[Pokémon] An Apple a Day (pg 13)

[evertime]

YAY A MINI CHAPTER! kEEP UP THE APPLENESS.
(YES I THINK ITS A WORD)

 

[Buoysel]

That was a small chapter, and you just handed Liam what hes been wanting all this time, I wonder how this will work out.

Ooh look. I cought a spelling error. I'm so freaking excited. lmao

a set of breaks that need to

The correct spelling would be brakes. I have no idea what breaks are.

YAY A MINI CHAPTER! kEEP UP THE APPLENESS.
(YES I THINK ITS A WORD)

First and for-most, I am not a Mod, and I am not trying to min-mod, I am just trying to be a nice guy and keep people out of trouble:

But, you post did not offer any constructive criticism, please read the rules in this section before you post again.

 

[delongbi]

Thanks Buoysel (sorry, I can't type your other name so, you are still Buoysel) for the error! I actually had to fix chapter 18 too because I did the same thing there.

YAY A MINI CHAPTER! kEEP UP THE APPLENESS.
(YES I THINK ITS A WORD)

But, you post did not offer any constructive criticism, please read the rules in this section before you post again.

Yeah, he is right. I appreciate the support, but your posts thus far have not offered any advice or commented on my actual writing. Feel free to post such support on my visitor message wall, but only post in this thread to offer your input.

 

[oldenmw]

Amazing story. No errors i could spot, although i wasn't looking for them :P. Good work, and im excited to see what the next one will hold.

 

[delongbi]

So that's really weird. Safari will not keep the underlines, bold, and italics when copy and pasted from word, but Firefox will! Yay Firefox! Anyway, sorry it's been a month. I just started college so I've been pretty busy. But, here ya'll go! Enjoy! It's nice to see some new readers! :)



Chapter 20: (Act Two) Sweet 'n' Sour Minus the Sweet

The Phanpy Party Center was huge. It was literally the biggest building in the city on the largest property I had ever seen. The building looked more like a country club than a party center; the architecture was Roman style, with white columns and stone walls. Several large gardens and wide grass fields surrounded the building, and around the whole huge property was a pointy iron fence. We had to wait in line with other trainers to make it to the front gate in order to get through said fence.

Behind us, two trainers were discussing battle strategies of water Pokemon, and in front of us a girl and guy would not shut up about who was better at battling. The girl had blond curly hair and the boy had a buzz cut…

And why was I observing this? The line was moving too freakin slow!

So, back to the blond curly hair…

Wait, I knew that blond curly hair!

<I was wondering when you would notice,> Apple snickered from by my feet.

"Mia?"

The blond girl turned around.

"Mia!" I exclaimed, before enveloping her in a huge hug.

"Anita! Wow, the last place I expected to run in to you would be a line for a party. What are you doing here? Who dressed you? And who is your friend?" Mia fluttered her eyes at Liam.

"I can see you haven't changed," I said with a laugh. "This is Erin—she dressed me—and that's Liam." I gestured to our Pokemon. "You know Apple. The Flareon is Fiery and the Taillow on Erin's shoulder is Tweal. We're here for the battle tournament."

"And the party!" Erin piped.

"We were passing through town… Guys, this is Mia, my childhood friend. Why are you here?" I asked curiously.

"The only person who would consider refusing a free party is you, my dear friend, but I know that's not what you meant. We're in Nelcorn because there's a huge contest here next week." She turned to Erin and Liam. "Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Mia, this is Andrew, my Chikorita named Lola, and Andrew's Snorunt named Snorkoal."

"So how have you been since I last spoke to you?" I asked. Generally, we tried to call each other once or twice a month to keep in touch. The last time I had talked to her was the day before my birthday.

"Same old thing. I haven't won any more ribbons in the past couple of weeks, but hopefully that will change by the end of next week. Look at you, though! Already have a Flareon! How many gyms have you beaten?"

"Two, but those weren't very exciting compared to what else has happened to me. I have such insane stories to tell! You know Carly and Reece? Well, I've managed to already run into both of them!"

"How the heck…?"

"Well, I found Carly's house by accident…" In the next several minutes, I recounted my encounters with Carly and Reece, excluding parts about my gift. I wouldn't mind telling Mia, but there were too many other people nearby for our conversation to be private.

I had finished by the time we reached the front gate. We were scanned with a machine by two security guards to ensure we did not have any type of Pokeballs. All of us made it through, although some guy behind us was stopped.

We walked up the stone path that led from the gate to the entrance. In the vast fields on either side of the path there were a few Pokemon and trainers practicing attacks. When we reached the main doors of the PPC, we could hear loud music playing, muffled by the party center's walls.

As we walked though the grand entrance, we were greeted by two lovely teenagers.

At least, they were lovely upon first glance…

…before I recognized them.

Fiery and Apple realized the same thing I did at about the same time. Immediately, they lunged at the female teenager. The girl screamed, "Thunderwave!" and a bolt of electricity spun from near her feet.

I threw up a barrier between the girl and us. <Stop!> I yelled at Fiery, Apple, and the Pokemon who had used thunderwave, which I now identified as a Dratini. Both Fiery and Apple hit my barrier with a thud and the thunderwave deflected harmlessly into the air. <Don't do anything stupid,> I reminded them. I picked up Fiery and Liam, to my surprise, picked up Apple. I hoped I would be able to follow my own advice. We literally could not afford to be kicked out this early.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" I yelled.

"Yeah, really," Mia muttered. "Speak of the devil…"

"This is my party," the girl replied. She didn't seem at all phased by the barrier I had created. In fact, nobody did. When I replayed the incident in my head, I realized it must have looked like the thunderwave actually hit. Apple and Fiery were standing so still, if I didn't know better, I would have believed it myself.

"Your party?" I said in disbelief.

"I paid for it, distributed the flyers, and arranged it in celebration of my birthday tomorrow. So yes, it is my party."

"Erm… who are these people?" Erin asked.

I pointed to the blond girl, dressed in a lovely red dress with a fashionable scarf around her neck. "This is Carly Goldenthrill, the ***** who threw Allo, Sunflower, Vanilla, Splash, and Fiery out on the curb." I turned my gaze to the boy dressed in a brown shirt and cache pants. "And this is Reece Dracuta, the pervert from Peepin Pond."

"A pleasure to meet you both," Liam said. I moved my glare to Liam. He only shrugged. In Liam's arms, Apple squirmed, trying to escape.

<Stop it,> I ordered.

<I can't use my psychic powers like this,> Apple complained. <You have to reach out to me to talk with me!>

<You're not supposed to be using your powers, remember? We're on ultra-high alert because of Liam,> I reminded Apple.

<Liam's really starting to annoy me… do I have to listen to him in battle?>

<Unfortunately… look, I really should be paying attention to the argument Mia is having with Carly… It sounds like some excellent insults are being exchanged…>

<Fine, leave me. You know, it's awfully quiet in my head when I can't listen to other creatures' thoughts…>

I rolled my eyes.

"****! You're the ****! Look who is with Reece, Miss ****ty ****!" Mia scoffed. Yeah, she's never been the best at insults…

Noticing Carly's Dratini and Reece's Bagon by their sides, I interrupted the argument and asked, "How did you two manage to capture such rare Pokemon?"

Carly flicked her hair back. "A birthday present from my mother. Bagon was ugly so I gave it to Reece." Reece smiled smugly.

I exchanged disgusted looks with Mia and Erin before inquiring, "How are you here if your birthday is tomorrow?"

"Why all the sudden questions?" Carly snapped. "I can get anything I want. My mom pulled a few strings and poof, I'm able to start my journey early." Carly's head twirled to Liam. Strangely enough, Reece had been watching Liam for the last several minutes. It was also strange that Reece had not said a word yet, not even a comment about my ass… "Who's your friend?" Carly asked suddenly.

"I have a lot of friends," I retorted.

"I'm Andrew," Andrew said, though he clearly knew he was not being asked about. I chuckled.

"C'mon, let's go," Mia said, marching to the right, away from Carly and Reece. I started to follow her…

"No, who are you?" Carly asked, grabbing Liam's shirt.

Apple growled and Liam yanked his shirt back.

"Liam Mendol," he answered coldly.

"Dating anyone?" Carly asked flirtatiously.

"Actually, I'm engaged to this Eevee," Liam replied in a dead-serious voice. He spun around and stalked after us.

I couldn't help giggling at the look of revulsion on Apple's face.

We didn't look back, but I sensed that Carly and Reece were attempting to follow us. Creepers. I put up a barrier between us to stop them. When I heard a light thud, I knew I had succeeded. "Can we leave now?" I asked Erin and Liam once we were they were out of earshot.

"Not if you want that money."

"You know what's weird?" Mia started. "They didn't demand we leave the party. I thought for sure that was what Carly was going to do. It's what I would have done if she showed up at my party."

"It was also queer that Reece didn't say a word," I added.

"Maybe they're changing for the better?" Andrew suggested.

Mia and I laughed. "I'd believe Mew was sitting in front of me this instant before I'd believe that," Mia joked.

I half-snorted and Liam smiled at Mia. Nobody else seemed to find the remark amusing…

"Come on, let's go sign up for the battle tournament," I finally insisted. "It starts in fifteen minutes."

"But there's music! Couldn't we dance for a bit?" Erin pleaded.

"No way, the line to sign up is way too long," Mia pointed out. Thank goodness. "Hey, Anita, you should probably run your two Pokemon over to one of those spare healing machines to get rid of their paralysis." I had told Mia that Liam was a researcher with weak Pokemon so he was borrowing my Eevee for the tournament. A little white lie… much like the one I was going to tell about healing my "paralyzed" Pokemon.

"Yeah… I'll get right on that."

----------------------------

So far my evening was absolutely spectacular! Not.

Yes, I was in the semi-finals, but…

Well, I guess I should start from the beginning of the tournament.

Approximately two hundred teenagers were participating in the tournament. In order to cut that number to an even one hundred twenty eight, there were several pre-tournament battles. Because I had two badges, I was one of the lucky few who got to skip this preliminary round. Erin was not so lucky. She and Tweal faced a Shinx and lost very quickly. Right off the bat, it was up to Liam and me to win the money to fix our bikes. Liam wasn't even using his own Pokemon… great.

The rest of us all made it into the actual tournament (by rest of us, I mean Mia and Andrew). Sadly, I noticed Reece and Carly made it as well.

The first two rounds were pretty easy for everyone. Fiery and I beat a Bellsprout and a Meowth, Liam and Apple beat a… actually, there's really no point in listing all of these. All of us made it to the third round, where there were thirty-two contestants left. In this round, Mia faced Andrew. Mia and her Chikorita lost pretty much because a grass Pokemon can't do **** against a pure ice type. Other than that, not much excitement in the third round.

Then the fourth round. Guess who I ran into just before the fourth round?

Nope, not Carly and Reece. (We had been adamantly avoiding them. If they got too close, I'd just put up a barrier.)

Someone who we seemed to run into all too often—

Jake Veneer.

I found him flirting with Erin, of course.

"Anita, look who's here!" Erin exclaimed.

"Did you miss me?" Jake grinned. "I'm on my way back from Cape Caution, where I already earned my third badge," he bragged.

I grimaced while Erin squealed, "Oh, that's so impressive!" I glared at Erin.

She gave me a smile and a wink.

"So, are you participating in the tournament?" Erin asked.

"Of course I am, my dear. I'm in this next round."

"Where's your Pokemon, then?" I folded my arms.

"She prefers to stay under ground," Jake easily answered. He held out his arm. "I'm up soon. Would you like to accompany me?" he asked Erin.

"I'd love to!" Erin took his arm.

"You're welcome to take my other arm, Anita," Jake offered in a sugary voice. Gag.

I turned away in disgust…

I still have a sour taste in my mouth.

Because fate had decided I hadn't had enough torture this past evening, I faced Reece in that fourth round. Though he was extremely easy to beat, I found his smug smile and lazy stare incredibly annoying and uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what he was going for, but I obviously did not stick around to after the battle to find out.

Andrew lost in that fourth round to some guy with a Masquerain. The referee of his battle was a bit… off. Before the battle he was trying to sell some trainers concessions, even though this was a party so there was free food inside just around the corner. His face looked familiar, but I couldn't quite pinpoint where I had seen him previously…

Before I could ponder the referee any further, it was the next round. Summary of round number five: Jake beat Carly. Yesssssss! (insert Carly's eliminated dance here) Wait a second. That means Jake is still in. Aww…

…which brings me back to my current situation: the semi-finals.

There were only four of us left: me, Liam, Jake, and the guy with the Masquerain, whose name was apparently Fred.

There were only three ways this could go:
1. Me vs. Jake and Fred vs. Liam
2. Liam vs. Jake and Me vs. Fred
3. Me vs. Liam and Jake vs. Fred

Options one and two would have been wonderful—these options would have opened up the possibility of both Liam and I making it to the final round, thus ensuing we would receive the bike money no matter how the final battle ended. Because options one and two were, in my opinion, more preferable, we obviously got stuck with option three.

Yup, Fiery and I had to battle Liam and Apple in the semi-finals.

<He's not even your trainer! How the heck did you two make it this far?> I asked Apple as we stood across from each other on the grassy battlefield.

Apple smirked at me, revealing her tiny fangs. <I'm just that awesome.>

I rolled my eyes.

<We'll see how awesome you are in a minute,> Fiery growled. Apple stuck out her tongue.

<Yeah, once that ref gets back here,> I added. I quickly scanned the area to see if there was any sign of our recently disappeared referee. The battle between Fred and Jake, I noticed, had already commenced. Jake's Diglett hid underground as the Masquerain fired bubbles at it…

I turned my gaze to Liam. He was glaring towards the party center building. I followed his line of sight, and low and behold, our referee! I squinted… hmm, it was the same referee from Andrew's battle with Fred earlier. The man was pocketing a handful of money, and his concessions were nowhere that I could see.

The referee briskly walked towards Liam and me. Once he was in place, he raised his flag and shouted "Begin!"

In a split second, all of Apple's attacks flashed through my head. I remembered Liam's words from the previous day… If you act in an unexpected manner, your opponent will be unable to foresee your attacks and you will have the advantage. Because I had trained Apple, she would surly be predictable, giving me the advantage. I expected her to use dig against Fiery, as it would be considerably more effective than any of her other attacks.

"Quick attack!" I shouted.

For a moment, Liam said nothing. He watched as Fiery rushed towards Apple. Then just before Apple hit, he ordered, "Attract."

I almost laughed. How dumb could he get? Apple didn't know that attack…

"This is too easy. Come on Fiery, Iron Tail to finish it!"

But Fiery didn't respond. He was gaping at Apple, watching her as if she was some sort of deity.

Ugh. <Apple, I'll get you for this!> I called. Apple smiled widely and then nuzzled Fiery lovingly.

"Dig," Liam demanded. To his surprise, Apple ignored him and playfully nipped at Fiery's tail. She giggled as Fiery teasingly snapped back. "You are not the one attracted! Dig!" Liam ordered once more.

Again, Apple ignored him. She might not be attracted to Fiery through an attack, but she was nonetheless attracted.

"Fiery, snap out of it!" I yelled, out loud and psychically. Bite!"

Fiery shook his head and stared for a moment at the Eevee attempting to cuddle with him. Then, reality seemed to hit and he sharply bit down on Apple's tail…

Or where Apple's tail was moments before she slipped past Fiery, licked his cheek, and then dove into the ground.

"Ember into the hole!" I called. Fiery did not respond once again. He looked longingly at the hole, like a lovesick fox… which I guess he actually was. I muttered angrily to myself and attempted to slip into Fiery's mind—

—only to be shoved out. <Fair is fair!> Apple said. <If I'm not using my powers, you shouldn't be using yours!>

<You just used yours to stop me, you little dim-wit! And you only pull that "fair" card when you'd have the advantage! It's inconsistent with the whole fairness policy!>

<And you're miss, "oh, I'd feel guilty if I ever read someone's mind in a battle. It'd be cheating." Well, what do you call what you were about to do?> Apple yelled. She burst out of the ground and hit Fiery squarely in the chest.

A twinge of guilt churned in my stomach. <Hypocritical, I suppose…> Apple tackled Fiery to the ground again. "Fiery, snap out of it!" I yelled uselessly. I hated this… not being able to help my Pokemon.

<Fiery, use iron tail!> I called. Apple was too busy using iron tail herself to stop me from entering Fiery's head. Sudden realization dawned in Fiery's eyes; he managed to block Apple's tail with his own. Apple jumped back, out of physical attacking range.

Did I feel guilty about using my powers? Yes. Was I sorry? Not a bit.

Fiery was breathing heavily; I'd have to do something to finish this fast.

"Ember!" I ordered.

"Dig."

This was my one chance. "Fiery, get to that hole and fire down it!" But it was too late—Apple popped beneath Fiery just as he reached the hole.

Fiery collapsed. Apple poised herself nearby, ready to attack should Fiery get up. "Fiery, you can do this," I hollered hoarsely.

Unfortunately, Fiery didn't get up.

"The winner is Liam Mendol and his Eevee!" the referee declared.

I quickly strode onto the field to pick up Fiery. Apple ran up to me to do her victory dance. <I beat my trainer! I beat Fiery! I'm that awesome! Na, na, na, naaa, naaa.>

<Don't get full of yourself.>

<I'm not. I'm full of victory!>

I scooped up Fiery in my arms as Liam approached me. He held out his hand. "Good battle."

Rolling my eyes, I shook his hand. "I suppose I can't be too mad. You've won with my Pokemon, after all."

<He did command me, you know. Maybe he's a better trainer.> Liam smirked, as if he knew what Apple had said.

<You're not supposed to say that! You're my Pokemon!>

Apple shrugged.

"The next round will commence in ten minutes!" a referee announced. I looked over my shoulder and found Jake shaking Fred's hand. Fred's Masquerain lay fainted in his arms.

Liam and I started heading inside for the automatic Pokemon healing machines.

"I do have one question…" I started. Liam looked at me expectantly. "How did you know Apple knew Attract, when I didn't even know Apple knew that attack?"

Liam pulled a red device out of his pocket and handed it to me. I flipped it open and gasped, "Is this a Pokedex?"

Liam nodded. Pokedexes were extremely rare and even more expensive. A Pokedex could scan a Pokemon to reveal attacks learned and general skill level as well as having several other features. I'd have expected someone like Carly to have one… "Where did you get it?"

"My father gave it to me a long time ago, when I was still a trainer."

Deciding not to pursue that tangent further, I asked Apple, <How did you learn Attract anyway?>

<I picked up some tips from that Delcatty I fought. It's really an easy skill to learn… Liam helped me perfect it today in earlier battles.>

Great. I had an Eevee that already abused her psychic powers. Now, she suddenly had the power to attract half of the Pokemon population.

That did not seem like a good combination.

We reached the automatic healers. They were cone shaped, with automatic sliding doors. I placed Fiery inside the open doors of one, and Apple hopped into another. The doors closed, and seconds later, both Apple and Fiery leapt out of the healers.

Apple wasted no time. <I beat you, I beat you!> She sung at Fiery.

<Don't get full of yourself,> Fiery growled. I smiled at the familiar words. <I'll take you on again anytime.>

<You still have one battle to win,> I reminded Apple as Liam started back towards the doors that led to the outside field in back. I followed… <Are you coming?> I asked Fiery.

Fiery shook his head. <If you need me I'll be sulking in the front garden.> He began to trot away.

<You're not going to watch?> Apple asked, a touch of disappointment in her voice.

<I don't enjoy watching selfish braggarts,> Fiery sneered.

Apple sadly watched him go. <You shouldn't have—> I scolded.

<I know,> Apple interrupted before shaking her head and trailing Liam. Her ears and tail drooped slightly as she padded across the cold tile floor.

Her sweet victory gone sour.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Annoying twit. That girl was stalling our plans with her stupid barriers. I couldn't get within a hundred yards of her!

And he had realized it too. He was avoiding me by staying close to her. Unfortunate really—he was losing a chance to be with a beautiful, wonderful girl.

Whatever. It did not matter. For we had a back up plan…

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lights twinkled brightly above the field, blurring out the stars and the waning moon. I stood across from the referee—one of many partiers watching the final battle.

The last battle—the ultimate battle—the crucial battle.

The battle to end all battles!

The battle to win the tournament money so we could repair our bikes.

Very dramatic, right?

Liam and Jake faced each other across the field. Jake was wearing his usual smirk while Liam's expression remained unreadable.

I did my best to ignore the tinge of jealousy I felt for Liam. I wanted to be battling…

The referee—no not the bizarre one; he seemed to have disappeared—shouted, "Begin!"

So it did.

<Aw, ****, the Diglett's a girl,> was Apple's first thought.

"Dig!" commanded both Liam and Jake. Both Pokemon disappeared under ground.

"Go Jake! You got this!" a girl yelled beside me.

I turned to tell her to shut the hell up—"Erin?!"

"Oh, hey Anita," Erin said before shouting again, "C'mon Jake!" Jake caught Erin's eye and grinned.

"Erin, we need the bike money! And that's my Eevee! You have to root for Liam!"

"But Jake is cuter…" Erin stuck out her tongue at me and continued cheering for Jake.

I rolled my eyes. Apple suddenly was tossed out of the hole she had gone down. She may be able to use the attack dig, but Digletts were naturally stronger and quicker under ground (thus their name). Liam seemed to understand this—he was smiling slightly. In fact, I had a suspicion that he only had Apple use dig to test the Diglett's speed—

"Go Jake!" Ugh, this was annoying. Hmm, maybe…

I hopped into Erin's mind chanting, <Go Liam, Go Liam, Go Liam, Go Liam…>

"Go Liam! Go Liam!" Erin shouted. Her hands rushed to her mouth. "Did I actually say that?" she hissed. "Anita, get out of my— Go Liam! Go Li—Anita, I'm gonna kill you!"

Erin somewhat subdued, I watched the battle through her eyes. "Apple, do what I say—iron tail that rock!" Liam ordered. Jake's Diglett raced toward her in an attempted slash, but Apple dodged to the right just in time.

<How is breaking a rock going to help me? I've got to beat this Diglett, not the rock!> I heard Apple think. I couldn't help but agree with her.

"For the last time Apple, use your tail to break apart that rock!" There was a sharp edge to Liam's voice. Apple was thrown backwards as she was hit by another dig attack. "Get to that rock!"

Another hit.

"Apple, Digletts have poor eyesight," Liam explained as Apple tiredly sidestepped the Diglett popping out of the ground. "They 'see' through vibrations in the ground. In order to win this battle, you must break the rock into shards, and then kick these shards to make vibrations elsewhere. This will make it appear to the Diglett that you are elsewhere, and allow you to predict the locations the Diglett will appear."

<Why didn't you say so—> The Diglett knocked Apple to the ground. And out.

Liam muttered, "Too late," spun on the spot, and angrily kicked the grass…

I left Erin's body and blinked. Whoa, Erin's face was way too close.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" Erin said angrily.

"Or what?" I taunted playfully. Erin raiser her hand and swiped at me. If it weren't for Liam's practice I would have never been able to move out of the way in time. "Alright, alright! I'm sorry! I won't do it, I swear!"

Erin turned and melted into the crowd. Right, the crowd. People swarmed around me onto the field, cheering for Jake. I couldn't even see Jake any more… or Liam and Apple, for that matter.

I did hear Jake yell, "Come on! Let's go get this party started!" I was nearly swept off my feet by the crowd. I had to create a small barrier around me to prevent getting herded inside with everyone else.

<Apple!> I called out. I couldn't locate her; there were too many people and thoughts flooding my senses. <Apple!> I tried again. It was no use. I prayed she hadn't been trampled.

I sighed and rigidly watched my watch as the crowd cleared out. It took seven minutes and twenty six seconds… not that I was counting.

I looked at the area I on the field I thought Apple had fallen. She was no where to be found. I figured as much—Liam probably took her to be healed. I had just been hoping I wouldn't actually have to go back into the party.

I calmed my mind and focused on Apple. It was strange—I thought I felt her in the midst of the party center, but I couldn't seem to speak telepathically with her. I stopped trying and watched the wind tickle the tips of the grass blades for a moment, summoning my courage.

I turned around and held my head up high, attempting not to cringe as I followed the crowd into the booming music… the restless dancing… the sweaty bodies…

My personal hell.

 

[delongbi]

Another month, another chapter, or that's my goal. We'll see! Anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this.

Chapter 21: (Act Three) The Di-Vine Dance

Blaring music, dimmed lights, another victory, and several hot girls dancing beside me—this was the life! I skimmed the giggling group of girls surrounding me for one in particular, one redhead among these blonds and brunettes.

Ah, there she was—not amid my crowd, but in a small cluster of her own, one adjacent to mine. No matter, I would go to her.

I pushed through the several girls, excusing myself gracefully. When one girl with a particularly strong grip latched onto my shoulder, I twirled her away into another lucky gentleman's arms.

Erin, said beautiful redhead, was laughing and appeared to be having a dance off with a blonde girl I had seen in the battle tournament. The blonde girl performed a series of complex jumps through her Chikorita's vines. She then snatched the vines and spun them, causing her Chikorita to roll through the air and land on her shoulder. The blonde gave Erin a "beat that" look.

Erin smirked and nodded to her Taillow. The bird hopped to the ground and Erin began with a series of unusual dance moves—all of which her Taillow imitated perfectly. When Erin folded her arms and square stepped, the Taillow folded his wings and square stepped. It was quite amusing to watch the Taillow imitate everything Erin did exactly.

Erin ended with a double back flip (causing several nearby dancers to back away/move out of the way in surprise) up to the blond girl and then whirled the girl into a waltz position.

The Taillow did the same, only ending up in a waltz position with the Chikorita.

Both girls burst out laughing.

I strode up to the pair of hyenas and slipped my hand between theirs. The laughing came to an abrupt stop.

"May I intercede?" I asked. Erin looked up and blushed. Upon seeing Erin's expression, the blonde girl winked and disappeared into the crowd of dancers toward the wall. Erin's Taillow whistled a cat-call before flapping off after the blonde.

I took Erin's light hand and twirled her closer to me. When I heard her breath catch, I smirked slightly. "That was quite a dance," I complemented. "Do you and your Taillow practice regularly?"

Erin looked up at me with those lovely hot-chocolate-like eyes. "Yeah…I—uh… I mean no."

"No?" I asked. This was unlike Erin's usual quick and witty response… interesting. I touched Erin's other arm and trailed my finders up to her hand.

Erin stared at her hands for a moment before firmly repeating, "No." We moved slowly together despite the upbeat music. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she was smiling widely.

"Then how, may I ask, was your performance so perfect?"

Though I didn't believe it possible, her smile grew. "What can I say, I'm astounding."

So cheeky Erin was back after all. I rolled my eyes and spun her again, considering the Taillow. "Mirror
Move?" I guessed.

"You caught me," Erin replied, literally falling into my arms. She blushed and quickly spun away. "Tweal's father was a Pidgeot."

I was about to comment on the strange nature of her Taillow's name when Erin peered over my shoulder and said, "Oh look, there's Liam." I turned my head and saw the pesky kid leaning against the wall, talking to the blonde girl Erin had been dancing with before. Actually, I think the two were flirting from the way the girl kept laughing and moving closer to the kid. "Why isn't he dancing?" Erin mused.

Irked, I replied, "Who cares?"

Erin ignored me. "This is totally unacceptable! That boy must dance! He doesn't know what he's missing out on!" She pulled away from me and made her way toward the irritating teen.

I felt like I was the one missing out.

Seriously, what was with that kid? Why was Erin so interested in him? Perhaps, she liked… no I didn't want to consider that. Perhaps, she wanted to make me jealous. Yes, jealousy… well, two could play at that game.

I turned around to locate one of the girls I had danced with earlier, only to come face to face with a frantic looking Anita Parkwood.

This situation could not be more perfect.

"Jake, have you seen—"

I leaned in—

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

—and kissed me.

So much for being a psychic. I certainly didn't see this one coming.

The instant his lips touched mine, all thoughts and worries about finding Apple fled my mind. I had kissed once before, but it was nothing like this.

If I had known he was going to kiss me, I would have slapped him. This is Jake Veneer we're talking about. The evil, annoying… sexy, delicious… G-d help me.

He had one arm wrapped around my waist and another hand cupping my chin. His lips were soft and gentle, paralyzing my body and shutting down my brain. All I wanted was to get closer to him…

Was he enjoying this as much as I was?

There were just too many feelings—so much yearning to close the distance between our minds, emotions, souls. I couldn't help myself; I slid into his mind…

He watched Erin. He was enjoying himself; in fact, he seemed surprised that he was enjoying this more than his several other kisses… but it was almost all physical. Not nearly as much emotion as I was feeling…

He watched Erin. This was for her… he wanted to be kissing—

I abruptly shoved him away, disgusted.

"You…you… What have you done?" Anger flooded my mind. I was vaguely aware that a nearby light fixture exploded into a billion glass shards.

About to completely maul Jake Veneer, I was stopped suddenly by a shocking sight.

Erin was making out with Liam.

Mia, who had just been talking with Liam, looked like she might puke. Feelings of betrayal radiated from her; she stomped away angrily.

I watched in complete disbelief. And I thought our traveling group was already messed up…

Erin finally took a step back, but instead of smiling at Liam, she grinned evilly at Jake, snickered, and marched in the opposite direction of Mia. I noticed the restrooms were in that direction.

Remembering I still had to kill Jake, I turned around—only to find he had already disappeared.

Leaving me and Liam.

For a second we watched each other with a mixture of confusion and astonishment, trying to understand what had happened in the past five minutes. I'm not sure we ever would.

Distantly, I heard the DJ say, "And now a slow dance, dedicated to our birthday girl, Carly Goldenthrill…"

I blinked, feeling like I was forgetting something.

"Apple!" I exclaimed. Right, I was looking for Apple. She did not seem to be with Liam… "Liam, have you—" I started before realizing Liam's attention was not on me.

"Anita, will you dance with me?" Liam asked, his eyes darting across the crowd to his left.

"What?!"

"You heard me; will you dance with me?"

"Why would I do that? I think you've had enough girls for the day—"

Carly appeared out of the crowd of people to Liam's left, her eyes focused on him. "Because," Liam quickly replied. "Otherwise I'll have to dance with Carly and you'll have to dance with Reece." He nodded to the right. Reece's tall figure could be seen pushing past teenagers in this direction.

"Oh, Liam," Carly sang. "It's my birthday! Will you dance with me?"

Liam smiled frostily. "Sorry, I already have a dance partner." He slung one arm around my waist and used his free arm to place my hand on his shoulder. I took a step closer to him so I could easily put both arms around his neck (to strangle him if necessary, of course).

Carly frowned and stomped away to Reece.

"Has it been like this all night?" I asked, amused.

"You don't know the half of it," Liam muttered darkly. "Actually, the only time I've been able to avoid her completely is when I'm with you." He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Psychic barriers," I reminded him. "Though right now, I can't exactly do that."

"Believe me; nobody is sorrier than I am." He peered around. "She's not around anyway."

"Probably sulking…" I suddenly stopped swaying with the music, remembering my missing Pokemon. "Liam, where's Apple? Did you take her to be healed?"

"No, I did not see her after the battle. I assumed you picked her up."

"Shit," I said, starting to pull away.

And that's when the music stopped and the lights went out. Several people screamed.

Double ****.

Something flung me forward, into something hard. I tried to reach out with my psychic powers to figure out what all these "somethings" were, but I found that I couldn't. A thick rope seemed to bind me to the hard thing in front of me. My arms were tied around it, and I was helpless to stop whatever was holding me.

I managed to tilt my head upwards, and yelped in surprise when I found a pair of glowing green eyes staring down at me.

"Liam?" I asked.

"Yes," a voice above me replied.

"I'm tied to you."

"So I've noticed."

"What's going on?" I asked hesitantly. It was oddly comforting to have somebody to talk to in the midst of all this panic.

"I suspect we are being abducted. We can conclude that our abductees know of your psychic powers, as they most likely tied us together to stop your gift from working," Liam answered robotically, as if he was reading it out of a text book.

"Can you see what's happening?" I asked. Shrieks filled the air. Somewhere off to my right a couple of trainers were ordering their Pokemon to attack. I let out a yelp of fear when my feet came off of the ground.

"Obviously. We are currently tied together by thick green vines, and I believe there are a few others who have been tied by these vines. The vines are numerous and strong enough to lift us into the air, making me suspect the vines belong to a Tangela. A few trainers are attacking the vines, but I believe they are encountering problems because their vision is impaired. The rest of the teenagers are panicking."

"A Tangela?" I asked. I knew one person with a Tangela…

There was a flash of fire somewhere below me. The vines did not explode into flames as I expected. "That was Protect…" Liam muttered.

"Are these people idiots? If they use a fire attack, the whole place could burn down." I could tell we were being moved through the air from my hair rustling into my face.

"We're moving towards a doorway," Liam informed me.

"Lovely," I replied. I started to struggle, seeing if I could wiggle my way out of these vines.

"Ow!" Liam yelped. "Stop it! Are you trying to strangle me?"

"Well, you figure out a way out of this!"

"I've concluded that there is no way out, and therefore have decided to save energy by not moving."

"So you're giving up?"

"No, I'm waiting for a more opportune time—you need to duck," Liam warned.

"How the hell am I supposed to—" something hit the back of my head. The world spun. I saw about forty green eyes. "Crap, that hurt," I said, dazed.

"The Tangela… miscalculated how high that doorway was."

"No ****."

The screams began to fade behind us. I supposed we were being reeled in to wherever the Tangela was. My stomach plummeted, indicating we were going downwards.

A few dark minutes later, we finally stopped moving. I felt my feet touch the ground.

The lights flickered on. Unused to the light, I had to blink several times before I could properly see. When my eyesight returned, the first thing I saw was a blur of bleached hair and amber eyes. "Reece," I hissed. "I knew you had a Tangela…"

Reece shrugged. He bent down out of my sight. I looked around. We were in some sort of storage room, probably in the party center's basement. There were several cardboard boxes along the white walls, and the ceiling was cracked. A small wooden doorway was in the corner of wall I was facing. It was hard to see much more because Liam was in the way…

"Anita! Liam!" I heard Erin's voice behind me.

