Hello everybody, I am back once again with a new chapter! I'm sure you all want to know what happened again in the last chapter soooo...Nicholas, Charmander and Alex finally made it to Pewter City, the trio learned of a robbery to the Pewter City Museum, Nicholas and Charmander got lost and met some crazy man that sold rocks, and after getting pumped for a battle, Nicholas and Charmander race for Diglett Caves in search for Brock! Once again, sorry there wasn't much excitement in the last chapter, but I'm sure you'll find some in this chapter. Maybe the next... Anyway, now that you're all caught up... Here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon!

Now Read!


Chapter 11: Enemies Old and New! (Part 1)

"Hey, Nick! How many times do I have to say hold on!?" Alex screamed in frustration, huffing in exhaustion as she tried to catch up to the running African-American. They had been running for nearly 20 minutes straight and the female was way passed the line of being 'exhausted'. After they had ran out of Pewter City in search of the Gym Leader, Brock, Nicholas didn't even give Alex enough time to rest before he tried to run up the steep hills. Key Words: tried and steep.

Alex fell to her hands and knees, breathing heavily and sweat dripping from her pores. She lifted her head and glared at Nicholas, who was trying (and failing) to run up the hill. Charmander, being a Pokémon with claws, had the advantage and began climbing her way to the top with a grin. Nicholas however, did not have the luxury of having claws and struggled to maintain his spot on the hill before a few pebbles gave out underneath his feet, causing him to lose footing and slide down with a frustrated groan.

Nicholas stood up and glared at the hilltops, where the caves stayed while he was currently at the bottom. He took a step back towards the hill and winced when he felt a pain in his right knee. Nicholas looked down to his pants. Mud stains covered his knees, even a few rips appeared in the material from the continuous rocks grinding against it whenever Nicholas accidentally slipped back down.

"Crap." He mumbled before he looked back to Alex. "C'mon Alex! We gotta get to the caves or else we'll never find Brock!"

The black haired girl blew a few strands of hair from her face. "I can see that." She growled in annoyance. Nicholas took another shot at climbing and ran up the hill. Alex sighed deeply after witnessing Nicholas fail to even reach halfway up the hill. While she was aggravated with Nicholas for making her run after him throughout Pewter City, watching his efforts go to waste caused the edges of her mouth to curve up in a small smile.

Charmander saw Nicholas try once more and this time he actually passed her, but it didn't last long before he slipped and fell back down. She rolled her eyes. How could her trainer be such an idiot?

"You know if you keep doing that," Alex finally made it to her feet and crossed her arms. Nicholas went for another go, only to trip over his own legs when he the pain in his knee grew. "You're gonna hurt yourself."

Nicholas shook his head and dug his fingers and shoe tips into the dirt. "I don't care. Look," The sky had began taking on a darker shade, meaning that nightfall would soon be on them. They had been on this hill for such a long time, there was literally a thin line between sunset and nighttime. "We wasted too much time already. " Alex heard a grunt and watched as Nicholas began pulling himself up the hill, this time slowly and surely.

"But what's the point of trying to find him now? He's probably back home, getting ready for bed." Alex hinted, only for Nicholas to shake his head and continue climbing. His determination to find and challenge Brock had only fueled him to keep climbing higher to the top. "If you want to head back to the Pokémon Center I won't stop you. But if there's a chance Brock is up there, I'm gonna take it!" Nicholas declared as he reached his partner.

Charmander gave Nicholas a nod of agreement and decided to climb as well, seeing that her trainer finally got the hang of it and doesn't need to be waited on.

Alex only stood at the bottom of the hill with crossed arms and watched both Trainer and Pokémon climb to the hill. She decided to look at two choices; on one hand she could just wait for him back at the Pokémon Center, sleeping on a comfy bed. And on the other hand she could follow him into the caves, looking for a trainer that had most likely went back home. As she weighed both of her choices, Alex eventually decided.

Nicholas and Charmander stopped their climbing when the heard grunts below them. They looked down and saw a smirking Alex trying to climb after them. "You're lucky you're my friend or else I'd ditch your butt." She laughed.

Nicholas looked at Charmander and both grinned at each other.


(Nicholas' P.O.V.)

