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[Pokémon] Mentor (PG-14)

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
I must say, when I decided to look for a random pokemon story on the internet, I clicked on this one and I sat for two straight nights just reading for about 6 or 7 hours. Your writing skills are amazing and I really love the entire concept. Just keep up the great writing and bring me moar chapters! lol when do you usually upload new ones?
Heh, thanks! I'm glad you're liking the story so far. I upload a new chapter every Friday night, so the story will be updated soon. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the new chapter in its best condition, because it's going to be a doozy (or however you spell it). ;)
 

SethMetal37

I'm a zombie. BLARG!
90
Posts
14
Years
Okay thats great. Its pretty funny actually, I havent really played pokemon in months and I sold all my games and stuff...but your story has me interested again. ARGHH! lol
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Okay thats great. Its pretty funny actually, I havent really played pokemon in months and I sold all my games and stuff...but your story has me interested again. ARGHH! Lol
Haha, ouch. I've been ignoring the Pokemon games recently too since I've been throwing all my enthusiasm for Pokemon into Mentor. Though, I can't say that's a bad thing. :D
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Mentor

Chapter 28: The S. S. Anne (part three)

-


Leah grimaced as she casually followed Giovanni through the halls.

What was she doing? More importantly, why was she doing it?

Yeah, she was curious about these 'Plates', she could admit to that. But to go out of her way to get information on them was a bit much. Especially since it meant she had to follow gym leaders around and try to snoop for information. It was a bit pathetic, really.

She sighed. The things she did to satisfy her curiosity.

There weren't many people around. Actually, that was a bit of an understatement. Most of the people on board were all Pokemon trainers, so all of them had practically leapt at the chance to see Agatha and / or Giovanni in person. Because of that, the current population of the ship that weren't attending Agatha's or Giovanni's seminars was very, very low.

Since following Giovanni, she had run into around four people in total, not including the lonely-looking cashiers in the shops she passed.

What was the chance, Leah thought to herself as she kept a distance behind the gym leader, of running into Jason Dare right at that moment?

In front of her, Giovanni stopped and Leah stopped as well, turning her head to look into a store window.

Giovanni turned around, looking at her, and Leah felt herself pale.

After a moment of thought, the gym leader apparently dismissed her because he started walking again, and Leah did so as well after a pause.

Maybe Giovanni was more perceptive than Leah thought, because whenever she started to fall behind or when he was going to turn a corner, he paused for a moment, as if waiting for her to catch up.


-


So, the thief had taken the bait.

Excellent.

"Gengar," Agatha said, walking down the hall at a slow pace. "Go on ahead. Do not let the thief get away."

The Pokemon nodded, its red eyes flashing and a white teethed grin splitting his face. The edges of the Gengar's ghostly form blurred until the ghost-type had completely disappeared from view.

Agatha snorted and raised her head up high, any stray person in the hallway getting out of her way once seeing her face. Her walking stick clacked on the ground as she walked, and the old woman didn't hide that fact that she was terribly pleased.

The thief wouldn't get away this time; Agatha would make sure of that. It was only by a fluke that the thief had gotten away from Lorelei, and unlike the younger woman, Agatha was much more prepared, bring practically an army of ghost-type Pokemon. She wouldn't go easy on anyone who made a fool out of the Pokemon League, especially now that the thief already had one Plate in his possession. And that wasn't even considering at what the thief exactly did with it-

"Agatha!"

The old woman turned, seeing Giovanni walk up to her, his face flushed pink as if he wasn't used to walking around so much. She snorted. In the old days, trainers were much stronger-willed, putting their whole bodies and minds into their Pokemon and took training seriously. Now though, they treated Pokemon more like pets and training as a hobby.

It was disheartening to learn how far training had fallen.

"What have you found?" Agatha asked coldly, getting right to the point. "Come, walk with me."

Giovanni walked side-by-side with the Elite Four member, panting just a bit as he put his hand up to his hair, patting down now messy strands.

"I sent my aide down to where the Plate was," he told her. "But she said she couldn't get to the museum. She also called the security guard, but he didn't reply."

Agatha felt a brief burst of triumph, but didn't let it control her; she couldn't get overconfident.

"Are you sure your aide can be trusted?" Agatha asked.

Eyes narrowing, Giovanni couldn't help but feel insulted.

"Jean has been with me for four years now; I trust her to follow my directions and do her best."

After a brief moment, Agatha nodded. She didn't like relying on other people, but despite how she acted, she trusted Giovanni's word. He always had good judgment.

Looking around for a moment, like he was searching for something, Giovanni finally asked, "Where do you think the thief went?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's close by," Agatha replied vaguely.

"What if he's already gotten away?"

A small smirk made its way on Agatha's face.

"He hasn't."

"How do you know?"

"My ghosts have taken care of it," she said simply. "He won't be able to get off the ship or even go outside. He's trapped here as long as I want."

Giovanni looked around again a bit nervously.

"I don't think that's a good idea. There are people on board and he killed that guy on Seafoam Island, right? What's stopping him from killing others?"

There was silence for a moment before Agatha looked at the gym leader keenly. Giovanni had never really been the nervous type, or even the brave type. He always just seemed to be… there. Why was he suddenly so hesitant now?

Maybe it was the Plates? Agatha asked herself. When she first found out about them and understood what they did, she could honestly say that she was somewhat scared. All that power in one slab of rock, with sixteen Plates in all. It was very disconcerting and the future that Agatha dreamed up, the future if someone cruel, a 'bad seed', acquired a Plate had never really left her mind.

Giovanni looked around for the third time in under two minutes, and Agatha's eyes narrowed. Discreetly, she glanced behind her to see a girl and a Sandshrew standing quite a distance away, looking into a window. After a moment, the girl looked over to them, but when she saw Agatha staring, she quickly averted her gaze.

Well, well, well, Agatha thought to herself, eyeing the girl. What are you doing here, trying to listen on a conversation…?

The girl was of the only people around and Agatha suddenly became aware that hers and Giovanni's voice had probably been carrying.

Scowling, Agatha averted her eyes and finally replied in a low tone, "Most of the trainers are accounted for and are in or nearby our presentation rooms. This 'Blue' won't be able to get to them. If he doesn't want to be caught, he won't bring attention to himself and try anything funny."

"That's a bit of an assumption," Giovanni said, not letting it go. "People do stupid things when they're backed into a corner."

"Maybe for any other person, but not for this thief," Agatha said firmly. "There's a reason we rented one of the largest cruise ships in Kanto. There are many places to hide, and Blue will only have to bide his time until he figures a way out."

Giovanni looked around, noticing how many shops and doors they had already passed.

"We'll never be able to search the whole ship."

A ghost of a smile crossed Agatha's face. "We won't have to. I know exactly where the thief is. My ghosts have been with him ever since he took the Plate."


-


Blue slammed his fists against the wall, or, what was not supposed to be a wall.

Damn it!

He knew there was going to be a trap, but not something like this! He had spent days and nights just studying the layout of the ship, and since the ship was so big, he definitely didn't get much sleep.

Right in front of him was supposed to be a door.

But it wasn't there.

It was just a wall; one identical to all the others. If you had no prior knowledge of the ship and looked at the wall, you would be certain that there had never been a door.

But there was a door! And a window right beside it!

Now, they were both gone!

Blue took a deep breath in. He had to calm down; panicking would not help the situation at all. What he had to do was think. That was it. It was a simple process, one he should have done more of before he even boarded the S. S. Anne.

So. Think.

All the doors and windows had disappeared and there was absolutely no evidence that they had even been there. It was shocking sometimes at what Blue could discover on Pokemon. He prided himself as an expert on most Pokemon, but sometime even he had to be surprised.

Ghosts specialized in illusions, something that tricked your senses. Blue had underestimated that aspect of ghost-types. He didn't think that illusions could be so good that they could make something completely disappear, even to the touch. The illusion was so good, that not even light was coming through the not-wall.

It was so interesting that Blue wondered how that even worked.

But then he shook his head. He couldn't get distracted!

Standing up straight, he took a quick look around before abandoned the not-wall, and walked down the hallway, the fingertips of his good hand sliding against the wall. The windows and glass doors usually lighted up the outer hallways and without them, especially in the afternoon, it was almost pitch black.

Walking around until he came across anyone wouldn't help at all since the halls seemed to have transformed themselves into a labyrinth. No matter which halls and turns he took, he always ended up back where he started: at the doors to the museum.

So, his situation was as follows: he was trapped in never ending corridor and the only other place he had access to was the room where the plate was. Every window and door had disappeared and replaced with a wall, and not a single person was around.

He supposed he could blast the walls out. Could walls, even fake ones, still stand after being hit with a Thunderbolt at close range? How about a Hyper Beam? He had a Pokemon that could use Hyper Beam. Not a very strong one, but it was stronger than Thunderbolt, right?

He would have loved to try, but he had a feeling that destroying walls wouldn't do any good. The ghosts could just put an illusion over the wall as if it was never damaged. It made him wonder what would happen if he just started to destroy everything in his path. There couldn't be that many ghosts around, but then again, it was Agatha he was dealing with.

Blue glared at one of the walls.

"You haven't caught me yet, Agatha."


