Chapter 3 - The Deal

The Human's name was Morgan Rose Yorke. She was sixteen years old, and a resident of Lilycove, which was a very large Human settlement that lay across the sea to the west of Virc-Dho.

After capturing her new Snorunt in the Shoal Cave, Morgan had returned to Lilycove at once by means of her Claydol's Teleport technique. Following a quick stop at the local Pokémon Center, where her new Pokémon was restored to full health, she made her way directly to her house with her new acquisition in tow.

Now, in her room once more, she immediately let Solonn out of his Great Ball to give him his first look at his new home.

There were a number of things which Solonn felt upon his release from the capture ball. First came sheer relief, both at no longer being drained and paralyzed (he distantly wondered how he had recovered so completely and suddenly), and, to a greater degree, at just being out of that ball - its particular style of confinement had just been too surreal. He had been conscious all the while he'd been contained within that sphere, but had seemed not to actually exist. It was as though the Great Ball had reduced him to nothing more than a mind without a body, impossible though it seemed that such a thing should be. Trying to make sense of it seemed to achieve nothing more than a sore head, and so, Solonn pushed that particular matter aside for the time being.

With the mysteries of the capture ball no longer first and foremost on his mind, Solonn's focus shifted from where he had just been to where he now was. As he began to take in his surroundings, he couldn't help being fascinated by his new environment. It was a place of bright light, and of surfaces which were clearly not made of stone, ice, or any other material with which Solonn was familiar. He was presently sitting upon a soft-surfaced floor, gazing about at the furnishings that surrounded him. He immediately began to wonder about their purpose. The walls were particularly peculiar, for they were almost completely covered with images of Humans. Human faces, as widely varied as snowflakes, gazed upon him from all sides in groups of three to six.

Fascinating though they were, Solonn found himself less interested in the Humans in those pictures than he was in the words that accompanied them - words that were seen rather than heard. He had never seen such a thing in his life.

This was how Solonn discovered that he could read - though that ability did him little good here. The messages which these pictures bore made no sense to Solonn, for he did not know that these pictured groups of Humans were bands, and the messages included in those pictures were the names of those bands.

Of course, the Human who was actually live and in person within that room was an even greater source of fascination. Since his captor was no longer wearing the heavy clothing that had protected her from the cold of the Shoal Cave, Solonn could finally get a good look at her. Sanaika had described Humans as freakish, but looking at Morgan, Solonn only saw a creature which was different from himself, and even more different from the Glalie. Those differences did not make her ugly or weird; Solonn did not find anything at all unpleasant about her appearance.

Morgan was almost twice his height, with arms and legs that were much longer compared to the rest of her body than Solonn's limbs were to his own. Her skin was a pale shade between pink and beige. Her fur - her hair - was brown and extended from the top of her head down to her shoulders. Her eyes were large and malachite-green, and they held a bright, vivacious gaze. Her clothing presently consisted of a simple, grey shirt, baggy jeans, and black shoes. She was also wearing a thin, black belt around her waist, and attached to that belt were four capture balls.

The next thing Solonn noticed about his present situation was that the environment into which he had been brought was too warm for his liking, and he did not hesitate to tell Morgan as much.

"Er...excuse me," he began tentatively. "It's a little too warm in here...could you do anything about that?"

The Human merely stared at him in response.

Solonn repeated his request. This time, Morgan cocked her head a bit and smiled at him, but she still did not answer, nor did she make any move to change the temperature.

It was then that Solonn realized that the Human was not understanding a single word that he was saying. This did not make sense; every time before that Solonn had encountered a member of another species, they had been as able to understand him as were those of his own kind. Why was the Human any different?

Solonn wondered then if Morgan might understand him if he were to speak to her using a Human voice. As he considered it, his mind brought forth the memories of Morgan's voice as he had heard it back in the Shoal Cave, and he felt quite sure that he could pull off an imitation of that voice.

In sudden panic, Solonn began to tremble. To this, Morgan responded right away.

"Oh, poor little guy," she said, looking down upon him with a pitying expression as she knelt down onto the floor in front of him. "It's okay; you have nothing to be scared of."

