*Sombra's POV*

Hah... hah... hah... I've been running for so long now... I don't think that I can keep going for much longer! All the adrenaline that I had gained from my encounter with Pyre, as well as the Berries that he had given me, is vanishing incredibly quickly. In a few more minutes, I have a sinking feeling that I'll be too tired to even move, and, if I'm not out of the forest by then... I don't even want to know what kinds of things are lurking here this late at night.

A gentle breeze begins to waft through the area, functioning as nature's backdraft and helping me to conserve every ounce of energy that I still have by lessening the distance that my legs have to cover. My aching body sighs in approval- any energy I can save now is more energy that I have to spend on finding food when I finally do reach this town. Yet, in the face of hunger and utter exhaustion, even I'm starting to have my doubts on the existence of said town.

Pyre said that the town was about two miles from where we were! It's been so long since I left that place... Was he mistaken about where it was? Am I just hopelessly lost now, doomed to become something's midnight snack?

I shudder, and I try not to think about what would happen if a hungry Pokemon caught me off-guard. I already know that, even at my semi-brisk pace, I still wouldn't be running fast enough to outdistance or even deter any serious predator from killing me. My black fur is already caked in sweat and blood, which most likely encourages something- anything- to find me and kill me. It also doesn't help that my yellow glow seems to be brighter than ever, reflecting off each and every tree branch, root, and bush that I pass.

I'm a wounded Pokemon, sprinting through this foreboding forest at night. There's no disputing my decrepitude right now- once my leftover energy runs out... I'll either die trying to escape here, or I'll finally make it to town!

After a few more minutes of a constant blur of green and black, an intense wave of weakness practically knocks me off my feet. My legs begin to ache in pain, and I can hear a slight trickling sound near me- the silent pitter-patter of drops of fluid on the soft ground below me.

A river?! Could it really be?

My stimuli-starved mind immediately jumps to the conclusion of a gentle brook, whose calm waters gently lap up the forest's shore like hungry children. In lieu of my sudden fantasy, my throat begins to feel quite parched, and I quickly remember that the only liquid that I've had to drink in the longest time is the sweet juice of Berries, which, while able to sustain me, could never replace the pristine taste of pure, unadulterated water.

A cold stream... How I long to take a drink from a place like that! It would be a miracle if what I heard really is a stream. Please, let it be so... I silently hope.

However, the longer I run, the more my feeling of weakness spreads across more and more of my body, yet the sound of the stream never increases nor decreases. Soon, I am forced to slow my pace from a constant sprinting to an intermittent hobbling.

Where... Where is that stream...? Water...

However, I soon realize that my daydream will never come to pass when something hot and sticky touches my fur, and my nervous system lights up like the sun in the morning. My immediate confusion is quickly replaced with panic when I realize what this "hot and sticky substance" really is.

That's definitely the feeling of blood caressing my chest. I've... I've felt it before. But, how?... I thought that...?

On a whim, I glance down at part of my chest, and I immediately see the red fluid trickling out of a wound on my chest. This hole, one that I thought had already clotted, is now open and slowly bequeathing more of my precious blood to the outside world.

This can't be happening... How did it...? I falter, practically tripping over my own surprise,

I thought that Lum Berries could always cauterize a wound... I... I... What do I do?

I suck in my gut in a vain attempt to prevent further blood loss, but all it does is cause me more pain, and I resist the urge to cry out in agony. Yet, another thought, equally as scarring as losing all of my blood, haunts me.

I must look like the most defenseless prey right now to any predator that has a pair of eyes. I can't stop to rest, can't stop to bandage that wound, can't stop to...

The puddle of crimson under me has elevated itself to a trail of red that follows my every move, like a sanguine train track made for my bloody passenger car of a body. I can tell that I'm starting to lose consciousness, and, if I don't find this town where I can get help, there's no way that I'll make it out of here alive, even with my newfound self-defense of Imprison.

Then, I hear something in the distance that makes my ears perk of light satellites and my spirits soar to the clouds.

"Hey, come back here! I found something you might want to take a look at! Then, we can head back to town..." a voice trails off, echoing on all the trees around me.

"Croak!" a throaty-toned Pokemon responds, and I can hear the shuffling of a large bipedal something running through the underbrush after whatever wanted the Pokemon to follow him.

While I can't quite pinpoint where the source is because of the forest's natural acoustics, one thing is clear- that this is the miracle that I've been waiting for.

Hopefully, if I follow those two, I'll make it to town! But, if this is a trap, I don't know what I'll do.

A familiarly gentle voice, the same one that had implored me for help right after I decided to run away, suddenly comes over me once again. Like before, it seems to echo from inside my own head.

