Sorry for the long wait. Work is taking over my life *sigh*.


CHAPTER 28: Missing in Action

It was hard to just walk back to the tent instead of shouting and cheering and hugging everyone. Anabel wanted to call Mom and Dad a second time because while they'd been happy for her, they didn't really get it.

V stopped to take out her vidphone. Rosie's picture filled the screen.

The phone rang, and rang, and Anabel was scared V wouldn't answer, but she finally did.

Rosie was stiffly sitting cross-legged on the grass. The background was white, blue and furry. Otto.

"I'm really proud of you two," Rosie blurted, her eyes wide and hopeful.

"You told Seth we ran away because you figured out Gengar should belong to a six." V's face was made of stone and there was no heat it her voice. "Nothing else?"

Rosie's jaw clenched, a ragged sigh leaving her lips. "I still think it's a bad idea, but not life-wreckingly bad. So you get to own it."

V's mask cracked and it was so obvious that she really, really wanted to forgive Rosie. "What made you change your mind?" she whispered.

"Everybody told me it'd be a waste of time to do a last year of Journey. That school would be a pain in the ass to catch up and I'd be the oldest in the class. That I'd never break through as a coordinator because nobody does." Rosie smiled stiffly. "They were right. But they were wrong, because it wasn't a waste of time. It was my choice to make."

"You don't think Gengar's dangerous anymore?" Anabel asked.

"He speaks," Rosie mouthed. "So he's intelligent, no?" Her voice was back to normal and she flipped her thin rainbow braids back. "He's probably a bit of a psychopath," a what? "but it's not the same as feral… Just… be smart too. Before you do something that'll get a ghost-tattoo inked on your ribs, call, okay?"

V's fingers were white around her vidphone and soft bells and chimes sung all around her. Her silver eyes were bright.

"You're not too mad?" Rosie breathed.

"Not anymore." A shy smile quirked V's lips. "I'm glad you called."

Rosie grinned, relief lighting up her face. "We'll see each other tomorrow at lunch. You've forgiven me too, Ann?"

Anabel nodded solemnly.

A hairy leg suddenly hid Rosie from them. Six eyes, two big and four small bubble ones, appeared on the screen.

"Off!" Rosie laughed, pushing Gamble back and appearing once more. Her smile was oddly proud as she held her vidphone further away from her.

Around her were all her pokemon. Otto, Gamble, her starter, Wisp, Lenz-the-Tentacruel and Eden-the-Torterra. "The goodbyes are killing me," Rosie admitted. "But you're right and I need to face it."

Anabel's face fell. "You won't even keep a single one? Wisp…"

"Has been with me forever," Rosie agreed. "But what am I going to do, bore him to death at home?" Her laugh was throaty, yet somehow strangled. "Otto doesn't even fit through the doors! Gamble might like it, but she'd need a companion… My sisters would kill me if the house became a galvantula nest." A sigh left her lips. "At Second Future, they sort out your pokemon. Free them, give them… I'll visit and my opinion will count. Maybe… maybe you'll adopt one of them." Really? Rosie grinned. "Only if you become coordinators." She shuddered dramatically. "Training is just so coarse."

Anabel nudged V to the side so that Rosie could see her stick her tongue out. It was hard to remember they'd been angry not so long ago.

"Catch," V swore after the call had ended. "Lunch? We'll never be back from the mines for lunch tomorrow. You said it's an hour's ride."

Aw, but she'd wanted to go! "The pokecenter opens at six AM," Anabel pointed out with a guilty smile. "We'll be back for lunch if we leave early..."

V groaned and yawned, and Anabel couldn't stop her own yawn. A burp chose that exact moment to sneak out, reminding her that eating a pack of candy –washed down with a whole bottle of soda and icecreams- was a bad idea. They'd not had dinner yet but just the idea of it had her stomach do backflips. In a fair world, they'd get to party without the stomach-ache afterwards.

But it had been worth it. Unlike Azu, Eeveevee loved ice-cream and had licked through three whole scoops (spreading icecream up to her ears) before they'd taken her to the pokecenter.

