"Hey, hey!"

"H-huh?" Elissa said, awoken from her dream by the sound of a young boy's voice. She knocked some leaves out of her hair and looked down from her perch to see a frail green haired boy looking up at her. She waved at him. "Hi!"

"What are you doing up in that tree?"

"Well…I'm broke. I didn't have anywhere to sleep…so I decided to use this tree instead."

"In a jumper?!"

"What about it?"

He looked a bit confused. "Well…I mean…umm—"

"So why did you wake me up? I was…having a good dream. A really good…umm romantic…dream."

"Umm, I won't ask about that dream but umm…do you know anything about these guys in red?"

"Guys in red…guys in red?!" She yelled before she felt herself slipping. She steadied herself on the branch. "Guys in red? Are they headed for the space center?"

"I think so but I guess the gym leaders here are trying to hold them back—"

"Hey, why did you ask if I knew anything about those guys in red? Do I look like I would know something?"

He blushed. "I-I-I don't know! I was just…asking because you were sleeping like a baby while those guys were up to no good. It looks…"

She hopped out of the tree and shot him a look. "Like I'm up to no good, right?"

He looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that—"

"Whatever. I better go help out then! I can't wait to f*** up their plans!"

He blushed at her harsh language. "Well umm…may I come along?"

"Can you tag along? I guess so…but why do you want to tag along with me?"

He shrugged. "I just want to."

"Well…I guess I can't argue with that! Name's Elissa."

"Wally," he said with a cough. She pat him on the shoulder.

"Cool, let's go then!"

They hurried up the slope of Mossdeep and she jumped out of the way as a large rock rolled down the slope. She looked up where it came from and saw Tate and Tabitha battling it out. Tabitha's Solrock floated out of the way of Houndoom's Flamethrower attack and he pointed his finger at Tabitha. "Hey, why don't you give this up? Your attacks are too predictable and with my mental powers—"

"Mental powers? Hah, without your sister, you aren't nearly as hot as you think!"

"What? I don't need my dumb sister to beat you!" Tate yelled. Didn't he see that Tabitha was just trying to get him angry?

"He isn't even trying that hard," Wally said.

"No kidding. He's like hitting you over the head with the I'm trying to be a dick…uhh stick, or something."

"So what do we do?"

"Do? Is that a real question? We walk in and pound him! We pound his skull in like hamburger meat!"

Wally's eyes grew wide. "Uh…well do you think that's—"

She heard what sounded like a helicopter and turned to see just that hovering in the skies above them. She could see several Team Magma grunts inside and one of them tossed a Graveler out the side. It landed nearby and she walked over to it before Wally grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back, as best as he could. "W-watch out!" He yelled just as the Graveler used Explosion. She stumbled down and rolled down the hill until she came to a stop near the bottom. She sat up and saw Wally scurry out of the way as they flung out more Gravelers at them. Boo appeared next to her and she sighed. "D*** them! That was a dirty move! Like…how could they do that?"

Boo didn't have an answer and she smacked the ground with her fist. "F*** man, that just…sucks! We have to deal with them somehow! What can we do though? I won't let them get away with this!"

Wally hurried over to her before coughing a few times. "Umm…I think I have an idea."

"Are you okay? You keep coughing."

"I'm fine…just a bit winded—"

"Then stop! Don't tire yourself out…f***. I can't have people dropping like flies here!"

He smiled. "I'll…I'll be fine. So…I thought that…oh wait, that won't work," he said with a sigh. "I thought I had an idea."

"I have one…we'll just take out the stupid copter!"

"But what about those people inside, what if it crashes?"

So what? As far as she was concerned, they were all dirty scum. They knew what they were doing, what they had freaking signed up for. Wally shook his head. "S-so?"

"So? We can't just…I mean…they don't deserve that—"

"Yes they do. They joined a gang that wants to do away with all the water in the world. They…caused a volcano to blow up and now they want to do it again, this time with a rocket! Wally, does that sound like a bunch of people we should care about?"

"Still…that's kind of…mean?"

"And then they're using Pokemon like a bunch of f****** tools. N-no…they want to play rough…I will show them rough," she said. She felt him grab hold of her arm and she glared at him but was met with a look of concern…and even fear. Was he scared of her? Is that maybe why people didn't recognize her?

