Me: I know I'm a little late with this, but I had to update on this exact day because it's one of my best friend's birthday! And I just had to make her wait until today for the next chapter! Happy Birthday, Max!

Gardevoir:

Me: *looks around* I wonder where Gardevoir is. She usually never misses a chance to ridicule me.

Gardevoir:

Me: *still waiting for her to appear* Well then, I guess she's not showing up. Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way. Just my OC Amber and the plot of this story.

Chapter Six: Red

I dashed through the forest, my vision clouded by a crimson haze. I had to find her. She was here somewhere. I tripped and fell as the ground shook violently below me but kept going, refusing to stop. The trees seemed to pulse faintly with a strange red light, and the ground threatened to buckle beneath my feet. There was no sound other than the ominous rumbling that sent a shudder down my back as I ran.

I searched through the trees for any sign of her but was only greeted with sinister shadows that flickered across my path like phantoms in the dark of the night. I could feel them tugging at my clothes, trying to hold me back from reaching her. Frustratingly evading their clutches, I finally broke through the trees to where a body was floating in mid-air.

"Yellow!" I paid no attention to the darkening atmosphere as I rushed to her. The wind from my stride swept over her still form and gently knocked her hat off onto the ground. I breathed in sharply when I saw it was soaked in blood that was dripping from her limp head.

Panic overwhelmed me as I jumped to drag her down to me and found that she was too high. Every thump of my feet meeting the ground again seemed to elicit more rumbling from the forest and force more blood to pour from her hair.

I paused when I saw her hand clutching something. I couldn't see what it was, but a second later, her grip on it slacked, and the item slipped between her fingers. Holding out my own hands, I caught the tiny object and froze when I saw it.

A gold and silver yin-yang pendent.

The roar of the forest abruptly escalated. I snapped out of my trance at the sudden change in time to see the trees bow down around the clearing. All the leaves literally melted off the branches into cerise blood that quickly filled the area. The liquid gushed around my feet, steadily rising to my knees within seconds. I had another moment to look at the symbol in my palm before it reached my neck and flooded over me. Flailing, I began to drown as the pool of blood dragged me down into its eerie depths where nothing but darkness awaited me.

I awoke with a gasp, cold sweat running down my muddy back. I guess I'd sat up too fast, though, as I took in the pain and winced. My stomach felt like a Tauros had rammed into it; the faint fire burning in my right shoulder hinted at another injury; and judging from all the cuts and welts covering me, I had a feeling that those three guys had a fun time with me while I was unconscious. Sensing a hand on my arm, I looked to the side to see Black sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed I was currently stretched out on. His hair and skin were slightly burned, and there were also lots of tiny bruises and bandages all over him.

"Red, calm down," he said, firmly pushing me back into the pillow. "You're fine."

Lying into the cushion, I shook my head. That had been a weird dream. The trees and the blood and Yellow…oh my Arceus.

Yellow.

Shoving aside the sheets, I jumped up and raced for the door, leaving Black to run after me. I pulled open the door and hurried into the hallway where Mom and Amber were strangely sleeping with their heads against the wall until I sprinted past them. They too joined Black as I checked the windows of the rooms, searching for a certain blonde-haired girl.

Finally, I saw four familiar heads of varying brown and red standing around a bed that Yellow was lying in with Pika and Chuchu spread out at her feet. Ignoring the additional pain I was causing to myself, I barged in, and all the conscious people whipped around in surprise to see me standing there. White, sporting similar wounds as Black, was seated next to Yellow, holding her hand with anxious eyes. Behind her leaning against the wall was Silver, and at the end of the bed stood Green with his arm around a very upset Blue.

White was the first to react. "Red? What are you doing awake?"

I made my way to the free side of Yellow's bed and said, "I came to check on Yellow. Is she okay?"

"Of course not, look at her!" Blue shouted in distress, totally out of character for her. Yellow's head was wrapped in a white bandage that I could see was stained red in the back where she had been bleeding earlier. As I looked her over for any other major injuries, Blue yelled again. "What happened?"

