Chapter Thirteen: Saving Professor Krane

The sun had completely set, and most of the light that we had was coming from the moon, shining brightly in the sky.

David crawled to the top of a sand dune, trying to keep low in case Cipher had a sniper or something. After all, if you're a big criminal organization, you've got to have a sniper.

This base didn't have a sniper, from what I could tell. "What's up?" I whispered to David as he slowly climbed down from the sandy hill.

"We have company," he said, reaching for Ursla's Pokeball. Eve was on the ground, casually licking her paw. "Six of them, coming straight at us." Ursla materialized next to him in a flash of red, and glanced around, trying to get a grasp on what was happening.

I reach for Ivy's, Bark's, and Aqua's Pokeballs, and sent them out. "Then it'll be three on three," I said. "Jake, back David up."

"No problemo."

"You know how to use that thing, right?" David asked, pointing the the machine on my arm. "I think I gave you a crash course in it, right?"

"Yeah."

The six figures peaked the sand dune, and the first thing I noticed was their multicolored apparrel. They were clad in the Cipher armor, only instead of white, they had green, red, blue, brown, purple, and yellow.

"We are the Sexum Brothers!" the red one on the end shouted. "We strike fear into the hearts of Cipher's enemies! We are the undefeatable force of Cipher! And we will not fail! Now sound off!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

There was a pause. "Wait, five?" the red one asked, looking back over at his brothers, who were looking around for their lost compatriot. "Someone's missing."

The purple one scoffed. "Idiot. You counted wrong. Let me show you how it's done." He turned back, facing toward us. "Sound off!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

Once again, they didn't count the one who initiated the countdown. "What? I thought that would work..." The pruple one said, looking around his brothers. "Ah, forget it. Whoever's left will come along sooner or later."

"Those guys are so fucking stupid," Aqua said, stating the blatantly obvious.

The six faced us, reaching for Pokeballs. "You take the three on the left, and I'll take the three on the right," I whispered to David, who nodded. "Jake will back you up, try to snag any shadows."

"All right brothers!" the green guy said, "let's show the insolent children that we are not to be messed with." He tossed his Pokeball out, releasing a Seedot. Yeah, really intimidating. There was a beep, and the lense of the Snag Machine slid out and over my eye, showing a shadowy energy enamating from it.

"Time to start this ass whoopin'" the yellow one chimed in, releasing a Mareep. Once again, the shadow moniter beeped, and the lense popped out to reveal the dark aura surrounding the Mareep.

The brown one nodded and mumbled something, and released his Pokemon, which was a Baltoy. As I expected, the shadow moniter beeped, and revealed that it was yet another shadow Pokemon.

David had already engaged the other three, with Jake providing an occiasional attack or tail swipe.

"Seedot use Shadow Wave!" Green shouted, and the acorn summoned a wave of pure darkness, and shot it at my Pokemon. All three were hit, but they took it well. Kinda...

"Sonofabitch!" Aqua cried out, falling on his back. "That really hurt!"

"Quit your complaining and give us some support," Ivy ordered, taking control.

"Ivy, use Leaf Blade on Mareep, Bark use Bite on Seedot, and Aqua use Water Gun on Baltoy!" I ordered them.

"Counter with Shadow Wave!" Brown ordered his Baltoy. The shadow waves pulsated out of its body, striking all three of my Pokemon. Aqua was cursing wildly, stopping only to fire off the stream of water at Baltoy.

Bark bit down on the Seedot, causing it to cry out in pain. I winced a little from the sound, but reached into my backpack for my Pokeballs. I removed three, right as Ivy struck the Mareep.

"Use Shadow Blitz!" Yellow ordered his electric sheep. Ivy was too close to Mareep, and was slammed straight into the ground. Ivy had been already weakened from the Shadow Waves, and didn't last a minute. He was out on the ground.

"Shit," I muttered, throwing the Pokeball. "This'll even the odds."

The Mareep was consumed into the ball, recieving some shouts of confusion from Green, Yellow, and Brown. It rolled once, twice, thrice, and...click. That made one of the Shadow Pokemon.

"Aqua, use Water Gun! Bark, get that ball!" Aqua provided Bark with some cover fire...err water, while Bark picked up the Pokeball in his mouth and ran over to me. I prepped the second Pokeball.

