Some of the bounty hunters took the chains off of Aamira's arms. Before she had just been surrounded by the bounty hunters but now she appeared to be in some sort of miniature stadium. On the opposite end a bunch of the bounty hunters were struggling to keep a wild looking Scizor from breaking free and attacking before they got the chains off.
'At least this Scizor isn't like that Tyrogue. This I have no problem with, but if they try to get me to fight some scared little kid again.' Aamira shivered. To her that was a scarier thought than having to fight this Scizor.
The bounty hunters were finally able to get the chains off of the struggling Scizor. Scizor didn't even wait for half a second before running in to attack. Aamira knew that Scizor were supposed to be fast, but she had never actually seen how fast they could get. Aamira used Aura Sphere, but the Scizor was actually able to dodge it by using Double Team. Then it attacked her from behind with Metal Claw.
'It would have helped if they hadn't sent be into this fight injured!' Aamira thought furiously. Scizor had hit her on her burnt back from when one of the pokemon had attacked her earlier for refusing to fight.
Aamira got up just in time to dodge another attack. Scizor used Double Team again, no doubt trying to confuse her, but while that had worked before to dodge Aamira's attack Aamira knew exactly where the real Scizor was. She ran at Scizor and used Drain punch, knocking him into the wall. The pain in her back had mostly gone away, at least, but this was sickening. All these pokemon cheering them on and throwing insults at them to get them to fight harder. Aamira decided that when she got out of there she would definitely start taking a bigger role in tracking down bounty hunters.
Scizor got up and attacked with Quick Attack. Aamira waited for it to get close enough, which was risky considering how fast it moved, and used Aura Sphere again. This time Scizor didn't have enough time to react and got hit by it. Scizor was obviously getting mad, but because Aamira had a type advantage she was winning. Scizor used Quick Attack again and was already so close to Aamira that she didn't have time to dodge. Then Scizor used Metal Claw. Aamira was able to stop herself before she was thrown into the wall then used Force Palm.
Scizor seemed to be slightly dizzy from the attack and began attacking randomly with Metal Claw. Aamira dodged most of the attacks easily before using drain punch again. Scizor was struggling to stand up, but he just couldn't. Some of the bounty hunters ran towards him and chained him up again.
Honchkrow flew into the air and landed in front of Aamira. "Now that's more like it." He said with an evil grin. Aamira didn't say anything. She knew what would happen if she did.
Aamira sat in her prison cell a few minutes later, unable to believe what she had done. But if she didn't fight they would hurt Quill. Aamira hated this trapped feeling and the feeling that she was all alone. But then her spirits lifted a little. What were the odds that Aamira would have a dream about Lucario when she felt most alone and after Lucario had promised not to leave her alone? Surely it had to have been more than a dream.
Scizor had obviously been driven mad by this place, but if Aamira could just think about Lucario and try to look at the bright side of things, she wouldn't be as much of a prisoner. But a bright side? Well, Honchkrow was sure she wouldn't try to escape since it might mean that Quill could get hurt, so they had at least taken the chains off. Although they had left the metal collar around her neck from when Glameow had taken her to see Honchkrow, either to make her look more intimidating to the pokemon she was fighting or because they were still afraid she might try something.
Honchkrow and Glameow had been waiting almost twenty minutes for his "guests" to arrive. Honey and Black Wing, two rival bounty hunter groups, were some of the best groups there were. Besides that they had been fierce rivals since before Honchkrow took over Black Wing. But now that he had a secret weapon, there was no way he could lose like the last time. This time they would know once and for all who the top bounty hunter was.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Honchy." A deep voice said through the trees.
"It's about time you got here!" Honchkrow said. "Fashionably late as usual, I see!"
An Ursaring came into the clearing followed by a Teddiursa. The Teddiursa yawned. "Sorry, I was still taking my nap by the time we had to leave."
Honchkrow couldn't understand how this little teddy bear was actually able to become second in command of one of the best bounty hunter organizations there was. He supposed it must be because their leader was Teddiursa's older brother.
"So, you ready to lose again?" Ursaring said to Honchkrow.
"You got lucky last time. This time we've got a secret weapon." Honchkrow smirked, but to his surprise, so did Ursaring.
