[Pokémon] Convergent Paths

Chapter Twenty-One
Belle blew gently on her coffee before raising the cup to her lips. The Vermilion City Pokémon Center was deserted; all the trainers that had been there the day before had left, either because they were going to challenge Lieutenant Surge or because they had already challenged him and needed to move onto Erika in Celadon. Belle and Derrick sat alone at a table, eating breakfast. They had decided to wait to take their gym challenge until all the trainers had finished. Neither of them had any desire to wait in a long line.

Belle set her coffee cup down and looked up at the TV absently. It was on the channel that played news all the time. She blinked. The pictures changed and the anchorwoman talked, but Belle didn't take in any meaning.

"Oh, not again," Derrick moaned suddenly. She glanced over at him; he was looking up at the television. "Nurse Joy, could you turn up the TV?"

"Certainly." Nurse Joy picked up the remote from behind the counter and turned the volume up.

"—another Snorlax has fallen asleep. Anyone wishing to travel from Vermilion City must take the Lavender Town route." The picture cut to a video of a large, slumbering Snorlax right in the middle of the path. Several people were dancing around it, yelling and pushing at it. "Police say that when the Snorlax has moved, the public will be notified."

The anchorwoman appeared again and went off on some other story. Derrick moaned and slumped onto the table. "Those stupid Snorlax! I swear, they fall asleep in the most inconvenient places at the most inconvenient times. It's like the world wants you to go out of your way sometimes for stupid reasons. I don't want to go to Lavender Town. Let's just stay here until the Snorlax moves."

"No way!" Belle cried. "There's no telling how long that'll be! In Johto, there's a weird tree right outside Goldenrod City that blocks the road, and you have to water it with a watering can. It freaks out and runs away, but there it is again the next day. And there's no way around it unless you have this special watering can. With this, at least there's a way around. We're challenging Lieutenant Surge this afternoon, and then we're setting off for Lavender Town."

"But Lavender Town is haunted," Derrick whined. "Isn't it, Nurse Joy? You have a sister in Lavender Town, right?"

Nurse Joy smiled. "Well, yes, but she says that it's really not so bad there."

"See, Derrick? You have nothing to worry about. I'm going, with or without you."

Derrick groaned and threw himself face down on the table again as Belle calmly took a sip of her coffee.

__________________________________________

Belle was feeling confident. With a Diglett, Lieutenant Surge had no chance of getting an attack in. She had progressed past his traps and stood before him, staring at him from under the brim of her hat.

"Go! Magneton!"

Crap. Magneton didn't touch the ground, so Ground-type moves wouldn't work on it. But it was part Steel…

"Charmy! Let's go!" Belle tossed Charmy's Poké Ball out onto the arena, and her Charmander broke free of it.

"Thunderbolt, Magneton!"

"Use Ember, Charmy!"

Charmy did so; the Fire-type move hit Magneton so hard that it was blown backwards a bit.

Lieutenant Surge's face darkened considerably. Already his Magneton was hurt, and even burned. It hadn't even attacked. Its three eyes seemed to point at each other. "Come on, Magneton! Use Thunder Wave!"

"Don't let it attack, Charmy! Ember again!"

Charmy obeyed quite well. Magneton was toast; it fell to the ground, whirring tiredly, and the gym's referee held up Belle's colored flag.

"Magneton is unable to battle. Challenger wins!"

Belle folded her arms as Lt. Surge withdrew Magneton. "You shouldn't look so smug, young lady," he told her in a gruff voice as he picked another Poké Ball off his belt. "This next Pokémon is my last…and I can pretty much guarantee that— " Surge stopped.

Belle followed his gaze to see a glowing Charmy standing where a non-glowing Charmy had stood just seconds before. "What? Charmy is evolving!" she cried out.

Charmy glowed brighter until he seemed composed of nothing but bright white light, and then his shape started to shift and turn; he grew taller, and a spike grew out of his once-round head. His arms got longer, his legs got thicker, his tail stretched just a tiny bit. Then the light faded, revealing a Pokémon that was red instead of orange, with a much fiercer gaze and long claws.

Lt. Surge was the one who broke the silence. "Your Charmy evolved into Charmeleon!"

"Oh," Belle said. Charmy was now almost as tall as she was; when it came running back to her, arms outstretched to hug her, its head came to right underneath her breasts, and its head-spike protruded up past them. She placed a hand on the back of Charmy's head. "Good job, Charmy. I'm so proud of you."

"Meleon!"

"Okay, enough of the mushy love," Surge barked. "Raichu!"

Raichu, although absolutely adorable, looked rather fierce. It bared its fangs as it burst out of the Poké Ball, thrashing its strange whip-like tail over its head. Belle withdrew Charmy to his Poké Ball and pulled a different one off her belt.

Well, it wasn't really a belt. It was more like a loop of material that she kept slung ****-eyed around her hips, so that one side was up near her waist. But for simplicity's sake, she called it a belt.

"It's your turn, Diglett!"

"Diglett?" Surge muttered as the Pokémon appeared before him. His eyes widened.

"Use Dig!"

And then the Diglett disappeared. Shloop! and it was gone. Belle smiled grimly as she realized that she was using much the same technique as Sakura Konohana had against Cassandra.

"We've encountered this before, Raichu!" Surge shouted. "Feel the vibrations of the ground!"

Raichu went down on all fours, putting all of its limbs to the challenge. It closed its eyes and Belle bit her lip.

"Diglett, stop!" she cried. "Stay still!"

Lt. Surge folded his arms over his chest. "Ah. Giving up?"

Raichu stood, folding its own little arms and wearing much the same expression— a sideways smirk.

Belle grinned back. "I'd never give up. Now!" she shouted. Diglett surfaced right underneath Raichu, throwing the Pokémon up into the air. It squealed, but it righted itself and landed unharmed and catlike.

…Persian-like.

"Impressive," Surge told her. "But I am a Gym Leader. I have seen most things. Raichu! Tackle!"

"Dodge!"

Schloop! Diglett disappeared under the ground and Raichu sailed over it.

"Magnitude!" Belle cried.

And Diglett, summoning all its strength, managed a beautiful Magnitude 8. Raichu was unable to escape as the ground shook.

"Now, Dig!"

With the whole floor shaking, Raichu was unable to sense Diglett's vibrations and dodge; this time, when Diglett hit it, it went sailing into the air and landed in a crumpled heap. It was so fainted it might as well have had Xs over its eyes.

"Raichu is unable to battle! Challenger wins the match!"

Surge withdrew Raichu and stepped forward as Belle jumped up and down happily. The ground ceased its shaking and Diglett happily burrowed its way over to Belle, stopping in front of her to receive its praise. "Diglett dig!"

"Yeah, Diglett dig," Belle told it, patting it. "You did a really good job." She pulled out the Pokémon's Poké Ball and allowed it to return before standing up. Lt. Surge came to a stop in front of her.

"You fought well," he said, pulling a hand out of his pocket. He opened his fist; inside it was the Thunder Badge. "You've earned this."

"Thank you so much!" Belle gasped, grabbing the badge from his hands. "Oh, thank you!" She looked up into his harsh, unsmiling face. "How many of these do you go through a year?"

"You're asking about a year?" he said. "The numbers I go through a week are staggering, and you wanna know about a year?"

Belle glanced back at the floor behind Surge. "Um…sorry about that." It was now split by numerous cracks and fissures.

"I lead an Electric-type gym. People bring Ground-type Pokémon. It happens all the time. You…you're intuitive. And very familiar-looking. What's your name?"

"Belle," she replied. "Belle Caldwell."

"Caldwell?" Surge frowned. "You know a man by the name of Daniel?"

"He was my father," Belle replied.

Surge continued looking at her quizzically. "Was your father."

"Yes. He…died."

Surge closed his eyes and nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that. He was a strong man."

"You knew him?"

"Of course I did. Before I shipped out to join the army, he came here to challenge the gym. He had an Ivysaur. I challenged him to a battle, and…well…he beat me." Surge laughed. "That Ivysaur was damn strong."

"I used to play with him," Belle said. "Well…by the time I was born, he was a Venosaur, but…"

"Yeah, my son used to play with Raichu here. But listen, Belle. You share your father's talent and instincts. You keep listening to your gut and keep training."

Belle smiled. "Thanks, Lieutenant Surge."

She stayed to watch Derrick battle Surge. He did quite well, seeing as Geodude had actual arms and could pick Raichu up. When they left the city together, they both clutched Thunder Badges.


To: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com, [email protected]
From: dingdongbelle@pokénet.com
Subject: THUNDER BADGE!!!
_____________________________________________________________
I GOT MY THUNDER BADGE, I GOT MY THUNDER BADGE, I GOT MY FREAKIN' THUNDER BADGE AND IT FEEEEEEEEEELSSS SSSSOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD!!!!
That's right ladies, Belle Caldwell has got THREE BADGES. Oh, and to top it all off, Charmy evolved into Charmeleon. Yup! I have now got an evolved Pokémon on my team. w00t!!
Oh, Alyssa, Derrick's tragic past— his little sister drowned and his dad got poisoned by a Tentacruel trying to save her.
*GASP*
I cried when he told me!! Also, I have a Diglett now. Don't think I informed you. Sooo, how was your first daaaay??
And how's the road, Cassandra?
Well, I'd better get going. It's off to spooky haunted Lavender Town for me!!
Love from crazy excited,
Belle

Chapter Twenty-Two
Cassandra was quite sure she was going to rip her hair out by the time she and Karen wandered out of Meteor Falls.

"That place is so stupid! Why is there a log bridge randomly between two cliffs?"

"Well, we did have to cross it in order to get out," Karen told her. "Cheer up, Cassandra. We're almost to Fallarbor Town."

"Yeah, I guess so." She tugged unhappily on the strap of her backpack and pushed her hair out of her face. She had long since twisted it into a bun, but her bangs insisted on falling into her eyes.

A short trek later, Cassandra and Karen ended up in Fallarbor Town. It wasn't much to speak of; it was small, and ash seemed to be falling from the sky. Its only redeeming quality was the special, Coordinator-only hot spring situated inside the Contest Hall, which Cassandra was already planning to get into.

"Ooh, a hot spring!" Karen said as Cassandra told her about it and they went into the Center. "That'll be fun, won't it, Tuffly?"

"Wiggly!" the Pokémon agreed. Karen didn't seem to have a Poké Ball— and if she did, she wasn't using it. Tuffly walked with them the whole way.

Cassandra went straight to the counter to talk to Nurse Joy. The woman clapped happily when she saw her. "Oh, hello! You're Cassandra Étoile, right?"

"Y-yeah…how did you know?"

"My sister in Verdanturf told me," Nurse Joy replied. "She sent me a video from the DVD she gets complimentary from judging the contest. You were magnificent! And my sister in Rustboro said you got a traveling companion? Where's Karen?"

Cassandra looked over her shoulder and blinked. Karen was nowhere to be found; she had disappeared. "Um…I don't actually know," she replied. "She was right behind me when I walked in. Do you…know…Karen?"

"No. But my sister in Rustboro tells me all about her. She loves Pokémon, and she comes into the Pokémon Center every day to help out."

"So…" Cassandra leaned in. "What's up with her parents? Why are they willing to let her run off to Fallarbor Town with a stranger?"

"Well, apparently they're hippies."

"…hippies."

"Yes. They are very free-spirited. Both her mother and her father have hair down to their waists, and they believe very much in the unity between Pokémon and humans."

"Great. So do they smoke a lot of dope?"

Nurse Joy laughed appreciatively. "I don't know, Miss Étoile."

"Please, just call me Cassandra."

"I'm ready for the hot spring!"

Cassandra turned and Nurse Joy looked up; Karen stood behind them, looking absolutely adorable in her bright blue one-piece bathing suit. She reminded Cassandra of very brightly-colored cotton candy. The girl did a little twirl; Tuffly turned with her. It was quite a well-choreographed move. Perhaps Karen did have a bit of potential as a Coordinator.

"Great," Cassandra said again. "Is it okay if I drop my Pokémon off here, Nurse Joy? They need a bit of rest. We just came through Meteor Falls."

"No problem," Nurse Joy replied as Cassandra handed over her three Poké Balls.
______________________________


"Why, if it isn't Cassandra Étoile."

Cassandra blinked. Sakura Konohana smiled demurely up at her from her place in the hot spring. Her wet red hair tumbled down around her, sprawling out once it got to her shoulders; it wasn't quite as long as Cassandra's. About Alyssa's length, Cassandra thought to herself. She could make out an orange-and-white tail bobbing next to Sakura in the water.

"Let's go, Tuffly!" Karen said, pushing past Cassandra to clamber down into the hot spring.

"Wiggly!" Tuffly followed as best it could; with its giant bulk and tiny arms, it couldn't quite grip the ladder, so it slipped and fell into the hot spring with a splash. Karen laughed happily and wiped the water from her face; Sakura chuckled appreciatively.

Cassandra lowered herself into the water carefully and picked out a place to sit. She sighed happily, relaxing for a moment, before turning to Sakura. "So, what are you doing here? Did you come to watch the contest?"

"Oh, no," Sakura told her. "I'm here to compete."

"But…you lost at Verdanturf," Cassandra said hesitantly. "You have to beat the Normal Rank in order to move on to the Super Rank here in Fallarbor."

Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, but I competed in the contest directly before the one in which I battled you, and I won. The Normal Rank has theirs more often, so I wanted to move through it as many times as possible before I moved on to the Super Rank. I now believe I have enough experience to win here."

"Goldeen goldeen," the Pokémon toned from underwater.

Cassandra nodded. "That's cool. Verdanturf Contest Hall has theirs once every few weeks, right? How far apart is Fallarbor's?"

"Theirs is a monthly contest."

"And it's broadcasted on some of the less-watched cable stations," Karen piped up. "Hyper Rank in Slateport City is totally different, though. They have their contests once every two months, and it's widely televised." For a moment, she seemed fixated on the water running through her palms as she scooped it up in her hands. "But the Master Rank in Lilycove City…" The water slid off her fingers again. "They hold their contests…"

"Four times a year," Sakura finished. "So if you don't win the first time, you have to wait a very long time for another contest date."

The water slipped easily from Karen's hands, splashing delicately into the spring.


To: [email protected]
From: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
Subject: Televised contests!!
_____________________________________________________________
Hey Alyssa!!
They actually start televising contests at the Super Rank, but only on lesser-watched channels…so you may not be able to see my Fallarbor performance unless I send you something.
Sorry your first day sucked. Things will get better!! At least you have a hot guy to flirt with while you work…contests are total taco-fests.
Did I actually just put that?
Anyway, I'll email you later!
Love you lots,
Cassandra

Alright-y, review time! You definitely have the basics down, though I did see a few things:

"I don't have enough money for a hotel room," Belle said uncertainly.

"Trainers are allowed to stay for free at Pokémon Centers," Professor Oak told her.

Click to expand...

I'm surprised that Belle didn't know she could stay free at a Pokemon Center. She wanted to be a trainer since she was nine, right? Then she should definitely know that info already. It's basic stuff.

One rude person shoved her and she "accidentally" lit the shoulder of his coat on fire with Charmy's tail, making the man squawk and bat at it with his briefcase.

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Whoa, Belle set a person on fire? That's not funny. He could get seriously burned because of that and I wouldn't be surprised if Belle was arrested. That could even be seen as attempted murder.

Police say that when the Snorlax has moved, the public will be notified."

Click to expand...

Why doesn't someone just force Snorlax up, attack it and / or catch it? It's not that hard. If you can't wake it up, that mean it's just easier to capture.

And there's no way around it unless you have this special watering can.

Click to expand...

Sudowoodo are skinny little things. I can't see how they would be difficult to get by.

Most of the problems above stem from you taking things directly from the games or anime and trying to duplicate them in a realistic environment. It just doesn't work, though the shout outs (like the Sudowoodo one) are rather nice to read.

You have a good start, though I do think your chapters are a bit on the short side. One thing I really like is how you end each chapter with an email from the focused character to the other two, detailing the events. The emails are very realistic and they're just how I would imagine teenager girls to write (the caps and smilies everywhere help).

Out of the characters, I have to say I like Belle the best. She seems cute and I love the relationship she has with her brother. Cassandra's nice too, but I absolutely despise her mother. Why Gerald married a woman like that I'll never know. At least Cassandra's mother seems to be defrosting slightly with Cassandra's win. I don't know much of the Ranger games, so I'm not that attached with Alyssa, but she's starting to grow on me.

One thing you should really work on is description. I'd rather liked to have seen all those battles you skipped past and the coordinator battles with Cassandra. The first coordinator battle especially, since it would develop Karen's character right from the get go.

I'll keep my eye on further chapters, so keep up the good work!

Wow, Dagzar! Thanks for all the constructive criticism! I hadn't thought about the actual physics of Sudowoodo and Snorlax; they're kind of just end there as game shout-outs, like you said. They're not too terribly important.

I'm surprised that Belle didn't know she could stay free at a Pokemon Center. She wanted to be a trainer since she was nine, right? Then she should definitely know that info already. It's basic stuff.

Click to expand...

I didn't think about that. o.0 I'll have to go back and say something about how she was making sure the laws were the same in Kanto as they were in Johto. Thanks much for pointing that out!

You have a good start, though I do think your chapters are a bit on the short side. One thing I really like is how you end each chapter with an email from the focused character to the other two, detailing the events. The emails are very realistic and they're just how I would imagine teenager girls to write (the caps and smilies everywhere help).

Click to expand...

The short chapters start to get longer; the reason they're so short right now is because when I originally started this story, I had all three girls in one chapter, with an e-mail between each installment---the chapters started getting too lengthy, though, so I split them up. They start getting relatively longer as the fic moves on. And thanks for the praise on the e-mails! A lot of people seem to like those...o.0

Why Gerald married a woman like that I'll never know.

Click to expand...

Teehee, if you continue to read, you will. ;)

One thing you should really work on is description. I'd rather liked to have seen all those battles you skipped past and the coordinator battles with Cassandra.

Click to expand...

This fic is mostly centered around the humans, and I promise the describing-the-battle thing gets better later (just wait til Belle battles Sabrina XD). It's just that Cassandra's beginning battles aren't particularly important to the overall plot of the story, and they take up space that I would like to devote to her Sakura battles. And as for battling Karen---I am going to have to admit that having Karen accompany Cassandra was a last-minute decision, but now she's closely linked to the plot. A lot of things I do are like that. o.0

Anyway, thanks so much for your review! I love reviews like yours!

Chapter Twenty-Three
After taking a full day wandering through some strange grass maze peppered with random trainers and then a series of piers with tons of fisherman, Belle and Derrick emerged between two cliffs to find themselves in Lavender Town.

Belle squinted up at Pokémon Tower. Tall and gray, it stretched into the sky above them, obviously the town's landmark.

"Oookay," Derrick said, hurrying forward. "Let's just get out of here."

"Don't be retarded," Belle snapped. "We have to rest our Pokémon, and I'm tired too. Plus, it's almost dark. Let's find the PokéCenter."

"No, please," Derrick begged as she started forward and grabbed his wrist. "It's so creepy here…"

They passed by a large house labeled the Pokémon Volunteer House and found the Pokémon Center. It seemed bright and cheery compared to Pokémon Tower. The glass door slid open automatically and they stepped in.

Only a few trainers occupied the Center, and they were all grouped around one round table, leaning in and speaking in hushed voices. Belle glanced over at them, straining nosily to hear their conversation. One of them gasped. "An HM?" she said. The others quickly shushed her.

"At the top of the tower," said the boy across from her. "But there are tons of Ghost Pokémon up there…vicious ones."

"How vicious?" asked another.

One of the trainers, who had been silent before, leaned forward. His face had been cast in shadow, but now, as he brought it into the light, they could all see that it was deadly pale. "Extremely vicious," he said, his whispery voice shaking.

Belle walked quickly to the counter, where Derrick was handing his Pokémon over to Nurse Joy. "Did you hear that?" she whispered excitedly.

"Extremely vicious ghosts? Yeah! I did!" Derrick pushed a bit of his blonde hair out of his eyes, which were wide with fear.

"No," Belle said impatiently. "The HM at the top of the tower."

"You're not seriously thinking of going," he said.

"Why not?"

"Extremely vicious ghosts. Hello?"

Belle shrugged. "Well, I'll go, and you can wait here."
"Please don't go," he begged as she handed her Poké Balls to Nurse Joy. "Please, please don't."

"I'm not going to pass up that HM," Belle retorted. "I'm just not."

"Then…wait til tomorrow," Derrick said. "It's dark out."

She blinked. He seemed extremely worried, that much she could tell. His forehead was creased and he was frowning. A bit of blonde bangs fuzzed over his gray eyes, and he pushed them out of his face as he looked at her.

"All right. I'll wait until morning. You sure you don't want to go, though?"

"Positive."

Later, all the other trainers had fallen asleep, but Belle and Derrick lay with their sleeping bags side-by-side in the dark.

"Why do you want to go?" Derrick asked her.

Belle shifted. "I want that HM."

"What about the vicious ghosts?"

She shrugged noncommittally. Derrick saw her outline faintly, and he scoffed. "You're so stubborn. All girls must be."

"What makes you say that?"

"Koko was too."

A strange silence fell upon them like rain; not heavy or awkward, but graceful and serene. It washed over them, drenching them.

Belle pulled her arms out of her sleeping bag and placed them by her sides. "I never told you how my dad died."

Derrick said nothing. He didn't even move; the only sounds were the light snores of a redheaded boy in another section of the lobby.

"He was a Pokémon Trainer. But he wasn't one of those that just quit after a while, you know? He was dedicated. He started off here in Kanto, and then went off to the Pokémon League. He didn't win, but he got to the semi-finals. And then he went to Johto."

Out of the corner of her eye, she vaguely saw Derrick's form shifting in his sleeping bag. After he settled down again, she continued. "He met my mom there…in Goldenrod City. She was passing through on her own Journey. She was originally from Ecruteak, and she was going back for a gym battle. Dad said he fell in love with Mom as soon as he saw her."

"What's your mom's name?" Derrick asked her.

"Terra. Terra Caldwell…but back then, it was Terra Carson. Why?"

"Just…feels like it's more real that way."

Belle considered this for a moment. "Then, what's your mom's name?"

"Angelina Evans. But Dad called her Angel…his Angel."

"And your dad's name?"

"Joseph. Mom called him Joey. Your dad's name?"

"Daniel. Mom didn't have any nicknames for him."

"Ah. Okay. Sorry to interrupt. Please go on."

"So, they traveled together. They were both heading to Ecruteak, so they decided…why not? At the end of it, they were in love, and they got married and had me. Mom was done with her Journey, so they moved to Cherrygrove City—it's not a city, I have no idea why it's called that—to settle down."

"But you said your dad was dedicated."

"He was. He lived there for a few years…and then he told Mom that he wanted to go to Hoenn. So he did. He packed up all his Pokémon. He wanted us to go, but Mom said no. She said that it was no life for a child, but we'd be waiting for him to get back."

