Natalie.

"Really? I don't think that's right..."

"Trust me, Nat. I heard someone at the pokemon center talking about it."

"But...would they even have green?"

"Shut up about it, let's just look already! Hurry up, Nat! And Dan!"

Drew had heard something about a promotion in the city, for something called a Poketch; we had to find three clowns and answer questions about pokemon. If we could collect three vouchers and bring them to the Poketch company building, we would win free ones.

Jubilife wasn't the biggest city we'd ever been to; I had visited Celadon City one time, with Tracey and the twins, and it was bigger. With a shopping center.

Drew grabbed my hand and Dan's, and hauled us around the streets. I drug my heels in the sidewalk, trying to slow him down.

"Dr-Dr-stop!" I huffed. "You're going too fast!"

Drew glanced at me, with big, oblivious eyes behind his glasses. "What? Too much?"

Dan nodded his head vigorously, shaggy bangs flopping in his face. He rubbed his wrist, wincing. Drew had a strong grip.

I rolled my eyes. "Really, is a stupid watch so much of a big deal?" I demanded. "My Pokegear can tell me the time. Not to mention call, text, musi-"

"But...but listen,this is supposed to be cutting-edge technology, Nat," Drew explained, half breathless. "Can make our Pokegears look like shit in comparison. Besides, Silph Co. is getting old, and where else could we get a watch that has a built in-"

"Alright, alright," I agreed grumpily. "You're getting nerd all over the sidewalk."

"Hell yeah I am!"

Dan snickered at his brother's excitement. He hid his mouth behind his hand, softly laughing.

I crossed my arms, rolling my eyes teasingly. "So, if we're gonna find these 'vouchers', where do you suppose we look?" I demanded of Drew. "If you're gonna be so stubborn."

Before I even finished, Drew was getting out a notebook from his pocket. "I made a list of possible places the clowns would be, based on last year's contest for free Poketches of last year's model," He answered. "Jubilife is a bit of a compact city, not as big as Celadon or Saffron, so it can't really be too hard for us to find the clowns."

Drew turned pages in the notebook, until he reached what he searched for. He handed it to me. "Here it is." It was in atrocious-looking cursive, but I could mostly read it.

JUBILIFE CLOWNS:

-Global Trade Station

-Jubilife TV Station

-Outside Poketch Corp building

-Maybe outside p center?

-[couldn't read this part]

"Wow," I laughed. "When did you even-?"

"When we were storing our stuff in the rooms," Drew interrupted. "Aaron gave me some ideas, I jotted them down. He did it last year, to get the Poketch."

Quickly, I closed the notebook and handed it back to him. "Well. I guess we oughta get started, huh?"

We started down the street again, but Dan was a little slow to start. I grabbed him by the hand and tugged him along.

"C'mon, Danny! You gotta help us find the clowns!"

Around 4:30 that Afternoon.

"Is that...is that the last voucher?"

"Well, count them, stupid. Did we get any of them twice?"

We stood on the street outside the Poketch Company building, Dan and I nevously watching Drew count the vouchers we had collected. We had spent all day combing the streets for clowns; we only stopped for twenty minutes at noon for lunch.

Drew fanned them out. "Voucher one..." He pulled it out into his left hand. "Voucher two..." He pulled that one out, too. "Vouc-"

"NOOO!"

There was a commotion at the doors of the building. I snapped my head in the direction of it, thinking the voice was familiar.

A boy was kicked out onto the pavement, and he was obviously the one who'd shouted. From behind, I could see he had shaggy black hair, wore a black t-shirt, and baggy jeans with nice white tennis shoes. A purple pokemon with gems for eyes scurried out the door after him.

"Get lost!" A harsh adult voice shouted out at him. "We don't need ya no more, kid!" The door was slammed in his face before he could react.

The boy scrambled to his feet, babbling hysterically. He pounded on the door, hair swishing around his face.

"No!" He screamed. "I have to see my sister! Let me back in! LET ME BACK IN!" He was half crying.

When he had gotten up, a smashed pair of lenses had flung themselves off of his face and to the ground. They glinted golden in the sunlight as he lost his mind trying to get back inside...

