• Hoenn Jump

    By: Chayos


    It was five till seven, and once the big hand on the clock hit the twelve, we’d dash out of Kiana’s house on a hunt. . . This “treasure” was one that I had been looking forward to since September. We would be hunting for candy, which would be our “pickings”. Now, we were expecting to hit the mother-load; I’m talking about the big jackpot. You know, mountains of candy!
    This year we would be looting Kiana’s neighborhood; I assumed the “goods” would be much better there, but that was just me. After all, when it’s Halloween, isn’t the whole point of the holiday to give America the excuse to stuff their faces?
    Or was it that the whole entire point of this otherwise ridiculous, let alone worthless holiday was to have a pretty kick-butt costume? Hmm, beats me.

    Arisu was still just as jittery and jumpy as she had been in the very beginning. I had already begun mapping out our course with Kiana at the wooden coffee table in the center of her family room, ignoring Arisu’s whines and complaints. She had been all for trick-or-treating with us, which was until she heard about staying at Kiana’s, or really, anything that had to do with nonsense near her house. I rolled my eyes at the fact, and her skeptical gaze began to bore into Kiana. This was such a trivial fact to have the butterflies over!
    “Oh, stop it.” I simply stated, while tracing my right index fingertip from along the sidewalks indicated on our makeshift-map. Well, truth be told, it wasn’t quite really a “map”. More along the lines of just a piece of blue paper with a bunch of X’s on it. I liked the blue paper; it made our map seem more . . . professional. I didn’t even bother to look up and try to at least decipher the look I could sense Arisu was giving me. Although, I sensed it was more anger than embarrassment.
    “What, you think the boogie-man’s going to get you?” Kiana snickered, giving a sinister grin afterwards. I still didn’t know what the big deal was, there are no such things as ghosts or goblins. Right?
    “Shut up, Kiana!” Was all she said, adding a laugh along at the end that what I guessed must have meant to be sounding lighthearted. Boy, she wasn’t fooling anyone!
    Yes, in truth, both Kiana and I knew that she had been uneasy about staying and doing our hunting at Kiana’s, but there was nothing she could do about it now. After all, the clock had just hit seven, letting its deafening chime fill the house, but it was also the chime of Halloween’s beginning.

    “Alright!” I cheered, just as the clock’s chime faded away, now letting children’s hysterical laughter filter through the house’s walls from outside. They were cries and laughter of merriment, something only Halloween could produce; the perfect mixture of fear and enjoyment. “C’mon,” I said as I clenched my right fist in excitement. For some reason, it seemed like I was the only one exciting about this, and the candy-gathering that lay ahead. But then, I was shortly corrected as I watched Kiana leap up and join in with me. Shortly after was the much reluctant Arisu.
    “Let us shove off, mates!” With a wink and a thumbs-up sign, I grabbed my pillowcase-candy-sack up and made my way to the front door.

    I had been talking like a pirate all day, when conversation was brought up of this night, and frankly, I hadn’t the slightest clue why. Maybe it’s the circumstances. I am using words like “loot”, and “booty”, but thank goodness, I haven’t used words like “aye” or even “arg”. If I had, wonder if any one would think that I was dressed as a pirate. Boy, they’d be quite wrong. In fact, you couldn’t be any more far off than that!

    I was in fact, a nurse; one with a uniform as blue as the sky on a clear, and cloudless day. And might I admit my costume was epic. Although, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I outshone my comrades, no, we all balanced out. Arisu was the maid of our journey; perhaps she’d be willing to clean my house afterwards, but I’m only kidding. And Kiana . . . well, in truth I hadn’t a clue what she was. Sure, she did a pretty good job with making it and everything, but what in the heck was she? I figured I’d just ask later because right now, we were shoving off on our maiden voyage, on the hunt for delicious treats that will just rot your teeth right out of your head!


