[Pokémon] The Consensus [pg-13]

[Silhouette]

A/N: I decided to write a fanfic, but since I can never finish them, I decided to write out the most of it before even posting the first chapter. Also, two things. Firstly, this is my first try at a first-person perspective fanfic. Secondly, while the events of this story strongly suggest that it follows the events of "Mewtwo Returns" movie/special/etc., this fanfic isn't based on it.

Rated PG-13 due to mild language and violence.

Chapter Directory:
[alink id="prologue"]Prologue[/alink id]
[alink id="one"]Chapter One: Access Denied[/alink id]
[alink id="two"]Chapter Two: A True Motive[/alink id]
[alink id="three"]Chapter Three: The Trials[/alink id]
[alink id="four"]Chapter Four: Once in a Blue Moon[/alink id]
[alink id="epilogue"]Epilogue[/alink id]

[a id]prologue[/a id]

​

Prologue

"You. . . I've heard about you. . . you're that faker that I've been looking for!" the man yelled. His once-fancy clothing was torn and dirty, and his usually-sleek hair was messed up entirely.

"Faker?" boomed an incredibly deep voice in the man's head. The purple humanoid Pokemon stood on the rooftop across from the man, flicking its long, slender tail amusingly. It smirked evilly, narrowing its eyes on the man.

"You're going to die by my hands!" the man announced, tossing three Pokeballs into the air in a mixture of rage and desperation. In a series of three flashes stood three Pokemon. One was a large, dinosaur-like Pokemon with a rock-solid body, a Rhydon. It roared, spinning the drill on its face. The next was a small, purple frog-like Pokemon with an agile build. It grinned, emphasizing the evil smile on its face, that ended with a red bubble on each cheek. It was a Toxicroak. The last Pokemon was a bulging, gray Pokemon with what seemed like a crooked mouth on its stomach. On its head was a single slit that revealed a red, glowing eye that shifted to the purple Pokemon curiously. The Pokemon had arms, but its legs were gone. This last Pokemon was a Dusknoir.

The Rhydon, Toxicroak, and Dusknoir stood across the rooftop from the purple creature. The wind blew over the clearing between them in the night sky. The city, which was usually bright and glowing at night, was dead and midnight-dark. Without command, the three Pokemon dashed at the purple creature. Without even moving, the purple Pokemon's eyes lit up a bright blue. At that instant, the Rhydon was lifted into the air, and crashed down on the rooftop with its incredible weight, falling completely through the roof down into the skyscraper, followed by a series of crashes as it fell through each floor. In the next instant, the Toxicroak dashed at the purple Pokemon, lunging its spiked forearms toward it. The Toxicroak, inches away from the purple Pokemon, crashed into an invisible force, which lit up as an orb around the purple Pokemon, deflecting the Toxicroak away. As the Toxicroak was flying backward, the purple Pokemon formed a blade of its own psychic power in its hands, and slashed at the Toxicroak, slamming it into the rooftop, and permanently downing it.

Suddenly, from a veil of shadow behind the purple Pokemon, the Dusknoir's arms reached and held the purple Pokemon's arms behind its back.

"You still don't understand. You've studied my powers, and yet, you still think you can defeat me with tactics like these?" the purple Pokemon said in the man's mind. The man's eyes widened with fear and desperation.

"D-Dusknoir, kill that slimy thing!" he shouted. The Dusknoir didn't move to the man's command, however. It just floated there, holding the purple Pokemon's hands behind its back. Suddenly, the Dusknoir let go of the purple Pokemon, and fell limp to the rooftop.

"I think you're the faker, here!" the voice boomed again in the man's head. The purple Pokemon lit up entirely, and the man could feel his body starting to feel heavy. His head felt like it was going to explode. Suddenly, his vision went black. The last thing he saw was the purple Pokemon's lit eye. . .


[a id]one[/a id]Chapter One; Access Denied

I could here the bicycle's tires whir as I pedaled down the sidewalk. The sky was very cloudy and ominous, creating a false nighttime, even though it was midday. The wind blew against the me, as if resisting my purpose. On the street, lines of cars were halted in the entire city. Horns were blaring, and frustrated drivers were screaming out of their windows. Finally, I turned my bicycle down a quiet alleyway in order to take a shortcut. I could feel my ponytail waving behind me as I sped down the lonely single-lane road, passing trash cans and small, wild Pokemon. The Pokemon on my shoulder, a Sentret, stood attentive, with its ears perked and its striped tail erected high. Finally, I exited the alleyway to the left into another road full of halted cars. I stopped at a house about halfway down the road, and hopped off of my bicycle. Similarly, Sentret, which was on my shoulder, hopped down to the ground, and followed me at my shoes, which were green, high-top sneakers. I stored my bike in a garage behind the medium-sized house, and entered the house through the back porch door.

When I entered the house, I turned on a light that penetrated the odd darkness of midday. I could hear the wind howling against the side of the house, as cars honked and people yelled at eachother. I walked to the other room, approached a phone stand on the kitchen counter, and pressed a small button on the stand. Suddenly, the phone blared.

"You have one new message," the recording machine stated monotonously. "First new message."

"Dakota, it's mom. I'm just calling to let you know that neither me nor your father will be able to make it home tonight. They aren't allowing anyone to enter or exit Skiolet City, so we've found a motel to stay in for the night. We will try to be home as soon as possible. Love you honey," explained my mother's voice. My name is Dakota, if you haven't figured it out already.

"Well, Sentret, looks like we're home alone for the night!" I said with a sigh to the Sentret. Sentret squeaked happily, and hopped on my shoulder from the kitchen counter. I took off my pink baseball cap, tossed it on the couch in the TV room, and sat down. I pulled a cell phone from the pocket of my shorts, and dialed a number. After a few moments of waiting, I got an answer.

". . .Hi, it's Dakota. What's up, Alex?" I asked.

From the other line, a boy answered. "Oh, I'm not up to anything. I just got home. It's awesome that we got out of school early!"

"Yeah, I know!" I agreed, seeing that it was only 1:50. "Want to play a Wii game?" I asked.

"I'm up for it. How about some Smash Brothers!?" Alex announced over the phone. I agreed, and we hung up. Sentret sat excitedly on the couch's armrest, ready to watch an intense game. If there was one place you would find me, it was playing video games. Well, unless it was track season. I set my cell phone down on a nearby side table, and looked to the TV's table. I opened up a cupboard, revealing a Nintendo Wii and a stack of game cases. After a second of looking, I found a certain game case, put the game in, and grabbed a Wii Remote. I then sat down at the couch again, grabbed the TV's remote, and pressed the on button. As soon as the screen turned on, a bright flash of lightning lit up the entire room, followed immediately by a thunderous boom that shook the house. I stood up quickly, and Sentret shot across the couch and jumped onto me out of reflex. I looked around, realizing it was just lightning, and sat back down at the couch. I looked at the TV, which showed a man at a podium, surrounded by microphones. A bulletin scrolled on the screen, which read "Important Message!". I tried to change the channel, but the same thing was each station.

Hold on a minute, what is this. . ? I decided to watch the announcement, as did Sentret.

". . .and it comes to my attention that all of Skiolet City is under lockdown, denying the access of anyone into or out of the city. I understand this means a lot of families are going to be separated all weekend, but it's for the city's safety. Also, all connection to places other than inside the city itself will be terminated," the man at the stage said. Flashes of cameras lit up his sleek face every so often. He ran a finger coolly through his spiked, brown hair, and looked around. What a pompous man.

"All communication within the city will still work, but all internet will be off, and no one will be able to enter or exit the city. All life will continue normally until we get things sorted out, so no one has to worry," he finished. He started to walk off the stage when the crowd of people followed him. No internet. Something about that just didn't click with me.

"What is the reason for these extreme conditions?" one cameraman asked.

"No comment," the man answered. The channel then transitioned to a news room, which showed a woman at the anchor desk.

"As you have seen, mayor Adam Swane has locked the city down. We will bring you more information as the story develops," she explained. Suddenly, my cell phone buzzed, diverting my attention from the television. I looked at the front screen, which read 'Incoming call: Alex". I flipped the phone open.

"What's up?" I answered.

"My internet is out. We can't play Wii," Alex explained. He was serious. Which was sad.

"You didn't watch TV, did you?" I asked. Of course, I knew the answer already.

"Well. . . no. Heh. Well, do you want to hang out then?" Alex answered. I thought for a minute.

"Um. . . actually, I think I'm going to work on the project that Mrs. Elmore assigned today," I lied. I felt bad, but things were reaching a different level. Surprisingly, I was becoming concerned. Usually, my mom and I don't get along, but there were times when we get along. I almost started to miss her. Almost.

"Really? Aren't you just going to procrastinate like we always do?" Alex asked.

"Well, the assignment seemed interesting. . . So I'm going to get a start on it." I replied. With that, the conversation was over. I looked down to Sentret, which returned a concerned look. I smiled to Sentret, trying to comfort it.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be okay. I'll leave Chatot and Tangela here to watch the house, and you can come with me!" I reassured. I ran up the stairs and entered a room two doors down the hallway. This room, my room, had dark-blue walls with white dots in uneven intervals, which closely resembled the night sky dotted with stars. On the opposite side of the room was a bed, and along the wall near me was a desk and a computer. I walked over to the desk, and pulled two Pokeballs out of a drawer. I then grabbed a hoody and a single-strap backpack full of various supplies. I made my way back downstairs, and released a Pokemon from each Pokeball. One was a bird Pokemon with a colorful body. It's head was round, with a feather that stuck up, making its head resemble a musical note. The other Pokemon was a mess of blue vines. It's face was concealed, showing only two large, round eyes. The only appendages it showed were two red, boot-like feet.

"Tangela, Chatot, take care of the house while I'm gone. I'm going to the coffee shop," I told them. Both Tangela and Chatot nodded. I looked to Sentret, who hopped on my shoulder. I grabbed my pink baseball cap, pulled my ponytail through it, and put it on before exiting the house. As I left, the wind was blowing very strongly, and the sky was almost black. It was enough to make me shiver, so I opened up my backpack, and pulled out my red hoody. I zipped it up, and walked over to the garage, opening it and retrieving my bicycle. I hopped on, Sentret sitting on my shoulder, and rode out of the driveway. I saw that while the traffic was still entirely jammed, all of the cars had been abandoned. I shrugged it off and rode off to the right through the same alleyway, and out into the street of the dense city. Though the sidewalks weren't full of people as they normally were, many people were still out and about, probably getting things together for what seemed like a crisis.

I rode down the sidewalk, along the the connected buildings of the metropolis. Further I rode, in the ever-expanding city of Skiolet. Eventually, I reached my destination; a small building between two skyscrapers with a large window on the front. The window read 'Hitmonshop'. Next to the large word was a picture of a cup of coffee, and the shape of a Pokemon, Hitmontop. I pulled my bike up to the bike rack on the side of the small building, and unwrapped a bike lock from the frame. I connected the lock, and entered the building. Inside the place was an apparent coffee shop, with booths along the walls, and some tables in the center. On the far wall was a counter with a cash register, and a somewhat plump-looking man behind it.

"Hit-mon!" greeted a humanoid Pokemon to me and Sentret. It was tan, and it seemed to have a toga-like uniform on. It raised its hand, which was concealed by a red boxing glove.

"Hi, Hitmonchan!" I replied happily. It was then that I realized that the coffee shop was completely empty. That was odd, since it was usually time for a coffee break for employees.

"Hey there, Dakota. What brings you here on a day like this?" the plump man asked me. I couldn't help but notice the layer of stubbles on his bulbous chin. Leave it to me to be so nit picky.

"Hi, Girard. I just stopped by on my way to the library. How come no one is here?" I answered.

"Actually, there was a mob of people in here just about an hour before you got here. But, there was this loud sound from somewhere in the city. In fact, I think it came from the way the library is," Girard answered. I nodded understandingly, watching the blubber on the man's chin dance around. "Actually, would you mind going to see what that was? I've been wanting to all day, but I have to watch the shop. I mean, I could leave my Pokemon here, but they don't know how to work the cash register if we get a customer."

"Yeah, I'll let you know what that sound was – " I started.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous boom that sounded as if it were right outside. Then, out of nowhere, one wall of the coffee shop erupted, sending bricks and debris everywhere. Both Girard and I shielded ourselves from the explosion. Both of us were coughing as the dust cleared, revealing a clean hole in the wall taller than myself. In the pile of debris was the crumpled scrap metal that was my bicycle. Lovely.

"My bike!" I yelled, running over to inspect it.

"Don't, it might still be dangerous over there!" Girard shouted, chasing after me. Ignoring Girard, I knelt down, looking at the bike. It was nothing more than a metal knot, now.

"Oh, man! I just got this bike! It was like a hundred and fifty dollars!" I cried. I looked over to the hole in the wall, and exited the coffee shop through it. I walked carefully along the bricks and dust, and stepped out onto the sidewalk, looking to the sky. I faced Girard, who was still standing in the opening.

"I'm heading further into town. I don't like the looks of things," I told him. Girard looked at me in puzzlement, but didn't object. I ran down the road, with Sentret following close at my heels. Rain droplets were falling toward the earth faster and faster, eventually coming to a downpour. I had no relative clue of the time, as it was just too dark to even know if the sun was still up or not. I kept running toward town through the heavy downpour. No matter where I went, I noticed, the street was filled with abandoned cars, with some even left with their headlights on.

