Wolfluve: FUNCAKES! Funcakes is an awesome word. I'll have to use that sometime.
Yet Another Anonymous: Zomg, thank you! BUT…I must wonder…who are you? The mystery!! XD Anyway, thanks. I'm glad to know I have closet readers. :3
Pokemon-finatic: Yup! –does it-
Blake Wilson: Hehe, of course I'll let you know. Eventually…haha. And I did that little part on purpose. Sorry if it was confusing!
Phyllis: CHOCOLATE. Thankyee, I know, it is sad but Twinleafship must make it through! ;.; Somehow…
NightNeko-Jin: Glad you liked it!
Avaleia: Aw, thank ya dear!
Kidd dragon: Thanksyahs!
Ratedalex: Sorry, but I'm not accepting charries anymore…
Kefka: SAH-WEET. –glomps-
Bobobo: AHAH, I actually love green hair people! In anime at least. They are like mah faaavorite. Anyway, thank you so much!
Saberchan: Thank you Sabehr! –glomp-

Cookies for everyone! And WHEWWWWWW. Fast update! This chappie wraps this arc up. ENJOY..!

Chapter Twenty-Five: Searching for Answers

"Yanno, I bet Gardenia put us in the same group on purpose." Dawn blew a piece of hair out of her face and scowled as she battled a Galactic Grunt, her back pressed against Taze's.

Taze ordered Narky to use Water Gun on a Zubat and nodded. "Yeah. She probably wants us to make peace or something."

"I'll never make peace with you." Dawn smirked evilly. "Specter, Confuse Ray!"

"Ditto." Taze made a gagging noise.

"I'm glad we can agree on this. It seems the only thing we can agree on today is hating each other, neh?" Dawn sounded satisfied as she brushed past him to go find another Galactic to beat on. Her blue-ish hair swept by his face, pricking his eyes and cheeks. He sighed and chased after her, plotting to show her up and steal a KO from her.

That was the good thing about this rival business. The inconvenient need of having to be nice to each other no longer lingered. Which, when it came to Dawn, was a good thing. It was hard enough as it was to let Dawn have her way all the time and respect her wishes and…girly needs. Now Taze was free from her clutches of 'friendship' and could ignore her/make fun of her/show her up as much as he wanted.

Taze still had a sick feeling in his stomach. He was, of course, worried about Pokey. What were the Galactics doing with him? Were they hurting him? Would he be the same when he got him back?

And of course, there was the universal question: Why? Why was Team Galactic doing this? They were the weirdest bunch of freaks Taze had even heard of. They had to be plotting something, but that was beyond him. Their bizarre missions and secrecy were intriguing, if not a little creepy. All the blue hair, matching spacesuits…it was like a cult.

The Galactics were slowly retreating; the once large group of Grunts that had been patrolling the hallway had been whittled down to only a couple trainers. Officer Jenny and her Machoke finished off a Glameow with ease, and the Grunt ran away after giving them a terse glare.

"You'll pay for this!!" he yelled as he retreated.

"Sure, buddy. And you'll pay for taking all those pokemon! Y'HEAR ME?! YOU'LL PAY, YOU HEARTLESS ALIENS!" Jenny shook a fist, and her blue police hat almost fell off her head.

"…aliens?" Dawn chuckled and stared down the Grunt pityingly. Cheryl and her Chansey giggled as they healed all of the nearby pokemon.

"Well, they look like they're from space, so…OH, it's Gardenia!" Jenny pulled out her walkie-talkie, holding it up so the group could hear.

"Gardenia here…we've cleared the first floor, so we're coming up. No sign of the machine anywhere…you say it's probably about five feet tall, correct?"

"E-yup," Jenny said, nodding. "We just swept this floor of the Galactics, so all is clear. Heard any word on Squad One? Over."

"Alright, good. And no. But we should check the rooms up there together, so wait for us. And if we still don't find the energy source, we'll move up to the third floor together to help Squad One fight."

"Sounds good. See you in a sec. Over and out." Jenny stuffed the walkie-talkie back in her pocket. "Uhhh 'kay. Let's check in these room thingies for the machine."

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Taze asked as she cautiously kicked open a door.

The officer stuck her nose in the air. "Of course I do! It's not my fault that I'm always overshadowed by Jenny…and all my other cousins…I'm the youngest one, you know."