-


Agatha and Giovanni took their time, walking at a slow pace. Behind them, Leah scowled and tried to look casual and obviously not listening in, despite her cover already blown.

Instead of getting any info on the Plates, all Leah got was vague info on a thief and the measures took to protect the Plate that was in the museum. Well, that and the Plate had been stolen, of course.

Leah wondered whether or not it was the same thief from Seafoam Island. She couldn't really remember him, only that he had a wicked Starmie, but the thief didn't really matter to her since it wasn't like she was going to even see him.

All right, Leah thought, that was it. There was no point in continuing to spy; Agatha and Giovanni obviously weren't going to speak about anything juicier in public.

Again, casually, Leah turned around and slowly walked away in the other direction, the gym leader's and elite four member's voices getting harder to hear.

"Come on, Sands," Leah said, gently kicking the back of his legs, trying to make him go faster. "We're done here; let's go find something else to do."

Sands seemed to grumble at being pushed around, but did as his trainer ordered and walked a bit faster.

Leah wondered what Ed and Ally were doing. Probably exploring like they did yesterday. The ship was so big that there was no way it could be explored in only a day. She herself only vaguely knew the way to her room and back to the mall part of the ship.

Suddenly, Giovanni's words came to mind.

"What's stopping him from killing others?"

Leah stopped in her tracks, Sands going on ahead before he noticed his trainer was left behind.

"Shrew?" Sands asked, coming back up to her.

A chill went down Leah's spine and she jerked her head to the side, looking at the trail of people that were starting to appear. She hadn't really been listening that much to what Agatha and Giovanni were talking about, only keeping her ears open for the Plates.

That fact that there was a potential killer on board had only now just crossed her mind.

"Damn it," Leah swore, picking up Sands despite his surprised yelp, and started to go back towards to Giovanni's seminar room at a much quicker pace than before. She was feeling a bit nervous as the events on Seafoam Island flooded back into her mind, clearer than ever. The thief held Ed hostage and killed his own partner. Giovanni was right; what was stopping him from killing others? Agatha said that he couldn't really go anywhere since he was trapped, but did that mean he was locked up somewhere, like in a cage? What could that do against someone who could go up against Lorelei? Sure, Agatha was two steps above the ice mistress, but- but-

Then, Leah stopped again as another thought occurred to her.

Where were Ed and Ally, anyways?

She hadn't seen them all day, not a whisper. They were exploring, she was sure of that, but the question was… were they near the museum? They did seem rather into the whole Plate thing, even if they didn't know what it was, and it wouldn't have surprised her if they had went back to see it again.

Oh no… what if they ran into the thief?

… What if they were dead?

Leah mentally slapped herself. They were not dead. What was she thinking? Even if there was a killer on board, it didn't mean that Ed and Ally randomly ran into him. The ship was huge. It was pretty much impossible that they got into trouble. It was more likely they got lost or fell into one of the deck pools or- or something.

Maybe she should go look for them? But if she did, she'd pretty much be doing it alone and, according to Hollywood, she knew what would probably happen then. Stupid girls who went looking for trouble, or for the murderer, were killed (though, only in horror or slasher films. Action movies where the hero saved the day at the last minute didn't count).

Yeah, that settled it. She needed backup, and not the human kind. Danny would just mock her for caring enough to go look for Ed and Ally.

Leah put Sands down and took out her extra Pokeball, enlarging it. She looked at it before releasing the Pokemon inside.

With a flash of light, Zee appeared. She looked around, wiggling her clawed hands and then up at Leah with black eyes.

"Okay… Drowzee," Leah said, refusing to call the Pokemon 'Zee'. She wasn't keeping the Drowzee so she refused to nickname it, no matter if she was already referencing the Pokemon as Zee in her head.

"I got a job for you."

Zee tilted her head with a questioning look.

Hesitating, Leah put her hand on the Drowzee's head and tried to send what she wanted the Pokemon to do down her arm and through her hand. It was an odd feeling and she felt even weirder when Zee's face seemed to light up in understanding.

"Drow!" Zee said, nodding.

"You sure you can do that?" Leah asked, keeping her hand on the Pokemon's head. Psychic-types did many supernatural things, but she wasn't quite sure if the Pokemon could be used in the way dogs were used to sniff out certain items. She didn't know where the brats were and it was up to Zee to find out.

Zee nodded again.

Making himself known, Sands walked up to the new Pokemon and lightly sniffed her.

"Sands," Leah said, remembering that she had yet to introduce her Pokemon to each other. "This is… Drowzee. Drowzee, this is Sands."

The two Pokemon stared at each other, Sands on guard with his ears lowered and a growl starting to form in the back of his throat, and Zee just curious.

Leah sighed and returned Sands to his Pokeball without comment. She didn't need two Pokemon out, and she could admit that a psychic-type would be way more useful than a measly little ground-type.

"Okay, Z- Drowzee," Leah quickly corrected herself, and then pretended that it never happened.

"Lead the way."


-


Zee was in the lead, Leah following at a quick pace. The hallway was one of the long ones, but it at least was a bit better that most of them since it had rectangular windows all in a neat little row on one side of the wall, letting sunlight though. It would have been nice if Leah wasn't so focused on following her Drowzee.

"Are we almost there?" she asked.

An image of a red X suddenly appeared before her eyes and Leah winced, glaring at the back of Zee's head. The psychic-type had only been in the human world for a total of a few hours, but she had taken to it like a fish in water. Now, human symbols joined the colors and emotions that Zee communicated with, though she still hadn't gotten a hang on words yet. They just seemed to really confuse her.

Leah looked down an adjoining hallway as they walked past and in that instant, something changed. She didn't know what, but she was sure something happened because the air seemed to get colder and a strange feeling overcame her. She has to turn back; it wasn't worth it to continue down the hallway. If she didn't stop, something bad would happen; that she was sure of.

"Zee…" Leah said, stopping. "This is the wrong way."

The Drowzee paused, only looking up at her, not understanding.

Leah tried to explain. "Look, maybe you're confused or something but this isn't the way to go."

Shaking her head, Zee obviously disagreed, sending her trainer a mental refusal that was surrounded in an angry bright red.

"Ugh," Leah said, grimacing. She did not like it when Zee communicated with emotions, even if it got her opinion across. Colors and symbols, at least, didn't make her feel something that didn't belong to her.

But two could play at that game.

"We're going back," she said, trying to mentally send a U-turn symbol into her Pokemon's mind.

Unfortunately, Zee only looked up at her trainer in confusion, not knowing what that symbol was.

Sighing, Leah took only a few more steps forward before giving a good long look down the empty, and now a bit creepy, hallway. Light shone through the windows and there was a salt-like tint to the air, signifying a perfect day. Though, it couldn't do anything to help throw off the dark feeling that Leah found herself with.

"Drow," Zee said, tugging on Leah's pant leg to get her attention.

"I don't want to go on," Leah replied, taking a step back. The atmosphere seemed to get tenser and the trainer could clearly hear herself breathing.

She had to turn back. She wasn't allowed to go further…

Finally, after a few more persistent tugs, Leah looked down to meet her Pokemon's eyes.

"What?"

Zee said nothing or sent anything, only pointing back to the hall and when Leah looked up, she was surprised to discover that she was no longer scared.

She frowned, looking around her. "What was all that about?" Then, she shrugged to herself, throwing the experience in the back of her mind. She didn't know what that feeling was, but it meant there was something wrong with the hallway. She didn't just randomly get scared, unless there was storm out, and even then, she was slowly getting over that fear. Slowly.

"Yeah," Leah said out loud, hiding a trace of unease that stemmed exactly from being scared. "I still don't think we should go on. Isn't there another route we can take?"

Her Pokemon disagreed, shaking her head.

Leah had a feeling that maybe she shouldn't be relying on an inexperienced psychic Pokemon, because of course there had to be another route to… wherever they were going.

Despite that, however, Leah only had to remember that Ed and Ally might be in trouble to give her motivation. She didn't like the brats; they were annoying. But that didn't mean she would just ditch them…

Besides, she didn't think she had time to walk all the way around a chunk of the ship just to find another hallway.

"Alright, Zee. Let's keep going."


-


"What the …" Leah said to herself quietly, looking at the wall that blocked their path.

It felt like a wall, but it was most certainly not one. She didn't really have any proof that it wasn't, only that… it obviously wasn't one. It just didn't look right. Maybe at a distance, but up close, it didn't look solid. It had more of a fuzzy quality to it and it was blurry at the edges. It was almost like something from a dream; an incredibly weird dream that involved walls.

Putting her hands on it, she pushed at it, but that did nothing, though it did give her the odd experience at watching her hands go slightly through the wall, the fuzziness almost eating her palms.

Creepy.

"What is it?" she asked her Pokemon.

Zee was just as confused as her, though for different reasons. She also extended a paw, but instead of touching it, the wall ate the whole appendage.

Incredibly creped out now, Leah pulled her Drowzee back.

"Okay, dead end, they're obviously not here," she said, but despite that, worry clawed at the edge of her mind. 'What ifs' kept circling her thoughts and despite throwing every bit of logic at them, they persisted and started to bring in images and diagrams to go along with them.

Looking at the wall, Leah hesitated.

