***************

"Okay, Charizard! Finish it off with Ember!" she shouted encouragingly. Before her a battle was quickly coming to an end. Sensing victory, the orange creature with dark wings roared triumphantly and did as its trainer bid.

"Rai," its opponent cried weakly. Dazed and injured, its long tail limp in the dirt and yellow cheek pouches no longer sparkling with electricity, it took the attack full in the chest. It teetered on its brown-tipped feet uncertainly and for the first time since the battle began didn’t immediately counterattack.

The girl already had a Pokeball in hand. "Yes!" she cheered, lobbing the red and white ball at the weakened electric Pokemon. "Raichu, you’re mine!" The sphere opened eagerly, transforming the creature into a glowing red light and pulling it inside. The Raichu gave a halfhearted attempt to escape the ball, but soon gave up. A small "ding" sounded in the silent morning air.

"Char," the victor snorted in satisfaction.

"All right!" its trainer shrieked, dancing around the Pokeball in a manner that belittled her eleven years of age. "Gobrianna and Charizard! What a team!" With a surge of exhilaration she threw her arms above her head and attempt to execute a cartwheel there on the side of the road. Halfway through, gravity decided to intervene and Gobrianna ended up in an uncomfortable heap in the dirt.

She coughed from her new position, blew her coppery bangs out of her turquoise eyes, and found herself on her back with her legs over her head. "Well, this certainly kills the mood," she commented.

A deep voice above her rumbled, "Char?" Charizard gazed down questioningly at her. After a few awkward moments spent untangling her limbs, the Pokemon trainer sat up and rubbed her head, which had hit the ground first.

"Yeah, I’m fine," she assured her Pokemon. "What about you?" She glanced up in concern.

The massive lizard stuck a proud pose. "Charizard," it sniffed, as if offended.

Gobrianna laughed. "Liar," she teased. "I saw a Thundershock or two get through. You didn’t block every attack."

Charizard grinned, as much as a Charizard could anyway. It lowered its head to nuzzle her fondly. She caressed the end of its snout where an unusual silver mark marred the orange skin. Sticking its head under her arm so that the appendage draped over its neck, the Pokemon straightened to its full height of slightly less than six feet, bringing its trainer with it.

"Thanks," smiled Gobrianna as she reclaimed her footing, and then her Pokeball. "Now we’d better get this poor Raichu to a Pokemon Center. You did a real number on it. Do you want to walk, or ride?" She held up another red and white sphere.

Charizard growled a reply and thumped its flaming tail on the ground.

"Right. Let’s go." Returning the two Pokeballs to her belt, the young Pokemon trainer bent to pick up the backpack she had left in the grass when the battle began and slung it on. She looked north, where the dirt road almost immediately disappeared over a small rise. Glancing the other way, she found no other human in either direction. "Uh, the nearest Center is on this road the way we were going, I think," she murmured to herself. Seeing her Pokemon set out without another word, she figured it must agree and hurried to keep up.

* * *

"Char!"

Gobrianna’s head snapped up at her Pokemon’s tone. She had been lost in thought, considering the newest addition to her team. Most Pokemon in the wild, Pikachu included, didn’t find it easy to gain enough experience to evolve. And this Raichu had known a lot of powerful attacks. She had been wondering if maybe the electric rodent had been abandoned, or perhaps escaped an abusive trainer. But Charizard’s abrupt warning banished her musings as she peered around the lizard’s dark wing to search for what it had seen.

Something on the road in the distance caught her eye, too far away to make out more than a moving black speck that was rapidly approaching. Gobrianna stepped around and ahead of Charizard to get a better view, then met her Pokemon’s eye. In unspoken agreement they decided to wait for the being to approach, unsure whether it was friend, foe or something else entirely. But when the small figure neared enough to be identified, Gobrianna could do nothing but stare in amazement.

The creature that came into view was light blue in color, the same shade as her faded and well-worn backpack. It ran on four legs, with a pale frill around its neck and large black eyes wide with unmistakable panic. Between sharp, yellow ears a spine just as sharp and yellow rose, darkening to navy blue as it trailed down to the creature’s fish-like tail. It was quite obviously a Vaporeon. A normal, ordinary Vaporeon. This was not what made Gobrianna stare.

The water Pokemon had what appeared to be a six-foot long stick clamped firmly in its jaws, holding it horizontally in the middle as it ran. First one end of the wooden pole, then the other would drag in the road, sending up a great billow of dust. Undaunted, the Pokemon would compensate without slowing its momentum, as if it did not dare to stop. This was what both trainer and Pokemon were staring at as the Vaporeon finally reached them.

To Gobrianna’s further astonishment, the aquatic creature looked up at her as if sighting salvation and stumbled to a halt before her. It seemed to bow low as it lowered the stick to the ground at her feet. Then its eyes rolled up in its head and it collapsed on the road.

"Oh!" gasped the trainer, noticing for the first time that the Vaporeon was in bad shape. Bruises and scrapes covered its blue hide. Its small chest rose and fell as it gulped air greedily, panting hard. Spines were torn and broken at the ends, and dried blood caked its snout were a gash had only just stopped bleeding. "Oh no," the girl choked as she stepped over the stick to fall to her knees beside the fallen creature, feeling her stomach clench into a tight ball of anguish. "What happened to you, little one?"

Only the shiny black eyes responded to her words, cracking open and swiveling up to her face. Not another muscle so much as twitched. The Vaporeon was beyond exhaustion, but it managed to summon the tiniest bit of energy to whimper, ". . . Pore . . ."

"Shhhh," Gobrianna soothed, resisting the urge to stroke the Pokemon’s battered side comfortingly. "I’m sorry, don’t try to talk. Just rest. Everything’s going to be fine." Her tone was confident, but her tight-lipped frown and creased brow contradicted her words. The strange stick the Pokemon had carried was forgotten.

"Chaaarrrrr," Charizard growled low, making Gobrianna jump and the Vaporeon flinch. Mustering a reassuring smile for the injured creature, the trainer stood up to address her Pokemon. But Charizard wasn’t looking at her. Its fierce gaze was locked straight ahead.

Turning, Gobrianna was astounded yet again. Not five yards away three men stood on the road, silent and unmoving as stone, watching the trio impassively. Where had they come from? she couldn’t help but wonder. I should have noticed them on the road long before they got this close.

The men wore black cloaks that covered every aspect of them, despite the late morning’s pleasant warmth. No piece of clothing could be seen beneath the garments, nor hands or arms. Hoods pulled far over their faces hid any and all features. Gobrianna really only dubbed them men because of their height and build, disguised as it was. They could have been three Jigglypuff on stilts for all she could tell.

Seeing her gaze on them, the statues came to life. The man in the center eased ahead of the other two with a movement as fluid as water and dipped his hood in greeting. "Salutations, young traveler," he spoke, the bass voice confirming Gobrianna’s guess that he was a man. "My companions and I are glad you found my possessions."

Hearing the man’s voice, the Vaporeon on the ground in front of her shuddered and another whimper tore through its throat. In spite of its wounds, it forced itself to its feet and staggered behind the girl for protection. There it toppled over again and lay motionless.

Gobrianna heard this more than saw it, warily unwilling to look away from the lead man, but she didn’t miss what it meant. A dark rage filled her as she looked upon him. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "I don’t think it agrees with you," she ground out through clenched teeth. To her left and slightly behind, Charizard bared its fangs and growled a warning at the strange group.

A hand appeared in the folds of the lead man’s black cloak, reaching up and pushing back the cowl covering his head. His face was lean and sharply angled, tapering to a delicately pointed chin. Not a strand of slick blond hair was out of place. Green eyes studied Gobrianna, measuring her. His thin lips curled into a polite smile, not concerned with the angry fire Pokemon (an incredulous fact in and of itself) or the young girl before him, as he replied. "The creature is hurt and confused. I am its trainer. I will see that it is healed, and that the person who did this is punished. Now please, all I ask is that you and your Pokemon step away and allow me to retrieve my staff and my animal." The man took a single step forward, hand slightly outstretched.

Every instinct Gobrianna had went off like a siren, screaming at her to get away, and get away fast. Her heart leapt into her throat, adrenaline coursed through for body in preparation for a fight or flight. With the tiny part of her mind that thought calmly and without emotion, she couldn’t help but imagine that these men resembled the crafty and malicious dark elves in the fantasy novel she was currently reading. And it also did not escape her attention that the man had mentioned the stick—"staff," he had called it—first, and the Vaporeon after. Glancing at his two companions, she saw their hoods were angled downward as they kept their eyes on something behind her. It could have been the water Pokemon, but somehow she knew it was the staff.

"Charizard," she whispered softly, flicking her gaze to the large creature beside and a little behind her. It nodded slightly. The orange lizard had been Gobrianna’s first Pokemon in its earliest evolution, Charmander. They had been together for over a year, and were very close. With that one word, Charizard knew exactly what its trainer was planning and what she wanted it to do.

Swiftly the large Pokemon bent down and gathered the Vaporeon in its arms. Gobrianna cringed as it let out a small moan at the movement, but now she could back away from the men without worrying that she would trip over the injured Pokemon. Her first step backward brought her and Charizard side by side, but almost sent her sprawling as she put her foot down on the wooden staff. Only a quick stumble saved her.

"I can’t allow you to have this Pokemon," she declared in tone much bolder than she actually felt. "If you try to follow us I’ll have to contact the police."

The man’s elegant smile grew mocking as he nodded in acceptance. "Well then, it appears I have no choice," he replied mildly. "I give my word; we will not follow." His outstretched hand disappeared within his black cloak once again.

Gobrianna gulped. That was too easy. She didn’t know why, but she did know that she didn’t like it. Spontaneously abandoning her plan to make a wild run for it with the two Pokemon, she instead obeyed an impulsive thought that popped into her mind: bending down, her hand groped for the staff she knew lay before her.

"NO!" the lead man cried as he saw what she was doing, his voice gone terribly dangerous. He sprang at her with hands curled like claws, the two other men suddenly coming to life behind him.

Startled, Gobrianna shrieked and started to scramble back. But as she did, her hand found what it had been searching for and slid around the smooth wood of the long pole.

What happened next came without warning. A flash of dazzling silver lightning streaked out of the totally cloudless heavens, faster than the eye could follow. It struck the ground close to the road, blinding everyone, the thick smell of burnt ozone filling Gobrianna’s nostrils. The young Pokemon trainer squeezed her turquoise eyes shut, trying to protect them from the fierce brilliance. Tears crept out from under her closed eyelids under the harsh onslaught and slid down her face as she curled into a ball in the middle of the road. Her hand did not loosen its hold on the staff.

Then the light was gone, as instantly as it had come. Dark stars flashed across Gobrianna’s eyelids as if she had been staring straight into the sun. Heavy silence was the only thing left in the lightning’s wake. She couldn’t hear the two Pokemon, or the men. For one horrible moment Gobrianna had the impression that she was the only being left alive on the planet, everything else banished by the strange silver light . . . until the firm ground under her began to shake. As the vibrations intensified she realized something massive was moving toward her, then let out an enormous sigh of relief when she heard the familiar booming, "Charizard?"

