Disclaimer: If I tell everyone that I own Pokemon, do you think the real owners will give it to me? No, I didn’t think so either. I guess that means they still own it and I don’t. Oh well. But, hey, Tara, Koji, and Sammy are mine.

Ash, Misty, and Brock watched the car disappear over the horizon. As if the past two days hadn’t been bad enough, now they had been yelled at and insulted by a complete stranger.

Misty glared in the direction the car had driven off in. "What was he even talking about?" she demanded angrily, rounding on Ash and Brock. "All that stuff about tact and respect. We didn’t say anything wrong! All we wanted to do was ask directions. So why did he say all that stuff?"

Ash and Brock both shrugged their shoulders, wary of doing anything that would turn Misty’s temper towards them.

"Maybe he had a bad experience with a trainer," suggested Brock timidly.

"Well, that’s no excuse to be rude to all the rest," grumbled Misty.

Ash shrugged again. "Well, at least he told us which way to go."

Misty muttered something about it probably being the wrong way, but set off walking down the side of the road in the direction the man had pointed anyway. Ash and Brock hastened after her.

A few minutes later, Ash paused. Misty and Brock stopped and looked back at him.

"Ash, what-" Misty began, then broke off. Ash had frozen in his tracks and was hunched over, giggling quietly to himself. Pikachu had leaped off of his shoulder and was now eyeing him warily.

"Are you all right?" Misty asked. Ash shook his head, then nodded, and laughed harder. Misty and Brock exchanged glances. Had it all been too much for him? Had he completely snapped?

Brock took a hesitant step towards him. "Ash, maybe we should take a break here for a minute. We could sit and rest, or if you’d like to lie down?"

Ash shook his head, trying (and failing) to get his laughter under control. "It’s just," he finally managed to gasp out between giggles, "no wonder no one wanted to stop for us! I mean," he paused for breath and another laugh, "look at us!" He spread his arms wide.

Misty and Brock stared at him blankly for a moment, and then they too began to chuckle. Ash looked, to put it plainly, a complete mess. His jeans had large holes in both knees, one of his jacket sleeves had nearly ripped off, and his shirt was in tatters. All were covered in dirt. His face and arms and front were scratched and bruised and also covered in dirt and dried blood. His hat was relatively clean, but as the hair sticking out from under it was even messier than usual and still had bits of gravel in it, it did little to improve his image. A glance at herself and at Brock showed Misty that, while they were in far better condition than Ash, they too had dust and grime from the tunnels all over their clothes and hands and faces.

"Oh Ash," she laughed. "I’m so sorry. But we don’t really look very respectable, do we?"

"And then with Pikachu trying to shock them-" Ash couldn’t finish, as he had doubled over laughing again.

Brock grinned and let himself laugh along with his friends. If their laughter had a slightly hysterical edge to it, he couldn’t blame them. Their situation was desperate. He knew it, and so did they. If they could sill laugh now, maybe they would be able to find something to laugh about later, and maybe laughter could in some small way help hold back the clinging shadows they had left so close behind them.

And maybe that was all just wishful thinking, Brock thought; blind hope in the dark. But, he supposed, even groundless hope was something, and with no plan, no idea what to look for or where to look, it might be all they had. So Brock laughed along with his friends, hoping they could gain a little bit of hope and strength of their own simply from his presence and support.

The sun sank low in the sky, and still the weary group of travelers trudged along the road, no sign of a city or town in sight. Ash was now almost positive they were not heading in the direction of Pallet Town and wondered if they had gotten turned around some where and were coming at Viridian city from a different direction. His body still ached from his fall down the hole, especially his left shoulder. He gave his arm an experimental swing, but decided this was a bad idea as pain shot down from his shoulder to his fingertips. He supposed he must have landed on it and twisted it somehow. Ash groaned and wondered just how much longer they would be walking.

He also wondered why he had the distinct impression they were being followed. He had been noticing it for sometime now: a prickling feeling, like eyes on the back of his head. Whenever he glanced over his shoulder he saw nothing, but the sense that someone or something was watching his every move never left.

As the sensation became more and more pronounced, he let himself slowly lag farther behind the others. The sound of his companions’ footsteps now fainter, he was almost sure he could hear a slight rustling in the bushes that did not come from the wind. He came to a stop. Misty cast a concerned glance over her shoulder and grabbed Brock’s sleeve. They, too, paused, but as Misty made as if to walk back to him, Ash held out a warding hand and she froze.

Trusting that his friends would stay still and wait for him he fixed his gaze intently on the bushes. Nothing moved, and then-

"There!" He dove headfirst into the nearest bush, caught his foot on a low vine and landed hard on his elbows, sending another wave of pain through his arm. Silently, he cursed his clumsiness. Now he had most likely sent whatever had been following them into hiding.

"Vee!"

Ash looked up and found his entire scope of vision taken up by a pair of round, black eyes set in a fuzzy brown face.

"Vee!"

"Ash!" Apparently seeing him disappear into the shrubbery had been too much for Misty, and she and Brock had come running up behind him. "Ash, are you all right?"