    We ran, well, not really; I guess you could call it, a “merry trot”, but either way, we were still pounding our fingers on doorbell buttons, and our fists against the actual doors. I must have said “trick-or-treat” five-million times already, and I was also beginning to feel our adventure taking hold of my legs; they were lagging and aching horridly. Ballet shoes aren’t made for walking, or rather hiking, in our case. It was just our luck that Kiana’s neighborhood had the best candy, - as I had thought - but she also lived on the biggest hill!
    We finally made it to the top, and the twenty minutes it took seemed like twenty long, painstaking hours to my legs. I let out a grateful groan, nearly wanting to keel over on the very sidewalk and take a nap. My breath was heavy, and it seemed like I wasn’t the only one affected by the hill’s massive incline, Arisu and Kiana appeared like they’d kill for a comfy sofa. Especially with the way Kiana hung her head and placed her hands on her knees. What was worse was we were only about three-fourths done. And as I was already sitting down on the curb, breaking out my sack of goodies, I spoke in a heaving gust, “Let’s rest in a bit.” Funny how I was already seated, and popping little bite-sized pieces of candy into my mouth. But there seemed to be no argument coming from either girls, either that or my chewing had blocked every word out. Though, eventually they took a seat beside me. “We did well so far.” Arisu noted, a bit cheerier than she was when we were back at the house. I saw Kiana’s blonde head bob in agreement.

    In that amount of time that we rested, we began to compare and trade candy, you know, the works. We saw who had the most Starbursts, who had the most suckers, and of course, who had the most chocolate. I got that one of course; chocolate is my special treat. But it wasn’t until Kiana pulled out an odd candy, that we all stopped to stare. It was shaped like a diamond, in fact, if I wasn’t as smart as I was, I would have thought it was one, wrapped in a foil that glimmered like the rainbow in light. It wasn’t like anything that I had ever seen before, not in all of my ten-thirteen pillaging years!
    We all gaped at the heavenly sweet in awe, letting our eyes absorb every square centimeter of the delicate piece of candy. Mine in fact, were as wide as dinner plates, if not, bigger, if that was even possible. I think that maybe somewhere in the past five minutes I had begun to drool, although it was quickly wiped away. “What is that?!” I exclaimed, nearly crushing Arisu as I leaned over her to get a better look at the heavenly treat.
    “I’m not quite sure . . .” I heard Kiana admit, eyeing the foil-covered sweet as much as me and Anisa were. It was large, almost big enough for all of us to share . . . In fact . . . “Hey, I don’t have one of those.” I pointed out with a frown and Arisu nodded in agreement, following my cue. “Can we get a little piece of it, it’s big enough?” I could see the hesitation in Kiana’s face, but what could we do? We were practically forming an entire stream with our drool. Though it wasn’t long until Kiana gave a small nod, letting her large blonde curls bounce with the slight movement of her head. Oh, I get it! She was a Marionette doll, one of those porcelain figures that people collected from different cultures; she even had a little parasol umbrella! It made sense, although, my mind was quickly shoved away from Kiana’s brilliant costume idea, drawn to the piece of candy once more like a moth to a bright light. “Sure.”
    That was all I needed until I nearly dove on top of my poor friend, ripping its glorious foil from the piece of chocolate, -chocolate, wonderful!- and letting it sparkle it’s way down until it landed on the hard cement. Just then, the wind began to pick up, whipping around us like an angry hurricane, and blowing our hair in every which way. Suddenly a bright light flashed beneath us, and then it seemed like the whole earth had disappeared beneath our feet. It was like we were falling.


