Me: *dressed up like Blue* Eh, eh? So how does it look?

Max: *blinks* You look just like her actually.

Carlos: Ya! You can totally pull it off!

Gardevoir: Remind again what's going on.

Me: See, I'm going to this anime con this weekend and Blue is one of my cosplays! Not to mention, I thought a Pokemon outfit would be appropriate for the occasion.

Gardevoir: *rolls eyes* How so?

Me: *determined face* There's a battle tournament at the con, and the prize is a prepaid Pokemon X & Y version. I've been training hard over the past few weeks and I'm gonna try my best to win the game!

Max: *sweatdrop* Oh dear.

Carlos: Disclaimer: Eon owns Pokemon in no way. Amber, Melany, Drake, and the plot are her only possessions.

Chapter Three: Gold

I blinked my eyes open and found myself standing in the middle of Goldenrod City. There was no one else out on the streets, and the lamplights illuminated the darkness of twilight. Raising an eyebrow at the odd scenery, I pivoted on my heel to look around. Behind me was the Goldenrod Department Store, its front doors open as if inviting me in. The only thing holding me back was the eerie feeling the glow of the lamplights gave them.

Taking a step back from the doors, it was then that I remembered that Crystal was being attacked by someone.

"Crys!" I yelled out into the lonely streets. The only answer was the echo of my voice, but I knew she had to be here somewhere. "Where are you?!"

There was a sudden sound of footsteps, and I whipped back around to the department store to see a puffy white hat disappearing into the darkness of the doors.

"Crys!" I yelled, running in after her.

The light from the street lamps faded as I entered the doors which slammed behind me ominously once I had passed through. I turned in surprise only to find that they were no longer there, replaced by a solid stone wall.

Raising an eyebrow, I went back to my original path, carefully walking down the gloomy passage. It wasn't completely dark, but it was very hard to see anything five feet ahead of me due to a weird fog. I felt on my sides for the walls but strangely could not find them. After a few minutes of struggling through the murk, I paused when I heard someone quickly approaching from ahead.

"Hello?" I called out uncertainly.

Suddenly, Emerald came sprinting out of the fog, his eyes fearful. He ran right past my form as if he couldn't see me. "Where are you?!"

"Emerald, I'm right here!" I yelled at him as he disappeared into the darkness behind me.

Shaking my head, I was about to go after him when someone else stumbled out of the fog. My eyes widened as I saw that it was Silver, his gaze annoyed as he leaned against some unseen wall.

He sighed angrily. "Where is that idiot?"

I ran up to him and waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey! Yo, Silver! Can't you see that I'm standing right here?!"

He scoffed to himself, completely oblivious to my frantic gestures. "I wonder where he got to this time."

My jaw dropped in disbelief as he shook his head and dissipated into the fog. "What's going on?"

"Gold!"

I jerked to the right as I heard Crystal's voice. It was coming from somewhere in the depths of the darkness, and I ran head on into it. I don't know how long or far I'd run when I randomly tripped on something. Picking myself up from that rather ungraceful faceplant, I lifted my head just as a streak of silver shot past in front of me. I raised an eyebrow and tried to find it, but the weird object had merged into the fog around me.

Instead, I saw Crystal wandering around in the darkness and hugging her arms like she was cold. Her teeth were chattering, and my eyes widened as I started running for her. I would've gone right up to her had it not been for the chasm that suddenly appeared in the ground in front of me. I barely managed to skid to a stop before falling in, my arms wheeling as I fought to find my balance.

Crystal was still aimlessly walking around, appearing as though she was getting colder.

"Crys!" I yelled at her.

Her eyes found mine in the dark. "Gold? Is that you?"

She started running for me, not seeing the giant crevice. I waved my arms at her just as she reached it. "Stop! Can't you see there's a giant hole there?!"

She sweat-dropped. "No. If you couldn't tell, it's extremely dark here."

I chuckled inwardly. Even in a dream, Crys was Crys.

"Okay," I told her. "Let me see if there's a bridge or something that'll let me over."

She tilted her head. "Why don't you just use Togetaro?"

I reached a hand for my Pokeballs and sighed. "Because he's not in this wackjob dream."

