Author's Note: This next chapter was originally going to be two chapters, but I realized they would've been too short. Anyway, that bloody scene I mentioned at the beginning of this story is coming up at the end of this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.


Chapter 4: Down the Dark Path

Things had taken a very awkward and uncomfortable turn for Rachel. Only moments ago she was having the best night of her life. Only hours ago Rachel had defeated Silver in the last cage tournament. But as Rachel was heading back to her house with Trisha, Hope had suddenly showed up and had witness the whole tournament in secret. And after this little revelation, Hope had told Rachel that she wasn't going to allow her to participate in any more cage tournaments.

"You won't let me?" Rachel repeated with anger in her voice. "You have no damn right to stop me Hope!"

"Rachel, I can't let you keep doing something that could get you in a lot of trouble!" Hope argued. "Besides, don't you care that you and Trisha are pushing your Pokemon way too hard?"

"Oh please, I haven't pushed Scorch any harder than I've pushed myself." Rachel retorted. "The same goes for Trisha and Electabuzz."

"That's right. In case you didn't notice, those shock collars were wearing weren't for show." Trisha cut in. "Or did you think Rachel and I were just twitching like that for fun?"

"Well then that's all the more reason for both of you to stop." Hope argued. "Rachel, you could get seriously hurt doing this!"

"I'll be fine, so just mind your own business!" Rachel said almost shouting.

"No I won't!" Hope insisted. "Why are you doing this Rachel?"

"Because in those tournaments I'm finally free!" Rachel revealed. "Outside that cage in the arena I'm just another young up and coming Officer Jenny, without a name or face of my own! But in that cage I'm my own person, a powerful trainer that people admire! Hell! I'm now the girl who beat Silver! People will remember me now, me!"

"But Rachel, this is wrong!" Hope began to argue again.

"So what are you going to do Hope?" Rachel asked. "Rat me out and ruin everything?"

"…If I have to." Hope answered after taking a big gulp. Rachel then stormed over and grabbed Hope by the front of her shirt.

"Damn it Hope, if you tell anyone about this I will hate you for the rest of my life!" Rachel threatened. She then let go of Hope and continued walking towards her house. Trisha stayed behind and glared at Hope with crossed arms.

"You are some piece of work, you know that?" Trisha told her. "Rachel finally has something good in her life going for her and you wanna ruin it."

"I'm only trying to keep Rachel from screwing up her life." Hope replied. "But I wouldn't expect you of all people to understand that. You're probably the one who talked Rachel into those horrible tournaments."

"Oh yeah, Rachel was a sweet innocent girl until she met me." Trisha said sarcastically. "Get real you sanctimonious bitch! Whether you like it or not, Rachel was a 'bad girl' before she met me."

"I don't believe that." Hope denied.

"Yeah, I didn't think you would." Trisha said with a slight laugh as she shook her head. "Let me tell you about the first time I met Rachel. I had just started going to our school after my family moved here two years ago. That afternoon the first day I went behind the school to let off a little steam, and when I got there I saw this Officer Jenny girl leaning against the wall and taking a smoke. I just stood there holding my mouth open because I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"I asked her right there if this was some sort of gag. And she said to me, 'Do I look funny to you?' I then asked if those cigarettes she was smoking were real, and she handed me one to try. That was the first time I ever smoked a cigarette in my life."

"Wait, are you trying to tell me that Rachel was the one that got smoking?" Hope asked with disbelief. "That just can't be true!"

"Sorry to blow your mind Stepford girl, but it's the god's honest truth." Trisha told her. "And that day I got to know Rachel pretty damn well, which is more than I can say for a lot of people. Before I met Rachel I thought my life sucked. I mean my dad's a stuck-up executive that refuses to admit that he's screwing his twenty-five year old secretary and my mom's a tight assed alcoholic who denies that she's doing her tennis instructor. And they put pressure on me every god damn day to become a 'huge success' like they are.