"Yeah…" Ash pushed himself to his knees, wincing slightly. He felt even more of an idiot when Misty burst through the bushes and knelt by his side in concern. The eevee hastily backed up several paces.

Misty looked back and forth between them curiously as Brock and Pikachu also came up.

Ash chuckled nervously, hand behind his head. "Er, you don’t need to worry, I guess it was just this eevee following us."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Who’s worried? You’re the one jumping into bushes. But," she added, "why would an eevee be following us?"

"Vee!"

"Maybe it’s hungry." Brock bent down to examine the fluffy brown pokemon.

Ash stood, attempting to brush the newly accumulated dirt and leaves off his pants. It didn’t do much good. "But we don’t have ant food. That’s our problem."

"But I have pokemon food," Brock declared, unslinging his backpack and pulling out a small can of pokemon food. He popped off the lid and tipped a little bit onto the ground in front of the curious eevee. The eevee began happily munching on the pellets, and Brock slung his pack back over his shoulder. "Come on, you guys, we’d better keep going."

Ash and Misty exchanged a glance, then nodded. They could decide what to do next when they made it back to civilization, preferably after they had found something to eat.

The small group of friends continued walking, pausing only occasionally to rest their feet. Cars on the road they followed became more frequent, but none stopped or paid them any mind. The sun passed its zenith and began dipping towards the horizon, painting the landscape, which now consisted of fewer trees and more open, rocky spaces, gold. Their shadows stretched out long to their left and exhaustion began to set in, but none of them felt inclined to stop and camp for the night. As the light grew dimmer, memories of creeping shadows that were still too close for comfort began to resurface, and the three of them instinctively huddled closer to each other as they walked. At one point, Ash felt Misty’s arm brush against his, but when this happened she quickly took a step away to the side, muttering an embarrassed apology. Ash very nearly said that he didn’t mind, then felt a hot blush sweep across his face and kept his mouth closed. A step or two ahead of them, Brock rolled his eyes. Pikachu nodded in agreement.

At last, just as the sun was beginning to disappear, they came to a hill and began climbing. When they reached the top and looked down, a city spread out before them, and they breathed a collective sigh of relief. But the grins on their faces quickly turned to looks of confusion, and then shock. The city before them was most definitely not Pallet Town, nor was it Viridian City. Even Brock would not have been able to recognize it, had it not been for the sign just in front of them that read, in big, black, bold letters, "Welcome to Pewter City!"

***

"Tackle attack, Espeon! Tackle attack, now!"

Koji hesitated, watching the scene in the back yard through the screen door. The girl giving the commands stood in the middle of the yard, pointing forcefully at a green and purple plastic lawn chair with a red polka-dotted pillowcase thrown over it; a target, apparently. The espeon sat quietly at her side, eyes and ears fully focused on every action she made, and yet it made absolutely no attempt to obey any of her commands. The girl’s younger brother sat under a large rosebush, his hands buried in the dirt. Koji bit his lip. The situation would be awkward, but he could not avoid it forever. And besides, Koji, at the proud age of nine-and-one-quarter, was the oldest one around (not counting the adults, of course), and therefor it was his duty to initiate contact. With a sigh, Koji opened the door and stepped outside.

"Hi, Sammy," he said softly, giving the little boy under the rosebush a small smile and wave. The redheaded toddler glanced up and blinked at Koji with wide eyes, pulled one grubby hand out of the dirt to wave back, then returned to whatever he had been doing. It seemed to involve getting as dirty as possible without damaging the bushes. Koji sighed. That was the easy part done. Now came the hard part.

"Hey, Tara, whatcha doing?"

The girl spun around to face him, black hair swinging around her shoulders, the hem of her dress swinging around her ankles and bare feet. Her eyes widened as they focused on Koji’s face. "What are you doing here?"

Don’t show that you’re nervous… Koji shrugged. "My mom and dad thought we should come down for a little while and… you know… help out. Mom’s in the kitchen making dinner. It’ll probably be ready soon." He smiled faintly.

Tara narrowed her eyes for a moment, then tossed her hair, turning back to the lavender pokemon waiting patiently at her side and the hideous lawn chair before them. "Well, I’m training Espeon. Espeon, use your psychic attack on our target, now!"

Espeon gazed at her serenely. Nothing happened.

Koji blinked. "I didn’t think you even wanted to be a pokemon trainer."

Tara shrugged.

"And any way," Koji went on, "you know that espeon only listens to your father." He knew instantly he shouldn’t have said it, and glanced hastily over his shoulder to make sure the younger boy had not heard. Fortunately, Sammy was busy burying his left sock, which seemed to be full of pebbles. He turned back to Tara, who now had her fists clenched at her sides. Time to try to fix his blunder. "Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said- It just surprised me, because I thought you didn’t want to-"

"What do you know about anything?" Her voice was icy cold; then- "You don’t know anything!" She spun around, finger now pointed straight at Koji’s chest. "Espeon, tackle attack there, right there! Now!"

Koji almost expected to actually feel the attack. His father had always said that Tara had the tempers of both her parents combined, and now he could see why. She all but crackled with fury. But the attack didn’t come. Espeon simply lifted one dainty paw and licked it with a delicate, pink tongue. Tara crumpled in on herself. Her hand dropped, her shoulders slumped, and her head drooped as grief replaced rage. Koji saw helpless tears sparkling in her eyes and knew he had of to fix things.