Crystal face-palmed. "Well that's convenient."

I held up my hands. "Just give a minute. I'll figure it out."

She sighed. "Okay, but for some reason it's getting really cold."

I nodded in agreement, noting the growing chill. I was trying to think of another way across the chasm when the silver streak from before suddenly shot out of it and coiled around Crystal's ankle.

My eyes widened as it tightened and started pulling her towards the chasm. "Watch out!"

She let out a cry and tried taking a step back. The only thing that did was make her trip and fall down, all the more easier for the streak to pull her in. There was nothing for her to hold onto, so she had no way of fighting against it. I frantically searched for anything that could be of assistance but could only watch as she was dragged over the edge. Her screams echoed down the long fall, growing gradually softer until disappearing all together.

My mouth struggled to form words. "C-Crys!"

My voice triggered the silver streak again which took hold of my ankle instead this time. I gritted my teeth and pulled back. That only seemed to make it mad as it started pulling harder. I fought to free my foot, but the streak was absurdly strong. It tugged again, making me pitch forward. Before I could correct my balance, it pulled once more and sent me tumbling into the mouth of the chasm.

I cried out as the free-falling began. It seemed to last longer than I'd initially thought, and when I opened my eyes, I was surprised to find out that I had caught up to Crystal. She was curled up in a ball, eyes shut tight as she fell. She was shivering even harder, and my blood ran cold as the silver streak snuck up from her ankle to her throat.

I tried to warn her, but my voice was lost in the rushing wind. The streak wrapped itself around her neck, and my fear rose as it gradually started growing tighter. Crystal didn't even notice it because she was so cold, and terror struck me hard as she started turning blue. It was then that her eyes opened in fear, and I tried calling out her name again.

She looked at me once more before her eyes shut slowly, and mine widened just as I finally crashed into the ground and blacked out.

"Crys!"

My heart was beating out of my chest as I shot up panting. I frantically scanned the hospital room I was in, landing on a pair of silver eyes that were watching me with the slightest hint of anxiety.

"You okay there?" Silver asked hesitantly.

My eyes widened, and I grinned. "Silvy!"

He rolled his eyes. "You're fine."

"What are you doing here?" I asked in what a lot of people would say was my happy voice. Then the meaning of that sentence sunk in, and my eyebrows scrunched. "Wait, what are you doing here?!"

He pulled a ticket for the S.S. Anne out of his pocket and frowned. "Well, Blue told me you guys were going to pick me up in Olivine City. I waited, but you didn't show up." His eyes narrowed slightly. "That's when I got a call from a foreign number. It was Emerald."

I sighed in relief. "Emerald's okay?"

Silver nodded. "But you and Crystal weren't."

My eyes widened again, and I made a move to get up. However, there was a pain in my knee that made me stop and clench my teeth. I looked down to see that a black brace was locked around my left leg beneath the black material of my capris. "What happened?"

"According to the doctors, you bruised your knee a little," Silver said flatly. "It's not too bad, but you'll have to be easy on it for the next week or so. They put a brace on just to be safe."

I nodded and gently put pressure on it, smiling in satisfaction when the small pain was easy enough for me to handle. "Well, it sure hurt a lot at first. I thought it was at least sprained."

Silver's eyes narrowed. "That's because the cold was getting to you."

I looked to the door and started walking. "Cold…Crys. Where is she?"

Silver watched to make sure I could move around fine. "In another room. Someone else is watching her at the moment."

I tilted my head and opened the door. "Emerald?"

Silver shook his head and glowered. "Someone who tagged along with me from Olivine City."

I looked at him curiously, but he left it at that. We made our way down the hall, and I was happy to find that Silver was right. I could still walk; the injury wasn't bad enough to worry about that. It just flared up a little when I bent my knee, but I could deal with that much. Anyways, I didn't really care at the moment; I just wanted to make sure Crystal was okay.

Silver led the way, stopping us at the far end of the hall. He opened the door on our left, and I quickly barged in after him. Despite what he'd said before, there was no one else in the room besides Crystal who was lying asleep in her bed.

