Hello, my lovely readers! Yay, looks like I found time to post this! I'm not too happy about the way I wrote some of the things in here, I rewrote a bunch and man it was frustrating! However, you guys deserve a chapter! So let's hope it turned out alright.

Thank you all for your continued support, I don't deserve any of this, I swear! XD

Shout outs!: QuartzClaw, QUEENSPELLER67, hollylu, Pokegirls group (AKA Misty), Sapphire2112, laravengood, guess who, Ern Estine 13624, and TheeFirstEvil! Means a lot. Guys, your reviews seriously bring a smile to my face, so really thank you :)

Replies to guest reviewers: (Sapphire2112) Aww I'm so happy you liked it! Yay, it's nice to know what chapters were people's favorite XD I bet you only liked that because of the pokeshipping, huh ;) Yeah, I know it's ending soon, but have no fear! I will be writing still. I have a lot of ideas lined up for new stories, and I'm not too sure about a sequel for this just yet, but maybe in the future!

(guess who) I know I've been prolonging them getting back together, but trust me it is coming! I have it all set up, so don't you fret ^-^

(hollylu) Aww thanks for the review! I know these last few chapters haven't been the longest, but I hope this one makes up for it a little! It's longer then the last few! Im sad this story is about to end too, but it has to happen sooner or later XD Thank you very much!

Love you all, and enjoy!


Gary dreamed.

There was a man, a dark blurry figure looming over him, and smirking sinisterly, like he knew something Gary didn't-that he never would. The man tilted his head, ever so slightly, and pressed a finger up to his lips, shushing him through his smile.

The dream itself was something out of a horror film, with splatters of red dotting Gary's vision, and chilling shrieks sounding off in the distance, like erupting fireworks bursting intermittently.

Bam

There was a scream

Bam

And another one.

Gary attempted to move, but his legs had turned to stone.

"Can you not see?" asked the man, his figure wavering and lagging. "Look harder, boy." Gary obliged, not because he wanted to, but because it was a dreamscape, and in dreamscapes you are the game being played, not the other way around, so the picture became clear.

Ash, Misty, Drew, May, Paul, Dawn, and Leaf were all tied up, hanging by tiny threads. Those were the only things stopping them from plummeting down to their demise through a deep pit going Mew knows how far down. Gary's eyes widened at the picture.

"What are you?" Gary asked, trailing his sentence off as another man appeared, this time resembling Lance. Gary's breath caught in his throat. The Dreamscape Lance looked at him with a disappointed expression on his face, before pulling out a large pair of scissors. He turned towards the seven of them.

"Who shall be first to go?" the original man asked, placing his hands on top of Gary's shoulders and digging his nails (claws?) into his flesh. Gary winced.

"To go?" he asked confused. Gary was, dare he say it, afraid...lost and afraid.

"Down the hole of course, to never be seen again!" It was theatrical the way he laughed, like he was mocking him.

"Don't touch them!" Gary growled in response.

"Why not?" Lance suddenly spoke, that same sad, and disappointed expression still glued onto his face. "I thought you hated them."

"No...no I..." he trailed off.

The original man smirked before carrying on with his hurtful banter. "See? You don't have an excuse! You do want them all to drop off the face of the planet!"

"No, I never said that!"

Lance took a step towards Misty, causing both her eyes and Gary's to go wide.

"No!" Gary screamed, his voice cracking, "stop!" Lance didn't listen. The snapping sound was heard, followed by Misty's shriek of terror as her body plummeted out of sight.

"One down, six more to go," Lance said flatly.

"Stop!" Gary cried again, this time struggling against the original man's grip. The man's claws dug deeper, and an almost tangible anger radiated off of him.

"This is what you wanted!" the man growled. "They don't mean anything to you!"

One after one Lance snipped away their lifelines, and all of them fell with a heart wrenching shriek. Each scream felt like a bullet to Gary's chest.

Bam.

There went Drew.

Bam.

And Dawn.

Bam, Bam, Bam.

