Installment 10: The Enemy of My Enemy…

Moi-Moi: Guys… I'm freaking out. XY&Z is going to kill me with stress before I can even watch the climax of the season. It's getting so good! I'm so emotionally invested in these characters right now that I don't know what I'm going to do when the season ends. Maybe write more fanficiton? ;)

I know it's been a while (nearly a year). But, I got distracted by other stories and I'm SUPER sorry. But, I promise to focus on ALL my stories… Or to at least try to…

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The news was being broadcasted all over the world. Everyone with a computer or basic cable knew what had happened yesterday. I had spent most of the night on the phone reassuring several people that I was alright. My mother had called as soon as I had hung up with Paul and then called again once she had finally seen the news footage. She was feeling a mix of fury, worry, and relief. My dad, Volkner, Flint, Dawn, and even Brock had called one after the other and each given me a piece of their minds. Mr. Goodshow checked in as well, concerned for my well-being as well as impressed with my gutsy display. The only person I had been avoiding was Rhonda. I was never going to be ready for an interview with her.

Currently, I was sitting in the lobby of the Pokémon Center with Luxray at my side. Nurse Joy had already returned my Pokémon to me several minutes ago before returning to the other Pokémon that were left in her care. I sighed while letting my hand run through Luxray's fur. Luxray had been purring peacefully in his sleep all night, leaving me up to play bodyguard for once. I was doing a poor job of looking out for threats. My mind was miles away from the lobby.

Was it time to pack up and go home? I was tangled up in a mess that I needn't bother with. Was I purposefully letting myself get entangled? Probably. I could easily pack up, leave Mairin and Alain behind, head back to Sinnoh, and travel with Paul instead. I pushed down the blush that threatened to rise up my cheeks at that thought. 'Anyone,' I corrected myself. 'I could travel with anyone else instead.' As if sensing where my thoughts were headed, Luxray let out a low growl in his sleep. I pat his head softly to calm him, but the growls only increased.

"Luxray?" I questioned him softly. Luxray was wide awake and glaring. My eyes followed his line of sight to see Alain entering the room, completely dressed for the day. "Alain? The sun's not even up yet," I joked.

"I could say the same for you," he responded. He didn't bother to come closer. Luxray was agitated enough by the five feet between us.

"I never went to sleep. I've been reassuring family and friends that I'm not hurt or in any type of danger," I smiled. At Alain's frown, my smile fell. He looked away from with with a tortured look in his blue eyes. "Alain?"

He ignored me and approached the front desk instead. He rung the bell before waiting quietly for Nurse Joy. I rose up off the pastel couch and approached him. Luxray attempted to pull me back by clenching his teeth around the back of my shirt. "Luxray, stop it," I admonished him and tried to tug my clothes out of his maw.

"Oh!" a surprised voice spoke up. Nurse Joy had appeared with her Chansey in tow. "Alain, your Charizard is feeling much better. I'll go get him for you," Nurse Joy smiled.

Giving up on reclaiming my clothes, I faced Alain. "What's wrong, Alain?" I questioned him.

"I'm leaving."

"Where's Mairin? Is she still getting ready?" I went on.

"She's asleep."

I frowned. "You're leaving her behind? Why?"

"Being around me is dangerous. I need to go alone. I need to get stronger," Alain spoke in a desperate tone. "You can't follow me either, Gabi. You nearly got hurt because of me. I can't be responsible for either of you."

My brows furrowed in confusion. "I never told you that you were responsible for me, Alain. I can and have been making my own decisions. You're not to blame for anything that has happened," I started. He didn't answer me so I went on. "Either way, were you really going to leave Mairin without saying goodbye? You can leave me behind- that doesn't mind. But I thought you two were closer than that. She'll be hurt if you leave. She looks up to you. She cares about you," I ranted. I'm not sure where this newfound animosity was coming from exactly. "Does your quest for power really mean so much to you that you would leave behind those who care about you?"

"If it means keeping them safe," he finally answered me. He had momentarily shocked me into speechlessness. Nurse Joy chose that moment to walk back in with Charizard's Pokéball on a tray. She smiled and wished Alain good luck as she offered him the ball. "Don't follow me, Gabi," he told me as he tucked away Charizard's ball and turned to leave.

"You're worried about Mairin's safety. I understand. But aren't you even a little bit concerned for your own?" I continued, finally wrenching my shirt out of Luxray's mouth. "If you leave now, you'll still be in danger, but you'll be in it alone. At least here, you have people you can count on."

"I don't need to count on anyone. I can't get stronger if I have to depend on others like a crutch," Alain spoke coldly.

Rather than back down like he wanted, I returned once again with vigor. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Everyone needs help," I started. We'd already left the Pokemon Center by now. Alain was walking down the sidewalk at a brisk pace with me trailing behind. Luxray was calling out urgently to me from behind, but I didn't turn back. "People are always going to want to help you in any way that they can and open doors for you. It doesn't make you weak to walk through them," I said and finally stood in front of him. I could see Luxray running to catch up with my backpack in his possession. In my haste, I had left it behind. Alain was staring down at me with a hard, unreadable expression. I glared up at him in stubborn defiance. "It goes without saying, but you're not doing this alone no matter how much you feel that you have to."

"You want to help me?" he finally asked.

"I want to do what's right," I corrected. That meant a lot of things. The "right" thing was looking more subjective by the second. Alain finally let out a "humph" before going around me. "Mairin wants to help you, too!" I reminded him while taking my pack from Luxray. "Alain! Wait!"

