Maria's POV

After last night, I can't recall much in detail about anything. I woke up too early to even notice the trip back to John's house, and right afterwards, John ran upstairs.

So much has happened in such a short time. I was dizzy from just trying to brink, or even breathe. Every inch of my body was aching, stinging, throbbing, or any combination of the above. The only mercy was the lack of sunlight in the early morning-my eyes felt like it would explode if it saw any bright light.

Now I know what Alex meant about nocturnal ghost-types. My eyes are going to bleed at this rate!

I let out a sigh through my bandages, unknowingly letting some loose strands of cloth in my mouth. I tried to spit them out, but I only managed dull coughs at my state. Closing my eyes, my hearing concentrated to the voices past the room's closed door. A storm of yelling and grunts shrugged its way into the door's cracks, making my insides churn with guilt. From the sounds of it, it appeared like Alex was managing to place the cause of all this on Tasha.

Talking about how John was kidnapped and such...but without Sing or Tasha, it's impossible to convince John's parents about what happened. And didn't Alex promise he wouldn't tell anyone about what happened last night?

I was grinding my teeth, hating-no, absolutely loathing myself. Why did I go to John when I just had to wait the night? If it weren't for me, everything would have worked out between John and Sing, and we wouldn't have gone through all this trouble!

Don't you remember? You wanted to protect John.

Well...that's true, but now I feel because of it! Everything I did was fruitless! A complete inverse! Instead of saving John safe and sound, I got banged up like this again!

Heh heh, banged up...

The hell am I thinking! This ain't time for humor! Oh, what am I going to do? Everyone's going to hate me now!

The sound of the door creaking broke me out of my self-deprecation, snapping my eyes open in surprise. I craned my head over the blanket covering me. John was at the doorway, carrying a plate of colourful fruits.

Immediately I wanted to object, tell him that I wasn't in the mood, but only groans came out.

"Sorry if I woke you up. I just needed a good excuse to get out of there. I hate it when adults yell at each other." John forced a laugh and even a soft smile, but every bit of it made me clench my teeth more and more.

"Thanks a bunch for coming to fetch me. Believe me, I was scared of what was going on." He laid the fruit plate on the desk and sat down next to me. Despite this, he didn't look my way for some reason. "I really am grateful for you trying to take me back home."

He's not looking this way because he hates me. Hates me for causing all that unnecessary trouble. I shouldn't even be here! I should be dead with all those fights I had and now I'm being rested by John like a hero! I don't-

"I don't...deserve all this."

He had a toothpick in his mouth from a previously consumed strawberry. His eyes were lazy-his lack of sleep was affecting his still. "Wha?"

"It's...it's the same thing as last time." I was too distracted in my thoughts to care about choking on strings of cloth. "I start trouble solely because I'm at the scene of the crime, and in the end, you and I get hurt! Why the hell am I even here, if Pokemon are supposed to help people!"

I wasn't completely sure of what I was talking about when I spoke these words (stress, lack of sleep, and physical trauma can do something to your brain to have you act crazy.) Despite the confused wording, John turned to me, muttering the same "Wha?" as last time, crunching away at his toothpick.

"It's the same as Christmas! If I didn't come with you and stayed home, everything would have ended according to plan, safe and sound!" I was gasping for air now, furiously adding volume to my words. "Same thing here! If I stayed here, and Tasha took you, then I wouldn't be in this mess, and you wouldn't have everyone worrying about you like now. Everything would have been better off if I just left, or even better, didn't exist!"

That last part may have been a little too harsh, even to me. I didn't really want to not exist, just in the sense I wouldn't get involved with John. That way, all the things that happened to him so far wouldn't have happened.

"Maria, I'm sorry," John muttered, and got up from the bed to reach out for a kiwi this time. "but I didn't catch all that. You talked to fast."

I grunted in response, giving up on the matter altogether. "Forget it, nevermind." I closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep.

"But, I just heard some bits, and let me see if I got your logic right." John sat silently for a few seconds, and let out a question. "So, you wanted me to be kidnapped?"

"What?" I reopened my eyes, hoping that my glare would make him realize his stupidity. "No, of course not! What makes you think that?"

"You just said that it would be better off if you didn't exist, and if that happened, I would have been kidnapped, with God-knows-what could have happened to me. Nobody would have known about this if it weren't for you. Are you alright with that?"

"No I'm not alright with that!"

"So that means you want to stay existing, right?"