"Did he come back?"

"Yes. From Hoenn, he did. And he brought some new Pokémon for me to play with. He stayed with us for a few more years, and then he decided to go to Sinnoh. And then, he said, he'd be done."

"Done?"

"Yeah. After you beat all the gyms in all the regions, there's not much else to do, is there?" Belle smiled ruefully up at the ceiling. "So he went. While he was away, Mom discovered she was pregnant."

"Derek."

Belle blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Your little brother, Derek. He spells it D-E-R-E-K, right?"

"Oh. Yeah." She vaguely remembered telling him such when they first met. "Well, anyway, not long after Derek was born, an Officer Jenny visited our house." Suddenly, Belle's voice cracked, and she closed her eyes, taking a few moments to compose herself. "She told us…that Dad had tried to stop Team Galactic from doing something."

"Team Galactic?" Derrick said. "I hear they're hooking up with Team Rocket now."

"What does Team Rocket even do?" Belle asked.

"Steal Pokémon!"

"And then what? What do they do with them?"

Derrick was quiet for a moment. "No idea. But continue. Team Galactic."

"Right. Well, Team Galactic actually does stuff. They're always trying to make the world better with this perverse, twisted logic. And Dad got in the way of that. Apparently, they were torturing somebody, and Dad stepped in to take care of them. Well, in the real world, people don't just fight with Pokémon." Belle drew a deep, shaky breath. She could feel a lump rising in her throat, and her eyes began to burn. "They…killed him. No trace of his body was ever found." Her voice was shaking, but it was beyond her control. She had never really gone into much detail about this, not even with Cassandra and Alyssa. It was hard. "He was coming home to see Derek. He never got to. And Derek never knew him." She sniffed. "Derek has his eyes, you know," she said as a few tears leaked out of her own. "They're blue. When he looks at me, it's like…Dad's looking at me again." Her voice didn't sound as though it belonged to her. It was foreign; she had never talked and cried at the same time before.

Derrick moved in his sleeping bag, and a moment later, Belle felt his hand brush her arm. He gently pushed her hand to lay palm up, and he laced his fingers through hers and squeezed.

They fell asleep holding hands.
__________________________________________

When Belle awoke, she was lying on her side, facing Derrick. He faced her as well; they were now holding hands with the opposite ones. How they had switched during the night, she had no idea. He was still asleep; his lips were slightly parted, and she could see his back rising and falling underneath his blanket. He looked so sweet with his eyes closed, his eyelashes gently curving against his cheek. His hair fell softly around his head. As she watched him sleep, she thought back to something she had put in an email to Alyssa.

He's more like a pest than a potential boyfriend.

Belle's gaze fell to their interlocked fingers. Well, what was he now?

She pulled her hand away from his and got up. She grabbed some clothes out of her bag and headed for the shower. Would this change things?

When Belle came back out, Derrick was sitting up in his sleeping bag, digging the heel of his hand into one eye. He looked up at her and smiled.
"Good morning!"

"Morning," Belle replied as she came back to her sleeping bag and knelt on it. "I'm going to Pokémon Tower today."

Derrick groaned and fell back on his pillow. "I'm scared for you."

She paused and glanced over at him. I'm scared for you.

"Please don't go."

"I'm going, and you can't stop me. I'm leaving now." She hooked her Poké Balls to her belt and stood.

Derrick sat up and caught her wrist gently; she looked down at him, at his worried expression, his tousled blonde hair, his gray eyes that still looked a little sleepy. "I'd feel better," he said, "if you'd send Charmy out to walk with you."

Belle raised her eyebrows. "You'd feel better?"

He nodded. "I'd be less worried."

"Less worried."

He nodded again.

With a sigh, Belle plucked Charmy's Poké Ball off her belt and tossed it out in front of her. With a cry, it burst out of its Poké Ball, and then looked around, confused.

"There's no battle. I just want you to walk with me."

Charmy seemed happy about that. It took its place by her side, holding her hand with its claw like it did when it was a Charmander. Belle gave Derrick a little wave as she left the PokéCenter.

Pokémon Tower was an extremely short walk. It seemed to be busy today; Belle found this odd. She slipped in the front doors.

The lobby area was full of people, all dressed in black. "This seems a little morbid, Charmy," she said quietly. The Pokémon responded with a soft noise of agreement.

And then she realized—everyone looked sad. Even the woman at the reception counter wore an expression of pain. Belle weaved her way through the crowd, catching snatches of conversation.

"So young…why did it have to…?"

"She must be devastated."

"What happened to it?"

"Birth complications. Poor thing only lasted a few months."

Belle finally found her way to the back of the room and stopped short. A small table was draped in a white cloth, and a small black box rested on top. The top of the box was open, and three people stood in front of it, gazing at its contents. The first was a woman, dressed in a black, floor-length dress. The second was a man, probably her husband, wearing a black suit. Between them was a small girl of about five. Her light brown hair was held back with purple barrettes, and she wore a little black dress trimmed with white lace. She didn't appear to be looking at the box; her head was bowed, her eyes closed.

"Come on, dear," the woman said gently, taking her daughter's hand. "There's nothing we can do to help him now."

The girl nodded. When she turned, Belle caught sight of the little family's faces; all of them looked incredibly sad, their eyes red and puffy. The little girl had tears running down her face, and she kept her eyes on her shiny black shoes as they walked away from the box.

Belle was now alone; she glanced around to see if anyone was watching this intruder, this girl wearing shorts and a dark green T-shirt, step up to the box and look in. Charmy came with her. They both stared into the box, and Belle's eyes widened.

Inside was the body of a baby Pichu. It could have been sleeping, except that the multitude of people dressed in black milling around in the lobby suggested otherwise. A small picture in a wooden frame leaned against the box—it was a snapshot of the little girl Belle had just seen, happily cradling a very alive-looking Pichu.

This Pichu was dead.

All the snatches of conversation Belle had caught made sense now. This was a funeral…a funeral for a baby Pokémon. She backed away from the casket—now she realized what it was—and turned to go up the stairs, moving away from the sadness before it threatened to overtake her. Pokémon died? She had never thought about it. But it made sense—everything died, everything ended. But why this? Why a baby?

Belle came to the second floor and looked around. Tombstones stretched out before her, gleaming white. She reached for Charmy's claw again, and he held her hand. She glanced down and saw the tears welling up in her Pokémon's eyes. Pokémon Tower. This place was a tower, and each floor would have tombstones. Each tombstone represented a dead Pokémon, someone's dead friend, someone's Charmy…someone's Pichu.

Belle felt the sobs coming before they broke out of her, ringing in the silence of the tower. Charmy stepped forward and wrapped its arms around her, pressing its face into her stomach, comforting her. She laid a hand on the back of its head and bowed her own.

When she had regained her composure, Belle progressed to the top of the tower to get the HM. No vicious ghosts plagued her; perhaps they only bothered people who didn't understand. She moved slowly, touching all the tombstones that came within her reach and whispering sorrowfully to them. When she finally got back to the lobby, the Pichu funeral was long over; the casket and table were gone. She slipped out of the Tower and into the night air.

Had it really taken her that long? She walked back to the PokéCenter, Charmy delicately holding her hand. She drew a deep breath before she went in.

The trainers that had spoken of vicious ghosts had left, but a few new trainers sat at the same table, playing cards, blissfully unaware of the air of sorrow that ran thick through Pokémon Tower. Derrick sat with them; he turned and waved happily to her.

"Belle!" he said cheerily. She forced a smile and walked over. "Want to play cards?"

"No thanks," she heard herself reply as if from far away. "I'm tired…I think I'll just take a shower and get to bed early."

"Did you get the HM?"

She nodded. "We'll leave in the morning, if that's okay."

"Hallelujah!" Derrick said happily, slapping the table. "Away from here to Celadon!"

"Yeah," Belle said, and she went over to gather her things for her shower.
That night, Belle laid in her sleeping bag and waited for Derrick to fall asleep beside her. There was no hand-holding that night. Instead, when he was asleep, she slid out of her bedroll fully dressed and packed everything up. She leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek before turning and leaving the Center. She sent Charmy out to walk with her as she left Lavender Town behind, heading to Celadon City on her own.

There was no way she could burden him with anything she saw or felt in Lavender Tower.
___________________________________


To:dancing_through_life@pokénet.com, [email protected]
From: dingdongbelle@pokénet.com
Subject: <blank>
_____________________________________________________________
Derrick and I aren't traveling together anymore. I'm heading to Celadon City now. Erika's gym is there. I'll email you guys telling you how the battle turned out.
Love,
Belle

My review is as follows...

Chapter 20:

PokéCenter

Click to expand...

I do it like this: Pokémon Centre.

Now, you don't have to follow the Australian way of spelling 'centre', because I know and understand Americans do things differently to us. What I'm hinting at, however, is the full spelling of 'Pokémon'. Again, you don't have to listen to what I say, it's merely a suggestion.

Chapter 21:

"—another Snorlax has fallen asleep. Anyone wishing to travel from Vermilion City must take the Lavender Town route."

Click to expand...

I roflmao-ed at this.

In light of what I learned that day, I'd like to thank you nokyo. For your sake, I'm gonna keep the spoilers secret.

Chapter 22:

All I can really say for this chapter is that I really, really loathe Sakura.

Chapter 23:

If you ask me, Belle should have told Derrick what she'd experienced. That way, there wouldn't have to be a cat and mouse game of Derrick trying to catch up to her.

Now, you don't have to follow the Australian way of spelling 'centre', because I know and understand Americans do things differently to us. What I'm hinting at, however, is the full spelling of 'Pokémon'.

Click to expand...

They shorten it in the anime, and it's also short in the game, so I just picked it up. ^_^

In light of what I learned that day, I'd like to thank you nokyo. For your sake, I'm gonna keep the spoilers secret.

Click to expand...

I'm confused...could you pm me with the explanation to this? o.0

One last thing: GO TEAM ROCKET-GALACTIC!

Click to expand...

The only reply to this that I can think of is: You are awesome.

Thanks for reading, everybody!!

Chapter Twenty-Four
Over the past week, Barlow had started giving Alyssa increasingly more difficult tasks. Alyssa had risen to the challenge wonderfully, much to Barlow's pleasure. Now she walked in happily, brushing the bangs out of her eyes.

But something was off.

Everyone inside was panicking, running around, yelling, wide-eyed and scared. Finally, Barlow bellowed "Quiet!" at the top of his lungs, making everyone stop.

"We have to keep our heads!" Barlow told everyone. "Crawford, you and I will go to the school. Rookies, patrol the beach."

"What's going on?" Alyssa asked.

"Bomb threat at the Ranger School," Ian told her, appearing beside her. "And Barlow doesn't think we can handle it."

"Bomb threat?" Alyssa snapped suddenly. "It's summer vacation! Who's there?"

"They're doing a sort of student orientation thing at the moment," Luanne piped up. "People just coming into the school are there, touring and such."

"But…that means…" Alyssa looked up at Ian, who nodded.

"Yep. The school is full of small children right now."

Children entered the Ranger School at age five, and they continued their education on up till age sixteen. Except for the occasional transfer, students at the school grew up together.

"Who put in the threat?" Alyssa demanded.

"Some group of weirdos dressed as spacemen," Barlow replied. "They call themselves Team Galactic. Crawford and I need to get down there now. Ian, Alyssa, you two patrol the beach— cut off their escape."

"They won't need the beach to escape! There's water by the school! They could have a boat there!" Ian said angrily.

"Do what I say," Barlow snarled.

"What about me?" Luanne asked.

"You stay here and guard the base."

"What?"

"Your Partner Pokémon is a Buneary," Barlow said, pointing out the little Pokémon beside her. "It's useless. Come on, Crawford!"

"Come on, Alyssa." Ian angrily turned and left the base, heading for the beach.

___________________________
"This is stupid!" Alyssa cried, kicking sand up. Ziggy used Sand Attack in imitation. "There's a bomb threat on our school, and we can't even help!"

Ian growled in response and ran the fingers of both hands furiously through his hair, seeming to pull at it as he got near the back. "What kind of a sick weirdo threatens a school full of children?" he grumbled. Prinplup muttered angrily in reply before waddling off toward the ocean.

Alyssa squinted up at the sky, which was a clear, peaceful blue. She imagined it full of smoke, a mushroom cloud blossoming in the distance. "I feel so useless," she said finally, trying to rid herself of the images.

"Me too." Ian sighed and plopped down on the sand, propping his elbows up on his knees. "There's no way we can help at all. If we try to go over to the school ourselves, we'll probably just end up getting in Barlow and Crawford's way." He pushed his face into his hand, closing his eyes. "And…what if they blow up the school?" he said quietly after a long pause. "What if…all those children get badly burned? Or worse…what if they die?"

Alyssa wrapped her arms around her stomach. "Barlow and Crawford will know what to do," she said forcefully, trying to reassure herself. Silence descended upon them for a while before Alyssa found the courage to speak again. "Um…Ian? Is…is this the kind of thing you have to deal with a lot?"

Ian nodded.

"This worry? The fear of…death?"

He nodded again.

"Is this a big part of being a Ranger?"

"It's a huge part of being a Ranger." Ian dropped his hand from his face. "I didn't expect it, but the worry…it's intense. It's exciting, sure, but the danger isn't always just yours, just something you face, alone. Often, people and Pokémon are in danger, too. Oh, and you know how everyone tells you that all Pokémon are good?" He glanced sideways up at her, waiting for her to nod. When she did, he continued. "Don't believe that. There are mean Pokémon. Evil Pokémon. A lot of being a Ranger is un-learning some things you learned. Did you hear that?" he snapped suddenly, springing to his feet.

Alyssa's head was still reeling with the term evil Pokémon. "No," she replied.

Ian shushed her. After a few seconds of silence, she heard it, too— voices, faint shouting, coming from Vientown.

"Who is it?" Alyssa asked.

"No one I recognize. It might be best to hide." He ran past her, grabbing her and pulling her along by her wrist. "Prinplup! Underwater!"

Prinplup ducked quickly under the water; Ziggy followed Alyssa and Ian into the crazily-growing shrubbery by the entrance of Marine Cave. Alyssa pulled the Zigzagoon into her lap as she crouched down, peering out at the beach.

About ten or fifteen people came rushing onto the sand, all dressed in strange spacesuits with short, bright blue hair. A G could clearly be seen on their chests.

The leader was a man of about twenty; he led the pack across the beach, yelling, "To the hideout!" They sped right past Alyssa and Ian's hiding spot, jostling and shouting as they disappeared into the cave. The leader at the front yelled for order, but no one listened.

After they were gone, Alyssa and Ian glanced at each other. "We have to go in after them," Alyssa whispered.

Ian nodded.


The two Rangers made their way stealthily after Team Galactic, who led them deeper and deeper into Marine Cave. Stalagmites and stalactites jutted up from the floor and down from the ceiling, dripping water.

Finally, Team Galactic arrived at their hideout. It was a huge cavern that seemed as though it had been here naturally, but Galactic had done a few things to it; it was coated with what Alyssa was sure was a soundproof metal, and the cave floor had obviously been flattened. On the far side of the cavern, the floor ended and water began. What looked like several submarines floated in a makeshift harbor. Even more members of Team Galactic teemed throughout the hideout, doing various tasks with Pokémon.

"Listen!" shouted the leader as he entered the cave; Ian pulled Alyssa behind a boulder. "The Rangers thwarted our plan. I'm not sure how long we have to get out, because they may have followed us. We'll have to destroy the hideout. Load up the submarines!"

An explosion of activity ensued; Alyssa and Ian watched intently as they loaded up. "How do they plan to destroy this place?"

"With a Galactic Bomb."

The two whirled around; they were being watched. A man stood before them. He had dark blue hair that looked quite like cat-ears, and his outfit looked different from the rest of Team Galactic's. His shirt and pants were relatively simple, yet still had that stupid spaceman look to them.

"Well…if we don't have some intruders."

"Who are you?" Ian snapped. Ziggy pressed against Alyssa's legs fearfully.

"I am Commander Saturn. But perhaps you aren't in the right position to be asking such questions."

Alyssa launched herself at Saturn; he was too surprised to fight back. She knocked him to the ground and put a hand over his mouth. "Ian, we have to get out of here!" she said.

"Right," Ian replied. "But if they use a bomb to blow up the cavern, they'll kill hundreds of Pokémon. They're too deep underground for an explosion to bother anyone in Vientown."

"What do we do? Stop struggling," Alyssa said crossly to Saturn, and she picked up his head and banged it against the cave floor. His eyes crossed and he fell still. She stood up, dusting herself off.

"Well, we can take him in as a prisoner," Ian said, gesturing towards Saturn. "My bet is they won't set off the bomb until everyone's accounted for, so…"

"But they'll come looking for him. He's a commander. There's only two of us, Ian! There's, like, a million of them! It's not like we can fight them off."

"We need backup or something…I'll see if I can get a signal on my Styler. I can use it to contact the base." He pulled out his Styler and began fiddling with it. Alyssa looked around worriedly as he did so, making sure no one came near. After a while, Ian sighed. "I can't get a signal," he told her. "It's too far underground. Alyssa…we're on our own."

Alyssa raked her fingers through her hair, effectively messing up her ponytail. "Okay…okay. Options. What are our options?"

"We could run away," Ian said, "and not do anything, and let hundreds of Pokémon die."

"Okay, Option Number One—do nothing. Vetoed. We won't take it."

"We could run in there and make demands."

"Option Number Two—suicide. Vetoed."

"We could…uh…run out of here and grab as many Pokémon as we can."

"Option Number Three— do what we can. Possible."

Ian fell silent. Alyssa frowned. "We have to have more options than that," she said. "Okay, how about this. One of us runs up and tries to get a signal on the Styler while grabbing as many Pokémon as we can. The other stays here and watches to see when they set up the bomb. I'm sure they'll clear out of the cavern before they detonate it, so whoever's here will run out and try to disarm it."

"Option Number Four—partial suicide," Ian said.

"We could steal his outfit." Alyssa pointed to Saturn. "We could pose as a member of Galactic and…do something. Why is this so hard?"

"Wait!" cried the leader from before. Alyssa and Ian turned as he cried out, listening worriedly. "Has anyone seen Commander Saturn?"

There was a chorus of "No, sir!" from the members. The leader yelled out two names; two identical people came out of the crowd. Why did all the members of Team Galactic look exactly the same? "Go up the passage. See if we're being followed and look for Commander Saturn."

"Dammit," Ian mumbled. He grabbed hold of Saturn's feet. "We have to hide him."

Alyssa scooped her hands under the man's armpits and lifted; they stuffed his limp body behind a nearby boulder, arranging him so that none of him would show. She and Ian then hid in their original hiding place, scrambling to get out of sight as the two members of Team Galactic came passing through.

"D'you hear something?" asked one as they passed Ian and Alyssa's boulder.

"No," the other one replied. Then he stopped. "What the hell is that? Is that a hand?"

Alyssa almost said a very dirty word. Saturn's arm had fallen in such a way that his hand was visible. The two Galactic grunts rushed toward him. "It's Commander Saturn!" cried one of them. "Oh my God, he's unconscious! This means we've been followed. There are intruders!"

"Help me carry him," said the other. "SIR!"

The two grunts waddled off carrying Saturn's body between them, the head lolling on its shoulder.

Saturn's unconscious body caused a huge commotion. "We have no time to waste! Set up the bomb now! Return your Pokémon to their Poké Balls! Leave what you have unless it's marked top priority; get in your assigned submarine! Numbers one through fifty, Submarine A! Numbers fifty-one through one hundred, Submarine B! Numbers— "

The leader continued to call out submarine assignments. "We can't do anything," Alyssa said. "We can't stop the bomb."

"We could disarm it once they've left," Ian suggested.

"But what if it's a remote detonator?" Alyssa asked. "We won't have any way of knowing how much time we have."

Ian closed his eyes and pressed his face into his hands. He stood like that for what seemed like ages. Finally, he lowered his hands and looked sadly over at Alyssa.

"Option Number Three," he said faintly.

Alyssa sighed. "I wish we could do more," she said.

"Me too."

She tightened her ponytail and pulled out her Styler. "Things are going to get crazy," she told Ziggy. "Okay…how about this. We'll have to keep checking our Stylers. When we get signal, we'll contact the base."

"Oh God…we were followed."

Not again, Alyssa thought as she turned to see a grunt, a man of about twenty. "Ziggy, Headbutt!"

Ziggy did so, launching himself at the man. "Ian, can you carry him?" Alyssa asked as Ziggy's head made contact with the man's stomach. His head cracked against the cave wall.

"Yeah, I'll get him. We'll take him to the base for questioning."


The next few moments were spent running around and capturing as many Pokémon as they could; of course, they had a limit of seven. After they reached that, they had to physically grab wild Pokémon. Ziggy and the seven others that Alyssa had with her tried to communicate the danger to the other Pokémon, so Alyssa and Ian, after a while, were running with a giant crowd of Pokémon all around them; Zubats flew overhead, Geodudes levitated around them and past them, Poliwhirls with baby Poliwags clutched in their arms ran around them, with one Poliwrath bellowing as they passed.

"I got signal!" Ian cried joyously.

"Me too!"

"It's too late," mumbled the grunt. He was being carried by a Graveler. Both Ian and Alyssa looked at him. "The bomb…will be going off soon…"

"How do you know?" Ian asked.

"We don't waste time…"

And then they heard it; the great boom! that resounded beneath their feet, from behind them, all around them. The walls of the cave began to shake; in one huge mass, the Pokémon pushed upward and out. Ziggy leapt onto Alyssa's back and hung there as the Pokémon seemed to sweep her along. Even if she wanted to go back, Alyssa couldn't; the Pokémon were carrying her now. The Poliwrath, determined to help her because she had helped its family, held her up over his head as he bellowed to the other Pokémon in the cave that may not have heard.

The mass pushed along the cave passageways; the entire cave was still shaking. The bomb had triggered major collapses.

After what seemed like forever, the cave stopped shaking and the mob of Pokémon stopped moving. Poliwrath gently set Alyssa down; she and Ian released their Pokémon, and there was a new commotion as they all gathered, shrieking and calling to make sure their families were all present and accounted for.

Ian and Alyssa made their way to each other. "I'm calling Barlow," Ian said, holding up his Styler. Alyssa nodded.

"I'm gonna go back as far as I can to see if I can help anyone."

"It's too dangerous," Ian said. "Don't— Alyssa, dammit, come back here!"

But Alyssa was leaping deftly over rocks and contracting the help of Pokémon as she went.


Some caverns had been empty, thanks to Alyssa and Ian's efforts…but Alyssa found dead Pokémon in the remnants of other caverns. She placed a hand over her mouth as she and her entourage of Gravelers picked their way through the cave. After a while of seeing nothing but dead Geodudes, dead Zubats, dead Poliwhirls, Alyssa gave up. Ziggy, noticing her sorrow, nudged his nose into her cheek.