"But that screwed up life's got nothing on Rachel's. Before I met her I never realized how much it must suck to have the same face as every other girl in her family and be forced to get the same job they have. And I thought Rachel was so cool for wanting to rebel against that. But maybe that's the problem you have with Rachel Hope. Maybe you just can't except that she wants a different life from all the other drones in her family. That's what has you so bothered. So here's a little free advice, stay out of Rachel's business and let her live her own life. Otherwise you'll be getting hell from me."

With that, Trisha stormed off after Rachel. Hope sighed and decided to head for home. As she did, she thought hard about what Trisha had just told her. It had never occurred to Hope before that Rachel hated her life so much that she would want an escape, and she had actually started to question if she should really interfere. As Hope continued to walk down the sidewalk, an old bearded man wearing dirty brown clothes came down the sidewalk in the opposite direction she was heading. The old man was mumbling to himself as Hope suddenly brushed up against him.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir. I didn't see you there." Hope said with an apologetic smile. But as she tried to walk off, the old man suddenly grabbed her by the arm with his gnarled hand.

"You are doomed!" the old man said to her with a crazy look in his eyes. "I can see your future. You and the two you were just talking to are heading down a dark path! A path that holds nothing but blood!"

"Please yet go sir!" Hope begged, but the old man continued to hold on to her with a vice-like grip.

"Beware child!" the old man continued, his eyes becoming more intense. "You and your friends have reached a crossroads, and if you continue down this dark path you will find nothing but despair! For at the end lies the judgment of the five chosen! Beware the false prisoner in league with the lord of nightmares! Beware the fiery rider chosen by the lion of flames! Beware the wandering minstrel who travels with the tiger of thunder! Beware the queen of water partnered with the incarnation of the north winds! And most of all beware the Aura Guardian who is the champion of the Guardian of the Sky, the great rainbow bird! For these five warriors will spell your doom!"

Suddenly the old man let go of Hope's arm and clutched his chest as if he was heaving a heart attack. He then fell to the ground, and with some effort managed to scribble something in the dirt on the side of the road with the index finger of his right hand. The old doomsayer then slumped over unconscious. Hope went over and checked his pulse and found that he didn't have one. She also noticed that he was no longer breathing and backed away. Hope knew that the old man was dead. As she got to her feet she glance and saw what the old man had written in the dirt with his last breath.

"XD001"

Hope slowly backed away from the old man's corpse. Then after a moment she started running away as fast as her legs could carry her.


Almost a week had passed since Hope's encounter with Rachel and the strange old man. Since that time, Hope had done her absolute best to avoid both Rachel and Trisha. She had also been having a lot of trouble deciding what to do about the current situation. Hope originally had planed to tell someone about Rachel's participation in the cage tournaments if Rachel wouldn't back out on her own, but then Hope certainly didn't want Rachel to hate her. Plus Hope had realized that Trisha did have a point, there was noting wrong with Rachel wanting to live a life different from the rest of her family, yet Hope wondered if there was a better way for Rachel to do that.

Another problem Hope was having was that she could not shake the rather disturbing encounter that she had with the old man. She knew that his ramblings had to be nothing more than insanity brought on by age and what were probably years of living on the street. Yet Hope found it very hard to ignore the old man's warning, and the odd message he had written in the dirt before he had expired. That afternoon Hope was at the lake out behind her family's house, the center of which held a stone shrine where a certain Pokemon was said to appear at on the night of a full moon. Hope sat by the lake, looking at her reflection in the water. As she did, Chansey walked up behind her.

"Chan?" the egg Pokemon spoke, getting Hope's attention.

"Oh, I'm okay Chansey. I'm just trying to figure out what to do about Rachel." Hope assured her. "You know, I guess I never really saw anything wrong with having the same face as the rest of the women in my family. Maybe that's because we can tell each other apart. I mean I can tell the difference between my mom and my aunts, and I can tell all my cousins apart. I always thought that was enough… but I guess it's not enough for Rachel."