My mouth was frozen mid-way of forming my words. Although my brain was throbbing from yelling so much, I quickly realized the predicament I put myself in. "Wait, it's not like I-"

"It's more obvious you're not thinking straight because of your beatings, but you know what the problem is. You're just like Tasha, now I think about it." John scratched his head, and laid himself beside me on the bed.

"How am I like her in any way?" I was in such bad shape because of her Bolt's Iron Tail, and the last thing I need is comparison.

"You're both very young, hot-headed, and got beaten up." John said bluntly.

"Wha-"I began, but I took a moment to think his words over. I was born only last year, so I guess I was young. Hot-headed...I popped out of my Pokeball to meet Jess at the school, so I could be that too easy. Not to mention last night...but beaten up? "What do you mean, she got beaten up?"

"Well..." John stammered for a bit, thinking for an appropriate explanation. "It's just a guess, but Tasha was way too quiet. Her face was red, so I guess she'd been crying about something. At first glance, I thought she'd been hit by Sing or something like that."

Well, she was...3 times, in fact.

"Anyways, you know yourself best, but you rush into these things without thinking much. I'm not one to pick out flaws and rub it in people, so I won't talk no more. Sorry about this." He got up and off the bed. He put a hand on my bandaged head. "Try to eat some of that food I brought up. I need to get to school." A light chuckle escaped him. "Why did they have to kidnap me on a Thursday, of all days..."

As he left the room, I desperately wanted him to stay, tell him that I'll change myself. But he quickly left and shut the door.

I positioned myself upright on the bed and looked around the room, completely blank on what to do. I was never in a state bad enough to have me stay still. Even if Tasha's Bolt attacked me at Jess's, I was still well enough to use my moves. Now I felt like I was literally put through the wringer.

For the next minute or so, I just glazed my sight over the bed and table.

Now what?

My eyes drifted to the plate on the table, virtually untouched. The colourful fruit didn't look nearly as appetizing, even with their tantalizing appearance. Despite a lack of hunger and my weakened state, I telekinetically grabbed one of the kiwi pieces, desperate for its sweet taste to uplift my spirits.

Come on...almost...

SPRLT!

"...why am I so pathetic?"

With that, I buried my face into the blankets.

...

John's POV

The day at school was just as depressing. Because of my sleep deprivation, I was constantly at the brink of sleep in all my classes. I had to pinch myself under the desk to keep conscious. At the end of the first period, my left arm had red lines all over from my nails. And lunch-I left in such a rush I didn't even bring change for the vending machines.

"Should have eaten more fruits..." I grumbled to myself as I marched to my last class, math. This wasn't too hard, as we just started a new unit and everyone struggled a bit to understand the new terms and techniques.

Hurry and ring, damn bell, I'm hungry as hell! I want to go home and eat something! Anything!

Hey, that rhymes!

After the bell rang, I finished jotting down the last of my homework and packed up. I slung the bag over my back and dashed out the door. Trying to ignore everyone to the best of my abilities, my only concern was to get back home ASAP and check on Maria.

"Hey, John!"

Without thinking, I whipped my head so fast I heard a crick of bone. Rubbing my neck, I surveyed the hallway to find anyone who even had the slightest interest in me.

"John! Here!"

A different voice this time called to me. It would have been easy, now that I was certain of the voice's whereabouts. However, the hall was crammed with exiting students anxious for the weekend, resulting in my face pressed against the lockers. A few moments later, the tide of teens died down and I was able to make my way through the students to the source of the shouts.

"Screw this, he's too slow!"

This time the source made its way to me. It was Jess, and Kari was following behind.

Huh, I almost didn't recognize them, with what just happened. I can't remember the last time I even met them...

The latter was holding a folded newspaper in her hand. Kari jogged past Jess and shook the tabloid around. "John, did you see this-"

"John, you gotta see this! It talks about-"Jess cut in, pointing frantically at Kari like a tattletale. She swiped the newspaper with frightening speed and without ripping it, spread it open in my face.

I was too concentrated on entertaining myself by admiring Kari's agitated face facing Jess's to pay attention. As much as this information was worthwhile, I was stressed from the morning classes and I needed some humor. I just stood silently, still stunned from their sudden surprise.

"Anyways!" Kari objected, taking the tabloid back. "Before her interruption..." Kari glanced at Jess, who raised her hands to protect herself from her imminent wrath. "Read this-no, just look at the picture here!"

I skimmed the pages, looking for the biggest picture I could find-it was in full colour, but extremely blurry, like an earthquake was happening as it was taken.

