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This is the chapter where everything starts to get weird, and it will only get stranger from here. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

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I sat on the dock with my legs hanging over the edge, suitcase on one side, guitar on the other. It was another perfect day in paradise, just like the one before. Thankfully, it was the last one I'd ever see.

My parents had finally gotten it through their heads that there was nothing they could ever do to make me bend to their will. Therefore, they hired someone else to do it. While I was out snoozing in the forest and avoiding work, they were busy forging my signature on a contract and making arrangements to have me moved to a house in Sandgem town.

Apparently, I was to work as a research assistant to Professor Rowan for the next two years.

If it meant getting off this God forsaken rock, I was all for it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I still have no interest whatsoever in being a researcher and would end up hating my job. It's stupid, it's boring, and in some cases, downright cruel. However, I'm being taken out of isolation, I finally get my guitar back, and, with luck, I'll never have to see my parents' ugly mugs ever again. Sounds like a win to me.

Even so, in an effort to annoy me one last time, they were making me sit on the dock for hours while I waited for the boat to dock.

To quote my dad "You don't LIVE here, so why would we let you STAY here?"...yep...that's some quality parenting right there.

I leaned back against the floor, using my back pack as a head rest. If I had to wait here, I might as well be comfortable.

My eyes started drooping as I suddenly felt very tired.

You'd think after an entire day of sleeping yesterday I'd be wide awake right now...why I'm I so...

My arms fell limp to the ground as I suddenly passed out.

...

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in what can best be described as a dark version of Alice in Wonderland. I was standing on a seemingly endless black and white checkered floor, yet there were no walls and no ceiling, just empty blackness in every direction.

There was a bright flash of light behind me, and I turned around to see a humungous, blue door.

"God I hate these dreams." I thought out loud. "The dreams where you know your dreaming yet can't figure out how to wake up. Whatever, not like there's anything else to do."

I reached for the handle and jiggled the knob, only to find out that it was bolted shut.

"Well that's just pointless." I lamented to myself. "Why would there be a door here if I can't go through it?"

Fear not young one.

I flinched at the sound of a deep bellowing voice. Of course, what it said only caused me to freak out more. Come on, A loud voice comes out of nowhere and you expect me not to be startled.

"Who are you?"

My name is unimportant at the time, but fear not. If you wish to enter, you must sign the contract.

"What con-"

Before I have time to finish the question, a bright light blinds me, forcing me to cover my eyes. When it subsides, there is a table in front of me with a tiny piece of paper and an old fashion quill and inkbottle.

"uh...ok. That was weird."

You'll get used to it.

...Was he implying I'd be coming back here? ...I sure as hell hope not. This place is WAY too weird for me.

I reach for the quill as I read the only line on the supposed contract.

"I chooseth this fate of my own free will." I repeat. "What the hell does that mean?"

Do not worry. It simply says that you take full responsibility for your actions.

"I probably shouldn't...but why the hell not?" I say with an apathetic shrug. "It's a dream after all and I do this already anyways."

I quickly sign "Marcus Emerson" on the slip and drop the quill back into the bottle.

Excellent!

I flinch yet again at the sudden rise in volume. "Geeze, do you have to be so loud?"

He doesn't answer. Instead, the contract begins to give off a faint blue glow which quickly turns into another blinding light.

In a flash, the table is gone and in its place is a card floating in mid-air. I snatch it up and observe it.

It kind of looked like one of those fortune telling things. Gah...what are they called...tarot cards?

The back of it was almost all blue, except for the marking of a black skull, etched in the center. On the other side there was a picture of...well actually I don't really know what it is. It kind of looks like a lantern, but instead of a flame in the center, there was a half closed eye.

You have gained the power of the Hermit Arcana, the power to guide those who are willing to follow towards the truth. A light in the darkness for all those who need it. This is a very special gift, use it well. I groaned and facepalmed. "You do know I didn't understand a word of what you just said, right?"

All in good time, young one, all in good time.

"Screw this, I'm getting answers right here, right now." I said as I turned towards the door. I jiggled the handle and smiled when I saw it was unlocked. Without hesitation, I kicked open the door and--

...

"MARC!"

"OOF"

I woke up as I had the wind knocked out of me by little black fuzz ball.

I looked up at the small fox that was standing calmly on my stomach.

