-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part One: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life was always uninteresting in the pokemon world, if you didn’t have pokemon. It was normal stuff like on Earth. No day was different, life was boring. Zeke was a young boy who loved pokemon, but his parents wouldn’t let him begin a journey. Zeke didn’t understand this. Zeke had few friends, and he had no pets, which would be something like a Skitty or Zigzagoon there in the Hoenn region. Zeke showed lots of interest in pokemon, but he hated dog pokemon. When he was no more than six, he had been attacked by a rabid Arcanine. He had three huge scars on him. One scar was vertically across his right cheek. Another was horizontally sliced right above his left wrist. The last was almost all the way up his right leg. For this reason, Zeke always wore pants. Zeke was, in his school, known as the toughest kid in seventh grade, and maybe in the school. All the kids had heard different rumors and beliefs about how they appeared, but only Zeke knew the truth. His few friends weren’t even quite sure themselves if what he said was true. Zeke told the truth, though. It was only 3 o’clock, when Zeke, who was sleeping, had another flashback of what had happened that very day. * * * It was a beautiful Saturday morning. Zeke’s mother, Stacie, had taken him to the park with his father, Drake. “C’mon dad! Hurry up!” the young Zeke screamed to his father, who he was racing. Zeke laughed with the thought that he was better than Drake, the pokemon Elite Four member. Zeke kept running, his dad closing in on him. They were both giggling and laughing. Then, Zeke saw a huge bird pokemon flying through the air, followed by a trail of ice crystallites. He ran faster, trying to catch up with it. He saw it was blue, and he didn’t remember a blue bird pokemon. They were in an area known as the Safari Zone. Eventually, Zeke got tired and gave up trying to keep up with the enormous, unknown to him, bird pokemon. Zeke’s hands were on his knees. He was exhausted. Once he caught his breath, he looked around him. He was in an open field, with only a few trees around him, but many bushes. Zeke heard a growling coming from one of the bushes. He heard his father and mother’s voices, but there was no sight of them. Then, Zeke heard another louder growl come from the same bush. The he heard silence, then moving bushes. He wasn’t sure where the noise was coming from, but then he caught view of his parents. “Oh, thank goodness!” Stacie yelled. His parents were about twenty feet from him, when suddenly, Zeke flashed his head back. He sensed a huge object behind him. His eyes grew wide with fear. It was an Arcanine. It was about four inches from him, mouth wide open. Zeke saw not brown, angry eyes, but green cold, almost dead looking eyes. The Arcanine’s fangs were now within an inch of Zeke’s face. * * * Suddenly, before any harm could come to him, Zeke woke up. He found himself with his hands clenched an the sheets. He had sweat beyond belief, like after a huge run for the Olympics. He was straight up. His eyes really were wide with fear. It was only 3:30 am, but Zeke figured that if he went back to sleep, things would just become worse. He felt a trickle of sweat come from his dark brownish-red hair. He lay back down on his bed, and let out a sigh of relief. There was no point in waking up now, but there was also no point in going back to sleep. Zeke decided that the best thing to do was just figure out what he was going to do in P.E. (Later, at school) Zeke had a school that had two long classes a day. His favorite was P.E., which he had last today. Before that, he had Science. People were afraid of Zeke because of the rumors. Nobody, even the toughest of bullies, would dare get in Zeke’s way. Zeke had nobody sitting around him for at least three seats. (Nothing interesting happens in Science, so I’ll go to P.E.) Zeke was one of the best athletes in the school, too. Zeke was the fastest kid in the entire school. He ran on his toes, similar to how Mewtwo walks. He had a habit of doing this, running or walking. Zeke also squat down a slight bit, enabling him, with the help of aerodynamics, to go even faster. However, because of the dress code, in P.E., Zeke had to wear a special kind of shorts that the school distributed. His usual plans he had made earlier backfired after the rain started, so they stayed inside and played dodge ball. Zeke liked this more, though. Zeke always insisted that they throw as many balls as they can at him, testing his accuracy, estimation, and speed. Everyone agreed to do this, because they thought he was the boss because of his toughness. This was a very delightful moment for the bullies there, too. Many bullies wanted to bully Zeke, but didn’t dare. This was one of the few times that they could throw a ball at him, and not get in trouble. Zeke readied up, stretching and adjusting himself into a proper position. He looked like he was in a fighting position. When the whistle blew, over a dozen dodge balls went flying for Zeke. They were thrown with rage and determination. Zeke concentrated, but remained at a calm balance in temperament. By doing so, he managed to avoid all of them. Bits of sand and dust cleared from the dirty wall, and when it cleared, they all saw Zeke standing there confidently, calmly, ready for more. They