x-x-x

Episode 35: Secrets on Ice!

When we got back to the pokemon center, I was much more calm, but still completely in shock of how the night had turned out. As Officer Jenny escorted me in, I almost robotically climbed down the stairs to get the laundry. I threw it all in a basket, along with the things I'd bought, and carried it up the stairs. I left Hope's coat lying on the dryer. I knew she'd find it.

Hope and Charlie were in the lobby as I walked by, talking with Officer Jenny. I heard her briefly tell the story as I walked by, but I didn't stop to hear it again. As I headed down the hall, I reached for the key in my pocket, still shaking as I struggled to unlock the door. I walked into our room, closed the door, and sat the basket down. I flopped into the bed, feeling myself already falling asleep.

Kyle leaned over the side looking at me, rubbing his eyes. "Hey you're back." He mumbled. "I heard a pretty loud commotion outside earlier. What was all that racket? I wanted to go find out, but somebody made off with my other outfit." He pointed to his book bag.

"It was dirty." I grumbled.

"Shonna? You okay?"

I didn't answer, and within a few minutes, I was asleep.

x-x-x

I had nightmares all through the night, or at least, what was left of it. I woke up at around nine in the morning to the tv in the corner of the room. Kyle was sitting in front of it, watching the broadcast of our tv special replay again. It must have got more ratings then I thought it would. I sat up looking at myself on the screen, still feeling groggy.

Kyle turned his head to look at me. He was dressed now, which I was thankful for. "Morning Angel."

"Morning." I yawned.

"Pretty hot reporter on there. Wouldn't you agree?"

"No." I smiled. "Not really."

He chuckled. "Now I see what you were up to last night."

"Darn, I've been caught." I sat up, sliding my feet out of bed.

"What's up with you though?" He walked over to sit beside me. "You seem so glum this morning."

I stared at the tv, not really watching it now. There was a knock on the door.

"This is Jenny! Shonna, are you awake? I need that statement now."

Kyle looked at me with some strange expression, before jumping up to get the door. He opened it letting Jenny in. "Officer Jenny? You sure you don't have the wrong room?"

"Afraid not." She walked over to me. "We can either take this elsewhere, or you can tell me here." She pulled out a clipboard and pen.

"Here's good." I looked up to her as Kyle sat beside me again.

"First off, I've spoke with Jane. She said you found her and helped her get up here. She didn't see anyone suspicious during the time you were with her. Is this correct?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Alright then." Jenny scribbled something down. "Start at the point you decided to chase after her then."

Kyle stared a hole through me as I began to speak. "When I found out Jane lost her job because of me, I went down to the docks looking for her. I helped her get over to the store to rest, and get some shoes on her cold feet. That's when you showed up, and took her here. And yes, you told me to wait there…" I looked down.

"But you didn't?" Kyle shook his head. "Shonna. You shouldn't have been up doing all this anyway. Why didn't you come and get me?"

Jenny gave a motion to silence him. "Continue." She wrote something down.

"I got tired, and started walking. I ended up by the old sugar mill. That's when he came out from one of the alleys. He was probably eighteen I guess. He couldn't have been much older than me."

"Wait, what are you saying?" Kyle's face turned livid.

"He had red hair, dark clothes, and the reddest of eyes." I held my arms against me. "He said I looked plain." I chuckled. "I guess in this farmer's outfit, I did look it. I thought he might leave me alone because of that."

"Did he say anything else to you?" Jenny asked.

"Yes. He said his name was Ricky. He knew my name too. He even told me his last name, but I can't remember that." I shivered a bit from the memories. "He also said he knew Kyle. He was disappointed that he hadn't told me that he was his best friend in Johto."

Jenny looked to Kyle. "Is that true?"

"No!" Kyle yelled. "Some stalker is just using that story."

"And then…" I cringed. "He said 'Kyle, what would you do if you found out I soiled your little flower?' and grabbed me. I tried to get him with my knife, but he jerked it right out of my hand and drug me back into the alley."

Kyle's eyes were wide and his fists were clinched. He looked ready to jump someone. "No…" He whispered.

"I pleaded with him to let me go, but he held me against the wall." I put a hand on the left side of my neck. "He kissed me here, then when he saw the lights from your bike, he took off."