"N-no, please don't do it! I know they aren't nice people but—"

"I know but…but—"

"Seems like I got here at a bad time," Steven said. She turned around to see the former Champ walking towards them. He put his hands on his hips as he looked to the sky. "Well this isn't what I was expecting, helicopters? Air support? They really mean business."

"Steven…I thought you were—"

"I was but I lost track of them. While I was trying to pick up the trail again, I heard things over here weren't so great so I decided to call off my search and come over."

She sighed. "It looks like they decided to start their crazy plans early. It took me for a loop de loop you could say."

He nodded. "Yep, that's not good. And Tate and Liza are having a rough go at it as well."

"Do you have an idea how we can deal with those guys in the air? I suggested just knocking it out of the sky but…Wally thinks that's too extreme."

Steven's eyes grew wide. "Well uh…yea, that's a bit extreme. We need them alive anyway. I didn't expect you to suggest that idea though…"

"So do you have any ideas?" Wally said, not letting go of her arm. Steven folded his arms and nodded. "I think I do but I'll need a distraction while I do it."

A sense of relief came over her, well kind of. She was glad he had an idea but it didn't sound like it would give those f****** the punishment they deserved. Maybe some other time? "So what is it?"

"I can use Metagross to control the mind of the pilot and have them land the helicopter but I need one of you to keep them occupied by directing their attack elsewhere."

She smiled. "If it involves running around and being a pest, I'm your b****! Or uh…girl."

Steven nodded. "Yea, I think that would work just fine."

"Wally go hide somewhere! You can't be running around like this!"

Wally hurried off and she took off back up the hill. The helicopter noticed her coming and directed its attack at her. She stuck out her tongue and jumped out of the way as they tossed a Graveler at her. What happened to caring about land Pokemon? If they cared so much about them, why were they having Pokemon do this? From what she remembered, Self Destruct and Explosion hurt the Pokemon pretty good and most Pokemon didn't use it too often. So were they being forced to do this? Just the thought of it made her blood boil. He heard Steven call out and she jumped back to avoid another Graveler. "Ugh, get your head in the game Elissa," she said.

She took out the Pokeball and summoned Spheal. It barked in happiness and she gave him a thumbs up. "Hey, when they toss out another Graveler, blast it with water! I bet that will stop them from going boom!"

He didn't have long to wait as they tossed out a couple of Graveler, probably figuring he could only hit one of them. Spheal blasted one of them with Water Gun but before he could turn to hit the other one, she picked him up and pulled him back as the Graveler used Self Destruct. "Ugh, this is stupid! So freaking stupid!"

Suddenly the helicopter flew away. She watched it fly down to another part of the island and land before turning to Steven. He hopped off his Metagross. "Well that should take care of that."

"What did you do?"

"Like I said, I just had Metagross mind control the pilot and have him land the helicopter. He'll stay here and make sure they mind while we go on."

"Oh…well that works!"

Steven nodded. "I just hope we aren't too late. Any little diversion will waste time."

She summoned Spheal back to his ball and hurried up the hill. By the time she reached Tate, he was sat on the ground, looking saddened. "Hey, what happened to Tabitha? Did he just bounce somewhere?"

"I…I lost. I thought I could beat him but he surprised me with his Pokemon."

She sighed. "So?"

"They are a lot stronger than I thought…man. And now I sense my sister is struggling as well."

Sense? "What are you talking about?"

Tate looked up at Steven. "Oh hi Steven, still spelunking as usual?"

Steven smiled. "Yes but I had to take some time out of it to deal with Team Magma and Team Aqua."

"That's great…maybe you'll have better luck with them than I did. Man, maybe I am getting rusty."

"Hey Steven go on ahead," Elissa said with a forced smile. Something bugged her about this kid but she didn't know what. Steven nodded and hurried off. She shot Wally a look and he followed after Steven.

"Hey…what do you mean by sensing your sister?"

He looked up at her with a weak smile. "Oh, we're twins and we have psychic powers."

She frowned. Psychic powers? "So you can like…do stuff with your head?"

"Yep! Just like that. We can speak with each other without words, when the two of us are close together, we can sometimes move things with our minds and…and…" he said as he grew distant. He gave her a strange look and she frowned.

"What is it now? I'm really getting sick of people looking at me weird."

He shook his head. "You don't look weird but…while my powers aren't the strongest, I can sense that…your mind is really confusing."