May, Ash, and Paul.

Gary screamed right alongside them. His pleas were ignored by both Dreamscape-Lance, and the man. Gary felt physically drained, as if he himself had just been shot. His vision was going blurry.

"One last person to go," Lance declared.

Gary's heart twisted. It was Leaf.

"This one will be a pleasure to watch," the man said with a smirk. "Just picture her body hitting the floor with a smack!" He clapped his hands loudly as he said this, causing Gary to jump. "Remember when she betrayed you? When she double crossed everyone like the bitch she is! Won't it feel good to see her go? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"No! She's not...I never wanted this for any of them! They're my-" he stopped himself, and that was all the man needed. He nodded to Lance, whose eyes grew sadder.

The snapping sound echoed throughout the scene, as did Gary's screams.

He woke up with a gasp.

It took at least ten minutes for Gary's heart rate to go back to normal.

When it did, a glare was quick to come upon the teen's face. Great, just great. His subconscious was trying to tell him something, something that he really didn't want to hear.

Fucking emotions, and fucking guilt, and fucking-fuck!

Gary was put in one of those lovely moods again, and all he wanted to do was punch something. That would make him feel better.

Sighing, he picked himself up out of his bed, and went to go downstairs. Maybe Gramps would have some work he could do for him, to get his mind off of them. Especially to get his mind off of Leaf, whose screaming face was enough to haunt him for days.


Lance didn't expect to get a call that afternoon from Principal Brown of all people. After all, having your boss call wasn't really a good thing, let alone inviting, especially when they're calling on your vacation. It was too bad Lance wasn't some place warm, like in the Orange Islands soaking up the sun. Instead he was stuck home, freezing his ass off in the cold. His heater had been broken too, and the roads were too icy for the repair man I come fix it anytime soon. Luckily for him he had his dragon type pokemon fix him up a toasty fire. But that being said, it didn't save him from the call.

He really didn't want to answer that damn thing.

"Hello?" came his reluctant response.

'Lance, hello, I'm sorry to disturb you during the holidays, but I was wondering if you could tell me something,' Brown's voice sounded on the other end, completely formal.

Geez, would it kill the guy to loosen up for a change? Lance thought disdainfully. He bet the man was all the rage at parties...sarcasm.

"Sure, go right ahead."

'It's about your course. I'm aware that you have put students in groups for some kind of project, and I was wondering if you could tell me the names of one group in particular.'

Okay, like that wasn't totally suspicious. Lance raised an eyebrow, a bit caught off guard. Why would he need to know that?

"I suppose so, which group?"

'Paul Sinji's.'

Lance was so lost. Why the hell is he asking about Paul's group? What did they do this time?

"Is he in trouble? I don't really understand why you need to know this."

'It doesn't really concern you, Lance. I have some suspicions, and I need them to be confirmed, now please, tell me their names.' he demanded.

Lance twitched. Okay, who know his boss had such an attitude.

"Of course, sir," he said through gritted teeth. "The students in Paul's group are May Maple, Misty Waterflower, Ash Ketchum, Drew Hayden, Gary Oak, Leaf Greene, and Dawn Berlitz."

'Thank you."

"No problem, sir."

Only it was a problem. There was something fishy going on, and Lance didn't like it one bit.


Misty's eyes grew wide.

Ash's eyes matched her own.

A blush rose to both of their cheeks, drenching their face in the dark scarlet color, before realization hit them like a bus.

They had just kissed.

Okay, actually their lips were still on each other's. It was like they were frozen in place. Minutes passed in silence, before both of the teens completely lost it.

"AAAAAAH," Ash and Misty screamed in unison, flying back from one another as if they touched fire.

"Y-y-you k-kissed me!" she shrieked, her face growing an even darker shade of red, if that was even possible.

"I kissed you!?" he asked in disbelief, "you kissed me!" They both stared at each other, embarrassment evident on their features.

To be honest, they really shouldn't have been all that caught off guard. After all, it wasn't the first time they had kissed. There was that one time in middle school under the bleachers, and that one time when they were five, and also the one at the party and...

