Chapter 25: How's This Possible?

April 16th, Saturday 11:08 am

Long story short; Officer Jenny prohibited the three mischief makers from ever leaving the town Pokémon Center. Until their respective parents and/or legal guardians arrived to deal with the charges against them, that is.

"I can pay for the charges, officer." Aaron told the firm woman in a sweet tone. "I have enough money, you know."

Officer Jenny wasn't amused. "I'm sure you do. Perhaps you'll have enough to bribe your parents if they choose to ground you until you're forty."

Mitchell insisted in his annoyingly shrill voice. "But, officer, we're all above the legal age for traveling. Aaron and I are twelve, and Sam's ten. Doesn't that count for anything?"

Rolling her dark eyes, Officer Jenny regarded them with obvious irritation. "Ten is the legal age for traveling and for the acquiring of a job. It's a law carried out in the entirety of the Johto region, along with the surrounding regions. However, your parents are still responsible for you, until you reach the age of twenty one. You have nine more years to go, kid."

"What exactly did they do?" I asked, looking the three of them up and down with disdain.

Officer Jenny focused some of her attention on me. "Who are you?"

"Uh…" I hesitated, not wanting to take any responsibility for their actions, whatever they may have been. "Uh, well…"

"She's my sister!" Aaron said in a loud voice, grinning from ear to ear.

"And my best friend!" Sam piped in, grinning just as widely.

"Yeah, and she's my best friend's sister!" Always the follower, Mitchell joined them in grinning.

I stood there, frozen to the spot, contemplating on whether to run, faint, or smash their grinning faces into oblivion. Meanwhile, Officer Jenny looked me up and down, but seeing no fault (I hoped), she gave me what appeared to be a look of sincere sympathy.

"Well, for starters, they trashed two clothing stores, a boutique, and a candy shop." Officer Jenny explained, leafing through a pocket sized blue notepad. "Oh, and they flooded a hair salon, and nearly destroyed a shoe store."

"Did not!" Aaron protested. "We didn't nearly do anything. We simply did. So, we did destroy a shoe store."

I stared at him wide eyed. "Are you freaking insane?"

Officer Jenny cleared her throat, and my attention returned to her. "As I was saying, they also completely shattered windows and set benches on fire with the aid of their Pokémon. From what the surveillance cameras and eye witnesses tell me, they also dressed themselves in secondhand prom dresses and battled each other in the food court."

"You're joking!" I cried, blinking my eyes.

"I wish I was." Officer Jenny mumbled. "Anyway, until their parents arrive, they'll be under arrest here."

Aaron whistled and leaned back on the couch. "Twelve years old and already arrested. I wonder what our dear mother would say."

"Well, wonder no longer!" I whipped my head around and felt my blood freeze into ice at the very sight of my mother. She was marching towards us, her high heels clicking against the floor and her dark waves of hair bouncing with each step. I absently noticed her loyal Roserade trailing after her, looking just as peeved as my mother.

Wondering if my heart would soon break through my chest, I turned back to Aaron, who looked just as shell shocked as I felt.

"M-mom?" Aaron cried in a voice that lacked his usual confidence and flair.

My mother stood right next to me, surveying him with narrowed blue eyes. "That's right." She took full notice of me after a brief second, and I shrank back, awaiting a scolding tangent. I appeared to not be on her naughty list, since she smiled at me. "Oh, Gwen, honey, you had absolutely nothing to do with this, I'm sure."

I couldn't have nodded my head any quicker. "Of course not!"

She nodded approvingly before turning back to my brother with a piercing look. "I can't say the same for you can I?"

Aaron didn't respond. He only gulped, much to my faint entertainment.

"Aaron Warren Jenkins, do you have any idea how large of a bill we'll have to pay for the damages?"

"That's all Officer Jenny has been saying." Looking angry now, Aaron gestured to the royal blue clad officer. "I've got the money to pay for my part of the damage."

"Do you have money for my part?" Mitchell wanted to know. "Cuz, I'm broke, dude!"