"Sombra... His name is Percival... You have to stop him... Stop him before he tries to..."

And, just like that, it fades into the background noise of the forest once again. This time, however, I try to meet this mysterious voice, to figure out just who continues to mysteriously contact me from seemingly nowhere.

"Hello?" I ask, carrying my voice as far as I dare. I didn't want to risk alerting the human of my presence (Father had warned me about them and their habit of capturing Pokemon and taking them away from their homes), but I also wanted to find the speaker of the invisible voice. Luckily or unluckily, the only response that I get is the slight ruffling of leaves by the gentle breeze waiting through the area.

Well, I can't focus on that apparition right now. Perhaps that voice is simply a hallucination brought on by my own starved body to keep me calm... In any case, I can't dwell on it right now- I need to follow the real voice a ways away, the one that wanted that Pokemon to follow it. It's my only chance to get out of this forest!

As if fate, itself, wants me to succeed, the first voice calls again,

"Come on, Toxicroak! I've got a tight schedule, you know!"

"Croak!" comes the reply.

More shuffling of leaves follow closely behind the response. I can hear a few twigs snap beneath the two entities' gaits, allowing me to finally pinpoint their location and direction of travel.

Without a sound, I dart into the nearest bush and begin to silently track my key to making it to town. The branches inside fold themselves around my tired frame as if they've been waiting to embrace me this entire time.

A few more leaps and bounds, another trickle of blood, and I can finally catch a glimpse of the duo headed to town, about twenty feet or so in front of me. The first is a tall human dressed in a loosely-fitting purple lab coat with black ridges of fabric down each side. The sleeves are decorated with all sorts of sparking metal objects that seem to mesh with his pale skin underneath. Behind that is a tightly-bound piece of black fabric that only partially covers his legs, as if whatever he used to wear there had been torn apart by something. I can only guess the reason for its existence, though I can partially make out the indentation of some sort of crimson wound behind it. By what I can see, he must have sustained the injury from something sharp being thrust through his leg. A large pair of broken glasses peek out under his matted brown hair and over his short, pointed nose; and he calmly adjusts it with a thin, bony hands. I didn't know it yet, but something about this specific human would prove very important to me later. For now, however, all he means to me is an escape from the forest.

The man ruffles the fabric over his left arm, and I gasp in shock at what he inadvertently reveals.

It's like his entire arm is made of metal!... And... on his hands... are those claws?! They look just like the ones that Pyre harmed so many innocent Pokemon with! Could that man be a predator of the forest, too?!

I continue to eye the suspicious man from my hiding place amongst the leaves, but I don't dare make a sound to alert him. Now that my senses are on high on alert, a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. The second entity of the pair- a large, stout Pokemon with slimy, dark blue skin leaps down from a tree in front of the man and grabs onto his leg. I notice that the Pokemon seems to resemble some sort of amphibian, but it walks on two legs instead of four. A large red pouch extends from its crooked blue head and yellow eyes, and a single red claw adorning each of its webbed hands. Without warning, it begins to erratically point in my direction with its barbed fingers and shout as if its very life depends on it. Even from this far away, I don't feel safe. If that Pokemon can see me from twenty feet away, who's to say that the man can't, too?

"Croak! Croak!" the Pokemon bellows, refusing to move its fingers an inch, which are locked onto my position like miniature blue homing missiles.

"What is it this time?!" the man scolds. He quickly hides his metal arm behind the sleeve of his purple garb, but, from what I've seen of him, that human is probably no better for my well-being than any other danger in this forest.

Yet, I still need to follow him and his Pokemon if I'm going to make it to town...

Silently, I watch and wait, hoping that the Pokemon will eventually give up on revealing my position to the human.

"Croak!" it yells again, this time more urgently than before,

"Croak! Croak!"

I quickly realize that the Pokemon has no intention of letting my little espionage session go unnoticed, and I hope, against all odds, that my warm yellow glow isn't enough to give my position away in the darkness. I can see a few specks of light streaking through the trees in other parts of the forest, and a single reckless thought surfaces in my panicked, exhausted mind.

Hopefully, he'll just pass the light off as nothing more than a simple reflection of the moonlight... Hopefully...

Fortunately for me, the human doesn't seem to mind his Pokemon's desperate attempts to raise his attention.

"Toxicroak! That's enough out of you!" he reprimands the Pokemon, and his eyebrows narrow. If looks could kill, the one he gives his Toxicroak could have done some serious damage.

"We're heading back to town, immediately!" he says quickly,

"I finished my research here a few hours ago. We have all that we need, yet you continue to show me nothing but the scenery. What purpose does that serve me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Now, come along, we have work to do."

