Day11: Taken By Surprise.
Zara awoke the next day, a sense of determination emplanted in her. Jacklyn's trap yesterday had done some good; it made her realize how much she wasn't seeing that went on around her. The next time she slipped up and got caught in a trap, it probably wouldn't be a trap that she could get out of just by saying five words.
"Thus, from now on, as long as I and this Team are both at this seminar, I'll have a Pokemon next to me, standing guard, at all times," she said firmly, finishing her plan explination.
"Sceptile!" Sceptile growled approvingly. The Grass type had been up all night, but looked as wide awake as ever.
"Maybe that will keep me safe from those maniacs," Zara whispered to herself, then got off her bed and changed out of her pajamas.
After returning Sceptile to its pokeball and sending out her Lairon, she walked downstairs to the cafeteria. The going was slow due to Lairon being a slow Pokemon, but Zara didn't care. The more time she spent walking to the cafeteria, the less time she would have to spend in it. When she did arrive, the place was busy enough that she could slip in without attracting any unwanted attention.
She was scrapping her plate clean when Sidney came in the double doors. "Attention, students who are still in the competition! Please come with me to the courtyard!" He paused, then added, "And any of you who lost but still want to tag along are welcome to come too."
Zara couldn't help but smile a little bit at Sidney's announcement. He's an Elite Four member, yet he seems so unprofessional at times. Oh well, better than having him like Glacia, whose all manners and properness all the time.
She dumped her dishes in the dish return and strode out to the courtyard, Lairon in tow. Outside in the courtyard, Carl, Gordon, Astrid, and the worst-snob-ever-to-own-a-keystone Jacklyn were already assembled. That only left...
Zara heard footsteps approaching from behind as the last name ran through her head. Alain. Suddenly all the fear and anxiety she'd felt yesterday came flooding back. He stepped up to the group, and Lairon growled at him. He looked at the Steel and Rock type oddly, as Zara sidled away from him as inconspicuously as she could.
"Well trainers, congratulations on making it this far!" Sidney said as soon as Alain had joined the group. "Today is going to work a little differently than the last couple of days, so listen up. We have six trainers left, as you can see, but we don't have enough time left in the seminar to have a typical single-elimination tournament. So instead, were going to divide you up into groups of three and have you each battle it out to see who will move on."
Gordon raised a hand. "You mean were going to have a battle with three people in it, and the last one standing moves on?"
"No, that's not what I mean," Sidney said, shaking his head, "I mean each of you will fight a battle with each of the other people in your group, and the two that end up with the most victories will move on."
"So we each fight two battles, and the top two will move one to tomorrow's competition?" Carl asked.
"What happens if all three trainers win one battle and lose one battle?" Astrid asked at the same time. She and Carl exchanged glances, and then looked away from each other quickly. If Zara hadn't been so preoccupied by her Team situation, she would have noticed the blush that crept onto Astrid's face.
"Only one group of trainers will fight today. The other group will fight their battles tomorrow," Sidney clarrified. "And the Elite Four will be watching your battles to see how you do, so if you all win one and lose one they can judge who did the best and decide who will move on."
"Who's in what group?" Zara asked.
"You, Carl, and Jacklyn are in today's group, and the rest of you are in tomorrow's."
"So, who's going first?" Jackly asked.
"Well, since you spoke up first, you and...who else wants to go?"
Zara didn't hesitate. "I do."
"Then you and Zara will go first," Sidney affirmed. Stepping to the side of the field, he gestured to the trainer's boxes. Jacklyn marched into the closer one, and Zara walked to the far one. Across the field, Glacia and Phoebe sat in folding chairs, facing the battle field.
"Did you both understand the rules of these battles, and are you both ready?" Sidney asked.
"Yes, and ready," both trainers answered stimulously. Zara gritted her teeth after the words came out in perfect sinc with Jacklyn's.
"Then battle begin!" Sidney shouted, dropping his arm to start the battle.
"Go Blaziken!" Jacklyn cried.
"Sceptile, at the ready!" Zara shouted.
Both Pokemon landed on the field with a roar. As soon as they got a good look at each other, Sceptile snarrled and Blaziken growled at its opponent.
Jacklyn was the first to move. "Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!"
"Dodge it!" Zara ordered.
Blaziken rushed forward, its legs growing flaming coverings. It leaped into the air and aimed to come down on Sceptile's head, but just as it started to come down, Sceptile dashed away, letting the Fire and Fighting type crash against the ground.
"Use Sky Uppercut!" Jacklyn shouted.
"Dodge it!" Zara commanded.
Blaziken hauled itself off the ground where it had crashed and again charged Sceptile. But Sceptile was ready, and dashed to the side, letting Blaziken's punch connect with empty air.
"Blaz?!" Blaziken roared angrily.
"Scep," Sceptile taunted, gesturing with a claw for Blaziken to bring it on.
"Blaziken, Mega Evolve!" Jacklyn shouted, touching the keystone in her choker. It reacted with Blaziken's Mega Stone, and Blaziken Mega Evolved.