It didn't matter! They kissed, as in: Misty's lips were placed on Ash's. The situation in and of itself was already embarrassing enough, but to end it off with a smooch was just beyond them.

"You were the one who fell on my lips, idiot!" she screeched back, clearly still phased. Her hands were placed on her head, and if she could crawl in a hole and stay there for the rest of her life well, she would. Ash, on the other hand, was clutching onto his dresser for support, as if it were the only thing keeping him from drowning in his embarrassment.

"You pulled me up onto your lips! This wasn't my fault!" he yelled back.

"W-w-well, y-y-you...it is too your fault!" She cringed at her response. Man that was a lame comeback.

"It is not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Well I'm sorry then, it's not like I wanted to!"

Misty blinked, somewhat offended by his statement. Why are you getting so worked up about that? It's not like you wanted him to do it on purpose, she scolded herself. Arceus she was a liar.

"It's not like I wanted to either!"

Ash's face fell for a moment. "Well, fine then!" replied the raven haired teen stubbornly.

"Fine!"

They took a step closer, beginning to glare daggers at each other.

"Good, then!"

"Good!"

They were merely inches apart, and with each breath they got closer, and louder. The two teens eyes were fixated on each other's, which under the right circumstances could have meant they were lovingly staring into each other's eyes, if it weren't for the fact that they were glaring daggers at one another.

"Alright!"

"I guess so!"

Their noses were practically touching.

"Ugh!" Misty screamed, and grabbed a hold of his collar, this time pulling him down for a real kiss. Let's face it, Ash had no objections.

Misty getting home could wait.

The kiss was pretty angry at first, but as time went on it grew into a gentler one. All the sexual frustration, had finally blown up, and then wore down leaving them mentally exhausted. They were done holding back their feelings for one another. After all, they had been doing it for years. It was about time they both looked passed their stubbornness.

The kiss in simplest terms was deep and romantic. It was so full of care and love, reflecting what the two of them had shown each other for years, but now in a more tangible form.

When they finally pulled apart, Misty and Ash stood breathing heavily. They both stared at each other in the eyes, wide eyed, and sheepish.

Ash was the first to break the silence. "I-I've loved you since Middle School!"

Misty blinked, caught off guard by his words. Not for the first time that day, a blush crept its way onto her face. Ash smiled awkwardly. "Heh," he said again, rubbing the back of his head, "sorry, I had to get that off of my chest."

"Mew damn it, I'm in love with a wacko," she said under her breath. "Ash, I've been pining after you since sixth grade. You mean to tell me that you...you've liked me for this long too!?" She groaned. "I feel like such an idiot."

"You liked me too!? You mean it? Wait a second...you love me!?" He stared at her with wide eyes, as if not fully comprehending. She gave him a smile, which he returned wholeheartedly. The two if them then erupted in a fit of giggles, finally cracking.

Misty felt like some kind of weight had been lifted off of her chest. Ash had just kissed her, and not only that, he said he loved her. The girl's stomach filled with butterfrees.

"That's it, I don't care who hears me! I LOVE MISTY WATERFLOWER!" Ash suddenly screamed, jumping up and down in the room and picking up Misty as he did so. He twirled her around, laughing joyously as he did so. Misty giggled.

Delia would be gone for another hour, right?


Leaf couldn't stand it anymore. She was sick of all of it. Their whole group was being insanely stubborn, and it was really getting on her nerves. Because, Mew-damn it, why couldn't they just admit that they had all fucked up!? They messed up, they hurt each other, so what!? She was trying her damn hardest to fix that. Leaf Greene wanted nothing more than for all of them to see just how sorry she was. Ever since that night she had been drowning in her guilt, and at least she could admit that much, so why couldn't they!? Why couldn't anyone else admit that they were just as much to blame?

Why couldn't they all just make up?