Her sigh turned into a groan as she stretched out flat on her back. Opening her eyes to peer up at Charizard, she found two sets of eyes staring down instead. The Vaporeon in the lizard’s arms still looked battered and bruised, but its large black orbs were wide open and fully aware. Its breathing was no longer labored, and it even fidgeted uncomfortably in the fire Pokemon’s grasp. If Gobrianna didn’t know any better, she would have sworn the silver light had actually healed the aquatic creature.

"What in the world hap—hey!" exclaimed the young trainer, sitting up in shock. "Where did those men go?" Gobrianna’s head whipped back and forth so fast her long hair hit her in the face. Brushing it aside impatiently, she found the road as empty as it had been all morning. The region they were trekking through was as flat and empty as a dinner plate. The dirt road stretching far into the horizon before and behind them was the only thing splitting the never-ending green plains that spread in all directions. Not so much as a single signpost or cabin indicated human life ever traveled this path. Neither trees nor shrubs grew along the road. It struck her mind that if a thunderstorm did start up, they would be the likeliest targets.

As she was noticing this, Charizard was answering her rhetorical question. "Charizard, zard char char. Izard," it grumbled unhappily.

"That’s impossible," retorted its trainer as she climbed to her feet with the aid of the wooden staff still clutched in her hand. "People don’t just disappear. They had to go somewhere."

"Zard?"

"If I knew I wouldn’t be asking!" She looked down at the Vaporeon, who was trying to scramble out of Charizard’s firm grip. "Hold on, little one. You’re still pretty banged up. You shouldn’t be walking." Seeing it subside, she bent down on one knee to look the Pokemon in its black eyes, continuing softly. "Was that man really your trainer?"

"Pore pore! Vaporeon, on!" A violent shaking of its spiny head followed its vehement statement.

"I didn’t think so. But . . . he did do this to you, didn’t he?" The Eevee evolution shuddered and looked away. "Shhhh," Gobrianna comforted, gently stroking its head. "Never mind. What were you doing? What is this?" She indicated the staff in her hand.

"Vaporeon, eon vap pore! Pore pore vapor vaporeon, por. Vap pore eon!" Charizard interrupted its fellow Pokemon, telling it that its trainer didn’t understand. The Vaporeon switched audiences, plunging into a rapid conversation with the fire Pokemon, which left Gobrianna free to examine the strange staff.

A little more than six feet high, the staff was actually taller than her modest five feet, seven inches. Made of golden wood, its length ran straight for the most part. The only exception was an indentation above elbow height, where the bearer of the staff would apparently wrap his or her hand around the wood. But it was the tip of the slender thing that drew her attention like a moth to flame. Tilting her head back, she let out a low, impressed whistle. A perfect hemisphere of violet crystal sparkled in the sunlight, affixed to the flat top of the stick of wood. The smooth, half globe of amethyst must have been worth a small fortune. And if that wasn’t enough, six small opals were set into the wood under the larger jewel. Each tiny oval was about the size of her thumbnail, spaced evenly around the circumference of the staff.

Gobrianna was only human, and a Pokemon trainer at that. Like any profession, trainers don’t exactly earn much when they’re starting out, traveling the open road as they do. And so when the young girl spotted the shining gems that topped the staff in her hand, the words that she murmured reflected her current financial standing. "I’m rich," she breathed, forgetting for the moment that the staff wasn’t hers. "I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams. I’m never going to have to worry about money again!"

"Char!" Her Pokemon’s voice finally broke through her daydreams, accompanied with a flaming tail in her face.

"What—hey! Watch it!" She batted the tail away. "Sorry. But would you look at this thing, Charizard?" The Pokemon’s long face contorted with impatience, one clawed foot tapping on the ground. "Sorry," she apologized again. "What did you find out?"

The string of words that shot from the giant lizard’s mouth was so quick even its trainer had trouble keeping up. "What? Wait, slow down. Mine? This is mine? This isn’t mine; I’ve never seen it before in my life. What do you mean, I can’t let it go? I can’t let it out of my sight? Why? No, I am not a savior. I didn’t do anything. I don’t care what that Vaporeon says. Silver? What’s silver? Slow down. Slow down! SLOW DOWN!"

Charizard trailed off into a growl, not pleased with being interrupted. As it shifted its large bulk in irritation the silver mark on its snout caught the sunlight, reflecting it into Gobrianna’s eyes like the silver lightning before. "Char zard. Izard charizard char," rumbled the Pokemon at its normal speed.

"Huh?" The trainer’s brow furrowed in confusion at the sudden change of topic, but she obeyed her Pokemon and looked down in its arms. The Vaporeon had curled up with its slashed nose buried under it fish-like tail, sound asleep. Gobrianna sighed. "Yeah, you’re right. We do still need to get to a Pokemon Center." She studied the water Pokemon thoughtfully. "I should put it into a Pokeball. It’ll be easier to get to a Center that way."

But Charizard shook its head. "Charizard, izard. Zard char," it insisted.

Gobrianna’s eyes widened at its words. "It already has a trainer? How do you . . . oh. It told you, of course. But who would let his own Pokemon get beat up like this?" A growl was the fire Pokemon’s only answer. Gobrianna felt like growling herself. That was no way to treat your Pokemon. It was disgusting. "And I suppose it doesn’t know where its trainer is?" Her Pokemon snorted. "Figures. Oh well. Are you going to carry it, then?"

Charizard brushed by her without answering, still miffed from getting yelled at. Another sigh escaped her lips as Gobrianna adjusted her backpack straps and gripped the gem-topped staff tightly before striding after the winged lizard.

It wasn’t often that she and Charizard argued—a fact that astounded most trainers she found with a Charmander or one of its evolutions, who proclaimed they were among the hardest Pokemon to control. Gobrianna considered her three Charmander stages to be the exception; they never caused trouble in that regard. But when the trainer and trainee did disagree, that was when Charizard became as stubborn as the rest of its species. As a matter of fact, as she reflected on their past disputes, she was hard pressed to recall a sole argument that she had actually won. Gobrianna groaned inwardly, already planning an adequate apology.

* * *

"Oof!" Gobrianna tripped over another tree root. Again a firm grip on the staff in her right hand saved her from a tumble in the dirt. There was no moon shining in the blackness above them. No stars shone down to light the way for the girl and her Pokemon. The dancing fire at the end of Charizard’s tail was the only illumination in the dark.

"Clouds," mumbled the trainer under her breath. "Not a wisp of white in the sky for weeks, and they come rolling in now."

Gobrianna was sure she now knew how the poor Vaporeon must feel. They had been walking all day, until the late morning had stretched into late afternoon and finally the sun sank below the horizon. Just as the shadows had stretched their longest, the trio had come upon a copse of old trees clustered on both sides of the road. Now not only was Gobrianna hungry and thirsty and completely worn out, with aching feet that she knew were going to be sore for days, now she couldn’t see more than a yard in any direction. And she was too tired to see the tree roots pushing up through the road as she stumbled on. Her only thought was that if she kept going, she was going to find that Pokemon Center soon.

And so the threesome continued marching late into the night, the fire Pokemon leading the way with the only source of light and the water Pokemon in its arms. The Vaporeon sometimes slept, sometimes gazed around in weary curiosity from its high seat. If the silver lighting had replenished some of its strength, it had no lasting effect. The Eevee evolution spent most of the journey unconscious. Behind the two Gobrianna just concentrated on taking one painful step after another.

The eleven-year-old girl was so exhausted she didn’t even notice her Charizard had come to a halt until she tripped again. Not over a root this time, but the Pokemon’s twitching tail.

"Zard!" the winged lizard snarled. Vaporeon started awake at its deep voice.

"I’m sorry, Charizard," sighed Gobrianna. "I’m so tired."

Seeing its trainer’s drooping eyes and the way she sagged against the wooden staff as if it was the only thing that held her up, the Pokemon’s angry glare softened. It touched her shoulder with one dark wing like a human would give a reassuring pat. When she smiled faintly in response Charizard indicated the scene before them with a nod of its head.

The trainer turned her attention back to the road. They had just topped a small hill, and spread around its base was exactly what they had been looking for: a town. Only a few yellow and white dots of light betrayed its presence. In her fog of exhaustion Gobrianna couldn’t recall the name of the town, but she remembered that it had a Pokemon Center.

The sound that issued from her lips was an exclamation of pure relief. "Finally! Come on Charizard. Somewhere down there is food and a bed with our names on ‘em."

The trip down the hill and through the town was only a cloudy haze in Gobrianna’s mind. The next thing she remembered clearly was the smooth, cold glass under her palm as she banged on the front doors of the Pokemon Center. The lights inside were on their lowest setting, and she couldn’t see any late night staff beyond the locked door. "Hello? Hello!" yelled Gobrianna as she pounded. "I need help out here!"

It wasn’t a human nurse that eventually answered the door, but a round pink Pokemon with a white cap. "Chansey, chansey, chansey!" it scolded in a sweet voice. Though Gobrianna couldn’t understand the words, the tone was unmistakable.

"I’m sorry if I disrupted any of your patients," she told the Pokemon sincerely. "But I have an injured Vaporeon here that needs medical attention right away. Please, we’ve traveled such a long way."

"Chansey." The nurse’s aide stepped aside, allowing the trio to enter. It turned to a dark doorway and called louder, "Chansey! Chansey!" On cue, two more of the pink Pokemon appeared, pushing a stretcher and followed by a human with her pink hair in twin loops. Without hesitation the three aides approached the fire Pokemon that towered above them and relieved it of its burden. The Vaporeon didn’t show any signs of consciousness as it was moved.

Gobrianna bit her lip with worry, watching the three Chansey and their patient disappear. Turning to the remaining human nurse, she briefly explained that she had found the injured Pokemon on the side of the road, and that its trainer could not be found.

The girl didn’t feel ashamed or guilty when she purposely left the strange men and the silver lighting out of her narrative. Ever since her first day as a Pokemon trainer—when mysterious forces that she still had no explanation for had compelled her to chose a Charmander instead of one of the other Pokemon offered—unusual things sometimes happened in Gobrianna’s life. Things she couldn’t understand, and had long ago given up trying to. She had sworn to herself long ago that someday she would discover just what it was that seemed to be watching over her. This thing that assisted her with sudden instincts, unexplained emotions, and other strangeness, though never before was there anything as big as the silver lightning. But until that day arrived she had learned to accept it as something she could not control.

"I’m sorry, what did you say?" She blinked groggily, realizing the nurse had been speaking for some time.

The woman smiled sympathetically. "I said it seems to me you and your Charizard have completely worn yourselves out to care for this Vaporeon. Through that door you’ll find a room where Pokemon trainers spend the night. There are cots, and I’ll make sure you get a hot meal. How does that sound?"

Gobrianna, wishing her exhaustion would retreat back to the dark corner it had sprang from, barely nodded. "Sounds like heaven. Could you take my Pokemon first though?"

