Chapter 25

How could Jade not tell us?

Lizzy was walking in front of the Pokemon center. She said that she wanted some time alone.

I mean, come on! She could have at least given us a hint!

"Hey, Lizzy," said Jade.

Lizzy looked over at Jade, "What do you want?"

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for not telling you before," she said, "I just didn't think that I could risk it. And now I'm worried about Cyrus."

Lizzy didn't move. But she understood, "I understand."

Jade nodded, "Thank you."

Lizzy looked down, "I think that you're lucky. You get to be human."

Jade felt a little bit of sadness rush through her, "We'll figure out how to get you back to normal."

Lizzy looked up, "Thanks."

Jade smiled, "Come on. Let's go back into the Center."

Jade began to walk back into the Pokemon center. Lizzy followed. They made it into their room.

"Hello," said Kirlia.

"Hi Kirlia," said Lizzy. She paused, "Kirlia, are you sure that last night, you asked if nurse Joy was coming?"

"Yeah. Why?" asked Kirlia.

"Well, that's not what we heard. We heard something about the eye in the storm. I didn't think that it made much sense."

"That's not what I tried to say," said Kirlia.

"That's just weird..."

Ryan was walking through Hearthome. He had the box with the necklace in his hand. He had yet to see what was inside, let alone give it to Lizzy. He stopped.

Well, now's as good of a time as any. He looked at the box and took a deep breath. He opened it. He could not believe what was inside.

"Dammit," he mumbled. He didn't want to make a scene. Out of all of the necklaces that I could have picked up, it just had to be this one!

He saw a little piece of paper and a crayon on the ground. Probably left by some kid that forgot to pick up everything that he was playing with. Ryan picked up the piece of paper and the red crayon. He started to write a note on it. He shoved the note in the box before shoving that into his pocket. He began walking on.

Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot...

Ryan was so focused on the necklace that he did not notice that he was walking away from Hearthome. He was walking into a very thick forest. He looked up.

"How in the world did I end up here?" he asked himself. He turned around. He couldn't see the city, "That's weird..."

Ryan felt some pain in his right shoulder. He looked around. Someone was clutching it tight. He couldn't run.

Someone put a cloth over his mouth. He could feel himself getting more sleepy. He yelled through the cloth.

Fight it! FIGHT IT! Ryan tried to shake his head loose and grab a hold of the cloth, but another person grabbed his arms. He couldn't fight it any longer. He passed out.

"Did anyone else just get a chill?" asked Lizzy.

"No," said Kirlia.

"Not me," said Jade.

"It must have been my imagination then," said Lizzy. And yet, she couldn't shake the strangest feeling that something was wrong, "I'm going outside."

"Have fun," said Kirlia.

Lizzy got the scarf over her head and walked out of the room. When she was sure that they couldn't see her, she began to run.

What's wrong anyways?

Lizzy just kept running. She didn't even know where she was running to, she just knew that she had to get somewhere.

Lizzy was scared, and she didn't know why.

"In here!" yelled someone. Lizzy was on the edge of Hearthome and there was a forest right there. She was pulled in by someone.

"Woah!" she yelled. She fell down a hole in the ground. There was a little area inside of it that she could move in. In the middle, was a table with what looked like a crystal ball in the center of it.

"Hello! Is someone there?" she asked. She turned around. There was no one there. When she looked back, there was a pinkish purplish Pokemon sitting right there.

"What the?"

Hello. I am Espeon. Please have a seat.

A mat appeared in front of the Espeon. Lizzy said, "You can speak into my mind?"

Yes. Please take a seat Lizzy.

Lizzy took a seat, "How do you know my name?"

I can read your thoughts. Please do not speak. Only think. Thought Espeon.

Alright. Fine. Thought Lizzy. Why am I here right now?

I need to show you something. I will transmit images that I see into the ball. Please keep your eyes on it and try to keep your mind clear.

Lizzy watched the crystal ball. She tried not to think about anything. She just watched it.

Past...

Lizzy gazed intently into the ball. A figure appeared. She recognized it as Ryan.

Ryan was walking absentmindedly into the woods. He had his hands shoved into his pockets and was looking down. He stopped.