Anabel, V and Seth had watched the battle recording in the park, and Anabel could have filled a book with all the things she and V should have done during the battle, even without Seth's running commentary, but she regretted nothing.

"Alarm at 5.30," V said with a wince as they found their camping spot and their tent just like they'd left it. "I'm going to send Mama the pictures of us three with our badges. »

Why could they just call each other? "She hasn't called you? Come on, it's not Sunday but it's special!" This once a week rule was stupid. "You call her."

V shook her head. "Remember how you said Mama coming to get me at school was a baby thing?"

"I was angry because we couldn't go play together, it doesn't count."

"She says she's thrilled I'm travelling and that only a bad mom makes her daughter feels guilty for doing a Journey and that she has to make herself keep the calls rare so that all can become normal later."

V said those things like they made perfect sense and it was normal, but Anabel always had to be careful not to stare and say 'really?'. Mom had told her it was serious though, that Nalani's therapist didn't say things to be mean.

"It has to be okay if I'm calling because I have things to say, though," V decided after a pause. "I'll call Thursday."

Anabel's smile was stolen by another huge yawn. It wasn't even eight! Thank Jirachi Seth was spending the evening and night with his parents or he'd tease them for being such babies.

August 12th 341 – Wednesday

Anabel checked her vidphone. 6.40 AM. Where was V?

Anabel scowled, fighting the first stirrings of panic. V was with Gengar, nothing bad should have happened to her. Right? Maybe her vidphone had broken down, or had no battery left, and getting their pokemon back was taking more time than they'd thought.

Maybe Gengar had pranked somebody, it had gone bad, and they were at the Police Station.

Anabel exhaled in frustration, shoving the vidphone back in her pocket. Where was she!

She shouldn't have let V go off alone to the pokecenter. This worry wasn't worth the extra half-hour of sleep. Huffing, she freed Skarmory.

"Hello, you," she said, forcing a smile. "Why don't you stretch your wings, but stay well in sight of the campsite? If you see V, come straight back to me."

"Skah," Skarmory replied, bobbing his beak in assent.

Anabel smiled as he soared away. The steel bird was sweet where Machop was serious. Trading Skarmory away would be the smart thing to do. He was friendly and really wanted to please her, but he was a disaster during battles, so clumsy and… well, he didn't care about winning, or even really trying. Seth had warned that Skarmory was too old to change, but he was sleek and pretty, and it was so cute how he liked shiny things so much, and…

And she'd miss him.

Anabel aggressively closed the last zipper. "Where are you, V!" she groaned, craning her neck only to see nobody.

Concern twisted her insides. Had V fallen on the way? She hadn't even taken her bike. Could she have tripped or hurt herself somehow? But that didn't explain the vidphone.

Unless she was unconscious, or at the hospital.

It was still too early for Reception to be open. Luckily Anabel could smell food from the kitchens. She found one of the cooks starting things up.

"Hello? Mrs…" She spotted the nametag. "Amber?"

"Yes, dear?"

"If my friend Valeria comes back, could you please tell her I went to find her at the pokecenter? She's taller than me, hair to here, curly and… a lot. Silver eyes... I left a note on our spot, but she might not see it…" Nervousness was making her speak way too fast. She took a deep breath. "We were spot 67. Reception has my vidphone number. I'm Anabel Lila."

Luckily, the woman was nice. "No worries, Anabel. I'll give the message to Reception if I don't see her."

"Thank you so much!"

She frowned as soon as she was outside again. Where had Skarmory –

Oh no. Anabel broke into a run, waving her arms frantically. She couldn't shout, not so early in the morning.

Skarmory had seen something shiny. Just inside somebody's tent. His razor sharp steel beak was getting closer, and closer, and closer -.

"Skarmory, no!" Noise was less bad than a shredded tent.

"This isn't the wilds," Anabel hissed as the huge bird hopped back towards her. "You can't go into people's stuff."

She sighed at Skarmory's guilty face. She hadn't even raised her voice that much! "I'll buy you a shiny toy to play with," she promised. "Just don't touch anything while we're in Rustboro."