Zara raised her arm to touch her own keystone, but before she could do anything Jackly ordered, "Use Blaze Kick!"
Faster than the human eye could follow, Blaziken became a blur of red and yellow, and zipped across the battle field. It dashed around Sceptile and struck the Forest Pokemon in the back with its blazing foot.
Ugh, I keep forgetting that thing has Speed Boost, Zara thought. Touching her own keystone, she shouted, " Sceptile, Mega Evolve!" Sceptile roared as its Mega Stone reacted. In a flash, it Mega Evolved and turned to face Blaziken.
Jacklyn's eyes narrowed. "Use Overheat!"
Zara didn't say any commands as Blaziken launched its stream of molten lava her Pokemon. What she did do was whistle.
At her whistle, Sceptile looked straight at her. Zara made both her hands into fists and punched them together, then covered her mouth with one hand and then threw it out in front of herself. Sceptile turned back to Blaziken and released a Dragon Pulse attack, which intercepted its Overheat. Both Pokemon struggled, but neither could outmatch the other, and the attacks exploded.
"Blaze Kick!" Jacklyn ordered, "Hit them hard!"
"Detect!" Zara ordered. When Jacklyn's face showed surprise, she smiled to herself. If I keep changing up my tactics like this, Jacklyn will never know what's coming next, and won't be prepared to defend against it. Plus, it gives her less opportunities to figure out what my non-verbal commands mean. Tricks are everything in a battle, and the element of surprise is essential.
"Use Sky Uppercut!" Jacklyn ordered.
"Leaf Blade, intercept it!" Zara countered.
Again both Sceptile and Blaziken attacked each other. Blaziken flew forward, aided by Speed Boost, but Sceptile kept pace with it, its speed having risen after it Mega Evolved. Blaziken punched furiously at its opponent, but Sceptile countered every attack. Eventually, Blazekin gave up and jumped back.
"Don't let up! Use Blaze Kick!"
Zara whistled and held her hands up next to her eyes.
Blaziken rushed forward again, but Sceptile used Detect and dodged all of Blaziken's flaming kicks. When the Fire and Fighting type saw that there was no way it could get in a hit, it jumped back to its trainer, breathing heavily. Jacklyn was breathing heavily too, but out of anger, not tiredness.
Sceptile turned to face its trainer, pointing its tail at Blaziken. It tilted its head at Zara, as if to ask, What now?
Zara shifted her feet, but said nothing. Hold on, Sceptile, wait till they move.
"Use Sky Uppercut!" Jacklyn cried angrily. Blaziken rushed at Sceptile once again.
"Drag your tail along the ground and stir up some dust!" Zara commanded. Sceptile slammed its tail against the ground and dragged it in a circle twice before it became surrounded in a cloud of dust.
"Wait, Blaziken, use Overheat instead," Jacklyn amended her prior command.
Blaziken skidded to a stop just before it reached the dust cloud. It charged the Fire type attack, then launched it into the dust. Nothing happened.
"What did she-?" Jacklyn began.
Suddenly Sceptile burst out of the dust, charging Blaziken. It was bent over, running with its body parallel to the ground. Blaziken had fired its attack at its own eye level, thus its Overheat had gone over the Grass type's head, not even skimming it.
"Leaf Blade!" Zara ordered.
"Jump!" Jacklyn shouted. Blaziken leaped into the air, narrowly missing the Leaf Blade. "Now come down on it with Blaze Kick!" The Blaze Pokemon shouted vigorously and drove downward
"Grab Blaziken from behind, Sceptile!" Zara yelled.
As Blaziken began to approach Sceptile, the Forest Pokemon stepped forward to where it was behind Blaziken, then jumped and grabbed the Blaze Pokemon's arms, forcing it to face away from the Grass type.
"Now throw it!" Zara ordered.
Sceptile's claws hit the ground for perhaps a second before it jumped again, and with a mightly heave, flung Blaziken at the back wall of the courtyard. The Fire and Fighting type hurtled away from it, falling end over end as it went.
"Now Dragon Pulse! Drive them into the wall!" Zara shouted.
"Intercept it with Overheat!" Jacklyn ordered.
Blaziken released the Overheat, but since it was still spinning head over heels, the Fire type attack didn't have any real target. Instead, the molten lava sprayed out around Blaziken, creating a flaming wheel all around it, so when Sceptile's Dragon Pulse connected with the wheel, it was blocked and didn't touch Blaziken. The lava didn't stop it from crashing, however, and Blaziken still took damage when it struck the wall of the school.
The Fire and Fighting type hauled itself back up and glared at Sceptile. Sceptile only retuned the glare.
"Use Overheat!" Jacklyn ordered.
Zara whistled again, covered her mouth with a hand before throwing it out in front of herself.
Sceptile and Blaziken intercepted one another's attacks, and they exploded, neither Pokemon taking a hit.