After dropping the ball at my feet, Bark returned to the battle. Yellow seemed rather annoyed at losing his Pokemon, but he didn't really seem too caring.

"Bark, distract the Seedot!" I shouted, as he lunged at it, and began to draw it from it's trainer's commands. I flung the Pokeball, and the Seedot was engulfed into the ball, and it the ground.

The Baltoy let loose another Shadow Wave, taking Aqua to the ground. Three seconds of squirming and swearing later, he passed out, unable to battle. Bark was my last chance, and there was Gold, should I need her. I really didn't want her to see the Aggron.

The Seedot suddenly appeared out of nowhere, breaking free from the Pokeball. "Dammit!" I cursed. "Bark, use Leer!" Falling back to an old strategy. I got out another Pokeball, and chucked it as my Herdier raised its defence.

The Baltoy was engulfed into the ball. "Bark, get that ball!" I ordered, and he dashed into the fray, enduring the Shadow Waves that had been launched at him. The Pokeball was still wiggling when he picked it up in his mouth and tossed it back to me. I clicked shut right as I caught it.

Bark attempted to run back to my side as I took out a fourth Pokeball, taking another shot at the Seedot. But, he was cut down by the Seedot's Shadow Wave. He collasped, attempting to stand, but was beat down by yet another Shadow Wave.

He staggered to his feet, but was struck with wave after wave of the shadow power. "I can't...go...on," he gasped, fainting.

"Just one more," I muttered, throwing the last ball, and the Seedot was drawn into the ball. Yellow and Brown had ran off, presumably to warn the rest of the base about our arrival. The last Pokeball clicked shut, and I collasped to my knees, relieved.

As Green ran off, Red, Blue, and Purple followed a few seconds later. I returned my three fallen Pokemon to their Pokeballs, and stood up, looking over to see how David did.

"Got all three," he said, holding up the red and white capsules. "Houndour, Spheal, and Gulpin. You?"

"Yeah, I caught' em all," I said, referencing some famous trainer's punchline. "Baltoy, Mareep, and Seedot."

He held out his hand, and I handed the Pokeballs to him. Dropping them in his pocket, he returned Ursla to her ball. "You're Aggron did most of the work," he said, reaching for Eve's Pokeball.

The Eevee was limping, apparently wounded from her battles. "I feel funny," she said, flopping to the ground, and her ears dropped.

"What's wrong, Eve?" David asked, noticing her. "Are you tired?"

She shook her head. "I feel lightheaded and..." her voice trailed out as she began to glow a bright white, casting a warm glow over the surrounding area. Her legs grew longer, and Eve grew bigger in her body, tail, and ears. The glow faded, and a black four-legged creature stood there.

"Eve!" David exclaimed. "You evolved into an Umbreon!"

She scoffed, taking a few steps to try out her new body. "Gee, like I didn't notice. Thanks for telling me this."

"She likes to be sarcastic," I said, "but it's good she evolved, we'll need all the firepower we can get."

Bob was a Cipher guard, waiting just inside the base, manning the intercom. He really hated his position, sitting on an old barstool, right infront of the intercom. The only reason he was here was because he laughed when XD001 dropped the boat. Seriously, Greevil could be such a bitch.

"Um...hello?" A voice asked over the intercom. It sounded like some teenager, but that would be almost impossible out here in the secluded desert.

"Please give indenification clearance code seven," Bob boredly demanded, leaning on the intercom button and nearly sliding off the stool. This was the most exciting thing that had happened all night.

"Um...actually, I'm here with the takeout that was ordered."

"What?"

"Didn't someone order takeout with extra boom?"

"What...oh hell!" The door exploded inward, a powerful beam tearing a hole clean through it. Shards of metal were sent scattering all over the place, and Bob imediantly hit the deck, crawling under a nearby table that contained the coffee machine.

He saw the Aggron march in, followed by two teens and an Umbreon.

"I thought you said that we'd be discreet," David said, stepping over the shattered remains of a desk. "There are alarms ringing everywhere."

"Where's the fun in that?" I shouted, letting my voice ring out. Hey, if they already knew we were here, then what was the point in being discreet?

