...trust him, I know he wants to help you. He'll keep that promise...just like how he promised to find you." Melody looked down and nodded slowly, still not wanting her to leave but knowing she trusted her words, even if they were hard to accept.

She slowly moved away, joining the others in the car. She sat next to Michael in the front car, as Tom and Layla sat in the rear car, pushing away at the awkwardness of sitting next to him and forcing herself to do so. Although she didn't know it, it helped Michael to be near her again, feeling the remnants of the bond as a reminder, and as a glimmer of hope in knowing they could be woven once more. The gates flung open and the cars moved out, tumbling across the dry dirt path leading towards the great glowing lights in the sky, gates echoing with a forbidding clang as they slammed shut behind.


The city was further than they had thought, taking two hours of driving to reach the drop off point. The air grew stiller as they exited the cars, the soldiers not sparring a second glance as they pulled away and swung the cars around, kicking up a small cloud of dust as they trundled back towards the camp. The setting sun cast an orange glow along the path ahead, carved out of the great forest like a scar in the landscape. They all began walking with packs on their back, Tom leading and advising that it would be best to cover as much ground as possible before the sun completely set. They walked silently, the forest quiet with not even the wind to whistle through the leaves, isolating them completely. They walked for an hour before the sun dipped below the horizon, white glow of the raging storm beyond them, the edge of the great white vortex hovering above them now. They didn't manage to cover much ground, the sun soon setting completely, darkness covering the land. The path remained illuminated as they made their way into the forest, the light from the storm above them blocked by the canopy. It was easy to find an open area, the trees seeming to grow in groves allowing for small open spaces, something that was no doubt taken advantage of by numerous people. The camp was set up in silence, tents erected around a small fire lit from a kit inside one of the packs they had received. It seemed simplistic genius to Tom how the soldiers amenities were set out. A small canister of fuel and three thin strips of white plastic like material, which he almost mistook for plastic explosive, which were both lit to create a hot, blazing flame, burning slowly with an oily movement. No smoke was made as he cooked their dinner, supplied in small trays for Michael and him, along with two packets of dried Pokémon food meant to be cooked with water. Michael and Tom ate their food readily, a stew like mix along with vegetables and rice, while Melody and Layla had differing opinions on their meal. While Layla ate it without complaint, Melody was more hesitant to dine, the look of the food seeming unnatural to her.

"Sorry Melody...we don't have any Berries." Michael said, looking over at her. "Try some, it's only for a while."

"...It looks disgusting..." She said. Michael couldn't refute that the food looked less than appetizing, small biscuit like bits soaking in what seemed to be a gravy like solution.

"Well...you can't judge something on how it looks..." Michael said, looking her in the eye and forcing a gentle smile. She looked him over, finding the duality in his words. Michael held out his spoon, handing it to have to eat with her hands or to drink like a dog. Layla, however, found no problem with this, her form suited for it. Melody dipped the spoon into the mixture and took a small mouthful, tasting the food slowly. She looked up at Michael, small smile on her face.

"It's...good." She said, taking another bite of the stew like mixture. "But it's not as fresh...it tastes dead."

"When you're travelling like this it's often the best you can get." Tom said, remembering his own days when he sometimes was forced to forage for anything edible in foreign lands. "unless you want to eat tree bark, this kind of meal is appreciated in the wild....doubly so with our luck." He laughed slightly. From then on, dinner was a silent affair, everyone eating their meals quickly. The plates were biodegradable, even stating on the base that they should be simply buried and forgotten about, making short work of cleaning up the meal.

Tom and Layla set near the fire, side by side, the flames warming their bodies and bathing them in the light of the oily flames. Michael sat opposite, staring into the hypnotising flames. Melody had removed herself from the group, making her way into the forest, sitting alone on a boulder which lay by a tree, covered with green moss. Michael cast a glance back her at every now and then, his body tensing as if to stand but never doing so, simply sitting and watching her as if she could fade into the backdrop of darkness any second.

"It's not going to get better sitting here." Tom spoke up, Michael startled slightly as he was broken from the routine. He hadn't noticed how much he had been fidgeting, his nervousness and distraught obvious to Tom and Layla. "You should be talking to her."

"I...I want to, but..." Michael stuttered, casting another glance over his shoulder to Melody. "I'm not sure what to say..."

