I don't think I ever got a notification saying that my last chapter was up. But it is there on fanfic. Did anyone else get it?

Anyway, I thought it was time to dig a bit into some of Cara's stupid faults. One of which is she can be incredibly cranky if she's woken up early in the morning. And the other is that she's rather possessive of things. Like food. Don't mess with her food on the same day hat she was woken up early. _ Anyway, she's having a bad day.

Polaris–Ponyta, Tsuki–Serperior, Mamoru–Samurott, Tlaloc-Braviary, Carrara – Liepard, Croatan - Scolipede


Search and Rescue

When you've been through the crazy stuff that I've been through, there are certain things that throw you into immediate panic. For example, when you're sound asleep at 5 AM and something big and heavy crashes down onto your stomach.

Which is what happened this particular morning. Hari always wakes up at the crack of dawn, and usually manages to let me sleep in peace until a decent hour. But not this morning. He apparently started chasing Gro around our little campsite. He tripped and landed full on me, digging his elbow into my stomach.

I shot out of my sleeping bag and bashed Hari in the head before I realized it was him.

I blinked at him as he sat there, massaging the side of his head, grimacing.

"Hari?"

"Yeah. Sorry I landed on you. I tripped over Croatan. Sorry I tripped over your head, Cro."

Croatan blinked back. He looked much calmer than I felt.

Judging from the pale sunlight, it was still very early. I burrowed back into my sleeping bag, grumbling in annoyance and massaging my sore stomach.

And around 6:30 AM a loud blast of noise dragged me out of sleep again. Ben was awake by then, and forgotten to turn down the volume on his laptop.

"Seriously?" I growled. I couldn't get back to sleep this time, because the Pokémon were all awake and moving around. So I finally got up and stomped around the camp, grumbling and glaring at Ben and Hari for about half an hour.

I'd managed to calm down most of the way by the time we were back at Nimbasa City. MY spirits were raised further when I discovered éclairs at the pastry shop we stopped at. Yaay, for custard éclairs! We wrapped up our doughnuts and headed west towards Driftveil. When we stopped to take a break, we pulled out the pastries again. I told Ben and Hari to start eating without me, because I had to tend to scrape on Carrara's shoulder. When I was done, I came back to eat my éclair.

But the last remaining pastry was not my éclair. Instead of creamy custard filling, this pastry was instead filled with strawberry jelly.

"Where's my éclair?" I asked, glancing around as if it might be floating in the air next to me (that has happened before, when my psychic Pokémon are goofing off).

"That one's yours," Ben said, cocking his head.

"No, it isn't. Mine had custard inside. This one has jelly."

"Wait, what?" Ben peered around and saw the jelly filling dripping out the side of the patry. "Aww, shoot. I must have eaten yours by mistake. Sorry. Take mine."

"How can you eat mine by mistake? Custard and jelly taste nothing alike! How can you not realize you're eating custard? Were you working on your computer as you ate? Did you not even taste what you were eating?"

Ben stared at me. "Why are you making such a big deal over a donut?"

"Because custard is much better than jelly!"

"We can get more in the next city."

"Oh, yeah because they'll really have this same kind of éclair there!"

"It's just a donut! Stop freaking out! Eat the jelly one!"

"I don't want it!" I stormed off to sulk in the woods. Actually, I don't dislike jelly donuts. But lack of sleep and lack of custard makes me cranky… yeah.

I cooled off… a little bit, and came back to coach a practice battle between Carrara and Croatan. Croatan started Rollout and began tearing around a nearby clearing. Carrara practiced dodging as she tried to bring rollout to a halt. Ben sat nearby, resting against a tree and working on his laptop.

Carrara bounded back and forth as Croatan wheeled around after her. Carrara launched off of a nearby tree trunk and landed behind Croatan. She shot out Thunder Wave, but Croatan revved out of the way. Her Thunder Wave crackled through the air and struck Ben.

Ben yelled as the attack zapped him and sent sparks flickering through his laptop.

I dashed over to him as he sat up, wincing. "Are you okay?"

He reached for his laptop, but the screen was black.

"Cara!" he shouted. "I've been working on that program all day! That shock just knocked out my last hour of work!"

"I didn't know! I always tell you to be careful when we're staging practice battles. Why were you sitting so close?"

"I was here before you started your stupid battle! Why couldn't you go somewhere else?"

"This is the only open area nearby!"

"Then why couldn't you be careful?"

"Why didn't you move?"

"Stop trying to blame it on me! You've been acting like a jerk all morning."

