Sleep was impossible when all I could hear was the constant graveling noise escaping the elderly woman's breath. Even when I tried covering my ears or moving to the opposite side of the room, the crackling noise kept following me. There was no way to escape it.

No way, that was, except to go outside. Seeing how soundly my roommate was sleeping, I figured it was best to escape, listen to the tranquility of nighttime.

My hands grabbed my shoes and slipped them on, tying the strings into a double knot. One could never be too sure what could happen outside. I would never forget the time I made that mistake. My body tensed at the mere memory of it. Never again would I make that mistake twice of walking towards strange translucent, cloud-like creatures unless it was absolutely necessary. Ghost-types could be friendly creatures, but if they're provoked, they could be as scary as people painted them out to be.

To this day, I wondered how I was able to escape their endless taunts and poisonous bodies. They swarmed around me, forcing me down to the ground, coughing and wheezing. I blacked out not long afterwards, miraculously ending up in a hospital where the nurse was sworn to secrecy to not elaborate how I ended up there. If I had to guess, one of those Gastly that attacked me felt bad and got some help; though, I'd never know for sure.

I was much wiser than I was back then. My hand grabbed Rowlet's Poké Ball, twisting it in my hand. This time, I would have someone by my side too, someone who knew how to protect me and was willing to help out. Not that my original team didn't, but it was back before I learned that sometimes, battles are necessary, even if I hated them.

The ball bounced out of my hand before a stream of light flooded out of it and fell to the ground. When it disappeared, the green feathered Pokémon was standing right in front of me, tilting his head in confusion.

Guess even Pokémon even knew that being out this hour was a strange idea. Regardless, I motioned for him to follow me out the door and into the star filled night.

Star filled. My head gazed up to the sky as I noticed it. There were a few lanterns hanging outside of buildings, but none of them could compete with the twinkling light above. Back in Sinnoh, it was rare to see the stars in the cities or even in small towns. I would have to travel a few minutes outside if I wanted to even capture a glance at them.

It was a breathtaking view.

"Oh? Up so late? What a curious getup you have there. I can already tell you're quite the character," a tenor voice observed.

I turned around, finding a man walking from the directions of the front gates, almost as if he had just gotten back. Unlike most of the people in Jubilife Village, he didn't seem afraid of me. If anything, he seemed intrigued. I didn't catch a good glimpse of him as it was so dark, but whenever he walked past one of the lanterns, I could see a giant backpack hoisted up on his shoulders while he wore something that resembled a dress with baggy pants underneath.

When he got close enough, he stopped. "I'm Volo of the Ginkgo Guild, the go-to choice for any of your mercantile needs here in Hisui!"

"Mercantile?" I asked. "Wait, does that mean you have some clothes I could—"

No. My hand covered my mouth as I realized my mistake. Clothes would help me blend in so much better if I could have them, but there was still one major problem; I didn't have any money. Or maybe people did things differently here? It would make sense considering I had to work in order to eat. Yet, how would clothes work? I couldn't even patch a hole in my pants without ruining them all at once. What help could I be to a seamstress?

Volo just let out a short laugh. "No, I don't sell those types of items. What I sell are items like Poké Balls, Potions, and other things that can help in battle," he explained before crouching down to get eye-level with my new partner. "Oh, and you've got a Pokémon! You're certainly full of interesting surprises, my sky-fallen friend."

"You've heard of me?" I asked.

"Of course I heard talk about you. Fell from the sky, didn't you? Now, that's certainly a tale I'd like to hear," he said, looking up at me. "Say, I have an idea! How about you and I see how our Pokémon stand up to one another in battle?"

My eyes widened. "But it's late! Rowlet and I were just going to walk around town and see what was around."

Volo stood up. "But what's the point of having a Pokémon then? Come on, now, it's just a friendly competition."

Hearing his words, I looked down at Rowlet. Sure, he was a great fighter. Without him, I wouldn't have been able to catch Oshuwott. It would be easy to battle this guy knowing the grass-type would give it his all.

But there was something about his words that felt off.

"There's more to Pokémon than battling," I insisted. "They're there to support us, keep up company, and help us when we need it. Battles can be one thing we do with them, but to say that battling is the only point of having a Pokémon? That's not right."

"I never said that was the only reason," Volo tried.

But I quickly interjected before he could say more. "You did when you said what's the point to them. Pokémon aren't monstrous creatures who crave battles. There are ones who have a good-nature and want nothing more than companionship."

