It was a dark and stormy night. Well, I don't really know if it was stormy, because I was in a secret underground Pokéuman base (if you don't know what the Pokéumans are by now, you should just stop now and read another story.) Like I was saying, it was a dark, possibly stormy night, the night…Mindy arrived.
The Lopunny was put on a stretcher and carted away. Asula came over to the Rhydon and a Sandslash, "Where did you find her?" she asked. "We found her running a few miles outside of an area where we believe there is a Pokéxtinction base with many minions chasing her," said the Sandslash. "We were barely able to hold them off," replied the Rhydon. Asula nodded, "David and Lenny, you did an excellent job; you have both been promoted to the Junior Elite Rescue Troop. Congratulations to the both of you!" Both of them nodded and high-fived each other and then headed of to their dorms. Asula waved one of her robotic arms, "All of you, off to bed!" The rest of the Pokéumans hurried off to the PRT dorms. Asula looked down at me, "Brandon, you better head to your room as well. Remember, don't tell anyone, understand?" I nodded, "I understand, good night Ms. Asula," I said and turned around and headed up to my room.
I quietly opened the door. Mike was snoring and Starr was quietly sleeping. I carefully made my way to my bed and climbed in stomach first. I forgot about my chest spike, which poked a hole in the bed, and I had to turn on my back. "I'm an Energy Channeler…" I said before I drifted off.
I was in a strange, misty forest. I was in my human form again. "Spiritus?" I called out. "Are you here?" No one answered. I started walking, or I think I started walking. "Spiritus! Spiritus! Are you here?" I looked everywhere, but there was no sign of him. "Maybe he isn't here…" "Silly human, of course I'm here," said the familiar voice. The Lucario appeared before me. "Spiritus…" I started to say, "Wait a moment," he interrupted, "You aren't in your real form, let me help." He touched my shoulder and I transformed into a Lucario again. "Spiritus, where is this place?" I asked. "Don't you mean what is this place?" he corrected. He then looked around, "We are in the Dream Forest, one of my favorite Dreamscapes."
I looked confused, "Dreamscapes? Dream Forest? I don't follow." He shook his head, "When you fall asleep, you enter the Dream Dimension. Normally, people go past the Dreamscapes and go directly into the world of Chaos, where everything is nothing but unorganized images that don't make sense most of the time. But, your Energy Channeling powers allow you to come directly here." He nodded and chuckled. I was still confused. "Then why are you in my dreams?" I asked. "I don't know. Why am I in your dreams, young Pokéuman?" I was confused. Spiritus chuckled, "I am the manifestation of your Lucario spirit." "That…doesn't make any sense," I said. Spiritus sighed, "Humans, always trying to make sense of things." He walked around and finally said, "I am your mentor, and I am also your friend. Unfortunately we cannot communicate while you are awake, but I shall be here when the night comes again." He looked onto the horizon. "It's almost morning; I shall be here…waiting." He started walking away. "Wait! I still have more questions!" I shouted, but then I heard a voice…
"BRANDON! WAKE UP!" It was Mike's voice that broke through my dream and I opened my eyes. Mike wasn't a Loudred this time. He was his regular Ditto self. Starr was sitting on her own bed and nodded, "See, I knew you could do it," Starr said with a fake proud-of-you tone of voice. Mike rolled his eyes, I giggled. Then I noticed the TV. It was bigger, wider, and more…shinier than the one we had before. "What's with the new TV?" I asked in awe. Mike jumped up and handed me a sticky note. It read, "Congratulations Brandon for winning the tournament yesterday, we hope you enjoy your prize!" "Wow, you weren't kidding about the TV prize," I said to Mike. Mike jumped up, "I know! I know! We got a premium TV!" Starr rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Well, it's a brand new week, school starts again," said Starr. Mike groaned, "Why do the weekends only have to be two days, they should be four days, or even five days! Heck we shouldn't-," I covered Mike's mouth with my paw to keep him from talking. "Okay, breakfast started already, let's hurry before there's a line," said Starr. "Agreed," I said. "Geyh ur aww ahf muh moth," mumbled Mike, "What did you say?" I asked. He pulled my paw away, "I said, get your paw off my mouth!" Starr and I both laughed.
That's when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to find a glass of orange liquid on the floor with a note on it. It said "To Brandon, thanks for the awesome battle yesterday! I hope we can be great friends! From, Cameron" I smiled and picked up the drink. It looked like a shake. "What is that?" Mike asked. I shrugged, "I dunno, orange juice?" I said. "It's an Orange Gummi Shake," said Starr. I did a double take, "No way, Gummi Shakes exist?" Starr nodded, "Yup, I prefer Silver Gummi Shakes over the Orange ones, but, they do make you smarter." I looked at the orange liquid in the cup and slowly brought the glass to my mouth and poured the liquid in. It was remarkable, an out-of-this world flavor. I felt happy. "Thanks Cameron," I said, "This is the seal of our friendship." Suddenly I saw a small figure looking at us from the hallway. I looked up, but the figure disappeared before I got to see who it was.
