'I had been hoping that it wouldn't be her voice, but alas it was. "Hi, mom."'

She lept into the van and held me as tight as possible. "My baby! Oh, I've been so worried about you!"

I couldn't help but feel a bit embarassed about being bear hugged by my mother in front of the others. However, my embarassment was very miniscule compared to my anxiety about her being here. Would this mean I'd be forced to leave Axel's group and return to... Bill?

No way in hell.

And then... it happened. The devil himself climbed out of the back seat of the cop car, skulked over to the side of the van, and peered inside. A malicious grin formed on his face the second he saw me.

"Ashley! Good to see you're safe and... unharmed."

I felt my blood ran cold. Surely Bill wasn't so foolish as to unleash his wrath upon me in front of Axel and the rest, and even less foolish not to do so with cops right in front of him. No, of course not. He'd just wait until we got home. There's no way he'd ever let me leave the house again. Or, if he was as pissed as his I feared he'd be, he'd never let me live to see another tomorrow.

I felt Chuck's ghostly hand rest upon my shoulder, but my eyes couldn't leave Bill. His were so full of hate and malice that I was afraid they'd singe my own. "Wh-what're you doing here?" I finally forced out.

He faked a hurtful expression. "Why, Ashley! Are you not glad to see your father?" He gestured to the police car in front of us. "These kind officers heard a female shriek coming from the lake a few miles back. I knew that lake very well, as it was the one I often went to on vacations as a kid. When they said they saw a Vulpix being carried by a Haunter, we called them up and explained how our adorable child had come up missing, and that one of the kidnappers was a Haunter." He glared over at Chuck with the last three words.

Mom still clung to me, but I couldn't stop gaping at Bill. At first, I was confused as to how a cop car could keep up with us if we had been driving the entire time, but then I figured that Victor must've pulled the van over after I passed out. And who knows how long I had been out? He probably then kept going when I had come to, which sort of brought up the question on how long I had been out, not that it mattered at this point. Either way, I was sure as hell screwed.

Two human officers (yes, this world is also inhabited by humans) stepped up to the side of the van while one stepped up to the driver's side. They suddenly all pulled guns out on us and started yelling.

"Out of the van, now!"

"Hands on your head!"

"Nice and slowly!"

Axel slowly raised his hands to his head while the others complied. He didn't look fazed, though. Was he expecting this to happen? Did he have a plan to get us out of this?

Victor was led out of the driver's side very slowly while Kris was the first out of the side of the van. Almost immediately, the other officer hit her. Hard. I stared in horrified shock as I watched the other officer proceed to kick her like hell. Axel scooted quickly closer to the van exit to help her, but the first officer's gun told him to stay in place.

"No, don't hurt her!" I cried. Mom quickly hushed me.

"It's okay, dear. Let the officers do their job."

"But, mom, they're hurting Kris!"

I felt so powerless. Kris was being hurt and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it. I heard Victor's cries from the other side of the van as the third officer no doubt was harming him too. I squeezed my eyes shut in agony. Everything was falling apart right before my eyes!

"D-don't worry... about me, Ash," I heard a raspy voice say. My eyes finally opened and stared horrifically at a roughed up Kris with a bloody nose. "I'll be fine, hon."

"Shut it, trash!" the first officer yelled before slapping Kris.

"Leave her alone!" I couldn't take it anymore. I wriggled out of mom's grasp and leaped out of the van. Without hesitating, I sprung forward and attempted to bite the officer's arm. However, Bill grabbed one of my tails and pulled me back.

"You stay out of this," he hissed into my ear. "Just watch what happens and pray like hell I'll be just as merciful when we get home."

"Bite me!" I yelled directly in his face. His eyes widened in shock and his mouth hung open with an inaudible sound strangling his voice. For once in the sixteen years I've been alive, I'm standing up against Bill. No doubt I'll be brutally beaten, if not murdered, when I get home. But at this point, I'm so sick of cowering in fear of him that I don't care what he does to me. Now that he's taking away the only people who have treated me like I'm a living breathing creture, I'm more than willing to accept anything he has to dish out.