Without another word, the mysterious man reveals a small red-and-white capsule, about the size of a large Berry, from a pocket on his lab coat and opens it. Immediately, the Toxicroak in front of him disappears into the small sphere, absorbed into a stream of red light.

A look of horror immediately transfixes itself to my face, and, subconsciously, I begin to shiver in fright.

What... What did he... Did that Pokemon just turn into... Light? What happened to the Toxicroak?! What's that man going to do with it?!

My mind is swimming with millions of questions, and I have to force myself to remain calm- to keep from hyperventilating and giving away my position. With the entirety of my fur standing on end, I continue to watch the purple-robed man, who, with an enigmatic smile on his face, slowly walks away from me and disappears into the foliage. The man's last words continue to haunt me, however.

"We have all that we need, yet you continue to show me nothing but the scenery. What purpose does that serve me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Now, come along, we have work to do."

...

I breathe a silent sigh of relief now that danger has passed me by- an exertion that quickly relaxes my tired body, at the cost of expelling more blood from the open wound in my chest. Instinctively, I place one paw over the opening and try to limp out of the bushes using only three of my paws.

I've got to deal with that injury... But I don't have anything that I can use to...

Before I can conjure another thought, the calm, invisible voice from before pervades my head once again. This time, however, it isn't pleading for help or warning me about Percival. This time, it's almost... almost peaceful?

"Sombra...?" the voice asks,

"You can hear me, right?"

I try to wrap my head around what's currently happening.

That voice is talking to me, like it's a friend right next to me... I don't have any other friends besides Pyre...

"Why...?" I ask the infinite green around me, unsure of where to direct my response so that the mysterious voice receives it. Luckily, I don't need to worry about it. The voice laughs, like I had just told it a joke, a soothing laugh that reminds me of leaves blowing on the breeze.

"You'll understand soon enough," the voice continues,

"But, for now, you need to follow that man and his Pokemon to town. You need to stop Percival, for my sake!..." The voice begins to fade into the background noise of the forest once again.

"Wait!" I cry out,

"Don't go! Who's Percival?! How do I stop him?! Wait, please!"

But my pleas simply fall on the ears of the forest, rather than those of the enigmatic voice. A single tear falls from my eye, and, for a moment, I almost want the company of another individual not named Pyre for once in my life.

Someday, I really want to meet the entity that keeps speaking directly into my head, face-to-face. Anyway, that voice was talking about a town, though... I wonder what kind of... Wait! I have to follow that strange man to town, don't I?! Quickly, there's no time for me to work with my wounds now! I've got to track him before he gets away!

Nervously darting my head back and forth to check for any potential predators that my sudden burst had alerted, I slowly stretch my legs and attempt to move once again. Even a small motion of the thigh hurt, but I raise my head as high as I can and slowly walk in the direction that the Scientist had gone. In that same instant, a streak of light above me catches my attention; and I turn my focus to the sky, which quickly adopts a beautiful assortment of red, pink, and yellow to herald the coming sun. Relief washes over me almost instantly, and I sit down to admire my current freedom.

Phew... The night is finally over... The forest will finally settle down again, and everything won't be trying to kill me. At least, I hope that's what daybreak means...

Mesmerized by the sunrise's beauty, I watch the burning ball of light for a little longer, until a ray of sunshine darts through the trees in front of me, unmistakably pointing to the west.

That light gives me a sense of hope, of security, and it seems to point towards the town. Why not? I don't see a problem with following the ray, then. If I'm lucky, it'll even lead me to that strange man once again!

My spirits soaring, I pick my bloody mess of a body off the forest floor, leaving another crimson trail behind me, and I begin to walk along the sunlight's radiant western ward trail towards, hopefully, the town that both Pyre and that mysterious voice had directed me to find. In front of me, the limitless verdant forest, illuminated by the rising sun. Behind me, the broken promise of an old life, long abandoned.

...

...

...

A few hours later, my eyes begin to adjust to a completely different world, one that astounds me with its color, which overpowers the green nothingness that I had so come to admire.

Over there... Is that the town?!

My heart practically skips a beat. In the distance, the trees part to reveal a small clearing of soft grass, sophisticated houses made of what appears to be tree bark, and, alarmingly, a massive crater directly in the middle of it all, like some massive fish had just taken an enormous bite out of the world, right through the center of this paradise. I dare not look down to see what could be lurking in the darkness.

But I quickly put the mysterious crater's existence behind me, as I'm enchanted by the rest of this new world, and, soon, I'm used to its presence. Then, once I completely leave the forest's protection, my fur lights up with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and I can't help but turn my gaze to the sky. Above me, the sun is brightly shining red and yellow, radiating its heat to anyone and anything that would heed the prospect of its rays.

