Thanks for all the reviews. I think I'll just continue with how I planned it for now and see what happens. The first arc will be Cordelia's story. This takes Azel deeper into Cordelia's world, learning some underhanded secrets along the way. Have fun reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.


" I think I'll go with Cordelia..." Azel decided. Luna looked disappointed, Hanzo trying to cheer her up. Cordelia and Richie shrugged at the same time. The pair started to walk elegantly to the north side of town. Azel had said one last goodbye to Luna, and followed them. Luna waved slowly as the gray haired boy went into a street and disappeared.

The moment he was out of sight, she sighed. "Let's go to a nearby ramen store, Hanzo"

"Sneasel snea!" the Sneasel answered happily.

The two left behind walked in the opposite direction. Luna took one look back at the park, seeing nothing but wild pokémon. A tear appeared from nowhere, but she brushed it off and continued walking.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The upper side of town had a busy atmosphere to it. People, mostly businessmen and businesswomen running around like it's the apocalypse. The hustle and bustle of everyday workers can be heard from the distance. Although the sun had weakened it's onslaught, Azel felt like he was still on fire.

Must be nice for Cordelia; she's wearing a hat. Mira nodded, as if thinking of the same thing. Buizel was a Water-type too, it can stay cool in hot weather. The two sighed once again as the girl stopped in front of a fancy white buliding.

Beautiful red poppies decorate the front. They were weaved ever so delicately that the inner beauty of each flower can be seen even as a passerby just happening to walk past the restaurant. The windows were curtained, but the door was wide open. On the ground was a blackboard with the name of the restaurant and the featured menu written in blue chalk.

Cordelia took a glance inside, and grimaced. It seems like she saw something that didn't agree with her. Azel wanted to look, but the girl gave him a stop signal. The girl bit her bottom lip.

Moving a few paces from the entrance, to make sure no one inside could see what she was doing, she gave the suitcase she was clutching to Azel.

"Take this, don't lose it. Meet me at Café Sonata in thirty minutes. Don't look suspicious. Don't TRY to look suspicious. If all goes wrong, protect this case with your life" the orders shot like a machine gun from the ever so elegant girl's mouth. She looked very composed, but felt like a totally different person. Azel nodded without thinking. The latter sounded ominous. Very ominous indeed.

The girl turned the opposite way, her Buizel doing the same action. She started walking in a controlled pace. A short while later, three shady characters exited from the restaurant and from the looks of it, they started following Cordelia. Azel was sort of glad they took no notice of him. But what should he do now? He looked at Mira, who seriously looked back at him. Azel nodded.

Looks like we're caught up in something more than meets the eye.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

2 : 44 PM, and the sun was still at it. Cordelia had told him to meet her at Café Sonata in 30 minutes. 5 minutes have passed, and Azel was bewildered. He had been sitting on a chair at the Central Plaza watching some dancers strut their stuff near the fountain. Mira found this to be interesting, and joined in on the fun. Their pokémon were dancing too. Pansage, Pansear and Panpour all moving along to the beat. The boy sighed as a familiar figure appeared before his eyes.

"Hiya there," Luna greeted. Azel nodded as she sat down next to him. Hanzo had joined the dance party and was now attracting quite a lot of attention. "I thought you were with Cordelia?" Luna said, a hint of curiosity to her voice.

Azel shrugged. "She said to meet her at Café Sonata. Plus, she told me to hold on to this" Azel explained, pointing to the medium-sized case on his side. Luna smiled, "She's a mysterious one, I tell you"

Since he had a bit of time, he had explained about Cordelia's attitude and the shady characters following her.

"Maybe I should have gone with you instead? Maybe I wouldn't get caught up in this mess..."

"Oh, I'm not sure. Fate ties everyone in the end"

"I wonder what would happen if I went with you instead..."