"So do we. What are the odds of that, eh Honchy?"
Teddyursa giggled. "Hey Glameow, maybe when the fighting's over we can play with the toys I brought with me." Teddyursa was carrying a bag that was bulging with toys, but to Glameow's horror she noticed that something in it was moving slightly.
"Such a twisted child…" Glameow said, not bothering to keep her voice down.
"As if you were any different." Honchkrow said.
Glameow was furious. She couldn't believe that Honchkrow actually had the nerve to compare her to that Teddiursa! She walked through the caverns alone to try to get the thought out of her head. But while she tried to do that, another thought came to her. 'Team Sleuth never acted this way. At least they showed a little respect.' Glameow shook her head. 'Why am I thinking this way? I'm a bounty hunter, aren't I? One of the best in the world. People respect me, but they're just too afraid to show it!'
Honchkrow was different though. He was a better bounty hunter than she could ever be. He had no respect for her at all and probably wouldn't even care or notice if she was arrested. And there was something else too. Aamira! She had heard that Honchkrow had known her from before, but didn't believe it. But when Aamira had defeated Scizor, Glameow saw that it must be true. And not only that but he seemed to somewhat respect her! She was just a prisoner and Glameow was second in command, but Honchkrow still respected her more. It was as if this Riolu was a treasured pet and Glameow was just some random kid he found who was all alone who he decided on a whim, surely not out of the goodness of his heart, to take home and shelter from the rain.
'I knew that Riolu was trouble! Not only is she too defiant for her own good, but if this keeps up and she end up like most of the other pokemon that come in here, I might lose my second in command position! And if something were to happen to Quill or if she just stopped caring, she might even try to overthrow Honchkrow! And where would that leave me!'
But Aamira at least had been kind to Glameow, whether that was just an act or not to find out if she was a bounty hunter she didn't know. How could Glameow blame Aamira for everything that was happening?
'Why do I keep thinking this way! I don't need Honchkrow's approval to know how strong I am and I definitely don't need to care about what Aamira thinks about all of this, so why do I keep thinking this way!'
Glameow hid in a cavern that wasn't used. No one ever came down this way, so Glameow came here a lot to get away from everyone.
'I've been thinking this way all along.' She suddenly realized. 'That's why I always come down here. Maybe I'm just too fickle for my own good.'
Glameow decided that she shouldn't try to stop herself from thinking the way she was. Maybe that way she could figure out what to do. Glameow remembered the conversation she had with Aamira before she had kidnapped Aamira. Aamira was misunderstood a lot of the time, just like she was. Even though they were in completely different situations and Aamira actually had friends and got respect, they weren't really that different. Glameow had noticed it, and Aamira definitely did. Maybe that's why Aamira didn't say anything about Glameow being a bounty hunter before then. Maybe, for just a short moment, Aamira thought they could be friends? And Glameow secretly thought that too.
'I have to know for sure!' She decided. Glameow made her way towards the cell Aamira was locked in, trying to hide the excitement from herself. Glameow had changed, but now that she thought about it, she didn't really care.
She passed by Ursaring and Teddiursa. They hadn't noticed her, so she instinctively hid behind a corner to listen in on their conversation. Honchkrow had sent her on a lot of missions to spy on their enemies, so she was used to it and she was slightly ashamed of how naturally it came to her.
"So now you finally understand the situation here." Ursaring said.
"Y-yes…" Said an obviously terrified voice. It sounded familiar, but it didn't sound like Teddiursa's. Maybe there was another pokemon there that had been blocked from her view?
Teddiursa laughed. "Good! Now we'll definitely win! And if you do fail, we can assure you that you'll never see either one of your friends again!"
"I won't fail!" Obviously he was still terrified but he was trying to hide it. Then with a burst of panic, Glameow realized who the voice belonged to.
'Quill!' What was going on? Didn't Honchkrow know about this? But he was still threatening Aamira by saying that he would hurt Quill if she didn't fight. 'I can't believe this! I can't let this happen!'
Glameow ran the opposite way and took the long way around towards Aamira's cell. No one was around. That was good at least.
