Communication

Chapter 2 - Carried Away



There came a day, at the age of nineteen, when, much to his confusion, Solonn awoke to find himself surrounded by a crowd, all the members of which were behaving very strangely. No sooner had his eyes opened than a great rush of murmurs rose up like a sudden gale swirling around him.

"Oh, thank the gods, he's awake!" came the voice of his mother, just managing to rise above the din. "It's all right now, Solonn," she told her son then, responding to the growing bewilderment in his eyes. "You're home again."

"Huh?" Solonn sat up, trying to finish awakening his senses quickly. Casting a glance around, he saw the familiar scenery of the snowgrounds through gaps in the crowd. The picture his eyes constructed also revealed just how enormous this crowd was - Solonn was surrounded by more Snorunt and Glalie than he had ever seen gathered within a single place before, and he had no clue whatsoever as to why they were all here and focused on him.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We found you here this morning. You've only just awakened after three hours of unconsciousness," answered an elderly male Glalie whom Solonn didn't know. At the sound of his voice, the crowd ceased its murmuring.

"Solonn, this is Sile Van-Kil," Azvida said, introducing the old man. "He's with the Security Guild. Don't worry, you're not in trouble," she added hastily, seeing the troubled look that flitted across her son's face. "He just wants to ask you some questions."

"That's right," Sile said. "First, we'd like to know if you went where you did of your own accord, or if you were taken involuntarily."

"What? I didn't go anywhere," Solonn said, growing even more confused. At the very least, he couldn't recall having gone anywhere...What in the world is going on here? he wondered, very unnerved by the whole situation.

"You did go somewhere, Mr. Zgil-Al," Sile said, his tone considerably sterner than before. "You were gone for almost two weeks, then returned carrying a strange and unfamiliar scent."

Solonn was now becoming less confused and more afraid. Two whole weeks of his life were missing..."I...I don't remember going anywhere, though, sir," he insisted. "Last thing I remember, I was right here, just sitting by myself..." And then what? What had happened?

"You're certain that you have no memory of where you went, or whom or what you might have encountered?" Sile queried.

"Yes, sir, I'm certain," Solonn answered, his worry ringing clearly through his voice. "It's like nothing happened at all."

"Well, I'm afraid something did happen," Sile said, his tone softening with what sounded like pity. "As for what...well, we can't be certain, but one possibility is that your missing time is the result of a deliberate act of memory erasure. That, in turn, could be evidence of abduction by unknown Psychic Pokémon." At these words, murmurs rose in a fresh wave throughout the attendants.

"But why? What would any such creatures want with him?" Azvida asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Sile replied. "Needless to say, this means that we shall all have to live with increased vigilance. We must keep our eyes open for anything strange. Mr. Zgil-Al is safely among us again, but the next victim may not be so fortunate..."

"Well, whoever and whatever it was that took him, they'd better not show themselves around me. Not if they want to avoid pain, anyway," Azvida said with a flash of her eyes. She smiled at Solonn. "I'm just so glad you got back safely. You had me worried half to death!"

Solonn might have been glad to be back, too. The only problem was that the hole in his mind that served as his only souvenir of the reason why he should be glad to be back was troubling him too much to allow him that kind of relief. Guess it's my turn to be worried half to death, he thought dismally, as the crowd dissipated, and he and his mother headed for home.


* * *


In the days that followed, it seemed there was not a single person whom Solonn could run into who didn't try to ask him a battery of questions about his disappearance. Since he didn't have any answers for them regarding that topic (didn't someone already explain that to these people?), he quickly lost patience for their persistent interrogations.

As a result, he took to spending as much time alone as he could. He visited the snowgrounds only when he was absolutely sure that no one else was there (he had long since learned how to detect Snorunt trying to hide in the snow), and hence not very often. Thus, for a time, he was able to successfully avoid others and the questions they bore both in the snowgrounds and everywhere else.

It was not a Snorunt or a Glalie who ultimately broke his solitude. Rather, it was a Zubat, who came fluttering unexpectedly into the snowgrounds one day. It wasn't the same one whom Solonn had seen all those years ago, however; this one was male. This Zubat did seem to have something in common with the previous one, though: He looked lost - very lost, and very anxious about it.

