Pixel was really glad she'd had that nap. The sky was dyed with a yellow and orange hue as the sun began to rise, stretching out their shadows across the empty park. Its vibrant rays reflected off the puddles of a recent rainfall and dazzled on the still water of a previously well-kept pond. What was once a city now stood in ruin but it had proven to be the safest route towards the Binary Jungle. Strange sounds had come from the sparse village and empty plains around it and none of them had wanted to meet the pokemon making those sounds.

Plus this former city was oddly free of those deadly cracks.

As they moved back onto one of the high streets, her heart leapt into her throat as she glanced her reflection in a shattered store window and she swiftly ducked to Switch's other side.

He gave her a small smile and stifled a chuckle. "You seem on edge."

"After our experience with that gooey monster, how couldn't I be?" she said. "I'm surprised you're so oddly confident."

"That's because I'm convinced there's nothing here."

She let out a wistful sigh and nudged at a piece of egg shell with her toe. "I just pity those that had to flee from here. It looks like a few of them even left their eggs behind."

"I want to know where they fled to," said Switch. "My guess is they went towards the metropolis." He nodded back the way they'd come.

Pixel eyed the damaged buildings around them. Some of them had deep claw marks amongst the shattered stones and broken glass. "I would have thought the jungle would provide more cover if they were fleeing from a rampaging virus victim."

"Switch is right," said Vector. "There's no way they would have fled into the jungle. If they went towards the Binary Jungle they'd only be heading towards the Fracture, and nobody wants to go there."

"I think those who are running for their lives wouldn't be worrying about the Fracture," said Pixel.

"No, but the SWAT teams rallying them would be."

She gave the debris a nervous glance as she pressed on after the meowstic. More shards of egg shell lay scattered amongst the rubble and dotted the road, scraping along the paving stones and tarmac as the wind picked up. There certainly had been a lot of eggs. She found it hard to believe that their parents would be forced to abandon them like this.

"Huh." Vector came to a sudden halt and looked to his right.

Pixel and Switch joined him, following his gaze to an alley still cast in deep shadow. Tattered rags hung above it. Banners that had once advertised local stores that couldn't afford the luxuries of a digital billboard in the more frequented areas of the city. It wasn't something she saw very often, since she had rarely left the comforts of Meta City. The rags dripped water from the night's tropical rainfall, but what had piqued Vector's interest lay below those rags. Amongst fabric, egg shells and stone debris lay thick, dark puddles. Dark puddles that differed greatly to the ones that filled the potholes and blocked-up rainwater drains. The ground below the rags had barely been touched by the rain.

In the dim light it was hard to be completely certain. Vector took a few steps towards it, his nose crinkling as he sniffed at the air.

"It's blood," he said flatly.

Pixel's stomach knotted and she placed a paw over her mouth. She'd feared as much. Several scenarios played through her mind as she pictured the inhabitants fleeing, chased by an army of indescribable virus-ridden monstrosities. Monstrosities that had once been the friends or colleagues or family of those they were now chasing down.

Vector craned his neck to look up at the rags and took a few steps backwards. "I want to get out of here. Come on, let's get a move on."

Switch gave the alley one last glance and shook his head as he ushered Pixel forwards after the meowstic. Her body didn't want to obey. She had to remind herself if she stayed here much longer then something might come back.

But then again, there was also always the chance that the blood belonged to a virus victim. Puddles of it just lying there in the alley, infected, waiting to spread itself into whatever unsuspecting pokemon stepped in it.

Her stomach knotted again and she picked up her pace, almost trotting after Vector. Her eyes scanned over the ground and she let out a yelp as her foot touched a cold puddle of water.

Vector glanced back at her, his eyes wide, until he saw the water and tutted. He grabbed her paw, steering her away from a large, deep puddle and into a quiet, narrow road.

A fine mist coated the floor, pouring in from the jungle as they drew ever nearer to it. But the closer they came to the edge of the city, the more egg shells there were. Piling up against stone walls, shattered amongst debris, drifting along in the gutter. Pixel's heart hammered in her chest as she found it impossible to look away from them. Something was wrong. No one could have abandoned this many eggs. It didn't make sense.

"Looks like we're almost out," said Vector.

She looked up at him, aware he was still clutching her paw as he half-dragged her along after him. She adjusted hers around his claws, securing her grip and steadied her pace at his side. He gave her a sideways glance, an air of confusion behind his eyes, then looked away as he readjusted his paw to rest comfortably in hers.

"What do you think really happened here?" The words just came out of her mouth, voicing what she'd been wondering for a while.

"I'm trying not to think about it," said Vector. "But I really don't like the look of all this shell."

"Me neither," said Switch. He followed behind them with his arms tucked behind his head, looking like the scene didn't phase him in the slightest. Like it was just another route to pass through. "To be honest, I want to put all this behind me. It's giving me the creeps."

"Well, in a mere few minutes, you can do that," said Vector. "I can see the trees from here."

Pixel squinted into the distance. She could barely make it out through the mist, but a hint of green peeked out at them. It gave her a renewed vigour and she picked up her pace, keeping her eyes on that little green patch.