"Maybe you did go with me, but in some other dimension. There are parallel universes around us"

Azel had never understood parallel dimensions, or alternate universes. Not like he'd care anyway. When he looked at the fountain one more time, the number of people had decreased. Looks like the dances have stopped. Mira and Hanzo ran back to their trainers, each wearing a small necklace with a coin attached to the end. The two trainers looked at the dancers, and one of them gave a thumbs up in the air.

"These are Amulet Coins. Neat" Luna exclaimed.

Azel looked at Mira, who looked back at him endearingly. Azel nodded and petted her on the head. "Good show, Mira".

"Eevee! Eevee!" it answered happily.

Glancing at his watch, he realized it was almost time. "Sorry, Luna. I gotta go"

She looked down. "Sure"

Mira clambered onto his shoulder. Firmly holding the suitcase in his right hand, he started running. After a few seconds, he looked back and waved to Luna. She waved back weakly.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Narrow Street was littered with rubbish bins. Wild Trubbish could be seen rummaging inside the filth. Mira buried it's face inside Azel's gray hair. It couldn't stand the stench.

Azel found the easily distinguishable orange door leading into the café, and promptly opened the door.

The inside had a dismal atmosphere. The smell of wine hung from the air. The whole building was tainted in a sort of beautiful orange-red color. Cordelia was sitting alone, a secluded table on the right. He quickly walked over to her.

"Ooh—Heey... You're heere..." the girl moaned. Her face was red, and a half-full glass of alcoholic liquid in front of her. By the looks of it, she has got to be drunk. Azel sat across her and carefully placed the suitcase beside him. Mira greeted Richie, who in turn looked at his trainer. Looks like he was worried. Or amused?

"Come and drink with mee" she said absentmindedly. Azel took note of the drink in front of him. That was definitely booze. "Come oooooonnn" she continued moaning. Azel shook his head.

She grabbed the glass in front of her and drank it in one go. "Ahhh..." she said as she finished it, and slammed the glass to the table.

Azel looked around. There weren't many people around. In fact, only the bartender was present. The old man was drinking beer, the bartender polishing glasses. It felt strange.

"Listen... Azzie, give me the suitcase. Before the pol-hic come" she hiccuped in the middle of her sentence. "I'm out of the picture if they come and arr-hic me".

Mira tilted her head at Richie, who looked kind of irritated. Without signal, the Buizel jumped and slapped Cordelia twice in the face. That caused a bruise on her face, but she snapped out of her condition rather quickly after that. "A-ah... Was I drunk?" she said, her face still kind of red. Azel nodded. Richie smirked, and returned to his cool position. "D-did I say anything weird?"

"Buizel!" Richie snapped at Cordelia. The girl looked flustered. "O-oh... Uhh... I can explain " she couldn't come up with a good sentence. Azel looked at her acting innocently, but from her previous reaction, it seems like she's hiding something.

Suddenly, Buizel sensed movement outside. "Buizel!" it exclaimed, pointing to the door.

"Oh no, we need to get out of here" Cordelia stated. The girl stood up, looking for an escape route. Azel was in a state of shock, not knowing what was happening around him.

"There's a back door through this way, miss..." the bartender suggested. Cordelia snatched the suitcase from the boy's hands and made a run for it. Azel, having no other options at the moment, followed the girl to wherever fate will take them.

The door behind them opened, as Azel heard someone shout, "Interpol!"

His head was spinning in confusion. The sounds that came after were vague.

There was a door at the end, and they emerged to a deserted alleyway. Everyone stopped for their breaths. "What's going on?" Azel asked. Cordelia took a deep breath. "I'll tell you everything once we reach Undella. Now we'll need to split up again. Castelia Station, 15 minutes. Got that?"

Azel didn't say a word. His head was processing her orders. But Cordelia didn't need a reply, as she had already started moving with her Buizel, carrying the suitcase with her. Azel looked at Mira, who was on the ground, and carried her on his hands.

"Undella, huh? Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this"

Mira nodded, uncertain of what will happen next.


Yes, her actions were very vague. But that deepens the mystery of the beautiful young lady.

The next stop will be Undella. Her secrets will be revealed in due time.

Please review.