"Have you given Rowlet a chance to see if he would care for a battle?" Volo asked.

I looked down at Rowlet. Guess I never thought to ask him what he wanted to do. Pokémon were always used for fighting purposes. I figured giving them the chance to avoid it was a good thing.

Who was it that really wanted to avoid Pokémon battles? Looking at Rowlet, I could tell it wasn't him. He was flapping his brown wings in excitement, flying a foot above the ground. It was late, and we were supposed to walk around. That said, it wasn't enough for him to avoid the thrill he could probably only get from a Pokémon Battle.

"Fine," I gave in.

Volo leaned forward, pointed his finger, and started waving it up and down. When he did, I could see the light of the nearest lamp hit his face. Something about him seemed oddly familiar with the way his blond hair covered half his face. I tried thinking back as to whom it reminded me of, but each time, my mind kept blanking.

Guess I needed to be careful on what I said anyways.

"Delightful! I like you better and better!" he exclaimed, before standing up straight and adjusting his hat like many trainers would before going all out in a battle. "Let's have a quick battle to get your blood pumping." Volo reached inside his pocket, pulled out a Poké Ball, and tossed it in the air. "Togepi, show me your power!"

"Rowlet, time to take center stage!" I cheered.

Volo tilted his head in confusion, and my partner turned his head in a perfect 180 degrees before doing the same. The only one who didn't seem perplexed by my words was the Togepi, but it almost seemed like the Pokémon only had a single brain cell in its head as she was chirping and jumping up and down in excitement.

"You are definitely full of surprises," Volo noted. "No matter. Togepi, use Tackle!"

"Dodge it, Rowlet!" I yelled, "then use Leafage!"

Leafage. It was the move I could've sworn was Razor Leaf when I first battled with Rowlet. In my defense, I figured every Grass-type Pokémon knew the simple move, but after Profesor Laventon gave me Rowlet along with a field journal that had the moves he could learn and other valuable information, I realized that wasn't the case. It was luck that Rowlet knew what move to use despite me not calling out the correct one.

Seeing it in action, I realized how different Leafage and Razor Leaf were. After my Pokémon dodged the oncoming attack, the green bowtie on his neck glowed, followed by leaves bursting through and cutting through the air. Unlike the dull leaves Razor Leaf, they bursted with life, glowing similarly to the light that illuminated around Rowlet.

Our opponent didn't have time to dodge as she was hit right on the white broken shell that covered the bottom part of her body. When she slid under the light, I could see the usual cheerful expression Togepi was known for had been replaced with a pained one.

"We still can manage," Volo called out. "Again, Togepi, use—"

The man never finished his words as a crack of thunder shattered our ears. We all jumped, snapping our heads back towards the tallest mountain peak where the few specks of clouds thickened and the giant light seemed to shine brighter. I might not have been here for long, but even I knew that wasn't normal.

Something clearly wasn't right.

"Does that happen a lot around here?" I asked.

"No," Volo answered. "It seems like since your arrival, the space-time rift has gotten bigger." When I turned to look at him, I saw the man scratching his chin as he studied me. "It really begs the question as to what ties you to the space-time rift?"

I shrugged. "I don't think what happened to me is connected to that thing getting worse, can it? Because I'm just as lost as everyone else around here."

"Hmmm," he hummed. "You know, investigating the odd is key to any good merchant's success." The man then returned his Pokémon back into her Poké Ball and adjusted the oversized pack on his back. "We will have to finish our battle another day. I must be on my way. Until next time!"

He didn't give me a chance to question where he was going as he disappeared into the darkness. It looked like he walked towards the main entrance. Seeing as he knew so much about me and was comfortable talking with me, I didn't want him to leave. Not yet at least. I had so many questions. Some were about how he knew so much about me when he appeared to have just arrived in town while other questions were about what all he knew about this mysterious space-time rift.

Volo did say it was a space-time rift, right? The term sounded so foreign to me, but if I had to guess, it sounded like something straight from a sci-fi movie.

Rowlet flew beside me as we reached the main gates. Surprisingly, they were still open that I thought we could make it through, but a gruff voice stopped us in our tracks.

"You're Everly, correct?" I turned my head to find a man standing just beside the gates. He rubbed his eyes, almost like he was ready to fall asleep at any given moment. That was all I could get from him with how dark it was. "I was informed to let you out first thing in the morning when your trial begins. You should go get some sleep in the meantime."

As if to prove his own point, the man let out a loud yawn. Part of me knew Rowlet and I could have ran outside, and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Yet, everyone warned me of the dangers of being outside the village. It would be too dangerous to go out now.