At this point, Morgan opened her arms to Solonn, which only confused him. She then wrapped her arms around him and tried to lift him up, but he was quite heavier than she had expected. Solonn, meanwhile, did not like what Morgan was doing. For a moment, his instincts took over, and he tried to wriggle free of her grasp. He just barely managed to stop himself short of Biting her.

Finally, sensing both the futility of her efforts and the Snorunt's aversion to what she was trying to do, Morgan gave up and let go of Solonn. Shaking the coldness of her contact with the Ice-type from her hands, she stood and went to fetch a pillow from the bed. She placed it on the floor as something on which Solonn could sit and perhaps be more comfortable. The Snorunt ignored it completely, his blue eyes fixing Morgan with a penetrating stare.

The Human sighed. "Okay. I'll tell you what: I'll go and get you something nice, something which I promise you'll like. In the meantime, I'll give you a chance to get acquainted with a couple of your new friends. You've already met Aaron and Brett, but I have three other Pokémon friends. I'm afraid you'll have to wait to meet Sei until she gets out of the Pokémon Center; she's been pretty sick. But you can go ahead and introduce yourself to these two."

She removed two capture balls from her belt and released their occupants in twin surges of white light. The Pokémon that materialized then were two of the strangest beings Solonn had ever seen.

One of them was a steel-feathered, silver-hued avian. The razorlike edges of her wings, talons, beak, and tail glinted dangerously in the brilliant lighting of Morgan's room. There was something strangely disconcerting on a very primal level about this metal vulture, but Solonn could not quite place what that something was.

The other Pokémon was a peculiar, hovering being who looked as though its many pale red eyes had gotten greedy and taken most of its body for themselves. The head that held those eyes was quite large compared to its adjoined body, while the creature's limbs were rather diminished. Its black, rough-textured skin was accented with gold and silver patterns that adorned the Pokémon's chest and surrounded its eyes.

"The Skarmory here is Raze," Morgan introduced, indicating the silver Pokémon, "and the Claydol is named Ominous." She indicated the black Pokémon. "Oh...I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I?" she realized aloud with a small giggle. "My name is Morgan. Anyway, these Pokémon are some of my best friends, and I just know that, ultimately, you and I are going to get to be really good friends, too. See you in a few minutes," she then said, and then left the room.

For a moment, the Skarmory and the Claydol just stared at Solonn, and he seemed unable to do anything but stare back. He quickly began to wish they would stop it, particularly Ominous - it was just more than a little unnerving to have that many eyes staring at him from the same face.

All those great, red eyes left no room on Ominous's face for it to possess a mouth. Therefore, it was quite a surprise for Solonn to hear the Claydol speak to him then - although, it didn't actually sound as though Ominous was saying anything. Its "voice", if it could truly be called that, consisted of a rapid-fire series of low-pitched, hollow-sounding noises. Solonn got the immediate feeling that he could never replicate this voice, no matter how he tried.

"With your brain, nitwit!" Raze suddenly squawked, interrupting the Claydol.

Ominous winced, closing all of its eyes in unison and looking very embarrassed. -Sorry,- the Claydol apologized. -I should not still be forgetting about that...-

A second after Ominous had spoken, Solonn realized, astounded, that he'd not actually heard its words. Rather, even while Oth's actual voice had rattled on incomprehensibly in Solonn's ears, the words the Claydol was conveying had sounded within his mind, just as one of his own thoughts would do. Solonn wasn't quite sure what to make of this phenomenon.

-As I was attempting to say,- Ominous proceeded then, -the name by which Morgan called me is not my actual name. My true name is Oth.-

"My name really is Raze, though," the Skarmory said, slightly dismally. "I was born in this house, and that's when Morgan gave me that name. I don't think it's such a great name, but..." She ruffled her magenta-feathered wings in the Skarmory equivalent of a shrug. "So, what name did she give you?" Raze asked then.

"Er...I don't know," Solonn admitted. "My real name is Solonn, though."

-She must not have given him his new name yet, then,- Oth supposed.

"Maybe she isn't going to give me another name," Solonn said.

"Oh, she'll give you one," Raze said. "Maybe you'll like it, and maybe you won't. But you'll be grateful for it, and also grateful that you got landed with Morgan and not some other coordinator, because with some coordinators, you would just get called 'Snorunt'."

"...Coordinators?" Solonn had never heard of such a thing.

Raze cocked her head at Solonn. "You have a lot to learn," she said.