"I'm not too sure," I admitted. "There were these guys and Yellow and Pika and Chuchu were in trouble. I tried to save them but ended up getting shot with a tranquilizer dart!" Shaking my head, I told her, "I don't know what happened after that."

"I do," came Black's voice from the doorway. He entered the room with my mom and Amber behind him. At the sight of my brother, I stiffened. There it was, around his neck—the yin-yang he'd been wearing earlier that was in my dream. I was still staring at it as Black continued. "White and I were following you guys, and we found them before they could execute whatever it was they were trying to do."

"Kidnap them obviously!" Blue shrieked. Everyone looked at her. "Why else would they give Yellow a concussion and shoot Red?"

My head snapped back to Yellow. "She has a concussion?" I asked fretfully. That hit must have been worse than I thought.

"Yes! She's been unconscious for the past twelve hours just like you!" Blue started breathing fast. Everyone looked at her worriedly, even Green who usually didn't show much reaction to what went on around him. He suggested that she calm down, but Blue just exploded at him. "I will not calm down! My best friend has just been attacked! How can I be relaxed at a time like this?"

"Blue," Green said. "It's three in the morning, you've refused to rest since you arrived, and you're starting to freak out—badly. You need to get some sleep." He picked up her hat and waved to us all. "I'm taking her back to my place; we'll see you guys tomorrow. Give Yellow our best when she wakes up."

"No!" Blue pulled out of his grasp. "I'm not about to leave her alone and let those people come back to get her! There's no one to watch over her because everyone's already left to go somewhere else and Black, White, and Red are still recovering from their own injuries!"

"I can watch her," Amber stated from where he stood across the room. "I wouldn't mind staying up if it makes you feel better."

"And I appreciate that, but you're only one person!" She argued. "You wouldn't stand a chance if those people decide to ambush because you'd be alone!"

Silver got up and walked over. Grabbing Blue's arm, he said, "Nee-san, stop it. I've seen his Pokemon, and I know he'd be as capable as Red of taking care of these people. And just because Red, Black, and White are hurt, doesn't mean they won't help Amber protect Yellow."

Blue looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I know, I'm just worried."

He took her hat from Green and placed it on her head. "I realize that, but you're not doing any good by fussing with a sleep-deprived brain. Let's go; I promise Yellow will be here tomorrow."

The brunette stared at him for a second before looking down and shaking her head. Gently taking her hand, he told us good-bye and pulled Blue through the door, leaving Green to follow them.

As the door clicked shut, Amber regarded us all questioningly. "Is she going to be all right?"

I glanced at him at his pendent again. "Yeah, it's just that Yellow's like a sister to her, and Blue knows what it's like to get kidnapped. She doesn't want that to happen to Yellow."

Amber discreetly turned to glance out the dark window at the forest just outside the Viridian City Pokemon Center, hiding the necklace from my vision. Narrowing my eyes, I looked back at Yellow. Her eyebrows were creased lightly, and she was just barely beginning to fidget in her sleep.

"So where are the others?" I asked.

White spoke up. "Ruby told me he and Sapphire were leaving from Vermilion tonight with Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum to head to Sinnoh. He said Sapphire had dragged him into a second bet or something?"

I nodded my head, remembering the first one which had been what brought them together. Then Black said, "And I heard from Crystal that she was heading back to Johto to help Professor Elm with a project. Emerald went with her, and Gold said, 'Well, if shorty here is going, then I am, too!'"

I grinned slightly at Gold's protectiveness. What made it funny was that he didn't even realize what he was doing. Turning back to Amber, I questioned, "And why are you here with Mom?"

"I've been spending the day catching up. It was nice to see her again after all this time," he mused aloud. "When we heard you were in the hospital, we rushed on over." Just then, Nurse Joy walked into the room and saw that White, Black, and I were out of our beds.

"Now," she told us sternly. "You've just been injured, and you're all up and about. I can't allow that. I'm going to have to ask you all to go to your rooms."

