Vicky

"Well, I guess that walking to Ecruteak would be a good idea, just to see what's going on there," I answered, walking past the bottle.

Walking a lot had now become as easy to me as breathing. Of course walking itself is as easy as breathing when you're young, but long distances were something I was not used to. The longest distance I'd ever walked was to Olivine with my mum to visit my auntie when she was sick. But our car was broken and I complained almost the whole time as I was only seven.

It was nice to see life outside that forcefield. Everything still appeared to be normal; Ledian were silently flying though the air and Caterpies were shuffling amoung the leaves and grass. I just wondered if there would be the same peace in Ecruteak City.

Matt

I let Kadabra out, made sure he was feeling better and let him walk on his own for fresh air while we were heading to Ecruteak.

I hoped that people would be there, that only Goldenrod had been attacked. But then, why hadn't there been people - like the military - outside when we got out?

"Don't worry," Kadabra thought to me. "Everything will be fine."

I knew he was probably right, but I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe he wasn't . . .

Katie

I too wondered what was happening in Ecruteak. If things were anything like they were back in Goldenrod, all the adults would have been taken by the aliens and the only people we would meet would be kids like us. For all we knew, every town and city in Johto had been all but emptied of its population in this way, but what was the purpose of that? Did the aliens plan to settle here? And what were they going to do with humans they had taken?

I simply didn't know, but what I did know was that, unless we could find help in Ecruteak, the odds were stacked against us. We were a bunch of kids facing an enemy we knew next to nothing about, except for the fact that they had taken our families . . . I broke off and stared back in the direction of Goldenrod.

"What's wrong, Katie?" asked Rally, noticing the wistful expression on my face.

"I was just thinking," I replied, looking down at Ponyta's Poke Ball as I spoke.

"Thinking? About what?"

"About . . . what's been happening lately. Whether things will ever get back to normal, that sort of stuff."

Rally looked at me solemnly. "Katie, I may be a psychic," she said, "but even I don't know for sure what's going to happen to us. The future is never certain until it becomes the present."

Right now, our present seemed to consist of us being the last free people from a once thriving city, twenty-odd kids who, by some miracle, had escaped the fate that had befallen the rest of the population. We had vowed to fight the aliens, but could we, young as we were, do anything against them? We ranged in age from Lizzie (the oldest at nineteen) to a couple of five-year-old boys - Jewel, who was just six, was the youngest girl - and the odds seemed insurmountable.

More as an excuse to occupy my mind than anything else, I went through everyone's ages in my head. Marle and Steve were both eighteen, I was seventeen, Allan and William were fifteen, Rally fourteen, Olivia, Matt and Vicky thirteen, Donna eleven, Maxine nine . . .

A sudden cloudburst interupted my thoughts as the rain started pelting down in torrents.

"Quick!" yelled Steve. "Get under cover!"

Matt

We found a small, abandoned shack a bit off the road to wait out the rain. "This doesn't help the hope of other people," I said, speaking of the empty shack. Then, realizing the effect this had on people, I added: "But this is an old shack. I doubt anyone lives here anymore."

Katie

We cautiously pushed the door open and entered the shack.

Matt was right - the place had clearly been abandoned long before the aliens came. Evidence of this was all around us in the layers of dust and a pile of twenty-year-old magazines on a low table. The windows were so covered with grime that we couldn't see anything out of them and the place was plunged into semi-darkness.

Marle clicked a lightswitch, but nothing happened. The light fitting above our heads hung there, useless. "There's no power," she told us. "Do any of you have a Pokemon that knows Flash so we can light this place up?"

Several of us did, myself included, but we knew whatever Pokemon we chose wouldn't be able to keeping Flashing indefinitely. Allan suggested having the Pokemon do the job in shifts, but Lizzie vetoed the idea, saying that they would still need to have their powers recharged and we didn't know how long we'd be stuck here for.

"What about candles?" suggested Rally.

"Yeah," agreed Vicky. "Every house should have a few candles in case of power cuts."

We began to search all over the shack, eventually finding a small box of candles in a cupboard. I took out a couple and stuck them in the vases on either side of the mantelpiece. Then, I placed them side by side on a table.

Now all we had to do was light them - unfortunately, none of us had any matches with us and there weren't any in the shack. "Could we use a Fire Pokemon?" asked Jewel. I agreed and mentally went through every Fire Type we had - my Ponyta, Rally's Charizard, Marle's Ninetales, Allan's Quilava and Vicky's Magby - before making my decision.

"Ponyta, go!" I called as I released my Ponyta from her Poke Ball. I held the wick of one of the candles against her flaming mane, waiting until it caught and started to burn with a bright orange flame before using it to light the other candle. Then, I put both candles down and recalled Ponyta.

"I think we're safe," Marle said, sitting down on the floor. "Well, as safe as we can be with all that rain out there - not to mention those aliens . . ."