"Why are all the important pictures shaky as hell?" The picture was mostly green and brown with trees covering the majority of the screen. However, the figure of a running person was clear as day, but his or her face was covered by the shade made by a hat.

"So what about it? Just a guy running away." I relaxed myself, and started stepping around the two.

Jess grabbed my shirt, and pulled me back in front of the newspaper. "Read the subtitles!"

As awkward as the situation just turned (as someone with minimal physical contact with anyone outside my family and still surrounded by students, I was frightened for a moment), I craned my back so the words below the picture were eye-level.

I read the words slowly and out loud. "The witness and photographer Atacado Testigo took this picture as the assaulter was running away from him. Testigo informed the police that "a monster attacked". The "monster" in question can be vaguely seen in the bottom-right corner." I stared back at the aforementioned spot, but all I could see was greenery.

"What monster?" I said tiredly.

"Look at the red!" While Kari flattened out the page, Jess was pointing at the corner whispering. Looking closer, I could see something red in the midst of the greenery, but I still thought it was some shrubbery.

"So what? Probably just some flowers or bloodstains the witness spilt when he was "assaulted"." It wouldn't surprise me. A knife, no matter how short, can draw a lot of blood if sharp enough.

You would know, wouldn't you?

This has nothing to do with me, brain.

"That's what we thought!" Jess whispered directly to my ear. This girl needed to calm down a notch. "But even if it's blood, this guy testified that a monster attacked him. That can only be a Pokemon!"

As ridiculous as it sounded initially, a Pokemon would fit the simple definition of 'monster' (Pokemon are 'Pocket Monsters' after all!) "So what does this have anything to do with any of us?"

"Nio told me his plan, when I met with him and you remember?" Kari urged on. "He told all of us to keep Pokemon out. But if this assaulter had a Pokemon, and it's in the news, any of us could be possible suspects." She folded the newspaper and shoved it in her bag.

"No way." I started walking away again, and this time the girls followed beside me. This was extremely uncomfortable, as we were still inside the building and we had people looking at us. My unnecessary notoriety was still in effect, and the stares I got were maddening.

"Yes way. Even if the witness doesn't think it's us, it's still going to land some suspicion on us. They'll think that red was just blood like you, and the monster could be any one of us. This isn't just some rumor or a UFO sighting on the internet, this is a big, professional tabloid!" Kari was persistent. I was not in the mood for this. I had to get to Maria and check up on her.

"Look, sorry if I don't sound interested." I needed to get this out of the way, and run back home. "But I need to get back home. I want to check up on Maria. She's hurt, bad."

"Maria's hurt?!" Thankfully, Jess somehow yelled quietly enough so that we were drowned by the surrounding students. "What happened? She's hurt bad? Worse than Christmas?"

"Damn it, Jess, hush." Kari silenced her. She looked around for any onlookers before continuing. "But seriously? She's hurt how bad?"

"Bad enough to stay in bed wrapped in bandages."

"Come on, you gotta tell us more than that!" Jess objected, sounding desperate to know what happened to her favorite ghost-type.

What should I do? If I tell them about last night, then it could cause a whole another row of consequences! And Maria would think she'd caused all this and mope about it even more! What do I do!

"She just, uhh...injured herself during training."

Wonderful excuse John. What's next? She hit herself on a wall? Bit her tongue? Chipped a non-existent nail?

"Oh. Can we go see her?" Jess questioned.

Should I? Well, just taking them to see Maria wouldn't make her sad, would it? But if I take them home, Maria might tell them, no, my parents would be the first. My mom's always such a gossip!

I didn't know what to do, so I decided to humor them. "Even if I told you no, would you go?"

"Hell yeah!" Jess exclaimed as we walked out the school doors. "Mac and Mitsune missed you and Maria! We haven't seen each other for a while! This'll be a good chance to catch up on things."

Well, this is going to hell pretty fast. But now's not the time to think about your reputation. Girls can be bitchy, and they're not going to leave until their questions were answered.

...

"Mom, I'm back!"

I pushed the door forward and to my relief, everything was silent, aside from some noise at the kitchen. Mom walked into view and her face creased with a wide grin.

"Oh my! Friends of yours? Come in, come, come!" she shouted eagerly, ushering the two girls behind me.

I remained on spot, my back slump in disbelief. Aren't you forgetting someone, mom?

Rapidly regaining my composure, I took my shoes off and closed the door behind me. While my nosy mother was busy pampering the guests, starting with Kari ("No, no thank you, Mrs. Evans!"), I was jogging upstairs, worried that Maria, being the hot-head I knew her, was gone and maybe out training herself somewhere.

