Me: Okay, I have a question.

Gardevoir: Alright. Shoot.

Me: Is it possible for a table to quack?

Gardevoir: *blinks* D-did you say quack?

Me: Yeah, like, what if a duck gets stuck inside a table. Then the table can quack!

Gardevoir: *facepalm* No, the table doesn't say quack; the duck in it does...if it's even possible for a duck to get stuck inside a table.

Me: No! The duck is like in the table so its now a part of the table so when it goes quack, the table goes quack!

Gardevoir: *sweatdrop* I really don't think that's how it goes.

Me: *crosses arms* Yes it is! Duck gets stuck in table! Table goes quack!

Gardevoir: Wait a minute. *narrows eyes* Are you trying to use troll logic on me?

Me: Hehe! No...I'm just trying to make a point! Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any possible way. Although I would like a table that quacks! Hehe!


Chapter Nine: Green

I leaned over the edge of the railing beside me, watching the crowds below with narrowed eyes as the other five filed out of the elevator onto the roof of the mall behind me.

Crystal had called my Pokegear after Kathy picked us up from the library yesterday, saying that she had some news on the green powder I'd sent a few days ago. Seeing as how Kathy didn't have a videophone, we'd decided to risk it and go to the Pokemon Center.

The six of us gathered around at the back edge of the open floor, the wind ruffling our hair as we made sure no one else was up here on the roof. After a moment, Red turned to Silver who was standing beside him and took a Pokeball from his belt. The redhead nodded. Bringing out one of his own, the two proceeded with the plan we'd made last night that would help us move through town undetected.

Poli and Weavile emerged with a flash of bright light and stood in front of their trainers ready to go.

"Poli, you know what to do," Red told him with a smile.

The Water type gave him a thumbs-up and raised his hands. A light film of water slowly appeared on his skin, and the back of my neck started to prickle as the humidity quickly increased. Thanks to Poli's Damp ability, the moisture in the air had become so thick that it was almost palpable.

Rubbing the dank space between his fingers, Silver gave a quick nod at Weavile, and the Pokemon let loose a soft Icy Wind that swept all around us, freezing the drops of water in mid-air and forming a fairly large cloud. Shivering slightly, everyone took out their Flying types as fast as they could while Red put away Poli and brought out Vee.

Weavile continued to keep the cloud from breaking down as we all climbed onto our aerial transportation, Vee jumping up on Aero's back with Red. Once everyone was in position, Weavile leapt on top of Honchcrow who was grabbing onto Silver's wrist, and we all instantly lifted off. As the roof of the mall began growing smaller, Vee's eyes started glowing with his Psychic move, and a very faint blue light washed over the cloud. Using his powers, Vee manipulated the condensed water so that it shrouded around our little airborne parade and completely blocked any view from us in any direction. And so, with Weavile continuously blowing a feeble Icy Wind to keep the cloud going and Vee flicking his psychic-powered tail to control it, we were able to fly around town without anybody knowing.

We had to travel slowly though so as not to attract too much attention, and I could tell that the faster flyers were having a more frustrated time trying to make their flying speed match the lagging crawl of the cloud. Me being one of them, I bared my teeth in annoyance at our slow advance and angrily looked down below through the puffy white barrier a while later to see that we were only halfway there when we could've already been walking through the doors if it was a normal day.

My thoughts wandered back to last night when the idea had been proposed by Blue, and I let go of the frown on my face for a moment as I reran it through my head. It was like she'd already thought ahead and had the plan ready. Or maybe it was a technique she'd come across recently. I shook my head and huffed. I had no clue. I could never tell with her.

Perched atop Jiggly on my left, said girl of my thoughts saw the scowl on my face and put her hand to her mouth with a merry laugh. "Can't take the relaxing ride, eh?"

I turned to her and frowned. "I don't do well with tedious things."

She giggled again and smirked. "See? This is when Jiggly really comes in handy."

I observed how natural it was for the Wigglytuff to just bob along through the air and how used to the leisurely pace Blue was. My eyes going back to hers, I scoffed and shook my head. "You fly like that way too often."

"Hey, now. I can travel fast, too," she reminded me with a point of her finger. "Blasty's really good at using his cannons for that."

I rolled my eyes, and she laughed lightly at me. "Oh, loosen up! We'll be there before you know it!"

Raising an eyebrow, I glanced down again and saw that we'd only moved another fifteen feet. "Yeah, I highly doubt that."

She pursed her lips before smiling again and asking me how the research went yesterday. We were a little separated from the others, and the wind helped cover our voices so I wasn't worried about them overhearing us and getting worried.

Unfortunately, Red and I hadn't found any ailments that seemed to match what was wrong with Yellow, and even after spending the entire afternoon on the computers, the only thing we went back to the mall knowing was that whatever it was Yellow had, it was either very uncommon or completely unknown to the internet world.

