I know this story has been uploaded several times before in the past, but if you are reading this and enjoying it, let me know

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Chapter Nine: Tensions

She skipped out of the gym, happy to get away from the smell of flowers. Flowers were pretty to look at, but being around them too long affected her in a bad way. It made her nose run and her throat itch and neither of those things was pleasant to experience. She immediately made her way to the gym to rest up her Pokemon when she was approached by a pretty slender red haired lady with brilliant jade green eyes.

"You defeated the gym leader, Gardenia, didn't you?"

Dawn nodded. "Yes."

The woman sighed with relief. "Thank goodness! Arceus has answered my prayers!" She motioned for Dawn to come closer then pointed to the building in north western corner. "My husband is in there! Some people in spacemen clothing knocked him unconscious and dragged him to the building! You must save him, please!"

What was it with these Galactic people abducting people anyway? It was almost like they were aliens from out of space. She nodded again, flicking a strand of hair away from her eyes. It wasn't like she was new to this – she had faced the Galactic grunts on quite a few occasions now. "I will rescue your husband."

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

Dawn walked away from the sobbing lady and headed to the Pokemon Centre. She wasn't going to make it much further without resting them up after all. Once they were healed, she exited the building and made her way over to the building. It was a rather imposing figure of four storeys tall, dwarfing all the other buildings in the city. It even had its own helipad deck on top. Whoever had this place built obviously had a lot of money in possession to have such an impressive structure built.

She took a few more steps towards the building and noticed there were a couple of prickly bushes surrounding the building. Someone had obviously gone to great lengths to ensure it was hard to enter… and exit as well unless they had a means of flying. The bushes were quite tall as well, reaching up to her shoulders. The Galactic grunts must've had a difficult time getting inside but she suspected their uniforms made it far more bearable.

She wished she had an extra pair of miner's clothing attire right now. "Here goes nothing," she said, slowly reaching her hand forward, to part the bushes. Thorns brushed up against her skin causing her to jerk her arm back. She yelped, and glanced down to examine the damage. The damage was minimal fortunately, but her arm was bleeding now. Dawn cursed. Just her luck.

Opening her bag, she reached a hand down, searching for a couple of first aid equipment. Her hand brushed up against some bandages. She grabbed the large roll, laid her bag on the floor and did her best to wrap it around her arm to cover the wounds to prevent any infection. Once her arm was bandaged up, she picked up her bag again and stared at the prickly bush. How was she supposed to get past these plants? She didn't have a Pokemon that could burn them down… She needed a gardening snipping tool, something to cut down the bushes….

Wait.

Her Turtwig was a plant eating Pokemon. He could eat his way through! Or knock them down at least with an attack. Either option would work. She summoned her Turtwig. Turtwig was happy to be outside of his ball since it had been quite a few days since she last let him out. He peered up at her, his head tilted to the right. "We have to enter this building to save a shop keeper, but these plants are in the way." Turtwig turned to look at the plants. He moved forward and opened his mouth, placing it around the stem of a plant. He started chewing through the stem. Surprisingly, the thorns did not bother her Pokemon at all.

Turtwig continued to munch through the stems until all the plants fell down. He seemed satisfied, but moved a little slower than usual thanks to devouring so much vegetation in such a short time. He waddled after Dawn.

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One of the grunts stuck his head out of the window. "Jupiter! Look! There's that girl we've been hearing about!" he exclaimed, jumping up. This action caused him to whack his head against the top of the window frame. "Ow!" he yelped. He rubbed his head and stook a few steps back, while the other grunts laughed at him.

Jupiter brought a hand to her forehead and sighed. Not only had the boss commanded her to stay at the Eterna building, but he had given her the dumbest of the dumbest grunts in the organisation. No wonder he was so eager to let her do what she wished. The boss certainly had a strange way of expressing humour. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered serving him. It was clear to her that Cyrus didn't favour her highly in comparison to the other three.

"Move!" she snapped. She stormed over to the windowsill, shoving the grunt out of her way, and stuck her head outside. A pretty dark blue haired girl was standing at the front of the door with a slower than normal Turtwig following behind her. Even from this height, Jupiter could see leaves hanging out from the sides of the Turtwig's mouth. Smart trainer, she thought.

She moved away from the window and pulled out her Xtransceiver and dialled the boss' number. "Hello, boss!"