Besides, I needed to prove to everyone that I wasn't a bad person. I needed to prove to everyone that I could do this!

I nodded my head and watched as the man waved his arm towards the gate. A pinkish glow outlined the large, oversized doors, pulling them to a close. Guess I didn't have a choice at that point if I wanted to leave, but it made me curious where the source of the pink glow was from because it reminded me of a work of a Psychic Pokémon. That couldn't have been possible if people were terrified of them, right?

At least, that was what I was told. After having a battle with Volo, I was starting to wonder otherwise.

(-o-)

While the one gate was closed, the one South of town, the very same one I walked through, was still wide open. There was no one even keeping watch over it either, which was strange. How were they going to ensure people didn't wander outside the village or, more to their concern, make sure no wild Pokémon come inside?

I decided it was best not to go through the gates and continued exploring with Rowlet. As different as the atmosphere was, the more I walked around, the more I started to realize how similar it was to the Jubilife City I was familiar with. The buildings were grouped together very similarly, and the paths were very familiar.

At least some things never changed.

Rowlet flew into my arms, snuggling his head into my chest. While I wasn't feeling tired, I could tell this little guy was on the verge of passing out as his body relaxed. It was hard to tell how long we had been walking around the village, but maybe it was time to head back and get some sleep.

Before I could turn down a street, Rowlet pushed himself out of my arms and flapped his wings wildly. His sudden actions took me off guard that I wanted to ask, but I never did as he started to fly away from the house we were staying and headed back towards the open gates.

Maybe he missed being out in the wild, I thought to myself. The way he was soaring through the air. Anything I said would have fallen on deaf ears, especially since I had to run to catch up with him.

Guess this was one way to get tired.

My new partner landed on the ground the moment he reached the gates and turned his head back towards me. There were no lanterns to truly see what was around us, but I could see a figure growing from the grass. From what I could tell, it looked human, but the head was pointed that I wondered if it was a Cacturn.

Only one way to find out.

"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked.

The figure turned around, head shaking back and forth. "Not at all," a feminine voice claimed. "We'd heard reports that a Drifloon was playing with the village children over on Prelude Beach. This seemed like odd behavior for a Pokémon, so all of us in the Security Corps worried it's true intentions were to harm the children in some way. We've been looking out for them, making sure they stay inside, but just now, Taki ran past these gates. I would chase him, but I don't have a Pokémon to defend myself."

I blinked in confusion. Security Corps? Wait, so the people watching over the village didn't have Pokémon? Why has no one thought that sounded like a bad idea, especially when this particular gate was left open? It just seemed like a recipe for disaster.

Now wasn't the time to criticize their choices, not when a little boy had snuck outside. Rowlet and I exchanged looks. This must've been why he flew away out of nowhere.

"We can look for him," I offered. "Rowlet and I can make sure this kid gets back home safely."

The woman turned her head to look at me, but whatever expression she was wearing, I would never know. All I could do was listen to the relieved tone in her voice.

"Thank you," she said, before turning around, pointing outside the gate. "Taki went that way. Please, hurry."

Rowlet and I nodded our heads before he took off once again, flying through the gates on a mission, a mission to find the missing kid. He was much faster than me, and he wasn't going to stop. I did everything I could to follow him, especially since the night sky was only getting darker as we left town.

Again, questions started filling my head as they had been all night. People were supposedly afraid of Pokémon, but kids were alright running outside the gates when it was dark? How was that possible?

My only explanation was that the people here were crazy, insane even, but what did I know? It was late, and I was following a kid who went somewhere he shouldn't have. Maybe it was just this kid who was crazy.

Or maybe, like me, he couldn't sleep and wanted to explore.

The thoughts kept swirling in my head on what could've happened, but I kept my eye trained on Rowlet, who jerked right and darted towards the sea. Even in the moonlight, I could see the water twinkle. I wanted to stop and admire it, but I needed to follow Rowlet and find this kid.

"Help! Please Help!" a young voice screamed.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face the direction of where the voice was coming from. Even my partner seemed confused as he thought he was flying towards them, but only for us to be in the middle of a field.

Looking around, I realized it was the same field that I landed on and met Rowlet for the first time.

Prelude Beach, I remembered that woman called it. How fitting.

There was no time to be reminiscing on past events as the voice screamed again. "Hey, lady! Over here! I wanna go home!"

