Hello everyone, writer here. This chapter is shorter than the rest, but I had to put it in as it is a lead up to the next chapter, which has some very important points in it. Sorry for the shorter chapter, will try to get the next chapter out as fast as I can, but I will prioritize quality. Anyway, on to the story.

Chapter 7: The Third Try

After the three arrived back in Littleroot, Brendan and May got to work sending out letters and emails to all their old friends and allies. "Okay, I've sent word to Blue, Red, Gold, Silver, Emerald, Serena and her gang," Brendan said to May, "Have you sent anything to Dawn, Black, White, Bianca, Nate, and Calem?"

"Yeah, I have, plus all available gym leaders," May responded, "But even if all them respond, which I don't think they will, I fear it won't be enough. Calem disappeared 13 and a half years ago, Bianca hasn't battled since she became professor Juniper's assistant, Gold went into seclusion after the Corps showed up, and Serena's matured by now with a daughter and a son, even moving to a different region, and I doubt she'll want to put them in danger. She took Calem's loss pretty hard."

"Can you blame her? The two were married after all."

"Wait," Lillie said, "You mentioned more names earlier, like Crystal and Green. Why aren't you calling them to?"

Brendan and May looked at each other and said in unison, "Because they joined the Crops."

Lillie nodded, and said, "And you don't want them knowing you're getting your old friends back together."

The two nodded. Brendan went and checked his bag and sighed. "Almost out of hyper potions and full restores. Lillie, can you go into town and pick some up? I'll give you the money."

Lillie nodded and Brendan handed her the money. "Stay safe," he said, "We still don't know why the Corps is after you."

Lillie walked out of the house and breathed. She had been trying hard to remain calm, but she was reaching her limit for craziness. She just wanted to find Sun and go home. She walked on the route to Oldale town, when she stopped. She could swear someone was watching her. She looked around, but the only people on the route were two little children playing with a Zigzagoon.

Must be my nerves, she thought. She continued on her way to Oldale, the feeling not going away. She got to the town, where she was greeted by an old woman.

"Are you looking for something, miss?" asked the woman.

"Yeah, I'm looking for the mart."

The woman pointed at a blue store, and Lillie thanked her. When she walked into the feeling of her being watched only got stronger, but there was only the man working at the counter and a woman looking through what the store had. She, again, dismissed this as her just being jumpy. She walked over to where the store kept their potions, and grabbed about fifty hyper potions and thirty full restores, and walked to the counter.

"Hello," said the man, with an oddly familiar voice, "Will this be all?"

"Uh, yes, it will be…" Lillie said, then thought, Where do I know his voice? She decided to ponder it later, and she just looked around while the man tallied everything up. After a few seconds her gaze fell on the other woman in the story. She was wearing…

Oh no, Lillie thought, as she tried to make a run for the door. The woman was wearing the same red shirt and yellow skirt as the woman who broke into Brendan and May's house. She almost reached the door, when she felt a pain in her leg, immediately followed by drowsiness. She fell to the floor, where she was rolled over by the woman, who was holding a tranquilizer gun. The woman smiled and said, "Told you I'd be seeing you. Grunt, come get her. I'll call Lugia and have it pick us up in the route up north. Get her there without being noticed please." The man behind the counter walked up and picked her up, and that's when Lillie blacked out.