"Hey Erin, how's it going?" I asked sarcastically. Liam rolled his eyes. "Who else is here?"

"Jake's tied up in the back corner. His mouth is covered with a vine though. Other than that, it's just us, Erin, Tweal, Apple, and Reece."

"Apple's in here!?"

"Yes, but she is knocked out on the floor." So that's what happened to her…

"Tweal's tied up, too?"

"Yes."

"Can you see what Reece is doing?"

"I'm snapping Tangela's vines and tying them so he doesn't have to hold you," Reece answered. I felt my shoe being taken off.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Ensuring that you will not be able to use your powers." I felt my bare foot touch Liam's bare foot and shivered at the awkwardness. Reece was tying them together. Highly unnecessary, if you ask me. My hands were already tied around his neck.

"What do you want with us, Reece?"

Reece did not respond. He was apparently done tying us up and moved away, probably to Erin. The wooden door in the corner of the room opened.

Carly stepped through.

Figures.

"I knew Reece was too stupid to figure all of this out on his own!" I mock exclaimed.

Carly ignored me and walked out of my line of sight. "Excellent work."

THUMP

"You *****! Don't touch my hair! Do you know how long it took me to style it like this?! Fu—mmmhmmmmmmmm. Mmmh. Mhhhm!"

"Carly touched Erin's hair. Erin fell over in an attempt to bite Carly. A vine is now covering Erin's mouth," Liam explained before I could ask.

"What do you want, Carly? People are going to notice we're missing. They'll call the police!"

"By then, we will be long gone."

"Why did you take Apple before the rest of us?" I asked to see if that was indeed what had occurred.

"I assumed you would come looking for her. You were supposed to come down here yourself, but apparently you don't care about your Pokemon enough," Carly snickered. "We were forced to resort to more disruptive plans…"

Anger broiled in my blood. "What do you want?" I repeated. "Our Pokemon? Money?" My eyes flickered to Reece. "A blow job?"

"Nothing," Carly said.

"Nothing?" I asked in disbelief. "So you just decided to tie us up for fun?"

"Pretty much."

I felt a yank at the back of my head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Too many questions." Carly walked back into my sight. She placed a hand on Liam's head and ran it lovingly through his hair. "Can't avoid me now, can you?"

Liam narrowed his eyes and with precise aim, spat in her face.

"Nice one," I commented cheerfully. Carly used the sleeve of her dress to wipe her face, disgusted. I smirked. "Hey, Carly, if there is one upside to this situation, it's that I get Liam here all to myself." I leaned my head on Liam's shoulder to enforce the point. "Too bad you—"

Carly snapped her fingers and my mouth was covered with a vine instantly. Ah well, I knew I had it coming. Carly put her face close to mine. "I've always wanted to do this." I saw her raise her hand and I immediately closed my eyes. I winced as her hand connected with my face.

I saw stars again.

"Our work here is done," I heard Carly say. "Come on Reece, let's go." I watched the two leave the room, Reece holding his Tangela. We unfortunately were all still tied up by the Tangela's snapped-off vines, and Liam was the only one who could talk.

A few moments after the door slammed shut, Liam said, "Jump." He tried to jump, but because I didn't we ended up falling to the ground with a loud thump. Of course, my back landed on the hard floor. Liam, on top of me, was at least cushioned by my body.

I glared at him.

For whatever reason he started kicking the ground. "Make as much movement as possible," Liam ordered. I had no idea what he was trying to do, but Erin complied and started thumping the ground with her legs. Jake, I noticed, was too tied up to move any part of his body.

About five minutes later, something suddenly burst out of the ground.

"Diglett!"

"Diglett, slash these vines," Liam ordered. The Diglett obeyed, releasing Jake first, of course, because Jake was her trainer.

Finally, we were all free of the vines. I scooped Apple off of the ground as Jake explained, "—so then they tied me up when I was calling out for Diglett." He looked at Liam. "Man, if you knew to call Diglett by thumping around, why didn't you do it sooner?"

"They had a grass Pokemon," Liam answered coldly. "Calling Diglett while it was around would have been pointless."

Erin tried opening the door. She had been extremely quiet, and avoided even looking at Jake. Jake pretended that nothing was wrong. "It's locked," Erin announced.

"Slash," Jake ordered his Diglett. The door… well, it fell away in chunks. We climbed through the doorway. In front of us was a long spiral staircase, but to the left there was an elevator. I pressed the up button.

"What I don't get is why they captured us in the first place," I muttered as we clambered into the elevator. I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind, trying to see if I could locate Carly or Reece. I couldn't find either. I did, however, find—

<Fiery!>

<So you are alive. The police are looking for you.>

Through Fiery's eyes, I saw he was sitting in the large ball room the dance had been held in the party center. All of the lights were on, and the room was mostly empty. Napkins, cups, dead vines, and even a few shoes were strewn about the room. A couple of police were inspecting the area. One of the officers had a Machamp that was holding up a large metal gate—

The elevator door opened, and down the hall, I could see the Machamp. As we passed under the gate the Pokemon was holding up, I heard a nearby policeman mutter, "I don't understand why this gate came down…"

Mia and Andrew were waiting by Fiery, looking worried. When they spotted us, they ran over exclaiming, "Are you okay?! What happened?!"

Officer Jenny, her turquoise hair bobbing, walked over to us and grimly said, "I think we'd all like to hear that." Several police officers gathered around us.

I explained everything, leaving out the bit about my powers. When I was finished, one police officer said, "But that's impossible. Carly Goldenthrill was the first person to call the police. Several people said they saw her run out of the building for help."

"Are you sure it was Carly?" Officer Jenny asked.

"Yes, it was," I replied.

"Maybe she didn't see correctly?" one of the police officers suggested.

"We saw her, too," Erin answered. "It was definitely Carly Goldenthrill."

There was a murmur among the police officers. "There have been rumors of Team Glop'emm using hypnosis…" a policeman said. "Could it be?"

Angry that the police were so unwilling to listen, I yelled, "We weren't hypnotized!"

"How could you know?" the policeman retorted.

Because one of us isn't affected by any form of psychic energy, I wanted to scream. Another light fixture exploded.

Liam grabbed my arm. I glared at him and tried to tug away. He held steady and glared right back at me. "Control. Your. Emotions," he hissed, before releasing my arm.

Officer Jenny put a hand on my shoulder and said, "That's enough." She frowned at the police officer muttering about hypnosis. "It is extremely unlikely that these children have been hypnotized. There little proof of anything at the moment, except that there was indeed a Tangela in this room. We will continue investigating, but now it is time for these children to return to the Pokemon Center."

Officer Jenny lightly pushed us toward the door.

We took the cue and left.

-----------------------------

The Pokemon Center was crowded, but because Apple only needed a simple heal, we were able to get back to our rooms fairly quickly. I left Apple with Nurse Joy and had to pick her up in about ten minutes.

As we walked down the austere hall back to our rooms, I made a request. "I think we should leave tonight."

"Are you insane?" Mia asked. "Do you know what time it is?!"

Erin yawned. "Anita, it's one in the morning. Isn't it reasonable to just stay the night?"

In Erin's and Liam's minds, I said, <I'd like to see if I am able to locate Carly and Reece.>

Liam nodded slowly. "I'm with Anita."

Erin scowled. "Fine, I'll go pack." She turned to Mia and gave her a quick hug. "It was nice meeting you," she said. Then, in barely a whisper, she spoke: "And I'm sorry. I didn't know." Her voice was so quiet I may have been hearing it telepathically.

Mia nodded.

Erin shook hands with Andrew, ignored Jake was standing with us, and backed into our room to pack.

Liam simply nodded to everyone, giving a particularly long look to Jake. They seemed to have developed a mutual respect for one another. Liam turned and exited into his room, next to mine and Erin's.

Mia and I hugged, promising we'd keep in touch and she and Andrew went off to bed (not together, to their separate rooms, people).

Which left Jake.

Jake sighed. "Anita, I need to talk to you."

I jumped into his mind before he could say anything. <…feel bad about having to break it to her, but its best not to have any confusion in the future. I don't enjoy breaking hearts…>

I snapped back into my own head and glared at the twit. He was so arrogant he believed that just because he kissed me, I like-liked him! I mean, he was a good kisser, but that does not make him a decent person! Ugh—he deserved this—

I thrust my fist forward in a well-practiced punch.

CRUNCH

I think that was his nose! Ooh, that had to hurt.

To add insult to injury, I declared, "Jake Veneer, you are an arrogant ass. Remember, that is what I have always and will always think of you, moron!"

I slammed the door in his face, feeling pretty good about myself.

Erin spotted my grin. "What are you so happy about?"

"I think I may have broken Jake's nose."

Erin smiled. "That is something to be happy about."

----------------------------

"Here's your Eevee. Have a good evening," Nurse Joy said tiredly. Apple jumped into my arms. There were less trainers waiting to get their Pokemon healed in the Pokemon Center's lobby when we exited the building. We quietly walked down the street.

<Where is everyone else?> was Apple's first question.

<Depending on who you are referring to, either in the Pokemon Center or in a Pokeball. Either way, they're probably sleeping,> I replied.

<Where are we going?> Why was Apple so inquisitive this late... oh wait, she was just knocked out for about five hours. That'd do it.

<We're going to find Carly and Reece.>

<Why would you want to find those fruitcakes?> Apple asked.

<To eat them alive.>

<Good point. Fruitcakes are quite delicious.> Apple paused. <I think I must be missing something.>

<A few brain cells?> I suggested.

<So you finally admit I have a brain!> Apple exclaimed. <Thinking of which, can I have a peek into yours? I need to catch up…>

<If you must.>

<Thanks.> Apple sniffed the air. <I have one last question.>

<Ask away,> I replied dryly.

<Is there a reason I smell like an overgrown, tangled weed?!>

 

[delongbi]

Chapter 22: Mysteries

I held the door open for the two teenagers as they walked into my office. While they sat down in their prepared chairs, I took my time locking the door and pulling down the black office window blinds. Finally, I slowly strutted across my room, pulled out my cushioned chair, and sat down across from the teenagers. I folded my hands atop the desk.

For a moment, I mused over the vast differences between the two teenagers. The blonde girl fidgeted with excitement, watching me eagerly. The boy, on the other hand, looked rather bored as he stared at a covered window. It was a wonder they were able to work so well together.

"You two have done exceedingly well," I said. "You shall be rewarded as promised."

The girl smiled brightly.

"New Blue, the world renowned clothing store, is having a nationally televised catwalk in Cereal City a month from now. I happen to have close ties to the president of New Blue." Team Glop'emm had bought out the company, after all. We used the numerous stores to locate potential customers of our stolen Pokemon. "I have arranged for you, Carly Goldenthrill, to be a model for this catwalk."

Carly squealed in delight.

"However, you will need to report to Cereal City immediately for preparations. I will, once again, have Gallade teleport you." Carly nodded happily, and I turned to the boy, frowning. "Is there anything you would like? Perhaps a spot in the catwalk as well?"

The boy smiled greedily. "Can I keep the Gallade?"

My frown deepened. This particular Gallade was one of the team's most successful Pokemon. He understood the concept of working for the greater good of the whole team and thus took orders from any team member if requested, no questions asked.

Well, sacrifices had to be made, and these two had done an exceptional job. This way, I could wiggle in my own condition as well… "Very well, you may keep Gallade… under one circumstance. Should I require a favor in the future, you and Carly are obliged to assist me as needed." For now, there was no reason to continue using these two teens—I had what I wanted.

"Deal," Reece answered immediately. Carly frowned at him, as if he should have asked for her approval.

I smiled and reached into my pocket. "This is Gallade's Pokeball. You are dismissed." Once again, I held the door for the teenagers as they exited my office, relocking the door as soon as they had departed. I opened my laptop and settled back into my chair.

Carly and Reece had indeed provided beyond the basic information I had been seeking. For one, they had given me a very good idea of the strength of both gifted children's powers. I rewatched the clip of one of the very first scenes from the party, slowing the video as Carly yelled, "Thunderwave!" I carefully observed as the Eevee and Flareon leapt toward the electric bolt. Just before the two Pokemon were struck by the attack, they fell to the ground. I paused the video. If one looked carefully, a slight deflection of the electric bolt could be seen.

Anita Parkwood certainly had a strong gift, if she was indeed a child. It was only to be expected if the Master was correct in his assumption of her being Mew. This was just the first of several occurrences throughout the night in which she had illustrated her ability to create barriers. The fact that she was able to keep Carly and Reece away from her for practically the entire evening further manifested that she could sense their presence, perhaps even view their thoughts…

I froze. What if she could read their minds? How limited was that ability? Had she discovered my existence? I considered her reactions through the rest of the evening and breathed again. No, I decided. She appeared too confused. Unless she was a brilliant actress, it seemed unlikely that she knew of me. Of course, if she was Mew, she would have to be a brilliant actress. I would just have to hope that if she did know, she would say nothing to the Mendol boy. In the future, I would be more careful.

I fast forwarded the video until I came across another scene involving the Master's so-called detective, Liam Mendol.

He certainly could be related to the Master—he had the same unnerving green eyes. Interestingly, he was also using the Master's last name, though why he would do anything so obvious was beyond me. The detective seemed an inch or two taller than I remembered the Master. It was impossible to consider any other similarities as I had never actually seen the Master in the light.

I watched the scene play out. On the right side of the screen, the Mendol boy was mingling on the outskirts of a crowd watching a battle. The left side of the screen was filled by Gallade, pretending to be some trainer's wandering Pokemon.

"Psychic," Reece ordered. I could not see Reece, as the camera was attached to his body.

Gallade's eyes glowed in concentration. I watched the Mendol boy. Nothing happened. Three more times Gallade tried, but the boy remained unaffected.

I smiled. This had confirmed the boy to have the same powers as the Master—

A stab of pain wretched through my gut. Why were these children granted such power? If I had that kind of power…

I shook my head to rid myself of pointless yearnings.

I fast forwarded again—this time to the final scenes of the evening. I watched as Carly implemented her ingenious plan of using Mendol's gift against him in order to carry out my other request…

I opened the desk drawer and pulled out four small covered vials, each containing a single hair.

I smiled. Carly had even thought to obtain the hair of Jake Veneer, who appeared extremely well acquainted with the three persons I had originally requested a hair from.

I closed the laptop and picked up the vials. It was time to put the hair to good use. I silently strode out of my office to the elevator, pressing B5.

As I swiftly left the elevator, I brushed past Rita Teal, her Pokeball earings jiggling wildly from the slight impact. Rita sent a silent scowl my way before the elevator doors closed.

I walked down the tiled hall and turned into the bare room with the DNA tracking device, my finger print scanned at the door.

Carefully, I took the vials from my pocket and uncorked each one. Using tweezers, I plucked the four hairs from their vials and placed them in four of the DNA tracking device's slots.

The Mendol boy's hair was the last I fed into the machine. I examined the dark hair, wishing I could somehow obtain the DNA of the Master or his deceased father so I could run a comparative analysis to demonstrate the detective's relation to the Master. Unfortunately, the Master was sure to clear the system of any information on his family's DNA records in order to avoid being tracked. I sighed and dropped the final hair into the machine's slot.

There was a whirring sound, and then a cluster of multi-colored dots appeared on the screen. Before I could smile in victory, the irritable walkie-talkie was buzzing on my hip.

"Master, I presume," I said into the walkie, answering its buzz.

"Never presume." The Master's cold voice rang through the walkie.

"Of course." I briefly wondered if I would ever actually speak with the mysterious detective. He had yet to call me, or I him.

"How is business?" the Master inquired.

"The usual," I answered easily.

"Excellent. Is there any new information regarding Pokemon X?"

I looked at the dots on the tracking device's screen and smirked to myself. "Nothing, Master."

The annoying boy paused before requesting, "Tell me, Mr. Arkle, what do you know of Carly Goldenthrill and Reece Dracuta?"

"Of the former, I only know that she gave us much valuable information regarding Anita Parkwood. I have never heard of Reece Dracuta," I replied innocently. "Why do you ask?"

"My detective—nevermind. It was nothing," the Master retorted. Then, composing his voice, he calmly continued, "No further information, Master out."

I put down the walkie-talkie next to the slots and stared at the blinking dots. I would not be losing track of Liam Mendol, the oh-so-spectacular detective, nor Anita Parkwood, the supposed legendary, any time soon.

I grinned.

For now, that was satisfying.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I pocketed the walkie-talkie, deep in disconcerted thought.

How did they know?

How did Carly Goldenthrill and Reece Dracuta learn of the dark gift?

So few humans knew of the gift in the first place…

Mr. Dracuta, certainly, knew of Miss Parkwood's powers since the Peepin Pond incident, but who could have explained to him the occurrence in full? Perhaps they had done research and grown curious… but from the characteristics displayed by Mr. Dracuta and Miss Goldenthrill, this seemed highly improbable.

I was the only person who originally knew of the detective's gift. Miss Parkwood and Miss Kendle, of course, soon discovered it, but they had neither the nature nor the time to inform Miss Goldenthrill and Mr. Dracuta—

Stop.

I forced my brain to discontinue the endless circles of thought. Regarding this matter, I obviously did not have enough information to make an accurate assessment.

No harm had yet come from this disclosed secret. It would be unwise to forget the matter entirely, but foolish to dwell on a matter of such minimal importance.

At this instant, it was vital for me to continue my research. Research that had failed to uncover any new information—yet.

My father had known the necessary information.

He, however, had passed on before giving it to me. He had not kept any written record of the information, nor revealed the information to anyone that I was aware of.

Thus, I had to find this most crucial information.

I had searched many of Acceber's great libraries, only to come up with nothing.

I would continue to search—

For without this information, finding and capturing Mew would be quite futile.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Isn't hitchhiking illegal?" Erin whispered.

"Does it actually matter to you?" I retorted in a voice just as quiet.

"Well, no…"

A breeze swept past us, filling our nostrils with a stench of moldy socks and decomposing biscuits. We sat in a small alley behind several trashcans watching two workers unload a large grocery store supply truck of hundreds of boxes.

Yes, we had stooped to this level.

"Hitchhiking was outlawed in 1964 due to a series of unfortunate accidents as well as low ratio of cars to trainers in Acceber—" Liam started to explain.

"If I wanted to know that, I would have paid attention in history class," I snapped.

Liam just gave me his best all-knowing, I'm-better-than-you smirk.

<Do you think they'll unload all of the food?> Apple asked randomly. <Maybe just leave a crate or two behind…?>

"Anita, look!" Erin exclaimed. "That was the last box! You've got to do it now!"

One of the workers was now pulling down the truck's flexible back door to close the vehicle. I summoned my energy and shot forward with my mind, creating a thin barrier beneath the closing door.

I flinched as the door slammed down, but my barrier held. The worker walked back around the truck towards the store, oblivious to the inch gap between the door and the floor of the truck.

"C'mon!" Erin sprinted towards the truck. Liam and I carefully followed her, me double-checking the area for people with my mind and Liam with his eyes. When we reached the truck, Erin was tugging at the door impatiently. "You guys are so slow!" she complained. "Ugh. This is too heavy. Liam, why don't you give it a try?"

"No!" I yelled, but it was too late. Liam touched the door—

—and nothing happened.

Liam easily lifted up the door.

Confused, I asked, "Didn't my barrier stop working on the door?"

"Anita, though you seem to believe yourself more knowledgeable than the rest of the world, you, in fact, are lacking in the most basic knowledge: common sense. Obviously, your barrier failed when I touched the door," Liam snickered. He slowed his speech. "However, because I was holding the door with my hand," He mockingly wiggled his hand in my face. "I was able to lift the door. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir Liam. I understand," I replied sarcastically. I flashed him a smile. "What I don't understand, Sir Liam, is how you came to be full of such crap. You think I'm conceited? Take a look in the mirror!"

Liam shook his head, half-smiling, like he knew something I did not. He stepped gracefully into the truck, and Erin clambered after him, slamming the door shut behind her (which promptly locked).

"Erin, turn on the flashlight," I demanded, still annoyed.

I heard a ruffling as Erin searched for the flashlight in her bag. "Aha!" A light flickered on, and I got a good glimpse of the dull, empty vehicle before the light flickered back out.

There were a few scratching noises followed by a final bang.

I could only assume the worst.

"The flashlight is broken," I stated.

"Yup," Erin answered.

"You were trying to turn it back on."

"Yup."

"But you failed and threw it against the wall in frustration, thus destroying any chance we had of fixing the flashlight."

"Well, I guess…"

The only light came from Liam's eyes. They followed me as I felt my way to the side of the truck and slumped down. "This is great," I said bitterly.

<No, it's not! There's no food in here!> Apple interrupted.

"Our PokeTechs have built in lights," Erin suggested.

"No, no. I'd rather just sit here in the dark and wallow in self-pity," I replied icily.

"Not conceited at all," Liam murmured.

"Do you have anything better to do?" I shot at the pair of green eyes.

"Actually, yes. We can discuss where Carly and Reece disappeared to and why they captured us in the first place," Liam answered.

Erin groaned. "Not this again! We've been over this about twenty gazillion times! Can't we just forget the whole thing?"

"Aw, but then you wouldn't remember your passionate kiss with little Liam," I snickered.

Even though it was dark, I could practically feel the heat radiating from her face. "Liam knows that was done out of… spite. It doesn't change our relationship—right Liam?"

"I try not to involve myself in the ridiculous workings of hormone-driven female teenagers. Can we get back to the topic I wish to discuss?"

"Teleportation," I grumbled.

"That would be the first thing you think of," Liam harshly accused. "We do not know whether they even have a Pokemon that knows teleport."

I shrugged. "It's the fastest way I know of to get out of place without leaving a trail. It'd also explain how they got the Tangela inside with the PPC's one-Pokemon rule."

"They might have just driven off in a truck or car! I mean, look at what we're doing!" Erin exclaimed. As if on cue, the truck's engines rumbled. We started to move.

"I guess it's possible…" I trailed.

"…but highly improbable," Liam finished. "As I said before, there are very few vehicles in Acceber. Pokemon often make that technology superfluous."

"So they could have left on a Pokemon," Erin suggested.

"Which brings us back to the point that they do not have any Pokemon that can perform such tasks," Liam said.

"That we know of," I chipped in.

<Does anyone else feel like this discussion is pointless and that there is no benefit to continuing with it?>

<That is generally what the word pointless implies,> I replied dryly. <Liam's the one started it. File a complaint to him!>

<Obviously I can't exactly do that.>

<Right. I'm the psychic one. Whatever.> I interrupted one of Erin's rants by clearing my throat. "Apple thinks this conversation is pointless and would like us to shut up so she can take a nap because we kept her up all night searching for Carly and Reece."

<I didn't say that!> Apple objected.

<But you agree.>

<Well… yeah.>

Erin yawned. "I'm with Apple." I heard a bit of shuffling. "This isn't too bad. I can probably fall…" A loud snore erupted from Erin's nose.

Yup, that's how quick Erin was conked out.

Liam rolled his eyes.

<Now that you mention it, I could do with a nap…>

"Goodnight," I said to both Liam and Apple.

Liam's eyes flickered to me before closing, obliterating all light in the truck. I too shut my eyes and drifted through dreams of moonlit darkness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I woke up when the dancing lollipops started to chase me, relieved that my dream was not reality. The complete darkness disoriented me as I sat up. I could not tell what time it was, but I had deduced the truck was no longer moving from the lack of a rumbling sound beneath me.

"Anita, Liam, wake up!" I called as I stood up to stretch my sore back.

"I'm already up," Anita answered stiffly.

Liam's glowing eyes opened, making the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up—those eyes were awfully disturbing.

"I think we've arrived," I stated.

Liam walked across the truck. There was a soft clicking noise as he unlocked the door and flung it open. I cringed as the bright light streamed into my face.

Eventually, my sight returned enough to follow Liam out of the truck. Anita followed me carrying Apple, who continued to nap in Anita's arms.

I looked around, expecting to see my comfortable home town of Cape Caution. It would be good to see my family, my old lab, Professor Blubber…

Unfortunately, all I saw was a bunch of thick trees and a tiny dirt road. "This isn't Cape Caution," I stated dumbly. I looked accusingly at Liam. "You said the truck was headed for Cape Caution!"

Liam looked thoughtful. "According to the schedule, it was." He closed the truck door and started walking towards the front of the truck. I looked to Anita to exchange out usual annoyed glance when Liam started acting weird, but her expression was oddly blank. Liam returned. "The driver is not in the truck."

"Maybe he had to pee?" I suggested.

"We should look for him," Anita said.

"When he could be peeing?!" I exclaimed. "No thanks!"

"We'll wait a few moments. If he does not return we will go looking," Liam decided.

He did not come. So maybe he was taking a dump…

"Anita, can you sense him anywhere?" I asked.

Anita did not answer. Instead, she walked past me into a more wooded area.

"Yes?" Could she just give me a definitive answer?

Anita nodded slightly, hopefully to answer me, and kept walking. Liam and I followed.

After about three minutes of silent, dreadfully boring walking, a huge run-down mansion appeared among the trees. "We should go inside," Anita said.

What was with her? She must have woken up on the wrong side of the truck… or something along those lines.

"I'm not sure we should," I replied. "He might be a drug dealer, and this is where he stores the drugs."

"We should go inside," Anita repeated.

I looked at Liam; he, too, seemed to think Anita was acting particularly strange and was staring at her in contemplation.

Just then, several things happened at once.

There was a loud roar of an engine from behind us, and some nearby animal or Pokemon squealed in fear. I tripped in surprise on top of Anita, causing Apple to wake up growling. Hurriedly, I picked myself up. As usual, due to Anita's ideas we were in trouble—the truck was leaving! I tried to scramble towards the truck, only to be stopped by Liam grabbing my arm.

"It is too late," Liam said.

"Liam, you piece of poop! We have to catch that truck!" I yelled as I uselessly struggled forward.

After two minutes, I gave up because the truck was long gone, I was tired, and for whatever reason, Apple was still growling.

"Liam's right. It is silly to chase the truck," Anita said eerily. Was she on drugs? She seemed fine before she fell asleep…

"Eevee eeeeee! Eevee, eeveevee! Eevee!" Apple barked at Anita.

"Why's Apple so mad?" I asked.

"She's upset because…" Anita paused. "She is hungry. There was no food in the truck."

"Figures," I muttered, but Apple continued to growl.

"Let's go inside," Anita said, smiling brightly now. "It will be fun." She started off for the sinister mansion again.

I mouthed, "What the hell is she smoking?" to Liam before following.

Liam shrugged. "It is logical. We have no idea where we are and have nowhere else to turn."

The house ahead of us became creepier and creepier as we neared it. A thick fog seemed to linger at our feet, and our crackling shoes seemed to disturb the pressured silence of the woods.

When we reached the wooden, spider-web covered porch, it took every ounce of my courage not to take a hint from my first instinct and bolt. Apple, apparently, had the same instinct. She growled even louder. "Are you sure about this?" I asked.

Anita continued to smile, and she absentmindedly picked up Apple. For a moment, I thought the Eevee would bite her, but the Pokemon settled for a continuous deep growl. Occasionally Apple would throw glances at me and Liam, almost a pleading look in her eyes.

Liam knocked on the door and rang the doorbell. I silently counted sixty seconds and then snapped my fingers. "Oh well! Nobody's home! Let's get going."

Liam did not move and Anita only moved closer to the house. Not very encouraging signs… What was wrong with their instincts?

Anita twisted the bronze door handle of the plain wooden door, and the door, unfortunately, swung open. Now I felt like I was in a horror movie. Seriously, insert foreboding music here.

Anita and Liam both entered the house, which I thought was pretty intrusive. I hesitated. Sadly, there was no way I was going to stay on this freaky porch alone so I had no choice but to follow.

The inside of the house was just as covered in spider-webs as the outside. A thick layer of dust covered the floor of the room we entered into, along with several antique chairs and picture frames. What I found most unnerving were the footprints in the dust scattered about the room. The prints were so far apart… It looked like someone hopping on one foot had easily leapt ten feet.

Liam bent down to examine one of these peculiar footprints, leaving a footprint trail of his own in the dust. Anita, in the meantime, strode directly through the room to the next door. "This way," she said.

Liam looked up at her and then at me. I shrugged and started forward. Abruptly, the hairs on my arms rose. A dark purple mist surrounded me, gently brushing my sides, and making my breath come up short.

Alright, this was way creepy. I tried to lower the pace of my racing heart and raspy breaths, but failed. Air rushed past my face, then a sharp, tickly feeling—something was nibbling my ear!

I screamed like I would if my shrinkable wardrobe ever caught on fire.

I heard a faint, echoing laughter, and then it was gone, leaving me scared out of my wits and panting heavily.

Liam was staring at me, his brow furrowed. Anita also watched me, holding Apple tightly despite the Eevee's thrashing. "What was that?" I gasped. "Did it happen to you, too?"

Liam and Anita both shook their heads. "Eevee! Eevee!" Apple exclaimed, nodding.

Not knowing what to make of the scene, and not wanting any further problems, I reached to my belt to release Griffy. My hand slapped my butt. I tried again—

Nothing there.

Where were my Pokeballs!?!?

"My Pokemon are missing!" I shouted.

Liam's eyes flickered darkly to my belt, then to Anita's, and finally to his own. His hand brushed over his own belt. "My Pokemon are still here," he said slowly.

"Mine are gone," Anita said without even checking.

I waved my hands wildly at Liam. My Pokeballs were missing and we were just standing here! "Do something!" I yelled. "You still have Pokemon!"

Liam frowned. "They are of no use in this situation."

"I think I know what happened to them," Anita said, her face no longer smiling. "Follow me." She stepped into the next room, and flickered on the lights, which I would not have thought to look for in a house like this.

The room I followed Anita into shocked me. It was a spotless kitchen. Beautiful wooden cabinets gleamed in their dark glaze, the white tiled floor sparkled as if untouched, and the steel refrigerator had not one fingerprint.

Liam peered into what might have been a closet and then opened the refrigerator wide. There was food.

"Come on." Anita gestured to the next room, and we followed obligingly. The next rooms were the same as the kitchen, clean and perfect. We walked down as twisted hall, viewing a bathroom, some type of lounge, and a staircase.

Finally, we came to a set of wooden doors engraved with several swirls. I swear, for a second, purple air seeped out around the doors, but I blinked and no trace of purple remained.

Anita led us through the doors into a room that appeared to be a library. Books were stacked as high as the ceiling on long wooden shelves. A single chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting the room along with the grand window across the entire back of the room. In the center of the room, there were several cushioned couches.

Above these couches floated a Gengar and a Misdreavus, the latter watching me with a wide grin.

The Gengar, I observed, was looking at the couch. I turned my attention to the plush piece of furniture, and to my surprise, found myself looking into the silver eyes of a young boy.

A shiver ran down my back.

The pale boy smiled. "I'm so glad you guys came!"

I looked at Liam, who was expressionless as usual, and Anita, who appeared completely baffled. She put her hand on her head as she asked, "Where are we?"

"Four miles southwest of Cape Caution," the boy answered, tilting his head so his blond hair—so light it was almost white—fell away from his face.

Anita looked even more confused and she turned her attention to Apple, who was now quiet and well behaved. They appeared to be having some sort of deep telekinetic conversation. "I must be dreaming," I thought I heard Anita mutter.

I turned to the blonde boy. "Who are you? Where are your parents? What's with the creepy house and ghost Pokemon? Did you take our Pokemon? Where are they?!" I demanded.

The Misdreavus playfully flipped through the air and whisked around my head.

"She's taken a liking to you," the boy commented sadly. Then he reached toward the Gengar. "This is Scary—"

"You betcha," I muttered.

"—my friend and family. He's taken care of me and played with me for a while. My name is Melvin, but I like Mel better. This is my home." He gestured around him.

"Where are our Pokemon?" I repeated.

Mel glanced at me embarrassedly, before saying, "They're safe."

I wanted to kick the kid in the face, but that might qualify as child abuse… I think. I'm still considered a child at age fourteen so that might change the charges or something. In any case, I then asked, "Why are we here?" because he seemed to have stolen our Pokemon. I figured he must want something in return.

The boy frowned. "I was lonely. I've been begging Scary forever to let me play with actual people—it gets boring playing with ghosts all the time—but he wouldn't disobey my father. I don't know where my father went… Scary and I were running out of food and then Scary saw the food truck passing by so he pulled it over. There wasn't any food, but there was you three! That was even better! Now you can stay here and play with me!"

"We're here because you needed someone to play with?" I asked in disbelief.

The boy smiled widely. "Yup! Aren't you excited?"

I grimaced. "Look, kid, I'm sorry you're lonely, but I'm not playing with you until you give me my Pokemon back." I glanced at Liam and Anita to judge their reactions. Liam watched the boy intently, his eyes narrowed, but Anita was oblivious to the world, apparently still engrossed in her conversation with Apple.

The boy frowned and stuck his chin out stubbornly. "No. I'm not giving them back until you play with me."

"Play what?" Liam interrupted.

"Everything!" the boy exclaimed.

Liam looked thoughtfully at the boy. "How about we make a deal. We will play any game you wish, but afterward, you will give Anita and Erin their Pokemon back."

"How about they only get their Pokemon back if you guys win. If I win, you get to stay and play more with me!"

How did this child know how to make deals? Seriously, how old was this kid?

"Deal," Liam answered, not even bothering to check with me and Anita. Did he understand his little bet affected all of us, not just his self-absorbed butt? "What game?"

The boy grinned. "Hide-n-go-seek. I hide, and if you can find me in fifteen minutes, you win."

Alright, maybe Liam made a good choice. This would be too easy. "What do we count to?" I asked.

"Counting…" the boy chuckled. "That's a good one. There's no need to be so generous."

Then he disappeared.

Well, that couldn't be any good.

 

[delongbi]

Chapter 23: Cackle Attack

The boy was gone. Poof. The Gengar disappeared, too, though the Misdreavus remained floating by my side.

Anita looked around the room past Apple. She seemed to have just returned to the real world. "Erin, Liam—" She spoke rapidly. "He's—" Anita calmed. "He's somewhere in the house," she said quietly. "I read his mind before he disappeared."