The nurse positively beamed. "Putting your Pokemon before yourself? I wish all trainers were that considerate. Don’t you worry, I’ll take care of everything. If you need anything, just ask for Nurse Joy."

She nodded, removing the Pokeballs from her belt. "Charizard," she said to her Pokemon as she held up its own red and white sphere, "you should go heal yourself too."

But the fire lizard shook its horned head and stepped closer to her, pushing the Pokeball away. "Char charizard," it demanded.

Gobrianna shrugged wearily at Nurse Joy, who smiled knowingly. After handing over the rest of her Pokeballs, the young girl stumbled toward the door the nurse had indicated. It only then occurred to her that the woman hadn’t said a thing about the jewel-studded staff in her hand, almost as if she hadn’t seen it at all. . . .

"Chansey?" A pink Pokemon poked its head around the door five minutes later, a steaming bowl of soup in its cone-like arms. The room it entered was empty save for a softly snoring girl, a mass of coppery hair spread across her pillow, and a large winged lizard standing over her. The girl’s backpack and the stick she had been carrying leaned against one wall. As the aide set the soup on a small table it whispered, "Chansey," to the fire Pokemon, then left quietly to see to its other patients.

* * *

Someone was shaking Gobrianna’s shoulder. She wished whoever it was would cut it out; she still had a lot of sleep to catch up on. Another day or two would just about do it. Then her stomach joined the debate, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast yesterday. The shaker and her stomach were more persistent than her need for sleep. Two against one. Sleep lost. With a groan Gobrianna rolled over and forced up her eyelids, which must have weighed at least a ton each.

At first the shaker was nothing but a pink and white blur. Eventually, the colors coalesced into Nurse Joy. She smiled when she saw Gobrianna was awake. "Sorry if I disturbed you, but I thought you might want to know about the Vaporeon you brought in."

The girl was instantly on her feet, and looked around for her Charizard. The fire Pokemon had tucked its head under one dark wing, like some giant bird, as it slept in the corner nearest her cot. A sharp whistle from its trainer woke it in a flash. "Charizard?" it mumbled in its deep voice.

"The Vaporeon," replied Gobrianna. To Nurse Joy, she asked, "How is it?"

The nurse’s smile didn’t waver, to the trainer’s vast relief. "Much better than last night," the woman reported. "It has regained consciousness, and I believe it wants to see you." Leading the girl and her Pokemon back into the main room of the Pokemon Center, then through a set of double doors marked "Pokemon Center Personnel Only," she continued her prognosis. "Besides its numerous bruises and scrapes—which we were able to take care of with little problem—the Vaporeon has a few more serious injuries. We had to bandage its bruised ribs, and a cut on its nose required butterfly stitches. Also, its left front paw is broken. It won’t be walking for a few days."

Gobrianna frowned in concern. Doors displaying the letters ER, ICU, OR and various others flashed by as they traveled down a long silent corridor. "That sounds serious," she worried. "Will it be all right?" The nurse and the girl walked side by side, with Charizard just behind them.

"Oh yes," Nurse Joy assured her. "We’ll take good care of it." Her bright smile faded for a moment as she cast a sidelong glance at the trainer beside her. "Did you happen to see any people around the place where you found the Vaporeon, Miss. . . ?"

"Just Gobrianna, and no," she replied without hesitation. "I didn’t see anyone at all yesterday. Why?"

The woman looked unhappy about it, but replied. "I’ve been working at this Pokemon Center for a long time," she explained. "I’ve seen the results of almost every Pokemon attack there is. After treating this Vaporeon, my staff and I can only reach one conclusion: There’s just no way a Pokemon attack could have caused these injuries in the way they appear. I’m afraid the only answer is that a human being must have done this."

Gobrianna’s eyes sparkled angrily. What Nurse Joy couldn’t tell was that the anger stemmed from a memory, and not the implication. "That’s terrible," she muttered. "I can’t believe someone would do that."

Nurse Joy shook her head. "Neither can I. Well, here we are." She stopped at an unmarked wooden door and entered, holding it open for the trainer and her Pokemon. Inside Gobrianna found a long, narrow room with just enough space for a line of five beds with their headboards against the right wall, and an aisle at the foot of them so nurses could get to patients at the far end. Three of the beds were empty; the two closest to the door were occupied. The Vaporeon lay on the one before Gobrianna, and the one after it held a sleeping Pidgey. The water Pokemon’s upper body was wrapped in pristine white bandages, as was its leg. Its eyes were closed.

At the sound of the door opening the Vaporeon slowly picked up its head to see, eyes half closed from a sedative that had been ministered by a helpful Chansey. Its fish-like tail wagged faintly when it recognized her.

"Hi, little one," whispered Gobrianna, kneeling by the bed. "How are you feeling today?"

It let its head fall back on the small white pillow, eyes never leaving hers and a faint smile on its face. "Pore. . . ." it murmured sleepily. Then its spiny ears twitched. Its eyes suddenly snapped fully open and it leaped to its three good feet with a cry. "Vapor, vap pore! Pore pore vap! Vaporeon! Vaporeon!" it barked rapidly, staring into her with fathomless black orbs.

Gobrianna jerked upright as if shocked by a dozen Magnemite. The Vaporeon’s words shot into her like burning arrows. She didn’t understand word for word, but somehow she knew exactly what the water Pokemon was trying to tell her. "The staff!" she gasped in horrid realization. She had left it!

Gobrianna whirled and vaulted for the door in one fluid motion. Unfortunately she had forgotten Charizard stood directly behind her and slammed into its broad chest. Recovering, she looked into the winged lizard’s eyes and found the same awareness burning in them that blazed inside her. Without another word they raced out the door together and disappeared down the hall.

"What in the world?" exclaimed Nurse Joy, but no one was left to hear her. Its message delivered, the Vaporeon had collapsed onto the sheets, unconscious.

As she pounded down the hall, legs pumping under her like pistons, Gobrianna was filled with a terrible urgency from head to toe. It hammered in her heart and coursed through her veins. The meaning behind the Vaporeon’s words was simple and direct. Something was happening to the staff, and she needed to be with it. If she wasn’t, a tremendous event—one that could change the world—would not take place. Everything was riding on her. And she had no time. No time to even wonder how she knew this.

Abreast with Charizard, she saw the double doors leading to the main room of the Center looming before her. But the timer in her mind told her that she just wasn’t going fast enough. Tick, tick, tick. Desperately needed seconds were slipping through her fingers, and she just wasn’t going fast enough!

Both trainer and trainee hit the doors at a full run, arms flung out in front of them. The main room was a blur of colors as they shot across and into the room where Gobrianna had left her backpack and the strange wooden staff. There was a tension building in the room, like the air right before a thunderstorm, and she felt it pressing down on her inner ears and the pit of her stomach. As she zeroed in on the pole leaning against the far wall, she could feel that whatever was happening was coming to a head.

But Gobrianna was still across the room, and there was no time! Crossing the expanse in three huge steps, she launched herself at the staff. Just as her fingers closed around the smooth circumference of the wood, the pressure in the room burst like a soap bubble. A savage wind suddenly whipped up from nowhere and twirled around the eleven-year-old, blinding with her own long hair. From somewhere very far away Charizard let lose a deafening roar of fury. And then the world went black.

* * *

Gobrianna knew she was not asleep, so she couldn’t be dreaming. She also knew she was not where she had been, though for the life of her she couldn’t remember where that was. And she knew this place was somewhere a person such as herself was not often permitted to be. Other than that, Gobrianna knew very little.

Not that she had forgotten who she was. She was Gobrianna, a Pokemon trainer, and she had been on her Pokemon journey for a little over a year. Her starter Pokemon had been a Charmander, and the first one she had caught was an Ekans. Her father had died when she was five. Her mother and an old Flareon were still home, waiting for her triumphant return. It seemed her long-term memory was in tact.

But Gobrianna couldn’t remember the road she had been traveling yesterday, or the day before. She couldn’t remember the last town she’d been in. She couldn’t even be sure of the most recent Pokemon that had come into her possession. It was as if someone had taken her short-term memories and hid them from her own recollection . . . or erased them. Casting her mind back, trying to recall the lost times, she was at least able to remember when her Charmeleon evolved into Charizard.

Charizard! Somehow she knew it was suppose to be with her. Glancing left and right, she noticed her surroundings for the first time. There wasn’t much to see: an endless sea of blackness expanded around her on all sides. Not the darkness that comes from the absence of light. This was . . . something else. A place that was always unsubstantial darkness, no matter how much light was brought. But strangely enough, when she looked down she could see herself just fine. There was her dark purple (her favorite color) T-shirt and her blue jeans. Some of her copper hair hung in front of her shoulders and over her face, as if she had been caught in a windstorm. The blonde and auburn highlights that she’d inherited from her parents glittered as if caught by the light, but she could see no source. Under her feet the blackness felt like firm, hard stone.

She turned to her right at the sound of the deep, "Charizard?" Her Pokemon stood by her side, where there had been nothing but blackness a moment before. Like herself, she could see it clearly in the darkness. And she saw that the fire from its tail did nothing to light up the area around or under them, and neither she nor Charizard cast even the faintest shadow anywhere on their bodies.

"How did you get here?" she asked it. The darkness swallowed up her voice and made it sound very small.

Charizard shifted uncomfortably, its tail swaying from side to side. "Char charizard. Char zard?"

She shook her head. "No, I don’t remember much of anything either."

"So you have made it."

Gobrianna gasped at the voice that echoed out of the darkness and twirled around in a tight circle, feeling her blue eyes grow very large in her head and her throat constrict until she had to force her breath. Charizard growled as their situation changed in a way it was not too happy with. They were surrounded!

The creatures that encircled them were illuminated as they were, without light and shadow. Gobrianna could feel herself start to panic. Her heart thumped painfully fast in her chest and her breath came in the hard gasps of one terrified when faced with the unknown. This is not happening, she whispered to herself in disbelief. This simply can not be happening.

But reality seemed to disagree with her. Each of the strange beasts held perfectly still, like stone statues but with eyes that were very much alive. She had the strangest sensation that time had been put on hold for a moment, and the sole purpose of it was for her to stare at these creatures. To look at them and study them as if she would never get another chance, until she knew every hair and feather, so she would have the memory of them even in her dreams. And instead of curling up in a little ball on whatever passed for the ground in this place, or falling over in a dead faint as she would have preferred, Gobrianna obeyed and devoured the huge creatures with her eyes.

She only came up to the shoulders of the shortest one and each was the same color, though in different shades. Each pair of eyes was the most prominent feature of the creatures; she found her own gaze pulled into them, almost unable to look away. Then, in a sudden blast of insight, her mind clicked and she could put a name to every one. A small amount of her fear faded away to be replaced with awe-filled wonder.

