Alright, so here's Chapter 25! Since it's summer, I have a lot more time to get chapters out so hopefully I'll get a bunch of the story done before school starts up again.

I'm also going to start responding to every reviewer I can, thanking them and asking for help. I've already messaged some of you. Check your inboxes and hit me back up! :D

And more one thing, if you have anything you'd like to say about the story, like it's boring, or you like it, or it's bad...anything...just click the button at the bottom and send a word or two in a review! That stats page says I have WAY more visitors than reviews, so if you even click on this page, review it! Say it's stupid and boring or something!

This chapter didn't take too long to do since I knew where I wanted to go with it and had a lot of time on my hands. Chapter 26 should be out pretty soon as well. Part 1's about to end and Part 2's going to begin, and let me just say, I've been spending most of my time thinking about Part 2 and what happens in it! And who knows what might even happen after Part 2? ;-)

-I've added more to the conclusion to this chapter. It will provide a better lead-in into Chapter 26, which I have started working on right now.

-I've reuploaded an edited version. The previous version was rife with errors and repeating words, along with horrible wording. I hope that didn't turn off some people _.

Now's the moment to talk about an issue I have I guess... Anyone know when a good time to edit would be? I tend to write these chapters, glance over them, change a few things, and then upload them. I just spent the last few hours reading and editing it. I couldn't believe how many errors there were. It annoys me that this happens and it simply kills me that the previous chapters are full of them. Perhaps that's why there's so few reviews for Pokemon 0. I dunno.

And as far as the low review count goes, I wouldn't mind more but reviews aren't really my driving force for completing it. I know that this story is too far from the norm on . I know what the norm for is, and it was what made me not visit the site for years.

Or perhaps the story is just bad. I can't tell :/.

Anyway, try and enjoy! Read! Review!

"I'm still not convinced that you can stop Murr from getting to you. We think he has absorbed that Pokémon 0 from the attack on the Trainer Graveyard, south of Johto."

[Let me correct you. He has absorbed it.]

"So you think you could've stood up to that Pokémon 0 back then? The one that could've easily glassed Indigo Plateau, and then probably Ever Grande City, and then probably everything else if it wanted to?"

[Yes. Yes I know I could. You are confusing Murr's power with that Pokémon 0's power and you keep trying to overrate how strong Murr is now. The Pokémon 0 back then could only kill. Somewhere in its head, or even less likely, its heart, it probably wanted to do more with its short life like explore the world since it could fly, and perhaps even find someone or something to love. But for all intents and purposes, it was a simple being. An animal. A giant animal that was an abomination of a Legendary and of nature.

[Murr is a rational being. Murr wants revenge and Murr has the means of enacting it. Murr is classified as a Pokémon 0 as well. Murr is not an animal. You do-]

"I'm not even trying to say they're the same! I'm saying that Murr is using the thing and will probably come after you! Now, I came here for your help, but I'll go on and tell you that I'm here to possibly try to help you. Probably get you out of here because you're just a sitting duck in a cave. If Murr gets any Legendaries, his power will increase off the charts. Exponentially. Now because you're so goddamn high and fucking mighty, you count as a Legendary. He gets you, it might be all over for us! And if you want to be a stuck up, mushroom eating bitch about it, you might have to kill me here and now because I'm not going to have your dumbass risk the lives of my friends and family and everyone else in the four regions just because you think humans are worthless and Murr doesn't care about you! Either you come with me, I catch you, or you die here. Make your choice because I'm not afraid of you. I feel like that Pokémon 0 back then could've torn you to pieces."

[Well human, make your peace, for I will not spare any mercy I have. You have become a nuisance, disturbing my rest in my abode.]

And then the most ironic thing happened. Me and Mewtwo were going at it, and then a ton of Steelix bust through the cave floor, going straight after Mewtwo. He tore a few of them in half, and actually tried to throw their pieces at me.

I knew why the Steelix came. I hauled myself out of there. And then, of all the people and Pokémon I could've ran into in the cave, I ran into Murr just standing there waiting for Mewtwo to come this way for me. I had never seen him up close, only in pictures, but light was being reflected off of a nearby river, light from cracks above. And yes, he didn't have his bandages on. I think he was in the middle of transformation, because everything looked like him from old photos, except his mouth. He grew lips and his teeth were contorted from the changing. He was one ugly, sinister looking motherfucker. He was like a vampire that could probably open his entire jaw.