"It sucks to be overshadowed." Taze looked down at the ground. He felt Jenny's eyes on him.

She patted his head. "Yeah. It does, bud."

The two of them watched as the gym trainers, Cheryl, and Dawn filed in the room, their pokemon scouting out any sign of the energy source.

:Nothin' in here! Shweeeee!: Specter the Misdreavus flew in loops out the door, giggling like a schoolgirl. Narky chased her down the hallway, weakly squirting his Water Gun at her retreating wispy body.

The group checked the next room, and everyone was pleasantly surprised when they saw a tall, orange and yellow machine whirring in the corner. Swirling green tubes were jutting out of it, transferring some sort of liquid into a hose that snaked upwards into the ceiling, where one of the ceiling tiles had been removed.

Gardenia and the others also arrived at that moment. The whole squad, reunited, went in the room together and inspected the machine. Lucas felt relieved to be back with Dawn and Taze, while Teghan and Saino took to a place near Gardenia on the other side of the room. Lucas wanted to tell Dawn what he'd seen on the laptop, but a feeling of uncertainty restrained him. He didn't want her to be worried about it. Not yet, at least. He would perhaps wait until that night at the PokeCenter and tell her…they'd have more time to mill it over and discuss it then.

But still, a part of him wanted to keep it from her forever. He hated seeing her worried…even if it was rare for her to cark over anything.

"That girl's Gardenia's sister, you know." Dawn was standing on her tiptoes, whispering into Lucas's ear. He shivered as her warm breath tickled his neck before his eyes widened unbelievably as he absorbed what she had said.

"What?! Seriously? SHE is Gardenia's…SISTER?"

"Shut up, moron, or she'll hear." Dawn elbowed Lucas in the stomach, and he curled over.

Teghan, Queen of Mean, Princess of Poison, was Gardenia's sister? He couldn't wrap his mind around this…sure, they sort of looked alike. Reddish hair and all, but still…he glanced over at her: she was standing up tall in the back, her spider-like arms loosely folded over her chest.

But was it really that hard to believe? Lots of siblings acted nothing alike. Maybe it was just himself he was finding hard to believe. Maybe just the fact that he had judged her so quickly and labeled her as rude and uncouth without really knowing her.

He shook his head, focusing his attention at the scene at hand. There were more important things to think about now. Even if his mind did want to be elsewhere.

Jenny poked the glass exterior of the machine. The thick orange fluid bubbled inside. "What d'you think it's for?"

"They must be using this liquid, whatever it is, on the pokemon they stole." Gardenia pulled a metal lever down, and the machine slowly whirred to a stop. The liquid stopped bubbling and flowing through the coiled tubes.

"Well, that was easy," Jenny said, wiping her hands together. "Now shall we go kick some Galactic ass?"

"That's my line!" Dawn cut in, looking at Jenny pointedly. Everyone laughed, and Jenny got her walkie-talkie out, telling Squad One that they were on their way to back them up.

Pokey was uncomfortable. He had been put in a cage next to a fat Pikachu and a Stunky, and the smell alone was making him feel like barfing.

The Galactics had been sticking the pokemon in round containers with holes poked on the top, and some strange orange liquid was layered on the bottom. Whenever a pokemon touched that liquid, they started to evolve.

And Pokey was next in line. A pink-haired Galactic opened up his cage and lifted him out, sticking him in a large container. He looked out at her sour, uncaring face, wondering if Taze or Dawn or Lucas would be coming to save him at any moment.

He felt like a fish looking out at the world in a tank that was too big for him. He lifted up one of his feet, the orange liquid sticking to it.

And he prepared himself for what was to come.

"It's impossible not to evolve in that chamber, I hear," the Pikachu had said to him.

"What about you? Will the stuff make you evolve, too?"

"Yeh, I saw another Pikachu evolve. Even though we usually need Thunderstones…this stuff must be insanely powerful."

Now, Pokey took a deep breath as he felt himself transforming. His stubby legs began to thicken, along with his now-armored shell to cover his lengthening body. Two sprouts erupted on his back, rapidly developing into little bushes. To finish it off, pair of spikes protruded from his cheeks.

