Me: It's here! IT'S HERE!

Shard: Very intense confrontation chapter! Oh, what should we name it?!

Me: CHAPTER 20!

Shard: Oh come on. -.-

Me: xD That'd be funny. No, I named it The Truth, because the truth comes out. YESH.

Thunder: Huh? The truth? About what? What're you guys talking about?

Shard: You'll see. *Stares at a picture of Ruby* I HATE YOU!

Thunder: *Somehow doesn't hear Shard's hateful words* Aw, it's my precious lion cub :3

Shard: BLARG! *Seizure*

Me: If I think about it, it's hard for me to believe I held this off for SO LONG! I mean, 20 chapters, really? :P

Shard: BOEUREIWUREWIOJFEWI YA THINK?! FHEIOWUREIOWUROEWI

Me: *Heals Shard with strange potion thingy*

Shard: Thanks. :/

Me: THUNDER AND SHARD YOU SHALL GET TOGETHER SOON AS EVERYONE HAS BEEN DYING FOR!

Shard: Really?

Me: We'll see. :D

Star: *Jumps in* SHARUNDER SHARUNDER SHARUNDER!

Thunder: Huh? Sharunder… is that a shipping name?

Me: Yeppers! Can you guess who it's for…?

Thunder: Hmm… -runder must be from Thunder, and Sha- must be from…

Shard: ouo

Thunder: SHADOW?!

Me: NO! *Facepaw*

Shard: .n. Ugh…

Thunder's POV

"Why didn't you check yet?!" Fang barked angrily. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore his furious gaze. I was tired of answering questions.

"I haven't seen Ruby lately, and I've never gotten the time to head over to her clan yet," I sighed. That was the third time he made me repeat that.

That just got Fang even more mad somehow. "No time?! Can't you see that you and Shard are made for each other?"

I groaned, hating his onslaught of outrageous questions. "Why do you keep saying that? How do you know if Ruby being evil isn't just a jealous rumor, and what makes you think that Shard and I made for each other?!" My voice was steadily rising. I wanted to think about other things, but it was hard when a pestering poochyena kept yapping in your ear.

Unfortunately he didn't quiet down at all, stubbornly scolding me like I was a child. Fang was acting very unlike himself; he usually was carefree, but at the moment he acting very serious, and that rarely happened. I tried to ignore his angry voice though and started to think about yesterday, when Shard revealed that she hated to battle because she thought she killed her parents.

It wasn't her. It was those beasts who did it. Whatever they were, they were diabolical, and Shard wasn't responsible for her parents' deaths. The most perplexing thing about it was that I dreamed about the event. The image was a bit fuzzy in my mind but I remembered the main points. There was an eevee in a flower field, Shard as a cub, and then catlike beasts came out of the forest, so she ran back to her den. She told her parents about the monsters and they told her to stay back while they fought. Shard disobeyed and attacked, but she was just trying to be helpful. If it wasn't for those horrible and murderous Pokémon, none of that would've even happened. It wasn't her fault.

"Are you listening to me Thunder?" Fang snapped. I groaned and continued to ignore him, instead going back to thinking about that strange dream. How did I dream about that tragic event without knowing about it in reality? It made no sense. None of it made sense.

After the minutes agonizingly crawled by, Forest Grotto came into sight. Fang and I had decided to head over to the dojo, but along the way Fang had to bring Ruby up. He kept repeating Ruby was no good based off what he heard from his zorua friend. He even told me of some bad things that Ruby did, like attacking in vain, and even threatening to kill Pokémon, but I felt as if he was exaggerating. I kept trying to zone his angry cries out as I advanced towards the Pokémon facilities. As we padded closer, Fang's cries increased in volume. He was trying to use a last attempt of getting me to listen to him before he couldn't scream at me by the dojo.

Shard's POV

Lily and I padded out of Ivysaur's Berries, different hues of fresh fruit in a basket hanging from my maw. Lily clapped her fluffy gray paws together and grinned widely. "Great! I'm fully stocked on berries, and we just need to get these back to my tree," she beamed, and as always her accent was thick. The scent of berries was strong, making it difficult to keep my mouth from watering. There were a lot of Sitrus berries in there… "Thanks for the help Shard!"