Solonn watched as the Zubat flew about in frantic figure-eights overhead. As the Poison/Flying-type circled above, he chittered continuously about how scared he was, and how he didn't know where he was, and how he didn't know what to do - it was really quite annoying. He appeared not to notice the Snorunt below at all.

When Solonn thought he could get a word in edgewise between the Zubat's chitterings, he called up to him. "Hey!" he shouted. "Do you need help?"

The Zubat gave a startled squeak. The next second, he plummeted from the air without any warning, diving right into the Snorunt's face - Solonn braced himself for a Wing Attack or something equally unpleasant. But the Zubat didn't attack him; instead, he merely asked, in a thoroughly neurotic-sounding voice, "Where am I?!"

"You're where you don't belong," Solonn answered, which immediately earned a shriek of terror from the Zubat. "Relax! I can take you to someone who knows the way out of here."

"Really?" the Zubat chirped.

"Yes, really," Solonn said semi-wearily, already quite exasperated by the neurotic little Zubat. "Now, come on!"

If the Zubat had possessed eyes, they would have been sparkling. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..." The bat chittered on this way for entirely too long.

"Are you coming along or not?" Solonn interjected suddenly in order to make the Zubat shut up. He turned and started walking away.

"Oh, yes, yes, right," the Zubat said hastily and fluttered after Solonn in a hurry.


* * *


As Solonn made his way through the warren, he tried very hard to ignore the person following him. This Zubat was nothing at all like the last one he'd encountered; true, that one had been rather hostile, but at least she had also been relatively quiet. This Zubat's mouth, on the other hand, was in perpetual motion.

"Wow! This place is so weird!" the bat chittered annoyingly, rattling on...and on...and on, much to Solonn's misfortune. "But it's still pretty cool, though! Super cool!...And super cold. Brrr! I don't like the cold. No, I sure don't like it. Of course, for that matter, I don't really like the sun, either...But that's okay, cause I still like you! And that's cause you're helping me get out of here! What a pal!" he squealed.

Solonn winced. Great, you've inflicted a "pal" on yourself, he thought. He reminded himself that he was doing the right thing by aiding this creature...or he tried to, but the wretched little bat's voice seemed to be trying its hardest to destroy his mind.

The Zubat then got right in his face. Again. "Name's Zyrzir, by the way," the Zubat introduced himself.

Solonn knew that already. The Zubat had already introduced himself six times since leaving the snowgrounds.

"So, what's your name? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Zyrzir asked pressingly as he resumed following behind the Snorunt.

"Mr. Deadbat," Solonn said, utterly deadpan.

"Hey...that's not what you said last time! Last time, you said your name was Mr. Bitey! The time before that, you said your name was Mr. Snowball! And all the times before that, you didn't say anything at all, as if you didn't have a name, and that was your answer! So, now you expect me to believe that you're Mr. Dingbat all of a sudden?"

"That's Deadbat," Solonn corrected.

"That's fake! That's phoney! Why won't you just please cooperate and tell me what your real name is, huh?" Zyrzir implored with a significant whine factor.

Because you are annoying me to death, and I am trying to ignore you so that my brain doesn't EXPLODE! Solonn thought, very deeply annoyed.

But then, Zyrzir laid down his ultimatum. "I won't stop asking until you tell me the truth."

The Snorunt produced a sound halfway between a groan and a sigh. "Ugh, fine. My name is Solonn. Satisfied?"

"Oh, yes, yes, yes! Thanks a thousand, Mr. Satisfied!" Zyrzir squeaked joyfully. Solonn groaned very loudly. "Oh, by the way, are we almost where we're supposed to be going? Are we? Are we? Are we?"

"Yes, we are, luckily for you." And even more luckily for me, Solonn added silently. Sure enough, it was right about then that they reached the Zgil-Al residence, where they were greeted almost immediately by Azvida.

"Oh, good," she said. "I was hoping you'd get back soon. Zilag was here looking for you. He just left not too long ago. I told him he could come back here after a little while."

Solonn started to turn to leave at once.