"Glad I got there when I did then." Jenny sighed. "That's all I need from you."

"Jenny, have you found him yet?" I asked, standing up. "Is he in custody?"

"No." Jenny sighed again. "The only lead we have is that some people on the north side claimed to have seen an airship flying away last night somewhere near the lake." She walked out the door. "We'll keep investigating though."

The room was quiet when she left. I wanted to fall over and go back to sleep, but something about the look in Kyle's eyes kept my attention. He looked a mix of emotions.

"Kyle?" I turned to him. "I asked you before we even started this journey, if you'd made any friends in Johto or Hoenn." I reached slowly for one of his hands. "Did you?"

He jerked his hand away. "That guy, was not my friend. He's the same guy who stole my pokemon, and he's long since dead." He stood up, pacing the room. "Somebody's playing some sick joke on us, that's all."

"Kyle…" I hugged him from behind. "I was really scared." A tear rolled down my cheek. He twisted around to hold me in his arms.

"Don't worry." He said softly. "I'm never letting you out of my sights again."

I smiled, laying my head on his shoulder. "Sounds good to me."

x-x-x

Part of me wanted to ask Kyle more about this whole situation, and part of me wanted to forget about it. We were quiet as we wandered out of the pokemon center that morning. Hope, Charlie, and Jane were all still asleep. I kind of wished I was too. We rode on Arcanine, and arrived at the Snowpoint City Gym in no time.

Candice ran up to me hugging me tight before we'd even made it through the doors. "Shonna! My morning class has been waiting for you. You'll go first right?" She twirled on her heels, skipping down to the other end or the stadium. As Kyle had suspected, it was a just a thin sheet of ice for the floor. I slid down to the podium that rested at my end of the battlefield. Candice waved to me from the other side. "Say something cool for the kids. Something about how the school influenced you!"

I looked to the bleachers, where Kyle took a seat beside the class of students. They ranged in age from what looked like seven, to fifteen. I turned to them, feeling grouchy from getting so little sleep. "That school… is the worst place ever. When I went there, everyone singled out the person they disliked the most, and ridiculed them until they could force them to dropping out. Well I'll tell you what, that was the best move I made! I got out and actually learned about pokemon by being with them, instead of reading about them in textbooks." I could see Kyle now trying to motion for me to stop, but I continued. "If any of you are being bullied, just get out and make something for yourself. You don't have to take that!"

Candice stared at me blankly before jumping up. "Class! What she means is that when you're being bullied, you should tell me, or one of the other teachers." Candice was glaring at me now. "Let's get this over with." She tossed out a Sneasel to the iceberg covered stadium. It skated around gracefully.

Peering into my purse, still half asleep, all the pokeballs seemed to blend together. I pulled a pokeball, letting Rapidash to the floor. He skidded into Sneasel, catching it off guard before being shoved away.

"Rrrrrr!" Rapidash whinnied in complaint. I recalled him.

"I'm sorry Candice." I stuck the pokeball back in my purse. "I can't do this today. I didn't get much sleep, and had a rough night last night. I'm not myself."

"Umm…" Candice looked over to the kids who were listening intently. "I guess. It'll mean you lose though."

"I'm okay with that." I said, walking over to Kyle on the bleachers. "You're up."

"Sit down then." Kyle got up, heading for the gym floor. "And try not to cause any more trouble."

I sat down beside a little boy, who was munching on some sort of candy. He looked up at me with bright eyes, and a runny nose. "You were lame." He said.

"Yeah." I agreed, turning to watch Kyle take the stage. I hadn't seen him in a gym battle since Kanto, so I was excited to see this.

The sneasel stood strong, remaining on the floor, Candice gave Kyle a look to say, "Go ahead."

A smile crept onto Kyle's face as he reached for a pokeball on his belt. He pressed the button, and Charmeleon leaped out. The fire on Charmeleon's tail, couldn't even compare with the fire in Kyle's eyes as he gazed out onto the field. It was obvious how much he loved to battle. He lived for it.

"Charmeleon!" Kyle leaned up against the podium. "Use Fire Spin!"

"Don't let it get you Sneasel! Agility!" Candice called out.

