The scene lights up to reveal our two favourite authors.
W. R. Winters: Hey all you readers out there, we're back with another update.
DawnForever101: Yup, we really hope you guys are enjoying this chapter. If you want to know more details about this fic, for example when it will be updated, just follow me on twitter. At DawnForever101.
W. R. Winters: *rolls eyes* Sounds to me like you're just looking for more followers.
DawnForever101: Oh, whatever, let's just start the episode already. I'm sure the readers are curious to what happens next.
W.R. Winters: Yeah, I'll get it started.
W. R. Winters presses a button on a remote and the scene changes.
-*X*x*X*-
"Boss, what's the problem?" One of the men asked the male in front of him. The boss was seated behind the desk and was looking at the men standing before him.
"I just want to make sure you wastes of space understand the mission, so let's see if you understand. And speak up, before it gets ugly in here, do you understand" The boss commanded. His voice was deep and penetrating, and it honestly sounded a bit scary.
Apparently no one was brave enough to speak up, and the boss grew irritated at this. He slammed his fist on the desk in anger. "Speak! Or shall I add to my skull collection?" He again gestured to the display of skulls behind him and a certain glint entered his eye when he saw everyone pale.
At that, one of the men spoke and once he clearly defined their mission, the boss smiled in satisfaction. "Good. And make sure there are no mistakes? Understood?" He finished threateningly towards them. One of the men nodded on their behalf and the boss rotated his chair, his back facing them, indicating for them to leave.
The boss then hoped that there wouldn't be any mess ups; he had grown tired of failure. He wouldn't accept any excuses if they came back empty handed.
"Please ensure you have all your carry-on bags with you and other respective items. We hope you enjoyed your flight and once again, thank you for choosing Kalos Airlines."
Ash sighed to himself. It had been a long flight. He quickly unfastened his seatbelt and grabbed his suitcase. Anabel secured her respective belongings as well before she glanced at Ash, and she noticed that something was on his mind. In fact, Ash's mind seemed to preoccupied the entire plane ride, his mind was giving off all sorts of signals. She decided she'd ask him later.
After the two had done some procedures, Ash had decided to get some coffee. He sat down on one of the chairs situated there, crossing his legs in the process. He had a strong gut feeling that he would cross paths with Dawn, and truthfully, he wasn't sure if he was ready for that just yet.
Anabel put her arms on her hips. "Okay, what's wrong? You've been acting strange since the whole plane ride, what's wrong?" she asked as she sat in the seat next to him.
Ash shook his head slightly. He didn't exactly like to discuss his private life to others, especially where it involved his ex-girlfriend, but it was too hard for him to hide things from an Empath as sensitive as Anabel. "Nothing, I'm just worried about our new case."
Anabel raised her eyebrow. "We haven't gotten a specific case yet. We've just been informed about the mob activity; we didn't really get specific details."
Ash simply shrugged, and decided to leave it at that, simply because he didn't know what he would say. Anabel probably understood that since she didn't press the issue further, "We should probably tell Looker we're here."
"Already taken care of," Anabel said. "Lysander should be coming for us soon enough and he'll take us to the department."
Ash nodded and then he noticed the word 'Ketchum' on a sign to which a man was holding on to. Ash pointed towards him and Anabel said, "That must be for us."
The two quickly approached the man and Ash said, "Greetings, Detective Ketchum and Detective Lila I presume?" The man nodded and the two quickly confirmed their names with an ID, before the man gestured for the two of them to follow.
"Come with me. Commissioner Lysander is waiting."
It didn't take long for the two to reach the Lysander's department and Ash couldn't help but to notice the logo and the presentation remained consistent to Looker's department back in Unova. Ash and Anabel were looking around a bit, when they noticed a tall man approach the two of them. He was wearing a grey suit with an orange outlining the arms and legs with black shoes. His spiky hair and beard were a bright orange and he smiled slightly at the two.
"Ketchum, Lila, I've been expecting you, I am Lysander." he said, his tone a bit neutral. "Looker said that he was sending some of his best. Hopefully you won't disappoint." He said.
"We hope not, sir." They both said.
Lysander nodded, "Let's go inside."