So. He was no longer a Turtwig, but a Grotle. Just like that. And his trainer wasn't even here to see this moment. He had always hoped he would evolve in some heroic way, in the middle of a battle or something. And then defeat the tough opponent, an unexpected victory from the underdog. And then he'd turn around and he'd see his trainer, so proud and ecstatic. But that wouldn't happen now.

He felt his heart drop as the Galactics released him from the tank and locked him in another larger cage with the other evolved pokemon.

It was useless to try to escape. Golbat and Puruglys were standing guard by the cages, warning the prisoners that if they tried to escape, they would be punished. And this was enough to simmer their anger and fear – if they had been forced to evolve, most of them didn't want to think what worse things Team Galactic could do to them.

"I hear there are police trying to break in," a Beautifly said from somewhere behind Pokey. "That means we'll be saved soon, and be reunited with our trainers!"

The pokemon exploded in cheers, and the Purugly hissed at them until they quieted down.

"Just because the police are trying to break in doesn't mean you'll be freed. There will be a truck here to pick up your cage any second now." The fat cat pokemon smirked at them, then curled up on the floor. Her rolls of fat sunk onto the tiled ground like goo.

"What the--?!" a random Galactic shouted, looking over at the boss, the lady with pink hair that was worn in two buns -- one near the top of her head and the other at the bottom. "Jupiter, we're not getting any more of the Evolving Energy. Our source's been cut!"

"Damn." The pink-haired woman's eyes zipped around the room. "Alright, time to pack everything up. We need to get out of here before they get into this room. The Grunts are probably almost all defeated by now. And the trucks should be here now to take the pokemon. Let's go!"

Jupiter lunged toward Pokey's cage, wheeling it up against a wall. She pushed a button and the wall slid apart completely, revealing the outside. A couple Grunts attached the cage to a crane in the ceiling that slowly moved the cage off of the floor and outside, suspended about fifty feet above the grassy ground.

:Ahhh! We're gonna fall!: A Floatzel whined and edged closer to Pokey, away from the bars of the cage.

:I think that's a good thing, though: Pokey said. :Everyone, listen! We're going to barge against the door of the cage, all at once.:

:Why would we do that?: Raichu, the Pikachu from before, asked.

:Just trust me! …Okay, on the count of three. One, two…THREE!:

Everyone in the cage stampeded forward at once, screaming at the top of their lungs. The cage swayed violently back and forth, and the Buizel screamed in terror.

:We're REALLY going to fall, now! You guys are wackos!:

:Let's do it again!: Pokey yelled. :If we make ourselves fall, the cage might break and we'll be free. If we just wait until the cage is lowered safely, we'll be stuck in here forever. Alright…one, two, THREE!:

They bashed against the cage again, all in sync, and the rope that was connecting them to the crane snapped. The cage dropped to the ground while everyone was screaming and crashed into a concrete sidewalk next to a side entrance of the HQ.

:…hey guys?: It was Raichu. :We're still STUCK IN HERE!!:

:Okay, so maybe it didn't work. Hehe…: Pokey sweatdropped.

:But look, there's people! Real people! Not ugly alien people with blue hair!: Beautifly did a somersault in midair, looking beyond a barbed wire fence. The crowd from the main street was yelling at them from behind the taped off area.

:Too bad there's no way they can get over here, unless they wanna die.: Raichu rolled his eyes, pointing a paw at the barbed wire fence. :Face it, we're going to be abducted into space forever.:

Squad One and Two were now teamed up, trying to break open the final door, which would lead them to where the Galactics were. Machoke and Machop were barging into it, trying to bust it open while Officer Jenny was preparing some sort of explosive to use on it.

"It's useless to try and get in that way, but we might as well be trying while I set up this baby," she said to Dawn as she pressed a few buttons on the device. "Everyone, STAND BACK!"

She set it by the sliding doors and then sprinted back toward the others, covering her ears. It beeped a few times, then blew up in a flurry of smoke and flames. Minor tremors wobbled the building and many Picknickers and Lasses screamed, falling to their feet. As the smoke cleared, a giant hole revealed itself. Jenny and her Machoke went in first, followed by the rest of the police squad and their pokemon.

:Awright. Time to BBQ some noobs pleez.: Ashes smirked, rubbing his hands together as he, Dawn and Specter pushed their way through the hole. Taze, Eneru and Narky followed right behind. Lucas had Prinplup and Staravia out, and Teghan had her Murkrow; Saino his Gligar.