Finally, I arrived to a section of the city where the road went underground. Just before the street submerged the surface of land was a gigantic, Victorian-styled building. The older style of the building made it stand out from the rest of the present-styled building. Quickly, I made my way into the building, and sat in the lobby at a bench, where it was warm. I grabbed Sentret, and attempted to dry it off with my sleeves. But, it was almost of no use, as the hoody itself was almost completely soaked. After becoming warm, Sentret and I entered the building. Inside, the single-room building was very dimly lit, and lined with bookcases. The room spanned seemingly-forever, simply lined by books. This was my destination: the library.

Slowly, I walked down the aisle way of two rows of shelves, making my way to the other side of the room. It seemed like I could almost get lost in the labyrinth if it weren't for the small source of lights hanging from the ceiling. Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to get lost in a library, anyway. However, as I made my way to the front desk, I felt Sentret hop off of my shoulder. Sentret scurried away quickly, passing underneath the small space between one of the bookshelves and the floor.

"Sentret, come back!" I yelled, hearing my voice echo eerily. I sounded so young to myself. I ran around the aisle, and found Sentret in a fighting stance directed at a very odd, shadowy blob in the corner of the room. No light penetrated this spot, concealing whatever was in the corner. I slowly approached Sentret.

"What's over there?" I asked quietly, feeling the fear well up in my voice. And I'll admit that I was actually a bit afraid. Only a bit, though. As I squinted to get a better look, two small, beady eyes lit up from the corner, making me instantly jump backward out of reaction, not fear. The shadowy blob advanced toward Sentret and I. Sentret stood its ground, ready to attack.

"Banette, use Shadow Sneak attack!" I heard someone yell. Obediently, the shadowy creature lifted its arms, and moved them as if it were a puppet connected by strings. Suddenly, Sentret's shadow came out of the ground, and dashed around it. Sentret flinched, but it was too late. The shadow-Sentret struck its tail into Sentret. But, the tail went right through Sentret, with no effect whatsoever.

"Sentret, quick, use Foresight!" I commanded. In the next instant, the darkness vaporized, revealing a gray, doll-looking Pokemon with a zipper-like mouth. Its head showed three spikes, and a longer spike protruding from the back of its head. As it floated, its nubby legs flailed about, and its long arms dangled lazily. It flicked its short, yellow tail in a friendly way, signifying that it wasn't a threat. This Pokemon, a Banette, became surprised when its cover was blown, and totally forgot about its current attack.

"Now, use Quick Attack!" I commanded. Sentret nodded, and it dashed forward at an almost blinding speed, striking the Banette with its tail. The Banette staggered backward, unaware that the move would actually have effect.

"That's enough!" I heard the voice say again. The Banette let down its battle stance, and looked behind it, where a man stood, as if he arrived from nowhere. I flinched backward when I realized the man was standing there.

"W-What!? When did you get there?" I asked, not realizing him in the first place. The man put his hand on his head and sighed, laughing a bit.

"I was standing here the whole time. It was just too dark with my Banette using its Night Shade technique," the man explained. He snapped his fingers, and the lights in the entire library returned to a normal, bright shine instead of their dim glow. The light revealed a man with light brown, spiky hair that jetted in all directions. He looked toward me, his face being very young looking, perhaps only a few years older than myself. He wore a very formal uniform, consisting of a dressy shirt, black pants, and dress shoes. His wire-framed glasses shined as they reflected one of the lights.

"What brings you here on a day like this?" the man asked.

"I was just around. And I need some help. I know your going out with that girl that is in the mayor's bureau. . ." I started.

"What? How do you know that?" the man asked, losing his seemingly-unyielding cool.

"Cenard, really?" I scowled. Cenard, which was his name, lowered his head in shame.

"I introduced you to her, didn't I? I must've forgotten. . ." he answered. He lifted his head with his dignity regained. "Anyway, how does my current situation with her have to do with anything?"

"I was watching the news, and the mayor said that the city was under a sort of lock down. But he never said why. I want Sarah to find out!" I asked, as if it were no issue. Unlike me, Cenard was usually a pessimist.

"You can't be serious! In a time like this, I can't even get ahold of her. She's working hard to keep things like this under control," Cenard answered. I gave him a disappointed look, hoping to change his mind.

"Listen, it's like this. I'm a librarian. Technically, I own this place. I know every book that's been in here since the library was established a hundred and fifty years ago. Yet, I haven't read even a percentage of them, nor do I have any intention of doing so. Likewise, you may know people that work for the mayor, but you won't know what these people are doing, or why they are doing it," Cenard answered, looking off to the distance. He looked down at me, seeing my apathetic look. Did I really care about his spiritual lesson?

"Cenard," I said. Sentret jumped up on my shoulder, and gave Cenard the same look. Cenard sighed. That usually meant I won.

"I take it that I can't change your desires, huh?" Cenard asked, laughing and scratching the back of his head. "Okay, okay. I'll try to get ahold of Sarah. But I'm not guaranteeing anything."

We walked to the front of the library. I sat on a chair, and Cenard approached an old-looking phone. Cenard picked up the telephone, which was connected to a cord, and put his finger into the dial, turning it and waiting for it to stop spinning. He did this numerous times, then listened into the phone. I was sitting on the chair, supporting my upper body by resting my elbows on my knees. My hands met in between, as I fiddled with my thumbs. Just when I got fed up with waiting, I looked up and saw a strange sight outside. Crowds of people were running toward the way I came from, as if they were fleeing from something. I stood up quickly and ran outside, leaving Cenard inside the library.

"Dakota, where are you going – oh, Sarah, hi! How are you. . ." he shouted after me, but finally got a hold of Sarah in the process.

"Oh my God! Have they lost their minds!?" one woman yelled as she passed me.

"Those guys can't be serious!" another pedestrian yelled as he ran past. Now this was creeping me out.

I marched against the current of people, barely managing to avoid getting plowed and trampled. Sentret held firmly onto my shoulder, using all its might to not get knocked off. I stopped a man, and pulled him to the side.

"What's going on?" I asked sternly. I was surprised at my own confidence.

"A bunch of guys from the FBI are starting to attack people. It seems like it doesn't matter if they're children, women, or not. A bunch of people were attacked, and they didn't make it out. You'd better head out of here before they move in, like they said they were," the man explained hastily. He rushed off with the rest of the crowd. I couldn't help but widen my eyes. I ran back into the library, where Cenard was just finishing his conversation with Sarah.

"Cenard, I need your help! Come quick!" I shouted. Cenard jumped up, and looked at Banette.

"Banette, keep watch of the place while I'm gone," Cenard told Banette. Banette nodded understandingly as Cenard ran out of the library after me. He struggled to keep up with me, when finally we stopped in the underground transit. The street was empty, and the walls of the tunnel were lined with large, orange fluorescent lights. Slowly and silently we walked, down the wide tunnel in the eerie darkness, with no conversation through the stagnant tunnel air. It seemed like an hour before any signs of progression shown.

The tunnel swiftly cut a round turn to the right, disallowing Cenard or me to see any farther. Cenard motioned me to stay far behind him. He sidled the wall, and crept around the turn, inching toward the next straightaway. Suddenly, he jumped back, causing me to jump as well. He sighed, and wiped some of the sweat off of his head. Was this getting serious, I wondered at this point.

"What is it?" I whispered worriedly, my arms curled upward toward my torso. The rain was cooling everything off, and it was even cooler in the tunnel. I swear I could even see my breath.

"There. . . are a bunch of unconscious people. I'm unsure if they're alive or not," Cenard answered. He motioned me to come over to where he was. I crept over, leaned around the turn, and looked as Cenard pointed toward the tunnel exit. The heavenly light from the tunnel's exit shone down on the ground, revealing bodies littered everywhere on the street. At the tunnel exit, there were numerous figures in combat armor silhouetted against the exit's light. I gasped from the gruesome sight, and retreated around the corner.

"Who are those people in the tunnel entrance?" I asked to Cenard.

"I. . . I don't know," Cenard answered honestly. "Maybe, if these people are alive, we can ask one."

"How can we do that, those men are right in the entrance!?" I asked. I already knew Cenard had come up with a plan. He always seems prepared for any situation.

"I've already got it covered," Cenard answered, as I assumed, "because I was actually wondering the same thing. If you look again, there are a few cars scattered around between this turn and the straightaway. If you can hide behind the cars, you might find someone with an answer."

"Okay, let's go," I replied. I went to go forward, but Cenard pressed his hand against me, stopping me.

"I don't want you to go. It's too dangerous. I'll go, you stay back," Cenard commanded. I gave him a look of disbelief. He couldn't seriously let me sit back and watch him, could he?

"Listen, Cenard, I brought you along with me. I want to go, too. It's the only right thing to do," I answered.

". . .There's no arguing against you. You just have a defiant nature. Let's go, then," Cenard let in. He crouched and slowly crept toward the first car, eying the men carefully in order to not get caught. For some reason, the license plate of the car stuck in my mind, "MW150". I followed Cenard closely, finally making it behind the first vehicle. No one was near enough, so Cenard poked his head out from behind the car. He looked around a bit, then he looked back to me.

"Hey, that kid over there. . . Isn't that your friend Alex-something?" Cenard whispered. I rushed to the edge of the car, and looked over. Surely enough, it was Alex. I could tell it was him by the blond, spiky hair that he sported, and his signature camouflage shorts. I don't know what came over me, but I stood up and ran toward him, disregarding the men and Cenard.

"Alex!" I shouted. Stupidly.

"No, Dakota, don't!" Cenard somehow shouted silently, staying behind the car.

Alex slowly opened his eyes, revealing his large, blue, innocent irises. He leaned up, and I grabbed his hand to assist him. Suddenly, we heard yelling from the tunnel entrance.

"Hey, you, get out of this area!" a man yelled as he ran toward us. Following him were three black and orange dog-like creatures with white, silvery bands on their backs. "Houndour, get them!" the man commanded to the three Pokemon. Barking, the three Houndour ran toward Alex and me.

"Dammit!" Cenard cursed to himself under his breath, though I could still hear him. He jumped out from behind the vehicle, and tossed a Pokeball. In a flash stood a small, brown, dinosaur-like Pokemon with a white skull fitted snugly on its head. Notably, it held a bone that it wielded like a sword or club of some sort.

"Marowak, use Bonemerang!" Cenard commanded. His Pokemon, Marowak, skillfully tossed the bone in its hand, which spun at an intense speed. The bone directed itself at one of the Houndour, but it managed to dodge the assault. The group of Houndour seemed to forget about the bone as it turned in midair, and redirected itself at the group of Houndour. As it approached at high speed, the group of Houndour split up in all directions, causing the bone to miss once again.

"Your little trick might work in the cartoons, but my Houndour work perfectly together in a pack! There's no way you can take them down!" the man yelled at Cenard. Cenard cursed under his breath as the Houndour surrounded him and Marowak. Meanwhile, I was helping Alex get to his feet. He thanked me, but I quickly redirected my attention to Cenard, who was in quite a predicament.

"Get going, I'll hold this guy off as long as possible!" Cenard told us. I nodded, hoisting Alex up, and putting his arm around myself, acting as a sort of crutch to help him walk, as he was badly injured. Silently, we made haste as we went the opposite way of Cenard. Cenard knew that we were going too slow to hold off this man for long, and so did we.

"I only need one Houndour to battle you, you runt! I can send the rest after them!" the man taunted. Cenard smirked, and tossed another Pokeball. In another flash stood one more of his Pokemon.

"I'd like to introduce you to the ace of my team, Umbreon!" Cenard explained. The flash revealed the Umbreon, a pitch-black and sleek fox-like Pokemon with pointed ears and glowing rings of light on its body. "Umbreon, use Mean Look!" Cenard commanded. On cue, Umbreon began to glow, and its eyes lit up a bright red. Accordingly, none of the Houndour left, but instead faced the Umbreon hesitantly, but still ready to fight. The man gritted his teeth, but shrugged.

"This shouldn't take too long. In the meantime, I'll signal my other troops to go after those kids!" the man laughed. Cenard looked at him determinedly, ready for a fight. The man clicked a button at his side, and spoke into a radio transmitter. "I'm stuck down here. Send another guy or two, we have some roamers. Over," he said. This battle was predetermined, I knew right away.

Meanwhile, Alex and I made our way to the tunnel exit, as I held Alex up with his arm around my shoulders.

"What were you doing down here, anyway?" I asked, though out of breath. Being a crutch was tougher than it seems.

"I went to go to the library to see you, but I didn't make it obviously. . . Me and a whole bunch of other people were attacked by those guys. . . I think they were the FBI. Why they assaulted us, I don't know," Alex answered, equally winded. His trademark naivety didn't fail yet.

"Um, Alex? You do realize that the library is before the tunnel, not after, right?" I reminded Alex. Alex looked at me awkwardly, then gave an apathetic chuckle.

"Really? Well, I don't go to the library all that much, as you can tell. Heh heh," Alex answered, laughing nervously. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I can also tell by your school grade," I scolded. Finally, we reached the exit of the tunnel, and I assisted Alex to the library. We entered the place, and I sat Alex down at a bench. Banette greeted us, but almost immediately had on a puzzled look.

"You're wondering about Cenard, right? He stayed back to, uh. . . finish up a job. . ." I explained to Banette, attempting but failing to remove the concern from my voice. I was never good at doing that. Sentret also looked down sadly. Suddenly, the library door burst open, and a man dressed in the same combat armor entered the room. Next to him was a Houndour.