"No, you don't," Azvida said. She shifted the ice on the walls to form a barrier in front of Solonn. "Now, I don't know what's going on between you two, but I think it's time you sorted it out. And you're not leaving until you do just that."

Solonn grudgingly started towards his room, but was obstructed once again, this time by his mother's enormous face.

"The bat?" she questioned.

"He needs out," Solonn said.

"Fine, then. I'll deal with that, and you'll stay here and wait for Zilag," Azvida said. "And I mean it, stay here. I'll know if you don't." With that, she left, leading Zyrzir away with her.

And just how would she know if I left? Solonn wondered, but nonetheless decided not to chance it. He went to his room, and for several minutes, he just sat there, with nothing to do except to dread Zilag's visit. He became achingly bored, and when he tried to think of a way to occupy himself, he found that he couldn't come up with anything at all.

The reason for his inability to concieve an idea was that the chittering, mind-numbingly annoying voice of that verbally incontinent Zubat was, for some reason, suddenly infesting his brain. It was leaving no room whatsoever for any other thought processes to take place.

Solonn tried to displace the memory of that horrid voice, but it remained firmly stuck in his head. Solonn groaned in supreme aggravation, uttering a venomous string of curses on the name of the wretched bat who was, inexplicably, continuing to torment him even after departing his company.

"That little moron...why couldn't he just shut up?" he wondered aloud. "Gods, it was nonstop: 'Are we there yet? Brrr, it's cold! You're my friend!' -"

Solonn abruptly shut his mouth in surprise. That impression of Zyrzir's voice had been eerily close to the real thing...Feeling a giddy little spark of wonder, he tried it out again. "Hi, I'm Zyrzir! And I'm...so...ANNOYING!!"

Dead on! he congratulated himself silently, bursting into laughter. It was then that an idea occurred to him, as the iron grip of the Zyrzir-voice on his brain finally relented: Perhaps now, he could provide something for people to talk about that might just be more interesting than his recent abduction.

Grinning in anticipation, Solonn put on the Zyrzir-voice once more. "Wait'll Zilag hears this!"


* * *


Before long, Azvida returned, checking at once to see if her son was still home. Shortly thereafter, Zilag arrived. Azvida showed him to Solonn's room right away, then left the two Snorunt alone.

"Uh..." Zilag started somewhat warily as he stood several paces behind Solonn, who had the triple-diamond pattern on his back turned towards him.

Solonn turned very slightly to acknowledge Zilag, wearing an unreadable expression.

"Yeah, hi," Zilag said awkwardly. He sounded a bit troubled. "I just...you know, wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Solonn asked nonchalantly.

"Well...since that thing that happened -"

"I really don't want to talk about that, Zilag," Solonn interrupted flatly. "I can't anyway - I said I don't remember anything about that, and that's the truth."

"I know! I believe you!" Zilag said.

"And what about the others?" Solonn questioned. "Have they finally got it through their heads yet?"

"I told them to quit bugging you about that. I figured out that that was why you've been avoiding everybody."

"And you're sure they'll really listen to you, too," Solonn said skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, even if they won't listen to me, I bet they'd listen to you. You're taller than any of us," Zilag pointed out.

This was true. Over the past few years, Solonn had undergone a significant growth spurt. Solonn now stood at 2'11'', and appeared to still be growing.

"Not by that much," Solonn said, rolling his eyes. "And I am not going to start pushing people around just because I'm bigger than them," Solonn said firmly, sounding slightly offended.

"That's not exactly what I meant..." Zilag said - although it was almost what he meant. "Look, I just want you to be able to go out without having to worry about being harrassed," he said earnestly, "and I promise I'll do whatever I can to keep any rude people off your back."

Solonn turned around completely to face Zilag. Smiling, he said, "Thanks. I appreciate that."

"No problem," Zilag said coolly. "So...feel like hitting the snowgrounds and letting everybody know you're still alive?"

"Well..." Solonn began. Then, he smiled craftily. Time to bring out the secret weapon..."Sure, why not?" he replied perkily in the Zyrzir-voice.

Zilag stood completely still and silent for a moment as if petrified, his mouth agape as he stared like an idiot. "What was that?" he finally asked, sounding almost as if he was a bit scared to find out.