Apple started growling again.

Suddenly, as everything in this house seemed to happen suddenly, the Gengar appeared out of thin air, holding a small metal cage, his eyes glowing. Apple was lifted into the air above the chandelier and put into the cage, which remained floating by the Gengar.

Apple yowled, but there was nothing we could do. Liam was too far away from Apple to stop the psychic attack.

"Anita, stop him!" I yelled. She was a psychic, too, after all.

Anita frowned. "I can't." She giggled slightly—or coughed—it was hard to tell. "We'd better start looking."

Liam watched Scary and Apple (who was still howling) suspiciously. "You could use your Pokemon," I suggested to Liam, trying not to sound accusing. I didn't want to cause him any personal pain, but in situations like this, sacrifices sometimes had to be made.

"This is not an emergency," Liam replied stoically.

Do not smack Liam, I thought. Do not smack Liam. Slightly more composed, I asked, "What do you call our situation then?"

Liam paused. "A complication."

I turned to Anita for moral support, but she was already heading for the library door. "You're going to leave Apple?" I asked her.

"We must find Mel. We only have fifteen minutes." She left the room. I sighed and bent over to look under the couch. There was nothing—not even a layer of dust.

When I came back up, Liam was sitting on the couch, watching Apple. "What are you doing? We only have fifteen minutes!" I exclaimed.

"I'm thinking."

"About how screwed over we are? The boy freakin disappeared in front of out eyes!"

"Exactly. We are clearly missing some piece of vital information." He glanced at me. "I believe Apple knows. I think she has been trying to get Anita to believe something important. This theory would explain both Apple's and Anita's strange behavior… Apple, is this so?"

Apple nodded and then shook her head.

"Well, that was helpful," I snickered.

Liam closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "A disappearing boy…. It could be an illusion, another ghost Pokemon, teleport, magic…"

"Magic?" I raised my eyebrows. That was the last word I would have expected Liam to use in a serious tone.

"Magic is all that is unexplained. The unexplained remains magic until it is understood."

I rolled my eyes. "Magic is when people wave sticks and stuff happens."

"No, that's baseball." Liam opened his eyes and rose.

"Did you have an epiphany?" I asked hopefully.

"No. I must know what Apple was telling Anita. Perhaps…" Liam shook his head. I got the feeling he was not telling me everything but decided not to pursue the matter. I had learned that Liam liked to do everything himself. If he needed some information or suggestion, he would ask.

We jogged back through the twisted hallways until we arrived in the kitchen. We found Anita looking through a cabinet under the stainless steel sink. How much time did we have left? I did not wear a watch. Maybe eight minutes…

"Anita, we need to know what Apple is growling about," Liam said.

Anita looked up from her search. "It was nothing. Apple is still hungry."

"I didn't think Apple got this upset over food… usually," I commented.

Anita smiled. "Then you don't know Apple."

Liam narrowed his eyes. "Anita, we need to know what is really occurring."

Anita's eyes darted around the room. "Nothing is going on," she answered hastily. Then she got up and quickly walked toward the door leading to the dusty room.

Liam blocked her way. She attempted to dodge around him, but he grabbed her arm.

Anita suddenly froze, staring right at Liam.

I hurried over. "Are you okay?" I asked worriedly. When there was no response, I waved my hand in front of her blank face. "Anita?"

"Help me…" she uttered.

Liam released his grip in shock. Anita stumbled backwards and fled into another tiled room adjacent to the kitchen. She slammed the door.

I made to follow her, but Liam ordered, "Stop!"

"She's going to get away!" I shouted.

Liam shook his head. "It is a dead end. I saw when we walked through here earlier."

I frowned. "Aren't we going to follow her?"

"Yes… but I have to explain what I believe is occurring, without Anita hearing—"

"Why?" I interrupted.

Liam held up his hand, flashing me an annoyed glance to indicate he was not finished speaking. "I believe the boy is gifted—ghost type."

I blinked a few times. "But the odds of that…"

"I know. The odds are against us, but still, consider. Apple has been acting exceedingly peculiar; Apple knows. Apple and Anita communicate regularly through telepathy so she would be the first to realize the problem. In addition, just now…" Liam paused. "You understand how Anita's powers do not affect me, correct?"

I nodded.

"Gift types work exactly like Pokemon types. Consider a ghost type gift. A person with such a gift would likely be able to turn invisible, fade through walls, and possess others… and what would a ghost type be effective against?"

I gasped. "Psychic."

Liam nodded. "As the boy is still young, it is unlikely that his power is strong. I doubt he could possess a normal person for very long, if at all. Anita, however, would be easily possessed."

"Suppose you're right. How could you unpossess Anita and find the boy?"

"Remember when I touched Anita? That's what confirmed my suspicions. By making physical contact with her, I cancelled her powers out, making her more difficult to possess. She managed to mutter a plea…"

"So if you just touch her for a longer time…"

Liam nodded. "That's the theory."

"Well, what are we standing here for?!" I twisted the doorknob, revealing a small laundry room.

The room was empty.

I opened a cabinet. Then another. And another—soon every nook Anita could have been hiding in was visible, and she still hadn't been found.

"And you did not chase her because…" I glared at Liam.

"I did not believe the boy was powerful enough to turn invisible or fade through walls while possessing Anita. Clearly, I was mistaken."

"Genius," I muttered. "Maybe you're wrong. The boy could just be a ghost or a ghost Pokemon or something."

"Perhaps, but how would you explain the footprints?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, not wishing to reveal that I secretly thought he made a good point, and tapped my long nails on the slick counter in thought.

Liam watched the purple cloud of smoke that had been following me. When a pair of eyes appeared in the smoke, he asked, "Will you assist us in finding Melvin?"

There was a ghostly chuckle as the cloud faded.

I smiled suddenly.

We didn't have to find Melvin; we could make him come to us.

"Ugh, this game is soooo boring!" I exclaimed. "We should just give up! Don't you think?"

Liam simply stared at me in frustration.

I winked.

"Sure," Liam said warily.

I spoke louder. "I wish Mel would just come out of his hiding spot already. It is so silly to keep playing this boring game when I know so many games that are much more fun. We're wasting valuable time!"

I whirled around as the door swung open and—voila—Anita stood in the doorway.

"Are y—we really giving up?" she asked.

Liam lunged and grabbed her arm, twisting her around so he could grasp both arms behind her back to prevent escape.

"Wha—" Anita started. "Let go!" she demanded.

"Nope," Liam answered, smirking. "We found you, Melvin."

Anita glared at Liam. "Let go! Melvin's in the library! I came to tell you…"

"Give it up Melvin. I know you cannot stay in that body much longer."

"Seriously, check the other room," Anita sputtered.

Liam changed strategies. "Anita, will you take your body back already?"

"I am in my own body, moron!"

"You can do it, Anita!" I cheered. She frowned in response.

"I guess I overestimated your strength," Liam taunted.

Anita's head snapped around angrily, and she attempted to elbow Liam in the gut. This failed, of course. Anita slumped over, her face blank. Liam loosened his grip.

"That's right. Keep fighting," Liam cooed. Yes, I mean he cooed. It was such a bizarre sound coming from Liam's mouth that despite our situation I started laughing.

Suddenly, Anita's eyes snapped open. She twisted out of Liam's grasp and sprinted forward. After about a second of hesitant shock, Liam and I both ran after her. Liam was faster, and soon I could only just see a swish of black shirt as I raced down the twisted halls.

The library doors were sprawled open, and Liam was once again restraining Anita. "Look at the couch," Anita managed to gasp. Liam and I looked.

There was Melvin.

Liam hastily released Anita and took a step back.

"Oh…"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

What the hell was his problem?

Stupid Liam…

"So tell us how you got rid of Melvin," Erin said.

I struggled wildly to no avail until Apple told me I might be able to regain my body by creating a barrier in my mind and slowly expanding it. I tried, failed, so Apple ended up doing it for me. Good explanation right? Ehh, once again, stupid Liam…

"I made a barrier in my mind. It was a lot harder and less effective on a ghost type, but Melvin's powers aren't as developed as mine," I grumbled. It had been harder (for Apple) to create a barrier to stop the Gengar from helping Melvin. I think the fact that the Pokemon is half poison is the only reason the barrier actually held…

I sat on one of the ridiculously over-plushed couches in the creepy library, silently fuming at Liam because my voice was hoarse from yelling. Melvin was still lying unconscious on a couch directly across from the one I was sitting on. Liam sat next to Melvin, barely touching the boy's skin in an attempt to suppress the boy's powers should he wake up. While I continued to glare angrily at him, he returned a cool, bored gaze.

Liam is stupid. I just couldn't get away from that, could I?

Inadvertently, all this glaring and staring caused us to begin a tacit staring contest. Seconds ticked by… I heard a nearby shuffle. Probably Erin—she was searching the house for a ladder. When my eyes began to water, Liam smirked slightly. Tears streamed down my face, but I refused to blink—

<ANITA!>

My concentration broke. Surprised, I looked up at Apple, who was still stuck in the floating cage above my head, as the Gengar had once again, disappeared. A knot of guilt tightened in my stomach. I was supposed to be psychically searching for the Gengar…

<It took you long enough. Do you know how long I've been trying to get your attention while you and Mr. Intensity have been goggling at each other?!>

<Hey, he started it! And I wasn't going to just give in!>

<Then congrats on taking competitive to a ridiculous level. Anyway, I found Scary Face!>

<Erm, scary face is an attack. One I suppose you could use often.>

<No, I meant the Gengar.> I rolled my eyes at Apple. <He's floating right above Melvin, actually, invisible.>

<Then why don't you, the amazing psychic Eevee, tell him to release you. Or better yet, why don't you just psychically get yourself out of the cage.>

<Uh, maybe 'cause you're the only one who knows about the whole psychic thing?>

I scowled and said sarcastically, <I know, I know. It just gets annoying, you know. Always rescuing people, saving the day, doing hero stuff.>

<Snot head!>

<Scary face!> Before Apple could retort, I focused my attention on the Gengar, knowing Apple wouldn't disturb me. I sensed the Pokemon hovering, but instinctively shied away. I tried again. <Yo, Scary?> I felt the Gengar turn toward me in surprise. <Hey, you can hear me! Will you please release Apple? And can we have our Pokeballs back?>

<I will not help those who hurt Melvin.>

<Are you kidding me? The kid got himself hurt!>

<Even if that were the case, I would not take any action without Melvin's permission.>

I broke off the connection with Scary, annoyed. Liam raised a questioning eyebrow at me, but before I could say anything, Erin burst through the doors, screaming loudly. "What the hell! Will you stop bothering me!!! Go away!" There was nothing behind her. She swatted the air uselessly.

I watched incredulously and Apple burst into laughter.

A purple mist seemed to seep through the floor around Erin's feet. "Eeep!" she screeched, before jumping away and sprinting toward the couches.

Liam stood up, probably to move out of the way, but Erin had other ideas. She jumped into the arms of a wide-eyed Liam, who promptly dropped her on her butt. Erin jumped back up, rubbing her sore butt and flicking her eyes around the room intently.

Curiously, I stretched out my powers, and sensed another Pokemon. <Hello?>

<Jello?> a voice replied.

<Um, who are you?>

<Dumb, poo far too!>

<Right then.>

<Fright ten!> A whispery voice cackled softly, and a cool breeze pricked my neck. I froze standing completely still as the breeze enwrapped my body, and then left. <Boo!> It took me a moment to realize that the sound was not a short "Boo"—the type meant for scaring—but a long "Boo," an irked "Boo." <The girl over there reacts much more funnier.>

I winced at the bad grammar, and looked about for the source of my chills. <I'm sorry—> I started talking, but the creature continued, <Now she's went to the bad-tasting boy. I don't like the tasting-bad boy, but I want to haunt her.> A purple smoke appeared and materialized into the Misdreavus we had seen by Melvin earlier.

<That is a dilemma,> I agreed, coming up with a way to take advantage of the situation. <I know! If you get the Eevee out of the cage above me, I'll get the girl you like away from the yucky boy!>

<Don't, Missy,> Scary said sharply. <She's not your master.>

Missy, apparently the Misdreavus, let out another chilled laugh before swooping towards Apple's cage. <Mel isn't neither. And neither are you. Neither is a funny word. Sounds like I need-fur or need-her or need-to-purr…> Missy stared at me a moment. <You better hold up your end of the deal, or it's you I be haunting.>

The lock on the cage popped open, and Apple was dumped out. I dived forward, catching Apple as I skidded across the floor.

<Wow, you sacrificed Erin's sanity for me! I feel loved!> Apple exclaimed.

<Sanity?>

<Ghosts are known from time to time to drive people completely berserk. What do you expect when someone's constantly invading your mind?>

<I think I know the feeling,> I retorted dryly.

<Hey!>

Knowing I should feel guilty about this, I frantically called as I dusted my pants off, "Hey Erin, come look at this!"

Erin, thinking something was wrong, hurried over. Ha! See, Erin's not the only one with mad acting skills!

<Don't push it,> Apple commented.

The Misdreavus immediately enwrapped Erin in a purple mist and both disappeared, Erin's high pitched squeal clashing with the Missy's cackle. <Um, should I be worried?> I asked mildly.

Apple shrugged as I slumped back on a couch. Not a great sign.

Liam looked at me. "Should I even ask?"

I shook my head.

"Yeah, they'll come back eventually," Mel said. Wait, Mel said?!

Melvin, was sitting up, probably woken by the excessive noise. "You, little boy, have some explaining to do," I scolded. The boy struggled against Liam's grip for a few seconds and then sat still. One of his fingers disappeared, and for a second I thought the rest of his body would follow, but the finger reappeared quickly.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell us what your problem is and where our Pokemon are," I told the boy. "Care to get started?"

"Why can't I disappear?" the boy asked, his upper lip trembling.

"Liam's weird that way. Now get on with it, kid," I demanded.

"Stop being so mean!" Mel cried and then burst into tears.

Aw, ****.

<Nice going, Anita.>

<You couldn't have done any better,> I snapped.

<You couldn't have done any worse.>

"Scary, get me out of here!" Mel yelped while Liam shot an angry glare at me.

Before Scary could even move, I created a psychic barrier around the ghost, which was quickly enforced by Apple. Liam's glare turned into a curious gaze.

"Half poison," I reminded him.

"Who-who, are y-you?" the boy stuttered.

I opened my mouth to object to his question when he hadn't even answered ours, but my mouth wouldn't move.

<Anita, do us all a favor and be nice.>

I took a deep breath and Apple unfroze my jaw. I looked down at Melvin, his face all damp and cute…

"Stop crying," I demanded.

<ANITA! NICE!>

"Please, stop crying," I repeated.

<Anita…>

Ugh, this was the type of thing Erin could probably deal with. Why did Erin have to disappear now of all times? Of course, her disappearance was my fault…

I struggled to smile at the boy. "I'm sorry," I said unenthusiastically.

<You're grimacing. Think happy thoughts.>

Kicking Liam's ass, the day Erin tortured Liam, Melvin not existing, peanut butter cookies… I flashed a smile. "We can help you and Scary" get lost.

<Geez, you're in a violent mood today,> Apple commented. <Looks like, as usual, I'll have to do all the dirty work to save your butt.> Apple leapt onto the couch next to Mel and licked his face. The boy patted Apple and let out a sound that sounded like a sick cat purring. <That was a giggle.>

I sighed and sat back down on the couch. Let Apple do her magic, or whatever. After a few minutes, when the boy calmed down, I spoke again. "Melvin, we'd really like to know where our Pokemon are, and what is going on. The Eevee you're petting, Apple, wants to know, too. Will you help us?"

Mel looked hesitantly at Apple and then looked up at me with huge teary, grey eyes. "Do you promise not to leave me?"

"Of course not," I replied uncomfortably.

"Then if you let Scary out of the bubble, he can get your other Pokemon." I tried to probe Mel's mind, but found it impossible to penetrate. Liam and I watched Melvin sharply as Scary was released and given orders to retrieve the Pokeballs. Scary disappeared.

"Tell us about yourself, Mel," I said, trying to lighten the atmosphere (in other words, stop the boy from having a mental break-down).

"I'm eight years old, I like playing games, and I have ten fingers. When I grow up I want to be a profusional ghost."

<I think he meant professional,> Apple suggested.

<Yes, wealthy ghosts are hard to come by.>

<So are professional ghosts…>

"Like Scary?" I asked Mel.

The boy nodded seriously.

"So why are you alone in this house? Where are your parents?"

"This is my home!" the Mel exclaimed. "And Scary is my parent. He takes care of me, and feeds me, and sometimes finds me friends like you guys."

"What about before Scary?" I pressed. "Did anyone take care of you before Scary?"

Mel looked at the ground. "No."

<He's lying.>

"Mel, we're trying to help you. We have to know."

"Papa ran away," he whispered. "He was scared. Of me. He's not my parent."

"Oh…"

<You are really bad at this emotional comfort stuff. Why don't you give the boy a hug?>

<He might try to take over my body again! Maybe this is part of an evil scheme to get back inside me!>

<Or maybe Mel's a scared little boy who needs a hug. I'll know if something goes wrong and Liam is touching him so it should be okay.>

<Alright…> I moved next to Melvin, and gave him a hug, awkwardly patting his back.

Abruptly, Scary, Erin, and Missy all faded into reality. Or rather, Scary, holding Erin and Missy by the scruffs of their necks, faded into reality. Erin struggled wildly, and Missy continued to cackle. <I found these two where the Pokeballs were being stored.> Scary lifted Erin higher into the air. <This one somehow convinced this one—> Scar lifted Missy. <that it would be extremely fun to steal back the Pokeballs.> Scary dropped both of the offenders. Missy, of course, continued to float.

Erin, however, hit the couch hard. She rolled into a sitting position. "Hey, guys. I'm just dropping by…" Three Pokeballs hit her head and she collapsed back down onto the couch.

<Lame puns should always be punished with violence.> Apple nodded approvingly at Scary.

Once I had my Pokeballs all safely clipped to my pants, I asked, "Alright, ready to go?"

Liam and Erin exchanged glances. "Anita, we still don't really know where we are," Liam explained.

"And there's Melvin. Does he have actual parents? We can't just leave him," Erin added.

"You promised to stay with me!" Mel yelled accusingly.

"I… er… didn't mean… umm. Of course, we're staying with you," I hastily told Mel.

"Why don't we bring Mel with us?" Erin suggested. "He knows how to get to Cape Caution, probably."

"No!" I shouted. When I got shocked looks I spoke normally. "I mean. Well, no, I do mean no. We can't take care of a kid." I wrinkled my nose. "He seems like a hassle."

"I can take care of myself," Mel replied indignantly. "I don't wanna go."

Erin crouched down next to Melvin. "Mel, you can't keep living like this. You need a safe home, and an education, and someone who can help you use your powers better, and someone to take care of you."

"But I'm a ghost. I don't need an education and Scary can do the rest."

"You're a human with ghost powers, Mel. You need to be around humans. Come with us. It'll be fun—we'll play games with you and you can meet our Pokemon."

"But—"

<Mel, I think they are right,> Scary added.

Uh oh, it looked like the miniature fountain was going to start spouting tears again. "But, you'll come, too. Right, Scary?"

Scary nodded.

Immediately the boy brightened. "Well, okay then."

Everyone started getting up to go. "Now, wait a second! I still don't want—" I objected.

"Anita, shut it. He's coming with us," Erin said.

"But—"

"I think you two will get along. Both of you appear to have the maturity of eight-year-olds," Liam added.

I scowled. "And you have the maturity of an eighty-year-old."

"Nu-uh," Erin argued. "He's not super mature! He spat at Carly, remember?"

"I never said eighty-year-olds were super mature. My grandpa Phil, for one, is eighty-three years old and still making prank phone calls to his hall mates in his nursing home," I recalled.

"I'd love to meet—Ahhh!" Erin jumped up and yelped. When she landed, she spun towards Liam. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Don't you dare touch my ass!"

Liam held up his hands. "I did not touch you."

Mel tugged my sleeve. "What is a prank phone call? And what's hell? And ass?"

<You guys are going to be a brilliant influence on Mel,> Apple said dryly.

"Ow!" Erin yelped again. She looked around at everyone shiftily, daring anyone to speak.

Silence.

A cricket.

Mel picking his nose.

<Wahahahahahahaha…>

 

[delongbi]

Chapter 24: Ridiculous to the Max

"Aden, this is ridiculous."

I squinted at the picture. "His right eye is definitely brown," I masterfully observed, lifting the picture closer to my face to get a better look. I was brilliant at this sort of thing.

SWISH

"Hey! Give that back! We need that for the wanted posters you are going to make!"

Officer Jenny crumpled the picture in her hand. "With all due respect, sir, we are not going to find the robbers by putting up wanted signs of security tape snapshots. The pictures are too blurry, and the robbers had their faces covered. Plus, they were with Team Glop'emm. If we cannot even find their base, how are we going to find the individuals?"

"One of them has brown eyes," I replied definitively.

"Aden, the snapshots are in black and white."

"But…" Unfortunately, even I, the great me, could not defeat that logic.

"We have not been able to find any traces…" Jen blabbered away. No new information, blah de-blah. I could be out there searching for those scoundrels myself! Or hanging up wanted signs. Maybe someone in town had seen….

"That's it!" I yelled. Jen yelped and tripped backwards over an office stool. My awesome booming voice tended to have that affect on people.

"What now?" The officer gave me an annoyed glare as she dusted her pants off. But no way was I going to wait and explain. I had a brilliant idea! Muwahahahaha! It needed immediate implementation! Now where was that phone? I shuffled some papers around Jen's desk until- aha! – I found the phone.

"I've already thought of that, Aden." Tamara answered the phone before it even rang... as well as my thoughts before I spoke. But it was impossible. She couldn't have thought of my brilliant idea already! It was so… brilliant!

"There is no way you came up with the idea of making wanted signs for our favorite missing person without reading my mind!" I accused.

I heard a sigh. "Actually, Nai came to me with the idea the day our gym leader went missing. She thought that even though we had no photographs of him, I should be able to project his image into an artist's mind, who would then be able to create an image. In theory, she should be right… even if he does have dark powers, I should be able to project a simple image of him into another's mind. I tried. I failed. Aden, I do not understand why, but I cannot do it. I did not wish to disclose this information to the others, as I would be creating a false sense of insecurity."

"You sound fairly insecure," I said seriously. "Is there anything else wrong, you know, with your powers?"

"Nothing at all. It is a small matter, Aden, do not worry. And I would be grateful if you told nobody else of this conversation."

"Alright…" Tamara had already hung up the phone. Bleh, psychics.

I turned around, only to find Officer Jenny an inch away from me. "What was that about?!" she shouted.

"Apparently, nobody likes my wanted poster idea," I mumbled.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

…according to ancient Pekanian legend "blue fire fell from the sky…leaving only ash." This could be a reference to Mew's supposed regenerative lifecycle, rumored to occur every five thousand years. This destructive blue fire, however, seems to have been witnessed twice in the past hundred years— the already discussed Cherrigrove City and Vintage Village incidents. Several questions arise from the short period between these incidents. Is Mew's lifecycle as long as the legends suggest? Does Mew actually have a phoenix-like lifecycle?

I slammed the musty book shut, dust visibly swirling around the page corners.

This research was useless.

They asked all the wrong questions.

"Again."

A small boy with dark hair and lean features aimed a punch at his father's stomach. The father stopped the boy's hand before the blow could hit.

"What did I tell you about flailing about?" the father scolded.

The boy looked at the rough grass beneath his torn shoes.

"Answer me. Where does power come from?"

"From the base, father. From my legs."

"Look at me." The father put a gentle hand under his son's chin. Green eyes connected. "Power is always built up. To make even the slightest inefficient and unbalanced movement is to lose power. Do you understand?"

The boy nodded.

"No, you don't. But one day you will. Again." The boy thrust his arm forward, faster this time. The father let his son's fist connect with his stomach, wincing slightly. The boy lost balance and fell over, cradling his wrist from the impact. "Better—"

The father looked over his shoulder, as if someone had called his name. "Tal may have found something a mile into Apoosh Forest. Let's go."

The man took off running after giving an expectant look to his son. The boy knew he had to keep up.

For every one of his father's strides, the boy took three. Still he pushed forward.

The trees became thicker, and the boy stumbled on a root. The father did not slow. "Why do we do this?" the father asked.

"To train," the boy replied by rote.

"Train?" the father repeated.

"Train to be like a Pokemon. To be successful, a trainer must be able to think and fight as if the trainer was in the Pokemon's position."

"Excellent. At least your mind is sharp."

An Alakazam appeared before the man, its legs shaking slightly. The man and boy slowed down. "This better not be a false alarm—not another Grumpig like last time." The Alakazam shook his head and pointed into the dark woods. "Very well." The Pokemon disappeared in a flash of red. In its place stood a Houndoom.

As the dog sniffed the air, the boy smiled. "Houndoooooom!" The Houndoom ran into the woods, closely followed by the father and son.

Not ten minutes later, the Houndoom growled and circled a large berry tree. The father looked up. A pink Pokemon cradling a delicious-looking Oran berry rested in the topmost branches.

The boy's stomach growled as the Pokemon took an enormous bite into the berry, spraying berry juice across its face and the tree bark. A drop landed in the boy's hair.

"Charmeleon, now!" the father yelled, releasing a Charmeleon. The fire Pokemon leapt into the tree, quickly bounding up the branches, as the father flung what looked like an over-sized black and yellow Pokeball.

Just as the Charmeleon and the ball reached the upper branches of the tree, they froze. The pink Pokemon gave the father a pleading look, but almost seemed to be looking beyond the father. <Why?> It quickly floated above the tree tops out of sight.

"Tal, which direction?" the father demanded, releasing the Alakazam once more. The psychic Pokemon's spoons bent in concentration and pointed deeper into the woods. A sweet scent of pine and dew grew stronger as the father, son, and Pokemon pursued the pink creature.

The Alakazam stopped. <It's gone.>

"Gone? That's not possible!" the father exclaimed.

<I can no longer sense its presence.>

"You mean it teleported? It could not do that before!"

<Maybe. However, I should still be able to sense its existence. I cannot feel the creature.>

The father pulled out three Pokeballs. "I pushed you too hard, Tal. We'll try again later." After all of the Pokemon were returned to their Pokeballs, the father kicked the ground in frustration.

"Father?" the boy asked timidly.

Composing himself, the father replied, "Yes?"

The moss-covered trees were calm—not a branch wavered. The air was light and peaceful.

"That Pokemon destroyed our village and Lily's parents?"

"Yes."

The boy hesitated. "Then why are you trying to capture it? Why not kill it?"

"That Pokemon is not like normal Pokemon. Mew is legendary. It is dangerous and immortal."

"So how can you kill it?"

The father smiled down at his son. "That's my son, always asking the right question."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

<868,013, your barrier is weak,> Lieutenant 868 yelled.

I poured more psychic energy into my barrier. It was not fair. The others were older and more experienced and stronger…

<868,013—age is no excuse! 868,012, show 013 how weak that barrier is!> Another Mew appeared next to me. I was not surprised. That had happened a lot this past week.

The Mew's fist lit up. I prepared for the worst—and felt my head explode into several million shards as 012's fist shattered my barrier.

<013, you are not a theater major! Stop the drama! Have I taught you nothing this past week? Get back up! You have very little time remaining—let's practice your teleportation.>

Feebly, I floated a foot off of the ground. 012 towered over me. A blur of pink whipped towards me at a speed I could not possibly block.

I closed my eyes and prepared for the blow that would never hit.

Green light, like a forest—

I woke up panting.

It was dawn. The sun peeped over the horizon, as if welcoming me back into the physical world. I took several deep breaths to calm myself and purge the distinct smell of my dream from my system.

I did not want to believe it. It was not possible. Not so soon… But the visions kept coming, even after we left Mint Mountain. I worked hard to clear my mind every day before Anita woke up so I wouldn't worry her, but it was getting harder.

The last time I had so many visions…

But no. This must be something else.

I would not allow myself to disappear now, of all times.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The glittering sunlight shone brightly upon our fur, comforting us in a chewable-squishy-fuzzy-slippers kind of comfort.

At least that's how Apple described it, and she's the coolest so she'd know.

Now though, Apple was busy with our trainer so it was up to me to make fun and be cool. "Attention!"

"So the Mudkip replied…" Vanilla chattered to Allo.

"No, a truck sounds like Vrorom-rooom! Not Vrooom-um!" Tweal argued with Missy.

"Ehem!" I cleared my throat. "I said ATTENTION!"

Everyone was quiet. Normally, I didn't like quiet, but this was a good quiet. Maybe a fuzzy-slipper quiet. "Now, you all know why we are gathered here…"

"Actually, we don't, Splash," Vanilla interrupted. "We were all happily munching away on our nutty nibbles—" Missy made a puking noise. "—when you decided we had to have a super-special meeting. I'm not quite sure why any of us actually agreed to come."

"Fun!" Tweal chirped.

"Well, Tweal is right. Today is a very important day. A day for fun. Today, ladies, gentleman, ghosts, Eevees, birds, and nutty nibbles smeared across Allo's face, is July eighteenth."

"And…?" Vanilla asked.

"Today, we battle!"

Allo sighed. "I figured it was something like this—"

"No! It is nothing like that! We are not gathered here for a simple announcement! We are gathered here in celebration! We are gathered here for—"

"Fun!" Tweal chirped again.

"Exactly! Now who's with me?!"

"But, we still don't know what—"

"Me!" Tweal exclaimed.

"Me!" Missy whispered.

I gave Sunflower a threatening growl when Allo turned to consult Vanilla. "Me…" Sunflower said.

Vanilla started to walk away. "Oooh, Vanilla's afraid to have a little fun!" I taunted.

"Am not!" Vanilla snapped. "I just don't like your idea of fun."

"Splash, I think I'm with Vanilla on this. What exactly are you planning?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked. In celebration of today, we are going to play a game!"

"What kind of game?" Allo asked tentatively.

"Make believe!"

"Where does he get this stuff from?" Allo asked Vanilla in disbelief.

"My artificial intelligence!" I replied. Duh! "Whoever can pretend they are something or someone else the longest wins the game!"

"Can we choose anything to pretend to be?" Tweal asked.

"Yup! I'm going to be a cactus!"

"Then I'll be Splash," Vanilla snickered. "Look at me! I have maximum energy and minimum intelligence! I leap before I think. Actually, I do everything before I think and never get around to the actual thinking part!"

"Ooh, Vanilla you're brilliant! We can pretend to be members of our group. I take it back, I wanna be Anita!"

"Me got dibs on Erin!" Missy cackled.

"If you're not going to be a cactus, can I be a cactus?" Tweal asked.

"There once a friend anew—a Gastly haunting cactus …" Missy stared off in reminiscence.

"What are you going to be, Sunflower?" I asked.

"I'm not sure this is the best game, especially for Sun—" Allo started.

"I'll be Mel," Sunflower said quietly. Of course she wanted to be the boring one of the group.

"That was a good decision," Allo said encouragingly. Then he sighed. "I wish I could disappear right now, too… I'm going to pretend you're all normal."

"That's actually going to be a challenge," Vanilla commented. I would have retorted, but I heard the trot of one of my favorite Eevees in the whole group!

"Hey, my fellow Eeps! What is up?" Apple bounded next to Allo. "After Anita and everyone cleans up lunch, you guys are going to train! How does that sound?"

"Awesome!" I replied enthusiastically.

At the same time, Allo asked, "Eeps?"

"People are called peeps, so I figure Eevees are called Eeps!" Apple explained. I think Apple must have a Ph.D. in life because she's so smart. I want her smarts one day!

"We're celebrating by make believing!" I proudly declared. "I'm Anita, Missy's Erin, Vanilla's me, Sunflower's Mel, Allo's pretending we're normal, and Tweal is a cactus!"

Apple smiled widely. "I am soooo Liam."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"There is no reason for the Electrike to migrate with all the rain Cape Caution's had this summer," Liam stated.

"It's not about reason. The Electrike migrate away from Cape Caution every summer," Erin argued.

I sighed and unzipped Erin's bag to find our pot shrinker. They had been arguing all through lunch. Mel had become so bored he threw his unfinished lunch at the two of them, and when that failed he had resorted to French braiding the tall golden grass around our camp.

"They only migrate because there is not usually enough water up here to sustain the whole pack."

"Enough! I'll prove you wrong!" Erin declared. "Anita, Liam and I are going to what would be the Electrike habitat if it was winter. It's about two miles west of here. Can you watch Tweal? He likes to be around Splash."

Mel jumped up. "Can I come too?!"

Liam, who had been examining his Pokedex, shot Erin an irked look. Erin smiled at Mel. "If you want to, Mel, of course you can come! Anita's going to be training her Pokemon here…"

I glared at Erin, who replied with an innocent blink.

"Nevermind! I'm going to stay here and help Anita train!" Mel exclaimed.

"But Mel, don't you think it would be more fun to look at the Electrike with Erin? They have such cool sparks and—" I tried to get Mel to leave.

"I've seen Electrike before, but I've never seen Pokemon training! And I want to be a profusional ghost Pokemon so I need to learn all I can!"

"Professional," Erin muttered. Before I could say anything else, Erin called over Griffy. "You two have fun! Hop on, Liam!" Liam nimbly climbed onto Griffy's back behind Erin, and Griffy took off into the tall grass.

Well, this was just perfect. I finally fished the pot shrinker out of Erin's bag and used it to store our dishes. Then, I turned around to tell Mel to stay out of my way, only to find the area surrounding me void of little annoying boys.

That should be a good thing, right? Not when the little annoying boy can turn invisible…

"Boo!" I jumped up in surprise, and beside me, Erin shrieked. Wait, Erin wasn't here. So who…?

Missy, apparently, could do a perfect imitation of Erin's scream. She winked at me and disappeared. Mel was rolling on the ground laughing, Scary smiled beside him, and even Sunflower, who was sitting by Mel's feet, seemed to be grinning.