There was a three second delay. "Commander Jupiter, what is it?" the boss replied, sounding a little tired. Commander Jupiter felt bad for calling him now – he was tired and when he was, he was moodier than usual. Moments like these usually resulted in Jupiter having her pay cut for no other reason than 'harassing the boss'.

"There's a trainer here. A blue-headed girl. What do you want me to do with her? We can't let her run around the base, she's just a child and she'll ruin everything! Shall I order the grunts to abuse her?" She tried to contain her excitement, but she wanted that little witch to pay for interfering with their plans at the Valley Windworks.

Again, there was a delay. Jupiter thought she heard the sounds of someone else with Cyrus. A woman? Her hands tightened on her Xtransceiver. Cyrus couldn't be possibly thinking of replacing her with someone else, right?

"Let her do as she pleases, Jupiter."

"Wh-what?" Jupiter blurted.

Cyrus sighed. "What harm can a child possibly do? You will not allow your grunts to attack her. Is that understood, commander?"

"What am I supposed to do then? Just wait for her to make her way to the top and find the bike owner?"

"Bike owner?"

"Yes, the bike owner. He wouldn't give me a bike so I ordered my grunts to kidnap him."

"You will not carry out kidnapping missions without my consent," he snarled into the phone, causing Jupiter to flinch. "Who do you think the authorities are going to blame if people continue to go missing?"

"I wasn't going to keep him here for long!"

"This is your last warning, Jupiter. Do not fail me again." He hung up on his end. Jupiter threw her Xtransceiver across the room, almost tearing out her hair in the process. She had sworn an oath to serve him, but he was so incredibly frustrating to work for that sometimes she wondered if it was even worth it. Why did Mars and Saturn get the important missions? She pouted.

"What did the boss say?" a grunt said.

She growled. "He doesn't want you giving the girl a hard time for whatever reason, but that doesn't mean I'm going to step down." She started to feel a pang of sympathy for the girl. She didn't know what she was getting herself into when she reached the final floor.

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Unlike last time, there was no one standing guard at the door. She pushed the door open and stepped inside. Cold hands grabbed her shoulder. Dawn jumped. She turned around, preparing to slap whoever her attacker was, but only found the grinning face of Looker beaming down at her.

"Hello! It is me! Me! Ha ha ha!" he chuckled, eyes shining with amusement. "I have startled you, yes? I am, after all, an officer of the International Police. It is only natural that I be a master of disguise…"

Dawn recovered, although her heart was still racing. "That wasn't funny, Looker. I thought you might've been a grunt."

"It is habit… Incidentally, you are a first-rate trainer. Of that, I am very aware. I therefore think you will be okay, but I must warn you to be careful anyway," Looker said, amusement gone from his eyes. He wore a solemn expression now, his dark eyes studying Dawn's face closely. "A word of advice. This building, it has two stairs. One of them, a trap it must be. But the crooks of Team Galactic, they do not appear, how shall I say, smart. There should be an easy way to tell the stairs apart!"

"Thanks for the advice," Dawn said.

He smiled. "You and I will meet again, yes?"

Even though she had met the guy twice already, she still had trouble wrapping her head around this strange way of speaking. Looker exited the room allowing Dawn to venture further into the building. The bottom floor was empty. She saw two archways leading to two separate doors. Looker had warned her that one could be a trap, but the grunts were dumb enough to leave clues behind.

As she moved closer, she noticed one archway had a sign next to it. The sign read, 'THIS IS THE RIGHT DOOR. PROCEED'. She silently thanked whoever wrote the sign and made her way up the staircase. She reached the second floor and proceeded to make her way up to the third and fourth floors. The fourth floor was much more interesting to be on because the walls were not plain, but covered in starry wallpaper. She didn't have much time to admire the interior decorating because she was standing in a room of Galactic grunts. They circled around her, eyeing her as if she were something to eat.

A lady stepped forward. She was dressed differently than the others – she wore the same skin tight-fitting clothing the grunts had, but one of her pant legs didn't cover her leg completely. Dawn suspected it was supposed to be a sign she was of some importance, like Mars was.

"So, you're the little brat that gave Mars some trouble at the Valley Windworks," the purple haired lady said, circling around Dawn, studying her like a hawk. "The boss says the grunts can't lay a finger on you, but I don't always listen to him. I'm here, you're here and he's not." She gave her a mocking smirk. "I, Jupiter, will challenge you to a battle!"

"I'm here for bike owner. Where is he?"

"In the wardrobe downstairs," she replied lazily. "I'll let him go if you beat me, how does that sound?"