Aamira was half asleep. She figured that if she could fall asleep again, she would see Lucario again in her dream. Then she heard the lock click on the door and was fully awake again. She hated these people so much. Couldn't they at least let her rest for a while! Then with a mixture of hate and a strange happiness at the sight of someone she at least knew, she saw that the person who had come in was Glameow.
"So what do you want now?" Aamira asked. Honchkrow wasn't around so she wasn't afraid to talk now.
"I want to help, if you can believe it!" Glameow said in a half whispered voice. "Listen, Honchkrow was lying. Quill was captured by a rival group of bounty hunters. Honchkrow said that as long as you fight he wouldn't hurt Quill, but if they make Quill fight, he would have to anyway!"
"Big surprise. A lying bounty hunter." Aamira stood up. "So why should I believe that you're not lying about Quill being captured? You might just be trying to get me into trouble."
"Because if Honchkrow knew I came to tell you this before he even knew that Quill was going to fight for the rival group, I would be in worse trouble! And he would know he couldn't make you fight anymore. Either way, you have a choice now. Either fight or don't. Quill's going to get hurt either way."
"If you're so sure he's going to get hurt, then why not help us!"
"And how am I supposed to do that? I've already stuck my neck out enough for you just by telling you this much!"
"You're a traitor. The moment someone finds out about this… Do you really think they're going to let you off the hook? Honchkrow doesn't seem to like you in the slightest, so I really doubt it." Aamira was sort of taken aback when Glameow suddenly burst into tears.
"Of course he doesn't like me! What was your first clue? Even among bounty hunters I've never known anyone as cruel as him. Some of us are terrified to even do anything, so we take it out on others. But you were different. Even though you're an Investigation Team member and I'm a bounty hunter and we're supposed to be enemies, you and your friends were nice to me like no one else ever was. And you even knew I was a bounty hunter, but while we were at the lake…" Glameow stopped mid-sentence, surprised by her own outburst.
"You thought we could be friend." Aamira finished for her. "I thought so too. We're both a bit misunderstood and I think we both wanted to be friends, but when I told you I knew that you were a bounty hunter… I guess that was a mistake."
"I didn't think it would be possible that we could ever be friends. So I knocked you out and brought you here to prove it to myself. I finally realize that. I've just been lonely and mad at myself and everyone else but I didn't want to admit it so I just took it out on others."
"You know, Riolu are strange pokemon, I'll even admit that. A lot of people think we can see aura after we get a good teacher to train with, but that's not true. We can never see aura, but we can still feel it. Which means we can also tell whenever someone's lying."
Glameow was shocked. "You still think I'm lying!"
"No. For the first time since I met you, I'm sure that you're telling the truth!"
Glameow sighed. "So what do we do?"
"What do you think? We free all of the prisoners. If the bounty hunters want a fight, we'll give them one. They keep everyone weak by separating them and forcing them to fight, but together we might stand a chance."
Quill sat against the wall and watched Teddiursa chase around a Wurmple he had caught on the way there. It was like some horrible combination of cute and creepy. If it were possible, Teddiursa scared him even more than Ursaring.
But watching Teddyursa was admittedly better than thinking about everything that had happened. Machop and him had been captured, and Machop had sort of frozen up after that. But even worse was when Ursaring threatened to keep him a prisoner if he didn't fight so he would never be able to see his friends again. But Quill knew that Aamira had been captured by Black Wing, who he was about to be forced to fight against. That meant that Quill might actually be forced to fight Aamira. If only he could escape, but even now Ursaring was keeping an annoyingly close watch on him.
Where was Machop anyway? He knew he had been brought here too, but no doubt they were separated so they could be sure Quill would fight. So Quill really had no choice. And he even secretly wished that he would be forced to fight Aamira just so they could see each other again.
Teddiursa stopped suddenly just as he caught Wurmple by its tail. "Someone's coming."
Glameow came out from behind a corner. Quill glared at her. She was the reason that all of them were in this mess.
"You're not allowed to see the pokemon you'll be fighting until before the fight!" Ursaring roared at her.
"If I was trying to be sneaky I would be!" Glameow said. "Now just listen to me!"
She had both of their attention now. But then Quill noticed something strange. They were just staring into her eyes as if they couldn't look away. Then both of them collapsed and fell asleep, Teddiursa still holding onto Wurmple as if it were a doll.
