PokeMetropolis: Return of the PokeMechas!

[Pokemaster]

Hunter had just gotten home and sat down to his computer to log onto PokeMetropolis. He'd played the game for years and was a regular addict. Typing the familiar keys, he anxiously anticipated what would happen in the game today.

He quickly turned around and pulled a soda from a small refrigerator in his room. As he did so, he heard a voice. "Help... Us..." Unable to identify the source, he ignored it and turned back to his computer. He stared in shock as it flashed, words typing across the screen. The voice returned, speaking as the words were keyed out.

"Help... Poke... Metropolis..."

The message was clear, but how was he supposed to help? He looked at his computer closer. The center of it seemed to have opened up and, before he could say a word, his body dissolved into tiny particles of data and sucked itself into the screen.

He regained consciousness in a barren wasteland. The ground was rock hard, cracked from no rain. "Where am I?" After looking at his body, he added,"What am I?" He'd taken on nearly the exact appearance of a Typhlosion, his PokeMetropolis ID. A metallic roar resounded from not far away. A giant Blastoise Mecha was stomping around. "I need to go!" He quickly got up and dashed off, hoping the machine hadn't seen him.

[3speon]

Kimma lay in bed on her back, wondering what to do. She got up upon hearing the rumble in her stomach and made herself a turkey sandwich. She returned to her room and took a bite of the sandwich. A voice crying "Help!" and a light blinking on her computer alerted her. A quick look at the computer told her the green power light was absent. Confused and slightly scared, she approached it cautiously - didn't Samora come out of the TV even if it was off?

"Help" was the only word on her computer screen, and the blinking light came from the white text line flashing at the end of it.

"Us" appeared next to "Help", and then "PokeMetropolis" was spelled out beside "Us" before her eyes. A hole formed in the middle of the computer, and for a moment Kimma was afraid a girl in a green-tinged white dress would come from it. But she had no more time to think of that, because the hole was pulling her through.

Kimma awoke in a desert-like wasteland. No sun shone over it, the earth was parched, hard, and cracked, and darkness hung in the sky. She sat up and brushed herself off with pale purple-sleeved hands.

That was odd. She had always had brown skin and had been wearing a white sleeveless sundress. She looked down and saw her dress had gained sleeves and a lavender color. Her hair blew into her eyes and she was surprised to see it was light purple as well. Then a twitch on her rear let her know that she had a forked tail: That of an Espeon. She had somehow transformed into her PokeMetropolis ID. She looked around, frightened now, and saw a boy who looked like a Typhlosion not far off running away from an enormous Blastoise Mecha. The Mecha was headed toward her and she panicked, somehow sending a Shadow Ball at the robot, who twisted and went the opposite direction.

This was seriously weird.

[Kaboom]

Maure woke up abruptly. He didn't know why at first, but then he noticed his computer was still switched on. Had he forgotten to shut it down? He got up to turn the PC off, when he noticed what was on the screen. The monitor was displaying the login screen for PokeMetropolis. He was certain he'd closed the program. But there was more. A message was appearing in vivid red letters. It came letter by letter, scolling before his eyes: "HELP US!"

Who? Where? How? Too many questions he couldn't answer! Something else happened. A black dot appeared in the center of the screen. It grew a little bigger, and Maure felt his body disintegrating, transforming into tiny particles and entering the screen.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of a road. He felt different, too. His senses seemed enhanced, as though he could see and feel things that were far away. He shook his head, and felt wind in his ears. He touched them and found that they were pointed and furry, then he noticed his hands: paws with a spike on the back. He looked over himself completely, and saw that he had become mostly like a Lucario, his in-game character.

He didn't know what to do. He sensed others behind him and turned. There was an Espeon and a Typhlosion... no, people looking like them. Suddenly the Espeon fired a Shadow Ball at something out of sight. Maure walked hesitantly to them, but didn't know what to say.

[Shiny Espeon]

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight!" Dresdon recited with glee, singing out the lyrics loudly albeit off-key. The thirteen year old was lying peacefully on her black-n-blue mattress, one leg propped up in obvious relaxation. A Dell laptop sat comfortably on her lap while her expensive and complex radio system was scooted off to the side of the room. The Tokens played loudly, singing with Dresdon in the "Lion Sleeps Tonight". It was "free" time for little Dresden.