Dawn ordered her Turtwig to take the battle since her friend hadn't battled in awhile. "Go, Turtwig!" Turtwig stepped in front of his master and glared at Jupiter.

"Aw, cute, a little baby tortoise!" she cooed. "But what happened to its leaf? Nevermind, that'll just make this battle much easier for me to win. Go, Zubat!" Zubat hovered in the air, a few feet in front of Jupiter. "Use Wing Attack!" The bat swooped, striking Turtwig with its wings. Fortunately, the Zubat wasn't physically that powerful and the move didn't do as much damage as it could've.

"Turtwig, use Bite!" Dawn ordered, wanting to test out her Pokemon's new move potion she had recently purchased. Her Turtwig didn't move though, he just sat there in one place, his body turning a shade of dark green. "Turtwig?" Turtwig still didn't move. Dawn bit her lower lip. Had her Turtwig come down with some sort of a virus?

"Hah," Jupiter crowed. "Your Pokemon is sick from eating those leaves outside the front door! This battle is over before it's even begun! Zubat, use Wing Attack again!" Zubat swooped again, hitting Turtwig in the face with its wings.

Dawn lowered her hand to her pokebelt to call her friend back, but a part of her felt her Pokemon could win this battle even if he was at a serious type-disadvantage. "Come on, Turtwig…" she murmured.

Turtwig began to convulse suddenly, expelling the digested leaves out of his system. The leaves spilled out onto the floor, causing some of the grunts to jump back. He began to glow, his trembles increasing with intensity, as he rocked back and forth. She didn't know how to react. No one had told her what to do should a Pokemon come down with a virus during a battle. She lowered her hand, unsure of what else to do other than watch. Turtwig didn't look to be in pain. The shaking lessened. A bright light enveloped his body, blinding all those within its presence. Dawn shielded her eyes until the light dimmed, and spotted a much larger tortoise with two bushes on its back standing in Turtwig's place. She immediately drew out her Pokedex.

Grotle. The evolved form of Turtwig. It knows where pure water wells up. It carries fellow Pokemon there on its back.

She put it away. Somehow, the leaves her Turtwig had consumed had helped it to evolve.

"Hmph, so you got your Pokemon to evolve. It doesn't matter though you're still going to lose. Zubat, use Bite!"

Zubat hovered above the Grotle then lowered itself down slowly until it was above the tortoise's head. The bat brought down its mouth and clamped its teeth on his back, but Grotle's shell rendered its attack as useless. "Grotle, use Bite!" While Zubat was still close to ground level, Grotle had the chance to attack. He lifted himself up onto his hind legs with surprising strength and bit down on one of the bat's wings.

"How insolent!"

Grotle refused to release his grip on the Zubat's wings. Zubat tried to fly away, but Grotle was far too strong. The bat kept flapping until it ran out of energy and flopped down to the ground, its wings twitching slightly. "Well done, Grotle!" Dawn cheered. Grotle made a grunting noise indicating joy.

Jupiter recalled her Pokemon then sent out her second one. "Skuntank!"

Images of Skunky materialized in her head as Dawn studied the giant skunk. This was obviously the evolved form of Skunky, although it was twice as large, had a thick furry tail and a face shaped like that of a cat. Even so, she pulled out her Pokedex for the sake of obtaining information for the professor's research.

Skuntank. The evolved form of Skunky. It attacks by spraying a horribly smelly fluid from the tip of its tail. Attacks from above confound it.

In the corner of her eye, Dawn noticed the grunts had pulled out masks to shield their nose and mouths from breathing in the repugnant stench. Even Jupiter, the Pokemon's owner, pulled out her own mask. Dawn wished she had one of those but she hadn't seen any in the shops she had passed through. This battle could turn nasty within seconds. She could only hope that her newly evolved Grotle had a poor sense of smell.

"Skuntank, use Poison Gas!"

Skuntank turned around, and raised its tail, the tip curled down. It wagged its posterior end from left to right, expelling a foul purple cloud of gas. Dawn brought two hands to her mouth and lurched forward, trying to fight back the nausea that gripped her mind. The gas from a Skunky had been bad enough, but this was so much worse. It reeked like a decomposing corpse combined with the smell of rotten eggs.

"Oh my…" Dawn gasped, pinching her nose as tightly as possible until her began to hurt. Her eyes began to water and her stomach continued doing somersaults. Her head began to spin. It was just so nasty… How could anyone withstand a battle against one of those Pokemon? Her knees buckled and gave way. She fell to the floor and hunched over, balling her fingers into fists.