Five minutes later, the three of them were in the commissioner's office. "I trust Looker told you what you'd be doing here?" Lysander asked.
"Yes and he informed us that there's been some mob activity going on around here," Ash said.
"But we haven't gotten any specific details on it." Anabel continued.
The tall orange head nodded. "I see. Well let's sit down and discuss the details." Ash and Anabel took their respective seats and Lysander continued. "You see, there have been reports of illegal activities, such as burglaries and other things like that, but they've only been minor break ins. Chances are that they might be getting prepared to launch another attack, but a fiercer and much bigger. So just keep an eye out."
After a few more discussions, Lysander quickly gave them a few items they would need, including a GPS tracking devices, night vision goggles, audio recorders, listening devices, electronic bug detectors and digital cameras. Lysander handed them an unfamiliar piece of equipment to which Anabel scrunched her eyebrows to.
"What's this?" she pointed to the black, minute object.
Ash rolled his eyes. "Really?" he exclaimed in disbelief. "It's a spy camera. It can be easily concealed in anything and record video. This will probably come to use eventually."
"Great," Anabel said.
"So, are you two clear with everything?" Lysander asked.
"Crystal." Ash nodded.
"Very well. Dismissed."
"You know, we're here on duty, not on a tour," Ash spat irritatingly at Anabel. She had insisted to explore around the city of Lumoise for a while, since this had been the first time Anabel had seen the Kalos region. It was perfectly fine for touring around Lumoise for a while, but he had a strange feeling build in the pit of his stomach. It was as if he knew that he and Dawn would meet conveniently here.
"Oh, hush up, Ash! You're so uptight! Learn to relax a little, we're in Lumoise city, don't tell me you don't want to explore just a little," Anabel said, and then Ash watched her gawk excitingly at a pair of heels, to which Ash rolled his eyes to. Ash only older by two years, but Anabel sometimes acted like such a teenager.
As the two walked in a shopping mall (well, Ash involuntarily walked in), Ash couldn't help but recall nearly eight years ago, when he was in high school back with Dawn and she would constantly bring him with her to her trips to the mall. He genuinely missed her laugh, her smile, and how she had given his heart a break. He specifically remembered the kiss they had shared during the winter dance. He remembered her going through so much to attain his love and trust.
Everything seemed so simple back then.
And looking at his life now, he would never had imagined himself as a detective, namely one of the 'best' according to the officers back in Unova, right here in Lumoise all over again. It almost seemed surreal.
After Dawn had made her choice, he stayed true to his words. He couldn't remain dedicated to college after the mishap and he decided to drop it. Since he had obtained a high school degree, he decided to go through the training required to become a police officer, and it required a lot of strength and dedication. And the training did give good results, if he did say so himself. He wasn't the one to brag, but it did give him new skills and increased agility. After about six months of training, some physical and written tests, he had all the necessary qualities for an officer in Looker's police department.
And over the years, he had worked hard and remained physically fit to eventually become a detective.
He didn't even realize six years had already passed, he had realized just how long it been when he'd been told that he had put in enough years of service to take the test to become a detective. With no information about Dawn throughout that entire time, save for the times where she'd appear on the news. And now, here he was, in the same country Dawn was touring currently.
"Hey, do you want to get lunch at the food court?" He heard Anabel say, breaking his train of thought. Of course, no matter how much of a detective he was, there was no way he would ever resist food.
"Of course," he said and the two stepped in the elevator to take them up a few floors.
"I'll order, my treat," Ash said before she could retort. Anabel rolled her eyes at this and instead, opted to find a suitable place to eat. The food court was a bit crowded so she had to shuffle her way through to find a seat.
After Ash placed his and his partner's order, he stepped behind and he felt his shoulder bump into someone. Slightly flinching, he instantly turned around and said, "I'm so sorry!"
The woman currently was reaching down to reach her purse that had fallen down due to the impact. She stood up and Ash realized that she was standing up to where his shoulders were. She was wearing a dark brown coat and jeans that both seemed to cling to and accent her attractive curves with some stylish black knee boots. Her eyes were covered with sunglasses and she had long red hair that cascaded down her back in loose waves. "No need to worry," she said and then she slightly gasped seeing the man standing before her. "Ash?"