"Move in closer, Blaziken," Jacklyn commanded after the smoke cleared.
Blaziken leaped closer to Sceptile and growled at it, but didn't attack. The two Pokemon slowly began to circle one another, neither getting any closer or further away, neither moving to attack. They continued to circle untill Sceptile stood in front of Jacklyn, and Blaziken stood in front of Zara.
"Now, Sky Uppercut!"
Zara whistled and ran two fingers down the outside of her forearm.
Blaziken punched and punched at Sceptile, but once again, Sceptile countered every swipe with its Leaf Blades. But this time, Blaziken didn't stop after a couple of minutes. Instead it kept punching.
"Dodge it, and strike them in the back!" Zara ordered.
Sceptile dodged to the left, and Blaziken's punch sailed past it. The Grass and Dragon type twisted to slice it leaves across Blaziken's back, but as it turned, Blaziken slid its leg in front of Sceptile's, causing Sceptile to trip. Before Zara had a chance to give any orders, Blaziken slammed its fist into Sceptile's chest, sending the Forest Pokemon flying. It roared and scewed its eyes shut at the impact.
"Sceptile!" Zara shouted anxiously. Beside her, Lairon growled at Blaziken.
"Now hit it with Blaze Kick!" Jacklyn commanded.
Blaziken leaped after Sceptile, charging a Blaze Kick as soon as it left the ground. It closed in on the Forest Pokemon, and prepared to send Sceptile crashing to the ground with its attack, when Zara shouted at the top of her lungs, "Don't let them hit you, Sceptile! Use Detect!"
Sceptile's eyes opened suddenly, and began to glow blue. As Blaziken's foot came toward it, it grabbed onto it and swung itself out of the way. Blaziken lashed out with its other foot, but Sceptile avoided it, climbing its way up Blazkien's body.
"Sky Uppercut! Get them off of you!" Jacklyn yelled.
Now Blaziken began to lash out with its arms, but still, Sceptile avoided every move. It kept climbing untill it had its foot on Blaziken's head, then jumped off the Fire and Fighting type.
"Dragon Pulse!" Zara ordered.
With a roar, Sceptile fired a huge Dragon Pulse straight down at Blaziken. There was no time to move, and the Dragon type attack drove Baziken into the ground face first, generating an explosion to match the size of the move.
Sceptile landed smoothly in front of its trainer, watching the smoke closely for any signs of movement. When it cleared, Blaziken was on its knees, trying as hard as it could to rise.
"Now's our chance! Frenzy Plant!" Zara ordered.
"Blaziken, get up and intercept them with Blaze Kick!" Jacklyn shouted, none too kindly, at her Pokemon.
Sceptile slammed its tail into the ground, and large roots began to grow out from it. Blaziken struggled to its feet and jumped to meet them. One by one, it burned up every last one of the roots, taking no damage in the process. When all the roots were burned and lay in a charred mess on the battle field, Blaziken hung in the air above Sceptile, its legs still flaming.
"Hit it with Blaze Kick! Take them down!" Jacklyn commanded.
Blaziken rushed down at Sceptile, gaining speed every second. Sceptile, unable to attack after using Frenzy Plant, couldn't send a Dragon Pulse up at it to knock it off course. It was almost over. Jacklyn smiled.
Then Zara said, "Dodge it."
At the last possible second, Sceptile stepped out of Blaziken's way. The Blaze Pokemon cried out in alarm as it fell past Sceptile and crashed on the field, stirring up a cloud of dust and smoke.
Jacklyn wasn't smiling now. Now, she was holding her breath.
The dust settled to reveal Blaziken had been knocked out. In a flash, it reverted to its normal form.
"Blaziken is unable to battle, so Sceptile is the winner. Therefore, the victory goes to Zara!" Sidney announced.
"No!" Jacklyn screamed. "You weren't supposed to win that battle! Blaziken, this is all your fault! Why couldn't you get that Blaze Kick to connect!"
Blaziken lifted it's head slowly and mumbled it's apologies. Jacklyn gave a disgusted humph, and Blaziken lowered it's head. Zara suddenly realized it was cowering.
"No, I don't want to hear you apologize! You messed this up, now what are going to do?!" And with that, she recalled Blaziken and stormed off the field.
Sceptile walked up to her as Jacklyn left. "Scep?" it asked.
Zara threw her arms around her Pokemon's neck. She didn't smile, neither did she cry, only hugged the Grass type as hard as she could to thank it. Then she brought out Sceptile's pokeball and returned Sceptile to it. Larion growled happily at Sceptile as it disappeared.
"So Zara, who do you want to face Carl first? You or Jacklyn?" Sidney asked.
What he said didn't register untill Lairon bumped her leg with its head. "Huh? Oh, I don't care. Whatever Jacklyn wants to do."
"Nope, I said eariler it was winner's choice. You won, so you get to pick."
"You said that?" Zara asked, confused.
"While you were battling."
"Oh. Jacklyn, then."