"Well, it's not like I can get past it anyways…"

"Drow!" Zee shook her head and went in front of her trainer, standing on her tip toes, trying to get Leah to look at her.

"Look," Leah got off, looking down, but was hit with a wave of ice.

She blinked as she suddenly found herself stumbling forwards. Pitching out a hand to regain her balance, the not-wall unfortunately decided to reveal its true identity, because the hand just went right through it and Leah fell to the ground.

"Ow," she groaned, using her shaky arms to push herself up. Raising her head, she looked around, only seeing the rest of the hallway laid out before her like the wall never existed. Though, there was something wrong about it as the light coming through the windows seemed a bit dim, like there was a light gray see-through paper attached to the glass. Turning, she couldn't help but let a gasp escape her upon seeing the vague shape of the not-wall that was standing in the middle of her torso.

"Now what?" she said, getting up and out of the wall, standing on the other side. She felt weird, like she had just come inside to a warm house from a snow storm. Very cold, yet warm at the same time.

She rubbed her fingers, noticing the slight numbness to them. "Zee, what did you do?"

"Drow?" Zee asked, looking as innocent as a psychic-type could be.

Leah took a moment for thought before guessing, "You used Hypnosis on me, didn't you? Don't you know better than to hypnotize your own trainer?"

There wasn't time for a reply, however, as footsteps started to sound from around the corner.

Wait a minute. Stop, hold the phone. Didn't Agatha saw she trapped the thief? And didn't Giovanni mention something about the museum being blocked off…?

Leah swore, pushing Zee back through the wall before joining her Pokemon on the other side. A flash of panic entered her mind upon looking at the vague wall in front of her. What could a see-through wall do against a Starmie?

She knew that she should probably turn and run, but she was frozen to the spot, hearing the footsteps come closer.

The thief finally turned the corner, coming into view. He didn't look like a thief, was Leah's first impression. He had a boy-ish face with neglected pale hair, wore a blue hoodie that seemed a bit too big for him and had a bag that sat diagonally across his chest.

He looked directly at Leah with his light-colored eyes, but hardly a moment later, he turned his head to look at the windows, like he didn't notice the girl standing fifteen feet away.

"Is someone there?" he asked.

"… Can't you see us?" Leah questioned, but then had to hold herself back from slapping herself. Why did she reply? She just gave her position away! She was such a moron! Idiot, idiot, idiot!

Luckily, the thief apparently couldn't hear or see her. He cautiously approached the windows and put his hand over one, but Leah could see that he didn't quite touch it, his hand leaning against an invisible surface.

"Are you screwing with me, Agatha?" he asked to no one in particular. "Sending ghostly voices isn't a good idea, you know."

Then, like his job was done, he turned around and walked back around the corner.

Leah breathed a sigh of relief. He was gone. That was a close one.

"Okay, we didn't die," she said, turning around. "Ed and Ally aren't here; let's go."

Before she could leave, Zee sent her an image of Ally, one that wasn't actually a picture of her, but more of a collage of colors and feelings that just felt… Ally-ish, if it had to be described.

"Ally's not there," Leah said in reply, wondering why Zee didn't comment on Ed. She pointed at the wall, being careful that her finger didn't go through. "The thief is in there, so if Ally was there, she'd be… gone. You must be confused or something."

Of course, Leah didn't really believe that, but she wasn't just going to go up against a skilled Pokemon trainer just to make sure the brats were okay. That was stupid.

… Well, then again, maybe that wasn't the thief? It was possible. And even then, why would he kill her for? She was just some innocent trainer who was searching for people. It wasn't like she made an impression on him or something. And if he had taken either or both Ed and Ally hostage, then… she'd deal with it if it happened.

In the back of her mind, her little voice of logic was screaming and cursing at her. This guy had killed people! And she was willing go in his direction?

"Drowzee," Leah said, getting out her Pokeball. "If Ed and Ally aren't there, and I get into lots of trouble because of you, don't say I didn't tell you so, okay?"

Not waiting for a reply, Leah returned the Pokemon and put her Pokeball away. Zee was too slow to come with her. She needed to be quick and careful.

"Alright," she said, preparing herself.

"Let's go."
 
Last edited:

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Leah held her breath as she once again went through the wall. This time, she was as quiet as possible, wincing at every step she took. She let one her hands lightly touch the wall as she slowly looked around the corner, her heart beating like a drum.

No one was there.

Letting up the breath, Leah quietly inched her way down the hallway, listening for any possible sign of the thief's return. There was none, however, and Leah grabbed the only door handle before pausing.

It was the only door in the hallway, but there was no telling what may be behind it. She was expecting the museum room, but what if the thief was there as well? Though, there was no time to waste; Leah couldn't just stand there and keep thinking about what could happen. She wanted back behind the see-through wall as soon as possible.

The door opened silently to Leah's relief, and she peeked into the room. It looked like a museum with glass cases, pictures on the wall. Luckily, from where she was standing, the thief wasn't anywhere in sight.

She closed the door behind her, as her eyes darted to every corner.

"… Ally?" Leah said quietly as she walked forward. "Ed?"

Then, she looked down to spot a pool of red liquid that had seemingly spread from behind one of the glass cases.

Ice seemed it trickle down her back and Leah rushed over, her shoes slapping against the hard floor. She skid to a halt just before the case and took the last few steps slowly, not wanting to accidently step into the blood.

Everything seemed to stand still as she looked behind glass case and to where the blood was coming from.

… Then, with hardly a pause, everything sped right back into motion.

"Oh, thank god," Leah whispered to herself in relief, avoiding directly looking at the body.

It wasn't anyone she knew. Just some man in a blue uniform, probably a guard of some sort who got in the thief's way. It wasn't either of the kids, and that was the only thing Leah cared about, no matter how thoughtless it was to think.

Leah turned her head to the look at the glass case. Whatever it had inside wasn't there anymore and there was a thin straight line that circled the box. Almost curiously, Leah pushed it, and jumped back when the glass effortlessly slipped backwards, the lower and top part of the glass having been neatly cut in two.

Leah shivered as she went back to the door, her mind in overdrive. Ed and Ally weren't there. Just like she thought; she had come into a death trap for nothing. Did she overestimate Zee's abilities? Maybe the Drowzee got confused because Ed and Ally were there yesterday and probably spent time today…

"Dammit," Leah cursed, swinging open the door again. She cringed at the noise she made, but when she didn't hear any footsteps or anything, she went exited the museum.

Apparently, Leah didn't listen hard enough.

"Hey!" a voice called out and Leah froze, paling, but not turning around. Instead, she broke into a run, darting around the corner and straight into the not-wall.

Unfortunately, though, not literally.

Leah slammed into the wall at breakneck speed, her body rebounding off the physical illusion. Her vision blurred for a moment, and a spike a pain raced up from her arm. She cursed, holding it, and hoping it wasn't broken or something.

"Are you alright?" the thief asked, catching up to her. He pulled her to her feet, and Leah blinked in surprise.

"Uh, sure," she replied, not knowing what else to say. Inside, she was cursing. Zee's Hypnosis must have worn off since she couldn't go through the wall anymore.

What bad timing.

"Do you know what's going on?" he asked.

Leah was going to reply negatively, but her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't gotten the chance to process the changed atmosphere that the Hypnosis was warding off. The windows were completely gone and it was dark now. She could no longer really see anything, including the thief himself.

The thief snapped his fingers in front of her face and she quickly got back to attention.

"What? No," she said, looking around nervously, noticing that the creepy atmosphere was back. "… What happened to the windows?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I was browsing the museum and when I came out, the windows were gone and so were all the doors."

"Oh."

He continued, "You know, I thought I heard a voice. Why didn't you answer?"

Shrugging, Leah said, "I was… scared I guess." She continued, "What do you think is happening?"

"Ghost Pokemon," he said firmly and Leah could hear the disgust in his voice. "They've put illusions over all the exits and now we're trapped here."

"Why did they do that?"

"Not sure, but ghost-types are mischievous by nature. Maybe they're pulling a prank?"

Leah outwardly agreed, but inside, she was thinking hard. The thief, if he even was the thief (Leah was starting to doubt it), didn't seem like he was going to kill her for the time being. Which meant she had time to think of a way to get out of the mess. She could send out Zee to put her back under Hypnosis, but then wouldn't the thief try to kill her or something?

"Hey," Leah said, getting an idea and acting enthusiastic. "Maybe our Pokemon can help! Psychic-types are good against ghosts, right?"

While Leah brought out her Pokeballs, the thief replied, "Actually, ghosts are good against psychics, but I have heard some psychic-types can see through illusions."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Psychics," the thief started, enlarging a Pokeball of his own, "don't see just with their eyes, but their minds and emotions."

Leah released her Pokemon and they appeared in two separate flashes of white light.

"Alright," Leah said, putting a hand on Zee's head and absentmindedly kicking Sands over to the not-wall. In her head, she chanted to Zee, Hypnosis, Hypnosis, Hypnosis… "Let's give this a shot."

The thief was silent for a moment.

"You know," he finally said. "You look a bit familiar. What's your name?"

It was only a flash of light, Leah told herself as she started to panic. There was no way he recognized her. He couldn't have jumped to a conclusion so fast…

"Uh," she stalled, thinking of an excuse. "Sorry, but Grandmother always told me not to talk to strangers."