"Yeah, when you guys wake me up at 5 AM and eat my food, that tends to happen."

Ben snapped his laptop shut and stormed off, shouting over his shoulder "Would you stop freaking out about pointless stuff?"

"Look who's talking!" I stormed off in the opposite direction and fumed by myself. Mamoru came to keep me company, and I tried to read a book to distract myself.

Ah, yes. Elementary-school-level-tantrums held by teenagers.

I crept back towards camp a little after our usual dinnertime. Ben usually cooled off a lot faster than me, so I was surprised to find only Hari, Gro, and my Pokémon at the camp.

I dug a cold sandwich out of my bag. After a while, I said, "Where's Ben?"

Hari looked up at me. "I don't know. You both ran away, and you're the first one back."

"Have any of you seen him?" I asked the Pokémon. They shook their heads. I looked at Tlaloc. "Can you go check on him?"

Tlaloc launched from his tree and soared away from camp. He returned a few minutes later with no news.

That was when I started to get worried. We followed Ben's track into the trees. I knelt down in the soft dirt and found several other sets of footprints. Human footprints. They surrounded Ben's prints, and Ben's shoe imprints disappeared completely, while those of the strangers lead away and ended in tire tracks along a dirt road.

Ben had been kidnapped.

Hari and I sprinted back to camp. Hari began to pack and I sat down and closed my eyes. I needed to try to reach Ben's Pokémon. They would be in their Pokéballs, but if I concentrated enough I should be able to reach them.

I finally managed to reach Ben's Blastoise.

Are you okay? Where are you? What happened?

I'm not really sure what happened, Blastoise said. I think some people came and grabbed Ben. They haven't taken us out of our Pokéballs yet.

But do you know where you are?

Judging from the smells and how long we were in the car, I think Castelia City. I think they want him to hack into the Pokémon storage system.

We'll be there right away.

Hari finished packing. I returned the Pokémon and we both jumped on Tlaloc's back. We sped past Nimbasa City, retracing our steps south towards Castelia City. Flying is so much faster than walking or riding. But it's annoying to have to backtrack over several days' journey…

As we neared the city, I closed my eyes and called out to Blastoise again. I managed to faintly latch onto his location and Tlaloc circled around the city as we honed in on Ben's Pokémon.

We landed right in front of Burgh's gym. Our target was right across the street.

I went into the gym first. The person near the front door looked up as we entered. "I'm sorry, but we're not accepting anymore challengers his evening."

"I'm not a challenger. Burgh knows me, and we need his help." The man looked confused, but went to check with Burgh. Burgh arrived a minute later and greeted us.

I quickly explained what had happened. "Do you know what that building is across the street?"

Burgh peered across the street, looking perplexed. "You know, I really don't know what goes on in that building. I see people going in and out, but I assumed it was just offices."

"Well, it's late. The building is probably closed, so we can probably break in," I suggested.

Burgh looked disapproving. "Well, are you sure that they're actually in there?"

"80%," I said.

Burgh considered some more. "Well, I'd better come. I don't want you to get arrested."

We all headed outside and looked up at the high rise across the street. As we expected, the front door was already locked. But above us, some of the windows were part way open.

Tlaloc flew Hari and I up first. Hari wriggled through the narrow opening and I barely managed to squeeze through. No sooner had I flopped to the floor then I saw a shirt draped over the back of a chair. It had a Team Plasma logo on it.

Tlaloc brought Burgh up, but he wasn't able to fit inside. I stuck my head through the window and told Burgh about the shirt. He agreed to go for the police. Hari and I crept deeper into the building before splitting up to search.

I kept my eyes and ears open as I dashed down hallways and through dark rooms. I found myself in a sort of mini-kitchen when I knelt to fix my shoe. I didn't notice an open cabinet door above me, and when I stood, my forehead bashed against the corner. I reeled away, my hands clamped to my forehead and my mouth open in a silent wail of pain. I doubled over, rocking on my heels, my eyes watering.

"What are you doing?"

I sprang to my feet and my hand flew out on its own. It took me a moment to realize that I had just slapped N on the side of the head.

The two of us stared at each other for a few moments, and then I lowered my hand. We continued to stare at each other and I started rubbing my forehead again. It still hurt like crazy.

"How did you get in here?" N asked at last.

"Through the window," I growled. A thought struck me and I stepped closer to N, glaring at him. "Are you behind this?"

He took a step back. "Behind what?"

"What," I scoffed. "Ben! Your Team Plasma goons kidnapped Ben and brought him here!"

At this, N looked truly surprised. "They brought Ben here?"