"Okay, I know you kids are in here!" he yelled as Alex, Banette, and I instinctively hid behind one of the bookshelves.

"You're friend put up a good fight against my other troop. They're probably still duking it out. He ordered me to take you guys, and I saw you go in here! Show yourselves, there's no escape!" the man shouted. Quietly, Banette motioned me to follow it, and we quietly skulked around the aisle, behind the next bookshelf. We had to wait for one of the Houndour to pass through before going past another aisle, until we were all the way to the back of the library. Banette showed us a small handle on the wall and pulled it, revealing a hidden door. Alex, Banette, and I entered quietly. Banette closed the door behind itself. The man with the Houndour walked out from behind the last bookshelf, and smirked.

"So, you guys thought you could hide from me, huh?"

 

[Silhouette]

[a id]two[/a id]Chapter Two: A True Motive

The uniformed man approached the decently camouflaged door, reaching forward to open it. Suddenly, something hit his chin hard. The man flew off the ground, and landed on his rear, cursing all the while. Angrily, the man got up, looking at the Banette, which seemingly appeared out of nowhere. It agilely swooped around the room, taunting the man. In anger, the man commanded his Houndour, "Use Flamethrower to burn that thing!"

From the Houndour's mouth erupted flames that engulfed numerous bookshelves, as the Banette swooped around quickly to avoid the attack. The man, enraged, started throwing books that were on fire, still unsuccessful in hitting the Banette. Suddenly, the Houndour dashed forward when Banette was in range, and chomped down with a successful Crunch attack. The Banette didn't cry in pain, or even flinch for that matter. It simply vanished.

"So, it was a simple Substitute, huh?" the man spat, standing solemnly while the flames incinerated the library around him. He knew he had lost. Were these kids really that smart?
___

Meanwhile, in a small, subterranean sewer, Banette was leading Alex and me along a small walkway next to a shallow, smelly stream of sewer water. I could barely see the shine of small, beady eyes in the inky darkness of the tunnel. Suddenly, Banette knelt down, as if in pain.

"Banette, what's wrong?" I asked. Banette stood up wearily, and shook its head. Something was wrong, I figured. But, Banette continued, followed by me then Alex.

"Aiyeeh!" Alex suddenly shrieked. He held me suddenly, but then let go after he looked at her awkwardly. Seriously Alex, I thought, grow up.

"What, now?" I asked apathetically, hearing my own voice echo down the corridor. Alex had his back to me, inching his way toward me, seeming to almost shiver.

"S-something ran over my foot," he said, attempting to keep his cool.

I rolled my eyes, "It was probably just a Rattata or something."

At that moment, Banette leapt and turned toward us, with its eyes glowing violently in the dark air. It vanished in the veil of darkness, leaving us behind. I froze in fear as I heard a commotion going on all around me in the darkness. There were deep thuds, and occasionally a shriek. This time, it was fear. I slowly reached to my pocket when the noise ended. I fingered my way through lint and spare change to find a cellphone, which I carefully pulled out of my pocket. I flipped it open, allowing the light to pierce the darkness. I could see Banette holding the moist wall, panting. It looked up at me, when something suddenly hit it. The thing was too fast for me to spot with my dim cellphone light. Then, I had an idea. Carefully again, as I heard the skirmish echoing in the thin corridor, reached to my shoulder, feeling for Sentret. I whispered, "Use Foresight."

Sentret shouted a furious battle cry as its eyes lit up brilliantly. Without banishing the darkness, Banette lit up, as did another Pokemon. The Pokemon flapped its blue, jagged wings as it glared at me with its slitted eyes. I knew this was a Golbat; I had seen one of them before. The Golbat swooped toward Sentret and me, when a pulse of purplish substance blasted it in mid-dive. The Golbat fell to the ground, flailing about wildly before Banette shot another Shadow Ball at it, knocking it out. Suddenly, I heard a rather long exhale coming from Alex.

"Were you seriously holding your breath that whole time?" I asked.

"I might've been," Alex answered. Though I couldn't see his face in the darkness, I assume he was giving me that stupid smile of his. Though he was my best friend, I could admit that he was fairly annoying, especially when he was unwanted.

Banette slowly and wearily got up from a kneeling position, and continued to lead Alex and me. Finally, we came across this small room in the tunnel that contained a ladder, which went up into a vertical, narrow passageway. Banette floated up into the narrow squeeze, with both of us close behind. Eventually, we reached the top, and Banette opened up a manhole cover. We crawled out of a hole in the side of a lone hill on the bank of a river. The small river was isolated from the city. It was a beautiful area that I never knew existed. Trees surrounded the small, peaceful area, and bird Pokemon fluttered about carelessly in the branches of the dense trees that surrounded it. The clear, shallow river flowed slowly through the area, with a few Barboach darting around in it.

"I've never been here before," Alex admitted out loud. I looked at him, just waiting for him to say something stupid. "I'll bet there's hidden treasure, here." Yup, there it is. Maybe there was a hidden treasure in that empty head of Alex's called a brain. Maybe I was being a bit harsh to him, but it's not like he could read my mind anyway.

Alex leaned back on the small, grassy hill. He looked modestly at me. Instantly I knew he was restraining from saying something. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, we both looked away from each other awkwardly.

"Now what?" finally came out of Alex's mouth. To be honest, I was thankful that he opened his mouth for once, only because it broke the silence.

"We need to save Cenard," I answered after a brief moment. Banette looked at me, and I covered my mouth. Stupidly. "Er, I meant, see what. . . he's up. . . to."

"Yeah, I bet those three Houndour just tore him apart," Alex said out loud. I drew back a fist, and punched Alex. I stood up, and looked down upon him.

"Don't say something like that, you idiot! You'll make Banette worry," I scolded. Alex retreated into his shirt like a turtle.

"Okay. . ." he muttered.

I sighed, and sat back down facing Banette. Banette looked sadly down at the grass as it blew in the wind. I felt bad for poor thing. It was then when I knew an action needed to be taken.

"This has gone on long enough. We need to get to the bottom of this," I said, standing up and holding a fist into the air.

"Put that fist away, it's dangerous," Alex said. I almost punched him again, but closed my eyes in frustration, smiling in aggravation. I'm pretty sure he was just testing me. I turned to him.

"Get up, we're going," I commanded sternly. Alex shot to his feet. I must have intimidated him or something. Of course that was what it was, my fist was still in the air. He followed me as I went to the edge of the clearing. I pushed some of the vines that draped out of the trees out of my way, and stepped out. We approached what seemed to be a boat launch, with a large dock in a lake and many fishermen sitting lazily about the field, grouped together at picnic tables. I walked up to the first table closest to the spot.

"You guys stuck, too?" one fisherman asked. He was digging through his tackle box out of boredom.

"Stuck?" I asked. Alex jumped up.

"Yeah, I bet the FBI wouldn't let them into town, so they're all stuck here," he said in a smart tone.

"Alex, would you just – " I started.

"Actually, that's exactly what happened," the fisherman said. I could only sigh. Alex's inconsistency was getting to me, but maybe I was just a bit picky. "I bet if you could get across the water, you could sneak back into town. But, it might be hard because you'd have to get through the mayor's office-building," the fisherman explained, pointing across the lake.

I thanked the fisherman for the help, and went to sit on the dock. Alex sat next to me, our feet dangling next to each other. A yellow, sparkling Magikarp leapt out of the water sloppily, upsetting our reflection in the water. The Magikarp shined brilliantly, and dove back into the water with a pack of ordinary, orange Magikarp.

"This kinda seems like the first time we met," Alex said as we both stared out to the water. I looked at him in puzzlement. "What, don't tell me you forgot!" Of course I didn't forget, but it was just a weird time to bring it up.

I could remember the time, though. It was a few years ago, and I was maybe ten years old. I came to this exact fishing spot with my father. It was all day that we were here, and only one other family was there, and it was Alex's family. Of course, we didn't know each other at this point, so we kept our distance. My father saw a friend of his, so he went to talk. While I waited for him, I was fishing out of boredom. I didn't expect to hook anything; or rather, I didn't want to hook anything. I always though fish Pokemon were disgusting and slimy. To my dismay, my fishing pole tugged, and I couldn't help but shriek. I reeled the Pokemon in, and it was a yellow-hued Magikarp. I stood there, the Magikarp flailing about wildly in the end of the line. I remember Alex coming over to me, and told me to just hold the Magikarp still. Within moments, he removed the Magikarp off of the hook, and was holding it.

"Wow, you caught an oddly-colored Magikarp! It could be worth something," I remember him saying.

"I don't care what it is, just get it away from me!" I shrieked. I looked up when I heard a splashing sound, seeing Alex without the Magikarp. "Didn't you just say that it was worth something?" I asked when I realized he let it go.

"Yeah, but it was your catch. I wouldn't take credit for someone else's hard work," Alex said. It was from that point on that we became good friends. We figured out that we were in the same grade in school, and that we even lived only a few blocks away from each other.

"Say, now that I think about it, isn't that the same Magikarp from that day?" Alex asked suddenly, breaking me out of my flashback. I looked at it, remembering the yellow, sparkling pattern on it. I sighed, remembering those simple moments of my life. Little did I know how much things were about to change; or rather, little did I know how much things had already changed.

"I don't remember. It could be," I lied. It felt weird remembering such a small thing, but the truth was that I didn't want to let Alex know that I remembered every moment of the first time I was with him. Of course, I was probably blushing.

"Listen, I have an idea," Alex said, suddenly changing the subject. He pointed to the water. "Okay, we can get to the other side of the lake by using a water Pokemon, right?" Alex asked. Of course we could. The problem was, I left all my Pokemon but Sentret at home, not like any of them knew how to swim anyway.

"Sure," I said, listening to his plan. This was sure to be entertaining.

"Well, I'm going to use my Mantyke to swim over there and sneak into the office-building, where I'll be all spy-like and go through undetected. I'll knock out those guards at the tunnel, and let you and everyone else through," Alex explained. I stopped listening at 'sneak into'.

"I have a better idea. How about we don't sneak in, and don't die," I said rhetorically. Alex's mood seemed to dwindle.

"You come up with an idea, then," he said.

"Okay. How about this: we go back into the sewers. I'm sure there's an alternate path – " I started.

"EW, NO! I'm NOT going back into that Rattata-infested sewer!" Alex screeched as he flailed about to add to the effect. Suddenly, he lost his balance, and fell off of the dock and into the water. I was relieved that his complaining ended.

"Okay, fine," I said smiling, unable to hold in my laughter of him falling into the water.

"So, we'll go with my plan?" Alex asked, crawling back onto the dock as if nothing had happened. I wondered how his spiked hair remained so after he just fell into the water.

"I guess so," I muttered. I could tell he was satisfied by the way he gave me his stupid smile that I could only roll my eyes to. Alex reached to his waist, grabbing a Pokeball and sending out a Pokemon into the water.

"Let's go, Mantyke!" Alex commanded. In the water splashed a large, flat-shaped, blue Pokemon with a blank, happy stare. I was creeped out by the blank stare that the thing was giving me, but then it lifted its apparent head, smiling at me with a much more lively face. I sighed, thankful that it didn't really look so. . . blank. There was an issue about riding this thing across the lake; it was only big enough for one of us.

"I'll go, so you aren't put into danger," Alex said confidently. I could laugh at that.

"Listen, Alex, I know you're heroic and all, but you're a bit incompetent. I'll go," I said. He opened his mouth to say something, but I had already put my shoes into my backpack and hopped onto the Mantyke. The Mantyke cheered happily as I got on. I don't think Sentret was as happy, though, as it clawed my shoulder trying not to fall into the water. Without waiting for Alex to argue, I grabbed the antennas that were on Mantyke's head, and headed off across the water. I felt the water flow between my toes as Mantyke carried me across the water. It was then that I felt an odd presence. I turned to my right to see Banette floating a few inches above the water next to me. It seems that Banette wanted to help me rescue Cenard. I figured Banette would be of some help in case I got into a jam, since all of Cenard's Pokemon were well trained and powerful.

It wasn't long before I reached the opposite side of the lake. I was just outside Skiolet City, the only thing being in my way was the office building. I couldn't go around the building, because there was a large, concrete wall that surrounded the city. Mantyke took me to the dock, and I crawled off of Mantyke. Without warning, Mantyke jumped out of the water, and glided around me in a circle. I guess it wanted to join me or something. So, after getting my shoes out of my backpack and onto my feet, I approached the back door to the modern-looking office building. I grabbed the handle of the glass door, but when I pulled on it, the door wouldn't move. Of course it just had to be locked. After a while of thinking, I almost gave up. Then, seeing my shadow on the ground inside the building through the glass door gave me a great idea.

"Banette, do you think you could use Shadow Sneak on me, and use my shadow to unlock the door?" I asked Banette. Banette looked up at me out of a melancholy trance, and nodded solemnly. Banette's arms lifted unconsciously, as if being controlled by a marionette. Then, my shadow on the ground inside of the building stood up and unlocked the door. Afterward, my shadow sunk and turned into the two-dimensional figure again. I creaked the door open, thankful that there was no one in this room.