"What the f***?"

He tapped his head. "It's really really weird. It's like…there are two sets of memories in your head."

"Two sets of memories? What? Does that mean I have like…two people inside me? I…" she said before wincing as a headache came over her. "Ugh, again."

"Yea, I don't know how that happened—"

"B-but…how will I know whose the real Elissa? W-what if none of those…memories are real?"

Tate's eyes grew wide. "I-I wish I could tell you Elissa what the truth is…I wish I could. I don't know how it'd be to have that in your head."

"It sucks. I keep thinking back to things that happened in my past and then stuff just doesn't add up. It's like…like…maybe all of those things in my past are really fake. Maybe…that's why no one remembers me…I'm a freaking nobody."

"I…I don't know about that. I mean you have a personality, a pretty colorful one too. You must have had a history for you to act like that…I don't know which set of memories that would belong to but…maybe you shouldn't worry about it?"

"Huh?"

He got to his feet and dusted himself off. "And man I was feeling bad about losing. What I mean is that stop trying to figure out what your past is. It seems like every time you try to think about it, all the…problems add up and you get overwhelmed. Maybe you'll find out eventually…or not. Just become a new person…I guess? I'm awful at this advice giving thing."

"Ahhh…yea. That might work."

Tate smiled but it soon melted away. "Ugh…that dopey sister of mine…she's—"

"Well why the f*** are we waiting around here for?"

They hurried up the hill to the Space Center but found Wally and Liza sat outside. Wally was fanning her with some paper and Tate hurried over. "Hey sis, what was going on?"

"T-Team Magma—"

"It's okay Wally, I understand. I guess we were too busy talking that I didn't feel it."

Wally looked up at him confused as hell but Tate laughed. "Wally, is Team Magma inside?"

"Y-yea. Steven went in after them but I'm not sure—"

"Hey, let me take care of my silly sister! You two better go inside and help out Steven. I still don't get why they're after the rocket. What are they trying to blow up?"

"I think they want to either cause a really big earthquake and make the volcano blow up or just hit the volcano with it instead! I know it sounds really freaking crazy."

Tate and Wally's eyes grew wide. "B-but the volcano just—"

"Wow, and I thought I hated school! Hitting a volcano with a big rocket filled with fuel sounds like a horrible idea!"

She nodded. "It's more than horrible, it's completely stupid. That's why we have to put a stop to it! I won't let them win!"

She hurried into the Space Center and ran into several Team Magma grunts. The whole room seemed to be filled with them, some of them watching over a bunch of hostages while the rest chilled and awaited further orders…or something. "Stop right there, we were given orders not to let anyone get through!"

"I don't care about your stinking orders. Don't you dare f*** with me, you hear that? Now get out of the way, now!"

He shook his head. "No way, you don't want to know what Tabitha will do to us—"

"Is it any worse than what I'm going to do to you? Steven isn't here to hold me back so—"

The door burst open and in walked Homika. Next to her was a large Wigglytuff, that sure looked familiar but she couldn't remember for the life of her why. Best not to worry about the past. Homika looked over at her. "Man, this place is just crawling with characters. Are you some sort of gym leader?"

"H-huh," she said. Homika glared at her.

"Hey, stop staring at me like that!"

Was she staring? Opps…but she couldn't help it. "I'm sorry—"

"Anyway, how about you losers get out of my way?"

"Our orders—"

Elissa turned to face them. "F*** your orders! I don't have time to hear your garbage! Let's go Spheal!" She said as she summoned him. The two grunts stepped back but she didn't even wait for Spheal to attack, rushing forward and shoving one of the grunts onto one of the tables but he slid over it and fell on the other side. She turned to see Spheal blast the other one with water but this only attracted the attention of the other grunts.

"Man…you're pretty crazy," Homika said.

Elissa backed away as the other grunts approached but grabbed a nearby chair and flung it as hard as she could, falling down in the process. It forced several of the grunts to jump out of the way and Spheal decided to spray the floor with water, causing some of them to slip and fall. She giggled and nodded. "Great job Spheal! I would have never thought of that!"

"Who are you?"

She looked over at Homika. "Oh…umm, I'm Elissa! That's my Pokemon Spheal and I have another one I call Boo!"

"Who the hell is Boo?"

