Saffron's head ached as her eyes opened. She couldn't yet see clearly but as her eyes readjusted, everything began to come back into focus.

Floyd was coughing furiously, almost as if he were choking on something.

"Flo--"

He put his hand out to show that everything was okay. Saffron felt her heart twitch and then felt pain from it. Floyd stopped coughing. "I temporarily swapped our hearts to jump start you. You were almost dead when I found you."

She gained enough energy to sit up, looking around at her surroundings. The ground was black with ashes and what were once trees were now scraggly blacked twigs. Smoke lifted into the air from the occasional still burning spot. The ashes went almost as far as the eye could see.

"You did this, didn't you?" asked Floyd. His voice suggesting that he was both proud and sad.

"Yeah. I did." Saffron didn't have the energy to cry, but she felt the remorse of having led to the destruction around her. She looked to him. "We can't stay in Laverre anymore, can we?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. For some reason, we're being targeted, and we're bringing danger to those around us." His eyes teared up. "I don't want to leave, but I think it's our only choice."

She noticed that he had scrapes on his hands and that he was wearing different clothes than he was earlier that day. "What happened to you?"

"I went skydiving," he said, with a tiny bit of a chuckle. "Anyways, we need to go before anyone finds us. We'll pack up the things we need from our houses, then we'll probably have to stock up at a nearby town before going off into the wilderness."

Struggling to take it all in, Saffron nodded understandingly. "Oh."

Floyd helped her stand up, then he patted Arcanine. "I wouldn't have found you so quickly if it weren't for this guy's constant howling. He was really looking out for you."

She hugged the Pokemon, his fur wrapping around her. "Thank you."

Floyd paused. He almost said something, but couldn't quite find the right words. "I'll meet you at the base of the mountain, okay?"

She nodded.

"Alright, see you soon." He ran hurriedly off towards his house.

Still weak, Saffron slung herself over Arcanine's back. "Take me home please."

The huge beast leapt forward and swiftly carried her to her house.

Saffron touched and looked at everything one last time. The halls were empty, and the whole house held an eerie silence. It's probably better this way, she thought. The colored glass vases distorted her image as she passed by them, and the floorboards creaked under her feet. She wondered when she would next see her own house. Sirens of fire trucks rang in the distance.

She emptied her backpack onto her bedroom floor. She stuffed clothes into it, as well as a few food items that she managed to scrounge up. After strapping a sleeping bag to the bottom of her bag, her eyes fell upon her pokeballs on the corner of her desk. She grabbed them and took them to her backyard.

One by one, she let out the pocket monster inside. She then looked at them all and addressed them individually. "Ampharos, Ivysaur, Floette, and finally Arcanine, I will miss you. I'm sorry that I must leave you. Death awaits me, but it doesn't need to come for you too. Go, you all are free now!"

The Pokemon looked at each other confusedly.

"Go! I'm releasing you!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "Don't you see? I don't want any of you to get hurt."

Her Pokemon refused to move. They couldn't just leave their trainer like that.

"I said 'go!'" Tears now falling from her eyes, she started blowing fire at them and chasing them around. "Please... Don't make this so hard."

Unlike humans, Pokemon were somewhat used to fire flying at them, so that wasn't enough to deter them.

Saffron was getting angry. She had shown such resolve, such heart breaking resolve, yet they wouldn't listen to her. In a moment of emotional weakness, she kicked Ivysaur. The Pokemon yelped then ran off. It had never seen its trainer act like this before, and it was scary that the person it had trusted so much would hurt it like that. Scared of the same thing happening to them, Ampharos and Floette scurried away as well. But not Arcanine.

Saffron immediately regretted kicking Ivysaur. Even though she knew that is was for the best, it still made her heart sink. Despite her feelings, though, she still had one more Pokemon to scare off.

She went up to Arcanine and blew fire at him, which turned out to be unsurprisingly useless. She then balled her hands into fists and hit the side of her Pokemon. Arcanine just took it. It really wasn't hurting him.

She hit him several times, but he wouldn't budge. Her fists hit him one last time before they turned into hands the melted into his soft fur. She buried her head into his side.

"I guess I can't get rid of you, huh?"

Arcanine turned his head and nuzzled her in an attempt to comfort her.

"It's for the best, I know, but it's still so hard."

He licked the side of her face.

"You know how dangerous it's going to be if you come with me, right? You saw it earlier."

He blew small wisps of fire around her, showing that he understood they could not hurt each other with their flames. He wasn't scared.

She hugged him tightly before pulling out his pokeball. She tapped her Pokemon with it, sucking him into the small capsule. She tucked the ball into her pocket.

"Arcanines: man's best friend indeed."

-----

Arcanine's paws collided with the Earth, then reflected off of it, sending the crew of Floyd, Saffron, and of course, Arcanine himself soaring through the air. The moon was rising in the east and the sky was a dark blue.

Floyd pointed forwards. "There's Anistar City! I think that should be far enough from home for us to stop at. Dang, we travel fast with Arcanine."

The city was lit up with its signature yellows, purples, and pinks. Its glow was almost like magic, which makes sense for a city with a giant spinning sundial structure.