Leah winced at what came out of her mouth since it sounded so stupid, but the thief seemed to think it was funny as he laughed.

"I'm not the big bad wolf," he said, amusement in his voice, "but alright, Red. Have it your way."

"What's your name, then?" Leah asked, wondering why Zee was taking so long.

"Mum also told me not to talk to strangers," he informed her. "Though, I suppose you can call me Blue." He seemed to smile. "See, Red and Blue; we're a pair."

Sands spoke up from the floor, having gotten tired of Leah continuously nudging him against the wall.

"Shrew!" he said, finally getting out of the way.

"Damn it, Sands!" Leah told him and looked down at her Drowzee. "Zee? What's taking you?"

"…I have a question," Blue piped up after a moment and then continued before Leah could reply. "Were you on Seafoam Island this summer?"

Now Leah was sweating.

"Yeah!" she replied nervously, quickly continuing. "All the rides were great, though the cotton candy wasn't that good. Maybe you saw me there?"

Blue rubbed his chin and said, "Yeah, I think I did. You had a little orange haired friend, right? I remember him; he got in a bit of a cold situation."

Leah couldn't speak. The words left her.

"Finally," he said, sighing. "I wondered when my luck would come back. Though, it certainly came back with style, I must admit."

"W- what are you talking about?" Leah was finally able to get out.

"Nothing much," he replied. "Though, you and your Sandshrew shouldn't have gotten yourselves involved at Seafoam Island. Actually, you should consider yourself lucky that you met me today. I don't have much time for you right now; Agatha is on her way, you know."

Blue released his Starmie in white light and it appeared in front of him, looming over Leah.

"Starmie, Thunderbolt."

"Zee-!" Leah yelled, looking down in time to feel the cold feeling grip her body. As the darkness faded from the hallway, she noticed a bright yellow light appearing in the corner of her eye. Not so gently, she both kicked and pushed her Pokemon through the not-wall, only hoping Sands was affected by Hypnosis as well. Then, she put her body into overdrive as she made a desperate leap for the wall.

There was a crackle of thunder and Leah felt her hair stand on end as she hit the floor with her shoulder, rolling once before stopping. Her hands were over her head, trying to block out the light and sound, and she was only vaguely aware of her surroundings.

When she didn't feel anything, not even static, she hesitantly looked up.

The entire not-wall was lit up with golden light in front of her, not falling under the onslaught of the Thunderbolt. When the light died down, Leah noticed the edges of the fake wall and the real walls around it were burned black and steaming from the intense heat.

Blue only stared at the wall, not seeing Leah on the ground in front of him.

"She got away?" he shouted, turning to Starmie. "Why didn't you shoot sooner? Even a weak attack would have worked!"

Leah got up and looked at Sands, who was glaring at her at being kicked.

"Don't look at me like that," she said, motioning to the Starmie. "I just saved your life." Then, she turned to Zee. "Your Hypnosis was really late. Work on that, all right?"

Oddly, Leah was feeling very cheerful. She had survived! Even if she didn't find Ed or Ally, she hadn't died and that was what mattered. Now that she was back behind the wall, she wasn't in danger anymore, and could finally relax.

"Screw you," she told Blue, smirking.

Almost like he could hear her, Blue glanced back at the wall.

"Starmie, Psychic. Tear it down, now."

Leah yelped as a blue glow issued forth from the water-type, its jewel glowing a bright turquoise. The wall seemed to shift, as if dissolving, before it was encased in a blue aura. The illusion shook as the Psychic attack did its job, making cracks appear along the darkened edges.

About to get up and run, Leah froze as a dark feeling fell upon the hallway. Blue apparently could feel it too as he look around with a worried expression.

"Hurry up-!" he commanded, but was cut short when an invisible force lifted him into the air by his neck. Blue's legs kicked out and his hands went to his throat, gasping and choking.

Starmie stopped what it was doing immediately, releasing the wall from its grasp, and instead directing its attack on Blue's attacker instead.

"Gen-Gar," the ghost-type sang, appearing in full view, waging a finger at Starmie. Its other paw was around Blue's neck, holding him up off the ground.

Blue gasped out, "Ice Beam! Don't worry bout' me-"

Starmie clearly hesitated, hovering still in the air, before its jewel lit up with a bright cyan glow.

"Gar?" Gengar asked, its grin turning down into a frown upon seeing the attack aimed at it.

Out of Starmie's jewel came a thin beam of ice. In the moment before the beam hit, Gengar turned intangible, releasing Blue, who dropped to the ground, coughing. The cold Ice Beam travelled over Blue's head and down the length of the hall until it hit the opposite wall, freezing it in a layer of ice.

"Starmie!" Blue said, getting behind his Pokemon. "I've had enough of this! Flash!"

Now that Blue was no longer in the line of fire, Starmie was quite happy to summon a bright light from within its jewel, the light so strong that it blinded anyone who even looked at it.

Gengar roared, its eyes squeezed shut, and other roars joined it as Pokemon started to appear everywhere, the light distracting the ghost-types enough that they couldn't hold onto their invisibility. A swarm of Gastly and Haunter were frozen wherever they were floating, and something seemed to change.

From behind the wall, Leah didn't know what happened, but she could guess pretty easily when Blue looked around before turning to her, finally able to see her. He reached out a hand and Leah watched as it went through the wall.

The Flash had shattered the illusion.

Blue was silent for a moment, like he didn't know what to say.

"I'll find you later," he finally said, keeping a firm grip on his bag before turning to Starmie. "Let's go already."

The Flash ended, but before the ghosts could recover and put up the illusion again, a high-pitched whine sounded as Starmie started to charge light.

Pointing at the wall that separated them from the ocean, Blue said, "Flash Cannon!"

The beam of light took shape and then fired. Since the wall was so close, it had no chance against such power. Leah covered her ears as a loud crack sounded as part of the wall was blasted off, smoke hissing into the hallway. The ghost Pokemon pushed against each other to get away from the attack, some unluckily enough to be directly hit. Gengar was one of the unlucky ones, being forced to turn intangible to protect itself from further damage.

Leah opened her eyes again, having not been aware that she close them. Sands was clutching her jacket and Zee was right behind her, like the trainer was being used as a shield.

She looked up, seeing that both Blue and Starmie was gone, the two probably wasting no time to get out.

Up above, Leah could hear screams and loud thumps as people out on deck who most likely saw the blast, both ran from and towards it, either terrified or wanting to know what was going on.

Cautiously, she got up, leaving her Pokemon behind as she approached the hole in the wall. She could clearly hear the ocean's waves pushing against the boat, even over the screams.

But on second thought, she stopped and decided not to go any closer or look out or anything like that.

She had gotten in enough trouble for one day.

Leah picked up Sands and held him in her arms as she motioned Zee to follow.

If her luck kept being as bad as it was, it was only natural that she would somehow get blamed for the incident since she was the only one around, even if her Pokemon were rather useless.

So, following that trail of thought, it would be best if she got out of there and join in with the crowd of onlookers. And that wasn't even considering what she was going to do about Ed and Ally.

"I bet they're enjoying ice cream right now and have no clue on what's going on," Leah said to herself darkly. She was so stupid. She nearly got herself killed!

"By the way, Zee," she continued, glaring down at her psychic-type who had the gall to look confused.

"I told you so."


-


A/N: Yes! Finally finished!

*drops to ground in a heap*

Sorry the chapter's a bit late, guys. I underestimated on how much editing I had to do and somehow ended up adding 2000 more words to the chapter. The only parts of this chapter I don't like is that I think Leah's motivations may not be as smoothed out as I want and you can tell the ending is a bit tacked on (I really couldn't think of anything better).

Anyways, one more chapter to wrap up this arc and then I'm skipping a week, just to give you the head's up.
 
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Giratina ♀

what's your sign?
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  • Age 27
  • Seen Jul 23, 2013
"What the ****…" Leah said to herself quietly, looking at the wall that blocked they're path.

Blocked THEIR path, maybe?

The door opened silently to Leah's relief, and she peaked into the room.

The word you're looking for is 'peeked'; I think you made that mistake somewhere else, too.

Anyway, all in all it was an interesting chapter. Blue seems a little cheery and mellow for a 'thief', though that could be nothing more than breaking down some stereotypes. The battle was interesting too, though I admit the Ice Beam was sort of confusing - was the Ice Beam aimed at Gengar and, if so, how did it avoid hitting Blue?
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
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15
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Blocked THEIR path, maybe?
Heh, yeah. *Fixes*

The word you're looking for is 'peeked'; I think you made that mistake somewhere else, too.
Wow, I learn something new every day! I'll fix that too.

The battle was interesting too, though I admit the Ice Beam was sort of confusing - was the Ice Beam aimed at Gengar and, if so, how did it avoid hitting Blue?
It was aimed at Gengar, but the Pokemon went intangible and dropped Blue before the Ice Beam hit. Hmm, the description is rather vague now that I re-read it. I'll see what I can do about that.

Thanks for reviewing, Giratina! :D
 
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I haven't been on for forever, and when I got back, it took me a whole week just to catch up with the story. I'm finally done though, and I have to say, your story is one of the greatest Pokemon fanfics I have ever read. Leah is definitely my favorite character; I just love how she acts. Ed is just annoying, and Ally is starting to become more annoying to me. At the beginning, I felt sorry for Ally because she was being bullied by Leah even though she wasn't doing anything, but she's starting to lose my pity for her.

