"Who's in the strike force again?"
"I know my father is, the Shadow Triad, a freelance phantom thief, some crazy scientist, everything we need for disaster. And I only met those people before I left on a 'trip', so he might've gathered more people."
"The last thing we need is the contestants to get hurt. I mean, they are the best but we may not be able to prevent their advance. We're not as strong as League contestants."
N smiled a bit. "Maybe you're not, but you're better to your friends than some. I mean, they like you. Some other people beat theirs around and..."
A flash of light emitted from Raine's pocket. One of her Pokemon, Froslass, fell out. It was lucky the ball had no seals on it at the moment, for their quiet place might've been found. Froslass glided up to N and put her arm gently onto his mouth, as if trying to shut him up.
N chuckled and drew away from Froslass's cold touch.
"Froslass is trying to tell you that we've heard you talk about this a million times now."
"I don't need you to tell me what she means."
"Of course." Raine quickly changed the subject. "Do you want to take her with you? She's a good lookout and I don't need her at proceedings or anything."
"I've got my friends here too." Natural nodded toward his belt, which sported an unfamiliar row of Pokeballs. He never kept them in Pokeballs, preferring to let them be in their habitats and go to find them when necessary.
Raine eyed them suspiciously, "Who did you bring?" She knew that N had gotten serious about this. He never put his Pokemon through anything close to captivity, so why was he now?
"A variety. Some Pokemon for mobility, some for battling, everyone of them has their own skills. They all have a quality the others don't."
"Teams have to be made around that principle, so I know." Raine was getting tired, the day had been long. It had been especially hard to sift through all those competitors.
"How was judging?" N winked at her, seemingly reading her exhausted mind.
"More nerve-wracking than performing, somehow. Some people pulled off things I had already seen before so I kind of judged them low on that. And then Coordinators were being jumpy so their Pokemon were affected. Some of the Pokemon looked as if they weren't treated well. Let me say though, nobody got into the next round if they sucked."
"There are a lot of participants this year."
"Of course there are. You and I know this best. There's probably at least one or two people who are in this competition for your father."
N grimaced. "Definitely should be. And even worse is that if those people get eliminated."
"From here on out, I have less power in who goes and who doesn't. The Coordinators are battling and I can't interfere with the battles. I mean, I could but that would be cheating..."
"We're not going to be cheating. However, we will need to know who is working for Ghetsis and who isn't."
N snatched up one of his Pokemon. He sent out Leafeon, who jumped happily at being released and meeting N's eye, dashed away purposefully.
"I brought some Pokemon that wouldn't look too suspicious."
"She's scouting?"
"She tells me that she's been to this city with her past trainer so she knows it well."
"Good." Raine let out her hair unconsciously and played with it.
"We'll meet up at eleven tonight then? Can you risk getting down to the beach? I'll be by in a large rock, sort of looks like a Glalie mixed with a Golem."
"That's fine. I'll see you then. Isn't there a event for Coordinators in a couple minutes? A meeting of sorts?" N inquired, even though he knew the answer. Raine was antsy to leave, checking her watch nervously. Someone might be suspicious if the all-mighty judge was late.
Raine had already pulled out Togekiss's Pokeball and put her finger on the button. She nodded anxiously and sent Togekiss out, climbing onto her back and whispering to her, "Hey Zenda, get there as fast as possible, please?" Zenda churred, pushed Raine's legs up on her back and took off.
Who ever has been reading this, I love you. A third chapter is coming right away. Read and review please. ~Serene