"You can run," he said. "I'm not here for you. I'm here for my child and it seems he's throwing a tantrum."

And with that, I ran and I didn't look back. I'm not ashamed of my choice either. Handling Mewtwo alone was enough. I wasn't about to fight both at the same time, or possibly Murr with Mewtwo's strength added on.

...

Mewtwo (part 6/6)

Chapter XXV: Zero

After leaving the Pokémon Center, Rob and I went back into the busy streets of Ecruteak and bought some cheap tacos since Rob wanted to be meager. We figured we could chill before going to the Gym, so we posted up against a wall, ate, and watched a parade go by. The parade was giving homage to Legendaries. A troupe of ballet dancers leapt and stepped lightly down the street dressed in three different costumes. The ones in the light blue, shining leotards represented Articuno, the ones in yellow with the black feathers under the arms represented Zapdos, and the ones in orange with long strips of red and yellow paper flowing from a hat represented Moltres.

Then ten men came by hoisting a black model of the serpentine Rayquaza with mist coming out of its gaping mouth. They were followed by other men carrying models of Groudon and Kyogre.

Ecruteak was celebrating the Autumnal Equinox. Only Ecruteak did something since it wasn't a national holiday. All I knew was that the day was about spirits passing back and forth through planes of existences. Ecruteak went all out with its parades and tourism for the holiday for some reason. I knew it was religious, but it didn't get kids excused absences.

So Rob led me to the Ecruteak gym. The shops and buildings gradually became small houses spread apart by gnarled trees and empty yards. Then everything became slightly freaky when I noticed we were the only signs of life outside. The wind seemed to whistle louder as the night grew darker and more ominous.

"Usually there'd be ghosts here," Rob said, "but they're all around the tourists. Ghosts are attracted to other ghosts and lots of life."

Everyone grows up wondering if ghosts of people exist since Ghost Pokémon exist. Though Ghost Pokémon were scary enough by themselves, the thought of a human's ghost scared a lot more people, frightened enough to religiously give reverence to dead people.

"Rob, do you believe in ghosts? Like when a person dies?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "I haven't seen any but if Pokémon can become ghosts, I always guessed people could too. Probably in the same way Pokémon turn to ghosts."

Some of my favorite times with Rob were when he was teaching me stuff. "How do dead Pokémon turn to ghosts?"

To my surprise, he didn't respond immediately. He furrowed his brow in thought, and then finally spoke. "The leader can tell you. He can explain it better than me since he is a Ghost Pokémon master."

Rob didn't have any Ghost Pokémon as far as I knew. "If he's a Ghost Pokémon master, why are you his apprentice when you have other types of Pokémon?"

"Everyone asks me that," Rob pointed out. "He still has to raise and train his ghosts. You train different types of Pokémon in different ways but before you can start doing different things, you gotta get the fundamentals down. All trainers start from the fundamentals, and then go from there."

I got the feeling he understated something. "Just the fundamentals?"

Rob nodded. "Yeah, like learning to trust your Pokémon and teaching them to trust you. Stuff like that."

Wow, if that's a fundamental lesson then I'm probably better off than I imagined, I thought. But then I realized June's condition contradicted that completely.

Then Rob's tone changed from conversational to quiet, serious, and self-reflective. "I think I'm talking too much about him. I promised myself that I wouldn't influence you in any way about joining Team Zero."

"It's cool," I assured. Learning from a master sounded very nice, but selling myself to a whole group didn't bode with me. I was fine with Team Zero, but I never had interest in joining them. I wanted them to achieve their goal to end the Amber Act, but I didn't want to be part of them. It was like supporting a country and not wanting to join its army. I think I didn't want to get in trouble or get hurt.

"So back in Goldenrod, Nina told me she told you about her dad," Rob said. "You can put two and two together, in case you forgot it when she told you."

I didn't forget. Due to the logic, if Rob's master was the leader of Team Zero and the gym leader of the Ecruteak gym, and Nina's dad was the gym leader of the same gym, then that meant…

I needed to be sure. "She's the leader's daughter?"