The ground gradually passed by unnoticed below us, and as Blue gave a final nod to this new information, my eyes widened in surprise when I saw that the Pokemon Center was just another block down the street.

Gently, we began to descend towards the vacant lot behind the big red building, only going a few miles an hour though to keep from becoming seen. When we finally touched down on the green summer's grass, Weavile ceased his shivering move, and the glow fell away from Vee's purple eyes. Without any cold air to freeze the evaporated water around us, the cloud dissipated in less than a minute, giving us enough to return our Pokemon and make sure that no one had followed us.

We filed down a side alley between the Center and its neighboring building, creeping quietly through the shadows until the main street sidewalk came up ahead. Blue peeped her head around the corner slowly, hair sweeping as she looked side to side. When she told us that it was clear, we merged into the crowd for a moment before jumping right back out and shooting for the big sliding doors.

"Well that was—" White huffed. "A little intense."

Red shrugged apologetically and led the others after me to the video phones. "Better safe than sorry."

They all crowded around as I sat down, and I turned to them with a tilted head. "Somebody might want to keep watch in case they actually did see us come in here."

Black instantly put his hand up and inconspicuously started for the front doors after I nodded. In the same moment, White's C-Gear started ringing, making us all jump as she hit the XTransceiver app in surprise.

"Director?!" She yelled out, attracting Black's attention from across the huge room.

She pressed the mute button and meekly held up her hands. "Sorry guys, but it's one of the workers from my business in Unova. I really have to take this."

"Just don't leave the Pokemon Center!" Blue called after her as she nodded and ran over to the lounge area where it was quieter.

"Alright," I said slowly, typing in Professor Elm's videophone number. "Here we go."

I could hear all four of us holding our breath as the screen went fuzzy searching for an answer from Crystal. The few minutes of silent waiting seemed to last forever, but finally there was a beep, and the tense atmosphere was turned down a notch as an image came to life on the monitor. I could sense one big sweatdrop among us at the person who answered.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Gold asked cheerfully from the other end of the line. He saw Silver trying to go unnoticed behind Blue, and his eyes widened along with his grin. "Silver! I've been trying to get a hold of you! Where've you been?"

The redhead huffed and rolled his eyes. "Where do you think?"

Gold slowly lost his smile and nodded. "Oh, right. How's she doing?"

"Not much has changed," I informed him, carefully leaving out the heart rate for later.

Gold frowned and looked away. "I don't think Crys is gonna like that."

Blue tilted her head. "How come?"

I heard a door open from behind the breeder, and a few seconds later, Emerald and Crystal joined him on the screen.

"Hi!" Emerald said excitedly, his long sleeves swishing as he waved.

"Sorry you had to answer to Gold," Crystal sighed. "Rald missed Ruby's birthday yesterday so he made me go find him another video phone."

"Hey! What's that supposed to—" Gold protested with a foot stomp before Emerald cut him off.

"Well, we were too busy yesterday, and you told me this one was reserved today," the blonde boy pointed out as Gold crossed him arms and simmered down.

Crystal sighed again and nodded. "I know, I know." Turning to face us, she made room in front of the monitor so the other two could also be included. "Any news?"

I shook my head. "We were hoping you had some. Isn't that why you wanted to talk?"

She didn't say anything, and Silver leaned in closer to watch as she went off screen for a moment. Even Gold and Emerald had caught the solemn bug, and my eyes widened. The blunette soon came back, and all our gazes were locked on the folder in her hands.

The girl took out one of the papers inside and bit her lip. "I would've gotten back to you sooner, but Emerald was right about being busy."

"That's okay," I told her, feeling the apprehension in the room rise.

"Well, I hope I haven't caused you too much trouble." I shook my head, and she looked away. "I know last time you told me that there were people coming after you and things were all serious, and I felt bad about making you guys wait this long, but it still took some time too—"

"Crys."

She froze at Gold's low voice.

"Just tell them."

Those three words had the four of us set in stone in an instant, his tone more paralyzing than when we had actually been turned into statues.

Crystal looked at him doubtfully before nodding in resolution. Emerald tried to give her an encouraging smile, and I could tell right away that something wasn't right.

"Alright. So let's just get to the point." She set her face and pulled out a little pouch from the folder containing the shimmering opaque green powder. "Yellow is currently incapable of reawakening. And we have a good feeling that this really is the cause of it."

I saw Red's eyes widen a little and mentally agreed. It was one thing for it to be a suspicion—it was another entirely as a guarantee.

"A-are you sure?" The black-haired boy asked anxiously.

Gold nodded before the girl beside him could respond. "Trust me. She's sure."