"In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight!" the rambunctious teen yelled out as she logged onto a little site called PokeMetropolis. She loved this site, the interactive Pokemon place where she became a Luxray. She thought it was fun, although she only logged on once a week or so.

Dresdon closed her creamy eyes as she came to her favorite part of the song, "Hush my darling! Don't fear my darling! The lion sleeps tonight!" The melodic spell the unknowing teenager was under might have been the reason she did not notice the flashing signals on her computer, texting out "HELP US!" in vivid and huge letters. Or it might have been because the earsplitting stereo was far too loud for Dresden to hear somebody yell at her from her laptop. The word, "HELP!" was lost as the song got even louder.

The girl was still murmering out the rest of the song when her Dell suddenly seemed to malfunction. A small dot appeared in the exact center of the screen, increasing in diameter until Dresdon finally noticed it. Panic gripped her in its icy arms and she suddenly forgot the next song that automatically began playing on her radio system. "No! I still have seven days!" she screamed in a shrill screech, not having enough time to hyperventilate as the black hole sucked her in its mysterious depths.

"Ouch...wtf?" Dresdon whispered to the cracked ground, a rude awakening. She opened her amber eyes, various shapes and colors blurring their way to her vision. She thought she was dreaming when she took in the dejected landscape she was now in, the ranging mountains with the depressing black skies. Where was she? Was this death?

Dresden scrambled to her new feet, and was about to cry (she hated the lonliness and confusion that overwhelmed her in this new wasteland) when she noticed she was no longer what she thought she was. She now had "high energry" blue tights along with an adorable black skirt to boot. The rubbery, sleek blue was also tight on her arm as well her lower chest, giving her a tickling feeling. The black top flowed onto her nicely, matching with her new hair that was adored with a new blue headband. The boots she wore felt unbelivably comfy on her.

"Oh my gosh! I'm cute and a Luxray!" Dresden exclaimed in an excited purr, posing to herself in this new outfit. This simple change of clothes had fished her out of the black waters of sorrow completely, but she was still confused.

"But where am I?" she muttered to herself, putting her hands to her chin as she looked around in befuddlement. Suddenly an Espeon morph, a Lucario morph, a Typhlosion morph and a Blastoise machine-thingy appeared behind her and she sharply turned around. No, they had been there the entire time, but Dresden just hadn't noticed them in her moment of self pity. But that didn't matter now.

"Whoa!" She shouted automatically when the Espeon girl sent what seemed like a real, live, shadow ball hurling towards the Blastoise-machine. The teenager should have been wary at the fact a live being just used a fictional attack at a live, fictional monster, but she wasn't. She was actually excited, a feeling of adventure surging through her like raw electricity.

"Need some help?" Dresden asked the Espeon morph, quickly jumping in front of her. As if she had been a Luxray all her short life, Dresden braced herself and suddenly let out a fearl, vicious roar towards the machine. She grinned at her own power, shaking in exhiliration now. She didn't know how or why, but she was suddenly a very powerful Luxray surrounded by other morphed Pokemon and an odd Blastoise mecha.

[Pokemaster]

Hunter had gotten an appropriate distance away and calmed himself before turning to face the giant Mecha. When he instead saw three more PokeMorphed trainers, he gasped. "So there are others..."

Ignoring his own fear, he dashed back to them, ready to help. "What's going on?! How did all of you get here?"

[Shiny Espeon]

"Actually, I don't know. But I woke up all of a sudden on the hard ground over there and I was a Luxray," Dresden replied to the Typhlosion morph. He had come running up to the group a few seconds ago, but the teenager kept her cool. She wanted to know about these other morphs and if they were like her, too. Besides, she felt safe being a Luxray.

[Kaboom]

"Same here," said Maure. "I just... was sucked into the computer and became this Lucario thing. It's strange... but I get the bizarre feeling that that Blastoise Mecha was not alone..."

[Pokemaster]

Hunter stared at his, his blood turned to ice.

"D... Did you say sucked into your computer?"

[Kaboom]

"Yeah. I don't get it."
Maure flinched a little.
"I can definitely feel... something. It's like... something dangerous. We shouldn't really hang around, I think."