Breakfast came and went, and a few minutes later we were back in our room. I turned on the TV. We had a few minutes before classes began. "Oh wait, check out this channel," Mike said and grabbed the remote. He hit the numbers 1-2-3-4 and the * button and a channel came on. It was Larry Belowhich, the Loudred MC from yesterday's tournament. "This is our news station," Mike said. Starr looked at the screen, "Oh look Brandon you're on." I looked at the screen. Larry was talking.
"In yesterday's fantastic Pokéuman tournament, newcomer Brandon the Lucario was this week's grand champion. But is he the Lucario we think he is? Controversy has sparked due to the fact that Brandon has been able to survive many KO attacks that would have knocked out most Pokéumans, here's an example." The station played the footage of when Kyle attacked me with Aura Sphere and me getting up a few seconds later. "Brandon has only been here for a week. Is he a cheater?"
"What is that loud mouth rambling on about this time?" Starr shouted, "You won that tournament fair and square." Oh no, I thought, I can't let anyone find out that I'm an Energy Channeler. "Um, yeah, I won that tournament fair and square," I said, trying not to sound suspicious. Just then the bell rang. "Well, good luck in class, don't worry, we'll take care of Larry," Starr said and she exited the room. Mike turned off the TV and sighed, "Here we go again, another whole week of school."
Ms. Tartaley's class went along normally, well as normally as a purple female monkey standing on her head while teaching. "You and Starr did great Saturday, Brandon," whispered Travis. I looked over to him and smiled, "You and David did awesome yourselves!" "BRANDON!" Ms. Tartaley suddenly called out, "Are you not paying attention?" Before I answered, I caught her trick. I smiled and said, "No ma'am." She winked and smiled, "Glad to see you paying attention," and went back to writing on the board, upside down again.
The bell rang and as I was heading for Mr. Mayer's class, I felt like someone was following me. I turned around to see a small figure disappearing behind a door. It looked like the same figure from before. I turned around and headed for the door I saw the figure go into. I opened it and it was a dark classroom. I looked around but I didn't see anyone in there. I shook my head and continued heading for Mr. Mayer's class.
Mr. Mayer's class went along quickly (I learned Pokémon helped the Aztecs build their cities) and it was time for gym. "Alright guys, we are going to be catching balls today," said Mr. Gamlina. "Ooo balls, soooo scary," said Mike. I chuckled. "Oh Mr. Funny Guy huh?" said the Mightyena, "Well try catching this!" He threw the ball he was holding straight at Mike. It hit him at full speed and Mike was out cold. Yes, his eyes were X's, just like in the cartoons. "Alright, while we wait for this one to wake up, you guys will be catching balls fired at you at around 100-150 mph. If you all were still human, these balls would probably kill you instantly, but since your Pokémon now, the worst that can happen is loss of consciousness. Now, umm let's see… Brandon, you're up first!"
Nervously, after looking at Mike still unconscious, I stepped up to the big red X on the floor. About 50 meters away there was a Rhyperior shaped cannon, waiting to be fired. Mr. Gamlina picked up a dodge ball (the regular rubber kind, not the type changing kind) placed it into the cannon, and fired. The ball flew at me so fast I couldn't raise my arms fast enough. The ball made impact, I saw a flash of light, and then there was darkness.
Sometime later, I dizzily woke up. I was sitting against the wall Mike was sitting next to me, as well as seven other Pokéumans against the wall. "Man, that one hit me hard," I said. I watched as the Rhyperior cannon fired again. A Jigglypuff got knocked out and then a Gallade caught the ball successfully. "Great job Josh!" shouted Mr. Gamlina. "At least, we're not the only ones," I said. After I felt better, Mr. Gamlina made me catch again. I raised my arms and he fired the cannon again. Using my aura powers, I slowed down the frame of speed and I the ball seemed to be coming at me slower. As the ball headed for me, I grabbed it in my arms. The slow frame of reference was gone and the force knocked me back a few feet, but I had still held onto the ball. This went on for another 32 minutes. I caught the ball a few more times and I didn't get knocked out again.
Soon, the bell rang as Mike got hit by the ball for the umpteenth time. "Alright all see ya tomorrow," shouted Mr. Gamlina as he wheeled the cannon away. Mike got knocked out cold again so I grabbed his pink flubbery arm and dragged him down the hallway. After a few minutes, Starr joined us and helped me pull Mike to the mess hall and onto a seat. "I'll get us our food, you wake Mike up," I said. Starr nodded in agreement and I got on line for lunch. They were serving teriyaki chicken and noodles. Yummy.
As I got the three trays of food for Ms. Yepergo, I heard someone say, "Hey Brandon." I looked over. It was Peter the Skarmory. "Hey man, what's up? I haven't seen you all weekend," he said. I shrugged "I've been busy." He nodded, "I saw you in the tournament, and you did pretty good out there. I didn't expect you to win." I shrugged, "Beginner's luck I guess." He laughed, "Well today's a new day and anything can happen. See you in Galasin's class." I nodded and got three bottles of Soda Pop and headed for our table.
