May and Drew watched in silence as Yellow finished the knot she was tying. All ten grunts were tied up to a tree, thankfully still unconscious.

"So what are you going to do with them?" May questioned.

Yellow brushed her hands together to remove any dirt as she turned her attention to May. "Well, there are still three more days before the mist comes back, so I have to stay and watch the island just in case those goons try anything else." She answered. Her finger tapped her chin as if thinking. "So I guess I'll have Roderick send word out to the main land to send in someone to pick these grunts up." She added thoughtfully.

"Roderick? The old man?" Drew inquired, thinking back to the old man they met earlier that day.

Yellow's face lit up from his words. "Oh you met him?"

"Yeah, right before we fell over that waterfall." May replied.

Yellow nodded her head, "Roderick is a good man. He was the one that gave me a ride out here. He may only be a civilian, but he has helped out our cause a lot." It was then that Yellow realized, she never did ask the two teens just what they were doing on the island. After all, she was there for a mission, but it was a bit strange for two young Defiance members to show up out of the blue. Looking at them closer, they didn't look old enough to be out doing missions on their own. Though she couldn't judge age based on looks, considering she herself looked like a preteen despite the fact she was in her twenties. "So, where are you guys headed to now?" She questioned, eager to get some answers.

The two turned to look at each other in concern. Obviously they couldn't tell her the truth. They were runaways, if they got caught it would be bad news.

"Uh, we're..." May tried, but couldn't seem to come up with a lie. Luckily for them, Drew was a pretty good smooth talker.

"We're on our way to Hoenn to help with the rebellion there." He stated calmly.

May nearly let out a sigh of relief. He was always so composed.

Yellow frowned as she eyed the two of them, May's reaction to her question was a little strange. "I see. You both don't really look experienced enough to be going somewhere so dangerous on your own." She commented.

Now May was really panicked. Did she figure it out? Was she going to turn them in? Were they going to get busted before they even made it back to Hoenn? Max was nearly in reach. Now who was going to save her brother?

"Of course we are." Drew said in a very nonchalant manner that had May nearly choke on her own spit from surprise. Even Yellow's eyes widened, she hadn't expected him to so openly confess. She was expecting some well thought out lie. "We're meeting our squad leader in Fortree City." He finished.

Yellow's frown returned from his words. "And why is your squad leader not with you now? Where is the rest of your squad?" She inquired. She didn't really like nagging like an adult, but she was a little worried about the two of them being off on their own.

"Well you see, our squad leader can be a bit of an idiot some times." He replied. It took all May had not to laugh from his reply. Without Red around, Drew certainly had nothing stopping him from saying how he really feels. "When we left, he had forgotten the special herbs we were supposed to be taking." Drew stole a glance at May before continuing. "But of course, him being the arrogant person he is, he didn't want the higher ups to know he made such a huge mistake. So in order to cover it up, he sent us on ahead while he went back with our two squad mates." At this point, Drew was really starting to get into his little tale. "See his story will be that on our way, we were attack by bandits who wanted to steal our herbs, and our two squad mates were kidnapped. So our squad leader sent us on ahead for help while he saved them and the herbs. Thus making him a hero, and us look like cowards. But what can you do?" With this said Drew shrugged his shoulders as if having a horrible squad leader was a common occurrence. "Our squad leader is a pretty selfish jerk, but as his pupils, we have no choice but to let him use us as he sees fit." May raised a brow, boy was he good.

Yellow was a bit surprised by his story. The two teens eyed her wearily as she stared them down. Neither one even blinked as they waited for her to reply. "What a terrible squad leader!" She finally exclaimed. "How dare he only care about his own image. Does he have any idea how dangerous Hoenn is? And he's just sending you on ahead all alone just because he can't own up to his own mistakes?" She ranted.

May and Drew looked to each other in relief. Honestly, they couldn't believe that actually worked. Either Yellow was really gullible, or Drew was just THAT good at telling stories, May had a feeling that it was the first thing.

"Well let's go find Roderick. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give you a lift to Hoenn." Yellow declared.

The teens happily agreed, taking a boat meant Flygon wouldn't be forced to fly them the rest of the way. This was especially relieving to May, the thought of flying again put knots in her stomach. The berries were returned to the Wynaut, and they found Roderick soon after. He was very relieved to see the two unharmed after their fall down the waterfall. He also agreed to take them to Hoenn, saying he'd be more than happy to help out a couple of youngsters.

"Be careful out there you guys." Yellow told them as they stood at the forest line with Roderick.