"Tell her what you have told her before." Layla said. Her own interest in their relationship being one of admiration, something that she could base Tom and her own new found unity off of, something that assured her it was possible. It was funny to her, how Michael and Melody's relationship had broken down that same night she and Tom had begun theirs, as if the torch as been passed to them to carry it on. She didn't want the two to be left in the darkness while her and Tom flourished in the light of their broken love.

"It's hard to do that...I can't get the words out of my mouth..." He said, Layla looked over at Melody, studying the lone Gardevoir.

"She'll know you care if you just stay by her...you don't have to say anything, let your presence say it all." She said, flicking a glance to Tom, remembering how they had also spoken more through actions and body, being clearer than clumsy words and wishes.

Michael kept up his nervous shuffling for a minute longer, then taking a deep breath and forcing himself upwards. He made his body move before his mind could catch up with what he was doing, forcing him into the fray without time to stall. The warmth of the fire faded as he crossed the ground to the forest edge, leaving him suddenly cold pressed against his clothes, the air around him cold and damp in the night air. Melody made no move as he approached, sitting still a statue on the mossy rock, staring out into the darkness beyond the trees, thin streams of arcane light filtering through the canopy. He slowed as he approached her, stopping only a few feet from her, afraid he might frighten her off if he was to forward.

"It's cold out here..." He began, feeling the chill in the air. "You could get sick, do you want to come back to the fire?" She gave no response, and continued staring out into the forest, hands hugging around her knees a she sat. Michael sighed and stepped forward, leaning against the soft moss on the rock.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier today." He said. "I can't know what you think...if that scar is so bad...sorry I didn't understand."

"You're always apologizing..." Melody sighed, talking for the first time since he had arrived. "It's like you think everything is your fault...it makes me think I'm not worth trying to get back..."

"...sorr-..." Michael cut himself off and hung his head slightly. "...can you tell me why you don't like that scar?" He spoke gently, trying not to incite any strong emotions.

"It's not the scar..." She said slowly. "It's what it makes me...remember..."

"Is it the fight at the temple?" He asked. She shook her head, not expecting him to know now, but wanting him to anyway.

"It makes me remember...how we were." She said, memories of the two of them flashing through her mind, seeming far off and strange. It all seemed alien to her, as if they weren't her own. "We were happy...we tried to find each other...I remember when we finally did." Her voice became broken as she spoke. "I felt happier than I ever had...we loved each other that night, and then it was over..." Michael leaned in closer, trying to do as Layla had told him, keep her company and speak with his presence.

"...It makes me remember why I'm still here..." He said. He too remembered how they were before, how they were happy. The bond had forced it, but even then he missed the feeling. "I'm always sorry...I'm the one who caused it, for us to break that bond. But...it makes me feel like I'm doing something. I can take being sorry...I think i want to, so you don't have to say it."

"I don't want you to feel sorry about everything..." She said sadly, finally looking over to him.

"Then don't worry about this..." He said, gently brushing a hand over the hole in the shoulder of her dress, feeling the smooth scar tissue beneath. He moved his hand slower, stopping on her chest, above her heart. "This is all that matters. I'm sorry ...because you feel so badly about it. It was my fault for not protecting you, but I don't want you to think you're the cause of it..." If the situation wasn't as important to him as it was, he would have laughed at his hopeless romantic gesture. She followed his motion, raising her own hand to grab his, gently letting her finger grip his, savouring the contact for a moment.

"You've told me how you grew up last night...do you want to know mine?" he asked, remembering how much better she had felt in speaking, and how he had felt in listening to a tale in a land he had never experienced before now. She leaned her head against his shoulder, something that brought her discomfort at first, but slowly faded to gentle acceptance. She nodded her head and made a small approving hum.

"I wasn't born where you met me...actually I wasn't born in that country at all....it was in a country nearly halfway across the world called Germany." He began, the wind now picking up ever so slightly, the canopy shifting overhead, unearthly white light sifting through the air and casting a miraculous glowing over the grass, shining in dew. The perfect place for a fairytale. "My parents had lived there for only a few years before I was born, working in a large city called Berlin. My father was a history teacher, working at a university, and my mother was a poet...well, she liked to call herself one. Her poems were only ever published in small magazines but she wrote anyway. I was born in winter that year, and for the next few years I lived with them in a small apartment they shared. I loved it there...the buildings looked alive and...my mother wrote some poems about the city...it looked even better around my birthday when the snow fell..." He remembered the roads, blanketed in white below buildings of stone, ornaments on the rooftops and windows becoming transformed from stone to silent guardians who slept under the snow they held on their shoulders.

