Chapter 13: Kidnapping Spree, Part 1

It was nearly dawn, and Paula and Laura were still sleeping. It had only been a few days since Paula's return, but the two had easily gotten back into the swing of things. Laura's subconscious had finally stopped obsessing over the Eastern Forest and allowed her some rest, so now her body was catching up on the lost sleep. Which is why it wasn't surprising that Paula woke up first.

"Good morning, Laura!" she said through a yawn.

Laura awoke at the sound of her friend's voice and began to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "Good morning…"

Laura stretched her arms above her head, and her eyes caught sight of her bracelet. She winced in momentary pain as a memory tried—and failed—to resurface.

Paula caught the wince and gave a worried frown. "Maybe Bidoof is right," she suggested. "If that bracelet causes you pain, then maybe you shouldn't wear it…"

"No!" Laura exclaimed, shaking her head emphatically and clutching the bracelet to her chest. "I'm fine!" she assured. "Besides, this is all I have left of my past… and it shouldn't even exist!"

Paula sighed. "It's your call, I guess." She got up and stretched before grabbing the treasure bag. "Come on. It's time to get to work!"

Team Rainbow headed to the guild, same as always, to check out the bulletin boards. But just as they were about to head in, the bow securing Laura's bracelet to her wrist came undone and the bracelet fell to the ground. Paula offered to wait for her while she re-tied it, but Laura assured her that it wouldn't take long and told her to go on ahead.

Once Paula had made it to the board floor, she noted with surprise that it was—once again—empty.

"What the-? Another famous pokémon?" she wondered. "This is really getting out of hand…"

Still, she was curious so she went down to the bottom floor to see what was going on. As she suspected, everyone was huddled around Wigglytuff's door, obscuring someone from view. Paula saw Diglett and Dugtrio near the back of the crowd and decided to hit them up for some information.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted.

The two turned around. "Hi, Paula!" Diglett greeted back. He noticed that she was alone. "Where's Laura?" he asked.

"She'll be down in a minute. What's going on in here? Did another famous explorer come to visit?"

"Um… sort of," Diglett replied, glancing back.

Paula cocked her head in confusion. "'Sort of?'"

"What my son means is that while our guest is not famous for exploring, his species is so rarely seen that everyone was curious and had to come see for themselves," Dugtrio explained.

"Huh? His species?" Paula asked.

"Yeah!" Diglett exclaimed with excitement. "He's a celebi!"

"A celebi? No way!" Paula exclaimed in shock. "It couldn't be her… right?" she asked herself, thinking of Grovyle's friend from the future.

Paula made her way to the front of the crowd, intent on seeing the celebi for herself. As soon as she saw him, she knew it wasn't the one from the future.

Unlike Celebi, who had been pink, this celebi was the normal green. He wore a golden headband on his forehead that had been embroidered with a Time Gear design, and he had on a bracelet that appeared to be made of miniature Time Gears. He also wore a pendant around his neck that was shaped like a hammer and chisel, and he wore a bag around his waist. His eyes were the purest golden color that Paula had ever seen…

Paula was jolted out of her observations when the door to the Guildmaster's quarters opened and Wigglytuff stepped out. He went over to the celebi and happily greeted him, "Friendly friend! Welcome to my guild!"

"Yes, indeed!" Chatot agreed. "We are most pleased to welcome a celebi such as you to our esteemed guild! Is there something we can help you with?" he inquired.

"Yes," the celebi replied, looking around hopefully at the assembled. "I'm looking for someone." He turned his attention back towards Chatot and Wigglytuff and asked, "Has anyone from your guild been to the Eastern Forest lately?"

Meanwhile…

Outside, Laura was having trouble re-tying the ribbon around her wrist. She lost her hold on it and it fell to the ground again.

"Grr…" she growled in annoyance as she picked it up.

The instant she touched it, she began to feel dizzy. "H-huh?" Another wave of dizziness overtook her. "A… Dimensional Scream?"

Her eyes glowed brighter and took on a faraway look…

It was very dark, and the images were fuzzy. The only thing that Laura could see clearly was a pair of human hands, holding a miniature Time Gear.

"You must promise to give her this adornment," the lovely, and familiar, sounding voice of a woman requested.

"Adornment?" another woman asked in confusion. "But, My Lady… how does one put it on? There isn't a pin…"

"Ah… this is a special adornment," the first woman explained. "When she turns thirteen, her aura will be able to activate it. All she will need to do is place it where she wants it, let her aura flow, and it will do the rest! Like this!"

The hand that was holding the mini-Gear placed it on her opposite wrist, making it glow with energy. It began to spin, and other mini-Gears formed from it. They completely encircled her wrist before they stopped glowing and spinning. Then the woman made them glow again, and the process reversed until only the original mini-Gear was left.

"You see?" she asked. "And it's more than just an adornment. It's useful for…other things as well."

"How marvelous, My Lady!" a male's voice exclaimed. "But… she is still an infant. What should we do with it until she comes of age?"