"That," Solonn said slyly, "is the voice of a Zubat."

Zilag briefly resumed his stupid stare. Then, he unleashed a massive, squealing laugh, the incredible volume of which brought a clearly alarmed and confused Azvida rushing onto the scene in very short order.

"What in the gods' names is going on in here?" she demanded in a bewildered-sounding voice.

"I'm sorry," Zilag gasped, laughing so hard that he could barely breathe. He gestured towards Solonn. "It's just him; he's doing something funny. Do that Zubat again!" he added to Solonn in request.

"Zubat?" Azvida queried, casting a puzzled look at Solonn.

Solonn hesitated, not sure of how his mother would react to his impression; perhaps this sort of thing fell under the category of disrepecting the "sacred prey". Finally, he reckoned that she probably wouldn't take it that seriously - it was just a silly little impression, after all. What harm could it possibly do?

Proceeding with his performance, "Hi, I'm Zyrzir! My voice causes brain damage!" he chittered cheerfully.

Azvida's eyes went huge. Then, she cracked up even worse than Zilag had done. "Oh, gods," she managed to say between rasping giggles, "that sounds exactly like him! I'd thought I'd never hear that horrid voice again!"

"Isn't it just awful?" Solonn said in agreement, keeping the Zyrzir-voice.

Azvida shrieked with laughter. "Oh, no, I'd better leave before I die laughing!"

Out she went, leaving Solonn to stare at Zilag, who was now literally rolling on the floor in a fit of giggles. Solonn helped him back onto his feet. "Are you okay?" he asked, stowing the Zyrzir-voice.

"Yeah," Zilag replied, albeit voicelessly. As soon as he managed to catch his breath again, he said, "You have got to go and do that at the snowgrounds. I bet everyone'll be there if we go now."

"Okay, then. Let's go."

The two of them passed by Azvida as they headed out. "Guess you're going to go show off to everyone you can, aren't you?" Azvida said a bit teasingly.

"Guess so," Solonn said, as he and Zilag exited the Zgil-Al residence.

Azvida was glad to see that Solonn was up for social interaction again - and what a way he'd found to go about it! She grinned and chuckled to herself as she thought about Solonn's Zubat impression again, feeling both amused by her son and proud of him. In addition to being hilarious (Zyrzir's was the single most unfortunate voice that she had ever heard issuing from a living creature), the impression was also uncannily, even disturbingly accurate.

How does he do it? she wondered. Solonn's Zubat impression was so good that it was as if he wasn't just using the Zubat's voice, but also -

Azvida stopped laughing, quite shocked and astounded, as she realized that, no, her son wasn't merely using the voice of a Zubat. He was using the language of one, as well.


* * *


Once Solonn and Zilag arrived at the snowgrounds, Solonn produced the Zubat impression yet again. It was an instant hit with the crowd of Snorunt who were gathered there.

"That was so cool!" Raecirr squealed.

"Yeah," Davron agreed. "Hey, I want to try it!" But Davron's attempt at a Zubat impression didn't sound like anyone or anything other than Davron. "Aw, I can't do it..."

"Just keep trying," Solonn said, and using the Zyrzir-voice in demonstration, added, "Like this, see?"

"Wow, that's so impressive," came a sarcastic, female voice, one not belonging to a Snorunt. Everyone in attendance turned towards its source. There, at the entrance to the snowgrounds, lingered a smirking Glalie.

"Kashisha, go away!" Zilag urged. Kashisha was his older sister, and bad news to boot.

Ignoring her brother entirely, Kashisha advanced into the room, shoving aside any Snorunt unfortunate enough to be in her path. "Seriously, I thought there was an actual Zubat in here," she went on, "but it turns out to be just a bunch of snow-twerps. Shame, really...I was looking forward to biting its wings off..."

She stopped in front of Solonn. "You're the one responsible for that little trick?" she asked.

Solonn remained utterly silent and still, very wary of interacting with Kashisha in any way.

"Better answer her," Zilag said. "She's evil incarnate."