When I got to my table, Starr was slapping Mike, but he was still out cold. "Nothing is working," she said. I put the tray of food up to Mike's nose, "This should work," I said. A few seconds later, Mike slowly opened his eyes, saw the plate of food, quickly changed to a Munchlax and started gobbling. "Heh, heh, I knew that would work," I said. "Mawn, ris 'ood es ooo gudd rhat eye doont cuur vat muh face heerts," Mike mumbled with his face stuffed with food. Starr groaned and smiled. "That's the Mike we all know and love," she sighed.
After that whole fiasco, we continued to eat lunch and talk and stuff. After 35 minutes, the bell rang. "Time for Battle Class, let's get going," said Starr. Mike changed into an Abra and teleported away and Starr and I headed for Mr. Dorniyo's class.
"Attention class, I need your attention," called Mr. Dorniyo. Everyone settled down. "Today, we will be practicing double battles with different types. I have asked the Ground-type students of Mr. Raso to join us for this class. You will pair up with one of them and have a double battle, understand?" "Yes Mr. Dorniyo," everyone shouted. He smiled, "Good, now then, I would like to introduce a good friend of mine, Mr. Raso!" A buff, mighty Rhyperior entered the room as well as a group of Ground-type Pokémon. I saw the bipedal Hippopotas and I knew it was Cameron. Mr. Dorniyo and Mr. Raso bowed to each other. "It's an honor for my students to fight along side yours," said Mr. Raso.
"I am going to pair each of you with a student of Mr. Raso's class, when I call your names, stand next to your partner," said Mr. Dorniyo, holding up a piece of paper. "Jackson and Darlene, Antonia and Tommy, Steven and Trey, Zak and Laura, Brandon and Cameron, Henry and…"
I smiled, while Mr. Dorniyo continued reading names. Cameron was my partner. I walked over next to him. I gave my best eager to battle face with a big grin. "Hey Brandon!" he said. I looked down and smiled "Hey buddy, how's it going?" Cameron looked cute, determined and awesome at the same time. "I'm glad we get to fight together," I said "Who would've thought that we'd be on the battle field again so soon?" he chuckled. "Well, the more times, the better! Come on; let's show 'em how powerful we can be!" I said and Cameron nodded and grinned "Yeah! Let's do it!" he shouted. I knew we would be unstoppable.
"Okay, now for the match ups, Jackson and Darlene will battle Henry and Henrietta, Zak and Laura will battle Violet and Damien, Steven and Trey will battle Brandon and Cameron, Antonia and Tommy…" "Oh no," Cameron groaned. I looked over, "What's the problem?" "We have to battle Steven…" he said. I looked over; our opponents were a Cubone and a Machoke. "Oh, I remember Steven, is he your friend?" Cameron nodded, "Yes, and he's my roommate, he's also pretty strong." Steven looked over at us and nodded. I smiled, "It'll be fine, let's go!"
As the other match ups battled, Cameron and I stood against Steven the Cubone and Trey the Machoke. I was worried; both of my opponents had a type advantage over me. But, then again my Energy Channeling powers could help me again… "Cameron," Steven shouted, "Even though you are my best friend and roommate, I'm not going easy on you!" Cameron smiled, "I'm not letting you win!" I looked at Trey, "May the best fighting type win," I said. He nodded.
"Watch this!" Cameron cried. He concentrated and sand began to pour from the sand hole on his back. The sand began to hover and float. Then it spun in the air and became a powerful Sandstorm. "You know Sandstorm?" I asked Cameron. He shook his head, "No, this is Sand Stream." I smiled, I knew Steel-types are unaffected by Sandstorm. With the strong sand unaffecting me, I got ready to start our battle. "Force Palm!" I shouted and attacked Steven with my paw. He staggered and yelled, "BONEMERANG!" He threw his bone and it started spinning towards me. I ducked and it harmlessly flew over my head. "Ha! You need to do better than that!" I shouted. "WATCH OUT!" yelled Cameron. I turned around to see the bone Steven had thrown was heading towards me. It struck me and I nearly collapsed.
"Brandon, are you okay?" asked Cameron, concerned. "Yeah I'm fine," I said, my Energy Channeling powers reinvigorating me. Trey stared at Cameron and said "Focus Punch." Trey shut his eyes and began to focus. We had to attack Trey before the next turn. "SAND TOMB!" shouted Cameron and sand started swirling around Trey's feet. Yes, I thought, now Focus Punch will fail. "PROTECT!" Steven shouted and a green bubble surrounded Trey, "Darn," Cameron mumbled to himself as the quick sand lapped harmlessly at the green shield surrounding Trey. We were done. "Focus Punch!" Trey cried louder as he suddenly burst forward and speeded towards Cameron. "No!" I thought to myself as Trey's fist came down and slammed Cameron right in the chest. I watched in horror as Cameron sailed backward a few feet and hit the ground roughly.