Sunlight... Is this... what sunlight is really like?! This is the true power of the sun? I... I've never felt such warmth before! Back in the darkened forest that used to be my home, the tall, foreboding trees would always block this marvelous view- this sense of security and of home.

I had never felt so alive before, even in my father's warm embrace, and I calmly sit down on my haunches to relax. For the first time in a long while, a smile works its way onto my face before I can stop it. Without my noticing, I begin to purr with pleasure, taking in the entirety of this new place with as much hungry relish as a sponge.

The atmosphere around me just feels so right! It's as if I was made to live in a place like this. The grass around me is so soft, and the sun so warm, and the... Ngh!

A sharp pain in my gut circumvents my mid-day fantasies and snaps me back into reality, and a small red puddle begins to stain the grass under me, turning the landscape where I lie a sickly gray color.

My wound... I had almost forgotten about it. I've got to figure out what to do about the blood loss before I don't have enough fluid left in me to function. Maybe those houses have something in them that I can use to clot the wound... Well, I've got to try!

Scraping what's left of me off the ground, I slowly hobble towards the closest house to me, and I'm almost astonished about how well the building is constructed.

The foundation... I paw the bottom of the large wooden base,

Seems immovable. And the rest of the house seems to be constructed in rows- each piece leaning on the rest for support. I've never seen anything like this! I wonder what kind of Pokemon lives here... Well, no use waiting around here.

I dismiss my own train of thought,

Time to find out who lives here.

Tentatively, I stretch my paw as far up as I can and pound on the wooden house's door with all my might.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

I slowly withdraw my paw, satisfied with the attempt. Although I can't reach high enough to hit the doorknob, I have a feeling that the sound will attract anything currently inside the house.

I wait for about thirty seconds, silently staring at the wooden barricade, waiting for salvation as I continue to patiently bleed out in front of the house. Each second pains me more than the last, and, after a few minutes, I begin to lose hope.

Does nobody live here? Did Pyre tell me to leave for the town just so I could die in a more peaceful place? No, I can't believe that he would do that to me- I'll find help here, and I'll stake my life on that wager!

With slightly renewed confidence, I strike the door again with more force than before.

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

Still nothing. Not even the shuffling about of feet inside the house. Does nobody live there? If that's so, why would the house even be here? I can't see much use for a vacant house- I'd either live in it, myself, or break it apart to use for its source materials. No use wasting it. Yet, something in me refuses to think that this place is abandoned.

On a hunch, I carry my beaten voice through the wood as loudly as I can.

"Hello...?! Is anyone there?! I... I'm lost, and I..."

I can't finish another sentence- the pain of speaking is too great for me, and the attempt causes a fresh layer of blood to pool in my mouth. But I don't mind it; I'm used to dealing with my own blood at this point, so I calmly swallow the red liquid before it prevents me from speaking further. I can feel the sticky taste of iron and coagulated gunk traveling down my weakened throat, threatening to break through the sides of my thinned esophagus, until my own blood begins to clot in the back of my throat from the effort to swallow it.

I begin to cough violently, desperately trying to dislodge any excess blood from cutting off my windpipe, while specks of red leap from my convulsions so that they can paint the grass like a demonic abstract artist with his infernal brush.

...

Finally, after much straining, the amount of blood in my throat begins to dwindle, and I can finally perform another action besides essentially coughing up my internals. All my strength has left me along with much of my blood, so I can't do much more than lie there, in front of that house.

Then, the loud creaking of a door about fifty feet to my right reaches my ears like the sound of a thunderbolt. I immediately whirl my head to face the noise, and a hushed gasp of,

"Oh my... You poor thing!" answers me.

The cry comes from a short elder woman with brown curly hair and raggedy clothes. The blue spheres of her eyes are full of concern, and, although my father had always warned me to stay away from humans, something about the woman's demeanor instils feelings of compassion and pity in me.

This woman... Is she a friend? Or is that apparent desire to help me just a ruse?

I dismiss the thought entirely when the woman begins to slowly saunter across the grass towards me, arms outstretched to embrace my black fur.

Well, there isn't much time to do anything else besides submit to that woman's embrace. I don't have the strength to run away, and, if I tried to fight back, I'd just injure myself further.

When she's within arm's length of me, the woman rubs her eyes in shock.

"Look at all those wounds," she grimaces,

"And your tummy... It's thinner than a rail! Come with me, little guy, I'll get you something to eat and bandage you right up!"

She gently strokes my head with her hand, a gesture that's warm to the touch. I slowly twitch my head from side to side and pull myself off the grass. The exertion hurts, but I don't think that I'll be in as much pain if what this woman says is true.