"Yes! They did! They want him to hack into the Pokémon storage system! Probably to steal all the Pokémon that belong to trainers! I told you that Ben was great with computers, and now Team Plasma kidnaps him to make him hack something! How could you let them do that to my friend?"

"I didn't know they brought him here. If I wanted his help with something, wouldn't I have just asked? He's your friend after all."

"If you think I understand the way your brain works, you're mistaken."

N frowned. "I suppose I have a hard time understanding you also."

"Good! That makes us even. So, your people go around kidnapping without your permission? I thought you were supposed to be a king. You sure don't seem to have much control over your so-called subjects. And you don't seem to know much about what they do."

N narrowed his eyes. "I know you don't like what I do." I snorted again. "But I'm only doing what's best for Pokémon."

"Yeah. You keep telling yourself that. Are you going to tell me where Ben is or not?"

N sighed. "Of course I'll help you find your friend."

"We need to find his Pokémon too," I grumbled, following N as he headed down a hall and towards the stairs. I jumped as we passed a pair of people in Team Plasma uniforms. But when they spotted N, they bowed their heads.

Once they were out of sight, I laughed. "Wow. You've even got them bowing to you, huh? Quite an impressive king you are, Your Highness."

N shot me an annoyed glance, clearly not amused by my sarcastic tone.

We finally stopped in front of a closed door.

"Try here," N suggested. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door.

I pushed it open and blinked, trying to see into the dim interior. There was a figure sprawled on the floor, face-down. He wasn't moving.

I rushed to Ben's side and grabbed his shoulder. "Ben. Hey, Ben! Are you okay?"

Ben gave a low groan and raised his head. "C-Cara?" He gave a wry smile. "What took you so long?"

"Yeah." Relief flooded me. "We came to get you. Do you remember what happened?"

Ben slowly sat up, rubbing his head. "Kinda? It was Team Plasma. They wanted me to do something on the computer." He got his feet beneath him. I grabbed his arm, helping him rise. He stood there, looking rather wobbly.

"It's okay. I can walk. You know, " he said, his voice sounding rather slurred. "I'm pretty sure they drugged me."

He took a few unsteady steps off to the side and bumped into the wall. I followed him, hovering nervously by his shoulder, freaked out by how woozy he seemed.

He stood there, leaning against the wall for a moment. Without warning, Ben collapsed. I quickly grabbed his arm before he hit the floor. But his weight yanked me forward and my head bashed against the wall.

I lowered Ben to the ground and crouched next to him in the fetal position as I clapped my hands to my forehead once more. I'd just hit the same place where I'd crashed into the cabinet door. No doubt there would be a fantastic bruise there by morning.

"Cara?"

N was waiting for us outside of the room.

I dragged Ben's arm around my shoulder and supported him half against my back. When I got outside, N took Ben's other arm and the two of us half carried him down the hall, his feet dragging against the ground.

We entered the hall and came face-to-face with Hari.

I almost dropped Ben. That dumb kid is always appearing at the worst moments, scaring the hell out of me without even trying to.

"I found Ben's Pokéballs," Hari announced, holding them out to show me."

"Thanks," I grumbled, propping Ben back against my shoulder.

We got Ben to the entrance of the building, which N opened up.

I let Polaris out and we draped Ben over her back.

"Thanks," I said to N. "I'd probably better warn you… the police are coming. The gym leader went to get them when we found out Ben was here."

N sighed. "All right. Thanks for letting me know at least. I'd better get everyone out of here."

I grit my teeth. I didn't want them all to get away, but I also didn't really want N to get arrested. Not that I had any good reason for it. And yet again, I had failed to hold anything like a civilized conversation with N. Every time I spoke with him, I got frustrated or angry in some way. He must think I'm a total moron. I remembered the events in Black City, but when I turned to ask him, he'd gone.

We ran into Burgh and a few police officers on the way to the Pokémon Center. Burgh looked really frustrated at having a Team Plasma hideout right across from his gym. I wondered if Team Plasma had set up their hideout there just to taunt him. I didn't think N would do that. But there seemed to be a lot going on that N didn't know about. So, who was behind all this other weird stuff - Stealing Pokémon and kidnapping people? That Ghetsis guy?

The next morning, Ben woke up almost as good as new.

"What happened to your head?"

I glared at him and gingerly touched the big purple spot on my forehead. "Do you remember anything?"

"Well, obviously. I mean… well, parts of it? I think I was unconscious for most of it. What did happen?"

Hari bounded in to greet Ben. "Hi! Are you feeling better? Let's go get donuts!"