"Carlisle!" It finally clicked who it was; my cousin, Carlisle! I ran to him, wondering what had happened with his sister. The twins followed.

Immediately, Drew tried to stop him. He grabbed Carlisle from behind, pulling him away. Carlisle fought back, but Dan worked with his brother and held Carlisle by the arms. For a skinny kid, Dan was surprisingly strong.

"Let me go! Let me...let me go..." Carlisle lost his burst of energy, and half-collapsed in Drew's arms. Drew let him fall to the ground, earning a sour look from Dan.

The purple pokemon dashed to his trainer, trying to console him. "Saay...sable..." He rubbed Carlisle's back. I recognized it as his Sableye.

Carlisle sat on his knees on the pavement, hands over his mouth to muffle the sound as he tried to stop crying. He was so upset, it was unbelievable; but, he was always the sensitive one in the family.

After a moment of hesitation, I kneeled next to him. "...Car? Carlisle?"

He hiccupped, disturbing his hanging bangs, and I saw a black eye that I hadn't seen before. It must have been how his glasses got smashed. "N...Nattie...my sister..."

"Is Katie okay?" I asked softly. "She's not, is she?"

"That was some pretty rough customer service..." Drew pointed out. I could hear the frown in his voice.

Carlisle shook his head, closing his eyes tight. "No..." He sighed out, voice quiet and muffled by his hand. "They...they took her. Told me all they needed was her...I couldn't even save Jay."

"Who the hell is 'they', kid?" Drew demanded. "Must be some dicks."

It looked like Carlisle was starting to calm himself. He took his hand from his mouth, taking deep, shaky breaths.

"Th-they called themselves...Team Galactic," He murmured. "They wanted Dad's money...so they k-k-"

"Kidnapped Katie," Drew muttered to himself. His brown eyes were the size of golf balls behind his glasses. "Oh, my God. Nat. We have to get Aaron and Dee."

We pulled Carlisle back up to his feet. His pale face was red and splotchy from crying and his own anger. "Who?"

"Trust me, they know about Team Galactic. C'mon." I took Carlisle by the hand, and we lead him back to the pokemon center, to talk with the older ones.

Dee.

At the Pokemon Center.

"What the [expletive deleted], what the [expletive deleted]! Where the hell are they, why are they not here?!"

Aaron was a little jittery about the teenagers not returning on time. Michelle watched him curiously, watching him pace around and swear like a sailor.

"*slurp* I don't see the big deal." Barry and Max had dropped off my bag while we were out, and dropped something else off, too; Astro. Max claimed he'd snuck out when him and Barry left the house. Astro had even convinced me to buy him a triple-caffiene shot white chocolate mocha. By which I mean he stole three caffiene shots and dumped them in there himself, the little shit.

I whapped Aaron on the back of the head, breaking off his train of thought. Aaron glared at me, and I pointed at Michelle.

"Do you see that?!" I hissed at the 23 year old. "Do you know what that is?! That is a ten year old GIRL. If you shout one more word they would bleep out on TV, I am going to shove that stick so much farther up your a-!"

Aaron waved me off, and marched to the entrance of the Pokemon Center. I whirled around on my heel, and saw what was the matter.

Natalie, Drew, and Dan were finally gracing us with their appearance, with another boy with them who looked like death's timid bastard son. He was shaking like a leaf.

"Aaron!" Natalie cried out. "Aaron, you've gotta-!"

"Where the hell were you kids?!"

"Aaron, we know we promised 4 o' clock," Drew asserted. "But, something happened. You, Dee, you've gotta...is that that talking Lucario?"

"Please, sir, you've gotta listen!" The black-haired boy pleaded.

"Team Galatic, they kidnapped my cousin!" Natalie chimed in desperately.

Behind me, Astro stopped his incessant slurping of that damn coffee. I could actually feel the powerful chill go through his spine, and I'm sure I saw goosebumps raise on Aaron's arms as he fell silent.


AOF: Katie and Carlisle were most definitely not introduced in the beginning of the story for nothing.