"Gee," David muttered. "Between your howling and his blasting, I'm surprised that the whole station doesn't know we're here."

"Quoting Star Wars?" I asked. "And they do know we're here, so let's go."

We sprinted into the elevator, barely managing to squeeze in with Jake. I hit the down button, and a few seconds later we were in Cipher's underground base.

"Let's split up and look for Krane," David suggested. "We'd cover more ground in a shorter can protect me, and your Aggron can do the same for you."

"You take left, I take right," I said, walking down the right hallway. The walls were a bright white, and the floors a drak contrasting gray. No one walked the halls, and I saw nobody milling around. We turned corner after corner, taking some time for Jake to shoot some rocks at security cameras. But I was beginning to think that no one was home.

A few minutes later, we had gotten nowhere, and still hadn't seen a living soul.

"You know, I'm beginning to think this place might be empty," I said to Jake.

He nodded. "Perhaps they fled after they saw my power," he replied, for the first time sounding egotistcal. We continued on in silence, the only sounds were my footfalls and Jake's claws clicking on the polished floor.

We rounded a corner, running straight into a group of three Cipher Peons. They stood calmly, blocking the way to an elevator, cocky smiles on their faces.

"Or it was a trap," I muttered, as three more Peons flanked us. "Well well well," I said. "It appears that we've been surrounded."

"That's what I was thinking," the lead Peon said, smirking as she stepped forward. "Now will you come quietly, or will we have to take you by force?"

Now, I smirked and folded my arms. "I'm afraid that's quite impossible."

She folded her arms, imitating my posture. "And why is that?"

"We've got you outnumbered."

The lead Peon actaully took a step back, mainly out of shock, then resumed her smirk. Some other Peon suddenly spoke. "Outnumbered? Wait," he began counting the Peons. "One, two, three-"

Jake groaned, and turned letting loose another Hyper Beam, cutting down the three behind us. The fell to the ground, groaning and unconscience. He turned back, breathing heavily. "Yeah, we're outnumbering you two to three."

The lead Peon shook her head. "That's the saddest thing I've ever heard. And besides, your Aggron has to recharge, giving us time."

"And what do you have planned?" I asked smuggly. "I don't think you'd stoop so low as to kill a teenager. Or are you?"

"What are you getting at, kid?" she asked, smirk fading.

I shrugged. "Well, there were six of you, and there were six shooters back in Gateon Port yesterday, so that might prove something."

"It don't prove nothing," she said defenisvely. "I don't think that Cipher wouldn't want to bother your friend unless you mess with us first."

"I never said anything about my friends. Which that might also prove something."

She smirked again. "You're rather clever, but you can't stop the team we just dispatched, can you?"

Shit. "Screw this, I've stalled enough. Long enough for Jake to recharge." I saw the fear spark into the lead Peon's eyes as she realized this, and she began to back up slowly, before turning and running to the elevator.

Jake unleashed the beam, mowing down the Peons, and leaving us clear passage to the elevator.

"We need to find David, and let him know that we're going back to Gateon," I said, mashing down the button. "We have to stop them."

Jake shook his head. "There's nothing you can do," he told me. "They probably have transport, and you don't. It would be too late by the time you got back. Have faith in your other friends."

I tapped my foot impatiently as the elevator rose slowly. "I know, but still...I'd feel safer being there."

Jake shrugged, or at least as much as he could in the cramped confines of the tubular elevator. "Maybe so, but you can't get there. But trust me, that one human has a Nidoking. Those things are pretty tough."

"Tougher than bullets?" I asked, as the doors slid open, and we sprinted out into the bright white corridors, only stopping for a few seconds so Jake could struggle to get out. "They might even use bombs this time."

"If it really means that much, then if you want, I'll head back, and see what I can do," Jake offered, slowing his pace. "Would that make you feel better?"

"I'll go with you."

"No," he protested, raising a claw. "You have a duty to you friend here, to find your lost person. I'll go alone."

I sighed. "Ok, fine. Your metal body can deflect bullets, right?"

He modestly nodded. "Yes, but I doubt it could stop your human exploding weapons. Why do you guys even make those? Just you use against other humans?"

"If I had an answer, I'd tell you," I replied. "But hurry, you know how to get to Gateon Port, right?"