"Why, thank you for the compliment, dear brother," Kashisha said in a sugary tone, getting in Zilag's face very suddenly; with a tiny squeak of fright, he dove right into hiding under the snow. Then, she got in Solonn's face. "Well?"

"Yes," Solonn confirmed in a small voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't hear you..." Kashisha said melodiously.

"I said yes! It was me!" Solonn shouted hastily.

Kashisha backed off slightly. Very slightly. "Well, then. I guess that makes you pretty cool - for a stupid kid, anyway," she said.

Stupid kid? Solonn thought indignantly. You're barely any older than I am! Which was true; Kashisha was only twenty-one months his senior, and just a year older than her brother. However, she, like all of her friends, had chosen to evolve early (six years ago, in her case), and like them, she treated those who waited until reaching a respectable age to evolve like dirt.

"I have a request for you, Zubat-boy," Kashisha said then. "Let's hear...a Spheal. Can you do that? Or is that too hard for the little baby?" she sneered.

The distinct feeling that Solonn got from Kashisha was that he'd better deliver. He tried hard to remember the way that that Spheal whom he'd encountered so long ago had sounded. All of a sudden, the memory of that voice flooded his mind, in just the same way that the memory of Zyrzir's voice had done right before he'd replicated it for the first time.

"Is this what you mean?" Solonn asked then, in a flawless imitation of Sophine's voice. This earned a surge of various impressed noises from the crowd, and an approving nod of sorts from the Glalie hovering before him.

"Bravo," Kashisha said, grinning wickedly. "Say...why don't you come with me and entertain some of my friends?"

"I don't know..." Solonn wanted to back away from her, but he felt rooted to the spot.

"Oh, I think you'd better...Unless you'd rather I snap you in half..."

"Okay, fine, I'll go!" Solonn acquiesced.

"Good! And while we're at it..." Kashisha plunged her face into the snow, pulled Zilag out of hiding, and dropped her poor, protesting brother at Solonn's feet. "He'll be coming along with us, too. He is your best friend, after all, right? Surely he wouldn't want to miss your big debut in front of a real audience?"

"No, ma'am, I wouldn't," Zilag said weakly in defeat.

"Off we go, then!" Kashisha said merrily. She circled around Solonn and Zilag and began shoving them along before her. The two Snorunt got moving in a hurry as Kashisha set about herding them out of the snowgrounds.

"What should we do?" Raecirr asked once Kashisha and her poor, downtrodden victims had left.

"Start composing their eulogies," Davron answered grimly.


* * *


Solonn and Zilag scrambled to stay both on their feet and ahead of the now periodically snapping jaws of Kashisha, who had driven them into a part of the warren which Solonn had never seen before.

With one last shove, she brought the unpleasant journey of the two Snorunt to an end, forcing them into a wide, low-ceilinged room. Solonn saw at once that he, Zilag, and the Glalie who had brought them to this place were not the only ones present. The room was also presently occupied by nine other Glalie, who were sitting in a row and glaring at the two Snorunt like some sort of sinister council.

"I see you brought your weenie little brother again," the male in the center of the row said. "I'm getting bored of torturing him, though...but who's this other brat?"

"This is Solonn," Kashisha introduced. "Our new court jester," she added with an enormous grin. She nudged Solonn towards the Glalie in the center of the row. "That, Solonn, is Sanaika, the Master of Ceremonies. And I do mean 'Master'. Bow before him!"

"Yes, bow!" Sanaika snapped.

Solonn inclined his pointed head slightly. Sanaika responded by spitting a chunk of ice at him, which struck him painfully in the forehead.

"The Master approves! You are now initiated into the Fellowship of Slaves!" Kashisha said gleefully. "Now! Perform for your Master!"

With a small sigh, Solonn ran through the Zyrzir-voice, followed by the Sophine-voice. And then, after rummaging briefly through his memories, he produced a third impression: the voice of Sophine's mother.

"What an entertaining little weenie you are!" Sanaika remarked once Solonn had finished.

"I knew you'd like him!" Kashisha exclaimed proudly. "That Sealeo-voice trick at the end was a nice touch, by the way," she told Solonn.