"So happy to provide amusement," I mumbled before stomping away towards my other Pokemon. "Fiery, come on!" Fiery had been lazily relaxing in the sun. He opened an eye to glare at me, and then shut it.

Before I could ask again, Splash jumped on top of him. <Get up! Get up! Let's go battle! Come on!>

Fiery leapt up immediately and started sniffing Splash… wait… no, it couldn't be… but… but… how? I looked around the field. Splash and Apple were tackling each other a hundred meters away. Splash hadn't tackled Fiery. It had been… Vanilla?

Vanilla sprinted towards me, followed by a rather shocked Fiery.

Stunned, I watched as Vanilla ran past me to where Tweal and Allo were sitting, and started running in circles.

<Is something wrong?> I called out to Tweal and Allo as I approached them.

<…> Tweal was silent.

<Nope, everything is absolutely normal,> Allo answered.

Maybe Vanilla was really excited to battle? She never had been before… Well, no time to worry about that now. I had practicing to do. "Everyone come over here!" I yelled.

Apple tackled Splash to the ground one more time before both she and Splash frowned slightly and walked towards me. Weird, usually they were a little more enthusiastic.

Once everyone was gathered, I began my pep-talk. "Alright, so for most of you, this is your first time training. If the training's too tough for you, say something, and I promise to psychically shoot you back to Mint Mountain. No wusses or crybabies—" I glared at Mel. "—allowed. I thought we'd start with a quick round robin to illustrate the most basic move, tackle. Fiery, demonstrate tackle on that rock."

I pointed, and Fiery ran at the rock, headbutting it so it flew a good forty meters through the air.

<What did you think of the pep-talk?> I asked Apple as Fiery illustrated the attack.

<It was amazing, of course, because I made it!> Apple replied. I turned around to see if she was making a joke I just did not understand, only to realize that several members of the group were missing.

"Where's Sunflower, Mel, Scary, and Missy?" I asked.

Allo shrugged, Tweal did not answer, Splash replied, "I don't know," Apple replied, "I don't care," and Vanilla had a paw stuck up her nose.

Trying extremely hard to ignore all of the bizarreness so I could concentrate on finding Sunflower and the others (but mostly Sunflower), I ordered, "The five of you practice tackling each other. Fiery, can you look for Sunflower? I'm going to try to find Mel psychically. Hopefully, they are all together."

With that, I sat down and closed my eyes. Immediately, I was drawn to the minds of the five Pokemon closest to me, but I avoided the temptation and reached out further. I started reaching only in the direction away from Fiery, but soon realized I was able to "see" many directions at once if I wanted to. It felt like I was zooming out of a picture so I could see more and more.

My mind stretched outward, but like a muscle, there came a point where I felt I could not stretch even an inch more. I settled for scrutinizing every inch of the area I could see, maybe half a mile radius. At the very northern tip of my view, I felt strangely repelled. My power dipped slightly, as if there was an invisible barrier.

I flashed an image in Fiery's mind. <Try here.> Fiery, who had been heading north-west, changed directions slightly. <Tell me if you find anything.>

I returned to my body. "Alright you guys, I need to know exactly what happened to Sun—"

Allo, Apple, Splash, and Vanilla all lay crumpled on their sides, as if badly beaten in a battle. Tweal was the only Pokemon still standing tall.

<Tweal, what happened?>

<…>

<Tweal?!>

<… Cacti will triumph over all…>

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

On a scale of one to a hundred, Anita's temper broke the thermometer. She immediately tried to force her way into my mind. Wincing slightly, I held her back. To keep her from doing anything destructive, I said, <Don't worry, Sunflower and Mel are fine!>

<Even I, the great and mighty Anita, could not defeat a cactus,> Splash declared, trying to answer the real Anita's question. <Every time we tackled it, we were hit by spikes!>

Anita crept back into her own mind and glared at me. <Whatever is going on, I'm sure it's your fault,> she told me. "Splash," Anita said, a little too sweetly, "you are not me."

<Of course I am,> Splash insisted. <Look, I can make a psychic barrier!> Splash waved his paws in an attempt to look mystical and then pretended to run into an invisible barrier.

<Apple, what is going on?>

<None of your business.>

<Apple,> Anita growled. She pressured my mind again. I still resisted. She then changed her focus and tried to get into the others' minds. Just for kicks, I held her back from their minds, too. Liam would do that too, right? He likes to bother Anita… I mean who doesn't?

"Alright, Vanilla and/or Allo, would you care to inform me why my Pokemon have become idiotic?"

<Of course, my idol, Anita!> Vanilla answered. <I came up with the most amazing idea to play make believe! Now we're all pretending to be other people and Pokemon and thingies! I'm Splash so I'm hyper and stupid!>

Anita slumped onto the ground. "You have all had me worried because you're playing a freakin game?!"

<Obviously,> I drawled. <Took you long enough to figure out.>

"Apple, snap out of it. This is ridiculous! Who are you supposed to be, anyway? Vanilla is Splash, Splash is me, Tweal is a cactus…? And I think Missy might have been Erin…" Sudden understanding crossed Anita's face. "You must be Liam."

"Don't forget Sunflower is Mel!" Vanilla piped.

"I'm going to go curl up by those bushes and pretend this isn't happening," Anita said despairingly.

<Welcome to the club,> Allo muttered.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Scary, is this far enough to not be disturbed?" Mel asked Scary.

I peeked out of Mel's arms and saw Scary nodding. Both Scary and Mel floated to the ground, and I let out a sigh of relief. The floating made me extremely uncomfortable.

"Boo!" Missy popped out at me and Mel. While Mel did not even flinch, I plunged my head down into Mel's chest. Missy then did another very good imitation of Erin's scream and continued to laugh madly. I knew I shouldn't be afraid, that Missy was just joking, but I could not help being frightened. I did not like surprises…

"Alright, Sunflower, Scary here tells me that you want to learn to be a ghost so we're going to teach you! Okay?"

I nodded and Mel set me down on the ground. To be quite honest, I knew there was no chance of me ever becoming a ghost until I died, which I hoped would not happen any time soon. I really only did this to get away from my insane brother. His games were dangerous.

"First of all, Sunflower, ghosts are scary. Watch—"

Scary grinned evilly and seemed to grow in size. I cowered by Mel's feet.

"Now you try!" Mel exclaimed.

I looked at the boy pleadingly. I could not be terrifying—only terrified!

"You can do it! Growl at me!"

I tried. I screwed up my face and barked.

"Hehehehehe!" Missy cackled. "That quite hilarity."

Mel started laughing, too, but managed to turn it into a coughing fit. My ears drooped. I couldn't do this.

"Sunflower, try to imagine I'm Splash. Growl at me!" Mel suggested.

But he was not Splash, and if he was, I could never growl at him. Still… he was not Splash and if I pretended I had the guts to stand up to a pretend Splash, maybe it would sound something like—

GRRRRRROR!

Missy let out an Erin scream.

"Sunflower, that was great!" Mel exclaimed. He patted me on the head. "Now we can work on turning invisible."

I licked Mel's hand. He was such a nice person, but he was a child, and children did not understand the laws of physics… of course, I was a child, too.

"Mel, Sunflower is not like us; she will never be able to turn invisible at will," Scary said to Mel. Scary disappeared into Mel's body for a few seconds and then returned. It must have been their way of communicating because Mel looked downcast for a moment.

"Scary says you can't learn that…" Mel suddenly smiled. "But he did show me something I might be able to teach you!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The campfire's heat was relaxing. The soft grass I sat on was relaxing. Erin and Liam's constant bickering… kinda ruined the whole relaxing atmosphere I was going for.

"The Electrike only moved a mile south, Erin. That does not qualify as migration," Liam argued.

"Does too!" Erin countered. "Doesn't it, Anita?"

I shrugged.

Not satisfied with my answer, Erin accusingly asked, "What did you accomplish here, anyway, while Liam and I were off making amazing scientific discoveries?"

"Anita couldn't control her Pokemon and ended up not accomplishing anything!" Mel blurted out.

I glared at the evil boy. "In fact, Allo and I had a very productive day. Allo mastered several attacks."

Allo puffed out his chest proudly.

"And your other Pokemon…?" Erin asked.

I didn't answer.

"Scary told me the whole situation! See," Mel explained, "what happened was Splash decided he wanted to make believe. So he gathered everyone and he was Anita and Vanilla was him and Missy was you and Apple was Liam and Tweal was a cactus and Allo pretended everything was alright and Sunflower was me. So I decided to train Sunflower myself but then Fiery found us and was furious and brought us back to Anita. And—"

"Who won?" Erin interrupted.

"Won?" Mel asked. "Make believe isn't a winning-losing game."

<Whoever pretends the longest wins,> Apple explained. Only nobody could hear her and I certainly was not going to be the communication link in this conversation.

<Excuse me, but Apple claims that whoever pretends the longest wins this strange game,> Griffy said. Darn that Girafarig.

"And?" Erin asked expectantly.

Apple spoke and Griffy relayed, <Allo lost when he tackled Tweal and pretended to be hurt because he was supposed to be pretending that nobody was pretending. Tweal eventually fell over from standing up straight and Vanilla fell in a puddle and started flipping out about her dirtiness so they both lost. Then Splash and I got bored so we played leapfrog instead of make believe. That leaves—"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Missy uttered a high pitch Erin scream, making me jump back from the fire.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dark ball of energy collided with Missy. The Misdreavus fell over, knocked out.

We all turned our heads towards the source of the attack.

Sunflower smiled. <I win.>

 

[BUG♥CATCHER★BREEZE]

Dark thunderclouds hovered over the usually serene town of Melonbi. A pale young girl, about seven years old, stumbled through the light drizzle, frantically trying to get to her house before the storm. In her rush, she was unaware of the dark figure raging in an intense battle ahead of her until she, quite literally, collided with him, and knocked them both into the sticky mud.

Ooooh. I like this! What an intriguing beginning (what is it with me and the word intriguing…). A dark and stormy night. Or day. Well, you didn't specify. But I assume it's dark as a storm's looming overhead. Maybe you should of said when it was happening. It just seemed odd you didn't mention the time of day.
I love how the first paragraph flows. It seems a little short, but it works quite well, as it supposed to be a quick, frantic beginning, right? That said, 'intense battle' seems a little thrown in. I mean, it just seems almost too causally thrown in, as if it was humorous. Oh, an 'intense battle'! :o

The words you chose captured the scene quite well: 'frantically', 'stumbled', 'raging'. I always write quite a lot on beginnings. I just consider them really important. You're off to a great start.

For a second, the man in the dark uniform was stunned. Then, angrily lifting his mud soaked body from the ground, he shouted, "Hey! Brat, watch where you're going!"

"S-s-sorry [/B]Mister![/B] [as she wasn't cut off from saying his surname (which is doesn't know anyway) it would make more sense for it to be 'mister']" The young girl trembled. "I didn't mean- [probably should be a little 'en dash' instead of a longer 'em dash', but maybe I'm just being pedantic here]"

Stunned seemed a little weak there. With all the 'for a second' lead up and all, I would of expected a far more exciting verb. Maybe you should of keep the sentence more shorter, make it just like the action it's portraying, and keep 'stunned' in. Or make the sentence a tad more dramatic and longer. It just seems sort boring when I read it out compared to the rest of the paragraph.

The young fallen girl peered after him and then glanced at the large red monster spurting fire from its mouth. It was clearly exhausted, and the rain was not helping this fire Pokemon. The girl could tell it had undergone an intense battle and curiously looked for the opponent. She caught sight of a small figure in the flames protecting itself with a weak psychic barrier, too weak to move itself from the blaze.

The girl felt pity for both creatures, one being commanded to attack under such harsh conditions, the other just trying to protect itself. She wished to help both, but knew she could not possibly help the attacker, for it already had an owner. The girl glanced back at the man. He had reached his equipment and was now fiddling with something, though the girl could not see what through the thick rain.

Yet again, just commenting on word choices; 'peering' and 'curiously' just make me picture a wide-eyed, inquisitive seven year old.
I think the sentences about the girl's pity would work better separated, but maybe that's just me. Speaking of that sentence, how much pity does she feel? Is she a bit blasé about the whole thing. Is she completely confused, unable to comprehend what's happening. Is she filled with anguish in the whole situation? I felt she didn't feel much pity at all, as if it was just slotted in as an afterthought. I do like that you mentioned the girl cares about both creatures? That shows a little about her personality, her character. She seems to have a child-like, unprejudiced view. Even though the Charizard is clearly hurting an innocent creature, she still feels (some) compassion.

Suddenly, the girl heard a sharp gasp and then a thud. The girl snapped her head away from the strange man to see the giant dragon Pokemon fainted [have you considered 'collapsed'? instead? It's just that 'fainted' sounds just like a normal, garden Pokémon battle, and doesn't seem to capture how horrifying this battle is.] in the mud next to a smaller, pinkish brown Pokemon. Throwing a nervous glance back at the man, the mud-covered girl staggered toward the two fallen creatures. The small pink Pokemon had not yet fainted and was shivering helplessly in the mud. The girl could now see that the brown on the creature was just disgusting wet dirt and burnt fur. Scooping the pink Pokemon into her arms, the girl frowned sadly at the giant fire Pokemon, wishing there was something she could do. She then saw that the man was running back towards her and the Pokemon. Taking one last glance at the Charizard, the girl turned and fled, cradling the pink Pokemon in her arms. Panting, the girl finally reached her small house. As she climbed through the door, she thought she could hear a scream of agony in the distance. The girl shuddered and went inside.

I think this would work slightly better spilt up a little, because it I actually had to take a second look to realise what was going on:

Suddenly, the girl heard a sharp gasp and then a thud. The girl snapped her head away from the strange man to see the giant dragon Pokemon fainted in the mud next to a smaller, pinkish brown Pokemon. Throwing a nervous glance back at the man, the mud-covered girl staggered toward the two fallen creatures. The small pink Pokemon had not yet fainted and was shivering helplessly in the mud. The girl could now see that the brown on the creature was just disgusting wet dirt and burnt fur.

[to pause and digest the previous paragraph.]

She scooped the pink Pokemon into her arms and the girl frowned sadly at the giant fire Pokemon, wishing there was something she could do. She then saw that the man was running back towards her and the Pokemon. Taking one last glance at the Charizard, the girl turned and fled, cradling the pink Pokemon in her arms. Panting, the girl finally reached her small house. As she climbed through the door, she thought she could hear a scream of agony in the distance. The girl shuddered and went inside.

It would have been nice for you to mention what was running though the girl's head at this point? Did he pity overcome her fear and make her act on impulse. Just I was as shocked as the man. I was half wondering what she was scooping?!

There's not much I can criticize in this paragraph, because word and grammar-wise, it's pretty good. I like how you didn't lose the sense of drama too much, as you kept using descriptive words like 'cradling' and 'panting'. I know I'm yakking on a bit about your word choices, but I'm just saying, keep up the good work!

Now onto chapter 1!

Chapter 1: Welcome to My Life

Bright light streamed into my eyes as someone pulled up the blue curtain that had previously blocked out the morning sun, and my consciousness.

The words in this sentence seem very oddly shuffled!

The sun's bright morning light streamed into my eyes. Some one had pulled the blue curtains over, also pulling me into consciousness.

Would convey the exact thing.

<Rise and shine, my friend,> said a slightly sarcastic voice... in my head.

I rolled over and plunged my head, face-down, into my pillow, contemplating my dream. That had to be the thousandth time I had the dream; it has haunted me from the day it actually occurred six years ago. I, of course, was the young terrified girl in the dream, and the Pokemon, well that was—

<Come on, get up! Today's our big day!>.

God, you're very causal about a voice in the protagonist's head(!) Of course, the protagonist is causal about it (as it's just Mew) herself. In that case, I would play the humour up a bit differently. The ellipsis makes me think: "dun dun dun!", rather than a pause there.

<Rise and shine, my friend,> said the usual, slightly sarcastic voice that was regularly in my head.

So… the prologue was a recurring dream the protagonist had of a past event.

—yes, that was the psychic Pokemon, Mew.

"Okay, okay, I'll be up in a minute Apple," I muffled through my pillow.

Apple was what I named the young Mew I rescued that stormy day because her burnt fur matched the color of the apple trees that grew in my backyard. I wish I could say we had been friends from the day we met, but that would be lying.

mother…since my dad left….well, she hasn't quite been herself.

she would not tolerate a speck of dirt anywhere. She took to cleaning whenever she became nervous or stressed. She would certainly not tolerate a wild dirty creature that might mess up her precious house.

Thus, I was forced to nurse Apple back to health by stealing old burn heals and half-used potions from my mother's medicine cabinet. She hadn't thrown out the leftover Pokemon medicine from the days my father…trained Pokemon.

I kept the small pink creature in a box under my bed. The Mew seemed to dislike me at first. It glared up at me with those violet distrustful eyes when I fed it medicine. A few times I found the box empty, but the Mew always returned more sickly-looking after these instances. The Pokemon was too weak to go far, and had nowhere else to turn for help.

By the time Apple was back to full health, I had earned the Pokemon's trust. We became friends and played together. The first time the Mew spoke psychically to me, I nearly fainted in shock. It took me a while to get used to having the Pokemon in my head.

It's interesting that the mother has OCD, but doesn't throw away the memories of the husband that jilted her. I like this little snippet in the heroine's background.

The second last paragraph there was one of the better ones so far in this chapter. It shows a little about their relationship. That Mew owes her almost. It's just interesting…

I eventually decided it was safe to tell my mom about my pink friend, but when I tried to show her, Mew was nowhere to be found. Similar occurrences happened when I tried to show Mew to my friends. At the time, I did not understand why Mew did not want to be seen. Apple had to explain that an angry man was trying to capture it and it was trying to stay hidden from this person.

<You see,> the small creature told me. <I am a very rare Pokemon containing power I don't even know how to use yet! I was born only two years ago, from the ashes of my father Mew. I don't have enough power to be able to defend myself from the angry man.>

"What do'ya mean ashes?" I questioned, confused.

<When a Mew is 5,000 years old, it dies, and from its ashes, rises a new Mew,> the pink creature explained.

"If you're only two years old, how do you even know that?!" I asked, bewildered.

The Mew shrugged. <I guess I was born knowing that. But that's not the point. The point is I can't be seen by anyone because they might want to capture me for my power, or worse, they know the angry man! I'm not strong enough to protect myself! I need to hide myself from the world!>
[/quote]

Yes, it weird that Mew knows that in 4,998 years she will turn to ash. But then she's a mysterious, legendary creature.

I asked Mew, "Well, why don't you just put on a disguise to hide? That's what all the people do in the movies."

And that was how Apple learned how to transform into different Pokemon.

After that, Apple came with me to school everyday, and I had a Pokemon just like every other kid. As I mentioned, my mother dislikes Pokemon for their dirtiness. So, though every other kid in school had a creature as a friend, I did not have one until Apple came along, and even Apple did not qualify for some of my classmates. For one, I did not actually have a Pokeball for Apple because Apple refused to be held captive in such a devise, and I refused to capture it. Why would you want your friend kept cramped in a small uncomfortable space anyway?

Apple also did not qualify to some...well, to put it nicely, irritating companions because Apple never came to school in the same form... so the other kids in school never thought Apple was the same Pokemon. One day Apple would pretend to be a Rattata, and the next it would be a Spearow. Apple always picked small, common Pokemon so it would not draw attention to itself.

Anyway, these fellow classmates liked to pick on me before I had a Pokemon, and they continued to do so when seemingly different Pokemon came with me to school every day. One boy and girl in particular, Reece Annnoyingface and Carly Iwantoslapyou (ok, so that's not their real last names, but they fit really well!), called me some rude, and sometimes unusual, names.

Hmmm, hmmm. There isn't much I can say. It isn't an "oh-wow that's amazing paragraph", but that said, you're getting into your stride here. I can feel the heroine's own voice and personality shine through at this point. She comments that true friends wouldn't keep their friends in Poké Balls and the way she tries to be polite: "to put it nicely, irritating companions". Of course, the unusual surnames too! XD

my mother insisted that I stop allowing these Pokemon to follow me…I had to persuade my mom to allow a Pokemon to stay in our house and come to school with me everyday… I mentioned that the dirty wild Pokemon would continue to follow me until I had a trained Pokemon to protect me (so I lied just a little bit)…As the Acceber region's mascot, Eevees also happened to be a common starting Pokemon so it wasn't unusual

Just commenting on how you justified some of the harder to believe plot points. Good job on those, I thought you would just leave them there. Also, you mentioned the region (I was wondering when that would come up!)

the day Apple and I could leave school and home behind and go on out own journey.

That day is—

<Today! Wake up sometime today! Come on, get up already!>

Lovely ending to the chapter. A nice, cute bit of humour.

I have to praise your characterisation so far, even though I've just realised I don't know the protagonist's name. Nonetheless, having a Mew can risk the story straying in Suedom, though you seem okay for now. You do need a little more description, but you got away with it in that chapter as it wasn't a Pokémon battle or journey, just an introduction into what's going on. Obviously, you mightn't get away with it later.

I've noticed you have wrote a lot more chapters (your last post puts it at twenty-four) since the first one. Don't rush them! Spend as long as you need. I would post a review of all of them, but understandably, I don't have enough time on my hands! I plan to catch up and read them all, though.

Good luck. It's great to see people getting on a metaphorical fanfic ladder, joining in and writing!

 

[delongbi]

Bug Catcher Breeze (sorry, I don't know how to add the cool little heart and star, lol), thank you so much for reviewing! I really appreciate the depth you put into the review, and I will be sure to address your suggestions when I revisit those first few chapters. Seriously, thank you- you don't know how nice it feels to finally get a review here. I hope you do get around to reading the rest. As for rushing the story, well, I started it almost two years ago and have been posting just about every month. That is a pace I plan to continue with because it allows me enough time to write and revise while keeping on a set schedule.

Anyway, next chapter:

Chapter 25: Establishing Chaos

The roof gleamed black and reflective, like a shiny new Mercedes in the sun. Layers upon layers of beautiful dusty stone held up the roof, giant cracks running along the stone layers like battle scars. I wanted to reach out and touch—

"Anita, you're staring at it again," Erin said dryly.

"Mmmhm…" I answered. Soon I would be there…

Erin turned to Liam. "I think we've lost her. Maybe when we reach the lab and it's out of sight we'll be able to have an actual conversation…"

My head snapped around. "We're not going to the gym first?! Of course we're going to the gym first! We have to go to the gym first!!"

"You're a moron," Liam stated.

I would have glared, but there were more important matters to attend to—going to the gym NOW, for instance.

Erin sighed. "Anita, we talked about this ten minutes ago. You mumbled in agreement to everything we said! And I quote, 'So, Anita, we'll go to Professor Blubber's lab today and tomorrow you can challenge the gym leader?' 'Sure, Erin, sound's good.'"

<Did I actually say that?> I asked Apple.

<You mumbled something in response. I suppose it could be interpreted that way. Mumble is a difficult language to translate, it's so often mixed up with murmur and mutter…>

"You also said, and I quote, 'Mel deserves a piggyback ride. I think I'll give him one because he's such an amazing ghost!'" Mel grinned at me happily.

"Shut up, you can float if you want."

"If everyone is through quoting Anita, I think you'd like to notice that we are currently traveling in the wrong direction. Erin, you said we wanted to turn back there." Liam pointed out. Darn him, why did he always ruin my plans. It was too late to shove my elbow into his gut to get him to close his pie hole…

<You couldn't hit him if you tried. Plus, they were obviously going to notice sooner or later that they were heading to the gym. But congratulations on making it a whole twenty feet in the wrong direction! I was convinced you would only make it ten.>

"Anita, come on!" Everyone had already turned around. Erin grabbed my hand, but I stood in place.

"Can't we go to the gym first? Pleeeaase?" Yes, I resorted to begging.

Erin rolled her eyes. "Be serious. Let's go."

"Why don't we take a vote," I stubbornly replied. "All in favor of going to the gym first?" I raised my hand, and so did Mel. I smiled—finally there was someone else on my side! Erin crossed her arms and gave me her stop-it-because-I'm-done-playing look. "Look, I've gotta beat the gym as quickly as possible otherwise Jake is going to be ahead of me forever and he's annoying and you don't like him either so WHY don't you agree with me?"

"This is not about Jake. I have data and samples I collected that need to get to the lab as soon as possible—"

"Here's an idea," Liam interrupted. "You go battle at the gym. We'll deliver the samples." He sharply turned on the ball of his foot and strode down the path toward the lab.

Erin looked at me questioningly. <Is she seriously not coming?> she thought hesitantly before giving me one last fleeting look and scurrying after Liam. I watched her go.

I didn't mean to split us up…

<Then stop being so pea-headed and go after them!>

I turned around and walked towards the gym. I took bigger steps because the walk was uphill. Mel had to take twice as many to keep up.

<Anita, why are you doing this?> Apple asked.

I didn't answer. If Erin and Liam did not want to watch my gym battle, that was fine by me. If they had more important things to be doing—

<They DO have more important things to do! Snap out of it, Anita! You know Erin and Liam… well, at least Erin… support you in everything you do! It's about time you returned the favor!>

I had to avert my gaze from the gym as the sun glinted too brightly off of the roof. I was reminded of Liam's stare—the way he always made me want to avert my eyes… but I would never give him the satisfaction…

<So this is about not giving Liam the satisfaction?! Satisfaction of what? Humans and their ridiculous emotions… At least I'll get a good battle out of this.>

We reached the gym. Now I could see that the gym sat on the very tip of Cape Caution. Beyond the gym there was a cliff and then the endless ocean, sparkling in the sunlight. I angrily put my hand on the large metal doorknob, intending to slam the door open—only to be shocked, literally.

I yelped in surprise and quickly pulled my hand back. The door creaked open on its own accord, and I tentatively peaked inside. The room was pitch black.

"Cool!" Mel exclaimed and rushed inside before I could utter a warning, "Wait!" It was almost better to have Scary outside of his Pokeball at times like this. I had been ecstatic when I discovered Scary even had a Pokeball…

<Yeah, but Scary would only keep Mel from getting hurt, not from causing trouble. Stupid ghost helps Mel create problems,> Apple commented.

<You don't seem to have any qualms when you're the one causing problems,> I said sourly. <You just don't like getting a taste of your own medicine.>

I walked in after the boy, and the door slammed shut behind me. I reached my mind out to sense for life-forms and felt Apple doing the same beside me. I could barely sense a wispy Mel because there was a life so bright—

BZZZZT

Knives cut every inch of my body—not just my skin—but my gut, my lungs, my heart. My knees buckled. I could only think of the pain I was currently enduring—

And then it was gone. My breath came heavily and my mind was sluggish. Where was I? I heard a cackle, and for a moment, I thought Missy was playing an elaborate joke. Then I realized that Missy haunted Erin and Erin was not here and that cackle sounded nothing like Missy's—

Hehehe…

There it was again—it was too deep to be Missy's, but it caused the hairs on my neck to prickle up in fear in a similar manner. Not the same, though. This cackle made the hairs stand up and stay up—the fear was not leaving any time soon.

A too-bright light was ahead of me. I couldn't look at it—it was like the sun's reflection on the roof—I was spinning—

"Welcome to the Cape Caution Gym," a shrill voice seemed to scream. I covered my ears, but I could still hear the voice. "Please choose three Pokemon for battle and one for the prelim."

A gym… brilliant light… the light reflecting off of the gym's roof… knives… Pokemon… I couldn't make sense of the images. My head felt heavy. I felt something tug at my belt…

<ANITA!> Ouch, too loud, too loud… There was more pressure on my head but it was better than the loudness. Cool roundness was in my hand.

"Good, you have chosen." The voice was laughing. Maybe I was funny… now there were lots of dazzling sparkles… "Let the prelim begin."

And all was dark.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"How do you see memories?" I asked Liam, breaking our silence.

"Excuse me?" Liam finally broke his angry stride. By angry stride, I mean in each step he used just a tad too much force, causing bits of dust to come up around his feet.

"You know—what point of view do you see your memories from? See, some people imagine themselves in their memories so the view is more third person, but other people remember their memories exactly how they were, which is obviously first person. Maybe some people do a combination. Like, they see recent memories from first person, but old memories from third person. Haven't you ever had an old memory you kinda remember, but not really? Or a memory you're only reminded of when someone else mentions it so it's muddled and you sort of make up stuff to fill in the blanks? Which could be like third person…"

Usually by this time in a rant, the other person interrupts me out of annoyance. Unless that person is Anita, who often just dazes out. I looked at Liam expectantly. He was incredibly patient, I guess. Or evil and antisocial, if he wasn't planning to answer.

We walked in silence for another two minutes.

Evil and antisocial and patient.

What a horrible combination.

"Are you going to answer me?"

Liam smirked. "Why would I when it's so much more fun not to?"

"Oh, and is that why you never answer any of our personal questions? Because it's more fun not to?!"

"Sometimes."

I jumped in front of Liam and pointed accusingly. Now I was walking backwards. "And when you do answer, you're always exceedingly vague…or you just avoid the question altogether!"

Liam rolled his eyes.

I stopped walking, forcing Liam to stop as well. "Listen, buddy, you're not the only one with a less than perfect past! But that does not give you the right to mope around and not answer questions that have nothing to do with the past!"

Liam watched emotionlessly through my lecture. Then, he asked, "Are you going to move?"

I crossed my arms. "Not until you answer."

"Your question did have to do with the past."

I threw up my arms in frustration, swerved around, and continued walking. "Not directly! Ugh, fine. What's your favorite color?"

"Magenta," Liam immediately answered.

I nodded. "Good, I'll remember that for your birthday."

"You don't even know when my birthday is."

"When is it?"

"Why would I tell you when you're going to get me something magenta?" Liam gave me one of his rare, genuine half smiles.

I grinned and yelled, "I got you to smile!" In an instant, Liam was back to being Mr. Empty-face. I skipped around in circles bellowing, "I made Liam smile!" until Liam made a very inappropriate threat involving a dirty shoe we spotted on the side of the road, his broken bicycle, and my ass.

I was still laughing at Liam when a cold shiver ran up my spine. I stopped laughing abruptly, and Liam turned questioning eyes my way.

Ugh, not again…

I was sick of this Misdreavus. Why couldn't Mel just have a Pokeball for her?

"Mehehehe," Missy cackled. This had gone on too long—it was time to take care of this matter myself.

I waited for the unnerving cool breeze on the back of my neck that I knew would follow. Then—

"Griffy, crunch, behind me!" I released Griffy. There was no way Missy could move fast enough to avoid the attack and no way Missy could defend herself—ghost attacks would not affect Griffy.

Griffy's tail bit down into what looked like was air, until Missy became visible in the tail's mouth.

Before the Misdreavus could react, I threw an empty Pokeball at the Pokemon.

Missy's eyes were wide in shock as she was sucked into the little ball. The Pokeball shook once… twice… and then was still. I smirked as I picked up the Pokeball.

"Who's laughing now?" I whispered to the Pokeball before clipping it to my belt.

Liam snickered and started towards the lab again. Now laughing like Missy, I ran after the thoroughly annoyed teen.

It was not long before the red roof shingles of Cape Caution's research laboratory were in view. Just as I expected, I heard Professor Blubber's loud, bubbling voice before we even arrived at the lab. "Erin! Welcome back! How is my favorite assistant?"

Professor Blubber, messy grey hair and all, stood in front of the lab, his arms wide open in welcome.

I ran forward to hug the Professor—he was more than just my employer; he was a good friend of the family, practically an uncle. "I'm great, Professor!" I stepped back and gestured to Liam, who had caught up. "This is my friend, Liam. He researches Pokemon, too!"

Professor Blubber held out his hand and Liam took it. "It's nice to meet you! Who do you do research for?"

I watched Liam curiously. At age thirteen, kids who wanted to become Pokemon researchers usually contacted a professor. If the professor saw fit, he or she would hire the kid to collect data from around Acceber or do lab experiments or fill out paperwork—basically whatever the professor needed. Liam had mentioned the lady he worked for when we first met, but I couldn't remember her name…

"Professor Teal," Liam answered. He shifted ever so slightly uneasily. As much as I wanted to trust Liam, there were times I almost understood Anita's original absurd paranoia about him. Sometimes his body language indicated he might not be completely truthful… weird.

"Why, what a coincidence! I just heard from dear Rita for the first time in ages—that woman does keep herself busy. She seems to know more about Pokemon behavior than the rest of Acceber's professors combined. She told me she was starting to dab into genetics—I'm not surprised. That woman is brilliant, and genetics is the newest, greatest research area. She asked me to do a bit of research for her myself, actually. I'll show you once we get inside. Where is she these days? Rita never had a lab of her own; she was always moving about, going wherever her research took her."

Liam shrugged. "Like you said, sir, she moves around a lot. Last I heard, she was in Cereal City."

"No need to be so formal, lad. Just call me Professor Blubber, or Chris. 'Sir' makes me sound like a grandpa or something." Professor Blubber chuckled and ruffled Liam's hair. Liam grimaced and shook his head out when the professor wasn't looking. I stifled a giggle. "So what sort of research does Rita have you doing?"

"A bit of DNA collecting, sometimes. Professor Teal wanted me to discover Acceber for myself. She instructed me to observe Pokemon behavior and how behavior alters in different environments. There's not a lot of data to report; I'm sure she sent me on a journey to gain experience." Another one of Liam's characteristics that bothered me was how he often spoke fairly formally—especially when he was answering personal questions.

Professor Blubber nodded. "I'm honestly surprised to hear she's sponsoring an assistant. Rita was always so absorbed in her work… and busy… and hard to keep up with. It was as if she was not in tune with the rest of the world. She must have a lot of confidence in you if she's made you an assistant researcher." The professor beamed at Liam for a moment. "You must have brains, boy."

I snorted, and Professor Blubber grinned at me, his eyes twinkling. "Well, why are we still standing here? Come on inside!"

I sighed with contentment as Professor Blubber led us into the lab, burying my misgivings about Liam. The metallic-cheesy smell made me nostalgic of the days a few years ago I would come to the lab to watch the professor work. Of course, watching the professor was not my only incentive for coming to the lab.

I smiled as Professor Blubber waved us through the first room on the right.

