[Welcome]

    I read the letters with little difficulty. My many hours playing the video games was paying off. Shawn needed help, so I asked, "Can you help me save my friend?"


    [No]

    Angrily I yelled at them, "What do you mean no?! He'll die if you don't help!"


    [He will die regardless of what we do]

    "No! He can't die!"


    [Had you come to us earlier we would be able to save him, but he is too far gone]

    I pleaded miserably with the floating letters, "You have to try! You have some sort of magical wish granting powers or something right?"


    [His spirit has already begun its departure from his body]

    The unown rearranged themselves.


    [We can enable you to speak with him one last time]

    They switched positions again.


    [But other than that there is nothing we can do]

    A transparent mesh began forming between each unown, and Shawn and I began levitating into the exact center of the swirling orb.


    [The rest is up to you]

    "What do you mean, the rest?" I asked confusedly.


    [Use your powers as an essence conduit]

    I attempted to stumble backwards but found it to be impossible while floating a few feet off the ground. "What the heck is an essence conduit?"


    [An essence conduit has the ability to absorb the essence of others]

    "What does that mean?"


    [It's an ability which could be quite dangerous in the wrong hands]


    [We feel that you won't misuse your powers, so we will help you]

    "Help me to do what? What will absorbing the essence of others let me do?"


    [There is not much time]


    [If you want to be able to talk to your friend, we must do it now]

    The unown who were conversing with me through their weird text-speak retreated to join the dizzying sphere of pulsating light. Beams of energy began shooting from the eyes of the unown and into Shawn's body. The brightness became overwhelming and I had to shut my eyes.

    "Hello, Elijah."

    I opened my eyes and saw that Shawn was standing in front of me. We had been transported to a foggy place that seemed to go on forever in all directions. The floor we were standing on was reflective and I could see myself clearly in it. I looked at Shawn and flinched; he wasn't showing a reflection. "Is it true? Are you dead?"

    "Yes, I'm dead," he replied straight-facedly, "Or at least I will be in a minute. The only thing keeping me here is the unown."

    "Why, Shawn? I've only known you for a week and you're already one of the best friends I've ever had," I frowned, "Why did you have to die so soon?"

    "I guess it was just my time," Shawn replied.

    "Is there anything I can say to make you stay?" I begged, tears beginning to come down my face, "I can't lose my father and then you!"

    "That's not how this works, Elijah. My spirit is already separating from my body. Even if you could somehow miraculously heal my injury, I wouldn't be able to go back if I wanted to. Believe me, I tried to hold on for as long as I could."

    "What about your team? What should I tell them?" I asked solemnly, "They'll fall apart without you."

    "Rick's a resourceful guy, he'll pull them together. Tell them that I enjoyed every moment I spent with them," Shawn expressed with sincerity.

    "What am I going to do without you? I don't even know how to get back to our world from here! Not to mention that I can't possibly get past Miriam and Ackerman."

    Shawn looked tired, "The unown will help you." Shawn began flickering and becoming transparent, "I can't be kept here for much longer. My spirit is starting to lose its shape and then I'll be gone."

    My eyes betrayed me once again. I began to cry, "No, just a little longer, please Shawn!"

    "Listen to me, Elijah, for one last thing," Shawn solicited, "I want you to have my essence."

    I dried my eyes and stared at his fragile looking form. "I still don't know what that means."

    "The unown told me that it could save your life, and it's the last thing I can do for you before I go. Besides, I can't possibly need it where I'm going. It's tied to my body. You could take it for yourself without my permission, but something tells me that wouldn't work out too well for you," Shawn explained without actually providing the information I had requested.

    "It's all my fault; I led a suicide mission against Ackerman's base" I blamed myself halfheartedly.

    "I'm okay with it, Elijah, it's not your fault; I chose to come. I was thinking about retiring anyways. At least now I can see my family again. Take my essence and use it to free your mom." Shawn was really transparent now. "Goodbye Elijah. Tell my friends that I love them. You guys are my family."

    I ran forwards and hugged his fading silhouette with my eyes clamped shut. Even if I couldn't feel him, the sentiment was still there, "Goodbye, Shawn."

    He was gone when I opened my eyes, and I was back in the room with the unown and Shawn's body.


    [You must take his essence right now or you will lose your chance.]

    I looked at the floating alphabet forlornly, "What do I need to do?"


    [Reach out with your mind and pull in his essence]

    I closed my eyes and tried clearing my mind by concentrating on the black color of the inside of my eyelids. There was nothing but blackness. Wait, no. There was something there. It was vaguely blue. I focused on the blue enigma and I felt a strong mental pull as I latched on. I pulled back and was resisted for a few seconds, but won out in the end. The blue substance suddenly stopped putting up a fight and I reeled it in on a metaphysical fishing pole. I opened my eyes. Everything looked startlingly different.


    [You have done it!]

    The unown now had a pink glow that was somehow completely separate from the blue glow that was still surrounding them from earlier. I realized that the pink glow looked remarkably similar to the blue glow that I had just reeled in. "Is that pink glow your essence?" I asked the unown.