They both nodded their head. "You too. It was really nice to meet you. And thanks for saving me." May told the smaller girl. Yellow smiled that cute smile and pulled the brunette in for a hug.

"Of course! I hope your squad leader gets what's coming to him." She said as she pulled away. At her words, Drew had to turn his head to hide his smile.

May let out an awkward laugh as she quickly looked anywhere but at Yellow. "Yeah, I'm sure he will." She said in a high pitched voice. She never was a very good liar. Yellow turned her attention to Drew and stared at him for a minute before throwing her arms around him as well.

"Wow, you're actually really soft!" She commented as she poked his cheek.

He was quick to swat her away as he muttered, "Cut it out." Causing Yellow to giggle. With that, they said their final goodbyes and headed to the shore where Roderick's boat waited while Yellow disappeared into the forest.

"Do you think he's still alive?" May asked Drew as they sat close to each other on Roderick's small boat. He had said he needed to grab something before they left, leaving the two alone waiting.

Drew's eyes flickered to the girl next to him. To be honest, he highly doubted it. Judging by how ruthless the grunts were toward the freshman at their school, he doubted it was any different at her brother's. Odds are, the kid's been dead for a while, but he couldn't bring himself to say that.

"I don't know," He muttered lowly. Who was he to crush what little hope she had? After all, he DID follow her all this way for the sole purpose of finding her brother. He still wasn't even sure WHY he did it when he knew the kid was probably dead. There was just something in her eyes that made him want to keep that last spark of hope alive. This only added to the confusion he had about his feelings toward May. She was important to him, and yet it was a different important than what he felt toward, Leaf for example. While he cared for Leaf, he doubted he'd have done half the things for Leaf that he had done for May. Or would he? Maybe since Leaf had Gary around her, he didn't feel like she needed him to help her. Not to mention that May seemed to find trouble a lot more often than Leaf did. That had to be it, he was raised to be a gentleman after all, he couldn't NOT protect a girl, whether he had any kind of feelings for her or not. And yet, to him, May WAS different than Leaf, and knowing this fact seemed to bother him. He sighed to himself as his brows creased. He really needed to get his thoughts together.

May eyed Drew nervously when he sighed. His expression looked annoyed. She wondered if it was because he was tired of hearing about her worrying? It was only natural to be worried, wasn't it? Then again, he wasn't forced to come with her. In fact, she was still unsure of his reason for insisting he come with her. Whatever the reason was, she couldn't deny that he had been helpful. May's thoughts drifted back to her and Drew stuck in the current. If Yellow hadn't pulled them out, would they have drowned? Honestly speaking, there was no way she would've been able to pull both of them out. She doubted she would've even been able to pull herself out, let alone an unconscious Drew. Talk about being worthless. Drew was completely right when he said that she wouldn't have gotten far without him. Thinking back to when the school was attacked, she wouldn't even be ALIVE if it wasn't for Drew. She then realized just how much she not only relied on Drew, but she NEEDED him. Not just in the fact that she needed him to help her find her brother, but she needed him in her life. When they first met, he was just this annoying presence that existed solely to make her life miserable. But now... now he was so much more to her. He gave her comfort, and a sense of safety that she didn't feel with anyone else. The thought of ever losing him made her sick. She wanted to make sure that a situation like the river never happened again. She vowed to herself to get stronger. It wasn't enough to want to protect someone, you need to be capable to do so. Drew had proven time and time again that he was more than capable of protecting her. Now it was her turn to protect him.

"Why are you staring at me?" Drew questioned, breaking her out of her thoughts. She hadn't even realized she had been staring blankly at him for some time.

She wasn't sure how to answer his question. Like she would admit that her thoughts had just been filled with how much she cares about him! Heck no! There's no way she'd ever give him THAT satisfaction.

"I was just wondering how you managed to get your face to look so much like a Stunfisk." She insulted.

She could faintly see his mouth twitch in annoyance from her comment. "Ah, much like I wonder how you mange to be as brainless as a Magikarp." He retorted with a cool smile.

"At least I'm not as dull as a Slowpoke!" She bit back.

"You want to talk about dull? You're about the equivalent of a Dunsparce." He sneered.

"Take that back you Garbodor!"

"Not a chance you Purugly."

"You're such a child!" May chastised.

This made Drew roll his eyes. "You started it bandanna." He reminded her.

"Humph, grasshead." She huffed.

"Ah, a young lover's quarrel." Roderick's voice suddenly chimed in, causing the two to instantly turn to him.

"We're not lovers!" They both yelled angrily, causing Roderick to chuckle as he climbed into the small boat.

