A/N: Okay, once again I changed my mind about Castelia (last time, I swear). I needed one more Plasma incident before moving on to Nimbasa; at first, there was going to be something happening on the way there, but I realized that what I had planned seemed too similar to the incident in the cave from a few chapters ago and decided to rewrite it. We'll get to Nimbasa next chapter, I swear!


Blaze and I smiled at our new badges from the Castelia City gym. Burgh's team was so fast we had trouble keeping our eyes on them, but we managed a win regardless due to our toughness and strength (our fire moves didn't hurt, either). Cheren and Riverclaw succeeded as well, with the former's strategic genius and the latter's technical skill proving a force to be reckoned with. Bianca and Emerald, on the other hand, decided to wander around the city for a bit and meet us back at the Pokemon Center; Bianca said she needed to think for a while, and while Emerald didn't say anything to me or Blaze when we asked her about it she said that Bianca was trying to make an important decision and we'd know what it was once it was made. Cheren seemed to have some idea of what it was, but if he knew, he wasn't telling.

After the battle, Cheren decided to go shopping for supplies for the next leg of our journey; I decided to follow Bianca's example and wander around the city with Blaze some more before heading for the Pokemon Center. Truth be told, I needed some time to think as well; the foreign yet familiar sensations from the keyboard earlier still weighed on me, and the strange sensation of event-again—what humans call "Deja vu"—wasn't going away either.

~((Heh, looks like his old memories are still getting to him; I may not be able to mess with the rest of this world, but at least I can heighten the drama a bit. Damn Arceus, ruining my fun...))~

As I walked on, Blaze sitting on my shoulder in silence to let me think, I accidentally walked right into a strange alley; looking at my surroundings for the first time, I spotted a Murkrow on a not-want-box—a dumpster.

-"Hey, do you live around here?"- I asked politely; -"Can you tell us where the main street is? My brother and I are sort of lost..."-

The flying-type didn't respond; the way it stared at me was sort of unsettling, like it was seeing through my soul.

-"Um... please?"-

More silence. More staring.

-"Hmph. Rude... Come on Fire, let's get moving and maybe we can find our way without his—"-

-"Remember what the Xatu said."-

The Murkrow's words startled me a bit; how did he know about that? The way it spoke was strange too, devoid of any emotion.

~((Wow, I'm glad I don't need to get directions from strangers anymore thanks to Godhood. "Go South and leave me alone" doesn't help at night when you don't know where you are or what direction you're facing...))~

-"Remember what the Xatu said. The betrayer-who-was-betrayed will appear soon; listen to what he has to say, but once he issues his challenge you must face him with everything you have if your journey is to succeed. As for the true enemy, he cannot see or hear everything, not while I blind his sight; when next you hear from me, I will explain more. Also, tilt your head to the right in three seconds." -

Blaze and I blinked as the Murkrow flew off, but I decided to take his advice for the heck of it and tilted my head after the stated time had passed.

CR-CRACK!

The deafeningly loud, sharp sound echoed through the night as a rush of wind passed by the spot where my head was; I whipped around, looking for whatever caused it, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

~((Holy shit! Talk about lucky... a couple centimeters difference and this would have been the shortest jumpchain ever...))~

Turning around once again, I saw a small crater in the brick wall at the end of the alleyway; looking at it closely, I could make out a very deep hole in the center of it. A chill ran down my spine as Blaze spoke exactly what was on my mind.

-"Fire... did someone just try to kill us?"-


Sage Giallo threw the phone away in disgust; the assassin he had sent had just called to report a failure, as the target somehow avoided the shot meant to kill him. Not only that, but the trio of Jessie, James, and Purrloin were still refusing to report in since retrieving the information he'd requested, and had likely gone rogue for real.

"Damn it... how hard can it be to kill one little BRAT?!"

Shouting in rage once again, Giallo slammed his fists on his desk, sending the papers flying everywhere; he had meticulously gathered all relevant information on "Subject M" and the project that produced it just as Ghetsis shut it all down and ordered the subject's termination, followed by that of the scientists that stole it. Had the assassin succeeded, the inquiry into the murder of a child their "King" personally knew and thought of as a friend would lead to his own "discovery" of the documents, as well as the mysterious (and suspiciously convenient) suicide of the assassin themselves; when it was all said and done, all signs would point to Ghetsis, his old scheme exposed, and the King would probably have the the old fool executed for the crime... with Giallo being in the perfect position of trust as his new chief advisor.

As he slowly calmed down, Giallo gave a sigh of resignation. All he had to do was try again. Ghetsis was still blissfully unaware of this, and while the target would likely be on greater guard there would likely be plenty more opportunities in the future.

The game was still on. All he had to do was wait for the next chance, and soon enough he'd be smiling over Ghetsis' fresh corpse.


Cheren frowned at Bianca. "You're sure?"

"Y-yes. I've made my decision, and I'll stand by it..."

"If you and -Emerald- both agree on -all of this-, I guess there's nothing we can do to -stop you-," Blaze responded; Cheren was still surprised at how fast the chimchar was learning, and the novelty of hearing him talk like a human had yet to wear off.

Bianca was clearly surprised as well, but just as resolute—a word Cheren never thought he'd use to describe her, even though he thought highly of her intelligence.

"I guess... I guess battles were just never my 'thing'. Emerald and I are still a team, and we'll keep traveling with you all and help you as much as we can, but in the end, I think... I think I'll do better as a researcher like the Professor than as a trainer. I could even take over documenting Kenny and Blaze for her, too!"

Kenny was silent, but listening; since he got back to the Center, he'd been rather shaken, and Blaze as well. They had been about to explain whatever had happened to them when Bianca entered their room and announced her decision to stop pursuing badges and focus on becoming a Pokemon Researcher instead.

I'll have to ask them about that in the morning...

"Well, if this is what you want, then I'm happy for you," Cheren said with a smile. "I mean, it's your choice, and you know more about pokemon research than the rest of us already."

Bianca returned the smile before looking back at Cheren, Ken, and Blaze. "So how far is Nimbasa from here? Are we going to be okay in the desert?"

Cheren nodded. "We should be fine as long as we make sure to stay hydrated, travel in the morning and afternoon, and rest in the tent during noon and night. It'll take longer, but we won't have to worry about the heat during the day or the cold at night; if it all goes smoothly and we set off early tomorrow morning, we should reach Nimbasa in a couple of days at the most."

With that, the party turned in for the night, prepared for the next leg of their journey. As Cheren drifted off to sleep, he looked at Ken and Blaze with mild worry.

Whatever it is, it has them both pretty shook up. What happened?


As always, read and review!