His face was everywhere she could see. All across the main cobblestone road of Viridian City there were posters of a missing person on telephone poles, brick fences, iron bar gates, and dozens more littering the road. Kate strolled down the sidewalk when one of the posters landed on her sneaker, swept up by the wind. She looked down, observing the picture briefly. Between the phrase, “Have you seen this man?” and a reward and local phone number for information was the photograph of a young man's face in his early 20s. He was a tanned, slightly pudgy Caucasian with sandy thick hair falling to his shoulders, freckles, an unshaven chin, and uniquely bright, blue eyes. Kate kicked the poster off her foot and continued on her morning stroll, to their special place in Viridian Forest. It had never been the same since he left, but Leah promised she would stop by, too. If Leah could shed some light on this whole mystery, nothing would ease her anxiety more. He had been gone for so long now, no one ever seemed to care anymore. On the other side of the road, an old woman and a young child with a pichu on her shoulder looked casually at one copy of the picture, and kept moving. Not even a sign of sympathy for the man or his family, worried beyond doubt. Was she alone the one who ever noticed he was gone? It was two years ago when Kate first met him. His name was Stephen, though he preferred to be called by his alias, Wrathofautumn or just Wrath(as most people commonly said it.). When Kate had first asked him why, he merely said, “The name was too common.” He was preparing to begin a long-awaited journey as a pokemon trainer. For some reason, his parents kept him under their wing until he would turn eighteen. There were moments where he had made himself out to be rather bizarre, but there was something special about him that attracted her. In his own way, he was adorable and humorous when he tried not to be. Many things about the world were a mystery to him, and he blamed his parents for overprotecting him. It never mattered to her. He became an official pokemon trainer at the age of 20, taking two years to educate himself before finally making a trip to Pallet Town to earn the title. A small crowd was gathered there the day he was to leave, including his own parents. Kate was there, too, wishing him the best of luck. Before he had left, he admitted he had strong feelings for her. She had been kind to him, and he would never forget what she'd done for him. That was the last time she ever saw him. But something happened two months ago. She was walking past his house to visit a friend when she saw a pair of officers with the insignia Cerulean City on their shoulder patches talking with Stephen's mother. The officer was holding a pile of clothes along with standard Pokemon Trainer equipment. The distinct glasses caught her attention the most and she came to realize those were Stephen's clothes. After the officer left, she asked the Mother if something was going on. The mother told her to go away and not worry about it. It was two days later when the first poster was displayed in town. Afterwards, they began to multiply. Before long, the town was littered with missing posters of the same face. It got so bad, no one even cared anymore. But she still cared. Some strands of her blonde hair, recently dyed red and pulled back, dropped at her eyes. She brushed it aside. She had an elegant face with blue eyes and bright lips. She had become addicted to exercise and her appearance was beginning to thin out. She wore a white blouse and some new shorts, perfect for summer weather. Like Stephen, she also wore glasses, but unlike his, her lenses did not spontaneously pop out of the frames. Viridian Forest lay just ahead. Some new trainers sat at the side, making final preparations before entering the woods. With an air of confidence, she crossed pass a grove of oaks and the world changed. What was once an urban and predictable world became something wild and unfamiliar. A pidgey eyed a caterpie hungrily as it crawled along a shrub to get its daily nourishment. A weedle had strayed too far from its nest and now stood idle, looking every way in disorientation. Another caterpie was shooting a stream of silk around itself, evolving into metapod. Life was everywhere and anywhere. Bug-type pokemon were seen quite occasionally in the forest and it didn't make her as nervous as it did many years ago, with the exception of running into a beedrill hive by mistake. As long as she left them alone, they didn't bother her. She wondered how many pokemon Stephen had caught on his journey. God, how she missed him! There were times when she had wanted to be a Pokemon trainer like him, but her parents nagged her to get a proper education and a real job. If she had even perhaps come along with him, would she have been able to do something? She found the oak tree. Carved with an “S”, it marked where she had to go. Going around and behind it, she struggled through bushes and snagging branches until she reached a small clearing. No Pokemon ever came here to bother anyone, somehow. A odorless repellent, good still for another six months was sprayed around the borders. It was here that they had always met and talked about all