[Shiny Espeon]

"Yeah, totally! It's like there's this atmosphere of danger in the air or something," Dreden jumped in, giving herself the shivers. She began to look all around her, at the perilous, jagged mountain tops and the omnious black sky. She wasn't sure if the stale, cold air she breathed in was safe anymore. Or was she just scaring herself again?

"What are we going to do? There must be somewhere to go, to get answers..." she said with a little hope in her voice. Maybe these others knew something she didn't know, although they were all in the same prediciment.

[Pokemaster]

"Hmm... You're right... There has to be some place... At least a place of safety."

He looked around, seeing a small cave not far from them. "Hey, let's try that place."

[Shiny Espeon]

Dresden looked at the cave with no appreciation or affection in her gold eyes. Arceus knew that this may have been a different dimension from Earth, so what could possibly be lurking in that cave? Zombies and vampires were a thing of nightmares and were fake, but Pokemon were supposed to be fake too. Fear began to crawl up Dresden's legs, gripping her in place.

"Urk. Ok," she said, finally starting to take baby steps towards the cave. "By the way, what is your name? I am Dresden," she said with a smile. If she had to cry for help in that cave, Arceus knew she would cry and cry this person's name until he had to help her if things went wrong. And already, things seemed very wrong.

[Pokemaster]

"Erm... Can we save the introductions until later?"

Without warning her, Hunter picked up Dresden and dashed to the cave, hoping the Lucario and Espeon morphs would soon follow. He quickly reached the cave and set her down.

"Sorry for the abruptness. Just wanted to be out of the way of that Mecha..." His cheeks had a red tinge to them.

[Shiny Espeon]

Dresden was not used to being carried around like a little girl. When she was human, she was a long and lean thing of a teenager, five feet and eight inches with body weight in porportion. So when the Typhlosion morph suddenly lifted her up and ran at what seemed light speeds, it was naturally she was blushing when they reached the cave.

"Errr, ok, I understand..." She stuttered stupidly, avoiding his eyes due to her own embarrassment. She hopped off his arms and slowly walked inside the cave.

[Pokemaster]

He chuckled lightly. "I'll be back. I'm gonna get the others."

Dashing out, he went and retrieved the two stragglers.

"Good, now we're all together."

[Kaboom]

"Oh, whoopee," said Maure. "Forgive my lack of enthusiasm, but I feel worse in this cave than out there."

[Pokemaster]

"Well, it'll have to do for now. It's the best source of protection we have against whatever that Mecha is..."

[Kaboom]

Just as he said that, Maure shuddered and ran away from the entrance, deeper into the cave. A Charizard Mecha landed outside with a thump and roared loudly.

[Shiny Espeon]

"Oh!" Dresden shrieked in shock when she saw the Charizard Mecha. She had seen the Blastoise machine before, but she hadn't had the chance to see a mecha up close.

"Whoa...what is that thing?" she asked as she gazed upon the Charizard.

[Kaboom]

"Whetever it is, it's not friendly! We've got to attack it!"

[3speon]

Kimma nodded, and tried to recreate the feeling she had when she had released the Shadow Ball on the Blastoise Mecha. What had it been? Panic, fear... She tried to remember the last scary movie she had seen - wait, she didn't watch scary movies. She cursed under her breath and wrung her hands, starting to worry. What was she supposed to do if she wasn't getting scared?

The Mecha roared and stomped, interrupting her thoughts. Kimma jumped and sent a Shadow Ball flying at it. Perfect. As long as the Mechas kept startling her, she'd be fine until she learned to control herself.

[Shiny Espeon]

Dresden agreed to the fact that they would have to fight off this Charizard mecha. He seemed to be a threat, and standing there all by himself in the mouth of the cave, that thing was scary! What if he could hurt her or her new friends? The teenager gathered the strength she didn't normally have as she ran towards the mecha.

"Strike or be stricken!" She yelled as she flung her Luxray body into the monster with the intent of kill. She didn't realize what she was doing until her black skirt was billowing in the air, her tall body suddenly what seemed like miles in the atmosphere. In her tense flying croutch, she found she was not scared of her sudden proximity with the killer machine, but rather, excited. Had she been human, there was no way she would ever attempt to fight something like this-Heck would freeze over if Dresden ever had this courage as a human.