She heard a couple of thuds and turned around to find a few grunts lying on the floor. Even their masks weren't good enough to lessen the stench of the odour emitted from a Skuntank. Some grunts ran out of the room with tears in their eyes, while a couple of others rushed over to the closest window to expel the contents of their stomaches.

It would've been a rather comical sight to those outside, but it wasn't amusing for those involved. She lurched forward and vomited up her breakfast. She vomited again a few moments later, but it did little to ease her nauseousness. In fact, it only made her feel worse. She wiped her mouth using the back palm of her head, wincing at the sight of vomit leftover. "Grotle… use Bite…" she whimpered.

Grotle didn't appear to have a good sense of smell since the Pokemon seemed unaffected by the stench. He charged forward and bit the Skuntank on the nose. Skuntank hissed. "Skuntank, use Night Slash!" A purple glow encased the Skuntank's body. Skuntank lashed out a claw, hitting Grotle in the face leaving a scratch mark.

"Hang… in there… Grotle… Use Razor Leaf!" Now that her Pokemon had leaves on its back, he could use that attack. Grotle shook his body, making the bushes on his back shake. He lunged forward, hurling a couple of leaves at his opponent. The leaves struck the Skuntank in the face, leaving multiple scratches.

"Skuntank, use Night Slash!" Skuntank lunged forward and swatted Grotle in the face once more. Grotle stumbled back, but recovered quickly and rammed his head into the Skuntank's side. She heard Jupiter hiss. "You're not bad for a brat, but I'm not giving up this easily. I will-what is it?"

One of the grunts who hadn't fainted grabbed her arm and tugged on it. "The gym leader and her students are coming! Someone must've alerted them to our presence!"

"Dammit!" Jupiter cursed. "Today is your lucky day, but next time I will defeat you, you can count on it. Open the wardrobe downstairs and release the bike shop owner! All of you worthless grunts pack up and go before the boss returns!" She turned to Dawn. "Next time, do yourself a favour and purchase a gas mask if you hope to stand a chance against me. Oh, and before you go, let me tell you something important. Our boss is researching the myths of ancient Pokemon. With the power of mythical Pokemon, he will become the ruler of Sinnoh… I suggest you keep out of Team Galactic's affairs from now on. This is your last warning!"

Jupiter recalled her Skuntank and the smell began to fade away. Dawn climbed to her feet and stumbled out of the room. Using the walls as support, she made her way down to the bottom floor where a man in his mid-thirties stood before her looking a little flabbergasted. "Thank you for saving me! Stop by my shop later and I'll give you my prized bike!"

Dawn weakly nodded, still recovering from being gassed. She stumbled out of the building, and heaved a sigh of relief as soon as she stepped outside. She really needed a good hot shower after this debacle. Some new clothes wouldn't hurt either. Fortunately, the local Pokemon Centre had both available for a minimal fee. She made her over to the building, her loyal Pokemon following behind her. What an eventful day.

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Johanna sat down in the cafeteria section of the hall, helping herself to some raisin toast and juice, while Marina ran through the schedule. Marina had been up all night working on the finer details alongside Johanna trying to come up with a timetable that catered for the general interests of the public. The event was scheduled to last three days and the task was to ensure each day was even in terms of exciting events.

"So, do you think the catwalk should happen on the second day or on the final day?" Marina said, crossing her right leg over her left, as she dangled her pen between her fingers.

Johanna nodded. "It should happen on the second day. In past years, attendance numbers have always been the highest on the second day. The catwalk is our most popular event as well according to previous surveys so it would make sense to hold it then."

Marina brought her pen down to her notebook and scribbled down a few notes. "I trust you, Johanna. You've been coordinating fashion events for a few years now so I have no reason not to take your word for it." She glanced up from the notebook and looked at Johanna. "That's why you're going to host catwalk!"

"But you're the main star!"

Chuckling, Marina wrapped a finger around her hair. "True, but like I said, you're the experienced one here and Sinnoh is your home region. You know how things work here in this region – that's why I think you should run the catwalk. Besides, I'll be busy doing photographs and signing autographs for my fans at that time. I can't be in two places at once."