Right as she was about to turn back, Alyssa caught sight of something. She bent and shifted a rock to take a closer look, but stepped back immediately; it was a dead Poliwag, just a baby. Alyssa's eyes filled with tears; the Gravelers gathered around her and stared at the little baby.

When Alyssa came back up, Ziggy was still riding her back, and she had the dead Poliwag in her arms. Ian ran to her, ready to scold her, until he saw her expression and the way she slumped visibly as she walked. I must look terrible, she thought; she knew that dirt and debris had gotten all over her, and now tears had left grimy tracks down her cheeks.

Ian stood in front of her and put a hand on the Poliwag's stomach. "Are they all…?"

Alyssa looked up from the little Poliwag's face. "No survivors."


To: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
From: [email protected]
Subject: This is hard…
_________________________
Being a Ranger is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I can't give you all the details right now…I'm too shaken up. But Team Galactic set off a bomb in Marine Cave and killed a bunch of Pokémon. Ian and I saved as many as we could, but…we couldn't save all of them. I'm very sad. I don't even think I'd ever thought about Pokémon dying.
By the way, did you get Belle's last email? It didn't seem like she was feeling very well. I hope she's okay.
Love from the sad,
Alyssa

......awwwwwww.....
Cute chapter. It was very funny throughout, but at the same time it was a more dark chapter. Good description, by the way, I can imagine everything in your story. And I don't think I've said it but Zigzagoon: Best. Partner. Ever! :P
But yeah, great chapter. (b'_')b

King! said:

......awwwwwww.....
Cute chapter. It was very funny throughout, but at the same time it was a more dark chapter. Good description, by the way, I can imagine everything in your story. And I don't think I've said it but Zigzagoon: Best. Partner. Ever! :P
But yeah, great chapter. (b'_')b

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Zigzagoon is awesome, and I'm glad someone appreciates him!!!

Wow...thanks for the praise, too! I've always been a little self-conscious about my descriptions...o.0 Thanks!!

Chapter Twenty-Five
Cassandra's eyes fluttered groggily as Karen nudged her awake. Today, the girl's hair was in a ponytail almost on top of her head, with her bright pink hair falling in curls behind her. Cassandra groaned and shut her eyes immediately, not wanting them to be assaulted with colors too early in the morning.

"Get up!" Karen chirped. "We need to get to the Contest building. You need to register for the soonest date, and then you need to get training!"

Cassandra mumbled something incoherent as she rolled over on her side in the bed. She had paid for a room in a hotel; Joanna periodically wired money into her account. Cassandra had considered not using the money and staying in the PokéCenter, but it was too noisy for her.

The only hotel available was a small one on Route 113 called the Poké Love. It was rather quaint— or, it would have been, had it not been covered in ash all the time. The woman who ran the place strived to keep it clean on the inside to make up for the outside. She had been positively delighted to see that a promising young Coordinator was staying in her inn, and had put her up in the best room available.

"Get up," Karen repeated, and Cassandra finally pushed the ivy-patterned blankets off her body and sat up, stretching and yawning. "I went through your clothes and decided what you should wear to the Contest Hall."

"What?" Cassandra snapped, suddenly alert. She stood up.

"Here! I laid them out on my bed!"

"Karen, what the—don't go through my stuff!"

Karen pouted, and Tuffly came out of the bathroom—What was it doing in there? Cassandra wondered briefly—and made big, round, blue, watery eyes at Cassandra. "But I like picking out outfits," Karen mumbled softly.

"Fine," Cassandra muttered, looking over at what Karen had laid out. She had to admit that the girl had taste. Lying on the bed was a green knee-length skirt with an off-white camisole to be worn beneath a translucent, light green shirt. "This is good," Cassandra admitted as she picked up the skirt. "I might let you do my outfits for Contests."

"Really?" Karen squealed, clapping her hands together. They made a muffled noise— the sleeves of her sweatshirt were fashioned to be too long, and only her fingertips poked out.

"Don't get too excited." Cassandra changed in the bathroom and allowed Karen to do her hair—she pinned the front part of it back and let the rest lay softly on her shoulders—before they set off.

It was a ten-minute trek to Fallarbor Town. On the way, Karen insisted on bobbing along beside her with a large pink umbrella, keeping the falling ash off her "carefully-selected outfit". The Contest Hall seemed bright and garish, the only brightly-colored building in the town. No one stood outside, but then again, Cassandra wouldn't expect them to in this weather.

Inside the Contest Hall, Cassandra finally breathed freely. It was noisy, the air was conditioned, colors and Pokémon abounded…she was home.

"Come on, the register desk!" Karen closed her giant umbrella and handed it to Tuffly, who carried the item as it followed the girls to the register desk. To her surprise, Cassandra got into line behind Sakura Konohana.

Sakura turned around and smiled. "Oh, hello," she said. She wore a light blue kimono with a dark blue obi, and her hair was pulled into a tight bun behind her head. "Isn't it a coincidence that we came to register on the same day."

"I thought that you would have registered sooner," Cassandra said. "You were here before us."

"Oh, I only arrived a day before you did," Sakura replied with a gentle smile. "I decided to rest and enjoy the hot springs for a while. Are you staying at the Poké Love?"

"Yeah, we are."

"How nice! I am as well. After this, we should do something together."

Cassandra smiled. "Okay. Would you be up for that, Karen?" she added, turning to the girl. Surprisingly, the girl was looking at Sakura with her head cocked and a quizzical expression on her face.

"Karen?" Cassandra prompted gently.

After a while, Karen nodded slowly. "If you like."

This girl is so weird, Cassandra thought. "Well, that settles it. What should we do?"

"Lavaridge is near here," Karen said thoughtfully.

"There's barely anything to do in Lavaridge, though," Sakura replied. "It's almost as bad as here. Oh, I wish I had a Flying Pokémon…we could go to Lilycove and go shopping."

Cassandra winced. She always associated the words "Lilycove" and "shopping" with her mother, especially if they were in the same sentence. "Well, maybe we should just have some lunch together or something," Cassandra suggested. "I've got to get training, anyway."

"Your Pokémon is Swablu, is it not?"

"Yes," Cassandra replied. "But I'm thinking of entering Finny into this one."

Sakura raised a perfect orange eyebrow. "Finny?"

"My Mudkip. Well, soon-to-be Marshtomp, probably."

"A Marshtomp? In a Contest? My, won't that be interesting…" Sakura was next in line, so she turned away from them, pulling a fan from her sleeve and pressing it against her lips as she did so. She stepped up to the counter and Karen grabbed Cassandra's sleeve.

"I don't like her," Karen whispered matter-of-factly. "There's something…strange…about her. Something fishy."

Cassandra glanced at Sakura talking to the register woman and smiling behind her fan, which she now opened with a flourish and began to wave gently. "She seems nice enough."

"Seems," Karen said emphatically. Cassandra frowned.

"Incidentally," Sakura was saying to the woman, "do you know if any of the judges are here today? I'd like to introduce myself."

"Maybe I should introduce myself to the judges, too," Cassandra muttered to Karen. "Do you think that would increase my chances?"

"If you slipped them some money, probably," Karen replied good-naturedly.

"Karen! People don't bribe in Contests!"

Karen shook her head. "You might not. But I'm sure others do."

"That's just wrong," Cassandra told her crossly.

"I'll meet you at the door," Sakura said, turning back to face them and shutting her fan with a snap. "Wait for me if you get there first." And then she turned and walked off, quickly becoming lost in the hustle-and-bustle of the Contest Hall.

Cassandra stepped up to the counter to register. She signed up for the closest date—three weeks away—and showed the woman Finny. "Um, he's going to evolve soon," Cassandra told her, "or…at least, I think so."

"If he evolves before your contest date, you must bring him back here for a second inspection. If you fail to do so, you will be disqualified from the Contest."

"Okay then." Cassandra allowed the woman to inspect Finny before returning the Pokémon to its Poké Ball and turning away. She walked towards the door, but Sakura wasn't there.

"Sakura's over there," Karen said, pointing. Cassandra sighed.

"We're going to wait for her at the door."

"But look."

Cassandra did. Sakura was talking to one of the judges, an older, bald man wearing a suit. As they watched, she set the tip of the closed fan on her lips and closed her eyes as she smiled. Then, her other hand poked out of her sleeve as she reached to shake his hand. After what looked like a firm handshake, Sakura gave a small bow and walked away, leaving the man by himself.

"He put his hand in his pocket," Karen said matter-of-factly.

"You're observant. Is the ash still falling outside?" Cassandra leaned toward one of the large windows in the front of the building. "Ah, get your umbrella ready, Karen."

"Tuffly," Karen said, holding her hand out for the umbrella.

"A pink umbrella to match your pink hair and Pokémon…well, that's quite stylish." Sakura arrived with a smile, tucking her fan into her sleeve. "I think I saw a cute little café down the road. Shall we go look?"


After lunch at the café, Cassandra, Karen, Sakura, and Tuffly all walked together back to the Poké Love. Sakura went to her room "to rest"; Cassandra went to her room to change into clothes she wouldn't mind getting dirty so she could train.

"I don't understand why you don't like Sakura," Cassandra said to Karen as she pulled out a pair of jeans.

"There's just something fishy about her," Karen said absentmindedly. She was sitting on her bed, coloring in a coloring book.

"Well, I think she's nice."

"Just don't tell her any secrets or anything."

Rolling her eyes, Cassandra went to the bathroom to change into her jeans and T-shirt. When she was done, she hung her clothes up in the room's closet and gathered her Poké Balls off her bed. "I'm going to go train along Route 113. You wanna come?"

"No," Karen replied, frowning as she moved a sky-blue crayon along the paper. "I'm doing something very important."

Cassandra let those words hang in the air for a moment as she stared at her companion, whose brow was furrowed as she selected another crayon. "Right. Well, if you need me, you know where to find me."

"Yes."


To: [email protected]
From: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
Subject: !!!
__________________________________
Alyssa, your job sounds terrible! If it were me, I don't know what I would do with myself…seeing Pokémon dying…but I know you're stronger than I am, and you can keep on fighting despite the sadness, right?
You're right about Belle's last email. It worried me a little, too. Why do you think she and Derrick aren't traveling together anymore? Do you think they had some kind of fight? You know how Belle gets when she's upset…all withdrawn and stuff. Maybe she's just tired, though. We'll wait for her next email.
Well, anyway, I'm going to bed now…stay strong, Alyssa!
Love always,
Cassandra

Chapter Twenty-Six
Belle arrived in Celadon City with newly-evolved Primape, Dugtrio, and Pidgeotto, as well as a reluctant Oddish that had quickly turned into a Gloom. Despite her overwhelming sadness, she couldn't help but marvel at the huge buildings that surrounded her. She had felt this way in Saffron, too, especially next to the Silph building.

At the PokéCenter, Belle had to grab onto Charmy's claw to keep from losing him among the mass of bodies (she had taken to letting Charmy out of his Ball to be her traveling companion). She wondered vaguely where she would sleep tonight as she allowed Nurse Joy to heal her Pokémon. When she finally left the Center, she breathed in a sigh of relief and set off on the busy streets to explore the town.

Derrick would no doubt be looking for her…she had to leave as soon as she could, and that meant defeating the gym…well…now. Coming to this conclusion, Belle wandered the streets of Celadon, trying to determine where she should go. She passed some strange, random mansion; the towering Department Store; the Rocket Game Corner, which sounded suspicious to her; and the PokéCenter again. Crap. She was lost.

It was so loud…how could anyone stand it? Belle moved out of everyone's way and stood by the PokéCenter, rubbing her temples; Charmy hurried to stand beside her. She wished she could find a quiet spot to just…be alone. How many people could fit into one city?

Belle slipped down beside the Pokémon Center, entering a place between the trees and the building. There was a path here; she walked along it, gratefully hearing the noise behind her drop away. Soon, she found herself at the back entrance to the Celadon Mansion. What was this? Some sort of servant's entrance? Why was it here? Not thinking, she tried the door. It was unlocked.

"Should we go in?" Belle asked Charmy, who held his claws out in a classic "I don't know" gesture. "Worse-case scenario, I get thrown out. Right?"

Charmy cocked his head at her. She stared at him for a while before opening the door and finding herself in a small room containing nothing but stairs. Wonderingly, she climbed the stairs to find herself in yet another small room containing nothing but stairs. The next room was the same way; and then, she climbed a flight of stairs and was on the roof.

"This is weird," Belle said. "What is that building?"

"Meleon," Charmy replied. They both looked at the small, rectangular building, squatting close to the flat roof. It was white, with gray-and-blue walls. Belle walked around it to find the door.

"Well, we've come this far," she said, before stepping inside.

She walked into what looked like a classroom; there was a desk and a chalkboard, and a small table off to the side with a Poké Ball sitting on it. A man stood near the desk. He had brown spiky hair and wore a white headband with karate clothes, and he didn't seem to notice her, even though she was standing practically right in front of him.

"Um…hello," Belle said. "Is…is it okay that I'm in here?"

"There is nothing that I don't know, like I wrote on the blackboard," the man told her. "I know about the world of Pokémon! Get together with your friends and enjoy trading Pokémon!"

Belle blinked. She glanced down at Charmy, who shrugged, before moving carefully around the man (he didn't move) and going towards the table with the Poké Ball. "What's in this?" she asked, but the man didn't answer her. She picked it up and an Eevee burst from it immediately, making her cry out and leap backwards. The little brown Pokémon looked up at her expectantly.

"What—?" Belle shouted. It shrank back, trembling with fear, and flattened its ears against its head. "Oh, sorry," she murmured, and got to one knee. "Come here, I'm sorry, my bad." The Eevee timidly walked towards her and nudged her hand with its nose. "Is that dude your trainer, or what? What are you doing here?"

The Eevee didn't show any signs that it had heard or understood her; instead, it pressed itself against her stomach and promptly fell asleep. Belle looked over at Charmy, dumbfounded. She half wished that she hadn't left Derrick back in Lavender so that she could talk to him about this. Thinking about leaving Derrick in Lavender Town made her remember her sense of urgency, and she stood quickly.

Belle returned Eevee to its Poké Ball and turned to look at the man. "Hey, dude, uh…what's up with this Eevee?"

The man didn't reply. She walked past him again and stood in front of him. "There is nothing that I don't know," he said when she came back into view. In frustration, Belle reared back and punched him in the jaw.

"Ow! What the hell?" the man cried, stumbling. "What is your problem?"

"What is my problem? What's your problem? What are you, a freaking robot?" Belle put a hand on her hip. "So, what's up with this Eevee?"

"Just take it," the man said. "Geez, that's what it's there for. It's yours now. It's got seven evolutions, though."

"Yeah, I know that." Belle waved this fact away. "What's up with this little rooftop thing? And why don't people get in trouble by coming up here? Why do they get rewarded with Pokémon instead?"

The man shrugged. "I don't know. This is just my day job."

___________________________________________________

After the punch, the man didn't seem too keen on giving Belle directions, but he had grudgingly told her how to get to the Celadon City Gym—it was tucked away in a quiet corner, surrounded by trees and flowers. She approached it timidly, with Charmy by her side and Eevee hanging on her shoulder, where it had insisted on falling asleep.

"Okay…I don't want to give away my strategy," Belle told Charmy. "So I'm going to have to put you in your Ball."

Charmy eyed Eevee, and Belle sighed. "All right, I'll put this thing up too." But when she returned the Pokémon to their Poké Balls, she felt a bit lonely.

The inside of the gym was carpeted with lush green grass, and the air was permeated with the sweet scent of flowers. Belle closed her eyes and felt strangely happy for a moment, standing in the middle of this indoor meadow. How could trees and flowers grow inside?

And there were girls—they were everywhere. Mommies, daughters, teenagers, old women, every shape, size, and age. No one in the gym was male; Belle suspected even the Pokémon here were female. A pregnant woman stood with a Chansey, smiling as she picked a flower; until now, Belle had only seen a Chansey in the PokéCenters. A woman and her teenage daughter sat cross-legged across from each other, playing with a litter of baby Bulbasaur…cubs? Were cubs what they called them? It made her miss her own mother a little.

In the center of it all was a woman with a kind, gentle face and dark black hair, which was held out of her eyes with a dark pink headband. She wore a light yellow kimono and held a bouquet of flowers. As Belle watched, she bent and gave the bouquet to a very small girl, who laughed and ran away. The woman smiled and stood, sighing as she tucked her hands into her sleeves. That must be Erika, Belle thought, moving toward her. She remembered the sign outside—The Nature-Loving Princess! Perhaps an indoor meadow was going a bit too far.

Erika stood with her eyes closed contentedly as Belle approached, and she didn't move or even notice her. Belle stood there awkwardly for a few moments before clearing her throat. "Um…excuse me…are you Erika?"

She didn't answer. After a while, she opened her eyes and looked towards the sky; and turned, startled, to Belle. "Oh dear…you startled me." Her voice was as kind, calm, and gentle as her face. It was smooth, like wind whispering through tree leaves.

"I've been standing here for a while," Belle said.

"Oh…I must have dozed off."

How do you doze off standing up? Belle wondered.

"Well, at any rate…I am Erika, the Gym Leader here, and also an expert in the art of flower arranging. Are you, by any chance, interested in flower arranging?"

"No, I'm here for a gym battle," Belle replied.

"Oh! A gym battle! By all means, yes…but I warn you. I'm quite strong."

"I believe it," Belle replied.

Erika smiled. "Good. I will ready the gym." She snapped her fingers; immediately, two tall boxes rose from the ground and a stadium floor appeared. Every woman in the gym scattered and turned their attention to it. Belle felt a little nervous. She had never battled in front of a large audience.

"Please climb into your box," Erika said, gesturing towards Belle's box as she walked away. Belle did so; her legs shook as she climbed the stairs, but she stood proudly in the box, trying not to show her fear. She wasn't afraid of heights, but apparently, she did have stage fright.

A woman in a referee outfit stood by the stadium floor, holding a flag in each hand. "This will be a three-on-three battle. Switching out is allowed by the challenger, but only between matches for Erika. Erika, are you ready?"

"Indeed I am." Erika smiled, but a certain edge was now in her features as she held up a Poké Ball. She liked winning.

"Challenger ready?"

"Very," Belle answered, pulling a Ball off her belt and feeling it enlarge in her hand. She felt the thrill of battle in her stomach, and she forgot about the people watching. Belle liked winning too.

"Begin!"

"It is your time to shine, Victreebel!"

"Swifter, let's go!" Belle tossed her Poké Ball into the air as her Pidgeotto burst from it, crying out and expanding its wings.

"Vine Whip, please, Victreebel."

"Swifter, let's give 'em an Aerial Ace!"

Having the type advantage, Swifter won easily; Erika frowned as Victreebel was proclaimed unable to battle, and the red light from the Poké Ball swallowed it as she reached for another Pokémon. Belle was unsure as to whether she wanted to keep using Swifter or switch to Charmy, but Erika threw her Poké Ball too fast for her to decide.

"Tangela!"

"What the—?" A Pokémon that looked like a walking bundle of knots stood on the stadium floor, its many vine-like appendages wriggling in the air. Belle frowned down at it.

"Vine Whip!"

The vines suddenly looked a heck of a lot more formidable wrapped around Swifter's wings and talons. Swifter cried out in alarm, struggling to beat its wings as it was pulled rapidly towards Tangela.

"Come on, Swifter, fight it!" Belle shouted, grabbing onto the rail of the box. "You can overpower it!"

"I'm afraid it can't," Erika replied. "You see, Tangela is quite strong."

Frustrated, Belle banged her fist against the rail. "Swifter, Peck its vines!"

The Pidgeotto leaned down and thrust its beak into the vine wrapped around its talon; with a strange squeal, Tangela pulled it back. Swifter was able to use this as a distraction and wiggle free of the other vines; it flew up, out of Tangela's reach. There was no way Belle would be able to get close to Tangela again to attack it; she needed an attack that had range to it, one that she could use while standing far away from it…

"Swifter, return!" Belle cried, holding out its Ball. With her other hand, she quickly loosed Charmy's Ball from her belt. Once she had his Ball in her good hand, she threw it, yelling out his name.

The Charmeleon stood a little bit taller than the Tangela, and he leered down at it, baring his fangs menacingly. Belle glanced at Erika to see a grimace pass over her face. She didn't have any tricks up her sleeve for a Fire-type.

"Get out of reach of it, quick!" Belle shouted down to Charmy, who leaped backwards immediately. "Use Flamethrower!"

It didn't take long for Tangela to go down; Erika returned it to its Ball and brought out the next one.

"Vileplume, go!"

"That's the evolution of Gloom," Belle said, leaning over the rail to get a better look. She didn't particularly like the look of it; the large pink petals on top of its head were unnecessary and obnoxious, and why was its body so small and dark? "Hey, how did you get that?" Belle asked, pointing down at the Vileplume.

Erika blinked at the interruption of the battle. "I used a Leaf Stone on my Gloom."

"It doesn't just evolve into Vileplume on its own?"

"Um, no," Erika said uncertainly. "But if you use a Sun Stone on a Gloom, it will evolve into Bellossum."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks. Flamethrower, Charmy!"

"Wait—what? Vileplume, use Bullet Seed!"

But Vileplume was too late; it had a burn on one of its big, obnoxious petals. Belle gripped the rail in front of her hard, trying to force down her excitement. If she started thinking she'd won too early, she would get ahead of herself and lose.

"Vileplume, use Pursuit!"

Belle's mind whizzed quickly. That was a Dark-type move. How did Vileplume know a Dark-type move?

The move hit Charmy like a ton of bricks and sent him sprawling across the stadium floor. The women in the gym cheered; suddenly, Belle was all too aware of them. The hand gripping the rail in front of her started to sweat, and her legs began to tremble. Maybe she was afraid of heights…

No! No, she couldn't choke! She couldn't let Charmy down, or her mother, or Derek, or her father! "Ch-Charmy!" she called out. The Charmeleon sprung to his feet, eager and ready for more. Belle took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Bullet Seed!"

"Uh—Burn them if they get to close to you!"

What was she doing? Think, dammit. She squinted down at Charmy as he swept a seed out of the air with his tail. The seed bounced against the large, obnoxious petal that had the burn, making Vileplume wince and stop its barrage of seeds.

"Now's your chance, Charmy! Go around behind it, use Flamethrower!"

In a spectacular move that Belle was quite sure she hadn't taught him, Charmy leapt into the air and did a front flip, touching his claw to the ground briefly and using it to catapult him over and behind Erika's Vileplume. He let loose a monstrous Flamethrower that hit Vileplume square in the back and sent it tumbling in flames.

"Vileplume!" Erika shrieked in a manner that was not calm at all. Now the Vileplume lay there as Charmy simply baked it.

Belle had a sudden flashback—a small table draped in white cloth; a black box; a little girl with tears running down her face; a small, lifeless Pichu; only now, she saw Erika, standing over the box, staring teary-eyed at a battered Vileplume—

"Charmy, stop!" Belle cried. "Stop!"