"Please help me…" The Wurmple whimpered.
Glameow sighed and pulled it out of Teddyursa's grip. "You can both thank me later."
"Thank you for what?" Quill said. "It's you're fault than any of this happened in the first place!"
Aamira ran out from behind the corner. "Quill!"
"Aamira!" He stared at her as if sure this was some sort of trick. "What happened to you…? You're covered in burns."
"Well bounty hunters don't like it when you don't do what they say, right?" Aamira smiled. She was so happy so see Quill again.
"Excuse me, I hate to break up this heartwarming reunion but we still have to free everyone else in here." Glameow said.
"Why's she helping us anyway?" Quill asked Aamira.
"It's… sort of complicated." That was true. After all of this time they'd been together, Quill still didn't completely understand how Aamira always felt. And it would be even more complicated with Glameow. After all, Glameow's background and motives were entirely different from theirs.
The four of them, including the out of place Wurmple, all set out to free the rest of the pokemon. When they freed a certain number, they would always split up to be able to cover more ground. It was hard to tell the bounty hunters and the prisoners apart at times, which was a huge advantage to them, but soon the bounty hunters realized the abnormal amount of pokemon running around and they started to catch on to what was happening.
When Glameow was sure they had found everyone—at least, everyone who still had hold of their senses—they stole their collection bags back and they all followed her to the exit. Aamira thought for sure they had been underground, but it was actually just a cave in the face of a mountain. She supposed when Quill had explained about underground bounty hunter organizations that he didn't really mean "underground" but being in the cave for so long made her jump to that conclusion.
"I can't believe it!" Aamira said. "Sweet sunlight! I'll never take you for granted again!"
A lot of the other pokemon seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"You're not getting away that easily!" They were suddenly surrounded by bounty hunters on all sides. Honchkrow landed on the ground in front of them. "Aamira, I knew you wouldn't keep doing as I said forever. But what luck! Quill has come to us, saving my bounty hunters the trip!"
Aamira moved in front of Quill so that Honchkrow couldn't attack him.
Honchkrow laughed. "And I had a feeling you'd betray me, Glameow."
Glameow hissed and her fur stood up on ends.
Honchkrow's smile faded. "I think you forgot how I saved your life! Remember? Forest on fire and a kitty stuck in a tree? Parents abandoned you to save their own skins?"
Glameow was shaking.
"Honchkrow!" Aamira shouted. "Are you going to be in Mismagius's shadow forever! You're doing the same exact thing she did when our hideout was discovered! Using people's fears and memories to manipulate them… But as Mismagius discovered for herself, that doesn't work on me. And wouldn't that be your fault for wiping out my memory!"
Honchkrow laughed louder than before. "You really think that! I did nothing to your memory! That machine that I was working on was tampered with. Whoever it was that did it knew exactly what they were doing. My guess is that your turning into a pokemon and your memory loss was no accident!"
'Could that be true?' Aamira thought. 'But then who would want to do this? Come to think of it I can't remember any enemies I might have had before Mismagius and Honchkrow, so of course it's possible it was someone else.'
"What's the matter, can't think of anything else to say?" Honchkrow smiled again.
"How about this: Mismagius tried the same thing you're doing now and she still lost! And the same thing will happen to you!"
"You may have gotten lucky the last time, but I assure you that you can't defeat me as easily!"
"You may not know this, Honchkrow, but luck can sometimes be a big part of being an Investigation Team!"
Honchkrow turned around. The pokemon that appeared behind him was Electivire.
"It's about time!" Quill shouted.
"It was sort of hard tracking your signal though!" Ambipom appeared out from the trees too, along with Primeape.
More Investigation Teams appeared too. A closer look revealed that they were all of the teams that had also ended up in the hideout when Mismagius had attacked them. Team Sky, Team Overgrow, Team Night, Team Blazer, and even Team Rapids.
"Wait, what did you mean by 'tracking our signal'?" Aamira asked Ambipom.
"You don't know?" Electivire said. "Aura Glasses emit a signal whenever an Investigation team is in trouble. We were able to track you with that, but it echoed a bit in those caverns before we were finally able to track it."