"Yep," Rob he said. "Not biological though. I don't think he ever had kids."

Nina was right on the field with other Team Zero members, so I guessed Team Zero's leader didn't cut his own family slack.

"She might not look it, but Nina's a pretty powerful person," Rob admired quietly. "She's strong, smart, takes care of herself, and looks after a bunch of younger members. She handles her Pokémon in a very awesome way too, like graceful or somethin'."

The only two Pokémon I ever saw with Nina were a Honchkrow in her apartment in Goldenrod and the Beldum that danced around Alice. "What other Pokémon does she have? I didn't even think she was a trainer."

Two Kriketune in a tree chirped in rhythm of each other. When I searched around to find where they were, I ended up gazing at the stars. The Ecruteak lights were gone, so I could see the Ursaring Constellation. Its nose was the brightest star, and was said to lead anyone back home.

"Nina's not a Trainer," Rob said. "She focuses too much on school. But she does have a ton of Beldum she does all sorts of crazy things with. She can have them fuse together to make a bunch of Metagross or have all the Metagross to fuse to make something crazy like a spaceship or a cannon."

He curled his brow in thought. "Well, not a spaceship, but she can make cannons."

"Wow, I'll have to see it to believe it," I said. Nina having Pokémon like that would've gotten her some badges easily. And I wanted to see how her Pokémon could do something that cool.

A few more minutes passed and we had finally reached the gym, which was just another dome shaped building though it didn't have a pristine look, making it more similar to Jim's and Chloe's. Three young boys were outside the door playing hacky sack.

One of the kids, a bald boy with a shiny large head with dimples, saw Rob and tossed the small sack over his shoulder. He and the others came up to us.

The ball, however, stayed in place in the air for a few seconds, and then dropped. It floated back into the air and dropped again. Rob and the kids didn't even notice it as they greeted each other. I was wondering if my mind was gone and lost watching it.

Reality returned. I took out my PokéDex and held it out in front of the sack, which was being thrown against the wall of the gym and sliding down the rounded side. A small purple cloud-like being with a large head with wavy wisps of purple and pink hair appeared on the screen.

"Misdreavus. It frightens people with a creepy, sobbing cry or by appearing suddenly. The Pokémon apparently uses its red spheres to absorb the fearful feelings of foes and turn them into nutrition."

When I looked up from my PokéDex, two large red and yellow eyes were inches from mine, staring. I jumped back from the shock, nearly tripping over myself. The bald kid grabbed my arm to keep me from falling down, laughing with his friends.

"Hee hee, don't be scared! He just foolin'," he said with a drawl. "Look'it."

The Misdreavus made an eerie chirp as he giggled, or at least what I figured was giggling. He seemed to take scaring me funny. The red orbs around its wide neck blinked faintly until he stopped laughing. Then he floated straight to the sack, picked it up with his mouth and twirled it.

"I gave it to him, Rob," one of the boys said, a tall, lanky and pasty one with a large overbite. His greasy brown hair grew over his eyes. "All he does is have it scaring everybody. He even tried scaring Zero with it but Zero got him back good."

"Yeah, Young Johnny got scared out of his pants," the third boy said, a rotund one with a double chin and glasses. He spoke with a sort of lisp. "Zero ended up having his Dusknoir lurk around Johnny for a whole day but nobody could see it. Matt said he saw him but he's lying."

Young Johnny dropped his good humor and shook a fist at the fat kid. "He didn't scare me! I could see the Dusknoir. Richie, you're lying! Don't believe him Rob! Don't believe Matt either! Herbie and I don't go around scaring people."

Rob chuckled calmly at them. "Ehh, well whatever happened, we just know that Herbie seems to like to have fun. And you know what? That's okay cause ghosts like to have fun in general, right?"

All three nodded. "Yeah!"

"Good," Rob said. "Now no more calling each other liars and stop pulling pranks if you do them already, and if you haven't started, don't. Now me and my friend here gotta go inside. We still have the normal password schedule going?"

"Yup," Matt said, moving some of the hair away from one light green eye to look up at Rob. "No emergencies or anything."

"Good," Rob said again. "Well don't stay out here too long. Curfew's close. Now if you'll excuse me and my friend here…"

The three boys watched me as we entered the gym, probably wondering who I was and why I was with Rob.