He felt like giving her a hug, but he knew that in her current state she would probably break his nose if he tried. He would have to try something else, first. Koji took a deep breath, steadied is nerves, and called on all of the natural charm and acting abilities that were his heritage. Then he began.

He stalked towards her a few paces, then paused, arms folded across his chest and glared at her as fiercely as he could. "Well, well, now what do we have here? A little girl and her pokemon!" He paused to dramatically run his fingers through his sandy hair. "I think you had better prepare for trouble, and I think you should make it double!" Koji faithfully went through the entire motto, posing absurdly and even going so far as to alter the pitch of his voice back and forth, high and low, for every other line. He finished with a flourish and gave Tara his best smirk. "Now I think you’d better hand over that espeon, little girl."

Throughout Koji’s performance, the tears that had begun trickling down Tara’s cheeks had dried. Now she managed a tiny smile. Koji grinned. It was hardly a smile, and certainly not the uncontrollable giggles he would have received before, but it was something. He wagged a finger at her. "Now what are you smiling at? I said hand over that espeon, or I’ll have to take it from you."

The hint of a smile was replaced with a mock glare. "Oh no you don’t. You’ll never take my espeon, Team Rocket!" She knelt and wrapped her arms around Espeon’s neck.

"Espe!"

Koji sniggered and started running at them, as if to pounce. "Your espeon will be mine! But," just before reaching them, he clapped a hand to his head and pretended to stumble back. "Oh, no! Espeon used its psychic attack, and I forgot to bring my giant psychic-power nullifying robots with me, so it looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off again!" He collapsed back on the grass, eyes closed. From his position beneath the rosebush, Sammy laughed and clapped.

At the sound of footsteps near his head, Koji opened his eyes. Tara stared down at him. "Koji, you’re so weird. But… I’m not mad at you any more." The tiny smile was back.

Koji sat up and gave her his most charming smile. "Good. So, why did you decide you want to train Espeon all of a sudden?"

Koji inwardly smacked himself as her smile faded and she sat down beside him.

"Well… You won’t think it’s stupid?" Koji shook his head. She paused for a long moment, and Koji wondered if she would continue. Then- "I wanted to use her to use her to go find Mom and Dad! I thought as soon as I got her to obey me, we could leave and look for them, but if she doesn’t listen to me, I’ll just go by myself!" From the bushes, Sammy gave a little gasp.

Uh oh. Big uh oh. Koji did not want to handle this type of situation. "Um, are you sure that’s a good idea?"

Tara’s eyes flashed, and Koji knew he had said the wrong thing yet again. "I knew you wouldn’t understand!"

"Tara-"

"No! You don’t understand! None of you do! I have to find them!"

"Tara, everyone’s looking for them real hard. That’s why my Mom and Dad came to help. We all miss them a lot, and they’re all going to keep looking for them, so I’m sure we’ll find them soon. If we go in for dinner-"

"Shut up! You don’t know anything! Stop pretending everything’s okay!"

"I’m not-"

"It’s not okay, so shut up! Everyone keeps acting like everything is normal and okay, but it’s not! It’s not, and it’s not going to be!"

She stood up, fists clenched. Sammy stared at them, his socks forgotten, sniffing quietly.

Koji stood up as well. "Yes it is-"

"You don’t get it!" Tara screamed. "You never get it, and nobody gets it! They’re looking and looking but they can’t find them. They’re not going to find them because they can’t! They said so! I heard them, and no one is ever going to find them!"

Sammy began to cry softly.

"So I have to find them," she went on, "and I’ll go by myself because everyone else is to stupid to understand!"

Koji, panicked, reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Tara, you can’t-"

She shoved him. Hard. "I’ll do what I want," she ground out from between clenched teeth.

Koji landed on his behind, and before he could regain his feet, she had bolted out the gate and down the street at top speed. Espeon gave an agitated bark and shot off after her. Sammy continued to sob, rubbing his eyes with his fists and smearing dirt across his freckled face. Koji glanced from him to the house to the fading forms of Tara and Espeon, and then dashed through the gate after them.

"Tara, wait!"

Behind him, the sun sank below the house, the breeding center, and the tall, grey, buildings of Pewter City.

Notes: Ha! I did it! Another chapter! This is the chapter that I find myself being rather nervous about, it being the chapter where I introduce several OCs. I’m always a bit wary of OCs, particularly when I’m the one writing them. I really hope these three of mine don’t bother anyone too much. Next chapter, we’ll be getting back to Ash and co.

We are finally getting into the main body of the plot here, and I must say, I’m looking forward to it. We are now entering the part of the story in which all the characters are very confused, but hopefully the readers aren’t. Now that I’ve gotten through just about all of the introduction, stuff can actually start happening. As to what exactly will happen, well, we’ll have to wait and see. If I don’t get tied up with school, my next update might be relatively soon. Keep your fingers crossed, and, as always, a big huge thanks to everyone who reviewed and a humble request from me for more reviews. It doesn’t take all that long, really. ^_^