"Yeah, but I can think of one impression that I guarantee you he doesn't know," Sanaika said. The Glalie at either side of him gazed expectantly at him with looks of toadying curiosity. "Human."

"Oh, brilliant!" Kashisha crowed, her eyes flashing diabolically. The other Glalie echoed her enthusiastic approval.

"Human?" Solonn queried. He couldn't have heard that right...

"Yes, you little turd, Human," Sanaika spat disdainfully. "You know, those weird, stupid-looking things with big, long arms and legs and tiny, fur covered heads. They cover themselves with ridiculous fake hides, and they sound like they're retarded when they talk..."

"And they taste like crap," the Glalie to Sanaika's left offered.

"You wouldn't know," Sanaika snarled at him, "but yes, they do taste like crap."

"Humans don't exist," Solonn dared to say. "They're just a myth..."

All of the Glalie stared incredulously at Solonn. Zilag looked away from him, terrified that something hideous was about to befall his friend.

"Oh, they do exist," Sanaika said in a low, dangerous voice. "In fact, you're going to find out for yourself just how real they are, and you might find yourself very, very grateful that they are, too."

Sanaika brought himself to hover right before Solonn, just inches away from his face. "I am giving you a quest, and an offer. You'll go up to where the Humans are. You'll meet one, see it with your own eyes, and, hopefully, get to hear the idiotic sound of its voice. And, if you can return to us with a perfectly realistic impression of that voice, then I promise that you'll never have to come here again if you don't want to."

"What do you say, little baby? You want to go Human-hunting?" Kashisha asked playfully.

"Oh, it's not his choice," Sanaika told her. "Now, you and the others can stay here and babysit your little brother while I deliver this twerp to his date with a Human."

"Aw, we wanted to come and watch!" Kashisha complained. The other Glalie griped, as well, and one of them even snapped at Sanaika in her outrage. Sanaika calmly turned towards the offender. His eyes suddenly turned a blazing white, and with a resounding crack, he struck her with Sheer Cold. His would-be attacker's eyes rolled back, and she dropped heavily to the floor, unconscious.

"You brain wrecks! We can't all gather at the exit like that!" Sanaika then exclaimed. "Do you not realize how conspicuous we would be? What if we were spotted by some ball-chucking Human, huh? Or worse, by the authorities? Now, all of you, stay put, or else you'll all find icicles where you'd rather not."

With that, Sanaika seized Solonn very harshly in his jaws and set off into the warren with him. He carried the Snorunt through a series of tunnels which led, much to Solonn's surprise, up to the very same cavern where, all those years ago, Solonn had met Sophine and her mother. Then, Sanaika left the cavern, and he sealed the exit behind him with a wall of ice.

Solonn knew that there was no way for him to get through that ice wall. Barriers like that one were commonplace in the warren, existing to control where Snorunt could and could not go. The ice of which they were made was too thick for even his teeth, the teeth of a glacivore, to break through. It was reinforced with the raw power of the Ice element, and could only be shifted out of the way by means of cryokinesis. Snorunt did not possess that ability, meaning that only a Glalie could bypass this type of obstacle.

Thus, Solonn was stuck wondering what to do about his current situation - that is, until he remembered the tunnel which led up into this place from the snowgrounds. By his recollection, it ought to have been somewhere on the opposite end of the cavern. However, once he made his way there, he found that the secret tunnel had been blocked by another of those ice barriers. The Glalie had most likely sealed it off after Solonn had been found up here so as to prevent any other Snorunt from following suit.

So, it seemed, there was no other option for Solonn other than to sit and wait for some Glalie (and hopefully a decent one, not someone like Sanaika) to discover that he was here. He figured that he couldn't rightly get into trouble as he had last time, once he'd had a chance to tell of how, and because of whom, he had ended up here...or, at least, he hoped that he couldn't get into trouble.

Solonn found himself strongly wishing that he wouldn't have to wait much longer to be discovered, regardless of any punishment that might or might not be awaiting him. He was growing quite nervous about remaining in this place - but why? Other than a bunch of snow, rocks, and ice, all he had ever found in here before were Spheal and Sealeo, and nothing about them scared him.