It was important, not just because of the Team Rocket standpoint, but because they couldn't go their whole life hating each other for what happened, and hating themselves for not doing what was in their power to stop it. Hell, Leaf knew that all of them felt bad about it, or at least she had a hunch. They were all just too good of people not to. Not only this, it was clear to her that she liked hanging out with them. And maybe it was a stupid thought or whatever, but Leaf actually believed that when the whole project blew over, they would still end up being friends. They could drop the 'we aren't really friends!' act, because she wasn't buying it.

Still, she needed them together for other reasons as well. After all, she had a feeling-a gut wrenching feeling, that in order to stop Team Rocket, they had to work together. It was not negotiable.

So could you really blame her for writing fake letters to each member of the group, telling them to meet at some park near her house the day before the break was over? After all, how else was she supposed to get them together?


'Riiiiiiiiiiiing...Riiiiiiiiiiing...Riiiii-

"Hello?" May answered the phone, snuggling into her couch and popping a large bite of pancake into her mouth. She checked the ID, and saw that Misty had called. There's a shocker.

'May?' came the uncharacteristically tentative voice of Misty, "we need to talk. Both of us." She sounded flustered, and May had to admit, it caught her a bit off guard.

"Misty, is that you? Why do you sound so embarrassed?" A smirk crept its way onto the brunette's soft features. "Did something happen between you and Ash?" she teased.

'Well, I...'

May almost choked on her pancake. "Oh my Arceus, it did!"

'Sh-shut up!" the redhead hissed. May was livid. She was clutching so hard onto her phone that anymore pressure would have crushed it. She couldn't believe her ears.

"I leave for barely a week, and the next thing I know my two best friends are lip-locking it out behind my back!" May said this in jest, but Misty was in no mood for laughter. May could practically feel the heat from Misty's face radiating through the phone. Man she loved teasing her.

'W-well you're one to talk! Since when did you and Drew get back together!?' All humor drained from May's face, and the brunette suppressed a blush. Being around Drew, despite the fact that they were dating, still caused her get flustered like crazy. She pouted, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance.

Wait a minute...

"How did you know Drew and I got back together?" May asked suspiciously.

On the other end, Misty laughed awkwardly. 'Yeah, okay, I guess I have more than just a little to explain.'

Suddenly Brianna came out of May's kitchen with a glass of water in her hand. "I hope you didn't eat all of the pancakes while I was gone, Maple," she said as she sat down beside the brunette.

'What the fuck!?' Misty's eloquent way of speech sounded. It was so loud May had to hold the phone away from her ear. 'Was that Brianna!?'

"Heheh, I guess I have some stuff to explain as well," May replied, sweat-dropping.

It was going to be a long phone call.


Dear Mr. Ketchum,

It's National Free Pie Day this upcoming Sunday, and to celebrate Ivy Park is giving out a bundle of pies! You better come, or someone else might beat ya to it! Hope to see you there!

Ash scanned the letter with wide eyes, his mouth watering, and his stomach already growling. Oh, he would be there alright. Just they wait!

"Yeah!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist up in the air as he did so.


Miss Waterflower,

This upcoming Sunday Ivy Park is hosting it's annual fishing festival! With amazing water types lurking in its vast ponds, this park is meant for avid fishers, and trainers like yourself! It would be a pleasure to have you attend! Plus, the grand prize is a super rare collector's item: THE MEGA DESTRUCTO MALLET 500! This novelty mallet has your name on it. Be there or be square!

Misty's eyes filled with stars. She needed that mallet for her collection, and she'd be damned if she didn't win it. Her fishing skills would land her that baby in no time!

Sunday would be a blast!


Gary,

Hey baby, meet me at Ivy Park this upcoming Sunday. I've been meaning to give you a special surprise ;). It will help get your mind off if those losers, right? I know things have gotten really messy with them, so what do ya say? See you there, hot stuff! Xoxox

Love,

Your secret admirer (ps. I'll be the one in the red scarf)

Okay, so Gary wasn't that desperate... He didn't need some random hook up, he was Gary Oak! He made the hook ups himself! Still, it would be nice for a change to get away, and the letter had an air of mystery to it that certainly pulled him in. It was even sprayed with perfume, and he had to admit, the smell was driving him crazy. It was kind of familiar too...almost like Leaf's...