"Team Galactic, you are under arrest for the theft of pokemon! A LOT of pokemon!" One of the Jennys held out her badge as the Machop and Buizels lunged forward, attacking the Galactic's Golbats and Purugly.

Taze was looking frantically around for Pokey, but it was hard to see anything in the chaotic room. There were at least twenty different battles going on, and over in the corner, cages full of pokemon were being lifted down to the ground. He ran past Lucas, who was battling, and peered over the ledge down at the ground. There were three cages already being piled into trucks, and there were still a couple more cages in the room.

"Get outta my way, runt," a Galactic snapped as he bumped into Taze. The boy adjusted his scarf, scooting away as the buff man rolled another cage full of crying pokemon toward the crane. Taze looked at them with saddened ginger eyes.

:You're just going to stand there and let them be taken away, Taylor?: Eneru looked up at her trainer, disappointed.

:Yeah, you can't just let those creatures be abducted! We must do something!: Narky shook a curled fist in the air.

"I can't do anything, though. I'll just get beaten…"

:We'll do it together, then!: Eneru bounced in front of him, cheeks sparking with electricity. The Luxio sprung at the Galactic man, knocking him away from the crane. The cage of pokemon cheered happily, shouting out their thanks. A few of them attacked the Galactic member from inside the cage, as well. Narky shot a jet of water at him for good measure, sending him sliding headfirst into a wall.

:Yay! We did it! See, Taylor? I don't like it when you think so lowly of yourself. Together, we can do so much more than you think!: She grinned up at him and he nodded as he fumbled a nearby machine to try and reverse the crane process.

:You just need to follow your heart. Do that, and anything can be accomplished.: Narky nodded, swooning. :…And now, someone needs to choke Lord Narky for saying something so cheesy and inspiring.:

Eneru rolled her eyes. :How 'bout I choke you for speaking in third person?:

At that second, a flash of pink rushed by the three of them. A Galactic member, presumably an admin, judging by her outfit and her hair – they were different from the other Galactics' – bent over the ledge of the opened wall and began climbing down a ladder toward the ground, where the trucks were.

"HEY! Stop that woman!" Jenny shouted, ramming past trainers to try and get across the room. "She is under ARREST!"

"Gotcha," Dawn said, ditching her battle and darting toward the ladder. Ashes jumped on her back as she started climbing down the ladder after the pink-haired admin.

:Hey, lady! You're in biiiig trouble!: said Specter mockingly, floating around the Galactic and sticking her tongue out. :And my trainer is going to give you a beating! Nobody gets away with stealing pokemon!:

Back up in the building, Gardenia was rolling her eyes. Of course Dawn would run blindly into something like this. She turned to Teghan and Saino, who were looking through the cages for Teghan's Chatot.

"Hey Tegh," she called. Her sister turned, straightening out her white shirt. "Go help that girl who just went down the ladder. …I'm thinking she'll need it."

Teghan nodded. "Look for Chatot for me, will you?"

Gardenia smiled. "I will. Roserade, PETAL DANCE!!"

"Rooooose!" Her pokemon obliged, twirling around and sending a whirlwind of pink petals whizzing through the air at all opponents in range.

Most of the Galactics had fled along with Jupiter, but a few remained. A small group of officers were working on opening the cages that had been left in the room, but most of the people, including Lucas and Taze, were following Dawn and Jupiter down to the ground.

:THE TIDES HAVE TURNED! THE BATTLE IS OURS NOW! HWAHAHAH!!: Ashes was screaming at the top of his lungs as Dawn sped down the ladder as fast as she could.

Oh yeah. He loved playing the psychotic good guy.

Dawn jumped from the ladder and landed below, beginning to pursue Jupiter and the rest of the Galactics, who were making their way toward the trucks. Grunts were heaving the last of the cages into the backs of the semis while the engines roared.

"Ashes, Fury Swpies those tires!" Dawn shouted, and the Monferno cartwheeled over to them, happily hacking them to bits.

:Mmm. Lacerated rubber.: He licked his lips and growled at a few Grunts, who nervously backed away and jumped into the back of the tuck.