Recklessly, I forced the door open, creating a loud BAMP! as it hit the wall. Right away, I spotted a large lump under the blankets.

Oh hell, don't tell me she left a pillow-

Before I could reach a hand to pull back the sheets, it moved itself away from the figure underneath. I took a step back in fright, but saw pink strands from the edges of the blankets.

"Oh...my head. John, please shut up. I'm trying to sleep."

Maria eventually squirmed her way out of the holds of the blanket, and she managed to stand upright. Her hair somehow escaped the bandages and was let down, covering a healthy bit of her remaining right eye. She looked like a real ghost now, and I didn't know how to respond.

"Maria?" was all I could utter. I knelt beside the bed but kept my hands to myself, in case she was in an even bigger slump than before.

"I'm good, I'm good." She insisted, smiling as she said so. "But the fruits this morning, I..."

I got to my feet and felt something wet on my pants. I brushed my hand over and sniffed it. It was sweet, but strong; to a point where I almost thought it was something alcoholic. But a few more inhales, and I realized it was spoiled kiwi.

I held back a groan of disgust, and went to my desk to get a tissue. Unfortunately, as I did this I noticed the plate still had the fruit I left for her, black specks floating around them.

"Oh, damn." I couldn't help myself, and I shooed the flies away before feeling the plate. The fruits were dried out, and the juices made the plate sticky to the touch.

Maria was so tired she couldn't even eat? Dear God...

"Don't mind the fruit." I laughed out. "We got flies to worry about now." I released the platter and grabbed a tissue box. I pulled several out and cleaned up the mess on the floor.

"That's not how you comfort a girl!"

I clenched the wet tissue in surprise and looked up. Kari and Jess were at the doorway, the former holding a plate of assorted cookies and a glass of milk, and the latter making the outburst. Both had frowns on their faces, but Jess's blond hair was practically flying in rage and her eyes looked like my mom's when she saw my biology test score last month.

"Hurry up and get those disgusting fruits out of here!" Jess commanded in a surprisingly authoritative tone. Both Maria's and my mouth was open in bewilderment. I never saw her this angry, and it scared me into silence.

Kari, noticing the situation, gave a sigh. She put her cookies and milk on the bed, handed me the fruit plate, grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of the room. "You are so...helpless!"

BANG!

Dumbly, I turned to see the closed door. "What...just happened?"

...

Maria's POV

"What are you doing here?" I inquired, more to myself than them. The sleep I got was counterbalancing the lack of nutrition this morning, and I couldn't add much volume to my voice. I wanted to ask why they kicked him out (of his own room!), but due to my first question, I felt the energy draining out of me quickly.

"Wait, before we do anything," Kari responded, returning from the door. "We should let Mac and Mitsune out." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Pokeball.

"Good idea." Jess said with a smile, and pulled back her sleeve, revealing a pink-red PokeNav strapped to her arm. Grabbing her Pokeball, both of them released a beam of light into the room, making my eye sting at the sudden illumination. I didn't even have time to recover my sight before I heard two familiar voices.

"What the hell happened to you?" the rough voice of a Mightyena barked at me.

"Uh, let me explain-"

"Oh my! How did you get those injuries?" the smooth yet stern Ninetales pondered.

"I was about to get to that!" I shook myself awake, free from the blinding pain. I took a moment to observe them after weeks since their last appearance. Mac seemed to have gotten bigger, fluffier black fur, and a more pronounced set of gleaming but yellowing teeth. I would have flown back in fear if I wasn't so exhausted. Mitsune looked more...beautiful, for a lack of a better word. Her silver fur was surprisingly clean, and her red eyes were stern as always.

"But before I do that..." I turned my eyes to the confections in front of me. "Can you pass some of those cookies here?"

"Oh, sure." Jess fetched one of the round ones and brought them to my mouth. My cheeks were burning through the bandages, being fed by hand like this. Reluctantly, I leaned forward and crunched down on the biscuit. The sensation of much-needed sugar instantaneously made my mouth salivate, and I forgot to chew, letting the cookie crumble instead.

"Strange." Mac spoke up.

"What's strange?" Jess asked him.

"This seems like a moment where you would squeal at the cuteness of the scene. It's just something you would do." He cast a lame glare at her, as if expecting her to squeal right now.