Dad, forgive me for what I'm about to do, I think to myself, painstakingly I'm trusting Pyre on this one, and I'm going to get help from this old woman.

"Can you walk?" she asks me, concerned if I'll even be able to make it back to her house with her. I nod, and I try to walk in a straight line, but I don't get very far. I help in pain as my left leg gives out, and I crumple to the ground in a heap.

The woman immediately reacts with alarm.

"Don't overexert yourself!" she cries out, suddenly reaching down to catch my head before it can strike the earth.

"Here, let me help you," the woman consoles me, helping me to stand up and,with a gentle hand under my sternum, guiding me towards her house.

With a puddle of blood forming behind me, I smile as we approach the old woman's house. She begins to hum gracefully the closer we draw to it, and the song calms me slightly. It's only later that I realize that her song is actually the same one that my father would use as a lullaby for me when I was younger.

...

The woman opens the door to the house with a loud creak, and she calls loudly into the room inside, of which all I can see is a small lamp and a few bookshelves,

"Here, Hestia, we have a visitor!"

I start to back away from the open doorway in surprise.

Hestia? Who's Hestia? Is it a friend, or is it a...

Before I can stop it, a large quadruped Pokemon, about my size and covered in orange fur, leaps out of the lamp-lit room and pins me to the ground with its bright orange paws on my chest. I grunt in pain, even though the touch is far warmer than even the old woman's friendly embrace, signifying that "Hestia" certainly isn't human. ...

Broken and held to the ground, I slowly look up at my potential attacker with a snarl on my face, but my anger immediately subsides when I look into the Pokemon's large black eyes and the warm smile on its face. The yellow mat of fluff around the Pokemon's neck tickles my face, and its yellow tail happily swishes back and forth.

"You're... You're a Flareon..." I mumble weakly, vaguely recognizing the features of the familiar Pokemon. If I remember correctly, Father used to know a Flareon that he would partner with to scavenge for food in one of his many stories, but I never saw the Flame Pokemon, itself.

I wonder... Could this Flareon be the very same one from Father's escapades?

"Yep, that's right! I'm Hestia the Flareon," she smiles,

"But we can save the introductions for later- you're hurt pretty badly! Come on, let's get you inside and put some food in your belly."

Hestia retracts her paws and helps me to my feet with a gentle nudge.

Just standing next to this Flareon... I think to myself,

Seems to give me strength. Oh, what I wouldn't give for this kind of resolve forever... Something tells me that I'll need it!

Hestia leads me inside the woman's house, and I'm amazed at the elaborate, yet simple design of the place.

"Efficient, yet elegant," I can't help commenting to Hestia, and I paw at the ground, as if it isn't real, which makes her smile again.

The walls are painted a forest-green, with short bursts of flower patterns every seven feet or so. One small bookshelf lies in the corner of the main room, and a large door remains closed directly behind it. I wonder, for a moment, if that old woman's hiding something behind there. Two small cupboards, probably food storage, sit calmly beside a large metal box so odd that I could only attempt to guess its purpose. A small, roomy hearth burns brightly to my left, adding warmth and a sense of security to the room. On its mantle hangs a small portrait of a shiny Umbreon. I swear that the pictured Pokemon is my father- I can see it in its gaze.

Beyond that, however, the house is quite small, consisting of only this sparse main room and whatever lies behind that closed door.

...

Altogether, the small home's quaint feeling reminds me of home, filling me with both happiness and dread at the same time. Oddly enough, Hestia seems to be able to read my mixed expression.

"You look like a scavenger... At least, that's what your body shape and size suggest, " the Flareon quips,

"Mind telling me about your adventures sometime?"

Could Hestia really be the same Flareon from my father's stories?

The thought reinforces itself in my mind more and more the longer I listen to Hestia talk.

"Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I?" she laughs,

"We should get you something to eat first. You look like you could eat an entire Arcanine and still have room for..."

"No," I quickly hold a paw over her mouth, effectively stifling her. A single tear falls from my eye.

Out of all the Pokemon she could have referenced in that comment, why did it have to be an Arcanine?... It just makes me miss Pyre...

Hestia catches my tear in her paw before I can hit the floor, and a sorry expression forms on her face.

"Did I say something mean?" the Flareon asks,

"Did you... Wait a minute, was it the mention of an Arcanine that made you cry like that?!"

I nod slowly, shedding another tear, and her face lights up.

"Are you... Are you..." her tongue seems to be stuck, as she can't quite finish her sentence,

"Are you, perhaps, Sombra? The son of that shiny Umbreon, the one that I used to pick apart trash cans with?"