Inside, everything looked liked what I had pictured a Ghost Pokémon Gym to be like minus a random graveyard somewhere inside. Somehow with metallic torches sticking from the ground, the lamps managed to illuminate the entire sandy floor with orange flames while keeping the ceiling pitch dark. Looking up made me feel like I stepped into a zone in the center of twilight itself.

White chalk outlined several paths that lead to different directions, and I couldn't see where they went because of all the shadows around. The effect made no sense to me. It was like a dim spotlight was above me following me around. I stuck close to Rob who was fine with his surroundings.

Strangely enough, there were no sounds of trainers battling their Pokémon, roars, or ghastly cackles. We'd run into a group of trainers chatting with each other, but no one was training. Some had their Pokémon out, ranging from a small purple haze that I recognized as a Ghastly and more Misdreavus.

"Down here," Rob said. We were in front of a Pokémon Arena dug into the ground, like the one in the Violet City's Gym. The bleachers were made of wood instead of concrete and torches were in the center of every few steps down.

When Rob got down to the end, he hopped off the bleachers and went to the center of the arena. I had to let myself hang off since the arena was too deep and I didn't see any stairs to it. I dropped down and went over to Rob. He was staring at the ground.

He used his boot to kick some sand aside. And then again. A dark, metallic, surface revealed itself underneath.

"Now what was the password again? For emergency lockdown?" He asked himself.

"Inez?" He asked aloud. Nothing happened. Two teenagers, a guy and a girl, walked along the bleachers together, holding hands. Where was the Gym Leader? I wondered.

"Eliaphe? Narzel? Tiamenon?"

The sand began to move. Rob had said the magic word. Two large slabs of metal lifted at an incline. A door. It opened slowly by some unknown force, sand sliding off the slabs. I figured it was a very expensive voice recognition system or a Ghost Pokémon. Chances were the latter.

The metal doors revealed a wide staircase leading down to a fluorescent lit hallway, lined with strips of flower-patterned wallpaper that hid the rocky underground walls.

"Is this Team Zero's base?" I asked. As secretive as Team Zero made itself out to be, I never figured the entrance would be so sketch and cheap.

"Not quite, but it leads to it," Rob said, going down inside. "Let's go."

I followed him inside and the doors started to close themselves behind us. The hinges made a loud creaking, screeching sound, sand dripping from the cracks. Then there was a sound of a bolt fastening.

"One or two of Zero's Pokémon manage the trap door," Rob said. "You gotta get their name right so they'll let you in."

I turned around again, not seeing any trace of a Pokémon. How could fight something you couldn't see? Getting the fourth badge was more and more unlikely. Catching a ghost Pokémon was incomprehensible.

"How can you even catch Ghost Pokémon?" I asked, following Rob down the narrow chamber. Dangling light bulbs lit up segments of the hall. I swore I could see the end of it. But then I saw it was a sharp turn maybe leading down another underground hall. I didn't get why someone bothered putting cheap wallpaper up. The pattern of tiny gold bouquets messed with my judgment of distance. The hall could've went on forever.

"You catch them like you catch any other Pokémon," Rob answered. "You weaken them and you throw a ball at them."

"But they're ghosts though," I said. "The ball would fly right through them wouldn't it?"

"That's why you weaken them like I said," he explained. "Ask Zero about it since he'll give you a better answer, but it has to do with the material Poké Balls have in them. They gotta concentrate on letting a Poké Ball pass through them. And even when you distract them and actually get them inside a ball, they can still bust out if they're strong enough."

From what Gavin lectured about Domini Stones in Goldenrod, it sounded rational. I kept my other questions to myself. I didn't want to bug Rob too much.

The hallway took a bend, and then another. After a surprising ten minutes of walking in a line, I heard many voices echo from up ahead. Some actually sung along with acoustic guitars, laughing.

"Sounds almost too fun," Rob observed.

We stepped out of the hallway and into a square, concrete chamber lined with many stairs and doors. The room was almost the size of a normal Pokémon Gym, filled with kids, teenagers, and young adults mingling, dancing, drinking, and having all sorts of fun like a family barbeque. Some wore the distinct black hoodie with the hood down. Others looked like ordinary people. An acoustic guitar was in the air, played by an invisible musician. Rob had to drag me away since I was frozen in awe for too long.