"Ugh!" Gary yelled, "why do I keep thinking about her!? You know what!? I'm going to meet his chick, just to prove I'm over that backstabber! Who cares about Leaf!?" He ran a hand through his spikes angrily. What a drag.


Dear May,

You have been handpicked to compete in Ivy Park's annual pie eating contest! With your skills, you're a shoe in to win! Hope you're ready for a day of baked goods, competition, and the race to win a year's supply of Granny Good's pastries!

"Alright!" May exclaimed happily. "I love food eating contests! They barely even happen in the winter time too! Ooh, now I'm excited!"


Drew,

Meet me at Ivy Park on Sunday. Come alone. I have some dirt on you that you wouldn't want getting out in the open. If you don't want this information leaking, then you best be on your way. Oh, and if you're wondering what this information entails, I only have three words for you: Fifth Grade Pageant.

All the color drained from Drew's face.

"No," he said gravely, backing away from the cursed paper. "No one must know!"

He had no choice but to go.


Dear Dawn Berlitz,

Your beauty has landed you a chance to pose in next month's edition of Poke Allure! The photo shoot is at Ivy Park this upcoming Sunday. Bring your smiles, and your heart!

Dawn squealed as she put down her suitcase from the ski trip, and clutched the letter to her chest. She couldn't wait to tell Paul when they went out for dinner that night. No, scratch that. She'd wait until the photo shoot was over, and then show him the magazine for himself! She couldn't wait to surprise him!


Paul,

I don't care what you say. We are all meeting on Sunday to discuss this. We need to work this out. I've already made myself clear, stopping Team Rocket will only be possible with some help. And who better to do it than our friends!? Meet at Ivy Park, because everyone else will already be there, so you might as well too.

-Leaf


It was the day before they would have to go back to that wretched school, and the day all of them were unknowingly meeting with each other. Well, two out of the eight knew about it.

Leaf made it to the park with no trouble, and decided to take a seat close to the main entrance, that way she would be able to catch them. A cold gust of air blew in her face, causing the brunette to shiver. The weather was incredibly windy, and not to mention extremely uncomfortable. However, Leaf was determined not to let that get to her head. She had a job to do, after all. She pulled her jacket closer to her body, as well as her scarlet scarf, and waited. They were bound to show up sooner or later.

Off in the distance, a severe slapping sound was heard.

"You perv!" the voice of a woman sounded, followed by a pathetic groan.

"I'm sorry!" cried the guy who received the slap. "I thought you were someone else!"

"Humph!" The girl then stomped off, headed towards Leaf's direction. She kept her head high, and flipped her long black hair behind her, leaving whoever offended her in the dust. Leaf turned her head just in time to see who that had been.

Gary Oak stood slightly slouched, holding a hand to nurse his wounded cheek. He was certainly dressed for the weather; his dark winter coat and matching black snow boots lined with a thick patch of fur. Leaf gulped nervously. Oh Mew, Gary had mistaken some other lady with a red scarf for his 'secret admirer' and got completely trashed because of it. She shook her head. Swallowing down any nervousness she might have had, Leaf made her way over to him, jutting out her chin as she did so. She was going to be confident for this.

"Oak," she called out, "over here." Gary turned his head to meet her gaze. When he saw her, his eyes widened.

"Leaf?" he asked surprised.

"In the flesh." She cleared her throat, and clutched the fabric of her coat nervously. "Look, that letter you got was fake...I needed to get you over here." He looked offended, and not to mention embarrassed. The slap mark had left a nasty looking red welt. What in Mew's name did he say to her!?

"Oh there's a shocker," he spat nastily, a glare over taking his handsome features, "I should have saw this coming, I mean, only you would lie to a person to get them to meet you somewhere. Ever thought of asking like a fucking normal human being!?"