"Yeah," Emerald put in. "Crystal-chan and I ran a lot of tests."

I titled my head. "What kind of tests?"

Crystal ruffled through the folder again, pulling out a thick packet. "Mostly basic ideas. Composition, symptoms…"

My eyes narrowed as she trailed off, staring blankly at the results. "What?"

She shook her head and tried to smile. "It's nothing. I'm just surprised by what we came up with is all."

It was like we'd been encased in a bubble of silence as I sat my chin on a hand. "What do you mean?"

She called off the attempt at cheerfulness and flipped the front page of the packet to the next one. "Well, the results showed that it was made of Sleep Powder like you'd suggested."

Silver cocked an eyebrow. "What's so surprising about that?"

Gold's eyes narrowed at him. "There was something strange about it."

The redhead blinked after a second, and Emerald nodded. "It doesn't just look funny—it is funny."

Crystal set down the rest of the folder, eyes scanning the packet lightly even though I had a feeling she already knew what was there. "It has the same knock out property as normal Sleep Powder, but when I gave it a closer look, I noticed something."

She replaced the packet for a single sheet from the folio, and as she placed it to the screen, we could see that it was an up-close image of one of the grains of clear green powder.

The four of us leaned forward to get a better look, and my eyebrow rose curiously when I saw that it was encased in a strange crystalline layer that gave it the clear-like appearance.

"What is it?" Red asked after a minute of studying it. "That stuff all around it."

"Oddly enough, it's also Sleep Powder," Crystal told him. "Just in a more hardened form. It's created a sort of barrier."

She put a finger to the picture to show the line where the solid shell of the grain met with the normal powder it had inside. On the inside it was still soft and bright green but surrounding it was the ice-hard cocoon of a lighter shade.

"That explains why it didn't look right," Blue said with scrunched eyebrows.

"But how could it have possibly hardened like that?" Silver pondered aloud.

"I wondered the same thing," Crystal admitted, pulling the paper away from the monitor. "At first I thought perhaps melting and hardening or freezing. But neither of those would work. If someone had tried to melt it, the whole thing would disintegrate, and should they have attempted to freeze it, the whole grain would have been made solid. Not just the outside."

"Could they have used some sort of hardening sap?" Blue suggested.

Crystal shook her head. "No. It's only made of Sleep Powder. That idea did come across at one point, but when I ruled it out, another one came to mind."

Red scratched the back of his head nervously. "What would that be?"

The pig-tailed girl pointed a finger in the air. "Have you ever seen cotton candy being made?"

He raised an eyebrow. "C-cotton candy?"

"Yeah," she said to the red-eyed boy. "It starts off as a sugary liquid, but once it gets spun around very fast, it condenses into fluffy candy."

"Oh, yeah," Red stated with an embarrassed smile. "I knew that."

Crystal smiled a little at him and continued. "I thought something similar could've happened here. It's possible that a similar speed vortex could have been put around the grains so that the pressure would compress the outside into a solid shell but leave the inside in powder form."

Blue tilted her head. "Could something like that even happen?"

Crystal nodded slowly. "I believe so. I tried to recreate it myself, but I couldn't find anything that rotated quick enough to turn it that dense."

"There was nothing here at the lab that could move that fast," Emerald said with a disappointed sigh.

Gold nodded in agreement. "Super Serious Gal even took a Ninjask from the PC, but even with its Speed Boost, it couldn't fly fast enough."

"Then that's probably not how it happened," Silver concluded with a sigh similar to Emerald's.

Crystal's eyes flew to his. "No, I'm positive that that's how it happened."

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "What proof do you have?"

She frowned at him and pulled out another paper. "If my calculations are correct, something revolving around the grains that fast must have made them condense in a split second. That means that the sudden contraction inwards would have pushed against the powder inside fast and hard enough to create a small amount of pressure."

Silver shrugged. "So? Just because it was denser than normal Sleep Powder doesn't mean that it had to have been pressurized."

Crystal bit her lip. "Actually…I think it does."

Silver cocked his head at her again as she dug through the folder and cleared off the desk in front of her to make room for one more sheet. "I only tested half of the sample you gave me, Green. The other half I kept in a safe place for observation only. Again, I found something that you might want to know."

"What's that?" I asked a little anxiously, waiting for another picture to be shown.

She shook her head at me. "I don't have an image for this one because it was too small to see clearly. But you don't need one. I can just tell you what I saw." She looked down at her notes again with a frown. "Each separate solid grain had a crack in it. It was only a small one, but it was still there."

"Is that why you think it was pressurized?" Silver asked her, now starting to understand what she meant.

She didn't nod, but she didn't put him wrong either. Instead, she looked straight at me as serious as she could ever be. "Green, is her heart rate slowing down?"

