Gardevoir: *jabbing at the date on the calender* Ah, Ah! Looks like you're two days late!

Me: *staring dumbfoundedly at DS*

Gardevoir: *blink blink*

Me: *still staring*

Ember: *jumps in* Ahem. Allow me to explain! You see! Four days ago, Eon here received a new game that she's been looking forward to ever since she got caught up in the new Kingdom Hearts!

Me: *still staring*

Gardevoir: *raises eyebrow* And this new game is...?

Me: *still staring*

Ember: The World Ends With You!

Me: *still staring*

Gardevoir: So did she just beat it or...?

Me: *still staring*

Ember: *nod nod* After four long days of non-stop gaming, she has finally beat the final boss! Let the celebratory fanfiction begin! Disclaimer: Eon does not own anything in the Pokemon franchise whatsoever! Despite her deepest wishes...

Chapter Fourteen: Silver

Soul screamed again.

"Hey, hey," I said grabbing her shoulders once more. This odd behavior was causing my anxiety to rise drastically. And that was saying something. "Soul! Calm down!"

"S-Silver!" She squeaked out in an extremely high-pitched voice. "I-I can't see!"

"Your eyes are closed," I sweat-dropped. "They have been for the past five minutes."

"Numbers," she murmured in horror. "So many numbers…."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What?"

"And letters," she whimpered grabbing her head. "Why won't they go away?"

Grabbing her hands, I removed and placed them in her lap. "Soul, open your eyes!"

They'd been closed ever since she woke up and started screaming not long ago. Now, trying her hardest, she struggled to lift them and blink at the light of the candle room.

"See?" I held a hand up. "Better?"

"Yes," the brunette sighed in relief. "I don't know why—no!"

"What?!" I exclaimed as she grew frantic again. Her eyes had closed during the sigh and clamped shut again. "Soul!"

She blinked rapidly. "T-They're still there, Silver!"

My eyebrows scrunched, but people began rushing in then. Most of the trios were off training after the defeat at the Ice Path, all except Ruby, Gold, and Crystal who had stayed in town to do some shopping. I'd sent the Hoenn coordinator for the other two only a few minutes ago, so apparently they'd been nearby.

"What happened?" Crystal asked as soon as they set foot in the room. Morty and Eusine glanced up from the other side of Soul's sleeping bag, surprised at her entrance.

Gold, who was not far behind, immediately knelt down beside me. "You okay, Soul?"

Ruby took up the last space with Crystal at Soul's feet as the brunette buried her head in a hand. "I-I'm not sure…something weird is happening."

Crystal frowned. "What do you mean?"

Soul held her palms out in front of her. "When I close my eyes…it's like…I don't know…there's a billion letters and numbers running through my brain."

"Letters and numbers?" Gold tilted his head.

Soul nodded slowly. "Like…a computer trying to analyze a code. There's a hundred of them flying by a second."

"Wait," Ruby stopped her politely. "Why would there be codes in your mind?"

"You think I know?" She asked helplessly. "I have no idea!" She closed her eyes again and held a finger to her temple. "It just started when I woke up this last time."

"Is it painful?" Crystal inquired. "Would you like Parasee to make you a painkiller?"

"No, no!" The brunette declined forcing a smile. "I'll be fine! It's probably just a headache from getting hit by Raichu's electricity last night!" Then she blinked, finally realizing that Gold and Crystal were completely beat up. "Never mind me, did you guys run into Team Rocket or something?"

The two glanced at each other before Gold answered with a wide grin. "Nah, we just had a battle! Which I won of course!"

Soul giggled. "You're so competitive, Gold."

She yawned, and Morty glanced up at the three who had just joined us. "Why don't you guys go unload the groceries that just came back? Eusine, would you go help them?"

The caped man glanced suspiciously at him for a second before nodding and showing the others the way out.

"Why'd you have them go away?" Soul asked tilting her head.

"Because you obviously aren't feeling well," he smiled easily. "You should get some more rest."

Soul, reluctant as she was, nodded, lying her head back down on the floor. When she closed her eyes, there was an obvious flinch in her features. After a few minutes, though, her weariness beat out the "numbers", and she fell asleep again.

I immediately looked up at Morty. "So what's really going on?" That was a poor excuse for sending the others away, and he knew it.

The blonde gym leader folded his arms with a frown. "Do you really think it was just a simple headache, Silver?"

My voice stayed quiet for a moment. "No."

He shook his head. "I didn't either. Something abnormal happened to her, don't you think? People don't just wake up with numbers streaming through their heads."

"No..." I shook my head, "but why would she have them in her head in the first place?"

"Why indeed?" He murmured to himself.

He might have said more had Amber and Red not come rushing in at that moment. Each twin had an equal amount of dirt and foliage decorating their figures, both slightly out of breath.