Vicky

Now that we had proper light in the room - well, as much as you can get from a few candles - a few of us decided to have a look around.

It was obvious even before we had the light that this place had been abandoned for many years now. The dust was so thick that it would have taken many hours of scrubbing to get the place back to its former beauty, and I wasn't one of those people that would do that. I picked up one of the magazines and brushed off as much of the dust as possible.

The date on the magazine was before I was even born. How long had this place been abandoned - and why?

Matt

I also picked up one of the magazines. I wiped it off, leaned against a wall, which creaked in agony at the sudden push against it, and started reading in the little light we had.

Eventually, I drifted off into a fitful sleep . . .

Katie

I was sitting on the floor with Maxine beside me, listening to the sound of the storm blowing outside. The sound of thunder rumbling overhead and the flashes of lightning that we could see even through the grimy windows made me think of when I was Maxine's age and was scared during a storm. My mum had taught me to try do something to take my mind off it - singing, perhaps - and then I wouldn't be so scared.

"Are you all right?" I asked Maxine.

She nodded slightly and slipped her hand - the one that had been glowing with that purple light - into mine. "I think so," she said. "but . . ." She was cut off abruptly as a deafening clap of thunder boomed overhead. Terrified, she clung to me and started whimpering.

"Shh!" I whispered gently, stroking her hair the way our mum used to. But I couldn't shake the feeling that this was no ordinary storm; I had seen rain before but nothing like this. Was it another part of the aliens' plans to conquer our world?

Maxine's Torchic, who had been hopping around exploring the shack, presently joined us and perched herself on Maxine's lap. I held onto them until they fell asleep before trying to get some rest myself . . .

The next thing I remember is waking up to the sound of an ear-splitting shriek, the sound of a terrified child. I looked around with a start and realised to my horror that it was Maxine who had screamed. She seemed to be in some kind of trance, staring rigidly ahead and completely oblivious to all my attempts to rouse her.

Presently, the others woke up as well.

"What's going on?" asked Lizzie.

"Who screamed?" added Marle.

"Are the aliens coming back?" Jewel asked fearfully.

I knew the answer to Marle's question but not the ones to Lizzie's and Jewel's, so I didn't answer and waited until Maxine snapped out of her trance. She was pale and shaking, her hair clinging to her head, and I let her get her breath back before asking her what was going on.

"The . . . aliens!" she choked out. "The aliens . . . are . . . outside!"

We exchanged uneasy glances as we realised we would have to fight our way out. Even though the odds were against us, it was the only way.

I nodded decisively to the others. "OK, get your Poke Balls ready and come on," I said.

Matt

"Ok," I said, getting out Kadabra's Poke Ball.

Katie

I had my Poke Balls ready to fight. Since Ponyta and Golduck were my strongest Pokemon, they were the ones I would use first with Raichu ready for back-up in case anything happened to either of them. The Poke Balls containing Ledian, Bellossom and Skitty remained in my pocket, my second line of defence.

"Firestorm, I choose you!" I heard Marle call from beside me. Her Ninetales burst out of her Poke Ball and stood waving her tails. Seconds later, Firestorm was joined by a Umbreon named Shadow and an Espeon named Jewel, the same name as that kid we found on the first day.

Cautiously, we crept out of the shack. It seemed peaceful enough, but the quiet was deceptive and Firestorm could clearly sense this since she had started growling. "Quiet, Firestorm!" Marle warned, keeping a tight hold of the Ninetales.

"This is scary!" Maxine said, clinging to me as her Torchic hid behind her legs. I shrugged them off and prepared to release Ponyta and Golduck as three menacing figures loomed on the horizon.

Vicky

I picked out the Poke Balls containing Dotty, Wiggles, Bubbles, Spook and Scyther and let them all out. For the obvious reason that Magby was only a baby, I didn't let him out to fight. I also knew that sending a Ditto out untransformed was a pretty stupid idea, so I decided to add another Psychic Pokemon to the team. "Dotty, Transform into Alakazam!" I ordered.

Dotty looked over at Jewel's Alakazam as if it was getting ready to fight.

"No, Dotty, don't fight the Alakazam! Fight the aliens!" I knew that Dotty didn't completely understand this, but I couldn't stay there any longer as people were bravely walking outside.

Matt

Me and Kadabra stepped outside. The aliens were slowly coming closer.

Then they stopped. "Are they talking to each other?" I said to no-one in particular as they leaned towards each other.

Then they turned back to us, but they were running this time . . .

Katie

"It's now or never!" whispered Steve as he released his Arcanine. I followed suit with my Ponyta and Golduck, telling them to get ready to launch an Attack. The aliens were nearly upon us now and I wondered what it was that had drawn them towards us.