He looked up. His face was filled with confusion. He looked back. Lizzy saw someone grab his shoulder and hold it tight. Ryan looked back. The person put a cloth over his mouth. Ryan tried to get it off. Another figure grabbed his arms and held them to his sides. Ryan passed out into their arms. They carried him off into the woods...

"RYAN!" yelled Lizzy, "I have to go!"

Lizzy started to run.

But you do not know where to look. Please, sit down.

Lizzy turned around with some difficulty. She slowly made her way back onto the mat.

Please. Look into the ball again.

Lizzy looked into the ball. She watched as the inside became cloudy and blueish.

Present...

Lizzy was looking at a building now. She recognized it as the contest hall. Lizzy watched as the two men walked into the contest hall very quickly. They opened the front door. There was a chair right next to the door. They moved it out of the way. You could see a very small latch on the ground. They opened it very fast and ran inside it. They shoved Ryan into the hole.

Lizzy was looking at a strange lab like place. This was where the image stopped.

Now. Look at the ball and think as hard as you possibly can on the one you call, Ryan.

Lizzy thought hard about him. The way that he looked, his personality, everything that she could possibly think of.

And now, future...

Lizzy could only see things in very fast fragments of video like things. She could see the people strapping him into a chair. She could see him fighting to get out. She could see them injecting him with something. Then she saw something very odd. She could see the time go backwards on the clock. Then she could see them injecting her with that stuff.

Lizzy saw herself and Ryan walking down the road. It wasn't a road in the Pokemon world. But she was still a Vulpix. It was the road of their hometown.

What the? Thought Lizzy.

Yes. You must go.

"Goodbye," said Lizzy. Espeon used some kind of attack on Lizzy and she was lifted out of the hole. Lizzy was on solid ground again and she ran towards the contest hall...

"We were unable to find E 45. However, we were able to find this boy," said a grunt.

Another grunt was typing on some kind of computer, "There is no record of this boy anywhere."

"Which is why he will be perfect. People will not go looking for him."

"Excellent job," said a man.

"Thank you sir!" they both yelled.

"You may leave."

Both of the grunts ran through a door.

Excellent. If this goes as planned, I will have another successful subject.

Meanwhile, Ryan woke up. He was strapped down in a chair.

"What the hell? Where the heck am I?" he asked.

"You are in the secret headquarters of team Galactic," said the man.

Lizzy was at contest hall. A woman walked in. She followed behind her. Lizzy looked to the right, where she saw the chair in the vision. It was right there. She crawled under it. And sure enough, there was a latch. She pulled it with both of her paws. It opened. She went through the small space.

"Woah!" she yelled. She expected there to be stairs. Instead, there was a kind of slide. She slid down the tunnel.

Lizzy landed on the floor. It was made out of marble.

"Owww..." she muttered.

She looked up. She wasn't in the lab yet. But there was a door. She ran towards it, totally forgetting that she wouldn't be able to open it.

And then, she looked at her eye level. A pet door.

Why am I getting the strangest sense of deja vu?

Lizzy was about to go through it when she heard footsteps behind her. She looked back and saw a grunt. She was scared.

"Well? Aren't you gonna go through?" asked the grunt. Lizzy was confused. She didn't move.

"Hurry up and go through already!" he yelled, kicking Lizzy through the pet door. She tumbled backwards through it, and hit her head on a chair leg.

"Owww... What's his problem?" she looked at the room a little bit closer. It looked exactly like the one in the vision.

She looked over at another chair. A man was sitting in it, "Hello Lizzy?"

"How the heck do you know my name?" she yelled.

Lizzy saw a translator hooked up to the man's ear. It looked different from the translator that she and Ryan used.

"We are teamed up with a group called the Aurck. They specialize in Pokemon transformations. They were also the ones to change you," said the man.

"WHAT?" screamed Lizzy.

"Yes. And now, you have two choices," said the man.

Lizzy paused, "What are they?"

"Your first choice," the man picked up a syringe, "Is for me to inject this into your friend right there."

Lizzy didn't notice that Ryan was sitting in the chair. Lizzy looked

"And the other one?"

"We inject this," the man picked up another syringe, "Into you."

Lizzy looked at him, "I think that we both know what my choice is. But before we start, I need to ask you; What exactly is your name?"

The man looked a little confused, "My name?"

"Yes."

The man smirked, "My name is Cyrus."