The tired Pokemon at last reached the outskirts of Pallet Town. She felt extremely grateful, but now she discovered another problem. Where would they stay? If they were spotted, the residents might try to capture them. Prof. Oak's lab wasn't safe either. He might want to study them, and that would delay finding out how to change back. At last, she found some bushes close to the lab. She gently placed Dan on the ground and let Lisa fall off as well. Now Chelsey lay down, the soft grass beckoning her to sleep. At last, the fire Pokemon closed her eyes, and drifted into a deep sleep... ************* "Shh...they're coming around..." Chelsey groggily opened her eyes. She no longer felt grass under her. It was cold and metalic. She tried to move, and heard her claws scrape against the metal. She shook her head. Her vision cleared...and she froze. She, Dan and Lisa were no longer outside. They were in Prof. Oak's lab. She saw the professor himself, with Tracey by his side. She also saw Marill, and that told her that Marill had probably heard them breathing, and alerted them to it. She turned her head towards her two friends as they began to stir. "Where are we...?" Then they spotted Prof. Oak and Tracey. Chelsey slapped a paw over her eyes as the two Pokemon rushed to meet them. They both began speaking, but were intruppted. "They can't understand you. You're Pokemon, remember?" Lisa looked down at her big claws. "Oh yeah..." Both Pokemon moved back as Chelsey tried to climb down, but she felt oddly stiff. "Sorry, Ninetales," All three Pokemon turned to face Tracey, who had now taken a step forward, Marill right next to him. "When we found you, you were fighting pretty hard in your sleep, so in order to move you, we had to tranquilize you..." The Ninetales looked offended, and tensed up, but otherwise didn't move. "If I weren't so stiff, and this wasn't Tracey I was facing, I'd try and launch a flamethrower attack..." With this statment made, she slowly dropped to a down position. Tracey breathed a sigh of relief, then slowly came over. The brown Pikachu and Sneasel watched closely. Tracey was now right in front of them. Gently he reached out and scratched the Ninetales ears. Seeing this, the Pikachu and Sneasel came up as well. While each Pokemon in turn got petted, Tracey turned to the professor. "I think we've got their trust now, professor." Prof. Oak responded with a smile. "I think they trusted us even before that, Tracey." "Really, professor?" Prof. Oak only nodded. Somewhere in the house, the clock struck 11. The Pokemon exchanged bewildered glances. Had they really been Pokemon that long? Most likely...As Tracey and the professor headed upstairs, the three Pokemon followed them. As it turned out, they couldn't follow Tracey into his room, so the three friends settled outside his door. And that's where Tracey would find them the next morning... To be continued. Next chapter. Enjoy.