As for those "Humans" that Sanaika had said Solonn would encounter here...Gods, that's not what you're afraid of, is it? Solonn thought incredulously. Don't be stupid, he scolded himself silently. You know there's no such thing as Humans!

"Well, well, well. I just knew that if we kept coming back here, we were sure to find one sooner or later."

Startled, Solonn jumped at the unexpected, somewhat gruff-sounding voice. He turned towards its source. Standing only a couple of feet away was a blue, somewhat canine beast, with yellow fur that stood on end in severe spikes about his haunches and front paws and formed a diamond-shaped mane about his head - a Manectric, but Solonn had no way of knowing that. The Electric-type had managed to sneak right up behind Solonn, completely unnoticed until he had spoken.

"Who...who are you?" Solonn asked nervously.

"Oh, there'll be plenty of time for introductions later, buddy," the Manectric said. He then unleashed a chilling, wavering Howl, the sound of which was magnified and echoed manyfold by the cavern.

As the Howl faded, another sound became audible. Solonn recognized it as the sound of snow crunching underfoot, but these footfalls sounded much heavier than those made by his own feet or those of any other Snorunt. The footsteps were approaching swiftly, and soon, their owner came into view.

For a very long moment, Solonn's mind went blank at the sight of the newcomer. The creature that now stood a short distance before him possessed long limbs, a small head, and thick layers of some strange material covering almost every square inch of her skin.

They do exist, Solonn realized. Impossible though it should have been, this strange being who had just arrived on the scene uncannily fit Sanaika's description of a Human.

"Ah, Brett, you found one! Good job!" the Human said brightly. She did not sound "retarded" or "idiotic" as Sanaika had described; rather, Solonn found her voice to be actually quite pleasant.

The Human then detached a red-and-white sphere from its resting place at her hip. It expanded in her hand, more than tripling in size. "Come out, Aaron!" she said.

At the Human's words, the sphere burst open at its equator. Energy exploded from within the sphere in a surge of white light, and then, incredibly, it coagulated into a living creature. Solonn was now beholding the form of a Sceptile, a green, bipedal reptile with a long, bristly tail.

"Don't be afraid, Snorunt," the Human said gently. "We don't really want to hurt you. We're going to make this as easy on you as possible. You won't even feel a thing."

She looked towards Brett, and then towards Aaron. "Thunder Wave and False Swipe, please," she instructed them respectively. The two Pokémon gave quick nods of acknowledgment, then began moving towards Solonn. Brett's fur crackled with dancing sparks of electricity, while one of the bladelike structures at Aaron's left wrist took on a white glow.

Where others might have screamed, fled, or perhaps attacked out of fright, Solonn only stood and stared, transfixed and almost mesmerised by disbelief and fascination at the Human and the two Pokémon who accompanied her. He seemed not to even realize that he was being attacked until it was too late.

Brett released a small pulse of Electric-type energy. Solonn cried out at the initial pain as the attack struck him, but a second later, that pain was gone - along with all other sensation within his entire body. The Manectric had paralyzed him. He could no longer move or feel. His legs gave out from under him, and he toppled over onto his side.

Aaron was now standing over him, peering down through eyes of a dull yellow shade as he raised his glowing wrist blade. Solonn could not see this, however. His view of Aaron was limited to the forest lizard's tail and clawed feet. He did not see the careful, precise strike that left him on the sheer edge of consciousness, and just as the Human had said would be, he did not feel it, either.

"All right, that ought to do it," the Human said. From a pouch strapped to her shoulder, she produced another of those spheres. This ball was different from the previous one in that its upper half was teal rather than red and bore two red stripes.

Barely able to remain conscious, Solonn's mind did not quite register the Human's next action: She threw the ball at him. It opened in midair before him and released a beam of red energy, which struck him and filled his fading vision with crimson light.

One second, Solonn was lying paralyzed and nearly unconscious on the cavern's floor. The next...he was nowhere.



A/N: A little history on the name "Kashisha": One of my cats will, invariably, hiss at me whenever I say that word to her: "Kashisha!" ("Hiiiihhhhhsss!") And none of my other cats respond that way to that word. Weird, but true.

Next time: The intentions of Solonn's captor are made clear. See you then!