    I screamed along with Arisu and Kiana as we plummeted to whichever way the ground was. It was quite ironic, for I could have sworn I saw a light at the end of this hellish tunnel we were victims to. I would have pointed it out to my friends, yet my voice seemed to have escaped me; there wasn’t oxygen left in my lungs, it felt like I was suffocating, that is until . . . We hit the ground.
    Whatever we landed on didn’t feel like cement, or concrete, much different. In fact, it felt like grass. I didn’t dare open my eyes, actually, I doubted I was still even alive, or if it was all real. This grass was so soft, and as I felt control of my fingertips returning, I stroked several of its blades, and soon pressed my palms down on the earth it was planted on. It was cushiony, almost bouncy and springy, and yet, not. This grass seemed to mold to your very figure, taking its shape, no matter the form. It was almost like one of those Temperpedic mattresses. And as I focused more and more on the grass itself, I could feel an odd heat on my cheeks and light against my closed eyelids. It wasn’t supposed to be sunny, it was almost near midnight!
    Though I began to realize that this wasn’t a dream, the heat felt too real, it felt too genuine. I couldn’t be dead, unless, I was either in heaven or hell, although I surely doubted that. Finally, I had begun to open my eyes, fluttering them at the intense light surrounding me, though that light suddenly became the sun. It hung proudly in the sky, yet the sky itself was so blue, it wasn’t like anything that I had ever seen, not even in a painting! And as I looked down at my nurse costume, I only then noted how pale of a hue my blue was, compared to that of this sky’s. My head spun around at the very thought of my costume, letting images and sounds come racing back into my memory. That’s right, where was I? My blue eyes sparkled with frustration as I frantically looked around, trying to see as far as my poor eyes would see. Glasses hardly compared to perfect vision, now, but the cursed lenses that bettered my eyes did me no good; I couldn’t see my friends anywhere.

    I felt my heart leap against my chest, as I became even more frantic as I began to stand on the cushiony turf. Where were they, where were my friends?! Though my question was shortly answered, and my heart instantly calmed as I heard a familiar voice chime out behind me. “Oh there you are!” Kiana cried, with Arisu smiling beside her. I was more afraid now that if she smiled anymore, that her mere grin might engulf the rest of her face! What was she so happy about anyways?
    “What’s going on?” I asked with a frown once they were standing directly in front of me. Of course the answer was something I should have expected.
    “We don’t know.” Arisu murmured, and I saw her smile falter, watching it fade into only a smirk. I nodded slowly at her answer. Of course she didn’t know anything, none of us did.
    I gave a skeptical look, scowling a bit in the process. What was the deal? Where in the heck were we? I racked my mind over and over again, but nothing came. But then, it occurred to me; the light at the end of the tunnel, the feeling of falling after opening up that perfect sweet. It was all because of that piece of candy, and speaking of that now devilish treat, I found my own candy scattered across the foreign grass, taunting me. I glowered at the cursed sweets, looking back up to my friends’ faces, at least hoping to find that they found an answer within those few seconds I took my eyes away from them. They clutched their candy bags at their sides, almost maternally even! Did they seriously think that the rest of their candy was “sacred”? I groaned.

    “Let’s go . . . “ I muttered crossly as I strode on the cushiony green and made my way past Arisu and Kiana. I could tell they noticed the severe change in my mood. But suddenly it all disappeared, the mood, the cross tone, everything! It all evaporated when a familiar sound reached my ears. I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy or what, but I heard it. “It” being the cry of a fictional character, one that I still dream would exist.

    “Pikachu!” It cried out its famous trademark battle cry. No, it couldn’t be! I thought those wonderful creatures were only fiction; you know the kind of stuff you make up. But sure enough, it was as real as my own foot because there it was, dashing right before us! I only caught a glimpse of it, as it streaked past me with a move that I had only known, let alone seen in the video games and animated T.V show. Though I couldn’t be wrong, the bright yellow of its fuzzy body was a dead giveaway to the authenticity that it held, especially when I got a better look at it when it finally stopped. Its petite mousy body and lightening rod tail was all familiar to the three of us. And even though I wasn’t looking at Kiana or Arisu, I knew I didn’t have to; for their expressions were most likely the same as my own awestruck, and yet dubious face. Little did we know, that it had friends all around.