Sneasel danced around the rink, skating in a mocking sort of way around Charmeleon. Charmeleon watched him for a moment, before snorting out a few embers in annoyance. Amazingly, Charmeleon began skating circles around Sneasel, letting its fiery tail form a ring around the surprised pokemon. It snapped to him within seconds.

"Sneeee!" Sneasel winced, struggling to free itself from the burning ring.

"Pretty clever." I watched carefully. "When he was training on the lake, he must have taught Charmeleon to skate just for this battle. I must say, I've never seen Charmeleon look so graceful."

"Fury Swipes Sneasel!" Candice cried, looking distraught already. Her sneasel began clawing away at the ring, trying to break it away.

"Flamethrower Charmeleon!"

Charmeleon obediently stirred up flames from its mouth, releasing them on Sneasel, who was a sitting duck.

"Seellll!" Sneasel cried out, barely able to stand. It broke free of the fire spin, but looked like it was ready to pass out from the last blast.

Candice was gritting her teeth. "Sneasel! Get it with Ice Shard!"

"Sel!" Sneasel skated around the stadium again, forming a huge chunk of ice in its claws. It swung the giant shard, looking confident.

All that confidence melted away when Charmeleon flicked its flaming tail at it, shattering it on contact. Most of the pieces burnt up in his tail.

I watched in awe as the flame on Charmeleon's tail grew bigger and brighter. I knew, with all these high level moves and the other indications, he would be ready to evolve at any time. But he didn't. He stood there looking arrogantly at Sneasel, who in turn looked defeated.

"Come on Sneasel!" Candice cheered. "Slash it!"

"Slash it right back!" Kyle yelled.

The pokemon began skating around the floor, slashing away at each other with their claws. Most were misses, or on occasion their claws locked on each other for a moment, but then, Charmeleon swung his tail, striking Sneasel's legs.

"Sneeee!" Sneasel cried as it fell forward. It flipped over just in time to catch Charmeleon's claws once more. I had to wonder if maybe Charmeleon was having a bit too much fun with this, as he grinned before delivering the final blow in the form of a hot flamethrower to the face. Sneasel fainted, and Candice quickly recalled him.

"Jeez." I heard Candice groan. "Alright, go Piloswine!"

A large fury pig pokemon appeared from her pokeball. It stomped one foot and reared its tusks at Charmeleon.

"Meleon!" Charmeleon growled at him, but a red light recalled him back to his pokeball.

"You've had enough fun." Kyle mumbled. "Give someone else a turn." He tossed out a new pokeball. "Go Absol!"

Absol seemed almost surprised when she appeared on the stage. "Sol!" She barked, looking very happy.

"Piloswine! Use Take Down!"

"Dodge it Absol!"

Absol leaped away as Piloswine charged her, making Piloswine crash into an icy rock. It shook tiny ice fragments off its tusks in anger. It charged after her once more.

"Absol! Razor Wind!"

Absol leaped into the air, swinging the long razor like protrusions from her head to whip up a sharp gust that cut through Piloswine.

"Swine!" It whined.

Something seemed to click with Candice. "Piloswine! Fight back with Blizzard!"

It was then that an icy, snowy storm erupted from Piloswine, shooting back any wind Absol had dealt. Hard balls of ice knocked her to the ground, making her slide across the ice. She used her claws to stabilize herself.

"Keep up the Blizzard Piloswine!" Candice looked relieved to have an advantage, as Piloswine mercilessly brought out an onslaught of more snow and ice that made me shiver from the stands. But when I looked to Kyle, he didn't seem nervous at all.

A wall of ice was beginning to form in front of Absol as she stood, waiting for an order. The wall of ice was now about 5 feet tall, and I could see ice starting to freeze on Absol's tail.

"Now! Dark Pulse! And Bite!" Kyle cried.

"Solllll!" Absol howled as a wave of dark energy surged out of her. It shattered the ice wall quickly, as tiny shards flew into Piloswine's unsuspecting eyes. In the brief moment it was blinded, Absol rushed in on it, going for the jugular as she bit down hard.

"Swi!" Piloswine flopped to the ground in a heap, before Candice recalled it.

"Great job Absol!" Kyle called out, waving to his pokemon. Absol seemed a bit sheepish, scratching the ice with her claws. Kyle chuckled as he returned her. "Next?" He looked to Candice, who was looking pretty beat.