:I'm scary, aren't I? FEAR ME! MWAHAHA!!:

Meanwhile, Dawn and Specter rounded up on Jupiter, who was nearly to the driver's door of one of the trucks. Desperately, she stretched her arm out as she leapt at the handle.

"HEY LAAADY! With the fugly hair! You aren't leaving without a fight!" Dawn barked. Specter charged at Jupiter, leaving a bubbling trail of black mist behind her.

"And you are also UNDER ARREST!! FREEZE, or I'll shoot ya!" Jenny shouted as she trailed behind, holding out her badge.

"Yeah, I think she knows that by now." Dawn glared at Jupiter, who had stopped at the door of the truck, holding up her hands innocently. Specter was buzzing around her head like a fly. "Why'd you steal those pokemon?"

Jupiter snorted, her face suddenly sharpening and losing all the innocence it had held a second before. She lowered her arms, a hand lingering over her ball belt. "Isn't it obvious? We're building an army. No one can stand in our way if we have a ton of evolved and powerful pokemon."

"Well…I bet they could. I mean, there's the whole world. And the police. People like us, who want to do good in the world, could stand in your way. I mean, we are right this second, aren't we?" Dawn narrowed her dark blue eyes.

"You're lucky we're even having this conversation, brat. As soon as those Grunts are done loading the pokemon, I'll run you over."

"Actually, you won't. A, my Monferno annihilated your tires, and B, a mob of angry people are running toward us right now. They'll be here in five…four…three…two…"

Jupiter started, apparently stupid enough to try running away.

Zhiiing!

A bullet flew past Jupiter's head, lodging right into the truck. The Admin belayed her escape attempt, ducking to the ground almost automatically. Jenny, from a bit behind Dawn, lowered her gun and winked.

"Next time it goes in your brains," she said, smiling sweetly and blowing the top of her gun.

Jupiter scowled. She twisted her body around, looking like she was going to make a run back toward the door of the truck. But Teghan and Saino appeared in front of her, glaring at her angrily.

"Nice try." Teghan smirked.

"Damn you!" Jupiter looked around for some sign of her comrades, but no one was in sight. In an instant, she reached for her pokeball and released a giant Skuntank. The purple and cream-colored skunk pokemon waved its long furry tail around, then released a thick, sour, and terrible stench into the air.

"Ewww…" Jenny covered her nose and keeled over, her eyes turning into little swirls. "Poison…Gas…"

Dawn coughed violently as tears pricked her eyes. She couldn't even see, the air was so toxic. Purple clouds of smoke lofted through the air as everyone fell to the ground, choking.

The smoke finally cleared a few elongated moments later and Dawn looked up with watery eyes, stifling a cough. Jenny was lying in the grass, looking off into the endless fields beyond the HQ building.

"She…she got away…" Jenny's face was broken: she looked like it was the end of her career.

"No way!" Saino stood up, and his Gligar swooped around angrily. "You mean she just disappeared?"

Jenny nodded, sitting up. She sighed. "Crap. Shoulda shot her in the head when I had the chance!"

"It doesn't matter now." The other Jenny was walking up to the group. Gardenia, Lucas, the Gym Trainers, and the rest of the police force were behind her. "We saved the pokemon, and that's what really matters. Now let's get these pokemon all back to their trainers."

Taze, Eneru and Narky were searching through all of the cages in the trucks for Pokey. The blond boy had picked up a key a Grunt had dropped while running away, and was opening all the cages. But so far, he saw no sign of any Turtwig…

:Where could he be?: Eneru's ears drooped as Taze opened a cage and the pokemon burst out, running to go find their trainers.

"Ohhhh, Po-Taze-o!" Came a sing-song voice from behind the truck. Cheryl's forest green head popped out from behind it. She was smiling brilliantly. "I think I found your Pokey. Come on, he's in this truck."

"R-really?" Taze felt his heart skip a beat, and he followed her over to the other semi, jumping in the trunk behind her. She scooted up to one of the cages and poked at a tortoise-like pokemon…who didn't look like Pokey at all.

:Taylor! Taylor! It's you! I knew you'd come!: Pokey bounced up and down, his new bulky body looking very strange and unfitting for his still high-pitched voice.

"…Pokey? Did you…evolve?!" Taze kneeled down, patting the Grotle's face. "Without me?"

