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Hey, guys, and welcome to Sonder! In case you didn't read the story description, Sonder is a collection of stories based on the side and background characters from No Pokéballs Allowed. As far as I know, no, there will not be an equivalent story for Canon Fodder or Window to the Past. This is because most of the characters in Canon Fodder are...well...canon, and I feel like I can't do much else with the people from Window to the Past.

No Pokéballs Allowed, however...oh, boy. You guys are in for a treat.

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Shari yawned and sat up in her bed. She was never really that good at waking up. So she didn't. Her eyes closed again and she began to drift off to sleep.

She was suddenly ripped awake from her slumber by a sharp knocking at her door. "What do you want?!"

"It's breakfast, Shari," the relaxed voice of her brother drawled. "Get upstairs, we're waiting for you."

Shari growled. "Why do you guys always wait for me? It's stupid..."

"It's family time. You know what mom says," Ben sighed, leaning against the doorframe.

"...Yeah, yeah," Shari sighed. "Well, I'll be up in a minute."

Neither of them moved.

"...Go...away..." Shari seethed.

Ben smirked. "If I leave, you're going to go back to sleep."

"I will not."

"Will too."

"Go away!"

"Fine. I'll be back in five minutes."

He closed the door, and Shari heard fading footsteps...

"Go away, Ben! I know you're faking it!"

Ben chuckled. "It was worth a try," he said amusedly as he walked away.

Shari stayed in her bed and stared at the ceiling before letting out a loud groan. "Why do mornings exist?! Nobody likes you!"

A few minutes later, Shari had gotten the motivation to roll out of bed. She was sprawled out on her floor, trying to build up more motivation so she could actually sit up.

Alright, Shari. I'm going to count from ten. When I say 'zero', you'd better be sitting up.

Ten seconds later, she was still on the floor, in the exact same position.

This isn't working.

Suddenly footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

Crap, it's Ben!

Sitting bolt upright, she raced to get dressed, scrabbling across her bedroom floor in a desperate search for some sort of clothing she could put on before Ben reached her-

"Shari? It's been five minutes!"

"Go away, I'm not ready yet!"

"But I gave you five minutes, Shari," Ben said in a mocking tone.

"And I need five more so go away!" Shari demanded, throwing a pillow at the door.

Ben sighed. "I'm staying out here until you open that door."

"You aren't my dad!"

He chuckled. "But I am your older brother, and you've got to respect my authority."

"What authority?! Go away!"

"No."

"Go away right now!"

"Shari, I'm not going away until you go away with me."

Shari grumbled in response, and began to get dressed. "Fiiiine..."

"Are you wearing clean clothes?" Ben sang.

"It's none of your business!"

"Oh, but I think it-"

Ben was interrupted when Shari yanked the door open. He had been leaning on the door, so the sudden lack of support caused him to fall to the ground.

Shari flipped her messy chestnut hair back, staring down at him with her hands on her hips. "C'mon, Ben, let's have breakfast," she said with a smirk as she began to walk up the stairs.

Ben pushed himself up to his knees and combed his own chestnut hair down. It was disheveled now; he'd have to restyle it in the bathroom after breakfast. He grunted in annoyance and used the doorframe to get to his feet before following after Shari.

She was already sitting at the table with their parents. She smirked at Ben before taking a bite of her waffle. "You're late."

"Eat that with cutlery," Ben said, screwing his face up. "You'll get your hands all sticky."

Shari grinned, her teeth dirtied with waffle. "I'm not using syrup, doy."

Ben's disgust grew. "...Why not? Who eats their waffles without toppings? That's disgusting."

"Shari, please," Karen shut her eyes, putting her hands up to block the view of her daughter. "Not all of us want to see the step-by-step process of mastication."

"Why not? It's a fascinating process!" Shari laughed after gulping down a mouthful.

Ben sat down at the table. "...Why do you get three waffles? I only have two."

"Then grab one, Ben," Kent called from the TV room. "There's a plate on the table."

Ben sighed and grabbed another two waffles from the plate. He was hoping it'd create a little more fuss than that, but not every situation could be a winner.

"So are we going to go to school today?" Shari asked, looking at her mom.

She shook her head. "No, it's still cancelled. Government's all freaked out about the virus."

"Right," Ben said. "I hope we don't have any homework. That'd put a damper on this break."

"Ben..." Kent said in a low voice.

He looked at his father with a small smile. "Sorry."

Shari finished off her waffle and ran to the phone. "I'm going to go to the mall today, alright?"

"Can't. It's quarantined," Kent said, gesturing to the TV.

Shari's jaw dropped. "Really? Why?"

"It is in the next city over," Ben said. "But they aren't infected yet."

"It's a precautionary measure, honey," said Karen, looking at Shari.

Shari sighed. "Man, that sucks...what am I going to do today?"