Silver's eyes narrowed, and he turned for the door. "I'll be right back. She was here when I left…."

"Who?" I asked, but he had already walked back out into the hallway. Rolling my eyes at him, I maneuvered around the edge of the bed and sat down in one of the chairs to take in Crystal's state. She was breathing softly so I knew she was alright, but her face was twisted up slightly as if she were having a nightmare. My theory was only proven correct as she started fidgeting and her eyes squinted.

"Let me go," she growled softly. I raised an eyebrow when her fists clenched the sheets. All the tension suddenly left in the next instant, and my eyes widened as her mouth dropped open a fraction. "Gold…no!"

Her shriek shocked me for a moment before I jumped up and grabbed her shoulder. "Crys!" She continued tossing and turning, and I eventually had to shake bother her shoulders. "Wake up!"

"Gold!"

Her eyes shot open a second after she yelled that, staring at me in fear before blinking and realizing she was awake. Then she noticed how close I was to her and promptly shoved me away. "Arceus, why are you always so close to me whenever I wake up?!"

I stared at her rosy cheeks and sat back in my chair. "You were having a nightmare so I tried to snap you out of it."

She nodded slowly and leaned back against her pillow. "Sorry, I don't normally get those."

I scoffed. "Yeah, me neither."

She raised an eyebrow. "You had one, too?"

I nodded. "I was in this weird dark place with a lot of fog. Couldn't see anything worth crap. Then Silver and Emerald randomly ran through like they couldn't see me, and you were wandering on the other side of this big crack in the ground."

She tilted her head. "Did we fall into the crack?"

I eyed her curiously. "Yeah…after our ankles got attacked by these—"

"Silver streaks?" She put in.

My eyes widened, and I nodded slowly. "Exactly. How did you know that?"

"Because that was my nightmare!" She exclaimed before huffing in confusion. "That's so strange." Her eyes sought mine for confirmation. "Was the streak choking me?"

I nodded, remembering the moment of terror. "I couldn't do anything and blacked out after I crashed into something."

Her eyes widened. "It was the ground. Because after that, I wrenched the streak off my neck and went to check on you, but you were…" Her voice caught. "You were dead."

My eyes went wide as well. "Well thank Lugia it was only a dream."

She nodded and leaned into her pillow again. "Agreed." Her eyes looked around the room suspiciously. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "Silver was in my room when I woke up."

Her head whipped to me. "Silver's here?"

I nodded just as the door opened and said redhead walked in. Crystal blinked in surprise, and I did the same at the twin-tailed brunette that walked in after him. She rushed in and gasped when she saw me sitting on the other side of the bed.

"Gold Kiniro!" She yelled at me. "What do you think you're doing out of bed? And without crutches?!"

I raised an eyebrow before recognizing the hyper glint in her brown eyes. "…Soul?"

She smirked and winked. "The one and only."

Silver's eyes narrowed, and he looked from me to Soul. "Wait. You know her?"

I nodded with a grin. "Crys, Silver, this is my neighbor from New Bark Town, Soul."

Silver only glared more, and Crystal tilted her head at the girl who was wearing the exact same clothes that Blue had just sent her the other day. "You're wearing my clothes…?"

Soul blinked and looked at her outfit. "Huh? No, these are mine, silly!" She gasped and ran to Crystal's bedside. "Did you get the new Sinnoh Summer Ensemble, too?" The brunette squealed and clenched her fists to her chest. "I just love the styles from that region! I had mine imported the day it came out!"

Crystal sweat-dropped and rubbed the back of her head. "A friend sent me mine…"

Soul's eyes lit up in wonder. "It must have come from Celadon's Department Store! They're the only ones other than Sinnoh who are selling it at the moment!"

Crystal just nodded her head, and Silver glowered in the corner. I noticed his foul mood and snickered. "So tell me; since when did you and Soul travel together?"

He looked at me in disgust and scoffed. "We don't. She randomly started bugging me while I was in Olivine City and asked what I was doing. I told her I was waiting for you, and she started freaking out saying that you were her neighbor. Ever since then she hasn't left me alone."

I smirked at him and turned to Soul. "Either way, it was so nice of you to come visit, Soul!"