"We came back early from training to check on everyone," Amber panted lightly.

"Ruby filled us in," Red said quickly glancing over at Soul. "What happened?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Morty said lowly, a hand on his chin. "Let us backtrack. When did this all begin?"

My frown deepened. "This number business didn't start until just a little while ago. However, she's been tossing and turning ever since Red brought her in last night."

All eyes turned to him as he held his hands up. "Hey now, I didn't do anything to her!"

"What about when you were out in the storm last night?" Morty questioned with narrowed eyes. "Did anything occur then?"

Red shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know. I wasn't there on the roof when everything happened."

Then all eyes turned to the boy standing next to him.

Amber waved his hands in front of him. "I-I didn't do anything either!"

"I don't think you did either," I said tersely, surprising him with my words. "We're just asking what happened to Soul last night on the roof."

The bright-eyed boy looked up, a hand covering his chin. "Well, she got blown off the edge, and Platinum and I tried to pull her back up. The touchscreen fell out then, and she managed to release her Raichu to grab it. Then a giant bolt of lightning struck her, and the Raichu took the brunt of the hit. The amount of electricity was too much, though, and Raichu started discharging badly while trying to hold onto the touchscreen. Then one of the bolts made contact with Soul, and she fell until Red managed to catch her and crash land. That's...about it."

Morty's lips quirked. "Touchscreen?"

Amber nodded, retrieving the damaged object from the rim of his pants. "Yeah, Soul took this from one of the admins in Team Rocket."

I noticed his face darken slightly but said nothing as Morty's eyes narrowed. "What was on that?"

"I'm not sure," Amber shrugged. "I wasn't able to get into it much before it got damaged by the rain. Earlier, though, Soul told me that the admin had said that there was some data on here that he was sending in. She thought it might have something that could lead us to Yellow, and I did manage to find a few hints."

"Such as?" The gym leader asked taking the touch pad into his own hands to observe it.

"Well," Amber said recollecting for a moment. "I didn't see any files relating to data or research like Soul had said, but I was able to check the mail folder briefly."

"So?" I raised an eyebrow.

"There were two new messages sent after Soul retrieved it," he explained. "They were both from Melany."

I grimaced. "Well they are both admins. What did they say?"

Amber shifted slightly. "The first came not long before the big battle at the Ice Path complex. All she said was that Project 1 was running smoothly, and objectives 1A and 1B were doing fine."

"1A and 1B?" I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know much," Amber admitted reluctantly. "Melany never told me what was going on. We rarely went to any of the outposts; great Giratina I've never even seen Team Rocket's new HQ! But from what I was able to gather, Team Rocket has two "Projects" in mind: 1 and 2. The first involves objective 1B, Yellow, and 1A...Samantha."

"Who's Samantha?" I asked confused, but Red looked like he already knew.

Amber glanced away. "She's my...Gardevoir. She's the reason I was blackmailed into working for Team Rocket. I was under the stupid assumption that I would get her back if I kidnapped Yellow, but, hey, what do you know? They were lying to me."

I crossed my arms in thought. "Why would Team Rocket want your Gardevoir?"

After a very long, reluctant pause, Amber rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see, Sam isn't like other Psychic types. She has abilities that are way beyond the normal levels that they should be. They've been after her ever since before she even hatched."

Red blinked and turned to him. "Wait, you've been running away from them way back when she was still an egg?"

Amber nodded slowly. "For the most part."

"For the most part?" I questioned suspiciously.

Then he went really quiet. "I've only been in Team Rocket for maybe two months. She hatched while I was on the run from them. I had just enough time to train her into a Gardevoir before they caught us. I just...wasn't supposed to be the one to train her."

"What do you mean?" Red tilted his head. "You had her egg, right? Weren't you the one that bred her so you could train her?"

Amber's voice stayed quiet. "No."

The crimson-eyed boy paused for a second. "Then why would you have it?"

"Look!" Amber snapped, suddenly upset. "She was given to me for safe-keeping by the one that bred her, alright? I took her away so that Team Rocket wouldn't be able to kidnap and use her powers."

His eyes were shadowed by his bangs, an action that obviously worried Red. There was a long silence before he worked up the courage to rest a hand on his brother's shoulders. By then, though, I had started putting two and two together.

"So, it's power?" I said slightly to myself. "Team Rocket wants...power?"

"Seems like it," Amber muttered from under his shadow. "They need Yellow and Sam's abilities for something, but I have no idea what. Melany never told me anything about why they were doing any of this."

Red could tell that it was a good time to change the subject. "So what about that other email? What did it say?"

Slowly, Amber brought his eyes back out into the candlelight, focusing them on me. "Again, it was from Melany, but this one came the other evening when you all stopped in Mahogany Town. This was the one that gave me the hint on where Yellow could be."