He did, snapping his mouth shut to immediately snuff out the flames before looking up at her apologetically. As their eyes met, Belle knew he knew what she was thinking. Don't overdo it, she thought, staring down at her Pokémon.

"Vileplume is unable to battle," the referee said, pushing thick blonde hair off her shoulder. "Challenger wins!"

Erika rushed down from her box and ran over to Vileplume, throwing herself on the floor beside it and placing a hand on its body. "That was a dirty trick you pulled," she snapped at Belle as she got closer. "Acting as though you were interested in Gloom's evolutions."

"I am," Belle replied. "I have a Gloom. And I didn't mean to distract you. I'm sorry."

Erika blinked. Obviously, this had not been the answer she was expecting. She turned away from Belle, checking Vileplume over. Finally, she returned it to its Poké Ball and stood, dusting her kimono off, and smiled like she had before, with that calm, serene look.

"You fought well," she said. "My Vileplume will be fine. It could have been a lot worse…your Charmeleon has quite a Flamethrower."

"Thank you."

"Your father would be proud."

Belle was taken aback. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Charmy, noticing her distress, immediately reached out and grabbed her hand with its claw.

"Yes, I knew your father. You are Daniel Caldwell's child, are you not?"

Belle nodded dumbly. Now that Erika mentioned it, she did look around her father's age…or, what his age would be if he was alive.

"Your father was a very good man. He battled me when I was still an aspiring gym leader."

"Did he win?" Belle asked quietly.

Erika laughed softly. "No. I clobbered him. His Ivysaur was no match for my Gloom. Why you would pit Grass against Grass, I have no idea. But I assume he learned from the experience." She smiled. "We are a lot alike, you and I."

"How?"

"You have been through much. So have I." Erika smiled gently. "We both have black hair. We both miss your father."

Belle swallowed hard. "What were…you…to my father?"

"An ex-girlfriend. The match I mentioned was the one where we broke up." Erika laughed, but it was a sad laugh. "He and I were not meant to be…but he was a good friend, as was Terra."

"You know my mother too?"

"After your father…was killed…we drifted apart. But I like to think we were friends at one time. May I see your Gloom, Belle?"

Belle let Gloom out of its Ball, and it stood on its little flat feet as drool slipped from the corner of its mouth. Erika smiled. "I think a Bellossum would suit you much better than a Vileplume. Here." Out of a pocket, she pulled both a Rainbow Badge and a Sun Stone.

Belle took the gifts and turned to Gloom. "Gloom, would you like to be a Bellossum?"

Gloom seemed to consider. It rocked back and forth, unleashing its foul stench into the room. Belle pulled the collar of her T-shirt up over her nose, and Erika put her sleeve over her face. Finally, the Pokémon nodded, and Belle gently and timidly touched it with the Sun Stone.

In a show she had seen several times before, Gloom emitted a bright glow and transformed into something smaller and cuter. Bellossum soon stood before her, bursting with happiness. "Bellossum!" it cried.

Belle then decided to take her leave; she felt like she should hug Erika, but all she could do was bow her head in thanks. "Take care, Belle," Erika called as she left.

It was late in the day when Belle left the gym, so she decided to stop by the hotel she had passed on the way to the gym and see if there were any vacancies. She couldn't stay at the Pokémon Center—Derrick would find her there. She called Cassandra's father to ask him for some money, which he gladly sent her over the PC connection.

It wasn't until she was lying in bed about to fall asleep that Belle realized that she had never told Erika her name.

To: [email protected], dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
From: dingdongbelle
Subject: <blank>
___________________________________________________
I got the Rainbow Badge. Erika gave me a Sun Stone and I evolved my Gloom into Bellossum. Swifter, Mankey, and Diglett evolved earlier than that. I got an Eevee in Celadon Mansion. Next stop is Fuchsia City for the Soul Badge.
Love,
Belle

Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alyssa stared down at Ziggy's fur as she stroked it. Her other hand was busy propping up her head, as it was drooping considerably. Ziggy stayed still, but only because it made Alyssa even sadder when he went anywhere; so he stayed huddled on her lap, worried sick.

"Alyssa. Hey."

She looked up. Ian stood in front of her, a frown on his face. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"No."

Ian's frown deepened and he pulled up a chair beside her. "You didn't need to stay up all night, you know."

Alyssa sighed and put her fist in her cheek once again, letting it mash the soft skin of her face as it propped it up. She had long ago taken out her ponytail, and her hair was scraggly and limp.

"Alyssa…someone's coming from the Ranger Union today."

Alyssa nodded. She had spent the night at the base last night instead of going home to Chicole Village. Barlow had told her that they needed everyone present to guard the prisoner until someone from the Ranger Union came to pick him up. Luanne, Barlow, and Crawford already slept at the base every night; Alyssa went home, and Ian stayed in a house in Vientown.

"Why did you stay up all night? We guarded the prisoner in shifts, remember?"

Alyssa nodded again. She did remember. She remembered yesterday and last night all too well…and there was nothing she could do to forget. Every time she had started to drift off, images of crumpled Graveler and Geodude would flash into her head. And when once, she had finally started having a perfectly normal dream, it had suddenly turned into a nightmare when gigantic rocks came crashing down from the sky unannounced.

"Hey…come on. Barlow said you and me deserve a break, and you look like you could use some fresh air. Let's go outside."

Alyssa shook her head. "The prisoner," she mumbled. Ziggy shifted in her lap to look up at her. "We can't leave the prisoner."

"Barlow's watching him. Come on, Lyssi."

Alyssa looked up at Ian sharply. Her brother used to call her Lyssi. Lyssi my sissy! he would say jokingly as he hugged her tight, or pulled her to her feet after she fell, or kissed her on the top of the head, or tucked her in after a story.

"Lyssi?" she echoed faintly. Ian scratched the back of his neck.

"Sorry. It just…came out."

"Please don't call me that. It's what my brother used to call me."

"I didn't know you had a brother."

"I don't."

Silence dropped between them as heavily as a stone. Ian reached out and touched the hand that was so diligently petting Ziggy. "Alyssa…"

She shook her head and looked at her hand. Ordinarily, she would have been thrilled that he was touching her, but she couldn't muster it up now.

"Come on, Alyssa. Let's go."

Finally, Alyssa nodded. Ziggy climbed up to hang on her back as Ian and Prinplup led them out of the base.

Dawn was just beginning to spill over the horizon. Alyssa brushed her bangs out of her eyes and squinted. Ziggy pushed his nose into her ear and sniffed, making her smile for the first time that day.

Ian and Alyssa stood side-by-side for a while. She was quite thankful to him for dragging her out into the fresh air; a light breeze brushed her face, and she breathed in the scent of grass. It really was nice out here. She looked around at all the houses. Life would have to go on, no matter what happened. Her life, for certain, was going to be a lot more complicated than she had thought…but she was going to have to keep pushing through. She remembered the baby Poliwag, and how she had handed it carefully to the Poliwrath. The Poliwrath had taken it into his hands and closed his eyes; when he opened them, he had looked up at Alyssa with a deep sadness. She had watched as the family of Poliwag and Poliwhirl buried the small Pokémon…but then they had moved on. And that was what Alyssa needed to do.

Alyssa pulled in a deep breath and looked over at Ian. "Does it get easier?" she asked him.

Ian sighed. "Not really. But you have to find your own way of handling it. Everyone has a different way. Luanne has her beauty crap—you've noticed that, right? Crawford has his drinking. Barlow has his gruffness."

"What about you?"

He was quiet for a moment. "It's…complicated. It's a long story."

She was just about to tell him that she had time when they heard a rumbling and a van pulled up. A man wearing a Ranger uniform with a shock of messy brown hair clambered out of the passenger's seat. "We're here to pick up the prisoner," he said. A Buizel bobbed along beside him. Alyssa eyed his Styler. He was definitely a Top Ranger.

"Come on in," Ian said. He and Alyssa led the man inside. "Barlow!" Ian called. He went into the hallway that led to the overnight rooms, leaving Alyssa in the lobby alone with the man.

"I'm Alyssa," she said, holding out her hand to the man.

"You're Alyssa!" he cried, clasping onto her hand and pumping it excitedly.

"I'm Keith. It's nice to meet you. Was that kid Ian? Are you two the ones that did that whole cave-thing yesterday?"

"Uh…yeah," Alyssa replied, taking back her hand and feeling quite shaken up. She was saved from further questions by the appearance of Barlow and Ian.

"Ah, they sent some Top Rangers to get the prisoner, I see," Barlow said. "Nice to see you again, Keith."

"Nice to see you, too, Barlow. Well, I'll be taking the prisoner, Ian, and Alyssa with me. Could you two escort the prisoner out?"

"Ian and Alyssa?" Barlow thundered, no longer happy to see Keith. "Why would you need them?"

Keith looked shocked. "Didn't you get the message? Chairperson Erma wants to promote them to Top Rangers."

"What?" Barlow yelled. "Top Rangers? They're rookies!"

"Yeah, but what they did was extremely worthy of Top Rangers. They both show incredible potential!"

"But you have no idea if that was a fluke or not," Alyssa said wonderingly.

"It wasn't a fluke," Barlow muttered. "I at least know that. You two are damn good Rangers."

Keith beamed at them, but Alyssa and Ian were shocked. Neither of them knew what to say. Alyssa was too tired to deal with this. "So…I'm gonna be a Top Ranger?"

"Yep!" Keith replied.

"I'm gonna be a Top Ranger."

"You sure are!"

Alyssa suddenly felt dizzy. She wobbled over to the counter and grasped the edge, leaning on it heavily. "You're sure there's no mistake?"

"No mistake! You are now a Top Ranger!"

"Alyssa?" Ian stepped forward, a frown on his face. His outline was blurred…everything else was kind of blurry too…Alyssa squinted. "Alyssa?" he repeated, and his voice sounded far away. It echoed as if he were in a tunnel.

And then everything faded to black.

___________________________________

"What happened?"

"She stayed up all night last night."

"I told everyone to sleep in shifts!"

"I know, but I think she was having nightmares. It was her first major mission, after all."

"CORN DOGS ARE YUMMY."

Several different voices danced through Alyssa's head as she weaved in and out of consciousness, some making sense, some not. Finally, after a long bout of unconsciousness, she awoke.

First things first—she needed to take stock of her surroundings. She was lying on a bed, with Ziggy slumbering quietly on her stomach…she turned her head a bit. It was the same bed she had been assigned to sleep in last night, but hadn't used. In a corner of the room, Ian sat in a chair. When he saw her move, he jumped to his feet and strode over to her. "Alyssa!" he said softly.

Alyssa moaned in reply. "What happened?" At the sound of her voice, Ziggy perked up and looked at her.

"Well, Keith told you that we were going to be Top Rangers, and you fainted." Alyssa noticed that he couldn't keep the grin off his face at the mention of being a Top Ranger. It certainly was exciting news.

"How long have I been like this?"

"Well, you fainted around five-thirty in the morning…it's two o'clock in the afternoon now."

"What?" Alyssa sat bolt upright, dislodging Ziggy; but she felt so overpoweringly nauseous and dizzy that she lowered herself back down. Ian laughed and Ziggy nestled down again.

"Don't panic. I'll go get you some lunch."

"Where's Keith?"

"The Rangers that came to pick up the prisoner are staying here for the night and heading back to the Ranger Union in the morning. They figured it'll give us a chance to pack, since we didn't know about this yesterday."

Alyssa nodded. "I need to go home and pack everything up."

"Hey…" Ian leaned over her, gently placing a hand on the side of the bed. "Did you dream?"

"No."

"Good."

____________________________________

"Leaving? But you just became a Ranger!"

"I know, Mom. They're promoting me."

"But—but—you're so young! And you've only been a Ranger for a few weeks!"

"Yeah, I know." Alyssa climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Her mother followed her worriedly, but her father stood in the kitchen, where he had been when she entered the house.

When they arrived in her room, Ziggy jumped from his place on Alyssa's shoulder and scuttled across the floor, sniffing to make sure he knew where he was. Ambipom looked up; it had been making Alyssa's bed. The two hands on its tail had been straightening her nightstand. "Am!" it said happily.

"Don't get too excited, Ampibom," Diana said to the Pokémon as she entered the room. "Alyssa's being promoted, and she's moving away."

At first, Ambipom's face fell; then it appeared to be happy for her. Its tail-hands left her nightstand and reached across the room to her dresser, where Alyssa was, to give her a hug.

"Aw, thanks, Ambipom," Alyssa laughed. "Do you know where my suitcase is?"

"Am!" It hopped over to her closet and pulled it out.

"Thanks!"

Diana crossed her arms. "Well, I suppose I'll help you pack, too."

To: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
From: [email protected]
Subject: Promoooottiiiooonnn!!
_________________________________
So guess what? I've been promoted to TOP RANGER!!! Yep yep yep!! I guess the whole traumatizing cave-thing kinda paid off. When they came to pick up the prisoner Ian and I apprehended (AHHH, that makes it sound so cool! XD), they told us about our promotion!! That's right, OUR promotion. Ian's going with me!!
Oh, did you see Belle's other email? I really think something's up with her.
Love much,
Alyssa XD

To: dingdongbelle@pokénet.com
From: [email protected]
Subject: your emails
_________________________________
Belle, what's wrong? Something's up with you and I know it. What happened? Are you okay? I'm worried. Cassandra is too. You're not explaining anything like you used to. How did the battle go? What did Erika say afterwards? Why did she give you a Sun Stone? How did you get a Pokémon from a mansion? Did you get in trouble? What happened between you and Derrick to make you not travel together anymore?
Love from your worried sick friend,
Alyssa

P.S. I got promoted to Top Ranger! Be happy or something.

Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cassandra felt a swooping in the pit of her stomach the morning of the Contest. Had time really gone by so fast?

Karen was slumbering peacefully next to Tuffly in her twin-sized bed, so Cassandra was very quiet as she slipped out of her own and went towards the closet. Since Cassandra (or Joanna, rather) had a lot of money, she could afford to pay for a suite; she walked into the den after plucking her outfit from the hangar.

To match her newly-evolved Marshtomp, Cassandra wore a frilly light orange skirt that fell about to her knee; it swished pleasantly when she moved, which would add some flair to the competition. Her shirt was orange with blue designs, and the sleeves belled out at the elbows, allowing gossamer fabric to trail her every arm-movement. She twisted her hair into a bun; her trademark would be let out later.

Cassandra let Finny, Swablu, and Fluffy out of their Poké Balls as she pulled on her shoes. They stared at her expectantly. The air felt heavy; this was her second Contest. It wasn't big, but she was advancing.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Karen asked, rubbing sleep from her eye and drifting into the den.

"You looked like you could use some rest," Cassandra told her. "You were up late coloring, after all."

Karen nodded. She turned and looked over her shoulder. "Tuffly's still sleeping."

"Well, get dressed and ready. We need to leave soon."
______________________________

The Contest Hall was buzzing with excitement. Cassandra couldn't pull a crazy grin from her features as she wandered around, Karen and Tuffly in tow.

"Have you seen Sakura?" Cassandra asked after a while. Karen tugged on one of her long pink braids thoughtfully.

"No. I haven't. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"There she is!" Karen pointed at a door nestled in the corner marked Judges Only. Sakura stood in front of it, gently patting her smooth orange hair, which was held back in two buns behind her head. What looked like hair extensions dangled from the buns, giving her a Sailor Moon-like look. She wore, as usual, a kimono, with orange and white patterns on it to match her Goldeen. "What's she doing by the judges' lounge?"

"She's probably…" But Cassandra was stumped. What was she doing by the judges' lounge?

Sakura glanced around, her hand sliding from her hair and to the doorknob; with a final glance, she pushed open the door and disappeared inside.

"Maybe she bribed a judge," Karen whispered, a dark look coming over her face. Tuffly frowned too.

"No, she wouldn't do that," Cassandra told her. But a strange feeling was churning in the pit of her stomach, and she turned away to look up at the tourney screen.

Thankfully, Cassandra's first round was against a Fire-type Pokémon—a Flareon—so Finny had a type advantage. The girl she fought lost quickly to Finny's Mud Shot; not only did it put her Pokémon near fainting, but it muddied up Flareon's coat, making it less graceful.

The second battle was a little tougher, and it was against a Machop dressed in a tuxedo, which Cassandra thought was adorable. She regretted mucking up the nice tuxedo to beat the Pokémon.

In the break between her second and third round, Karen came bursting fiercely into the lobby. "Cassandra! Are you paying attention to the battles in the stadium?"

"Um…" Cassandra found it hard to answer the girl. She had never seen her look so fierce or serious.

"You need to! If Sakura wins this next battle, she'll be against you!" Karen pointed up towards a screen, which displayed Sakura and Deena battling a Chikorita.

"She might lose," Cassandra said thoughtfully. "The other person has a type advantage."

"That won't matter if she bribed a judge," Karen muttered.

"Will you stop that?" Every time she heard that, it made Cassandra uneasy.

As she watched, Chikorita came out with a powerful Vine Whip and plucked Deena easily out of the water; it raised the Goldeen above its head before flinging it back with a splash.

One of the judges, a bald, older man, began waving his hands and yelling. "One of the judges calls unnecessary roughness and docks Miss Carrie a significant amount of points!" the MC called. The booing of the crowd was so loud that Cassandra could hear it through the stadium doors as well as on the television.

"I've seen rougher things than that," Cassandra remarked, frowning. "That judge sure is strict."

"Or—" Karen began.

"Don't."

Sakura won her match, and Cassandra tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she stood across the floor from her, Finny's Poké Ball in her hand and determination in the set of her jaw.

"These two faced off in the final round at Verdanturf," the MC boomed over the speaker. "What surprises await us as they face each other again today?"

"Best of luck," Sakura called across the floor.

"Thank you," Cassandra replied. "You too."

"Ready the stage!" called the MC; and in a familiar display, the floor opened to reveal a pool. This time, however, there would be no disadvantage for Swablu. Finny would be taking the stage this time. "Begin!"

"Deena, it is time!"

Goldeen burst out of her Poké Ball and sailed in a graceful arc above the pool, water droplets shaking from her tail as she fell. Cassandra squinted. Was it just her, or did Goldeen look a bit bigger?

At any rate, Deena entered the pool with hardly a splash; Sakura's point-bar rocketed forward.

"Oh, and a very graceful display by Sakura's Deena! That's…a very large amount of points for just an entrance. But let's see if Miss Étoile can beat it!"

Cassandra took in a deep breath and raised both hands above her head. She did a little spin and tossed Finny's Poké Ball. "Finny, let's go!"

Finny leapt out of his Ball, did a somersault, and then swan-dived into the pool, where he swam for a bit and then surfaced with a shiny splash. Cassandra smiled as her point-bar surged forward, stopping just before Sakura's. It was going to be another close, exciting battle; probably entirely underwater.

"And the Contest Hall's WaterCams are on and functioning! Everyone turn your attentions to the screen!" the MC boomed.

The WaterCams were only turned on for battles between two Water Pokémon; it wouldn't be fair for a non-water Pokémon to see the surface as well as what was going underwater on the screen, while the Water Pokémon could only see underwater.

"Deena, use Horn Attack!"

"Dodge it, Finny!" Cassandra cried, watching the screen intently. Finny ducked swiftly beneath Deena and swam under her, shooting off toward the other side of the pool. Cassandra's points-bar inched forward for his show of grace. "Now, use Water Pulse!"

Finny flipped around and clapped his two fins together; a pulse jolted from the impact, spreading out and heading towards Deena. The surface of the pool rippled with its intensity; with nowhere to go, Deena tumbled over in the waves helplessly, and Sakura's bar shrank back a great deal.

Sakura looked positively furious at her dip in points; she cut the judges such a scathing look that Cassandra was surprised that they didn't burst into flames. She hadn't noticed that competitive edge in Sakura at Verdanturf…but then again, she had already won the contest the previous week. Not so much had been riding on their battle then. Whoever won this progressed to the final round, and Cassandra, while not willing to glare daggers at the judges, was determined that it was going to be her.

"Good job, Finny! Now use Aqua Tail!"

Finny spun around again, this time to get enough momentum for a powerful Aqua Tail. The entire pool was in turmoil as the water shifted and swirled.

"Deena, jump out!" Sakura yelled, an edge to her voice.

"Don't let it! Get that thing back in the water!" Cassandra let her hair loose as she yelled this, and it fanned out and caught the light; the crowd roared its approval. Finny leapt out of the pool, snatched Deena out of the air as she sailed upward, and threw her back down. The Goldeen fell, smacking roughly into the water. She looked weakened as she passed by a WaterCam.

"What a display of acrobatics!" the MC yelled. "And look at Cassandra's—wait, one of the judges is saying something!"

An older man with a bald head was yelling from the judges' table. He looked angry, but the other judges were looking at him incredulously.

"Oh…well, he is saying that Finny and Cassandra are to be docked points for unnecessary roughness!"

Cassandra's mouth dropped open as the crowd booed and hissed. She put her hands on her hips and looked up at her bar, which had been snatched back to half its value. She gritted her teeth as rage bubbled up in her stomach. That wasn't fair.

"Deena, we're okay!" Sakura called. "Let's go! Horn Attack!"

Finny looked around; Cassandra hadn't made a command. She pushed the rage back and looked up at the WaterCam. Deena was nowhere in sight.

"D-dodge!" Cassandra yelled, but Finny didn't know where Deena was either. Anywhere he moved could be right in the path of wherever Deena was.

And then, Deena's horn buried itself into the skin of Finny's leg; she had come from the bottom of the pool. The power of her attack drove Finny bursting through the surface of the water. He shot up several feet into the air, did a strange, awkward somersault, and then landed with a belly-flop back on the water.

"Where's the call of unnecessary roughness now?" the MC asked. "That didn't look quite legal to me! But the judges haven't said anything, and Cassandra's points are docked!"

Cassandra balled her hands into fists as Finny floated on the water, struggling slightly. Its leg was badly injured, and blood leaked from an open wound. "Finny! Would you like me to forfeit?"

With a strange, determined look, Finny righted himself and dove underwater, a thin blood trail flowing up and then disappearing altogether. The crowd cheered noisily.

"It seems as though Finny wants to fight through his pain!" the MC yelled through the speakers.

Cassandra smiled, but she remembered something; a Poochyena, fighting through repeated onslaughts of Bug attacks, to its own destruction.

"Show them their mistake, Deena! Surf!"

"Surf?" Cassandra muttered. Could Goldeen learn Surf?

The water in the pool contracted; it rose up into one huge wave, leaving half the pool dry. Finny stood, dripping wet, in the dry part of the pool, staring up at the wave towering over him with Deena swimming up, up, up into the crest of the wave as it curled over sinisterly and came crashing down around him.

