21) Vacation

"I thought vacations were supposed to be relaxing."

"They are."

"Then remind me, why are we floating down this river again?"

"Who says vacations can't involve rafting?"

"Rafts aren't usually made of metal!" snapped a voice. The woman slammed a hand on the piece of bus they were currently on, just to emphasize her point. "For that matter, they usually come with actual paddles as well!"

"Well," said the man, "it's not like we knew we were going to get chased by that group of thugs on our vacation."

"Humph! Thugs we could have handled. But those people had authority on their side," said the woman snidely. "We could have handled them, too, but we'd have ended up legally taken in or something like that."

"You guys should stop squabbling and start paddling!" called the other, younger woman. She was at least practicing what she preached, as she was trying to steer the makeshift vehicle around rocks. However, the current was strong enough that she wasn't able to make for shore. "This could get dangerous! And I do not want to go through a fall a second time in a row!"

"What? You think there could be a waterfall ahead?"

"Why not?"

19-20

19) Gray

Two eyes blinked in the darkness. A shadow slipped through the night, blending in seamlessly with the shadows of landscape, of buildings, of the air. The night was ending, a thin seam of orange slowly seeping into the black, somehow changing it to gray instead of the dark orange one would expect. The shadow moved faster, as the blackness around it began to lift, revealing its silhouette much more effectively. This was not its time. It could not dwell in the moments of gray, the shadows and the shades. It could only dwell in the purest dark, or the purest light. But this night, it had gone too far from its lair. It would not reach it in time.

As the sun rose, the gray slowly dissolved. There was nothing in the landscape that the sun rose over, except for a spot of black that could have been the entrance to some sort of tunnel. But even that seemed to vanish in the light.

20) Fortitude

"You are very fortunate," the nurse tells me, as she hands me six Pokeballs. I know Skystorm is in one, and the Zigzagoon in the other. If I remember correctly, the rest should be empty, ready for me to capture other Pokemon to make them my own.

"Fortunate?" I ask.

"Yes!" she replies. "Most of the time, Pokeballs can contain Pokemon and prevent them from dying of poison, but since you didn't have any on you, your Wingull would most likely have died if your Zigzagoon hadn't come along with an antidote."

It's weird, hearing those two referred to as being "mine." But I guess they are mine, now.

"You showed great fortitude," she adds. "With a Pokemon injured like that, yet trying to press on and find this town. You obviously care very much for them, even if you don't have a license." She pauses. "Wait...why were you traveling without a license?"

Before I can answer, I hear the door being slammed open. That's a feat, considering this center's door is a sliding door.

"I've found you, Anna! You naughty girl!"

I know who it is.

And I run.

18) Rainbow

Two lone figures lay beneath the sky, looking up at the clouds floating by, flanked by a rainbow.

"We've come so far," murmured one. This one was most definitely human, or at least she appeared to be. She certainly had all the limbs necessary to make a human, her face had all the right features, but there was something off about them. Still, although the offness could be distinctly felt, you could look at her for hours and still not manage to figure out what it was.

The other one-it was definitely not human. It was much too small, for one thing. And no human had ever had a beak, or feathers. It was a Wingull, and he was the girl's partner.

"Skystorm, what do you think we should do next?" asked the girl, clearly worried. She had thankfully made it to the town without losing him, and the helpful Zigzagoon had joined the two of them. However, since she apparently had no Pokeballs with which to keep him in, he was currently being held at the Pokemon center. She had already filled out the paperwork, and was now simply waiting to be handed her trainer's license.

"I still have so many blanks in my mind..." she continued, rubbing her forehead. "I know all the species of Pokemon, but that's all I can remember, practically! I don't even know if training is what I wanted to do...but it seems I'm on my way to becoming a trainer, eh?" She gave a small shrug and managed to smile at Skystorm.

"Gull!" he replied. Anna took another look at the rainbow. The rainbow...a sign of hope and promises. She just hoped that would hold true.

17) Blood

"Ow!" groaned Kiran, trying to get his tail out from under the pile of books. He had been trying to dust them, but had unforunately misjudged their weight. And now he was forced to wait for someone to come save him-due to the angle he was trapped at, he couldn't free himself. And he just knew that trying to drag his tail out would damage either it or the books.

"Kiran!" called another voice. Aral appeared, looking quite annoyed. However, her expression quickly faded into one of concern, and she quickly crouched and began to carry books off Kiran's tail. After she lifted the last one, he slowly curled it up to see, and was not surprised to see the blood on it.

"Ugh, there's blood all over this book-oh god! Kiran, you're hurt!" Aral's tone turned into an urgent one, and she dropped the book she had been fussing over to look at Kiran's tail. He cocked an eyebrow in confusion, but allowed her to look over it.

"Oh, you'd better come along right away!" she muttered, dragging him off. He just shrugged. Since when did she get so protective?