---

Through the deep green, the shapeless visages encroach upon the small home. They numbered in the hundreds.

Unable to move, and with his eyes closed shut, he can still see them from all directions, or rather feel them.

They drifted in slowly from afar.

Now that they were close, Red could see their faces. Nyx, mother, Mewtwo, and many others, and now he could hear their silent whispers, and mocking laughter.

"You'll never amount to anything" "You thought we wanted to be friends with a retard like you?" "Human, I never liked you, I only saw you as a source of negative energy." "Fool of earth, what can you accomplish that I cannot? Give up!"

Unable to move, Red tried to argue with the countless whispers, but he was drowned out by the voices, "You're wrong, Mewtwo sent me away, not Nyx, he would never say that!"

"Nyx has left you, just like all the others"

"Will leave..."

"Leave leave leave leave leave, they all leave!"

"You're wrong! It's a lie, it's a lie!"

"IT'S A LIE!!"

The shadows were now overlapping, and floated a foot from his bed.

The whispers stopped, and the voices were replaced by mocking laughter, a laugh from each tormentor, and when combined, it made for a painful chorus.

.

"NOO!" Red abruptly sat up and opened his eyes.

...

"Had a nightmare young man?"

With shallow breaths and chattering teeth, Red rubs his eyes. He unconsciously turns to the voice, and he finds Madrik shifting the coals of the fireplace using a metal poker. Quag's chubby body was curled up next to him.

"Still clutching onto that ball fer dear life are you?"

Finally, Red noticed his right hand had been squeezing Bulbasaurs pokeball in a vice-like grip. The veins in his arms were visibly stressed.

Madrik joked, "Careful, young man, If you squeeze it any tighter then you might break whatever is inside."

Putting Bulbasaurs pokeball back on his belt, Red croaked out, "Sorry if I startled you, I don't usually dream, let alone..." -Madrik cut him off, "No need fer that, no need fer that" The old man chuckled dryly, and patted the chair next to him, "It's chilly in the early morning, why don't you come closer and warm up?"

Feeling cold, Red did as instructed and took a seat.

The two gazed into the fire for what felt like a long time, and by now the chill had dissipated from red's body.

Gazing into the fire, Red thinks quietly to himself, (That dream... am I afraid Bulbasaur will leave me too? Is that why I feel a jolt of fear whenever I think about letting him out of his ball?)

Feeling a bottle of emotions about to burst, a lump of crackling coal breaks the balance, and prompts Red to speak, "Before coming here I lost someone important to me. I thought he was my closest friend... We set off on a journey to change the world for the better, but now I wonder if it was a lie, and it was just my own wishful thinking."

Madrik tries to dispel the gloom, "If this person is important to you, then I'm sure fate will reunite you, then you'll meet again..." Madrik let out of a hacking cough, "You city folk are all uptight and troubled, but out here... Well, If you stay on this island long enough, then you'll find all the bad things in this world can't haunt you fer long, you'll see, you'll see."

.

With a humble breakfast of berries and dried fish, the three were out the door.

The sun began warming the land, but in the dark forest, it was cold.

Getting off the trail, the two traveled for a half-hour, and eventually reached a spotty clearing.

Red was gathering from a berry bush, while Madrik watched on. The berries had a similar texture and look to raspberries, but they were a little bigger.

while holding his fishing rod with his other hand, and letting it lean against his shoulder, Madrik commented while popping one of the berries into his mouth, "Maberries need a little sun to grow. In this forest, you'll often find them in clearings like this... They are a bit bitter, but when your teeth start to ache, then there's nothing better!"

Quag was stuffing them into his mouth from the other side while thumping his tail happily. A swarm of small pink hoppips floated around Quag. The small breeze created by the tail sent the small hoppips into the air, and back down again.

Red couldn't help but ask himself, (If I happened to end up on this island when I was transported, then would I feel this world was a paradise?)

Red Shakes his head as he remembers the half eaten staryu from yesterday, (No, I wouldn't.)

Coming to a decision, Red was about to reach for Bulbasaurs pokeball, when he suddenly heard the buzzing of wings. It sounded like a small helicoptor, but before he could react, he felt something that weighed nearly twenty pounds latch onto his back, completely covering his backpack.

Startled, he gets up and tries to shake the creature off. The weight lifted, and the buzzing sound resumed.

It didn't get far before landing on a thick tree.

Looking like a large googly-eyed ladybug, the creature gave a high-pitched squeak, "LEEY"

Madrik chuckled while looking up at the creature, "I think this little fellow wants his bush back. We have enough fer now, so let's leave him to it."

Red inspects the creature's potential, and the ledyba lights up with a silver glow!

Addressing the creature, Red politely nods, "It's all yours, please help yourself."

Madrik creased his face into a smile, as he begins walking, "Let's get back to the trail, the fish won't catch themselves!"

"QUAGGSIRRE!"

The curious and lightweight hoppips floated after them for a little while, but perhaps due to the chill of the forest, or their love of the sun, they soon returned to the small sunny clearing.

While moving back into the dark forest, Red mused, (On this island, most of the pokemon I've come across don't seem fearful of humans... That ledyba was even courageous enough to land on my back. Fear is the barrier to trust... If I could earn the goodwill of some of these pokemon, and find one or two willing to join me, then maybe... maybe coming here was a blessing in disguise!)

Before they got far, the buzzing ledyba once more attached itself to Red's backpack.

This time Red didn't shake him off, and Instead, he spoke softly, "Is there something in the bag that attracted you?"

"LEYDYYY"

Moving the backpack off his shoulder, the ledyba buzzed away, landing on another nearby tree, and looking down curiously.

Opening his backpack up, Red held up the small half-empty bag of the C grade bug type food, "Is this what you are looking for?"

Red caught the widening of the ledybas eyes, so he smiled, (This ledyba must have a good nose if he could smell the bug food through the backpack)

Pulling out a handful, he presented it before the ledyba.

Slowly crawling down the tree, the ledyba reaches Red's hand, and begins nibbling from Red's open palm. It tickled.

Finished with his meal, the ledyba flies off somewhere, while red shouts, "If you would like some more, than come visit me next time!"

Earlier, Madrik had paused his steps to watch the interaction between the two. He gave a knowing smile, but he said nothing.

.

Time passes, and as the three hiked down the trail, they found their path was blocked.

Seeing what had blocked their way, Madrik cursed, "Damn those sap spiders! the styri trees weren't enough for you, and now you web off the only good trail!?"

With a defeated sigh, Madrik turns to go back, "The buggers webbed all the way to the cliff, let's go back and find another way."

Looking into the glowing webs, Red frowns,

Madrik took a few dishearted steps back up the trail.

Meanwhile, Red boiled with a familiar emotion. Mewtwo's oppressive might, along with Nyx's betrayal, had left their scars In Red's mind. He felt powerless, and he had begun doubting himself.

But... this glowing web wasn't Mewtwo.

(Madrik might seem fine with it... But lately, I feel like I've been pushed around by circumstances out of my control, and compared to being left to die in the ocean, what is a little web of spiders compared to that? If I keep avoiding anything troublesome without a fight... then, won't the words of those laughing faces in my nightmares be proven true? And if these *sap spiders* web off the whole mountain, then we will have to face them eventually, and by then it will be far worse!)

"Wait," Red growled.

Stopping, Madrik turns around to find a young man glaring at the glowing webs as if it were his most hated foe. The strange change in Red had temporarily left him lost for words.

Keeping his eyes on the glittering web's, Red continues, "Madrik, can you tell me more about the *sap spiders?* "