"Jesus, Zorua," I gasped as I tried to fill my lungs, "what the heck was that for?"

She glared at me with her piercing red eyes. "If you think you're leaving without saying goodbye you've got another thing coming."

I smiled at this. "Didn't figure you to be one for sappy goodbyes. And how did you even find out?"

She smirked mischievously and began wagging her tail. "You were right about one thing, your parents are idiots. I slipped right under their nose without them ever noticing."

I raised an eyebrow. "You spied on my parents?"

"Well when you didn't show up yesterday I figured you might be in trouble."

I felt a little guilty that she risked getting caught because I decided to take a nap, but pushed it to the back of my mind.

"Still, you shouldn't put yourself in danger like that, it could..." My voice trailed off as I suddenly realized something.

"Wait a second...are you speaking English?"

Her eyes widened at the question. It took a while for us to notice, but we could understand each other perfectly. I mean, sure, we knew each other well enough to understand the gist of what the other is saying, but this was different.

We could fully and completely understand each other, no translation, gesturing, or facial expressions needed.

Does this have something to do with...No...no no, no. It was just a dream, there has to be something else.

We sat quietly as we thought it over. "Well," Zorua said, trying to break the tension of this awkward phenomenon, "this will make things a heck of a lot easier."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I was wondering how I was gonna ask you something, but now I can just come out and say it." She sat on my lap, facing me and looked up at me with puppy-dog eyes that had years of practice behind them. "Marc, can you take me with you?"

I was a bit taken aback by her question. "Where did that come from?"

Her tone became slightly angry and she furrowed her eyebrows. "You know very well where this coming from. You've been my best friend for six years and now your leaving me on this stupid island with a clan that is too scared to even show their face. There's nothing to do, and nothing for me here, so please, take me with you."

"Zorua...I" I made the mistake of looking down into her eyes, which were now back to their cute innocent selves, and my heart melted.

GAH...cuteness overload...can't...resist.

Finally with a heavy sigh I nodded. "How can say no to that?"

She jumped up, wrapping her forelegs around my neck and tackling me to the ground.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She screamed while attempting to give me a hug. In reality, all she was doing was cutting of my air supply.

"Zor...ua...you know...I love ya...but...I love...breathing more." She released me and hopped off my chest. "Sorry." Without even turning back, she unzipped my back pack with her mouth and began digging through my things.

"Zorua, what are you..." I stopped as I heard a click and she disappeared in stream of red light.

Wow...she must really not like it here. Not that I do, but you'd think SHE'D miss this place just a little bit.

I began reaching for my pack to let her out again, but ended up deciding against. I doubt my parents will be coming out here to check on me, but if they did, it would be best if she wasn't in view. Not that they can actually do anything about it, but they'd be begging me to turn her into a little lab rat. It's best if I wait until we're on the boat. Besides, I need some time alone to think about what the fuck just happened.

Seriously, where did that come from? I sign a contract in a weird dream and now I can talk to pokémon? What was it he called it...Hermit Arcana?

Alright, alright, easy Marcus, breathe. Now, there has to be a logical explanation to this. There always is, you just have to think of it. Maybe it was a coincidence, I mean, Zorua and I have been best friends since the day I got here. Maybe we somehow bonded well enough to break the language barrier...ok, that sounds stupid too, but a hell of a lot more logical than "I signed a contract with a dream stalker".

It wasn't a good explanation, but I only had two, and I tended to lean toward the more logical one. Still...can't rule it out as a possibility. Note to self, Google search tarot cards and Hermit Arcana at next point of convenience.

*HONK*

I snapped my head toward the direction of the foghorn that sounded out from across the waters. My eyes widened at the sight of our transportation.

Completely forgetting about my current situation, I drop my jaw and shout.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!"

In actuality, I knew exactly what it was, but how the hell was that even possible?

Slowly making its way towards the docks was a freighter. Granted it was a completely empty freighter, but there was no way something that big was my ride, it couldn't even dock in this pitiful little wooden bridge we call a port. Yet, as it approached, it stopped a few inches from the edge, right in front of me.

All I did was stand there, taking in what the hell just happened.

I snapped out of it as a man in a crew uniform leaned over the edge and peered down at me.

"Oi, you." He spoke with an accent I couldn't quite place. "Are you Marcus?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but found that my speech was failing me. So instead, I just gave him a nod.