    The small creature what was known as a “Pikachu” looked up, staring at the three of us curiously as it tipped its small head to the side. I watched its ear suddenly twitch in an early response to a sudden rustling in the bushes. Though my hearing was not as keen as these creatures were, I still heard what sounded to be a light grumble. And without any notice, the Pikachu suddenly bounded off into the direction of the growl. Great, right when I wanted to pet it too! But its departure was only short-lived when it returned with a few friends.
    My mouth suddenly dropped open, and I caught the sight of my friends doing the same, gawking at these wonderfully realistic creatures. It seemed that the Pikachu was quite the popular Pokémon, bringing a bit more than a dozen friends to introduce to us. From what my wandering eyes observed, I already recognized just about all of its pals. There was an Espion, a Bulbasaur, a Plusle and Minun, an Arcanine, a Gardevoir, and even a legendary Pokémon; Suicune. I was amazed, this was all truly spellbinding. It was all just like Alice in Wonderland, but what exactly was this . . . place?
    “Look at them!” Kiana squealed while clasping her hands over her chest as if her heart was fluttering uncontrollably and mere hands would calm it. She always knew how to make us feel more comfortable, whether we were paralyzed from fear, shock, or even our nerves. I gave a light chuckle and glanced to my right, noticing now that Arisu’s candy sack was in place where she should’ve been. Though I hadn’t even realized that this was a situation I was supposed to be worried about. I was still a bit in a daze as I crouched down in front of the Suicune and gently ran my hand over the reluctant creature. At first, the Pokémon tensed as I approached it, but eventually, as the seconds passed, it seemed to grow a liking to me. And it appeared that a few of the Pokémon seemed to prefer Kiana the porcelain doll more. Although, that didn’t necessarily bother me; Suicune was secretly my favorite. Though as the minutes passed and my hand ran down the creature’s silky fur for at least the five millionth time, something finally rang out in my head. Where was our maid, Arisu?
    I stood up quickly, wobbling at the movement; it had been much too quick and sudden. I craned my neck and searched over the foreign landscape carefully, dissecting each and every thing around me. The lake that’s water glistened like millions of gems, lapping at the vividly green terrain surrounding its edges. The bird-Pokémon cawing and flying over head; I could have sworn I saw one of them poop. Arisu must have been quite a bit away by now . . .


    “Hey, Kiana, we got a little problem . . . Umm do you know where Arisu went?” I said, looking up from Suicune’s magnificent body over to my blonde friend. And I could see that it was only a few seconds after I had asked my question, that she finally noticed the missing maid. What a pain. I drew in a deep breath and got up from my crouched position. “Well,” My hands roamed over my nurse uniform, pushing any dirt that might have clung to the fabric off. “Guess that means we got to go and find her. Sorry guys.” I said softly, looking at the Pokémon endearingly; just wishing I could just stay a bit longer and not have to go on a wild goose chase, in search of my naïve friend. And without any further words, I grabbed Kiana by the wrist and tugged her away from my new Pokémon friends. Might I say, my clutch on Kiana’s poor wrist was in fact quite tight.
    “Would you loosen up a bit?” Kiana said with a light laugh, managing to free her hand from my own when she took a break from following. “Now,” She began rubbing her wrist that I had just cut off circulation to a moment ago. “Arii wouldn’t just go running off and prancing through meadows for no reason.” She did have a point. Arisu wasn’t stupid. She knew that running through this place – whatever it was – was dangerous, and she could get lost so very easily.
    It seemed as though Arisu has wandered off secretly, in search of something only she herself knew of. But why was she keeping it from the rest of us? Was it that incredibly huge? It was killing me not to know, I was always a nosy girl, always thirsting for more secrets. Although, it appeared that this was one secret that I had yet to find out.
    “Kiana, did you guys wake up in the same place, like in the same spot?” I queried, turning my head to glance at her face now that we started walking. She had her bangs hanging in front of her eyes as always, covering half of her pretty face. No matter what hairstyle she has, she still manages to have her face nearly engulfed by her blonde bangs. Bangs make your face more attractive, they aren’t meant to hide it. This was something I’ve told her numerous amount of times, maybe even more!
    “No?” She muttered softly, sounding a bit unsure. “We didn’t, but why do you ask?”
    “Oh, I was just wondering, that was all . . . “ I slowly assured her, giving my friend no warning as I pushed her wall of bangs aside. I could just see both of her teal eyes sparkle against the sun’s bright rays.

