A/N: Now, now. I couldn't leave THIS chapter until the end, because, well...I'm a sucker for happiness. :D Or a cliffhanger...UH. Anyways, my dearest fans, I hope you enjoy and review, because we're closing in on 100 AND the last...2/5 of the story? Yeah. Hehe.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Theresa.

Again, not allowed to kill the authoress!

Touko's POV:

I heard some laughing, a few chuckles, and I saw a couple smiles. What I didn't see were Elesa, Clay, Burgh, and Drayden. Instantly, my adrenaline faded and I found myself worrying immensely.

"Where are they?" I asked, starting to panic. What if something bad happened to them? What if they were hurt? Or even worse-

I stopped myself from going there. Dawn, who'd been curled up in the sofa with a bowl of popcorn, turned to me and offered a grin. "You'll see soon enough."

That wasn't very reassuring. Turning away from my 'family', I headed out the door despite their calls of protest. Screw them; clearly, they couldn't tell I was full-out panicking.

Some family, alright.

I pulled out my poke-balls, (somehow, my pokemon had ended up in them again), and released everyone. The backyard-ish area was quiet big, big enough for Riri to rest up.

"Alright everyone." I started. "Everybody's alright, yes? No injuries?"

I forgot to mention that in the mystical sparkles, Simi and I had been completely healed; the gruesome gashes were gone.

A chorus of 'yes's followed my concerned questioning, and Simisear jumped onto my back. Laughing, I went down into the longish grass, rolling around with Simisear in a play fight. Soon enough, the others joined in, and Sammy used Bubble Beam into the air so we were surrounded by the little spheres of blue water and light.

It was then I remembered that the four gym leaders were MIA, and I sobered up. Of course, Reshiram, who'd been off to the side under the large birch tree with Leavanny just resting, turned to me with a worried look. "Child? What's wrong?"

Getting off the ground, I plodded over to the tree and curled up under Riri's wing. Instantly, her motherly warmth brought comfort to me, and I found myself telling her, "Elesa, Clay, Burgh, and Drayden are missing."

Sammy, Simi, Hax, Lea, and Vi snuggled around Riri and I, and I wrapped my arms around them all, gazing up at the sky. Were my family doing the same? Were they alright? What was I doing, sitting around, while they were being kept prisoner? So many questions, with no answers at all...

A single tear slid down my cheek, leaving a wet trail in its wake.

Well, my 'family' wasn't looking at the sky or caring about anything at the moment; they were inside watching chick flicks (courtesy of the females, I was going to guess. Or maybe Yellow?). Did they care that I was hurting? Probably not. Pushing my head up a little to glance inside the window at the side of the house, I noticed Red was looking out the same window as I was looking through, a worried look in his eyes. Did he care? I didn't want to think so...I couldn't risk getting hurt again.

Yeah, his betrayal did hurt, because I'd just opened up to him. And besides, how could he cheat on my mom like that? She was the best person in the whole wide world!

I was being a little childish, I know, but eh. I'm allowed to be myself every once and a while, right? Over the last few days, I hadn't...been myself. At all. I'd been a hollow vessel; a broken trainer who had to save the world.

"Ah, you must not worry about them, Touko, they are fine. I promise you that."

Right away, it felt as if 100 years of stress had been lifted off my shoulders. "Thanks, Ri. That calmed me right down."

The midnight sky reigned peaceful, surprisingly calming me down. I remembered Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit, who believed in me. I remembered their kind words, and how they showed me the truth.

"Well, we have great timing to say the least. They're back," she mused, lifting up her wing so I could scramble to my feet.

"Seriously?" I cried. "Alright!"

I ran across the grass, my pokemon trailing behind me in excitement; I could hear their chitter chatter from here, a couple meters ahead of them. I wonder where they'd gone? It was then, suddenly, Drayden's yelling from before jumped into my mind. No, did...they...

Right before I could throw the door open myself, it was flung open, nearly hitting me in the face. But it didn't matter. Why?

Because standing there, in all their forgotten glory, were my mom, Cheren, Bianca, the Elite 4, Alder, and the rest of the gym leaders (and of course the 4 that went to go get them).

A/N: Shorter than usual BUT cliffhanger love!:D So, review for a fast(er) update? :D And I know I haven't been that nice with the other stories, but...I promise I'll update them ASAP! I just have a lot going on for R/F. BUT:

1) FP's next chapter is a WIP.

2) PJ will be starting up soon. :D

So, yes, I'll be a better authoress to you soon enough...but for now...review what we have here, eh? LILAC, OUT!