The rest of the room gave a slow and long "Ohhh..." of understanding. I didn't join in; I was too busy savoring the cookie. Even with that single bite, I felt my body starting to move again.

"Well, feeding a patient isn't as cute as most comics and TV show it as." Jess reasoned, put off by her Pokemon's assumption. "Besides, it would be a lot cuter if John was doing it."

The thought of such a thing made my face feel like it was on the verge of exploding. That's never going to happen! At least not in the way I imagine it!

"Cuter doing what?" The door burst open and revealed making all of us jump. John was at the doorway, wide-eyed and taken aback at the sudden crowdedness of his room. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Didn't we say that this was a good chance to get the Pokemon to meet again? It's been so long." Jess explained. "More importantly, what happened to her?" She pointed at me, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

He looked at me with a serious look on his face. I imagine he was thinking of whether to tell the truth or make up a lie. "I told you before," he ultimately declared. "she injured herself during one of her training sessions. Tasha and Bolt were helping her out, but then an accident happened, and here she is."

"Tasha and Bolt? The girl and her Pokemon in the news weeks ago?" Mitsune cried. "When did this happen?"

"Uh, just yesterday." John stammered. I was worried that his reluctance to answer might tip them off. If his fibs increased in absurdity, then they might bully him into spilling the truth, and I didn't want that.

"Yesterday?" Kari interrupted. "You weren't in the forest that day."

"Yeah, and when did you get so friendly with her anyways?" Jess pressed onwards, giving John a funny look as she did.

John raised a hand to silence the room. "She tried and failed to take away Maria a couple weeks ago. Maria put her to sleep with Confuse Ray, I brought her home, and we made up."

"Just how exactly did you 'make up'?" Kari asked, her words laced with curiosity.

"Uhm..." John stammered a bit, and shoved his hands into his pockets. "We just...talked, really." He sat down on the bed and grabbed a cookie. "Hm?" He waved the sweet treat in front of me. I realized he was trying to feed me. Contrary to my previous assumption, it wasn't as embarrassing as I thought it would be, and instead it was slightly annoying, being nursed like this.

"Uh...thanks." I reached forward and grabbed it out of his hands, before chewing it whole. I thought it would be awkward, having a crowd of girls looking at us, but I concentrated on relishing the taste.

"Aww, I thought it would be a lot cuter." Jess moaned in dejection.

"You've been reading too many romantic novels." Mac growled, and lied down next to her. "Besides, we're here. Of course it wouldn't be cute, but awkward."

"If I may ask, where's Tasha now?" Mitsune questioned. "I would like to meet with her and maybe even a fight with Bolt."

"Yeah, you need to pay that rat back after frying you like that!" Jess grinned angrily at the thought. I remembered that she was partly zapped by Bolt, and smiled at the thought. It didn't calm me to see her grasping at the air as if about to strangle someone.

"Tasha I...I don't know." The cookie on the way to his mouth stopped. He dropped his hands to his sides, and looked down at the floor. "Her father took her away after the practise. I don't know where she is."

"What!" Jess actually got to her feet and clenched her fists. "Her dad? Who's he?"

"Philip Sing. Tasha's an orphan adopted by him. He's working on rehabilitating Eglington, my old hometown."

Jess jabbed a finger at him giddily, as if she won the lottery and was too excited to form words. "Oh yeah, you said you went to elementary school there! Before..."

"Before my parents moved out, yes." John shooed away her words with his hand. "It's not much off a sensitive issue, don't worry. We should be worrying more about that new player."

"New player?" Shocked, I inquired further. "What player?" I glanced at the glass of milk on the plate, and managed to levitate it over before John gave an answer.

Kari handed him a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and laid it on the bed, showing a picture of someone running. "Someone attacked another with a Pokemon yesterday." John pointed to something red in the bottom corner.

"Another Pokemon sighting?" I took a small sip of milk to help my thought process.

Another person with Pokemon? How many of these people are there?

"Yeah. I imagined that the Pokemon would have to blend in with the environment if it's almost unrecognizable in the picture."

John got up and went to his laptop on his desk. "Give me a minute." He rapidly pressed some keys, and a list of words appeared on the screen. "Red but mostly green. Maybe it's this Pokemon?" A click of the mouse and a picture replaced the words.

Jess picked me up and laid me down on the desk to get a better look. "Treeko?" I said out loud. "That's our attacker?" I took a good look at the Pokemon. A pair of dark green tails, a red underbelly, yellow eyes, and 3-digit hands and feet. It easily gave the impression of a reptile.