    Something was up . . . If Arisu didn’t wake up around Kiana, then that means she must have either witnessed or even experience something that both Kiana and I failed to. And that’s when a memory of only a half hour ago flooded my mind. That’s right; Arisu had been smiling when I met up with her. Perhaps she had already been smiling before Kiana had found her, or at least something related to that matter?
    I shook my head to and fro, causing Kiana to turn her head towards me in concern. “What’s up?” She asked, her eyebrows pulling downward in confusion. Truth was, I didn’t know what was making me so flustered. It was just that . . . I had this hunch that we didn’t need to be worrying as much as we were. “It’s nothing.” I simply stated, keeping my eyes on the vividly green grass that I walked upon. I needed to think about all of this, it was unclear enough as it was, and I wasn’t really Sherlock Holmes. It seemed like everything around me was trying to make as much noise as possible, as if nature loved disrupting little girls’ thoughts. What with the roaring sound of a nearby waterfall, Pokémon laughter floating all around, and even the light sound of very suspicious whisperings. Wait, whisperings?! I didn’t even know this place had other human beings residing in it, not to mention some plotting going around. But a peculiar one of these light feathery voices caught my attention; it almost sounded familiar, as if I should know the very person it belonged to. And in fact, I think I did. This certain voice belonged to someone very close to me, someone whom I had known since the third grade. Arisu.

    I thought she wasn’t around here, well at least where Kiana and I could see her. What was she up to, and who was she discussing with; or much more importantly, discussing what? Exactly what was so important that she didn’t consult us about it?
    “Hey, Kiana? . . . ” I whispered, cupping my hand around my mouth, as if by some bizarre chance Arisu would hear us.
    “Yeah? What is it?” She whispered back.
    “You hear that? It’s Arii, and she’s talking to someone about something . . . “ It sounded pretty big; why else would Arisu be associating with a complete stranger. Didn’t her parents teach her about stranger-danger when she was little?
    “Got it, right . . .” Was all Kiana said, her voice fading away as I began to creep closer to a gathering of bushes, where it seemed Arisu and the mystery person were standing by.
    “So we have a deal right? You come by the Magma base when the sun is beginning to set, and if you agree to our terms and conditions, you might just be able to join. Perhaps finally, we might be able to take over the Aqua base and the Rocket base as well.” The mystery being spoke. I only pictured a smirk on their face, and by the sound of the throaty voice, it belonged to a man.
    “What? Magma base. . . ” I thought to myself, still crouching beneath a thick growth of branches. Oh how I hoped there weren’t any spider Pokémon; they gave me the creeps!
    “That’s it!” I hissed between my teeth, jerking my body against the bush’s branches. I froze like a deer caught by the yellow glow of a car’s headlights on a highway.
    “Did you hear that?” The member of Team Magma asked, cocking his head to the side to down at the rustling bush.
    “I-It was probably the wind . . . “ Arisu answered as casually as she could; she didn’t have a knack for lying. I knew that she saw my blue dress through the holes in the bush.
    “Alright . . . Just remember to come alone.” The man’s voice grew fainter and fainter; it appeared that he had been making his leave after skeptically accepting Arisu’s quick cover-up for me. Thank goodness!


    “Hanajima, come out. I know you’re in the bush, though I couldn’t understand why. You hate spiders, and now that there are Pokémon here, the spiders have got to be replaced with Spider-Pokémon.” She sounded upset, and her voice was firm like a mother’s when she was scolding her naughty children.
    I came out from under the bush, dusting all of the dirt and rubble that had caught onto my dress. I looked up at her face; she was only a few inches taller. And as I got a quick glimpse at her expression, I cringed. Arms across her chest and a scowl on her lips weren’t a good sign. I knew what I was in for, but I also knew how to counter her lecture.
    “How could you do that?!” I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air dramatically. Hopefully Kiana would hear and back me up on this. “Team Magma is a horrible organization that’s set on ruling the Pokémon regions!” And that’s when I realized it. We were in the Hoenn region, that’s why this place was crawling with Pokémon of all kinds.
    “I know, I know,” She began. But that’s the thing, she didn’t know. “It’s just, they offered me any Pokémon I wanted, and you know . . . I kind of wanted to be like a leader of their team . . . “ She mumbled as she rubbed the back of her neck bashfully.