Amber strolled over to her. "I'll make sure they go back, but might I ask if it's alright for me stay here with Yellow? Blue's worried about her and wants someone to watch over her."

Nurse Joy thought for a moment before replying, "I suppose. Just make sure that if anything happens, come alert me at once."

"Yes, ma'am," he told her before opening the door as she walked out. Closing it behind her, he went over to where my mom had fallen asleep again in a chair. Gently waking her up, he pulled her arm over his shoulder. "I'm going to take her up to the place I rented here and keep her there for the night. The Pikachu's can stay there, too, while you guys rest." He started towards the door with Mom as he said, "It's probably time to head off to your rooms."

Black and White stood up to follow them out of the room. Standing up myself, I looked down at Yellow and watched her begin to toss and turn even more. I didn't want her having bad dreams so I bent down and kissed her gently on the forehead, whispering, "Good night, Yellow."

Gradually, her face smoothed out, and I quietly backed out of the room where Black was waiting with a smirk on his face. Blushing, I spun around and started heading back to my room. On my way, I passed by the front desk where Amber was talking with Nurse Joy and supporting Mom.

"Here you are," Nurse Joy happily said, handing Amber a keycard. "Room 2A."

I watched shocked as Amber thanked her and headed on up with Mom, Pika, and Chuchu right at his heels. Didn't he already rent out Room 2A? As he disappeared into the hotel part of the building, I couldn't help but wonder. He said that he'd spent all day with Mom, but how come I saw him heading into the Viridian Forest earlier? And why had he hid his pendent from me back in Yellow's room like he didn't want me to see it?

I shook my head and started toward my room. I couldn't believe I was saying this, but Amber was up to something. And I was determined to find out just what it was.

The sliding door opened with a swish as three men strode into the room. Their footsteps echoed on the linoleum floor, and each one of them moved stiffly as they came up to the desk and bowed.

"Master," said the one in the middle. "We-we have failed you." His voice shook slightly. "We have failed to bring the girl."

There was a tense silence before the chair behind the desk spun around to reveal the dark man. He was calm, his eyes showing understanding which scared the men more than the fury they had assumed would be present.

"As was expected," he said to their dumbfound expressions. "Most first attempts often end in failure so it went just as I thought it would."

"Then what was the point of it?" The left man asked. He shuffled slightly as he was still awaiting the punishment he knew was to come.

The man in the chair turned back to the monitor hanging on the wall behind his desk. On the screen were various colored dots that stood still and moved around according to the person it corresponded with. Silently running an agitated hand through his hugely spiked hair, he sighed. "One of the most important things to know is your enemy. And by your contact earlier today, we were able to gather very useful information about them—especially the boy."

"But sir," said the one on the right. "You have already seen them both before. What don't you know about him or the girl?" The dark man's arm was visible to them, and the grunt immediately shut up as he saw it grow tense.

"What you say is true, but it has been a long while since I've paid any close attention to these two or their companions. I need to find out what has happened in my absence." Watching the dots move on the screen, he told them, "You may go now. Carry on as usual."

The men hesitated a moment, surprised that they were leaving unscathed. They took advantage of their good fortune though and quickly exited the room. On the way out, they ran into the young woman who watched them scurry off into the hallway. She scoffed in disgust as she passed through the doorway and walked up to where the dark man sat. Taking her seat in front of him at the monitor's keyboard, she began pulling out the files that contained the material they had collected during today's attempted kidnapping.

"I take it they were unsuccessful," she said, her fingers tapping away on the keys.

"Oh, yes." He saw her open up the recorded videos of the battle his minions had lost. As he watched Red's commands, he studied the boy's battling techniques and well-raised Pokemon. He's gotten much stronger since I last saw him. "But now we know how much of a problem he'll present. With any luck, the injuries my men have fixed him with shall set the boy back for a little while."

Soon the tape ended, and the woman turned to face him. "So what's our next course of action?"

The dark man gave her a small smile. "Why attack them in the morning of course. Best to get them while their wounds are fresh."