Time seemed to slow for the attacking morph as Dresden felt her mouth widen upwards, and when she looked down she saw several huge emerging fangs, razor sharp and vicious, as if they had been hiding in her mouth this entire time just for the chance to injure this mecha. Her wild eyes seemed to grow as her body posture finally released, and then....

CRUNCH. Ivory clean fangs pierced into metal, tenaciously cutting through steel like a scythe. The screech of the splitting steel did not bother the persistent Luxray as she bit through the Charizard's shoulder, the feel of metal against her new teeth surprisingly odd, like biting into aluminum. In fact, that's exactly what it felt like to Dresden. She felt no pain as her hard fangs cut through this machine with no mercy.

The mecha was made of steel, but Dresden's fangs were made of diamond. Harder, prettier, treacherous.

A beaten and torn arm and shoulder fell to the ground, and the mecha roared with surprise. Dresden skidded to the ground with perfect balance before finally realizing what she had done.

"Wow..." she simply mouthed as she felt her fangs retreat back into her...surprisingly huge mouth. "I just tore him apart..." she murmered with awe as she stood among the other morphs. Were they capable of the same damage?

[3speon]

Kimma was similarly stunned by the morphs' new abilities. Would they be as strong as the Pokemon they represented? Or maybe they could be even stronger...

The Mecha gave another roar, and Kimma flung another, more fierce Shadow Ball in surprise, directly at its metal head. The head was torn from the Mecha's steel body, landing a few feet off. Kimma blinked, amazed.

"Um... that was fun, eh?" she said rather loudly, being drowned out by the Mecha's electronic crackling as it broke down on itself.

[Pokemaster]

"Hmm... If you can do that..."

He thought for a second, concentrating on fire.

"Maybe..."

A blast of fire burst from his hands, hitting the metal and melting it to the ground.

"Wow..."

[3speon]

Kimma clapped.

"Nice job! Now... Let me try something new. We surely have more than just one attack..."

She closed her eyes and focused on the Mecha's ruined head, imagining lifting it with her mind... she opened her eyes. They felt as though they were emanating some sort of glow. She could see it faintly around the corners. She stared at the head, then tried to grip it. She managed to get a hold on it, and raised it about two feet from the ground. Concentrating in the same way, she used her mind to throw it. It was a weak throw, and the hunk of steel only traveled a few feet, but it was a start.

"Amazing."

[Pokemaster]

Hunter clapped, moving to her.

"Impressive. Though I'd suggest we wait a while to get used to our new powers... That probably took a lot out of you."

[3speon]

"You're telling me," Kimma replied, panting slightly, "I need to sit down."

She stumbled farther into the cave, plopping down onto a boulder and leaning her head back. She groaned, tired.

[Kaboom]

Maure hadn't had time to act. He was still startled by the way he had known that danger was imminent. He sat down, trying to figure it out. He remembered an important fact about Lucario: they could use their aura freely. But what was an aura? It was... kind of like an energy field around him, with which he could sense things. Maybe...

He brought his hands together, like he had seen the Lucario do in a Pokémon movie. Nothing happened, but he did feel a swirl of air between his hands. He concentrated harder, and to his surprise a light blue spot appeared between the hands. It dissappeared in his surprise, but he tried again and found it came easier. He let his mind flow into the space where the orb was growing. He knew what he was doing, and had he not seen the others attacking the Mecha, he wouldn't have believed it. He was holding an AuraSphere. He kept it there for a few seconds, then dimmed it.

"I think we're here for a reason. I mean, getting sucked into a computer doesn't just happen. Somewhere, there is a reason."

[Pokemaster]

"I did notice something... First, there was a Blastoise... Second a Charizard... So, there must be Venasaur somewhere. But, is that all?"

[Kaboom]

Maure had the curious feeling of danger again. It seemed to be leading him, so he let his mind flow out, following the sense. He could see outside the cave, his point of view was now just in the cave entrance. It turned, and he saw that higher up the hill, directly above where he was, in fact, was the Venusaur Mecha.

He quickly returned to his body.
"It's above us. The Venusar Mecha, directly above our heads."

[Pokemaster]

"H... how are we supposed to avoid it? If it's above us, it'll surely kill us the second it sees us."

Hunter sat down to think. "There must be something..."

[Kaboom]

"We can fight," said Maure. "You lot took out the Charizard easily enough, Venusaur is slower."

