-Michayla-

The world spun around me as I lied awake at the darkest of nights. The stars seemed to hide behind gloomy clouds, and the sea washed recklessly against the coast. My last talk with Giovanni was what worried me the most, every time I reviewed it in my head it seemed worse. Perhaps I was just overreacting, but something definitely didn't sit right with my gut.

Suddenly I heard a knock on the outside of my door, I leaped up to open the door. Cyrus stood in a tired daze at the frame, his face slightly plagued of guilt. Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms and lifted my brow in suspicion. His awkward expression faded slowly into a frown as he sighed. I grumbled to myself as I realized that I'd have to deal with something dumb again.

"What do you want?" I asked in a tired daze.

Cyrus explained plainly, "I apologize for my behavior the other day. I shouldn't have been so brash on your sensitive personalities."

I lifted a brow and grumbled, "That it?"

"Okay, okay, I'm a huge jerk and I deserve to be punished. Just can you forgive me? I brought a gift as a peace offering." Cyrus stuttered as he held out a present.

The gift was wrapped immaculately and had beautiful blue ribbons on the top. The wrapping was a silvery color, it reminded me very much of his true nature, serene yet cruel. Slowly I unwrapped the gift paper and peeled open the box to reveal a Pokeball inside. I hesitated for a moment as I peered up at Cyrus confused, he just stood stoically as I observed the capsule.

Not waiting any longer I revealed the Pokemon through a loud, shimmering burst of air. It sparkled brightly with shades of teal. It was a shiny Piplup. I screeched out loud in excitement, my squeals echoing throughout the entire building. Forgetting my anger for Cyrus I latched a hug onto his side, and he awkwardly patted my head like he was devoid of any emotion.

"Thank you so much, it's so cool!" I cheered to him.

"It's a boy, I figured you'd like him. I found him all alone for some reason by the shore. I figured you'd enjoy him as company, and that maybe it would make up for my mishaps." Cyrus explained.

I giggled in a giddy way, "No, this definitely makes up for everything! Though Giovanni is probably upset with you still."

Cyrus growled, "He's a stubborn, little child."

"Whatever! Anyway you get out I want to have some time to myself." I probed with a playful smile. "I will name this little one, King!"

With that Cyrus shrugged his shoulders and left my room. Though something told me that wasn't everything. Out of my own stupid curiosity, I waited for him to go back to his business and then left to snoop around. With quiet steps, I sneaked around the halls and corners of the building, each corridor looking similar to the last. Then I was able to find Cyrus' main living quarters. King followed closely as he cocked his head in confusion.

Cyrus' room was so much nicer than I imagined, which initially I believed to be rather plain. There were wonderful intricate designs of the legendary Pokemon Dialga, and Palkia on the walls, and there were desks perfectly organized full of scientific doodads. I had not the slightest clue of what any of these things were, or what they did, but I desperately desired to play with everything. Holding back that temptation, I continued to snoop around.

I pulled out a small drawer on his main desk and found about a 'million' files. I wondered what they were all meant for, but I didn't really want to read through all of them. However one bright, red file caught my eye, I hovered my hand over it for a second, but was quickly interrupted by a loud slam behind me.

"Looking for something?" Giovanni asked eerily.

I leaped in fear and whimpered, "No, I was just curious!"

He eyed me for awhile and then spoke, "You shouldn't be in here, Cyrus wouldn't be very pleased to see you snooping around."

I felt insulted as I barked, "Why would you care? All the mean things he said to you!"

"It's not that I like Cyrus, but we do have a mutual agreement of terms. I'd like for you to keep out of our endeavors." He explained calmly.

I challenged him, "Come on, what in the world could I possibly not allowed to know?"

"You're really begging for trouble, aren't you?" He spat passive aggressively.

"Tell me!" I probed.

The room went quiet as we stood off in silence, Giovanni leaned into the door frame in an creepily lax way. My body felt freezing, but I could see that King was ready to fight for me if he had to. However the poor little Piplup was barely strong enough to fight off a fly, he would only get himself wounded. The stagnant air made it feel even worse than before, but I remained in place like a deer in headlights. Finally he let out a gentle sigh.

Giovanni asked, "You really want to know, don't you?"

"Yes, I do!" I proceeded to bombard him.

He sighed gently, "Alright then. We're returning to your world. Figured we wouldn't tell you since it would worry you, I assure you though for research purposes only."

My heart pounded against my chest as the words hit my ears, I couldn't believe it. All the smooth talking, and grooming of making us feel safe and Giovanni just suddenly blows this up. I felt used and betrayed, my body swelled with rage from being so mislead. However instead of exploding, I fizzled out into a weak spark that just puffed out a light, frustrated sigh.

"Promise me that you won't hurt anyone." I pleaded in a submitting way.

Giovanni's gaze changed to one of slight surprise, he probably expected me to explode on him. However I knew that he wasn't exactly the easiest person to reason with, so instead I resorted to a puppy like demeanor. I felt pathetic, but it seemed like it worked on him. His strong gaze weakened into a sympathetic one, and I could feel that the air no longer felt hostile.