"I've been living in these lands since I was a mere Lairon," Jake told me. "I know my way around to almost any place." He turned and fired another Hyper Beam into the wall, causing the whole base to shake, and the glass doors of the elevator and the surrounding door shattered, sending an army of tiny shards across the floor.

When the dust cleared, there was an Aggron sized hole in the wall, exposing the dirt and rock behind it. "I'm glad I know Dig," Jake muttered, as he began pratically swimming through the dirt and out of sight.

"I guess that's that," I said aloud, even though there was no one around. I grabbed Gold's Pokeball, and released the rock. She was the last Pokemon I had to work with, since Bark, Ivy, and Aqua were still out cold.

Gold blinked a few times, taking in her surroundings. "Where are we?"

"We're in Cipher's base, rescuing Krane," I answered. "Before I go into detail, we need to move along, like now. We're going to have company any minute, since giant holes don't just appear in walls. You've got to blast them."

"What?"

"Like I said, I'll tell you as we run." We broke out running, well, Gold was floating. "Remember that Aggron that killed Zen?"

She nodded, which is hard if you head is your whole body. "Yeah, why?"

"He's kinda working with us now."

The golden Geodude stopped in her tracks, glaring at me from behind. "What? You're willing to work with him after he did what he did?"

I sighed. Great. Skidding to a stop, I turned to face her. "Listen, I'll never be truely able to forgive him for what he did, but, he seemed sincere. And he hasn't tried anything funny yet."

"I don't trust him," she deadpanned, folding her arms.

"Fine, then don't!" I shouted. "He's sticking with us, and that's final. Now we have some more important things to focus on right now."

Gold scoffed, and we continued our run through the base. In all honesty, we were lost. Lost inside of some criminal organization's base. Trust me, if that ever happens to you, it's scary. Every corner you turn you expect someone holding an AK-47 to be waiting to turn you into swiss cheese.

I hoped David was having better luck, and then went back to mentally cursing.

-David's Point of View-

I was lost. Completely lost. I had no clue where I was, and I was sure there wasn't ever going to be a map with one of those giant red 'you are here' arrows.

So yeah, it was going pretty good.

I held up the three Pokeballs of the newly captured Shadow Pokemon I had snagged earlier. Spinarak, Carhvana, and Numel. After inspecting each one and finally submitting to the fact that I couldn't tell which one was in which ball, I dropped them into the pouch on myside along with the other six snagged Pokemon.

Eve jogged ahead of me, checking around each corner for any of the annoying ass Peons. Fortuantely, we hadn't encountered any in the past couple of minutes.

"This sucks," I muttered, and Eve nodded. We walked down a flight of stairs, and into a room that was glowing blue from the multitude of computer terminals down there. Two Cipher nerds were messing with one computer, while a third was locked in a face palm next to them.

"You idiots, you're just making it worse!" the third one shouted, breaking out of his face palm. "It doesn't matter how hard you look, my sister was not in a porn video!"

I groaned. "Nice to see that they're hard at work," I whispered to Eve. After a second, Eve snickered, and had to hold back her laughs. "What?"

She shook her head, and crouched low, crawling slowly past them and they never looked up. I carefully went prone, and copied her, making my way to the other end of the room.

"Try using facial recognition software, Trent!" One of the persons at the computer said. The other one chuckled and nodded. From what I could see, I guessed he was about seventeen, which I thought was kinda young for someone working in Cipher.

"I'll need the disk on the table," he jerked his thumb at the table that I was right next to. My heart raced as I crawled even faster, trying to make it away from the table. I stopped next to a wide box, hoping that the shadow from it would hide me.

No one moved. I couldn't see them, and I was really freaking out. I didn't know why, after all, I had Eve, Ursla, and the other eight Pokemon, so I should be able to take care of myself. But I was still scared.

"It's already in," the other one said. "I used it for hunting down that escaping guy. The one with the Togepi."

The one called Trent chuckled again. "Perfect. Did you find him?"

"Nah, he got away."

"...can I get a picture of your sister?"

Taking a deep breath of air, I continued, crawling to the stairs. The people wouldn't be able to see them from their computer, but up until that point, I was fair game. I pulled myself forward with my arms, and pushed forward with my legs. It seemed like it was going to take forever.