I walked into the dark, dimly lit room, almost slipping on the tiled floor. It must've been waxed or something, since I slipped again immediately after recovering. I leaned on the desk to the back of the room (or front, considering I entered through the back), wondering which hallway on either side of the desk I should take. I inspected each of the hallways. The one to the right went up a set of stairs and a sign that said "Room 150", and the one to the left went straight, not up or down. I figured that if I wanted to get back to Skiolet, the left way would be the best way to go. Slowly, I crept through the hallway, with Banette and Mantyke behind me. Sentret was sitting on top of Mantyke as it floated.

I exited the hallway into another room full of people. These people were all dressed in formal clothing; all of the women had on black collar shirts and knee-length skirts, and all of the men had on work suits. One woman saw me.

"Little girl, how did you get in here? You can't be in here, I'll escort you outside," she said. She motioned me to follow her, going toward the door on the opposite side of the room. I didn't care much, as that was the way I wanted to go. She opened the door, letting me and the three Pokemon out into the cloudiness of day. I instantly shivered, as the cold wind pierced my damp hoody. I had to look around to see where exactly I was. It was obvious that I was on the complete opposite side of the city of my home. Figures.

I figured that I needed to get Alex back into town anyway, since he completely refused to take the sewers. I walked out onto the sidewalk, looking to my right. The road bent straight after a while. I knew it turned back around toward the lake, since I had seen this road multiple times, wondering where it went. Well, I guess I found out. I started on my way down the road, when Mantyke swooped behind my legs, knocking my knees out from under me. I fell backward, landing on Mantyke as it glided down the street at the same speed my bicycle would have provided. Sentret looked at me happily as I landed right next to it on Mantyke's back. Banette was floating along next to us.

Within minutes, we came to the road with the bridge. Many cars were lined up behind a gate just before the bridge. Obviously, all of them were abandoned. However, I was surprised that there was no one operating the gate, or even guarding it. I hopped off of Mantyke as it approached the gate. I walked over to the control room and tried the door. Unexpectedly, the door creaked open, allowing me access to the gate's and bridge's controls. I looked around at the overly-confusing controls, finally finding the gate's open switch. I pressed it, but the button wouldn't go down. I then slammed my fist down on the button, but it still didn't go. Next to the button I observed a small slit, perfect to fit a key. And as my luck would have permitted, the key was nowhere to be found. Guess I would have to climb over the gate to get to Alex. What a pointless trip across the lake. I walked out of the control room, realizing that I could just call Alex with my cellphone.

I pulled my phone out and called Alex. It simply beeped, and stated, "All residents of Skiolet City have no access outside the city." This is ridiculous. I was four feet from being outside of the city, with the only thing being in my way a gate. That I couldn't open. I assumed that the only thing to do was to climb. I inspected the large, metal gate, which seemed easy enough to scale. The problem was that I hated heights. It was the only worse thing than fish.

I grabbed a metal bar, and pulled myself up. I grabbed another bar, and put my foot onto the one I previously grabbed. I stood up, and continued this process until I was well up the gate. But, once the wind blew, I could feel how high I was. Stupidly, I looked down, and slammed my eyes shut when I saw how high I was. I must've only been about twenty feet up, but it seems a lot higher when you're actually up there. Holding on with a death grip with my left hand, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket with my right hand. I desperately hoped that my phone would work from this high up. I could see Sentret, Mantyke, and Banette watching me interestedly.

Damn. I still couldn't get service. Out of rage, I went to go push my phone back into my pocket, when I missed the pocket entirely, letting the phone fall all the way down to the ground. It hit the road, shattering into a couple of pieces. Once again, there's my luck for you.

I looked up to the top of the gate, cursing when I realized I was only about halfway up. Even if I could make it all the way up, crawling over the gate and climbing back down would be a bigger issue. I just had to give up. Through the rain and wind, I admitted defeat to my fear of heights with tears welling up in my eyes. Slowly and carefully, I made my way back down, but I immediately slipped, falling down toward the road. This is surely the end for me.

Thud.

I heard a thud after I got done falling, but I didn't feel any pain or see any 'bright light.' I sat up to see that I was on the ground. I looked around, completely confused as to what happened. I looked underneath myself to see what I landed on. Mantyke. I shot up, worried that I had hurt the Mantyke.

"Ohmigosh, are you okay Mantyke?" I asked urgently. Mantyke lifted its face off of the ground, its eyes swirly and dazzled from my impact. It nodded lazily, and dropped its face back onto the concrete. I attempted to lift Mantyke up, but lifting a hundred and fifty pounds of Pokemon is quite a task. I gave up after a few moments, sitting down and looking to the sky. Since I couldn't get to Alex, I suppose he was fine where he was. I kind of assumed he was annoying some fishermen with his adventure stories. And that annoying smile of his.

After a while, I saw Mantyke slowly getting up, its energy regained. There was nothing to be worried about; I'm sure Pokemon could take hits harder than I could deliver with no issue. I stood up, and walked over to Mantyke. Sentret tried to help it up, but it was of no help. Mantyke, though, managed to get itself into the air, and circled around me happily. I guess it was okay now. I noticed Banette skulking next to one of the cars. It must've really missed Cenard.

I wanted to go save Cenard, but I had no clue where he could be right now. I decided to return to the Hitmonshop. Thankfully to Mantyke's Swift Swim ability, it didn't take long to get there in the rain, even if Mantyke did make a few wrong turns.

I saw Girard standing in the shop through the hole in the wall. Helping him sweep up the debris were his Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. Hitmonchan was sweeping next to Girard, and Hitmonlee was moving some of the larger bricks that were scattered on the ground. I hopped off of Mantyke and entered the coffee shop, Mantyke following me with Banette and Sentret on its back.

"So, did you figure anything out?" Girard asked me. I looked down as he noticed the Banette on Mantyke's back. "Hey, that Banette. . ."

Yes, it was Cenard's. No, I didn't know where Cenard was. I would've told him, but I couldn't hold back the tears for some reason. Then and there, out of nowhere, I missed my mother. I strained to hold my tears back, but I couldn't. I had been attacked by FBI agents, separated from my parents, Cenard, and Alex, and not to mention that my bike was completely obliterated.

"Cenard stopped by a while ago, asking me to tell you where he was headed in case you had Banette," Girard said in puzzlement, trying to disregard my crying. I felt so stupid crying in front of him, but I just couldn't help it.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Yeah, he said he was going to the City Hall," Girard answered. I sniveled a bit, and stopped crying.

"You mean. . . he's okay?" I asked.

Girard looked at me funnily, and answered, "I don't know what's going on now, but yeah, he seemed perfectly fine. Other than his clothes, they were a bit roughed up." I turned around, running out of the coffee shop. "Wait!" Girard shouted after me, but I kept going. Suddenly, a brown figure shot out in front of me before I could get to Mantyke.

It was a brown Pokemon, and I realized after a split second that it was upside down. It flipped over to its three feet, and looked at me with its beady, black eyes. Agilely, it jumped around me, narrowly missing me with its large, single horn that was on its head.

"Hitmontop, be careful with that spike!" Girard shouted from behind me. I recognized this Hitmontop as being his. "Dakota, why don't you take my Hitmontop for a while. It might be helpful to you. Now, go see what my brother is up to," Girard said.

I hopped on Mantyke, with Banette and Sentret on either side of me. As we glided down the street, Hitmontop surprisingly kept up by spinning on its head. After a bit of directing, we all made it to City Hall. Surrounding the building was a gigantic maze of tall bushes that spanned outward a long way. I stepped off of Mantyke and approached the bushes, investigating them. I could tell that it would take me hours to navigate this maze.

I pushed my arm into a part of the wall of bushes, but they were so overgrown that I could barely get my hand in them. So much for cheating. Then, I got another idea.

"Alright, Mantyke, do you think you could fly over this wall?" I asked. Mantyke looked at the tall bushes uneasily, but nodded confidently. So, I hopped on Mantyke with Sentret on my shoulder, and we backed up to get a running start. Or, a flying start in Mantyke's case. When we gained some speed, Mantyke pulled its head back, lifting into the air. We kept going up and up at a very low angle. Either we were going to over this wall or through it. I was hoping it would be the former.

Finally, the wall came at us, and we barely managed to make it over. After we passed over the bushes, which were a few feet thick, Mantyke lost all of its speed in midair, and we started to drift slowly back to the ground. From out of nowhere, a large, black thing swooped through the air and slammed into us, rejecting our flight. Mantyke and I spiraled backward and out of control, hitting the ground where we started. Banette, Sentret, and Hitmontop watched us in an odd manner.

"Okay, looks like we'll have to go through this maze the right way," I explained to the Pokemon. I entered the narrow labyrinth, with the all the Pokemon behind me except for Sentret, which was on my shoulder. We pressed on into the maze, unable to tell where we were going. It even took us forever to find our first dead end.

But, it was when we hit that dead end when everything became perfectly clear. From out of the dead end's wall emerged a tall, cyclopean Pokemon. Its single, red eye darted around wildly as it walked toward us with its giant, stubby legs. I could tell right away that it was a Dusclops. It was then that I knew this was a test. How cliché.

Before the zombie-like Dusclops finally made its way to me, Banette stood in its way. Without hesitation, the Dusclops reached its two white hands forward, and grabbed Banette by the arms. Banette's zipper mouth wrenched open, firing a Shadow Ball right in the Dusclops's face. The Dusclops dropped Banette and staggered backward, but then fired a similar attack from its two hands. The other Shadow Ball collided into Banette, knocking it onto its back. Banette slowly got up, and motioned to me to escape while we could. Sentret, Mantyke, Hitmontop and I ran out of the dead end while Banette was keeping the Dusclops busy.

Despite Banette's sacrifice, we soon came to another dead-end. Again, before I turned around, a Pokemon dropped in from the sky, cornering us. This Pokemon was a frog-like one that when it croaked, the bulbous, pink sac on its chin expanded. It raised its clawed fist at us, and hunkered down, ready to lunge. Fortunately for Mantyke, Sentret and I, Hitmontop happened to be behind the Pokemon, which was a Toxicroak. Hitmontop tore quickly at the Toxicroak while spinning on its head, ramming into and kicking it three times in succession. The Toxicroak fell backward into the bushes, and Hitmontop held it down as it motioned to us with a nod to head the opposite way. Things kept getting clearer and clearer. Something told me I was going to lose Mantyke next. . .

 

[Silhouette]

[a id]three[/a id]Chapter Three: The Trials

I ran down the labyrinth with Mantyke at my heels, and Sentret on my shoulder. I could feel a few raindrops hitting me through my hat. Things were getting so dark now that I couldn't even see. I figured that it was starting to become nighttime. Being trapped with not a single light in this labyrinth wasn't be the worst thing I could think of, though. . .

Suddenly from out of the sky, a large, black, bird Pokemon swooped by. I instantly knew that it was the one that knocked Mantyke and I out of the sky. I could see a layer of red feathers underneath its black down. I couldn't see much else as it swooped by swiftly in the almost-night air. From it, however, dropped a blue Pokemon. As it hit the ground, I could see it easier. It seemed almost lizard-like at first, but I realized it was a water-type Pokemon when it bounced on its tail fin. It wrinkled its long snout, and shot a black blob that I narrowly dodged by ducking. I knew it was a Seadra when it flapped its dorsal fins.

Mantyke flew right over my head, and intercepted another shot of that ink by taking the hit. Mantyke didn't have to motion to me for me to realize that it was taking this fight. I ran in the opposite direction as Mantyke and Seadra, leaving Sentret as the only Pokemon with me. I kept running, and made a left turn, getting closer to the City Hall. Who in their right mind puts an endless labyrinth around the City Hall. . ?

As I rounded a turn, something hard rammed into my legs from the front, causing me to fall to the ground in an awkward position. Sentret rolled off of my shoulder and onto the ground, shooting up quickly. Sentret grabbed my hand in attempt to help me up. Then, the blindingly-fast thing shot over me, and grabbed Sentret with its mouth by Sentret's long tail. The Pokemon had a narrow, white face with sharp, blue eyes. It threw Sentret against the bush wall by squirming its long, furry body furiously. The Pokemon then dashed forward, ramming Sentret with its head.

All I could say was, "Sentret!"

The Pokemon, a Linoone, repeated the attack two or three more times. I couldn't tell exactly, as I was crying in pain and defeat. I felt so bad for Sentret. Then, at that moment, I could remember how I met Sentret. I wasn't sure why, but the memory seemed to flood into my mind.

It was when I was a little girl, no older than six years old. My family had just moved to Skiolet city from a small town in Kanto. I was wandering the alleyways, unable to find my way back into the city streets. I was out on in the alleyways for so long that it became nighttime, and it started to rain. I saw a pack of Sentret crossing the alleyway into a different alley, so I decided to follow them. As soon as they saw me, all but one fled by hiding under manholes or inside of trash cans. The one Sentret that didn't run turned to face me, looking me right in the eyes. I noticed that unlike most Sentret, this one's chest fur was in a solid circle of white fur, rather than the usual ring.. Then, it realized its pack had fled, and hid inside of one of the trash cans. I noticed this spot was a dead end between three buildings, so I just decided to sit down and wait for someone to come.