"My apologies." He chuckled once again, taking his seat opposite of May and Drew. "Here." He said as he handed May a basked full of liechi berries.

Both teens stared at the basket in surprise.

"These are a gift from the Wynaut, for helping to retrieve their food source. I'm sure you'll use them well." He stated with a grin.

The two nodded in eager agreement. The berries certainly would be very helpful. They then watched, almost sadly, as the boat took off and the island started to shrink from their view. Their journey there was certainly one they'll never forget.

"I REALLY think I'm going to be sick," Gary said for, what seemed like, the millionth time.

"I swear, if you puke on me, I'm going to push you into the ocean." Leaf threatened.

"You don't understand, I belong on land. Flying, boating, surfing, whatever, they're all unnatural. Humans aren't meant to fly, it's why we don't have wings. Leave it to the Pokemon." He moaned over her shoulder.

Leaf's face nearly twitched in agitation. "We've been flying for hours. You've made it this long! So shut up and deal with it!" She yelled back to him.

"The only reason I've made it this long, is because I'm able to hold onto you so closely." He teased while leaning over her shoulder to whisper in her ear.

Leaf's face felt hot as he leaned up against her. "That's it!" She seethed. "I'm pushing you!" With this, she turned herself to grab him in an attempt to shove him off the Pokemon.

Red sighed to himself as he watched the two struggle. He was flying just above the two bickering teens, and was getting a little annoyed of hearing their non stop arguing/complaining for the passed few hours. He also concluded that the Pokemon they were riding must be getting a little tired by now. He scanned the area ahead for any sign of land so they could stop for a rest and get those two to shut up. Much to his relief, a small spec of land was coming into view. Though he found it a little strange. He'd traveled this route before and couldn't recall seeing the small island before. It only took him a minute to think before he realized that it must be the infamous Mirage Island. It certainly was a rare chance that the mist was cleared. He looked down to his two traveling companions to find they were still bickering.

"Hate to interrupt your argument, but there's an island up ahead. We're going to land for a rest." He shouted down to them.

Their fighting instantly ceased and their expressions were filled with joy. "Thank Arceus!" Gary cried out.

"I was thinking the same thing," Leaf muttered as she released her hold on Gary's neck and turned back around.

Within a few minutes, the group landed safely. Leaf and Red petted the Pokemon's heads in thanks, while Gary stretched his sore muscles.

"So where are we anyways?" Gary questioned as he turned his attention to his two companions.

"Mirage Island. It was actually pretty lucky. This place is only accessible for one week a year." Red informed him.

"Oh, I know this place. It's loaded with Liechi berries right?" Leaf asked her squad leader. He replied with a nod of his head. Her face brightened from the news. "Oh wow, I'd kill to get my hands on a few. Think of all the medicines I could make!" She added with excitement, staring down her squad leader.

Her eyes were practically begging him to let her explore for some berries, and well, who was he to turn her down? "I guess it wouldn't hurt to gather a few while we let the Pokemon rest." He said slowly as he glanced over at the now sleeping Pidgeot. It looked like it would be a while before they headed out anyways.

Leaf squealed in delight and pulled her crystal from around her neck to release her Ivysaur.

"What are you doing?" Gary questioned.

She only glanced at him from the corner of her eye before turning her attention fully to her Pokemon.

"Hey Ivysaur, wanna help me find some Liechi berries?" She asked him.

Her partner nodded his head with excitement. Berry hunting was a fun pass time that the trainer and Pokemon often did when they were younger.

"This time, it's a rare one." She told him as she pulled a small book out of her bag. This was a book that she always had with her, its pages were full of pictures and information on many different berries and herbs. "Here's the one we want." She added as she turned to a page and pointed at the berry in the picture. Peeko, who had been sleeping in Leaf's bag, poked her head out, clearly wanting in on the game. "You too Peeko!" Leaf encouraged.

The three were then off to the forest in search for the rare berry, Red and Gary followed casually after them.

The group had been walking for a while before Ivysaur started sniffing the air and took off. The others ran after the Pokemon, knowing he had to be smelling something. They came to a stop at a cliff with a river below it. Leaf saw a familiar yellow color over the edge and her face lit up.

"Look over there! Liechi berries!" Leaf exclaimed with excitement, running over to the edge of the cliff.

"Are you sure?" Gary asked skeptically, following closely behind her.

They neared the edge of the cliff to look over the side, neither noticing the unstable ground. However, their ever observant squad leader did.

"Watch out, that cliff-" His words were a second too late as the ground beneath their feet collapsed.

