Starring down at the broken ball, it clicked. I thought back to the moment I left the ball after being caught.

I had been following the twins by my own will but my thoughts hadn’t been my own entirely. Back in the pokecenter, I didn’t say we were family, that wasn’t my own judgement. Yeah, the twins were nice, but my own thought would see them as close friends. Something about the balls does something to the captured pokemon’s mind.

I feel a tap on my back and turn to see Fen sitting there. Hey, you okay? She asks with genuine concern. After a moment, I respond.

I’m okay Fen, just stressed. I lie. Well, not really. How much of their thoughts have been changed? Hoot and Aron probably have been quite drastically altered but maybe Fen and Froakie don’t know any better, so theirs isn’t altered much. I look to the side of the cave and see a ledge I could reach. I use extreme speed and easily make the gap. I needed time to think alone.

I would jump back when one of the twins wakes or the other need help. But I needed the quiet.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/618692866566389772/795564484147544065/Alternate_Eyes-time_gap.png]

Another hour had passed. The water has risen a fair bit, managing to cover the use to be surface, but at least the storms seemed to have stopped as there is no longer a large stream water coming through the small gap in the celling but the flowing water from the second entrance still poured in. But at least the water level hadn’t risen much, rather, it seemed like it was draining now.

But my hour of thought was what I really needed. So much came to light in what the dusk ball did to my mind. While I had already mentally agreed to follow around the twins, I hadn’t released that after I was caught, it was sort of an urge to do so. My thoughts were also restricted, in particular the ability to notice said restrictions. But for some reason, I could only be more and more impressed at the bloody ball. I mean, how on earth does the thing even work? Why does it work? What does what? Do they ever get improved? In the anime, I think one of the movies, they had pokeballs centuries ago. How on earth did they even manage to make them!?

I hear groaning from the tower and look down to see Oliver stirring. He rolls to his side and over to his front before propping himself on his hands and knees.

“My head.” He says disoriented. I stayed on the ledge and dulled my rings. “What happened?” He adds getting a foot under himself and kneeling. In a moment of realisation, his head darts up and he yells. “Jennifer!” His voice echoes all around as he looks to his side and see his sister lying on the ground and moves over to her. “Jennifer, wake up!” He said loudly in a panicked tone while putting his fingers to her neck and her chest. After a moment, he visibly calms down but spends the next minute or so trying to wake her taking panning looks around him. He also grabs out a bandage and some bottled paste and wraps her hand. She eventually groans as well, and he slowly helps her into a sitting position. She has a similar reaction to her brother and becomes very active suddenly. “Where are we?!” She yells panicked.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“We are underground but safe.” Oliver calmy says to his sister. It takes a bit before she calms down and looks to her side to see Fennikin sitting beside her to which she happily picks up and hugs. She looks to see both Froakie and Aron beside Oliver. She goes to reach inside her coat with her cut hand before recoiling it. She looks to see a bandage wrapped around her hand that has a red streak down the centre.

“I put antiseptic and bandaged your hand, but it was already fairly clean.” Oliver informs his sister. “Also, I woke to Aron, Froakie, and Fen already out of their balls with there being two balls beside each of us.” Jennifer looks to see two pokeballs and picking them up, she notices something immediately.

“Hoot isn’t in his ball.” She tells her brother before she jumps up and looks around. “Where is Shade!?” She worriedly yelled. She spins all around. Her head darting up, down, left and right in what would be for them almost pitch black darkness when her eye stop directly on mine.

“SHADE!” She yells out to me. How on earth did she see me? My rings are blacked out. My eyes! Holding my paw to my face, its hard for even me to see, but there is two different glows on my arm. One yellow, the other red. I had forgotten that my eyes emit light from my testing back when I toyed with my ring’s brightness. I quickly attempt to remove the lighting and unlike my first attempts, it worked.

“Shade, I already say your eyes, come over here!” She yells which echoes around the cave. I don’t come down, rather I look to see another platform in the cave that I can reach, and I dart to that. “Shade?” She asks looking to where I was before. “Shade, are you there?” She asks again with a more fearful and worried tone.

“Are you okay?” Oliver now concerned asks looking in the direction his sister is.

Fen shoots out Ember which lights up the area but doesn’t reach the platform I was, on leaving it dark.

“Shade, at least do something to let us know you’re okay.” Jennifer calls out. But I hear a different voice. One that spoke those same words.

In this spontaneous memory, I’m looking at a door, a brown wooden door from the other side of a blue room. I’m cyring, I don’t know why, don’t remember. A knock comes out from the other side of the door.

I can then hear a voice. “Hey Jace, are you okay?” I don’t respond. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that would hurt you.” I still don’t respond. “M*l/3 is upset as well, and she wants to talk to you.” I shift to get up but move back to the position I was in.

“At least do something to let us know you’re okay.”

I could feel a tear go down my check at remembering that. I quickly flash all my rings on before blacking them out again. I saw the pair turn their heads to look at where I was but because of how quickly I did it they couldn’t exactly where I was sitting but it calmed their nerves knowing I was okay, or at least said so.

Oliver goes and grabs his phone and turns it on and holds it into the air before begrudgingly bringing it back down.

“No signal.” He informs his sister.

“Well maybe the reason Hoot is not here is he is looking for help?” She questions hopefully before she goes back to turn towards me. “Hey Shade, could you please come and explain what is going on?” She asks into the darkness.

I didn’t feel like going but unlike in my memory, I decided to move.

I stand up and use Extreme speed, launching from the platform and landing on the tower and allow my eyes and rings to glow again. I try to write into the stone, but it is to tough. Jennifer seeing this reaches into her bag and grabs the book from before with the symbols for their alphabet. “Okay Shade, point to each letter and I’ll write it down.” She said holding the book out to me. After a few minutes, in the book was written:

*You were unconscious, Aron made this tower to escape the water, Hoot has gone for help.*

I go to dash back the ledge before Oliver pipes up. “I don’t know why you’re being reclusive Shade but thank you.” I hesitated before dashing up without my rings and eyes lighting my surroundings.

I don’t entirely know why either. I say quietly laying down in the darkness starring at our only way out.