Aaron chose this time to grin at his longtime friend. "Well, duh! It was my idea in the first place."

"Yes, and like a Mareep, my son followed you along like a mindless zombie." I whipped my head around to see Mitchell's mom stomping forward, with Mitchell's short, bespectacled father right behind her. "Seriously, Mitchell?"

Mitchell shrugged his skinny shoulders. "It sounded like fun."

"And it was!" Aaron agreed.

"Aaron!" Mom had her arms crossed. "This is serious."

"You bet is." Mitchell's mother said, turning to Mom. "It's serious to know that you've raised a child to think that trashing malls is part of entertainment."

"Oh, so you're blaming me?"

"Well, I most certainly can't blame the preteen boy, can I?" Mitchell's mother's face was serious. "He's only doing what his upbringing told him to do."

"Allison, being a psychologist doesn't entitle you to make assumptions about my son or how Daryl and I chose to raise him." My mother's voice was deadly calm, and her expression told me that she was close to snapping. "I believe we should more or less question the fact that your son chose to follow my son with his antics. What sort of example are you setting for your kids, might I ask?"

Mitchell's mother was still at it. "Last time I checked, Charlotte, you weren't an attorney involved with family court. You dealt with the juvies. And, furthermore, didn't you give up law practice for homemaking? A wrong choice I might add."

"Uh, dear?" Mitchell's father put his hand on her arm, but she shrugged him off.

"I personally believe that it was a wrong choice for you to get yourself knocked up in high school, Allison. Maybe that affected your son's upbringing?"

I tuned out of their heated conversation, and scanned the lobby. We were, thankfully, the only people present, but that was enough for embarrassment. Officer Jenny was looking on at the arguers with an almost bored expression, whereas both Mitchell and Aaron were exchanging sheepish looks.

Sam, on the other hand, was sitting back on the couch, watching the glass doors of the Pokémon Center with some sort of glee. "Wow! When's my mom going to show up?"

He flashed a toothy grin at me, and I sighed. Without saying another word, I hurried out of the Pokémon Center, leaving the crazies far behind me.

April 16th, Saturday 11:42 am

Seated on a bench overlooking one of Marigold City's battlefields, I watched the older kids training and goofing off upon it. Spykes and Levina sat next to me, while Bricks lingered on my other side, purposefully avoiding both Sir Edwin and Zorro.

The two had taken to antagonizing him, both in their own individual ways. Sir Edwin did so by jabbering away to him about unknown things, all the while flapping his wings vigorously when he felt that Bricks wasn't paying attention. Zorro, on the other hand, chose to leer at Bricks, and threw random glares his way when he thought I wasn't looking.

"That's they're way of being friendly," I told Bricks, hoping that my voice was reassuring. "You can't take what they do or say to heart."

Bricks just looked up at me with big Machop eyes, before heaving a sigh. He stared down at his feet, looking downcast.

I kind of felt the same way; downcast, I mean.

Aaron and Mitchell were either watching the moms argue, or they were being scolded. And, depending on whether or not, Mrs. Wilson had shown up, Sam was either being scolded or just waiting to join in on the fun known as being lectured to and handed a punishment.

Thinking about it all was making my head spin, and my stomach filled with dread. The whole point of coming to Marigold City was to nab my brother and get to him to reason with Whitney. Yet, here we were, and Sam was crewing it all up, as was Aaron. And Mitchell.

"Why me?" I asked aloud to no one.

Levina looked up at me with an expression of both puzzlement and concern. "Ele?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing that you need to be worried with, Lev. Why don't you go play with Zorro and Sir Edwin?"

Levina gave me a rather pointed look, and gestured to the two aforementioned Pokémon with a yellow paw. "Elekid."

Zorro was currently lurking and sulking in the shadows of some bleachers, his eyes narrowed at the current trainers training their Pokémon. Meanwhile, Sir Edwin was hobbling around on his one visible leg, and appeared to be screeching at random kids for the heck of it.

