By the moonlight [open]

[Kore]

To say I was pleased that my new friend was also my old friend, would be an understatement; he felt the same way, obviously. But things weren't the same as before. Before, Jig would jaunt about in the sunlight, enjoying the warmth and singing merry little sings, whereas now, he generally stayed quiet. It made sense in a way, that death and subsequent rebirth would... sort of... quell the innocence of youth, but a part of me missed it. It was probably different for him too. I hadn't returned home to see my family yet. I would eventually, of course, but for now, it had to be like this. Jig and I had to get to know each other again, and that meant training together.

I pulled out my pokedex, first of all. I knew little about my pokemon's new incarnation, other than the obvious.
A glare from its single scarlet eye makes even burly grown-ups freeze in utter fear. It is a nocturnal Pokémon that roams about under the cloak of darkness. Making itself invisible, it silently sneaks up to prey. It has the ability to slip through thick walls. It doggedly pursues its prey wherever it goes. However, the chase is abandoned at sunrise. And It loves the crying of children. It startles bad kids by passing through walls and making them cry. "Well, aren't you a peach." I chuckled. "Chasing bad kids through walls throughout the night so you can hear them cry?"

Jig made a scary face and wiggled his arms, "Oh, sure, terrifying. Why don't we try not to scare small children though. It says you're more comfortable at night, is that true?"

Jig glared at me until I realized, I got him today. He's never seen midnight through his current... eye. "Ah... scratch that. Never mind." His eye rolled about in his skull and the snark in his cry was undeniable. "Yeah yeah. Wanna take a nap in your ball, until tonight?" He nodded, bobbing in the air slowly. "Alright then, Jig. Sleep tight."

[Zophiel]

Within the forest, a subtle ember turned quickly into a bright flame. I sat on a fallen log, writing in my journal. -- Ralts and I did some exploring today in Turnstone forest. Not to find some poke'mon, but to learn about the area and get a sense of what were dealing with. I'll head into town tomorrow and buy some poke'balls. I'm running out of yen though. So it's gonna be tight. --

I finished with what I was writing and silently put the pen and notebook into my side pack. Looking toward the fire, my food was cooking nicely. I had caught a couple Rattata in some snares earlier and wasted no time in skinning them and preparing them to eat. I looked over to Ralts who was nearby snacking on a berry. "Come on over here." I said with a smile, beckoning my friend to come closer.

As the little psychic poke'mon trotted closer, I moved from my position on the log to the ground to be closer to him. Once he arrived, I pointed toward the cooking poke'mon on their sticks. "You see there Ralts? Nature provided me with tonight's meal, just as it had with your berries. So we must give back to the land as it has given to us, understand?" I said, rubbing my hand over his head. Ralts looked quizzically at me though. It was still young, and we were trying to learn to understand each other; however, I felt that we were slowly beginning to in very vague ways.

"It's ok if you don't. Just remember that we are all connected, and to take a life is a very serious matter. Only do so if absolutely necessary." I added with some concern in my voice. Though I hadn't been through any truly traumatizing experiences, I had come to adore the wonders of the wilderness. My respect for how nature worked: life, death, and rebirth.

But I digress, in a few minutes my meal was ready and I began to feast on nature's bounty. Ralts on the other hand, looked up into the sky at the stars. I couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to figure out what I had told him while he was in his egg. I smiled, and poked him on the back of the head. "Why don't you go plant the seeds from the berries you ate so that more can grow." I suggested before taking another bite of Rattata. He looked at me and then turned to shuffle back to where he was eating to pick up the seeds. With a busy expression, he began the work of digging into the ground to plant the seeds while we enjoyed the evening together.

[Kore]

Once Jig was safe and sleeping in his ball, I tucked him in on my hip. I had a few pokeballs- relics from before- and a few I'd bought in the store, to adorn my hips as well, but it was obvious, somehow, just looking at it, the one Jig lived in. I smiled and patted it softly as I began to explore. As I explored, the sun went down, and I, without realizing it, was left now, in the dark, so I sat down and released Jig. "Hey there sleepy." I said as the bright red light of the ball illuminated for a moment, our surroundings in an eery red light. It turns out, Duskull's eye glows in the dark. I chuckled at the realization.

"Ok, so, I've looked around, and over there." I pointed to the west, "Seems to be a nice, moonlit clearing. Whaddya say we go train?"

Jig nodded, and started drifting toward the clearing as I stood up. "Hey, buddy, what kinds of things can you do? I mean... ghosts can become invisible, right? And can't some of them use telepathy?"

Jig hissed, "Duskull..." before fading from view.

"Jig?" I stopped, surprised, and then he reappeared, "You did it!" I grinned, "Ok, how about telepathy?" Jig turned about while floating and seemed to be concentrating really hard. "I'm not getting anything, buddy."

He deflated a bit then apologetically whispered. "skull."

"Nah, no problem. It was just an idea." I hugged him. "Let's..." Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something. A light. "Hey... what's that?" Jig shrugged. "It might be a pokemon, or it might be a person..." I looked at him, "Let's say you and I go check it out, friend?"

He nodded, and changed course. Of course, we crept along, Duskull whispering his name for effect- the naughty pokemon wanted to try out that scaring thing. Pokemon or human, most things were afraid of ghosts- and I tried to keep as quiet as possible, avoiding crunchy leaves, to step on loamy or mossy soil where possible, until we arrived. There was a boy. He was eating... rattata? Ew. I looked at my pokemon, and he looked at me, before fading from sight with a whisper.

"No- Jig." I breathed, "You can do that next time-" But he'd already entered the firelight, and reappeared before the boy's pokemon- a ralts- with a sudden "DUSK!"