"I was five years old when we left...my father was offered a better paying job in America, the country you fell into, and so we left. I went back when a few years ago...but after so long of living in America, I didn't find the same life in the buildings all around me...America was built from concrete blocks while Berlin was crafted from stone into...something alive." He said, images of the past shifting through his mind, the snow on his face and the warmth of a heavy coat as he wandered through the streets of that beautiful fantasy land. "I think that's why I became a painter, wanting to feel that wonder again. As I grew up I kept drawing things I saw, trying to find the same beauty in them that I found in Berlin. My father acknowledged this but...he didn't show any interest in it, always buried in his books and writing in his study, It wasn't often I could talk to him without him shifting the topic to his fascination with the past. My mother thought of my painting as more of a hobby, not thinking I could make anything big. Eventually I stopped trying to talk to them...I shut myself away in my room and kept to myself...I think I grew to hate them after a while, I never felt sad when I left home and I never missed them. I went to university and studying art for a while...then I moved into that house, the one I met you at, and lived alone for the rest of the years." The house he thought of as home, now so far off in this mind, was a place he had lived alone for so long that it was as if it were a part of him. It might have been part of the reason he was a hermit, being so connected to the house he hated invasion of what was, by extension, himself.

"I didn't call my parents since I moved in...I changed my name too, as if I could start anew. Starting anew could help me feel that wonder again, something I tried to find in my paintings, like freezing the life I saw on a canvas. But...I never found it again, despite how much I travelled...I toured across Germany, France, Italy....I saw the pyramids in Egypt and the beaches of Australia, the rolling hills and native people of New Zealand...it didn't work." He sighed. It was the reason he had fallen into the depression that he had carried, not even remembering when it had begun, simply leaking into his life until he finally noticed it had not been there years before. He had lost his ability to see life and it's wonders. "Then I met you, only five years after I made a home there..."

"You went all over the world?..." she asked, trying to imagine herself travel such distances. "What was it like?..."

"It was tiring...and expensive...but I always held the hope that I'd see something that could help me." He said. Melody wondered to herself if that was what her friend...her sister, had seen in the young man she left with. A promise of something to inspire, a promise of new places and lives, and someone to share it with too. Michael had changed his name, maybe even himself, to try and find it again...

"What was your name?..." she asked, wondering how much he had changed, if he had been a different man even when the bond had allowed them to be almost one in mind. Michael sighed and gave a small smile, as if finding the answer silly.

"Miguel Griffiths...." he said, trying not to cringe at the name. "My mother loved Spanish...she thought it was the most beautiful language, so she named me Miguel...it's Spanish for Michael. My grandfather was English, and my father had lived in America for nearly his whole life, so I had his last name...it's a stupid combination, Spanish and English..."

"It's new..." She said quietly, thinking the new name over, sounding alive and strange. "...maybe your name was what kept you interested in finding that...wonder..."

"I changed it because I had forgotten the wonder." He replied

"I know....but maybe it was what reminded you of what you felt when you walked around that odd city..." She sighed, closing her eyes, the heat from his body like a pillow as she lay her lay on his shoulder. "Yes...you're remembering something you lost...and...I remember that too..."

"...forget the past..." he said slowly, letting Melody join him for the last parts.
 
"Observe the present...focus on the future..." they both finished, Michael staying silent for a minute before sighing and smiling gently.

"I'm surprised I can remember that..." he said, letting her hair brush against his face as he leaned his head down, softly resting his against hers. Her face fell as they stayed still and silent, worry crossing her features now, hand rubbing the scar under her dress again.

"What if I keep remembering?" she asked sadly, hopelessness filling her voice. But in a way knowing he would have something to say, another thing for her to hang on to as she travelled the long road, another new thing she might have never conceived.