Directly in front of her stood two as different as night and day. Side by side, the unicorn and the dragon stood motionless, their eyes on her. The dragon’s scales shone bright as new silver, with wing membranes like shimmering silver cloth. Its eyes were the only part of it a different color. They flickered red, orange and yellow, like dancing flames, and held all the passion of an inferno. The unicorn was the color of sea foam, silver tarnished with age. This was no Rapidash; the spiral horn rising from its forehead was three feet long and shone with a sliver light all its own. Its eyes were the deep blue of the open sea.

Turning her head, she recognized the two bird-like creatures on her left. The gryphon was a creature resembling a huge eagle in the foreparts, with the hind parts of a lion. Its feathers and fur were light gray and its eyes as green as spring leaves. The other was the only creature who betrayed the stillness of the scene. It was a phoenix, a legendary bird of fire (not to be confused with a Moltres) in the fantasy stories she read. Each feather was a separate silver flame, waving and flickering in a breeze she couldn’t feel. The giant bird’s eyes shone like glittering red rubies.

On Charizard’s side was a winged horse and a wyvern. The former was the silvery white of moonlight, not a feather rippling on the large wings folded over its back. Its dark blue eyes glowed faintly and somehow reminded her of the night. The latter was a dragon with no forelegs, perching on the darkness underneath it like a great bird of prey. Its blue eyes were as hard as sapphires, sharply contrasting against its dull gray scales.

And behind Gobrianna and Charizard as if standing guard against their escape (where would they go anyway?) a winged lion and a giant wolf glared down at the girl and her Pokemon. The lion’s fur and wings shone silver, its mane white as snow and its eyes green as emeralds. The wolf’s eyes—green-gold and flashing like tiny flecks of lightning—gleamed against its soft gray fur.

With a slight shake of her head Gobrianna returned to herself. The mythological creatures still made no motion, their many-colored eyes on the duo they encircled. They were waiting for something.

"H-hello?" ventured the young Pokemon trainer faintly. "Who . . . who are you?"

She jumped as the dragon and the unicorn in front of her each took a single step forward and bowed their heads in unison. "You have arrived, our Chosen one. We are glad." Neither of the creatures moved their mouths in any way, but the words traveled to her ears as if spoken aloud. The voice somehow reminded Gobrianna of her mother and father combined, neither female nor male, and somehow a multitude of voices merged and mingled into one.

"W-well, I . . . we. . . . Wait a minute, what did you say? What chosen one . . . s-sirs?" she stuttered. Despite the dream-like quality of this strange place, the fact that these eight extraordinarily amazing creatures shouldn’t exist, Gobrianna didn’t think for a moment that she was experiencing anything less than reality. She could feel the . . . genuineness of it all. That wasn’t the right word exactly, but the trainer couldn’t find another that fit. And while she didn’t understand what had happened to her, or why, she did understand the power—the majesty—radiating from these beings. And she didn’t want to make them angry.

The dragon and the unicorn answered her hesitant question. She didn’t know how she knew this, since there was no outward sign it was they who spoke and not the other creatures, but somehow she knew. Perhaps it was the way they looked at her as the voice echoed in the darkness. "You are the one we have Chosen," they told her simply. "You will save us, or we will die."

The voice had a soothing quality that affected her as if laced with magic. Against her will she felt herself relaxing, the tension easing out of her knotted shoulders, her wariness slipping away. The gazes of the dragon and the unicorn upon her seemed to be saying that they wanted her to continue asking questions, so that they could explain. And she had no problem with that, she had plenty. "What are you talking about? No, that one later. First, who are you?"

Sounding amused, as if it was obvious, the unicorn and dragon replied, "We are the Eight."

She waited several moments, but they didn’t continue. "The Eight?" repeated the girl finally. "The eight what?"

"The Eight," was the response. "We are imagination and inspiration. We are hopes, we are dreams. We are the unknown, mystery, enigma. We," boomed the voice in the darkness, "are fantasy."

Gobrianna blinked. A riddle was not what she had been expecting. "I don’t understand," she admitted. "And what does this have to do with me?"

The fire and water eyes left her for the first time. As they traveled around the circle, meeting six other pairs, Gobrianna could feel some kind of silent communication flowing over her head. Finally they rested on her once again. "Perhaps we should start at the beginning?" the dragon and the unicorn suggested.

"I’d really appreciate that."

The two creatures nodded as one. "We did not create your world," began the compelling voice, "and neither did your world create us. But we are connected in the strongest of ways. For without us, your lives become meaningless. What is life without hopes and dreams, without fantasy and the unexplained? And without you, we cease to exist. And so there is between us a dangerous and delicate balance that must always be maintained. Do you understand, Chosen?"

"Not at all," answered Gobrianna frankly. "But I’ll take your word for it."

The creatures seemed to sigh noiselessly and without motion, but they continued. "We give your world fantasy. Indeed, we are it. And in turn, your world gives us life. That is the way it is, and always has been. But now the delicate balance is fraying. Your world is losing its fantasy, its imagination. It is starting to forget us. We are hard pressed to find a single person who still believes. You, Chosen, are one of the last."

Gobrianna nodded. That she understood. No one she knew felt the same way about fantasy as she did. "Do you know why this is happening?" she asked.

"There are many reasons," the dragon and the unicorn replied. "The people on your world grow older. Not as individuals, but as a people. And when something grows, it loses some of its belief in us. It thinks it knows so much that it has no need for the unexplained, the mysterious. But there is another thing that sways your world’s thinking. This thing has no name, but we call it the Darkness."

The Pokemon trainer shivered at the word. An image of the black-cloaked men she had met on the road popped into her mind unbidden. And as if it had been a plug, the rest of her forgotten memories poured into her. Gobrianna swayed under the onslaught, then felt something supporting her. Turning her head, she found Charizard had wrapped one dark wing around her, holding her up. "Char," it whispered softly. It nuzzled her with its snout, the strange silver mark sparkling in her vision.

"Thanks," she whispered. She braced her legs to stand steady. Charizard did not remove its wing. To the Eight, she spoke more loudly, "I’ve met the Darkness."

The fire and water eyes of the dragon and the unicorn colored with sympathy. "Yes, you have, our Chosen. But not as you think. Those men but worked for the Darkness. To have faced it you would have to meet it as you are meeting us now." They paused. "We are returning to you something we took long ago." And the creatures made a slight movement.

Another memory poured into Gobrianna, and she stifled a cry. Things blocked in her mind did not easily return. She grew lightheaded and dizzy, would have fallen but Charizard’s wing held her up.

And then Gobrianna remembered. She remembered the night before her Pokemon journey began. Asleep, in her bed in her room. The darkness had swirled around her like a living thing. It was powerful, so very powerful. It had used her most intimate secret against her. It would have taken her instantly, but she had cried out. She had yelled into the darkness, begging for someone to save her. And someone had. A strange silver light had banished the darkness, protecting her, and told her about her destiny. . . .

The girl slowly looked up into the eyes of the unicorn and the dragon. "It was you," she whispered. There was no doubt in her voice. "You came and you saved me."

They nodded. "You have a long journey ahead of you," they spoke the words the silver light had spoken that night. "We would not let it end before it began."

"I don’t understand!" Gobrianna exploded plaintively. "Please, I want to! I want to understand!"

"Patience," the dragon and the unicorn told her, chiding like a stern mother. "Let us continue. We will reveal to you what we can.

"The Darkness works against us. It wants your world to forget fantasy, to forget the balance that must be preserved. It wishes us to die."

"Why?" she gasped, appalled. "Why would anything want that?"

"Because," they returned gravely, simply, "people with no hopes and dreams are easy to control. And whoever has the control, has the power."

Gobrianna nodded slowly, realization dawning in her turquoise eyes. "That’s why it came," she whispered harshly. "It came to me that night to gain control over me. Because you . . . you chose me."

"Yes. You are our last hope. Without you we die. The Darkness knew that if it could claim you, change you so that you no longer wanted to become a Pokemon trainer, we would be lost. It did not know that you were strong enough to call to us. You saved yourself as much as we did, Chosen."

"What do Pokemon have to do with this?" Gobrianna wondered. Charizard repeated her question, curious as well.

The mythological creatures answered, "Pokemon are just as much a part of your world as your kind is, Chosen. And they have an essence of fantasy in them as well. They are a bridge of sorts, connecting your world with us. Because of this, if we are forgotten by humans and die . . . all Pokemon on you world will follow."

Charizard’s head shot up at this. For the first time in the presence of the Eight it spoke. "Charizard!" it bellowed angrily, tiny flames flickering from its jaws. "Char char izard! Charizard zard? Char—" A small hand on its snout stopped its tirade. Gobrianna had no doubt the Eight understood her trainee’s language, and she waited for them to answer the Pokemon’s question.

Nodding solemnly, the unicorn and dragon replied, "Yes, you can stop it. But you will need all the knowledge we can give you to do so. The Darkness had been fighting us for as long as we have memory. Only recently, as your world grew and began to forget, did it change its strategy. The Darkness now ceases to battle directly against us, but works to destroy the delicate balance between us and the world we need to exist. To save ourselves, it was necessary to create someone capable of stopping the Darkness."

Gobrianna shifted uneasily, not liking the way that had been phrased. "You mean me, don’t you?" she gulped.

"Again, yes." The voice did not sound unkind, and yet it made no apologies for what it did. "We had the strength to fashion one such creature: our Chosen one. We believe you call this an ‘all or nothing’ tactic. If we failed, we could not try again. And so we began to search your world. All humans from all parts of your world passed under our gaze, but none believed in us enough to withstand the onslaught the Darkness would retaliate with. Until we found you, Chosen. Still asleep in your mother’s womb, we could feel your passion for fantasy developing. You had a spark of love for the unexplained that would fill your entire being. We knew you would be the one. And so we prepared you for your destiny. We implanted certain feelings inside you, ones that would not be awakened until you were ready to accept your destiny: a longing for adventure and experience, isolation to protect you from others that would not understand, unquenchable curiosity, and a certain stubborn pride. You—"

A dreamy smile had crept over Gobrianna’s lips when the dragon and the unicorn first began to speak. It was like some fairy tale come true, an impossible dream made possible. What child doesn’t wish to do something so important that it saves the world? And now these fantastic creatures told Gobrianna that not only was she destined to contribute something that would forever change her world, but also that she would be saving fantasy. The one thing that she felt she truly belonged to, something she understood with all her heart and soul.

At least, that was how she felt until the word "implanted." The smile faded from her face as she remembered what it had been like for before she had left for her Pokemon journey. She remembered the desperate feeling of isolation that crept up on her whenever she was with a crowd of people. She remembered the hurt looks on her friends’ faces as she feebly made up an excuse to get away. She remembered when they finally took the hint and stopped calling for her to join them at the mall or biking or going to the beach. She remembered running and running through the woods, until she was sweaty and gasping for breath, for no reason other than she had the overwhelming urge that she needed to be somewhere else. Something began building in Gobrianna as the dragon and the unicorn continued, and that something felt suspiciously close to terror. Finally she couldn’t hold it in any longer, and she irrupted at the creatures. "Me!" the young trainer shrieked, a queasy feeling in her stomach. "What did you do to me!? I-I’m a freak! You changed me! You altered me! The Darkness was right!" The stiffness flowed out of her and she wobbled, almost fell. "I’m . . . I’m . . . I’m. . . ." Giving up on words, she sobbed into her hands. Now she knew, she knew everything. These creatures had taken an innocent child and used it to save themselves. They were just as bad as the Darkness.