I gave a grunt and hefted Alex up with two hands.

I looked at Alex with a smirk and patted her back while she coughed. "Well... we made it to the top." I informed, seeing Alex open an eye. It was true actually. After so many, grueling, tries at climbing I had finally reached the top of the hills! To say climbing was annoying was an understatement. And I was pretty sure Alex could agree with my opinion. After all, she had a face full of dirt when she slipped and accidentally caught a little dirt in her mouth. That was why she was coughing.

She slapped away my hand when she got up.

I guess she was a bit angry at me because she caught me laughing. Maybe I should have gotten the hint when she yanked my left ankle and tried to make me slip too.

"So what now?" Alex asked as she slapped off the dirt from her clothes. I wanted to tell her it was the same plan; reach Diglett Caves and find Brock so I can challenge him. But now that we stood literally 15 feet away from one of cave entrances, I knew she was going to want more of an answer. I scratched my cheek and looked at the sky. Struggling to climb up a big ass hill must have taken a lot more time than I thought because the sun had already retreated to the other side of the world. And the last time I checked my watch it said 7:42. It must have been somewhere around 8 by now.

"Do you have a map of the caves Alex? We might need it." I saw Alex nod and pull out the same book she read when she was looking for the museum. "Since it turned dark, it's gonna take a lot more time to find Brock. Even with Charmander's natural light." I pointed to my partner's ignited tail, who made it glow just a slight brighter. I gave a small chuckle when I realized I wouldn't be able to make my way through these caves without Charmander, for her flame, and Alex, who had the map of Diglett Caves.

"I know that, but how long do you plan on staying out here?" Alex questioned. "I'm not sure if you realize it, but things tend to get a bit dangerous at night. Especially in caves."

"Don't worry, I promise by the time it turns..." I looked down at my watch. 8:09. "9:30, we'll start to head back. I'm not gonna force you to stay out this late. That okay?" Alex nodded in agreement. Seeing that we had a deal, I gestured my hands towards the cave and bowed slightly. "Ladies first." I joked. Both Alex and Charmander snorted at me before making their way to the entrance.

I'm gonna go on a limb and saw Alex was still a bit angry at me for laughing.


(Alex's P.O.V.)

I still can't believe I agreed to help find Brock.

Currently, both Nicholas and I were beginning to make our way through the tunnels of Pewter City's Diglett Caves. I a bit downwards were Charmander had taken the job of acting as our 'light' and lead our group through the cave. And seeing Nicholas walk confidently behind her, looking at every inch of the cave like a little kid who entered 'another world', made me a bit sympathetic for Charmander. Having a trainer that acts first, thinks second? I shook my head.

I wasn't just gonna insult Nicholas and say he was a horrible trainer, no not after he took me in from the storm. But I was gonna say he acts like a kid when he gets excited. I swear, nobody had gave me such a run in my life. Nobody! And like I said, he's lucky I'm his friend or else I would've went my on my own journey when the thunderstorm cleared up.

And he better make up for our agreement. I chose to follow him and as a result, so far I've gotten a face full of dirt and at the moment I was really cold. I couldn't believe how cold it was in these caves! If I knew it was gonna be lower than 20 degrees, I would've worn more than a sweatshirt!

"Hey, you alright?" Nicholas asked. "Yeah, just fine." I said flatly. 'No I'm not fine, I'm FREEZING!' I felt a cool breeze flow through the cave. As if nature had hands, I could feel its cold fingers manage to slip into my sweater and travel up my spine. I sneezed and felt a strong shiver rip through my body, causing goosebumps to form along my arms. I rubbed my arms, trying to warm up my arms through my sleeves.

"Hey Charmander," Nicholas suddenly called, making his starter look back. "Can you give us more light?" Charmander nodded and increased her flame, illuminating the cavern walls. Nicholas must have noticed I was getting cold if he asked Charmander for more 'light'. I could help, but smile. Only for it to leave when I noticed Nicholas was taking off his sweatshirt. "What are you doing?" I questioned.

