One chilly morning, there was a forest. And in that forest was a river. And by that river was a bunch of rocky ground. And on that ground a gray tabby cat was waiting, tail twitching, ears pricked for the slightest sound. He had the air of someone who knew they were not where they were supposed to be, yet he was determined to stay.




After several long moments his ears swiveled forwards, faintly detecting a familiar sound. Across

Shay’ra stood outside a worn temple—her temple—and stretched her dark brown wings. Her golden-brown fur shone bright in the desert sun as she gazed over the vast view from the temple’s perch on a hill. Her green eyes blinked a few times as some dust threatened to blind her. Her long tail twitched in excitement at the prospect of a new day for the sphinx.




There was just one problem. She was alone. There wa

2 Months Later...




I stretched as I walked through my appartment. I noticed a report lying in my mailbox. About time.




We had landed successfully. Upon landing we were recieved by the technician team who had not had contact with us since our jump, several news reporters and the director of our space program. Needless to say, our mission report received a lot of at

“Launch is in 15 minutes, I repeat, launch is in 15 minutes, all crew report to your stations.”

I slipped on my compact pressurized suit, similar to ordinary clothes, aside from the gas mask-like helmet that went with it and the clothes attached together to form a sealed enviroment for the user. I picked up a compact folding rifle and strapped it to my leg. I was running security for the space exploration mission Blackout 71. Though in all reality, “sec

I trudged along the cold street. It had been a long day at work, and I was ready to get home. I glanced around the snow-covered landscape of Iccirus City. To most people winter here was bleak and depressing. To me...it was beautiful...the world coated in shimmering white, every tree trunk in sharp relief against the ground, the houses sculptures of icicles and snow. This was my element.




I continued on. I arrived at a blue bungal

(Part 1?)




My eyes fluttered open, the dawn sunlight sneaking its way into my hole under the fallen tree. I crawled out and stretched, my blue-gray fur shining in the sunlight. I looked around, choosing a random direction to set off. I would likely never return to this place in my wanderings.




I began to pad along quietly, smiffing ever so often for prey. This see

Day 893—Unova War




<i>33 years before Ash’s Journey...</i>




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<i>Two and a half years ago, war broke out. Somewhere something happened, something happened that made all the pokémon turn hostile. Then the killing began. Trainers who were brutal were unl

“Yes, yes, I know the forest is supposed to be cursed. Yes, I know I came back with a hurt leg. YES, I know there ARE vampires in the forest! I’m still going back!”




The salesperson in front of my looked at me wide-eyed and shook his head. “No, no!” He spoke with a thick accent. “You were lucky to escape alive! You must not go back!”

I glanced around at the rather intimidating trees around me. I felt to make sure my gear was in place: backpack with supplies, multitool knife in pocket, and pistol strapped to my belt. I was going to investigate rumors of a missing aircraft coming down in the forest. The locals had tons of stories, legends of ghosts, vampires and giant animals. I brushed them off as the imagination of drunk woodsmen, but I still went armed. There was still the chance there could be real dangers. It at least gav

Kael sat in quietly in his rough chair. He was trying to keep himself out of people’s attention—sitting near the back corner, but not so far as to be obvious. He sighed. Old habits died hard. He wasn’t back in the Empire. He was still in safe territory.




He looked at his half-empty beer glass. He saw his reflection, a simple face, blue, honest eyes, and black, rough hair. He had always appreciated the fact that