I froze, almost gasping. Red did it for me though with wide eyes. "H-how did you know that?"

Crystal glanced down suddenly, and the other three froze along with me. "Crystal," I said tensely. "What is it?"

She sucked in a breath and bit her lip again. "By having a small crack like that, the pressurized powder inside would be required to leak out slowly, causing the resulting force of it to build up to the point where it would be more powerful than it usually is."

"Does that really matter, though?" I asked perplexed. "Whether it's stronger or not doesn't matter. That would only make the effects last longer."

Red nodded. "That doesn't explain the decrease in her pulse."

Crystal slowly raised her head and looked at us with solemn eyes. "I know. I'd been hoping that you'd say she was still doing fine, but now I know that this last part really is true."

Gold and Emerald stiffened, and we quickly followed suit. "What are you talking about?"

There was a small silence after my words in which Crystal took a quick breath and let it out. "When the powder has the chance to build up yet is forced to move slowly like that, its effects are…stretched."

Red's voice caught in his throat. "…stretched?"

She nodded slowly. "It's hard to explain. Since it can't take effect as fast as it normally does, the properties are somehow thinned out to the point where they do more than just make someone fall asleep."

He couldn't help himself from leaning forward. "What else does it do?"

Crystal didn't answer him at first, and he clenched his teeth in fear. "What else does it do?!"

Gold's bangs were covering his eyes, and Emerald had slightly turned away. Red's eyes widened, and he froze when Crystal finally brought herself to look at him.

"I-if what I'm saying is correct, and if Yellow's heart rate really is going down like I suspected…"

Red gripped the edge of the desk with both hands.

"T-then that means…"

His crimson eyes were boring into hers which were starting to grow shiny.

"Tell me."

She closed hers then, and I could see her clench her teeth.

"Y-Yellow-san is—"

Crystal, Gold, and Emerald suddenly disappeared, and the whole room went dark as the electricity vanished. I heard Red take in a sharp breath and leap for the videophone.

"Is what?!" He screamed even though there was no one there to answer him.

"Red!" Blue yelled, frantically pulling the trembling boy away.

"What was she going to say?!" He asked her helplessly.

"I-I don't know," she cried out, clearly as worried as he was.

"Hey," Silver said sharply, directing our attention across the gloomy room. Sunlight was pouring in through the front doors, but other than that, it was pretty dark. I could just make out the forms of the three next to me, and I squinted my eyes into the black when I sensed someone running for us.

"Guys!" White called out to us, screeching to a halt in front of Blue and panting hard.

"White?!" The older brunette shouted anxiously. "What's wrong?!"

The BW Agency president was breathless for a moment, but finally, she got a few words out.

"B-Black!" Huff. "H…he's…" Huff. "Out…side!"

Blue grabbed her shoulders. "What do you mean?"

White breathed in deep. "They came."

There was a single second of no motion, and all five of us were out of the door in a flash, heads whipping around as we scanned the streets.

White started running downtown and quickly waved at us to follow. "They went this way!"

Our feet were like bombs on the sidewalk as we sprinted through town, stopping in our tracks when we saw the show going on outside the Game Corner which was vacantly closed today. By now, I think we could all recognize Melany's two main guys so it didn't surprise me when I got a glimpse of one of them firing a shot at Black and Tepig ahead.

An explosion suddenly sounded, and I covered my eyes as we were enshrouded in a dusty haze. I coughed from the smoke and tried to get a bearing on where everyone was. I sensed Red on my right and Blue and Silver to the left. My eyes widened when I realized White wasn't there, and I heard sharp slaps of boots on concrete ahead.

"White!" Blue called out, noticing her absence. "Wait!"

The thin haze suddenly lifted, and I saw White staring in fear at the sky. "No!"

Our heads snapped up in shock to see Melany's blonde henchman flying atop his Fearow, Black defiantly trying to escape the claws that were clamped on his shoulders and holding him captive in mid-air. His Tepig was watching helplessly with White, and the rest of us rushed up behind them.

"This is bad," White started freaking out. "This is bad!"

The Tepig looked at her worriedly, and Blue touched her arm. "Bring out Yang. You can fight now!"

White shook her head bitterly. "I went after Black before the power went out. I tried to help him, but I'm just not strong enough! Yang got knocked out."

Blue nodded softly and smiled. "It's okay. Becoming a great trainer doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. Now." The brunette smirked and looked to the enemy in the sky. "Let's take care of this pest."

Red suddenly froze, and I turned to him sharply. "What's wrong?"

He quickly pointed at the blonde in the air. "Only one of them is here, and White just said Black went after him before the power went out."

Silver paused and looked at him. "That means—"

"There's still one left," I finished lowly.