"But what purpose does that serve?" she asked. "I'd say that we've gotten enough information to make accurate predictions for all of our plans. Besides, it's still too early to hope for the girl's capture."

His smile grew wider as he stood up and started towards the door. "Perhaps we'll get lucky this time," he said before reaching the door which swooshed open at his presence. The bright spots of light on the monitor continued to blink and move, creating shadows that danced across the woman's bewildered face as she watched her master leave the room.

Yellow

The first thing I noticed as I surfaced out of the darkness was how much my head hurt. The sheets rustled as I sat up and touched my forehead. I felt clothe beneath my fingers and moved to the back of my head where I found the bandage partially soaked. Pulling my hand back, it caught the light from the lamp on the stand by my bed which revealed the liquid red staining my palm.

I stared at it with wide eyes before looking around at the hospital room I was in. The lamp was giving off a soft glow that illuminated the dark night streaming in through the windows, giving the room a warm yet slightly eerie feel. I must have been out for some time. What happened?

Intent on finding someone who could tell me what was going on, I slowly turned and stood up. My hand gripped the bed's railing as a wave of lightheadedness struck, and I waited a few minutes for it to subside. Once I had a clear head again, or at least as clear as I could get with this kind of injury, I shuffled towards the door and opened it to reveal a dim passageway.

Searching in the other rooms' windows, I swiftly found Black and White across from each other with Red in the one next to White's. All three of them were asleep, and not wanting to disturb them, I headed towards the Pokemon Center's lobby. As I entered the brightly lit area, I sat down on a couch to look at the forest through the nearby clear front doors. Nurse Joy was temporarily gone for the moment so I had the room to myself.

I stayed there for a while, watching the night outside. Very often, Butterfree would flutter in the diminishing moonlight, and a few Rattata scurried across the edge of the forest, disappearing into the dark shrubs. The trees were swaying in a gentle breeze, and after wiping a little perspiration from my face, I decided it might be a good idea to get some fresh air.

The doors slid open silently as I drifted out into the dark away from the Pokemon Center. The setting full moon cast a silver light over everything, and the cool wind soothed my heated skin. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the comforting atmosphere, not even noticing the sound of the doors opening and footsteps approaching me.

"Yellow, what are you doing out here?!"

I jerked around too quickly—I was still injured after all—and fell over. Before I could hit the ground though, I felt someone grab my shoulders and steady me back to my feet. I shook my head to rid it of its dizziness and looked up to see Red's brother holding me up.

"Amber? What are—ah!" I grabbed my head again as bombs went off inside it. I could only sense that I was being lowered to my knees as the throbbing in my mind began to block out everything around me. I don't know how long I kneeled there with my hands on my head before the pounding beat fell to a mild pulse.

"Yellow!" I looked up into his anxious orange-gold eyes at the sound of his voice. "Do you hear me alright? Can you see me clearly?"

I removed my hands and slowly nodded my head. "Just fine." His frown melted away as he breathed in relief. "What's going on?"

Helping me stand up, he let go as soon as he thought I was well enough to stand on my own. "Yellow, you had a concussion. There were these guys who tried to…well, kidnap you basically. You really shouldn't have come out here by yourself."

I stared at him in disbelief. Although, when my head started throbbing lightly again, I couldn't help but agree. "Where's Red? Pika, Chuchu? And what happened to Black and White?"

"Whoa, slow down," he said, noticing my pain and steering me back towards the Pokemon Center. "They're in the Center, too. They got hurt, but they'll be okay. As for Pika and, Chuchu was it? They're up in the room I rented out. Enough of that though! You need to get back to your room and rest. The doctors still haven't told us how serious your concussion is yet, and you obviously are still having symptoms."

We were about twenty feet from the entrance when a twig snapped behind us, and Amber spun around. I did the same but thanks to my foggy brain, much slower than him. In the gray early-dawn light stood a group of five guys and two girls. They seemed like ordinary Viridian citizens except for the dark looks on their faces. Just like at the commercial shoot, I got that feeling and knew these guys were nothing good.