"Very well. Jacklyn, go give your Pokemon to Nurse Joy, and tell her you need it healed ASAP."
Jacklyn huffed tersly, but did as she was told.
Now that her first battle was over, Zara turned back to the group of students. Carl and Astrid were talking, and it seemed all the others who didn't have to fight anymore battles were outside milling around. But Alain and Gordon were no where to be seen. Gordon being gone didn't make any difference to Zara; Alain did. "Come on, Lairon," she whispered, "let's go see what he's up to." Hopefully nothing destructive...
She and Lairon walked up and down the halls for about an hour. They saw neither hide nor hair of the dark haired trainer, which both relieved and worried Zara. Finally, she gave up her search, and headed for one of the training rooms. At least do something while your waiting for your next battle. If you don't, you'll probably go crazy, her mind told her.
"I think I'm going to train with you today, Lairon," she said as they went. "What do you want to do first? Treadmill?"
Lairon growled disapprovingly.
"Hey, I'm kiding, I'm kiding! I know how much you don't like the treadmills." She held the training room door open for Lairon as the Steel and Rock type lumbered slowly inside. "How about the punching bags instead?" she asked as Lairon passed the end of the door.
Lairon didn't answer, but instead lowered its head and began to growl viciously. Zara leaned around the door, trying to see what had angered her Pokemon. As her head passed the end of the door, her eyes met sharp blue ones, and she jumped involuntarily.
Alain stood next to the left wall of the training room, a Bisharp in front of him. Clearly they were here training, because the blades on Bisharp's arms were beginning to fade from an attack, and the makiwara in front of it was sliced in three places.
Zara knew she should have run as soon as she saw who it was, but years of practice with controling her emotions kept her rooted to the spot. She returned Alain's gaze, putting as much authority into her look as possible, then holding her head up to appear confident, strode into the room, Larion growling as it followed her.
Alain's piercing gaze followed her as she crossed the room to where the punching bags stood, but he didn't say a word. Zara kept her back to him as much as she could, but even that didn't seem to deaden the feeling of hs gaze on her. Her hands shook ever so slightly as she pushed one of the bags in front of Lairon. "Okay, Lairon, hit this as hard as you can."
"Ron," Lairon said, giving her a significant look.
"What?" she asked.
Larion lumbered up to her and knocked the pocket where she kept all her pokeballs, then turned to face Bisharp, who'd gone back to cutting up its makiwara.
"Fight Bisharp?" she guessed. Then the answer came to her, and she brought out a pokeball and threw it with a cry of, "Medicham, at the ready."
Her Medicham materialized next to her and spun around on one foot. "Cham, cham, medi!"
Zara couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Nice to see you too, Medicham."
Lairon moved forward and began to talk with Medicham, the Fighting and Psychic type constantly jumping from foot to foot. Lairon eventually growled at it, which Zara took to mean "Stand still and listen to me!" and she chuckled again. Movment across the room caught her attention as she chuckled, and she looked up to see Alain starring at her with...some emotion she couldn't explain in his eyes. She quickly looked away, turning back to her Pokemon. "Okay Lairon, you ready?"
"Lair!"
"Good. Use Iron Head!"
Thus she and Lairon trained for about two hours. Alain and Bisharp stayed in the room, training, for almost the full two hours, and Medicham stood at Zara's back the whole time they were there. Every now and then she would hear the Fighting and Psychic type shouting something at Alain's Pokemon, and whenever that happened she would, gently, kick her Pokemon as a reminder to stay quiet. Once Bisharp had shouted something back at Medicham, and Zara had kicked Medicham more urgently, fearing a fight would break out, which was the last thing she wanted to happen. But Bisharp stayed with its trainer. Alain, unlike his Pokemon, stayed silent the whole time he was there, only glancing over at Zara a few times. Zara wasn't sure what to make of his behavior, only kept her guard up and her mouth shut.
When Alain had been gone for about twenty minutes, Zara decided she had done enough training and would head back out to the courtyard to see if they were ready for her to face Carl. She recalled Lairon, who was exhausted by now, and turned to leave with Medicham following on her heels.
She heard it before she saw it. A light scraping sound coming from the back of the room, like metal on stone. Whirling at the noise, she sceamed as a Bisharp began to charge her. "Medicham!" was all she could get out before the Dark and Steel type lunged at her and grabbed her neck and arms. The Blade Pokemon had its cold arms wrapped around her torso before she could stop it, and it squeezed her so tightly she could barely breath. "Help," she croaked.
Then Medicham fell on Bisharp, and began to pummel it with Force Palms. The super-effective moves clearly caused the Dark and Steel type a lot of pain, because it roared loudly and released its hold on Zara so it could strike back at its attacker. Medicham jumped and came down on Bisharp with a High Jump Kick. Bisharp retaliated and struck Medicham with a Shadow Claw. Medicham cried out and lashed back with another Force Palm.