Leaf flinched. "Gary, you don't understand, you wouldn't have come otherwise!"

"Maybe that's because you are a complete waste of my time!" Yup, he was definitely butthurt about everything.

"Well this isn't about me, right now! I needed you here to discuss something involving everyone!"

"What are you talking about?"

Leaf groaned. Before she could explain more, two figures darted past her with lightning speed.

"PIE HERE I COME!" the voices cried out in unison. Unfortunately for them, their feet got tangled up together, causing them to trip hard onto the frost covered ground. "Oof!"

Gary groaned as he saw who they were. Ash and May were tangled up with each other, both trying to break free. "Hey!" May yelled, her face red from frustration. "Get off me! I need to get to the contest before all of the pies are eaten without me!"

"You get off of me! I need to get to the free pies while they're still warm!" Ash screamed right back at her. They both squirmed a little longer, before realization dawned on their features.

"May!?"

"Ash!?"

"What are you doing here!?" they said together.

Leaf shook her head, and crouched down beside the two of them. "Yeah, you two are going to hate me for this, but...there's no pie."

"WHAT!?"

"I made those letters up," she explained. "I needed to lure you guys over here."

"Huh?"

"Could this day get any worse?" asked Gary.

He had no idea.

The next thing they knew, Drew had burst through some nearby bushes like a mad man, looking frantically in every direction. His face was super red, as if May had just kissed the breath out of him. Too bad that wasn't the case.

"D-Drew?" May called out, a look of confusion darting along her features. When he spotted her, all of the color drained from his face. The boy looked like he had seen a ghost. He was petrified.

"May!? What are you doing here?" he asked frantically.

"Perhaps I can explain that," Leaf cut in. "Don't worry, no one's blackmailing you."

"How did you-"

"I made it up."

Drew let out a sigh of relief, his body crashing to the ground as he did so. Thank Arceus. His relaxation time was cut off soon, however, as he realized something crucial. "WAIT THEN YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN FIFTH GRADE!?"

Yup, calm cool and collected Drew just lost it.

"Well, yeah, but don't worry! I'm not spilling it," came Leaf's reply.

"How could you have even known!?"

"Trust me, Drew, I have connections."

"Then maybe you can tell me why the fuck you even made up that stupid letter in the first place!? And why are May, Gary, and Ash here?"

May didn't give Leaf any time to explain. She was quick to cut in. "I think the real question we need to be asking ourselves is what happened to you in fifth grade!?"

"NOTHING!"

"Okay cut the drama," Gary scolded, rubbing his temples, because these people gave him a fucking migraine. "Looks like our next guest has arrived."

And boy did she arrive in style. Dawn strutted through the park's entrance like some kind of princess. She wore a large flowy white dress that covered every bit of the ground around her, pooling around her feet as if it were water. That being said, the bluenette looked like she was floating on the damn thing. How she managed that, they had no idea. All of them were struck speechless. Her hair was down her back, and topped off with a flower crown, emphasizing her look of royalty. The ensemble didn't look very warm, but somehow she didn't seem to mind.

"Dawn!?" Ash yelled. Upon hearing his voice, her gaze brightened up. She, as fast as she could without tearing her dress, made it over to them.

"Wow, what are you guys doing here?" she asked them, smiling brightly. "You know I have a photo shoot here today!"

Leaf sweat dropped. Maybe she took the letters a bit too far. "Um, Dawn? Yeah, hello...I think you need to hear this," she said sheepishly. "I sent the letter..."

Dawn's smile fell flat. "Please tell me you work for Poke Allure," she begged. Leaf shook her head.

"Sorry."

"Aww man!"

"Why the fuck would you show up to a photo shoot in that thing!?" Gary yelled, cursing the world for putting him in the same existence with these wackos.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed with red cheeks, "they didn't tell me what to wear so I just...dressed for an emergency."

"Oh dear Mew, help me," Gary pleaded. They all ignored his whining, including Mew probably.