After Nicholas' sweatshirt slipped passed his head, he tossed it at me. "I'm not dense, I can tell you're cold." I looked at him and noticed he was only wearing a black T-Shirt. "What about you? You're gonna catch a cold if you don't put something on." I didn't want him to get sick just because I got a small case of the sniffles. It didn't take an idiot to know how cold it was. For him to just give me his sweater was just... unbelievable to say the least.

"Just put on the damn sweater. I'll be fine." Nicholas reassured, but I could tell he was lying. He had gotten closer to Charmander's tail once he took off his sweatshirt. I sighed before putting his sweater over mine.

'What's with boys and acting all tough?' I thought in amusement.

I grunted when I bumped into something. I pulled the sweater passed my face and saw Nicholas standing in front of me. "Hey, why'd you-" Nicholas cut me off by putting a hand over my mouth. "Shush..." He whispered before looking down at Charmander. "Charmander, you hear that too right?" I saw Charmander nod slowly. I blinked in confusion. What the hell were they talking about? Hear what?

As soon as we all got silent, I got my answer. But it sounded really far away.

I narrowed my eyes to the darkness of the cave.

As the seconds passed, the sound began to get louder... and louder... wait, why did it sound like screeching-

It didn't take long for me to regret being curious.

"Hit the deck!" Nicholas broke the silence, catching me off guard and pulling me to the floor. He put an arm over my head and Charmander dove to the ground, just before a large flock of Pokemon swarmed overhead. Zubat. Lots of them! I pressed my hands over my ears, trying to block out the mixed screeched from different Zubat. I watched the swarm fly passed us, seeing Zubat appear just in the range of Charmander's light and disappear back into the darkness behind us.

We continued to lay prone on the ground and waited for the Zubat disappear, which seemed like forever in my opinion. Even after the last Zubat had zoomed by, I was still too stunned to even get up.

I felt Nicholas' arm leave my head. "You alright?" He asked, a hand snaking under one of my arms and helping me up. My heart was beating like a rampaging drum and my breathing was erratic. I wanted to tell him I wasn't fine, but I unconsciously nodded. It wasn't like I was scratched up by any Zubat, but I was still almost startled into having a heart-attack.

"W-What was that about?" I stuttered. "Why'd they try to attack us?"

Nicholas shook his head slowly and continued to stare into the dark. "They weren't trying to attack us..." He whispered. "They were trying to run away."

"From what?"

"I don't know, but I felt a small tremor before they flew by. Someone or something is causing them to run away." A small beeping sound was heard, making me flinch. Nicholas pulled up his left sleeve and looked down at his flashing watch. "9:30." He said, making me sighed in relief. It was just his watch, not another Zubat. Nicholas looked back into the dark before turning to me with an arched eyebrow. "Well right now it's up to you. Do you want to leave or stay?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. I was almost taken out by a flock of Zubat and he just told me something could be causing tremors farther inside the cave. Yeah I want to leave, but after seeing Zubats fly away in fear had gotten me curious. And whenever I got curious, I could never relax until I find out about something new. That and I'll feel guilty leaving whatever is in this cave to be allowed to do whatever it's doing.

"Let's keep going, I want find out what's in this cave." I declared firmly.


(Nicholas' P.O.V.)

Rumble, Rumble!

Another tremor, one that was big enough to make me trip. I placed a hand on the wall to stop my fall and scowled. That was the 5th tremor in the last 12 minutes! I really wasn't sure what the hell was going on in this cave, but all I did know was; it annoying the crap out of me and I'm gonna find out what's causing it!

And I wasn't alone.

Both Alex and Charmander shared my curiosity, to an extent. All three of us had almost been ripped apart by those Zubat and it's because something was making tremors, causing a disturbance for Pokémon habitats. If something, or better yet someone, was messing around in these caves then I wouldn't have really paid much attention to such a thing, but when I get dragged into it by rampaging Zubat... well that's when I start calling the shots.

"...you... the stones..." I stopped walking, almost causing Alex to bump into me again.

Voices? So there were people in these caves!

I put a finger over my lips to signal silence. The voices sounded like they weren't very far away. I started walking, a bit more careful as to not crush any small rocks under my shoes and make anymore noise.

"...fossils...old... priceless..." The deeper walked into the cave, the louder the voices got.

