If we all should die tonight,
We will have no regrets.
We can't go back, we can't go...
We've got nothing left.
Die Tonight, Live Forever by InnerPartySystem.

Beth strutted ahead of us, her Salamence hovering around her, alert for any movements. A few Spearow became startled by our unexpected presence- and for some reason both Ash and his Pikachu shied away- but with an intimidating roar from the large dragon, the smaller bird pokemon scattered away like the cowardly bullies they were reputed for.

Dawn and I wandered further behind them, so if Beth happened to find herself in a fight, her pokemon would obey. We didn't want to risk getting in their way.

"Paul?" Dawn whispered, and as I looked down to her, her eyes were wandering around the vicinity with curiosity sparkling in her blue irises. She started talking once she noticed me looking. "What are we hoping to find here?"

It was a good question. I didn't have a specific thing we wanted to know. "Answers." I said simply.

"But what are we asking?"

I didn't reply, because I didn't know. I realised she must have done a lot of thinking while she was cooped up in bed for the remainder of our journey so she could rest. She'd insisted she was okay, but then sheepishly detected at my side as I hopped off the boat, asking for a little assistance. So she'd had enough time to wonder at our aims here.

"I've been thinking..." She continued; "People have been researching pokemon for ages, and they still don't know everything. Why will we be any different?"

This was something I had the answer to. "Trainers don't fear their future. I fear for ours."

"...You fear the unknown."

"I do." I did not deny it. The book had given me more to worry about. "You don't?" I couldn't understand why she would not worry too, surely the past two fights we'd had was enough to make her worry about what we were.

She shrugged; "It was curiosity that killed the Delcatty, right?"

"But satisfaction brought it back." I said quietly. I would not be satisfied until I knew she was going to be safe, so if curiosity did lead me into trouble, so be it. "Let's just check this place out, while we're here. I'll decide then what we should do."

"Don't I have a say in this?" She pouted, her frown too cute to be a real one.

I smirked at her; "Of course, but don't forget who's supporting who here."

She looked down, her limp wasn't so bad with me taking the pressure, but she knew that without me she would have to detect everywhere, and that kind of move was what got us into trouble in the first place. My smirk widened victoriously as she rolled her eyes in defeat.

Up ahead, Salamence had already charged down a door to the building. I hadn't realised how close we were already. We stood and waited, Beth would tell us when we could join them.

"Whatever we find in there..." She paused; "You won't blame yourself, will you?"

I realised it wasn't that she didn't care what we found out about ourselves, quite the opposite. She was just as scared for our future as we were, she would just sooner be left in the dark, so she didn't have to worry constantly about our outcome. Like the idea of a monster in a child's imagination, she would rather shut her eyes then look under the bed to see if it was there.

Instead of answering her, I turned her to face me and carefully moved close to her. I still wasn't sure if she'd fully forgiven me after out fight. Tentatively, I kissed her. She didn't react like usual, but I realised it was because she couldn't hold her weight right. So to help, my arms found her waist, and they locked together around her back as I lifted her off the ground. A slight gasp rattled through her lips, but it didn't stop her. Her hands gripped onto my upper arms, dispersing some of her weight. She didn't have to do anything special to be amazing, everything was so natural to her, made me look like an amateur, even though neither of us had superior experience in relationships, really.

"Come on lover birds. Save it for later." Beth called.

I snorted gently, pulling away from her, but not placing her back on the floor. She giggled, and disappeared from my grasp. I nearly slapped myself in the stomach from the recoil, but her hands were suddenly there to hold them back for me.

We could walk until I'd taken her weight again, so I ducked under her arm, my shoulder her leverage as she limped to the building. By the time we reached it, Beth had gone, but Ash was standing waiting for us. I rolled my eyes, slightly annoyed when he took Dawn's other side. He's just trying to help, I reminded myself.

"The place is deserted," he informed us, "Beth used her Medicham to check. Not even wild pokemon."

That was strange, the place was that typical dwelling for poison types like Grimer, Zubat, Ekans... They thrived in cool, abandoned buildings with prey just outside the walls.

"I wonder why they left it..." Dawn pondered, her eyes dashing around nervously.

I looked around too, the place may have been void of life, but it was clear this place was a laboratory. Every room we checked was furnished with technical equipment that didn't look too dated. Dawn seemed to be thinking the same thing as me. "They didn't leave, they fled, didn't they?"