"A hint?" I asked, curiosity rising.

Amber nodded. "She sent an email about an important transfer that was supposed to take place in Olivine City this coming Monday."

I scowled in disappointment. "How is that any hint?"

"If we go there when the transfer is taking place," Red explained, understanding what Amber was saying, "then there's a chance we can follow them back to where they're keeping Yellow and Samantha!"

My eyes widened. "And then we can get them both back at the same time."

Amber nodded. "Precisely."

"Well, where's the exchange taking place?" I asked a tad bit frantically, worked up by the possibility. "Is there a specific location?"

"Yes," Amber confirmed. "It's the Olivine lighthouse."

My hope started to shrink. "Why would they do it there? There's constant security hired by Jasmine to guard the place since her Ampharos is the one that lights it."

"There's going to be a party."

Red, Amber, and I turned sharply to find Soul sitting up in her sleeping bag. Her eyes were still closed, although from deep concentration rather than sleep.

"'An anniversary for when the lighthouse was first built. On the twenty-first. At eight in the evening. I'll come to make the exchange then.'"

Amber almost gasped. "That's...That's exactly what the email said! How did you...?"

Her eyes snapped open as if she were in a trance. "'All is well for Project 1. Objective 1A and 1B are sustaining as predicted. No anomalies detected.'"

Red glanced at his twin as the boy took a step forward in shock. "And that was the first message! Why would you..." He trailed off, eyes growing wide. "Holy Ho-Oh."

I narrowed my eyes at him, a strange prickling of terror manifesting in my heart. "What? What is it?"

"The numbers and the letters! It all makes sense now!" Amber exclaimed towards Soul. Then he paused. "But, wait, that doesn't make any sense..."

"What doesn't make any sense?" I shouted, fearing that there might be something seriously wrong with her.

Amber finally turned his shocked eyes to me. "The codes, the emails, the data, all of it! It's in her!"

There was a painfully silent pause.

"That...makes no sense."

Amber face-palmed at my statement. "No! What I mean is, the information that was on the touchscreen has been transferred to her mind!" He stared at her in surprise. "Everything that we lost is now in her head."

Soul gasped and waved her hands. "No, no, no, no! How is that even possible?! There's no way that happened!"

"How else do you explain the fact that you knew what the emails said?" Amber pointed out loudly. He muttered to himself for a second before looking down at her again. "It must have happened when Raichu was leaking all that electricity after the lightning strike. It was holding onto the touchscreen when one of the more powerful bolts struck your head!" The raven-haired boy muttered a little more. "It must have been like a wire connection. Information is sent in the form of electricity through all kinds of technology! Computers, telephones, fax machines! Just like that!"

"So what you're saying," I asked slowly, trying to wrap my head around this, "is that Raichu acted as a connector and pulled the data out of the touchscreen and sent it into Soul?"

"That sounds crazy," Red shook his head in disbelief.

Soul, however, gave it some thought. "I wouldn't say so. What Amber is saying makes a little sense."

"That sort of shock should have wounded her anyway," I muttered, glancing at her in such a way that her eyes widened. "Let's just be happy that this happened instead."

"Besides, the brain works in weird ways," Amber pointed out to Red. "The neurons send messages in such a manner that it resembles an electric current. I think it could have actually happened."

"Well, that would explain why she was seeing all those numbers and letters," Red admitted reluctantly.

Amber nodded at Soul. "They must have been jumbled in your brain when you woke up. I'm guessing they've settled down and sorted themselves out now."

The brunette nodded slightly, beginning to appear weary again. "It's really tiring, though. Those two emails just popped out of nowhere."

"They were the last two things I'd been looking at," Amber remarked.

"Everything else..." She sighed. "It's hard for me to locate where all the files are, let alone try to open them."

"Why don't you just take it slow for now?" I suggested kneeling next to her. "At least now we know that everything isn't lost."

"Yeah!" Red said cheerfully. "You're like our own little data memory now! The Rememberer!"

Soul seemed taken aback for a second. "Did you just...give me a title?"

Red nodded merrily. "Why not?"

She smiled, almost to herself. "No reason, I suppose." Turning to me, she grinned a little more and laid back down. "Okay, I'll rest then."

It didn't take her long to fall back asleep; that data business must have been more tiring than it looked. The rest of us were about to head out to the kitchen to make lunch and discuss what our next step would be when I noticed that Morty had been hanging towards the back of the candlelit room the entire time, not saying anything.

I walked over as Red and Amber headed down the hallway for the main room to tell Ruby, Gold, and Crystal. "Morty?"

The gym leader's eyes were closed tight, his hand gripping the touchscreen rather forcefully. "I can't..." He popped his eyes open, breathing heavily as if he had just completed a trying feat. "This is strange."