He groaned and slowly sat up. "You OK buddy?" I called as I rushed next to him. "Heh, heh isn't it funny I was the one saying that a minute ago?" he chuckled and stood up "Yeah I'm fine." I nodded and we looked to our opponents again. Steven and Trey's Protect Punch (that's what I'm gonna call it I guess,) was a force to be reckoned with. "Come on Cameron," Steven chuckled well naturedly, "You can do better then that." Cameron chuckled. "Just watch me!" Cameron cried back. Cameron is really determined, I thought. Trey's green shield had already disappeared. Through the sandy wind, I noticed that every few seconds: Trey was wincing. Sandstorm must really be taking its toll on Trey, I thought to myself. "Don't worry Brandon," Cameron said as he gave me determined look, "We can beat these guys no problem!" I looked at him a second. I saw the strong determination on his face. It seemed like he knew what he was doing. I smiled and gave a nod "OK, let's do it!" I yelled as we charged forward.
"Sand tomb!" Cameron yelled again as the quicksand began to form around Trey's feet. "Protect!" Steven yelled again, but Protect failed. Awesome, I thought. "Dang, used it too soon" Steven cursed. "Force palm!" I cried as I palmed Steven with force. Cameron yelled "Bite!" at the same time was I was using Force Palm and he fastened his teeth around Trey's leg. I watched as Cameron sank his big Hippopotas teeth in Trey's muscular leg. Trey suddenly grabbed Cameron and lifted him into the air. I watched in horror as Trey shouted "Strength!" as he threw him into the ground. "Augh!" Cameron gasped as he was slammed into the ground on his back. Steven was charging at me, I had to react.
"Iron Tail!" I cried as I felt my tail hardened. I jumped up, spun around and tried to attack but Steven blocked it with his bone like a sword. I literally felt the clang. I held my tail against his bone, each as equally as powerful as the other. Suddenly, Steven yelled "Sand attack!" as he kicked some dirt from the ground right into my eyes. The sand was blinding me and it stung. Badly. Like when you get soap in your eye, only grittier. "Augh, I can't see!" I yelled as I tried to rub the dirt out of my face. The rubbing was making it worse. I heard Steven yell "BONEMERANG!" In my blind state, I couldn't see the bone and I felt it hit my chest, with a painful clunk, but I remembered what happened last time and I ducked, and felt it sail over my head. I still couldn't see so I blindly attacked Steven while I heard Cameron fighting Trey.
"Force Palm!" I shouted, but I couldn't see Steven. I tried raking him with Metal Claw, but that didn't work either. I finally managed to rub the dirt from my eyes and I was trying to Force Palm Steven, but Steven was using his size to his advantage: dashing behind me and to my side to avoid the attack. "Brandon!" Cameron yelled. I saw Trey staggering to his feet. I looked up to Cameron briefly. "Swap!" he yelled. I nodded; I understood what he was thinking. I jumped back, avoiding Steven's bone club. "Got it!" I yelled as I turned to face Trey, and caught his fist which was meant for Cameron. "Why don't you…erg…pick on someone your own size?" I said, "FORCE PALM!" I shouted and I palmed Trey out of the way.
"Metal Claw!" I shouted and raked Trey. He grunted and shouted, "KARATE CHOP!" Trey shouted for the first time and sent his fist on me. The steel half of me felt that and I went down on my knee. Come on Energy Channeling powers, work! I thought and concentrated hard and I felt the revitalizing energy flow back into me. "Strength!" Trey called as he grabbed me, picked me up and threw me into the ground. "Argh, you're strong," I mumbled. Trey just gave a smirk. "TAKE THIS!" I shouted as I force palmed Trey's stomach. I looked over for a second to see Cameron kneeling over a fainted Steven. Suddenly, Trey grabbed my paw and forced it down. "Ahh!" I groaned in pain. "Karate Chop!" he yelled, but instead of aiming for my torso or arms, he aimed for my legs. "AHHH!" I yelled in pain as I fell to the ground, panting heavily. Trey raised his fist, ready to attack me again. I'm done, I thought. But at that instant, the sandstorm picked up again and Trey flinched, momentarily distracting him. "Brandon now!" I heard Cameron's voice yell. I shot up and yelled "Iron Tail!" I jumped up, spun around and attacked Trey right in the chest. Trey's eyes widened in pain as he staggered and finally fell to the ground. His eyes closed slowly as he fainted. I just stood there, panting heavily. I did it, I won, I thought.
I turned to see Cameron smiling and running over to me "Brandon we did it! We won!" Cameron yelled happily. I looked at him and gave my signature toothy grin, "Well of course we did, and we're unstoppable." I said as I patted him on the back. He smiled and chuckled "Heh, heh thanks Lucario Friend!" he said suddenly. I was kind of surprised; he never called me that before. "Lucario Friend?" I said. "Well yeah," Cameron explained. "You're a Lucario and my Friend," he said, smiled again. I looked at Cameron. Lucario Friend, not bad. I grinned again and nodded. "OK," he said, "Then you're my Hippopotas Buddy," I said, coming up with the name on the spot. He chuckled, "Perfect." he said. I looked Cameron, he was covered in bruises. "You OK?" I asked. "Yeah I'm fine, you?" he asked. I looked at myself. I didn't seem that bad. "Me too," I said. He nodded as we walked over to where Mr. Raso and Dorniyo were talking.