"Just...remember this moment." He said slowly, keeping his hand under hers, feeling the warmth of her body. It seemed as warm as the fire he had sat in front of only minutes ago, but much more intense, spreading to his core. They both sat motionless on the cool moss, soft like a cloth draped over the hard stone, the damp night air smelling of grass and wood. Finally Melody let out a small breath and a shiver, gracefully lifting herself off of the mossy boulder to stand with Michael.

"Let's go back...Miguel." She said, silently chuckling at the new name making sure to keep a hold of his hand as she moved off. It felt like when she held Valerie's hand, the small bond that allowed her to be comforted as another took away some of the swirling emotions, balancing out to form a harmony.

"...you're not going to call me that from now on, are you?" he asked, slightly fearful that now everyone would know and soon be calling him by a name he wished to forget, a reminder of his old life.

"Just this once..." She sighed happily, pulling him closer and they made their slow walk back to the fire, the night filled with feelings of renewal.

They had been away talking for so long that Tom and Layla had felt it safe to sit closer to one another. They hid their new relationship, although it would be nothing unusual in the eyes of everyone, out of embarrassment. Neither had intended to wind up having feeling for one another, let alone having the courage to act upon those feelings. Tom had faced wars and looked dying men in the eyes while Layla had seen bitter winters in which the young and frail were taken by cold, but neither of them had expected to end up sitting in front of a warm fire under a swirling white and blue sky, arms wrapped around each other's bodies with eyes half closed and sleep gently nudging at their minds. Nor did they expect to find Michael and Melody leaning over them, looking at the two curiously. Tom quickly snapped his eyes back open and sat up, arms rolling away from Layla as he cricked his neck slightly, trying to make the positioning look more or less accidental.

"You seem tired..." Michael said, Layla also now pulling herself up and smoothing the fur on her front over quickly.

"All that's happened, I suppose..." Tom chuckled, his body now feeling like soft sponge after sitting in front of a warm fire for so long, as well as holding Layla close to him.

"You both looked...sweet." Melody said, shifting her gaze to Layla with a shrewd glint in her eye, Layla rolled her eyes and looked away embarrassedly. She would rather not speak, it was hard to fool a psychic. "I think she's taken a liking to you, Tom". Layla shot Melody an irritated look, noting wanting her to put it so simply, but also not wanting her to insinuate it publically.

"Well...we're all friends here." Tom said, looking back to the fire, now burning softer and slower, casting a gentle orange light across his tan trousers. If he wanted to avoid further questions, as well as have some privacy with Layla, they would both have to leave quickly. "...We're both tired, we should probably be heading to bed now..". He pulled himself up and unzipped his tent, trying not to seem too urgent, Layla stretching her legs as she stood tiredly. Tom climbed in along with Layla, Melody giving a small wave and a smile.

"Sleep well, you two..." She said, Layla leaning her head back to finally try and deny what she knew Melody was thinking, but Tom pulled her back before she could, thinking silence was perhaps best. If the others had to know, they could figure it out themselves, while he and Layla would say nothing. Melody gave a small laugh, Michael unzipping their own tent, thinking it best they get some sleep too

"What are you laughing about?" Michael asked, Melody looking at him like he was dense.

"I think Layla and Tom...they're experiencing what we did..." She sighed, Michael shaking his head and crawling inside the tent, Melody behind him.

"They've been close, but I didn't expect this to happen..." Michael said, sliding into one of the sleeping bags and resting his head on the soft material. "I hope they don't go through what we did...". Melody wriggled closer to Michael, resting her head on the cool velvety fabric of his sleeping bag, her own staying snug around her.

"Maybe it will be better for them...they will trust each other more..." She said sleepily, closing her eyes and letting the warm darkness comfort her. "I think I'm trusting you more to...". Michael pulled one arm out of the confines of the bag and stroked her hair gingerly as she lay there. They were starting to realise ways to help one another, out of mutual interest and care, rather than out of pity.

"Promise you'll to trust me more when we wake up?" he asked quietly. "Even you if don't, I'll do it for you..."

"...I"ll try...it's all we can do..." She said, her breathing slowing as she drifted to sleep along with him. It was the same every morning and every night. The frayed bond would tear at them when they awoke, ravish their minds with unbearable sadness, regret and despair. They would look at each other like strangers, but grow to recognise, befriend and perhaps love again all in one day. Then the night would fall, the pinnacle of their feelings, and they would sleep, to wake again in painful disarray. They never won the infinite game of love and restoration, they could only do a little better each time, in hopes that one day they would wake up and the last few frayed strings in their hearts would have intertwined again.