"One last one, then I have to go back to work." She pulled out a pokeball, twirling it on her finger. "I hope you have some kind of monster to face this, Mr. Pokemon Master." She threw out the ball, releasing an Abomasnow that cracked the ice floor as it landed.

"Snooooooow!" Abomasnow roared, and some of the smaller children sitting beside me shuddered in fear.

"Monsters? I can do that." Kyle grinned, reaching for the pokeball around his neck. Out popped Arcanine, standing just as massive as the Abomasnow in front of it.

"Wow!" A young boy nearby watched with a big grin on his face. "Look at that huge dog!"

"It's an Arcanine!" An older girl corrected. "It's beautiful! This Kyle guy, he's really cool!"

"Yeah!" The boy next to me turned to look at them. "A lot better than this lame-o over here!"

I sighed. I wanted to ignore them, but it was sort of true. Kyle was way cooler than me. I'd already faced that a long time ago. His battle was so exciting, I was starting to feel revitalized, and much more awake. Now that I was though, I was starting to regret what I'd said to these kids earlier.

Candice glared, but with a smile on her face. "Man. My own students aren't even cheering for me." She turned back to the battle. "Abomasnow! Grasswhistle!"

Abomasnow picked up from under its foot, hidden somewhere, a solitary blade of grass and pressed it against its furry mouth. A soft tune echoed throughout the gym. I saw Kyle start digging through his book bag for something, which was odd. He doesn't use items in battles a whole lot. Arcanine started to nod off, and that's when I noticed my eyes getting heavy.

"Grasswhistle will put a pokemon to sleep!" A girl in the back shouted.

"Oh yeah…" I remembered now, as my head fell back against the bleachers, and my eyes closed.

"Awesome! Lame-o fell asleep too! Let's get a marker and draw on her face!" I heard.

"Or throw spit wads at her." Another voice said, each second, they got more and more muffled.

Just as I was about to drift back to sleep, the sound of another beautiful tune flooded the stadium. I sat up, my eyes fluttering open to see the boy next to me quickly hide his marker. I looked back to Kyle, who held a small flute, with a pokeball at the end in his hands. Arcanine stood up, shaking out his fur to wake up.

"Your pokemon's not the only one with musical talents." Kyle yelled, putting the flute away.

"And just where did you get that thing?" Candice said, hands on her hips.

"A man back in Kanto. It's proven to be very useful." Kyle grinned, looking over to me with a wink.

I blushed. I remembered perfectly well when Mr. Fuji had entrusted us with that pokeflute nearly four years ago, but I didn't know Kyle had kept it all this time.

"Guess that move's out then." Candice shrugged. "Abomasnow! Wood Hammer!"

This time, from somewhere within its icy fur, Abomasnow pulled out a wooden mallet the size of a small tree.

"Abomaaaa!" Abomasnow charged at Arcanine, but Arcanine just gave him a funny look, remaining still. Abomasnow stopped just before hitting him, confused by his lack of action.

"Arf." Arcanine opened his mouth letting out a mound of flames that fried the hammer instantly. Abomasnow reeled back in fear.

"Oh give me a break." Candice slapped her forehead. "Okay Abomasnow! Sheer Cold!"

Abomasnow seemed to fill up with anger, as icy wind surrounded it.

"Get away Arcanine!" Kyle called. "Don't let it hit you!"

Arcanine sprang into action, running across the ice. He ducked behind a frozen rock formation, just as a giant icicle crashed into the rock. I gasped as the entire rock turned into a thick chunk of ice, before crumbling in front of Arcanine's feet.

"That move's really bad." One of the kids beside me whispered. "If it hits, it's an instant K.O."

I looked up at Kyle, wondering if he knew. He still didn't seem nervous at all. And with his "prized Arcanine" fighting a grass/ice type mix, I wasn't really either.

"Get in there and use Flamethrower!" Kyle screamed, making Arcanine's ears perk.

"What?" The boy next to me leaned forward, sucker still in his mouth the whole time. "He's going in for a close offensive? That's suicide!"

"Sure is." I murmured, watching my handsome boyfriend smile that confident smile that made me swoon. Unfortunately, it was making a couple giggly girls in the back swoon as well.