"Then you have a lot to explain," Solonn countered. "What is a coordinator?"

"Well, a coordinator is your Human coach and partner for the contests," Raze explained. "And before you ask: In a contest, you just basically have to show off your powers. You use them in ways that impress Humans. In your case, that means you can't just blow a couple of snowflakes at 'em and expect to win."

Somehow, the idea of "showing off" for the Humans was less than appealing. In fact, it rather reminded Solonn of being ushered off by Kashisha to show off for her friends..."Wait, why would I want to do this, anyway?" he asked. "What's in it for me?"

Raze's yellow eyes suddenly glittered with zeal. "I'll show you!" she said eagerly, and speedily crossed the room. "Come here!" she beckoned gleefully, standing before a semi-tall bookcase. After a moment of skeptical hesitation, Solonn complied. "Have a look at these!" Raze said cheerfully once the Snorunt had joined her, inclining her head towards something sitting on the top shelf of the bookcase.

"I can't see up there, Raze," Solonn said. He stood at barely more than half the height of the bookcase.

"Oh...oops," Raze said with a small, embarrassed laugh. Somewhat awkwardly, she used her beak to pick up the thing that she was trying to show Solonn and placed it on the floor between herself and the Snorunt.

Solonn peered at the object that had just been placed before him. It was a large, flat, plastic case. Through its transparent lid, he could see a collection of small trinkets - colored ribbons, each adorned with a little metal medallion. There were twelve of them; four were red, four were green, and four were yellow. The case also contained slots for eight more of these ribbons.

"The red ones are mine," Raze said, positively radiating pride. "The yellow ones are Oth's, and the green ones are Sei's. Now, yours, if I'm not mistaken, are gonna be blue."

"Hm." You sure are assuming a lot, Raze...Solonn thought. It was going to take more than just a bunch of blue ribbons to convince Solonn that these "contests" were anything of which he should like to have any part. "So," he said after a long moment's silence, looking up from the ribbon case and right into Raze's eyes, "this is what Morgan keeps us for?"

"Well, yeah," Raze answered. She then put the ribbon case back up on top of the bookcase, taking one last moment to admire her ribbons before turning her attention fully to the Snorunt.

"So...suppose I didn't want to be a part of these contests...would she take me back home, then?" Solonn questioned.

There was a prolonged silence. Raze and Oth exchanged awkward glances.

"Well?" Solonn pressed.

-Solonn...- Oth began hesitantly. -Morgan had been seeking a Snorunt to train for entry into contests for quite some time. She has spent many an hour composing routines and strategies for you...I do not imagine that she would want for her plans to go to waste, Solonn.-

"Well, maybe she can just go find some other Snorunt for the job," Solonn suggested. "Someone who actually wants it."

-I do not believe you would really want that,- Oth said intuitively. -You do not really wish for another Snorunt, possibly one of your friends, to be taken from his or her home just so that you can return to your own.-

Solonn stared agape at Oth for a moment. The Claydol was completely right; Solonn did not even try in the slightest to contradict it.

"This...this is your home now, Solonn," Raze said in a pale facsimile of consolation that she knew to be futile even as she offered it. "You'll get used to it eventually; I know you will."

"Yeah, of course you can say that," Solonn muttered, not really bothering to make himself inaudible. "You were born here."

"I - " Raze began to counter, but she couldn't quite find the right words with which to respond, and thus abandoned her comeback with a sigh.

It was then that the door opened as Morgan returned. She was not alone. Accompanying her was another Human female, one who was slightly taller than Morgan. This newcomer's eyes were the same vividly green hue as Morgan's, but her hair was black and much shorter. She was wearing a yellow sundress and white sandals, along with large earrings in the shape of sunflowers.

"There he is," Morgan said as she entered, indicating Solonn with her hand. "What do you think of him?"

"Oh, he's adorable," the other Human remarked. She stooped slightly to come a bit closer to the Snorunt's eye level. "Hi," she said in a friendly tone. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Eliza, Morgan's mother." She extended her arms to Solonn with an expecting gaze.

"He doesn't do hugs," Morgan informed her.

"Oh...Well, that's all right," Eliza said, withdrawing her arms and straightening her posture. "What's his name?" she then asked.