As always, Professor Blubber took his guests to the kitchen first. The blue-tiled kitchen was just as spotless as when I had left. I sat down on the third wooden stool from the left—the seat I had always taken as a child—and ran my hand over the cold, smooth granite counter. The professor gestured for Liam to sit down and left the room.

"Where's he going?" Liam asked.

"To bring us some of his home-made cheese and crackers. It's seriously the best cheese ever, but Professor Blubber refuses to sell it. He says all cheese is meant to be eaten fresh, and selling it in packages would ruin his 'cheese ethic'. He always gives a sample to visitors of the lab, though. When I was younger, I pretty much came here just for the amazing cheese."

Liam sniffed. "That explains the weird smell."

Professor Blubber returned with a tray of yellow cheese and square crackers. I immediately started shoveling down the food. I had gone without the professor's cheese for too long! Liam picked up a very small piece of cheese and tentatively took a bite. I waited for the moment of enlightenment—

One chew.

Two chews.

And, there it is! Liam's mouth twitched slightly upward. He reached for another piece.

Professor Blubber had also been watching Liam hungrily. He loved watching peoples' reactions to his cheese, almost as much as he loved eating the cheese. In fact, I sometimes worry he eats too much cheese—his belly matches his name.

"So, Erin, tell me what you've done since you left." Professor Blubber said as he reached for a piece of cheese. "And then let me see those samples and your observation journal!"

How long ago was it that I left Cape Caution? A year? I counted backwards—no it had been seventeen months, but it seemed like yesterday I was waving goodbye to Professor Blubber and my family with my best friend, Zach—

I froze, not believing I had actually allowed myself to think of my ******* ex-best friend.

I shook my head and launched into the research-related details of my journey. Some of it, Professor Blubber already knew—I called him at least once every two months.

When we were done snacking and I had handed over the samples, Professor Blubber insisted on giving Liam a tour of the lab.

"It's not very big," Professor Blubber was saying after showing Liam a few empty workspaces and his personal office. "But it works for me. Look here." Professor Blubber opened another dull wooden door.

We followed Professor Blubber through the doorway. Inside the room, there were two closed off habitats. On my left behind glass grew large plants, similar to those I had seen by Apoosh Forest not eight months earlier. The habitat was exceedingly bright above the plants, but shaded below.

The habitat to my right was nearly opposite the one on my left. Snow blew across a dim mini-tundra (it could only be as big as the twenty square foot habitat). The snow in this habitat was higher than my waist, and below the snow, I saw there was a burrow. I leaned in closer, and noticed there was an Eevee lying in the burrow.

"Here I've tried to simulate the environments that cause Eevee to evolve into Leafeon and Glaceon. My most recent project is to figure out what in the environment, exactly, causes them to evolve. So far, I have not even been able to get these Eevees to evolve in my simulated environments…"

Liam and I examined the forest habitat. When I looked closely, I could see an Eevee sleeping in the shadows.

"How long have they been in the habitats?" I asked Professor Blubber curiously.

"Over two-months. I talked to Abalina Sycamore and Niomi Shivicle, the grass and ice gym leaders, respectively, about how they obtained Leafeon and Glaceon. They claimed the evolutions were due to the places they were at the time of evolution, but I cannot seem to prove that the environment causes the evolution."

I thought about Anita's Eevees and considered how Fiery had evolved. It had been exposed to lava…

I repeated my thoughts to Professor Blubber. He stroked his short grey mustache. "Hmm… I think I will have to look into this further. Maybe set up another habitat… In any case, come along! I have to show Liam what his mentor has requested me to work on." The professor led us out of the room and down the windowless hall to a workspace that was not empty.

Like the other workspaces, there were two large grey lab tables on each side of the room. The back wall had three large windows, sunlight lighting up the room so the electric lights were unnecessary. I blushed when I noticed a large burn-mark on one of the lab tables. That mark was from the time I had become a little too curious about how much heat a lab table could withstand… It was one of the few times I remember Professor Blubber angry…

On the non-burnt lab table, there was a… large fish skeleton? There was no sign that the fish had been dissected. There were no guts, no blood, no skin, no flesh—just a clean fish skeleton.

"Jilly, cut it out," Professor Blubber snapped. "What did I tell you about playing dead?"

The fish skeleton shrunk down until it was a blob of pink—a Ditto. "Liam, Erin, meet Jilly, a Ditto given to me by Rita."

Jilly squeaked a hello. "Ditt!"

Liam narrowed his eyes at Jilly and frowned. Professor Blubber went on explaining. "Professor Teal sent me Jilly a couple of days ago. Apparently, Rita is looking for a way to differentiate a transformed Ditto from a Pokemon. She explained that she wanted to test a Ditto's reaction in different environments compared with the actual Pokemon. I only had the two Eevee environments set up at the time so those are the only two Jilly has been tested in."

"And the results?" Liam asked.

I was somewhat surprised—Liam had not asked about anything else on the tour. Then I reminded myself that Liam was an assistant researcher, too. Of course, he was just as inquisitive as me—just quieter.

"In both cases, I had Jilly transform into an Eevee. In the forest environment, after Jilly settled in, the Ditto mostly did exactly what the Eevee did. In the arctic environment, it was fairly similar, only Jilly tended to stay in the burrow more than the Eevee. My conclusion was that Jilly behaved differently because it was unused to the cold environment. I imagine if we had left Jilly in there for a few more days, the Ditto would have become accustomed to the cold. Ditto are a very adaptive species of Pokemon; I believe that's what makes them so hard to find. If there was an easy way to tell Ditto from the original Pokemon, I'm sure they would not be so rare."

"You know, I bet we could get more information if we had Anita talk to Jilly," I suggested. "Or—" I was about to recommend just using Griffy, but Liam interrupted me.

"No! We don't need Anita's input," Liam said sharply.

"Geeze, are you still upset about that squabble we had? I mean, sure, I think Anita was being a little selfish, but she is a trainer."

"Who's Anita?" Professor Blubber interrupted.

"She's a girl who's traveling with us. We wanted her to come here first, but she decided to go battle the gym leader."

"Then how would we get more information if Anita talked to Jilly?" Professor Blubber asked.

"Well, she's—"

"Very good with Pokemon, Professor. She also has several Eevees." Liam glared at me. I did not understand—Professor Blubber was trustworthy! He wouldn't do anything if he knew Anita was psychic! Liam was such a paranoid piece of poo…

"Well, I'd be very glad to meet her! I do hope she's careful. Our gym leader here in Cape Caution is… rather bizarre."

"At best," I added. "I always thought he was insane. Wasn't he almost impeached a couple years ago?"

"Then he promised to provide free electricity for the town while he was still gym leader. Nobody has challenged him since. He's a strange fellow, not very sociable."

I nodded in agreement, and Professor Blubber motioned us out of the workspace. Liam did not take his eyes off of Jilly until Professor Blubber closed the door behind us. We walked back to the kitchen and sat down around the granite counter again.

Professor Blubber looked at me thoughtfully. "So, Erin, what are your plans?"

Plans for what? "Err, what?"

"Well, you've been traveling around Acceber for over a year now. After a year, I usually have my assistants stay here and train with me."

****. I had known this was coming… I just had not wanted to think about it. My original plan had been to simply travel with Anita back to Cape Caution. It would be the last of my journey days…

The problem was, I'd had more fun in the past two weeks than I'd had during the whole rest of my journey. I'd been excited to finally stop traveling, even if it meant having to deal with my parents in Cape Caution… but that was before I met Anita and Liam. Liam and Anita were much more entertaining than Zach—

What the hell was wrong with me? I'd thought of he-who-must-not-be-thought-of twice in the past day! I shook my head, dispersing the thought.

Desperately not wanting to discuss this with the professor, I abruptly changed the topic. "Professor, we have a strange problem. Do you know of a haunted house a few miles southwest of Cape Caution?"

Professor Blubber frowned, probably in part because he did not understand how this related to me as his assistant researcher. "No, I do not."

"Well, we found this boy who—" Liam was glaring at me again. Not the gifted thing again! "We found an abandoned ghost boy—" I winced when Liam kicked me under the table. His kicks hurt. "And brought him with us. We couldn't just leave him in the empty house! But—"

"Did you say ghost boy? What—" Professor Blubber.

Liam interrupted. "She meant ghostly boy. He is very pale and thin from malnourishment—like a ghost."

Now it was my turn to glare at Liam. "No—" Liam kicked me again, and I nearly fell off the chair. My eyes were watering. The pain was not worth it… "Anyway, this boy needs a home. Do you know of who we should talk to about it?"

Professor Blubber scratched his chin. "Unfortunately, there's not an orphanage here. I'm sure I could have him sent to a very prestigious school near Mint Mountain—"

"NO!" I yelled. That place was hell. Professor Blubber gave me an odd look. "I mean, I don't think he would like that school. Is there any other option?"

"Well, the closest orphanage is in Vintage Village. They've gotten great support since that huge fire. I would also ask Nurse…" Professor Blubber paused for a moment. "Your mother."

Aw, crap. Another topic I had been hoping to avoid.

"Speaking of which, have you talked to her yet? She was very worried about you—usually complains you do not call enough. She's always asking her new apprentice—that boy you left Cape Caution with—to try calling you."

I blanched. "New apprentice?"

"You know, that boy that always wears a Pokemon League cap with brown hair, hazel eyes? His name is Sam… no that's not it. Maybe Jack…?"

"Zach," I whispered. No, this could NOT be happening…

"Yeah, Zach, that was his name!" Professor Blubber exclaimed.

I determinedly forced myself to relax. "Professor, would it be possible for me and my friends to stay at your house?"

Professor Blubber sighed. "Erin, I know you and your mother have your differences, but she cares about you a lot. For your own sake, I am going to have to decline. Family is too important. In fact," Professor Blubber looked at his watch. "why don't you go to the Pokemon Center now so your mother can see you. I have to finish up a few things here…"

"But, Professor, Liam and I can help you here, in the lab! What do you need done?" I asked frantically.

Professor Blubber gave me the I'm-an-adult-so-I-know-better-than-you smile. I hate those. "Actually, there is something that I need." He fished his hand around in his large lab coat pocket, finally pulling out a Pokeball. "This newly caught Bellsprout needs to be healed. I'm trusting you to get it to the Pokemon Center. You won't let me down, will you?"

In a last ditch effort, I said, "But Anita will not know where we are! We have to stay here until she finishes the gym battle!"

Professor Blubber laughed. "You think she'll come back here after she battles Sparky?" The professor snorted. "More likely, she'll go straight to the emergency room. And where is that, my dear stubborn assistant?"

"The Pokemon Center…" I mumbled.

"Exactly! Now run along!"

**** my life.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"What the **** is wrong with you?!" I yelled into the phone. The perfectly aligned paperclips on my desk vibrated with my voice. I pounded my hand on the desk, knocking all of the paperclips to the floor, partially because the paperclip vibrations were annoying, but mostly because I was talking to a ****ing moron who couldn't do a ****ing thing right.

"I'm…I'm sorry Mr. Arkle, but…" The imbecile on the other end of the line lowered his voice. "I got caught."

"No ****ing kidding!"

There was the barest murmur through the phone. "You didn't swear so much when you hired me…"

"Because you hadn't ****ed up and I wasn't ****ing angry!"

"So… when will you get me out? When can I try again?"

"I cannot believe I assigned a moron like you to this task. Not only did you fail to get the information I need, but you called me from jail expecting me to 'get you out'. Sorry sweetie, but there are no ****ing second chances in Team Glop'emm, and certainly no bailouts. You fail, you lose." I slammed the phone into the receiver.

Dear Arceus, G-d, Creator, what idiots were they letting into Team Glop'emm these days?

I squeezed the arms of my leather chair in frustration and stared at the electric clock that sat on my desk, next to the 'Acting Master: Jamie Arkle' sign. Twenty minutes until my next meeting.

My decision was made before I even rose from the chair. There was a saying: If you want something done right, do it yourself. I never believed it. I still don't believe it. If you want something done right, yell at and fire (or kill) every moron that does it wrong. Eventually, you'll stumble upon a moron that can do it right.

Unfortunately, I did not have time for that.

Thus, I'd have to settle with the first saying.

I quickly locked my office and slipped into the elevator, pressing the ground button.

After navigating the maze of windowless halls, I finally reached the outside world. It was a cloudless, windless day. I took a glance back at our facility. From the outside, the austere grey building looked like another typical office building.

Wasting no time, I began my swift trek down the road to the City Hall.

The street was fairly crowded, with a few hundred inept businessmen doing their best to take as long of a lunch break as possible. When I passed a series of overrated restaurants, the shrill voices of upset children and their mothers rang in my ears. I sped my walking.

As I took a short cut through the park, I saw Rita Teal's despicable blue hair bobbing with the irksome chirping of Pidgeys. What the hell was she doing here? She sat on a park bench, now completely within my view, grinning like a mad woman and throwing bread to the loud Pidgeys. I caught her eye, and was unsuccessful in wiping away her smile.

We then both continued on as if we did not know or care about the other's existence.

When I ruled Team Glop'emm, that freak would be the first to go.

The City Hall was just outside of the park. The building was round, like a tire, with minor offices in the outer rings and important offices in the middle. I, of course, was headed towards neither. My long fingers gently caressed the two Pokeballs I was preparing use.

I entered the building through the main entrance. The pretty secretary at the front desk looked up at me, startled by my quick entry.

"Good day, sir. Can I see some form of identification?" she asked.

"No," I snickered. I pressed the release button on the Pokeballs I had been holding. "Magnemite, Hypno, make sure I am not caught."

"Just who—" the idiot woman was cut off as Hypno swung her pendulum. I turned and strutted down the hall.

By now, the woman was probably drooling in her sleep. Magnemite and Hypno were accustomed to break-ins. Magnemite would disrupt the cameras and other electronic security, while Hypno ensured nobody saw me, or at least remembered seeing me.

The basement door was easy to find. Unfortunately, it was locked with the DNA technology Rita Teal had installed. Oh, the irony.

<Hypno,> I called, knowing she would hear my thoughts. <I need the thumbprint of a knocked out security guard.>

Not twenty seconds later, an unconscious security guard was floating towards me. I took his thumb and pressed it to the DNA scanner. "Access denied," a cool automated voice said. I was tempted to have Hypno shatter the door to pieces. But, no, I wanted my presence to go undetected.

There was one person in the building who I was sure would have access to this door. <Fetch the mayor,> I ordered before mentally cursing the Master. If it were not for that snooty teen, Hypno would be able to psychically open the door. Being the paranoid bastard he was, he ensured all doors locked with DNA scanners were twined with dark material so they could not be psychically tampered with.

As demanded, Hypno brought me the mayor in a sleepy trance, and as expected, the door swung open.

I carefully stepped down into the dark basement, feeling the wall for a light switch. When I reached the bottom, my hand felt the switch, and one dull bulb flickered to life. The basement was huge, running under almost the entire building. Several storage boxes and cleaning items were strewn about, as if someone had thrown them from the top of the staircase.

I quickly flicked my eyes across the garbage, looking for what I came here for—

The computer.

I found it leaning against a wall, like an old man.

This particular computer was the private database of Drape Town. Because it held personal information—like tax money paid—of all the individuals in Drape Town, it was on a different server than any other computer. It also did not have Internet, making it virtually unhackable, without physically being at the computer.

Which I now fortunately was.

I took out another Pokeball and spoke as the red release light flashed. "Porygon2, I want you to find all information regarding the Mendol family or the current gym leader, especially past residencies."

The cyber Pokemon appeared before me, and then seemed to be shrunk into the USB port. I strummed my fingers across the keyboard as the computer whirred, impatient for the results.

After five minutes, the screen blinked. Porygon2 appeared on the screen, cocking its head at me. Next to the virtual Pokemon words appeared:

Zero Results Found

 

[delongbi]

Whoo! Finally made it to the third page. Isn't weird how little things like that make posting so much more exciting?

Anywho...

Chapter 26: Chaos Established

It was amazing how quickly Ditto was able to adapt. In only a matter of seconds, Sticky was pecking at the tossed bread just like the other Pidgeys. If a Ditto could become acclimated this quickly, a Pokemon that could transform and read minds would likely show zero signs of transformation.

Professor Blubber's research had illustrated that in extreme environments, there was a difference in behavior before the Ditto fully adjusted. Unfortunately, the Anita Parkwood façade had existed in Acceber for about six years, more than enough time for Mew to settle in as a human.

I grinned. Luckily, with the discovery I had made just hours ago, none of this mattered. As it turned out, my request for Professor Blubber's help had been completely unnecessary. Now it was just a matter of finding an opportune time to contact the Master. Exchanging letters via flying Pokemon was not a safe enough method of communication for this important information. I would have to get a hold of Jamie's walkie…

As if fate had been reading my mind, I looked up and there Mr. Arkle was, glaring at me as he strode quickly by my bench. I broke the eye contact first and leaned back on the bench, my eyes closed. "Sticky, get a good look at his belt," I murmured, barely moving my lips.

When I was positive Jamie was well out of hearing range, I opened my eyes. "Sticky, did you see the grey walkie-talkie on his belt?"

The transformed Ditto shook its head. Perfect. I pulled out a Pokeball. "Twix, let's go!" Twix, my faithful Pidgeot, cooed and extended her wings as she was released. I climbed onto her back. "To the lab, quickly," I ordered.

With just one powerful flap, we were lifted off the ground and speeding past the Drape Town locals. Wind whipped my dyed-blue hair from my face as I looked back to ensure Sticky was following us.

Twix gracefully landed in front of Team Glop'emm's headquarters and I returned both Sticky and Twix to their Pokeballs. I practically jogged through the twisted corridors to the elevator and then to the Master's office.

Glancing about to make sure nobody saw me, I pressed my thumb to the DNA scanner next to the office door. The scanner allowed me to enter, of course. I had programmed it.

The office was somehow bleaker than when the Master had occupied it. The black blinds were completely closed, and the desk seemed a little too organized. There was no sign of the walkie-talkie atop the desk.

I pulled out two Pokeballs and pressed the release button. Two pink blobs appeared. "Sticky, I want you to transform into Magnemite. Remember, like Mr. Arkle's? Mess with all the bugs in this room so it seems like I was never here. Spud," I called to the other Ditto. "I probably need you over here."

While Sticky transformed into Magnemite, I tiptoed around the desk, careful not to bump the plush chair, and tested the top left drawer. As expected, it was locked.

"Spud, you know what to do."

Spud slid to my side and stuck a gooey strand into the keyhole. An instant later, the drawer clicked open.

I patted Spud on what seemed to be his head—it was always hard to tell when he was a blob—and peered into the drawer. There were several pencils, notecards, and staples, but no walkie. We tried three more drawers before I finally spotted the little communication device.

Before picking up the walkie, I rummaged in my lab coat pocket for a rubber glove to avoid fingerprints. I lifted the walkie-talkie out of the drawer and pressed the green button.

There was a dull buzzing sound, and then—

"Yes?"

"Master, it's Rita."

There was silence. For a moment I thought he might have hung up. "Odd. I was going to call you." His voice was tense.

"For what?" I asked.

"I have just been informed that you contacted Professor Blubber to assist in a research project that was supposed to remain only within Team Glop'emm's labs." The Master's tone was icy.

My mouth was dry. "Master, I thought the Professor's input would be useful. The Professor and I have known each other for years. I did not explain the whole project—"

"Was it?"

"Pardon?"

The Master asked more harshly. "Was the Professor's input useful?"

"Well, a bit—"

"It is a simple question. Answer with a yes or no."

"No."

"Next time you get a brainless urge to involve those outside of Team Glop'emm in a research project, you will contact me."

"Yes, sir."

"Now," the Master continued, "why did you call?"

"I have news." I found it hard to speak in a cohesive manner and wondered if others had similar problems when they spoke with the teen. I forced my mouth to work. "I have been working with one of my Dittos for over a week now to learn English, and have been extremely successful. The Pokemon already has the vocabulary of a six-year-old child. Also, as you requested, I had a few of my assistants investigate the Parkwood family. Every person interrogated reported that Anita seemed to have a strange bond with wild Pokemon when she was younger. Just as you suspected, the Parkwood family arrived in Melonbi Town just months before your father battled Pokemon X on the outskirts of Melonbi Town."

"Is this all you had to report? A letter would have sufficed—"

"No, Master." My hand flew to my mouth. I had just interrupted the Master. My worst nightmares were about to come true—I would be fired and then I would have not money for research and then—

"I'm waiting."

I blinked and breathed out slightly in relief. "Earlier today, I was comparing the DNA brain samples of a Ditto transformed into a Rattata to those of a Rattata. Specifically, I was comparing hippocampus DNA. The hippocampus is—"

"—where long term memory is stored. I know this, Rita."

"Of course. When a Ditto transforms, its memories remain the same. Thus, the hippocampus cannot shift as much as the rest of the body during transformation."

"All Pokemon have a hippocampus that is relatively the same shape," the Master stated.

"Yes. If it was just normal long-term memory the Ditto had to preserve, I would have likely never found a major difference in DNA." I knew after I said that sentence, the Master would stop interrupting me. "Ditto and Pokemon X are both able to mimic the DNA of any Pokemon they see. When a Ditto sees a Pokemon, it's body automatically creates and stores a copy of the Pokemon's DNA. I can only assume Pokeamon X's body works the same way. When transformed into a Pokemon, Ditto must preserve its own DNA in order to have the ability to return to its original form. Neither Ditto nor Pokemon X can transform directly from one Pokemon to another without returning to its original form. Thus, when in its original form, the different Pokemon DNA must be actually embedded into the original body. But I stray from my point… I figured that some part of the hippocampus DNA had to be different in the Ditto because the Ditto must have a way to recall its entire original genome instantly. Today, I found that difference."

"Rita, you are brilliant."

Coming from the master, that was quite a complement.

"Now that we know what part of the brain stimulates transformation, it should be fairly simple to create a device that forces transformation. A week from today, perhaps…" I trailed. Then I remembered what one of my assistants had proved yesterday, leading to my discovery today. "There is another difference you should know between a transformed Ditto and a Pokemon—Ditto cannot evolve when transformed. In a transformed Ditto, the part of the hippocampus that safely holds its original genome replaces the part of the hippocampus most Pokemon have containing the DNA of any evolutions."

"Interesting…" There was silence for almost half of a minute. "Ensure that Jamie does not discover this conversation. Master out."

I replaced the walkie-talkie in the drawer and carefully left the room, returning my Dittos to their Pokeballs. My heart thumped unevenly in excitement as I rode the elevator down to my laboratory.

I lived for this—

For the mind-boggling buzz after a new discovery.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

<Anita! Anita! It's time to get up! It's been time to get up for the past… I don't know, but it was a long time! Anita!>

Something wet dragged across my face.

I opened my eyes, and nearly jumped in surprise when I found Splash hovering over my face. The Eevee's ears drooped just above my nose. <Finally!> Splash exclaimed, his ears swiftly shooting up in joy, causing me to sneeze.

I sat up. "What… what happened? Where…?" I was stunned into silence as I took in my surroundings. Splash and I were sitting in some sort of glass sphere. Two thick bands of metal ran through the glass, splitting the sphere into four sections.

I looked down through the glass section Splash and I were occupying, and noted that the sphere seemed to sink into the white floor, like it was on top of a giant pillow. I looked out the other glass sections of the sphere, only to find more white. Apparently, the sphere was in a quite creepy blank room.

When I did not see any holes in the sphere, I randomly wondered how long it would take for us to suffocate.

I turned to Splash and asked again, <What happened?>

<Well, when I was let out of my Pokeball, you were asleep and an old sparkly guy—> Images of a bright, laughing silhouette flashed through my mind. Right, I was in a gym. So this must be the…<—was here. And he did this funny electricity thing—like a Pikachu—to put this giant Pokeball together.>

I waited for Splash to keep explaining, but he seemed to be finished. <What do you mean, we're in a giant Pokeball…?> I questioned.

<Well, we're in a giant sphere so it must be a Pokeball! 'Cause what else is a sphere? Well, actually, oranges, and basketballs, and suns, and—>

<Enough! So is there anything else I should be aware of about our situation? For instance, knowing how to beat this prelim would be nice…>

<Nope!> Splash answered happily. As he crouched down, he noticed his breath was causing the glass beneath him to smog up. Thus, he simply had to press his nose up against the glass several times to make random shapes—or beautiful art. Splash and I were of different opinions.

I rolled my eyes and got to my feet. Well, maybe getting out of this sphere was the prelim. I pressed my hand against the metal—

BZZZT

I yelped in pain and pulled my hand back from the metal band. Splash was distracted from the smiley face he was making. <Oh yeah, the shiny stuff is electric!>

I glared. <And you were going to tell me this when?>

Splash shrugged. <You're the psychic. I thought you'd know!>

Annoyed, I growled, <Is there anything else I should know, that I might not know if I wasn't a psychic?!>

<Err, how about using a double negative confuses people?>

I had been awake, for what, maybe two minutes and I was already tempted to bang my head against the glass so I was knocked out again. Or maybe electrocuting myself would be more efficient…

Splash wasn't finished. <And, there was that message the sparkly guy told me to tell you…>

I stared at Splash in disbelief.

<He said to win, all you had to do was sharpen the pencil!>

If I stared at Splash before in disbelief, I don't know what my face looked like when I stared at Splash now…

<…Sharpen a pencil?!>

<Yup!> Splash pointed a paw. <Look!>

I peered through the glass to where he was pointing. There, on the ground, was a classic wooden number two pencil lying next to an electric pencil sharpener.

<So I just have to get the pencil into the sharpener?>

Splash was getting distracted again—inspecting his paw prints on the glass.

I sighed. If Apple had taught me telekinesis already, this would be easy. Hmm, there was the possibility that Apple was near enough to help… I reached out with my mind but felt no one but Splash in my range.

Okay, so I would have to do this myself. I could try to use telekinesis.

I focused on the pencil and slowly became aware of each particle making up the entire entity. I could feel every wooden grain surrounding the thin column of graphite. I was one with the pencil. Oh, yeah. A dream come true.

But nothing happened.

The pencil would not budge.

When Splash got so bored he started playing with my hair, I decided it was time for a different approach.

My mind shot forward to create a barrier under the pencil… only to be stopped by the rather solid floor. Apple says barriers can be made inside of solids, but I had yet to figure out how that worked.

My head was knocked forward, forcing me back to my body. <Ow, Splash, cut it out! I'm trying to concentrate!>

<Lemme help, lemme help!>

<This is kinda a psychic thing, Splash,> I explained. With that, I tried again.

And again.

After several failed attempts, I made a barrier next to the pencil, but I couldn't get the barrier to move, which would have allowed me to push the pencil. Frustrated, I slammed my fist down, and was shocked yet again.

<Ouch!> I shook my hand out.

The sphere moved a little from the force of my punch. <Ooh, look how squishy the ground is!> Splash exclaimed. He moved our giant trap-ball-thing a little more and was immensely amused when the sphere sunk into the floor.

<Splash, you're brilliant!> I created a curvy barrier a little ways away from the pencil and pressed more barriers on top. The force of the barriers caused the floor around the barriers to sink, and the pencil rolled down onto the curved barrier. I dissipated the weight barriers so my curved barrier and the pencil sprung upwards. Just as gravity was about to pull the pencil back to the ground, I caught it with yet another barrier.

<That was awesome! You got the pencil to float!> My concentration nearly snapped.

<Splash, still concentrating here! Hush up!> I ordered. Now I just had to figure out how to get the pencil into—

<Why did you need to bounce the pencil to make it float?> Ugh, Splash was going to ruin everything! When I attempted to block him from my mind, I nearly destroyed my barrier. It was hard to block out just one being— I could either block out nothing of everything. <Couldn't you just move it with you're mind? Maybe—>

<SPLASH!> I lost concentration and the pencil fell. <Now look what you've done! I need to concentrate! That means you NOT talking!>

Splash's ears flicked back, and I immediately regretted what I'd said. I reached out to comfort him, but he flinched away.

<Splash… Look, I'm sorry.> I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind. I showed Splash how I was trying to move the pencil to the pencil sharpener and how I made barriers, emphasizing the concentration needed to be successful.

I also saw Splash's yearning to help and his disappointment when I continually shut him down. I expected Splash's mind to be unorganized and random. However, I found Splash had a rather logical perspective.

The images of my barriers I had shown Splash continued to flash through his mind as he attempted to make sense of the memories. Only seconds later, Splash showed me an image of the pencil sharpener on a tilted barrier and the pencil sliding down a barrier-made slide into the pencil sharpener.

Without leaving Splash's mind, I attempted his set up. I easily bounced the pencil sharpener into position. The pencil, however, ended up facing the wrong way so I had to create a barrier slide that curved around into the sharpener.

<Ready?> I asked Splash. We weren't watching the setup with our eyes; I was feeling it with my mind and showing the images to Splash automatically, as our minds were still entwined.

Splash's setup worked perfectly. The pencil easily slid into the sharpener.

I opened my eyes and found Splash already in my arms, licking my face. I lifted the Eevee and spun around.

"Yes! We did it!" I cheered.

<And it was all my idea,> Splash added smugly.

"Yes it was." I paused.

Silence.

"Shouldn't we be let out of here now?"

Splash and I peered through the glass at the pencil sharpener. The pencil was in the sharpener…

<It's not plugged in.>

WHAT THE HELL!? WHO FREAKIN MAKES THE PRELIM SHARPENING A PENCIL, ANYWAY? THE GYM LEADER COULD AT LEAST MAKE SURE HIS STUPID ELECTRIC PENCIL SHARPENER WAS PLUGGED IN TO AN ELECTRICAL OUTLET. BUT NOOOO, THE MORON HAD TO STICK US IN AN EMPTY ROOM IN A GERBIL BALL! WHEN I GOT OUT OF HERE, I WAS GOING TO GIVE HIM A PIECE—

<ANITA!>

Splash was staring past me. I followed his gaze.

The pencil sharpener was blown to bits.

"…Oops…"

<I think you killed the pencil. Actually, it was more like a violent murder.> It took me a few seconds to locate the pencil among the pencil sharpener debris. It was not a pretty sight. The top of the pencil had been blown off somewhere. I doubted it was still a full piece. The piece of pencil that was left was jaggedly cut across the top, wood shards sticking out at awkward angles.

HHIISSSS

The gerbil ball opened up, and I gratefully breathed in the fresh air.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, my young pinecone, but I suppose the pencil is sharp now," a voice cackled.

I turned around. <Did he just call me a pinecone?> I asked Splash.

<You are kinda like a Pineco,> Splash commented. <With the whole exploding at random times…>

Before me stood a wrinkly man in jeans and a dark jacket made of a bizarre material (was it rubber?). The man's peculiar stormy eyes had the eccentricity and excitement of a five-year-old, but what really unnerved me was the way his grey hair stood up from the random sparks that seemed to be radiating from his head.

"Well, don't just stand there gaping," the old man said. He held out his hand, grinning madly. "I'm Sparky, the gym leader of Cape Caution."

"Nice to meet you," I answered, carefully not taking the man's hand. I had the feeling it would have been a rather shocking experience. Then I remembered I had a reprimanding sermon to deliver to this particular wacko. "What the HELL was that prelim about?" I yelled. "Sharpening a pencil? What does that have to do with electricity?! What does that teach me?! That electric pencil sharpeners are freakin' unreliable?! Do I get one of those ridiculous plastic pencil sharpeners when I beat you!? You must be a twisted old drunk and lonely man! A real fu—"

"Tsk, tsk. Watch your language, my young pinecone, for there are innocent ears listening." Sparky laughed, sending a wave of sparks through his hair. "Come now. We must fetch the Pokemon you intend to use in battle." The gym leader swerved and walked impossibly fast—for an old man—out of a door I had not noticed. Where had that come from?

I walked after the gym leader. Splash hesitated, lightly leapt through the debris, and picked up the half exploded pencil between his canines before following me. We walked down a dull narrow hallway and stopped at a room that was an exact replica of the prelim room, minus the giant gerbil ball. Three Pokeballs and one perturbed Apple lay in the middle of the room.

Apple immediately leapt into my arms. <Are you okay?>

I nodded, and we quickly exchanged memories. I showed Apple the prelim, and Apple showed me how Sparky had put an incredibly strong shock through my body—I caught a whiff of Apple's guilt from not creating a protective barrier fast enough. Sparky, apparently, had then told me to choose three Pokemon for battle and one for the prelim. Realizing my mind was not functional enough to make a decision, Apple had psychically made me pick up Splash's Pokeball while she grabbed two others. Then Sparky had taken her to this room and me to a room her psychic would not affect…

I grinned at Apple, touched by how much worry there was in her mind. There were several instances she had considered breaking out of the room psychically to find me, even though it would have exposed her. <Thank goodness you didn't,> I said lightly.

<I kept reminding myself it was just a prelim, which, considering you last prelim, did not help very much…>

<So who'd you choose for battle?> I asked curiously.

<Who you would have chosen—me, Fiery, and Allo.>

<So there are advantages to having an over intrusive Eevee constantly in my mind…>

<I know you wouldn't have chosen Splash for the prelim. Probably Sunflower… But you don't know your Pokemon as well as I do.>

Opening my mind up to Splash as well, I said, <Splash was wonderful. I couldn't have done it without him.> Splash gave me a toothy smile, still holding the pencil like it was a trophy, before I picked up his Pokeball and pressed the return button.

Picking up my other Pokeballs, I asked Sparky, "Where to now?"

Sparky cackled for probably a full minute before answering, "Down, of course."

Then I was falling.

<I officially dub this gym leader more insane than Aden,> was my first thought to Apple. My second thought was something like, <I'm too young to plunge to my death!>

We stopped plummeting due to the barrier I created; it was like a glass floor. I looked up. The floor of the room we had been standing in—the ceiling of this room—was closing back up. I was reminded of Aden's remote control bridge. When I looked down, I found myself looking at a floor made of dirt only three or four yards away. The walls of the room were made of stone, with some spots giving off extremely bright light.

<Nice barrier!> Apple exclaimed.