Although I had known that she was going to ask me that eventually- I had deduced the Flareon's relation to my father already- the shock of actually finding said Flareon still threatens to overtake me. At the same time, an inexplicable joy washes over me as I realize that Hestia is the closest thing to family that I have now.

The Flareon seems to understand exactly what's going on in my head, and she cuddles me like a mother would, like the mother that I never actually met probably would have.

Hestia...

"Hm, Hmhmhm... Hm, Hmhmhm..." A short, four-note hum reaches my ears, and I immediately turn around to the warm smile of the old woman, who's currently standing at the strange metal box with a red bowl in her hands. I had been so rapt in my conversation with Hestia that I hadn't even noticed her walk in.

"Just a moment, little guy," she coos,

"I'll have some food for you in a moment. Just give me some time to stir this soup, and I promise that you'll like it!"

At first, I have no idea what it is that the woman's doing, or what a "soup" is, or why I would want it, until my nose catches the alluring scent of assorted Berries wafting from the bowl in the woman's hand. Subconsciously, my mouth begins to water for a taste of whatever it is that she's currently preparing. The woman notices the slight amount of drool on my lips, and she laughs.

"You want some of this, don't you?" she coaxes me,

"I'm warning you, it's quite rich. I don't know if you're ready for something like that..."

I whimper softly, reluctant to shift my gaze from the bowl. While my mind attempts to guess what kinds of Berries the woman placed into that soup, I continue to long for a taste of the substance.

"Well, I suppose I can just let you have a little bit," the woman finally gives in.

"Hestia," she calls, like the Flareon's in a faraway land,

"Suppertime!"

Immediately, Hestia turns to the old woman and obediently sits down on her haunches. She licks her lips in anticipation, and the woman scoops part of her soup into a separate, black bowl and places both bowls on the floor in front of Hestia and me.

"There you both go," she coos, ruffling Hestia's right ear with her hand. I had never noticed how bony the woman's hand was until it was right next to me on Hestia's head.

"Well," the Flareon turns to me,

"Go ahead, eat up."

I try to come up with some semblance of a response, but all my mind can think about is the black bowl with the colored soup in it. I just continue to stare at it in surprise, like I can't believe that food had just been placed in front of me.

"Hehe," Hestia beams,

"You're drooling! I guess your stomach really wants some of that soup, doesn't it? Well, I won't stop you any longer! Eat up!"

My stomach... Just wants some of anything right now. Yet, instead of scraps, I've been given a delicacy. I don't think I'll ever be this lucky again.

With that passing thought, I slowly bend down to wet the end of my tongue with soup, and my palate is immediately overwhelmed by flavor. My eyes light up brighter than Pyre's Flamethrower, and I'm already at a loss for words.

How can I explain what's currently passing through my mouth in coherent terms?! It's just so... so sweet. It's... it's the best thing I've ever tasted...

Before I can stop myself, I bury my face in the luscious soup, and Hestia laughs at my overarching desire to eat.

Perhaps she doesn't really know what starvation is like. Even though she traveled with my father in the past, she never experienced it herself.

In a matter of minutes, I've drained the entire bowl of its contents, and I let out a loud sigh of approval when I sit down on my haunches.

"That was..." the words are stuck in the back of my throat,

"That was incredible...! I..."

The old woman turns from her humming at the metal box and scratches my head.

"You liked that, didn't you? I'm sure your tummy will appreciate that."

I nod, and Hestia places a single paw on my back.

"You're probably quite tired after coming all this way, Sombra," she says,

"Here, let me show you a place to lie down."

And with that, she immediately trots, head- first, towards the closed door by the bookshelf.

I can't quite figure out to respond.

"Umm, Hestia... That's a wall over there. Aren't you going to...?"

I stop when she places her paw on a lower corner of the door, and a hole, just big enough for her to fit into, swings out of the bottom to act as a Pokemon-sized doorway.

Well, there's certainly more to this house than meets the eye. I wonder what else is hidden here... I think as I follow the Flareon through the miniature door and into the next room

...

As soon as my head pokes through the aperture, a million questions greet me at the same time as a small, helter-skelter bed; a desk with papers thrown all across its top; one small open window; and, the most jarring of all, a single black-framed picture on the wall. However, the frame, itself, means nothing to me in comparison to the figure depicted in the image. On it is a human that I immediately recognize- a tall man in a purple lab robe with a concealed arm (although it didn't seem to have metal claws on it), broken glasses, and unkempt brown hair.

I immediately press my back against the wall, getting as far as I can away from the offending picture before the framed person can deplete my resolve to live with his icy glare.

"That's... That's..." I stutter, unable to get over my fear of that individual. Hestia seems shocked that I've seen the man before.

"You know the man in that picture?!" she asks, alarmed.