"I've decided to call him Azrael," Morgan replied.

Solonn gave her a funny look. That's really the best you could come up with?...

"Oh, that's lovely," Eliza commented.

Morgan smiled in response to her mother's remark. She then brought a small, styrofoam bowl forward, holding it out in front of Solonn.

Distracted by the arrival of the new Human, Solonn hadn't even noticed that Morgan had been holding the bowl. He now scrutinized it with uncertainty, edging somewhat closer in order to get a look inside. He saw that the bowl contained what looked like snow...except that it was blue and strange-smelling.

"This is for you," Morgan told him. "Try it; it's really good."

Solonn stared into the bowl for another second or two, then turned a skeptical gaze on Morgan.

"Go on, it's tasty. I promise you'll like it," Morgan tried to assure him.

Still wearing an expression of doubt, Solonn nonetheless took the bowl from Morgan's hands. He continued to hesitate for another long moment before, unenthusiastically, he dipped his hand into the blue snow, scooped some of it up, and put it in his mouth. The blue snow had a flavor that he could never have imagined, and it was, truthfully, as good as Morgan had said it would be, if not moreso.

However...the knowledge that his life had become one whose sole purpose was to perform tricks for people's amusement like some kind of jester, and that there seemed to be no way to return to the life he'd previously known, was now attending heavily upon him and leaving a rather unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. He did not feel like eating. With a despondent sigh, he set the bowl down and turned away from Morgan.

"Hey...are you feeling okay?" Morgan asked worriedly.

Solonn did not respond to her, not then nor following her several subsequent attempts to get through to him. More than once, she tried to tempt him with that blue snow, but he continued to refuse it. He could not change this new life, but, for a while, at least, he could try to ignore it and pretend as though it wasn't happening.

* * *

The remainder of that evening, as well as the night that followed, consisted of an awkward pattern of failed interactions between Solonn and his would-be coordinator. Morgan attempted time and time again to converse and be friendly with him, but each time, she was met with resolute silence from the Snorunt. After each unsuccessful attempt to socialize with him, she would leave him alone for an hour or so before giving it another go, only to fail to get through to him yet again.

To her credit, the Human was, at least, considerate enough to leave Solonn out of the mind-boggling pseudo-existance of confinement in the Great Ball through the night. Perhaps she had thought that this would offer her new Pokémon some time to grow more accustomed to his surroundings. However, Solonn viewed it instead as a potential opportunity to flee from the Human's custody while she slept.

Unfortunately, he found out very quickly that escape was not an option. The door was rendered an impassible barrier by a sliding lock, one which was installed in the door at a height that was beyond Solonn's reach. If not for the fact that Morgan's bookcase contained small, pewter Pokémon statues rather than books, he might have been able to stack up a few volumes as a means by which to reach that lock.

The window was positioned within Solonn's reach, but it did not offer an avenue of escape, either; Morgan's room was upstairs in a two-story house. Though by no means enjoying his present situation, Solonn wasn't inclined to escape it by possibly falling to his death.

Thus, he sat there on the windowsill, staring out through the window at its view of a bizarre and alien environment. Outside, Lilycove sparkled as streetlights and the headlights of cars shone in the night. This was not his world, not his place - although, he could not deny, it was certainly fascinating, even lovely to behold.

Though tired in many ways, most of which were not physical, Solonn found that he could not sleep. His eyes remained open and fixed on the city outside, watching as the rising sun brought a new day over the border of the horizon.

A couple of hours later, Morgan stirred nearby in her bed, awakening. Sighing, Solonn turned away from the window at last, wondering in which ways the Human would try to reach him today.

He received his answer quite shortly. Morgan left the room for a few minutes, then returned with more of that blue snow and set it down in front of him. He accepted it this time and ate nearly all of it, but only because he was earnestly very hungry. The Human smiled at him as she took away the empty bowl, then departed to take her own breakfast.

It was when Morgan next returned that she attempted to step up the level of interaction between herself and her new Pokémon a little more.

"I'll bet you're wondering why you're here, aren't you?" she said, her tone clearly intended to sound as kindly and non-threatening as possible. "Well, you don't have to worry. It's not going to be near as scary as you might think. In fact, I bet you'll have more fun than you've ever had before."