"That sounds fine by me," Johanna replied, setting her food down on the table before her. She stood up from her chair and readjusted her collar again – a week had passed since she last met with Cyrus, but the mark was still visible on her neck. The last thing she wanted was for people to ask questions about it. That was a conversation she wanted to avoid. "I'll be right back, all right? I'm just heading to the bathroom."

Marina nodded, glancing back down at the notepad. She started flipping through the pages while Johanna hurried towards the nearest bathroom. Fortunately, the bathroom was empty – she found it unsettling going to the bathroom when there were other people in there. Listening to other people doing their business wasn't exactly the most pleasant sound to hear.

A few moments later, she finished her business and wiped herself then glanced down. Her eyes widened. "No…" she said slowly, examining the pinkish tinge of discharge on the tissue. She rubbed her eyes and looked back down again. The light-coloured pinkish discharge was still there. "This can't be possible…"

She fixed herself up, chucked the tissue down the toilet and flushed, then ran out, slamming the door behind her. Rushing over to the nearest sink, she turned it on and splashed her face with water, as she tried to steady her racing heart beat. A door slammed shut. She jumped, and jerked her head towards the bathroom entrance as an elderly lady entered. Professor Carolina. This was the last place she expected Cynthia's grandmother to be in.

"Johanna?"

Johanna mustered up a smile. "Hello, Carolina."

"I had a feeling you would be here so I came down yesterday to check up on you." She moved closer, her eyes never leaving Johanna's face. A few droplets of water dripped off her chin and onto her collar. Johanna quickly grabbed a few paper towels and dried her face with it, carefully avoiding touching her collar. "Are you all right? You look like you have seen a ghost."

"No, just excited about today, that's all," Johanna assured, bringing a hand to her ear, and pulling it gently. She hoped her old friend couldn't see past the mask was wearing. "I'm hosting the catwalk event instead of Marina," she added, smiling again. Just act perfectly normal, she told herself.

Carolina moved closer. "No, there is something wrong. You have a habit of pulling on your ears when there is something wrong. I've known you for a number of decades, Johanna. I know when there is something wrong."

For a brief moment, Johanna considered telling the Champion's grandmother a lie. Yes, there was something wrong, but it wasn't like she had to tell Carolina the truth. "Like I said, I'm just excited about today. A little bit nervous, you know," she started, trying to think of a lie, but nothing came to mind. Carolina raised an eyebrow as she pressed her lips into a thin line. This was the typical expression she used when she was waiting for an explanation.

"You've been running fashion events for a couple of years, Johanna. Do you expect me to believe that you are getting cold feet?" She moved a few steps closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tell me what's troubling you."

The words were there in her mind, but she had trouble trying to say them out a loud. How was she supposed to tell Carolina that she had spent a night with the same man who abandoned her twelve years ago? "I…" she started, bringing her hand to her collar to fiddle with it. "It's a long story."

"What have you done, Johanna?"

She couldn't like to Carolina. She couldn't lie to the lady who helped her after Cyrus had abandoned her. "I… met him."

Carolina's gaze hardened. "Cyrus?"

Johanna cleared her throat. "It wasn't by choice!" she blurted.

"And you let him in your home?" Carolina replied, anger slowing rising in her tone. Johanna felt her grip tighten on her shoulder which was surprisingly strong considering the age of the professor. "He has no right to come anywhere near you, Johanna!" she snapped, withdrawing her arm.

"Nothing happened, okay? We just talked, that's all and then he left." She turned around and looked in the mirror, brushing a few bangs of hair away from her face. "I ran into him again about a week ago. He knows about Dawn."

"Johanna…"

Johanna spun around from the mirror throwing a glare in Carolina's direction. "Dawn is perfectly safe! He made a promise to me he would not hurt and I believe him," she said heatedly, bringing a hand to her neck to readjust the collar again.

Carolina's eyes narrowed. "I have never thought of you as foolish, Johanna, but you are a fool to trust in someone like him."

"I need him."

"You survived without him before – what makes you believe you need him now?"

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, willing herself not to let any information slip. If Carolina learnt the truth, she wasn't going to let her go anywhere unsupervised. "Things are different now, Carolina." She moved away from the sink and headed towards the exit when Carolina grabbed her arm.

"He was here, wasn't he?" Carolina demanded her eyes boring into Johanna's. "Sharing your bed I presume?"

Johanna pried Carolina's fingers off and jerked her arm away. "That's none of your business," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, feeling her cheeks burn.

"How long ago?"