:They forced us all to evolve…: Pokey looked behind his shoulder at Raichu, Beautifly, and the others, who nodded sadly. :Anyway, could you, uh… get us outta here?:

Taze sweatdropped. "Oh. Yeah." He tightened his green scarf and stood up, unlocking the cage. The pokemon all ran out, except for Pokey, who tried to jump into Taze's arms. Due to his new size, which he wasn't exactly accustomed to, he failed miserably.

:Aww…I can't do that anymore…: Pokey frowned, but nuzzled his trainer's leg instead.

And that would do. Taze bent over and hugged Pokey's giant armored shell. Eneru and Narky jumped on top of him as well, happy to be reunited with their teammate.

Cheryl beamed brightly, moving on to unlock the rest of the cages with her Chansey. She was glad to see Taze there, truly happy with his pokemon.

Taze loved them, he really did. If there was anything he was an expert at, it was loving the creatures that were so close to him. Even if he wasn't the best trainer, he certainly outdid his friends in showing affection to his pokemon.

And in the end, that would make him greater than Dawn and Lucas. Cheryl knew that very well.

She grinned over at her Chansey as she unlocked the last cage. The pokemon came stampeding out, cheering wildly.

"Chaaaan!"

"Hehe…well, Chanchan…we did it." The girl glanced over at Taze, who was now laughing and talking with his pokemon. She turned to Chansey, grinning warmly. "Thank you."

:Thank you?: Chansey asked, looking a bit puzzled. The round pink egg pokemon bounced over to her trainer.

"Yes. Thank you…for being my friend."

It took about an hour to get all of the pokemon back to their trainers. Many had gone back to their owners on their own, but a few were frightened and stayed behind. The police took them into the square to be claimed by the once rioting people.

Lucas had personally delivered the only Clefairy he could find to the old bike shop owner, who was ecstatic. It hadn't been forced to evolve – Lucas had found it in the queue line up in the building.

"Jus' come by whenever an' I'll give ya yer free bike!" The old man had said, patting the bubbly Clefairy on the head as it bounced in his arms.

"Ooooh, what about us?" Dawn grinned cheekily, pointing to Taze and herself. "Can we have bikes too?"

"O'course! Y'all saved the day! Bikes for everyone, I say!" The old man threw his hands up, laughing delightedly.

"Ooh, yay! I love bikes!" Jenny jumped up and down, giggling like a little girl.

The bike shop owner's face darkened. "Well, maybe not fer everyone."

"Noooooo!" Jenny wailed dramatically. Her fun always had to be spoiled.

"You have a motorcycle, for god sakes," the other, older Jenny reminded her, rolling her eyes.

Everyone laughed, and young Jenny blushed. "Oh, yeah. That thing. But motorcycles are so much more awesome, anyway. I could kill someone if I ran them over. Can't do that with a bicycle. Psh. How lame."

The other Jenny rolled her eyes again. "You are SO pathetic…sometimes I wonder why we let you run around with a gun in your hands…"

"She's like Dawn. The girl can think of a million ways to kill someone." Lucas said innocently, preparing himself for Dawn's fist to meet his head. It didn't.

Dawn just made a face at him. "Why, thanks. I LOVE YOU TOO."

Lucas felt his face flush horribly as she said this. He looked down at the ground, hoping no one would notice. When he thought it was safe and was sure the subject had changed – and it did, rather quickly – he looked up and caught eyes with Teghan for a brief moment. She raised an eyebrow at him, then turned away quickly: Saino was talking to her.

Most of the rioting people had filtered out of the area and had gone back to their normal lives. Some were quite angry their pokemon had evolved – a little girl wanted her Shinx to stay small, but now it was a 'scary' Luxio…Jenny made an announcement that the evolutions were, of course, irreversible and there was nothing that could be done other than refuse to support Team Galactic in any shape or form in the future.

Of course, Eterna wouldn't see much of Team Galactic after this. The building had been completely deserted. Even though Jupiter got away, twenty or so Grunts had been arrested and interrogated. It was safe to assume that all of Team Galactic's activity was now focused in their main facility in Veilstone City.

"Isn't there any way you can put a stop to everything, though?" Lucas asked as the group walked down the streets toward a restaurant. They had decided to have a dinner party to wrap up the eventful day. The sun was beginning to set, cottony clouds swirling with the purple and orange colors in the sky.