Even though it had been six long years, and regardless of however she looked, Ash knew that voice. He was a bit shocked; he never would have thought he'd meet Dawn in a food court at a shopping mall. "Dawn?" Ash asked.
"Shh!" she said, placing a finger on her lips, "don't say my name, you'll draw attention!"
Ash pressed his lips into a thin line. Dawn almost laughed at his reaction. "Sorry, I didn't know you would be here…"
"Same here," Ash quickly added. "How long has it been?"
Dawn dusted some invisible dust off of her coat and adjusted her sunglasses. "I don't know…six years?" she shrugged.
Ash nodded. "Yeah…six years."
"And four months." Dawn added.
"And twenty six days."
Dawn suppressed a small smile. "Yeah. But who's counting, really?"
For some reason, they both felt a strange feeling of nostalgia. Dawn's heart began to accelerate and Ash was almost rendered speechless. She noticed that the past six years had done well to him, and she was a bit impressed at the build he developed and how tall he had grown. His black hair had grown a little and was a bit messier and he had a little bit of stubble, but it complimented his rugged good looks. Ash couldn't help but to eye her slowly from head to toe, and he nearly gulped at just how much of hourglass figure she had developed. She still remained a bit shorter than him, but he knew she had grown taller as well. Her lips were adorned with soft pink lipstick and her face was still as flawless as ever.
Ash blinked. He then cleared his throat and Dawn shuffled her feet, feeling a bit awkward. "I'm guessing the disguise is because you're out in public."
Dawn nodded. "Yeah, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves, you know."
"We?" Ash raised his eyebrow.
"Hey, Dawn, I ordered the-" Ash heard a familiar voice say and when he looked towards the incoming male, who stopped upon seeing who Dawn was with. "No way." Wolf said, even after six years, he still had the same stupid grin. Ash chuckled a bit and he stepped forward and the two shared a manly hug.
"It's been a long time Ash. What have you been up to?" Wolf asked, after breaking the hug. He was obviously wearing a dark brown wig to cover his blonde hair and his eyes were behind a set of square rimmed glasses. A fake beard outlined his chin and he wore a white T-shirt covered by a black leather jacket with some jeans.
"Nothing much, I became a detective stationed in Unova." he said and he watched Dawn's mouth slightly open agape.
"That's great!" Wolf commented. "I guess dropping out of college does have its benefits." Wolf joked, earning a death glare from Dawn; Ash however, chuckled a bit.
"Boys." Dawn muttered under her breath, "So, what are you doing here in Kalos then?" Dawn asked.
Ash was about to respond when he realized they were holding the line. "I'll explain soon enough. Let's sit down and catch up, shall we?"
They headed over to where Anabel was sitting, and Dawn frowned when she glanced at her. Ash sat next to Anabel, and Dawn and Wolf sat across the two of them. Anabel immediately smiled at the two of them. "Hi! My name is Anabel Lila. Do you guys know Ash?"
Ash noticed Dawn shift her eyes away from Anabel, and she noticed her mood had dropped. He glanced at Anabel and put two and two together, seeing as working as a detective removed some of his denseness. He slightly smirked, deciding to take advantage of the opportunity. "Anabel honey, don't you recognize them?" he said, emphasising the word 'honey'. He noticed Dawn's eyebrows knit together. Anabel quirked an eyebrow at the sudden new nickname, but looked at the two in front of her.
"No…should I?"
Wolf chuckled a bit and he slightly removed the back of his black wig to reveal a bit of his blonde hair and took off his sunglasses. Dawn revealed a bit of her blue hair before securing her wig in place. Anabel put a palm over her mouth in shock and glanced at Dawn and then Wolf repeatedly.
If he looked towards their direction a second later, he would've missed it, but he saw it. Just a flash of color. A midnight sapphire blue color that he and his co-workers had been forced to memorize and recognized. He raised a hand to the side of his face as id to scratch his cheek, but then he spoke to the communication device attached to his wrist, "Target spotted in the food court between Machamp's Gym and Gardevoir's Secret. I'm beginning to proceed to stage two." he said before he lowered his arm as his eyes looked at a shop in the food court, "Cherubi's Smoothies..." he read and an idea began to form in his head.