Now that she had brought it up, Carolina wasn't going to leave until she was satisfied. Johanna moved to the closest wall and leaned against it, eyes fixed on the ground. "It's been a week. I ran into him and he wanted to speak to me about something important in private. I tried to get away, but I couldn't." She lifted a hand and brought it to her hair, running a hand through her blue locks, trying to keep her emotions in control. "I can't keep running away, Carolina."

"You still love him. After everything he's put you through, you still-"

Johanna lifted her gaze up from the ground meeting Carolina's piercing stare. "I have to believe he can still be saved."

"Saved?"

"You don't know him as well as I do."

The elderly woman sighed. "I'm only trying to help you. I don't want to see you hurt again."

"No one is ever beyond redemption, if they choose to walk that path," Johanna said softly. "Do those words sound familiar? They were the ones you told me many years ago."

Carolina sighed. "He did more than just share your bed, didn't he?" Her gaze lingered on Johanna's neck. "You slept with him."

Johanna averted her gaze. The professor rubbed her temples and turned around and said something Johanna's ears couldn't make out. "I couldn't… hold him off, but there's nothing to worry about! The chances of falling pregnant are slim!" she protested. A brief image of the pinkish discharge on the tissue appeared in her head. Could it be possible?

"I'm assuming you took preventive methods?"

Johanna shook her head. "I didn't plan for this."

There was a brief pause. "When are you due?" Carolina said, turning around, finger rubbing her chin.

"In another week."

The professor paced back and forth muttering something to herself then came to an abrupt stop. She looked at Johanna. "I'm taking you to my home where I can keep a close eye on you. You shouldn't be alone." Before Johanna could protest, Carolina grabbed her arm and led her out of the bathroom.

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Dawn's mood lifted now that she had a hot shower and some nice new clothes to wear. The clothes she had selected were similar to her former attire, only they were black. She collected her pokebelt and pokeballs from the nurse and exited, making her way towards the bike shop. It was easy to find since there was a bike model next to the front door.

"Hey there, heroine! You did me a great deal back there rescuing me from those grunts! As a reward, I'm going to give you my prized bike for free!" He pointed to a yellow bicycle in the far corner. "You can travel much faster now and you'll get fitter quicker too! Isn't that great?" The man didn't seem to care much about her well-being – he was more concerned about giving her a bike. She felt like turning down his offer, but having a bike did have its appeal.

"Thanks, I'll take it."

"Excellent! If you have any problems with it, just return it and I'll fix it free of charge, just for you!" He removed the bike from the rack and gave it to her.

Dawn placed her hands on the handles and walked the bike out of the shop. She had never ridden a bike so she was a little hesitant about getting on it. Bikes weren't needed in her hometown of Twinleaf. She held the bike firmly in place and slowly climbed on to the seat. The bike wobbled, but somehow she managed to stay on top.

Slipping her feet onto the pedals, she started to rotate her legs so the bike would move forward. Already, she could feel her legs starting to burn from the strenuous activity. Perhaps walking was a better idea after all, she thought. If she continued this, she'd faint from exhaustion by the time she reached the next city.

"Where to go next?" she said aloud, bringing up an image of the map in her head. It was a fairly simple map to memorize since there was usually just one main path to get to the next city. Her next destination was Hearthome and apparently there was a big festival happening. But to reach the place she had to go through the Cycling Road and Mount Coronet.

The Cycling Road was rumoured to be a nasty place filled with overconfident athletes who thought they were better than everyone else because they were in peak physical condition. She wished there was a way to avoid them but sadly it was the only path forward. If she didn't cause any trouble with them then she'd have nothing to worry about… hopefully.

Cautiously, she cycled towards a golden bridge. This was the infamous Cycling Road. She cycled over to the lady at the front of the bridge. "Hello there, trainer. I see you have a bike. Move onto the bridge and cycle away!" She beamed Dawn a big smile. That had to be a terrible job, thought Dawn, as she moved onto the bridge. Her bike didn't even touch the bridge when two female cyclists nearby called out a few comments.

The first cyclist, a lean woman with platinum blonde locks and a busty upper chest, spoke out first. "Where'd you get that flashy bike, kid? Did your rich dad buy it for you?"

The other female sniggered, twirling a lock of black hair around a slender finger. "I hope you know how to ride it. It would be such a shame for a fine model to end up damaged, wouldn't it, Alexia?"

"That's right, Cassadee."