"Maybe." Kari whispered for no apparent reason. "Green and red skin, it fits the description. But there's other Pokemon with that colouring."Fraxure, Larvitar, Flygon..."

"Wow. You don't have Pokemon plushies in your room without a reason, huh?" John chortled, making Kari lightly slap his shoulder in indignation.

"I just like to collect okay!" she barked at him. I heard snickers from Mitsune, and eventually Mac joined in on the laughter.

"Seriously, though." Jess started. This was the first time I've seen her so austere. "Should we do just nothing about this new guy? I've been trying to keep low for so long Mac's probably the weakest out of the three."

"I heard that!"

"My point is, what if this guy starts causing trouble for us?"

"I hope Alex is up for the task of finding him, then." John shrugged his shoulders, oblivious to Jess's sternness. "None of us are suited for fighting, so if this guy decides to attack us, our best option's to just run."

"No way!"

Everyone was staring at me, but I didn't care. No one got stronger for running away, and Tasha's proof of that! "I can keep fighting, don't worry! All you need to do is carry me around-"

"No way." John shook his hand and head in disagreement. His loud objection shut me up good. "You were almost killed, and I'm not risking that again. You're going to stay here. If it wasn't for Alex, you'd be dead."

"Wait, Alex?" Jess interrupted. "What's he got to do with what happened to her?"

John was taken aback, and this time, he had a harder time to come up with an excuse. "Oh! Uhm..."

"Alex was looking for Tasha." I answered swiftly. "We don't know why, but he just was. And he caught us just as we were fighting each other, him and Sing."

"You met him before? Sing, I mean. You sound familiar with each other." Kari asked.

"Only once. When he came by my house to ask about Tasha's whereabouts. She's a regular delinquent." John replied confidently.

"That explains why she busted into my house unannounced." Jess grumbled.

A moment of silence filled the room. It was so abrupt that I dropped my cookie when I realized it. It looked like everyone had all their questioned answered.

"You got nothing else to ask, then leave." John coldly declared. "Maria needs rest."

"That's no way to treat guests!" Jess whined good-heartedly. "But you're right; we should get home before our parents get worried." The girls returned their respective Pokemon and left the room. We could hear John's mother begging them to stay, but they persuaded her to let them out. We couldn't hear the whole conversation, however, as John closed the door behind them.

"Sorry about all that. You must be tired."

"No, no! It's fine." I told him. "Don't get so worried about me like this."

"Sorry." He closed his laptop and sat down next to me, stuffing a cookie in his mouth. "If you get hurt this bad again, I don't know what I'd do."

This was one of those things that he said subconsciously that caught me off-guard. My cheeks started flush when I tried to brush him off. "But seriously. I want to fight, I want to help you. Why won't you let me?"

He sighed before answering. "With what happened, at Christmas and last night, you and I both know you're the strongest out of you three. But look at you now, almost killed. We can't risk getting into a big fight like that again."

He's just worried about me like always, of course. But I can't help but feel...attracted? No, that's not the right word, and love's definitely not it either!

Well, maybe...

"But until you get better, just don't leave the house alright? And next time, call my mom upstairs if you need help with anything. We can't waste anymore fruit!" He laughed out as he exited the room.

I took a moment to think over his words, and took the last biscuit on the plate and raised it to my mouth.

I'm stuck on this bed until who-knows-how-long, and he's going to live his daily life, knowing that someone's attacking people with Pokemon? Well, if I want to help him out, I'll just have to get better faster.

You're both very young, hot-headed, and got beaten up...

...you rush into these things without thinking much...

I get it now John. There's more to getting stronger than just fighting. But there has to be more than just resting too...

CRRK!

I stared at the crumpled cookie in my hold, and smiled.

...

I'm so glad I finished this chapter before school starts! Now I can start packing my stuff to get ready!

Anyways, I'm sorry you're disappointed with this chapter, but what trouble could John and Maria go through if they're recovering from their last fight?

I'm surprised where Jess and Kari stands in this story now. When I first started this, I planned to have them as sidekicks to John and such, but now, they're the most secondary of character's I've seen. I'm hoping they would take a bigger role involving this new player (thanks for the character shinykyurem, but I have a slightly different plan for him!) It takes place in their school after all!

But now, with actual school starting, I won't be able to update as often (maybe once every 2 weeks?), but I hope you stay tuned for the next chapter!

(And for anyone giving a damn, the name 'Atacado Testigo' literally means 'attacked witness'. Yeah, the poor guy had it coming, with a name like that.)