Morgan then proceeded to illustrate her intention to enter Solonn in contests, not really telling him anything he hadn't already heard from Raze and Oth the evening before. He pretended not to pay any attention to her, though in reality, he was, of course, absorbing her every word. It seemed that he was simply unable to tune out a foreign voice.

The day progressed, and Morgan continued to tell Solonn of the ideas she had concieved with regards to the routines he could employ in contests. As she spoke to him, he had to admit that she didn't sound as though she truly had any malevolent intentions for him. She wasn't really coming across as a Human version of Kashisha; she seemed only to possess a friendly desire to invite him into her strange little hobby, not a desire to prey on him in any sense.

Whether Morgan's intentions were benign or not, Solonn nonetheless was still not too keen on the idea of making a spectacle of himself, having learned all too well how doing such sometimes earned the wrong kind of attention. There was also still the matter of his captor's purported unwillingness to let Solonn leave if he so wished, which, of course, made it rather difficult for him to very readily accept any sort of friendship or partnership with the Human. Hence, as the evening found Morgan offering to initiate the first steps in Solonn's training, he refused her efforts to bring him into the role she had chosen for him in silent protest of his detainment.

That night, Solonn sat once again in the moonlight, contemplating his situation, as he perched upon the windowsill and gazed outside. Lilycove, that city of sparkling lights and boundless otherness, bore no resemblance to the world Solonn had known; nothing out there within the scope of his vision did. This left him quite certain that he was very far from home, too far for him to feasibly make it back there himself.

His eyes fell upon the bed where the Human slept peacefully. Solonn wanted to leave, to return home, but this creature would not allow him to do so.

Wait, though...how do I really know she wouldn't? the thought occurred to him. Raze and Oth had implied that Morgan had no intention of letting him go, but the Human herself had never said anything along the lines of, "You're never leaving. You're mine forever."

No, Morgan had never specifically mentioned anything regarding whether or not Solonn could ever depart her custody. Moreover, she did not even know that her new Snorunt desired to be returned to his home.

What if she actually knew that I want to go back home? Solonn wondered. He could really only speculate as to what her response would be, though, for the problem remained that she was, for whatever reason, unable to understand his speech. He could not communicate with her.

...Although, maybe he could. He had, after all, still not tried to see if Morgan could understand him were he to speak like a Human. However, he was still hesitant to attempt it, for the memory of what the last use of his mimicry had earned for him was still fresh on his mind.

The fact remained, though, that Solonn would likely never know how Morgan would really respond to his desire to be returned home unless he shared it with her. As he thought about it, it began to seem to him that he was doing himself more of a disservice by not giving it a try than by taking the risk.

Furthermore, Solonn questioned if there really was that much of a risk involved with exposing his talents in order to speak with this creature. True, he had gotten into trouble the last time he had presented this skill of his. However, as he considered once again, Morgan was no Kashisha; at least, not as far as he could tell. So, perhaps it wouldn't be like last time. Perhaps Morgan would simply hear him out, without making him sorry that he'd reached out to her. Perhaps...perhaps she would listen to his wishes...and fulfill them...

But then, Solonn found himself considering what Oth had told him: -I do not imagine that she would want for her plans to go to waste, Solonn.- Morgan had obviously had her heart set on entering contests with him. She certainly would not so readily abandon those aspirations. Solonn could tell her that he wanted to leave, but as long as she held these intentions for him, what chance was there, really, that she would let him go?

That's when the idea hit him.

Maybe, just maybe...a deal could be struck.

Solonn carefully gauged the distance between the windowsill and the bed, then sprung from his perch. The mattress yielded springily to Solonn's weight as he landed, yet Morgan slept on, snoring slightly. Solonn gazed at her from the foot of the bed. Her sleeping form glowed softly through the darkness with the heat of her body, giving her an almost spectrelike appearance.

Moving towards the concentrated glow that surrounded the Human's head almost as if it was a beacon, Solonn made his way to the head of the bed. Morgan's face was half concealed by a few errant strands of her hair. Solonn moved these strands aside, revealing the serene visage of his captor. It was interesting, the way that a creature whose practice was to abduct people from their homes could look so incredibly benign; pleasant, even. The Snorunt then reached down towards the Human's face again, this time drawing his hand slowly across her cheek.