"Snoooow!" Abomasnow charged up another huge icicle from its claws, and chucked it toward Arcanine. The furry dog slid away, still heading right for Abomasnow. "Snow!" Abomasnow looked hesitant as it formed another icicle, tossing it as well. Again, Arcanine dodged. I could see a hint of Extreme Speed kick in as he got behind Abomasnow, his claws scraping against the ice.

"Arrrrrr!" Arcanine growled, letting out the biggest Flamethrower attack I'd ever seen. Abomasnow writhed in the flames, struggling to move its slow body away.

"Heat Wave." Kyle called. And with that, Arcanine let out a wave of heat that blasted through the gym. It stung my eyes as I tried to watch what happened. Just as Abomasnow was about to get away, the entire gym floor melted beneath him. The water turned hot. Boiling hot. Abomasnow was done for, and floated helplessly before Candice recalled him. Arcanine simply swam out of the warm pool, and shook off like a wet dog would. "Awesome job Arcanine!" Kyle ran down, wrapping his arms around him.

"Arf!" Arcanine barked, licking at his face.

"Yay!" All the kids cheered. "That was so cool!" Everyone, including me, ran up to Kyle cheering.

Candice walked down, inspecting the pool of water. "What a mess." She said under her breath, before turning to Kyle. "Well, you decimated my gym and my pokemon, but you won." She handed a shiny blue badge to him. "Here's an icicle badge as proof."

"Thanks!" Kyle smiled, taking the badge and placing it in his badge case. "Just one more to go."

The kids ran up to Candice now. "That was so cool Miss Candice! Can we come back again and watch?"

"I don't know…" She said teasingly.

"I still want a battle." I said, raising my hand.

Candice shot me a glare. "It will take all night to freeze the pool up again, and get my pokemon healed up, so you'll have to come back tomorrow. But even so, I'm not bringing them for that."

"Please Candice." I bowed politely, hoping to redeem myself. "I promise I'll do better, and not say negative things about the school. I'll be good. Just give me another chance."

Candice hung her head. "You know, I was looking forward to our battle just as much as the kids." She sighed. "Fine. Come back tomorrow morning. But I swear, anymore harsh words from you, and I'm throwing you out of here, and you can just forget the badge."

"Really?" I smiled, taking the threat to heart. "Thanks a bunch!"

The boy with the sucker sniffled. "Ah man. We have to come watch Lame-o battle? That's dumb."

"Shh." Candice hushed him.

"Don't you worry. Tomorrow, I'll be the one getting that badge." I waved, walking out the gym door with Kyle. Coming from the recently warmed up gym, and stepping out into the frigid air made me shiver.

"So, no more making a scene at the gyms, right?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah." I said, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry."

"It's okay." It was the last thing he said on our short walk back to the pokemon center. I wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but something about the way he looked as we trekked through the snow, made me recoil. Why did we suddenly feel so distant? Ever since this morning, he'd been so quiet.

A snowflake fell on my glasses. I grabbed them off my face, and wiped it away on my shirt as we were walking in the center. No one was in the lobby.

"I'll be in there in a minute. Just going to use the pokemon healer machine real quick, but you go ahead and get some sleep." Kyle handed me the key to our room in the center, but I handed it back, refusing to leave just yet.

"Your pokemon are okay right? I didn't even see them get very hurt."

"Yeah." He looked somewhat embarrassed now. "They did well, but better safe than sorry."

"You did well." I pointed out. "I was really impressed with your battle."

He blushed, just a bit. "Well, it was kinda a shoo-in."

"I suppose so." I said, turning to make my way down the hall, as I did, I spied Hope approaching me.

"Shonna! I'm so sorry! I was so tired this morning I overslept and missed your battle." She was falling all over herself with apologies. "I said yesterday I would come watch you! I feel so awful."

"It's okay Hope." I smiled. "You didn't miss anything. I didn't battle today. Kyle did, but I was too tired. You can come cheer for me tomorrow."

"That's good!" She let out a sigh of relief. "But there was something I was going to tell you. Jane woke up a little while ago, and asked if you were here. She looked really mad."

"When does she not?" I laughed.

Hope smiled in a sort of sad way. "She said she wanted to speak with you. She's in her room."

"Fine. I'll go see what she wants. I'd planned on talking with her this morning anyway." I headed just down the hall, to Jane's room and knocked. "Jane? You there?"

