Hi guys! I know it's been sooo long and some of you have been very anxious for an update. I do apologize-But here's an update!

I finished off my Freshman year of high school last week. It wasn't exactly perfect because I got the stomach flu and missed all but two of my finals, so I had to go on Monday after school was out for everyone else for the summer to do the rest that I missed. My older sister graduated high school, so my grandmother came up to visit and all that fun stuff.

I've been going through depression and a LOT of stress lately, but for some "odd" reason, now that school is out, that isn't much of a problem...? XD Yeah, school was stressing me out and I planned on not updating and writing fanfics at all till the end of the school year because of that. I also planned on adding a lot more to this story, resuming another, and starting another, but since times are getting pretty tough for my family at the moment, some of the time I had set aside for writing will now be taken up with what art commissions I get to make money. I would get a job, but I'm not old enough yet ahh just one more year! It sounds weird, but I want a job. I don't want to a lazy ass on the internet all summer and all the time hah XD If you're interested in purchasing a commission from me, check on my dA. It's CilanceYourButt. My most recent journal discusses prices and such (NOT FINAL).

ANYWAYS-back to the point! Here's Chapter 10! (I deleted the original Chapter 9 because it was sooo irrelevant now that I read and I think about the story tbh :'D)

I hope you all enjoy!

Burgundy's POV

"Breaking News!"

"In case you missed hearing about it yesterday, there was an incident at the Gym of Striaton City. At about the top of the hour at noon, the windows of the restaurant came crashing in from explosions, followed by several others. The last of the customers there were seen escaping when authorities arrived and the suspected culprits were gone by then,"

"Witnesses say they saw three shady people near the entrance, but it never fazed them. Few said they saw them as they were escaping and others said they never saw them after the one time they did. The last they saw the three gym leaders, Cilan, Cress, and Chili Striaton, was when the windows broke in and never saw them come out. Several were worried that they were still in there, trapped, but their bodies were not found. There were several customers injured, no reported deaths, and the gym leaders are reported missing. The damage to the gym is severe and the Pokemon League will deal with the repairs and possible loss of its gym leaders,"

"If you have anymore information, please call auth-"

The television screen went blank at the press of a button. I slumped in my living room chair.

"Who else besides me would want to get back at him," I growled, but to be completely honest, slightly worried. Only slightly! "His brothers as well..."

It was years ago when I gave up on trying to get back at that cocky A-Class Connoisseur and retreated to a place of my own in Nacrene City. I was so tired of trying due to not getting anywhere and the fact that it was quite obvious that I was not meant to be a Pokemon Connaisseuse. I—haven't exactly found a new profession though. But it doesn't matter. If I tried something new, that brussel sprout is probably a connoisseur of it.

My dear Dewott, yes, still a Dewott, came trotting over to me. Oh, for Arceus' sakes-

"What is it, Dewott..." I mumbled, not really in the mood to care.

"Dew, Dewott!" It spoke to me, pointing at the door. Was there someone there? Who could it possibly be? I swear if it's that damned runaway connoisseur with his brothers, I'll turn them in.

I forced myself out of my seat. Dewott hurried me, pulling at my pant leg. "Yeah, yeah..." I mumbled. "I'm coming," I dragged my feet, still having no clue who it could be. I haven't given my address to anyone yet. I told Georgia to give me some space and that I didn't want to hear how she was struggling to beat Iris the "Dragon Master" and how it was unfair and blah, blah, blah. Arceus, this better not be a solicitor.

Turning the doorknob with as much care as I could give, I opened the door. My eyes met a big man dressed in black. My curiosity and fright arose in me.

"Yes?" I spoke, softly and carefully. The last thing I wanted to do was set this guy off. "H-How may I help you?"

He held up a photo and I almost grabbed it from him and teared it apart.

"Do you know this person? We'd like you to do me a favor..."

My ears perked up. "A favor?" I asked, actually considering it. "What kind of favor, you say?"

I could see the man's smirk under his shady hat.

"A revengeful one,"

(Intermission)

Chili's POV

Damn, I did not get a good night's sleep at all! Even though I fell right to sleep and got more sleep than my brothers, I wish the ground wasn't so hard and cold! I just wanna be home and in my own bed...