With Charmander's tail flame lighting up the way, I managed to see another opening coming up. It was another entrance inside the cave, only this time there was wooden beams outlining it into a door shape. 'A man made door? Yeah, someone's definitely in here.' Alex, Charmander and I moved quickly, stopping just outside of the door. I inched my neck to sneak a peak-

BOOM! Rumble, Rumble!

I didn't know what happened. The only thing I could recall was seeing a bright flash before a loud bang made my ears ring.

I was too occupied with the never ending ringing in my ear to even react to another swarm of Zubat. Luckily, Alex had gripped my shirt and yanked me down before I could get attacked. "...ou alright...?" Alex's voice had been muffled, but I had still managed to hear. I gave her a nod before I stood back up, shaking my head to regain my bearings. "What happened?" Alex whispered in panic, her voice sounding more clear now.

I shrugged before opening an eye towards the door. "I have a pretty good guess..." It wasn't hard to figure out what was causing the tremors now. And after looking through the door, my predictions had been right.

Smoke started to linger throughout the room and I could make out the scent of gunpowder. Dynamite. Whoever was causing these tremors were actually blowing shit up with dynamite! I sucked my teeth and continued to watch in silence, waiting for the smoke to clear out. But as it did, I could see dull lights glowing against walls, flickering from dim to bright.

"Hehe, nothing quicker than using bombs right?" A male voice laughed from within the smoke. My eyes tried to focus through the smoke and eventually I found 3 shady silhouettes moving towards where the explosion. "Now, to find those fossils..." I narrowed my eyes at the first shadow, the biggest one out of the three. "That voice..." I whispered to myself. Why does it sound so familiar...?

"Wait, fossils?" I heard Alex whisper behind me. I looked at her from the corners of my eye. "Do you think these could be the thieves who robbed the museum?" Actually, it wouldn't really take much to relate both scenarios. After all, I'm witnessing three unknown people using bombs in cave of fossils. Add that with the museum robbery, well we might just have a match.

However instead of giving her a solid answer, I gave a small shrug. "While it makes sense, I don't want to start pointing fingers just yet..." I whispered back, quieter than Alex in caution of being heard. I mean, how do we know these aren't just regular miners?

"I guess. I mean there should be lots of fossils, right?" Said a male voice, a different one from the first voice. I focused back onto the silhouettes.

"Seeing as how these caves are located right next to Pewter City," The final voice said, this time sounding like a female. "I wouldn't be very surprised if hundreds of fossils were left over. After all, Pewter is known as the world's most famous for their knowledge and collects of historical artifacts."

"Well I guess you won't know if you don't start digging right?" The first voice came back and I saw the bigger shadow pick up an object, shovel shaped.

I frowned. Why the hell can't I figure out who's voice this belonged to!? I know I heard it before and ever since I heard it the first time, I've been racking my brain for any clues. It's like there's a tiny voice in the back of my head, trying to tell me the answer, only for it to come out blurry. All I know is this voice is giving me a strange vibe, almost as if it were a warning-

"Grr...!" I looked down in surprise and saw Charmander, who had managed to push her way through my legs to watch while at the same time keeping her tail flame out of view so we wouldn't lose our positions. But even so, I didn't think that mattered the most at the moment. Because, looking down at my partner, I noticed that her fangs were bared in anger and her tail was growing hotter, brighter. I didn't know what got her so upset, but if Charmander sensed something that got her this upset... I looked back up into the smoke, now feeling a bit uneasy as I watched the smoke finally clear.

3 voices, 3 silhouettes, 2 were males and the 3rd was a female.

I took in the appearances of the last 2, only because their clothes caught my attention when the smoke took away their cover. Both the man and woman were wearing identical outfits; a black hat and a long-sleeved black turtle-neck, gray belt, gloves and boots. The only difference that kept the two from looking perfectly identical was the fact that the female had long black hair, wearing a skirt with knee high boots while the male had short black hair, wearing black jeans and had a red scarf around his neck.

And the most notable trait between the two was the large red R on their chests. I shook my head and watched as the smoke left the 1st person open.

It was in that moment that my eyes widened in shock and my heart dropped into my stomach. Now I figured out why Charmander was acting so hostile. And I wasn't far from getting angry as well.