"Of course I am. I've only been waiting all morning. Come in."

I opened the door to see the reporter sitting on the edge of her bed, looking a mess. Her short brown hair was out of sorts, and her makeup had all been wiped away. "Good morning."

"What's so good about it?" She mumbled. "Oh wait, let me guess, you got your precious badge. I'm so happy." She did more than hint sarcasm in her voice.

"Nope." I shook my head. "But what was it you wanted to say?"

She stood up, walking over to stand in front of me. "I watched that special again this morning. The one that cost me my job?" She paused for a minute, before slapping me across the face. My glasses flew to the floor, and I held a hand to my cheek as I picked them up. "I don't know why I didn't see it the first time, but it was definitely you." Jane grit her teeth. "Where do you get off? Getting people fired!"

Hope rushed in, hearing the commotion. "Please Jane! Don't be angry with Shonna. She was only trying to help me out."

"You're both a couple fakes!" Jane spat. "Dressing up in disguises to benefit your own selfish needs, not even giving any regard to the consequences for everyone else around you."

Hope looked hurt at her comment.

"It's okay Hope. Jane has every right to be angry." I rubbed my cheek. "But, I asked Charlie to stay, because I have an idea to get your job back Jane."

"The last thing I need is your help." Jane turned away, brushing a hand through her tangled hair.

"What's going on in here?" Kyle appeared in the open doorway. Jane's eyes grew wide as she turned away again, looking for somewhere to hide.

"Kyle." I held my hands together. "I need a huge favor from you. Will you please help me?"

Kyle looked confused. "Sure, anything."

I turned back to the flustered Jane, who didn't seem as tense now. "Well then Jane? You get an interview with the elusive Kyle Gray. No, more than an interview. An exclusive!" I grinned. "We'll get it all set up for you and everything."

"But I hate being on camera." Kyle looked hesitant. "Do I really have to?"

"You said anything." I pointed out.

He sighed. "Okay."

"Umm… if that's the case," Jane snuck into the bathroom, still hiding her face from Kyle. "I need to get ready. I'll try to hurry. Will you all please leave?"

Hope smiled, gently leading us out and closing the door behind her. "Thank you for doing this Kyle. I'd hate to see Shonna hurt anymore over this whole mess. I know it's all my fault."

"That's not true Hope. I wanted to help you." I said shyly.

"Yeah well…" Kyle rubbed a fist against the top of my head. "Anything to help out the little troublemaker."

I squirmed away. "Someone should tell Charlie!"

"I overheard." He smiled walking toward us.

"Where did you come from?" Hope laughed.

"I was actually just coming from the van." He looked back to the lobby. "There's another car that just pulled up."

A clock hanging on the wall rang out. A mechanical farfetch'd pranced around and a hand on the clock shaped like a leek, pointed to twelve.

"Oh!" Hope stared at the clock. "It's noon. Avery was supposed to be here, and collect his money." She looked scared now.

"Hey Hope." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're all here for you. We won't let this guy hurt you. We've worked too hard for this."

"That's right!" Even Charlie puffed up a bit.

"Right." Kyle nodded. "I don't know much about what's going on here, but I'll do whatever I can."

"Then," Hope gulped. "I guess we'll just have to face him."

We all headed toward the lobby, straight for the front doors. I turned to Hope now. "What's this guy look like? Is he tough?"

Hope pulled out a crumbled photo from her pocket on her dress. She unfolded it to reveal a large man, very buff, with a slicked back haircut. The picture looked printed out. "This is all I have. He sent it to me."

"This guy?" I stared at the photo. He looked like an actor I'd seen once in a movie. "What do you mean he sent it?"

"Well," She stepped on the floor panel to open the door. "We met on the internet. And ever since, he's been demanding me to send him money through the PC. This is my first time actually meeting him."

The door slid open, and what I saw behind it surprised me. "Hope, this is a very bad relationship you're in."

x-x-x

Mars was curled up on a couch in a dark corner of the airship. She didn't know how long she'd been there anymore, or even where she was. The only windows were at the front of the ship, and Ricky forbid her to go near that room. She was scared of him. Honestly, she had been from the very moment she laid eyes on him. She didn't know what to make of his red eyes and hair that were so much like hers. But she had no other option then to follow him onto his armored airship. She couldn't remember very well, but when she did catch a glimpse of the outside of the ship, she could vaguely make out traces of paint in a 'R' shaped symbol. Perhaps this was an old Team Rocket vessel.