I noticed that Sparky had landed on what looked like a large waterbed and narrowed my eyes suspiciously. He must be used to randomly making trainers fall into his stadium. I released my barrier and landed nimbly on the dirt floor.

I was pretty proud of myself for making it look graceful.

<Ow!> Apple yelled at me. <You could have warned me you were about to do that, you know! Now my tail hurts!>

<You're supposed to be psychic.>

<And you're supposed to be my thoughtful and considerate trainer! There is obviously a huge gap between reality and what is expected—> Apple started.

<Well, I expect you to shut up!>

Apple smugly retorted, <But, see, that's not the reality! I have some very important information, which you will just have to listen to if you want to win. While you were injuring my precious tail, I was trying to get into Sparky's mind. And it kinda hurt.>

<Yes, generally falling hurts whatever body part—>

<No, I mean entering his mind. It was physically painful, and confusing, and…>

<Shocking?> I suggested.

<Exactly!>

<Somehow, I'm not surprised.>

"Finally!"

I looked away from Apple. Mel was standing in front of me, hands on his hips.

"Do you know how long I was waiting?! It's a good thing Sparky is the coolest person ever, otherwise I'd be pretty upset about having to wait so long for you two to battle! At first, when I wanted to help speed up your task-thing, Sparky was mean 'cause he wouldn't let me go. But then he started showing me the coolest stuff, and we played this game where I had to dodge his electric bolts—"

I think my eyes nearly popped out of my head. "He WHAT?!"

"I was never hit! I turned invisible or went through the wall."

I turned to Sparky, who was smiling mildly. "Are you INSANE? Mel is a kid! He's not even a challenger! And you're just casually throwing electric bolts that, oh, might kill him! How the hell are you a gym leader?!"

"Young pinecone, in this gym you will use three Pokemon. It will be a single battle, with no switching. You may not physically come in contact with your opponent's Pokemon, your Pokemon, or your opponent, but you may assist your Pokemon in any other way."

"Are you ignoring me!?"

Sparky cackled, "Of course not. I'm answering your question." In a flash of red, an Electrode appeared.

"Mel, do not interfere, and stay out of the way," I ordered.

"Well, duh! What part of I can't wait to see you two battle did you not understand?" Mel replied, before disappearing.

"Go, Apple!"

There was a single intense moment that nothing happened. Apple stared at the Electrode, the Electrode stared back.

Then sparks flew, literally.

Apple and I both threw up psychic barriers. The electric bolts were not just coming from the Electrode, but from Sparky as well, and they were aimed at both me and Apple.

"Rollout!" I heard Sparky yell. The Electrode stopped shooting sparks. Sparky, unfortunately did not. I had to continuously keep pulsing energy into my barrier, which was now a large dome encompassing me, Apple, and the Electrode to keep from being electrocuted by Sparky. Apple fed me some of her power to strengthen my barrier.

<Dig,> I ordered. Apple disappeared below the ground and the Electrode missed.

"Spark Anita." The sound was faint, and the barrier was getting to be too much for me. I knew the Electode's bolts were heading right towards me…

Apple put a barrier up in front of me. <I'll deal with the Electrode. You just keep Sparky from turning us all into fried chicken.>

Apple popped out of the ground, but the Electrode was already out of the way. Bright lights and sparks were everywhere. I winced when the weight on my barrier increased.

<Stay with it, Anita!> Apple called as she dodged another rollout. Her tail lit up, and she managed to bat the Electrode away.

The Electrode grinned and sent another thunderbolt our way.

<Apple, you've got to keep trying dig. It's the only attack that will really hurt!> Apple dug underground as she put up another barrier to protect me from the Electrode's thunderbolt.

My barrier faltered. Bright lights, stabbing pain, my ears screamed at me—

Panting, I managed to throw the barrier back up. Sparks whispered in my ears to give in to the pain, to let the knives attack. My mind whirled. All I knew was to keep up the barrier.

I saw strange images. A large Pokeball rolling into a hole, a purple sky, a laughing old man mouthing something.

<Anita—>

The ground exploded. I was thrown backwards into the wall, along with mounds of dirt and a few sharp pebbles. The wall shuddered with me and the thousands of tiny needles that seemed to be poking into my back. I fell to the ground, groaning.

I thought for sure I would black out.

Somehow I didn't.

Panting, I called, <Apple?>

No reply. I lifted my heavy head and squinted into the giant crater that now made up the center of the stadium, thanks to what I assumed had the Electrode's explosion. I did not see Apple or the Electrode so I crawled forward a bit to get a closer look—

The earth gave way below me and I tumbled down into the crater, dirt getting caught in my fingernails as I uselessly tried to stop my fall.

I wouldn't have seen Apple if I hadn't slid right over, she was so covered in grime. I lifted her into my arms. <Apple?>

She was knocked out. I took a deep breath, summoned my powers, and slid into her mind. I was surprised by how easily my powers came, despite the huge strain I had just undergone. Everything was dark in Apple's mind so I sank to a deeper level. Everything was still dark. <Apple?> I tentatively called again.

Apple, in her Mew form, appeared in front of me, with a surprised look on her face. <What are you doing here? I've fainted.>

<I wanted to make sure you're okay. That was a major explosion.>

<Don't you have a battle to get back to?>

<Well, yeah,> I said sheepishly.

<Then get moving!>

I jolted back into my body and blinked as my eyes adjusted.

"Will you send out your next Pokemon, already!?" Sparky yelled. I looked up. Sparky was grinning down at me from the edge of the crater, with a Pokeball in his hand. My barrier must have kept the damage from Electrode's explosion inside the barrier because Sparky appeared completely unharmed, as did the walls and ceiling of the stadium.

I picked up Apple and trudged my way up the steep slope, out of the crater. My legs burned with each step. Once, I slipped slightly and almost slid all the way back down. I caught Sparky's eye, which was still filled with a wild excitement, and I wondered if I had drained the gym leader's powers at all.

When I reached the top, I laid Apple down behind me. Too bad Sparky had confiscated my pack—there was some medicine I could have given Apple in there. I pulled out another Pokeball.

"Go, Allo!"

Sparky laughed and released a Jolteon.

I prepared my mind for Sparky's onslaught, well aware that without Apple, I probably would not be able to withstand the pressure for more than thirty seconds at best.

Sparky laughed. For some reason I got the feeling he was laughing at me. "Thundershock," he ordered. I was surprised when he did not try to electrocute me. Perhaps I had drained some of his energy…

My main advantage in this battle would be telepathy; Sparky would not be able to predict my moves. <Dodge, then quick attack, Allo.>

Allo managed to avoid getting shocked, and ran at the Jolteon. Faster than I could see, the Jolteon was gone.

<Behind you!> I yelled. I threw up a barrier to stop the Jolteon's pin missile from hitting Allo.

<Allo, you've got to move faster!>

<I'm trying, I'm trying!>

"Sparkles, quick attack to get in close! Then let's shock them!"

Sparkles—which was apparently the Jolteon's name—was on Allo, faster than I could throw my mind forward. <Sand attack!> I called, in hopes of dissipating the speed advantage.

It was too late. Allo was knocked out with the single thunderbolt/quick attack combo I failed to block.

I murmured a "Nice try," as Allo was returned to his Pokeball. I released Fiery.

Immediately, Sparky had Sparkles fire off a few thunderbolts, all of which Fiery was able to dodge or I was able to block with a barrier. I knew it wouldn't last. This time when Sparkles closed in for a physical attack, I'd be ready. Fiery would be ready.

<Fiery, heat up your body temperature,> I ordered. <Get ready to use ember.>

You know in Star Wars or Star Trek or Star Whatever how the starships look when they go from normal space-time to faster than light travel? Well, that's what it looked like when Sparkles started running in a quick attack.

Like right now. "Quick attack and thunderbolt, Sparkles!" Sparky chuckled, "No dodging that!"

The Jolteon was sparking as it took off towards Fiery. Fiery would be electrocuted before he could pull off an ember… unless—

<Iron-tail. Use iron-tail, but hold onto that ember!>

Fiery's attack was a moment too late. Sparkles used thunderbolt while in contact with Fiery, but Fiery was able to maneuver the Jolteon away before he was seriously hurt. Fiery's tail slammed Sparkles to the ground.

<Ember, now!>

Standing above Sparkles, Fiery breathed fire down onto the Jolteon. Sparkles' fur caught on fire.

Sparkles attempted to use another thunderbolt, but Fiery was far away enough from Sparkles for me to create a barrier between the two Pokemon. Sparkles used the distraction to scramble away from Fiery, back towards Sparky.

<Fiery, keep it up! Get after it and use ember!>

Fiery sprinted toward the Jolteon at full speed. There was a moment that I thought Sparkles would just stand there, and let the attack hit. The Jolteon was burnt and had been hit by Fiery's iron tail. There was no way the Pokemon could move as quickly as before, but I had expected him to at least try to escape—

Sparkles disappeared before Fiery hit. What my eyes could not see, my mind could feel. <Fiery, quick attack, on your left!>

I did not understand. Sparkles should be hurt—how was that Jolteon still moving so quickly?

Fiery and Sparkles collided, as did Fiery's flames and Sparkles' sparks. Both Pokemon were forced backwards. Fiery was panting hard… but Sparkles was hardly panting. I narrowed my eyes.

<Fiery, I need to figure out why your attacks don't seem to be affecting Sparkles. Keep dodging—I'm going to enter their minds.>

Fiery nodded and ducked under a random thunderbolt.

Apple had warned me about Sparky so I would enter Sparkles' mind instead. I easily listened to the Jolteon's thoughts, but the Pokemon, unfortunately, seemed completely absorbed in the battle. For the most part, Sparkles did not even think—he only carried out the commands of his trainer. Occasionally a random thought about a new way to dodge one of Fiery's ember attacks or how to more effectively execute a thunderbolt would wander across Sparkles' mind.

I found I had a lot of trouble delving any deeper into Sparkles' mind. I did not have a connection with Sparkles like I had with Apple, or even with my other Pokemon. Eventually, I decided it would be far easier and faster to try Sparky's mind, despite Apple's warning.

Sparky felt brighter than any creature I had come across before. Tentatively, I touched a thin strand of my power to Sparky's mind. Immediately, I doubled over in pain. The knives and needles had returned, trying to wheedle me into letting go of the connection, stopping the pain. But no, there was something I had… had to figure out? Maybe… if only I could remember what it was…

My vision blurred, becoming a swirl of bright lights.

Lightning flashed across the sky… a Jolteon running… a thundershock coming from the Jolteon in a dusty room… a Flareon and Jolteon colliding… electric bolts racing towards an injured Jolteon… a smiling Jolteon… electric bolts racing towards a girl with purple eyes…

Purple eyes—I had purple eyes! I broke the connection and the pain receded, leaving only a massive headache. I reviewed the images that had briefly flashed through my mind when I touched Sparky's mind.

Duh. I couldn't believe it was so obvious.

<Sparky's healing Sparkles with his powers,> I explained to Fiery. <That's why he hasn't been attacking my directly! He's been too busy feeding his electricity to Sparkles. Jolteons are able to absorb electricity and use the absorbed electricity to recover… my teacher called it volt absorb back in elementary school…>

Fiery used his tail to bat away Sparkles when the Jolteon tried another physical attack. <So what are you going to do about it?>

<I'm going to cut off Sparky. It will probably take all of my concentration so you might be on your own. Just keep with the iron-tail and ember!>

I sent out my mind and created a dome-shaped barrier around Sparky. Instantly, there was a great pressure on my mind. I focused on the flawless surface of my barrier, on its durability, on its shape…

I couldn't help losing concentration for swift milliseconds because of the battle. I saw Fiery smash down his lit up tail—aiming for Sparkles but denting only the ground. Later, I noticed Fiery's tired stance. I was pleased to see Sparkles wincing a bit, too.

The pressure on my barrier continued to build. My brain hurt. Images fizzed and then went fuzzy—

Sparky broke through.

My first reaction was to throw up a barrier around myself so I was protected from Sparky's electric bolts.

My second reaction was too slow. The moment I put up a barrier around myself, I realized Fiery had been left unguarded. Unfortunately, in that moment, both Sparky and Sparkles chose to attack Fiery.

Fiery was knocked out.

My stomach churned, revolted by the turn of events.

Yes, the pun was intended.

I bent over and puked up my pride with the partially digested tomato-tuna sandwich I had for lunch.

 

[delongbi]

Thank you to my readers for reading! A warning: in the next chapter (chapter 28) the plot really starts to pick up. If you have trouble remembering memories, it is highly advisable to reread the Master's, Liam's, Apple's, and anyone else's thoughts/memories from the short sections usually at the beginning of chapters. Happy April!



Chapter 27: Worthwhile

"Erin, wait! You forgot your Pokeball!" Zach yelled.

I didn't slow my pace.

"Erin!" I felt a hand on my shoulder and tried to shrug it off. Zach grabbed my hand.

"Let go."

"You can't leave without your Pokemon." Zach placed Griffy's Pokeball in my free hand. "Wanna tell me what's up? I thought I was invited over for a goodbye dinner, but as I'm ringing the doorbell, your mother starts babbling about how you forgot Griffy and that she didn't want to go after you because you were in one of those 'moods'…"

"Yes, my mother still considers herself a teenager… immature," I mumbled.

"Are you going to tell me why you're in a sour mood when it's your freaking birthday and you get to start your journey?"

I sighed and sat down in the frost-covered grass, not caring that my pants would get wet and my butt would freeze. I was surprised when Zach sat down next to me. "I'm tired of my family," I said.

"Well, you're leaving now, right? So you won't have to deal with them anymore."

"You don't understand. Every time I talk… not even—it's every time my mom looks at me, she compares me to Melanie. 'Why don't you clean your room? Melanie always cleans her room!' ''You should hang out with your girlfriends more often. Melanie invites girls over all the time.' 'You were spectacular in Oliver, dear! Remember when Melanie…' It's like I'm not a person; I'm just Melanie's shadow. And then my dad nods in agreement and my sister just sits there, smiling like a moron." I looked Zach straight in the eye. "Do you know what my dream job is?"

"What?"

"To be an actress. But I can't."

"That's not true. Of course you can!"

"No, I can't. Because Melanie is an actress, a rising star or whatnot. And even if I was as good as her—even if I was better—I'd only be known because I'm Melanie's kid sister. I'd never be recognized for my talent."

"You know that's not true."

"Obviously I don't," I snarled. "Otherwise I wouldn't be on this journey in the first place. I'd go to high school and take extra drama classes and then try to get acknowledged by some famous fat producer."

"You could still do that."

"I don't want to. I want to do something worthwhile. I want to do research."

Zach cracked his knuckles in frustration. "So you want to become an actress but you don't want to so instead you're going to become a researcher? And I still don't understand why you're so upset because you're leaving now!"

I felt the tears coming so I got up and started running.

"Erin! Erin, wait!" Zach caught up with me quickly, pulling my arm back to stop me. When I nearly tripped from the tug, Zach held me until I regained my balance. "Look, Erin, I don't understand. I don't know if I can. But I do know that you're an amazing girl and my best friend. Look, this might be a bad time, but I was going to ask you at dinner. My birthday's in three weeks… and well, I was wondering, if maybe you'd want to wait so we could travel together. If you don't want to stay here because of your family, maybe we could meet up in Azul City or Tinted Town. Erin, I…umm, I really like you. Really, really."

Now the tears were really flowing. I smiled weakly at Zach, sniffled, and then gave him a hug. He didn't move or complain as I drenched his shoulder in snot.

Finally, I took Zach's hand and we walked back to my house together…

"I never knew you were so vain," Liam said. "You have been staring off at the mirror for twenty minutes. There is only so much to look at."

"Hold the mirror still!" I hissed, mentally cursing myself for thinking of him again. Now that I was back in my hometown, the reminders were everywhere. I leaned into the mirror and lifted my eyelid in order to apply the black eyeliner.

Liam sighed. "Don't you think this is a little extreme?"

"You don't know my family," I said darkly.

Liam laughed mockingly. "There is no possible way your family is more screwed up than mine."

I smiled sweetly. "Care to share more?"

"No."

"Good, then shut up, agree with my complaints, and grab my black wig on top of the wardrobe." Liam reached behind him to my shrinkable wardrobe with one hand while balancing the large mirror in the other. I examined my reflection in the mirror, wondering if I looked different enough to fool my mother. My eyes were tinted blue with colored contacts, and I had applied a ridiculous looking red lipstick to my lips. The field of grass and the Pokemon Center in the backdrop of my image almost made me giggle; I was not used to changing my appearance and setting up my wardrobe outside.

Liam handed me the wig, and in one swift motion I gathered all of my hair beneath the wig. "How do I look?" I asked.

"Like a Jynx," Liam replied sourly. He was frowning at my hair. Ha, I bet he was remembering the last time I had worn this… Ah, fun times.

Just to see him squirm, I lowered my voice and whispered, "Do I kiss like one, too?"

"I didn't fall asleep so no, you do not." Hmm, not his best comeback. Liam looked away and started packing up my wardrobe. Though I'm sure he'd never admit it, I swear I saw his cheeks tint ever so slightly pink. Score!

After everything was shrunk back to pocket size, we approached the Pokemon Center. I took a moment to put on my best poker face before striding through the doors, looking straight at the counter. The business look always managed to hide my nerves.

I approached the… nurse, careful not to make eye contact. "Hello, I'd like to have this Pokemon healed." I put the Bellsprout's Pokeball on the counter.

No answer.

I peeked upwards. Big mistake. "ERIN, HONEY, YOU'RE HOME!"

So much for this disguise…

My mother enveloped me in a hug, which was painful because she was hugging across a counter. "Erin, I missed you so much! How are you? Why didn't you tell me you were coming home? Are you acting again? Is that why you are wearing that wig? Do you have a performance here? You should take off the wig, dear, I like your red-blonde much better. And your brown eyes—take out those contacts. How long are you staying? You're done traveling, right? Did you tell your father or Melanie or Professor Blubber or…" I was surprised my mom actually stopped spewing words. Any guesses on where I picked up the ability to rant for hours?

"It's good to see you, too, Mom," I said, pulling away. "How'd you know it was me?" I asked as I pulled off the wig and popped out my contacts—they were itchy and unfortunately, now unnecessary.

"I bought you that zip-up, dear."

Liam broke into a short coughing fit, I'm sure to cover up a snicker. I made a mental note to smack him later.

When I turned to my mother, I found her staring at Liam, who had quickly recovered and was returning the icy stare.

"Honey, who is this?"

"This is—" and then he walked through the door behind the counter.

"Nurse Joy, is everything alright? I heard you yelling and—" The boy-who-must-not-be-thought-of stopped midsentence. He blinked. "Erin?"

I gave them my best plastic smile. "Mother, Zach," I practically choked out the name. "this is Liam." I took a step back and hung my arms around Liam's neck. "My boyfriend."

CRASH

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

—went the world when lightning zapped the ocean and water exploded around me, soaking my skin and my bones and it was cold and the world shook and there had to be pain but I couldn't feel it because I didn't know me or if me or I existed or—

<Anita!>

—my name. Me. I. I'm me. But who does that make the lightning—

There was a strange pale boy standing in front of me with his hands on his small hips and his huge grey eyes full of some emotion. Fear? Concern?

Perhaps lightning. It was hard to tell.

<Oh, there you are. What are you doing all shriveled up in the corner? I'm leaving now 'cause we're here so you've got to take over, got it?>

­—the explosion. Dirt impaling my skin, no more painful than the sparks. Cold like icy water droplets running through my veins as horrendous images of blood-matted fur and twisted bones and dead Eevees flooded my mind—

The boy turned around and walked away.

—don't go please never leave don't never please never never never—

The world shook.

I was forced to open my eyes.

A freckled nose was much too close. "Anita! You're awake!" the mouth beneath the nose yelped.

"See, I told you she was fine," another voice said. The voice of the pale boy.

"You consider crashing through the Pokemon Center doors riding some poor man's concession cart covered in dirt and blood, wearing that horrifically torn outfit fine?!" The freckled nose moved away. I blinked and after a moment, came to the conclusion that the nose belonged to Erin.

"Umm… well, she wasn't exactly… I mean… she wasn't the one in control when she rode in here on the cart. She was really weak and almost unconscious after the battle so I… err…"

"So you asked a man to borrow his cart and wheeled this unfortunate girl all the way to the Pokemon Center? That's so kind." I managed to lift my head slightly and saw a red haired woman speaking.

"Sure, let's go with that."

I blinked a few more times to clear my vision. The white nurse cap on the red-haired woman's head was tilted at an odd angle, almost falling off when the woman moved her head. The scene felt familiar.

"Listen up, pipsqueak," Erin said, grabbing the pale boy's collar. "What did we tell you about taking over—mmmph!"

A hand snaked around Erin's shoulder and covered her mouth. My eyes traced from the hand up a lanky arm to a shoulder, neck, settling on a head of disorderly black hair. "Now, sweetie, why don't you leave Mel alone. He was helping Anita. Overtaking a cart was perfectly reasonable in his situation." Liam. Mel. Erin. Lightning. Furious lightning. Fiery lightning. Fiery! Apple!

My mind was suddenly overwhelmed. "Apple!" I tried to send out my mind, but had trouble focusing.

"Don't worry, dear. Everything is going to be all right," the red-haired woman said. Nurse Joy. I shook my head. Why didn't I remember that before? "Apple and your other Pokemon are being tended to as we speak. My assistant, Zachary, is taking care of it. Now we just have to focus on getting you cleaned up and waiting for the shock you are experiencing to pass."

I stood still as Nurse Joy started rubbing my left arm with a damp washcloth and some other liquid that stung. "This is the worst I've seen in a long time. Honestly, the nerve of that gym leader… I can't understand why the city council won't even consider impeachment…"

I watched Erin and Liam, now standing a ways away, in a heated whispering argument. Mel had moved to the couch and was picking his nose, examining the boogers, and with a bizarre fascination, turning his boogers invisible before flicking them behind the couch.

"How long have they been together?" The speaker wasn't Nurse Joy.

I turned my head and found myself looking at a teenager with curly brown hair covered by a worn baseball hat. He smiled. "I'm Zach, by the way."

"Anita."

"I know. So how long?"

Maybe it was my garbled mind. I did not understand his question. "What?"

"How long have Erin and Liam been together?"

What a strange question to ask. When did we meet? By the lake. When I was pooped on. And half naked. That still beats out being electrocuted and then waking up confused as hell. "Two weeks? We met Liam by Peepin Pond…"

"So they've been a couple less than two weeks?"

My brain went into overdrive. I started laughing so hard my knees shook.

"Oh, dear." Nurse Joy led me to a couch across from Mel.

"What's so funny?"

"Erin, Liam…" I choked. I couldn't get the rest of the words out.

"Oh, great. Now she's crying. Do I have to go in and fish her out of moping land again?" Mel asked loudly.

Zach scrunched his eyebrows in Mel's direction. "I think she's laughing."

"Why's Anita laughing?" Through my blurred vision, I saw Erin and Liam walk next to the couch Mel was sitting on. The scene seemed fuzzy—dream-like. It had to be a dream. Erin and Liam a couple? I briefly wondered if I could do anything I wanted now that I realized I was dreaming. Maybe I could fly to Jupiter. Or spin around in circles without getting dizzy. Or punch Liam. If only I could stop laughing…

Zach shrugged. "I just asked a question."

"He asked how long you two were together." Mel said. Zach's face turned red and he looked at the tip of Nurse Joy's nurse hat.

"She's delusional, might not remember—"

"She's still in a state of shock, temporarily unable—"

Erin and Liam spoke at the same time, both stopping abruptly when each realized the other one was speaking.

I was having trouble breathing and my stomach hurt. Noises were getting stuck in my throat. "Kids," Nurse Joy said sternly. "Why don't you go wait outside while I handle Anita and get my stuff together. When Janice arrives for the night shift, all of you can come have dinner with Erin and our family. In fact, Erin, honey, why don't you take Zachary and these other two boys back to our house now. If you get the water boiling, I'll make pasta." The nurse turned to me. "Dear, how about you lie down here for a couple of minutes." She propped my legs on one end of the couch, and my body adjusted accordingly. My breath came in quick rasps. I closed my eyes.

----------------------------

The room was dimly lit and unfamiliar, smelling like musty oranges. I rubbed my eyes, and pushed the Pikachu covers off of my body. There was an identical bed to the one I was sitting on directly across the room, on the other side of the half shaded window. A dull orange rug lay below the window, in front of a nightstand. It looked like a massive blanket woven of Cheetos.

I walked across the Cheeto rug towards the door, but stopped to examine the large wooden dresser next to the door. Atop the desk, I found various peculiar objects; there was a broken Pokeball, a stuffed Teddiursa doll missing its tail, a dusty trophy, a few pairs of folded underwear, a book titled Drama and Irony, bits of folded paper, and piles and piles of unorganized pictures.

I picked up a pile of pictures. A young Erin and a smiling boy with brown curly hair lick ice cream that melts too quickly out of their cones. Flip. Erin sits on top of the Pokemon Center counter, holding a Pokeball. Flip. Two adults I assume to be Erin's parents sit on a beach with Erin and a darker haired girl. Flip. Erin and the dark haired girl laugh.

I put the pictures down, opened the door, and walked out the door into a narrow hallway.

"Anita, you're up! I was just coming to get you!" I nearly walked into Erin as I turned the hallway corner. "Dinner's nearly ready. Welcome to my house, by the way. You were lying in my room."

"Err…" I scratched my head. "What happened? I remember the battle… and losing… and then I had this bizarre dream where I rode on this insane cart and then you and Liam were a couple… Where are my Pokemon? Are they okay?"

Erin nodded. "Your Pokemon are fine—we left them all at the Pokemon Center for the night."

"Okay, I'll go now."

Erin frowned. "Didn't you just hear me? They are recovering in the Pokemon Center for the night. There is nothing you can do."

"I'm still going."

"At least eat dinner here, first. My mom and I cooked up some pasta and home-made red-sauce from home-grown tomatoes."

"Alright." I moved forward slightly to indicate I was ready to go down the stairs to the kitchen, but Erin blocked my path.

"Umm… so about your dream…"

The floor creaked as I shifted my weight.

Erin continued, "It wasn't exactly a dream. Mel, apparently, took over your body to get you to the Pokemon Center and ended up hijacking a concession cart… and… umm… I kinda told everyone that Liam is my boyfriend."

I reached out my mind to hers because I obviously did not understand what was running through her head at the moment. An image of the boy with curly brown hair from the photograph and from my not-so-unreal-dream flashed in my mind. Zach.

<Ah… so this is because of Zach?>

"Anita, you know I HATE it when you do that! Get out!"

I rolled my eyes. And didn't oblige. A small thread of energy continued to bob near Erin's head, alerting me of any of her strong emotions or ideas or memories.

"How did you get Liam to go along with it?" I asked.

"I didn't give him a choice."

How very Erin-like. "So… when should I buy your wedding gift?"

Erin pushed me jokingly. "I don't actually like him that way. He is NOT my type. But just go with it while we're here, kay?" Erin gave me a big eyed, wide smile.

I grinned. "It'll be hilarious." I ducked under her arm and started down the carpeted stairs. Just before I reached the bottom, I thought to her, <So who is your type?>

I spun around the stair railing into the kitchen, satisfied with the uncomfortable vibes I was getting from Erin, along with brief images of Jake telling a joke, Zach and Erin kissing, and discussing the molecular make-up of antidotes with Liam.

"Well, you're looking better," Nurse Joy said as I entered the room.

"Um, Nurse Joy, I don't think I'm sick enough to have you follow me all the way to Erin's house."

Nurse Joy laughed. "I'm Amelia Kendle, Erin's mother. I'm only Nurse Joy when I'm at work."

Heat prickled at my neck. "Oh, sorry. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Kendle." Now that I looked closer, I could see the resemblance in Nurse Joy's facial structure and light freckles.

"Come sit down, dear." Erin's mother led me through the small, homey kitchen to a dining room with a wooden floor and an antique wooden table. The patterned green tablecloth on top of the table clashed with the maroon seat cushions on the wooden chairs around the table. Liam, Zach, Mel, the girl with beautiful long brown hair I had seen in Erin's picture, and a slightly balding man I also recognized from Erin's picture were already sitting around the table. "This is my husband, Anthony and my daughter, Melanie. Where's Erin?"

"She's—"

"Here, mom!" Erin entered the room and plopped down in a seat between Melanie and Liam. I sat down across from her, next to Zach and Mel.

Erin's mother proceeded to chatter about how happy she was Erin had returned as the pasta, red-sauce, and broccoli dishes were passed around the table. Mel helped himself to several scoops of pasta, but grimaced at the broccoli. When Mrs. Kendle insisted he eat the green vegetable, Mel turned the vegetable intangible as soon as Erin's mother looked the other way so it fell through the table to the floor.

Erin and Liam continued to play the happy couple, with Erin giggling between quick glances at Liam. Liam smiled slightly, which was impressive, considering it was Liam. Melanie shot annoyed looks at the two, and Zach glared angrily at Liam. I was getting murderous vibes from that boy.

"Oh, Erin, this is so wonderful," Mrs. Kendle said. "I have my baby back home."

"Well, mom, it's only for a couple of days, until Anita beats the gym leader," Erin answered.

For some reason, this caused a stronger emotional wave from Zach. I was split between wanting to listen to this conversation and wanting to hop into Zach's mind. Reading Zach would probably take all of my concentration because I didn't know him well. Thus, I settled for listening to this conversation.

"But Professor Blubber told me once you returned you would be working for him in the lab…"

"No," Erin said smoothly. "I think he wants me to keep travelling. He's doing a lot of research on the Eevee evolutions and observing Anita's Eevees could prove to be exceptionally helpful."

"Now I'm not going to have any children at home! Did you hear, Erin? Melanie has found herself a job with Timothy Conundrum—she's going to be playing a supporting role in his next film, Untalented. And I talked with Timothy personally…"

Clearly, I had made the wrong decision in listening to this conversation. I was going to slip into Zach's mind, but instinctively was attracted to Erin's mind. I saw flashes of Erin's mother jabbering about Melanie, one of Melanie's performances when she was Cinderella, Erin's performance in Pinocchio…

Finally, her mind settled on a memory of her recantation of the funny scene that followed her performance in Pinocchio.

"So after the play, the girl came up to me and was like 'You were so amazing!' Then she blushed and asked if I'd like to go with her to the movies some time so I took off my wig. It took her about five seconds to realize I was a girl, blush even more, and stammer something about it being 'too good to be true…'" I said, setting my paper bag lunch out on the cafeteria table.

Zach laughed. "It must be fun pretending to be different people. How do you do it if you get a role you've never experienced before?"

"Research."

Zach snorted. "Like you'd ever do research."

"I so do research! I people watch. If I have the role of a basketball player, I'll go to the basketball's practice and watch a game or two."

"That doesn't count as research!"

I shrugged.

"Have you ever done it just to mess with people?"

"Duh! Once I earned twenty bucks in tips pretending to be a waitress at Olivine Garden until the manager figured out I didn't actually work there."

"Have you done it to me?"

I winked. "Of course."

"Hey, Zach. Did you pick up your transcript yet?" Evan sat down next to me, smoothing out a piece of paper he had just placed on the cafeteria table. "I'm ranked number three again."

"Number four," Zach mumbled.

"Ha. You've only got one more semester to beat me."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't get why you guys make such a big deal out of the rankings. I mean, as long as you pass, and your parents allow you to, you can leave on a journey as soon as you turn thirteen."

"Just 'cause you're not even in the top twenty doesn't mean you have to down on all of us who actually have brains and care about school," Zach replied.

I stuck out my tongue at him.

"I talked to Amy—that goody-two-shoes is number two," Evan said. "Who do you think number one is?"

"Maybe Alec?" Zach suggested. "Wasn't he ahead of us at some point?"

"Yeah, but then he practically failed battle strategy last year."

I stood up, gathering my unopened lunch bag in my hands. "I just remembered—I forgot to do the math homework. See you guys later."

Zach nodded to me and I swiftly walked out of the cafeteria. Instead of turning to the left, towards my locker, I turned to the right, towards the administration office.

"Hi, Erin. Are you here to pick up your transcript?" the secretary asked as I entered. I nodded, and she shuffled through a pile of envelopes. "Ah, here you go." She handed me an envelope.

"Thanks."

I exited the office and walked back towards my locker. When I was a good twenty feet away from the administration office, I tore the envelope, transcript and all, into several small pieces of white paper. I found the nearest garbage can and watched as the shredded paper fluttered down onto moldy pieces of pizza and empty plastic wrappers.

For good measure, when I saw the tiny piece that read, "Class Rank:" I spat a large wad of saliva at it, entirely covering the words that followed—

"Number One."

"—ranked trainer in Acceber. Anita, think you could beat her?" Zach asked.

"Huh?"

"Earth to Anita," Mel said. "Zach has asked you a question."

"Do you think you could beat Vivian Duntweedam, the number one ranked trainer in Acceber?" Zach repeated.

"Um, sure," I said.

"You don't sound too convinced."

"Well I am. Go team. Win. Whooo." The conversation continued without me. Despite Erin's attempt to seem cool and unaffected by Zach, her eyes would occasionally start to flicker towards him. She would consciously stop her eyes from moving, and force them to look at Liam instead. I curiously delved back into Erin's mind…

I loved the way he held me on these cool September nights, the way we curled up together in our pajamas in one sleeping bag by the dying fire. I especially loved these sweet, long kisses…

I pulled away. "What do you want?" I asked Zach.

Zach's eyebrow's furrowed. "How do you know I want something?"

"Dude, we never kiss for over ten seconds."

"Well, I was thinking… I know you've got to go to Globert City for your research thingy, but Zahavah City's not too far out of the way, and I'd really like to challenge the gym leader…"

"Zach, this is pretty important. I'm supposed to make the delivery by next Wednesday."

"How important could it be if he's having an assistant do it?"

"Professor Blubber is busy. He cannot be everywhere at once, and this delivery could help with a major breakthrough…"

Zach snorted.

"Oh, like being a trainer is much more worthwhile."

"It's worthwhile to me. You, on the other hand, are doing something you don't fully believe in."