Hearing the voice again, I realized why we couldn't find the child right away. I tilted my head back, finding a balloon wrapped around a small child, lifting him up into the air.

"Rowlet," I called, "up there!"

He didn't have to wait for any more instructions as he lurched into the air and tried getting as close as he could to the boy. Rowlet would've too, I was certain of it, had it not been for these dark purple waves pushing past the balloon, hitting my Pokémon head on. There was no way of warning him that he flung backwards.

That wasn't a balloon; that was a Pokémon! Not just any Pokémon either. That thing had to have been a Ghost-type. No doubt the Ghost-type named Drifloon.

"Use Leafage!" I yelled, "but watch out for that kid!"

My Pokémon did exactly what he needed, but the wild one was faster. Instead of being hit with the attack like Togepi did, the wild Pokémon released multiple balls made of a black mist. They burst into green and black smoke every time they collided with the leaves, leaving me in awe.

Imagine using that in a Pokémon Contest, I thought. There'd be no way the judges could take their eyes off of such a sight!

But this wasn't a contest, I reminded myself. No, this was a battle to get that boy back to safety. Seeing that Drifloon wasn't letting go, I needed to do everything I could to save this boy.

"Use Tackle!" I yelled, gathering a plan in my mind.

Rowlet was hesitant at first, as if he even knew the attack would do nothing against the Ghost-type. The Pokémon was going to drift away, taking the child with him, and that was all it took for Rowlet's body to envelop in a blinding white light. He dashed towards Drifloon, who did nothing.

Wait for it, I told myself.

Drifloon wrapped its arms around the child's shoulders. I bent my knees, taking a deep breath.

"Now! Use Peck!" I ordered.

My partner wasn't that far from Drifloon that it couldn't defend itself for an attack that would actually do damage. The light that surrounded Rowlet wrapped around his beak, elongating it. He didn't seem to need further instructions as he charged right into one of the wild Pokémon's arms, forcing it to let go of the small child.

"Ahh!" The child's screams pierced through the air, hurting everyone who could hear. Rowlet winced at the noise while Drifloon floated away, escaping the unwelcoming noise.

I, on the other hand, ran towards the kid, catching him at the very last second. The weight was much more than I anticipated and crushed me to the ground.

My body ached on impact, but feeling the movement, I knew it was worth it.

"I'm free!" The child exclaimed. "Yay! I can't finally go home. Thank you so much, lady."

"You're welcome," I responded, pushing myself off the ground to get a better look at the child. He had short brown hair, wearing robes that everyone else was wearing in town.

He was about ready to take off when Rowlet cut him off. The boy stumbled back, giving me a chance to stand up. Every small movement, I would feel a sharp pain ripple through my body.

Tomorrow was not going to be fun, I realized. Not with the trial I had to prove myself with. Yet, if it meant saving some kid from danger, I would be okay dealing with the pain.

"Oh! Thank you, Pokémon!" he said.

"What were you doing out here all by yourself?" I asked. "You had the Security Corps worried."

"Security Corps?" Taki asked, turning around to look at me. "Oh! You mean Maki! I was just playing with my friend, Drifloon. Well, I thought we were friends before it tried lifting me up. That was scary."

I nodded my head. "I bet."

Taki shook his head. "I know Pokémon are supposed to be scary. Daddy, Maki, and so many others warn me about them everyday! I can't help it though. They're so incredible!"

The boy turned around and ran up to Rowlet, who landed on the ground at this point. He started petting him, praising the Pokémon for his neat attacks and ability.

Meanwhile, I tried catching my breath, realizing the severity of what could've happened. Whatever that Drifloon wanted to do with him, it wasn't good. Had they been just a few more feet up in the air and that Pokémon were to let go, who knew if that boy would've been able to survive that fall.

Not all wild Pokémon were good, but to go that far to hurt an innocent child? I now understood why there were some people who were afraid of them. I would be too if I encountered stuff like that everyday!

The good thing was that Taki was okay. All that was left now was to take him back home, where he'd be safe and sound..

Author's Note:

Talk about an interesting night! Oof. One more chapter until this arc is completed. I wish I could say that chapter would be coming soon, but it I'm not sure when I'll have it finished. Just know it'll come.

Thank you in advance for your patience.

In the meantime...let's get to a chapter question...one that may or may not affect future chapters👀

Chapter Question:
What Pokémon would you like to see join Everly's team?

Pokédex Entry: Togepi | Spike Ball Pokémon
Type: Fairy
Location: Colbat Coastlands and Crimson Mirelands

Picture found from Pinterest