While everyone was gaping at me, Chuck started fumbling with the radio frequencies. The second officer immediately turned to him and pulled out a gun. "Don't move, boy! I swear I'll shoot!"

"Try it," Chuck mumbled. He knew that he couldn't be shot because he was a ghost-type. The bullets would just pass through him.

"Turn it to 97.6!" cried Kris at the expense of another slap. Bill was still standing on one of my tails, so I couldn't lunge at the officer.

Chuck did as he was told, and all the officers suddenly fell to their knees.

"Ah Arceus, turn it off!"

"My ears feel like they're bleeding!"

"No more! Please, no more!"

Kris grinned. "Humans hear lower frequencies than us Pokemon. That frequency is low enough to bring unbearable pain to their eardrums, but because our hearing is so advanced we don't hear it."

With the humans no longer a threat, Axel grabbed the keys from their pockets and uncuffed Victor and Kris. The three of them then got back into the van. Victor stared anxiously at me, then at Bill.

I turned back to him. "Get the hell off of my tail!"

He seemed mildly amused at that. "Even if they get away, you're still coming home with me."

Irritation boiled inside me. My very future rested within this escape and, once again, Bill is standing in my way. No way in hell was he going to let me go willingly.

Then I had no choice.

I stared up into his over-confident eyes and felt a strange power blur my vision. I saw a mix of purples, yellows, pinks and various other colors flash before me. When they cleared, Bill was swaying on his feet from confusion. For the first time since my last gym class in school, I used a move! And I've gotta say, using Confuse Ray never felt so good!

I darted straight into the van and slammed the door. Victor then floored the gas pedal and left the officers and Bill behind in a cloud of dust.

We all rejoiced at our escape, except for one crucial Pokemon that hadn't gotten out of the van. Mom.

She sat in silence and only stared as I hugged my friends and expressed concern over two of them for their injuries.

"Kris, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, hon. Don't you worry, ole Kris has taken a few hits in her day."

"Victor, what about you?"

"Same here, kid."

Axel grinned over at Kris. "Since when did we get that frequency on the radio?"

"Since I installed it this afternoon. You're welcome, by the way~!"

"I'm just relieved that we got away!" cried Chuck.

Suddenly mom cleared her throat. All eyes fell back on her.

Axel's widened. "Oh damn."

She waved her paw. "Oh no, don't stop celebrating on my account. Oh, and once you're done, could you kindly pull over and allow my daughter and I to leave?"

I sat on the floor. "Mom, I'm not leaving."

"Come now, Ashley. Let's be serious here."

"I am being serious! I'm not leaving the van."

She stared incredulously at me. "You'd rather be here than be at home with your family?"

"This is my family."

She chuckled. "Dear, you really are funny sometimes."

"I'm not joking, mom. I'm staying here."

"Dear, I know you're upset about the incident with Bill, but you must understand that he only wants what's best for you-"

"No he doesn't. He claims to be 'punishing' me for my behavior, but you can only punish someone if they've done something wrong, mom. What have I done wrong? What have you done wrong?"

Chuck flew up and sat next to me. Mom glared at him. "What's your name?"

"Chuck, ma'am."

This got a strong reaction from her. She kept glancing from Chuck, to me, to Victor, back to Chuck, back to Victor, back to me, back to Kris, then Chuck, and so on and so forth.

"Chuck?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Hmm. Well, Chuck, I do apologize for intruding in your... humble abode, but I will see to it that my daughter and I remove ourselves immediately."

"This isn't his humble abode, miss. It's mine," Axel stated taking a seat on the other side of me. "And neither Ashley nor you are intruding. In fact, Ashley's the greatest thing that's ever happened to this group."

"Oh? And why, pray tell, is that?"

"Axel, we need a new look," Victor called from the front seat. He tossed back a spray paint can, but didn't pull over. Axel nodded, stood up, and opened the van door. Chuck flew over and pushed the lock down, which seemed to lock the door into place. A small platform appeared beneath Ax and he stepped onto it. He then went to work on spray painting the van. There was a lever on the platform that seemed to let him control where it went.