"Charizard." A soothing rumble, followed by dark wings, enveloped her. "Char charizard char zard. Char izard. Char, charizard, char zard." And maybe it was her grief, or maybe it was their strange surroundings or the presence of the Eight, but the Pokemon’s words made more sense to her than they ever had before. "Gobrianna," she heard in perfect English. "Do not let this cause you pain. You were not changed. You, my trainer, are being trained."

The quivering of the eleven-year-old’s shoulders slowed, then stopped. Hesitantly a tear-streaked face lifted, and cerulean orbs met the Pokemon’s compassionate eyes. "Trained?" she sniffed.

"Char, zard. Char charizard zard izard, charizard char char. Charizard, charizard. Char charizard." And she heard, "Yes, trained. You train me to be better in battle, and these beings are training you to save our world. I believe in you, my trainer. You are their Chosen one."

For a long moment she said nothing, made no movement. Her gaze had turned inward, thinking, remembering. Gobrianna began chewing on her lower lip without noticing. Finally, her eyes focused back to Charizard. "Thank you," she breathed. Then she gently pushed it away and faced the Eight again. "I’m sorry," she sighed.

The dragon and the unicorn actually seemed pleased with her, though their stoic visages did not waver in the least. "There is nothing to forgive, Chosen." And she knew they meant it; not just her outburst, but what they had done as well. They truly did not believe that it was wrong to do what they had done to a living being without its consent.

Continuing their intent to enlighten their selected savior, the dragon and the unicorn picked up their tale once again. "We may seem all powerful, but we do have limitations. After our initial interaction when we discovered you, we did not have the strength to contact you again. You were raised as a normal human being, without our intervention, until the Darkness attempted to take you for its own. And even then it was only in the form of a dream that was forgotten upon awakening.

"We have . . . laws, rules, that must be heeded. We are not normally allowed to cross the bridge between our fantasy and your reality, nor can we bring beings from your world to our plane of existence. We may only communicate with beings that respond to us if we wish influence your world. Not in words, but in feelings, intuition. It is the same for the Darkness, for we are as two sides of a single coin. There are, however, a few artifacts that can skirt these laws."

Another memory surfaced in Gobrianna’s thoughts. "The staff!" she realized. At their nod her brow furrowed and the girl tried to sort out everything she was being told. "Let me get this straight," she hazarded slowly. "You can’t come to my world, except in dreams. But you can make people who believe in fantasy—and Pokemon, because they’re kinda half-and-half—feel things, and that’s how you get things done on my side. That’s what’s been affecting me ever since I got my starter Pokemon, when the strangeness began. The Darkness is the same way, only they use scum and evil people, like those three men, to get what they want. Am I getting it?"

"Essentially," was the answer the dragon and the unicorn gave. "The staff we have given you allows its bearer more intimate contact with us. With it we can bring you to our plane of existence for a short period of time, and send our power over to yours. That is how we saved you from the men. And that is why the Darkness sought to stop its deliverance. They wished to stop this meeting, so you would not learn the truth of your destiny. Through your ignorance, they desired to control you."

Gobrianna’s face blanched at another unhappy memory. "The Vaporeon," she murmured. "It was working for you, bringing me the staff, but those men got to it first." She looked into the blazing and the cool gazes of the two beings before her. "I want to know what happened to it."

The dragon and the unicorn’s heads lifted, seeking the eyes of the rest of the Eight for a second time. Again Gobrianna felt the unheard communication around her, and it seemed a heated argument. For long moments feathered, furred and fiery heads turned and regarded one another as they discussed, all in perfect silence. As the conversation ended, the dragon and the unicorn pinned her with their eyes. They spoke: "We do this, even though it causes us pain, because we feel you need to understand the cruelty of the Darkness. Evil witnessed first-hand is an impression that will remain with you, Chosen." Their gazes turned sorrowful. "Know, then. And we are sorry for what we are about to do."

The Pokemon trainer swallowed and wished she hadn’t opened her mouth. Before she could voice an objection the air wavered before her, as it sometimes does in summer’s heat. The ripple of air passed from the dragon and the unicorn and struck Gobrianna.

She cried out as it hit her. Forcing open forgotten memories was a pleasant experience compared to this. She could feel it pouring into her mind, filling her, swamping her with input. She barely felt Charizard grab her and support her as every muscle went lax. The Pokemon and the Eight faded into the darkness of their realm as Gobrianna’s consciousness floated away, and into another’s. . . .

* * *

Whoa.

That was the first thing to come to Gobrianna’s mind as her trip ended and she arrived wherever it was the Eight had sent her. The second was: Vaporeon sure don’t see like we do.

Though the landscape around her was in color, the hues were washed out and faded like an old painting. The treetops were almost the same watery green-blue as the sky. And everything seemed a little flat. Her perception wasn’t really working normally.

Well, normal for a human, Gobrianna reminded herself. Besides the sky and the deciduous trees surrounding the clearing she was apparently in, there wasn’t much to look at. The air was dry and still, no breeze stirring the green leaves or lush grass. The only thing moving in sight was hovering above the ground about ten feet in front of her, eyeing her warily. A few scrapes and bruises on the Geodude’s rocky body proclaimed a fight had been going on before Gobrianna arrived. She realized she could smell and identify the scents that tickled the Vaporeon’s inhuman nose: grass, trees, water, Pokemon, humans.

"Let’s try a Water Gun now, Vaporeon!" a high male voice called from somewhere close behind. Instinctively she tried to turn around and see who spoke. When the Vaporeon’s body failed to respond Gobrianna realized she was only a viewer in this existence, not a participant.

In response to its trainer’s command, a stream of water issued forth and hit the Geodude head on. Having caught a Poliwag herself, Gobrianna knew the attack wasn’t very powerful. This Vaporeon obviously wasn’t that much of a fighter. But the Geodude wasn’t very experienced either, and some critical hits had already been scored before. With a soggy gurgle the Geodude fell to the ground in defeat.

"Darn it!" a young voice exploded. Startled, Gobrianna (or the Vaporeon) looked beyond the fallen opponent. A boy of about ten was already recalling his Geodude, a scowl on his round face. Dirty blond hair fell into his violet eyes and he pushed it out of the way impatiently with one hand, the other tucking his Pokeball away in his belt. He sighed. "Good match, Daniel. I guess I have some training to do." The boy stepped around the Vaporeon and held out his hand.

Now the water Pokemon turned, and Gobrianna got a good look at the aforementioned Daniel. The trainer shaking hands with the owner of the Geodude looked short for his age. Red-rimmed glasses surrounded wide blue-green eyes. His longish brown hair swayed in the open air. "Naw." Daniel ducked his head at the other boy’s roundabout praise. "It wasn’t a fair fight to begin with. We both know rock Pokemon are weak against water. I shouldn’t have picked my Vaporeon for the battle."

As the two boys—who apparently knew each other—settled into a conversation that could last a while, Gobrianna attempted to figure out just what exactly had happened to her. The Eight had said they were going to show her what happened to the Vaporeon. She hadn’t though they had something quite so . . . extensive . . . in mind.

So, have I turned into a Vaporeon? she wondered. Or am I just sharing a body with one? Maybe it can hear me. Without a mouth, Gobrianna was reduced to thinking very loudly. Hello! she thought as hard as she could. Can anyone hear me? Is there a Vaporeon in here? There was no answer.

Well I can’t move by myself, I don’t seem to have my own human body, and I can’t talk with the Pokemon that I’m apparently inhabiting, the girl surmised. You know, this is kind of like watching a movie, only I’m on the inside. I sure hope the Eight know what they’re doing.

Gobrianna realized that while she couldn’t control what the Vaporeon did, and she couldn’t communicate with it, she did seem to be able to pick up a little from the Vaporeon’s mind and body. She could feel several sore bruises, attesting to the fact that the aquatic Pokemon hadn’t come out of the recent battle unscathed either. But under the sting of the minor injuries was a proud sense of elation. The Vaporeon was honored to have defended its trainer.

Daniel and the other boy had taken a seat on the soft grass, talking about the strengths and weaknesses of different types of Pokemon. "What about a Rhyhorn?" the blond boy wondered out loud.

"What about it?" returned Daniel.

"It’s a rock type, but it’s a ground type too. Flying Pokemon are weak against one, but they’re strong against the other. How would a flying Pokemon affect a Rhyhorn?"

"Hmm," Daniel pondered, chin in hand. "I don’t know. Maybe a Pokedex would know the answer?"

"That’s a great idea!" the other boy agreed, and both reached into their pockets at the same time. Gobrianna was curious about the answer herself, but something happened that suddenly made her totally forget the boys and their conversation.

She could feel the Vaporeon’s spiny ears twitch as a little breeze kicked up in the clearing. But it wasn’t the wind the Pokemon was listening to. A silky, wordless voice was drifting through the air, enticing as the smell of freshly baked pumpkin pie. It was soft, yet insistent. Silent, yet clearly audible. It called to Gobrianna . . . and the Vaporeon too. And they understood the call.

"Hey!" Daniel cried out as his Pokemon launched itself from his side like a blue thunderbolt. It raced across the small meadow without acknowledging its trainer. "Vaporeon! Wait! Come back! Where are you going?" For the first time since he’d obtained the creature through a trade, the water Pokemon refused to obey him. In a flash of blue fur and green leaves it had disappeared into the trees. The two boys scrambled to their feet and gave chase, but it had vanished. Daniel stopped at the edge of the clearing and stared into the deep green shade under the boughs of the trees, wondering what he had done wrong. "Vaporeon?" he called once again. The leaves rustling in a little gust of wind was his only answer.

Gobrianna could feel the guilt of the water Pokemon as it dashed away, the boy’s voice floating after them. It didn’t want to leave its trainer, but it also knew that this was more important. An invisible, guiding force drew them both through a twisting path through the trees. The flora living on the forest floor grew in shades of green and blue to the Vaporeon’s eye. The heavy, sweet smells of damp earth and growing things overpowered any scents of wild Pokemon. A small stream broke through the foliage and the Vaporeon plunged in, wading through the shoulder-deep water. Pidgey and Spearow took off, startled, as the aquatic creature crashed through the undergrowth. A Rattata shrieked and dove for its burrow. Two Sandshrew ducked underground as well. Finally the mysterious force allowed the Vaporeon to slow and stumble to a halt, panting. It stood next to one of the bigger oaks of the forest. A Caterpie glanced down curiously from one of the lower branches as the Vaporeon waited patiently. Then it received its next set of instructions.