She stood, making her way to a back room. Ricky sat there, with a map unfolded over the table. A single red rose sat in his lap. He didn't seem to notice, or care that Mars was standing in the doorway. He hadn't even spoke to her on this whole trip. As soon as she'd called and arranged for him to pick her up, he just threw her aboard, and stood in her way every time she'd tried to get to the deck. The only reason she knew anything about him, was from research she'd done on him before all this. She'd been looking for someone who could hate Kyle as much as her, and avenge Cyrus, and she'd found her man.

Suddenly he jerked his head up to look at her. His evil red eyes stared into hers. She gasped, stepping back a bit. She wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. It had been a while since she'd tried speaking to him, but now she found herself opening her mouth to do so again.

"You know Ricky, I'm not sure where we were earlier, but the ship got very cold. I'd venture to guess we were around Snowpoint city, with temperatures like that. But, that's only a guess." She leaned her head against the door. "You locked all the doors, so I don't know."

Ricky looked back down to the map, pointing a finger to an area, and tracing a path.

Mars chuckled. "Just what are you doing anyway? I asked you break Kyle and Shonna up. Is that what you're working on? Or are you just fooling around out there?"

Ricky's gaze shifted back to her, with a glare. Mars felt as though she should shut up now, but she continued.

"Not going to tell me what you're up to? I think I deserve to know. I was the one who hired you after all." She took a step toward him.

He stood, making her stop in her tracks. He held the rose in his hand, approaching her. "Allow me to let you in on a little secret Mars." His deep voice surprised her as he held the rose in front of her.

"Yes?" She started to reach out and take it, but before she could, he curled his fist around the top, making pedals rain down to the floor. A thorn close to the top caught on his fingers as he clenched it tight, making blood drip down his hand.

His eyes narrowed as he hissed his words out. "To make a flower die, you must first let it wilt."

Mars ran out of the room, hearing the door slam behind her. She threw herself back onto the couch, gripping the red pillow. Ricky hadn't followed her, but as she burrowed into the plush pillow, she couldn't help but feel his evil presence through the whole ship.

x-x-x

Kyle and Charlie had about the same look as me as we stared at the old geezer who stood in front of us. He was shaking, clutching to his cane as he stepped out of his car. Hope looked shocked as well, then shook it off and smiled.

"Can I help you sir?" She giggled.

"You certainly can." The old man shook his cane wildly. His words were muffled, with his dentures falling out of place. "You the head nurse here?"

"Yes, I am." She stood in front of us. "I'm Nurse Jo- Hope." She was still getting used to using her real name.

"Well good." The old man snickered. "Where's my money?"

We all paused. Nobody spoke. We just stared blankly.

"Is this geezer your boyfriend?" Charlie blurted out.

"I umm…" Hope blushed, looking embarrassed at this situation. "You're Avery?"

"That's right honey." Avery sneered. "Now if you'll please, the money?"

Kyle started bursting out laughing. I elbowed him trying to shut him up, but a snicker escaped my lips as well. Hope stepped behind me, looking humiliated.

"Definitely a bad relationship." I reminded her.

"Beat it old man." Kyle shooed him with his hand. "You're done taking advantage of this young lady's generosity."

"I'm most certainly not!" Avery spat. "If I don't get that money right now, I'm telling everyone you're not a real Nurse Joy."

"I should have never told you that, but it doesn't matter now anyway." Hope interjected. "Everyone already knows. You must have missed the news last night and this morning, but I'm free to take care of this center as I really am."

"Really?" Avery sulked. "Now how am I going to be able to buy those fancy gold teeth?"

We again, all stared at the man blankly.

"Gold teeth?" Charlie chuckled.

"Darn tootin'!" Avery shook his cane. "My buddy who works at the Safari Zone in Kanto has a pair. He said they work great. They have to work better than these accursed things." We stood in shock as he took his false teeth out. "Wull baby, you'we mah gurlfwiend, so would ya cwean mah teef?"