The whole fight was little more than a blur to Zara. As soon as Bisharp released her, she collapsed on the floor, trying to catch her breath. When she could breath, she tried to crawl aroung Bisharp, but the Blade Pokemon kept repositioning itself so she couldn't get around it. She didn't dare rise for fear of getting hit in the head of back by one of the attacks. Thus she stayed where she was, and just kicked and Bisharp's feet to try and throw it off balance.
Medicham landed another High Jump Kick on Bisharp, and it fell to its knees from the blow. Medicham landed and raised its hand to land a Force Palm, but Bisharp dodged its attack and ran away, going straight for the window. It leaped the window sill and vanished.
Medicham started after it, charging a Force Palm as it ran across the tile floor, then skidded to a halt and returned to its trainer. Zara clutched the wall as she struggled to rise. "Where did it go, Medicham?"
"Cham!" And Medicham pointed at the open window.
"Good, it's gone. Let's get out of here and back outside." She tried to take a step and stumbled, Medicham reaching out to catch her. "No, I'm alright, just give me a minute."
Zara rose slowly, forcing air into her lungs. Bisharp's grip had hurt more than she'd expected. After she stood, she turned and left the training room, walking as quickly as she could back to the courtyard. Medicham followed closely, watching Zara for any signs of injury.
Zara entered the courtyard just in time to see Carl's Lucario strike Blaziken over the head with a Bone Rush. The Blaze Pokemon screamed it name and colapsed, flashing and reverting to its normal form.
"Blaziken is unable to battle, so Lucario wins! Therefore the victory goes to Carl!" Sidney announced.
Carl rushed onto the field and clapped his Lucario on the back, but Jacklyn only stood in her trainer's box, staring dumbly at the field. Zara wasn't sure if she was angry or dissapointed, but she figured as soon as the shock of her loss wore off, everone would know how Jacklyn felt. But that didn't matter right now. Right now, she needed to tell someone what had just happened.
Drake stood off to the side of the crowd, watching Carl with his usual impassible face. He was the closest, and Zara hurried over to him.
"Drake! Drake!" she shouted.
"Hm? What do you need?" the Dragon type Master asked irritably.
"Drake, you have to come quickly! I've just been attacked by somebody's Bisharp!"
"What? Attacked by a Bisharp? Where? When?"
"Just a few minutes ago, in the second training room."
"The one that's on the other side of this wall that I'm leaning on?"
"Across the hall from that one." Zara paused, then added, "Didn't you hear me scream?"
Drake gave her a strange look, then said, "Maybe I shoud go get Steven." His tone was so quizzical, Zara couldn't help but know he didn't believe her. How could they not have heard all that? My scream, Bisharp and Medcham's fight...
"No, don't get Steven, just come with me and I'll show you where it happened."
"What seems to be the matter?" It was Phoebe. She strode over to Drake and faced Zara.
"I was just attacked by a Bisharp! Come on, we have to try and find it!" Zara said more forcefully.
Drake gave Phoebe a look, which she returned with a more concerned one. "Zara, don't take this the wrong way," Phoebe began gently, "but Steven told us about what you said yesterday with the plaster, and he's afraid that you may be trying to get someone in trouble by making up a bunch of stories. Now I'm not saying you are, but this does sound a bit sceptical."
Zara felt a lump the size of a softball forming in her throat at Phoebe's words. "But didn't you hear me screaming?" she asked desperately.
Phoebe hesitated before saying, "No, I'm sorry, I didn't."
"How could you not have?" Zara exclaimed. "Why don't you believe me? What reason would I have for making this up?"
"To get someone you don't like in trouble," Drake said bluntly, glancing at Jacklyn as he said it.
"That's not why! I was attacked by someone's Bisharp, and its getting away, and the longer we stand here and talk about it, the further away it gets, so will someone please listen to me-"
"I think I should take you to see Nurse Joy," Drake said, cutting her off.
"What? No! For the last time, I am not sick in any way, shape, or form!"
"But Zara," Phoebe began, "she might be able to help you with-"
"Just be quiet, Phoebe, just be quiet, both of you!" Zara shouted. Suddenly, the whole courtyard became dead silent. In the silence, Zara realised what she had just said and clapped and hand over her mouth, her eyes widening.
"Zara, what's wrong with you?" Phoebe asked.
Zara didn't answer, only turned and fled. She kept running, out of the courtyard, through the hall, up the stairs, and into her room. There she colapsed on her bed and cried untill she had no tears left to shed.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
Alain walked into the courtyard just in time to see Zara dashing out the side door as fast as she could run. What got into her? he thought. Did Jacklyn try another one of her tricks?
The whole courtyard was quiet. Far too quiet. Something was up.
Sidney left the judge's place beside the field, and Glacia left her folding chair, both of them walking over to where Drake and Phoebe stood. "What was that all about?" Sidney asked.
"The runt is making up stories again," Drake stated.
"I'm not so sure that she is," Phoebe added. "And don't call her a runt, she's can't help it if she's shorter than you."