Eventually, one of the Sentret, I assume the same one that fled last due to its chest fur, emerged from the trash can, seeing me crying. I couldn't help it; it was cold, dark, and I was only six years old. It slowly made its way out of the trash can, and stood in the middle of the alleyway across from me. Suddenly, from around the corner of the last alley emerged a large, dog-like Pokemon with tufts of black, gnarly fur. It was a Mightyena, and it didn't look happy. I think we were on its turf or something. The Mightyena dashed at me, but I didn't move. I was frozen in fear. Then, that same Sentret lunged forward as the Mightyena passed it, slamming into it headfirst and knocking it into a wall. The Mightyena retaliated with the same maneuver as Linoone was pulling; grabbing Sentret with its teeth, slamming it up against the wall, and head-butting it while it was against the wall. But, from out of nowhere, the pack of Sentret swarmed the Mightyena, attacking it nonstop until it fled. If it weren't for that one Sentret, I would've been a Mightyena's midnight snack for sure.

Although the other Sentret were unwilling to help me, this other Sentret allowed me to follow it to the city streets. So I did. And while on our way, I saw a small, pink Pokemon curled up on a trash can lid that was shivering and cold. It resembled a cat of sorts, and had a long, slender tail. The small Pokemon looked up at me wearily, crying "Mew" in a barely-audible tone. Sentret jumped up to the trash can lid, and analyzed the so-called Mew, looking at me worriedly when it was done. It was clear as day that the little Pokemon was sick. I grabbed Mew, feeling that its body was almost ice-cold. I tucked it into my arms, and walked after Sentret on my way home.

When I finally did arrive home, my mother wouldn't allow Sentret or Mew into our home, claiming that they were 'dirty alley Pokemon.' I managed to sneak both Mew and Sentret into my room, and I took care of Mew by feeding it and keeping it warm. Sentret also helped me, apparently worried about this Mew. This happened for a few days, as my mother never goes into my room. On the seventh day, Mew seemed to be almost back to full health. On that eighth day, though, Mew had mysteriously vanished. Sentret was still asleep when I woke up, but Mew was just gone.

After that, I tried returning Sentret to the alleyway. When we got back to the Sentret pack's domain, Sentret had a little conversation with the rest of the pack, but I could only tell that they were saying "Sentret." After a few moments, Sentret looked at me with a sad look, and I realized that the Sentret pack was going to leave town. I don't think the rest of the pack liked me, so they wanted to leave or something. I didn't know; I don't speak Pokemon. So, Sentret left with its pack, and I returned home, with no Pokemon to call my own.

Two years later, when I was eight, a similar thing happened. I was on my way back home from kindergarten, when I saw a commotion going on in that same dead-end alleyway. I saw this tall, scary purple Pokemon with a long, slender tail. It turned to me, as its sharp eyes lit up a bright blue. It had this humanoid appearance about it, seeing as how I thought it was a person at first glance. It waved its three fingers in the air, creating a bright flash, and vanishing before my eyes. I could only assume that it was somehow connected to Mew based on how it looked. It was then that I realized there was an injured Pokemon on some trash can lids. As I approached it, it seemed to be none other than a Sentret. Somehow, it was the same Sentret, as it had the solid white circle of fur on its stomach rather than a ring. I assumed that this Sentret had been on its way back to the city for some reason, and that the other, Mew-like Pokemon had harmed it. After that, I took Sentret in, finally winning the argument against my mother and keeping the Sentret as my own Pokemon.

I don't know why I remembered that moment out of nowhere. It wasn't as if I had forgotten it, but it seemed something had sent me these memories. My attention returned to the battle against Sentret and Linoone. If you could even call it a battle. Then, I heard a familiar, shrill cry from seemingly all around. I looked around, but didn't see anything. Then, I looked up to see a small object flying through the sky. As it approached, I realized it was the same Pokemon from my memory; it was a Mew. The Mew dropped down to its feet between the Linoone and my Sentret. The Linoone didn't seemed phased by this intrusion, and dashed forward to attack Mew. Mew, however, lit up a bright blue, and the Linoone lit up similarly. The Mew cocked its head as if unaware of itself using its psychic power as Linoone was sent hurdling into the air. I didn't hear it hit the ground after Mew flung it.

"M-Mew!?" was all I could exclaim. I had no clue of Mew's powers. Beside, I hadn't seen it in nine years.

"M-Mew!" Mew seemed to mimic happily. It's eyes closed blissfully, and it floated around me childishly, tugging at my hat and chasing its own tail. I wasn't amazed for long, as the Pokemon that governed the air made its reappearance. The large bird Pokemon, which I finally realized was a Honchkrow, landed heavily on the ground. It opened its wings, seeming ready to attack Mew. Sentret jumped in front of Mew, ready to take Honchkrow on in Mew's stead. Mew put its paw on Sentret's shoulder, as if telling Sentret that it was unnecessary. Mew floated forward, when suddenly Honchkrow lunged forward with a Drill Peck aimed directly at Mew. I flinched, realizing that a direct Drill Peck could be fatal. However, when I looked again, a pink orb formed around Mew. An energy coursed from the bubble through Honchkrow, shocking it and causing it to drop unconsciously to the ground. Sentret then collapsed out of fatigue.

I picked Sentret up and took off my hat. Sentret fit perfectly in my hat, allowing me to carry it with ease. Sentret looked wearily up at me.

"It's okay, baby," I cooed. Sentret closed its eyes to get some rest. I looked at Mew. "Where do we go?" I asked, as if it would understand me. As if. The Mew looked childishly at me, tilting its head in apparent confusion. I rolled my eyes, and started running the opposite direction, when suddenly I felt my body lift off of the ground. I stopped running, feeling myself go higher into the air, until I was above the complexity of bushes. I realized it would've taken me perhaps days to figure my way through this. I looked at my arm, which was covered by a sort of ghostly, blue aura. I looked at Mew, who flew around me, and I realized that Mew was lifting me through the air with its psychic powers.

After a few moments, we reached the City Hall. Like the library, it was a Victorian-styled building, only much, much larger. We came down in front of the building in the main plaza. Mew floated around my head as I entered the huge building, the tall door creaking as I opened it.

As I entered, the ceiling's stadium lights flashed on, causing me to squint from being out in the dark. I scanned the building with my eyes, as I realized that the entire building was a single room. In fact, it seemed to be a large courtroom. Mew floated to the corner of the room, and circled a statue ominously. I walked over to it, and looked at the statue. It seemed very familiar, as if I had seen it before. Then, it hit me. It was the same kind of statue that I saw when I was younger than six years old, when I still lived in Kanto. It was a gym statue, having the shape of a Pokemon on the top of a large pedestal. There was no way I could remember something like that from so long ago. I still think it was Mew helping me remember these things. I shrugged off the feeling, and pushed the statue, but it didn't budge. It was no use, as I didn't have the strength to move it. Then, I remembered something. I looked at Sentret, which was still inside of my hat.

"Sentret, do you think you could use Strength attack?" I asked. Sentret slowly stood up, and nodded wearily. I was a bit worried about Sentret over exerting itself, but I knew something important was underneath this statue. Sentret started to push on the statue with little effect, as I had previously done. Suddenly, Sentret lit up a bright white light. Mew looked questionably at Sentret as the giant statue began to move. Finally, the gym statue was out of the way, and I walked over to investigate what was underneath the spot. It was a very small, narrow downward staircase. I grabbed Sentret, and accessed the passageway. It wasn't any worse than the sewer passageway, including the fact that it didn't smell like rotting. . . things. Finally, I reached the bottom into a wider passageway that was very advanced looking, with panel lights built into the ceiling. Huge tubes full of green liquid emanated with a dim glow as I walked by them. I regret looking into them, however, seeing what looked like fetuses of some kind in each one. I kept going, entering a different room. Inside of this room was a gigantic tube filled with a similar, green liquid. There were numerous desks covered with computers around the gigantic tube.

Inside of the tube was a gargantuan creature with a large, flat head. It jerked quickly, the tentacle-like appendages hanging off of its repulsive face thrusting uncontrollably. The thing seemed to have a miniature spasm, flailing its right arm. I realized that it only had one arm; the other side where a left arm would be was replaced by numerous tentacles. The thing didn't have feet, I noticed. Instead, like its left side, it had vein-like tentacles that pulsated.

Disgusted by the mere sight of this creature, I almost lost the contents in my stomach and fell to my hands and knees. In fact, I probably would have if it weren't for two things. Firstly, I hadn't eaten in hours. Secondly, I heard a deep, familiar voice at that moment. I looked up to see a silhouette of a tall person, with two Pokemon next to him. As the man stepped out into the light, I knew it was Cenard. He looked pretty roughed up, and his Marowak and Umbreon looked very uneasily at him.

"Little girl, it is unsafe for you to be here," Cenard said emotionless. I stood up and faced Cenard.

"Cenard, it's me. . . it's me, Dakota."

He looked at me blankly, as if uncaring about what I said. "It is unsafe for you to be here, little girl," was all he said. I ran at Cenard, and stood right in front of him. I looked up at him, unable to see his eyes from the glare in his wire frame glasses.

"Cenard!" I shouted, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

"Little girl –" Cenard started, but I fell into him, and cried into his arms as he caught me. I couldn't stand the fact that he didn't recognize me, and I didn't want to just give up. Then, I felt him go limp, and we both fell to the floor. ". . .uh?" I heard Cenard mutter.

I stood up slowly, seeing Cenard stirring, as if awaking from a deep sleep. Suddenly, I saw a shadow of something exit his body from his back. Both Cenard's Marowak and Umbreon eyed this shadowy thing as it materialized, revealing that one eyed Pokemon. . .

"Good job, Dusclops," I heard another voice say. The shadowy Pokemon emerged from the shadows, piercing me with its single, red eye. Cenard slowly stood up, and Marowak and Umbreon helped him up. From the shadows emerged another man. He ran a finger coolly through his spiked, brown hair, and looked around. I knew who this man was, I just couldn't put my finger on who exactly it was.

"I apologize for my interruption, but I must introduce myself. My name is Adam Swane, but you may just call me Mayor," the man said as he shuffled arrogantly in his fancy suit.

"What am I doing here?" I heard Cenard say to himself. His voice echoed throughout the room.

"Ah, I see your friend here has recovered from my Dusclops's curse. You know, he really gave my guards one heck of a time. He's got some potential as a battler," Adam said as he looked at his fingers, which were curled into his palm in a feminine gesture.

"What's all of this about!" I shouted, hearing my voice echo throughout the room. I sounded surprisingly small, almost weak. Adam laughed, his voice echoing the room as mine had done, only with power and determination.

"I shouldn't be the one answering questions! In fact, I should be the one asking why you're here," Adam said with an intimidating tone. From the shadows behind him emerged another one of his Pokemon; this time, his Toxicroak emerged. It dawned on me that these were the Pokemon that I saw in the labyrinth. That could only mean. . .

"Dammit, Swane! Your guards attacked me! You have to tell them to back off!" Cenard shouted. I knew he was back to his old self again. However, I had never seen him so pissed off in my life.

"Tell them to back off? Why do that when I ordered them to assault in the first place?" Adam asked arrogantly, adding a sarcastic laugh at the end. At that moment, I think Cenard's patience broke, as he charged right at Adam. Suddenly, from the shadows behind Adam, a blob of a black substance launched right at Cenard, knocking him backward when it hit him despite his full-throttle speed. He landed on his rear, covered in an inky substance. From the shadows behind Adam emerged another Pokemon, this time it was the same Seadra I had seen in the maze.

"I'll tell you what 'all of this is about' while you're down here. It's not like you'll be able to leave here when I'm done with you anyway. You see, I'm looking for this rare Pokemon, called Mew. . ." Adam started.

"Mew!!" I heard Mew call out from behind me in a playful tone, as if mimicking Adam. I realized Mew was hiding behind me the whole time. Mew popped up from behind me, and looked playfully at Adam.

"Mew! That's it! Dusclops, use Mean Look!" Adam shouted all of a sudden. Dusclops lit up a bright red, as did its eye. Mew was engulfed by a red aura. Mew didn't seem all that affected by the attack, whatever it was. Mew floated around, when suddenly, the Toxicroak lunged forward at Mew. The Toxicroak was only inches away from Mew when it hit an apparently-invisible forcefield, and bounced off. Mew looked playfully at Toxicroak, as it used Psychic to lift it into the air and flung it around as if it were a plaything. Suddenly, the Seadra shot another blast of ink, this time at Mew. The ball of ink exploded on the force-field of Mew's, causing Mew to drop Toxicroak. Toxicroak fell to the ground, unconscious from Mew's vigorous 'playing'. Mew suddenly turned into an exact copy of Seadra, and instantly shot the same ink-attack at it. The ink completely coated the Seadra, blinding it and disabling it for the battle. Finally, the Dusclops lunged forward, its fist imbued in a horrible-looking aura. The fist shot outward, striking the Seadra-Mew, knocking it backward. Mew reverted back into its usual self, and floated high into the air. Mew lit up a bright blue, and floated back down. At first, I didn't see anything happen. Then, Dusclops simply collapsed to the floor.

Adam recalled all three of his Pokemon to their Pokeballs, and slammed his fist into the desk near him in pure rage. I looked desperately around, looking for a solution.

"Fine, it must be done! I've finally found Mew, but I have no means of capturing it. I'll introduce you to my latest creation, Betamue!" Swane shouted. He brought his fist down on a red button next to him on the desk. Suddenly, the gigantic tube in the center of the room began to drain. Down, down, down the green liquid went, until it left a gigantic, repulsive monster dripping wet, still attached to many wires. The creature went haywire, flailing about inside of the tube. It stuck its many left-tentacles straight outward, shattering the tube to dust. The creature fell to the floor with a thunderous boom. It slowly crawled upright.