    I was exasperated, and where was Kiana when all that happened? I was nearly shouting at Arii, how could she not have heard that? I grumbled beneath my breath and turned my back to her. Next thing I knew, I was walking away from her. I even walked straight past Kiana, lot a help she did for me.
    “Hey where are you going?!” They both shouted from behind me.
    “Does it really matter? Arii, you’re going to the base anyway . . .” Now Kiana would know what this was all about, in fact, as I continued to distance myself from my “friends”, I could even begin to hear Kiana start questioning Arisu.

    I honestly didn’t know where I was headed, but I couldn’t just turn around and go straight back to them like a dog. I’d have to stick it out, even if it meant surviving on my sack of candy until I found some money, or rather Poké in the Pokémon regions.
    I didn’t know how far I had walked, but it seemed like it had been forever, and the dull cramping in my legs was beginning to return, yet I hadn’t thought about stopping, well, at least not until I saw something squirming and whining frantically just beyond the trees. It was a small Pokémon, not one that had as big a physic of that of Suicune’s, which was 6’11”. This elfin cutie was a small, premature Eevee, and it seemed to be caught in the bramble bushes. I crouched beside the tiny creature and began to untangle the Eevee’s caramel fur from the prickly branches.

    “There, all better.” I assured the brown creature with a smile, though that quickly faded. There was a scratch cutting through the Pokémon’s little muzzle, although it wasn’t deep enough to be bleeding. I let a frown take shape on my lips as I gently touched the Eevee’s cheek with my thumb; I felt it cringe beneath my unfamiliar touch.
    “Shush, I won’t hurt– “ Suddenly my voice broke off, as I watched the scrape heal right beneath my thumb. I could have sworn I even felt the wound close up. What was that?
    I continued to stare in disbelief at the Eevee, even as it lovingly nuzzled its head against my head. It seemed to be thanking me for healing it.


    “Powers . . . No, nonsense.” I said to myself, giving a small smirk in the Eevee’s direction. I had already begun walking and it had been following me for sometime now. “Eevee-Eve,” I heard it cry once more. Maybe I had already made a friend? But still, I couldn’t get over what had happened . . .
    “Hah, at this rate, I could become a Nurse Joy.” I giggled to myself while I began to let the Eevee scamper onto my shoulder; I had decided to name him Aito, it meant “affection”. Maybe that position was in order; after all, I was looking for some money. With that thought, my mood had begun to brighten by the very excitement of becoming a Pokémon nurse. And it was a bit ironic, being dressed as a nurse, and actually being gifted with ominous healing powers. What a coincidence.
    “Hey, there’s something up ahead,” I cheered while pointing to the direction of the town just over the hill’s top and on the other side. It was also the same direction that the sun was setting. “Perhaps by now Arisu was already making her way to the Magma base . . . I wonder if Kiana even tried to stop her.” Even though this was a very dreary event, I still had to let out a chuckle. Kiana would have at least tried to stop her, but not enough to actually get physical with her. We all cringe at the thought of fighting one another; all of us are indeed a bit scary when we want to be.