Jenny shook her head. "We can't really intrude on the Galactic's main Veilstone HQ…private property and all. Plus, even if we did try, they would probably insist that all criminal activity that happened today was done on Jupiter and company's own accord."

"They can say that? But…they were wearing the Galactic gear! It was a Galactic building. How can they not be affiliated?" Lucas pressed. This was getting ridiculous. Couldn't something be done about Galactic's idiotic crimes?

"It ain't that easy, kiddo." Jenny sighed, stretching her arms over her head. "Team Galactic is a rich organization. The guy that runs it…he's powerful…and also a freak. We ARE the police and all, and we'll try as best we can to do away with them, but there's only so much we can do. If you get what I'm saying."

Lucas nodded aversely. "I guess…"

"So they were using the energy from machine we dispatched to force the pokemon to evolve, correct?" Gardenia said, striding up to catch up with the Jenny's.

"Yep. They got a lot of 'em too. Luckily all the ones that had been 'borrowed' from the townspeople were saved, but we're pretty sure they artificially evolved many other pokemon before we could break into the building. Those ones were shipped off to their main HQ in Veilstone way before we started the intrusion."

"They must have gotten all that energy from the Valley Windworks." Lucas bit his lip in thought. "Dawn, Taze and I stopped them there…they were collecting energy in tanks like the one we saw on the machine."

"Sheesh. They really are a bunch of freaks…" Jenny murmured. She shook her head.

"And should not be taken lightly," added Gardenia. "They're more serious than they look. The League Council is even slightly worried. We should definitely be keeping our eyes on them." She lowered her voice then, and whispered to the Jenny's: "We think they've been after the Arceus plates."

Lucas heard this, which further piqued his interest. If Gardenia didn't want this bit of information to be heard, it was definitely important. But still…what exactly were the plates? He made a mental note to ask her later.

"Eugh. Ugly business through and through," said the younger Jenny. "I just hope they don't show their ugly faces around here anymore."

The group rounded a corner and entered the little restaurant they had decided on. It was a breakfast place. Dawn, Taze, Cheryl, Teghan and Saino were all walking together while Ashes was telling Teghan's Chatot – she'd found it safe and sound – to scream profanity in Dawn's ear. She then chased Ashes into the restaurant, threatening to decapitate him with a tree branch.

Plates and plates of pancakes and waffles were piled up on every table. Teghan had decided to sit by Lucas and they had a nice chat about syrup and French toast.

"So you found Chatot okay, then?" Lucas asked, taking a deep gulp of his chocolate milk. Teghan nodded and watched the butter on her pancakes slowly melt into a pool of gold.

"Yeah."

"That's good. I'm glad."

"Thanks, dude." She managed a warm smile, but didn't let her eyes linger on Lucas's. They found the other side of the table where Gardenia, Jenny and Taze were sitting. Jenny had gotten a little tipsy and was cracking jokes only she understood, laughing loudly in Gardenia's face. The Gym Leader just looked away, raising an eyebrow and trying to maintain a mature impression like always. Taze, who was on her left, was looking down at his plate and playing with his food.

He hadn't eaten a thing. Teghan tugged at the collar of her white blouse and turned back to face Lucas. "Anyway, I'm glad we could like…be friends, I guess? And not completely tear out each other's throats. That was stupid, how I was acting earlier. So…sorry?"

"You already apologized." Lucas waved a hand, shrugging.

And at that moment, a part of him suddenly felt a little disheartened. Teghan was like Dawn, fiery and hasty. They were both the type of people who would get themselves into situations they wouldn't have gotten into if they had just stopped and thought for a second. But there was something blaringly different about the two. Teghan could make amends. Forgive. Forget.

And from what he knew so far, Dawn could not. At least not so easily.

He stole a look at the girl from across the table. She was stirring up the leftover syrup on her plate like it was some sort of mixture as she sung along with the song that was playing, Here in Your Arms. The syrup pooled up in her spoon, and she held it over the plate, watching it slowly plop back down.

Lucas shrugged. "But yeah, it's nice. Friends are nice."

"Yeah. Too bad I have so few." Teghan drew in a breath, then quickly changed the subject: "So I heard from Garden that you're going to be challenging her tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess we are. Wish me luck?"