Red immediately started running uptown toward the mall, and I dashed after him, tackling the boy before he could go any farther. I pinned him down and frowned as he fought to get loose.

"Let me go!" He growled. "We have to go to Yellow now!"

"What about Black?!" I shouted at him, slowly releasing my friend when he stopped struggling. "You need to think about everyone else, too!"

He nodded and got up quickly. "You're right. Sorry." He turned to Silver. "There's only one of them. Can you handle him?"

The redhead huffed and released Weavile who crossed his arms at his trainer's side. "Easily. You guys get back to Kathy's as fast as you can and get Yellow out of there!"

Red nodded sharply and waved at the rest of us to follow. I was right behind him, and the girls did the same a few seconds later when Blue finally convinced White to move. They ran a close five feet behind us, and as Red and I hurried through town, I caught his eye multiple times and tilted my head. "What?"

He looked down. "I can't believe I just flipped out like that." The black-haired boy shook his head. "What's going on with me?"

Strange enough, as we continued to sprint along the streets, I got a flashback from when we went inside the chip to get rid of the virus so that we could get into the TR pendant's tracker. Our conversation on the way to the castle the first time ran through my thoughts, and that one last thing I'd said echoed in my mind.

He took my silence as an answer and sighed before seeing the mall ahead and clenching his teeth. Blue and White were on our heels through the front doors and all the way to the third floor. We burst into Kathy's art shop, surprising the woman who'd been tending to the empty store. Blue stopped briefly to explain, and the rest of us thundered on through the back hallway into the home goods store.

Yellow hadn't moved from the spot Red had first placed her (not that I'd expected her to), and he made a path for her the instant his eyes locked on her still form.

"Thank Arceus we beat them," White sighed as Red slipped his arms beneath Yellow and scooped her up.

He aimed for the door but didn't move. "Where do we go now, Green?"

A map of Kanto flashed behind my eyes, and I looked to the south. "Fuchsia City's our best bet."

He nodded and took a step. However, right as he was about to take another, the door slammed shut on the other side of the room, and we froze. I was half-hoping it was Blue coming to join us, but I knew she never shut a door like that.

And I guess that's when Melany and her other grunt walked around the corner I just narrowed my eyes while the other two froze.

The white-blonde girl gave a small laugh. "Thanks guys! You sure do make great leaders!"

White gasped. "Y-you followed us?"

Melany nodded, slowly advancing. "We attacked you guys in town to make you think we were causing a distraction, but to be honest, we didn't quite know where you were hiding this time around. So when you came rushing into the art store, it was quite easy to just sneak in after you."

I raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like you were already lying in wait here at the mall before we even arrived."

She smirked. "Great deduction. Now let's talk business."

Red's voice was stone. "We don't have any."

Melany sighed and waggled a finger. "Ah, ah, ah. I believe we do Mr. Aka."

He turned into ice. "How did you know my last name?"

She rolled her eyes and turned around. "Not that hard considering you won the Indigo League, you know. Besides, I should know it—considering I'm working with your brother."

Red's jaw dropped upon in shock as Amber suddenly met Melany face to face from around the corner and walked back up to us with her. The twin wouldn't look any of us, his bangs hanging over his eyes so that we couldn't see them.

"Is…is that…" White realized with a glance at his gold and silver pendant.

Red's jaw went rigid. "Yeah. It is."

Amber flinched a little, and Melany gave him a sideways look before stepping forward again. "Alright, we've been playing this game long enough. I'd really appreciate it if you would just hand her over—"

"Jiggly, Doubleslap!"

I stepped back quickly as the three foes before us were knocked unconscious with a single blow, Blue revealing herself behind them as they fell to the floor. Her Wigglytuff stood beside her, and they rushed over to us with hurried feet. Her hand had a Pokeball in it, and I reeled in surprise when she shoved it in my hands and gathered the other two around me.

"You guys need to get out of here now!" She declared firmly, looking hastily back at the huddled group lying on the floor. "They're going to wake up any minute! Just tell Abra where to go and tell him to come back to the Pokemon Center in town!"

"When did you have time to get Abra from the PC?" Red asked loudly. "And when you still have your team of six!"

"I did yesterday when we were at the library. I went to the Center real quick and got him because I thought something like this might happen," she explained rapidly, pressing Abra's Pokeball button and handing him to me once we was out. "Now get going!"

"What do you think you're doing?!" I yelled at her. "Why aren't you coming?!"

"I can't leave Kathy to their mercy!" She shouted back at me, face red from anger. "That would be wrong! I'll lead them away from town and help Silver get Black back!"

"I'm coming too then!" White said defiantly, stepping over to her side.

Blue scrutinized her for a moment before smiling to herself and nodding. "Okay, but you two have to go," she said to Red and me. "Get Yellow out of here!"