Your character development is in no doubt your best writing skill, in my opinion anyway. They all seem so real now; I can just imagine everyone you've introduced being real. You've said you're worried with your characters' reactions to some things, but I haven't seen anything wrong with them.

The only thing I don't like about this story would be the gym battles, or maybe just Ally's part in them. In Blaine's, she won by luck (and then Ed getting the badge as well was a little cliche), and in Koga's, he withdrew his Grimer before it was completely finished. But you shouldn't worry about that, they're only beginning trainers and can't really have all the excitement and action that I prefer. You're keeping it realistic, which is better than action right now.

Speaking about realistic, I love how you make sense of almost everything in the Pokemon world. For example, the training thing. If Pokemon were real, it probably would be likely they wouldn't know what 'Scratch' meant when you told them to attack with it. Your being realistic in the story is another great skill, I'm not sure if it's a writing skill.

Anyway, looking forward to more. Great story, keep it up. :)
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
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15
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Hey, Sladazo! Thanks for the review!

I haven't been on for forever, and when I got back, it took me a whole week just to catch up with the story. I'm finally done though, and I have to say, your story is one of the greatest Pokemon fanfics I have ever read.
Aw, thanks! I'm glad you're liking it so far and I'm going to do my best to make sure the story only gets better from here. ;)

Leah is definitely my favorite character; I just love how she acts. Ed is just annoying, and Ally is starting to become more annoying to me. At the beginning, I felt sorry for Ally because she was being bullied by Leah even though she wasn't doing anything, but she's starting to lose my pity for her.
Leah is always awesome, in my opinion. I just love how rude characters act; they're always so nice and snarky and give such lovely commentary. Hmm, I've found that not many people like Ed and Ally that much, though maybe that's because they're kids and kids are usually annoying.

Your character development is in no doubt your best writing skill, in my opinion anyway. They all seem so real now; I can just imagine everyone you've introduced being real. You've said you're worried with your characters' reactions to some things, but I haven't seen anything wrong with them.
Heh, thanks. It's only now that I've really noticed that most of my characters have changed since their first appearance. Leah vaguely cares now and Ally talks more. The only one who seems to have gotten out of the development is Ed; I can't really see any drastic changes on his part.

The only thing I don't like about this story would be the gym battles, or maybe just Ally's part in them. In Blaine's, she won by luck (and then Ed getting the badge as well was a little cliche), and in Koga's, he withdrew his Grimer before it was completely finished. But you shouldn't worry about that, they're only beginning trainers and can't really have all the excitement and action that I prefer. You're keeping it realistic, which is better than action right now.
Yeah, gym battles could use a bit of fine-tuning, though I think I have everything under control for the next battle. It's going to be really… interesting. ;D

Thank you again for reviewing!
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Mentor

Chapter 29: Interlude



-


The night was silent; just how Agatha liked it.

She stood perfectly still in the illumination of the streetlight hanging above her, both hands firmly gripping her cane. It was there in a suburban neighborhood that she had been waiting for around ten minutes now. Since she was the one who chose the time and place, it would be rude of her to be late.

Unfortunately, the one whom she was meeting was never that polite to begin with.

At the edge of her hearing was the quiet sound of the crickets, and Agatha listened to them. In the current day and age, it wasn't often that she could hear such things, unless she was in the country. Cities were usually loud and boisterous, never slowing down, not even at night. Sometimes, the cities were even more energetic at night because of the younger generations came out to cause trouble or to look for a cheap thrill.

Agatha disliked such things, and as such, the place she had chosen was well away from that. It also helped that the small corner she had chosen was rather private. It wasn't often that she could go into public from that very reason. Whether it was the media looking for any information, it was trainers, young and old, that always bothered her.

Her lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. Being part of the Elite Four had its ups and downs and Agatha was honestly dedicated to Pokemon and training, but sometimes she couldn't help but wish that her life wasn't so busy. Then, maybe she could go home once and a while and stay there for more than a few days. It sometimes made her wonder why she settled down at all in such an out-of-the-way location such as Pallet Town. Viridian City would have been much more convenient… but she had her reasons.

There was a snap of a trig down the sidewalk, and Agatha looked in that direction, expecting to see the one she was waiting for. But no, it was only a small Meowth who had walked out from between the trees, its big eyes only giving her a glance before it ran across the road and into the bushes on the other side.

Agatha idly wondered if the Meowth was wild, but she then shook her head. It wasn't the time to think of such matters. Since her failure on the S. S. Anne, many problems had sprung up and that was what she was supposed to be dealing with. In fact, she should already be on the way to the Indigo Plateau at that moment, to meet with the rest of the Elite Four and to decide what to do.

But the current problem she was trying to solve wasn't one that involved the League.

It was also something she had to deal with first, before it got out of control.

She scowled to herself as her mind once again went over the events on the ship, analyzing what she did wrong. She had not stopped Blue from escaping, and had not even kept him from taking the plate. It was humiliating. Lorelei did a better job than her, managing to at least find things out about him. Agatha didn't even see him, as she was too confident that the trap would work and that she would have all the time in the world.

Instead, he got away; breaking out of her illusions with a simple ray of light and then didn't even go quietly.

The media was having a field day over the blundered Pokemon Convention. Because of the giant hole in the S. S. Anne and the murder of the security guard from the museum, the cruise was halted and the ship was forced to go back to Vermillion City immediately. Since someone was murdered, the police was called and it took hours for them to search everyone coming off the ship. Obviously, everyone was quite annoyed at that and it resulted in many headaches and angry phone calls.

She was sure, at that moment, that the police was still combing the beach and the water, looking for the killer. Agatha was sure they wouldn't find anything, though. Starmie was not a good Pokemon to swim with, so unless the thief had a good surfing Pokemon, he had most certainly teleported.

But that wasn't the worst part. A simple murder could be dealt with, but the media had a knack of getting their noses into places they had no business being. They discovered that the security guard was murdered over a single artifact in the museum and now they were stirring up a storm, demanding to know what he stole and accusing the Pokemon League, the Elite Four in particular, in hiding something.

A lot of things had gone wrong, though Agatha supposed she was lucky that not everything had.

Suddenly, her mind snapped back into focus as she heard footsteps approach from the distance. They were walking at a slow pace, like they had all the time in the world, and Agatha sighed to herself.

"You took your time," she said as a greeting, not turning her head.

There was a rustling of a jacket and Agatha assumed it was a shrug. "Speak louder, child," she snapped.

"You're sure in a bad mood."

Agatha frowned. "I have every right to be."

"Are the Plates really that important?" was the reply.

Finally turning to look at the figure, Agatha said, "Of course they are. You just don't understand."

Rolling her eyes, Leah crossed her arms, showing that she wasn't too impressed. "Maybe if you explained to me what they did, I'd understand."

"… The Plates are very important," Agatha said carefully. "No one, much less children, should even know they exist. They are some of the most dangerous objects ever found."

"Then why not destroy them?"

"They can't be. The Plates are much too powerful to be destroyed. Not even the strongest weapon can scratch them."

"Sink them to the bottom of the ocean, then," Leah suggested. "Bury them, throw them into a volcano. It can't be that hard to get rid of them."

Agatha only gave the girl a cold stare. "That would not destroy them. No matter where they are hidden, they can be retrieved. Pokemon are not to be underestimated."

"Just a suggestion," Leah said, scowling.

Enjoying the sound of the crickets for a just a moment, Agatha broke the silence.

"Do you know why I called you here?"

"No."

Agatha filled her in, "You're the only one, other than the security guard, who had extended contact with Blue. I need you to tell me about him."

"That's pretty vague," Leah pointed out.

"His appearance, his personality, his Pokemon," Agatha said, eyes narrowing. "It's not that hard of a question-"

Leah rolled her eyes. "I get it, I get it."

She took a seat on the curb, her back facing Agatha.

"Okay, uh, let me think. He looked kind of young, looking in his late 20s, maybe. Blond hair, kind of long. He had weird light blue eyes, like," Leah paused, trying to find a word to describe it, "really light, almost white. I can't really remember what he was wearing except for a blue hoodie. Oh, he also had gloves on."

Agatha could feel a sinking sensation her chest at the description. She shouldn't be jumping to conclusions, but…

"Did he have the plate?" the old woman asked, trying to focus.

Leah shrugged. "He had a bag with him and when I checked out the museum, one of the cases was empty."

About to ask another question, Agatha paused as a different thought occurred to her.

"…You went into the museum?"

"Yeah," Leah replied, turning her head to face her. "So what?"

Agatha wanted to ask whether she had seen the dead body, but decided against it. If the girl went into the museum, then she must have.

Scowling, the old woman thought to herself darkly, 'she shouldn't be seeing dead bodies…'

"How did he act?" Agatha finally asked.

"Weird," Leah replied, frowning. "He was pretty cheerful and didn't act like a killer at all. He tried to pretend he was some innocent person caught in the illusion."

"Did he give his name?"

"Yeah, it was Blue."

"… Did you give your name?" Agatha asked sharply.