I didn't realize at first, but we were the last to finish our battle, and all of the students were watching us. Suddenly they started cheering and clapping. Starr was in front, cheering the hardest. Mr. Dorniyo came up to us. "Cameron, Brandon, Trey and Steven, you all did very well." Mr. Raso nodded, "Cameron and Steven, I'm proud of both of you. All four of you will receive an extra 25 points of credit for a magnificent battle." "Alright!" Cameron and Steven cheered as they high-fived. I turned to Trey, "You did awesome yourself," I said, giving him a playful punch to the arm. He smiled at me and nodded before "playfully" punching me in the arm. And by "playfully" I mean accidentally hitting me hard enough to knock me out. Yeah, the darkness came again.
I slowly opened my eyes to see everyone huddled over me. I saw Trey holding his big muscled arm out at me. I took hold and he pulled me up. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to hit you that hard," he said with a sheepish grin. I chucked, "No prob." The bell rang and class was over. "You did excellent Hippopotas Buddy," I said. Cameron smiled, "You did too, Lucario Friend."
Cameron and I went our separate ways and Starr rushed up to me. "Wow, you really have a natural talent for battling!" she said. "Thanks, uhh…who did you get paired up with?" I asked. Starr rolled her eyes, "I got paired up with Vanessa; she's a Ground-type Wormadam. My battle didn't last long." Then, as we rounded a corner, I sensed someone following me with my aura. Starr picked it up too. I turned around to see the same little figure from before turning around the corner. "Why didn't I think of this earlier," I said as I used my aura sensors to try to pick up who this mysterious follower was, but the figure had disappeared into a crowd of Pokéumans, and there was too much aura to tell who it was. "I have a feeling that we were being watched," said Starr. "Yeah," I said, "But we'll discover who this little follower is soon enough." We came to a fork in the hallway and Starr and I headed to our respective classes.
Mr. Galasin's class ended quickly and the final bell rang. I headed for my room. Suddenly there was an announcement. "Attention students this is Asula speaking." I looked up. "All Pokéumans report to the auditorium for an important announcement in ten minutes. Thank you." I shrugged and headed for my room. Starr and Mike were arguing but they stopped as soon as they saw me. "Hey man," said Mike, "We were just-," "Um, talking about…stuff," interrupted Starr. I rolled my eyes. "Didn't you hear the announcement," I said, "They want all of us in the auditorium." Mike looked confused, "Everyone?" "Apparently so," I replied. Starr shrugged and we headed for the auditorium.
As we headed for the auditorium, we noticed it was packed with nearly every Pokéuman in the base was heading inside. There are so many students that the auditorium has 3000 seats. There are 1000 on the ground, for us. There are another set of 1000 above us, which can be accessed by flight of stairs. Then the last set of 1000 is way up at the ceiling, which can only be accessed if you can fly. Starr, Mike and I sat down in the comfy seats in the middle row. I looked around and saw a big pair of eyes staring straight at me from the front row. I looked closer but the Pokémon turned around. I could swear I had seen those eyes before.
A few minutes later, Asula slithered onto the stage and spoke into a microphone. "Attention students, as some of you may know we have a new recruit. She was brave enough to escape from a Pokéxtinction hideout herself!" Everyone clapped and cheered. "Wow, that's impressive," said Mike. "Wow, she's brave," said Starr. I knew whom Asula was talking about. "It is an honor to introduce you to our newest recruit, Mindy the Lopunny!" Again everyone cheered. The Lopunny stepped onto the stage and took the microphone. "Wow! She's smoking hotty cutie!" whispered Mike. Starr punched him again. "Thank you, I have a very important announcement to make," Mindy said. Everyone quieted down. "As Ms. Asula had explained, I had escaped from one of the main headquarters of the Pokéxtinction organization and I overheard some interesting news from Mr. X himself!" she exclaimed. "Well, what did you hear?" asked a Kadabra. "I've overheard that the Pokéxtinction group has sent a spy to steal important information to use against us!" she said. Everyone gasped. "Who is it?" asked Asula. "His species is Lucario. And his name is... BRANDON!" she shouted and pointed to me, "He's a spy!"