I stood there speechless, mouth hanging open a little. I looked to White who didn't have any capable Pokemon for battle and remembered the last time I had left Blue to deal with Melany's guys. My fist clenched beneath Abra's leg. "Blue, I-I can't. Not after what happened in Saffron."

Her eyes softened, and mine widened as she suddenly leaned forward and hugged me, Abra and all. My face started burning as Red smirked at me, and she gave a small smile after pulling away.

"Don't worry. I promise I'll be fine."

I opened my mouth to protest again, but somehow I believed her and clamped it shut. Blue was more than capable of taking care of herself, but I don't think I could take it if she showed up again covered in burns like before. She smiled at me again, and I sighed.

"Don't you dare tell me not to worry."

Despite the circumstances, she giggled, and I latched onto Red. Looking down at Abra, I said, "Fuchsia City."

He started glowing bright gold, and the luminescence soon flowed over Red, Yellow, and me. I only got another second to give Blue one last look before the world flashed all around, and Abra teleported us away from her and White.


The smile fell from my face as soon as Green disappeared.

I will make it back. All four us will.

Turning to White and the three bodies lying on the floor, I made a split decision and exchanged Wiggly for Nido.

"W-what are you doing?" White called after me as I ran farther into the store for a minute. When I came back with a long roll of rope, her head tilted. "Um, what's that for?"

I smiled deviously and set to work before they would wake up. Not long later, Nido was carrying three tied-up enemies on her back, and I smirked at White. "Hostages."

She quickly got the idea and smiled back, immediately following me as I led Nido back down the hall into the art shop. I'd already explained everything to Kathy so it was nice that she already had a personal elevator in the store ready to go down.

"This'll take you down to the side of the building," she said quickly, hitting the first floor button. "Just follow the path back to the main road."

I smiled sadly at her and gave the kind woman a hug. "Thank you for everything."

She gave a small laugh and shoved me back inside the elevator with White and Nido as the doors began to close. "Just make sure you pummel those guys for me!"

I laughed loudly back at her, and my view of the lady was soon cut off by the big metal doors. As we went down, White fidgeted with her fingers. "She was really nice to us."

I nodded sadly. "Yeah, she was."

The box came to a halt, and we were out of it as fast as possible, trying to keep from attracting attention as we headed back for the main road. Nido was still quite fast even with three unconscious people weighing her down so it only took us another ten minutes to get back to the Game Corner to find that Silver was battling with the blonde henchman on his Honchcrow, stopping him from flying off with Black who by now was growing exhausted by the unmovable claws on him. His Tepig had somehow gotten onto the Fearow's back and was trying to burn the guy on top of it.

"Would you stop it?!" The blonde yelled furiously, throwing the Fire type off and sending him hurtling toward the ground.

White gasped sharply and ran forward. "Tep!"

Her calculations were right on the dot, and she caught him right in her arms. Fire was breathing from his snout, and it wasn't hard to see that he didn't enjoy the sudden free-fall. Black apparently didn't either as this display fueled his fury even more and gave him the strength to struggle again.

This moment of distraction gave Silver the chance to fly in close for a Pursuit attack which knocked the Fearow down a good ten feet so that it was only perhaps fifteen high in the air now. I watched worried as it sent a Hyper Beam aimed for Honchcrow. Silver nimbly dodged though, and I let out a pent up breath. At least he wasn't getting hit.

"B-Blue!" I turned sharply at the high note in White's voice and saw the girl staring at the Pokemon in her arms. "Something's wrong with Tep!"

My head tilted in surprise when I saw him start to glow brightly, and I looked away at the harsh light, catching a glimpse of Black in the air with his jaw slack as he too witnessed what was happening. Silver and the blonde guy also paused their battle to watch curiously, and after a short while, the glare faded. All of us looking back at once, our eyes widened when we saw that White was no longer holding a Tepig.

Rather, she was being sat on by what appeared to be an even bigger fire pig.

I didn't waste any time whipping out my Pokedex.

"Pignite, the Fire Pig Pokémon. Pignite moves faster when its internal flame becomes more intense. This also occurs when it gets angry."

Even though he was currently being held captive, Black grinned widely and waved his arms. "Tep! That's awesome! You just evolved!"

Silver and Melany's henchman broke out of their trance then, and the former was faster than the latter, shooting by with a Fly attack. The move momentarily dazed the Fearow, and Tep surprised us all when he suddenly jumped off White and shot into the air, fire streaming all around him like a blazing bullet. He soared straight up at the Flying type, missing Black by an inch and ramming into the Fearow's underside. The shock from the attack caused it to unclench its claws, and Black fell with a yell.

"Nido!" I screamed, pulling the three people off her back to let her move faster. I quickly threw them on a patch of grass off the sidewalk, the collision causing them to groan and start waking up.