"I promise." Giovanni confirmed after much hesitation.

I sighed in relief, "That's all I needed to hear."

******

-Britney-

"Fight harder!" Ghetsis screamed at the top of his lungs.

I struggled underneath his sword as I pushed back with one I borrowed. It was only your basic broadsword, with no extra details, while Ghetsis' sword was particularly cooler. My arms shook as they began to numb from the pain, but I pushed back with all of my might, throwing his sword off of mine. He doubled back with a sly grin, and advanced with a swipe at my feet. I leaped and threw back at him, my entire body exhausted.

With weak limbs, I attacked Ghetsis without any power in my thrust. It landed weakly against the end of his sword, and he pushed me back into the same position I was in previously. He used his height against me, I was too short to push back a fair amount.

"Come on! Fight back!" Ghetsis demanded once more.

Out of breath, I whimpered, "I can't."

Ghetsis pushed with more strength against my sword as I fell to my knees. I let out a cry for mercy and dropped the sword, heaving through my lungs. I was exhausted.

Ghetsis shook his head and laughed, "Come on now, I was only using one arm."

"I'm not good at fighting." I huffed.

He disagreed, "You didn't give up until you were at your breaking point, that's a start."

"I'll never learn this, I can't do it. I didn't imagine this to be so darn difficult!" I scolded myself.

He chuckled as he helped me up, "When a time may come where you don't have me, your Pokemon, or your friends you will have to learn to fight. Understand?"

I sighed, "That time might never come though!"

"Better to be prepared than to be left helpless. Come on." He claimed as he walked towards the door of the open room.

Ghetsis called to his Hydreigon, and it quickly came charging through the doors. Its massive heads and body writhed in twisted rage as it took away the swords and gear we were using. The massive creature could be heard from miles away, and it was more than unsettling. I followed behind Ghetsis like a puppy and observed the halls as we walked. It was interesting, but still felt lonely with so much room.

Minutes after my failure to train I darted to the outdoors to meet the rest of my friends, the whole gang was there. All of them had their Pokemon out with them as well, looks like I was missing out on a fun time. My stomach grumbled as I impatiently glared at the picnic they were already eating from. The rich aroma of fresh bread tickled my nose, and my mouth began to water.

Archie laughed as he pet his Sharpedo, "Are ye' hungry?"

"Very, may I join you?" I asked politely.

Colress piped in, "Yes you may, we were just conversing about where you've been all day. So care to fill us in?"

Vicki confirmed, "Yes, please do."

"I got some sword lessons from Ghetsis here. It was harder than it looked." I explained with a sigh.

Every drew their attentions to Ghetsis as he stood quietly behind me, he shrugged. Colress shook his head, and I could see Maxie attempting to keep his meal away from his hungry Camerupt. I chuckled and joined in on the fun, letting out my Carvanha, and my Tepig. Both of them cheered at the sight of food and ran to it in seconds flat. I gorged in on some sandwiches as well while they were at it.

Vicki brought up my Pokemon, "Oh yeah, you never mentioned the name of your Carvanha. Scary looking thing."

I piped up with joy, "His name is Riptide! Sounds cool right?"

"Sound awfully typical." Colress teased.

"Whatever! You know it's cool!" I retorted as I pet Riptide.

We all returned to eating our food as silence filled the air. The only sound heard was the gentle breeze, and the noise of munching from our noisier eaters, like Oinkers. Once I felt full I rolled onto my back in bliss, that felt much better after that difficult workout. My eyes rested for a moment as I listened to the music of nature.

"Ghetsis what were you doing training Britney?" Colress asked suspiciously.

Ghetsis replied silkily, "A girl needs to know how to defend herself."

Colress lifted a brow and snicked, "With swords?"

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I'm just looking out for her best interest." He confirmed stoically.

Colress snorted, "Ghetsis I hope you haven't been going all out on her, you're way bigger and stronger it's unfair."

Ghetsis' voice shook nervously, "I have been doing what I thought best."

I poked in with a hearty laugh, "It sure felt like you were trying to kill me!"

"Yep, I thought so." Colress confirmed.

Everyone snickered at the ridiculousness of the situation, all except Vicki and Maxie. The two seemed rather down lately, and I couldn't place my finger on it. It made me worry for their well being, but I didn't know how to approach them. What was going on inside your heads?

Before I had a chance to think on it more, I observed Archie being tackled and licked by his Sharpedo. It was the oddest thing I saw in awhile, being a strange shark like creature. Although everything here was strange, so I dismissed it. They all seemed so pleasant together, but Ghetsis never seemed to spend quality time with his Pokemon, or anyone for that matter. At least some people could be happy with what they had, I adored watching all of them play together childishly.

******

END CHAPTER

Authors Note: Okay so yeah shortish chapter XD, Sorry for a late update it's been busy for work with me right now. I'm trying to pull some strings here in these chapters. Hopefully I can also take requests from people if they'd like certain things heh. Hopefullybe able to update again soon, I won't give up on you guys! :D