    I had walked a bit more, and by now the sun had already sunk a great deal beneath the horizon, casting its pinks and oranges on the sky, as if it were a blank canvas, waiting to be painted by the sunset. I didn’t start getting a bit freaked out until I had heard footsteps and I wasn’t the only one. They sounded far off; at least I thought they did. But now it Aito was starting to find refuge underneath my nurse’s cap, quivering on top of my hair. Just keep walking, just keep walking.
    It wasn’t until I was at the outer edges of the town that I heard my name in the distance, it was being shouted in a raspy voice, as if that person had used it too much today.
    “Hanajima!” They called out, and I turned.
    There was a dark silhouette stepping out from the thicket of trees, just off the path I had taken only moments ago. It was beginning to become dark, and soon all the nocturnal Pokémon would begin awakening. But as the figure came closer and closer to me, I came to a realization, it was Kiana. Had she been following me this entire time? But what for?
    “Kiana, is that you?” I asked, squinting through the cover of darkness that had just recently covered the area. “What’s wrong?” I hadn’t even given her a chance to catch her breath, quickly sounding off my questions like the shot of a gun.
    “It . . . It’s Arii, she’s left . . . for Magma . . . “She huffed loudly, grasping onto my shoulder with her hand, as if she needed some support to keep her from toppling to the ground.
    I knew she already left, and that’s why I only nodded. I could feel Aito now peeking from underneath my cap and squealing with delight; a new friend for him. I let a small laugh escape from me, watching the Eevee become excited about Kiana’s arrival. And she didn’t seem to mind, as he crawled onto her own shoulders. “Come on . . . Let’s go find an inn, maybe they’ll take our money.” I doubted it though, but still, I wondered how much our money was worth in Hoenn; it was foreign money. Maybe I could buy my way into nursing school? It was worth a shot. And with that, I grabbed onto my friend’s hand while she cradled Aito in the other and wheeled her into town.


    As it turned out, our money was worth quite a lot. Quite a lot meaning that I was already entering nursing school with my new Chansey that I had caught within only a few days of appearing in Hoenn. My Chansey’s name was Chiye, meaning “blessed with wisdom”. I had named her that because she was the most brilliant out of the rest of the Chanseys in the entire academy. And I had graduated with her in only a year of entering the school, but I didn’t manage to become a nurse at one of the Poke Centers stationed in every town. For some reason, after going through the schooling, and even being the youngest graduate, I didn’t feel up to the nurse’s position after all.
    All in all, I had been in Hoenn for a year and a half now, if you added it all up, and I’ve made a few new friends. Though as for my old ones, I hadn’t seen them; I assumed that Arisu was well on her way to becoming promoted from a Grunt by now, if that hadn’t already happened, and I hadn’t seen Kiana in a few months. Kiana had left just as the middle of my nursing was going on; she spoke no word of where she was headed.
    Though as I wandered to different town upon town, I still never forgot how I had gotten here, it was all so very odd, and at times I still thought I could somehow go home; my parents must be going crazy by now.
    I sighed deeply, and looked to the sky. But my heaving breath hadn’t gone unnoticed, for Aito – who had recently evolved into a Jolteon – looked up at me in concern. “Jolteon?” He asked as he tilted his head to the side, and my other friends followed his move as well. They all looked up at me with their big concerned eyes, even Kaimu, my Suicune, who was the quiet and cold one of the team. He never liked to show his affection towards me when the other Pokémon were around, like he didn’t want to show a weakness for such a thing. And I even thought that my Ninetails, Hania, enjoyed teasing him about it; they always went at each other like they were siblings. Though it was my Pichu, Hiro, that was the playful “baby” of the group; he always needed to be clinging to one of my limbs one way, or another. But it was really Chiye that kept the group in order, without her, I’m sure everything would be out of control.
    It had been quite a while since I had left the most recent town that I found my lodgings in, and I was already beginning to move onto the next, searching for anymore Pokémon that I can learn about. Suddenly though, I froze. My body refused to follow commands and move itself; I wasn’t completely sure why. But then I saw her. I saw both of them, yet I wasn’t sure if either of them had seen me. There was no mistaking it, even despite the different clothes and altered haircuts, they still looked themselves. It was Arisu and Kiana, with their Pokémon following beside them just as mine were. I hadn’t even noticed the scowl across my lips as I glared daggers at Arisu, the girl whom I used to call my friend. True, I hadn’t even properly renounced our friendship; after all, I had walked off. Chiye tugged on my charcoal-colored cargo pants, beckoning for me to turn around and leave. Though I wouldn’t leave and Kaimu was already standing his ground beside Aito, their fur bristling as they bared their teeth towards the Magma member.