Nido had dashed forward under Fearow, arms reaching out to catch Black just in time before he hit the ground. Her momentum carried her another few feet before she could stop and check on Black. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he only opened them when White started frantically shaking his shoulder, tears almost in her eyes. She stared at him blankly, and he did too for a moment before breaking into a wide smile.

"That was fun! Let's do it again!"

White started laughing weakly, and he grinned at her, stepping down from Nido's arms. I ran up to them and breathed out deeply. "Are you okay, Black?"

He nodded happily. "Yep! I can't believe they caught me up like that! Thank goodness you guys came!" Tep marched proudly over to him, and Black started grinning all over again. "Look at you! I had a feeling you were close to evolving! And you learned Flame Charge!"

The Pignite grunted merrily, and we all jumped suddenly as something crashed behind us. Spinning around, we saw that the Fearow had been knocked out and fell to the ground near where I had set down Melany, Amber, and her other grunt. By now the three were awake, wiggling around in their ropes.

Returning Nido and striding over to them, I knelt down and frowned. "You guys have really got to learn when to stop."

Melany laughed at me, and I was surprised that it sounded genuine.

"You would think we would by now." Her chuckles died down, and she looked at me curiously. "So what are you going to do? Interrogate us?"

I glanced away from her smirk to check that they were still secured by their bindings and that the blonde had been knocked out cold from the crash. My eyes flickered to Amber's for a moment before he turned his head away and shadowed them with his bangs.

Seeing as how they couldn't come after us at the moment, I shook my head and stood up. "Nah, I think we'll just leave you here." I looked at Amber with my peripheral vision. "There's no point in helping. You are the enemy after all."

Amber gritted his teeth lightly, and Melany huffed with an arched eyebrow. "Just leave us here?"

I nodded and turned to Black and White who was still making sure that he was alright. Silver landed next to us and did likewise with his Honchcrow. Looking to me, he asked, "Where're Red and Green?"

I sighed calmly. "Safely gone with Yellow."

He let out a sigh of relief similar to mine, and I smiled at Black and White. "Ready to go?"

They nodded happily and started ahead with Silver and me right behind them. We all paused though when we heard something shift.

"Well, if she's gone off and escaped again, I guess we'll just have to take you guys instead. I'm sure we can get some information out of you."

I almost growled at Melany's voice and turned around to see that she'd slyly escaped from her bonds when we weren't looking and helped the brunette and Amber to do the same. Her Venomoth was floating lightly beside her, and the brunette swiftly released his Fearow. Amber stayed next to Melany, doing nothing but watching the scene with a blank face.

Faster than I could have ever hoped to notice, Melany flicked a finger at her Venomoth, and it shot forward at White, legs reaching out to grab her until Black told Pignite to use Ember on it. The Fearow was told to go after Silver, and my eyes widened in fear when I saw that it was going too fast for him to dodge. Jumping harshly, I shoved him out of the way and gave a short scream as the Flying type's talons dug through the material of my shirt and into my back, tearing at the skin as they missed the chance to grab my shoulders.

Silver gasped sharply as I fell to the ground, and he helped me back up, flinching each time I did until he had my arm around his shoulders. Panting heavily, I cringed as I straightened up, and my back set on fire. Silver frowned at this and turned to see how Black and White were doing.

Black and Tep had kept fighting and surprisingly taken down both Venomoth and Fearow with Tep's new Flame Charge move. Melany and her grunt quickly returned their Pokemon, and seeing this small window of opportunity, I waved shakily at the others.

"Run!" They looked at me like I was crazy, and their eyes grew large when they saw the red on my shirt. I ignored them and gritted my teeth as a new wave blazed across my back. "Get to the Pokemon Center! Now!"

They heard the hiss in my tone and started sprinting for Silver and me, Black returning Tep to his Pokeball as he ran. Forcing myself to ignore the flames raging across my skin, I let go of Silver and did so myself, the redhead refusing to leave my side even though I knew darn well that he could run a lot faster than me.

Melany's eyes widened when she realized what we were doing and was after us in an instant, her only conscious grunt following right after her. When I turned around to see how far back they were, I found that Amber had silently stayed behind, kneeling down beside the other grunt who was just starting to wake up. My fevered gaze flew back to Melany though when I saw that she was leaving her henchman in the dust and quickly catching up.

Anxiously turning back ahead, I almost melted in relief when I saw that the Center was only twenty feet down the street, and Abra was waiting patiently at the front doors. Taking the lead, I pushed myself as fast as I could go and wrapped him in my arms as soon as I was in reach. The others crowded around, and I shouted at them to hold onto me.

As they gripped my shirt, Melany came dashing around the corner and saw the Abra in my arms, surprise and dread making her run even faster.