The next morning the four had quickly disassembled the tents and covered the remains of the fire, eating only a quick breakfast of energy bars and a small packet of dry Pokémon food for Layla and Melody. Little talk had been made between Michael and Melody as the camp was taken apart, the feelings the two felt going without saying by now. But the promise of trust from the night before stayed with them, and they stood by one another, shirking the feelings of repulsion as they worked. Tom and Layla had spent the night slightly embarrassed but happy, staying awake slightly longer than the other two, Tom telling Layla of the world she had fallen into and he had fallen out of. She seemed to be fascinated by it, although she had seen what it had to offer, and at times wondered where she would stand when the time surely came for the gate between the worlds to be closed. But that seemed far off now, and she pushed it from her mind, forgetting it by the time the packs were on their backs and their feet on the road, continuing their march towards the engulfed in chaos.

The moment they hit the trail, Tom had taken out one of the small black radios, switching it on and talking to the operator, already wake and on duty.

"What's your position from the edge of the city?" The operator's voice crackled over the radio, thick and harsh.

"I'd say we're only two kilometres off by now.." Tom replied. "We'll be there in an hour or so, where are the sensors we're meant to be checking?"

"One is placed approximately one kilometre from the city on the side of the road, radio when you see it." The operator replied, running over a map of the area and reading other positions out to Tom. "Second is at the outskirts of the city, in the suburbs, Will advise further when you reach the limits."

"What are we looking for?" he asked, scanning the road ahead of any sign of the sensor, the road being almost dead straight, not seeing any. "On the sensors, what are we checking?". The radio remained silent for a minute before another voice cackled through, the familiar aged voice of Will.

"Visible cracks in the casing, bent wires or antennas...there are three latches on the back, flick them open and look inside for any breaks in the circuitry..." Will said, pausing for a moment as if to check around him. "Also...visual or audio phenomena..."

"Will?...wait, what do you mean?" Tom asked, still slightly annoyed with Will sending them on this unneeded errand.

"It could be something nearby...or interference...remember I said...what it might be?" He said, mumbling the last part, Tom managing to pick up on it. The odd cut off near the centre of the portal, the sensors failing for seemingly no reason, all the things that seemed odd to Will, all the things he suspected a creature like Palkia to create.

"Alright, we'll radio you again when we're at the first sensor...out" Tom finished, clipping the radio onto the side of his belt, handing Michael one to do the same. They could switch channels and talk privately if needed, something he had hoped the operators did not expect a group of "civilians" to do.

Within roughly half an hour, they spotted the first sensor. Layla spotted it first, noticing it hanging high in a tree, the forests so natural to her she could pick up the foreign rigging in an instant. It was an odd looking machine, the size of her torso and made of black painted metal, boxy with a few wires connecting the an antenna atop it. Melody made quick work of it, undoing the straps psychically and gently lifting the machine down to the ground, where it dropped with a small thud.

"First sensor seems fine..." Tom spoke into the radio, looking the machine over. "No cracks, split wires..." Tom flipped the three latches on the back as will had instructed and peered inside. The majority of the machine consisted of a large metallic drum, the actual sensor Tom assumed, coupled by wires to various electronic circuits, none of which seemed the least bit damaged. "The inside is fine too."

"Noted, proceed to the city limits, we'll advise you where the second sensor was placed during that time." The operator answered, the radio cutting out afterwards, the group getting ready to move back out. As they hit the road again Michael saw something white out of the corner of his eye, turning his head quickly enough to see what he thought was a city house, sitting in the middle of the forest as if it was built there. But the second he opened his mouth to speak, it shimmered away in faster than he could see. It was odd to see a mirage in a forest, and he wasn't entirely sure it could have been a mirage in the first place.