[3speon]

Kimma looked up.

"I guess. But I'm still tired... I hope I won't just get in the way..."

She sat up fully and yawned, craning her neck up to see the Mecha on the top of the cave they were standing in. It seemed the cave had simply been hollowed out of a hill, now that she thought about it. Still lost in thought, her mind wandered to something she had read on a website: "Fine hairs on their bodies can sense changes in air currents, allowing them to predict their opponent's next move." It had been a Pokedex entry for Pokemon number one-hundred ninety-six: Espeon. The Pokemon she now personified.

But could that help her later...?

The Mecha above them must have stomped, because small rocks showered from the ceiling. Kimma covered her head and an image formed in her mind. The Mecha was lowering itself onto the ground directly in front of the cave, and it was moving toward them. Her vision returned her to the regular world. Had that been a prediction? Was that really what the Mecha would do next?

A whirring noise alerted her. The Venusaur Mecha was getting closer to the ground, making a smooth landing with the help of its propeller. It landed and started inching closer to the mouth of the cave, moving slowly because of its massive size.

It was a prediction! This was phenomenal. But would it happen constantly?

She could no longer concentrate on that, as the Mecha was closing in. Focus had helped her use her Psychic attack. Maybe it would be the answer to Shadow Balls as well...

She ignored her exhaustion and held her hands a foot apart and imagined a dusty purple orb forming. She imagined it spreading in all directions, swelling like it was being inflated. She watched as a ball identical to the one she had conjured in her mind begin to grow between her palms. She grinned and allowed it to continue expanding. When she felt as though she couldn't hold onto it any longer, she imagined sending it flying and hitting the Mecha dead-on. The ball obeyed her command and soared high into the air, landing on top of the metal flower on the Mecha's head. She was getting better.

[Pokemaster]

Hunter jumped when the Mecha appeared. In doing so, when he landed, the earth shook violently, sending a crack in it at the large Venasaur Mecha.

"Was that... Earthquake?"

He looked down at the ground. The crack had formed where he'd landed.

[Shiny Espeon]

Dresden had been shaking this entire time, still trying to ease the dizziness from her tired head. Biting into the Charizard mecha was one thing, the cackle of the electricity radiating from you and surging into the monster. Falling yards to the ground was another thing, and Dresden was still utterly shocked she landed on the ground feet-up. How lucky she had been to know that Luxray actually had perfect balance, and that trait was now joyfully hers. But still, the vibration of the impact and the way her huge fangs sliced threw the monster and then retreated back into her mouth...it was an awesome moment of pwn, of course, but it was also a huge headache.

So up until this time she had been watching the other morphs, slowly cheering them on. The Espeon morph (she looked like a Kimma to Dresden) was amazing, launching dark balls at the enemy Pokemon and making objects float. It looked like she had great potential for power, even if she was just beginning to get the gist of her powers.

Hunter and Maure were quite the powerful characters, it seemed. Hunter had made Dresden jump with an earthquake attack, while Maure had seemed to get his aura (just like in a real, live Pokemon movie!)

Dresden fully stood up now, no longer needing the ground's support. Her head throbbed in the faintest vibrations, but she ignored them as she took in the massive beast before them. The Venusaur mecha. She wanted to attack, but what could she do? She didn't know her attacks...well, she did, but now she was wary of using them.

"Nice earthquake," she said as she thought about what to do.

[Kaboom]

Maure focussed. He knew Lucario were capable of using the Psychic attack. He let his mind flow as he had done earlier to form the AuraSphere. He projected his entire being inside the Mecha. He met resistance, but he was strong and fought through it. After a few seconds, he was inside the Venusaur's mechanical mind. He could see as it saw, feel what it felt.

Then he knew what he had to do. He had to use this presence to destroy the Mecha. He concentrated on various parts exploding, and they did, albeit weakly. He destroyed more and more elements in this way, destorying the Venusaur from the inside out. When he had done as much as he could, he was exhausted, but couldn't rest. He retreated to his own body and tried to create another AuraSphere.

He tried his utmost, but only produced a small Sphere. He threw it anyway, aiming as carefully as he could to hit on the weakest point. He scored a direct hit. The Venusaur Mecha went up in a ball of flame, and crashed down, destroyed.