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I was sitting in my room at the Pokémon Center in Lumiose City. My back was up against the wall as I curled up on my bed. Luxray was lounging next to me and Infernape was lounging further down the mattress. Lucario and Gardevoir stood close by just watching me. Pancham was standing on the bed next to Infernape.

I sighed deeply as I watched the set begin to set. I had spent the whole day at Lysandre's side as he explained his vision to me while giving me a tour of Lysandre Labs. He spoke so eloquently and passionately about his ideals that I'd almost forgotten that he was the bad guy… And then Chespie had gotten hurt…

"Lysandre's experiments hurt Chespie today. He doesn't see it this way, but he's dangerous. What he's doing is dangerous," I started. All my Pokémon watched me with intense gazes, not saying a word. "We're going to help him." At once, they all objected loudly. Gardevoir was waving her arms around dramatically, Lucario held a comically stunned expression on his normally serious face, Infernape looked ready to literally knock some sense into me, Luxray was butting his head against me with loud growls, and Pancham was punching my shins angrily. "Ow!" I objected and tried to shield my shins from him. "Wait! Wait! Let me explain! We're not really helping him!"

The objections and violence ceased. I took a deep breath before continuing on. "The only way to know what he's really planning is to get close to him and make him trust us. When we know more, we can contact others to help. Diantha, Officer Jenny, anyone! But right now, we don't have anything really incriminating against him. We just have to play our parts and wait."

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Being a spy took a lot more work than I had hoped for. Obviously, Lysandre wasn't quick to trust me with his deepest, darkest secrets. For the most part, he only used me to collect data on Mega Evolution. He would have me battle other Trainers and use Mega Evolution. It seemed harmless, but a part of me always cried out in protest every day that I stepped into Lysandre Labs.

While providing data for Lysandre's scientists, I still tried to stealthily collect my own data on him. This usually involves letting my Pokémon roam around the facility on their own. Lucario was by far the best spy out of all of us. Being able to sense aura really gives him the advantage.

So far, I had only gathered a small bit of information. I was barely any better off than when I began. Lysandre had built a machine to do...something. Lucario had only been able to get a glimpse of it one day (and the weird green blobs inside it) and he'd done his best to draw out and explain what he'd seen. In retrospect it was a hilarious-looking game of charades.

When I wasn't battling, I kept Mairin company. She was always hopefully remaining at Chespie's bedside. I did my best to keep her in high spirits (while keeping my ulterior motives out of her attention. I couldn't drag her into this mess).

So far, my life had followed a pattern. Battle, battle, battle some more, see Mairin and Chespie, and then head back to the Pokémon Center only to repeat the process the next day. One day, Lysandre was the one to meet me and Infernape on the battlefield. I was surprised to see him, but he was smiling down at me. "Is everything alright? Where's my opponent?" I asked him.

"I have a different assignment for you today, Gabrielle. I would like for you to get to know this Trainer," Lysandre said and pulled out his personal Holo Caster. A hologram flashed before my eyes and displayed a very familiar face. My eyes widened as my jaw dropped slightly. "Judging from your expression, you are familiar with this person."

"He's… a friend of mine. Why do you care about him?" I questioned with a brow raised.

"Alain came across him in his travels. He was interested in the boy's power. His Greninja displays a sort of transformation similar to Mega Evolution. I think this will be a simple enough mission for you," Lysandre said while handing me a small, black device.

I turned it over in my hands with an eyebrow raised. It looked like a personal digital assistant. I pressed the screen and it came to life. Infernape stared at it curiously before poking at the screen. I shot her a look.

"It will track your location as well as monitor its surroundings. It should pick up on any energy similar to the energy we've gathered from Mega Evolution," Lysandre explained.

"I don't know what transformation you're talking about, but it's not Mega Evolution. He doesn't use that," I said defensively.

"That's alright. Call my interest "scientific curiosity". Alain last saw the young man on Route 19 a few days ago," Lysandre informed me. "You leave immediately."

I slowly nodded before leaving the battlefield with the device in my hands. Alain met Ash. Lysandre knows about Ash. I tried not to let it show, but I was slowly starting to panic. "That boy is always getting himself into trouble…" I grumbled to myself. In Ash's defense, he hadn't even sought out the trouble this time. He just happened to know someone who knew someone who was the trouble. I sighed deeply.

Pulling my Town Map out of my backpack, I scanned it for Route 19. "It's between Snowbelle City and Couriway Town…" I mused with Infernape scanning the map over my shoulder.

One thing was certain, I had to get to Ash before Lysandre or Alain could. So far, I was on my own in my "Ultimate Lysandre Take Down Plan". I didn't want to drag any more people in on my plan (I was actually still hoping that Alain would come around). I wasn't sure how I was going to warn Ash in a way that would make him not want to join the fight, but I had a few days to think about it.

Suddenly, my Holo Caster chimed and vibrated in my backpack. I took it out and saw that I had a message. I clicked on it and a hologram popped up before me. "The location of the Kalos League has been announced!"

"The Kalos League… If I know Ash, he'll be there," I started and stared the stadium that was being constructed. "I wonder if Diantha can get me a ticket…"

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Moi-Moi: I'm actually REALLY excited for the Kalos League. I hope Alain and Ash make it to the finals. I really want Ask to at least get runner up. I don't think he'll win but he AT LEAST has to beat Sawyer/Shota. What do you guys think?

Edited: 7/3/16