Teghan smirked. "Dude, you'll need it. I lost twice before finally beating her…she doesn't go easy on anyone."

"You beat her? How many—"

"I've got three badges. So I'm one step ahead of you." She winked. "You're still baby trainers with one badge. Aww, how cuuuute," she cooed, swaying back and forth.

"I know, I'm such a cute little thing, aren't I?"

Dawn apparently heard this and started pretending to choke loudly from across the table. She grabbed her throat and collapsed into Cheryl's lap, twitching jerkily.

Teghan tried not to laugh. "Err…yeah. I'll probably be there, helping out. I think Garden's gonna let me ref the matches."

"Sweet. I'll see you there, then." Lucas narrowed his eyes over at Dawn, who was laughing her butt off with Cheryl.

"Yup yup. Guess so."

Back on the other side of the table, Dawn, Cheryl and the gym trainers had started belting out the chorus of the song, while coercing the waitresses to go and turn up the volume.

Well you are the one the one that lies close to me
Whispers hello I miss you quite terribly
I fell in love, in love with you suddenly
Now there's no place else I could be but here in your arms

Everyone who knew the lyrics joined in, and for a moment the only sound that could be heard was the harmonizing ring of joyous voices…

Voices of people who were happy to be living…and happy for every moment they faced.

It is night. He is afraid to go to sleep. He hasn't been sleeping much lately, anyway. He doesn't want to think of what he might see, or what It might tell him when he's not in a conscious state.

It'll get to you eventually. If you stop sleeping, it will have to come to you when you're awake.

It'll find a way.

That's how driven and mad it is.

He wishes the little voice in his head would stop telling him what he already knows.

He props his feet up on the railings of the balcony outside of the Pokecenter room and runs a hand through his wild yellow hair.

The door behind him slides open and She steps out, dawdling for a few moments. She finally takes a seat in a chair next to him.

"What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?"

"I asked you first."

"…I can't sleep." His voice seems aged. He really is tired.

"Is it those dreams you always have?"

"…yeah."

"That sucks."

"…yeah."

Silence. It is almost so quiet they can hear the beating of their own hearts.

Thump. Thump.

The crisp autumn wind picks up and whips their hair around momentarily. Like fragments of a fleeting memory being recalled, only to be lost a moment later.

"…why do you hate me?" His voice is small, anxious. He has been wondering this for a while. He's been wondering if there is something he can do to be better… to not cause the girl so much trouble.

She is pained by this question, but she makes an effort to appear unaffected. It threatens the icy surface of her heart. It wraps its way around her soul, and she almost finds it hard to breathe.

There is not an answer to give. She cannot face what she really feels inside. Her heart has been carefully blanketed, armored, so it can't undergo any more pain than it already has.

But this question…it's testing her. It's threatening to crack the armor, dive in, and acknowledge what it's been covering.

She reaches, searches, for the answer she can give to him. It's almost like it is lost in a swirling black void of lies.

She picks it out. A perfect berry from a bush of imperfection.

The girl stands up on wobbly feet and steps toward the door again, pressing the edges of her blanket to her lips.

She has found her answer.

I hate you…

"Because you're you."

And she steps inside. She doesn't know what pain she has caused to him and even to herself with this answer.

She'll never know. She'll never know what really goes on in his mind, what battles he has on a daily basis with the demon that lives inside of him. She'll never know about the thing he keeps in his bag…just in case…he'll be so desperate for an escape one day and it will be his only way out.

She'll never know how much she has broken him.

Somewhere deep inside, she holds the real answer to his question. The answer she can never vocalize, because it frightens her and she does not want to face who she truly is.

She'll never admit it. So for now… and maybe forever…

she'll hind under her shell, where she is untouchable.

...She doesn't hate him.

She just doesn't have any room in her heart for love.

THE END

Thar you have it! LONGEST CHAPTER EVAR.

Comment, question, criticize! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like. Good reviews make a good story. :D

Then next arc will be hurrrr...whenever I get off my lazy butt! IMAGINE THAT HAW. Anyway, le PREVIEW TIME.

Next time on VoD:tSL...Lucas, Dawn and Taze finally challenge Gardenia. Surprises lay on every corner in this gym, and someone will end up very disappointed. Also, a certain someone reunites with their father, and questions regarding the New Moon and the Arceus Plates will be answered.

Tata!