Leah crossed her arms and scowled. "Of course not! I'm not stupid."

Awkward silence descended, but Leah quickly popped it.

"Is that all?" she asked. "Can I go now?"

Not waiting for a reply, Leah got up, intending on leaving, but Agatha stopped her.

"Be patient," the old woman snapped. "I'm not done."

"Then hurry up," Leah replied.

Agatha next question came out showing more of her irritation then she intended.

"What Pokemon did he use?"

Leah glanced down the sidewalk, but answered, "Just a Starmie."

"What attacks?"

"Psychic, Flash Cannon-" Leah glanced towards Agatha. "Does it matter?"

"Yes," Agatha replied tensely. Her mind went over the techniques. Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Flash Cannon… all TM moves. Pokemon could only learn four TM moves until one of them could get erased by a specialist. That meant that all of Starmie's moves were accounted for and since Starmie seemed to be Blue's primary Pokemon, it was a very good thing indeed.

"Can I go now?" Leah repeated, making a show of looking around.

Agatha glared at her. The girl was so impatient! It wasn't torture to just talk to Agatha, and she disliked how Leah pretended it was such.

In a rare hasty decision, Agatha decided that no, Leah shouldn't go yet. It was time for a long overdue conversation, one that should have happened months ago.

"Leah," Agatha started, wondering exactly how she was supposed to start such a talk. She had lived for more than sixty years, but if there was one thing she had never got the hang of, it was communicating.

She hesitated slightly, Leah glancing at her with a bored expression.

"… Are you feeling alright?" the old woman finally asked.

Leah's face twisted into a scowl. "No," she replied, like the answer was supposed to be obvious. "These last few months have been terrible. The S. S. Anne was just icing on the cake."

"Has it?" Agatha questioned, not quite believing it. Rarely was there a trainer who honestly didn't enjoy interacting with Pokemon, and she knew that Leah was not one of them.

"Yes!" Leah emphasized. The girl's shoulders slumped and Leah turned her head away, looking down the street.

Suddenly, Leah turned back.

"Look," she started, not looking directly at Agatha. "I don't like this journey thing; the brats are a pain, the Pokemon even more so, and bad luck has followed me ever since day one." She paused. "… I'm not going to ignore Sands any more, so it's not like I have any more reason in doing this…"

Leah seemed to have a bit of a problem getting the words out, but overcame it.

"Can I please go home now, Grandmother?"

Agatha eyed her granddaughter, a bit surprised the girl would go as far as to pleading with her.

"You'd be abandoning your charges," Agatha said.

Leah shrugged. "It's not like it matters. Their Pokemon are stronger than mine. Besides, they're going to challenge Surge in a couple of days, then it's just a short walk to Saffron to go up against Sabrina. They don't need me."

"… Do you know why the Mentor Program was created?" Agatha asked, changing the subject.

"To stop kids dying," Leah said, ignoring Agatha's grimace at the blunt answer.

"Yes, but that's not all. Having strong Pokemon isn't the only thing in the equation. New trainers start out when they're ten and they don't always know what to do. A Mentor is supposed to guide them and to teach them about Pokemon. New trainers tend to favor the stronger and rarer Pokemon. Have you noticed?

"A bit," Leah admitted.

Agatha continued, "With a Mentor accompanying the trainers, the trainers can learn that not everything is about strength, power and rarity, and that all Pokemon should be accepted as what they are."

"But we're mostly there to stop them from getting killed by wild Pokemon," Leah replied, though the girl looked like she was digesting what Agatha was telling her.

Finally, Leah shrugged. "I still don't matter. Ed and Ally love their Pokemon and their Pokemon aren't really in the rare and powerful categories. They don't need me to tell them that. Besides, I'm not a good Mentor. Being a Mentor means to protect the kids, right? Well, I'm certainly not going to come in-between them and an Ursaring. I don't care that much."

"Leah," Agatha said, her patience warring down. "Why did you go into the museum?"

"… I was looking for Ed and Ally," she said.

"And why were you looking for them?"

Leah shrugged again, looking uncomfortable. "I hadn't seen them all day."

"So you were worried and went looking for them," Agatha concluded and said in her head, 'you care much more than you think you do.'

"I wasted my time," Leah grouched, more to herself than to her grandmother. "They weren't in any trouble anyways."

"Where were they, then?"

"They were behind one of your illusion walls," the girl said, scowling. "They weren't in the museum, but past it."

Agatha nodded slowly, thinking.

"Leah?"

The old woman waited until Leah turned to face her before continuing.

"It won't take more than a few weeks to get the final two badges," Agatha said, ignoring her granddaughter's blank look. "You can hold out for that long."

Scowling, Leah looked towards the ground.

"If you want my advice," Agatha continued, "Go to Cerulean City instead of Saffron. Sabrina is very experienced and doesn't go easy on trainers, and if you want this to be over quicker, Misty would be the much better opponent."

The girl said nothing, and so did Agatha. The night was silent except for the sound of the crickets and, in the distance, a stray car or two.

Leah spoke up again, "Do you think Blue will go after more Plates?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Agatha said vaguely, "It's a possibility."

"Is he going after all of them?"

"I don't know," Agatha replied, inwardly knowing it was impossible. She added for Leah's benefit, "They're in safe hands."

"Two of them have already been stolen. Is that what you mean by safe hands?"

Leah fell silent when Agatha let out a sigh.

"Child," she started quietly. "We're doing the best we can to keep them safe. Do not worry or think of them anymore. I don't want to come to a meeting again to find out you've involved yourself and that you're in a hospital."

"What are you going to do about Blue?" Leah asked, redirecting the line of conversation with an awkward grimace. "He's still out there."

"Not for long," Agatha muttered to herself, not answering the question. In all honestly, she wasn't sure what they were supposed to do next. It was something she had to take up with Lance.

Since her question was being ignored, Leah instead asked, "What's going to happen with the Plate? You weren't supposed to lose it, right?"

Agatha offered her granddaughter a slight smile.

"Do you really think that we'll risk something as important as a Plate, just to catch a thief?"
 
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Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
The Fighting Plate was blown across the field with a flash of light, the Plate rolling and crumbling as it slid along the ground. When it finally came to a halt, steam rose up from its battered and destroyed form, not being able to contend with a Hyper Beam.

"****!" Blue screamed, kicking a rock, but not bothering to watch it sail a few feet. "Damn it!"

It was a fake! Just a useless fake!

All that work for nothing! He went to all that trouble- boarding the S. S. Anne, studying the routes throughout the ship, going against Agatha's ghosts, nearly getting caught– just for some rock!

He felt humiliated. No wonder Agatha didn't show up; she didn't have to since she wasn't losing a thing.

"Dammit!"

Starmie hovered closer to him, its jewel flashing a light pink, as if trying to offer comfort.

Blue sighed, shoulders slumping, and ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks, Starmie, but that's not going to help."

His other Pokemon tugged on his pant leg, its tail waving back and forth in the air. A faint breeze blew across the field and Blue breathed in, smelling the slight sweet scent.

He smiled slightly. No matter how bad life got, his Pokemon always managed to keep his hopes up.

"Thanks to you too," he said, patting the Pokemon on the head and rubbing his ears. Then, he turned to Starmie. "Green's coming here. Make sure she gets here all right, okay?"

Starmie was still for a moment before the blue glow around it intensified as it suddenly spun into the air and flew over the trees.

Blue sighed and looked down at his other Pokemon. "Well, I guess it's just you and me now, buddy."

No matter how much his Pokemon tried to cheer him up, however, the fact that he failed again wouldn't leave his mind. Once was bad enough, but twice? That was just terrible and no excuses would be acceptable. He underestimated the Elite Four both times and paid for it; one with his arm and that other with his dignity. And if that wasn't bad enough, he also managed to miss his chance to kill that girl who kept showing up.

It was rather a coincidence, actually. This girl appeared on both Seafoam Island and the S. S. Anne and met him both times. The first time, she screwed up both his plans and himself, and in the second, she distracted him long enough for Agatha's Gengar to appear.

Damn that girl.

Actually, the girl would probably still be in Vermillion City, though he doubted that he would find her if he decided to look. He didn't know her name, or even much of her face (he was a bit preoccupied at the time). Those details were something he should fix as soon as he could. Sooner, the better; sooner, the faster he could track down and get rid of the problem.

Honestly, it was like the girl was bad luck charm or something…

"Blue!"

Turning, Blue look out into the woods as Green appeared from the shadows.

Since Blue was stupid, and before he had even taken a close look at the Plate, he had called Green to tell her of his supposed success. Of course, she had quickly decided to teleport down to Vermillion at the soonest chance she had, which was right after he found out the Plate was a phony.

'Why didn't I check it before I called her?' he groaned to himself. He did not like meeting Green in person. In real life, she was much pushier and shrill-ish than over the phone. The only good thing about meeting her in person was that she served as some nice eye candy, which was an understatement if he ever saw one.

The woman brushed off a stray leaf that had clung to her shirt and then, crossing her arms, she looked at Blue with narrowed eyes.

"Where my Plate?" she demanded, stepping forward.

Blue's eyes darted over to the broken piece of rubble meters away and Green followed his gaze.

She gasped and she started for the broken rock. "M- My Plate!"

