The empty heart

So, this is one of two Threeshots I started working on. I had the ideas in my mind forever but never got to write them down properly. It's supposed to be a little darker than the usual atmosphere in my stories, I hope you enjoy it anyway or all the more.

I'd always love to know what you like or dislike about my story, be it the content, my writing style or anything else you want to say. ^^

I don't own the characters, places or Pokemon itself, and I have no intentions to earn money with this story in any way!

She ran up the stages as fast as possible. This was the last place where she could hide. If he found her up here, it would be a dead end. She stopped as she reached the platform, trying to keep her breath as quiet as possible to be able to listen. Slow steps came closer. Game over.

As Lack-Two climbed the last stairs she backed away, ending in the middle of the Lookout. „This is the end of the line, Whi-Two", he said with a determined voice. „Give me the pendant. Now!"

„Never!", the girl cried, closing her fist around the object of interest to the agent panicky. „What do you even want it for? Who are you?"

Without changing his facial expression, the boy pulled out his badge. „International Police Superintendent Black Two", he said, technically reading the words that were shining in the moonlight.

„International Police?", she repeated unbelieving. „No... That can't be true, you..." She took some more steps back. „You lied all along."

He chuckled for the fracture of a second, but without smiling. „Weren't we all?"

„I will not let you do any harm to Lord N", Whi-Two spoke half-whining, earning a sigh in return.

He kept approaching her with short steps. „I'm fighting a war, Whi-Two. Your bigotry will help Neo Team Plasma by taking over Unova, would your Lord N want that? Give it to me, it'll help him."

She shook her head, reaching the railing with her back. „You'll have to make me."

Now she almost hoped any part of his face would move. But she was disappointed. He stayed just as grim and calmly determined. And his answer was also not what she would have wished for. „You think I wouldn't?" With these words, he called out his Dewott, which immediately extended its blades of water. In the meantime, Lack-Two held out his hand. „This could be easy."

After another look at her possession, the girl was sure she couldn't figure out how his mind worked. „Don't you feel any sympathy at all?", she whined loudly.

His answer was surprisingly quiet as he looked at the ground for a second. „I don't feel anything."

It was at this moment that Leo and Hugh arrived at the scene. „What's up here?", the latter screamed as aggressive as he always was.

„Please don't fight, guys", Leo pleaded rather insecure compared with his friend. „Tell us what happened, I'm sure we can find a peaceful solution."

Lack-Two didn't move in his stance, but turned his head towards them. „Just leave. This is too big for you", he ascertained.

However, this only enraged Hugh further. „I'm taller than you, and I won't let you hurt her for whatever stupid reasons you claim to have!" He sent his Vibrava forward, which took place between Dewott and Whi-Two

The young detective sighed. „That after all you would be the one to defend a member of Team Plasma..." He made a quick gesture and Dewott pointed its blades towards the dragon type so it couldn't attack right away.

Hugh stopped his rage for a moment. „What? Team Plasma..."

Now Leo tried to walk closer towards Lack-Two. „Please, we're friends, don't just accuse her like that."

And the addressed smiled weakly. „Friends? You don't even know her true name. Isn't that right, Mei?"
He looked at the girl again, who returned a face of utter shock as she pressed the pendant against her chest desperately. How could he know that? What else did he know?

Even Leo showed doubts. „Is that true?", he asked the girl, who didn't answer.

However, Hugh wouldn't be hindered by such details. „I don't care what her name is, you have no right to bother her. Vibrava, Dragon Claw!" His Pokemon did as ordered, and its claws clashed with the swords of Dewott. A second later, the water type won the duel with its superior strength and knocked its foe out with one hit.

„We've played this game for long enough", Lack-Two murmured as he walked up to Mei who couldn't shy away any further. „Nobody prevents the inevitable. Give me the pendant or I'll take it by force."

The girl saw only one last way to save her Lord's secrets. The hard way down. „I won't let you get this, no matter what it costs!" With these words, she threw herself over the railing. Three seconds, then she hit the water.

Hugh and Leo were shocked. The smaller boy hurried down the stairs immediately, while the other started to do so as well but then stopped to question why Lack-Two didn't follow them. Nor move at all. Nor react at all. „What's wrong with you?", he shouted furiously as he noticed his indifference.

„She's not important", the boy muttered while apparently being lost in his thoughts.

„She's dying! You machine!" With these words, Hugh left him, too. They echoed through the superintendents mind. 'You machine'... When did he hear that before?

He only heard the sirens of the police cars surrounding him. He saw people in black uniforms shouting to each other, but he didn't pay attention to what they were talking about. He only looked at them in the first place because they had blocked his view on the smoking car he just got out of. The smoking car his parents died in. This six-year-old boy's parents just died. And he cried because he knew they were dead.
A young man in a long dark coat came towards him. The boy ignored him, so he had to kneel down until he was on eye-level with him and looked at him in a way he couldn't see the car anymore once again. „What's your name?", he asked with a friendly voice.

„Kyohei", the boy said without any undertone, whipping his tears away to see the man's face clearly. It was marked with a notable account of scars and the brightest eye color the child had ever seen.

The man nodded slowly. „You can call me Lack-One. And you were inside of that car?", he wanted to know.

Instead of answering, Kyohei reacted to his name. „Lack-One, huh?", he repeated, saying it with contempt. „That's a bad code name. Can you tell me your real one?"

His counterpart was stunned by this boy's intelligence. „No, I'm afraid I can't, I'm not allowed to do that", he said slowly in his surprise. „Could you tell me if you've been inside of that car?"