If this is the Eight’s doing, Gobrianna thought as the water Pokemon began to dig in the soft loam at the base of the tall tree, then I guess I’m not the only one relying on strange hunches and impulsive emotions. I wonder why those boys didn’t notice anything. Don’t they believe in fantasy? Or maybe the Eight only wanted this Vaporeon to hear, and I’m picking them up through it. Anyway, I wonder what was so important that they had to make a Pokemon ignore its trainer’s command—

Her thoughts were cut off by a triumphant bark. Unearthed by the Vaporeon’s swift job, the end of a long pole poked out of the dirt. Taking the protruding end in its teeth, it gave it a violent jerk. The wooden stick popped smoothly out of the ground and thumped to the forest floor. Elated, the Vaporeon sat back on its haunches to rest.

Gobrianna’s first thought was immediately dismissed. That’s not the staff, she insisted to no one with a mental shake of her head. It’s just a six-foot-long stick, probably buried by an Arcanine for a game of fetch with its trainer. Unless this Vaporeon has a hidden stash of priceless jewels it plans to stick on before it presents it to me, that is. Just what is going on here?

The breeze kicked up again, and the Vaporeon—and therefore Gobrianna—suddenly knew what to do next. Taking the long pole in its jaws the Pokemon set out once again, this time at a steady trot. It wasn’t easy sometimes carrying, sometimes dragging the big stick through the forest, but both knew that what the Vaporeon was doing was of the greatest importance. The wordless words spoken silently on the wind couldn’t be interpreted in any other way.

Ever the Pokemon trainer, Gobrianna had only been on the lookout for other wild Pokemon for ten minutes before the Vaporeon and its burden cleared the forest. The trees ended just as a wide road took their place, stretching into the distance to the left and right as the water Pokemon emerged from the underbrush. Excluding the edge of the forest that ran right up to the road, wide open plains surrounded every side. This looks suspiciously familiar. . . . Gobrianna thought.

Not sharing her sentiment, the Vaporeon yipped happily around a mouthful of wood as it saw the road, anticipating much easier going now that the trees were gone. But as it jogged forward, the end of the long stick snagged on an upraised root. The Pokemon turned and sharply tugged, trying to force it free and growling in annoyance.

Then a dark black shadow fell over the distracted Vaporeon. "You’re late." At the bass voice the water Pokemon released the stick and whirled around. Tilting its head up, it found that three humans cloaked in black had formed a half-circle around it. Gobrianna somehow managed to shiver without her body present, and there was a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Pore!" the Pokemon snarled, intuitively sensing the blackness darker than the men’s clothes that surrounded them. It growled warningly, but Gobrianna could feel its mind-numbing fear. These men radiated a cruel assurance: they had no qualms about hurting an innocent creature to get what they wanted. And the Vaporeon knew it, as it knew what the three men would want.

The Pokemon’s warning did not daunt the black-cloaked men in the least. As the middle one coolly stepped forward Gobrianna felt something happening deep in the Vaporeon’s chest. It inhaled sharply and muscles in its upper abdomen clenched. She realized the Pokemon was about to let loose a water attack.

But the lead man was prepared. Fast as black lighting, a heavily booted foot shot out and caught the azure creature in the ribs. The tension in the Vaporeon’s chest vanished as its breath shot out of it in an excruciating whoosh. The force of the kick literally picked up the creature and sent in sailing into a tree trunk. It hit hard, sinking to the ground in a haze of blackness, ribs throbbing. "Vap. . . ." it whimpered, defiantly trying to shake off unconsciousness.

Gobrianna cried out silently in horror. To have to watch, but not being able to do anything to help the Pokemon. . . . For a brief moment she actually hated the Eight for sending her here. Then the sorrow brimming in the fire and water eyes of the dragon and the unicorn returned to her, and she remembered that she had asked for this. She had wanted to know, and know she was finding out.

The black shadow fell over the Pokemon once again. Look up! Look up! LOOK UP! Gobrianna screamed with all her strength, knowing it couldn’t hear her and feeling sick with dread. The Vaporeon was still dazed from its impact with the tree. It didn’t notice the man until it was too late. The cloaked figure reached down and firmly grasped it around the neck, above its spiny ruff. Gobrianna was stunned as the man effortlessly lifted the Pokemon off the ground with one hand.

The Vaporeon—three feet tall of it was an inch and certainly no lightweight—thrashed in the man’s seemingly superhuman grip. Its fish-like tail reared up and whipped his hooded face in an attempt to compel him to release. If it had any effect at all, neither Gobrianna nor the Vaporeon could see it. The black fabric of the man’s cowl shifted for a moment, just enough to reveal an unmerciful grin of twisted pleasure, then he brutally hurled the Pokemon away from the road.

Gobrianna’s stomach-that-wasn’t-there lurched as the Vaporeon sailed through the air, and she with it. It landed heavily in a thorny bush, winded and in pain. The thorns caught in its spines and frills, ripping and tearing and tangling the creature worse as it dauntlessly struggled to free itself. One particularly vicious barb caught the Vaporeon across the snout as it thrust its head out of the bramble. The unmistakable scent of blood filled the Pokemon’s nostrils.

I must get it to her. I must get it to her. I must! The repetitive thought in the Vaporeon’s mind was more a feeling than actual words, but it was all that kept the creature going. With a cracking and snapping of branches it forced itself out of the thorny bush and stumbled out of the tree line just as the lead man was returning to his two companions. They hadn’t moved to retrieve the wooden stick without their leader. The Vaporeon’s current position put it at such an angle that it could now see how the long pole was caught. If it could just get to it, it might be able to pull it lose.

One of the other black-clothed men looked up. "It’s back," his dark voice rang out in the silence, and with it came the promise of more pain. The lead man turned toward the water Pokemon. Gobrianna could imagine the cruel smile twisting the lean face beneath the hood. She felt like whimpering herself. Run away! she advised her partner, wishing desperately that it could hear her. Maybe if she focused emphatically enough her message would somehow make itself known.

However, the Vaporeon unflinchingly stood its ground, glaring at the approaching man with intense hatred. It inhaled and summoned a Water Gun quickly this time, shooting its anger at the man in the form of a powerful stream of rushing water. But the man twisted his black-cloaked body in mid step, evading the attack and vaulting forward in one fluid motion. In an instance he loomed over the surprised Pokemon. Before it could react he brought his foot down savagely on its left front paw.

The Vaporeon yelped in pain, then squealed as the pressure on its appendage increased. The dark man leaned his weight forward, mashing the toe of his boot into the joint that connected its leg with its paw, twisting so that it bent at an unnatural angle. "Know this, creature," he hissed maliciously, "the ones you follow are weak, no longer needed or wanted on this world. They can’t save you now."

The pain was unbearable. Gobrianna could think of nothing else, and she wasn’t even experiencing it directly. Stop it! Stop! she silently begged, sobbing. Please, please stop! But the pressure only ruthlessly increased. Gobrianna couldn’t take it anymore. She was either going to scream or faint, or both. Then the brilliant point of pain came to a head and exploded. There was a sickeningly wet crunch that was almost felt more than heard, and the Vaporeon threw back its head and howled. Swiftly it lunged and clamped its sharp teeth around the man’s ankle. He roared and reeled back, and the water Pokemon was free.

Things were happening so fast that Gobrianna’s head would have been spinning, if she had been in possession of her own. The Vaporeon knew its advantage wouldn’t last for long. Not allowing a limp to slow it down, it gathered itself and leapt at the two other men, agonizing pain flaring up its leg and being forcefully ignored. They were actually surprised at its unexpected rush, caught off guard by their own self-confidence in the dark powers granted to them. And although it was only momentary, it was enough for the Pokemon to slip around their bodies like the water that was so much a part of it. Only hesitating for a split-second to free the wooden pole from the root’s clutches—grabbing it around its middle, not pulling on the end as it had been—it flashed through the sea of hands that had appeared from the long black cloaks and reached for it. Another moment and it had left the men and the woods behind, racing onto the open road.

The silent voice carried on the wind sang a triumphant note. Left. The one the Vaporeon sought was left. It turned in mid-stride and ran flat out. Each step sent such a fierce fire coursing up its left front leg that the Pokemon feared the appendage soon wouldn’t respond. Its ribs screamed with every movement, and the rest of its body was nothing more than a mass of aches and pain. But it was alive, and the dark men were gone.

They are not far, the silent voice insisted soberly. If you stop, they will take you once again. And they will not let you survive another encounter. Bring the staff to her. Only when it is in her hand will we have the strength to stop them. Go. Hurry. It is the only way.

The Vaporeon coaxed more speed from its tortured body. The staff seemed feather-light in its jaws, if cumbersome, as the Pokemon ate up the distance between itself and the one the wind-voice wanted. Just the thought of those men returning was enough to send it flying as if it had sprouted the wings of a Pidgeot. Somewhere ahead she waited, and she alone could save it. . . .

* * *

Charizard let loose a roar of uncontrollable rage as the strange wavering air that flowed from the dragon and the unicorn struck its trainer. A shriek tore through her throat as her knees buckled, and it lunged and grabbed her before she could hit the strange blackness that passed for the ground in this place. It was lucky for the Pokemon that its trainer was no taller than it was, and that she was slender and light for a human her age.

"CHARIZARD!" the Pokemon howled like it never had before. The very air reverberated with its bellow, and the Eight actually flinched simultaneously. Rage blazed in its inhuman eyes as they lit upon the two large creatures before it. Its flaming tail swept back and forth in such a fury of movement that the winged lion and the giant wolf had to take a step back to move out of range, though they somehow did this without twitching a muscle. No one harmed the fire Pokemon’s trainer, not even fantasy itself.

Charizard’s silver cousin regarded it with deep sympathy in its fire-like eyes. The Pokemon wasn’t stupid; it knew it couldn’t stand up to the power of these beings, but that didn’t stop it from telling them in no uncertain terms exactly what would happen if they did something like this to Gobrianna again. "Char! Char izard, charizard! Zard char!"

The dragon and the unicorn responded mildly, soothingly. "Peace. There is no need to threaten us. If you look inside yourself, you will find we no more wish her harm than you do, Chosen."

This astounded the Pokemon into silence. For a long moment it could not reply. Finally it rumbled uncertainly, "Char?"

"Indeed," they returned. "Do you think it was fate alone that led your trainer to a Pokemon that bares our mark?" Amusement tinged their voice as Charizard crossed its eyes in an attempt to see the silver spot on its own snout. "We brought you to her, Chosen of the Pokemon. You, along with five others, will be the few she can rely upon to support her in the fulfillment her destiny."

The massive lizard opened its jaws to demand something else, but its trainer began to writhe in its grasp, forestalling its voice. Charizard looked down at her anxiously, an expression that was not often seen on its face. Hers was scrunched up in anguish, as if in pain. Her limbs twitched sporadically and a whimper escaped her clenched lips. Her Pokemon could do nothing but nudge her shoulder gently, trying to offer some small comfort.

And as if roused by its tender ministration, Gobrianna’s struggles eased and her eyes slowly open. No longer bright turquoise, the orbs had turned a muddy blue-gray with pain and heartache. Tears overflowed and coursed down her cheeks unnoticed. Her lips cracked open. "Poor thing," she whispered harshly, seeing only the images in her mind. "That poor, poor thing. I-I couldn’t help. . . ." She trailed off and blinked, coming around. "Ch-Charizard?" she inquired.