The brunette broke away from her fashion rant to grin back. "It's been forever since I've seen you, Gold!" Again, she frowned at the sight of the brace on my knee and marched over with her arms crossed. "But you should really be getting some rest."

I scoffed. "It's not that bad. Just a little bruise."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yes, but it'll get worse if you don't take care of it." The brunette let out a sigh. "Besides, you had a small case of hypothermia as well so you really shouldn't push it!"

I tilted my head. "I had hypothermia?"

Silver nodded and jerked his head towards Crystal. "You both did, although she had it twice as worse."

The blunette gave a small shiver in response, and Soul grabbed an extra blanket from the back of her bed to wrap her up in. I watched her with solemn eyes and hung my head with a sigh. If I had just listened to Crys about waiting the storm out, we wouldn't be in this mess. Sigh, this is all my fault.

Crystal clutched the blanket around her shoulders. "Where's Emerald?"

Silver pushed off of the wall. "He went to go retrieve your bag from the Ruins." He stalked out the door, presumably to find the missing blonde.

Her eyes softened in worry. "Is he alright?"

Soul nodded. "He told us that he and you're Xatu landed safely in one of the Ruins' caves and waited for the rain to pass. He ran into Bugsy who was on an excavation mission when the storm hit, and the two of them found you guys passed out in a different cave."

I chuckled at Crystal. "Guess we had a crazy night last night."

Soul's eyes widened. "Gold, Emerald didn't find you last night. He found you Wednesday night."

Crystal's pig-tails swished as she tilted her head. "Isn't today Thursday?"

Soul shook her head. "No, it's Saturday afternoon."

Crystal sat up quickly. "Saturday?!"

The brunette nodded. "You've both been sleeping for the past two days straight." She bit her lip. "Silver and I thought you were having nightmares, but you would never wake up no matter how much we tried."

I shared a look with Crystal for a moment until glancing back at Soul. "Did anything happen while we were out?"

She thought with a finger on her chin before shaking her head. "Not really. Silver called one of your seniors, Blue I believe? He let her know what had happened. Then he got a call from a group of people in Sinnoh." She sweat-dropped. "I couldn't hear them half the time because a boy and girl were arguing through the call."

Crystal and I sighed. "Ruby and Sapphire."

Soul nodded. "That's what it was! It was them and these three other kids who were with them. They wanted to check in on you guys."

"Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum," I said in response.

The brunette gave another nod before the door opened again, and Silver walked in with Emerald behind him. The blonde was holding Crystal's now-dry shoulder bag and hurried to her side.

"Crystal-chan!" He said in glee. "You woke up!"

She nodded with a smile. "Thank you for finding us!"

He shook his head. "It was all thanks to Bugsy. He knew his way around the Ruins quite well." The boy sweat-dropped. "I did take him as a girl at first, though."

I chuckled to myself. "Already went down that road."

Crystal narrowed her eyes at me, and Emerald smiled in relief. "You're up, too. That's good. I was afraid you two were going to follow suit with Yellow."

Soul tilted her head. "Yellow?"

Silver sighed heatedly. "Another issue that you don't know about because you just randomly popped up."

She turned to him with puffed cheeks. "Well, you've got all the time in the world to explain it to me."

His eyes widened. "What?"

She grinned slyly. "Yup! I've decided to stay with you guys and help these two recover!"

He frowned. "That's not a good idea. We've got something else going on at the moment, and you shouldn't get involved in it."

I smirked. "It's okay, Silver. She could help us out."

The redhead huffed. "Fine. Just let in any strangers we see fit."

Soul flicked his arm. "We're not strangers if we've already introduced ourselves!"

Silver glared at her but let the subject slide as she turned back to help me out of my chair. "Now, let's get you back into your room."

I extricated myself from her grasp. "Soul, I can walk perfectly fine."

She crossed her arms with puffed cheeks. "Alright, but I want you to go straight to your room. No exceptions! If I know you, you'll get distracted by something and make a detour."

I pouted, but she shook her head and pointed to the door. Smirking at her, I strode over to the door, Silver following me as we headed back towards my room. Once inside, I laid back down and sighed. "She's still as unwavering as ever."