I did not have time to think about this, however, as we were about to launch into the battle of our lives. At least the older kids were - Maxine, Jewel and the other young kids had been told to keep well back, out of range of any potential danger. I hoped we would be able to chase our adversaries away so that we would have time to get to Ecruteak and find out what was happening there. At the very least, we had to try . . .

"Ponyta! Fire Blast!" I ordered, indicating the nearest alien. "Golduck, try a Hyper Beam!"

In response, Ponyta threw back her head, gave a loud whinney and snorted a powerful jet of fire at the alien I had told her to target. The creature screamed in pain, an unearthly sound that reminded me of several Pokemon using Screech at once. Then it seemed to recover and its body began to glow, causing Ponyta's Fire Blast to be deflected back at her. She barely dodged it.

Golduck, meanwhile focussed all his energy and blasted another alien with a Hyper Beam. That alien fell to the ground and did not get up; we had clearly found one of their kind's weaknesses, but there was no way Golduck could take out all the aliens alone. As is almost invariably the case with a Hyper Beam, the Attack had taken a lot out of him and he was now breathing heavily. Realising Golduck could not fight in that condition, I recalled him and sent out Raichu.

"Thunder Attack!" I ordered.

Raichu leapt into the air, charging up as he did so. I could see sparks beginning to fly from his cheeks and recalled how, even when he was a Pikachu, his Electric Attacks had been really powerful. But, before he could launch the Attack, something happened that alarmed me greatly.

One of the aliens had swooped on the younger kids while the rest of us were distracted and was now dragging Maxine away. She was screaming and crying, clearly terrified out of her wits, but all I could do was look on helplessly since I did not know what these creatures were capable of. And I couldn't tell Ponyta or Raichu to attack the creature for fear they would hit Maxine by mistake.

It was a stand-off, one which was only broken when Allan recalled his Quilava and Ekans and recklessly charged towards the alien, grabbing it from behind. There was a blinding flash of light and we all ended up on the ground . . .

When I opened my eyes, Maxine was beside me apparently unhurt. I helped her to her feet and looked round to check on the others. Most of them seemed all right, but I soon realised that Allan was missing.

We found him lying face down on the ground near where he had tackled that alien. Donna ran towards him and turned him over, recoiling in horror at what she saw. His clothes were charred black and his face was ashen - I knew without having to be told that Allan was dead.

"Allan . . ." Donna choked out as she cradled her brother's limp form. "No . . ." My heart went out to her as I imagined how I might feel if it had been Maxine. At length, Marle walked over to Donna and helped her to her feet.

"There's nothing we can do now," Marle said gently. "We need to get out of here."

I could hardly believe that Allan was gone, even though I'd only recently met him. The others seemed pretty shaken up by it too - I guess it reminded us how vulnerable we could be against the aliens. Donna in particular now looked as though she had nothing left to live for.

After we made camp that night, I decided to tackle her about it. "Wanna talk to me?" I asked when I saw her sitting apart from the others and clutching the Poke Balls containing Allan's Quilava and Ekans.

"No thanks . . ." she sniffled.

I sat down beside her anyway and rested my hand on her shoulder. "Listen," I told her firmly. "Allan sacrificed himself to save my sister. He wouldn't want you moping like this . . ."

At that moment, I spotted Vicky nearby and called her over, partly because she was nearer to Donna's age than I was but mostly because I knew she had also lost a brother to the aliens and might have some idea how Donna felt. "Donna," I added, "it's hard when someone you love dies, but at least you know what happened - Vicky doesn't even know if her own brother is alive or dead."

Vicky

I walked over and sat next to Donna on the fallen log she and Katie had been sitting on. "Are - are you OK?" I asked Donna, not really sure what to say.

"I suppose so," she answered, staring at the ground.

An awkward silence followed as I tried to think of something to say. "Your brother must have been brave to sacrifice himself to save Maxine," I said at last, not sure how she would react.

"Hmm . . . I'm sure anyone would've done the same. But why . . .?" Her voice trailed off, but I knew what she was going to say. I didn't know why Katie told me to talk to her; I was no good with emotions.

"What was your brother like?" Donna asked, shattering my thoughts.

"He was . . ." I had to decide what to tell her - the truth or a pretty picture? "Dan - that's his name - was annoying but protective, like any normal brother. Everyone said the way we acted was beginning to become similar, but we'd never admit it to each other. Although we were both good with computers, I was the clever one and he wass the athletic one. That's pretty much it." I took a deep breath after that to get myself back together. I already knew what Allan was like, so I didn't see much point in asking.

"Donna," I added, "I'm not very good at handing out advice, but I'll tell you this. Just like Dan would want me to be strong, Allan would want you to be strong too. So be strong for Allan."

Donna looked up and nodded, a slight smile forming in the corner of her mouth. "I'm going over with the others. You coming?" she asked as she got up.

I decided I'd sit on my own a bit to gather my thoughts.