I could think of no other reason as to why they'd leave such expensive looking machines behind, scientists we very rarely wasteful. They couldn't afford to be.

"What's wrong Pikachu?"

I looked down at the little electric type, it's ears twitching wildly. It fell to four paws, sniffing around as if it recognised the scent. I sniffed too, and it wasn't until I concentrated on the smell that I noticed it. Pokemon were highly adapted to using all their senses, being brought up as a human, I usually overlooked smell. Only now, with heightened senses, I could smell something familiar.

"Can you smell it?" I asked Dawn.

"Smell what?" Both she and Ash sniffed, then frowned at me.

It took a little while of walking down the corridor until Dawn suddenly perked up; "I can smell it now!" she began to smile, but it faltered as she worked out what it was.

"It smells like morph blood, like back at the safe." Her voice was shaky, and she stopped walking. I, however, slipped from under her arm and balanced her weight onto Ash. "Beth must have already found them. I have to see that she's alright." I had to warn her not to touch anything. She did not want to become a morph.

"Paul, you're not going alone." She insisted, taking a step toward me. I glared at Ash, who coughed to get her attention; "Dawn, I think you'd be more of a hindrance if something was in there, given the current circumstances. We should go check the other rooms. I'm sure Paul can handle himself."

I nodded stiffly, suddenly unsure about leaving them alone. What if something appeared in front of them? Would Ash be able to fight them?

"I've brought my biggest pokemon, Paul. We'll be fine. Go check on Beth." He assured me, and I didn't have much other choice but to trust him and do as he suggested.

Dawn was side tracked, asking what pokemon he'd brought. I heard him reply with Snorlax, Sceptile, Heracross, Bayleef and of course his beloved Infernape. I grimaced slightly at the last one, it was always awkward around that pokemon. Our past was not going to be forgotten all that easily. I hurried away, in case Ash should decide to release it. Dawn's voice carried along the hall as I jogged away.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favour..." She sounded sad, and I slowed to listen to her. Why would she wait until I was gone to ask? I had to stay and find out.

"Anything Dawn, you know I will help you however I can." Ash promised. I wasn't sure whether to be happy Dawn had such a loyal friend, or vomit from the sickliness of their bond.

It took her a while to reply; "Well, I can't train my pokemon anymore, and I feel really bad about it. Plus I don't have anywhere to keep them like you do..."

I saw where she was going with it, Ash had a lot of pokemon, the same as I did. Only mine had been transferred to Beth's PC when Reggie passed away. She'd promised to look after them for me, and I was certain that she did.

I turned the corner and had to hold my breath, the smell was appalling. Beth was sat at a computer, typing rapidly into the keyboard as her Manetric stood powering it up. It's nose was wrinkled up too, but did not complain. I peeped over Beth's shoulder, her face was twisted, but not her nose. She was frowning in concentration.

"Can't..." She paused for a long while, concentrating; "Seem to crack the password-AH!" The screen flashed to another display, the main one. I chuckled; "There's a talent I didn't know you had."

She shrugged; "Not a talent, Porygon-Z did a lot of the work."

Upon hearing its name, the Porygon-Z I'd only ever seen as a Porygon-2 pulled itself out of the wires. It shuddered excitedly to Beth as she thanked and returned it.

"This smell is making me feel sick." I complained, only to see Manetric nod in agreement. Beth stopped scrolling through files and looked at me and her pokemon.

"Here." She threw a pokeball toward me, and I awkwardly threw it, out of practice. Her Roserade appeared, its boquet-like appendages crossed over its chest whilst it curtsied elegantly. It would have looked beautiful, had it not recoiled from the smell too.

"Could you use sweet scent please?" Beth smiled, then turned back to the computer. It nodded and wafted it's arms around, immediately easing the smell.

"Well, there are a lot of files that need sifting through..." She clicked a file which appeared a split second after and then began reading so I didn't reply. Her mouth fell slack in a half pout that always formed when she was concentrating, and two lines appeared between her eyebrows as she frowned. I tried to hold back a snort, but failed. I had barely finished the short laugh by the time the side of her fist connected to my stomach playfully. I curled over to avoid it hurting any more than it already did, and peered over her shoulder to the screen. There was a lot of writing... I scanned for more important things.

So yeah, sorry this is short, but I was going to put the documents on with it. But I think I'd prefer them as a chapter on their own, so that will be the next one. At least you got an Ikari moment, albiet a brief one. XD