"Nnno pwobwum," I replied, muffled by the basket's handle. The cheerful minccino started to lightly skip out of Forest Grotto, heading towards an exit pass the fountain. I wanted to protest to her that I wasn't her servant, but I was glad to help, so I rather gave a tired smile and padded after my friend.

On the right side of the path was the new facility; the dojo. It was made out of sedimentary rock, the material a mix of gray and light blue, and it formed large and ragged walls in the shape of a cave. Pokémon filed into the building, the line so long that it trailed out of the dojo. Several of the Pokémon were anxious and impatient, and I saw one get so frustrated that he stepped out of line. On top of the den was a heap of more rock. It was shaped to show the rough and sharp features of a tyranitar's head. The deadly eyes of the metal dinosaur were almost realistic, showing off that the crafters did a magnificent job.

Lily and I walked right passed it. We had no time to stop and hang out at the new building, and even if we could spare some time, it'd take hours to be let in. As Lily and I neared the end of the dirt path I felt as if something was wrong. My instincts were wavering, telling me that something bad was going to happen. Ahead of me, Lily continued to skip forward, humming some sort of tune. I glanced over my shoulder, only to see the Pokémon crowding around the dojo. I cocked my head on the side, undoubtedly confused. My instincts were never wrong before.

Reluctantly and cautiously I padded after my minccino friend. As I took a few more steps, I heard a rustling sound, causing my head to whirl around in its direction. A cluster of bushes not that far were shifting abnormally, but then they went still. I paused in my walk, stunned. I waited for the person to walk out of the shrubs, my ears flicked back in fear, but no one came out.

"Shard, what's wrong?" I heard Lily ask. I glanced at her with shaky purple eyes for a millisecond only for my eyes to lock on the bushes again.

Slowly I put the basket of berries down and hesitated to speak. "Someone is spying on us," I whimpered.

After I stood there for a moment, as still as stone, I felt a paw touch my shoulder. I sharply turned my head to see Lily, the basket of berries in one paw, and on my shoulder was her second one. "You should check it out, and I'll watch you from here. I bet it's nothing, darlin'." I sighed, than nodded my head in an uneager way.

I hesitated again, but I forced myself to speak. "I'll be right back." Before I stepped forward, I took a glance around my surroundings. Fortunately, no one was staring at us yet, but if I just stood there with a frightened expression than I was bound to draw attention. I forced a dark blue furred paw forward, followed by another one, trying not to let my imagination worry me.

It was torture walking to the bushes. I was anxious and frightened on what lied behind the twigs and leaves, and because the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, I couldn't sniff its scent. It would be able to catch my scent though. The stranger knew exactly who I was. I tried to cloud up my overactive thoughts by counting my paw steps, two, three, four, five… My tail was twitching nervously and my ears had lowered. As I grew close to the bushes, I could hear steady breathing from behind the shrubbery. Whoever it was, it was not trying to completely conceal itself in the vegetation. I took a last step forward before I stopped a foot away.

When I was about to look over my shoulder at Lily, to see if she was still there, something sharp dug into my right forearm. I would've choked out a scream if it wasn't for the midnight paw that was shoved against my muzzle. The pain in my shoulder was excruciating, and my vision blurred in and out of focus. My legs trembled. Shakily I glanced at the claws that dug into my shoulder, seeing that they were deep in my skin, and a dark red liquid started to leak out. I blinked slowly, unsure of what was happening. The black paw that owned the crooked claws was pulled back into the shrubbery, meaning I was dragged in with it. The yanked feeling caused my legs to collapse from underneath.