"Char," it assured its trainer, nuzzling her again. "Char charizard?"

The girl waved away its concern with a feeble hand. "I’m okay," she insisted. "I know now. I found out. Let me up. I know." She pushed herself out of her Pokemon’s arms, wavered, almost fell, locked her knees. She turned to the Eight and bowed her head respectively. "I understand now. I know what the Darkness will do to get what it wants." Her words sounded oddly stiff and formal; not like Gobrianna at all, not even in the presence of the Eight. Charizard cocked its head, gazing at her in concern.

The dragon and the unicorn inclined their heads in return, acknowledging what she had gone through. "We are pained by what you experienced, Chosen. But now, even with the assistance of the staff, our strength fails us. We allow you to ask of us what you will, before we must return you to your world."

Gobrianna nodded. Again the Eight had spoken the words she had heard over a year ago, when she had almost been claimed by the Darkness. "When I saw through the Vaporeon’s eyes, I saw the staff. But it wasn’t the same one that was presented to me, it was just a wooden stick." She looked to the two creatures in front of her for an explanation.

"The staff is a conduit that strengthens our link with you. Keep it with you at all times, and it will alert us of danger to yourself and allow us to protect you to an extent, as we did when we took the three helpers of the Darkness away. But we are aware that an artifact such as this would be prey to thieves and collectors of rarities. And so the staff is enchanted. Only you, Chosen, see it as it truly is. All others, humans and Pokemon alike, see a simple wooden walking stick. The Darkness knows it for what it is; they can sense the power of it as we can. But we hope this will protect both you and the staff from the beings of your world."

Gobrianna turned in surprise to her Pokemon. "You mean you didn’t see those big jewels on the top of the staff? There was a huge amethyst and six opals!" Charizard shook its horned head in puzzlement, and the girl suddenly giggled. With that sound she suddenly went from a being that had observed pure evil to a normal human girl again. Her Pokemon was relieved that the strangeness that had come over her upon awakening was not permanent. "So that’s why you didn’t understand why I was acting like an idiot after those men disappeared. You were trying to tell me something, and all I could think was that we were rich!" Her giggles eased some of the tension from her body, making her feel much better. Charizard gave her a Pokemon grin.

The Eight brought them back to the issue at hand. "Yes, the jewels. They are symbols for you, Chosen. You are represented by the amethyst, and the opals are six Pokemon." The unicorn and the dragon stared into her with their penetrating eyes.

"Pokemon?"

"Yes. Pokemon trainers choose six Pokemon to be their team, to concentrate their training on. In your world there are six chosen Pokemon. They are fated to be yours. You will need to find these six to complete your destiny. Without them, you will fail."

Gobrianna swallowed nervously. She was finding that the Eight were very direct, and it took some getting use to. "H-How will I know them when I see them?" she asked. "What made them chosen?"

"You will know. Already you know some of them. Charizard is your first, of course. The Vaporeon who brought you the staff is another. The rest you will have to discover for yourself. They were chosen as you were. Not to be our savior, but to assist her in her destiny. If you do not trust them and rely upon them, you can not succeed."

The eleven-year-old Pokemon trainer squinted at the two creatures in front of her, then spun around in a quick circle. No, she wasn’t imagining it. The Eight were fading away, their voice dimming. She could see the blackness of their realm through their silver bodies. "Wait! Don’t go! There’s so much I still don’t understand! How can I save you? How do I bring fantasy back to my world?" She held out a hand in desperation, but did not touch their wispy bodies.

The dragon and the unicorn seemed to be concentrating with difficulty. They refocused briefly and she could see them struggling to speak. "There is a League," the multi-voice whispered faintly. "Not the Pokemon League most trainers know about, but one akin it. It bares the initials OPL. Find it, make yourself a part of it. That is the next step in your journey." Then the two creatures became as intangible as the other Eight. In moments Charizard and Gobrianna were alone in the darkness, as they had been when they had first come to this strange place.

The voice returned one last time, so slight she strained her ears to make it out. "We will return you with a gift. Because no creature sees the staff as the artifact that it is, this will be the sign that marks you as our Chosen one. Never let it leave your body." And then the voice was still, and Gobrianna knew they were truly alone. The Eight were gone.

She turned to her Pokemon, stunned by all she had learned about herself and her life in this one monstrous meeting. Words would never adequately express what she was feeling, and as she looked into Charizard’s eyes she knew it felt the same way. So the silence that hung heavily in the still black air after the voice of the Eight had left them continued unbroken, and trainer and trainee waited to be returned to the normal world they knew.

* * *

Someone was shaking Gobrianna’s shoulder. She wished whoever it was would cut it out; she still had a lot of sleep to catch up on. Another day or two would just about do it. Then her stomach joined the debate, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast yesterday. The shaker and her stomach were more persistent than her need for sleep. Two against one. Sleep lost. With a groan Gobrianna rolled over and forced up her eyelids, which must have weighed at least a ton each.

At first the shaker was nothing but a orange blur. Eventually, her eyes focused and she saw that it was Charizard, standing over her and shaking her awake. When it saw she was awake it sat back on its tail and rumbled a greeting.

"Charizard?" she muttered. "What—whoa!" Memory came crashing over her in a wave. She froze, swamped with the information she had learned. "I didn’t forget this time," she murmured. "I remember everything. The Eight. . . ." Gobrianna looked up into her Pokemon’s face. "Do you remember, Charizard?"

The winged lizard nodded. "Char," it affirmed. It motioned toward a small table beside the cot where she slept. A bowl of soup rested there, and Gobrianna’s stomach rumbled as loudly as Charizard when her eyes lit upon it. It would be cold, but that wouldn’t stop the Pokemon trainer from draining it instantly. She felt like she hadn’t eaten in years.

But as she sat up her movements caused her something heavy and cold to sway on her chest. She glanced down with a start. A silver necklace dangled around her neck, sparkling in the morning sunlight that streamed in from an open window.

"The gift," she realized. Gobrianna unfastened the light silver chain to examine the pendant more closely. "Hey, look at this Charizard." The Pokemon bent its head down to see.

At the end of the chain was a silver emblem in the shape of a starburst. Eight tiny stones winked up at the duo, each smaller than the fingernail on Gobrianna’s littlest finger. Squinting to look at the tiny stones, Gobrianna recognized them one by one. And with that recognition came memories:

A tiny Fire Stone. The flickering red, orange and yellow eyes of the silver dragon.

A fleck of a Water Stone. The unicorn, with fur like sea foam and eyes blue as the sea.

A piece of a Leaf Stone. The light gray gryphon with eyes of spring green.

A small Thunder Stone. The crackling gold-green eyes of the giant wolf.

A fragment of a Moon Stone. The winged horse, silvery white as moonlight with eyes that glowed dark blue.

And three tiny gems: a ruby, an emerald and a sapphire. The phoenix, the winged lion and the wyvern. Just looking at the silver necklace brought the memory of the strange dark place and the magical beings back to Gobrianna’s mind.

Charizard finished its examination and shuffled back a step warily. All Pokemon had a healthy respect for evolution stones, even if they couldn’t affect their particular species. Gobrianna figured she might too if there were rocks that could turn her into a totally different person. She reverently fastened the silver chain around her neck and tucked it into her shirt once again. The metal was cool against her skin.

Then she drained the bowl of soup.

As she set the bowl back on the table the door of the room eased open softly and a pink-haired head poked in. Nurse Joy smiled. "Oh, you’re awake!" she exclaimed. "I thought you might want to know about the Vaporeon you brought in."

Gobrianna was instantly on her feet. "How is it?" she asked automatically. Then she blinked, realizing she already knew the answer. This had already happened. The day was starting all over again, only a little differently. Somehow. . . .

Nurse Joy was answering Gobrianna’s question. "Much better than last night. It has regained consciousness, and I believe it wants to see you." She opened the door for the only two occupants of the room.

Gobrianna began to stride toward the door. "Oh!" she gasped as she remembered something. Before leaving the room, she wrapped her hand around the smooth golden wood of the staff that leaned against the wall. She wasn’t taking any chances this time.

Nurse Joy waited for her, then led the girl and her Pokemon through the main room of the Pokemon Center and into the "Personnel Only" hallway. Déjà vu assaulted Gobrianna as the nurse continued to explain the more serious of the Vaporeon’s injuries—just as before. Gobrianna automatically gave the responses she gave last time. She told Nurse Joy her name, insisted she saw no one around the Vaporeon when she found it, muttered over how terrible it was that humans would do such a thing. Finally the pink-haired woman announced that they had arrived. Gobrianna knew what she would find beyond the unmarked door. She saw the bandaged Vaporeon and the sleeping Pidgey before the door was opened.

Once again, Gobrianna knelt beside the injured Pokemon’s bed. "Hi, little one," she whispered. "How are you feeling today?"

The Vaporeon’s black eyes lit upon the staff in her hand, then the silver necklace. It had bounced to the outside of her shirt as she walked. "Pore. . . ." it murmured sleepily, rising its eyes to meet hers and sharing a secret smile. There was no twitching of its spiny ears. It didn’t leap to its feet with an urgent warning. Continuing to smile in content, the water Pokemon sighed and slipped into a deep healing slumber.

Gobrianna turned to Nurse Joy. "Thank you," she told the woman. "I was so afraid it was in really serious trouble."

Again the nurse held the door open, and they retreated from the room to let the Pokemon sleep. In the hallway an intercom buzzed to life. "Nurse Joy, you’re needed in the ER immediately. Nurse Joy to the ER. Thank you." The male voice went dead.

"Oops, that’s me," the woman said. She politely excused herself, asking Gobrianna to return to the main room of the Pokemon Center with her Charizard. "I’ll send a Chansey with the rest of your Pokemon as soon as I find one free," the nurse called over her shoulder as she disappeared further down the hall.

"My Pokemon?" Gobrianna’s hand automatically reached for her belt. Then she remembered she had given them to Nurse Joy. Was that just last night? It felt like a lifetime ago. In some ways, she mused, it was.

"Come on, Charizard," she beckoned her Pokemon with one hand. The winged lizard—who had been about to poke its head into one of the many doors on either side of the hall—obediently turned to follow its trainer. "We’re not suppose to be back here without someone," she reminded it. The Pokemon snorted.

The main room of the Center wasn’t that busy yet, so early in the morning. Another of the many Chansey that helped out around the Pokemon hospitals was stationed at the front desk. A short boy with longish brown hair was there, talking with the Chansey. His back was to Gobrianna as she emerged from the hallway with Charizard, but she could hear his high boyish voice, urgent and tense. ". . . .and I’m sure it’s my Vaporeon. I lose it yesterday morning; it ran off after a battle. The announcement said it was injured. Is it serious? Will it be okay?"

Before the round pink Pokemon could respond Gobrianna stepped up to the desk. "Excuse me, are you Daniel?" she interrupted.