She brought Boo out and Homika gasped when she saw him. "Boo? That isn't Boo at all! His name is Chase!"

She sighed. "That was such a dumb name so I decided to name him—"

Homika grabbed her by the arm. "That Pokemon belonged to Ethan! You can't just take him like that! And then disrespect the feelings for the previous owner and rename him too!"

"Ahh…b-but he didn't mind! He likes his new name!"

Homika made a fist with her hand. "That Pokemon belonged to Ethan—"

"Isn't he dead though? I'm sorry if he was a friend of yours but—"

"He was more than a friend…and—"

Boo interrupted her and must have said something to her because her anger vanished and she gave her a weird look. She looked away. "Umm…stop giving me that look—"

"Don't tell me you're…"

"Elissa? Because that's who I am."

Homika stomped her foot. "Would you let me finish?"

"I-If this has to do with my past…I don't want to hear it."

"What?"

She sighed and then gave a weak smile. "How do I say this? Umm…I really think that…these freaking memories I have…they're all fake. Anytime I think about them, it just gives me the worst f****** headache alive."

"But you're—"

"I'm Elissa and…that's all I know. That's all I will be."

"You could at least let me finish."

She sighed. "Well…I guess."

"I've never met an Elissa but you sure seemed like you knew me, just the look in your eyes."

"I did?" She said even though it was a big fat lie. She did seem to recall Homika but…what if there was another memory that seemed to contradict that? How could she keep thinking about the past when things didn't add up and yet both things seemed to make sense? She shook her head. "Fake memory."

"Fake?!"

Elissa nodded. "I told you…I'm Elissa. Have you ever known an Elissa in the past?"

"Well…no."

"Then…there you go. I guess if no one knows me…it means that perhaps it's all just…made up in my head."

"N-no one recognizes you because you look like a totally different person! You were never Elissa in the past!"

"Th-that doesn't make any sense! S-s-stop trying to tell me who or who I wasn't! I'm Elissa…that's all. Stop f******* with me and let me be me!"

Homika looked completely taken aback by it, stepping back and her eyes wide open but she didn't have time to think as Spheal interrupted her thoughts with a bark. She looked over at him and noticed that all of the Team Magma grunts had been put down. She laughed and flashed him a thumb up. "Great, let's go!" She said. She looked over at Homika. "Sorry."

She and Spheal ran up the steel steps that led up to the second floor. This floor was just as big as the first and had computers lining every wall except a corner of the room where another set of stairs lay. In the middle of all these computers sat a raised wooden platform where a large black super computer sat atop and sitting next to it was a guy in a Team Magma outfit, one very similar to the one Tabitha wore that identified them as separate from your everyday grunt. This guy had white hair, part of which he wore over his right eye like a sort of bang. He sat with one leg drawn up, looking a bit downtrodden. "I don't get it, just what is Tabitha up to? Taking control of a rocket and sending it into the fault line? What the hell?"

He was so busy grumbling to himself that he didn't notice her. She watched him for a bit, unsure of what to do. If what this clown said was true, maybe Tabitha was going a bit…how could she put it…on his own? Maybe his bosses didn't like this stupid plan either but…so what? Did it matter now that he was here? The guy looked over at noticed her. She smiled. "Oh hi, do you mind if I just—"

"What are you doing here? How did you get past all those grunts?"

Spheal barked beside her and she put her hands on her hips. "You guys really suck against water Pokemon, don't ya? Get it? Suck—"

"Yea, you're a real comedian," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. He seemed to be fishing inside for something.

She laughed. "You know, I heard you talking to yourself…about how Tabitha's plan is f****** stupid and—"

"W-what, you heard that?"

She winked. "You bet your red a** but that's not why I'm here."

He finally took out a Pokeball and held it out toward her. "Either you leave this building or I'll force you to leave!"

"Man you guys are all so hot under the collar. Lighten up!" She said before looking over at Boo. Just thinking about what he said gave her an idea. "Hey Boo, do me a favor and take control of his body."

"What?" He said. He pulled back his arm to throw the Pokeball and summon his Pokemon but suddenly his eyes became distant as it looked like his pupils vanished. His head sort of dropped a bit and he even let the Pokeball fall to the ground. He resembled a giant lifelike puppet, a look that sent a chill or two down her spine.

"W-wow, I didn't think that would work…but I guess you're a ghost, you should be able to do that kind of thing. Soooo…let's go upstairs and have a little talk with that jerk!"