Kris joined us in the back as Vic turned onto a highway for smoother driving. She sat where Axel had been seated. "Ashley has brought more life into this group. She's a very kind girl with a heart of gold, miss. She's like a little sister to me, to all of us!" I crawled into her lap to emphasize her point. She gently laid a paw on top of the curls on my head. "Without her here... I dunno what I'd do."

Much to my surprise, Victor said while looking in the rearview mirror at my mom, "And she's been a great influence on my son."

Chuck and Kris looked just as shocked as I did. Axel suddenly opened the side door again and nimbly rolled back inside. "Done," he stated taking Kris's seat in the passenger seat and putting the paint can under it.

"New record, Ax!" called Kris.

"'Course it was! I told you that I work a lot faster when the van's moving!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared out the window with an 'I'm so awesome' look on his face.

"Well, we were just telling Mrs. Tennith here how much Ashley means to us," Chuck said pointedly as he cleared his throat.

"Indeed. In fact, wasn't it you, Mr. Axel, who claimed that my daughter was the greatest thing to ever happen to your group?"

"You heard right," he stated taking a seat behind Kris. "If it weren't for Ash, I wouldn't have experienced what it'd be like to have a daughter."

Mom frowned at him. "Well, I can assure you that it feels terrific when she's home safe and sound."

"Safe?" Inquired Chuck. "No offense, ma'am, but when Ash joined us, she was being chased by her father. He looked like he would've killed her had we not intervened. Not only that, but she looked about as bad as Kris and Dad do right now. Combined!"

She glared at him. "Are you insinuating that I am unable to protect my daughter from any dangers that dare to harm her?"

He returned her glare. "What I'm insinuating is that you're letting that Bill creep use your daughter as his own personal punching bag, and doing nothing about it!"

She bared her teeth. "How dare you!"

"How dare you! Why would you let him rough up a girl as sweet as Ash? What possible reason could you have for letting him do such a thing to your own daughter?"

"I don't need to explain myself to some kid! What goes on in our home is none of your concern!"

"It is if it includes Ash, a teenage female Pokemon who's far safer with us than her own family! Ash is my best friend and I'll be damned if I let you take her back to that psychopath!"

"Chuck, that's enough!" Victor yelled. He suddenly pulled the van over to the side of the highway. The sun had set a long time ago, so it was pitch black out. We seemed to be the only vehicle on the road. "I apologize for my son's behavoir, Mrs. Tennith. You and your daughter may get out now. Get off on this here exit and you'll reach Violet Town in a matter of minutes."

I gaped at him. "You... want me to leave?"

Kris glared at him. "She's not leaving, Vic! She's part of our family!"

"She has a chance to live a normal life now, she doesn't have to live the same life that was forced upon the rest of us!" He turned in his seat so we could all tell he was serious. "We have Kris's radio frequency transmitter thing, so we don't have to worry about the police. And even if they aren't human, I'm more than sure Kris can create frequencies that disturb the hearing of other Pokemon as well, so we don't need to worry about being turned in. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the kid to live the normal life she was meant to."

Chuck was outraged. "Dad, that's ludicrous! We all voted for Ash to join us, yet you want to toss her out on the street? Even worse, point her in the direction back to her abusive father? What's wrong with you?"

"You watch your tongue, mister! I think your actions from earlier clearly show that she's safer at home than she is here! Plus, in this line of work, you never know what dangers lie around the corner! Better keep the kid out of this in case we happen to cause a shootout!"

While those three continued to yell back and forth, my mind went numb. Even after all this time, and all we've been through, Victor still wants to get rid of me. Any doubts I had that he still hated me vanished right then and there. I was actually starting to think that he cared about me, but I can see that, as usual, I was wrong.

"Weren't you just saying a moment ago how Ash was a big influence on me?"

"Yeah, and by that I meant that she was a reminder of the innocent Pokemon that remained out there, Chuck! I had hoped that she showed you that there are certain Pokemon who aren't cut out for this work, but I was clearly wrong!"