Morgan stirred, but only very slightly. Solonn had assumed that the contrasting coldness of his hand against her warm skin would be sufficient to wake her, but now realized that he should have recognized her as a heavy sleeper when his jumping on the bed had failed to awaken her. He proceeded to begin prodding her in the temple, hoping that this would end her slumber. If it didn't, he was prepared to do whatever it took to awaken her. He was not averse to giving her a small Bite if that was what it took.

Luckily for Morgan (at least, compared to the Biting she would have otherwise received), Solonn's current efforts succeeded in waking her, if only because one of his prods missed its mark somewhat and found its way into her left eye.

"Hey!" she slurred, awakening instantly but not quite fully. She lifted her head slightly from the pillow, grumbling incoherently as she rubbed her sore eye. Once she had ceased this activity, she shook her head a bit in an effort to more fully awaken, yawning loudly as she did so. She then shifted and turned, sitting up slightly more and craning her neck awkwardly in order to perhaps get a look at what could have possibly just poked her in the eye. Her eyes, still blurry and adjusting to their resumed usage, just managed to make out the pointed silhouette of the Snorunt standing beside her. The light from the Ice-type's tiny eyes partially illuminated his face and reflected brightly off of the pristine, white surface of his great teeth, giving him a rather eerie appearance.

"Hello, Morgan," he said quietly, nearly whispering, in a slightly wavering, curiously feminine-sounding voice.

Morgan blinked sleepily at the Snorunt for a second. "...Hi," she said finally, the word almost lost in its emergence in the near-simultaneous release of another great yawn.

Then, she realized to whom and what she had just replied.

In an instant, she was wide awake, sitting upright and staring at the Pokémon beside her with greatly enlarged eyes. For a very long moment, response of any sort to the situation failed her. Finally, she managed a half-gasped, "What?"

"I said hello," Solonn said, his voice deceptively calm.

Morgan remained silently agape for another substantial moment before she seemed able to get her next words out. "...But...no, you can't..."

"Yes, I can."

"But...how?" Morgan asked, her voice rather strained.

"...I don't know how I can," Solonn admitted uneasily. He seriously didn't know how he was able to use the voices of others. Truly, it seemed that one day...he had just started doing it.

Morgan seemed to take a moment to digest that silently. "This is a dream," she then decided aloud, and began to turn away from Solonn and back towards her pillow.

"No, it's not," Solonn said. "And you know it's not." He leaned over her slightly, so that the light of his eyes shone almost directly into hers. "But if you want to be sure, I can Bite you. It'd hurt, and I'm sorry it would, but you'd be sure you were really feeling it, I promise you."

Morgan sat up once again. For a second, she was leveling a look at Solonn that suggested that she might have wanted to accuse him of lying, but that gaze faltered almost as soon as it had formed. She turned slightly, seeming less than willing to look him right in the eyes. "It's okay, Azrael. You don't have to Bite me. I...I believe you."

Solonn nodded slightly. "Good. That's good," he said, his words followed by a small sigh of slight relief. There went the first obstacle - Morgan seemed to have accepted that she could now understand her Pokémon. Hopefully, she could now be counted on to hear him out. "...But, Morgan? My name isn't Azrael. It's Solonn," he then said.

Morgan's expression momentarily turned to one of surprise, but quickly relaxed once more. "It shouldn't surprise me that you have your own name," she said, sounding a bit apologetic. "I bet a lot of Pokémon do. Like Sei Salma; she told me hers the first time she evolved, and I've been caling her that ever since. Before that, I'd been calling her Enchantress..."

Morgan chuckled slightly. "I liked that name, but she told me not to call her that anymore, so I don't. Now, Ominous...Sei told me what its real name was, and so, I asked it if it wanted me to start calling it Oth from now on - that's its name - but it said not to. I think it might have been worried about hurting my feelings by turning down the name I gave it...it's such a softie, really..."

"So...you mean you can understand Sei, too?" Solonn asked, a bit surprised.

"Yeah. But that's only because she's a very powerful Psychic-type. She has really advanced telepathy skills, and that's how she can make me understand her."

"Oth has telepathy, too. Why can't you understand it?" Solonn asked.

"...I actually didn't know that it had telepathy," Morgan said, sounding surprised.

