Just a note: all the email used in the pilot were real.

--

Riza's eyes fluttered open and she groaned in agony. Every muscle screamed at her not to move, but she did so anyway. She stared at the unfamiliar surroundings, still-sleepy mind not quite processing them. She was outside: she could hear birds chirping and feel a cooling breeze on her face, but she didn't know how she'd gotten there. The last thing she remembered was her stepfather... and the gun...

When she finally managed to turn around, her eyes fell on someone matching a description she knew well.

"A-Ari...?" she croaked, nudging the older girl's unconscious form. Her eyes snapped open and she stared at Riza.

"Bloody hell... Riza, is that you?!" she asked incredulously.

"Y-yeah... where are we?" her voice was no more than a whisper.

"I don't know. I'm just glad you're here..." she gently traced one of the more grisly bruises on her smaller companion's jaw and frowned, "He did this to you...?"

She nodded.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him...!"

"No... It's no use..."

"He can't hurt you and get away with it! I won't let him!"

"Ari..." her eyes filled with tears. It was too much: the pain combined with the emotional strain of finally seeing her best friend was threatening to overload her brain.

"Shh... come here, sweetie..." she took the girl's thin, starved frame into her arms, where she broke down completely, heaving enormous, wracking sobs that threatened to shatter her in her current fragile state. "Shh, it's okay... I've got you... shh..."

"A-Ari," she choked out, "We need to figure out where we are..."

The older girl watched in mild fascination as a boy ran past with a bellsprout. I guess if you want it bad enough...

"Er, I think I already know... remember how you said the only way out of it was to be magically transported to the pokémon world?"

"You're bluffing."

"No, I don't believe I am..."

She looked around in disbelief, only to find that the 'birds' she'd heard earlier were actually pidgey and spearow.

"Bloody hell..." she breathed, eyes wide.

"I think it might be a good idea to find a pokémon centre. They'll probably be able to tell us where we are. And, well, if we're here, why not our pokémon?"

--

"Oh my God... they're here... they're all here, all of them..." Ari stared at the screen of the PC, hands trembling as she picked her six. She nearly dropped the pokéballs as they materialized. "Your turn..."

"R-right."

Riza stepped up to the PC and logged on the Pokémon Storage System. She scanned the rows of pokémon, searching for one in particular.

Shiara/Typhlosion

Female

Level 98

Item: Charcoal

OT: Riza

"I- I can't do it..." she squeezed her eyes shut as if hoping the PC would be gone when she opened them again.

"You have to do it sometime. Don't worry, I'm right here."

"Alright."

Steeling herself, she selected her six, including Shiara.

"Let's go someplace more private, I doubt everyone else has a Mew and a Salamence with them," Ari laughed. Riza gave a half-hearted grin.

"Heh... I thought I saw a grove of trees earlier that looked sort of private. We can go there," she said, turning to leave. She walked as quickly as she could without jarring her ribs or wrist.

They were halfway to the grove when she felt the familiar welling in her throat.

"Oh, no... It didn't follow me here..."she whispered before bending double with the force of her coughing. She groaned and wiped her bloodied hand on her black shorts.

Ari's eyes widened.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were coughing up blood...!" she said, astonished.

"Why would I be kidding? It's not usually this bad, though..."

"That's it. As soon as we see our pokémon, you're going straight to the ER!"

"Ari, no. I'm fine. Really," she protested.

"You are not fine. Now let's make this quick, you need medical attention." They arrived at the cluster of trees in a minute or two.

"One at a time?"

Ari looked at Riza and nodded.

They simultaneously tossed their pokéballs, each containing their closest companions. The red light burst out and formed into a Charizard and an Umbreon.

"Szeren!" Ari cried, racing to the great orange dragon. The Charizard hurred and gave a gentle smile, enveloping her surrogate daughter in a loving hug.

"Ari. I always knew you'd find your way here sooner or later."

"Szeren... I'm really glad I did..." her voice was muffled, but she knew what she was saying all the same.

Riza's reunion was much the same.

"Andromeda... Dear God, it's really you..." she whispered, awed. She reached out to the black-and-gold creature, burying her face in her warm fur.

"Yes, my daughter. It is really me." She nuzzled under her daughter's chin, rejoicing behind the calm exterior.

When they pulled away, however, both mothers' keen eyes locked onto something Ari's had not.

"Your wrist is broken."

It wasn't a question. Riza looked away guiltily and Andromeda gave a low growl of fury.

"He will pay for what he has done to you, my daughter," she vowed, fur bristling, "I shall find a way."

Ari's own eyes reflected the same rage, and even Szeren seemed to seethe in anger.

"You're coming to the hospital. Now." Ari ground out, trying not to scream.

"All right," Riza sighed, squirming under her mother's glare.

"Why did you not fight back?" Andromeda asked, nudging her leg to get her moving.

"He- he had a gun... I was scared..."

"May I offer assistance in slaughtering this man?" Szeren asked.

"You may."

"Hey, don't forget about me! I'm gonna drill rip his balls off...!" Ari put in, clenching her fist.

They walked quickly, Szeren or Andromeda occasionally nudging Riza along. She was reluctant to go to the hospital, partly because she was afraid just how extensive the damage was, and partly because she was unused to being cared about like this. She'd been pretty much on her own since her father had died, and although she knew her birth mother loved her, she'd never truly worried about her like these three did. It was an odd experience, but she liked it.

Ari held her breath as the doctor came out of the exam room.

"Well?" she demanded.

He sighed.

"She has six broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and her wrist is shattered. Also, there are several stab wounds, the deepest of which is three centimetres, and there's a lot of internal bleeding. Honestly, I don't know how she's still even alive. She's awake, if you want to see her."

The pink and black haired girl didn't even wait for him to finish speaking before she bolted out of the room, Szeren and Andromeda by her side.

Riza jumped as the door of her hospital room slammed open and she was thoroughly glomped.

"Ari... can't... breathe..." she gasped.

"Jeebus, Reez, don't ever scare me like that again!"

"Ari, I'm fine," she protested.

"I repeat, you are not fine," Szeren agreed, nodding decisively.

"The doctor says you have to stay here until you're healed, but at the rate you're going, he says it might only be a few days."

"Mother Mew..." Riza whispered, awed.

"I know! It's amazing!"

"No, this is Mother Mew's work! She spoke to me... when he shot me... She's why we're here!"

"HE SHOT YOU?!"

"Did I forget to mention that...?" she laughed weakly, finding the entire thing, for some reason, inexplicably funny.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!!"

She could only laugh harder, just happy to have the friends.

"I-I'm sorry, I just can't stop...!"

The other three began to chuckle as well, until they were all laughing as hard as they could for no reason at all.

"Er, I don't think this is the right room..." they heard a voice say.

They turned, wiping away tears of mirth. A boy (was it?) with long purple hair, emerald green eyes, and a midriff-baring Cacturne cosplay stood in the doorway, looking rather awkward.

Ari and I looked at each other. Then the boy. And simultaneously squealed in a moment of Harley-induced weakness.