Maure was feeling groggy, and he had a splitting headache. He couldn't do anything but lie down, and he fell asleep. He had overexerted himself and needed rest.

[Pokemaster]

"Wow... that... was fast..."

He sat down to rest for a minute, sitting near Dresden. "You okay? You seem kinda shaky."

[Shiny Espeon]

"Wow...that was awesome!" Dresden exclaimed, probably scaring Hunter with the way she suddenly jumped up in a leap of joy. The Venasaur mecha seemed to explode from the inside, and that was something wicked indeed. As the burning machine settled down, the Luxray-teen sat back down next to the Typlosion morph. A smile was still etched across her bright face, amber eyes glowing with exhiliration.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Crunch took a lot out of me, but that really was an awesome move," she finished with a laugh at the way she said awesome, almost like a surfer.

[Kaboom]

Maure stood up slowly.
"Psychic is powerful, but seriously draining. I need to be more careful with it."

He was a little shaky, and steadied himself on the cave wall.
"I feel much safer now. It seems I can sense danger, and right now there is none. We should rest."

[Shiny Espeon]

"I know what you mean. Crunch is like that too-it's an awesome moment, of course, but I got a huge headache afterwards," Dresden said with a smile on her petite lips. She watched as Maure sat down, having De Ja Vu as to her own attack. She then turned her head to the mouth of the cave, as if expecting something to pop out at her. The teenage Luxray cocked her head gently to the side and her mouth pouted as she pondered what else was out there.
"You sure there's no danger?" Dresden asked with a devilish smile finding its way to her mouth and darkened eyes. She was not the type to be cooped in a 'cage'; she was like that as a human, and now that she was a wild Pokemon the feeling intensified. She was ready to go out again, to explore this new world of Pokemon morphs and machines. There was so much to be learned in the time they had here as Pokemon, and she intended on using it.

[Kaboom]

"No, none. There are more Mechas, but they are far from here..."

[Shiny Espeon]

"Good," Dresden said with teenage pep. She stood up, and looked at the other morphs with a twinkle in her amber eyes. "How about we do some exploring?" she asked with leadership she had always had.

[Pokemaster]

Tired of just doing nothing, Hunter stood up. "I'll go," he said with a smile. He liked Dresden, and a blush creeped into his cheeks as he looked at her. She was very beautiful.

[Kaboom]

Maure stood up.
"I'll go too. I'm not going to wait here for something to happen. I also want to improve my skills with the aura."

[Pokemaster]

"Cool. You can be a flashlight for us." He chuckled, trying to hide his annoyance. He'd hoped that it would be just him and Dresden, but he didn't entirely mind this new friend of his come along. It would give them a chance to communicate more and learn about who they all were.

[Shiny Espeon]

Dresden chuckled at the way Hunter blushed at her, and she noticed that tiny tone of annoyance that crept into his voice when Maure decided he was coming too. She winked at the Typhlosion morph, he was quite handsome and she at least wanted him to know that.

"Alrighty! Out we go," the Luxray exclaimed as she ran out of the cave and into freedom.

[Pokemaster]

Hunter saw her wink and smiled, chasing after her with a happy skip in his step.

"Wait... I completely forgot! My name's Hunter."

[Kaboom]

"I guess we've been so occupied we forgot introductions. My name is Maure. That's all that matters where we are now."

[Pokemaster]

"Nice meeting you."

He looked back at Dresden. "Erm... You're name's Dresden, right?"

[Shiny Espeon]

"Hi Hunter and Maure," Dresden started, adding a buiness tone that you might here when you talk to surveyer on a phone, "My name is Dresden!" she finsihed, doing a few backflips on the cracked ground. She smiled and looked back at the others.

[Pokemaster]

Hunter gazed at Dresden. In sunlight she was far more beautiful. Light sparkled off her stunning black hair and she was so balanced, though that could have been due to her appearance as a Luxray. A light twinkle formed in his eyes as he watched her, entranced by her beauty.

[Shiny Espeon]

Dresden noticed Hunter staring at her and couldn't help but giggle. She slowed down her pace and walked next to her admirer. "So, tell me more about yourself," she casually said with a dazzling smile.

[Kaboom]

Maure was a little put out by the interactions between Dresden and Hunter. He pointedly looked away, gazing at the landscape.