I groaned and sat up. It took my eyes a little time to adjust, but by the time they did, I looked around me. Cress's sleeping figure was to the far left of me, his breathing soft and his lungs rising and falling. Where Cilan slept was empty, his poncho and bag resting there. I looked down in my lap to see his vest. How did it get there?

"Good morning, Chili..."

I looked up to see Cilan, only in his dress shirt and black slacks, looking out into the forest. He sounded exhausted. Why—Oh. He's been stay on guard since the middle of the night. I could have done it for him, but I guess their little brother was too "little" to do something such as that. They probably thought I would fall asleep during the night and didn't want me screwing anything up.

I got up and strolled quietly over beside him. Under his dull, green eyes were dark bags and—are his eyes slightly swollen?

Cilan sniffled and relaxed against the entrance, looking like he was drifting off. I gently laid his vest on his back and dared to make conversation with the beast.

"What are we going to do?" I cautiously asked him.

"I don't know yet, Chili..." Cilan mumbled and ran his fingers through his hair. He sat there for a few minutes, staring out into the forest. He then turned and looked at me and I noticed. Boy, did he really look tired. "I'm going to get a little more rest and then we can decided what to do next," He got up, dragged himself to his spot in the tree, and plopped himself down. I swear he was out in moments.

I moved over into his spot and looked around outside. It wasn't very bright out yet. The sun was still rising and the sound of bird Pokemon was lacking. Even though I think it'd be safer to leave now, it would be better to let Cilan get a little bit of rest.

"Good morning to you, Chili..."

I turned and I saw Cress sitting up and rubbing his eye. His hair was ruffled but I know it probably wasn't as much as mine was.

I shrugged and turned back out into the open. I don't know where to begin. What even happened in the past 24 hours? It all a blur in my mind. I don't want to think about how it happened and all went down, but at the same time I want to know why it did. Why is this happening? What did we do? Hell, I bet this is just all a misunderstanding. Perhaps someone framed us or we're being mistaken for some other culprits.

But... what if we are guilty of what we're running from?

I didn't see or feel time pass, but before I knew it, Cilan was up and talking with Cress. He sounded less tired and willing to get going, so I brought it up.

"Are we leaving yet?"

Both him and Cress shot me a glare. Ooookay, guess Cilan is still tired. And Cress is still Cress.

"I told you earlier I need to think the situation through yet," Cilan told me in a monotone voice. "We need to work off of what information we've got and come up with the best way to deal with this,"

"Well, we already know that we have to get out of here soon," Cress joined our conversation. "They know we're here and still here. The longer we stay, the more we risk getting captured or attacked by them,"

I thought for a moment. If they know that we're here, then why did they give up so easily and soon yesterday? Wouldn't they have hunted longer for us?

"They said they were still going to hunt for us and that they'd seize us when we're at our weakest," Cilan continued, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed at the ground. "They could even be outside for all we know..." He closed his eyes and went dead silent for a few minutes.

"Is there anyone that's nearby that we can contact and get help from?" I asked my brothers, thinking about where we were and all.

Cress perked up. "There is Mrs. Lenora in Nacrene City," He mentioned. Oh yeah! I completely forgot about her. She helped our father raise us as kids. For sure she could help us!

I clenched my fists and my eyes widened. "That's right!" I agreed. "She would-"

"Can't risk it,"

Cress and I both turned to Cilan.

"We can't trust anyone but each other," Cilan continued to shoot down our idea. "For all we know, she could know the truth that we want and don't know. She could even be involved..." He looked directly at me, as if I was the one who brought her up! I rolled my eyes and then went to speak, but Cress beat me to it.

"Cilan, you do know who we're speaking of here, correct?" Cress questioned him. His face now looked thoughtful—except his was frightening.

"Yes," Cilan answered. "I do, Cress,"

"Do you think she'd be against us?" Cress continued to ask. "She did love us a lot, almost like a—close relative," He covered up his mistake with a small grin, but I could see on Cilan's face that he knew what he was going to say. Out of all the people that I would think would know not to bring up something like that.