Standing in front of the two clowns was a familiar looking man with blonde hair and mustache.

"Jack...!" I scowled, my fingers unconsciously gripping the wooden beams tighter. Why the hell is this douche-bag here!?

I watched as the second man took the shovel from Jack's hand. The female raised a brow and crossed her arms. "Wait, we? Why are we the only ones digging? What about you?" Jack gave the female a smug smirk before hefting a large pickax over his shoulder. "Me? Well I'm gonna go dig for some fossils in the deeper in the cave. I'm sure my Graveler softened up the place while I was gone." He chuckled before turning on his heels and walking in the opposite direction. "Anyway, make sure to dig up every fossil in here. That's what our contract says. Your fossils and my money."

The duo looked at each other in annoyance before rolling their eyes and walking to the explosion spot.

I watched Jack walk away with hard eyes. "Hey Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"You were right to assume they robbed the museum."

"How do you know?"

"Sorry, can't talk too much. All I can say is the blonde guy is a criminal that I need to 'talk' with." I quickly reached for my belt and grabbed a Pokéball. "Here." I placed it in Alex's hand, earning a confused look.

"Why are you giving me Spearow?"

"Because you're gonna need more Pokémon if you battle those two." I pointed to the 'twins' who were still digging for more fossils.

"And you?" Alex asked.

"I'm gonna follow that guy," I looked at Jack for only a second before he left my field of vision. I sucked my teeth before giving Charmander a serious look, who gave a determined nod. "Let's go." I said before we started running into the darkness of the cave.

"Wait!" Alex called, raising her voice just above a whisper.

"Just be careful!" I said back before Charmander and I took a sharp turn right. I know she was practically clueless about who Jack was and why we had to leave, but I, no WE couldn't waste any time explaining the situation. I just hope she'll be fine on her own with those two.

"Stay focused!" Charmander barked. "We need to focus on finding Jack!"

Charmander was right. I have to focus on Jack, only Jack. I can't think about Alex right now. So the only thing I could do was keep running through the dimly lit cave with a scowl. "Where are you, you bastard...!?"


(Alex's P.O.V.)

Did he really ditch me? Did he really just ditch me!? I was practically fuming at Nicholas right now. What the hell was his problem!?

First he gives me Spearow and next he runs off without giving me so much as an explanation! The sounds of pickaxes hitting rocks made me scowl. Not only that, but he left me with two weirdos that I might have to battle? I scoffed and crossed my arms. As if I'd just listen to him without having a reason to do so. I gave a rebellious chuckle and leaned against the wall with a huff. I'm not going to do anything until he comes back. And then... I suddenly kicked a rock in a burst of frustration, making it ricochet off the walls. "Then I'll tell him how fucking messed up this is!"

"Hey did you hear that?" I froze when I heard the female's voice.

"Yeah, I did..." The other one too? "I think it came from that direction." Wait, how did they learn I was here!? My eyes widened when I remembered the rock I kicked and even practically cursed loud enough to reach Nicholas' ears. The sound of pebbles crushing in footsteps broke the silence. I looked at the dim light against the wall and saw two shadows slowly grow in size.

Oh no, oh no, oh no!

My breathing picked up and my mind started racing. I should make a run for it! No wait, what if they catch me!? Ooh, how did I get dragged into this!?

I looked down to the Pokéball that held Nicholas' Spearow. I held in a sigh and clutched the capsule tightly. I had two choices; Run now and hopefully escape without battling two may-be criminals? No, even if I manage to escape they'd still be suspicious, search the entire cave, and eventually find Nicholas. Or I could battle them like I 'promised' and most likely lose...

I heard the sound of footsteps literally a few feet away! C'mon choose, choose...!

The second I saw a foot take a single step through the door I made a choice. I shot to my feet and quickly dashed in front of the door. I saw two startled adults look at me with wide eyes. "W-What the-" Before the man could question who I was, I ran forward and forcefully shoved my way through them.

I stumbled when I made it pass the duo, almost falling when I tripped over a few rocks. I skidded to a halt and looked back at the criminals, who were just picking themselves up. "Ugh, I don't know who you are..." The man scowled, wiping off the dirt from his jeans. The woman glared at me with narrowed eyes. "Or why you're here..." I saw them both pull out a single Pokéball. "But all we know is, you're not getting out of here alive!" I gulped.