He lead me to the stairs, people were greeting him from all around.

"You're gonna stay now or what?"

"Where in the world have you been? I heard you made some of the Syndicate even madder at us than they were already."

"Tryin' to work out after the big day?"

Rob was pretty popular with everyone, except for some of the younger ones who wondered why everyone treated him special. He managed to respond to everyone addressing him, all with a genuine smile impressively.

We reached the stairs. When we climbed them halfway, Rob put two fingers in his mouth and let out a harsh whistle, a talent I can't do even to this day. Then he ran up to the top, carefully avoiding people who he irritated by making their ears ring.

I followed him up into another large room. However, this one was ornate with seven wall scrolls hanging over sixty feet long. All of them depicted a slender woman with a painted, white face with a purple blush wearing a vibrant red kimono. At their sides sat all of the evolutions of the Eevee species and each woman's eyes matched the color of the Pokemon: red, yellow, blue, purple, black, light blue, and green. The Eevee evolutions were each shown nursing a single tiny Eevee.

"The way the ink's done is amazing," I said in awe. "Rob, is this really the Team Zero base? This is like a mansion!"

Numerous paper lanterns hung from stone rafters above, bathing the room in a lazy orange, making everything reflect it radiantly. The wall scrolls looked like they were sewn from several crystals linked together. The wood floor we stood on seemed to shine as if it was glossy and smoothed out. There were even women walking around who looked just like the ones in the scrolls and the room made them elegant and beautiful, like they had stepped from old Fiorian times.

"Rob, where are we? Why are they wearing kimonos?" I asked.

He couldn't answer because he was preoccupied with a litter of twelve Eevee so bundled together, they looked like a moving brown and white rug. All of them were simultaneously trying to jump up at him, hoisting themselves up on his leg and barely coming up to his knees. They squeaked and barked at him, wagging their bushy white tails.

I knelt next to them, and about five started sniffing me. "These are all your Eevee?"

"Uh-huh," Rob said, pulling out a Poké Ball, activating it, and letting out Umbreon. All of the Eevee immediately gathered around her legs. She lied down and started licking one.

Rob looked around the room. "They have a dad somewhere. He sleeps all the time so you'd think he was a lazy good-for-nothin'. But he always makes sure they don't go too far from him. Or at least I thought. Where is he?"

One of the ladies in the room happened to go by us, keeping herself with a large green paper fan. Both Rob and my eyes locked onto her curvy behind.

"Excuse me Miss," Rob addressed. "Have you seen my Glaceon around here? His kids are running wild."

He gestured a hand to his Eevee, who had all decided to take a liking to me, jumping onto my leg and panting.

"Your Glaceon is in The Master's quarters, Young Master," she said in a cool, clean voice. She could've been the voice of a PokeDex.

Rob nodded with a bashful grin. "Thank you, but you don't have to call me Young Master. Just call me Rob."

The lady smiled wider at him, then at me with her red lips stretching thin. And then she walked away like nobody said anything to her.

Rob frowned, looked at me frowning, and then we both watched her go. I wondered how old she was to even look that good.

"Well, I'll try again some other time," he said, undefeated. "Let's go visit Zero."

Umbreon walked off to a corner with her kids and I followed Rob up another flight of stairs, inside the wall. We entered the upper level which was smaller than the one under it. Mostly except cots spread out. Others had people resting in them, mainly young kids with dirtied, torn clothes.

"These are the recruits?" I asked.

"Yeah," Rob said, leading me around the cots to the other side of the room around. We climbed more stairs and entered a hallway with paper lanterns on the wall. At the end stood a wooden door with patches of light stretching out from underneath it. Shadows moved across the patches and I could hear faint voices inside, but the noise from the floors below made understanding them difficult.

"I wonder if he'd put his room even higher up if there were any more floors," Rob thought aloud.

"Why?" I asked.

Rob went on ahead and opened the door, sticking his head through it. Inside was brightly lit with electricity, and I could see the top of someone's head with white, matted hair.

He spoke with the room's occupants, and then pulled his head out and closed the door.

"Well Alice's in there," Rob said, folding his arms and looking up at a lamp. The flame behind the paper flickered.