The WaterCam showed nothing but rushing water for several seconds; Cassandra rung her hands as she alternated looking at the surface of the water and the screen, trying to catch a glimpse of Finny. Finally, she saw him; the WaterCam showed him going by in the aftermath of the wave, being flopped gracelessly in the current. Cassandra leaned over, worriedly staring at the blue fleck that was Finny's body as it was tossed around; the MC shouted things and the crowd roared angrily, but Cassandra could only pay attention to Finny.

Finally, the water calmed down and Finny floated up to the top, thoroughly fainted. She returned him to his Poké Ball and sadly looked up at her screen. Not all her points were gone…but most of them were.

"And the judges are arguing at this very moment," the MC yelled. Cassandra looked over at the judges' table; Nurse Joy looked angrier than Cassandra had ever seen any Nurse Joy, and the two other judges—the bald old man and a middle-aged man with brown hair—were yelling at each other. The old man seemed to win the argument; albeit unhappily, Nurse Joy and the middle-aged man turned away.

"The decision stands," the MC's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Sakura Konohana wins the match!"

Cassandra sadly lifted her eyes to see Sakura, standing demurely on the other side of the stadium, Deena's Poké Ball in hand. There was something about her expression…she wore a small half-smile, and her eyes were cold and distant. A strange triumph was etched in the set of her jaw.

Her expression reminded Cassandra of Joanna.

To: [email protected]
From: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
Subject: …
________________________
I lost my contest, Alyssa.

It was awful. And it was unfair. I've been trying to ignore Karen, but it looks like she's right. She thinks Sakura bribed a judge, and now I think so too. I'll send you the video soon so you can see.

Well, I guess I'll be hanging around Fallarbor Town for another month or so until the next contest. I'll train even harder.

Have you heard anything from Belle? It's been three weeks and I haven't gotten ONE email from the girl. I don't want to pressure her, but this is getting ridiculous. I almost want to go over there and get her, but I have no clue where she'd be. Last time I got an email from her, she was heading to Fuchsia City, but that was THREE WEEKS AGO. Who knows where she is now?

Oh, and congratulations on your promotion!! That sounds exciting! Well, it also sounds like hard work, but you'll probably love that. And with Ian too! Looks like you two will be getting even closer!

Much love,
Cassandra

Chapter Twenty-Nine

In the three weeks it had taken Cassandra to lose her contest, Belle had caught an unsuspecting Poliwag at the random pond in Celadon, cursed herself for not buying a bike, taken the long way to Fuchsia City via Vermilion, defeated Koga (she lost twice, causing herself to train so hard Charmy evolved into Charizard and her newly-caught Poliwag became Poliwhirl), and headed to Saffron, where she had been training with the people in the Fighting Dojo. She wasn't too worried about Derrick finding her here. True, she had panicked in Fuchsia because she had spent too long there, but that had been different; what reason did Derrick have to come stumbling into the Fighting Dojo?


"How are things coming along, Belle?"


She turned from where she and Primape had been beating the crap out of a punching bag to see Hitoshi, one of the boys at the dojo. Primape paused in his ruthless destruction of the bag, but when he saw Hitoshi, he turned back to it, deciding that there was no threat to Belle.


Belle adjusted the tape on her hands. "I think I'm a quick learner."


"No…I mean, have you battled Sabrina again yet?"


Belle looked away quickly. The truth was, Sabrina scared the crap out of her. She had been too afraid to tell Charmy, or Poliwhirl, or Eevee what to do, and had let them faint. Those cold, calculating eyes, the way her bangs were cut straight across her forehead, her Alakazam…she reminded Belle too much of death. She haunted her nightmares, standing above her with glowing eyes, cradling a limp, pale Pichu. Hitoshi sighed. "She's not all that bad. She's just shy."


Belle squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, pretending to tighten the tape on her hands. Shy? The woman was death! With that calm, smooth voice and that cold, detached tone, her pale skin and strange psychic powers…she could speak to her Alakazam in her head! That alone was creepy enough! Suddenly, though, she found herself wishing she could speak to Charmy in her head.


"She freaks me out," Belle said finally, throwing a weak punch at her bag. "She never smiles, she's so calm…"


"You remind me of her a bit," Hitoshi said, talking over the last part of her sentence.


"Work!" the Master Koichi yelled from across the dojo; Belle quickly began punching the bag. Hitoshi moved a bit closer to her.


"You both have dark hair, you both seem calm and composed all the time, neither of you ever smile…"


Belle froze. She reached out and gently caught the punching bag, making it still. She never smiled? "I smile," she said, trying to think back to the last time she smiled. She smiled after she defeated Koga, right? No…after Erika. No…


"No you don't," Hitoshi replied. "You're pretty calm and collected all the time. And Sabrina isn't so bad, once you get to know her. She comes over here when the gym's not so busy." He glanced at her. "You might like her."


"Take a break!" Master Koichi bellowed. Hitoshi wandered off and Belle sank to the floor, grabbing the water bottle she had placed there earlier.


"Settle down, Primape," Belle muttered. The Pokémon stopped its beating of the punching bag and plopped down beside her, feet sticking out willy-nilly. "You need to calm down some."


Primape glanced at her. Its message was loud and clear. Calm down like you, Miss Sabrina?


Belle put the rim of the bottle to her lips and looked away. Forget wanting to speak to her Pokémon in her head. They were mean to her.
__________________________




Belle surfed through her e-mail. Her black hair was wet and matted to her head, and she was wearing a light blue tank-top and gray gym shorts. She had just taken a shower and was waiting for all the boys to be done; they all insisted that she take hers first, since she was the only girl. She had quite a few e-mails from Cassandra and Alyssa asking her what was wrong. Their urgency grew with each passing day. What could she do to get them to back off? She couldn't tell them of her discovery…she couldn't share this awful burden of sorrow, couldn't thrust it on them. With a sigh, Belle picked up her water bottle.


"You sound troubled."


Belle's veins ran cold and her heart stopped beating; she froze, staring at the screen. The voice that had spoken was smooth, calm, collected…
It belonged to Sabrina.


Belle turned slowly to face her, lowering her water bottle. The woman stood there in an off-white turtleneck sweater and jeans. It was quite cold outside, now that Belle thought about it. Sabrina's long black hair seemed to shift around her as she cocked her head slightly. "You fear me."

Psychic people are so creepy, Belle thought immediately.


"And you seem to be under the impression that psychic people are creepy."


"Stop reading my thoughts," Belle said out loud. She stood up and walked away, trying to put some distance between herself and Sabrina. She was the only one in the dojo with her; why couldn't the boys hurry with their showers?


"The thing you feel is not uncommon when one visits Lavender Tower," Sabrina said suddenly. Belle looked at her sharply. "You were unlucky enough to happen upon a funeral."


"What do you know?"


"Much."


The simple answer startled Belle, and she wrapped her arms around herself and frowned.


"You need not fear me, Belle Caldwell."

Oh, yeah, sure, you know my full name without me telling you, but I shouldn't be afraid of you. Right. Belle strode over to her Poké Balls, which sat on a table nearby. She felt the need for some company.


"I am not going to hurt you," Sabrina said, and some emotion edged into her voice. She sounded earnest. "Please, just understand what I'm telling you."


Belle paused, her hand above Charmy's Poké Ball. "May I at least let out Charmy?"


"Yes. You will argue if I decline."


Belle felt a lot safer with a Charizard around; Charmy touched a claw to her shoulder blades supportively. "Continue."


"You need to speak to someone. Don't keep everything inside. Also…the person you dread meeting nears. If you wish to avoid him, you need to leave soon. While it is my opinion you should talk to him, I know that you will not heed my advice; I also feel that it is fair to warn you. He comes. You should leave within the next two days."


Belle reached out and grabbed Charmy's claw, squeezing it. "How do you know all this?"


"I am psychic. This city is my city." Sabrina turned toward the door of the dojo. She crossed to it in a few long strides, and she paused before leaving, glancing over her shoulder at Belle. "You are determined. I can sense that you won't leave here without the Marsh Badge. I will be waiting at my gym for you."
______________________



Belle arrived at Sabrina's gym with renewed determination and the heartfelt support from everyone at the Fighting Dojo. She had liked it there, and she was loath to leave them, but it had to be done; Derrick was coming, and she needed to head to Cinnabar Island to get her Volcano Badge.


Vaguely, as she wandered into the gym, Belle wondered about Derrick's Pokémon. Had any evolved? Had he caught any new ones? She tried to imagine Derrick fighting alongside a Graveler or a Raichu, but the image hurt her heart, so she pushed the thoughts away. She needed to focus on her battle anyway.


Sabrina loomed out of the darkness of her gym, seeming to pass from shadow into being. Her long black hair fanned out around her elbows. "Good day to you, Belle Caldwell."


"Good day." Belle had resigned herself—she wasn't going to be nervous this time, not at all. She was going to exude the same calm, confident aura Sabrina did. In fact, she was going to try to exude that type of aura from now on. She had come a long way from being afraid of Sabrina; now, she almost idolized her.


"Referee," Sabrina said calmly, and a woman dressed in a referee's outfit stepped out of the shadows, two colored flags in hand. "Begin the match, please."


"This will be a three-on-three match. Leader is only allowed to switch between battles; challenger may switch at any time. Neither may use any more than three different Pokémon. Also, Leader will not, for any reason, read the challenger's thoughts. Challenger ready?"


"Ready," Belle said, reaching for a Poké Ball. She pressed the button in the center and felt it fill up the space in her palm.


"Leader ready?" the referee asked.


"Perfectly so," Sabrina replied. A Poké Ball levitated in front of her.


"Begin!"


"Espeon. It is your turn." Sabrina's Poké Ball opened and unleashed a purplish fox-like Pokémon with two tails and a gleaming gem in its forehead. It landed gently, its tail swishing over its head.


"Bellossum, let's go!" Belle threw her Poké Ball. She knew what Pokémon Sabrina would use—Espeon, Mr. Mime, and Alakazam. She smoothed her thumb over a different Poké Ball as she thought of who would battle Alakazam.


"Espeon, please use Psywave."


"Bellossum, use Giga Drain!"


Before Bellossum could use its move, Espeon's wave of Psychic energy crashed into the little Pokémon and sent it tumbling head over heels. It stood up; there was a scratch on Bellossum's little arm. The creature held its hands out and a mystical, swirling beam of green-tinged sunlight spread out, enveloping Espeon. Small green balls flowed back along the beam of light; they melted into Bellossum, and the scratch on her arm healed. Espeon looked suddenly fatigued.


"Hm. That is something else indeed." Sabrina looked down calmly at her Pokémon. "Espeon, Confusion, please."


"Bellossum, dod—" Belle quickly rethought her strategy. How do you dodge a Psychic move? She cracked her knuckles, mind racing. "Bellossum, use Sleep Powder!"


Espeon wasn't finished readying its mind or meditating or whatever it was Psychic Pokémon did to start attacks, and when the peaceful powder drifted slowly down onto it, its lids closed heavily and it sank to the floor, fast asleep.


"Oh, this is a problem. Espeon?" Sabrina seemed perfectly calm.


"Bellossum, use Quick Attack!"


Bellossum shot at Espeon, colliding into it. Espeon flopped in a rag-doll motion, sprawling out on the gym floor, still fast asleep.


"Espeon, use Confusion!" Sabrina said, sounding forceful.


"Espeon is fast asleep," Belle reminded her. "Bellossum, Tackle! Quick Attack! Tackle again!"


The attacks continued, and Espeon didn't wake up. After a while, Belle ordered Bellossum's attacks to stop; she didn't want to hurt the Pokémon too badly. Nothing happened for a while. Then—


"Espeon is unable to battle! Challenger wins!"


"Very well," Sabrina said, withdrawing Espeon to its Poké Ball. "And now—Mr. Mime, if you please."


"Bellossum, you've done well. Return." Belle plucked a different Ball from her belt and tossed it as Mr. Mime appeared on the floor, happily waving its hands. "Your turn, Poliwhirl!"


"Poli!"


"Mr. Mime, Reflect."


Mr. Mime swung his hand out, creating a shield of light in front of him.



"Poliwhirl, use Bubblebeam!"


"Light Screen."


Another shield sprang up in front of Mr. Mime; this one deflected Bubblebeam, sending it shooting back at Poliwhirl, who leapt sideways to avoid its own attack. Belle's fingernails dug into her palms as her fingers curled into fists.


"Mr. Mime, Safeguard."

"Mime!" Mr. Mime erected yet another glowing shield, smiling the whole time. Belle wanted to kick it. She surveyed the battlefield, Sabrina looking on coolly as the gears in her mind turned. Last time she had won by putting Espeon to sleep…maybe she could do that to Mr. Mime.


"Poliwhirl, Hypnosis!"

"Poli!" A purple mist slowly wrapped itself around Mr. Mime, but it didn't touch him; one of his many glowing shields pulsed and dispelled the mist completely.


"Safeguard protects against status defects," Sabrina said. "You can't put Mr. Mime to sleep."

"Mime, Mr. Mime!"


Belle wouldn't be surprised if she looked down and saw blood flowing from her palms, the way her fingernails were digging into them. She forced herself to stop and whipped her cap off her head, running her fingers through her hair briefly before setting it back on. "Poliwhirl, Mud Shot!"


It obeyed; mud splattered across Mr. Mime, but one of his glowing shields caught most of it. It didn't hurt him enough to make him blink. "Mr. Mime, Barrier, please."

Why doesn't she attack? Belle thought to herself, squinting her eyes. Well, she was going to have to take full advantage of the time that wasn't spent inflicting damage on her Pokémon. "Poliwhirl, use Double-Slap!"


Poliwhirl leapt forward, but he couldn't get through Mr. Mime's glowing shields. He fell back, grunting. Belle rethought. "Mud Shot, then Bubblebeam!"


Mud Shot once again splattered a bit of mud on Mr. Mime, but with one calm order of "Light Screen" from Sabrina, he calmly deflected Poliwhirl's Bubblebeam.


Belle was getting frustrated. "Those shields are pissing me off," she grumbled, starting to pace in her little square. She suddenly wished she had asked that weird guy in Celadon Mansion more questions instead of punching him in the jaw, but what was done was done. Didn't she teach Poliwhirl a move that he could use against Mr. Mime and actually hurt him? She ran briefly through his arsenal.


"Calm Mind," Sabrina told Mr. Mime, and he shut his eyes and swayed back and forth.


"Poliwhirl!" Belle cried, stopping in her stupid pacing. She'd had an epiphany—she knew how she was going to win this match. "Brick Break!"


Brick Break was a Fighting-type move, she knew, but she also knew it would break through defenses like Light Screen, Reflect, Barrier, and Safeguard, and that was just what she needed. Poliwhirl hurtled at Mr. Mime, throwing a huge punch; his fist glowed red as it plowed into the different shields Mr. Mime had erected. They shattered in pieces of glowing light and rained down upon the battlefield. Furthermore, Poliwhirl's fist hit directly in the middle of Mr. Mime's chest, and while Fighting was weak against Psychic, a direct hit like that couldn't be ignored; Mr. Mime was sent flying across the gym floor, landing on his bottom near Sabrina.


Belle met Sabrina's eyes over the falling shards of glass-light, a smile lifting the corner of her mouth. Now, every time Sabrina ordered Mr. Mime to put up those shields, Belle could just break them and send Mr. Mime flying. It would tire Mr. Mime out to put those shields up so many times, and eventually Poliwhirl's repeated punches would knock him out.


"What a beautiful display," Sabrina commented. Belle looked away from Sabrina's eyes. Indeed, the falling shards of Mr. Mime's broken barriers were quite beautiful, in a tragic sort of way. "Mr. Mime, Magical Leaf."


"PROTECT!" Belle shouted urgently, almost falling out of her box. Poliwhirl threw up his hands, making a glowing blue-green shield that curved around him and deflected the glowing leaves sent from Mr. Mime's hands. They dissolved and Poliwhirl dropped his shield. "Now, use Body Slam!"


Poliwhirl leapt up, soared through the air, and landed heavily on top of Mr. Mime, who crumpled under the weight and lay helpless beneath his opponent's body.


"Close-up Double-Slap!"


Belle's Water Pokémon proceeded to slap Mr. Mime hard about the face; Sabrina's mouth twitched as she watched, knowing she could do nothing to prevent it. "Now, finish it off with Bubblebeam!"


A large stream of bubbles erupted from the center of Poliwhirl's swirly belly as he leapt back, and they caught Mr. Mime about the middle and pushed him several feet. When he landed, a bit crumpled, the referee craned her neck briefly to look at him.


"Mr. Mime is unable to battle! Poliwhirl wins the battle!"


"Yes!" Belle cried as Sabrina returned her Pokémon.


"Do not celebrate just yet," the Gym Leader toned calmly. "We have one more battle. In this one, we shall see who is the true victor."


Belle felt her face harden as she returned Poliwhirl to his Poké Ball. "Good job," she whispered to the Ball as she put it on her belt and grabbed another. Sabrina also held a Ball; they stared at each other across the battlefield. Both knew what the other was about to do. Sabrina didn't even need her psychic powers to know which Poké Ball Belle held.


"Alakazam," Sabrina said softly, holding out her hand. The ball floated above it for a few seconds before opening and releasing a yellow human-like Pokémon holding two spoons for no apparent reason, its eyes narrowed as it took in Belle's appearance for the second time. Sabrina's eyes glowed blue, and Alakazam's glowed in response; the two held such a sacred bond that this seemed to happen whenever they were together.
Belle trembled. The Sabrina that stood across the gym floor now was the Sabrina that stood in her nightmares; those glowing blue eyes seemed to pierce her soul. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to find her focus again.


When Belle's eyes opened, they were alight with the fire of her determination. It didn't matter anymore that the only reason she came to the gym was because Derrick was coming and she had to run away. It didn't matter that Sabrina's eyes were glowing blue. It didn't matter that she had lost once before. It didn't matter that she had once been scared stiff of Sabrina. All that mattered now was the battle; she was going to win and get that Marsh Badge.


"Let's go, Charmy!" Belle threw Charmy's Poké Ball out onto the field, and the Pokémon erupted from it with a roar. Belle and Charmy shared a bond, too. It may not have been born of psychic power, but it was there, and she was more linked to him than any of her other Pokémon.


"Alakazam." Sabrina's voice was different; it came out in a strange hiss when she spoke to her closest Pokémon. "Psychic."


If there was any music to this scene, it would be low and dramatic. Belle could practically feel the drum beat in her chest. Alakazam raised its arms slowly, and Belle assessed the situation.


"Wing Attack!"


The spoon glimmered as Alakazam waved its hand; Charmy, mid-lunge, suddenly froze. There was a split-second pause before he was hurtled backwards, crashing into the stand holding up Belle's small box; she clutched the railing. "Charmy! Are you okay?"


With a determined roar, Charmy got to his feet, the corner of his lips pulled back to show his pointed teeth. He had already been defeated by Alakazam once—he wasn't about to lose to it again.


"Psycho Cut!" Sabrina rasped.


Alakazam pushed his hand into the air; waves of psychic power formed into roughly the shape of a sickle. With a sweep of his hand, Alakazam sent it hurtling toward Charmy, and the thing slammed into his chest, sending him once again into the metal support beams of Belle's box.


"Charmy!" she cried. She was not going to take this lying down. "Flamethrower!"


"Light Screen!"


In an all-too-familiar display, Alakazam sent up a glowing shield of light. The Flamethrower parted and went around it, not touching Alakazam at all; but when the Psychic Pokémon looked up, beads of sweat could be seen sprouting on its forehead.


"Dragon Claw!" Belle cried before Alakazam had time to process. Charmy leapt into the air and swooped down on Alakazam; his claws glowed bluish-silver as he stuck his hand into Alakazam's misty Light Screen and slashed him right across the chest. The Psychic Pokémon cried out and was slung sideways, doing a strange pirouette before it hit the floor. Charmy arced up and away, slamming his flaming tail into Alakazam's falling form as he soared up towards the rafters.


Sabrina's glowing eyes glowed ever brighter, and Alakazam pushed himself off the floor. "Psycho Cut!" she said again.


"Be ready, Charmy!" Belle cried, moving her feet shoulder-width apart and holding her hands out. Charmy copied her without even looking, his wings beating to hold him aloft.


Alakazam formed the familiar sickle and hurled it up toward Charmy; the Charizard reached forward and caught it in his claws, roaring loudly with the effort. Sweat appeared on his forehead as he pushed at it, and finally, with a great bellow, he flung it aside, sending it flying across the gym floor and crashing into the wall; smoke billowed up from the contact point.


"Smokescreen!"


Charmy opened his mouth; black smoke poured out, filling the gym. Belle cried out something unintelligible even to her. Black smoke curled all around, pushing into her mouth and nostrils, but she held her sleeve over her mouth and nose and closed one eye, trying to peer through the thickness.


Alakazam couldn't see either; after many agonizing seconds, he sensed a shift in the smoke. He looked up just in time to see the smoke tear apart and a Charizard burst through. Charmy's claws shot out and raked his face, leaving three parallel gash marks across his cheek. Alakazam cried out and stumbled backwards; Charmy escaped to the rafters as the smoke cleared once more.


"Flamethrower, quick!"


Charmy spun quickly in the middle of his ascent and blew hot flames out of his mouth. Alakazam's distraction allowed the fire to burn a hole through his misty Light Screen and get in a direct hit; he bellowed and stumbled, hitting one knee as the flames poured over him. Charmy snapped his mouth shut and flapped his wings hard enough to send him to the top of the building again, leering down at his opponent.


Sabrina took a step forward; her hair fell across her face and one hand reached out to grasp the rail of her box. Her lips parted, showing her teeth, as her glowing eyes widened. "ALAKAZAM," she screamed in a voice that no longer sounded anywhere near calm.


Despite Sabrina's appearance, Belle wasn't afraid. She gritted her teeth and stepped to the edge of her box, wishing she could be closer to the battlefield. "Charmy!" she yelled, and her voice cut through her throat like a razor.


"PSYCHIC."


Alakazam looked possessed as it raised its arms, its head falling back slightly, the spoons shaking uncontrollably though its hands remained still.
"Fire Blast!" Belle cried, tightening her grip on the rail in front of her. Charmy lowered himself a bit and opened his mouth; the flames started to pour out just as a huge wave of Psychic energy pulsed out of Alakazam.
The beam of fire smacked straight into the wave of energy and spread out over it, but neither Pokémon could advance; Charmy's eyes narrowed and it bellowed despite the flames pouring from its throat, and Alakazam let out a strange yell as it tried to push its energy harder. Belle leaned forward, and before she knew it, she was screaming too, her voice rising in pitch and volume until it was a shrill, loud tone that made her feel as though her face was about to explode. Sabrina was also yelling, her eyes glowing so much that it was like tiny blue suns were in her eye sockets instead of eyes. She leaned over the rail, her hair slipping forward from her shoulders and dangling out over the battlefield.