"Chansey." Chansey replied in a sympathetic tone.

"I really don't know what to do." Hope continued. "The last thing I want is for Rachel to hate me for the rest of her life, but… I just can't let her keep fighting in those tournaments."

"Looks like you've got something on your mind." A voice suddenly spoke. Hope turned and saw standing a few feet away a woman who looked just like her only older and wearing a nurse's outfit. This of course was Hope's mother, Nurse Faith Lovegood Joy. "You have a problem sweetie?"

"Hi mom." Hope greeted as she got up and walked over. "I didn't expect you to come home so early."

"Your Aunt Martha came to her shift early so I could take afternoon off." Faith explained. "Now, what's troubling you?"

"Well…" Hope began hesitantly. "I have this friend who I know is doing something that she shouldn't, but if I tell someone about it my friend will hate me. What do you think I should do?"

"Hmm… well, one time when I was training to be a nurse I had to help give a Pokemon a shot. And this Pokemon really didn't like getting shots." Faith began. "But if the Pokemon didn't get its shot it would've gotten very sick. So it had to be done, and it was. My point is that sometimes in order to help someone, you have to do something that they'll hate. And while I'm sure this friend of yours will be mad at you, she'll probably get over it in time and forgive you. Understand?"

"Yeah, I think so." Hope replied. "Thanks mom."


The next afternoon, which was the day of another cage tournament, Hope had gone over to Rachel's house. She began to reach for the doorbell but hesitated. Hope had decided what to do about Rachel after thinking about what her mother had told her, but she still kept wondering if she was doing the right thing. In the end though, Hope rang the bell and in moments Lenore answered the door.

"Good afternoon Officer Jenny." Hope greeted.

"Well good afternoon Hope. It's always nice seeing you here." Lenore greeted back. "But I'm afraid if you've come to visit Rachel she's not here. As it hard as it is to believe she has detention. My daughter of all people"

"Yes, I know that ma'am." Hope replied. "There's actually… something I have to tell you."


The night came, and once again Rachel had gone to another cage tournament. She had come to the tournament alone however; as Trisha could not come due to family matters she could not get out of. The tournament had only just begun, and already Rachel was in the arena awaiting her first opponent. From where she was standing Rachel could see Silver and Tessa Frost watching her from the dugout near the arena.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" Caster said on stage into his microphone. "Once again we have we have a dynamite lineup of competitors here. And it looks like tonight's tournament is going to start out with a bang. For our first match we have the mysterious… Rachel Curtis!" The audience cheered loudly upon hearing Rachel's name. "And for her opponent, we have making a return visit, Clubber Menendez!" Clubber walked into the cage with an arrogant sneer on his face.

"Back for more, huh?" Rachel said in a confident tone.

"You think I'd let a little girl like you beat me and get away with it?" Clubber replied. "Besides, I heard you beat that Silver kid in the last tournament. Which means if I beat you I'll prove that I'm better than him."

"Then bring it on." Rachel dared. "If you want to get humiliated more than last time that is."

Before the battle could begin, a loud bang was suddenly heard in the stadium. In an instant several police officers began flooding the stadium.

"Aw shit! A raid!" Caster exclaimed. "Uh, well, looks like that's all for tonight folks. Have a good night and… no refunds!"

With that, Caster dropped his microphone and ran away as quickly as he could. Rachel stood and watched as the stadium erupted into chaos. She noticed Silver and Tessa heading for a door in the corner of the stadium, one that the police didn't notice. Just then, the cage door behind Rachel opened. And when Rachel looked to see who it was she went pale, for it was her mother carrying a megaphone.

"Attention everyone!" Lenore said into the megaphone as two officers came up behind Clubber and cuffed him. "This illegal and unsanctioned tournament is now over! As of now, you are all to be brought in for questioning!"

Just then Lenore turned and saw Rachel looking at her. She then took off Rachel's hood and pulled down the stocking covering her face. Clubber and everyone in the stands froze when they saw what Rachel really looked like.