"Calm down," Blue said, grabbing her arm to stop her. She whirled around, pulling her arm away and scowling at him.

"What's going on? What happened to my Plate?!"

"Oh, that's not your Plate," he replied, waving her demands off. "That's just the dummy that the Elite Four created."

Green looked at the rock.

"A dummy…?" She turned back. "Blue! Did you get my Plate or not?"

"Nope; it wasn't there in the first place." He frowned at her, and in the corner of his eye, he noticed that Starmie had reappeared.

"Why did you call me then?" she demanded.

"I thought it was real at first."

And that was true. Blue had never seen the real Fighting Plate before, so there wasn't any way he could tell it was a fake. It was only when he decided to test it by kicking it around a bit did he figure it out. The only other way he could have possibly told it was a fake was by the weird writing on its surface, and that was extremely hard when you couldn't even read it. Apparently, the writing was some type of written Pokemon language, but Blue doubted it. He had tried to get his Starmie to read it, but it couldn't. No humans or Pokemon could read it.

Well, maybe one Pokemon…

"I thought you researched these things!"

Blue felt a bit of annoyance at Green's shrill tone. "I do, the whole convention was pretty much an excuse to trap me. I wasn't supposed to notice."

"That's not good enough. What am I paying you for?"

"To get you a Plate," he replied, standing his ground when Green took a few steps forward, apparently trying to intimidate him. Really, who did she think he was? Did she really think a ditzy looking blond like herself could possibly scare him?

Green growled and Blue starred at her with a raised brow.

"You know, I really think you should calm down." He motioned to his Pokemon, who looked up at him. "Stir up some Sweet Scent."

Taking a few deep breaths, Green said, "Don't bother."

"If you insist."

Apparently calm now, Green looked over to the broken rock and then looked back at Blue.

"This is the second time you've messed up," she said. "You know, you're really starting to disappoint me."

Blue sighed and ran a hand through his dyed blond hair. He really didn't feel like talking to Green at that point. It had been a long day. All he wanted to do was to go home and sleep.

"Live with it. You just can't go hire someone else, you know. You'll have a very hard time to find someone like me."

She eyed him coolly. "You're not that special. Someone who has well-trained Pokemon, who doesn't mind killing and stealing- I can buy whoever I want. People will be lined up to steal a Plate for me. And I bet they can do much better than you."

"Oh, yes," he rolled his eyes. "And the minute they get their hands on one, they'll run off. A Plate is worth twice of you, Green. I, at least, won't purposely try to take one for myself."

"… What did happen?" she asked, seeing that continuing that line of conversation would lead to no where. "The news is all over it, you know. For all your talk of staying in the shadows, you sure get a lot of limelight."

He shrugged. "I panicked a bit. I honestly didn't think ghosts would be that weak to light. It tends to be stereotyped a lot, so I just assumed it was exaggerated."

"And you said you knew lots about Pokemon." She laughed.

"You're the one who approached me," he replied, trying to look like he didn't care.

"Mhmm. Well, what did happen? Did Agatha trick you into running in circles?"

Blue grimaced. "Something like that." He paused. "That girl was there."

"What girl?"

"The one on Seafoam Island, that made me lose the Ice Plate and did this," he patted his weak arm, "to me."

"Really?" Green looked a bit distracted, like she was thinking. "… Blue?"

He looked over. "What?"

"I think you should speed up your search for the Plates," she said. "You've gone after two, and have gotten away with one. The Elite Four will be on their guard more than ever now. I know you like to take months just planning a heist, but I think you should go after another one as soon as possible."

"What's the rush?"

"Hmm?" Green looked at him confused as if not knowing why he wasn't agreeing with her. "The Elite Four are going to do everything in their power to protect the Plates. I'm surprised they haven't shipped them out of the country yet."

Blue gave her an amused look. "That's impossible. Think about it. If you had a Plate- and weren't going to do anything with it immediately-" he quickly added, seeing Green open her mouth, "then would you actually send it out of Kanto to sit in some vault miles and miles away from you? Think how many people the Plate would have to go through."

"No," he continued. "The Elite Four are stuck in their own paranoia. Haven't you wondered why the Ice Plate was on an abandoned island, only guarded by Pokemon? The Elite Four is so paranoid that I really doubt they'd let any human, other than themselves, near it."

"I suppose you're right," Green said reluctantly, looking away when Blue smirked at her. "Though I still think we should speed things up. No one will expect you to go after one so soon."

Sighing, Blue replied, "The problem is that I don't know where the other Plates are. Though, I do have an idea where another is, but I'm leaving that one alone."

"Why's that?"

"Trust me on this one."

Green, however, decided that wasn't good enough.

"If you know where a Plate is, Blue," she said, scowling. "Then I expect you to go get it." She paused, something occurring to her. "You know, this is the first time that I've heard that you know where another Plate was. When did you find out?"

Replying truthfully, Blue said, "About a month ago."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I'm not going after it," he told her, and suddenly, Green was right in his face.

She jabbed him in the chest with her finger as she looked up at him, eyes narrowed.

"I'm paying you a lot of money, and you haven't returned the favor yet," she said in a high voice. "Is this Plate really that hard to get? You went up against Lorelei and Agatha, and it's this one Plate that scares you off? What, is Lance there or something?"

Blue pushed her away and in a sharp voice, said, "I'm not your dog, Green. I didn't just decide not to go after the Plate. I researched, I went up to where it was, and then I decided that it wouldn't be worth it to go after it. That's my final decision."

There was silence, and Green stood still, her face going steadily red.

'Oh, great', Blue thought to himself. It looked like Green was going to have a temper tantrum. As long as he stayed patient, he would wait until it blew over…

However, to Blue's great surprise, Green didn't explode, but calmed. She smiled coyly, like she had a plan in mind, and sauntered back up to him.

"You know," she started, tilting her head. "If you don't start turning in results, I'm going to have you killed."

Blue made a short laugh. "You kill me? Come on, you can come up with threats better than that."

"I'm completely serious. All I have to do is go up to the Elite Four and point right at you. I know your name and your face. They'll easily track you down and then your life is ruined." She finished with a small shrug, as if it meant nothing to her.

"… Is that it?" Blue asked. "Is that all you can come up with?" He shook his head. "Green, Green, Green; you disappoint me. How are you going to explain to the Elite Four on how you came across this information? You have no proof and it's more likely that they'd suspect that you're tied to this whole mess, which you are."

Green scowled. "I can easily get proof. You're definitely not a human anymore and I can tell just by looking at you. Your eyes are much too pale and your skin is too cold." She eyed his long blond hair, which had streaks of brown showing at the roots. "And your hair grows too quick."

He waved if off. "That isn't evidence. I can explain that in a lot of different ways."

"Then what's your explanation, then?" Green asked, but then paused. After a moment, she smiled and looked at him. "I just thought of something. You're not a human anymore; you're part Pokemon…"

"Go on," Blue said, waving his hand with a roll of his eyes. "Let me hear your wondrous realization."

"You say you're not my dog," she continued, reaching into her pocket and taking out a black Pokeball with a yellow design; an Ultra-Ball. "But… I can make you my dog, right? What are the chances that you're Pokemon enough for me to catch you?"

Green gasped, releasing the Ultra-Ball as Blue violently grabbed her wrist, pulling him towards her. She tried to push him away, but he changed his grip, grabbing her arm instead and holding a knife to her throat.

"Catch me?" he asked with an awkward grin, trying to mask on how much the idea completely disturbed him. "Nah… I think it's more likely that I'd kill you. I completely outclass you, in strength, in Pokemon- I don't even need to use weapons or my fists."

Green could only watch and struggle in horror as her arm started to freeze up, the tips of her fingers gaining a blue tinge and the skin around Blue's hand becoming frostbitten. An icy feeling spread up her arms and Green couldn't help but shiver a bit as she suddenly felt very, very cold.

"I can't really control it," he said casually. "It just kind of happens when I want it to. Other than instantly freezing my tap water into ice cubes, it's pretty useless, so I don't use it that often." He looked at her terrified face. "Though, I think it's kind of you to volunteer to be my test subject. I've always kind of wondered what my new powers do…"

"I get it, Blue!" Green said, breathing heavily. "Let go!"

He didn't let go.

"Do you really understand?" he asked. "Because I would hate if you didn't."

"I get it!"

Blue leaned in slightly, tightening his grip.

"Don't forget, Jade."

Then, he released her and Green stumbled back, holding her frostbitten arm and breathing heavily. Her eyes darted to Blue, to his two Pokemon that were loyally standing by their trainer's side, to the shadows of the trees, and then back to Blue.

'Green was always so paranoid,' Blue thought to himself with a mental sigh. She absolutely hated it when he called her real name, even if it was just her first. She always thought that she was being watched by someone.

But at least she had the excuse at being a highly televised Pokemon Master. Jade Rouge was one of the youngest Pokemon Masters in Kanto, having been the winner of the Indigo Tournament two times in a row. Of course, it didn't help that Green flaunted her victories to the media like throwing a stray dog a bone.

"I'll call you when I find another Plate," Blue said and the woman stared at him with wide eyes. "Now get going, okay?"

He waved his hand, dismissing her.

Jade gave him a glare as she walked past him and said, "I won't forget this."

