Lee gives the taller man a hard stare. "Maxie… You're under arrest for suspected terrorist activities. Come quietly."

Maxie sighs. "Pity."

In a flash of movement, a pokeball is launched from his hand. The ball snaps open midair, and the air becomes sweltering, just like-!

----------------------------------------

With a gasp, Lee draws in a breath, one filled with searing hot dust. His abused lungs protest, and he coughs. To his alarm, he tastes the metallic tang of blood on his tongue, and something is pushing down on his chest. He blinks his eyes, but stars dance in his vision. His limbs are heavy and clumsy, and he finds that he cannot find purchase on the ground to stand

Confused, he tries to recall what the fuck just happened, but the memory won't surface. 'Ninetales, are you o-!'

Ninetales isn't there.

That special place within his mind, where his first pokemon made her claim over part of him, is gone. Not empty, but completely gone, as if there was never anything there.

The pain in his chest, throat, and eyes is completely forgotten, sidelined in favor of something infinitely more crushing.

Loneliness.

'W-Where is she?' The loneliness nearly transforms into panic, and the zoologist is forced to bite his own lip harshly to bring him back to somewhere lucid. Again and again, he gropes for that telepathic anchor leading him to his fox, but there is simply nothing there. 'Ninetales?'

"N-Ninetales?" He blindly calls between ragged breaths. "Nine? Love? I-I." He spits a globule of blood and saliva trying to slink down his throat. "I need your help, Nine…"

There is no reply.

The terrible feeling of being alone strikes him like a hammer blow. What happened to her? Where is she? Is she okay? Against his will, Lee begins to shake. He blinks the stars away from his eyes and tries frantically to rise, pushing the weight off of his chest. As his vision clears, he unsteadily stands and looks at what he just pushed off of himself. On the floor are wires, ductwork, and a broken drop ceiling tile.

"W-Wha?" Lee swallows the bile that rises in his throat, and once again instinctually reaches out for Ninetales, only to feel nothing once more. His whole body aches and his scars tingle. Idly raising a hand to his face, Lee recoils and bites back a scream.

His scars hurt! It's as if they are fresh burns once more! What the hell is going on?!

Lee allows his eyes to trail away from the bits of twisted metal he pushed off of himself. Slowly, he takes in his surroundings and the pit in his stomach only drops further, for he recognizes where he is.

The breakroom within his zoo.

The ceiling is partially collapsed, many of the tables and chairs are overturned, and the floor is littered with glass, blood, and bodies. Broken, burned, and mutilated bodies he can put names to.

The bile in Lee's gullet rises again, and this time he can't stop himself from bending over and being sick, making a mess on the floor. The vomit only irritates the burns he feels in his throat, which makes his hacking and coughing all the worse.

I've lost it. This is my brain flooding with hormones for a nice vision before I'm burned to ash. There is no other explanation.

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The words he thought to himself on his first day in Hoenn rush back to him, and his stomach turns once more. 'No… No!' His hands rise to his head, his clawed fingers grasping his hair and threatening to pull it out. 'It was real! All of it was real! I was there for months! I became a trainer and everything! I even…!

Faces flash before Lee's eyes no matter how hard he squeezes them shut.

Nigel.

Brendan.

Zinnia.

Grovyle.

Corvisquire.

Shinx.

Octillery.

And…!

The serene, smiling face of a golden fox consumes him. Again, his mind reaches out for hers, desperate for reassurance, or anything at all.

Nothing responds.

Lee slowly raises his head, and turns his gaze to the broken window.

High above the landscape, a mushroom cloud framed with a fell, orange light slowly dissipates into the atmosphere. Lee realizes the ringing in his ears is beginning to subside, and he can hear aftershocks still rumbling the earth.

Uncaring of his own sick or the glass or the blood on the ground, Lee falls to his knees. "No…" He whispers, feeling his heart stop within his chest.

I've lost it. This is my brain flooding with hormones for a nice vision before I'm burned to ash. There is no other explanation.

None of them were ever real.

Ninetales was never real.

Listlessly, his hand slowly dips into his pocket, his fingers closing around his cell phone. Pulling the device out, it miraculously still powers on, though the screen is cracked. With thumb movements so practiced that they've become muscle memory, he opens his games and navigates to Pokemon Emerald.

There, in spot number one of his team, is a humble Vulpix, marked with a heart.

Something… just gives out. Whether it's his body or his spirit, Lee does not know, and does not care. He falls backwards to his back, uncaring of the glass and debris digging into him. Be it from a broken heart, radiation sickness, or something else, his limbs begin to grow cold, and his heart begins to slow.

As his vision begins to grow white, he swears he can see Ninetales staring down at him, concern on her face. 'Beloved?' She asks, and Lee swears he hears her voice.

His chilled lips curl into a smile. 'Nine, even if you weren't real, I still love you.'

Before his vision is overtaken, the phantasmal Ninetales leans down…

…And bites him right on the nose.

"Ow! Fuck!" Lee shoots up, rubbing his smarting nose. "What was that for?!" He blinks, suddenly realizing that he's somewhere else.

Gone is the broken, ruined zoo and all of the horror within. He's in a cozy, darkened bedroom, under snug covers and on a plush bed. Right next to him and sharing the covers, Ninetales stares at him with open concern, concern that he can feel through his soul-deep bond with her.

He's not alone…

Lee blinks, touching his face and his body, only to find nothing out of place. He falls back onto his sweat-soaked pillow and sighs in relief.

'Are you okay, Lee?' Ninetales asks, shuffling a little closer and gently touching her nose to his cheek. 'You were fidgeting and mumbling in your sleep. I'm sorry for the bite, but I couldn't wake you.'

'Just fine, Love,' Lee rises up on his elbows and smiles before pulling a surprised Ninetales into a one-armed hug. 'Hell, better than fine since I've got you here.'

The vixen smiles gently and nuzzles him in return before pulling away. 'If you had an unpleasant dream, I would be happy to—'She pauses when something shuffles in the covers between them. 'Good grief…' Ninetales sighs. 'She had just gotten to sleep, too.'

'She?' Lee wonders, lost. 'Who is—'

The head of a small, cranky-looking Vulpix pokes out from under the blankets. The little fox whines and looks between them.

'Return to slumber, O daughter,' Ninetales soothes the little kit, speaking both through her mouth and her mind. Ninetales leans down, nuzzling the kit tenderly and quieting her whines. 'Your father did not mean to wake you.'

'…Father?' Lee blinks and looks down at the Vulpix kit.

The little orange kit stares back up at him, heedless of Ninetales trying to coax her back into a sleeping position. It's just then that Lee realizes that his and the kit's eyes share the exact same shade of blue.

Lee's shoulders slump. "Okay, now this went too far in the other direction."

The Vulpix kit smiles at him, opens her muzzle, and says: "April Fools! Remember to update the chapter title after today!"