    Finally, Arisu stopped and glowered straight back at me, and her Pokémon followed the same suit as my own. Her Flareon growled at Aito, and her Blaziken only stood in the shadows; I could see some of her other Pokémon standing beside her. But there was one odd Pokémon, one that I had never laid my eyes on, and one that cast a shadow on the Earth below it as well. It was a Rayquaza; that’s what my little Pokedex told me.
    “Are you still in that organization? It’s all a joke you know.” I spat my words at her, as if they were poison and tainting my mouth the more and more I kept them in.
    “Hey just wait a minute!” Now it was Kiana disrupting our stare-down and volley of insults. She had her very own Pokémon with her as well, and from what I could see, there was a Vileplum, a Ledian, an Azurill, and even a Jirachi. So she too had a rare and invaluable Pokémon like Arisu and me? Interesting . . .
    “You two have known each other since the third grade, what is wrong; you’re both acting like children.” Geez, Kiana was beginning to sound like my mother. But she did have a point, this was childish . . .
    “Even so,” Arisu began. It seemed as though the Magma Team has turned her darker, I wonder if the little maid I knew from a year ago was still inside of her. “Charizard, ember attack!” And with those few words, a large Dragon-Pokémon stepped out from the shadows and stood beside her Flareon, shortly letting out a gust of hot wind and flames straight for us. But I was in luck, for Kaimu stood in front of me and my other Pokémon, blowing out a gust of wind to counter the Charizard’s ember, letting it fall at our feet. The flames licked the air in every which way, as if trying to burn its way towards us. I gave a smirk; she wasn’t the only one with tricks up her sleeve, and now Kiana was joining in too, just as the breeze was picking up. Her Vileplum grunted as it threw out a Bullet Seed attack towards Arisu’s Blaziken that decided to step into the battle.
    “Fine, have it that way; Aito, Dig attack on that Flareon, and Chiye, Rain Dance attack!” I shouted, jutting my index fingertip outward to Arisu’s Pokémon. Just as I gave the command, Aito dug at an incredible speed, tunneling towards Arisu’s Flareon, right as rain began to pour from the dark clouds hanging low in the sky. The wind was becoming a violent flow of gusts coming from every direction, howling as loud as a banshee’s cries. Our hair whipped around us, clinging to our faces, just as our clothes were clinging to our bodies, wet from the flood of rain drops emptying from above. This wind grew and grew, in fact, I was beginning to feel a little bit of déjà-vu; it was almost like the gusts of wind that welcomed us to this very land infested with Pokémon. But it was right then, that I saw that familiar flash of light, and it was then, that I realized that the same thing was happening once again, we were going to return home.


    I didn’t know how long I had been out, but all I could remember, were those last few moments when Aito jumped at the Flareon. But now, there wasn’t a violent rain, nor a wind that threatened to blow us away, there was only the small faint murmuring of voices.
    “Is she awake?” I heard someone ask, even felt someone jab me in the side of my gut. What was that all about?
    “Would you stop . . . “ I groaned, just as I felt the numbness slowly flee from my limbs. I heard everyone gasp in response to the sudden sound of my voice. I could feel something cushiony beneath me, but it wasn’t like that in the land of Hoenn, it felt like a fabric beneath me, as my fingertips twitched, brushing against the bed sheets. My eyes fluttered open, focusing on the faces over my own. One of them belonged to Kiana and the other belonged to Arisu. Was everything happening again? No, it couldn’t be. The wind, the howling, it was all supposed to mean I was back home. So where was I?
    “Hey,” I heard Kiana greet me, just as I was propping myself up against a wall. She had a bit of a smug smirk across her face. “You’ve been out for a while, all that candy you ate, plus that fainting trick we did on you; must have gotten you out good.” She explained with a laugh, and I could see Arisu trying to hold back her hysterical laughter. Why was she laughing? Then, a thought occurred to me, what did I look like right now? I jumped up from the bed someone had left me on, stumbling from my quick movement, seeing as how I was off balance. So much so, that I had even tripped onto the floor, I could only feel my face hot with embarrassment, and the loud cackles of my friends behind me. I crawled over to Kiana’s mirrored closet doors, and my jaw dropped.
    I had a ring of chocolate around my mouth, eyeliner was smeared half way down my face, looking like I hadn’t slept in ages, and there was also a little note on the side of my face, written in black marker. Happy Halloween.