Dawn didn't like these two women. They were giving her looks that made her feel uneasy. Don't pay them any attention, Dawn, she told herself. Just look away and keep moving forward. She focused her attention on the road ahead and started cycling, doing her best to ignore the comments from the two nasty cyclists. Unfortunately, they decided to follow her.

"She has such beautiful hair… I wonder if it's natural or if she dyed it to make her look unique," the female said. Alexia grabbed her hair and yanked it roughly that Dawn fell off her bike. Her face hit the ground first, her lips rubbing against the wooden planks. Pain erupted from her lower lip. The two girls laughed. Dawn glared up at them as she ran her tongue over her lips, feeling the taste of blood on the tip. A busted lip. Just what she needed.

"Aw, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your pretty face," Cassadee taunted.

Alexia hopped off her bike and picked up Dawn's one. "Oh look what you've done you stupid girl. You've gone and damaged your bike!" She pointed to some of the scratch marks on the bike. "I don't think you're responsible enough to have one."

"But that's my bike!" Dawn protested, feeling her lower lip beginning to swell.

"It's mine now," Alexia said, her eyes narrowed.

Dawn's eyes started to well up with tears from a combination of the pain in her lip and being humiliated like this. She didn't understand why they were being so mean to her for no apparent reason. Did they pick on all passing cyclists? Or was she getting some special treatment? Cassadee bent over and grabbed her hair and gave it a rough jerk. She pulled out a couple of berries, crushed them in her hands and rubbed the sticky juices in Dawn's hair until all the juices were removed.

"Ooh, that looks so much better now!" Alexia jeered.

Cassadee pulled her hands away. "Have a good day, princess!" She waved goodbye, and the two girls walked away with their new bike. Dawn picked herself up from the floorboards and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. She knew it was pointless getting so worked up about being insulted, but those girls were so mean. Even the Galactic grunts were above hair pulling.

Now she didn't have a bike. It was back to walking for her. She preferred that though to cycling, but this wasn't the best place to be getting around on legs. There was a good chance there were more nasty cyclists around. She started to sprint down the road bypassing more cyclists who just laughed at busted lip and lack of bike. Eventually, she reached the opposite end.

She wiped more tears away and walked down the dusty road towards the base of Mount Coronet. The mountain was so high that she couldn't even see its peak because it was hidden in the clouds. Mount Coronet looked intimidating, but she had survived the horrors of the Cycling Road that Mount Coronet surely couldn't be much worse. Tears still streaming down her face, Dawn hurried over to the mountain's entrance, eager to get as far away from the Cycling Road as possible.

She stepped inside the mountain. It was damp inside, but surprisingly well lit. She guessed since trainers had to pass through this mountain to reach the next city that the local council had installed a lighting system on the bottom floor. There were two large pools of water on both sides of the pathway leading to the exit. She noticed there were ladders leading to the next level, but she didn't want to stay here longer than what was needed. One day she'd return when she was stronger.

She continued to make her way through the cave when she spotted Cyrus entering from the opposite side. She stared, and noted how his appearance differed since their last meeting a day ago. The collar of his jacket was uneven and his hair stuck out in random angles, looking like he had just rolled out of bed. She also noticed what looked suspiciously like red lipstick around the base of his neck. Did he even notice? He seemed to be in a hurry. Seeing his dishevelled appearance made her chuckle and she temporarily forgot about the reason behind her tears.

"…weak and incomplete… strife has appeared… the world is being ruined by it…" she heard him mutter. He stopped talking to himself when he noticed she was there. "Dawn."

Dawn remained silent. What was he mumbling about? What was the world being ruined by? Weak people like the Galactic grunts? Or was he referring to something else? Curiosity got the better of her and she asked, even though she was aware she had no business in knowing. "I'm sorry," she started, wincing at the pain in her lip.

He frowned. "What happened to your lip?"

"I fell over," she said sheepishly.

"You were not attacked by Galactic grunts?" he said, looking tense all of a sudden.

She shook her head. "No."

He seemed to relax. "You should be careful where you walk."

"I'll keep that in mind." She paused, thinking of how to ask Cyrus what he was muttering about. "What were talking about just before? I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard the words weak, incomplete and strife? Is it about Team Galactic?"

He stared at her then replied after a few beats of silence. "You're too young to understand, but one day you will see it." He looked at her mouth again. "You should get that cleaned up before it gets infected."