I was on my back in the middle of the bushes. The nerves in my shoulder must've been destroyed because the pain was numbed. I forced my purple eyes to stay open, despite the sudden drowsiness that I was feeling, and wearily glanced up. A black paw with unsheathed claws crossed my sight, and I saw it was caked with fresh blood. A disoriented feeling struck me. It was my blood. The dark red-stained paw retracted back to its owner, and I struggled to land my gaze on the Pokémon. I tilted my head in its direction only to see a Pokémon twice my size. Her smudgy black mane was filled with volts of electricity and piercing yellow eyes glaring down.

"R-Ruby…" I rasped. I wanted to say something more than that, but I could barely talk. I felt something leak from my shoulder and it trailed down my right forearm, something warm and sticky. It made my vision alter and blur for a couple seconds before I could regain focus.

The paw that wasn't stained with blood shot down and grasped around my neck. She shoved me down into the fertile soil, and a choking sound escaped my throat as the struggle to breathe settled in. Her black fur fluffed up, to make her appear twice as large, intimidating, and deadly. I caught sight of her tail lashing around with rage, the star-shaped end starting to look like a killer weapon. Panic-stricken thoughts were corrupting my mind, making me wonder if she was about to murder me. Her yellow eyes were cold with the only emotion visible in them pure rage. She bent down till our muzzles nearly touched. By then I was shivering uncontrollably, consumed with fear, thinking on how I was about to die. Her lips slowly curved back to reveal her yellow daggered fangs and exposed her horrendous breath. She leaned a bit more down till her nose was shoved against mine, her breath intoxicating, and my vision started to lose focus again.

"You runt!" she roared. Her grip tightened around my throat, a high-pitched yelp being choked out of me. I felt as if she would be able to crush my neck and heart gem with one mere squeeze. "I've seen you hanging out with Thunder, and as you see, I am angry! I won't let you anymore because he's in a relationship with me, not you! If I find out you've been hanging with him pass this point, I swear I will hurt you so much that even Mew will take pity!"

My thoughts were slowly returning to me. Ruby had moved around in the bushes so I would've investigated. Lily wasn't the fighting type so she'd search for help, giving Ruby enough time. And now she was forcing me to not hang out with Thunder, my first crush, and one of my great friends. If I denied Ruby's wish, she would slit my throat right there. Or she would zap me with so much power that my heart would stop. Either way, in the bushes, no one would witness the murder that'd happen if I defied her. She had her devious plan coordinated to every last moment. I watched her ferocious mane cackle with electricity, spreading down to the paw around my neck, jolts chipping away my energy.

It was either never hang out with Thunder again, or die. I weakly stared up at the luxray, her muzzle still shoved against mine, her breath making it close to impossible to breathe. I opened my muzzle to speak, to say I wouldn't listen to her, but her grip tightened when I formed the word with my muzzle. Another choking sound was forced out of me. "What was that?" she hissed. Her eyes seemed to grow more menacing, if that was even possible. I started to tremble more and tears stung my eyes.

I didn't want to die. I didn't want to stay away from Thunder. I had to choose which was more important; Thunder or my life. Others would go for their life instead of their crush, but, if I kept seeing Thunder with Ruby, my life would be terrible. My life was the same bland thing every day before he came to Sugarcane. He was already a best friend, and if I lost him, I didn't know how much more torture I could take. Seeing the Pokémon you loved, dating another girl, was heart wrenching. I would not carry on my life in Sugarcane if I was stuck seeing the one I hated with the one I loved. I shook my head in defiance at Ruby. The fearsome smile she had vanished, and instead she exhibited her baffled frown.

"You asked for it…" she growled. The electricity in her mane coursed around with rage. She moved her head away and brought up her other forepaw, the one caked with fresh blood. She was preparing to throw the paw down, to slice her sharp claws into my neck. I instantly had regretted my decision. She really was going to kill me! I shut my eyes tight and tried to curl up into a ball, bracing for the sudden pain.

"Ruby, stop!"

The voice made my eyes slightly open. The luxray fortunately listened to the all-too familiar voice, her head sharply turning away from me. The gruesome emotion in her eyes was covered over with fear. Ruby was scared. She never was scared. I didn't pay attention to the new voice though, instead staring up at her tensed paw, the one that was prepared to shoot down and take my life but it was stalled from that voice. Her claws dripped some of the blood from my shoulder onto my fur and gem, the sight making me feel lightheaded. My thoughts trailed back to my injured shoulder and how bad it was. If I didn't get something to help heal it soon, I was done for.