"Well come on then, get that arse moving, lad. We're on a tight schedule."

I scanned the hull for some sort of rope or ladder but found nothing.

"How the hell do I get up there?"

The crewman blinked and then face-palmed. "Sorry lad, I forgot, be right back."

He disappeared for a few seconds and returned with a rope ladder which he threw over the edge. The end of it landed at my feet. I stared at it for a few seconds, then turned to him again.

"What about my bags, I really don't feel like making three trips up and down this thing."

He responded by tossing a net overboard. I blinked in confusion, but then saw what he was getting at.

"Thanks man."

"No problem, lad."

I wrapped my suitcase and guitar up in the net, which he immediately began pulling up, and slung my backpack over my shoulder as I climbed the ladder.

I wasn't even halfway up before the ship started moving again, causing my feet to slip. I quickly looped my arm around one of the steps and pulled my feet back onto the ladder. Regaining my balance, I found myself staring at my house, which was slowly vanishing in the distance.

If this were a movie, this would probably be the moment where I realize that I'm actually going to miss my parents and I begin to cry over the fact that I won't see them ever again. However, given the circumstances, I lifted my middle finger in the air and held it until my house disappears from view.

"Oi, lad, get moving, I can't stand here all day."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I'm coming."

I barely made it over the edge of the boat before he began giving me a walkthrough.

"Right, so, we'll be dropping you off at route 219 just south of Sandgem. It should take about ten hours, and we'll inform you and your uncle when we enter route 220. As for your bags, just leave 'em there, we don't have any rooms for you and if you decide to move them yourself, they might get in our way. If that happens, we have no problems at all throwing them overboard. If you want to talk to your uncle, he and a research assistant are at the bow of the ship. Now, I have to get back to work, so, good luck."

He didn't give me any time to respond and took off towards the back of the ship.

I gave an apathetic shrug and reached into my bag for Zorua's pokeball.

With a flash of light, the small fox was standing on my shoulder. I immediately noticed something was wrong. Her eyes were wide and she was shivering rapidly.

"Something wrong?"

She clenches her eyes shut and shudders. "Never put me in one of those glorified prison cells EVER AGAIN!"

Although she was supposedly scarred for life, I couldn't help but laugh. "You do realize that YOU'RE the one that dived into it head first, right?"

She didn't reply. Instead, she jumped down, grabbing the pokeball from my hand, ran to the edge and spat it out.

"Geeze, overreaction much?"

She turned around and shot me a glare. "You want me to cram YOU in one of those things?"

I shrugged. "Point taken. But I'll have you know that I would have only used that during emergencies...and by that, I mean dying on the floor."

"Yeah yeah, I haven't forgotten your rant about keeping living things locked up. This just ensures that never, under any circumstances, will I have to go back in one of those things. Anyways, you mind filling me in on where we are?"

"Well," I began, "apparently my uncle has a friend with a freighter and he called in a favor. We'll be back on dry land in ten hours...give or take. Also, the professor himself is up at the front of the ship...so let's just stay here for a while."

"What, don't you want to meet your uncle?"

"HELL NO!" I say with a shake of the head. "If you were going to meet the man who you will undoubtedly hate for the next two years, wouldn't you put it off as long as possible?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Always the negative one, aren't we? Won't you even give him a chance?"

I sat down and leaned against the edge of the boat. "Well...he IS my dad's brother...so that changes my answer from "HELL NO", to, "hell FUCKING no". If he wants to meet me, then he'll come looking, until then, I'm getting some sleep."

Without another word, I closed my eyes and let my head fall onto the ledge of the boat. It was a total lie, of course. God knows how much sleep I've had in the last forty eight hours, but anything to put off meeting Rowan, I will gladly accept.

I heard Zorua sigh and flinched when I felt her crawl into my lap. I half opened an eyelid to see her curled up in a little ball. I was a little taken aback by that. I mean sure we were friends and all, but this just felt a little weird.

Still, I didn't have that heart to move her. She just looks so peaceful when she's asleep. Deciding to ignore it, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes again.

I began to feel very tired for no reason at all. I tried moving but it seemed like all the energy was being sapped from my body. I managed to get in one last conscious thought.

Wait a second...this is... just like...before...