"Gross!" Hope ran inside the pokemon center, looking disgusted.

Now that she was gone, we all burst into laughter. All except Avery, who looked confused.

"Geezer, I think you just got dumped." Charlie laughed.

"You'd better head on out of here." Kyle snickered.

"Seriously." I giggled. "Go save up for your own gold teeth, cause you're not getting any sympathy out of us."

"Ah Shwucks." The man stuck his teeth back in his mouth. "Young people today." He tossed his cane into his car, jumped in and sped away.

"What a old pervert." Kyle said, watching him drive off onto the snowy road. "Picking on your friend like that."

"My friend?" I looked up at him.

"Well yeah!" Charlie laughed again. "You two seem like great friends to me."

I thought about this. It was true. But, it made me wonder what happened to my other friend, Erica. Where could she be?

"Go to her." Kyle smiled. "She could use some support right now."

"You're right." I smiled back, glad that some of the tension between us was melting away.

"Kyle," Charlie turned to him, pulling out loads of equipment from the news van. "Think you could help me get set up for your big exclusive?"

"Sure." Kyle sighed, taking an armful of cameras and lights. "See you in a while Shonna."

"Right." I rushed into the pokemon center's back room, finding Hope sitting in a chair, face in her hands. She looked up at me.

"Shonna, I feel so stupid right now." She sighed.

"Don't worry." I sat down beside her. Her room back here was very whimsical, with little country accents. "Just try to not look for love on the internet from now on."

She smiled a little. "Good advice. Then again, I'm sure you're an expert."

"Huh?"

"You and Kyle." She placed her hands in her lap. "You both always look so happy together."

I blushed. "I guess so. But, we really haven't been dating long. And, he's been sort of distant since this morning. It's like he's hiding something." I hung my head.

"Hmm…" Hope frowned. "Maybe he's just got a lot on his mind. He probably wants to kill whoever did that to you last night."

I felt my body go a little cold. I'd been keeping busy, and almost put that incident out my mind.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to stir up bad memories. I just wanted to say how sorry I am for that happening. It's just awful." Hope looked at the ground. "I hope the police catch him soon." When I didn't say anything, she continued. "But back to what we were talking about. I obviously suck at finding men. Tell me how you met Kyle. Please?"

She looked at me as if she genuinely wanted to know, so I put my thoughts behind me to answer. "Well, it started out in a weird way. The first time I met him, was when his growlithe saved me and my meowth, now a persian named Duchess, from being attacked by a bunch of wild dog pokemon."

"What a hero." Hope grinned.

"Not quite." I laughed. "I found out later that it was not by his command, but when he heard the commotion, he came out and helped me up. Then just as mysteriously as he appeared, he ran off. After that, I saw him off and on during my journey. We were sort of rivals. Not too long after that though, I asked him to take care of a pichu for me, and accompany me on my journey. That's when we started traveling together."

"I remember seeing pictures of him with that pichu on his shoulder!" Hope giggled, twirling one of her soft brown braids. "I always thought it was so sweet that a tough guy like him would have a cute little pichu."

"Yeah I'm sure he was a real lady killer with that." I chuckled. "After we competed in the league, I realized I was quickly falling for him, and decided to leave and head back home here in Sinnoh." I sighed. "I think he still resents me a bit for leaving him like that."

"Oh." Hope listened intently.

"But, by some twist of fate, he came back to me." I gazed up at the ceiling. "And right in the middle of hurricane, we confessed our love for each other."

"A hurricane?" Hope's eyes grew wide. "That's so crazy and romantic!"

"I know." I blushed once more, before letting out a big yawn.

"Sleepy?" Hope chuckled, straightening out her pink nurse joy dress. "You should go on back to bed. I'm sure we can figure out the whole pokemon master exclusive thing without you."

"Really?" I stood up. "That would be great."

"Go on." Hope handed me a key. "Kyle has the other one, but here's the spare. I'll tell him you're resting."

"You're the best Hope." I took the key and headed out. As I walked down the hall, Jane passed by me walking briskly. She was all dolled up in her full hair and makeup again. She gave me a look, but didn't say anything as she raced toward the lobby. "Whatever." I rolled my eyes as I opened the door to our room. I flopped down on the bed smiling. "I'll just nap here for a little while…"