Alice probably ran straight to talk to Zero when she arrived. "About being an apprentice, huh?"

"Yeah," Rob responded. He came back and leaned against the wall. "She's very anxious to be a Champion, ain't she?"

"Yeah, she is, but I think she has a good reason," I lied. I really didn't know what was going on with her. Then I wondered how long she thought it would take her to become a Champion.

"She told you what happened?" Rob asked, surprised. I shook my head.

"Well Nina told me back when we were in Goldenrod," he said. "Yeah, I know, I didn't say anything about Alice but Nina didn't mention her real name then. When you told me about her, I didn't think you two were talking about the same person."

"What happened to her?" I asked, ignoring this was Alice's business and that she was in the next room.

"I kind of told you already back at the inn," Rob said. His tone became flat as he said what I had been suspecting the entire time. "She was raped." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Poor girl."

Being thirteen, I couldn't really comprehend how major it was. From everything I had learned about sex, the only way sex could hurt was if it was painful. I knew some people got off to that stuff from porn ads I'd seen online. Sex equaled pleasure. Being forced to have sex, I immaturely drew the conclusion that Alice had to have been pleasured as well. Perhaps, I thought, she just didn't like being used similar to how I hated being forced to be a trainer for the Pokemon League. Nobody liked being embarrassed. The only comparison I could draw was imagining taking a leak in front of someone. Embarrassing? Yes. Comforting? Of course.

But there had to be more. For one, Alice wasn't flirty. She seemed just like any other girl I knew. Liked boys, weird humor, and on the plus side, she didn't come across as someone too girlish. All cool girls were never too girlish.

Then I realized I couldn't picture her having sex. I imagined having sex with her, but I couldn't see her like I saw Felicity and Nina. Alice was Alice, a girl I sort of had a crush on. I enjoyed glancing at her in front of me sometimes and imagining her naked, yet I liked looking at her face still. I wanted her to get rid of her contacts and dye. Her face was too bright for brown eyes and hair. Her lips were too pink and full for to not have sex or to be kissed a lot. I wanted to taste her lips. I had never been kissed before and I wanted her to be my first. And then I wanted to have sex with her. I wanted sex.

Now, not to break away from the story too much, but since I'm writing about myself and the stuff I put in my journal every now and then, I must tell you that I'd eventually hate myself for thinking about all this. Even though I want to disregard it since I was a kid going through puberty, I must say that I'm sorry, to Alice and to everyone else. I was young and stupid.

"Don't tell her or Nina that I told you. Don't tell anyone," Rob demanded.

I nodded, slightly absorbed in my own thoughts. "I promise."

The door swung open, getting our attention. Alice stepped out, wearing a black, unzipped hoodie and a tearstained face, followed by a tall, skinny man with grey hair coming from his receding scalp line to the top of his shoulders. His nose was pointed with significance and his eyes seemed to glow from how light blue they were. He wore a grey vest with matching slacks and a white dress shirt.

Alice stomped over to me, breathing hard and softly hiccupping. I stepped back afraid she was going to hit me for no reason. Did she hear us talking about her?

"Ed," she growled inhumanely, voice cracking. Her eyes were narrow, but then she turned her head back to see the man, and her breathing calmed.

Looking at her after thinking about all that stuff disturbed me and made me feel guilty and vulnerable. We stood in front of each other, and I stared at her shoes. Her boots were gone and replaced with black sneakers. Why the hell was she so stupid? I thought. Why was she acting so weird? I didn't know how she was stupid exactly, but that's how I wanted to describe her.

"Are you going to join Team Zero?" she interrogated. If she had a gun, I would've thought she was threatening me.

I blinked at her. "I don't know," I answered.

She nodded her head over to the man. "Zero said that I can get a badge from him if I beat you in a duel."

That took me off guard. "What? Why?" I stammered.

She looked away and shrugged, sniffling. She barged her way past me and Rob and headed down the stairs.

"And I'm assuming you're Ed?" The man said in a deep, scholarly voice. He held out a slender hand with a large gold studded ring with a wing-shaped emblem.

"I'm Victor Frost, Ghost Pokemon Master," he said.

I shook it. "I'm Ed Willow."