"Amber…"

He nodded stiffly as the group advanced toward us. They silently maneuvered around us, encompassing us in a circle and cutting off the entrance to Pokemon Center and any means of escape. Amber gently pushed my small body behind him and tried his best to block me from them. Facing the group with a glare, he reached for his belt in a matter that didn't attract their attention. "What do you want?"

A tall girl with white-blonde pixie-cut hair stepped forward slightly, twirling a Pokeball in her hand. "Oh nothing. Just to talk." A devilish smile spread across her face. "You know, about the girl and how we're taking her."

Amber's glare hardened considerably, and he whipped out two Pokeballs as the blonde tossed hers into the air along with her companions. After several pops of light, I could see we were surrounded by two Haunter, a Gengar, a couple of Drowzees, a Hypno, and beside the girl, a flittering Venomoth. Instantaneously, Amber threw his to reveal Ki and the Houndoom.

The blonde girl laughed. "Oh come now. Why not make this easy and save yourself the trouble? It's not you we want, you know."

Amber answered with a venomous look in his eyes while his Pokemon growled and hissed at her. Hesitating not even for a moment, the girl's team attacked. All of them told their Pokemon to use Hypnosis which came straight for us.

"They're trying to knock us out!" Amber yelled. "If any of the moves get too close, avoid them the best you can!" The Hypnosis had almost reached us when he shouted, "Ki, Double Team!" The shiny Pikachu immediately multiplied, its shimmering fake copies taking the hits and disappearing. Once the group saw this, they sent out Hypnosis again, hoping to make it past Ki as he continued making copies of himself to block the attacks.

While her members were busy with Ki, the blonde walked up to where Amber and I stood in the middle of the battlefield. "Kudos to you," she smirked. "You've managed to deal with six people using only one Pokemon." She placed a palm beneath her chin and looked at us with fake worry. "But how long will it last?"

She was right; Ki was already showing signs of strain from repeating Double Team so many times over and over. Raising her arm, the Venomoth descended and lightly landed on it. "My name is Melany. Make sure you know it well for we'll be seeing each other a lot from now on. Now's not the time for chitchat, though; I need to be taking you back to Master, young lady," she said to me. "Venomoth, Sleep Powder!"

Glittering green powder fell from its wings and floated on the air in our direction as the Pokemon soared toward the sky. The particles didn't get too close as Amber told Houndoom, "Flamethrower!" Fire burst from its mouth, disintegrating the dust into nothing.

Melany's grin dropped, and she focused her challenging gaze at Amber. "So you want to do this the hard way, huh? Fine. Just remember, you asked for it. Psybeam!" Venomoth's eyes glowed white as a beam of light shot from it at Houndoom. The move however bounced right off as if it couldn't even touch the flame dog.

It was Amber's turn to smirk as Houndoom started running. "Don't you know? Psychic has no effect on Dark types. Hound, Fire Fang!" Leaping into the air, Hound latched itself onto Venomoth's wing, flames licking out from its glowing mouth. The Bug Pokemon shrieked in pain as the fire spread across it, leaving a burn as Hound dropped back to the ground. It flittered down to Melany where it hovered above her head and glowered menacingly at us.

"Not bad," she complimented with a shake of her head. "But you'll have to do better than that if you want to win." The wind began to pick up then, tossing Melany's short hair around her face as the dawn's light glowed even brighter behind her. "Silver Wind!"

Venomoth gave a flap of its wings, and Amber, Hound, and I were thrown back, falling to the ground under the strength of the wind. It was too much for Ki who was weakened from his own battle, and he fell down, effectively getting blown to where we were huddling and trying not to get driven back any farther. Melany shouted, "Sleep Powder!" and the gusts fell to be replaced with the green dust again. It traveled toward us fast, and I turned away, knowing there was nothing to stop it from hitting us. Right as it was in range, Hound and Ki jumped out in front of Amber and me and took the powder for us. The next instant, they dropped to the ground asleep.