Belle slowly began to raise her arm as if possessed, screaming as she cocked it back; she launched it forward as if throwing something, and Charmy pushed his fire so hard that it burst through Alakazam's energy and washed over Alakazam himself. Sabrina went stiff and her scream doubled in volume, her head lolling back and her hair whipping about her as if in a wind only she could experience. Alakazam's yell rose until it mingled with Sabrina's and they were yelling with one single voice.


Belle's screaming didn't stop. She leapt up onto the rail of her box, pushing her upper body forward until she was curved over the field, hands balled into fists and throat straining. Alakazam and Sabrina screamed as if they were both awash in flames; Belle and Charmy bellowed as if they were both hammering fire from out of their stomachs.


Finally Charmy stopped, his mouth shutting as he hovered above Alakazam, who was lying flat on his back and still screaming. Sabrina's cries didn't stop, either; suddenly, the glow from her eyes turned blazing white, and she spread her arms, hollering as she rose into the air. Alakazam's chest rose, leading his body as it levitated above the floor.


Belle raised her arm and brought it down again; Charmy mimicked her motion at the same time, bringing his fist onto Alakazam's chest and forcing him to cave in, his back smashing against the floor. Sabrina screamed even harder; her head fell back more as Alakazam's voice died away, the white glow from his eyes fading. Sabrina's cry persisted until finally she collapsed on the floor of her box, a crumpled heap of tangled black hair. Belle wavered on her box railing, suddenly dizzy; Charmy slowly brought himself down so that his feet touched the floor and took a step back. An eerie silence rang through the room, a calm following the storm of the century.


Belle had defeated Sabrina.
_______________________




To:dancing_through_life@pokénet.com, [email protected]
From: dingdongbelle@pokénet.com
Subject: I'm not dead.
________________________________________________________________

Hi guys,


I'm fine. I spent those three weeks at the Fighting Dojo. I battled Sabrina; it was intense. I have the Marsh Badge now.


I'm really sorry about your contest, Cassandra. Don't give up.


You two don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself. I'm fine. Nothing about me has changed. You're just worrying too much.


Charmy is Charizard now.


Love you guys,
Belle

Chapter Thirty
Alyssa leaned forward in her chair, watching the screen intently as Goldeen's horn dug itself into Finny's flesh. She grabbed her mouse to pause the video and dragged it back to Sakura's look at the judges; Ziggy shifted in her lap, craning to see.

This was some rare free time, and Alyssa was spending it studying Cassandra's Contest video to see if there was any evidence that Konohana was cheating. So far, the only evidence she had gotten was that one particular judge was being incredibly unfair. While that didn't spell out cheating verbatim, it did point to it.

"What are you doing?" Ian asked, entering the room. Prinplup waddled behind him, heading for the bed; Ziggy leapt off Alyssa's lap and scuttled over to the Water Pokémon.

"Looking at this. My friend Cassandra thinks this girl might have bribed a judge."

"You sure she's not just a sore loser?" Ian joked. Alyssa shot him a look so angry he stopped walking toward her. "Sorry. It was just a joke."

"Please don't talk about my friends that way. Cassandra wouldn't make an accusation like that without reason."

Ian held up his hands. "Okay. I'm sorry. What have you got?"

"Well, all I've got is that this match is completely unfair."

"How so?" Ian came up behind her and leaned on the back of the computer chair.

"Several times, this judge docks Cassandra for unnecessary roughness when the tactics she was using were completely legal—and then, when this Konohana girl does something that would be considered unnecessary roughness under normal circumstances, and she's not penalized at all. In fact, she wins the match. Look—see that red spot? That's blood."

"Holy crap," Ian said, leaning forward slightly and squinting. "And she didn't get penalized for that? Do you know the rules for Contests?"

"Got 'em right here." Alyssa pulled up a window she had, which listed the Contest rules. "I'm thinking about making an investigation."

"It'd never get off the ground," Ian said. "How would you go about telling Chairperson Erma how you got the information?"

"Anonymous tip-off," Alyssa replied immediately. "I don't have to disclose the name that way."

Ian grinned. "You're really thinking like a Ranger. But it's the Hoenn Region Police Department that needs to get investigating that crap, and since the president's son is a famous Coordinator, I doubt it'll happen."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. She hated politics. "You wanna go down to the lounge and get some coffee?"

Ian groaned miserably. "No," he said, plopping down to sit on Alyssa's bed. Ziggy jumped on the bed and laid down by his leg. Every Top Ranger had their own room, almost apartment-like. They all had a front room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchenette. The Ranger Union provided them with top-of-the-line computers, of which Alyssa took full advantage. "My legs are killing me."

Alyssa laughed at him as she closed out her windows. "Three weeks and you're still not used to the exercise routine?"

"They make us do stupid obstacle courses every day! They give the men more than the women, I swear."

"Ian, the men and the women do their exercises together. We have the same routine. Eat some bananas or something."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"Potassium helps with cramps." Alyssa logged off her computer and swiveled around in the chair, smiling. We're really friends, she thought as Ian smiled back.

Today they had a day off; they wore everyday clothes. It was getting cold, so Ian wore long pants and a hoodie. Alyssa had learned to get dressed on days off instead of lounging in her pajamas, because if Chairperson Erma didn't call with an I'm-sorry-I-know-it's-your-day-off-but-we-need-you-for-a-quest-and-everyone-else-is-busy call, Ian dropped by unannounced. She wasn't sure how he got into her locked room. He must have figured out her keycode.

"Is that what you do?"

"That, and I got used to the routine."

Ian scowled. "Some days hit me harder than others, okay?"

"I'm sure that's what it is." Alyssa stood and stretched. "I'm bored. I've been in my room all day. Erma hasn't called me once. Knock on wood!" she said hastily, rapping her knuckles against her desk. It was a silly superstition, but it was one she had grown up with, and now it was habit.

"She calls you on your days off, too? Good, I thought I was the only one."

"Keith says she does that to everybody," Alyssa offered, going over to the shelf above her bed and plucking a snowglobe off it. Prinplup looked over at it, interested.

"So you've been hanging out with Keith a lot?" Ian's voice sounded strange as he asked the question.

"No." She laughed as she shook the globe, letting snow fall on Snowpoint, as if they didn't already have enough. "I was just talking to him yesterday. He was going on a quest on his day off. See it, Prinny?"

Quests were things regular civilians asked of them. More often than not they were small things, like gathering Drifblim to help move or finding lost Pokémon. Most of the time people would just grab Rangers if they saw them on the street, but sometimes they would come straight up to the Ranger Union and request that a Ranger help them.

"Oh. Okay."

"Why? Are you jealous?" Alyssa asked teasingly, setting her snowglobe back on its shelf.

"N-no," Ian stammered, his face turning red. Alyssa blushed too. It was nice to get reassurances that he had a crush on her, but it was embarrassing, too. She brushed some bangs out of her eyes. "And don't call Prinplup Prinny."

"But he likes it. Don't ya, Prinny?" Alyssa laughed as she got a Prinplup scowl in reply. "That's okay. I have a Partner Pokémon who likes being called a nickname. Right, Ziggy?"

"Goon!" Ziggy leapt up and scuttled over to Alyssa, leaping into her arms. She laughed and scratched his ears.

Alyssa's Styler vibrated from her desk. Once she became a Top Ranger, she had gotten one of their Stylers—it fastened to her wrist instead of being handheld. The Ranger Union communicated through these Stylers. Operators were usually the ones who handled calling Rangers from the base, but Rangers also communicated through them.

"No," Alyssa groaned as she picked it up. She hit a button. "This is Alyssa Thompson speaking."

"Good afternoon, Alyssa. This is Rhythmi." Rhythmi was the best Operator the Ranger Union had, and also the busiest, so she spoke rather quickly. "Chairperson Erma would like to speak with you and Ian—would he happen to be with you?"

"Yes, he is," Alyssa replied. Talking to someone on the Styler was like talking to someone on speakerphone. Ian glanced up at her, wincing.

"Good. Please meet Chairperson Erma on the third floor in fifteen minutes. Rhythmi out."

Sighing, Alyssa strapped her Styler to her wrist and threw on a jacket. She grabbed her wallet and shifted Ziggy so that he hung from her shoulder, sniffling near her ear—his favorite traveling spot.

"Come on, Ian. Let's go see what Erma wants."

_____________________________

The third floor was just a large chamber filled with huge computers; Operators sat everywhere, headsets on, pressing different flashing buttons and talking animatedly. Rhythmi's blonde head bobbed as she hurried to press different buttons.

Chairperson Erma stood from her seat and beckoned to Alyssa and Ian as they entered; she was a very old woman, with silver hair tied back in two thick bunches and a wrinkly face. Her back was stooped, and she relied on a cane to walk, the handle of which was shaped into a Sandslash. She wasn't a skinny old woman, by any means. Alyssa always thought of her as someone's granny—Granny Erma. She always wore dresses with crocheted sweaters.

"Good afternoon, you two," Erma said, her cane thunking against the tiled floor as she walked over to meet them.

"Good afternoon, Gr—Chairperson Erma," Alyssa replied.

"Good afternoon," Ian echoed.

"I have a mission for you two—no, it doesn't start today, so don't panic. Follow me." With surprising speed, Erma clunked across the floor and to the elevator, taking them down to the second floor. She led them into a large room with black walls, floor, and ceiling. "Shut the door, please, Ian."

Ian did so, throwing the room into complete darkness, and Erma cleared her throat. "Computer! Bring up most recent data."

The computer in question whirred to life; a map of Almia appeared beneath their feet, and the walls began pulling up pictures and data files in an organized manner. Among the pictures were landscapes, what looked like mugshots, and snapshots of suspicious-looking people carrying briefcases from different angles and from various distances. The ceiling showed a perfectly clear, blue sky.

"Um, Chairperson Erma…what does the sky have to do with anything?" Alyssa asked, pointing up at the ceiling. The old woman looked up, bracing a hand on her back.

"I just think it adds a nice feeling. Now, what's happening here…we've done a bit of digging on that prisoner you two apprehended—"—Alyssa had to work very hard to keep still, but she wanted to squeal That makes it sound so cool!—"—and this is what we've come up with. Upon asking him his name, he simply said that he was a Galactic Grunt, no more. He then asked us for some hair dye—Computer, hair dye bottle."

The wall pulled up a picture of a box of hair dye. On the front was a picture of a smiling girl with long, bright blue hair the color of Team Galactic's hair.

"Look at this," Erma said, gesturing towards the screen. "Notice the name of it?"

"Happy Hair Brand Hair Dye?" Ian said. "Sounds cheesy."

"No," Erma snapped impatiently, tapping her cane on the floor. "Computer, name of color."

The computer wall brought up a close-up picture of the corner of the box, which read—

"Galactic Blue, Number 476," Alyssa said.

"Exactly," Erma replied.

"Is there any correlation between the company and Team Galactic?"

"Actually, that's what we want you two to find out." Erma rolled her head and adjusted her shoulders, looking as though she was trying to crack her back.

"You can't be serious," Ian said.

"Yes, I am. We can't do everything from here, you know."

"But what about the mugshot?" Ian pointed up at the picture in question. Erma laughed.

"Oh, that's just a picture of Mr. Galactic Grunt. We found out his actual name—Terrence Miller, from Veilstone City. Computer, zoom in, current mugshot."

The mugshot became larger-than-life on the screen. It certainly was their prisoner; only in the picture, the roots of his hair were dark brown. "What's up with his hair?" Alyssa asked.

"He dyes it," Erma said. "When we questioned him further, he said that all members of Team Galactic—except for the commanders—dye their hair with this exact color, brand and all. Their warehouse is apparently full of it. The factory is in Pueltown, so we'd like you to head there and do some reconnaissance."

"You've got to be kidding," Ian said, pushing his face into his hand. "I—I—that just sounds so…"

"Trivial?" Erma supplied. "Miniscule? Non-important?"

"Why aren't we looking into why Team Galactic wanted to blow up the Ranger School?"

"We are! I'm sorry to burden you two with this stupid little mission," Erma added apologetically, "but we need someone to do it, and, as with most companies…we send the rookies to do the small work."

"What do the pictures of the guys with briefcases have to do with anything, then?" Ian asked.

"Oh—those are just screenshots from an action movie I was watching last night," Erma replied. "Computer! Move screenshot images into Erma's folder." All the pictures of the men with briefcases zoomed away into a folder along with all the pictures of landscapes, leaving the walls quite blank. "Anyway, you two—computer, underfoot map of Pueltown—the company's main factory is in Pueltown. We don't know much about it, except that they seem to have been established around the time Team Galactic became prominent in Sinnoh. You'll have to find everything else out. Computer, mark Happy Hair Company Factory."

Alyssa tried not to groan. This sounded so stupid. She looked down at the red X in Pueltown, memorizing where it was—she had an excellent sense of direction. "So, all we know is that every member of Team Galactic is required to dye their hair with this stuff?"

"Yes. The Pueltown Ranger Base will be expecting you day after tomorrow. Get packing and planning!"

"There's no plan?" Ian asked incredulously. Erma shot him a look, and he cleared his throat. "I mean—ma'am, I would have expected that the Ranger Union, being full of intelligent people, would provide a plan for us."

"Well, the Ranger Union certainly is chock-full of intelligent people. And last time I checked, you two were in the Ranger Union. So provide yourselves a plan!" Erma beamed. "We expect regular check-ins, and your schedule is to remain perfectly normal—that means that you don't get a day off to plan and pack tomorrow. You will do your daily exercise regimen and go on patrol as per usual. Any questions? Good. Dismissed!"

To: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
From: [email protected]
Subject: They've got to be kidding.
________________________________________________________
Sooooo!! I've been sent on my first mission as a Top Ranger!
To a hair-dye factory.
Yeah. I'm supposed to be figuring out whether or not they're related to Team Galactic. It's so dumb. What if they're not? Then I'm just going to be wasting my time snooping around some innocent hair-dye factory. But whatever! It's my job! I'm getting paid for it!
Oh, did you get Belle's last email? I'm so relieved that she's not dead or anything, but why did she spend so much time at the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City? That doesn't seem like her. I'm still really worried about her. Something's wrong and she's not telling us. Or me, anyway. If she tells you anything, blab it on over, will ya?
Reviewed your video; it REALLY looks like Konohana's cheating, but there's no concrete proof, so there's really nothing I can do. =( Sorry. Just remember to steer clear of her from now on. Good luck on your next contest! I know you'll do great! (You're not giving up, are you?)
All my love (well, most—gotta save some for Ian! XD),
Alyssa
__________________________________________
A/N: The line about the Hoenn president is a throwback to Sgt Shock's fic!

Chapter Thirty-One
Cassandra smiled as she gently pulled the blankets up on Karen's bed to cover the girl's shoulders. She felt strangely motherly toward her now; she wasn't quite sure why.

Fluffy stood behind her, wagging its tail slightly as she headed for the door. It knew to be quiet when someone was asleep. Last night, Cassandra had allowed all her Pokémon to curl up with her in the bed. She had tried not to disturb Karen as she softly cried herself to sleep, and her Pokémon had helped her; Swablu had gently dabbed her tears with its wings, Finny had laid beside her and hugged her, and Fluffy had cuddled up to her front, putting his cold nose on her neck and sniffling every once and a while.

Cassandra picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She hadn't called her mother yet; she was planning on doing that later this morning. She had, however, talked to the lady who ran the PokéLove, and she had agreed to let Cassandra stay for a reduced price because of the length of time she needed the room. Cassandra wasn't leaving Fallarbor Town until she won the Super Rank Contest.

No ash was falling outside; a grateful Cassandra stuffed her umbrella in her backpack and made her way around the back of the building, where she liked to train. She frowned when she noticed a thin draft of smoke wafting up from the back of the building. It wasn't big enough for anything to be on fire…what was going on?

As she turned the corner, a strange sight met Cassandra's eyes; a girl she had never seen before was leaning against the wall, a cigarette to her lips. She had red hair that tumbled down her shoulders, and she wore jeans and a gray sweater. A Glaceon stood by her side, but it wasn't normal at all. Instead of being blue, its coat was a dusty blue-gray color. Also, a normal Glaceon's shoulder would come about to mid-shin; this Glaceon's shoulder came to the girl's knee, almost Mightyena-size.

The girl turned her head and smiled slightly, and Cassandra recognized her—it was Sakura Konohana.

"Well, hello, Cassandra." She took another drag of the cigarette and blew a smoke ring into the air.

Fluffy, down by Cassandra's ankles, started growling in the back of his throat. "Hello, Miss Konohana."

"Oh, it's Miss Konohana now? Did I do something wrong?" She turned fully toward Cassandra, flicking the ashes of her cigarette toward the ground and smiling as the Glaceon at her feet wound itself around her legs like a giant cat…or Persian. "I guess I did beat you yesterday…are you a bit sore about that?"

Cassandra looked at the demure smile and realized it for what it was—devilish. No longer could she see Sakura as a kind, quiet, confident girl. No. She was evil. "I'm just a bit upset about your methods."

"Methods?" Sakura's smile broadened and her eyes narrowed. "Whatever do you mean, Cassandra dear?"

Joanna's face flashed into Cassandra's mind. "You know exactly what I mean. You and I both know what you did, and I'm pretty sure we both know it's wrong."

Sakura brought the cigarette to her lips once more and surveyed Cassandra as she puffed on it. "All's fair in love and war, sweetie. I do what it takes to win."

Cassandra took a step toward her; the Glaceon made a soft warning hiss. "Who's this?" she asked, gesturing to the Pokémon.

"This? Oh, this is Isis."

"She doesn't look like a normal Glaceon. Come to think of it, Deena's been looking a little larger than a normal Goldeen."

Sakura smiled gently. She reached down; Isis shoved her head into the palm of Sakura's hand. "No. I find that giving my Pokémon certain…medications increases their chances of winning."

"Somehow I don't think you're talking about Protein."

Sakura laughed; it was a sinister sound. "You catch on quickly. Unfortunately, the medicine I gave poor Isis depleted the color of her coat, so she's no longer contest-worthy. She is, however, perfect for fending off anyone who decides they want to pick a fight with me." With that, Sakura's green eyes found Cassandra's blue ones and locked on. "She doesn't differentiate between human and Pokémon."

Cassandra heard Fluffy's growling get louder. "Hm. So she doesn't care who she hurts?"

"No. She does not."

"Sometimes…neither do I." Cassandra took another step forward; Isis leapt toward her.

She wasn't sure what happened next; all she knew was that there was a brilliant flash of light, and then she was sitting on the ground close to where she had been standing, a Mightyena standing in front of her in a way that his entire body blocked hers, hackles raised and growling. Isis stood across from him, hair on her back rising up. She hissed; Mightyena responded with a vicious snarl. Sakura, too, was on the ground; she stood up and dusted herself off.

"Well, well…what do we have here? It seems your little Fluffy made me lose my cigarette. Isis, make him pay!"

The Glaceon opened her mouth as if to blow ice at him, but the Mightyena bounded forward and closed his jaws around her neck. He shook her twice before tossing her several feet away.

Cassandra smiled grimly and got to her feet, brushing dirt off the back of her jeans as she did so. "Looks like my little Fluffy also made you lose your Glaceon."

Sakura angrily reached for her belt, where three other Poké Balls were lined up. Fluffy stepped forward and snarled. With satisfaction, Cassandra observed that he had somehow become larger than a regular Mightyena—his back would be almost above her hip if he stood next to her.

"Don't you dare reach for another Pokémon," Cassandra snapped. "Get the hell out of Fallarbor Town. Go on and win in Slateport—I don't give a crap. But if we ever meet again, Sakura Konohana, I will beat your cheating ass so hard you'll wish you'd never been born—and I don't mean in a battle."

Sakura glanced over at Isis, lying unconscious several feet away, and then back to Fluffy, growling severely close to her stomach. With a scowl, she turned away, returning Isis to her Poké Ball and marching off around the side of the building.

"Don't think this is over, Cassandra Étoile," Sakura snapped before she disappeared. Cassandra smiled as the redhead swished away.

"I don't," she murmured, and Fluffy turned to her, perking up his ears and wagging his tail as if nothing had happened.

_______________

At around lunchtime, Karen came outside to join Cassandra. She wore a pastel blue sweater and thick white leggings underneath a blue-and-white checked miniskirt, and her pink braids bounced on her back as she skipped out from the building, a picnic basket on one arm. When she arrived at Cassandra's favorite training ground—a patch of grass protected by trees so that ash didn't fall on it—she and Tuffly spread out a blanket and waited for Cassandra to take a break.

"What time is it?" Cassandra asked, sitting cross-legged on the blanket and picking up a sandwich. It was obviously from the small dining room in the PokèLove.

Karen folded her legs under her. "It's around noon."

"I've been out here that long?" She sighed, looking down at the pieces of white bread. She still needed to call her mother and inform her of her loss.

"Mm-hm!" Karen said brightly. "So, we're staying in Fallarbor Town until the next contest, right?"

"Right," Cassandra replied. "Why? Do you not want to stay with me?"

Karen grinned. "Of course I want to stay with you. I would be disappointed if you wanted to go back home."

Cassandra laughed quietly and took a bite of her sandwich. Fluffy wandered over and laid next to her, pushing his head against her leg and closing his eyes. Swablu landed gently on her head, tucking herself to look like a giant hat, and Finny sneakily stole a sandwich.

A sound broke the peaceful silence—something was in the bushes nearby. Since she was surrounded by forest, Cassandra was a bit nervous. Anything could be hiding behind the trees. Fluffy sat up, his ears perked up, a growl starting in the back of his throat. He stood up and prowled around behind Cassandra, staring into the trees.

And then something burst out; it was white and red and black, a blinding blur of colors as it streaked by. Barking, Fluffy turned and ran after it.

"Ah!" Cassandra dropped her sandwich onto the blanket and stumbled to her feet, running after Fluffy. Finny dropped to all fours and followed; Swablu lifted gently from her head and flew in front.

Fluffy's barking got louder as Cassandra ran; she was so glad that she had worn tennis shoes. She leapt over a confused Spinda and followed Finny's bouncing tail, breathing hard.

Finally she rounded a corner and saw Fluffy growling. He had cornered a white, horse-like Pokémon, with a flowing mane of fire. Its flank heaved and sweat poured from it as it eyed the three Pokémon surrounding it; it had its hindquarters against the side of the glass-maker's wooden house.

"A Ponyta," Cassandra whispered to herself, taking a step forward. Her fingertips itched, and she imagined herself sitting sidesaddle atop a beautiful Rapidash, hair flowing in the wind.

The Ponyta took a step back, tossing its head; its hindquarters bumped into the wooden house and it started, pawing the ground and glaring at the creatures massed around it. What should she do? Cassandra wanted this Pokémon. She wanted it so bad she could taste it on the back of her tongue.

"Ponyta," she said, going to stand beside Fluffy. "Do you belong to anyone?"