"She most likely hasn't turned against us," I added as I tried to bring Cilan's spirits back up. "She's probably worried about us for all we know. But the last thing she probably would do is turn on us," I tried to get him to look up at me, but he looked at Cress instead. Well then.

"...You're right," Cilan said and then turned to me. He gave me a convincing, small smile, kind of shy but he was still tired so I don't blame him.

"Alright!" I announced. "I guess that means were out to go and take shelter with Mrs. Lenora!" I crawled over to my area and began putting my things I had out back in my backpack.

Cress and Cilan nodded and did the same as well. Cilan picked up his vest and, while I was sitting there waiting for him, he looked over at me and I smiled. I knew what he was thinking and meant.

The sun was still rising in the sky, the sky half dark, half light, when we embarked on our run once more. I volunteered to check our surroundings outside the tree before they left and keep up the rear for them as well. Cilan led the way, seeming more awake and alert.

As much as we tried to remain swift and silent, we tripped and made noise from the twigs and leaves on the forest floor. It was due to the fact that we were staying far away from the trail where people were at. Even though we had our cloak's hoods over our heads, we didn't need any attention. Besides, we don't know what has been found out about our whereabouts and what's all going on.

I kept looking behind, feeling as if someone was following us. I hissed over to Cress about it several times. He'd briefly look behind him and I and tell me that I was just imagining things. I'm sure he was alert as well, but geez, he could have looked longer.

It could be just nerves and fear, of course.

Cilan's POV

I didn't want to be the leader of our group, but I knew Cress was secretly too afraid to do it himself and Chili volunteered to keep watch behind us. Though he was scared as well, I'm sure of it.

I wasn't too sure about finding and staying with Mrs. Lenora. I know she's probably not involved, but what if people found out that she's involved with the Striaton family's past and history and news reporters are surrounding her house 24/7? And what if it's too obvious to our hunters that we'd go there? They seem to know too much about us already for our own good!

So many branches, but I guess it's a good thing. It's keeping us hidden. I have my map with me, so I know which way to Nacrene City and how far we are from the trail. After an hour or so, we're getting pretty close. The only thing I haven't thought of yet is how we're going to enter the city without suspicion. They don't have three cloaked males just emerging from the Pinwheel Forest on any other day, for sure.

I kept bumping my injured arm into the branches. I didn't want to make too much of a deal about it, but Cress kept seeing me hit it and asking me if I was alright and telling me to be more careful.

"There's Nacrene City," Cress whispered over to me. I looked up from navigating the uneven forest floor and indeed there it was.

"Now all we have to do is find a crowd to blend into," I brought up. I could feel Cress take a pause in his jumbled mind to think about and then slowly nod. As for Chili, he was stumped, probably thinking that he should have thought of it earlier.

When we dared ventured closer to the trail, to our luck, there was a crowd entering the city. We made sure nobody was looking in our direction and when the crowd came past us, we shuffled our way into it. Perfect. We couldn't quite relax yet though. We had to find Mrs. Lenora and make sure she was a safe house for us.

Without knowing it, I had grabbed Cress and Chili's hands and held them tight as we walked with the crowd. No matter how much I told myself to let go, my mind wanted to hold them tighter, tighter than I ever had. Cress' hand was warm, but Chili's was even warmer. And I could almost feel them holding tighter as well.

Nacrene City, in all it's art-covered beauty, came into view. The last time I remember being here was with Ash and Iris. All those fond memories...

The crowd began to dissipate and I slightly began to panic. We all thought of going in other directions, pulling each other three ways. I squeezed their hands tighter to claim leadership and pulled them over to the food stands. I wasn't watching where I was going and I bumped into a person standing in our path.

I began to panic. My brothers were about to pull me back and in the opposite direction, but with the slight lift of their heads, they stopped mid-tug. Why did they stop?!

I looked up as well and I wasn't sure if I should have just stood there or turned to the opposite direction, but because of who it was... Because of who it was...

"Cilan?"

I gulped and I was yet again conflicted. I could feel sweat trickling down my face and wetting my brothers' palms and my own. Were we saved or were we done for?

"...B-Burgundy?"

(Intermission – End of Chapter 10)