"What did she say this time?" Glacia asked.
"That she was attacked by some Pokemon in one of the training rooms," Drake answered.
Alain's attention spiked at that. She was attacked? By who?
"That sounds like she's making it up to me," Glacia said flatly. "How could anyone break into this place without one of us knowing?"
You have no idea what you're talking about, Alain thought, thinking of Courtney.
"But she clearly was upset about something," Phoebe said.
"But Steven said she acted the same way yesterday, and there was nothing there," Drake countered.
"Well, regardless of whether she's telling the truth or not, she gone, and we still have another battle to fight," Sidney said, agrivation in his voice.
"Hey," Carl interrupted, "if you guys need to go help her, we already know who's going on. I don't have to fight another battle or anything."
"Thank you, Carl, that is very much appreciated," Glacia said. "We should go find her."
"We will," Sidney said, and with that, the Elite Four split up, each going a different direction.
Alain watched them go. Zara attacked by a Pokemon? If Jacklyn did this, I swear I'll-wait, did Drake say she was attacked in one of the training rooms? The one that I was in just a few minutes ago?
He immediately turned and went back to the training room he'd been in earlier that morning. Drake said Zara was attacked by a Pokemon, so there should be some sign of a fight in here, he thought. He combed the whole room from front to back, but found nothing to indicate there had been any kind of conflict. Everything was in position and nothing has any marks on it, save the makiwara he'd been using and the punching bag she'd been training with.
Maybe she was making up stories...Maybe she's hiding more than I realize
Maybe Lysander was right about her being a threat.
No that's ridiculous. That's not the Zara I met at the start of this seminar!
...Something isn't right.
Then he mentally slapped himself
What difference does it make to you if she's lying or not! Stay focused on your goals! Stay focused on Mairin.
Besides, she said she never wanted to see you again.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
Zara stayed in her room for the rest of the afternoon. She was too ashamed of what she had said to Drake and especially to Phoebe to go back dowstairs, and to scared of being attacked again to climb up to the roof, too mixed up to think of any other options. Thus, when she had stopped crying, she started to pace her room.
Medicham stayed out of its pokeball during this time, as did Sceptile. The two Pokemon watched their trainer anxiously as she paced.
"I've been attacked by Alain," Zara said to herself for the tenth time.
"Medicham," Medicham corrected.
"Okay, fine, not him, but it was definitely his Pokemon!" Zara shouted. When Medicham flinched, she apologized, "I'm sorry Medicham, I shouldn't be shouting at you. You're not the problem here."
"Scep," Sceptile said gently, and Zara drew both her Pokemon into a hug.
When the sun was sinking over the horizon, and Medicham was starting to yawn, Zara heard a knock at her door. "Zara, its Steven. Are you in there?"
Zara walked slowly over to the door and opened it. Steven was outside, but he wasn't alone. Behind him stood all four of the Elite Four. "Hi, Steven," Zara whispered, avoiding looking at the rest of her visitors
Steven's face was stern as he studied her. "Phoebe told me about what happened earlier. Care to tell me your side of the story?"
Zara took a deep breath, then said with as much patience as she could muster, "I was attacked by a Bisharp downstairs in the training room this morning while Jacklyn and Carl were battling." Her hand slid unconsciously across the place on her chest where Bisharp had grabbed her. It still hurt, though her breathing had gone back to normal.
"Which training room?" Steven asked.
"I already told you, the one across the hall from where Drake was standing."
"Are you sure, Zara?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes, absolutely sure!"
"Don't get wound up, Zara, she's just asking," Sidney cautioned.
Zara pulled herself up to her full height and took a deep breath. "Sorry, now why were you asking?"
"Because we searched the whole room and found no signs of a fight," Steven answered.
Zara starred at him dumbly for a moment, before bursting out, "You what?"
"I said, we searched the whole room and found no signs of a fight to back up your story. Nothing was out of place, there were no scratches on the floor, all the windows were closed and locked, so none of them were forced. There is nothing to indicate that someone attacked you or anyone else Zara."
"But- but-" Zara stammered.
"No 'but's' Zara, tell us the truth. What happened to you this morning in the training room?" Steven demanded.
"But, I did tell you the truth," Zara said feebly, knowing her argument wouldn't satisfy them. "Didn't you hear me screaming?"
"No," Drake said firmly.
Phoebe shook her head reluctantly.
"Zara, I don't want to believe that you're lying to us," Steven said, "but everthing around us keeps pointing us back to that conclusion. If you could explain why it looks like this, then maybe we could clear up this problem."
Zara suddenly wanted to tell Steven everything. The truth about the Team, about her past, and Alain, and a million other things. But you can't, she thought, because once you do, you will never be able to take it back. And you left that behind you. None of it exsists, or at least none of it does to you. It's dead to you Zara. Forget about it.
Lowering her head, she mumbled, "No, I can't Steven."
"Then I'm sorry Zara, but I have no choice but to believe you're making it up. You know if you do it again I will be forced to punish you."