"You should tidy yourself up before you cross the Cycling Road," Dawn replied good-naturedly, pointing to his neck. "You can't walk around the streets with that on you. People will ask questions." His right hand moved to the base of his neck where Dawn had pointed. He rubbed it for a bit then pulled it back, glancing down at the red mark. He muttered. "If my mother was here to see this, she'd be on you within seconds cleaning you up. She's a fashion coordinator so she takes appearance very seriously," she explained.

"…Indeed."

Dawn frowned. That was a strange response. He walked past her. "Wait, where are you going?" She was curious to know more. He had to be important since he kept showing up everywhere she was.

"I have business to attend to elsewhere."

He didn't say anything and continued walking to the entrance she had come through. Dawn would've gone after him if she didn't have her own business to worry about such as obtaining more gym badges. Oh well, she was sure to meet up with him again sometime in the near future. She stepped through the exit and left.

.

The building was a mess. It was as if someone had decided to host a gagging competition. There were patches of vomit everywhere he looked. On the walls, on the floors, on the furniture… It was obvious what had happened here. The grunts had screwed up again and their supervisor, Commander Jupiter, was to blame for this disaster.

The grunts had long since scattered but Jupiter was still here, doing her best to clean up the evidence off a failed task. "Jupiter," he said.

Jupiter stopped cleaning the floor. She rose to her feet, slowly turned around and tilted her chin downwards to avoid his gaze. "Boss."

"I leave you to carry out a simple task and I come back and this place is a mess." The incompetence Jupiter was showing was starting to become beyond a joke now. She was the eldest of the original trio so he had expected her to handle her responsibilities better, but she couldn't even do that. "Look at me while I'm addressing you." She tilted her chin upwards. "Explain yourself."

She snorted. "I was carrying out my duties like you had asked me to when that little brat came in here to mess up our plans. I challenged her to a battle with my Skuntank – that's why this place looks the way it does. You left me with the dumbest grunts in the entire organisation!" she accused, pointing a finger at him. "You should be blaming yourself for hiring such idiots!"

He knew there was a reason he didn't give Jupiter important tasks – she was petty, and that ugly emotion was starting to show again. Jupiter was the weakest of his commanders, although she thought herself as the strongest mentally. Nevertheless, he still needed her, but she needed to be put in her place. "When I promoted you to the position of commander, you swore an oath that you would never turn your back on me. That includes arguing with my orders."

She drew in a shaky breath. "I swore an oath because I thought I'd be treated better!" she blurted out. "You always give me the worst jobs! You assign the dumbest grunts for me to command! You don't tell us anything! Why is that girl so important? We're doing your dirty work and we're getting nothing out of it!" she screeched. Her body was actually trembling from rage.

"You have a job, you receive pay and you have a place to call home. That is more than what you had before you joined Galactic," Cyrus replied curtly. "I gave you a chance to start all over when I could've easily left you behind to suffer a far worse fate."

Jupiter had been the first of the commanders he had recruited. He found her near Pastoria City, trying to kill herself by drowning in the swamp. Her partner had left her and she had been fired from her job as a sales assistant the same day. The girl had thought death was better than coping with the pain of loss and rejection, but he convinced her he could erase that pain.

"Charon brought up the idea that you don't trust me," she said finally in controlled voice. Her anger had subsided – for now at least. "It's true, isn't it? That's why you prefer Mars and Saturn over me. Even Charon is important!"

"I do not prefer one over the other."

"That's a lie!" she spat. "Stop lying to me!" This was the angriest he had seen Jupiter. She was allowing herself to be consumed by emotions such as jealousy and anger and it was causing her to act in an unruly manner. The woman suddenly threw herself at him then drew her hand back to slap him. Fortunately, he grabbed hold of her wrist at the last moment and held her back. That didn't stop her though. She thrashed, she writhed, she even tried spitting at him, but her attempts to hurt him did nothing.

"Control yourself, Jupiter," he ordered.

She ceased her struggles, but he didn't release her just yet. "Why is she so important to you?" she said in between pants.

He knew of whom she spoke of. Dawn. He looked away, releasing his grip on her arms. "It's none of your concern." He turned his back, but she simply stood in front of him, eyes hungry for answers. He stared her down. "Why would a child be of importance to my plans?"

The corners of her mouth curved into a smirk. "She wouldn't be unless she was… yours," she said, pausing for dramatic effect. All the pieces had started to come together and the commander had just worked it out. "How long have you known about her?"

"About a week. What does it matter?"

Her smirk widened. "Where do your loyalties truly lie, boss?"