"Sure, sure," Blue said, rolling his eyes and watched as she disappeared into the shadows.

He wasn't worried about Jade, truthfully. She was all talk and no bite. And it wasn't like she knew his real name, so it was all good.

"I think that went rather well, under the circumstances," Blue said to both his Pokemon. Then, he sighed and relaxed his tired body.

He didn't feel like thinking anymore. It was getting late and he wanted to go to bed as soon as he got home. Luckily, he had a Pokemon who could teleport, so he didn't have to move much.

Just when Blue was going to speak his intentions, a sound made him pause.

At first, he thought it was his imagination, but as the sound got louder, it was obviously anything but. It had a haunting quality to it and faded in and out of his hearing like a snake, but it still got louder and louder, like the one who was making the noise got closer.

The sound could be called a song, but there was something about it that made Blue's skin crawl. To his ears it was rather pretty, but somewhere in him, something was covering its ears and screaming for it to stop.

"What-" Blue looked down at his Pokemon and noticed there was something wrong. He looked over at his Starmie and noticed the same problem.

Both were unnaturally still and Starmie's aura was loosing its glow as the psychic-type slowly lowered to ground until it finally fell over onto its back. His other Pokemon also laid down, its eyes drooping close and its tail wagging to a stop.

"Guys?" Blue said quietly, kneeling down and picking up his limp Pokemon. It lay in his arms, curled into his chest and its tail almost touching the ground when Blue stood up.

Blue went over to Starmie. "Star?"

The psychic-type, however, was still conscious as its jewel flashed a few time with a dull red glow before it finally stopped.

Suddenly, the noise that was apparently causing his Pokemon's problems got very loud and Blue had a feeling that whatever was doing this was right behind him.

Blue turned.

The Swablu's small yellow beak opened and closed with the faint beat of the noise. Its fluffy white wings were kept close to its blue body as it sat on its trainer's shoulder. Though, its song was apparently affecting it too as the trainer's hand was kept up to the Pokemon, shaking it whenever the noise wavered.

"I've wanted to meet you for a while," Giovanni started, gently shaking the Swablu awake again as he walked into the clearing. "I'm glad I finally can now."

"You…" Blue didn't know what to say, especially since he seemed a bit screwed at the moment. "… What have you done?"

Giovanni smiled. "Just a Perish Song," he said. "Unfortunately, Swablu is still having a few problems with it, as you've probably noticed."

Perish Song.

God damn it.

Slowly, Blue put his Pokemon back on the ground and stood back up, one of his hands reaching for his knife. Unluckily, he had left his gun back home since he couldn't bring it to the convention. The only weapons he could possibly use were his two Pokemon and his knife. And with only his knife, he didn't really feel like a threat.

'Why now?' Blue moaned to himself, wondering where it all went wrong. 'How did he find me? I didn't leave any tracks!'

Like he was reading his mind, Giovanni said, "It wasn't that hard to find you. I put a tracker in the Plate, but since you destroyed it, it took me a while to find you in this forest."

He gave the thief a wry grin.

"I don't think that knife is going to be much of a help to you," the gym leader said.

Blue gripped the knife tighter.

"You can calm down," Giovanni said to Blue, finally letting the Swablu stop its tune. The little flying-type seemed to sigh and then would have fallen off its trainer's shoulder if Giovanni didn't hold it there.

After returning the Swablu, Giovanni looked up to see Blue returning his Pokemon too.

"You're not going to get away," Giovanni said, noticing Blue glancing towards the trees. "I've released my ground Pokemon. I'm not going to let you get away after all the effort I put in to finding you."

Blue clenched his hands into fists. What options did he have? Knife Giovanni? Hah, like that would do anything. He probably had a Nidoking around somewhere to gore him with its horn if he even tried that. And it wasn't like his minimal ice powers could do anything. If Blue was a Pokemon, he would guess he'd be somewhere around level one. Yeah, like that would do any good.

Giovanni eyed him. "You know, I'm not here as a gym leader. The Elite Four don't even know where I am. I'm not here to arrest you."

Now that gave the thief a pause. Not arrest him? What?

"I want you to calm down," Giovanni continued. "And listen to me, alright? I just want to talk; that's all."

What other choice did Blue have? He was quite confused at what Giovanni's intentions were, but he supposed there was no harm in listening. And if he didn't like what he was hearing, then he'd run.

Blue took a deep breath, not letting go of the knife. He looked at Giovanni with narrowed pale eyes.

"Then what do you want with me?"


-


A/N: Damn it, I wanted this to be a short chapter!

*sighs*

I'm a bit nervous about this chapter, probably because of the Leah-Agatha reveal. It's something I've been planning since chapter one and I hope that I've pulled it off right. The Green-Jade reveal was rather obvious in my opinion because of her name, but I liked her name too much to change it.

Anyways, no update next week because I need to plan stuff.

Thanks for reading!
 
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SethMetal37

I'm a zombie. BLARG!
90
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Great chapter. Everytime I think I know whats going to happen in this story, Im wrong, or not even close. There were a couple spelling errors, but I figure someone else will give you a review on those. Im just too lazy. Thanks for writing lolz
 

Giratina ♀

what's your sign?
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  • Age 27
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Finally turning to look at the figure, Agatha said, "Of course they are. You just don't understand.
"Do you really think that we'll risk something as important as a Plate, just to catch a thief?
Lacks an ending quote.

"I suppose your right," Green said reluctantly, looking away when Blue smirked at her.
Wrong form of you're.

Blue pushed her away and in a sharp voice, said, "I'm not you dog, Green.
I'm not your dog, perhaps?

You definitely not a human anymore and I can tell just by looked at you.
You're and looking, respectively.

Anyway, this was a good chapter past the stack of grammatical errors. Did you happen to read over the chapter before posting it? The Leah-Agatha thing was done quite well, in my opinion; it didn't really occur to me that her grandmother was much more than a mere minor character who kick-started the plot and then faded into the background bemoaning her weak spine or something to that effect. XD I can't really recall who Jade is, assuming from the author's notes that she has been seen before. So nope, that came randomly to me anyway. Keep going! :D
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Great chapter. Everytime I think I know whats going to happen in this story, Im wrong, or not even close. There were a couple spelling errors, but I figure someone else will give you a review on those. Im just too lazy. Thanks for writing lolz
Heh, thanks! I'm glad you liked it. :) Plot twists are something I love reading about, even if I don't use them all too much.


Anyway, this was a good chapter past the stack of grammatical errors. Did you happen to read over the chapter before posting it?
Yeah, I did, but most of my time was spent finishing off the ending of the chapter, so I was rushing a bit. :embarrass

The Leah-Agatha thing was done quite well, in my opinion; it didn't really occur to me that her grandmother was much more than a mere minor character who kick-started the plot and then faded into the background bemoaning her weak spine or something to that effect. XD
Okay, good. That part of the chapter was the part I was a bit worried about. I actually rewrote about half of it while editing, so I'm glad it came out okay. Heh, now I'm starting to imagine Agatha moaning about her weak spine; it's a funny image.


I can't really recall who Jade is, assuming from the author's notes that she has been seen before. So nope, that came randomly to me anyway. Keep going!
Jade was in chapter 26, but I only mentioned her for a paragraph, so it was easy to miss.

Thanks for reviewing, Giratina!
 

SethMetal37

I'm a zombie. BLARG!
90
Posts
14
Years
Dagzar, write another chapter, please!! lolz its been two weeks, and your audience has waited patiently. No pressure though lolz. Just an update that you are infact, writing another chapter would be great! Thanks for yor amazing story
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Dagzar, write another chapter, please!! lolz its been two weeks, and your audience has waited patiently. No pressure though lolz. Just an update that you are infact, writing another chapter would be great! Thanks for yor amazing story
Lol, yeah, I know I'm a horrible person for not updating. Unfortunately, I've been a bit preoccupied the last couple of weeks and therefore, the chapter isn't even done yet, though I am working on it now that things have calmed down a tad. I know you guys have been waiting, but you're going to have to wait one more week. <_< I know, I know, I'm really, really sorry, but I'll make sure the next chapter is the best chapter is can be (I will tell you guys it's a battle-chapter, so expect lots of action).
 

Buoysel

Trust me, I'm a Professional*
2,006
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Lol, yeah, I know I'm a horrible person for not updating. Unfortunately, I've been a bit preoccupied the last couple of weeks and therefore, the chapter isn't even done yet, though I am working on it now that things have calmed down a tad. I know you guys have been waiting, but you're going to have to wait one more week. <_< I know, I know, I'm really, really sorry, but I'll make sure the next chapter is the best chapter is can be (I will tell you guys it's a battle-chapter, so expect lots of action).

Your not a horrible person for not updating, your just a procrastinator like the rest of us.
 

Dagzar

The Dreamer
444
Posts
15
Years
Your not a horrible person for not updating, your just a procrastinator like the rest of us.
*nods* That's so true, and for some reason, I can't really find myself to be sad about it. :cheeky:
 

SethMetal37

I'm a zombie. BLARG!
90
Posts
14
Years
Hey, thanks for still writing though, lolz your not a horrible person. Can't wait till next week. I was just a little worried the story might have like....died or something. But now I know its not so yay lolz
 
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