The boy turned at the sound of her voice. Yup, there were the red-rimmed glasses and wide, blue-green eyes. It was the owner of the Vaporeon. "Yes, I lost a Vaporeon. The announcement said a Vaporeon without a trainer was brought in here. And this is the closest Pokemon Center from the area I lost it in. Is it okay?" He shot out his sentences rapidly, anxiety making his voice even higher than it usually was.

Gobrianna put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don’t worry, your Pokemon’s going to be all right. It’s sleeping right now. I’m the one who brought it in. My name’s Gobrianna." She held out her hand.

The boy returned the handshake. "And I’m—hey, how did you know my name?" His large eyes blinked owlishly behind his glasses.

She smiled. "Your Pokemon told mine," she fibbed smoothly. "This is Charizard." Daniel shrunk back slightly as the fire Pokemon appeared at her shoulder. It was the usual response the giant lizard got from first meetings. Now Gobrianna paused. This had to be handled carefully. She didn’t know this boy very well, hardly at all really. She didn’t know how he would react to what she was going to say.

"Um, hey Daniel. Why don’t you come with me for a little bit? We can talk while your Vaporeon rests." He shrugged and nodded. Turning to Charizard, Gobrianna held up the one red and white sphere she had left on her belt. "Into your Pokeball now, Charizard," she insisted firmly. "You need a recharge." The fire lizard grumbled, but let the ball suck it in. She handed it to the Chansey at the desk with a grin.

Then Daniel followed her to the room where she had spent the night. Her backpack was still there, and she fished around inside until she found a hairbrush. Her long, free copper-colored hair was as tangled as if it had been caught in a windstorm. Setting her staff against the wall, Gobrianna began brushing as she spoke. Daniel took a seat on another cot.

"So, you said you heard about the Vaporeon from some sort of announcement?"

He nodded. "Yeah. After my Vaporeon ran off I looked for hours, but I couldn’t find it. When night fell I finally gave up and went to sleep. In the morning I headed for the closest city, hoping someone had found it. Then a policewoman I asked told me the Pokemon Center had announced that a Pokemon was brought in injured, and she drove me here on her motorcycle. You were the one who found it?"

The eleven-year-old nodded, still running the brush through her long hair. "I found it on the road. Nurse Joy said . . . she said a human had to have caused its injuries."

Daniel leaped to his feet. "What!? Who? Are you sure it’ll be all right? Did you see anyone? Were they caught?"

Her shoulders slumped. "No," she sighed miserably, remembering and suppressing a shudder. "I didn’t see anyone at all. Whoever they were, they’re still loose." And will probably stay that way, she added silently to herself. Then she sat up again and forced a smile. "But Vaporeon is going to be all right. I’ve seen it for myself. It just needs to rest . . . how did you get it anyway? Did you catch it as an Eevee?" This she threw in nonchalantly, hoping she sounded casually curious. Somehow, Gobrianna had to get this boy to part with his water Pokemon. The Eight told her Vaporeon was a part of her team.

Daniel was shaking his head negatively. "A friend of mine traded it to me for a Butterfree. His rival’s strongest Pokemon were all ground types, and he wanted an advantage. I’ve only had it for a month. It’s not really that strong. I’ve been trying to boost its experience."

Gobrianna thought quickly. This boy hadn’t had the water Pokemon that long, hadn’t even caught and raised it. Maybe he wasn’t too emotionally attached to it. "Well," she started, testing. "I’ve been looking for a good water Pokemon to round off my team." (It was true, she really had before all this strangeness with the Eight and the Darkness was revealed to her. Her Poliwag was pretty good, but didn’t like to battle at all.) "Do you want to trade again? I’ve been on my Pokemon journey for over a year now. I’ve caught all sorts of Pokemon. I bet I’ve got one you’ll like."

Daniel’s usually wide eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he considered her proposition thoughtfully. Gobrianna sat motionless. If this Pokemon really was fated to be with her, would its trainer just hand it over? Finally the boy looked up. "What have you got?" he asked with a smile.

She laughed with relief and withdrew her Pokedex from her pocket. He brought out his and motioned for her to take a seat. The two Pokemon trainers sat down on the edge of one of the cots together, discussing their various trainees and how they had come into their possession. "How about a Spearow?" Gobrianna offered.

"You caught a Spearow?" returned the boy in amazement. His gaze shifted to the door leading into the main room of the Pokemon Center, and Gobrianna knew he was remembering her Charizard. "What, do you go for the toughest ones on purpose?"

She laughed again, thinking that the boy was okay. Answering him with a shake of her head, she explained, "I accidentally stumbled over one when I was plowing through a field with really tall grass. I was looking for a Pidgey, or maybe a Rattata. Believe me, I had no intention of taking on one of those! But it attacked, and I had to defend myself. Lucky for me I had my Graveler with me. Flying being weak against rock, it eventually went down. But not until my Graveler had almost fainted. That Pokemon is powerful! I bet it’s going to evolve into a Fearow with a few more battles. You could have a real strong Pokemon."

Daniel thought about it. "That does sound good," he agreed. "Have you ever traded before?" She shook her head. She usually didn’t like the idea of trading. Just dumping off your Pokemon to someone it had never met before, forcing it to leave its trainer without having its own say. That just felt wrong. But Gobrianna had only brought out her Spearow for a battle or two; she didn’t know it very well herself. And from what she had observed, the red-winged bird wasn’t exactly thrilled with her. Hopefully it would be more impressed with Daniel.

The boy briefly explained to her how the trading would happen. With a few punches of the buttons on his Pokedex, then showing her what to press on hers, it was over. Gobrianna had an empty Pokeball for her new water Pokemon, and Daniel had a Spearow.

At that moment there was a light rapping on the door. A Chansey pushed though with a small heap of Pokeballs in its cone-like arms. "Chansey, chansey, chansey," it announced as it entered. Seeing Gobrianna, the nurse’s aide waddled over and handed her the dormant Pokemon.

The young girl thanked it, replacing the balls on her belt and doing a quick count. They were all there, including Charizard. Not that she had suspected the Pokemon Center of stealing her Pokemon; it was just good habit to check.

As the deliverer shuffled out of the room Gobrianna turned to Daniel. "Well, Vaporeon is going to be healing for the rest of the day at least, and I’m still hungry. And I should call my mom sometime soon. Why don’t you give your Pokemon to the Center and come get some breakfast with me?"

"Sure!" agreed the brown-haired boy quickly. Together they took their sparse belongings—Gobrianna shouldering her backpack and grasping her staff—and left the room.

* * *

Gobrianna sighed softly and peered out the glass doors of the Pokemon Center. The bottom of the slowly sinking sun was just touching the crest of a small hill that overlooked the town. I remember standing on that hill, the Pokemon trainer thought. It was with Charizard, taking Vaporeon to the Center. A lifetime ago.

She brushed her fingers against the spheres full of life that hung on her belt. Charizard. Vaporeon. Raichu. Ponyta. Ivysaur. Weepinbell. Her present Pokemon. All healed and ready for the road. Two she knew for sure were part of the team that would help her fulfill her destiny. The other four were out there somewhere. But where? It was a big world.

Well, that was what she had to do now. Catch those Pokemon, and find that unheard of League. The Eight must have been talking about a Pokemon League, but what one? What could the initials OPL stand for?

Questions that I’ll only find answers to if I go out and look for them, Gobrianna told herself sternly. She settled her blue backpack more comfortably on her shoulders and brushed a strand of copper hair out of her eyes. The setting sun caught the auburn and blonde highlights, causing it to sparkle as it moved. She took a firmer grip on the smooth golden wood of the staff in her left hand, touched the cool silver metal of the necklace hanging around her neck. Feeling determination flood her five foot, seven inch frame, the eleven-year-old reached for the handle of the door. There was still an hour or two of daylight. She was restless to be on the road again.

"Wait!" A high male voice froze her hand. Gobrianna winced before she turned around, her hopes of sneaking off before he had noticed crumbling to dust.

Daniel stood behind her, a puzzled look on his face. "You’re leaving now?" he questioned in disbelief. "It’s almost dark out!"

Gobrianna casually shrugged. "There’s still a couple hours of daylight left. I’ve . . . got a feeling. It’s time for me to go." She shifted from one foot to another. This was just the awkwardness she had wanted to avoid.

"Oh." Daniel fell silent for a moment. The two kids stood facing each other, neither wanting to be the one to break the uncomfortable wordlessness moment. "So, uh," the boy finally stuttered, "you . . . want some company? I’m traveling with a friend of mine, but we’re not going anywhere in particular. I’m sure he won’t mind going wherever you’re going. We could practice battling and train together. Mike’s a real good cook. It would be . . . fun." Daniel stumbled to a stop. "I-if you want to, that is."

Gobrianna forced herself not to cringe, to smile sincerely. This was exactly what she had been afraid would happen. That’s what you get for spending all day with a boy, she snorted to herself. To Daniel, she gently shook her head and explained. "It’s not you, Daniel. It’s me. I’m . . . I’m a loner. I’ve been on my Pokemon journey for over a year, and haven’t found any journey companions at all." The boy’s large eyes widened even more than usual. Most Pokemon trainers found someone to travel with almost immediately after they started their Pokemon journey. A lone Pokemon trainer traveling was pretty odd.

"I just don’t like traveling with people," she continued. "Sorry, Daniel. It’s just who I am." And as she said it, Gobrianna realized it was really true. Her life would have been totally different if she hadn’t been the Chosen of the Eight. She would have had Bulbasaur as her starter Pokemon, for one thing. (That was something she wouldn’t dream of changing now. Charizard was her closest friend. It understood her like no one else did, Pokemon or human.) Or maybe she wouldn’t have decided to be a Pokemon trainer at all! Yes, the Eight might have been responsible for implanting emotions in her that had dramatically changed her life. But now those feelings were a part of her. They made her who she was. If the Eight hadn’t . . . trained her as they did, she just wouldn’t be Gobrianna.

Daniel opened his mouth to speak. To object, cajole or demand a further explanation she never knew. Gobrianna cocked her head and raised an eyebrow and the boy’s jaw snapped shut with a click. "Well, if that’s the way you feel about it," he muttered in disappointment. "Just take care of yourself, all alone out there."

The young girl smirked. "I don’t think I have to worry about it. I’ve got Charizard with me."

He grinned ruefully. "You’re right. Well . . . maybe I’ll see you around, Gobrianna." He strode forward and held out his hand.

She took it gladly, relieved that he understood. This kid is definitely okay, she thought as she returned his handshake. "I’m sure we’ll meet again somewhere," she replied. "Especially if you run across the OPL someday." With one last wave Gobrianna pivoted on her walking stick and pushed through the front doors. The last glance Daniel got of the girl was her long copper hair, red and gold glinting in the last rays of the sun as it bounced on her shoulders. She strode down the road that would take her out of town.

It was then that Daniel recalled what she had said. "What’s the OPL?" he asked. But Gobrianna was long gone.