The two teens cried out as they started falling. In an instant, Ivysaur shot a vine down to his trainer. Leaf reached out her hand, but missed the vine. Fortunately, Gary managed to grab onto it, and then reached down to grab a hold of Leaf's out stretched hand. He clenched his teeth as he used all his strength to hold onto both the vine and Leaf, however, Leaf's hold wasn't as strong as his. Peeko grabbed onto Leaf's bag in an attempt to pull her up, but the small Pokemon couldn't help. Before Gary knew it, her hand slipped from his own, and she let out a cry as she fell into the river below them. Gary muttered a curse as he watched her resurface further down, struggling to keep her head above the water. Peeko followed after her, crying out while flying in circles above the brunette.

"Gary hold on!" Red yelled down to the teen as he helped Ivysaur start to pull the brunette up. In a split second decision, Gary released his hold on the vine, and allowed himself to fall into the water. From there he swam as fast as he could toward the struggling Leaf.

"That idiot." Red cursed as he ran after the two. He looked ahead and his eyes widened. "Swim to shore!" He yelled out to them. Gary had just made it to Leaf, and she instantly grabbed onto him to keep her head above the water, since he seemed to be fairing better than her. The two turned their attention to Red who was yelling at them from land. "You have to swim to shore! There's a waterfall right in front of you!" They finally heard his warning, but it was too late. The two looked on in horror as the waterfall came into their view. Neither had time to react as they were thrown over and fell into the water below.

Red stared in disbelief as his two squad members were thrown over the side of the waterfall. Despite his efforts, he couldn't see down the waterfall far enough to tell if either of them managed to resurface. Peeko also seemed to have lost site of them as she flew around the bottom of the waterfall, searching for any sign. How had he really managed to allow that to happen? First two of his members ran away, and now the other two were thrown off of a waterfall right in front of him. He seriously had to be the WORST squad leader of all time. He looked over to the Ivysaur next to him and was sure the Pokemon was thinking the same thing.

Gary's head popped out of the water seconds after they had fallen down the waterfall. He frantically looked around for any sign of Leaf, but only found her hat floating down the river. He swam over to it and grabbed it, but managed to get himself caught up in the current and was dragged around a corner. Around the corner he spotted a familiar brown and quickly swam toward an unconscious Leaf.

He hooked her arm over his shoulder in an attempt to keep her head above the water. Using all his strength he started fighting the current and started toward the shore, but with Leaf in his arms, the task was proving to be very difficult. In the corner of his eye he saw a yellow blur jumping through the trees. Before he knew what was happening, a small hand had grabbed a hold of Leaf to pull her out of the water. He was almost reluctant to hand her over to this stranger's hand, but figured if he didn't they'd both drown. He finally let her go, and whoever was hovering above them managed to pull her out of the water. This gave Gary the freedom to pull himself to shore. It took a good amount of strength, and he realized if it wasn't for, whoever just saved them, they would never have made it out. Once on land he frantically looked for Leaf, and found her a few feet away with a small girl wearing a hat. He ran to her side in an instant as the hat wearing girl looked her over, the hat still clutched in his hand was soon forgotten when the blond girl spoke up.

"She's not breathing!" The girl gasped.

Gary reacted quickly as he started chest compression's followed by two quick breaths and repeating the process. He was not about to lose her now, after all they've been through. The small girl watched in amazement at the determination Gary had in his attempt to resuscitate the girl beneath him.

"Come on Leaf, breathe!" He begged as he once again brought his mouth down on hers to give her two more breaths. Thankfully, this time, it worked.

She sputtered a few coughs as her eyes flew open and she attempted to cough out the water that was in her lungs. Her wide eyes landed on Gary hovering over her as she tried to catch her breath. She tried to ask what happened, but as soon she tried, it sent her into a fit of coughs. Gary had no words as he pulled the shaken girl into his arms, full of relief. He'd never been so afraid in his entire life.

"Wow, apparently this river has some kind of thing about nearly drowning couples." The small girl next to them mused.

Gary nearly forgot she was there. He turned to look at her over Leaf's head that was cradled under his chin. "What do you mean?" He questioned, ignoring her comment about them being a couple. If Leaf could speak, she probably would've flipped out at the assumption.

"Well you're the second pair that have fallen down that waterfall today." She informed him.

Gary's eyes widened. Could it have been? What were the chances? Then again, May and Drew had to have come this way, and surely they'd need to rest for a while. Not to mention, this was a deserted island. Who else could the girl possibly be referring to?

"Who were they?" He dared to ask.

The small girl gave him a curious expression. She didn't really think it mattered who they were... unless...