I watched as both criminals throw their Pokeballs into the air then saw a red flash escape from the capsules. I saw two Pokémon; the woman's Pokémon was the evolved form of Zubat, a Golbat. The man's Pokémon was a large gray creature with a bulky armor-like exterior with a single horn above it's nose, a Rhyhorn. Golbat bared its fangs and hissed while Rhyhorn's left hind-leg kicked at the ground, horn pointed at me threateningly. They were both angry and battle ready by the looks of it.

Oh come on! 2 on one? That's not fair!

I gripped Spearow's Pokéball in my left hand while my right hand slowly hovered over my own set of Pokemon. The only Pokemon I have are Umbreon and Riolu, who's still a baby with no battle experience. I guess my only choice is Umbreon...

I gulped before I unlatched her Pokeball from my belt and clicked the button to enlarge it. I took in a breath to calm my nerves before I tossed out my Pokémon. In two flashes, I saw Umbreon giving the Rhyhorn a warning snarl while Spearow looked at me in confusion. She must've expected Nicholas to be the one to call her out if the perplexed tilt of her head was anything to go by.

"Oh the brat has a couple of Pokéballs, hm?" The woman taunted, taking Spearow's attention from me and placing it on her. She must've realized she was in a battle and flexed her wings, ready to take flight in a moment's notice. The man gave a smug smirk and leaned against the wall in a nonchalant manner, as if I wasn't worthy of his attention. "Such puny looking Pokémon. You should be able to handle her, right Diane?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Spearow narrow her eyes and let out an ear-shattering screech. The man's insult must've hit a nerve... bad move on his part I guess.

Spearow's battle cry earned an arched brow of interest from the man while the woman, now addressed as Diane, gave a small laugh. "Yeah, don't worry. I can beat this little girl with no trouble." I scowled at the insults. Little girl? Oh I'll show her who's little...!

Before I could make a single comeback, Diane's face had turned dead serious. "Golbat, take out these brats with Gust!" As soon as Golbat heard its trainer give it a command, the purple vampire bite flapped its wings furiously, creating a mini tornado.

Umbreon stood her ground, watching the tornado closely while also keeping her eyes on the enemy. Spearow flexed her wings and took flight, ready to battle. I faltered, trying to think of an attack to use against Golbat. Crap, gotta to think fast...! I looked at the flying bat Pokémon, who was still giving more wind into it's Gust. What can I do? I don't even know what moves Spearow can do and the only moves Umbreon can pull off are Quick Attack, Mean Look, Pursuit, and... My eyes widened in realization.

Wait a minute, Diane's Pokémon is a bat so that means...

"Umbreon use Screech!" I ordered quickly. Umbreon let out a loud high-pitched scream, reaching the ears of both Diane and her Pokémon. I smirked when I saw Diane cover her ears with a wince. That must've hurt, especially for her Golbat. I saw the vampire bat lose focus on its surroundings, his eyes swirling in confusion, but it didn't stop the Gust attack from getting closer even when Golbat stopped adding more wind.

Nonetheless I saw a chance to attack. "Now Spearow, turn that Gust against them with your own Gust!"

Spearow cawed before diving forward towards Golbat's Gust attack. Wait, what was she doing- Before flying face first into Golbat's Gust, Spearow pulled off a sharp barrel roll down to the lower left, dodging the tornado at the last second and letting it continue towards Umbreon and I. My eyes widened in surprise, as well as Umbreon's, before both of us were forced to jump out of the way.

I saw the tornado collide harmlessly against the rock walls behind me before I turned back to Spearow in shock. I saw Spearow pull up before coming too close to the ground and soared back up towards the confused Golbat. Spearow gave a hard flap of her wings, doubling her speed as she charged at Golbat with her signature Aerial Ace attack.

"Move!" Diane called out, making Golbat crack open an eye just in time to see Spearow's attack. With quick reflexes, Golbat spun out of the way at the last second and watched Spearow zoom by with a grin.