Everyone gasped and looked at me. My heart stopped for a second. The icy cold sudden shock returned. "Wait! What are you talking about? I'm not a spy!" I squeaked. Suddenly there was a riot, Pokéumans were trying to grab me while Starr and Mike fended them off, and there were some who were shouting, "He's a spy!" "Capture him!" "He must be punished!" "That Lopunny is HAWT!" "QQUUUUUIIIIEEETTTT!" shouted Asula. Everyone settled down. "Mindy? Are you sure Mr. X said Brandon was a spy?" Mindy nodded, "I heard the words come right out of his mouth." I couldn't think straight, everything was happening to fast. Asula slithered off the stage and over to me. "Brandon, I don't want to do this, but the rules of the base say all traitors and spies are to be held prisoner until proven innocent. I'm sorry Brandon, you're under arrest." A Medicham and a Graveler took me by the arms and started to drag me away. "No, please, I'm not a spy…" I took one last look at Starr and Mike's horrified faces before I was dragged out of the auditorium.
I was dragged down several hallways, trying to talk them out of this until we reached a big iron door. The Medicham opened it and inside there were more iron doors with barred windows. The Graveler took out a key and unlocked the first door and threw me inside without a word. I turned around; there was only a bed to keep me company. I heard the door lock. I peered out the window. There was a Walrein standing guard holding a spear with a metal, electric tip. Suddenly everything came into place. I was a prisoner. I climbed into the creaky old bed, and started to cry, something I hadn't done for a very long time.
A few hours of snoozing later, I woke up to hear arguing. "Hey, you're not supposed to be in here!" shouted the Walrein. "But I want to see Brandon!" said an unfamiliar voice. The voice wasn't Starr's, Mike's or anyone I knew. "If you don't scram you're gonna be in big trouble!" shouted the Walrein. I got up, and looked out the window, but all I saw was the iron door close. The Walrein gave me a glare, "What are you looking at?" I retreated to the bed. Whose voice was that? I wondered.
Hours later, I heard a "clunk" sound. I turned around. There was a tray of macaroni and cheese and a carton of milk on the floor. I ignored it. I was too depressed to eat. A little while later my stomach began to growl. I rolled out of the bed and crawled over to the lukewarm cheese covered macaroni. Slowly, I took the fork and took a bite. It was terrible. "I guess they don't give Ms. Yepergo's food to…prisoners." I gasped on that last word. I'm not a prisoner, I thought. I'm not a spy.
But there were another set of thoughts in the back of my mind. What if I'm a sleeper cell agent? Maybe Mr. X did capture me and hypnotized me into secretly spying? Did the Pokéxtinction minions hold back on purpose when Reggie rescued me? Am I really here to betray them? I tried to shake the bad thoughts away, but they stuck. I continued to eat the macaroni to keep my mind distracted. I missed Ms. Yepergo's food. I also gulped down the milk. It was warm. And gross.
After I finished, I buried my head in my knees, trying not to cry. How could this happen to me? I thought. The best thing that's ever happened to me just turned into the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Suddenly, my ears picked up Cameron's voice whispering from behind the big heavy door. "Brandon, I don't know if you can hear me with your super senses or not, but I just want to let you know that I believe in you, and so does Starr, Mike, Reggie and all of your friends. Fight till you drop!" I turned around and saw the white envelope on the floor. I crawled over and picked it up. Before I even opened it I started to cry. My friends…they believed in me. Hot tears ran down my face as I carefully opened the envelope with my spike. Three pieces of paper fell out. I picked up the first one. It was yellow, and I discovered why.
To Chump,
We knew it all along; I knew you were a scumbag. And scumbags get what's coming to them. I know this because you cheated in the tournament, you couldn't have beaten all of those Pokéumans without cheating! We hope you rot in there.
-The M.S.N. gang
I tore up the letter in thousands of tiny little pieces. "I hate those guys more than ever," I said, gritting my teeth. When I get out of here, I'm going to pummel them, I thought.
I read the second piece of paper. This one was nicer.
Dear Brandon,
Mike and I wanted to say…we believe in you. We're trying to convince the others that you're a nice Pokéuman and you can't be a spy. All of your friends are fighting, Cameron, Reggie, Nathan, Travis, David, and even Sakato and Asula! They all believe in you! Never give up hope, we'll figure out a way to prove you're innocent!
The letter was signed with signatures from Starr, Mike, Reggie, Nathan, Travis, David, and Sakato. "All of my friends believe in me…even Sakato believes in me, but why? I barely know him…"
The next piece of paper was silver. Who sent me this one? I thought to myself. I read it. It only had one sentence.
I know that Mindy lied
- A friend
"I know that Mindy lied? What does that mean? And who sent me this letter?" I said out loud. I peered out of the window. The Walrein looked at me menacingly, and I quickly stepped back. I stared at the silver letter, trying to figure out who sent it. It wasn't Starr's or Mike's handwriting, or anyone else I knew. I was tired, and there wasn't anything left for me to do. I climbed onto the bed, with Starr and Mike's letter in my paw. I closed my eyes, and waited for sleep to take me.
