Chapter Nine

"Damn it!" Z's voice could be heard from outside the warehouse. "Why the hell didn't you say anything?!" Alexo couldn't hear what Leon said, but it had obviously made the Zoroark angry. "I was fucking training, and you could have had the fucking decency to tell me that!"

After another long string of curse words from Z, both Pokemon came back inside the warehouse, where the rest of the Shifters were waiting. Leon wore a frown, smeared with disappointment, while Z frowned with anger.

"No one better make a comment," Z growled as he trudged towards his room. The rest of the Shifters stood at the entrance, unsure of what to say next.

"I better be getting home," Finn interrupted the silence. "My mom's gonna flip."

For the next week, things were quiet in the city. Ascent hadn't made any more raids since the mall, but the Shifters were always on the lookout for any kind of movement. Finn, especially, was curious to figure out Ascent's plan, and had been thinking every free minute of his time. Maxwell and Viola hadn't been suspicious when Finn returned home that day after the mall raid, but his mother had worried that something had happened to him. Finn, of course, had the one excuse of 'I was out with some friends' to save him, and it had luckily worked.

So by the time it was Thursday of next week, Finn was completely bored. He practically slept through his classes, attempting to get the precious sleep time that he needed. As a result, he had been fussed at numerous times. But Finn knew that if Ascent took over, fussing wouldn't matter.

Thursday afternoon, in 4th Block, his teacher had just finished teaching her lesson when she realized that Finn was asleep once again. The bell rang, and the rest of the students in the classroom ran out. She woke the 16 year old up, and said quietly, "Are you getting enough sleep at home?"

Finn groaned, and rubbed his eyes. "Yep," He smiled weakly. "I'm just tired." Truth was, he had been trying to control his devastating electric attacks, and had stayed up well into the night in order to do so.

"Well, it's time to go…" The teacher dismissed the sleepy teen, who was already walking out the door.

"Thanks," Finn headed towards the little tree in front of the school, where him and Leon would meet after school. No one would usually stand there, so it was a good spot to discuss important topics. He didn't see Leon; instead, there was a girl with shoulder length brown hair, wearing a red jacket and skirt. It was Lydia Browells.

Lydia noticed that Finn was heading towards her, and she started to wave. "Hey," She called, motioning for Finn to come over to her.

"Hi…" Finn stumbled a bit, already becoming nervous around his crush.

"Uh, it's Finn, right?" Her voice said quietly.

"Uh huh," Finn snapped out of his stupor, and attempted to act like a normal person.

"Is there some reason why you're here?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah," Finn rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I'm, uh, just waiting for someone."

"Okay," Lydia looked at the line of cars waiting to pick up students. "I just like this little tree, and it's a good place to study."

"That it is," Finn remarked. "God, Finn, SAY SOMETHING!" He yelled at himself in his mind.

In that instant, Leon appeared behind the two, and leaned a hand against the little tree. The disguised Lucario analyzed Lydia in a split second, searching through her thoughts. She was a bit confused, but had a little spark of curiosity in her heart.

Finn turned around, and jumped at the sight of Leon. "God, you scared me, Leon!"

Leon nodded, and then gave Finn a look that said, "So how are you going to take care of this girl?"

"Is there something I need to know about?" Lydia asked, looking back and forth between the two.

Finn shook his head nervously, and tried to act casual. "No," Finn smiled with a look of worriedness. "My... uh… uncle was coming here to pick me up!" Leon gave the 16 year old a flabbergasted look, but Finn continued. "We were gonna go over to the…uh…"

"You're lying, aren't you?" Lydia crossed her arms. "I'm told that I'm good at detecting lies."

A few drops of sweat ran down the side of Finn's head, and he wiped it away quickly. "God, it's hot out here, huh?"

"It's December," Lydia rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm gonna tell you right now," She stood in front of Finn, and pointed an accusing finger at his face. "I don't like liars. You two look a bit rough, it seems, and you've been asleep half of the school day. You two are doing something wrong. I can tell. So you have two options: Either tell me now, or I'll call the police on you and they can figure it out. And I'll tell you this, my father's not a nice man when he's on the job."

Silence fell upon the three for a moment, before Leon said, "I think it would be best if you were kept out of this, Lydia."

A car horn honked, and Lydia turned her head towards it. The passenger window rolled down, and a brown haired woman could be seen at the wheel. "How do you know my name?" Lydia asked interrogatively.

"Just like you, I can sense things too," Leon replied.

"Well, I've gotta go," Lydia frowned as she walked toward her mom's car. "And don't think that you two are off the hook! I'm still going to figure this out!" She stepped into the car, and it drove away quickly, leaving the two Shifters speechless.

"And you still like her, huh?" Leon spoke as he lifted Finn up, ready to use Extreme Speed.

"Yeah," Finn said sheepishly.

"Try to channel all of your psychic energy into that stick," Alicia prompted. Alexo, in his Meowstic form, attempted to lift the stick with his mind, but the stick barely budged. Alexo flopped onto the ground, and sighed.

"Oh, Arceus, I'm never gonna get this right."

"Just keep on trying! Practice makes perfect!" Alicia encouraged her younger brother.

"Nobody's perfect, is what I've heard," Alexo muttered to himself as he tried to lift the stick again. It moved a few inches, but stopped when Alexo felt excited about his growing abilities.

"You'll get better," Alicia shifted to her Pokemon form, and flew up to the treetops. She landed on a tree branch, covered in leaves, concealing her immediately. She spied on Z, who was eating some Oran Berries. He was lying in the nook of two branches, and had his back turned to the tree trunk.

Z took a moment to stop eating, and smiled. "These Berries are great! I'm glad I found these before we came here." He continued to eat his Berries, poking the Berries' skin with his sharp red claws.

Alicia took a moment to prepare a birdsong in her throat, and flew out from her cover. She flew a few laps around the Zoroark, and landed right behind him. The song released itself from her beak, and hit Z with a flurry of musical notes. The Zoroark blinked, unsure of what had just happened. "Did you just…" Z turned around to see the Swablu, and started to get tired. "Arceus, I'm tired." He laid down, and soon fell asleep due to the song.

"I'm glad I'm one for studying Pokemon moves," The Swablu flapped her wings a few times before taking off once again.

"ALICIA!"

Alexo's head perked up at the sound of his sister's name. The voice belonged to Z, and it sounded like he was pissed.

Z stomped into the warehouse, looking around for his target. He didn't find anything, except for the once asleep Meowstic. "WHERE IS SHE?!" Z shouted.

"Jeez, bust my eardrums, why don't you?" Alexo rubbed his head, and stood up. He fixed his ears, which were folded in an odd way, and straightened his hair as best as he could. "Whatcha lookin' for?"

"Somebody decided it would be funny to pull a little prank on me while I was eating," Z huffed.

"That sounds like her," Alexo smiled. "Don't start anything, though. She's ruthless when it comes to pranks."

"I am too, then," Z continued to look around the warehouse, although nothing turned up. "I'LL GET YOU BACK, ALICIA!"

A.N.: So this chapter was fairly short. I feel like this one was just a filler chapter, but there are a few key points that could play on sooner or later. Sorry for the wait, I was just starting out in Pokemon Go (and I've already run out of Pokeballs). I know I said that this chapter would be out this past weekend, but you might be able to imagine my surprise when I keep on seeing Eevees (They're my favorite!).

Anyway, it seems as though Alicia has started a prank war with Z. And Lydia is showing some curiosity about the Shifters. What happens next?

I don't know.

:)