The Ponyta snorted, almost indignantly, and reared up on its hind legs, lashing out with its front hooves. Cassandra stumbled backwards and almost covered her ears as the Pokémon let loose a high-pitched squeal of rage. So it's not going down without a fight, Cassandra thought, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Fine. She needed a challenge.

"Fluffy! Use Bite!"

Fluffy leapt forward as the Ponyta returned to all fours and bit down on its leg; with a squeal, Ponyta brought its other hoof up and clocked Fluffy on the head. He backed away, growling.

"C'mon, Fluffy! You can do this! Bring it down—but not too hard!"

Finny and Swablu stayed around to keep the Ponyta fenced in, and Fluffy leapt at it again. Ponyta blew fire out of its mouth, but Fluffy leapt aside and closed his teeth around its neck. Ponyta squealed with displeasure and attempted to shake the wolf-like Pokémon off; but Fluffy persisted. Finally, he let go and Tackled Ponyta to the ground; it laid on its side, squealing in fear and rage as Fluffy stood over it. It lashed out with its hooves, but Fluffy dodged and lifted up the corners of his lips, revealing his long, sharp teeth. For a moment, Ponyta froze, its eyes widening.

Cassandra reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. Unlike most Trainers, she felt no need to yell "Poké Ball, go!" when she threw it; she just tossed it at Ponyta, catching it in its shocked state. The Ball opened and a white light engulfed the Pokémon, drawing it inside the ball.

Now was the worst part, in Cassandra's opinion. Her eyes remained fixed on the Ball as it wiggled slowly—left, right, pause. Left, right, pause. Left, right—ding! The circle in the middle glowed red for a brief second and the Ball stilled.

"Yes!" Cassandra cried, pouncing on the Ball and holding it up. "Everyone, say hello to your new team member—Ellia the Ponyta!"

After a few congratulatory noises from the Pokémon around her, Cassandra headed back toward Karen and her picnic lunch.

___________________

Cassandra headed back to the PokéLove after finishing her lunch, leaving Karen on the checkered blanket. She opened her polka-dotted umbrella so she wouldn't get covered in ash and walked to the small inn with Fluffy at her side, just in case she ran into Sakura again.

Once in her suite, Cassandra put away her backpack and umbrella and headed to the little video-phone in the corner. She could have done this in the Pokémon Center, but the privacy of her suite was so much more appealing.

Fluffy laid down by her side as Cassandra began dialing the familiar number on her phone. It started ringing, the screen showing static. One ring…two rings…three rings…after six rings, it would go to voicemail. Cassandra leaned forward. Four rings…five rings…

"Hello? Oh, Cassandra!" Dorothia smiled brightly at the screen. "How is everything?"

"Fine," Cassandra replied, happy that she could have gotten a smiling face first. "Is my mother home, Dorothia?"

"Yes, honey. I'll go and get her. Miss Joanna!" Dorothia left the frame, and Cassandra looked at the empty kitchen for a few moments, smiling as she took in the familiar diamond-patterned tile floor and the small table where she and her father liked to have lunch. At least the kitchen held nice memories.

Soon, though, the image switched to Joanna's face. Of course she wouldn't come downstairs to talk on the kitchen phone—behind her was her tall four-poster bed with elegant white comforter, the vanity with the large gilded mirror and various bottles containing perfume or makeup sitting atop it, the door to the master bathroom.

Joanna pushed her platinum blonde bangs out of her blue eyes and fixed Cassandra with her gaze, a cold smile appearing on her lips. "It's so nice to hear from you, Cassandra dear," she said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear to reveal a lovely pearl earring. "It seems as though it's been forever."

"It certainly has been a while, Mother," Cassandra replied. "I wonder…did you watch my contest on television?"

"I did not, dear. I had some important things to do."

Fluffy growled a bit.

Cassandra tried to keep the scowl off her face. While a part of her had known her mother hadn't watched the contest, she had still harbored a small hope that she would. "And what were they, Mother?"

"Nancy came down and just insisted that I take her to that little bistro in Rustboro. We spent so long there we lost track of time; that food is to die for. I'm afraid I simply couldn't watch it, Cassandra dear."

Fluffy sat up, his head coming to about her shoulder, and snarled at the screen. He hadn't forgotten Joanna's voice.

"Oh my!" Joanna said, jumping. "What is that wretched thing?"

"This is Fluffy, Mother. Certainly you remember Fluffy?"

"Why, yes, but…Fluffy was a small black thing, was he not?"

Cassandra smiled sweetly. "Oh, but he's evolved, Mother. Now, back to my contest. I have some bad news."

Joanna picked up a glass of wine and sipped it daintily, a scowl on her features. She did not like vicious-looking creatures, and she did not like bad news.

"I lost the Fallarbor Contest."

There was a pause. Joanna glanced up over the rim of her wine glass, frozen. Slowly, she pulled it away from her lips, watching her own arm as she set it down on the table on which the phone rested. After a minute of staring at her hand holding the glass, she slowly pulled her arm back toward her and let it sit in her lap. And then, ever so slowly, a smile crept onto her face, full of malice, coming straight from her cold heart.

"You lost?" Joanna said almost happily, looking up at Cassandra through the video phone.

Cassandra bit back her remark and simply nodded.

"Well…I suppose—"

But then there was the sound of a door being thrown open, and a big, manly voice boomed, "I'm home, dear! Oh—sorry. Didn't realize you were on the phone. Who are you talking to?" Cassandra smiled as Joanna glanced over her shoulder and Gerald walked into the frame, loosening his tie. He leaned down over Joanna's shoulder and grinned broadly. "Sandy-bear! It's so nice to hear from you! How long has it been, sweetie? Where's that other chair, Joanna? I wanna talk to her too!" Gerald looked around and briefly disappeared from the frame; then, scowling, Joanna scooted over to allow him to set a chair on the floor and sit beside her, grinning into the phone. "Goodness gracious, a Mightyena! That can't be our old Fluffy!"

Fluffy barked, wagging his tail. He remembered Gerald's voice as well.

"Ah, good boy! He's doing well, then?"

"Very well, Father," Cassandra replied. "Actually, he's bigger than a regular Mightyena."

"That's very interesting," Gerald said thoughtfully, stroking his goatee. "Well, how was your contest?"

"She lost," Joanna said, a thin-lipped smile crossing her face. Gerald frowned at the phone.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Sandy-bear. I'm also sorry I couldn't watch. The President called an emergency meeting, and there's nothing I can do about that. I had been planning on showing up and surprising you."

Cassandra smiled happily. "It's okay, Da—Father."

"What do you think we should do?" Joanna asked, turning to Gerald.

Gerald frowned, looking at his wife. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she lost a contest. Don't you think she should give up this silly nonsense and come home now? We can't have her wasting our money up there."

"Come now, Joanna, everyone makes mistakes!" Gerald laughed, his voice booming through the phone. "Even the best Coordinators lose some! Our Sandy-bear losing one contest isn't enough to make her give up and come home! This is her dream—right, Sandy-bear?"

Cassandra nodded, smiling happily.

"Good, good. Now…where will you be staying until the next contest?"

"At this little inn called the PokéLove."

"That's quite a quaint little inn! Wouldn't you say, Joanna? We stayed there once!"

"Indeed," she replied, tight-lipped. Cassandra wanted to laugh.

"When's the next contest?"

"Next month," Cassandra replied. "About…five weeks away."

"That's plenty of time to get everything together!" Gerald said, clapping his hands. "We'll keep sending you money, so work hard! Right, Joanna?"

"Certainly," Joanna replied, snatching up her wine glass. She went to drain it, but Gerald took it from her.

"It's not even five o'clock yet, dear. So, any good news, Sandy-bear?"

"I caught a Ponyta today. I nicknamed her Ellia."

"A Ponyta, hm?" Joanna gently swept more hair behind her ear. "I suppose that's a decent Pokémon. And you named her Ellia?" She smiled as scorn edged into her voice.

"A darling name!" Gerald proclaimed happily, and Joanna's smile slid off her face as easily as half-melted butter. "And Ponyta evolves into Rapidash, no? Beautiful! That will be absolutely beautiful!"

"Thanks, Dad," Cassandra said. "Well, I guess I'd better be going. My traveling companion is due back any minute. Did you ever meet Karen, Father, Mother?"

"Karen?" Joanna asked. Gerald tapped his finger to his lips thoughtfully.

"She hangs around the Rustboro City PokéCenter all the time."

"Oh, Karen Lowell!" Gerald said, snapping his fingers. "Yes, I did meet her. She has that Wigglytuff she calls Tuffly!"

Joanna's eyebrows raised. "Wigglytuff?"

"And she has that long pink hair!"

Joanna's eyebrows raised even higher. "Pink hair?"

"That's right," Cassandra said, smiling. "She's traveling with me. Her parents are hippies, and they believe in the harmony of humans and Pokémon."

Joanna's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into her hair. Her mouth fell open in surprise.

Just then, the suite door opened and Karen came in, her umbrella in one hand and the picnic basket in the other. Tuffly shut the door behind them. "I'm home!" Karen called happily.

"Oh, you're just in time! I'm about to say good-bye to my parents; you should come over here and say hello!"

"Oh—hello!" Karen leaned into the frame, her pink braids swinging down to precede her. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Lovely to meet you, too!" Gerald said. Joanna spluttered speechlessly.

"Oh, Karen, would you like to call your parents?"

"Oh, no, we don't have a phone," Karen replied cheerily. "We don't believe in them. Well, good-bye, Mr. and Mrs. Étoile!"

"Good-bye!" Gerald said. "Love you, Sandy-bear!"

"Love you too, Dad."

And the screen went blank, Joanna still gaping as it did. Cassandra laughed and turned away from the screen, patting Fluffy and heading over to her bed.

"No offense, Cassandra, but…I got the feeling that your mom is kinda evil." Karen went to her own bed and plopped down, grabbing a coloring book.

Cassandra only laughed harder.

To: [email protected]
From: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
Subject: Ahhh…
_______________________
Well, I talked to Konohana today.

She has a giant Glaceon called Isis (isn't that a goddess of fertility? 0.o) that's all gray, and she says she gives her Pokémon medications to make them perform better. She sort of admitted to cheating, but not really. She annoyed the hell out of me, so I tried to fight her and her weird big Glaceon tried to fight me, but Fluffy evolved into Mightyena and fought back, sooooo…

I also caught a Ponyta. I named her Ellia. Isn't that pretty? ^_^ I need to try to train with her—I want to ride her!!

Yeah, I got Belle's last email. She's not telling me anything—I get the exact same emails as you. She just sends us the same one. I'm so worried about her…something's definitely not right.

It sucks about your mission, but hey! It's your FIRST MISSION! *confetti confetti* Be happy anyway!!

Love lots and lots,
Cassandra

To: dingdongbelle@pokénet.com
From: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
Subject: Worry!
________________
I know you know we're worried about you, but I'm telling you again: we're worried about you. Please stop keeping us in the dark. That's all I'll say.

Love,
Cassandra

Chapter Thirty-Two
Knowing the dangers of ferries, Belle was a little apprehensive about using one—at least, one that she could afford. She sat down in front of the video phone at the PokéCenter, praying that Cassandra hadn't told Gerald anything. Charmy wandered off, unintentionally intimidating nearby Trainers.

Calling Gerald's office phone was usually hit-or-miss; sometimes he was there, sometimes he wasn't. Luckily, today he picked up, beaming at her through the screen. Belle tried her best to muster a smile, but it felt more like a grimace.

"Hey, Papa G," she said, almost through gritted teeth.

"Belle! Do you need money?" He frowned suddenly and concernedly, leaning in towards the phone.

"Actually…yes. I had hoped to kind of work into it…"

"You don't need to worry about that sort of thing." Gerald smiled and waved his hand. "I know it's not particularly normal for a girl to call her friend's father. What do you need it for?"

"Well, I need to get to Cinnabar Island, and there's a ferry leaving from Vermilion City this afternoon that I can't afford." Belle winced slightly. She heard a roar and looked around; Charmy was baring his teeth at a small Vaporeon. "Charmy!" she called. "What are you doing? Get back here! Sorry," she added to the Vaporeon's Trainer, a skinny girl with green pigtails. "Sorry," she said also to Gerald.

"It's no problem. Charmy's your—goodness, he's evolved!" Gerald's mouth dropped open when Charmy stepped into the frame, bending his neck to peer at the screen. "Last time I saw you, big fella, you where a Charmander!"

Charmy closed his eyes in a smile. He placed a claw on Belle's shoulder protectively.

"You know, Cassandra's Fluffy evolved, too," Gerald said, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.

"Oh…did he?" Belle bit her lip as she watched him count out bills.

"Sure did. He's awfully big. Bet his sire was big or something—things like that are in the genes. You didn't hear?" He looked up, bills in one hand, frowning.

"Um…no. Maybe she just hasn't gotten around to emailing me yet," Belle replied hastily. She attempted a smile for Gerald's benefit.

"That must be it." Gerald was doing something out-of-frame; he was obviously putting the money in the transfer capsule. "Well, this should be more than enough."

"I'll send you the change."

"Nonsense! You'll need it! And who knows when you'll contact me next, eh?" Gerald cracked a grin, which Belle failed at returning. "Be careful!"
________________

And that was how she ended up sitting cross-legged on the deck of a ferry, the only girl in an old sweatshirt and holey jeans among mostly well-groomed teenagers. She leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes.

She sat there for a few moments before feeling a nudge on her leg; Eevee sat there, looking up at her. Charmy didn't like water, so he was in his Poké Ball—Belle had wanted someone for company, so she had brought out Eevee, ignoring the snide remarks of the rich kids walking by. Looking down at her now reminded Belle of the Vaporeon in the Saffron City PokéCenter.

"You might need to evolve soon," she told her, reaching out to scratch the cute thing between the ears. With a chirp of agreement, Eevee ducked her hand and pawed at her backpack. Belle opened it and brought out three small boxes.

In Celadon City, Belle had bought three Elemental Stones—Water, Fire, and Thunder—so that when the time came, she would ask Eevee which one she wanted to become. Now, she opened all three boxes and turned them towards Eevee. "What'll it be?" she asked. "Vaporeon, Flareon, or Jolteon? Are you sure you don't want to be Umbreon or Espeon or something?"

Eevee narrowed her eyes at Belle before turning towards the gleaming yellow Thunder Stone, poking it gently with her nose; she was enveloped with a familiar white light as the stone began to glow. Her shape shifted; she grew as spikes shot out from her body.

When the light faded, Jolteon stood before her, looking at her with black beady eyes. Belle smiled. "Well hello."

"Are those Stones?"

Belle looked up; a girl with her blonde hair fastened back in a bun stood there, a purse dangling from her elbow and a cell phone in one hand. A Roselia stood at her feet.

"Uh—yeah," Belle replied. The girl immediately began digging in her purse.

"Are you going to use them?" she asked. "How much would you be willing to sell them for? I forgot to make a stop at Celadon City Department Store, and I need them! I have a Vulpix and I'm dying to have a Ninetales!"

Belle blinked. She wasn't sure what to say. The girl was attracting attention with all her shouting; a few heads were turning. A boy came running up, a Growlithe at his heels, and a few more girls came as well. Suddenly, Belle's peaceful spot was a barrage of shouting voices as each rich Trainer present tried to buy Belle's Elemental Stones, shouting higher prices over the voices of each other.

She managed a wicked grin. She had been willing to just give this girl the Fire Stone, but that wouldn't be fair, what with so many people wanting it. She would have to hold an auction.

When Belle got off the ferry and stepped onto Cinnabar Island soil, she was almost rich. Jolteon trotted at her heels, and only a few other people got off with her.

The island took Belle's breath away. Although it had a volcano rising in the distance, the grass was lush and green; the small town was quaint. The PokéCenter appeared to have wood sidings, and the PokéMart was made of brick.

Little brick houses dotted the paths snaking around the small town. An old, dilapidated Pokémon Lab could have taken away from the scene, but it seemed rather charming instead. Belle smiled genuinely.

And then she remembered—she was in Derrick's hometown.

Suddenly, the focus was different. Had Derrick ever been to that house? Had Derrick ever looked at the PokéCenter? Had Derrick ever been to the PokéMart? How often had Derrick walked this particular path? Did Derrick ever go to the hot springs advertised by a flyer posted on the PokéCenter door?

Where was Derrick's house?

Belle was determined to find it, now that she had thought about it. She entered the PokéCenter and looked around. Not many people were there; a few people Belle's age sat in the lounge area, sipping coffee and pretending to be cool. She snorted in disdain. Her eye fell on the video phone, and she thought briefly of Swifter, her Pidgeotto—after catching Poliwhirl, she had sent him to Professor Oak's lab.

"Hi, Nurse Joy?" Belle approached the counter, pulling her Poké Balls out of her backpack. "Um…while you heal my Pokémon…I'd like to ask you a question."

"What's that?" Joy took the Poké Balls and placed them in the strange healing device in all PokéCenters. It flashed and made a strange sound almost like music—each device made that very same noise. Belle frowned at it before continuing.

"Well…did you know a boy named Derrick? Derrick Evans?"

"Oh, Derrick," Joy said happily, handing the Poké Balls back to Belle. "I sure did. Such a bright, cheery little boy, despite all that happened to him…"

"Yeah," Belle replied. "Um…do you know where I could find his former house?"

Joy smiled sadly. "Yes. But I'll have to draw you a map—it's not far from the village, but it's difficult to find if you don't live here." She pulled out a slip of paper and a pen and began sketching lines and roads and buildings. "It's actually easier if you start here." She tapped the end of the pen on a path starting behind the newer-looking Pokémon Research Center.

"Thank you," Belle said, and with map in hand, she set off for Derrick's house.

Nurse Joy had been right—there were many twists and turns on this little path, and places where it disappeared altogether. If it hadn't been for Joy's uncanny rendering of landmarks (such as a random collection of boulders shaped like Kingler) Belle would have gotten hopelessly lost. Soon enough, though, she came to the crest of a hill and looked down at a small valley with a cute little two-story house in the middle, made of brick just like the rest of the houses in the village. There was a small front porch with a porch swing. Belle slowly went down the side of the hill, Jolteon hopping at her side. As she got closer, she realized that something was amiss—the bricks were chipped and faded, and the paint on the porch was peeling. The swing looked weak, as if it was going to break, and a shutter was hanging off one of the windows. The paint on the door, like that of the porch, was peeling severely, and the knob was rusted. This house had fallen into disrepair.

Belle looked around. Derrick hadn't said his mother had died. Maybe she didn't live here anymore? Belle made her way around the side of the house, peeking into the tall grass of the backyard. A Rattata scampered away when it saw her. She turned and went back to the front door.

Suddenly, she heard a noise from inside the house—it sounded like a cough. Intrigued and a little scared, Belle went up the sagging porch steps to investigate. She tried to look through the window, but it was dirty and grimy, so she couldn't see anything.

I'm being rude, she thought, and took a step back, a little sadly. It was when she heard the coughing and hacking that she decided she needed to get inside.

Timidly, Belle grabbed the rusted doorknob. It turned, but it felt strange in her hand; she wanted to wash it. She pushed the door open.

She found herself in a room carpeted with dark blue carpet. An off-white sofa sat against one wall, Venemoth-eaten and dingy. There was a fireplace, and an old rocking chair sat by the hearth. A woman sat on it, bent over her knees, coughing terribly. She wore a white lab coat and had frizzy blonde hair that looked as though it hadn't been combed in days.

"Ma'am?" Belle asked, stepping into the house. "Ma'am, are you okay?"

The woman's head snapped up and Belle's knees buckled; she grabbed at the wall for support. The shape of her face, her eyes, her nose—she looked like Derrick. She couldn't be…

The woman stood up. "Who are you? Why are you in my house?" Her voice was strange, almost gravelly—her lab coat had a few stains on it of different colors, and a small laminated badge showed her picture and text too small for Belle to make out at this distance.

"I—I'm sorry," Belle said as the woman took a step toward her. Her eyes—there was something about them, something that didn't seem…right. "I heard you coughing and I thought—"

"Koffing? You heard Koffing?" The woman shook her head. "That can't be right. He evolved, he's a Weezing now."

Belle didn't know what to say. The woman turned away from her, muttering to herself, and headed towards what seemed to be the kitchen. Belle took a timid step forward; Jolteon hissed at her in disbelief but followed anyway.

The kitchen was dirty; a baking powder box was overturned on the floor, several food stains were present on the counter and small table, and the microwave was left open, as well as several cabinet doors. The woman began shutting them now, muttering all the while.

A sound, almost computer-like, from behind her made Belle turn around; a Porygon shot down the stairs, its blocky body hovering over the floor. When it saw Belle it stopped and made a strange digital-sounding noise, its green appendages whirling around.

"I—I'm sorry!" Belle said. "I just—I heard her—"

"Porygon!" The woman turned around and rushed over to the Pokémon, throwing herself down on her knees in front of it and wrapping her arms around its neck. "Porygon, Porygon…have you found her yet? My sweet…have you found her?" She closed her eyes, one hand stroking the Pokémon's cheek. "You'll find them…I'm sure you will…both of them…" She trailed off into a whisper.

Belle edged closer, trying to peer at the woman's nametag. The picture on the badge showed a younger-looking version of this woman, with makeup and styled hair. The name—Dr. Angelina Evans.

This was Derrick's mother.

Belle put a hand to her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes. "How could he leave her like this?" Jolteon, confused, looked up at her—she had never met Derrick. She rubbed gently against her Trainer's leg.

<Who are you?> spoke a voice. Startled, Belle looked around for the source. She couldn't find a person, just the Porygon and Derrick's mother.

"Wh-where are you?" Belle demanded.

<I am right here. I am Porygon CI-4. Who are you and why are you here?>

"You can talk?"

<In a fashion. Because I am an inorganic being, I speak through thoughts. I was made at the Pokémon Research Center in Cinnabar Island, the fourth Porygon made here. Porygon CI-4.>

"Does she…Angelina…Dr. Evans…know you can talk?"

With a sad look, Porygon glanced down at the woman holding it about the neck and whispering. <Sadly, she lost awareness of many things long ago. I no longer speak to her. She becomes frightened and begins to cry. Even now, only you can hear me.>

"Why doesn't she hear me?"

<She is preoccupied with other thoughts. Once again, who are you and why are you here?>

"I'm sorry…my name is Belle Caldwell, and I…used to be…a friend of Derrick's. I was just coming to see his house when I heard her coughing, and I thought she might be choking or something, so I came in here…" She trailed off, feeling foolish as the Porygon fixed her with a stern gaze.

<Ah. An outsider. It would be understandable for you to think that.> Porygon CI-4 flipped its appendages—wings?—and Angelina stood up, wringing her hands and looking around. Her gaze fell on Belle.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I—" Belle wasn't sure what to say.

<Say you are Dr. Caldwell from the Research Center.>

"I'm Dr. Caldwell from the Research Center," Belle spluttered, heart hammering wildly. Angelina looked her up and down.

"Where is your coat?"