"Can't argue," Silver muttered.

I grinned at him. "So why'd you bring her along with you?"

His eyes narrowed. "You think I chose to do that? She wouldn't leave me alone after our first greeting!"

I laughed. "That's Soul for you. Persistent 'til the end."

He grumbled. "More like annoying."

I hummed to myself. "I've got a feeling you'll get used to her."

His eyes snapped to mine in suspicion. "What was that?"

I flipped over on my side and bundled up under the sheets. "Can't hear you! I'm sleeping!"

"You can't be sleeping if you're talking!" He shot back. I didn't respond, however, and he gave a huff before marching out of the room and leaving me to rest.

I rolled back over with a chuckle and put my head on the pillow. Truth be told, I actually was still a bit tired from the little mishap at the ruins, so it didn't take long until I had fallen asleep again.

"Is he awake?"

"It doesn't look it…"

"HEY! YOU UP, SENIOR?!"

I could sense someone sweat-drop. "I'm pretty sure he is now."

My mouth frowned as I groggily lifted my head. "Yo, I'm trying to sleep—" My eyes widened, "here…"

Sapphire grinned at my surprised expression, and Ruby shook his head disapprovingly at her. "You're so rude sometimes."

The brunette whipped around on him with a snarl. "Who are you calling rude?! You just barged in here without even knocking first!"

He waved a hand. "But at least I didn't yell at the sleeping patient until he woke up."

She growled. "I didn't yell! I simply wanted to see if he was asleep."

Ruby rolled his eyes. "No one could sleep with you hollering in their ear, you barbarian."

Sapphire bared her teeth. "I didn't yell, sissy!"

"Savage!"

"Pansy!"

"Dirt-bather!"

"Brush-hugger!"

I groaned and stuffed my face in my pillow. Yet another argument from absolutely nowhere. My ears perked up as I heard the door open and a soft sigh that followed it.

"Oh my…they are fighting again."

I lifted my head again to find that my room had more visitors, all of them juniors as well. It was the three kids old Rowan had introduced at the reunion. Looking between them, I saw the girl holding her forehead and guessed it had been her who'd said that.

The blonde, Pearl if I remembered right, rushed forward and pushed his two seniors apart. "Come on, guys! You just got out of an argument not ten minutes ago!"

Sapphire huffed and crossed her arms. "He started it."

Ruby did likewise. "Did not."

Sapphire was about to protest when Diamond appeared in front of her with a plate of cookies. "I found a snack!"

The girl's face lit up, and she totally forgot about the argument as she grabbed the plate and scarfed down the treats. Pearl sighed in relief, and Platinum walked over to where I was watching the entire fiasco.

"Are you feeling any better, Gold-san?" She asked politely.

My eyes widened at bit at the name, and I laughed lightly, sitting up in bed. "Why're you so formal? Just call me Gold!"

She blinked, taken aback for a moment, and bowed. "As you wish, Senior Gold."

I sweat-dropped. "We'll work on it."

Sapphire rushed up to my bedside, the plate of cookies practically gone already. "So you took a fall, eh?"

Ruby nodded, frowning lightly at her. "Yes, Silver told us that you and Crystal also suffered from hypothermia."

I rubbed the back of my neck and laughed nervously. "Yeah, we got stuck in a cave after flying through a downpour."

Platinum's eyes widened. "That is not safe, Senior Gold. If Emerald had not found you sooner, you and Senior Crystal could have fallen into much deeper stages of hypothermia and possibly succumbed to comas."

My eyes widened, and Ruby pouted. "Way to make the atmosphere even more depressing, Platina."

The dark-haired girl tilted her head. "I am sorry. I was simply stating what might have occurred."

Pearl popped up behind her shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry! Diamond and I will cheer everyone up with one of our manzai routines!"

Diamond looked up from his own plate of cookies with wide eyes. "Eh?"

Sapphire dashed over and replaced her empty plate with his. "Go on! Make us all laugh!"

He looked longingly at the cookies before snapping out of it as Pearl said, "When you think of Pokemon!

He leapt to the blonde's side. "When you think of Pokemon…"

Pearl put a hand on his chin. "There are many types of status ailments that affect Pokemon every day."