Kris turned to Axel, who was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Ax, don't you agree that Ash should stay with us? ! ?"

He didn't answer.

"Ax?"

No reply.

"Ax!"

Again, no reply. He seemed to be thinking about all of this very deeply. His eyes shut and his feet were drawn up to him, as though he was meditating. Everyone watched and waited for a reply. Finally, after quite a while, his eyes slowly opened and he glanced in my direction.

"...Victor's right."

This caused a reaction from everyone, the strongest from me. "You're saying... that you want me to go, too?"

"I don't want you to go, Ash. But he's right in saying that you have a chance to live a normal life, and that you should take it. There's no future for you here."

I couldn't believe it. Axel, who all this time seemed like such a nice guy, wanted me to return to Bill. I don't think I've ever felt such pain pierce my heart before. I think the betrayal was evident on my face because Axel sighed.

"Ashley, I really do want you to be a part of the group. But you have to understand that there's no future for us, there's no hope for you if you stay here. I want you to have a fulfilling life, to do something grand for the world. You're a bright and loving girl, you've proved that much in these last few days. And I think that you'd do the world, and your mom, proud by doing something grand with your life. You can accomplish something much more than being a hardened criminal."

What he said might be true, but it wasn't registering well with me. All I could think about was the face of Bill as he wailed on me and called me useless and made me feel like utter garbage. And that was just from spilling his coffee on his lap one time by accident. I couldn't imagine what he'd do to me when we got home.

And now Axel wanted me to go back to that.

Tears welled up in my eyes. Why? What did I do wrong? What did I say? What did I do, or what didn't I do? Why, if he saw no problem with me being in the group before, did he want me to go now? His group was more of a family than my real one. Why did... he want to take that from me?

I buried my face in Kris's chest and cried. I couldn't believe how betrayed and hurt I felt. My sobs were muffled, but audible enough for the others to hear. I didn't want to leave, obviously, but I knew Axel wouldn't let me stay. And I knew mom would take me home to face Bill. I was leaving this perfect life and returning to my pain filled one, and there wasn't anything causing it except Axel.

Kris ran her arms up and down my back as I kept crying. Mom's voice came from the seat above me and I felt her tug on my shoulder.

"Oh, it'll be okay, baby. Come on, come to mom." She reached down to pick me up, but I twisted away from her and hugged Kris tightly for fear of being taken away from her. If I was going to be forced to leave the group, I wanted to spend every second I could with them. Why did Axel want me to leave? I know what he said before was true, but it didn't make me feel any better. I may have a brighter future by going back home, but I certainly wouldn't have a happy one. Bill was surely itching to take his anger out on something, and I didn't want to be there if I was the reason behind his anger.

So I once again had no choice.

When I calmed down, I turned to Victor, who had a sad expression on his face. "Fine. You want me to go? I'll go."

I jumped from Kris's lap and practically threw open the door. I then leaped out of the van and over the side of the highway road. The ground wasn't too far away, so I didn't scream on the way down. I saw the woods in front of me and ran like hell. If I couldn't be with Axel's group, and sure as hell wasn't going to go back home, the woods were my only option left.

I ran for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. There was a stream nearby, so I stopped long enough to get a drink from it. That's when I saw the bushes. I peered through them to find a small grove with leaves surrounding a single tree stump. Figuring I had ran far enough from the van, I went over to the stump and curled up on it. Soon enough, it started raining. I knew sleeping in the rain was probably unwise, but I didn't really care. All I cared about was being by myself.

My mind was about as restless as my heart. I couldn't stop thinking about Axel and what he had said.

'He wanted me gone. Sure, he claimed it was because he thought I had a future, but he had been so supportive of me joining before. What exactly had changed his mind? The fear of the future trouble I could bring them? Could he have considered my run-in with mom to be a hassle to the point where it would've just been easier to get rid of me? Or did he only realize how much trouble I've brought them in the last few days and decided that everything would be better without me there?'

Despite everything that had just happened, my mind somehow allowed me to drift off into a restless sleep.