"Zero, what was all that about?" Rob asked, confused and agitated. "Why'd you tell Alice to fight him for the badge and why is she crying?"

Victor Frost was Zero. "So you're the leader of Team Zero?" I asked thoughtlessly, aggravated at how Alice approached me.

He smiled and nodded. "Indeed I am. You can call me Zero if you wish."

I looked over at Rob to tell me what to call him, but he was upset, ignoring me.

"Rob, we're on a tight schedule," Zero said. "If I could, I'd organize a fight with her against myself or any of my subordinates but I can't risk it. And after what she told me, perhaps going up against Ed would prove to kill a few Pidgey with one stone."

Rob settled down. "What did she tell you?"

A hazy purple cloud began to materialize behind Zero. "The same thing you told Ed, except in greater detail."

The cloud condensed into a figure. And then an abnormally large and toothy grin emerged in the middle of it, followed piercing sinister red eyes above it. They seemed to stare at me, so I looked away. Ghosts were naturally creepy.

"How long has he been out here eavesdropping?" Rob asked.

"I always keep Narzel outside my door to keep watch," he said, "just like how I keep Tiamenon or Bureg at the trap door in the gym."

Zero seemed to have his Ghost Pokemon everywhere, invisible. I started wondering how much having a ghost Pokemon would benefit me. From what Rob said, Zero could hear us through his Pokémon.

"I overheard you tell Ed what happened," Zero said, his voice smooth while carrying a hint of disappointment. "She only believes two people know about her situation, Nina and I. You're going to have to do your best to make sure she continues believing that."

Rob sank, defeated. "I'm going to have to."

Zero slightly chuckled. "Good. But don't worry, both of you. I feel that, with time, Alice will become a better person with a healthier view on things. She will definitely become a trainer who makes a difference in the future."

Rob put his hands to his sides. "So now she's part of Team Zero?"

Zero nodded. "And also one of my apprentices. She has the passion for being a trainer, and even though her methods are a bit questionable and sometimes morbid and irrational, she has that spark all good trainers have. She just needs some refinement."

The purple, smiling ghost managed to pop out a pair of small, stubby arms and similar legs. I expected it to start walking, but it floated into Zero's quarters.

The ghost went in and out came a small, four-legged Pokémon with light-blue, thin fur. The hair above its eyes was a darker turquoise than the rest of its body, save for the feet and patches on the back and tail. The dark hair puffed out a little bit, and then dropped down below the head, becoming a darker blue the lower the hair got.

"So there's Glaceon," Rob said. He knelt and petted the Pokémon, who yawned and nuzzled his hand.

"I don't know if he's annoyed by his kids or what," Zero explained, "but he's been sleeping up here for the past few days. Which is odd since I've had my fireplace running nonstop."

Rob got up and Glaceon bounded down the stairs. "Is Nahindelon feeding him? He tends to stay around wherever food comes easiest."

Both had their hands to their chins. "I was just thinking the same thing," Zero said.

It was that moment that I noticed both of them had the same, mop-like hair, except Rob's was black and Zero's was old and grey.

Zero sighed. "Well, at any rate, I want to talk with Ed here."

Rob became adamant. "Talk about what?"

Zero smirked. "Well…everything I guess. I'm really curious about him and his potential. Also, I feel like he deserves to be told more."

Hearing Rob suck his teeth told me a certain someone had entered the picture somehow. "So what did Nina say?"

Zero chuckled. "Rob, you've become quite nosy running around Johto and Kanto."

He gave me a friendly look. "Say Ed, how about you go inside and take a seat at the table with the deck of cards and the coffee pot? Do you know how to play poker?"

That was a random question. "No sir, I don't."

Zero laughed heartily. His laugh was slow, but heavy. "He's even more polite than you Rob. Ed, don't call me sir. We're both Pokémon Trainers. I may be a Master but if you want to respect me, just paying attention to me will suffice."

His attitude played my strings the right way. I didn't completely trust him, but something inside told me I could like him at least.

"Will I end up coming out of there crying like Alice?" I asked, half genuine.

Zero shook his head. "I doubt it. I just showed Alice something about herself she needed to see, considering her goals."

I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he wanted to talk about. Was it his way of glorifying recruitment?

"If you're going to try and recruit Ed, at least be fair about it and not butter up stuff," Rob said flatly.