"That's not true…"

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry I brought it up."

"It'd be okay if we stopped in Zahavah for a few nights. I'll call Professor Blubber and tell him I can't make it by Wednesday…"

Zach briefly touched his lips to mine. "Thanks."

I turned over, facing away from Zach and the remaining weak fire embers. "Good—"

"—night." Erin stood up. "I'm tired and I'm going to bed."

"It's only eight o'clock," Melanie said.

Erin shrugged.

"Anita's going to be sharing your room," Mrs. Kendle said.

"You boys will be staying in the guest room," Mr. Kendle added. "As always, Zach, you are welcome to stay."

"I'm tired, too." I said, picking up my plate and silverware. Erin and I brought our dishes to the sink and then headed upstairs. Once we were in Erin's room, Erin quietly shut the door behind her.

"Anita, there's something I need to tell… show you. Could you… do the mind thing?"

I nodded.

After a moment, Erin asked, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

<For you to start showing.>

<I didn't even notice you were here!>

<Err, just arrived.> No need for Erin to know that I could roam her mind undetected.

Erin began, <We were traveling from Zahavah City, where Zach had just earned a badge…>

"No, Zach, I don't want to cut my two week observation of the Pokemon within Apoosh Forest short so you can go lose to the unbeatable gym leader," I said.

"Have some faith—I've beaten three other gyms."

"He doesn't lose. His father never lost either. How would you be any different? But this conversation is not about whether or not you can beat a gym leader; it's about facing this gym leader in the first place. We did it your way last time. Now its your turn to compromise."

"This is different. If I don't get another two badges in the next two months, I can't compete in Acceber's Pokemon League."

"Oh, yeah, so you should definitely focus defeating the undefeated gym leader. Real time saver right there."

"Well, we'll be by Drape Town anyway…"

"Have you ever considered, Zach, that my observation has a time limit as well? I have to observe in that forest between a half-moon to a full moon."

"Yeah, but it's just observation. You can make something up—"

"You *******! Did you ever consider that this might be important? Actually, I can answer for you—no! You've never thought about how your travel plans might affect my research. Not once. 'Sure, it's okay if Erin doesn't deliver the package on time.' 'Oh, the library is closed for the week? Too bad. If there was a gym in this town, then we could have stayed longer.'"

"I didn't think it was so important to you…"

I laughed. "You didn't think it was important to me? Wake up and smell the roses, Zach. The roses with thick, spiky, sharp stems. I love what I do. I've loved researching from the start. But you couldn't possibly contemplate me loving something other than you."

"But… but you aren't good at it. You never really like science class. I mean—"

"How the hell would you know what I'm good at? You've never bothered to find out—"

"I know you're good at acting—"

"Yes, I'm so good at acting, I managed to make a show out of my entire life, with Erin and lover boy in the spotlight. So happy together. So perfect for each other. ****, I don't know what was wrong with me. Zach, do you know my favorite color is cerulean? Do you know I ride Griffy for hours and hours after every time we argue? Do you even know that I was the valedictorian of our class?"

Zach took a deep breath. "Erin, I'm sorry. Maybe… maybe I can go to Drape Town alone, while you do your thing in Apoosh Forest."

I smiled grimly. "Yes, I think its best we split up." I abruptly turned on my heel and began walking away from Zach.

"Wait! I didn't mean forever!"

I stopped and slowly turned to face Zach. "Well, I did."

"Please, Erin. We like each other, remember? We kiss and share ice cream and enjoy each other's company. Don't you think it will be worth your while—"

"I help make important discoveries that eventually will benefit both humans and Pokemon. I help people, and that is worthwhile. What do you do? You train Pokemon to fight. Who do you help? Maybe your self-esteem? You have no right to tell me what is worth my while." I released Griffy from his Pokeball and climbed onto his back. "I won't be seeing you," I said coldly before riding away.

It was a long time before I stopped and cried myself to sleep.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "Erin, I'm so sorry. Today, the splitting up thing… it was stupid, I was mad at Liam… I'm sorry."

Erin shook her head. "I'm not mad."

I hesitated. "If that's the way you feel, then why are you traveling with us? Why are you traveling with me?"

"At first, I just wanted some company and protection on my journey back here. I've always traveled with other people. It's not really safe otherwise… but, Anita, it's weird because now I want to keep traveling with you and Liam. I've never wanted that before. I used to look forward to working here with Professor Blubber. Now, I just want to move on to the next city with you two. You guys… you respect me for who I am, and listen to me, and even though I've only known you two for a couple of weeks, you're the best friends I've ever had."

I turned around and walked across the Cheeto rug to the window. I slid my hands under a notch, lifted to open the window, and clumsily climbed outside onto the roof.

"What are you doing?" Erin asked.

"I'm sneaking out to the Pokemon Center to be with my Pokemon."

Erin stood awkwardly. "Oh…"

"Well, are you coming?"

A grin spread across Erin's face. "Yeah."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes in a weak attempt to fall asleep quickly.

"Liam?"

I cracked an eye open. Zach was sitting up in a sleeping bag on the floor, looking at me with a determined gaze.

"Hmn…" I answered indecisively.

Zach nervously wrung his hands. "How's Erin?"

"How should I know? She's not in the room now. She seemed just peachy earlier, though."

"I meant… look, I only stayed over to tell you this: If you hurt her, I'll beat your ass into the ground and pummel your head until you die."

"Right." Good luck with that. I closed my eyes again.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Zach said, "Well, this is awkward."

"No," Mel said, laughing on the guest bed. "It would be awkward if we were all sharing a bed."

Really great image to fall asleep to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I handed Professor Blubber the Bellsprout's Pokeball.

"Thank you, Erin," Professor Blubber said, placing the Pokeball an empty lab table. "How are your folks? How was catching up with them last night?"

"Great, Professor." I took a long breath through my nose. "Professor… I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"I was wondering if it'd be okay if I continued traveling with Liam and Anita instead of staying here." I gestured to a window, where Anita could be seen ordering one of her Eevees to use quick attack. "You met Anita for a couple of minutes, and saw how good she was with her Eevees. I think I could really learn a lot by observing her Pokemon and hopefully watching them evolve."

Professor Blubber stared out the window for a moment. "Erin, I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. I don't have anyone here to help me anymore, and I really need the help. I also don't have the money to continue sponsoring your journey at the moment. Plus, I promised your mother…"

I nodded. "Alright then."

"So you'll stay?"

I shook my head. "No, I quit."

"Erin—"

"Please, Professor, I'm going to do this. It's what I want. But could you not tell my mom until after I leave?"

Professor Blubber hesitated and then nodded. I hugged his belly (my arms could not reach all the way around) and then exited the laboratory through the front door. I walked around the outside of the lab to the back, where I leaned against the brick wall and watched Anita train her Pokemon.

"No, Splash," I heard Anita say. "I will not race you. I'm not as fast as the electric Pokemon you'll be facing—"

"Hey."

I looked over my shoulder and found Zach approaching. My heartbeat quickened, but I kept my face blank and nodded coolly.

"So, you're traveling with a trainer again," he said.

I nodded again and watched as Apple illustrated to the other Eevees the proper running motions of a quick attack.

"I'm training under your mother to become a Pokemon nurse."

"Good for you." The Eevees raced across the grass field, quickly fading from my sight. About ten seconds later, they returned, with Splash in the lead.

"I like it. I've finally found something I think is worthwhile."

Splash tackled Anita to the ground. Anita laughed as the other Eevees piled on top of her and she playfully pushed them away. I smiled.

"So did I."

 

[Venia Silente]

Hey delongbi. I found this fanfic not too long ago and have had a relatively good time reading it. It is a pretty interesting take on a Pokémon Journey / adventure and you have done a pretty shifty and surprising work with the cliches. Like, the whole Super Mario gym thing was jawdropping (that's the part I am reading now). Bowser the Torkoal, oh gods.

Now, something that I specifically like is something that you do with your writing style, I'm not sure exactly what but while reading different scenes of the fic, it's like you make me forget that Fiery and Apple are Eevees (or an Eevee and a Mew, as you see fit). With Fiery, the initial description of his features as well as the way he behaves when around the cubs and how he interacts with Anita overall sometimes gives the sensation of a Pokémon more strongly associated with pack behaviour, like maybe a Houndour or a Growlithe (maybe because of the name as well). With Apple this doesn't work that much because of her psychic abilities, but the description of her actions and directness gives an impression closer to a Zigzagoon or something like that in the times that it is not noted (again) that she is not an Eevee (or Mew). It's a bit complicated, but I like it. It doesn't seem to extend to the other Pokémon in the story though so it's either an aftereffect of their characterization or that I am mad. Go figure... oh and long paragraph attempting to justify a review is long. :D

OK, just wanted you to know you have another fan. Keep entertaining us!

 

[delongbi]

Hey, solovino! I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying it!

Super Mario gym thing was jawdropping

Lol, that was a really fun chapter to write. In all honesty, I find writing (and often reading) battles/gyms pretty tedious so when I do have to write them, I try to make them as creative and exciting as possible.

it's like you make me forget that Fiery and Apple are Eevees.

Fiery and Apple are more developed as characters than the other Eevees, which could explain part of it. Also with this story it is pretty necessary for Pokemon to have personalities.

OK, just wanted you to know you have another fan. Keep entertaining us!

THANK YOU!!!! Seriously! I will. Enjoy the rest of your reading!

 

[Caliban]

Hello. Good story, I've been reading it for quite a while now.

Fiery and Apple are more developed as characters than the other Eevees

Isn't Fiery a

Spoiler:

Flareon

now...? Or did I get muddled up again? XD;

I like what you've done with Erin; Liam (lol, my name too) was right, she did come across as a bit shallow at first, but you've given her a lot more depth now.
Lol'd at the way that Nurse Joy isn't Nurse Joy outside of the Pokemon Center, nice touch there.
Sparky was seriously scary though. I wonder what strategy you'll have Anita use to defeat him, hmm?

Anyway, like solovino, mainly dropping in to say that there's yet another person reading and enjoying this. ;D

 

[delongbi]

Isn't Fiery a

Spoiler:

Flareon

now...?

Lol, yes he is. I think Solovino isn't quite caught up yet. He was just reading the Aden's gym. Errr, and Solovino, if you read that, sorry for the giveaway.

I like what you've done with Erin

Yeah, lots of necessary development this past chapter.

Liam (lol, my name too)

:D

I wonder what strategy you'll have Anita use to defeat him

Yeah, her situation's a bit bleak at the moment. We'll see...

dropping in to say that there's yet another person reading and enjoying this

Again, THANK YOU! For a time I was beginning to believe that a magical fairy came to raise the views every time I posted a chapter. It's really, really awesome to hear from you guys!

 

[delongbi]

I just finished chapter 27 and I love the story so far

Yay, I'm glad you like it!

when you switch from one point of view to the other, it is sometimes unclear who's speaking

Thank you! I'll try to work on that! It's sometimes hard for me to see that type of confusion because as the writer, I obviously know who's point of view I'm writing from. I'll try to be more conscious of it!!

Thanks for reviewing, Chives!

 

[delongbi]

Alright, next chapter! This begins my attempt to write/post a chapter a week for the summer! We'll see how that goes (especially since I just bought gold, oy). Thank you guys so much for reading and/or reviewing! You guys keep me motivated!

Chapter 28: No Goodbyes

"Rita, I'm leaving you in charge." My stomach physically hurt from uttering those words.

"Don't get me wrong, Jamie—"

"That's Sir Arkle to you," I corrected.

"You're not a knight," Rita snickered. "Anyway, Jamie, though your departure makes my heart overflow with syrupy happiness, what exactly are you going to tell the Master?"

"The same thing I told you," I said curtly. "There was a family emergency—"

"I didn't even know you had family. I was fairly certain pigs gave birth—"

"And you fell out of a pigeon's uterus. Go **** yourself." I slammed my suitcase shut. "I'll be back by the end of the week. Do anything to damage my career—"

"As a suck-up—"

"And I will personally shave the skin off your body and feed it to your precious pigeons." I walked out of the office, leaving the witch with everything I had worked so hard to obtain. I almost regretted my efforts to keep competent Team Glop'emm members out of the Master's most trustworthy circle. Almost. Any person with power and competence had the potential to be named the next Team Glop'emm Master, and thus be detrimental to my career.

I yearned for a trustworthy trainer to do this grunt work for me. Trustworthiness, however, was a hard trait to come across in Team Glop'emm. I've had much experience in the matter.

When I finally arrived outside, I pulled out a Pokeball. In a flash of red my Togekiss appeared.

"Skampi, to Globert City," I ordered as I climbed over Skampi's unusually large wings. Drape town quickly faded below us, until only the stubborn City Hall was visible. The despised City Hall…

As the City Hall failed to provide me with information about the Mendol family, I was forced to find another means of gaining this knowledge. The only people who possibly knew Master Mendol Senior better than me were the little Mendol twit himself, the gym leaders, and Harvey Darcleye.

Harvey Darcleye was the least dangerous of the bunch and likely knew the most. After all, he had been the gym leader of Drape town before the Mendols arrived…

The Sneasel slashed at the Butterfree with a claw, but the butterfly Pokemon swooped away just in the nick of time. The Butterfree sent a few whirlwinds at the Sneasel, but the Sneasel took the opportunity to use an ice attack. The ice shards got caught in the whirlwind and hit the Butterfree—

"Yo, Jamie!"

The sudden voice nearly made me fall out of the tree I was sitting in. I looked down at the moron who had startled me.

"Jamie, you've gotta come see—Ryan and Drake are decking each other over some blonde chick. What're you doing up there?"

"I'm on an assignment."

"Spying on the gym leader through a window? Dude, the battles are open to the public."

"I'm not supposed to be seen." I did not tell the idiot that I was actually waiting for after the gym battle, when the gym leader was supposed to meet with a new potential gym leader after the match under this very tree. Gym leaders were a nasty business for Team Glop'emm, always foiling plans and sending about half the crew to jail. Whenever a new one came around, the bosses always wanted to know what the team would be dealing with next.

"Yeah, well, I saw you so you might want to go higher."

The moron had a point. I climbed into higher branches.

"Jamie, I was kidding. Ger your ass down here to see the fight!"

"I'm on duty."

"**** duty! You love this stuff! Man, ever since you joined that gang you haven't been the same. You too cool to hang with us now? Is that it?!"

"You were never cool to begin with," I said, losing my patience. The Butterfree had fainted and the gym leader was shaking a teenager's hand.

The moron raised his hands in defeat. "Whatever, Jamie. Just don't come crying back to us when that gang kicks your ass out on the curb." The guy turned and walked away, disappearing among Drape Town's busy citizens walking up and down Main Street.

Forty minutes later, the sun was starting to set and the damn tree was making my legs uncomfortable. Just as I was adjusting my position, the gym leader walked out of the gym, turned a corner, and approached the tree. I noticed the gym leader walked with a slight limp, supported on one side by an Umbreon whose eyes glowed eerily. A man with dark hair approached the tree from the opposite direction. I froze.

When the two men and the Umbreon arrived under the tree, the gym leader held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Mendol."

The man with dark hair took the gym leader's hand. "Mr. Darcleye, the pleasure is mine."

"To what do I owe this delightful encounter?" the gym leader asked.

"I heard you were retiring."

"I'm sorry, you were misinformed."

"I heard you were retiring once you found a replacement," Mendol said.

"Where?"

Mendol shrugged, and the gym leader eyed the man warily. "Psychic," Darcleye ordered. The Umbreon's eyes glowed purple and Mr. Mendol was shoved against the gym's brick wall. "You are not gifted."

Mendol pulled out a Pokeball. "I am gifted in other ways." A Houndoom appeared as Mendol pressed the release button. "Crunch."

The Hondoom rushed at the Umbreon. The Umbreon disappeared and reappeared behind the Houndoom in a faint attack. Just as the Umbreon hit, the Houndoom twisted around and spewed a blast of fire in the Umbreon's face.

"Toxic!" Darcleye yelled.

"Sludge Bomb," Mendol retaliated.

Both Pokemon, still physically intertwined, were covered with a purple, oozing liquid. The Houndoom bit down hard on the Umbreon's back, only to be roughly pushed away.

"Wait," Darcleye called as the Pokemon faced each other, about to attack once more.

Mendol nodded to his Houndoom to do the same.

The two Pokemon stared at each other, watching the poison seep through the veins of their opponents. After several minutes, both Pokemon were struggling to stand.

Finally, the Umbreon fell.

Darcleye pulled out a Pokeball and released his Sneasel. Mendol took a step back to prepare for the attack. "Go fetch," Darcleye ordered the Sneasel. Surprisingly, the Sneasel fled from the battle toward the street. I saw him enter the gym from my window view. "You have a lot to learn," Darcleye told Mendol as he picked up his Umbreon.

Mendol did not say anything. He returned his Houndoom to a Pokeball.

The Sneasel returned with a Pokemon egg between its claws. Darcleye took the egg and held it out to Mendol.

Mendol took the egg. "What is this?" he asked.

"An Eevee egg. Your training starts tomorrow at eight-o-clock. Goodnight." Darcleye returned the Sneasel and limped away from the tree with the Umbreon in his arms, walking into the lamp-lit street.

Mendol smirked as Darcleye vanished down the street.

He then looked up into the tree, directly at me. His smirk widened.

"Call me," he mouthed, holding his hand like a phone up to his ear. Then he departed into the darkness.

I smiled as I climbed down from the tree, knowing I had some interesting news to tell my boss.

And probably a promotion.

The air was smoggy and smelled of gasoline. I forced my eyes open as Skampi descended into Globert City despite the ashy particles that made my eyes sting. The air was more breathable on the ground. I returned Skampi to his Pokeball and walked two blocks, carefully avoiding the Grimers oozing along the sidewalk. I kicked a Koffing out of the way when it rolled in front of my feet.

I found the small, grimy house I was looking for. It was slightly bigger than the tree house I had played in as a child and eventually set fire to. This house looked already burnt-out—it was less homey than a pile of rubble, and was in fact located next to a dump.

I wrapped on the door.

"Go away!" a gruff voice shouted through the door. "I already told you, I have no idea where the boy is!"

"Sir, I'm not a reporter," I called.

"Eh? So you're just another curious citizen." A lock clicked and the door opened. Harvey Darcleye, grey hair, large nose, walking cane and all stood in the doorway. "I still have got nothing to say to you. I'll tell you what I told the gym leaders' people, the reporters, and all the other folk who decided bothering me was worth coming through the g-d-forsaken city for—I don't know ****. I have not spoken with either Mendol since the day they took over my gym." The man tried to slam the door, but I put my hand out and stopped the door from shutting.

"I'm a graduate student at Zahavah University, sir. And I'm researching you, not—"

"Bullshit. What, do you think I'm an idiot? First of all, if you were just doing research you would have tried calling me. Granted, I unhooked my phone, but I still get messages, and I've got nothing from you. Second of all, you're not carrying anything but Pokeballs—not even a pad of paper. Thirdly, you are not wearing the protective mask all university students are required to wear before entering Globert City."

"Maybe I don't like the masks."

"And maybe you're not a graduate student. Let's see… you can't be from our beloved gym leaders because I've already given them all I know, you aren't a reporter or a student, you're certainly not a curious citizen because Globert City doesn't have curious citizens, which leaves… Team Glop'emm." Harvey Darcleye raised a white eyebrow at me.

I snickered.

The old man opened the door wider. "Well, do come in." Harvey led me into a surprisingly clean room comprised of a small kitchen, a bed, and a couch. He nodded to an Umbreon lying on the couch. "Try any funny business and she'll tear you to shreds." Harvey seated himself next to the Umbreon and pointed out a stool for me to sit on. "So Team Glop'emm's missing their leader, too?"

"Not quite. Tell me what you know about the Mendols."

"Getting right to the point, are we? Well, frankly, the more people looking for the idiot boy, the better. A disgrace to my former gym… The Mendols, well, they came to Drape Town back, oh, seven years ago. The father was a real battle protégé—never knew the son much, but heard he was as well. Not much more to be known. Black hair, greenish eyes, good with dark Pokemon—"

"Gifted?"

"The son was, father wasn't. But you already knew that, otherwise you wouldn't have known to ask about the gift. What, are you testing to see how much I know?" As an afterthought, Harvey snapped, "Or how much I'm willing to tell?"

"How do you know the boy is the leader of Team Glop'emm?"

"Oh, his father told me outright as soon as he was gym leader. Said he was going to use the team for good. I wasn't working for the government any more so I didn't feel the need to run to the other leaders. I figured he wouldn't last long—leaders of Glop'emm never do—so when he died I figured the position was probably passed on. I figured right, apparently."

"Use the team for good?"

"What'd you think he joined the team for? Money? Power? He already had all of that as a gym leader, youngster. No, he said he'd use the team's resources for something that would benefit all of humanity—and, before you ask, he never did give me the details and I never asked. Moved to a cottage by the ocean until the man went and died and my house was bombarded with reporters—then I moved here to avoid all of that. I think it's time to pack up again…"

"Did they have any relatives?"

"Not that I know of."

"Where did they come from, before Drape Town?"

Harvey scratched his head. "Vintage Villiage, if I recall correctly. Didn't talk about the past much…"

I got up. The man had given me all the answers I needed.

"Hey, where are you going? You're not going to ask me where I think he might be? What Pokemon he'll be using? If he visited?"

"Did he?"

"No."

I opened the front door. "You're not trying to find him, are you?" Harvey called after me. The door slammed shut, but I still heard his voice. "You're trying to make sure he'll stay gone!"

I touched Hypno's Pokeball. With the information Harvey knew, I should kill him. But he was gifted. He might be hard to kill and there was a chance the gym leaders would check on him. I glanced through a small window and saw Harvey watching me. "Good luck," he mouthed.

I smiled coldly and walked away from the door.

Needless murder just wasn't my thing.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

<Anita, I don't think you're ready for this,> Apple said, playfully rolling in the pile of Pikachu covers on top of my bed. <You still can't make a barrier move with your mind—you keep treating it like just one barrier when you really have to imagine it as several barriers, one disappearing as another one is made in almost the same spot as the first—>

I pulled on my shoes. <I'll be okay.>

<And you utilize the dispersed energy from each disappearing barrier—>

<Apple! I know what to expect this time, and we spent the last two days improving speed. I swear, a Suicune couldn't move as fast as Splash's quick attack—>

<But you still can't move barriers—>

<I don't need to. I just have to hold back Sparky, and I've gotten a bit better at splitting my focus—>

<But—>

<Enough! Ready or not, I'm challenging that gym again today.> I clipped my Pokeballs onto my belt, touched Erin's Cheeto rug for good luck, and left Erin's bedroom with Apple trailing behind me.

I found Erin lying across her living room couch reading a book. I softly stepped across the carpet until I was close enough to see the words over her shoulder. "Whatcha reading?" I asked after glancing over the first phrase on the page. "There once was a boy who will went…"

Erin sat up quickly, startled. "It's a book of poems. They were my favorite when I was younger." She hastily closed the book and crammed it into her backpack.

"You ready to go?" I asked. "Where's Mel?"

<Hmm, no wonder it's been quiet—I haven't seen him all morning,> Apple noted.

"My mom walked him and Liam to Professor Blubber's lab on her way to work before you got up."

"Why are they going to the lab?"

"Apparently, Professor Blubber asked Liam to help him out with something," Erin said harshly. "Guess I wasn't qualified."

"Erin, you know he's just probably trying to avoid any awkwardness between you guys. I mean, you're family friends and all." Trying to lift Erin's mood, I added, "So why'd Mel go?"

Erin snorted. "I bet he abandoned the lab and went to the gym again. Liam wouldn't care, even if Sparky's insane. For some reason Mel seems to have grown attached to Mister-Violent-and-Wacked-Out-Electric-Crazy-Man."

"Two peas in a pod…" I muttered.

"No, they're more like two grenades in a box that someone is shaking and has the potential to explode at any second."

"Huh. Shall we go blow up?"

Erin got up from the couch. "Let's."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The moment Mrs. Kendle was out of sight, Mel gave me a salute and disappeared. "Off to see Sparky, see ya later!"

That was fine by me.

I quietly opened the front door of Professor Blubber's laboratory. The hall was dark, aside from a dim light spilling out an open door of an experiment room at the end of the hall. Silently, I approached Professor Blubber's office door and tested the handle. It was unlocked.

I slipped inside.

I did not bother turning on the lights—I could see every object perfectly in the dark. There were several papers, research documents, and letters piled messily on his desk. I skimmed the documents and found that most of them pertained to the Eevee experiment. The letters I examined more carefully, but I failed to find the particular correspondence I was seeking.

I tried to open the desk drawers, but discovered they were all locked. Where would Professor Blubber keep an extra key? I eyed the shelves that held a crank Pokeball, a tool kit, and several roles of tape, among other peculiar objects. A lot of the objects were dusty… Except…

I peered closer at the tape. There was a roll that wasn't quite as dusty. I pulled the tape roll off the shelf when I noticed a slight bulge in its side. I peeled back a strip of tape, and found the spare key under the tape.

As expected, the key unlocked the drawers. The first two drawers contained data from every experiment ever performed in the laboratory. The third drawer held files on all of Professor Blubber's correspondents. Perfect.

I found Rita Teal's file, glanced over her bio, and perused the letter she had recently sent Professor Blubber. There was nothing in the letter Professor Blubber had not told me. I flipped to the next letter—

There was a quiet clicking, rubber soles against a tiled floor. Someone was approaching. I rapidly put the file back together and returned it to the drawer, careful not to shove it more than necessary so it did not appear to be tampered with. I closed the drawer and put the key back under the tape—

The doorknob started to move. I tensed my biceps, quads, and calves, calculating my next movement. A millisecond later, I was in the air above the desk. I snatched a random book from the shelf and landed in the visitor's chair on the other side of the desk just as the door opened.

The lights flickered on.

I fluttered my eyes groggily and winced at the light, pretending to have just woken up.

"Liam?"

"Huh, oh hey, Professor Blubber."

"What are you doing in my office, in the dark?" the professor asked sharply.

I feigned embarrassment and ran a hand through my hair. "Well, I came by a little while ago to ask you—but I saw you were busy with something that looked important. The office door was unlocked so I grabbed a book—" I waved the random book opened to the first page I had grabbed off of the shelf. "—and was planning on waiting until you were finished. Only, it's early and I was tired so I ended up turning the lights off for a quick snooze."

Professor Blubber narrowed his eyes. "What's the name of the book?"

"Mysteries of Nature," I replied without looking at the book. "It's a book of poems."

"You did not behave this foolishly when I met you two days ago," Professor Blubber said bluntly, walking into the room and sitting down across from me at his desk.

There was nothing to do but look at the professor innocently. Professor Blubber sighed and scrutinized his desk for a moment. I noticed his eyes flicker to the key in the tape, and then back to me.

We stared at each other for a moment, but when the professor did not say anything, I turned my attention to the poetry book. The preface was a short poem, entitled The Boy Who Will Went.

There once was a boy who will went,
To greatest despair he was sent,
But never could it be
If not for me,
The boy's time would be ill spent.

So dear reader you see,
If you happen to be he,
When all rules are bent
Leap through that vent
And remember me, I plea!

"Are you going to tell me why you're in my office?"

"Why do you have a poetry book in your office, Professor?"

"It's written by a colleague of mine, Professor Seth Hastings."

I flipped through the book. "A researcher wrote this? These poems are extremely vague. Shouldn't they be about nature?"

"Yes, well, Professor Hastings has, in recent years, become a rather vague person. He was never at the top of his field—always seemed to have his head in the clouds. But then he just snapped. Now, he's… a raving lunatic. The words that come out of his mouth just don't make sense. He published this book and sent a few copies to me." Professor Blubber checked his bookshelf. "Hmm, I could have sworn I still had another copy." He glared at me.

"Don't imply that I took the book. There's nowhere for me to have put it. What did you say Professor Hasting's field was?"

"I didn't. Ancient Pokemon."

"Is there any way to contact Professor Hastings?"

"I'm not the one to ask—haven't heard from him in years. I'm pretty sure he lives in Winsk City now, so he might be hard to reach."

"Nobody lives there."

"Nai, the gym leader, does."

"Yes, but she's a gym leader with ice Pokemon. That place is completely cut off from the world."

Professor Blubber looked irritated again. "Are you ever going to tell me what you are doing in my office?"

I closed the poetry book. "Oh, right. Well, Mel and Erin went to watch Anita get her ass kicked by Sparky. I don't particularly enjoy watching Anita's Pokemon battles and I thought that I might be able to help out here."

Professor Blubber blinked. "Well… we just recieved a shipment of new supplies. You file and organize them."

"I'd love to, Professor."

We rose from our seats. On the way out of the office, I swear I heard Professor Blubber mumble, "Lying, manipulative twit."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Miss Anita Parkwood,

Please walk around the gym.

Love,
The All Awesome Sparky and Mini Awesome Mel

Erin, Apple, and I stared on the note on the gym door. "I can't believe he signed it love," Erin muttered.

"We should be really careful," I said. "Sparky probably set up a ridiculous man-eating-robot or something." As we cautiously walked around the gym, I sent my mind out to avoid surprises.

<AHHH!> Apple suddenly yelled. I thrust a barrier around her.

<What's wrong?! What happened? Are you okay?!> I looked for the source of Apple's pain, but didn't see anything. Erin watched Apple and me in confusion.

<It's terrible!> Apple lifted up a paw. <I stepped in goose poop. Hmm, or maybe it's Swellow poop. I've always had trouble telling the difference…>

<Apple! I thought you were hurt or under attack or something! Don't scare me like that!>

Apple shrugged and dragged her paw across the grass as she walked in an attempt to get rid of the gunk that covered her paw. Irked, I picked up my pace. Apple had to give up on her paw and half-run, half-trot to keep up.

We reached the backyard without further incident. In fact, we found Mel and Sparky peacefully sitting across from each other several meters away from the cliff that overhung the Palute Sea. Sparky was chuckling at something Mel said. Mel spotted us first.

"Ugh, they're here! And we forgot to set up all the cool traps we were designing! There was this one with invisible lightning and a trap door—"

"—and a mechanical arm—" Sparky added.

"—and this cool laser water evaporating thing—"

"—and several evil laughs—"

"—and a crazy old man and an annoying kid getting their butts handed to them," I interrupted.

A look of confusion crossed Mel's face. "I don't get how that would work," he said. Sparky grinned madly.

I turned my attention to him. "What, no immediate electrocution? You're starting to slack."

<Anita, don't suggest that,> Apple said.

"Please pick one Pokemon for the prelim and three for the later battle."

"Hey, I already beat your prelim!" I complained.

Sparky shrugged. "You lost."

I grimaced and unclipped three Pokeballs—Splash, Vanilla, and Fiery. During the speed training, Splash was the fastest, followed closely by Apple and then Fiery. However, after practice, when Splash covered himself in mud and started chasing Vanilla, he was never able to catch her. Despite Splash's and Vanilla's lack of experience, I needed to use my fastest Pokemon in battle to keep up with Sparky. I would use Fiery for the prelim.

I released Fiery and handed Sparky his Pokeball, along with Splash's and Vanilla's. Apple trotted near Sparky, but ensured that there was at least a two-meter gap between her and the gym leader. "Mel, take Anita's other Pokeballs and backpack and head inside. Go with this other young lady down the staircase I showed you earlier. I'm going down a different way and I'll meet you at the bottom."

Mel nodded and did as requested. Erin mouthed, "Good luck!" before following Mel around the gym.

<I thought I wasn't battling,> Fiery grumbled.

<Prelim,> I replied.

"Come here." Sparky motioned to follow him as he approached the cliff edge. Fiery and I took a few steps forward and then stopped. Sparky's smile widened and a spark danced across his teeth and then up his hair. "Closer."

I reluctantly took two more steps. Call it fear, common sense, instinct, or whatever—approaching a lunatic with the power to control electricity standing on a cliff edge just did not seem like the best idea.

"Come right here." Sparky gestured to the area next to him. Sparky waited until both Fiery and I were right next to him before cackling, "There's a cavern at the bottom of this cliff. If you follow the cavern far enough, you will find the battle area where I'll be waiting. Your prelim is to get to the battle area."

I peered over the cliff and watched the sparkling ocean crash against the rocks.

Then, suddenly, sharp knives jabbed at my skin—my heart—my lungs. My mouth was open but I couldn't scream.

My feet weren't touching the ground any more. The ocean rushed toward me—

<ANITA! FIERY!>

And then I abruptly stopped plummeting. An invisible force held me above the rocks. I noticed Fiery was beside me, watching the ocean below. Water sprayed up from the rocks, but we were still too high for it to reach us.

I felt a surge of anger from Apple above us, and automatically thrust my mind into hers. She was running forward, sizing up Sparky and looking for a good place to bit him. <Stop!> I yelled. Through Apple's eyes, I saw that Sparky held a long string of lightning between his hands.

Apple continued running at him.

<STOP!> I yelled again, putting a psychic force behind my words. Surprisingly, Apple actually halted.

<He pushed you and Fiery OFF OF A CLIFF!>

<It's the prelim. Apple, save your energy for the battle. Then, I promise, you can bite him all you would like. Thank you for saving us. Now follow Sparky wherever he's going to take you.>

<No.>

<Apple, we don't have time for this. We're both wasting psychic energy. We need all the energy we can get to fight Sparky.>

Apple's will wavered slightly. That would have to be enough. It was difficult to endure a connection for such a long time over a great distance. I retreated to my own mind.

Fiery was still watching the ocean.

<It's okay,> I told him. <I won't let you fall.>

I surveyed our distance from the ocean below us, and approximated it to be about the height of twelve Pokemon Centers.

I sighed and mentally prepared myself for the strain I was about to put my mind through. I forced my mind forward to create a barrier about a yard below the barrier we currently stood on, only a little farther away from the cliff. I jumped and landed on the barrier.

<Fiery, come on.>

Fiery didn't move. He could not take his gaze off of the ocean.

I reached up to the original barrier and pulled Fiery into my arms. He was warm and fairly heavy, but I held on to him anyway.