"Why would you do that anyway, Leaf!?" Dawn asked her suddenly. She wasn't too happy with the fact that her photos wouldn't be showing up in her favorite magazine, like she wanted.

"I'll explain everything, just please, wait for the others!" Leaf reasoned.

Finally, Misty and Paul arrived. The redhead was decked out with all of her fishing gear, and had a glare that would make Death tremble in fear. Paul looked like he had just been explaining something to her, and Leaf guessed he had just ratted her out. Just great.

"Leaf," Misty called once they had finally reached her, "start talking."

All seven pairs of eyes met the brunette's, and Leaf took a giant gulp.

"Well, you see..."

"And so if I didn't send all of those letters out to you, you never would have come," Leaf finished. She looked around at everyone's expressions, praying to Arceus they wouldn't leave. None of them were too happy about being tricked like that, but even they had to admit, if Leaf wouldn't have tricked them, there was no way they'd ever come willingly. Still, the information she had given them was a lot to take in.

"So, you mean to tell me that Team Rocket is in Kanto, there's grunts freaking stationed at our school, and you want us to help stop them!? Do you know how crazy that sounds!?" Misty yelled exasperatedly, throwing her hands up in the air as she did so. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it.

"But why us?" May asked timidly. The information was scary, insanely so. To think that they had been merely a classroom away from a group of criminals did not sit well with her.

"Because," Leaf said with as much conviction as she could muster, "we can't do this alone. Paul and I could never take them on by ourselves, despite his claims."

Paul glared. "I never wanted you in the first place! Any of you!" He told Leaf how he felt about the matter. He told her.

"Even if we did agree to this, what makes you think we could stop them? It's not like we know when they're going to be carrying this out," Drew reminded them.

"But at least we'll be ready for it," Leaf reasoned.

"No, no, no!" Paul yelled. "This is not going to work. Look, what little miss smarty pants over here forgot to mention was that these people are out to kill me! Jessie tried cornering me before the break." His eyes snapped towards Dawn's, whose own eyes grew wide. "I barely made it out. This is dangerous work, and all of you could get hurt. I don't want you involved." He didn't know what the next day would bring for him anyway. Jessie might try to corner him again. He didn't want them to be out through that.

"Well I can't just sit by and let them carry out their plans!" argued Ash. "I don't care if it means putting my life at risk! There are pokemon at stake!"

"Thank you," Leaf said with a sigh of relief. "You see? Ash gets it. It's our duty as trainers to stop them! If we all work together we can-"

"Work together!?" Gary protested, cutting her off. "What makes you fucking think we can work together? What makes you think any of us would want to side with you!? After everything you've done!? You think you've earned my trust?"

"Gary has a point," Misty agreed with a nod of her head. "I guess that if I did agree to help, it wouldn't be for you. It would be for the pokemon."

"This isn't for me," Leaf said sharply. She let out a heavy sigh. "Look, Team Rocket is out there, and we know they could strike at any moment. I'm asking you to please help us, so that they don't get the chance to steal any of the pokemon. It's our duty as trainers to stop them. Don't you agree?"

Dawn replied next. "How are we going to do that exactly?" She understood what they would be getting themselves into. After what happened at the warehouse, she understood the pain that each and every trainer went through at the sight of losing their pokemon. She didn't want that to happen again. Plus, she wanted to help Paul stop them, because then he would be that much closer to avenging the arena.

Leaf glanced at Paul. "I don't know how exactly," she began tentatively, licking her lips out of nervousness, "but I know we must."

Silence passed over the group, and it was clear that they were all in deep thought. May spoke first. "It's...a lot to take in. I think it's best if we all give it a good night's rest. Tomorrow at school we can discuss it more."

Everyone nodded. That seemed like a good idea. With that being said, they all went their own ways.

Leaf was surprised how calmly everything went. She pictured more blood being spilt,. However, their group was passed the stage of hatred for one another. It had turned into a dull feeling of numbness instead.

The next day they would meet at school like any other normal day. Only, it would be far from normal, as they would soon figure out.