I quickly glanced at Cenard, who had a horrified look on his face. The monster (I can't even call it a Pokemon) towered over us, and opened what I assume to be five eyes on the right side of its face. The creature slammed down on the ground, knocking me, Cenard, and Cenard's Pokemon to the ground.

"Betamue, use Power Whip!" Adam shouted. "You'll all pay for defeating my Pokemon!" The Betamue slowly pulled its left tentacles back, and thrust them forward blindly, striking in a different spot with each one. The tentacles smashed straight down into the ground, breaking through the tiling on the floor. I jumped to my feet, and backed up until my back was pressed up against the door of the room. I assume Adam closed it on us. I looked up to see Adam on some sort of balcony in the room, from where he commanded the monster.

"Betamue, again, Power Whip!" Cenard commanded. I could see the creature's eyes five eyes roll wildly in its head. I assumed it was blind or something at first. But, one of the tentacles from the attack flew right at me. If it weren't for Mew using Psychic on me and pushing me out of the way, the tentacle would have pierced me for sure. The attack smashed right through the thick, steel door, knocking it right out of the tracks. The door fell down, and smashed to the ground with a shrill bang. I noticed Betamue recoil a great deal when the metallic door slammed on the ground.

"You may notice that Betamue is a bit uncoordinated. You see, my goal is to find Mew and create a clone of it. I've heard stories of a clone of Mew that could think for itself. That led to the creator's demise, as it turned against the orders of its creator. As for me, I plan to create the ultimate Pokemon, but remove its ability to think for itself. However, I'm unable to do so without removing the clone's Psychic powers. Thus, this is just a beta version of the unfinished project of my ultimate Pokemon clone," Adam explained with great confidence. Cenard looked up at him angrily.

"So why did you put the entire city on lockdown!?" Cenard queried from below Adam.

"You see, I heard of some kind of rumors that Mew had appeared in this city. It took me a few years to become Mayor of this city when I heard that rumor, but when I finally did, I put a request to put the city into a lockdown. You're ***** of a girlfriend, Sarah, wouldn't let the request pass. Being in that seat in the office, she had that power. It took some more. . . persuasion. . . if you know what I mean," Adam explained, sneering at Cenard.

"Y-you bastard!" Cenard shouted. "She wouldn't do anything with a dirty slime like you!" I looked empathetically at Cenard. I'm sure Adam was lying.

"It doesn't matter what you believe, as you're going to die here, anyway. Betamue, get rid of them with Crush Grip!" Adam commanded to Betamue. Betamue sloppily flung its huge tentacles back, then shot them forward a blinding speed toward Cenard and I. Just before they impacted, I heard a deafening, screeching sound. Betamue's attack stopped in its tracks, and it just stood there with its tentacles outstretched. I had to cover my ears from the harsh sounds. I saw Cenard and Adam covering their ears, too. It was no use, however, as the sound penetrated my hands, ringing my ear drums. Finally, the sound stopped. I looked around wearily, my head throbbing from the sound. I looked to Mew, who floated around in a naïve manner. Was it Mew who caused that sound?

"Metal Sound technique. . . I wonder why," I heard Cenard say through the ringing in my ears. Suddenly, Betamue began to quiver. The quivering quickly became convulsions, which then became flailing. The Betamue flopped around agitatedly, crushing anything that it hit with its sheer body size.

"Betamue, no! Those damn kids, this project cost me a hundred and fifty million dollars!" I heard Adam say as Cenard grabbed my shoulder hastily, and motioned with his head for me to follow him. He recalled Marowak and Umbreon into their Pokeballs, and I grabbed Sentret and tucked it into my arms as I ran after Cenard. We made our way into the hallway from which I entered, walking on the downed metal door on the way.

"Betamue, they can't get away, use Explosion!" I heard Adam say from the room. All I could do was panic. Cenard and I made our way up the narrow stairway, with Mew floating around above us unawarely. The last thing I saw before getting to the base floor was the Betamue lighting up brightly, looking intently at me with those haunting, five eyes. That image itself seemed to haunt me as Cenard and I made our way outside of the city hall. Cenard stopped briefly, looking at the maze of bushes.

"Damn! We'll never make it out!" Cenard shouted desperately.

"It's just a Pokemon! How large could its Explosion be?" I questioned loudly. Just then, there was a deep rumble from the City Hall. There was a perturbing silence that followed, which seemed to last an eternity. Then, all of the windows in the City Hall suddenly bursted, sending glass out in all directions. There was a faint, red glow that appeared from the empty windows, which quickly became intense. Suddenly, I heard a deafening burst. I saw the City Hall erupt, for lack of better terms. The shockwave shot outward, and flames washed over Cenard and I. I could see pieces of the building fly outward, narrowly missing us. My eyes were blinded, my ears deafened, and my skin was becoming torched. I could feel my consciousness slipping. Right before my vision went entirely black, I could see a soothing, blue color that stood brilliantly against the endless wave of fiery red. Then, all I could see was black.

. . .

Slowly, I regained my senses. A bright, pink light filled my eyes as I opened them, and the intense ringing in my ears was slowly fading. I sat up, my vision deeply impaired, but the blurriness slowly becoming sharper. As my eyes adapted, I could see that the pink light came from Mew. There were shadows of other Pokemon around me. I saw Cenard slowly sitting up from the corner of my eye.

I looked to the other Pokemon, realizing that they were Mantyke, Sentret, Hitmontop, and Banette, along with Mew. They all looked covered in bruises and cuts. In fact, parts of them were singed from what I assumed the Explosion. It must've been large enough to engulf the maze of bushes, which the Pokemon were still in at the point of the Explosion. Cenard struggled to his feet, staggering backward when he got up. I heard him gasp in awe. I stood up and, like Cenard, staggered, almost falling back down. I looked around the dark area, seeing nothing but a mess of black remains of the bush labyrinth. The Explosion definitely burnt the whole thing to the ground.

That made me wonder, though, how Cenard, Sentret and I were conscious, let alone alive. Mew's orb of vivid pink allowed me to see all of this. I looked up to Cenard, who was holding Banette comfortably. Banette snuggled up in Cenard's arms happily, despite the obvious pain it was in.

"What. . . happened?" I struggled to say, my throat stinging in intense pain when I talked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Cenard said, his voice equally as raspy as mine. Our only option was to make our way back to the streets of Skiolet City. We traversed the remains of the maze-like courtyard, having no difficulty whatsoever in the flat wasteland. Finally, the Pokemon, Cenard, and I found our way back to the city. Interestingly, there were no cars lining the streets anymore, and the sky was clearing up. I hadn't seen the sky so clear in what seemed like forever. It seemed like a blessing to be able to see the twinkling stars in the deep, black sky. I followed Cenard through the streets of Skiolet, which was oddly dark. Skiolet City was famous for being lit up brightly during the night, usually done by the many lights from buildings and attractions.

Not once did I question Cenard about where we were going. In fact, rarely did I look down from the beautiful sky. Since I lived almost my whole life without leaving Skiolet City, I could never see the night sky so well at night due to the city in constant illumination. I could recall those late, mid-summer bonfires from when I used to live in Kanto. The stars twinkled vivaciously at me, creating an indescribable view of pure beauty that I don't think I could handle. With a smile on my face, tears streamed from my eyes. The tears felt as if cleansing not only my charred face, but my overall individual.

Finally, we came to our destination: the Hitmonshop. I noticed that there was no hole in the wall anymore. Cenard entered, followed by me and then the Pokemon. I had to squint to allow my eyes to adjust to the coffee shop's bright lights. Inside, I saw Alex sitting at a booth, Girard at the cash register, and another lady at a different booth. Cenard walked over to the lady, as the all three of them watched him attentively. The lady stood up and straightened her tight, black knee-length skirt to greet Cenard.

"We need to have a private chat, Sarah," Cenard commanded sternly as the girl pulled her blond hair behind her ears. I slowly made my way to the booth with Alex and sat down heavily on the opposite side as him. I slammed my chin down on the table, looking at Alex miserably. Mew floated over and sat on my head playfully. Alex looked at Mantyke happily as Mantyke wearily approached him.

"Mantyke, thank you for being with Dakota," Alex said deeply. "Hey, cool Pokemon you have," Alex commented, looking at Mew, "How'd you get it?"

"It's been a long day," I answered briefly to Alex.

Alex looked out the window and spoke in a soft tone, "I know." I could tell there was something different about him, but the thought abandoned me when it dawned on me that he was actually here.

"Hey, Alex," I asked, perking up and looking at Alex questionably. "How the heck did you get back here, anyway?"

"You should know that I couldn't be contained by a simple gate for long," he said a bit monotonously. I assumed he crawled over it or swam the lake, shuddering at my near-death experience at the bridge gate.

"Everyone," Girard said from the cash register. Alex, Sarah, Cenard, and I looked at Girard attentively. "Listen, I know everyone is tired, and we all want to go home to get some rest. However, the way things are going right now, I don't think we should split up, especially since neither Dakota's nor Alex's parents are home," Girard explained. Suddenly, my gut fell. Home. I remembered something very important. I stood up, and began to run out the door. "Where are you going?" Girard called out after me.

"I left something important at home!" I shouted back as I left the Hitmonshop. I ran down the street, Mew floating close behind me. I could hear it giggle playfully. As I ran, I couldn't help but think. I was almost jealous of Mew for being such a carefree Pokemon, even though it clearly knew it was being targeted and hunted. Despite that, it opted to play with its tail instead of potentially flying as far away as across the world.

After a few moments, I came to the alleyway near my house. I ran down it, with Sentret on my shoulder and Mew close behind me. I hit the end, and made the left, going down about halfway down the street, finally arriving to my house. I walked around back and pulled a key out of my pocket, inserting it into the back door and entering the house with Mew behind me. The kitchen light was on, and I could see the TV was on as well. I walked into the living room to see Chatot and Tangela sitting in front of the TV at the couch, with a bowl of popcorn in between them.

"BWAAK, Dakota is home! Dakota is home!" Chatot shouted, surprising Tangela. Tangela jumped in reaction, accidentally dumping the bowl of popcorn all over the floor.

"Tangela!" I shouted angrily. There was no reason for Tangela to be surprised at Chatot. . . especially since Chatot had a big mouth, figuratively. Tangela, afraid of getting scolded by me, rushed to the floor and scooped up the mess with its vines. I could only sigh at the comedic sight of Chatot flying around Tangela as it cleaned, shouting "Dakota is home" repeatedly. Suddenly, Mew flew into the room, and flew around with Chatot. Chatot became startled.

"BWAAK! BWAAK!" Chatot screeched, causing a commotion. I grabbed the two Pokeballs on the side table, and returned both Chatot and Tangela to them. Mew sunk to the ground and pouted when Chatot disappeared. I figured it wanted to play with Chatot.

"Don't scare them! They're high-strung as it is!" I scolded Mew. Mew looked at me with its large eyes, but I didn't fall for its fake tears. I turned off the TV and the lights. Just for the heck of it, I picked up the phone. To my surprise, there was a dial tone. I tested out my mother's cell phone number.

There was a ring. Another ring.

Much to my surprise, there was an answer. "Hello?" came my mother's voice.

"Mom! I missed you!" I shouted suddenly into the phone.

There was no answer. Suddenly, I heard that cursed voice.

"That's not going to work any time soon," Adam's voice said over the phone.

 

[Silhouette]

A/N: Wow. Totally forgot to update this from eight months ago. Anyway...

Chapter Four: Once in a Blue Moon[a id]four[/a id]

I locked the door behind me before I headed back out into the cold night. Each trip back and forth between my house and the Hitmonshop seemed longer and colder than the last. Finally, I made it to the little coffee shop. The lights were still on, and everyone was still inside. I entered, seeing everyone in the room in a dull, run-down state. I only figured it was because it was late. I walked into the room as Girard finally saw me, and jumped up from his stool at the counter across the room. His Hitmonchan next to him jumped in surprise.

"Okay, since Dakota's back, everyone, why don't we go to my place? It would be wise for everyone to be together in a time like this," Girard proposed to everyone. Alex stretched in his seat, yawning a wide yawn. I suddenly felt the urge to yawn, but managed to hold it back. Unlike everyone in the room, Mew circled my head energetically, annoying both Sentret and me.

"That's a good idea," Sarah said as she stood up from the booth.

"At least the main threat, Adam, is gone," Cenard said coolly with his eyes closed. He remained in his seat. At those words, I remembered what happened when I called my mother. I opened my mouth to say something.

"Well, let's go. I'm beat, especially since all of the training I've been doing," Alex blurted out, standing and stretching. Again, he yawned. This time, though, I couldn't resist the urge to yawn, which disrupted what I wanted to say.

"Good, then it's settled. We'll get going. Everyone, follow me, and stick close," Girard said, opening the door to let everyone out. I totally forgot to mention that Adam wasn't dead from the explosion earlier, as the intense fatigue was kicking in. Girard locked and closed the door to the Hitmonshop after we all exited. He ran to the front of us, and led us down the road quite a ways. After walking a while, I could feel my nose becoming cold. As we walked, the perturbing silence dominated, making it a bit awkward. Even though I never said it, I think everyone knew Adam was still out there.

At that moment, I looked up to the sky. It was abnormally black, and the moon seemed almost a bluish tint. . . and then, I noticed the silhouette of someone against the moon on top of a building. I jumped, causing a bit of a commotion in the group.