    [Perhaps]

    I walked over to Shawn's corpse and picked up his limp paw, "What does Shawn's essence let me do?"


    [Essence conduits are extremely rare]


    [You are the first to manifest in quite a long time]


    [The essence conduits are thought to have become extinct long ago, but you are living proof that they are not]

    "That's all well and good, but you're not answering my question."


    [You will have to learn the full extent of your powers by yourself]

    "Alright then, thanks anyways," I conceded. The unown were being extraordinarily helpful and I didn't want to be too overbearing. "Any ideas on where to start?"


    [Try calling forth the lucario's essence]

    I shut my eyes and instead of focusing on the resulting blackness, I retrieved my recent memory of the blue glow that I had received from Shawn, and it was there. I stood there for a minute looking at it. I felt the same mental pull once again from Shawn's essence but it seemed to be coming from inside of me this time. When the essence tugged, instead of pulling back, I let it pull my mind in and surround it. I felt an uncomfortable tingling sensation go up my arms and then the pain started. My hands felt like they were on fire, but not the comforting and painless kind that came from my wrists. It felt like burn-you-alive fire. I screamed as the pain crept up my arms. I recoiled mentally from Shawn's essence as I writhed in pain, but it had a tight hold on me. I couldn't break free. Everything was blue fire, and I was helpless to stop it from consuming my body. As I struggled, the agony spread to my legs, torso and head, and then suddenly it was gone. The blue fire receded and I opened my eyes.

    I jumped at the sight of my body. My red and yellow feathers had been completely replaced with blue and black fur. I now had a metal spike protruding from my chest, and my entire bone structure had changed. My head was also considerably closer to the ground. "Whoa, did I do this?" I inquired.


    [Yes]

    I was now a lucario just like Shawn. I tried walking on my new backwards bending legs and stumble a bit, but found it much easier than expected. I focused my mind and tried an attack on a nearby boulder. The instincts were there, but radically different. My body moved of its own accord and a blue ball of energy formed between my newly acquired paws. I released the ball and sent it soaring towards the boulder. The unown quickly parted to avoid the attack, and I watched in satisfaction as the sphere crashed forcefully into the rock with a blast of sound, "Cool!"


    [This new form is just the beginning of what you can do with your powers]

    "What do you mean?"


    [Experiment!]

    I mulled it over for a few seconds then struck inspiration gold. I tried reaching for the blue energy again but was alarmed when I found not Shawn's blue essence, but a new fiery red essence. Some instinct told me that this was my essence, so I let it pull my mind like I did with Shawn's but this time pulled back and attempted to direct my essence to specific parts of my body. There was no resistance from the fiery energy as I dragged it to my hand and kept it there. The transformation sensation began, but this time it wasn't painful. It was more like sticking my hand into warm water.

    I opened my eyes to watch as my lucario paw reverted to the claw of a blaziken. Once the hand was done, I stopped the flow of energy and the warm feeling subsided. I examined my two hands next to each other. It was disorienting to see the motley combination of hands that had resulted from my experiment.


    [Creative idea!]


    [Wielding the essences of two pokemon species simultaneously could make you very powerful]

    "Tell me about it! I feel like I could take on an army!" I exclaimed. I wasn't joking. I could feel power flowing through my body from Shawn's and my essences. I laughed giddily.


    [Handle your abilities with caution]

    I put on the brakes on my power trip and realized how my new powers could hurt my friends if I lost the handle on them. "You're right. I will be careful."

    I gasped. My friends! They needed my help! I hurried to Shawn's body and picked it up, surprised at how much lighter it felt with my newfound strength. I looked up at the still-encircling sphere of unown, "Thank you so much for everything you've done for me and Shawn. You gave me the chance to speak with Shawn before he died, and helped me learn how to save the rest of my friends. How can I ever repay you?"


    [No thanks are necessary!]


    [Your desires were selfless and it was our pleasure to help!]

    "Can you get us back to the human world?" I asked, desperate to help my friends.


    [As the gatekeepers of this dimensional gate, we are attuned with the dimensional gems on your side of the portal]


    [Remotely activating them should be easy!]


    [We only have enough energy to create a small portal and hold it open for a short time]

    I thanked them gratefully, "Thank you so much. I owe you big time."


    [We will assist you on one condition]

    "Name it."


    [When you get back to your world, we ask that you destroy the portal]


    [Those who sent you here seek to enslave this world]


    [This portal will allow them to do that if it isn't destroyed]

    "I will, I promise."


    [Are you ready?]

    "Yes," I responded.


    [Then this is goodbye]

    I hefted Shawn to keep a grip on him as he began to slip from my arms. "Goodbye, friends. I'll never forget you."

    The unown broke away from the sphere and began chanting the word unown vocally while spinning in a vertical ring. A recognizably bright orb of energy began to form in the center of the whirling unown. The moment it was big enough, I jumped into the portal and was once again surrounded by the overwhelming energy of the portal.