Eve hadn't had any trouble, since she was smaller and more nimble. Plus she was black, which helped since she was sticking to the shadows. With one final pull and push, I was safe behind the wall that blocked the nerds view of the stairs.

Relieved, I brushed the accumulated dust off of my pants and shirt, and quietly climbed the stairs, Eve choosing to walk along the handrail on the side.

Going up at two stairs a step, I reached the top after a couple of seconds, and looked around. The room was a blank white, with a table and a few chairs scattered around it. Professor Krane calmly stood there, hands behind his back, talking to some Cipher Peon, who looked rather important due to his more pointed hat and yellow accents on his armor. Then I realized that it was the same person that I had snagged Ursla from.

"...and that's why you should help us," Krane told the man. "Turn away from your evil work here. Pokemon need to be free, rather than having their hearts slammed shut for human gains. That's just cruelity to Pokemon. So, are you with us, Mr. Naps?"

"Look, I get what you're trying to say," Naps said. "I mean, I could help you, but I can't. I just can't help you there." He suddenly noticed me standing there, and folded his arms. "Hey, you're that punk that stole my Teddiursa!"

Krane turned and smiled. "Ah, David. I assume that you're here for my rescue?"

"You assume correctly, Professor," I replied, reaching for Ursla's Pokeball. I let her loose. "Say hello to your old friend," I remarked snidely, smirking.

And then Ursla did the one thing that no one expected. She ran over and hugged Naps' leg.

There was an awkward silence as we all stared at the Teddiursa. She smiled. "Ursa ursa!" She climbed up Nap's leg, and hugged him around his neck.

Naps broke the silence. "Um...is this normal for them?"

"I have no idea," I said. "I've never seen something like this before. I thought she'd hate your guts."

Naps smiled slightly. "I guess you were wrong. She really likes me."

Professor Krane saw his opportunity. "This is what Pokemon that have been purified are like. They like people, they have personality, they can feel their emotions. So, what do you say? Are you sure that you don't want to join us? We can change the world."

Naps seemed to be actually considering it. Ursla was nodding, trying to get him to say yes. "I don't know..." He looked around, seeing who was around to hear him. "Whatever, YOLO. My wages here were too low anyway. And I really hate that bitch Lovrina."

"That's the spirit, I think," Professor Krane said, smiling. He adjusted his glasses. "I suppose that you can get us out of the place, right?"

"Just follow my lead." He looked over at me. "Kid, return your Pokemon to their balls, and hide them on you. Don't keep them out in the open."

Despite the fact that I still didn't trust this guy, I complied, returning Eve and Ursla to their balls.

Naps grabbed me and Krane by our shoulders. "A routine prisoner transfer won't look out of the normal, will it?" he asked retorically. "Just don't say a word and pretend that you hate me."

"Who's says I'll pretend?" I shot back, as he led us down the stairs. The people around the computer turned and looked up, but then back down at the computer. Okay, I'll admit that our plan was almost foolproof, but I still didn't trust this guy.

Soon, we were back in the plain white hallways, following the dull gray metal floor. Naps dragged us behind him, casting glances at the occaisonal Peon that passed by. Every second seemed like it lasted an hour. Seconds turned to minutes, and the minutes turned into an hour.

Finally, we stood at the elevator that led to the entrance. "Almost there," Naps whisper to us quietly, hoping that none of the security camera's audio receptors could pick it up. Most of the cameras were smashed, though.

Unfortunately, the elevator was at the top, and we had to wait for it to come down. When it did, there was a girl that looked like she was in her late teens, with two long ponytails of pink hair that reached down to her ankles.

"So, Naps. Like, where are you taking the professor and this kid?" She asked, folding her arms. "I was so not informed of a transfer."

"Um...well," Naps geniusly stated. "Miss Lovrina, I've been given orders by Grand Master Greevil himself to release the professor. He simply refuses to help."

Lovrina did a double take. "But we, like, need the professor. He is so the key to perfecting XD001."

"But the Grand Master said-"

"Let me see the orders, like, right now," she demanded, tapping her foot. There was yet another silence, and no one moved. When Naps didn't cough up the orders, Lovrina smiled. "I so knew that you were, like, lying."