The misty forest that I was getting familiar with appeared. This time, I was in my Lucario form. I didn't need to call out as Spiritus appeared before me. "I can see you're upset young one," he said "No," I said, "Nothing's wrong, I just got arrested for a crime I'm pretty sure I didn't commit, but other than that, nothing's wrong." I sat down and put my head in between my knees. Spiritus came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you are going through a rough time, but you need to be strong and fight, you must rise up when one pushes you down." I looked up at him. "Thanks Spiritus, thank you." He smiled. He stared off into the distance, "Morning approaches and you have quite the day ahead of you. I have enjoyed our talk, young Pokéuman." Spiritus started walking into the mist. There was a bright flash of light and I was back in the jail cell.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. It took me a few seconds to realize I was still a prisoner. I sighed, but then I saw the door opening. The Walrein came to me and said, "You're expected by Ms. Asula." I groggily stepped out of the cell and Asula was there waiting for me. She beckoned me with her robotic hand and started slithering down the hallway I quickly ran over to her side and started walking next to her. "Asula, where are we going?" I tried to ask but Asula glared at me and shook her head and continue to slither down the hallway. Silently, I followed her, wondering where I was going.
We finally made it to an abandoned part of the base. It took twenty minutes to get there. The hallway lights were broken and the walls were covered in a blanket of dust. It looks like no one has gone down this hallway in years, I thought. Then, we made it to a big door. "Inside now," Asula said. I pushed open the door to a crystal courtroom. Starr, Mike, and some of my other friends were there. Mindy was also there, at one the prosecutor's stand in the front. I'm in court, I realized. Then, I saw the purple eyes. I looked over again; it was Kyle, with his arms crossed. He looked at me with dead-serious precision, and then looked back towards the front. Asula slithered over to a desk and nodded for me to sit down. She leaned in so her mouth was an inch away from my ear and she whispered, "No matter what they ask, do NOT tell them about your Energy Channeling powers. Understand?" I gave a small nod. She slithered to the front and spoke into a microphone. "All rise for the honorable Judge Duty." Everyone stood up. In walked a Feraligatr and sat down at the judge's stand. "You may sit," he said in a deep growly voice. I sat down. "Mr. Brandon, do you have a lawyer?" the judge asked. Before I could answer Mike stood up. "I'll be his lawyer your honor," he said and he ran next to me and turned into a green Croconaw with round teeth and a longer tail. "What are you doing?" I whispered in his ear. He nodded at me, "No worry, I watch "Judge Judy" all of the time, I think we'll be alright." I put my paw on my face. I'm doomed, I thought.
"The trail of Brandon the Lucario will commence now," said Judge Duty, "Bring in the first witness!" Mindy stood up, "I would like to call Larry Belowhich to the stand." The Loudred from the tournament came and sat down in the witness box. "So Larry," Mindy started, "I saw your story on the news this morning about the tournament. Tell me about Brandon's performance in said tournament." Larry shrugged, "He was surprisingly good for a rookie, and he was able to survive attacks that would've made most Pokéumans faint. "Can you give me an example?" she asked. Larry scratched his head, "Weeeellllllll, he did get hit dead-on by an Aura Sphere attack, and he was about to be called out but then he suddenly got back up and started battling again like nothing had happened. It was totally weird." Remember what Asula said and don't say anything, I thought as hard as I could so I could stop myself from shouting about my Energy Channeling powers. "No further questions," Mindy said and sat back down.
Mike stood up, "I would like to call Cameron the Hippopotas to the stand!" Cameron, who had been sitting in the audience seats, stood up. He looked at me and nodded and sat down in the witness box. Mike started to question Cameron. "Cameron, how would you describe Brandon as a Pokéuman?" Cameron smiled, "Brandon is one of the nicest Pokéumans I have ever met! He has been nice and supportive and we are a perfect match in battle! He's not a spy and I know in my heart that he is innocent!" Mindy stared at Cameron, "A pretty bold statement, seems a bit suspicious," she said. Mike glared at Mindy and then nodded at Cameron, "No further questions," he said and Cameron got out of the witness box and sat back down. I smiled, "That helped my case a lot," I said to myself.
Mindy stood up, "I would like to send Brandon to the stand for questioning," she said. The judge nodded, "Motion carried," he said. I got up and sat down at the prosecutors stand. "Is it true that the head of the Pokéxtinction organization had specifically sent you to this very base to steal information from us?" she asked. I shook my head, "No, I swear!" Mindy smirked, "Well I have one piece of incriminating evidence that proves he is lying, I swiped this black box on my way out of the Pokéxtinction base I was held captive in." She took out a black recorder and pressed the play button. It was a man's voice. Though I had never heard that voice before, I knew in my heart whose voice it was. It was the voice of Mr. X.
"Date: March 23, 2010. I have decided to send a spy into the Long Island base to steal the last piece of the puzzle for my plans to be complete. I have decided to send my nephew in to the base. His name is Brandon." My ears perked up, the audio was some-what different when he said "nephew," and "his name is Brandon," it almost sounded like those words weren't part of the original audio.
Everyone in the room gasped. "Mr. Brandon, do you wish to object?" asked Judge Duty. Mike stood up, "I would like to say something your honor." He stood up, "My client is a Pokéuman like everyone else, in the few short days I have know him, I have grown to love the big lovable oaf, so in conclusion, I nothing else to say." He smiled and sat back down, "That's it?" I whispered. He nodded, "It works in the movies." I put my paw on my face. I'm doomed for real, I thought.