"I thought of that!" the woman responded. She tied a Time Gear embroidered ribbon to the mini-Gear. "Here," she said as she held it out. "Let her wear it as a bracelet!"

A pair of male hands took the offered object, and the two other voices said, "As you wish, Lady."

Laura's eyes snapped back to normal as the vision ended.

She looked at the bracelet she was holding, considering something. She untied the ribbon and placed the mini-gear on her left wrist. She let her aura flow into it, and it began to glow with energy. Other mini-gears formed from it and began to spin and encircle her wrist. Once it was completely encircled, the glowing and spinning stopped, and Laura's wrist sported a bracelet again. She smiled smugly as she tied the leftover ribbon to her wrist as well. Then she headed into the guild to meet up with Paula.

"Sorry I'm late, Paula," Laura said when she found her friend, who had moved to the back of the crowd once Wigglytuff had come out so that she could give him and the guest some privacy to talk.

Paula turned to her. "That's all right—hey! What happened to your bracelet?" Paula asked, noticing that the bracelet looked different. Actually, it now looked very similar to the one that the celebi guest was wearing…

Laura smiled at her bracelet. "I'll tell you later," she assured. "What's going on here?"

"Oh! A celebi came!" Paula told her

"A celebi?" Laura thought, also remembering the pink one from the future. "It isn't… it isn't her, though… is it?"

"No, it's not," Paula said, shaking her head. "This one is a boy. And he's green." She craned her neck, straining to get another look at him. "He said that he was looking for someone who had been in the Eastern Forest recently…"

Laura blinked in surprise.

"Hmm… the Eastern Forest?" Wigglytuff repeated. "No… I don't think so. Chatot, can you remember if we sent anyone there lately?"

"Let me think… no. The Guildmaster is correct. No one from this guild has been to that forest for months," Chatot informed the celebi.

The celebi's shoulders sagged and his face fell. "Oh…" he sighed unhappily. "Well, thanks anyways… I guess I'll look elsewhere…"

He started to float despondently towards the exit.

As he passed Laura, she spoke up. "Um… I'm not an apprentice of the guild anymore… but I was in the Eastern Forest a few days ago," she said.

The celebi froze and whipped around, a hopeful expression on his face. But once he realized who was talking to him, his shoulders sagged once more.

"…A treecko? No, I'm sorry, but I don't think…" he trailed off as her noticed the color of her eyes. His own eyes widened. "No way…" he murmured as his eyes travelled downwards and landed on her bracelet. Hesitantly he brought his own closer to hers, and both of them were surprised when the two bracelets began to glow. The celebi immediately whipped his head back up and stared into her eyes. "…Laura…?" he asked hesitantly.

Laura stiffened in shock. "H-how do you know my name?" she demanded.

The celebi smiled widely. "Laura! It is you!" he exclaimed happily. Then he shocked everyone—Laura most of all—when he pulled her into a hug, and the bracelets began to glow brighter. "I missed you so much! I thought I'd never get to see you again!"

"H-hold on a minute! Who are you?!" Laura demanded as she struggled to get out of his grasp.

The celebi immediately pulled away in shock and stared at her. "You don't… remember me?" he asked. "But… you must be thirteen by now!"

Laura looked at him in utter confusion. The second her rainbow eyes met his golden ones, she grimaced in pain. A memory rushed back to her...

Her eyes were closed. She could feel someone shaking her and could hear a worried voice… it belonged to a male, and it sounded very familiar…

"Laura? Laura?! Please wake up!" he pleaded.

Obediently, she opened her eyes. She glanced around. Where was she…? She could smell salt in the air, and felt sand underneath her… oh, right… she was on the beach. But… why?

She looked above her and saw a worried pair of golden eyes…

"Oh… thank goodness!" the one to whom the eyes belonged exclaimed in relief. He pulled her up into a hug. "Don't ever scare me like that again!" he demanded.

Laura could barely recognize the voice that came out of her mouth. It sounded so… young. "…Okay" she replied. "I'm sorry, Mason…"

Laura gasped once the memory ended. "M-Mason…?" she asked uncertainly.

"You do remember!" the celebi—apparently named Mason—exclaimed happily.

Laura winced. She was getting another headache. "S-sort of… but I—ugh!"

The pain in her head became so intense that she fell to the ground. Everyone began to freak out, but none more so than Mason.

"Laura?!" he cried out. Then he got a determined look on his face. "Hold on," he said, scooping her up into his arms. "Let's get you out of here."

"Ugh…" Laura moaned as she recovered. Then she realized the position she was in. "H-huh? Mason? What are you doing?"

A light began to glow around the two. Laura recognized it as the light that had enveloped Celebi right before she had used teleport.

"Mason! Wait a minute!" Laura demanded.

But it was too late. She and Mason disappeared in a flash of light.

It took a few moments for those who had been left in the guild to comprehend what had just happened. But when it finally hit them, everyone screamed in unison, "AUGH! THAT CELEBI JUST KIDNAPPED LAURA!"