I continued the make a barrier, hop, make a barrier, hop pattern for a while. After a while, my legs began to ache so I made the leaps smaller. Eventually, I was just walking down an invisible spiral staircase.

Once, Fiery squirmed in my arms, and my concentration broke. We fell, but I managed to regain my concentration and create a new barrier in less than two seconds.

When we reached the cavern right above the rocks, I took a few steps in so Fiery would not get splashed with water, dropped Fiery on the ground, and slumped against the wall. My brain hurt like a muscle that had been pushed to its limit, but I felt surprisingly good. I had managed to get us to the cavern without allowing Fiery to get wet and with very few mistakes.

It was weird. For the first time, I had confidence in my psychic powers.

Fiery put a paw on my leg. I looked into his red-tinted eyes and he leaned forward to lick my face. I was too tired to reach my mind out to hear what was saying, but I smiled and patted his head.

We sat in silence for several minutes until I finally got to my feet. We walked into the cavern. I wanted to check on Apple and Erin and Mel, but I lacked the strength to even create a connection with Fiery. It was not long before I could see a bright light.

Fiery and I entered what appeared to be a battle arena. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of dirt and stone. There were no light bulbs. I squinted at the walls, trying to figure out where the light was coming from. When I remembered our previous battle, I realized the other arena had been illuminated the same way.

A deep laugh echoed around the arena. "It's called bright powder," Sparky said. I finally noticed him casually standing by a wall on the other side of the arena. "Run a current through it and it lights up." Sparky pointed to my left. "Behind that door are your Pokemon."

I turned around and saw the door. Aside from a small bronze handle, it looked like part of the wall. I swung the door open.

I stood motionless. A pebble tumbled somewhere in the cavern. Slowly, I turned to face Sparky. "Where—"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"—is this stupid place anyway?" I asked, forcing my tired legs down yet another four steps. "And Sparky said he'd meet us at the bottom. How'd he get there? Why couldn't we go the same way? When will these stairs end?!"

Mel seemed unaffected by the never-ending staircase. He continued leaping down excitedly, impatiently waiting for me to catch up at every turn. "Sparky's way is a hundred foot drop through the ground. He thought you'd be uncomfortable using it. He does something funky with controlling electricity for it to work."

"He cares about my well-being. I'm flattered," I said sarcastically.

"He's not like everyone thinks he is. Like your mom. She talks really bad about him. But he isn't really like that—he's like me!"

"That doesn't help his case."

BANG

"What was that?" I asked.

"The battle must have started! And we're missing it! Come on, go faster!"

"My legs won't move any faster, Mel. They feel like they're going to fall off."

Mel grabbed my hand. "Come on!" Suddenly, my feet weren't on the ground any more. I couldn't feel my legs—I couldn't feel anything.

Mel pulled me down a few stairs. "What—stop! Mel, let go!"

And then I was in the ground. It was so bizarre having dirt and rocks and an occasional Diglet pass right through my body that I did not think to scream. I wondered what would happen if I became tangible again while passing through the dirt.

There was another loud bang and then a louder crash. Mel pulled us towards the sound.

We came upon a cavern with a bright light at the end of it. I heard Anita's voice yelling something, but the echoes distorted the sound and I couldn't make out what she was saying. Mel made us solid again and ran towards the light. I sprinted after him.

Mel stopped abruptly at the arena's entrance. I gazed past him. The walls of the arena appeared to glimmer, giving off random light. I suspected the dirt was partially composed of bright powder and would have taken a sample to test later if it had not been for the intense scene in front of me.

An invisible force held Sparky five meters off of the ground against the wall to the left of where Mel and I stood. I was astonished that despite his situation, he continued to cackle. Beneath Sparky, a Jolteon, Flaffy, and Electabuzz were helplessly pinned to the wall as well. In the back left corner of the room, Vanilla and Splash cowered behind Fiery, who sat like a statue.

Everyone had their eyes on the center of the arena, where Anita stood. The air around her was strange, wavering slightly. Her hands were clenched into fists and her face taut.

It was her eyes, though, that really scared me shitless.

Her eyes glowed a bright purple and seemed to pierce right through Sparky, who she was staring at intently. Sparky's head was slammed into the wall. "Where is she?" Anita said icily.

Sparky didn't answer. For the first time, I saw his mad grin falter.

"What the hell did you do with Apple?"

 

[delongbi]

So it's been a while. Sorry guys, I kinda fell off the face of the planet. Anywho, to anyone who's still reading this:

Chapter 29: The Search is On

Next

Click.

Results 21-30 of about 154,000.

Click.

The familiar picture appeared on the screen. A collapsing Pokemon Center. Blue flames. A teenage girl crying. The caption read, Cherrygrove City fire kills three. Emily Johnson mourns the loss of her brother, Matthew Johnson. That was a slight change. Every other website had commented on the unusual circumstances of the fire, not the people involved. Legendary Fire? was a popular article title, as was Cherrygrove Police Failure.

I was not even certain of what to look for. The blue fires of Cherrygrove City and Vintage Village were my only leads as to how my father had known. Interestingly, the fires occurred within a hundred years of each other. Was this the information my father had?

It would imply that multiple Mews existed or the 5,000-year legend was, in fact, just a legend.

I scrolled down the page. There was another picture of the teenage girl. She was crying in the arms of a police officer while another officer carried a crate of rescued—but somewhat charred—objects. A doll in the crate caught my eye.

I closed the web page.

The doll had possessed a zipper mouth.

Banette. A Pokemon with a fetish for neglected dolls with the ability to produce blue fire using will-o-wisp.

Another dead end.

My father had known. He had known before he became he became a gym leader—before he became the Master—before he died, leaving me in the position as Master, as gym leader, as the only person capable of finishing what my father had started.

Except he did not leave me the most vital information. How to destroy Mew. Four years in Drape Town spent searching through records, files, journals, family heirlooms—and not a clue.

He had known. He had to have known… right?

"That was sloppy, Velcan!" Harvey Darcleye called from across the gym.

In the center of the gym, a Sneasel stood above a Charmeleon pointing, pointing a bright, sharp claw at the fire Pokemon's throat.

"We're not through!" a thin man with disheveled black hair yelled back. Suddenly, Charmeleon started to glow. The Sneasel took a step back.

A boy in the stands watched in confusion.

"Charizard!" The newly evolved Charizard flexed its wings, turned to the Sneasel, and released a stream of flames from its mouth. Harvey pulled out Sneasel's Pokeball and returned the Pokemon.

Velcan grinned. "See, we—"

"You won't be able to evolve your Pokemon every battle," Harvey interrupted.

"And your Sneasel won't be able to paralyze my Pokemon every battle. Each battle is different. We just use what we have to our advantage," Velcan answered.

Harvey gave Velcan a crinkly smile. "Well said."

Velcan turned to the boy in the stands. "Ready to go?"

The boy nodded and began the descent to the arena. "Mr. Darcleye?" he asked.

"Yes?" Harvey answered.

"Why didn't you attack while Charmeleon was evolving?"

Harvey frowned and glanced at Velcan before answering. "It's an unspoken rule."

"Why?"

Harvey carefully answered, "A Pokemon can get seriously hurt if it is hit while evolving."

"Then wouldn't it be best to—"

"That's enough," Velcan interrupted. "A Pokemon that is attacked during evolution can undergo permanent damage. Not attacking during evolution is a truce between all trainers."

"Velcan," Harvey spoke quietly. "Where are you sending this boy to school? How old is he? Seven? He should have learned this by now. Especially with his sharp mind—"

"I'm homeschooling him."

"Are you sure that's for the best? Have you actually been—"

"Ask him the attacks of any Pokemon."

"No, I didn't mean—"

"We haven't covered official battle rules yet," Velcan said.

"Mendol!" Harvey yelled. "It's rude to interrupt. And not attacking during evolution is not an official rule." Velcan opened his mouth to speak again, but Harvey held up a hand. "I don't doubt that you have taught your boy well. I am just concerned with his well-being. What does he do during the day when you're not home? A kid his age should be making friends in school."

"My Alakazam gives him lessons." Velcan lowered his voice. "He's been through a lot. We both have. Now is just not the best time for him to be attending school."

"I'm not trying to tell you how to raise your kid. Just want to make sure you know what you're doing."

Velcan smiled bleakly. "I do." The boy had reached the bottom of the stairs. Velcan took his hand. "Let's go."

At the doorstep of the gym, Velcan pulled a thin black cloak from his bag and handed it to his son. The boy routinely pulled it over his head, keeping the hood up. In the dim light, only his green eyes could be seen beneath the hood.

The pair walked only a block before turning off of the street and approaching what appeared to be a dark, empty office building. Upon entering the building, however, it was apparent that the building was anything but empty. Hallways were filled with diffused light and several busy-looking trainers, researchers, and other subordinates. Offices along the outer walls had thick blinds to keep even the weakest light from seeping into the outside world.

Velcan and the boy entered an elevator and were met by a tall, redheaded man wearing a black overcoat. The man nodded, "Mendol."

"Gibson," Velcan replied, smiling slightly. "How was your assignment? I heard the Master sent you to Sinnoh…"

"What I did is classified information."

Velcan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right. You've been gone a while. I know all about your failed dealings with Team Galactic. See, the Master promoted me because she values competence."

Gibson struggled to keep a straight face. "I was sent to Sinnoh because I'm the only person able to handle such a delicate situation—"

"Really? I hear she just wanted to get rid of you. Was tired of you, in fact."

"Tired?" Gibson echoed, looking slightly dazed. He stared at the elevator doors as if he was trying to burn a hole through them.

"What were her exact words? Something like 'Too clingy. Can't get over the one night.' I was under the impression she thought you couldn't handle her screw and split tactic."

"Screw and…"

"You know, new guy every week. I hear Arkle was the lucky boy this week." Velcan winked at Gibson. "Hope I'm next." The elevator opened to the fourth floor and Velcan and the boy stepped out. Despite being the top floor, the redheaded man did not move. Velcan waved a cheery goodbye to the stunned man as the elevator doors closed.

Velcan dropped his false smile and let out a long breath. He took the boy's hand. "Time to see the Master."

After walking down two twisted halls full of several wooden doors, Velcan and the boy stood in front of one such door. The door opened by itself to a room even less lit than the hallway.

"Mendol…" A woman said from the shadows. As the father and son entered, the woman added with distaste, "And Mini-Mendol…"

"Master." Velcan pulled out a cloth bag and placed it on the woman's desk. "That is Devon Corporation's latest recording technology."

"You completed your assignment rather quickly. May I ask how…?"

"I have connections."

"And the gym leader?"

"Continues to not look for, think about, or even consider Team Glop'emm."

"Well, Mendol, your performance for the team has been… incredible. Never have I been inclined to promote a charming man so rapidly." The woman licked her lips and ran a hand through her hair. "If only you would leave the boy—even for a moment…"

Velcan's eyes darted to the corner of the room, where a Kirlia stood against the wall. He squeezed his son's hand tighter. "I have my reasons. One day, my son may be of use to the team."

"Of course, of course."

"Master? There's something you should know."

"Yes?"

"Gibson… he—"

"What about Gibson?" The Master said uneasily.

"It's just, I overheard him talking to some of the guys. He was comparing you to some woman named Jupiter… talking about performances. He said you liked to come off all dominant, but…"

"Mendol, your next assignment is on your desk. Please leave."

Velcan nodded and pulled his son from the room. As they exited, the boy heard the Master mutter, "Should start calling him Meddle… perhaps for the best, though…"

Velcan and the boy walked down the hall and entered another office, this one empty. Velcan flipped the lights on and sat down behind a large desk, placing the boy on his lap.

"So, you see what I did?" Velcan asked.

"You made them angry at each other," the boy answered.

"Do you know why?"

"We need resources."

"That's why we want to be in control of the gym and of Team Glop'emm. I'm talking about tactics."

"You want to split them up."

Velcan ruffled his son's hair. "Right. Divide and conquer. That's important to remember." Velcan glanced past the boy to a framed scripture on the wall. "Always divide…"

"Dad, I don't like the Master. She's creepy."

"I don't like her either. But she won't be around much longer."

"You're going to kill her?" the boy asked in alarm.

"No, of course not. Then how would we be better than the legendaries, hmm?" Velcan patted his son's back comfortingly. "Jamie and I are going to get the Master to leave of her own accord."

"Because she'll be divided?"

"Right."

"I don't like this cloak," the boy randomly said. "It gets in my eyes."

Velcan turned the boy around. "Listen to me. You must never go out without the cloak. Never. We cannot trust these people. Not the Master, not Miss Teal, not even Jamie. Okay? These people can be useful, but we can never know for sure what they are thinking—"

"Unless we have a psychic Pokemon."

"You are proof that even psychic Pokemon can be mistaken. What we do is dangerous. Just promise me you will never let your guard down."

"I promise."

Velcan smiled. "Alright, then let's get to work. We have a legendary to find."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Anita," I said carefully. "Put Sparky down. I'm sure there's a valid explanation."

Anita ignored me. Sparky was shoved against the wall again. I noticed his arms and head were bleeding a little.

"Anita! Stop! He's an old man! You're going to kill him!" I looked helplessly at Mel. His eyes were wide in terror. An idea came to mind… "Mel," I whispered. "Take over—"

Mel shook his head violently.

"You have to—"

Anita turned to face us. "Don't even think about it," she hissed.

I wrapped my arms around Mel to comfort him. "A-An-Anita," Mel stuttered. "R-read his m-mind. You can t-tell wh-what happened."

Anita's strange bright eyes watched us. There was a moment I thought she would use her powers on us, but then Anita released Sparky from her psychic hold. She closed her eyes and took a long breath. "I can't feel her."

I wasn't sure if it was safe to approach her and Sparky yet, but Sparky looked like he needed help. Anita was completely motionless, still standing in the center of the battlefield. It was a sort of calm and a definite improvement. I decided to risk her wrath and check on Sparky. Mel didn't leave my side.

Sparky looked like an overturned rag doll among the various chunks of dirt and rock displaced from Anita's… tantrum. I bent over to examine the man. He had a gash in the back of his head and several scratches and bruises along his arms, but it didn't look life threatening. I reached to feel his forehead, but when a spark sizzled over his skin, I thought better of the idea.

Sparky moaned something incoherent and rolled over.

"What?" I asked, sending a quick glance at Anita. She was still motionless.

"Pokemon," he murmured. "Electric…" He tilted his head slightly to the wall he had been shoved against. I looked up. His Pokemon were still bound to the wall.

"Anita," I started. "Sparky's—"

The Pokemon were dropped to the ground before I finished. Anita didn't move.

I found Sparky's Pokeballs and returned his Pokemon. Sparky moaned again. "No. Electric. Need electric." His voice was hoarse.

I turned to Mel, who I still had my arms around. "Can you get him to a Pokemon Center? You did it with Anita before, right?"

"I… I don't know if I'll get electrocuted out. Anita did before. But I'll try." Mel disappeared. A few moments later, Sparky was getting up. Through Sparky, Mel spoke: "I can do it. I'll get him to your mom." Then Sparky disappeared.

I wasn't sure how to react to Anita. Should I try to comfort her? Leave her alone? I didn't want to set her off again. I briefly considered releasing Griffy to try to hold her, but thought that might make her angrier. Plus, I wasn't so sure Griffy could handle her in this state. I'd seen her do psychic tricks before, but this was new. And scary.

I decided my best course of action was to wait for Anita to say something. Maybe if I got lucky she'd fall asleep standing up.

"I can't feel her," Anita whispered again. "I can't feel Apple." Anita opened her eyes and looked at me painfully. Her eyes lacked the glow they had when she had been using her gift on Sparky.

After a brief internal struggle, I tentatively moved forward to give Anita a hug. Anita didn't return the hug, but she didn't stop me either. When I pulled back, I saw she was looking at Fiery, Vanilla, and Splash. I don't know what thoughts were exchanged, but Fiery nodded solemnly before Anita returned her Pokemon to their Pokeballs.

"Why don't we get going," I suggested.

"I have to find Apple."

"You said you couldn't feel her psychically, right? So she's certainly not here."

"I can't feel her anywhere. Not as far as I can reach out. Not in the whole town of Cape Caution."

"Ok, but there are ways of getting around your powers, right? Like the room you told me Sparky had set up. We can go check there—"

"Liam," Anita said definitively. "Liam took Apple." Her eyes started to glow again.

"Now, let's not jump to conclusions. There's no reason—"

"There's plenty reason—he's a suspicious son-of-a-*****, never telling us anything—why he wanted to travel with us—why he doesn't use Pokemon but carries them around—"

"He told us an accident—"

"Bullshit." A rock crumbled somewhere in the arena. "He doesn't want me reading the minds of his Pokemon. He knows I'll find out what he's really after—"

I did not like the direction this was going. Attempting to distract Anita enough to prevent her from blowing anything up, I said, "You couldn't read their minds. He has dark type—"

"Yes, we know he carries around one dark type. Funny how that's the only one he's used. I'm a psychic but I don't carry around all psychic type Pokemon."

"You don't carry around any psychic type," I pointed out.

Anita stared at me for a second, the glow in her eyes flickering. "Right." She turned around and strode across the arena.

"Uh, Anita, I think the stairs are over—" My throat went dry when I saw Anita's eyes and facial expression.

"There's a better way," she said coldly. "Over here." Anita walked around a rock crag that had appeared from a distance to be a smooth wall. I had a bad feeling about the whole situation, but I was not going to let Anita out of my sight so I followed her.

We walked silently through a small dark passage before coming to a dead end. "Anita," I said softly. "We can—"

"This goes all the way up to the gym." I looked upwards and saw we appeared to be standing at the bottom of a large hole. I couldn't see the top.

"Yeah, but how—"

"Sparky had an electric wire and motor."

"We don't have electricity—"

"Shut up. I can get us up." Anita's eyes glowed again. I opened my mouth several times, wanting to comfort her or tell her to stop taking her anger out on me or convince her to calm down.

I managed to utter a series of, "Mmmhs."

After five minutes of chickening out, I finally said, "Anita, let's go use the stairs. It's okay if you can't get us up this way." Frankly, I was relieved.

"I can do it. I did it before. With Sparky." Anita breathed sharply and punched a wall. "Damn it, I can do it! I have to do it!" she yelled in frustration.

"Look, you were angry before and now you're having trouble concentrating—"

"I'M STILL ANGRY! APPLE WAS ****ING TAKEN AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS!"

Suddenly, I was hurled upward. Rocks and dirt rushed past me as my hair whipped painfully against my face and shoulders. I closed my eyes until my stomach started to drop. Then I peeked them open and realized the rocks were moving in the opposite direction.

I was plummeting. Anita was falling with me—I hadn't realized she was with me before. Her face was twisted with concentration.

I don't know how I did it, but I did. Somehow, my brain processed all of this information fast enough for me to grab Griffy's Pokeball and yell, "Psychic, Griffy!"

We stopped falling. I looked down. We were about ten meters from the bottom. <Griffy, do you have enough power to bring us up?> I asked.

<I believe so, Miss.>

We started to rise slowly. I turned to Anita to tell her that thanks to Griffy we would not, in fact, plunge to our deaths, but when our eyes caught she looked determinedly away.

I glimpsed a tear rolling down her dirty cheek.

Gently, I put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.

By the time we reached the top of the hole, Anita's eyes were dry. Griffy collapsed next to the hole, panting with exhaustion. I ran a hand across his fur and muttered, "Thank you," before returning him to his Pokeball.

The room we had ended up in was dark and musty smelling. I looked around and found Anita already running towards the exit. "Wait!"

Anita didn't pause as she bounded up the stairs in the corner of the room.

I quickly got to my feet and ran after her. Luckily, she was not far ahead, and I always managed to glimpse the direction she was turning just before she actually turned down a white hall. It was not long before we reached the outside. Anita was not bothering with the dirt path; she cut directly across the grass in the direction of the lab.

I followed in her path, breathing hard, propelling my legs, and thanking the Great Dragon I had worn tennis shoes instead of heels. Not that I couldn't run in heels. I just can't run as fast in heels—Zach once timed me—

This was not the time to be spacing out. Anita was going to try to strangle Liam and Liam would probably end up breaking her arms and legs in the process.

The biggest problem at the moment, though: I wasn't gaining on Anita.

I had longer legs and longer strides and we were running down hill, but I just couldn't seem to get any closer to her. The results of Liam's training, I supposed. Ironic.

I almost reached for Griffy's Pokeball before I remembered he was drained from his psychic exertion. Anita was only two hundred meters away from the laboratory, and I was still two hundred meters behind her. Professor Blubber was going to flip if any of his equipment was damaged…

Suddenly, I stopped running. I was an idiot. I reached into my backpack, pulled out my PokeTech, and pressed a few buttons. A few seconds later, Professor Blubber appeared on the small screen.

"Professor! Get Liam out of the lab, now!"

"Why—"

"No time! Just do it!"

Behind the Professor, I saw Liam carrying a box of supplies. Professor Blubber turned around. "Erin says you need to leave the lab."

Liam rolled his eyes.

"Liam, Anita's going to arrive at the door in about fifteen seconds to tear your throat out! You need to leave!"

"I can handle Anita," Liam snickered.

"Yeah, well, whether or not that's the case, the lab cannot! Get out!"

Anita reached the door. Even though it was probably unlocked, she psychically cracked it down the middle. I both witnessed the crash and heard it through the PokeTech. Professor Blubber blanched. "Go out the back window," he ordered.

Liam frowned, hesitating. "Why is she—"

"Liam's outside on the side of the building!" Professor Blubber yelled. Anita immediately backtracked out the front door. When Professor Blubber noticed Liam was not moving, he scooped Liam up wedding style.

"Hey! What—"

"I think you need to get out of here away from that girl. You're a strong lad, right?" He lightly tossed Liam out the window. Now I could see Liam in real life—not on the PokeTech screen. I could also see Anita turning the corner of the laboratory. "Well what are you doing? Run!" Professor Blubber turned back to me on the PokeTech screen. "Jesus, Erin, you didn't tell me the girl could do martial arts. Now I have a door to replace. What did Liam do to her? He is faster than her, right?"

"Um, Professor, Anita doesn't really do martial arts. Unless you count the stuff Liam taught her. Liam's the one with all the martial arts."

"So… the door?"

"Well, she's a psychic," I answered, distracted. Anita had reached Liam. She was attempting to punch him. I started to jog down the hill towards the lab.

"Where is she?!" Anita yelled.

I glanced back at the screen. I hadn't thought the Professor could get any whiter. "She's a what? Erin, you just let me hand over a boy to a clearly unstable psychic? As in, like Tamara Lilac psychic? She blew up a door, Erin!"

"That's why she couldn't be in the lab. For whatever reason, her powers don't affect Liam. Trust me, he'll be okay."

Just then, several mounds of dirt exploded around Liam.

"Um, I gotta go."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As soon as my foot made contact with the ground, I tensed my calf and quickly rebounded in another direction. Logically, my best tactic would be to keep on the move because even though Anita's gift was directly ineffective against me—

Dirt and rocks burst upwards from the spot I had been in milliseconds earlier.

—she could exploit the environment.

For a moment, I was tempted to let Anita continue on her rampage. It had been a long time since I had a decent fight. I missed the adrenaline rush, the surprise of a good opponent, the manipulation of chaos to control—

But there were more important matters. Why I was being attacked, for instance.

More dirt exploded between Anita and me. Instead of avoiding it again, I leapt directly through it and grabbed Anita's hand, effectively ending the fight.

"Liam! You're okay!"

I turned my head slightly and saw Erin running towards us. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Anita shift her body in an attempt to kick me. I simply lifted a leg to avoid being hit.

"You seemed more worried about the laboratory than about my well-being," I said, returning my attention to Anita. She continued to twist her hand in a poor attempt to force me to release her wrist.

"What did you do?" Anita said hoarsely, finally letting her hand rest. She glared at me. Her face was smeared with dirt and—were those tears?

"You know, I was about to ask the same question," I said.

"Anita thinks—" Erin started.

"No, I KNOW you took Apple!" Anita yelled.

"Apple's missing," Erin explained. "Anita can't sense her so we thought…"

Apple was gone. My heart skipped a beat. We had been so focused on Anita. Sure, we considered the others, always keeping in mind alternative possibilities, but Anita—perhaps we had been too focused—maybe…

"So do you have her?" Erin asked.

"Who?"

"APPLE, YOU MORON!" Anita yelled in frustration.

"No."

"No?" Erin asked.

"No, I did not take Apple. Why the hell would I take Apple?" Why would Mew assume I took Apple? Why would Anita assume I took Apple? Sure, I got the impression that she did not particularly like me, but…

Suppose Apple was Mew. What if Anita knew? What if she somehow knew that I was looking for Mew? Of course, I would be the first person she would suspect when Mew goes missing.

"I c-can't feel Apple anywhere." Anita was really crying now. Suddenly, a bizarre pang of guilt for restraining her wormed its way into my chest. I frowned. "S-sorry. M-my gift doesn't work on you s-so I thought m-maybe you took A-Apple."

Or maybe she did not know. Maybe Apple was not Mew. Maybe Anita was not Mew. There were too many possibilities…

I needed to get away to use the walkie. There was a sure way to confirm whether Apple was Mew…

"Where's your bag?" Erin asked.

"In the lab." I narrowed my eyes at the girl. "You think I took Apple, too?"

Erin shrugged. "Anita's paranoid… but she's right. You're really the only one we know who could pull something like this off."

"I feel so trusted."

"If you didn't do it, then you have nothing to worry about," Erin said as she walked away from us. "I'll just get your bag and we'll take a peek." She rounded the corner of the lab.

Anita slumped down to sit on the ground, and as I was still holding her wrist, I was forced to sit down as well. She sniffled. I watched tears roll down her face and lightly hit the grass.

"You should stop crying," I said.

"Why? Because it's pointless, and useless, and won't find Apple?" Anita said sourly. "I know that."

"Well, I was going to say it is weird, but that works, too."

"What would you do if one of your Pokemon—right, you don't like Pokemon—what if someone you care about—do you actually care about anyone?" Anita put her head on her knees. "I guess it's pointless to talk to someone like you."

"I'd do anything for the people I love."

Two dark-haired boys playing in the sand, splashing each other with salt water, wet sand sticking to small feet as they slide in shallow water—

"You sure know how to show it."

"I don't love you."

"I wasn't talking about me, dumb-ass. You don't seem to care about anything or anyone—"

"Says the crying, self-involved girl who can't keep her emotions in check and has an inability to focus on anything that doesn't directly relate to herself or her precious Pokemon."

Anita turned her head away. "Y-you're wrong."

"So are you," I snapped.

"I'm back!" Erin said, returning with my bag. She dropped the bag in front of Anita. "Want to do the honors?"

Anita picked up the bag. I thought she would open the bag up and begin unshrinking everything. I was overestimating her intelligence.

Anita hurled the bag as hard as she could at the ground. There were several cracks followed by flashes of light as the shrinkable containers in my bag broke, releasing their contents all at once. I was grateful to have the walkie-talkie and Pokeballs in my pocket at the moment, not smashed in my bag.

"Thank you for that temper tantrum," I said.

Erin and Anita examined my possessions, now prominently on display across the grass. There was my broken bicycle, three piles of neatly folded clothes, a half-empty first aid kit, two loaves of bread wrapped in plastic, peanut-butter, a few notebooks and writing utensils, my PokeTech, and my Pokedex.

"Where's your toothbrush?" Erin blurted out.

"At your house, still."

A breeze swept by, causing one of my notebooks to flutter open and a pile of shirts to topple over.

"Anita, he doesn't have Apple. Let's go to the police station and talk to Officer Jenny."

Anita's face was blank and she started to get up. I stopped her for a moment. "Are you in control?" I asked.

Anita nodded.

I released her wrist. Her eyes glowed briefly and then returned to their normal violet.

"Maybe you should hold on to Anita, just in case," Erin said hesitantly.

I raised my eyebrows at Erin. "I'm not coming with you. Next time you want my help, consider not smashing my belongings first. It's polite."

Erin shifted her weight uncomfortably. "She'll pay you back."

"Good."

"Liam, she's really hurt now. With Apple missing…"

I crossed my arms. "Okay."

Erin sighed and took Anita's hand. "Let's go."

I waited until they were out of sight to pull out the walkie-talkie.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I held up the final flash card.

"Grill."

"No, Sticky. Girl. Repeat after me, girl."

"Grill."

My Ditto, Sticky, was sprawled in a plastic chair across from me, its body a perfect replica of mine. We were in an isolated experiment room practicing Sticky's English. "Come on, Sticky, this is no time for games. This is the last card. Pull your cheeks in a little bit. Girl."

"Grill."

"Excuse me, Professor Teal."

One of my many research assistants peeked his head through the door. His eyes flickered between me and Sticky, confused as to which of us was the real Rita. "Yes?" I answered.

"Another prototype is ready for testing."

"Bring it in."

The assistant entered the room holding a metal cube the size of shoebox with two metal rods sticking out of one face. I took the box from him.

"Now, Sticky, this might hurt a little bit."

"Heart?"

"Pain. Remember pain?"

"Yes, pain. Not no brain. Sound hard make. Know pain."

I flicked a switch on the device and held it out to Sticky. Sticky willingly lifted its hand to touch the two metal rods. A blue spark flickered onto her palm.

"Ow."

I returned the device to the assistant, shaking my head. "It still doesn't untransform her. It needs more work. Have you been working with Tal? The Alakazam's psychic will make it easier to manipulate the electric pulses."

"Yes, Ma'am. We'll get right on it."

"I'll be there in just a minute to have a better look. I need to clean up here."

The assistant gave me a funny salute and exited the room quickly. I sighed. It was a little disturbing how terrified several of the grunts were of authority figures on Team Glop'emm. Though I suppose with Jamie and the Master in charge, it was to be expected.

I gathered up my notebook and several stacks of flash cards.

"Help?" Sticky asked.

I looked at the Ditto. "What?"

"I help?"

"You'd like to help?"

Sticky nodded. I handed her two stacks of flash cards and we exited the room.

"I you now," Sticky said as we walked down the tiled hallway.

"Yes, Sticky, you are transformed into me right now."

"Yes. Not no brain. I w-won't me."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand, Sticky."

"I you. Not me. I won't me." Sticky grimaced and made a strange face, widening her mouth. "I want me."

"Sticky, you don't have your own human form—" I was cut off by a buzzing on my hip. It was the walkie-talkie Jamie had so kindly left behind for me.

"Master?" I answered.

"Er, no. This is Liam, the Master's detective."

"Oh. I didn't realize there were three walkie-talkies…" I said.

"Is this Professor Teal? Isn't Mr. Arkle supposed to have the other walkie? May I speak with him?"

"Yes, this is Rita. Yes, Jamie is supposed to have the other walkie. Jamie, however, left the other day for some supposed family emergency."

"Did he tell the Master?"

"He said he would. Can I help with whatever it is you are calling about?"

"Do you have access to the Pokemon tracking device?"

"Of course."

"Have there been any sightings of Pokemon X in the past twelve hours? I have reason to believe Pokemon X transformed a few hours ago in or around Cape Caution. I wanted to confirm this before contacting the Master—you know how he dislikes false alarms."

"I do not believe Pokemon X has been sighted. If it had been, I would have been informed, and the Master would have been contacted immediately. I will go double check." I quickly walked into the experiment room with the tracking device in it, sat down, and ran a history search on Mew. "No, Pokemon X has not been located since the third of July."

There was silence on the other end.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yes. Disappointed. Thank you."

"No problem." I hung up the walkie and swiveled around in my chair. Where Sticky had just been standing, a young girl with blonde hair now stood. "Sticky?" I asked tentatively.

"I not you."

"No, you're not. Who are you? I don't think I have seen the girl you transformed into before."

"You can't. She nerve. She nerv-ner-nev-never. She never. I me."

"I don't understand."

"I me. I make me. I me."

I felt the blood drain out of my face. My hands shook. "Y-you're telling me you made her. You created what you transformed into?"

Sticky smiled happily. "I girl."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

My lungs were being crushed. I couldn't move. I couldn't flick my tail, twitch my ears, or wiggle my pink claws. Not a muscle.

<I know you can do better,> 868,012 said coldly, pressing the psychic barrier even harder. 868,012 is what most of my kind called him. I preferred, "Father."

<Someone's been too busy being a little trainer's pet furball to build up a strong psychic,> a voice taunted.

I pushed my mind, forcing air into my lungs, but I wasn't strong enough to push the barrier crushing me away. It was pointless, anyway—this training. There would never be a time when traveling with Anita that it would be safe enough for me to resume my form as a Mew. I counted the years in my head—I was fairly certain I had spent more time as transformed Pokemon than I had as a Mew.

Suddenly, I was released from the psychic grip. <Meditation break for an hour,> Father Mew said. <You're not focusing.>

I didn't move, allowing all my sore muscles to relax. I tried to drift into oblivion…

<You're never going to get back at this rate. Never going to complete your training,> the voice taunted again.

<Shut up,> I said.

<You miss her. Want to know what she's doing right now? She's crying over you. Poor little girl doesn't have her best friend, doesn't know what happened to her best friend because her best friend didn't warn her—>

<I didn't know.>

<Sure. You had the dreams. You knew. You didn't want it to be true. And now look, you've yet again brought about chaos.>

<You could bring me back before that. Before Anita misses me.>

<I could.>

<You will,> I demanded.

<I could, but then there'd be no fun, hmm?>

<You're sick.>

<No, I'm actually feeling quite well. You're the one who's looking beat.>

<I'll transform into you. I'll go back to the right time myself,> I threatened.

I felt something stroke my cheek. I opened my eyes and sent a psychic pulse above me.

A green little fairy, with pseudo-innocent eyes and nearly invisible wings flipped through the air, laughing. <No, my sweet, delectable Apple, you won't.> I blinked and the fairy was suddenly next to my ear. <And would you like to know why you won't.> I thrust out another psychic pulse.

<Why?>

Celebi did another flip in the air. <Because someone's tracking you in your time. If you transform into your true self for even a moment, you're dead meat… or rather, dead fruit.>

<You're bluffing.>

Celebi winked. <Maybe. Want to test that theory?>