They touched down on the ground just outside the city, and Saffron put Arcanine away. She was clearly very shaken up still like any reasonable person would be. Floyd, the unreasonable person he was, at least appeared to be happy and optimistic, seeing this as an opportunity for the best adventure of his life.

They walked down the city's cobblestone streets and looked at all the stores, trying to figure out which one would have all that they need. They found a grocery store and stocked up on all the food that they could take with them, leaving them already with a less than desirable amount of cash.

When they stepped out, however, they were greeted by a strange new face.

"Hi! Am Irving, I! Am a Semishade, I!"

Saffron and Floyd's jaw dropped and hearts skipped a beat.

He was a lanky older teenager sporting a Pikachu hoodie. His brown hair was cut with precision and he had a small studded earring in his left ear. He grinned with a sort of facade slight malice under his bronze framed glasses.

"Could sense you guys from a long ways away, I, and you guys didn't impose any sort of malice as opposed to the multitudes of others that sprang up recently, so tracked you down, I."

"Wait a second, slow down!" Saffron's eyes were wide and confused. "Sensed? How do we know you aren't an enemy?"

Irving looked equally confused. "Wait, you guys can't sense other Semishades? You really don't have control over your ghost powers, do you? As for the other thing... Err..." He puzzled for a moment. "Actually have no idea how to prove to you guys that I'm not, I." He rubbed the back of his head. "Didn't really think this one through, I."

Saffron pulled Floyd into a small two person huddle. "What the heck are we supposed to do in this situation? We certainly can't trust a stranger that we just met on the street, especially if he is a Semishade. This is nuts! Also, what's up with his speech?"

Floyd shrugged then broke up the huddle. "Look, man, I want to believe you, but you gotta understand that this is a crazy thing to spring on unsuspecting people."

"Guess I can't blame you, I," said Irving. "How am I supposed to introduce myself though? Can't think of any good way of doing it, I."

They reformed that huddle.

"I can't either," admitted Floyd.

"We can't just trust a complete stranger though," said Saffron. "He could very easily be in cahoots with the Semishades that have been targeting us lately."

They nodded to each other.

Floyd sighed. "Look, man, I--"

"Is that a limited edition Squirtle Squad Squirt Bottle?" Irving interjected, pointing at Floyd's water bottle.

Floyd's eyes lit up. "Wait, you know about something as esoteric as this water bottle?!"

"They only made eight, you know? Only one per Squirtle!" Irving exclaimed, pulling out one of his one. "It wasn't easy getting one, but for the most righteous group in all of Kanto, had to, I!"

The two exchanged fist bumps.

"He's cool," Floyd told Saffron. "Can we keep him?"

"What is he, a Rockruff?" She sighed. "I definitely can't trust him yet, especially over something stupid like that, but I guess we can let him hang around for a little bit and see if he pulls anything. If we need to fight him having him nearby will be handy."

"Something stupid?" Irving asked. "She just doesn't understand. What's your name?"

Floyd laughed. "Darn right she doesn't. Women, am I right? I'm Floyd. Nice to meet you Irving."

Saffron rolled her eyes. Men. "Anyways, can we stop by the clothing store before we leave town? There's something I would like to get."

Floyd shrugged. "Can't be helped I guess. Women really like clothes shopping."

Irving laughed. "Almost as much as me, maybe!"

Floyd shot him a strange look.

I'm going to regret letting those two stay around each other. If a person could mentally facepalm, she would have achieved it.

They walked to the nearest clothing store and walked inside. A bored employee was watching TV in the corner, not really paying attention to the store they were supposed to be watching.

Saffron lead them straight to the back where they kept the accessories, homing in on the item she wanted automatically. She started digging around. "Surely it wouldn't be too hard to find one."

The guys waited impatiently as she dug through clearance bins trying to find an unspecified item.

"So," Irving asked Floyd, "you guys are headed to Glittering Cave right?"

"Why would we head there?" he replied.

"Oh, right, you guys don't seem to be keen at sensing things. That's where I think all the malice is coming from. Something in the depths of the cave caused a whole lot more Semishades to appear, and none of the new ones are friendly for some reason. Heck, one is even hot on my trail as we speak!"

"Found one!" Saffron said excitedly, pulling out a large cloth fan. "I'm lucky they had any really. What do you think, Floyd, fitting for my power?"

He put his hand to his chin and contemplated. "Pretty fitting, actually, as long as you manage not to burn it. I like it!"

"Wait, what was that about being hot on a trail?"

Irving shushed them and pointed to the TV. The worker was now fast asleep, in front of it, with a new news story being plastered with big red and white lettering.

"THIS JUST IN! PEOPLE AND POKEMON ARE GOING COMATOSE ALL AROUND THE CITY!"

***

From the Archives: Will-O-Wisp

User: Saffron

Range: Depends on physical exertion

Description: Turns wind turbulence, both big and small, into fire. Using this power on normal breathing causes a warm glow while using it on wind can cause wildfires. Special spots of turbulence can be picked out and selectively turned to fire, leading to almost pure control of the shape and function of the fire.

Status: Active