[Pokemaster]

He blushed and suddenly jumped, only just then realizing she was by him.

"Oh.. erm... Well.. Uh... What do you want to know?"

He looked down at his feet, his face flushed red.

[Shiny Espeon]

Dresden had to laugh at the situation before her. Here were three Pokemon morphs, one a peppy Luxray teen, one a Typhlosion morph, and one a solid Lucario morph. Here they were, walking towards adventure in the middle of nowhere, all being sucked into a computer by some unknown force. This was like a comedy show or something!

"You know, the little things, like how old you are and stuff," she replied with a giggle. She noticed Maure trying to be oblivious to their little interaction, and decided to torture him too. "What about you, Maure?" she said with a laugh.

[Pokemaster]

"Well, erm... I'm 17..."

He was reluctant to say much and kept his face pointed down.

[Kaboom]

"There is little to know about me which is of any relevance in this situation, apart from my name. Everything is different now, and I don't even know if we're ever going to get back... although that said, I quite like this form. It's more... augmented."

[Pokemaster]

"Hmph. You don't have to be such a jerk."

[Kaboom]

"That is something else that's strange. I'm not normally like this. I think it must be because I've become Lucario, but my personality is changing."

[Pokemaster]

"Just because you've become an over confident fur-ball doesn't mean you personality will change," he blandly pointed out.

[Kaboom]

"Oh, be jealous, why don't you! Yes, you had the cute Lady Luxray all to yourself until she took interest in me too! Let me tell you something: you're not the kingpin around here!"

[Pokemaster]

"And you think I thought I was?!" He glared angrily at the Lucario Morph Trainer.

[Kaboom]

"You were certainly acting like it!"

[Pokemaster]

He snorted a little, fire growing on his back. So this is what it's like to feel the emotions of Pokemon...

[Shiny Espeon]

"Err, guys?" Dresden softly asked, looking at the fued before her. She did not like it when people argued, and although it was flattering to see that they were arguing over her it still slightly upset her.

[Pokemaster]

Not intending to, he snapped at her. "What is it?!"

[Shiny Espeon]

Dresden threw a nasty look in Hunter's direction, a glare so fierce it easily started fights between other girls and her. The emotional teen could be nice, of course, but she also changed her attitude and she did not like being snapped at.

The luxray teen walked forwards onto a cliff that surveyed the bleak and dismal landscape. "Wow..." she mouthed as her amber orbs probed the wasteland.

[Pokemaster]

Hunter sighed and walked to her. "Hey... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have snapped like that."

The flames on his back went down and he calmed down. "This is an amazing view..."

[Kaboom]

Maure calmed down. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he said nothing, and admired the scenery too.

[Shiny Espeon]

"It's no problem Hunter," Dresden told the teenager with a smile. Returning to her usual pep, she took a long look at the land before her and then said with a grin, "Now if only there was more color to this place..."

[Kaboom]

Maure was still rather annoyed with Hunter, but he didn't want to appear like a thug in front of Dresden. He glanced in her direction, then scanned the environment higher up the slope.

[3speon]

Kimma finally caught up, having taken a short moment to catch her breath. She looked out on the dry, lifeless land. Had anything really lived here before?

She voiced her question to the other morphs.

"Something must have been here before. Lands don't crop up all horrid like this. But do you think it's possible that there's anyone still here, though? That maybe, by some chance, not everyone died when the land did?"

[Kaboom]

"Maybe, but it doesn't look like it. The only place where there may be life is up there, higher up this slope. It feels more alive than down there."

[Shiny Espeon]

"He's right," Dresden agreed, flashing a smile towards Maure. "I think there are living beings somewhere out there, but we gotta find them."

[Pokemaster]

"Either way, we still have that Blastoise Mecha to worry about... And we don't even know if there's any more. There could be hundreds, even thousands."

He sighed deeply. Why are WE here? What reason do they have with us?

[Kaboom]

"There are hundreds. I can feel them... But they're not around here. I think we are safe."

[Pokemaster]

"Yes... But if they aren't near here, just how large is this new world? I've played this game plenty of times, but I've never traveled around the whole thing..."

He sat down, closing his eyes to think.

[Kaboom]

"I used to travel a lot. I was trying to get the record for exploration. All I know is that this world is probably as big as the Earth."