"Are you by chance... May and Drew's squad mates?" She asked the brunette boy.

Gary and Leaf could hardly believe their ears. She knew them? Then that means she must have just met them. They were so close!

"Y-you know them? How? Where are they?" Gary questioned as Leaf managed to pull herself up enough to eagerly stare at the yellow haired girl.

"I told you that you weren't the first ones to fall down that waterfall today." She replied with a shrug.

"What!?" Leaf managed to exclaim in a hoarse voice, sending herself into a fit of coughs.

Realizing how that must sound she quickly added, "But they're okay, I got them out just fine." The two teens sighed in relief at her reassurance.

"Where are they now?" Gary asked her.

She was ready to reply when she noticed Leaf was shivering a great deal.

"How about we talk about this at my camp so your girlfriend can warm up?" She said as more of a statement than a question.

Gary could practically feel Leaf scowl from the comment, but ignored it and instead helped the brunette girl up, allowing her to lean against him as they walked so they could follow the young blond to her camp. On the way she introduced herself as Yellow.

Yellow's camp was only a short walk away, but when they arrived, the two teens found more than they thought they would. The two stopped dead in their tracks as soon as the small camp came into view.

"W-What the heck? Why do you have a group of Oppression grunts tied to a tree in your camp?" Gary exclaimed as the group of ten grunts turned their attention to the three that just walked into camp.

Yellow gave him a questioning glance before looking to the tree where ten grunts were tied up. The group of grunts all looked to her and then back to the two teens.

"Oh, they're my prisoners." She stated casually, like it was normal to have ten grunts tied to a tree.

"I thought this island was deserted? Just who are you?" Gary questioned still not moving from his spot. He was starting to get a little suspicious. Now that he got a good look at her, she was covered in scratches and bruises like she had just been in a fight. Clearly it must have involved the ten men tied to the tree. He had a good mind to turn tail and run with Leaf over his shoulder, but this girl knew May and Drew, she could be their only chance of finding them.

"I guess I can see how this might seem a little strange." She mused to herself after a moment of thought. "Maybe I should just tell you the whole story, yeah?" She added motioning for them to come sit with her by the fire.

With that, Yellow told them everything from the moment she saved May and Drew from the river, to the moment they said their goodbyes.

"So they're on their way to Fortree City?" Leaf asked eagerly, her voice seemed to have come back in the time it took Yellow to tell her story.

Yellow nodded in response.

"Then lets find our arrogant squad leader and go after them!" Gary announced as he stood up.

"That reminds me, Drew told me some things about your squad leader." Yellow stated with a frown. She really felt like giving whoever that jerk was a piece of her mind.

The two were about to question just what she meant by that, but were interrupted by the sound of twigs cracking. They all turned their attention to an Ivysaur that came running toward them.

"Ivysaur!" Leaf exclaimed with joy as her Pokemon ran into her arms.

"Geez, there's no being stealthy walking around with that thing." Red sighed as he too came into sight. Peeko flew from around him and landed on Gary's shoulder, clearly happy to see both teens alive and well. "Thank goodness you guys aren't dead, Clair would've killed me." He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry we're such a nuisance to you." Gary replied with sarcasm. He heard a small gasp when Red finally came into view.

"Red?" Yellow whispered so lowly it was hard to hear, but the man heard her voice and stopped in his tracks, eyes wide.

"Yellow?" He responded in disbelief.

You guys, I am so sorry for how long this chapter took, I had the WORST case of writers block. Not to mention the Legend of Zelda and DBZ games that just came out, I got a little side tracked... :P Anyways, thanks a lot for being patient, and thanks to everyone that reviewed and favorited/followed last chapter, you guys are all awesome! :)

Guess Who: Thanks a lot! To answer your question, Pokeshipping already kinda showed up, and it may pop up again for a bit, but unfortunately it will not be a main ship in this story.

Tvprogramsfan: Thanks! Drew's whole back story is coming up pretty soon, I hope you'll like it.

Ilypikachuu: Sorry this update took so long, I hope it was worth the wait! Hehe, I think it's Yellow's thing to assume people are couples, I think it's just her daydreaming. I have to say, I really love Yellow's character. And don't worry, your Yellow and Red interaction will happen first thing next chapter.

I'll break your heart: Thank you! I tried my best to explain her fighting so it made sense. I think her fighting style is really unique, much like she is! Haha you'll have to wait a bit to find out if that guess was right. Is that you implying you miss Lyra and Silver? Don't worry, they'll be back eventually, but you may not like what you see... 0_0