Zero, for once, looked ashamed, frowning. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, but I…" Rob trailed off. Then he took a breath. "Talk to him like we talk. I feel like you can help him, but I also think Ed could help himself if he really wanted to."

Zero nodded softly and smiled. "Without having to read your mind, I think I understand what's going on. You have my word."

Rob let out a sigh of relief. "Good." He turned his attention at me. "I'll be downstairs checking out the wall scrolls."

With that said, he left.

Zero scoffed. "More like stalking the ladies who take care of this place."

We shared our first laugh. He held his arm out toward his quarters' door in a polite manner and I went in.

Two things struck me the moment I entered. The second was that quarters weren't a bedroom, but more like a den with doors that most likely lead to bedrooms and a bathroom. Shelves of books lined the walls and spaces left opened housed strange objects: a tooth the size of a basketball, a glistening silver wing, and a tall white urn. A chandelier with pointed light bulbs hung above a circular, ornate wooden table with four chairs. Two chairs across the table from each other were set out.

The first thing that struck me, however, were all the cards floating in the air. Some were just floating in cycles. Others were floating together, as if on an invisible stand and stabled together.

Zero closed the door behind us. "Now go take a seat. They'll start their game over since they all love playing against humans. They think we're easy."

I stared at him, and then back at the cards to make sure what I was seeing was real, and then back at him, utterly confused.

He chuckled at my expression. "Don't worry, they don't cheat. They are the best tricksters but they're noble. Now let's show you the rules of the game."

When I sat down, some of the floating cards moved out of the way. The smiling purple ghost materialized right next to me, floating upside down looking at his hand of cards.

Zero sat down across the table from me. "You want to shuffle Ed?"

The course of events that lead to this moment was logical enough. Playing poker with the leader of Team Zero and his ghost Pokemon didn't. And it wasn't that I hadn't gotten used to ghost Pokemon. I just couldn't understand cards. Why cards?

"No, but why are we playing cards?" I asked innocently. "This seems so random. And how can Pokemon play cards?"

"Well, I figured a game would loosen the mood while we have our talk," Zero said. "And Pokémon can do everything a human can do. Now, everyone hand me your cards so I can deal."

Some of the airborne cards were thrown onto the table, while other hands were banged against the table to be in a nice and neat pile, and then handed to Zero.

I think I was having a hard time because this removed me from my own reality. I had never been around ghost Pokemon before, yet I knew they existed. I had seen horror movies where they hunted and killed people and TV documentaries on them, but to sit down and play cards with them blew my mind.

I took out my PokeDex. Zero waved a hand, beckoning me to put it away.

"You don't need that," he said. "PokeDex given to trainers are too basic. Two or three sentences don't do a Pokemon justice."

I reluctantly closed my faithful PokeDex, saddened by him insulting it.

He pointed over to the smiling ghost. "The current Pokemon around you are a Gengar, Narzel, who refuses to use his legs."

The Gengar winked at me and chuckled silently.

He shuffled the cards. "A Mismagus named Eliaphe, a Dusknoir named Aven, a Spirtomb named Vulesi, and Bureg - a Banette. Tiamenon is a Frosslass but she's at the gym keeping track on the door."

I had no idea what the Pokemon he mentioned were but I nodded still.

He shuffled and passed five cards out in seven piles for everyone at the table. Five of the piles were swooped up into the air. Zero put the deck in the middle of the table, grabbed his hand, and I reached awkwardly out for mine.

I had the ace of spades, ace of hearts, five of diamonds, two of diamonds, and a seven of clubs.

"Now," started Zero drawing a card, "let us talk about what you know what's wrong with the world today."

And that started our conversation and our game.

How was that? A ton of dialogue in this chapter, right? I don't know if 26 will be too different from it, but you can expect a battle between Ed and Alice, as handicapped as he is. Might be a bit one-sided right? Ha!

I will admit, I was sort of disturbed by how I wrote Ed's thoughts when he's told that Alice was raped. Rape is a serious, unfortunate matter, but a kid who hasn't experienced such trauma really doesn't have the right idea about it. Especially a boy who's in the middle of puberty. Ed grows up, thankfully. He'll be more mature in later chapters.

Anyway, review!