"I told you to disable their Aura Glasses!" Honchkrow snapped at Glameow.
Glameow smirked and shrugged. "Must've slipped my mind."
"Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I won't be captured!" Honchkrow said.
"In case you haven't noticed, we've also got some flying type pokemon circling overhead. There's no escape for you!" Electivire said.
Honchkrow laughed. "Or so you think!" Honchkrow cried a loud sinister tune to the sky. It was so horrible that many of the pokemon there had to cover their ears. From all across the forest, a black mist rose into the sky. It was only when the mist got closer that they realize that it was hundreds of thousands of Murkrow. The Murkrow attacked the other flying type pokemon, and Honchkrow flew off before anyone could stop him.
A few of the pokemon had started crying after Honchkrow left. It seemed that Honchkrow really was as terrible as Mismagius when it came to mind tricks. The bad part was that everyone had to be prisoners for a few hours longer seeing as how it was hard to tell the bounty hunters from everyone else. But either way, everyone was a lot more cheerful than they must've been for a long time.
Electivire sent some other teams back into the cave to get the remaining bounty hunters, including Ursaring and Teddiursa. They also called in some backup teams to get all of the more wild pokemon out of there. Electivire pointed out to them that it was one of the largest arrests of bounty hunters ever made. And not only that but they had been able to prove the rumors that bounty hunters were forcing pokemon to fight.
"So what are you going to do about that thing around your neck?" Electivire asked Aamira.
Aamira put her hands to her neck and felt the metal collar. "I had almost forgotten about this. Well, I don't know what the odds would be if someone found the key, but I think I'll just keep it."
"There's no key…" Glameow said under her breath. "Why did you think we never took it off?"
"Why do you want to keep it?" Quill asked. "Don't you just want to put all of this behind us?"
"That's the last thing I want." Aamira said. "There are other bounty hunter organizations out there and I made a promise that when I got out of there I would help track down and catch bounty hunters."
"You technically already have." Electivire said.
"This doesn't count! I want to actually do something. It's hard to believe I didn't even want to be an Investigation Team member when we first started out, but now I really want to do something. And for us to become a famous team like everyone else wants to. I just want to put all this saving the world stuff behind us and become famous in a more normal way. Though I wonder if that's even possible for us."
"You don't think Honchkrow was telling the truth when he said that someone sabotaged that machine, do you?" Quill asked.
"Wait, Aamira can tell when someone's lying." Glameow said.
Aamira nodded. "It's unfortunate, but he's probably such a good liar that it would be hard to tell anyway, so I don't really know."
"Oh, I just realized something." Quill said. "Electivire, Glameow was the one who got us into this mess, but then she helped us out and we caught all of these bounty hunters. So is she going to be in trouble?"
"Now there's a good question." Electivire said. "It's true we can't just let her roam free. A lot of past bounty hunters go back after a while so we can't be sure she's really turned a new leaf. But if Aamira really can tell when someone's lying, Glameow's technically not a bad pokemon right now, so we can't send her to prison either, especially considering what she helped to accomplish here."
"Why not let her join our team?" Aamira asked. "We can keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't turn back into a bounty hunter."
"Yea right." Glameow smirked. "You just don't want to be the only girl member on your team anymore."
Aamira laughed nervously. "Yea, you're right."
"Aww! I guess that means I won't be your bestest friend anymore?" Quill asked Aamira sarcastically.
Glameow had obviously missed the sarcasm. "Quiet, rodent!"
"Hey, you don't have to talk to him like that!" Aamira said.
"And does the puppy yap a lot too?" Glameow asked Aamira sarcastically.
Glameow and Aamira stared at each other for a moment before finally realizing something important that they had missed.
"I think we might have overlooked something…" Aamira said. "Something really important."
"In that case of course Glameow can join Team Sleuth!" Electivire said.
"Hey, look on the bright side." Machop appeared behind them suddenly. He seemed to be in a really cheerful mood. "Now you're not alone anymore, Aamira! Now everyone on our team has someone to fight with!"
The four of them laughed.
Quill smirked. "A laid back feline and a serious quick tempered canine both in one team and me sort of stuck in the middle… This should be… interesting… to say the least."