My breath hitched as I watched Spearow falter in midair as her speed launched her towards the ceiling. Spearow gave a single strong flap of her wings, decreasing her acceleration as fast as she could. I let out a sigh of relief when Spearow managed stop right under a stone stalactite. "If she was any faster she would have been..." I stopped myself from thinking of such a gruesome fate-

"Pay attention!" I heard Diane shout before holding her hand towards Spearow. "Wing Attack now!" Golbat soared upward with speeds faster than Spearow when she tried her Ariel Ace.

"Spearow, look out!" Spearow didn't even pay attention to my call or bother to even look at me, but instead tried to find Golbat. Only to fail in noticing that it was right behind her with a glowing right wing.

With an evil glint in its eyes, Golbat roughly brought it down on Spearow's back and sent her crashing down to the ground, where Umbreon stood... Umbreon gasped in surprise and I closed my eyes after seeing Spearow's body collided with Umbreon, creating a small plume of smoke. "You should really keep your eyes on the battle you know..." Diane's voice taunted.

I opened my eyes slowly and the first thing I saw was a groaning Umbreon and Spearow, who were trying to pick themselves back up. My eyes traveled to Diane, who was grinning at her partner. "You see Brian, she's not even a challenge. A waste of time if you ask me." Her partner, Brian, only shrugged and leaned against Rhyhorn. "I know, I've been watching since the beginning. But don't get too cocky cause her Pokémon are still able to fight." He pointed out making Diane roll her eyes.

"Oh please." I heard Spearow growl in anger while Umbreon tried to shake off the pain in her sides. Diane crossed her arms. "Golbat," Her vampire bat appeared at her left once its name left her mouth. "Take this losers out in one move. Air Slash!"

I saw Golbat do a spin as if to gain some sort of momentum before facing forward and clapped its wings together. A large blade of wind was created from Golbat's clap, hurtling towards my team at breakneck speeds. "You have to dodge!" Upon hearing my warning, Umbreon had tried to move, but her body seemed to lock up in pain while Spearow stood her ground in front of her. Spearow had started to flap her wings for her Gust attack, creating a tornado to cancel out Air Cutter.

Only for Air Cutter to cleanly slice through Gust and reached a stunned Spearow. Taking the full blunt of the attack, Spearow slammed into Umbreon and both crashed into a large boulder. Umbreon coughed and fell to her stomach while Spearow shook her head, trying flutter the pain out of her wings before she eventually fell forward too.

I shook my head slowly.

There was no way they could win if they took this much damage from TWO attacks! Umbreon could barely even move and Spearow wasn't listening to a thing I said! I bit my lip and heard the sound of hands clapping. I saw Diane smiling at me at the corner of my eye. "Congratulations." She laughed, making me narrow my eyes in anger.

"For what?" I scowled. I was really getting tired of her shit.

"For being a complete and utter weakling." Diane declared and gestured to my down team with a hand. "Not only that, but you still think you can win when both of your Pokémon can barely stand. If there was one, you'd win first prize for weakest trainer." My hands clenched tightly and my teeth started to grind against each other. As much as I hate to admit it... she was right.

I looked at Umbreon. She was panting heavily and sported a couple of bruises. She probably couldn't even get up while Spearow... Spearow had been forcing her own body to get back up, determined to keep battling even with a few injuries on her wings, back, and most importantly, after taking a full hit from Air Cutter, her chest. I half-expected her to stand back up, but eventually her wings gave out and she collapsed again. This time, she didn't move.

I didn't even know what to do anymore.

All I knew was they were down, I lost, and I was at the mercy of two criminals.

Mocking laughs were all I heard from Diane and a bored sigh from Brian. I didn't even bother taking my eyes off of Umbreon and Spearow. "Well I guess that's it," Brian commented, looking at my team with a slow shake of his head. Brian spotted the wounds on Umbreon and noticed the only thing moving from Spearow was her back as she breathed. He whistled in amusement. "Wow, you really did a number on them."

"Like I said, she's weak. Not a challenge." Diane reminded bluntly. By now my knuckles were turning white. That's how hard I was clenching my fists due to my increasing anger at being called weak. I was literally this close to running up to her and punching the teeth out of her laughing mouth. And while Brian didn't even laugh, his carefree attitude about me losing was pissing me off just as much!