Zara nodded miserably.
"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Zara," Steven apologized. "Make sure you get some supper tonight," he added, the turned away and walked down the hall. Drake, Glacia, and Sidney followed him.
"I'm sorry too," Phoebe whispered when they were out of earshot, then followed them.
When they all had gone down the stairs, Zara whispered to herself, "Yeah, me too." She wasn't even sure what she was sorry about. Nothing and everything all at the same time, but that made about as much sense as rain falling up. Every part of her body ached from strain on her nerves and lack of nutrition. And now her heart ached too, knowing that the place she'd worked so hard to turn into her home for two years was being pulled out from under her by this Team in a matter of two days. She was losing her reputation and her status, but worse, she was losing Steven's trust and respect, two things she valued very highly.
When this Team is done with whatever it is their doing and decide to come after me, there may not be any of me left. Just a girl that's lost her mind and couldn't tell you her own name she so crazy.
Zara trudged down the stairs, Medicham in tow, to the cafeteria. She ate as much as she could stomach before going straight back to her room. She didn't see Alain or any of the other Team members while she was downstairs, but that didn't comfort her.
When she got back to her room, Britney was there tossing things out of her suitcase. "Where did my pajamas go?" she asked herself as Zara walked in the door, her head half buried in her suitcase.
Zara swept a couple of Britney's shirts off her bed, grabbed her own pajamas, and headed to the bathroom without a word to her roommate. Brittney didn't seem to even notice her as she walked past her and shut the bathroom door.
Once the door was shut, Zara pulled off her green shirt and tossed it on the counter, then undid the top two buttons on her red-pink button up. She turned on the hot water in the shower, hoping the heat from the water would help her relax. Nothing would calm her completely, but any sort of relief would be better than nothing.
She began to pull the Ponyta tail holders out of her hair, when the bathroom door swung open and Britney walked in. Zara jumped, and Brittney yelped. The black haired trainer clutched at her chest and said, "Sorry, I didn't see you come in here. Do you see my hair brush? I thought I left it in-" Britney stopped looking around the room and starred at Zara's chest. "What happened to you?"
"What do you mean?" Zara managed, still trying to figure out how Brittney hadn't seen her go in the bathroom.
"That bruise there, under you collarbone. How did you get it?"
Zara turned swiftly to the mirror and undid a coule more buttons on her shirt. Sure enough, there was a long bruise, about as thick as a a grown man's arm, slanted across her chest. The skin was turning an ugly greenish blue, and single thin scab ran down the length of it, along the bottom. No wonder the place where Bisharp hit me still hurts, she thought.
"Well, how did you get it?"
Zara didn't answer. I could have died from that attack. If Medicham hadn't been there, I probably would have.
"Hello, earth to Zara!"
Zara still didn't answer. I can't just sit around and wait for the next attack anymore.
"Hello?"
I'm not safe here anymore.
I know what I have to do.
I have to leave while I still can.
"Hello!"
Zara jumped when Brittney shouted. "Wow, and I thought I had problems with spacing out," Brittney said. "Now are you going to tell me how you got that bruise?"
"No, I'm not, and please don't ask me about it," Zara said curtly. She grabbed her shirt and tugged it back over her head, then pushed past Britney.
"Hey, where are you going?" Britney asked.
Zara ignored her. She grabbed her backpack off the floor and started shoving everything of hers into it as quickly as she could.
"Well, if your not going to take a shower right now, I am," Britney said, then went in the bathroom and shut the door firmly.
Zara packed her backpack as full as she could putting in every belonging she had with her in her room. When her bag was full, she reached into her pocket. Felling around, she came across her father's pitch-pipe and her mother's ring. Thankfully they didn't fall out during the attack today, she though.
Grabbing a pad of sticky notes off the desk, she scribbled a note to Steven. She knew just a note would not satisfy him, but she couldn't stay and explain it all to him. Nor did she want to.
Her preparations complete, Zara lay down in her bed and pulled the sheets up to cover her clothes. There was no point in trying to leave now. Her best course of action was to wait untill everyone had gone to bed and it was dark outside. Then she could climb out a window, down to the ground and be miles away before anyone noticed she was missing.
Britney came out of the bathroom about a half hour later. Zara did her best to pretend she was asleep. It must have worked, because Britney seemed to be trying to be quieter than usual. A few minutes later, Zara heard her lie down and pull up her cover. A while after that, her breathing evened out, and Zara knew she was asleep. The digital clock read 11:49.
Quiet as a Noctowl, she slipped off her bed and scooped up her backpack and tore her note off the pad of sticky notes. She tiptoed to the door and eased it open slowly and steadily. Britney rolled over in her sleep and Zara froze for a solid mintue before she felt safe enough to keep going. Getting caught wasn't an option now. This had to work. She eased the door open the rest of the way and slipped out, then eased it shut.