Begrudgingly, I nod. She looks like she's about to cry, but I don't want to lie to my only remnant of family.

"The man you see before you... He's that woman's son, and she waits, day-in and day-out for him to come home. That's why she adopted me. Because she was lonely- lonely for the return of her long-lost son."

The thought of losing family returns to me, full-force, as it's a thought of mine that had become a nightmare in the span of a day.

Something in me longs to reunite this woman with her son, no matter how deranged he looks.

"I... I know where he is..." I mutter quietly.

"W... What?! You do?!" Hestia's eyes go wide with amazement,

"Where did you see him?!"

The avid curiosity- no, the insatiable desire, that she has to see that man again scares me considerably.

"Did... did you know him?" I ask her. She shakes her head.

"I never got to chance. But my Trainer says he was a good man. He told her, one day when he was very young, that he was going to change the world. She just smiled at him, believing it to be childish ignorance, until he mysteriously vanished. She looked for him for months, but upon having no luck, she slumped into depression. That's where I found her and gave her the joy that she desperately needed. But she never really did get over it..."

"Hestia..." the old woman's voice echoes from outside the small room,

"Don't you be telling our guest about that picture I have in there! You know how I feel about that!"

Hestia's face pales.

"I... I'm sorry, but the longer you cling to worrying about the past, the further and further it will drag you down!"

"Hestia..." the woman scolds, and I begin to hear her fumbling with the door. By the tremors on the door's handle, she seems to be quite fitfully angry.

Hestia turns to me, and her eyes widen with horror.

"She's quite angry right now..." the Flareon whispers,

"I'm so sorry for having to do this after we only just met, but you need to leave before she takes her built-up anger out on you. Quickly, there's a small window over there that you can use to escape. It's just low enough that I can boost you up to it. Come on," she cries, attempting to pull me towards the single window.

I stand my ground, refusing to let her take me away.

"But what about you?" I ask, pointing to the door,

"Won't you be left behind to deal with... that?"

As if on cue, the fumbling begins to sound much louder, and I realize the woman will probably figure out how to open the door sooner or later. We don't have much more time.

"I'll be fine," Hestia mews,

"I just need you to survive for me to be fine. Please, Sombra, don't argue with me on this. I've calmed her down before, and I can do it again. But I don't think that she'll listen to me while you're still here. You've got to get out of here!"

The Flareon begins to drag me towards the window once again, shedding a tear in the process. I catch it in my paw and walk over to the opening. Some sunlight can be seen flitting through it, and I brace myself.

"I... I'm ready. Boost me up," I tell Hestia, and she complies, quickly placing her head under my chest and lifting upward with as much force as she can muster. The exertion hurts both of us, but neither of us are ready to quit.

"You're... you're a little heavy, Sombra..." Hestia sweats, but I can barely focus on her because my entire nervous system is lit up by the Flareon's red-hot forehead digging into my wound from before, searing the skin and causing a bit of blood to pool on her face.

But she continues to lift, inch by painstaking inch, until I can begin to poke my head, as well as my two forepaws, over the window's edge.

"Come on..." Hestia begins to groan under the weight, and I reach as far as I can into the window, wedging about a third of my body through it,

"We're almost there!... But, Sombra, I don't think I can keep this up for much longer..."

As she says this, her back begins to pull sharply, and I start to lose the force holding me affixed to the window. My nonexistent muscles tense, and, just as Hestia loses her grip on me, I leap off of her back to shove the remains of myself through the window.

...

I fall through the opening and crash-land onto, luckily, the soft town grass underneath, which immediately flattens to accommodate my weight. I slowly pull myself off the ground and turn to the still open window. Although I can't see Hestia, I can hear her voice, pleading,

"Go, Sombra! Hide yourself until the night, and I'll try to help you later! I..."

I have a feeling that she had been wanting to say more, but I hear the door open and the old woman, with a fresh scowl on her face, barge into the room.

"Now, now, Hestia..." the woman begins to scold her Pokemon, but I don't stay to hear the rest of the woman's wrath. Although I care about Hestia, I can't just not honor her promise, so I run- run as fast as I can and dart into the nearest bush, just as the sound of Hestia shrieking in terror bursts out of the open window,

"No! Why are... Why are you here?! S... Stay away from me... P... Percival!"

Percival...

The name reaches my ears like a death knell, and, concealed in my green hiding place, my mind begins to fight itself.

That voice... Didn't it tell me... "You need to stop Percival, for my sake!... I've got to... got to go back in there. But, what about Hestia's wish- for me to go? What should I...? I just... don't know...

My body exhausted, I begin to feel faint attempting to mull over my next course of action, and, as soon as I close my eyes, I immediately pass out in the bush's leafy embrace.