Within the next hour they finally reached the city limits, the houses suddenly beginning as if the city had somehow melded with the forest, the houses surrounded by the wild forest. A small sign by the side of the road signalled their arrival. Viridian City. The city of Evergreen. Their feet hit the pavement and immediately they were awed by the emptiness of the city combined with the large trees interspaced between the houses, nature seeming to have taken over, but man having let it be so. The houses were all generic sub urban housing, white walls with one or two floors, a small front yard and a driveway, nothing extraordinary. The light that bathed the city now made it seem like they were standing on a place at the edge of the world, the sky of white and grey swirling cloud cast odd shadows and even odder rays of light that seemed to bend in ways they shouldn't. The city seemed...unearthly. Tom placed the radio to his mouth again as they reached the end of the first street, which branched out four ways, grass growing wild over the sides of the pavement and a small knoll at the corners of the intersection.

"We've reached the outskirts, where is the second sensor?" He asked, the radio cackling with more static than before, obscuring the operators voice further.

"Confirm your position; can you see a street sign?" The operators asked, Tom looking to the sign at the left corner in front of him, slightly bent out of shape.

"Sunvale road." He read out. The radio was silent for a half a minute, Tom wondering if the transmission had somehow cut out. He was about to test it when the operator spoke again.

"Uh, reconfirm that location?" The operator asked.

"Sunvale road, it crosses another street called...Abbots road." He repeated, the operator silent for a small moment.

"You've just entered the city, correct?" The operator asked, Tom scowled, wondering what the man was pulling on them.


"Yes, we just entered from the road you dropped us on..." He answered. The operator stuttered slightly before getting his sentence out.

"Sunvale road his 150 metres south of where say you've entered from...are you sure you entered from the same road?" The operator asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Tom said frustratedly, not understanding what the operator meant, turning at face the entrance of the city again. "We walked to the end of the road from the entrance where...where..." Tom never finished the sentence. He was staring at something that didn't make sense, the others also having noticed, looks of utter bewilderment and fear on their faces as they saw the forest entrance they had came from now did not exist. In its place was a dead end road, a cul-de-sac of houses which lead to their point.

"What...just happened?" Michael said, not believing what he was seeing. Tom shook his head a few times, Layla beside him looking around quickly, sure this was an illusion by some wild or escaped ghost Pokémon. But the only aura she sensed was their own.

"I have no idea..." Tom said, forgetting the radio at his side, the operator on the other end shouting into the transmitter, asking what was happening, where they were and what they saw. Looks of confusion and disbelief crossed Toms face as he ran a hand through his hair and pulled the radio back to his mouth.

"We're sure...somehow we're not on the same road we were before..." He said.

"Clarify..." The operator asked no understanding, Tom grunting in annoyance and continuing on anyway.

"Just tell us where the second sensor is." He said bluntly.

"It's located west of you, on the corner of Abbots road, but we need you to clarify that last statement, where are you an-" Tom cut off the operator as he switched the radio off, placing it at his belt again and turning to the others.

"Come on, forget what just happened..." he said, slight growl in his voice, motioning to follow as he began his way down Abbots Road. "Let's find this bloody sensor before I chew Will out on this bullshit..."

They all followed, all confused and lost as to what had happened. One minute they had entered the city and could see the lush forest behind them, then next the very streets themselves had risen up beneath them and snaked their way closed behind them. Michael looked overhead, seeing the clouds above him, swirling faster than before. They were closer. He didn't know how, none of them did, but they were closer to the centre of the storm.


The second sensor was found at the end of the road, hidden away behind the fence of one of the houses that lined the street, in every way a duplicate of the one they had seen before. Tom made the checks over the casing and subsequently the inner workings, finding nothing out of place. Layla was looking around, a disturbed look on her face. The city seemed so empty, utterly and completely desolate. She couldn't see the sky, or what lay ahead beyond the buildings packed tightly into the urban area. Worst of all, she could not sense anything. Aura was abundant in every living thing, and even though cities were made of dead, lifeless concrete and processed wood, the massive throng of people who dwelled within always made up for it and sometimes caused it to exceed the aura she felt in the forest. But here they were alone, even the natural trees and grass scattered around the city only illuminate small sparks in the sea of darkness, a land of the dead. Melody was fortunate she could not sense it, but at the same time sensed something else. Clairvoyance was not perfect in any psychic species and all had their own ways of seeing with it. Melody could foretell emotion and tension, but only for small gaps of time, and they were never clear. Right now, she felt great foreboding, a warning to leave and escape. But it was not something possible to escape. There was a reason Gardevoir never attempted to act on their visions. It was because they knew they were absolute, unchangeable and incorruptible. It was also the reason they did not warn anyone of these visions, they did not want to force worry on them, as too many did not understand the idea of an immovable fate.