I released Eve from her ball. "Shit, we've been made."

Lovrina pulled out two Pokeballs. "It appears that I have to, like, take you out." She sent out a Beautifly and a Lovdisc. "And Naps, you are so a traitor."

"I know," he replied. "But kickin' an Admins ass, especially one as annoying as yourself, is worth it. And besides, I've seen enough movies to know that the bad guys never win." He tossed out a Pokeball, and released the Beldum contained inside.

"Well, then," Lovrina said, "Lovdisc, you should so use, like, Water Gun on that hunk of scrap."

"Eve, use bite!" I ordered. The Umbraeon lunged out, and bit down on the Lovdisc, and Eve took the full force of the water stream, which did nearly nothing against her.

Lovrina stomped. "That was like, totally unfair," she exclaimed. "Beauitfly, you should so use Silver Wind on that Umbraeon." The butterfly spun around serveral times, creating a wind infused with Bug-Type power.

Eve cried out in pain, stumbling back from the super-effective attack. "Beldum, use Take Down!" Naps commanded, and the hunk of scrap flung itself at the butterfly, nailing straight in the face, scoring a critical hit.

The Beautifly fell to the ground, knocked out. Naps' Beldum also recevied some pretty heavy damage from the attack, since he got a critical hit.

Lovrina growled in rage. "This is like, so messed up," she stated, sending out a Roselia. "Use Toxic."

The little flower shot a blob of poison at both Eve and Beldum. "Intercept it Beldum, and then use Take Down!" Naps said. His Beldum collided with the poison, and the blob fell apart, missing Eve by a mile. Then, Beldum smashed into Roselia, taking them both to the ground.

Roselia easily jumped back up, while Beldum was staggering all over the place in mid air. "Hold it together, Beldum," Naps pleaded. "Just a little bit more." Beldum turned away from him, with a hint of defiance.

"Eve, finish off the Lovdisc with Bite!" Eve chomped down on the heart-shaped fish, and flung it aside, knocking it out. "That was easy enough."

Lovrina was steaming. "I'm like, so done here." She tossed out her last Pokemon, which was revealed to be a Delcatty.

The shadow moniter beeped, and the lense slid out, and the aura appeared around the Delcatty. Perfect.

"Beldum use Take Down on the Roselia!" With a mighty thud, the Roselia and Beldum were on the ground. Beldum was out cold, while Roselia still had a little fight left in it, but it was pinned under the cobalt steel of Beldum, completely unable to move.

"Delcatty, use like Shadow Rush!" The bigass cat engulfed itself in a dark aura, and slammed into Eve. My Umbraeon struggled to stay on her feet, swaying from side to side. "Now like finish it off with another one!"

Eve was struck again, and fell to the ground. She cried out weakly in pain, and passed out. I was left with Ursla, and I didn't think that Naps had another Pokemon on him.

"Don't fail me," I whispered, taking out Ursla's Pokeball. "Please don't fail me." I tossed it out, and the Teddiursa appeared, claws out and ready to fight. "Use Return on Delcatty!"

Ursla bravely ran at the ferocious feline swinging wildly with her claws. When they struck, the Delcatty recoiled and jumped back.

"Nice choice, David," Krane commended. "Return works better for Pokemon that really like their trainers, so maybe Mr. Naps might want to give it a try."

I tossed a Pokeball at the Delcatty, and Lovrina turned beet red as it was confined inside of it. It wiggled on the ground once, and the cat broke out. "Shit. Naps, you're in full control of Ursla for right now. Don't screw up."

"I won't," he said, trying to screw his courage to the sticking place. "Use Return on the Roselia while its down." Ursla's claws struck the pinned flower the same time my second Pokeball hit that Delcatty. The plan was to use Pokeballs to stall the cat while Ursla took out the Roselia.

The Roselia didn't have chance. It was already weak, and stuck under a hunk of scrap. Delcatty broke out of the ball without a fight. "Like, Shadow Rush!" Lovrina ordered, with a smidge of confidence in her voice.

Ursla came flying back, and hit the wall, sliding down like people do in cartoons. She stood up, but was staggering more than a drunk redneck on New Years. "Use Return," Naps commanded, and once more into the fray did Ursla run, claws flailing. When she struck the Delcatty, she collasped in a heap at its feet, exhausted.