Morgan, meanwhile, seemed to have found herself able to look Solonn right in the face again. Her expression now was one that spoke of burgeoning amazement. "...I'm sorry, I shouldn't be goggling at you like this," she said as she seemed to realize the way she was looking at Solonn. "It's just...God, this is so incredible. I thought Pokémon had to use telepathy to make themselves understood."

"Guess you were wrong," Solonn said simply.

"Guess so..." Morgan gave a soft laugh and smiled, her features exuding something that looked rather like pride - although why Morgan should feel proud, Solonn couldn't figure out; it wasn't as though she was to credit for his ability to speak to Humans, after all.

The Human's features shifted suddenly, becoming strangely unreadable. "Hey. Could you do me a favor, though?" she asked.

"...What?"

"Do you...do you have to sound like a girl when you talk?" Morgan inquired. A very odd look came over her face, widening her eyes, as she realized something. "Do you have to sound like me? How can you sound like me?!" she demanded, sounding alarmed.

"Shh! Try to keep quiet; I don't want your mother to wake up," Solonn urged. "And I already told you, I don't know how I do it."

"...Sorry," Morgan apologized, lowering her voice significantly. "But anyway, could you just...um, not sound like me? No offense, but it's...kind of weirding me out. Why don't you just use your normal voice from now on, okay?"

Solonn was about to respond, to tell Morgan that if he stopped using this Human voice, she would no longer understand him. But then, something caught in his mind. Why should what voice I use make a difference on whether or not anyone understands me? He could understand the power of telepathy making the understanding of speech possible by entering the mind and tricking it into hearing words it recognized. He, however, was no telepath, and he knew it.

How, then, was he achieving communication with this being who could not normally understand him? A different voice should still only produce the same words, not have the power to transform those words into others. If a creature, like this Human, could not understand his words, he should have to use different words to be understood. Their words. Their language.

The gears of his mind momentarily stopped turning as epiphany struck him like a falling stone.

The only way Morgan could be understanding him is if he was, in fact, speaking her language instead of his own.

And that was precisely what he was doing.

Solonn was stupefied. For the life of him, he could not fathom how this could be at all possible. How on Earth could he spontaneously be able to fluently speak a language which he did not, should not know, a language of which he had only heard a couple of handfuls of words? It was a staggering, almost paralyzing notion.

He swallowed hard, and his mouth went immediately arid afterward. He was fond of wondering, and loath to resist the urge to do so. But when the desire to understand was so savagely desperate...It was almost physically painful, knowing that there was something so strange, so wondrous in its seeming impossibility within him, and wanting dearly to know quite what it was and how it could be...but failing to do so.

If he had belonged to some other species, he might have begun crying in his astonishment. As it happened, though, by some idiosyncrasy in the biology of his race, his tears were not in service to his emotions. His internal struggle to fathom himself could only convey itself through the trembling of his body and the wavering of the light in his eyes.

"Is...is something wrong?" Morgan asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Solonn met her gaze, the earnest care behind the Human's verdant irises managing to register within his mind despite his own present internal chaos. He tried to respond, but couldn't quite decide what to say, especially since he wasn't quite sure of how he should say it. He should be able to use his own voice...it had to be the language and not the voice...but he still just couldn't quite believe it.

"It's okay," Morgan said. "If you're not comfortable talking to me in your own voice, you don't really have to."

Solonn closed his eyes. "No," he croaked softly, his throat feeling as though it was trying to seal itself shut. He was continuing to use Morgan's voice. "No, it's...it's not that."

To prove that that wasn't the issue, he determined that he would have to try and speak to Morgan with his own voice, while still speaking her language. He would just have to try and force himself not to let his mind be ensnared by the mental block created by the notion that he was doing something that should not be possible.

Solonn took a deep breath and forced himself to return Morgan's gaze once more. "It's nothing..." he finally managed. Conscious as he now was of the incredible thing that he was doing, the release of his every word felt as though he was pushing a boulder out of his mouth. Get a grip, he tried to command himself, you're supposed to be talking to her for a reason, remember? "Listen..." he began slowly, all too self-consciously. "I'm sorry I woke you up...but we need to talk."

Morgan nodded. "Okay. What about?"

"Well...it's about those contests..."

"You don't want to do them, do you?" Morgan said in a kindly, understanding manner. "I've kind of gotten that impression."

