Sunday, June 18 We had been traveling now for over half a week, and were beginning to tire the walk through the forest. The "short-cut" Penny had referred to ended up being nothing but a trail that led back to her woodland castle where her father and mother still lived. When we had arrived, we ended up taking a route the Raichu warriors often took as a patrol routine that had been assigned since the War of The Beedrill not too long ago. Her father the King Frederick told us it was still reasonably safe- other pokémon traveled the route on their way to or from his castle, and within the last ten years there hadn't been any cases of attacks, so we figured it was safe enough. The trail seemed to go on forever, we thought. We'd been on the same road now for two whole days since our rescue by the Mightyena tribe, which we found were allies to Penny's father, King Frederick, or "Fred," as I called him. The forest was still thick, though, and our food supply was low. A little too low... "I'm hungry..." Ellis complained, "When are we going to eat breakfast?" "We just had breakfast a little over an hour ago, Ellis." Penny replied, "You don't need to go eating on like that..." "But... I only got three of those tiny blue Oran Berries!" Ellis added. "Yes, I know. And you got mine, too." Penny rolled her eyes. This didn't seem to stop Ellis, though. She walked over towards me as we walked down the trail, and laid her head on my shoulder, "Ben? I'm hungry..." she said softly. "Well, I'll tell you what we'll do." I said, pointing up ahead, "See that river over there? Now I'll bet you there's probably a Magikarp or two in there waiting to be caught. We'll stop by there and see if we can't dish one out..." "Magikarp? Ewww..." Mew wrinkled her nose in distaste, "Those things are gammy and tough! Not to mention that there isn't much on those things anyway!" "Well, what should we do? I'm all out of the Reeses..." "Yeah. After you gave them to that snake after I told you not to!" Penny added, "What was his name? Was it Duscald?" I blushed, looking down at my feet in embarrassment, "It was Duscahn..." Penny kept silent for a moment, then placed her arms behind her head, "Well, either way, I'm glad we're away from that thing. He gave me the creeps!" "Mm-hm. Me too..." Mew added. "I thought he was all slimey and yucky..." Ellis added her opinion, "He smelled like a bad poopie, as my Mommy used to say..." "Please, Ellis... Don't start talking about your mom again..." Penny sighed, "We all feel bad now that she's dead..." "Yeah... But you know, it really makes you wonder what happened to her father..." Mew said, "I mean, we all know about Ellis's mother, Erika the Espeon of course, but who was her father? I never met the kid..." "Matt..." Ellis said silently. "Hm..?" Mew turned, "Who was it?" "It was Matt..." Ellis repeated, "He was an Umbreon..." Ellis blinked, then shook her head, "That's what Mommie told me... But I don't even know what an Umbreon is..." "Well, I'm sure Ben here could show you." Mew winked at me. I blinked at her a few times before adding, "I could?" "Of course! Why, you've pretty much seen everything there is, haven't you? You could transform into one!" Mew smiled. I shook my head, "Far from it! That's why we're on this trip to Southern Island- to find out what it's really all about." "Mmm... That's right. Good place." Mew nodded off a few times to herself. We all looked at Mew, who quickly added, "...Of course, that's what I've heard, anyway." "Mew, where do you find out about all this stuff, anyway?" Penny asked. Mew shrugged, "Mmm... Around. I get around and... mmm- yeah." " 'Mmm- yeah...?' Penny repeated, "What's that suppose to mean?" Mew layed back while hovering along with us as she replied, "I have been all over the world- seen things I thought I'd never seen, and met others that I'd thought I'd never meet. The world's pretty deep, I think..." There was a brief silence before I questioned, "Mew? How many different kinds of pokémon are there, anyway?" Mew tilted her head towards me with a small smile while I continued, "I mean... yeah- a hundred and fifty-one known species were known to battle, but... then there was over two hundred, according to the TIME magazine! Now I'm seeing even more, and I'm still not sure how many there are!" "Do you want to know a secret?" Mew whispered, leaning in towards me. I nodded. Mew looked left and right a moment before whispering again, "Well, come in closer and I'll tell you..." I leaned in, my large ears almost big enough to fit Mew's whole head inside. Mew whispered, "I don't know either!" I snorted, a half smile across my face. "Could you at least tell me how many you've seen up to date?" "No way- I ain't tellin' you!" Mew crossed her arms, turning away. I blew a breath up at my Yen charm, and then let it all out, "Well, I guess I'm going to have to find them all..." From behind me, I heard Mew mumble, "Heh... Good luck..." Ellis whined, "I'm still hungry..." "Well, you know what they always say..." Penny said as we paused for a moment to hear what she had to say, "Whatever lies ahead will be the greatest adventure of all. I'm thinking that's what Southern Island's gonna be." Before we could say anything, Penny gasped, "Look!" She shouted. We all looked ahead, and couldn't believe our eyes...! "It's a clearing!" Penny cheered, "We're free! Now we're out of this place!" We rushed as fast as we could, Ellis tagging along behind us. "Wait for me!" She cried. I stood at the end of the clearing, noticing the landscape around us- Green fields as far as the eye could see. Not a building, tower, or automobile in sight- we were in the middle of nowhere... I laughed hysterically, and looked up to Mew, "This means now that you can teleport us, right?" Mew kept silent for a moment, her eyes an unchanging expression of unemotion. I repeated, "...Mew?" "Shhh..." She silenced me, "Don't you hear it?" I blinked, "Hear? Hear what?" "I hear it too..." Penny said silently, "Sort of like a gentle... silent song..." "What are you guys talking about?" I asked, "I don't hear anything!" "It's so pretty..." Ellissa added, "It sounds like Mommy..." I strained to hear whatever sound they heard, but heard nothing. In the silence that followed, a small breeze blew, causing a wave of hissing grass to move in its direction. A gentle voice seemed to whisper to me, but I couldn't quite understand what it said. I blinked, looking from all around me where I heard it coming from, puzzled at the sudden sound of its tone. In front of me, the world became hazy- a picture like from a sketchbook with stencil-artwork of grass flowing in the wind- of a baby-blue sky, and the peace and tranquility of a world I never knew... Time seemed to come to a halt, and for a moment all was like a utopia... I felt happy, but at the same time sad and unhappy... The voice whispered to me, calling my name. I paid no heed to it, but still kept on listening. It called my name again, in a gentle tone, "Benjamin... Benjamin..." Yes... I thought, I hear you... Benjamin... the voice repeated, Benjamin... What do you want? I asked. Only you... Benjamin... What...? What do you mean? We need you... Please... help us... Who are you? I asked. Our lives are in danger... We need your help... But... Who are you? We need your help... Will you help us? Yes! Yes, I will help you! Now will you tell me who you are? I replied in a slightly annoyed manner. A bright light emitted, and I was engulfed in a vision of pure white. In the flash of light that followed, I found myself still staring at the field I had been looking at earlier. I rubbed my eyes, trying to remember exactly who or what I had been talking to. I turned towards Penny, Ellis, and Mew, who were sleeping. I blinked, finding myself on the ground, "You guys are sleeping? What happened?" Nobody responded- they just kept on sleeping. I watched them for a while, when Ellis whined, cuddling up next to me in her sleep. I sighed without recieving an answer, and eased myself by stroking Ellis's mane. They were right- we needed a little rest. That was all.