"Do you have any one you would like to send to the stand Mr. Lucario?" asked the Judge. I didn't have any witnesses to send up and neither did Mike. "Uhhhh," Mike stammered, "We…..would….um….," "I would like to say a few words myself," said a voice from the crowd. I turned around, Kyle the Lucario had stood up. "Kyle? You…you want to vouch for me?" He nodded, "I know that she lied," he said and took to the witness box. I realized, he was the one who sent me the silver note. He sat down in the witness box and Mike got up to question. "Uh, so Kyle, what evidence do you have that Brandon is not a Pokéxtinction spy?" Kyle crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "I'm not saying that Brandon is not a spy, but I just want to share this one piece of information with all of you."
"As most of you know, my eyes can see visions of the future. A few days before Mindy arrived, I had one of my most intense visions yet." "What did you see?" asked Mike. Kyle opened his eyes, "I saw a Pokémon! In Asula's office! Stealing files from a cabinet case!" Everyone gasped. "What Pokémon did you see?" asked Mindy, who was strangely looking worried. "I couldn't see it was too dark, but according to the calendar on Asula's desk, the files were being stolen on Monday evening." Mike gasped, "But, Brandon was locked up in jail on Monday evening!" Mindy suddenly stood up, "So what? Brandon could have had an accomplish to steal the Gemstone files! Any idiot knows how important they are to the Pokéxtinction organization!"
Suddenly Mindy gasped and put her hands over her mouth as if she had said something she wasn't supposed to. Asula gasped, and slowly got up and slithered towards Mindy. "Mindy, no one but the leaders of the Pokéuman bases know about the Gemstone files. Not even Brandon knows about them. So how do you know about them?" That's when Mindy started to sweat. "Uh, I uh, heard it from Mr. X himself," she said with much uncertainty. Asula looked her directly in the eye. "You're the spy, aren't you?" she said. Kyle stood up, "Asula she's the one who I saw steal the files in my vision!" he shouted. Mindy smirked evilly, "So, you finally figured out." "BOUNCE!" she yelled and jumped over Asula, bounced off Mike's face and started running out the door. "I need someone to search Mindy's room now! Everyone else go after her!" Asula shouted. I dashed out the door followed by everyone else. She's not getting away, I thought.
We ran down hallway after hallway after hallway after hallway but Mindy was just too fast. "She's the traitor!" "Get her!" "Man, she's still hawt," the crowd was shouting different things. Everyone crowded around Mindy. Asula slithered up to the Lopunny. "Mindy, you are under arrest for the act of deception and falsely accusing an innocent Pokéuman for said crime." Mindy just laughed a terrible laugh. "You think you can just lock me away, I don't think so. You see, while all of you pitiful, gullible Pokéumans weren't looking, I was swiping these." She held up a stack of folders labeled "The Gemstone Files #1245" "No!" Asula shouted "That's…" Mindy gave an evil smirk. "My uncle will be very pleased with my success." Mike gasped, "You're Mr. X's NIECE?" She evilly smirked. "Yes, I am. My uncle and I thought up this delicious scheme so he can finally get his hands on the last puzzle piece of your defeat!" That was it, I thought. "You're not leaving this base! Get her!" Starr shouted. We all ran towards her. Suddenly she revealed a button under her arm cotton. "I'll be seeing you later, or not, especially you Brandon." With an evil laugh, she pressed the button and vanished into thin air, along with the files.
Asula was in shock. "We all fell for her tricks," said a Lombre. "Those files," Asula said finally. "We're in grave danger, with that kind of information the Pokéxtinction organization will become more powerful than they have before, and we won't be able to stop them in time…" "Ms. Asula! Ms. Asula!" shouted someone, Asula turned around. Dave the Rhydon was running towards us holding a black book. "We just finished searching Mindy's room! She left her diary here!" He gave the book to Asula and frantically flipped through the pages. A small smile of hope came to her face. "They have taken information from us, and we have taken information from them. This diary contains much information. She sat up, "Dave, go and contact Reggie, Lizzie, Samantha, Curtis and Wallace and tell them to meet me in my office, they're the five best PRT members and we have a lot of work to do." She slithered off towards her office and I rushed towards my room to tell Starr and Mike the news.
Suddenly, I felt anger and frustration. My aura sensors suddenly picked up Mindy's aura from wherever she was. She must have realized she left her diary here, I thought. The Pokéxtinction organization is going down and I will do everything I can to stop those evildoers. Then, I saw the figure that has been following me again. "Okay, I've had enough for this," I said and I ran off to find this follower. For some reason my aura sensors weren't able to pick up on this Pokémon's aura. I finally trapped the follower in a dark corner. He or she was in the shadows so I couldn't make out who it was. "Alright whoever you are, come out here so I can see who you are!" The figure stepped out of the shadows. "Who are you?" I asked.
To be continued…