This was our last chance. I threw the Pokeball, and Delcatty was drawn inside of it. It shook once, twice, thrice. Click.

I dropped to my knees and raised my hands to the sky. "Success!" I shouted.

"That is like, so not cool!" Lovrina cried out as she stomped toward the Pokeball. "That's like so against League rules!"

Naps beat her to the Pokeball, and stared down at her. "We're leaving, and there's nothing you can do about it," he said, and stepped into the elevator. "Let's get out of here." I followed him, and Krane took a step forward, before noticing something on the ground. With a swift kick, he sent it inside of the glass doors, and I picked it up. It was a disk of some sort.

"Wait for me!" another voice called out, and we turned to see Trevor running full speed at us, with Gold in tow. He breezed past Lovrina, and into the already cramped lift. "Don't worry, Jake isn't with us."

I sighed in relief. That tin can was good to have around, but not in tight spaces. "Let's go. I want to check on Dawn."

"What happened to her?" Krane asked, looking down at me as the elevator started up. "Fall off the scooter again?"

"I wish." I took a deep breath. "She was shot. Six times." Once again, for like the seventh time today, complete and awkward silence. "She might make it, might not."

"Hey, don't talk like that," Trevor said, "of course she'll make it." His eyes widened. "Oh shit, I forgot. They sent out a second team to try to kill her. We need to get back to Gateon."

"Shit," I repeated as the doors slid open at the top floor of the base. "Hurry!" We all took off running, heading straight for the point where Adian was going to evac us. Krane and Naps followed, occaisonally casting a glance back at the base to see if anyone was following.

"Jake went ahead to help, but it might be too late," Trevor informed me. "But with Luna and Skyler there, she might be safe."

"I'd prefer to be there," I said, as Adian's pickup truck came into view on the horizon. In all honesty, I had a sinking feeling about all of this.

-Meanwhile at the Gateon Hopital-

Luna sat on one of the room, and Skyler sat on the other. Dawn was laying on the bed in between them, with weak but steady breathing. Neither dared take their eyes off of her. Luna's Nidoking, Luka, sat in the corner, alert and ready for action.

Untouched trays of food sat on both end tables, the hamburgers and fries cold. The room was dead silent, and there was a feeling that a presense hung in the room, as if a ghost was watching.

"You know," Skyler said, breaking the silence. "We've been in here for hours, and this is the first time we've said anything."

Luna nodded. "Well, yeah. They moved Dawn from the life support room an hour ago, and that had to be the most exciting thing that's happened here."

Before anything else could be said, the building shook, and the roar of an explosion rang out.

"What the hell?" Skyler asked, standing up and opening the door. The two police officers that were standing guard had their pistols out, and were glancing each way. "What happened?"

"Don't know," one said. "Sounded like a bomb went off. Chief Maddison went to investigate, so sit tight, and we'll keep you informed. We might need to move Hikari to Phenac, so prepare for that."

"Ten-four," Skyler said, and slammed the door. "You hear that?"

Luna nodded. "Yeah, although I don't think that we need to pack anything, since we really didn't bring anything."

One of the police officers opened the door and leaned in. "From what we can tell, some idiot mixed together some chemicals that shouldn't have been mixed, and it went off in one of the life support rooms. We don't think it to be much of a concern." He went back out and closed the door.

"Yeah, explosions aren't something to be concerned about," Luna said sarcastically. "We really need to get out of here."

"Uh...what's going on?" Dawn asked, sitting up. Luna, Skyler, and Luka stared with wide open eyes, and mouths hanging open. "What?"

"You were shot six times, and now you don't even seem like there's anything wrong with you," Skyler pointed out. "Please tell me that you weren't faking. If you were, it's not funny."

Dawn blinked. "Um...yeah. I remember all the shooting and all that. But I feel completely fine." She jumped out of the hospital bed and began moving aroung. "I feel fine."

Luna and Skyler stared at each other. "Well, this certainly changes things."

A/N: Well, this is officially the longest chapter I've ever written for any of my stories, at 6000+ words. I hope I did good with his chapter, as I work really hard on it, taking almost seven hours writing it in total. If you have any tips on how I can improve, please let me know. And don't forget to review.