"...What?" Solonn was taken aback - he had not expected that the Human would have recognized his desires. Why should she, after all, if she didn't care?..."No...I mean, I'd rather not, but...I'll do them."

"Azr- Solonn...you don't have to. Seriously, if you don't want to..."

"No, it's okay," Solonn insisted. By the initial impression that he'd gotten from Raze's and Oth's words, he had imagined that Morgan would take great offense to his wishes to have nothing to do with the contests if she were to learn about them and would vehemently refuse to relinquish her plans for him. Yet here she was, ready to give up her intentions for him without any sign of a conflict. Solonn now found himself feeling rather guilty about his unfavorable preconceptions of her.

He sighed. "I know...I know you've been planning hard for a long time for this...and I know it means a lot to you. It's...it's not a big deal. Really. I'll do it...but only on one condition."

"What?" Morgan asked, sending a troubled, doubtful look into Solonn's eyes.

Solonn took another deep breath. "Okay. Raze and Oth...they showed me their ribbons. Four each. That's...that's how many I have to get, myself, isn't it? Four?" he inquired. Morgan nodded. "Okay. After I get the fourth one...you have to promise me, Morgan. After I get that fourth ribbon...you have to let me go. You have to take me back home. Promise me, Morgan. Or I won't do it."

"Oh, Solonn..." Morgan's gaze turned from merely troubled to earnestly sad, earnestly sorry. "If you want to go so bad, I'll take you home. Right now. I'll get Ominous out of its ball and wake it up, and we'll Teleport there right now - "

"No!" Solonn interrupted suddenly. His guilt had increased a dozenfold - not only was Morgan fully accepting of his wishes regarding the contests...she was even completely ready and willing to take him straight back home...and he had imagined her as immovably, irreconcilably possessive of him, as a creature who would never release his life from the grip of her own...

"No...I said it's okay, and I meant it," he insisted, managing to convey a firm conviction despite a shaking, unsteady voice. "I'll do this. I don't mind, I really don't, just as long as I know I'll be going home when this is done. That way...that way, we can both get what we want." He swallowed. "It's only fair...don't you think?"

There was a long silence, one that seemed to tremor along with the two who shared it. Morgan gazed with anguish at Solonn, silent until a strangled sound, the prelude to a sob, was cast from her throat. Her already brilliant, green eyes grew even brighter; not glowing like Solonn's own, but rather, holding a clear, brilliant sparkle not unlike that of the ice that glazed the walls back in the warren. With a single blink, those eyes released the source of their shine, as twin sparkling tears fell forth and formed streams down the Human's face that shimmered in the moonlight.

Solonn had never seen such a phenomenon in his life, and was immediately stricken by the beauty of it and the almost mystical way that it conveyed the Human's emotions to him. He could almost feel her anguish as if it was his own.

Morgan might have nodded then, but that motion was overshadowed by a sudden, forward motion that was halfway between lunging and collapsing. Her arms encircled Solonn, and she pressed her forehead against his. The Snorunt stiffened, initially surprised by and resistant to the unexpected contact, but he managed to relax fairly quickly.

"Okay," Morgan agreed, half-whispering, half-sobbing. "If you're really okay with this, then we'll go ahead with it. And then afterward, I'll take you home. I promise."

Solonn nodded, acknowledging Morgan's seeming acceptance of his terms. He had imagined that he would be greatly surprised should the deal go through. Now, however, he couldn't believe that he'd honestly expected that it wouldn't. Morgan cared as much about his wishes as her own; that much was now certain. She was perfectly willing to give him what he wanted. In return...in appreciation...and in apology for harboring such harsh preconceptions, too, although he did quite a good job of convincing himself that his sense of guilt had very little to do with it...he would give her what she wanted. It seemed only fair, after all.

The definite impression Solonn got from the Human was that her word could be trusted. One day, she would take him home. But, until then...

It was now, with the initial panic at the prospect of never again seeing home having gone and passed, that the opportunities of Solonn's situations dared at last to come forward and present themselves to him. Until the day arrived when he would return to Virc-Dho, perhaps he would get to encounter and experience more strange things...more wonders of which he could never have concieved...

Next time: In entering into the lifestyle of a contest Pokémon, a new era of Solonn's life begins...See you then!