"Return!" I yelled loudly, feeling the Pokemon in my arms grow warm as he began to glow.

The last thing I saw before the flash of Teleport drowned out the world was the sight of Melany's mouth as she screamed, "No!"

Our transfer didn't take but five seconds and soon we were being deposited on another sidewalk, this one in front of another Pokemon Center that was at the top of a ledge that you could see the far away ocean from.

White's eyes were still wide, and she gave a short huff. "That was way too close."

Black nodded in agreement, and I gave a small laugh that quickly turned into a cough and another agonizing ripple across my back. Silver's eyebrows creased in worry, and he started for the doors. "We should get you treated."

I returned Abra and slowly walked inside with the others behind me. I looked around and saw Red and Green waiting nervously in the lounge area. Knowing that they'd gotten here safe and sound and that Yellow was also here safe, I let out a contented sigh and collapsed on the floor.

"Blue!" Silver exclaimed, bending down swiftly and trying to help me sit up. That only made my back burn more, and I bit my tongue to hold back a hiss. The smack of my body of the floor had made Red and Green's heads snap towards us, and I looked up in time to see the brunette's eyes the size of Pokeballs before they narrowed in fury and he sprinted right on over, a worried Red on his heels.

"What happened?" He asked quickly, voice low as he examined me. I was lying on my stomach and winced slightly as he fingers grazed over my mutilated skin.

"Melany was trying to capture us, and she stopped them," Silver said softly, kneeling down next to him.

I could sense Green looking at me and prepared myself for his glare before craning my neck up to face him. My narrowed eyes popped back to their previous wideness when I saw that he actually didn't look angry. He just looked…relieved. That only lasted for a second though as I winced again at his touch, and his eyes went hard.

"You need to get looked at," he told me firmly, helping me to my feet.

As soon as I was stable again though, I saw the videophones nearby from the corner of my eye and pulled my arm from his grasp. "Not until we call Crystal back."

Green turned to me and set his jaw. "Blue—"

"You and I both know that everyone here wants to know what she was going to say," I interrupted him, knowing that I had just beaten his logic with my own.

He sighed angrily and put my arm around his shoulders, helping me walk over to the videophones and setting me down in the chair. The other four were right behind us, and as Green typed in Professor Elm's number, Red looked down at me with worried eyes. "Are you sure you're okay? This can wait until later."

I heard the hesitance in his voice and shook my head. "No, it can't."

He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it and simply turned back to the monitor. White stood nervously next to Black and Green stayed kneeled beside my chair as the monitor went fuzzy. A second later, Crystal's wide light blue eyes filled the screen.

"Is everything alright?" She asked quickly, wanting to make sure that we were okay. Gold and Emerald were anxiously standing next to her, and the taller boy noticed my ragged appearance and leaned forward.

"What happened?!" He said incredulously, taking in the blood starting to seep over my shoulder.

"Not important right now," I coughed lightly. "Crystal! What were you trying to tell us?"

She ignored me and shook her head. "Blue, you need to see a doctor."

"That can wait!" I yelled persistently, cringing when I accidentally leaned back against the chair. "We've got to know what's wrong with Yellow!"

My stubbornness must have worn her down for she sighed and glanced away.

"You're sure Yellow's heart rate is going down?" She rechecked slowly, her voice tinged with light fear.

"What?" White said suddenly, but Black hushed her even though his face was asking the same thing.

Red nodded stiffly, and Crystal directed herself at him.

"Then I'm sure."

Red's eyes widened, and he clenched the edge of the desk, bracing himself for what she was about to say.

"Yellow is in a coma."


Me: GASP! DUN DUN DUN! The big news you've all been waiting for! Why Yellow is not waking up! Eheheh...I know the whole powder thing is kinda hard to understand, and it's even harder to explain, but I hope to make it simpler in the next chapter!

Gardevoir: *scoff* It's easier to understand than your quacking table!

Me: *angry sigh* We've been over this! Duck gets stuck in table. Duck goes quack. Which means the table goes quack!

Gardevoir: Okay, so if you get stuck in a car and you break a bone, does that mean the car just broke a bone?

Me: *shakes head* No because the bone is not physically a part of the car. It's not touching it. The duck however is stuck in the table and is literally touching it. A part of the table!

Gardevoir: But when you're in the car, you're touching it so that means you're a part of it too, right?! So that means the car would break a bone!

Me: Noooooo because although you yourself are touching the car, your bone is not when it breaks. It's still inside you unable to touch the car.

Gardevoir: GAH! I GIVE UP! Stupid troll logic...

Me: Yay! The table quacks! Hehe! Well I hope you all liked the chapter! Review and return for the next one which will hopefully be posted soon!