The only ones 'playing' were Spykes and Bricks, who had abandoned the bench for a small, unorganized game of what appeared to be "Who Can Break the Most Sticks with a Single Attack?". It wasn't going well, since Spykes kept setting sticks on fire while Bricks kept cringing at the sight of flames.

"I've got such epic Pokémon!" I cried, sarcasm dripping from my tone. Levina gave me another pointed look, so I quickly took back what I said. "I didn't really mean that, honest!"

Levina didn't appear satisfied. She seemed downright irritated, and with good reason, too. After rolling her eyes at me, she trotted off to comfort a spooked Spykes and a cowering Bricks.

My day of depression was officially complete if my most loyal ally had chosen to abandon me.

Distressed, I rested my head on my propped up elbows and heaved one monotonous sigh. "Best day ever."

"You okay?" I looked up to see a girl sitting herself down on the bench in front of my own. She had to at least be twelve, with red hair pulled back in a windblown bun and an cool blue outfit. A Hitmontop sat down beside her, and regarded me with curiosity.

"Huh?" I said, unremarkably.

The girl sighed and smiled. "I was wondering if you were okay. You seem pretty, well, crestfallen, for lack of a better word."

Her Hitmontop nodded in agreement. "Top!"

I shrugged. "My days have been pretty rotten lately."

"I hear ya." The girl nodded. "My week's been pretty rough too. I've been training my butt off for the latest city tournament and I've had to deal with obnoxious people."

"Same here!" I practically shrieked. "My best friend, my brother, and my brother's best friend, to name a few."

"Are the best friend's guys?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, most of the morons I've been dealing with are dudes too." The girl tucked loose strands of red hair behind her ear and glared up at the sky, as if it were to blame. "Like there's this one jerk of a guy named Aaron who I had to battle today in this tournament. Except, now the whole thing's been canceled because his mom's grounded him or something. I'm instantly the winner, which is kind of swell, don't get me wrong. But, that means I trained for nothing! Like, seriously?"

I was nodding along with her supportively until a name was mentioned. And even then, I still had to process everything she had just said to fully get who we were talking about. Couldn't my brother go one day without pissing someone off?

"Did you really just say Aaron?" I asked, hesitantly.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, Aaron Jenkins. Do you know him?"

I opted for the oblivious option. "Nah! But, he sounds like a total moronic jerk."

"That's because he is. He won't quit winking at me and he won't quit using pick up lines. I mean, for Arceus' sake! We're only twelve!" she shook her head, and took in a deep breath. Looking at me again, she smiled. "But, never mind my issues. I'm Ellie Walters."

"Ah!" The first name definitely sounded familiar enough. Aaron had to have mentioned her at some point. "I'm Gwen."

"Gwen what?" Ellie asked, curiously.

"Uh…" I mentally debated on whether to lie or just come clean, but I eventually decided to get out of the entire situation. "Was your starter a Tyrogue?" I instead asked, gesturing to her Hitmontop.

Ellie shook her head. "Nah! It was a Charmander, but my grandma sent my Hitmontop to me when I was having difficulties battling the Pewter City gym leader. He's a Rock-type specialist." She added.

"Oh, so you're from Kanto." I felt glad that things were finally running smoothly with something.

"Yep!" Ellie said, proudly.

"Top!" her Hitmontop said, sounding just as proud.

I peered down at my Pokémon, and smiled to see that they were all still present. Levina was watching as Spykes and Bricks continued their stick game, while Sir Edwin was resting on a bench. Zorro was still sulking in his emo corner, which really wasn't new.

I was about to turn back to Ellie when a flash of green caught my eye. I squinted at the tall figure standing close to the battlefield entrance, and took in the green hair and pair of shortalls.

"Mallory?" I stood up, momentarily forgetting Ellie and her Hitmontop.

My eyes still on the figure, I hurried past several bleachers and past Zorro, headed towards the figure. Whoever it was was leaving the battlefield now, and I jogged close behind them.

"Mallory!" I called. The figure kept on walking, but it had to be her. The single green braid, the athletic build, the white shortalls? Who else could it have been? "Mallory!"