Ruby scurried off of me, her paw unclenching my throat, freeing me from the death pin. I didn't bother to move though, unsure of what was happening. Why'd she get off?

A heard a conversation going on, but I couldn't make out the words. My vision and hearing was messed up. Shakily I tried to roll over onto my paws, but once I put pressure down on my right forearm, pain shot up and down that side of my body. I collapsed onto the compacted soil where I was once pinned. My shoulder throbbed with unspeakable agony, so I lied there for a moment, trying to recover my breath in ragged gasps. The inaudible words from the conversation stopped for a moment. I glanced shakily up to see Ruby staring at me, her eyes still filled with hatred and fear. From her stare, I thought that maybe I screamed out in pain. I tried to get up again, accidently putting more pressure on the wound, making me fall back to the ground. My ears picked up what sounded like a hurt-filled grunt.

I forced a third attempt, this time leaning on my left side to prevent any more pressure on the shoulder. The conversation started up again, and I was able to detect anger in one of the voices. I limped out of the shrubs, trying to ignore the evil luxray, trying to forget that voice that intervened; I just wanted to get out of there. As I shoved myself through the brambles, a few twigs smacked against my wound. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't resist the pain. I staggered out of the bushes and collapsed, gripping my bloody shoulder with a paw, uncontrollably shivering. Something warm was trailing down my face. I was crying, but I didn't care. I just needed the pain to go away!

Soon I realized I was on my back again, staring up at the treetops. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down, trying to ignore the fact that I had a life-threatening wound still drooling with blood. Instead I decided to think about Ruby and the voice again, even though I was attempting to ignore it just moments ago. Then I saw two heads cross my vision. One was that familiar light gray face of a minccino. The other one, not as familiar, yet I recognized him as a poochyena. Lily bent down and whispered in my ear. "I found help," she informed. My gaze trailed to Fang's eyes, seeing that they were coated in concern. He was staring at my right shoulder.

My ears were picking up sounds again, getting stronger. I flicked them around, trying to pick up the sound of the conversation, wanting to recall who had yelled at Ruby to stop. "…I mean, look what you did to her!"

"I did nothing!" Her voice was pleading. "I was trying to help her! She was attacked… b-by a rabid patrat-"

"I won't fall for your lies this time! I should've listened to Fang earlier, or this would've never happened!" I finally figured out who the voice was. Thunder. I tried to get up, but Lily kept keeping me down to make me rest. I refused to stay down, pushed out of her weak grip, and got on my trembling paws. Then I slowly moved my head around find the two arguing Pokémon. I quickly located the cluster of bushes a few feet away, and near that was the luxray and jolteon. Thunder's face had a mix of several emotions, but the most visible one was anger. Ruby only displayed fear. She had been caught.

Thunder's angered stare locked on me, than it shifted to worry. He dashed over to my left side, dropping Ruby from his mind for the moment, and then he asked me to lean on him for support. I obliged, letting myself fall on his comforting fur, my eyesight still wavered and my whole body weak. I glanced at Ruby. She still looked scared, but also infuriated.

"Shard, don't worry, I'm here now," Thunder assured. He was trying to keep me as calm as possible.

"I'm telling the truth!" Ruby insisted. She was fuming. "It wasn't me!"

"Then tell me why there's blood on your claws!" he demanded. His voice was starting to rise again. Ruby lifted her bloodied paw, stared at it, and started to shake fearfully. She couldn't explain that, or at least she couldn't come up with a lie on the spot. That caused Thunder to growl. "That's it Ruby! I don't want to see you ever again! If I ever see you around either me or Shard, you'll never hear the end of it!"

During the argument a crowd had gathered around us. Pokémon who were in Forest Grotto were watching, and most of them were astonished. I barely recognized a few of them as Pokémon who were waiting in the dojo line. The Pokémon were worriedly murmuring. Ruby was mortified. She looked as if she was a cub, and her most precious item was taken from her.