"Hey! Rachel Curtis is a Jenny!" Clubber cried. "She's a snitch! She's been running some kinda sting on us!"

"Quiet you!" a male police officer told Clubber as he dragged him off.

In the whole stadium Rachel could hear everyone whispering. They all seemed to think what Clubber had said was true. Rachel then noticed Silver and Tessa leaving discretely, and she knew what they had to be thinking about her.

"You're coming with me young lady!" Lenore ordered as she pulled Rachel by the arm. Rachel and dragged her off. Rachel didn't do anything to fight back, for she knew that the freedom she had found had come to an end.


After an agonizing five hours at the police station, Rachel had returned home with her mother. Lenore brought Rachel into the living room and sat her down on the couch. She then stood with crossed arms, looking at Rachel with a calm but very furious expression.

"…So, how'd you find out?" Rachel asked after what seemed like a minute. "Or am I allowed to know?"

"Hope told me, and a good thing she did." Lenore answered. "I don't know what to do with you young lady! First you start skipping your classes and not doing your homework! Then you start smoking, and now this? What is going on in your head?"

"I wanted to be something other than just a another Officer Jenny! And for awhile I was!" Rachel told her. "Not that you would understand that!"

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me to bring my own daughter into the station for questioning?" Lenore asked, trying to maintain her calm. "Do you have any idea how you've disgraced our family's legacy tonight?"

"WHEN THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO FIGURE OUT THAT I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT OUR FAMILY'S HALLOWED LEGACY?" Rachel shouted as she shot up from the couch. Lenore responded by slapping Rachel hard in the face.

"Go to your room, NOW!" Lenore ordered. "Your father and I are going to have a long and hard talk about what to do with you."

Rachel glared at Lenore for a brief moment before storming upstairs to her room. Once inside she slammed the door behind her and went straight to her bathroom, taking her sweatshirt off as she went. As soon as she got in and turned on the light she saw her face in the mirror, the face she had come to hate with a passion. The light in her bathroom flickered for a moment, an for a brief instant she thought she saw herself wearing the same police uniform worn by the other members of her family. Rachel screamed with anger and punched her mirror, causing it to break. As Rachel looked at the fallen shards of glass and saw the shattered reflection of her face an idea suddenly came to her. She then picked up a large shard with her right hand.


Twenty minutes later, Hope came to the house and rang the doorbell. A very exhausted-looking Lenore came and answered the door.

"Um, good evening Officer Jenny." Hope greeted. "I'm sorry for coming over so late, but I'm… worried about Rachel."

"…You're not the only one." Lenore sighed.

"If it's okay with you, I would really like to talk to Rachel." Hope requested. "At least for a minute. But if I can't, I understand."

"No, come on in." Lenore replied as she moved aside and opened the door wider. "Maybe you can talk some sense into my daughter."

"Thank you so much, I'll only be a few minutes." Hope said as she went inside.

In moments Hope was upstairs and at Rachel's door. She knocked on the door a few times and there was no answer. Becoming a bit worried, Hope opened the door and went inside, and did not Rachel on her bed. She then went over to the bathroom and saw that the door was open a crack. Hope pushed the door open a crack and the first thing she was the broken mirror covered with a large stain of blood, causing a sick feeling to creep into her stomach. Hesitantly Hope looked down to the floor of the bathroom, and the sight before her caused her to let out a blood curdling scream that could be heard throughout the neighborhood. Hope found Rachel on the floor unconscious, and she had gouged out her own left eye.


Author's Note: Okay, so that scene might not have been as bloody as I originally thought it'd be. Good place to end the chapter though. Anyway, there was a good deal of foreshadowing in this chapter. If you're familiar with my other Pokemon stories, you can probably guess who the five people that the old man mentioned are. Two are very major characters from the anime and the other three are OCs of mine. Oh, and the number, XD001, is also pretty important too. And it might be familiar to those of you with a Game Cube.

Please review and let me know what you think.