kinds of things. Leah was already there waiting for her. Her blond-brunette hair was just recently cut to a few inches below her jawline. She had high cheek bones and smooth skin. Like Stephen and Kate, she also wore a pair of glasses. A scarlet bandana covered the top of her head and her brow. She wore a black sleeveless jacket over a white shirt with dust-covered jeans and a brass chain for a belt. Across the front of her pockets were pokeballs, five in all. She tossed one freely in the air, catching it and repeated. Her durable ankle-length boots scraped across the grass. She looked her way with hazel gray eyes, and smiled thinly. “You're late.” She said briefly. “I had to do something.” Kate found a comfortable spot on a tree right next to Rhiannon and leaned on it. “How long have you been waiting?” “Only a few minutes, no big deal.” Leah paced a few steps forward, compressing the pokeball and then returning it to its cache. “I was on my way to the Saffron City Gym when I got an email from you. You didn't say much about it.” Kate blushed. “There wasn't much time to talk at the time.” Leah turned around and lifted her chin. “You mind explaining what you tried to say before?” She nodded, standing back up. “Have you heard what happened to Stephen?” A shrug. “Only briefly. I know what little was explained in the national newspapers.” “What did they say?” “They didn't know much about it themselves.” Kate's expression dimmed slightly. “People are saying he's dead.” Leah tilted her head. “Are they really planning a funeral?” “I'm not sure what they're planning to do.” She heaved a sigh. “It's so frustrating. I wish I could know what happened to him.” Leah looked up to the sky. “It's high unlikely he was killed. His clothes were perfectly intact. No sign of even a struggle.” “But then where is he?” “There's nothing I can do about it. Neither can you. Maybe he'll turn up eventually.” Kate ran her hands through her hair. “I don't know. I just don't know. I wish there was something I could do?” Suddenly she looked up, her expression from concern shifting to confusion. “Did you just hear something?” Leah went silent for a moment, and nodded slowly. They both focused on trying to listen to it. For a moment, it sounded like a breeze, and then a whisper, and then it came out clear and strong in Jamie's head. “Do you wish to find him? “ Kate wondered who it was, yet didn't know how to talk back. “I am Gardevoir, once alive but now an agent of spirits. I came from another world to find a hero amongst your kind. Your friend, Wrath, was to be that hero.” “But why?” Kate spoke aloud, not sure if the being called Gardevoir could hear her. “Our world was in peril once, and he helped to save it. Now he lives amongst us, caring little of the life he had before.” A pause. “I don't understand.” “Is it your sincere desire to find him?” “Yes! Yes, I do!” For a while nothing resonated in her mind. “Very Well. I will take you to him. What of you, Human Trainer? Will you also come?” Gardevoir appeared to be speaking to Leah, yet Kate could also hear it. Leah looked up dreamily, her eyes focusing on nothing. “Yes. I'm a bit concerned too.” Something began to blow beneath them. “The world which you are about to enter is full of danger and peril. You may bring one partner with you.” She frowned. “Just one?” The breeze became a strong gust of wind. “Yes. Choose wisely.” Her eyes darted across her line of pokeballs. After half a minute, she pulled out one on the far right. “I'll take my Houndoom, Loyalty.” The gust became a strong whirlwind. Kate clutched at her clothes, afraid they'd be blown away. What kind of storm was this? “Before I can take you, I must understand the nature of your hearts. Answer my questions sincerely, please.” Kate wanted to take cover before the storm hit, but it never did. They took the time to answer Gardevoir's questions. The winds suddenly grew stronger, yet Jamie and Rhiannon managed to stand their ground. “I see now. Nothing that you've said is deceitful. It is time. Ride the winds to the World of Pokemon, humans!” Jamie was suddenly falling. The ground vanished beneath her and the trees and grass disappeared. She was twirling in a maelstrom of indigo, too panicked to realize that her skin was completely bare. Where in the world was she, and what had happened to Rhiannon? She tried shouting her name, but the winds muted her voice. Then Jamie's eye caught her, for a brief moment. In the far distance, Rhiannon was twirling around in the same state as well. But something was different. Somehow, she didn't look the same. Even afar, she was still human, a speck of flesh and hair, yet Jamie wasn't sure how to identify her appearance. Then she dissapeared into the distant clouds of shale and Jamie continued to fall, slicing through a thick blanket of clouds, the mist blocking all sight and rain drops tormenting her until it parted to make view of an ocean, a vast sea of water and churning waves growing closer and closer. Jamie prepared for the impact. The ocean gave way to her and she fell, the freezing cold stabbing at her like knives. She struggled to get to the surface for air, breaking free and took a breather before a gargantuous wave slammed her down below the surface once more.