"What's that!?" I shouted, pointing to the top of the building. Everyone else looked up in the direction I pointed. It was silent for a moment.

"I see a moon," Alex said suddenly, breaking the silence. He shrugged.

"Maybe you're getting overtired," Cenard mentioned, and we continued on our way to Girard's place. I agreed with him; I had been up for over eighteen hours, ever since I got up for school today – er, yesterday, that is.

Finally, we made it to Girard's. It was part of an apartment complex, and it was on the second and last story of the building. When Girard let us in, I could smell an unappealing scent of some kind of food.

"Dude, it smells awesome in here!" Alex shouted. Apparently, we had totally different opinions.

We all found places to sleep after finally arriving. I had the couch, and Alex was on the floor next to the couch. After some complaining about being the only one on the floor (everyone else had either a bed or a cot), he was passed out and sleeping. Mew and Sentret were cuddled together in a recliner.

It wasn't long before I fell asleep, and morning came just as quickly. I sat upward, finding myself the only one in the room. I slowly got up, feeling very groggy, and walked into the kitchen figuring that's where everyone was. Still, there was no one. After looking at the clock which read "1:50," I walked back into the room where I slept, seeing that only Sentret and Mew remained. Suddenly, I felt very dizzy, and I fell to the couch all light headed. My vision faded black. . .

I heard a deep voice boom in my head, "Dakota." In my mind, all I could see was a canvas of black, with a single, bright-blue object glowing, as if I were seeing a psychic vision. I was paralyzed, unable to move. So, I focused on the glowing orb, putting all of my attention on it. I could see the faint shape of a sharp eye looking down upon me from it. Then, I saw one of my own memories. I saw a commotion going on in a dead-end alleyway. Then, a tall, scary purple Pokemon with a long, slender tail turned to me, as its sharp eyes lit up a bright blue. It had this humanoid appearance about it, seeing as how I thought it was a person at first glance. It waved its three fingers in the air, creating a bright flash, and vanishing before my eyes. I could only assume that it was somehow connected to Mew based on how it looked. It vanished, and I could see Sentret laying on the trash can lids.

Then, my vision returned. I found myself lying on the couch in an awkward position from after I fell. I slowly staggered to my feet, and thought about what happened just now. Seeing that tall, purple Pokemon, I started to think that this was somehow related to it.

"You are correct," the same voice boomed in my head. I recoiled, unsure of where it was coming from.

"I am. . . correct?" I said to myself. Then, I realized that I was being contacted by the purple Pokemon in my vision, perhaps the same way Mew sent me the old memories of our first interaction.

"Yes. I am the Pokemon you saw in those visions. I have a request for you," the voice in my head boomed. At this point, Mew and Sentret were starting to wake up.

"W-what is it?" I asked out loud. I could be honest at this point – I was getting kinda scared.

"I want you to forget about what happened in that alleyway that day," the voice said.

"What?" I asked.

"When you saw me in that alleyway, I could tell you thought that I hurt Sentret. I was nursing it back to health, similar to the way you were nursing Mew back to health," the voice explained. I nodded, unknowing if the Pokemon could see me.

"Your friends may not be safe, and I'm worried about," the voice said. "I want you to leave this place, and go to the alleyway where we first met," the voice said.

"Why!?" I asked. There was no answer in my head. I looked down to Sentret and Mew, who were looking strangely back at me. I had no choice.

With Sentret on my shoulder and Mew floating close behind me, I arrived on foot to the alleyway. It must've taken quite a while, as it was starting to become evening.

I rounded the last corner in the alley, seeing nothing but a few trash cans at the dead end of the road. Suddenly, an object materialized right before my eyes, turning into the slender, humanoid purple Pokemon that I saw those many years ago. We stood across from each other silently, until Mew floated curiously up to the Pokemon.

"My name. . . is Mewtwo," the voice boomed in my head again. I looked into Mewtwo's eyes, and it looked into mine. "I am a clone of Mew, who is considered to be the ancestor of all Pokemon. It's powers perhaps surpass even mine," Mewtwo said in my mind. I looked at Mew, who played gleefully with Mewtwo's tail as it flicked.

"So what do you want me for?" I asked in an short tone. Mewtwo looked to the sky.

"I want your help to defeat Adam of Skiolet City," Mewtwo said. I didn't budge from my spot.

"I tried once, but I couldn't do it. I almost got killed doing it," I explained.

"I will protect you at all costs if you help me. You know very well that he is putting the world in danger. Just look at what he created, the Betamue. If that is just a prototype, then imagine what he can do with his powers," Mewtwo explained. I guess I really didn't have a choice, as I wasn't exactly on Adam's VIP list.

"Fine. But, this isn't for you," I complied. Mewtwo nodded, understanding me.

"I want to tell you something. I know how you feel, leaving a very beautiful place like Kanto. I was originally created in Kanto by scientists, but I could stay there no longer," Mewtwo explained. I looked down to my feet.

"Let's just go," I said. Mewtwo nodded. I could suddenly feel my feet leave the ground and Sentret gripping my shoulder in fear. Looking over to Mewtwo, I figured he was deploying his psychic powers to transport us to wherever he had in mind. Quickly, we dashed through the air, arriving at the office building I had entered town in the previous day. We landed softly on the ground and Mewtwo pointed its three-fingered hands at the door. Instantly, the doors were ripped off of the face of the building, and thrown out into the street effortlessly. Perhaps Mewtwo was just showing off, but that demonstrated some serious power, only matched by two Pokemon I had ever seen before. . .

Mewtwo quickly dashed into the building and Mew followed him. I looked to Sentret on my shoulder, who looked skeptically at me. I shrugged and walked into the office building casually, seeing that the building was completely empty, unlike yesterday. I saw Mewtwo, who motioned to me from the other end of the hallway to follow him. I did.

"We're going up to Adam to end this. Are you ready?" Mewtwo said, again in my mind.

"I want to save my friends," I said hastily. It kind of felt weird to have a conversation with a Pokemon like this. Wordlessly, Mewtwo scaled the stairway of the hall labeled "150". I followed him. Up we went, going further and further into the office building. I hadn't realized that the building was so tall, as it took quite a while to get up the stairs. Finally, Mewtwo stopped in front of me at a door. I looked down the spiral staircase, seeing that we were up from the ground floor a great height. Mewtwo looked at me, signaling that we were going to enter. Mewtwo employed its psychic powers on the door, bursting it open like he had done on the ground floor. We entered into a brightly lit, gigantic room.

What I saw next was almost impossible to explain. In this room, similar to the laboratory in the basement of the City Hall, was filled with computers and computer desks, and one large, green tank of fluid in the center of the room. Across from the room was a figure on the ground. This person was slumped unnaturally on the ground in a messy pile, with very messy hair and gray, lifeless skin. This person's skin, hair, and clothing were torched, as if they had been in a fire. After a few moments, I recognized this person to be Adam. Suddenly, Adam twitched and looked messily up to us.

"Wh-Who's there?" the person muttered with a hint of desperation. Slowly, he stood to his feet after a few failed attempts, and squinted at us with his ugly, disgusting body. Something was obviously wrong here.

"I'm here to put an end to your madness," I heard Mewtwo say.

"What do you have against me?" Adam shouted defensively. I don't think he realized Mewtwo wasn't a person. . . which is kind of hard to do.

"I have watched you since you've become mayor of this city. You were obsessed with cloning Mew, which you've heard was the strongest Pokemon of all. However, I have witnessed first hand that cloning a Pokemon is a terrible mistake. If it weren't for a slight issue in my creator's science, I might've ended up like the Pokemon you are trying to create – a mindless drone used for nothing but destruction," Mewtwo scowled angrily. Adam simply laughed.

"You don't understand, you're to late! The Pokemon I've created is feeding off of its hosts right as we speak. Look at me; this is only a side effect of how strong my Pokemon is!" Adam shouted hysterically. I didn't know what he was talking about, but I figured he was talking about Alex and the others.

"What did you do with them!?" I shouted. Adam looked over to me.

"Huh? Oh, I rem-em-ember you," Adam said weakly, stuttering. He fell to his knees. "You were th-that little girl who screwed with my plans last time. Well, I'll have you know that even if my Pokemon isn't done feeding on your friends, it's still enough to kill that damned Mew of yours," Adam said. I couldn't help but feel somewhat disgusted. Feeding on my friends?

Suddenly, Adam stood up, and pressed a key on the computer near him. Suddenly, the wall on the other side of the room lifted into the ceiling, revealing another room. Emerging from the room was a gigantic, purple Pokemon. It looked very similar to the Betamue, having such deformed body parts. As it walked toward us on all fours, the tentacles on either side of its body swayed disgustingly. The tentacles hanging from the bottom of its face twitched. I could swear I saw blood dropping from them.

The Pokemon looked at us with the five beady eyes on the right side of its face. Adam laughed hysterically.

"Remember my Betamue!? Say hello to the finished version. . . the ultimate Pokemon, Alphamue!" Adam shouted. "Alphamue, give them a taste of your Power Whip!"

Unlike the Betamue before, the Alphamue didn't hesitate when it heard Adam's command. The thing swung a single tentacle at a blinding speed toward me, causing me to flinch. I heard a bang after I recoiled. I looked up to see Mewtwo emitting a bluish-colored orb of energy around Mew, Sentret, and I.

"You must go through me, first!" Mewtwo shouted, lighting up a bright blue. Likewise, the Alphamue lit up a bright blue. The Alphamue was lifted into the air a bit, then sent flying backward. However, it stopped before hitting the wall.

"Hahaha! You think Psychic can do anything against my Alphamue!? Now, use your Psycho Boost!" Adam commanded. The Alphamue, still hovering from Mewtwo's psychic lowered itself to the ground. The tentacles on its body struck the ground, anchoring the Alphamue to the ground. It started to tremble, then shake violently in convulsions. It lit up a blinding, bright purple color. Suddenly, a wave of barely-visible energy struck Mewtwo, causing a small, dense explosion. I could see Mewtwo conjure the blue dome for protection, but I heard a sickening crack in the process. When the smoke cleared, I saw the shattered remains of Mewtwo's shell, and Mewtwo was kneeling on the ground with fatigue.

I realized that the glowing, blue orb that Mewtwo conjured was the same color as the blue shine I saw during the explosion at the town hall. It must've been Mewtwo that saved us then.

"Your little Barrier Attack won't do anything to me!" Adam shouted. Mewtwo looked at Mew, and Mew nodded.

"That may be the case, but you can't win against both Mew and I, can you?" Mewtwo shouted. Suddenly, the Alphamue was engulfed by the same, blue energy. Mewtwo stood up, and also began to light up blue. I then realized that both Mew and Mewtwo were using Psychic on the Alphamue. Suddenly, the Alphamue was ripped out of the ground, and sent flying at the wall with an incredible speed. It smashed into the wall, blasting a hole in it. I heard a deafening crash a few seconds later as the Alphamue hit the ground.

"NO!" I heard Adam shriek. He ran at Mewtwo, attempting to claw at him, but Mewtwo simply pushed him to the ground.

"Putting others in harm's way to artificially create a Pokemon. . . you're despicable," Mewtwo scolded. Suddenly, Mewtwo's words reminded me of Alex. I rushed into the room that the Alphamue had emerged from, seeing a small cage about the size of a small room. Inside were the unconscious bodies of Alex and the others.

Before I could do much else, I heard a heart-stopping explosion. Smoke poured into the room, and my ears and eyes were completely disabled. I couldn't do anything but hunker down from the force of the explosion.

When it was all quiet, I slowly stood up, coughing a bit. I saw that the steel door had been closed, and Adam was standing in front of the door.

"Oh, dear, it seemed my Alphamue was still off quite a bit. I don't understand! But, it seemed that your Mew and other friend were unable to withstand the force of my Alphamue's instability. That's just too bad, they didn't realize it sneaking up behind them," Adam said angrily. He held out two Pokeballs, aiming them at me. In a bright flash, he sent out two Pokemon. The first was his Toxicroak, and the other was a different Pokemon. It looked a bit like his Dusclops, but it was larger, had no feet, and had a face on its stomach. The mouth on its stomach opened up wide, and then closed again as the Pokemon scanned the area with its large, single red eye.

"Wh-what are you doing!?" I shouted. I knew already that he was challenging me.

"I've been training my Pokemon since we last met. And, in the past day, I was able to evolve some of them, too. If you have Pokemon, I would like to make sure they die before you, ensuring you are completely out of the way," Adam said, staring me down. I had no choice; I sent out my Tangela and Chatot.

"Dusknoir, Shadow Punch! Toxicroak, Sucker Punch!" Adam shouted. Dusknoir instantly vanished, as did Toxicroak.

"Tangela, Chatot, watch out – " I started to say. But, out of nowhere, Dusknoir appeared in front of Tangela, and Toxicroak in front of Chatot. The two Pokemon punched their targets. Chatot was especially harmed, and unable to take the force of the punch. I had to recall it.

"You did good, Chatot. Looks like it's just you, now, Tangela!" I shouted. "Now, use Vine Whip!" I shouted. Tangela nodded, and sent a vine quickly at Dusknoir. The vine quickly struck the Dusknoir, but with little effect other than a little damage.

"Is that all you have, girl?" Adam taunted. "Toxicroak, finish that thing off with a Poison Jab!" Adam shouted. Toxicroak ran toward Tangela, jumping forward, smashing a glowing, spiked fist into Tangela's face. Tangela rolled onto its back, obviously feeling that attack quite a bit. I recalled Tangela into its Pokeball.