"Shut up," I growled. "I don't need to hear anything from an old hag!"

Diane stopped laughing and looked at me with a hard gaze. "Excuse me?" Her tone was dry, all traces of humor having left. However, Brian had to cover his mouth to hide a few snickers that managed to escape. I took a defiant step forward and glared at Diane with rage. "You heard me!"

I saw Diane's brow twitch in aggravation. "That's it, I've had enough of your attitude. Golbat!" She called, but such a name didn't even scare me, even with the vampire bat staring at me in the eyes. "Supersonic on her Pokemon!" My eyes widened shock when Golbat's jaw extended and released a loud sound-waves from its mouth. I watched the sound-waves fly towards Umbreon and Spearow, until the dreadful sounds reached their ears.

My heart almost stopped when I saw Umbreon writhe out in agony, her cries muffled compared to Golbat's screeching. Spearow, even while unconscious was crying out as well and squirming in her sleep. I turned to Diane with fury in my eyes. "Stop it! You're killing them!" I roared only for Diane to give me a malicious grin.

"A small price to pay for losing." She snapped her fingers. Golbat hovered closer to Umbreon and Spearow, increasing the sound-waves as he moved. Umbreon's cries rang in my ears as Golbat stopped only 5 feet away from her. I continued to watch helplessly on the sidelines while Diane stared with a blank look. It was only a matter of time before Umbreon's cries ceased and squirms stopped moving all together.

Golbat finally stopped his assault with a snap of Diane's fingers.

I felt myself froze in fear. "No..." I whispered before running towards Umbreon. I dropped to my knees and picked her up, shaking her lightly, but frantically. "Umbreon? Umbreon! Umbreon, please wake up!" I cried only to hear nothing in return. My eyes started to tear up and I clutched Umbreon tightly against my chest. "Please wake up..." My whimpers turned into hollow whispers as tears slid my face.

"Hey brat, we're still not done here." Diane spoke with a short laugh at the end. I looked at her with blurry eyes of hate, but I didn't say anything. "We still have to deal with the fact that you were here..." Brian placed a hand on Diane's shoulder and gave her a frown. "Hey, lighten up. I think she's had enough." Diane scowled and slapped his hand away. "Who cares what you think? We have job to do and she knows we've been here."

"Yeah, but look at her Pokémon. She can't do anything anymore!" Brian argued.

"So what, you're just gonna go against orders just because you feel bad about her Pokémon?" Diane snapped hotly.

"I just don't want have the memory of murdering some girl haunting me for the rest of my life!" Brian shot back just as fiercely. Diane roughly shoved Brian in the chest, making him stumble back into his Rhyhorn. "Fine, if you're too much of a coward to finish the job then I will! Golbat!" Golbat turned to looked at its trainer while still hovering just above me. "Air Cutter!"

Brian sucked his teeth and looked away as Golbat began spinning. I held tighter onto Umbreon, bracing myself for Golbat's upcoming attack once I saw it stop spinning.

"Tackle!" A random voice shouted.

I looked up just in time to see a random Geodude slammed into Golbat and smashed it into the wall. My jaw dropped when I saw Geodude roll off of Golbat, who was imprinted into the stone wall. His eyes were swirly marks. 'By only one move...?' I thought, staring at the mysterious Geodude that floated over to me with a grin.

"What!?" Diane exclaimed in angry surprise before her eyes locked onto me. "You! Is this your doing!?"

"No, it's mine!" The same voice appeared, this time sounding close. "Are you okay miss?" As if it were behind me...

I turned and gasped when I saw an unexpected person kneel next to me.


And there's my latest chapter! I'm sure this one got you guys interested, hm? Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! And I hope it didn't get to dark at the end with Alex losing so strongly and how injured her team got. But hey, I still had to add some sort of drama into this story or else it'd be a plain story. Now, anybody has any questions please feel free to ask! But be warned, I won't give out too much information because I still gotta maintain the suspense!

Will Umbreon and Spearow be okay? Who is the mysterious visitor? What will Nicholas do when he finds Jack? Find out next time on If I Was In Pokémon!

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