"I got a stain on it. It's being washed," she replied quickly. Angelina seemed to accept this answer.

"I need to go to work now," she said. "You can't stay here." With that, she turned around and headed toward the front door.

<She's heading to the Research Center!> Porygon CI-4's voice thundered. More Pokémon came rushing down the stairs—A Weezing, an Electrode, a Kabutops (Belle gasped), an Omastar (Belle almost fainted), and a Clefable. She pointed a shaking finger at the Kabutops and Omastar. <The Research Center has perfected resurrecting Pokémon from fossils, allowing people to train ancient Pokémon,> Porygon CI-4 offered by way of explanation. Angelina looked over her shoulder.

"You can't come with me," she said. "Only Porygon."

<Clean up a little,> Porygon said. <Follow,> it told Belle, so she did. They walked back up the path to the Research Center, where Angelina let herself in the back door; Belle followed.

She strode across the lobby as if she owned the place. Porygon and Belle dogged her steps, keeping behind her as she turned down a hallway and headed into a specific door. Two men were inside the room with a giant computer-looking thing. Each had a Porygon2 beside them, which they quickly withdrew into Poké Balls as Angelina entered.

"Hello, Angelina!" one man said cheerily. "How are things today?"

Angelina said nothing. She seemed shocked; she stared around the room for a moment, her eyes widening, before suddenly bursting into tears. "Where are they?" she screeched, falling to her knees. "Where are they? I can't find them, I can't find them!"

The two men dropped their notes and rushed to her, grabbing her elbows and hoisting her up. "CI-4, if you would get Dr. Anderson," one man said. They didn't even take notice of Belle.

<Come with me. Hurry.> Belle followed after the Porygon; they ran down a long hallway and then burst into someone's office. A woman with shoulder-length brown hair looked up from her desk. When she saw Porygon, she leapt to her feet and grabbed her lab coat off the coat hanger near her desk.

"Where is she?"

<With Drs. Weber and Biggs.>

"Did she see the Porygon2?" They were out of the office, hurrying back up the hallway.

<No. She's asking for Derrick and Koko again.>

Belle's step faltered and she stopped. Porygon CI-4 and who she guessed was Dr. Anderson rushed ahead of her, leaving her behind. Jolteon looked up at her, confused, and she sighed and followed at a slow walk. This woman had been driven to insanity by the disappearance of her family, and now she was perpetually searching for them.

Why had Derrick left her?

When Belle arrived at the room with Drs. Weber and Biggs, she found Dr. Anderson calming a blubbering Angelina. Finally, Angelina quieted and, like a child, fell asleep. The two male doctors pulled out a cot and helped Dr. Anderson lay her there, covering her with a faded pink blanket.

"Who are you?" Dr. Anderson asked, fixing Belle with a cool gaze. She then looked over at Porygon CI-4. Belle couldn't hear anything, but she knew the Pokémon was explaining. Finally, Dr. Anderson nodded and stood from her place at Angelina's cot. "Come with me.

"Dr. Evans was my superior many years ago, before the deaths of her daughter Koko and her husband Joseph. Has Derrick told you this?" She glanced down at Belle as they walked toward the older woman's office.

"Yes."

"When these deaths occurred, Dr. Evans became…unstable. It was small at first. Sometimes she would show up late to work, or not show up at all. Sometimes she wouldn't be dressed properly. She started muttering to herself and losing things. Come in my office."

Belle did; she sat down at a chair facing Dr. Anderson's desk as the woman shed her lab coat and hung it up. Porygon CI-4 had stayed behind. "When did it get…like this?"

"Well, when she first showed up late, we thought nothing of it," Dr. Anderson admitted, leaning on her desk. "It was when she didn't come one day that we were worried. Dr. Evans only missed a day of work if she was violently ill, or if there was…a death in the family. Derrick, nine years old at the time, called the Center and said that his mother was sick and she wouldn't be coming in. Then she started getting worse. Derrick would come with her; he never left her side. He gently took care of her, trying his best to answer her every need. I felt sorry for him…he wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer, so it was difficult to watch him dog his mother's every step.

"There was nothing he could do for her to make her better. I told him that. I told him, just before he turned sixteen, that he needed to go on his Pokémon Journey. He didn't want to." Dr. Anderson closed her eyes. "He said it was his responsibility to take care of his mother. But I told him no, it wasn't. 'Derrick,' I said, 'you don't need to stay around here. There's nothing you can do for your mother. We can take just as good a job caring for her as you can. You should go on your Journey. I promise that we will care for her.'" The woman drew in a deep breath. "I bought him a Lapras ride to Pallet Town so that he could get his first Pokémon. I…still don't know what he got…" Dr. Anderson tried to hide the fact that she brushed away a tear, but Belle saw.

"It was a Squirtle."

Dr. Anderson blinked and looked at Belle. "Excuse me?"

"His first Pokémon…it was a Squirtle. He offered to let it help me wash my face."

"Wash your face? Why?"

"I was bleeding."

"What?"

Belle told her the story of how they met, allowing Dr. Anderson a bit of a laugh. At the end, Belle pulled up her bangs to show the diagonal scar skirting the edge of her eye, running her finger down it. "It's…my little reminder." She let her hair flop back down over the scar.

Porygon CI-4 nudged the door open and came inside. <She is almost awake. I will take her home.>

"No," Dr. Anderson said. "I will. It's time I started taking more responsibility…it's time I fully kept my promise."

Porygon CI-4 nodded slightly before leaving the office. "I'll show you out," Dr. Anderson told Belle, grabbing her lab coat.

On the way to the door, Belle couldn't help asking, "Why can't you show Dr. Evans the Porygon2?"

"She becomes confused and frightened," Dr. Anderson replied. "She is stuck in one timeframe. Since Porygon was the latest version of inorganic beings since Koko's and Joseph's deaths, she reacts very badly to the more streamlined Porygon2."

"Oh. Well, thanks," Belle said.

Dr. Anderson smiled and gently touched Belle's shoulder. "No. Thank you. Somehow, you reminded me that I need to keep my promise. Now, when Derrick comes back to defeat Blaine, I won't be ashamed to look him in the eye." She squeezed Belle's shoulder and left.

Feeling guilty for some reason, Belle left the Research Center.
_______________________
To:dancing_through_life@pokénet.com, [email protected]
From: dingdongbelle@pokénet.com
Subject: Derrick
________________________
Cinnabar Island is Derrick's hometown. There are lots of sad reminders here. I almost wish I hadn't left him like I did.
Cassandra, you don't have to worry about me. I am fine.
Staying at the PokéCenter tonight. Tomorrow I will challenge Blaine.
Love,
Belle

Chapter Thirty-Three
Alyssa and Ian captured two Doduo to ride into Pueltown. Prinplup, situated uncomfortably between Doduo's necks and Ian's knees, wasn't too happy about the situation, but Ziggy happily snuggled into Alyssa's lap and leaned to the side, letting its small tongue hang out of its dark brown mouth as the wind whipped by. Alyssa was a bit worried he would fall; she kept pushing him more towards the center.

Once the two arrived in the bustling city of Pueltown, they dismounted their Doduo and released them. "According to Erma," Ian said, kneeling down to brush off a disgruntled Prinplup, "this Happy Hair factory should be somewhere around the harbor."

"It won't be too hard to find, then." Alyssa scooped Ziggy up and let him hang off her shoulder as usual. "How do you do that?" she remarked to her Pokémon briefly, and he only replied by licking the side of her face and making her giggle. "It probably won't take long; we'll take some quests on the way back. But we're supposed to check in at the Ranger Base first."

Ian and Alyssa made their way through Pueltown, politely turning down quests as they made their way toward the Ranger Base near the center of town. Ian's face darkened as they got there. Pueltown had to have a lot of Rangers stationed there thanks to its size and population, so the building was large, towering up over everyone's heads. It was excellently built with smooth white brick, and it was round, as all Ranger Bases were. It had large windows placed around it separated by tall blue columns. The bit of tree on top overflowed so that people looking up were treated to the sight of fluffy green leaves ringing the roof of the base. It was situated right in front of a large overpass-like structure, on which there was a brick road branching from the east side to the west side of town. A green hedge ran around the perimeter of the building's grounds with an interruption in front of the door to allow people to enter the base. Alyssa, on her trips to Pueltown, had seen this building before, but she had never been inside.

"Do we have to do this?" Ian asked, pausing as Alyssa headed for the door. She stopped and turned around.

"Do what?"

"Do we really have to check in?"

"Yes, we do," Alyssa replied. "Erma said we needed to, and it's a good idea to let the Rangers of this area know that we're here."

Sighing, Ian reluctantly followed her inside.

There were Rangers everywhere. The building was filled with them. They stood in a line waiting for the Operator to recharge their Stylers, they sat on couches drinking coffee and talking, they stood in circles discussing, they came in and out of the door in the back leading to the dorm-like rooms, they went up and down stairs, they played with their Pokémon. Alyssa was overwhelmed. Ian came up beside her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Let's find the captain." The people who ran the Ranger Bases were called captains—Barlow, for instance, was the captain of the Vientown Ranger Base.

Ian led her to the busy Operator, bypassing the line. Several Rangers went to protest, but stopped themselves as they noticed Ian and Alyssa's Stylers.

"How may I help—oh," the Operator said, looking at their Stylers. "The captain is waiting for you upstairs. Second door to the right."

"Thanks very much," Ian said.

"Do you need those recharged?"

"No," Alyssa piped up. "Thank you, though." She threw out a Ranger salute by placing her fist over her heart and then pulling her upper arm up rigidly, hand open. Ian followed suit; then they wove through the crowd, hearing people fall silent as they moved through them.

Upstairs was a bit quieter; it was a hallway, so there were several doors leading to several rooms the Rangers could possibly be in. They chose the second door on the right and knocked. The door opened to a woman standing there. Her Ranger uniform was modified—instead of the black-and-white skintight suit that girls were required to wear, she had a knee-length white dress with a bit of frill on the skirt. Her feet were in fashionable yet sensible white shoes, not tennis shoes. While most Rangers were required to wear red short-sleeved jackets, she wore a long-sleeved one with a body that ended right below her breasts—that, at least, was standard. Her hair was long and dark green. It shifted around her shoulders as she stepped to the side, revealing someone in the office behind her.

"Greg," Ian said darkly. Greg stood. Like Ian, he seemed to have hit his growth spurt late—unlike Ian, he was not attractive. He still wore ugly glasses, his ears were still big, and he still had that expression of disdain or anger that he had worn at school. Most boys looked dashing in Ranger uniforms, but it seemed ill-fitting on him—his torso was too thin, his legs were too short.

"I was just leaving," Greg said, eyeing their Stylers. "It's nice to see you again, Ian. And Alyssa."

Alyssa looked over at him. It was strange to hear him speak to her; throughout her years in Ranger School, he had never done so. "Hello, Greg."

He paused for a moment before replying simply, "Hello." Then he pushed past Ian out of the room, a Grovyle following behind him. He paused once he was outside and turned. "If we may, Captain, I'd like to continue this conversation at a later time."

The woman nodded. "Very well, Walton." He turned and disappeared around a corner. "Come in, you two. I'm sure you're in quite a hurry."

Alyssa and Ian stepped into the office; it was furnished simply with a desk, computer, and bookcases, but the colors were blended together very nicely, all greens and blues. The woman walked over to her desk, gesturing towards the two chairs facing it. She stopped at her desk and turned to them.

"I am Elmina Woodrow, Captain of the Pueltown Ranger Base." She held out her hand for them to shake.

"Alyssa Thompson, rookie Top Ranger."

"Ian Walton, also rookie Top Ranger."

Elmina cocked her eyebrow as a Leafeon leapt gently onto her desk; Alyssa wasn't sure where it had come from. They all sat down. "Walton? You must be Gregory's older brother. Not much resemblance, I must say…"

"You have no idea how much it pleases me that you say that."

Elmina laughed gently; the sound was like leaves blowing in the wind. "Are you familiar with Gregory as well?" she asked, turning to Alyssa.

"We were in the same class in Ranger School," Alyssa replied.

"Ah, yes, Alyssa Thompson, did you say? Well—weren't you the valedictorian?"

"Um, yes…"

Elmina nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Excellent. Since you both have some experience with Rookie Walton, I feel comfortable in telling you this…he has been in here day after day, pushing for a promotion to Top Ranger. I believe he has some sort of inferiority complex…his older brother and his school rival are now Top Rangers, while he wastes his time here, in the largest Ranger Base in Almia." Elmina spread her hands. "He is not satisfied. While I do admire ambition, I believe his is a bit misguided…he seems to be under the impression that money is the key ingredient to happiness. But enough—I am sure you two are in a hurry."

"Wait," Ian said, leaning forward. "Do you have any intention of promoting him?"

Elmina's fine eyebrow arched again. "No. Do you wish to recommend him for promotion?"

"No. I don't think he should be a Ranger at all."

"Well, the way he's behaving, he won't be for very long. He seems to think quests are beneath him; he mistreats the people who ask him for things and even tries to charge them. He's on probation right now, with no incoming quests or missions."

Alyssa gritted her teeth. Sure, Greg might have been a Krabby in school, but she had never figured him for this type of person.

"Well, I assume you only came here to check in, correct? You actually do not have to answer to me at all…I thank you for informing me of your whereabouts in my…territory, so to speak. Good luck on your mission."

"Why was no one from the Pueltown Ranger Base dispatched to do this mission?" Alyssa asked as they all stood.

Elmina laughed. "Dear, the Pueltown Rangers are ones for serving the people of Pueltown. When it comes to worldwide plots…well, that's what the Top Rangers are for."

_____________________________

"We'll just tell them it's a routine inspection," Ian said as they walked up to the Happy Hair factory. It was a low, squat building, barely noticeable among the jumble of things by the harbor, positioned right on the water.

"Have they ever gotten one before?"

"I'm sure they have—from the Pueltown Rangers." They walked up to the low building. A truck was pulled up to the side, so they headed for it; a dark-haired man in coveralls was about to open the back, but he paused in his work and looked over at the two approaching Rangers.

"Hi there," Ian called. The man waved back. They came to stand in front of him; there was a large, open door in the side of the building. Alyssa glanced inside. It appeared to be a warehouse full of crates—probably hair dye for shipping out. "We're just here for a routine inspection. Do you know where the supervisor is?"

The man put his hands on his hips. "No, but he should be coming out soon…he usually comes out to see the dye shipped out personally. There he is." He pointed to a blonde man in a suit walking from the other side of the warehouse, talking quickly with an earpiece attached to his ear. His voice echoed through the warehouse until he came to the door.

"I don't care about that. The Machoke are very experienced, they know what they're doing. I will have to let you go. Can I help you?" he asked, reaching up to press a button on his earpiece. He straightened his tie, but Alyssa caught his eye movement towards their Stylers.

"We're here for a routine inspection," Ian said.

"Oh?" The man smiled, but the gesture didn't reach his eyes. "This month's inspection has already passed. Another one isn't scheduled until next month."

"We're under orders from HQ. We can't disobey."

"I'm sorry. I have the right to refuse anyone from my establishment without appointment. Please leave the premises, or I will have my guards escort you off. Oh, what now?" he said crossly as his phone began ringing. He pressed the button on his earpiece, turning away. "Hello? No, I said don't worry about it! They always use—what do you expect them to do? Use their fingernails?" He strode away, back through the warehouse, and the large man in coveralls pulled a remote out of his pocket. At the touch of a button, the large metal door began to close, cutting off Alyssa and Ian's view of the warehouse.

"Leave," he grunted.

So they did. Alyssa brushed her bangs out of her eyes, biting her lip as they walked away. "What do we do now?" Ian asked. "He does have the right to refuse anyone entry…"

"We sneak in, of course," Alyssa replied as though the answer was obvious. "We sneak in, observe what's going on, see if anything's wrong, take some pictures. And from the way he reacted, I think something is wrong."

"You're just paranoid," Ian told her.

"No…I'm sure he's hiding something. Did you see the way he looked at our Stylers? Or the way he smiled? If he had nothing to hide, why would he turn us away? And anyway, this is our mission. We have to count it as failed if we don't get in there."

________________________

As it turned out, Alyssa was very persuasive; ten minutes later, they were slipping in the factory via a small side door, red jackets stowed in a safe place outside—because "Red is an eye-drawing color," Alyssa said, stuffing her jacket into a trash can.

The building was small, so it must not have required many workers. The white-tiled hallway they entered was empty, but Alyssa flattened herself against the gray wall anyway. Ziggy sniffed the floor and inched ahead; Prinplup lingered behind, checking their rear. Ian pressed himself beside Alyssa. "I'm not sure if—"

"Cameras," Alyssa whispered. "There." She pointed. "And there." She pointed again. "Any way we can temporarily disable them?"

"Well, Prinplup knows Water Gun," Ian offered.

Alyssa shook her head. "We need something more subtle. Water gun might turn it, and we just need to short it out…does he know Bubble?"

"Yeah."

"Get him to do that, please."

"Hey, Prinplup." The Pokémon performed the desired move; the bubble emitting from his beak enveloped the camera before popping, effectively disabling it. He did the same for the other camera.

"Thanks much, Prinny," Alyssa whispered. Ian was too distracted to protest. She pushed her bangs back from her eyes and got away from the wall, striding confidently down the hallway.

"Alyssa! What are you—come back!" Ian followed, hurrying after her. When he caught up, he grabbed her arm. "What are you thinking?"

Ziggy's ears perked up and it darted a look at Alyssa. "Someone's coming," Alyssa said, taking in the movement. "Quick—find a place to hide."

"Where? There are no doors. We can only go out the way we came in."

"Um…" Alyssa glanced around. The hum of machines permeated the air, making it hard to concentrate. Her eyes found a small alcove that interrupted the wall. She hurried toward it, pulling Ian with her. There was a large double-door, and then two small doors on the sides of the alcove. She grabbed the knob of one of the smaller doors and let herself in.

This, apparently, was the main factory. The noise of machines rose to a din as soon as they entered; they were in a small space directly before they entered the main room. Thankfully, there were barrels and crates against the walls, so Alyssa ducked behind some barrels before someone in the room saw her. People and Pokémon—mostly Machoke and Zangoose—bustled by, both carrying large loads that she hadn't quite seen.

"Nothing seems to be going on," Ian said.

"We need to explore further into the main factory," Alyssa told him.

"How? There are people everywhere!"

"Just be sneaky." Alyssa crawled out from behind her cluster of barrels and moved toward a stack of crates. Ian followed. They were now at a vantage point to where they could see the whole of the factory if they poked their heads above the crates, which Ian did. He gasped, and Alyssa went to come up beside him—

"No." Ian's hand quickly went over her eyes and he forced her back down. "Don't look."

"This isn't the time for games, Ian," Alyssa said crossly, forcing his hand away from her face and shooting him an angry glare.

"Please don't look," he replied, grabbing her wrist as she went to peek above the crates. "Please, please don't look. There are Team Galactic overseers, so they are in league with Team Galactic. That's all we need to know. You don't have to look. I'll take the pictures," he added, pulling the Ranger camera Erma had assigned them out of his pocket.

"I came all this way," she snapped, stretching for it, but he pulled it out of her reach. "And do you think I can't handle it? After all we've been through together—namely, the cave?" She shook her arm out of his grasp, and he speechlessly watched her look over the crates.

She almost vomited.

The loads the people and Pokémon had been carrying were large piles of different Water Pokémon—Horsea, Goldeen, Seaking, Finneon, even a few Marill. They carried them over to a pile of the same kind on a long counter that ran around the perimeter of the room. Beside these piles were Machoke or Zangoose, the former with knives. They would take the Water Pokémon and skin them.

Alyssa clapped a hand over her mouth as a Machoke grabbed hold of a Horsea and slung it down on the counter. It jabbed the knife into the skin on its side and pushed, peeling up a long piece of blue skin all the way to its neck. The Horsea closed its eyes and began screaming, or so Alyssa assumed; the noise of the machines was too loud for her to hear. An annoyed look crossed over the Machoke's face, and he suddenly used the knife to chop cleanly through the Horsea's neck. Its head rolled onto the floor.

After skinning the Water Pokémon, the Machoke or Zangoose would grab the skin and throw it into a funnel. In the middle of the room were several large vats of different-colored bubbling liquids; the funnels were inserted in tubes connected to these vats. Alyssa looked at them, horrified. Now that she looked closer, she could see a bit of order; Pokémon's skins were sorted by color and thrown into the funnel that corresponded with the vat. Seaking skins ended up in the funnel connected to the vat of red. Goldeen skins were cut up, and the orange parts were dropped into the funnel for orange while the white parts were dropped into the funnel for white. Alyssa looked back to the Horsea station, which was nearest her. Her eyes followed the tube to the large vat of…Galactic Blue. Her stomach turned unpleasantly and she pushed a hand over her mouth, trying her hardest not to throw up.

Suddenly, Ian's hand was on her shoulder, his arm draped around her back. He pointed up to a catwalk running the length of the room, where several Team Galactic members paced, looking down at the progress below them. A few Staraptor and Honchkrow walked with them. Fighting is weak against Flying, she thought. If a Machoke gets out of hand…but what about the Zangoose? She searched until she found a Machamp, its bottom pair of arms crossed and its top pair sticking straight up.

She looked back over to the Machoke eagerly skinning Horsea. As its knife brought up another peel of blue skin, Alyssa got a glimpse of the bright red muscle pulsing beneath. She could see the Horsea's heart. There it was, clear as day, pumping blood to a rapidly dying body; and then the Machoke tossed the skin into the funnel and continued its job, flipping the Horsea over.

"Come on." Ian's low voice was right in her ear. "I think we've got enough. Let's get out of here."

__________________

It wasn't difficult getting out of the building; Alyssa thought numbly how she hadn't even noticed Ian taking pictures. They pulled their jackets from the trash can as they skirted the edge of the Happy Hair Brand Hair Dye Factory, disappearing into the shadow of the nondescript building next to it.

After checking in briefly with Elmina, they captured two more Doduo. "Y'know," Alyssa said softly, placing a hand on the Pokémon's back, "back in Chicole Village, we have a farm."

Ian looked over at her, frowning down from his Doduo.

"My mom has an Ambipom in the house that helps clean. It has a lot of hands, y'know…" She stared numbly at the brown feathers beneath her fingers. "My dad…he has a Machamp that helps him in the fields…it just recently evolved from Machoke." She then turned and vomited into the bushes.

To: dancing_through_life@pokénet.com
From: [email protected]
Subject: <blank>
______________________________
I can't tell you very much about my mission. It's actually going to be like that a lot. Just know that it was a success, but I saw some things.

I'm not sure about Belle's last email, but I'm a bit too shaken up to think about that right now.

Isis, while a goddess of fertility, was also married to Osiris, the god of the underworld. It sounds like Konohana is using steroids. That would explain the Glaceon's size. Also, steroids have negative side effects; they deplete the pigment in a Pokémon's skin and coat.

Love,
Alyssa