Diamond tilted his head. "You don't say."

Pearl nodded. "Burns, Poison, Paralysis…you would think that they would have a lasting effect on a Pokemon."

"How so?" Diamond asked.

"Well," Pearl said, "take Freeze for example. If a Pokemon is frozen, wouldn't they catch a cold from it?"

Diamond scratched his head. "I don't get it."

Pearl sweat-dropped. "It's not that difficult to understand."

Diamond waved a hand. "No, I mean, how can a Pokemon run to catch a cold if they're frozen in place?"

Ruby and Sapphire chuckled a little, and Pearl whacked him over the head with a paper fan. "That's not what I meant!" The blonde cried. "I meant sick!"

Diamond held his hands up. "Right, right."

Pearl huffed. "So if they get sick, their trainers would constantly have to take them to the Pokemon Center."

"You don't say!" Diamond said with a smile.

"The Pokemon Center would probably get so full that the entire city could hear the Pokemon sneezing throughout the night," Pearl sighed.

Diamond shook his head. "Oh, but I would only hear one."

Pearl's eyes widened. "And what would that be?"

Diamond grinned. "A PikACHU of course!"

Pearl fell over anime style, and Platinum started giggling as Ruby and Sapphire laughed louder. I joined them within an instant, and the two Sinnoh boys watched smiling as we got our bearings about ourselves.

"Oh," I sighed after my laughter had died down. "I don't know how you guys do it, but I'm feeling better already."

The door opened suddenly, and the room was flooded further as the rest of the gang joined us. Silver came to take Ruby's place at my bedside, and Emerald drifted off to stand next to him and Sapphire. The Sinnoh trio made room for Soul who walked in with Crystal right behind her, and the two leaned against the wall.

"Well, geez we could have a party in here!" I grinned.

Crystal rolled her eyes, obviously feeling better than before. "We just thought it would be easier for everybody to talk if we were in the same room."

At the mention of everybody, I finally realized that all the juniors were in fact here. I tilted my head in confusion. "Wait, first Silvy randomly shows up, and now the rest of you?!"

The redhead beside me nodded. "Blue also asked me to call in the juniors. We're going to need all the help we can get to find Yellow."

Ruby sighed to himself. "We didn't even know she was gone." He glared at Sapphire. "That's what happens when you bet people into travelling a new region."

She glared back. "You're the one who agreed to it!"

Emerald sweat-dropped, right in the middle of them. "Would you two stop it?!" He sighed. "That's one thing I didn't miss when you left."

They huffed and crossed arms away from each other as Pearl scratched the back of his head. "Maybe we shouldn't have offered to show them around Sinnoh…"

Platinum shook her head, and Diamond simply ate what was left of the cookies on his plate from Sapphire's assault.

The door then opened again, and in walked Nurse Joy with a clipboard and pencil, surprising considering we were probably at a hospital instead of a Pokemon Center. She seemed slightly startled by how many people were in the room but smiled anyways.

"Hello," she said to everyone. "I have some news concerning Gold and Crystal and their Pokemon."

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and started standing up. It was a little too fast for my knee which almost gave out when I put it down on the ground. Silver caught my arm, and Soul crossed her arms at me as I straightened up.

"I still say you need crutches," the brunette muttered.

"Actually," Nurse Joy said in response, "Gold won't be needing crutches. His knee isn't as bruised as we thought and should clear up within a few days." She waggled her pencil lightly at me. "Although, you should still try to keep off it today. You can work on walking on it more tomorrow."

I nodded, and she turned to Crystal. "As for you dear, you just had a severe case of hypothermia. Gold also had one, but it was much less serious and didn't need as much attention. Looking at your amount of rest, I'd say you've slept most of it off. However since you've gotten hypothermia so bad before, it will be easier for you to get colder and develop it again in the future. So be sure to stay warm."

Crystal copied my nod, and Nurse Joy brought out two Pokeballs, handing one to her and me. "Your Xatu was perfectly unharmed, but the Togekiss suffered a broken wing."

I looked in at Togetaro through his Pokeball and saw that he was sleeping with one of his wings wrapped up in a bandage.