„Yes, together with my parents", the boy answered his question and started to cry again when saying the last two words.

Lack-One was rather interested in the child than he was in his parents. „Now, don't you cry." This time, he whipped away Kyohei's tears. „You survived that explosion fully unharmed?"

„I think so. But I'm not in trouble, I didn't do anything", the boy declared, stunning the man once again.

„No, you're not in trouble", he agreed. „I'd like to do some tests with you, if you have nothing else on your schedule."

Once again, Kyohei whined increasingly. „I wanted to have fun with my parents", he said slowly.

And Lack-One nodded. „Then you'll have fun with me."

The boy's weeping slowly became retainably louder. „And what would I have to do?"

These words earned the man's smile. „Oh, not much. All you have to do is stop crying. For good, I mean." Kyohei squinted as hard as he could and brushed his tears away one last time, never crying afterwards ever again. „Yes, that's right, you machine!"

Probably Hugh was right, but Lack-Two didn't care. The pendant was what mattered. While Leo and Hugh reached the bottom of the stages and ran towards the river Whi-Two fell into, the detective pulled out his grappling iron. He took one second to decide which one of the five trees on the other side was most suited, then fired his gadget and jumped as soon as it clamped.
He took a curve in his flight, and as he closed in with the side he started on, he lowered on the rope until he could reach the water with his hand and got hold of the unconscious girl's hand in his first try. Her weight made it impossible for him to still reach the shoreline with his swing, but he came close enough to swim the last bit and pull her back on solid ground. Afterwards, he carefully removed the pendant from her neck and left without another look at her or his friends running towards them.

The two boys stopped as they came to the place where he left Whi-Two. „Where's he going?", Leo wanted to know as he watched the superintendent quickly walk away through the woods.

„It doesn't matter", Hugh snapped as he knelt down to feel the girl's pulse. „She's alive." He took a deep breath and calmed down a little. „We have to bring her to a hospital."

While the taller boy lifted her shoulders, his friend did the same with her legs, and together they carried her all the way. Whi-Two sneezed once due to the cold air of the night, but didn't wake up and only sank deeper into her fever dreams. Or rather nightmares...

„Where's daddy?", a frightened girl asked her mother as the latter leaded her down a long corridor of a very big house. She heard someone call it 'castle', but didn't know what that meant. Maybe that was a term for big houses, but hers had always been small.

„He's hiding somewhere, Sweetie, but we will search for him later", the woman answered. One could hear by the sound of her voice that she was lying. Never would she search for him, and only hoped he wouldn't search for them.

Then a man in a long brown robe with a strange hat approached them. He shook their hands politely with a friendly smile to which the girl's face reacted by being less frightened. However, she still was. „You can call me Rood", the man introduced himself. „May I know your names, Ladies?"

The woman took it on herself to answer for both of them. „My name is Lydia, this is my daughter Mei. I worked in a Pokemon Daycare, but..." What followed was adult talk, the girl deducted by the fact that she didn't get anything. So while they were busy with talking, she sneaked away and walked on through the corridor.

Soon a big door caught her eyes. It differed from the others by being half-opened. What she already saw inside were walls carefully painted green and thereby contrasting the usual colors in the big house, seeming rather inviting. So she took it as an invitation and carefully lurked through the door.
Inside she found a boy at about ten years age with green hair sitting on the carpet next to a toy train talking to a Pokemon unknown to her. It was black and had shaggy fur with some red tips, looking pretty amused by the words the boy whispered. They didn't notice her, so she kept watching them, feeling strangely attracted. And because of that she stepped in after about a minute.

As he heard her steps, the boy looked up at her. He smiled thus kindly... „Hello, call me N." He held out his hand for her. „Can you tell me your name, too?"

She slowly reached out for the hand. „I... I am M-Mei", the girl stuttered shyly. And before she could overcome this timidity, Rood hurried in, followed by her mother.

„Girl, you're not allowed in here", the sage moaned. „Please, follow me. If the wrong person finds you in this room, you can get into serious trouble."

As her mother grabbed Mei's arm, N let go of her other hand. He still smiled. „Can't she stay another minute? She's nice", the boy said calmly.

Rood found it hard to turn down his request. But he had to – for their good. „I'm sorry, young Lord, but I fear she can't."

Now N nodded understandingly. „Okay, sir." As the adults already turned to leave, he whispered one last thing to her. „I hope I see you again in the corridors one day. I want to introduce you to Zorua." She couldn't return anything since she was pulled out right afterwards, but the image of this kind smiling boy burned into her memory and stayed.

Leo and Hugh were sitting next to the hospital bed waiting for their classmate to wake up. It was becoming morning, and the sun would rise soon, but neither of them had slept, or tried to. Ignoring Hugh's protests, Leo had called Cheren and told him about everything that had happened during the night, from Lack-Two going crazy to them carrying Whi-Two all the way to the hospital. All the two of them could do now was waiting.

At this image of her Lord N, Mei slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't gain full consciousness, it only lasted for about five seconds. However, that was enough to stutter two words expressing the only thing she could think of in time. „M-my pen- My pendant..." Then her eyelids fell again, and she went back to deep slumber.

„What did she say?", Leo asked as he leaped up, not having heard her exact words.

Hugh raised slowly and walked towards the door. „Come on, Leo", he almost ordered as his friend didn't follow.

„Huh? Where are we going?", the smaller boy questioned again.

Hugh's answer was more than determined. „We'll take back her pendant."