The guy walked up the stairs in a slow manner, like how you would expect someone under control of something to act and she followed right behind. The third floor appeared to be the top as the whole room was lined with large windows that extended from the floor to the ceiling. There were far fewer computers in this room, only a short row in the front, occupied by several men that looked like your everyday scientists, complete with lab coats with various spills and stains she didn't even want to know where they came from and terrible haircuts…among other things. Standing in front of the front windows were Steven and Tabitha. Steven had a pair of Beldum out in front while Tabitha had his Charmleon front and center. She cleared her throat and everyone looked over at her.

She grabbed the guy by the arm and pointed to him. "Hey Tabby!"

"That's Tabitha!"

She rolled her eyes. "You're Tabby to me but anyway…your friend here has something to say to you."

"What have you done to Mack?"

She tapped the side of her cheek. "Oh…about that? That's my little secret! You better listen to him though. Go on Macky, tell your friend Tabby here how much the big boss hates this crack idea of yours."

Tabitha stepped forward but Mack looked up at him. "Tabitha…I told you this plan was doomed to fail—"

"Fail, fail? What are you talking about? How can the plan fail when we haven't even put it into place?"

Mack folded his arms. "What do you expect to happen when you send the rocket into the fault line? Or even into the volcano? Do you really think it'll do what you want?"

Tabitha growled as he shook a fist at him. "What gives man? Of course it will, our plan will be a total success. This time, that stupid Ethan won't be around to stop us!"

"Our plan? Our plan? This has been your plan from the start. I never signed off on it and neither did the other admins or the boss himself, this has all been you! We all thought the plan was horrible and—"

"Shut up, what do you know? I got full authorization from Maxie himself! He signed off on this plan—"

"You never got his full authorization—"

"You were in the stupid office when I got it! How could you forget?" He yelled. Okay, this wasn't getting them anywhere. She pulled Mack down to his knees and pointed a finger at him.

"Okay bozo, listen up! If you don't do like I say, your pal here is dead meat!"

Steven raised an eyebrow but she just winked at him, hoping that would be enough. Tabitha waved his arm to the side. "Dead meat? What are you talking about? Let him go, now or else you'll—"

"You'll do what?" She asked, cocking her head to the side with a smile. Tabitha chuckled as he reached into his hoodie and pulled out a remote control with a large green button. He pointed it at Steven.

"Don't move! You too! If either of you try to stop me, I'll launch—"

She sighed. "Stop with the bulls***. If that really would launch the rocket, you would have hit the freaking button already."

"How about you let me finish brat? This isn't a button to launch that rocket. It's a little button that will launch a different attack."

Her eyes grew wide. "What?"

He smiled as he caressed the button. Gross man, get a girl. "This button will unleash a small signal to a few explosives I have underneath Mossdeep. Actually not just small but a large amount of explosives."

"You would kill yourself?"

He shrugged. "And quite a few people here. Plus—"

"F*** I get it…we'll let you and your friend here leave safely but only if you give Steven the toy."

Tabitha shrugged. "Then hand him over—"

"First give that thing to Steven—"

"I said—"

Steven stomped his foot. "Elissa, just hand over Mack. We can't allow him to destroy this island."

She grumbled as she pushed Mack forward. Tabitha, to her surprise, flipped the remote to Steven before taking Mack with him. He walked past her with a grin and she just glared at him. By the time he left the floor, she hurried over to Steven. "Hey, let's go grab him! We got his little toy so—"

"I'm sure he has a backup plan Elissa."

She held out her hands. "But…but…can we just let him get away like that?"

He sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm not sure he has a backup plan but if he does, I don't want to find out. Better safe than sorry."

She looked down toward the stairs, blood boiling at the idea that he had gotten away free and clear. She didn't say anything for a bit. Did he really have a backup plan? If he did, they were all pretty much dead meat. Just the thought that he could do so much damage to this island made her want to crawl in a ball. She looked over at Steven but he seemed so calm! "How can you be so cool and—"

"He won't do anything to this island."

"You just said he has—"

"Yep, a backup plan but I never said the backup plan had anything to do with this island. He'll target something else if need be. I figure he still has plans for this rocket so what good would it do to blow it up before he could use it?"

"Oh."