Nurse Joy smiled sympathetically. "We've patched him up and given him medicine, but all he needs now is time for his wing to heal. He needs to stay off it and not fly until it has completely healed." She turned to the rest of the kids standing around the room. "If you all need rooms to stay in, there are plenty open at the Pokemon Center right across the street."

Platinum softly cried out a thank you as the nurse opened the door and went back to the Pokemon Center to check on her patients. Crystal put Xatee's Pokeball in her bag hanging from her shoulder, and it was then that everyone saw that her clothes were identical to the brunette beside her. Soul took the liberty of introducing herself to the others, and I took a minute to check on my Togekiss.

As I was observing him through the Pokeball, Crystal broke away from the rest of the Dex Holders to walk up to my bedside, standing on the other side of me from Silver. The redhead was watching the others talk with Soul and frowned. "She's popular with them already."

I laughed. "She's popular with every—hey!" I held the back of my head and glared at Crystal who was pulling her hand back from the hit. "What was that for?!"

She crossed her arms. "I told you we should have landed!"

I sighed. "I know, I know. Just, stop beating me okay?!"

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the railing of the bed. "I still don't know who it was."

Silver turned his gaze to her. "Who?"

She huffed. "The person who was attacking me in the Ruins. I was getting Parasee so I could make Gold a painkiller when this Skarmory came out of nowhere." She cupped her chin in her fingers. "At first, I thought it was wild, but right before I blacked out, I thought I heard footsteps and someone's voice. I can't quite remember what they said, though."

I raised an eyebrow. "So someone was attacking you?"

She nodded. "The cold got to me again before I could do anything but release Hitmonee for protection. I would've had Arckee do that, but he was still with you—" She looked up sharply and ransacked her bag before pulling out a Pokeball with a sigh of relief. "I thought they'd left him there. Emerald must have gotten him out of that hole when they found us."

Silver stared at the ground. "So some random person started attacking you guys when you were cold and defenseless?" Crystal nodded, and his gaze grew more intense. "And it was a Skarmory?" Again she nodded, albeit more slowly. Silver let out a breath and closed his eyes. "Then it's not her."

I poked his arm. "Yo, Silver. Stop talking to yourself; you'll go crazy. Who are you talking about?"

"Melany," he muttered.

Crystal tilted her head. "That one girl Amber used to work with?"

The redhead nodded. "I thought it might have been her, but she doesn't have a Skarmory."

"Hm," I hummed. "So that's means that someone else is messing with us, right?"

"Yeah…" Silver trailed off in thought. He reached into his back pocket for his Pokegear. "I should tell Blue and Green." Right as he was about to press a button, the screen started flashing, signaling an incoming call. He hit answer and held it out in front of him. "Just the person who I wanted to talk to."

"Oh?" came Blue's voice from the phone.

The noise in the room gradually died down as the others realized that it was Blue, and we all crowded around Silver's little Pokegear.

"Yeah," he said in annoyance at the crowding. "Just discovered that there's someone else besides Melany who is trying to stop us."

Blue made a sound of interest. "That's new. But even so, she's still around so be careful."

Silver's eyes narrowed. "How do you know?"

Everyone could sense Blue smiling from the other end of the line. "Professor Oak got back yesterday and was able to help us expand the tracker."

"So?" The redhead huffed in frustration, waiting for his answer.

"So," Blue mimicked him. "We were able to move the tracker outside of Kanto, and good news. We found out that we were right."

Silence raked the room in her short pause.

"Yellow's in Johto."

Me: *readjusts strap on shoulder* Well, I'm off! Wish me luck!

Max: Good luck!

Carlos: You can do it!

Gardevoir: Waiting for you to fail...

Me: *glares* Thanks.

Gardevoir: *sigh* You've got this. I'm sure you'll do well.

Me: *grin* Thanks!

Gardevoir: *shoves me out the door* Yeah, yeah now get moving!

Me: Haha! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I wanted to get it posted before I left for the weekend so you'd all have something to read :3 So as usual, let me know what you thought and hopefully I'll upload here soon and tell you all how the battle tournament went! Review and return!