Skarmory stared like the city was something impossible and wonderful. He was by Anabel's side, half hopping, half flying as she rode her bicycle. His head turned in all directions. She laughed when he tripped over his steel feathers, his eyes huge. She could almost hear his thoughts going shiny! Shiny! SHINY!

"Stay close," she warned, slowing down with her bike as he tripped again.

She was sharply reminded that she was looking for V when Jennys –many! Jennys- with pokemon detectors filled the streets. What was all the fuss about?

She put on a big 'sorry for bothering you' smile and asked a Jenny, who told her duskull had made a mess of the early morning deliveries. But they were all gone now, and nobody was hurt.

Had V run into evil duskull? Had there been too many for Gengar to handle?

She began to panic in earnest when the Nurse Joy at the pokecenter said she hadn't seen V.

"Okay, I'll get our pokemon back," she decided, "and I'll try to figure out where she could have gone." The Nurse had seen them come together. She knew Ann wasn't stealing.

7 AM. Would Seth kill her if she called him for help so early? He'd wanted to sleep in, but -

"I've got an espeon and a machop here, but the eevee and the geodude registered by Valeria Reed have already been retrieved. At 6.30."

"Wait, what? You just said –"

"Yes, sorry. I'm still waking up," Joy said with smile. "Her dad came to get them. With her pokedex."

Her... Anabel's heart stopped. No way. Joy had to be mixing things up.

"Is something wrong ?"

Yes! V's father wasn't allowed to find V. The Jennys were supposed to make sure of that. He shouldn't have V's pokedex. A jolt of adrenaline shook her out of her shock and she swallowed. « I need to call somebody. »

She stuffed Espeon's and Machop's pokeballs in her belt. She wasn't calling Seth. She was calling the Jennys.

"I've got this," she told Joy, who was still hovering around. Joy looked kind, but this was V's secret. Anabel forced a stiff smile. "I just didn't expect her father to be there."

And what about Gengar? Wouldn't he-

Anabel jumped when her phone rang. It was V. She hurriedly pressed play.

It was a man. A smiling man who was handsome for someone old. Anabel stared. This was V's dad? The screen moved down to his chest. He was petting Eeveevee who was curious and happy like it was all normal.

"I know Valeria told you I messed up bad during my marriage. I found her to apologize. She decided to give me a chance to talk. Just a talk. She'll call you back."

The deep voice was shockingly nice. "But…V…"

"Anabel, you're a clever girl and a brilliant friend. Did V ever say I'd mistreated her?" Well - "She's my daughter, I love her. Nothing wrong happened when it was just the two of us." But - "I changed. You don't want to stop us from talking, do you?"

Anabel could only gape. It was going too fast. "Um, no?"

"Perfect, see you."

Anabel just stared at the now silent screen.

She wanted to talk to V. Why hadn't he let her talk to V?

She sent a text. 'Could I just talk to V?'

'I'm fine Anabel. He has changed, and he deserves a chance. Just let me talk to my dad. I'd do the same if it were you.'

Anabel frowned. V hated her dad. She never even called him Dad. But if he had changed. If V said he had changed…

'Don't tell anyone.' The next text said. 'They'd freak out. It's my choice. It's my dad.'

Anabel's eyes stung. She took a shaky breath. This wasn't Torchic. This was V. Anabel wouldn't betray V, but she wouldn't just stay away. Dads were important but V had said again and again that hers was evil and lied. What if it was a trick?

Anabel jammed her vidphone in her pocket and mounted her bike.

Not far away, a Jenny was kneeling next to an upset little boy. Anabel swallowed and slammed her feet on the pedals, Skarmory flying above.

She was panting when she reached the Route. Busses and delivery trucks zoomed by and stopped to unload goods and people, filling the air with shouts and calls and the energetic hustle every city needed to run right.

And yet Anabel suddenly felt desperately alone.

She had no idea where V and her dad were.

She had no idea what she was supposed to do.

V hadn't said when she'd call Anabel back.


Next chapter "Daddy Dear" will be up within two weeks. I'd truly love to hear to your thoughts.