"No way! You're…you're…" Anabel trailed off, a loss for words. Ash rolled his eyes. Typical. She surely didn't act like a high class detective now.
"Yeah, Wolf Winters and Dawn Berlitz," he whispered, "We're wearing these disguises so that we don't get mauled by fans and so that girls don't get tempted to rape me."
Anabel laughed and Dawn rolled her eyes. Anabel drank a glass of water to calm down her nerves of meeting two stars. It was almost unbelievable. "So," Dawn started, "how long have you and Ash been dating?'
Anabel's eyes widened and she started to choke, and Dawn and Wolf flinched while Ash patted her back a few times. "What?! Dating?! Ash?!"
Ash rolled his eyes at the exaggeration. "Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically.
Anabel smiled sheepishly at him and then looked at Dawn. "We're not dating, I mean Ash is a great guy and all, but the only relationship we have is being partners as detectives." Dawn blinked and looked towards Ash.
"Yeah…did you think we were going out, Dawn?" Ash smirked towards her direction, and Dawn almost reddened. She should have figured Ash was just messing with her the whole time. But obviously she couldn't deny that she still had feelings for him.
Even after six years.
Anabel raised her eyebrow. "Sounds like you two know each other," she said to Ash.
"More than that," Wolf said. "Ash and Dawn used to go out."
"What?!" Anabel exclaimed. She looked at Ash in disbelief. "And you never thought you could share this piece of information with me?"
Ash shrugged. "It never came up. Besides, we broke up over six years ago."
"But why?"
Ash didn't want to go over too much details and he sensed that Dawn and Wolf felt the same. "Our paths led us in different directions after high school and we couldn't maintain a long distance relationship for too long," Dawn said.
Ash nodded. "Yeah."
Anabel eyed Dawn and Ash suspiciously. "Okay," she said, shrugging.
"Yeah, anyways, enough about me and Dawn. Wolf, how's Raven doing?" Ash asked.
Dawn's eyes widened a bit and Wolf lowered his eyes a little and there was a moment of tense silence, "We broke up actually. We had to break it off when she decided to follow her own path and study in Sinnoh at college."
"Oh," Ash said, feeling bad for bringing it up. He didn't realize that question would affect him that much, "Sorry to hear that. But hey, I'm sure it'll work out soon enough after she's done with college," he said.
Wolf shrugged. "Maybe, but she's bound to meet all kind of guys at college. I won't hold it against her if she finds someone else." he said, "How'd you know about Raven anyway?" he asked.
"Well two months after I made my choice," Dawn started, "I told Tracey about what happened between me and Ash and I also filled in a little detail about you and Raven," she explained, looking at Wolf. He nodded in understanding.
"Who's Tracey?" Anabel asked, curious.
"He's my friend and was my roommate back in college," he said, "he graduated two years back and he decided to settle down and get a job. Last I heard from him was when he got married four months ago." he said.
"Sounds like he's the only normal one," Anabel said flatly, "I mean, Dawn's a star and so is Wolf, and we're detectives," Anabel giggled lightly.
Ash shrugged. "If he wants to live the calm life, then that's fine. As long as he's happy, that's all that matters. I think he deserves that after having to deal with my drama for as long as he did." he said.
The group chatted for the next fifteen to twenty minutes and the entire time, one question remained in both Ash and Dawn's mind to which they never brought up. The two weren't sure if this was the right time to bring it up.
"I think I want dessert. Does anybody want anything?" Wolf asked, and he saw everybody shake their heads and he walked up to the counter, leaving the three of them.
Anabel looked between the other two table members and figured what she had to do, "I'll be right back, I have to use the bathroom," Anabel said to which Ash nodded before she left the table.
Dawn eyed Ash, and the two realized that they were finally alone to talk about their personal feelings towards each other. Ash boldly intertwined his fingers with Dawn's and strangely, she felt warm. "Dawn, I know it's been over six years and a lot may have happened or changed, but-"
Whatever Ash planned to continue to say was interrupted when Dawn yelped loudly and jumped up as she felt her shirt being soaked. She turned around and eyed the guy that was next to their table, there was an empty cup in his hand and his expression was extremely guilty. "I am so very sorry about that. I bumped into something and I spilled my drink." he said.