Zara padded down the deserted hallway untill she reached the Hoenn Champion's room at the front of the building. The note she had written for him was still clutched in her left hand. She raised her hand and held it against the door, but hesitated to stick it on.
You realize, her mind told her, that once you do this, you can never come back. As soon as you leave that note and leave this place, you can't return without having to tell them why you left. And you can't do that. If you leave tonight, you will never become Hoenn Champion, Steven will never be your friend again, and you can never call ask the Elite Four for help ever again. Is that really what you want?
No, she thought slowly. Then she bowed her head. But do I have a choice? Staring back up at the note through tears, she slid her index finger across the top, securing the sticky note to the door. She took a step back, then another. Goodbye Steven. Goodbye Wally. May luck be with you always. I'll miss you. She took another step backward, and heaved a big sigh. Goodbye.
Suddenly someone grabbed her from behind and shoved a cloth over her mouth. Zara tried to scream, but the sound that came out was so muffled no one could have heard it. She tried to kick her attacker butcouldn't seem to connect her feet with their legs. The smell of chloroform filled her nose and mouth, and she started to panic lashing out with her arms and legs frantically. Slowly, her attacks started getting weaker. No, no, let me go! her mind screamed. Let me go! Help someone, please!
Then everything went black.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
That was easier than I though it would be," Celosia whispered as she took the cloth away from Zara's mouth. "So easy even your Bisharp should have been able to do it, Bryony."
Bryony scowled down at her. "I'll tie her up, now that you've finished with that. Why don't you go and see what that paper she put on the Champion's door says," she whispered back.
Celosia nodded and layed Zara's limp form on the floor, then walked over Steven's door. Bryony knelt beside the girl and began to tie her arms and legs together, then released her Bisharp. "Carry her back to the room," she whispered to it. Bisharp wordlessly picked up Zara and walked steadily toward the stairs.
Celosia walked back over to her. "Well, what did it say?" Bryony asked.
"It seems that the girl knew we were after her. She just did our work for us."
"What do you mean?"
"She was telling the Champion that she's running away, and won't be coming back anytime soon. Doesn't tell him why she's leaving, just that she's going."
Bryony smiled. "You're right, She did do our work for us. We must inform Lysander."
"I'll go right now. You can finish up here?"
"Yes. I'll be there in five minutes at the most."
"Good." Celosia turned and followed Bisharp downstairs.
Bryony watched her go, then began to scan the floor for any signs of what she and Celosia had done. She picked up some of Zara's hair off the floor, as well as some fibers from the cloth Celosia had been using. She found some scratch marks on the floor where her Bishap had walked. That won't do, she thought, and pulled a can of Flare-created scratch-filler fluid out of her pocket. Very useful invention Xerosic. Thank you for sending it with us.
She leaned over and began to spray the scratches.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
Alain woke up with a start. He'd been dreaming, he knew he had, but it had felt so real. Mairin and the Professor and Zara, all three of them, had been so close to falling into that pit, and he couldn't do anything to stop them. Alain shuddered and shook his head vigorously. He glanced at his clock. It read 11:55.
Getting up, he went to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. That woke him up, but the image of the three people he cared about falling to who knew where still lingered in his mind. He knew that he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep anytime soon.
So get up and go do something to get your mind off of this. Go and train.
Alain dressed and grabbed his pokeballs off the desk. Taking care not to wake Gordon, though Alain wasn't sure if a hurricane would have woken him up, he slipped out into the hallway and shut the door behind him.
He turned and walked toward the nearest staircase, when out of the counter of his eye he spotted movement. Looking up, Bryony came into his field of vision. What is she doing up at this hour?
"Hey!" he called out, loud enough for her to hear him, but not loud enough to disturb anyone who was sleeping.
Bryony's head jerked up, and she looked around swiftly. When she spotted Alain, she straightened to her full height, and slid her left hand behind her back.
Alain walked over to her. "What are you doing?"
"I could be asking you the same question, but if you must know, I'm looking for something."
"At midnight?"
Well, what are you doing up at midnight?" Then she shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I should go back to bed. You should too." She started down the hall at a brisk pace.
Alain was about to let her odd behavior go, when something occurred to him. "Isn't your room the other way?" he asked, pointing back down the hall the way he'd come.
Bryony froze. "Uh, ah," she stammered. "It is, but I- I mean, I was- I guess I'm just tired. Goodnight." She walked briskly back past Alain and down the hall without another word to him.
Alain watched her go, confused. What just happened?
Forget it, it doesn't matter. Lysander said not to bother them with their research. Just go train.
He turned and went back to the stairs. Something was still nagging him at the back of his mind, but he ignored it.
Forget it. It isn't important.
XXXXXXXXXXX
So, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for all the reviews I've been getting. I really, really appreciate each and every one.
But, please review this chapter too!
Oh, one more thing. The poll about Alain's age that I mentioned earlier in this story has been taken down. It seemed that most of you think that Alain is either 16, 17, or 18. In this story, I'm going with 18.