About half an hour later, they saw a helicopter lift into the air and head off into the distance. He watched it leave and sighed. He looked at her and smiled. "Thanks to you, we were able to put an end to this little plot."

So why did she feel unsettled? And angry like hell? "Thanks nothing. They got away, again! They're like escape artists or something!"

He shrugged. "Yes but would you prefer their plan succeed?"

"I want them locked up in the local pokey! That's what I want! I don't want them running around out there, planning something else."

He folded his arms and smiled. "Stop worrying so much. Besides, I had my Pokemon plant a tracking device on that helicopter."

She repeated his gesture but without the smile. "Watch those f****** ditch it, just for kicks."

"Maybe…or maybe not. It's worth a shot anyway."

She grumbled. "It's just…man, I won't be happy until we put those guys down…if you know what I mean."

"I don't think I do."

She held up a fist and pounded it into her open palm. "I mean we put them down…for good. And not just in the slammer either. I mean we send them off…off to that great playground in the sky, where all those nasty Pokemon bullies go to torment each other."

"Pretty sure that would be down—"

"You get my point!"

He laughed. "Maybe I do…or maybe not."

She leaned forward and stuck out her bottom lip. "Is it your job to argue with me?"

"I'm sure it's my job to stop you from doing super crazy things, to curb that bloodthirsty attitude and to calm you down."

Killjoy. Yet, the idea that someone seemed to care enough about her was…nice. And it seemed like he wasn't trying to tell her to get lost either. "So…you aren't telling me to get lost?"

He walked over as he opened the back of the remote and took out the batteries. "No…even though you did screw up my plans."

A sick feeling grew in her stomach. "Your…plans?"

He set the remote and the batteries down as he walked over to her. "Yes, I was gonna send a message to Metagross to float up here and take control of his mind. That way, we had him under wraps and not out causing more harm."

Her sick feeling only grew worse. "S-s-so…I ruined everything—"

"You don't look so great. Stop worrying yourself sick Elissa. You did your best…it seemed neither of us was aware of the plans the other had. Miscommunication is a killer."

Her eyes grew wide and she began to calm down, even smile a bit. "Y-yea, I guess you're right. Maybe we'll have to open our mouths for once and explain what the f*** is going on."

She noticed Boo had floated off somewhere and she looked around for him. Steven gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Well let's go downstairs and talk with the others."

They left the Space Center and she noticed that Homika had run off too. Had she and Boo left together…no, stop thinking that. Boo wouldn't just leave her like that. He must have had a very good reason! Wally, Tate and Liza sat outside as they left the building and Wally smiled. "W-w-wow, is everything okay?"

"Of course everything is okay Wally! Didn't you see Team Magma running with their tails—"

Liza smacked him and he cried out in pain. "Be nice! We didn't know what happened up there! Why are you always so immature?"

"Th-that hurt," he said, holding his head in pain. Wally looked at the two of them with a shake of his head.

"Well Homika left but—"

"Really? That's too bad," Steven said with a sigh. So she did leave…if she left with Boo…she was gonna get a smack right to the kisser! Bam, Bow! He folded his arms. "Well as for what happened, Tabitha threatened to blow things up so we let him and Mack leave. I did slap a tracking device on their helicopter so with any luck, we'll learn where their headquarters are—"

"Or they could just ditch it and send it off somewhere," Liza said.

"Hey, I'm the killjoy here!" She said with a wide smile at Steven. He nodded.

"Yes there is that possibility but it's better than nothing. It's all we have to go under. We'll have to just wait and see. Other than that…well everything is safe."

Elissa sighed. "Still those dirty no good rotten scum got away."

Liza laughed. "You really hate them? It's nice to see someone out there seems to care other than us…and…Steven. Shame about that other guy, Ethan."

"F*** him, I'm here now to help," Elissa said, puffing out her chest.

Wally, Tate and Liza blushed. "Could you like…stop cussing so much?" Liza asked.

"H-hey, it adds character! And it means she's a bit rough around the edges…girls can't all be straight like you—"

"Tate, what is that supposed to mean? You better—"

"Umm maybe we should stop arguing and let them continue?" Wally said. He winced like someone was gonna hit him, even if none of them was thinking about it. "Just…saying."