"What's wrong?" I asked raising an eyebrow uncertainly.

He shook his head and began walking for the exit. "Come. Soul's mystery is solved. Let's join the others for lunch."

My eyes narrowed as he disappeared down the hallway. His dodging of my question was sending off alarm bells like crazy. Of all the people to be keeping secrets from us right now...

"Drake. What are you doing?"

The russet-haired admin smirked as he entered his accomplice's room with a portable rack of clothing. "It's time to pick out what we're wearing for the dance!"

Melany sweat-dropped. "Drake. We still have a few more days. There's no need to get ready just yet."

"Just come on," he rolled his eyes pulling her off her bed. "Try this one."

The blonde's eyes drooped in annoyance as he shoved a garment in her hands and held one up in front of himself. "What about these? Personally, I think the dress is a little too much."

Gaze dropping to the frilly gown in her hands, she sighed and hung it back up on the rack. "Drake, seriously, what do you want? I've told you a hundred times; it's not polite to just barge into a lady's room."

"Pft!" He protested laughing. "You're not a lady!"

She glared at him furiously. "I am, too!" Snatching the suit he was holding, she slammed it onto the rack as well and started pulling it towards the door. "If all you came to do was insult me, then you can just go!"

"Mels."

The blue-eyed girl stopped abruptly. Her hand rested on the doorknob, his voice stopping her from turning it. She pivoted slowly to find him sitting dejectedly on her bed.

"I just wanted to spend time with you like we used to."

Sighing softly, she walked over and placed herself on the blanket next to him. "I know."

"Then why can't we?" He asked turning to look at her. "I don't understand why we can't be like we used to. Why did you change?"

She glanced up at her reflection in his dark sunglasses. "Because people change, Drake. Whether we want them to or not."

"I know, I know," he grumbled. "You've said that a million times, but what does that mean?"

Melany didn't answer. Instead, she stood up and approached the rack. "Why don't we look at those dresses again?"

Drake's reluctance to drop the subject was evident, but he hopped up and joined her anyway. Taking the frilly blue gown off again, he held it up to her form and smirked. "Actually, I think it suits you."

She scoffed and shoved it away. "For the love of Mew, no."

"What?" His smirk grew wider. "Don't like the color? Or is it the frills?" He nodded as if sympathizing with her. "It's the frills, isn't it?"

Rolling her eyes with a smile, she crossed her arms. "I don't see why we have to go to that dumb party anyways. Do we really have to do...that?"

Then Drake stopped dead. The smile slowly fell from Melany's face as he turned to her with a deep frown. "I told you and Master that they were just kids, and you guys said I was wrong. So, I'm going to prove that I'm right."

"But you don't need to do this just to prove that you're right!" She protested as his lip curled and the conversation took a rapid one eighty.

"I don't get why you're so set against not fighting them!" He shouted at her. "Arceus! It's like they're your damn family or something! When will you grow up and learn that death isn't such a bad thing?!"

Melany's face displayed her horror quite vividly. For a moment she just stared at his furious expression before her hands flew for his face. As swiftly as she could, her fingers gripped the sunglasses and tore them off. The action caused his silver fedora to go flying to the ground, and he just stood there, completely exposed.

Her blue eyes widened.

Because one of his was pulsing yellow.

Growling, he ripped the sunglasses from her grasp and slipped them back on.

"Drake?"

Not answering, he left his hat on the ground and sat back down on the bed. "I don't want to talk about it."

She frowned, almost painfully, and took a seat at his side. "...are you sure?"

Giving an exhausted sigh, he tilted over and rested his head in her lap so that he was looking up at her. "I'm just tired, okay?"

Melany simply nodded, hesitantly stroking the ends of his hair as he let out a sigh. They sat like that for a while, not saying a word to each other. At some point, Melany didn't know, he had drifted off to sleep. Carefully removing the glasses, she frowned as his closed eyes emerged.

"You came bursting into my room like you always used to," she murmured as if recalling a long lost memory.

The boy only breathed softly in slumber.

Her bangs shadowed her eyes gently. "Why did you change?"

Me: *still staring*

Gardevoir: * facepalm* What? Surprise ending?

Ember: I believe so...

Me: *starts trembling*

Gardevoir: *sweatdrop* Oh no...

Me: ...why?! *stands up with with tears* What the hell?!

Ember: *sweatdrop* I know so.

Gardevoir: So...good game?

Ember: *grin* Good game.

...

Ember: Well apparently she's still...in shock...so I'll close it up! Apologies for the delay! But it truly was an amazing game! I'm sure Eon would advise it to all of you! And the ending here with this chapter...I'm not the author but I have to wonder...do those two have a past or something? *shrug* Guess we'll just have to find out! Review and return!