"So, that's all you have?" Adam laughed. I could've battled him with my Sentret, but I realized that Sentret was no match for his Pokemon. I was beginning to lose all hope.

"It doesn't matter!" I shouted. I could feel my voice shaking in a mixture of rage, adrenaline, and immense sadness.

"Excuse me?" Adam said with a sarcastic-looking smile.

"Your stupid Alphamue failed. It can't come back, so you lost!" I shouted. Adam simply laughed, and recalled his Dusknoir into its Pokeball, as if he claimed victory.

"I only lose if I cannot continue to create the ultimate Pokemon! There's no one stopping me from creating another Alphamue once you're out of the way. You've already lost, my friend! Now, all that's left is to kill you! It's been a fun run, but I guess I must!" Adam shouted. Without command, Toxicroak understood him. With another Poison Jab, it leapt at me. I didn't see it coming, but out of nowhere, Sentret jumped off of my shoulder, intercepting the attack from Toxicroak. The Poison Jab struck Sentret, puncturing its skin. Sentret flopped messily to the floor with no sounds.

"Sentret!" I shouted. I ran over to the Toxicroak, which was standing over Sentret with a satisfied smile. When I got to it, I couldn't think. I just pulled my foot back, and kicked the Toxicroak as hard as I could. I could feel the tears fly off of my face when my foot made contact. Toxicroak roared in pain as it stumbled backward. I knelt down to Sentret, and picked it up, feeling a bit of the blood run down my arm.

"So, you – " Adam started to say, but the door behind him bursted open. Adam turned around, seeing Mewtwo emerge from the veil of smoke that the explosion caused. Though weary looking, Mewtwo seemed plenty strong, still.

"You! Well, it seems my Toxicroak is no good, now! I'll just use my Dusknoir, it's sure to kill you off!" Adam said desperately. He recalled Toxicroak to its Pokeball, and started to reach for a different Pokeball. I could see the rage building in Mewtwo's eyes. Through my tears, I watched Mewtwo simply launch Adam through the roof with such incredible force that I flinched. Parts of the ceiling smashed down on the ground as Mewtwo flew up through the hole, following Adam. I looked down to Sentret, who stirred a bit, and looked at me. I couldn't help but cry.

"Sentret, it'll be okay," said. Suddenly, from the doorway, Mew emerged slowly. It looked harmed, but still had its happy expression on. I had to wonder what it took to upset Mew. Mew lowered its body next to Sentret's and began to glow. Likewise, Sentret began to glow. Instantly, the wound in Sentret's stomach formed together, healing it. I stood up, and looked at Mew. Mew gave me a happy look before applying its psychic powers on the cage next to me. The cage opened up, allowing me to enter. I ran in, and knelt next to Alex, lifting his head. To my pleasure, he opened his eyes.

"Thank God you're okay!" I shouted. Alex forced a chuckle.

"I watched your battle. You need some training," Alex said jokingly. I dropped his head to the ground.

"Okay, get up yourself!" I shouted angrily at him. He laughed, rubbing the back of his head while getting up.

"Ow! Hey, I guess you're still your usual self!" Alex chuckled. He helped me get everyone up, eventually getting Girard and Cenard conscious.

"Okay, help me with Sarah," I said. No one moved. I could feel my stomach turn over.

"That's not happening," Cenard said monotonously. I looked at him in puzzlement.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Girard stepped forward.

"Sarah allowed herself to be the host to that horrible creature before you arrived. It was when you started to battle that thing when its psychic powers rendered us unconscious, but when that thing fed on Sarah, it. . . it. . ." Girard explained, hesitating to finish the sentence.

"It killed her," Cenard finished bluntly.

"But why did she do that?" I asked.

"She said – " Girard started.

"She said that it was her atonement for accidentally helping Adam," Cenard interrupted. I looked down at Sarah, who didn't move; she didn't even breathe. I looked to my feet, unable to say anything. I noticed that Sentret was pretty sad too.

"Wait, Mew, can't you restore her, too?" I asked suddenly, looking up to Mew. Mew's levitating body lowered sadly. I understood that it was probably too late. At that moment, there was a deafening crashing sound. I flinched, and ran out of the cage, with Girard and Alex after me. Cenard stayed back in the cage, unable to bear the sadness of losing Sarah.

When we exited the cage, there was a bright, blue light emitting from the hole in the ceiling. Mew lit up abruptly, lifting me into the air. Alex and Girard were left on the ground.

"Hey, wait, what the heck?" Alex shouted in surprise as I floated away from him.

I exited the building, coming out onto the roof. The sky was completely black, surprising me as to the time of day. A gust of wind blew across the ceiling, creating the sense of something major happening. Finally, my eyesight adjusted to see Mewtwo standing across the rooftop from Adam.

"Why wasn't I able to defeat you with Alphamue? You can't truly be that powerful? What Pokemon are you?" Adam shouted.

"I am Mewtwo. Your projects failed because the DNA you thought you found was mine, not Mew's. You tried to make a clone of a clone," Mewtwo explained.

"Mewtwo. . . I've heard about you. . . you're that faker that I've been looking for!" Adam yelled. He shifted in his once-fancy clothing that was torn and dirty. He scratched his now-messy hair nervously.

"Faker?" Mewtwo's incredibly deep voice boomed. Mewtwo stood tall over Adam on the rooftop across from the him, flicking its long, slender tail amusingly. It smirked evilly, narrowing its eyes on Adam.

"You're going to die by my hands!" Adam announced, tossing three Pokeballs into the air in a mixture of rage and desperation. In a series of three flashes stood three Pokemon. One was a large, dinosaur-like Pokemon with a rock-solid body, a Rhydon. It roared, spinning the drill on its face. The next was a small, purple frog-like Pokemon with an agile build, the Toxicroak. The last Pokemon was his Dusknoir.

The Rhydon, Toxicroak, and Dusknoir stood across the rooftop from Mewtwo. The wind blew over the clearing between them in the night sky. The city, which was usually bright and glowing at night, was dead and midnight-dark. Without command, the three Pokemon dashed at the purple creature. Without even moving, Mewtwo's eyes lit up a bright blue. At that instant, the Rhydon was lifted into the air, and crashed down on the rooftop with its incredible weight, falling completely through the roof down into the skyscraper, followed by a series of crashes as it fell through each floor. In the next instant, the Toxicroak dashed at Mewtwo, lunging its spiked forearms toward it. The Toxicroak, inches away from Mewtwo, crashed into an invisible force, which lit up as an orb around Mewtwo, deflecting the Toxicroak away. As the Toxicroak was flying backward, Mewtwo formed a blade of its own psychic power in its hands, and slashed at the Toxicroak, slamming it into the rooftop, and permanently downing it.

Suddenly, from a veil of shadow behind Mewtwo, the Dusknoir's arms reached and held Mewtwo's arms behind its back.

"You still don't understand. You've studied my powers, and yet, you still think you can defeat me with tactics like these?" Mewtwo said tonelessly. Adam's eyes widened with fear and desperation.

"D-Dusknoir, kill that slimy thing!" he shouted. The Dusknoir didn't move to Adam's command, however. It just floated there, holding Mewtwo's hands behind its back. Suddenly, the Dusknoir let go of Mewtwo, and fell limp to the rooftop.

"I think you're the faker, here!" Mewtwo's voice boomed again. Mewtwo lit up entirely, causing Adam's body to hit the ground, as if gravity had intensified a hundredfold. Adam was shrieking in pain, with the sound of his lungs gasping for air as they were becoming crushed underneath the extreme pressure. I couldn't watch the occurrence, as the sounds of Adam's compressing body was disgusting me. Finally, Mewtwo ceased. Mewtwo floated over to Adam's expectedly-lifeless body, eying it with immense rage.

"What are you going to do with him?" I asked. Mewtwo glared at me evilly, but lightened up after seeing that it was me.

"I'm taking his body back to a place I know near Kanto, and putting it into the flames of Mount Ember. It's too bad that a man with such potential as him was bent on destruction. I will properly dispose of him in the volcano," Mewtwo explained. Suddenly, he fell to the ground in a kneeling position.

"Are you okay?" I asked abruptly.

"I. . . I will be. I've used up an extreme amount of my psychic energy. After a few days, I. . . I should be fine," Mewtwo explained to me. I realized that even though he was made to be the strongest Pokemon, even he had some design flaws. No one was perfect.

Mew let me down onto the rooftop, and circled around Mewtwo playfully. I approached Mewtwo and helped him up.

"Thank you for your help," Mewtwo said exhaustedly.

"No, you were the one who helped this city," I replied, "thank you." Mewtwo nodded, understanding my point. He allowed himself out of my helping grip, and walked to the edge of the building, turning to look at me when he did so.

"What will you do after this? Where will you go?" Mewtwo asked. I looked up to the sky.

"Well, when all of this crap is sorted out, I guess school will start back up, and I'll be stuck doing that for the time being. After that. . . I'm not entirely sure. What about you?" I asked. Mewtwo imitated me, and looked to the sky.

"After I dispose of Adam's body, I will return to my home region of Kanto. I suppose I will remain there, helping out others as I have helped you," Mewtwo explained. He looked over to me.

"Farewell," Mewtwo said.

"Good bye, Mewtwo," I said. Mewtwo floated up into the sky, holding Adam's body. He flew off at a high speed, disappearing out of my vision as he flew toward the moon. Slowly, Mew hovered up the same way. I looked happily at Mew.

"Good bye, Mew," I said. I couldn't help but feel that this was going to be the last time I would see Mew.

"Mew!" Mew shouted.

"Sentret!" Sentret shouted in reply. I understood that they were good friends with an extensive history. I was glad for Sentret, but in a way, like me, Sentret was never going to see Mew again. Mew then flew off after Mewtwo, but I knew they would part way

'Returning to my home region of Kanto', huh? It sounded like a pretty good idea.

A few days after this whole thing, I went to visit Cenard. I knew he had it rough after losing Sarah. I figured I could find him in the library.

"Thanks for coming to see me, but I just haven't been myself lately," Cenard said monotonously. I playfully pushed his shoulder.

"Oh, come on. Why don't you get out of the library a bit? What, do you live here or something?" I said rhetorically. Sentret squeaked in after me, "Sentret".

"I know, it's just that. . . Sarah's funeral is in a few days. I can't bear to remember that evil thing stabbing her, and just sucking out all of her blood. . ." Cenard said, shivering from the memories.

"I know, it must be tough," I said.

After a few silent moments, Cenard looked up to me. "But, you did make me feel better by coming to visit me. Why don't you get outside. It's not fair for my sulking to start affecting you, too," Cenard said. I nodded, and walked outside, where Alex was waiting for me. We started to walk back toward my house.

"Hey, you never did do that assignment, huh? You know Mrs. Elmore is going to want it done, even though we had those days off, right?" Alex said. I looked at him.

"Don't we still have a Brawl match to settle?" I suggested suddenly, changing the subject.

"Of course! You're on!!" Alex shouted. Of course, anything gets his mind off of schoolwork. We started to run back to my house, down the road. It felt nice to have the town full of people and normal traffic once again.

I was still angry over losing my bicycle.

 

[Silhouette]

[a id]epilogue[/a id]Epilogue

A few months after the incident. . .

Alex and I just got out of our last class of the school day. We walked together outside, talking about what we were going to do when we got home. It was just like any other day. We finally made it into the parking lot of the school, where an odd man approached us. He was taller than both of us, and clearly older. He had on a red bandanna around his head, and the bandanna was tied into a large knot with four extensions coming off of the back of his head. The man pushed his pure-white hair out of his eyes as he approached us, his long maroon trench coat flowing in the wind.

"You two, are your names Alex and Dakota?" the person asked. His voice was very smooth, and I concluded that he must have been about eighteen years of age.

"Yes, why?" I asked.

"You wanna fight or something?" Alex asked, as if the other boy threatened his position. I was about to give Alex a good whack for accusing such a thing from a boy who looked so smooth.

"Actually, yes," the boy answered as I drew my fist back to hit Alex. I looked up to the boy, dropping my fist and staring at him in disbelief. "Haha, um, I meant fight as in Pokemon battle."

I sighed. Of course, Alex's naiveté made for a surprisingly good intuition.

"Okay! Let's go!" Alex shouted. The boy stopped him.

"I want to battle the both of you," the boy said.

"A double battle, you mean?" Alex asked. The boy nodded. The boy was certainly cocky, thinking he could take both of us.

"I don't even know your name! How is this going to work?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. My name is Blanch," the boy answered, holding up a hand wearing fingerless gloves. "The way this is going to work. . . you can both use three Pokemon, each one using a Pokemon. I'll use six Pokemon, and fight you. That way, it'll be six versus six," Blanch explained. I sighed. What did I get myself into?

"Okay, you're on!" Alex said, then turning to me. "Listen, I know you suck at battling. But, my strong Pokemon will be able to cover you. You just sit back and let me do the winning," Alex explained. Then, I recovered my lost fist, whacking Alex upside the head.

"I do NOT suck at battling!" I shouted. Alex held his head, hunkering down.

"Ow! Okay, okay! Then let's just take this guy down!" Alex pleaded. I sighed one last time. I guess I had no choice but to agree.

"Okay, it's settled then. You two versus me!" Blanch shouted excitedly. By this point, many of the kids in our school had stopped to see what was going on. It seemed they wanted to watch the battle.