She brushed her soaking shirt and slightly smiled, "It's fine," she said and then looked at Ash, "Sorry about that, you were saying?"
The guy continued to protest. "No it's not, I feel awful. Your shirt is soaked and possibly ruined." He said looking at Dawn's shirt, "I'll buy you a new one."
Dawn was taken aback at the sudden gesture. "No, I'm perfectly fine, it'll wash off."
The stranger shook his head, "It was a smoothie, and by the time you get home it'll stain and be too hard to wash out. Let me buy you a new shirt, could you come with me so I make sure I get the proper size." he said.
Dawn didn't know how to respond, but she was getting annoyed by his persistence, "If I go with you, will you leave me alone afterwards?" She asked.
The man seemed to flinch at her comment, "Oh, I'm making your uncomfortable aren't I? Look, it'll be quick and I promise I'll be out of your hair as soon as it's over. I'm just trying to fix my mistake."
Dawn sighed. "Fine," she said exasperatingly and took a step towards the man and gave a sympathetic look towards Ash. "Sorry, you'll have to finish what you were saying when I get back."
"You want me to come with you?" he asked, not entirely sure Dawn should be going alone.
Dawn shook her head. "I'll be fine, thanks. I'll be right back," she said. Ash nodded and watched as the two left the food court.
Within about two minutes, Wolf came back with a box of donuts in his hand with crumbs in his fake beard. Conveniently, Anabel sat down in the seat next to Ash once again. "Hey, where's Dawn?" Wolf asked.
"A guy spilled his drink on her shirt a few minutes back and they went out to buy a new one for her," he explained. "The guy kept insisting to buy her a shirt even though she said it was fine, but he was pretty stubborn."
"Oh," Wolf said and then he took a bite out of his donut.
"So…what was it like dating Dawn?" Anabel asked, crossing her arms. Ash widened his eyes at the sudden question.
"Dating her was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and no matter how long it's been since we've broken up, she will always be on my mind," he said.
Anabel raised her eyebrow. "If you still feel that way then why don't you just get back together again?"
"I don't mean to intervene, but I think that's Ash's choice," Wolf said.
"It's fine," he said. "I'd like to get back with her, I just don't know if I can…" he said, sighing. "It's been too long and I'm not sure what she feels."
"Are you kidding? I've see the way she looks at you. It doesn't take an Empath to know that both of you still have feelings for each other."
Ash shrugged. "Guess we'll have to wait and find out," he said.
A few minutes went by, after ten minutes Ash became a little worried. "Why is she taking so long?" Ash asked.
Wolf shrugged. "I'll call her," he decided before ringing her. There was no answer. He called her numerous times, but Wolf grew worried when she didn't pick up. "She's not answering, I've called over ten times. This isn't like her. She always has her phone with her."
Ash looked over at Anabel who had her eyes closed in deep concentration, after a few seconds her eyes shot open, "She's in trouble!" she said before taking off.
Ash and Wolf were quick to follow, both of them had several questions going through their minds, but neither of them asked them and just focused on following Anabel. Anabel was focusing on the strong feelings of fear and desperation coming from Dawn, she ran through the mall, taking turns where she needed to.
They weren't sure how far they'd gone, but they got outside and finally Anabel stopped, actually they all stopped when their eyes fell on a side that made their blood run cold.
-*X*x*X*-
The scene fades and reveals our two authors.
DawnForever101: Wow, a cliff-hanger already, man we are evil.
W.R. Winters: *smirks* Hehe. But if you guys want the next episode up, you're gonna have to review, it gives us a boost of motivation.
DawnForever101: Look who's asking for attention now.
W.R. Winters: Shut up, you only have 17 followers on twitter.
DawnForever101: Ohohoho, now you've done it! *cracks knuckles*
W.R. Winters: *gulps* What are you-
DawnForever101: Readers, we'll see you in our next update. And maybe Wolf will be alive, but no promises…
The scene fades away and all that is heard is punching and groaning.