Steven chuckled. "Don't worry. So what about it Metagross?" He asked of the giant Pokemon. It must have said something to him because he nodded. "Metagross said that the helicopter appears to be headed to northwest. Doesn't appear they've stopped yet so he'll let us know when they do."

"And what about that water gang?" Tate asked.

"Well…I asked Wallace and Juan for their help. Between the two of them…though…"

"I hate to just ignore Team Pyro freaks but we can't ignore those water clowns either."

He nodded at her. "Yea, they did get away with that sub. I'm not sure what they plan to do with it though."

Tate nodded. "I bet…they'll sink ships!"

Liza rolled her eyes. "Steal a giant sub…to sink a few ships?"

"W-well…why not?" Tate asked with a sheepish look on his face. It really did seem like a stupid idea but piling on a little kid seemed extreme, even for her. "I mean, you know some of those ships are like totally into whaling. I bet they hunt down water Pokemon and fish them up so they can send them off to restaurants where they eat them!"

"Eat Pokemon?" Wally asked in horror. Tate seemed to notice his distress and he laughed an evil laugh.

"Yep, especially Magikarp. You know what they'll do? They'll take him out and take their big knife like so and then they'll slice at it! Slice here, slice there—"

Elissa stomped her foot as Wally looked more sick. "Hey Tate, give it a rest, will ya! Stop making poor Wally squirm like that!"

Liza slapped him aside the back of his head. "She's right!"

Steven sighed. "I kind of see his point. While I know they didn't take the sub to just twist their moustaches and sink ships, it would be a nice side benefit while they plot their next scheme."

"Then what we need is something to entice them…something that will get their attention. Then we can spring the trap on them!" Liza said with a squeal.

Steven smiled and nodded. "Yep…I like it. I think I'll go discuss this with Juan and Wallace. Between the three of us, we should be able to come up with something."

"But what about me?" Elissa asked.

"You should—hmm, I'm not sure. How about you just chill until we figure out what to do?"

"Can't I come along?"

He closed his eyes and nodded. "That would work too—"

"Hey before you go off and do that, we need to talk Elissa," Homika said. They turned to see her walk around the Metagross with Boo in tow. She walked straight up to her and grasped her by the wrist. Just what was going on? "That okay Steven?"

"Sure thing."

Sure thing? Now wait just a minute but she didn't get a chance to respond as Homika led her away. They walked around the Metagross and over to the side of the Space Center, away from the view of the others. She let her go and turned away from her, staring over the edge of the cliff. Elissa rubbed her wrist and heard the rock star sigh. "Ugh…still not sure if I'll ever be into girls—"

"What?" Elissa said, not sure what Homika just mumbled.

"Listen up Elissa! I'll keep this short," she said as she turned around, one hand on her hip and the other dangling to the side. She held up the other and sighed. "Umm…can we just forget about what I said earlier in the Center?"

"Uhh…yea? Why are you—"

"Chase…I mean Boo explained everything to me. I just thought I recognized you…. but I was wrong. You reminded me of someone I loved, a guy."

That was weird. She didn't even look like a guy! Especially considering she wore a jumper. Maybe it was her hair…she did notice it wasn't all that long and perhaps it did make her look a bit boyish. "Oh…thanks."

Did it ever occur to her how cute she looked? She really felt like saying it but then again…she probably wasn't into girls, f***. "I know that sounds weird but whatever. I was just…thinking…that maybe you could use a friend?"

"A…friend?"

Homika sighed. "I…I…well maybe it's more like I could use a friend."

Wow…someone needed her? "B-but aren't you some sort of rock star?"

She stomped her foot. "A rock star doesn't have friends! They just have a bunch of people that are in love with the image…the person on stage singing her heart out. They don't really care about the person…they think they do but once they're tired of the act, they'll treat the rock star like unwanted trash as they flock to the next act."

Wow, was the life of a rock star that hard? Funny, it felt as if she had heard this from somewhere before…she just couldn't remember what? Ugh, there you go Elissa, trying to recall the past. Stop it…she couldn't trust any of those memories. They were just nothing but junk. "W-wow."

Homika nodded. "Yea…wow. I thought I had someone but he's gone and I find myself all alone. And then I see you and notice how easily people seem to flock to you…and well I want to see why."

She blushed. "Wow umm…well umm…I don't know what to say…other than thanks. We can be friends! Glad to meet you Homika—"

"Hey, just call me Roxie! Well in private that is."