"No!" I tried running to them, but Amber held me back.

"Don't worry about them!" He screamed. "Just duck!"

Duck? He slammed me onto the ground on my stomach as he popped open another Pokeball and shouted, "Ice Shard!" Joining me, he covered my head as sharp blades of ice shot out from above us in all directions, slamming into the enemy's Pokemon and downing them all in an instant. After waiting a moment, he slowly let go and helped me up. My eyes widened as I saw Melany's team sprawled across the clearing defeated. Turning to Amber, I saw him kneeling beside Hound who had already woken up and a still knocked out Ki. Floating above his shoulder was the Froslass, quaintly taking in its surroundings.

Hearing a noise, I spun around and tensed when I saw Melany stand up with her Venomoth, scarlet blood streaming from the cuts on her arms and face. Oddly enough, she was still smiling. Amber came up to me as he noticed her presence. "You really are good," the blonde girl said. She glanced down and mumbled something I couldn't hear before whipping her head back up to us. "This was fun, but it's running too long, and I have someone to give this girl to." She pulled out another Pokeball which became an Aggron who roared at us upon its release. Pointing her finger, she ordered, "Venomoth, Signal Beam! Aggron, Hyper Beam!"

Amber shoved me behind him again as he shouted, "Hound, Flamethrower! Snowy, Shadow Ball!"

Orange and fuchsia energy met with fire and darkness as the four moves collided in the middle of the field. Each Pokemon fought for the upper hand as they fired their moves at one another. The tension was building fast and broke in no time at all, creating a huge explosion that threw Amber and me back with his Pokemon. I crashed into the ground, the air leaving my lungs in an instant. As I gasped for a breath, I saw Amber spring up and run off into the thick smoke to look for Melany. It was a few minutes before I could breathe again, but once I was able to, I stood up to follow him.

By now the smoke had cleared a little and was only a thin haze. Looking around, I was shocked to find that there were no bodies strewn across the ground and no trace of the people who had attacked us. I saw Amber's figure ahead and rushed to him, hoping he hadn't been hurt. When I reached him, he was staring at the forest and didn't realize I was there until I said, "Where'd they go?"

He blinked at me and frowned. Turning away, he mumbled, "They got away."

His shoulders were visibly tense, and I got the feeling he thought he was responsible for it. "Amber, don't feel bad; it's not your fault."

He only grew more rigid and started walking back to his Pokemon. I was about to follow him when I saw something in the grass that caught the morning light. Bending down gently and holding my head that was beginning to pulse again, I picked it up and stared. It was a simple object, really, just some white thread woven in a plain pattern. However, attached to it was a flat black circle with a bold TR engraved in red right in the middle of it.

Team Rocket?!

I quickly shoved the necklace into my pocket as Amber started calling for me and hurried back to where he stood waiting with Snowy, Hound, and Ki. As I knelt beside his Pokemon and healed them, the haze finally cleared up for good, and the sunlight turned from orange-red to gold, signaling the start to the day. I decided to look at it later when I had a minute to myself. I couldn't hold back a shudder though as we saw Red, Black, and White burst through the Pokemon Center doors and rush up to us with Pika and Chuchu behind them.

Was it really possible that that evil organization was coming back?

Gardevoir: *enters room and slams door shut*

Me: Where have you been? You missed the disclaimer and Max's Happy Birthday!

Gardevoir: *shoves box in my arms* Stop your whining, and just open it.

Me: *lifts lid and gasps* You didn't!

Gardevoir: Unfortunately, I did.

Me: *takes out hat and puts on head* You got me a crazy hat since I couldn't find one at the festival! You really do care!

Gardevoir: Hey now. Don't go giving the viewers the wrong idea. I still find you incredibly annoying and fun to insult.

Me: You're just a big push-over! Come on! Help me tell Max again. Happy Birthday!

Gardevoir: *sigh* Happy Birthday, Max. I don't know who you are, but have a great day!

Me: I know it's Max's birthday, but reviews would be a great present for me! Haha!