Not only was Thunder breaking up with Ruby, but he knew the truth and despised her for it. "No!" she hissed. "You can't do this! I can only break up with you! You can't do it with me!"

The jolteon shrugged. "Well, I just did." Thunder's voice held no sympathy for Ruby; she got what she'd been waiting for. The chatter in the crowd grew louder. Several of the Pokémon glared at Ruby, scowling, disgusted, and some not ready to believe the truth. Ruby stared at the Pokémon around her. By the end of the day, those Pokémon would've spread what they saw so much that everyone would know the truth about Ruby. Despite how much pain I was going through, a tinge of happiness bloomed inside me. Finally, the torture would end, and Ruby received what she deserved.

Thunder looked prepared for a battle. I could feel how tensed he was beside me, ready to lunge at her if needed. Ruby however was too frightened to do anything. Her popularity, the greatest thing she had, was being taken away from her. If she battled Thunder, the others would hate her even more. Her ears flattened against her head; an unbelievable sight for me. Never had I thought I'd see the day that she was both terrified and hated. She slowly backed up against the bushes. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

She bolted away. Ruby fled, rudely pushing a few Pokémon to get out of the circle. The Pokémon's eyes trailed her as she ran, all of them disgusted and some unbelieving. When she was out of sight, the crowd remained there for a second, glancing at me and Thunder, but then they dispersed. Some of them were running, needing to go tell everyone they knew about what they saw. Soon the only ones left in that area was me, Thunder, Fang, and Lily.

I looked at Thunder. He was looking back at me, the most apologetic and sorry emotions in his dark blue eyes. "Shard, I'm so sorry I didn't find out sooner," he whimpered. He sincerely looked depressed.

"I-It's okay," I stammered in response. The majority of Sugarcane didn't know about the true side of Ruby, so I didn't expect him to know for the longest time.

"Why didn't you tell me about her?" He obviously cared, really wanting an answer on why I kept the truth a secret.

There were several reasons, but I only said one. "She threatened me, and… I, I was too scared to tell you. Ruby somehow always knows what I do, so somehow she'd find out if I did told you the truth earlier." My voice was sad. I was regretful for not pushing through my terror and not telling Thunder. If I did, I could've spared the shoulder injury. Thunder's eyes locked on my right shoulder, and his frown deepened.

"Let's get you to my den. It's closer than yours and you need to rest," he stated.

The gesture was too nice to turn down. "Okay, let's go." Thunder slowly walked in the northern direction, towards his den, and we walked with our pelts together. I was still leaning on him, and to keep himself from falling over Thunder leaned back. If the pain in my shoulder wasn't so great, I knew my face would be red.

I glanced over my shoulder at Lily and Fang. Lily was exclaiming how happy she was that Thunder found out the truth. She was so excited that she held up a paw for Fang to high-paw. When he did, her eyes went wide, and then she mumbled something about dirt and dusted her paw with her broom-like tail. Fang laughed. They weren't coming after us, so they could leave me alone with Thunder. It wasn't that they didn't care but it was because they wanted us together. Thunder no longer was dating Ruby. He hated her for everything she had done, and he would never give her another chance.

It was possible that he could've started to like me. Hopefully.

YESH IN YOUR FACE RUBY HAHAHA! She has not only been broken up with, but now everyone knows the truth! KARMA STINGS DOESN'T IT?! X3 I got this chapter up REALLY quick because I was super excited! So yeah, Shard is that much closer to Thunder! SO MUCH AWESOMENESS! I've dragged it on too long I think! I'm actually going to try and get up another chapter up this month, because I got three chapters up and only half of December went by! Well yeah, definitely another chapter this month, and maybe more than one! We'll see, and it depends on my inspiration and amount of free time I have! Also let me know your thoughts on this. I want to know how much you all DESPISE Ruby! Thanks for reading! :D

Shard: *Screaming 'yes' over and over in the background*