"The sensor is fine, an-...no I'm not going to confirm our damn positions!" Tom growled into the radio, sick of the operator insisting on knowing what had happened before. "Put Will on, now...". The operator argued for a moment, but was silenced, static soon resuming to flow over the radio. It took a minute before any answer was given, but finally another voice crackled through the radio.

"What happened? They said your positions are co-ordinating..." Will asked, sounding slightly annoying at being dragged away from his work. "Why does this concern me?...". His question was more one of genuine curiosity and seriousness than an angry excuse to get away from the radio.

"Will, you known the most about these things so explain this..." Toms said, taking a breath before beginning. "We entered the city through the same road we were brought through...look at the map as I tell you. We made our way into the city and confirmed out position at the corner of Sunvale road and Abbots road...that position, if the military are right, is further into the city than we should be. We turned around, and the entrance was gone, there were only more houses...now explain." Will stayed silent for a moment, looking over the maps, comparing the two positions that were indeed nowhere near each other. Will thought for a moment, wondering over the possibility of what this was. He had a few ideas, impossible in a practical Newtonian system to occur without intervention, but in this case, they could perhaps be possible.

"It's...it could be a parabolic bend..." Will said, Tom grunting in annoyance at the vagueness. Will kept going, not expecting them to understand from the term itself. "You're inside an area where the fabric of space and time are being stretched, the portal itself is where the complete tear is, so it's potentially possible for space to...wrap around itself."

"You mean we just walked through an invisible portal?..." Tom asked, not completely understanding but seeing the edges of what Will was getting at.

"It's more complex than that...imagine the city is a piece of paper and you're an ant walking across it..." Will began, it was an old example he used for his students, and it had served to visualise the idea very well. "it takes you one minute to cross the paper, but if someone put you on the edge and rolled the paper so both ends were touching, then it would take only a second and seem seamless..."

"So...space is bending itself and we're walking from edge to edge?" Tom asked.

"In a way...all you need you need to know is this; space is being bent, pinched, spread and morphed in that area. You might not come across anything else like this, but if you do then you won't even notice it until it undoes itself. Don't be surprised if be surprised if you're looking forward and suddenly the view changes, you can walk through it...but you'll end up somewhere else..." Will explained, the operator sitting next to him, not understanding but comprehending that they could no longer accurately keep track of these people. "Keep telling us your positions, we'll keep guiding you and we can get to out of the city when you're done...who knows, it may help." Tom laughed a little, only Will could make folds in the very essence of reality sound like public transport.

"Alright...this is stupid..." Tom said, finding humor in the utter impossibility of the situation. "Where 's the next sensor?". There was a short pause as the operator took over again.

"Linnet street, a kilometre from your...current position. Head along Abbots road until you reach a highway, radio us from there..." The operator said, Tom acknowledging it and switching off the radio again, looking back at the others, particularly at Layla. He had noted her behaviour, but had not had time to ask during the conversation. He motioned for the others to follow, Layla immediately moving closer to him. She walked on her toes, as if expecting to have to leap into battle in an instant, staying close to Tom to make them less of a target, as she had done with the frailer of her pack when travelling to discourage other Pokémon from attacking the weaker.

"What is it?" Tom asked, knowing Layla in this situation served more as a reliable comrade than a lover, and that she preferred it that way.

"This place is...empty..." She said, looking left and right, the packed housing adorned with ornaments and amenities that seemed like relics in a forgotten land. "But sometimes I sense something...whenever I look I see it's something small, like the grass or the tree emitting their aura...but it's like walking in darkness, knowing there has to be something watching you...". She looked up at the sky, obscured by the twisting clouds, growing harder and harder to see against the bright light shining forth. It could be midnight, and she wouldn't know. "I can't even see the sky...". Tom followed her gaze, sighing as he realised that it was like this all around them. Grey in the sky, grey concrete which sounded them, and a grey future ahead of them, teetering between black, white and every other colour, knowable. Neither of them liked that, not knowing what could come next, feeling helpless not only to themselves to helpless to each other.

"Neither can I..." Tom said, staring into the shining ball of light ahead of them as they made their way into the concrete wasteland, where no one had ventured and no one could see. "Neither can I..."