all saw Zeke’s green eyes burn with courage, as if he could take on the world and win. Everyone was in awe. The other kids who were at the wall also were backing up, wide-eyed. Even the coach was staring in amazement. Zeke barely spoke at school. It was rare that he said even one word, even if it was answering a question for the teacher. But, now, Zeke found it appropriate to say, “Is that the best you’ve got?” Everyone except the coach gulped. Zeke was ready for the next ting they were to complete, a race between everyone. A tournament to be more specific. Zeke was quite sure that he would win. Everyone was quite sure that Zeke would win. Zeke didn’t even bother warming up or stretching for a race. He simply imagined that the Arcanine that attacked him was chasing him, and in order to be free of him, he needed to win in a race against it. The coach was watching Zeke in particular, then, still with his eyes upon him, he blew the whistle. Everyone took off, and Zeke was, of course, in the lead. About ¾ of the way through, though, Zeke felt woozy, and his vision became blurry. He heard strange noises from inside his head. He collapsed. Everyone else was about ½ the way through, but one brave girl cut through to see if Zeke was alright. She said, “Zeke! Zeke! Are you alright?” Her name was Amelia, or Amy for short. “Zeke can you hear me?” she asked him, shaking him some. She lay his back against her thighs. “Zeke?! Zeke?!” The other kids had now caught up and were watching. The coach was rushing over. Coach said, “ Okay, we need somebody to take Zeke to the nurse’s office. Any offers?” There were many murmurs and terrified ‘no’s. Amy then said, “I’ll go. I’ll take Zeke!” She heard one kid say, “She’s crazy!” and another, “She’ll be sorry!”, but she paid no attention. Amy brought Zeke to their destination. Luckily, Amy was strong enough to carry Zeke alone. When they got there, the doctor was shocked to see Zeke was the patient. He was clearly unconscious, but would wake very shortly. Zeke awoke to the white surroundings of a doctor’s office. His eyes were tired and droopy. Zeke made a groaning noise. “Zeke! What’s wrong?” Amy asked. Zeke replied, “Amy? What are… you doing here…?” The doctor spoke before Amy could reply, “Zeke. Do you remember what happened? Do you feel alright?” “Well, I was racing, when I began feeling woozy and my vision became blurred. I heard…voices…then, I collapsed. That’s all I know. My heart really hurts. I feel like I could explode,” Zeke said painfully. “What’s wrong with him? Will he live? Is he going to be alright?” Amy asked all at once. The nurse said, “I’m not sure what this is. He’ll most likely live.” Zeke spoke up when the nurse was busy contacting the hotel. He said, “Amy, did you bring me here?” “Yes,” she replied. There was a silence from Zeke for about five seconds. Then, Zeke asked, “…Why do you care about me?” Amy gave a shocked, silent gasp. Zeke turned his head and closed his eyes. He was facing toward her. He showed no anger, no pride, not even toughness. Amy saw all of what he showed. Zeke knew she wouldn’t reply, because she wasn’t sure herself, but he answered for her. “It’s because you see something in me. You see farther than the others. You see deep within, and you sense my pain. But we both want a great thing. Something more. We both want to be out in the world as pokemon trainers. To be out in the world, to be free. We both want to become great trainers. But that’s not possible now. We both want to be a pokemon if we could. We want to cross every river. Climb every mountain. Surf the seas. We both have so much in common we just never knew it.” Amy was intrigued. She asked, “How do you know all that?” “Because I sense it, too,” Zeke said, opening his eyes. His eyes were not the same. They had more gold to them. It was like a black dot, surrounded by gold, then a ring of green around the gold. Not meaning to change the subject, Amy gazed at his eyes for a while, then said, “Your eyes… They are different.” “Hmm?” “Look,” Amy said, bringing out a small mirror from her backpack. “What the heck?” Zeke said to himself. When he was saying this, he noticed that his teeth were sharper, as if they were fangs. Before Zeke could ask anymore questions to himself, the nurse came over. “They don’t know what it is yet, we need some tests first. Are you alright now?” she asked. “I feel somewhat better, but my heart still hurts. I think it’s a virus.” “Oh, dear. I’ll call your parents immediately,” the nurse finished. “Dad probably wont be there. He’s very busy, being Drake,” Zeke said. “Your dad is THE Drake? Of the Elite Four in Johto?” Amy asked, surprised. “Yes.” “Cool.” The nurse called and informed them. “How am I going to get home?” Zeke asked. “I’ll take you,” Amy offered. The nurse responded, “I don’t think so. Stacie will come to get Zeke.” Amy asked to both of them, “How long will he be gone?” Zeke shrugged, and the nurse said, “I wont know until we know what virus he has. I will try to inform you, though.” Stacie bothered Zeke with all kinds of questions. She wanted to know everything, even if there was a relationship between Amy and Zeke. Even people at school wanted to know what happened. They all went to Amy for answers. A few kids asked if they kissed. As the days passed, Zeke noticed that everyday since that day, he had been becoming more and more wolfish. What was happening to him?