I caught up to the person soon enough, and they finally stopped walking. They turned around to face me, and I let out a sharp gasp.

It was Mallory, but it was Mallory if she had a pair of eye contacts that made her eyes altered from their usual aqua-blue. They were currently the color of golden amber, a frightening look, in my opinion.

"Mallory?" I said again, looking her up and down.

'Mallory' gave me a look over and smiled. She didn't say a word, but simply cocked her head to side.

"Uh, are you okay?" I asked, feeling a little creeped out.

'Mallory' silently giggled at me before clasping her hands behind her back. She looked at me with those creepy golden eyes, and out of nowhere, extended her hand towards me.

I stared down at it, feeling a familiar flurry of confusion. "Um…" I took her hand, not knowing what the heck was going on. "Mallory?"

Her hand holding mine, she looked me up and down again before doing the most strange and gasp-worthy thing. Her entire body began vibrating, from head to toe. And, as I watched, her appearance shifted and changed into…me.

The long green hair had shrunk and been replaced by choppy, shoulder length brown. The skin tone had darkened to that of olive. Freckles had appeared on her changed face. And, to top it all off, her height was changed to match mine exactly. To make matters worse, the green shirt and white shortalls were gone, replaced by my purple outfit.

My jaw dropped open and my eyes widened as I looked the mirror image up and down. The only think not matching me were the eyes. They were still that same piercing golden. Even so, the entire result was both frightening and unnerving.

"A-am I staring at a doppelganger?" I asked in a small voice. A dumb question, yes, but it was the first thing to pop into my head, besides 'OMG'. I backed away from 'Mallory/Gwen', and snatched my hand away. "Who are you? What are you?"

'Mallory/Gwen' shrugged, which was sooo freaking reassuring. She smiled at me, which was pretty freaking creepy still. The only way I could ever smile at myself was with a mirror present, and there wasn't one around, as far as I knew.

Just to prove a point to myself, I tapped the vacant air between me and my impersonator. Nothing solid was there, that was for certain. But, that didn't do much, except evaporate one theory of sorts.

"Lati!" I froze, and looked over 'Mallory/Gwen's shoulder at the newcomer to this odd affair. It was a boy, who looked at least twelve or thirteen. His hair was ruffled and blue while his eyes were a freaky crimson.

My impersonator appeared surprised by his appearance, but she hurried to his side nonetheless. Her back was to me when I heard a light, feminine voice say, "Brother, it's that girl from the cave! Remember how I led her out of the dark?"

"Uh-huh." A young, boyish voice said. It was coming from the boy, but from what I could see, his mouth was opening at all. "We need to leave. The rockets are here."

"Where do we go now? Will the athlete and shopper help us?"

The boy nodded, but his mouth still remained closed. "They will. Now, get out of that form, will you? It'll make people suspicious!"

And, I stood there, dumbly, as my impersonator's form changed a second time, into a familiar girl with red hair, blue eyes, and a kind expression.

"You're that girl from Union Cave!" I cried, pointing. "Oh my gosh!" I felt my heart beating quick and hard against my chest, and I felt prepared to pass out. "How's this possible?"

The boy looked me in the eyes with his crimson irises. "Anything is possible. Don't tell anyone what you've seen or heard, understand, human?"

I managed a small nod.

"I know she won't." the girl smiled at me. "She's friends with the athlete and shopper. I think we can trust her."

"It's better to know than to think, sister. But, I agree." The boy didn't smile, but remained expressionless.

They said nothing more, but simply vanished, just like that.

"Elekid!"

"Scy!"

"Did you just see that, or was I hallucinating?"

I turned myself around to face the new questions and cries, and found Levina, Zorro, and Ellie standing there. They looked as dumbfounded as I felt.

I honestly planned on making this entire chapter longer, but more words came out sounding forced. Instead, that's all for chapter twenty five, folks! I hope that it was enjoyable enough, and please leave a review if you are able.

Au revoir, reader/writers!