...

...

...

"Murkrow! Krow!" a sharp voice caws in my ear, waking me from my slumber.

Ungh... My head's still spinning... Am I... Am I alive...?

I slowly open my eyes and pull myself off the ground. The branches around me shake loose from my fur with little effort, which I'm thankful for. I don't think I would have the strength to free myself if I had become stuck.

"Krow!" the noise screeches again. This time, I recognize it as the mating call of a wild Murkrow, a nocturnal black bird Pokemon. I hope the barely-visible black bird flit across the underbrush

with my drowsy gaze, when it suddenly darts through the green and disappears from sight.

Murkrow are nocturnal, aren't they...? I deadpan,

Wait, is it night-time already?! I just went to hide in a bush to give me time to process my thoughts for a few minutes, and... and I don't remember what happened next... Did I fall asleep? Maybe, but, if that's the case... What happened to Hestia?!

"Krow!"

The constant noise seems to summon the moon, which pierces through the darkness like an immortal sunlight to illuminate my way. I stand up with a start and force myself out of the bushes, bent on finding Hestia and rescuing her from this Percival, whoever he is.

Once I've completely freed myself from the foliage, my eyes settle on the wooden house in front of me.

This was the old woman's house, wasn't it? I think to myself, soundlessly approaching the door. One single ray of moonlight bounces off the carved wood, causing a glare that reflects off the writing of a small note and burns its presence into my vision. The calligraphy is in a language that I've never seen before, looking more like Pokemon than writing, but I pick up the note anyway.

Perhaps, one day, I'll be able to read it. Maybe it's from Hestia.

I bite my tongue, prompting a small trickle of blood to fall from my mouth.

No, it can't be from her. Percival must have taken her by now. Could it be from Percival, himself? I wonder... But there isn't much use wondering about it, right now. The night is a dangerous omen, even while I'm in this town. Plus, I haven't really recovered from all my wounds. My chest still aches, and I have a bad feeling that any sudden moved will cause the gash there to re-open. If it happens again, though, I doubt that I'll have enough time to properly nurse it...

"Croak!"

A sharp cry of alarm shatters the crisp night air and makes my fur stand on end. While I can't see the source of the sound, I had heard such a cry before- it had been from the Pokemon that accompanied the man with a metal arm.

As if on cue, the man, himself, at least I figure that it's him, begins to speak.

"Another sleepless night..." he mutters,

"I've come to hate insomnia. Ever since she died, that's all I've ever been- a sleep-deprived shell of the man she once knew..."

His voice is gravelly and low, like his vocal chords have been stretched to their breaking point, or as if he's lived a thousand years in a single day. It reflects a grave pain, coupled with the regret of a past life long forgotten. It's a feeling that I'm accustomed to enduring, myself, which causes the man's voice to sound much like my own.

"Croak!" his Pokemon shouts again, and the man flies into a rage. Even so, I still can't place where the two entities are.

"And all you can do is keep shouting! Don't you ever quit?" the man commands, irritably.

...

A few seconds of conversation between man and Toxicroak later, I begin to hear short, bursted footsteps somewhere nearby. By the quick gait, they probably belong to the Toxicroak.

"Get back here, you troublemaker!" the man thunders, but to no avail. The footsteps continue to approach me and not him. Fear ripples through by veins, and I immediately turn my head towards the sound. However, upon finding nothing out of the ordinary besides the town, fast asleep, I begin to relax, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, I feel a sharp claw being jabbed into my gut from behind me, and I begin to convulse in shock.

"I... Why..." I falter.

An odd liquid, purple in color and evil in luster, begins to fall from the flecked wound in my chest, complete with a single red claw sticking out of the injury. Desperate for relief, I follow the claw's arm with my eyes and attempt to pull it out of my chest, and I am soon face-to-face with the man's Toxicroak.

"Croak!" the Poison Mouth Pokemon laughs at me, rearing its hideous dark-blue head, and it digs its claw farther into my chest, despite my struggling.

"Please..." I choke out,

"Let me go!... I... I don't want to die!"

Then, I have a single idea, one that just may free me from the Toxicroak's vile grasp.

"Imp... Impri... Impris..." I try to force the one word out of my mouth, to release the chains that will wrench the Pokemon's claw out of my chest.

"Impri... Impris... Imp... I..."

The purple liquid that had already begun to pool inside my chest cavity, and its debilitating property quickly spreads throughout my body, paralyzing my nervous system and causing me to practically swallow my own tongue.

"Impri..." I try to force out the word one last time, but, with another, "Croak!" from the Toxicroak, I can only just manage to close my eyes and attempt to shut out some of the pain before I black out.

...

...

...