"You could help me," Ben suggested. "I'm going to be doing some reading, and I'd appreciate another pair of eyes."

"Yeah? Well...it's not like there's anything else to do," Shari said. "What are we reading up on?"

"Advertising," Ben said. "It's exciting stuff; you get to be really creative."

"Like the Japanese?" Shari grinned.

"...Actually, that's pretty interesting," Ben said as he got up from his table. He walked over to Shari and tapped her shoulder before walking to his room. "The Japanese, apparently, distrust advertisements that tell you about their product directly. So they craft advertisements meant to show customers how they feel when..."

Karen looked at her son and daughter as they went to his room. She smiled a bit and gathered the dishes, plopping them in the soap-filled sink. "Hey, can you handle dishes today?"

"But I'm covering the news," Kent said, rolling his head off the arm of of the couch. "We need to know about advancements of the virus, right?"

Karen rolled her eyes. "I'll take your shift for the ten minutes it takes to wash the dishes," she said as she walked into the television room and flopped onto the opposite couch.

Kent sighed and got up from the sofa. "Alright, fine."

"Aaaaand...action."

"So...thirsty...need...water..." Ben gasped as he dragged himself across the ground of his room.

"Cut."

"What?" Ben got up. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. Let's do it again," Shari said, getting into position for the pan.

"What? Why?"

Shari looked over her pokéPad at Ben. "Rule number...eh, seventy four of making videos: you can never have too many takes."

"...Alright," Ben said. "So do you want me to do anything different this time?"

"No. That was perfect. Do it again."

Ben sighed and got back into position. Shari held a whiteboard in front of her pokéPad's camera. "Ben's Bazaar Advertisement. Scene one, shot one, take three."

"So...thirsty...I need...water..." Ben gasped as he dragged himself-

Shari frowned. "Cut! Stick to the script! Do it again."

Ben frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You're parched! You don't have the energy to say frivolous words like 'I'!"

He got up. "Why are we making an advertisement again?"

"One, it's fun. Two, we've got to implement the stuff we just read about, right? And what better way than actually shooting an advertisement?"

"...Reading more about it?"

Shari chuckled and shook her head. "There's no better way to learn something than going out and doing it, Ben."

"...Fine, let's do another take," Ben said as he got down on the ground. "So thirsty need water, right?"

"Right," Shari confirmed, before raising the pokéPad. "Ben's Bazaar Advertisement. Scene one, shot one, take four."

"So...thirsty...need...water..." Ben gasped as he dragged himself across the ground of-

"...Kids...Kids, come down here," Karen's voice called from the television room.

"We're shooting something, mom!" Shari yelled back. "We'll be a minute!"

"No...no, I need you down here now."

Shari put down her pokéPad and looked at Ben worriedly.

"...Alright, mom, we'll be right down," Ben replied.

Ben grabbed Shari's hand and got to his feet before walking out of the room. He was still holding Shari's hand as they walked down the hallway to the television room. The news was blaring.

"All local households are to enter emergency lockdown," the local newscaster urged. "Stay in your homes. Do not socialize. Report all infected individuals; do not try to hide them. Message repeats: local area to enter complete quarantine to protect from the virus. Virus is lethal and should be avoided at all costs. All local households are to..."

Ben staggered backwards as he felt his hand squeezed by his sister.

"...Ben...?"

He slowly shook his head as the breathing in his ears grew distant.

"Message repeats: local area to enter complete quarantine to protect from the virus..."

arc_4 FOREST completion [progress 10%]
loading arc_4 FOREST (2)
MESSAGE: arc_7 MARKET unlocked!
MESSAGE: bonus_1 BIRTHDAY unlocked!

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If you'll notice, there's those MESSAGE things up there. You'll see that there are two options: arc_7 MARKET and bonus_1 BIRTHDAY. You may be wondering what this means. Well, I'll tell you.

The next chapter will not be about arc_4.

You guys can vote for either arc_7 MARKET, or the patent-pending BONUS CHAPTER. Here's how it works.

Review the chapter. It has to be more than just 'great chapter write more'. It has to be a real review. You can vote on which arc or BONUS CHAPTER you want to see next. You can vote for any incomplete arc or unviewed BONUS CHAPTER you want to see next chapter. You cannot vote to see the same arc twice in a row. So for instance, the next chapter cannot be about arc_4 FOREST, no matter how many of you vote for it.

Just so you know, when you see the message 'arc_# ABCDEF unlocked!' that means the arc had something to do with whatever happened in the chapter. So if the chapter is about John and Jane going to a museum, and 'arc_A CURATOR unlocked!' is at the bottom of the page, you can bet the arc has something to do with the museum.

Got it? Good! Now, go review!

P.S.: Thank you to the MacMillans for giving me the layout of the Graff's house!

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