It was almost impossible to tune out the egg shell as it crunched beneath their feet, loud in the deafening silence of the city. Pixel's heart leapt into her throat as the trunks of the green trees became visible through the mist. She could now make out the binary code that made up the mist around the branches and leaves as it rose into the air and vanished, or flooded into the city until it resembled the cloudy stuff they'd been walking through. But something wasn't right about those trunks.

She trotted on ahead of her two friends, their shouts of concern ringing in her ears. It couldn't be what she dreaded it was, could it?

It was.

The trees of the Binary Jungle were splattered with deep, red patches. Just like the cloth-covered alley. Blood. Streaked up the trees, pooled amongst the roots, marring the lower branches' vibrant, green leaves in a stark, morbid contrast.

Any thoughts that the jungle might be safer and more welcoming than the city were brutally torn away from her. She clasped her paws to her chest and took a step back, meeting the fabric of Switch's cargo pants.

Vector stood staring up at the jungle, his ears pulled back and his paws balled into fists. But he said nothing.

Pixel stuttered over her words as she choked out, "What on earth happened in this city?"

...

The N00b Mobile's engine whirred to a stop as the car pulled up beside the tall trees of the Binary Jungle. N00b hopped out onto the grass and went to open the doors for his other passengers, but they vaulted them and landed on either side of the car, stretching and looking around at the sombre surroundings.

Cracks everywhere, rising from towns and cities and spreading into the air like a giant galvantula web. Now the sun had risen, the cracks were prominent, tinting the fluffy white clouds with their ultraviolet light.

A good few miles from them lay Binary City, named after the jungle. They'd wanted to avoid that. Strange sounds had been coming from the ground to the right of that city and every one of them had agreed to put a good distance between themselves and that noise. N00b had chosen a flat, green area that had been used as farm land. In some fields he could see berry trees, blocked off by an ultraviolet web. This patch was oddly clear of cracks, and the empty path led into the jungle.

"It's a shame we don't have any food," said Byte. "Because I'm really hungry."

"Me too," said Nybble.

"We'll find food soon enough." Leaf didn't look up from his pocket computer. "The Binary Jungle is home to exotic berries. If we don't find any, I'll be surprised."

N00b grinned broadly. "Watmel berries?! Bring it on!"

The two emolga cheered.

"Just give me a few minutes..." Leaf tapped at his screen and muttered an 'ahah'. "Pixel? Can you hear me?" When he got a response, he smiled and leant back against the car. "We're with N00b at the Binary Jungle right now. He told me you're heading there. Where are you up to?"

Pixel's voice squeaked away incoherently, and N00b strained his ears to hear what was being said on the other line to no avail.

"You're here already?!" Leaf gasped. "We'll try to find you. See you inside."

He cut the line and exchanged bemused and relieved glances with the emolga twins.

"So she's here then?" N00b asked tentatively. "Alone or...?"

"She's inside the jungle with Switch and Vector," explained Leaf.

They were okay! A grin split the lillipup's face from ear to ear and he skipped backwards towards the trees. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Yes, but be careful," said Leaf. "We don't know what's inside, and if the state of the surrounding towns are anything to go by, it could be a real mess."

"Just watch where you're putting your paws," N00b told the others. "The grass gets really dense towards the trees."

"Yeh, and its littered with egg shell." Leaf kicked one aside. "Who in their right mind would-"

His words died on his mouth as his body went rigid, his eyes widening with fear. An ear-splitting scream flew from his mouth and N00b's jaw went slack as he watched the ivysaur turn from green to red, his leaves sizzling from the tips and receding back towards the bulb on his back.

"Leaf!" Nybble shrieked.

N00b shook his head in disbelief. The egg shell... it was infected?

The putrid smell of burning flesh and foliage filled the air and smoke billowed up in thick black clouds. The screaming continued as Leaf flailed beneath the flames, rolling on the ground which only spread the fire to the grass.

"The car! Get to the car!" N00b barked, nudging Byte towards the N00b Mobile. "Hurry! Now!"

"Nybble, move it!" Byte grabbed his sister by the paw and tugged her after him, but she fought him off as she tried to reach their burning friend. She choked on the smoke, trying in vain to waft it aside with her paw.

"No!" she wailed. "We have to help him! Leaf!"

N00b grabbed her scruff in his teeth and lugged her after him, tossing her into the passenger seat. Byte held the struggling emolga in place, his eyes glistening with tears as N00b started the engine.

"We can't leave him!" she screamed, leaning over the edge as the car rose into the air.

"We have to! There's nothing we can do!" N00b's voice was hoarse over the lump in his throat. "If we go back, we'll meet the same fate. Okay?"

"But-"

"He wouldn't want you to catch it," said N00b. "Would he?"

The twins fell silent as they watched the ground shrink away beneath them. They swiftly passed over the first trees of the jungle while behind them the grass smouldered, engulfing what remained of their friend in a terrible, black cloud. They could no longer hear his screams. All N00b could assume was that they had stopped, and that would be a terrible yet good thing. No one deserved what the ivysaur had just gone through.

"I can't believe it," Nybble whispered as she clutched onto her brother, their eyes locked onto the smouldering grass. "We're losing everyone."

N00b bit his lip and glanced back at the field. At the thick tendrils of black smoke rising into the air. It had all happened so fast, and now it really hit him.

Tears stung his eyes and he wiped them away with a paw. "Farewell, my friend."